tihv<xvy of ^he theological ^emmar^ 
 
 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 
 BV 2628 .N5 S8 1858 
 Thompson, Joseph Parrish, 
 
 1819-1879. 
 Memoirs of the Rev. David 
 
 Tappan Stoddard 
 
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 ^C^o-^ cL ^ y^^oC Cl c^^ 
 
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 MEMOIR 
 
 
 OP THE 
 
 EEV. DAVID TAPPAN STODDARD, 
 
 MISSIONARY TO THE NESTORIANS. 
 
 JOSEPH P. THOMPSON, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OP THK BROADWAY TABERNACLK CHURCH, NEW YORK. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 No. 2S CoilMIILL, I'.ORTON. 
 
Entered accorclhig lo Act of Congress, in the year 1858, 
 
 15 V Joseph P. Thompson, 
 
 in the Clerk's Oflice of the District Court for the Southern District of KewYorl 
 
 Copyright transferred to the American Tract Society. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 « 
 
 When I was requested to prepare a Memoir of my 
 early friend and classmate, judgment demurred at the 
 labor which the heart accepted. A pastor's first and 
 constant duty is to the flock to which he ministers ; 
 and never have the labors of the pastoral office been so 
 arduous and absorbing, as during this memorable year 
 of mercy. Yet by devoting to the memoir a summer's 
 vacation, and such rare hours of leisure and relaxation 
 as a city pastorate will permit, I have been enabled, 
 through God's blessing, to complete it without trench- 
 ing upon the claims of pulpit or parish. Indeed I 
 have found this frequent communion with one whose 
 industry and devotion in the service of Christ were 
 alike eminent, a healthful stimulus and encouragement 
 in all kindred labors. 
 
 The materials for a memoir of Mr. Stoddard proved 
 to be abundant, but all of one description. He kept no 
 diary or record of his religious life or his personal la- 
 bors ; but his correspondence was so extensive and full 
 that it furnishes a transcript of both. Extracts from 
 nearly two hundred letters appear in this volume ; and 
 at least an equal number have been withheld for want 
 of room, or because their contents were expressed or 
 implied in others, or on account of personal references. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 Every one of these letters, published and unpublished, 
 making in all, some two thousand closely written pages, 
 has been read and sifted for the preparation of the 
 Memoir ; and I can testify that there is not in them 
 all one single expression of regret, of discontent, or 
 even of wavering, in view of the labors and trials of the 
 missionary life. The unbroken joyousness of these 
 letters with regard to the service of Christ in a foreign 
 land — familiar letters, for the most part addressed to 
 intimate friends — crowns the appeal of his active and 
 blessed life for a full consecration to the work of recov- 
 ering this lost world to the Kedeemer. May that 
 appeal incite many young men who have recently con- 
 fessed Christ as their Saviour, to go forth to proclaim 
 his salvation to the benighted and the perishing. 
 
 When I read in one of Mr. Stoddard's letters, these 
 lines : — " I am no friend to biographies or even sketches, 
 multiplied so injudiciously as they are, and I will say to 
 you here, please never allow one to be prepared of your 
 missionary brother f — it seemed almost like invading 
 the secrecy of death, to unfold his life upon the printed 
 page. But Mr. Stoddard, when living, could not fitly 
 judge of what the very cause for which he lived, might 
 require of him after his decease. If this memoir shall 
 kindle in other minds that flame of missionary zeal 
 which burned so purely and so brightly in his own, 
 then doubtless he will rejoice in heaven, that though 
 he rests from his labors. Ids works do follow him. 
 
 New York, September 10th, 1858. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 OHAPTKB. PAO« 
 
 I. — Birth-place and Early Home, 7 
 
 II. — A Godly Ancestry, . 13 
 
 ]n, — Early Education, 2G 
 
 IV.— The Great Transition, 39 
 
 V. — Religious Experiences in College, . . . . &4 
 VI. — IIis Work as an Educator in Marshall and Yale 
 
 Colleges, (''9 
 
 VII. — Decides to be a Missionary, 88 
 
 VIIL— The Nestorians, 08 
 
 IX.— TuE Departure, 108 
 
 X,— The Field op Labor, 127 
 
 XI. — First Impressions of Missionary Life, . . ,134 
 
 XII — Sunshine and Shadow, 1 ;').'? 
 
 XIIL— The Day op Small Thinos, 178 
 
 XIV.— The Time of Harvest, 192 
 
 XV. — Sickxess and Sorrow, ... ... 232 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 OHAPTEK. PAGB 
 
 XVI, — Labors in the United States, 277 
 
 XVIT. — Return to his Field, . . . . • .302 
 
 XYIII. — Continued Labors, 320 
 
 XIX. — Growth in Grace, 334 
 
 XX. — Labors as a Scholar, 340 
 
 XXI.— Labors and Correspondence, 353 
 
 XXII. — Letters, continued, 366 
 
 XXIII. — Sickness and Death, 395 
 
 XXIV. — The Missionary Character and "Wobk, . . .415 
 Appendix, 421 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH-PLACE AND EARLY HOME. 
 
 " Oil, that we were richer, in our German language, in 
 biographical works, which are adapted to illustrate and 
 promote a truly elevated and practical Christianity, by lay- 
 ing open the sanctuary of the inner life ! While English 
 literature is exceedingly rich in such biographies, and the 
 religious life of England owes, perhaps, not a little of its 
 activity to this circumstance, we Germans are compara- 
 tively poor in sucK reading. Yet it may be said, that 
 even among ns, more awakenings have proceeded from the 
 written lives of those eminent for piety, than from books 
 of devotion and printed sermons. We are able, even in 
 the circle of our own acquaintance, to mention a great 
 number of Christians — and among these names of the first 
 rank in the religious world — who are indebted essentially 
 to works of biography for the confirmation and stability of 
 their spiritual life. The writer can assert this in regard to 
 himself. He can make such an acknowledgment respecting 
 a book to which he knows that not a few in Europe, and 
 America, and Asia, will bear a similar testimony. The 
 biography of the missionary Martyn — the man who, even 
 among the Persian Mohammedans, was known only as the 
 holy — opened in my own li^e a new era of religious prog- 
 ress." * 
 
 * Preface to the Sonyitags-Bihliolhtk, a series of biograpliios for Sal)ljath 
 reading. 
 
8 ME^lOIROFSTODDAKD. 
 
 These are the words of one whose own " books of devo- 
 tion and printed sermons" have largely contributed to the 
 awakening of spiritual life in Germany, and whose learned 
 and candid criticism, with his fine moral and esthetic 
 powers in the Professor's chair, have arrested the inroads 
 of Rationalism at Halle, and have restored something of 
 its early tone of piety to the University which Spener and 
 Francke hallowed with their prayers. It is Dr. Augustus 
 Tholuck, whose " Hours of Devotion" have ministered to 
 the spiritual life of so many in England and the United 
 States, who thus testifies of the influence of the biography 
 of Martyn upon his own rehgious progress. 
 
 There was much in the character of Martyn to attract a 
 mind like that of Tholuck. The fine scholarship of Mar- 
 tyn, both in the mathematics and in the classics, his enthu- 
 siasm in the critical study of the Scriptures, his refined and 
 courteous manners, his sympathy with Nature in her silent 
 but ceaseless tributes of praise to the Creator, his delicate 
 sensibiUty toward the spiritual wants of those around 
 him, the almost ethereal temper of his piety — these well 
 might win the heart of a Christian scholar, who, more than 
 any other commentator, has entered into the devotional 
 spirit of the Psalms and of the Sermon on the Mount, and 
 who, in his early theological lectures at Halle, would read 
 his notes weephig that his students " could not see light, 
 because they did not have lomP How much of the 
 saintly life of Martyn, which breathed itself out in vhidi- 
 cating the New Testament before MooUahs and Soofies, is 
 reproduced in Tholuck vhidicating the Gospel before Ra- 
 tionalists. 
 
 But the testimony which Tholuck bears to the biog- 
 raphy of Martyn, as having opened to hhn " a new era of 
 
BIRTH-PLACE AND EARLY HOME. 9 
 
 religious progress," Martyn also bears to the biography of 
 one who was his equal in thorough and graceful culture, as 
 in native promise, and his exemplar in high personal sancti- 
 fication, and in missionary devotion. The prize scholar of 
 Cambridge had already devoted himself to the ministry of 
 the Gospel, when, " on reading the Ufe of David Brai- 
 KERD, who preached with apostolical zeal and success to the 
 North American Indians, and who finished a course of self- 
 denying labors for his Redeemer, with unspeakable joy, at 
 the early age of thirty-two, his soul was filled with a holy 
 emulation of that extraordinary man ; and after deep con- 
 sideration and fervent prayer, he was at length fixed in a 
 resolution to imitate his example."* 
 
 As the piety that so sweetly flowers in Tholuck's "Hours 
 of Devotion" has twined its roots around that lonely 
 missionary grave at Tocat, so the piety that left its dying 
 fragrance over all the East had early twined its roots 
 around that missionary tomb in the well-ordered cemetery 
 of Northampton, where, under a venerable, moss-grown, 
 iron-gray slab, supported by antique pillars, rest the re- 
 mains of Brainerd, " sometime missionary to the Indians," 
 and near by, those of that " dear Jerusha,"t of whom the 
 dying saint testified to her parents that, " by the temper 
 of her mind, she was fitted to deny herself for God, and to 
 do good, beyond any young woman whatsoever, whom he 
 knew ;" and to whom he said, as earthly love was subli- 
 mated by faith, "I am quite willing to part with you. . . 
 
 * Sargent's Life of MartjTi. 
 
 f Jerusha, daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, the affianced of David 
 Brainerd. She watched over him for nineteen weeks, in his last sicknesa,at 
 her father's house ; and, four mouths after Bramerd's death, was herself 
 borne to the grave at the early age of eighteen. 
 
10 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Though, if I thought I should not see you, and be happy 
 with you, in another world, I could not hear to part with 
 you." 
 
 While the missionary grave at Tocat thus answers to 
 the missionary grave at ]N"orthampton — both sending forth 
 the testimony and the incentive of genius, and scholar- 
 ship, and gentlemanly culture, sanctified by grace, and 
 consecrated to the service of Christ, in the salvation of 
 rude and barbarous tribes — we may also link the two to- 
 gether by another life of genius and of piety, which began 
 amid the yet green memories of Brainerd, and which ter- 
 minated its labors and sacrifice of love in that Persia which 
 Martyn traversed as the apostle of missions. 
 
 The eye of Martyn, which always drank in spiritual 
 pleasure from natural scenery, would have reveled in the 
 surroundings of the burial-place of Brainerd. The Connec- 
 ticut, which has already threaded its way for a hundred 
 and fifty miles between the hills of New Hampshire and 
 Vermont here stretches out in graceful curves, over the 
 wide reach of cultivated land — a basin of twenty miles 
 by fifteen — formed by the westward curve of the Green 
 Mountains from Greenfield to Mount Tom, and the 
 Lyme range sweeping down to Mount Holyoke, on the 
 east. From almost any elevation in Northampton, the 
 eye takes in on either side the sweep of hills — some 
 wooded, others cultivated to the summit — which bound 
 the horizon twenty miles to the north. Directly to the 
 south, stand the twin mountains Holyoke and Tom, their 
 roots interlaced beneath the bed of the river that now 
 divides them, and which seems to have forced its passage 
 through their once united barriers. Extensive meadows, 
 which, like *.he delta of the Nile, are liable to a yearly de- 
 
BIRTH-PLACE AND EARLY HOME. li 
 
 posit of alluvium from the overflow of the liver, and the 
 fatness of whose soil is like that of Goshen, stretch south- 
 ward and eastward almost to the base of the mountains. 
 From time immemorial these meadows have been bought 
 and sold, and inherited without any division of fence or 
 wall. Thousands of acres thus Ue ixi fields divided only by 
 the meanderings of the river, fi-om whose banks rise mead- 
 ows, orchards, and arable plots, like a succession of ter- 
 raced gardens, whose perfect culture answers to Emerson's 
 picture of England, as " finished with a pencil instead of a 
 plow." At intervals of a few miles, villages are seen 
 reposing upon gentle slo]3es, in the shade of abundant 
 trees, with an occasional cupola or spire, the symbol in 
 every New England town, of the supremacy of knowledge 
 and religion. A little below, the factories and academies 
 of East Hampton suggest to the traveler and will trans- 
 mit to posterity, the name of one who has made the success 
 of mechanical labors pay large tribute to the institutions of 
 learning and of piety ; multiplying to operatives the ben- 
 efits of knowledge and religion, and building schools, 
 churches, and colleges with the avails of manufactures. At 
 the foot of Mount Ilolyoke, the Female Seminary, which 
 has been the nursery of missionaries, recalls the honored 
 name of Mary Lyon its founder ; " she did what she could 
 for her Lord." To the east are seen the chapel, the library, 
 and the observatory of Amherst College. And thus, as 
 at Oxford, the most exquisite softness of natural scenery, 
 in stream, and vale, and meadow, and gentle slope, and 
 the most finished beauty and richness of cultivation, are 
 heightened by the associations of learning and religion, ' 
 and of the most cultivated society. 
 
 Nor is there wanting here antiquity, and the association 
 
12 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 of great names, so far as these can enter at all as elements 
 into an American scene. The town of Northampton was 
 of early settlement, and there are yet to be found there 
 families whose names and estates have come down to them 
 through two hundred years. The irregular course of tlie 
 streets, and the absence of grading and leveling, mark this 
 as an old-fashioned town; while its huge and lofty elms 
 assert the dignity of years. On one of these streets stood 
 the house of Jonathan Edwards — the name of New Eng- 
 land theology — and there are yet standing two majestic 
 elms that were planted by his hands. Near by, on the 
 same street, is the house in which Timothy D wight was 
 born — a name second only to that of Edwards in the 
 churches of New England. If we turn into the ancient 
 grave-yard, we shall there see the grave of Brainerd — ^the 
 path to it worn by the feet of numerous pilgrims; and 
 many a stone whose hue and dates tell of the last century, 
 while its record is of honored names and worthy deeds. 
 Not far from the grave of Brainerd is a family enclosure, 
 marked by the graves of three generations, each of whom 
 reahzed the promise to the sons of wisdom, of honor and 
 length of days — Solomon, High Sheriff, dying in 182 V, at 
 the age of ninety-one ; John, the Hon. Chief Justice, dying 
 in 1784, at the age of sixty-six; and his father, Solomon, 
 for fifty-seven years pastor of the church in Northamj^ton, 
 dying in 1729, at the age of eighty-six. There is yet room 
 in that enclosure for the grave of the patriarch Solomon, the 
 son of Solomon the High-Sheriff— who still lives, at the age 
 of eighty-seven — and for a monument in memory of his 
 youngest son, David Tappan Stoddard, missionary to the 
 Nestorians. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 A GODLY ANCESTRY. 
 
 What a volume of history in Church and in State is em- 
 bosomed within that little burial enclosure ! Of the three 
 principal names upon these monuments of the Stoddard 
 family, that which is nearest to our time covers the colo- 
 nial history from the accession of George 11. down to the 
 pei'iod of the American Revolution, and the administrations 
 of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and 
 John Quincy Adams, under the Federal Constitution. The 
 second covers the whole period of the French and Indian 
 wars. The third reaches back to the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century, and forms a direct link between our own 
 times and the early Puritan emigration to Massachusetts. 
 
 The biographer of the late Dr. Wardlaw has these very 
 sensible observations upon' the honor due to a worthy an- 
 cestry : " There are some people who say they attach no 
 importance to a man's descent or to family honors, and 
 despise those who do. Perhaps they may be sincere ; but 
 I can not help thinking their judgment in this matter erro- 
 neous, and their feeling unnatural. ' The glory of children,' 
 says the wisest of men, ' are their fathers ;' and I do not 
 see why an honorable descent should not be valued, as 
 well as any other blessmg of Providence. At any rate, I 
 must confess that it affords to me a singular pleasure to bo 
 
14 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 able to trace the lineage of one whom I respected as one 
 of the first of living theologians, and admired as a model of 
 Christian courtesy, through an ancestry in which the dis- 
 tinctions arising from eminence of rank and eminence in 
 sacred learning are so curiously intermingled." * It is not, 
 however, for the sake of chronicling " an honorable de- 
 scent" that a chapter is devoted to the ancestry of the 
 subject of this Memoir ; but to illustrate the sure mercies 
 of the covenant of grace to which that ancestry have wit- 
 nessed in all their generations. 
 
 Anthony Stoddard, a Puritan emigrant from the west of 
 England, came to Boston about 1630, where he married 
 Mary Downing, a niece of John Winthrop, the devout Gov- 
 ernor of the Massachusetts colony. When his first-born, 
 Solomon, was a boy of eleven, a township some ten miles 
 square, lying upon the western bank of the Connecticut 
 above South Hadley Falls, was purchased of the Indians 
 for a satisfactory consideration, and the settlement of Nono- 
 tucJc, or Northampton, was begun in the wilderness. One 
 of the first acts of the people of this infant town was to 
 employ an agent " to obtain a minister, and to devise means 
 to prevent the excess of liquors and cider from coming to 
 the town."f Rev. Eleazer Mather was settled as their 
 first pastor, and labored among them with fidelity aijd suc- 
 cess until his decease in 1609. Meantime, Mr. Solomon 
 Stoddard had graduated at Harvard College in 1662, and 
 had entered upon the work of the ministry. Rev. Joseph 
 Elliot, son of the apostle to the Indians, the colleague of 
 Mr. Mather, having removed to Guilford, Connecticut, Mr. 
 Stoddard was settled over the church in Northampton, 
 
 * Memoirs of Ralph Wardlaw, D.D,, by William Lindsay Alexander, 
 D.I>., p. 3. f D wight's Travels, vol. i. p. 343 
 
A GODLY ANCESTRY. 15 
 
 September 11th, 1672. He was then twenty-nine years ot 
 age, and he continued to minister to the same people until 
 his death at the age of eighty-six, a period of fifty-seven 
 years. For the last two years of his life he was assisted by 
 his grandson. Rev. Jonathan Edwards, as his colleague. 
 Mr. Stoddard is described as " in person tall and imposing, 
 of a comely countenance," and in old age, of a " grave and 
 venerable presence." But the affability of his manners 
 and the pleasantness of his conversation inspired confidence 
 and affection even in the young,, while his dignified mien 
 " commanded reverence from all that saw him." * There 
 must have been something in his presence akin to that in 
 Washington which caused the very savages to look upon 
 him with awe. The following anecdote is well authenticated. 
 " Once, when he was riding from Northampton to Hatfield, 
 and passing a place called Dury's Hole, an ambush of sav- 
 ages lined the road. A Frenchman directing his gun toward 
 liim, was warned by one of the Indians, who sometime be- 
 fore had been among the English, not to fire, because that 
 man was Englishman's God." f 
 
 Mr. Stoddard was a faithful pastor and a successful 
 preacher of the Word ; and for two generations, nearly all 
 the people of the town of Northampton were trained undor 
 his wise and faithful ministry. There were three general 
 revivals of religion in Northampton under his pastorate.;]; 
 
 Mr. Stoddard married Mrs. Esther Mather, the widow 
 of his predecessor in the pastoral oftice, who survived him 
 seven years, and died in 1736, at the age of ninety-two. 
 
 * " Sermon on the day of the hiterment of the reverend, pious, and 
 learned Mr. Solomon Stoddard," by Rev. W. Williams of Ilattield. Also, 
 Boston Weekly News Letter, No. 112. 
 
 f Dwight's Travels, i. 331. ;}: See Appendix A. 
 
16 MEMOIE OF STODDAED. 
 
 Five of six daughters by this union were married to worthy 
 and useful ministers of the Gospel. The second, Esther, 
 married Rev. Timothy Edwards, of East Windsor, Con- 
 necticut, and was the mother of Jonathan Edwards. Of 
 the sons, three died in infancy, and one died a prisoner in 
 France. Anthony graduated at Harvard, and was for sixty 
 years pastor of the church in Woodbury, Connecticut. 
 John, the ninth child of Solomon, and the direct ancestor 
 of the subject of this Memoir, was one of the most emi- 
 nent men in the province of Massachusetts. He resided at 
 Northampton, and was often chosen to repi-esent the town 
 in the General Court. For many years he was Chief Jus- 
 tice of the Colonial Court of Common Pleas. He was 
 also Judge of Probate, Chief Colonel of the regiment, and 
 member of his Majesty's Council, under George H. 
 
 Govenor Hutchinson said of him that " he shone only in 
 great affairs," for he would not stoop to " the little arts 
 and crafts of minute politicians ;" he adds that " few men 
 were more generally esteemed." And Dr. D wight, who 
 had access to the best sources of information, bears this 
 testimony : 
 
 "No man in Massachusetts Bay possessed the same 
 weight of character during the last twenty years of his 
 life ; and it may be said almost literally, that ' after him 
 men spake not agam? Once, when Governor Shirley had 
 a party dining with him, a servant came into the room and 
 informed the Governor tlfat a gentleman at the gate wished 
 to speak with him. * Ask the gentleman to come in,' said 
 the Governor. ' I did, sir,' said the servant ; ' but he said 
 that he could not stay.' The company were not a little 
 surprised, nor less indignant, at behavior which they 
 thought so disrespectful to the Chief Magistrate. * What 
 
A GODLY ANCESTRY. 17 
 
 is the gentleman's name ?' asked the Governor. * I think,' 
 said the servant, ' he told me that his name was Stoddard.' 
 ' Is it ?' said the Governor ; ' excuse me, gentlemen ; if it 
 is Colonel Stoddard, I must go to him.' 
 
 " Probably no man understood equally well the affairs 
 and interests of the colonies; particularly of Massachusetts 
 Bay. In his native town and county he was greatly be- 
 loved both for his public and private virtues ; particularly 
 for his piety and beneficence. The civil and military con- 
 cerns of Hampshii'e county, then a frontier, were for a long 
 time under his supreme control; and were managed with 
 admirable skill and success." * 
 
 Colonel John Stoddard died in Boston, June 19th, 1748, 
 in the 67th year of his age. His remains lie in the family 
 burial-place at Northampton. He left five children ; and 
 it is a curious circumstance that his two sons each filled the 
 ofiice of High Sheriff — one in Hampshire county, including 
 what is embraced in the three counties of Hampshire, 
 Franklin, and Hampden, the other in Berkshire ; and that 
 one of his daughters married a geiitleman who filled the 
 same honorable ofiice under the Crown, in the county ot 
 Hartford,^ Connecticut.! 
 
 Solomon, his oldest son, was born May 29tli, 173G. He 
 was educated at Yale College, and entered upon the prac- 
 tice of law at Northampton. He was High Slierifl* for 
 Hampshire county at the time of the American Revolu- 
 tion ; and notwithstanding his strict integrity and the 
 courtliness of his manners, he became somewhat obnoxious 
 to the people of the county because of his conscientious 
 
 * Travels, vol. i. pp. 331-2. See Appendix B. 
 
 f Mr. Ezokiul Williams of Weatherstield, Coiiucctieut. 
 
18 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 adherence to the cause of the Crown. He afterward gave 
 in his cordial allegiance to the new government, and con- 
 tinued to reside in Northampton, where he ^ed, greatly 
 respected, December 19th, 1827. His second son, Solomon, 
 the father of David, was born February 18th, 1771, and 
 graduated at Yale College in 1790. He took up the pro- 
 fession of law in his native town. As evidence that the 
 ill feeling toward the family which was excited by political 
 differences during the Revolution, had passed away, Mr. 
 Stoddard was elected to various offices in the gift of the 
 people, for a long succession of years. He was repeatedly 
 a member of the General Court in which his grandfather 
 so often sat when Massachusetts was a province. He still 
 lives at Northampton in a green old age, to enjoy the uni- 
 versal esteem of his townsmen, and the reverent and affec- 
 tionate regards of six surviving children ; while he awaits 
 in patience of hope the call to join anew the wife of fifty 
 years, and the eldest- and the youngest of their household, 
 who are with her in the joy and glory of heaven. 
 
 But two links intervene between this living patriarch 
 and the venerable pastor of Korthampton, whose name he 
 bears; and there are only three direct links between him 
 and the first ancestor of the Stoddard family in this coun- 
 try. Between the present head of the family at Northamp- 
 ton, and his great-great-grandfather Anthony, stretches a 
 period of two hundred and thirty years — the whole history 
 of New England from its colonization until now, comprised 
 within five successive lives, the last of which is not yet 
 closed. The longevity of this family is remarkable. In 
 the direct line, Solomon, the High Sheriff, aged 91. Colo- 
 nel John, aged 66. Reverend Solomon, 86. Collaterally, 
 a Simeon, son of Anthony, an honorable and useful mer- 
 
A GODLY ANCESTRY. 19 
 
 chant of Boston, aged 80 ; Anthony, son of Reverend Sol- 
 omon, aged 82, and for sixty years minister in Woodbury, 
 Connecticut ; Christian, daughter of the same, aged 88 ; 
 Rebecca, aged 80 ; Esther, another daughter, and mother 
 of Jonathan Edwards, aged 98 ; Mary, Esther, and Pru- 
 dence, daughters of John, aged respectively, 70, 78, and 88. 
 
 Of the male descendants of Afithony Stoddard, following 
 simply the line of Solomon, after the first generation, and 
 then that of John, and of the second Solomon, with their 
 children, at least thirty are known to have received a col- 
 legiate education. Among the latest of these, were two 
 sons of Solomon Stoddard, Esq., of Northampton : one 
 whose name will always be honorably associated with the 
 study of the Latin tongue in American colleges — the late 
 Professor Solomon Stoddard, of Middlebury College ; and 
 one whose name will live in the history of American mis- 
 sions — David Tappan Stoddard, of Oroomiah. David was 
 ■ born in the house pictured on the following page, Decem- 
 ber 2d, 1818. He was the youngest of eight children. 
 
 The name Tappan suggests another family, no less emi- 
 nent for piety and worth than that of Stoddard. David's 
 mother was Sarah Tappan, daughter of Benjamin Tappan, 
 Esq., of Northampton, whose standing is indicated by a 
 once familiar saying in that town, "that, to be considered 
 among the first families, one must own a piece of meadow 
 land, must have a pew in the broad aisle of the old church, 
 and must deal at Mr. Benjamin Tappan's store." 
 
 This Mr. Benjamin Tappan (formerly Toppan), of 
 Northampton — goldsmith, and afterwards merchant — was 
 a son of Rev. Benjamin Tappan, of Manchester, Essex 
 county, Massachusetts, and a brother of Rev. David Tap- 
 pan, D.D., Professor of Divinity in Harvard College, for 
 
MK. BENJAMIN TAPPAN. 21 
 
 whom the subject of this Memoir was named. The family 
 is supposed to have been of Huguenot origin, but the re- 
 motest known ancestor was Abraham Tappan, of Boston, 
 England, whose widow emigrated, with her children, to 
 Salisbury, Massachusetts. The family has been as remark- 
 able for longevity as the Stoddard family. It has also 
 been eminent for piety, and especially for the due observ- 
 ance of household religion, with faith in the unchanging 
 covenant of grace. 
 
 Mr. Tappan's integrity in business may be inferred 
 from the counsel which he gave to a son when entering 
 into mercantile life. "Shun the crooked and deceitful 
 ways of sin, and be honest and upright in your whole 
 dealings with your fellow men. Try to establish a fair 
 character as a merchant, and never be guilty of any thing 
 that looks hke tricks, or a desire or wish to overreach 
 those with whom you trade. I have no suspicion of your 
 doing otherwise than right ; but, as a beloved son, I warn 
 you, (as I think it my duty,) not to go with the wicked 
 and the workers of iniquity, but to follow the ways of good 
 and virtuous men." 
 
 What Mr. Benjamin Tappan here recommends to hia 
 son, he also practiced in his own business. A lady of one 
 of those " first families" that dealt at Tappan & Whitney's 
 store, informed the writer that when a little girl she was 
 often sent to that store to make purchases, because it was 
 known that no advantage would be taken of a child's igno- 
 rance of the cost or the quality of an article. Such was 
 the father of David Stoddard's mother — a fair representa- 
 tive of the upright and pious ancestry from which he has 
 descended through the Tappan family. But the unfeigned 
 faith which dwelt first in his grandmother Tappan, and in 
 
22 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 his mother Sarah, challenges our admiration of the grace 
 of God. 
 
 In his youth, Mr. Benjamin Tappan was apprenticed to 
 Mr. AVilliam Homes, goldsmith, of Boston, in whose 
 daughter Sarah he found that treasure " whose price is 
 far above rubies." In 1770, their youthful love was hal- 
 lowed by the marriage vow; and for more than half a 
 century, with unbroken health, and an unruffled home, 
 they enjoyed together its successive fruits. Indeed, with 
 the period of Mr. Tappan's apprenticeship, they lived 
 under the same roof for sixty-five years — filly-nine of these 
 in their happy and prosperous union. At the time of her 
 marriage, Sarah was in her tw^enty-third year; and sh-e 
 united with a rare grace and beauty of person, an uncom- 
 mon sweetness and strength of character. Her grand- 
 mother was a sister of Benjamin Franklin ; and she herself 
 seems to have had much of the quickness of perception 
 and soundness of judgment which were characteristic of 
 the Franklin family. But her relationship to Mrs. Abigail 
 Waters — who, for eighty years was a faithful member of tlie 
 old South Church, in Boston, and for upwards of sixty years 
 was a most eminent pattern of godliness — had a stronger 
 influence upon her personal character than her connection 
 with a family so remarkable as that of Franklin could have 
 exerted upon the qualities of her mind. Like that vener- 
 able aunt she consecrated to Christ the bloom of her 
 maidenhood, and lived to enjoy the fruits of a mature 
 Christian experience in a serene old age. Her conversion 
 is described in a letter to one of her children, written after 
 she had passed her seventieth year.* 
 
 Mrs. Tappan was remarkable for wisdom and thorough- 
 * See Appendix C. 
 
MRS.SARAHTAPPAK 23 
 
 ness iu training her household. Economy without parsi^ 
 raony, strictness without severity, piety without cant, 
 gentleness without weakness, a self-sacrificing kindness 
 toward all about her, and a uniformly cheerful, hopeful 
 s])irit, made her home the dearest place on earth in the 
 affections and the memories of her children. They " rise 
 up and call her blessed." Her knowledge of the Scrip- 
 tures was remarkable. It was not a mere verbal knowl- 
 edge, but an understanding of the Word of God, especially 
 in the great doctrines of the evangelical system, which she 
 had embraced intelligently and cordially from her own 
 study of the Scriptures. Her greatest trial in life was the 
 fact that some of her children for a time rejected those 
 views of the nature and the work of Christ in which they 
 had been educated. Her letters to one of them, in partic- 
 ular, who had adopted the so-called " liberal" opinions, are 
 remarkable specimens of sound and vigorous theological 
 reasoning, urged with the warmth and fidelity of maternal 
 affection. One of these, especially, in the strugglings of 
 Christian faith and resignation with the yearnings of ma- 
 ternal love, approaches the sublime. 
 
 " Ah, dear L., if God should see fit to show you the evil which 
 now lurks unperceived in your heart, you would soon see your need 
 of an Almighty Saviour, and fully subscribe to the doctrine of total 
 depravity. And can I cease to mourn over dear children who are 
 rich and satisfied that they are in want of nothing, when I believe 
 them to be poor and needy, blind and naked, and know how un- 
 certain life is ? My heart's desire and prayer to Grod is that they 
 may be saved, and with the views that I have of the way of 
 
 salvation, I neither can nor dare be silent Now I 
 
 have done, I think, and never mean to disturb you again. If you 
 are not convinced, but are determined to hold fast your opinions, I 
 
24 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 wish not to know it, at least not from yourself. I know assuredly 
 that the Judge of all will do right, and what am I or mine that for 
 ourselves his honor and glory should be tarnished ? Rather let me 
 say, ' Here am I, Lord, and the children thou hast given me : thou 
 art the potter, we are the clay; thou hast a sovereign right to dis- 
 pose of us as, in infinite wisdom, thou seest fit; thou hast made 
 rich provision for all who will receive it, and hast freely oflfered it 
 without money and without price. If, after all, we refuse, we must 
 abide the consequences ; and all the redeemed will unite in ascribing 
 glory, honor, and power to Him that sitteth on the throne, and to 
 the Lamb forever and ever, at the last decisive day.' 
 
 " But, while we are on earth, we must feel for our dear friends, 
 and painfuUy, too, a separation firom them. Oh, that word forever / 
 I must lay aside my pen. . . . Again, I resume it to ofier a 
 tribute of praise to redeeming love, and that, notwithstanding all 
 our unbelief, we are prisoners of hope. For this cause I bow my 
 knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he would 
 grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened 
 with might by his Spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell 
 in your heart by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 
 may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, 
 and length, and depth, and height of that love of Christ which 
 passeth knowledge ; that ye may be filled with all the fullness of 
 God, who is able to do above all that we ask, or think, according to 
 the power that worketh in us." 
 
 Such was the faithful piety of the grandmother of David 
 Stoddard. Her eldest daughter, Sarah, walked in her 
 steps. For fifty-nine years a member of the first Church 
 of Christ in Northampton, she was known and respected 
 throughout the community for her humble piety and her 
 abounding works of love. Unobtrusive in her manner, she 
 was most esteemed where best she was known — in the in- 
 timate circle of family and Christian friends. But her 
 
MRS. SARAH TAPPAN. 25 
 
 habitual kindness to the needy caused her graces and vir- 
 tues to be known througli a wide sphere of active charity. 
 Always ready to sympathize with the poor, the sick, and 
 the afflicted, she ministered to their reUef according to her 
 opportunity and ability. " At the age of eighty, she was 
 still accustomed to visit the sick, and to go personally to 
 the dwellings of the poor, carrying to them needful sup- 
 plies, and giving them words of kindness. Even on the 
 very evening before she was struck with the palsy, she 
 visited a helplessly sick friend in the neighborhood, in 
 order to cheer her by the act of sympathy." A stroke of 
 palsy terminated her life, after an illness of two days, April 
 27th, 1852, at the age of eighty years and nine months. 
 
 2 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 EAKLT EDUCATION. 
 
 Among the papers of David Tappan Stoddard, is a mem 
 orandum of topics to be remembered in prayer. These are 
 classified as matters for thanksgiving, matters for confes- 
 sion, matters for supplication and intercession. This mem- 
 orandum is written upon a mere scrap of paper, and was 
 evidently intended for reference in his private devotions, 
 by way of suggesting and quickening thought. At the 
 head of the list of topics for thanksgiving, are these three 
 items: "Pious Parents;" "Early Instruction;" "A Moth- 
 er's Prayers." In early childhood he was made conscious 
 of the guiding, quickening, and elevating influences of 
 household piety. His mother consecrated him, from in- 
 fancy, to the service of God in the work of the ministry ; 
 and as he grew in stature and in knowledge, many were 
 her prayers with him and for him, that he might be re- 
 newed and sanctified for that service. He was early 
 taught to pray, and in child's language to utter his simple 
 wants and requests in the ear of his heavenly Father. He 
 was made familiar, also, with the Bible, and his memory 
 was stored with hymns, which, in after years, in a foreign 
 land, were among the most precious tokens of his North- 
 ampton home. "Oft^n," writes a missionary brother, 
 " have we heard him repeat, with ever fresh and kindling 
 rapture, the sweet hymns which his mother taught him in 
 
EAKLYEDU CATION. 27 
 
 his early years." And he himself has left this testhnor.y : 
 " Almost as soon as I could speak, I was taught to pray 
 every morning and night ; and as soon as I could read, I 
 used, once a day, to read a chapter in the Bible, to my 
 mother. She often talked with me about God, and seized 
 every opportunity to impress religious truth upon my 
 mind. Sometimes she retired with me into her closet, and 
 there poured out her soul in prayer on my behalf." 
 
 His parents were on their guard against the natural tend- 
 ency to relax discipline toward the youngest member of 
 the household, and therefore David was never indulged, 
 for their present ease, and to his own future hurt. But, 
 when the native quickness and fire of his boyish disposition 
 broke forth in rebellion, and feet and hands gave emphasis 
 to his rapid iteration, " I will, I wont, I will, I went," the 
 firm hand of authority would presently subdue hands, feet, 
 voice and temper, to a most refreshing tone of penitence. 
 Amiable and docile as he eminently was, yet in native 
 temperament he was neither a cherub nor a cipher. But 
 the quick heats which might have kindled the fire of pas- 
 sion were judiciously tempered to a generous ardor and 
 enthusiasm. The discipline of the family was firm and 
 decided, but never severe. Cheerfulness, humor, an aftec- 
 tionate freedom of intercourse, dignity without reserve of 
 manner, and familiarity without forgetfulness of station, 
 made the parents objects of love and veneration to their 
 children, but not of fear. Their religious teachings were 
 not staid and somber, but simple and attractive in style, 
 while thorough in doctrine and earnest in spirit. David 
 often recalled these with much tenderness of feeling. 
 
 The playmates of David's childhood, in the family and 
 at school, recall no instance of rude or unbecoming conduct 
 
28 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 on his part ; no quarrels, in whicli he was a leader, no im- 
 propriety of speeeh or behavior in childish sports. Affec- 
 tionate, susceptible, confiding, he was sometimes teased by 
 older boys for his almost girlish disposition — which seemed 
 in harmony with the general delicacy of his person and 
 manners, his soft blue eye, and fair and beautiful com- 
 plexion. But in boyish adventures he proved himself 
 beyond his seniors in manly qualities. The stoutest swim- 
 mer, the boldest climber, the most enterprising schemer 
 was he. At ten or twelve, he swims the Connecticut op- 
 posite Northampton ; climbs to the top of the spire, which 
 the painters mount only by rope and scaffold ; runs up 
 trees like a squirrel, and in all innocent though sometimes 
 perilous ways, gives vent to the exuberance of his natural 
 spirits. I^ow he falls from a tree, and dislocates his shoul- 
 der ; again, he is carried to the doctor's office insensible, 
 with a broken arm ; but even such severe experiences can 
 not restrain his natural vivacity and love of adventure. 
 
 This combination of the energetic with the amiable 
 made him a general favorite. He was remarkably consid- 
 erate of the feelings of others, and susceptible to their 
 griefs. In childhood he once framed in verse, a remon- 
 strance against making sport of " a man of inferior con- 
 dition." 
 
 A ffenius for mechanics and mechanical inventions was 
 
 o 
 
 early manifested in his boyish sports. Trip-hammers, 
 worked by water or by wind, wheels turned by water- 
 power, and made to move a rude macluncry of sticks and 
 pins, fire-balloons, and a variety of similar contrivances, 
 evinced his native Sxdll. There was not in his boyhood 
 any such forwardness of intellectual growth as would war- 
 rant the term precocious, or would awaken extravagant 
 
EARLY EDUCATION. 29 
 
 expectatioDS of bis future career. He was a youth of fail- 
 talents, of fine qualities of person and of heart, and of good 
 promise. But it is pleasant noio to read in one of his 
 letters, written at ten years of age, " I have gone in the 
 Latin Reader to Liber Quartus, in Roman history. I find 
 it becomes more and more interesting to me as I proceed. 
 Please bring the Greek Reader." 
 
 The Round Hill school at Northampton was then famous 
 among the academies of Massachusetts. It had been for 
 some time under the joint superintendence of J. G. Cogs- 
 well, Esq., now librarian of the Astor Library, and Mr. 
 George Bancroft, the historian. Professor Solomon Stod- 
 dard was also, for a time, associated in the instruction of 
 the classical department of this school. Under his wise 
 superintendence, David was early entered as a pupil, and 
 encouraged to prepare himself for college. His rapid 
 attainments as a scholar may be inferred from a statement 
 in one of his letters written at the age of fourteen : 
 
 " I am very pleasantly situated on the Hill, study pretty 
 hard, and hope I improve a httle. I am engaged this 
 winter with Geometry, French, History, Geography, and 
 Writing. I have given up Latin and Greek for the pres- 
 ent. I had advanced in both these studies as far as to the 
 Sophomore class in college. In Mathematics I have been 
 through Arithmetic, Algebra, the first six books of Euclid, 
 and am soon to commence Trigonometry." Before he 
 entei-ed college, he read through Rollin's Ancient History 
 three times, as a private exercise. 
 
 His youth did not pass away without religious impres- 
 sions. The w^oods of Round Hill were his play-ground, 
 and the stately elms before the Edwards house served as a 
 hiding-place in his boyish games. Yet a boy so bright 
 
80 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 and susceptible must now and then have thought of the 
 names he so often heard spoken with reverence — the 
 grandsire whose parsonage stood upon that hill, and who 
 preached for half a century in the old parish church; the 
 great theologian of New England who planted those elms ; 
 the President of Yale College who was born near by — with 
 each of whom he had some tie of affinity. And when he 
 rambled in the grave-yard — always a place of mysterious 
 fascination to children — where, at eight years old, he had 
 seen the whole town gathered to do honor to his dear old 
 grandmother Tappan — he must have pondered with child- 
 ish interest the family record of worth and goodness there 
 graven in stone, and have paused beside the worn and 
 broken monument of David Brainerd the missionary. 
 While the voices of Nature in the river, the meadow, the 
 mountain, were a perpetual song of beauty to his soul, edu- 
 cating him in taste and poetic sentiment ; and the voices of 
 Learning and Art from the adjacent hills were luring him 
 to scientific culture ; and the voices of love, through Chris- 
 tian teaching and example, were inciting him to virtue ; 
 the voices of the Past spoke also with that somber but 
 magic tone, that awes, then fascinates, and then inspires. 
 
 The strange Providence that led the generous and resolute 
 Lyman away from the home of his youth to die by barba- 
 rian hands — an event long talked of in his native town, 
 and commemorated in its cemetery — had its influence upon 
 young David, when the sad news came fi-om Sumatra. 
 The heioic saying of that missionary mother, " I mourn 
 that I have not another son to give," was a call upon all 
 the youth of Northampton to fill the place of their fallen 
 townsman. All these influences upon the mind of the 
 youthfid Stoddard were afterward reflected from the 
 
SERIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 31 
 
 depths of his reKgious experience, as the mountains and 
 the stars are reflected from the very depths of the lake by 
 tlie light that glances on its surface. 
 
 ISTor was the still small voice of the Spirit silent or un- 
 heeded. Often was David overheard in his own cham- 
 ber weeping and praying for the forgiveness of some 
 childish fault, and supplicating grace for future duties. 
 But the first decided expression of concern for his soul's 
 salvation, upon record, is in the following letter written in 
 his fifteenth year. He was then upon a visit to New York, 
 in the year 1833, a season of general religious interest in 
 that city. He writes to a brother ; 
 
 New York, May 3d, 1833. 
 I am staying at uncle L.'s, and find my visit very pleasant on sev- 
 eral accounts. When I first came to New York, uncle talked with 
 me and urged me to repent. This was on Friday, April 26th. In 
 the evening I went to hear Mr. Finney preach, and became rather 
 more impressed. On Saturday noon uncle again talked to me, and 
 before he had finished I promised him that I would serve the Lord. 
 I was very serious at that time, and in the evening went with 
 brother William to see Mr. Finney, and after I had talked with him 
 I repeated the promise I had made to uncle L. I then thought my- 
 self in earnest about it, but now know that it was not so. The 
 next day (Sabbath) we went to hear Dr. Lansing in the morning ; 
 in the afternoon, Dr. Skinner, who preached for Mr, Finney ; and in 
 the evening, Mr. Finney himself. They were all three very solemn 
 sermons, and I felt very wretchedly all day, though I endeavored to 
 conceal it. Monday evening I went to an inquiry meeting, and 
 there again determined to love God. But 0, how wicked was my 
 heart ! Tuesday morning I got up determined to serve the Lord. I 
 distributed some tracts in the morning; but in the afternoon felt 
 that I had no love to Jesus Christ. The trouble was, I wanted evi- 
 dence that I loved God before I served him. Now I see that if we 
 
82 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 serve him with all our heart it is an evidence that we do love Lim. 
 That evening I went to see Dr. Lansing. He told me to give up 
 thinking of myself and just serve the Lord, and he would take care 
 about my going to heaven. This I determined upon, and hope that 
 my resolution is stronger than it was then. I have been trying to 
 do something for God the last three days in this city, but have not 
 accompHshed half that I ought to have done. Brother, write me 
 soon, at Northampton, and direct me what to do, and give me th^ 
 aid of your experience. 
 
 This vacillating mood may be ascribed either to an excit- 
 able temperament or to an imperfect apprehension of the 
 nature of repentance and faith, and the signs of a Christian 
 experience. The sincerity and earnestness of this youth of 
 fourteen in avowing his anxiety of mind and in seeking 
 instruction as to personal duty, and his zeal to serve God 
 under his new convictions, are surely marks of a genuine 
 religious awakening in his soul. But his repeated resolves 
 to serve God mdicate rather a mechanical stress of feeling 
 in the direction of duty, than an intelligent and hearty 
 yielding of himself to God in Christ as the object of his 
 highest love. While vergmg toward the light, he does 
 not seem to have found " the light of life?'' He did not at 
 this time make a public profession of faith in Christ, but he 
 seems to have clung for awhile to the hope that he was a 
 Christian, and in that hope to have decided to prepare him- 
 self for the work of the ministry. This state of mind 
 determined his parents to send him to Williams College ; 
 and he entered that institution as a Sophomore, in the fall 
 of 1834. 
 
 The college life of few young men will bear to be writ- 
 ten in detail. David appears to have had a love of study, 
 and to have retained the conscientiousness, the purity, and 
 
AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 83 
 
 the simplicity of character that had marked his youth. His 
 natural vivacity and his amiable temper exposed him pecu- 
 liarly to the temptations of college life ; but he threw his 
 influence decidedly in favor of order and good morals. 
 This was owing in no small degree to the excellent influ- 
 ence of Mr. Simeon H. Calhoun, now missionary to Syria, 
 who was then tutor in the college. David writes of him in 
 a tone quite unusual with students in speaking of theu' col- 
 lege instructors. 
 
 " Our tutor has already become very dear to me, and 
 seems almost a second father. Indeed he is so considered 
 by all the students, who go to him for advice and direction 
 as to one in whom they place implicit confidence. By his 
 unwearied exertions he has rendered himself so necessary 
 to the college that it would seem that the college could not 
 exist without him." 
 
 As an illustration of the quiet habitual influence of Tutor 
 Calhoun over the students, young Stoddard writes to his 
 sister this glowing account of his boarding club : " My 
 boarding place is first rate, whether the board or company 
 are considered. At the table is our Tutor Calhoun, to- 
 gether Tvdth five of the likeliest men in college. We go on 
 the temperance plan — tea and cofiee have no place among 
 us. I take milk, morning and night. We go round the 
 table in order, each in turn bringing up a text for explana- 
 tion or discussion in the morning, and some historical fact 
 at night. Mr. Calhoun's observations have always a bear- 
 ing on the subject, and in this way we may derive much 
 advantage." 
 
 Such familiar intercourse between a tutor and any por- 
 tion of the students is possible, in an American college, 
 only where the number of students is small, and the custom 
 
34 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 prevails of boarding in clubs or in private families, without 
 distinction of class or station. But how desirable it is, 
 may be inferred from this tribute of a Sophomore to his 
 instructor, both of whom afterward became the principals 
 of missionary seminaries in the East. 
 
 At Williams, young Stoddard appears to have devoted^ 
 himself to study with proper diligence and enthusiasm. 
 He writes to a brother: "I find college a very pleasant 
 place for study, and first rate instructors. ... I have 
 endeavored to be regular, and have succeeded so well that 
 I have neither * slept over,' nor been absent from prayers 
 or recitation once during the term. To be sure it comes 
 rather hard to get up every morning at six o'clock without 
 regard to snow or rain ; but habit makes the most difficult 
 things easy to us." 
 
 He soon, however, became aware of the disadvantages 
 of entering college at too early an age and at an advanced 
 stage of the course. "I am able to redeem very little leis- 
 ure for reading. This is one reason why I am dissatisfied 
 with having entered in advance. It seems to me that if I 
 had entered Freshman, taken a good stand, to say the least, 
 in my class, and had abundant time for reading, my posi- 
 tion would be much preferable to what it is at present. 
 Now I must go through college a poor writer, and be 
 attended with the troubles of not being well fitted." 
 
 He seems early to have appreciated the importance of 
 thoroughness in study. " I can not charge myself with 
 any gross misimprovement of time, but with a disposition 
 to shirk and extemporize with ray lesson half got. This 
 inclination is natural to me, I believe, and was increased by 
 my liabits when on Round Hill. I will not go into particu- 
 lars, but merely say, that I was there prone to be super- 
 
ADVENTURE WITH A BALLOON. 35 
 
 ficial. I have resolved to set out anew, determining that 
 no lesson shall he neglected:'' Such reflections and resolu- 
 tions on the part of a Sophomore of sixteen, augur well for 
 future attainments. 
 
 In view of his subsequent interest in physical science, 
 the following bit of pleasantry in a letter to his sister, 
 dated February, 1835, is worthy to be here transcribed: 
 "The studies of this term seem to be easy enough, and 
 nothing is wanting, except application, to render them 
 interesting. We are now upon trigonometry, by the aid 
 of which the distance of stars, the heights of mountains, 
 and all such things are ascertained. Perhaps by next 
 spring I shall be able to measure Tom and Holyoke, and 
 see how far Northampton is from Williamstown. Don't 
 you think that my mathematical investigations will turn 
 
 the world upside down? Mr. G pronounced my 
 
 mathematical bump wanting, and yet I am more famous 
 for this kind of genius than for any other talent, though 
 my reputation at best is but poor." 
 
 An amusing description to the same correspondent, of 
 his *' Gilpin-like" chase after a balloon, brings into view that 
 union of mechanical invention with a zest for adventure, 
 which has already been noticed in his childhood. On the 
 4th of July, 1835, our youthful philosopher undertook to 
 amuse the students and the people of Williamstown by 
 sending up a large balloon. When partially inflated, the 
 balloon flew ofi* horizontally for a distance of three miles, 
 and then lodged at the base of a mountain. The exhibitor, 
 on horseback, puffing and panting, reached the spot in 
 time to save the balloon. Nothing daunted, he rode back 
 with it to Williamstown, reinflated it, and sent it up at 
 night, illuminated with fire-balls. " It rose to a height of 
 
36 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 about two miles, where it made a grand appearance, toss- 
 ing about among the clouds. As it was quite valuable, 
 having cost the students about ten dollars, some of us set 
 out in pursuit of it. I reached the spot on which it fell a 
 moment after it blazed, having been fired by sonje. of the 
 works. Having my eyes fixed on the heavens, or rather 
 on the balloon, as I ran along under it, I took no notice of 
 the direction which I followed. Setting out to return, I 
 was completely bewildered. Once I was in water up to 
 my middle, and as soon as I had extricated myself, a deep 
 slough was ready to receive me. Thus I wandered about 
 till near midnight, when I happily found a familiar path- 
 way about a mile from Williamstown. I had forgotten to 
 mention that all this time the rain was very drenching, so 
 that when I reached home I felt like some poor outcast. 
 The next morning found me in good health and spirits, 
 laughing at the curious adventures of the preceding night. 
 As to the balloon, it is a pity that it burned, since I should 
 have been entitled to it had it been saved. Now don't 
 you think that my adventures will compare with those of 
 Clayton or Durant ?" * 
 
 The delicate form and constitution of Stoddard — whose 
 growth had outrun his strength — and the childlike softness 
 of manner which he still retained, would hardly have sug- 
 gested a capacity for such endurance. But his mercurial 
 temperament prompted him to enter into any undertaking 
 with his whole soul, and this generous enthusiasm became, 
 in after life, an important element in self-sacrificing labor. 
 The vein of pleasantry that crops out in these boyish 
 letters, was apparent also in his conversation, which par 
 took rather of a cheerful vivacity than of sparkling wit. 
 * Thoa celebrated aeronauts. 
 
FEELINGS AT COLLEGE. 37 
 
 There was no marked development of religious character 
 in his life at Williams College. His letters indicate a 
 serious attention to the study of the Bible " every morning 
 and night," and a frequent attendance upon college 
 prayer-meetings, and other means of grace. He kept 
 himself aloof from vice and overt wickedness, and was 
 even zealous for the reform of college morals in regard to 
 the use of tobacco and of intoxicating drinks. But in his 
 letters of this period, there is no trace of ardent love to 
 Christ, or of a mind deeply imbued with the spirit of 
 prayer. Indeed, he does not seem to have understood 
 himself, with respect either to his mental caj^acity, or his 
 religious state. In June, 1835, he writes to a brother: 
 
 " I have no distinct plan in obtaining a college education. 
 My present feelings are repugnant to studying any profes- 
 sion, or engaging in the delightful task of teaching the 
 young idea how to shoot ! But these are not the only 
 employments suitable for educated men. This country 
 has been called remarkable for the innumerable paths 
 spread out to enterprise and exertion. Parents have, I 
 suppose, sent me to college in the fond hope that at some 
 future day they should see me a minister. This it is impos- 
 sible for me to become without piety and devotion to the 
 cause in which ministers are engaged. I trust that these 
 qualifications, at least, may not be wanting, and that what- 
 ever I now may be, I shall soon be able and qualified to 
 preach the Gospel." 
 
 A Httle later, he writes his determination to elevate his 
 college standing by untiring efforts, and to suffer nothing 
 " to impede progress in wisdom and science." 
 
 In this uncertainty of plans and feelings, how manifest 
 the struggle between duty and ambition in a mind just 
 
38 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 awaking to the consciousness of power, and to the prospects 
 of life. John Adams, in his youth, feared that he must 
 "live and die an ignorant, obscure fellow;" yet he made in 
 his Diary such entries as these : " I talk to Samuel Quincy 
 about resolution, and being a great man. . . . which makes 
 him laugh." . . . " i?e^^<to^^o^ ought to be the perpet- 
 ual subject of my thoughts, and aim of my behavior." And 
 again: "Let love and vanity be extinguished, and the/ 
 great passions of ambition and patriotism break out and 
 burn. Let little objects be neglected and forgot, and 
 great ones engross, arouse, and exalt my soul." Ignoble 
 as is the thought of living for reputation and ambition, yet 
 this sufficed, with the elder Adams, to overcome his dread 
 of perpetual ignorance and stupidity. Young Stoddard, 
 conscious of deficiency, distrustful of attainments, yet eager 
 for knowledge, began to feel the kindlings of "the great 
 passion of ambition." Happily it did not " break out and 
 burn" so as to consume him. Conscience, under the 
 watchful care of parental love, guided him into a better 
 and a nobler path, and he came at length to say, even of 
 ambition and its aims, "let little objects be neglected and 
 forgot, and great ones engross^ arouse, and exalt my soul." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE GKEAT TRANSITION. 
 
 At the close of the first year of his college course, young 
 Stoddard was transferred from Williams to Yale College — 
 the Altna Mater of his father, and of his brother, Pro- 
 fessor Solomon Stoddard, as well as of many of his ances- 
 tors. The sense of deficiency which had somewhat marred 
 his pleasure as a student — a deficiency which was owing 
 entirely to his having entered an advanced class without 
 sufficient preparation — led him to retrace his steps, and to 
 enter anew, at Yale, the Sophomore class, whose studies 
 he had just finished at Williams. It was here that the 
 writer's acquaintance with David began. 
 
 The members of the North division of the class of 1838, 
 at Yale College, will never forget the first recitation of the 
 fair-haired, ruddy, blue-eyed youth who took his seat 
 among them at the opening of Sophomore year, and who 
 " rushed" through a Latin paragraph with a fluency and an 
 impetuosity that challenged the mettle of the best scholars. 
 It was broadly intimated that the new comer must have 
 been through the text-book before ; that his relationship to 
 the author of the Latin Grammar must have made him a 
 Latinist ; and that he would prove a dangerous rival to the 
 aspirants for Junior honors. Yet he had not the air of egot- 
 ism or of ambition. On the contrary, there was such a 
 soul swimming in his eye, such frankness and affection 
 
40 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 beaming in his countenance, that those who might well 
 have been jealous of their college laurels were at once 
 drawn toward him as a genial associate. Gentle and lov- 
 ing, of delicate and generous sensibilities, the soul of truth 
 and honor, full of vivacity and energy, they found him all 
 that could be desired in a college friend. His sensitive 
 spirit shrank from the boisterous manners of colleg^ life, 
 while yet he was averse to no fit and hearty pleasantness 
 or familiarity of intercourse. 
 
 The most demorahzing institution then maintained with- 
 in the college walls was the Commons Hall, where the stu- 
 dents took daily lessons in barbarism from the untamed 
 instincts of hunger. Rap, rap, went the tutor's fork ; a 
 prayer was mumbled ; and four hundred young men, 
 thrown promiscuously together from families of every 
 grade of culture, pounced pell-mell upon the limited sup- 
 ply of food before them, each devouring eagerly whatever 
 he could seize, since politeness might cost him a meal. In 
 the midst of the confusion, while many were yet bolting 
 their food, the tutor's fork rapped again, and with another 
 inaudible prayer the tables were dismissed. On winter 
 evenings, in the dimly-lighted hall, fragments of victvials 
 would fly to and fro between antagonist classes. Under 
 such a regimen, health, manners, and morals were depre- 
 ciated, and the social festivity of the meal was perverted 
 into a rude scramble for bread, or the rendezvous of col- 
 lege rebellions. To young Stoddard this w^as in wide con- 
 trast with that quiet' private table at Williamstown, where 
 Tutor Calhoun had made himself the companion and friend 
 of the few favored boarders. How far all this was from 
 his tastes and habits is shown in one of his earliest letters 
 to his parents : • 
 
COLLEGE COMMONS. 41 
 
 "Kow let me ask you to look at the House of Commons of 
 which I have been elected a member. From short experience it 
 seems to me to be in a worse state than was its counterpart when 
 filled by Cromwell's Parliament. The bell rings — every member is 
 in his seat in a moment. Then comes such a clashing of the ' arti- 
 cles laid on the table' as at first to terrify the stoutest heart. You 
 would verily think that each man was waging war with his neigh- 
 bor, so great is the general commotion. However, the eatables are 
 the greatest sufferers, for these are handled in the most unceremo- 
 nious and ungentlemanly manner I ever saw. The fact is, I can not 
 endure to board in Commons." 
 
 The humor of the foregoing, the play upon history, the 
 refinement of taste and instincts, are all creditable to a 
 college youth of sixteen. Dissatisfaction with Commons 
 led to the formation of a boarding club, of some fifteen 
 members of the class, nearly all of whom were pious, and 
 most of whom have become preachers of the Gospel. In 
 connection with this club the acquaintance of the recita- 
 tion-room grew more familiar, and some who had known 
 each other only as classmates became intimate as friends. 
 In this circle, as in the class at large, Stoddard was a gen- 
 eral favorite. He did not court popularity nor make hasty 
 overtures of friendship ; indeed he was rather fastidious in 
 his choice of companions ; but his frank and courteous 
 manners, his charming simplicity and honesty of character, 
 and the sprightliness of his conversation, attracted to him 
 many of the better spirits in the class. His scholarship 
 v/as always respectable ; and though from a subsequent 
 devotion to certain specialties he did not realize the expec- 
 tations at first formed of him, he nevertheless took rank 
 with the first third of his division. 
 
 Those genial traits which made young Stoddard so at- 
 
42 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 tractive as a friend, made hira also susceptible to the irre- 
 ligious atmosphere of college life — which is compounded of 
 ambition and hilarity in about equal proportions. His 
 early training, his sense of character, and some lingering 
 impressions of former religious convictions and resolves, 
 kept him from open immorality. But how far he had wan- 
 dered from the vows he had made in a visit to New York, 
 already described, may be gathered from these confessions 
 in a letter written after his interest in religion was renewed 
 and confirmed : 
 
 " Did you know what I once was, you would shudder, as I do, 
 Bt the review of my past course. I have probably appeared to 
 you, I have appeared to the world, a moral man. True, I have 
 never fallen into gross outward sins, such as using profane language, 
 intoxication, etc. But it was not on account of the goodness of my 
 heart, but only regard for character, for I had within the same prin- 
 ciple that leads to the commission of these crimes. I have lost 
 more than seven hundred Sabbaths! Many of them have been 
 desecrated by attention to worldly employments, many have been 
 spent in sleep and novel-reading. Can you believe it ? It seems 
 almost incredible. Since here, I have studied, written letters, and 
 done other things of the same kind, without remorse, on Grod's holy 
 day. Oh, may I hereafter be preserved from these and every other 
 sin. One word more. Three weeks ago I took down my dusty 
 Bible, which I do not recollect to have opened for the preceding six 
 weeks." 
 
 The hand of friendship would willingly palliate these 
 self-accusations, for while it is true that for the first six 
 months of his residence at Yale, young Stoddard showed 
 no special interest in the religious afiairs of college, and 
 no convincing marks of a religious life begun in his own 
 
RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENCE. 43 
 
 soul, yet his general deportment was so blameless, that no 
 one would have called in question his claim to be a Chris- 
 tian had he then united with the church. But it is better 
 that the record should stand as he made it, under the fresh 
 conviction of his guilt in the sight of God. Possibly some 
 may think that he exaggerates his faults, and in the attempt 
 to square his experience with his theology, magnifies pecca- 
 dilloes into crimes. Yet what greater crime can there be, 
 than the deliberate and habitual neglect of God, of His 
 Word and His day, by one who has been taught to respect 
 them both, and who has even classed himself among the 
 friends of Christ ? How great the contrast between the 
 youth who for six weeks left his Bible unopened, and who 
 wasted the Sabbath in worldly and frivolous occupations, 
 and him who at Williams College, attended a prayer-meet- 
 ing almost daily, read his Bible at morning and evening, 
 and took special delight in the religious conversation of his 
 favorite tutor. If he had ever truly known the grace of 
 God in his soul, it is painfully evident that he had wan- 
 dered from duty, and had lost the sense of that gracious 
 presence. Conscience seems to have been lulled ; religious 
 duties were neglected, and religious restraints were in a 
 measure thrown off. Nothing but " regard for character," 
 and the habits and tastes formed by early education, re- 
 mained as a barrier between this seemingly fair and fault- 
 less youth and "gross outward sins." So true is that 
 pithy saying of John Owen to illustrate the difference 
 between a simply moral and a truly religious life. " The 
 great difference between the two houses that Solomon 
 built — the temple and his own palace — was, that God 
 dwelt in the one, and he himself in the other. Though 
 any two houses, as to their outward fabric, make the 
 
44 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 same appearance, yet, if the king dwell in one, and a 
 robber in the other, the one may be a palace and the other 
 a den. On this inhabitation of the Spirit, therefore, all the 
 privileges of believers, and all their superiority over men 
 of the world, depend." But this anticipates the narrative. 
 The spring of 1836 witnessed in Yale College one of those 
 special visitations of Divine mercy with which that institu- 
 tion has been favored in almost every generation of stu- 
 dents since the beginning of this century. As the day of 
 the annual fast for colleges approached — the last Thursday 
 in February — a deep concern was exhibited by many pious 
 students for the religious welfare of college. Prayer- 
 meetings were multiplied, and there was a manifest increase 
 both in attendance and interest, at all religious exercises. 
 This feeling was deepened by the general distribution of 
 an appeal to young men, from the fervent pen of the late 
 Dr. William Scudder of Madras. 
 
 On the day of prayer for colleges the pious members of 
 the Sophomore class agreed each to visit some unconverted 
 class-mate at his room, for the purpose of religious conver- 
 sation, or at least to present him with a copy of the tract, 
 and to solicit his attendance at the class prayer-meeting. 
 Upon this errand, a friend sought David at the room which 
 he then occupied alone, remote from the college premises. 
 The first interview was brief, but kind and frank upon both 
 sides. It resulted in a promise from David to read atten- 
 tively Dr. Scudder's tract, and to devote the day — which 
 was exempt from college recitations — to serious meditation 
 upon his spiritual state. At a second interview, on the 
 day following, it was evident that his mind was somewhat 
 impressed with his personal need of repentance and faith in 
 Christ, and the conversation closed with prayer. On Sat- 
 
FIRST LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. 45 
 
 urday his convictions appeared more deiiuitc and pungent, 
 and his mind became deeply agitated upon the question 
 of his personal salvation. At a prolonged interview in the 
 after part of that day he manifested so raiuch earnestness 
 that he engaged audibly in a prayer for pardon, light, and 
 peace. The next day, the Sabbath, brought him to a 
 sense of gracious acceptance with God in Jesus Christ. 
 From several letters to his friends, describing this change, 
 the two following are selected as giving the various emo- 
 tional and theological phases of his experience. The intel- 
 ligence of his joy was first communicated to his mother. 
 
 "Tale College, February 29th, 1836. 
 "My Mother — 
 
 " I trust the Lord has heard your prayers and looked upon me in 
 tender mercy. I humbly trust that I, who have gone on so long in 
 impenitency, am in some measure brought to see my wretched con- 
 dition, and am willing to accept the terms of salvation. Yesterday 
 was a day long to be remembered by me, as one upon which my 
 final, deliberate choice was made for eternity. And is it then possi- 
 ble that the exile from his father's house, that he who had by his 
 indifierence almost grieved away the Spirit of God, that he has laid 
 down the weapons of his rebellion ? K it be so, as I hope, eternal 
 and never-ceasing thanksgivings become me. Truly it is a wonder 
 of mercy, that Jesus is yet willing to receive me, after he has been 
 so long refused, neglected, and despised ; that I am yet in a land of 
 hope, and yet am offered the gift of pardon and reconciliation to 
 him. 
 
 "But two days ago, and I was immersed entirely in the vanities 
 of the world, unmindful of my alarming situation, and my gloomy 
 
 prospects. T , of whom you have heard me speak and who 
 
 is now my dear friend, on Saturday ventured to converse with me 
 on this important subject. His words, dictated by friendsliip, and 
 coming from the heart, through God's blessing, did not fail to affect 
 
46 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 me. I then promised that I would consider my ways, and seek 
 diligently after truth and duty. You are well aware, my dear 
 mother, that my duty is well known to me ; that I have been in- 
 structed in the theory of rehgion, and seen the reahty of it evi- 
 denced in the hves of Christian friends around me. Saturday 
 evening I devoted to a close and careful examination of my heart. 
 I felt that the carnal heart is indeed at enmity with God. I endeav- 
 ored to realize my ingratitude, my wickedness, in refusing to obey 
 the dictates of conscience and my understanding, and maintaining a 
 warfare with the greatest and best of beings. 
 
 " I strove to bring to my mind the goodness and loving kindness 
 of God, his willingness to save all who will come to him, and with 
 such feelings, I trust I made that decision, which I shall abide by in 
 life, in death, and through eternity. I know that I have been once 
 deceived, and I shudder to think that this may now be my case. 
 The only resort is prayer. Reliance on him, who is able to keep 
 us from falling, is our only refuge. I feel that I am weak and 
 miserable, blind and naked. But Jesus has promised that he 
 will never forsake, that he will put underneath us the everlasting 
 arms, and as our days, so shall our strength be. Relying on him, I 
 will go onward. A life of watchfulness and prayerfulness awaits 
 the Christian. But the yoke is easy, and his grace will make the 
 burden hght. 
 
 " Do you, my dear mother, inquire farther into my feelings ? 1 
 am not now under the injfluence of excitement. From beginning 
 to end, I have endeavored to be governed by reason, not by feeling. 
 In view of three worlds, in view of eternity, I trust I resolved like 
 the prodigal to return and seek my father's injured face. After this 
 determination I felt calm. It seemed to be a glorious thing to be 
 permitted to take the lowest place in God's service, and in building 
 up his kingdom. Surely those who have done much for the reign 
 of sin, should do much for the reign of righteousness. Surely 
 every one who hopes that the Saviour is his friend, should show 
 proofs of attachment to him by devotion to his cause. 
 
 " But time tells me that I must be drawing to a close. It may. 
 
LETTER TO HIS BROTHER. 47 
 
 after all, be a deception, but it is a delightful deception. Delight- 
 ful to look forward to a Christian's life on earth. 1 how glo- 
 rious the thought that though our family may never meet in this 
 world, we shall meet in heaven. There forever to celebrate his 
 love, who has washed us in his blood, and made us partakers of like 
 precious faith. All the other members of the family have an inter- 
 est at the throne of grace. Will they not pray for me ? To you, 
 my dear mother, I have no need to put the question. I feel assured 
 that earnest supphcations will ascend from you continually in behalf 
 of your affectionate, though unworthy son David. 
 
 " Can I close without asking your forgiveness for my ingratitude 
 and disobedience in multiplied instances. To both my parents I 
 have often been a disobedient and wayward child. For this and 
 my other sins I ask pardon from above, and may I not indulge the 
 hope that for my offenses against you, my parents, I may receive 
 forgiveness ?" 
 
 The following letter was addressed a few days later, to 
 his brother, Mr. Charles Stoddard of Boston. 
 
 *' Yale College, March 3d, 1836. 
 "My dear Brother Charles — 
 
 " In a letter to Solomon, a short time since, I expressed the in- 
 tention of answering your long neglected letter. I have accord-, 
 ingly set apart a httle season for this purpose, and in this way inform 
 you of my change of feelings. Yes, I trust that God has of his 
 infinite mercy inclined his ear unto me and heard my cry. Last 
 Saturday evening, a very dear friend of mine had some conversa- 
 tion with me on the subject of rehgion. He urged me to the imme- 
 diate performance of my duty, and the unreserved renunciation of 
 all my sins. Such advice coming from the heart, and dictated by 
 friendship, affected me. I shut myself in my room, devoted the 
 evening to a review of my life, and saw that it was diametrically 
 opposed to God and that my actions aimed at no less than the sub- 
 version of his throne. I saw that Jesus, whom I had so long 
 
48 MEMOIROFSTODDARD. 
 
 tejected, stretching out his arms of mercy to save me, and pleading 
 "with the influences of his Spirit. I then, with all these things in 
 view, endeavored to decide the question for eternity, and as reason 
 and conscience demanded. Though, during the Sabbath, I did not 
 enjoy God's presence, yet I was much in prayer, and endeavored to 
 renew again and again my consecration to him. In the evening, hght 
 did dawn, as I trust, upon my soul, and I did feel the preciousness 
 of that Saviour. Since that time I have been encouraged to go 
 onward in the Christian race, and to promote his glory in the world. 
 Through his grace I find my poor weak resolutions daily growing 
 stronger, and my desires to serve him increased. In obedience to 
 the voice of conscience, and relying on the promise that whosoever 
 confesseth him before men, him will he confess before his Father, I 
 have striven to take the place of an active Christian. It is a glori- 
 ous service to be permitted to act as humble instruments in the 
 hands of God. 
 
 "Brother, I have been once deceived. I know that there is 
 great danger of it now ; but there is one who will keep us from de- 
 ception, if we keep near to him. If he has brought me out of dark- 
 ness into marvelous light, to him be all the glory. Surely it is a 
 wonder of mercy that, after so long refusing him, he should be will- 
 ing to receive us, and through the merits of the Saviour to remove 
 our transgressions from us. God is love! 0, what matchless, infi-- 
 nite grace. It is astonishing, that all will not come at once to Jesus. 
 Here is the law honored, and the sinner saved. I know not what 
 to think, when I reflect that I have seventeen years refused this 
 love, and neglected such a Saviour. 'Tis but one sincere desire he 
 needs, one resolve to come to him; he rises, and while we are a 
 great way off, takes pity and runs to our relief. All we can do is 
 to love and serve him forever. I feel tliat life is short — ^what we 
 would do must be done quickly. The world presents itself, undone 
 by sin, and in rebelHon against its maker. Here then is enough to 
 do, a wiUing heart and a dependence on Christ is what is wanted. 
 that I might have this wiUing heart, and become a herald of sal- 
 vation to proclaim the wondrous story of redemption and pardon. 
 
LETTER TO HIS BROTHER. 49 
 
 O, that it may be the reigning purpose of my life to glorify God, 
 and build up that cause which I have opposed. 
 
 "Of course I can as yet form no particular plans for the future. 
 But one thing I think I anticipate with pleasure — the celebration of 
 his feast of love, and the prospect of joining myself with the people 
 of God. Such an ordinance must be calculated to warm the heart 
 with love to him, and keep alive the flame of piety. Next Sabbath 
 the college church are publicly to renew their vows, 
 
 " ' And enjoy in sweet communion 
 Joys that earth can not afford.' 
 
 I trust that day will be a blessed day to all. A day when many 
 shall leave the ranks of Satan, and come over to the side of the 
 Saviour. 
 
 '' But enough of my letter has been devoted to self. You do not 
 yet know what we trust God is doing here. This week has hith- 
 erto been solemn, and much interest has been felt for the situation 
 of this college, the indifference of the church, and the carelessness 
 of sinners. Our meetings are numerous, crowded, and the Holy 
 Spirit seems to be here. Several who were opposers of reUgion, it 
 is hoped have been subdued by its power. Many prayers went 
 up a week since to the throne of grace, and will not the petitions o. 
 the righteous, offered in faith, avail much ? 
 
 " And now, my dearly beloved brother, what more shall I say ? 
 I have described to you the feelings of my heart, as well as the hur- 
 ried manner in wliich I have "written has permitted. I hope the 
 work of grace is begim in me, and tliat I shall daily grow in grace, 
 and in the knowledge of God. In his strength, who has promised 
 never to leave us nor forsake us, I will go onward. But if I am 
 deluded, I pray God that I may be brought to see my wickedness. 
 And need I ask your prayers. Will you not remember your guilty, 
 repenting brother ? I feel that you will. 0, pray that I may love 
 him more and give up all to him. Please write soon, and believe 
 me, your affectionate brother, David." 
 
 3 
 
50 MEMOIK OF STODDARD. 
 
 He seems to have been keenly alive to the danger of 
 self-deception, in view of his decline from former profes- 
 sions. A little later he writes : " I have sometimes en- 
 deavored to recur to the scenes which passed in New York, 
 and comj^are my past with my present feelings. But, 
 owing to the lapse of time, I have not been able to do so 
 with clearness, nor do I consider it necessary. AlthoiTgh 
 I have once been deceived, yet daily consecration to God, 
 renunciation of the world, and repentance for sin, constant 
 desires for growth in grace, if hearty and sincere, and 
 blessed by the Holy Spirit, will give us all desirable 
 evidence." 
 
 The doctrines of the Scriptures concerning household 
 consecration, the prayer of faith, and the influences of the 
 Holy Spirit, are all strikingly illustrated in the conversion 
 of Stoddard. WTiat led one to whom religious truth and 
 duty had been so long familiar, but who had been growing 
 callous toward both, on a sudden to give his whole mind 
 to the question of personal duty, and to yield his heart to 
 the claims of Christ ? It was not the influence of excite- 
 ment — for he had been to no religious meeting other 
 than the usual service in the college chapel, had heard no 
 sermon with more than ordinary attention. Rooming 
 alone, retired from college halls, he did not even partake 
 of the measure of religious interest which began to pervade 
 their atmosphere. Thei'e was nothing in the conversation 
 of a classmate who had but little experience in the Chris- 
 tian life, to give a new attractiveness or power to truths 
 which he had heard from the lips of parents who honored 
 and exemplified them in»their lives. The Bible alone ofi*ers 
 a satisfactory solution of such a change, regarded merely as 
 a psychological phenomenon. "The wind bio weth where 
 
51 
 
 it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not 
 tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth ; so is every 
 one that is born of the Spirit." The result witnessed, the 
 phenomenon itself of conversion, argues the supernatural 
 operation of the Spirit of God. 
 
 TF/iy was that operation now induced, or for the first 
 time made effectual ? The ultimate answer lies in the 
 gracious sovereignty of God. " Of his own will begat He 
 us ^vith the word of truth." But was there no human link 
 in the chain of influences that now fastened conviction 
 upon the child of many prayers, and drew him into the 
 kingdom ? The answer to this question was given in a 
 letter from his mother which the young convert received 
 the very morning after he had found peace in Christ. In 
 that letter, his mother, knowing nothing as yet of the 
 change in his feelings, reminded him that in infancy she 
 had consecrated him to Christ for the work of the ministry, 
 and informed him that on the day of prayer for colleges, 
 she had spent a great part of the day in prayer for his 
 C07iversi07i. Young Stoddard at once avowed the change 
 which had taken place within him, and it was soon known 
 throughout his class. He became zealous for the conver- 
 sion of others, and with characteristic ardor engaged in all 
 the public duties and responsibilities which the season of 
 special mercy devolved upon the friends of Christ in col- 
 lege. The pious members of each division met daily in 
 their respective recitation rooms for prayer and counsel. 
 Members of different classes, who lodged in the same col- 
 lege hall, held " entry prayer-meetings" every evening at 
 nine o'clock, in some private room. General prayer-meet- 
 ings for college, in which the Faculty united with the 
 students, were multiplied ; and two or three times a week 
 
52 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Dr. Taylor preached ^vith great power to large numbers of 
 studeDts, assembled in the rhetorical chamber. The gen- 
 eral tone of the revival is well exhibited in the following 
 letter : 
 
 March 22d, 1S36 : — '' You can more easily imagine than I can 
 expresSj how much I am occupied daily, and language even would 
 utterly fell to convey an idea of my enjoyment. Until last Sabbath 
 I was at times perplexed with doubts as to my condition, the genu- 
 ineness of my repentance, etc. But on reading the 26oth Tillage 
 Hymn the evening before, such joy took possession of my soul, as I 
 previously formed no conception of. During all the next day I was 
 just in the state described by the lines, 
 
 ' Love and grie^ my heart dividing, 
 With my tears his feet I '11 bathe.' 
 
 '• I felt, yes, I knew, that I loved that Saviour who died for me. 
 My heart seemed ready to burst; I was full to overflowing, and 
 could do nought but weep and pray. You can doubtless understand 
 me. for these are the feelings of a Christian, and those which I pre- 
 sume you often have. On Monday, and thus far to-day, I have 
 been happy. I have been FULL. I love to pray, I love my Bible, 
 and what more can I say ? It almost appears to me, on retrospect, 
 that I never really submitted tUl the time I mention. However, 
 knowing that it is dangerous to rely on old hopes, I endeavor to 
 obtain a new one daily, and daily anew consecrate myself to G-od. 
 I believe I feel the necessity of Kving to his glory, and promoting 
 liis cause in the world. And what field for usefulness so wide as 
 college? Here are five hundred young men who will probably 
 exert more influence than ten thousand of ordinary talents and 
 capabilities. Is it to bt on the side of Christ, is a question which is 
 big with importance to aU his followers. Shall sinners break through 
 every barrier, and /orce their way down to death ; shall their destruc- 
 tion be made sure ? But is their rain all ? No : they wiO, it is to be 
 
DAILY COX SEC RATION. 53 
 
 feared, drag do"WTi others with them, while they scorn, and at every 
 step, trample in a Saviom-'s blood. Oh ! my brother, why am not I 
 among them ? I undoubtedly owe much to the prayers of Christian 
 friends. But I owe much more to the restraining grace of God. It 
 is all of His mercy, and I would desire for ever to bless his name. 
 
 '• The seriousness is, I think, increasing, and may we not s<oon 
 expect to see sinners flocking unto Christ in great numbers ? Mr. 
 Kirk and Dr. Hawes have both declined an invitation to labor with 
 us. Perhaps it is designed to strengthen our faith, and lead us to 
 pray more, trusting less to human instrumentality, and more to the 
 Holy Spirit. Dr. Taylor, however, preaches three times a week, 
 and that too with great power. TVe feel that we need prayer. 
 "We feel that it is our fault that the work advances so slowly. The 
 term is soon to close — five weeks more, and these students will 
 leave the influence under which they now are, to be dispersed over 
 the country. Probably, then, the revival must close. How many 
 immortal souls may perish through our unfaithfulness here. I know 
 not We ought rather to inquire how can we do most to promote 
 this revival. I was rejoiced to hear that TV. H. X. and K had come 
 out decided on this subject. "With the former I was intimate, and 
 now feel a great interest in him. At "Williams College, too, I trust, 
 they will receive a plentiful shower." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES IN COLLEGE. 
 
 " LoED, what wilt thou have me to do P^ was the form 
 of consecration in which the Apostle Paul expressed his 
 implicit submission and obedience to Christ. And the 
 same form of active consecration is seized upon by all neo- 
 phytes, whose temperament, like that of Paul, is ardent, 
 and whose conversion is marked with any sudden and vio- 
 lent transition of feelings. A complete surrender of one's 
 being to do the will of God, belongs indeed, to the very 
 essence of conversion. But the hearts of some are gently 
 opened like that of Lydia, by the river-side, or of Natha- 
 nael, at the first words of Christ, while others are wrought 
 upon by an inward energy, fitly symbolized by the blaze 
 that smote Saul, and the earthquake that terrified the 
 jailor. And so, in some, piety takes on a more quiet, med- 
 itative mood ; in others it becomes an inward fire of zeal. 
 Indeed, a degree of zeal to glorify God through the con 
 version of others, is a universal accompaniment and fruit of 
 genuine conversion. 
 
 "0, by those gentle tones, and dear, 
 When Thou hast stayed our wild career, 
 
 Thou only Hope of souls. 
 Ne'er let us cast one look behind. 
 But in the thought of Jesus find 
 
 What every thought controls. 
 
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES IN COLLEGE. 55 
 
 " As to Thy last Apostle's heart, 
 Thy lightning glance did then impart 
 
 Zeal's never-dying fire — 
 So teach us on Thy shrine to lay 
 Our hearts, and let them day by day 
 
 lutenser blaze, and higher," 
 
 Such was the spirit with which our youthful friend eii 
 tered into the service of Christ. Very early after his 
 change he writes: "I believe that I am somewhat im- 
 pressed with the importance of being an eminent Christian, 
 of giving up all for God. Many young men are now 
 needed to proclaim the good news of salvation both in this 
 and foreign lands. I know that my mother has often ex- 
 pressed the hope that I should become a missionary, and 
 though this subject should be thought and prayed over 
 much before decided, I can not but indulge the idea that I 
 shall be a missionary, and perhaps labor for Christ in the 
 dark corners of the earth." Again, m the following letter, 
 written at home, in his first vacation after the revival, he 
 pours out his whole heart upon the question of personal 
 duty to the un evangelized. The letter was addressed to 
 Mr. Charles Stoddard, of Boston, a member of the Pruden- 
 tial Committee of the A.B.C.F.M. 
 
 •' I can not let more time pass without addressing you, and touch- 
 ing upon a theme which you first introduced, and upon which I love 
 to dwell I refer to tlie conversion of the world to Christ, and to 
 the hope which I cherish, that Providence will permit me to be an 
 agent in hastening the dawn of the latter-day glory. Before your 
 letter by Mr. Armstrong, and my interview w^ith him, I had made 
 this subject a matter of serious consideration. Shall I not, ouglit I 
 not, to go as a herald of salvation to the benighted corners of the 
 earth, and preach there the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ ? It 
 
56 MEMOIR or STODDARD. 
 
 struck me as being a blessed work, and one in which I could heart- 
 ily and cheerfully engage. The more my attention was drawn to 
 the subject, the more was I impressed with the call for laborers to 
 toil in the vineyard. With such feelings, I went on in the investi- 
 gation, and have at periods continued it to the present time. The 
 result is a firm conviction, in my own mind, that duty will summon 
 me, at a future day, to give up friends and country, and spend my 
 life in a foreign land. I now want the approval of my family in 
 order to make the decision as final as a prospective view of several 
 years will allow. 
 
 " The question seems to resolve itself into this, How can I exert 
 the most influence upon the ultimate conversion of the world ? My 
 reasons for deciding in favor of Foreign Missions are briefly these : 
 six or seven hundred milHons of heathen are perishing for want of 
 the bread of life, multitudes of whom never heard of a Saviour's 
 love. At home, we have a population of thirteen millions, who 
 might all probably have access to the means of grace. True, ©ur 
 home destitution is alarming, and young men are needed to go forth 
 to the West, and other sections of the country, in mighty armies. 
 But when we consider how few, compared with the whole number 
 of ministers, devote themselves to the missionary cause, does it not 
 seem that the calls of those who sit in darkness are too much un- 
 heeded? And the question might also, with propriety be asked, 
 Will our efforts to relieve and succor the benighted impoverish our- 
 selves, or will too many be likely to volunteer at present for this 
 work? Will not, on the *^3ontrary, every one who goes abroad 
 exert a reflex influence upon those at home ? Thus will the prom- 
 ise be fulfilled, that the Hberal man deviseth liberal things, and by 
 liberal things he shall stand. If feeling be allowed to have any 
 effect in the decision, I can truly say, as I have said before, that it 
 seems to me that I could go with joy, and lay down my life, if 
 necessary, in this holy cause. I reahze, in some measure, the feel- 
 ings of those who have ardently desired a voice which might be 
 heard throughout our land, rousing Christians to their duty, urging 
 youth who are pious to become students for the ministry, and cans- 
 
CLAIMS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 57 
 
 ing all to feel their responsibility in a tenfold measure. Oh, when 
 will the millennium ever dawn ; when will righteousness and love 
 cover the earth, and the nations learn war no more ? Were the pro- 
 fessed followers of Christ half so earnest about saving souls, as accu- 
 mulating the paltry honors of this world, the kingdoms of this world 
 would soon become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. 
 One general song of adoration to the Lamb would arise, and be re- 
 echoed from shore to shore, and the Saviour reign triumphant in the 
 hearts of men. Can this not be in our day ? Can our eyes not 
 behold the light, and hear the joyful sound? These solemn questions 
 Christians must answer. Brother, you are aware that our family are 
 all professing to look forward to a heaven of glory. Duty, then, and 
 not self-interest, should be our ruling motive. All my friends with 
 whom I have conversed, would not thwart my desire to leave my 
 native land. Doubtless all would bid me God speed, and follow me 
 with their prayers. That there is no obstacle opposed by parents, 
 brothers, or sisters, seems to me a strong argument in favor of the 
 missionary hfe. Many who would go, can not, and does not it be- 
 hoove all who know nothing to prevent, to fill their places ? My 
 heavenly Father has done much for me, and should I not be willing 
 to spend and be spent in his service ? To you I look, my brother, 
 for advice and direction. You have had experience, and perhaps 
 could decide with more judgment than others of the family. The 
 motives for an early decision appear to my mind to be great. It is 
 now my expectation to make a profession of religion on the first 
 Sabbath in June, in college. The piety will probably attain more 
 strength, and a deeper tone. The missionary needs an overcoming 
 faith ; he needs grace, he must walk with God. The attainments, 
 too, of the student will all be made to bear on this one object. His 
 qualifications for his work abroad will be much superior, and his 
 usefulness can not be less at home, should it seem necessary to re- 
 main here." 
 
 In this franie of feeling Mr. Stoddard returned to col- 
 lege at the close of May, and on the first Sabbath in June, 
 
 3* 
 
58 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 he united with the college church by a public profession oi 
 his faith in Christ. His feelings in anticipation of this 
 event are thus expressed. 
 
 " The next Sabbath it is my hope to be permitted to unite with 
 the people of God, and take upon myself everlasting obligations. I 
 trust that I am in some measure sensible of the immense responsi- 
 bility which will then rest upon me, and my own weakness and 
 inability to fulfill my vows. But there is one on whom frail man 
 may rely ; one who has promised to put underneath us the ever- 
 lasting arms, and sustain us by His grace. There are too, joys in 
 coming out from the world, and avouching the Saviour as my Sa- 
 viour and my eternal portion. To be allowed a hope of heaven, after 
 such a life as mine has been, spent in sin, and with my back turned 
 upon such redeeming love, 0, to be allowed such a hope, demands 
 my highest gratitude and praise. We love him because he first 
 loved us. . . . But there is such a thing as deception — the heart is 
 deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. While reading 
 Edwards on the Affections, I have been very much tried with doubts 
 as to the reality of the change in myself If I know my own heart, 
 I do love those things which I once hated, prayer, contemplation on 
 death, eternity and judgment. May I not be deceived. May I 
 build on the rock Christ Jesus, and count all things but loss for 
 Christ." 
 
 The revival of the preceding spring brought a large ac- 
 cession to the active strength of the college church ; but 
 the fervor of that season was perceptibly diminished by the 
 intervening vacation. Moreover, college politics, which 
 in their sphere are as exciting and distracting as are the 
 politics of state, arrayed in parties under the banners of 
 various literary societies many who had co-operated as 
 brethren in the work of the Lord. In the year following 
 the revival, these dissensions became so violent in our own 
 
COLLEGE POLITICS. 69 
 
 class as even to alienate from each other some wlio had 
 been bosom friends. In a confiding letter to his mother, 
 David thus speaks of the hindrance of the work of grace 
 from this cause. 
 
 " I have been drawn into these scenes of excitement most unwil- 
 lingly, and have all along felt their deadening influence on the piety 
 of individuals and the church in college. When the quarrels com- 
 menced, brethren were dwelling together in unity, praying and 
 longing for the outpouring of the Spirit of God. But when by open 
 altercations professing Christians had shown to the world how weak 
 was their principle and how little their devotedness, the efforts of 
 the class seemed to be turned into a different channel. The main 
 question was, how shall we advance the interests of our party, and 
 triumph over our opponents — not how shall we do the most for the 
 glory of God. A spirit of worldliness crept in among the members 
 of the church, and we have now at the close of the term to feel 
 that we have loved the things of time, to the neglect of the things 
 of eternity. The city however, has been blessed in an eminent 
 degree, and under the labors of Dr. Hawes, Mr. Ludlow, Dr. Pat- 
 ten, and several other clergymen, large numbers have been added to 
 the church." 
 
 But while he thus bewailed the general declension in 
 college, Mr. Stoddard was not disposed to shield himself 
 behind the delinquencies of his brethren. In the free in- 
 terchange of religious experience which he maintained 
 "vvith an older brother, he sometimes laments his own spir- 
 itual declensions in terms which even at this early period 
 remind one of the humility of Brainerd. 
 
 " It grieves me to say, though I will say it candidly to you, my 
 brother, that I have not that joy and peace in believing, which I 
 once thought that I possessed. Temptations seem to have thick- 
 
60 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 ened around me, and I find myself prone to yield to their allure- 
 ments. The causes may perhaps be found partly in the indifference 
 manifested by other Christians here, but they are mainly attributa- 
 ble to my own wicked, deceitful heart. If I have learned nothing 
 else in religion, I believe that my short experience has taught me 
 that human resolutions are all weakness, and human power is com- 
 plete impotence. But it is not so with that power and that arm on 
 whom we can rely. I know how great and how mighty He is 
 whom we call our Father, to comfort, sanctify, and bless us. I feel 
 assured that as we rely on him, so he will be with us, and as we 
 forsake him, so will he depart from us. . . . Sometimes feelings 
 such as were mine in days past, will return, and I long, as I think, 
 for their continuance. But some sin comes in, and shuts Grod from 
 my sight, while I am left to mourn over my unfruitfulness, and the 
 hidings of his face." 
 
 The paramount interest which Mr. Stoddard had been 
 brought to feel in religion did not abate his diligence in 
 the pursuit of knowledge. In the Junior appointments he 
 took rank as an orator, an honor which in a fit of boyish 
 enthusiasm, he thus describes to his sister : 
 
 " This is as high as I hoped or expected to be. I have an ap- 
 pointment as good, and in fact the same, as Professors Goodrich and 
 Olmsted, President Humphrey, Tutors Brace and Langsti'oth, Mr. 
 Twining, Rev. L. Bacon, and a whole host of other worthies. 
 Though not the valedictory, it is the next grade below, and is as 
 much as I can bear with dignity. ... In scholarship here, consider- 
 ing the maximum to be 100 to 0, so that 50 shows medium scholar- 
 ship, etc.. Friend • stands at 100! and I, during Sophomore 
 
 year, at 93 ; since then, somewhat lower, owing to ill health, etc." 
 
 Mr. Stoddard's health seemed at one time so precarious 
 as to threaten a serious interruption of his studies. A 
 
PRECARIOUS HEALTH 61 
 
 general debility and a dizziness bordering upon blindness 
 were symptoms of which he comiDlained. But by taking 
 leave of absence for a few weeks he reinvigorated his sys- 
 tem by a process which he thus jocosely describes, and 
 which may jDrove of service to others. 
 
 "Northampton was so far away that I preferred going to New 
 York, to the care of my second mother — aunt F. While in the city, 
 I became intimately acquainted with a Mr. Exercise, a gentleman 
 who kindly conducted me all about, free of expense. He is accus- 
 tomed to practice medicine, or rather he is professor of the healing 
 art, and in company with his partner, Mr. Simplicity of Diet, has 
 effected many wonderful cures. I employed him in my case, and 
 am happy to say that he soon benefited me very greatly. You 
 will be glad to learn that, although I had formerly some difference 
 with Mr. Exercise, I have been so won upon by liis kindness as to 
 open a daily correspondence with him. He frequently paints my 
 cheeks, and does many other things which can not here be men- 
 tioned. Sufi&ce it to say, that in a fortnight's time, I came back to 
 New Haven with new life and spirits. I was destined, however, to 
 more trouble from sickness ; and for ten days intermitted my stud- 
 ies. I have now once more recovered. . . . Our appointments for 
 Junior exhibition come out in six weeks, and I am backward in my 
 studies. Though I do not study for honor, yet I do desire to get all 
 that I can consistently, both for my own sake, that of my friends, 
 and the credit of the family." 
 
 We have seen how well his diligence was rewarded. 
 Mr. Stoddard took high rank as a scholar, especially in the 
 physical sciences, to which he became almost a devotee, 
 snatching hours from sleep to watch the stars, and spend- 
 ing his seasons of relaxation in the observatory, the labo- 
 ratory, or the shop of some intelligent machinist. II(; had 
 always too low an estimate of his ability as a writer, and 
 
62 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 his attainments as a linguist ; but like Martyn in his Uni- 
 versity course, he excelled in the study of the mathematics, 
 whether pure or mixed. His zeal for general knowledge 
 appears in the following account of a short winter vacation 
 spent at college. 
 
 "I set out at the beginning of vacation with good spirit, and 
 
 and myself were intending to accomplish wonders in a 
 
 fortnight. We rose regularly at five o'clock, spent three hours in 
 reading, etc., before breakfast, and, by thus taking time by the fore- 
 lock, were able to accomplish considerable. I wrote a piece for- 
 the Yale Literary ; read part of Milton and a portion of Butler's 
 Analogy; read also, Mammon twke from beginning to end, and 
 studied Lardner's Hydrostatics and Pneumatics. Mammon I fell in 
 love with, not only from the dignity and elegance of the style, but 
 also from the importance of the subject. Indeed, I have hardly 
 ever read a book, which so well repaid me for the perusal. I also 
 dipped a little into some select parts of Byron, whose poetry I ad- 
 mire, but whose principles I would reject." 
 
 Such was Mr. Stoddard's proficiency in the natural sci- 
 ences, that before the close of his Junior year he received the 
 offer of a post in the United States' Exploring Expedition, 
 then about to sail for the South Pacific, under Commander 
 Wilkes. As another gentleman of Yale College were to 
 be connected with the Expedition, and the post was one of 
 honor as well as of emolument, the offer was quite tempt- 
 ing to one whose mind was so enthusiastic in the pursuit of 
 the natural sciences. But Mr. Stoddard declined it be- 
 cause he regarded himself as consecrated to the work of the 
 ministry. A letter to a brother, bearing date August 4th, 
 1837, expresses in tho language of Christian conscientious- 
 ness, his decision upon a proposition that might have 
 changed the whole course of his life. 
 
U. S. EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 63 
 
 A subject has recently been brought before my mind, for con- 
 sideration, in regard to wtiich I regretted that I could not have your 
 advice. Application was made to me by government on the recom- 
 mendation of one of our Professors, to go out to the Southern Sea, 
 on the Exploring Expedition now fitting out. The office proffered 
 was that of Secretary, on board one of the vessels, and the duties of 
 that office something of the following nature : To keep the course 
 and distance of the ship, including occasional astronomical observa- 
 tions — to write a sub-journal of the expedition, which would be of 
 considerable importance, as this vessel is to do most of the explor- 
 ing. The salary is fijsed at near seven hundred and fifty dollars per 
 annum, with an outfit of three or four hundred. It was considered 
 here a very advantageous situation for a young man, and my friends 
 many of them, advised my acceptance. I even went so far as to 
 write home in favor of the plan, thinking that it might make me 
 more robust, and better fitted, physically^ to perform the duties of 
 life on my return. I was assured that I could procure without diffi- 
 culty a degree on my return, and receive an education as good as 
 by a regular course. But serious reflection, and I trust, guidance 
 from on high, dissipated the illusion which deceived me and set be- 
 fore me arguments too great to be surmounted, for dechning the en- 
 terprize. I could not go as a Christian ; for Httle opportunity would 
 be afforded me of doing good, and such a voyage might have a very 
 unhappy effect on my Christian character. I could not go as a man 
 of the world ; for I have a Master, whose I am and whom I am 
 ever bound to serve. Were I to look only at time and ask myself, 
 what course would be Ukely to advance me in worldly science, I 
 might accept the offer. I could not, however, forget the interests 
 of eternity and the life which I had chosen, or rather I hope I may 
 say, the life to which I have been chosen, that of an ambassador Ox 
 Jesus Christ. Parents and the family at home disapprove of the 
 idea no less than myself; and I presume you will coincide with us 
 all in opinion. 
 
 " You ask me in your last letter some questions of thrilling im- 
 portance, and questions which, if they could be all answered in the 
 
64: MEMOIE OF STODDARD. 
 
 affirmative, would prove me peaceful aud happy. Peaceful in the 
 victory over my indwelling corruptions, and happy in the love and 
 favor of God. You can '■ suspect' that the ardor of my youthful 
 piety and the sacred enthusiasm of my purpose had vanished away ; 
 but it is left for me to know that I am ' poor and miserable, and 
 blind and naked.' It is for me to feel, that my heart has claimed 
 alhance with those of other Christians around me, and become 
 wrapt up with them in the cares of the world. Coldness reigns in 
 our college church, and the darkness of winter broods over our 
 spiritual prospect. But in the church and Sunday school in 
 town with which I am associated, a continued, gentle shower of 
 grace descends upon the teachers and the taught. There occasion- 
 ally I feel something as I did formerly, when it seemed as though I 
 dwelt in the inner court of the temple. Shall I ask you for your 
 prayers to ascend with mine, that I may be guided in the path of 
 truth, and brought near to the God and Saviour of us all ? In re- 
 gard to my purposes, they remain the same. I entertain the same 
 hope and the same desire to preach the everlasting Gospel, perhaps 
 in foreign lands ; but my youth, and the years that intervene, before 
 I come to act as a man, prevent a final decision." 
 
 The hesitancy with which Mr. Stoddard here speaks of 
 his personal consecration to the work of missions, is quite 
 in contrast with the fervor with which, in an earlier letter, 
 he urged the paramount claims of the missionary service 
 upon the young convert ; yet this does not argue a loss of 
 interest in that cause, nor any serious decline of piety. It 
 was, in part, a natural reaction from a decision made by- 
 feeling, as the judgment became more matured, and the 
 wide scope of life and its responsibilities began to be better 
 appreciated. Whether it is wise for the student, at the 
 outset of his course, to pledge himself unconditionally to 
 the foreign missionary service, may well be questioned. He 
 should consecrate himself unreservedly to the service of 
 
PLEDGES TO MISSIONARY SERVICE. 65 
 
 Christ, whatever that service may lead him ; but the light of 
 experience, as he advances in his course, may assist him to 
 determine for what field or circle of labor he is best qualified. 
 It soon became evident that the work to wdiich Mr. Stod- 
 dard devoted himself in the freshness of his Christian life, 
 was that to which the Master had called him, and for which 
 He had endowed him with qualifications of no ordinary kind. 
 At the same time, it must be acknowledged that in the latter 
 part of his collegiate course, Mr. Stoddard did lose some- 
 what of his zeal, not only for the work of foreign missions, 
 but even in the more immediate duties and labors of the 
 Christian life. This was owmg in part, to his rare enthu- 
 siasm in scientific pursuits, which led him to appropriate to 
 mechanical labors and optical experiments even the hours 
 which he had held sacred to devotion. 
 
 That there is nothing in the study of physical science to 
 secularize the mind, and to draw away the heart from God, 
 does not require to be argued at a time when many of the 
 most eminent votaries of science are devoted Christians, 
 and when science is bringing her choicest fruits to illustrate 
 the written word of God. But at this period Mr. Stoddard 
 was too much a man of impulses ; and the zeal with which 
 he entered upon this new pursuit gave to his mind a bent 
 quite difierent from that it had received at his conversion. 
 He seems to have been aware of this danger, and to have 
 attempted to give a religious direction to his studies in as* 
 tronomy. Thus he writes to his brother : 
 
 " In this department I daily find new attractions. There is so 
 much to increase the boundaries of thought, and familiarize the mind 
 to abstract meditation ; so much symmetry and power displayed in 
 the movements and laws of those vast systems that age after age 
 continue their revolutions around their respective centers; in a 
 
66 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 word, so much to cause man to entertain enlarged views of the 
 works of his Creator, that no one who dives deep into the mysteries 
 of this science can fail to derive abundant profit from his pursuits. 
 . . . For my own part, I neither see nor desire to see, any- 
 thing worthy of admiration in the worlds around us, except as they 
 are made to reflect the benevolence and goodness which every- 
 where characterize the works of God." 
 
 The mechanical skill which he developed in his boyhood 
 was now revived in aid of this favorite science. He con- 
 structed fi'om the crude materials, a reflecting telescope, 
 which he sold, to gain the means of constructing another 
 upon a much larger scale. An account of his labors upon 
 this instrument is preserved in a letter addressed to Pro- 
 fessor Solomon Stoddard, under date of Nov. 20th, 1837. 
 
 " As to worldly matters, I am enjoying myself very highly. I lay 
 hold of our Senior studies with interest, and, I trust, with some de- 
 gree of success. I have not yet got over my astronomical passion, 
 but on the contrary, the more I pursue the science, the more do I 
 see to enlarge and interest the mind. It is a pursuit requiring much 
 thought, much accuracy, and much industry, to pursue it to advan- 
 tage ; and on this account I think it well adapted to improve my 
 character. I fear sometimes, that so much time given to one 
 branch — a branch so widely separated from the course I have 
 marked out in life — wiU be injurious to me. But Professor Olm- 
 stead and Silliman, with both of whom I have conversed on the 
 subject, think it very well that I should pursue my taste in this de- 
 partment. To this end, the former has given me the privileges of an 
 assistant, so that I have access at all times, to the college observa- 
 tory, and the philosophical instruments, and am allowed to take ob- 
 servations with an experienced and careful man. Mr. Silliman also 
 has kindly given me access to his hbrary and laboratory, and prof- 
 fered me any assistance I may desire. In town too, an able ma- 
 chinist has offered me the use of any or all his tools, comprising 
 
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES. 67 
 
 those in almost every department of the arts. These things I speak 
 not in the spuit of boasting, but to let you know how I am situated, 
 and to ask your opinion in regard to my pursuits. Although noth- 
 ing is more agreeable, yet another com'se may be more profitable 
 than watching in the evening for meteors, and auroras, and consum- 
 ing some of my time during the day in calculation. As to my me- 
 chanical operations, these I have no idea of discontinuing, exercise 
 being very conducive to health, and the more so when rendered both 
 pleasant and profitable. My little telescope I have sold, and on the 
 proceeds am constructing, very leisurely, one of five and a half inches 
 aperture, and six feet focal length, intended to magnify from two to 
 four hundred times. Tliis is not merely to be done in theory, and 
 to be found to be impracticable in execution. It is to be done, and 
 well done, notwithstanding it is almost a herculean task. You will 
 perceive, by squaring 3 and 5|, that the new will have about three 
 times the light of the old telescope. I have sent you an account 
 of the eclipse of October 13, which I pubhshed at the time. In 
 connection with Professor Olmsted and some one or two others, 
 I watched for the meteoric shower on the 12th and 13th No- 
 vember, and was highly gratified at the exhibition. I beUeve that 
 the Professor intends honoring the observers by giving their names 
 and separate observations in the next number of Silliman's Jour- 
 nal. That you may not misunderstand me, I will repeat the question 
 which I asked you. Do you thuik it advisable for me to spend the 
 time, and give the appUcation necessary to a famihar acquaintance 
 with Astronomy, merely because my taste leads me strongly to the 
 study when the purpose of my after life is so very diflerent ? Que 
 dites-vous f 
 
 At this time Mr. Stoddard occupied a room in the 
 North College, directly under that of the writer. This 
 room was converted into a machine shop, and at every in- 
 terval of the class recitations and even to the prejudice of 
 tlie regular studies, he was at work grinding liis mirrors or 
 framing his tubes ; and his conversation was so much upon 
 
68 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 these topics, that he gained for himself in the college haU 
 the soubriquet of " speculum." An anomalous incident in 
 his course is recalled by that term. On a summer morn- 
 ing, too hot for severe mental application, the members of 
 the Senior class occupying the upper story of the building, 
 assembled in the hall to regale themselves with music and 
 iced lemonade. Stoddard, who was at the moment im- 
 mersed to the elbow in the black and oily filings of his 
 speculum, came up stairs in this plight to enjoy the inno- 
 cent diversion. Though the Senior class had no noon 
 recitation, the hour was appropriated to study, by college 
 law; and the entry Tutor hearing the sound of mirth, sud- 
 denly emerged from his sanctum to mark the rebels. At 
 the first note of his coming, the students rushed to their 
 several quarters; but poor Stoddard, unable to gain his 
 own room in season, and not being quite presentable for 
 the eyes of a college officer, took refuge behind the nearest 
 door. From this ignominious retreat he was brought forth 
 hatless and coatless to confront the ofifended dignity of the 
 Faculty ; and thus he who was quite innocent of the whole 
 afiair, had to bear the brunt of the reprimand. The 
 reader of the life of David Brainerd, will remember that 
 this was not the first instance in which the walls of Yale 
 College had witnessed an indignant tutor chiding an incip- 
 ient missionary. Even the speculum came in for a share of 
 the reproach. But in either case the brightness of the 
 missionary's character is untarnished by the official censure 
 inflicted upon the student. In the office of Tutor in the 
 same college, Mr. Stoddard himself, a few years later, was 
 a rigid and conscientious disciplinarian. Possibly the 
 remembrance of the speculum served to magnify his own 
 eense of official duty. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HIS WORK AS AN EDUCATOR IN MARSHALL AND YALE 
 COLLEGES. 
 
 Mr. Stoddard graduated with honor, in the summer of 
 1838, and entered ahnost immediately upon the office of 
 Tutor in Marshall College, Pennsylvania, to which ho had 
 been appointed upon the representation of friends who 
 knew his qualifications. He remained in that institution 
 one year. During this time, his mind impressed with the 
 responsibilities of men of education, became more serious 
 and earnest in view of his personal duty to the cause of 
 Christ. He was invited to take a Professorship of Natural 
 Science in Marietta College, Ohio — a flattering offer to one 
 so young, and one which his decided taste for such pur- 
 suits inclined him to accept. This, like the proposal to 
 join the South Sea Expedition, was a strong test of his 
 devotion to the work of the ministry. The office was hon- 
 orable and useful, and he had ah'cady evinced a special 
 fitness for it. Besides, he well knew that in expounding 
 the book of nature he could glorify God as truly as in 
 teaching his written word. But, as he describes it, "the 
 question then came up, will you spend your life in chemi- 
 cal experiments, or in laboring as a minister of the Gospel, 
 for the conversion of souls ? Ever since I professed relig- 
 ion, I had expected to become a minister, but had never 
 
70 MEMOIEOFSTODDARD. 
 
 solemnly and fully considered the question. I did it at 
 this time, and the result was a determination to preach 
 Christ and him crucified." 
 
 It should not be inferred from this that Mr. Stoddard 
 disparaged the pursuit of physical science or regarded this 
 as incompatible with a high devotion to God. The names 
 of a Brewster, a Davy, a Silliman, a Guyot, demonstrate 
 that the Christian life may exist in the highest harmony 
 with a devotion to science. Mr. Stoddard here has refer- 
 ence to the best use which in his circumstances he could 
 make of his own gifts and powers. His more mature and 
 reflective decision to enter the ministry turned him aside 
 from his favorite sciences to the study of languages and 
 letters. Accordingly we find him diligent in acquiring the 
 Hebrew and the German — the latter then just beginning 
 to be appreciated by ministers in the United States. His 
 regard for thorough scholarship may be seen from the fol- 
 lowing extracts from letters to Professor Solomon Stod- 
 dard. 
 
 September 11th, 1838. "My own duties are briefly these: I 
 have a class in Horace and one in Homer. These are the Fresh- 
 men. The Sophomores I also hear in Livy. There are some good 
 scholars and some poor ; but whether good or poor, we have all 
 entered into a conspiracy that they shall pass through neither the 
 preparatory school nor the college without a thorough drilling. We 
 make your grammar the first, the second, and the third thing. We 
 do not intend to let them dodge around or slip through, but if their 
 brains or their knowledge will not permit them to go forward, they 
 must fall back." 
 
 To the same, March 28th, 1838. 
 
 "My dear Brother, — 
 
 '^ I was once your pupil, but it was at a time when I could not 
 
LATIN GRAMMAR. 71 
 
 appreciate your worth. I now should like to be placed in the same 
 relations, and have you again for a teacher. I am yet a learner, 
 and scarce a day passes but I feel, while consulting your Manual, 
 how improving it would be to me, if I could have its author at my 
 elbow. As, however, this can not be, in Meu thereof I should like 
 pretty frequent and pretty long letters from you, and I promise, on 
 iny part, to furnish you with matter in such abundance that you 
 will be able to fill a sheet without difficulty, in reply. In using your 
 Grammar, some few things I have noticed, which I thought worthy 
 of being suggested to you. I have found it in almost every case, a 
 sure and excellent guide, and if not perfect, at least far nearer per- 
 fection than most other grammars. I give you my list here, lest I 
 should be hurried at the close of the letter. 
 
 "§ 31. Homo, Fid, are exceptions. Homo naia fuerat. Sulpi- 
 cius in Cic. Epist. ad Divers lY., 5 post medium. — Scheller's Latin- 
 isch Deutsches Lexicon. — Fures estis amhce. Plautus, Po. Y. 4. 67. 
 The authority for Obses being feminine, not so sure. — § 8. Exc. 1. 
 Qua-dro you have rightly divided, see § 18. 2. Therefore, as the 
 first syllable does not end with a consonant, how does the rule § 8. 
 2. apply ? Must not the a have the sound of the a in fatal ? — § 78. 
 Exc. I. Yibex has icis in the gen. — § 79. Bipennis has sometimes 
 im. Ovid, Met. YIII. 766.— § 83. Gen. plural, 2 Exd. Proles has 
 gen. plural in um. ScheUer, also, Martian, Cap. III., post. med. p. 
 78, Grot, — § 84. Lacunar has Lacunariis. Yitruvius. — § 89. 5. Quercus 
 has ubus. So says Ramshorn. Simis has ubus. Ramshorn, Schel- 
 ler, Pliny, Nat. Hist. 11. 43, ext. sec. 44. Quercus, like domus, has 
 gen. plural orum. Lev. — § 108. Add to the hst, sequester, § 115, 4, 
 also volupe, pernox, semireci. Ramshorn. — § 126. 2, add nupej-us. — 
 Ramshorn and Scheller. — § 172. Jado, and some have jectum instead 
 of jactum. Would you not insert saho, ivi, ii, or ui, saltum ? So 
 much for the etymology — and the grammar is good indeed, if these 
 are all the omissions that are to be found in it. As I set these 
 down, several of them some months ago, and now transcribe the list 
 without close scrutiny, it is possible you may find some errors in the 
 errata itself Yonr syntax if* admirable, and, as I said before, every 
 
72 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 day increases my belief of the fact. I have found but one passage 
 where the principle did not seem to be fully alluded to in your rules. 
 Hor. Ars Poetica, line 302. Purgor hilem. Have you any thing 
 except § 234, II., and § 250, R. 2 ? If so I can not find it. You 
 would not of course rest the solution on 234, IL, as that applies to 
 the part to which the signification relates ; the other reference does 
 not develope the principle fully. The construction is evidently 
 G-reek. I have referred to Eamshorn, § 132, where the case seems 
 to be met. 
 
 "I had no idea, a year since, that I could become so fond of Latin 
 and Greek as I have. Then it was all Astronomy and star-gazing, 
 and I fancied that I had closed Horace and Cicero forever. Though 
 I have been teaching here but six or seven months, I find that in 
 Latin, by the attentive perusal of your Grammar, I am beginning 
 to appreciate far more of the beauties of the language than ever 
 before. I am still ignorant and blind enough, but I trust that when 
 I leave Mercersburg, if I carry away none of their silver and gold, I 
 shall carry with me a fondness for the ancients. You must not 
 suppose by this that my mathematical fit has come to an end. I 
 keep my telescope in one corner of my dormitory, and occasionally 
 spend an hour in dabbling with sines, tangents and squares. Pro- 
 fessor Budd dhd myself have also made some curious observations 
 here, without any instruments except those of our own manufacture. 
 I call them curious, not because our results were so, but merely in 
 reference to the modus operandi. We have taken our latitude by 
 observations on the pole-star, with a huge home-made quadrant, and 
 laid down a meridian hne of three hundred and fifty feet length, by 
 means of the elongation of the same polaris. But to return from 
 this excursus, for I have many more things to say about Latin and 
 Greek. Dr. Ranch commends your Grammar very much, pro- 
 nouncing it ' the best in the English language,' but he says that it is 
 not large enough. No w onder he thinks so, having been accustomed 
 to use the octavos of Thiersch, Matthioe, and Ramshorn. His idea 
 is that toacliers, and the liigher classes in colleges, want a more full 
 development of the philosophical principles of the languages, than 
 
L A T I N G R A M M A R . 73 
 
 can possibly be compressed into a duodecimo of three or four 
 hundred pages. For my part, I shall be glad when graduates come 
 out thoroughly versed in the rules you have laid down." 
 
 la a subsequent letter he writes : 
 
 " My criticisms on your Grammar you bore with much more 
 meekness than I was afraid you would. I sent them, because I 
 thought you would Uke to know what errors there were, in order to 
 correct them. If I ever publish a book, Grammar, Lexicon, or even 
 a popular school-book, and you cannot detect more errors in it than 
 I have done in yours, the criticism will render me proud. . . . 
 In studying your Grammar I have occasionally caught a glimpse of 
 the laws of language that it would have been very interesting to 
 pursue to a greater extent. For instance : we have no genitive in 
 Enghsh — there is one in Latin. Yom explain, but very briefly, in a 
 remark in the two hundred and eleventh section what pecuhar rela- 
 tions it denotes. Might not these be somewhat extended ? It is 
 difficult to make students distinguish readily between the subjective 
 and objective genitive; yet the distinction is very clear. I give 
 them oral examples, but they do not fix them in the mind as well as 
 those expressed in the Grammar. You know how beautiful the 
 Greek genitive is, and how many difierent relations grow out of a 
 very few general principles. Thus, words denoting any mental 
 state or act with respect to an objective, directed toward it, but not 
 acting on it, are followed by the genitive. How many rules this 
 furnishes. So of the genitive used partitively. So of the dative, 
 which may follow all words implying the idea of approach, union, 
 connection. I refer to this to illustrate what I mean. Now, might 
 not a page be profitably devoted, in such a grammar as yours, to the 
 development of these general principles in regard to each of the six 
 cases ? If the rules are ever so philosophically expressed, students 
 will commit them, like parrots and be none the wiser, but when once 
 the origin of the rule is known, both are fixed in the memory. 
 
 " And now, my brother, don't you think I reason quite deeply ? 
 
 4 
 
74 MEMOIK OF STODDARD. 
 
 If I make blunders in logic or grammar, you must recollect that 
 they were not my favorite pursuits in college, and that when I 
 graduated, I understood telescope making much better than Tacitus 
 or Sophocles, Even now I sometimes "run off in a tangent" from 
 my professional duties, and take the students out to star-gaze, and 
 study Astronomy." 
 
 It is pleasing to notice this ardor of the student and the 
 teacher conjoined with a simple and earnest piety. Mr. 
 Stoddard did not feel that he had discharged his duties to 
 his classes by his fidelity to their daily recitations. Under 
 date of December 25th, 1838, he writes to a brother: 
 *' Surrounded as I am by a large number who are more or 
 less (about twenty-five almost entirely) under my influence 
 and care, I feel quite like a father toward them. It is but 
 a small portion of my duty to instruct in Latin and Greek ; 
 I mingle with the students at our daily meals ; they often 
 call at my room for direction or advice — at which times, 
 I draw them into conversation ; I instruct thirty in a Bible 
 class on the Sabbath." 
 
 This reminds one of his own student life imder Tutor Cal- 
 houn, whom he seems to have made his model in his official 
 intercourse with the students. In another letter from 
 Marshall College he writes : 
 
 " There are some hopeful indications among us of a revival 
 Many of the students with whom I have conversed upon the sub- 
 ject, express a warm interest in religious things, and are making 
 special efforts to arouse the impenitent. On the other hand the 
 wicked are doing all in their power to prevent a revival, and in ap- 
 pearance are more set on their wickedness than ever. The result ia 
 known only to Him in whose power and under whose direction we 
 aU are. As the period of the year draws near in which I hopefully 
 
AT ANDOVER. 75 
 
 found a Saviour, I can not but feel peculiar interest for those pre- 
 cious immortal souls. No doubt on the day of prayer for colleges 
 we shall be remembered by you at the throne of grace." 
 
 A little picture of his daily routine at MercerslDurg may 
 fitly close the narrative of his connection with Marshall 
 College. 
 
 " I rise at five every morning. My recitations and the prepara- 
 tion for them occupy about six hours a day ; and in addition I have 
 Hebrew and G-erman — both which languages require a good deal of 
 labor at the outset Then my time is constantly interrupted by 
 occasional duties, so that I can hardly depend on a single horn*. 
 Yet I am well and happy. I hope I am useful, and this ought to 
 be the main object pf life. I need nothing but inore grace to ren- 
 der me one of the happiest of men. For tliis I pray, and I would 
 ask you to unite your prayers with mine." 
 
 Thus long befoi-e he entered the missionary service or 
 was ordained to preach the Gospel, Mr. Stoddard made his 
 daily life — as only the Christian's life can be — at once a 
 sacrifice and a joy. 
 
 " The trivial round, the common task, 
 Will furnish all we ought to ask; 
 Room to deny ourselves ; a road 
 To bring us, daily, nearer God." 
 
 In the fall of 1839, Mr, Stoddard entered the Theologi- 
 cal Seminary at Andover, Massachusetts. Before leaving 
 Mercersburg he was again invited to devote himself to the 
 physical sciences, but as before he dismissed the subject on 
 the ground that it would interfere with his chosen voca- 
 tion. 
 
76 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " Professor Loomis wishes me to assist him in his mathe- 
 matical and philosophical department at Western Reserve. 
 He has so fine an apparatus, and is so accomplished as a 
 practitioner, that I should really like to spend a year there. 
 But time is too precious. It is sufficient to state in reply 
 to all such ofiers that I am studying for the ministry." 
 
 At Andover we find him pursuing Hebrew Grammar 
 and New Testament Greek, with the same zest with which 
 he had pursued Astronomy at Yale, and Latin at Mercers- 
 burg. " Our Hebrew," he vrites, " is at present trouble- 
 some ; however, I am resolved to master it, for I think 
 that it is otherwise labor lost. Students spend six months 
 or a year often, in getting the elements of the language, 
 and as soon as they leave the seminary, throw up the 
 study, and sell their lexicons, grammars, and Bibles, for a 
 song. This is foolish — so says our Professor Stuart — and 
 so I mean not to do." 
 
 As a means of support, he added to his seminary duties 
 the labor of teaching two hours daily in the Latin Acade- 
 my ; but his heart was steadfastly set upon the great work 
 of preparation for the ministry, and with his constant ap- 
 plication to religious themes he grew more heavenly 
 minded. 
 
 " When we look forward to our profession, consider the 
 shortness of the time that intervenes, the greatness of the, 
 work, and the importance of being thoroughly furnished 
 for it, there is but little danger that we do too much." 
 
 Like every student at Andover in those days, Mr. Stod- 
 dard became greatly enamored of Professor Stuart, both 
 as a preceptor and as a preacher. His letters contain fre- 
 quent references to the originality of thought, the enthu- 
 siasm of manner, the vivacity of speech, and the fervor of 
 
TUTOR IN MIDDLEBURY. 77 
 
 devotion with which the revered "Rabbi Moses" stiiTed 
 the minds and heaits of his youthful pupils. So engrossed 
 was he in the studies of tlie Junior year that he resisted 
 the urgent appeals of his brother, Professor Stoddard, to 
 join him in his labors at Middlebury College. 
 
 " I am not here to gratify my taste nor to prepare for 
 any ordinary work. The sacred ministry is before me; 
 trials and responsibilities I must soon assume, and I do feel 
 the need of a sound, thorough, theological education." 
 
 When afterward he consented for a few weeks to act the 
 part of a tutor at Middlebury, he still talked and dreamed 
 Hebrew and Greek ; and as soon as possible was again at 
 his post in the Seminary. 
 
 A touch of filial afiection from a letter to his mother, 
 will serve, however, to show that his devotion to the dead 
 languages did not withdraw him from the living world of 
 home. 
 
 " It was very pleasant to me last week to welcome brother A. to 
 Andover, and no less pleasant to receive a few lines from you. 
 Whenever I think of you, I think of you as a most affectionate 
 mother, for your innumerable and long continued kindnesses have 
 abundantly shown you to be such. Still I love occasionally to hear 
 again^ from your own lips or from your letters, that I have a place 
 in your heart. Be assured, my dear mother, that I am just begin- 
 ning to learn how to love you, and though it may he that the affec- 
 tion of the child can never equal that of the parent, I shall endeavor 
 not to be entirely ungrateful. But this is sentiment, and as such, I 
 hope that it may be reserved for your owm eye. Expressions of 
 affection gain nothing by being put in the town-crier's moutli, any 
 more than albums do by being laid on the parlor table." 
 
 Before his first year at Andover had closed, Mr. Stoddard 
 
78 MEMOIR OF STODDAKD. 
 
 was appointed to the office of tutor in Yale College, and at 
 the end of the Seminary year, he returned to his Alma 
 Mater. In making this chano^e he endeavored to act con- 
 scientiously, and to consult the claims of the Master upon 
 his heart, his time, and his growing powers of usefulness. 
 
 " I desire," he writes, " to know my duty. The temporary honor 
 of being a tutor in Yale College, will not, I hope, draw me away, so 
 that I shall choose a course that will on the whole be for my disad- 
 vantage. Telescope-making once gained me some little credit. But 
 the glory is all over now; the pop-gun is fired, and I have to regret 
 that so many of my precious hours were almost lost. At this time 
 I have no idea of firing another pop-gun, but to take a serious and 
 manly course. "What this course is, I have not yet determined. . . 
 . . What would you say if you should be appointed tjjtor in my 
 circumstances? What seems the greater good on the whole? 
 Which course will our Heavenly Father approve ? In reference to 
 this last question, perhaps you will say that it is impossible to decide 
 with any certainty. Still, in such cases, we are to balance probabili- 
 ties, and act in view of the greatest apparent good." 
 
 The consideration that he could at once provide for hia 
 own support, and pursue his theological studies, while ex- 
 erting a direct influence for good upon the minds of young 
 men, decided him to accept this appointment, and in the 
 fall term of 1840 he entered upon the duties of his office. 
 With him teaching was no novelty ; but the immediate 
 oversight of a " division" of forty students, and the hearmg 
 of daily recitations from a class of three times that number, 
 gave him constant occupation. Yet he did not sufter his 
 mind to become secularized by the routine of college dis- 
 cipline. The work of the ministry was now his determined 
 choice, and he resolutely bent his energies toward that as 
 fhi' goal of his student life. "As to my profession, I am 
 
VIEWS OF THE MINISTRY. 79 
 
 advancing in it steadily though slowly. I do not attend 
 Dr. Taylor's lectures, and shall not until next term. What 
 I need is the habits of patient, severe thought, and this 
 power is to be obtained not in the lecture-room, but in the 
 retirement of the study." 
 
 He thus records his views of the ministry: 
 
 October 29th, 1840. " I have just returned from the ordination 
 
 of my friend T , and the occasion, as you may suppose, has been 
 
 one of no ordinary interest. A candidate for the sacred ministry 
 myself, and hoping in a few years to assume the same responsibilities, 
 and to engage in the active service of the Church, the public conse- 
 cration of a young minister could hardly fail to awaken my sympathy. 
 
 Besides, T is my classmate, my friend, my peculiarly endeared 
 
 Christian brother. It was he who was the means of my hopeful 
 conversion to God, and we have often taken sweet counsel together, 
 and walked to the house of God in company. I felt, too, for him, 
 because of his youth and inexperience. Only two months since he 
 became of age, and as yet he has known little of trials and cares. 
 
 " I came away feeling more than ever what it was to be a minister 
 of the gospel. The pious minister stands between heaven and earth ; 
 he tells of a Saviour crucified, and points those who are making the 
 world their portion to a letter portion, to a crown of glory, to a 
 heaven of rest. It is his to strengthen the weak, to confirm the 
 doubting, to comfort the afflicted, to preach of life and innnortality 
 to the dying Christian. He has the satisfaction of saving soula, and 
 when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, he, with his own flock 
 around him, shall receive a crown of glory tliat fadeth not away. 
 Who would not wish to be a Christian minister ? to live his life ; to 
 die his death ; to receive his reward ?" 
 
 A series of extracts from Mr. Stoddard's letters to in- 
 timate friends will best exhibit his habits of mind, and his 
 religious aflfections and life, during his second residence at 
 
80 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 New Haven. It was evident to those who knew him best, 
 that he grew more and more spiritual, and that he felt a 
 deep religious responsibility for his class. 
 
 February 24th, 1841. *' I commenced, soon after my arrival here, 
 a Bible class, which has prospered far beyond my hopes. My divi- , 
 sion room is crowded every Sabbath (say by fifty students), who 
 manifest a serious and inquiring spirit. I trust it is not with them 
 mere curiosity, or a desire to speculate about the truth : but that 
 many of them, at least, have a true love for the study of the Bible. 
 Two of these Bible class scholars have recently indulged a hope, 
 though I have not evidence that it is a direct result of their instruc- 
 tion on the Sabbath." 
 
 The next letter records his solemn re-dedication of him- 
 self to God ; it will be read with deep emotion. 
 
 February 25th, 1841. " This is to me a day of sadness and of 
 pleasure. It is just five years since the revival commenced in this 
 college, which numbered me among its hopeful converts. The re- 
 membrance of those days is sweet. Then, if ever, I experienced the 
 joys of the Christian. I was young, I was ardent, I was in a new 
 ivorld. I loved prayer ; I loved my Bible ; I loved the society of 
 Christians. My studies, my recreations, the world without, and the 
 world within, all told me of God and I loved to listen to them. 
 Every thing in the future was bright and promising. It seemed a 
 blessed tiling to live and act, not for self, not for time, but for Grod 
 and eternity. It seemed easy to be a Christian, and I wondered that 
 every body would not become one, and thus be happy. The Bible 
 told me of the danger of backshding, and the lives of many a Chris- 
 tian around repeated the same warning. But no : temptation had 
 no power — the world, no charms ; and it was not till some months 
 afler, that my own sad experience taught me how hard it is to be a 
 Christian. 
 
 To he a Christian. How few professors know what this means. 
 
REVIVAL IN COLLEGE. 81 
 
 How few who are really walking by faith, and considering this life 
 as a short pilgrimage to a better land. Many, like me, start fair, 
 determined that they will be exceptions ; that they will never deny, 
 forsake, or betray their Lord. But before they know it, temptation 
 comes, and they yield and fall, thus dishonoring the Church, and 
 bringing reproach on Christ. 
 
 " March 1st. I have been prevented from writing for several 
 days by more pressing calls on my time. You will rejoice to learn 
 that there are very encouraging indications of a revival throughout 
 this college. Christians are unusually serious, and a number of im- 
 penitent are inquiring. Last evening one of my students called to 
 talk with me. I suspected his errand, and presently introduced the 
 subject of religion. He proved to be under deep anxiety, and said 
 he was willing to do any thing, and be any thing, that God would 
 have him. He wanted guidance — ^he wanted a Christian's prayers. 
 I tried to explain to him his duty, and told him my own experience 
 when under conviction. We then knelt together before the mercy- 
 seat and prayed. I could not but feel at the time that his was the 
 prayer of the contrite soul. His confessions seemed to be peniten- 
 tial, and his consecration to be unreserved — for time and for eternity. 
 To-day he came smihng into my room, and his countenance at once 
 told the story. He was peaceful and happy, and so far as man can 
 judge, is born into the kingdom. I hope and pray that tliis may be 
 a harbinger of better things among us." 
 
 A fortnight later we find bis whole soul engaged in a re- 
 vival. Under date of April 1, he writes: 
 
 " There have been in college fifty-five hopeful conversions. Were 
 this a common congregation, were these common minds, we never 
 could praise God enough for his goodness. But they are all young 
 men, men of cultivated minds, many of them possessing superior 
 talents, destined, I trust, to wield a mighty influence for God, and 
 to be eminent for winning souls to Christ. How ought we to rC" 
 joke I Such a work in a high degree honors God. The unedu- 
 
 4* 
 
82 MEMOIR OF STODDARI). 
 
 cated, the weak-minded, are often carried away by feeling — mistake 
 false conversion for true — forsake their profession — dishonor the 
 Saviour. But here such has not been the case. I can not but 
 hope that it will not be. A man accustomed to think, will know 
 what he is doing; when he is governed by impulse, and when by a 
 deliberate resolve ; and if judiciously advised, will not, I imagine, be 
 very liable to deceive himself I never, it seems to me, knew a re- 
 vival where there was so little excitement. Calm, unseen^ but not 
 unfelt, the Spirit has gone from room to room, and from heart to 
 heart. Ko college exercises have been suspended. To the super- 
 ficial observer everything has gone on much as usual. But one 
 here, another there, has been convicted and converted almost at 
 once, to Christ. And here is another feature of the revival : that 
 there have been scarcely any cases of long protracted seriousness. 
 Few have been moved that have not been moved powerfully ; few 
 that have not, when convicted, been driven at once to the foot of the 
 cross. Does not this show a vigorous pulse in the church ? Is it 
 not indicative of fervent prayer ? 
 
 "One of the Senior class had set his heart on the law, and for some 
 time had been reading Blackstone and Story. He was struck under 
 conviction, and then came the struggle. '■ What 1 give up the law ? 
 I can not do it.' ' But you must, or be lost.' ' I can not, no, I can 
 not do iV Thus he struggled with his God, but he did not struggle 
 long. He gave up all for Christ, and one of his first acts was to sell 
 his law books, and buy a Hebrew Bible. To use his own expressive 
 language, he found the strait gate too strait to allow him to enter 
 with Blackstone under one arm and Story under the other, and so 
 he threw them both away. 
 
 " A few days ago a student came to my room, (who was last term 
 suspended for misconduct, partly through my influence), and said 
 he, * Since my disgrace, I have never sat down to study any lessons 
 in your department, w'thout my whole heart being full of bitterness 
 and cursing toward you. I humbly ask forgiveness of you^ as I 
 have asked it of my G-od.' That man is now an active Christian, 
 
VIEWS OF MISSIONS. S3 
 
 and the lips which but a little while ago spoke the dialect of hell, 
 now proclaim a Saviour's love. 
 
 " Another, one of the dregs of the class, became a Christian. Soon 
 he too visited my room. I talked with him of his hopes, his sacri- 
 fices, his temptations, his Cliristian life. We kneeled together at the 
 mercy-seat. After we rose up, he turned to me and said, 'Last 
 term, during the season of such outrage, I dashed in your windows ; 
 I pray you to forgive me.' Of course he was forgiven, and I joy 
 over him as a new-born soul." 
 
 This revival continued without abatement till the very 
 close of the term. Mr. Stoddard's interest for the students 
 appears in all his letters of this period. Writing in the va- 
 cation to a brother tutor, he thus refers to the death of a 
 student : 
 
 " Let this death remind us, my brother, of our responsi- 
 bility, lead us to be more prayerful and more faithful to 
 those committed to our charge. We have responsibility, a 
 fearful responsibility in regard to the immortal well-being 
 of the students, and we can not throw it off. Let us live, 
 imd feel, and act in view of it. Let us remember each 
 other in our prayers, and try to come back to New Haven 
 with hearts glowing with love to our Master." 
 
 Mr. Stoddard's most intimate friends could perceive in 
 him at this time very marked advances in spirituality of 
 conversation, and in zeal for the cause of Christ. It was 
 evident that he had received " an unction from the Holy 
 One," and that his Christian character, while it lost none 
 of its transparent enthusiasm, gained much in breadth and 
 strength. His thoughts frequently reverted to the work 
 of Foreign Missions ; and while he did not regard himself 
 as bound to that service by his earlier decisions, he recog- 
 nized its claims upon his most serious regard. In a letter 
 dated May 10, 1841, he says : 
 
84 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 "I have been looking more than usual, of late, to the heathen 
 world, and I must say that I have some desire to spend my life in 
 laboring for their salvation. It seems to me as good a time to settle 
 the question of my duty now as ever. Perhaps it was not worth while 
 to agitate it much before this, and perhaps I ought not to defer it 
 till I get some invitation to settle down in this country." 
 
 Again, in answer to some suggestions upon this subject 
 he writes : 
 
 "Much thanks to you, my dear brother, for your suggestions 
 about a missionary life. Soon after reading them, I became satisfied 
 thq,t I was not in a fit state to settle the question, and that it was 
 not essential I should do so for a number of months to come. My 
 knowledge of missions is very limited. I can tell, indeed, that the 
 Board have established one station here, and another there, but in 
 scarcely a single instance can I trace the progress of a mission from 
 its origin, or tell the comparative facilities afibrded by different mis- 
 sions for doing good, and I feel that before I decide a question of such 
 great importance, I ought to take a survey of the field, minute as well 
 as comprehensive, and then I shall be more Hkely to judge aright. At 
 my leisure, especially during my vacations, I hope to read the com- 
 plete history of our missions, and at all times to make the heathen 
 more a subject of thought and prayer. This course will, in a year's 
 time, give me the necessary information, and that will be early 
 enough for me to decide." 
 
 As he drew near the close of his theological course, Mr. 
 Stoddard became more and more impressed with the re- 
 sponsibility of preaching the Gospel. 
 
 Aug. 9, 1841. — " Time is ghding away Hke a dream. I am soon 
 to begin my great work, and yet I feel utterly unfitted in mind or 
 heart to meet such responsibility. It is no small thing, my dear 
 brother, to preach the Gospel — at least to preach it with faithfulness 
 
GROWTH OF HIS PIETY. 85 
 
 and power. At times I feel almost discouraged about my own 
 prospects. Then again, I take heart, when I consider what others 
 have done before me, especially when I regard the promises on 
 which a Christian minister has to rely. These are abundant and 
 precious. It is not his own work he is called to do : he is not to 
 place reliance on his own unaided efforts. But he does the work, 
 and has the sustaining strength of Him who is " faithful and true." 
 I hope I may say with truth that my main object is not to ntfiact 
 notice, but to do good, and I sometimes feel that it is a matter of no 
 importance whether my bones peacefully repose in my own New 
 England, or whiten on the deserts of Africa, provided I Hve, while I 
 hve, to save the souls of men. 
 
 " Ever since the revival in the Spring, my feelings and my views have 
 been different from what they were for years previous ; and I trust 
 and pray that I may look back through life and through eternity, to 
 that period, as a marked era in my Cliristian course. I had before 
 fallen into a wretched state of stupidity and sin, and it seemed as if 
 God had sent me to this institution to witness, and to share in, such 
 an outpouring of His Spirit. As I look back on the five years which 
 I have professed religion, it seems to be all a barren waste ; a life 
 destitute alike of happiness to myself, and usefulness to others. Per- 
 haps you will tliink I speak too strongly. If I do, it is because I 
 feel too strongly, for I speah as I feel. The last five months have 
 gone peacefully by, and much of this time when I have Jain down at 
 night, and risen in the morning, I have been enabled to say with 
 truth, 'It is a blessed thing to be a Christian.' To my Father's 
 goodness I owe it all. 
 
 " And why is it not both our privilege and our duty to enjoy re- 
 ligion, and to draw continual consolation from those rich sources 
 which are open to us? Why may we not all rival Baxter and Dod- 
 dridge, if not in talent at least in devotion to our Master's work ? Is 
 there any need, when a revival has passed away, that Christians 
 should become cold and worldly-minded, lose the sweetness of their 
 communion with Grod, and their desires for the welfare of the im- 
 mortal soul? Certainly not; and when I say this I condemn 
 
86 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 myself, so far am I living from the true standard of Christian 
 obligations." 
 
 Again he writes under date of April 28th, 1842. 
 
 " I am expecting to apply next Tuesday for a license to preach, 
 and I am none too well fitted to pass my examination. I intended 
 to be examined in January,^ and studied with reference to that, but 
 finding no Association then about to meet, I deferred it till the pres- 
 ent time. I look forward, my dear brother, to preaching the Gos- 
 pel with the greatest interest. Ever since our conversation in 
 Mercersburg, when I was somewhat tempted to go to Marietta, I 
 think my love for the work has been increasing. To he a Gospel 
 minister — 0, 1 feel that it will be a blessed privilege. There is noth- 
 ing hke it in this world. If I know my own heart, I would not 
 exchange the prospect for any earthly good. I want more of this 
 feeling. I want to be swallowed up in the desire to do good and 
 win souls to the cross of Christ. While I esteem thus highly the 
 privilege of being a faithful minister of the New Testament, I have 
 strong fears lest I shall not succeed. I find difficulties in writing 
 sermons, and more difficulties in delivery. As for extempore speak- 
 ing, I am able to do but little in it and I fear that it will continue to 
 be so. But the most important qualification and that which I lack, 
 in common with many candidates for the ministry, is fervent devoted 
 piety. I am persuaded that without this, be a man ever so talented, 
 his powers as an orator ever so great, all his effi3rts will avail but 
 little in the cause of Christ. To preach religion successfully, one 
 must live religion. He must be continually fired with those great 
 truths which he is endeavoring to impress on the hearts of others, 
 and his bosom ever glow with love to souls." 
 
 Mr. Stoddard was examined as to his fitness for the Gos- 
 pel ministry by an Association of Congregational ministers 
 in Western Massachusetts. As he had just completed his 
 course at the New Haven Seminary, he was regarded by 
 
GROUNDLESS SUSPICIONS. 87 
 
 some members of the body with the suspicion which twenty 
 years ago was somewhat industriously fostered against 
 that institution. Without servilely copying his revered 
 instructor, Mr. Stoddard had embraced intelligently and 
 thoroughly the essential features of Dr. Taylor's system of 
 theology; and now that both the pupil and the master 
 have passed from earthly studies and labors into the perfect 
 knowledge and blessedness of heaven, it may be profitable 
 for those who are called upon to examine candidates for 
 the ministry, to remember that David Stoddard, with his 
 intellectual culture, his mature piety, his ardent love of 
 truth, his high-toned consecration to Christ, was well-nigh 
 refused a certificate of approbation to preach the Gospel, 
 because his metaphysical theory of depravity and regener- 
 ation differed, in points not affecting the integrity of the 
 doctrines, from the theory of some of his examiners. He 
 writes to a friend : » 
 
 ," Before we had been long together I saw very plainly 
 that I had a stiff set to deal with, who abhorred New 
 Haven and New Haven divinity. They examined me two 
 and a half hours, particularly on Regeneration and Total 
 Depravity. They then bade me retire, and after discuss- 
 ing nearly an hour over my case, called me in again. They 
 had concluded to license me, but told me in substance that 
 I was very heretical on some points, and that, as I was a 
 young man, they hoped I would live to repent. I do not 
 mean to ridicule them at all, for I must say they breathed a 
 good spirit, and treated me very kindly ; but I think tliey 
 were prejudiced, and incHned to be suspicious at the outset. 
 I was barely passable in their view — not from a deficiency 
 in knoAvledge, so much as from heretical notions." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DECIDES TO BE A MISSIONARY. 
 
 When Mrs. Tappan, then nearly seventy years of age, 
 was informed of the birth of her grandson, David Tappan 
 Stoddard, she exclaimed, "Well, he will live to see the 
 Millennium, which I had hoped to see, but shall die without 
 beholding." The letter of her prediction was not fulfilled, 
 but it was given to that grandson to prepare the way of 
 the latter-day glory in the distant East. 
 
 Mr. Stoddard entered upon the work of preaching the 
 Gospel with a high sense of its privilege and responsibility. 
 "This business of preaching," he writes, " is a most blessed 
 work, if one can only throw his whole soul into it. Some- 
 times I feel very happy in the pulpit ; at other times, very 
 wretched. I can not bear the thought of preaching such 
 glorious truths as our blessed religion contains, with a cold 
 heart ; and yet I have more than once done it. I do sin- 
 cerely long (I trust sincerely) always to be in a glow of 
 holy love, especially while performing the services of the 
 sanctuary. Pray for me, that I may be entirely conse- 
 crated to this glorious work." 
 
 And again, he says, " every time I go into the pulpit, I 
 feel increasingly the need, the pressing need of holiness of 
 heart. I can not preach the Gosj^el, and live at the poor 
 dying rate which has hitherto been mine. I do feel that I 
 ought to be consecrated, soul and body, to my blessed Re- 
 
MEETS DR. PERKINS. 89 
 
 deemer, and that thus only I can be useful in the vmeyard 
 of my Lord." 
 
 Hardly had he entered upon the work of preaching, 
 when the providence of God again brought distinctly be- 
 fore him the question of a missionary life, which had so 
 often engaged his thoughts since the first moment of con- 
 secration to the Saviour. In the course of years he had 
 lost something of that freshness of zeal which impelled 
 him toward the foreign field ; and when he really began to 
 preach, he appears to have had the Home missionary work 
 more immediately in view. But a series of providential 
 incidents brought the work of foreign missions before his 
 mind in a way which led him to a deliberate and final deci- 
 sion. 
 
 In the month of September, 1842, just after he began to 
 preach the Gospel, Mr. Stoddard spent a Sabbath at Mid- 
 dlebury, Vermont, where Professor Solomon Stoddard 
 then resided. The Rev. Justin Perkins, D.D., who had 
 recently returned to the United States, with Mar Yohan- 
 nan^ to urge upon the churches the claims of the Nestorian 
 mission, spent the same Sabbath at Middlebury, and heard 
 Mr. Stoddard in the pulpit of the late Dr. Merrill. Dr. 
 Perkins at once felt that this earnest young preacher was 
 the man he was in quest of for Oroomiah. A letter writ- 
 ten by Mr. Stoddard, the same evening, (September 4th, 
 1842) thus artlessly records the beginning of his missionary 
 history." 
 
 "This evening Solomon and I have made a very pleasant call 
 on Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, who are here on a flying visit. Mr. Per- 
 kins is quite anxious that I should go with him to Persia. I 
 promised him that I would consider the matter, tliough I hardly 
 think I shall go any where as a missionary." 
 
90 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 The next day, referring to the same interview he wrote 
 as follows : 
 
 " Mr. Perkins pressed me to take the subject into prayerful con- 
 sideration, and I rather promised to do so. It seems to me, how- 
 ever, that I can be more useful at the West than in the mission- 
 ary field. The only question about which I feel in great doubt is, 
 whether my health will enable me to labor efficiently in either of 
 these portions of the harvest. I can preach twice a day with 
 considerable ease, but after aU I have not much physical vigor, and 
 I fear that two sermons a week, with lecturing, and the innumer- 
 able duties of a pastor, will soon wear me out. At any rate, 
 brother Solomon and I agree that I can never attempt to fill a 
 large place. If I can get a good log house on a prairie, and a 
 good wife, and food and raiment, I trust I shall be therewith 
 content." 
 
 Not long after this interview with Dr. Perkins, Mr. 
 Stoddard attended the meeting of the American Board at 
 Norwich, Connecticut. On his way thither, he met Dr. 
 Perkins on board the steamer from New York, and had 
 some farther conversation with him about the Nestorians. 
 At Norwich, to his surprise and gratification, he was as- 
 signed by the committee of arrangements to the same 
 house with Dr. Perkins, and shared with him the same 
 room and bed. Dr. Perkins lost no opportunity of urging 
 upon him the Nestorian mission, as a call in Providence, 
 demanding his special and prayerful consideration. 
 
 In the discourse which this honored senior member of 
 that mission preached at the funeral service for Mr. Stod- 
 dard, at Oroomiah, he thus describes the first impression 
 which Mr. Stoddard made upon his own mind : 
 
 " In the autumn I went to Middlebury, Vermont, to pass 
 
THE FINAL DECISION. 91 
 
 a quiet Sabbath, after protracted and exhausting labors. 
 After I entered the meeting-house, on Sabbath morning, 
 there came in a young man, and ascended the desk, whoso 
 appearance was quite youthful, yet very mature, and 
 whose whole air seemed to me more angehc than human. 
 I was no prophet. But hardly could the mind of Samuel 
 of old have been fastened more confidently on David, the 
 son of Jesse, as the future king of Israel, than did my 
 heart fix on David T. Stoddard^ from the moment my eye 
 first rested on him, as the young man, whom, of all I had 
 ever seen, I could wish to have as our companion in the 
 toils, and trials, and joys of missionary life, and whose 
 prayers and labors here the Lord would delight to honor in 
 the salvation of souls. In all the subsequent years of our 
 intimate missionary connection, the vividness of that first 
 impression has never faded from my mind." 
 
 Not long after his third interview with Dr. Perkins, at 
 Norwich, Mr. Stoddard decided to devote himself to the 
 missionary work. The effect of this decision upon his own 
 mind was remarkable. It gave a new tone and energy to 
 his daily life. The decision once formed with so much de- 
 liberation and prayer, was to him unalterable and irrevo- 
 cable. ISTo sooner was it reached than it imparted a cheer- 
 •ful and joyous activity to his mind, in the direction of its 
 new field. He never knew repining or regret. He never 
 had one feeling of wavering or reluctance. He went for- 
 ward to the chosen work of life, not as a task or a sacrifice, 
 but as a privilege and blessing. 
 
 "I can not bear," he writes, "to see young men, beginning to 
 preach the Gospel, going round and round, liunting up parishes, and 
 complaining how difficult it is to find an opening. The fitct is, the 
 
92 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 whole world is open ; and if we will only enter in where God would 
 have U3, we can all have a glorious share in reaping the harvest. 
 . . . . I can go to Persia with cheerfulness. To leave home, 
 friends, country, and all in this world to which my affections cling- - 
 to go far hence to the Gentiles, to live for them, to die for them — I 
 ■glory in the privilege. It is taking up a cross, no doubt, but it is 
 followed by a crown. It is self-denial, but it is a sacrifice that lasts 
 but. a moment. Soon all will be over, and the labors of earth will 
 be followed by the rest of heaven." 
 
 In communicating his decision to his class-mate and inti- 
 mate friend, Rev. E. Strong, of New Haven, he wrote as 
 follows : 
 
 December 10, 1842. — " In view of leaving home and fi-iends, and 
 all that I hold dear in this land of my birth, I must say that I feel 
 very happy. I am not merely calm and reconciled to it — I feel al- 
 most /o^z/w?; and I think this is one indication that I am in the 
 path of duty. Since my decision, I have not had one doubt of its 
 correctness, nor wish to change it. So far as I know my own heart, I 
 can go and lay down my life cheerfully for the cause of my Saviour ; 
 and I pray that I may catch more and more of his blessed Spirit. 
 It would be pleasant if we could spend our Hves together. I fully re- 
 ciprocate your feeHngs of attachment. Ever shall I honor and love 
 you. You are my tried, my warm-hearted friend. But we have 
 each a different sphere of labor, and we must not consult too much 
 our own inclinations. Soon our labors will all be over, and we shall 
 meet, never more to separate. Heaven is our home. Blessed 
 thought ! Let it animate us, dear brother, while doing our Master's 
 work, and enable us to bear up under every trial." 
 
 His application to the American Board to be appointed 
 to the Nestorian mission was dated December 15, 1842. It 
 closed with these words : 
 
 " My feelings would lead me to go with cheerfuhiess. It 
 
APPLIES TO THE BOARD. 93 
 
 is true, I bad not a strong impulse toward the missionary- 
 work until this call was distinctly made to me. But on the 
 other hand, my willingness to go is not the result of ur- 
 gency from any one. My feelings have been gradually inter- 
 ested, until it seems to me that I can leave my friends and 
 my country, and joyfully live among the Nestorians. And 
 if counted worthy by the Committee, and permitted by 
 Providence to become a missionary to this far-off people, I 
 trust I can say with Paul, ' for me to live is Christ, and to 
 die is gain.' 
 
 " I have endeavored to estimate the trials and responsibil- 
 ities which fall on the missionary, and I should feel entirely 
 unable to bear up under them, were it not for him who 
 whispers, 'my grace is sufficient for thee.' These are 
 words full of encouragement and hope. 
 
 *' With these views and feelings, I respectfully submit 
 my request to the Prudential committee." 
 
 On the following Sabbath he reviewed his decision, and 
 he thus describes the result in a letter to a brother, dated 
 at Andover, December 19th, 1842. 
 
 " The Sabbath which has just gone has' been a very interesting 
 one to me. In the solitude of my chamber, I have had an oppor- 
 tunity of reviewing my decision, and examining the motives which 
 have led me to it. The more I look forward to a hfe among the 
 Nestorians, far away from home and friends, surrounded by perish- 
 ing, degraded men, the more do I feel the greatness of the work, 
 and my utter unfitness for it. I am afraid I have been altogether 
 too confident of my quahfications for a missionary. I am a poor 
 creature of a day — of httle experience — of httle devotion to the 
 cause of Christ. But still I am far from regretting my decision. 
 No ; though my life is to be the reverse of what it has been ; 
 though I shall exchange all tlie comforts of life for the scanty fare of 
 
94 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 the missionary ; though for friends I am to meet strangers ; I can 
 not regret my decision. I rather rejoice in it ; and pray God that he 
 may give me the mantle of Henry Martyn, and the Spirit of liis 
 grace in my heart." 
 
 A month later he wrote, " A repeated and prayerful review of the 
 subject for four weeks has done much to give permanency to my 
 feelings and fit me for the trial of separating from my friends. . . . 
 The more I review my decision, the more does it stand scrutiny; 
 and I do believe it will stand the test of the great day. My fear 
 now is that my motives will not be such as they should be. I want 
 to feel, as did Paul, that the love of Christ constraineth me. Love of 
 novelty, romance, desire for the approbation of others, and even a 
 hope of heaven, are low motives in the comparison. let us never 
 rest, till in all our plans we can heartily say, ' The love of Christ con- 
 straineth us.' " 
 
 As the time drew near for his departure to his distant 
 field, he dwelt upon his work in all his correspondence. 
 Writing to the family circle, he says : 
 
 " Pardon me, good friends, if I talk too much about myself and 
 my own plans. Soon I shall be far away, and you wiU know but 
 Httle about the minutice of my life. Now it is not strange that im- 
 mersed as I am in preparations for my work, I can think and talk of 
 httle else. I trust you will pray for me that I may not be diverted 
 by anything from the one great object to which my Ufe is conse- 
 crated — the cause of my Redeemer. Let me only go forth — 
 resolved to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified — and I 
 can be useful, and I can be happy, come what will. To go out as a 
 missionary now seems a glorious privilege, and I earnestly hope 
 that my feelings are not the result of youthfiil impulse, instead of a 
 fixed, unwavering devotion to Grod. 
 
 " Father and mother are beginning to be quite reconciled to the 
 idea of my going abroad. The news that I am to have a partner of 
 ^7 Joy3 ^^d sorrows relieves their feelings very much. Mother 
 
MARRIAGE AND ORDINATION. 95 
 
 could not bear to think of my sitting down alone at the base of the 
 Koordish mountains, without the refined society to which I have 
 been accustomed, with no wife to sympathize with me, no hand to 
 minister to me when I should be sick." 
 
 The lady here referred to was Miss Harriet Briggs, 
 daughter of Dr. Calvin Briggs of Marblehead, Massachu- 
 setts. " She was then a teacher in Bradford Academy, so 
 hallowed by the memory of Harriet Newell and the first 
 Mrs. Judson." * With beauty of person and sweetness of 
 natural disposition, she united a high degree of intelligence 
 and culture, and a rare devotedness to the service of Christ. 
 Her missionary spirit is told in a single line of a letter from 
 Mr. Stoddard shortly before leaving the country. " As I 
 write the date of this letter, I am forcibly reminded that 
 the time is rapidly coming when I shall bid you farewell, 
 and set my face toward Jerusalem. But as Harriet says, 
 so say I — ' When I think of the trials that will come upon 
 me, my heart does not shrink.'" These two kindred 
 hearts were united in marriage, February 14th, 1843. 
 
 Mr. Stoddard's ordination took place in the Chapel 
 Street Church, New Haven, on the 27th of January, 1843. 
 The sermon was preached by the Rev. Joel Hawes, D.D., 
 of Hartford, and the services throughout were of a highly 
 impressive character. Immediately after this public and 
 formal consecration to his work, Mr. Stoddard poured out 
 his heart to a brother in these earnest words : 
 
 " And now adieu. Pray for me, dear brother, that I may be sus- 
 tained amid all these trying scenes. Trying indeed th^ are, but £ 
 do not regret my decision — far from it. I rejoice to leave my native 
 land. I shall count it a joy to spend and be spent among the Nes- 
 
 * Dr. Perkins's sermon on the death of Mr. Stoddard. 
 
96 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 toriaus. The missionary's life seems to me a delightful one, even 
 when I look steadily at all its trials. In far off Persia, how shall I 
 love the Bible — ^how shall I prize the privilege of prayer — how near 
 shall I feel to my heavenly home. Again I ask you to remember 
 me, when you kneel before your Father and mine." 
 
 Later he writes : 
 
 " Next week we are to leave our native land. We realize it but 
 very little, and probably shall not, till we are fairly out at sea. 
 Harriet and myself are, however, cheerful, and our dear parents are 
 quite reconciled to the approaching separation. I can not but feel 
 that we are in the path of duty, and that we shaU never regret our 
 decision. May God grant us devoted hearts, so that our highest, 
 strongest deshes shall be for the promotion of his glory." 
 
 The departure of the missionary band for Oroomiah hav- 
 ing been definitely fixed for the first day of March, they 
 received their instructions from the Prudential Committee 
 of the American Board on the evening of Sabbath, Feb. 
 27th, in the Seminary Chapel at Andover. The following 
 letter from Mr. Stoddard was his farewell to home and 
 kindred, written on the next day. 
 
 Boston, February 28th, 1843. 
 Mt Dear Brothers and Sisters, 
 
 This morning I received a very kind letter from several of you, 
 which it will be pleasant for me to read and re-read when far out at 
 sea. I never can be grateful enough to my Father in Heaven for 
 giving me such kind friends. Indeed, if I had staid in this country 
 I should not have known how kind they were. The circumstance 
 of our being so soon to go as missionaries, has called forth expres- 
 sions of interest from those whom I hardly supposed cared for me, 
 and from my nearer friends, has led to many kind deeds that I can 
 
APARTINGLETTER. 97 
 
 never forget. The same is true of Harriet. We are going away- 
 loaded with presents, and, I doubt not, followed by the wishes and 
 the prayers of many. 
 
 K I was fit to be a missionary, or promised to accomplish much 
 good among the Nestorians, I should feel as though all this kindness 
 was not misplaced. But there are times when I feel that I shall do 
 but little for my Saviour, and I trust I continually have some little 
 sense of my unworthiness. Grod grant that I may ever remember 
 his goodness in calling such a one to so high — so holy a work. 
 
 Harriet and I are both in good spirits. You know our views, and 
 you will not expect them to be changed by the approach of the first 
 of March. That will no doubt be a trying day ; yet when it is once 
 over, and our ship has carried us away from our home, we shall 
 again be happy. And why should we not be ? Did ever any engage 
 in a better cause ? Were any ever more clearly led by a Father's 
 hand ? Have we not friends to pray for us, and the promises of the 
 Bible to cheer our hearts, and a throne of grace to resort to, and a 
 heaven of glory at the end of our pilgrimage ? Why should we not 
 be happy ? If we are not so, it will be our own fault. 
 
 And now I commend you all to God and to the word of his grace 
 which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance among 
 them that aiQ sanctified. 
 
 In great haste, your aflfectionate brother, 
 
 David. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE NESTORIANS. 
 
 The mission to which Mr. Stoddard consecrated his life, 
 has had a special interest in the minds of Christians, from 
 its historical associations, its isolated position, and its re- 
 markable success. The attention of the American Board 
 was drawn to the ISTestorians by the report of the late 
 Rev. Eli Smith, D.D., and Rev. H. G. 0. Dwight, D.D., 
 who in the years 1830-31, made a tour of exploration in 
 Armenia, Georgia and Persia. Starting from Constantino- 
 ple, they journeyed eastward through ToJcat — the burial- 
 place of Martyn — Erzeroora^ at the head of the Euphrates, 
 Kars^ now made memorable by the heroic endurance of its 
 garrison in the late war — and thence, by a circuitous route, 
 through Georgia to Shoosha, and southward to Tahreez; 
 returning through the country of the Ktirds to Erzeroom^ 
 and thence to Trebizo7id^ where they embarked for Con- 
 stantinople by the Black Sea. 
 
 In that section of the report which covered the visit to 
 Persia, Dr. Smith thus addressed the Corresponding Secre- 
 tary of the American Board : 
 
 "To the N'estoria7is of Orooraiah we would specially 
 
 direct your attention We can not but refer you 
 
 to their extreme liberality toward other sects, their ideas 
 of open communion, and their entire rejection of auricular 
 confession (that efficient police system of the other old 
 
VIEWS OF NESTORIUS. 99 
 
 churches), as considerations which have produced in our 
 minds a firm conviction, that a mission to the Nestorians 
 would meet with far fewer obstacles than among any other 
 of the old Churches. The week that we passed among 
 them was among the most intensely interesting of our lives. 
 For myself, I felt a stronger desire to settle among them at 
 once as a missionary than among any people I have ever 
 seen." The report also sets forth the comparative advan- 
 tages of Oroomiah as a safe and healthy residence, and a 
 center from which the light of the gospel would "shine out 
 upon the corruptions of the Persian on the one side, and 
 upon the barbarities of the Ktird on the other, until all 
 shall come to be enlightened by its brightness." 
 
 The name Nestorian is ecclesiastical, and was first given 
 in reproach to the Christians of Persia, who after the con- 
 demnation of Nestorius by a partisan council at Ephesus, 
 in A. D. 431, still adhered to his doctrine of the nature of 
 Christ. That doctrine had reference to the one personality 
 of the -God-man. Nestorius, while holding the true and 
 proper divinity of Christ, and also his true and proper 
 humanity, objected to the common view of one thean- 
 thropic personality ; that is, that the divine and human 
 natures were so united in Christ, as to constitute but one 
 l)crson, possessing and harmonizing both classes of attri- 
 butes, the divine and the human. He held that the man 
 Christ Jesus was, so to speak, inhabited as to his fleshly 
 tenement by the second person of the Godhead; that 
 therefore there was a most intimate union between them ; 
 that the man was exalted to participate in the divine 
 dignity ; but that the two natures were not conjoined in a 
 unity of person. Hence he objected to the then current 
 phrase " Mother of God,''' as applied to the Virgin Mary, 
 
100 MEMOIE OF STODDARD. 
 
 because this seemed to imply that the divine nature was so 
 united with the human that it could be said to be born of 
 a woman. 
 
 In one of his eloquent discourses upon this subject, 
 Nestorius asks, "could a creature bear the uncreated? 
 Could the Word which was with the Father before the 
 worlds, become a new-bom infant? The human nature 
 alone was born of the virgin : that which is of the flesh is 
 flesh. The manhood was the instrument of the divine pur- 
 poses, the outward and visible vesture of the Invisible. 
 God was incarnate, indeed, but God died not ; his death 
 was but casting ofi" the weeds of mortality, which he had 
 assumed for a time. . . . God was not born — he dwelt in 
 that which was born." * 
 
 Such was the reverence for Mary already encouraged 
 both in the eastern and in the western church, that any 
 attempt to detract from her honors was met with jealousy 
 and indignation by a populace hardly weaned from the 
 worship of idols, and by ecclesiastics who were r§ady to 
 pander to their semi-pagan prejudices. It was to guard 
 against Mariolatry — the exaltation of Mary into a god- 
 dess — and not to propound a new theory concerning the 
 nature of Christ, that Nestorius opposed the term, 
 " Mother of God." He was at this time bishop of Con- 
 stantinople, and had brought to that see the austere man- 
 ners and rules of the convent-school in which he had been 
 trained at Antioch. This made him many enemies in the 
 luxurious capital. Moreover, Cyril, then patriarch of Alex- 
 andria, a man of fiery and unscrupulous ambition, was 
 eager to establish the supremacy of his see above that ol 
 
 * See in Milman, Latin Christianity, vol. i. p. 142. 
 
NESTORIUS DEPOSED. 101 
 
 Constantinople. Taking occasion from the excitement 
 raised against Nestorius by the partisans of the Virgin'3 
 title, he persuaded the emperor to convene a general coun- 
 cil at Ephesus, and before the arrival of the Syrian and 
 other oriental bishops, who sympathized with Nestorius, 
 he succeeded in having him deposed and excommunicated 
 as a heretic. At first Nestorius was permitted to retire to 
 a cloister, but he was afterward banished to the desert of 
 Thebais in Egypt, where he died in extreme poverty, A. D. 
 440. Many of his adherents took refuge in Persia, where 
 they found protection ; and in A. D. 499, the entire Per- 
 sian Church, by a vote of its synod, declared for the doc- 
 trine of Nestorius. 
 
 Of the proceedings of the council at Ephesus toward 
 Nestorius, Dr. Eli Smith remarks : *' They form a page in 
 the history of the church, which a sarcastic Gibbon may 
 take pleasure in unfolding for the scorn of her enemies, 
 but which the Christian will not be reluctant to leave 
 veiled in the darkness of the age in which they occurred. 
 That Nestorius was innocent, I am not disposed to con- 
 tend ; but if he was chargeable with guilt, I should search 
 for it elsewhere than did the council. Its first accusation 
 was, that he refused to the Virgin the title of Mother of 
 God. Had he pleaded guilty to it, surely no Protestant 
 w^ould for that have charged him with heresy. But he did 
 not, for he said, ' I have often declared, that if one more 
 simple among you, or any others, is pleased with this word 
 OeoTOKog, I have no objection to it, so be that he make not 
 the Virgin God.' It accused him next, of holding not 
 only to two natures, but to two perso?i8 in Christ. And 
 even had he used such language, no one accustomed to dis- 
 criminate, will deny, that it might have had in his mouth 
 
102 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 no heretical meaning. But he perseveringly denied the 
 charge to the end of his life. To Cyril, his enemy, he 
 wrote, ' I approve that you preach a distinction of natures, 
 in respect to the divinity and humanity, and a conjunction 
 of them in one person.' And to another prelate he said, 
 ' Of the two natures there is one authority, one virtue, 
 one power, and one person according to one dignity.' 
 Nestorius had, on the one point, however, in attempting to 
 penetrate beyond the reach of finite powers into the mys- 
 tery of the incarnation, darkened counsel by words with- 
 out knowledge ; and on the other, had boldly, and perhaps 
 honestly, endeavored to correct a popular superstition. 
 The opportunity for humbling the occupant of the see of 
 Constantinople, which had begun to eclipse its sister patri- 
 archates, was too good to be lost ; and the envious Cyril of 
 Alexandria delayed not to sound the alarm of heresy. By 
 refusing to wait for the delegates of Antioch, (the friends 
 of the accused), he converted the council of Ephesus into 
 an ex-parte tribunal, and Nestorius was condemned un- 
 heard." * 
 
 The general verdict of history has reversed the decision 
 of that impatient and arbitrary council, and has awarded 
 to Nestorius the praise of a reformer instead of the re- 
 proach of a heretic. Milman thus energetically denounces 
 his rival, Cyril, for his share in the condemnation of the 
 patriarch of Constantinople. "Cyril of Alexandria, to 
 those who esteem the stern and uncompromising assertion 
 of certain Christian tenets the one paramount Christian 
 virtue, may be the hero, even the saint ; but while ambi- 
 tion, intrigue, arrogance, rapacity and violence are pro- 
 
 * Researches, Letter 20th. 
 
SPREAD OF NESTORIANISM. 10 J 
 
 scribed as iinchristican means — barbarity, persecution, 
 bloodshed, as unholy and unevangelic wickedness — poster- 
 ity will condemn the orthodox Cyril as one of the worst 
 of heretics against the spirit of the Gospel. Who would 
 not meet the judgment of the Divine Redeemer loaded 
 with the en'ors of Nestorius, rather than with the barbar- 
 ities of Cyril." * 
 
 Socrates, the ecclesiastical historian, who was nearly con- 
 temporary with Nestorius, but not at all of his school, 
 acquits him of all heresy, while he charges him with 
 "ignorance," and "vain confidence." "After a careful 
 perusal of his waitings," he says, " I can not concede that 
 he w^as either a follower of the heretics, with whom he was 
 classed, or that he denied the divinity of Christ ; but he 
 seemed scared at the term Mother of God^ as though it 
 were some terrible phantom."! 
 
 The powerful school of Edessa (the modern Orfa) es- 
 poused the cause of Nestorius, and sent forth disciples of 
 his doctrine throughout Mesopotamia. The Persian church, 
 as already remarked, became identified with his doctrine. 
 So numerous and powerful were its adherents that, at one 
 time, twenty-five metropolitans acknowledged the Nestorian 
 patriarch as their head. His see was established succes- 
 sively at the great commercial depots of central western 
 Asia, Ctesiphon, Seleucia, Bagdad, and finally Mosul. 
 
 Gibbon gives a glowing picture of the rapid difiusion of 
 Christianity over Asia, by Nestorian missionaries. "In 
 the sixth century, Christianity was successfully preached to 
 the Bactrians, the Huns, the Persians, the Indians, the 
 Pers-armenians, the Medes and the Elamites ; the barbaric 
 
 * Latin Cliristianity, i. 145. f Socrates, B. 7, C. 32 
 
104: MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 churches, from the Gulf of Persia to the Caspian Sea, were 
 
 almost infinite In a subsequent age, the zeal 
 
 of the Nestorians overleaped the limits which had confined 
 the ambition and curiosity both of the Greeks and Persians. 
 . . . . In their progress by sea and land, the Nesto- 
 rians entered China by the port of Canton, and the northern 
 
 residence of Sigran Under the reign of the 
 
 Caliphs, the Nestorian Church was difi"used from China to 
 Jerusalem and Cyrene, and their numbers, with those of 
 the Jacobites, were computed to surpass the Greek and 
 Latin communions."* 
 
 In the course of ages, this early and powerful Christian 
 sect — which originated in a protest against that tendency 
 to the worship of the Virgin, which was afterward devel- 
 oped into the full Mariolatry of the Western Church, and 
 has culminated in the sanction, by Pius IX., of the dogma 
 of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary — itself 
 declined in purity and strength, and yielding to the persua- 
 sives of the Jesuits became papalized, and assumed the 
 name of Chaldeans^ which belongs genealogically to the 
 people as a whole. Still a remnant adhered to their 
 ancient faith and order ; and these now recognize as their 
 ecclesiastical head a Patriarch bearing the linear name of 
 Mar Shimon, whose seat is a retired village in the moun- 
 tains of Kurdistan. 
 
 Of these independent Nestorians Dr. Perkins testifies, 
 that " they may, with great propriety, be denominated The 
 Protestants of Asia. They have the deepest abhorrence 
 of all image-worship, auricular confession, the doctrine of 
 purgatory, and many ether corrupt dogmas and practices 
 
 * Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. 47. 
 
MODEKN NESTORIANS. 105 
 
 of the Papal, Gi-eek and Armenian Churches ; while they 
 cherish the highest reverence for the Holy Scriptures, and, 
 in theory at least, exalt them far above all human tradi- 
 tions." * Still their worship is encumbered with many use- 
 less ceremonies, and when first brought to the knowledge 
 of American missionaries, the people as a whole, were far 
 sunk in ignorance and formalism. They are disposed to re- 
 pudiate the name Nestorians, as a name of reproach. And 
 certainly as a people, they were Christianized long before 
 the time of Nestorius. Indeed they claim that their ances- 
 tors were converted by Thomas, one of the Twelve, whose 
 name they hold in special reverence ; and they prefer the 
 national title of Chaldeans to the sectarian name by which 
 they are commonly known. A most interesting represen- 
 tative of this people visited the United States in 1842, in 
 company with Rev. Justin Perkins on his return from a 
 sojourn of nine years among them as a missionary. The 
 accompanying portrait will recall the features of 3Iar 
 Yohannan^ Bishop of Oroomiah. 
 
 Rev. Horatio Southgate thus describes the early labors 
 of the missionaries of the American Board among this 
 interesting people : 
 
 " The missionaries are compelled to observe no restric- 
 tions in imparting religious instruction. In their freedom 
 of access to the people, in the great confidence and love 
 which is entertained for them, in the personal influence 
 which they possess, both among the Christians and the 
 Mohammedans, in the eagerness Avith which their in- 
 structions are received by the simple-minded Nesto- 
 rians, they stand upon a more favorable footing than 
 
 * Page 20. 
 
106 
 
 MEMOIR OF STODDARD 
 
 MAR YOHANNAN. 
 
 has been attained in any other instance among the Eastern 
 Christians. 
 
 " The reverence which is felt for them is very remark- 
 able. I have no doubt, however, that it arises, in part, 
 from the novelty and singularity of their work in the eyes 
 of the Nestorians, Conceive a i3eople, like those of Oroo- 
 miah, bowed down by oppression through long ages, until 
 the remembrance of a better state has faded from their 
 mmds, accustomed to look on all around with distrust, and 
 upon themselves as below the hope of kindness, and then 
 
REV. H. SOUTHGATE. 107 
 
 imagine a company of men coming to them from the most 
 distant parts of the earth, with a purely benevolent design 
 for their welfare ; proving the sincerity of their motives by 
 sitting down among them, opening schools for their instruc- 
 tion, receiving them into their houses, healing their sick, 
 and counseling them in language of kindness never heard 
 before, and all this without any other earthly reward than 
 the pleasure of seeing them improve under their instruc- 
 tions, and it is easy to believe that such a people will look 
 upon such benefactors with mingled emotions of astonish- 
 ment, gratitude and love."* 
 
 * Narrative of a Tour, etc., bv Kev. Horatio Southgate. YoL 2, p. 311, 
 1840. 
 
CHAPTER IX, 
 
 THE DEPARTURE. 
 
 On the morning of Tuesday, March 1st, 1843, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Stoddard embarked at Boston, on board the bark 
 Emma Isadora^ for Smyrna. The same vessel carried out 
 six other missionaries, destined to the same general field. 
 There were Doctor and Mrs. Perkins, the pioneers of the 
 Nestorian mission, who went back rejoicing, with new la- 
 borers, to gather in the harvest they had planted ; Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bliss — who took up their residence at Trebizond — 
 Miss Catherine E. Myers, (now the wife of Dr. Wright, of 
 the Nestoriau mission,) and Miss Fidelia Fisk, who were 
 to take charge of female schools at Oroomiah. Mar To- 
 hannan was a passenger by the same vessel, on his return 
 to his native land. A large concourse of Christian friends 
 assembled on the deck of the vessel, to bid adieu to this 
 beloved band, and after appropriate religious services, the 
 last farewell was spoken, and the bark loosed from her 
 moorings. Dr. Perkins represents Mr. Stoddard as turning 
 his back upon country and kindred, and setting his face 
 toward Persia, " with a cheerful, yea, joyful heart." His 
 venerable parents were not able to witness his embarka- 
 tion, but amid all the hurry and excitement of the hour, he 
 found time to addi^ss to them a few parting words. This 
 brief epistle, thrown off from a full heart in a moment of 
 intense occupation and anxiety, is a model of filial affection 
 
FAREWELL TO HOME. 109 
 
 and of the missionary spirit of faith, hope, and joy. It 
 condenses into a few lines a whole life of duty and of grat- 
 itude to the honored guardians of his youth, a whole life of 
 consecration to the Master who called him for away from 
 his early home, all the love and grace of the Gospel for the 
 perishing, all its reward and triumph for the faithful 
 servant. 
 
 Boston, March 1st, 1843. 
 "My Beloved Father and Mother, 
 
 " In one short half-hour we shall be on board the ship which is to 
 carry us far from our native shores. At such a time you can hardly 
 expect me to say much. You will, however, be glad to know that 
 ray heart is as peaceful, and my hopes as bright as ever. We go in 
 the service of our blessed Eedeemer. We go to preach Christ to 
 those perishing in sin. We go to scenes of trial ; but we go with 
 the Bible in our hand, filled with exceeding great and precious 
 promises, with a throne of grace ever accessible, with a Saviour to 
 cheer and bless us, with the new Jerusalem before us as our home. 
 There may we meet, and recounting all the way in which God has 
 led us, together bow before the throne, and sing for ever the praises 
 of redeeming grace. 
 
 " My dear parents, I can never thank you enough for all your 
 kindness. You will ever have my warmest love and my fervent 
 prayers. God our Father bless you, the Saviour be your portion, 
 the Holy Ghost your sanctifier. Farewell, dear parents. 
 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 David. 
 
 It was a rare advantage to the new missionaries that 
 they could go out under the guidance of Dr. Perkins, and 
 could profit by his experience, as he himself had profited 
 by that of Dr. Eli Smith, on his first outward voyage. 
 The passage to Smyrna was rough, but was accomplished 
 
110 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 in thirty-seven days. A few extracts from Mr. Stoddard's 
 letters and journal will introduce the reader to missionary 
 life on shipboard. 
 
 "March 13th, 1843. At Sea.—When we had bid farewell to 
 our dear friends who had assembled in Boston to witness our 
 departure, a fine breeze carried us fast out to sea. Harriette and 
 I stood on the deck, casting many an earnest gaze on those shores 
 which were vanishing, perhaps for ever, from our sight. As you 
 may well suppose, our emotions were of a mingled character. 
 Who that has a heart to feel, could leave such parents as ours, 
 such an endeared circle of brothers and sisters — ^no more, perhaps, 
 to see their faces in this world — vnthout a thrill of sadness ? And 
 yet who that loves his Saviour, that can put any trust in the 
 promises of God, would not joyously go forth on such a mission of 
 peace. To preach Jesus Christ to a lost world, to turn them from 
 their idolatry and wretchedness to the path of peace, to soothe 
 their sorrows with the consolations of the Gospel, and point the 
 dying to a heaven of glory — this is the work in which we en- 
 gage. It is a work that angels might envy us ; it is a work which 
 carries with it its own reward ; it is a work which Jesus Christ 
 came to begin, and in the accomplishment of which his soul is ear- 
 nestly engaged. Tell me, then, my dear parents, are not such views 
 as these enough to bear us up under our separation, especially when 
 we remember that it lasts but a moment, and is to be followed by an 
 eternal union? Who of us will regret, as we stand on Mount Zion 
 above, that oceans rolled between us here, and that most effectually 
 to advance Christ's kingdom, we consented no more to take sweet 
 counsel together, and to walk to the house of God in company ? 
 Not one. All of us will rejoice over our labors, and call our afflic- 
 tions Hght, and realize the sweetness of the rest that follows them. 
 
 " March 24th. Perhaps you would hke to know how our time is 
 occupied, hour by hour. We are very systematic. After rising in 
 
STUDIES ON SHIPBOARD. Ill 
 
 the morning we spend the time before breakfast, if any time remains, 
 in reading the Scriptures. We get up about half-past six, and it 
 takes about twice as long to dress as on shore, especially for the 
 ladies. If you are disposed to think we are late risers, you will rec- 
 ollect that we are frequently disturbed in our rest by the rolling of 
 the vessel, and the running to and fro of the sailors. Moreover, 
 there is no place to sit in, when one is up, for the mates are busy 
 washing down the decks, and the house on deck is not very com- 
 fortable. When breakfast is over, and Harriette and I have read 
 our Bible, we study Turkish till ten o'clock. We are now making 
 very good progress in this language, and I think shall be able to 
 converse in it tolerably before we reach Trebizond. The ladies are 
 excellent scholars. Indeed Harriette, by her readiness in learning 
 often puts me to the blush. At ten o'clock we all meet and spend an 
 hour in reading Geology. It is very desirable that we should have 
 a pretty good knowledge of this science, for we are going over one 
 of the most striking geological countries in the world, and a country, 
 too, very httle explored. I am one of those who believe that science 
 can be made subservient to the spread of the Gospel. And while 
 neither this nor anything else should divert us from our great work, 
 — the one great work of preaching Jesus Christ — I trust we shall do 
 much indirectly to improve the Persians in civilization and comfort. 
 The discovery of coal beds would be an immense blessing to that 
 country, and no one but a geologist could hope to find them. 
 
 " After Geology comes our recitation in Turkish, Mr, Perkins being 
 the teacher. This fills up the interval till dinner. At half-past one 
 we again assemble to read. The latter part of the afternoon each 
 one spends as he pleases, but it is usually occupied by our whole 
 company in writing letters to absent friends. At six o'clock we 
 meet still again, to spend a half-hour in singing. Several of our 
 number have never learned to sing, and Mr. Perkins is very desirous 
 they should learn. I do not wonder at it ; for a missionary, of all 
 others, should have this qualification. You m^U be glad to know 
 that we are making very tolerable improvement, and that even / 
 have hopes of being able at last to sing. Our singing is followed by 
 
112 MEMOIR OF STODDAKD. 
 
 our devotions, at which we expound the Scriptures, sing a hymn 
 and pray. Then a part of the remainder of the evening we read 
 D'Aubigne's History; the rest we spend in social converse. Our 
 hour for retiring is from nine to ten." 
 
 " April 1. Another Sabbath is approaching, and I long to be at* 
 home and spend it with my beloved parents. But no, it can not be. 
 And I will not repine. It would be very pleasant to sit once more 
 in the house of God, in my dear native village, and Msten to the 
 words of truth. But if this privilege is to be purchased by a sacrifice 
 of my missionary life, as of course it must be, I will cheerfully take 
 as substitute the deck of a ship, or the spreading branches of a tree, 
 or the mud walls of a Nestorian church. It is sweet to think that 
 religion or happiness are not dependent on place or circumstance. 
 God may be with us here as well as in America. Jesus Christ may 
 kindle his love in our hearts as we are traversing sea and land. The 
 Spirit may descend vtdth his blessed influences, and breathe life and 
 peace into our souls. The Sabbath day may have as precious bless- 
 ings in Persia as in our fatherland. Nay more, I beheve that the 
 missionary may look for richer blessings than if he had stayed at 
 home. What means the promise ' manifold more in this present life ^ 
 Does it mean more food or raiment — a more spacious house — more 
 perfect health? No, none of these; for the follower of Jesus is 
 often, like his Master, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. 
 Means it not that within shall be quietness and assurance for ever ? 
 that spiritual blessings shall descend and rest on the missionary of 
 the cross? I know not, but I love to think so. I love to think 
 that, worthless as I am, I shall be a better Christian than I should 
 have been in America ; that, by the grace of God, I shall rise above 
 the world, and Hve near my heavenly home. God grant that not 
 with me only, but with my dear parents, and brothers and sisters, 
 this may be the daily e-q)erience." 
 
 " April 4th, 1843. ^gean /Sea.— Last night, afteRlea, we went out 
 
A GRECIAN SKY. 113 
 
 to enjoy a splendid sunset. You can form no conception of the 
 beauty of these Mediterranean skies. While passing by Gibraltar, 
 and indeed through all the Mediterranean, we have feasted on the 
 beauty of nature. ' Only man is vile.' "We are surrounded by pa- 
 ganism, and worse than pagan Christianity. This morning we all 
 rose soon after four, to enjoy a Grecian sunrise. The stars were all 
 out, and among them three beautiful planets. All around us were 
 islands and vessels, just as yesterday. We sat on the deck, and saw 
 the stars gradually fade away, and the sun gloriously come up out of 
 the sea, shaking his wet locks. The scene was a calm and happy 
 one, and reminded me of those beautiful lines : 
 
 * As, at the break of opening day, 
 The stars are all concealed, 
 So earthly pleasures fade away 
 When Jesus is revealed.' 
 
 '' Jesus is the sun of the Christian, and he who looks steadily at 
 him will find the brilHancies of the world all gi'ow dim. May he 
 ever shine fully upon our souls, and we be cheered by his hfe-giving 
 influences. Yesterday was the day for the monthly concert. No 
 doubt our httle company were remembered by a multitude of pray- 
 , ing Christians at home. Oh, that these prayers may be answered, 
 not merely in our temporal, but our eternal prosperity. If we can 
 go forth with the prayers of Christian friends, then indeed may we 
 go forth with boldness, for the Lord will go with us. In the even- 
 ing we sang the missionary hymn, and read the account of Paul's 
 preaching at Athens, which city is not now far oH When you 
 were holding your concert, we were quietly asleep. 
 
 " You will be glad to know that Harriette is now very happy. 
 To be sure she occasionally feels sad, and the tears fall down her 
 cheeks. But is this strange? I would much rather see her exhibit 
 feeling, though it sometimes renders her a little unhappy, than to 
 have a wife destitute of sensibility. There is no danger that she 
 will not love her work. She has quite as much desire to go as I 
 
114 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 have myself, and I am sure I feel very cheerful about it. Not that 
 our hearts are not knit to dear homes by a thousand ties — ^but the 
 work is a glorious one, and it is a privilege to engage in it. Who 
 would not consider it a privilege to go forth and preach a crucified 
 Saviour ? Who would not leave nome — even so dear a home as 
 ours — at the call of his Father in Heaven." 
 
 " April 5th. When I think of my native land, and of my leaving 
 it for the far distant land of my adoption, I have no feelings of 
 regret at my choice. I beheve that the question was deliberately 
 weighed ; though we are very weak and hable to err in our judg- 
 ments, I feel as if nothing could occur to alter the case. It may be 
 that I shall be cut down before many years of service. It may be 
 that I shall be driven, with the other missionaries, from Persia, as the 
 Roman Catholic missionaries have been already. But these things 
 can not be foreseen, and of course can not alFect our present judg- 
 ment. I go then to my field of labor happy, very happy. I go, 
 feeling that God has called me. I go to a work which would require 
 an angel's power — a work in which, if only faithful to my Master^ 
 I shall no doubt be useful and happy. Harriette has very much the 
 same feehngs with myself." 
 
 A few lines from a letter of Mrs. Harriette B. Stoddard 
 to her parents, will show that her missionary spirit was 
 kindred to that of her husband. 
 
 " Smyrna, April 14th, 1843. I am very well and very happy, 
 and looking forward with joy to my future work. Give much love 
 to aU my friends. How I should rejoice to see you all. Amid all 
 the new and delightful tilings I see, there is no place so pleasant as 
 my own dear home. But I do not regret that I have left it forever. 
 If I can only be the instrument of saving souls I will count no sac- 
 rifice I make, great. I know you will not forget to pray much for 
 u3. We feel more and more the need of prayer. Pray that our 
 
SMYRNA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. 115 
 
 faith be strong and we faint not by the way. Good by, my dear 
 father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Your affectionate daughter 
 and sister, Harriette B. Stoddard." 
 
 The shortness of the voyage allowed Mr. Stoddard time 
 to visit various missionary stations in Turkey, before enter- 
 ing upon the long overland journey to Oroomiah. He 
 thus formed the acquaintance of brethren whose counsels 
 were of much value, and gained an insight into the details 
 of missionary labor. He alludes to these visits in the fol- 
 lowing terms : 
 
 "April 14th, 1843. Mr. and Mrs. Temple have a very comfort- 
 able house, and seem very happy. This is true of all the missiona- 
 ries we have seen. Never have we had a more cordial welcome. 
 Everything has been done to make us happy; and on leaving 
 Smyrna, we feel that we leave behind us there many warm hearts, 
 that will be enlisted in our success. May God reward them for 
 their deeds of love. 
 
 " When you think of us, dear parents, think not of us with tear- 
 ful eyes. While we love our homes and daily commend you all to 
 our Almighty Friend, we feel very contented in our new employ- 
 ment. And I am persuaded that as faitliful missionaries, we shall 
 always be happy. Mary says I always look on the bright side. 
 So I do, and why should I not ? Especially when tliere is no illu- 
 sion about it, but all is a blessed reality." 
 
 " May 1st, 1843. The scenery of the Bosphorus is surpassingly 
 lovely. The tall cypress, the sycamore, the fields of waving grain, 
 the blossoms innumerable that are now putting forth, the birds 
 singing on a thousand trees and skimming in large flocks over the 
 surface of the water — all remind one of an earthly paradise. But 
 when I stand and drink in the inspiration of some of these scenes, 
 and then turn away and remember the deep midnight that veils the 
 
116 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 minds of this nation, I am sick at heart. Can they ever be re- 
 claimed ? Will the Sun of righteousness ever arise on them with 
 healing in his wings? The Sabbath dawns upon these beautiful 
 regions ; but scarcely one hails its approach. The seasons come and 
 go ; but hardly one heart rises in gratitude to him who rules them 
 all. One generation after another passes away ; the graveyards are 
 filled with the dead, but no one learns the lesson which is taught. 
 You can not conceive, dear parents, how chilling is the atmosphere 
 I am breathing. How hopeless, to all human view, appears the 
 salvation of these multitudes. In this one city are about a million 
 of souls, and among them only a few real Christians. Most of them 
 are the followers of the Prophet — some of them Greek and Roman 
 Catholics, with a name to Hve while they are dead ; and many no 
 doubt are not only without hope but without God in the world. 
 Can these dry bones live? Yes; they can. It is God's work. It 
 can go forward. It will go forward. 
 
 * Jesus shall reign where'er the sun, 
 Doth his successive journeys run, 
 His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
 Till moons shall wax and wane no more.' 
 
 " Blessed assurance. Let us Hve, and labor, and pray for such a 
 glorious issue." 
 
 Under the same date Mrs. Stoddard writes : 
 
 " It is the evening for monthly concert, and David, with our mis- 
 sionary friends, has gone to attend it. I am left at home, having 
 rather a bad cold, which I increased to-day by attending a female 
 prayer meeting held at Mrs. Dwight's. It was quite an interesting 
 season to me, and strongly reminded me of like precious privileges 
 in America. How delightful is the thought that no matter what 
 may be our circumstances, however adverse our fortunes, or gloomy 
 our prospects, we may not be debarred the privilege of prayer. 
 
LETTER OF MRS. STODDARD. 117 
 
 And it is especially necessary to the missionary, for if one, sur- 
 rounded by all the influences of the Gospel, the example and pray- 
 ers of Christian friends, the fear of dishonoring his Master in the 
 eyes of a keen-sighted world, needs to be often at a throne of grace 
 that he may keep his heart right with God, how much more does he 
 need to pray, who is surrounded by influences, whose every tend- 
 ency is such as to lead him far from God, and make him forgetful of 
 his eternal interests? 
 
 " It is an erroneous idea that a missionary in leaving America 
 bids farewell to spiritual foes and needs no longer to contend with 
 ' the flesh, the world, and the wicked one.' He carries with him 
 the same sinful heart and depraved afiections, and of necessity pos- 
 sesses no more grace than the Christian at home. And if he relaxes 
 his exertions to progress in divine things, he will soon find to his 
 own sorrow and dismay, that he needs continually to be pressing 
 onward lest he be driven far back into the regions of coldness, and 
 spiritual deadness. This has been the experience of almost every 
 missionary in the first stages of his self-denying hfe. I feel that it 
 is mine, and earnestly desire much grace may be granted me, that I 
 may * keep my heart with all diligence ;' that I may continually feel 
 my utter helplessness and entire dependence on Jesus, and be daily, 
 hourly, found at the foot of the cross. Shall I not have your pray- 
 ers, dear sister, that I may ever have a heart fixed on God, and thus 
 be a faithful missionary ? I am looking forward with great interest 
 to my future home among the degraded and perishing of Persia. I 
 trust it will not be wholly in vain that I have left home and friends 
 to spend my life in efforts for the salvation of the Nestorians. Not 
 the least among my labors will be that of making a happy home for 
 your dear brother. Perhaps tliis is the widest sphere of a mission- 
 ary's wife. If by kindness and assiduity she can enable her hus- 
 band to be happy, if she can share his sorrows and lighten his cares, 
 she will have performed no inconsiderable service for the cause of 
 Christ. If this, however, is all my labor I shall have an easy work 
 to do." 
 
118 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Dr. Perkins thus describes the favorable impression pro- 
 duced by Mr. Stoddard upon all who saw him at the mis- 
 sionary stations : 
 
 " Our visits at the missionary stations on the way were 
 delightful. At all of them Mr. Stoddard left a profound 
 impression of his rare excellence. The first missionary 
 whom he met in Asia was our good father Temple, then at 
 Smyrna. That modern apostle was, to Mr. Stoddard's 
 mind, the model of a missionary ; and he took great pains, 
 during our brief stay there, to derive useful hints and sug- 
 gestions from him, and eagerly emulated the spirit of that 
 man of God. 
 
 " It was a period of trial in our missionary field. Much 
 light and truth had been dififused, but few conversions had 
 occurred. Difiiculties thickened — dangers threatened — 
 enemies multiplied and waxed bold, especially our Papal 
 enemies. The faith of some wavered, and the fears of all 
 were roused. In view of this state of things, one of the 
 older missionaries at Constantinople thus wrote to me, after 
 we passed on : ' I am sure that God will bless and prosper 
 you. Your taking with you such a man as Mr. Stoddard 
 is a pledge that the Lord will be with you.' " 
 
 The party reached Trebizond early in May, 1843; and 
 leaving now the sea, which had been their pathway since 
 they left the harbor of Boston, they began their caravan 
 journey across the mountains of Armenia and the plains of 
 Persia. Mr. Stoddard's graphic pen describes the prepara- 
 tions for the journey, and the incidents of the way, in let- 
 tors written in his tent, after the fatigues and excitements 
 of each day's march . A few extracts will show how 
 thoroughly he entered into the enjoyment of natural 
 scenery and of his novel life, how readily he adapted him« 
 
A CONTRAST. 119 
 
 self to new circumstances, and how buoyant his heart ever 
 was with faith and hope in his work. 
 
 " Trebizond, May 13th, 1843. 
 "My Dear Brother — Ever since I landed in Smyrna, I have met 
 so many kind friends, and had so many novel objects to divert my 
 mind, that I have not realized how far I was from my native land. 
 But now illusions are fast vanishing. Here we are, at the extremity 
 of the Black Sea, among a rude and unchristian people, about to set 
 out on a journey over lofty mountains. The bustle of preparation is 
 nearly over. Our muleteers are engaged — our provisions bought — 
 our packing done — and we only wait for the Sabbath to be past, to 
 mount our horses and set out on our way. This little interval of 
 repose gives us time to look around us and to stretch our thoughts 
 far away to our home. Yes ; our home. For though I would live 
 and die in the land of my adoption, I can not do otherwise than call 
 America my home. There *' my friends, my kindred dwell." It is 
 endeared to me by a thousand tender associations. It is my hirth- 
 -place. There was I educated. There I met sympathy and kind 
 hearts. There refinement and intelligence and the blessings of free- 
 dom clustered around me. Here all is dark, degraded, seemingly 
 lost. Nothing binds me to such a land but the thought that God 
 may enable me to pour light on this darkness — to open the eyes of 
 the blind — to loose the tongues of the dumb — to set up the standard 
 of the cross, and preach the everlasting gospel — to tell the story of a 
 Saviour's love — to proclaim liberty to the captives of sin, and the 
 opening of the prison to them that are bound. Yes, to preach Jesus 
 Christ is my hope, ^nd in this hope will I rejoice. And shall I not? 
 Can any work better become a sinner saved by grace — a child of 
 immortality — a candidate for heaven ? To live — to toil — to suffer — 
 to die — ^to go home to glory, surrounded by many saved by our 
 efforts — what can be so interesting ? What so dehghtful a work as 
 this ? My dear brother, let us Uve near to our Saviour, and whether 
 in America or Asia, strive to spread the knowledge of his precious 
 salvation to all around us. Then shall we accomplish the great 
 
120 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 object for which God made us, and feel the satisfaction of living not 
 in vain. 
 
 " You will be interested to know our movements since we have 
 been in Turkey. As our passage was so short, and we learned that 
 the Spring was very backward on these mountains, we found it 
 necessary, as well as pleasant, to linger at the missionary stations on 
 the way. At first I thought this would be a loss of time, but I am 
 now convinced that quite the contrary is true. The number of mis- 
 sionaries we see — the various information we gain — the counsels — 
 the suggestions — the prayers of our brethren, as they first welcome 
 us, and then extend the parting hand — are aU an excellent prepara- 
 tion for our final work. I wish you could have been vnth us at 
 Smyrna and at Constantinople, and seen how much kindness and 
 brotherly love we met from the brethren. They are devoted Chris- 
 tians, and while they have, some of them, made sacrifices for years 
 in the missionary work, they look forward with pleasure to years 
 more of fike sacrifice. 
 
 ******** 
 
 " We came up here in a splendid Austrian steamer, commanded by 
 a very polite, warm-hearted Englishman. It is interesting to us to 
 find steam-boats and kindred improvements making their way to the 
 ends of the earth. On Monday, Providence permitting, we are to 
 start on our journey. The highest mountains which we cross are in 
 fall sight — about fifty miles before us. They are still capped with 
 snow, and no doubt we shall shiver now and then, before we reach 
 the valleys beyond. Would you know how we look as we set out ? 
 Well, then, you shall see. Our party consists of seven, besides Mr. 
 Perkins's little girl (Mr. Bliss will stop for the present in Trcbizond). 
 Each of us has a horse and an American saddle. After us comes a 
 horse loaded with our tents, then several more with Turkish chests, 
 full of provisions. Then strung over the backs of animals are our 
 cooking utensils and our luggage. Little Judith [Mr. Perkins's little 
 girl] rides in a' basket, which I have covered with a large calash to 
 protect her from the sun. In the rear are two men — one a Jew — 
 the other an Armenian ; they are to aid us on our journey. As we 
 
OVER THE MOUNTAINS. " 121 
 
 wind up the narrow lanes of the city, see the Turkish women — all 
 vailed except a single eye — peeping forth full of curiosity at the 
 strangers. If you will follow us to the end of our first day's journey, 
 you will see us pitching our tents by the side of a Uttle stream, in a 
 beautiful valley. Our attendants will bring out eggs, and crackers, 
 and butter, and dried tongues, and, way-worn and hungry, we shall 
 sit down to our grassy table. On the morrow, Inshawlaw (if Grod 
 please), you shall see us beginning to ascend lofty mountains, and 
 look down on some of the most enchanting scenery that the eye 
 ever gazes on. Indeed the whole of this country is a Paradise." 
 
 "Tuesday, May ]6th. We rose early this morning, took our 
 breakfast, pulled down our tents, and proceeded on our way. You 
 have no idea what labor is to be performed every morning and 
 evening. To pack and unpack our provisions, and see that every 
 tiling is in its place, to set up and demolish a house, to cover our 
 beds with oilcloth as a protection against rain, to saddle our horses 
 and get the ladies well mounted, to see that our loads are all in 
 place ; these little things are suited to try one's patience. And with 
 every attention, many things are apt to go wrong. We have been 
 riding to-day through the same romantic country, continually ascend- 
 ing the mountains. Sometimes the road has been a regular pair of 
 stairs, hewn out of the rock, and quite as steep as any common stairs 
 in our houses at home. Harriette has enjoyed the ride much, and 
 been every hour gaining confidence. Her horse has been led a very 
 small portion of the time. After six hours' climbing, we are snugly 
 encamped at Chailen, which interpreted, means a pasture ground. 
 It is a beautiful piece of table land, covered with grass, and com- 
 manding an extensive view. We have procured fresh eggs and 
 milk and yagourd, and are feasting on the fat of the land. As the 
 night draws on, we begin to feel the piercing cold, for though yet 
 much below the snowy summit, we are thousands of feet above the 
 Black Sea, which stretches out in the distance. All things prosper 
 with us, and our hearts are moved with the goodness of our Heav- 
 enly G-uardian.** 
 
 6 
 
122 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Dr. Perkins, in describing the same journey, mentions a 
 habit of Mr. Stoddard — familiar to all his intimate friends 
 — which illustrates the influence of his mother's early 
 teaching upon his Christian life. "Our long and weari- 
 some journey from Trebizond to Oroomiah, was often be- 
 guiled by listening to sweet hymns, repeated by our 
 departed brother. ISTever did .a Christian at all times 
 more fully carry out the Scriptural injunction, ' speaking 
 to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, 
 singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord.' 
 Such hymns, with a great many precious portions of Scrip- 
 ture treasured up in his mind, were almost infinitely 
 sweeter to him as themes of meditation and conversation, 
 than the richest flowers of general literature, with which 
 he was also so familiar. His repetition of them was never 
 attended with the least parade of formality. It seemed to 
 be as easy for them to flow from his lips and his heart as 
 it was for him to breathe." 
 
 The joy of the missionary company on reaching their 
 destination can hardly be described. Their entry in Oroo- 
 miah was like that of a triumphal cavalcade welcomed by 
 the people whom they have delivered. It is thus described 
 by Mr. Stoddard in a letter to his parents. 
 
 " Oroomiah, June 15th, 1843. 
 "My Beloved Parents, — 
 
 " You will rejoice and unite with me in praising our Grod that we 
 are safely home. Yesterday, amid a large company of Nestorians, 
 surrounded with manifestations of joy at our arrival, we entered the 
 city and set our eager eyes on our future abode ; and now, while 
 our hearts are overflowing, we hasten to write our dear parents of 
 our welfare. We have kept a journal most of the way, and by the 
 next opportunity I will send you what I have time to copy. Kow 
 
APPROACH TO Or.OOMIAn. 12.3 
 
 I can only give tlie occurrences of the last three or four days. Our 
 Sabbath we spent on the plain of Khoy, much oppressed by the 
 heat of a scorching sun. Before, we had been on elevated land and 
 suffered quite as much perhaps from cold during the night as from 
 heat during the day. In fact we had suffered but little from either ; 
 for our tent was hung always with rugs and shawls, and while riding 
 we were favored every day with a cooling breeze. But we went 
 down a hill ten miles long to the plain of Khoy, and there found our- 
 selves at once under a summer's sun. The trees were clothed with 
 the richest foliage — wheat fields, and melon fields, and vineyards, and 
 orchards, stretched away for many a long mile to the distant moun- 
 tains. In the centre of the plain we came to the city, which has 
 recently suffered from an earthquake. Every house is more or less 
 injured ; the city wall is cracked and tottering ; and many buildings 
 are entirely thrown down. Most of the inhabitants were out of the 
 city at the time, and their lives in consequence saved. Still some 
 hundreds, perhaps thousands, perished. Nobody seems to know 
 with any definiteness, as the inhabitants are still more or less scat- 
 tered. By the city we pitched our tents for the Sabbath ; and but 
 for the heat, had a delightful time. It was a season of quiet after a 
 week of anxiety and toil. We were surrounded by Nature in all 
 its loveliness, and were looking to Oroomiah as just at hand. We 
 had no public exercises, but I talked a Httle with a Nestorian who 
 had come out to meet us, in my broken Turkish, and read a chapter 
 in Gorman with our assistant, who speaks no English. These my 
 first attempts to convey religious truth in a strange tongue are very 
 awkward, and I fear result in Uttle good. Yet I pray God I may 
 learn to be useful, so that my coming shall not be in vain. 
 
 Monday we rose just after midnight, to avoid the heat of the noon- 
 day sun. Our ride lay through a long straight avenue of four miles, 
 planted with trees much of the way, and looking very beautifully 
 by the hght of a full moon. Leaving this avenue we crossed a fine 
 bridge of brick arches, and gradually wound up a series of hills for 
 half a dozen miles. Then we stopped to take a lunch ; and spread- 
 ing on the ground our thin native bread, with this and boiled 
 
124 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 tongue, and cheese and eggs, we made a very comfortable meal 
 Crossing a low ridge of mountains, we came in sight of the lake of 
 Oroomiah. You may imagine with what feelings of joy we wel- 
 comed it, as it lay peacefully stretched out at our feet. At eight, 
 our ride was over and we pitched our tents near the north western 
 corner of the lake on the plain of Salmas. Under us was soft green 
 grass, and over our heads trees (unlike any kind we see at home), 
 the blossoms of which perfumed the air. "We received from a neigh- 
 boring village, fresh milk, yagourd and bread, and stretching our- 
 selves on our cloaks, \!7ith our saddles for a pillow, were soon in the 
 land of forgetfulness. It was a pleasant day, and our hearts beat 
 high in the prospect of the next day reaching Gavalan and meeting 
 our Oroomiah friends. The Bishop left us some days before, anx- 
 ious to reach his home, and prepare for us a fat lamb from his father's 
 flock. The next morning we started again very early and were at 
 Gavalan by breakfast time. As we approached the village, five or 
 six on horseback galloped out to meet us, with cries of * Hoshe geldiz, 
 hoshe geldiz," (you have come welcome). They proved to be friends 
 from the mission, whose names were famihar to us all — Priest Abra- 
 ham, Joseph, Mar Yohannan's brother, John and Moses. On entering 
 the village, men, women, and children poured out to join and wel- 
 come our party. We were escorted as if in a triumphal procession 
 through the town to the house of Mar Yohannan's father. The old 
 couple were overjoyed ; said that they were made some years 
 younger by their son's return, and that they praised God for his 
 goodness. Soon Mar Joseph, an old bishop with a silver beard, 
 and half a dozen priests from Oroomiah, came in with their Salam 
 aleykim, Salam aleykim — peace — peace be to you. Our tents were 
 erected in the old priest's garden, and during the day we were 
 thronged with visitors. My heart waafuU, I was not prepared for 
 such a welcome — such a hearty grasp of the hand — such an over- 
 flowing of cordial feeling. I suppose that some of it is to be attrib- 
 uted to their natural rood feeling — some to their personal attach- 
 ments — and perhaps some to the privileges which they hope to 
 derive from a connection with us. But after all I must believe that 
 
THE WELCOME. 125 
 
 God has opened their hearts to receive the Gospel in the love of it, 
 and that they welcome us as the ambassadors of Clirist. I bless my 
 Father for the prospect of usefulness that opens upon us. I rejoice 
 that I am here — just where I am — here to live, and I trust, here to 
 die. Soon may we have revivals of religion among the people, and 
 see them not only right in theory, but cordial behevers in Jesus. 
 
 To return: in the afternoon Dr. Wright, Mr. Breath, and Mr. 
 Stocking, came from the city, and toward evening ten or a dozen 
 priests. The bishop, Mar Yohac^aan, sent abundance of refresh- 
 ments from his fatlier's house, dnd partaking of them and com- 
 mending our souls to God, we retired to rest. The next and last 
 morning, we started at three o'clock, quite a numerous company. 
 Friends continually joiued us on the way, and we went along rejoic- 
 ing. As it is a long, hot ride, say thirty miles from here to the city, 
 we stopped by a beautiful river about twelve miles from Oroomiah. 
 There still more natives joined us, and Mr. Merrick, Mr. Jones, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Holladay. Under our tent we partook of refreshments, 
 and in the afternoon set out for the last tune. Our company now 
 consisted of forty or fifty horsemen, and it was a moving sight, I 
 assure you, to look on such a company. We were riding over a 
 magnificent plain, covered with the richest verdure. The day was 
 beautiful, though warm ; the natives' hearts were glad, and so were 
 ours. We knew that friends were following us with their sympathies 
 and prayers. We knew that we went to a city whose name is dear 
 to many a Christian heart. All behind was bright and cheering; all 
 before us full of hope. But we trust not in man. I hope I may 
 say in truth that our trust is in our Almighty Guide. We reached 
 Oroomiah, about four P. M. Harriette was overcome. The idea 
 of reaching home, after so much tossing by sea and by land, was 
 too much. Now she laughed — now wept. Yet her weeping was 
 soon turned into joy, for she is very, very glad she came. Our com- 
 pany all gathered in Mr. Jones's house aud united in a prayer, and 
 a psalm of praise. Then after tea we dispersed — Mr. and Mrs. Per- 
 kins as the guests of Mr. Merrick, Harriette and I of Mr. Stocking. 
 The missionaries are very pleasant, and I think, prayerful men. The 
 
126 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 missionary premises are charming. I am pleased to see most of the 
 missionaries in excellent health — especially the younger ones. Dr. 
 Wright thinks, with good health to begin with, which few of the 
 ladies have had, and care, we need not fear much. Still we mean 
 to go to Mount Seir, to-morrow, where we shall probably remain 
 during the warm season." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE FIELD OF LABOR. 
 
 The name Oroomiah is given alike to a district, a plain, 
 a lake and a city. The district of Oroomiali lies at the 
 base of the Koordish mountains, in the western part of 
 Azerbijan, the northwestern province of Persia, which 
 stretches from those mountains to the Caspian Sea. Par- 
 allel with the mountains, and about twenty miles eastward 
 from their base, lies the lake of Oroomiah, which measures 
 eighty miles from north to south, and is about thirty miles 
 in breadth. At either extremity spurs of the principal 
 chain of mountains jut down to the very margin of the 
 lake, thus forming an amphitheatre, within which lies the 
 plain of Oroomiah. This plain is about forty miles in 
 length, and varies in width from ten to twenty miles ; it is 
 partially divided into three sections, by spurs from the 
 mountains which form its western boundary. Its whole 
 area, with the adjacent declivities, is estimated at six hun- 
 dred square miles. It teems with an almost tropical vege- 
 tation. A former member of the Nestorian mission* de- 
 scribes it as " dotted over with some three hundred villages, 
 each surrounded with luxuriant wheat-fields, vineyards, 
 fruit-gardens, and melon-patches ; while the plain in every 
 part is intersected with numberless water-courses, diverted 
 
 * Mrs. A. E. Crane, to whose letters and Dr. Perkins's volume, the writer 
 is mainly indebted for the description of Oroomiah, 
 
128 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 from the principal rivers, whose banks, fringed with wil- 
 lows, remind one of the beautiful promise of Jehovah to 
 tlie children of his people, ' they shall sj^ring up as willows 
 by the water-courses.' " 
 
 The geological conformation of the rocks of this region, 
 and the numerous suli3hurous springs along the shore of 
 the lake, evince a volcanic agency ; and the earthquakes 
 occasionally felt at Oroomiah, though far, less severe than 
 the shocks sometimes experienced at Khoy and Tabreez, a 
 hundred miles to the east and north, demonstrate that the 
 subterranean fire has not spent its force. An analysis of 
 the waters of the lake proves it to be highly charged with 
 sulphureted hydrogen. 
 
 This region, so secluded in its position, so unique in its 
 natural features, and so abounding in fertility, is the home 
 of the remnant of the Nestorian church, now scattered 
 among the villages of the plain, and in the nooks and val- 
 leys of the Kurdish mountains. The first mission to this 
 people, after a residence of more than a year at Tabreez, 
 was planted in the city of Oroomiah ; but the intense sum- 
 mer heat of the plains at length compelled the missionaries 
 to establish a health retreat upon the declivity of a neigh- 
 boring mountain. The place selected for this purpose was 
 JSeir, a mountain about five miles distant from the city, 
 which rises, by a gradual ascent, to a height of nearly three 
 thousand feet above the plain, and is seven thousand feet 
 above the sea. This station was first occupied in March, 
 1841, a little while before Dr. Perkins set out upon his return 
 to the United States. The following description of Seir, 
 and the plain, and the lake of Oroomiah, w^as sent by Mr. 
 Stoddard to Professor D. Olmsted, of Yale College. It is 
 valuable for the minuteness and accuracy of its statements. 
 
THE VIEW FROM SEIR. 129 
 
 " The village of Seir is in the province of Oroomiah, in no/tliern 
 Persia, in latitude 37° 28' 18" north, and in approximate longitude 45° 
 east from Greenwich. We are about forty miles from the boundary 
 of Turkey, and one hundred and fifty from that of Russia. The village 
 is on the grassy slope of the mountain, which rises 2,834 feet above 
 the neighboring city of Oroomiah, and 7,334 above the ocean. The 
 side of the mountain on which we hve faces the northeast, and is 
 consequently somewhat bleak in winter. The snow also Hes upon it in 
 the spring long after it has disappeared from the southwestern side. 
 
 " From the village of Seir we look down on the very beautiful 
 and extensive plain of Oroomiah, forty miles in length, and from 
 twelve to twenty miles in breadth, which possesses a deep alluvial 
 soil, and bears on its fertile bosom several hundred villager. The 
 city of Oroomiah, the ancient Thebarma, situated near the center of 
 the plain, as well as many of the villages, is surrounded by innumer- 
 able gardens and orchards, and rows of poplars, willows, and syca- 
 mores, which make large portions of the plain resemble a continued 
 forest. The mountains of Koordistan encircle the plain on three 
 sides, while to the east lies the lake of Oroomiali, studded with 
 islands, and reflecting the pure azure of an Italian sky. 
 
 " This plain is watered by three rivers of moderate size, which 
 come down from the Koordish mountains, and are distributed by a 
 network of small canals and water-courses over its whole surface. 
 Without artificial irrigatioUj but few crops can be brought to matu- 
 rity, although here and there wheat fields are cultivated on the 
 slopes of the neighboring mountains, which are wholly dependent on 
 the rains of the spring and early summer, and sometimes yield a tol- 
 erable harvest. 
 
 " The principal productions of the plain of Oroomiah, the annual 
 mean temperature of which is, of course, considerably above that of 
 Seir, are wheat, barley, corn, millet, flax, tobacco, rice, cotton, cas- 
 tor oil, apples, pears, plums, grapes (which are cultivated in immense 
 vineyards), cherries, apricots, nectarines, peaches, melons, pomegran- 
 ates, almonds, and the jnjube. The fig, with care, may be also culti- 
 vated, but is often destroyed by the cold of winter. 
 
 6* 
 
130 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " The lake of Oroomiah, the ancient Spautes, is about ninety miles 
 long by thirty broad. Its elevation above the ocean is 4,100 feet. Its 
 water has been analyzed by President Hitchcock; its specific gravity is 
 1.155. The lake exerts, of course, a marked influence on the climate of 
 this region, and produces a regular land and sea breeze in the summer 
 months. During the day a hght wind blows from the lake, and dur- 
 ing the night a fresher wind from the lofty mountains of Koordistan, 
 which rise, some forty miles west of the lake, to a height of ten or 
 twelve, or perhaps thirteen thousand feet above the ocean, and gen- 
 erally retafti on their summits, even in summer, deep masses of 
 snow. The amount of watery vapor is thus probably much greater 
 in Oroomiah than in many parts of Persia, which present almost the 
 barrenness of the Arabian deserts. 
 
 " It should be mentioned in this connection, that all the mountains 
 of northern Persia are destitute of trees, and many of them rise to a 
 great height, in naked, rocky summits. Indeed, in the valleys and 
 on the plains it is rare to find any trees except those planted by the 
 hand of man, and a stranger, -as he looks down on the luxuriant 
 plain of Oroomiah, can hardly be made to believe that the millions 
 of trees before him are entirely an artificial growth," 
 
 The city of Oroomiah contains about twenty-five thousand 
 inhabitants, and is built chiefly of unburnt brick, and sur- 
 rounded by a mud wall and ditch. 
 
 The lake, which forms so prominent a feature in the 
 scenery of the district, is so densely salt that the human 
 body will float upon it as easily as upon the surface of the 
 Dead Sea. Its shores are lined with a coarse salt deposited 
 by evaporation, and at its southern extremity, especially, 
 are extensive salt marshes, which are the favorite resort of 
 the flamingo. " The northern part of the lake, near Gava- 
 lan, is shallow, and it is said that sometimes, at low water, 
 a reef or bank is seen but a few feet beneath the surface, ex- 
 tending nearly across, which may serve to explain a tradi- 
 
THE VIEW FROM SEIR. 131 
 
 tion of the Nestorians, to the effect that St. Thomas (who 
 brought the Gospel to their fathers), when he left Oroo- 
 miah, to go eastward to India, crossed the lake by walking 
 upon the water." In honor of this patron apostle, on a 
 certain day of the year the Nestorians, in large companies 
 from different villages, go down to the lake and bathe in 
 its waters, expecting to receive some saving virtue through 
 the faith of St. Thomas. Several rocky islands, the refuge 
 of wild goats, diversify the bosom of the lake. "A few 
 skiffs are sometimes seen upon it, but so timid are the 
 boatmen that they dare not venture out unless the weather 
 is fair. An enterprising Persian nobleman, Malek Kazen 
 Meerza, has constructed a rude steamboat to ply upon its 
 waters, but so ignorant are the Persians of navigation or 
 engineering, that the project has well nigh proved a fail- 
 ure. No fish are found in the waters of Oroomiah." Rev. 
 Horatio Southgate thus describes it : 
 
 " At sunset we went do^vn to the lake and bathed. The 
 temperature of the water was at blood heat, and its taste 
 more saline even than that of the ocean. We found it 
 more buoyant, also, owing to its greater specific gravity. 
 The shore was crusted with salt, and we found our bodies 
 in the same state soon after emerging from the water. It 
 is very shallow, nowhere, it is said, exceeding five feet in 
 depth. I waded out one eighth of a mile from the shore, 
 and found the depth, at that distance, about three feet. 
 The water was so dense as to lift us almost entirely above 
 the surface in floating, and we were unable, without some 
 efiTort, to recover an upright position after swimming."* 
 
 The following description, from the pen of Mrs. Crane, 
 will bring the entire scene vividly before the reader : 
 * Tour, rol. i. p. 323. 
 
132 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " From the terraced roof of our dwellings at Seir we have spread 
 before us a grand and beautiful panorama, more perfect than any 
 thing I ever beheld elsewhere. The city of Oroomiah, with its 
 mud walls, its towers and gates — its flat-roofed dwelhngs and pal- 
 aces, over which the sycamore proudly rises, and its venerable 
 dome, which once marked the site of a Nestorian church, but now a 
 mosque — appears resting in quiet beauty more than seven hundred 
 feet below : while countless Httle villages, marked principally by the 
 willows skirting their water-courses, and their orchards of apricots, 
 peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines or pears, cluster airound, or nestle 
 securely at the base of barren mountains, whose bold, rocky outline 
 forms a fitting frame for such a picture. I have spoken of these 
 mountains as barren, but it is only in appearance, and as contrasted 
 with the forest-crowned hills of our native land. In the spring, 
 and even until June, the mountains are covered with a most beau- 
 tiful carpet of grass and flowers, where flocks of sheep and goats, 
 tended by their shepherds, and lambs cared for by little children, 
 are led to the green pastures. And ' the cattle upon a thousand 
 hills' are also seen roaming these heights, which are given up to 
 pasturage, since they can only be watered by the melting snows, 
 and these would not suffice to bring grain to perfection. I ascended 
 Seir mountain in June, 1856, with a party conducted by Mr. Stod- 
 dard, and at every step we found the greatest profusion of flowers. 
 Tulips and hyacinths of several varieties were growing in their wild 
 beauty, with many other common flowers, and the mountain, even 
 to the top, was covered with the richest herbage. Occasionally we 
 picked the crocus, opening its petals just on the borders of some 
 snow-bank; but when we reached the top of the mountain no 
 words could describe our astonishment. The distant peaks of the 
 Saat mountains, reminded me of what I had read of the Alps — cold 
 and forbidding, with their snowy covering draped about the rocks, 
 while, on the other hand, lay the plain of Oroomiah, smiling like 
 Eden. Such a perfect contrast could not be found, even among the 
 Alps, on so fine a scale. Mount Seir is a perfectly healthful location, 
 about half the distance up the mountain. The mission premises are 
 
THE VIEW FROM SEIR. 133 
 
 surrounded by a wall to protect us at night from marauding 
 Koords — below us are the meadows of the villagers, which are used 
 for threshing floors in autumn. 
 
 " About the city of Oroomiah are several mounds which appear to 
 be ashes, and are supposed to be relics of the ancient fire-worship, 
 which was commenced upon this plain, as many suppose. One of 
 them, Sheikh hill, I have frequently examined. It is not covered with 
 turf, as other hills, but scattering weeds and poppies adorn it in their 
 season. It is in the form of a cone, with the side toward the city 
 very abrupt. From its top we command a fine view of the city, 
 with the river scenery for some fifteen miles bordered with fertile 
 vineyards, and fields of rice, cotton, tobacco, wheat, and barley, with 
 occasionally the castor-oil plant, and thick groves of trees, which are 
 planted to provide timbers for building. Barandooz forms the mid- 
 dle section of the plain, which is divided only by a low range of 
 hills. Its natural characteristics are much the same as those which 
 are grouped about Oroomiah. The soil is a deep alluvium, washed 
 down from the mountains, and almost inexhaustible in its richness 
 and fertility. The principal village, Dizzatakka, has a fort crowning 
 a hill, which adds very much to the beauty of the landscape as seen 
 from Sen- — a landscape which stretches towards the sunrising, and 
 is bordered by the lake, across whose placid bosom I have often 
 watched the first tints of the morning brightening into day. ' 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 PIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MISSIONARY LIFE. 
 
 The field so eloquently pictured by others caught new 
 tints from the glowing pen of Stoddard. His admiration 
 of its natural scenery, his delight in his missionary asso- 
 ciates, his interest in the people with whom he had taken 
 up his abode, and his enthusiasm in the realization of a mis- 
 sionary life even before he could preach in a strange 
 tongue, impart to his earlier letters from Oroomiah a fasci- 
 nation which the most skillful tourist could not impart to 
 mere descriptive pencilings. Through all his correspond- 
 ence there breathes the same unfaltering devotion to his 
 chosen service which had marked his course of preparation 
 and his outward voyage. 
 
 The first year of a missionary's life is apt to be the time 
 of severest trial. He has just torn himself away from all 
 the tender ties of home, and after the excitement of his 
 journey and the novelty of his new circumstances have 
 subsided, the most painful memories and contrasts with 
 respect to outward associations must force themselves upon 
 him. He can not, like the mere traveler, divert his mind 
 from such reflections by observing foreign scenery and 
 society, solacing himself meantime with the prospect of a 
 speedy return to his native land. He has come to settle 
 for life among a people with whom he has no affinities but 
 
LONGING FOR SOULS. 135 
 
 the common ties of humanity, and no sympathies but those 
 which the Gospel prompts toward them as needy and per- 
 ishing. And yet, he can not now do any thing directly 
 for their relief. With a more constant and painful sense of 
 their lost and ruined condition than that which prompted 
 him to seek their salvation, he can not so much as sj^eak to 
 them with stammering tongue of the love of Christ. Yet 
 this very discipline has its advantages, not only in the vir- 
 tues of faith and patience which it develops, but in the 
 gradual adaptation of the missionary to his field. So Stod- 
 dard viewed it ; and in this first year of missionary trial 
 the most careful scrutiny of his correspondence does not 
 reveal a single expression of regret or discontent. 
 These letters are the best record of his daily life. 
 
 " Mount Seir, July 18th, 1843. We find warm friends in every 
 member of the mission. Harriette and I are both delighted with 
 the Christian spirit manifested by them. The great desire seems to 
 be that the work of God might be revived here, as in some other 
 missions, where, not long ago, the prospect was far more dark. 
 Nothing but this seems to be wanting. Here are forty schools — 
 abundance of opportunities to preach — every facihty for access to 
 the people. The missionaries are universally respected, even among 
 the Mohammedans, and every thing seems to prosper. Every thing 
 but this — that men are not converted. I think the missionaries feel 
 humbled by the thought, and are learning to prostrate themselves 
 lower in the dust befove God. This is a good sign. When man 
 feels that he is nothing, God shows himself to be all in all. We are 
 both tongue-tied. Preach to» the people I can not, for want of 
 words. I am pursuing Turkish and Syriac together. I find there 
 is no getting along without both. Persian is spoken by the higher 
 classes only ; but Turkish is the common medium. For business I 
 must be a Turk, and for religious effort I must be a Nestorian. So 
 b')ih languages should be acquired. In Turkish I can generally get 
 
136 MEMOIK OF STODDARD. 
 
 along tolerably now, as I picked up a good deal on the way. 
 Syriac I read some, but do not attempt to speak just now, lest I 
 should make a Babel of my own mind. God grant I may be pros- 
 pered in my studies a-nd fitted for much usefulness. Life is short 
 and souls around are perishing. From the accompanying sheets to 
 parents you will learn more about us. We are happy and I feel 
 assured always shall be. If God be our guide and portion, it can 
 not be otherwise." 
 
 While yet a stammerer in the native dialects he turned 
 to good account his knowledge of astronomy, and the tele- 
 scope of his own construction which he had transported 
 from Boston to Oroomiah. The following incident, with 
 the reflections which it suggests, is of a peculiar interest. 
 
 " Mount Seir, August 14th, 1843. I am more impressed — much 
 more — with the general influence exerted by the missionaries than 
 before I came. In all this part of Persia they are softening preju- 
 dice, inspiring respect for European manners and civilization, and 
 thus doing much for the planting of the Gospel among these Mus- 
 sulmans. Were you to be here a month you would feel this deeply, 
 as I do. For example : the other day one of their great moolahs, 
 the menajim bashee, the chief astrologer, or, if you please, the ' as- 
 tronomer royal,' came to see my telescope. He is a remarkably 
 intelligent man, though he holds to the Ptolemaic system of the 
 world. He is, however, well acquainted with our views. He went 
 away, as many others have done, who have seen the electrical ap- 
 paratus and other European inventions, saying, with a stroke of the 
 beard, ' God is great,' or, ' Truly you are the wise ones of the earth.' 
 I showed this man the belts and moons of Jupiter, the rings of Sat- 
 urn, and one or more of his satelHtes, the gibbous appearance ot 
 Mars, and some of the wonders of the Milky Way. Now this is not 
 saving a soul, and I deeply feel it ; but you will at once see that 
 influence thus gained over the most talented and influential men is 
 to tell on the destiny of Persia. And if moolahs will permit us to 
 
A PERSIAN ASTRONOMER. 137 
 
 take them by the hand and lead tliem in paths of science, tell me, is 
 it unreasonable to think the time not distant when we can lead 
 them to the Lamb of God ? Oil long to have my tongue untied 
 to speak to this people in their own language the wonderful works 
 of God." 
 
 A more detailed account of the same interview is given 
 in the following letter to Professor Denison Olmsted of 
 Yale College. 
 
 " Oroomiah, August 14th, 1843. 
 " LIy Dear Sir — I have recently been reminded of you in a most 
 interesting way. When I was in America, I was in doubt whether 
 it was best to bring my telescope, as it is difficult and expensive to 
 transport such instruments over the lofty mountains of Turkey. But 
 Mr. Perkins advised me by aU means to keep it with me, as every 
 thing of the kind would contribute, in that half heathen land, to ad- 
 vance the cause of science, and even of religion. I followed his 
 advice; and several weeks since, on unpacking it, was rejoiced to 
 find it in perfect order. It very soon attracted much attention, and 
 was thought by the natives to be a large and beautiful top* When 
 the menajim bashee, the chief astrologer, heard about the instrument, 
 he came without delay to pay me a visit. He is a very intelligent 
 man, perhaps the most so, excepting the prince, of any one I have 
 seen in Persia. His father before him was also eminent in this 
 country for his skill in the same profession. Though perfectly ac- 
 quainted with our system of astronomy, his religion and his early 
 prejudices incline him to that of Ptolemy. Perhaps as received here, 
 it has undergone slight modifications, but in its essential features it 
 is the same as of old. The menajim seems also to have studied the 
 books of India, which, if I mistake not, imply the rotundity of the 
 earth. This, the astrologer is willing to admit, as he knows perfectly 
 well that a change of place, east or west, will produce a change in 
 the meridian, and that the pole is elevated as one travels to the 
 north. I think he would be willing to admit our system in full, 
 * Cannon. 
 
138 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 were it not for his religion, and his dislike to ' new notions,' for ne 
 can%not raise a sound objection against it. He has tables handed 
 down for many years, which enable him to calculate eclipses and 
 other celestial phenomena with considerable accuracy. Every year 
 he is in the habit of making out his Persian almanac, copies of 
 which he presents to distinguished men. I mentioned, in our con- 
 versation, the great solar eclipse of December. He at once produced 
 his books, and said that I was correct in the time, but that the 
 eclipse would be invisible at Oroomiah. According to our tables, I 
 repKed, it can be seen throughout Asia. He smiled pleasantly, and 
 answered, ' If G-od please ; we shall see.' As he was anxious to 
 know what we made the exact time of the beginning and ending of 
 the eclipse, and the number of digits obscured, I promised, at my 
 leisure, to calculate it for him ; I have partly done so, and if I have 
 made no error, the sun will at this place rise in eclipse and continue 
 thus some time ; six or seven hundred miles south of us the eclipse 
 will be total. 
 
 " I am not aware that the menajim bashee has any instruments, 
 except a small crazy spy-glass, and a brass circle for measuring 
 angles, graduated to half, or possibly to quarter, degrees. His 
 knowledge, however, of the constellations, and motions of the heav- 
 enly bodies, is full and minute. We are spending the summer at 
 Seir, and as our elevation is six or seven hundred feet above the 
 plain, a fine opportunity is afforded for observation. The sky is 
 always beautifully clear, and our ordinary nights would be called in 
 America remarkably fine. It was here the astrologer came to see 
 me, and no sooner was it dark than he wished to use the tele- 
 scope. I first pointed it at Saturn, which was near its culmination; 
 at the first glance, the menajim bashee declared that he saw neither 
 satellites nor rings. At this I was, of course, not at all disappointed, 
 and asked him to have a Httle patience and he would have his curi- 
 osity gratified. After a little, he obtained a good focus, and saw the 
 ring. This almost made him leap for joy. He looked again and 
 again, and delighted me by his enthusiasm. Presently he exclaimed 
 that he had a distinct view of the division in the ring, and one of the 
 
A PEESIAN ASTRONOMER. 139 
 
 satellites. That night three or four were visible, but it was not 
 strange that a novice should be unable to detect them. I had, how- 
 ever, a keen-eyed companion ; for though disposed to make every 
 objection, and admit nothing on testimony, he was satisfied that he 
 saw the division in the ring and the shadow of it upon the planet. 
 He tells me that there is a record, many years old, in their posses- 
 sion, which states that Saturn was once seen in the shape of an 
 almond ; but that they know nothing of any rings or any satellites 
 belonging to it. 
 
 "We now turned to Jupiter; and he was lost in astonishment. 
 There were its four moons, and several broad belts crossing the disc 
 of the planet — all too plain to admit of a doubt. Looking up to me, 
 the astrologer earnestly said : ' Tell me any thing you please about 
 these moons, and I will accept it.' You will readily beheve I was 
 exceedingly gratified. We next looked at Mars ; the gibbous state 
 of which he readily admitted. It was too near the horizon to be 
 seen to advantage ; yet some of the dark spots on its surface were 
 discernible. 
 
 " In different views of the Milky Way he was less interested, be- 
 cause, he said, their books declared it to be composed of stars. He 
 seemed gratified by the cluster of Perseus, and one or two similar 
 objects. 
 
 " The menajim wanted much to have a sight of Herschel ; he was 
 half incredulous about the existence of any such planet, especially as 
 I did not know its place in the heavens. I had not by me, as I now 
 have, the American Almanac. I promised to look it up for him, 
 and show it to him on a subsequent visit ; but I fear the telescope is 
 hardly powerful enough to gratify him, 
 
 *' At a late hour we retired to rest, promising ourselves tlie plea- 
 sure of seeing Jupiter and Venus the next morning. As soon as tho 
 menajim cast his eyes on Jupiter, he could hardly contain hunselfl 
 One of the satelhtes was on the other side of the planet, and all had 
 changed their positions. 'Jupiter then has moons,' said he, 'and 
 they revolve around him — you are certainly in the right' 
 
 " Venus, like Mars, was near the horizon, and besides was only 
 
140 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 seen over the plain. From this, exhalations are constantly rising, 
 and though they do not hinder observations to any great height, 
 almost obscure that part of the horizon. Mercury I did not try to 
 find. Indeed, as it was much nearer the sun than Venus, I would 
 not have found it if I could. 
 
 " After sunrise the menajim retired, apparently much gratified, 
 and promising to come again. He is a real enthusiast, and, I douljt 
 not, he will take as much of my time as I can spare. However, as 
 he is a man of much influence, time spent with him is by no means 
 lost. Our great engrossing business ought to be the salvation of 
 these dying men ; but if, indirectly, we can stimulate the Mussulmans 
 to thought and inquiry, or give them new views in science, one 
 great advance toward their conversion will be made. They already 
 look up to Europeans as men of talents and noble acquisitions — God 
 grant that tliis may prepare the way for the hearty reception of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 " Astrology is so interwoven with the rehgion of the Koran, and 
 with the Mussulman traditions, which they hardly esteem as of less 
 authority, that whatever seems to weaken or destroy the former, 
 sweeps away with it the latter. In this view we must hail among 
 this people the progress of the sciences, especially of that one which 
 may not inaptly be called a pillar of their faith. I have no time, 
 dear sir, to write more. Yours very truly, 
 
 "David T. Stoddard." 
 
 Mr. Stoddard applied himself with diligence to the study 
 of the modern Syriac, preferring to spend his strength at 
 once upon the language in which he hoped to preach the 
 Gospel. At the same time he picked up by the way a gen- 
 eral knowledge of Turkish, and at a later period addressed 
 himself to the study of the ancient Syriac, in order to assist 
 Dr. Perkins in revising his translation of the Scriptures into 
 the modern. His finf classical scholarship enabled him to 
 acquire the oriental tongues with great facility. His disci- 
 
DAILY OCCUPATIONS. 141 
 
 pline at Marshall College now proved of eminent practical 
 service. An outline of his daily life will show how zealous 
 and faithful he was, even in the preparatory period of his 
 missionary course. 
 
 " I rise early in the morning and am occupied all day long, and 
 yet there is no time for reading, and still less for writing letters. 
 Next to cultivating communion with God, I feel the acquisition of 
 this language to be most important. Until a tolerable knowledge 
 of it is acquired my tongue is tied, and though my heart should glow 
 with an angel's love I could not point these perishing men to heaven. 
 And I am sorry to find that my progress must be so slow. I keep 
 Nestorians by me at all hours of the day, and talk and read con- 
 stantly ; but from week to week my power of communicating with 
 them seems to be stationary. 
 
 " Perhaps you would like to know something of our manner of 
 living, now that we have come down from Seir and are engaged in 
 more active labor. We rise, or mean to rise, at six o'clock in the 
 morning, though the days are now so short that we sometimes over- 
 sleep ourselves. We breakfast with great punctuality at seven; 
 after which we have prayers in EngUsh, some four or five natives 
 being present. Then I usually get half or three quarters of an hour 
 for study, while Harriette is busy about the house. At half past eight 
 it is my duty to open the seminary and superintend it for an hour. 
 The native principal conducts worship, reading a chapter and ex- 
 pounding it to the scholars. His remarks, so far as I can understand 
 them, are very judicious, though we have httle reason to think he 
 feels the power of the Gospel on his heart. After leaving the sem- 
 inary, a class of some six or eight English scholars assemble at my 
 house, where I teach them for an hour. Mar Yohannan frequently 
 comes in and puts himself among them. His sprightliness and su- 
 perior intelligence add much to the interest of the exercise. While 
 this is going on, a khan, who has importuned me to teach him 
 English, sits at the table and writes alter ' a copy.' He is of high 
 birth, being a nephew of the Governor, but a little foolish. On this 
 
142 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 account I take little interest in his learning our language. Some- 
 times also, Hassan Ali Khan comes, and I spend an hour or so with 
 him. I take it for granted you know who he is. He has learned 
 English pretty well, and has also learned very much that will give 
 him influence among the nobles. I am more and more convinced 
 that time spent on such young men is by no means thrown away. 
 These Persians believe that the earth is flat and stationary, and even 
 make it a part of their religion. But the Httle khan not only allows 
 the earth to be round, but draws maps of different countries, and has 
 made himself quite familiar witli them. And now when he grows 
 up, with these liberal views, you may easily conceive that he will do 
 much to sweep these errors away, and prepare his people for the 
 Gospel. Science, in many other cases, has been the forerunner of 
 religion, and I think it may be so with the Mohammedans of 
 Persia. 
 
 " After my English class, Harriette reads and talks with John for 
 an hour, while I am engaged in the same way with a boy named 
 Yonan. His grandfather is a malek at G-eog Tapa. Some time since 
 he applied to have Yonan received into some famOy of the mission, 
 and taught English. He was assigned to my care, and has been 
 with me about three weeks. We are both very much pleased with 
 him. He is perhaps twelve years old, and, as the Syrians say, a very 
 * wise' boy. So far as I know he is quite serious-minded, and you 
 would infer from his conversation that he was a true Chi-istian. 
 However, so much are this people accustomed to deal in pious ex- 
 pressions, while there is not a particle of grace in their hearts, that I 
 can not place great confidence in his Christian character. At the 
 same time, perhaps he is truly a child of God. Certain it is that he 
 reads and expounds Scripture with an ability and correctness that I 
 have never seen surpassed, and perhaps not equaled, at his age, in 
 our own land. He seems to love to read his Bible to me, and to tell 
 me the meaning as he understands it. As yet he knows very little 
 English, and my only communication with him is in Syriac. If he 
 be a Clu istian, God grant that he may grow fast in grace ; and if he 
 knows not the Icve of Christ that he may be truly converted to 
 
WOKSHIP IN SYRIAC. 143 
 
 himself. Yesterday I learned with pleasure that he was one of a 
 very few that attended evening prayers in the Nestorian church. 
 You know that the priests read their hturgy morning and evening 
 every day in all their churches. Yonan, without any knowledge of 
 mine, has been there every evening. The church is only a short 
 distance off in the city. 
 
 '' But to return. From twelve to one, I take exercise, sometimes 
 in my workshop, sometimes in the wood-house, sometimes on horse- 
 back. Then comes dinner. Afterwards again I spend an hour or 
 two with Yonan, and, when not interrupted by other duties, call 
 together my English class. At four o'clock, Harriette and I both ride 
 for an hour. You know that it is next to impossible to walk here 
 for exercise, and we are driven, by a sort of necessity, to exercising 
 on horseback. I do not know that I have walked a quarter of a 
 mile from our gate, except in one instance, since I came down from 
 Seir. We are careful, however, to exercise much,* and I trust that 
 our health will thus be preserved. 
 
 " After tea we have prayers in Syiiac, whenever Priest Abraham 
 is in the city. He is much occupied as a native preacher, and is in 
 the villages a third or more of his time. I feel as if he were a good 
 man, and a great blessing to this dying people. Our evenings are 
 spent in various ways. Two, and sometimes three evenings in the 
 week, we all meet and pray for God's blessing on our labors. We 
 are interrupted more or less by company, but whenever Nestorians 
 come in, it is a part of our work to receive them, and try to lead 
 them to the religion of Christ. This evening Mar Yohannan and 
 ^JLar Elias visited us, and we had quite an interesting talk on astron- 
 omy. Mr. Jones is about commencing instruction in this branch, in 
 the seminary, and wishes Mar Yohannan's countenance and aid. 
 But their old books, and the universal belief of the people go against 
 our system. It is important, then, that tlje leading men be set right, 
 
 * Since I have been here, I have probably rode more than a thousand 
 miles on horseback. 
 
144 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Mar Tohannan's difficulties were all drawn from the Bible. Wliile 
 he was very free to admit that we knew far more of science than 
 himself or his people, he thought many passages in the Bible asserted 
 that the earth was fixed, and that the sun moved around it. These 
 passages we examined one by one, and when he left I think he was 
 pretty fully convinced that the Bible did not disagree with our asser- 
 tions. This is a great point gained. Two years ago, I suppose, not 
 a single Nestorian would have even admitted that the earth was 
 round. 
 
 " But I must not omit to mention our Sabbaths. At nine o'clock 
 in the morning I go into the seminary, where I have been appointed 
 joint superintendent of the Sabbath School with Mr. Jones. Of 
 course I can do little there yet, except with those who understand 
 English. But I long to have my tongue unloosed that I may speak 
 freely of the cross of Christ. At twelve o'clock we have preaching 
 in English, and though our congregation is small, and no bell calls 
 us together, we have interesting meetings and excellent sermons. 
 We think the effect on our own hearts is well worth the time we 
 spend on our sermons. After preaching, the brethren generally go 
 to the villages. I remain here, and sit by Shamasha Eshoo, while 
 he preaches in the seminary. In the evening, after all have re- 
 turned, we meet together and pour out our souls in prayer and 
 praise." 
 
 "While upon the topic of the domestic life of missionaries, 
 it may be well to contradict and counteract the false im- 
 pression given by Rev. Percy Badger and Madame Pffeifer, 
 that American missionaries in the East live in an expensive 
 and aristocratic style. The writer has enjoyed the hospi- 
 tality of many missionary homes in the Levant, and can 
 testify that they are regulated with that judicious economy 
 which marks a true Christian refinement. A knowledge 
 of the physical and social conditions under which our 
 brethren live in foreign lands, would put an end to such 
 
DOMESTIC LIFE. 145 
 
 animadversions as bigoted emissaries and itinerant tattlers 
 have sometimes vented against their manner of life. Mr. 
 Stoddard writes : " If a person lives here in circumstances 
 of mere comfort, his silver spoons, his watch, his glass win- 
 dows, and similar articles, are considered as proof positive 
 of wealth and luxury." Now would any Christian in 
 America say, that to avoid such an impression the mission- 
 ary should eat with his fingers, and sleep upon a rug on a 
 mud floor, with no protection against changes of temper- 
 ature ? Must not the missionary set an example of a well- 
 ordered domestic life, and a true Christian civilization ? 
 Mr. Stoddard writes, 
 
 "I confess, when I was in America I supposed it would be 
 wrong for missionaries to have much help. But a little reflec- 
 tion has convinced me that it is wrong for them not to have. If I 
 must spend my time in taking care of horses, and running to and 
 fro to get provisions — if H. must be all the time in her kitchen, or 
 mending garments, or washing them, how could we perform mis- 
 sionary work ? But as it is, when breakfast is over, I can begin my 
 study or hear recitations in the seminary, or visit villages, or, when 
 I am able, preach the Gospel. H., too, can go into the girls' school 
 (and she does it every day), and teach them to sing, and herself 
 learn the language there, or take several hours of lessons in our 
 house. This is what we were sent here for, and I presume if our 
 patrons understood the whole matter, as some of them do, there 
 would be a reverse of feehng. Now, if it is difficult to keep house 
 in America, it is much more so here; and the care ought to be 
 taken off as much as possible from the missionary. But I have no 
 doubt if some of the good farmers who contribute to the Board 
 imew that H. and the other ladies here had cooks in their kitchens, 
 they would withhold their support. For the same reason there 
 might be complaint should it be known that we used carpets. Some 
 people would say, ' wood floors are good enough for us ; and must 
 
 1 
 
146 MEMOIK OF STODDARD. 
 
 a missionary have something better ?' Such an one does not con- 
 sider that we have no wooden floors, and that it is necessary to spread 
 something over the earth floor and the native matting." 
 
 Again : 
 
 " I find it economical, in every point of view, to have good help, 
 and enough of it. I should be diverted from my proper work, and 
 rendered but half a missionary, if I had to run this way and that, to 
 buy wheat, and wood, and provisions — to take care of horses, and 
 tend the baby. If we are to acquire the language and do any thing 
 for Grod here, Harriette and I must have the control of our time. la 
 not this the true principle ? Is it not idle for me to spend a day in 
 doing that which a native can do better than I for ten cents (a day's 
 wages) ? As to work, no one that has seen me in Persia imagines 
 that I am ashamed to do it ; and as to saving every dollar that we 
 can, H. and I consider it a solemn duty." 
 
 A series of home associations crowded into a single 
 week, awoke the following train of reflections in a letter to 
 his parents : 
 
 " Before you have gone thus far in this disconnected letter, you 
 will wonder that I have not spoken of the events of the last week. 
 It was a time of deep interest to us both, and I doubt not we were 
 remembered at the fireside and the family altar. On Tuesday came 
 the anniversary of your marriage. The next day we remembered 
 our eldest brother, and the day after our youngest. Thursday, the 
 thirtieth, was set apart for Thanksgiving. As this is about the 
 time for that festival in Massachusetts, we hoped it would fall on the 
 same day at home. The thought of spending a Thanksgiving here, 
 in a foreign land, far from our dear friends, excited some sad 
 feelings. But the remembrance of our work, and the encourage- 
 ment we have in it more than reconciled us to the separation. I 
 think wc both bless God, who brought us to this home, and wish 
 . for nothing higher than to five here and labor for the salvation of 
 
THANKSGIVING IN PERSIA. 147 
 
 Bouls. 0, may we prize the honor and the privilege more and more, 
 so long as we live. 
 
 '' I was appointed to preach the sermon, and as perhaps you would 
 Hke to see what a Thanksgiving sermon on missionary ground is, I 
 will send you the manuscript. As you read, you will bear in mind 
 that there are some desponding ones among us, who feel that they 
 labor in vain, and spend their strength for naught This will ac- 
 count for my enlarging on some points which might seem self-evi- 
 dent. On the whole our Thanksgiving was a pleasant one, and I 
 trust our hearts run over with gratitude at the memory of all God's 
 blessings. As, however, you will see more fully the current of my 
 feelings, I will not enter into them now. 
 
 " Friday was Harriette's birth-day. She is now twenty-two years 
 old. The next day I was twenty-five. Oh, how time passes away ! 
 Vanity of vanities, all is vanity 1 How much of my life has been 
 wasted. How little has been done for my Saviour. How little 
 effort to save immortal souls. A few years more, and I shall lie in 
 the dust. My work will be done forever. Then no more can I 
 stand between the Hving and the dead, and point sinners to the 
 Lamb of God, Oh, then, while I have opportunity, let me never 
 cease to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Pray for me, dear parents, 
 that I may be found a faithful servant, whom his Lord shall welcome 
 to his everlasting rest." 
 
 Ill the midst of his studies and labors he always made 
 commmiion with God the first thing to be cultivated. 
 Hence the uniform cheerfulness of his spirit. 
 
 " I trust that neither the novelty of our situation, nor the pressure 
 of our studies, nor any thing else, will wean our hearts from God. 
 Without God, what can we do in this land of darkness ? The idea 
 is terrible ; and I trust we shall ever be living epistles of Christ, re- 
 flecting his blessed image on our brethren and the world." 
 
 " 1 think this week our prayer-meetings have been more solemn 
 
148 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 than usual, and that there is decidedly more feeling among the 
 brethren. Still, we are far enough from being in the dust. We do 
 not groan, being burdened, and thirst for the rain of heaven. If we 
 did, I think we should have a blessing. I think so, because there 
 are some indications of good ; because much light has been poured 
 upon the people, and their consciences have in some measure been 
 awakened : but above all, because the promises of our God are yea 
 and amen in Christ Jesus. Dear parents, pray for us without ceas- 
 ing, that Grod will appear for our help. There is nothing we need 
 half so much as the presence of the Holy Grhost." 
 
 "Mount Seir, September 12th, 1843. 
 
 "My Dear Mother, 
 
 " I thank you very much for your long letter. I know not how 
 many times I have read it over, but enough to show the high value 
 I set on it. I always valued letters from my mother, but never so 
 much as in this dark land. Occasionally I get out your likeness and 
 father's, and gaze on those dear faces that I shall probably see no 
 more. And then I feel sad, and almost wish that. I was back again 
 by your side. But you seem to smile upon me as if you approved 
 my course, and were very willing to have me live far away as a 
 missionary of the cross. Your letter, too, breathes the same cheer- 
 ful spirit, and I can not but think you are willing to bless God that 
 I am here. Mother, it makes my heart glad to think you smile 
 upon my course. If I can have the approval of my friends, and the 
 approval of my heavenly Father, I shall never regret any sacrifices 
 I have made. They are very small in themselves, and especially 
 when viewed in the light of eternity. What matters it, dear mother, 
 whether we live among heathen or Christians, with friends or foes, 
 if we do but glorify our Saviour ?" 
 
 ******* 
 
 " Mother, you must not dwell on the past, at least in reference to 
 
 me. For if you allow yourself to do so, many wiU be the unhappy 
 
 remembrances. How often was I a wayward boy! How much 
 
 anxiety did I cause you in my later years. I recollect distinctly 
 
BEGINS TO TEACH. 149 
 
 wLen you gave me the parting kiss, and I left home for the walls of 
 a college. There were tears in your eyes, and I can well appreciate 
 now, what pain it must have given you to see me going into such a 
 world of temptations. But these things are over now, and I would 
 not like to have you dwell upon them much. There is too much 
 to sadden the remembrance. Rather would I have you look, dear 
 mother, on the present and future, and mingle your meditations 
 with earnest prayers that God may dwell in me richly, in all wis- 
 dom, filling me with peace and joy, and preparing me to be abun- 
 dantly useful in the vineyard of my Lord." 
 
 So rapid was the progress of Mr. Stoddard in the knowl- 
 edge of Syriac, that in October, 1843, five months after his 
 arrival at Oroomiah, he was able to take a prominent part 
 in the instruction of Nestorian youth. Of his labors at 
 this time, Mr. Perkins makes the following statement : 
 
 " As soon as his knowledge of modern Syriac was suffi- 
 cient for the purpose, the male seminary was reorganized 
 and committed to his care. We all felt that no living mar 
 could be found more competent to assume the very respon- 
 sible task of rearing a generation of well educated and 
 pious Nestorian preachers, whether we regarded the very 
 high order of his own intellect, his finished culture, his 
 moral character, or his holy walk and conversation. And 
 the result has shown that we did not misjudge in the 
 matter. 
 
 *' He soon became able also to preach in the Syriac lan- 
 guage, and whether preaching in Syriac or in English, 
 how often have we been moved and thrilled by his aftect- 
 ing and powerful performances !" 
 
 Mr. Stoddard thus announces this appointment in a let- 
 ter to Rev. Edwin E. Bliss at Trebizond : 
 
150 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " Our seminary and schools are just Commencing, and our plans 
 are hardly formed. The mission have appointed me joint superin- 
 tendent of the seminary with Mr. Jones ; and I rejoice in the pros- 
 pect before me. To take those young men and endeavor to inspire 
 them with a love for knowledge ; to teach them science, and, above 
 all, to fill their minds with the truths of the Gospel ; to hold up to 
 them Jesus and him crucified — this will be work enough for me. 
 God grant that I may have grace to work with fideUty. 
 
 " This employment will of course not interfere with my preach- 
 ing regularly on the Sabbath should I ever have the language well 
 enough to do so." 
 
 In letters to friends in the United States he describes his 
 work and its prospects with more detail. 
 
 " December 21st, 1843. This morning, Harriette and I rose quite 
 early that we might finish breakfast in time to see an eclipse of the 
 sun. We took particular interest in it because I had spent consid- 
 erable time on the calculation, and the menajim bashee (the cliief 
 astronomer), had repeatedly said it would be invisible. Mr. Jones 
 also is now lecturing to the seminary on this science, and has more 
 or less inveterate prejudice to contend with. We, who have been 
 taught from our cradles that the earth turns round and travels 
 through empty space, can hardly realize how difficult it is for these 
 rude people to admit it. It contradicts the Bible, which speaks of 
 the everlasting foundations of the earth ; it contradicts the old Syr- 
 ian melpanas, who declare the world is a plain, and rests on some- 
 thing, which rests on something else, which in its turn rests on 
 something or nothing, just as you please. This is a caricature of 
 their behef, but not a whit less rational. You will not wonder then 
 that all of us felt much interest in the result. It was the first pre- 
 diction of the kind made by the mission, and natives as well as our 
 own company were eagerly on the watch. At the right time the 
 sun rose echpsed, as we expected, and assuming just the phases that 
 I had before drawn on paper. I have no doubt this little circum- 
 
PROSPECTS OF THfE MISSION. 151 
 
 stance, which would seem very trifling in America, will do much to 
 open the way for science in our schools." 
 
 " Our seminary we consider very important in its bearing on tliis 
 people. There are now in it about fifty boys and young men, who 
 are not only qualifying themselves to read fluently and understand- 
 ingly the Bible in their language, but are learning the rudiments of 
 the different sciences. I have this evening attended a lecture of Mr. 
 Jones on astronomy, in which the boys seemed much interested. 
 Every morning they attend family worship in our houses.* After- 
 ward Deacon Eshoo lectures them a half hour or so, at the opening 
 of the school, on some part of the Bible. This he does in an ener- 
 getic and appropriate manner. I wish I had evidence that he feels 
 the power of the truth in his heart. 
 
 "As to the general prospects of our mission I think they are 
 decidedly favorable. I shall send you a sermon I preached on 
 Thanksgiving day, in which the subject is fully discussed. Though 
 there has yet been no revival of rehgion, yet a great deal of prepar- 
 atory work has been done, and some, we feel, truly converted. I 
 must say agahi that Mar Yohannan, Priest Abraham, and a few lilce 
 them, are a great blessing to their people. But labor enough has 
 been spent in sowing the seed, and it is time to look for a harvest. 
 Our friends in America are looking hither anxiously for a revival 
 Our missionary brethren from other stations ask us why there is no 
 revival. And we ourselves feel that there mv^t he a revival. Ex- 
 ternal prosperity, freedom from persecution, schools multiplied, 
 knowledge increased, the Bible circulated, the Gospel preached, ai*e 
 all causes for devout thanksgiving. But our great object ought to 
 be to save souls ; to stand by them as dying men, in danger of 
 going down to everlasting wo; to hold up a Saviour; to inti-eat 
 them to come to him for pardon and eternal lile. This is our \\ork, 
 
 * This morning thirty were present at our devotions. They are cou 
 ducted in Syriac, Priest Abraham officiating when in the city. When ho 
 is not here I purpose reading a prayer myself till the wished for day shall 
 come that my tongue is unloosed. 
 
152 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 and a blessed one too. But if at this late day, when years of labor 
 have been bestowed on the people, there are few, very few, conver- 
 sions, it ought to keep us continually at the mercy seat, pleading for 
 the Holy Ghost. I do not think this should discourage us, but it 
 ought to humhle us. Perhaps God is going to try our faith, to prove 
 whether we earnestly long for a blessing or not ; whether we will 
 toil on and pray on so long as we live, or whether we shall sink down 
 into hopeless despondency. I think there is a deep and growing 
 feeling among the brethren that we must have a revival. It is an 
 omen of good, and may be followed by a rich blessing. Pray for 
 us, pray for us earnestly, pray for us continually, that God may 
 descend and rest on this mission with his life-giving power. Some 
 of our brethren feel that perhaps our mode of living, or our course 
 of policy, may keep back the blessing. For my own part, when 
 these perplexing questions come up for our decision, I long to have 
 you or some impartial and tried friend whisper your advice in my 
 ear. We are so liable to be biased in our judgment, and to pursue 
 worldly poHcy, which will give us temporal power and temporal 
 influence over the people, that I think we need all the light we can 
 get from heaven as well as from the wisdom of this world. But 
 more of tliis at another time. I will only say that I earnestly hope 
 we shall be guided aright in all our ways ; have such a childHke, 
 simple-hearted reliance on our heavenly Father that he will smile 
 on us and give us a rich blessing. 
 
 " By this opportunity I send three or four sheets to parents, but 
 as they will go by ship from Smyrna, may be received much later 
 than this. I have given them much information about our every 
 day proceedings in our own family. You will all learn from that 
 that we are well and happy, and trying in a small way to be useful. 
 But in order to be extensively useful we must have more grace and 
 know more of the language. 1 it is a cheerless task to labor 
 among the heathen with no love for the work, with no constraining 
 motive drawn from the cross of Christ. May it never be so with us. 
 Again, dear brother, I ask your prayers that, soul and body, for time 
 and eternity, we may be consecrated to the cause of our Redeemer." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. 
 
 The year 1844 opened with high promise in the semi- 
 nary at Oroomiah. Mr. Stoddard's first letter of that year 
 conveyed to Christian friends in America the joyful tidings 
 of the conversion of a Nestorian in his own household. 
 
 " January Gth, 1844. This first week of a new year is a memo- 
 rable one in our missionary life ; I hope it may prove an earnest of 
 rich spiritual blessings to ourselves and to you. We trust salva- 
 tion has entered our family and taken one who was deeply hard- 
 ened in sin. John is rejoicing in the grace of God. But a short 
 week ago and he was the enemy of Christ ; now we trust he is his 
 friend and an heir of everlasting life. For some time there has been 
 deep feeUng among the brethren, and our prayers have been directed 
 to heaven for a rain of righteousness. Year after year the labors of 
 the mission had gone on, accompanied with the favor of the govern- 
 ment and the favor of the people, and many marks of outward pros- 
 perity ; but few, very feiu^ had been truly converted. Indeed there is 
 not a single Nestorian who has before this passed through a season of 
 .thorough conviction of sin. For some we cherish the hope that they 
 are Christians. Mar Yohannan and Priest Abraham especially bring 
 forth good fruit ; and have faith and love and zeal. But the change 
 in them has been so gradual, so almost imperceptible, that it does 
 not puoduce a deep impression on the people. As a mass they are 
 orthodox enough, but their notions about the new birth are ex- 
 tremely dim and shadowy. Not that this subject has been neglected 
 by the brethren in their preaching. On the contrary, it has held 
 
 7* 
 
154 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 the prominent place it ought ever to hold in the preaching of the 
 Gospel. But something more was necessary ; and that was a living 
 demonstration of the truth of their words. For this purpose God 
 has selected John, who has had more instruction and resisted more 
 light than any of his people. Of his early liistory, I mean when 
 the mission first received him, I do not know very much ; though I 
 believe Mr. .Perkins alludes to him sometimes in his book. But for 
 two or three years he has been a great trial to the brethren. He 
 has been a liar and a thief, and several times they have been on the 
 point of dismissing him and giving him up for lost. But God's ways 
 are not as our ways. We nowthink he promises to be a rich blessing 
 to his people. On Sunday afternoon, as Mr. Jones was preaching 
 in the seminary, John was affected by the truth. None of us, how- 
 ever, were aware of it, and I did not converse v^nth him on the sub- 
 ject till Monday evening. In the morning of that day, as he was 
 going out from prayers, I called him and asked him if he knew that 
 there was a time, at the beginning of the year, of fasting and prayer 
 for the conversion of the world. I tliink he had never heard of it. I 
 endeavored to explain it to him, but as several others were present, 
 made no remarks to him on his personal duty. As I recall our brief 
 conversation, I recollect his countenance was very thoughtful, 
 although it did not occur to me at the time. That precious day was 
 spent by us in private and public prayer. It was sweet to know 
 that we were remembered by so many friends in our native land. 
 In the afternoon, the brethren came down from Seir, and we held 
 our usual meeting for about an hour. It was particularly solemn, 
 and the remarks bore on this one point — ^the connection of earnest 
 prayer with rich blessings. From the concert we went into the 
 seminary, where Mr. Perkins and Mr. Holladay talked to the schol- 
 ars about the occasion, the many prayers that were offered up for 
 them, and the necessity, if they would be saved, of their praying 
 for themselves. There was good attention, but no evidence of deep 
 seriousness. 
 
 " We are accustomed to have an evening meeting on the first 
 Monday of the month, besides the meeting in the afternoon ; and 
 
THE FIRST FRUITS. 155 
 
 of course had one on this occasion. Before going in, I talked with 
 John, and to my joy found he was serious. He said the subject of 
 reUgion had not been out of his mind a minute all day. I men- 
 tioned his case in the meeting, and it seemed to rouse the brethren 
 to renewed fervor in prayer. On Tuesday morning John's feelings 
 had evidently increased, and he began to realize that he was a lost, 
 helpless sinner. Perhaps it is not worth while to mention my dif- 
 ferent conversations Avith him. Suffice it to say, in the evening I 
 brought the question distinctly before him, whether he was heartily 
 willing to renounce his sins and take Jesus Christ for his Saviour 
 and his all. This I told him he was every moment answering in 
 the negative, so long as he delayed fleeing to the Redeemer. I left 
 him, commending his case to him who is so ready to hear the 
 prayers of his people. 
 
 " In the morning he told me he hoped his sins were forgiven 
 for Christ's sake. This was almost too good news to believe^ and 
 though I could not but hope, I hoped with much trembling. I 
 urged him again and again to consecrate himself, soul and body, to 
 his Saviour, taking care that he was sincere and broken-hearted 
 for sin." 
 
 After a detailed account of the evidences of John's con- 
 version, and of other hopeful cases in the mission, Mr. 
 Stoddard proceeds : 
 
 " I know, my dear parents, as you read these pages, you will 
 enter into my feehngs of anxiety and joy. And when I tell you 
 that I wish to sing praises to the name of my heavenly Father for 
 bringing me to this dark land to labor in his cause, will you not 
 hoartily respond, Amen? Yes, there is a sweetness anywhere in 
 self-denying labors for Christ. But on missionary ground it is 
 doubly sweet to point dying men to heaven. Let those stay in 
 America that miist ; but let those who can, preach salvation and 
 eternal life in the region and shadow of death. Think not, we must 
 be useless because we are transplanted to a foreign soil. No — here 
 
156 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 is work enough to do ; many souls to be saved ; a rich harvest to );e 
 gathered in. Let us only have more, tenfold more, of the Spirit of 
 our Master, and you need not fear that we shall waste our lives in 
 beating the air. 
 
 " By the events of this week we feel humbled and encouraged : 
 humbled that God has come so near to us, when so unworthy ; en- 
 couraged, because we can not but regard it as a harbinger of good. 
 May this be a year of the right hand of the Most High. And may 
 oar dear parents share lai^ely in these blessings which we ask for 
 ourselves. • 
 
 " Mrs. Winslow says, ' I wanted to write on the moon a revival 
 at sea, that my friends in America might read it, and pray for us, 
 and rejoice with us.' So, too, / should like to write this news' on 
 the bright moon which shines above me, that to-night you might 
 join in our petitions and songs of praise. But it must not be. 
 Many a weary mile is between us, and many a week must elapse 
 before you read these words." 
 
 His own spirit of prayer and of hope at this time is 
 strikingly manifested in his almost daily notes to Rev. Dr. 
 Perkins, who was then at the station on Mount Seir. 
 
 "February 6th, 1844. I feel guilty — very guilty — I deserve to 
 be humbled in the dust before God that I have been so faithless, so 
 prayerless, so inactive in this blessed cause. I am sure, from the 
 experience of those times when ray feehngs have been strongest, 
 that with a heart glowing with love to my Saviour I might have 
 broken through the difficulties which an imperfect knowledge of a 
 strange tongue has thrown around me, and spoken far oftener and 
 with tenfold effect to these perishing sinners. The Lord forgive mo 
 for this sin. At the same time, if I know my own heart, I am much 
 rriore interested to have a revival, and pray for it more and more 
 earnestly than I did a month ago. And if God is willing at all to 
 bless my unworthy instrumentality to the salvation of souls, I feel 
 that he will bless it more now than he would then. 
 
STRENGTH OF FAITH. 157 
 
 "I do not feel as you do, that the state of the natives is any cer- 
 tain index of the state of the mission. Unquestionably God will 
 bless us if we are faithful, and bless us in the conversion of souls, 
 and bless us like a 'prince that gives with no sparing hand. But 
 does not God sometimes prove his children to see if they be really 
 in earnest in seeking a blessing ? God avenges his ovra elect, if they 
 cry aright unto him, though he hear long with them. I want to 
 labor and pray with reference to a revival, an immediate revival, a 
 'powerful revival ; and if it does not come, to pray on and labor on 
 with that object in view, with that burden on my mind, if God sees 
 fit tlius to try me, for mmii) months. Is this feehng wrong^ provided 
 it does not interfere with active and persevering exertions at the pres- 
 ent time ? Do not let us be discouraged, come what will Let us 
 sow the seed and be assured that he who goeth forth weeping, bear- 
 ing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing 
 his seed with him." 
 
 " Dear brother, I know I need not exliort you to pray much and 
 fervently. If we continue steadily at the throne of grace, God will 
 pour out a rich blessing on us. It may not be to-day nor to-mor- 
 row, but it win be in his own good time ; it will come. He is faith- 
 ful who has promised. I say not this because I would not pray and 
 long most earnestly for a great revival now / but because I fear chs- 
 couragement will insensibly steal over us if we center all our hopes 
 on immediate and striking results." 
 
 " We had some conversation on the subject of brotherly love. I 
 remarked that I had not seen here the coalescing of heart with 
 heart — the kind, tender, outgoing of soul toward each other — which 
 is extremely desirable and almost necessary to the work of the Lord. 
 I think if we could only meet and confess our wanderings, and hum- 
 ble ourselves before each other and before God, it would have an 
 excellent effect on us. Such a thing as a form would of course bo 
 worse than useless ; and perhaps it would be impracticable. But I 
 do feel that, if we wish to see God's work prosper gloriously, there 
 must be more tender, brotherly love. 
 
158 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " Most, if not all, of the mission are observing this day, and I hope 
 it will be very much blessed. Hhoshaba, John just informs me, is 
 feeling some, and says he has repented. Wliile we pray with sol- 
 emn earnestness that God would revive his work, ought not our 
 prayers to be equally earnest that God should show these young 
 men their true condition, and not suffer them to build on the sand ? 
 
 "As to my own feehngs, dear brother, I do not see any reason 
 for discouragement. On the other hand, every indication that the 
 brethren feel their backslidings and long to return to their Saviour, 
 is to me a token for good. And could the whole mission be prostrated 
 together, mourning and confessing their past unfaithfulness, then, 
 even if there was some difference of opinion about the amount of 
 present feeling among the natives, I believe the way would be well 
 prepared for a great work of grace among us. Is not this so? 
 Let us, dear brother, earnestly pray for each other and for the mis- 
 sion, that there may be deep abasement for sin and perfect union 
 and brotherly love." 
 
 " I think there is decided encouragement. As to the amount of 
 means to be employed, the brethren seem to differ; but all are 
 agreed that it is all-important to pray. Pray without ceasing. 0, 
 let us do it. I rejoice that the brethren will be together to-morrow 
 to consult, and, I hope, to pray for this blessed cause. May God so 
 soften and humble us, so lead us to prayer and to right effort, that 
 these droppings of grace may be followed by a plentiful shower." 
 
 A review of the first year of missionary life suggests 
 these valuable reflections : 
 
 " March 1st. This is the first anniversary of our sailing firom 
 America. Of course it has revived a train of the most tender recol- 
 lections. We are again in Boston, in the house of our dear brothei 
 and sister, surrounded by those who, with tender assiduity, are min- 
 istering to our comfort, and whose half-suppressed emotions show that 
 they part from us with a severe struggle. We kneel down, brothers 
 
JOY IN HIS WORK. 159 
 
 and sisters, to join in the family prayer. Our hearts are fall, well nigh 
 to bursting, but God mingles joy with our sorrow, and we are com- 
 forted. At length ten o'clock arrives, and with the multitude we 
 crowd upon the ship. Tears are steahng down many a cheek, but 
 they are hastily brushed away, and our friends, with cheerful counte- 
 nances and heavy hearts, come to bid us a last farewell. The crowd 
 begins to disperse, and we have the prospect of speedily putting out to 
 sea. But hour after hour passes, and we still linger, as if we could 
 not leave our native land. At last the preparations are all completed, 
 the pilot comeS on board, the ropes are cast loose, and we give our 
 sails to the swelling breeze. We see our friends cluster together on 
 the shores. Their well known forms grow more and more dim, till 
 nothing can be seen in the distance but their white handkerchiefs 
 waving in the air. These, too, are soon lost sight of, and taking one 
 last look of the receding shore, we retire with heavy hearts into the 
 cabin. And yet, are we comfortless f No, never. Comfortless I 
 when we go forth on an errand of mercy to the perishing ; when 
 we go to them with the story of a Saviour's love ? Comfortless ! no, 
 never. Froin that day to the present, I have not, for a single mo- 
 ment, regretted that I chose to be a missionary. I only regret that 
 I am so profitless a servant, so wedded to this dying, wicked 
 world. 
 
 " Trials we undoubtedly have ; and I would not undervalue them 
 a moment. Is it no trial to turn one's back on the privileges of a 
 Christian land, and to make a home among a strange and bigoted 
 people in a far-off continent ? Is it no trial to find the great mass of 
 those for whom we have come to labor, entirely insensible to our 
 kindness, and utterly regardless of our message? Let those who 
 pronounce a missionary's Hfe one of ease and freedom from trials, come 
 and see for themselves. But the trials are nothing compared with the 
 mercies. ' Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me bless his 
 holy name.' We have not only had this year worldly comforts, but 
 a far richer, choicer proof of God's love. I cast my eye around on 
 my family of natives, and five out of the six I see awake to the 
 subject of their soul's salvation. For two of them we cherish the 
 
160 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 pleasing hope that they are born again ; and for the others we pray 
 as to a covenant God. These conversions are the more interesting as 
 being a sort of first fruits of this people. If others have been previ- 
 ously born again, the change has been so gradual as to produce no 
 very striking impression on the people. But it is different now. 
 We hope they have some Hving witnesses to the power of the Holy 
 Spirit. These conversions are interesting in another point of view. 
 Some of our brethren had been toiling so long without any apparent 
 success, that they had become partly discouraged, and began to fear 
 that God had no designs of mercy for this people. But God, in his 
 infinite grace, has come so near to the Nestorians during the past 
 winter, that it has done very much to chase away Kngering doubts 
 of his willingness to bless. Indeed, by visiting in much love our 
 family, he has kindled in our hearts an interest which I trust will 
 never die. For one, I feel far more longing to labor and to pray for 
 the salvation of the people than when I first arrived among them." 
 
 To Dr. Perkins, under the same date, he writes : 
 
 " I trust dot one of our little company that left America a year 
 ago will be without a heart of overflowing love to-day. Truly, 
 goodness and mercy have followed us : and God grant we may con- 
 secrate ourselves renewedly and forever to his service. I shudder to 
 think of living another year as I have lived the last, and believe I 
 can truly say that if this is to be the effect of mercies, I had rather 
 be afiiicted. But the effect need not be to lead us from God, but 
 rather to kindle ever afresh the flame of holy love. In the year to 
 come let us pray that whatever God sends — whether mercies or 
 chastisements — we may be weaned from the earth, and fitted for our 
 eternal home. And should we see another anniversary Hke tliis, let 
 it find us waxing stronger and stronger, and far on our way to the 
 celestial city." 
 
 " March 5. — What future years will bring forth, we know not. 
 By this messenger we hear painful intelligence from Mosul, from 
 India, and from the Mediterranean. Only think how distressing it 
 
CONFIDENCE IN GOD. 16l 
 
 must be to the missionaries in Batticotta to dismiss so many, around 
 . whom their highest hopes had been wont to cling I Only think of 
 the veteran Temple being called from his post, and compelled to re- 
 turn to that land from which he would gladly have been forever an 
 exile. And just look at the distressing condition of the Nestorians 
 in the mountains, and the heart-rending trials of those who bear to 
 them the blessed Gospel. Driven back by fierce Koords, annoyed 
 in every possible way by their Puseyite brethren^ visited with sick - 
 ness and death, they are certainly objects of the tenderest sympathy. 
 And yet I beheve they stand fast in the Lord. Why should these 
 things move them? Does not God reign? And will not every 
 event, small and great, be overruled for the accomplishment of his 
 designs of mercy ? Things may look dark^ but is there no bow of 
 promise on the cloud — no sun of righteousness that ever shines? 
 Yes, blessed be God : he is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. 
 He is our guide and our portion even unto death. 
 
 "Last evening (March 4th) we had our concert of prayer, and 
 this view of the unchangeableness of God's purposes of mercy was 
 the subject of our contemplation. We, poor feeble soldiers in this 
 dir^tant city, are enlisted in a vast army and a glorious cause under 
 the great Captain of our salvation. The field of conflict is the world, 
 and we have the promise of a certain victory. The ranks may here 
 and there be broken, and some wounded or afraid may retire from 
 the struggle. But the cause must prosper. Every knee shall bow, 
 and every tongue confess. ThiLs saith the Lord. There may be 
 overturnings ; there may be wars, and rumors of wars; but all is 
 steadily advancing. We must take courage. We nmst unfurl our 
 banners to the breeze, and in the strength of our Almighty Guide 
 press onward undaunted by all our foes. If we do not live to see 
 the end in this world, we shall in another. Looking down from the 
 everlasting hills, our hearts shall fill to overflowing, and when the 
 top stone is laid we shall join with the great multitude of the re- 
 deemed in shouting, Grace, grace unto it. 
 
 " Let not parents, nor brotliers, nor sisters weep that one or two 
 of their number are engaged in a work so glorious. Let tliem rather 
 
162 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 speed us by their prayers, and weep that they can not join us in the 
 field of battle. Oh ! how contemptible will aU our sacrifices seem 
 when we stand before the throne of our Saviour, and hymn our 
 songs of everlasting praise." 
 
 " And now, in view of these things what shall we say ? ' Oh, that 
 we might return to our native land ? Oh, that we had not devoted 
 ourselves to this poor, degraded people ?' No, parents, brothers, sis- 
 ters, let us not say so. It would show hard, unfeehng hearts, if we 
 did not glow with love, and gratitude, and praise. We have been 
 led by a Father's hand, we have been fed from the storehouse of his 
 bounty. We have been shielded from danger and disease. Wo 
 have seen some poor Nestorians awakened to a sense of their ever- 
 lasting destiny, and perhaps two under our own roof born again 
 Let us then be of one mind, and unite with one voice in a tribute of 
 thanksgiving. And if ever we should be inclined — ^you in America, 
 or we in Asia — to murmur at the deaKngs of God's providence with 
 us, let us turn to this, our first year of our missionary life, and blesb 
 God that has so kindly and graciously separated us from you." 
 
 The habitual humility of Mr. S. led him to keep his own 
 agency in this work quite out of sight. 
 
 " I have been speaking the language so much lately, that on reli- 
 gious subjects I can already make myself tolerably well understood. 
 But of course I stammer much, and it wiU be years before I am a 
 ready speaker. Last Sabbath was interesting to me from two facts. 
 It was the first Sabbath of a new year in my missionary life ; and it 
 was the first Sabbath I had attempted any thing like preaching in 
 Syriac. Some forty or fifty women, and a number of children, had 
 assembled in Mrs. Stocking's house, and as Mr. S. was sick, she pre- 
 vailed on me to take his place. Of course it was a feeble effort ; 
 but it was an effort, and encourages me to try again. By God's 
 blessing, I shall be able to preach by next summer. I can not yet 
 pray at all in the language, but it is quite time I was learning. I 
 
MINISTERIAL LABOR. 163 
 
 have not yet written to the Rooms, because I shun coming before 
 the public eye. And it seems wrong tliat I, who have done nothing 
 in the missionary work, should, by my letters, perhaps exclude infor- 
 mation from veterans in the service. If it were not for the hope of 
 doing good in this way, I think I would never have a letter pub- 
 lished. While I write, Miss Fisk and my wife are reading a letter 
 from Dr. King, in which he says it is better to keep our account 
 with Christ than with the world, and to pray 'Hallowed be thy 
 name,' rather than hallowed be my name." 
 
 His joy and success in his own work increased his inter- 
 est for the spiritual welfare of his personal friends and the 
 churches of Christ in his native land. His counsels to a 
 brother in the ministry (Rev. E. Strong of New Haven), 
 are full of affection and encouragement. 
 
 "March 7th, 1844. I can sympathize with you in your worl\ 
 Though you are a minister in America and I a missionary in Persia, 
 our work is substantially one : the bringing of lost souls to a knowl- 
 edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We may have our pe- 
 culiar difficulties, our peculiar trials. But we labor in the same army, 
 under the same Captain. We rely on the same aid of the Holy Spirit ; 
 are sustained by the same promises, and expect alike to reign in glory. 
 In such a work, wherever we are, on Christian or heathen ground, if 
 our encouragement is not abundant, and our harvest of souls great, 
 I feel that it will be our own fault. Jesus is faithful ; his promises 
 are yea and amen ; his Spirit is our never-failing strength, ! my 
 dear brother, let us live to God, with a firm, steady determination to 
 devote all that we have and are to the blessed cause of saving souls. 
 I beg of you not to copy after other ministers, but to copy after 
 Paul, or, best of all, after Jesus our Saviour. If you find your cares 
 and responsibilities great, go to him and lean for strength on his 
 Almighty arm. Be a burning and shining light. Watch for souls 
 by day and night ; and may God grant that your course to glory be 
 marked by the salvation of a multitude of souls. Would that I had 
 
164 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 enforced these words more by my life, when I was yet present with 
 you ; and would that now I felt them a hundred times more. I 
 can hardly realize that a year has gone by since I left my native 
 shores. But so it is ; a year of great exposure by sea and land, and 
 in a hostile clime ; a year of great unworthiness ; and a year of rich 
 mercy. Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me, bless 
 his holy name." 
 
 ******* 
 
 " You will be glad to know that I am very happy in my mission- 
 ary work. There has not been a day that I have sighed for my 
 father land. To be sure I have had much to attract my attention 
 and to appeal to my natural feeling of curiosity, as I have trav'eled 
 through strange countries and formed acquaintances with strange 
 men. Perhaps something is also attributable to my cheerful dispo- 
 sition, which makes me more or less satisfied with my situation, 
 whatever it may be. I would be far fi-om saying that if trials come, 
 and I should ever, as Paul was, be tossed about on the angry bil- 
 lows, that I could say with him, ' none of these things move me, 
 neither count I my life dear unto myself.' And yet I can not but 
 hope that I have some real love for my work, and a desire to be 
 used as a humble instrument in the pi'omotion of God's glory. 
 Pray for me, dear brother, that I may rapidly acquire the languages 
 of this people, and be wise to win souls." 
 
 " May 25th. Last time I wrote you we were hoping to see a 
 powerful revival of religion. Our hopes have not been realized ; but 
 I shall never persuade myself it was not entirely owing to our want 
 of faith, and love, and devotion. I for more of the spirit of Christ ; 
 for a more elevated standard of Christian character. I do most 
 firmly believe, my dear brother, that if we missionaries were doing our 
 duty, our whole duty, and if we were sustained fully by the sympa- 
 thies and prayers (I will not say contributions^ though they will 
 follow of course,) of the church at home, that the cause of our Re- 
 deemer would make far .nore rapid advances in the world. There is 
 a fault somewhere, and is it not the lack I have mentioned ? You 
 
OF HOLY LIVING. 165 
 
 ministers must consider yourselves solemnly pledged to bring up the 
 people to this work ; and see that you keep a dying world before 
 you in your own prayers^ 
 
 "May22d, 1844. A year has now almost gone by since we 
 reached this our home. A year, 0, how unprofitably spent, but a 
 year of distinguishing mercy. I feel now in every respect but one, 
 that I am a missionary^ and that is in want of holiness of heart. It 
 is hard to keep warm in this frozen atmosphere. It is as if you put 
 an infant in the snow — so helpless, so unable to keep itself alive. 
 Thus it is with us. Indeed we are far more helpless, far more 
 dependent than infants^ and well will it be for us if we are contin- 
 ually led for light and life to the never-failing source. We need, 
 always need, perishingly need, the prayers and the sympathies of 
 our friends at home. We must be holy if we would be successful ; 
 and in order to hohness we need much our own prayers and the 
 intercessions of the saints. 
 
 " We rejoice to hear, dear parents, that you are having so pleas- 
 ant and quiet an old age. May your declining years be spent in 
 communion with God and in preparation for that blessed world 
 where the inhabitants shall never be weary, nor sick, nor aged. 
 Would that we thought more of our heavenly abode. What 
 strangers most of us will be, if we ever get there. How few, with 
 Baxter, take a daily walk through the New Jerusalem or breathe its 
 bracing air, or take the water from the crystal fountains of life. 
 Strange that w© should be pilgrims and strangers, and yet be unwil- 
 ling to think we are going home. Strange that we should rake 
 together dust, and turn our eyes from the golden crown." 
 
 His first successful attempt at preaching in modern 
 Syriac is described with joyful enthusiasm in the following 
 letter to a brother : 
 
 -'May 2oth, 1844. It would give us a thrill of pleasure to take a 
 walk this summer morning with you and our sister F . I think 
 
166 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 you were never in such a paradise as this. In the midst of a mud- 
 Tvalled city, I am yet in the midst of nature's lovehest scenes. Our 
 yard is large, and filled with tall trees that bend in the breeze 
 over our heads. The music of a thousand birds fills the air, and 
 flowers load it with their perfume. Owing to our elevation above 
 most of the native houses, we can look ofi^, in different directions, 
 upon the plains and to the neighboring mountains. Everywhere 
 is the richest verdure and the finest variety. The mountains are 
 without a single tree, but are covered with green grass, and projected 
 in pleasant curves on the sky. With my telescope I can follow the 
 Koordish shepherds, as they lead up their sheep and goats for pas- 
 ture. In one direction we catch glimpses of the distant lake, now 
 hid by the intervening trees, and now for a moment gleaming in the 
 sunshine. 
 
 " But if you would see the plain of Oroomiah as it is, you must 
 take a horseback excursion beyond the walls. This we do every 
 day, and find it almost essential to our health. Having no carriages, 
 and it being difficult to walk — at times fi*om the water, at times 
 from the dust — the Persians live almost on horseback. In this tlie 
 mission have of late years copied their example ; though had the ex- 
 ample been followed earlier, it might have given our home a better 
 reputation than it has for health. The fields around the city are like 
 one vast garden, and with their long rows of trees and ripening fruit, 
 intermingled with fine vineyards and wheat fields, make a very at- 
 tractive appearance. I am often struck forcibly in this country by a 
 new meaning to old passages of Scripture. And none has seemed 
 so appropriate or so truly descriptive of this natural scenery as the 
 last part of the 65th Psalm : ' Thou waterest the ridges thereof abun- 
 dantly : thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with 
 showers: thou blessest the springing thereof Thou crownest the 
 year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop 
 upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hiUs rejoice on 
 every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks ; the valleys also 
 are covered over with cora ; they shout for joy, they also sing.' 
 
 " I hope before we Ue in the dust, we shall need as glowing Ian- 
 
BEGINS TO PREACH. 167 
 
 guage to describe the spiritual beauty of this eastern country as we 
 now do to describe its gardens and meadows. But for the present 
 the contrast is very painful. ' What though each prospect pleases, 
 and only man is vile ?' It is possible, as you hear about these charm- 
 ing scenes, you may almost wish your home was by the side of mine. 
 But one must love nature very much indeed, if he expects it to com- 
 pensate him for hving in a moral waste — nay, in the region and 
 shadow of death. And yet it is a privilege to Hve here ; and would 
 be, if this fruitful field became a desert. Oh ! that we realized more 
 our glorious commission, to bear the sweet name of Jesuc to those 
 perishing in sin. 
 
 " I find my situation among the Nestorians more and more inter- 
 esting, and, I would fain hope, my labors more useful. It has been 
 trying to me the past year, when I have looked around on my 
 brethren, and seen them all laboring for Christ, that I have been 
 able to do Httle or nothing to aid them. Stranger as I was, I felt a 
 constraint in my intercourse with the natives, all whose customs are 
 so different from our own. Then again it is only within two or 
 three months that I have talked Syriac intelligibly to others, or with 
 any satisfaction to myself. But recently I have been getting into a 
 different sphere, and am brought much more into contact with the 
 native mind. Last Sabbath was a memorable one to m^ in my mis- 
 sionary life, for it was the first Sabbath I pubUcly attempted to 
 preach Christ. Early in the morning, John, 'my own son in the 
 faith,' set out with me for some villages ten or twelve miles distant. 
 It was a beautiful day ; nature was fuU of loveliness, and the heat of 
 the sun was moderated by occasional showers of rain. As we rode 
 along we beguiled the way by ' speaking to one another in psalms 
 and hymns and spiritual songs.' On passing Geog Tapa, old Mar 
 Ehas came out to meet us, and invited'tis ' to eat bread' at his house 
 and preach to the people. But when he learned our destination — to 
 > ome villages that only rarely heard the Gospel — he bade us God 
 speed, and we passed on, 
 ******** 
 " On reaching the village, we were conducted by our guide to the 
 
168 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 school room, as there was no church and no priest there. In tho 
 course of half an hour a number of men and women assembled, and 
 a row of ragged httle boys and girls with eyes as bright and eager 
 as can anywhere be found. We see many beautiful children here, 
 excepting their rags and dirt, and many fine looking men ; this is of 
 little consequence, only as indicating what they might become by 
 the grace of Glod. We preached for about an hour to our Uttle com- 
 pany, who Hstened with deep attention. John closed with prayer, 
 and we bade our friends good morning. I should say that we were 
 interrupted, and yet pleased, as the brethren often are, by some of 
 the old men confirming our words. 
 
 " Our reception at the other villages was not materially different, 
 but very pleasant. They insisted, wherever we stopped, on our eat- 
 ing bread, and took the best care of our horses. I thought I could 
 notice a marked difference between the people of these retired vil- 
 lages and of the larger ones, in their reception of us and our message. 
 This may arise partly from their seclusion, partly from the novelty 
 of preaching, partly from the attention shown them by the visit, 
 but principally, I think, from the fact that they have no wicked 
 priests to lead them downward to hell. 
 
 " Late in the evening we returned • and a pleasanter day I have 
 rarely spent. Pray for me, dear brother, that it may be a precursor 
 of many, many more. I now speak the language in a very stam- 
 mering way, but am longing for the time to come when words shall 
 flow with freedom." 
 
 But amid all these labors and successes he cherished a 
 deep sense of personal un worthiness and of dependence 
 upon God. How touching is this expression of his feelings 
 to his mother : 
 
 "I have been reading again, dear mother, your very affecting 
 'etter of March 20th. It grieves me to find you writing as if I was 
 80 weaned from the woild, and living so much in heaven. I am 
 sensible it is not so. It is very hard, situated as we are in a land of 
 
DEATH OF DR. GRANT. 169 
 
 the shadow of death, with almost every thing to draw us from God, 
 to lead a holy life. And I sincerely believe few missionaries, if any, 
 have so much reason to mourn their barrenness as I. You complain 
 of a cold heart, and assign uniform prosperity as the probable reason. 
 Now how, dear mother, can you suppose that I- — so young in years 
 and knowing far less of affliction than you — can be in advance of 
 yourself, an old and experienced Christian ? Such an idea is very 
 painful and I can not dwell upon it ; I will only say that I shall ever 
 love to sit at your feet and learn my obligations to my Saviour. 
 And I trust while I remain so cold and worldly, you will never again 
 speak of m}-^ conversation as in heaven. Rather stimulate me, dear 
 mother, to labor for what I have never yet attained, an unvarying 
 attachment to my blessed Lord. 
 
 " In whichever church you are, dear parents, I trust you will 
 adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour, and by your example and 
 direct efforts bring many to a knowledge of the truth. Unpleasant 
 as it is, in some points of view, to mention it, you can hardly expect 
 to continue many years on this side of Jordan, Forgive, then, the 
 freedom of a son who begs you to trim your lamps, to bind your 
 girdles, and to be waiting for the Son of Man. Have you read Mr. 
 Goodell's interesting account of his father ? I should ask no higher 
 honor than to be descended from such a parent And if permitted 
 to outHve you, my honored father and mother, I trust I shall remem- 
 ber you as full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and advancing steadily 
 and vdth a giant's strength toward the Mount Zion above." 
 
 But the period now under review was not altogether 
 one of sunshine and success. The mission deeply felt the 
 death of Dr. Grant who was laboring among the mountain 
 Nestorians, and the calamities which, in 1844, fell upon 
 many stations. Mr. Stoddard thus notices these events : 
 
 "June 15th, 1844. Our messenger arriving yesterday, brought 
 us the deeply painful inteUigence of Dr. Grant's death. I have 
 
 8 
 
170 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 never seen him, but in common with many others I have formed 
 high ideas of his talents, enterprising, noble spirit, and humble^ 
 warm-hearted piety. As a general loss to the cause of missions, 
 many will weep at his early death. But to that poor bereaved 
 mission it is a stroke that no words can describe. God has again 
 and again broken their hearts, and none but God can bind them up. 
 AVhat his designs are in reference to that mission, we know not. 
 But in the sacking of Tiary, the occupation of the missionary prem- 
 ises by a wild Koordish chief, the obstacles thrown in Mr. and Mrs. 
 Bliss's way to Mosul, the death of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, of Mr. 
 Hinsdale and Mrs. Laurie, and lastly, that of Dr. Grant, God is cer- 
 tainly speaking to us in no common voice. Whatever be his plans, 
 he will certainly accomplish them ; and, blessed be his name, they 
 will all result in everlasting glory to Christ Jesus and his church." 
 
 At this very time the mission to the Nestorians was 
 called to pass through severe trials. These arose partly 
 from an attempt to modify the policy of the mission itself 
 with a view to an advanced stage of labors among the 
 people, and partly from the efforts of Jesuit emissaries 
 to pervert the Nestorians to the faith of Rome, and to 
 array the government against the American missionaries. 
 In the beginning of their labors the missionaries deemed it 
 expedient to employ some of the highest ecclesiastics as 
 secular assistants in their work. The bishops were the 
 most competent persons to assist the missionaries in the 
 study of the language and in the preparation of books for 
 the people. Their influence also was desirable in order 
 that the mission might have free access to the Nestorian 
 church, and be established upon a permanent footing. For 
 a time the plan worked well. But after a few years, it be 
 came apparent that the bishops presumed upon their nomi- 
 nal connection with the mission for selfish purposes, and 
 
TRIALS OF THE MISSION. 171 
 
 that the jealousy of the common people, rather than their 
 sympathy, was excited by the measure. An attempt to 
 change this policy, for a time arrayed the Patriarch's family 
 and many of the bishops in open hostility to the mission- 
 aries, and led to the temporary suspension of the mission 
 schools. 
 
 Advantage was taken of this state of things by the 
 agents both of Roman and of Anglican ecclesiasticism, 
 who had for years been seekijig to alienate the Nestorians 
 from their American teachers. The intrigues of the Jes- 
 uits had been so bold and dangerous as to lead to their 
 expulsion from the country, mainly, it is supposed, through 
 the influence of the Russian ambassador at the Persian 
 court. In this measure the American missionaries had no 
 agency ; but the emissaries of the Romish faith sought to 
 accomplish their expulsion also, and for a time the mission 
 was threatened with extermination. From the numerous 
 letters of Mr. Stoddard upon these subjects, it is sufficient 
 at this late day to publish one which covers both topics, 
 and which exhibits his faith under trials. 
 
 " February 27th, 1845. When I joined this mission, and for some 
 time after, every thing was very prosperous. The people were 
 gradually becoming enlightened, and some were truly converted to 
 God. But after the sacking of the mountains by the Koords, and 
 the destruction of Dr. Grant's fairest hopes, evil began to come r.pon 
 lis. The patriarchal family, excepting the Patriarch himself, who 
 fled to Mosul, found their way to Oroomiah. They proved them- 
 selves to be extremely haughty and overbearing, and fully justified 
 the account we had previously received, that by their insults to the 
 Koordish chiefs they had provoked the slaughter of their people. 
 Stripped as they were of all their possessions, and driven from their 
 homes, we thou^jht it no more than Christian charity to treat them 
 
172 MEMOIE OF STODDAED. 
 
 for awhile as our guests. In the propriety of this, I believe cur 
 friends in America fuEy coincided. But after they began to develop 
 their character, and some months had passed away, we told them 
 respectfully, but firmly, that we could not give them a permanent 
 support. This irritated them exceedingly; and the more, as we 
 had the bishops in our employ as native helpers. They declared 
 that if we gave salaries to bishops and priests, and refused to give 
 to them also, they would destroy our mission, root and branch. At 
 the same time they offered no equivalent for the money except 
 the exertion of a general infiuence in our favor. As we are not sent 
 here to huy influence, and as they had taken ground of avowed hos- 
 tility, we had no alternative but to suffer their wrath and put our 
 trust in God. Their first attack was upon our schools, which, fifty 
 in number, were scattered over the plain. These have for six 
 months past been all broken up, and nearly a thousand partially in- 
 structed children been left to relapse into their former ignorance and 
 degradation. The next attack was upon our native helpers in our 
 own yard. Some of these by persuasion and threats they succeeded 
 in drawing away fi^cJm us; but the majority remained as before. 
 The third attack was upon our printing press. Several of the print- 
 ers, with their paren;s, brothers and sisters, were excommunicated, 
 and the curses of the Old and New Testaments heaped on their heads. 
 As it was ascertained, however, that the protection which was ex- 
 tendcii to our persons^ extended also to our quiet operations in our 
 c)wn yard, and that one who should interfere with these would be 
 likely to bring trouble on himself, this form of opposition was soon 
 withdrawn. The bishops in our employ seemed from the first in- 
 timidated by their ecclesiastical superiors, and in consequence were 
 in a measure disaffected toward us. Their connection was not, how- 
 ever, dissolved, as perhaps it should have been, and for some months 
 they have been giving their infiuence to our enemies while they 
 have nominally been our helpers. 
 
 " So much for the causes which have operated here on the plain 
 to disturb our preaching aiid our labors for Jesus Christ. But these 
 are not all. I have mentioned that the Patriarch found his way to 
 
THE JESUITS IN PEKSIA. 173 
 
 Mosul. There he was entertained and flattered by Mr. Badger 
 I ill he was very much prejudiced against us and our operations, and 
 ready fully to sustain his brothers here in their opposition by his 
 patriarchal seal. During all this time the Catholics have not been 
 idle. You are probably aware that France stands pledged to sus- 
 tain her Jesuit missionaries all over the world, even, if necessary, by 
 arguments drawn from the cannon's mouth. A short time after the 
 Jesuits were expelled from this province at the instance of the Rus- 
 sian ambassador at the court of Teheran, the French sent an em- 
 bassy hither to demand satisfaction from the Persian King. Finding 
 him inflexible and determined not to admit them again into his em- 
 pire, they bent all their energies to have us expelled also. We were 
 misrepresented, abused, and our motives vihfied at the capital, while 
 we, five hundred miles distant, were unable to answer such calum- 
 nies except by a personal representation. Accordingly, two of our 
 number set off to ride this distance on horseback in the depth of 
 winter ; a winter which scarcely ever had a parallel for severity in 
 this mild cUmate. There our brethren, after much detention, were 
 enabled to vindicate completely their cause ; and perhaps our stand- 
 ing is as good with the government as could be desired. But it is 
 very undesirable when a government is so reckless, so suspicious^ 
 and so accessible to bribes as this, to be brought to its notice at all. 
 And we should much prefer to remain entirely unknown to the au- 
 thorities, to receiving the highest proofs of royal favor. In this 
 country, it generally happens that a man is known only to be marked 
 out for slaughter. 
 
 "Thus have I given you a brief outline of our troubles; and I 
 have been the more minute, because I suppose you will see none of 
 my other letters. I trust you will not suppose that our journeys to 
 Teheran, and our entanglement with the powers that be, have been 
 sought. On the contrary, they have been most anxiously deprecated. 
 But they seemed unavoidable. As to our present position : every 
 thing is quiet, and on a Umited scale we are pursuing our work. 
 The Patriarch's brothers do not openly oppose us, though they feel 
 that they have triumphed in breaking up our schools and stopping 
 
174 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 our preaching. The bishops we have lost our confidence in^ and we 
 are expecting, before many weeks, orders from the Prudential Com- 
 mittee to dismiss them from our service. This may raise a storm 
 for the time, and array against us a more formidable opposition, but 
 I do not fear the ultimate result. The simple fact is, that here is 
 going on, as all over the world, a desperate conflict between the 
 religion of forms and ceremonies and the religion of the soul, and 
 however long the struggle may be, I do not doubt that in the end 
 simple Christianity will come off victorious. 
 
 " During most of these stormy times I have had a few boys un- 
 der my instruction, and they are now increased in number to about 
 twelve. They are very active and intelligent, and I can truly say 
 that I feel as much pleasure in my work as if I was pastor of the 
 Old South, or even bishop of New York. The labor is humble, it 
 is true, and just now on a small scale. But one thing I know, *that 
 if we are faithful anywhere, God will abundantly bless our labors. 
 Write it in letters of gold, that David Brainerd was the instrument 
 of converting more souls among a few Indians than aU that have been 
 gathered by many missionaries for thirty years in the empire of 
 China. If I can teach only ten boys, let me teach ten. If I can 
 have forty, let me be the more thankful. I am trying to instruct 
 my pupils in chemistry and natural science, and I hope to carry 
 them through a full course of study for several years. We are fur- 
 nished with some apparatus, and I am gradually making more. 
 Recently I astonished the natives by producing a solar microscope, 
 magnifying fifty-four thousand times ; and more recently still, a cam- 
 era obscura. But these are small things compared with the in- 
 fluences of the Spirit and the conversion of souls. Pray for us, dear 
 brother and sister, that we may be richly blessed." 
 
 In view of these trials, Mr. Stoddard writes: 
 
 " When I came out here I had httle idea of the trials of a mission- 
 ary life. I thought they Tvould be in a great measure physical, set- 
 ting aside separatiop from friends and native land. But our outward 
 
LETTER OF MRS. STODDARD. 175 
 
 condition is very comfortable : it is such occurrences as these th;it 
 weigh Hke a load on our spirits. But it is sweet to leave all with 
 God. He knows far better than we do wh^ is best. He will bring 
 light out of darkness, good out of evil — make the wrath of njan to 
 praise him, and make his own blessed kingdom triumph through the 
 eirth." 
 
 Again he writes to a brother in Scothand : 
 
 " I am an exile like yourself. Around me is the shadow of death. 
 I am daily called to mourn over the blindness, the stubbornness, the 
 prejudices of those whom we are trying to save. You little know, 
 my dear brother, what a missionary life is, if you think it is not one 
 of peculiar trial. I think I have suffered more in my feehngs, since I 
 came here, than in all my life before ! Do I, then, repine ? Far, 
 very far from it. For I am persuaded that if I have not high spirit- 
 ual enjoyments wliich will put in the shade all my trials, it is my 
 own fault. What means the promise, ' there is no man that hath for- 
 saken father and mother, etc., that shall not receive a hundred-fold 
 in this present time ?' Does it not mean that I can be happier in 
 Persia than I could in America ? Not because my house is better, 
 or my table more richly spread, but because I may have the light of 
 God's countenance, and bright hopes of immortal glory.* Pray for me, 
 dear brother, that I may be faithful and eminently successful in win- 
 ning souls to Christ." 
 
 Mrs. Stoddard fully shared her husband's prayerful cour- 
 age under these trials. The following letters, written ujion 
 one sheet, and addressed to their parents, show how fully 
 the grace of God comforted and sustained them. 
 
 " How pleasant it would be this afternoon to come and sit by 
 your side, and tell you all our comforts and trials. God has led us 
 in a gracious way, and though now ' clouds and darkness are round 
 about him,' and scarcely a ray of hope appeal's in our horizon, yet 
 we can still sing of goodness and mercy. David has written brother 
 Charles the particulars of our troubles, and I presume it will be need- 
 
176 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 less for me to repeat them. I will only say our prospects are sad^ 
 and we know not what G-od has in store for us, or this poor people. 
 How great is the cons^ation that our covenant-keeping God will 
 order all things right, and even though we may not be permitted to 
 break the bread of life to the poor Nestorians, still his cause will not 
 eventually suffer. The prospect of our leaving fills our hearts with 
 sadness ; how painful the reality would be, none can tell. 
 
 " But there is hope that God will so order events that we may be 
 permitted to labor here till our earthly work is done, and in a way 
 far more effectual than before. To him we look, and cast all our 
 care on him who careth for us. Next Monday we observe as a day 
 of fasting and prayer. It would cheer our hearts if our dear friends 
 could join with us in keeping the day, but we have the comfort of 
 knowing not a day passes but we are remembered by loved ones at 
 a throne of grace. 
 
 " David has perhaps written you that he was appointed principal 
 of the seminary. It was to be a boarding-school, and I was to have 
 the boarding part as my department. The school was to contain 
 twenty-five boys, and we have laid in stores for them. But at pres- 
 ent it would be worse than in vain to collect them together, even 
 should they be willing to come, and Our seminary for a time must be 
 in the future. We have, however. Priest Abraham, John, and four 
 boys in our family. Priest A. is busy translating a tract, and David 
 has the others organized into a regular school. Besides the four 
 boys, whom we board and clothe, tliere are five or six other boys, 
 who attend David's school daily, ft-om the city. David is also busy 
 in preparing copy for the press in connection with Mr. HoUaday, so 
 you see his time is fully occupied. To-day I have been cutting out 
 shirts for the boys. 
 
 " It would be so pleasant if we could go on as we intended, but 
 all will be right. I have, for three afternoons in a Aveek, a portion 
 of Miss Fisk's school, I attend to their sewing, and find it pleasant 
 and useful. I continue to teach them to sing, and find them as 
 much interested in it as ihey were last vvinter. My little babe takes 
 some of my attention, though she sits on the floor now and amuses 
 
CONFIDENCE UNDER TRIAL. 177 
 
 herself a good deal of the time. She is a great comfort to us in this 
 land of strangers, and has closely entwined herself around our affec- 
 tions. She has a great many cunning and interesting ways, and is a 
 great favorite with all the members of our family. She is very fat, 
 and the picture of health and happiness. I wish you could see her, 
 you would love her for her own sake as well as for her parents'. I 
 am sorry that I can write no more, but I have been interrupted until 
 it is too late to finish this letter. David, however, will supply my 
 deficiency. With much love to William and his wife, I remain 
 your afiectionate daughter, Harriette B. Stoddard." 
 
 To this Mr. Stoddard adds : 
 
 " When you gave me up to the missionary work I suppose you 
 never dreamed of my being fi:ee from trials. The apostles went 
 fi:om city to city, and amid great persecutions planted the standard 
 of the cross. And missionaries in modern times have mei with sorrow 
 enough to convince us their life is not to be one of worldly ease. To 
 be sui'e this mission has hitherto been remarkably free fi:om reverses. 
 All around us have been troubles — in Turkey on the one side, and 
 India on the other — but God has graciously spared us. Now, a 
 time of trial comes, and we must not any of us be dismayed nor dis- 
 heartened. As in the life of an individual it is a bad sign when all 
 goes smoothly, year after year, so it is with missions. It may be that 
 the great Head of the church has seen in this field too much security, 
 and too confident hopes indulged, and in his infinite wisdom rebuked 
 such improper feehngs. I do not mean at all that this is the case, 
 but only that it may be so. On the supposition that we are permitted 
 to remain here, what we are passing through will doubtless be for 
 our own good, and I trust thus bring down blessings on this poor 
 people. And even if we are driven out, Grod has no doubt his own 
 wise designs to accomplish by it, and blessed be his name. 
 
 " At all events let us address ourselves to earnest prayer that the 
 light might not be taken away fi:om this remnant of an ancient 
 church, and they left a prey to their cruel masters, and a more certain 
 prey to their great adversary." 
 
 9* 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS. 
 
 The violent opposition of the Patriarch and his family, 
 and the intrigues of the Jesuits, compelled the missionaries 
 of the American Board to disband all the schools which 
 they had established outside of the mission premises, and to 
 remodel the seminary at Oroomiah, with which Mr. Stod- 
 dard was principally connected. The sequel proved that 
 the changes thus introduced into the organization of the 
 seminary were of the highest importance to its future use- 
 fulness. The cheerfulness and patience with which Mr. 
 Stoddard labored in his circumscribed field are a fine ex- 
 ample of entire submission to the will of Christ. 
 
 He writes to a brother : 
 
 " February 26th, 1845. You will be glad to learn that, after being 
 tossed about so long, our ship is finding a little repose ; God has put 
 it in the heart of the Eussian ambassador, and of the Shah, to treat 
 us kindly, and to secure us, for the present, in the quiet prosecution 
 of our labors. How long this will last, of course we can not tell. 
 Reckless as this government is, and noted as the Russians are for 
 bigotry in matters of religion^ and determined as France shows 
 herself in sustaining Jesuit missionaries all over the world, by argu- 
 ments derived from the cannon's mouth, there is Httle prospect, 
 humanly speaking, that we shall be long unmolested, unless we can 
 have again eJBficient English protection. But we will not yield to 
 gloomy forebodings, for it is better to trust in the Lord than to put 
 
HIS LITTLE SCHOOL. 179 
 
 confidence in princes: and we do know that witli him, we — our 
 wives, our cMldren, our cause, all — are everlastingly safe. While 
 we will use all lawful measures to secure favor and protection from 
 the great ones of earth, I do pray that with more childlike sim- 
 phcity and firm faith we may trust the King of kings. How slow 
 are we to learn the lesson, and trust every thing in the hands of in- 
 finite wisdom and love. 
 
 " Brother, we are having a hard time. Who would have anticipated, 
 when I came out, that this mission was destined to meet such heavy 
 reverses ? But we must not be faint-hearted or repine. For one, 1 
 can truly say, that, either owing to my hopeful temperament or to 
 divine grace, I am not at all inclined to be so. I am teaching ten or 
 a dozen boys in my family Avith just as much interest as if I was a 
 preacher in Park Street Church ; and I do not envy the situation of 
 any living man ; I am just where God would have me be, and 
 here I mean to stay just so long as he wants me ; then I shall be 
 ready to go somewhere else." 
 
 Also to Rev. E. Strong : 
 
 "February 28th, 1845. We are pursuing our operations in a 
 quiet, limited way, and watching anxiously the leadings of Provi- 
 dence. We do not think it wise just now to have village schools, or 
 to preach a great deal, except to those belonging to our yards. But 
 I have a dozen boys with me, who are, I hope, the beginning of a 
 first rate seminary. I am gradually increasing their number as 
 opportunity ofiers ; I take none but promising boys, and such as 
 will be likely to stay, even in case of a storm. I am teaching them 
 their own language — the ancient Syriac — writing, geography, arith- 
 metic, chemistry, and some of them the Enghsh. I do not envy 
 you, or any body else, other spheres of labor. There is abundant 
 opportunity here for the exercise of what little mechanical skill I 
 possess, and I try to turn it to good account. I have constructed a 
 powerful solar microscope, a camera obscura, etc. ; and find that such 
 things, coming in as incwLentah, aid me very much in my work 
 
180 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 To prevent the boys from going home next -week, to one of their 
 great feasts, I have promised to made them a balloon, and thus keep 
 them by attraction rather than compulsion. Pray, dear brother, 
 tliat God will bless me in my management of this little school." 
 
 In many ways the mechanical skill of Mr. Stoddard was 
 of great service to the mission. At first he found it difficult 
 to secure punctuality in the exercises of the seminary, and 
 the religious services of the Sabbath, for want of a common 
 standard of time. To remedy this, he constructed sun-dials 
 at various points, so that all the pupils, and the different 
 famihes on the mission premises, could have the same nota- 
 tion of the passing hours. " In this sunny land," he writes, 
 "these have served an admirable purpose, and, I am of 
 opinion, have saved us many hours of waiting for one 
 another, and, I may add, a great deal of wear and tear of 
 feeling, which even an angel would be liable to if his com- 
 panion was not punctual. But the sun does not always 
 shine, even here; and a sun-dial is, of course, a useless 
 thing in the evening." So he sent to America for a large 
 plain clock for the seminary ; this he learned to clean and 
 regulate; and, as there was no competent watchmaker 
 nearer than Constantinople, he wrote to a watchmaker in 
 Northampton a series of questions for specific instruction 
 in the care of watches, and thus became the regulator of 
 time for the entire mission. " Making telescopes and solar 
 microscopes," said he, "is not cleaning watches; but he 
 who has learned to do one may easily learn to do the 
 other." Mr. Stoddard was also as expert in repairing a 
 wagon as in cleaning a watch, and was able to superintend 
 and direct the unskilled Persian mechanics employed in 
 erecting or repairmg the buildings for the use of the 
 mission. 
 
FAMILY WORSHIP. 181 
 
 Though not himself skillful as a singer, he took great 
 delight in the praises of God, and gave prominence to sing- 
 ing in his school. 
 
 " It would do your soul good to hear us all join in singing a Nes- 
 torian hymn before the family altar. I am sure you would forg(;t all 
 the discords, and praise God for his goodness to us and to them : to 
 them, for the privilege of being trained up for heaven ; and to ws, lor 
 the privilege of training them. I should like to go more into detail, 
 but can not now. I trust I have said enough to lead you and your 
 dear wife earnestly to the throne of grace in our behalf. Pray that 
 we may quietly pursue our work ; pray that the clouds which yet 
 hang over us may be all scattered ; pray that these boys may be 
 truty converted to God, and made chosen vessels to bear salvation to 
 their perishing people ; pray that we may be nerved with faith, and 
 strength, and zeal, and be warmed with never-dying love. I am 
 glad you are doing so much for the West ; the more the better. If 
 God prospers you in business, let him have the first-fruits. Most 
 Christians know httle about liberality, and less about self-denial; and, 
 unhappily, missionaries ( I speak for myself) fall too much under the 
 same condemnation." 
 
 The spiritual welfare of his pupils was always with him 
 a subject of anxious thought. "I must not omit to speak 
 of the spiritual instruction of our boys. This is by far the 
 most important part of the subject, and one where, I some- 
 times feel, I most fail. We hold prayers, in Syriac, twice 
 a day, and I talk a good deal to them about their souls ; 
 but I fear my own heart is not burning enough with holy 
 love to wing my words to their consciences. May God 
 forgive me for my unfaithfulness, and make me a better 
 steward of the manifold grace of God." — To another cor- 
 respondent he writes, (April 23) : 
 
182 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 " Harriette has dwelt so much on the dark side of the picture, i-a 
 reference to our labors, that I fear you will get a mistaken idea ot 
 her feelings. The truth is, that here, as in every other land not blest 
 with the pure Gospel of our Lord and Saviour, there is superstition, 
 stupidity, and moral death. If the reverse was the fact, and the Sun 
 of Righteousness shining brightly here, we should feel it no less our 
 privilege than our duty to go elsewhere, to China, or the isles of the 
 sea, and bear the glad news of Jesus and him crucified. But as it 
 is, I can assure you that my dear vdfe and myself are more than con- 
 tented here, nay, we are happy in thus being permitted to cooperate 
 with Grod in a work so eminently divine. Yes, we bless his name 
 for being here ; and though we may never grasp you again by the 
 hand, nor hear your voices of love ; though we may toil on year 
 after year, amid trial and discouragement ; and though we lay our 
 bones in a stranger land, with few to shed the tear of sympathy or 
 strew our graves with flowers, I trust we shall never regret that we 
 devoted our lives to this poor dying people. We can bear all the 
 trials, and I trust shall cheerfully do so, if God will only make us 
 useful and successful in winning souls to Christ." 
 
 " April 23d, 1845. I have just opened the exercises of the day in 
 the seminary, by reading the Bible and prayer, and am now seated 
 with all my bees around me to write you a letter. And if there is 
 no great logical order or clearness of ideas, you will please to remem- 
 ber under what circumstances it was brought into being. It is the 
 universal custom in these countries for scholars to read aloud, and it 
 is very difficult to break them of it. They will promise to try, but as 
 soon as your back is turned and you are engaged about something 
 else, there will be all the noise of a bumble-bees' nest. So much by 
 way of explanation of my present position. This is one of the most 
 beautiful of our spring days. The sky has the clearness and deptli 
 of coloring that you find in ItaHan landscapes. The trees are rearing 
 their green tops and bending gracefully in the breeze, and birds in- 
 numerable are hopping fiom bough to bough, singing the praises of 
 their Creator. I am sure you can have but an imperfect idea of the 
 
HIS CONSTANT JOY. 183 
 
 beauties of nature which in the spring G-od spreads around us here. 
 The birds alone are a perpetual source of pleasure. Every morning 
 their captain (whether chosen by ballot or possessed of the longest 
 beard I can not say) pitches his pipe on one of our taU trees. Then 
 the whole set in and form a most enchanting choir. The old storks, 
 perched in their nest over the house, drum the time with their long 
 bills, and all is a season of joyous mirth. By and by up springs the 
 sun from over the lake, shaking off the water from his locks, and 
 making a happy landscape still more bright. It is indeed true that 
 ' every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.' With Christianity and 
 the blessings which it brings, this might readily be one of the first 
 countries in the world. But as it now is, we daily witness scenes 
 which sadden our hearts, and dim the brightness of the prospect. 
 May the time soon come when this ' land of the sun' shall receive 
 ioyfully the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness." 
 
 "August 12, 1845. My last letter to you, forwarded by the over- 
 land mail, was dated April 22d. You may think that a considerable 
 interval has elapsed without my giving you the usual quota ; but this 
 is ratlier owing to the present quiet of our situation than to my want 
 of attention to you. Indeed, the past year I have written more than 
 I could have wished. At least the subject of my letters to you has 
 often been of an unpleasant nature, and one that, had my ideas of 
 duty permitted, I would gladly have passed over in sUence. I am 
 very much indebted to you for your valuable counsels, and your 
 kind sympathy. We have truly been in the furnace, and I pray God 
 that we may come out purified from some of our dross. Some of 
 my letters from my friends in America have been apparently written 
 under the impression that I was not perfectly happy in my mission- 
 ary work. This is not the case. I am happy here, notwithstanding 
 all our trials ; and I can truly say, what I have said before, that I 
 envy the place of no man, be he where and who he may. If God 
 will only make me useful to this poor people, it is enough. The 
 work is not small, and if God prosper us I have no doubt the result 
 will be a glorious one. But I will not enlarge on my views of the 
 
184 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 missionary work, or of our particular prospects at this station, foi you 
 liave abundant light on these points already." 
 
 The trials experienced from the Patriarch and the bish- 
 ops led Mr. Stoddard to take deeper views of the necessity 
 of an ecclesiastical reformation in order to the full triumph 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 " As to our relations with the people externally^ they are as favor- 
 able as could be wished. The patriarchal family seem to be weary 
 of fruitless' opposition, and are wiUing to be considered our nominal 
 friends. The bishops never were so ready as now in their offers of 
 assistance, though, after what has passed, we are more slow than we 
 once were in giving them our confidence. But for my own part, I 
 am becoming more and more convinced that the work of God is to 
 be carried on here, and elsewhere, amongst the people rather than 
 the ecclesiastics. Patriarchs and bishops always have been, from 
 the time of Caiaphas downwards, one of the greatest obstacles 
 to the progress of the Gospel, and are likely to be so in time to 
 come. Instead of relying on them^ we must rather expect and desire 
 to see the work progressing among the mass of the people ; and if 
 the great ones rise up against us, we must not, on that account, be 
 driven back in dismay. Some may think the work will go on more 
 smoothly with them than without them; and so it may. But is 
 smoothness a test of the progress of genuine piety ? May it not be 
 that if we are in perils oft and sail on stormy seas, we shall see 
 more conversions and have more cheering evidence of the presence 
 of God than this mission has ever witnessed ? I do believe we may." 
 
 To Rev. E. E. Bliss, at Trebizond. 
 
 " It seems that your work is frowned down by persecution. I 
 trust you will not despair of seeing yet great things at Trebizond. 
 Look for great things ; j^ray for great things, and put your whole 
 trust in the Lord. He can bring good out of evil, and light out of 
 
A TRIP TO TABREEZ. 185 
 
 darkness, and make the wrath of man to praise him. I am more 
 and more satisfied that the world is never to be converted while 
 churclies at home, and, to too great an extent, their missionaries 
 abroad, are half asleep and crying peace, peace. A mighty struggle 
 is coming on, and though we may not live to see the issue, it is still 
 interesting to hear the note of preparation and observe the armies 
 mustering for the charge. Popery and Puseyism, formaUsm and the 
 devil, on one side, and Grod and his servants on the other. The struggle 
 may be long^ but is it not pleasant to remember that in the end truth 
 and righteousness will triumph ? — that Jesus and his salvation shall 
 meet the wants of a dying world, and American and Nestorian, Jew 
 and Greek, sit down around his cross ? If we keep these animating 
 and blessed truths before us, dear brother, we shall not flinch from 
 persecution, nor fear all that wicked men or wicked spirits can do 
 against us. Only let us feel that it is ours to labor and ours to pray, 
 and that the great cause may be safely rested in the hands of God, 
 and we shall be cheerful and happy in the darkest night." 
 
 A little sketch of a visit to Tabreez introduces us to Per- 
 sian traveling. 
 
 "September 26, 1845. Perhaps you have heard, from various 
 sources, that I have suffered more or less this summer from a sort of 
 tic douloureux, and some weakness of the eyes. These have been quite 
 trifling indeed, compared with what my older brethren in the mission 
 have gone through, and with what I expected when I left America. 
 But Mr. Perkins and some of my other friends kindly expressed 
 the opinion, and urged it with frequent repetition, that if I were to 
 settle down quietly for the winter, without any recreation, I might 
 be unable to meet properly the responsibiUty which falls on me. I 
 accordmgly proposed to my dear wife to accompany me on horseback 
 to tills city, and Mr, and Mrs. Stocking, the latter of whom has for 
 eight or nine years been confined to the plain of Oroomiah, and who 
 felt the need of some change of air and scene, agreed to join tho 
 party. We took with us our tents, and in order safely and pleasantly 
 
186 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 to convey the children, we put their baskets on the back of a stout 
 horse, with a rider seated between them for a guide. These baskets 
 are several feet in breadth and height, strongly braced with wood, 
 covered with coarse native carpeting, and stuffed comfortably on the 
 inside with wool. There is a Uttle seat in each, so contrived that the 
 little ones shall not slip out of their position, while at the same time 
 they have opportunity to stretch their limbs freely. Over the top 
 is an awning, in rude imitation of a chaise-cover, which rises and 
 falls, and gives us an opj)ortunity to protect them almost entirely, if 
 necessary, from the air. Mr. Stocking's httle boy is only three weeks 
 younger than Harriette, and it would do you good to see these Lilli- 
 putian travelers, as, nicely balancing each other, they ride happily 
 along. The donkeys, the caravans, the villagers, the tents, the placid 
 lake, the change of scene and air, all combine to interest and amuse 
 them, and, contrary to our expectations, they have given their good 
 mothers scarcely any trouble, while undoubtedly they have been ac- 
 quiring health and strength themselves." 
 
 The events of the year 1845 are well summed up in a 
 letter to Professor Solomon Stoddard : 
 
 " It is true we have passed through a dark and stormy, but let me 
 never say, a cheerless, hopeless night. We could indeed say with 
 David : ' Deep called unto deep, at the noise of thy water-spouts : all 
 thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.' But, blessed be Grod, 
 there has been no time when we could not say and feel : ' Yet the 
 Lord will command his loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the 
 niglit his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my 
 life.' The promise, 'I will not leave you comfortless,' has been in 
 our case, at all times, verified ; and now that we stand safely on the 
 other shore and look back on all that we have passed through, we 
 are more than ever ready to exclaim : ' I will sing unto the Lord as 
 long as I Hve: I wiH sing praises to my God while I have my 
 being.' 
 
 " It might interest you to know some of my views and feeUngs in 
 
THE DISCIPLINE OF TRIALS. 187 
 
 reference to the past months of trial ; and though I must write with 
 great rapidity, and amid constant interruptions, it will give me 
 pleasure to sketch for you the bright, and, as I believe, the true side 
 of the picture. 
 
 "L As to these trials in reference to myself. They have, un- 
 doubtedly, caused me much mental suffering, and tried me in a way 
 that, situated as you are in America, you can very imperfectly under- 
 stand. But these events have been fraught with wise counsels to us ; 
 and I trust I do not say it with boasting, when I say that I feel 
 better qualified mentally to meet the vicissitude and trial of a mis- 
 sionary life than if I had passed ten years here quietly pursuing my 
 work under my own vine and fig-tree. Place a man almost alone 
 in a foreign land, away from his early associations and all the guides 
 of his youth ; make his circumstances not only, in every respect, 
 new to him, but load him down with responsibihty, and subject him 
 to fiery trial ; and, if he does not sink down under the discipline, it 
 can not fail to be of eminent service to him. I speak now of the 
 effect on any man, and not particularly of the Christian. We see 
 this thing exemphfied continually among the foreigners of these 
 countries. A poor boy will come out from England, perhaps hardly 
 able to read and write, and certainly giving no high promise of 
 future respectability and usefulness. But he is immediately pressed 
 with new responsibihties ; called on to act in circumstances entirely 
 strange to him ; frequently beset with difficulties and dangers which 
 almost overwhelm him and lead him to give up for lost But he 
 struggles through it all, and triumphs over his embarrassments, and 
 by doing so acquires a practical shrewdness and a strength of char- 
 acter wliich would never have been his had he remained quietly in 
 England; and what is true of the adventurer ^ is equally true of the 
 mvisionary. If a young missionary can live through trial, it will do 
 him no harm, but great good, to experience it; and if he can not 
 hve through it, the sooner he ascertains it the better. 
 
 " But this is far from being all. Trials are a blessing to the soul. 
 The direction of James, to ' count it all joy when ye fall into divers 
 temptations,' did not apply merely to the Clu^istians of that day. 
 
188 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Trials do work the peaceable fruits of righteousness ; they do sever 
 our hold from the world, and fasten our affections on heaven. And, 
 as Mr. Perkins told us yesterday in his Thanksgiving sermon, if such 
 has not been the effect on us, it has been all our own fault I may 
 add on this point, that the stopping of our operations has been per- 
 sonally a less trial to me than to most of my brethren, as I was less 
 quaUfied than they for active labor, and needed more time for the 
 acquisition of the language. Our difficulties with the people have, 
 of course, not interrupted my own studies, and I am as far advanced 
 (or perhaps more so) in an acquaintance with the language, as if we 
 had been sailing on a smooth sea. 
 
 ''2. As to these trials in reference to our worh and our prospects 
 of usefulness here. These trials, you are aware, have been of differ- 
 ent kinds. We have been tried by the secret opposition of the 
 Puseyites, and by the open attacks of the Papists. As to the Pusey- 
 ites : they had so fuUy determined to carry on their operations in 
 spite of us, and perhaps even cherishing the hope of our ruin, and had 
 so long been maneuvering in order to secure the confidence and 
 encouragement of the ecclesiastics, that it was both a relief and a 
 blessing to have the matter come to a crisis. Badger, in Mosul, dis- 
 affected Mar Shimon, the Patriarch. Mar Shimon by his letters 
 roused up his brothers in this province; and they in their turn 
 lighted the torch which for a tinae burned over, our whole field 
 But the crisis passed away. The Nestorians learned how grossly they 
 had been imposed upon by the Puseyites, in their promises of money 
 and temporal protection ; and now look upon them, fi-om the Patri- 
 arch downward, with mingled suspicion and contempt And in 
 case of a second attack upon our mission from this quarter, it would 
 probably meet with very httle success, if it did not prove an entire 
 and speedy failure. Thus has God brought good out of evil, and 
 light out of darkness. Thus the things which have happened unto 
 us have conspicuously fallen out to the furtherance of the Grospel. 
 
 "Again, as to the Papists: we are not rid of them, nor of their 
 wicked attempts to hinuar the GrOspel of Christ ; and perhaps we 
 never shall be. They are all over the world, and well shadowed 
 
SCHEMES OF THE JESUITS. 189 
 
 forth by the hydra of old. But we must record, with thanksgiving 
 to God, that here, at least, they are crippled in their operations, and 
 can only pursue the work of proselytism with secrecy and in dis- 
 regard of the authority. of the king. This people cleave with such 
 tenacity to the Bible, and are beginning to be so enhghtened in 
 regard to its requirements, that I have little fear they will ever be 
 led away by the Man of Sin. The Jesuits feel the difficulty them- 
 selves, and unless they can break up our system of Bible schools, 
 perhaps they will give up in despair. 
 
 " But I was speaking of their attempt to procure our expulsion 
 from the country. Previous to this, by letters, by personal influence 
 at Tabreez and at Teheran, they had succeeded in making our name 
 odious, not only to the Mussuhnan authorities, but also to the foreign 
 residents in this country. We, quietly pursuing our work, were not 
 at all aware that such a prejudice had grown up, until we were 
 alarmed by the threatened danger of our expulsion. The investiga- 
 tion which followed was, under God, the means of clearing up our 
 character, and establishing it as it had never been before. I beheve 
 it is true that our mission and our object were never so much 
 respected in Persia by the foreigners as well as the Mussulmans. 
 The thing was not of our seeking, and on the contrary was earnestly 
 deprecated, and yet it has been overruled by God for good. 
 
 ******** 
 
 " It is very pleasant to remember the kindness of the Russian 
 ambassador. Though the representative of one of the most despotic 
 and bigoted governments on earth — a government which anathe- 
 matises and persecutes all who are not members of the established 
 church — he himself was a nobleman by nature and a Protestant by 
 education. Had it not been for such a man at such a time, we can 
 hardly tell what disasters would have befallen us. I know our trust 
 is, and ought to be, in God. But we must also recognize and be 
 grateful for the means which he makes use of; and though we 
 deeply regret, in the abstract, the necessity of being brought to the 
 notice of the government, we feel rejoiced that, through the blessiog 
 of God, such friends were raised up for our aid. 
 
190 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " A word as to the printing of the Scriptures. The translation 
 was all ready a year ago, and we were extremely anxious to have it 
 put to press immediately. Indeed several forms had already been 
 printed, when the press was stopped during our troubles. To this 
 necessity we yielded with sorrowful hearts, but now see that it was 
 aU for the best. That translation was from the Greek and not from 
 the ancient Syriac, and was resolutely opposed by the people as an 
 innovation they would never submit to. Probably had it been pub- 
 hshed at that time it would have been a continual source of regret 
 to us. But now the translation is made from the very excellent 
 ancient Syriac version, with the full approbation of the Committee, 
 and is much more perfect as a specimen of modern composition than 
 it was a year ago. It is also printed with two new and beautiful 
 founts of type, which have been made there by our talented printer, 
 Mr. Breath, expressly for this purpose. Here is another evidence of 
 God's goodness to us. 
 
 " Again — the people, probably more than ever before, appreciate 
 the value of our labors. Continued as they had been, year after 
 year, without any material hindrance, the people had come to feel 
 that they were the ones who conferred the favor, and not we ; and 
 that we ought to be very gratefiil for the privilege of laboring among 
 them. At least this feeling prevailed to some extent. Nor is it 
 strange, considering that the Puseyites and the Papists were strug- 
 gling for a foothold, and showing them, by every species of flattery, 
 how much they were thought of by the whole Christian world. But 
 the suspension of our labors showed the people, what they seemed 
 not to have dreamed of before, that our operations might be stopped, 
 and the blessings they had been receiving might be taken away 
 And now that we have fairly commenced again, our schools were 
 never so much prized, nor our books so generally read, nor our plain 
 and pointed preaching more willingly Hstened to. Both ecclesiastics 
 and people seem to feel very deskous to have us go on with our 
 work, and fear to do any thing by which it might again be sus- 
 pended. 
 
 "I would also hope that our trials have had a good effect on the 
 
A CALL FOR PRAYER. 191 
 
 churches at home. While we would deeply and bitterly lament our 
 own unfaithfulness, and are ready to admit that these trials may, in 
 paH at least, be the result of our want of devoted zeal, is it not also 
 proper to ask whether those who send us out and sustain us, have 
 no responsibihty in the matter ? Have they prayed and felt for us 
 as they ought ? Have they used all the means that were in their 
 power for the conversion of this people, as freely as they have con- 
 tributed their money and sent forth their men ? If they have not (and 
 who will say that they have ?) then these trials should be regarded 
 as the voice of Grod speaking to them, and stimulate them to pray 
 more for us. We are a feeble band, and we need, we very much 
 need, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit ; and it is our earnest hope 
 that our trials, instead of discouraging and repulsing the churches, 
 will draw out their warmer and more heartfelt sympathy." 
 
 Again he writes : 
 
 "We ought to remember, and our friends also, that those for 
 whom we labor will of course be wicked and unreasonable ; and if 
 they manifest opposition or rise against the preaching of Christ and 
 him crucified, we must not be alarmed nor discouraged ; if God be 
 with us, their noise can avail nothing, and will at last end in their 
 own terrible discomfiture. It has always been true in the history of 
 the- church, and will be, at least in this generation, that while the 
 Lord reigns, the devil tries to. Let us not then faint, nor rehnquish 
 our work in despair. The work must go on and will go on, and 
 I have strong confidence that if we and the churches do our luhole 
 duty, it will go on here, and God triumph gloriously in the salvation 
 of this people." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE TIME OF HARVEST. 
 
 The Rev. George Percy Badger, who visited Persia in 
 1840-42, as the agent of the "Christian Knowledge" and 
 " Gospel Propagation" Societies of England, has recorded 
 this judgment and prediction concerning the labors of the 
 American missionaries to the Nestorians, whom he styles 
 " Independents," " schismatics," and " separatists from the 
 Church of England." 
 
 " I am fully persuaded that the present partial success of 
 the Independents will be ephemeral, or lead eventually to 
 the spread of a pernicious rationalism wherever their tenets 
 meet with acceptance. They may succeed in spreading 
 abroad a vast amount of secular knowledge through the 
 medium of their schools, and may bring up many eastern 
 youths to argue and to dispute, but the good, if any, will 
 rest here." * 
 
 Very different from this was the judgment pronounced 
 by a committee of the Malta Protestant College — a Church 
 of England institution — who visited Oroomiah in 1849. 
 In their journal f they say: 
 
 " The praiseworthy Christian enterprise of the American 
 missionaries for the religious reformation of the Nestorians 
 
 * Nestorians and their Rituals, vol. i. p. 10. 
 
 f Page 130. Published by James Nesbit & Co., London, 1856. 
 
STYLE OF PKEACHING. 193 
 
 vas much impeded in 1 844 by the invasion of the Koords 
 into their mountain retreat, which was followed by 
 the horrible massacre of above four thousand of those 
 most interesting people. The missionaries have been, also, 
 greatly opposed by the intrigues of the Jesuits and of the 
 Russian agents. . . . But the missionaries are prosecuting 
 their labors with unwearymg zeal, and they have already 
 been blessed with very encouraging results ; they are try- 
 ing the plan of instructing the native clergy, so as to intro- 
 duce a revival of pure reUgion without disturbing their 
 present ecclesiastical organization." 
 
 The reader can best judge between these two opinions 
 from a simple record of the work of grace at Oroomiah in 
 the year 1846. A careful account of that work was pre- 
 pared by Mr. Stoddard, and read at the anniversary meet- 
 ing of the Nestorian mission held simultaneously with the 
 meeting of the American Board in September of that year. 
 That document is here preceded by a few extracts from 
 Mr. Stoddard's letters written during the progress of the 
 work, which exhibit his own labors and spuit in connection 
 with it. The year opened with quiet, and external pros- 
 perity, but with no marked tokens of spiritual good. 
 
 " January 20th, 1846. We preach clearly and boldly the great 
 doctriQes of the cross, in the house, and by the wayside, and in their 
 churches ; and the truth, so far from meeting with frowns, is heard 
 with respect and attention. It is certainly remarkable, considering 
 the blind attachment these people have for ages had to dead forms 
 and superstitions, and their utter ignorance, until recently, of the 
 Bible way of salvation, that no more commotion is raised when we 
 strip off all their righteousness, tear away all their hopes, and 
 arraign them as condemned criminals at the bar of an oflended God. 
 And I have strong hopes that this whole church, as a church, witli- 
 
 9 
 
194 MEMOIR OF STODPARD. 
 
 out a destruction of its organization, or any great external excite- 
 ment, is to become a true church of the Hving God. As to our 
 school, it is very prosperous, and I do not believe I could anywhere 
 be in a more useful situation. I am nominally a schoolmaster, but 
 in fact more of a preacher. My seminary is eminently a Bible sem- 
 inary, the first and prominent object being to train up thorough 
 Biblical scholars and preachers of righteousness among the people. 
 I preach or have an exercise in the Scriptures every day, and the 
 sacred volume is scarcely out of the hands of my pupils two hours 
 at a time from sunrise to sunset. The results have so far been 
 happy. Our boys and young men have been very much altered in 
 their exterior. Before, they w^ere ragged, dirty, and almost swinish 
 in their habits. Now they are clean, quiet, and in comparison very 
 orderly. Their countenances are bright with intelhgence, and they 
 are making fast progress in their studies and in hberality of views. 
 After a year's experience I can truly say that I do not desire to deal 
 with a people who are naturally more promising than this ; and I 
 can readily believe what history records, that in the early ages their 
 fathers were the most intrepid, enterprising, and successful mission- 
 aries of the cross. And should they be again converted, we might 
 hope that they would plant a second time the G-ospel banner on the 
 Himalaya mountains, in the depths of Tartary, and among the mil- 
 lions of China. As yet we see no hopeful conversions in our semi- 
 naiy ; but we do see a crumbling down of old superstitions and a 
 full recognition of the truths of the Gospel. There is not one of my 
 large family that puts dependence for salvation on the fasts and 
 observances of his church ; there is not one* who pretends that he 
 is prepared for death and heaven ; and there are many who view 
 their endless fasts and ceremonies as an intolerable burden, and long 
 to thi'ow them off. If now you remember that these youth, after a 
 few years, will be the influential men among this people, you will 
 readily see what, under God, the effect is to be. But I beHeve 
 something more than an external change has been effected. I trust 
 
 * I mean one who is really unconverted. 
 
INQUIRERS IN SCHOOL. 195 
 
 God by his grace is now moving on the hearts of quite a number, 
 convincing them of sin, and righteousness, and judgment. Appear- 
 ances indicate that we are on the eve of a revival. May Grod grant 
 it be so, for Christ's sake. 
 
 " We trust, brother, you will pray for us. We need very much 
 more of the influences of the Spirit of grace." 
 
 The very next day Mr. Stoddard perceived tokens of 
 good, which he thus describes in a note addressed to Dr 
 Perkins at Seir. 
 
 "January 21, 1846. I think as many as ten or twelve of my 
 larger boys are solemnized, not to say somewhat anxious. John 
 thinks there is a very deep impression on their minds, but he is natu- 
 rally more ardent than the sober truth will warrant. These boys 
 occupied the school-room for prayer till late last night, and were up 
 praying before the light this morning. 
 
 " I tremble to think of my responsibility, and I fear that I am not 
 awake to the deep interest which now clusters around this school. 
 Still I believe it is my strongest and my continual desire, ' God, re- 
 vive thy work.' John and I pray for some individual every morn- 
 ing, and then converse with him during the day. I should mention 
 that Yonan from Geog Tapa seems among the most solemn, and 
 Yonan of Ada among the most thoughtless. I have faithfully warned 
 them both. 
 
 " The school being in such a state, I do not wish to write my letter 
 just now, though I have begun it. My hands are full of other busi- 
 ness, and I should not care to report an interesting state of tilings 
 just at this moment, nor could I omit to do so if I wrote at aU. I 
 hope, dear brother, you will earnestly pray for us." 
 
 " January 22. I believe the members of the mission here feel 
 deeply our need of a day of fasting, and will be glad to devote this 
 day to it. We need, oli, how much we need, wrestling prayer for 
 these souls. ' As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her rliil- 
 
196 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 dren.' And will it not be so with us ? If we are all found prostrate 
 before God, confessing our sins, pleading for mercy for ourselves and 
 others, shall we not see speedy triumphs of grace ? 
 
 " Two of the boys, Yonan from Ada, and Werda from Oosnooh, 
 have not been asleep all night, but have remained in my study, pray- 
 ing and weeping. I have rarely, I believe never, seen one so deeply 
 convicted as Yonan. He trembles from head to foot, and can hardly 
 command himself to pray. I do beUeve this day will settle the ques- 
 tion with him forever, as it is not the nature of the human mind to 
 endure such excitement long. He will probably plunge into sin, and 
 forget it all, or he will take up a delusive hope, or (which God grant 
 may be the fact) he will cast himself into the arms of the Kedeeraer. 
 How deep a sympathy should we feel for him, and how earnestly 
 should we pray that he may be saved ! Werda I have not seen this 
 morning. He may be in the same situation. 
 
 " Some of the other boys were up nearly all night, but I am not 
 able to state any more particulars about them. Last night Mar Yoo- 
 suph came in, and many others, to my evening exercise, which was 
 about an hour long. After closing, no one moved from his place. 
 I talked to them again, but still no one moved, and I left them thus, 
 being necessitated to conduct our meeting in English. 
 
 " Brother, pray, pray very much to-day, as you value the salvation 
 of these souls." 
 
 No date. " I have just passed a very solemn night. After Mr. 
 Stocking closed his sermon last night my boys all remained in their 
 places. I first addressed them, and then Mr. Stocking. Afterwards 
 Mr. S. took a number of boys to his room, who manifested, as he 
 thought, a good deal of feeUng. In my study I had a constant suc- 
 cession, in companies of three or four, till about midnight. And 
 then perhaps more than half the boys were up, some weeping, some 
 earnestly praying, and all very solemn. How long they contmued 
 up I do not know, but on rising before light this morning I found 
 many of them up and walking about the yard, and before I could 
 have an opportunity to pray alone I was visited by an inquirer. 
 
THE POWER OF PRAYER. 197 
 
 " I forbear to add more now, as I wish you, if pradicahle, to come 
 down a little while to-day. My burden is almost greater than I can 
 bear, and I need very much the counsel, as I have no doubt I have 
 the prayers of my brethren." 
 
 Two months later he writes : 
 
 "I am quite weary with preaching and other labors, and more 
 disposed to relax body and mind than to write letters. But I can 
 not allow this messenger to leave without telling you in a few words 
 what God is doing for this people. During six weeks we have had 
 in both seminaries, and to some extent in the villages, the presence 
 of the Holy Spirit, and I may almost say that we are rejoicing, with 
 joy unspeakable. One can have no idea till he becomes a mission- 
 ary, what it is to be surrounded by a darkness which may be felt^ 
 and to labor on in such a situation, year by year, with scarcely a 
 convert to cheer the heart. Sitting by your firesides in America, 
 you can not appreciate all that we have been through the past two 
 years, from the treachery of pretended friends and the malice of 
 Jesuitical foes. And you can not fully understand the joy which 
 swells our bosoms, when, under such circumstances, we are visited 
 by the dayspring from on high. ' give thanks unto the Lord, for 
 he is good ; for his mercy endureth for ever.' If God had waited 
 till we deserved the blessing, we should never have had it. It is all 
 of free, rich, unmerited grace, and I pray that God may have all the 
 glory. 
 
 " I do beheve, my dear brother, that you and our other friends 
 have been praying for us in America, and that God has heard your 
 prayers. At least when I think how cold and indifferent I was, how 
 little I mourned over the apathy of these souls, and how little I was 
 striving to bring them to an Almighty Saviour ; and then pause to 
 listen for a moment to their prayers and praises in the apartments 
 adjoining my own — I am amazed at the grace of God. 
 
 " It is just six weeks ago to-day, since any interest was manifested 
 in my school, thougli there had previously been some serious ones in 
 
198 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 the female seminary. On the preceding Sabbath I was mourning 
 over the utter indiflference which my boys seemed to manifest, and 
 felt that something must be done to warn them more pointedly of 
 their danger. I called two of the oldest and most serious-minded of 
 them, and begged them without delay to attend to the concerns of 
 their souls. They seemed affected, and promised to do so. One 
 of them made the remark (which now seems to have been almost 
 prophetic) that the boys were expecting if the Holy Spirit came and 
 converted one among them, he would convert them all 
 
 " You will be rejoiced to hear that God is doing a glorious work 
 among this people. After twelve years of toil and anxiety — after all 
 the vicissitudes through which the mission has of late passed — after 
 some of our members have left us through discouragement, and our 
 own hearts have been at times oppressed with gloom — God has 
 come among us with the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, and is 
 breathing into these dry bones the breath of life. The work com- 
 menced in our seminaries, and with great suddenness and power. I 
 never saw more pungent convictions of sin, or such convictions ac- 
 companied with less noise and mere animal excitement. In six 
 weeks, about thirty in our seminary, and twenty in the female semi- 
 nary were hopefully born again ; and when they recently left us, for 
 a short vacation, our hearts were full to overflowing with joy in view 
 of what God had wrought. We had a meeting for thanksgiving, at 
 which you would have delighted to be present. We there forgot 
 the world, and even forgot our ordinary supplications, and poured 
 out our souls in unison, as I would humbly hope, with the saints 
 before the throne. After commending my little flock to the Good 
 Shepherd, I sent them to their homes ; and though they were to be 
 absent but ten days, I felt much anxiety lest they should yield to 
 temptation, and grieve the Holy Spirit from their souls. But it gives 
 me great joy to state that they returned yesterday, apparently quite 
 as humble and prayerful as before. And not only so, but they have 
 done much for the cause of Christ in their respective villages. For 
 ten days I have spent much time in the villages myself; and I have 
 
THE WOEK IN THE VILLAGES. 199 
 
 been equally surprised and delighted to find all my pupils so active 
 in recommending the religion of Christ; and even, young men as 
 they are, holding meetings, and preaching day after day to the 
 people. It gives me high promise of their future usefulness ; and I 
 can not but expect that John will now be multiplied thirty-fold. 
 
 '' The few who remain in the seminary unconverted are not unaf- 
 fected, but, on the contrary, are all in the habit of daily prayer, and 
 may yet be brought to the Saviour's feet. 
 
 " You may imagine that my work is thus rendered very delightful, 
 and I am more and more rejoiced that I became a missionary. If 
 God blesses you with revivals, you will undoubtedly enjoy very 
 much the precious privilege thus afforded you, of pointing dying sin- 
 ners to the Lamb of God, I well remember your zeal and joy during 
 the revival in college in 1840. But a revival in America is not a 
 revival on missionary ground ; and the joy I have had on previous 
 occasions of rehgious interest in America ' is not worthy to be com- 
 pared' with my feehngs here. Should my life be very much short- 
 ened by my being a missionary — should I even be nearly ready to 
 put off this earthly tabernacle — I could not but rejoice that I had 
 mingled my prayers and my tears with those of this interesting 
 people." 
 
 " March 24. About the middle of January, we were invited to 
 more earnest prayers in behalf of our pupils, and some burning de- 
 sires were enkindled within us that God would revive his work. 
 But we were not only very undeserving of the blessing which fol- 
 lowed, but in one sense quite unprepared to receive it. On the Sab- 
 bath of January 18, I saw no feehng whatever in the school, and 
 was ready to give up in despair ; thinking, in my unbelief, that God 
 had forsaken us. That very evening, however, in conversing with 
 two individuals, their hearts were quite affected, and we were en- 
 couraged to look for better things. The next day the feeUng ex- 
 tended to several others. On Tuesday a number were aroused from 
 their slumber; and on "Wednesday evening the school was shaken 
 to its center. You can not realize what were my feelings, as I sat 
 
200 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 till midnight, and pointed inquiring souls to Christ. Nothing that I 
 ever felt in America will at all compare with it. You are in a land 
 of revivals. You expect to hear of revivals, and to share in them. 
 But we sit in the region of the vaUey of the shadow of death. 
 Around us are millions of Mohammedans, who have no Saviour, and 
 no heaven of glory before them. And even those who are nominally 
 the followers of Christ, are sunk in degradation and sin, which is 
 hardly, if at all, less deplorable than that of their Moslem oppressors. 
 It is under these circumstances that light has broken in upon us, and 
 souls have been emancipated from the dominion of sin. 
 
 " But to return to that ever to b6 remembered night. You may 
 imagine that little of it was spent in quiet repose. Even when I lay 
 on my pillow, the cries of perishing sinners reached me, and made 
 me anxiously wait for the morning to come. When it did come, I 
 found that two souls were hoping that, with all their hearts, they had 
 committed themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. From that time 
 forward the revival progressed with steadiness and power. At the 
 end of the first week, ten were apparently born again, and many 
 others were awakened. Our house immediately became a Bethel. 
 "We emptied one room and one closet after another for prayer, until 
 there were seven or eight places where our pupils could retire. These 
 were occupied from morning to night by those who, in the bitterness 
 of their souls, were crying to God. And very often, when the city 
 was all wrapped in slumber, I have heard earnest voices on this side 
 and on that, of those who were wrestling vsdth the angel of the cove- 
 nant for a blessing." 
 
 " April 14th. For three months past our hands have been fuller 
 than ever, and the prospect is, that our strength will hereafter be 
 fully tasked in guiding this lost people to Jesus Christ. But we 
 shrink not from such labors. I can most heartily join in Harriette's 
 language when she tells you that her heart is overflowing with joy, 
 and that she blesses that kind providence which brought us hither. 
 It is sweet to labor anywhere in the service of our Redeemer ; but 
 far more sweet in a land of midnight darkness like this. I have 
 
TWO PKAYING SISTERS. 201 
 
 enjoyed very much during the past months, and if my life is spared, 
 hope to enjoy much more in time to come. Our school is complete- 
 ly transformed, and many a countenance now exhibits the sweet 
 peace which reigns within. These young men are evidently press- 
 ing on in the Christian race, and bid fair to do an immense deal 
 under God for the salvation of their people. We hope about a 
 hundred and twenty are born again, and the feeling among the peo- 
 ple is not at all diminishing. We have hitherto, during the progress 
 of this revival, been without any such trials as have been enkindled 
 in Turkey. But our turn may come, and I rather expect it will 
 come. But blessed be God, there are now many among the people 
 who will stand with us, and if necessary, will go with us to prison 
 and death." 
 
 "I trust you are all far in advance of me in love to Christ, and 
 in preparation for that upper world. One thing, however, is clear to 
 my own mind, that no one of you, be he merchant or farmer, or 
 professor, or pastor, has a lot so enviable as my own. You neither 
 know, nor can know, the joy of seeing light break in on such dark- 
 ness as previously surrounded us, or of guiding these inquiring souls 
 to Jesus Christ. 
 
 " Every day, thrilling incidents are occuring around us which 
 keep our souls, as it were, on the stretch. You know, or you will 
 know before you read this, that about three-fourths of our pupils 
 are hopefully born again. Among the ten who remained compara- 
 tively unaffected, is a son of Priest Abraham, and one of Priest 
 Dunkhar, who are two of our oldest, and in some respects, our most 
 valuable helpers. These boys have each a sister in Miss Fisk's semi- 
 nary, older than themselves, who are rejoicing in hope of the glory 
 of God. These two sisters have been so much affected about their 
 brothers, that on one occasion, recently, they sat up all nvjht to 
 pray for them. They prayed alternately, and with only two or 
 tliree short intervals of rest, till the dawn of day.* Do you know 
 
 * TVhile wo rejoice in such a spirit as was here manifested, wc dis- 
 couraged such iiTcgularitiLS. 
 
 9* 
 
202 MEMOIR OP STODDARD. 
 
 of any thing like this among school girls in America ? Can you 
 wonder that, incited by such examples of deep, tender love for souls, 
 we should be set all on fire ourselves ? You will not be surprised 
 to hear that those who were thus earnestly prayed for, have been 
 crying out earnestly for themselves ; — and perhaps one of them is 
 already born again. 
 
 " Those who are hopefully converted, manifest very pecuhar in- 
 terest in the missionary cause^ which is to us a cheering pledge of 
 their future usefulness. I never in my life heard more earnest 
 prayers for a dying world, than were offered by the members of the 
 seminary a week ago at the monthly concert. The female seminary 
 were also so moved to prayer, that nothing would make them go 
 to bed contentedly on Monday night, but the promise that they 
 might keep up the concert on the next day. They prayed for their 
 own people, village by village, and so far as they understood geog- 
 raphy, and the wants of perishing souls, Mahommedan, Jew, Chris- 
 tian, and Heathen, were pleaded for before the mercy seat. How 
 does such an observance of that blessed concert reprove those who 
 pass it by, with scarcely a single thought. And those, too, who 
 have long professed to love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." 
 
 The following notes to Dr. Perkins, show the almost 
 daily progress of the work in the villages. 
 
 *' I returned this morning from Ada. In that village I preached 
 four times and found quite an unusual attention to the truth, though 
 nothing like deep conviction of sin. A hundred and twenty gath- 
 ered in a house to hear preaching in the evening — a thing I pre- 
 sume, which never happened before. 
 
 " At Kavajala I preached twice, and think the state of things 
 very encouraging. The church, which is a very good sized one, was 
 filled to overflowing, and many stood without This was at eve- 
 ning prayers. After supper about a hundred men and a few women, 
 gathered in a private he ise, and I have rarely preached to a more 
 attentive congregation. 
 
HIS OWN HUMILITY. 203 
 
 " It i3 astonishing (and matter of devout thanksgiving to God), 
 that everybody seems now so accessible and ready to melt down 
 under the power of the truth. Moses has just come from Geog 
 Tapa — thinks the work is deepening — no opposition. Priest Shimon 
 very meek, and has requested Moses to write a prayer for his use 
 in the modern language. Tliis perhaps I mentioned yesterday. 
 The people also are quite dissatisfied with their unintelligible 
 prayers. 
 
 " It seems to be necessary that the burden of our prayers now be 
 that these souls may build on Christ. There is no lack, in a num- 
 ber of cases at least, of conviction of sin, and I think they are just 
 on the turning point, one way or the other. I tremble lest any 
 should have a false repentance ; and so strong is my impression of 
 the danger, that I almost tremble when any express a willingness to 
 throw themselves at Christ's feet. 
 
 " I have had considerable experience in talking with convicted 
 sinners, but I feel utterly insufficient for the dreadfully responsible 
 duty. It is, however, sweet to remember that God requires no 
 more of us than we can perform." 
 
 The humility of Mr. Stoddard in the midst of this spir- 
 itual prosperity appears in the following remonstrance : 
 
 " Sometimes I have been a httle troubled with remarks made in 
 my letters from America, made in the kindest spirit, and no doubt 
 designed by the writers to encourage me in the work; but having 
 the tendency to flatter my pride, which is a dangerous enemy of 
 mine. ' Remember,' said a good clergyman to one of his parish- 
 ioners who was praising his sermon, ' Remember that I carry a tin- 
 der box in my bosom.' Excuse, my dear brother, these hints. 
 They apply no more to you than to all my friends. I doubt not 
 you know enough of me and of human nature, to understand the 
 reason of ray making them." 
 
 Ill reviewing his journal of the revival prepared for the 
 
204 MEMOIR Oi-^STODDAED. 
 
 Prudential Committee of the Board, he writes, "I am 
 aware that I am puffed up with a love of self^ but I was 
 not aware, till I reviewed my journal this morning, ho^v 
 much I had unconsciously introduced self there. It was 
 entirely unintentional, but not the less worthy of correc- 
 tion on that account. ... I would clear out the whole 
 posse of " I's" and " me's,'' if I could. May God deliver 
 me from magnifying myself or taking from him any of his 
 glory." 
 
 The summer found the work still advancing, and in 
 order that the seminary might be continued during the hot 
 weather it was removed to Seir. 
 
 " June 29th, 1846. Our school we have removed to Seir for the 
 summer. It has been customary to dismiss it for several months 
 during the hot weather, as it has been impossible to keep it up at 
 the city, and thought equally impossible to remove it to this moun- 
 tain retreat. But this year we could not consent to part with our 
 pupils ; and though Harriette was a good deal enfeebled by her cares 
 and both of us needed relaxation, we determined to sustain the 
 school as long as we were able. We have accordingly after a vaca- 
 tion of some three or four weeks removed hither. Three tents are 
 pitched for our pupils on a grassy plot above our house, which com- 
 mands an extended and beautiful view. The declivity of the moun- 
 tain, the fertile plain, the silvery lake, the rugged mountains that 
 gird it around, and the little islands that are sprinkled over its sur- 
 face, all call the thoughts of the Cliristian upward to him who is the 
 Lord of all. Here, with an Italian sky over their heads, with a 
 scene of such loveliness before their eyes, cheered with the music oi 
 a thousand birds, with abundant leisure to read the book of God, 
 and abundant places for communion with him in the dells and val- 
 leys of the mountain, we watch our flock and strive to guide them 
 to Calvary and heaven. Nor is the effort vaiii. We see them grow- 
 ing in grace. We see the love of God supplanting selfish passions j 
 
LETTER OF MRS. STODDARD. 205 
 
 bitterness, and wrath, and clamor, and malice, giving way to gentle- 
 ness, and purity, and peace. Our work has thus become delightful. 
 Severed though we be from home, and country, and friends of our 
 youth, we can no longer sigh to be restored to them. I had much 
 rather lay my body now peacefully in the grave, than never to have 
 come to this interesting field. We hope we are beginning a work 
 which will live after us — a work which will steadily progress, till 
 this whole people shall be found sitting at the feet of the Redeemer. 
 " The position which these converts occupy is one of peculiar 
 interest With Turkey on the west, Arabia on the south, India, 
 China, Tartary, encircling it on the east and north, this must always 
 be a center of great influence. It was from here, that in the early 
 days of the Nestorian church, the light shone forth with such brilhan- 
 cy, illuminating vast regions throughout this continent. It was then 
 that the cross of Christ was erected in Thibet and China, and the 
 religion of the Nazarene bade fair to become the only religion of the 
 East, And had not the church indulged in sinful sloth, we can not 
 tell what victories the soldiers of the cross might not have achieved. 
 And if such was the progress then, why should not the progress be 
 greater now ? We have greater facilities for doing such a work. 
 The church is renewedly awaking to its responsibility, and there 
 seem to be some glimmerings of millennial day." 
 
 Mrs. Stoddard shared her husband's zeal and labors in 
 this blessed work. Beside her daily assiduity in the domes- 
 tic affairs of the school, she improved every opportunity 
 for teaching the ignorant and simple-hearted Nestorian 
 women the way of Christ. A letter from her pen, dated 
 July 25th, 1846, describes some of these labors. 
 
 "It is a high privilege to be a missionary, when God pours out his 
 Spirit and blesses the seed sown, and I trust we shall always have 
 hearts to praise tlie Lord for his goodness in bringing us here to 
 labor for the benighted Nestorians. We have not been left to toil 
 
206 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 year after year with no apparent success, but in these first years of 
 our sojourn from our native land, God has cheered our hearts by 
 appearing in the midst of us, and bringing many to the feet of 
 Jesus. May the language of our hearts ever be, ' Bless the Lord, 
 0, our soul, and forget not all his benefits.' 
 
 " A short time since, I spent a day at G-eog Tapa and had several 
 opportunities of conversing with the women there. As most of the 
 females were at work in the fields, I rode thither and had at two 
 different places about twenty-three women, with whom I conversed 
 on the subject of their salvation. They listened with attention and 
 seemed sorry to have me leave them. It is very pleasant for us to 
 go out now into the villages, as we find in many places those who 
 are hungering and tJiirsting for the bread and water of life. We 
 are expecting next Wednesday to set off for Tergawer, the nearest 
 mountain district to Oroomiah, where there has been rehgious inter- 
 est for some time. A deacon from that place brought down his 
 daughter to be a member of Miss Fisk's school in the winter. He 
 was here during the height of the interest in the seminaries ; — at 
 first seemed so fuU of self-righteousness that he seemed the last per- 
 son to be brought to rely alone on the Saviour for salvation ; but 
 before he left, the boasting Pharisee had become as the broken- 
 hearted Publican. He went to liis home, proclaimed what the Lord 
 had done for his soul, and soon returned with a younger brother, 
 who was also soon brought to the Saviour. These two men have 
 done and are doing all that they can to bring their poor countrymen 
 to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, and some have, as we 
 trust, been born again. Mr. Stocking and his family visited Ter- 
 gawer in the spring and are now going with us again. Mr. Stock- 
 ing and David wiU have many opportunities to preach, and we 
 ladies shall labor as much as we can among the females." 
 
 The following letter from one of the Nestorian converts 
 to a brother of Mr. Si-odclard in this country, will illustrate 
 the genuineness of this work of grace. The writer was a 
 
LETTER OF A CONVERT. 207 
 
 tailor by trade, of a poor family, and was employed at low 
 wages to keep the clothes of the pupils in good repair. 
 He was so intent upon self-improvement that he learned 
 to read and write. His letter to Mr. William H. Stod- 
 dard of Northampton, was in Syriac, of which the follow- 
 ing is a translation. 
 
 " l}ranslation. Abundant peace from the mouth of Siyad the 
 tailor, to you, my brother, my dear friend in Christ, Mr. William 
 Stoddard. I am writing this letter for you. Perhaps you will 
 think, ' how bold he is to send a letter for me from a far country.' 
 But I beg that you will forgive me for my boldness, because it is 
 from great love toward you that I am writing to you. My dear 
 brother, how kind you are to send your brother from a far country 
 to teach us the way of life, and of salvation by Jesus Christ. My 
 dear friend, I am very, very grateful to you and to all your friends ; 
 but more so to God, that such true preachers are sent for us sinful 
 and lost, and led captive by Satan. If you wish to know whence 
 I am : I was in a village, the name of which is Ada. The people 
 ■Mre very wicked, and I was very wicked too. I was pillaged by 
 Satan and bound under Satan's yoke. Very boldly I worked for 
 him. I am a tailor. I sew clothes. It happened one day, that 
 your brother Mr. Stoddard, sent a letter for me and also for my 
 uncle, that we should come and sew clothes for his pupils. We 
 came and worked for twenty days. Afterward my uncle went 
 away, but I did not wish to go, because I had heard the words of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, so sweet and pleasant. I said, let me read 
 and learn the way of life and of salvation. I said, only let ray bread 
 and my clothes be from you {i. e., given by you) and I want no 
 wages. Afterward I sat and read four months, and sewed clothes 
 for the boys. But the people of my house sent after me and said, 
 You must come home and work. In those days, Mrs. Stoddard was 
 accustomed to take very much trouble about the clothes and the 
 food of the boys ; but afterward her health became a little bad, and 
 
208 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Mr. Stoddard dismissed the school for three weeks, and moved up tc 
 Seir. I was afraid I should be obUged to go home, because I thought 
 if I should go home, they would not permit me to come again. 
 On this account the missionaries counseled together that they 
 would give me two dollars and a half each month. This I could 
 give to the people of my house, and myself not leave the business of 
 the missionaries. After their counsel, they told me, go, speak with 
 the people of your house ; and whenever you please, come again. 
 Now I have come. They have given business for me. Now I 
 make clothes for the school and also read. When I began to read 
 the Bible, I wondered that God had kept me till now. I saw my- 
 self ruined and lost. Then I came and threw myself at the cross of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I hope I have committed myself to 
 Christ. I beg of you, my friend, and of all your friends, to pray for 
 me a weak sinner, that as I have worked for Satan with boldness, 
 so now with much more boldness I may work for Jesus Christ. If 
 you wish to know in what I am reading, I began to read from the 
 Grospel of John, and have reached the eleventh chapter. I find every 
 word like honey and the honey-comb, as said David the Eang. 
 
 " If you will write me a letter for my instruction and my reproof, 
 I shall rejoice much ; although unworthy of it. The peace of Christ, 
 and the love of God be with you, my beloved friend in Christ our 
 Lord. Amen." 
 
 After vacation, Mr. Stoddard writes : 
 
 " We hope to return to the city, and to gather around us our be- 
 loved pupils. Now that God has begun a work of grace in so many 
 of their hearts, it is delightful to train them up for usefulness in their 
 Master's service. John, with whose name and liistory you may be 
 familiar, has the past season done much missionary labor in the moun- 
 tains ; and the general character of the people is so enterprising, and 
 their place in the scale of intellect so very respectable, and so far 
 above tlie people of India, or of the Sandwich Islands, tliat I trust 
 many a missionary will go out from this part of Persia, to aid in the 
 
MR. STODDARD'S NARRATIVE. 209 
 
 world's redemption. What should hinder, in the course of a gene- 
 ration, the Nestorians on the one hand and the converted Chinese 
 on the other, from meeting on the plains of Tartary, and holding a 
 jubilee there, in view of the triumphs of God's grace on this con- 
 tinent ? Is not the very idea, the bare possibility of such a result, in 
 a high degree cheering ? Then, too, we see Mohammedism waning, 
 the crescent and the sword no longer terrifying the nations. And in 
 different places, the beacon fires, which have been kindled, are gra- 
 dually extending, the light of truth radiating from different centres is 
 crossing and recrossing, and the Christian observer may already see 
 decided and powerful inroads made on the kingdom of Satan. 
 
 " Let us not take extravagant views. There remains much land 
 to be possessed : a mighty battle to be fought by the church. But 
 let us be cheered by what God ha^ done, and pray, with confidence 
 in him, that he will do far more." 
 
 The following is the Narrative of this Revival, prepared 
 by Mr. Stoddard at the request of the Mission: 
 
 " The scenes of the past few months we can never forget. They 
 form an era in our missionary life, and around them will always 
 cluster many of our happiest recollections. We may, indeed, have 
 witnessed similar scenes before, but not in similar circumstances. It 
 was the first general awakening in a church wliich had slept for ages. 
 It was in a land of darkness and the shadow of death. Years of toil 
 had passed away; much precious seed had been sown, and the 
 laborers were earnestly waiting for the harvest. One trial after an- 
 other had arisen and threatened to overwhelm us ; and had not our 
 faith been reposed on an Almighty arm, it must certainly have been 
 shaken. It was at such a time in our history, in a place and under 
 circumstances of such deep interest, that God appeared for our help. 
 The windows of heaven were opened, and a blessing so rich was 
 bestowed, as to convince not only ourselves, but the most unbeUev- 
 ing around us, tliat the work was the work of God. Is it any 
 wonder, then, when converts here in scores first joined their voices 
 
210 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 •with ours, in singing redeeming love, that we were the subjects of 
 new and very peculiar emotions ? 
 
 " We may hereafter, brethren, see glorious things in the Nestorian 
 Church. The time may come, God grant it come speedily^ when 
 this whole people shall be knit together in love, reflecting on aU 
 around them much of the purity and blessedness of heaven ; when 
 they shall go forth with wilHng hearts, to carry to other countries 
 the news of salvation by Jesus Christ. But it may be doubted, even 
 should these bright anticipations be fully realized, whether the events 
 of any coming year will, like those of the present year, cause so 
 many chords to thrill in the missionary's heart. If ever we catch the 
 spirit of the upper world, if ever we adore the riches of that grace 
 which can transform a cursing rebel into a praising saint, if ever we 
 receive a fresh anointing from above, and go forth anew, cheered in 
 our work and exercising a Hving faith, it must be when we are wit- 
 nessing around us these proofs of the mighty power and the tender 
 mercy of God. 
 
 '■'■ Our first emotions have now, in some measure, subsided ; and 
 while we are sufficiently remote from the season of the deepest in- 
 terest, to pronounce a deliberate judgment on its character, we are 
 also sufficiently near to recall those scenes in much of their freshness 
 and power. It seems highly proper, therefore, that on this interest- 
 ing anniversary, we should retrace the way in which we have been 
 led, and again offer up our thanksgivings to God. 
 
 " In speaking of this revival as the first general awakening among 
 the people, it is not intended to disregard or undervalue what had 
 been previously accomplished. It is as true in the moral as in the 
 natural world that ' the husbandman waiteth for the precious fi:uit of 
 the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and 
 latter rain.' God may, indeed, sometimes set aside those laws, and 
 suddenly display among a people, sunk in ignorance and besotted by 
 sin, the scenes of Pentecost. But that his ordinary method is. a dif- 
 ferent one, to prepare the harvest by the alternation of sunshine and 
 rain, and the silent and gr-adual operation of his spirit through the 
 word, the experience of the churcli, in every part of the world, will 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 211 
 
 abundantly confirm. And to one who considers how, previous to 
 the establishment of this mission here, ignorance, superstition and 
 sin had completely usurped dominion ; how the doctrine of salvation 
 by good works, instead of faith in Jesus Christ — a doctrine which 
 differs httle from that of the Koran or the Hindoo Shastees — had 
 superseded evangelical truth; how conscience was deadened by long 
 and unrestrained courses of sin, and how well nigh obliterated were 
 all traces of holiness of heart and purity of life ; it will not appear 
 sti'ange that the people were not at once transformed, as if by miracle, 
 into the children of God. To master this language, so that the truth 
 should fall on the mind with its native energy ; to become familiar- 
 ized with oriental habits of thought and feehng; to overcome the 
 prejudices wliich the mere fact that we were strangers would be 
 Hkely to create; to convince a people who knew nothing of bene- 
 volence, that our sole object was to do them good ; to bring forth 
 from the mold and the dust of ages, the word of God ; to pour hght 
 on then* darkness, to scatter to the winds their refuges of lies, and 
 hold up before them the naked truth, till it should produce its appro- 
 priate effect, and bring men to the cross of Christ; this was not the 
 work of a day or a month, but to be accomplished only by the blessing 
 of God on long, persevering, prayerful labors. And though it be- 
 comes me not to say that the brethren were as humble and devoted 
 as it was possible for them to be, or that they reahzed the blessing 
 at the earliest possible moment, it yet seems evident that their labors 
 were very far from being in vain. When we visit remote districts, 
 or penetrate the recesses of the Koordish mountains, we find multi- 
 tudes who are probably fair representatives now, of what the people 
 of Oroomiah were twelve years ago. And we must all, in such 
 cases have been struck with the greatly superior knowledge and in- 
 telligent conviction of the truth, which we see in numerous villages 
 around us, even where not a soul has been led to the cross of Christ. 
 " But passing by the time which had elapsed previous to my own 
 arrival here, in regard to which I am of course in a measure ignorant, 
 I will simply remark, that during the three years I have spent in 
 Oroomiah, there has seemed to me to be a constant, and by no 
 
212 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 means insignificant, progress in our work. Indeed, notwithstanding 
 the fact that I came to this field with raised hopes, and the impres- 
 sion so common among our American friends, that this was one of 
 the most interesting missions of the Board, I have never seen the 
 time, even amid the trials which have assailed us from every quarter, 
 when there did not appear to me much to encourage the Christian's 
 heart. In regard to the religious interest the first Vinter after my 
 joining the mission, it may be stated, that while its results were far 
 from what were hoped for, it was yet a decided aid to our work, and 
 brought forth some genuine fruit to life eternal. And from that 
 time to the present, especially among the teachers and members of 
 the seminaries, there has been a more intelligent apprehension of 
 religious truth and a deeper sense of obhgation to God. 
 
 " After the male seminary had been reorganized, and the female 
 seminary placed on a more permanent basis, and the members of 
 both brought fully under the influence of the mission families, there 
 was soon a great change for the better. There was less noise and 
 confusion, less rudeness and insubordination, less petty quarreling 
 between dififerent members of the schools. The older ones especially 
 acquired a degree of self-respect, to which they were before strangers. 
 Profanity and thieving which, three years ago, were not at all unfre- 
 quent, almost entirely ceased ; and there was, outwardly at least, 
 much respect shown for the Sabbath and the preaching of the gospel. 
 J'requently also we were cheered to witness solemn attention to the 
 truth, and a conviction of its deep importance; while among tlie 
 girls there had been repeated anxiety about the salvation of their 
 souls, and the habit, on the part of many, of secret and earnest 
 prayer. 
 
 " I mention these improvements in the manners and characters of 
 our pupils, not, so far as the seminary under my own care is con- 
 cerned, to reflect credit on the superintendents, but as evincing the 
 superiority of our present system, and the preparation which actually 
 existed for the powerful revival of God's work. It is my decided 
 impression, that had we been more faithful to our charge, happier 
 results, and at an earher period, might have been witnessed ; and I 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 213 
 
 see no reason why they might not have been witnessed even years 
 ago, had it been practicable to adopt the same course of instruction 
 and discipHne. 
 
 " Toward the close of last December, a few weeks after the semi- 
 nary had been assembled and organized for the winter, I was absent 
 at Tabreez a short time, on business for the mission. The superin- 
 tendence of the seminary was thus temporarily entrusted to Mr. 
 Stocking. During this interval, Mr. Stocking several times at even- 
 ing devotions observed deep seriousness on the countenances of our 
 pupils ; and on my return he had a decided impression that we were 
 on the eve of a revival. This impression he communicated to some 
 others ; and I feel assured that there was in the hearts of different 
 members of the mission, a longing desire, accompanied by earnest 
 prayer, that such a blessing might be realized. The religious feelings 
 of John had, also, about this time, received quite an impulse ; and 
 with more ardor than judgment, he wrote once on the wall of the 
 school-room, whither he had retired for secret prayer, ' 0, my dear 
 Saviour, do come, and convert this school.' Justice, however, obliges 
 me to say in regard to myself, that while I was hoping for an out- 
 pouring of God's spirit during the winter, I did not see the evidence 
 of its being so near at hand. When the revival commenced, there- 
 fore, I was more impressed with its suddenness and power than 
 those who, with more zeal and faith, had been laboring, and longing, 
 and watching, for the blessing. 
 
 " Such was the general state of our seminaries, and such the feel- 
 ings of the brethren, at the beginning of this year. On the first 
 Monday in January (a season so extensively devoted to fasting and 
 prayer for the success of missions), two of the older girls in Miss 
 Fisk's school Hngered after prayers, till their companions had retired, 
 and with considerable feeling, requested permission to spend the day 
 alone in seeking the salvation of their souls. The request was, of 
 course, granted, and from that time their convictions deepened, till, 
 a few days after, they were found sitting at the feet of Jesus. One 
 of these precious first-fruits, after several months of distressing dis- 
 ease, which she bore with the most exemplary patience, peacefully 
 
214 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 reposed her all on the Redeemer, and went to join in the praises of 
 the heavenly world. The other still remains with us, giving striking 
 and daily increasing evidence to all around her, of the great change 
 which has been wrought in her soul. 
 
 " With the exception of these two cases, nothing of very special 
 interest was observed in either seminary, until the nineteenth of the 
 month. At Seir, however, the mission servant, ITicholas, had been 
 under deep convictions of sin, and Mr. Perkins was cherishing the 
 hope that he was truly born again. His case was a deeply interest- 
 ing one, from the fact that he was awakened to a sense of his lost 
 condition, when almost all around us were quietly slumbering in sin. 
 The blamelessness, the activity in doing good, which he has exhibited 
 since that time in his Christian walk, has given the best of testimony 
 to the sincerity of his repentance ; and we regard him with peculiar 
 interest, as being the only pious Armenian, with whom we are 
 acquainted in the whole of Persia. 
 
 " On the nineteenth of January, a number were simultaneousl}; 
 and deeply affected in both seminaries, and came to us inquiring 
 what they must do to be saved. This fact was the more remarkable, 
 as the seminaries are entirely distinct, and there had been no com- 
 munication between the respective members. Prom that time the 
 interest rapidly increased, until on Wednesday evening, two days 
 after, as I was going to the preaching service, with one of the breth- 
 ren, we heard the voice of prayer, intermingled with sobs, on every 
 side. All who were present in the seminary that night, will remem- 
 ber the deep solemnity that pervaded the audience. We closed the 
 exercises and were about to retire, but no one moved from his seat. 
 And it was not untU the meeting had been considerably protracted, 
 and the boys had been told to return to their rooms, that they 
 seemed wilKng to leave us. I had, however, no sooner reached my 
 study, than it was filled to overflowing with anxious inquirers; and 
 there, with emotions which I can never describe, but which we can 
 all appreciate, I unfolded, with faltering tongue, the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ to one company after another, till near midnight. It was, 
 indeed, a time lono: to be remembered. The worth of souls and the 
 
NAIIKATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 215 
 
 love of Christ, presented themselves with amazdng force to my mind; 
 and I felt as though I could not long sustain such crushing responsi- 
 bility. The morning brought with it a repetition of similar scenes. 
 Kising very early from troubled sleep, I found inquirers waiting to be 
 guided to Jesus Christ. And it was an unspeakable relief to meet 
 with two who seemed ready, deliberately and solemnly, to form an 
 eveilastiug covenant with the Lord. Their convictions had been so 
 pungent and their views of the way of salvation were so clear, that, 
 as in the case of another individual some years ago, I felt a hope, 
 amounting almost to confidence, in the reality of tlie change. And 
 after nine months' trial I know no members of the seminary, who 
 have given more uniform and decided evidence of piety. 
 
 " It was about this time that the revival excitement, which had 
 for several days been naturally, if not necessarily, kindled in the 
 little community, began to die away, and some to relapse quietly into 
 their former indifference. With the older, however, and more re- 
 flecting, it was otherwise. Ten or twelve of these remained on 
 Thursday in a state of deep conviction, which seemed in some cases 
 almost to overcome their physical powers. Yonan of Ada, particu- 
 larly, lay tossing upon the floor the whole of Thursday night, beg- 
 ging for mercy, and there was serious reason to apprehend he would 
 fall into a fit. The natural clearness of his mind and his familiarity 
 with gospel truth, added to the long-continued warnings he had re- 
 ceived, and his repeated attempts to stifle the convictions of his cou- 
 science, all now heaped fuel on the fire, and he seemed overcome 
 with horror. Such feeling could not be long endured, and on F'rlday 
 he, with a number of others, had his mouth filled with the praises of 
 Redeeming Love. 
 
 " It will be remembered that Friday was set apart by the mission 
 for fasting and prayer, and we must believe that our united suppli- 
 cations that day were not in vain. In the evening those most inter- 
 ested were gathered from both seminaries into Mr. Stocking's upper 
 room. The assembly was exceedingly solemn, while the nature and 
 office work of the Holy Spirit was unfolded to them, and they were 
 urged to embrace this golden opportunity, and fly fi-om the wrath to 
 
216 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 come. On one side were seated the girls, with heads bowed down, 
 and sobs which they strove in vain to repress ; and all who were 
 present, from the priests to the youngest child, seemed to feel deeply 
 the realities of eternity. 
 
 " The following Sabbath found ten of our pupils, and quite a num- 
 ber in the female seminary, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. 
 Deacon Tamoo, who had tried me much in the seminary by his lev- 
 ity the preceding week, was now trembling from head to foot, an 
 anxious inquirer. Priest Eshoo also remained in his seat after meet- 
 ing, his face buried in his handkerchief; and when Mr. Stocking 
 took him affectionately by the hand, he burst into tears. Thus 
 were strong men bowed down at that time by the mighty operation 
 of the Spirit of God. 
 
 " Such is a very imperfect outline of the first week of the revival. 
 The brethren who were necessarily absent at Seir, can not, by such 
 a description, nor indeed by any description, form an idea of the 
 solemn and deeply affecting scenes through which we passed. The 
 ■commencement and progress of the work up to this period, had been 
 io like a rushing, mighty wind, that I doubt if our physical systems 
 could have borne the pressure, had it been continued to the same 
 degree for many days longer. 
 
 " After this time the work advanced more gradually, but stUl with 
 great power, evincing to all who saw it that it was the work of God. 
 Both seminaries, for many weeks together, were in a state of deep 
 solemnity, and events of thriRing interest were daily occurring. I 
 regret much that I am in possession of no statement of individual 
 facts in the female school during this period, so that I am obliged to 
 confine myself principally to those which fell under my own obser- 
 vation. It may, however, be well to remark, that the convictions 
 and conversions in both schools were substantially of the same char- 
 acter, and both exerted a similar and very powerful influence on the 
 villages around. 
 
 " The case of two Catholic young men, formerly Kestorians, with 
 whom the brethren are now well acquainted, seems to me to possess 
 a peculiar interest. Coming as they did and begging for admission 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 217 
 
 to the seminary, and when refused, urging their suit with the greatest 
 importunity ; granted, at last, some of the privileges of the school, 
 but considered rather as intruders than pupils, it was quite affect- 
 ing to see them almost immediately under conviction of sin. They 
 came to me with heavy hearts to inquire what they should do to be 
 saved. It was interesting, also, to see the amount of doctrinal 
 knowledge they possessed, and the deep sense of the plague of their 
 hearts. No doubt they were rescued by a kind Providence from 
 CathoUc influence, and brought to us that they might be guided to 
 Jesus Christ. They seemed to be overcome with the idea that they 
 had even forsaken the more simple worship of their fathers, and pro- 
 voked God by bowing down to images ; and many times expressed 
 their gratitude that such vile prodigals were allowed any place among 
 his children. One of these young men possesses excellent talents, 
 and is able to do great good among his people. Both of them have, 
 up to this period, walked worthy of their high vocation, and are, we 
 may hope, growing to the stature of perfect men in Christ Jesus. 
 
 " It will be remembered under what circumstances of peculiar in- 
 terest the tailor now with us was hopefully converted. Brought 
 providentially to our yard just as the revival commenced, and listen- 
 ing daily to the conversations of those anxious and those rejoicing 
 around him, he learned that he was a lost sinner, and consecrated 
 his all to the Lord Jesus Christ. During the whole spring and sum- 
 mer, he has apparently walked with God, and has interested aU who 
 knew him, by his humble and childlike deportment. Though hardly 
 able to read correctly yet in the modern language, and, of course, 
 inferior, as a scholar, to the youngest member of the school, he yet 
 commands the respect of all, and exerts a very happy influence on 
 the side of Christ. 
 
 "But not to dweU longer on individual cases in the seminaries, I 
 will only allude to one which occurred at a much later period, and 
 with which the brethren may not all be familiar. During the past 
 summer, while our school was in session at Seir, an orphan about 
 sixteen years of age, came from Alcai to visit us, and apply for ad- 
 mission. He stated that he had been a member of the seminary 
 
 10 
 
218 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 some years ago for a short time, and earnestly desired again to enjoy 
 its privileges. Having much pressing business at the time, I told 
 him he might remain until I could attend to his request. Two days 
 after, either by accident, or prompted by curiosity, he found his way 
 into a room where some six or eight of the boys had assembled for 
 prayer. During the progress of the meeting, he seemed deeply af- 
 fected, and with tears streaming down his cheeks, came inquiring the 
 way to the cross of Christ. As the converting influence of the Spirit 
 had at the time been withheld for several months from the seminary, 
 the appearance of this new comer produced an unusual solemnity. 
 His feelings for some days increased in intensity, his convictions 
 were decidedly pungent and clear, and he at last expressed the hope 
 that he had committed his all to Jesus Christ. From that time he 
 appeared to be a true-hearted disciple, and I not only made him a 
 member of the seminary, but gave him a place in my affections. 
 Since the dispersion of our pupils he has several times spent the Sab- 
 bath with us at Seir, and confirmed very much by his interesting 
 appearance our favorable opinion of his piety. 
 
 " The revival in the two seminaries advanced with little diminu- 
 tion of interest or power for about two months. At the close of 
 that time, fifty of the pupils had been hopefully converted, and 
 were exhibiting a delightful example of Christian fellowship and 
 love. Their very uncommon prayerfulness, and their earnest solici- 
 tude for the conversion of their friends and of the entire people, are 
 yet fresh in our minds, and can not fail to swell our hearts with grat- 
 itude to God, as we review the past to-day. Deceptive as is the 
 human heart, and liable as even the best and most discriminating of 
 men have been to mistake as to the genuineness of conversion, it 
 was not strange that in some few cases our feeUngs were severely 
 tried. But notwithstanding this, it is to be recorded with devout 
 wonder and thanksgiving, that the very great majority of those 
 who were hopefully bi'ought to Christ in the seminaries last winter, 
 are to-day testifying the sincerity of their repentance by humble 
 and prayerful lives. Sca:.tered during this vacation among the peo- 
 ple, they are everywhere, so far as I can learn, both males and 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 219 
 
 females, active in doing good, and exerting a powerful influence in 
 winning men to the truth. 
 
 " In an account, however brief, of the revival in our seminaries, 
 the important fact should not be overlooked, that those who had 
 been longest under our influence and received most religious instruc- 
 tion, were the first to yield to the claims of the Grospel, and in gen- 
 eral, have been the most consistent in their Christian walk. It has 
 sometimes been thought, from the trials which the mission has had 
 with some of those on whom special pains had been bestowed, that 
 our efforts in their behalf had been worse than useless. But when 
 Grod's time came to pour out his Spirit, we were privileged to see 
 those very individuals, before so hardened in sin, sitting with the 
 greatest docihty at the feet of Jesus, and laboring in the foremost 
 rank for the salvation of their people. One who is well acquainted 
 individually with these converts, can not but feel that all their ac- 
 quisitions are now an aid to them in the great work of making 
 known the Gospel, and will look to those who have had the longest 
 and most faithful course of instruction, as most Ukely to fight man- 
 fully the good fight of faith. 
 
 " It should also be mentioned more distinctly than it has been, 
 that this revival in the seminaries began and progressed without any 
 array of means. It was not by protracted meetings, nor anxious 
 seats, nor appeals to the physical feelings, that this great work was 
 advanced. We aU remember that we were behind rather than be- 
 fore the current of feeling. When we were hardly aware that God 
 was among us, and perhaps even before we had with weeping and 
 mourning prostrated ourselves at the mercy seat, we were surrounded 
 by a crowd of inquiring sinners. And from first to last, not a single 
 extra pubhc meeting was held, and very little change was made in our 
 estabUshed arrangements. If ever there was a work, which was by 
 preeminence entitled to be called the Lord's work, it is the one which 
 we have witnessed this year in Oroomiah. And while we should 
 devoutly bless God that we have been permitted to bear any part, 
 howev3r humble, in its advancement, we should beware how we as- 
 
220 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Bume the least degree of praise to ourselves. ' Kot unto us, Lord, 
 not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.' 
 
 " It v^as not long after this work of grace commenced in the sem- 
 inaries, before its influence vsras felt among all in our immediate em- 
 ploy. Several of the prominent priests and deacons in our premises, 
 including the teachers in both seminaries, vrho had most of them for 
 years been hoping that they were Christians, throwing all their for- 
 mer dependences away, joined with our pupils in suing for mercy. 
 The printers were also reached ; and several of them, who had been 
 exceedingly depraved, were found clothed and in their right mind at 
 the feet of Jesus. And that brother whose circumstances enable 
 him most correctly to judge, informs me, that after so long an expo^ 
 sure to temptation, and the corrupting influences of their people, at 
 least five of them appear to be meek and humble Christians. Our 
 servants were moreover the subjects of this blessed work ; and there 
 are few now remaining about us, either in the city or at Seir, of 
 whose piety we may not cherish a reasonable hope. 
 
 " It yet remains to notice the progress of this revival in the vil- 
 lages ; and I regret that I shall be obliged to pass hastily over so 
 interesting a portion of the narrative. 
 
 " It will be remembered that a year ago there was some rehgious 
 interest in Geog Tapa, under the labors of Priest Abraham, John, 
 and Moses, and that a few females were hopefully brought to the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. With this exception, there had been in none of 
 the villages, any thing like a revival of religion. At Seir, and per- 
 haps at one or two other places, there had been at different times 
 special interest in hearing the truth ; but (passing by in the estimate 
 several villages of Seir, which belong more probably to the mission 
 premises there), I am not aware that it resulted in any being born 
 again. This year is therefore distinguished above all others, not only 
 by the precious work of grace on our own premises, but by little 
 revivals in different and distant parts of our field. Hardly had two 
 weeks elapsed, after the first appearances of deep interest here, when 
 the news was spread far ard wide. The parents and friends of those 
 in the seminary, and numerous other visitors, some attracted by cu- 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 221 
 
 riosity, and some doubtless drawn hither by the Spirit of God, 
 thronged in upon us. At morning and evening prayers, at our pub- 
 hc services in the seminary, and most of all on the Sabbath, we had 
 thus an opportunity of addressing ourselves to a multitude of stran- 
 gers. Coming together as they did from a variety of motives, we 
 all had reason to adore the power of God, which pierced so many 
 of them with the arrows of conviction, and brought them, as hum- 
 bled rebels, to submit to him. The public instructions thus commu- 
 nicated to these visitors, were faithfully followed up ui private, by 
 our pupils and the other pious natives around us. It was very 
 affecting to see these boys and girls, taking their friends by the hand 
 as soon as they entered, and begging them in Christ's stead to be 
 reconciled to God. In most cases, too, not satisfied with exhorta- 
 tion, they withdrew with them for prayer : and instances were by 
 no means rare, in which a father, a mother, a brother, or a sister, 
 were thus led to Christ, by the instrumentality of these children and 
 youth. I well remember with what affectionate earnestness Siyad 
 the tailor, threw himself before his aged grandfather, and entreated 
 him to attend to the salvation of his soul. He seemed neither able 
 to eat nor sleep, till he saw this venerable relative a follower of Je- 
 sus. For several days and nights, with an uninstructed tongue, yet 
 eloquently, and with an earnestness that would know no denial, he 
 urged him not to go away till he had given up his all to Christ, and 
 his faithful efforts were crowned with success. That patriarchal old 
 man, as we have repeatedly and from a variety of sources been as- 
 sured, is now a meek and prayerful Christian ; and though he finds 
 scarcely an individual to sympathize with him in his large and 
 wicked village, he is constantly, by his upright and heavenly deport- 
 ment, commending the religion of Christ. 
 
 " What a wonderful providence was it, which brought into the 
 fold of the Redeemer, the ignorant and wicked deacon from Terga- 
 wer. A Httle girl from Hakkie became a member of Miss Fisk's 
 school, and during the revival was hopefully led to the Saviour of 
 Binners. Her father, proud and self-righteous, soon came down to 
 visit her. The silken cords of love were thrown around him, and 
 
222 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 not only his daughter, but other pious natives, pressed on him the 
 truths of the Grospel. He heard first with indiiference, then with 
 aversion. As his Hght increased and the truth flashed on his mind 
 that he was a rebel against God, he rose in opposition. But the 
 time had come for the strong man to bow, and it was not long be- 
 fore he was seen pleading for mercy like a lost sinner. The big 
 tears rolling down his cheeks, and his words scarcely finding ut- 
 terance, he begged to be taught the way of salvation. When asked 
 by one of the brethren, if in case it were possible for the fires of hell 
 to be extingTiished, and he have liberty to hve as he had formerly 
 done, he would be relieved of his distress, he replied, that were there 
 no hell, he could not endure to remain the enemy of God. As he 
 was setting out for Tergawer, he expressed the hope that he had 
 given up the unequal controversy and begged an interest in our 
 prayers. From that time he commenced the career of active benev- 
 olence, which has so fully evinced the genuineness of his repentance 
 and strongly endeared him to our hearts. The labors of this Deacon 
 Guagis in Tergawer, are unwearied. For months he has given up 
 every other employment, and constrained, as we must believe, by 
 the love of Christ, certainly not by hope of earthly reward, he goes 
 about from village to village, preachiilg the doctrines of the cross. 
 Almost entirely through his influence, crowned with the blessing of 
 God, the whole aspect of things there has changed. In our recent 
 visit to Tergawer, we were delighted to find in Hakkie, his native 
 village, so deep an interest in the truth, and so many who were in- 
 quiring the way to Christ as lost sinners. There is good reason to 
 believe, that as many as twelve individuals there are truly born 
 again, including two brothers and several other relatives of the dea- 
 con, and perhaps also the priest of the village. It should be remem- 
 bered, that this interesting beginning is in a district where, until 
 recently, aU was wrapped in mjjinight darkness; where, with the 
 name of Christianity, they were entirely ignorant of the way ot 
 reconciliation with God through his dear Son. 
 
 ''• In other villages of Tergawer also there has been a rapid pro- 
 cess of enlightenment, and some hopefully converted to God. A 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE R E V I V A L . 'Jlio 
 
 deacon of Shebaneo, with whom many of us are acquainted, is, we 
 trust, born again, and is said to be scarcely less consistent and active 
 in his Master's service, than the deacon of whom we have been 
 speaking. While we remained in Tergawer, he was almost con- 
 stantly by our side, and manifested the greatest eagerness ' to be 
 taught. He unfortunately is able to translate but very imperfectly, 
 and must, therefore, depend for much of his knowledge of the Scrip- 
 tures on others.* One morning, after some conversation with John 
 about the New Jerusalem, he begged the latter to read to liim from 
 Revelation. And it would have done the heart of any Christian 
 good, to see them bending together over the book of life, John ex- 
 plaining the meaning of the Apostle with the utmost earnestness 
 and vividness of imagery, while his companion was deeply moved 
 by the sight, to him new, of the heavenly glories, which were thus 
 spread out before liim. 
 
 " But we must not dwell longer on Tergawer. That the Lord has 
 begun a very interesting work of grace there is abundantly evident 
 to aU who have visited it. And owing to the position of the dis- 
 trict, and the uncommon providence by which the influences of the 
 revival were introduced there, it seems to have a special claim on our 
 sympathies and prayers. May God grant that that remote and hith- 
 erto wild region may speedily become vocal with his praise. 
 
 " But the effects of this glorious work of grace have been seen yet 
 further among the mountains of Koordistan. During the spring, an 
 older brother of Deacon Tamer came to visit us from Gawar. He, 
 too, was convicted, of sin, and after several days of deep feeUng, bade 
 us farewell, expressing the hope that he liad devoted himself to the 
 service of Christ. Wc followed him with our best wishes and our 
 prayers, knowing that he was leaving the region of Gospel hght for 
 one in which he would be deprived of preaching, the hearing ot 
 God's word in private, the sympathy of Christian friends, and indeed 
 find prayer the only connecting link betv/een him and heaven. We 
 
 * Since this time the word of God has been given to the people in tho 
 modern l:uiccn:ig?. 
 
224 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 however commended him to Grod, feeling assured that, if his real 
 child, he would be kept through grace unto eternal hfe. On our late 
 tour in Grawar, it was delightful to meet this man again, bearing all 
 the marks of a follower of Jesus. When the seminary was closed 
 in April, Hamis, a younger brother of the same family, who has for 
 several years spent the winter in the seminary, left us, to pass the 
 summer at his mountain home. He also, having hopefully found 
 peace in believing during the late revival, I urged him to imitate his 
 divine Master when he should reach that distant and unexplored 
 field, and go about doing good. Some months later Deacon Tamer, 
 on his return from Badr Khan Beg, went also to G-awar. These 
 three brothers have labored together in their native village, making 
 known, in pubUc and private, in the house and by the way, the 
 Gospel of Christ. The result is, that some ten, as these brethren 
 believe, are born again, and the village has become known as far as 
 Marbeeshoo, for the wonderful change which has taken place there. 
 We spent a day among the people with great satisfaction, and they 
 were afterwards visited by Deacon Guergis, of Tergawer, who was 
 no less gratified than ourselves. It may be stated in this connection, 
 that on reaching Baradost, late at night, on our way to Gawar, we 
 were surprised to find this deacon one of the first to come out and 
 welcome us. He had gone there from Tergawer to preach the Gos- 
 pel ; and with his customary love for the work, and no other com- 
 pensation than what Christ will bestow upon him, he accompanied 
 us to Gawar on foot, and back again to his native village, a distance 
 of about 'a hundred miles. I know of no one wlio promises to be- 
 come so useful a missionary as this man, in the mountain districts ; 
 and the brethren will be glad to learn that he hopes to spend the 
 winter in the seminary, that he may be the better qualified for the 
 work. 
 
 " But to return for a few moments to the village of Deacon Ta- 
 mer. When we were there, his father lay on a bed of sickness, and 
 as Mr. Stocking was preaching in the same room to an attentive 
 congregation, consisting cf the whole population, old and young, the 
 dying man frequently and emphatically joined his words with those 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 225 
 
 of the preacher, affirmmg that Jesus Christ, and him crucified, was 
 his only hope. We have rarely, either in Oroomiah or elsewhere, 
 seen a more silent and interested audience, and when we closed, all 
 remained in their places, as if desiring more of the sincere milk of the 
 word. Tamer informed us that, even if he protracted the meetings 
 till midnight, he always found interested and solemn listeners. 
 
 " The next day the old man died ; and though we had ourselves 
 left the village, we received a deeply affecting account of the scene, 
 from Deacon Guergis, who was present. The burial service was ac- 
 companied by preaching, and all the exercises were performed with 
 gi-eat solemnity. At evening, as the deacon informed us, he went 
 with Tamer and Hamis to pray by the grave of their departed pa- 
 rent. As they were kneeling down, the elder brother joined them, 
 and on risi ng at the close of their prayer, they saw three others, who 
 had noiselessly stolen up the hill-side that, in the calm evening hour 
 and by the new-made gi-ave, they too might pour out their souls to 
 God. 
 
 "It would be pleasant to remark more at length on this interest- 
 ing community, and the prospective influence they will exert in the 
 spread of the Gospel among the mountains. But this falls rather 
 within the sphere of a brother who labors there. I am reminded, 
 also, by the length of time I have already occupied, that I must be 
 brief 
 
 "There are several other districts, as Mergawer and Ooshnook, 
 where, in connection with this revival, the Gospel has been for the 
 first time preached by pious natives ; but of late we have no definite 
 information in regard to them. It will be remembered that one of 
 the most promising converts in the school was taken by his friends, 
 last spring, to Mar Gabriel, and made a priest, contrary to the young 
 man's earnest protestations. He has since been residing in Oosh- 
 nook, liis native city, where, at the time John visited him in May, 
 he had very much tlie respect and affection of all around him, and 
 was exerting a happy influence for the cause of Christ. If we may 
 judge from similar cases in Tergawer and Gawar, which have passed 
 under our view, we must believe that his labors will not be in vain. 
 
 10* 
 
226 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " But, notwithstanding these deeply interesting facts in reference 
 to the remote portions of our field, it is yet true that the influence of 
 the revival has been mainly felt in our more immediate vicinity. In 
 at least eleven villages of Oroomiah, we now find one or more hope- 
 ful Christians, beside a number of other places, where the pious 
 members of our seminaries have been spending a considerable por- 
 tion of the summer, and exhibiting in their lives the power of the 
 gospel How cheering to contemplate such a result as this ! Not 
 only have many souls thus been rescued from eternal death, but 
 beacon fires have been here and there kindled, which we hope will 
 burn more and more brightly, till this whole region shall be Hghted 
 up with millennial glory. 
 
 " In connection with the progress of this revival in the villages, it 
 is proper to mention that during the two or three months previous 
 to the present vacation of the seminary, its older members were in 
 the habit of visiting and expounding the Gospel in some five or six 
 different villages every Sabbath. The means of grace among the 
 people have thus been greatly multiphed, and I think we may confi- 
 dently indulge the hope, if we are faithful to the cause of our Master, 
 that the coming year will be yet more signalized than the past, by 
 the outpouring of God's Spuit in the villages. The eight or ten 
 teachers also, who spent the summer vrith us at Seir, underwent, 
 while there, a radical change of views and feelings ; and I cherish 
 the strong belief that some of them became new creatures in Christ 
 Jesus. These have gone out to scatter evangehcal truths in their 
 different village schools, and among all with whom they come in 
 contact. How can the rays of light, thus radiating from so many 
 centers, crossing and recrossing, and blending with each other, fail 
 to give a far more bright and encouraging aspect to our field than we 
 have ever yet been permitted to witness ? 
 
 " I have delayed thus far to speak of Geog Tapa, because the 
 work there has been so marked and glorious as to deserve a separate 
 consideration. The precious seed which had been sown year after 
 year in that village — tli e fact that special interest had been mani- 
 fested there the previous summer— the connection of so many ecole* 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 227 
 
 siastics with us as native helpers, and the comparatively large number 
 of its youth in the two seminaries, nearly all of whom were awak- 
 ened and hopefully converted — the frequent mention of this village 
 in the letters of the Committee and of our private friends, showing 
 that it was rem.embered at the throne of grace — all these things nat- 
 urally led us at an early period of the revival, to turn our eyes to 
 Geog Tapa, and to expect there a powerful display of the grace oj 
 God. Nor were we disappointed. The visitors from that place to 
 our seminaries were, from the first, so numerous, especially on the 
 Sabbath ; so many of our pupils visited there in their turn ; and we 
 have been able, by personal labors and by the aid of our most expe- 
 rienced native helpers, to keep the truth so constantly before the 
 minds of the people, that the revival in Geog Tapa has been closely 
 identified, both in its character and results, with that which we have 
 enjoyed on our own premises. Early in February some interest was 
 manifested in one of the schools, which gradually increased, till 
 many of all classes were deeply moved. About a month later, when 
 the seminaries had a vacation of ten days, I had the pleasure, with 
 Miss Fisk, of spending some portion of it in that village. While 
 there had been but few conversions, there was a great deal of in- 
 quiry, and our pupils expounded the Scriptures every evening in ten 
 or twelve different places, to attentive audiences. Everything was 
 marked by a deep stillness, which indicated to us the presence of 
 God's Spirit. And from that time forward converts were multiphed, 
 and the blessed work went on with increasing power. 
 
 " It would be interesting, weie there time, to dwell on the partic- 
 ular features of the revival there, and to describe the individual cases 
 which have, during its progress, afiected us so deeply. Suffice it to 
 say, that there are many mouths which before were full of cursing 
 and bi'tterness, that are now filled with the praises of God. An en- 
 tire change has taken place in the habits and manners of the village. 
 Property has become secure from thieves to an extent never before 
 known. The name of reviler, or quarreler, or profane swearer has 
 become one of great reproach. Prayer-meetings are frequent, and 
 attended by many who love to pray. The Sabbath is regarded as 
 
228 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 the Lord's day, and not unblushingly profaned, as before, by secular 
 employments. And while there are, of course, many in the village 
 hardened to the truth, and a few who feel the present order of things 
 to be an uncomfortable restraint, the sentiment of the village is 
 strongly in favor of peace, sobriety, and vital religion. At a recent 
 communion season, a time at which disorders were formerly allowed, 
 scarcely less gross than those which disgraced the Corinthian church, 
 about two hundred remained after the unintelligible service in the 
 ancient language, to celebrate the ordinance in a solemn and rever- 
 ential manner. The service was conducted with prayer, singing, 
 and other exercises, very much in imitation of our own method ; and 
 the pious natives connected with us, who were present, regarded it 
 as one of the most delightful occasions they had ever witnessed. Do 
 not such great changes, in one of the most intelligent and prominent 
 Nestorian villages, pK)mise for us a brighter day than any which has 
 yet dawned upon us? Who, even of the most sanguine of our 
 number, would have believed, a year ago, that in Geog Tapa, two 
 hundred persons would this summer have sat with solemnity around 
 the table of their dying Lord, realizing, in some measure, the mean- 
 ing of the ordinance ?* And whose heart does not overflow with 
 thanksgiving and praise, when he remembers that scores of these are 
 giving consistent and increasing evidence of piety ? I am informed 
 within a few days, that there is not a single vineyard in the village 
 in which there is not at least one praying laborer ; and it is well 
 known that the men and women, most of whom can not read, go to 
 their daily toil, singing along the way the hymns which they have 
 learned from the children in the schools. In the threshing floors 
 little closets are made for prayer, among the stacks of wheat. To 
 these places those who love to pray retire, and closing the entrance 
 after them with a sheaf of wheat,' hold communion with God,* 
 
 * All, among the Nestorians, old and young, pious and depraved, have 
 hitherto been accustomed to partake of the sacrament, thinking it had 
 some inherent efficacy in it, as a saving ordinance. Many now in Geog 
 Tapa absent themselves through fear of the curse of God. 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 229 
 
 " As it is a considerable time since I have visited Geog Tapa, I 
 am obliged, in reporting the present state of the village, to rely 
 mainly on others. But it seems to be a fact that hundreds there are 
 in the daily habit of secret prayer ; and that fifty of them, exclusive 
 of the members of our seminaries, and our native helpers, are born 
 into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Quite a number of tlie 
 hopeful converts are young men, who are very active in labors among 
 the people, and who every Sabbath go out to all the villages around 
 to proclaim the Gospel. 
 
 " With a very few general remarks in regard to the revival, I ^vill 
 close this narrative. And, 
 
 " I. It must be evident to any one who has labored much with 
 those under conviction, that they have had in general very discrimi- 
 nating views of truth. The evil of sin, their ruined condition while 
 out of Clirist, the excellence and glory of the plan of salvation, have 
 not only been clearly presented to them, but as clearly apprehended 
 and embraced. It has been very difficult for our brethren at the 
 Sandwich Islands, and at some other stations, during seasons of re- 
 vival, to give the truth a fair, distinct, and forcible lodgment in the 
 native mind. From this source we have here the past season expe- 
 rienced but little inconvenience. It has been interesting and delight- 
 ful to see what discriminating views of truth were possessed, even 
 by mere children, and the most ignorant females. And this, among 
 many other reasons, should give us confidence in the work as 
 wrought by the Spirit of God. 
 
 " II. And again, it has appeared to me very remarkable, consider- 
 ing the excitable nature of the people, that there has been so little 
 mere animal sympathy. We at first strongly apprehended it, even 
 among those best instructed, and continually under the watchful 
 care of the mission. But it would seem that our fears were too 
 strong. Neither at Geog Tapa, in Tergawer, in Gawar, nor any 
 other place, so far as I have been able to learn, has there been any 
 thing which looks like fanaticism. On the contrary, to the praise ot 
 God's grace be it recorded, there has every where been stillness and 
 deep solemnity. And Dr. Anderson had a correct apprehension of 
 
230 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 the facts, ■when he speaks, in a recent communication, of the work, 
 as ' bearing all the marks of a genuine New England revival.' 
 
 " III. It should also be noticed with devout thanksgiving, that 
 there have been thus far very few backsliders. This has struck our 
 native helpers (unaccustomed to revivals, and of course more ready 
 than ourselves to regard every manifestation of feeling as genuine 
 repentance) with great surprise. I have repeatedly been asked by 
 them, ' How is it, that these converts, none of them fall ? Must we 
 not expect to find Judas and Simon Magus among them ? Is it not 
 wonderful that for so many months, ignorant as they are, and ex- 
 posed to so much temptation, they should be growing in grace, and 
 seeming to ripen for heaven ?' And, brethren, it is wonderful, and I 
 believe the more we dwell on the fact the more wonderful shall we 
 regard it. I do not mean that in a very few cases our hopes have 
 not been disappointed. But after the lapse of nine months since the 
 commencement of the work, a time sufficiently long, as is supposed, 
 in America, and much more among such a people as this, to test the 
 reality of a saving change, we find at least one hundred and fifty 
 converts rejoicing in Grod, and giving daily evidence of humble, con- 
 sistent piety. Can any more genuine work be found in the present 
 revivals of our own land, and should not the contemplation of it to- 
 day, call out our hearts in thanksgiving and praise ? 
 
 " IV. The ardor and whole heartedness of these young Christians 
 is also remarkable. The great majority of them seem to feel, in a 
 pecuharly strong manner, that they are no longer their own, and to 
 enter, with a delightful spirit, on the work of saving their lost people. 
 Naturally ardent and bold, and by no means deficient in intellect, 
 the energies of these pious individuals are now directed to the most 
 glorious of all objects — the promotion of the cause of Christ. This 
 characteristic gives us high encouragement to look for the salvation 
 of the whole people, and affords, it would seem, solid basis for the 
 hope so long cherished by our patrons at home, that they will at 
 some future day become, as their fathers were, energetic and faithful 
 missionaries among the vtst regions of central Asia* We will labor 
 and pray for such a blessed consummation. 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE REVIVAL. 231 
 
 " In view of these facts, brethren, though so imperfectly presented, 
 whose heart does not swell with grateful emotions to God ? Who, 
 viewing the wonderful changes which this year have taken place in 
 our field ; our freedom from persecution throughout this revival ; the 
 almost uniformly favorable views of the high ecclesiastics, and of 
 many of the people toward this work of God (a state of things so 
 different from what our brethren in Turkey are experiencing); the 
 active and devoted bands of native converts, which God has given to 
 aid us in our work ; and above all the exceeding great and precious 
 promises of the Bible to faithful labor and prayer ; who does not 
 thank God that he is placed in sucli an interesting field at such an 
 interesting crisis, and, girding on the Gospel armor, long to address 
 himself anew, with all the strength which God has given him, to the 
 blessed work ? May we be aided from on high to meet our great 
 responsibilities; and, weak, unworthy and helpless as we are, be 
 more and more the honored instruments of bringing these lost souls 
 to an Almighty Saviour ; and finally stand, with a great company ot 
 them, redeemed as well as we by the power of Divine grace, on 
 Mount Zion above, with songs and everlasting joy on our heads, and 
 there join in ascriptions of praise forever and ever, Amen." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SICKNESS AND SORROW. 
 
 The effects of the revival of 1846 were long visible upon 
 the general tone of the seminary. In May, 1847, Mr. 
 Stoddard wrote to the Missionary Rooms at Boston, — 
 
 " The general character of the school has been quite satisfactory. 
 With the exception of a few, who are not hopefully pious, our pupils 
 have to some extent endeavored to carry out the direction of the 
 apostle, ' not slotliful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' 
 In respect to those few, though they still remain away from the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the revival, a year ago, had a great effect in 
 removing their prejudices against true religion, in improving their 
 habits, and raising their tone of moral feeling. I have rarely seen, 
 and I could hardly desire to see, more diligence than is manifested 
 by the v^^hole school in the acquisition of knowledge. As they have 
 gathered around me from day to day, with beaming eyes, eager to 
 catch every word of instruction, I have felt that I had a rich reward 
 for all my efforts in their behalf. Especially is this true of our bibli- 
 cal exercises, which form so important and interesting a branch of 
 instruction in the school. Much time has, this winter, been occupied 
 in the careful study of Paul's Epistles, and it has been delightful to 
 see what zeal our pupils have manifested. It is uncommon to find 
 any one, even the youngest of them, weary of the employment ; on 
 the contrary, they are often desirous of proceeding when fatigue or 
 some other cause has induced me to desist. 
 
 '' But this is not all. We look confidently to the time as near, 
 when these youth will occupy stations of importance, as the religious 
 
TOUR IN THE MOUNTAINS. 233 
 
 guides of the people. One of our pupils has this winter left us to 
 teach a village school. And as he came to bid me farewell, and 
 thank me for my instructions, and ask me to unite with him in 
 prayer that God would bless him in his new sphere of labor, I was 
 deeply affected by conflicting emotions, UnwiUing as I was, on 
 some accounts, to part with him, I could not do otherwise than bid 
 him God speed, and rejoice that he had a heart to go out and labor 
 for the salvation of this people. 
 
 About this time. he made a tour among the Nestorians of 
 the mountains, in company with Deacon Tamer, preaching 
 from village to village and from bouse to house. His jour- 
 nal of this tour records many instances of the converting 
 grace of God as manifested among the people ; while it 
 shows that Mr. Stoddard spared neither time nor strength 
 in the work of saving souls. Often after preaching in a 
 village church, he would join a group upon the house-top, 
 and sit till a late hour of the nig^ht discoursino- of the thini^s 
 
 o o o 
 
 of God. But these multiplied labors, while they brought 
 new strength and refreshment to his soul, taxed heavily his 
 slender physical frame, and he began to show symptoms of 
 failing health, which awakened the solicitude of the mission. 
 Partly with a view to his improvement, though chiefly from 
 general considerations of expediency, it was resolved to 
 remove the male seminary from the city of Oroomiah to the 
 mission premises upon Mount Seir. In order to accommo- 
 date the school in its new quarters, it was necessary to 
 erect a new building, and the mission requested Mr. Stod- 
 dard to superintend its erection, both with a view to the 
 proper construction of the work, and as a means of relaxa- 
 tion to himself 
 
 " July 15, 1847. We have, for some time, been agitating the ques- 
 tion of removing the seminaiy from the city to Seir, and this sj)ring 
 
234: MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 definitely determined upon it. Our home, therefore, is henceforth to 
 be, not upon the plain of Oroomiah, but on the mountain side, some 
 four hundred feet above its unhealthy vapors. We make the removal 
 with great satisfaction. To us it secures a more bracing atmosphere, 
 and freedom from a thousand nameless annoyances, vt^hich beset us in 
 the crov^^ded city. To the school it is still more advantageous : it sepa- 
 rates the male from the vicinity of the female seminary, wliich was 
 always (and necessarily so) a source of much anxiety. It removes 
 our pupils from temptation, gives them a quiet place to pursue their 
 studies, prevents the necessity of a long summer vacation during the 
 hottest weather, and opens to them an abundant field for exercise 
 and recreation, without interfering with any one's rights, or expos- 
 ing themselves as they often did on the plain, to the insults of their 
 naughty Mussulman oppressors. For some time past I have been 
 busy in making the necessary additions to our estabhshment at Seir, 
 and now have the satisfaction of seeing the arrangements nearly 
 completed. They are very plain (the rooms being all of mud, un~ 
 burnt brick), but neat and spacious, and we shall be enabled to super- 
 intend the school in a very efficient manner. 
 
 '• The general course of things, the last few months, has been 
 decidedly onward here. By the blessing of God we meet with very 
 httle opposition, and we see that the truth takes a stronger hold on 
 the minds and hearts of the people. If we succeed in renovating 
 this ancient and venerable Church, leaving its present organization 
 unimpaired; neither descending to cringing servihty toward the 
 ecclesiastics, on the one hand, nor rashly provoking their enmity, on 
 the other ; if we, by a wise medium com-se, and the blessing of 
 heaven on our labors, see ecclesiastics and people brought under the 
 life-giving power of the Grospel, it will be a spectacle as delightful as 
 it has been uncommon in the history of the Church. Should per- 
 secution arise, and the merciless sword be unsheathed, as at Con- 
 stantinople, and our converts be driven from their own Church, we 
 should be compelled, by the force of circumstances, to adopt another 
 course and gather the lambs into another fold. Tliis, however, we 
 hope nviiy ha pannancnlly avoided." 
 
\ J iiiih. 
 
 
 ill 
 
 [•^^itJi'xM 
 
2-36 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " You will infer from my letters, that I love my school and the 
 missionary work in general. I do so ; and I am freely willing to 
 forego, many things which I should enjoy in America, for the sake 
 of laboring here. You can hardly conceive what a delightful thing 
 it is, in a land of gross darkness, to watch the breaking dawn, and to 
 feel that God is making us, in any manner, instrumental in ushering 
 it in. Our seminary — small, and imperfectly conducted, as it is — is 
 without a rival among the millions of Central Asia, and it is in 
 Oroomiah only, for many hundreds of miles in every direction, that 
 the pure gospel of the grace of God is preached. I mention not 
 tliese things to magnify myself or my brethren, but to magnify our 
 worJcj and to show you why it is that we look on it as so important. "' 
 
 The wisdom of this change, upon sanitary grounds, was 
 demonstrated during the fearful visitation of cholera at 
 Oroomiah, in the summer of 1847. In a letter to his pa- 
 rents, written in the fall of that year, Mr. Stoddard says : 
 
 " I desire to unite with you in thanksgivings to God, that while 
 the cholera has again been raging dreadfully at Oroomiah and 
 throughout Persia, we and our little ones have all been spared. 
 And not only so, but our missionary circle is unbroken, and but few 
 of those in whom we felt a deep interest have been cut down. Dr. 
 Wright has written a faithful account to the rooms, but as it may 
 not be published immediately and you will be anxious to hear, T 
 will state in a word that the number of deaths in the city of Oroo- 
 miah is variously estimated at from four to seven thousand ! This in a 
 population of twenty-five thousand I What an awful mortahty ! In 
 some 3ases whole families, and large ones, too, have been swept 
 away. The cholera, after doing its work a few days in the city, 
 spread over the plain, and perhaps not a village entirely escaped. 
 The deaths in the villages have averaged from ten to twenty or 
 thirty. In this connection, I rejoice to state that not one sohtary 
 case occurred in Seir. How this augments its value in our eyes as 
 a healthy retreat, and how much we praise our Futlier in heaven 
 
THE CHOLEKA. 237 
 
 for having permanently removed us there from the air of the city^ 
 you can readily understand. 
 
 "Before this reaches you, you will have heard that the cholera 
 was in Orooraiah and probably have been very anxious about our 
 safety. Perhaps I ought to have written you before in regard to it, 
 but I was thus prevented from doing so. The cholera first appeared 
 in Oroomiah, August 21st, just as our messenger was about to leave 
 for Tabreez. Most of our circle wrote informing their friends, but 
 as I was peculiarly busy at the time and expecting very soon to leave 
 for Erzeroom, I thought I could write you upon the road, or in that 
 city, and so deferred it for that occasion. How I was prevented 
 from leaving more than a month, you shall afterward hear. 
 
 " The cholera last year came in the winter and did not half do its 
 work, being driven away, so to speak, by the unusually early ap- 
 proach of winter. But this year it appeared at a time, when of all 
 others we might expect it to be very fatal. And so it proved. 
 From a few scattered cases, the number of the sick and dying 
 reached two, three, and even four hundred a day ; and at one time 
 it was so awful, that the whole population of the city kept up a con- 
 tinual wailing through the night. At the time of my leaving, Sep- 
 tember 30th, it had entirely spent itself in the city, but not until at 
 the lowest calculation four thousand (and some think five or six), 
 had fallen victims. This in a population of twenty-five thousand. 
 Was ever such a dreadful scourge known in so smaU a city ? In 
 some instauces whole families, father, mother, and children are all 
 swept away, leaving hardly a near relative to mourn their loss. 
 
 '' But the storm did not stop here. It soon burst on the villages, 
 which, to the number of several hundred, are scattered over that 
 fertile plain. Hardly one of them escaped ; and the voice of mourn- 
 ing, which was borne from the city, was returned on every side 
 from the hamlets around it. It is impossible to say what number in 
 these villages have died, but as it has been so universally prevalent, 
 it must have amounted to thou.^ands. 
 
 " But you will ask with anxiety, where were your children, and 
 tlieir missionary companions, at this time of awful distress ? I reply, 
 
238 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 safe under the protecting care of their Father in heaven. Bless the 
 Lord, we aU live. Not a hair of our heads has fallen to the ground. 
 We have realized the promise of the ninety-first psalm, so precious 
 and applicable to our circumstances, ' Thou shalt not be afraid for the 
 terror by night nor for the arrow that fiieth by day. ... A thou- 
 sand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand ; but 
 it shall not come nigh thee.' 
 
 "And now, dear parents, my heart is full. We have indeed 
 passed through times of sickness and trouble, but we can sing of 
 mercy as well as judgment. How ought we to unite in praise to 
 him, who has thus preserved us in 'the midst of dangers, healed our 
 diseases, and crowned us with loving kindness. God grant that we 
 may live more than ever to him, and not be so stupid (as I at least 
 have been), and insensible of his mercies." 
 
 The following letter to his parents exhibits the strength 
 of filial affection subordinated to the love of Christ. 
 
 " I am, by this opportunity, in receipt of a long and interesting let- 
 ter from you, mother, for which accept my warmest thanks. From 
 father I have not heard for some time, but I well remember his kind 
 letter received last spring. It gratifies me more than I can well ex- 
 press, to see your handwriting and to be assured that you are enjoy- 
 ing a green old age. It would be pleasant for me, if Providence 
 had so ordered it, to be nearer to you and to have the honor and the 
 privilege, with my brothers, and sisters, of ministering to your com- 
 fort. But that may not be, and I presume you are heartily recon- 
 ciled to the brief separation to which we are called in this M'-orld, in 
 hope of a speedy, yes, and an eternal reunion in our Father's house 
 above. We shall not be long separated. The missionary chooses a 
 swift passage to the gruve, and it is altogether improbable, though 
 my health is now pretty good, that I shall ever live to old age.* 
 And I can truly say that I have no anxious desire to remain forty, 
 
 * I have no particular reasons for thinking so. I speak on general 
 grouuda. 
 
A TRIP TO ERZEROOM. 239 
 
 fifty, or more years in this vale of tears. I would not live always. 
 Why should I desire it ? So far as I can be a humble instrument in 
 promoting the cause of Christ, let me stay, let me toil. But then to 
 depart and be with Christ is far better. Say, is it not? The world 
 is emptiness, a real cheat. Think of its sorrows, its toils, its pains, 
 its cold, hunger, weariness, and thirst. Think of its trials and 
 temptations. Think how we are wretched here under a load of sin. 
 Is it not then good to die, that we may awake to immortal hfe ? Is 
 it not good to be absent from the body that we may be present with 
 the Lord ? 
 
 " Dear parents, how is it with you ? You are in the decline ot 
 life. Your sun has passed its meridian, and in the course of human 
 events, can not be far from setting. Are you in the land of Beulah ? 
 Is your eye fastened with a near, enrapturing gaze on the New Je- 
 rusalem ? Do you rejoice that your pilgrimage, with its weary 
 nights and days, its temptations and its fears, is almost over, and 
 that you have so near a prospect of the rest that remaineth for the 
 people of Grod ? Does not death seem tolerable, nay more than tol- 
 erable, when you remember what is beyond it ? 
 
 " ' Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood, 
 Stand dressed in living green.' " 
 
 In the month of September it became evident to the 
 mission that some decisive step must be taken for the ben- 
 efit of Mr. Stoddard's health. Accordingly, much against 
 his inclination — for he was most reluctant to leave his work 
 — they voted that he should intermit his labors in the sem- 
 inary, and try the effect of a journey to Erzeroom, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Cochrane and Miss Rice had reached that city 
 on their way to join the mission at Oroomiah, and needed 
 an escort across the mountains. Mr. Stoddard left Oroo- 
 miah upon this errand, in the latter part of September. 
 The following letter to Mr. Charles Stoddard fully explains 
 the case. 
 
240 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " Route from Oroomiah to Erzeroom, 
 OOCH KiLESiA, October 8th, 1847. 
 "My Dear Brother, — 
 
 "You will be surprised when you look at my date, and the 
 thought may possibly pass through your mind, that I am running 
 home. But no, I am not going to America, and long, long may it 
 be before God shall in his providence call me away from my work, 
 to go there. Nor am I going anywhere except to meet the dear 
 brother and the sisters whom you have sent to us, and to conduct 
 them to their new home. 
 
 " I did not wish to undertake this journey, and that on many ac- 
 counts ; principally because it will seriously interfere with the open- 
 ing of the seminary for the winter. The arrangements for the 
 seminary are this year peculiarly difficult, because it is to be in a new 
 building and a new place ; and the time for calling my pupils to- 
 gether is already past. But all my brethren said, ' you ought to go, 
 and your school must not stand in the way;' and so I yielded to 
 their persuasions, seconded by the sohcitations of my dear wife. 
 
 " The object in view in my going, rather than any other member 
 of the mission, was the supposed benefit to my health. Though I 
 have little doubt that, with the blessing of Grod, our removal to Seir 
 will be a decided benefit to Harriette and myself, and enable us to 
 bear our duties without difficulty, yet thus far I have found our resi- 
 dence there a trying one. It proved to be no easy thing to make 
 proper accommodations for such an estabUshment as ours, and while 
 the rooms were in process of building, I was obliged to be out 
 among the workmen early and late, sometimes exposed to the rain, 
 and sometimes to a hot sun. You will say this was imprudent ; but 
 it was not to be avoided, and I trust no permanent evil, but on the 
 contrary, great permanent good will result from it. During August 
 and September, my dear wife and the children had ophthalmia, and 
 the necessity, which was thus laid upon me, to go from dark rooms 
 to bright sunshine, affected my own eyes, naturally very strong, and 
 brought on a considciable degree of inflammation. My old com- 
 panion, neuralgia, then stepped in, and settling in the eyes, gave me 
 
PROTRACTED ILLNESS. 241 
 
 such pain in that delicate organ as I hardly ever remember to have 
 felt The result was, that as soon as my eyes were in any measure 
 recovered, the brethren urged my setting out for Erzeroom." 
 
 The illness of one of the missionary party at Erzeroom 
 caused Mr. Stoddard to be detained in that city for sev- 
 eral weeks. Reluctant as he had been to leave his beloved 
 seminary, and ardently as he longed to resume his labors, 
 t]]is was to him a severer trial than sickness itself. But 
 his letters from Erzeroom breathe throughout a spirit of 
 patience and trust. 
 
 The journey failed to restore vigor to his system. Al- 
 most immediately after his return he was prostrated by an 
 illness which rendered him for months an invalid. The fol- 
 lowing letter describes the case. 
 
 " Mount Seir, Oroomiah, December 27, 1847. 
 "My dear Brother, — 
 
 " Five weeks ago I returned from Erzeroom. For a fortnight I was 
 busily occupied in making my preparations for the winter, and then 
 assembled my pupils. I had high hopes that, with our new and 
 complete accommodations and superior location we should have a 
 delightful winter. But the very day that tiie seminary was assem- 
 bled, I was taken sick, with severe pains and fever, and have been 
 most of the time since confined to the room, and generally to the 
 sofa or bed. My difficulty is an obstruction of the biliary passages, 
 which produces the usual results of constant nausea on the stomach, 
 want of digestion, and a jaundiced skin. I have of late suffered little 
 severe pain. Owing to the kind attentions of my wife and the breth- 
 ren and sisters of the mission, I have found my sick bed very comfort- 
 able. It was for a time very trying to be separated from my semi- 
 nary, especially as they were in new circumstances, and needed, as 
 I supposed, for a time, peculiar attention; but I have concluded, of 
 late, that the Lord can take better care of them than I can myself, 
 and have thrown off all anxiety on that score. My teachers are 
 
 11 
 
242 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 pioa3 men, as well as many of my eldest pupils, and T Lope it will 
 not sufifer materially by my absence. The doctor does not consider 
 my disease, in the present aspect, a dangerous one, though it may be 
 a considerable time before I am able to labor as actively as I could 
 wish. It is hard to be thus laid aside from active labor, but I trust 
 that the trial will do me good. 
 
 " I long to write to my dear parents, brothers and sisters, individ- 
 ually, and especially to express my sympathy with those who are so 
 deeply afflicted in the family, but I must for the present forbear. I 
 trust you will give yourselves no undue anxiety on my account, as 
 I have kind and affectionate nurses, and a physician who does all 
 that his skill and Christian attachment can prompt, to restore me to 
 speedy health. I ask an interest in your prayers, that this and all 
 the other light afflictions which may befall me, may work out the 
 peaceable fruit of righteousness, preparing me better for my mission- 
 ary work, and for my rest above. With affectionate regards to all, 
 truly your brother, D. T. Stoddard." 
 
 « p, S. — Your brother might have written this himself, as he com- 
 menced, but I was unwilling that he should tax his strength to do 
 so, and begged to be his amanuensis. He has, I think, given you a 
 very correct impression of his case. We trust that his disease, which 
 I conceive to be what is commonly called jaundice, will soon yield to 
 medical treatment. I hardly need say that our attachment to your 
 brother, and concern for his health and welfare, can be hardly less 
 than your own. Yours truly, J. Perkins." 
 
 "My dear Brother, — 
 
 " I know that we shall have your prayers and sympathy, and that 
 of all our dear friends in this time of sickness and trial. Pray that 
 our Father's chastening hand may not be laid upon us in vain. It 
 is sweet to feel that it is a Father who holds the chastening rod. 
 May we not be slow to learn the lesson he would teach us, but 
 Uve more with our hearts in heaven, and be more consecrated to 
 our Saviour's service. T am your affectionate sister, 
 
 '•'Harriette B. Stoddard." 
 
DEATH OF PROF. STODDARD. 243 
 
 A month later Mr. Stoddard began to be cheered with 
 the hope of restoration. He writes to Mr. Bliss of Tre- 
 bizond : ^ 
 
 "You have doubtless heard from other sources, that soon after 
 reaching home I was taken severely ill, and thua prevented from en- 
 tering, as I had hoped to do, on my customary labors. It is seven 
 weeks to-day since I was first attacked, and I am now slowly re- 
 covering, though able as yet to exert myself but little. The disease 
 was jaundice, which does not often of itself prove fatal, but is some- 
 times attended or followed by an affection of the Hver, which ruins 
 the constitution, even when it does not immediately destroy life. 
 For several days the doctor expressed himself as very anxious about 
 me, and went about, as he always does when there is severe sickness 
 in the mission, with a heavy heart. But through the great goodness 
 of God, all dangerous symptoms have passed away, and I hope before 
 many weeks — I wish I could say days — to enter my field of labor. 
 I pray God that these admonitions may not be in vain, but that they 
 may serve to make me more faithful, more humble, and devoted to 
 our Master. And let us both try, dear brother, to live for eternity ^ 
 
 Soon after, the tidings of the death of Professor Solomon 
 Stoddard clouded his path. 
 
 " Mount Seir, January 24, 1848. 
 "And now, dear brother, I know you will vmite with me in 
 thanksgivings to God, that the clouds which have gathered around 
 me are passing away, and that from severe sickness I am restored to 
 so comfortable a measure of health. * Bless the Lord, my soul, 
 and forget not all his benefits.' I feel that it is all undeserved mercy. 
 Perhaps you may remember that I have never before had a danger- 
 ous and protracted illness, and I needed the discipline. I trust it 
 has made me feel more my frailty, and that if I am permitted to 
 labor again, I shall labor with more spirituality and devotion to our 
 Lord I can not blame myself much for being idle since I have 
 been on missionary ground, but T find much to blame in the spirit 
 
244 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 which I have possessed. This sickness also shows me that I am not 
 very necessary to the work. At first I could hardly bear to be shut 
 out from the school, thinking that it would not go on without my 
 aid. The result has shown me my mistake ; I can not but feel that 
 if I was taken out of the way, others would do far more faithfully 
 and successfully the duties which I consider pecuharly mine. 
 
 " Of one thing I beg to assure you, that neither cholera, nor oph- 
 thalmia, nor neuralgia, nor jaundice, have yet at all altered my views 
 of the missionarywork, nor diminished m the least my desire to spend 
 the strength God shall give me, in the missionary field. Nor do I 
 consider it a settled point that I may not yet enjoy good health here. 
 Mr. Perkins, during the early years of his missionary life suffered 
 much fi^om fevers and disease in difierent forms, but is now very ro- 
 bust. But whether I have good health or not, I am very happy to 
 give whatever strength I have to this interesting seminary. Only 
 let me be far more devoted and humble. With reference to this, 
 will you remember me in your prayers ? 
 
 " We have not yet heard of your arrival in America, but are this 
 very afternoon expecting the messenger to come from Tabreez. 
 
 " January 28th. And the messenger has come, bringing with him 
 the mournful tidings that my dear eldest brother is no more. I had 
 just written him a letter, yesterday, and gone to visit my school for 
 a short time, when the letter was put into my hands from brother 
 Lewis, announcing the solemn event. I can not tell you what my 
 feelings are, but they are deeply affected. Brother L. had informed me 
 before, in a previous letter, that Solomon was quite prostrated, but 
 stated in the same connection that the physicians ' encouraged him 
 that he will get well.' From that time I heard nothing till yesterday, 
 and the sad news for a time quite overcame me. It seemed as if I 
 could not have it so — could not bear to part from that beloved brother 
 till we should meet at the last great day. But other and better feel- 
 ings have now taken possession of me. I think I can rejoice that all 
 of us are in the Lord's hands, and I would not have my own way if 
 I could. This sundering of ties is hard, harder than those who have 
 not experienced it can tell. Bat in this case how much consolation 
 
LETTERS OF CONDOLENCE. 245 
 
 mingles with our sorrow. Not only our brother who is gone, had a 
 good hope through grace, but our dear parents and all their children 
 are looking forward to heaven as their home. A few short years, 
 and we shall meet to part no more. let us Uve hke pilgrims and 
 strangers here. As one tie after another is severed, that binds us to 
 earth, let new ties bind us to heaven. Let our hopes and our affec- 
 tions center there." 
 
 His letter of condolence to his parents in view of this 
 affliction is worthy to be preserved entire. 
 
 " January 28th, 1848. 
 " My Beloved Parents : I have often been called to administer 
 consolation to others when not myself fuUy a partner in their grief, 
 and I have found it comparatively easy, in such circumstances, to 
 direct my friends to those views which alleviate the bitterness of the 
 final parting. But now your grief is mine. If you have lost your 
 first-born son, I have lost my eldest brother. My sorrow, too, is 
 fresher than your own, as only yesterday I heard of our sad bereave- 
 ment, while you have often visited and wept by the new-made grave. 
 Under such circumstances, I feel that I myself need a comforter. But 
 I have been trying to direct my thoughts to the precious truths of 
 the Gospel, and find in them relief for my burdened heart. How 
 consoUng at such a time, to part with our beloved one in the joyful 
 hope that he is going to the rest that remaineth for the people of 
 God. I have sometimes felt that the world was all vanity, and 
 thought I could gladly exchange it for the purity and bliss of heaven. 
 No doubt my departed brother often felt so too, for his cares and his 
 long continued infirmities were almost too great for him to bear, and 
 he must often have sighed for rest. And that rest is now liis — a 
 rest, pure, unbroken and eternal. ' Lulled to rest the aching head ; 
 soothed the anguish of the mind.' My brother panted after hiowl- 
 edge. Now he has learned far more than he could ever know here 
 below; especially does he know God, an 1 understand tl e mysteries 
 of a Saviour's love. My brother had given hiiriself to Christ in an 
 
246 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 everlasting covenant, and now, clothed in white, he will sing the 
 praises of his Redeemer forever. No, we can not weep for Mm. 
 
 " For ourselves we must weep. Our family circle is broken. Our 
 hearts are borne down with anguish. But we ought not to forget, 
 amid our sorrows, how kindly God has dealt with us. How many 
 years have we all been spared ! How much have we enjoyed in 
 each other's society. How, in answer to your prayers, have we a] I 
 been gathered into the fold of Christ. What a satisfaction to think 
 that our separation is not eternal; that a few revolving years at 
 farthest, will carry us also to that blessed world, where our dear 
 brother and your affectionate son, has gone before us. 
 
 "If there is ever consolation to the bereaved mourner, I think 
 you, dear parents, may have that consolation now. Your son tilled 
 up life with usefulness and duty. He served his generation according 
 to the will of God. And though his career was not a long one, and 
 he was cut down in the midst of his days, he had undoubtedly ac- 
 complished all that his Heavenly Father had for him to do in this 
 world, and he is now transplanted to a nobler sphere of being. That 
 life is long which answers life's great end. What matter is it if, in 
 middle life, I lie down in the dust, provided my years have been 
 spent (all of them) in my Master's service ? Yes, this is the great thing, 
 the only thing worth living for, to live with reference to eternity. 
 
 " I am sensible that I have been very cold and stupid this winter; 
 and I am amazed that my severe sickness has done me no more 
 good. I do pray that this solemn providence may rouse us all to 
 greater dihgeuce in our Master's service. Your age must remind 
 you, dear parents, that death can not be far off. And the death of 
 our brother ought to remind us, your children, that we may be called 
 away even sooner than you. May God grant that we all be ready ; 
 and all join at last, in praising that grace which has brought our 
 whole family to heaven. 
 
 " I write, dear parents, with a trembling hand, and were not our 
 messenger about to leave, would gladly defer writing a few days, till 
 my nerves are stronger. But I should thus lose a whole month, and 
 I can not thus long delay an expression of my feelings. 
 
LETTERS OF CONDOLENCE. 247 
 
 "May God bless yoit, dear, honored parents, cause his face to 
 shine on you, and give you peace ; and may these trials work out 
 for you an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 
 '' Affectionately your son, 
 
 "D. T. Stoddard." 
 
 From a letter to his sister, on the same theme : 
 
 " Dear sister, learn the lesson Grod designs to teach us. I know 
 not how it is with you, but for my own part, I am amazed that 
 month after month I am so stupid and indifferent to heavenly things. 
 Perhaps you think because I am a missionary, that I enjoy all the 
 time the light of God's countenance, and do not need, as others do, 
 to be reminded that I am a pilgrim and a stranger. Alas ! the human 
 heart is the same in Persia as in America, and I am ever prone to 
 wander from my God. I hope that the death of my brother Solomon, 
 and the sickness I have myself passed through, will make me more 
 humble and prayerful than ever before. Oh, what is this earth, that 
 it should engross so much of our time and affections ; that it should 
 be ever drawing us away from God and heaven, and leading us to 
 be satisfied with its own base trifles ? Now that our brother has 
 gone, let us contemplate him often, as one of the blest spirits before 
 the throne of God, and often mount on the wings of faith and love, 
 and mingle with the blessed company in which he now moves. 
 This morning, while praying by myself, the thought came over me — 
 Perhaps your dear brother who has gone, is now looking down from 
 the heavenly hills upon you, and beckoning you up thither. This 
 idea is a pleasant one to me, and if often kept before the mind, I 
 tliink can hardly fail to exert a quickening effect upon us. How de- 
 lightful is it, dear sister, that we all have a hope in Christ ! If that 
 hope is built on the rock Christ Jesus, come what will — come life, 
 come death — we are everlastingly safe and happy. And as one after 
 another, we are taken out of the world, we shall go to be eternally 
 reunited in a world without sin " 
 
248 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Mr. Stoddard's convalescence was very gradual ; and it 
 soon became apparent that his strength was no longer equal 
 to the increased labors and responsibilities of his post. 
 
 " February 21st, 1848. For about nine months my labors have been 
 far less than formerly. Last spring, Mr. Stocking took charge of the 
 seminary in my place, that I might have a season of relaxation, and 
 particularly that I might make ready some buildings for the removal 
 of the seminary. This I found so heavy a work, owing to the 
 crooked, lazy character of the workmen, and my exposure from early 
 morning to sunset under a burning sun, that I think, as a means of 
 relaxation, it was of no service whatever. During the summer, my 
 wife and I, as weU as our two children, had the ophthalmia, which is 
 a very distressing disease, and confines us, whenever it occurs, to a 
 perfectly darkened room. This a£fection of my eyes, followed as it 
 was by neuralgia, induced me to take a journey to Erzeroom, where 
 I was providentially detained for several weeks. These things, with 
 my sickness tliis winter, have consumed much of my time for the 
 greater part of a year ; and though I have generally, when not quite 
 disabled, preached on the Sabbath, my seminary has suflfered much 
 for want of suitable superintendence. My brethren have, indeed, 
 been exceedingly kind, and though their own labors have been 
 pressing, they have cheerfully done all they could for our pupils. My 
 assistant teachers, too, are pious, excellent men, and, to a certain ex- 
 tent, to be fully trusted. But they are far from having our ideas of 
 neatness, order, or systematic study. When I am absent a few days 
 the pupils rise irregularly, the bell is irregularly rung, the classes are 
 mixed up, and neither study nor recite with system, and though both 
 teachers and pupils may be doing as well as they know how, every 
 thing goes wrong. You can hardly conceive how wearing it is to 
 keep up such an estabhshment, when I have to look after every 
 thing myself, be bell-ringer, teacher, superintendent, etc., all in one. 
 My dear wife looks after the domestic department, and finds that 
 also a very great care. I am often reminded of a wagoner, who is 
 
DECLINING HEALTH. 249 
 
 trying, with a crazy wagon and worn-out horses, to drag a heavy 
 load up a muddy hill. The Unch-pins fail, the tire falls off, the whip- 
 ple-tree splits in two, the horses sink in the mire, and he is ready to 
 give up all for lost. So we the past year. When we have excellent 
 health and spirits, the seminary is quite as much as we can sustain. 
 But when either of us are sick and laid aside, then the burden is 
 doubled, and the consciousness that things are left at such loose ends 
 wears upon the spirits. You will have in mind, too, that nurses are 
 not procurable in this country, and so, in case of sickness, we are 
 either obliged to devote our time and strength to our famihes, or to 
 tax our brethren and sisters to do it. On this account sickness 
 presses heavily upon us on missionary ground." 
 
 From another letter : 
 
 " Tour kind solicitude about my health deeply affects me. Be 
 assured I shall take every care of it. Though not particularly anx- 
 ious for long life, I consider it very wicked to throw life or health 
 away ; and I trust I shall yet labor many years in the vineyard of 
 the Lord here. My brethren watch over me with great tenderness, 
 and there is little danger that they will let me overwork." 
 
 Gradually, as Mr. Stoddard resumed his labors, he threw 
 his soul with its wonted ardor into the work. 
 
 " The preaching of natives in the seminary has this winter been of 
 a hign order. We have for years been impressed witli the ability of 
 our most intelligent and pious helpers to present the truth in an in- 
 teresting manner and with much pertinent illustration and vivid 
 imagery. But for a few months past there has been a decided ad- 
 vance in this respect. Priest Eshoo, Deacon Tamoo, and others, 
 always prepare themselves for the duty by writing out the substance 
 of their discourses. They have thus become much more metliodical 
 and exact in the statement of truth, and at the same time, so 
 far from losing, have actually gained in every other qualification 
 for preaching the Gospel. This visible and rapid improvement in a 
 
 11* 
 
250 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 work so momentous, affords real cause for gratitude and encourage- 
 ment. 
 
 " We earnestly hope this institution will not be forgotten by the 
 churches in their prayers. Could our patrons stand where we do, 
 and see how much, under Grod, may be accomplished, and has already 
 been accomplished, for the regeneration of this people, by the instru- 
 mentality of the male and female seminaries, I am sure our wants 
 would be presented at the throne of grace with strong crying and 
 tears. While we are painfully conscious that more faithfulness on 
 our part, and a more humble waiting on God for his blessing, might 
 have ensured for us larger influences of the Holy Spirit, I would yet 
 venture to suggest, whether in the coldness which has crept over 
 the American churches, less prayer than formerly is not offered for 
 the missionary cause. The withholding of contributions, the with- 
 holding even of the sons and daughters of the church, can not tell so 
 disastrously on this work, as the withholding of fervent effectual 
 prayer. 
 
 For two or three months his letters contain such intima- 
 tions as the following : 
 
 " Still an invalid. This is a great trial to me, and sometimes I am 
 rather discouraged. But the Lord knows what is best, and I will 
 resign myself cheerfully into, his hands. Let him send sickness or 
 send health, blessed be His holy name." 
 
 " The mission have entreated me to lay aside all missionary labor 
 for a few months, and devote myself to recreation. This is a great 
 trial — the greatest, almost, that could befall me." 
 
 " As for long life I do not expect it, nor is it with me a strong 
 object of desire. Missionaries, especially those who live in a hostile 
 climate, choose a short road to the tomb. But it matters little how 
 long we live, if we only accomphsh life's great end, and serve our 
 generation according to tlie will of Grod." 
 
 The heat of the summer so completely prostrated Mr. 
 
STARTS FOR CONSTANTINOPLE. 251 
 
 Stoddard, that the mission felt it to be imperative upon 
 them to provide for his entire release from labor. The fol- 
 lowing letter, addressed to Mr. Charles Stoddard, a member 
 of the Prudential Committee of the A.B.C.F.M. explains 
 the whole case, and furnishes a beautiful illustration of 
 Christian conscientiousness and submission. 
 
 " G-AVALAN, Oroomiah, June 21st, 1848. 
 "My dear Brother, 
 
 " Your kind letter of April 5th, reached me yesterday, in which 
 you express anxiety about my health, and invite me seriously to 
 consider the question of a visit to America, for its restoration. The 
 letter found me with my loads packed, and horses engaged, just set- 
 ting out on a tour of some months, with my family ; and we are now 
 quietly encamped at Gavalan, thirty miles from the city, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Perkins, with their children, have accompanied us thus far, but 
 will leave us to-morrow, intending to stay a few days at a waim 
 spring, which is a resort for invalids, in this region. Our own plan is 
 to go on to Erzeroom, Trebizond, Constantinople, and perhaps Broosa, 
 attend the annual meeting of the Turkey mission, and then return in 
 season to commence our labors in good earnest before winter sets in. 
 The mission have both authorized and warmly approved of the jour- 
 ney, both for the health of my dear wife and my own. The prospect 
 seemed to be that I should be feeble and accompUsh little or nothing 
 during the summer, and the brethren were anxious to have me try 
 the effect of horseback-riding for hundreds of miles, and months to- 
 gether. And as I could not leave Harriette, delicate as she is, with 
 two little children, without the greatest solicitude on her account, 
 and as she needed the journey as well as myself, it seemed to be a 
 pretty clear case that I ought not to be separated so long from my 
 family. So we all concluded to go together. I need not say that it 
 is a very great trial thus to leave my beloved associates and my 
 work ; but it is becoming a greater trial to live as I have the past 
 year, comparatively a useless life ; so far, I mean, as spiritual labors 
 are concerned, for I know that I may have performed some mission 
 
252 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 service as a builder and a traveler. And I am willing to make one 
 thorough trial of this kind before settling down on the idea that I 
 am to be an invalid for life. I do candidly assure you, that if I could 
 feel that my life was to be very short, and that Providence designed 
 it so, I beheve I could submit without a murmur. But it is hard, very 
 hard — none but those who have been placed in similar circumstances 
 can tell how much so — to occupy a post in our Lord's vineyard 
 which calls for so much labor as that we hold in Oroomiah, with the 
 constant feeling that the work is but half performed, and that the 
 C9,use suffers in consequence. I do long to be a sound man once 
 more, not (if I know my own heart) simply or mainly that I may 
 Hve a more comfortable life, but that I may be a more active laborer. 
 And this reconciles me to a measure such as that of journeying to 
 Constantinople, which I would hardly be reconciled to on any per- 
 sonal or trivial grounds. As to a visit to America, much as it would 
 rejoice my heart to see you all once more — ^you will agree with me 
 that it should never be made by a missionary, unless it is very clearly 
 a case of duty. And I can not regard it in such a hght, while other 
 measures have not been fully tried. A horseback journey of twelve 
 hundred miles may, by the blessing of God, do wonders for me. 
 Certainly it will test pretty fully the effect of journeying on my 
 health, and I can not but hope the result may be favorable. In con- 
 nection with the journey we shall also have an opportunity of seeing 
 many dear missionary friends, which will refresh our spirits, and thus 
 react favorably on the body. The expense of money and time will be 
 also less than that of a visit to America, which consideration, other 
 things being equal, ought to have weight. Then again, I can journey 
 in Turkey without being called on to perform much, if any, mental 
 labor. But if I understand the case of returned missionaries, ihey 
 are often pressed, beyond measure, by preaching and similar calls, 
 and find it difficult to creep into a corner and be quiet Now, if I 
 should go to America, I must either do nothing at all in a public 
 way, which would be a great trial, or have a strong temptation to 
 labor beyond my strength. I may not take a correct view of this 
 point, but so it lies in my own mind. 
 
JOURNEY FOR HEALTH. 253 
 
 " If I should seriously bring up the plan you suggest before the 
 mission, I knaw they would fall in with it at once. Indeed, the 
 subject has already been discussed, our physician thinking it was 
 perhaps my duty to go beyond Constantinople. But at my earnest 
 request, the resolution authorizing me to do so, was withdrawn. 
 Thus much I ought to say, that you may know how ready the 
 brethren are to relieve me of care, and do all they can for me. 
 
 " Erzeroom, July 15th. We reached here three days ago, having 
 had on the whole a comfortable journey, though we met with some 
 trials. The day after I wrote from Gavalan, on ascending the moun- 
 tain, I was taken with chills and then with fever, and was unable to 
 proceed on my horse to our proposed stopping-place. After consul- 
 tation with Mr. and Mrs. P., who were stiU with us, it was deter- 
 mined that I should go in Mrs. Perkins's takterawan* to the warm 
 spring before mentioned, and which was not much out of our way, 
 and that Dr. Wright should be sent for. Accordingly I rode the 
 seven miles which remained with tolerable ease, and was rejoiced 
 toward night to stretch my weary hmbs on my tent-bed. This was 
 on Thursday. On Saturday Dr. Wright arrived, and though I had 
 then no severe symptoms, I was comforted by seeing him. I pro- 
 posed the question to my associates, whether we had not better re- 
 turn and give up the journey. But they were unanimous in the 
 opinion that we ought to go on, and that I should by all means take 
 a takterawan, and have Mr. Perkins's company at least half of the 
 distance. And though it was a new and additional trial to incur 
 such additional expense (Jov four horses are needed to carry this ve- 
 hicle over the mountains, each pair alternating), and to give such 
 trouble to our dear brother, I felt that perhaps duty called me for- 
 ward. On Monday, the 26th, we left the warm spring, and after 
 that were able to make daily, though sometimes shorty stages, till we 
 reached this place. I rode nearly half the time in the takterawan, 
 and found it a great rehef Mr. Perkins came on with us nearly 
 
 * A sort of palanquio, furnished with a bed and cushions, and carried 
 by two horses. 
 
254 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 three hundred miles, and was a great comfort, showing us every 
 kindness and attention. "When he left, which he did with much re- 
 luctance, and in consequence of our unwillingness to trouble him 
 farther, he was very much affected, and commended us earnestly to 
 Grod. The last part of the journey nothing remarkable occurred, 
 except that in taking a longer stage than usual, and crossing a high 
 mountain, Harriette took a severe cold, which, for the time being, 
 made her severely ill. A dose of medicine, however, and a ride two 
 days in the takterawan quite restored her again. 
 
 " Mr. Bliss, of Erzeroom, rode out a day's journey, to meet and 
 welcome us, and when we reached this city we were very comfort- 
 able. My dear wife and the children have borne the journey admi- 
 rably, far better than I could have anticipated. They are all very 
 happy, as well as myself, in getting to a resting-place for a few days, 
 and meeting with such kind friends. Sarah is unwell to-day, but 
 not seriously, and Harriette is playing about with rosy cheeks. My 
 wife, though somewhat delicate in health, is, I think, much better 
 for the journey, and seems to have very good spirits. As to myself, 
 I have, I think, no permanent disease. The main difficulty appears 
 to be, that the nerves are unstrung, and the powers of digestion 
 quite weak. This latter difficulty, the physician here thinks, is also 
 entirely nervous, and that if a vigorous tone can be given to my sys- 
 tem, my stomach will take care of itself. 
 
 " In regard to the effect of horseback riding, I wish I could speak 
 more decidedly. It has uniformly nauseated me without producing 
 vomiting, the effect being somewhat like that of sea-sickness. In 
 consequence, I have not been able to eat heartily, and have not 
 gained, as I can see, any strength. Still I hope for the best. As to 
 the future, we feel quite embarrassed. We have taken up our an- 
 chors, and set sail ; but whither ? It seems to me more and more 
 doubtful that I shall be able to go over this long journey, on our re- 
 turn to Oroomiah, with comfort again this season, and especially as a 
 well man. We hear, too, that the cholera is in Constantinople, and 
 we hesitate about trying^ to carry out our plan. We can return from 
 here to Oroomiah, but I doubt the expediency of that, and so proba- 
 
A PERPLEXING CASE. 255 
 
 bly would my brethren. We can spend the summer here and then 
 return, but that does not promise much. We can go on to Trebi- 
 zond, and stay there a while, but that damp climate would not be a 
 good one for us, who are accustomed to the very dry air of Oroo- 
 miah. We can finally go on direct to America, without stopping at 
 Constantinople, and it may possibly be that Providence is pointing 
 us that way. But we have not the formal consent of the mission, 
 though I know they are all in favor of our taking this step, and our 
 physician anxious for it, especially since our experience at setting 
 out on our journey. Nor have we the consent of the Committee, 
 unless what you have written is an informal consent, for you speak 
 as if you had consulted with your colleagues. What shall we do ? 
 We are perplexed. If we go back with our object unaccomplished, 
 our brethren in the mission will be disappointed, and you and others 
 in America may disapprove our judgment. If we stay here there is 
 httle to interest or occupy us. If we go forward, and carry out our 
 plan, we are met by cholera. If we slip by Constantinople, and go 
 to America, we may be censured by the Committee. I ask again, 
 what shall we do ? I will tell you. You are too far off to give us 
 any light, and two months must elapse before we can hear from 
 Oroomiah. We must then commit our way unto the Lord, humbly, 
 earnestly, and prayerfully. He will direct our paths. Though a 
 have not all the advisers we could wish, if we have him, we can not 
 greatly err. We shall hope to set out for Trebizond on Tuesday, 
 July 18th, and on reaching that place you shall certainly hear from 
 me. I know I ought to report myself to the Committee, but the 
 brethren at Oroomiah have undoubtedly written, and I am too tired 
 to take up another sheet now. I look to you to report me in as gen- 
 eral or particular a manner, as you think best. From Trebizond, 
 when I have more light, I will write Dr. Anderson. 
 " Affectionately your brother, 
 
 "D. T. Stoddard." 
 
 The sequel of this journey is best told in the following 
 letters, without comment. 
 
256 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 The first was addressed to Dr. Perkins at OroomiaL. 
 The two followuig to the parents of Mrs. Stoddard, at 
 Marblehead. 
 
 " Trebizond, July 31st. On our first arrival, we met Mr Powers, 
 who had kindly secured for us the best room in quarantine. He has 
 since called with his wife and little girl. They are now in the 
 country and we see them much less on that account. Perhaps, too, 
 they may be cautious about coming into the city on account of the 
 cholera, though they do not say so. 
 
 "Bat you will want to know more about the cholera. The boat 
 is just in from Constantinople and if we have letters, I can then tell 
 you better how it is in that city. The day we reached Trebizond, 
 Mr. Powers said there were reports of its having appeared here, and 
 he was inclined to believe them. Since then the disease has mani- 
 fested itself too decidedly to leave any doubt about its existence. 
 We find it difficult to learn the facts, but only know that many are 
 fleeing fi-om the city and many of the shops are closed. The quar- 
 antine doctor told us yesterday that he knew of but ten then sick 
 with it, but as he is a slippery Italian, who wants to give us a 
 smooth story, we can not place very much reliance on his state- 
 ments. Our waiter who procures us food, one of the native breth- 
 ren here, gives us more alarming accounts, and this morning has 
 brought word that their pastor (Baron Murgurditch), is attacked 
 with some of the cholera symptoms. Our position in quarantine is 
 in most respects very comfortable, and as we have almost constantly 
 a sea-breeze, Mr. Powers considers it as healthy as any place in the 
 city. It is, however, to be regretted that there is now a regiment 
 (five hundred to a thousand), soldiers in quarantine, who not only 
 make the yard much less cleanly than it would be otherwise, but of 
 course increase the danger of the disease reaching us. To-morrow, 
 however, or Wednesday, they will leave for Constantinople. 
 
 " Our detention here is so strictly providential, and unavoidable, 
 that we ought not to f^el alarmed. And I am happy to say that 
 both of us are wUling to be guided by our Father in heaven, instead 
 
DEATH OF MRS. STODDARD. 257 
 
 of undertaking to guide ourselves. Indeed I hope we can both, 
 to some extent, exercise a childlike trust and say, ' not my will but 
 thine be done.' We have read this morning the ninety-first psalm 
 and it never appeared more precious to us than now. May we and 
 our little ones ever abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 
 
 " In regard to our future plans we have endeavored to view the 
 subject as Christians, and to be willing to go backward or forward 
 just as may seem best. We find the farther we go, that our attach- 
 ment to our dear friends in Persia is, as it were, a part of our being. 
 You are hardly ever out of our minds and most gladly would we 
 turn about and join that happy Christian circle, if Providence seemed 
 to point us thither." 
 
 " Trebizond, August 5th, 1848. 
 "My Beloved Parents, — 
 
 " The past week has been to me one of the deepest sorrow. God 
 has laid his hand upon me and taken the wife of my bosom. Your 
 own dear Harriette slumbers in the grave. In a moment, without 
 one word of warning, the fatal blow was aimed. My Harriette was 
 gone forever and my babes were left motherless. 
 
 " Full as my heart is, I can at this early day tell the story only in 
 a few sad words. As I recover my calmness and physical strength, 
 you may expect me to write with the greatest particularity; and 1 
 hope not many weeks will elapse after this reaches you, ere you 
 clasp to your aching hearts these orphan children, 
 
 " Another reason prevents me from writing much now. Event 
 has succeeded event with such dreadful rapidity, that it seems only 
 like a troubled dream ; and I can not without time and reflection 
 trace again the road over which God has led me. 
 
 " My brother Charles will have informed you why we left Oroo- 
 miah; of our plan to spend some months in traveUng and then 
 return to our field of labor in the fall ; of my feeble state of health 
 on the way to Erzeroom ; of reports of cholera which reached us 
 there and threatened to embarrass us in the execution of our plan ; 
 and finally of our seriously considering the question whether we 
 
258 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 ought not to yield to the solicitation of our friends and for a season 
 return to our native land. We had just come to the conclusion that 
 Providence was calling us to visit America, and were happy in the 
 prospect of soon seeing you all once more, when God came and took 
 Harriette home to her everlasting rest. 
 
 " We left Erzeroom the eighteenth of July, and after a comforta- 
 ble journey of ten days, reached here on the twenty-seventh. Tou 
 are perhaps aware that to prevent the plague from reaching Con- 
 stantinople, all travelers from the East to that city are obliged to 
 pass a quarantine of eight days in Trebizond ; and from this there is 
 no escape. When we left Erzeroom, we had no intimation whatever 
 that the cholera was in Trebizond, or indeed nearer that place than 
 Constantinople, which is six hundred miles farther to the westward 
 And it was supposed by every one that there was no apprehension 
 of its returning to this vicinity. Our hope — our expectation was, i. 
 the cholera should be still prevailing in Constantinople, to pass that 
 place and Smyrna, even if need be, without landing. 
 
 " We had hardly reached the quarantine ground in Trebizond, 
 when we learned that the existence of cholera in the city was sus- 
 pected, but not certainly ascertained. Had we known of this a few 
 hours earlier, we should have remained in some village upon the 
 mountain and not exposed ourselves to this dreadful disease. As it 
 was, there was no retreating, and the exposure was so clearly provi- 
 dential, that we endeavored in humble trust to commend ourselves 
 to God. 
 
 " When we arrived at Trebizond, Harriette and the children were 
 in good healthy having borne the journey remarkably well and seem- 
 ing to be greatly benefited by it. And for the first three or four 
 days in quarantine, my dear wife was still feeling well, though nat- 
 urally a little languid from the fatigue of the journey. On Monday, 
 however, of this week, she spoke of having severe and darting pains 
 in her head and limbs, which we both thought must be neuralgic, 
 especially as not accompanied by a disordered stomach. During the 
 night these pains increased, with a rush of blood to the head aud 
 some general fever. I endeavored to soothe her, but without much 
 
DEATH OF MRS. STODDARD. 259 
 
 cflfect Toward morning, after she had passed a disturbed night, 
 alternately sleeping and waking, with frightful visions flitting before 
 her, I succeeded in tlu-owing her into a profuse perspiration, and she 
 slept quietly and was somewhat refreshed. In the morning she 
 seemed bilious, had no appetite, but there was nothing at all alarm- 
 ing. As, however, the cholera prevailed to a limited extent in the 
 city, I preferred calling a physician instead of prescribing for her 
 myself. When the physician came, he said she was bihous, and as 
 he was, in these times of cholera, a little cautious about giving purga- 
 tives, he would endeavor to produce the same effect by applying 
 leeches to the region of the liver. He ordered eighteen, and in the 
 course of the afternoon, I applied thirteen, encouraging the bleeding 
 till I thought about the requisite amount of blood had been drawn. 
 After this Harriette was quiet and her head much relieved, and with 
 nothing more done for her than the application of mustard poultices 
 to her feet, she slept refreshingly the whole night. In the morning, 
 however, she was seized with a diarrhea, at first not violent nor 
 attended with pain. I sent for the doctor ; he was not to be found. 
 I sent again and employed four men in the search, meanwhile using 
 some simple remedies and applying four more leeches. When he 
 arrived, which was about half-past ten, he said Harriette had not the 
 cholera, though her symptoms resembled somewhat the cholera, and 
 required immediate attention. He ordered morphine pills, had the 
 room made very close, threw additional bed clothing over her, applied 
 bottles of hot water to her limbs and hartshorn to her nose. But it 
 was all vain. She sank steadily from that hour, her system lost its 
 vital heat, her pulse ceased ; and though there seemed to be times 
 when the powers of life rallied a Httle, it was but for a momenta At 
 half-past three she breathed out her life and went to be forever with 
 the Lord. 
 
 " During the whole she suffered little pain. Sometimes she had 
 spasms, but they were few. Her reason was entire to the last, 
 though she was too far gone before she knew her danger, to con- 
 verse much about death. All day, however, before we supposed 
 that the cholera had seized her, our conversation was about heavenly 
 
260 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 things. I repeatedly prayed with her and said to her many sweet 
 hymns. She was very tranquil in mind, and said she could trust aU in 
 the hands of God. When near her end, I pointed her to Christ, as a 
 precious Saviour, motioning upward with my finger. Her eye followed 
 the motion, and as she lay gazing most earnestly to heaven, her breath 
 gradually became shorter and shorter, and she breathed for the last 
 time. So gently did she pass away, that it was some time before we 
 could say, she is gone. There was not a sigh, nor a struggle, nor a 
 moving feature. All, all was peace. And I have no doubt ; indeed 
 I have the most dehghtful assurance that her home will be one of 
 peaceful rest to all eternity. Blessed spirit, let us follow thee to 
 those heavenly mansions. In the midst of all these trials — (and ! 
 how bitter is the trial to me, far from home and country, to be left 
 with these two motherless children and to follow this cherished bosom 
 friend to the grave), in the midst of all, there is consolation. God 
 does all things well. I bow with adoring submission to his will. 
 Bleeding as my heart is, dried up as is my greatest source of earthly 
 comfort, I can not, dare not, wiU not murmur. ! my God, help 
 me, and help us all, to learn just what thou designest to teach us by 
 this stroke. 
 
 " At the dead of night we committed to their kindred dust the 
 remains of your dear child, and the next morning, clasping these 
 babes to my bosom, I fled with them from the infected city. That 
 very day (Thursday) the disease, which had before been quite lim- 
 ited in its prevalence, alarmingly increased ; and yesterday, as we 
 learned, death was mowing down scores and perhaps hundreds. We 
 are with Mr. Powers' family on a mountain, a thousand feet above 
 the city and five miles distant ; and humanly speaking, are entirely 
 secure from danger. If favorable reports reach us from Constanti- 
 nople to-day, I propose. Providence permitting, to leave here a 
 week from to-day for that city, and thence take the steamer of the 
 nineteenth to England. The faithful woman who accompanied us 
 from Oroomiah (Nargis), has consented to go with me to America, 
 and this is the best arrangement I could possibly make. In the 
 commodious English steamers, with a physician always on board, a 
 
THE HOMEWARD VOYAGE. 261 
 
 chambermaid, and every possible comfort, I hope we shall go safely 
 to your shores. But my great confidence is in God. He is a very 
 present help in time of trouble. The children are very well and 
 hearty, and feel little their mother's loss. I sometimes look on them 
 and say, ' 1 that I were a child like them." But no ; I must bear 
 the stroke and God will give me grace. For you, my dear parents 
 in Marblehead, and you, my dear brothers and sisters, my heart 
 bleeds. Do go to our Father in heaven for comfort. Do not sorrow 
 as those without hope. Affectionately your afHicted son, 
 
 D. T. Stoddard. 
 
 " Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain, 
 August 29th, 1848. 
 ''My Dearly Beloved Parents, — 
 
 " Since writing the inclosed sheet, dated August fifth, I have had 
 no opportunity of forwarding it to you faster than I have advanced 
 myself. I much fear, however, that you will in some way — perhaps 
 through our fi-iends in Constantinople — hear the sad news, and know- 
 ing nothing about my safety or that of the dear cliildren, that your 
 hearts will be filled with intense anxiety on our account. 
 
 " I am now aboard a fine English steamer bound for Southamp- 
 ton ; and shall lose no time on my arrival at that port, which will 
 probably be eight days hence, in seeking an asylum in my dear 
 brother's family at Glasgow. Tost as I have been by the storm, 
 you will readily understand that I long earnestly for rest. 
 
 " During this month, one wave of trial has so rapidly succeeded 
 finothor that I have felt almost overpowered. But God has been 
 better to me than my fears — a thousand times better than my de- 
 serts — and the thick darkness is now in some measure, though very 
 gradually, breaking away. 
 
 '' With my feeble health and the constant care of the children, 
 I do not know as it will be possible for me to write you a connected 
 letter, Sarah wakes me at early dawn, and from that time till she 
 goes to sleep at night, with the exception of a nap she has at mid- 
 day, she is never out of my sight and rarely out of my arms. And 
 
262 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 when night comes, so far from being able to sit down quietly and 
 write a letter, I sink down nearly exhausted on my bed. At least 
 this has been my experience on board ship until very recently. 
 Now thanks to God, both Sarah and I are somewhat improving. 
 
 "But though I shall write with difficulty, I still feel that I must 
 make the effort. And perhaps by writing a little every day, T 
 shall be able to tell you all before reaching England. 
 
 " In regard to my dear wife's death, I will now add only a few 
 words. If the Lord will, we shall soon meet face to face, and then 
 I can inform you of the particulars with less trial of feehng than I 
 can write them now. Her death was so sudden, that several days 
 and even weeks elapsed, before I could realize what Grod had done. 
 It seemed as if she were still aUve, as if I should still hear her sweet 
 voice and walk with her on our heavenly road together. But no ; 
 it may not be. Such vain fancies can never be realized. She is 
 gone. My greatest earthly blessing is rudely torn away and I am 
 left to mourn. And yet not rudely^ for Grod gave and God hath 
 taken away, and blessed be the name of the Lord. It is he who has 
 laid his hand upon me. It is he who has riven my heart with 
 anguish. It is my Heavenly Father who has wounded and made 
 me desolate. And I know all is done in love. I rejoice to know 
 that he doth not willingly afflict. And though it is hard, very hard, 
 for me thus to be separated from my work which I so much love, 
 and to become a wanderer I know not whither, my family broken 
 up, my pleasant Persian home no more to be lighted up with her 
 smile, my helpless babes left without a mother, and I with such 
 uncertain prospects about my future health ; though all this is hard, 
 yet it is right I have not one trial more than I need. And it is 
 my constant, earnest prayer that these afflictions may work in me 
 the peaceable fruits of righteousness. 
 
 " In my letter of August fifth, I did not mention, lest perhaps 
 you should have needless alarm on our account, tliat after leaving 
 quarantine and joining Mr. Powers' family on the mountain side, 
 several of us were attacked severely with the premonitory symp- 
 toms of cholera. I do not refer to the children, who were well, 
 
NEW TRIALS. 263 
 
 but to the Nestorians who were with me. August 3d and 4th, the 
 two days following Harriette's death, Mr. Powers' family seemed 
 quite a hospital, four of us being under medical treatment at once. 
 But as we had removed from the pestilential air of the city and 
 used vigorous remedies, all of us by the blessing of Grod soon be- 
 gan to recover from these attacks. The men, however — the Nes- 
 torians — were so alarmed that they wanted permission to return 
 immediately to Oroomiah, and as I had no farther occasion for their 
 services, they left me August 5th, the day I v^ote you the inclosed 
 letter. The woman, ISTargis, at first begged to go with them. 
 But on my representing to her my own feeble health, and the great, 
 indeed the inestimable service she could render to these little ones, 
 she readily acquiesced in the arrangement that she should go to 
 America. 
 
 "I left Trebizond August 11th, having spent a little more than 
 a week in Mr, Powers' family. There I received every kindness and 
 sympathy. They are both devoted Christians and have very tender 
 sensibilities; and they omitted nothing which could be done to 
 soothe my own sorrows or supply to the Uttle ones the loss of a 
 mother. I shall ever remember them with the tenderest aflfection. 
 
 " Nargis, after her attack of cholera, did not seem to recover her 
 health or spirits. She lost her appetite, was weaker every day, and 
 at last gave up to myself and Mrs. Powers, all care of the children. 
 And the day before the steamer was to leave, she was so ill that I 
 seemed reduced to the necessity of either leaving her behind or lin- 
 gering a whole month longer for the next steamer, in the midst of 
 pestilence. What I was to do, I knew not. I felt, and Mr. and 
 Mrs. Powers felt, that in my feeble health, it was unwise for me to 
 attempt a voyage to England without any one but myself to care 
 for the children. And on the other hand, it was very trying to 
 think of remaining four or five weeks at Trebizond or Constantino- 
 ple, in both of which places the cholera was raging. On the morn- 
 ing of the day when the question must be decided, Nargis seemed 
 much better; was able not only to sit up and walk about, but to 
 ride down five miles on horseback to the city without much appa- 
 
264 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 rent fatigue. And it seemed to us all that Providence thus had 
 relieved me from my perplexity and that the way was clear for me 
 to go forward. We had a strong hope that when Nargis was once 
 at sea, she would fast recover her health and strength. But Grod's 
 ways are not as our ways. We had a rough passage and almost all 
 on board were sea-sick. Nargis was hardly able to move from her 
 place and much less to take any care of the children. I held the 
 little ones in my arms, taking care of them as well as I could, each 
 in turn vomiting and both refusing to eat. My own strength seemed 
 almost gone, though I was not properly sea-sick, and as I crawled 
 about the ship, it seemed to me we should never hve to reach Con- 
 stantinople. At poor Nargis I could only take an occasional look, as 
 she lay groaning on the deck. The physician of the steamer repeat- 
 edly gave her medicine, which she as often vomited up ; and he at 
 last concluded, that until she was on land again and her sea sickness 
 over, it would be useless to attempt doing much for her. On the 
 third day, some one through mistaken kindness, and without my 
 knowledge gave her some watermelon — to eat which in time of chol- 
 era is the extreme of rashness. She eat it, and I suspect freely, too, 
 for a diarrhea immediately commenced, which brought her speedily 
 to the verge of the grave. On Monday evening we anchored off 
 Constantinople, but too late to go on shore until day break. All 
 that night the physician was expecting her to breathe her last, and 
 as he considered me in a very critical state, through excitement and 
 exhaustion, he persuaded me to retire to my berth, while he should 
 watch by the side of the dying woman. At early morning I rose. 
 Nargis was still alive, but apparently almost gone. I then deter- 
 mined — ^there being none of our mission families in Constantinople at 
 the time, some, during the prevalence of cholera, having temporarily 
 gone to the islands, and some to Bebec — to take the children, and 
 leaving Nargis and all my baggage, to go up in a boat to the latter 
 place. This I accordingly did ; and on reaching Bebec was just able 
 to reach Mr. Hamlin's house with the children, before giving up in 
 despair. On seeing brother Hamlin, and hearing his inquiry, ' where 
 is Mrs. Stoddard ?' I burst into a flood of tears, and it was some time 
 
DEATH OF NARGIS. 265 
 
 before I could recover my self-possession. On learning my circum- 
 stances, the brethren, with the greatest promptitude and kindness 
 made every arrangement for my comfort, and for bringing up my 
 trunks and the dying woman from the steamer. In the course of 
 the day I was taken by Mr. Schauffler into his family, and there 
 treated with such kindness that I am deeply affected at the remem- 
 brance of it. Nargis was carried to Mr. Homes's study, in a most 
 miserable state. But Mrs. Homes and Mrs. Wood kindly exerted 
 themselves for her, and regardless of any exposure there might be to 
 their own health, watched by her with great soHcitude. Mr, Homes 
 and Mr. Wood were also unremitting in their attentions. We had 
 expected she would very soon die, she being as cold as marble, and 
 having no pulse. But to the astonishment of every one, she retained 
 day after day, a considerable portion of muscular strength, the abihty 
 to speak rationally, and to take nourishment. And it was not till 
 fifteen minutes before I left Bebec, on Saturday noon, to come aboard 
 this steamer, that she breathed for the last time. Meantime, the air 
 of the room became so very offensive that it was almost impossible 
 to procure attendants for her at any price. And two of those who 
 consented to take charge of her were successively attacked by the 
 cholera. I visited her once or twice every day, which, on account 
 of my inability to walk much, and the care of the children, was all I 
 could do. At different times I conversed with her freely about her 
 state — told her distinctly and repeatedly she was dying, and urged 
 her to commend her soul to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. 
 And had her life been as consistent as her death was peaceful and 
 satisfactory, I should have httle doubt that she had gone to heaven. 
 Even now I can not but indulge some hope that she was a true 
 Christian, and that the many instructions she had received had made 
 her wise unto salvation. 
 
 " Tou may easily conceive that, under the circumstances, knowing 
 that she must die, it was a relief to me before leaving Constantinople, 
 to know that she was released from her sufferings. 
 
 " The brethren and sisters at Constantinople, or rather at Bebec, 
 seemed to feel, with me, that my duty was clear to press on toward 
 
 12 
 
266 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 America without delay. If I waited a month, my own life, or that 
 of the little children might be hazarded. You are of course aware 
 that persons in a debilitated state are more exposed to the cholera, 
 and I was not only feeble myself, but Sarah was suffering very 
 much from the heat, the bad atmosphere, the unfavorable circum- 
 stances under which she had been weaned, and the state of her 
 teeth. If I waited a month, too, I might expect much more stormy 
 weather than is to be looked for in August. It was a question with 
 me and others, whether I had the strength necessary to undertake 
 such a charge as that of the children. But, as I am not Hable to sea 
 sickness, and the sea air might be presumed to be beneficial rather 
 than otherwise to us all ; as a physician would be at hand in case of 
 sickness, and the stewardess of the steamer promised to do every- 
 thing in her power toward looking after the children, I concluded, 
 with fear and trembling, to make the attempt. Our dear sisters, 
 finding that Sarah, particularly, was hardly provided with clothing 
 enough for a voyage, kindly supplied the deficiency from their own 
 stock ; and having been most earnestly commended by them all to 
 God, I bade them adieu on the evening of the 19th. We touched 
 at Smyrna two days after, where I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. 
 Benjamm and Mr. and Mrs. Riggs ; and we have since spent a day at 
 Malta. Our weather has thus far been dehghtfiil, and we have pro- 
 gressed as comfortably as we could possibly have anticipated. Sarah 
 is well through her teething; and I hope by the time we reach 
 England she will be pretty well again. Harriette is very healthy 
 and robust, and being, when under my eye, quite an obedient and 
 docile child, gives me very little trouble. At Malta, too, the chaplain 
 to the Bishop of Jerusalem, with his family, joined our number, and 
 with the little girls Harriette plays all day long. Poor child ; she 
 has no appreciation whatever of her untold loss. I speak to her 
 often of her mother. She will be thoughtful a moment, and then 
 run away to frolic* 
 
 " And now, dear parents, at this recital I know your hearts will 
 bleed. And I will not conceal from you that my trials have at times 
 almost filled my soul -with agony. But I am assured that they aie 
 
MRS. Stoddard's character. 2G7 
 
 all, even the most bitter of them, sent in love, and I would not 
 muimur. You, perhaps, may think I did not need such trials in 
 order to wean me from the world and prepare me for heaven. But 
 I presume I did need them all^ and doubtless if I was as alive to my 
 infirmities as my Father in heaven, I should feel that the trials were 
 not only seasonable, but absolutely necessary. And I do pray, and 
 I beg you to pray for me, that in these days of bereavement and 
 suffering, God would in a pecuhar manner lift on me the light of his 
 own countenance. 
 
 " To you, my dearly-beloved and greatly afflicted parents, in Mar- 
 blehead, what shall I say ? I know your hearts will be wrung with 
 anguish, as you learn that your dear Harriette is gone forever. But 
 do not sorrow as those who have no hope. Her missionary career 
 was a short one, but filled with usefiilness. She did with her might 
 what her hands found to do. Always active, exact, methodical, 
 humble and prayerful, she let the light of a holy example shine all 
 aiound her. Beloved by her missionary sisters, looked up to with 
 the greatest respect and afifection by the ISTestorian females, ever the 
 sympathizing friend and guide of all our pupils, and training up her 
 children with the utmost tenderness, she filled a sphere of eminent 
 usefulness, and was a rich blessing to multitudes. And now that 
 God has come and taken her home to himself, to fill a higher, nobler 
 sphere of activity, we must bow humbiy before that Providence 
 which we can not fathom. May God enable us all to live as usefully 
 as did our dear departed one ; to fix our hopes as firmly as she did 
 on the rock Christ Jesus ; and then, when God calls us home to 
 glory, to meet her, never to separate more, in the New Jerusalem. 
 
 " September 2d. Off Cape Finisterre. — We are just entering the 
 Bay of Biscay, having had the finest weather all the way from Con- 
 stantinople. On the morning of the 5th I hope we shall be safely 
 anchored at Southampton. Sarah continues to improve, though 
 slowly. She yet needs to be looked after, and anmsed constantly. 
 Had I good health and spirits I doubt not I should find it easy to 
 make her happy. But I sit down sad and solitary, with her in my 
 arms, and she, poor thing, finding I do so little to comfort her, soon 
 
268 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 begins to cry. I occasionally try, for her sake, to play with her a 
 little, but it is doing violence to my own feelings, and I relapse before 
 long into the same serious mood as before. Do not think I am un- 
 happy. I am not. But you may easily suppose that I find it diffi- 
 cult to do as I would under other circumstances. The stewardess is 
 very kind, and holds Sarah some two hours a day, and on the whole 
 I have the richest occasion for thanksgiving, that we have gone sev- 
 eral thousand miles with so great comfort. Every body on board 
 says I am a different man in appearance from what I was on leaving 
 Constantinople, and though I have still many infirmities, I am con- 
 scious myself of a decided change. Thus you see I have much to 
 praise God for, and I trust I shall not be unmindful of It. 
 
 " And now, dearly beloved parents, adieu. I hope soon — I can 
 not tell how soon, but before many weeks — to see your faces once 
 more in the flesh. My great object now is to reach brother Arthur. 
 When once at Glasgow, I can better judge as to the expediency of 
 going on immediately. September is said to be a more stormy 
 month than October, which is in favor of my lingering a httle. I 
 also feel that I need to recruit before undertaking another voyage. 
 But in all these things I desire simply to follow the leadings of Prov- 
 idence. It may be, that after having come thus far on my way, I 
 shall not live to reach you ; or some of you may be on the verge of 
 the eternal world. Oh, that we may all live and act with the uncer- 
 tainty of life ever before us, and be prepared at any moment to ex- 
 change the trials of earth for the joys of heaven. 
 
 " Harriette sends her warmest love to her dear grandparents, whom 
 she is very happy in the prospect of seeing. She asks if now, that 
 her own mamma is gone, grand mamma will not be to her like a 
 kind mother ? Affectionately your son, 
 
 " David T. Stoddard." 
 
 The following letter to the Mission, describing the mid- 
 night funeral at Trebizond, completes the picture of wo. 
 
A MIDNIGHT BURIAL. 269 
 
 " Bebec, August 16th, 1848. 
 " My Dear Brethren and Sisters, 
 
 " It makes me feel sad that, in the midst of my trials I find so 
 little time to write to you. Were it possible for me, I should go far 
 more than I have into detail, and let you know not only just what I 
 have suffered, but what the effect has been on my feelings, and how 
 far I have found the grace of God sufficient for me. I know that I 
 have, as I always have had, your warmest sympathy and affection, 
 and I assure you that my heart goes out to you in earnest longings. 
 And should Providence ever open the way, I should esteem it a 
 precious mercy to be restored to your dear circle, and the people 
 whom I so cordially love. 
 
 " When you hear the sad tidings of my dear wife's death, I know 
 your hearts will bleed. My own has been abnost rent asunder. I 
 have felt so intensely, and my bodily weakness has been so great, that 
 now the fountain of feeling seems to be exhausted, and I can neither 
 weep nor rejoice. However, I can say, tliat never, for one moment, 
 amid all the darkness that has of late enveloped me, have I doubtea 
 the goodness of my Father in heaven, or been disposed to murmur 
 at his deahngs. You know how I loved Harriette, and how very 
 tender was our mutual affection. And you know that I could not 
 have parted from her as I did without the most violent struggle of 
 feeling. Had I been at Oroomiah, in our own home, or in our na- 
 tive land, and among our kindred ; and had I been gradually pre- 
 pared, by a hngering disease, for the final event; had all our worldly 
 affairs been arranged, and I been allowed to converse repeatedly 
 and fully with my dear wife, on the prospects before hcr^had there 
 been all these mitigating circumstances, you know that I should 
 have been moved and melted by the breaking asunder of these ties. 
 What, then, must have been my feelings, when, with scarcely a half 
 hours' notice, in a strange city, and by a most dreadful disease, I saw 
 the partner of my bosom hurried from time into eternity. Oh ! it 
 came like a thunder-bolt, and I staggered and reeled under the 
 dreadful blow. And then, too, the funeral. In the dead of night, 
 we bore her, without religious services, to the grave. And even 
 
270 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 there we were refused the privilege of one small narrow house 
 where she might rest undisturbed. But God was gracious to us in 
 that trying hour. The desired permission was granted, and she was 
 deposited in her long last home. Had it not been for the remem- 
 brance of my little children, and the thought that perhaps God had 
 something more for me to do among the Nestorians, I should have 
 rejoiced to lie down by her side. Do not think this a dreamy senti- 
 meutalism. I mean that I should have been glad to lay my bones 
 by that new-made grave, that with her I might awake to the joys of 
 heaven. For unworthy and very sinful as has been your brother, I 
 stUl have a hope that death would be to me a gain. 
 
 "But the tumult of my feelings gradually subsided. I trust I 
 may say with truth, grace got the mastery of nature, and when the 
 next morning I rode up the mountain to Mr. Powers's health re- 
 treat, I felt a calm trust in God which bore me above the waves of 
 trial. I rejoiced to be in his hands, and to have him do with me and 
 mine, just as he pleased. And from that time to tlie present, though 
 I have occasionally felt that my burden was greater tlian I could 
 sustain, I have in general been able to commit all into the hands of 
 God." 
 
 As the peculiarities of Mr. Stoddard's case compelled 
 him to omit the usual formalities touching the return of 
 missionaries, the following letter to Rev. Dr. Anderson, 
 enclosing one from the Mission to himself, will relieve all 
 misapprehension as to his duty in the premises. 
 
 " Oroomiah, July 21st, 1848. 
 "My dear Brother and Sister, 
 
 " Yesterday our Mission considered the question of your visiting 
 America, and they instructed me to communicate to you the result, 
 which I give you below. I hope that it will be satisfactory to you. 
 
 " July 20, 1848. The Nestorian Mission, in business meeting as- 
 tnnbled, took the folloAving resolution, viz: 
 
 " ' Mr. Stoddard havin'^ found himself much weaker on the first 
 
TESTIMONY OF THE MISSION. 271 
 
 part of his journey, and having derived much less benefit from it 
 than was anticipated before he left home, as reported by one of our 
 number who accompanied him two-thirds of the way to Erzeroom : 
 
 " ' The Mission resolved, that, while we earnestly pray and hope 
 that the necessity may not exist, still, should there not be symptoms 
 of decided improvement in his health at Constantinople, we would 
 advise him to try the effect of a voyage, with his family, to America, 
 after consulting the Prudential Committee on the subject, if that be 
 practicable.' 
 
 *' In communicating this advice to our beloved brother and sister, 
 we would at the same time tender to them our most heartfelt regret, 
 and our warmest sympathy, in view of the possible contingency 
 (which we know must be very trying to them, as it is to us) that 
 may protract their absence from us, and deprive us of their precious 
 society and their invaluable influence and labors considerably longer 
 than was contemplated when they left home. While^ however, we 
 shall long to see them back at the earliest possible time, we woukl 
 still refer the period of their absence entirely to their judgment, fully 
 assured that their strong attachment to their field, and their hearty 
 devotion to their work, will bring them to us with the least necessary 
 delay. 
 
 " You will observe the doubt suggested in the resolution in regard 
 to your being able to consult the Prudential Committee on the sub- 
 ject of the contemplated voyage. This point was a matter of consid- 
 erable conversation in the Mission, and while we all love to respect 
 the rules of the Board, and carry them out to the lette?', so far as pos- 
 sible, it still seems to us that your circumstances are peculiar, and 
 would justify you, should you feel inclined, in going directly home, 
 from Constantinople, without waiting there to hear fi:ora the Com- 
 mittee on the subject. And knowing the Committee to be reason- 
 able men, we believe that they would approve your doing so, should 
 you deem it advisable, under a correct apprehension of the case. 
 They would need, of course, to have in mind that you left home 
 with no idea of going further than Constantinople — tliat your ci:- 
 cumstinces on the way assumed a new, jiaint'ul, and unanticipated 
 
272 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 aspect — that, in case the necessity shall exist for you to go to Amdt- 
 ica, if you wait to hear from them on the subject, you must linger in 
 Turkey till near winter, and embark so late as to be cast with your 
 famUy on the bleak New England coast in mid-winter, a thing very 
 hazardous for any one, but especially for an invalid going from these 
 eastern climes ; that you must, in the meantime be incurring great 
 expense at Constantinople, so dear is living there ; perhaps almost 
 enough to pay your passage home; and that possibly the delay 
 might make a difference of a year in the time of your return to your 
 field, where you are so greatly needed. 
 
 " The Mission, in view of the subject as presented in these several 
 aspects, think you need feel no apprehension that the Committee 
 would not approve your embarking at once for America, should it be 
 desirable for you to do so. You would, of course, forward a state- 
 ment of your reasons for adopting that course, to the Committee, 
 before embarking. Signed, J. Perkins." 
 
 To this Mr. Stoddard added the following, from Glasgow, 
 to Rev. Dr. Anderson. 
 
 " Sept. 23, 1848, — You have already learned from other sources, of 
 my painful bereavement, and of my progress as far as this city on 
 my way to America. I now send you the preceding copy of a letter 
 recently received from the brethren at Oroomiah, in regard to this 
 contemplated visit to my native land. They have so fully stated 
 their opinions and feehngs upon the subject, that it is far less neces- 
 sary for me to write you at length. You will observe that their ac- 
 tion was taken before the death of my dear wife, which occurred 
 August 2d, and, of course, had no reference to the circumstances 
 into which I was thrown by that trying event. You will readily 
 understand that every reason which is suggested by them for my 
 going on to America before hearing from the Prudential Committee, 
 weighed with no less force after the death of my beloved partner ; 
 while my own great weakness, and the illness of the babe, who, 
 weaned at a most unfa vd able season of the year, and in the midst 
 
BEASONS FOR RETURN. 273 
 
 of teething, was suflfering greatly, were additional and urgent reasons 
 for my escaping from the Cholera atmosphere with the least practi- 
 cable delay. All the brethren in Turkey, whose advice I was able 
 to take, seemed to think that the path of duty was plainly indicated 
 to me by God's Providence. And though no one can be more un- 
 willing than I am to violate the rule which requires a missionary to 
 obtain permission of the Prudential Committee before returnmg 
 home, I yet feel that, when the case is correctly understood, no 
 blame will be attached to myself or the mission. 
 
 " In regard to my coming by this route, instead of sailing direct 
 for Boston, I will make a few explanations now, with the expecta- 
 tion of going into the subject more fully after arriving in America. 
 You will bear in mind, that I was so weak that I felt quite unable 
 to attempt a voyage as long as that from Smyrna to Boston, with 
 the care of two Uttle girls and no one to assist me in looking after 
 them ; that the younger was so ill, as to require the most constant 
 attention and to be held in the arms from morning to night; that, by 
 taking the steamers, I should not only come far more comfortably and 
 expeditiously, but the voyage would be divided into two equal parts ; 
 that I have a brother and sister in Glasgow, from whom I knew I 
 should receive every attention ; that the brethren were so situated 
 in Constantinople, owing to the prevalence of cholera, the scarcity 
 of provisions, and the destitution of those families who had been 
 burned out, that it was far less convenient for them than usual to 
 
 nav 
 
 e additional cares ; that no vessel was to leave for Boston for at 
 least six weeks ; that meantime I and the children must be exposed 
 to cholera, a disease which had already hurried to the grave my wife 
 and the Nestorian woman who accompanied us ; and that the situa- 
 tion of myself and infant was such as to render us pecuHarly predis- 
 posed to this disease. Viewing it specially in this last aspect, as a 
 question in which life might be involved, I took passage in tlie first 
 steamer for England. And though it was exceedingly trying to me 
 thus to increase my expenses, in the present embarrassed condition 
 of your finances, I felt that I ought to pursue the course I did. 
 Nor can I see after reflecting upon it that I acted injudiciously. I 
 
 12* 
 
274 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 may add that my brother residing here insists on bearing some por- 
 tion of the increased expense, but to what amount I am as yet una- 
 ble to say. 
 
 " I should have written you at Trebizond or Constantinople, but 
 there was no opportunity for forwarding letters faster than I came 
 myself. And even had there been, my weakness and the care of 
 my children would have prevented my writing with any satisfac- 
 tion. Since reaching here I have been waiting for the preceding 
 resolution which came to hand a few days since. 
 
 *'• You will be happy to learn that my health is already much im- 
 proved, and that I have the prospect, with the blessing of Grod, of 
 again enjoying such a degree of vigor, as will enable me to labor on 
 in the vineyard of Christ. Still I must not too confidently antici- 
 pate such a blessing ; for I have been solemnly reminded how frail 
 is my hold on hfe. God grant that I improve aright this solemn 
 dispensation of his Providence. 
 
 " It is my intention to embark on the tenth of October in the 
 screw steamer ' Sarah Sands,' for New York, where I may be ex- 
 pected to arrive about the first of November. I shall of course 
 embrace an early opportunity of conferring witli you and the com- 
 mittee." 
 
 When about to sail from Scotland for America, he 
 addressed his parting salutation to the mission in these 
 words : 
 
 '' You will all feel saddened by the breach which God has made 
 in our little circle. Let me beg you, dear brethren and sisters, all to 
 profit by it. We life in houses of clay. We are as grass that grow- 
 eth up. Who of you can say, that to-morrow his family and his hopes 
 will not be as mine now are; and who will be so unwise as to set his 
 aftections strongly on this world? It is nothing ; it is all vanity. 
 And just so far as we fail to live for eternity, we fail to live to any 
 purpose. But you need not these suggestions from me ; yet you 
 will pardon them as coming from a friend. 
 
FAREWELL TO THE MISSION. 275 
 
 '•' I would gladly write some of the Nestorians, but probably shali 
 not find it expedient at present. It is yet trying for me to task my- 
 self much in this way. Please tell our three priests, Tamer, John, 
 Moses, Josepli, and Yonan of Seir, Siyad the tailor, Guergis of Ter- 
 gawer — in a word, all our native helpers, and the members of the 
 seminaries — that I daily remember, and pray for them, with the 
 greatest particularity, and long to hear that they are growing in 
 grace and holding forth the word of life. Letters from them would 
 be very acceptable, though I can promise to answer nothing. 
 
 " It occurs to me in this connection to express the strong hope 
 that the coming winter will witness another delightful outpouring 
 of God's spirit among tlie Nestorians. Will you not all pray and 
 labor for this object ? God is a hearer of prayer, and how gloriously 
 has he shown himself to be so in our mission. 
 
 " I must not forget to speak of my seminary. Excuse me for call- 
 ing it mme, I do not mean to appropriate it. Will you not see that 
 it is weU superintended ? Can it not be for a single winter, without 
 the other departments materially suffering? It is my hope to be 
 with you next season, and look after its interests myself, but as all 
 such things are uncertain, it seems to me very undesirable to delay 
 making some arrangements for its present management. 
 
 " Now, dear brethren and sisters, may God be Avith you ; working 
 in you all that is well pleasing in his sight, to do his will, and at last 
 preparing you, and all of us, for his own most blessed kingdom. 
 " Your affectionate brother in Christ, 
 
 "David T. Stoddard." 
 
 To Dr. Perkins he writes : 
 
 I can not, dare not, wish it otherwise. For her, I know, the 
 change is a blessed one ; from sorrow to eternal joy ; from a world 
 of suffering to a world of glory. And I must learn in tliis stroke the 
 lesson God designs to teach me. I can now see that I have loved 
 the world far too much, and Christ and heaven far too little. I 
 
276 MEMOIK OF STODDAKD. 
 
 thought I should never be moved, and that my house would continue 
 for ever. And I know that God in love has thus taken away the 
 desire of my eyes, that I might fix my afi'ections more strongly on 
 him. May tliis be the blessed result. The question in regard to my 
 children, I foresee will be a very trying one. Not that they will 
 ever lack for friends and kind friends. But how can I leave them at 
 this tender age ? Does the Gospel call me to do it ? Sometimes I 
 answer, wo, it does not, your first duty is to your own famil} and you 
 must not forsake these little ones. Then again I think of you all, 
 and my missionary work, and while I am musing the fire burns, and 
 I say with the deepest emotion : '^ K I forget thee, Jerusalem, let 
 my right hand forget her cunning ; and if I do not remember thee, 
 let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth : if I prefer not Jeru- 
 salem above my chief joy." I must, I will go back to that interesting 
 sphere of labor. There will I wear out and there will I be buried. 
 
 " What to say in regard to my return, I know not. My impres- 
 sion is, that if my health continues to improve during the winter, 
 and nothing occurs to prevent which I do not now foresee, I shall 
 think it my duty and my privilege to return in the spring. But of 
 this I can judge better after reaching America, and consulting my 
 brother and Dr. Anderson." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LABORS IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The reader has not forgotten the farewell letter which 
 Mr. Stoddard addressed to his parents as the Emma 
 Isadora parted from her moorings in Boston Harbor. 
 His first salutation upon nearing the coast of his native 
 land went forth to them. 
 
 "Off Montauk Point, Oct. 27, 1848. 
 "My Yery Dear Parents, 
 
 * * * * J Qgg(j jjQ^ gj^y. ^^^ J fggj moxQ thaja 
 
 words can express, when I look forward to a speedy meeting with 
 my dearly beloved, my honored, parents. It is what I never ex- 
 pected in this world, and is now brought about in a way which 
 must throw a shade of sadness over the anticipated meeting. I come 
 to you a bereaved husband, with two motherless babes, and I know 
 my circumstances will appeal very strongly to your sympathy and 
 parental tenderness. I am assured, dear parents, that your hearts 
 have bled for me, and that the wounds will be opened afresh when 
 you clasp your long absent one to your arms. But I love to feel 
 that you, as well as myself, have the consolations of religion, and can 
 say with true submission, ' the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
 away, and blessed be the name of the Lord.' I hope this deep trial 
 has done me good, and will ever serve to wean me from earth, and 
 fit me the better for my heavenly home. 
 
 " If I were to follow, dear parents, only the dictates of feeling, I 
 should at once proceed to Northampton and pass the coming Sab- 
 
278 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 bath with you. But as I have not received yet ^formal permission 
 from the Prudential Committee to visit America, I consider it my 
 first duty to visit Boston, and report myself to the Secretaries. I 
 presume you will see the reasons for this step. When at Boston, it 
 will, probably, be advisable for me to go to Marblehead for a very 
 few days with the children, before going on to Northampton. You 
 will understand how very deep must be their sorrow, and what a 
 comfort it will be to them, jf I pay them this early attention. And 
 much as you desire to see your son, I feel assured you will be ready 
 to forego the pleasure a short time longer, if by so doing you can 
 comfort in any way their desolate hearts." 
 
 The first few weeks after his return, Mr. Stoddard spent 
 in repose among his family friends. But much as he 
 needed rest for the health of both body and mind, it was 
 impossible for him to forego all solicitude about his foreign 
 home and work, and equally impossible to resist the de- 
 mands of the Christian public upon his fervent tongue and 
 pen. At first he proposed to himself only a brief sojourn 
 in America, intending to find a home for his children, and 
 to return to Persia early in the spring of 1849. He there- 
 fore began at once to visit the various theological semi- 
 naries, with a view to enlist missionaries for the Nestorians. 
 It was chiefly through his representations that Messrs. 
 Coan* and Marsh were led to direct their steps to the east- 
 ern field. While thus laboring for his beloved people, he 
 writes : 
 
 "I have had many sweet thoughts, as I have wandered about 
 from place to place, and think that I am wUling for a time longer to 
 be a pilgrim and a stranger here below, if I can only look forward to 
 
 * Mr. Coan had previoubly been designated to the Sandwich Islands. 
 
THE PROFIT OF TEIAL. 279 
 
 heaven as my final rest. At times, however, I am weary ot this 
 vain empty world, and feel as if I could joyfully and promptly obey 
 the summons wHch should call me home." 
 
 Again, he wi'ites to a brother in affliction : 
 
 " But I doubt not, dear brother, you are yet able to kiss the rod, 
 and recognize the hand of your Father in heaven. He sees it to be 
 necessary for us, that our cherished objects of attachment be one 
 after another taken away ft-om us, that we may be weaned from 
 earth and ripened for heaven. We have had such abundant proofs 
 of his loving-kindness, that we may be assured of this, whether we 
 can at the time see it or not. But I believe, if we watch God's deal- 
 ings with us, and seek to improve them, that we shall see how they 
 most directly tend to our sanctification. 
 
 " It seems passing strange that we need such disciphne, but so it 
 is. Earth is full of vexation, and not worth setting our hearts upon; 
 and heaven is a place of purity and joy, and opens upon us (if we 
 have eyes to look at it) in all its glorious attractions. And yet there 
 is generally nothing which will draw even a Christian strongly and 
 constantly up to that blessed world, until he is afilicted. This fur- 
 nace is essential to our sanctification. God grant that you and I 
 may come out of it purified hke gold. 
 
 " It is one tiling, dear brother, and I find it so in my experience, 
 to be weaned from this world, because it is so unsatisfying and tran- 
 sitory, and quite another to love earth the less, because we love heaven 
 more. Many learn the first lesson, who do not learn the second. 
 How astonishing it is, that we are so groveling, and rise so little to 
 that world where 
 
 " ' Our best friends, our kindred dwell, 
 Where God, our Saviour, reigns.'" 
 
 His affectionate interest in the missionary circle in Oroo- 
 raiah was manifested by frequent correspondence. To Rev. 
 Jos. S. Cochrane, Oroomiah, he writes : 
 
280 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 "January 29th, 1849. I often think of you as occupying the 
 house which I once called my own. It is a relief to my feelings to 
 hear that you have become a father to the fatherless seminary, and 
 I trust you find it an interesting charge. Three years ago we were 
 passing through scenes of thrilling interest in our seminaries, and I 
 pray earnestly to Grod that they may again be renewed. Perhaps 
 even now you are enjoying the outpouring of God's spirit, and are 
 engaged in the delightful employment of pointing perishing souls to 
 Christ. If, however, it is a time of coldness among the Nestorians, 
 I trust it is not a time of coldness in the mission. Is it not strange, 
 dear brother, that we can ever be asleep, when such tremendous 
 interests are committed to our hands ; and when God is willing, if 
 we are faithful to our vows, to use us as instruments in saving dying 
 men ? But I trust you are far more devoted to the good cause than 
 I ever was, and exert a far better influence on the seminary. I 
 often regret my own unfaithfulness and wonder how I could have 
 been so little constrained by the love of Christ. 
 
 " Will you tell those pupils that I remember them with Under in- 
 terest ; and long to hear that they are all converted, and growing in 
 grace ? I hope they will go out to be a rich blessing to their people 
 and have much of the spirit of Christ." 
 
 " February 9th, 1849. Desiring so strongly to be well again, 
 makes me liope to be ; and this, to a certain extent, is as it should 
 be. But if Providence orders that I lie, Hke Ezekiel, on my side for 
 months, I shall try not to murmur ; though I have no doubt it is far 
 harder to submit to he laid aside, than to engage in any active labor, 
 however arduous. I do want, at least I think I do, to know what 
 God's will is, and then to go cheerfully forward, willing to have him 
 do with me as he pleases. May I have far more of this spirit of 
 cliildlike trust ; I pray for it every day. 
 
 " But while I shall be prepared to submit to any thing which duty 
 seems clearly to impose, I still retain a strong hope — ^which I can 
 not relinquish — of going to Oroomiah this season. 
 
A VISIT TO WASHINGTON. 281 
 
 A visit to Washington, at the time of President Taylor's 
 inauguration, enabled him to contrast political life with his 
 own work. 
 
 " Washington, March 2d. I seize a few moments amid a world 
 of bustle, to add something to what I have already written. You 
 cannot imagine the scene which this city presents. It is full to over- 
 flowing, and every nook and corner which can accommodate visitors 
 is appropriated to that purpose. My room is in a very respectable 
 boarding-house, where members of Congress are numerous, and yet 
 contains three double beds, two on the floor, and one sofa-bed. My 
 own bed is of straw on the floor, and I pay three dollars a day ! So 
 much for sight seeing. I have two class-mates in Congress, and 
 another is the private secretary of President Polk. These I have 
 seen and they are polite to me, but I can truly say I envy them 
 none of their distinction. Let me have a quiet corner among the 
 Nestorians, and be the instrument of turning some of them to righ- 
 teousness, and this will be honor enough for me. There let me Hve 
 — there let me die. Would that my prospect of a speedy .return 
 were as good as my desire is strong. 
 
 The addresses of Mr. Stoddard to churches and various 
 Christian assemblies in the United States were most re- 
 markable for their intelligent and graphic presentation of 
 his field, for their comprehensive and almost prophetic sur- 
 vey of the whole missionary work, and for an unction and 
 enthusiasm which seemed to transport the speaker out of 
 the body into a world wholly spiritual. But in this eleva- 
 tion of spiritual feeling he always carried tlie audience with 
 him to some mount of transfiguration where they beheld 
 the higher glories of Christ and his kingdom. One of tlie 
 most remarkable examples of this was in a great meeting 
 at the Tabernacle, in May, 1849. Ilis own allusion to this 
 shows that he participated in the effect he then produced. 
 
282 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " I had a very delightful meeting in the Tabernacle. It 
 was crowded to overflowing, and I feel pretty sure that I 
 never carried along an audience with me as I did on that 
 occasion. The scene was inspiring to me, and I was lifted 
 above myself. I trust God will bless these humble efforts 
 for good to the missionary cause." 
 
 Though " lifted above himself," he carried the audience 
 with him at every step, till they seemed to be participants 
 in the blessed work at Oroomiah which he was describing. 
 
 Having reluctantly abandoned the thought of returning 
 to Oroomiah in the spring of 1849, Mr. Stoddard entered 
 as a patient the water-cure establishment at Northampton, 
 and enjoyed that mental rest and physical regimen which 
 his exhausted system required. In his retirement he was 
 presently cheered with the intelligence of another revival 
 at Oroomiah. 
 
 " May 15, 1849. — The blessed tidings of another work of grace 
 among the Nestorians reached me three weeks ago and filled my heart 
 with joy. Your very interesting journal for the month of January 
 arrived about the twenty-third of April, and we read it with an intense 
 feeling which you can better conceive than I describe. Mr. Treat 
 and my brother Charles were here with me and we all mingled our 
 thanksgivings together. I had daily and I trust earnestly prayed for 
 this blessing, but I was entirely unprepared for such a thrilling an- 
 nouncement. Often have I mourned over my deserted family and 
 felt solicitude about their welfare. I now feel that in this I have 
 both magnified my own importance, undervalued the very useful 
 labors of brother Cochrane, and exercised far too little faith in God. 
 And now I stand rebuked and I hope that never again shall I be 
 uneasy or discontented or distrustful in any circumstances in which 
 the Providence of God shall place me. While my first impulse is to 
 set out ut once and join you and share in the blessedness of this 
 
NEWS OF REVIVAL. 283 
 
 harvest season, I am at the same time assured by these tidings that 
 the work of the Lord will go on — and that gloriously — among the 
 Nestorians, even if I, your unworthy fellow-laborer, am never again 
 permitted to set foot in Persia. The letters above referred to had 
 been in our hands but a week, when another steamer brought your 
 second letter, bringing the news down to the first of March and 
 arriving here in just sixty days. The scenes you describe are won- 
 derful. 1 how are we called on to magnify the name of our Grod. 
 Everlasting praise to his name for this mercy to the poor Nestorians. 
 How ought our future Hves to be filled up with trust, gratitude, and 
 
 joy." 
 
 "June 29th. I think I have been decidedly benefited by the 
 cold water. Some weeks ago I received ' a discharge with a char- 
 acter,' and am now preaching every Sabbath and making trial of my 
 strength. Dr. D hopes I am now quite free from enlarge- 
 ment of the liver, and that with care I shall be able to hve along 
 very comfortably — perhaps to enjoy something like my former vigor. 
 If it be the will of G-od to grant me a perfect restoration, I trust I 
 shall be very grateful and know how to use my strength more judi- 
 ciously than I have in past years. The pressure among such a peo- 
 ple as the Nestorians is very great, and, hungering as they do for the 
 bread of life, they will often hardly be content with a denial. But there 
 is a limit beyond which it is unwise to go, and unhappily most mission- 
 aries do not learn where it is, until they have had at least one break 
 down. Mr. Perkins, for instance, vn-ites me, that in sixty days he 
 preached one hundred times, and that he was quite exhausted. This 
 leads me to speak of the very powerful revival now in progress among 
 the Nestorians. You may well imagine it has filled my heart with 
 ]oy. Ever since leaving Persia I had been mourning because my 
 seminary was left without a suitable guardian, and I feared that the 
 pupils must necessarily sufi'er in consequence. But see how weak 
 has been my faith; see how I overrated my own importance. See 
 how gloriously Grod has reheved ray fears ; and then rejoice with mo 
 in these triumphs of divine grace. 
 
284 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " You see the Herald. In the numbers for June and July, jou 
 will find many thrilling details, and to them I must refer you. The 
 letters which I am constantly receiving from Oroomiah, written both 
 by natives and my brethren, and expressive of strong personal 
 attachment, affect me deeply. I long to return to that dear spot 
 And when last week Mr. Breath and Mr. Coan sailed with their 
 wives bound for Persia, I felt as if I must go with them. And yet. 
 they will so far relieve those already in the field, and who are cov- 
 ered with the dust of the conflict, that I can better Hnger a little 
 now than I could before. I have consented, in accordance with the 
 strongly expressed wishes of the committee, to defer sailing until 
 next February and try the invigorating effect of another winter. 
 Then, by the leave of Providence, I will hie me to my post." 
 
 To Mr. Cochran. 
 
 " September 8th, 1849. A few days ago I wrote a letter to Mr. 
 Perkins and was not intending to write again to Oroomiah till after 
 the meeting of the Board. But as I have a half an hour's leisure 
 this morning, I can not resist the temptation to thank you for the 
 very full and minute account you have given me of the seminary, 
 and the grace of God as developed in its different members. You 
 could have done nothing to gratify me so much, for I need not tell 
 you, that while far separated from those dear pupils, I remember them 
 with a parent's solicitude and love. May Grod grant that they main- 
 tain a high standard of Christian character and go on from strength 
 to strength, reflecting the beauty and the power of the Grospel on 
 all around them. I have the highest satisfaction in thinking tliat the 
 seminary is under your care, and have no doubt you will do for its 
 prosperity all that can be done. I trust you may have some one 
 the coming winter to share the labors and responsibilities with you, 
 for I know by experience that they are too much for a single indi- 
 vidual." 
 
 His description of a visit to the home of his beloved 
 associate, Dr. Per^inr, is a beautiful example of brotherly 
 
THE HOME OF DR. PERKINS. 985 
 
 affection and of that cheerful Christian temper which d 3 • 
 rives pleasure from the little incidents as well as from the 
 higher actions of life. 
 
 " I sat down in the room where your dear mother died. Every- 
 thing was interesting to me. As I looked above — lo, and behold I 
 there was Judith hung up on the wall with a gray pussy in her 
 arms 1 Really it is a very good Hkeness, though a poor painting. I 
 wanted to go up and kiss her. It carried me at once to Oroomiah. 
 Your niece showed me the chair in which your mother always sat, 
 the fan she always used, the grave stone which had just been pur- 
 chased to mark her precious dust. I used, too, her old family Bible 
 at our devotions. These things they carefully preserve and regard 
 almost as sacred, not even removing the mark she employed in her 
 daily reading of the Scriptures. I took as much interest for your 
 sake in looking at all, as if I had been myself one of the family. I 
 hear so much said, too, of the piety and worth of your venerable 
 mother, that I can not but feel the deepest respect for her memory. 
 
 " On the wall was also hanging a lithograph of yourself — good 
 perhaps in the absence of the original, but not what it should have 
 been. Under the same glass was a lock of Mrs. Perkins's hair with 
 some of Judith's. On the table was some of Mar Yohannan's writ- 
 ing — the twenty-third Psalm. Either I am forgetting my Syriac 
 very fast or else he made a good many blunders. No matter if he 
 did. I am the only one who ever detected them since he left. A 
 copy of 3^our book was on the table. It was all worn out. It has 
 gone all over West SpringjQeld and traveled considerably in South 
 and East Hampton. Many have read that single copy with deep 
 interest. 
 
 Toward tea time I took a stroll down south from the house, and 
 saw the old family garden, which has now been set out with fruit- 
 trees — the cherry, the peach, and the plum. The currants were 
 decaying, but the plums were nearly ripe. I gathered a bouquet of 
 flowers and proceeded on. I looked at the cider mill, where proba- 
 bly you once sucked cider through a straw ! Only think of it» 
 
286 MEMOIE OF STODDARD. 
 
 Don't let the remembrance make you straighten up and try to locr 
 dignified. We were all boys once, and Mke them laughed and frol- 
 icked and gave way to joy. When I reached the Utile brook I could 
 not avoid sitting down there and thinking of you and far off Per- 
 sia. Sometimes on such occasions it requires an effort to keep from 
 sinking into deep gloom. 
 
 " At evening your brother returned and right glad he was to see 
 me. I have not had from anybody in America a more cordial grasp 
 of the hand. He took me to see the meadow you once mowed, and 
 the fence, in making which you so overdid as to raise blood. This 
 he said decided the question in his mind that you ought not to do 
 much hard labor and had better go to college." 
 
 In the fall of this year Mr. Stoddard had the privilege of 
 attending the meeting of the American Board at Pittsfield. 
 None who were present can ever forget the seraphic glow 
 of his countenance and words as he narrated the work of 
 grace in Persia. 
 
 How little he was allowed the rest he so much required 
 may be inferred from passages such as the following, which 
 describes a Missionary Convention in Vermont. 
 
 " October 1st, 1849. The meetings were animated and I hope 
 profitable to us all. I did not get off with less than four addresses, 
 all of which would be nearly two hours in length. I begged hard 
 to be excused, but there are some places where begging is of no 
 avail I staid at home from one meeting (of the Sabbath school 
 scholars), on purpose to avoid importunity ; but they sent two strong 
 men and dragged me out. What could I do ? a poor weak man that 
 weighs only one hundred seventeen pounds ? 
 
 ******* 
 " Tliis roving life is very unpleasant to me. On some accounts it 
 is animating and grateful to my feelings to enjoy the fellowship of the 
 churches and receive so many and so kind attentions. But it tends 
 
MISSIONART CANDIDATES. 287 
 
 to foster pride, break up habits of devotion, make one live a super- 
 ficial life rather than one of deep communion with his own heart 
 and with God; and I shall rejoice when it is ended and I may 
 launch my bark for Persia. My future is uncertain and sometimes 
 cheerless. But as a general thing I can exercise a calm trust in 
 God and am in a peaceful frame — yes, more than that, I am happy. 
 Pray for me, dear brother, that the grace of God may abound in 
 me. Pray that I may be a holy man, thoroughly furnished for every 
 good work." 
 
 In bis labors in this country he was greatly burdened by 
 the general apathy which then prevailed among the 
 churches — a chilling contrast with the state of piety he had 
 witnessed in the revival among the Nestorians. 
 
 " Mr. Marsh is about saiUng for the East and designated to Mosul. 
 The committee are deeply interested in that field and will do all 
 they can for it, with the pressure which now exists in regard to 
 men. It is exceedingly dijfficult to find missionary candidates, and 
 the churches are in a very cold and desolate state. Notwithstand- 
 ing all my journey ings, I have seen but one church enjoying any 
 thing like a revival, and that on a very hmited scale. What the end 
 wHl be I know not, but it is a subject to be prayed over and wept 
 over, and carried to our Saviour. I have just been writing a sermon 
 which I have preached three or four times, I trust not without good 
 effect, or the text, ' If by any means I may provoke to emulation 
 them which are my flesh and might save some of them.' The sub- 
 ject is American and Nestorian piety — their respective features con- 
 trasted and compared." 
 
 With such incessant labors as came upon him in the 
 United States, the recovery of health could of course be 
 but gradual and partial ; yet Mr. Stoddard cherished a 
 confident expectation of returning to his field early in 1850. 
 The judgment of physicians, however, and of the Secreta- 
 ries of the Board, overruled his own, and he was detained 
 
288 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 in America through the whole of that year. Much of hia 
 time was spent in the immediate service of the Board, in a 
 way which the following letter describes : 
 
 "Boston, February 28th, 1850. 
 
 " I believe last time I wrote you, I mentioned that the Secretaries 
 had some idea of giving me the charge of the Journal of Missions 
 and the Day Spring, while I remained in the country. The plan did 
 not strike me very favorably, as I feared the confinement and seden- 
 tary occupation. But my objections were overruled, and so here I 
 am, quietly located at the missionary house. I have been here some 
 ten days, and thus far find the employment not an unpleasant one. 
 It is certainly not less important or responsible than orally addressing 
 the churches, as I have now an <)pportunity, through tliis medium, 
 of addressing every month some tens of thousands. I hope I may 
 have wisdom to write and publish just the best things to promote 
 the good cause, and that these periodicals may not suffer in my 
 hands. It is a great privilege to have such free intercourse with the 
 secretaries, and I shall thus be acquiring valuable information, which 
 I shall prize all my life. I trust I shall also catch something of their 
 self-denying prayerful spirit. 
 
 " This day of prayer for colleges is an interesting one to me, being 
 the fourteenth anniversary of my birth into the kingdom of Christ. 
 O how profitless and full of sin have many of these years been I I 
 look back on them with mingled grief and shame. What a Saviour 
 we have, who can so fi-eely pardon all our sins, receiving us gra- 
 ciously, and loving us freely." 
 
 He infused much of his own spirit of high devotion into 
 these missionary periodicals. But, however occupied at 
 home, he never lost sight of his foreign field. His corres- 
 spondence with the Mission was constant, and full of fervor 
 for his work. 
 
 " I rejoice to hear of the safe arrival of Messrs. Breath and Goan 
 with, their wives. This is good news indeed. May the Lord make 
 
EAGERNESS TO RETURN. 289 
 
 tliem and their dear partners a rich blessing to you. And may this 
 present winter be distinguished by the extensive outpouring of the 
 Holy Spirit on the Nestorians. For this I pray daily and earnestly. 
 Dear brethren, hve near to Christ, and your labors will be acknowl- 
 edged by him. The wilderness and the soHtary place will be glad 
 for you. Many will rise up to call you blessed. There is the greai- 
 est eagerness to hear about the Nestorians wherever I go, and I am 
 fairly overworked, in spite of all my efforts to the contraiy. I write 
 with my old friend, the neuralgia, dancing over my face and peer- 
 ing into my eyes. I hope it will make a short call. 
 
 " You will be encouraged by the accounts of revivals which now 
 fill our papers. It is indeed most cheering, after the long season of 
 coldness and barrenness. I trust I have a heart to rejoice in it. 
 How is it with you ? I can not but hope that again the windows of 
 heaven are opened over your heads, and the same rich blessings de - 
 scjending as in days gone by. Be instant in prayer ; be men of 
 strong faitli and holy life, and Grod, even our Grod, wUl bless you. 
 
 " Do not feel sohcitous about my health ; it is pretty good, but the 
 fact is, I have not much stamina. I never shall have, so long as I 
 remain here, but I do not despair of enjoying good health in Persia, 
 if I Uve to reach you. I am afraid I have spoken too strongly in 
 terms of discouragement about my health in previous letters, espe- 
 cially the last. I am quite hopeful as a general thing, and yearn in 
 my heart, to die and hve with you." 
 
 "If you will beheve it, I have been apphed to to take the charge 
 of Mount Holyoke Seminary II! Do not mention this last on any 
 account. I only mention it to provoke a smile from you. My heart 
 is in Persia. There I wish to live and die. God forbid that any thing 
 but a most direct intimation of his will should keep me from that 
 chosen field of labor." 
 
 "May 31st, 1850. 
 "Eev. Rufus Anderson, D.D. 
 
 " My dear Brother, — The following are mv reasons for wishing 
 to return to Persia at an early day. 
 
 13 
 
290 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " 1. My health is now entirely restored. At least I a^n free from 
 disease, and have, in a good measure, my former vigor. I do not 
 think, vritli the common calls for labor, and the excitement which a 
 returned missionary necessarily meets with, I should probably be 
 any better by remaining in this country a longer period. With care 
 I see not why I may not live for years, perhaps many years, among 
 the Nestorians. My present home on Mount Seir is quite a healthy 
 location. 
 
 " 2. If detained in the country beyond the 1st or the 15th of 
 August next, I must remain untU March or April, a period of eight 
 months. It is not possible to cross the mountains of Armenia in 
 winter. Ought so much of a missionary's time to be taken from his 
 appropriate work without weighty reasons ? 
 
 '' 3. There never was such a call for labor in our mission as at the 
 present time. The fields are white to the harvest, and the laborers 
 are few. I regard this as a crisis in the mission. Two or three 
 years will be likely to determine whether the old Nestorian church 
 is to be regenerated as a church, or to crumble to pieces and a new 
 one to be erected on its ruins. The brethren ask for two new mis- 
 sionaries, but not one is to be found. Mr. Stocking has also much 
 of the year been laid aside by rheumatism. Knowing as they do 
 that I am in constant communication with the secretaries, and desir- 
 ous in every way to aid the Mission, my brethren write less about 
 their wants to the Committee than they would otherwise. But their 
 appeals to me are frequent and urgent. 
 
 "4. In regard ^o my particular field, the Seminary, while Mr. 
 Cochran has succeeded well in superintending it, and the Holy 
 Spirit has been twice poured out on its members, since my return to 
 America, he is by no means able to do justice to this important work, 
 and says he feels at times in great danger of breaking down. He 
 was confidently expecting Mr. Coan's aid last fall, but the state of 
 Mr. Stocking's health, and the need of an efficient superintendent for 
 the village schools, together with Mr. Coan's own preferences, deter- 
 mined the matter otherwise. There is no question that the seminary, 
 which is so very important an auxiliary in our work, needs at ouce 
 
ANOTHER REVIVAL. 291 
 
 two men to devote their whole time to it ; and it will never become 
 what it ought to be, till this is effected. 
 
 *' 5. I will only add, what you know already, that my longing to 
 return to the field of my labor is very strong. It seems, at times, as 
 if I could not for any consideration wait another year. But this is a 
 matter of feehng, and must not have too much weight with me in 
 
 determining my duty. 
 
 ******** 
 " Such is an imperfect, but, as I believe, impartial, statement of the 
 case. In regard to the whole subject, I feel like a little child. I 
 have asked counsel of the Lord, and now am most happy to refer 
 the question to the Secretaries and the Prudential Committee. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 
 " D. T. Stoddard." 
 To the missionaries, he writes : 
 
 "Missionary House, Boston, June 8th, 1850. 
 "My Beloved Brethren and Sisters: 
 
 " Last week brought the long letter of Mr. Perkins, giving details 
 of the revival, accompanied by one from Mr. Stocking, interspersed 
 with copious extracts from Miss Fiske. Those letters sent a thrill of 
 joy through the Missionary House, and we all offered up devout 
 thanksgivings to God. Few missionaries in all the world, or in any 
 age, have been so blest as you. The lines have indeed fallen to you 
 in pleasant places ; yea, you have a goodly heritage. Dear friends, 
 prize these privileges. Be humble : for, after all, you are feeble in- 
 struments. Be prayerful ; for, without prayer, the work never will 
 go forward. Magnify Christ. Preach Christ. Live near to Christ 
 Reflect the image of Christ. Rejoice in Christ, as it is your privilege 
 and your duty to do ; and then will you go on from strength to 
 strength, and from grace to glory. I speak from a full heart, and ' I 
 beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation.' 
 
 " These letters arrived just as the anniversaries commenced, and I 
 used them at the meeting of the Board. When Dr. Anderson read 
 extracts from them at the Monthly Concert, many were in teari 
 Be assured, multitudes sympathize with you and pray for you. 
 
292 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " Yesterday I had a note from Mr. Stocking, and another from 
 Mr. Cochrane, dated April 1st. Mr. Cochrane gives himself un- 
 necessary sohcitude about my house, for ( I say it almost with tears) 
 I am to remain in this country another yearl It is even so. The 
 Committee, after a long and patient discussion of the subject, have 
 come to this conclusion. And I vfill endeavor briefly to tell you on 
 what it is based. 
 
 " I have reported myself so many times to the Secretaries as weU^ 
 that they have inferred more from my language than I really meant 
 to convey. The fact is just this. I am no longer a diseased man, I 
 eat well, sleep well, feel well, and, up to a certain point, can accom- 
 plish considerable business. But I have not the stamina probably I 
 once had, and now that I have been in the Missionary House more 
 than three months, the Secretaries and Committee see, or think they 
 see, very clearly, that such is the fact. They evidently fear that if I 
 were to go back now, and enter on the work with the ardor which I 
 should be likely to feel, I should not last long. This they frankly say 
 to me. I do not think they are correct, but it is possible they may be. 
 Now, they argue, that as I have been slowly gaining — slowly but 
 really — ever since I came to the country, a residence of another year 
 here will be hkely to do me good. In other words, their principle is to 
 keep a missionary in America so long as he continues to gain strength 
 thereby ; and they say that this is real economy, and that missionaries 
 who have gone back too early, have often broken down a second 
 time, or been removed by death. 
 
 " So much for this part of the subject. Then looking at the matter 
 from another stand-point, they say that I can not be spared from the 
 Missionary House at present. And though they never mean to keep 
 missionaries from their field, when they are ready to go, this is a 
 very peculiar case. The ' Journal of Missions' and ' The Day-Spring,' 
 have unexpectedly reached a circulation of near fifty thousand each, 
 being veiy far beyond what the ' Herald' ever attained to in its best 
 days. Meantime, Mr. Treat, who has charge of the editorial depart- 
 ment, has entirely failed in health and gone to Europe, leaving all 
 three publications fatherless. There is no man that (^an be thought 
 
PROLONGED DETENTION. 29d 
 
 of, who will in all respects do to come into the Missionary House. 
 At least the Committee, although they have thought of various indi- 
 viduals, do not see their way clear to appoint a permanent editor 
 just now. And they feel it to be vital to the raising of funds and 
 the general prosperity of the cause, that the publications be carefully 
 looked after. They consider it a crisis with them, and as demanding 
 that they set aside ordinary rules. 
 
 " To me the decision is a very trying one. I have felt that I must 
 go to Persia this summer. * When I therefore was thus minded, did 
 I use lightness ? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according 
 to the flesh, that with me these should be yea, yea, and nay, nay ?* 
 Even Paul had to change his plans, and write to the Corinthians: 
 ' This is the third time I am coming to you.' And in one place he 
 adds, ' But Satan hindered us.' I think, therefore, he was worse off 
 than I. It is the Lord who is dealing with me, and in great mercy, 
 though he is leading me in a way that I know not. When in Persia 
 I determined that I would not come to America ; but my Heavenly 
 Father, by removing my beloved Harriette, necessitated me to come. 
 Now I have repeatedly wished to return, and repeatedly been pre- 
 vented. What does this mean ? Does it mean that the work will 
 go on better without me than with me there ? That I am unworthy 
 to have any place among such a band of brethren and sisters ? or 
 that he has work for me to do elsewhere ? I know not. I only 
 know that I am unworthy to be employed any where; — to have any 
 name or place among the children of God. I pray that I may be 
 humble, and, wherever I am, live near to Christ. And I also pray 
 that I may be just where God would have me be, and do just what 
 he would have me do, however trying it may be to my feelings. 
 
 To Rev. E. Strong, on the above decision of the Pruden- 
 tial Committee, he wrote ; 
 
 "I have been thus particular in stating this decision and the 
 grounds of it to you, because I am desirous that my friends, and the 
 
294 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 friends of the Board, should get a right impression in regard to it 
 I would not wish them to feel, on the one hand, after the strong ex- 
 pressions I have used about my love for the Nestorians and my 
 desire to return, that I was lingering here in America, and ' playing 
 with shadows,' nor, on the other, that I was detained by an arbitrary 
 act of the Committee, contrary to my own judgment. It is a great 
 trial to me to stay, and yet, as I do not wish to go till I have the 
 full approbation of those who employ me, I am willing to be kept 
 from the Nestorians a time longer. The dealings of God with me 
 have certainly been peculiar. I was taken away from Persia con- 
 trary to my strong wishes ; and then, when I had consented to go 
 as far as Constantinople, the death of my wife made a moral necessity 
 for me to proceed onward. Since I have been in America, I have 
 purposed three times to return, but three times been hindered. I 
 am, however, most happy to feel that the Lord has hindered me and 
 not Satan^ as was the case when Paul's plans were broken in upon. 
 I hope tliis disciphne may do me good, may chasten me, may subdue 
 my will, and make me more fit for the Master's use. Wherever he 
 would have me Hve and labor, there, I trust, I desire to be. There 
 will be the post of usefulness, there the home of peace. 
 
 The following extracts from letters to Rev. A. Hazen, 
 missionary in India, present many points of personal and 
 general interest. 
 
 " Missionary House, Boston, April 26th, 1850. ! 
 •' Our field is in a most interesting state. It may be that I view 
 it with partial eyes, but considering the intelligence, the enterprizr;, 
 the affectionate character of the people, and the triumphs of Grod's 
 grace among them, I know of no field where it could be more de- 
 lightful to labor. We have just heard of another revival in the male 
 and female seminaries. Those institutions have repeatedly received 
 showers of divine grace, and scores of the pupils been led to Christ. 
 It would make your heart run over with joy to see the vigorous, 
 manly, Christ-like piety, whiclj is developed in many of those young 
 
WORDS OF HOPE. 295 
 
 men. It is a great privilege to be with them and lead them into 
 the green pastures, and beside the still waters. It repays us a thou- 
 sand fold for all our self-denial. We feel sometimes that we can 
 rejoice almost with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 
 
 " Your field is. one of more trials. I hftve just sent a portion of 
 your last letter to the printer, for the ' Journal of Missions.' But, 
 dear brother, do not be discouraged. It is Christ's work. He loves 
 it better than we can. He will be with you. He loves to hear you 
 pray. He will put his arms underneath you. His grace will be 
 sufficient. His promises are Yea and Amen. The clouds may seem 
 dark, but the sun shines. Your mission is enfeebled, its numbers 
 are reduced, and the harvest seems not to be whitening. But let 
 patience have her perfect work. They that sow in tears shall reap 
 in joy. It is not many years since one brother left our field quite 
 discouraged. Eleven years of toil had produced httle spiritual result, 
 and he thought nothing good was ever to come. Now how blessed 
 the change 1 What hath Grod wrought ? You remember the mis- 
 sionaries in Greenland, and those in Tahiti. They toiled on, hoped 
 on, and lived by faith. And at last the day dawned and all around 
 them was seen gladness and joy. Who knows that it may not 
 speedily be so with you? 
 
 " From some expressions in your letters I have been fearful you 
 were doing too much for your health. Pardon me for cautioning you 
 on that subject. I know there is a very strong temptation, when 
 there is so much to be done and so few to do it, to over-exert one's 
 self. I did it, and as the result, was obliged to give up, and spend 
 two years in getting well. This was not good economy. Perhaps 
 it was positively sinful. At least, I am determined to be veiy 
 guarded hereafter. It seems to me it is our duty to form and execute 
 our plans so that we may live long. Brother Goodell, of Constan- 
 tinople, says, a good many missionaries come out that way ' ready to 
 die,' but, for his part, he is glad to see now and then one who comes 
 out expecting to live. He is a very cheerful man — some would call 
 him gay, though he is a devoted Christian — and thinks by a good 
 lAugh occasionally, and by moderation in all his movements, he has 
 
296 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 been able to accomplish far more than he could have done other- 
 wise. 
 
 " But not to dwell longer on this point, dear brother, let me beg 
 you to take good care of your health. If there are but few mission- 
 ary candidates coming forward (and it is a sorrowful fact that they 
 are so few), and numbers of our missionaries, all over the world, are 
 breaking down and coming home, this does not impose on you or 
 on me the duty of overlaboring and breaking down, too, but rather 
 of husbanding our strength, and making it hold out as long as possi- 
 ble. May Grod give us both grace and wisdom to do just as we 
 should in this important matter, and enable us, whether our lives be 
 longer or shorter, to glorify him on the earth, and finish the work he 
 has given us to do." 
 
 " September 2d, 1850. I still continue at the Missionary House, 
 where I have been for nearly seven months. My duties, on the 
 whole, are pleasant ; and I trust I am contributing my humble mite 
 to the promotion of Christ's kingdom. Situated in the family of Dr. 
 Anderson, and associated with so many good men, and my thoughts 
 employed so much of the time about this blessed object, if I could 
 forget Persia, I do not know that anything would be wanting to 
 make me perfectly happy. But my dlesire to return is like a fire in 
 my bones, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished." 
 
 Speaking of the missionary work, he says : 
 
 " October 10th, 1850. To be sure it has its trials. It is full of 
 self-denial. It crosses many of our worldly feehngs. But, after all, 
 what a blessed thing it is to be allowed thus to serve Christ. Some- 
 times when I think of it, I am very impatient to get back to my 
 field, and to my loved Nestorians. Yes, let me Uve and die a mis- 
 sionary of the cross. With the presence and the love of Jesus, t(»il 
 will be light and self-denial welcome. God grant that I may be 
 more and more imbued with the spirit of missions, and that I 
 may Uve to see yet greater trophies of redeeming grace than we have 
 yet witnessed among the .N'estorians. May you be blessed abund- 
 
RETURNED MISSIONARIES. 297 
 
 antly in your labors also, and be wise to win men to Christ. Fasten 
 your eye on him. Look to him for strength and you will be full of 
 peace and joy. It is only a little while, at the furthest, that we shall 
 labor here. Soon, oh, how soon, shall we reach our home above, 
 meet where there are no partings, praise God where there are no 
 imperfections, and evermore, with the redeemed of every nation and 
 age, cast our crowns at the feet of the Redeemer." 
 
 "December 23, 1850: If ever you are a 'returned missionary, 
 (as I hope you will not be), and especially if you are what Dr. Poor 
 calls ' a returned missionary returning,' you will know how to make 
 allowances for the infrequency of my letters. 
 
 " While there are some pleasant things in a visit to America, it is, 
 in many other respects, a continual trial, and I rejoice that my visit 
 here is soon to terminate. I beheve all who have tried it will sub- 
 scribe to what Dr. Poor said of returned missionaries, ' Oh, they are 
 a sorry set, a sorry set.' It is a slow process, this of getting well 
 again, when the system is run down, and we must be content to take 
 time. Three times I have set for returning to Persia, and three times 
 the Secretaries have advised me to wait longer. It seemed to me 
 then that they were unreasonable in detaining me so long from my 
 chosen field, but as I look back I feel that it has all been for the best. 
 I have a vigor now wliich I had not a year ago, and which resembles 
 very much the vigor I had when I first became a missionary. My 
 impression is, however, that if I could have remained in Persia, and 
 thrown off" care, and been willing to take time to recruit, I should 
 have got well faster and better there than in New England, llere 
 I have been always crowded, and there is no way of getting rid of it. 
 Visiting, meetings, excitement, pursued month alter month, is the 
 most wearisome and trying life I know of, and nothing but the 
 sternest sense of duty would ever tempt me to go tlu-ough it again. 
 
 "I trust, dear brother, you will keep up a good courage. You 
 speak of yourself as ' worn-out at the age of twenty-eight.' Please do 
 not feel so. You have youth on your side, and, as I suppose, a good 
 constitution. I see not why you may not live, and enjoy health, for 
 
298 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 many years. When the system is run down we are apt to be 
 desponding. I was. I thought I should not live a year. But I 
 magnified my difl&culties. With returning health, spirits have re- 
 turned, and I am now calculating, with God's blessing, to live twenty 
 y^ars at least. Ask your good wife to cheer you up. Determine 
 that you will be cheerful; it will react very pleasantly on your 
 health ; it will do you good like a medicine. In fact, if you can keep 
 cheerful, it is worth far more than medicine. Excuse these remarks^ 
 they are prompted by the deepest interest in you and your work. I 
 want to have you continue to be a blessing to the Maharattas, as 
 you have been in past years, and if you are at all like me, you are 
 happier there at yom* work, than you ever could be elsewhere. Oh I 
 what a privilege is it to be a missionary ; to stand in the foreground 
 of the army : to preach Christ to the millions of Asia. 
 
 " August 20th, 1850. As soon as the meeting of the Board is 
 over, I mean to make an earnest appeal to the Secretaries to be re- 
 leased from my present position. I do not expect, however, that 
 it will be effected and a new man installed in my place before the 
 first of December. Then I shall have been here nine months and 
 served quite an apprenticeship. It is a pretty laborious and yet in 
 many respects a delightful service. All here is peace and love. 
 Those good men who are gone, and whose portraits hang about the 
 walls, the good men who come to visit us, and the sacred employ- 
 ment in which we are engaged, all conspire to make this a place 
 where it is good to be. I hope that God will bless my stay here 
 and enable me day by day to grow in likeness to the adorable Sa- 
 viour. May this be the case with each of us, wherever we are 
 laboring. Let us strive for heavenly mindedness and be transformed 
 into the image of Christ from glory to glory." 
 
 The intention expressed in the above, he carried out in 
 the following note of September 19th, to the Secretaries 
 of the Board. 
 
 " I came to the Missioaary House in February, to fill a temporary 
 
RESIGNS HIS EDITORSHIP. 299 
 
 gap, and I have endeavored to aid you in my humble way ever 
 since. I wish I had performed better the duties which I assumed. 
 Every number of the Journal of Missions and the Day Spring, have 
 come short of my idea of what they ought to be and what I think 
 they might be. Still, I have tried to be faithful, as God gave me 
 ability aud strength. My stay at the Missionary House has been 
 not only very pleasant to me but very profitable, and I shall always 
 look back on these months with deep interest. 
 
 " While I say this, I will also say that in the prospect of my re- 
 turning to Persia in the latter part of February or the first of March, 
 it seems to be reasonable that I should now be released from this 
 service, or at least at as early a day as another arrangement can be 
 made. In making this request you will not understand me as shrink- 
 ing from any responsibility which properly comes upon me. If the 
 cause requires that I stay with you a time longer, I will cheerfully ac- 
 quiesce. But I think my sedentary life during the summer, though 
 not very wearing, has not been so conducive to health as some other 
 course I might have pursued. In other words, I do not think I stand, 
 as respects bodily vigor, just where I should have done at this time, 
 had I not had these cares of editorship upon me during the summer. 
 
 " You know that it is my wish and my expectation, with the leave 
 of Providence and the approbation of the committee, to return to 
 Persia and live there and die there. And as I must admit that 1 
 have not any too much strength at the best for the duties of mission- 
 ary life, I should Uke to have as much leisure as may be before leav- 
 ing the country for visiting, packing, invigorating my health, etc. I 
 think the bracing air of this winter, under proper circumstances (for 
 cold is always serviceable to my health), will do me great good and 
 prepare me better than I have yet been prepared for going back to 
 the Nestorians." 
 
 October lOtb, after the meeting of the American Board 
 at Oswego, he writes : 
 
 " We had a delightful meeting at the Board and sat together in 
 heavenly places in Christ. If the occasion was not one of such ten- 
 
800 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 der interest as that last year at Pittsfield, it was yet a very precious 
 season and the remembrance of it and the benefits of it will long 
 abide with all those who were present, and its influence be thus 
 widely felt in the churches. There was a good deal said about a 
 want of money, and we do need it exceedingly in every department 
 of our labors. But what we most need at home and abroad is 
 more spirituality, a more unreserved consecration of ourselves to the 
 Eedeemer's cause. We, who go as missionaries, are very weak, im- 
 perfect agents, and need to be sustained constantly by the prayers of 
 our patrons. Then there is a tide of worldhness sweeping over the 
 churches here ; which it is very sad to witness, and which I believe 
 our Saviour can not regard without grief" 
 
 *' October 15th. In four months from this time I hope to embark 
 for Smyrna. My heart almost bounds at the thought. If God in 
 his mercy permits me once more to reach that happy home on 
 Mount Seir, how shall I be called on to bless his name. 
 
 " I had a dream the other night. It was this : For some reason 
 or other it was decided that it was best for me to remain in Amer- 
 ica. It cost me a dreadful struggle to make up my mind to it, but 
 at last I assented to its wisdom. Soon after, I was sitting one day 
 when Mr. and Mrs. Perkins came in upon me. It was as unex- 
 pected almost as if they had dropped down from the skies. For a 
 few moments I was overjoyed. After the excitement was over, I 
 said, ' are you really here too ? Has our mission again been dimin- 
 ished in strength ? Must you and I never live together more oe 
 Mount Seir and labor and pray together for the Nestorians?' So 
 saying, I grasped him by the hand and we sat down and wept. I 
 asked him not a word about his voyage or journey, nor did he in- 
 quire a word about my plans or labors. We both wept when we 
 remembered Zion. At last, when I had pretty well ' cried myself 
 out,' I awoke, and behold 1 it was a dream. You may imagine how 
 rejoiced I was. Since then I have bestirred myself to purchase 
 some things which I mean to carry, and amuse myself a little every 
 day in packing, etc., in the lower story of the Missionary House. J 
 
DEATH OF^ THE YOUNG. 301 
 
 wish to drive off any more such dreams, which may be waiting for 
 an onset upon me. You may tliink I had been eating mince pie for 
 supper, but I assure you I had not." 
 
 " December 18th, 1850. Brother C. informs me that your dear 
 Lewis is gradually becoming weaker and sinking down under the 
 power of disease. I rejoice, however, with you, in the hope that he has 
 built on Christ and looks forward with calm trust to whatever may 
 await him. In many points of view it is sad to see the young, just 
 coming into manhood, suddenly arrested in their course and brought 
 down to an early grave. But faith can triumph even over such 4ln 
 affliction as this and feel that aU is right : that it is a blessed thing 
 for us and our children and all our interests to be in the hands of 
 God. If God will only be pleased to convert our children to him- 
 self and make them partakers with us of this precious faith, why 
 should we not be willing to have them taken home to glory when- 
 ever he sees best ? Though I hope by God's blessing to hve for 
 years, and in my humble measure serve him in the missionary field, 
 and am in the habit of taking cheerful views of life, I can yet truly 
 say that I not unfi-equently sigh for the better land. Here there is 
 so much weakness, so many infirmities, so much within us and around 
 us to make us mourn, so sadly does this world bear the marks ot 
 being blasted by sin, that it is almost strange that we can fasten our 
 affections upon it. And when we turn away our eyes from this vale 
 of tears to that home which the Saviour has provided for us, and ol 
 wliich he is the light, and glory, and joy, where we shall see him and 
 be like him, and be lost in the great ocean of blessedness, and min- 
 gle with the many millions who have been redeemed, in their songs 
 of praise, the wonder is that we do not long to be taken home. If 
 Jesus is our friend, if one of the ' many mansions' is to be ours, then 
 the sooner we are called away, the sooner will our unending joy 
 commence. It may be in the morning or at noon, or when we totter 
 with age and gray hairs are sprinkled^over us. But let the sum- 
 mons come when it will, we may as Christians, feel more than calm ; 
 we may sing of gi'ace and triumph, of the conflict ended and glory 
 begun, as we cross the River Jordan." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 EETURN TO HIS FIELD. 
 
 The Providence of God which detained Mr. Stoddard in 
 the United States so far beyond his purpose and inclina- 
 tion, was kindly preparing him for higher usefulness upon 
 his final return to Oroomiah. Had he gone back accord- 
 ing to his original plan, he would have returned alone, to 
 find his heart's great sorrow revived by the associations 
 and the memories of every day ; he would have returned 
 without even his children to solace his weary hours, and to 
 respond to a heart which yearned for love as its daily food ; 
 he would have gone back still enfeebled, to be speedily 
 prostrated by disease and death. His long detention in his 
 native land gradually reinvigorated his system, soothed his 
 sorrows with the constant ministry of friends and by diver- 
 sified labors for Christ, and at length brought him to know 
 that God had chosen for him one who should restore his 
 shattered home and share the joys and burdens of the mis- 
 sionary life. 
 
 On the 14th of February, 1851, Mr. Stoddard was mar 
 ried to Miss Sophia D. daughter of Rev. Austin Hazen 
 of Berlin, Vermont, and sister of Rev. Allen Hazen, mis- 
 sionary at Bombay. 
 
 The Trustees of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary were 
 most reluctant to release even for the foreign missionary 
 service this competent and favorite teacher, who did so 
 
FAREWELL LETTER. 303 
 
 much to supply the void occasioned by the death of Mary 
 Lyon. On the 4th of March, 1851, Mr. and Mrs. Stod- 
 dard, and their daughter Harriette, with Miss Cowles, Miss 
 Whittlesey and Mr. Rhea, all destined to the oriental 
 field, embarked at Boston for Smyrna. His farewell let- 
 ters show that he was jubilant in the prospect of being 
 once more at his post. To the missionary circle at Oroo- 
 miah, he writes : 
 
 " Would to God, we might say to you, as did Paul to some of his 
 Christian friends, 'And I am sure that when I come unto you, I 
 shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the Grospel of Christ.' 
 Pray that it may be so and that by our arrival we may not make a 
 mere numerical addition to your strength. I trust we shall find you 
 all knit together in love and striving together for the faith of the 
 Gospel. Some missions are at the present time distracted by divi- 
 sions. I love to turn from them to you and think of you as drink- 
 ing in one spirit and reflecting on each other the image of Christ. 
 Shall I find tliis my hope and my prayer realized ? 
 
 I shall so soon, if the Lord will, be among you, that I do not 
 think it worth while to say any thing about the arrangements of the 
 seminary. It seems you difier somewhat as to your views of what 
 is expedient, and perhaps I shall difier from all of you ; (though I 
 have no reason to tliink so ;) but yet I presume by prayerful consid- 
 eration things will be set on just the right basis. It seems to me I 
 shall prefer to occupy my old house, if agreeable to the mission, but 
 will leave the question open tiU I arrive or till I get more light." 
 
 To friends in Scotland and in America he sends words 
 of hope and cheer as he approaches the terminus of bis 
 voyage. 
 
 "Ionian Sea, April 5th, 1851. I have been impatient for a long 
 time at the protracted length of my visit in America, and I joy 
 to go back to my adopted home in the East. The day of my em- 
 
304 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 barkation was not a gloomy one. On the contrary, I lifted up my 
 eyes in gratitude to that God who had restored my health and per- 
 mitted me to enter anew, and under such favorable circumstances, 
 on my missionary work. I do beHeve that we missionaries are the 
 happiest persons on earth. If we do not get our hundred fold prom- 
 ised by the Saviour to those who leave all for him, it is because we 
 are not simple and devoted enough in our consecration. But we do 
 get many joys that a stranger intermeddleth not with. And were 
 you to see me on my arrival at Smyrna or Constantinople, and 
 especially at Oroomiah, greeted by warm hearts and having sweet 
 communion with brethren and sisters who like me have embarked 
 their all in this glorious work, I think you would feel that we were 
 abundantly paid for all the trials of our voluntary exile." 
 
 " MoREA, April 7th. My visit in America was long protracted, 
 but perhaps not too long to accomplish well all the desirable objects 
 in connection with it. I certainly have had a rare privilege, and one 
 which I shall value as long as 1 hve, in visiting so many churches and 
 forming so many acquaintances among the excellent of the earth. 
 It has strengthened decidedly my own love to the cause, and sends 
 me back most cheerfully on this errand of mercy, I know that 
 many at the other end are ' holding the ropes,' and that we are fol- 
 lowed by th£ sympathy and prayers of thousands. It is also cause 
 for devout thanksgiving that I now return renewed in vigor, and 
 may properly call myself a well man. I bless God that I go to such 
 an interesting field, where every effort I can put forth for the cause 
 of Christ is so much needed, where I may mingle my voice with 
 that of the joyful reapers and bind the yellow sheaves, where my 
 pupils are waiting to welcome me, and where I have already had so 
 much experience of the loving-kindness of God. 
 
 " There is so much practical unbelief among the churches in regard 
 to the blessedness of the missionary work that I love to testify that 
 it is good to be a missionary. And my earnest prayer is, in which 
 I ask that you will join with me, that I may be found faithful and 
 wise to win many to an Almighty Saviour." 
 
JOT IN HIS RETURN. 305 
 
 To his parents he writes fi'oni the Mediterranean : 
 
 " When I look back on my visit to America, it seems a delightful 
 dream. The numerous friends whom I have seen and communed 
 with, the still more numerous friends who were before strangers to 
 me, but who bestowed on me for Christ's sake, their affection, the 
 extended and very precious intercourse I had with the churches, and 
 the opportunity thus afforded me of telling them what I had seen in 
 a far off land of the triumphs of God's grace ; these and many other 
 things conspire to render this visit an era in my life. But I leave 
 now aU behind. I exchange a land of civilization for a land of the 
 shadow of death ; the elevating, refining, cheering influences which 
 have been thrown around me for a home among a degraded, im- 
 moral, and in many cases, an ungrateful people. I go to a climate 
 which has once seriously impaired my vigor, and may again deprive 
 me of the elasticity of health which again animates my frame. But 
 I bid friends, home, country, aU farewell with joy, and embark once 
 more in this self-denying yet blessed work. I consider it the great- 
 est privilege on earth to go. I know that much is expected of me, 
 and on this account I shrink, feeling my great unworthiness and 
 fearing lest I should not be found faithful. But * my grace is suffi- 
 cient for thee,' whispered to the soul by the omnipresent Saviour, 
 will give at all times renewed strength. I can do all things through 
 Christ strengthening me. When I am weak, then am I strong. 
 Only let me ever feel these truths and look for help to heaven, and I 
 shall glorify God wherever I am, and finish the work he has given me 
 to do. It is delightful to know that you will all remember me in your 
 prayers and thus in an important sense be fellow-laborers with me. 
 
 " I have spoken of my trial in going to a land of the shadow 
 of death, but it is, as you well know, not an unmixed trial. I go to 
 a beloved and loving band of brethren and sisters. All along 
 the way, at Smyrna, at Constantino})le, at Trebizond, and at Erze- 
 room, I shall be welcomed by the excellent of the earth and sit with 
 them in heavenly places in Christ, In Oroomiah I shall be greeted 
 with notes of welcome by many who call me their spiritual father 
 
306 MEMOIKOF STODDARD. 
 
 and whom I regard with all the tenderness which I feel toward my 
 own children. I shall be far happier — doubt it not — in Persia than 
 I could be in America. There let me live. There let me die. There 
 may I be buried. 
 
 " Did not the Saviour call me, gladly would I remain with you, 
 my beloved and aged parents, and minister to the comfort of your 
 declining years. I need not tell you that ardent love to you glows 
 in my heart — a love which has been, if possible, strengthened by the 
 delightful intercourse I have had with you during my recent visit, 
 and your numerous efforts to promote my happiness and invigorate 
 my health. These kind attentions will be embalmed in my heart 
 while memory lasts. God bless you, dear parents, and reward you 
 a hundred fold for all your kindness to your youngest, and in some 
 respects, your most unworthy son." 
 
 Mr. Stoddard reached Constantinople at a time when the 
 work among the Armenians had assumed a most encourag- 
 ing aspect. His report of that work and his testimony 
 concerning the missionaries at that station, will be valued 
 as the judgment of a most competent and reliable witness. 
 
 " May 5th, 1851. Travelers who visit Constantinople are often 
 charmed with the magnificent panorama of the city as seen from 
 the Golden Horn, and their attention is wholly absorbed in visiting 
 different objects of curiosity in this ancient seat of empire. But 
 nothing can be so interesting to a Christian visitor as the work of 
 God among the Armenians here. The progress of the truth, since I 
 came out eight years ago, is wonderful. Yesterday I was present 
 at a communion season in the first Protestant church. About sev- 
 enty Armenians composed the congregation. Four were received 
 into fellowship, two of whom are members of the female seminary. 
 Three infants were also baptized. The services which were per- 
 formed by the native pastors, Simon and Avedis, and Mr. Dwight, 
 were deeply interesting and impressive to me, though I could not 
 understand the language spoken. As I looked around on that band 
 
THE PROTESTANT ARMENIANS. 807 
 
 of devoted men and women, gathered from a superstitious and de- 
 graded church, and saw among them Hariitun who was some years 
 since driven through the streets of Nicomedia, amid the jeers and 
 insults, and blows of a furious mob, Stepan Agha, the brother of the 
 Patriarch, who has submitted to imprisonment and abuse for the 
 sake of the Lord Jesus, and many others, their companions, who 
 have met with fiery trials and triumphed over them by the power 
 of their faith ; as I saw the meekness and gentleness of Christ writ- 
 ten on their countenances and heard their songs of praise, my heart 
 was drawn out to these dear brethren in the tenderest affection. In 
 the center of this great city, crowded by a million of human beings, 
 who know but little in truth of God the Father, and his Son Jesus 
 Christ, they had assembled on the first day of the week to break 
 bread. And the Saviour was evidently with them. They sat in 
 heavenly places and rejoiced, I doubt not, with joy unspeakable. It 
 is under such circumstances that we understand what Christian fel- 
 lowship is, and catch gHmpses of the blessedness which is reserved 
 for the saints in heaven. 
 
 " The whole aspect of the work in Turkey seems most encour- 
 aging. Could the churches in America be permitted to see it for 
 themselves, and become personally acquainted with those who 
 have been led by their instrumentality to the Saviour, I am sure 
 they would devise more liberal things, and pray far more than they 
 now do for the cause of missions. 
 
 " Our intercourse with the brethren and sisters at the different 
 stations has been of the most dchghtful character and justified all 
 that I ever said of the nature of Christian fellowship on missionary 
 ground. I am impressed with the greatness and importance of the 
 work going on among the Armenians of Turkey and the progress 
 which has been made during my absence in America. It is gratify- 
 ing to find European residents at the different stations so ready to 
 speak well of this reformation and to aid it in every way in their 
 power. Even some of those who long looked on with coldness, and 
 declared that we were engaged in a fruitless enterprise, are now foi- 
 ward to commend it and predict its ultimate success." 
 
808 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 The following letter to Rev. A. Hazen is a comment 
 both upon this work and upon his own prospects and 
 hopes. 
 
 " Constantinople, May 5th, 1851. We were very much gratified 
 on reaching Smyrna to receive a letter from you which was await- 
 ing us there. Yesterday came your letter of April 1st, written from 
 your health retreat. While we are rejoiced to hear so often and so 
 particularly from you, we regret that it is such an eflfort for you to 
 use the pen, and that your health is so little improved by rest and 
 relaxation. However, do not feel at all discouraged. So far as I 
 can understand your case, it is one which a few weeks can not per- 
 manently relieve, and you will have to lie on your oars I fear, at 
 least a yea/r. I know it is hard to think of this. It is much easier 
 to be doing the will of God than to be suffering it, but when the 
 nerves are seriously implicated (and I supposed your headache to be 
 strictly a nervous one), nothing but long rest and freedom from care 
 will accomplish the object. ... Do not be discouraged. ' You can 
 not use your mind as you used to do.' WiU it not cheer you up to 
 know that for a twelve month I had very httle power to do anything 
 involving thought, and feared my mind was forever gone. Now I 
 am as well, or nearly as weU, in this respect, as ever. . . . When I 
 left Oroomiah and went on to America, I was very rebellious. I 
 knew it was my duty to go, but I thought if I went, the seminary 
 would be ruined. Tliis was a wrong feeling. I should have left the 
 seminary cheerfully and committed all to my heavenly Father. Now 
 mark the result. The seminary has been blest with several revivals 
 «ince I left, and within twelve months of that time every individual 
 in ii was hopefully converted. If we simply and prayerfully follow 
 the leadings of Providence, he will take care of the rest. When I 
 left Oroomiah had I been told that I should be absent three years^ it 
 seems to me I could not have endured the thought. But the time 
 has rapidly gone by and I am soon to be once more in my eastern 
 home. Now, if by the experience I have gained, and the blessing 
 )f God, I am able to preserve my health for gaany years and live a 
 
A TOUCHING MEETING. 809 
 
 whole life in Oroomiah, this rest is a wise thing and I have not the 
 least occasion to regret it. And if you by an entire rest of a year 
 can be a well man again (and I see not why you may not be), it is 
 time well spent . . . We passed a week very delightfully with our 
 brethren and sisters in Smyrna, and reached here the twenty-seventh 
 of last month. From Smyrna to this city is only three hundred 
 miles, and this is accomphshed in thirty-six hours. The scenery is 
 much of it very fine, especially in passing through the Dardanelles. 
 We were welcomed here to the house of our beloved brother 
 Dwight, with whom we are now staying, and have enjoyed much 
 in intercourse with all the members of the mission. Go where you 
 will, it would be difficult to find such a company of men as Groodell, 
 Schauffler, Dwight, HamHn, and Everett. They are whole-souled 
 men and rejoice in their work with great joy, considering it as a 
 great privilege to make known Christ to this people. We found 
 the brethren at Smyrna with the same feehngs. I believe the true 
 missionary is the happiest man Mving. Brother Dwight said to me 
 yesterday that he saw no situation in America that would be the 
 least temptation to him to leave the missionary work. The remark 
 is not a strange one. I have often heard it from other missionaries, 
 and often made it myself. 
 
 At Trebizond he spent a Sabbath of peculiar interest. 
 
 " "Wliile we were in Trebizond, Mr. and Mrs. Bliss of Erzeroom, 
 who had come on to attend the general meeting at Constantinople, 
 and also for the benefit of his health, were in quarantine, and it was 
 proposed to have a service there on the- Sabbath. You perhaps 
 know that when travelers are in quarantine, their friends are per- 
 mitted to visit and converse with them under certain restrictions, 
 provided they do not touch each other or approach near enough to 
 communicate contagion. These friends occupied the same room in 
 which Haniette died, and I was called on to preach in the adjoining 
 porch. At first I felt as if I could not meet such a trial ; but having 
 made up my mind that it was probably duty, I went forward cheer- 
 
310 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 fully and found it a most solemn and interesting occasion. There 
 were present Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Bliss, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Bliss, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Powers, with their children, the English Consul at Ba- 
 toora, Mr. Rhea, Sophia and Httle Harriette. I took for my text, 
 2 Timothy, iv. 5. ' But watch thou in aU things, endure afflictions, 
 do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.' In 
 unfolding the greatness and glory of the trust committed to us as 
 missionaries, I was much affected and was enabled to preach as 
 earnestly to my httle congregation as if I had had a thousand 
 hearers," 
 
 As he drew near his field his heart kindled more and 
 more with joy and gratitude. These few lines from a 
 hurried note addressed to Rev. Dr. Dwight at Constanti- 
 nople, reveal the yearnings of a missionary for the souls to 
 whom he has given his life : 
 
 " Having been for a time absent from your field, and had the 
 privilege of returning to it again with renovated strength, you can 
 appreciate the joy I feel at the near prospect of resuming my 
 former labors. I pray God that I may enter upon them with humil- 
 ity and devotion. I beheve I feel more and more persuaded that the 
 amount of good we accomplish in this world depends, not so much 
 on the amount of labor we perform, as on the spirit which prompts 
 it. Though weak in body and unable to labor as we once did, we 
 may yet be strong in faith, our example and our influence telling 
 powerfully in the salvation of souls, and the edification of the disci- 
 ples of Christ." 
 
 The return of Mr. Stoddard to Oroomiah was hailed with 
 a universal welcome. He thus describes it in a letter to 
 Rev. Dr. Anderson, dated at 
 
 " Oroomiah, October 27th, 1851. 
 " It gives me a pleasure which I can not express to find myself 
 once more in this eastera home. Our journey on horseback over the 
 
A JOYOUS WELCOME. 311 
 
 lofty mountains of Armenia was a prosperous one. At Trebizoud 
 we found two Nestorians awaiting our arrival, who were sent on by 
 the bretliren to aid us on our toilsome way. The season of tlie year 
 was very favorable ; we were braced up by the mountain air, and 
 our spirits were constantly rising in the near prospect of reaching 
 our beloved Nestorians. At Gavalan, the village of Mar Yohannan, 
 thirty miles from the city, we received a most cordial welcome from 
 the father and brother of the bishop, and indeed from aU the people 
 of the village, whose glad faces and kind attentions showed their 
 heartfelt joy. The same evening Dr. Wright, accompanied by 
 several Nestorians, having heard of our approach, came hastening 
 from the city to join our party and spend the night with us. 
 
 " The next morning, while crossing the plain of Oroomiah, we 
 arrived at a village twelve miles from the city, where a company of 
 our brethren and sisters, with their little ones and many Nestorians, 
 met and greeted us with deep and tender emotions. A tent had 
 been pitched, and a breakfast prepared, and we all sat down on the 
 grass, under the grateful shade, to partake of the bounties of Provi- 
 •dence. Our hearts were full. It was a day to which we had long 
 looked forward with much interest, and we blessed our covenant 
 God for sparing us to see it. During the three hours we remained 
 at this village, Nestorians of all classes — our old, tried friends — many 
 of them our brethren in Christ — were continually making their 
 appearance. 
 
 '' And when, soon after noonday, we set out for the city, our 
 progress resembled more a triumphal procession than a caravan of 
 weary travelers. Every successive mile added to our numbers, and 
 our way was often almost blocked up by the people who came in 
 throngs to meet us — some on horseback — some on foot — bishops — 
 priests — deacons — ^village school teachers — members of the seminary, 
 with whom I had many times wept and prayed, and praised — all 
 pressing forward in eager haste to grasp our hands, and swell the 
 notes of welcome. Three years ago these same persons followed us 
 out of the city, holding the horses by the bridles and begging us not 
 to leave them, while the tears chased one another down their cheeks, 
 
312 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 and their mournful looks bespoke the sorrow of then- hearts. Now 
 I was returning to them with restored health, to identify my inter- 
 ests with theirs, to mingle with them once more around the mercy- 
 seat, to talk of Jesus and his dying love, and to aid in some feeble 
 measure, my brethren in their numerous but delightful labors. I 
 brought with me the salutations of many thousand Christians in 
 cm- native land, and was accompanied into the harvest field by 
 some new reapers. As I turned thus fi:om thoughts of the past 
 which crowded upon me in quick succession, to look on the animat- 
 ing scene around us, the contrast almost overcame me, and I repeat- 
 edly made great effort to keep from bursting into tears. 
 
 " As we pressed forward, one famihar object after another rose 
 before us and we were soon on the mission premises at the city, and 
 realizing in the pleasantest manner that we were now at home. A 
 stranger will hardly appreciate the feelings with which I wandered 
 through different apartments, reminding me so strikingly as they did 
 of bygone days. Here, thought I, John, our devoted helper, after a 
 season of deep distress, was brought from darkness into marvelous 
 light. In this httle upper room the first revival in the seminary began, 
 and the first inquiry was made by my pupils, ' What shall we do to 
 be saved ?' Here we were wont to assemble for morning and evening 
 prayers, while the gentle influences of heaven rested on the Hstening 
 group. On this stairway, how often have I stumbled over the pupils, 
 when, unable to find a closet, they had kneeled down here, under cover 
 of night, to pour out their souls to God. In this wood-house, our 
 pupils, straitened for places of retirement, divided the room by 
 piles of wood into compartments, that each might find a httle Bethel 
 where he could meet his Saviour. Under these trees they used to sit 
 at early dawn, bending over the pages of the book of life. After 
 three years' absence all these scenes came fresh to my remembrance, 
 and produced mingled emotions of joy, gratitude and praise. 
 ******** 
 " I hardly need add I find my brethren and sisters here all alive and 
 in comfortable health, happy in each other, and happy in their labors, 
 and ready to bless God that he has brought them to such a people, 
 
TRIBUTE TO HIS MOTHER. 313 
 
 at so critical and interesting a period of their history. "Would that 
 those who doubt whether the missionary can be cheerful in his 
 voluntary exile, could be a short time in our missionary circle, share 
 our labors, kneel with us in prayer, and sit with us in heavenly 
 places in Christ. It is a blessed work and we can not but praise; 
 God for the privilege of embarking in it. Let the wise man glory in 
 nis wisdom, let the mighty man glory in his might, let the rich man 
 glory in his riches, but let us, Father, glory in the privilege of 
 preaching salvation through Christ to tliis benighted people." 
 
 A review of his visit to America, from missionary ground, 
 suggests some interesting reflections and contrasts. 
 
 " I need not assure you that my love to you was never stronger 
 than now. The pleasant days I have been allowed by our heavenly 
 Father to pass in the home of my childhood, and with my dear 
 brothers and sisters, will not be forgotten while memory lasts. 
 Though now far away from you all, my thoughts often revert to 
 these now bygone scenes, and I love to commend you to our Al- 
 mighty Lord. I intended to begin this letter on the 1st of August, 
 which was mother's birth-day. She may be assured we did not 
 pass it unnoticed. At the examination of Miss Fisk's seminary soon 
 after our arrival, I was called on to make an address. Li order to 
 show the value of female education, I described to the assembled 
 multitude my own dear mother, how she was educated, what a 
 fiamily she had trained up, the gentle influence she had exerted over 
 each of us, and the efforts she made in our infancy and youth that 
 we might become the children of God. And while I did not under- 
 value the influence and example of the father, and least of all, of my 
 own dear father, I asserted that whatever we were, both as regards 
 this world and the world to come, was in a great measure owing, 
 under God, to that mother. The audience seemed to be not only 
 Interested but affected by my statements, and I was induced after- 
 wards to write out the address in Syriac, and pubUsh it in the ' Rays 
 of Light,' the only newspaper published among the Nestorians, and 
 almost the only one in all Persia. 
 
 14 
 
814 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 '' It may be that I am repeating what I have said in some previous 
 letter, when I tell you that on the 4th of July I addressed the as- 
 sembled bretliren and sisters for a long time, in an informal way, 
 giving them an account of what I had seen and heard and felt in my 
 native land. It was an interesting review to me, and excited, I 
 trust, within me feelings of gratitude, and seemed to be listened to 
 most patiently by those whom I addressed. While I had so many 
 things that were animating and hopeful to dwell on, there were also 
 dark features in the picture, for I could not pass unnoticed the gay- 
 ety and fashion, the conformity to the world, and the low standard 
 of piety which seems to be so prevalent in the land of our fathers. 
 
 " For some weeks after our arrival, there was much that was ex- 
 citing and I may say dissipating to us. Though we enjoyed much, 
 very much, in intercourse with the brethren and sisters of the mis- 
 sion, and in conversing with the Nestorians who came around us, I 
 think we are now enjoying more on the whole, and being more 
 profited too by our quiet residence in Seir. It is a good thing, after 
 being tossed about by sea and land, and living such an external, su- 
 perficial life, to feel at last that we are at rest ; to have a regular 
 time for reading God's word, and a little corner, always the same, 
 where we may kneel down and pray." 
 
 A summary of ten years of missionary labor shows the 
 following results. 
 
 " September 16, 1851. I should have been very glad to have sent 
 you my report on the male seminary, but suppose you may see por- 
 tions of it in print. I will briefly state the results of our ten years* 
 labors. 
 
 ''1. Of the fifty-four scholars now living, who have gone out from 
 us, about thirty-four, or nearly two-tliirds, are considered pious, and 
 many of them devotedly so. Six, and perhaps seven, have died the 
 death of the Christian, making in all forty or forty-one out of the 
 entire sixty-one. Forty- two are still members of the seminary, 
 making one hundred and two in all. About one-half of our present 
 pupils are hopefully pious. 
 
SUMMAllY OF LABORS. 315 
 
 " 2. Of these fifty-four, nine are efficient and able preachers of the 
 Grospel, fitted to minister to our best congregations, wliile nineteen 
 more, or twenty-eight in all, upwards of half the whole numl^er, are 
 so far preachers that they can conduct religious meetings in the vil- 
 lages with acceptance and usefulness. Most of them regularly en- 
 gage in this kind of labor. 
 
 " 3. Of these fifty-four twenty-five are regular teachers of village 
 schools, in nearly as many different villages, beside one who is a 
 translator, one printer, two in college at Malta, three teachers in the 
 seminaries, one superintendent of village schools, and three who 
 make preaching their employment. 
 
 " This result is very cheering ; indeed, I may say very delightful. 
 These ten years have been the best years of my Lfe, and yet who 
 wiU say that I could have employed them more profitably? Should 
 I live ten years more, I pray God that I may be more faithful and 
 more wise to win souls to Christ." 
 
 To the aged parents, who had a second time given him 
 to this work, he thus expresses his gratitude and joy : 
 
 ' With whom, in the wide luorld, would I be willing to exchange 
 employments ? With no one in America or out of it, unless such a 
 change was indicated to me by my heavenly Father. 
 
 " I regret, mother, as much as you can do, that I made no effort 
 to comfort you when I bade you farewell for the last time. I little 
 knew what was in your heart. I had supposed that you looked on 
 my leaving with more than composure, and were ready to smile even 
 while giving me the parting kiss. I was mistaken. No one but a 
 mother can know a mother's feelings. And though I am assured 
 that you give me up cheerfully for this good work, and would not 
 wish me elsewhere than where I am, not even by your own side, 
 under the parental roof, it is not strange that for a time other feelings 
 prevailed, and overpowered the frail body. 
 
 " What a cause of gratitude, dear parents, both to you and your 
 children, that, at your advanced age, your faculties are all preserved 
 to you unimpaired, and that you are able to enjoy so much the 
 
516 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 common blessings of life. Whenever I think of you, I bless Grod 
 that he has so ordered it that you have near you an affectionate son 
 and daughter to solace your dechning days. Above all, I rejoice to 
 believe that you have the clear shining of the Sun of righteousness, 
 and may look forward with confidence to a blessed inheritance as 
 your own." 
 
 A hurried note to Mr. Coan, who had just removed to 
 Gawar, a village in the mountains, and was there living in 
 great physical discomfort, reveals still further the cheerful 
 devotion of Mr. Stoddard. 
 
 "The intelligence of your safe arrival in Gawar has given us 
 much joy, and we desire with you to unite our thanksgivings to 
 God. I feel, for myself, that I have done nothing to aid you in car 
 rying out this important enterprise, but I can assure you you have a 
 constant place in my sympathies and prayers. I know it is easier 
 to recommend self-denial than to practice it, and that it is easier to 
 understand what the trials of spending the winter in Gawar are, by 
 actually being there, than by sitting quietly in our snug houses and 
 following you only in imagination. Probably we shall none of us 
 enter fully into your trials, and perhaps I may add also, into your 
 joys. If, from a simple-hearted love to Christ, you have left us and 
 gone to Gawar, as I am happy to believe, I know he will be with 
 you, and give you much sweet peace. I think, sometimes, we do 
 not have enough of trial in our mission to get the full enjoyment of 
 religion, or to appreciate the fullness of joy which may be had in 
 Christ. ' Unto you it is given (as a privilege), in the behalf of Christ, 
 not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.' We trust 
 and pray that your trials this winter may all be of the lighter kind, 
 and that instead of sufferings, you may have only inconveniences to 
 bear. But whatever your situation, dear friends, let your motto be, 
 ' Looking unto Jesus.' I recognize, with pleasure, in each of your 
 notes, a cheerful spirit, which assures me that, so far, you do not re- 
 gret the step you have taken." 
 
EETURNING DEBILITY. 317 
 
 Mr. Stoddard entered with zeal upon the duties of his 
 beloved seminary ; but his brethren at once perceived that 
 his zeal must be restrained if he would not sacrifice the 
 physical benefits of his long absence. " I am pretty well," 
 he writes, " though my brethren are beginning to comment 
 on my looks, and to sound notes of warning. I hope, if I 
 do not live long^ I shall at least live to do something for 
 God ; and I would not outlive my usefulness." Fairly at 
 work again, he writes to Dr. Anderson : 
 
 " December 16, 1851. Through the loving kindness of the Lord, 
 my hopes have at last been realized, I am again surrounded by my 
 pupils on Mount Seir, and enjoying more than I can express, as we 
 rove together through the green pastures and beside the still waters 
 of the Gospel. I think I am happier among the Nestorians than I 
 could be in my native land. It was indeed pleasant, when in Amer- 
 ica, to grasp my aged parents and my brothers and sisters by the 
 hand; to meet with so many dear friends, and receive kindness 
 from them for Christ's sake ; to hear them, whUe the tears started to 
 their eyes, express their interest in the blessed cause of missions ; 
 to kneel with them at the family altar ; and to recount, in the great 
 congregation, the wonderful works of God among this poor people. 
 Those were days which will never be forgotten. But through those 
 scenes of varied and sometimes thrilling interest, there was a rest- 
 less, unsatisfied feeling, which I strove in vain to repress. I longed 
 to be again at my post, dealing out the bread of heaven to the 
 hungry, and pointing the lost and needy sinner to an Almighty 
 Saviour. 
 
 " Those persons do us a great injustice who think missionaries are 
 willing to go abroad because they are deficient in love for fi-iends, 
 and civilization, and refinement, and all that goes to make up our 
 idea of an American home. It is not so. No one prizes, more than 
 the missionary, what he leaves behind. The contrast ever forced 
 upon him, between the freedom, the intelligence, the law, the order, 
 
318 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 the high civilization, the solid piety of his native land, and the des- 
 potism, the ignorance, the lawlessness, the degradation, the wicked-- 
 ness of the land to which he goes, awakens feelings to which his 
 friends in America are and must be strangers, and force him, as a 
 man, to long after the home of his childhood. But we have feeling-s, 
 as missionaries, which often absorb and overpower our feelings as 
 men. To go forth as the ambassador, to a lost world, of that Master 
 whom we love ; to press the cup of life to the lips of those dying 
 without hope ; to be sustained by the prayers of many thousands 
 whom we never saw face to face; to know that every trial we 
 meet with is designed to work in us the peaceable fraits of righteous- 
 ness ; to have the assurance, when other friends are far away, ' Lo, I 
 am with you always, even unto the end of the world;' to be engaged 
 in an employment whose object is the subduing of every kindred, 
 and tongue, and people, and nation to the Prince of peace ; to bo 
 knit in tender affection to those brethren who have made the same 
 sacrifices with ourselves, and share our every joy, our every sorrow ; 
 to look around on these native converts, and feel that through free 
 grace in Christ Jesus they are taken from their pollution and are 
 washed, sanctified, and justified, and are travehng home with us to 
 a world of glory, to join in the everlasting song ; the assurance that 
 this cause is certainly to prevail, that Jesus will subdue all his ene- 
 mies, and fill the whole earth with righteousness and peace ; — these 
 views rejoice the missionary's heart, and nerve his arm. We can 
 indeed testify that the Saviour is true to his promise, and gives us a 
 hundred-fold more in this present time for every self-denial, however 
 small, which we make for him. 
 
 " The spirit of prayer manifested by many of the young men of 
 the seminary, is truly remarkable. It is now with us a time of only 
 ordinary religious interest, and yet a stranger coming into our 
 prayer-meetings, and listening to the fervent, unafiected entreaties 
 of these youths, would suppose us to be in the midst of a revival. 
 This impression would be still further confirmed, were he to stand, 
 as I often do, near our range of prayer-rooms, just as our pupils are 
 about to retire to rest, and hear their mingled voices, as one here 
 
THE NESTORIAN CONVERTS. 819 
 
 and another there, they are pouring out their souls to God in con- 
 fession, supplication and praise. 
 
 '^ It must not be supposed that all these hopefully pious pupils are 
 equally strong in the Lord, or that even the best of them do not 
 often betray weaknesses of character. We can expect nothing else 
 when we remember how very unfavorable were the influences 
 thrown around them in infancy and childhood. Many of these now 
 humble, growing, prayerful Christians, were hterally brought up 
 among thieves, liars, Sabbath-breakers and murderers. And when 
 we consider this, instead of wondering that they have a defective 
 Christian character, we can only adore the grace of Grod, wWch has 
 brought them out of darkness into his marvelous light, and made 
 them, in tliis benighted land, living monuments to the power of the 
 Grospel. 
 
 " Every Sabbath some of these young men go out to the adjacent 
 villages, to tell the story of redeeming love. And though their edu- 
 cation is yet incomplete, and they have not all those qualifications 
 we hope they will hereafter acquire for preaching the Gospel, they 
 often meet with a very favorable reception, and do much to spread 
 light and truth. A number of them are deeply interested in this 
 good work, and bid fair to be eloquent and efiicient ambassadors of 
 Christ. 
 
 " May the Lord of missions smile on us in this, our interesting 
 and yet responsible work. May we be enabled to train up these 
 young men so that they will be able and devoted standard-bearers 
 in the Lord's army. And may our friends in America be stimulated 
 to renewed prayers that God wiU make this seminary a name and a 
 praise among this interesting but lost people. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CONTINUED LABORS. 
 
 Mr. Stoddard was now in the maturity of his powers. 
 He had already the trained experience of years of mission- 
 ary service, and the no less valuable experience of protracted 
 and famiHar intercourse with the Secretaries of the Amer- 
 ican Board. He had always been valued in the little circle 
 at Oroomiah for the candor and clearness of his views upon 
 perplexing questions, and had often been deputed by the 
 mission to conduct difficult negotiations with the function- 
 aries of government, and to prepare statements and appeals 
 in behalf of the Mission to the Committee and the Churches 
 at home. Now, however, his presence in his station was 
 doubly welcome ; because, after an absence of nearly three 
 years, he could form a more impartial judgment of the 
 mission and its work, and because he could faithfully repre- 
 sent the views of the home Committee ; to whom, in turn, 
 he had so intimately represented those of the mission. He 
 formed a fresh and living link between the two extremities 
 of the missionary work — the home and the foreign executive. 
 His counsels were always prudent, inclining to the side of 
 patience and moderation, while, at the same time, he was 
 earnest and fervent in his work, and more than ready to 
 share the cares and la Dors of the station. The routine of a 
 
PASTOKAL LABORS. 821 
 
 seminary life, in an isolated position upon Mount Seir, gave 
 little opportunity for variety of incident; but Mr. Stod 
 dard's wakeful mind continually found something to enlist 
 his own prayers, and to report for encouragement or exhor- 
 tation to the churches. 
 
 " January 16th, 1852. I suppose is making rapid progress 
 
 in study, and is fust advancing to manhood. I hope he will conse- 
 crate his every power to the service of Christ, and not only make his 
 college life far more profitable to himself and to others than I did, 
 but hereafter do much more to further the Redeemer's cause. Did 
 he, and other young men, only know what a blessed work this is of 
 missions, I am sure they would press forward through the prepara- 
 tory school, the college, and the seminary, and hasten to join us in 
 gathering jewels for our Saviour's crown. It gives me joy to see 
 that candidates are increasing in number, and that the missionary 
 cause seems to be gaining a more decided and deeper hold on the 
 church." 
 
 Soon after his return he began to instruct his older pupils 
 in theology, in order to prepare them to preach the Gospel 
 in its purity to their countrymen. 
 
 " Seir, January 16th, 1852. I suppose you know that I can not 
 bear nearly as much fatigue as formerly, and especially that I can 
 push myself only up to a certain point in close study and writing. I 
 am, therefore, obliged to write less than I would, even to my dearest 
 friends. Then, again, I find so much dehghtful labor to perform in 
 this seminary that I am tempted to give all my strength to it. Do 
 you know that twenty-eight out of our forty young men are hope- 
 fully pious, and many of them active, growing, Christians ? In addi- 
 tion to other studies, I am carrying them over a regular course of 
 theology, which they take hold of with much enthusiasm. I am 
 nearly as full on every topic as if I was preparing young men for the 
 ministry in America, except that I omit controversies which they 
 
 14* 
 
322 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 never heard of, and I may say never ought to hear of. How sad 
 that so much strength has been expended by good men on non- 
 essentials, and often on mere philosophical quibbhng. The Nestorian 
 mind is not philosophical or methodical, but these young men succeed, 
 many of them extremely well, in getting hold of the gist of the mat- 
 ter. Every Sabbath they go out in pairs to preach the Gospel, and 
 a blessing seems to go with them. It is often animating to hear their 
 reports. We recently had a vacation of a week, and at its close held 
 a Httle meeting, as usual, in which the older ones gave an account of 
 their labors. They thought they had never seen such a week — such 
 a universal willingness to hear — such a dying away of opposition. 
 This was the first week of the year, and the wilhngness of the peo- 
 ple in tJie villages to receive and hear these young brethren, may 
 have been owing (why not ?) to the many prayers offered at this 
 season for us, in America and every part of the world. We had an 
 interesting concert of prayer this month. The Holy Spirit was evi- 
 dently hovering over us. There was a good deal of weeping and 
 universal solemnity. This continues to some extent now. We hope 
 and pray for a revival. God grant that we may have a copious 
 shower. 
 
 " Of late the brethren have given me the oversight of Geog Tapa. 
 It is a most interesting field. It is expected that I shall work prin- 
 eipally through John, with an occasional visit. Is it not too much 
 for one man to have two such spheres of labor — both so engrossing, 
 both so dehghtfiil? May God make me worthy of my high respon- 
 sibihties. Where on earth could we be, and find our responsibihties 
 or privileges greater than here ? You wrote me a kind letter once, 
 urging ipy return here. It was not, however, necessary. I think I 
 may say with truth, not all the gold of California would have tempted 
 me to forsake the Nestorians." 
 
 The missionary station at Gawar in the mountains, en- 
 listed his warmest sympathies. He was more hopeful of 
 its success than were some of the brethren at Oroomiah, 
 and he often lifted up his voice of encouragement in the 
 
THE MISSION AT GAWAR. 323 
 
 midst of difficulties. The following was addressed to Rev. 
 S. A. Rhea. 
 
 " I have watched the course of your feelings since you went to 
 Gawar, solicitous that you should be happy there and yet half fear- 
 ing that you would not be. It is indeed a great change from the 
 quiet study of Theology in the seminary, or sweet communion Avith 
 the churches in our native land, to be confined to a single room in a 
 filthy Nestorian village, and to be surrounded by Nestorians almost 
 as filthy and degraded as the brutes with whom they herd. More 
 than one missionary has shrunk from such contact and found too 
 late that he had not self denial enough for his work. I am, how- 
 ever, rejoiced to find that you^ as well as Mr. Coan and his good 
 wife, are not only reconciled to your situation, but happy in it, and 
 perhaps considering yourselves as specially privileged in thus taking 
 up your cross. Unto you it is given, said Paul, in the behalf of 
 Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. 
 The more we have of the spirit of our blessed Lord the more cheer- 
 fully we shall follow him, wherever he leads the way. I love to 
 think of your peculiar trials this winter as working in you all the 
 peaceable fruits of righteousness. Perhaps God is tlius training and 
 disciphning you, giving you a small field to labor in and surrounding 
 you with many unpleasant things, for some great and glorious work 
 in the mountains. I can not tell you how much interested I am, and 
 indeed aU of us, in the details of your every day labors and suc- 
 cesses. Your letters do us great good. We feel almost as if you 
 had gone out from us on a foreign mission. You are always remem- 
 bered in our social prayers and I presume very often in the closet. 
 You have certainly made a most auspicious beginning. The soften- 
 ing down of prejudice and the attachment of the people to you is 
 remarkable. May it be an earnest of what will be witnessed in all 
 Gawar and throughout the mountains. Mrs. Coan certainly shows 
 much perseverance in teaching the women to read. It seems a 
 most promising feature in your work that the women are interested 
 
324 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 and at such an early day eager to learn to read. It was very dif- 
 ferent at Oroomiah in the early stages of the mission. 
 
 '' Your situation is in every respect an interesting one, and though 
 I spoke above of the natives as so filthy, I did not mean that I 
 should find them repulsive. On the contrary, if I was not just 
 where I am, I should love to be with you all in Gawar. How 
 delightful to believe that you are sowing seed, which will grow 
 and ripen and bear fruit forever. A lodgment once effected in 
 the mountains, hght once beginning to shine, we may hope the 
 influence will spread from village to village, from hamlet to hamlet, 
 from heart to heart, till every valley and every mountain top 
 in Koordistan shall be illumined with the beams of the Sun of right- 
 eousness. And you are permitted by the providence and grace of 
 Grod to hegin so blessed a work ; not to enter into other men's 
 labors, but to go beyond and preach Christ where he was not 
 known." 
 
 To Rev. Dr. Dwight of Constantinople, he writes : 
 
 " March 12th, 1852. You speak of your secular cares. I am 
 sorry you have so many and do not wonder you have a kind of 
 longing for deliverance. But the first question always is for us, 
 whether we are doing just the work God would have us do. If we 
 are, we may be satisfied, and more than satisfied, whether it be gov- 
 erning a kingdom or sweeping a street. Give yourself, dear brother, 
 anew every day to the Lord Jesus Christ, to be his servant, and I 
 have no fear whatever that you will not be happy when handling 
 money or making up the mails. 
 
 " I think our work was probably never more prosperous than at 
 present, though we have not this year so many decided influences of 
 the spirit as in some years previous. But the whole field is wide 
 op jn. There is a great softening down of prejudice and a readiness 
 everywhere to hear the Gospel. About three thousand are gathered 
 in religious meetings every Sabbath, and during a recent vacation in 
 the seminary of ten days, our pupils visited and held meetings in 
 more than one hundred villages. Bless the Lord with us." 
 
A MISSION SABBATH SCHOOL. 825 
 
 To his parents. 
 
 "April 17th, 1852. I know you are willing, quite willing,, to 
 have me where I am engaged in this good work of missions, and 
 have no disposition to have me return to you, even if I could do 
 ever so much to comfort your hearts. We are all happiest when we 
 are where God would have us be, and when we are doing his wiU. 
 If being happy is any indication that we are doing our duty, then I 
 may have pretty good evidence that God would have me in Persia. 
 If all my brothers and sisters are under as serene a sky as I am, they 
 certainly have reason to praise God. I do not mean that I am free 
 from trials. We never can be and perhaps never ought to be in this 
 world. We have many annoyances from living in this country, 
 about which you can know nothing. But then, so far as it is possi- 
 ble for a poor unworthy sinner to have peace of conscience, I 
 enjoy it. 
 
 " Beside my duties in the seminary, I have charge of Geog Tapa, 
 which is ten miles distant, where I go occasionally to spend the Sab- 
 bath. It would do your hearts good to see what is going on in that 
 once wicked village. I could show you a Sabbath school of some 
 three hundred pupils, embracing old men and women, young men and 
 maidens, and Uttle children just able to lisp the name of God. The 
 enthusiasm of those who are advanced in hfe and who have never 
 before learned to read is delightful. There is one class of forty 
 women, and another of about twenty young men. Some are in the 
 alphabet, some in the spelling-book, some in the New Testament, 
 some in the Old, and all so absorbed in their lessons, that they do not 
 like to have the hour close and the school dismissed. During the 
 week, men may be seen going to their work with a book in tlieir 
 pocket, which they occasionally take out to read a verse. When 
 they stop to rest at noon, they are often more anxious to read than 
 to eat their dinner, and some poor persons who can not afford a can- 
 dle are occasionally seen reading by the bright moonlight.* Some 
 
 * You can hardly realize how bright our skies are in Persia, Yenus 
 Bometimes throws so strong a light into a room that one can read by it at 
 a distance of twelve feet from the window. 
 
326 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 rise long before day that they may thus redeem the time. Some 
 women are seen spinning with the book before them on a shelf. In- 
 stead of spending their time as formerly in worse than idle gossip, 
 groups now oilan gather around ' a reader' to hear the stories of 
 Adam and Eve, Noab, Abraham, Moses, etc., from Grenesis to Reve- 
 lation." 
 
 To Mr. Rhea, at Gawar, he writes. 
 
 " May 29, 1852. It would be very pleasant to give you for a 
 little while a more comfortable home than you can now have in 
 Gawar in our own families, and to enjoy with you the delightful 
 scenery about Seir and the city. But if duty clearly keeps you all 
 in Gawar, I will not say otie word. We have nothing to do with 
 inclination, when the path of duty is plain. How slow we are to 
 learn this simple truth, that we are safer and happier just where God 
 would have us be, and doing just what he would have us do. I am 
 sorry we cannot do more directly to aid you this summer, but we 
 can pray for you, and I am determined to pray for you more and 
 more earnestly than I have done. It seems almost presumptuous to 
 think that my feeble prayers offered here will avail you any thing 
 in Gawar ; and yet, if we believe our Bibles, and consider the ex- 
 perience we have, no doubt, all had of God's grace in answering 
 prayer, we shall not undervalue the privilege of intercession for each 
 other. You have a difficult and responsible position, and you need 
 our sympathy. But you do not need our pity. God has placed you 
 where you are. He wiU be with you and bless you. You may roll 
 all your burdens off on him, ' for he careth for you.' He will make 
 all sunlight around you, if you only go to him in childlike trust. 
 
 " I am sorry to learn from different sources that your health is not 
 good. Take the best care, dear brother, of health. It is too pre- 
 cious to lose. I wish I could impress this point on you. Don't 
 work when you feel unable to do so. It is economy to lie by a 
 little. I have learned this by sad experience in other years. Pay 
 great respect to yourself^ 
 
DEATH OF HIS MOTHER. 327 
 
 To Dr. Lobdell, of Mosul, he sends this excellent coun- 
 sel for the preservation of health in a hot climate. Unhap- 
 pily Dr. Lobdell suffered his zeal as a missionary to get the 
 better of his discretion as a physician, and early fell a vic- 
 tun to typhus fever. 
 
 " June 26, 1852. You seem yet to have a good stock of spirits 
 left., and I pray that you may not be wilted down and unfitted for 
 exertion hereafter. I do not believe it is your duty to study 
 much or go about much this summer, but simply your duty to live. 
 Whether Mosul be a healthy place or not, you must go through an 
 acclimating process, and that process a critical one, too. You will 
 have already learned the power of a Persian, or rather a Turkish, 
 sun, and its action on the bilious system. We have nothing to com- 
 pare with it in America, and Mosul must be worse than Oroomiah. 
 I have written Brother Williams about instruments. I may add that 
 I am myself a pretty good weather instrument, and I have learned 
 by hard experience that it is good in Persia to keep quiet, to show 
 out not too much of the Yankee, to look at the future as well as 
 the present. Our work is pressing. Sick people are to be cured, 
 men dead in sin are to be made alive, converts are to be watched 
 over, and new conquests achieved, and the temptation is to forget 
 that we have a body, and wear it out too soon." 
 
 Within a short interval the mail from America had 
 brought him tidings of the death of his venerable mother, 
 and of Dr. Briggs, of Marblehead, the father of Mrs. Har- 
 riette Stoddard. The two following letters refer to these 
 afl9.ictive providences. 
 
 " Seir, July 17, 1852. 
 " My Dearly Beloved Father, 
 
 "I cannot tell you how much I have thought of you, or how ear- 
 nestly I have prayed for you, since the sad news came of my dear 
 mother's death. I call it sad news, and yet I feel tliat this language 
 is almost out of place. To you the event is a most painful one. 
 
828 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 The partner of your joys and sorrows these many years, your com- 
 forter in sickness, the mother of your children, the light of your 
 dwelling, has gone forever, and you cannot suppress wholly the 
 rising tide of grief. The church and the community, too, have sus- 
 tained a deep loss ; and we who are children have parted with such 
 a mother as few children have ever had to mourn. But when I 
 turn from these first thoughts, and remember only my dear mother, 
 my sadness passes away, and my heart begins to fill vnth thanks- 
 giving and praise. Let us bless Grod that she lived so long; that she 
 enjoyed such uncommon health; that her home was in such a de- 
 lightftil spot ; that she was ever surrounded by so many beloved and 
 afiectionate fi?iends ; that she was permitted to see all her dear chil- 
 dren, for whom she had toiled and prayed, grow up, walking in the 
 fear of the Lord ; that her husband was spared to her even to the 
 end of her journey ; that she was so cheerful and happy in her tem- 
 perament ; that she had grace daily to walk with God, to overcome 
 the world, and let her light shine far and wide. Let us, in a word, 
 praise God for her happy and useful life, her peaceful death, and the 
 beginning of her triumphant immortaUty. what a change has 
 she now experienced ! Instead of old age, immortal youth ; instead 
 of impaired faculties, those of an angel ; instead of a world of im- 
 perfect beings, one filled wdth angels, and the spirits of the just 
 made perfect ; instead of faith, sight ; instead of hope, full fruition ; 
 instead of a burden of sin, perfect purity; instead of wavering 
 afiection to Christ, perfect love. I can see my dear mother walking 
 on those heavenly hills. Her robes have been washed and made 
 white in the blood of the Lamb. Her face, ever beaming with love, 
 is now lighted up with glory. Yes, she is there — there forever at 
 rest, blessed above what eye has ever seen or ear heard. There she 
 will forever flourish in the courts of the Lord. A few more days 
 and nights of change, and we shall go to her. We know not who 
 will go first. Perhaps you, dear aged father, perhaps I, your 
 youngest son. Let us hve, then, like pilgrims, our loins girt about, 
 our sandals on, our staff in our hands, ready for the great sum- 
 mons. 
 
DEATH OF DE. BRIQGS. 329 
 
 " Alay God sanctify to you, dear father, this stroke of his hand. 
 May you be more than comforted, and the remainder of your days 
 be a brighter example than ever of the purity and power of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 " We are well, but feel the heat of the weather. My missionary 
 brethren and sisters send you their tenderest sympathy. 
 " Very affectionately, your son, 
 
 " D. T. Stoddard." 
 
 Extracts from a letter to Miss M. A. Briggs. 
 
 " Seir, July 18, 1852. 
 " My Dear Sister, 
 
 Your dear father is gone, cut down in the midst of his days 
 and in the midst of his usefulness. I never knew how much 1 
 loved him till now. Ever since my first acquaintance with him he 
 has been growing in my esteem and affection, and I had hoped I 
 snould enjoy his counsels and prayers for many years to come. But 
 God has ordered otherwise, and transferred him to a higher sphere 
 of activity and usefulness. We can only bow submissively, and say, 
 ' Thy will be done.' 
 
 " Few children are called to mourn over such a father. Bless God 
 that he was spared to you so long, that he did so much to promote 
 your usefulness and happiness, that he trained you up in the fear of 
 God. Bless God that your mother had his presence and aid in the 
 difficult task of bringing up her Httle ones. Bless God that he was 
 able to do so much to save the lives and restore the health of others. 
 Bless God that the church had so much of his sympathy and aid. 
 He was honored and loved wherever he w^as known ; and even 
 though he may not have left you very much of this world's goods, 
 he has left you what is far better, his own bright example, and the 
 savor of his influence in the family circle, which cannot die. Let us 
 mourn for him, but not without hope. He sleeps in Jesus. He had 
 a trust based on the Rock of Ages. He was prepared to die. He 
 was one of those for whom the ' many mansions' are made ready. 
 We sha*l soon see him again in a world where there is no change and 
 
330 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 no sorrow. God grant you, and all your dear brothers and sisters, may 
 be led to consecrate yourselves fuUy to that Saviour who was so 
 dear to your sainted father." 
 
 The disturbances in the mountains affecting the comfort 
 and safety of the station at Gawar, attracted the attention 
 of Colonel William F. Williams, of the British army, then 
 commissioner of boundaries, who has since gained a world- 
 wide fame as the heroic defender of Kars. This able officer 
 proved himself a warm friend of the mission. But far more 
 precious than the protection of earthly governments is the 
 seal of God's approbation upon the mission in the gifts of 
 his grace. One of the letters which describes the visit of 
 the commissioner, gives an account of the death of the 
 most aged of the Nestorian converts, the father of John, 
 the first convert in Mr. Stoddard's household. 
 
 "August 16th, 1852. You are familiar with the history of John, 
 and you may have seen in the Journal of Missions a notice which 
 I prepared of his blind and aged father. If so, you will be glad to 
 know more of this man of God, who has recently put off his taber- 
 nacle of clay. Sixty years ago, he might have been seen, an active, 
 vigorous young man, with staff in hand, setting out on a pilgrimage 
 to Jerusalem. It was the impression then, as it is among the igno- 
 rant Nestorians now, that by seeing the holy city they might lay up 
 treasures in heaven ; and you will find here and there a man who is 
 willing to leave his family and friends, and make, on foot, this long 
 journey of three thousand miles, much of it through deserts and 
 among hostile Arabs, in order to secure salvation. When the pilgrim 
 returned, he settled in Geog Tapa, and was celebrated for his hospi- 
 tality and alms-deeds and abundant prayers. Every morning and 
 night he used to go to the church and there repeat his long prayers 
 in an unknown tongue, and as religion was then understood among 
 tlie people, he was regarded as a very pious man. When Mr. Per- 
 
AN AGED SAINT. 831 
 
 kins came here, eighteen years ago, this same man, then some sev- 
 enty-five years old, welcomed his coming with open arms, thinking 
 that in some way life and blessing had come to the people, though 
 he little understood how. He, however, entrusted his son John to 
 the care of the missionary, and he was trained up in the fear of God, 
 and has now become a burning and shining light. When the old 
 man learned that our instruction tended to undermine faith in pil- 
 grimages, and long, unmeaning prayers and almsgiving as a ground 
 of salvation, he took offense, and was often heard disputing with 
 our native helpers, and with his son. As the light gradually broke 
 in upon him, and he learned in some measure that he was a lost 
 sinner, he had quite an internal conflict. John says he often over- 
 heard him praying thus in those days : ' Lord, I can not believe 
 this new way of salvation, I do not understand it. Help me to 
 understand it. Help me to receive it, if it is true.' And God 
 heard his prayer, and led him to the cross of Christ. He became a 
 meek, humble Christian, as eminent for true piety as he had formerly 
 been for good works. He has been blind for the last two years, 
 but always happy, always rejoicing in God. Many a time he has 
 said to those around him, ' I am willing to lose the sight of this beau- 
 tiful world, if God will only give me a clear sight of spiritual things. 
 If I may have the eye of faith fixed on the heavenly world, it is 
 enough. I am happy. I am more than happy. Bless God for what 
 he has done for me.' He was accustomed every day to pray six 
 times, and John tells me that he often spent from one to two hours 
 in his closet at a time. About half his prayers were for the exten- 
 sion of the Redeemer's kingdom, and much of the remainder for his 
 beloved son. Being blind, he would frequently kneel down to pray 
 when some one was in the room, he not being aware of it himself 
 In his earnestness he would stretch out his hands, as if looking to 
 Christ, and pleading with him, till he would press forward on his 
 knees to the other end of the room. 
 
 " I would love to teU you more of the life of this excellent Nesto- 
 rian, but I will take up no more of my sheet with it. Two or three 
 weeks ago he was seized with cholera, and in a few hours passed 
 
832 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 away to his rest. At times, when he was free from pain, his chil- 
 dren and grand-children, thirty-six in number, gathered around his 
 bed, and received his parting blessing. Said the patriarch : ' I have 
 hved more than ninety years, and now I am called away. I wel- 
 come the invitation. This is a happy day for me. I am going to 
 my Saviour.' He died peacefully, Hke a httle child falling asleep, on 
 Sabbath evening, after an illness of twenty-four hours. His good 
 wiTe died, just a week after, leaving behind her an uncommon repu- 
 tation for meekness and love. Such living and dying testimony to 
 the power of the Gospel adds to the effect of our preaching among 
 the people, and recompenses abundantly for our exile from home 
 and country." 
 
 The disease which removed this aged pilgrim, again vis- 
 ited the plain of Oroomiah with fearful desolation. Mr. 
 Stoddard writes : 
 
 " For nearly two months the city and plain of Oroomiah have 
 been ravaged by the cholera. It is impossible to ascertain the 
 number of deaths. We can only say that the poor people, knowing 
 nothing of medicine, and without any prudence, stuffing themselves 
 with unripe fiuit and cucumbers, have been cut down by thousands. 
 It is very sad to pass by the graveyards, and see the number of 
 new-made graves. Perhaps it is not too much to say that four thou- 
 sand persons have died in all, of whom half have died within the 
 limits of the city. Our heavenly Father has kindly taken care of 
 us, so that all our number are yet in life and health." 
 
 A few weeks later, Dr. and Mrs. Perkins, with their 
 daughter Judith, set out for Erzeroom, to accompany to 
 Oroomiah the newly-arrived missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Crane, and Mr. Stoddard's youngest daughter, whom they 
 had in charge, on her return from America to her early 
 home. In one week Dr. and Mrs. Perkins returned, bear- 
 ing the remains of their loved Judith, who had been smitten 
 
DEATH OF JUDITH PERKINS. 333 
 
 with cholera upon the way. Judith was the eldest child 
 of the mission, and was a favorite in all its families. Mr. 
 Stoddard, who had fondled her as a child on his first voyage 
 from America, felt her loss most keenly, especially upon the 
 eve of greeting again his own Sarah, who having recrossed 
 the ocean in safety, was to have come back to him in 
 Judith's company. He went immediately to Erzeroom to 
 fulfil the service in which Dr. Perkins was so sadly frustra- 
 ted ; and where his bereaved brother had so lately walked 
 through the vale of death, he returned in safety with his 
 own exiled child. Yet each child found a Father's home, 
 for Judith had gone to be Avith God. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 GROWTH IN GRACE. 
 
 Mr. Stoddard kept no journal of his own religious ex- 
 periences, and was ordinarily reserved in the communica- 
 tion of these to others. It was evident to all who knew 
 him that he was eminently a man of prayer. Said a native 
 preacher to a company of Nestorians after his death, " Did 
 you ever see that good man when the knees of his panta- 
 loons were not covered with dust or worn threadbare? 
 And do you know why it was ? Because he spent so much 
 time in prayer." But the secret of that spiritual-minded- 
 ness which shone through his countenance and character- 
 ized all his thoughts and plans, appears to have been the 
 habit of minute particularity in prayer concerning his own 
 spiritual state and his work. Among his effects there was 
 found a solitary pn.per, dated 1852, which in part reveals 
 his interior life. It is here given entire, and in the form in 
 which it was written. 
 
 "THANKSGIVING FOR 
 
 '■■ Life — complexity, simplicity, and convenience of bodily frame. 
 
 " Use of aU my limbs — the eye, the ear, the hand, the foot, etc. 
 
 ''Intelligence — 
 
 " Reason — use of all my mental faculties. 
 
 " Conscience — 
 
 " Circumstances of bi'iih — in land of intelligence ; of freedom ; ot 
 
MATTER FOR THANKSGIVING. 835 
 
 Christianity ; educated, afifectionate, judicious, and pious pa- 
 rents. 
 
 " Baptism in infancy — child of covenant, 
 
 "Early instruction, religious and secular — good teachers; abun- 
 dance of books — especially the Bible. 
 
 " Restraining grace. 
 
 " Providential dehverances — (in my case striking). 
 
 " Health — good nursing, suitable medicine, restoration when sick. 
 
 " Friends — very numerous and very affectionate. 
 
 " Food — always in abundance, pleasant, and nourishing. 
 
 " Raiment — also abundant; creatures taxed to furnish me. 
 
 " Quiet, regular, and refreshing sleep. 
 
 "House and home — shelter from heat and cold; conveniences of 
 a civilized home ; comforts of home, as wife, children, etc. 
 
 " Beauty and variety of the world in which I live — sun, moon, 
 stars, verdure, change of seasons — all that delights the eye, the ear, 
 and other senses. 
 
 " Converting grace — the wonderful provision for me, and for all in 
 the cross of Christ, not only without myself, but, so to speak, in 
 spite of myself 
 
 " Pardon. Justification. Adoption. Promises to me as a believer. 
 
 " Forbearance of God with me in my unfaithfulness. 
 
 " Peace of conscience. Joy in the Holy Ghost. 
 
 " Deliverance from temptation. 
 
 " Union with Christ. Aid of Spirit. Privilege of prayer. 
 
 " The Holy Sabbath. The Holy Scriptures. 
 
 " Ten thousand means and influences to draw me heavenward — ■ 
 change of seasons, death of others, warnings of pulpit, etc. ; afflic- 
 tions. 
 
 " Christian fellowship. Ordinance of Lord's Supper. 
 
 " Privilege of being a minister. Privilege of being a missionary. 
 
 *' All that is promised to me in the world to come — viz. ; resurrec- 
 tion, a glorious body, acceptance in day of judgment, admission to 
 heaven, perfect holiness and happiness forever there. 
 
336 MEMOIE OF STODDARD. 
 
 "CONFESSION. 
 
 " Encouragement to confession of sin. 
 
 " Thorough defilement — nature and conduct. 
 
 "Want of love to God; to his law; to Christ; how different 
 from woman that bathed his feet; to feUow Christians; and how 
 little based on right grounds ; to Nestorians ; to whole world ; to 
 enemies. 
 
 •' Want of desire for salvation of souls. 
 
 " Want of faith in God ; (I am often a practical atheist) ; his prom- 
 ises so great and precious ; his Son ; I rather rely on my own right- 
 eousness ; in realities of eternity, which seem to me as a dream. 
 
 " Want of zeal — I have enough for things of this world. 
 
 " Want of patience — fretfulness toward man, and murmuring to- 
 ward God. 
 
 " Want of meekness — (frequent indulgence of passion. How un- 
 like him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter). 
 
 " Want of spiritual mind — (far from being a temple of the Holy 
 Ghost). 
 
 " Want of reverence — don't realize the immense distance between 
 God and me. 
 
 " Want of thankftilness — I take the blessings and forget the 
 Giver. 
 
 " Want of hatred to sin — I don't hate it for the same reasons that 
 God hates it ; for lower and merely prudential reasons. 
 
 " Want of humility — (pride). 
 
 " Want of activity — active enough when self is to be gratified. 
 
 " Want of contentment. Want of perseverance. 
 
 " Want of courage. When I think I am courageous, apt to be 
 obstinate rather than courageous. 
 
 "Want of will subdue"3. How unlike the Saviour, 'not my will, 
 but thine be done.' 
 
 " Want of watchfulness. Superficial repentance. 
 
 " Love of world — care about things of — a real Martha. 
 
 " Vanity — vain of abilities ; of acquisitions ; of station. 
 
 " Sloth — waste time in sleep. 
 
MATTER FOR CONFESSION. 3B7 
 
 " Impurity of motive. Selfishness — (pervades all my actions). 
 
 " Spiritual pride. Self-righteousness — depend on my prayers and 
 works more than on Christ. 
 
 " Heedlessness — vain thoughts ; neglect of meditation. 
 
 '' Hypocrisy. Censoriousness — ill-will ; want of charity. Levity. 
 
 " Neglect of prayer for self and others ; mockery in, and omis- 
 sion of 
 
 '' Neglect of Bible. 
 
 "Neglect of opportunities of doing good to body and soul of men, 
 
 " Violation of Sabbath. Violation of covenant vows. Unworthy 
 partaking of sacrament. 
 
 " IVIisimprovement of afilictions. 
 
 " Sensuahty. Misimprovement of time. Searing of conscience. 
 
 " Tongue sins — viz. : detraction, profanity, deceit, unkind words, 
 trifling words. 
 
 " Sins as a son — want of gratitude to my parents ; early disobe- 
 dience and irreverence. 
 
 " Sins as a husband — have not done half I might have done to 
 promote my wife's comfort or help her in the way to heaven. 
 
 **' Sins as a father — want of uniform government ; want of a 
 steady, affectionate, holy influence over my children. 
 
 " Sins as an instructor — want of attention to the souls of those 
 under my care, and prayer for them. 
 
 " Sins as a minister — preaching a cold duty, through pride and 
 vain glory, and not to please Christ. 
 
 " Sins as a missionary — breaking of promises I have virtually 
 made to American churches ; to Coromittee ; to Nestorians. 
 
 " Sins as Christian brother. 
 
 " Sinning thus against God and my own soul, and souls of others. 
 
 " Sinning against light and knowledge, notwithstanding a high 
 profession. 
 
 " Sinning in spite of innumerable mercies, of many warnings, 
 chastisements, and vows. 
 
 16 
 
S38 MEMOIROFSTODDARD. 
 
 "PETITION FOR 
 
 " Health— food, raiment, quiet sleep. Reason. 
 
 " Hatred of sin. Pardon of all sin. Deliverance from its power. 
 
 " Clearly comprehend Gospel plan. A well grounded hope in Christ 
 
 " A tender conscience. Peace of conscience. 
 
 " Influences of the Holy Spirit. Witness of the Spirit. Justifi- 
 cation. Joy in Holy Grhost. 
 
 " Spirit of prayer, constancy in. Spirit of prayer, gift of. 
 
 " Answers to prayer. Understanding of Scriptures. 
 
 " A spiritual mind. Reverence or holy fear. 
 
 " Love to Grod — Christ — fellow Christians. 
 
 " Love to souls and a desire to save. Love to a world in ruin. 
 
 " Love to enemies, and forgiveness to. 
 
 " Deadness to world. Patience. Meekness. Humility — ^will 
 subdued. 
 
 " Benevolence — abound in good works. Crucifixion of self. 
 
 " Activity of body and mind. 
 
 " Heavenly and earthly wisdom. 
 
 "Discretion. Contentment. Perseverance. Watchfulness. Moral 
 courage. 
 
 " Spirit of thankfulness. 
 
 " Sense of accountability. Not to be a trifler. Not misimprove 
 time. 
 
 " Deliverance fi-om special temptations. 
 
 " Improvement of afflictions. 
 
 " Be wise to win souls. 
 
 " Keep Sabbath holy. Love meditation. Have self-knowledge. 
 
 " Keep vows. Improve talents. 
 
 " Not be sensual. Govern the tongue (see Confession). 
 
 " Love meditation. Have right motives. 
 
 " Discharge properly duties ; as a son, husband, father, instructor, 
 minister, missionary, a Christian brother." 
 
 Mr. Stoddard sometimes prepared for his pupils themes 
 for prayer similar to the foregoing list. One who knew 
 
MATTERS FOR PETITION. 389 
 
 him most intimately says of him: ''He was too busUy em- 
 ployed in doing good to every body about him, to find time 
 to make any record of his doings, for his own gratification. 
 A diary he had no confidence in, as he said it tempted one 
 to make the expression of exercises of the mind felt to be 
 desirable, a substitute for efforts to attain them." 
 
 To one who had consecrated herself to the work of mis- 
 sions, he wrote : 
 
 " I do not know what your experience of missionary life will be ; 
 but if it is at all like mine, you will ever bless God that he has 
 brought you to these interesting fields, so wliite for the harvest. 
 Consecrate yourself entirely to your Redeemer, have your heart im- 
 bued with love to souls, and you will go on your way rejoicing ; — 
 come health or sickness, sunny or cloudy skies, you will ever be 
 speaking to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing 
 and making melody with grace in your heart to the Lord," 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 LABORS AS A SCHOLAR. 
 
 The remarkable facility for acquiring languages which 
 Mr. Stoddard possessed, and his thorough discipline in the 
 grammatical structure of vaiious tongues, fitted him to 
 counsel and to aid Dr. Perkins in the work of translation 
 to which that gentleman has devoted so large a portion 
 of his missionary life. 
 
 The missionaries to the ISTestorians found them in pos- 
 session of the Scriptures in manuscript copies, in the ancient 
 Syriac. This language, however, through the changes of 
 time, had ceased to be vernacular; and hence the Scrip- 
 tures, though more or less intelligible to the ecclesiastics, 
 were not understood by the common people. It was, there- 
 fore, proposed to translate the 'New Testament into modern 
 Syriac from the aficient, instead of making a new version 
 from the Greek. The ancient Syriac version was, probably, 
 made as early as the latter part of the second century, and 
 in the earlier part of the fourth century it was in general 
 use in churches where the Syriac tongue was spoken. Its 
 origin is ascribed to the scholars of Edessa. It is commonly 
 known as the Peshito a term meaning " simple," with refer- 
 ence probably to the fact that it consists of the bare text, 
 without note or comment. De Wette* describes it as " an 
 immediate, faithful, free, but seldom paraphrastic, transla- 
 
 * flistorico-Criticai Introduction to the New Testament, § 11. 
 
THE SYRIAC VERSION. 341 
 
 tion" from one of the oldest Greek texts. Tregelles* does 
 not estimate it quite so highly, though he concedes to it a 
 great antiquity. 
 
 For reasons approved by the American Bible Society, 
 the version of the New Testament in Modern Syriac was 
 made directly from the best ancient Syriac manuscripts. The 
 labor of this translation has devolved upon the senior mis- 
 sionary, Dr. Perkins ; but in revising his version for the 
 press, he was accustomed to pass the manuscript and the 
 proofs through the hands of Mr. Stoddard, for his critical 
 suggestions. 
 
 The difficulties which Mr. Stoddard had overcome for 
 himself in the study of the Syriac, led him to prepare a 
 grammar of the modern language for the use of beginners. 
 His labors upon this work are described at length in his 
 letters to Rev. A. Hazen. The following extracts will give 
 the reader a general idea of its importance. 
 
 "June 17th, 1852. When I think of all my dear friends, I long 
 to have fifty hands wielding fifty goose quills, that I may hold sweet 
 converse with them and teU them how strong is my afi'ection. I 
 never mean to be in debt to my correspondents, and yet with all 
 my efibrts I find it somewhat difficult to keep out of it. Some tell 
 me that I hold the pen of a ready writer, because I rmi over such a 
 sheet as this, when free from interruption, in fi:om half to three- 
 quarters of an hour. But it is very rare that I begin and end a let- 
 ter without interruptions, and I am sure that if I write faster than 
 some people I vmte less to the point. I have so long adopted the 
 rule that ' the man who wishes to see me is the man I wish to see,' 
 that I fear I have carried it to extremes and sufiered the natives to 
 trespass on me more than they should. One comes for medicine, 
 another for paper, another for a pencil, another to have his slate 
 
 * In Home's Introduction, Tenth Edition, vol. iv., chap. 24. 
 
342 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 mended, another for advice, another for a visit, so what with tho 
 thousand and one wants of my pupils and the villagers, I can truly 
 say I rarely have an hour entirely unbroken. ... I like plan and 
 system ; and I think some degree of it essential to any success or 
 usefulness. But if your missionary experience has been like mine — 
 and it is possible in your circumstances it may have been different — 
 you have found that you could be much less systematic in India 
 than in America. I never am idle — I may say never — unless ex- 
 hausted or sick. And I always have a good many irons in the fire, 
 tongs, poker and all. But I often work in a very different way from 
 what I had planned in the morning, and arrive at night at a far dif- 
 ferent goal. This is not so much owing to irresolution as to my 
 ideas of what my duty is in these circumstances. If I were a trans- 
 lator^ the case would be much altered. 
 
 " I am occupying my time in preparing a grammar of the Modern 
 Syriac for the benefit of beginners, and to transmit to the American 
 Oriental Society. I find it a laborious, yet very pleasant, occupa- 
 tion. I also take a lesson daily in Turkish and Persian. I have had 
 some knowledge of these languages for years, but I wish to converse 
 readily in them and to read the latter. Our Syriac is only available 
 among the Nestorians. We need Turkish for intercourse with all 
 the common class of Mohammedajis, who have never spoken Per- 
 sian in this border province, and we need Persian for intercourse 
 with all the higher classes of Mohammedans, and for journeys to- 
 ward the East, where Persian is the only language. Dr. W. has 
 a good acquaintance with all three, though his range of words is not 
 perhaps so very extensive in any of them, as if he had bent his 
 efforts more undividedly to the acquisition of one. You will rarely 
 find him making blunders in numbers, genders, etc., and he speaks 
 these languages perhaps with as much purity and precision as it is 
 possible for an American to do. I am glad you have a high stand- 
 ard in regard to the acquisition of Indian languages. Do our best 
 and we shall be but stammerers. I feel this more every successive 
 year ; and when I hear brethren talk about * perfecting' themselves 
 ill the language, or aboi" t brother so and so, who preached an ele- 
 
THE ANCIENT SYRIAC. 343 
 
 gant sermon in Syriac, I feel that they judge with a very dififerent 
 standard from the natives. Still there are some among us who have 
 done nobly in mastering difficulties, and who are capable, under 
 favorable circumstances, of producing a great impression on a native 
 audience. I think our style of preaching here far more direct and 
 eftective than that of most preachers in America. Had I time I 
 could explain this without assuming any great degree of credit to 
 ourselves. There is every thing in our circumstances, in the wants 
 and in the demands of the people, to produce such a manner ot 
 preaching, while in America the current often sets in the opposite 
 direction. When the grammar of the modern Syriac is finished, I 
 shall perhaps turn my hand to making a manual of the ancient 
 Syriac for the use of our schools. You know tliat we cultivate the 
 ancient Syriac as a classic and find it of great importance in enrich- 
 ing the modern. In Latin are some excellent grammars ; but not 
 accessible to the Nestorians; and their own old manuscript gram- 
 mars are a perfect ocean of crudities and confiision. We need, 
 therefore, exceedingly, some manual, which shall briefly and simply 
 unfold the ancient Syriac and which shall be adapted to the young." 
 " I determined to make thorough work in my investigations and 
 have made a full and minute comparison of the modern Syriac, 
 first with the ancient Syriac, and then with the Hebrew. It only 
 remains now to give a careful attention to the Jews' language, the 
 modern Clialdee, and trace it to its origin. As you may not possi- 
 bly be aware of the interest which attaches to these inquiries, far 
 beyond the mere aid they afibrd new comers and others in acquir- 
 ing the language, let me say a word on this point. Of the thi-ee 
 great branches of the Semitic family, the Hebrew, the Arabic, and 
 the old Aramean, the first two languages are by far the best under- 
 stood, and we have Uterary monuments, extending back, in the case 
 of the Hebrew, to the Pentateuch, and in the case of the Arabic to a 
 time long before the birth of Christ. But, in regard to the Aramean, 
 as it was originally, nothing has been known. Its literature was all 
 supposed to have perished. This Aramean split afterward into two 
 great branches and was developed in two different forms. 1st. The 
 
844 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Hebraistic form, which we call the Chaldee, and which was the lan- 
 guage of the Targums. 2d. The Syriac form, which developed, with 
 an alphabet of its own, a Christian literature for a long course of 
 centuries. From this no doubt the Modern Syriac was derived ; but 
 it probably retains many idioms and words in daily use from the old 
 Aramean, which have never found their way into books or lexicons. 
 As for the modern Jews' language spoken here, some have affirmed 
 that it was derived directly from the ancient Chaldee, while others 
 have maintained, with at least a show of plausibility that the mod- 
 ern Chaldee and the modern Syriac were each derived from a com- 
 mon source, and that this proved the common origin of the Nesto- 
 rians and the Jews. On this point I do not feel clear yet. If it 
 shall appear, that the modern Jews' language is no nearer the mod- 
 ern Syriac, than the ancient Chaldee is to the ancient Syriac, then 
 one of Dr. Grant's strong arguments for the Jewish origin of the 
 Nestorians will be undermined. Until recently, as I have said, it 
 was supposed the old Aramean literature had entirely perished, but 
 the researches of Colonel Eawlinson have shown that this Aramean, 
 or, if you please, Babylonian, is substantially the language of the 
 monuments. Now, would it not be most interesting, if Colonel 
 Eawlinson on the one hand should find certain words and phrases 
 on those ancient monuments, which are to be found in no gram- 
 mars hitherto extant, and we, on our part, should find those same 
 words and phrases current among the Nestorians and the Jews 
 around us ? 
 
 "But I am afraid I am wearying you with a topic which is spe- 
 cially interesting to us from our locality, the people among whom we 
 labor, and from the course of our daily studies. So I will pass to 
 something else, simply remarking that I undertook this examination, 
 urged to it by Dr. Robinson and others. ... I shall now turn my 
 attention at odds and ends of time to the preparation of a diction- 
 ary of the modern Syriac. Ever since I have been here I have been 
 Mrriting down words, but the vocabulary is full of mistakes and very 
 confused, and needs a thorough overhauling. The range of words 
 in modern Syriac is quite limited, and yet it is a language which for 
 
A SEMINARY EXAMINATION. W6 
 
 ordinary purposes, and even for teaching and preaching, has much 
 dignity and force. For philosophical and scientific purposes it is of 
 course deficient, and yet I have translated a part of Euclid into Syriac 
 this winter, and gone over half of a course in theology, without 
 any serious embarrassment. Every year we enrich it from the an- 
 cient language, from the Persian, and, to a limited extent, from the 
 Hebrew. 
 
 " I wish very much you could have been present at our recent 
 examination, with sufficient famiharity with the language to under- 
 stand all the exercises. I am sure you would have been impressed 
 with the native abiHty of the Nestorians. I do not know where I 
 could have had a better class in theology, astronomy, or geometry. 
 My class in geometry demonstrated twenty propositions, taken at 
 random, without a mistake, and almost without a word of hesitation 
 in the forty minutes assigned to the exercise. I am-sure the Soph- 
 omores I used to teach at Yale could not have done better. Besides 
 the studies mentioned, there was an examination in English, in Per- 
 sian, in ancient Syriac, in Bible history, in Church history, in de- 
 scriptive geography, and in arithmetic. All passed off very well. 
 The exercises lasted three days. The first day we had members of 
 the mission, the bishops, and a few prominent priests and leading 
 men. The second day we invited all our school teachers — seventy 
 in number. The third day the invitation was still more general and 
 we had a crowd. The visitors did not seem at all weary, though we 
 kept them sitting more than six and a half hours each day. The 
 exercises were interspersed with compositions and declamations, and 
 occasionally we had a piece of music sung, with the seraphine as an 
 accompaniment." 
 
 This reads very much like an account of an examination 
 in a New England seminary of the highest class. Some of 
 the text books of the pupils were prepared by ^fr. Stod- 
 dard, in the modern Syriac ; and he gave instruction in 
 various branches of science, by means of lectures in that 
 tongue. 
 
 15* 
 
346 MEMOIR OF STODDARD, 
 
 The grammar of the modern Syriac language as spoken 
 in Oroomiah and in Koordistan, was published in the Jour- 
 nal of the American Oriental Society, for 1855. (Vol. v.) 
 Rodiger, the first living authority upon the Semitic lan- 
 guages, makes a complimentary allusion to this grammar 
 in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Ge- 
 sellschaft; Zehnter Band, iv. Heft.* 
 
 Mr. Stoddard's own estimate of the importance of this 
 work is given in the following note to a younger mis- 
 sionary. 
 
 "July 21st, 1853. On Tuesday morning I finished the copy of 
 the grammar and sent it oflf to Mr. Stevens, to be forwarded by liim 
 to Constantinople. It was much larger than the first draft, being 
 one hundred and eighty pages, and very much better systematized 
 and much more complete. I only regret that you could not use that ; 
 but I became so weary of the labor of writing and revising, that at 
 last I hardly took the trouble to correct the mistakes and omissions 
 of the copy I sent you, as I went along. However, it is on the 
 whole, accurate, and I think it will be of much service to you. If 
 I could have had such a grammar ten years ago, I believe it would 
 have saved me six months of time and perhaps an entire year. I do 
 not mean that it is at all what it might be, but it is very far superior 
 to such an outline as we before had. I advise you to conju- 
 gate every verb in order, tiU you are perfectly familiar with the 
 meaning and the inflection, and then go over them aU so as to learn 
 the mode of applying the suffixes. One who will do this faithfully 
 for a few months, wOl, I am persuaded, acquire a fluency that wiU 
 '■ astonish the natives.' I have not done it myself as much as I 
 intend to do it. After one has had years of practice in speaking the 
 language, he yet needs this kind of discipline, in the same way as 
 Bome of the best singers practice the eight notes every morning. 
 
 * Page "reo, Leipzig, 1856. 
 
SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS. 347 
 
 " I hope you younger ones who are learning the language will far 
 BurpasT in accuracy, in fluency, and in the extent of your knowledge, 
 those who have gone before you ; and that you will so use the lan- 
 guage, as to be instrumental in leading many souls to Christ. How 
 ouf.ht we ever to remember that the acquisition of the language is 
 a means and not an end. 
 
 While thus devoted to studies having an immediate 
 connection with his work, Mr. Stoddard retained his origi- 
 nal interest in the physical sciences, especially in astrono- 
 my. His observations on the zodiacal light, which is seen 
 in perfection in the line atmosphere of Oroomiah, often in- 
 structed and delighted the missionaries, but were never 
 recorded for the benefit of science. Some of his observa- 
 tions upon the climate are of value as indicating the com- 
 parative healthiness of Seir as a missionary station. 
 
 In one of his letters he says : 
 
 " This is one of the finest climates in the world. In the spring, 
 spring comes ; in the summer, there is summer ; and in winter there 
 is real, genuine winter. This is more than can be said of any other 
 place I have ever seen. Then, too, the dryness of the climate is a 
 great recommendation, besides its comfort." 
 
 Mr. Stoddard often applied his scientific experiments to 
 a moral end. Thus he writes to Piofessor Denison Olmsted, 
 of Yale College : 
 
 " I need hardly assure you, that whatever I have learned of natural 
 science, and especially of natural philosophy and chemistry, turns to 
 account in my seminary, and in my general intercourse with the 
 Mohammedans. I have a pretty working steam-engine, of one cat 
 power, a magic lantern, and a variety of chemical apparatus. Besides 
 these, I have made a very decent solar microscope. I have been 
 very desirous, with a religions objf^ct in view, to show the natives the 
 
348 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 aiiimacules in cheese, figs, vinegar, etc., but do not succeed as I wisK 
 Why, I can not tell ; as I used, in America, to make solar micro- 
 scopes and met with no difficulty in using them for this purpose. 
 Their cheese is different from ours, and possibly does not contain 
 them. The figs, too, are unlike those from Smyrna, and the vinegar 
 made from wine is very weak. If you could make any suggestions 
 to me which would enable me to detect and expose the creatures, I 
 should be very thankful. I want to teach these anti-meat bishops 
 that they have eaten it from their childhood, and to show the whole 
 people that their fasts from animal food amount to nothing." 
 
 Some of his astronomical observations were of sufl&cient 
 importance to deserve a permanent record in the annals of 
 that science. Writing to Mr. Hazen, under date of Dec. 
 23d, 1852, he says: 
 
 " By the way, speaking of our climate, I am reminded to tell you 
 of some discoveries I have lately made, which are very interesting, 
 to myself at least. I noticed, a few months ago, a statement that a 
 scientific traveler had seen the satellites (or some of them) of Jupiter 
 from the top of Mount Etna. The announcement was received with 
 a good deal of interest, as most astronomers have denied the possi- 
 bility of any such phenomenon being visible to the unassisted eye. 
 On reading the account I thought I would test the power of the 
 naked eye Aere, as it seemed to me we were under the most favor- 
 able circumstances possible for this purpose. We are elevated more 
 than a mile above the ocean, and hav^e for months a cloudless sky, 
 and a very dry and transparent atmosphere which I have no doubt 
 far exceeds that of Italy. I know not how it is in India, but I think 
 you would be astonished to see with what sharpness of outline 
 mountains sixty, seventy, or even a hundred miles off, loom up on 
 our view. In the night the heavens are magnificent, and it needs 
 but a glance to assure a new comer that this is a very different 
 place from America for the practical astronomer. I have often used 
 my telescope here (I have one which I made in college — a Newto- 
 
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 349 
 
 nian of six feet focus, and five inches aperture) and been delighted 
 with the distinctness and beauty of the different telescopic objects ; 
 but until last summer it never occurred to me to test my unassisted 
 eye. I have now the satisfaction of assuring you that I have thus^' 
 seen several of Jupiter's moons, the elongation of Saturn's ring (the 
 planet appearing plainly elliptical), and with a dark glass of just the 
 right opacity, I have seen the phases of Venus. Last time I looked 
 at it, it appeared as a very delicate and well defined crescent. I 
 have also found that stars which I know to be telescopic elsewhere, 
 are here detected, under favorable circumstances, by the naked eye. 
 I have made out a hst of some of these and sent them, with a full 
 account of my observations, to Sir J. Herschel, and I have the 
 vanity to think they will interest him deeply. Indeed, it will be an 
 interesting fact to any one, if here, in a region where astronomy was 
 studied thousands of years ago by Assyrian and Persian shepherds, 
 the observer can be gratified by a view of wonders which, it has 
 been supposed, only the telescope could reveal. As an illustration 
 of the interest connected with these matters, let me say that it has 
 long puzzled astronomers to account for the fact that in ancient 
 books, written long before the discovery of the telescope, Saturn is 
 represented as of an ohhng shape. Was this a shrewd guess ? Was 
 it prophecy ? Had the ancients any knowledge of the telescope ? 
 Or have I found a more satisfactory answer here on Mouat Seir ? 
 
 " I should like, if I had time, and I was sure you would like to go 
 into the subject, to detail to you the various ways in which I tried 
 to train my eye for this purpose. Suffice it to say, that it was a 
 month, from the time I began to examine Jupiter, before I felt sure 
 I was successfiil in my object I looked at it through the empty 
 tube of a telescope, that my eye might not be distracted with the 
 images of other stars. I looked at it near the corner of a building, 
 which cut off its brightest rays, still leaving the view unobstructed to 
 the right hand or the left : and I looked at it when shining out in his 
 full splendor. But all without success. At last, when watching it 
 from its^rs^ appearance in the evening, at a point just between day- 
 light and dark, when there was darkness enough on the one hand 
 
850 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 for the satellites to appear, and not enough dazzling light from the 
 planet, on the other hand, to obscure them, my highest hopes were 
 gratified, and I jumped for joy." 
 
 His object in writing to Sir John Herschel is thus ex- 
 plained in a letter to a scientific fiiend in America : 
 
 *' I have written Sir John Herschel at length on these observa- 
 tions, and given him, in addition, a number of test objects, that he 
 may the better judge whether my account is entitled to credence. 
 I wrote him rather than any one else, hoping he would interest him- 
 self to fit out an astronomical expedition for Oroomiah, and take 
 advantage of this magnificent climate. It may be doubted whether 
 there is a position in the world, at least one easily accessible, where 
 a good astronomer, with good instruments, would reap such a harvest 
 of discovery. You can hardly have an idea of the magnificence of 
 our summer evenings. We are elevated more than a mile alsove the 
 ocean, have no dew, and rarely see a cloud during June, July, 
 August and September. Stars do not twinkle when forty degrees 
 above the horizon, and Venus is so brilliant that I have distinguished 
 by its light, when fourteen feet from the window, the hands of a 
 watch, and even the letters of a book. 
 
 " But I can not dwell on this subject. Perhaps Professor 
 Olmsted may Hke one or two of the test objects which I • * 
 gave Sir J. Herschel. In Ursa Major, two faint stars are * 
 seen any favorable night, one on each side of ^ and 80, thus. 
 Can these ever be seen in America ? Again, when I lie on my back, 
 the view of 4 and 5 s Lyrse, as they pass near the zenith, is very 
 simOar to that I have often had of Castor in a good telescope. 
 Again, the two small stars in the neighborhood of the pole-star, and 
 in the general direction of y cephei, thus (• * ), are seen distinctly 
 and almost every night in summer, as a single point of light. Can 
 these latter objects ever be seen in America? I shall be much inter- 
 ested to know." 
 
 Sir John Herschel veiy courteously acknowledged this 
 letter in the following : 
 
SIR JOHN HERSCnEL> 351 
 
 " Sir : I have received, and beg to thank you for, the interesting 
 communication of your observations of the satellites of Jupiter, the 
 
 oblong form of Saturn, and the small companions of certain stars 
 
 with the naked eye — in what you may indeed, by your account of 
 it, most truly call a magnificent chmate for astronomical pursuits. I 
 |hink I shall best do justice to your communication by placing it in 
 the hands of the Astronomical Society for reading at one of their 
 meetings. Your account of the country, too, is most in\iting. I 
 think I may anticipate the usual vote of thanks on communication of 
 observations to the Society, and I beg leave to add my own, and re- 
 main your obedient servant 
 
 "J. E. W. Herschel. 
 " P. S. — I find it recorded, in Bessel's Life, as an extraordinary in- 
 stance of his sharpness of eye, that he could see e and 5 Lyrse as two 
 separable stars. But I have never heard that Saturn had ever been 
 noticed as oblong before the invention of the telescope." 
 
 Upon this Mr. Stoddai'd remarked in a note to a friend : 
 
 " I was, of course, gratified with Sir J. Herschel's letter, and, from 
 the interest he manifests, hope to hear fi:om him again, or some of 
 his compeers. An expedition here would, I am sure, pay better, so 
 far as science is concerned, than one to the North Pole." 
 
 At a subsequent period Mr. Stoddard prepared an ex- 
 tended notice of the meteorology of Oroomiah, which was 
 pubUshed in Silliman's Journal. In making these observa- 
 tions, his mechanical invention and skill were put to the 
 test in repairing barometers, thermometers, and other deli- 
 cate instruments, which had been injured in transportation 
 from the United States. 
 
 The following letter, concerning his meteorological re- 
 cord, gives his views of the relations of science to mission- 
 ary labor. 
 
352 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " By the way, do you know that I have made quite a splendid 
 series of observations — more than ten thousand separate observations 
 — on this chmate ? I have just been putting them in order, ascer- 
 taining the average temperature, the average height of the barome- 
 ter and hygrometer, the prevailing direction of the winds, the 
 amount of rain and melted snow, &c., and I shall forward the article 
 to Professor Olmsted for publication. Perhaps you will some day 
 
 like to run it over, and I intend that C shall have a few copies 
 
 for distribution among my friends. I am aware that attention to such 
 matters is not in accordance with Dr. Judson's advice or practice. 
 He thought a missionary should give himself, not only in the main^ 
 but entirely, to his work, and let literature and science go. I do not 
 agree with him, though I admire the single-mindedness and devotion 
 of the man. I am sure that it does me good to turn aside now and 
 then ; it refreshes and invigorates me, and I return all the better to 
 the charge afterwards. Five minutes spent with my quadrant in 
 taking an observation of the sun, two minutes spent in looking at the 
 barometer, three minutes spent in reading a httle poetry, are worth 
 more than they cost. So far as / am concerned, I have no doubt about 
 it, but I ought not to judge others by myself. The great work is cer- 
 tainly that of making known Jesus Christ ; and other things, if they 
 come in at all, should come in as incidental, and, if possible, be made 
 conducive to the great end." 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 LABOES AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 The semmary at Seir, which in the beginning was only 
 a boarding-school for boys, under the wise and comprehen- 
 sive direction of Mr. Stoddard and his sssociates, grew into 
 a normal school for the training of teachers, and a theologi- 
 cal school, in which pious Nestorians were fitted to preach 
 intelligently the Gospel of Christ. The following enumera- 
 tion of the studies pursued in the seminary occurs in a let- 
 ter to a brother missionary at Mosul : 
 
 "November 17, 1852. Our seminary here has recently assembled. 
 We have, as usual, forty pupils, ten of whom are new comers. We 
 were obliged to reject some twelve candidates. I assure you it is a 
 delightful privilege to have the charge of them. I doubt whether I 
 could be so happy in any situation in America. Three times a week 
 I lecture on theology, four times I hear a class in Euclid, twice in 
 English, and twice in astronomy. I have the charge of nearly all 
 the compositions — the giving out of the subjects, and the correction 
 of the manuscripts — and the oversight of the classes in ancient 
 Syriac, arithmetic, and Persian. This, with occasional preaching, a 
 Bible class on the Sabbath with the pupils, a visit once a month to 
 Geog Tapa, which is assigned to me as a parish, and the many secu- 
 lar cares which come on me as provider of food and superintendent 
 of repairs, occupies all my time, and keeps me quite as much driven 
 
854 MEMOIR OF STODDAED. 
 
 as my strength sufi&ces for. We make it a point to converse and 
 pray with all the pupils individually each month, which I think has a 
 happy effect on them and on us. The best Christians among them, 
 also, come to us often of their own accord for this purpose, and we 
 try to make them feel as free as possible. Would that we were able 
 to perform more of this pastoral labor among the people. But the 
 hopefully pious ones are much scattered, and we have yet no plan, 
 as we think of having, for getting them together occasionally for 
 mutual conference and prayer. If I have ever done any good 
 among the Nestorians, and it is little at the least, it has been more 
 by such kind of pastoral efforts than by the formal preaching of the 
 Gospel." 
 
 Mr. Stoddard's theological lectures were delivered in 
 Syi'iac, from English notes written in the Syriac idiom. 
 They embraced quite a full course of doctrinal theology, 
 based throughout upon biblical exposition. This combina- 
 tion of classical, mathematical and theological studies in 
 one institution, made the seminary at Seir more like the 
 English Independent colleges at Manchester and at St. 
 John's Wood, London, than like either colleges or theo- 
 logical seminaries in the United States. A number of com- 
 petent native teachers have already been trained at this 
 institution. 
 
 The Mission at Oroomiah has always made education 
 subordinate to religion. Tbf English language has been 
 used in its seminaries only as a classic, and no attempt hns 
 been made to substitute it for the native Syriac. The 
 great object of the missionaries has been to awaken the 
 Nestorians to a true spiritual life. As the circumscribed 
 field of the Mission, and its comparative peace and security, 
 admit of but little novelty or variety of incident, its alter- 
 nating trials and successes, disappointments and joys, will 
 
THE GAWAR STATION. 855 
 
 appear in the regular sequence of Mr. Stoddard's letters. 
 So completely did he live in the Mission, giving it all the 
 thoughts and energies of his mind, that his familiar corres- 
 pondence became its authentic history. To Dr. Lobdell, at 
 Mosul, he writes : 
 
 " January 5th, 1853. A happy new year to you and your dear 
 family, as well as to your associates. May you, during the coming 
 months, have health, happiness, and constant communion with God. 
 May you see the work protected by human power, and fanned by 
 the gales of the Spirit of grace. We, on this side of the moimtains, 
 shall pray for you this year, and feel sure that you will pray for us. 
 May our prayers thus ' together rise,' 
 
 ' Like mingling flames in sacrifice.' 
 
 and draw down much divine influence on the poor people for whom 
 we labor. How utterly vain are all our efforts without Grod 1 I 
 sometimes feel that if I could speak the language with more fluency 
 and point than any of the natives, instead of stammering it so feebly, 
 and if I were as eloquent as Apollos, all would be vain without the 
 grace of God. The trumpet would give an uncertain sound. We 
 sadly need the Divine presence here. Things are running down, 
 and have been for a year past. Not that we have not considerable 
 piety and prayerfulness in our seminaries, and a number of pious 
 helpers. But, compared with other days, a paralysis seems to have 
 come over them, and they need, how much, a fresh anointing 
 from the Holy One. 
 
 To Mr. Coan, at Gawar, in a time of great trial and 
 darkness to that station : 
 
 " January 5th, 1853. My impulse is to say to you, ' Dear brother, 
 do not remain any longer in such a field. Come down at once to 
 us, where there is abundance of work to do, thousands of souls to be 
 led to Christ, and much that we have already undertaken in the vil- 
 
356 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 lages suffering for want of more complete superintendence. Come 
 and work with us, shoulder to shoulder, in our blessed harvest-field.' 
 This is impulse. But I doubt whether I should dare invite you 
 away at this critical juncture, without seeing Providence indicating 
 that course more clearly, by far, than I do now. You do not yet 
 know what is to come of poor Tamo's imprisonment. In case be is 
 released, and stands firm, he will need all your help, as well as much 
 Divine grace, to keep him on his course. Then, again, leaving now 
 seems to be the hopeless abandonment of the field. You are not yet 
 certain that you will be unprotected there. A month or two may 
 alter the whole position of affairs. Then, too, we must look not only 
 to Constantinople, but to heaven. It is better to trust in the Lord 
 than to put confidence in man. How sweet to think that He who 
 is AUwise, has a plan, the very best plan, in regard to the mountains, 
 and that infinite power and infinite goodness are pledged to its suc- 
 cessful issue. We may fail, but the cause can not. Darkness may 
 envelope us, wicked men may hedge us in, Christ may be reviled, 
 and his servants persecuted, but still the Lord is stronger than all, 
 and his counsel shall stand. We have to wait in faith, patience and 
 hope. BiK)ther, the day will soon break, and the shadows flee away. 
 Hope on, hope ever. Be strong in Grod, and let the breast-plate of 
 righteousness be on your firont." 
 
 To Dr. Anderson : 
 
 "January 21st, 1853. The importance of directing special atten- 
 tion to the care and instruction of our pious Nestorians has repeat- 
 edly of late engaged our attention. We feel that we may do far 
 more than has yet been done to elevate their standard of personal 
 piety, to band them together in the cause of Christ, and to make 
 them missionary in their spirit ; and we purpose, God helping us, to 
 make increased efforts for the accomplishment of this end. At the 
 same time, it seems clear to us, that by attempting anything which 
 looks like a separate organization, we should not only excite much 
 opposition in Oroomiah among the masses, and reduce, exceedingly, 
 
THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 857 
 
 the number who are now ready to hear us preach the Gospel, but 
 that we should hazard the very existence of our station at Gawar, 
 and the interests of our work throughout the mountains." 
 
 *■ We have repeatedly told you of the satisfaction we feel on being 
 able to give the whole Bible to this people, in their spoken language. 
 But a few years ago and there was hardly an entire copy of the 
 Bible to be found in any village, either here or in Koordistan. The 
 few manuscripts which were possessed, were regarded with such su- 
 perstitious veneration that they were wrapped up carefully and 
 placed out of sight, to moulder in their dark damp churches. And, 
 besides, had they been ever so numerous and ever so freely circu- 
 lated, not one in a thousand could have deciphered their meaning. 
 Now, what a blessed change for the Nestorians I That Bible which 
 we clasp so joyfully to our hearts, which we make the basis of our 
 heavenly hopes, is given in full and in simple language to the entire 
 people. It is to visit them at their rude homes, and sit beside them 
 in their daily employment. This is a work which can not die. We 
 may all pass away, and much that we have done be neglected or for- 
 gotten, but we believe that this Bible, in the spoken Syriac, will Uve 
 and preach to young and old, in the house and by the way, on the 
 plain and in the mountains, and bring forth the fruits of rigliteousness 
 long after we slumber in the dust. Had the American churches 
 conferred on the Nestorians no other blessing, how amply would this 
 one thing repay their efforts. It animates us to feel that in these 
 lands, so long under the dominion of Satan, and to this ancient 
 people, David, and Isaiah, and Paul, and above all, the Saviour him- 
 self, are hereafter to preach the glad tidings of redemption. To the 
 Bible Society our most hearty thanks are due for the funds so liber- 
 ally granted for this noble work." 
 
 To his aged father : 
 
 "March 15th, 1853. The days and weeks fly faster than a 
 weaver's shuttle. I wrote you ' the other day,' and now I find by 
 referring to my book that it was as long ago as December 21st. I 
 
358 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 do hope that you will not feel that I forget you, because I write not 
 more frequently, for I can assure you that you are very often before 
 my mind, and that I recall your kindness to me, ever since I have 
 had a being, with the deepest gratitude and love. When I was in 
 America, I did not reahze, as I now do, what a privilege it was to 
 be near you and mother. Now I feel that, if God did not call me 
 to labor here, no duty would be so grateful as to pitch my tent in 
 the * new part,' and devote my time and strength to the soothing 
 and cheering of my father in his old age. But I rejoice that the 
 place is assigned to those who will fill it better than I could, while 
 you may, at the same time, have the satisfaction of thinking that one 
 of your children is laboring for Christ on the other side of the globe. 
 I am a very unworthy missionary — how unworthy, God only knows 
 — and whatever I am, and whatever I am able to accomplish, is all 
 of grace. But, then, I dare say I never should have been a mission- 
 ary at all, and I might never even have been a Christian, had it not 
 been for the prayers and counsels and example of my dear father 
 and mother. What a blessed thing to be descended from a pious 
 ancestry. I value it for my children more than piles of gold, and I 
 feel that there is far more reason to believe they will be taken into 
 the fold of Christ than if they had had graceless, godless parents, 
 grandparents, and great grandparents. 
 
 " I believe our children understand perfectly, that our great, our 
 constant, anxious desire in reference to them is, that they may become 
 God's children. And, though we do not desire it half as much as 
 we ought, I confidently expect they will become true Christians. 
 Am I presumptuous in thus regarding these children of the cov- 
 enant ? O what is wealth, or beauty, or talents, or accomphshments, 
 compared with a treasure laid up for ourselves and our children in 
 heaven ? Harriette is often very thoughtful ; and in the little notes 
 she sometimes writes us, for example at her school recess when in 
 the city, she says, 'Dear papa, dear mama, I do long to be a 
 Christian.' " 
 
 To Rev. Dr. Dwigiit, of Constantinople, on hearing of 
 
CONVERSION OF CHILDREN. 359 
 
 the death of his son Charles, at the ago of sixteen, who 
 was preparing to devote himself to the missionary work. 
 
 "April 16th, 1853. We sympathize most deeply with you in your 
 severe affliction. You are no stranger to such trials, but this falls 
 none the more lightly on that account. It is hard, very hard, at 
 such times to feel that God is dealing with us in love. Sense strug- 
 gles with faith, natural feeling with a desire to submit to God's will ; 
 and yet, I doubt not, dear brother, if you have had any such con- 
 flict, that it is ere this over, and that you can heartily say, ' It is the 
 Lord, let him do what seeraeth him good.' 
 
 " I remember Charles with affectionate interest, as indeed all your 
 children. God has been very good to you in calling so many of 
 these dear ones into the kingdom of his grace. May not one be left. 
 I feel that there is no blessing for our children at all comparable with 
 the saving grace of God. As yet we can not hope that either of our 
 children love the Saviour, though Harriette is at times susceptible to 
 rehgious truth, and I think increasingly so. We have formerly con- 
 versed together on the subject of the early conversion of children, 
 and I believe our views coincide. I see no reason why we may not 
 look for their renewal while very young ; and, on the other hand, I 
 see very great encouragements to labor and pray for such a result. 
 It was a comfort to us to know that the death of Charles had pro- 
 duced some seriousness among the other children of the mission. 
 May it lead some of them to the Saviour of sinners." 
 
 To Rev. E. Strong, of New Haven. 
 
 '' May 16th, 1853. Oh what a gi'eat work it is to preach the Gos- 
 pel. It is so anywhere, but perhaps, most of all, on missionary 
 ground. Would that you could sit down with me here in my study 
 a few days while I let you into the routine of my labors. My 
 sermons would be as little adapted to your pulpit as yours would 
 be to mine, and yet I often prepare my sermons with the utmost 
 care." 
 
860 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 After speaking of certain defects of the ministry in 
 America, he adds : 
 
 " I cannot forbear to allude to the subject of slavery. Without 
 going into particulars, let me say that the circumstances and views 
 of every missionary must make him an anti-slavery man, and I do 
 not believe there is one of the missionaries of our Board but feels as 
 I do on this general subject. Many of them I know are astonished 
 at the apathy of American Christians, and especially American min- 
 isters, in regard to it, and have not words to express their sorrow 
 when such an institution is apologized for and stoutly defended in 
 Northern pulpits. For my own part, I fear that we shall not see the 
 cause of missions making rapid progress until the American churches 
 are ready to take a higher stand on this and every other subject, and 
 become far more bold, enterprising, humble, self-denying, I do not 
 mean to be a radical. I have not the slightest intention of with- 
 drawing from our most excellent Board and joining the American 
 Missionary Association, yet I am sometimes stirred in my inmost 
 soul on these grand questions, which affect so vitally the progress of 
 the Redeemer's kingdom at home and abroad." 
 
 To a friend, on the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Stocking 
 from Oroomiah: 
 
 " June 17 th, 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Stocking leave this missionary 
 field after the most active labor for sixteen years, with great reluc- 
 tance. There are few in the missionary field who are so untiring 
 and devoted as they have been, and now that he is broken down, 
 and so emphatically needs rest, I trust he will be welcomed to his 
 native land by the churches who sent him forth, and there gain vigor 
 for a fresh campaign. He is not yet fifty years old, but feels hke 
 an old man. Indeed, missionaries must generally expect to take the 
 short way to the grave, and, what is very pleasant to think of in- this 
 connection, the short way to heaven. There is a wear and tear on 
 the system, connected with the most favorable residence in a foreign 
 climate, and especially with a missionary's labors and responsibilities, 
 
CHUECH SEPARATION. 861 
 
 which tends to whiten the head, and bow down the form, long before 
 the time. My father was, perhaps, as feeble at thirty-five as I now 
 am, and yet he not only Uved out his three-score years and ten, but 
 has passed more than twelve years beyond that limit of human life. 
 I can not, however, look for any such old age, and I do not desire 
 it. What if we must wear out earlier than other men, do we nof. 
 wear out in a cause most blessed? Is there any privilege greater 
 tiian that of working for our Master in Persia or in India ? If Ufe 
 is shortened, does it not bring heaven nearer ? Shall we reach that 
 world of glory any too soon ? Shall we sigh, when we reach tliere, 
 that we could remain no longer in a world of darkness and of sor- 
 row ? Shall we not rather praise God who has brought us so soon 
 and so safely through, and crowned his grace with glory?" 
 
 The missionaries to the Nestorians have not thought it 
 expedient to associate in a separate ecclesiastical organiza- 
 tion, those whom they regard as true disciples of Christ. 
 They have looked upon the Nestorian church as far more 
 hopeful than the Greek, the Ai'menian, or any other oriental 
 church, and therefore have aimed at instruction, revival, 
 and reformation, rather than at separation ; preferring, if a 
 separation must take place, that it should come as the result 
 of a movement within the church itself, and not of prose- 
 lytism from without. In this view the Mission have been 
 nearly unanimous, though the policy of separation has been 
 sometimes advocated in their councils. At the request -of 
 the Prudential Committee of the Board, in 1853, Dr. An- 
 derson addressed to the several members of that mission a 
 series of questions bearing upon this policy. The following 
 extract from Mr. Stoddard's reply, contains his views of a 
 question which must ere long become one of vital import- 
 ance in every mission to oriental Christians, viz : the rela- 
 tion of an organic Protestantism to a true and permanent 
 spiritual reformation. It is evident that Mr. Stoddard an- 
 
 16 
 
862 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 licipated a change in the policy which he himself advocated 
 for temporary reasons. 
 
 " I will now take up the question, ' What do you conceive to be 
 the actual working of the church relation among the Nestorians, and 
 especially the converted Nestorians ?' 
 
 " To this I reply, that there are no doubt serious evils connected 
 with such a half-way system, and inseparable from it. Those to the 
 converts themselves may be briefly stated : 1st. They are more or 
 less tempted to violate their consciences by conforming to the foolish 
 and sometimes the sinful practices of their church. The temptation 
 is of course, however, far less than in the Armenian church, because 
 there are not nearly so many corrupt usages, such as image worship, 
 confession to the priest, etc., and because conformity to these corrupt 
 usages can not be enforced, at least on the plain, by excommunication, 
 fine, or imprisonment. If any individual, therefore, yields compliance, 
 it is because he chooses to do so; and by yielding he detracts from the 
 evidence we otherwise have of his piety. If we are correctly in- 
 formed as to what has taken place in Erzeroom, not even a Protestant 
 church organization can prevent such weaknesses and sins among 
 oriental Christians. 2d. Some persons axe thus deterred from be- 
 coming ecclesiastics, and their influence is, consequently, in a meas- 
 ure circumscribed. 3d. They have not, to the extent we desire 
 them to have, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper. 4th. 
 They do not enjoy the privileges of Christian fellowship, as they 
 would if separated from the corrupt mass around them, and gath- 
 ered into a Protestant church. 5th. They probably have not so 
 strong a sympathy with us, nor with each other, nor so much unity 
 of action in their plans for doing good, 
 
 " These are certainly grave objections to our present mode of ope- 
 ration; and, if things were permanently to continue as they are 
 now, I think our duty would be plain to follow the example of our 
 brethren in Turkey. But neither we nor the converts shall remain 
 long in this position. A few years must entirely change the aspect 
 of things. If this temporary union of new and old, purity and par- 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF SEPARATION. 863 
 
 tial corruption, is strange, it is perhaps no more so than what existed 
 "'n the days of the apostles, the New Testament being witness. 
 
 " Meanwhile, we are by no means neglecting the care of these 
 converts. There are very few communities where I believe tlio 
 hopefully pious are so faithfully watched over as those in our semi- 
 naries. "We could not do more for them, in tliis respect, if they were 
 gathered into a church. 
 
 " But, you will ask, do the converts manifest no tendency to go 
 back to the darkness from which they have partially emerged? So 
 far from tliis being the case, it seems to me clear that, as a body, 
 and X may almost say, in every individual case, they are all making 
 progress in the right direction ; and, although there is now a lament- 
 able deficiency of the Holy Spirit's influence, I have never seen a 
 more decided and healthy onward progress than at the present tiino. 
 This opinion I express after ten years of careful observation. 
 
 " Now allow me to state some of the advantages of the present 
 system. It is my impression, from what I have seen in Turkey, that 
 the tendency of things there is to make the members of those little 
 churches sharp controversialists. Being severed from the old church, 
 they are of course in great danger of attacking the superstitious prac- 
 tices to which they were formerly themselves wedded, with more 
 earnestness than they show in telling those around them the simple 
 story of the cross. This is an evil from which we are happily exempt 
 here. I have no doubt our good brethren in Turkey would oppose 
 this tendency with all their hearts, but it is of course difficult for 
 them in the circumstances to control it. On the other hand the con- 
 verts here are in danger of being too hberal in their feelings, and 
 embracing, in the arms of a large charity, those whom we and the 
 Bible would exclude from fellowship. However this may be, it is 
 certainly a fact of great importance that these pious natives, insteail 
 of being distracted with endless and unhappy discussions, are so free 
 to preach the cardinal doctrines of the Gospel, which, I hope, will 
 sooner or later, though perhaps not nearly so fast as tliose who travel 
 on railroads and by steamboats desire, put an end to whatever is 
 corrupt in opinion or in practice among their people. 
 
364 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " Moreover, the sympathies of the converts are now better drawn 
 out for their people than they could be if placed in an antagonistic 
 relation to them. Said one of them to me, lately, when I suggested 
 the possibility of a new organization : * What 1 would you separate 
 us from our people ? Are we no more to feel that we are one with 
 them, and they one with us ? Shall we not sympathize with om' 
 brethi-en, our kinsmen according to the flesh, in all their joys and 
 sorrows ? Shall we be the first to raise a separating wall ? Shall 
 we thus cast them out, as evil, and knowingly make them our ene- 
 mies ? Is it proved that we cannot follow Christ and yet be Nesto- 
 rians? Will you begin among us a civil war?' I give you the 
 above remarks as indicative of the feehngs of most, indeed I believe 
 of all, the pious Nestorians. If there are any who would be glad 
 to break up their present connection with the people, I am not 
 aware of the fact. 
 
 " You will also remember that, should a Protestant church be es- 
 tablished here, the wide door which is now thrown open for the 
 preaching of the Gospel must at once be closed. It is vain to hope 
 that we can freely enter Nestorian churches, or gather congregations 
 in many different villages, or exert any perceptible influence on the 
 mass of the people, after such a blow has been struck at the present 
 organization. Our native helpers, instead of going out, as now, to 
 scatter broadcast the seed of the kingdom, would be hemmed in on 
 every side. Our numerous village schools would, most of them, be 
 put down, and tlie circulation of the Holy Scriptures be very much 
 diminished. If we can anticipate with confidence any thing in the 
 future, I think we may anticipate such a result as tliis ; and the ex- 
 perience of our brethren in Turkey is far fi:om leading me to a con- 
 trary conclusion. And, although a fear of any such calamity should 
 not tempt us for a moment to pursue a course which is wrong, it 
 ought to make us very careful how, without due reflection, we launch 
 on an untried sea. 
 
 " I am also persuaded that we are taking the best way to put an 
 end to the abuses which prevail here. It seems to me that combat- 
 ting fasLs and feasts and the prevailing system will never effect much, 
 
GRADUAL REFORMATION. 865 
 
 until the people truly feel their need of something better. While we 
 have not attacked their errors directly, at least not so as to make 
 them more prominent than the cross of Christ, we have not failed, in 
 season and out of season, year after year, and in multitudes of 
 places, to declare the whole counsel of God. I do not believe the 
 Gospel is preached anywhere with more earnestness and fidehty than 
 it is in Oroomiah. And it is precisely on this account that a basis is 
 now laid, as I beheve, for a much more rapid advance than in previous 
 years in reforming abuses. Light and love are stripping off the robe 
 of self-righteousness, which the boisterous wind would only h:ve 
 wrapped more tightly around them. The opening of the window • 
 shutters is removing the darkness and letting in the light, whereas 
 the use of the broom would only have created a suffocating dust, 
 while all remained still darker than before. 
 
 " While I am evidently leaning, as you see, to our present mode 
 of operation as the best one, I am free to admit that it would bo 
 more grateful to my feelings^ if ihe above considerations were left out 
 of the account, to labor even in a small, but doctrinally pure, church, 
 than to carry out the imperfect, half-way system which we now, foi 
 a season, tolerate. I believe we all sincerely desire to know what 
 the will of the Lord is, and are wilhng to follow at once, wherevei 
 the path shaU be plainly pointed out. And I ask your prayers that, 
 free from pride and prejudice, and any bhnding unhappy influence, 
 we may faithfully discharge the high trust committed to us by th« 
 Board, the churches, and above all, by oui blessed Lord and Master 
 himself." 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 LETTERS, CONTINUED. 
 
 A New Yearns letter to his father : 
 
 "My Dear and Honored Father, — 
 
 " It is with great pleasure that I find an hour to write you. If I 
 did not suppose that you read nearly or quite all the letters I write 
 to my brothers and sisters, I should follow my inclinations and ad- 
 dress you personally much oftener. When I think of all the care 
 you took of me in infancy and youth, and how much I am indebted 
 to you for your example, and prayers, and instructions, and, not least 
 of aU, how much pains and expense you incurred to procure me a 
 first rate education, I feel that I am under greater obligations to you 
 than I can requite or even express. I oftentimes have an inexpres- 
 sible longing to be near you, and, in connection with "William and - 
 Frances, to help soothe your declining years. But it may not be. 
 We shall never meet, dear father, till we meet in heaven. There 
 my beloved mother, there my eldest brother, your first born, there 
 my sainted wife, have gone; and we shall one after another be 
 taken from earth, till, as we fondly believe, all the members of our 
 family, wiU rejoin each other in the New Jerusalem, and stand on 
 Mount Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon our heads. The 
 time will come soon. The grass will soon grow over our graves. 
 A few more years, at the farthest, and our bodies will molder to 
 dust, that mortality may be swallowed up of life. I trust you are 
 watching and waiting for the dawn : that, while you can say, ' To 
 live is Christ,' you also add, ' To depart and be with Christ, which is 
 far better.' 
 
AN AGED SAINT. 367 
 
 " If you are ever tempted to feel that you are a useless man, now 
 that you have retired from all active business, and the snows '^^ more 
 than eighty winters are accumulated on your head, remember that, 
 if you can not labor as actively as you once could, you can at least 
 pray ; and that, after all, prayer is the great instrumentality to be 
 used in hastening on the latter day glory. I am satisfied, not that 
 we labor too much, but that we accompany our labors far too little 
 with prayer, to expect the divine blessing, as it would otherwise be 
 bestowed. I am now preparing for publication a sketch of an aged 
 Nestorian pilgrim, which I think will interest you. Tliis Patriarch wai 
 considerably older than you, and died when about ninety. His hab ■ 
 its of prayer were wonderful. He would frequently rise several 
 times in the night to pour out his soul to God, and, after he became 
 blind, much of the day was spent in this holy employment. It is an 
 extremely interesting fact tliat a large portion of this old mans 
 prayers were for the conversion of the world. Often in his intense 
 earnestness, he would be drawn forward on his knees from one side 
 of the room to the other, and when his prayer was closed he wouid 
 sink down exhausted. Our young evangelists were in the habit o .' 
 going to him for counsel, for they aU loved him, and would sit for 
 hours to hear him describe the life of faith and the glories of that 
 world to which he was going. When they set out from his house 
 to make preaching excursions, he would say, ' dear young friends, I 
 can not go with you, but I will follow you with my prayers. On 
 their return, his wife would say, ' now the pilgrim has been praying 
 for you ever since you went away. He has not forgotten your souls^ 
 and I must not forget your bodies. So sit down and you shall have 
 some food.' 
 
 '' When this aged behever died, multitudes mourned for him and 
 felt that they had lost a father. ' We shall never see his like again, 
 was their common exclamation , and the old men, who had known 
 him from boyhood, and the young men, who had only known 
 him when past fourscore, mingled their tears together around hia 
 tomb. 
 
 *' Who can say that this aged man, blind and almost helpless, did 
 
868 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 not accomplish more for the cause of Christ here by his prayers than 
 any other man by his active labors f Of him, and such as him, we 
 may indeed say, they ' still bring forth fruit in old age.' ' The mem- 
 ory of the just is blessed.' " 
 
 To a brother : 
 
 " If all missionaries relish their work as much as I do, we may 
 indeed call ourselves a highly favored class. The only drawback to 
 my happiness is the painful consciousness that I am very unworthy 
 of my high privileges and responsibiUties. ! for more faith, and 
 love, and devotion. Had I an angel's heart and an angel's tongue, 
 I should even then come far short of making known, as I ought, to 
 these Nestorians the fullness and freeness of Redeeming love. When 
 good people told me in America, * you missionaries have given up 
 aU; you are entirely consecrated,' I used to hang my head in shame, 
 and pray God that I and all my dear brethren and sisters might 
 truly become what we were supposed and expected to be. If you 
 were with me, day by day, while you would sympathize tenderly 
 with me in my labors, and rejoice, that with health far from robust, 
 I was able to exert myself so constantly, you would see much that 
 would grieve you in my coldness and want of pure, steady love to 
 Christ." 
 
 ******** 
 
 " I am indebted to you for the new volume of D'Aubigne's Refor- 
 mation and sundry other tokens of love. May our heavenly Father 
 reward you. I can not. D'Aubigne I shall not have time to read 
 just now, though I anticipate a feast when I commence it. I have 
 on hand Layard's new work, (a very fine one) and the Hfe and writ- 
 ings of Professor Edwards. What a charming man Professor Ed- 
 wards was. How learned, how humble, how childlike, how perse- 
 vering. It is very rare to meet with one so great and yet so retiring, 
 combimng in a most interesting manner the perfect scholar and the 
 devoted Christian. I always loved him, but never so much as now 
 that I have read his memoir. He was indeed the disciple whom 
 
ANXIETY FOR HIS PUPILS. 869 
 
 Jesus loved. I was much indebted to him during my short stay at 
 Andover, as "well as to Professor Stuart. I should love to plant 
 some flowers by their graves. May many young men catch their 
 falling mantle." 
 
 To Rev. Dr. Anderson, on tokens of a revival : 
 
 "February 16th, 1854. During the past month the Holy Spirit 
 has been hovering over our two seminaries and the village of Geog 
 Tapa. We needed very much this visit of the celestial dove. 
 Many of our pupils and our native helpers, who give decided evi- 
 dence of piety, had yet wandered from the Saviour, and lost the 
 fervor of their first love. There has been less earnest prayer ofifered 
 by them than formerly. There has been less activity in making 
 known Christ to others. The mass of the people, while advancing in 
 intelligence and acquaintance with evangelical truth, have been be- 
 coming more insensible to its claims ; and, as we looked abroad on 
 the desolations, the painful con\^ction forced itself on us, that the 
 bones were very dry. The Roman Catholics have also been this 
 year unusually rampant, and have vigorously, and with some limited 
 success, made efibrts to proselyte the people. 
 
 " Our solicitude has been still more increased by the fact that the 
 proportion of those in our seminaries who are not Christians, is 
 greater this year than for some years previous. Of our forty-five 
 pupils, not more than fifteen or twenty have given evidence of piety, 
 and the proportion is about the same in the female seminary. 
 Several of those who are to leave us this spring, are not converted. 
 They are soon to be withdrawn from our constant influence. They 
 will be scattered in distant villages. They will be exposed to numer- 
 ous temptations. The thought that they may thus possibly be over- 
 come, and even at some time be induced to range themselves with 
 the enemies of the truth, often makes our hearts to die within us. 
 What could be more distressing than such a prospect ? We have 
 left father and mother, brother and sister, home and country, in order 
 to preach Christ to these Nestorians. We have done this cheerfully. 
 It has seemed to us a most precious privilege. These dear pupils 
 
 IG* 
 
370 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 have been received into our families, and had a warm place in our 
 affections. For years we have toiled to discipline their minds, to 
 store them with intellectual furniture, and to fit them to proclaim the 
 gospel vrith efficiency and success among their people. We have 
 prayed often for them, and with them. We have longed to see 
 them all sitting at the feet of Jesus. And yet some of them have 
 nearly completed their last year, and are not bom agam. Their 
 appearance while with us is encouraging, and they are at Lmes 
 affected by the truth. But they are not yet translated into the 
 kingdom of God's dear Son. They are without an anchor or a com- 
 pass, and may at any time make complete shipwreck. 
 
 " Such have been our feelings, such our solicitude, in regard to 
 these young men. This has led us to earnest prayer. We felt that 
 this season must not pass by without a revival. Unitedly and, I 
 trust, earnestly, we asked our Heavenly Father to appear for us, and 
 baptize us all with the Holy Ghost. 
 
 " Blessed be God, our unworthy prayers have been heard. For 
 some weeks the seminary has been pervaded with a deep solemnity, 
 and the anxious inquiry has been repeatedly heard, ' What shall I do 
 to be saved ?' At a meeting held three or four days ago, to which 
 those only were invited who had no hope in Christ, but who were 
 determined to give themselves wholly to the subject, nineteen were 
 present, and I have rarely attended a more solemn meeting. All 
 were in tears, and many could not repress theii' sobs, as they were 
 reminded of their critical position — thus being, as by a single hair, 
 between heaven and hell. 
 
 We have kept up our regular school exercises, but have allowed 
 the pupils more time than usual for their closet duties, and for relig- 
 ious conversation with each other. We have also set apart two days 
 for fasting and prayer, beside the first Monday of the year, which 
 was spent in the same way. These seasons have undoubtedly been 
 of great benefit to all who have shared in them, and aided much, by 
 the blessing of God, in carrying on the good work.' 
 
 In common with all American missionaries in the East, 
 
THE CRIMEAN WAR. 371 
 
 Mr. Stoddard apprehended the most fatal evil to missions 
 in the event of the triumph of Russia in the Crimean war. 
 Under date of February 17th, 1854, he writes: 
 
 "What the end will be we know not. It may result in the tn- 
 umph of Russia. Woe then to missions. Woe to civilization. Woe 
 to freedom. May Grod in mercy avert such a calamity. It may, on 
 the other hand, result in the triumph of the allied powers and the 
 establishment of a- firm peace on the old basis. It may result in the 
 dismemberment of Turkey, and the downfall of the stronghold of the 
 False Prophet. Should the war continue, there is the greatest rea- 
 son to apprehend that P;rsia will be involved. Thus far we have not 
 experienced the least moU'sration in our work from this source. We 
 hear the noise of the battle afar off. Should Persia still remain neutral, 
 our greatest danger would be the cutting off of our communication 
 with America — an event we should most deeply deplore. We try, 
 however, to give ourselves no anxiety on these subjects, but to leave 
 them all to him who will bring light out of darkness, and, amid all 
 the marchings and counter-marchings of armies, wiU take good care 
 of his own precious cause. *****! need hardly say that 
 all our sympathies are against Russia. We long to see her humbled, 
 if not crushed. It is cheering to see that England is at last waking 
 up, and that the Queen calls Nicholas ' omr common enemy.' " 
 
 To Dr. Lobdell, at Mosul, dated March 16, 1854 : 
 
 "I have this morning given my last lesson to our pupils in 
 theology. It was good to take 'Heaven' as the closing subject 
 in such a course, and we all dwelt on it with great delight. In- 
 cluding natural theology, I give about one hundred and twenty 
 lessons or lectures, and the pupils take copious notes for future refer- 
 ence. In the preparation of these lectures I have spared no pains, 
 and have read thi'ough many octavo volumes in order to pet the 
 cream of them. It is my design to extend these lessons over two years, 
 devoting three or four hours to them each week, and allowing no 
 one \/0 go out as a graduate who has not studied them thoroughly. 
 
372 MEMOIE OF STODDARD. 
 
 The next time I go through with the course, I think I shall discard 
 all study of systems^ and confine my investigations to the critical 
 study of the Bible. Perhaps I ought to have begun in this way. li 
 is the only safe way ; and if those who teach theology had adhered 
 far more closely to this Book of books, we should have had, undf.T 
 the name of theology, less of saw-dust and moonshine. What a 
 glorious study theology is. The field is boundless, and if properly 
 explored, cannot fail to excite our wonder, love, and praise. Yet, 
 when we have made all our researches and taxed our feeble powers 
 to the utmost, how much there is that we cann:)t fathom. We are 
 little children picking up pebbles along the ocean shore. But tlie 
 time will come when we shall know more, know ' even as also we 
 are known.' Theology, will no doubt be our great study in Heaven ; 
 or, if you do not like the term theology, let us say we shall forever 
 study God's character and works, as a foundation for our adoring 
 praise. It is delightful to think Christ will be our teacher there. 
 He will feed us and lead us to living fountains of water. We know 
 what it is to ' feed the church of God' here below, and may we not 
 infer what it will be to feed it in Heaven ? Shall we not be fed 
 ' with knowledge and understanding?' " 
 
 If every minister would study and preach with this 
 spirit, how heavenly would be the ministrations of the 
 pulpit. 
 
 The next extract is from a letter to a friend, upon the 
 influence of slavery upon foreign missions : 
 
 "We dare not tell these Nestorians that such an institution 
 exists in 'free, happy America.* If we should, they would not 
 fail to charge us, as Mar Yohannan did, when visiting America, 
 with the grossest inconsistency. * You come here,' I seem to hear 
 them say, ' to labor for our social and moral elevation. It is well. 
 We thank you for your labors of love. May God reward you for all 
 your self-denials I But, while feeling compassion for us, why do you 
 
SLAVEEV AND MISSIONS. 373 
 
 harden your hearts against whole millions, who languish in your 
 own land in unrighteous bondage ? You give us the Bible ; why do 
 you deny it to the slave? You multiply schools among us; why do 
 you forbid the African to learn to read ? You feel indignation at our 
 Moslem oppressors ; why are you unwilling to disturb, even wdth a 
 whisper, the American slaveholder ? You tell us of the sanctity of 
 marriage; why do you endure a system which, hardly less than 
 Mohammedanism, tends to concubinage? You hold up before us 
 the family relation as of the most sacred and dehghtful character ; 
 how then can you sanction the violent sundering of these ties, and 
 tlie scattering of father, mother, brother, sister, son, and daughter, to 
 the winds of heaven ? You assure us that man is not a brute, that 
 he is made in the image of God, that he is to hve forever ; why then 
 do you, in America, buy tmd sell men, and reduce them nearly to the 
 level of the horse or the ox ? Is this consistency ? Is this Chris- 
 tianity ? Is this the land of freedom ; this the land of philanthropy, 
 of pure and devoted piety, of which you boast ?' 
 
 '^ What should we say to such questions as these ? What could 
 we do but hang our heads for shame ? Now, my dear brother, I do 
 not believe in denunciation on this subject ; there has been too much 
 of it already. We should love the slaveholder as well as the slave. 
 Had we been accustomed to the ' pecuhar institution' from our child- 
 hood; had you and I received a Southern training, we should proba- 
 bly now have a slaveholder's feelings. It is God only who makes us 
 to differ. What we need is simply this; that the gigantic evil be un- 
 derstood and appreciated by people of all classes, and then that each 
 o. e set himself, calmly and seriously, to look for the remedy." 
 
 To his brother-in-law, Rev. A. Hazen, missionary in 
 India : 
 
 "March 18, 1854. For two months past there has been very 
 deep religious interest among our pupils, and at times there has been 
 such overcoming feehng that, when we conversed and prayed with 
 them, they could not repress audible sobs. Night after night they 
 came to my study, and though their emotions would not allow them 
 
374 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 to reply jfreely to my questions, the tears chasing each other down 
 their cheeks, told the sorrow of their hearts. At such tinies it is a 
 blessed thing to labor for souls, when these precious ones are all eye 
 and all ear, when buckslidtn-s are reclaimed, and stupid sinners are 
 inquiring the way to the cross of Christ. We never can praise God 
 enough for such a shower of grace. We needed it very, very much. 
 In the autumn but fifteen of our forty-five pupils were hopefully pious, 
 a sm'iller proportion than we have had for some years. How many 
 have been converted time alone will determine, but I can not but 
 hope a considerable number. The pupils have gone out fuU of zeal, 
 if ' ot full of faith and the Holy Ghost ; and, as there is a good deal 
 of snsceptibility to the truth in many villages, a general movement 
 among the dry bones, we hope they will carry everywhere life and 
 salvation. Oh ! how delightful would it be, if during this year of 
 civil commotions, we might see thousands of these dear Nestorians 
 sitting at the Saviour's feet. Such revivals Tiave been witnessed, and 
 in modem times, too. Why may they not be witnessed again ? Are 
 we not equally needy with our missionaries in the Sandwich Islands 
 or in Burmah ? Are not these Nestorians as truly lost as they with- 
 out Christ? Are not their souls as precious? Has not the good 
 seed long been sown ? Are not many hundreds, and perhaps thou- 
 sands, intellectually convinced ? Is not God just as ready here as 
 elsewhere to put this seal on our unworthy labors ? Does he not 
 love to pour out the Holy Spirit when his children wait on him and 
 cry day and night? Why shall we then not look for great things? 
 and why will not yon, too, pray for us, that we may thus shout the 
 harvest home ? While I write, John, our faithful evangelist, has 
 come in, and 13 giving a glowing account of what he has witnessed 
 in a neighboring village, where he passed the night. His face is 
 lighted up with joy, and the tears start to his eyes as he speaks of 
 the mercy of the Lord to us. There is deep interest in Geog 
 Tapa also." 
 
 His preaching labors at the village of Geog Tapa are de- 
 scribed in a letter to Mr. Hazen : 
 
SABBATH AT GEOQ TAPA. 875 
 
 " Every Sabbath morning Geog Tapa sends out ten young men, 
 two and two, to the five villages around, who hold meetings and 
 conduct Sabbath schools. In the evening they meet together to re- 
 port progress, and pray for grace and strength. Some of these eve- 
 ning meetings have been intensely interesting. The zeal of the people 
 for religious meetings on the Sabbath is very great Take, for in- 
 stance, the last Sabbath. We had Sabbath school from 8^ to 10 1 
 A.M. From 1 to 2 p.m., a large class of women met at a private 
 house, who thought the rwn hours in the morning were too short for 
 them to devote to their stammering attempts to read. At 2 o'clock 
 I preached to a large congregation. At 4 o'clock several of the 
 morning classes met at the houses of Lheir respective teachers, to re- 
 view thoroughly what they learned il the Sabbath school. Then, at 
 evening, was the meeting I have before spoken of. I assure you, 
 they quite tire me out when I go there, and I at times (weak in 
 body as I often am) shrink from going there on that account* Yet 
 the spirit is willing, though the flesh is weak, and I consider it a 
 most precious privilege to visit there often, and to call it ' my village.' 
 "Were it not for the exhausting labors of the seminary, I should visit 
 it much oftener than I do." 
 
 To his dear and honored father : 
 
 "June 17th, 1854. Can it he five months since I have vnritten 
 you ? How fast glide away our days and months, and years, even 
 on missionary ground. Some persons think of us as lengthening out 
 a weary existence, poor, unhappy exiles, fondly expecting in the 
 other world the enjoyment we fail to get in this. This is just the 
 reverse of the truth, I am never more happy. I never have been, 
 I never could be, than in this, my mountain home, unless, indeed, I 
 was a better Christian, and lived more a life of faith. My path is 
 not, to be sure, strewed with roses, nor is it, on the other hand, 
 hedged in vdth thorns. God is very good to me and mine. He has 
 placed me in the position where, of all others, I love to be, and gives 
 me abundance of the most interesting missionary work to do. I 
 have to mourn over my unfaithfulness, my distance from the Saviour 
 
876 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 my want of love to souls. But, in other respects, I moum not, 0, 
 for a heart to praise the Lord I 0, for a sense of his infinite love ! 
 Father, I hope you are in the land of Beulah, and that, as you draw 
 near the end of your long pilgrimage, you catch nearer and brighter 
 ghmpses of what is reserved for you. I hope you enjoy sweet com- 
 munion with God, and are calmly 4ooking forward to a home with 
 him forever." 
 
 On the death of Rev. Messrs. Stocking and Crane, for 
 many years his associates in the Nestorian field : 
 
 "July 18th, 1854. "We have lately been reminded, in a mos^t 
 solemn manner, to set our houses in order, first by the death of our 
 beloved brother Stocking, and more recently by the death of our sis- 
 ter, Mrs. Williams, who, with her husband, was on her way here from 
 Mosul, for a visit. Mr. Stocking was a good man, emphatically a good 
 man, and a very noble-hearted missionary. Active, energetic, untiring, 
 mdicious, devoted, he stood for sixteen years in the fore front of the 
 battle. He never was in college ; he never went to a theological 
 seminary, and yet ncme of us could vrield, like him, the sword of the 
 Spirit. He was an eminent and eloquent preacher in Syriac, and did 
 much to fori i our native preachers on the same model. A few years 
 ago he began to fail. Still he held on his way, and was exceedingly 
 unwilling to leave his post and return home. We, however, urged 
 him to it, as his last resource. Bat a change — the journey — the 
 voyage — the sight of Lis native laud, could do notliing for him, and 
 he quietly fell asLep in Jesus on the morning of April 30th, in New 
 York. Our natives are very much afiected by his death, and we 
 may truly say the whole IsTestorian people sit in sackcloth, so widely 
 \/as he known, and so universally beloved. God grant that I may 
 be as abb as he to say at the last, ' I have fought a good fight ; I 
 have finished my course ; I have kept the faith.' " 
 
 " In many respects we have had a quiet, prosperous summer, but in 
 other respects our mission has been deeply afflicted. The death of 
 Mr, Stocking was a greac loss to us. He was a noble missionary; 
 
MESSRS. STOCKING AND CRANE. 377 
 
 and many Nestorians will hereafter rise up and call him blessed. 
 About the 1st of September our dear brother Crane was called to his 
 rest His disease was typhus fever. He was in the vigor of youth, 
 and had just acquired the language, and promised extensive usefuhiess 
 in the mountain field. But God had higher work for him, and he now 
 serves him day and night in his temple. He has a better home than 
 he could ever have in Koordistan. We can not weep for him. We 
 weep only for ourselves. Do you remember this brother — how, one 
 Saturday evening, he introduced himself to us in your study ? He 
 was very frank in his manner, an excellent companion, of good judg- 
 ment, of far more than ordinary talent, and uncommon piety." 
 
 Of the comparative importance of teaching and preach- 
 ing, upon missionary ground, Mr. Stoddard thus expresses 
 himself in a letcer to Rev. Mr. Williams of Mosul : 
 
 " November 22d, 1854. My impression is that, taking the field 
 of the American Board through, the business of teaching has been 
 overdone ; that a vast amount of strength has been expended in vil- 
 lage schools, very imperfectly superintended, and in India, under 
 heathen teachers, which might have been better expended in the 
 direct preaching of tlie Gospel. The business has been greatly over- 
 done here, as we nearly all of us firmly believe. Many of our village 
 schools have accomplished nothing ; and the reason is that they were 
 not and could not be brought under a direct religious influence. Mr. 
 Stocking visited them once a month and did the very best he could ; 
 but his visit was a flying one, and the moment he passed by to look 
 after the other seventy-nine schools, things reverted to their old course. 
 That course in many cases was a sad one. Since some of the teach- 
 ers and their older scholars have become pious, we have learned abom- 
 inations which we never dreamed of at the time they were enacted. 
 For example, one young man told me that, when at school in Ada, 
 his teacher used habitually to lock up the scholars and tlien go away 
 to gamble I Of course they learned nothing, but whenever the boy, 
 placed on tlie roof to watch, cried out, ' Sabib is entering the vil- 
 
878 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 lage,' then there was a whirl for a few moments and the school wag 
 all in grand order and the teacher at his post ! 
 
 " While this has been true of many of our schools, and especially 
 those in the remote villages and those taught (?) by mercenaries, it 
 has not (bless God) been true of all. On the contrary, our schools 
 i: Greog Tapa, for example, have done a noble work and a work 
 which I beheve could have been brought forward in no other way. 
 They have stimulated the masses with a desire for improvement, and 
 are, in my opinion, at the foundation of most that is really good in 
 ti.6 village. 
 
 " In a word, I am in favor of village schools only when they can 
 be brought under teachers decidedly piotcs, who labor not for filthy 
 lucre, but for that Saviour who bought them with his own blood. 
 "We even now have few enough of such teachers, but, let them be 
 few or many, I think we should adhere to this rule. 
 
 ''In regard to seminaries, in charge of missionaries, who give 
 themselves to their work, I believe they are beyond all price in car- 
 rying forward the chariot of salvation, and especially where constant 
 and jealous care is taken that they are not secularized. Our experi- 
 ence is very decided on this subject So is that of the Ceylon mission. 
 If we are ever to finish up our work — I mean we missionaries— 
 and go to new fields, it is of immense importance (I know not how 
 to use language strong enough) that we have natives in considerable 
 numbers of well disciplined minds, as well as fired with apostolic 
 zesX. How we are to get them I do not see, unless we establish 
 seminaries hke ours at Seir, and then try by God's blessiug to per- 
 vade them with the influences of God's Spirit. Come here and see 
 if, schoolmaster as I am, I do not preach to my scholars. It is one 
 of the best of audiences too. What a privilege to have such an 
 audience to preach to from morning to night. It ought to tell on the 
 welfare of these Nestorians greatly, and if it does not, I shall be 
 free to say that we have wrestled too little on our knees for the 
 blessing," 
 
 The following letter shows that Mr. Stoddard was grow- 
 
THE CHURCH QUESTION. 379 
 
 ing in the conviction that a distinct church organization ot 
 the Nestorian converts would soon hccorae a necessity. 
 
 " December 15th, 1854. I have read witli delight and gratitude 
 the account of the meeting of the Board at Hartford, and I have no 
 doubt it is read with delight and gratitude throughout the world. It 
 is cause of special thanksgiving that you were so harmonious on a 
 subject which produce:: everywhere so much excitement. I hope 
 this new year will be one of rich blessings to all our missions. As 
 for ourselves, I think I see some signs of a retrogi-ade movement for 
 a year or two, and I confess I look forward to the future with some 
 anxiety. As soon as it shall be definitely settled that we can not 
 vigorously prosecute the reformation in the church, I shall be in favor 
 of a separation. It will not do to have so precious a harvest lost. 
 Hitherto I beheve our course has been a wise one, but not unat- 
 tended with peril The pious Nestorians have so much lumber to 
 carry round on their backs that it is more difficult than you may 
 imagine for them to stand up, freemen in Christ Jesus. You will be 
 glad to know that we have held a communion season, at which a 
 number of them were invited, and we expect to have another the 
 first of next month. Our plan is, as soon as we can bring it about, 
 to have all the pious Nestorians commune with us three times in a 
 year or once in four months. They need sadly the benefit of this 
 ordinance, administered in a solemn and pcriptural manner." 
 
 His humility appears in the following, to a sister ; 
 
 "January 16th, 1855. If I regard the ma7i7ier in which I per- 
 form my daily duties, I am often filled with deep sorrow. It is easy 
 to preach, but not easy to preach in the demonstration of the Spirit 
 and with power. It is easy to invite others to repentance, but not 
 easy to travail in birth for their souls. It is easy to live a moral, uji- 
 right life, but not easy to have Christ ever reigning supreme over all 
 our affections. In a word, it is easy to be called a missionary and 
 to be doing, here and there, some little good ; but not easy to hve, 
 
880 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 either in America or in Persia, a life of faith on the Son of God. I 
 hope you are far in advance of me in your way to heaven, and that 
 you wiU pray that I may grow, much faster than I have been grow- 
 ing of late, to the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Of the signs of the times during the Crimean war, he 
 writes : 
 
 " I have this fall and winter been quite busy in preparing a course 
 of lectures for our pupils, on the evidences of Christianity, and I have 
 found it a very delightful employment. Situated as they are, among 
 Mohammedans and Jews, it is specially important that they be well 
 grounded in the faith, and be able to give to every man an answer 
 with meekness of wisdom. The time may come, I should not won- 
 der if it came speedily, when the door for preaching the Gospel to 
 the milhons of Mohammedan Persia shall be thrown wide open. 
 This gives an importance to our labors which they could not other- 
 wise possess. We are on the eve of great events. The old founda- 
 tions are broken up. Nation is dashed against nation like a potter's 
 vessel. These eastern countries are becoming more involved every 
 day, and in all human probability Mohammedan power is now for- 
 ever to fall. Whatever oih&r results come from the war, whether 
 Russians or the Allies conquer, I believe the death-knell of Moham- 
 medanism is now struck." 
 
 Of the family feeling of missionaries as illustrated from 
 common trials : 
 
 "March 19, 1855. This has been a year of deep affliction in 
 Western Asia. You know two adults belonging to this mission and 
 three children have died. Then Mrs. Williams at Mosul, and Mrs. 
 Nutting at Aintab, are gone ; and the last two mails have brought 
 us the painful intelligence of the death of Mrs. Everett and Mr. Ben- 
 jamin in Constantinople. We missionaries, in some sort, form one- 
 great family, and when c ne of our number is taken away, especially 
 one whom we have personally known and loved, we are afflicted by 
 
THE LATE DR. LOBDELL. 381 
 
 the stroke in a manner different from what you in America can be. 
 Soon we too shall be gone, it matters little when or how, if our 
 treasure is only laid up in heaven. Oh, sister, let us earnestly and 
 perseveringly seek to Hve a life of hearen on earth." 
 
 To Dr. Lobdell at Mosul, upon new perils : 
 
 "March 28th, 1855. I can not let this messenger go, without 
 telling you how grieved I am to hear of your sickness, and especially 
 as I fear it has been brought on by your late journey to Bagdad, un- 
 dertaken on our account May our Fieavenly Father grant you a 
 full and speedy restoration, if you have not been thus blessed al- 
 ready. We are very much obliged to you for your great kindness in 
 going to Bagdad, and inter sting in our behalf the new ambassador, 
 and, as things now seem to be going, it is possible that your repre- 
 sentations may, under God, contribute materially to save this mission 
 from destruction. We are yet quite in the dark as to what Asker 
 Khan, the new Grovernor of the Nestorians, will do, but his designs 
 appear to be any tiling but favorable to us. He, however, evidently 
 looks with a more favorable eye on the Catholics, and perhaps was 
 bribed by them in passing through Sahnas. 
 
 "We rejoice that God reigns, and that we are in his hands, and 
 that we are to be disposed of just as he sees best. He has long 
 watched over and blessed us, and will do it still if we only put an 
 imphcit, childlike trust in him. I sometimes wonder that I have 
 not more anxiety about the future, but I indulge a hope that my 
 quietness of feeling may be, at least in some small measure, the 
 result of faith, and not all blind fatalism." 
 
 Dr. Lobdell was one of the choicest spirits in tlie foreign 
 missionary service ; a man of thorough science, of liberal 
 culture, of excellent judgment, of mature piety. His early 
 death, like that of Dr. Azariah Smith, was the more pain- 
 fully felt because his medical knowledge, so serviceable in 
 guiding and restraining others, did not suffice in his own 
 case to regulate the fire of missionary zeal. The very 
 
882 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 next letter of Mr. Stoddard to Mosul was a letter of condo- 
 lence to the widow of this beloved brother. 
 
 " Orogmiah, May 2d, 1855. 
 " My Dear Afflicted Sister : 
 
 " When the Mosul packet was brought in Monday morning, I 
 opened it with a beating heart, fearing the worst, and yet hoping far 
 more than I feared. I had supposed I was, however, prepared for 
 any announcement. But when I glanced at the letters and saw that 
 our beloved brother was no more, that you were left a widow, and 
 the little ones fatherless, I was quite overcome by my feelings. I 
 had not heUeved it would be so. I knew that he was very low wherL 
 you wrote, and that, humanly speaking, the chances might be aganr.t 
 liim. Still I felt that he was not to be cut down now ; that God 
 would spare him to you and those dear children in this land o* 
 strangers ; that G-od would make him a greater and greater blessing 
 to the perishing ones around you, and a brighter and still brighter 
 ornament to the church of Christ. But how was I mistaken. My 
 hopes were withered in a moment by the startling words, ' Brother 
 Lobdell is dead." Is dead. Is it indeed so? Shall I never more 
 meet him on earth ? Never more hold sweet converse with him ? 
 Never more kneel by his side in prayer ? Never more feel that we 
 are laboring, shoulder to shoulder, though on different sides of the 
 mountain, in the blessed cause of Christ? Is his precious life so 
 goon sacrificed? Is he hurried away from the scene of his toils, 
 before he could see the fruits ripen and aid in shouting the harvest 
 home ? How sad. What a blow to that dear wife. What a loss 
 to those infant children. What a discouragement to that HttJe and 
 already twice-stricken missionary band. Why need this be ? Is this 
 infinite wisdom ? Is this infinite love ? Does not God sometimes 
 make mistakes ? Will Ms cause in this way ever be hkely to triumph ? 
 WiU not enemies gather courage, and friends lose all heart ? 
 
 " Yes, these and a thousand more such questions will press them- 
 selves upon us. But, blessed be God, Faith, Faith will in a moment 
 dispose of them all. We meet our brother no more on earth, but we 
 
DEATH OF DR. LOBDELL. 383 
 
 are soou to meet him in a world of infinite glory. There shall we 
 hold communion with him as we never could on earth. There shall 
 we kneel by his side in praise^ as we here were wont to kneel in 
 prayer. His hfe is not sacrificed. The master had need of him, and 
 called him to higher service. Though hurried away from the scene 
 of his toils, he forms one of the great cloud of witnesses, who bend 
 down, intent on our every movement, from the battlements of 
 heaven. When the angels rejoice over one sinner repenting in 
 Mosul, he will rejoice with them. His dear wife has indeed received 
 a heavy blow. Yet see how she sings of mercy, even in the furnace 
 of affliction. How she realizes the height and depth of the promises 
 of God's word. How she stands on the banks of the Jordan, catch- 
 ing glimpses of tlie glory beyond, which she never dreamed of till 
 her own dear husband crossed over the river. Those infant children 
 are indeed left without a father. But will not God be their father ? 
 And is he not a thousand times better than any earthly protector 
 and friend? The ranks are thinned, but God is thus disciplining and 
 sanctifying and preparing for greater usefulness those who remain. 
 All is done in wisdom, all in love. God knows best. We will not 
 murmur. We will not desire to have our own way. Let him do 
 what he pleases with us and ours. Our part is childlike submission 
 — ^humble, unwavering, triumphing faith. 
 
 *' Dear Sister, my heart bleeds for you, and yet I can comfort you 
 with the comfort wherewith I have myself been comforted of God. 
 Know assuredly that you will not be forsaken. Know that in time 
 and through eternity all will be well If God has given you his own 
 Son to die for you, and his own Spirit to seal you an heir of glory, 
 he will not Ml you in this time of your need. trust him ; trust 
 with all your heart. He is an ever-present help in time of trouble. 
 Say over and sing over, 
 
 " ' If through untroubled seas, 
 To heaven wo calmly sail, 
 "With grateful hearts, God, to thee 
 We '11 own tho favoring gale. 
 
384 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " ' But should the surges rise, 
 And rest delay to come : — 
 Blest be the sorrow, kind the storm, 
 Which drives us nearer home.' 
 
 •* I would gladly write you more, but peculiar circumstances have 
 taken up all my time and I must now close by subscribing mysellj 
 " Your very affectionate and sympathising missionary brother, 
 
 " D. T. Stoddard." 
 
 To a brother in Northampton : 
 
 " How is it with you, dear brother ? are you pressing on in your 
 pilgrimage, staff in hand, and your eye on Prince Immatiuel ? Does 
 heaven grow more attractive and seem nearer and nearer ? Do you 
 live in daily readiness for the call of the Master, and can you say, 
 * for me to Hve is Christ and to die gain ?' I hope that you are far 
 in advance in this rtepect of your missionary brother. It is apt to 
 be supposed that being on missionary ground, we must of course be 
 heavenly minded, growing Christians, But we ever carry our 
 wicked hearts with us, which are quite as wicked when we are in 
 Persia as when we are in America, and the force of external temp- 
 tations is even greater than with you. So, if it were not for the 
 special grace of Christ, I know not what would become of mission- 
 aries or the cause which they represent. Pray for us, that we may 
 prove good soldiers of the cro«s, and fight steadily and successfully 
 the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life. We must fight, 
 if we would reign. 
 
 " We have Httle of news to communicate, except that the gov- 
 ernment seems stirred up to renewed hostility against us. The 
 Khans, who have for generations here rioted in the oppression and 
 misery of the Nestorians, have for the last few years felt our presence 
 here to be a great restraint upon them ; and while they have been 
 externally civil, there is no doubt that at heart they are our enemies 
 and would glory in the destruction of our mission. We suppose 
 
RENEWED TROUBLES. 350 
 
 that these nobles have secretly used an influence -with the king, 
 prejudicial to us, persuading him that we were instilling into his 
 subjects principles of freedom, which would make them uneasj-- 
 and revolutionary, and were acquiring a personal influence in 
 Northern Persia which foreigners ought not to possess, and whicli 
 might at some day bring great disaster to the ' center of the world.' 
 It has been represented that at first a few ' Engleese' came to India, 
 then a few more, then a few soldiers, until now the whole country 
 has been subjected. And there are many in Persia, weak enough 
 and ignorant enough to confound us with the 'Engleese,' and to 
 swallow just such stories as these. The only wonder is that for 
 twenty years we have been so little molested, whUe Uving under so 
 despotic and jealous a government. No doubt, however, the Lord 
 is on our side and will take care of us, so that in the end no harm 
 will come to his precious cause. No doubt, too, that ' Michael, one 
 of the chief princes,' will help fight against ' the prince of the king- 
 dom of Persia,* not only ' one and twenty days,' but one and twenty 
 yearSj if it is necessary to the destruction of Christ's enemies and 
 the establishment of his kingdom. Daniel, x. 13." 
 
 To Rev. Mr. Cochran, his associate in the seminary, 
 then absent at Constantinople for his health, Mr. Stoddard 
 writes of the renewed interference of government with the 
 mission. 
 
 " September 27th, 1855. Asker Khan has of late revealed to 
 Dr. Wright much more than we supposed he would about his orders 
 and his intentions. He says he shall be obliged to visit the girls' 
 school, when it assembles, and see to it that they are reading noth- 
 ing but their own books, and that he can permit neither geography 
 nor arithmetic, nor any science, to be taught there. He also says 
 he must look after our press and examine the character of its issues. 
 And, farther, tliat he must know who our helpers are and where 
 they are, and what they are doing ; and tliat if thiy, or any of the 
 people, shall be found to have broken their fasts or to have departed 
 
 17 
 
386 MEMOIK OF STODDARD. 
 
 from the way of their fathers, they are to be treated as ' criminals.' 
 The Dr. has also had a talk in private with the Vizier of the Prince, 
 who has been intimate with Mr. Stevens and accused of favoring 
 the English more than his own people. He says that the design of 
 the government is to hem us in and embarrass us, so that we shall 
 at the last be compelled to retire from the country ; but they wish to 
 do it, so that it shall not appear to be open violence. He adds that, 
 in case we are molested, he could not aid us, as he would thereby 
 lose his place and ' good name,' though he intimated that his sympa- 
 thies might be strongly with us. 
 
 Under all these circumstances — the probability, if not certainty — 
 that as soon as we commenced our winter's labors we should be in 
 hot water on every side, and the further fact that since the ambassa- 
 dor's arrival at Teheran, (April 12th) we have heard not a word 
 from there, and know not whether he has lifted a finger, or designs 
 to do so, in our defense, we have thought it best that Dr. Wright 
 should go to Tabreez and there endeavor to elicit light. 
 
 " Thus, in a few words, I have told you the story of our present 
 position, so far as the government is concerned. It can not be de- 
 nied that things wear a very threatening aspect, but we trust that 
 our Heavenly Father will overrule all for good, so that our enemies 
 shall be ashamed, and all the friends of Christ here be constrained to 
 magnify his name. He is always better to us than our fears, often 
 better than our highest hopes." 
 
 These signs of opposition from government led Mr. Stod- 
 dard to feel more deeply the importance of a separate 
 church organization for the evangelical Nestorians. Yet 
 they could only watch the gathering storm, and wait the 
 will of God. 
 
 " The time seems to have fully come, if indeed it is not already past, 
 to form a Protestant evangelical church among the Nestorians, such 
 as has been formed among the Armenians. But, so far from our being 
 able to form such a church, the government is opposed to the least 
 
FAVORS A NEW CHURCH. 387 
 
 attempt at proselytism, and bears down on us in every way in its 
 power, evidently hoping that we shall withdraw from the country, 
 I think the king is just weak enough and ignorant enough to sup- 
 pose that we are poHtical spies, employed by England and designed 
 to aid in the subjugation of the country to that power. What more 
 hberal ideas can we expect of a king, who has never traveled through 
 his dominions, who knows next to nothing of foreign countries, and 
 who, shut up in Ms harem, is intoxicated half the time and reveling 
 in voluptuous pleasures the other half? 
 
 " The principal evil we now encounter is this : in the absence of a 
 church organization, the pious natives are not bound together as 
 they should be in a firm and delightful brotherhood ; but are scat- 
 tered among the people, too much tempted to conform to tlieir cus- 
 toms and superstitious observances, and to catch their spirit. They 
 do not feel enough that the work rests on their shoulders. They do 
 not feel half the interest in trying to patch up and adorn with Chris- 
 tian graces their old church, (which many of them believe is hope- 
 lessly decrepid, if not inherently corrupt) that they would in the for- 
 mation and extension of pure churches, founded not on patriarchs or 
 bishops, but on Jesus Christ, the chief corner stone. Then again it 
 is very difficult to develop hberality among them. They are taxed 
 for the support of the old church, and help, willingly or unwillingly, 
 to feed a host of lazy priests and deacons ; and having done this, are 
 apt to feel that they have done enough, at least in the way of sup- 
 porting religion among their own people. The native helpers are 
 looked on rather as ours than theirs^ and it will be very hard, in the 
 existing order of things, to throw the burden of their support upon 
 an unorganized body of pious natives, who yet have an organization 
 of their own which is worse than notliing. I have not time to go 
 into this subject, which is a great one, and most important in its bear- 
 ing on the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom here. While most 
 of us would rejoice to see the way open for Protestant and pure 
 churches here, we must be content, in the absence of the English 
 embassy and during the bitter hostihty of the government, to take 
 in sail, and hope and pray for better times. One thing is certain, 
 
388 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 that the Gospel is destined to achieve a great and glorious triumph 
 throughout this country and the world. The Lord hasten it in his 
 time." 
 
 To Rev. D. W. Marsh, Mosul : 
 
 " November 16th, 1855. You will be glad to hear that our girls' 
 seminary is now in operation and has been for nearly two weeks, 
 without any effort on the part of Asker Khan to molest it. The 
 letters which Dr. Wright procured at Tabreez, and the letter from 
 Mr. Murray to the Vizier of the Prince Governor of Oroomiah, have 
 undoubtedly had a happy effect to repress his efforts for our destruc- 
 tion — at least for a time, and to make him seriously doubt whether 
 he had better carry out his orders. He finds, perhaps to his sur- 
 prise, that we have able and willing friends, English and Russians, 
 and that if he pursues any means of open hostility to us, he will 
 very hkely lose his place, if indeed he is not disgraced at court. 
 Such considerations will keep him quiet now, it may be aU winter, 
 it may be 'for good.' So long as our female seminary is undis- 
 turbed, we may confidently hope that all our operations will be, as 
 that has from the first appeared more obnoxious than any other de- 
 partment. It must not, however, be concealed that Asker Khan, 
 by reviling us behind our backs and by great swelling words of van- 
 ity, as to what the king would do, has frightened a multitude of our 
 half way friends, and made it more difficult than for years before to 
 carry on our operations. Beside this, it is now well understood by 
 us tliat another Asker Khan, the principal nobleman of these parts, 
 who has been much at Teheran of late years, was the principal agent 
 in getting up this opposition, and that he now secretly puts up the 
 other Khans to thwart us in every way in their power. And, inas- 
 much as these Khans have almost an absolute control over their 
 respective villages, they have of course the means of annoying all 
 connected with us to any extent they desire. All they need be on 
 their guard about is this, not to appear themselves as our opponents, 
 but to work throuo-h subordinates, But God will in the end bring 
 
BARZILLAI AND MOSES. 389 
 
 their counsel to nought. I would as soon have God on my side as 
 * half a dozen' of the greatest Khans who ever vegetated in this 
 kingdom." 
 
 To his venerable father ; 
 
 " December 31st, 1855. I love to think of you as an aged pil- 
 grim, who has reached the land of Beulah ; who has near and de- 
 hghtful views of the heavenly inheritance ; who can now and then 
 catch the musical strains which float down from that blessed world ; 
 and who only waits for the summons to march fearlessly into the 
 river, and cross over to the other shore. Would that I could sit once 
 more by your side, and talk with you of these sacred themes, and 
 learn more than I can now know of your feeUngs, in the near pros- 
 pect of such a glorious exchange of worlds. I trust you enjoy much 
 and intimate communion with God, and that you are able to say, 
 with sweet assurance, ' I know whom I have believed ; I know that 
 I love the Saviour, and that he loves me ; I know that soon I shall 
 be Hke him, for I shall see him as he is.' 
 
 " When Barzillai was fourscore years old, he said to David, ' can I 
 discern between good and evil ? Can thy servant taste what I eat, 
 or what I drink ? Can I hear any more the voice of singing men 
 and singing women ?' I rejoice to learn that it is not so with you ; 
 that you are rather hke Moses than Barzillai, and that yonr eye is not 
 dim, nor your natural force abated." 
 
 To a nephew, engaged in the study of theology : 
 
 " February 12th, 1856. You will naturally devote a good deal of 
 attention, the first year, to the Greek of the New Testament, and the 
 Hebrew, and I hope you will make thorough work with tliem. 
 Pe'haps you have already familiarized yourself, in a measure, with 
 the Greek Testament If not, you can easily gain a tolerable ac- 
 quaintance v/ith it, for which purpose there are several excellent 
 grammars. I would not exchange for any amount of gold and sil- 
 ver, my knowledge of the Greek Testament. I have read it, more 
 
390 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 or less, for twenty-six years, and, since I went to Andover, in 1839 
 I have read it a great deal. Of course I have explored all its nooks 
 and corners, and become very familiar with its phraseology. While 
 I admire the noble translation made from it into the Anglo-Saxon, I 
 must say that I derive more pleasure and profit from reading the" 
 Greek. This was the very language the Holy Ghost used, and it 
 must be that the fountain is more pure than the stream, however 
 pure the stream may be. I will add, in this connection, that I believe 
 we derive more pleasure from reading the Greek Testament here than 
 we could under almost any other circumstances. You know that 
 the principal difference between this Greek and classic Greek consists 
 in this, that the New Testament writers spoke Greek as a foreign 
 language, and introduced into it a multitude of Syriac (if you please, 
 Syro- Chaldaic) idioms. Now, familiar as we are with the latter lan- 
 guage, we can appreciate just what the writer meant, and just the 
 turn of thought in his mind, much better than if we came to the 
 Greek Testament after only the study of Thucydides or Xenophon. 
 Passages about which there have been volumes of controversy, seem, 
 as Stuart used to say, very ' facile' and natural, when viewed from 
 our stand-point. 
 
 " Now a word as to the Hebrew. If you want to buy Hebrew 
 books cheap, you can generally do so by going to those ministers 
 who have been out of the seminary a year or two. At least this 
 was the fact fifteen years ago. Having acquired a mere smattering 
 of Hebrew in the seminary, it was too difficult for them to pursue 
 the study after entering on their ministerial duties-, and so they relin- 
 quished it altogether. I hope the state of things in this respect is 
 becoming better in America, but I fear it improves very slowly. The 
 Hebrew is a diflBcult language to a beginner. We will grant that it 
 is beset with difficulties on every side. But only persevere a Httle, 
 and they will vanish, and leave you in possession of the coveted 
 treasure. And what a treasure 1 An ability to read the whole word 
 of God in the original languages. You are to be a minister — an au- 
 tliorized expounder of the Bible. And will you be content to get at 
 the document at second-hand, and take up with the opinions of other 
 
HOW TO STUDY. 391 
 
 men, even though they be more learned than yourself, when you 
 ought to exercise your own independent judgment ? 
 
 " I suppose that you are a good linguist ; that you have encoun- 
 tered, and thoroughly mastered, the difficulties of the Latin and 
 Greek. Let me say, then, that by diligence, a solid foundation may 
 be laid in a year or a year and a half, for such an acquaintance with 
 the originals of the Old and New Testament, as will enable you to 
 read them with great pleasure, and still more profit, all your life. 
 Try it. Made virtute. Try it, and then tell me whether my advice 
 is not good. 
 
 " But, my dear C, if you should become a great Biblical scholar, 
 without being a humble, holy Christian ; if your fondness for your 
 Hebrew grammar should entice you from your closet ; if you should 
 suffer yourself to think more of the external form in which the Bible 
 is communicated to us, than of the hving Spirit which everywhere 
 pervades it; then I should regret having given you such advice, and 
 feel that I had done you a lasting injury. Whatever else you are, 
 or are not, my dear C, be a whole-hearted Christian. A thou- 
 sand motives call on you thus to give yourself up to the Saviour. 
 But the great constraining motives should be, love to him and love 
 to souls for whom he died. Take your stand on Calvary, and gaze 
 on that meek Sufferer, who hangs there on the cross, till your whole 
 soul is a-glow. This is the best preparation for preaching Christ. In 
 one point of view it seems the only preparation worth having. Then 
 you will speak with effect Then you will reach the heart and move 
 the conscience. But, without love to Christ, whatever your intellect- 
 ual furniture, or your classical attainments, you will be as sounding 
 brass, and a tinkUng cymbal." 
 
 Early in 185G, the missionaries were again cheered with 
 a revival among the Nestorians. Mr. Stodtlard rejoiced 
 anew in its precious scenes. At the same time lie wrote 
 thus to his brother in Boston : 
 
 "0, brothel-, pray for lue, that 1 may bo found faithful^ and have 
 
392 MEMOIjft OF STODDAKD. 
 
 grace to mrjet my many responsibilities. It is a very solemn thing 
 to pass through a revival of religion, and especially to be much en- 
 gaged in the vrork of pointing perishing souls to Christ. I long to, 
 have this work of grace a deep one, both in my own soul, and in the 
 souls of all around me." 
 
 The general character of Mr. Stoddard's instructions to 
 his pupils may be inferred fi'om the following letter to a 
 theological student in the United States : 
 
 " ' Addictus jurare ad verba nuUius magistrij is a good rule for all 
 young men preparing for the ministry, especially if they will take 
 care not to foster a conceited opinion of themselves and their own 
 views. The best course of all is to go to the Bible, and earnestly, 
 humbly, and prayerfully sit at the feet of the great Teacher. I do not 
 believe the Bible was half enough read, meditated on, and prayed 
 over by the students when I was at Andover and New Haven. And 
 I do not believe that any man who makes the law of the Lord his 
 daily counselor and best friend, will be likely to err greatly in his 
 theological opinions. 
 
 " Since my return from America, as possibly I have told you, I 
 have prepared a full course of theological lectures for our students, 
 which I go over every two years. I find they are very much inter- 
 ested in the study, and I have succeeded beyond my highest hopes 
 in confining them to the simple word of God. Yet I do not repress 
 inquiry on any legitimate subject. On the contrary, I encourage it, 
 and am never happier than when, surrounded by my pupils, I find 
 them asking more questions than I can find time to answer. If you 
 were to read what I have prepared, I do not beUeve that, in general^ 
 you could tell whether I was Old school or New school, but I thinly 
 you would admit that I had got in a good deal of the Bible." 
 
 Of the general progress of the work, Mr. Stoddard thus 
 writes to Dr. Anderson : 
 
 " September 23, 1856. We have now been for six months in this 
 
PKOGRESS OF HIS WORK. 393 
 
 remote land without any political protection, and at the mercy of this 
 hostile government, in consequence of the withdrawal from Persia 
 of the English ambassador. We have also been subjected to frequent 
 annoyances from Asker Khan, the Governor of the Nestorians and 
 Inspector-general of the Nestorian mission, as well as from the 
 Mohammedan nobles of Oroomiah, who would rejoice to do us all 
 the mischief in their power, and to see our hght go out in darkness. 
 Yet there was perhaps never a time when, on the whole, our work 
 presented a more cheering aspect than now. Those who have 
 charge of the seminaries are every year acquiring that experience 
 which enables them to lay out their strength to the best advantage. 
 Several important text books have been prepared for the pupils, 
 which relieve us in a measure from the severe and often unpro- 
 ductive labor of oral teaching. The native assistants have become 
 so familiar with the course of study that they are able to teach very 
 successfully some of those branches which formerly devolved upon 
 us. The seminaries, too, are more appreciated by the more intelli- 
 gent among the people, who earnestly desire an education in tht n 
 for their sons and daughters. 
 
 " The village schools, being scattered widely over the plain^ -und 
 presenting in consequence many vulnerable points to our enemies, 
 have suffered more the last year or two, from our want of efficient 
 protection, than the seminaries which are conducted on our own 
 premises. In a few instances the masters of the villages were able last 
 winter to intimidate the people and prevent them from sending their 
 children. In some cases they succeeded in annoying and rendering 
 uncomfortable the situation of the teachers. But notwithstanding 
 these drawbacks, the general cause of education is on the advance. 
 The teachers of the village schools, who have many of them been 
 educated in the seminaries, are altogether superior as a class to what 
 they were a few years ago, and thus not only is the standard of in- 
 struction in these schools raised, but far more religious influence is 
 exerted over the pupils. Middle aged persons, and heads of lamiUes, 
 are also learning to read fur more than formerly in our Sabbath 
 schools, and witli a voiy happy effect on the general cause. 
 
 17* 
 
394 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 " There was never, probably, a year of our mission when more 
 people than at present were brought within the sound of the Gospel, 
 or were stated attendants on preaching. Beside our somewhat nu- 
 merous corps of preachers dispersed in different villages, who instruct 
 the people on the Sabbath and during the week, in companies vary- 
 ing from five or ten to fifty or a hundred, and even more, the pupils 
 of our seminaries, who spend the summer months at their homes, do 
 much, it is believed, to scatter the good seed of the Word. We 
 have also kept two faithful native evangeHsts constantly at work this 
 summer, who have scoured the plain in every direction, visited some 
 sixty or seventy villages, and carried the bread of life, so to speak, to 
 every man's door." 
 
 In the month of October Mr. Stoddard made a tour in 
 the mountains of Koordistan in company with Mr. Cochran 
 and Miss Fisk, and Mr. and Mrs. Rhea, whose station was 
 at Gawar. This journey did much to strengthen the hands 
 of the missionaries who have labored in the mountain dis- 
 tricts, with so much self-denial and faith, and to demon- 
 strate the importance of woman's aid in all efforts to reach 
 with the Gospel her degraded sisters in the East. Mr. 
 Stoddard's journal is too long and too minute to be here 
 inserted. 
 
 On the first Sabbath in November, 1856, Mr. Stoddard 
 had the joy of welcoming his eldest daughter, Harriet, to 
 the fellowship uf the Mission Church. On that occasion 
 the three oldest children in the Mission publicly professed 
 their faith in Christ. It was a day of great rejoicing to 
 their parents and to the entire Mission. Mr. Stoddard felt 
 it to be among the crowning joys of his life. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 SICKNESS AND DEATH. 
 
 In the autumn of 1856 the attitude of the Persian gov- 
 ernment toward the American missionaries and their work 
 at Oroomiah, rendered it important that a deputation from 
 the Mission should again wait upon the high civic function- 
 aries at Tabreez. Mr. Stoddard had more than once been 
 sent upon a similar mission, and by his gentleness of man- 
 ner, combined with decision of purpose, his knowledge of 
 languages, and his excellent practical sense, he had proved 
 himself a valuable advocate in times of peril. He was now 
 deputed, in company w^itli Dr. Wright, to accomplish this 
 diflScult and delicate embassy. The journey was, of course, 
 performed on horseback, and, as his custom was, Mr. Stod- 
 dard beguiled the way with hymns and sacred songs. 
 " His soul was in a happy frame, and though a cloud hung 
 over the Mission, he looked beyond it, and was joyful." 
 As he had opportunity, he preached to the Nestorians in 
 the villages along the way ; and he also occupied himself 
 by night in the perusal of a learned memoir on an old 
 Arabic work, which the Russian consul at Tabreez had pre- 
 pared in French, and had forwarded for his inspection. 
 After a long day's ride, he would sit for hours by a feeble 
 light, in the rude house that served for an inn, poring over 
 
6\Jb MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 a manuscript that promised to aid him in the literary labors 
 of the mission. 
 
 The incidents and results of this journey are sketched in 
 the following extracts from notes and letters written on the 
 way. To his wife he sends word from Gavalan, after the 
 labors of the Sabbath ; 
 
 " I conducted the Sabbath-school alid the evening service, and fee* 
 very bright and well. It is now delightful weather for traveling, so 
 long as we have no rain, and I anticipate an agreeable journey. Of 
 course we feel some anxiety as to what may be the result of our ap- 
 plication to Mr. Khanikoff (the Russian consul at Tabreez, who has 
 often befriended the mission), but try to leave all with our Father in 
 heaven, who loves the cause more, a thousand-fold, than we can." 
 
 " Tabreez, December 1st, 1856. We arrived here on Wednesday 
 evening, and were cordially received by Dr. Cormick (an English 
 physician), who has surrounded us with every comfort and luxury 
 in his magnificent house. There is little cholera in Tabreez, and we 
 and the servants are all perfectly well." 
 
 " December 3d. We earnestly hoped to be able to set out thia 
 morning, and to arrive at home on Saturday evening. But the time 
 of our leaving now seems as distant as ever, and we have nothing to 
 do but watch and pray, and wait while our friends are exerting their 
 influence for us. It seems to us to be our evident duty to remain 
 here, at least some days longer." 
 
 To Mr. Charles Stoddard, of Boston, he writes from Ta- 
 breez : 
 
 "December 6th, 1856. Dr. Wright and myself have now been 
 here ten days, but have accomplished very little. Probably a day or 
 two more will determine whether we are to go back to Oroomiah 
 saddened, and inclined to despondency, or with our hearts magnify- 
 
THE RUSSIAN CONSUL. 397 
 
 ing the Lord for his fresh deliverances. In any case, I trust we shall 
 be willing, with meekness and submission, to receive just what our 
 heavenly Father sends, assured that his way is the best way, and 
 that he will, sooner or later, bring affairs to a happy termination, and 
 magnify his great and holy name. Dr. Wright will write so fully to 
 Dr. Anderson on the business which has brought us here, that it 
 would not be worth while for me to repeat the same things to you. 
 You will be glad to hear that Mr. Khanikoff treats us Avith gi'cat at- 
 tention, and desires in every way to give us wnolBcial aid. We only 
 regret that his aid is not official^ and that there is some reason to ap- 
 prehend that the sympathies of his government lie in a diiferent di- 
 rection from his own. I hope the Prudential Committee will see 
 their way clear to apply to our government in regard to the general 
 subject, as suggested by Mr. Perkins. We are very wiUing to Uve 
 on, however, as at present, without any ofl&cial protection, and trust- 
 ing in the Lord, if that is really the best way. But we suppose that 
 if we can have protection it is proper to ' use it rather.' " 
 
 The utmost which Dr. Wright and Mr. Stoddard could 
 accomplish at Tabreez, was to procure from the Kaimma- 
 kam, a superior officer of the Persian government, a letter 
 designed to restrain somewhat the imperious demands of 
 Asker Khan. In procuring this order, the deputation had 
 the kind co-operation of Mr. Khanikoff, the Russian consul- 
 general at Tabreez, ^^'hose personal friendship Mr. Stoddard 
 acknowledged in the warmest terms. Indeed, quite an in- 
 timacy had sprung up between the consul and Mr. Stod- 
 dard, through their correspondence upon matters of science 
 and of oriental literature and antiquities. While not au- 
 thorized to afford them his official protection, Mr. Khani- 
 koff has given to the mission many and substantial proofs 
 of his friendship. On this occasion he added his own re- 
 monstrances to those of the Kaimmakam. 
 
398 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 These papers, however, proved of no avail ; for with that 
 duplicity which characterizes oriental diplomacy, counter 
 orders were secretly issued to Asker Khan, from Tabreez, 
 and he openly repudiated the written orders brought thence 
 by the missionaries. Under date of December 18th, Mr. 
 Stoddard writes : 
 
 " I am very sorry to say that the papers we brought from Tabreez 
 proved of no service, and things are worse than ever. Our helpers 
 are now beaten because they are our helpers; and some of them 
 thrown into prison, and threatened with being sent to Teheran in 
 irons! Our village schools are nearly all broken up, and we are 
 daily expecting an attack on our seminaries. What is in store for 
 us, we know not, but we feel that we must walk by faith, for we 
 can not walk by sight. One thing is certain, and to this we cling : 
 God loves his cause infinitely more than we do." 
 
 In this crisis Mr. Stoddard, at the request of the mission, 
 prepared and forwarded for publication in the London 
 newspapers, a letter addressed to Sir J. Anderson, of Glas- 
 gow, setting forth the oppression of the Nestorians, and 
 expressing "the earnest hope that, on the return of the 
 English embassy, free toleration may be secured for the 
 Christians of Persia." 
 
 But the providence of God interfered in a remarkable 
 manner to rid the mission and the district of this petty ty- 
 rant. In a letter addressed to the Rev. Mr. Rhea, Deo. 
 20th, 1856, he writes: 
 
 " You will be pained to hear that the letters which we brought 
 from the Kaimmakam and the Russian consul seemed to be of no 
 avail for our protection. In regard to the first, the Klian said he 
 had another order simultaneously issued by the Kaimmakam, di- 
 recting him to go on just as before. In regard to the other, he said 
 
DEATH OF ASKER KHAN. 399 
 
 he was not responsible to the Russian consul but to the Persian 
 Government. You wiU hear of his throwing Yosif, our translator, 
 this week, into prison and threatening to send him in chains to Te- 
 heran, because he was guilty of preaching last Sabbath in the church, 
 Tliis was so bold a stroke that we have been daily expecting an 
 attack on our two seminaries. They are, however, thus far spared, 
 and it is my earnest prayer that they may be, especially that in the 
 city. It seems to me I would rather have anything almost happen 
 to the boys' seminary than to have our dear sisters disturbed in their 
 very useful and self-denying labors. 
 
 " While in this suspense, all of a sudden came the announcement, 
 like a clap of thunder, that the other Asker Khan, the great oppres- 
 sor of Oroomiah and the great enemy of our work, had been assas- 
 sinated by a Koord ! Such an astounding report we could hardly 
 believe, but one messenger after another came and confirmed the 
 tidings. As I suppose Dr. Wright will give you the details, I will 
 only allude briefly to the facts. You know that it was asserted when 
 the quarrel was commenced between the Persians and the Koords, 
 that Asker Khan was getting it all up for fear that he should be or- 
 dered off to the south of Persia. Poor, infatuated man. How lit- 
 tle he dreamed that he was to die so soon a dog's death by the hand 
 of violence. 
 
 "It seems that Sultan Beg, who is quite a great man in the re- 
 gion of Mergawer, was induced by Malek Mansoor Meeza to come 
 down to the camp of Asker Khan, on the pledged word of the 
 Prince that he should be detained but one night. While in the 
 camp such extravagant demands were made of him, seventeen hun- 
 dred tomamis in money being demanded, as well as the destruction 
 of his fort, that he was rendered quite desperate. He had also rea- 
 son to suppos% that his life would be taken. So he determined to 
 sell his life as dearly as possible, and entering the Khan's tent de- 
 spatclied him with his dagger. The Prince was sitting by and 
 offered to interfere, but on being threatened by the assassin made 
 his escape from the tent. It was probably Sultan Beg's intention, 
 01- rather hope, to escape in the confusion, and it is said that he ha<l 
 
400 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 his horse saddled at the tent door. He was, however, seized and 
 his body cut to pieces in a few moments. 
 
 " We did not learn of the death of the Khan till yesterday fore- 
 noon about ten o'clock, though it had occurred long before dark the 
 preceding day. When the news came the funeral procession was 
 far on its way to the city, and distinctly visible from our roof. It 
 probably comprised many hundreds and perhaps several thousands 
 of persons. Of course this event has thrown the city into great 
 confusion, and until there can be word received from Tabreez, (say 
 Monday or Tuesday,) there is virtually no government. The Koords, 
 exasperated by the loss of Sultan Beg and some other of their chiefs, 
 all assembled in considerable force in Mergawer — it is said two thou- 
 sand — and there is a good deal of reason to apprehend that some 
 villages in Baran Dooze will be sacked. At any rate the people of 
 that district and of Hyder Loo and Seir are quite alarmed, and to- 
 day, as I went to the city, I saw perhaps forty or fifty loads of val- 
 uables on the road, which the owners were carrying off to more 
 distant villages for safe keeping. This evening the people of Seir 
 have been bringing in and depositing with us their valuables, but I 
 do not really think there is any immediate occasion for their alarm. 
 
 " These are eventful times. We know not what a day may bring 
 forth. The death of Asker Khan will affect us very much and 
 probably prove a great blessing to us as well as to multitudes of 
 others, Nestorians and Persians. We can not, however, speak witn 
 certainty yet. It is unquestionable that he was at the bottom of all 
 this enmity against us and our work, getting up when at Teheran 
 the original firman, and now directing Asker Ah Khan, day by day, 
 in its execution. The latter is evidently alarmed at the new state 
 of things, and is as quiet as a lamb. He says if he had five to- 
 mauns to spare he would run away. This money Miss Fisk offers 
 to furnish, but I beheve has not sent word to the Khan as yet. 
 
 " These are times when we ought to watch unto prayer, keeping 
 very humble and prayerful, and being exceedingly solicitous that we 
 understand and profit by the deahngs of Grod's Providence. Your 
 brother in Christ. D. T. Stoddard." 
 
SYMPTOMS OF FEVER. - 401 
 
 This letter proved to be the last from Mr. Stoddard's pen. 
 Hardly had he recorded the providential deliverance of the 
 mission from the dangers he had labored to avert, when he 
 was called to rest from all earthly labor and care, and to 
 enter into the joy of the Lord. His sojourn at Tabreez 
 was protracted for three w-eeks, during which time he was 
 in constant anxiety and perplexity concerning the affairs of 
 the mission. This prolonged mental excitement, together 
 with a change of diet and the exposures of the journey, 
 produced unfavorable effects upon his system; and on his 
 homeward route he had premonitory symptoms of fever. 
 But he seemed possessed with the idea that he could not 
 become a subject of typhus fever — so fatal to Franks in the 
 East. The day before he reached Seir, he suffered severe- 
 ly from headache, and looked so pale and sickly that 
 the fears of his medical companion were aroused. But 
 with a cheerful tone he said, " I shall be better to-morrow, 
 hotne will put me all right again." 
 
 On reaching home he found Mr. Cochran and two of the 
 native teachers disabled by sickness, so that for a few days 
 he felt obliged to devote himself entirely to the duties of 
 the seminary. In the ensuing ten days he preached three 
 times, besides being much in school, sometimes hearing 
 double lessons, and much also in his study laboring to re- 
 duce the correspondence and other cares which had accu- 
 mulated in his absence. But the fever which was lurking 
 in his veins undermined his strength, and at length con- 
 quered even his iron resolution. On the 22d of December, 
 ten days after his return from Tabreez, he became decided* 
 ly ill, but he continued to perform most of his public du- 
 ties for three days longer. The day before — the last Sab- 
 bath on which he preached — lie discoursed of death ; and 
 
402 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 in the course of the sermon said, " we know not who of ua 
 may next lie in the coffin before this desk ; it may be you ; 
 it may be myself." On the 25th he was so much pros- 
 trated as to be obliged to confine himself to his bed ; there 
 he lay for two and thirty days, while the fever ran its fatal 
 course. At the end of the first fortnight the disease seemed 
 to be arrested, if not subdued, but it soon returned, with 
 more alarming symptoms, defying all skill and bafliing ail 
 hope. 
 
 That month was a period of deep anxiety in the mission. 
 Dr. Perkins, in his funeral discourse, speaks also of the in- 
 tense soHcitude for his recovery manifested by the Kesto- 
 rians, " As soon as Mr. Stoddard's disease was pronounced 
 by our medical brethren, typhus fever^ our hearts were 
 filled with the deepest anxiety. Not so his; he had no 
 fear respecting the result of his sickness. He knew in 
 whom he had believed. He was ready and desirous that 
 the Lord's will concerning him might be done. Every- 
 thing was done for his recovery which medical skill and 
 assiduity could administer, and the most tireless watching 
 and nursing could contribute. Fervent prayer was offered 
 almost incessantly in his behalf by scores of anxious Nes- 
 torians, as well as by the mission." 
 
 One who hardly left his side during his illness, and whose 
 constant presence and ministrations were his highest earth- 
 ly solace, has recorded the daily incidents of his sickness 
 for the satisfaction of his relatives in America. From this 
 letter, dated January 2Cth, 1857, oiily a few extracts can be 
 presented to the eye of the public : 
 
 " The premonitory chill came on, as he was retiring Mon- 
 day evening, December 22d. It was so severe that I Avas 
 alarmed ; but he said, * Don't be troubled. It is only a 
 
PREPARATION FORDEATH. 403 
 
 sudden cold ;' and then told me how he had exposed him. 
 self to the wind, while repairing a window in the store-room. 
 He was restless through the night, and the next day kept 
 upon the sofa during the forenoon ; but in the afternoon 
 could not be dissuaded from hearing his usual lessons. 
 Tuesday night he was again feverisli. but still on Wednesday 
 performed his usual duties, though urged to remain at home 
 in quiet. Thursday he lay upon the sola all day, complain- 
 ing of a severe headache and pain in his limbs, but did not 
 take medicine until the middle of that night, when he be- 
 came convinced that he could not get over the attack with- 
 out something more than rest Symptoms whicli in 
 
 another would have caused him alarm, gave him no anxiety 
 as to himself, because he had a strong belief that he was 
 not a subject for fever. Only two or three days before he 
 was taken sick he remarked, *I may die of cholera, or 
 plague, or some other dreadful disease, but I don't believe 
 I shall die of typhus fever.' It has sometimes seemed to 
 me that this assurance was the cause of his death, because 
 it so effectually shut his eyes as to his real state, until the 
 disease had progressed so far that it could not be arrested. 
 "On Sabbath morning, after the doctor's visit, he re- 
 marked, ' Strange I have not thought of it before ; I have 
 typhus fever, but it is of a mild form ;' and then gave his 
 reasons for so thinking. Soon after he said, ' I am not 
 very sick, and I think I shall get well, but if I knew I 
 should die it would not trouble me. I have no fear of 
 death.' The next morning, as he was sitting in the chair, 
 he remarked to Ur. Wright, ' Perhaps I am different from 
 other persons, but I do not dread death. I think it would 
 be pleasant to know five or six days beforehand, if one was 
 to die; that he might look over his accounts and be all 
 
404 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 ready.' For a, day or two afterward he seemed to be doing 
 this as he had strength. Twice he asked nae to pay money, 
 and as I gave the last sum, said, ' Now, I believe, I owe no 
 man anything." Again he directed me to attend to one or 
 two items of mission business, and then turned his thoughts 
 to himself. He made remarks similar to the following al- 
 most every day that week : ' I expect to get well, but I 
 want to be prepared for whatever may come.' It was his 
 general expectation that he should recover, but withal he 
 manifested an earnest desire to go. He said to one, ' I 
 rather expect to live, but the better world seems so near, 
 so very near, that I shrink from coming back to go those 
 rounds of sin again.' At another time, ' It would be pleas- 
 ant to go home now ;' and often similar expressions were 
 upon his lips. One day he said, ' Perhaps it seems strange 
 to you that I think and say so little about my sins and un- 
 worthiness, but I have no strength to look over them now. 
 I have given myself to Jesus, and I look upon him as a 
 family Saviour. He was my grandmother's Saviour, my 
 mother's Saviour, Solomon's Saviour, Harriette's Saviour, 
 and I know he will be mine.' In answer to the inquiry, 
 * How are you ?' he would reply, ' Very peaceful,' or, ' All 
 is peace, peace within and peace without.' He said to the 
 children at one time, during their daily visit, that he could 
 not talk with them much, but wished them to know that 
 all was peace : at another, if they should ever be so sick, he 
 hoped they would have as much peace as he had. At 
 another time he said, ' It is well worth all the pains of such 
 a sickness to have so much peace, and such peace. I never 
 knew such peace before.' And again, ' All about me is so 
 peaceful, the bed is so peaceful, the room is so peaceful, and 
 every thing is done for me so quietly.' He would often 
 
PEACE AND JOY. 405 
 
 awake from sleep repeating a line of Scripture or of some 
 hymn. Once I remember it was, 'Jesus, who knows full 
 well ;' again, ' I go to prepare a place for you ;' and again 
 * Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone.' He said little about 
 absent fiiends, but at one time remarked, ' I lie here and 
 think of the good, both among the living and the dead, 
 particularly of my dear mother, she seems very near to me.' 
 In reply to a remark that he could do nothing there upon 
 his sick bed, some one said to him, 'Yes, you can serve 
 God by lying passive in his hands.' For some days after, 
 when that person came to his side, he would say, ' I lie pas- 
 sive, I '^e joyful in his hands.' He manifested a very strong 
 desire to have his sickness sanctified both to himself and 
 others, ' I am afraid,' he said, ' we shall not, any of us, get 
 the good God designs from my sickness.' Again, ' It were 
 a thousand times better that I die now than to recover and 
 not be a better man. O ! if I live I do want to be a holier man.' 
 
 " In the early part of his sickness he had called for such 
 hymns, as ' Jesus, lover of my soul,' ' Father, whate'cr of 
 earthly bliss,' 'When languor and disease invade,' to be 
 read to him ; now he chose those which are full of praise, 
 and such psalms as the one hundred and third, and one 
 hundred and forty-sixth. 
 
 " Once seeing him look troubled, I said to him, ' Can't I 
 do something for you ?' He replied, pointing to the side 
 of the bed, 'Sit down here, and talk to me of the Saviour 
 and of Heaven.' He asked for the hymns to be read or 
 sung to him, ' High in yonder realms of light,' ' I would 
 niOt live alway,' 'Dear Saviour, we are thine,' 'O! talk to 
 me of Heaven.' After hearing the last, he said, 'How 
 beautiful ! Are there not more like it ?' Saturday after- 
 noon he wished the children called in, and clasping all our 
 
4:06 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 hands in his, repeated the lines, ' Dear Saviour, we are thine, 
 By everlasting bonds' — said he hoped we should all belong 
 to the Saviour, that we should ever feel that we did, and 
 try to serve him in every thing. 
 
 "Toward the end of his sickness he was a little delirious 
 most of the time, but his wanderings were sometimes so 
 like huuself that they interested us much. Sabbath night, 
 as Mr. Cochran was sitting by him, he said to him, ' Some- 
 times the soul seems to go out from the body, and it is diffi- 
 cult to bring it back to the scenes of earth. I do not ask 
 my wife, even, what is going on around us.' Early Tuesday 
 morning, in the exchange of watchers, supposing himself 
 alone with his family, he offered, in a distinct voice, the 
 following prayer : ' Guide us this day by thy Spirit, which 
 is the only infallible guide. O Lord ! bless this family to- 
 day, and especially that member of it who has been for 
 some days sick. Bless the means used for his recovery, if 
 it can be thy holy will, that he may hereafter have occasion 
 to stand before large and interested audiences, and speak 
 of thy goodness. But whatever may be thy will in regard 
 to this, may we all be thine — thine in death — thine in the 
 judgment-day — and thine when an abundant entrance shall 
 be administered into thy kingdom. And the glory shall be 
 to the Father, the kingdom' [here he lost himself], ' and the 
 Holy Ghost, forever. Amen.' 
 
 " The day before he died, after taking an affectionate 
 leave of his family, he said, 'Sophia, peace, j^eace.' An 
 hour afterward he said to me, 'All well — do you under- 
 stand — all right.' It was only by getting quite near that 
 we could catch the words. 
 
 "On Thursday night, January 22, 1857, at twenty min- 
 utes past eleven, his happy spirit joined the angel throng 
 
I'lIE FUNERAL SCENE. 407 
 
 It leil the body without a groau or a struggle, and so quietly 
 and peacefully that for some moments we doubted whether 
 he were really gone. Eleven years before, on that very 
 evening, he was rejoicing over the first converts of the first 
 revival, and pointing awakened souls to the cross of Christ, 
 and perhaps some of those souls were among the blood- 
 w\ashed throng, who waited to convey his ransomed spirit 
 to glory. 
 
 '' The funeral services were attended on Saturday, and, 
 with the exception of a prayer and singing at our house, 
 were in Syriac. Mr. Cochran preached fi'om the words, 
 * Let me die the death of the righteous.' Mar Yohannan 
 offered the last prayer, and was so much affected, when he 
 came to speak of the bereaved family, and of the servants 
 of the Lord, strangers in a strange land, that he could not 
 restrain his emotion, and wept for some moments. A large 
 number of Nestorians were present, from the former pupils 
 of the seminary, from Geog Tapa, and from other near 
 villages, all sincere mourners. The precious remains were 
 borne to their last resting-place, and laid away there, by his 
 own children, as it were — that is, by pupils who became 
 hopeful Christians in the first revival — and they performed 
 this last oflUce with filial tenderness." 
 
 Some additional particulars concerning Mr. Stoddard's 
 last illness, given by Dr. Perkins in his commemorative dis- 
 course, are here subjoined : 
 
 " On Tuesday, December 30th, I said to him, ' I trust 
 the Saviour is wdth you in this visitation.' ' O, yes,' he 
 replied, ' all is peace, sweet peace. My disease is pervad- 
 ing my system, and will have its course ; but I am thank- 
 ful that it does not affect my mind. I could calmly meet 
 death on the ocean, or from cholera, but I shrink from the 
 
408 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 idea of the wreck of my mind." I replied, " How blessed 
 in such circumstances to be able to say, 
 
 " ' Sweet to Ke passive in Thy hands, 
 And know no will but Thine.' 
 
 " ' O yes,' he heartily responded. Soon afterward he 
 said, ' I feel that Jesus is mine ; he was my grandmother's 
 Saviour, and my mother's Saviour — and is mine by a kind 
 of inheritance." 
 
 "On Wednesday morning, December 31st, as I relieved 
 Mr. Coan at day-break, who had watched with him during 
 the night, he said to me, ' Now will you draw aside the 
 curtains, and let me see the returning light.' I did so, and 
 he commenced in a loud and distinct voice, and repeated 
 the whole of the hymn beginning, 
 
 " *■ Ye golden lamps of heaven, farewell,' 
 
 " On Friday afternoon, January 2d, while sitting with 
 him, he said to me, ' Judging from my sickness nine years 
 ago, if I recover I shall be a long time recovering ; but it 
 may be more profitable than health ; I can pray more if I 
 labor less ; I have prayed too little and tried to labor too 
 much.' " 
 
 " On the Sabbath, January 4th, he inquired of me about 
 the seminary, and asked whether the pupils were quiet. I 
 replied, they are greatly subdued, and prayer is ofiered 
 by them without ceasing for your recovery ? He answer- 
 ed, ' It is a thousand times more important that they pray 
 for my sanctification? A day or two previous, he had 
 once said, * I shall probably recover ; and oh, I shrink from 
 
A NESTORIAN MOURNEll. 409 
 
 returning to the world again, and living at such a poor rate 
 from God.' " 
 
 " One day toward the close of his life, he remarked 
 thus : ' As I told my wife to-day, if I have cast myself on 
 the Saviour, his all-sufficiency is the thing, and not the 
 number nor the magnitude of my sins. He will wash me 
 clean from them all with his precious blood.* 
 
 " And again he said, * It is delightful when thus laid by, 
 to let go of the world and think of being caught up to 
 glory. One has thus little desire to go back to the 
 world.' " 
 
 The death of Mr. Stoddard called forth the most touch- 
 ing expressions of grief from the pious Nestorians, espe- 
 cially from the young men who had been led to Christ 
 under his instructions in the seminary, and had there been 
 trained to preach the Gospel to their countrymen. The 
 following letter addressed to Mrs. Stoddard by one of her 
 husband's pupils, written in his simple English, is a beauti- 
 ful expression of the general feeling. 
 
 " Degula. 
 "My dear Madam, — ■ 
 
 " After the remaius of your dear husband were interred ou that 
 mournful day, I wanted to see you very much, and to drop my 
 word of consolation into your distressed and wounded heart. Be 
 assured that I condole with you, and share with your calamity. It 
 is true you have lost a husband, and a very excellent one, but we 
 have lost in his death, a father, and a very blessed exarnple, and one 
 that, like Whitfield, wore out himself in the service of his Master, 
 for the sake of the Nestorians. In the course of so many years 
 among our people, he had gained the love of very many of ua. As 
 for my part, I will own myself guilty of ingratitude, and even cruel- 
 ty, if I be tempted to forget Mr. Stoddard until my memory ceases 
 in (leaih. By spending only one night in our family lai^t spring, 
 
 IS 
 
410 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 he had endeared himself to all our associates here, who are now 
 bemoaning bis premature death. 
 
 " How great your loss must be, we can judge of ourselves, and 
 how painful your recollections. But you know better than we do 
 where to go for a real and immortal comfort. 
 
 "When we were laying the calm and peaceful corpse into the 
 tomb, nature whispered within me, with a sort of despondency, 
 What a great scholar and Christian is laid in the grave, to turn 
 into dust! Then faith exclaimed, He is not dead; he is only 
 removed to a nobler country, this vale of tears being not worthy 
 of him. Then weep not for him. He who desired to walk with 
 God, is lying in his bosom now and that for eternity. 
 
 " May the everlasting arms support your dear afflicted family, 
 and may Immanuel smile on your solitary house with his special 
 graces, is the prayer of your most sympathizing friend. Joseph." 
 
 From the many tributes to the memory of Mr. Stoddard 
 by his brethren of the various oriental missions, the follow- 
 ing from the pen of Rev. Samuel A. Rhea, is inserted as a 
 just estimate of his character as a man, and his life as a 
 missionary. 
 
 "Mr. Stoddard was the first missionary whose acquaintance I 
 formed, and from him I received a most happy impression of what a 
 missionary should be, and of the influence missionary life exerts upon 
 character. In him I saw illustrated, in an impressive manner, how 
 the missionary is to sacrifice all, take up his cross, and follow Jesus, 
 In him I saw exemplified the strong faith which a missionary must 
 have to stay long on missionary ground. In him I saw how it was 
 that the missionary could be one of the happiest of men. In him I 
 saw an excellent exemplar — in habits of economy — the sacredness 
 of missionary funds — the simplicity which should mark the mission- 
 ary's home, furniture, table, dress, etc., etc. His life illustrated the 
 value of thorough scholarship for the missionary, and of those habits 
 
TRIBUTE OF MR. RHEA. 411 
 
 of order, system, and accuracy which characterize the scholar. The 
 pleasing impression which he made upon all classes, shows how much 
 the missionary should cultivate the suaviter in modo as well as the 
 foriiter in re, and a more perfect illustration of what a missionaiy 
 should be in all his intercourse with his associates, of a manly expres- 
 sion of his own sentiments, with perfect tolerance toward the opinions 
 of others, combined with great courteousness and gentleness, would 
 be hard to find among the walks of men. He was ever noble and 
 generous to confess a fault, or acknowledge an error. He spoke his 
 sentiments with great frankness, and if there were occasions when 
 he supposed he may have touched the feehngs of a brother, how 
 quick he was to repair the injury ! How foil, free, and generous 
 were his explanations I With what sincerity could he disclaim any 
 intention to wound the feelings of another ! 
 
 " His mind was cast in a fine mould ; so was his moral nature. He 
 had a peculiarly sensitive and wakeful conscience. His whole hfe 
 was pervaded with a tender conscientiousness. He entered into no 
 company, engaged in no employment where he left his conscience 
 behind him. He could say, *I have Hved in all good conscience 
 before God. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, 
 and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you.' 
 
 " He gave himself to his work with singular devotion and purity 
 of motive. He brought his whole heart's afiections, and all the 
 strength of his mind and body, and laid them at the feet of this poor 
 and despised people, saying, ' I am youi^s, to spend and be spent for 
 you.' Never were vows more faithfully performed than those he 
 took when he consecrated himself to labor in behalf of this people. 
 Never was a sacrifice bound with tighter cords upon the altar of 
 Christ. 
 
 " To an unusual degree he attained to habits of spirituality, close 
 intimacy with the Saviour. He walked with him as with an elder 
 brother. "With all possible fullness and confidence he breathed his 
 heart's sorrows into his ear, and this was the secret of that serenity 
 and spiritual hilarity which diffused itself through his life. In him 
 religion robed herself in her most winning garb. Solemnity and 
 
412 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 gravity did not characterize him — it seemed, rather, as if a stream of 
 love was continually flowing through his heart, and pouring itself 
 forth upon all around him. He did not have those deep, depressing 
 self-loathings which Brainerd had, but rather the happy, exultant 
 spirit of McCheyne and Summerfield. If any pilgrim ever turned 
 this valley of Baca (weeping) into a well, and through this vale of 
 tears carried a heart full of melody, he was that one. From his life 
 I would infer he was seldom without a sweet sense of his acceptance 
 in the Beloved. His loving heart could not breathe long under the 
 frown of his Saviour. I doubt if ever his faith was echpsed, or 
 whether he ever passed under a cloud. He kept the words of Jesus, 
 and Jesus came and made his abode with him, and manifested him- 
 self unto him." 
 
 The little burial enclosure where the remains of Mr. 
 Stoddard now rest, appears in the sketch of the mission 
 premises at Mount Seir. But the accompanying view, en- 
 graved from a photograph made by a Persian nobleman, a 
 Mohammedan, will give additional interest to that hallowed 
 spot. That a Mohammedan should so far conquer his preju- 
 dices as to make a picture of a Christian's grave, is of itself 
 remarkable ; but that he should do this as an expression of 
 his regard for the departed missionary and his surviving 
 friends, is highly significant. This prince had often been 
 entertained and instructed by Mr. Stoddard's scientific lec- 
 tures and experiments. On hearing of his death, he wrote 
 to a member of the mission : " The event which has just 
 happened has made me very sad. It is a pity. We shall 
 Tiever meet again with so knowing a man." 
 
 Mr. Stoddard is the only adult member of the mission 
 who lies interred in this enclosure.* The other graves are 
 
 * Mr. Stoddard is only the second adult missionary who has died at 
 Oroomiali during the twenty-five years of the Nestofian Mission. Mrs. 
 
DEATH OF HARKIETTE 
 
 413 
 
 those of children of the missionaries. Since the death of 
 Mr. Stoddard, his oldest daughter, Harriette, who had just 
 united mth him in the fellowship of the church on earth, 
 has gone to jom her parents in the fellowship of the re- 
 deemed in heaven. She sleeps by his side. Three months 
 after Mr. Stoddard's death a missionary brother wrote to 
 the Day Spring : 
 
 " Scarcely a day passes but some one of Mr. Stoddard's grateful 
 pupils seek the hallowed spot where they may recall his blessed ex- 
 Grant died there in 1839. Others associated with the mission have died 
 elsewhere. In all, eight missionaries to the Nestorians have been removed 
 by death ; Dr. and Mrs. Grant, Mrs. Harriette Stoddard, Mr. Stocking, Mr. 
 Crane, Mr. Holladay, Mr. Stoddard and Mrs. Rhea. A stone has been 
 erected over Mr. Stoddard's grave, with the simple inscription, " He 
 walked with God." A monument to his memoiy has also been erected 
 in the family plot in the Northampton Cemetery. 
 
414 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 ample, and dwell upon the words of holy cheer which he left to 
 stimulate them in eflforts for the salvation of their benighted people. 
 About two weeks since, as I was walking, one Sabbath evening, upon 
 the terraced roof of our dwelling, my attention was arrested by the 
 sound of mingled voices singing in Syriac, the hymns our departed 
 brother so much loved. Turning to find from whence the music 
 proceeded, I was touched to see some of the pupils of the seminary 
 standing by the grave of their beloved teacher, and surrounding it 
 with sweet songs of praise. I stood for a moment lost in deep emo- 
 tion. No incident of my life can leave a happier impression upon 
 memory's page than these songs of Zion, sung in a strange land and 
 in a foreign tongue, around the grave of the faithful missionary. 
 Blessed rest, after a life of self-denying toil, to be thus enshrined in 
 the hearts of a grateful people. Who would wish a better monu- 
 ment than those songs of victory which arose above that lowly grave, 
 in the still evening air of a Persian sky ? When racked with fever, 
 Mr. Stoddard often asked for the sweet hymns which he had been 
 accustomed, while a child, to repeat at his mother's knee. And it 
 was a strong tribute to the soothing power of those hymns, that they 
 not only sustained him throughout the sorrows and cares of mission- 
 ary life, but that even in the last trying hours, the strains of Watts, 
 Covvrper, and Doddridge, were comniissioned, by a hand Divine, to 
 illuminate the dark valley. And shall we deny, that to our own 
 stricken hearts, these simple hymns, next to the words of our Sa- 
 viour, have come even from his grave like leaves of healing ?" 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE MISSIONARY CHARACTER AND WORK. 
 
 The character of Mr. Stoddard is so artlessly, and yet so 
 fully transcribed upon his own letters, that no summary of 
 its traits is needed to impress it upon the mind of the 
 reader. A few of these traits, however, may be profitably 
 recalled in their relation to the missionary work. 
 
 The sbnplicity of that character is as rare as it is admir- 
 able. All scheming for self, and that diplomatic and eccle- 
 siastical scheming, which good men sometimes practice " for 
 the glory of God," were foreign alike to his nature and to 
 his views of Christian integrity. He practiced no conceal- 
 ment with respect either to his opinions, his feelings, or his 
 plans. He was never kno^v^l even to suppress the truth for 
 any sinister end, nor could he be suspected of guile. A 
 ti'ansparent honesty was the garment of his soul. His lips 
 atid countenance always fairly represented his thoughts and 
 intentions. Honest in himself, he was frank toward others. 
 
 But this simplicity and frankness were not occasioned by 
 lack of judgment or of a discerning knowledge of human 
 nature. It was not a simplicity which could be imposed 
 upon ; it was not a frankness which led to rash confidence. 
 On tlie contrary, no member of the Nestorian mission had 
 greater sagacity in his dealing with the peculiarities of na- 
 tive character ; but his wisdom was free from guile — the 
 wisdom of the serpent, the liarniles-^ness of the dove. 
 
4:16 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 Dr. Perkins says of him : " With all his attainments he 
 never seemed to suppose that he was a whit above the hum- 
 blest mortal. His pupUs were freely and patiently instructed 
 on such subjects as they could comprehend. Persian nobles 
 and princes, as well as those of lower rank, who visited him, 
 were often entertained and enhghtened by his illustrations 
 of the wonderful works of God. In such efforts there never 
 appeared in him the least ostentation of superior knowledge. 
 He possessed the modesty of genius, as well as the humility 
 of the Christian. He was just as ready and happy to ex- 
 plain to the humblest child why the smoke first rises and 
 then descends, as to jooint out to the proud yet admiring 
 Persian of royal blood, the mountains in the moon." 
 
 This simplicity was duly combined with strength of 
 principle and inflexibility of purpose. Mr. Stoddard, with 
 his frail body, his delicate complexion, his almost feminine 
 elasticity and grace of person and of manner, would hardly 
 have suggested the idea of a hero or a martyr. But the 
 gentle, loving John, who leaned upon the bosom of the 
 Lord, showed more of steadfast heroism in the judgment 
 hall and at the crucifixion, and more of the patient firmness 
 of the martyr in his exile at Patmos, than did the sturdy 
 and valiant Peter. Mr. Stoddard's whole Christian life was 
 marked by a steadfast adherence to principle, and to the 
 line of duty which Providence marked out for him. An 
 enlightened conscientiousness ruled in all his decisions and 
 plans ; not the naked constraint of duty, nor the morbid 
 apprehension of doing wrong, but an intelligent regard for 
 what is rigM., before all temporizing expediency, above all 
 personal convenience or advantage. " In this respect," sayff 
 Dr. Perkins, " he was a rigid Puritan." 
 
 The intellectual training of Mr. Stoddard was of the 
 
NEED OF SCHOLARSHIP. 417 
 
 highest importance 1o his usefulness as a missionary. 
 Nothing could be more unsound in philosophy, nothing 
 would be more fatal in practice, than the notion that he 
 who, through some defect of intellectual ability or devel- 
 opment is not qualified to minister to an intelligent church 
 in his native land, is good enough to be a missionary to the 
 unevangehzed. In every missionary field there is need not 
 only of the most elevated piety, but of the highest force of 
 intellect, and the ripest fruits of scholarship. 
 
 The two principal departments of Mr. Stoddard's labors — 
 instructing youth in the knowledge of Christian civilization 
 and Biblical divinity, and perfecting the version of the Scrij)- 
 tures from an ancient into a vernacular tongue — required the 
 best scholarship guided by well-balanced and disciplined 
 powers. The whole communion of English-speaking Chris- 
 tians are to-day agitated with the question of a possible re- 
 vision of their time-honored version of the Scriptures. No 
 college of translators could be convened from the schools of 
 Great Britain and America, to whose united learnipg and 
 wisdom the Christians of those countries would commit the 
 task of even revising that version. And yet a single mis- 
 sionary is sometimes called upon, first to reduce a strange 
 language to a written form, and then to translate into that the 
 Word of God, thus determining by his unaided judgment tlie 
 impression of the Scriptures upon a nation, and fixing for 
 whole generations the meaning of religious and theological 
 terms. Surely no labor demands such thorough scholar- 
 ship, guided by a calm and mature judgment and daily 
 sanctified by prayer. De Wette and Bunsen, each in his 
 way, have sought to supersede the sterling old version of 
 Luther. But Germany refuses to accept tlie authority of 
 any single scholar in so great a matter. Can the mission- 
 
418 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 ary, without learning, do a work for which the highest 
 wisdom and learning are hardly equal ? 
 
 A singular and preeminent devotedness to the cause of 
 Christ is accorded to Mr. Stoddard by all who knew him in 
 the missionary field, and will be accorded al§o by all who 
 have read these pages. Dr. Schauffler, of Constantinople, 
 once said of him : " His work had swallowed him up, so 
 that he thought of nothing else, and nothing in the whole 
 world could influence his mind aside from that." The love 
 of Christ constrained him so fully and so constantly, that he 
 seemed hardly susceptible to any other motive. 
 
 The late Professor B. B. Edwards, of Andover Seminary, 
 said of Mr. Stoddard, during his visit to America in 1849 : 
 " He goes among the churches burning like a seraph. I 
 call him Henry Martyn, Junior. So heavenly a spirit — one 
 whose meat and drink it is to be a missionary — has hardly 
 ever been seen in this country." 
 
 In summing up the record of his labors as a missionary, 
 Dr. Perkins remarks : 
 
 " Three precious revivals haVe occurred in the male semi- 
 nary since our brother's return to Persia, and two seasons of 
 less extensive interest, in which several individuals were 
 hopefully converted. No year has passed there during this 
 period without special tokens of the divine presence and 
 blessing. His prayers and toUs and joys during those visita- 
 tions of mercy are well described by those already noticed 
 in connection with the first revival here eleven years ago. 
 As a missionary and a preacher, and yet more as a Chris- 
 tian in his closet, he was eminently a revivalist. He 
 longed and prayed and labored habitually for the frequent 
 recurrence of those seasons of refreshing, or rather for their 
 increasing continuance." 
 
A HAPPY LIFE. 419 
 
 An almost constant elevation of spiritual feeling, an un- 
 wearied enthusiasm in his work, a joy in the service of his 
 Lord, that shone in his countenance, that animated his con- 
 versation, and diffused itself over all around him, a certain 
 ethereal beauty of expression and grace of manners, and 
 that combhiation of humility and zeal, so remarkable in liis 
 reverend ancestor, the minister of Northampton, which 
 made him always disposed to shrink from publicity, yet 
 always ready to seize an occasion to speak for Christ and 
 for souls — these qualities, which nearly allied him to the 
 sainted Martyn — endeared him to his fellow-laborers, and 
 made him a burning and shining light. 
 
 His joy in his work is the highest testimony to the wis- 
 dom of his choice and the blessedness of the work of mis- 
 sions. He was pre-eminently a happy man. His natural 
 temperament was cheerful and vivacious. He always met 
 his missionary brethren with a smile, and his happy, hope- 
 ful temperament diffused itself over their circle. His 
 very step was buoyant. He would enter with a hearty 
 laugh into the innocent sports of children. But his let- 
 ters indicate a far higher joy than that which flows from 
 the exuberance of natural feeling. Indeed, the vein of 
 mirthfulness which was in him by nature seldom comes into 
 view in these letters — not because a morbid pietism forbade 
 him to be cheerful, not because he had mistaken sanctimo- 
 niousness for piety, but because a true religious joy ab- 
 sorbed his emotions and lifted him into a higher plane of 
 feeling. The joy of the Lord was his strength. His life is 
 a weighty appeal to young men of ability and education to 
 give themselves to the highest, noblest, most rewarding 
 service. 
 
 Often in his letters he had expressed the wish to end his 
 
420 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 days in bis Persian home, and to be buried among the 
 people to whose spiritual welfare he had given his life. The 
 desire of his heart was granted. He sleeps among his be- 
 loved Nestorians, and his monument bears the united testi- 
 mony of associates, pupils, and converts — " He walked with 
 God." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A.— Page 15. 
 
 The name of Rev. Solomon Stoddard is associated in New Eng- 
 land theology with a controversy concerning the terms of commun- 
 ion. Indeed, liis views were at one time so prominent that they 
 were designated by the name of Stoddardism. He did not, as some 
 have supposed, advocate the use of the Lord's Supper by all unre- 
 generate persons as a means of grace, but, in accordance with the 
 prevaihng doctrine of the Reformed Churches of that age, he held 
 that the children of visible believers were "ecclesiastically holy," and 
 that " they that are in external covenant with Grod [by baptism], and 
 if neither ignorant nor scandalous, may lawfully come to the Lord's 
 Supper, though destitute of a saving work of God's Spirit on their 
 hearts." No minister ever preached more clearly and earnestly than 
 did Mr. Stoddard, the necessity of regeneration in order to salvation. 
 
 B.— Page 17. 
 
 In a sermon preached by President Edwards upon the occasion of 
 his death, Colonel John Stoddard is described as "one of the first 
 rank, as to his natural abihties, strength of reason, greatness and 
 clearness of discerning, and depth of penetration." It is further said 
 that " the greatness and honorableness of his disposition were answer- 
 able to the largeness of his imdcrstanding." He was eminent in the 
 Church, also, for his doctrinal and experimental knowledge of di\-ine 
 things. 
 
422 MEMOIR OF STODDARD. 
 
 C— Page 23. 
 
 MES. TAPPAN'S ACCOUNT OF HER CONYERSxuN. 
 
 " In my youth I was, for the most part, as thoughtless, perhaps 
 as ever any creature could be, but Grod, who is rich in mercy, still 
 waited upon me to be gracious. When about twenty I visited Fal- 
 mouth and The Vineyard. At Falmouth I heard a plain sermon from 
 these words, ' For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole 
 world and lose his own soul ?' (Mark viii. 36.) I recollected I had 
 often heard sermons from that text, but never felt the truth as it was 
 then enforced. The impression was deep and lasting. The next 
 day a young woman came to the house on a visit. "We had never 
 met before, but she also was under deep convictions. We knew of 
 no other persons who felt as we did, and as out of the abundance of 
 the heart the mouth speaketh, we soon became interested in each 
 other, and retired where we could converse freely together. From 
 this tune, without any one to assist me, the truths contained in the 
 Bible opened more fully to my mind, and I read and heard with the 
 greatest astonishment at my past wiUfiil ignorance. I was, indeecl, 
 as one new born, and G-od's glorious character was visible in all his 
 works, to that degree that I thought it was wonderful that the stones 
 did not upbraid man for his ingratitude, for all things else that had 
 breath or life seemed to utter forth his praise. The March after 1 
 was twenty-one I publicly took the seal of the covenant, and gave 
 up myself to God to be his, relying wholly on the merits of the 
 glorious Jesus for acceptance with God, and strength to perform my 
 engagements. By the influences of the Holy Spirit, and through 
 many temptations, and much weakness, I have been enabled to per- 
 severe, and to receive light more abundantly." 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 HIGHSMITH #45115