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 •f. ■* V 
 
-Darkness and Daybreak. 
 
 1 
 
 (Romans xiii: 12.) 
 
 Personal Kxpkriences, Manners, Customs, Habits, * 
 Religious and Social Life in 
 Persia. 
 
 BY 
 
 RKV. ISAAC ADAMS. 
 
 PUBLISHED in the INTEREST OF PERSIAN 
 MISSION. 
 
 1893, 
 
J 
 
 COPYRIGHTED. 
 
 W' 
 
 L'V 
 
 
 2ntl 
 
 189fl 
 
 DICKINSON BROS. 
 
 ENGRAVERS AND PRINTERS, 
 
 GRAND RAPIPS, MICH. 
 
, T 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 HE author of this little volume, "Darkness and 
 Daybreak," is a native of Persia, who is known to 
 us more than four years. Mr. Adams has been with us in 
 intimate association, in relig"ious exercises and social 
 life, and all who know him can bear testimon}^ to the 
 purity and unselfishness of his character, to his earnest- 
 ness and laboriousness as a student, to his intense zeal 
 for the spread of the g-ospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in 
 Persia and the world, and to the wrong-s and suffering's 
 and lost condition of his people. 
 
 This work serves a useful purpose in imparting- fresh 
 information and quickening- an intellig-ent interest of a 
 hopeful Christian effort. We hope that no student of 
 the King-dom, no servant of Christ and his Church 
 should fail to g-ive serious and sympathetic attention to 
 the spread of the gospel in helping- our dear brother 
 Isaac Adams, and we trust ever}' reader will join us in 
 the hope and prayer and sympathy and substantial help 
 that the wa}^ may soon be open for his return as a mis- 
 sionary of the cross and enter the work which he has 
 
 already beg-un. 
 
 Prof. G. K. Hemkes, 
 
 Rector of the Christian Reformed Theological School. 
 
 Grand Rapids, Mich., U. S. A. 
 April 4th, 1898. 
 
Dear Reader : 
 
 I cannot beg-in to write a narrative of the facts con- 
 nected with the history of my life, without g-iving- all 
 g-lory and praise to the most precious God, who has so 
 wonderfully g-uided me, during- the last ten years 
 especially. No words like those of the Scriptures can 
 adequately express my heart's g-ratitude for all the 
 ways by which he has led me, and you, dear reader, will 
 mag-nify him while reading- as I did while writing: this. 
 Let" us exalt His name forever; let the Lord be mag-- 
 nified, which taketh pleasure in the prosperity of His 
 elect. Praise ye the Lord, for His name is excellent; 
 His g-lory is above the heavens. I have been deeply 
 tried; yes, the Lord is with the rig:hteous; "Lo, I am 
 with you." Surely He has been with me ; His presence 
 has g-one before me and has g-iven me streng-th and cour- 
 ag-e. He faileth not. I have heard his voice saying-, 
 "Fear not, I will help thee." And He has done so; yea, 
 in the deepest waters; in all places His hand has led me 
 and He has kept me. With David I can say, "God is my 
 salvation." I will trust and not be afraid. I cried by 
 reason of my affliction unto the Lord, and he answered 
 me. The Lord stood by me and streng-thened me, say- 
 ing- : "My streng-th is made perfect in weakness." 
 
 From many dang-erous snares hath the Lord pre- 
 served me ; in spite of all my inward rebellion. He hath 
 carried on his g-ood work in my heart, and notwith- 
 standing- all my unbelieving- fears he hath g-iven me a 
 
hope full of immortality. He hath set my feet upon a 
 rock and established my g-oing-s and hath put a new song- 
 into my mouth ; even praises unto my God. 
 
 The same grace and forbearance, the same wisdom 
 and power that have broug-ht me so far, will bring me 
 on, though it be through fire and water, to a goodly 
 heritage. I see no business in life but the work of 
 Christ, neither do I desire any employment to all etern- 
 ity but His service, and it is my prayer to Him, in whose 
 hands the hearts of all men are like the rivers of water, 
 that He might put into the hearts of those who love 
 Him and His cause to enable me to continue in His ser- 
 vice by bringing the knowledge of the only Redeemer 
 Jesus Christ to the great multitude who know Him not. 
 
PERSONAL HISTORY. 
 
 1WAS born in the northwestern part of Persia, on the 
 twenty-eig-hth day of November, 1872, at Sang-ar, a 
 village about two hours walk from Oroomiah city. The 
 village contained about twenty-five Nestorian families, 
 and as many houses. The surrounding- villages were 
 all Mohammedan, some of them lying not more than 
 half an hour's distance away from Sangar. Thus the 
 people in my village-home have had all their intercourse 
 with Mohammedans, and in consequence had lost all 
 knowledge of Christianity and had adopted instead Mo- 
 hammedan customs as well as their language, the na- 
 tional language of the Nestorians being Syriac, which 
 is widel}^ different from that of the Mohammadans. To- 
 gether with the customs and language, the people of my 
 home-village had also adopted all kinds of profanity. 
 The keeping of the Sabbath day was entirely lost. 
 People would plow and do other work in the field just 
 as on any other day. 
 
 Another very bad habit of the people at Sangar was 
 the beating of their wives. It is quite common there to 
 see a woman's head bruised and her clothing torn. Thus 
 I was brought up, among ignorant and ill-influenced 
 people. 
 
 When about 6 years of age, my father and two other 
 persons went to Russia for the trading business. They 
 had but one passport for the three of them. After hav- 
 ing remained in Russia for a short time, one of the men 
 
 _9_ 
 
was oblig-ed to return to Persia, he having- been advised 
 of sickness in his family. After some time, m}^ father 
 and his companion were to go on to another city in 
 Russia. Upon entering* the g-ates they were taken pris- 
 oners, the officer claiming- that in the passport three 
 men were mentioned, and they were but two. All ex- 
 planation on the part of the travelers was unheeded, and 
 their case was finally ended by sending- them both to 
 Siberia for life, and in all probability they are alread}' 
 dead, as we have never heard of them since. 
 
 It was extremely sad for my poor mother to have 
 been left with five children, all below 12 years of ag-e ; 
 but this was not all. The lord of the villag-e came with 
 some forged notes, claiming that my father owed him 
 money and demanding pay. As my mother had nothing 
 to pay with, he took possession of the land we owned 
 and a part of our vineyard. 
 
 My task in early boyhood was to do little chores at 
 home and herd cattle. Like most bo3^s, I delighted in 
 climbing trees, but once it happened that I fell from the 
 top of a tree and broke my arm. Blood was gushing 
 from my nose and ears, and I was carried home. The 
 house was soon crowded with people, who decided to 
 make bread and Martooha and give it as a sacrifice to 
 the poor. 
 
 The Martooha is a mixture of flour, molasses and 
 butter, and is received by those among whom it is dis- 
 tributed as an offering, with the greeting: "May God 
 restore him to health." 
 
 But this was not all. My mother had also secretly, 
 but solemnly, vowed that she would, in case of my 
 recovery, have a lamb sacrificed to Mar-Obdishoo, a 
 Nestorian saint, at the church built to his memory. 
 When I was quite recovered, therefore, my mother, a 
 number of friends and I, with a lamb, repaired to Mar- * 
 Obdishoo. The lamb was slain in the church-yard and 
 
 —10— 
 
its blood sprinkled on the altar of the church and in my 
 face, while a number of little bells were rung- in the 
 church. I was then ordered to take the bells, and, ring-- 
 ing- them, cry out: " O, Mar-Obdishoo, Mar-Obdishoo, 
 I thank 3^ou that you have let me reg-ain my health ! " 
 
 The lamb was hereupon taken to a dwelling- and 
 boiled, and the meat g-iven to those in attendance ; the 
 head and skin, however, tog-ether with a small quantity 
 of meat, belong-ed to the janitor as his fee. Some of the 
 meat was also taken back to Sang-ar, upon our return, 
 to be distributed there. I was not allowed one morsel 
 of it. 
 
 When about 13 years of ag-e, a buffalo out of the 
 herd of cattle I was watching-, ran among- some heaps of 
 cut wheat in a field where farmers were threshing-. In 
 doing- so, the buffalo broke the Dach, or sig-n, which the 
 lord of the villag-e had set upon the heaps of wheat. 
 Upon perceiving- this, the lord called me to him in a 
 very friendly manner, holding- out to me a very beauti- 
 ful cane and promising- me the cane if I came. I did so, 
 thoug-h hesitating-ly. Suddenly I was rudely seized by 
 some servants who held me firmh% while others sub- 
 jected me to an application of the bastinado, so cruelly, 
 that both m}^ feet bled profusely and I was not able to 
 walk for about two months. 
 
 After this sad experience I left the villag-e clan- 
 destinel}^ and repaired to Wazerawa, where m}^ aunt and 
 all the relatives of my mother lived. M}^ aunt received 
 me g-ladly, and, having- lost a child of about my ag-e, 
 bade me remain with her and would not hear of my 
 leaving-. After I had been with her for about one year 
 the rest of our family followed to Wazerawa. 
 
 At Sang^ar we had owned an orchard near the dwell- 
 ing- where we lived. It had been my delig-ht to climb 
 into the fruit trees and eat fruit to m}- heart's content. 
 Near my aunt's dwelling-, at Wazerawa, there also was 
 
 -11— 
 
an orchard, but it belong-ed to a neig-hbor. This differ- 
 ence in ownership, however, made very little difference 
 to me, and I tried to continue my orchard practice here 
 also. Of course, I well knew that I deserved punishment 
 for climbing- into a neig-hbor's tree and appropriating- 
 some of the fruit, consequently I did my tree-climbing- 
 after dark, in the evening-. One dark nig-ht, as I sat in 
 the very top of a fine apple tree, feeling- quite secure 
 from detection, I suddenly heard a voice below me call- 
 ing-out : "What are you doing- up there?" I replied 
 that I had been late for supper, for which my uncle 
 would whip me. I had, therefore, tried to hide from 
 him. He ordered me to come down, but my pockets 
 were filled with apples from the tree, and so I hesitated, 
 pondering- how to escape the well-deserved punishment. 
 
 Finally I told the neig-hbor I would come down if he 
 would promise not to chastise me. He did so; and I 
 came down, delivered up my stolen apples and went home. 
 
 My uncle now beg-an to employ me by sending- me 
 out to his vineyard to watch it. I had very g-ood times 
 doin^ this, as I was very liberal. I would stand out in 
 the road and ask people passing- by to come in and help 
 themselves to some g-rapes, and quite often I pressed my 
 request so urg-ently as to almost compel people to come 
 in and eat grapes. Occasionally I would fill a basket 
 with g-rapes and hand out some to every person who 
 happened to pass by. My motive in doing- this was that 
 I considered it an injustice that I alone should have so 
 many fine g-rapes, while so many others had none. The 
 principal reason for my liberality, however, was my 
 sociability. I liked to be in company with other human 
 being-s and hated seclusion. The neig-hbors surrounding- 
 my uncle's vineyard were all Mohammedans with whom 
 I dared not communicate, and I, therefore, soug-ht, by 
 being- liberal, to enjoy the company of, and intercourse 
 with, fellow-being-s such as I myself was. 
 
 -12— 
 
The vineyard was a very quiet, secluded spot, and I 
 could not even force myself into liking- it. When my 
 mother and the rest of the family moved to Wazerawa, I 
 consequently left my uncle's and joined a number of 
 other young- lads in taking- care of herds of cattle and 
 flocks of sheep. 
 
 While being thus occupied one day, a boy, Benyamin 
 Bar Younan by name, a relative to Kasha Sayad, a 
 native preacher, employed by the Presbyterian mission 
 in Persia, met me. He remained with me for some 
 time, repeating- to me stories from the Bible, among- 
 others the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. When 
 he had left ine I could not help but think over and 
 over ag-ain what I had heard. A few days later we 
 met a second time. I addressed him with this question : 
 "Suppose a man should like to g-o to heaven, what must 
 he do?" He replied : "He must not eat or drink an}^- 
 thing- for three da3-s, but keep on in prayer all this 
 time, and then be good and do g-ood afterwards. 
 "Then," said I, "the people must be very foolish not to 
 prefer to be like Lazarus in this life, when heaven and 
 its blessedness last forever." I then asked where he 
 had found those stories, and what other knowledg-e he 
 had of heaven. He told me it was all written in a book 
 called Bible, which he claimed to be a very holy book, 
 even called it God's book ; but also told me that, if I 
 wished to learn more about these things, I should have 
 to g-o and see his uncle, Kasha Sayad. I followed this 
 advice, for I was eag-er to learn more, and to Kasha 
 Sa3^ad I am g-reatly indebted for what knowledge I 
 received by my early acquaintance with him. Through 
 his influence I was enabled to attend the missionary 
 school, where my hungry and thirsty soul was fed on the 
 precious word ot God. Reading- my Testament, and not 
 being- able to comprehend very much of it at first, I would 
 kneel down and pray to God, and say: "O Lord, if 
 
 -13- 
 
Thou art God, make Thyself manifest and show me 
 also myself." Then ag-ain at times it seemed almost 
 impossible to me to trust fully in an invisible God. 
 
 Upon entering- the mission school I encountered the 
 enmity and hatred of my relatives, who were all dissat- 
 isfied with this step; but, by the g-race of God and 
 throug-h the kindness of Kasha Sayad, I was enabled to 
 attend also the high school at Oroomiah City, a Presby- 
 terian institute. 
 
 Here I attended until the winter of 1887, when I was 
 requested by Kasha Peria, a native missionary, who 
 had been educated at Hermansburg-, Germany, and 
 received his support from there, to g-o and teach one of 
 his schools at Satlovi. I took charg-e of a school of 
 about twenty-five children, and found the work very 
 interesting-, especially as I visited the children's parents 
 in the evening-s, and, to their g-reat delig-ht, read to 
 them from the Bible. I did not try to g-ive any explana- 
 tions, but simply read from ten to fifteen consecutive 
 chapters. On Saturdays I went to the neig-hboring- vil- 
 lag-es with my Bible, read from it to the people and con- 
 versed with them on the Christian relig-ion and Christ's 
 love to sinners. Returning- from such work towards 
 evening- one Saturday, I met a Mohammedan and passed 
 without saluting- him. He stopped me, and roug-hly 
 inquired why I had not g-reeted him. I told him I had 
 neg-lected the courtesy because I did not know in what 
 lang-uag-e to address him. To explain this, I must 
 inform the reader that not all Mohammedans speak the 
 same lang-uag-e. It is also dang-erous to address Moham- 
 medans, as I had found by the following experience 
 which I had had some time previous : I had met two 
 Mohammedans on my way and saluted them both in a 
 friendly manner. Presently there came a Christian. I 
 stopped immediately and spoke to him. Upon perceiv- 
 ing this the two Mohammedans quickly returned, 
 
 -14- 
 
stopped me, and, one placing- himself on my rig-ht side, 
 the other on the left, each dag-g-er in hand, they said 
 they would immediately kill me if I did not at once 
 return their salutation. I complied with their request 
 so eag-erly that I bowed three times to their once. In 
 this instance the Mohammedan was not satisfied, but 
 insisted that I had failed to g-reet him throug-h disre- 
 spect and threatened also to kill me, accompanying- this 
 threat by a drawn dag-g-er, the point of which he pressed 
 to my breast so hard that I even felt the point penetrat- 
 ing my skin. But at that moment we saw a caravan 
 approaching-, whereupon the Mohammedan withdrew 
 his dagg-er and contemptuously said that he had only 
 tried to scare me. 
 
 I was so excited that I could not speak for four or 
 five hours, was taken to a village near by and remained 
 there until Monday ; then I returned and continued my 
 work.* 
 
 In the summer of 1887 I entered Oroomiah College 
 Mission School, in connection with which there is also 
 an industrial school. At the latter, carpenter's work, 
 shoemaking and hatmaking were taught. I, in connec- 
 tion with my other studies, entered the shoemaking de- 
 partment, and under the direction of Oosta Ayraham 
 learned that trade. After a few weeks, during which 
 Mr. Ayraham had become acquainted with me and m}- 
 circumstances, he took more pains with me than with 
 any other of his pupils, so that in the examination at 
 the end of the term I made a good showing. 
 
 The college term ended in July ; this permitted me 
 to devote all my time to my trade in the industrial 
 school. In the fall of 1888, Mr. Ayraham left his posi- 
 tion. A Mohammedan took his place. During the 
 
 ♦This Mohammedan's name was Samat of Baranduz. Before my encounter with 
 him he had alreadj- killed not less than sixty persons. He was about 40 years of age 
 and was later on killed by other robbers. 
 
 —15- 
 
4i 
 
 vacancy the school was left m m}^ charg-e. I had posses^^ 
 sion of the ke3^s, and the whole property was in m}' care. 
 The new teacher g-ave no satisfaction ; he appeared to 
 be dishonest, and was soon discharg-ed. I then ag-ain 
 filled the position until another teacher could be found. 
 
 After the closing- of the colleg-e term, I kept the in- 
 dustrial school in operation. I was in charg-e of from 
 ten to fifteen boys, and the work prog-ressed nicely in 
 the interest of the mission. During- this time I was 
 also elected elder in the church at Wazerawa, and while 
 at colleg-e I spent every Sunday at Wazerawa and Dizza, 
 teaching- Sunday school. I was also robbed several 
 times and had several dang-erous encounters with hig-h- 
 waymen, one of which has left me a scar on my rig-ht 
 eye to this day. 
 
 In the spring- of 1889, I was sent by the missionaries 
 to teach a school at Ardishai. I had here forty pupils 
 on an average, coming- from about six different villages. 
 The instruction was to be given in four different lan- 
 guages, viz: Persian, Turkish, Chaldean and Syriac. 
 But I must confess I was rather severe in my treatment 
 with the pupils. I generally kept about a half dozen 
 switches in the school-room, and it was not at all un- 
 common for me to whip children until they bled. I 
 kept all doors and windows closed, to stifle the screams 
 of the poor children while being chastised, but the boys 
 nevertheless managed to make themselves be heard for 
 about two blocks. I thought then that I had to do this, 
 since the parents in place of administering the proper 
 punishment at home, would come and tell me that their 
 children had sinned and entreated me to punish them 
 for it. 
 
 One day as I rang the bell, it appeared to me the 
 pupils had made up their minds to have their own way 
 about coming. The rule was that, upon hearing the 
 bell ring, every pupil should drop everything and com^ 
 
 -J6- 
 
ISAAC ADAMS, DAVID ADAMS, ABRAHAM ADAMS, 
 
 In HighK:lass Costume. In Mohammodaxi Priest In Kurdish Costume. 
 
 Costume. 
 
 JACOB ADAMS, 
 In Common Persian Costume. 
 
PAUL JOHM. (Pag-e33.*) 
 
rig-ht into the school-room and quietly take his seat. I 
 said nothing-, but waited. When they came in, about 
 fiv^e minutes later, I shut all doors and windows and or- 
 dered them to stand side by side with their backs ag^ainst 
 the wall. I then took a switch, rushed around the room 
 and struck them ag-ain and ag-ain across their bare leg's 
 and feet (their shoes and slippers always were left stand- 
 ing- out in the hall). Soon leg's and feet beg^an to bleed, 
 and of course they screamed piteously. But this I would 
 not have. To stop it I struck some of them, who had 
 fallen to the floor, across their backs, and threatened to 
 treat them all in the same manner if they did not imme- 
 diatel}'^ cease their noise. By this outrag^e I soon had 
 the room quieted, and the pupils were always on time 
 afterwards. This, however, was not the only mode of 
 punishment. Sometimes I would order the tallest bo}^ 
 in the room to take the boy who was to be chastised, on 
 his back, holding- him b}' his hands, and then bend over 
 to keep his feet from the g-round. I would then take my 
 switch and lash the boy across his leg-s and back. Still 
 another severe chastisement is to have the pupil fold 
 his arms tig-htly and then sit down upon the floor. A 
 stick is now passed through under his arms in front of 
 his body, his leg's then are lifted over the stick and he is 
 thus left in a helpless position, so that the teacher may 
 strike him wherever he pleases. Occasionally I was 
 afraid inwardly of some of the boys, as they were older 
 and taller than I was, but somehow I overcame the sen- 
 sation, and never had any trouble in this direction. I 
 was not the orig-inator or inventor of any of these cruel 
 modes of punishment. I had m^'self learned them by 
 seeing- them practiced, and many times at the hig-h- 
 school I myself had been ordered to hold a boy across 
 my back, being- somewhat taller and stronger than some 
 of the rest. 
 
 —17— 
 
But now I have a different way of administering* pun- 
 ishment in my schools ; not with a switch, but with love 
 and kindness, and I think I can accomplish more with 
 kind words and acts than with the rod. This is one of 
 the chang-es I have experienced since having- come to 
 America. 
 
 Besides teaching- languages, I also gave instruction 
 from the Bible, in arithmetic and geography. I also 
 visited the parents of the pupils, together with the 
 minister of the village, and on Sabbath day I had a 
 large class of ladies in the Sunday school. 
 
 I would also pay visits to other villages and preach 
 to them in a very simple manner, only repeating to the 
 people the story of the cross. While engaged in this 
 manner one day, I read in my Bible the 12th chapter of 
 Genesis. This gave me much thought, especially the 
 passage where the Lord said to Abraham, " Get thee out 
 of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy 
 father's house into a land that I will show thee." My 
 strain of thought on this matter ran in this channel : 
 "If Abraham obeyed this command of the Lord, and I 
 am now worshipping the same Lord as Abraham then 
 was, why should I not follow his example, now reading- 
 the same command?" 
 
 I consulted Kasha Say ad, and informed him of my 
 intention to go somewhere where I could prepare for 
 Christian work. His opinion was, that it would not be 
 a wise step for me to take, and bade me go to a mission- 
 ary and lay the matter before him. I did so, and the 
 missionary gave me many reasons why I should abandon 
 such thoughts ; but I was determined to rather listen to 
 God's promises than man's advices and go, whither he 
 should direct me. 
 
 In July, 1889, I left Oroomiah with not more than 
 what amounts to five dollars in the United States, and 
 not knowing where I should finally land. I traveled 
 
 —18- 
 
westward, but it was a long- and tedious journey. As I 
 had no means to hire a horse or mule I was oblig^ed to 
 walk, and for the sake of convenience I often traveled 
 during- the night, it being- then much cooler. 
 
 After nineteen da3's of traveling-, I reached the first 
 railway in the Caucasus in Russia. I reached the first 
 railway station at Akistaf a. From here I was g-iven free 
 transportation to Tiflis. There some Christians helped 
 me on to Valadikokas. After having- arrived at this 
 place I tried to work and g-o to school, but after a few 
 weeks they urg-ed me to g-o to Berlin, as they thoug-ht I 
 might there succeed better in both. After seven or 
 eight days travel I reached the boundary line of Russia. 
 Here I bought a ticket to Berlin, while my passport was 
 in the office for examination. Soon I was informed that 
 I could not leave Russia, as my passport was defective. 
 I was imprisoned for three da3's without food or drink, 
 after which time I was ordered to telegraph to St. 
 Petersburg for a permit to leave the country. I did so, 
 and was obliged to pay an exorbitant sum for the dis- 
 patch. But no answer came from St. Petersburg. I was 
 now informed that I would be sent to Siberia. It seemed 
 a little hard to me at first, but thinking of the errand 
 upon which I had set out on my journey, I concluded 
 that the Lord wanted me there, if he would allow me to 
 be sent there. I consequently told the officers that I 
 was ready and willing to go. The officers obviously 
 knew not what to make of this, for they stared at me as 
 though they considered me a lunatic. They wished to 
 know wh}' I was so ready and willing to go to such a 
 dismal country as Siberia. I told them that if my Lord 
 and God desired me to go there, I certainly was most 
 willing to go, as I sincerely believed that he was in Si- 
 beria as well as in Berlin ; that years ago my father had 
 been sent there without cause, and I might perchance 
 
 -19— 
 
meet him there. When they saw I cared so little 
 whither I went, they even helped me on to Berlin. 
 
 Here I was in Berlin, the g-reat German capital, not 
 being- able to speak or even understand a word of the 
 lang-uag-e. But throug-h God's kind providence I en- 
 countered a 3^oung- man who was able to speak five or 
 six different lang-uages, namely, Turkish, Syriac, Ger- 
 man, etc. He g-rew very friendly to me, took me to his 
 room, provided me with a good place to live, and for 
 several days showed me the sig-hts in the city. He inci- 
 dentally spoke of me to a friend who became so inter- 
 ested as to express a desire to see me. We consequently 
 took supper at the house of this friend, Mr. L. H. O. 
 Schmidt, west 62 Maasrein Strasse No. 31 Pa. Berlin, 
 one evening-, and by means of an interpreter I made this 
 g-entleman acquainted with my whole history. Mr. 
 Schmidt, perhaps noticing a sad expression which had 
 perchance overspread my countenance, bade me be of 
 good cheer, for the Lord would certainly guide me and. 
 provide for me. To encourage me still more, he asked 
 me to sit between himself and Mrs. Schmidt, as that, he 
 thought, would make me feel more at home with them. 
 
 When we arose to take our departure from this hos- 
 pitable house, Mr. Schmidt requested us to linger a few 
 moments longer, and left the room. A few moments 
 later he re-entered, and handed over to me a sum of 
 money sufficient to go from Berlin to New York, at the 
 same time remarking that he were quite certain, even if 
 I remained in Berlin at present, I would certainly desire 
 to see America in a few years hence, and so in his opin- 
 ion it would be much better for me and my cause to go 
 there at once. He also handed me a letter to a minister 
 at Hamburg, by which I was introduced, and he re- 
 quested to receive me and attend for me to all necessary 
 requisites for a passage to New York City. 
 
 —20- 
 
I left Berlin and reached Hamburg- at about 11 o'clock 
 p. m. Not being' able to explain to anyonfe where I wished 
 to g"o, I set out on a search for the dwelling- of the min- 
 ister to whom my letter of introduction was addressed. 
 I found the place at last, but the valet insisted upon 
 seeingf my letter before he would allow me to g-o into 
 his house, fearing- probably that I mig-ht be some thief 
 or robber trying- to g-et admission. I, however, refused 
 to have my letter examined, as I mistrusted its being- 
 returned to me. There was nothing- left for me to do 
 but to g-o back to the depot. Here I found every door 
 locked and all the lig'hts exting-uished, and set out to 
 walk the streets until morning-. But even in this I was 
 disturbed by patrolmen, who would not allow it. At last 
 I found a place where there was a cavity under the side- 
 walk, next to a basement window. I crept into this hole, 
 and doubling- up as well as I could soon fell asleep. 
 When I awoke I was so stiff and numb, from the chilly 
 air and my inconvenient position, I could scarcely move. 
 I got up and out and ran along- the streets to g-et warm. 
 After finding- that the blood in my body was once more 
 circulating- freely, I returned to my hiding- place and 
 slept until daylig-ht. I now returned to the minister's 
 dwelling-, and he himself answering my rap at the door, 
 I handed him my letter. He was greatly surprised at 
 seeing me and learning who I was, and said that he had 
 been aware of my coming, but had not expected that I 
 would arrive on that train. He kindly ushered me into 
 the house, however, and after having* washed, arranged 
 my toilet and breakfasted, he went with me to the 
 steamer that was to take me to New York City. After 
 procuring tickets we learned that the steamer would 
 not leave until two days later. I remained with the 
 reverend gentleman these two days, he proving very 
 kind and generous to me. Our conversations, however, 
 were very limited, as it had to be carried on entirely by 
 
 -21- 
 
making- use of the natural lang-uag-e — motions, signs, 
 groans, expressions of the face, etc. 
 
 After two days, I boarded an ocean steamer for New 
 York City. On the first and second day of the voyage 
 the weather was fine and the sea tranquil and calm ; but 
 soon it became rough and I had an experience such as I 
 had never heard of before — I grew sea-sick. During my 
 misery I sometimes really took it for granted that all 
 good Christian people had done for me ever since I had 
 left home had been done merely for the purpose of 
 severely punishing me for having been too bold and for- 
 ward, and I asked the Lord in prayer to grant that the 
 ship might capsize and sink, and so all my suffering be 
 ended. 
 
 During our ocean voyage all passengers on board of 
 the steamer were vaccinated. When my turn came I 
 had hidden away, thinking my arm was to be cut off. 
 I was compelled, however, to come forward and allow 
 the operation to be performed on me, whereupon I 
 found that it was not so bad after all. 
 
 Eighteen days after having gone aboard the steamer 
 we arrived in New York City. In Castle Garden we 
 were asked to show our money, there being a law that 
 every person must have at least twenty-five dollars, to 
 live on until able to find work, should he wish to enter 
 the country ; the company was obliged to take back any 
 passenger who did not possess that amount. When my 
 turn came to go through the gate, just when prepared 
 to show the money I had (amounting to about twenty- 
 eight cents), the officer was handed a letter by a boy. 
 He stepped just a little to one side to quickly peruse the 
 letter, but in the mean time I opened the gate and 
 passed through unnoticed, and was soon lost in the 
 crowd to any searching eye. I walked into the park and 
 sat down. While looking around I suddenly espied a 
 black man not far off. This was a great curiosity to me 
 
who had never before seen colored people. I felt very 
 much inclined to step nearer so as to g-et a better view 
 of the man, but I dared not. Upon noticing- man}' 
 people passing- by him without scarcely taking- any 
 notice of him, I also took heart and approached the 
 black man. Seeing- that his face, neck and arms were 
 all black, I cocluded that this could not possibly be a 
 human being*. Since then I have met many neg-roes, 
 have even lived among- them for a year in Virg-inia, and 
 have learned to esteem some of them as thoroug-hly, 
 consecrated Christians. 
 
 Here I was once more all alone in a foreig-n country, 
 without home, friends, acquaintances, or even means 
 wherewith to support m3'self, almost utterly helpless, 
 as I could not even make myself understood. For three 
 days and nig-hts I walked the streets of the great 
 metropolis with an empty stomach. Towards the close 
 of the third day I found a morsel of bread in an ash 
 barrel. I took it out, cleaned it as well as I could, and 
 then soaked it in some water and ate it. Not long- after 
 I also met a man who could understand oriental lan- 
 g-uag-es. This man proved a great blessing- to me, for 
 he had soon learned my situation. Feeling- compassion 
 for me, he fed me and then took me to the "Home of 
 Children's Aid Society," No. 247 Kast Forty-fourth 
 Street, corner Second Avenue. 
 
 The superintendent at the home, after hearing- the 
 circumstances, was g-ladh' willing- to admit me for a few 
 days and try to procure me some work, it being- against 
 the rules of the institution to permanently admit per- 
 sons of my age. In connection with this home there is 
 also a brush shop where crippled boys are employed. 
 
 I was directed there and soon set to work. The 
 superintendent was pleased and wish to retain me, so I 
 worked during the da}' and attended a night school in 
 the evening, where I studied the English language. 
 
 -23- 
 
Sometimes, when visitors came, they would be very 
 much surprised to see me, a sturd}^ well-gTown young- 
 fellow, working- among- crippled boys. This g^reatly 
 irritated me, and, to avoid it, I walked lame whenever 
 visitors caine in after that. 
 
 But I could not remain in this place always. So I 
 told the superintendent that I would rather work in the 
 open air and not be confined so much within a building-. 
 Thereupon he sent me to a farm in New Jersey. I was 
 there about two weeks when I was taken ill and had to 
 g-ive this up, the work being too hard for me as it con- 
 sisted chiefly of chopping wood, it being in the midst of 
 winter. In consequence of this experience I returned to 
 my former occupation in the brush factory. 
 
 One day a lady called upon the superintendent and 
 asked him if he could not recommend some one to her as 
 a waiter. I happened to be in the room just then and 
 the superintendent pointed me out to her. The lady 
 inquired whether I would be Avilling to accept the 
 position. I cheerfully answered in the affirmative and 
 immediately accompanied her to her home. I could now 
 make myself understood in Knglish, somewhat, and the 
 lady promised to give me further instruction, She was 
 a sister to a phj^sician, Dr. J. H. Cooley, and resided at 
 Plainfield, N. J. I was in her service for three months 
 and was pleased with my work, which consisted in wait- 
 ing at the table and helping in the kitchen. Dr. Cooley 
 also had a sanitarium, where patients were housed and 
 taken care of. I am much indebted to the doctor for 
 kindness in treating me as pleasantly as he did. 
 During my stay at Plainfield, N. J., I wrote to Rev. J. 
 H. Shadd, the missionary, whose acquaintance I had 
 made in Persia, and who, I had been informed, was 
 now in the United States on a visit. I asked him in my 
 letter to kindly recommend me to some Presbyterian 
 Church, which I might join. In answer to my request 
 
 -24- 
 
Rev. Dr. Ketcham, rector at the First Presbyterian 
 Church at Plainfield, received the following-, to-wit : 
 
 Marietta, O., April 3, 1890. 
 Rev. Dr. Ketcham. 
 
 Dear Brother : Yours of April 1 has just come. Yesterday 
 I sent a letter to the young- man, which will g-ive you the needed 
 recommendation, and trust he may find a home in your church. 
 There is a strong- influence in New York to draw the 3'oung- Nes- 
 torians to the Episcopalians and to the side of the Ritualist, who 
 are at work in our mission field. 
 
 This young- man has declined the strong- temptation to leave 
 the church in which he was raised, and I am g"lad he has soug-ht 
 you and your church, and trust you ma^' do him good. 
 
 Yours ver}' truly, 
 
 J. H. SHADD. 
 
 Dr. Ketcham and his cong-reg-ation received me very 
 cordially. 
 
 After three months stay at Plainlield, I deemed it 
 advisable to g-o to New York City, there to improve my 
 education ; it being-, however, two months previous to 
 the beginning- of a new term in any of the schools, I 
 took recourse to Mr. Matthews, at that time superinten- 
 dent of the ''Children's Aid Societ}^" for a place on a 
 farm. A few days later another boy and I were sent to 
 a farm in Orang-e county, New Jersey, with letters of 
 recommendation for our introduction. We unhappily 
 left the train at a station twelve miles this side of our 
 place of destination. We did the best we could under 
 the circumstances, however, stopped at the depot over 
 nig-ht and started out afoot next morning-. Finall}^ we 
 arrived at the place where my companion had to leave 
 me, as he was to work on some other farm. We parted 
 and I trotted on alone. Presently I met a man coming- 
 towards me who inquired whither I was g-oing-. I showed 
 him the address on my letter. He inquired further, 
 what I intended to do there. After having- told him, he 
 informed me that this farmer had moved away, but that 
 
 —25- 
 
he had been looking- for some help, and I mig-ht come 
 and work for him. I inquired about the hire, and he 
 offered fifteen dollars per month. I asked whether or 
 not any churches were in his neig-hborhood. He said 
 there were plenty of those thing-s round about, where- 
 upon I inquired into his religious views. He informed 
 me of being- a Roman Catholic by birth and education, 
 "but," said he, sneering-ly, "I have not been inside of a 
 church for forty years." I hereupon offered to work for 
 him for twelve dollars a month, provided he would not 
 compel me to work on Sundays. He was satisfied, and 
 I entered upon my duties. Later on I learned that the 
 man I had been sent to, lived on the neig-hboring- farm, 
 and was a very nice man ; not a very ugly fellow, as my 
 present master had claimed at our first meeting. 
 
 My occupation on this farm consisted in cutting grass 
 and milking cows, of which the farmer owned forty-five 
 heads. Kighteen of them I had to milk, which at first 
 caused such a strain upon the knuckles of my hands 
 and on my wrists that I would wake up at night from 
 pain in those parts ; but I soon became accustomed to it, 
 and then so much more enjoyed drinking my fill of the 
 fresh milk, of which I was very fond. When once I had 
 mentioned in a letter to my relatives at home that my 
 work, among other things, consisted in milking cows, 
 they wonderingly inquired in their next letter where in 
 America the women might be and what they did, as in 
 Persia all this kind of work is left to the w^omen to 
 perform. 
 
 For the first two weeks all went well with me on this 
 farm. On Sunday I attended a Methodist Church. On 
 the third Sunday, however, the farmer called me 
 and ordered me to turn the crank on the grindstone for 
 him, as he wished to sharpen his knife. I answered, 
 "No, today is Sunday." Upon hearing this he cursed 
 
 —20- 
 
me and said: "I would rather sit here and listen to the 
 dog" barking- than hear that minister preach." 
 
 At 4 o'clock in the morning- he would call me to g-et 
 up and g-o to work, but after some time he said, "Ike, 
 you must get up at 3 o'clock, as the neig-hbors are out 
 at that time;" and to make g-ood his demand he would 
 stamp on the steps of the stairway and pound the door, 
 calling "Ike, Ike!" with an occasional curse intermin- 
 gled, until he heard me move about. 
 
 One da}' we were loading- hay in the field. My mas- 
 ter was on the wagon, I stood upon the g-round and 
 pitched the hay to him. He kept swearing and cursing 
 at me, trying- to hurry me up. This provoked me, and 
 I beg-an to throw ha}^ upon the wagon as fast as I could, 
 without looking- where I threw it. In so doings it hap- 
 pened that a pitchfork full of the hay, tog-ether with 
 the points of the fork, struck him on the chest. At this 
 he grew furious, jumped down from the wag-on to the 
 g-round and tried to strike me, but I kept out of his 
 reach. 
 
 While eng-aged in scattering- hay upon a time, I 
 came upon a heap in which there was a bee's nest. I 
 noticed it in time, cautiously went by and left it un- 
 touched. The farmer, however, coming- after me, but 
 not seeing- the bees, scattered the hay about. Of course 
 the bees were upon him in an instant, and stung- him all 
 over his face and hands. This induced him to curse 
 furiously at me again for not having warned him ; but 
 I quietly remonstrated that the bees were stinging- him 
 so for his wicked blaspheming, as I had passed those 
 same bees and the}' had not molested me in the least. 
 
 After the third week the farmer ordered me to leave, 
 as he did not require my services any longer. I was 
 willing to go, but demanded my pay. This he refused 
 to give me until I threatened to go to law about it. 
 Then he wished me to continue. I did so until the end 
 
 —27- 
 
of the month, when he g-ave me twelve dollars and 
 offered fifteen dollars for the following- month, but I had 
 quite enoug-h of this and answered, "No, I would not 
 work for you any longer for fifty dollars a month." I 
 left him immediately and returned to New York City. 
 In New York I went to Rev. A. G. Ruliffson, at 105 Kast 
 Seventeenth Street, who was an intimate friend of Dr. 
 Shadd, missionary in Persia, and who was at the head 
 of an institution where ladies prepare themselves for 
 missionary work. 
 
 While stopping- here I was studying- the lang-uag-e, 
 and at the same time doing- odd work around the prem- 
 ises. Rev. Ruliffson wrote to the president of a colleg-e 
 at River Plains, N. Y., and asked him if he could do 
 something-, to help me g-et an education. The following- 
 is his reply : 
 
 River Plains, N. Y., Sept 15, 1895. 
 Dear Bro. Rui^iffson : 
 
 I have conferred with some of the good people here, and we 
 have come to this conclusion with reference to Isaac Adams. We 
 will try to educate him, g-etting- what help we can from various 
 sources. We have some missionary money coming- in here, the 
 Presbytery may help and his own church in Orang-e may help. 
 We will keep him until January 1st next, anyhow, expecting- to 
 keep him long-er, of course. 
 
 We hope by that time that the way will be clear where the 
 funds are to come from to keep him g-oing-. By that time the 
 church will be well acquainted with him, which will help, no 
 doubt. Have him come rig-ht on, and if all is well he will have a 
 home with me as long- as he wants to g-o to a secondary school. If 
 he takes the 4 p. m train, via Dutchess Junction, he will be here 
 at 7:30. If he takes the 8 a. m. train, via Dutchess Junction, he 
 will be here about noon. 
 
 The sooner he gets here the better, as we began school last 
 week. Fraternally yours, 
 
 A MATTICE. 
 
 Mr. B. W. Tice, superintendent of the West Side 
 Boys' Lodg-ing- House of the Children's Aid Society, 
 wrote a letter to Gen. Armstrong- for admission to the 
 
 —28- 
 
Hampton Normal Institution, of which Gen. Armstrong- 
 was principal, and the answer was favorable ; so there 
 were two places open for me to attend school. 
 
 But after considering- the matter, and also meeting- 
 Gen. Armstrong-, I decided to g-o to Virg-inia. 
 
 Here I worked in the morning-s at the tailor's trade, 
 and in the afternoon and evening- I went to the ni^ht 
 school, where I enjoyed my work and am much indebted 
 to the teachers and all connected with the schools for 
 their help and kindness shown tow^ards me. 
 
 While here I received a letter from Kasha Sayad, of 
 Persia, stating- that the house or church in which they 
 were worshipping- was taken by the authorities and 
 g-iven to the people who belong-ed to the Nestorian 
 Church, and who did not belong- to the Evang-elical 
 Church; and I translated the letter and sent it to the 
 Presbyterian Foreig-n Mission Board, in New York, as 
 Kasha Sayad had also requested me in that letter to do 
 all I could for them in stating- the matter before such as 
 loved the cause, and try to raise funds for erecting- a 
 house of worship for them. 
 
 I also wrote a letter to Mr. W. A. Shadd, a mission- 
 ary who was at this time taking- his theological course 
 at Princeton, and received the following- reply: 
 
 14 Old Seminary, 
 Princeton, N. J., January 21, 1891. 
 
 Dear Friend : Your letter came yesterday. I was very 
 g-lad to hear from you, and also that your interests in Persia 
 and your native village is still active and earnest I am sure 
 anything- you can do to raise funds for a new church in Waze- 
 rawa will be very much appreciated. The need there is great 
 and the people are very poor. The old church is not suited to 
 gatherings for preaching services ; it is so damp and dark, and, 
 besides, its possession by the Kvangelical party seems to involve 
 them in endless litigation. 
 
 A new church building would be a great advantage to the 
 village. 
 
 -29- 
 
I hope you are enjoying- your work and profiting much by it. 
 Of course, if you get any money for the church building-, you will 
 send it to the mission house in New York, or direct to the mis- 
 sionaries in Oroomiah. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 W. A. SHADD. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell had also written to Mr. Sliadd, and had 
 enclosed my letter. The following- was the repl}^ to 
 Dr. Mitchell : 
 
 Princeton, N. J., January 28, 1891. 
 
 Dear Dr. Mitchei.i< : I received, this evening-, your note 
 with the enclosures from Hampton, which I return with this. I 
 thoug-ht that I had something-, in some of my letters, bearing- 
 directly on this matter, but am unable to lay my hands on anj--- 
 thing- now. However, I know that in the main the facts 
 are as Pastor Sayad represents them. Pastor Sayad is the oldest 
 of the Bvang-elical pastors, and is a man of very hig-h character. 
 The cong-reg-ation is very poor, indeed, thoug-h quite larg-e. In 
 the past they have worshiped in the old Nestorian village church 
 and have done much to repair and improve it. The occupancy of 
 the old church has several times been the occasion of troubles, 
 both with the Neftorian Bishops, incited by the English mission- 
 aries, and with the Persian authorities. A church building of 
 their own would certainly be a great help to them, and, coming 
 from a source outside the regular contribution to the Board, 
 would be a very suitable object for aid, I should think. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 W. A. SHADD. 
 
 So these circumstances led me to come to New York 
 during- the summer vacation. I was cordially received 
 by Dr. Mitchell. After the matter of the church was 
 fully agreed upon the doctor wished me to stay, and 
 said he would help me to g-c to another school, under 
 his care. 
 
 The following- is one of his recommendations : 
 
 53 FiETH Avenue, 
 New York, August 31, 1891. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to say that I have known Mr. 
 Isaac Adams for several months, he having been introduced to 
 me by his instructor at Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va., and 
 
 —30— 
 
also, more fully, by our own Presbyterian missionaries in Oroo- 
 miah, Persia. At Oroomiah Mr. Adams was a pupil in the mis- 
 sion colleg"e and was known by the missionaries as a member 
 and officer in the Evang-elical Church in that place. Mr. Adams 
 is in this country with the intention of fitting himself, by study, 
 for Christian labor among- his former co-religionists in Persia and 
 Caucasus. He has been for a time a member of my own house- 
 hold, studying also under my direction, and I have learned to 
 confide in him as a Christian man, and to thoroughly respect him 
 for the steadfastness of his purpose, his fidelity to his friends 
 and benefactors, and his industry and ability. It is unusual for 
 me to place letters like this in the hands of foreigners from our 
 mission fields, as I feel that I am often but imperfectly 
 acquainted with them, but in this case I have no hesitation in 
 departing from my rule. It is my hope that Mr. Adams will 
 fully succeed in securing the education he seeks, and will return 
 to labor for Christ in Persia. 
 
 ARTHUR MITCHELL, D. D. 
 Secretary Presbyterian Board Foreign Missions. 
 
 Then he sent me to Mr. Moody's school, at Chicag-o, 
 where he paid my whole expense. 
 
 The following- is a letter of Dr. Shadd which I 
 
 received at Moody's school, in Chicago. 
 
 Thk C01.1.EGE, 
 Oroomiah, August 8, 1891. 
 My Dear Brother : Your letters to me and Mrs. Shadd 
 have been received with much pleasure, and I have intended to 
 write you. Mrs. Shadd wrote you once. You will sorrow with 
 us all in the death of the beloved Kasha Sayad. He entered 
 into rest August 5th. He was as well as usual three weeks 
 ago, but a disease attacked him (abscess of the liver) and he rap- 
 idly failed in strength. He was glad to go and be with Christ. 
 When too weak to speak aloud he whispered, "His grace is suf- 
 ficient." The funeral was on Thursday, August 6th, attended by 
 many people. Our fervent prayer was that the spirit of Kasha 
 Sayad may rest upon the young men. May you have it in rich 
 measure. As to the church building, you have consulted with 
 my son William, at Princeton, and with Dr. Laborn. The 
 expense needed is $500 or $600. If you can obtain this sum, and 
 send it to the care of the missionaries, we will use it directly for 
 Wazerawa church. It is very much needed, but not so much as 
 900 tomans. 
 
 —31 - 
 
I enclose a report of our Missionary Union. The g-reatest , 
 
 need is the truly consecrated young- man to enter the gospel 
 
 work. All for Christ and Christ for all is the motto of our 
 
 Union. Would you like to join us and prepare to extend the 
 
 blessed gospel of Christ to the great multitude who know him 
 
 not ? I am very glad that you are at work at Hampton. May 
 
 God bless you and help you to do great service in the cause of 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 J. H. SHEDD. 
 
 I tried very hard to g-et the money for the building 
 of the church by speaking- and lecturing-, but this was 
 very difficult as I could not speak the lang-uag-e very 
 plainly as yet, therefore, I left this matter entirely in 
 the hands of Dr. Mitchell, to whom I am much indebted 
 for his g-reat help in this matter. 
 
 After this I tried to support myself and wrote to Dr. 
 Mitchell about it. He said I could do so, but such 
 expenses as I could not meet he would cover. But from 
 1892 on I succeeded in paying- all my bills, but the doc- 
 tor had spent several hundred dollars towards my sup- 
 port. At one time I told him I wished to pay it back, 
 but he said: "I have not done it for your, but for 
 Christ's sake, and, therefore, I would always be g-lad to 
 hear of your success." 
 
 I also spent one year at the Garret Biblical Institute, 
 at Evanston, 111. While here I met Mr. A. T. Wilkin- 
 son, a fellow student from Brantford, Can., and who ever 
 since has been an intimate friend. 
 
 In the summer of 1892, he asked me to g-o with him 
 and speak in churches in Canada, which I did, he arran- 
 g-ing- the meeting-s for me. 
 
 The Brantford Courier of August 15, 1892, reads 
 
 thus: 
 
 At the Wickliffe Hall last evening, Mr Isaac Adams, a native 
 of Persia, gave a very interesting^ address. This address was 
 Mr. Adams' last one in Canada, as he leaves for New York today, 
 where he will stay one week and then proceed to Chicago. 
 
 -32- 
 
ISAAC ADAMS. 
 
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 CO 
 
Mr. Adams has been in Canada only forty-five days, and 
 during- that time he has given forty-three lectures on Persia, its 
 relig-ion, customs, etc. He expresses himself as hig-hly delig-hted 
 with his visit in Brautford, and with the kind manner in which 
 he has been entertained during his stay here. A number of Per- 
 sian curiosities were exhibited and were fully described by Mr. 
 Adams to all who wished to see them. 
 
 While in this country I wrote to my home continually, 
 and was g-lad to hear that my brothers were converted ; 
 so I offered to pay their expenses to this country if 
 they would prepare themselves for missionar}^ work, to 
 which they consented. But owing to the cholera their 
 journey was delayed for a while, but at last, in 1893, 
 they succeeded in coming- to this country. Three of my 
 brothers — Abraham, David and Jacob, tog-ether with a 
 young man named Paul John, who was 13 years of age 
 and who was brother-in-law to my brother, came to this 
 country.* After I had remained here five 3^ears, and 
 studied in diif erent institutions and lectured throughout 
 the United States and Canada (see testimonials), and 
 also saw my brothers admitted to different institutions, 
 I deemed it necessary to go back to Persia and preach 
 the Gospel to those whom I loved. 
 
 "When at Patterson, N. J., where I had spoken on 
 Sunday, I was on Monda}'^ introduced to two gentlemen 
 from Kampen, Netherlands, who were taking a post- 
 graduating- course at Princeton. These gentlemen were 
 Messrs. Smidt and Wielenga. Our short travel from 
 Paterson to New York was very pleasant, and Mr. G. 
 Wielenga said that he did not know what it was to be a 
 stranger in a strange country until after he came to 
 America. Therefore he urged me to visit his parents 
 and the school at Kampen, Netherlands, on my way to 
 Persia. He also gave me a letter of introduction. 
 
 During my five years stay in this country I had sold 
 4,500 pictures of myself throughout the United States 
 and Canada. 
 
 Q -33- 
 
On my departure I had a draft for S900 with me and 
 $100 in cash. I left New York November 7, 1894, on the 
 steamer City of Paris for Southampton. 
 
 I reached London November 14, and here I spent one 
 day and went to the British Bible Society, etc. 
 
 On November I7th I reached Kampen, Netherlands. 
 I found my way to Professor Wielen^a's house, where I 
 was cordially welcomed. I was requested to speak that 
 very nig-ht to the students of the Theolog-ical Seminary. 
 The following- letter will explain m}- short visit in the 
 Netherlands. This letter was written b}^ Rev. B. Wiel- 
 eng-a, a brother of G.Wieleng-a, to the public in America: 
 
 While I am writing- these lines, our dear friend Adams has 
 probably approached the Caucasus Mountains, and is nearer to his 
 native country than to us. His coming and staying in our midst, 
 and also his departure from us, has been as a passing- dream, but 
 a dream that has left a refreshing influence. An influence not 
 only felt at" my home, where he staid, but also by several churches 
 in our country, and by thousands who heard his simple, touching 
 words. 
 
 His arrival was unexpected and therefore the more surprising. 
 His agreeableness and sincerity, and the many cordial letters of 
 introduction from several of our ministers, soon made him very 
 intimate with us. And when, at the request of the faculty, he 
 addressed us in the chapel of our school and told us of the dark 
 night that prevails in Persia, and of his intention to bring it the 
 light of the Gospel, then our hearts all beat with sympathy for 
 him and his work. We admired his courage. At the close of his 
 address we all gathered around him to press his hand and to wish 
 him God-speed. Professor Bavinck in turn addressed him, and 
 assured him of our support and intercession. I still imagine 
 Brother Adams, dressed in his rich Persian costume, among us, 
 as he gained our sympathy by his friendly smile and courtesy. 
 
 At the request of the president. Dr. Bavinck, he again spoke 
 to us on the manners and customs of his people. Mr. Adders 
 translated the words and also succeeded in giving us the senti- 
 ments of Mr. Adams. It was no surprise that the consistory of 
 our congregation should allow him to speak in the church on Sun- 
 day evening. 
 
 The short sketch of his personal experiences, the vivid pre- 
 sentation of the misery in which Persia has sunken, but especially 
 
 -34- 
 
the words spoken on 2 Cor. 8:5, made a deep impression on the 
 people, and assured us that there will be many prayers offered for 
 Persia and the heathen world. During- the week Mr. Adams ag-ain 
 spoke in one of our halls, where many of all classes and religious 
 beliefs attentively listened to him. 
 
 The remainder of the time the Persian missionary stayed with 
 us, he visited the provinces of Holland and Zeeland, where he 
 spoke in the principal cities. I would simply repeat the same 
 thing" over ag"ain if I should follow him step by step, for every- 
 where he received the same token of love and cordiality. Every- 
 where open homes, open purses and open hearts. Mr. Adams has 
 a rare tact of making- himself at home among- strang-ers ; by his 
 artless manner he soon becomes intimate. Probably this is be- 
 cause he has visited so many places in America, has been intro- 
 duced in so various circles and been so heartily received by a 
 multitude of friends. He is well accustomed to the platform and 
 knows how to hold his audience. 
 
 The fishermen of Schevening-en he addressed differently from 
 the educated audiences of the capital and the plainer people of 
 Maassluis from those of busy Rotterdam ; but the result was the 
 same. Because I had many friends in the province of Holland, I 
 had the privileg-e of accompanying- and introducing- Mr. Adams. 
 ******* Also among- our pastors his reception was 
 hearty. Rev. Proosdy introduced him in Leiden and Rev. Donner, 
 the missionary director, exhorted the cong-reg-ation to prayer. In 
 the Hag-ue, Schevening-en, Maassluis, Rotterdam, Amsterdam 
 and ZwoUe he was everywhere cheerfully introduced. In many 
 other places larg-e crowds assembled to hear the Persian mission- 
 ary. Many tears were shed and much compassion and sympathy 
 expressed. 
 
 On the 11th of December, I accompanied Mr. Adams to 
 Zutfen, where he parted from us to g-o to Berlin in the evening-. 
 
 Calm and courag-eous, in peaceful reliance on his God, he 
 approached his difficult task. Althoug-h he was well aware that 
 his life is threatened on every hand in his native country, trust- 
 ing- on the Lord his God he beg-an his journey, knowing- that with 
 Him he can press throug-h a band of robbers and jump over a 
 wall. GladU' would we have had him remain with us still long-er. 
 His stay was very short and everything- hurried. But — and this 
 conviction we respect — the Persian people are in need of the 
 Gospel ; their souls are in prison. He told us that if God spared 
 him we mig-ht expect him in 1896, when he would return to Amer- 
 ica in company with two or three of his cour trymen. We believe 
 
 -35- 
 
that God is with Mr. Adams, and that through him He will 
 glorify His name. 
 
 I said Mr Adams varied his style to suit his audience, but I 
 must add that it had everywhere the same tone of child-like 
 reliance on God, of an honest, strong faith, and a deep conviction 
 of his own weakness. 
 
 His request that the Americans should pray for him will 
 surely find a hearing. Many of our people are interceding for 
 him, that is sure. 
 
 Great treasures he did not receive from our poor people, but 
 there were given him many mites like unto that offered by the 
 widow of old. Several poor children brought their savings to 
 him at our home, and many needy women took pleasure in giving 
 a trifle to his work. Such gifts God will bless. 
 
 May God spare the life of Mr. Adams and grant that his work 
 be blessed ; may He use him for the coming of His kingdom and 
 the glory of His name — then will our prayers be answered. 
 
 My hearty salutation, 
 
 B. WiElvENGA. 
 Kampen, Dec. 17, '94. 
 
 While in the Netherlands I received about $300 in 
 collections and g-ifts. And also the Lord has g-iven me 
 since many warm-hearted friends, and no words can 
 express my gratitude to the friends and professors in 
 the Netherlands. 
 
 From the Netherlands I went to Berlin, Germany, 
 where I was glad to meet my friend Mr. Schmidt, who had 
 paid my fare from Berlin to New York in 1889. He was 
 delighted to see me and to learn of my success, but the 
 dif&culty was that I could not speak German and he 
 could not speak English. So we had to find an inter- 
 preter and we called on the American ambassador at Ber- 
 lin, through whose kindness we were able to have a con- 
 versation. At the same time I spoke about countersign- 
 ing my passport, and, after the ambassador learned my 
 name, he said, "It is a pity your name is Isaac Adams, 
 as it sounds like a Jewish name, and no Jews are 
 allowed to pass through Russia." He wrote me a special 
 letter, and another man and Mr. Schmidt went with me 
 
to the Russian ambassador, and, at last, throug-h a g-ood 
 deal of talking- and explanation, he countersig-ned my 
 passport. 
 
 The following- da^^Mr. Schmidt boug-ht m^- ticket 
 from Berlin to Alexandrowa, and he also g-ave me some 
 money. Then I took the train for Alexandrowa ; from 
 there I bought my ticket to Valadikokas. 
 
 One evening- I had to stop over in a villag-e to chang-e 
 cars, but, as I had some money wath me, I did not wish 
 to g-o to an}^ hotel, and I staid in the station, which was 
 very larg-e and had all kinds of accommodations. At 
 about 10 o'clock all was quiet and the lig-hts were out, 
 and I fell asleep in a chair. As I awoke and saw 
 nobody, I became afraid and tried to g-et out, but every 
 door was locked. At about half past three in the morn- 
 ing- I saw a man come who opened the doors and lig-hted 
 the lamp, and then broug-ht in some imag-es and put 
 them upon a platform. A crowd of men came in and 
 bowed down before these imag-es and kissed them and 
 went throug-h all kinds of ceremonies. All this time I 
 was awake, but appeared to be sleeping-. After a while 
 I also stood up, and they came and asked me why I did 
 not bow before the imag-es and kiss the cross, etc. I 
 told them I did not believe in it. Upon hearing- this 
 they became very ang-ry and wanted to punish me, but 
 very soon my train came and I went on to Valadikokas. 
 Here I rested a few days and had the privileg-e of 
 preaching- several times. At about 4 o'clock in the 
 afternoon I saw a multitude of people passing- along- the 
 street. I inquired what it meant, and was told that 
 the}^ had an imag-e of Holy Mary and took it to the 
 houses to bless the people. Some have to pay a large sum 
 of money to have the imag-e broug-ht into the house as 
 they are wicked and Holy Mary will not wish to be taken 
 into these wicked houses ; therefore, they have to pay 
 in order to be equal with the g-ood people, and in some 
 
 —37— 
 
instances the men carrying the imag-e will pass "by the 
 house and will say Mother Mary does not want to go 
 into that house as the people are wicked. 
 
 From here I started for Tifflis on a four days' jour- 
 ney, but I took a much faster way, namely, I took 
 a carriage from Tifflis, which was driven by fast 
 mail horses and every two hours, or when we had 
 passed over fifteen or twenty miles, the horses and 
 driver would be changed. I made the journey, traveling 
 day and night, in twenty-four hours. 
 
 In Tifflis I also had the privileg"e of meeting some 
 Nestorians, with whom I was glad to speak concerning 
 their welfare and salvation through Jesus Christ ; and 
 many people came to see me, some living thirty 
 miles away, and they wanted me to stay and preach 
 among them. Kven after being in America again I 
 received letters from them asking me to come, saying 
 they would get me the permission to do so from the 
 government. 
 
 I left Tifflis for Krivan. Here my passport was taken 
 and countersigned, as in former cities. And here also 
 I met two Mohammedan Sayids, who were returning to 
 Persia, and we traveled together and spoke over many 
 subjects, especially religion. On this journey from 
 Krivan to Aras, the Persian frontier, we came across 
 a number of corpses lying on the roadside, where the 
 robbers had left them after plundering and killing 
 them. But we were not molested as we traveled with mail 
 horses and also the government mail and two soldiers. 
 
 At last we reached the Persian frontier, where our 
 passports were looked over and returned to us. Here 
 the Sayids left me. 
 
 While my passport was being examined in the gov- 
 ernment office, I spoke in a very broken Persian lan- 
 guage, so as to make them believe that I was a 
 foreigner, as my passport showed me to be. 
 
 —38— 
 
I asked the officers if the roads were dang-erous. 
 They said they were, and I asked them to let me have a 
 man to g-o with me. They replied that it was very 
 dang-erous to travel with one man alone, and offered to 
 g-ive me two men as an escort. So the two men traveled 
 with me, and at the same time I met four Armenians 
 who beg-g-ed leave to join us. I g-ladly complied with 
 their request. The tirst nig-ht we stopped at a villag-e 
 where nearly all the inhabitants were thieves and rob- 
 bers. 
 
 During- all this time I feig-ned to be a foreig-ner, and 
 even the Armenians did not recog-nize me as being- a 
 Persian. After supper I stepped out of doors and there 
 overheard some men making- plans to kill the four Ar- 
 menians ; but they were afraid to do so on my account, 
 thinking- that I was a foreig-ner. During- that nig-ht I 
 had a soldier on each side of me, resting- his g-un on my 
 body and protecting- me in this manner, and the four 
 Armenians were also very near to me. 
 
 All went well, but a few thing-s were stolen, and in 
 the morning- we continued our journey. Toward even- 
 ing- of that day we came to a river, and while fording- it 
 the two soldiers, who were supposed to protect me, 
 pointed their g-uns at me and demanded money; at this 
 I immediately g-rasped my two revolvers which I had 
 with me and pointed them at the soldiers ; then they 
 said they were only joking-, and I told them to walk on 
 ahead, which they did. The revolvers I had with me 
 were not loaded, but at the next station I loaded them. 
 
 After two more days journey we reached Khoi, where 
 the two soldiers left me. I now decided to travel with 
 mail horses ag-ain ; that is, we chang-ed horses every two 
 hours, and journeyed on more rapidly. 
 
 But when I reached the next villag-e, I was so sore 
 and stiff from constantly riding- horse-back that I de- 
 cided to remain here for a few days and g-ive up 
 
 —39— 
 
iiorse-back riding-, namely, this fast way of horse-back 
 riding-. From here I teleg-raphed to Oroomiah and advised 
 my friends of my coming-. After a few days, I hired some 
 other horses and went slower. Prom this villag-e I left 
 for Gavel an. 
 
 In Gavelan I met my brother Joseph, with some friends 
 and relatives who had come to meet me. So we, about 
 forty in number, journeyed tog-ether and reached Oroo- 
 miah on the following- day. I was g-lad to see many of 
 my friends and acquaintances. But one of the saddest 
 thing-s for me was the death of my mother, which had 
 occurred during- my absence. But I hope and believe 
 that she died a Christian death, as her last words were, 
 "All my hopes are in Jesus." Thanks be to God for 
 the blessed hope that we may meet ag-ain in the world 
 of immortality. 
 
 After a few days rest at home and waiting upon 
 many callers, I started out to visit my friends and those 
 who had visited me. 
 
 As I went throug-h the city and the villages, I found 
 that there was great need for the blessed Gospel. I 
 conversed with the people and on Sunday I preached in 
 different villages and at different houses. 
 
 The people of Borashan, a neighboring village, came 
 and asked me to establish a Christian school in their 
 village. They also went to the lord of the village and 
 asked his permission, and then presented me a list con- 
 taining all the names of the inhabitants of the village, 
 except one family. The lord said if this one famil}^ did 
 not submit to this they would have to leave, and then 
 they submitted and I established a school there. 
 
 The Roman Catholics had about twenty-five years 
 ago established there a mission, and of course they did 
 not like to see me endeavoring to open a school right 
 there. They tried all they could to knock me out and 
 bribed the Persian authorities to destroy my work, but 
 
 —40— 
 
all their attempts were in vain and today almost all the 
 people are heartily rejoicing- in the progress of our g-ood 
 work. I found also a very g-ood helper, who visited 
 continually the people of Borashan and Sang-er, also 
 Eriava, so I emplo^^ed him as a teacher and helper while 
 I was visiting the other places; and finally I was able 
 to find some helpers who had been educated somewhat 
 by the Kng-lish and Presbyterian missionaries. When 
 they came to me I gave them some Biblical instructions 
 and then placed them at the head of some of these 
 schools, and paid them a small salary. So the work 
 continued nicely, and I spent my time visiting- the schools 
 and encourag-ing- the teachers and expounding- the Word 
 of God. 
 
 All the expense of such a school, including- fuel, 
 school books, room rent, teacher's salary, etc., will not 
 exceed ten dollars a month. M}^ expense of each school 
 has very seldom exceeded five dollars a month. 
 
 Mar Shimmon, the civil and spiritual head of the 
 Nestorians, resides in the village of Kochanues, in the 
 mountains of Kurdistan. He is the spiritual overseer 
 of all the Nestorian churches of Persia and Kurdistan. 
 Once a year he sends one of his relatives to visit the 
 churches of Oroomiah, for the purpose of receiving- the 
 contributions of the brethren, and also to inquire as to 
 the condition of the church itself, and any matters in 
 question are laid before him by the bishop and priests. 
 When I arrived at Oroomiah his step-brother was there, 
 who became very friendly to me, but died within two 
 months after. 
 
 On May 29, 1895, I left Oroomiah. in order to pay a 
 visit to the Patriarch, the object of which was to have 
 an interview with him, in order to get his permission to 
 work among- his people as all the other missionaries do. 
 A second object was evangelistic work among- the 
 Kurds and Nestorians. After two hours of riding- on 
 
the plain, we came to Aiihar, a villag-e in the moun- 
 tains. Here we were told we would be killed b}- the 
 Kurd robbers and murderers if we should continue our 
 journey. We had now to decide what to do — to g-o on 
 or return home. Finally, trusting- in the Lord, we de- 
 cided to g-o on. For almost four hours we rode at a 
 g-allop, fearing an attack by the Kurds. We arrived at 
 Havana, however, where we spent the night. The next 
 morning a discouraging report came that the roads were 
 in a bad condition, and that several had been killed two 
 days previous. Nevertheless, trusting- in the Lord, I 
 continued with my servant, and- after a few hours jour- 
 ney we reached the Turkish frontier. Here I was 
 stopped and told I could not pass. With the aid of a 
 little g-old, judiciously administered, I overcame this 
 difficulty. 
 
 I arrived at Marbeeshoo about 9 o'clock in the even- 
 ing. This is a large Nestorian village, which contains 
 a church 850 years old, built of very thick stones and 
 having a very heavy stone door about three feet and six 
 inches high. The next morning I continued on my 
 journey and reached Dizza about 6 o'clock in the even- 
 ing. Immediately after our arrival the police came and 
 ordered me to give an account of myself. I showed him 
 my American passport and told him where I intended 
 to g-o. The police were not satisfied with this, how- 
 ever, and after investigating- our bag-g-age, even our 
 clothing, he took our passport and went to the Kaima- 
 kam (the vice g-overnor). Afterwards a few Zaptiehs 
 (constables) came to guide us to the city, and we were 
 told that the Mutassarif, or governor, was telegraphed 
 to about our arrival and we would have to wait there 
 until an answer was received. The next morning- the 
 reply came back from Valy Pasha, the ruler at Van, to 
 detain the travelers until advice was obtained from 
 Constantinople. Upon this the authorities at Dizza 
 
 -42- 
 
placed me in confinement, under the charg-e of being- a 
 spy sent out by the United States and also on my way 
 to the Patriarch to stir him up against the Turkish 
 g-overnment. The prison was kept g-uarded by two 
 soldiers. Meantime, I was afraid they would put me to 
 death, so I wrote a letter addressed to m}- brother in 
 Oroomiah, in which I wrote the number of my passport 
 and my citizenship paper, and asked him to teleg-raph 
 the United States Ambassador at Teheran. This letter 
 I g-ave to my servant, asking- him to bribe a man to 
 carry this messag-e, and also telling- him to have him put 
 the messag-e into a loaf of bread, of which he took several. 
 
 I was in terrible torment every hour of the day. I 
 was in mortal terror, and expected to be put to death at 
 almost any minute. The messeng-er, after being- stopped 
 and searched several times and forced to g-ive up all his 
 bread but one precious loaf, which contained the mes- 
 sag-e, at last delivered the messag-e to my brother. In 
 the letter I made an ag-reement with the messeng-er 
 that, if he succeeded in reaching- my brother in two 
 days, he should receive a large sum of money. If it 
 would take him three days he was to g-et less, and if 
 four days, still less. Consequently, the messeng-er hur- 
 ried and succeeded in delivering- the message in two 
 days. M}^ brother had immediately telegraphed to the 
 American Ambassador at Teheran. Various means 
 were instituted to secure my release, through the 
 good offices of the United States and the kindness 
 of the English counsellor at Tabriz and at Van. The 
 police at Dizza first denied that any such person was 
 confined, but finding that the case had gained such 
 publicity, and fearing trouble, they quietly released me. 
 In the meantime, I was kept in prison. 
 
 The following, clipped from the "Banner of Truth," 
 a religious periodical published in the United States, 
 has some bearing upon this matter : 
 
 -43- 
 
[Sanner of Truth.] 
 ISAAC ADAMS' ARREST. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Adams, of Persia, who has g-iven us some outline 
 of his work amongf his own people, was arrested while on a 
 journey with his servant and thrown into prison bj^ the Governor 
 of a Turkish province. Information of this was sent by Rev. M. 
 Bagidararisian, a fellow missionary laboring- in Urmi, in the 
 interest of the disciples of Christ. He expresses g-rave fears as 
 to the fate of Mr. Adams and requests us to urg-e the United 
 States Government to use its g-ood offices for his release. Our 
 minister at Constantinople has communicated with the Turkish 
 office of foreig-n affairs, and they disclaim and deny all knowledg-e 
 of the arrest. But knowing- the bitter feeling- ag-ainst Chisti- 
 anity, and especially ag-ainst native converts, we would call upon 
 all concerned in the welfare of Christianity to carry this to the 
 throne of g-race and pray God, who has all men's hearts in His 
 hand, to deliver him from the mouth of the Turkish lion. 
 
 The following is the copy of the communication from the 
 State Department respecting it: 
 
 Department oe State, 
 Washington, July 16, 1895. 
 Rev. John C. Voorhis, 
 
 Hackensach, N. J. 
 Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 
 12th inst., requesting the good offices of this department to secure 
 the release of Rev. Isaac Adams, an American missionary, who 
 is said to have been arrested by the Turkish authorities at 
 Dizza Gavar. 
 
 This case has already been acted upon by this department on 
 a telegram from the United States Minister at Teheran. On 
 June 11th our minister at Constantinople was telegraphed to 
 protest against arrest and to demand prompt orders to local 
 Governor for Mr. Adams' release. A telegram from Mr. Terrell, 
 dated the 11th of the present month, states that he is informed 
 by the Minister for Foreign Affairs that Mr. Adams has not been 
 arrested at Dizza Gavar, and that he is not in the village of 
 Kotchanues. I am, sir. Your obedient servant, 
 
 Ai,VEY A. Adee, 
 
 Acting Secretary. 
 
 My servant, however, stood by me loyally and did 
 me excellent service, by using- a careful scheme of send- 
 ing- letters to my brother and the Patriarch, whose 
 
 —44 _ 
 
residence was at Kochatiues. I, on the contrary, had 
 given up all hope of living- any long-er ; day and night 
 tears were in my eyes, and my cry was for the lost con- 
 dition of ni}^ people. I was always praying- that the 
 Lord might spare me for a few years more, that I might 
 see my brothers take charge of my work. Through the 
 grace and mercy of Christ I can say, I was ready to die 
 any manner of death, in the faith of One who thus 
 loved us and gave Himself to die even the death of the 
 cross for us undone sinners. 
 
 But what a joy it was to me when the doors of the 
 prison were opened and I was once more freed from that 
 awful torture (as they had received orders to let me go 
 on), m}^ language fails me to describe. 
 
 I started again next morning with my good servant 
 and three Turkish soldiers on my way to the Patriarch. 
 After a day's journey we came to Kermi, where there 
 were only four Nestorian houses ; there we met sixteen 
 Kurds sitting on a fiat roof, smoking pipes. When I 
 passed by them I heard them say, "There is a man we 
 will kill tonight and take his valuables." I went to a 
 Nestorian house to spend the night. It being so hot, I 
 wished to sleep on the roof, but they feared that those 
 Kurds would come to kill me and advised me to remain 
 indoors and hide, and I listened to their entreaties and 
 went into a large square house, one side of which was a 
 stable and the other side a hay and straw loft. In the 
 other end of the building the people — about thirty in 
 number, men and women — lived. They put me under 
 the hay. For about two hours I was there, when I was 
 nearly suffocated. I cried for mercy and they pulled 
 me out from under the hay, and I told them if it was 
 God's will that I should be killed, then I was ready to 
 die. About a half-hour later I saw two Kurds approach, 
 while I was trembling and shaking all over. I tried to 
 appear pleasant when I saw them. The first thing- 
 
 -45- 
 
tlie}^ told me after the}' kneeled down was, that they 
 had come to kill me and take all my A^aluables. I told 
 them that I was not afraid of dying", but I impressed 
 npon their minds that my name and former case had 
 g-ained such publicity that if they should kill me the 
 Turkish authorities would be compelled by the United 
 States Government to g-ive account of my whereabouts, 
 and then the Sultan would send soldiers to massacre 
 them and all their families in this community, and so 
 they had better not do it. They decided so. They 
 asked me for some sugar, as one of their number had 
 fallen from his horse and broken his leg. I gave them 
 some and they left me unhurt, but warned me that they 
 were going- the same way with me next morning-. I 
 could not sleep all nig-ht, and after having- set out for 
 Kochanues next morning- we were soon overtaken by 
 the Kurds of the previous ill acquaintance. We rode on 
 together with them for a long while, until we arrived 
 at a Adllag"e closed in on two sides by high mountains. 
 Here the leader of the Kurds halted, drew his sword, 
 and holding it across my neck threatened to sever my 
 head from my body instantly, unless I gave him some 
 money. I felt the sharp edg-e of the sword on my coat- 
 collar, and had my horse taken but one more step at 
 that moment, I have no doubt but I would have had my 
 head cut off. I quickly ordered my servant to give him 
 money, upon receiving- which he put back his sword and 
 allowed me to ride on. Soon after this the Kurds left 
 us, and five hours later we reached Kochanues. 
 
 From a distance we noticed a multitude before the 
 entrance to the Patriarch's residence, and upon drawing 
 nearer we saw that there were at least 400 persons 
 lingering there and smoking- pipes. On inquiring- into 
 the cause of this gathering-, we were informed that all 
 these people had come to condole with him on the 
 decease of his step-brother. 
 
 —46- 
 
The Patriarch was immediately advised of my 
 arrival. He had telegraphed several times to the 
 Turkish g-overnment about me, and had been expecting 
 me for some time. Our horses were taken care of, a 
 special room was given us and a servant ordered to 
 entertain us and see that we were well provided for. I 
 hastened to pay my respects to the Patriarch, and after 
 having- been ushered into his presence kissed his hand, 
 according to the general custom. He graciously 
 motioned to me to be seated, whereupon he opened the 
 conversation. Upon learning the purpose that had 
 brought me hither, to work for the good of his people, 
 • he was very much delighted. 
 
 The sixteen Kurds who had given us so much trouble 
 on our way to the Patriarch had also arrived by this 
 time. I had advised the Patriarch of what had hap- 
 pened on the way, and after having come in and paid 
 their respects to him, he ordered them in a stern tone to 
 go to the office. Here their fire-arms were taken from 
 them and they were informed that they would all be 
 punished for their evil conduct. But quite a large 
 number of Nestorians approached the Patriarch and 
 interceded in behalf of the Kurds, and these latter 
 kneeled down, kissed the mat upon which the Patriarch 
 rested and apologized for what they had done. When 
 night came they were ordered to go to a neighboring 
 house for lodgings ; but they unanimously cried out 
 they would not leave the Patriarch's roof, for fear of all 
 being killed by the Nestorians. Upon this thej were 
 allowed to remain, and shown into a separate apart- 
 ment, where they all passed the night together. Their 
 object in visiting the Patriarch was to have a blood- 
 price established for the slaying of the wife of one of 
 their number, who had been killed in a combat between 
 Kurds and Nestorians. The sad affair heid been brought 
 about as follows: 
 
 -47- 
 
Younan Bar Malekkambar, a young- Nestorian, was 
 married and his bride was being" carried by the bridal 
 procession, when suddenly a party of Kurds came in 
 upon them and demanded some money. In place of 
 complying- with their request the Nestorians assumed a 
 defiant attitude ; a quarrel ensued, and finally some one 
 opened fire. Kurdish women are known always to take 
 a prominent part in an action of this nature, and so it 
 was also in this case. Many on both sides of the com- 
 bating- parties were wounded and one Kurdish woman 
 was killed. For the death of this woman, these sixteen 
 Kurds soug-ht redress, and demanded of the Patriarch 
 the privileg-e of putting- to death Younan Bar Malek- 
 kambar, whom they pointed out as having- been the 
 orig-inator of the whole affair. The Patriarch, how- 
 ever, refused to deliver Younan Bar Malekkambar into 
 their hands, but offered a ransom consisting- of sixty 
 silver mag-diah, two pieces of musketry, four mules and 
 fifty sheep. This ransom was not considered sufficient 
 by the Kurds, and they left dissatisfied. 
 
 In the year 1896, the Nestorian bishop, Mar Gabriel, 
 of Oroomiah, several other prominent Nestorian clerg-j^- 
 men, with their servants (among- whom were a number 
 of my best helpers, and Younan Bar Malekkambar), visited 
 the Nestorian Patriarch. On their way home they 
 were attacked by the Kurds and massacred ; Younan Bar 
 Malekkambar's body was hacked to pieces and the pieces 
 scattered in all directions. Thus they aveng-ed the 
 death of that woman, as they always will take reveng-e 
 for the violent death of any one of their number, and 
 should it take them fifty years to do it. 
 
 One hundred persons, more or less, are g-uests of the 
 Patriarch every day. Kach is kindly received, housed 
 and entertained, and his horses or mules stabled and 
 cared for. Sheep and fowls are being- continually 
 slaughtered to provide for the table, as four or fiv^ 
 
'9. 
 
 3 
 
 
 1. '• 
 
 y^A4'i 
 
 ISAAC ADAMS. 
 
 JACOB ADAMS. AP.RAHA.M ADAMS. 
 
 DAVID ADAMS. 
 
M 
 
 
 
 bD.2 
 
 TO tC 
 rod 
 
 Pi B 
 J3 PJ 
 
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sheep are being- daily consumed. Mules are incessantly 
 traveling" to and from Musol, Dizza and Oroomiah for 
 provisions, bring-ing- flour and sug-ar to fill the Patri- 
 arch's larders. Oxen are steadily employed in drawing- 
 sufficient quantities of hay and straw, for the accommo- 
 dation of horses and mules. Naturally, the expense of 
 continually providing- for such an army of people is 
 enormous ; but the Patriarch, by virtue of his office, 
 must keep a hospitable house, and every person, without 
 any discrimination reg-arding- creed or nationality, is 
 expected to be welcomed here, and be well kept ; accord- 
 ing- to his social standing-, may he remain one hour or 
 two months. To defray this enormous expense, how- 
 ever, each visitor must contribute something-, be it vic- 
 tuals or clothing-, fowds or sheep, money or jewels — no 
 person dare come empty-handed. In addition to this 
 collectors are sent our reg-ularly to collect contributions 
 of honey, g-rapes, fruit, millet, wheat, cheese, wine, etc., 
 and free-will g-ifts are continually pouring- in also. 
 Besides, the Turkish g-overnment pays the Patriarch an 
 annuity of between $1,400 and $1,500. After rising- very 
 early in the morning-, as he alwa3^s does, and observing 
 his daily worship, the Patriarch enters a larg-e apart- 
 ment, or hall, where he g-ives audience to the people 
 who have assembled to bring- all sorts of cases before 
 him. During- my stay there I was g-iven the privileg-e 
 to witness a few of these hearings. One man com- 
 plained that his daughter had been forcibly abducted ; 
 a second had his cattle stolen by the Kurds ; a third 
 had been robbed on his journey. One man narrated a 
 sad stor}^ of a caravan, among which he had traveled. 
 It had been attacked, from twenty to thirty persons 
 had been killed and all the goods stolen. Two leaders 
 of devil-worshipers petitioned for redress for having 
 been robbed and beaten nearly to death, etc. In such 
 and similar cases the Patriarch either sends out his 
 
 D —49- 
 
own servants to recover stolen property, in which they 
 are often successful, or he telegraphs to the Turkish 
 g-overnment and has the matter adjusted through them. 
 It is, consequently, nothing very uncommon to find 
 Turkish governors and other officials at the residence of 
 the Nestorian Patriarch. 
 
 It is impossible to adequately picture in words the 
 awful condition in which the Christians live in these 
 parts, so much oppressed by the wild Kurds and the 
 Turks. On my travels there, always accompanied by 
 two or three Turkish soldiers, I had ample opportunity 
 to witness the outrages which Christians must endure. 
 Whenever we had entered an Armenian or Nestorian 
 village, the soldiers would rush into the houses and act 
 entirely as masters of the place. They demanded food 
 and drink such as they preferred, and their demands 
 must be complied with under all circumstances or they 
 would become furious, knock down doors, break the 
 windows, slap the inhabitants in the face, shoot the 
 chickens and other domestic animals in the yard, and 
 carry on in a brutal manner. At one place they shot a 
 little child, playing in the sand, just for a joke. When 
 once we arrived at a village, late at night, they demol- 
 ished the doors which were not immediately opened at 
 their call, compelled most of the men in the village to 
 arise from their beds and go out and cut grass in the 
 fields for their horses. In the meantime they them- 
 selves entered the houses, and did what they pleased 
 with the women. At one time they entered a house 
 while the male inhabitant was watering their horses. 
 They found a woman, with children, lying asleep in 
 bed. They picked up the bedding, together with the 
 persons in it, carried all out of doors, emptied the 
 mother and her children out into the yard, and, after 
 taking the bed back into the house, slept on it them- 
 selves. Everywhere in the Kurdistan Mountains the 
 
 —50- 
 
dwelling-s of the Nestorians are of the humblest kind. 
 Many houses (but they do not deserve that name) are 
 built half undergTound on account of the extreme sever- 
 ity of the winters, the snow there lying- five feet deep on 
 the level. In order to keep warm during- this season, 
 people live in one compartmeut, tog-ether with their 
 animals, in a state of filth that beg-g-ars description. 
 But there is another reason for this. The winters being- 
 very long-, the animals owned by these people, are solel}' 
 depending- upon the stock of hay laid in. This ha}^ as 
 well as the animals, must be kept as near as possible, 
 owing- to lawless tribes of Kurds, who are swooping- 
 down upon them, forag-ing- their herds, pillag-ing- their 
 g-oods and burning- their hay when within their reach 
 and unprotected. However, the extortion and oppres- 
 sions by the g-overnment are feared nearly as much as 
 the Kurds. 
 
 These soldiers are called Zaptiehs, and their func- 
 tions are similar to those of the patrolmen in the United 
 States ; but there is another kind of Turkish soldiers 
 called Hamidieh, who are a great help to the Zaptieh in 
 oppressing- the people. These will seize people at their 
 option, and then promise to release them if the}^ pay 
 them the money they want ; if the money is not for- 
 warded, the}^ will be taken to prison. Here they will 
 be penned in a cell full of vermin and filth, with twenty- 
 five to thirty other persons, and no water g-iven them to 
 drink but that which Mohammedans have used for their 
 ablutions. The treatment which such poor persons are 
 subjected to is most shocking- — (a) red hot irons are 
 pressed ag-ainst different parts of their bodies ; (b) they 
 are undressed and beaten into unconciousness ; {c) a 
 collar is thrown over their heads and they are thus 
 drag-g-ed throug-h the streets ; (d) they are left without 
 food or drink until starved ; (e) they are forced to stand 
 up for a long- time continuously, and all kinds of filth is 
 
 —51- 
 
poured down over their heads; (/) they are forced to 
 perform shaton toppy or devil's ring-, the result of which 
 is death; hands and feet are tightly bound, they are 
 forced to hold their hands above their heads, whereas 
 a severe torture is administered and an unspeakable, 
 beastly crime committed ; (g) their hair is plucked out 
 by handfuls ; {/i) they are mutilated and crippled in 
 various ways; (/) they are compelled to stand erect 
 within a box just larg-e enoug-h to admit one person, but 
 the box is beset with sharp steel points on all sides ; in 
 this box they must stand for from thirty to forty-eig-ht 
 hours in succession, not being- permitted even to attend 
 to the wants of nature. 
 
 When sent out to collect taxes, the Zaptiehs will 
 demand the double amount. In a week, perhaps, they 
 will put in an appearance a second time and demand the 
 same amount again ; if their demand is not complied 
 with, or remonstrances are offered, they will insist upon 
 the surrender of young- women and g-irls in the family, 
 to g-lut their brutal appetites, and if refused, punish- 
 ment with tortures, often even death, is sure to follow. 
 
 A compassionate reader may learn from this that the 
 lives and property of Christians, subjects to the Sultan, 
 are nowhere safe in the Ottoman Empire. There is no 
 justice for them ; their lives, property and honor are 
 ever at the mercy of the meanest Musselman who may 
 see fit to attack either. He can never prove that he has 
 been wrong-ed, for his evidence ag-ainst a Musselman is 
 null and void. The sacred law of the Islam states that 
 the murder of a Christian is not a crime. Christians 
 are strictly prohibited from carrying- arms of any kind. 
 They are held by law to practice hospitality towards 
 any Musselman, be he official or traveler, pasha or 
 beg-g-ar. These unwelcome guests demand the best 
 rooms in the house, the best kind of nourishment 
 possible, and make free with the female members of 
 
 -52- 
 
the house to suit themselves. The men on the other 
 hand are helpless, having- no arms or weapons, while 
 their guests are generally well provided in this respect ; 
 and should the}^ dare to enter complaint with an}- of the 
 local authorities, the}^ would either be beaten or cast 
 into prison, or even shot down on the spot. 
 
 Christians are forbidden to ride on horses ; they may 
 use donkeys for this purpose, but must descend when- 
 ever they meet a Musselman, bow low with downcast 
 eye, whether the Mohammedan be a beggar and he a 
 nobleman, or vice versa. 
 
 But to return to the tax collectors. A year's tax is 
 demanded in advance. In many instances, of course. 
 Christians will not be able to comply with this rigid 
 law, and beg for time ; but it is not allowed them. 
 Their cattle, household goods or other chattels, are taken 
 and offered at auction, and the neighboring Kurds, who 
 have been previously advised of the sale, will bid the 
 lowest prices possible, as Christians are not permitted 
 to join in the bidding. The proceeds of such auction 
 sales are then divided among the Kurds and the Zap- 
 tiehs. Thousands of Christians have thus been reduced 
 to extreme want, feeding on roots and herbs for months, 
 and thousands more have perished and are still perish- 
 ing from starvation. Though not present myself at 
 any of the terrible wholesale massacres of Christians, I 
 at one time was only thirty miles distant from one of 
 them. A Turkish soldier, Ahhamed, with whom I had a 
 conversation, boasted of having himself killed thirty 
 men, women and children during the shocking butchery 
 at Sason. 
 
 Since 1820 these defenseless Christian subjects of 
 the Sultan have been slain at random. In 1822, 50,000 
 Greek Catholics were massacred at Scio; in 1843, 18,000 
 Nestorians in the Khurdistan Mountains ; 16,000 Mar- 
 onites and Syrians at Lebanon and Damascus; 10,000 
 
Bulg-arians in 1876; more than 50,000 Armenians and 
 others in Asiatic Turkey since 1894. But what shall we 
 say of the many thousands of women and maidens who 
 have been captured at each of these massacres, forced 
 into Turkish harems, and are leading- a life to which 
 death were far preferable ? And the throng- of children 
 who were captured and taken or sold as slaves? And 
 ag-ain, thousands and thousands of poor, wretched fug-i- 
 tives, wandering- about nearly naked and without food, 
 not knowing from day to day, where to rest their 
 heads. Hundreds of Christian villages have been totally 
 destroyed. 
 
 Yet all non-Mohammedans might avoid all these 
 troubles, be they Armenians, Nestorians or Jews, if 
 they so desired. All they need do is to renounce their 
 faith and turn Mohammedans. It is certainly true that 
 from the moment a Christian embraces Mohammedan- 
 ism, his trouble ceases. It is not astonishing, therefore, 
 thoug-h greatly to be deplored, that many grow weak 
 and finally yield and take recourse to this way of ending 
 their misery. Many have already done so, and others 
 are preparing- to follow their example. May God have 
 mercy upon these poor fellow Christians and deliver them 
 from the cruel sword of Mohammedanism and bring- 
 them under a Christian banner. 
 
 During- my visit with the Patriarch, two Roman 
 Catholics, a priest and a layman, came and handed the 
 Patriarch a letter from Pope Leo XIII. It had been 
 translated into Syriac, and in it the pope urged the 
 Patriarch for recognition. I was g-iven this letter to 
 read. The Pope made the Patriarch hig-h offers of aid 
 and assistance if he would but recognize him. "Come 
 unto us as a prodigal son and our arms are open to receive 
 you." This is a sentence contained in that letter. But 
 the Patriarch answered very sternly, "We have not, 
 we will not and we cannot embrace Romanism, as 
 
 -54— 
 
^3000 
 
 3>'hxaa 
 
 "■ :ju;;i^ ^ ^^ : ei3 uJit^lA^ : L^pai'} iiti.^t^ ^3*^? |x>]ttiUb ^Jib:^ 
 
 ;»43.2jfiaw»^>aM;ta>)UwoJ^^ 
 -ovU.iwMXM 2^tt.» . o^ . o*.,^^ >^3>a tw ^a .ti^^ t»3a»3 J(^*aA«!ne 0^^>» 
 
 JL-»^»»3 ^ M t VTn li t ^tt ti 
 
 Ordination Diploma from Mar Shuman, the Nestorian Patri- 
 arch, securing- to Isaac Adams kind reception among- 
 all Nestorians, as well as the legal authoritj' 
 to preach and teach among- them. 
 
we feel that it has always been antag-onistic to truth, 
 g-iv^eti to the worshiping- of imag^es, and Rome has ever 
 been the g-reatest enemy of the Protestants ; more truly 
 Christian blood has been shed by the Romanists than 
 even by the Mohammedans." 
 
 After a sta}' of twent}— three days with the Patriarch, 
 and having" made all necessary arrang-ements with him 
 concerning- my work, I started on my return to Persia, 
 escorted by two Turkish soldiers, who accompanied 
 and g-uarded me, having instructions to keep me from 
 receiving- an^^ information from the people until we 
 reached Persia. Here they left me, after I had been 
 for forty-five days under their surveilance. I was 
 nearly broken down in health, owing- to the man}' 
 privations, hardships and sickening- sig-hts I had under- 
 g-one and witnessed, and felt very much relieved when, 
 once more at home, I perceived that my school and all 
 the rest of my work was in a flourishing- condition. 
 
 My Second Journey to America. 
 
 Very soon, however, I became convinced that the 
 nature and extent of my work demanded another 
 visit to the United States. I did not hesitate long-, 
 made the necessary arrangements with my helpers for 
 conducting my schools during my absence, and left Per- 
 sia a second time for America. 
 
 Some time before this I had met a Dervish, named 
 Ismail, who had entered into religious conversation 
 with me. He, b}' some means or other, had begun to 
 entertain doubts concerning his Mohammedan religion, 
 and, upon inquir}' and further searching, had been con- 
 vinced that the Islam was a false religion. He was now 
 looking for something better. I found him to be an 
 
 -55- 
 
honest, uprig-ht man, true to his convictions, and, being* 
 urged by some Christians who knew him, and by the 
 Nestorian bishop. Mar Gabriel, I determined to take 
 Ismail with me to Russia, where he mig-ht enjoys relig"i- 
 ous liberty. But, before doing- so, I had an agreement 
 with him that he should try and eat bread and meat like 
 other people. As a Dervish, true to his faith, he had 
 become of the fanatic kind, and, as he claimed, had not 
 partaken of any food of any kind excepting raisins, for 
 "to let the body suffer will enrich the soul," was one of 
 the axioms in which he believed. I myself entertained 
 some doubts at first as to the varacity of his statements, 
 but found them substantiated by many people who had 
 known him for years. He had been with me for two or 
 three months when we left Persia, and I had tried to 
 get him accustomed to wholesome food again gradually, 
 by mixing crumbs of bread with his raisins. 
 
 It was not an easy task, nor was it altogether safe to 
 take a Dervish with me on my journey. I, consequently, 
 arranged it so that Ismail traveled at night, while I and 
 a youth, Abshallom George by name, whom I also took 
 with me, traveled during the day. In the evening, after 
 our arrival at some place, Ismail would meet us, and 
 Abshallom would give him food and money and the name 
 of the next station where he could meet us. This 
 was a very necessary precaution on our part, as in Persia 
 and Turkey a Dervish who renounces his faith and 
 openly confesses Christianity is doomed. In Tabriz 
 there was a slight commotion among the Mohammedans 
 when some one publicly claimed he had seen a Dervish 
 coming and going in and out where we lodged. Our 
 host and hostess, however, contradicted him by stating 
 that the Dervish had arrived one day sooner than we, 
 and so the gossip was silenced. After we were safely 
 through the Caucasus, Russia, we could allow Ismail to 
 travel in our company, which we gladly did, It was 
 
 —56- 
 
both his and my earnest desire to g"et with him to Tifflis, 
 where I expected him safe enoug"h to remain and be bap- 
 tized. But I very soon found that I was mistaken, as 
 not long- after our arrival at Tifflis the Persian consul 
 was informed that I had converted a Dervish to the 
 Christian faith. The consul sent his servants to investi- 
 g-ate. I, having- been warned, however, was prepared. 
 I had a carriage waiting at the back door, and, when 
 the servants of the consul entered the house, Abshallom, 
 with the Dervish, left it through the back door, and in 
 the carriag-e were immediately taken to the depot, where 
 they left for Valadikokas. Nevertheless, the consul's 
 servants had found some of the "holy instruments" of the 
 Dervish in my apartments and had taken these with them 
 to the consul, who, in consequence, threatened to fol- 
 low the matter up more closely. 
 
 Upon this I despatched a messenger and informed 
 the consul that, if he did not let this matter rest just 
 where it was and have the articles his servants had 
 taken from me speedily returned, I should certainly 
 seek and find redress by appealing to all the rest of the 
 consuls. This had the desired effect and I recovered 
 my property. While in this city I also embraced the 
 opportunity to settle my accounts with the British Bible 
 Society, the London house having turned the matter 
 over into the hands of their agents at Tifflis. I sent a 
 large number of Bibles to Persia, and took a few only, 
 and in various languages spoken in Russia, with me, as 
 I thought I might make use of them on m}^ journey. 
 After several days I reached Valadikokas. where I met 
 Abshallom with Ismail. I had entertained the idea of 
 leaving the latter there, but here also we soon learned 
 that among the many Mohammedans living or sojourn- 
 ing in this place Ismail was not safe. He also exhorted 
 me to take him somewhere where he would not see any 
 more Mohammodans, whatever. So I bought three 
 
tickets to Alexandrowa, via Harkow, Kiew and Warsaw. 
 But between Rostow and Harkow I was robbed on the 
 train and we were oblig'ed to lay over, as I had no more 
 money. We stopped at the depot for two days and three 
 nig-hts, I trying- to sell my Bibles during- the day. The 
 people were Polanders, but I had only a few Polish 
 Bibles with me. These were soon sold, as also some 
 curiosities I had brought with me. I now boug-ht three 
 tickets for the next station. This was on the German 
 frontier, and here we were detained by the officials, who 
 claimed they could not let us g-o on to Germany with as 
 little money as we had. We told them our story of hav- 
 ing- been robbed of our money in Russia, and I tried to 
 impress upon them that I had friends in Berlin who 
 would supply me as soon as I arrived there, but all to no 
 avail. There remained nothing- for us to do but to sell 
 nearly everything- we had (even my razor) and raise 
 money. In this manner, with the help of God, I finally 
 succeeded in getting all three of us to Berlin, and have 
 still a few marks left. 
 
 In Berlin, we were taken to a mission-house, where 
 we were cordially welcomed, and spent a few days. All 
 this time Ismail had not abandoned his Dervish clothes 
 and his long-, waving- hair. Now I entreated him to 
 make a radical change in his exterior and turn also 
 outwardly into a good Christian. He consented, and we 
 forthwith took him to a barber's shop. A suit of clothes 
 was given him to put on, and he now began to look like 
 one of us. We had each a separate bed to sleep in. 
 Next morning Ismail came to me grumbling and excited. 
 He could not get along with putting on his new clothes. 
 He had his trousers on back part in the front, his collar 
 was upside down, his suspenders were buttoned over his 
 coat, etc. This irritated him greatly, and he insisted 
 upon having his own garments back and did not want 
 these clothes any longer. I adjusted his clothing and 
 
 —58- 
 
talked to him kindly, upon which he became soothed 
 and went with us to the breakfast table. But we were 
 quite late and therefore alone in the dining- room. For 
 the first time in his life Ismail tried to make use of a 
 knife and fork. His first attempts were very awkward, 
 and I told him to watch us and then do as we did. He 
 tried it, but stuck the fork so far into his mouth that 
 the points pricked him. Now he g-rew ang-ry, threw 
 knife and fork upon the floor, overturned his chair and 
 sat on the floor pouting and saying he would have 
 nothing to do with such things any more. I softly and 
 kindly instructed him again in the use of these things, 
 and finally he became more pleasant again. After 
 breakfast we went out to see the sights in the city, I 
 explaining- to my companions what we saw as we went 
 along". 
 
 In the evening Ismail grew obstinate again. He 
 once more demanded his own old g-arments, and insisted 
 on having- them. I had foreseen this, however, and had 
 ordered them burnt, with the exception of a sheep-skin 
 the Dervishes use to sleep upon. This I let him have. 
 He immediately took off his collar, cuffs and coat and 
 hurled them from hiji, took the sheep-skin, went out 
 into the middle of the street and lay down on the sheep- 
 skin. Naturally, in a few moments he was surrounded 
 by a throng- of people who stared at him and watched 
 every movement he made. I went out and tried to get 
 him back into the house, but not until after much urging 
 and parleying- with him, did I succeed. But into a room 
 he would not come. He spread his sheep-skin upon the 
 floor of the hall and lay down upon it, and there he 
 spent the night. We offered to buy him some new 
 clothes next day, but he would not have them, say- 
 ing, "Why should we endeavor to keep th.s fragile 
 body clean and neat, knowing that after death it will 
 become a prey to the worms? " 
 
 -50- 
 
After a few days, however, lie became more obedient 
 and supple, so that I entertained the idea of taking- him 
 with me to America. My own circumstances, however, 
 took such a turn that this was made impossible. I con- 
 sequently left him in Berlin, and have not heard from 
 him since. 
 
 I had some Syriac manuscripts brought with me from 
 Persia. These I sold in Berlin, and thus became 
 enabled to buy tickets for myself and Abshallom to 
 Hanover. Here I called at the office of the American 
 Consul, who helped me on to Salzberg-en, where I stopped 
 at the station depot ag-ain for three nig-hts. I had yet 
 some German Bibles left, and a few pieces of needle-work 
 or embroidery, and tried to sell both ; but owing to the 
 lang-uage, of which I understood nothing-, and to the 
 fact that the inhabitants were all Roman Catholics, I 
 could not dispose of anything-, and we were both nearly 
 starved. On one evening- I set out on a lonely walk and 
 was lost in a forest throug-h which I wandered. I could 
 not find my way back to the station until nearly 4 
 o'clock in the morning-. But while wandering- on and 
 on, trying- to find the depot, I crossed some fields, and 
 was overjoyed when I noticed some turnips growing- in 
 one of them. I pulled a few and ate them, and was 
 g-reatly refreshed. I did not forg-et, either, to take some 
 turnips with me for Abshallom, who had been patiently 
 waiting- for me at the depot. When first he caug-ht 
 sight of me he cried for joy, for he had already g-iven 
 me up for lost, thinking- I had been killed by some one 
 or devoured by wild beasts. Upon the arrival of the 
 first morning- train, I called to the passengers leaving 
 the train, "Is there any person who can speak English?" 
 Immediately a young man came to me, and upon hear- 
 ing what I had to say to him, directed me to Bentheim, 
 where, he said, there was a society called "Newton." 
 After several hours walk I came to that place, but 
 
 —60— 
 
found the people very unkind and irrelig-ious. They 
 said they were not able to assist us in any manner. 
 When I left this place tears rolled down my cheeks, 
 and I knew not what next to do, but thought we should 
 surely have to starve. 
 
 As I was walking- along- the street, almost despair- 
 ing-, I saw a book store with some Bibles in the show 
 window. Upon finding- that the keeper could understand 
 some English I offered him my Bibles for sale. He 
 called me in, and, after learning my circumstances, said 
 he had heard of me before. He fed me, and gave me 
 some eatables also for Abshallom,* whom I had left at 
 the depot. Besides this he presented me with ten marks, 
 and another person, who was present and overheard our 
 conversation, handed me three marks more. This monev 
 enabled us to go to Kampen, Netherlands, where I met 
 my most honorable and dearly beloved professors and 
 friends. The following letter, addressed to the Hon. Mr. 
 Ittman, of Rotterdam, will tell of my short visit at 
 Kampen : 
 
 Most Honorabi,e Gentleman: You will undoubtedly remem- 
 ber Mr. Adams, who visited us in 1894. He is on his journey to 
 America, where he hopes to be ordained as missionary. He deems 
 this necessary, as his work has become very extensive in the 
 schools, and as he will be better equipped. 
 
 Last Sunday a teleg^raph dispatch from Hanover informed us 
 that Mr. Adams and his friend were at that place, in very critical 
 circumstances, as they were robbed of their money in a train, in 
 Russia. He arrived there without a penny with him, and, as we 
 thought best he should not longer be detained here, we gave him 
 one hundred and twelve guilders and fifty cents for his journey to 
 America. This money was partly received formerly and partly 
 contributions of our own. 
 
 It is necessary that he, in America, should complete his busi- 
 ness as soon as possible and return to Persia. 
 
 If this money might not be sufficient (we do not know the 
 price, third class,) then he will, without doubt, be sustained at 
 your place. I can assure you that the money is perfectly well 
 
 -61— 
 
employed ; we have obtained a good impression of his work 
 through many letters and photographs. 
 
 B. WIELENGA. 
 
 At Rotterdam I called upon Mr. Ittman and some 
 other friends, from whom I received donations as fol- 
 lows : Fifteen g-uldens of Mr. Ittman ; twent}- guldens 
 from G. Van den Boom ; twenty g-uldens from J. L. Van 
 den Boom ; ten guldens from Mr. Van den Kooi, and 
 twenty-five guldens from the Reformed Church at Rot- 
 terdam. These friends also offered to purchase for me 
 a second-class ticket to New York, but I declined the 
 kind offer, saying that they might better help me along 
 in my work. 
 
 I therefore left Rotterdam with Abshallom for New 
 York. 
 
 The following is one of the reports of my schools 
 since my second arrival in this country : 
 
 Oroomiah, Pkrsia. 
 Rev. Isaac Adams : 
 
 Dkar Brother : In my last letter I sent you the report of 
 the school of Balaf, and also of Mart Maryam. Herewith I send 
 you the report of the other schools : 
 
 SCHOOi, OF Karai^ary — NuviA, Teacher. 
 
 He has a nice and warm room where the children are 
 instructed. 
 
 Class 1. — They have begun with the spelling book and have 
 completed it, and also have read the Gospel of Matthew, and are 
 up to the 15th chapter of Mark, and they are taught the history 
 of the Old Testament, and have also committed to memory fifteen 
 pages of the question book. 
 
 Class 2 — This class also began with the spelling book and 
 have completed the same, and have learned the Gospel of 
 Matthew, and also fifteen pages in the question book. This 
 class was brave and gave good satisfaction in examination. 
 
 Class 3 — They are in the spelling book up to page 10, and 
 three pages in the question book. 
 
 Class 4. — They are all small children, who are just beginning 
 the spelling book, and are taught the I^ord's prayer. 
 
 —03— 
 
The villag-e is in great need of this school, but it is necessary 
 for the teacher to be faithful. There is no other school in this 
 villag^e, neither is there any other Christian worker. It is a 
 g-rand field of labor for a faithful teacher. 
 
 SCHOOi. OF MooRASCHERRY — Gewerges, Teacher. 
 
 Class 1. — They read in the New Testament in the modern 
 Syriac languag-e, and also Genesis in the ancient Syriac. They 
 gave a good showing- in arithmetic, in the Lord's prayer, ten 
 commandments and apostle's creed. They also have had stories 
 from the Old Testment, and have learned to write. 
 
 Class 2. — They began with the spelling- book, have completed 
 the same, and also the Gospel of Matthew, and are now in the 
 Gospel of Mark. 
 
 Class 3. — They began with the spelling book, and have 
 completed the same, and have just started in the Gospel of Luke. 
 
 Class 4. — There are six boys and g-irls just beg-inners in the 
 spelling- book. 
 
 In all the classes of this school, instruction is given in the 
 Lord's prayer, ten commandments and apostle's creed. In this 
 school we have three children of Mohammedans that is from the 
 Sheah's sect, and also a Soonnees, whose name is Ali. He has 
 learned two pag-es from Goolistan, and he has newly begun on 
 the Gospel of Matthew in the Persian lang-uag-e. In this villag-e 
 there are forty-two houses ; eig-hteen are Nestorians and the rest 
 are Mohammedans, and there is no other school besides this. 
 The teacher here we found to be very faithful. Every evening- 
 he visits the houses and holds conversation about Christ with the 
 parents of the children, and he does g-ood work in the village. 
 There is good testimony about him from the village. He is a 
 worthy and faithful young man. We found him busy with his 
 school. May the Lord bless his work. It's an excellent field for 
 labor among Musselmen and Nestorians. 
 
 ScHOOiv OF AivKAi — K. Benyamin, Teacher, assisted by 
 Gewerges, Jr. 
 
 The total of pupils here at present is thirty-two ; of these, 
 fourteen are boys and eighteen are girls. One girl died with 
 diphtheria ; she was 11 years of age. There are two others sick 
 in bed. 
 
 Class 1 — In the ancient Syriac, the Gospel of Mark and in 
 Genesis up to the 17th chapter In Turkish language, they have 
 begun in the Gospel of Matthew up to the 10th chapter. In 
 
 - 63— 
 
Persian they have studied three chapters in Genesis. In arith- 
 metic, they are up to division ; and they have a good knowledge 
 of Bible stories, and have fine hands for writing. 
 
 Class 2. — In the ancient Syriac, they have studied nine 
 chapters in the Gospel of Matthew. In the Turkish language 
 they have studied forty-three pages in the spelling book. In the 
 modern Syriac they study in Genesis. 
 
 Class 3. — In the ancient Syriac, with its translation into 
 modern, they have begun from the 1st chapter of Matthew to 
 the 13th. In the Turkish spelling book they are up to page 17, 
 and have a good start in writing sentences. 
 
 Class 4 — In the modern Syriac, they have begun from the 1st 
 chapter of Matthew and are now to the 14th chapter. In Genesis, 
 they have just begun in the modern Syriac. 
 
 In the: GirIv's Department. 
 
 Class 1 — They have begun with Matthew and are up to the 
 6th chapter of lyuke. They have studied a little in the ancient 
 Syriac from the beginning of Matthew. They have also learned 
 the smaller arithmetic, and have three pages in the spelling 
 book of the Turkish language. They also have penmanship. 
 
 Class 2.— The ancient Syriac began from the first of Matthew 
 and they are now up to the 14tb chapter of Mark. They have 
 just started to learn to write. 
 
 Class 3 — They are all in the spelling book. 
 
 The most of the boys and girls in this school, except the 
 3d class of the girl's department, can recite the I^ord's prayer 
 and apostle's creed, and some of the higher classes can also 
 recite the ten commandments. 
 
 The teachers are very faithful and quiet and love teaching 
 the pupils This school is in good order, but all the work in it, 
 we may say, is the fruit of Kasha Benyamin, who is in great 
 anxiety for its success. 
 
 SCHOoiv OF Darbary^ — Ayraham, Teacher. 
 
 Class 1 — Study the New Testament up to the Gospel of John, 
 and the Old Testament up to Bxodus; arithmetic up to subtrac- 
 tion ; spelling up to writing of sentences. 
 
 Class 2 — Fourteen boys and girls are in this class. They are 
 all in the spelling book, and instructions are given to them in 
 Bible stories, and they are taught the Lord's prayer, ten com- 
 mandments and apostle's creed. Karram, a Mohammedan, has 
 studied five chapters in Goolistan, and two chapters in Tarrusel, 
 
 -64— 
 
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and seven chapters from the Gospel of Matthew in the Persian 
 lang^uage. la the Syriac lang-uag^e, he is in the speller. 
 
 The teacher does the house-to-house visitation every evening- 
 and people are g"lad to receive him and listen to the Gospel 
 stories We have had good testimony for him from the inhabi- 
 tants of the village, and they are all pleased with his work and 
 manner of conduct. There is no other school building- here 
 besides ours. The school is not very comfortable as the roof is 
 quite low. 
 
 ScHooiv OF Karasani^ovi, Asyad, Teacher. 
 
 Clasts 1. — Completed the Gospel of Matthew and Mark, and 
 are now to the 14th chapter of Luke. And in Turkish language 
 they have studied fifteen pag-es in the speller, writing of words 
 and sentences. 
 
 Class 2. — Up to the 12th chapter of Mark. Catechetical 
 instructions — that is, Bible stories, ten commandments, Lord's 
 prayer, etc , are given to this and all the other classes. 
 
 Class 3. — Completed the speller, and studied thirteen pages 
 in the book called Deaf and Dumb. They will soon begin with 
 the Gospel of Matthew. 
 
 Class 4. — They have started the speller and have gone to the 
 21st page. Lord's prayer they have committed to memory. 
 
 Class 5. — There are thirteen boys and girls and are all 
 beginners I can most heartily speak a good word for Teacher 
 Asyad, for her care and earnestness in teaching these little ones 
 the fear of the Lord and the spiritual catechism. The subject 
 which they study she causes them to understand. Her aim is not 
 only to put the truth in the heads of her pupils, but also in the 
 heart, and she does not hesitate to teach the stories in the Bible. 
 
 This is the only school in Karasanlovi. 
 
 ScHOOiv OF BoRASHAN— Agasy, Teacher. 
 
 Class l.—ln the ancient Syriac, they began from the Gospel 
 of Matthew and are up to the 24th chapter, with the translation 
 in the Modern Syriac. And reading- from the different parts of 
 the Testament. Have completed the smaller arithmetic and 
 started the larger one. 
 
 Class 2. — Have studied twentj'-seven chapters in the Gospel 
 of Matthew, in the modern Syriac, and two chapters in the 
 ancient Syriac, and smaller arithmetic. 
 
 Class 3. — Began with the speller and completed the same, and 
 have also studied six chapters in Mark. 
 
 -65- B 
 
Class 4 — Started the beg-innitig of spsller and have completed 
 the same ; have studied three chapters of Mark 
 
 Class 5. — There are nine boys and girls. They are all in the 
 speller. 
 
 All the classes in this school, except the 4th and 5th, can 
 recite the Lord's prayer, ten coniinandments and apostle's creed, 
 while the two classes can recite the Lord's prayer only. 
 
 This is the only school in this villag-e. 
 
 ScHOOi, OF Eriava — K. Patrous, Teacher. 
 
 This school had thirty-two pupils, but, because a missionary 
 came to the villag-e and gave alms to the poor, eight children 
 went away to get alms. There are two other schools besides 
 our own here, — one of the Roman Catholics and one of the Pres- 
 bj'terians ; but the number of pupils in our school exceeds both of 
 the others. I suppose the children who went to the other school 
 to get alms will soon come back, that is, after the alms-giving is 
 suspended. 
 
 Class 1. — The New Testament in the ancient Syirac has been 
 studied with translation into that of modern. The larger arith- 
 metic, up to subtraction. In the speller, up to writing words and 
 sentences, and catechetical instruction. 
 
 Class 2. — Modern Syriac, first three Gospels, smaller arith- 
 metic and writing. 
 
 Class 3. — Modern Syriac, begun from the first part of Matthew 
 up to the 12th chapter ; previously they repeated the speller. 
 
 Class 4. —Began the speller and have completed it and started 
 from the Gospel of Luke. 
 
 Class 5. — They are all small children and are just beginners. 
 Sctiooi< OF Sangar— Abshalom, Teacher. 
 
 Class 2.— Have studied Genesis, with the translation from the 
 ancient to modern Syriac. Have completed the question books 
 Have studied arithmetic to subtraction, and from the Gospel they 
 have studied ten chapters in Matthew and seventeen in Mark 
 
 Class 2.— They have studied six chapters of Genesis, with the 
 translation from the ancient to the modern Syriac. They are 
 nearly through with the question book. They have studied arith- 
 metic to subtraction. They have started with the Gospel of 
 Matthew. 
 
 Class 5.— They have studied fifteen chapters in the Gospel of 
 I^uke, with translation from ancient to modern Syriac, and five 
 
 —66— 
 
chapters in Genesis, in the modern Syriac lang-uag-e. All these 
 classes have also writing-, and are able to repeat the lyord's 
 prayer and ten commandments, and also have learned many 
 passag-es out of the Scriptures. 
 
 Class 4. — There are eight boys and girls in this class and are 
 all just beginners. They have just begun with the speller, 
 
 ScHOOi< OF KooM — Abraham, Teacher. 
 
 Class 1. — Completed the speller and started in the Gospel of 
 Matthew. They are up to the Gospel of I^uke ; of course, they 
 simply give a repetition to the speller ; small arithmetic. 
 
 Cl'iss 2. — They have just completed the speller, expect them 
 to begin with the Gospel soon. 
 
 Class 3. — They are advanced in the speller. 
 
 Class 4. — They are all beg-inners Instruction in Bible stories, 
 the Ivord's prayer, ten commandments, and apostle's creed is 
 g-iven in this school. There are no other schools besides ours in 
 this village. All the schools (eleven) begin between 8 and 9 
 o'clock in the morning-. 
 
 First, after all pupils are present, leaving their shoes in the 
 hall while keeping on their hats, the teachers read a portion of 
 the Scriptures, after which he puts simple questions to the pupils 
 concerning what he had read ; then he opens with prayer. Then 
 he starts from the first class, and so forth, listening to their reci- 
 tations. The teacher is sitting in the center of the room, and 
 when the class comes to recite, they form a circle around him, 
 while the other pupils are sitting against the walls of the room, 
 yet the pupils are allowed to ask questions at any time. The 
 school is closed with one of the pupils reciting the Lord's prayer ; 
 that is at about 12 o'clock. School starts again at 1 o'clock and 
 closes at 5 o'clock. The last hour, between 4 and 5 o'clock, is 
 given entirely to Bible instructions. 
 
 Most of our schools meet on Sunday with the teachers, in like 
 manner, for religious purposes. The pupils who are in advance 
 will recite seven verses, anywhere out of the bible, and the others 
 will recite one, and some just one sentence, as "God is love." 
 
 As has been stated previously, the teacher visits the homes 
 and the parents of the children and tries to increase the attend- 
 ance in the school, and speaks to the parents about the Gospel. 
 
 The field is great and the laborers are few, but let it be 
 known to you that the work is progressing nicely and the pros- 
 pects grow brighter every day. We may expect a great work in 
 
 -67 - 
 
the future. We hope everything- will be written to you fully, that 
 
 you may know that the efforts of our friends have not been in 
 
 vain. May the dear I^ord reward them in his Kingdom above. 
 
 Amen. Yours truly, 
 
 KASHA OSHANA. 
 
 ESHAKAN, 
 
 Examiners. 
 
 This is a literal translation of the report I have 
 received. I believe this is a statement which will make 
 the hearts of those who have helped in mj work, with 
 their small and great donation, rejoice in the Lord with 
 thankfulness ; that through these gifts there had been 
 planted eleven schools, children and youths are being 
 taught not only education and civilization; but the secret 
 knowledge of our blessed Redeemer, who loved such as 
 these, and who said, "As much as you do unto these 
 little ones, ye do unto me." 
 
 Surely, we may say that the Lord reigneth, and who 
 knows but out of this humble work we may see a great 
 opening for the proclamation of the Gospel in my country. 
 
 I deemed it necessary to send my brother Abraham 
 to care for this work during- my absence, and he, there- 
 fore, left New York October, 1897. 
 
 The following is a letter from my brother Abraham, 
 
 received lately : 
 
 Mart-Mar VAN ,* 
 Oroomiah, Persia, February 24, 1898. 
 
 Dear Brother : I have just returned from Karasanlovi, 
 whereas, I was yesterday in Alkai. I am g-lad that I can give 
 you a good report concerning- the schools. I found also that the 
 
 *Two wards of Oroomiah city are inhabited by Christians. One is known 
 by the name of Gol patali-Khan; here live the Armenians, and among- them is the 
 French mission headquarters; the other is inhabited by the Assyrians or Nes- 
 torians. American and English mission workers have their headquarters here. 
 This part is known by the name of Mart-Maryan. The name is taken from the 
 church erected here in the honor of the Virg-in Marj'. The tradition as to the erec- 
 tion of a church here is, that a priest, while asleep, dreamt that a woman appeared 
 to him. He asked her name. She answered: "I am Mary, mother of Jesus; thou 
 shaft build a church here in m}' name, and let all mothers, who may lack milk to 
 nourish their children, come to my shrine, and I will make their supply plentiful." 
 So the women, of all religions, from distant parts of the country, will come with wax 
 candles, sheep and doye sacrifices, and also with the incense, to seek her blessing. 
 
 —68— 
 
ignorance and superstition of the people is almost without 
 description The men say, woman has no part in the resurrec- 
 tion, and the women themselves have no knowledge of future 
 life; but to their great surprise they have heard and hear about 
 God's love to them, and the story of the cross seems so wonderful 
 to them that they cannot believe it, especially that He should 
 care for them and be their Savior. 
 
 At first there was some prejudice as to the school and the work, 
 but now many come to hear and ask about that wonderful Savior. 
 
 Some people, more especially the older ones, have a great 
 idea that Heaven is to be merited by strict observance of the fast- 
 ings, especially at this time, as fifty days are observed before 
 Blaster. But, as you know, they abstain from meat and oily sub- 
 stances, but they do not cease to swear and do other wicked 
 things. However, thanks be to God, that the power of the holy 
 life of Christ is seen in the respect now shown them, and in the 
 increasing readiness to hear them again and again. 
 
 At 9 o'clock the examination commenced in the school room, 
 which was crowded by the parents and people of the village. 
 
 The pupils occupied the middle of the room. The studies in 
 which they were examined were modern and ancient Syriac, Per- 
 ian and Turkish languages, geography, spelling, arithmetic, Bible 
 history, reading and writing. But what pleased me most was the 
 recitations of the different verses and passages ot Scripture, one 
 child reciting a whole chapter. And in all the work the pupils 
 did credit both to themselves and their teacher. The singing 
 especially pleased the parents, many of whom loudly expressed 
 their astonishment, especially at seeing that the girls as well as 
 the boys could be educated. 
 
 The teacher not only taught them to pray, but also to love 
 Jesus ; and she is in the habit of praying with different pupils, 
 alone, each day, and the school also is opened and closed with 
 prayer. The teacher has also done much to interest the parents 
 in religion. 
 
 In short, I can say that the good seed is being sown, and hope 
 the Lord will bless the work and will strengthen the teachers to 
 do still more for the Master. 
 
 My brother, do all you can, through the help of God, to 
 spread the Gospel of our dear L<ord to these ignorant and super- 
 stitious people. 
 
 I assure you that your struggles have not been in vain. 
 
 I am, your brother, 
 
 ABRAHAM ADAMS. 
 
 —69— 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 Manners, Customs, Habits, Religious and Social 
 Life in Persia. 
 
 PERSIA is called Iran by the natives. It extends 
 nine hundred miles west and east and seven hun- 
 dred miles north and south. The present boundaries 
 are : The Caspian Sea and the Transcaucasian provinces 
 of Russia on the north ; Bokhara, Afg-hanistan and 
 Boloochistan on the east ; the Strait of Ormuz and the 
 Persian Gulf on the south ; Asiatic Turkey on the west. 
 It has an area of 648,000 square miles. 
 
 Many nations of whom we read in the Bible and in 
 history have lived or had their representatives in Persia, 
 but only one of these is in existence at the present time. 
 We know of Eg"yptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks 
 and Romans as having- once been prevailing powers, 
 mig-hty empires of the world ; but they have either 
 vanished from the face of the earth or their power and 
 g-lory has faded away and they have dwindled into 
 insig-nificant provinces of other empires and kingdoms. 
 Persia has held its own ; it still occupies the same posi- 
 tion it did centuries ago. 
 
 It is also remarkable as a Bible-land. By many 
 Persia is claimed as the region where the Garden of 
 Eden was situated ; where Abraham was born ; where 
 Daniel prophesied. It was under the rule of Cyrus the 
 
 —70— 
 
Great, and the home of the wise men who were the first 
 representatives of the g^entiles who came to worship 
 the infant born Christ.* When Assyria led the Jews 
 captive to Babylon, it was Persia who humbled her 
 power and vanity and restored Juda to her native land, 
 to rebuild the house of the Lord. 
 
 Her glor}', toda}', has flown away and her splendor 
 has faded, but her physical beaut}' still remains. Persia 
 is a paradise, intoxicating- people with the fragrance of 
 its roses. It is a garden, wreathing- the faces of man- 
 kind into smiles by its beautiful streams. 
 
 The national emblem of the empire is the lion and 
 the sun, which accounts for the fact that it is occasion- 
 ally called the land of the lion and the sun. 
 
 According- to Shah Nameh of Friduei the histor}^ of 
 Persia beg-ins some thousand years before the Christian 
 era. The northwestern part of Persia, called Media in 
 ancient times, was known to the Greeks as the Assyrian 
 Empire. But the Medians under Dejoce, in 708 B. C, 
 shook the Assyrian yoke from off their necks and sub- 
 jug-ated the other tribes of Persia. In 538 Cyrus of 
 Persia rebelled ag-ainst the Medes, was victorious, and 
 extended the southern frontier of his domain to the river 
 Oxus and Indus and annexed Asia Minor, Syria, Pales- 
 tine and Mesopotamia. He was succeeded by his son 
 Cambyses (529-522), and the latter by Darius (522-521). 
 This dynasty ruled until Darius III. was compelled by 
 Alexander the Great to acknowledg-e his superiority, the 
 latter being- several times victorious over him and con- 
 quering- all Persia. 
 
 Under the leadership of the tribe of Arsoude, Persia 
 once more regained its independence in 246 B. C. But 
 the dynasty of Arsoude came to an end at the hands of 
 Ardasher Babajans, who manag-ed to gain possession of 
 
 ^According- to tradition the tomb of one of the three wise men is located near my 
 home, and a church is erected at Mart-Maryan in his honor. 
 
 —71- 
 
more than one-half of the entire country, name!}' : the 
 provinces of Fars, Kerman, and the whole of Irakiston. 
 In 218 B. C, however, this valiant prince and warrior 
 conquered the whole nation and was crowned "King- of 
 King-s" (Shahin Shah in Persia). This was the beg"in- 
 ning- of the famous dynasty of the Sassanidae, under 
 whose reig"n Persia acquired unprecedented power and 
 prosperity. Their last ruler succumbed to the Arabs in 
 636 A. D., and these ruled Persia till 750 A. D. The 
 tribe of the Abbosides now assumed the Persian throne, 
 but was in turn soon overthrown. The country was 
 thereupon divided into different provinces, until in 1253 
 it was conquered and subdued by the Mong-ols under 
 Geng-his Khan and his g-randson, Khulakum Knan. The 
 former was a Christian. During- his reig-n Moryaw Al- 
 aha was the Nestorian patriarch and under his care the 
 church was very successful. The Mong-ol dynasty lasted 
 until 1335 A. D. 
 
 A new dynasty arose in western Persia in 1500 A. 
 D. Ismael, the descendant of an ancient family of de- 
 votees and saints, became the leader of a number of 
 tribes which united under him, and with the aid of 
 which he overturned the rule of the Turkoman and 
 made Aderbjon his capital. His followers held him in 
 the hig-hest esteem on account of his personal valor and 
 owing- to the hig-h rank of his family revered him. He 
 rapidly subdued western Persia, and in 1511 took Kura- 
 son and Balkh from the Uizbecks. In 1514 he encoun- 
 tered a far more formidable enemy in the mig-hty Salim, 
 Sultan of Turkey, whose zeal for the conquest was 
 fanned by relig-ious fanaticism having- developed into 
 hatred ag-ainst the Shutes, the followers of Ishmael 
 larg-ely adhering- to this sect, and who in turn were 
 fiercely inflamed ag-ainst the Sunites, the subjects and 
 followers of the Sultan. In the ensuing- conflict Ismael 
 was defeated, but Salim could not record any great g-ain 
 
 -72- 
 
from this victory. Ismael's son, Shah Tah-masip, who 
 reigned from 1523 to 1576, subdued all the Uzbecks of 
 Khorazon and frequently defeated the Turks without 
 suffering- the loss of a sing-le battle. He takes rank as 
 a prudent and spirited ruler. 
 
 Shah, Abbas I, the Great, who was one of the most 
 g-lorious of Persia's modern king-s, ascended the throne 
 in 1585 and ruled until 1628. He restored internal tran- 
 quility and repelled the invasions of the Uzbecks and 
 Turks. In the year 1605 he g^ave the Turks such a ter- 
 rific drubbing- that they made no more trouble during- 
 his long reign. He also restored to his kingdom Kur- 
 distan Mosul and Drarbekin, which had long been sep- 
 arated from Persia. Abbas' government was strict, but 
 just and equitable. Roads, bridges, caravansories* and 
 other conveniences for trade were constructed at great 
 cost, and the improvement and ornamentation of the 
 towns were not neglected. Many of his large caravan- 
 sories which bear his name remain to this day. 
 
 Isphahan, his capital, in a brief period of his reign, 
 doubled its population. His tolerance was remarkable, 
 considering the character of his ancestors and subjects, 
 for he encouraged the Armenian Christians to settle in 
 the country, well knowing that their peacable, indus- 
 trious habits would enhance the prosperity of his 
 kingdom. 
 
 His successors were Shah Sufi, (1628-41), Shah Abbas 
 H, (1641-66), and Shah Soliman, (1666-94). During the 
 reign of Shah Sultan Hussein (1694-1722) a weak and 
 foolish prince, priests and slaves were elevated to high 
 
 *King- Abbas ordered one of his officers to construct 1,000 caravansoris, the cost 
 of construction to be paid for from the kings treasury. The officer built only 999, and 
 when the king- inquired if he had finished his task, he replied that he had buift one 
 less. This made the king- very ang-rj^ and he ordered the officer to be beheaded. The 
 officer requested the privileg-e to speak, which the king- g-ran*ed. Then the officer 
 said: "Long- live the king I I did this for the honor of the king", because it would 
 take the people long-er to say 999 than 1,000." This pleased the king- so that he 
 spared the officers' life and g-ave him a hig-h office. 
 
offices and the Sunnites suffered sore persecution. The 
 result was that Afg-han besieg^ed the king- in Isphahan, 
 Hussein abdicated in favor of his conqueror, who ulti- 
 mately became insane and suffered deposition in 1725 at 
 the hands of his brother Ashrab. 
 
 The atrocious tyranny of Ashrab was suddenly 
 checked by the celebrated Nadir-Shah. Hussein and 
 Ashrab belong-ed to the dynasty of Sayides, a holy sect, 
 descendants of their prophet Mohammed. 
 
 Nadir-Shah was one of the g-reatest warriors of 
 Persia. He raised Tah-Masip (1729-32) and his son. 
 Abbas III, (1732-36), of the Suffivian race, to the throne, 
 and then on some frivolous pretext deposed Abbos III 
 and seized the scepter himself (1736-47). Nadir was 
 assassinated by Imam-Kuli-Khan, of Oroomiah, whose 
 descendants now live very near our mission station in 
 Oroomiah. Ag-ain after the murder of Nadir, Persia 
 was divided into many independent states and became a 
 field of blood. Beloochistan and Afghanistan became 
 independent till 1755, when a Kurd, Karim Khan (1755- 
 79) abolished this state of affairs, re-established peace 
 and unity in western Persia, and by his justice, wisdom 
 and warlike talents acquired both the esteem of his 
 subjects and the respect of the neig-hboring- states. He 
 received the title, "Father of Persia." Karim Khan 
 was succeeded in 1784 by Al Murad, then by Jaafor and 
 the latter by Lutf-Ali Merza. 
 
 During- IvUtf-Ali's reig-n Mazandaran became inde- 
 pendent under Ag-ha Mohammed Khan, a Turkoman. 
 Lutf-Ali Merza rushed into Mazandaron and killed all 
 the relations of Mohammed Khan who were ruling- 
 there and took captive Ag-ha Mohammed Khan, a boy 
 only six years old, making- him a eunuch. 
 
 This boy was of Kajar race. When he was in the 
 harem of Lutf-Ali, he kept thinking- how his cruel 
 master murdered his father and all his relatives. When 
 
 -74- 
 
he sat on the royal rug-s, he would take his reveng-e b}' 
 cutting- them. When of ag-e, 20 or 25 years old, he 
 eloped to his own country, Mazandaren, and joined his 
 relations. He frequently attacked Lutf-Ali, and de- 
 feated him in 1795. He was then able to establish his 
 throne in the southern part Mazandaran. This g-reat 
 Eunuch king- founded the dynasty which rules today, 
 restored the king-dom as it was under Karim-Kurd, and 
 conquered Georg-ia and Kharasan. But he was assassi- 
 nated May 14, 1797. His nephew, Futteli-Ali Shah, 
 (1797-1834) eng-ag-ed in three wars with Russia, and was 
 defeated each time. As a result, he lost his territory in 
 Armenia and a part of Persia — namely, from the Cau- 
 casian Mountains to the River Aras, which now fixed 
 the boundary between Russia and Persia. 
 
 Futteli-Ali, in his last war with Russia, in 1826, was 
 entirely defeated. Besides losing- some of his territory, 
 he paid the sum of 18,000,000 rubles ($9,000,000) to 
 Russia. The death of the Crown Prince Abbas Mirza 
 (1833) seemed to g-ive final blow to the declining- fortune 
 of Persia, as he was the only man who seriously 
 attempted to raise his country from the state of abase- 
 ment into which it had fallen. 
 
 Futteli-Ali had seven sons. One of them, Jahon- 
 Suz- Mirza, lives today. Seven years ag-o he was 
 g-overnor in the author's city. After the death of the 
 Crown Prince, each of the seven sons laid claim to the 
 throne, while the father was still living-. At the same 
 time the Crown Prince Abbas-Mirza had a son named 
 Mohammed. Futteli-Ali, when quite old and near 
 death, by the aid of Russia, made Mohammed, his 
 g-randson, king- (1834-1848). 
 
 Nayib-Ali-Saltana acted as reg-ent during- the boy- 
 hood of Mohammed. When he came to power for 
 himself, he conceived the idea of restoring- Baluchistan, 
 Afg-hanistan, and a g-reat part of Turkoman, to the 
 
 —75— 
 
Persian dominion. He was especially anxious to take 
 Herat, the key to India, but was resisted b}'- England. 
 The war was terminated in 1838. 
 
 Nasreddin (defender of his religion), the late Shah, 
 (who was assassinated May 1, 1896), a young man 18 
 years old and very energetic, succeeded his father in 
 1848. Following his father's example, the new Shah 
 tried to restore Afghanistan and Baluchistan, but was 
 compelled by England to sign an agreement on January 
 25, 1858, by which he was bound not to interfere any 
 longer in the internal affairs of Herat. 
 
 In 1858, he violated this treaty, and took the city of 
 Herat. After a severe war with England, in 1857, in 
 which his loss was 20,000 soldiers, he relinquished 
 Herat, but added to Persia many provinces in the west- 
 ern part of Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and also some 
 states in Turkoman. 
 
 He was one of the best kings of Persia. He visited 
 Europe three times; once in 1873. He had European 
 ideas and was a well educated man. He started a good 
 system of postal telegraph and had 30,000 soldiers 
 trained after European discipline. Above all he founded 
 a beautiful college in Teheran, which is called in Per- 
 sian Daralfnoon (the place of science). The present 
 Shah, Mozuffur-uddine, was born March 25, 1853, and 
 succeeded his father on May 1, 1896. 
 
 Persia is divided into thirteen states: Ghilon, Ma- 
 zandaron, Astarabad, in the north; Aderbjon, Persian 
 Kurdistan, Luriston, Kerman with Mogiston in the 
 south; Irakeston, the capital state, where the king 
 resides, being in the center. On the east lies the large 
 estate of Khorason, which is mainly a desert. 
 
 The largest city is Fabriz, has about 200,000 inhabi- 
 tants, and is also the most important commercial city. 
 
 The present population of Persia is about 10,000,000, 
 composed of representatives of various nations. Each 
 
 —76- 
 
speaks its own lang"Uag"e and uses its own national cos- 
 tume. There are about 30,000 Jews, 60,000 Armenians, 
 75,000 Nestorians, 675,000 Kruds, 15,000 Fire-wor- 
 shipers, and the remainder are Mohammedans. 
 
 The Shah is reg^arded as the ag-ent of Mohammed, 
 and as such demands implicit obedience. The govern- 
 ment is therefore an absolute despotism. The Shah 
 appoints a governor for each state; this g-overnor ap- 
 points a mayor in each city within his territory. This 
 office is not awarded on the basis of education, ability 
 or worthiness, but is g-iven to the man who will pay the 
 most money, provided his ancestr}- is fairly g-ood. Many 
 mayors of cities are related to the royal family. These 
 offices are limited to terms of one year, but many times 
 a mayor is removed before his time expires, subjects 
 complaining- loudly ag-ainst him, or some person bidding- 
 more money tor the office. When a man is appointed 
 mayor of a city, the lords and counts of that city, 
 accompanied by soldiers, will g-o three miles to meet the 
 new official. He is g-reeted with discharg-es of artillery. 
 
 These lords ride on very fine Arabian horses with 
 g-old-bitted bridles and escort the mayor into the city. 
 The new governor admires the fine horses of his lords, 
 occasionally covets some fine steed among them, and 
 before his term expires finds a way to get possession of 
 it by helping the lord out of some trouble. 
 
 If the new mayor is a prince, all prisoners confined 
 in the city jails are taken before him as he enters the 
 city. This is to signify that as a member of the royal 
 family he has authority to behead them. 
 
 The third day after a new mayor has arrived in a 
 city it is customary for lords and counts to visit him 
 with presents of money, golden trinkets, Arabian horses, 
 etc. A mayor has from one hundred to three hundred 
 servants. He pays them no salary. Some willingly 
 enter his service for the name, some from fear, and 
 
 -((-■ 
 
others from choice. Most of these servants obtain a 
 living- from fines and bribes. Some of them are detailed 
 to settle quarrels between men in some village that be- 
 long-s to the city. This is their opportunity and they 
 early. learn to make the most of it. 
 
 Kach officer is at the mercy of the higher officer who 
 may take away his office or cause him to be executed at 
 any time, without any trial, in any cruel manner he 
 may desire. 
 
 The prisons are frequently cellars, underground, 
 without windows, damp and invested with flies. They 
 are seldom ventilated. 
 
 These pits, or prisons, are long and narrow and have 
 each a heavy timber reaching across the middle, on 
 which chains of iron are fastened to secure prisoners. 
 The floor is made of clay and there is no means of ad- 
 mitting light or fresh air into these dungeons, which in 
 consequence are full of all kinds of vermin. There is no 
 bed or furniture. The government does not feed the 
 inmates ; their friends bring bread and throw it to 
 them, and some of this even is sometimes picked up by 
 the jailor and kept for his own nourishment. No men 
 are allowed to visit the prisons, but wives or daughters 
 may purchase this privilege by paying a fee to the 
 jailor. The torture of prisoners is regulated according 
 to the nature of their crimes. The common method of 
 torture for thieves, robbers and murderers, is to put the 
 bare foot of the criminal in a vise, and squeeze it until 
 he cries in agony. If he gives the jailor some money, 
 or promises to give some the next time his friends visit 
 him, the pressure on the foot is lessened. If a man 
 goes to jail wearing good clothes, the jailor often 
 exchanges his own poorer suit for the good ones. 
 
 -78- 
 
Execution. 
 
 The modes of execution used by the Persian Govern- 
 ment are still barbarous in the extreme. Male convicts 
 are put to death either by being- blown from the mouth 
 of a canon, by having- their jug-ular arteries severed, or 
 by being- nailed to a wall. Women are sentenced to 
 have their heads shaved, their faces blackened, then to 
 take a bare-back ride on a donkey through the principal 
 streets of a city or village, and finally to be put into a 
 bag and beaten to death. Others are executed by put- 
 ting them in a nude condition into a bag full of cats, 
 w^ho will speedily scratch and bite them to death. 
 
 Any prince of the royal family has authority to pass 
 the death sentence upon his subjects. When occasion- 
 all}" an intimate friend of the ruler is appointed gov- 
 ernor, the king- will add a knife as a present, transmit- 
 ting thereby the power of passing- death sentence. 
 Every prince, mayor or g^overnor having- this authority, 
 keeps two executioners, uniformed in scarlet and walk- 
 ing on before their master, whenever he promenades 
 through the streets. 
 
 Whenever a convict is to be executed, he is taken 
 from his prison cell handcuffed and a chain about his 
 neck, escorted by a g-uard of soldiers with fixed bayonets. 
 He has probably spent several months in his dung-eon, 
 and naturall}" looks hag-gard and worn, unclean and 
 unshaven, his clothes hanging- about him in rags. The 
 executioner, in his scarlet uniform, walks a few steps in 
 advance, a large sharp knife in his hand. Thus they 
 proceed to the public square, and in presence of a crowd 
 of eag-er spectators the victim is ordered to kneel down. 
 The executioner now steps behind the convict and with 
 a sing-le stroke of the keen blade severs the jugular 
 vein, and another soul takes its flight, having com- 
 pleted its part in life's drama. In some places criminals 
 
 -79- 
 
are executed b}^ bur^^ng- their whole bod}-, their head 
 only excepted, in a casket of cement ; this soon will set 
 and harden around the body, and soon cause death. 
 
 An intoxicated Mohammedan, when found on the 
 street noisy and abusive, is arrested, a cord or twine 
 several feet long- is drawn throug-h the dividing mem- 
 brane between his nostrils, and he is led publicly along- 
 the street by the executioner. The culprit soon g-ets 
 sober, and is very much ashamed. As the executioner 
 passes along- the streets with him, shop-keepers g-ive 
 small sums of money to the former. 
 
 Men of a very quarrelsome and combative disposition 
 are punished by having- their feet tied to a post with 
 the bare soles upward. These are then whipped until 
 they bleed profusely, and sometimes the nails are torn 
 from the toes. This frequently causes the victim to 
 swoon away, becoming- entirely unconscious under this 
 terrible maltreatment. 
 
 Christians and Jews according- to Persian law are not 
 subject to decapitation, as they are considered unclean 
 by the Mohammedans and not sufficiently worthy of this 
 privileg-e. The most severe punishment is when a prince 
 is deprived of his eyesig-ht. Lords and counts are exe- 
 cuted in two ways : the Shah will send him a bottle of 
 sherbet, which is a sweet drink, but in this instance 
 contains a deadly poison, and which he is compelled to 
 empty ; or the governor dispatches a servant to wait 
 upon the criminal while taking- his bath, and in doing 
 so has orders to cut the veins in the criminal's arms and 
 cause him to bleed to death. 
 
 What a contrast in the modes of punishment and 
 their application between Mohammedan and Christian 
 countries ! The kind of punishment inflicted on crim- 
 inals in any country is truly characteristic of the pre- 
 vailing- religion. A religion based upon love and charity 
 
 -80- 
 

 I. ADAMS, IN NATIVE COSTUME. 
 
will deal with its criminals effectively, but humanely 
 and not in a barbarous manner. 
 
 Climate and Products. 
 
 The g-reat extent of the country naturally implies an 
 extremely varied climate. Cyrus the Great made this 
 remark regarding- the climate of his empire: "The 
 people perish with cold at one extremity, while they are 
 suffocated with heat at the other." 
 
 Persia may be considered to possess three climates : 
 that of southern Dashtistan, one of the elevated plateau, 
 and a third of the Caspian provinces. The spring and 
 fall of the year are rainy seasons, but perfectly beauti- 
 ful, while the summers are long, dry and hot, but not 
 unpleasantly so excepting at midda3\ The atmosphere 
 is clear and pure at all times. 
 
 The cultivated soil of Persia, wherever there is an 
 abundance of rain or a possibility of irrigation, produces 
 an immense variety of crops. The best wheat on the 
 surface of the globe is grown here, other characteristic 
 products being barley, rice, cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, 
 millet, potatoes, sweet corn, cabbage, and all other gar- 
 den vegetables found in other countries. 
 
 Great care has been taken to have brooks and streams, 
 whether natural or artificial for the purpose of irrigat- 
 ing the land, lined on both sides with shade trees. This 
 is most especially the case in Oroomiah Plain, so that this 
 part of Persia has been named by travelers the Paradise 
 of Persia. Wooded lands are found south of the Cas- 
 pian Sea and one large forest in the vicinity of Shiraz. 
 These forests are of very dense growth and contain 
 oak, beech, elm, walnut, sycamore, ash, yew and juniper 
 trees. 
 
 The mineral wealth of Persia is as yet undeveloped, 
 excepting some modest efforts in coal, copper, iron and 
 lead mining. The forests of the Elburz Mountains are 
 
 -81— F 
 
infested with wild animals, such as woh^es, tig^ers, jack- 
 als, wild boars, foxes, and the Caspian cat. Deer of 
 every variety inhabit some of the mountains ; lions and 
 leopards are found in Mazandaron. Among- the domes- 
 tic animals are the horse, camel, buffalo, cow, ass, 
 donkey, mule, sheep, dog-, cat, etc. Persia is the home 
 of the famous fat-tail sheep and produces also the much 
 coveted lamb fur worn by ladies and called the Persian 
 fur. Here also are found fine Arabian horses which 
 ma}^ be termed the Oriental limited passeng-er trains or 
 flyers, while the donkeys, mules and camels perform in 
 the east the functions of western freig-ht lines. Persian 
 horses have always been celebrated as the finest in the 
 east ; they are larg-er and more handsome but not so 
 fleet as those of Arabia. Sheep are one of the main 
 sources of wealth in the country. 
 
 Among- the flowers in Persia are the manig-old, 
 hollyhock, white lily, violet, tulip, chrysanthemum and 
 roses of many kinds. The latter are cultivated in fields 
 for the trade and the manufacture of ''g-olab" or ottar 
 of roses. 
 
 Poultry is g-ood and plentiful. There are fowls, 
 g-eese, ducks, turkeys, g-uineas, partridg-es, quails, doves, 
 pheasants, as well as hawks, flaming-os, crows, swans, 
 storks, herrons, owls, cuckoos, hoo-poes and bul-buls or 
 ni^hting-ales. 
 
 Cities like sing-le dwelling-s are surrounded by hig-h 
 earthen walls about six feet thick and twenty feet in 
 heig-ht. The g-ates within these walls are open during- 
 the day, but at 8 o'clock in the evening- the}" are closed. 
 No person can enter or leave the city after this hour 
 and the people within the city walls mig-ht as well 
 remaili in doors, as the streets are shrouded in utter 
 darkness, there being- no system of street lighting- what- 
 ever. Besides this no person is permitted to walk the 
 streets after 9 o'clock p. m. When a nig-htwatch or 
 
 —82- 
 
g-uard (equal to our patrolman) happens to meet any one 
 on the street after this hour, he will compel him to 
 patrol the streets with him all nig-ht long-, thumping 
 and jerking- him about and occasional!}' striking- him in 
 the neck or on the back unless he g-ives him some 
 money. At 5:30 in the morning- the wanderer is con- 
 fined in a prison cell where he will have to remain until 
 a ransom has been paid for him, the amount of which is 
 determined by the chief of police. Persons whose duty 
 or calling- make it imperative to g-o out upon the streets 
 after 9 p. m., such as physicians, nurses, etc., can do 
 so unmolested provided they have been careful to g-et 
 the password from the mayor of the city. Such a pass- 
 word is g-iven out to the city oificials by the mayor daily 
 and any private person knowing- it proves thereby that 
 he or she has permission to be out after the respective 
 hour. 
 
 The houses as a rule are built of sun dried bricks, 
 but very few being- made of burnt bricks. The homes 
 of the poor contain but one large room. Some of these 
 houses have rooms built upon the flat roof, w^hich is 
 reached by a flig-ht of stairs built on the outside. 
 Wealthy people live in well built two-story houses. In 
 cities the houses are built closely adjoining, so that it is 
 possible to walk all over the city on the house tops. 
 This is the common wa}^ of traversing in winter when 
 the streets are impassable owing to slush and mud. In 
 some of the large cities such as Teheran, the capital, 
 Ispahan and Shiraz, modern street paving is being 
 introduced. Streets have no names, houses are not 
 numbered, no police patrolmen during the da}^ no city 
 directory is to be found. All information must be ob- 
 tained from persons you chance to meet and find able 
 and willing to give it, or else canvas from house to 
 house until you reach your point. There are no news- 
 papers of any kind and of course no advertising is done. 
 
 -83 - 
 
As you walk the streets you will hear the call to prayer 
 when the Mollah, three times a day, stands on the roof 
 of a minaret on a mosque and repeats the muezzin. But 
 at times the throng- crowding- the narrow street is so 
 dense as to prevent the Mollah from attending- to his 
 duty. Then a lord or g-overnment official may be seen 
 with a company of from 50 to 200 soldiers, as the case 
 may demand, g'oing- up and down the street to open the 
 way for him to pass. Kver}^ person must stand still and 
 bowing- low push ag-ainst a wall when an officer passes. 
 A refusal to comply with this custom would put anyone 
 in dang-er of being- whipped to death. 
 
 Only one line of merchandise is sold on any one bus- 
 iness street. On one you will find only dry g-oods ; in 
 another street nothing- but groceries ; a third contains 
 iron, copper and silversmiths' shops, etc. The streets 
 averag-e thirty feet in width and many are arched over 
 with brick arches, to shut out the rain and the snow. 
 These covered streets are lig-hted by opening-s in the 
 arches. Camels, horses, mules and donkeys, heavily 
 laden with g-oods, may be seen passing- throug-h the 
 streets, and in the open squares many of these animals 
 may be seen that belong- to strang-ers who have come to 
 the city to buy or sell. At the entrances of some of the 
 mosques one may see a Mollah or two, sitting- down and 
 acting- as notary public, drawing- up legal documents for 
 men standing around and before him. For such a docu- 
 ment they get from ten to fifteen cents. 
 
 In purchasing goods in Persia a foreigner is liable to 
 be overcharged, as it is quite customary among dealers 
 to advance the price on their goods to two or three 
 times their real value, expecting to be obliged to lower 
 the price before being able to make a sale. Silver and 
 goldsmiths turn out some highly artistic work in the 
 shape of rings, and belts for ladies. You cannot find a 
 woman selling goods in a store or bazaar in all Persia, 
 
 -84- 
 
with the only exception of one sing-le street in each city 
 or villag-e, where poor old women and widows are fran- 
 chised to sell such articles as caps, purse^, sacks, soaps, 
 etc. Their faces, however, must be covered up entirely, 
 with only two holes in the covering- for the eyes. Only 
 a few women from the lower classes are seen in the 
 bazaars shopping-, and they dare not have their faces 
 exposed. No Christian is permitted to sell liquids such as 
 milk, oil, syrups, or juicy fruit, like grapes, etc. Moham- 
 medans are prohibited by law to buy things of this 
 nature from a Christian, and, if on the other hand 
 a Christian wishes to buy anything of this sort 
 from a Mohammedan, he must not touch anything, as 
 the merchant, should the Christian finally fail to take 
 the goods, could never sell to a Mohammedan what has 
 previously been touched or handled by a Christian. 
 
 Thk Bazaar and Currency. 
 
 The bazaars, which is a term including at the same 
 time a salesroom, wareroom and manufactory^, are in the 
 center of the city. They are open after six in the 
 morning and closed at six in the evening. Friday is the 
 Mahommedan's sabbath day or day of rest, and all 
 stores are closed. Whenever the bazaars are open pass- 
 ers by may see how g-oods are manufactured on a small 
 scale. In the timber bazaar men saw boards with long 
 hand-saws ; a little further on carpenters manufacture 
 doors, windows and coffins. So it is in the bazaars of 
 the hatter, baker, blacksmith, confectioner and restau- 
 rant. Some are weaving cotton and silk cloths, carpets 
 and shawls on hand-looms, though some of these goods 
 are manufactured in villages and brought into the city 
 for sale. Again, there are saddlers, turners, tailors, 
 wood turners, etc. 
 
 -85- 
 
^he Persian standard of weig-hts — - 
 
 100 tniskals = 1 dirham. 
 
 4 dirhams = 1 hef-ta. 
 
 8 hef-tas = 1 batman. 
 
 4 batmans = 1 khon-ka-rie. 
 10 batmans = 1 load. 
 25 batmans = 1 khalivar. 
 
 Copper and silver coins are in g-eneral use, while gold 
 is scarce. Lately, paper money has been issued, both 
 in Persian and Kng-lish languages, but has met with but 
 little favor. The Russian currency is also in circula- 
 tion to some extent. The exchange is regulated by 
 Europe and India. The numerous Persian bankers, 
 called sarafs, have their abodes within the bazaars. 
 Kach saraf sits on a cushion in a small enclosure behind 
 a little table covered with copper, silver and gold coins, 
 for exchanging. These are of that kind whose tables 
 our Lord Jesus overturned in the temple of Jerusalem. 
 The mint at Teheran, established since 1878, was 
 platted by Europeans but is now conducted by Persians. 
 
 Table of Persian currency, and its value — 
 
 5 denars = 1 gaz-beh. 
 30 denars = 1 tem-bal. 
 50 denars = 1 shah-hi = 6 tem-bal. 
 100 denars = 1 yuz-al-tum = 2 shah-hi. 
 500 denars ^ 1 penabad = 10 shah-hi. 
 1,000 denars = 1 keran = 20 shah-hi. 
 
 r Education. 
 
 Every city or town has its schools for bo3^s, located in 
 the mosques and conducted by mollahs. There are no 
 schools for girls, as it is not considered good policy to 
 enlighten the female sex too much by giving them an 
 education, and perchance making them dissatisfied with 
 their present station in life. The attendance at school 
 also for the boys is voluntary, no one being compelled 
 to send his boys if he should prefer to keep them at 
 
 —86— 
 
home. Pupils pay the teacher all the way from five to 
 twenty-five cents a month tuition ; but such as are too 
 poor to pay anything- are admitted free of charge. The 
 Mollah's sustenance is furnished him by the pupils 
 daily in form of eatables of all kinds. These schools 
 are attended by boys and youths rang-ing- from ten to 
 twenty years of ag"e. Text-books for local history and 
 poetry are in the Persian, the Koran and grammar are 
 taught in the Arabic language ; mathematics, geogra- 
 phy, science and general history are never taught. 
 
 While preparing for their lessons, the pupils reel 
 back and forth, repeat the words and sentences loud 
 enough to be heard a long distance off. This they 
 imagine to be an aid to memory. The teacher has 
 authority to punish the pupil very severely. Parents 
 will sometimes take a boy to school and deliver him 
 over to the gentle keeping and care of the teacher with 
 these words : "His bones are mine, but his flesh is yours. 
 Teach him and punish him as you see fit." 
 
 A post is planted in the school-room. To this an 
 unruly boy's feet are tightly fastened, soles upward, 
 and the soles are then belabored with heav}^ switches. 
 This is, however, applied only to the most unruly and 
 wilfullest. For milder offenses, the teacher raps pupil 
 over the head with a long switch, which is alwa3^s kept 
 in a convenient place or carried about with him by the 
 teacher. Religious teachings are limited to quotations 
 from the Koran and repeating the traditions about their 
 prophets. The boys are generally very fond of reviling 
 each other, and very quarrelsome. The teacher does 
 not protect the weaker, but urges him on to return 
 insinuations or blows. Frequently the pupils of one 
 mosque attack those of another, regarding them as 
 their enemies. The most prominent university of the 
 Shute Mohammedans is in the shrine of Karballa. 
 
 -87— 
 
All who wish to become Mushtaheds (see Priesthood) 
 study at this place. In several large cities thej have 
 schools of hig-her rank than the ordinary mosque-school. 
 In these the pupils are offered a course of Persian liter- 
 ature. We state with pleasure that the late Shah, after 
 his visits to some of the European universities, has 
 founded a college in his capital, which is called the 
 abode of science. The French, English and Russian lan- 
 guages are taught here, and the study of some modern 
 sciences are being introduced. This institute, however, 
 is only available to princes and sons of wealthy people ; 
 it is only one pretty flower in the vast wilderness. The 
 aim of Mohammedanism is to keep the masses ignorant, 
 so that the priests may continue to rule over them. 
 The entire priesthood, therefore, does not favor higher 
 education. Some counts or lords send their sons to 
 Paris, in France, to be educated, but the ordinary young 
 man has no opportunities to acquire knowledge. 
 
 AGRlCUIyTURK. 
 
 Persian people are largely employed in agriculture 
 and grazing. Farmers go a long distance to work. 
 Oxen, cows and buffaloes are used in plowing the fields. 
 The plow is similar to the fork of a tree, the point be- 
 ing covered with iron or steel ; the soil is scratched up 
 and loosened somewhat to a shallow depth. Plowing is 
 done three times in a season ; then narrow ditches are 
 drawn to divide the field and to irrigate it. The water 
 from a river is turned into creeks to run the flouring 
 mills, then divided into little brooks and streamlets and 
 thus carried to the farms and fields. The seed is sown 
 by hand, broadcast. Reapers or cradles are not used in 
 harvesting, sickles or scythes taking their places. The 
 blades of the agricultural implements are almost the 
 same as those in the United States, but the handles are 
 very small. A reaper cuts one handful of grain after 
 
 —88— 
 
another until a g-ood sized bundle is cut ; this he then 
 binds into a sheaf, before cutting- an}^ more, and so 
 forth. A person passing a field where a farmer is at 
 work will g-reet him by saying-, "May God g-ive you 
 streng-th," whereupon the farmer will reply, "You are 
 welcome; may God keep you." But should the former 
 be of the nobility, the farmer will pick up a sheaf of 
 g-rain and lay before the visitor on the road. This is 
 answered b}^ the latter with a present of a few cents or 
 whatever he may choose to g'ive, according- to his 
 dig-nity. 
 
 When the time for threshing- approaches the farmers 
 have all the g-rain carried on horseback or by donke3's 
 to the vicinity of the villag-e where the threshing- is to 
 take place. Here the farmer takes sheaf after sheaf, 
 unties it and throws it in a circle upon the bare g-round, 
 in the open air. Muzzled oxen are then led across it 
 ag-ain and ag-ain, or round and round in the circle, to 
 tramp the kernels out with their hoofs. In some places 
 they employ a sort of machine, consisting- of a roller 
 about five feet long- and one and a half feet hig-h, with 
 teeth or iron spikes spirally arrang-ed on it. Above the 
 roller is a seat for the driver, and when the machine is 
 drawn the roller turns. When all the wheat is threshed 
 it is left in a heap and the farmer waits for a strong- 
 wind ; then with wooden g-rain forks the grain is thrown 
 into the air and the wind blows the chaff away, while 
 the kernels fall to the ground. 
 
 This is then carried to the mill, where it is ground 
 into flour. 
 
 Numerous orchards yield all kinds of delicious fruit. 
 Mulberry tree orchards are carefully raised and tended 
 for feeding silk worms; apricots are cultivated in large 
 orchards and the fruit dried both for the home market 
 and for export ; but a small part of the annual crop is 
 kept for summer and winter use without cooking or 
 
 -89— 
 
canning it. Large A^neyards employ thousands of 
 people, and the grapes are probably among the best 
 in the world and of endless variety, and the wine pre- 
 pared from them is very palatable, not being at all 
 adulterated. Large quantities of mollasses are also 
 manufactured from grape juice, much of which is 
 exported to Kurope, via Austria. Two kinds of raisins 
 are made from the grapes: the kishmish and the sabja. 
 A plastered or cemented surface on the slope of a hill is 
 covered with grapes, which are then converted into 
 raisins by raj^s of the sun. These raisins are called 
 kishmish. Water, turned into lye by the addition of 
 ashes from a thornbush or burnt vines, is boiled and 
 grapes dipped into it. After this they are spread out 
 upon the ground to dry for a week. The very choicest 
 raisins are made from seedless grapes. A strong, spirit- 
 ous liquor, called arac, is manufactured from raisins by 
 distillation. 
 
 A large part of the work connected with gTazing 
 consists in attending to the milch cows, sheep and goats. 
 The milking of the latter affords quite a comical aspect. 
 The gate or door of the goat pen is so low that the goat 
 must lower her head to enter. While in the act of doing 
 so the head is grasped and held firmly by one woman 
 while another milks the goat. All milk is heated forth- 
 with and most of it is turned into matsoon and cheese. 
 The matsoon or yogurt is a curd gained by putting 
 rennet into the boiled milk and letting it sour for 
 several days. From the soured milk butter is made in 
 churns. These are of several kinds. A large earthen 
 jar, somewhat shaped like an egg, is filled with cream, 
 the opening closed with a piece of leather and the jar 
 laid down upon one side, whereupon it is rolled back and 
 forward on the ground. Another churn is made from 
 the hollowed trunk of a tree. It is suspended in the air 
 b}^ ropes and made to move similar to a swing. Cheese 
 
 —90- 
 
is made by allowing- the whey to flow off without 
 pressure. It is preserved by salt and sometimes mixed 
 with herbs for flavor, and buried. 
 
 Spinning- and weaving- dress goods, carpets and other 
 fabrics are universal household occupations. Wool is 
 carded by pulling it over a pair of long--toothed brass 
 combs. Wool and silk are sometimes spun on a distaff, 
 whirled by hand, but more frequently a spin-wheel is 
 used, the spinner sitting upon the floor and manag-ing 
 the thread partly with her feet. In many villages are 
 little shops where silk is spun on a small machine. The 
 cocoons are thrown into a caldron of boiling water 
 mixed with milk. A man turns a wheel, about a yard 
 in diameter, by means of a petal, and with one hand 
 stirs the cocoons to loosen the fibre, while with the 
 other hand he draws up the thread to be wound around 
 the wheel. The refuse and stray fibres are spun by the 
 women and made into head-dresses. In the orchards of 
 mulberry trees, where the leaves are g-athered for feed- 
 ing- the worms, the trees are kept trimmed so that each 
 occupies but one square 3^ard of g-round. The seed 
 worms complete their work in three months and are 
 kept in the house during- the winter months. The 
 annual silk crop of Persia, produced chiefly in the Cau- 
 casian provinces, amounts to 600,000 pounds. 
 
 Furniture is not in use in Persia, as people eat, sit 
 and sleep on the floor, which is made of hard wood and 
 covered with mattings and rug-s or carpets. Bedding- is 
 spread out upon the floor for the night, rolled up and 
 stowed away for the day. No knives and forks are used 
 while eating-. Traveling- is done mostly on the back of 
 animals and is very unsafe, the roads being- infested 
 with Kurds, robbers and highwaymen. This accounts 
 for the custom of traveling- in large companies called 
 caravans. Passengers find no accommodations excepting 
 at the caravansories, and even there nothing is fur- 
 
 -91 
 
nislied, but the}^ must carr}^ everything- with them, even 
 to a cup from which to drink, or a chair or rug upon 
 which to sit. The only railway in Persia is a short 
 line, twenty-four miles long-, from the Shah's residence 
 to his summer resort. The public roads and hig-hways 
 are in a deplorable condition, and very few carriag-e 
 roads to be found. All merchandise is conveyed upon 
 the backs of animals, these forming- long- lines in their 
 journey across the dreary plains. 
 
 Women are ig-norant and superstitious, morality 
 among- them very low. But few can read, and almost 
 all continuously smoke a kalion or water pipe. They 
 are g-enerally married at the ag-e of 12 years and are 
 reg-arded as very much inferior by their husbands. (See 
 Social and Domestic Life in Persia.) 
 
 Many manners and customs which we find mentioned 
 in the Bible are still in vog-ue in this country at this 
 present day; they still place the blind and crippled along- 
 the wayside to ask for alms; they yet pray on the house- 
 tops, and the salutations, traffic, building-, travel and 
 farming- have -underg-one no radical chang-es in the last 
 2,000 years. 
 
 The Nobleman. 
 
 The nobility of Persia lead a life of luxury. Such 
 titles as counts and lords are not obtained by conspicu- 
 ous service to the nation or country, nor by proficiency 
 in knowledg-e and learning-, but by descendancy, and 
 many an ig-norant and unworthy person bears them. 
 Wealthy merchants also purchase them for their off- 
 spring-. The titled class in Persia is very numerous. 
 In a city of 60,000 inhabitants there are more than 500 
 counts. Thev own the bulk of the Persian soil. In 
 some instances one count owns as many as one hun- 
 dred villages. The poor rayat or tenant must pay his 
 landlord one-half or two-thirds of all the produce of his 
 
 —92- 
 
farm. Aside from this a poll tax and a tax on his house 
 must be paid. His cattle, sheep and g-oats are taxed, he 
 must deliver unto his landlord two fowls, two loads of 
 fuel, and a quantity of eg-g-s annually, and when his 
 sons or daug'hters are married a marriag-e fee must be 
 paid. His meadows and orchards are also taxed, and 
 only the yoke of oxen with which he tills the g^round 
 are excepted from taxation. But this is not all. He is 
 literally at the mercy of his agha or master, a name 
 which very correctly expresses the relation between 
 landlord and peasant. The landlord legally may demand 
 three days of labor from his rayat without paying- for 
 it, but in reality he makes them work for him as much 
 as he pleases. Whenever he pays a visit at one of his 
 peasant's houses, he simply and unceremoniously appro- 
 priates whatever he condescends to find worthy of 
 taking". The peasant is held to buy his g^rain and flour 
 from his landlord and must silently pay for these thing's 
 whatever price the master puts on them, even far above 
 the market price. For the slightest offense he is sub- 
 jected to severe chastisement, being- even ordered by his 
 master to be tied and cruelly beaten. 
 
 And to all this and even more and worse outrag^es 
 must the poor peasant submit, for fear of still g-reater 
 persecutions in case of complaint. Christians have 
 more to bear than Moslem neighbors ; they are inferior 
 beings — "infidels," "Christian dogs." The meanest 
 Mohammedan is considered better than they. A Chris- 
 tian may not eat with a Moslem ; he must not enter 
 their houses with moist clothing. If struck by a Mo- 
 hammedan he dares not strike back. In the courts he 
 is not considered their equal ; his life and property are 
 not equally secure. Should a Mohammedan, for exam- 
 ple, take a fancy to the daughter of a Christian, even at 
 the tender age of 7 or 10 years, he will take her to his 
 harem. An appeal to the governor would avail nothing, 
 
 -93- 
 
as it would simpl}^ be answered by the statement that 
 she has declared to turn Mohammedan. She is lost to 
 her family and relig-ion forever, and should the parents 
 ever so much argue that the child is too young- to decide 
 upon her own relig"ion, or that she in all probability has 
 been cajoled or frig-htened into making- the chang-e, or 
 should the parents plead ever so much to be allowed an 
 interview with her for just a few moments — she remains 
 where she has been taken and g-rows up an inmate of a 
 harem ! 
 
 By Persian law all converts to the Islam may claim 
 a lion's share of their father's estate. It therefore pays 
 indig-ent Mohammedans well to entice young daughters 
 of well-to-do Christians away from their homes. 
 
 Here is another instance : The governor demanded 
 from a merchant an amount far in excess of the just 
 taxes. The merchant refused. The result was that the 
 governor took away all his property. To seek redress, 
 the merchant petitioned the Shah and graciousl}^ re- 
 ceived a royal order to the governor to have his posses- 
 sions restored to him. Full of cheer and good hope the 
 merchant traveled back and presented the written order 
 to the governor. After reading the decree the governor 
 looked keenly at the man for a moment, and then ex- 
 claimed, derisively: "Ha! You thought you could 
 frighten me by reporting me to the Shah ! You are 
 indeed a brave man. Little did I expect you to be a 
 man of so much courage. But so brave a man must 
 needs have a brave heart. This brave heart of yours I 
 must see, so as to learn courage from it." Then in a 
 subdued tone he gave the order to his servants : "Take 
 out that man's heart ! " The servants immediately fell 
 upon the merchant, slew him on the spot, tore out his 
 heart and presented it to the governor on a tray. 
 
 The most common and most painful form of torture 
 now in use is Persia is the bastinado. 
 
 94— 
 
BaSTINx\DO. 
 
 The mechanical part of a bastinado is a pole, called 
 a ''Pellek," about eig-ht feet in length, with a transverse 
 handle at either end and loops of rope or leather in the 
 middle. The man to be bastinadoed is laid back down- 
 ward on the ground and, after his shoes and stockings 
 are removed, his feet are passed through the loops. 
 The pole is held by two soldiers at nearly the length of 
 the man's legs from the ground, and by them it is turned 
 until his ankles are so tightly secured that he can- 
 not writhe out of them. In turning the pole the soles 
 of the feet are brought upward, making them a fair 
 mark for the flogger. Close by will be a large number 
 (usually hundreds) of sticks with which the victim's feet 
 are to be beaten. They are ordinar}' willow wands five 
 or six feet long. The bark is left on, and the willows 
 are kept wet to prevent them from breaking easil3\ 
 Two or more expert floggers, clad in scarlet coats, 
 bound in black, the uniformx of the Shah's executioners, 
 take their places near the pole, each armed with a stick 
 with which they in turn 
 
 Belabor the Victim's Soles 
 
 until the stick is broken. Before the thrashing is com- 
 menced the victim is adjured to confess. If he does not 
 the torture is kept up until he does, or until the supply 
 of sticks gives out. Often 200 and 300 sticks are worn 
 out before a confession is secured, although the torture 
 often results in death, if the victim is aged or sick. All 
 Persians are liable to this punishment, from the prime 
 minister downward. The minister of finances was on 
 one occasion given 400 lashes. 
 
 The bastinado is by no means the only mode of tor- 
 ture used in Persia to make criminals confess. Needles 
 are run under the finger-nails of some prisoners until 
 a confession is extorted, and it is a practice to cut 
 
 —95— 
 
g-ashes in the soles of a prisoner's feet, inserting- therein 
 broken g-lass, so that it is impossible for him to run 
 away. Such punishments have been in vog-ue for ag-es, 
 notwithstanding- the fact that the late Shah years ag-o 
 issued a firman prohibiting- the torture of criminals. 
 
 Disfiguring Kvii.-Dokrs. 
 
 For ordinary crimes in Persia, the punishment is 
 personal disfig-urement. The evil-doer who is caught in 
 his evil-doing- is marked for life. For a first offense at 
 hig-hway robbery, the prisoner may lose some of his 
 fing-ers. For a second offense he is likely to lose a 
 hand. The traveler passing- throug-h Persia for the 
 first time is astonished at the number of maimed and 
 half-blind men whom he meets on the caravan trails. 
 The writer has seen one man in Persia who, as a result 
 of persistent wrong--doing-, had lost a hand, a foot, an 
 ear and an eye. With all that he was pointed out as a 
 person to be avoided. 
 
 Apart from the affliction of pain as a means of 
 extorting- confessions, there is another well defined 
 reason for the torture of criminals. It is intended that 
 corporal punishment shall be a warning- and an example 
 to other evil-doers. It is for this reason that the sev- 
 ered hands, fing-ers and ears of convicted men are thrown 
 into one of the principal streets to horrify men g^oing- 
 about the ordinary affairs of business. 
 
 How THE Hkads are Cut Off. 
 
 Decaptiation in Persia has lost some of its old-time 
 picturesqueness. In thinking- of a decapitation, one 
 naturally pictures a scene in which the executioner, 
 posed in a theatrical attitude, swing-s aloft a g-littering- 
 scimetar, and with "one well-directed blow" strikes off 
 the victim's head. In Persia today one finds that sort 
 of thing- only in picture-books imported from the 
 

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Christian west. As a matter of prosaic fact, the victim's 
 head is hacked off with a short knife. To be even more 
 exact, the head is very rarely actually hacked off. 
 Usually the executioner is satisfied with hacking- open 
 two or three larg-e veins of the throat, and letting- his 
 man bleed to death. The traveler loses a g-reat many 
 illusions in a journey throug-h Persia, and this is one of 
 them. 
 
 Counts and lords are the most immoral class of people 
 in all Persia. They are illiterate, know nothing- of 
 g-eog-raphy, mathematics or political economy, thoUg-h 
 most of them can read and write their own lang-uag-e 
 and have a limited knowledg-e of local history. It is 
 not at all surprising- that such indolent, voluptuous 
 people g-row immoral, for among- them it is considered 
 a disg-race to do work of any kind. 
 
 Teheran, the capital of Persia, is called the "City 
 
 of the Shadow of God," the "Footstool of the King- of 
 
 King-s." It has no g-lorious past to boast of. Thoug-h 
 
 the neig-hboring- plains contain mounds and ruins of 
 
 g-reat cities, it was only in the latter part of the past 
 
 century that Teheran emerg-ed from obscurity. The 
 
 first records describe it as a villag-e of underg-round 
 
 hovels, affording- a retreat from the summer heat or 
 
 from the ravag-es of plundering- hordes. She was chosen 
 
 as the capital of Ag-a Mohammed Khan, the founder of 
 
 the present Kajar dynasty. His preference for it was 
 
 undoubtedly owing- to its proximity to his own tribe in 
 
 Mezandaran. Now, Teheran has assumed the position 
 
 of the political center of central Asia. Here the leg-a- 
 
 tions of Eng-land, France, Russia, Germany, Austria, 
 
 Holland, Turkey and the United States represent their 
 
 respective countries and spin the webs of their political 
 
 intrig-ues. 
 
 In a century Teheran's population has increased from 
 15,000 to 200,000 inhabitants. Owing- to its modern 
 
growth, it has also partaken of a European element 
 more than any other Persian city, and is more influ- 
 enced by western ideas. The old style is yet noticeable 
 in the hig-h walls and deep moat surrounding- the entire 
 city. On each side of it are two larg-e, well built and 
 handsomely ornamented gates. On the other hand, 
 broad avenues, well paved and bordered by shade trees, 
 houses of modern architecture, embassy g-rounds, laid 
 out after the pattern of an Kng-lish park, phaetons and 
 carriag-es, teleg-raph poles, tramways, g-as and electric 
 lig-hts in the streets, drug- stores, photog-raph g-alleries, 
 strong-ly attest that western life has invig-orated the 
 stereotyped east. The bazaars also, while presenting- 
 the same g-eneral characteristics as in other cities, have 
 wider aisles, and enjoy more of the much-needed sun- 
 lig-ht. They are well stocked with imports, and those 
 which deal in European g-oods attract the briskest trade. 
 The royal palace is surrounded by high stone walls. 
 Four beautiful g-ates afford entrance to the grounds. 
 On the sides of and above the gates the walls are 
 adorned with the pictures of former kings and brave 
 generals, and skillfully carved with lions' heads, the 
 standards of Persia, and birds. The park-like grounds 
 are beautifully arranged and kept; all the drives and 
 walks lead to the Shah's palace, situated in the center, 
 and are gorgeously ornamented with decorative trees 
 and hedges of roses of varied hues. Numerous officers 
 of superior rank guard the entrances and the walks and 
 avenues that lead to the palace, those nearest to it ever 
 standing with drawn sword. While hearing a case or 
 passing judgment the king sits on his " peacock throne " 
 surrounded by his cabinet, consisting of six advisers. 
 His de(!isions, however, are absolute and may at any 
 time overrule the opinion of his cabinet. This body 
 forms the legislature of the country. The members of 
 it appointed by the Shah, the people having no voice 
 
whatever in g-overnmental affairs. Whenever the Shah 
 feels tired his secretary reads to him from the "Sana- 
 meh," a poetical history of Persian king-s. It is one^tf 
 the Shah's duties to make himself thoroughly acquainted 
 with Persian history and the history of her former 
 rulers. On retiring- at nig-ht the entrance to the Shah's 
 private room is g-uarded by two trustworthy of&cers 
 with unsheathed swords. One of the four g-ates in the 
 wall around the palace is called the Shah's g^ate, as he 
 always enters throug-h it. No other person, be he lord, 
 count or hig-h official, is permitted to pass through this 
 gate on horseback or in a vehicle. He must dismount 
 and walk through. 
 
 When the Shah goes from the palace for a chase or 
 on a vacation, he is escorted by a large retinue, headed 
 by about thirty footmen, each bearing a golden staff and 
 shouting : ' ' Disperse, disperse ! " Hereupon the passage 
 is immediately cleared so that the royal cavalcade may 
 pass unmolested. The footmen are followed by about 
 fifty men on horseback with drawn swords; next come 
 ten or twelve riderless Arabian steeds dancing along, 
 beauties of their race, adorned with bridles of gold 
 studded with precious stones. 
 
 The Shah of Persia is in possession of the greatest 
 and most valuable collection of jewels on the globe. 
 These may be inspected in his palace, where they are 
 heaped up in glass cases like tea or rice. His "peacock 
 throne," which was brought from Delhi, India, by King 
 Nadirsha, who captured that city about 200 3^ears ago, 
 has been estimated at $12,500,000 some years ago, and 
 has risen in value since then. It is made of solid gold 
 inlaid with diamonds, pearls and other jewels. The 
 rug upon which the Shah prays is valued at $2,500,000. 
 He has a tobacco pipe worth 8500,000. His table is 
 furnished with all the luxuries and good things in the 
 land. There will be perhaps fifty or more different 
 
 ^99- 
 
dishes served at one meal. When the Shah sits down 
 to partake of some food he will g-lance over all these, 
 but only touch or nibble from one or the other food, yet 
 all the different courses must be prepared. From the 
 time of the purchase until it appears upon the table, all 
 food and drink is examined by two trustworthy inspect- 
 ors, whose dut}^ it is to see that the ruler is not pois- 
 oned. Ag-ain the food is inspected by the Shah's physi- 
 cian before eating- a meal. 
 
 / Persian law is divided into two departments — the 
 Shahr and the Urf. The former is administered by the 
 MoUahs, or priests, and is based upon the Koran. The 
 latter is the oral law administered b}^ secular judg-es, 
 who decide cases to equity and traditions, or precedents 
 orally handed down. 
 
 As the Urf is administered independently of the 
 Shahr, an increase of powers would g-radually result in 
 the extinction of the latter. It is undoubtedly the aim 
 of the government to bring about such a change, as one 
 of the most important factors in promoting- the eleva- 
 tion of Persia to the plane of modern progress, but any 
 effort in this direction can be pursued only with great 
 shrewdness and caution, for the MoUahs are naturally 
 violently opposed to any abridg-ement of their power. 
 In a g-eneral way the Urf takes cog-nizance of criminal 
 cases and the Shahr of civil ones. The criminal is tried 
 before the hakem or ket-hodah of a town or village; in 
 the awarding- of penalties,' however, he follows the 
 rules prescribed by the Shahr so far as they have not 
 passed into desuetude. 
 
 Sometimes a criminal case is appealed directly to the 
 g-overnor of the province or to the Shah himself. This 
 is especially the case if one of the parties involved is in 
 any way connected with the g-overnment. The Shah or 
 the governor concerns himself little with the law in 
 such events, but decide at once, and with a word, a 
 
g-esture, decrees retribution or reward. But althoug-h 
 all questions not of a civil nature are by custom rele- 
 g-ated to the decisions of the Urf, it is not uncommon 
 for the judg-e to allow a case to be appealed to the Shahr 
 when it is of special dif&cultj, or when the rank of the 
 party is such as to make him dread the consequences of 
 his decision. An}^ decision rendered by the relig"ious 
 expounders of the Shahr is accepted without demur as 
 final ; the sacredness of the Shahr and the sanctity of 
 those who administer decisions based upon it make it 
 impossible to dispute the decisions of that aug-ust tri- 
 bunal. While, therefore, the Urf occupies a prominent 
 place in the administration of justice, the Shahr 
 continues by far the most important leg-al author- 
 ity of the land, and it is by a study of that code and the 
 methods of administering- it that one can alone form an}^ 
 correct conception of the administration of justice in 
 Persia. 
 
 The Shahr consists of a vast collection of dicta ap- 
 plying- to every conceivable situation in life. Like the 
 theocratic codes of other Mussulmans it is based on the 
 Koran, but diifers from them in the fact that it is en- 
 larg-ed and fortified b}^ the opinions of the twelve Holy 
 Imams, these Imams being- considered by the Slieahs to 
 be the true caliphs and their opinions having- scarcely 
 less weig-ht than if delivered from the Almig-hty. 
 
 Karly in the rise of Mohammedism it was the custom 
 of the disciples of the Prophet to have recourse to him 
 for explanation or expansion of the vag-ue declarations 
 of the Koran. After his death these commentaries were 
 g-enerally transmitted orally, and were called traditions, 
 becoming- in time very voluminous, so that it was neces- 
 sary to reduce and codify them, adding- opinions reg-ard- 
 ing- the more obscure enactments. Hence the authority 
 of the Holy Imams. The code of Persia treats of relig-- 
 ious rites and duties ; of contracts and obligations ; of 
 
 -101— 
 
matters relating- to the person; and of laws relating- to 
 cheese, meats and drinks, leg-al procedure, and the 
 specification of penalties both from a relig-ious and a 
 civil point of view. Many of the laws of the Shahr are 
 based on sound reason, and in their application are not 
 unlike the laws of other countries. 
 
 Some of the features of the Shahr are as follows : 
 Any man is forbidden to say his prayers in the presence 
 of any women who, either at his side or before him, are 
 also praying-, whether praying- tog-ether with him or 
 alone ; and without reg-ard to the character of the 
 woman, whether she be wife or within the forbidden 
 deg-ree of kinship, or a strang-er. If the woman is be- 
 hind the man at such a distance that in prostrating- 
 herself she cannot touch his feet, then the man also 
 may do his praying-. 
 
 One should avoid praying- before an open fire, before 
 the painted or g-raven fig-ures or imag-es of animate ob- 
 jects, or the stable of horses, asses or mules; but it is 
 permitted in a sheepfold. One is forbidden to pray in 
 an apartment wherein there is a fire-worshiper ; the 
 presence of a Christian or a Jew is unimportant. One 
 should avoid having- an open book before him, and 
 should not pray before an overhang-ing- wall or in a room 
 where there is a pot de chambre. 
 
 "He who is dumb must wag- his tong-ue while men- 
 tally repeating- his prayers. The spot where the fore- 
 head should touch (during the g-enuflections of prayer) 
 should be on the same horizontal plane on which the 
 feet rest ; nevertheless, one may exceed this line by the 
 thickness of one brick or more." 
 
 Such are a few examples of the 549 laws respecting- 
 relig-ious worship. The regulations concerning fasting 
 and pilgrimage number no less than 1,012. 
 
 The law of sales includes 625. 
 
 —10^ 
 
"It is permissable to sell a piece of cloth or of land 
 simply b}^ a general exhibition of them to the purchaser, 
 without oblig-ing him to make a minute inspection." 
 
 Proof by taste or smell is indispensable when the 
 object of sale is eatable or smellable. Articles of such 
 a nature that they cannot be tested without breaking- 
 them — such as nuts, melons or eg-g-s, may be sold in 
 iarnorance of the condition of the contents ; and in the 
 event of the purchaser finding them defective, he has 
 the rig-ht to interest and damag-es, but not to a return 
 of the article. 
 
 "It is not permitted to sell fruits on the tree before 
 they are shaped, that is, before the kernel is formed, 
 but when they have reached that state they may be 
 sold. 
 
 "After it is matured, fruit may be sold with or with- 
 out the tree. It is not permitted to sell the fruits g-reen 
 in color (at maturity) before they become g-reen. 
 
 It is recommended to the purchaser of a slave to 
 chang-e his name ; to cause him to eat sweetmeats at 
 the time, and to offer alms. One should avoid counting- 
 or weig-hing- the purchase money for a slave in his pres- 
 ence. Slaves are thoug-ht a g-reat deal of in Persia. As 
 a rule masters are very kind to them, so that not seldom 
 one may hear a master addressed by his slave with "My 
 father," and the master in replying- will call him "My 
 son." Slaves are well taken care of in clothing- and 
 nourishment. They differ in color and value. The 
 "Habshi" are the most expensive ; the "Somali" rang-e 
 next in price; the Neg-ro, slave being- the cheapest in 
 price, and only employed as cooks. One g-ood "Hab- 
 shi" will bring- $250; a good "Somali," $150, while the 
 market price for the best among- the Negro slaves, 
 which are taxed according to their strength, is but S70. 
 
 Not less than 1,412 different chapters are used in the 
 Shahr for subjects on marriage and divorce, besides a 
 
 —103- 
 
larg-e number on concubinag"e, slaves and rearing- of 
 children. 
 
 The prophet hath said, "Marry and establish a 
 family;" the most wicked among- the dead are the celi- 
 bates ; he who desires to contract a marriage should 
 seek after a woman combining four requisites : legiti- 
 mate birth, virg-inity, prolificness and chastity. One 
 should not be content with beauty and riches ; it is even 
 forbidden to marry with these points alone in view. 
 Marriag-e should not be consumated while the moon is 
 in the sig-n of the scorpion ; during- an eclipse of the 
 moon ; on a day when there will be an eclipse of the 
 sun ; at noon ; towards the end of twilight ; during the 
 last three days of the month*; between dawn and sun- 
 rise ; during- the first nig-ht of each month, excepting- 
 the month of Ramazan ; during- the middle night of the 
 month ; while on a journey; in a tempest, nor during- an 
 earth-quake. 
 
 When marriag-e is being- proposed to a maiden, her 
 silence is equivalent to a consent. The consent of a 
 widow, however, or a divorce, must be audibly pro- 
 nounced to be leg-ally valid. Any man may form as 
 many temporary marriag-es as he chooses. If the hus- 
 band desires one of his wives to accompany him on a 
 journey, the selection is made by casting the lot. Hus- 
 bands are recommended to treat all their wives alike. 
 
 Divorce is pronounced by a husband in the presence 
 of not less than two witnesses. In doing this, one of 
 three statutory formulas must be used, any other ver- 
 sion, though expressing the intention ever so clearly, 
 are invalid. He must either say "Knte talekun," (thou 
 art divorced) or "Felanet talekun" (such a one is 
 divorced), or "Hazee talekun" (this person is divorced). 
 The Arabic formula must always be used. 
 
 ♦The last three days of a month are called el mohak, which sig-nifies the moon is 
 below the horizon. 
 
 —104— 
 
There are also three kinds of divorce, one by virtue 
 of which the husband cannot take back the divorced 
 wife; one with this privileg-e reserved; and the temporary 
 divorce, for the purpose of proving- whether the woman 
 is preg-nant by a husband from whom she was previously 
 divorced. The irrevocable divorce is broug-ht about 
 when a husband pronounces the formula of divorce upon 
 a wife whom he has twice before taken as his wife 
 ag-ain. The temporary marriag-e is an institution pecu- 
 liar to Persia and abhored by all Mohammedans else- 
 where. The Shahrs defend it on the plea that it was 
 not prohibited by the Prophet, and consequently must 
 be rig-ht, according to a fundemental principle of their 
 law that whatsoever is not prohibited by law is allowed. 
 The most important feature of the temporary matrimony, 
 however, is the dowry paid by the husband; without 
 this parents would scarcely permit their daug-hters to 
 enter into it. Four conditions are indispensable to the 
 leg-ality of such a marriag-e — the contract, the personal 
 conditions, the dowry, and the stipulated time for which 
 the marriag-e is contracted. The contract is leg-al and 
 binding- only when it has been drawn in legal form 
 before or by a Mollah. As to the duration of such a 
 temporary marriage the law provides no limit, the 
 matter being settled by mutual agreement; may it be 
 for a fraction of a day or for ninety-nine years; it may 
 even antedate the day when the contract is written if so 
 desired by both parties. 
 
 Penalties for fornication, adultery, sodomy and simi- 
 lar vices are A^ery severe, lapidation being the most 
 common upon repetition of the last named, and for the 
 conviction of the first named even after the first offense. 
 Not less than 395 chapters treat of the laws of pro- 
 cedure. To administer the Shahr a judge must be of 
 legal age, sound of mind, faithful in performing the 
 duties of the Islam, of reputable life, of legitimate 
 
 -105- 
 
birth, well instructed and of the male sex. He should 
 also be endowed with a g-ood memor}^, for one who lacks 
 this faculty is incapable of properly exercising- judicial 
 functions. 
 
 The principle which reg-ulates the Mussulman's con- 
 nubial life he expresses when upon any occasion, but 
 most often before his marriag-e he will say to his wife: 
 "It is my privilege to love many women, and it is your 
 duty to love only me. Now attend thou to thy duty and 
 I will see to my privileg-e." Taking- a walk with his 
 wife a Mohammedan would be disgraced should she gfo 
 before him or by his side; she must obediently follow 
 behind. For wife murder a man can be fined a sum of 
 money, but the law will not find him g-uilty of homicide, 
 as woman is not considered equal to man before the law. 
 A man meeting- a woman anywhere in public or private 
 will not salute her, but the woman is expected to g-reet 
 him with a courteous nod. 
 
 Priksthood. 
 
 Men who expound and administer the Shahr are 
 either Mushtaheds or Mollahs. The chief Mushtahed 
 must have taken a course with the great Mushtahed of 
 Kerbellah, near Bag-dad, who dwells ever at the tomb 
 of Ali. The hig-hest Mushtahed in Persia, the chief 
 justice of the supreme court, as it were, is at present 
 Hag-di Mollah Ali. When he g-oes abroad he is mounted 
 on a white mule and followed by one sing-le attendant, 
 but the multitude disperses before him as if he were a 
 supernatural being-. A word from him would hurl the 
 Shah from his throne, or doom all Christians and for- 
 eig-ners in the county. In his presence even the Shah 
 stands. 
 
 The Mushtahids are g-raded into four deg-rees, the 
 fourth being- the lowest g-rade and numerically the 
 strong-est. Their means of existence consists in drawing- 
 
 —106— 
 
up legal documents, performing- marriag-e ceremo- 
 nies and accepting- presents. For the marriag-e of a 
 couple they charg-e a larg-e fee. Common people consider 
 it a g-reat privileg-e to g-ive a present to a Mushtahid,- 
 and a favor on his part if he accepts it. These men, in 
 consequence, are g-enerall}^ very rich and own one or 
 more beautiful palaces. Rich ladies feel hig-hly honored 
 to be chosen as the wife of a Mushtahid. 
 
 A Mollah's duty is to visit the sick, call on families 
 and teach them prayers and make them familiar with 
 the traditions, and conduct funeral ceremonies. Some 
 also teach the bo}' s, who g-o to them daih^ for instruc- 
 tion. Their meals are furnished by the pupils, each 
 bring-ing- something- to eat for the Moll ah (usually choice 
 morsels) ever}^ morning-. Besides this each pupil pays 
 one dime tuition a month. In autumn the Mollah is 
 provided for the winter by his parishioners, who bring- 
 him a collection of grapes, apples, wheat, fuel, etc. He 
 is hig-hl}^ respected among- the community and is alwa3's 
 invited by some famil}' on holida^^s. He also draws up 
 leg-al documents and letters for the people and receives 
 as a remuneration from two to ten cents ; but he is quite 
 often paid in the form of two or three eg-g-s, a basket of 
 fruit, and the like. This is the poor Mollah's only 
 income. Some have charg-e and do secular work for a 
 living-, others recite Koran on the sepulchre of a lord, 
 for which they are rewarded by the relatives of the 
 deceased. I have seen a Mollah who recited Koran for 
 fifteen years at the tomb of a noted army officer. 
 
 There is yet another class of priests, more learned 
 and more devout than the rest, who act as revivalists. 
 On holidays, which occur quite frequently, the mosques 
 are usually crowded with worshipers. Then one of 
 these priests will mount an elevated pulpit very ostensi- 
 bly, and in an impressive tone beg-in to read or repeat 
 Koran. He will chant traditions on the lives and deeds 
 
 -107- 
 
of tiie prophets and martyrs and relate pathetic stories 
 of the noble sacrifice of departed heroes of faith. His 
 charming- tones and imploring- utterances have much 
 effect on his audience and men and women weep and 
 strike ag-ainst their bosoms. 
 
 Persia acknowledg-es Ali as the Caliph after Moham- 
 med. The descendants of Ali are therefore held in hig-h 
 esteem and rank among- the noblest families in Persia. 
 They are called Say-yids (prophets or masters) and 
 enjoy privileg-es denied other men. They are very zeal- 
 ous in perpetuating- their own caste. From Ali's time 
 they have kept a careful record of their g-enealog-y. 
 This family record, called Sajjara, is handed down from 
 father to son and serves as a credential to the Say-yid 
 tribe. Kach family must possess a credential of this 
 kind, at least 200 years old. Should it be worn by age 
 and use, the heads of families may draft copies and duly 
 certify to them. The Say-yid may be easily distin- 
 g-uished by his g-arments. He wears a g-reen turban and 
 girdle. Should a common man assume to wear such he 
 would be severely punished. The Say-yid's turban is to 
 him more precious than a king's crown ; it is the em- 
 blem of his glory — the girdle a symbol of strength. 
 Their rank is higher than any other in the country, and 
 their high-priest is more honored than a prince. So the 
 Say-yid rules over other men. He demands and receives 
 their homage. In the assemblies of lords and influential 
 men the Say-yid occupies a foremost seat and is always 
 served first. Solemn oaths are delivered by their heads ; 
 all men fear them, believing that their curse will surely 
 come to pass. They are never smitten or reviled. 
 
 If ever a Christian should raise his hand against a 
 Say-yid, that hand must certainly be severed from his 
 body. Say-yids are exempt from all legal punishment. 
 Governors cannot impose fines or imprisonment on them. 
 Should a Say-yid kill a common person, it would be 
 
 —108- 
 
impossible to have him in turn suffer a death penalty, 
 for this would be a sin ag-ainst God — for it is univer- 
 sally believed that God created all other men for the 
 sake of Mohammed and his descendants ; hence a Say- 
 3'id's punishment must come throug-h the leader of that 
 order. Man}' promises and vov^s are made to them. 
 Parents having- a sick daughter will vow to marry her 
 to a Say-yid, should she recover, believing- that God will 
 take the disease away in the Say-yids behalf.' 
 
 The Say-yids generally ride g-ray horses, and claim 
 that all horses of that particular color belong to them. 
 They conduct the large caravans, which start out annu- 
 ally to worship the tomb of Ali. Their presence is 
 supposed to protect the caravans from thieves and rob- 
 bers. By virtue of their law, one tenth of all property 
 is addicted to them. The majority of them do not 
 work, but live well on the merits of their position as 
 Say-yids, or holy men. The more noble among them 
 will sit in their houses and receive tithes of fruit, coffee, 
 tea and money, of the surrounding people. When these 
 are not willingly given, a servant will be sent with 
 authority to demand and take them. The less noble 
 Say-yid will go in person to the houses, vineyards and 
 gardens, and gather his portion. 
 
 The Ordkr of thk Dkrvishks 
 
 is one of the holiest orders among the Moslems. They 
 are men who have voluntarily consecrated their lives to 
 Allah and his Prophet. Parents in many cases dedicate 
 their sons to the order. Quite often, childless women 
 will vow to Allah to consecrate a son he will graciously 
 give, back to him, by having- him enter into the order 
 of Dervishes. This order numbers members from all 
 classes of society, high and low, wealthy and indigent, 
 even from the royal family. 
 
 -109-^ 
 
A Dervish is expected to be and commonly is humble, 
 kind and liberal, ready to do anyone a service. He 
 suffers all sorts of hardships, self imposed, and leads a 
 very humble life, for this to him is holiness. He is 
 required to be well informed in all religious stories, 
 traditions, and the Koran, and particularly in the 
 poetical writings of the Maw-le-wi order, (which is 
 their own order), founded by Au-wa-ri, the father of the 
 Dervises. Some of the members know from one to five 
 thousand of these sacred poems. The majority are 
 sufficiently well educated to read, and in general they 
 are the most faithful, honest and pure followers of Mo- 
 hammed. Some are very intelligent and well educated 
 and perfectly familiar with all their religious rites and 
 rituals. On the other hand they are exceedingly super- 
 stitious, fanatical and ambitious to propogate their 
 religion, believing it to be a true religion. Their main 
 occupation is to sit in the streets during the week days 
 and tell stories, tales and traditions. Their poems 
 glorify Mohammed and Ali, God's supremest creatures. 
 One of these poems runs in this strain: "The first of 
 creatures is Ali; the supreme of beings is Ali; the true 
 Caliph of the Prophet is Ali; the Lord of all the world 
 is Ali; the Lord of my soul is Ali." 
 
 The Dervishes wear long hair and a pointed, orange- 
 shaped cap, a cloak of patch work and a long white 
 robe. In their right hand they carry a tomahawk or 
 hatchet with a fancy handle; on the blade are some 
 inscriptions consisting of passages from the Koran, or 
 poems. In the left hand they hold a kashkul or recep- 
 tacle for money donated them. A dozen or more may 
 be seen on every street not far distant from each other, 
 standing in front of the stores singing some poems for 
 the praise of Ali in a loud voice, and with an earnest 
 and enthusiastic spirit. Then he will pass his kashkul 
 and the shopkeeper will drop into it some small coin or 
 
 -HO- 
 
only a bit of sug-ar or g-ing-er. An}^ g-ift is acceptable. 
 Sometimes the}' are called Kalander, which means 
 humble and hoi}' men of Allah. They are exempted 
 from tax and from military service. Many presents are 
 g-iven to them by the people. The salutation is differ- 
 ent from that among- common people. The first says, 
 "Ya-ho" (O living- God); the response is, "Ya-mal-ho" ^ 
 (O God, the Giver of life;" "Ya hak, Ya hak" (O truth, 
 O truth). 
 
 Among- Mush-ta-hids, two tithes are g-iven to those 
 who excel in holiness, viz: Pish-Namiz and Imam-Juma. 
 The former means mediator in pra3'er ; the latter, the 
 prophet of holy Friday. 
 
 They are indeed more devoted to their faith, and at 
 the same time more fanatical in their hatred against 
 Christianity. When one of these priests goes to the 
 mosque, he wears a large turban on his head, a cloak of 
 fur, a staff with gold or silver handle. He wears a long 
 beard, which is painted black. Following him is a pro- 
 cession of from fifty to one hundred men, mostly 
 moUahs, or lower class who are faithful Moslems, 
 Proceeding toward the mosque with slow and solemn 
 tread, he is saluted b}' people of all classes along the 
 street by their rising to their feet, crossing the breast 
 with the arms and reverently bowing before him, utter- 
 ing the words, "Sallam ali-Kun Agha" (peace be unto 
 3'ou, sir). This service occurs on holy Friday. 
 
 Women are not admitted in these most holy and 
 solemn services. The Mush-ta-hid stands in the front 
 part of the mosque, facing Mecca, and all the audience 
 is back of him. As he advances in the prayer, all the 
 people repeat what he prays. They imitate every 
 motion he makes. When he kneels, they kneel. When 
 he puts the ends of his front fingers in his ears, the 
 entire audience does the same. They believe all prayers 
 
 -in- 
 
prayed in that way are accepted throug-h his media- 
 torial prayer. 
 
 The people are called to the mosque to pray at day- 
 light, noon and dusk, b}^ a priest who stands on the 
 roof of the mosque. Calling- them the priest will g-o to 
 the pulpit and take out of his pocket a piece of clay or 
 wood from Mahomet's burying- ground, and laying it 
 down on the ground will kiss it, turning towards the 
 four cardinal points. While doing this, the congrega- 
 tion will do this fifteen times, kissing the ground, then 
 they will go to the service of reading and prayer. 
 
 Reading- is largely from the Koran and other relig- 
 ious books. 
 
 The Moslem always washes with cold water before 
 prayer. He will take ajar of water and say: "Bism 
 Allah" (In the name of God I do this holy service). 
 Then, dipping his right hand in the water, he rubs his 
 arms from the wrist to the elbow, with the tips of his 
 fingers he will wet his forehead and the inside of his 
 ears, and the surface of his feet. Travelers in the 
 desert use sand as a substitute for water. 
 
 The worshiper must have a seal, a piece of clay or 
 wood from Mohammed's burying ground, the size of a 
 dollar; on it are written the words, "There is no God 
 but God." Facing Mecca, he puts the seal on the ground 
 and standing erect he raises both hands to his head, 
 kneels to the ground, puts his brow on the seal, then 
 kisses it. Rising to his feet he puts both index fingers 
 in his ears, and makes numerous other gestures. 
 
 The common place of prayer is the mosque, but few 
 of the Moslems pray there, as they prefer praying in 
 the streets, open squares and in meadows before mosques 
 where they will be seen by more men and can better show 
 their piety and integrity. In the midst of his prayer he 
 will stop and speak a few words to the surrounding 
 
 — U2- 
 
o 
 
 Q 
 
 05 
 
 CO- 
 
people as a religious custom, or to revile children whose 
 noise while at play may have interrupted him. 
 
 The official pra^^er of Islam, which is used through- 
 out all the Mohammedan countries and is daily repeated 
 in the Cairo University by ten thousand Mohammedan 
 students from all countries, reads thus : 
 
 "I seek refug-e with Allah, from Satan the accursed, 
 in the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. 
 O Lord of all creatures, O Allah, destroy the infidels 
 and thine enemies, the enemies of religion. O Allah, 
 make their children orphans and defile their abodes. 
 Cause their feet to slip. Give them and their families, 
 their children, household and woman and relations by 
 marriage, their brothers and friends, their possessions 
 and their race, their wealth and lands as booty to the 
 Mussulman, O Lord of all creatures ! " 
 
 Here are some of the commandments of the Koran : 
 
 (1) They are surely infidels who say: "Verily God 
 is Christ, the son of Mary." Koran, chapter 5. 
 
 (2) O true believers, take not the Jews or Christians 
 for your friends ; they are friends to each other ; but 
 whosoever among you taketh them for friends, he is 
 surely one of them. Koran, chapter 5. 
 
 (3) War is enjoined upon you against the infidels, 
 but this is hateful unto 3^ou ; yet perchance ye hate a 
 thing which is better for you, and perchance ye love a 
 thing which is worse for you ; but God knoweth and ye 
 know not. Koran, chapter 2. 
 
 (4) Fight therefore against them until there be no 
 temptation to idolatry, and the religion be God's. 
 Koran, chapter 2. 
 
 (5) Fight against the friends of Satan for the strata- 
 gem of Satan is weak. Koran, chapter 4. 
 
 (6) And when the months wherein 3^e are not allowed 
 to attack them shall be past, kill the idolators whereso- 
 ever ye shall find them, and take them prisoners and 
 
 -113- H 
 
besieg-e them and lie in ambush for them in every con- 
 venient place. Koran, chapter 9. 
 
 (7) When ye encounter the unbelievers strike off 
 their heads until ye have made a g-reat slaughter among- 
 them. Koran, chapter 47. 
 
 (8) Ye are also forbidden to take to wife free women 
 who are married except those women whom your right 
 hand shall possess as slaves. This is ordained you 
 from God." 
 
 So you see they have for a guide in this life the 
 Koran and the reward hereafter, Paradise. 
 
 The Moslems have only one month of fasting called 
 the ramazan. Their month begins with the new moon, 
 but sometimes in some parts of the land it is cloudy and 
 they cannot see the moon. So men will be appointed 
 by the government throughout all the empire to watch 
 carefully for the new moon, sometimes from the peaks 
 of mountains. They will fast from one hour before 
 sunrise to one-half hour after sunset, or till it becomes 
 too dark for a man to discriminate between red and 
 black thread. During this time they abstain from eat- 
 ing, drinking and smoking. The poor class work till 
 noon. The rich do not work at all. The most of the 
 day is spent in reciting the Koran, praying in the 
 street, for the Moslems might long to eat also, or even 
 take a taste and thus break their fast. 
 
 Boys and girls above 7 years must fast, while sick 
 men are not compelled to during this month. How- 
 ever, when they recover they are required to fast thirty 
 days as soon as they are able. They do not converse 
 much in the day, but wear a sad countenance. They 
 do not allow a Christian to speak to them. At morning 
 and evening in the cities a cannon is fired for the begin- 
 ning and ending of the fast. During this month much 
 alms is given. The lords and princes especially send 
 meals from their* table. They believe fasting and alms 
 
 -114— 
 
g-iving- will secure absolute forg-iveness of sins and 
 admittance to heaven. The nig-ht is chang-ed to a feast. 
 They eat and drink and converse till twelve o'clock. 
 Then they retire, but are up again at three and eat and 
 drink till one hour before sunrise. 
 
 Death among- them occurs most often in that month 
 because many eat too much. So many different meals 
 hurt their stomach and they fall sick and die. 
 
 While this fasting- is easy for the rich, as they can 
 sleep all day and keep awake all nig-ht, it is a heavy 
 burden to the poor, who must work during- the day, 
 especially when the fasting- comes in the farming- sea- 
 son. The month, however, in course of time has been 
 changed. They are also strictly prohibited from doing 
 much talking in this month of fasting that thev may 
 not obtain much air. 
 
 Many observe the fast faithfully, but often through 
 fear of persecution. 
 
 The pilgrimage is strictly commanded to Mohamme- 
 dans. There are many places to be visited, but the 
 most important is Medina ; 'tis the birthplace of Mo- 
 hammed, and also his burial place. The second place is 
 Mecca. This city is the most holy to all the Moham- 
 medan world. Here is the old temple of the Arabs, 
 the Kaaba, which w^as converted by Mohammed into a 
 mosque. The third place is Karballa. It is situated 
 near Bagdad, where the most leaders of the religion 
 live. The fourth place is Mashhad. This cit}^ is situ- 
 ated in the northeast part of Persia, in the state of 
 Khorasan, near the Caspian Sea. This is the most holy 
 city in Persia. Here many famous persons lie buried, 
 as, for instance, the grandchildren of Mohammed. 
 
 This mosque is richer than Mecca and Karballa. 
 The dome is lined with gold outside and inside. Gen- 
 erally each king of Persia makes expensive presents, 
 but the most remarkable event in this connection was 
 
 —1)5— 
 
200 years ag-o. Nadirshah, a powerful king- of Persia, 
 who conquered India and despoiled Calcutta of its treas- 
 ures, made a present to this temple of a crown of g^old, 
 adorned with precious stones. 
 
 Mohammedan law commands all to g-o to these holy 
 places. Books of ceremony emphasize the importance 
 of such pilgrimage. The hope of remission of sins is 
 given to all visitors and they are thereafter called by a 
 different name from ordinary men. Kveryone has confi- 
 dence in them, and sometimes witnesses are called from 
 this class of men. Their law is, every able man must 
 go and God will provide for his family and afterward he 
 will be rich. Kveryone who refuses to go is not a true 
 Moslem and does not love his religion. 
 
 Preparations for the journey are made by fasting and 
 prayer. They must repent of every sin, and sometimes 
 one sees men praying in various ways and it is easy to 
 see that they are preparing for a pilgrimage. They put 
 on a sorrowful countenance and walk about sadly, all of 
 which is merely for vain glory. Kvery day they must 
 wash and cleanse themselves and go to the mosque. If 
 they are at enmity with any one they must first be rec- 
 onciled before their journey will be recognized. Some 
 days before starting some Say-yids will ride on blue 
 horses with long spears in their hands. They will walk 
 in the streets crying in a loud voice to all those who are 
 to make a pilgrimage to prepare themselves and be 
 ready on a certain day. Together with this command 
 are uttered words of comfort and encouragement. They 
 tell the people not to fear ; God will send, for the sake 
 of Mohammed, His angels and prophets riding on blue 
 horses, to deliver them from all robbers and thieves. 
 
 One month before starting each man must make 
 donations to the poor, according to his ability. The 
 pilgrim goes to the leader to inquire what is necessary 
 for him to do, and how to do it, that his pilgrimage may 
 
 —116- 
 
be accepted. The priest will say, if the man is rich : 
 "You found a mosque." If a man is poor, a small 
 amount of money is required. Those who make their 
 pilgrimag-e on horseback scatter money on the way for 
 the benefit of the begg-ars and the poor. As the pilgrim 
 sets out he is accompanied by friends for some distance, 
 as a mark of honor to the faithful Islam. Before the 
 band of pilgrims the leader rides, calling out in a loud 
 voice, "Salawat." Not only the living, but also the 
 dead shall go to these places. 
 
 Sometimes when a stingy man dies who has not gone 
 on a pilgrimage in his lifetime, he exacts a promise from 
 his relatives that a certain amount of his money will be 
 used to carry his body to the holy city. If this promise 
 is not kept, the priest will compel his relatives and heirs 
 to restore the specified money for sacred purposes. Thus 
 one may see caravans with hundreds, even thousands of 
 horses with the boxes containing corpses strapped to 
 their backs, on their way to the holy places. 
 
 When Death knocks at any door, the house is the 
 scene of the wildest demonstrations of grief. Frequently 
 the stillness of night is disturbed by the professional 
 mourners. The near relatives tear their hair, scratch 
 their faces, put on them mud and dirt, and often em- 
 brace the lifeless body. 
 
 Among the Moslems a death is announced by the 
 Mollah from the housetop of the dead, by repeating cer- 
 tain portions of the Koran, and in the case of a wealthy 
 man or a noble this is done twice. The news of death 
 is not sent to distant friends, even if it be children, 
 parents or brothers, as there is no one who would be the 
 bearer or sender of such -sad news. The burial follows 
 rapidly, and in some cases people have been buried alive, 
 as the passers by the cemeteries have heard voices, and 
 when the graves have been opened it was found that the 
 body had changed from the position it was placed in. 
 
 —117— 
 
The body is taken first to a corpse-washing' house, located 
 in close proximity to a morgue, or in his own house, 
 where it is thoroug^hly washed with soap and water by a 
 professional body- washer, who is accustomed to take a 
 suit of the dead man's clothes for his pay. It is then 
 rinsed with abundance of fresh water, after which water 
 containing- camphor and spices is poured on the head 
 three times, then often the entire body the same number 
 of times, as a religious ceremony. A new white 
 shroud is put on and wound around the body, completely 
 covering- it from head to foot. It is then placed on a 
 bier and carried to the mosque, where it is deposited 
 with the head pointing- towards Mecca. The procession 
 consists only of men headed by a Mollah, who repeats 
 passag-es from the Koran on the way. Children's corpses 
 are carried on a pillow and adults' on a bier. They are 
 carried by different companies of men, who chang-e every 
 few minutes, as there is a merit obtained in helping-. 
 
 Two priests and the friends take such a position as 
 to face Mecca. Then the whole company rattles off the 
 Moslem prayer in Arabic, after which the body is car- 
 ried to the cemetery. It is then taken off the bier and 
 laid alongside the selected g-rave, as they bury without 
 a cof&n. In the meantime prayers are said and the body 
 is lowered and laid on its rig-ht side, the face made bare 
 and facing- Mecca. A priest takes his place at the head 
 and in a loud voice recites in Arabic, the other Mollahs 
 continuing their prayers. When the man at the head of 
 the g-rave begins reciting-, the grave dig-ger takes the 
 left arm of the corpse and shakes it g-ently till the reci- 
 tation is finished, in order to attract its attention to 
 what the Mollah has to say. The g-rave is roofed over 
 with stone about a foot and a half from the bottom, thus 
 leaving the body in a small underground enclosure. 
 They will also paint his or her face so they will look 
 pretty, and fill the eyes and ears and the spaces between 
 
 -118- 
 
the fing-ers and toes with cotton, to keep the devil away 
 from the body. After the body is put in the ground the 
 relatives take candies and fruits to those who attended 
 the service, and the priest, after all are gone, will 
 sprinkle the grave with holy water and will say to him 
 who has died : "Give good answer to God and do not 
 be ashamed, neither be thou afraid, because Mohammed 
 is before God and is making intercession for you." 
 
 They believe that, after all have gone away, he will 
 arise and will wash his face in the holy water sprinkled 
 on his grave, and will then be ready for judgment. 
 
 Each Friday the Koran must be read at the tombs or 
 graves of the dead. The friends and relatives will 
 induce some one to go there and read the Koran every 
 Friday. * In this case, several families may join together 
 to obtain a man to go and read the Koran every Friday 
 for some hours. 
 
 Then after seven years or more, the bones will be dug 
 out and put in boxes and prepared to be sent to Moham- 
 med's burying ground. The object of these trips is to 
 secure heaven for the dead, because the prophet said, 
 "If the bones of a man should be near to mine, there 
 will be no doubt of their resurrection with me on the 
 last day; but if they are too far from my burying ground, 
 then my power might not reach them, in giving them 
 privilege of resurrection." Thus the people will do all 
 in their power to send the bones of their beloved ones 
 near to his burying grounds. 
 
 Social and Domestic Life in PersIx\. 
 
 The birth of a child is usually awaited with a great 
 deal of agonizing anxiety. /At the announcement of 
 the birth of a baby boy, the servants have a glorious 
 time. They joyfully take the tidings to their master, 
 from whom they are certain to receive gifts and hear 
 good words. '^The congratulations of friends and relations 
 
 —11')— 
 
will beg-in to pour in from all quarters to the happy 
 father, and it will be an occasion for rejoicing- and fes- 
 tivity. The father will deem it a privilege to entertain 
 his friends as an expression of his personal gratification. 
 Noise, festivity and music will fill the atmosphere with 
 the echoes of a merry company. s^^Everybody is happy 
 because a son is born, one who will succeed the father, 
 keep up the family record and perpetuate the memory of 
 the race. \ 
 
 /IBnt when a daug-hter is born there will be no g'iving- 
 of g^ifts, no festivity, no music and no entertainments. N. 
 Everybody about the house, the very atmosphere will be 
 doleful and gloomy, as thoug-h the mourning- over the 
 loss of a precious child was already beg-un. The ser- 
 vants dread to take the tiding-s to their master, realizing- 
 the disappointment that will follow. /When the father 
 hears the message he will be in a woeful condition. 
 Taking- his pipe he will eng-ag-e in an endless pufl&ng-, as 
 though thus to mitigate his sorrow. The poor mother's 
 g-rief is most sincere and pitiful. She weeps bitterly 
 when her friends come to. her, appreciating- her situa- 
 tion. They address her with comforting- words and en- 
 couraging prospects.N 
 
 ^ Both mother and infant will be the objects of hatred 
 to the cruel father and the rest of the family. No word 
 of comfort will be given to her by them. No kiss of 
 affectionate love and no help in the time of pain and 
 sorrow. \ 
 
 / It is the custom for the friends of the married couple 
 on the wedding day to sincerely express their good 
 wishes by repeating the common saying, "May your 
 wedded life be long and peaceful with many sons and no 
 daughters.") 
 
 <;^The child is salted in the day she is born according 
 to an ancient custom and subjected to the supersti- 
 tions so carefully practiced among the women. If 
 
 —120- 
 
it is a boy tio one can see his face for at least three 
 months because the little thing- is so precious that per- 
 adventure any one looking- on him he mig-ht die. \ 
 
 A talisman will soon be broug-ht, on which are written 
 prayers and verses from the Koran. This is to be fas- 
 tened on the right arm or put somewhere near the body 
 to preserve him from sickness and especially the evil eye. 
 XNo mother allows anyone to praise her taby boy; will 
 usually dress him in unbecoming- clothes and keep him 
 dirty, fearing- if he should look too handsome and at- 
 tractive, the evil eye mig-ht cause his death or illness; 
 she will, however, do all that is in her power to make 
 him comfortable. When he cries she is ready to rock 
 him to sleep, sing-ing- the sweetest baby song's in his 
 ears, and kissing- his precious cheek because he is a son 
 and a precious g-ift of God^\ But the unfortunate little 
 daug-hter will have no more attention than the domestic 
 animal at first. At the end of seven days she will be 
 put into a hard cradle, wrapped tightly in swaddling 
 clothing. Sometimes she will not be moved for a whole 
 day or night, and when she is removed it will be only 
 for a little while. When she cries the mother is slow to 
 attend to her, and at best the only thing the mothers do 
 for them when they cry is to rock them in the rough 
 cradle, which does not add much to their comfort, nor 
 soothe them into silence. After a considerable amount 
 of singing and harsh speaking most likely the mother 
 will get angry and tired and leave the little creature 
 alone to cry until it can cry no more because utterly 
 exhausted. They bind the eyes of a child very tightly 
 with a handkerchief for the first ten or fifteen days; this 
 they suppose protects them from nervousness caused by 
 seeing the light for the first time. Again they never 
 take the girls out of doors for the first forty days and 
 ^.he boys for three months because they believe illness 
 will be caused by the expression of surprise from the 
 
 —121- 
 
people that see them for the first time. Ag-ain their 
 eyes must be always filled with black powder, which 
 they think keeps them from becoming- sore and makes 
 them pretty when they are grown. 
 
 As circumcision is practiced among- the Mohammedans, 
 boys receive their names at the celebration of this rite, 
 at the eig-hth day. But at the naming- of the g-irl, there 
 is no relig-ious ceremony, and no reading- from the Koran 
 or even praying- by the mollah. An old woman will be 
 called to the house, who will take the girl in her arms, 
 and, placing- her mouth to the child's ear, will call the 
 name that her parents prefer in a very loud voice, repeat- 
 ing- it three times, adding-, " This is your name." At the 
 ag-e of 6, they will be put to work at home to help their 
 mothers, and at the same time to learn what will be use- 
 ful to themselves. They are taught sweeping, washing, 
 cooking, making tea and preparing "kalaan," the water 
 pipe, for the guests and parents ; and they will be 
 expected to give good attention to all kinds of house- 
 work. They will also be taught sewing, which is sup- 
 posed to be the crowning attainment of any girl. They 
 learn to do the most beautiful embroidery and hand- 
 work, for which the Persian women have always been 
 famous, and this is about all the preparation they can 
 make for their future life as a married woman. 
 
 All education is confined to the male sex only, and 
 very seldom to the female, who might be the daughters 
 of prominent lords and men. The customs that require 
 the strict seclusion of females, prevents them attending 
 school, consequently only a few wealthy families will 
 supply special tutors for their daughters. This teacher 
 generally is a mollah, who is a pious man, a very old 
 man and nearly blind. As these blind mollahs know the 
 Koran by heart, they make very good teachers. He will 
 be permitted to go to the women's apartment in the house, 
 and take a seat at one end of the room, while the pupil 
 
 —122- 
 
sits at the other ; some elderly women will be present, 
 while the teacher drills the pupils in reading- the Koran 
 and explains its teachings to them. 
 
 The common ag-e of betrothal for a g-irl is between 
 the ag-es of 7 and 12 -very seldom over that ag-e ; but in 
 many cases a g^irl is betrothed as soon as she is born, or 
 even before her birth. I have known certain parties 
 who were friends before their marriag-e, while sitting- 
 tog-ether socially drinking, that one sug-g-ested to make 
 a contract between them that, after they were married, 
 if one had a son and the other a daug-hter, they would 
 marry them — and the contract was fulfilled perfectly ; 
 at present the young- man is dead, but the young- lady is 
 still living-. In some places in the Kurdistan Mountains, 
 the engag-ement will take place as soon as a girl is born; 
 and in such cases they will take the girl in their home 
 and care, and bring her up. The engagement ceremony 
 will take place by first sending a private message to the 
 girl's father, indicating their wishes. If the father 
 favors the idea, the messenger will return with words 
 of encouragement, and then the date of ceremony will 
 be fixed. Then the father of the boy, taking a few rela- 
 tives with him, with a ring and a pair of shoes, etc. 
 and a great deal of candy and some other confectionery, 
 goes to the home of the girl. After an elaborate 
 salutation, they will be given seats and a general 
 conversation will take place for about an hour, after 
 which the father of the boy will mention the object 
 of his coming, addressing the family with a few polite 
 and appropriate words. The father of the girl, who is 
 expected to decide the matter, at first will make no defi- 
 nite answer, but will say,, "The girl does not belong to 
 me, she has a grandfather who must be consulted first "; 
 and then the grandfather will be addressed, and pressed 
 for a definite answer. After a few moments of silence 
 he will place the matter before the girl's uncle, and so it 
 
 —12 5— 
 
will go tiie rounds of all the nearest relatives, each on6 
 being" consulted in turn, just for the sake of ceremony 
 and to make them feel good. At last, the question comes 
 back to the girl's father for a definite answer, and he 
 will say, gravely, " My daughter is like a pair of shoes 
 for your son." That means, I am willing to make the 
 engagement. Then it is the duty of the boy's father to 
 kiss the hand of every relative of the girl who is pres- 
 ent. Meantime, the ring will be carried to the ladies' 
 apartment, where the girl is, and handed to the girl by 
 an elderly woman, who, addressing her, will say, "Your 
 father, your uncles and your brother have betrothed you 
 
 to , and if you are willing to obey them, you can 
 
 express it by taking this ring from my hand and putting 
 it on your finger"; and the girl is always expected to do 
 it — but I know of a case where a girl's desire was for 
 another young man, and did refuse the ring, and then 
 her uncle went there with a dagger in one hand and the 
 ring in the other and said, "Choose the ring or the 
 dagger," and she chose the ring. Then the presents will 
 be offered to the girl, and the feast will be continued until 
 late in the night. Thus the engagement is completed. 
 
 The duration of the engagement varies greatly; some 
 marry after six months, others more or less, and it even 
 continues for five or six years. But the boy and girl 
 have very little to say concerning the engagement ; in 
 many cases they are too young to understand the mean- 
 ing of it. There is no calling upon their sweethearts, 
 or walking with them, nor are they together in society. 
 It is improper for a girl to allow her sweetheart to see 
 her, as the love of a Mussulman is measured largely by 
 the beauty of a woman. A boy is naturally very anxious 
 to see his future wife, and will often watch eagerly to 
 meet her or have a word with her. 
 
 The old women, who play an important part in these 
 affairs, are always ready to stimulate a curiosity of 
 
 -124- 
 
either party by pointing- out one to the other. Once or 
 twice during- the eng-agement the young- man will be 
 g-iven a half hour's intercourse with his sweetheart, but 
 it must be in the presence of an elderly woman. 
 
 One of the special features of Persian wedding-s is 
 the extravag-ance. From the time the engag-ement takes 
 place until the wedding- is over larg-e sums of money are 
 being- spent continually by both parties, more especially 
 by the brideg-room's family. The wealthy may not feel 
 the pressure much, but there are some upon whom it 
 bring-s a heavy burden of debt for life. Still they think 
 it necessary because a man's character and g-enerosity 
 are judg-ed by the style in which he marries his son. 
 
 The g-reatest expense is what is called "parcha," the 
 wedding- g-arments. A few weeks before the wedding- 
 takes place both parties will send their representatives, 
 and they will be eng-ag-ed for one, two or three days in 
 making- purchases. Usually they buy from three to 
 seven different suits for the bride, g-iving- but small at- 
 tention to the brideg-room's apparel, as he is expected to 
 see after his own. As the expenses must all be paid by 
 the boy's father, the bride's party is naturally inclined 
 to be lavish, while the other party, in seeking- to modify 
 their desires, often raise quarrels of ill-feeling-. The 
 expenditure sometimes amounts to hundreds of dollars, 
 among- the wealthy. When the "parcha" is taken to 
 the bride's home all the maidens from the neig-hborhood 
 g-et tog-ether and help cut out and sew. Of course the 
 larg-er part must be done by herself, if she is old enoug-h 
 to understand dressmaking-, and by her mother. Very 
 few people employ dressmakers on such occasions. 
 
 A day or two before the wedding- the bridegfroom's 
 people will despatch two or three men to the villag-es 
 and towns of the neig-hborhood to invite all the 
 friends, relations and respectable citizens. They 
 carry with them candy and red apples, which are to take 
 
 -125- 
 
the place of the engraved cards. Handing- a red apple 
 or some candy to the family, they announce verbally the 
 day of the wedding, adding- these words: "So-and-so 
 sends his love to you and to your family and says, the 
 wedding- is not my son's, but yours; come and bring- 
 your family." Then, bidding- them farewell, they will 
 g-o to the next neighbor and repeat the same thing- 
 until their mission is fulfilled. If there is a grandee or 
 official connected with either family, the boy's father 
 has to g-o himself, carrying- a sheep or a quantity of 
 sweets, and extend the invitation to him. In return he 
 will receive the g-ift of a shawl or tailor-made coat for 
 the bridegroom, with his excellency's g-ood wishes and 
 permission to proceed with the ceremony. 
 
 It will be interesting to mention that it sometimes 
 occurs that some of those invited, from pique or ill- 
 humor, will decline to attend the wedding ; then the 
 father of the boy will g-o himself or send a near relative 
 to pacify them and persuade them to come to the feast 
 The weddings generally last from three to seven days. 
 
 On the first day the invited g-uests will pour into the 
 home of the bridegroom, which will be opened for their 
 cordial reception. Everybody makes himself at home. 
 Dancing, music, noisy drums and the uncontrollable ex- 
 citement of the merry crowd will fill the air the whole 
 of the seven days. The first three or four days are 
 usually spent in feasting at the brideg-room's, while the 
 bride's family are quietly going on with their prepara- 
 tions for their daug-hter. The principal part of the 
 entertainments on these days is eating-. The home will 
 be thrown open for not only the g-uests, but for all the 
 poor people and the beggars. Sometimes from five to 
 ten sheep will be slain, or one or two oxen. Quantities 
 of rice and other vegetables will be used. Three 
 times every day this crowd of people will sit on 
 
 -126- 
 
the floor around the long- tables to eat, of course with 
 their fing-ers according" to the custom of the country. 
 
 Dancing — Between meals they will go out to the open 
 court, which is like an amphitheater, or if that is not 
 large enough, out on the street to engage in dancing 
 and singing, the women and children crowding the flat 
 roofs of that house and neighboring ones to look at the 
 dancers. The men hand in hand form a large circle, the 
 one at the head, the leader, holding a richly colored 
 handkerchief in one hand, and swinging it in the air, 
 moves slowly around, the others following, while the 
 drummer and flute player stand in the center of the 
 circle making a violent noise. Gradually they begin to 
 get excited and become more and more so until they 
 jump and leap so rapidly that their feet can hardly be 
 seen at all. When one is tired another takes his place 
 in the circle, and thus they go on till noon. Sometimes 
 a drum and flute will be exchanged for two good singers 
 who sing love songs for the inspiration of the dancers. 
 The women are not allowed to dance with the gentle- 
 men. They can dance in their own apartments or when 
 there are no strangers present. It is customary for each 
 neighbor who is present at the supper table and meets 
 with the strangers there to take from two to five of 
 them home with him when the time for retiring comes 
 and take care of them for the night. Thus lodgings 
 are provided for a great many. Sometimes there will 
 be none left at the bridegroom's house. Then early in 
 the morning the drummers go about the street and sum- 
 mon them back for their breakfast. 
 
 On the third or fourth day they arrange to go after 
 the bride. So-ne thirty or forty of the choicest young 
 men, well dressed and armed, and if the bride's home be 
 at some distance some of them mounted on beautiful 
 horses march toward the house, where they will receive 
 a cordial welcome. Everything has been prepared for 
 
 -127- 
 
their reception, the villag-e people will come, and the 
 feasting- will begin at the home of the bride. The 
 bride's family generally look rather doleful during this 
 part of the performance, probably on account of the ex- 
 pense. The next morning the bride will be gorgeously 
 decked in her wedding apparel in the women's apart- 
 ment, a red veil taking the place of the black one for the 
 day and covering the whole of her body. She is not 
 allowed even to have the small openings to see through. 
 Bidding her folks goodbye, she is put upon a horse 
 saddled for her, and at this point begins a tremendous 
 uproar from the crowd — yells, shouts, thundering of 
 guns, etc. The bride is carefully protected from every 
 danger by three men, a "koolam" servant holding the 
 bridle and leading the horse and the other two holding 
 her, one on either side. Thus the homeward march 
 begins. Kach one of the young men belonging to the 
 bride's escort carries a chicken in his hand which either 
 he catches himself from the street or some friend catches 
 and gives to him. This is called the bridegroom's bird. 
 The procession advances as rapidly as possible. The 
 city people often have these processions at night so that 
 they can have the opportunity to make them more 
 resplendent by fireworks, that is, by torches, etc. 
 
 It was on such an occasion that the parable of the 
 ten virgins was suggested to the Master. When 
 they are near home a messenger is dispatched to 
 carry the news of their approach to the bridegroom. For 
 this he will receive some reward. The bridegroom then 
 dresses himself in his wedding costume and, attended by 
 his intimate companions, he goes out of his chamber 
 looking as happy and gorgeous as the sun coming out 
 of the chambers of the night. This part of the cere- 
 mony differs a good deal in various parts of the country. 
 In some places, the bridegroom and his staff just go a 
 little distance to meet the bride. In other places, he 
 
 -128- 
 
CARRYING WATER. 
 REAPERS. (Page 134.) 
 
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g-oes out on top of the roof and waits until the bride 
 arrives in sig'ht. Her horse will be led throug^h the 
 multitude to a corner of the street directly opposite the 
 bridegroom ; then he will shoot her with three red 
 apples. Occasionally he aims too accuratel}^ and the 
 poor little bride is struck and probably hurt by the red 
 apples. Each shooting- of an apple is greeted by loud 
 yelling- of the excited crowd. In some places it is cus- 
 tomary to take the bride to the doors of the prominent 
 people of the place and nearest relations, before going 
 to her father-in-law's. This is considered a mark of 
 respect to such persons, and at each home the family is 
 expected to show their appreciation in some way. Some 
 take a quantity of raisins and throw them upon her 
 head, as a symbol of the "sweetness of the occasion," 
 while others throw a great deal of copper money, a 
 symbol of prosperity. The bo^^s especially enjoy this 
 part of the performance and have a great time picking 
 up the raisins and coppers under the horses' feet. After 
 this they proceed to the bridegroom's house and every- 
 body^ will retire until the next morning, when dancing 
 and feasting begin again. The main feature of the next 
 day's proceedings will be the welcoming of the bride's 
 relatives and friends, who will come and bring her 
 trunk and all that belongs to her. Her trunk must be 
 opened before a multitude of witnesses and every little 
 thing in it spread out before them. The contents of 
 this trunk are not, by any means, entirely for the bride's 
 own use, although she and her mother have spent a 
 great deal of time on them. The}^ are mostly intended 
 as presents for the bridegroom's relations and friends, 
 and are the greatest expense which falls on her father 
 in connection with the wedding days. In the trunk 
 there will be perhaps some half a dozen or more dresses, 
 aprons, skirts, head-dresses, etc., made for her by her 
 parents; the rest are all the presents that have been 
 
made, consisting- of side-pockets, waist-pockets, money 
 bag's, watch covers, woolen belts, skull caps and such 
 like, all of which have been exquisitely embroidered by 
 hand. These will be distributed among the numerous 
 relation and home-folk of the brideg-room. 
 
 If the bride's father is wealthy the trunk will also 
 contain jewels, precious stones, shawls, cups of gold 
 and silver; a "samowar," or teakettle, with all its out- 
 fit; a "kalean," smoking- pipe, etc. It will be as well 
 to remark that these costly g"ifts, in many cases, are not 
 so much for the purpose of expressing the parents' de- 
 votion to the daug-hter as for the show and pride on 
 their own behalf. 
 
 On the next day the guests will begin to depart. In 
 leaving, everyone extends his congratulation and pre- 
 sents his gift. This ends the wedding. The married 
 couple, instead of taking a bridal trip to some land or 
 city, will remain at home, rarely going out at all for 
 two or three months. 
 
 Thk Dwelling Place of a Married Woman. 
 
 The Persians have a strong tendency to congregate 
 in cities, towns and villages, from the rich capitalists 
 and the high of&cials to the poor laboring men and 
 peasants. They all prefer to live together in communi- 
 ties. There is literally none of what is called country 
 life in America. Most of the cities, towns and villages 
 have high, thick walls of mud all around them, with 
 gates for entrance, which are carefully watched. The 
 reason for this is, I suppose, first, for protection in time 
 of war. In the olden days the country was settled 
 largely by different hostile tribes who would often 
 attack each other, and the walls were a great protection 
 to the property. There were also numerous robbers and 
 highwaymen whose whole business was thieving and 
 pillage, thus constantly dangerous to life and commerce. 
 
 —130- 
 
There is still this datig-er, and the citizens to insure 
 their safety live in communities for mutual defense and 
 protection. And, ag-ain, the custom of secluding- the 
 women has a g-reat deal to do with it. 
 
 The first visible part of the houses of the first class 
 from the street is a hig-h, thick wall that encircles the 
 whole lot. Through this there is only one entrance — 
 a larg-e g-ate, made of heavy hard wood and studded 
 with big, heavy iron nails. This g-ate is kept shut all 
 the time, and anybody that wanted to g-et in would 
 have to knock hard in order to do so, calling- the family, 
 who, in most cases, live in some distant part of the 
 premises. Walking along the street, one can easily tell 
 the of&cial house, because they have always about a 
 dozen or more men guarding- the gate. These guards 
 eat, sleep and live in the small rooms opening- into the 
 g-ateway on each side. No neighbor is allowed to build 
 his house hig-her than the mud walls, or if he does, he 
 is not permitted to open any window — not the least open- 
 ing. — into his neig-hbor's yard which could make it pos- 
 sible for him to look in upon his neighbor's wife. 
 
 The first apartment we come to is called "beroon," 
 or the men's apartment. Here the head of the family 
 during the day commands his servants, transacts his 
 business and receives his calls. He comes to this apart- 
 ment by sunrise, having previously had his cup of coffee 
 or tea and offered his prayers. And here he stays until 
 his dinner hour, which is at twilight. The second apart- 
 ment of the house is called "anderoon," which is exclu- 
 sively for women and children, and is also called "harem," 
 "forbidden place," a word corresponding with zenana or 
 serago. The women live here all their lives, very sel- 
 dom g-oing- out for recreation or a breath of fresh air. No 
 male persons could venture to go to this apartment. If a 
 man by mistake or unwitting-ly should attempt to make 
 his way to the "forbidden place," he would be quickly 
 
 -131- 
 
met by the g-uardians and eunuchs, crying- loudly, 
 "Women, away !" and the man, with breathless haste, 
 will make his way back, while the women would beg*in 
 at once to conceal their persons with a veil. 
 
 The custom of secluding- the women and watching- 
 them so carefully has come down from many genera- 
 tions. The king-s in ancient days, in order to exhibit 
 g-reater state and to preserve pure lineag-e, introduced it 
 first into the country, and it was g-radually adopted in 
 some form by all classes, except the wandering- nomads. 
 
 Duties of Women in Persia. 
 
 ./ One of the duties of women in Persia is g-rinding- the 
 wheat and barley into flour. In the parts of the country 
 where water is abundant, water mills are built, and in 
 some other places they have what are called donkey, 
 buffalo or mule mills, which are turned by power of 
 these animals. But still there are many of the poor 
 who cannot afford to have their flour g-round at these 
 mills, and the women must g-rind it at home in the old 
 fashioned way of Bible lands and times. "Two women 
 shall be g-rinding- at the mill; the one shall be taken and 
 the other left." (Matt. 24, 41). This mill consists of 
 two heavy circular stones with a wooden pin in the 
 center fastened to the lower one passing- throug-h a larg-e 
 hole in the upper one. Into this hole in the upper 
 stone, around the central pin, the grain is poured by 
 handfuls while the two women turn it rapidly by the 
 stout handle fastened to the outer rim of the upper 
 stone. The grain falling between the two stones is 
 crushed into a coarse flour and thrown out around the 
 edges onto a large cloth placed under and around the 
 mill for the purpose of catching it.* Besides the flour 
 for the bread they prepare every year a quantity of 
 cracked wheat, which is boiled and dried in small cakes 
 from which they make a much relished dish peculiar to 
 
the Persian poorer classes. The bread is made up with 
 leaven, worked and set to rise, then rolled out into very 
 thin cakes. A second woman has in her hand a kind 
 of cushion covered with heavy canvas. The thin wafer 
 of doug-h is spread smoothly on this cushion, which has 
 a handle underneath so that she can hold it securely. 
 Then she slaps the cake of doug-h against the hot side 
 of the tandoor (oven) so that it sticks and bakes in a few 
 minutes, when another is put in its place. A week's 
 baking, sometimes two weeks', is done at once. 
 
 Water works have not been introduced into Persia 
 yet; all the water for drinking and every day use is 
 brought from a distance by the women. There are 
 public wells or streams outside of each villag-e. The 
 women g-o to these places mornings and evenings and 
 carry home as much as is needed. If it is a well they 
 have no pumps, so they have to pull it up in an earthen 
 vessel with a long- rope and fill their jars from that, but 
 if it is a spring they simply plung-e the jar in until full, 
 then lift it, first on the hip, then to the back or shoul- 
 der, and quickly march home. They go back and forth 
 this way until all their jars are full, sometimes eight or 
 ten times. The jars are larg-e and heavy, made of 
 earthenware. They hold from five to eight gallons of 
 water. It takes long practice and strong- arms to lift 
 these jars to the shoulder without spilling- any of the 
 water or dropping- and breaking- the jar. But these 
 women who have been accustomed to the exercise need 
 no dumb-bells or skipping- ropes for the development of 
 their muscles. It is a beautiful sight every morning 
 and night when scores of women group together with 
 their jars upon their backs and march to the spring. 
 They find some compensation for the laborious task in 
 the freedom to gossip and talk along the way, and look 
 as if they really enjoy it. It reminds one of the roman- 
 tic story of Abraham's servant and Rebecca at the well 
 
 -133- 
 
(Gen, 24) and of the more spiritual incident of our 
 Savior and the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well.* 
 
 The churning" is done in a larg-e, oddly shaped earthen 
 jar, laid upon its side on what is called a saddle. That 
 is a kind of hollowed bridge, into which the jar fits and 
 over which it is jolted back and forth, to make the but- 
 ter come. First, however, the fresh milk is boiled and 
 a little sour cream or butter-milk added. Then it is 
 allowed to stand until it has become perfectly solid. 
 The mouth of the jar is then tied up tig"ht with a heavy 
 piece of canvas, that no air can g-et in, and the jolting- 
 begins. Gathering the butter, etc., is similar to the 
 same process in America.* 
 
 Most of the harvesting, also, is done by women. It 
 usually begins in the early part of June and lasts until 
 the latter part of July or the first of August. These 
 months are very hard on the women. They have to be 
 up early in order to finish their domestic duties by an 
 hour after sunrise. Then they take sickles and march 
 to the field, which is usually from one to two miles dis- 
 tant. Often one sees a mother with her infant in a cradle 
 upon her shoulder and a sickle in her hand marching 
 with the rest. From morning until sunset they toil, with 
 only two hours for rest in the middle of the day. The 
 mothers put the baby-cradle under a tree, where they 
 can see that no harm comes to the little one, and can 
 stop and rock it if it cries very hard. These harvest 
 months are the very hottest in the year. The sun shines 
 with terrific force during the day. While the women 
 reap, the men gather up the bundles and bind them 
 ready to be carried to the threshing floor, which is a 
 great distance from the field. Many a poor "Ruth" 
 may be seen following the reapers, gleaning whatever 
 may fall behind. At sunset they begin their homeward 
 journey, tired and dirty.* Their home duties are to come 
 afterward, before they are ready to rest. 
 
 —134— 
 
By the time the harvest is over, the vineyard work 
 begins. The g^rapes are then ripe. The women pick 
 the ripe and ready bunches, filling- larg^e baskets 
 and carrying" them to the end of the vineyard, where 
 they are spread out in the sun to be dried for raisins. 
 This usualh^ takes from fifteen to twenty days. Then 
 they g-ather them and pile them up at home, ready for 
 the market. The rest of the g-rapes are made into 
 molasses and wine. Of course the men take some part 
 in the vineyard work, but most of it is done by the 
 women. 
 
 When a husband eats, the wife cannot sit with him 
 and eat at the same table, but must always stand in his 
 presence with her arms crossed while he eats, ready to 
 render any service to him, like an accomplished slave. 
 And after he has done eating-, she pours water on her 
 lord's hands, and wipes them on a towel or her own 
 chader ; then she lig-hts his water-pipe and with a g-race- 
 ful yet slavish bow she hands it to him ; and while he 
 enjoys it she serves the children in the same fashion, 
 after which she retires to a respectful distance, her face 
 turned toward the black mud walls, so that her lord may 
 not see her lips moving-, and finishes the meal. When 
 he w^alks on the street, she cannot walk anywhere near 
 him, because it is a reproach for a man to be seen on the 
 street with a woman, and also because she is so covered 
 with the out-door costume. He mig-ht be accused of 
 walking- with a woman who was not his wife. Hence, 
 she never expects any help or protection from him. 
 When he goes on a journey, he does not even tell her 
 good-bye, or consult with her about his trip ; and if he 
 should be gone for years, would never write her a single 
 letter nor ask after her health. If anything needs to be 
 attended to, he writes to his brothers or father, or a near 
 relative. Nor does he ever trust his wife with any money 
 for her living ; he will ask a friend or relative to give it 
 
 —135— 
 
to her little by little. When he is in any business trouble 
 or perplexity, it will not occur to him to mention the 
 fact to her or to ask her advice. On the contrary, when 
 he talks business with his friends she must not listen. 
 And if she were in any mental or physical depression, 
 she would not dare mention it to him, for she would be 
 sure of harsh, rough words, instead of loving- sympathy. 
 In all these things, he is in no sense a husband to her, 
 but only a lord and owner. 
 
 The law requires that females also make pilgrimages 
 to the holy places. Girls at every age are allowed to 
 go ; also children. Widows under 50 years are not 
 accepted as pilgrims, first, because of their probable 
 desire for marriage, and second, because the law says 
 no women must undertake a pilgrimage alone for fear 
 of exposing themselves to men. So, in order to go, 
 some marry for this purpose. The husband accompanies 
 them thither, and upon returning either divorces them 
 or keeps them as wives or concubines. 
 
 Kvery band of pilgrims, when returning to their own 
 city, will send a messenger about ten days in advance 
 to announce that in so many days a band of pilgrims 
 will appear in the city. On the day of their arrival 
 many hundred men will meet them several miles from 
 the city. The Say-yids ride before them, crying: 
 "Salawats!" Friends and relatives kill lambs as a 
 sacrifice before them. This sacrifice is a holy matter 
 and no man can touch it till its blood is shed ; but when 
 it is beheaded it belongs to God, and the strongest man 
 takes it for his own. So there is always quarreling 
 when the pilgrims return. The acquaintances of the 
 pilgrims will come and say: "My portion be as thy 
 portion. Blessed art thou. May your pilgrimage be 
 accepted." And the pilgrim will answer : "God grant 
 that you may also go to this Holy Place and receive 
 remission of sins." Women will sometimes cut pieces 
 
 -136— 
 
from the pilgrims' g-armetits, which are supposed to be 
 holy. At the pilgrim's home many sheep are killed and 
 a variety of fine meats are cooked. People g-ather there 
 to eat and drink and they say to the host: "God bless 
 your pilg-rimag-e." He will answer : "May the Prophet 
 g-ive you success and g-rant that you too may visit the 
 Holy Place." 
 
 Life: of Mohammkd and Mohammkdism. 
 
 Mohammed was born at Mecca in the year 570. He 
 was from the tribe of Koreish. His g-reat-g-randfather 
 was married to a lady of Medina and Mohammed was 
 thus connected with one of the ruling- families of that 
 city — the Bani Khazraj. Abdallah, his father, was 
 poor, and died on a mercantile trip to Syria shortly be- 
 fore Mohammed's birth. His mother, Amina, according- 
 to the custom of Mecca, put the infant out to nurse with 
 a Bedouin tribe ; and there the child remained for four 
 or five years, acquiring- the free habits and the pure 
 tong-ue of the nomad race. 
 
 About a year after Amina took the lad to visit his 
 relatives at Medina, but on the way home she died, so 
 that in his sixth year Mohammed was left an orphan. 
 His uncle, Abu Taleb, became his g-uardian and to the 
 day of his death faithfully discharg-ed the trust. While 
 yet a child Mohammed accompanied his uncle to Syria 
 on a mercantile journey, where he came in contact with 
 a number of Christians and Jews, from whom he learned 
 much about the Jewish and Christian principles of 
 relig-ion. His uncle procured for him the commission 
 from a rich widow to superintend a trading- caravan to 
 Syria. Khadija, delig-hted with her ag-ent's service, 
 conceived a tender passion for him, and thoug-h nearly 
 40, while he was but 25 years of ag-e, became his wife. 
 She bore him two sons and four daug-hters. Both sons 
 
 V 
 
 -137- 
 
died. The eldest, wlio survived two years, was called 
 Kasim ; whence Mohammed's name of Abul Kasim. 
 
 At the ag-e of 40 a new life was quickened in the soul 
 of Mohammed, who claimed that he received a revela- 
 tion from God. An ang-el appeared to him and in mortal 
 terror Mohammed ran to his wife and cried, "Wrap me 
 up ! " and he lay wrapped up in his cloak. 
 
 The ansrel said : — 
 
 '& 
 
 O thou covered ! Rise up and warn ! 
 
 And thy I^ord mag-nif y ! 
 
 And thy g-arments purify ! 
 
 And abomination shun ! 
 
 And grant not favors to g"ain increase ! 
 
 And the Ivord await ! 
 
 Revelation after revelation followed in rapid succes- 
 sion. He did not doubt his mission. His first converts 
 were among- his own family and kinsmen — his wife, 
 daug-hters, cousin Ali, and his freedman, Zaid. 
 
 At . first Mohammed attracted little attention at 
 Mecca, but soon after his claim of being- the prophet of 
 God was known, and especially when he spoke against 
 idolatry, they persecuted him and his enemies vio- 
 lently tried to kill him, but he fled from Mecca to 
 Medina. (The day of his fiig-ht marks the year of 
 Heg-ira or Kmig-ration, A. D. 622. This is the beg-in- 
 ning of the Mohammedan era.) 
 
 In Medina Mohammed built a mosque. After he had 
 a number of followers he declared the Holy War, by 
 which he succeeded in conquering- many tribes and 
 countries. Then, two years later, he returned to Mecca 
 at the head of a great army and conquered it. He then 
 returned to his home and died in Medina, 632 A. D. 
 Over his burial-place a large mosque has since been 
 built. After his death his successor took his place and 
 extended his mission through Persia, Babylonia, Syria, 
 Asia Minor, Egypt and Spain. In the course of one 
 
 —138— 
 
hundred and ten years they had met with g-reat and 
 wonderful success. Of course this was due to the 
 means which they used, viz : the sword. 
 
 This relig^ion was introduced in Spain with the in- 
 tention of carrying- it on throug-h Kurope. Now, what 
 was it that prevented them from doing- this? The 
 Christians who had heard about the Mohammedans and 
 their intentions g-athered together their armies under 
 the direction of Charles Martel and went to meet the 
 Saracens. It was at the battle of Tours, 732 years after 
 CKrist, or 110 years after Mohammed had started on his 
 mission, that these two g-reat powers met. Thus there 
 was a g-reat struggle between the Mohammedans and 
 Christians, between the false and true religions. In 
 this battle the Mohammedans were defeated and g-ave 
 up their intentions. A few years later they were driven 
 out of Spain, and ever since have not had any accession 
 to the powers of the world that they did not control at 
 that time. 
 
 The total number of the Mohammedans throug-hout 
 the whole world is 175,000,000. These are in Africa, 
 Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, Beloochistan, India, Cey- 
 lon. Their belief is that there is one God, Mohammed 
 is his apostle, and the Koran a sacred book. 
 
 ^The first doctrine which we meet in the Mohammedan 
 creed is this: "La ilaha illa 'llahu Muhammadux 
 Rasulu llahi." "There is no God but God: Moham- 
 med is the prophet of God." Mohammedans ascribe 
 ninety-nine names or titles to God, among- which some 
 of the principal are, the Merciful, the Gracious, the 
 Master, the Holy, the Creator, the Faithful, the Par- 
 doner, the Wrathful, the Provider of daily bread, the 
 All-wise, the Just, the King-, the Great, the Kxalter, 
 the Glorious, the Lover, the Witness, the Truth, the 
 Almig-hty, the First, the Last, the Pure, the Lig'ht, the 
 Guide, the Patient One, etc. Mohammed taug-ht that 
 
 —13*)— 
 
God, most liig-h, created the seven days of the week; on 
 Sunday He created the g-ates of the hig-hest heaven; on 
 Monday the seven stories of heaven; on Tuesday He 
 constructed the seven stories of the earth; on Wednes- 
 day He made darkness; on Thursday He created the 
 produce of the earth and all that is in it; on Friday He 
 made the sun, moon and stars, and caused the seven 
 celestial spheres to revolve; and on the sixth day He 
 created the whole world. One day, however, of that 
 upper world is said to be equal to one thousand years. 
 
 One day while Mohammed was talking- with some 
 of his followers the archang-el Gabriel appeared to them 
 in disg-uise of a very tall and strong- man clothed in 
 white, who for their information and instruction said to 
 the prophet: "O, Mohammed, tell me about Islam." 
 Mohammed replied: "Islam is that thou shalt bear 
 witness, that there is no God but God and that Moham- 
 med is the apostle of God; second, to offer five prayers 
 each day; third, to g-ive alms; fourth, to perform pil- 
 g-rimag-es to Mecca; fifth, to fast during- Ramazan." 
 The ang-el continued: "I accept this as true. Now 
 tell me about faith." Mohammed said: "It is to be- 
 lieve in God and his ang-els and in his books and in his 
 messeng-er; in the last day and in fate reg-arding g-ood 
 and evil." The ang-el replied: "I accept this also as' 
 true; now tell me about well doing-." Mohammed an- 
 swered: "It is to serve God as if thou didst see Him, 
 even thoug-h thou see Him not, for indeed He seeth thee." 
 
 Mohammedans hold, that from the very beg-inning- 
 God taug-ht his servants by direct inspiration, that 
 Adam, Knoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, as 
 well as a multitude of the prophets, were sent by Him 
 as occasion required; some for all men and some for in- 
 dividual tribes, that they mig-ht g-uide men to God and 
 reveal His will. 
 
 -140— 
 
The number of books which have been revealed to 
 the prophets is 103. Out of this number ten were in- ^ 
 trusted to Adam, fifty to Seth, thirty to Abraham, ten 
 to Moses, one to David, one to Jesus and one to Moham- 
 med, and the}^ believe when one revelation became lost 
 or corrupted a new messag-e was sent down. The last 
 of all the prophets, according- to them, is Mohammed, 
 and hence the final and most perfect revelation is that 
 contained in the Koran, and they hold that it is incum- 
 bent upon all men, therefore, to accept their creed or 
 they will be cast into the eternal punishment. Moham- 
 medans believe that the entire Koran was dictated to ^ 
 Mohammed by Gabriel, and is a literal copy of what 
 was written ag-es before the creation of the world by 
 divine decree upon the everlasting- tablet in heaven. 
 With reg-ard to creation of man the Mohammedans 
 believe that Adam was created in a g-arden in heaven; 
 but God sent an ang-el to obtain a handful of earth, of 
 which the body of Adam was then made. When the 
 spirit entered this body God ordered all the ang-els to 
 worship Adam. All obeyed except Iblis, who was there- 
 upon condemned to hell-fire and became known as Satan. <^ 
 Eve was created from Adam's rib, and when they ate of 
 the forbidden fruit, which they hold was wheat, they 
 were cast down from the heavenly paradise and fell to 
 the earth. When Adam fell, he kept on weeping- for 
 his offence for three hundred years, so that from his 
 tears rivers beg-an to flow and on their banks there g-rew 
 dates and nut trees. Every tear of Eve, which fell into 
 the sea, became a pearl and diamond, and then God 
 commanded Adam to make pilg-rimag-e to Mecca and 
 there he met Eve and recog-nized her because during- the 
 fall Eve was cast in one direction and Adam another 
 
 The doctrine of original sin finds no place in Moham- 
 medan theolog-y, although they hold that all men are 
 descendants of Adam and Eve — that Adam did not sin, 
 
but simply erred. They believe in the multitudinous 
 existence of the ang-els, as having- all been created ag-es 
 before creation by God, from fire, and being superior, 
 therefore, to man. They are, however, capable of fall- 
 ing into sin, and are appointed to various offices; are of 
 different rank, and God uses many of them as messen- 
 gers to mankind. In the hig-hest rank are those nearest 
 to God ; these are the four supporters of His throne. On 
 the judg-ment day four more will be appointed to this 
 service, because it is written in the Koran that the eig-ht 
 angels will support the throne of God on the last day. 
 An angel predominates in hell, and under his authority 
 are nineteen others, appointed to aid him in maintain- 
 ing- authority. They are preserved from being- injured 
 by the flames, as they have a seal ot divinity impressed 
 upon their foreheads, with the inscription, "There is no 
 g-od but God ; Mohammed is the apostle of God." 
 
 Five times a day there is a solemn call which sounds 
 forth from the mosque to prayer in these words: "Assahu 
 Akbar I " (God is most great) repeated four times in a 
 loud tone of voice, then in a lower tone. The caller 
 says, repeating- each clause separately twice, "I bear 
 witness that there is no God but God ; I bear witness 
 that Mohammed is the apostle of God." Then raising 
 his voice once more, he again recites these two clauses 
 twice, and then proceeding in the same tone he cries, 
 "Come to prayer, come to prayer ! Come to the refuge, 
 come to the refuge!" God is most great, God is most 
 great ! There is no g-od but God !" In the morning call, 
 he adds : "Prayer is better than sleep." 
 
 They pray five times a day — in the morning before 
 sun-rise, at noon, before sun-set, during the twilight, 
 after sunset, when night has commenced. At these 
 specified times Mussulmen, wherever they may be, in 
 the street or in the house, spread their rugs out upon 
 the ground and, facing Mecca, recite the set form of 
 
 -142- 
 
prayer in Arabic, claiming- that to be the lang-uag-e of 
 paradise. 
 
 The prophet commanded that the children should be 
 directed to offer the appointed prayers at the ag-e of 7 
 and that they should be beaten if they fail to comply. 
 The public prayers in the Mosque are conducted by a 
 priest or leader, who turns his face toward Mecca. Be- 
 hind him rank after rank stand on a spot which is 
 marked out for the worshiper, space enoug-h for each 
 to enable him to prostrate himself. Before a man 
 spreads his rug-, he takes off his shoes, carefully per- 
 forms the ceremony of washing- his hands and ears and 
 face, water being- always near at hand. In case there is 
 no water, sand is used. They all have to cross a bridg-e 
 after death, the unrig-hteous will fall down to the lowest 
 hell; this bridge is as thin as a hair and is sharper than 
 a sword. 
 
 Islam teaches that God alone, the Almig-hty Creator 
 and Preserver, the Master and Judg-e of all creation, 
 shall be worshiped, but of God's infinite holiness and 
 love, Mohammedism knows nothing-. 
 
 The prophet, Mohammed, after visiting- the seventh 
 heaven on a nig-ht journey, entered the ver}^ presence of 
 God himself. "In the sixth heaven," said Mohammed, 
 "I met Moses, who asked me, 'What hast thou been 
 commanded to do ? ' I answered, ' I have been com- 
 manded to teach the people to offer fifty prayers a day,' 
 Moses replied, ' Verily, the people will not be able to 
 comply with this request. I have tried it with Israel 
 in the wilderness. Return thou, therefore, to thy Lord 
 and ask of him that he lessen the burden for thy peo- 
 ple.'" I returned and God reduced the burden by ten 
 prayers. Then I returned to Moses, but he said as be- 
 fore. I went back and God ag-ain relieved me of ten 
 prayers. I went once more to Moses, who advised me 
 
 -143— 
 
ag-ain as before. I did so and was left with but ten 
 prayers wbich m}' people were to offer. 
 
 Then Moses advised me once more to return, which I 
 did, and was left with five prayers, consequently their 
 prayer is a kind of tribute to be paid to God as his due 
 and not in a'hy way a means of heartfelt spiritual com- 
 munication with Him but rather the homag-e due to a 
 V^Lord by his slave. 
 
 Mohammed said: " Rig-hteousness for you is to be- 
 lieve in God and the last day, the angels, the books, the 
 prophets, and g-ive your wealth to the poor, to the beg-- 
 g-ars and to those in bondag-e." All Mohammedans believe 
 that they will be saved throug-h Mohammed's inter- 
 cession. Mohammedism teaches that there is no simili- 
 tude whatever between God and man, nor is it desirable 
 that there should be. They confess that they are sin- 
 ners, but by inference and conclusions from the rest of 
 their teaching-s we see that they maintain the idea that 
 God is Himself the author of all their sinful acts. 
 
 Ag-ain, from the Koran and tradition, it is evident 
 that Mohammed reg-arded sin as a mere external pollu- 
 tion, and capable of being- washed off by performance of 
 certain rites. Five prayers are the means of wiping- out 
 the sin, to a g-reat extent, and pilg-rimag-e and alms- 
 g-iving- is needed to take away the g-uilt. Mohammedism 
 teaches nothing- for atonement of sin. The Sheahs g"en- 
 erally believe that Hassan and Hussain died as their 
 redeemers. 
 
 Tradition speaks on the subject of the reward in the 
 next world as follows : In paradise there are palaces 
 made of pearls. In each palace there are seventy abodes 
 made of rubies ; in each abode there are seventy houses 
 of emerald ; in every house, a harem ; in every harem, 
 seventy beds of various colors ; on every bed, an houri. 
 In every house there are seventy tables ; on each table 
 th^re are seventy kinds of food ; in each house there are 
 
MY BROTHER, JACOB ADAMS. 
 
seventy slave g-irls, and every morning- when he is anx- 
 ious for food the Mussulman is g-iven all that he desires; 
 besides, their beauty shall be as the moon in the night; 
 their vessels and combs shall be of g-old and silver. Every 
 one of them shall have two wives. Every man among- 
 the people of paradise shall surely have 500 houries, 
 4,000 virg-ins, 8,000 divorced women, and two larg-e-eyed 
 houries shall sing- to him with charming voices. The 
 inhabitants of paradise have horses and camels, and 
 there the bridles and saddles are of rubies ; and if any 
 man among the inhabitants of paradise should desire 
 children, they shall be born to him in one single day. 
 The people of paradise are smooth and beardless, white 
 and curly-haired ; they shall be 30 years of age, as was 
 Adam when he was created ; their height shall be sixty 
 cubits. 
 
 If a woman of Paradise should come down to the 
 earth she would illuminate and fill the space between 
 heaven and earth with her perfume. ' The people of 
 Paradise shall be waited upon with seventy dishes of 
 gold, each dish shall have a different color; they shall 
 have in addition the liver of the fish; for them shall be 
 slaughtered the ox. The tales which Mohammed told 
 of the delights of Paradise were equaled by the ghastl}^ 
 horrors with which he surrounded the future state of all 
 who should reject his claims. 
 
 It is believed that all Mussulmen, even those guilty 
 of the most atrocious crimes, after a period will be ulti- 
 mately in some manner delivered from hell and admitted 
 to paradise, there to enjoy various degrees of that 
 pleasure peculiar to their carnal nature. 
 
 Prophet Mohammed told his people that the earth 
 was originally made out of the foam of a whale which 
 God created. The earth consists like heaven of seven 
 stories, and the whole mass rests between the horns of a 
 bull. This animal has no less than four thousand horns. 
 
 —145— J 
 
The distance between any two of these horns is five 
 hundred years' journey. His feet rests upon a fish which 
 swims in water forty years' journey deep. Koran teaches 
 the virg-in Mary is the sister of Aaron and the daughter of 
 Amram. Certainly Islam is an anti-Christian faith, a 
 Christless creed, and it has preserved in the life and char- 
 acter of its founder an enduring- principle of deg^redation. 
 
 The Koran denies trinity, the divine sonship of our 
 Redeemer, his atoning- death, and his mediatorial office. 
 Mohammed taug-ht his followers that Christ had pro- 
 phesied of His coming- when promising- the disciples the 
 g-ift of the Holy Ghost. Christ Jesus tells us that God 
 is our heavenly Father, loving-, holy and just. Moham- 
 med teaches his followers that God is our Master, arbi- 
 trary and despotic, favoring- whom He will and leading- 
 astray whom He will. The Bible informs us that man 
 was orig-inally created in God's imag-e, that he was once 
 holy, but is now fallen from his true nature. Yet God 
 loves him and has provided a way for his restoration to 
 peace and full realization of His being- the child of God. 
 The Koran on the other hand tells us that man was 
 created weak and that he is and always has been separ- 
 ated from his Creator by a great gulf; that his nature is 
 just and ever will be. Man is in no sense a child of God, 
 but he is a slave. We Christians believe that sin is the 
 transgression of the eternal moral law, which is a nec- 
 essary part of the divine nature, hence sin is contrary 
 to man's original nature as a being made in God's image 
 and likeness. Christ tells his disciples that the most 
 tolerable of all possible kinds of doom is being left in a 
 state of eternal sin, eternal alienation or estrangement 
 from God and to all that is good and true and noble, and 
 to all that is pure and unselfish. Mohammedans hold 
 that sin is the breach of certain arbitrary rules laid down 
 by God for man to obey. The Bible informs us that 
 salvation consists in the deliverance from the love and 
 
 -146- 
 
power of sin and in the restoration unto our first nature, 
 and of bring-ing- our whole nature in harmony with God. 
 According- to Mohammedan faith salvation means escape 
 from the punishment of sin, while their mystics would 
 explain the word as sig-nifying deliverance from mental 
 ignorance reg^arding- God. We Christians believe that 
 redemption is to be obtained freely throug-h the atone- 
 ment wroug-ht out for us by Christ himself. Mussulmen 
 maintain that they will be made righteous by their 
 works or through Mohammed's intercession, while 
 others maintain that Hassan's and Hussein's death were 
 the atonement for sin. We Christians look forward for 
 an eternal happiness and for many mansions of our 
 heavenl}' Father's home, where nothing- that defiles can 
 enter, but where we shall know even as we are known 
 and shall be renewed in the image of our Creator and 
 our Redeemer. Mohammed promised his followers a 
 heaven of carnal delight and sensual pleasure, etc. 
 If we believe that only through Christ can God, the 
 Father, be properly known to us, that only through 
 Christ's atoning death can we hope for salvation, that 
 only through union with Him can we possess the true 
 life which he came to give us, then it must be plain 
 that the Mohammedan religion is entirely out of the 
 question. 
 
 Islam as a religion is not true, it has not come from 
 God. It does not and cannot satisfy the needs of the 
 human heart, it does not reveal God in His Divine 
 Fatherhood, in His love. His justice and His Holiness. 
 It does not show man what his own original nature was, 
 nor reveal to him what sin is and how to escape it. 
 Islam is an anti-Christian creed. It is opposed to all 
 true progress, whether moral or intellectual, political or 
 religious. This being the case, then Mohammedism 
 cannot take the place of Christianit}^ with advantage to 
 any section of the human race. Mohammed is in every 
 
 -147- 
 
way unfit to be an ideal of a human being-. But Chris- 
 tianity has a duty to the Mussulman, one which we can- 
 not shirk without incurring serious responsibility. We 
 must not be content to leave them alone in their dark- 
 ness and big-otry. If we would we cannot altog-ether do 
 so, broug-ht in contact with the g-reat Mohammedan 
 world as we are at the present time. If we would ask 
 what our duty to the Mussulman is, our divine Lord 
 g-ives us a very clear answer; "Go ye and make all 
 nations disciples, baptizing- them in the name of the 
 Father, Son and Holy Ghost." Christ died for them as 
 well as for the heathen and for ourselves, and he has 
 his own chosen among- all nations. To us is committed 
 the ministry of reconciliation, the sacred duty of calling- 
 the followers of the Arabian anti-Christ to the foot of 
 the cross of the crucified Redeemer whose atoning- death 
 they deny and Godhead they blaspheme. 
 
 Our duty to Mohammedans is clear and little have 
 we Christians done or are we doing- in bring-ing- them to 
 Christ. The work in Persia is still in its infancy and 
 likewise in many other countries. There are yet 
 175,000,000 of Mohammedans. Let us each and everyone 
 ask ourselves what we have done in delivering- them 
 from the false prophet. We are not to convert the Mo- 
 hammedans, but he who has promised to be with His 
 messeng-ers even to the end can and doth turn the heart 
 of many wherever the g-ospel is faithfully preached to 
 them; it is not too much to say, that it is the gospel of 
 Christ unto salvation to the Mussulman, as well as every 
 other seeker of truth. Oh, thank God, that His word is 
 strong and able to convict the sinner to His saving grace. 
 
 It may be interesting to know something of the 
 method generally adopted of bringing the Gospel to 
 bear on Mohammedans. We endeavor to convince them 
 of their sinfulness and weakness, their need of an atone- 
 ment for sin; a Redeemer who can and will deliver them, 
 
 —148- 
 
not only from its punishment, but also from its power. 
 We invite them to search Koran and their traditions and 
 tell us what provision they find therein to satisfy their 
 deep need. Needless is it to say, Islam knows of no 
 atonement and no Savior. Or ag-ain we point out the 
 Koran's testimony to the Bible and induce them to study 
 the holy books thus commended to all true believers. 
 A Mohammedan, with whom I was thus reading- St. 
 John's Gospel, said to me: " If a Moslem has read the 
 Gospel for even three days, he may still fear to become 
 a Christian, yet he will never ag-ain believe in Moham- 
 med." 
 
 We endeavor once ag-ain to g-et down to the g-rand 
 truths of Christianity, to show how true these are, how 
 very much more true than Mohammed ever suspected. 
 We show how they were recog-nized by Jews and Chris- 
 tian ag-es before Mohammed, and that Islam has forg-ot- 
 ten many similar truths and defaced those which it has 
 retained. We induce them to g-et to know Christ's char- 
 acter and work and contrast it with those of the prophet 
 of Arabia. Such a method never fails if pursued in a 
 loving- and prayerful spirit, to produce an effect upon the 
 heart and conscience of any thoug-htful Moslem. All 
 such do not embrace Christianity, but it is impossible 
 for them entirely to reject the attraction which Christ 
 Jesus exercises, or to make Mohammed their ideal and 
 their hope. "Some men know God," said a Moslem 
 friend of mine who had knelt weeping- with me to pray 
 to God for life and peace. 
 
 "Some men know God in a wa}^ that I do not, thoug-h 
 I have long- thoug-ht of him. Pray to God for me, that 
 if it be His will, I too, some day may know Him." Such 
 movements, in the Mohammedan world, are an evidence 
 of the unsatisfying- nature of Islam as a relig-ion. 
 
 If we g-o with the cross of Christ in our hearts, we 
 shall g-o forth to conquer, and the crescent shall soon 
 
 —149— 
 
fade before the glory of our returning- Lord. Ma}' God 
 help us each one to feel the responsibility for those who 
 are dying- with no hope in Jesus. 
 
 After the death of Mohammed, the succession was 
 disputed, althoug-h the Sheahs affirm that Mohammed 
 had already desig-nated Ali as his successor. The suc- 
 cession appeared to belong- by rig-ht, as well as by nature, 
 to Ali, who was married to Fatimeh, the only surviving- 
 daughter of the prophet. But it was not until the acces- 
 sion and assassination of Abu Bekr, Omar and Othman, 
 that the magnanimous Ali was elected to the caliphate. 
 Even then, he was not permitted to enjoy the long- 
 deferred honors without an opposition which eventually 
 proved fatal, not only to himself but also the continua- 
 tion of the caliphate in the family of the founder of the 
 faith. When Ali was in turn assassinated, his oldest 
 son, Hassan, assumed the caliphate, to which he was 
 peacefully elected by the people of Medina or Medineh. 
 At the head of a powerful army, he marched to encoun- 
 ter Noaviyeh. The enthusiasm of his generals and forces 
 promised a decisive victory, but Hassan was a man of 
 peaceable disposition, averse to active life, and prefer- 
 ing the tranquil domesticity of a private citizen. He 
 proposed to abdicate in favor of Noaviyeh, reserving- the 
 succession to himself after the death of Noaviyeh, who 
 was much the elder, and an ample revenue during a life 
 of ease and retirement at Medina. The terms of the 
 pacification were accepted and religiously followed by 
 Noaviyeh. Yezeed, his son, foreseeing that the ap- 
 proaching death of his father would restore the virtuous 
 Hassan to the caliphate, caused the latter to be poisoned 
 by one of his wives. 
 
 Hussein, a brother of Hassan, was a man of different 
 metal. He had opposed his brother's abdication, and he 
 now perceived, after escaping a plot to assassinate him, 
 that the empire was not large enough to contain 
 
 -150— 
 
himself and Yezeed in peace. He, therefore, boldly pre- 
 pared for a final conflict that was to decide the claims of 
 the Aliites and the Ommiades. Escaping- from Medina, 
 whose g"overnor had schemed to entrap him, Hussein 
 hastened with his family to Kufa. The inhabitants of 
 Kufa had hardh^ sent a pressing- message to Hussein to 
 resort to their cit}', with the oifer of a powerful host, 
 and their homag-e, when they allowed themselves to be 
 easily diverted from their purpose by the swift messen- 
 g-er sent by Yezeed, who was ordered to seize Kufa. 
 
 But, Hussein was a man of courag-e, and, what was 
 more, a true believer in predestination. "What is writ- 
 ten, is written," is the doctrine of the Koran, of what 
 worth is faith, if it will not bear the test in the hour of 
 trial? What better occasion could offer for the son of 
 Ali to testify to his descent from the prophet, and to his 
 unflinching- belief in the tremendous fiat of Kis7net. 
 Therefore, accompanied by his family and a score or 
 two of Arab horsemen, Hussein went forth unflinching-ly 
 to meet his doom. The heroism of Hussein was the 
 more remarkable, because from the outset of his journey 
 he was oppressed by a presentment of death stalking in 
 his path across the desert, and rapidly overtaking the 
 small troop of devoted victims wearily marching to the 
 grave. "To God we belong, and to God we return," was 
 his utterance. His four brothers, sons of Ali by another 
 wife, and all his companions also declined to accept the 
 safe conduct offered to them, choosing to share the fate 
 Hussein. In the meantime, the enemy's forces had 
 planted themselves between the camp of Hussein and the 
 Euphrates, and to the other horrors of this terrible hour 
 was now added that of thirst, in a land quivering with 
 intolerable heat. 
 
 The last night in the little camp was one of solemn 
 preparation, of portentous dreams and fateful gloom. 
 Zeineb and Hussein, brother and sister, the children of 
 
 -151- 
 
Ali and Fatimeli, held mournful converse on the creep- 
 ing- horrors of the morrow, the day that should see the 
 destruction of the family of the prophet of God. Around 
 them g-athered, one by one, their children and kinfolks 
 and the small band of faithful defenders. Hussein 
 urg-ed them to fly while 3^et there was time, for the 
 enemy sought only the life of one, his own. "Allah 
 forbid that we desert you now," exclaimed Abbass, 
 and all united in exclaiming- with him that the}' would 
 die with Hussein. The time for deliberation was past; 
 there remained for them but one thing — to die. The 
 attack was begun by Shemr, a fierce partisan. The 
 combat continued until the hour for noon prayer, when 
 there came a cessation of arms. During the truce Hus- 
 sein chanted the "Song of Fear." Hussein fell pierced 
 with over thirty wounds, and his head was struck off by 
 the ferocious Shemr, who carried it all gory to Obeid 
 Allah. Among the slain were eighteen descendants of 
 Ali and Fatimeh. Zeineb and some of the women 
 were spared, and eventually taken into the presence of 
 Yezeed, together with the heads of Hussein and his 
 brothers. Yezeed acted with moderation, and the 
 remaining descendants of the prophet seemed to have re- 
 tired from further participation in public affairs, laying 
 aside ambition and merging themselves into the life of 
 private citizens or of religious teachers and expounders 
 of the faith. 
 
 Assuming the office of vindicator of the growing 
 sect of Sheahs, who cherished the memory of Ali, Al 
 Muchtar entered on a mission of extermination against 
 all who were concerned in the slaughter of Hussein. 
 The entire Mohammedan world from Afghanistan to the 
 Straits of Gibralter now seemed to acknowledge the 
 sway of the caliphs of the line of Moaviyeh and his suc- 
 cessors. The rival claims of Ali and his famil}^ ap- 
 peared laid at rest and forgotten. But no ; in Iran, 
 
 -152- 
 
or Persia, the sectaries of Ali were slowl}^ biding* their 
 time. It is not a little sing-ular that not at Mecca nor 
 at Medina, where the prophet first proclaimed his doc- 
 trines, were the claims of his children accepted, but in 
 a distant land peopled by another race. His children 
 were buried in foreig^n soil, and the honor accorded to 
 their memory is to be found not in Arabia, but in Persia. 
 This may be due in part to the fact that one of the wives 
 of Hassan was a daug-hter of Yezdigerd, the last mon- 
 arch of the Sassanian line. Her remains were broug-ht 
 to her native land, and her tomb is shown on the rock}^ 
 heig-hts which overlook the extensive ruins of Rhei, the 
 last capital of the Sassanides, where she bade her father 
 farewell. 
 
 Moslems of Persia say that when Hussein was to be 
 beheaded, he was very thirsty, and asked for a drink of 
 water before being- beheaded. But this request was not 
 g-ranted and he was executed with his thirst unquenched. 
 In memory of this trag-ed}' there may now be seen walk- 
 ing- the streets of Persian cities ever}" warm summer 
 da}" men carrying- a bottle or jar of water and crying-, 
 "Sakkaw, sakkaw," (their name) and g-iving- water to 
 any who may be thirsty in the name of Hussein. Mos- 
 lems take this drink in a cup carried by the sakkaw, but 
 a Christian must furnish his own cup or drink from the 
 palms of his hands. If offered one or two cents the 
 sakkaw will take it, but he never asks for money. The 
 killing- of Hussein and his followers occurred in the 
 month called Mooharram. This entire month is ob- 
 served as a time of lamentation for Hassan, Hussein 
 and their followers who were slain. During- this period 
 every man, woman and child of the Shute Moslems are 
 under oblig-ations to wear black g-arments. The last ten 
 days of Mooharram are observed in a fanatical spirit as 
 a revival of relig-ion. This period is called Ashara, 
 meaning- ten days. The first seven days are for prepar- 
 
 —153— 
 
ation. The mosque will be crowded witli men and 
 women. The Masya-Kahns, or revivalist priests, are in 
 charg-e of these services. Followed by a large proces- 
 sion this priest goes to the mosque and mounting- a high 
 pulpit preaches to large crowds. His general theme is 
 tragic tales, stories of martyrs, the manner of their 
 death, their last utterances, and the wailing and moan- 
 of their friends and relatives. Often in the concluding 
 words of a pathetic story, the entire audience, sometimes 
 numbering thousands, will be deeply moved and slapping 
 their foreheads with the palms of their hands will cry 
 aloud to give vent to their emotion. The mosques can- 
 not accommodate all the worshipers during this period, 
 so some parts of a street are laid with carpets and rugs 
 where the people sit while listening to preaching. The 
 last three days are the most solemn. These people form 
 different companies, and each company visits from one 
 mosque to another. Passing through the streets the 
 men bearing the national and religious emblems are 
 followed by musicians playing mournful dirges with 
 such instruments as drum, flute and cymbal. Surround- 
 ing the musicians are hundreds of men marching with 
 bare breasts, shouting "Hassan, Hussein ! Hassan, Hus- 
 sein!" and pounding upon their breasts with bare 
 hands. Following them is another band surround- 
 ing a Say-yid a descendant of Ali and all of them are 
 shouting "Hassan, Hussein" and beating their breasts. 
 Next in the procession comes a band of ascetic Der- 
 vishes, wearing neither hat nor shoes nor other gar- 
 ments than a pair of pants, when the weather is mild. 
 Holding in their hands a whip about two feet -long and 
 one or two inches in diameter made of small iron 
 strands, they beat their bare shoulders and back with 
 the same as they march shouting "Yahu, Yamal-hu," 
 which are names of their god. Following comes 
 another band of Dervishes bearing in one hand a 
 
 —154— 
 
knotty club to which is fastened nails, bits of brass, etc. 
 With the other hand they beat their breasts as they 
 repeat the cry of the preceding band. These worshipers 
 torture the flesh by beating- it thus and bruise it black. 
 The grreatest demonstration of all occurs on the last 
 of the ten days at sunrise, the crowds of former days 
 g-ather around the mosques to start again on the marches. 
 On this day there are also fresh recruits. In front of 
 the mosque is a band of fifty to one hundred men and 
 boys of 13 to 40 years of age. They are barefooted, and 
 uniformed with a white shirt over the other clothing 
 that reaches to the feet. Held in the right hand before 
 each one is a two-edged sword. The left hand rests on 
 the belt of the soldier next in front. The leader stand- 
 ing" at the head of the band recites their creed: "Allah 
 is God and the only God, Mohammed is the prophet of 
 God and Ali is his vicar." All the band repeat this 
 creed. Immediately the leader smites his own brow with 
 his sword and this act is immitated by all his followers. 
 Soon the faces and white clothing of the men are red 
 with blood. Bleeding they go marching through the 
 streets shouting: "Hassan Hussein," and waving their 
 swords in harmon}^ with step and voice. Fearing that 
 these zealous young men may lose all regards for life, 
 and inflict upon themselves mortal blows, relatives or 
 friends frequently walk near with long sticks in hand 
 to hinder them from such deeds. This band first 
 marches to the court-house to be seen by the governor. 
 Every band has the right to ask the governor for the 
 freedom of some one prisoner, and these requests are 
 always granted, no matter what the crime of the impris- 
 oned. These bleeding men are as martyrs, and would 
 go direct to heaven if death resulted from these self- 
 inflcted wounds. After the parade ends the. bloody 
 shirts of these men are divided among their friends and 
 kept as hoi}' relics. The men who compose these bands 
 
 —155- 
 
are usually the most wicked in the community. They 
 go throug-h these ceremonies for the remission of sins 
 and to redeem themselves in the eyes of others; but they 
 usually continue in their wickedness as time g-oes on. 
 
 Another important feature of the last day in the pro- 
 cession is a richly decorated hearse containing- a coffin, 
 in which lies a man representing- the corpse of Hassan. 
 Beside the cof&n sits a woman, the widow of Hassan, 
 dressed in sackcloth and her head covered with dust. 
 Following the hearse are three beautiful Arabian horses, 
 finely saddled and harnessed, with a flake of gold, em- 
 bedded with pearls, on their foreheads. On two of them 
 are seated two girls, representing the daughters of 
 martyrs. The tops of the girls' heads are covered with 
 dust and straw. The third horse is riderless, to remind 
 one of the missing martyr. Following next, is a large 
 number of women, boys and girls, and some men — all 
 with yokes about their necks, their hands chained 
 behind them, seated on horses and mules. These are to 
 represent the captives taken by Yezeed, the captain who 
 killed Hussein. Near them are men in helmets, to rep- 
 resent the soldiers of Yezeed. They are armed with 
 whips, and are driving these women and children of 
 Moslems into captivity. Next in line, may be seen false 
 heads raised aloft on poles, representing Yezeed, Mawya 
 and other ancient enemies of Hussein. Boys and men 
 gather around them, spitting at and reviling them. 
 
 Gathered, all the sword bearers, chain strikers, and 
 the many men beating their breasts, make a great 
 crowd and tremendous noise. The bystander is struck 
 with horror when two fanatical bands meet, each trying 
 to excel the other in self-mutilation. Then are frig-ht- 
 ful gashes cut; the thumping of chains on bruised bodies 
 and the.pounding of breasts is heard louder than before. 
 With an upward sweep of the right arm, ever}^ man 
 
 —156- 
 
cries in a loud voice, "Ya Ali, Ya AH!" as the companies 
 pass each other. 
 
 At 4 p. m. on the last day, the marching- ceases and 
 the throng- halts by some tents pitched in the middle of 
 a public square. The swords and chain strikers approach 
 the tents, and with a shout of victory utter the names of 
 Ali, Hassan and Hussein, then set fire to the tents and 
 burn them and their contents to the g-round. They 
 imag-ine that their enemies were in those tents, and now 
 that they have been destroyed it is a time of g-reat 
 rejoicing-. The marching clubs disband and the active 
 ones are soon found at the mosques, drinking- sherbet, a 
 sweet drink, as a sort of reward for performing- their 
 relig-ious duties. 
 
 The last nig-ht is called watch-nig-ht, and many Mos- 
 lems do not even slumber during- the nig-ht. It is a holy 
 nig-ht, in which Hussein and other martyrs were buried 
 in the tombs. It is a dishonor, and even a sin, for them 
 to g-o to bed without meditation on their prophets. In the 
 mosque services the people shout, "Oh, Hassan and 
 Hussein, let my soul be a sacrifice for thee." They 
 believe the observance of that nig-ht is absolute remis- 
 sion of sins ; that the g-ates of heaven are open to all 
 believers, for the sake of martyrs. Some pious Moslems 
 preserve the tears of that nig-ht in small bottles, as it is 
 believed the}^ will cure disease when applied to the 
 brows of sick men. These tears are prized as a most 
 holy relic. The Mussulmen say: "Even David, the 
 prophet, believed in the efficacy of tears when he wrote 
 in the Psalms, 'Put Thou my tears in Thy bottle, oh, 
 God.'" 
 
 On the last nig-ht many Shute Moslems walk to the 
 mosque in bare feet wearing- sack cloth. Often a g-over- 
 nor or lord accompanied by forty to one hundred servants, 
 all barefooted, will be seen slowly trending- their way 
 toward a mosque. At daybreak these solemn ceremonies 
 
 -157- 
 
end. Thus thousands of people every year, in different 
 parts of the country, will slash their bodies to pieces and 
 suffer death, believing" this the way of obtaining- sal- 
 vation. 
 
 Mohammedan followers are not to salute those who 
 drink, nor to marry those who are intemperate, nor to sit 
 at the table where there is wine. Some one asked Ali 
 how strict they should be regarding- strong- drink. Ali 
 answered that if one drop of wine should fall in a well 
 and the well should be filled up with earth and after a 
 hundred years had passed away a sheep should eat grass 
 growing- on that spot, he, Ali, would not eat of that 
 flock. Again, Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of Moham- 
 med, said that if there was a caravan of camels reaching 
 from the north pole to the south pole and the last camel 
 in the caravan should have wine on his back, that he, 
 Ali, would not take hold of the bit of the head camel. 
 Mohammed said that in hell there is a valley in which 
 there burn 1,000 loads of wood every day; there is a 
 house in that valley and in that house a box, and in that 
 box there is a fiery snake which has 100 heads and every 
 head has 100 mouths and every mouth has 100 teeth and 
 every tooth has 100 sting-ers and every stinger has 100 
 poisons. The people asked Mohammed: " Who will be 
 punished there?" and he answered: "Those who are 
 intemperate." They classed the Jews as an inferior peo- 
 ple, 3^et Mohammed said that it was easier for a Jew to 
 enter Heaven than for a person who drank wine. If a 
 X I person drinks wine at night, God will look upon him with 
 his bad eye* until morning-; also his prayer will not be 
 heard for forty days and forty nights. But lately the 
 opium has been introduced in all parts of Persia, whereas 
 
 *The Mohammedans believe that God has two ej'es, one good the other evil, 
 that with the g-ood eye he watches over the Mahammedans, with the evil eye over 
 the Christian and all non Mohammedans. 
 
 —158- 
 
the Mohammedans are becoming- more and more slaves 
 of it. 
 
 Some regard Ali, Hassan and Hussein as first of all 
 creatures, the supreme intercessors,'~and endowed with 
 divine light. Ali is the g-reatest of all. On him rests 
 the hope of salvation. The Moslem believes in written 
 prayers and passages or verses from the Koran. These 
 are laid on a cloth and placed in leather cases, and are 
 seen suspended from the neck or tied to the arm for 
 protection. 
 
 Charms with the names of the Imams eng-raved on 
 the stones and beads from Kerballa are carried with 
 them as the belief is that these keep a man from acci- 
 dent, evil eye and robbery. 
 
 The Mohammedans when they cut their finger nails 
 wrap them in paper or in cloth and throw them behind 
 their heads. Their idea is that God will ask where 
 their finger nails are, and they will say that they have 
 them on their back. Others will save them and bury 
 them with the person at his death. 
 
 If a man has two wives and loves one more than the 
 other, the one that has been slighted will g^o to the 
 Persian priest and tell him the case, then he will send 
 her to her husband to bring- one hair out of his head, 
 also one of her own. When she returns with these the 
 priest will read a few verses out of the Holy Koran, and 
 then take the two hairs, burn them, and put the ashes 
 in a g-lass of water, which the woman must g-ive to her 
 husband, who will thenceforth love her more than 
 the other one, as the power of the words of the 
 prophet having- been read over the glass of water, it will 
 lead him to love her. 
 
 All the Mohammedans believe that Mohammed stands 
 at the gate of heaven. They believe that when they 
 g-o to heaven he will let them pass safely over the 
 bridge, which is sharper than any two-edged sword and 
 
 — 15'>- 
 
thin as a hair. When a person of some other relig-ion 
 comes, he will slacken the hair and then the person will 
 be cast into hell. They feel that they are contaminated 
 by touching- the Christian Bible, and g-reat care is exer- 
 cised to keep the Koran out of the hands of the Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 Jonah was three days and nig-hts in the belly of a 
 whale. After this example, some Persians fast three 
 days and three nig-hts ; after that they bring- seven kinds 
 of g-rains, and mixing- them together, add seven parts of 
 salt and eat it ; then they retire and dream that they 
 are very thirsty, and that some one of the opposite sex 
 is giving- them water — and then that person will be their 
 mate. 
 
 Once a camel strayed into a mosque, mistaking it for 
 a caravansary. All the worshipers got around it, declar- 
 ing that even the dumb beast recognizes the presence of 
 the prophet. They decorated and arrayed it and then 
 paraded through the streets, each one taking some of 
 the hairs of the animal as a blessing, and the animal 
 became an attache of the mosque. 
 
 The blessings of medicine are unknown in Persia, 
 with the exception of several medical missionaries. 
 The Persian doctors have not become such by study- 
 ing books on medical science, however there are many 
 quack doctors who have a system of superstition which 
 has been taught them orally by older men. Blades of 
 some kinds of grasses which are known to medical 
 science as having no medicinal properties are the chief 
 remedies prescribed for disease. Internal diseases are 
 called supernatural and it is believed the}^ are inflicted 
 by evil spirits. None of the doctors can do anything 
 for these forms of diseases, as they consider it out of 
 their realm. A patient with an internal disease is sent 
 to the priest who will diagnose the case by looking into 
 the Koran or some other superstitious books in which he 
 
 —160- 
 
VEILED AND UNVEILED WOMAN. 
 
CHURNING. (Pag-el34.*) 
 GRINDING WHEAT. (Pag-e 132.*) 
 
locates the particular demon that is afflicting- the pa- 
 tient. He will write some mystical sig-ns on two slips of 
 paper, the priest g-ives direction for their use, (this one 
 soak in a cup of water, the other bind on the patient's 
 arm). There are several remedies for fever, one is to 
 tie seven knots in a white thread and fasten it around 
 the waist, wearing* it fifteen or twenty days, they believe 
 this will cure the fever. Another remedy is to remove 
 the clothing- and jump into cold water before breakfast. 
 If a man has a severe attack of colic and cries "I die, 
 I die," his friends run for the nearest baldheaded man, 
 as he is known to have power to remove the pains by 
 firmly pressing- the smooth surface of his cranium ' 
 ag-ainst the surface of the patient's body nearest the 
 seat of pain. Pork is never used as food, but it is be- 
 lieved to remove rheumatism when bound on the parts 
 affected. 
 
 There are two g-reat needs in Persia at present — 
 native preachers and native doctors. May the dear 
 Lord help us to hope and pray that the Mohammedan 
 Dominion may in God's own time be broug-ht down, this 
 dark spot in the civilization of this closing- nineteenth 
 century be blotted out, and the way be opened up for 
 the Gospel to be preached, received and professed freely 
 by the followers of the false prophet in every land where 
 they exist. If the power of the Sultan and Shah were 
 destroyed, the downfall of Mohammedism before the 
 Gospel would probably follow speedih^ the crescent 
 would wane and disappear, while the cross would shine 
 resplendently in its stead. 
 
 Historical Mission Work. 
 
 Relig-iously Persia is a very important link in the 
 chain of Moslem lands from Morocco to the walls of 
 China and the frontiers of India. This chain we may 
 consider as broken in a measure by the French occupation 
 
of Alg-iers and the British occupation of Eg"ypt and 
 Russia's annexation of the great khanates of Turkestan. 
 Of the four independent Moslem powers, Morocco, Tur- 
 key, Persia and Afghanistan, Persia has probably the 
 most innate vitality and the best prospect of national 
 life, and is at the same time the most open to religious 
 chang-e. In Turkey the Sultan is caliph, the g-overn- 
 ment is a theocracy, and the teachers of relig^ion must 
 be kept in harmony with the state. In Persia there is 
 more antagonism. The king- and his rulers are g-lad to 
 humble the Mollahs and not infrequently the highest 
 Mushtahid of a city is called to the capitol or cast into 
 prison because he has overstepped his limit and excited 
 mobs or riot or opposed the civil governor. In this con- 
 flict between the civil and eccliastical powers there is 
 an opening for a larg-e deg^ree of toleration. Larg-e 
 communities of people in Persia were never content 
 under the Moslem system and they wear it as a yoke. 
 The Ali Illahees form the majority of the population in 
 some districts, and in other districts the Babis, adher- 
 ents of a mystical belief that is undermining- the whole 
 structure of Islam. 
 
 Persia is not yet like Japan, a nation in search of a 
 relig-ion, but there are many indications that the cycle 
 of Islam is drawing- to a close, and thousands are weary 
 and heavy laden, and some are hearing- the voice of 
 Jesus say, "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." 
 
 In Kurdistan and some parts of Persia live the Yezi- 
 dees or Devil-Worshipers. Hundreds of them have 
 been killed in the attempt to force them under the yoke 
 of Islam. These poor heathenish people in their dis- 
 tress turn to missionaries and beg- to be enrolled as Pro- 
 testants and to receive Christian instruction. The}^ are 
 verily a heathen race with Satan enthroned as their 
 chief deity. Their belief is that for 10,000 years the 
 g-overnment of this world is committed by the Supreme 
 
 -162- 
 
God to His Satanic Majesty. Among- the Jews, who 
 number about 50,000 in these parts of Persia and Kur- 
 distan mountains, there is a similar unrest. Some are 
 looking- to Jerusalem for orders to return. Some are 
 asking- when will our Messiah come, and some are read- 
 ing- the evidence and saying-, "He has come." Some 
 also who at first are drawn by the words of Jesus fall 
 back into the subtle pantheistic doctrines of Babism. 
 It is a sing-ular fact that in Russia some of the dissenters 
 from the established Church have embraced Judaism, 
 and quite as sing-ular that in Persia there is a tendency 
 of dissenting- Jews to accept Babism. But here ag-ain, 
 there is the better sig-n that Jesus Christ by His char- 
 acter and His cross and His Spirit from on hig-h, is in 
 the hearts of this long- exiled people. 
 
 The field of Persia contains a larg-e number of 
 nominal Christians as well as Jews. The heart of 
 Kurdistan is in that field and we are called upon to have 
 a g-reat share. O, how little is done for g-reat Kurdistan, 
 whose people number about 5,000,000. Taken tog-ether 
 what a marvelous field it is ! What field an3^where can 
 compare with it for marvelous variety and wonderful 
 possibility? We are laying- foundations and can see but 
 little, but the g-reat Master Builder is g"oing- to rear a 
 temple there. What a temple it will be when all the 
 varied stones have been quarried and polished and built 
 onto Christ the corner-stone? Three g-reat racial fami- 
 lies of the g-lobe, Arj^n, Semitic and Turanian, are here 
 represented. The contrasts in natural scenery are no 
 more striking- than those of races. The snowy crag-s of 
 Jelu, the burning- plains of Mesopotamia, the rocky can- 
 yons of Ravandooz, the deep g-org-es of the Zab, the fer- 
 tile plains of Oroomiah are no more dissimilar than are 
 the Armenian, the suave Jacobite, the crafty Persian, 
 the stolid Turk, the wild Arab, the savag-e Kurd, 
 the patient Jew, and the oppressed Nestorian. 
 
 —163— 
 
There is the orthodox Islam of the Sunni, the 
 heretical Islam of the Shiah, the reformed Islam of 
 the Babi, and the heathenish Islam of the Ali-Illahi. 
 Ag-ain, since Persia became Mohammedan and so far 
 closed to Christian truth, God has opened special ways 
 of access to the people. His providence has in the tur- 
 moil of the centuries, planted here and there throug-h 
 the land, frag-ments of Christian churches. To relig-ht 
 in these the candle of the spirits presence, long* since 
 extinct, has been an essential step toward illuminating- 
 the surrounding- mass of Mohammedan darkness. 
 
 History beg-an in Persia. Kden was in or within her 
 borders. The builders of Babel had come "from the 
 east" to the land of two rivers. There was the home 
 of civilization and the nursery of the nations. Iran or 
 Persia in its larg-est sense was a true center of popula- 
 tion, of knowledg-e, of lang-uag-es and of arts, which 
 instead of traveling- westward only, as has been fanci- 
 fully supposed, or eastward as mig-ht with equal reason 
 have been asserted were expanded in all directions, to 
 all reg-ions of the world. Of the founder of the Persian 
 Empire, Isaiah prophecied, "thus saith the Lord to His 
 annointed, to Cyrus, whose rig-ht hand I have holden to 
 subdue nations before him." I will ^o before thee, Cyrus 
 is my shepherd, and will perform all my pleasure. Thus, 
 by the hand of God, the little king-dom of Pars on the 
 g-ulf, Iran, widened and conquered till it comprised the 
 western half of Asia, and the lower valley of the Nile. 
 The g-reat empire to some deg-ree symbolized the g-lori- 
 ous and everlasting- king-dom of Jesus Christ, and Cyrus 
 was a type of the g-reat shepherd of the sheep. By 
 Cyrus and his successors the Jews were delivered from 
 the Assyrians, were restored to Judea with their conse- 
 crated vessels of silver and g-old, and were authorized 
 and protected in rebuilding- Jerusalem. A larg-e part of 
 the race, however, remained in the land of captivity and 
 
 -164- 
 
were saved from destruction by the beautiful queetl 
 EstJi^; they had dispersed to all the hundred and twenty- 
 seven provinces of Xerxes, and the dominion of Cyrus 
 had included also the cities of the Medes to which the 
 ten tribes had been carried awa}^ It is worthy of note 
 also, that the Persians were the one people who could 
 sympathize with the Jews in the hatred of idolatry, and 
 there is evidence that a Persian version of the Old Tes- 
 tament was used in the synag-og-ues. From this data, 
 notwithstanding- the fact that the chosen people were 
 exiled for their disloyalty to Jehovah, we may safely 
 infer that his word and worship were carried throughout 
 the vast empire of their captors in Persia as in the 
 Roman Empire, the dispersion was a Providential prepa- 
 ration for Christianity. 
 
 Persia's historic relation to the king-dom of God be- 
 gan, it may be, when the wise men from the Kast seeing 
 his star came and worshiped the new born King ; they 
 were Persians, as their coming forshadowed the bowing 
 of Persia and all nations to our Lord ; and when the 
 fulfilment of the prophecy "I will pour out my spirit on 
 all flesh," began at Pentecost, the strangers present 
 whose names are first on the list are "Parthians, Medes, 
 Klamates," all dwellers in this same land. Peter him- 
 self, accompanied by his wife, toiled over the fiery des- 
 erts, and preached at least at Babylon. Mark was 
 with him and tradition sa3^s that two others of the 
 apostles, also Thomas and Matthew labored in the Per- 
 sian field. 
 
 Of early Persian Christianity, little is known. His- 
 torians tell us that it flourished and spread, and from 
 the silence of history it is thought that under the Par- 
 thians there was no long and fierce persecution. But 
 with the rise of the Persian dynasty of the Sassanides 
 (A. D. 226), there came a revival of the ancient worship, 
 and a determined effort was made to put down all other 
 
 —16: 
 
relig-ion. From the time of King- Sapor, when Christi- 
 anity conquered heathenism in the Roman empire, the 
 Christians of Persia threw in their sympathies with the 
 Christian state. Almost simultaneously, therefore, with 
 the war ag-ainst Constantine, there beg-an in the year 
 339 a rigorous persecution of the Christians. It con- 
 tinued forty years, and according- to Mares, bishop of 
 Seleucia at the time, furnished 160,000 martyrs. This 
 may be an exagg-eration, but the Syrian "Acts of Per- 
 sian Martyrs " records their g-reat numbers and terrible 
 sufferings. In 410, the tolerant Zazdgird I. permitted a 
 synod of Christians to riieet in his capital, and sent the 
 primate of the church on a mission to the Roman Em- 
 peror. The severe persecutions of his successor, Bahman 
 v., a favorite hero of Persian tradition, ended with the 
 war with Rome in 422. Religious freedom was then 
 guaranteed by treaty to Zoroastrians in the Roman 
 empire, and to Christians in Persia. But the accession 
 of his son, Yazdegird II., in 438, was marked by renewed 
 persecution of Jews and Christians. In consequence, a 
 rebellion in Armenia was not quelled until the king 
 promised to his subjects complete liberty of worship. 
 Those were also times of fearless missionary enterprise. 
 In 334, a bishop was settled in far-off Tros, in Khoras- 
 san. A metropolitan, implying several bishops and 
 numerous converts, existed in Mero as early as 420 A. D., 
 and about that time a see was established at Herat. 
 
 During these centuries the mind of Persia was thor- 
 oughly hostile to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Her 
 philosophy and religion furnished the germs of many of 
 the great heresies — Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and other 
 systems of theosopy, that rent the Christian church. 
 Bishop Nestorius, of Constantinople, was willing to call 
 Mary the Mother of God, but denied her divinity, and he 
 held to the union of two natures in one person in Christ. 
 Falsely accused, he was condemned unheard, and 
 
 -166- 
 
banished. His followers, luiall}^ driven from the Roman 
 Empire in 489 A. D., found a home in Persia. Bor- 
 sumos, the founder of the seminary at Nisibis, which 
 sent out so many learned missionaries, had worked for 
 his fellow believers from 440 to 485, with such marvel- 
 ous enterprise and skill that they became the chief 
 Christian sect of the country. 
 
 It was the mission of the Nestorians to carry the 
 Gospel to the g-reat heathen East, and they were not 
 unfaithful to their opportunity. "For centuries," says 
 Tracy in his history, "they maintained missions in Tar- 
 tary, China and other eastern regions." Their churches 
 were scattered from Syria and Cyprus to Pekin, and from 
 the coasts of Malabar and Ceylon to the borders of Si- 
 beria. Some of the Chinese emperors favored Christianity, 
 and ordered the erection of numerous churches. The 
 converts are supposed to have numbered more than the 
 Greek and Latin communions. If the monument of 
 Sig-an Fu, China, is trustworthy, they had preached 
 Christ in that land before 636 A. D. Prominent mention 
 should be made here of the scholar and missionary, Sub- 
 chalyesn, who about the close of the eig-hth century, 
 preached with g-reat success to the Gelae on the Caspian 
 shore. Thoug-h formal compacts of toleration may not 
 have been made by Mahammed and Omar with the Nes- 
 torians, as has been asserted by some writers and denied 
 by others, yet many of them occupied hig-h places of 
 state during- the Arabic domination. And thoug-h the 
 Arabs ruled the country from the decisive battle of 
 Nehorvend, in 462, yet Islam was compelled to compro- 
 mise with the more flexible and more tolerant g-enius of 
 the Persians. Hence the churches' opportunities for 
 proselytism. But with all its opportunities and achieve- 
 ments, Nestorianism never rose to be more than a sect of 
 Christianity, in which "the simplicity of the g-ospel was 
 fashioned and painted with the colors of the Syriac 
 
 -167— 
 
tiieolog-y." Its power was vitiated by superstition and 
 therefore it proved unable to permanently mould and 
 purify the nations. By the year 1000 Islam was advanc- 
 ing- and by the year 1300 had gained the ascendency in 
 the countries east of the Caspian, where Christianity had 
 long- been firmly established. The big-oted and zealous 
 Mohammed, sultan of Cabul in the eleventh century, 
 had, it is thought, made millions of Moslems by his 
 sword. And when, at the end of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, the ferocious Tamerlane, the greatest of conquer- 
 ors, swept over Asia like a whirlwind of fire, there fol- 
 lowed the terrible anarchy and persecution that shrivel- 
 led and blasted the churches. Romish missions also 
 accelerated their rapid decline. By 1500 A. D. Nestorian 
 Christianity was almost extinct in the lands of its great- 
 est triumphs. The miserable remnant of the church, 
 that for five centuries had carried the cross over Asia, 
 was discovered early in the present century hid away in 
 the mountains of Kurdistan. 
 
 John de Monte Corvino, the great Romish missionary 
 to the Mongols and Chinese and who became archbishop 
 of Pekin, labored at Tabriz, Persia, near the end of the 
 thirteenth century. His work was short, but very suc- 
 cessful. Speedy conversions, however, were followed 
 by speedy defections. About 1341 A. D. the Romanists 
 produced a faulty and interpolated translation of the 
 four Gospels. In the seventeenth century they seemed 
 to have, at least, a firm foothold in the country, but 
 their influence gradually weakened. Now they have 
 missions in several cities with schools, churches and two 
 or three small nunneries ; all the work of the present 
 century. The number of the pupils and converts is 
 about 5,000. 
 
 In 1747, two heroic Moravians, Hocker and Rueffer, 
 medical missionaries, penetrated to Ispahan to work 
 among the fire-worshipers. They suffered repeated 
 
 —168— 
 
robbery and hardship such as being- compelled to travel 
 over the deserts in the burning sun on foot and nearly 
 naked. Because of the anarchy and misery of the land 
 under Nadir Shah, they left the country, unable to accom- 
 plish anything-. With the nineteenth century dawned 
 the 9ra of evang-elical missions in Persia. Among- the 
 worthy men devoted to this work was Henr}^ Mart}^. 
 On June 9, 1811, he reached Shiraz from India. In that 
 city of Persian learning- and Moslem bigotry, "seat of 
 satan," as he named it, he revised his translation of the 
 New Testament, and boldly preached the Son of God. 
 The story of that work, his controversies with the 
 keenest teachers of Islam, of his terrible journey to pre- 
 sent a copy of the translation to the Shah, his three 
 months' sickness at Tabriz, his last ride, and lonely 
 death at Tocat, October 16, 1812, has inspired his suc- 
 cessors for more than 80 years. (No finer missionary 
 consecration has blessed the Church of Christ.) 
 
 In 1829, Rev. Dr. Pfander, of the Basle society, 
 entered Tabriz. The fruit of his brief labor was various 
 treatises, and in particular the important "Balance of 
 Truth," exhibiting the evidences of Mohammedanism 
 and Christianity. Rev. Frederick Hans and other Ger- 
 mans after a four-years' struggle with unscrupulous 
 bigotry at Tabriz, were compelled to withdraw in 1837. 
 Grover worked at Bagdad from 1829 to 1833, and Mer- 
 rick in various parts of the country, from 1835 to 1845. 
 Their efforts, largely failures, were mainly on behalf of 
 Mussulmans. Dr. William Glen, of the Scottish Mis- 
 sionary Society, entered the field in July, 1838. He had 
 spent several years at Astrachan, Russia, where he had 
 worked at a Persian translation of the Old Testament. 
 Completing this in 1847, he went to Scotland to super- 
 intend the printing. At the age of 70 he returned, and 
 lived at Teheran, to aid in circulating the Scriptures. 
 In the court of the old Armenian church in that city, is 
 
 —169 - 
 
a mu?'ai tdihlet in his memory. What stars will shine 
 in their crowns, w^ho opened to Persia's millions the word 
 of life. About 1832, Messrs. Smith and Dwig-ht were 
 sent by the A. B. C. F. M. to explore the reg-ions of 
 Northern Persia. They decided to establish a mission 
 among- the Nestorians. 
 
 In 1835 Messrs. Perkins and Grant were appointed 
 the first missionaries; they arrived at Oroomiah and 
 established a school. The school room was in a base- 
 ment. They had no books, but just used wall cards. 
 The studies were confined to the Bible, a little arith- 
 metic and g-eography. The pupils consisted of bishops, 
 priests, elders and deacons of the old Nestorian Church. 
 In 1843 Mr. Stoddard was appointed superintendent of 
 the school in "Sery," about three miles from Oroomiah 
 city. The condition of women in Persia in the year 
 1835 when the missionaries first went there was very 
 different from that of today. At that time only one 
 woman in the whole country could read. Her name was 
 Helena, the sister of the Patriarch. At that time the 
 houses were large, and the whole family connection 
 lived in the one home, sometimes thirty in one house. 
 Women were treated as slaves. After doing- the house- 
 work they had to work in the fields like men and care 
 for their little ones while they worked. At the same 
 time they were often brutally abused by their husbands 
 and called cats, cows, donkeys, etc. The first mission- 
 aries were g-reatly used by God to scatter the deep dark- 
 ness. It was with great difficulty that they found op- 
 portunity to teach a few small g-irls a short time each 
 day. The work prog-ressed very slowly. In 1843 the 
 well known Miss Fisk established a boarding school. 
 She only understood one word in the Syriac language, 
 the word "girl." When she would meet with the people, 
 she would ask for a girl and pass on. The people 
 thought that she wanted to make bees of them and make 
 
 —170— 
 
them fly to America, so they would not let them g-o. 
 At last she found four, and one morning* while sitting- 
 in her room she saw Mar Yohannan coming- with two 
 g-irls. She met him at the door, and her heart was so 
 full of love that she wept for joy. He told her that 
 they were her property and none could take them away. 
 She had no books. The lessons were written on a long- 
 paper and hung- on the walls. Out of these schools 
 hundreds of young- men and women have been educated 
 and enlig-htened and fed on the living- word of God, and 
 they have indeed been as salt to every house or com- 
 munity they have g-one to. 
 
 All the work of the American board in Persia was in 
 1871 transferred to the Presbyterian board of the United 
 States of America. At present they have about twenty- 
 four hundred communicants and larg-e attendance in 
 their schools. In 1869 the Eng-lish Missionary Society 
 occupied Ispahan later on also Bushire, American mis- 
 sionaries are at present located at Teheran, Hamadan, 
 Tabriz and Oroomiah. A number of out-stations are 
 occupied by native helpers and the rest of the ten mil- 
 lions are practically uncared for. A majority of the 
 large cities and nearly all of the smaller ones are not 
 even occupied as out-stations. In 1887 Arch-bishop of 
 Canterbury, London, sent missionaries to Oroomiah who 
 are co-operating- with the Nestorian Church. In 1894 
 the Lutheran missionaries for Mohammedans, under the 
 auspices of Pastor Faber of Berlin, Germany, were 
 sent to make their headquarters at Oroomiah. The 
 missionaries were Zerweek and Kitzle ; but they were 
 not careful enoug-h to conceal their plan of labor and 
 told everywhere their intentions and desires for the 
 future. The plan was made public by the press as well 
 as by words. All their plans were communicated to the 
 Shah of Persia, who teleg-raphed his order to these 
 missionaries to leave at once his country and depart from 
 
 171- 
 
its borders. As there is no relig-ious liberty among the 
 Mohammedan public as yet, all applications were in 
 vain, and the saddest thing- in the whole trouble was the 
 early and unexpected death of Pastor Kitzle, a young- 
 and learned minister of the Gospel, who found his g-rave 
 in a country where he was not allowed to live and labor 
 for Christ and the salvation of souls. His companion, 
 Dr. Zerweek, returned to Germany. 
 
 There is another g-rand work which needs our atten- 
 tion, the work which has been accomplished by Pastor 
 Peria Yohannan, a native of Persia and a g-raduate of 
 Hermansburg-, Germany, and who received his support 
 from there. The pastor's work has been larg-ely in 
 Wazeriwa and the neig-hboring-villag-es. Much has been 
 done by his effort in teaching, preaching and spreading 
 God's word. The simplicity of his living and the manner 
 of conducting his work has much to do with his success. 
 
 The^ Kurds. 
 
 Kurdistan is a geographical name applied to the 
 Kurdistan Mountains, and sometimes to the whole coun- 
 try inhabited by the Kurds. The area is estimated at 
 50,000 square miles, extending to Mt. Ararat, in Armenia, 
 on the north, to the plains of the Tigris on the south,- 
 to the city of Harput, Sivan, on the west, and to the 
 plains of Oroomiah and the city of Sakis on the east. 
 Thus, this territory is partly subject to the Shah of 
 Persia and partly to the Sultan of Turkey. The bound- 
 ary line is a point of dispute, although in A. D. 1639 
 a treaty between the Shah Sef avi and one of the Sultans 
 of Turkey established the frontier line, which since has 
 served as a nominal line between the two empires. On 
 the territory here described not only Kurds reside, but 
 also Turks, Armenians, Chaldeans, Assyrians and Per- 
 sians. The Kurds are descendants of the ancient Car- 
 duchi, with whom Xenophon and the 10,000 had so long 
 
 -172— 
 
a strug-g-le. The reg-ioti they occupy is as rug-g-ed as 
 their character. They are by far the most turbulent of 
 the subjects of the Shah, and were it not for the beauti- 
 ful rug's they manufacture in their rude dwellings, one^ 
 would be at a loss to imag-ine a reason for their exist- 
 ence. Their orig-in is wrapt in obscurity ; they seem to 
 have no relationship with an}^ other race, and as with 
 Cain, their hand is ag-ainst everyone and everyone's 
 hand ag^ainst them. The ethymolog-ist who places little 
 value on his life, mig-ht find a few months among- the 
 mountains of Kurdistan of some profit to science. They, 
 themselves, claim that they are descendants of Esau. 
 They speak a mixed lang-uag-e, collected from Persian, 
 Syrian and Arabic lang^uag^es. Their lang^uag^e is called 
 Kurmanji, and has never been reduced to writing-, so 
 they are without books or schools. If any writing- is 
 done, it is done in the Persian or Arabic characters. 
 They number about 5,000.000; 700,000 are subjects of 
 the Shah, and a few to the Sultan of Turkey, but prac- 
 tically all are lawless and beyond the control of either 
 of these two g-overnments. A Kurd is very decided and 
 independent in spirit. He would rather live in a cave 
 under a projecting- rock, and be unmolested, than to 
 dwell in a palace and be subject to hig-her authority. 
 Some of the tribes have a small villag-e in the mountains, 
 to which the}' return in winter. Their houses are made 
 of stone and clay, and are usually under projecting- rocks 
 or on the slope of a hill. The roof is so low that a man 
 cannot stand erect. 
 
 The Kurds very seldom cultivate the soil, but keep 
 herds of cattle and horses and flocks of sheep, and travel 
 from place to place, wherever they may find g-ood pas- 
 tures for their flock. A Kurd g-oes before his sheep, 
 having- a staff in his hand, and on his shoulder hang-s a 
 bag- in which he has provisions for the day. He g-ives 
 names to his sheep, and when he calls a certain sheep it 
 
comes to him. He often may be seen sitting-, sing-ing- 
 and playing- his flute, his fond flock g-athered around 
 about him for an audience. But the principal occupa- 
 tion is robbery. Many may be seen asleep during- the 
 day, but they rise at sunset and start on their robbing- 
 expeditions. The Kurd has a spear in one hand, sword 
 at his side, pistol and dag-g-er in his belt, with many 
 cartridg-es, and a g-un in the other hand. Dark eyes, 
 and a turban covering- much of his forehead, makes him 
 a fearful looking- fellow. When they start at dusk they 
 are ready to rob and kill ; by the next day at 9 o'clock, 
 they return with their prey of flocks, herds and valuable 
 goods, and then rest for a time. 
 
 During- the g-reater part of summer they live in tents 
 in the cool places on the mountain slopes and in the val- 
 leys. In winter they dwell in houses built under g-round 
 most of them containing- only one room, with one or two 
 small holes on the top for lig-ht. This one apartment 
 answers the purpose of bedroom, parlor, kitchen and 
 stable. In daytime all inmates are out, but towards 
 sunset they come dropping- in, one by one, at least a score 
 of them, men, women and children. The hens, how- 
 ever, have already turned in in advance and are perched 
 in a corner for the nig-ht ; sheep, oxen and horses have 
 been stalled, each in its well-known place. After nig-ht 
 has fairly set in, coarse, stale bread and sour milk are 
 broug-ht in for supper. Two spoons and one big- dish is 
 all the plate, and the spoons are passed to each in turn — 
 all in the dark, as they have no lig-hts. It is now bed- 
 time, and one after the other finds his place under the 
 same quilt, without a pillow or bed, except perhaps some 
 hay spread on the floor. In a few minutes all are fast 
 asleep, and soon the heavy breathing- and snoring- of men 
 and cattle is ming-led, and the effect is anything- but 
 pleasant to the ear. 
 
 Parents teach their children how to become successful 
 
 -174- 
 
thieves. A father will g-ive his son of 6 or 7 years 
 of ag-e, a pistol, dag-g-er and shield and then play robber 
 with the child, showing- him how to use these deadly 
 instruments. A Kurd once told the writer of his timid 
 son. The child was afraid to steal. The father wanted 
 to make him a successful thief and so tried the follow- 
 ing- plan: The first nig-ht he sent the child to steal 
 g-rapes from his own yard ; the second nig-ht corn from 
 his own crib ; the third nig-ht grapes from a strang-er, 
 next a chicken, then a sheep, then to enter a house, and 
 so on until the youth became a most daring- hig-h- 
 way robber. Then the father was proud of his son and 
 told him that he had become a man and could marry. 
 The g-irls of these tribes will not marry a man until his 
 reputation as a successful robber is established. They 
 wish to be assured that they will not starve after mar- 
 riag-e. The Kurds are divided into tribes, each tribe 
 having- a chief. These tribes are g-enerally enemies 
 with one another. The chief of a tribe will lead his 
 men ag-ainst another tribe and kill all the men and take 
 the flocks, herds and all other property as booty. But 
 they do not harm the women and children. An old man 
 is not honored by a tribe. They say he can't fig-ht nor 
 rob and is g-ood for nothing- but to feed sheep. The 
 man most hig-hly honored is the one who has killed the 
 most men. When a man is killed in battle, or while 
 robbing-, he is honored at the funeral b}' the sing-ing- of 
 many song-s, by weeping- and lamentations, but not 
 many tears are shed when one dies a natural death. 
 The Kurds are very quick-tempered. A slig-ht offense 
 will make them enemies and they will at once seek 
 reveng-e. The}^ are very fond of fig-hting- and war, very 
 active and nimble in climbing- mountains and in a run- 
 ning- fig-ht. They love to revile an enemy, and are con- 
 tinually trying- to invent new and more severe expres- 
 sions of hatred. It is their nature to quarrel and fig-ht. 
 
 -175- 
 
Brothers often become ang-ered over a small matter and 
 fight to the death. Thej think no more of killing- a man 
 than we do of killing* a chicken. They are very licen- 
 tious, especially those living- in towns and cities. Hus- 
 band and wife are not loyal to each other and this is 
 frequently the cause of murder. As a people they have 
 no foresig-ht, having- no thoug-ht for the morrow. 
 
 The Kurdish relig-ion is Islam and that of the Sunni 
 sect. They are very relig-ious, pray five times a day, 
 always before leaving- their homes so as to have success 
 in their robbery. Before each prayer they perform the 
 abolutions ; when a man is praying- no woman must 
 touch him lest she mig-ht g-et the benefit of his prayer, 
 as women have no soul and if she touch him she would 
 g-et his soul and he would lose it. If a woman should 
 come near to him during- his prayer the man would stop, 
 step out of the circle of prayer and then take up his 
 g-un and shoot the woman, then continue his prayer. 
 Their women wear an exceeding-ly picturesque costume. 
 They have dark complexions, with eyes and hair inten- 
 sely black. Their beauty is not of a refined type but 
 by a mass of paint is made sufficiently attractive for 
 their easily-pleased husbands. Almost all the work, in 
 and out of doors, is done by them. Karly in the morn- 
 ing- when they are throug-h with their home work they 
 hasten to field to attend to the flocks or g-ather fuel for 
 use in winter. In the evening- they come in with larg-e 
 burdens on their backs, which appear to be quite enoug-h 
 for two donkeys to carry. So industrious are they that 
 they frequently spin on their way to and from work, 
 sing-ing- all the while apparently as happy as if all the 
 world were theirs. The difficulties and ailments of 
 womanhood are nothing- to them. A woman with child 
 will g-o out among- the rocks, climbing- the mountain 
 heig-hts. Her time of labor is at hand, but she does not 
 cease her usual toil. In the evening- a woman may be 
 
PERSIAN BARBER. 
 
w 
 
 V-i 
 
 a 
 
seen coming- down the mountain sing-ing- with a heavy 
 burden of fuel on her back, and in her arms the child to 
 which she has g-iven birth during- the da}-. Even this 
 the men do not appreciate or reward, they will not hesi- 
 tate, when it is raining-, to drag- the women from the 
 tent to make room for a favorite steed. 
 
 Their chief priests are called Sheikhs and are hon- 
 ored as ^ods. They kneel before a chief priest and kiss 
 his hands, clothes and shoes, and ask for his blessing-. 
 To penitent ones he promises that he will ask God to 
 forg-ive their sins. He has absolute power over laymen. 
 They believe his words as inspired truth and obey im- 
 plicitly. I knew of one Sheikh who bathed ever}^ morn- 
 ing in a spring- and the people would flock to this place 
 to draw of the water to drink, in which he had washed 
 his body. The father of the late Sheikh Obeidullah 
 assisted the Sultan in the late Russian-Turkish war. 
 commanded more than 100,000 Kurds to fig-ht ag-ainst 
 Russia. He told them not to be afraid of the big- can- 
 nons that would be seen when they met the Russians. 
 He said, "I have by the help of Allah bound the mouth 
 of these cannon and they cannot hurt you." It is said 
 that he would arise every morning- with black hands 
 and claim they had been blackened by the g-unpowder of 
 these cannons, and that he had been in battle all night 
 with the Russians and was not harmed at all. This 
 would encourage more Kurds to go into battle, and be- 
 lieving this statement, they marched wildly and 
 flew into the faces of these big guns and many thous- 
 ands were slain. For a while this Sheikh had an Ar- 
 menian servant, who was attending to the horse which 
 the Sheikh himself rode, and which was one of the most 
 excellent horses. One morning while he was taking care 
 of the horse, he kicked him, and drawing his dagger he 
 thrust it right through the horse ; soon he was brought 
 to answer for this and everyone was anxious to shed his 
 
 —177— 
 
blood. The servant said, "Allow me to speak a word 
 before you take my life. How long- will you be hard to 
 believe, the horse being* in the front of the battle, was 
 struck by the enemy, but bravely defended the Sheikh." 
 This pleased the Sheikh immensely and heg^ave the serv- 
 ant many g-ifts and robes, and said to the soldiers, 
 ''Look at this infidel how he has testified for me, 
 therefore, how much more should you believe me." The 
 servant seeing" his master treat the multitude so foolish- 
 ly, succeeded in treating- his master in the same manner. 
 These wild Kurds, who are a band of robbers, have 
 no other org-anization, being- simply a band of robbers. 
 Out of their number the Sultan of Turkey created the 
 so-called Hamidieh troops in 1891. This was an appli- 
 cation of the same principle that prompts him at other 
 times to throw open the prison doors and invite the con- 
 victs to rob and kill Christians. These Hamidieh troops 
 will g-o and attack villag-es, dishonor women and abduct 
 g-irls of tender ag-e. I assure you that the butchery of 
 Sassoum was but a drop in the ocean of Christian blood- 
 shed, occurring- silently, and few by few all over the 
 empire year after year, month after month and day 
 after day. Innocent women and children have been 
 shot down, clubbed to death in their houses and fields, 
 tortured in cells, or left to exile under the scorching- sun 
 of Arabia. The piteous cry of starving- children, the 
 g-roans of old men who have lived to see what can never 
 be embodied in words, the violation of maidenhood, nay 
 of tender childhood; the shrieks of mothers made child- 
 less by crimes, compared with which murder w^ould be 
 a blessing; the screams of women, scarcely human, 
 working- under the lash; and all the vain voices of blood 
 and ag-ony that die away in that desert without having- 
 found responsive echoes — all this cannot possibly fail to 
 find an echo in heaven sooner or later! 
 
 —m 
 
The Guebres ok Fire-Worshipers. 
 
 The founder of this relig"ioa was Zoroaster, who lived 
 about 1200 B. C. There are two prevailing- ideas about 
 his birth-place, some believing- that it was Babylonia, 
 while others say it was Oroomiah. There are many 
 good reasons for believing that Oroomiah was his birth- 
 place. 1st. The original worshipers were Persians, and 
 their relig-ion was started in Persia; 2d. AH oriental 
 scholars and writers suppose this was his native city ; 
 3d. In the district immediately surround.tig- Oroomiah, 
 there are more than twenty-five immense hills of ashes, 
 the remaining- monuments of the fire-worshipers of this 
 reg-ion. The relig-ious book of the Parsees is called 
 Avesta, which means, the revelation. The lang-uag-e is 
 Zend, from which the Persian lang-uage is derived. 
 
 According- to Zoroaster's philosophy, our world is 
 the work of two hostile principals — Spenta-mainyush, 
 the g-ood principal, and Ang-ro-mainyush, the evil prin- 
 cipal ; both serving- under one God. All that is g-ood in 
 the world comes from the former ; all that is bad comes 
 from the latter. Zoroastrian philosophy teaches that 
 your good thoug-hts, good words and good deeds alone 
 will be your intercessors. Nothing more will be wanted. 
 They alone will save you, as a safe pilot to the harbor 
 of Heaven, as a safe guide to the gates of Paradise. 
 Thus, Zoroastrianism teaches the immortality of the 
 soul. A plant called white homa, which is the emblem 
 of immortality, is guarded by innumerable guarding 
 spirits. The number of these guarding spirits is 99,999. 
 Again, Zoroastrianism admits a heaven and a hell. 
 Between heaven and this world there is supposed to be 
 a bridge called "Genevat." According to the Parsee 
 scriptures, for three days after a man's death his soul 
 remains within the limits of this world, under the guid- 
 ance of the angel Srosh. If the deceased be a pious 
 
man, or a man who led a virtuous life, his soul utters 
 the words, "Well is he, by whom that, which is his ben- 
 efit, becomes the benefit of anyone else." If he be a 
 wicked man or one who led evil life, his soul utters 
 these plaintive words: "To which land shall I turn? 
 Whither shall I g-o ? " On the dawn of the third nig-ht, 
 the departed souls appear at the " Genevat bridge. " This 
 bridg-e is guarded by the angel Meher Daver, i. e., Meher, 
 the judge. He presides there as a judge assisted 
 by the angels Rashue and Astad, the former repre- 
 senting justice and the latter truth. At this bridge, 
 and before the angel Meher, the soul of every man 
 has to give an account of its doings in the past life. 
 Meher Daver, the judge, weighs a man's actions by a 
 scale-pan. If a man's good actions outweigh his evil 
 ones, even by a small particle, he is allowed to pass from 
 the bridge to the other end, to heaven; if his evil actions 
 outweigh his good ones, even by a small weight, he is 
 not allowed to pass over the bridge, but is hurled down 
 into the deep abyss of hell; if his meritorious and evil 
 deeds counter-balance each other, he is sent to a place 
 known as " Hamast-gehan," corresponding to the Cath- 
 olic " purgatory." His meritorious deeds would prevent 
 him from going to hell, and his evil actions would not 
 let him go to heaven. Again, Zoroastrian books say 
 that the merit of good deeds, and the guiltiness for bad 
 ones, increase with the growth of time, as capital 
 increases with interest. Thus, a meritorious deed done 
 in youth is more effective than that very deed done in 
 advanced age. 
 xi The Parsee's places of worship are known as fire 
 temples. They believe that the holy fire was brought 
 down from Heaven by Zoroaster. Only high priests can 
 approach it, and they must wear a half-mask over their 
 face, lest their breath should defile it, and dare not ever 
 touch it with their hands, but with golden tools. 
 
 -180- 
 
Tobacco-smoking- is prohibited, as the smoker would 
 defile the holy fire. " In the eyes of a Parsee his holy 
 fire's brig-htness, activity, purity and incorruptibility 
 bear the most perfect semblance to the nature and per- 
 fection of the deity." In establishing- a fire temple fires 
 from various places of manufacture are broug-ht, and 
 kept in different vases. Great efforts are also mada to 
 obtain fire caused by lig-htning-. Over one of these fires 
 a perforated metallic, flat tray, with a handle attached, 
 is held. On this tray are placed small chips and dust of 
 frag-rant sandalwood. These chips and dust are ignited 
 by the heat of the fire below, care being- taken that the 
 perforated tray does not touch the fire. Thus a new fire 
 is created out of the first fire. Then from this new fire 
 another one is created by the same process. From this 
 new fire another is ag-ain produced, and so on, until the 
 process is repeated nine times. The fire thus prepared 
 after the ninth process is considered pure. The fires 
 broug-ht from other places of manufacture are treated in 
 a similar manner. These purified fires are all collected 
 tog-ether upon a larg-e vase, which is then put m Jis 
 proper place in a separate chamber. Again when a 
 Parsee g-oes before the sacred fire which is kept all day 
 and nig-ht burning- in the fire temples the officiating- 
 priest presents before him the ashes of a part of the con- 
 sumed fire. The Parsee applies it to his forehead. A 
 Parsee prays sixteen times during- the day, the same 
 prayers have to be repeated by the fire-worshippers. 
 He repeats his prayers early when he arises in the morn- 
 ing- and before and after washing, before and after each 
 meal, etc. But three main prayers are to the sun, when 
 the sun comes up, with bared breast he stands upon the 
 banks of the river, as soon as the rays of the sun appear 
 he repeats his prayer. And at noon when the sun is 
 right above, in like manner he repeats his prayer and at 
 nig-ht, while the sun is g-oing- down, they are all waiting- 
 
 —181— 
 
to offer up their prayers to the sun which is fast disap- 
 pearing*. The children are always present at these 
 prayers and are standing on the banks of the riv^ers and 
 and are instructed and taug-ht how to repeat the prayers. 
 The following is one of the prayers to the sun or to the 
 fire: "O, Omniscient Lord! I repent of all my sins. 
 I repent of all evil thoug-hts that I mig^ht have enter- 
 tained in my mind, of all the evil words that I mig-ht 
 have spoken, of all the evil actions that I mig^ht have 
 committed. O, Omniscient Lord ! I repent of all the 
 faults that mig-ht have orig"inated with me, whether they 
 refer to thoug-hts, words, or deeds, whether they pertain 
 to my body or soul, whether they be in connection with 
 the material world or spiritual." 
 
 To educate their children is a spiritual duty of 
 Zoroastrian parents. Education is necessary, not only 
 for the material good of the children and the parents, 
 but also for their spiritual good. According- to the 
 Parsee books, the parents participate in the meritorious- 
 ness of the good acts performed by their children as the 
 result of a good education, imparted to them. On the 
 other hand, if the parents neglect the education of their 
 children, and if as the result of this neglect, they do 
 wonderful acts or evil deeds, the parents have a spiritual 
 responsibility for such acts. In proportion to the malig- 
 nity or evilness of these acts the parents are responsible 
 to God for the neglect of the education of their children. 
 It is, as it were, a spiritual self-interest that must 
 prompt a Parsee to look to the good education of his 
 children at an early age. The proper age recommended 
 by religious Parsee books for ordinary education is 7. 
 Before that age children should have home education 
 with their parents, especially with the mother. At the 
 age of 7, after a little religious education, a Parsee child 
 is invested with Sudreh and Kusti, i. e., the sacred shirt 
 and thread. A Parsee may put on the dress of any 
 
 —182- 
 
nationality he likes, but under that dress he must always 
 wear the sacred shirt and thread. These are the sym- 
 bols of his being- a Zoroastrian. 
 
 These symbols are full of meaning, and act as per- 
 petual monitors, advising" the wearer to lead a life of 
 purity, of physical and spiritual purity. A Parsee is 
 enjoined to remove and put on again immediately the 
 sacred thread several times during the day, saying a 
 very short prayer during" the process. He has to do so 
 early in the morning" on rising" from bed, before meals 
 and after ablutions. The putting on of symbolic thread 
 and the accompanying" short prayer remind him to be in 
 a state of repentance for misdeeds, if any, and to pre- 
 serve g"ood thoughts, g"ood words and g"ood deeds. 
 
 Female education claims as much attention among" 
 the Parsees as male education. Physical education is as 
 much spoken of in the Zoroastrian books as mental and 
 moral education. The health of the body is considered 
 the first requisite for the health of the soul. That the 
 physical education of the ancient Persians, the ancestors 
 of the modern Parsees, was a subject of admiration 
 among the ancient Greeks and Romans is well known. 
 
 Obedience to parents is a religious virtue with the 
 Zoroastrian religion. One of the blessings that a priest 
 prays for in a house on performing the Afringan cere- 
 mony is the obedience of the children to the head of the 
 family. He prays: "May obedience overcome disobed- 
 ience in this house; may peace overcome dissension; may 
 charity overcome want of charity; may courtesy over- 
 come pride; may truth overcome falsehood." Zoroas- y(^ 
 trianism asks its disciples to keep the earth pure, to 
 keep the air pure and to keep the water pure. It considers 
 the sun as the greatest purifier. In places where the 
 rays of the sun do not enter, fire over which fragrant 
 wood is burnt is the next purifier. It is a great sin to 
 pollute water by decomposing matter. Not only is the 
 
 —183- 
 
commission of a fault of this kind sin, but also the omis- 
 sion, when one sees such a pollution, of taking- proper 
 means to remove it. On the domestic and social life of 
 the Parsees we find that, according- to the teaching-s of 
 the Parsee books, a husband is the king- and the wife 
 the queen of the household. On the husband devolves 
 the duty of maintaining- his wife and children; on the 
 wife that of making- the home comfortable and cheerful. 
 The qualifications of a g-ood husband, from a Zoroastrian 
 point of view, are that he must be young- and handsome, 
 strong-, brave and healthy, dilig-ent and industrious so 
 as to maintain his wife and children, truthful, as he 
 would prove true to herself and true to all others with 
 whom he would come in contact, and wise and educated. 
 A wise and intellig-ent and educated husband is com- 
 pared to a fertile piece of land which g-ives a plentiful 
 crop, whatever kinds of seed are sown in it. The quali- 
 fications of a g-ood wife are that she be wise and edu- 
 cated, modest and courteous, obedient and chaste. 
 Obedience to her husband is the first duty of a Zoroas- 
 trian wife. Marriag-e is an institution which is g-reatly 
 encourag-ed by the spirit of the Parsee relig-ion. It is 
 especially recommended in the Parsee scriptures on the 
 ground that a married life is more likely to be happy 
 than an unmarried one, that a married person is more 
 likely to be able to withstand physical and mental afflic- 
 tions than an unmarried person, and that a married man 
 is more likely to lead a relig-ious and virtuous life than 
 an unmarried one. The following- verse in the Gatha 
 conveys this meaning: "I say (these) words to you 
 marrying brides and to you bridegrooms. Impress them 
 in your mind. May you two enjoy the life of good mind 
 by following the laws of religion. Let each one of you 
 clothe the other with righteousness because then assur- 
 edly there will be a happy life for you." An unmarried 
 person is represented as unhappy as a fertile piece 
 
 —184- 
 
of ground that is carelessly allowed to be uncultivated 
 by its owner. Marriage being- thus considered a g"ood 
 institution, and being recommended by the religious 
 scriptures, it is deemed a very meritorious act for a 
 Parsee to help his co-religionists to lead a married life. 
 Several rich Parsees have with this charitable view 
 founded endowment funds, from which young- and de- 
 serving- brides are given small sums on the occasion of 
 their marriage for the preliminary expenses of starting- 
 in married life. Fifteen is the minimum marriag-eable 
 ag-e spoken of by the Parsee books. The parents have 
 a voice of sanction or approval in the selections of wives 
 and husbands. Mutual friends of parents or marrying 
 parties may bring about a good selection. 
 
 Marriage can be contracted only with persons of their 
 own creed. Polygamy is forbiden except after nine 
 years of sterility, then a man is allowed to marry another 
 woman. Divorces are entirely forbidden. The crimes 
 of fornication and adultery are very severely punished. 
 The women are delicate in frame with small hands; they 
 are fine looking-, with brave beautiful black eyes and 
 long hair. They appear somewhat free in public, but 
 take charge of household affairs at home. 
 
 When the case of a sick person is hopeless the priest 
 advances to the bed and repeats texts from the sacred 
 book called Avesta, which are to be consolation to the 
 dying man. After death the body is taken to the ground 
 floor where it was born and after being washed and per- 
 fumed, and dressed in white, it is laid upon an iron bier. 
 A dog is then brought in to take a last look and thus 
 drive away all the evil spirits. Prayers are said for the 
 repose of the departed soul. All the men friends go to the 
 door, bow down and raise their heads after touching the 
 floor, as an indication of their sorrow for the departed. 
 The body, when put upon the bier, is covered from head 
 to foot, and two men bring it out of the house and give 
 
 -18= 
 
it to four pall-bearers who are dressed in clean white 
 cloths. As they pass with the body all who are present 
 bow to it out of respect. The men friends form a pro- 
 cession with the priests to the Dak-ha-na or " Tower of 
 Silence." These towers are constructed of stone twenty- 
 five feet hig-h, without any entrance except by a 
 ladder to the top. The tower is unroofed. Upon ar- 
 riving- at the tower prayers are said in the prayer house 
 which contains a fire sanctuary. After this the body is 
 placed on a special layer of mortar, where it is exposed. 
 Soon the flesh disappears, being- devoured by birds 
 while the skeleton remains. After a certain length of 
 time the bones are removed to a place prepared for keep- 
 ing- them from being- exposed to the birds, rain and air. 
 This work must be done in fine clear weather, in case of 
 bad weather the body must be kept until the weather is 
 clear, for which purpose places are provided. When the 
 body is exposed to the birds, etc., there are sig-ns which 
 tell the character of the dead man. If the birds touch 
 the rig-ht eye first he was a g-ood man, and if they touch 
 the left eye first then he was a bad man. 
 
 Again, on the death of their dear ones, the rich and 
 the poor all pay various sums, according- to their means, 
 in charity. These sums are announced on the occasion 
 of the Oothumna or the ceremony on the third day after 
 death. The rich pay large sums on these occasions to 
 commemorate the names of their dear ones. 
 
 A child of the Parsees must be born upon the g-round 
 floor of the house. That is a requirement of their re- 
 lig-ion, that its life be commenced in humility and by 
 g-ood thoug-hts, words and actions. The mother is not 
 to be seen by any one for forty days. After that she 
 washes herself with holy water which has been sancti- 
 fied by the priest. A Parsee rejects pork, ham and 
 camel flesh, and will not eat anything- cooked by one 
 outside of the Parsee religion. 
 
 —186- 
 
With the overthrow of the Persian monarchy, under 
 the last Sassanian king", Yezdagard, at the battle of 
 Nehavand, in A. D. 642, the relig"ion received a check at 
 the hands of the Arabs, who, with sword in one hand 
 and Koran in the other, made the religion of Islam both 
 state relig"ion and the national religion of the country. 
 But many of those who adhered to the faith of their 
 fathers quitted their ancient fatherland for the hospit- 
 able shores of India. Now we have in Persia only about 
 25,000 Zoroastrians. The Mohammedans called them 
 " g-uebres," i. e., ung-odly. Most of them live in Kerman 
 Yeza, on the soil of the motherland. The men are good 
 citizens, humble, honest and generous, especially to their 
 own brethren, and are also industrious, intelligent, hand- 
 some, clean in appearance and faithful to their religion. 
 
 The Devil-Worshipeks. 
 
 The Devil-worshipers dwell in the Monsul Mountains, 
 where they have a church founded in honor of one Mar 
 Ade, who is believed to have been one of the seventy 
 chosen disciples of our Lord. Their chief object of faith 
 and worship is the devil. The world, they believe, be- 
 longs to him. He is "the prince of this world," and as 
 such, should be honored and worshiped. They admit 
 that satan is a fallen angel, but hold that in due time 
 God will forgive him ; that he will become converted, 
 and finally be restored to his first estate as the angelic 
 head. What Christ is to the Christians, satan is to these 
 people. They give alms to him and offer sacrifices in 
 his name. They trust in him as the Christians trust in 
 Christ, and believe that he is to be their future mediator 
 and savior of the world. The rooster is regarded by this 
 people as a .very sacred fowl, as he is supposed to ex- 
 actly represent the form of his satanic majesty. In the 
 temple, they keep a golden image of a rooster, which 
 they worship. The priests are an uneducated class of 
 
 -187- 
 
people, not even able to read. They have one book 
 which is called Eljilweh — that means revelation, — but 
 they claim it is a mystery ; that no one will be able to 
 understand it until the devil is converted. Their priestly 
 y office consists in taking* care of the rooster. This golden 
 image, however, is not kept constantly in one place. 
 Some society will offer a certain sum of money for the 
 privilege of keeping it with them for a stated time. 
 After a society has secured the image, it is wrapped in 
 a silk napkin and placed in a very nice basket, overlaid 
 with gold, and thus is carried through the different vil- 
 lages, always accompanied by one priest, no other per- 
 son being allowed to touch it. We will suppose that 
 they arrive at some village. Immediately the image is 
 set upon some high place, the people come together, bow 
 their heads and worship, while the priest bestows bless- 
 ings upon them. After this, a napkin is spread at the 
 feet of the image, and upon this the people place their 
 gifts. Much money is collected in this way. A peculiar 
 superstition exists among them. The ground is regarded 
 as most sacred, for it is believed to be the devil's face, 
 and spitting on the ground is regarded as so great a 
 crime that the penalty is death. They are also very 
 careful not to speak satan's name. They call him Melik 
 Taoos. Any missionary is welcomed to their temple, 
 and the people will turn out in large numbers to hear 
 him ; but if one single word is uttered beginning with 
 " S," the people will rise up and go out one by one, leav- 
 ing the missionary alone. They will not pour hot water 
 on the ground for fear of scalding the little devils. 
 
 The social customs of these people are peculiar to 
 themselves. Men and women have more freedom of 
 association in their greet feasts, women are permitted 
 to dance and sing with men. The law allows every man 
 to marry not more than six wives ; the girl has no free- 
 dom to choose her husband. She is virtually sold by the 
 
 -188— 
 
parents like cattle or land. If an^^ g-irl does not prefer 
 to get married she can remain sing-le at her father's 
 home bj paying- him a sum of money which she must 
 earn by hard labor. The marriag^e ceremonies are sim- 
 ple, but accompanied with great feasting-. The climax 
 of the wedding- is reached as soon as the bride and g-room 
 have eaten a loaf of bread made at the home of the 
 Sheikh and broug"ht to them by him. Liquor is freely 
 used by both men and women at the wedding- feast. It 
 is customary, when the g-room meets his bride, first to 
 throw at her a stone, and she has to bow her head to 
 him, a sig-n of absolute subjection to his authority. 
 Then he will take a cake of bread and put it over her 
 head, as a sig-n of her being- a merciful woman to the 
 poor and afflicted. It is not leg-al to consummate mar- 
 riag-e during- the month of April, that month being- con- 
 sidered by them a holy month, nor on any Wednesday or 
 Friday throug-h the year. Women are treated almost 
 like animals, without any rig-hts or respect ; their idea 
 of immortality is very deg-rading-. They believe in the 
 transmig-ration of souls. Altog-ether, they represent a 
 ver}^ dark picture. No mission work has ever been 
 attempted among- them. 
 
 Circumcision is a relig-ious rite but is not rig-idly en- 
 forced. Once in every forty or fifty years a priest visits 
 the people and circumcises all that are willing-. The 
 majorit}^ however, are not circumcised. They bury 
 their dead iii a sitting- posture facing- the temple of their 
 g-od. They offer yearly sacrifices for their dead. Only 
 one house or family in a community is allowed to be ed- 
 ucated, as it is reg-arded as a sin for every one to have 
 an education. They have no books, but the history of 
 the church is preserved by oral transmission from father 
 to son. They love their relig-ion and are truly devoted 
 and loyal to it. As a people they are very merciful and 
 are faithful in fulfilling- all their promises. They 
 
 —IS') - 
 
borrow and loan money but never take interest. To do 
 this, or even take a pledg-e or security for a loan is con- 
 sidered a g-reat sin. They consider all nations their 
 enemies except the Syrians. These they regard as 
 brothers. The Kurdish people are their g-reatest ene- 
 mies and from these they steal and do not hesitate to kill 
 them. They show no mercy but are cruel and blood- 
 thirsty. These people believe in Christ, but will swear 
 and blaspheme His name. Many of their children are 
 named after Bible characters, such as Isaac, Jacob, Peter 
 and Paul. In 1842 when the Kurds attacked and killed 
 a g-reat many of them they found in their houses a g-reat 
 number of Bibles. In 1883 the British Consul visited 
 Mar Ade, their temple, and their found a g-olden cross. 
 There is very g-ood evidence to show that many years 
 ag-o the Christians founded a mission or church at this 
 place, and that these people, althoug-h so deg-enerated, 
 are the descendants of these early disciples. 
 
 Nkstoeius. 
 
 Nestorious was born near the close of the fourth cen- 
 tury at Ger-ma-ni-cia, and was a disciple of Theodore 
 of Neoponestra. He became a Presbyter of Antioch 
 and was made Patriarch of Constantinople in 428. He 
 was disting-uished for his fluency of speech and his zeal 
 ag-ainst prevailing- heresies, especially those of the 
 Appollinarians. In his opposition to their doctrine 
 Nestorious maintained that there was a g-reat distinction 
 between Christ as the Son of Man and Christ as the Son 
 of God; that the actions and sensations of the one person 
 were very different from those of the other; that the 
 Virg-in Mary could not be called the mother of God, but 
 only the mother of Christ, because it was only the 
 human part of Christ that was born of her, as God is 
 not limited to space, time, location, birth or death. So 
 Nestorius strictly rejected the appellation "Mother of 
 
 —190— 
 
God" as heathenisli and contrary to Hebrew, 7: 3, rest- 
 ing- as he did on the orthodox doctrine of the eternal 
 generation of the Son; certainly he could easily say, "A 
 mortal has not given birth to Him, who is not to be cre- 
 ated, for in the beginning was the Word;" (as John 
 says); but Nestorious by no means refused to worship 
 the human nature of Christ. He was supported by the 
 eastern bishops in general and by John, bishop at Anti- 
 och, in particular, and in the progress of the contro- 
 versy Nestorius declared himself willing even to adopt 
 the term "Mother of God" if properly explained. Since 
 he was a learned man in literature and an orator of 
 power, C3^ril, Patriarch of Alexandria, was jealous of 
 him, he himself desiring to become Patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople. He attacked the teachings of Nestorious, 
 claiming that he taught that there are in Christ two 
 distinct persons and two natures, and that he denied the 
 divinity of Christ in refusing to call the Virgin Mary 
 the "Mother of God." This criticism of Nestorius' 
 teachings is without foundation, as he did not teach 
 anything of the kind. However, many writers have 
 made this mistake in criticism against the teachings of 
 Nestorius, but we must not forget all the literature in 
 Greek or Latin which his scholars as well as his ene- 
 mies produced. There are now in the possession of 
 prominent Nestorians manuscripts of Nestorius and his 
 teachings from the seventh century on, and in none of them 
 is that doctrine held. However, his opinions were vig- 
 orously combatted by Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, who, 
 by the advice of Pope Celestine, called a council to 
 Alexandria in 430 to determine the controversy. By 
 this council Nestorius was judged guilty of blasphem}^ 
 and was anathematized, and Nestorius in turn charged 
 Cyril with confounding the two natures of Christ and 
 anathematized him. 
 
 Cyril, being jealous of the Constantinopolitan 
 
 -191- 
 
bishopric and its great bishop, Nestorius, induced the 
 emperor, Theodosius II, to call a council at Kphesus in 
 431, at which Cyril presided. As the bishop of Antioch 
 and others from the east had not come as yet, Nestorius 
 refused to appear before the council, as he knew those 
 who were absent were friendly and in harmony with 
 him and his views. But the council ag-ain decided 
 ag"ainst him. Immediately after being- deprived of his 
 of&ce, Nestorius withdrew into private life within the 
 monastery of Kuprepius, Antioch, until 438, when the 
 emperor ordered his banishment to Petra, Arabia. Later, 
 he was sent to the oasis of Lybia, in upper Kg'ypt. He 
 was still living- when Socrates wrote his church history. 
 The time and place, and circumstances of his death are 
 unknown. 
 
 Introuduction of Christianity among thk Syrians 
 
 OR Nkstorians. 
 
 The origin of the Peshuto Bible (a very early Syrian 
 version) is explained by the following- tradition: During- 
 the life of Jesus on earth, Abg-ar, king- of Bdessa, 
 sent to Jesus a letter inviting- him to his city, to escape 
 the persecutions of the Jews, to heal him and to bless 
 his people. Jesus replied that he must remain in Judea, 
 to finish his work, but would after His death and ascen- 
 sion send a disciple, who should heal and teach him. 
 This disciple, being- in after years sent and kindly re- 
 ceived. The Gospel of Matthew was written in Syriac, 
 and in the course of the second century the rest of the 
 New Testament, save the Second and Third Epistles of 
 John, the Second Kpistle of Peter, the Kpistles of Jude 
 and James, and the Revelations of Jesust Christ to 
 John. These having- not yet been accepted in Canaan as 
 canonical parts of the New Testament, they were trans- 
 lated into what is known as the Peshuto version (it is 
 called Peshuto on account of its simplicity) . This version, 
 
 -192- 
 
on account of its ag-e, is often cited as hig-h authority 
 upon disputed points. 
 
 The Syrian Church was founded in the time when 
 the disciples were scattered by reason of the persecu- 
 tions, A. D. 44-87, (See Acts 11-19). and by the exer- 
 tions of the Apostle Paul (Gal. 1-21), g"rew to be one of 
 the most flourishing-, and is often mentioned (Acts 13: 1, 
 15:23, 35:41). 
 
 The Syrian Christians were called Martumans from 
 the name Martuma, a missionary from Jerusalem, said 
 to have been one of the Disciples of Christ also " Naza- 
 rus," i. e. Nazarene, which name of contempt is in use 
 to-day. Later they were called Nestorians from Nes- 
 torius, a Syrian Bishop of Constantinople. (See Nos- 
 torius). The}^ were a well org-anized church, very 
 methodical in matters of g-overnment. Their member- 
 ship was g-rouped by sevens, forty-nine families under 
 one minister, seven ministers under one Bishop, and 
 seven Bishops under one Metropolitan, all the Metro- 
 politans under one Patriarch. In each year one g^eneral 
 synod was held. The character of this church was 
 shown b}^ their building- seminaries and coUeg-es. Some 
 of the most important of these were at Nesibia, Od- 
 dessa, Urihai, (this was called the queen of the schools), 
 at Antioch and Koochanis. These schools, while they 
 flourished, were the secret of the church's streng-th. 
 The instructors were the most learned men of their ag-e. 
 Airvaz and St. Basil of Nesibia and Urhai were among- 
 the most learned teachers. The Assyrian, Arabic and 
 Greek lang-uag-es were taug-ht classically. Medicine, 
 astronomy and mathematics, including- g-eometr}^ were 
 taug-ht. Special attention was g-iven to the study of 
 theolog-y. There were as many as 2,000 monks and 
 students in some of these institutions. There doctors 
 of medicine were g-iven hig-h positions under the Arabian 
 and Persian g-overnments. Literature in the Eastern 
 
lang-uages was rich. Prom these schools came great 
 church fathers, who defended the church from the here- 
 tics of the ag-e. The students were prepared for study 
 by some saintly hermit in his cave, they having- taken a 
 monastrial vow similar to that of a Nazarete. Next 
 came five years' study in the schools, and that they 
 studied well, is shown by the fact that these men wrote 
 more than 600 commentaries on the Scriptures. Before 
 leaving- school each student was expected to make a 
 complete copy of the New Testament, to be left as his 
 gift to the common library. There are to-day in Europe 
 many manuscripts written by these scholars, that are 
 from 300 to 1,200 years old. The New Testament was 
 translated into many dialects by the scholars. These 
 manuscripts are skillfully executed and show the beauty 
 and antiquity of this church. Only a few of these anci- 
 ent manuscripts are now to be found in Persia and the 
 mountains of Kurdistan, but there are many of them 
 scattered among- the libraries of Kurope. In these days 
 of printing- and typewriting-, people have little idea how 
 laborious and beautiful this work was. The earnestness 
 of this church was also shown by the sending- of mis- 
 sionaries. Their great work in missions was from the 
 sixth to the thirteenth centuries. They penetrated all 
 Asia and Europe, as is shown by ancient discovery. In 
 China a pillar has been found bearing inscriptions in 
 Chinese and in Syriac : This was written during the 
 reign of Si Coom, Emperor of China, six hundred 
 years after Christ. 
 
 Several years ago a Japanese Christian was asked: 
 "To what denomination do you belong?" and answered: 
 "I am a Nestorian," and showed some Nestorian books 
 handed down to him by his forefathers. The instruc- 
 tions given to missionaries are interesting. One of the 
 Bishops, Mar Ephraim (Saint) said: "Change country 
 for country; but from your Master do not change. To 
 
 -194- 
 
every land bring- the water of life, In every home to 
 which you come think that you shall find at least one 
 jewel of g-reat price for your Master's treasury and look 
 carefully about, and having found it, spare no pains to 
 bring- that soul to the kingdom." The great aim of this 
 school was to educate the monks and to become mission- 
 aries and spread the gospel. These schools were foun- 
 tains from which flowed living waters for a thirsty land. 
 There was no other nation, in their age, that possessed 
 such a spirit of Christian vitality. Zeal for the spread 
 of the Gospel was burning in their hearts as a divine 
 flame. There was a class of Bishops appointed by their 
 leaders to awaken and keep alive this missionary spirit. 
 "The d^^ng love of Christ for sinners," was the text 
 from which they preached. Also His last commission 
 to his disciples. Matt. 28: 19-20. These Bishops preached 
 with an inspiration from God and inflamed many hearts 
 until they were ready to sacrifice their lives for Christ. 
 These missionaries wore sandals on their feet, carried a 
 staff of peace in their hands, and a knapsack on their 
 shoulders, containing bread and manuscripts of sacred 
 writings. Thus equipped, they journeyed into heathen 
 lands, following the command of their Nazarene teacher. 
 The church was very poor and had no board of foreign 
 missions to guarantee even a small income. The mis- 
 sionaries went forth trusting in their Heavenly Father. 
 If He took care of the birds in the air, how much more 
 would He care for the heralds of His Gospel. The week 
 before departure was spent in fasting and prayer and 
 consecration. On the last day they partook of commu- 
 nion from the hand of their leader, and solemn advice 
 was given by the bishop. In parting the bishop kissed 
 the missionaries' brow and the latter kissed the bishop's 
 hand and the bishop would say: "The Lord God of the 
 prophets and apostles be with 3^ou; the love of Christ 
 defend you; the Holy Spirit sanctify and continually 
 
 -195-^ 
 
comfort you." Some of the missionaries went to distant 
 lands requiring- eight to twelve months to make the 
 journey on foot. They worked in China, India, Tartary, 
 Persia, Beloochhistan, Afghanistan, and northern Africa. 
 Success followed their work. In southern India is a 
 small church planted at that time. These followers are 
 now called the St. Thomas Christians. They always 
 come to Mar Shumon to be ordained as bishops or 
 metropolitans and g-o back with authority to ordain the 
 lower of&cers. When I was with the patriarch, in 1895, 
 there were two or more preparing- themselves with that 
 view of being- ordained or sent among- these St. Thomas 
 Christians. A special epistle had been received written 
 and sig-ned by 777 prominent men of those Christians in 
 India, requesting- Mar Shumon to send them a metro- 
 politan (as one who had been ordained and sent a few 
 years before, had died), a bishop, two priests, and an 
 interpreter, vouching- for the support of these parties 
 and promising- help to those who are living- in Persia 
 and Turkey. But Mar Shumon could not comply with 
 their request as he had no person who could fill those 
 positions. But the spirit which was stirring- as the sun 
 of Heaven beg-an to lang-uish in the tenth century and 
 by the fourteenth century had en-tirely died, and at pres- 
 ent utter ig-norance and darkness, and oppression from 
 Mohammedanism and the Catholics prevails. At that 
 time, some of the church's true sons, in lamentation, 
 said: " How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of 
 war perished!" Hundreds of their missionaries had 
 become martyrs of Christ in a heroic spirit. They would 
 enter fire, singing praises to God, believing their shed 
 blood would be the seed of the church. 
 
 In the year 33 after the death of Christ Mar Tuma 
 St. Thomas became Patriarch of the Syrian church. He 
 held the office for five years, and in this time he pre- 
 pared St. Maree and also St. Kddi, two of the seventy, 
 
 -196- 
 
and St. Thomas, one of the twelve sent out by our 
 Lord Jesus. In 38 St. Thomas went to Hindoostan and 
 St. Maree took his place. St. Maree's residence was in 
 Ktispon on the Tig-ris, which was for a long- time the 
 capital of the Sassanite dynasty. St. Maree expired in 
 A. D. 82. After his death his disciples went to Jerusa- 
 lem and chose Abriz as their patriarch. He served from 
 A. D. 90 to 107. After Abriz from A. D. 130 to 132, 
 Abraham, a relative of the apostle James, became their 
 patriarch. His successor was James, a just man, and a 
 relative of the Virg-in Mary, mother of our Lord. Akhad 
 Abowoy became their patriarch from 205 to 220. During- 
 this period there was a severe war between the Romans 
 and Persians. The latter then ruled over Persia, 
 Assyria and Babylonia. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, a 
 subject of Rome, advised the Assyrians who were under 
 the Parthians to elect a Patriarch who was a subject of 
 the Parthians. The Parthians ruled over Persia from 
 220 B. C. until 226 A. D. In all the chang-es of g-overn- 
 ment the Assyrians managed to keep in office a succes- 
 sion of patriarchs even to the present time. In the 
 early church down to the year 1405 the Patriarch was 
 chosen by a g-eneral vote of the church. Any metropol- 
 itan bishop mig-ht be chosen. The office held for life. 
 In the year 1405, by reason of g-reat persecutions, the 
 Patriarch, Mar Shimmon, alone was left of all the met- 
 ropolitans. He therefore appointed one of his own 
 household to succeed him, and thenceforward down to 
 the present day each Patriarch chooses his successors. 
 The choice lies among- blood kindred. As a g-eneral 
 thing- the elder brother is chosen, for there is a rule that 
 the Patriarch must be an unmarried man. Yet in early 
 days of persecution it was sometimes necessary to relax 
 this rule owing^ to the impossibility of finding- in the 
 church a man of sufficient ability who had never been 
 married. The patriarchal city is now Koorchanis. The 
 
 —197- 
 
seat of the Patriarch has been chang-ed from Ktispon to 
 Bagdad, Babel, Ninevah, Mosoel and Klkosh, the town 
 of the Prophet Nahum, and the chief city of learning-. 
 Finally in 1778 it chang-ed to Koochanis. The present 
 Patriarch, Mar Shuman, took office in 1865. He is the 
 last of 108 Patriarchs of the Syrian or Kastern Church, 
 whose rule once extended over all Arabia, Hindoostan, 
 China and the mountains of the Caucasus. 
 
 Marriag-e is considered as sacred as the ordination of 
 the clerg-y, but less sacred than the Lord's supper. 
 Therefore marriag-e is a solemn service, and the rules 
 relating- to it are very strict. Neither of the contract- 
 ing- parties are asked for their assent. When the par- 
 ents of a son think that it is time for him to be married, 
 they will enquire concerning- a young- lady among- her 
 friends and neig-hbors as to her character and beauty, 
 and being- satisfied in this respect they will notify her 
 parents that they will call upon them. Upon doing this 
 they make their errand known, and if her parents are 
 willing- they will kiss the hand of her father. The next 
 morning they will bring a ring and a priest with a large 
 company of friends. Feasting and drinking will be in- 
 dulged in, the priest will bless the ring and place it on 
 the bride's finger. Promises of dowry will be made by 
 the parents of the bridegroom to those of the bride, also 
 to herself and to her brothers, to the priest of the parish, 
 and to some of her neighbors, who will teach her needle 
 work and embroidery. At the same time they will de- 
 cide the matter of her dress, and leave enough money to 
 purchase as many suits as are agreed upon. The term 
 of the engagement will vary with the age of the bride. 
 If she be very young the marriage will be delayed some 
 length of time, but if old enough at the time of the en- 
 gagement the marriage will be consummated at once or 
 in about a month. During the time of the engagement 
 neither of the parties see one another, in fact they may 
 
 —198— 
 
never have met. When the time of eng-ag-ement ex- 
 pires and the bride's entire outfit is ready, a feast will 
 be proclaimed at both the houses of the bride and bride- 
 groom. The friends of each will g-o about in the coun- 
 try towns and villag-es with a drum inviting- their 
 friends. They also carry a jug- of wine, and in every 
 house they g-o to they will pour out a g-lass of it and sa}", 
 "It is not our wedding-, but yours; therefore you are in- 
 vited to come." After two days of feasting- they will 
 send a deputation to the bride's house beating- drums 
 and g'ong-s on their way, and having- their hands painted 
 red to indicate their happiness. They will sit down to 
 dine at the bride's table while she is preparing- herself 
 for the journey to the house of the g-room. When the 
 meal is over they will cover her face with covering-s and 
 bring her out with a young- man on each side of her, 
 one of the young- men carrj^ng- a purse and a silk hand- 
 kerchief and running- before the procession to announce 
 its coming-. When he arrives at the groom's house he 
 stands on the roof together with ten or fifteen young 
 men. These give the groom some wine to drink. The 
 bride is on horseback and is stopped about fifty yards 
 distant from the roof, where the groom is standing. 
 He has three red apples in his hands, and kissing each 
 one, he tries to throw them over the bride, or at her. 
 When the apples strike the ground the crowd of boys 
 will grapple for them, as the supposition is that the 
 boy who gets an apple will be the first one to marry out 
 of the crowd. The rest of the company stands in front 
 of the door, making a hideous noise with their drums 
 and gongs. Sometimes the young men, who are her 
 friends, standing on either side of the horse, will tops 
 the apple with their hands. She will dismount and be 
 brought in, the friends of the young man dancing be- 
 fore her. 
 
 —199- 
 
The young- man is broug-ht down from the roof and 
 broug-ht into the room in the same manner as the bride, 
 and after the feast, the elder of the town will sit in the 
 middle of two rows of guests and placing a napkin on 
 the floor, invite the contributions of those present. He 
 first asks for money from the bride's father, then from 
 any who wish to g-ive. Very often the groom receives 
 on this occasion more money than he has expended in 
 g-ifts to the bride and her friends. On the next day the 
 marriag-e ceremony will take place. It is performed by 
 a minister, and a deacon, taken larg-ely from the Bible, 
 and lasts about two hours, during which time the bride 
 and groom remain standing-. The bride's dress covers 
 her entire body and face from view except her forehead. 
 She wears a crown and is called a queen. The g-room 
 wears a hig-h plume on his crown, fastened to his hat, a 
 sash around his chest and is called a king- for about two 
 months. They do not work during- this time but take 
 life easy. All the lady friends of the bride will each 
 bring- a tray of eatables and they will have a g-rand feast. 
 It is customary for all the friends to offer g-ifts of 
 money, g-old or silver, in a glass of water. The bride 
 drinks the water and keeps the money. Then they 
 inspect the bride's trunk and see what her father has 
 sent to her and show the presents to all the guests. 
 The bride makes presents of needlework and embroidery, 
 which she has wroug-ht with her own hands, to all the 
 friends. She is kept in close confinement for six 
 months, and does not g-o out except, perhaps, in the yard 
 or garden. She talks to no one except it be a child. If 
 it becomes necessary to converse with anyone, it must 
 be through a child; she talks to no g-rown person besides 
 her husband and then only when they are alone. This 
 is continued for eight or ten months, and then she may 
 talk with some of the young-er members of the family, 
 but never with the g-room's father or mother freely. 
 
 —200— 
 
Funeral Services. 
 Funeral services differ, according- to the ag-e of the de- 
 ceased. As soon as a man dies, word is sent to the priest 
 and deacon. They come to the house of the deceased. 
 The priest will consecrate some water, bathe the body; 
 first the rig-ht arm, then the left, then the neck, then 
 the rest of the body. All this time the mourning- rela- 
 tives sing psalms. Then the body is ready to be put 
 into the coffin. The priest and deacon continue sing-- 
 ing-, the young-est deacon carries the censor and repeats 
 a prayer until they arrive at the g-rave. Before taking- 
 the corpse to the grave, the friends of the deceased 
 come to bid him good-bye. At the grave the priest says 
 a prayer, the body is lowered and the priest takes some 
 earth and sprinkles it upon the coffin, saying: "From 
 earth you came, to earth you return," after which all 
 the people will do the same. While they are filling up 
 the grave, the priest and the deacon continue singing. 
 After this the priest makes a sign of the Trinity on the 
 grave, commencing at the head (which means that 
 Christ came from the Father and descended into the 
 grave.) After the service, the people, being unclean 
 because they have touched the body of a corpse, are 
 taken to a brook and after the priest has blessed the 
 water, they wash their face and hands, then they are 
 cleansed. They now return to the home of the deceased 
 and take two or three meals at the expense of the 
 mourning relatives, while continually repeating: ' * May 
 God give him rest." After three days they all visit the 
 grave again and the priest again makes the sign of the 
 Trinity, beginning at the foot, (which signifies the 
 resurrection of Christ.) After this all the people shave 
 and bathe and have a great feast to celebrate the close 
 of their time of mourning. After seven days they have 
 another feast and a 3^ear later they give offerings and 
 celebrate the Lord's Supper. 
 
 —201— 
 
Kestokian Chukchks. 
 Many of their churches are built of stone, while 
 others are made of brick and clay. Some of the build- 
 ing's are 1300 years old and will stand many years to 
 come. The walls are about eig"ht feet thick at the base, 
 gradually tapering- toward the top. In the older 
 churches the doors are quite low and it is necessary for 
 a man to stoop to enter. It is believed by some that the 
 doors were built in this way that the church niig-ht be 
 used as a place of refug-e, rolling- stones in the doorway 
 after entering-. Others say the object was to prevent 
 horses, cattle and other animals from entering-. These 
 churches are reg-arded as most sacred places and are 
 called houses of God. There is an interior stairway 
 leading- to the roof, which is necessary for repairing- the 
 roof or shoveling- oif snow. The yard in front of a 
 church is shaded with elm trees; it is used as a burial 
 g-round. Extending from each corner of the roof is a 
 pair of horns of a wild goat, which is a sign of sacrifice. 
 There is a small room in the rear of the building which 
 is called the most holy place. In this room the priests 
 perform certain ceremonies, and no other people are 
 allowed to enter it at any time. Before this room is a 
 small pulpit on which are placed a cross, Bible and some 
 ceremonial books. The only windows are a few small 
 openings just below the roof. Candles are burned 
 during hours of service to light the room, and incense is 
 burned as a ceremonial and to produce a pleasing odor. 
 There are no pictures on the walls, but there are some 
 decorations in the way of finely embroidered silk drap- 
 eries donated by some of the worshipers. Reading 
 Scripture and prayer book and chanting Psalms are the 
 main features of worship. There is no music except a 
 number of small bells on the walls, which the worshipers 
 ring as they enter the building. The audience sits on 
 the floor or stands through the service. Assyrians 
 
 —202— 
 
believe the two chief ordinances to be the Lord's supper 
 and baptism. The ordaining- of priests and marriage 
 are ordinances that rank next in importance. Baptism 
 is administered by bishops and elders. All the children 
 of a member are baptized by immersion. Some believe 
 that baptism reg-enerates a child, while others say it 
 will have a good effect, provided the parents g-ive the 
 child proper training- thereafter. 
 
 The Lord's Supper is administered with much ritual 
 on festival days, such as Kaster, Christmas and Ascen- 
 sion Day. This ceremony is more hig-hly honored than 
 any other ordinance, as it commemorates the death and 
 victory of Christ. Both wine and bread are used. A 
 few years ago, and even now in some places, it was a 
 custom to make the bread and wine from g-leanings 
 brought in from the field and vineyards by virgins. 
 This was considered pure and most acceptable as it had 
 belong-ed to no man. They do not believe with the 
 Catholics that the bread and wine are turned into the 
 flesh and blood of Christ, but they put much emphasis 
 on these ing-redients after the same have been conse- 
 crated. They are then holy. On the night previous to 
 communion da}- the priests and deacons g-o to the church 
 shortly after midnig-ht, and entering- into the most holy 
 place, make the bread for use on the next day. The 
 priest himself kneads the doug-h. This bread is con- 
 sidered more sacred than that made in the ordinary way. 
 After the bread has been made the remainder of the 
 night is spent in chanting- Psalms, reading the Scrip- 
 tures and prayer book. An hour before sunrise the 
 people flock to church. When the church is full of wor- 
 shipers the priest mounts the pulpit, chants the sacred 
 words for an hour or more, the audience remaining in 
 perfect silence until he reaches the end of a Psalm or 
 the end of the service, when all respond "Amen." The 
 priest and a deacon stand in the pulpit to administer the 
 
 -203— 
 
sacrament. Communicants come forward one by one, 
 and the priest puts a small piece of bread in their 
 mouths and the deacon g-ives the wine. Children under 
 7 years of ag^e do not partake of the sacrament. On 
 these occasions the priest and deacon wear long- white 
 robes of silk or cotton tied about the waist with a long- 
 silk g-irdle. A turban is worn on the head. 
 
 Their faith, as described in some ancient manuscripts, 
 is purely evang-elical. They believe in the trinit}^, 
 God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. These three 
 persons are co-equal, co-eternal, unmixed and insepar- 
 able. Their clerg-y does not claim the power to forg-ive 
 sins. They accept the apostle's creed and it is recited 
 by the clerg-y and relig-ious men. They deny the con- 
 fession, imag-e worship and doctrine of purg-atory. But 
 the church has fallen into decay under the persecutions 
 of Mohammedans, and they now in their ig-norance wor- 
 ship souls or pray to the saints. They have adopted 
 much of the Roman Catholic heresies ; many days of 
 fasting- are observed, as fifty days before Kaster, twenty- 
 five days before Christmas, every Friday and Wednesday 
 and others. During- these fasts the old people take no 
 food until noon. On these fasting days the people will 
 abstain from meats or fatty foods, etc. In times of per- 
 secutions their schools and books were destroyed and the 
 people became ig-norant, at the same time the Catholics 
 introduced among- them their literature, which chang-ed 
 their prevailing- doctrines. 
 
 Babism. 
 
 The Mohammedan religion is today divided into about 
 fifty different sects, and this division g-reatly weakens 
 it. Within fifty years past a new religion has been 
 developed in Persia, known by the name of Babism, 
 which already numbers its disciples b}^ hundreds of 
 thousands, and is steadily making inroads upon the 
 
 —204— 
 
Mohammedan religion of which it is in fact an offshoot. 
 It is thought b}^ some to have a large future before it. 
 Christian missionaries come in contact with it, and from 
 the friendliness of the so-called Babis to the Christian 
 religion hopes have been cherished, that it may prove a 
 stepping stone for the Gospel into Moslem hearts. For 
 this reason, if no other, it deserves the attention of all 
 thoughtful Christians. Mirza Ali Mohammed, the 
 founder of the new religion, was the son of a cloth mer- 
 chant of the city of Shiraz, and first came to public 
 notice in the year 1843. He began to plan the new 
 religion at the age of 18, but did not reveal it until he 
 was 25 years old. The foundation of his faith was this: 
 Mohammed like Christ, taught that the latter days will 
 be a millennium. They have a tradition that when all 
 prophets have died or have been killed by their enemies, 
 a son six years of age will, by the direction of Allah, be 
 hid in an unknown well. He is to remain there until 
 the millennium. It was believed that he w^ould be the 
 ruler of the Mohammedans in these last days. He w>as 
 to lead both his victorious armies and conquer all the 
 world, and Islam would become the universal religion. 
 His early education was limited even for the advantages 
 Persia affords, but with a strong spiritual bent in his 
 nature he seems to have given himself much to religious 
 meditation and study. Paying a visit to Kerbela, the 
 center of theological thought among the Shiahs of 
 Persia, he sat for a few months under the teaching of a 
 noted and rather mystical teacher of the Mohammedan 
 theology and became his enthusiastic disciple. He 
 entered with special zest into the study of the doctrine 
 which figures so conspicuously in Persian theology, of 
 the coming "Unseen Imam" whose return as the 
 "Imam Mahdi" is to introduce the Mohammedan mil- 
 lennium, in regard to whom some advanced and heretical 
 views were taught by the school to which his teacher 
 
 —305— 
 
belong-ed. The impressions made on his mind by his 
 devout contemplations on this doctrine are exhibited in 
 the following- passag^es which we find translated from 
 his earlier writing-s : Addressing- the absent Imam he 
 says : 
 
 When are the days of your empire, that I may strugg-le for 
 you ? And when are the days of your glory, that I may obtain 
 the blessing's of your visage ? And when are the days of your 
 kingdom, when I may take revenge on your enemies ? And when 
 are the days of your manifestation, that I may be independent of 
 all except you ? And when are the days of the appearance of 
 your lordship, that by your permission I may say " Be," and it 
 shall become existent before you ? And when are the days 
 which God has promised unto his servants for your coming? 
 
 From his long and earnest meditations on this sub- 
 ject, he seems to have become convinced that he enjoyed 
 the favor of special communication with the Imam. It 
 was but one step tarther to imag-ine that his axalted 
 thoug-hts were veritable inspirations from the supreme 
 fountain of all truth, and that he, himself, was an 
 inspired prophet. Upon his return from Karbela, the 
 young- enthusiast drew about him his particular friends, 
 and revealed to them his inward consciousness of a 
 prophetic call, announcing- himself as the "Bab," i. e., 
 the door, or g-ate, meaning- the channel of g-race from 
 the unseen Imam. He beg-an preaching- in the mosques 
 ag-ainst the prevailing- irrelig-ion of the times, especially 
 berating the Moslem clergy for their scandalous vices 
 and unfitness to be spiritual guides to the people, 
 emphasizing the need of a morality of deeds, rather 
 than one of words and formal rules. He advocated 
 temperance, opposed the growing use of opium — while 
 he, himself, neither smoked tobacco nor drank liquor or 
 coffee. He discountenanced polygamy, forbade concu- 
 binage, asceticism and mendicancy, prohibited divorce 
 and taught the equality of the sexes ; encouraged the 
 practice of hospitality, and demanded justice for all 
 
 -206— 
 
citizens alike. Thoug-h attacking- none of the dog-mas 
 of Islam, the tendency of his opinions were undeniably 
 heterodox. The new teaching-s, however, became popu- 
 lar at once. Numbers of his fellow citizens assented to 
 the pretensions and creed of the new claimant to pro- 
 phethood with alacrity and fervor. Missionaries were 
 sent out to other towns to announce the tidingfs, and 
 explain the new doctrines. Adherents sprang- up every- 
 where they went — men of all ranks, educated and un- 
 learned alike welcoming- the g-ood news, and in turn 
 becoming their earnest heralds. This g-reat popularity 
 was due not merely to the attractive program of reform 
 presented, but largely to the personal sanctity conceded 
 to the Bab, a quality to which the Oriental mind is ever 
 particularly susceptible, to the sweetness of his man- 
 ners, to the eloquence of his voice and to the apparent 
 depth of meaning- in his utterances, all of which exer- 
 cised a spell over his hearers even his enemies admitted 
 and feared. In stature, he was tall and slender, e3'es 
 black, eye-brows heavy and long-, beard patriarchal. 
 His countenance was very pleasant and attractive. In 
 conversation with hig-h and low classes of people alike, 
 he showed himself a servant of all. He was poetical, a 
 g-reat orator and a deep thinker. He wrote many beau- 
 tiful poems. His epistles to his disciples were philo- 
 sophical. His words in sermons touched the hearts of 
 men. Later on, Mirza Ali Mohammed, like a g-ood 
 Moslem, made a pilg-rimage to Mecca. His return was 
 sig-nalized b}^ the renewal of debates and dissensions 
 between himself and his followers on the one side and 
 the orthodox party on the other, which finally led to 
 the arrest of the Bab by the g-overnor of his native 
 province and his detention at Shiraz for a time. Subse- 
 quently he was removed to Ispahan, where a friendly 
 g-overnor showed him much favor. Meanwhile, his 
 apostles continued more active in their proselyting- 
 
 —207 - 
 
work than ever. Notable among* these were two of the 
 regular Mohammedan clerg-y of g-reat learning- and 
 ability, who rank in the history of this movement as 
 the foremost champions of the new doctrines — Mullah 
 Hussein and Haji Mohammed Ali. With these was 
 associated a woman, who has obtained a celebrity 
 ^^ throug-hout Persia almost unparalleled in the annals of 
 that land. She is admitted by friend and enemy to 
 have been a woman of marvelous beauty and rare intel- 
 lectual g-ifts. As a scholar, she excelled in her knowl- 
 edge of the Arabic language and of Islamic traditions 
 and philosophy. She was a poetess, and her eloquence 
 of speech was fascinating. Her name was Zerryn Taj, 
 but she is commonly known as Kurratul-Ayn, or "the 
 Consolation of the eyes," with reference to^Tier surpas- 
 sing lovliness of countenance. She never met the Bab 
 during her lifetime, but learned of him as a spiritual 
 guide and channel of the new revelation through Mul- 
 lah Hussein. From her correspondence with the Bab, 
 he became impressed with her rare qualities and attain- 
 ments, and included her as one of the eighteen digni- 
 taries of the first Babi Hierarchy. In the campaign 
 that was pushed by the devotees of the Bab, the per- 
 suasive eloquence of this peerless young Persian woman 
 is credited as second to that of no other. 
 
 By degrees the new sectarians became more and 
 more bold, more and more sanguine of revolutionizing 
 the ancient faith of the land. In all the principal cities 
 of central and southern Persia, some in every class in 
 society, publicly or privately, hailed the reform move- 
 ment as a welcome change in the old order of things. 
 The orthodox clergy became alarmed as they saw their 
 religious supremacy in danger of dissolution, while the 
 turmoils and insurrections which followed from the 
 Babi preachers, opened the eyes of the government to 
 serious danger to state as well as church. In the 
 
OS 
 
 o 
 
 fa 
 
 fa 
 o 
 
 B 
 m 
 W 
 
 I— I 
 
 z 
 o 
 
provinces of Khorassan and Mazanderan and in the city 
 of Zenyan, the Babis, assumed a fierce and defiant front 
 coming- into violent collision with the local authorities. 
 The king-'s ministers, as the first steps toward checking- 
 the rising- tide of revolution, ordered the Bab to be 
 removed from Ispahan to Tabriz and there secluded in 
 some safe place. This was in the year 1847, only four 
 years since the youthful Ali Mohammed first announced 
 his prophetic mission. On arriving- at Tabriz he was 
 despatched by order of the g-overnor to the fortress of 
 Maku, held by a semi-independent chieftain, situated at 
 the base of Mt. Ararat, three or four days to the north- 
 west of Tabriz ; but his confinement there was not so 
 close as to prevent the access of his friends and an active 
 correspondence with distant and industrious lieutenants. 
 To interrupt this freedom of communication, he was 
 removed to the fortress of Cherick near Salmas, two 
 days from Oroomiah. The quiet of his retirement here 
 lasting- two 3^ears and a half, was favorable to medita- 
 tion and study and he busied himself in practices of 
 devotion and in the developement of his theolog-ical 
 opinions and his code of civil and social reg-ulations. 
 Gradually he assumed hig-her and hig-her position and 
 authority, until he announced himself to be the " Iman 
 Mahdi," himself. During- this interval the relig-ious 
 war kindled by the Bab's energ-etic followers in Mazan- 
 deran and Zenyan grew into a blaze, which taxed all 
 the energ-ies of the local g-overnments to exting-uish. 
 Meanwhile, Mohammed Shah died (September 5, 1848) 
 and was succeeded by his son, Nasreddin, the late 
 sovereig-n of Persia, who selected as his prime minister 
 the very able statesman Mirza Taki Khan. Immedi- 
 atel}^ upon coming- into power, this minister addressed 
 himself vig-orously to quelling- the Babi disturbances in 
 different districts and towns. That in the town of 
 Zenyan, where the Bab's friends were very numerous 
 
 —200— N 
 
and resolute, was only put down after a prolong-ed sieg-e, 
 lasting- from May to September, 1850. While the con- 
 test drag-ged on, the government determined on the 
 death of the Bab, as absolutely necessary to the paci- 
 fication of the kingdom. On his way from the castle of 
 his imprisonment to Tabriz for trial and execution he 
 passed through Oroomiah. We are told that vast num- 
 bers flocked to see him, and even the g-overnor did not 
 conceal his sympathy with the prisoner of such engag-- 
 ing- manners; the crowd shed tears as they looked upon 
 the interesting young man, and more than half believed 
 that he might be the very "Imam Mahdi," the g-reat 
 desire of Moslem nations. Traditions, about the town, 
 relate that when he went to the bath the people carried 
 away the water in vessels, in which he had bathed as if 
 it were holy. But at Tabriz, Persian of&cialdom and 
 the sternly orthodox populace of that city, did not so 
 lose their heads. The man was examined before the 
 Moslem high priests and was condemned, as a heretic, to 
 be shot, along- with two of his companions in arrest. 
 One of these, however, recanted and saved his life. The 
 Bab was conducted from one priest's house to another in 
 succession, each in turn ratifying- the sentence of death, 
 while in the crowded streets throug-h which he passed, 
 throng-s of zealous fanatics grossly insulted him and his 
 companion. Arriving at the place of execution, a public 
 square in the city, the prisoners were suspended by their 
 arms against a wall, in conspicuous public view and a 
 company of soldiers were drawn up to shoot them. 
 
 At the first discharg-e the Bab's companion fell dead, 
 but strang-e to say, the bullets only cut the cords which 
 bound the Bab himself, leaving- him fall to the g-round, 
 free, and he took to flight. It is thoroughly conceiv- 
 able, indeed it is altogether probable, from a Persian 
 point of view, that had the man risen and thrown him- 
 self upon the confidence of the superstitious populace, 
 
 -210- 
 
declaring" his delivery a miracle of divine power in his 
 favor, and a confirmation of his claims, the whole town 
 would have acclaimed his pretensions and sooner or later 
 the country itself would have acknowledg-ed his authority 
 to overthrow the Kajar dynasty. As it was, in his be- 
 wilderment, he fled to a neighboring- g-uard house where 
 he was cut down and beaten to death b}' Mussulman 
 soldiery. This occurred July 15, 1850. The execution 
 of the Bab in no wise discourag-ed the faith and zeal of 
 his disciples ; on the other hand, it exasperated them 
 against the government and inflamed them to desperate 
 efforts for its overturn. By the vig-orous efforts of the 
 military power the several insurrections in the country 
 were broug-ht to an end. But the spirit of veng-eance 
 for the death of their prophet was everywhere rife 
 among- the sect and soon came to a head in the conspir- 
 acy ag-ainst the life of the Shah. He was attacked 
 while riding out with his suite one day by three Babis. 
 The attempt was a failure the king- escaping- with only 
 a slight wound, but the recoil of the blow on the Babis 
 was terrible. One of the assailants was killed on the 
 spot, the other two were tortured with fiendish cruelty 
 to induce them to reveal their fellow conspirators, but 
 without avail. Some thirty residents of the capitol 
 were suspected of being- Babis, were seized and after a 
 month's deliberation on the part of the Shah and his 
 court, they were put to death in a variety of methods 
 the most cruel and barbarous, larg-e numbers of the 
 nobility, the ecclesiastics and other citizens of Teheran 
 being forced to aid in their execution in evidence of 
 their lo3^alt3^ to the Shah. Among the victims was the 
 gifted woman Kurra'1-Ayn, who for some months had 
 been under arrest and surveilance in the city. All the 
 victims met their death with stoical, almost superhu- 
 man fortitude, refusing- the pardon offered them if they 
 would but recant. Some even in the midst of their 
 
 -211- 
 
prolong-ed suffering's sang- or shouted song-s of triumph 
 The French writer Renau speaks of this massacre, 
 as a day "without parallel" perhaps in the history of 
 the world. It should be borne in mind that some of 
 these unfortunates had never seen the man whom they 
 called master, yet thus rapturously did they offer up 
 their lives as a testimony of their faith in him. This 
 ferocit}^ of veng-eance checked, thoug-h it did not by any 
 means extripate Babism. While it put an end to the 
 revolutionary tendencies of its more restless spirits 
 secret partisanship continued to keep alive the heresy. 
 Two brothers who stood foremost among the sect, 
 one of whom had been nominated by the Bab as his suc- 
 cessor, found it safe to escape over into Turkey and 
 made their residence for some years in Bag-dad. Here 
 their abodes became centers of rival missionaries efforts, 
 from which the Persian rulers took alarm, and at their 
 earnest request the Osmanli g-overnment ordered their 
 removal to European Turkey; and finally one of them, 
 Mirza Yahya, was sent to the island of Cyprus, where 
 he still lives; the other, Mirza Husein AH, was removed 
 to Acre, a Turkish strong-hold on the Mediterranean 
 coast. 
 
 According- to the Bab no divine revelation is final. 
 His was the latest, but not the last manifestation of the 
 deity in human form. There are numerous passages in 
 his writing-s which intimate that he is but the forerunner 
 of One to come. The expression frequently occurs, "He 
 whom God shall manifest." His followers have never 
 been agreed as to the exact meaning of this phrase. 
 The prisoner at Acre came to interpret it as referring 
 primarily to himself, and boldly claimed that he was 
 the one predicted, setting aside the Bab's nomination of 
 his brother to the headship. The larger portion of the 
 Babis have come to acknowledge his claims, yielding to 
 him divine homage. He assumed the name of Beha, 
 
 —212— 
 
i. e., Ivig-lit. Often he is designated as "Beha 'Ullah,'^ 
 or "Ivig-ht of God," and his followers are known as 
 Behais as well as Babis. The younger brother is com- 
 monly known as Subhi-Ezel, i. e., "Light of Eternity," 
 and his disciples are called Sub-i-Kzelis. Though the 
 Beba proclaimed himself to be the divine being incar- 
 nate, he made no pretense of working miracles, but like 
 the Arabian prophet and like the Bab, he offered as 
 proof of his claims simply and alone the superlative ex- 
 cellence of his compositions. Up to the time of his re- 
 cent death he resided in no small degree of comfort at 
 Acre in a mansion encompassed by orange groves fur- 
 nished him by the Turkish government, numerous Persian 
 attendants surrounding the place carefully guarding all 
 approach of strangers to their revered master, keeping 
 up an air of impressive awe as was supposed to befit the 
 abode of so exalted a personage. In his writings more 
 is made of himself and his own teachings than of the 
 Bab and his prescriptions. Among other products of 
 his pen are noticeable several letters addressed to sover- 
 eigns of Europe and Asia and to the President of the 
 United States, in which he appeals, as by divine au- 
 thority, for the cessation of wars, for international 
 comity and good feeling, for the prevalence of justice 
 and righteousness, and for the recognition of his claims 
 as the present representative of God on earth. Since 
 his death it is not known what position is taken by his 
 followers with respect to a successor, but up to the 
 present time the Behais have been gaining converts 
 widely throughout Persia. He taught that every age 
 must have its own prophet inspired from God. He 
 claimed that he was inspired and that he had frequent 
 communications from God telling him how to direct the 
 people. He openly claimed to be the Imam, and he 
 taught that the priesthood and the religion were corrupt 
 and that he was appointed to renew them. He did not 
 
 —213— 
 
oppose the Koran, but at ttie same time said that every 
 ag-e needs a new Bible. He claimed to have received a 
 Bible from God. 
 
 This book is called Bayon, meaning- exposition. He 
 taug-ht the equality of both sexes and paid homage to 
 woman. He showed that it was ag"ainst the law of God 
 to marry more than one woman or to keep concubines. 
 Further, it is ag-ainst the law of society and the happi- 
 ness of women for man to have more than one wife. The 
 law of divorce, which is common among" Mohammed- 
 ans, was not practiced by the new sect. The place of 
 women among- them is the same as among- Christians. 
 The prophet taug-ht that the spirit of charity oug-ht to 
 be as a flame of fire in the hearts of his followers. He 
 said we cannot please God if we see our brother in need 
 and do not help him; if we pray He will not hear us, if 
 we worship Him He will turn his face away from us. 
 Believing- this, the spirit of charity is very strong- among- 
 them and they support the needy. The use of wine and 
 all intoxicants is strictly forbidden. They are very kind 
 to people of other faiths who are not Mohammedans, 
 them, they hate. The Babis charg-e the Christians with 
 Jewish blindness in not recog-nizing- their prophet as the 
 returning^ Christ, with a new Gospel. But no true 
 Christian can study the principles of Babism without a 
 painful conviction of its entire unworthiness to be called 
 a Gospel in anv sense. It is a system of crude, mystical 
 ideas, barren of all spiritual value to humanity. Relig"- 
 ion is made by it to consist chiefly in the worship of God 
 as manifested in the assumed incarnations. Nothing-, 
 scarcely, is taug-ht of the Divine Holiness, nor of sin, 
 nor of repentance; nothing- of Divine love, nor of a 
 Savior, nor of holy living-. The principles of morality 
 inculcated are indeed somewhat hig-her than those cur- 
 rent among- the Moslems and emphasis is laid on sin- 
 cerity, as all essential in relig-ion, a quality conspicu- 
 
 —214— 
 
ously absent with the Shiahs, but in fact the followers 
 of the Beha pay slig-ht heed to these nobler teachings 
 while they seize eagerly upon the freedom granted them 
 from the exactions of Mohammedan law. They neither 
 fast nor pray except, possibly, the latter over the dead; 
 they are addicted to wine drinking, even to excess. As 
 to the doctrine of the equality of men and women which 
 the Bab enjoined, it is but partially maintained in prac- 
 tice, and the same may be said in respect to other of his 
 teachings intended to elevate the position of woman. 
 Indeed, what valuable fruit could we expect from a 
 religious system which argues against creation and the 
 resurrection, which has no adequate conception of the 
 nature of sin, presents no higher motive to goodness 
 than the extinction and final absorption of the human 
 soul into the Divine Being, and holds up no fear of 
 punishment nor serious loss to transgressors of the moral 
 law. It is indeed amazing, that men are so ready to 
 devote themselves to death, at the hands of their enemies, 
 for a system of religious beliefs so empty of all practical 
 benefit. The enmity between them and the orthodox 
 Mohammedans has been very severe. From the killing 
 of Bab until the present time, they have been trying to 
 kill the Shah. In their first attempt they failed, but 
 May 1, 1896, while the Shah was worshiping in the most 
 holy place of the mosque, he became the victim of a 
 fanatic Babi who had disguised himself as a woman. 
 This Babi, while under disguise, shot the king, who 
 died two minutes afterwards. Some thought the gov- 
 ernment would again persecute them, but there were 
 some hindrances which would not permit this. In the 
 first place their religion is kept a secret; it is impossible 
 to know who belongs to the new sect. Secondly, 
 many of the high classes and royal officers belong to this 
 sect, and for this reason it would be impossible to per- 
 secute them. Thirdly, their number today would reach 
 
 -215— 
 
2,000,000, or about that, and to kill this enormo 
 company would certainly damag-e the g"overnment. 
 
 Their antag-onism ag-ainst the g^overnment, ai 
 ag"ainst orthodox Mohammedism, is caused entirely 1: 
 the lack of freedom of religious worship. We cannc 
 reg"ard it other than wild fanaticism ; and the worst c 
 it is, that it is fanatacism which has instigated some c 
 its followers to the assassination of its adversaries, gi\ 
 ing- color to the prediction of many that, if the Babi 
 should ever attain to a position of political power, the] 
 would prove the most intolerant and vengeful of al 
 sects. Our sympathies can but go out to them, for the 
 terrible sufferings which they have undergone in behali 
 of what they hold to be the truth, and above all their 
 pitiful blindness and folly. The chief virtue to be laid 
 to their credit is their mutual devotion and fraternal 
 affection. This, and the religious liberty they practice, 
 are the chief ties that bind them together as a sect, and 
 in these, doubtless, lies the secret of their constant 
 growth. They are very warm friends of the Christians, 
 placing in them the greatest confidence ; sometimes 
 they will even lodge in the houses of Christians, and 
 eat with them without questioning. This a strict 
 Mohommedan would never do. They readily allow the 
 Christian to preach to them and to discuss religion with 
 them. Yet it is not an easy matter to convert them, 
 for one must know their manner of life and religious 
 doctrines too successfully meet their arguments. A few, 
 however, have been truly converted. This filled the 
 Mohammedans with hatred, both against the Christians 
 and the converts. When the Christian shows the supe- 
 riority of Christ, and of His doctrine, over that of their 
 Prophet Bab, they are forced into silence. They are 
 now securing many converts from Mohammedism, and 
 it is believed that the time will come when reilgious 
 toleration will be obtained by them. This will also give 
 
 —216- 
 
the Christians a g-ood opportunity of preaching- the 
 Gospel. It is a matter of some hopefulness to the 
 Christian that these people listen to the Gospel with 
 the g-reatest readiness, and consequently by reading- 
 with them it seems possible to lead them to see the 
 errors into which they have fallen. There is greater 
 encourag-ement to missionary effort in the fact that 
 these people are everywhere undermining or relaxing- 
 the orthodox Moslem belief, and so are opening- the 
 doors of conscience and faith among- the Mohammedans 
 to the saving- truths of the Gospel of the Crucified Son 
 of God. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 The title of our work dedicated to the furtherance of 
 the Gospel in Persia is "Darkness and Da3^break." Paul 
 speaks of the nig-ht being- far spent, and the day is at hand, 
 with those who are deeply interested in the concerns of 
 the Gospel and the lig"ht, it reveals with respect to the 
 King-dom of God and the g'lory manifested in Jesus 
 Christ. There is anxiet}^ to be instrumental in casting- 
 off the works of darkness which is blinding- many, 
 throug-h the prince of darkness, whether in the form of 
 a formal relig-ion or open idolatry, deluding- the simple 
 into the fatal errors which, unless by the the conse- 
 crated efforts of Christ and his Church, must perish for 
 lack of knowledge. With this hope in view, I make an 
 appeal to you all, God willing, to lend me your prayers 
 and assisting heart and hand to carry on the work now 
 begun in Persia. Have we not need, every one of us 
 who profers the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to put 
 on the armor of ligJit, to be clothed in this armor 
 and go forth in the field that God has in his kind and 
 loving providence opened for us. 
 
 —217— 
 
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 Letter received from my brother Joseph while in prison at Dixxa, Gavar, 
 Turkey, stating- that my message had reached him, and British and Ameri- 
 can ambassadors had been informed and every effort was being- made to 
 secure m}'^ release, etc. 
 
 —218- 
 
Telegram of English missionary sent to British Consul at Van, Turkej', 
 
 requesting- his aidior the release of Isaac Adams, 
 
 sent June. 1895. 
 
 — 21<)- 
 
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 )Li^X.a )L^ -x > ^ . ^"n^i^ ^sih-w 
 
 Ordination Diploma, from Mar Knanishu, a Nestorian Metropolitan, convej'^- 
 ing the privilege to preach and teach among Nestorians and be kindly and respect- 
 fully received by them. 
 
 —220— 
 
Beloved in the Lokd: 
 
 For the purpose of more effectively propag-ating- the 
 mission in Persia, already begun by means of establish- 
 ing- a number of Christian schools, distributing- Bibles 
 and other Christian relig-ious literature, etc., we are in 
 sore need of a printing- press of moderate capacity. It 
 would by this be broug-ht within our reach to furnish a 
 sufficient quantity of Bibles, whole or in part, cate- 
 chisms, tracts, etc., to cover all parts of Persia, Kurdis- 
 tan and the Caucausus, which could scarcely ever be 
 made possible so long- as such books, etc., must be 
 boug-ht from dealers. My brother, Abraham Adams, 
 having- spent some time in this country for the particu- 
 lar purpose of learning- the printers' trade, has now re- 
 turned to Persia ready to take this branch of our mis- 
 sion work. Allow me, therefore, to present to you an 
 appeal in behalf of our work, and most especially this 
 part of it, the purchase of a small printing- press. 
 
 Considering- this appeal, look not at yourself, and your 
 wants and needs, but at Christ, with all His riches and 
 wealth. He has made many promises which he can 
 and will fulfill. Of course, he can and will help our 
 work along-, in spite of any or many persons' ill will, as 
 it has been beg-un and is propag-ated in His name ; but 
 is it not a dear privilege of yours, who call yourself 
 after his name, to be permitted to aid in maintaining 
 and furthering it ? Christ wants the Gospel spread and 
 His kingdom extended on earth by Christians, for to 
 His disciples He has given the command to go and teach 
 all nations. And do you not remember that your dear 
 Lord and Master has promised a reward for all that you 
 do in His name, even to handing a draught of cold 
 
 -221- 
 
water to the thirsty? What a blessed sensation it will 
 create in every g-iver to read or to learn that the mission 
 in Persia is progressing- nnely, and that it had been 
 brought about to a great extent by the g-ifts of those 
 Christians, who made it possible to buy a printing 
 press, by means of which the Gospel was made to pene- 
 trate places heretofore considered unpenetrable. 
 
 But you are too poor to g-ive anything ? It is often 
 the case, that dear Christians refrain from g-iving- for a 
 certain purpose because they think they cannot g-ive 
 enoug-h. This is a sad mistake. 
 
 The mite you give helps the cause along and is in the 
 eyes of the Lord, who can easily make much out of lit- 
 tle, a means perhaps, to do great good, which, should 
 you but be able to perceive it, would astonish you to the 
 utmost. But you cannot give anything? Yet you can 
 aid our work if you will. You are a Christian? If so, 
 you cannot help to pray. When you pray, think of the 
 poor Mohammedans, Kurds, Devil- Worshipers and Fire- 
 Worshipers in Persia; think of the poor Nestorians, who 
 consider themselves Christians and yet do not know their 
 Lord and Savior Jesus. This sad affair lay before Him 
 in your prayer and ask Him, fervently, to help the mis- 
 sion in Persia along. When you say amen, He also will 
 say, amen, yea, so shall it be. I thus leave this appeal 
 to your prayerful coasideration, trusting that you will 
 not shrink from doing something for this cause. 
 
 Gifts towards the purchasing of a printing press or 
 towards the benefit of the Persian mission in general, 
 please send to 
 
 ISAAC ADAMS, 
 
 Oroomiah, Persia, 
 
 via Berlin and Odessa, 
 Or No. 124 Lagrave St , 
 
 Grand Rapids, Mich. U. S. A. 
 
 —222- 
 
The following- are a few of the many testimonials I 
 have covering- a period from June 11, 1890, to April 8, 
 
 1898 : 
 
 Mr. Adams spoke to a large and deeply interested cong-re- 
 g-ation at the First Reformed Church, on Sunday, March 4, 1894. 
 
 Mr. Adams gives an impression of sincere and devoted zeal 
 to spread the knowledge of the Redeemer among his unfortunate 
 fellow-countrymen in Persia, and, therefore, we take just pleas- 
 ure in recommending him as in every way worthy of sympathy 
 and respect. W. H. WIIylvIAMSON, Pastor, 
 
 Grand Rapids, Mich. 
 
 This is to certify that the Rev. Isaac Adams, of Persia, spoke 
 to my people on the evening of Thursday, September 20, 1894^ 
 and that we all were much edified by his words, and wished many 
 more had heard him. He is a native of Persia, who has been in 
 this country some three years, more or less, preparing himself to 
 preach the Gospel to his countrymen. He took a course in Mr. 
 Moody's Training School, at Chicago, and sent home to bring his 
 three brothers to this country, that they too might receive a 
 Christian education. Before Mr. Adams' coming to us I received 
 high recommendations of him, as a sincere Christian, from sev- 
 eral of the western brethren, among whom were Revs. Winter, of 
 Grand Rapids, Birchby, of Holland, De Bruyn, of Grand Haven, 
 and Ihrman, of Marion. Through an oversight those letters 
 were lost, but all of them expressed unqualified confidence in 
 Brother Adams as a true Christian and able speaker. 
 
 We learned in a few hours to regard him very highly in love 
 for his work's sake, and our church will always be open to wel- 
 come him. He is not working under any of our boards, but all 
 who have met him concur in the impression that he is one of the 
 Master's workers, whose Christian fellowship it is a privilege to 
 possess. JOHN G. GEBHARD, 
 
 Pastor Reformed Church, Herkimer, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Adams, a native of Persia, who has been five years in 
 this country and soon goes back to labor among his own people, 
 spoke last evening to our people and greatly interested them. 
 They gladly gave him their sympathy and substantial assistance. 
 
 Mr. Adams came with abundant testimonials, and I gladly 
 add my own expression of confidence and personal interests. He 
 speaks English as well as need be. 
 
 EDWARD G. SBlvDEN, D. D., 
 Pastor Madison Ave. Reformed Church, Albany, N. Y. 
 
I take pleasure in saying- Mr. Isaac Adams g-ave an interest- 
 ing- and instructive address in our lecture room, on the evening of 
 September 26, 1894. His use of the English language is very 
 g-ood and his subject matter can not fail to please. 
 
 Mr Adams is an earnest young man and we wish him abun- 
 dant success in his proposed work. 
 
 THOMAS POWE:IvIv VERNOIvL, 
 Pastor First Reformed Church, Paterson, N. J. 
 
 This is to certify that I am personally acquainted with Mr. 
 Isaac Adams, and have every confidence in his Christian charac- 
 ter and honesty of purpose. He is preparing himself, by study, 
 to the missionary work in his native land of Persia. Any help 
 rendered him in securing places to lecture, etc , will be worthily 
 bestowed. C. PERRIN, Ph. D., Pastor, 
 
 We concur : Chicag-o, 111. 
 
 B. F. Jacobs, (Great Sunday school man). 
 W. R. Harpkr, Ph. D., President University of Chicago. 
 
 I very cordially commend Mr. Isaac Adams to the Christian 
 public. He is a native of Persia, belongs to the old Nestorian 
 stock, has the highest testimonials from those who have inti- 
 mately known him in his own land and in this. I have seen 
 enoug-h of him to satisfy me that he is an earnest and humble 
 Christian. His lectures have been uniformly listened to with 
 pleasure and profit. I trust that he may be cordially welcomed 
 and helped in his work of preparation for the service to which he 
 hopes to devote his life. P. S. HANSON, D. D., 
 
 Pastor First Baptist Church, Chicag-o, 111. 
 
 I ^m more than pleased with the acqaintance 1 have had with 
 Mr. Isaac Adams, and our people were much interested and edi- 
 fied with the address which he gave April 9, 1893, in the church. 
 I most sincerely pray the richest blessing of God upon his life. 
 
 J. A. JOHNSTON, D. D , 
 Pastor First Baptist Church, Kalamazoo, Mich. 
 
 To Whom it May Concern: Mr. Isaac Adams addressed a 
 meeting at the First Baptist Church with great acceptance. He 
 is a very entertaining and instructive speaker, and the spirit of 
 his lecture is exceptionally good. It g-ives me g-reat pleasure to 
 cordially commend him to the churches. 
 
 J W. CONIyEY, 
 Pastor First Baptist Church, St. Paul, Minn. 
 
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To All Whom it May Concern : Mr. Isaac Adams addressed 
 the Central Baptist people, Sunday evening. June 4, 1893, and 
 g-ave a most interesting- description of Persian manners and 
 religious beliefs. His knowledg-e is ample and his ability to set it 
 before others in a pictorial manner is quite unusual. His lecture 
 is both entertaing- and instructive. To g^rant him the privileg^e of 
 addressing- a congreg-ation is a favor to the people fully as much as 
 to him. Besides this, he is of worthy character and merits sym- 
 pathy in his efforts to obtain an education. I do not usually write 
 letters like this, but say these words heartily. 
 
 REV. CHAS. A. REESE, 
 Pastor Central Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minn. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Adams g-ave an interesting- address on above date. 
 Mr. Adams speaks English remarkably, considering- his short 
 time in this country ; is preparing- himself to return to his native 
 land as a inissionary ; is dependent upon his addresses for his 
 support and expenses at school. Help him. 
 
 REV. MANLY BENSON, 
 
 Grimsby Park, Ontario, Canada. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Adams spoke at our missionary concert on Persia, 
 its relig-ion and people, to the great delight of our people. Would 
 advise anj^ pastor to give him a hearing. 
 
 REV. WAYEAND HOYT, D. D., 
 Pastor First Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minn. 
 
 Isaac Adams, or, in his own language, " Ishak Adam," seeks 
 to fit himself for the work of a missionary in Persia, and I have 
 reason to believe he is worthy of all the help we can render. 
 REV. RICHARD S. MARTIN, D. D., 
 
 Grace M. E. Church, Chicago. 111. 
 
 A large congregation greeted Mr. Isaac Adams in our church 
 Sunday evening, March 12, 1893, and listened with great pleasure 
 and profit to his address on Persia, etc. Had he continued to 
 speak each night during the week I am persuaded he would have 
 had full houses On the evening of March 14, through a blizzard, 
 many went to Montague to hear him, and there, where he has 
 spoken several times, the house was crowded. No minister need 
 hesitate to make way for him. He will do the people of any coni- 
 munit)' good and help the cause of christianitj' ; especially 
 awakening an interest in missions. I most heartily endorse him. 
 
 ALBERT SMITH, 
 Pastor M. E. Church, Whitehall, Mich. 
 
 -225- O 
 
To Whom it May Conckrx : This is to say that Mr Isaac 
 Adams spoke to the people of the Woodward Avenue Baptist 
 Church, Wednesday evening-. May 10, 1893, and g-reatly interested 
 them in the story of the relig-ion of his native country and the 
 peculiar habits and customs of the people. Any audience would 
 be edified and delighted with him. 
 
 DONAIvD D. MAC I^AURIN,D. D., 
 Pastor Woodward Ave. Baptist Church, Detroit, Mich. 
 
 I have examined papers shown by Mr. Adams, Persian, who 
 is seeking- an education in this country for future usefulness, and 
 find them g-ood. Without personal knowledg-e of his antecedents, 
 I take him to be what he claims, and trustworthy. 
 
 S. M. MERRIIvL, 
 Bishop M. E. Church, Chicag-o, 111. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Adams gave his lecture on Persia, in the M. 'E,. 
 Church of our villag-e, under the auspices of the Women's Foreig-n 
 Missionary Society, and it was very entertaining- and instructive 
 and I heartily recommend him as a lecturer and Christian brother. 
 
 MRS. N. W. MATHER. 
 Pres't Big- Rapids District, W. F. M. S., Howard City, Mich. 
 
 To Whom it May Concern : Brother Isaac Adams lectured 
 to a larg-e cong-regation here, composed of the Methodist and Bap- 
 tist Churches. His lecture was very interesting and greatly 
 appreciated. His coming has helped the missionary spirit among 
 our people. Evidently the lyord is using him to do a great work 
 in this country. Let all encourage him, and hear him. 
 
 E. E. SINCEEIR, 
 Pastor M. E. Church, Reed City, Mich. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Adams, a native Persian, spoke to a crowded house 
 Sunday evening, February 26, 1893, to the great satisfaction of 
 all. Our people are stirred on the missionary question as never 
 before. Many remarked that they had always opposed foreign 
 missionary work because they believed it the duty of the Church 
 to care for the home work first, but hereafter they would pay 
 their money where it would be most appreciated and accomplish 
 the greatest amount of good. I very cordially commend Brother 
 Adams to the Christian public everywhere as an earnest Christian 
 gentleman, worthy of entire confidence and aid ; he is preparing 
 to return to his own people as a missionary. 
 
 FRANK H. NIX, 
 ~ Pastor Morley M. E. Church, Morley, Mich. 
 
This is to certify that Mr. Isaac Adams g-ave a public address 
 on the Relig"ions and People of Persia, at a union meeting of the 
 evang-elical churches in the central part of our city on Sunday 
 evening-, July 2, 1893, to the edification of the people assembled. 
 It is to be hoped that the way will soon be opened for the return 
 of Mr. Adams to his native land, that he may preach the gospel 
 to his own countrymen. W. J. JOHNSON, 
 
 Pastor First M. E. Church, Sioux City, Iowa. 
 
 My Dear Mr. Adams : I enclose a letter of introduction for 
 you to Rev. Dr. Johnson, of McCormick Theological Seminary. T 
 think, that, upon reading it, he will give you opportunity for a 
 full conversation with him, and I would advise you, before you 
 call, to think over what you wish to say and arrange it somewhat 
 in your mind, so that you will be able to set your matter before 
 him fully and yet briefly. I shall always be glad to hear from 
 you, and trust that God will direct your steps and keep you stead- 
 fast in his service and love. 
 
 ARTHUR MITCHELL, D. D., 
 Sec'y Board of Foreign Missions, Presb. Church, New York. 
 ( See page 30 ) 
 
 Mr. Isaac Adams, of Persia, spoke in our church twice on 
 Sunday, May 8th, 1892, at the Christian Endeavor missionary 
 meeting and at the regular service. The people were much in- 
 terested He also gave a gospel address at the Y. M. C. A. meet- 
 ing on the same day, which my young men said was an address 
 of decided power. I can cordially commend this brother to any 
 who may desire a missionary address on Persia. 
 
 JAMES LEWIS, 
 Pastor Central Presbyterian Church, Joliet, 111. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Adams, a Nestorian from Oroomiah, Persia, comes 
 to me with letters of commendation from Dr. Arthur Mitchell. 
 He has spoken with success in my church. His purpose is one 
 which commends itself to all and I hope he may meet with entire 
 success. HANFORD A. EDSON, 
 
 Memorial Church, Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 To THE Methodist Clergy : Isaac Adams is a success as a 
 speaker. He addressed 1,000 people in my church on the evening 
 of July 9, 1893, and we were all delighted. You will make no mis- 
 take in giving him your pulpit. 
 
 FRANK CRANE, D. D., 
 Pastor First M. E. Church of Omaha, Neb. 
 
 -227- 
 
Mr. Isaac Adams is a native of Orooiniah, Persia, and is 
 
 studying- in this country to prepare himself for work in his native 
 
 land. He has testimonials from Dr. Arthur Mitchell of our Foreign 
 
 Board, from Dr. Wallace and other pastors of Chicago, and from 
 
 Dr. Kdson and others of Indianapolis. I can cheerfully commend 
 
 him and his work to your favor. 
 
 REV. T. Iv. HUGHES, 
 
 Shelbyville, Ind. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Adams, of Oroomiah, Persia, conducted the after- 
 noon meeting for young men in the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
 ciation building on June 5, 1892. His address on the "Story of 
 the Cross" was straightforward and simple and touched the hearts 
 of all who heard him. Mr. Adams seems fully qualified in every 
 way for the great and self-sacrificing work that he contemplates, 
 mission work among his own people, the Nestorians. We all feel 
 grateful to him for the inspiration of his remarks and heartily 
 commend him to all Christian people as worth3^ of confidence. 
 
 E. A P HAYNES, 
 Chairman Religious Work Committee, Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 Brother Isaac Adams, who is preparing for medical missionary 
 work and has several schools in Persia where the children are 
 taught the principals of the Christian religion, has written of 
 his past experiences, we nave known him for several years and 
 have found him a sincere and consecrated student in the worthy 
 cause of Christian mission work and would commend his book 
 and believe it will prove both interesting- and instructive. 
 
 REV. J. C. VOORHIS, 
 
 Hackensack, N. J. 
 
 Brother Isaac Adams, an excellent Christian brother from 
 Persia, who is deeply interested in the welfare of his ;^eople, I 
 can give my hearty endorsement in his undertaking. I earnestly 
 hope and pray that he will meet with great success, and that he 
 may ultimately return and eng-ag-e in his mission. I most cor- 
 dially commend him and his work. Brother Adams is a young 
 man of fine ability ; his purpose is to fit himself for greater use- 
 fulness for the cause of the Master and his people. Brother 
 Adams is known to me for about five years, and I have every 
 reason to believe that he is worthy of all confidence. I most 
 heartily recommend his project to the Christian public or indi- 
 viduals who may feel interested to contribute something- to the 
 aid of his good work. REV. G. E. BOER, 
 
 Prof. Christian Ref . Theol. Seminary, Grand Rapids, Mich. 
 
 -228— 
 
Mr. Isaac Adams has been a frequent visitor at my home dur- 
 ing- the last three years, and I have been acquainted with him for 
 tour years. And I can heartily commend him and his work to all 
 those who are interested in the advancement of God's King-dom 
 in Persia. I make that assertion both from the fact that I have 
 taken considerable pains to examine into his character, and from 
 personal experience in my association with him for three years. 
 April 8, 1898. REV. S. I. VANDERBEEK, 
 
 Pastor Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Mich. 
 
 I have known Isaac Adams for some time past ; for five 
 months he was in my employ. I have found him to be an intelli- 
 g-ent, industrious, worthy, Christian young- man, and worthy of 
 any aid that will enable him to pursue his studies. 
 
 CAPT^. W. H. MATHEWS, 
 
 Sup't Forty-fourth Street Boys' I^odg-ing House, New York. 
 
 To Whom it May Concern : This certifies that I have known 
 Isaac Adams for more than a year, and I consider him an earnest, 
 reliable, Christian young man. He has been one year as a 
 student at Hampton Normal Institute, Va.. and his teachers 
 there speak of him in the hig-hest terms and are hopeful of his 
 being- able to return to his country, Persia, and be an instrument 
 of good in teaching- them of the hig-her ways of living-. I most 
 cheerfully recommend him to the confidence of any church desir- 
 ing to help in foreig-n missionary work. 
 
 B W. TICE, 
 Sup't West Side Boys' Lodging- House, New York. 
 
 To Whom it May Concern: This is to certify that Isaac 
 Adams, from Oroomiah, Persia, has been connected with this 
 institution for eight months, and has been an earnest student 
 and a straightforward Christian man. He is preparing himself 
 for work among his own people. 
 
 REV. H. B. FRISSELIv, 
 
 Chaplain Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Va. 
 
 To Any Concerned : Mr. Isaac Adams, a native of Persia, 
 has stayed in our town a couple of months, and has spoken with 
 much acceptance in all the leading churches, and in our hall, to 
 large audiences. We take great pleasure in recommending him 
 as a brother in Christ, worthy of the confidence and help of all 
 Christian people, and wish him God-speed in his preparation for 
 missionary work among his own people. 
 
 T. F. BEST, 
 Sec'y Young Men's Christian Association, Brantford, Canada. 
 
 — 2:>9- 
 
Acknowledgment. 
 
 I feel very much indebted to several persons v^^ho 
 have kindly aided me, a poor, forlorn strang-er in this 
 vast country, in publishing this little volume. To them 
 all, in whatever way they may have been of assistance 
 to me, I hereby tender my heartiest thanks, hoping- that 
 our common Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, ma}^ let 
 them reap returns as He has promised. 
 
 Isaac Adams. 
 
Lord's Praj'er in ancient S3Tiac, as spoken 
 bj- the Nestdrians. 
 
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