History Of The Missions Of The American Board Of Commissioners For Foreign Missions Volume I Part 18

The revival scenes of 1849, were renewed in the first month of 1850.

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

The strength of feeling was as intense in the girls' school, but was manifested in a different manner. The devout among them were disposed to spend much time in prayer, while at the same time they were very active in efforts for the conversion of their a.s.sociates, as well as of the members of their families that visited the school.

For two months, until the close of the term, there was no diminution of interest. The regular attendance on preaching at Oroomiah, Seir, Degala, Geog Tapa, and Ardishai, was greater than ever before. The same may be said of numerous other villages, where meetings were occasionally held. Divine truth seemed to reach and affect the ma.s.s of the people. Geog Tapa was specially favored. The people were affected, not as in former years with the overwhelming convictions of the law, but with a deep and intelligent persuasion of the claims of truth.

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

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

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

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

1 _Missionary Herald_, 1851, p. 90.

2 _Ibid_. 1851, pp. 91-97.

3 _Ibid_. 1851, p. 139.

4 _Ibid_. 1851, pp. 54-58.

5 _Ibid_. 1851, pp. 61-63.

The mission was much strengthened in the year 1851, by the return of Mr. Stoddard, accompanied by Mrs. Stoddard, and by the accession of the Rev. Samuel A. Rhea. In this year, through the efforts of Mr.

Stevens, British Consul at Tabriz, and Colonel s.h.i.+el the Amba.s.sador, the Persian government promulgated an edict of toleration, granting equal protection to all its Christian subjects, including the right of proselyting, following in this the example of Turkey. The mission was now received again under British protection, and the Persian government notified the authorities at Oroomiah of the change.

The advance of public sentiment in respect to the education of women, is worthy of special notice. Only a few years had elapsed since it was deemed disgraceful to instruct that s.e.x. Now, an examination of the female seminary drew together all the princ.i.p.al men and women of the Nestorian community, who listened with unwearied interest for two days. The examinations of both seminaries were highly satisfactory, Mar Yohannan, who had been present on similar occasions at colleges in the United States, and had desired to see the same things in his own country, was greatly delighted.

Mr. Stoddard doubted whether he had ever attended an examination of greater excellence than that of the seminary for girls. "The pupils," he says, "were thoroughly acquainted with all their secular studies, and their familiarity with the Scriptures was truly wonderful." Three-fourths of the forty in the male seminary were also in the school of Christ, and there was the same prevalence of piety in the female seminary. Dr. Perkins regarded the latter school as unsurpa.s.sed by any in America in system, studiousness, good conduct, and rapid improvement.

The fifty-eight village schools contained a thousand and twenty-three pupils, and were generally under evangelical teachers.

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

The labors of the mission were widely extended. Mr. Cochran and deacon Moses preached in villages along the southern border of Oroomiah, and found the people there eager to hear the word of life.

Messrs. Stocking and Coan, and Misses Fiske and Rice, with several native helpers, spent a month in Gawar, preparing the way for a station there. That place is seventy miles from Oroomiah, and within the Turkish dominions.1

1 _Missionary Herald_, 1852, p. 67.

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

1 _Ibid_. 1852, p. 71.

2 _Missionary Herald_, 1852, pp. 257-262.

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

This was in the summer of 1851. The station was commenced by Messrs.

Coan and Rhea in the autumn of that year. The plain of Gawar is large and beautiful, and is hemmed in by some of the wildest of the Koordish mountains. The village of Memikan, selected for the station, lay on the southwest base of the great Jeloo mountains.

That village was preferred to the larger ones, as having received much religious instruction from deacon Tamo. It was also central.

The rigors of a severe climate cut them off three mouths from communication with the plain of Oroomiah, and these rigors were to be encountered in native huts. But they enjoyed comfortable health, and were happy and successful in their work. The Bishop of Gawar sent orders to the villagers not to attend their services, nor to send children to their schools; but the order produced only a momentary effect. Mrs. Coan had a school for the mothers and daughters of the village, who came barefooted through the snow day after day, the mothers bringing their children on their backs. All the young men and all the boys of suitable age learned to read the gospel, and the fathers came to the school-room every Sat.u.r.day, to listen while the scholars were learning their Sabbath-school lessons. Thirty or forty were accustomed to a.s.semble every night to hear the Word of G.o.d expounded, and all attended on the services of the Sabbath. Deacon Tamo preached in the surrounding villages.

Though threatened at times, he encountered no active opposition.

The year was distinguished by the death of a youth of seventeen years of age, of whom Dr. Perkins speaks as being a remarkable instance of the triumph of faith. His name was Guwergis. He was a nephew of deacon Tamo, and a member of the seminary. Guwergis came a rude mountain boy from Memikan, and was one of the converts of 1849.

His convictions of sin were pungent, and his interest in the welfare of souls was engrossing. His prayerfulness was unequaled. During the period of greatest interest in the revivals, he would occasionally pray for nearly the whole night. Quite frequently he would rise at midnight, and repair to his cold and dark closet, which he ever found warm with a Saviour's love, and radiant with his presence. He was often known to spend two hours in prayer, and as might be supposed, in this exercise he soon excelled many of his superiors.

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

"His humble confession of sin, his strong confidence in the efficacy of the atonement, even for him sinful as he was, his entire renunciation of all dependence on anything save the grace of G.o.d in Christ, were deeply affecting. He ceased, and on opening his eyes he saw us weeping. 'Why do you weep?' said he. 'If it is the will of G.o.d that I die, my heart is burning to see Christ in his glory.'

Surely, this is far more than a return for all that has been expended by the Church in the work of missions."

"I have been happy during his sickness," wrote Dr. Perkins, "to try to alleviate his bodily pains; but I have also been greatly refreshed in spirit; and I have been instructed and comforted in watching the remarkable exercises of his mind, and the ardent longing of his soul after Christ and heaven. Since the death of Mrs.

Grant, more than twelve years ago, I have been present at no such rapturous deathbed, nor have I ever beheld any more wonderful."

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

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

Among the extreme measures of the Turkish rulers, under such an influence, was the arrest of deacon Tamo, with his two brothers, and several of the chief villagers, on the strange charge of murdering a Turkish soldier, who was spending the night near the house of the deacon, and was shot by a company of marauders. Deacon Tamo was arrested as the chief offender, and along with the others was taken to Bashkallah, the residence of the local Pasha. They were there chained together, made to work in brick under taskmasters, and thrown at night into a vile prison. It so happened, that Lieutenant-colonel W. F. Williams, the British Commissioner for settling the boundary between Turkey and Persia, was in that district at the time of this outrage. On learning it, his generous nature was aroused, and he immediately proceeded to Bashkallah, a distance of twenty hours. The Pasha was absent, and not securing the release of the prisoners, he continued his journey to Van, three days further, to see the Pasha of Koordistan. He made him many fair promises, but forgot them on the departure of Colonel Williams. He however had the prisoners removed in October to Van, and there, after the form of a trial, dismissed all except deacon Tamo to their homes. To him the Pasha said, "I shall exact from you thirty thousand piastres, and retain you a prisoner three years." He had promised Colonel Williams, that both the fine and the imprisonment of Tamo should be merely nominal. No one believed the deacon to be guilty. And it is interesting to note the persons, who put forth efforts through a whole year from this time, to effect his release.

Colonel Williams went to Constantinople, and laid the case before Colonel Rose, H. B. M. Charge d'Affairs, and Mr. Brown, the American Charge. Mr. Brant, English Consul at Erzroom, and Mr. Stevens, English Consul at Tabriz, cooperated with Colonel Williams; and finally Sir Stratford de Redcliffe, British Amba.s.sador at the Porte, made a decisive and successful appeal; and deacon Tamo once more appeared among his friends at Memikan, exhibiting a truly Christian spirit towards his enemies.

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

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

CHAPTER XXI.

SYRIA.

1845-1856.

Good tidings were received in 1845 concerning Aintab, in Northern Syria, communicated by Dr. Kerns, of the London Jews Society, and by Bedros, an Armenian vartabed, who had been banished from Constantinople by the Patriarch Matteos.1 His banishment was to the Armenian monastery at Jerusalem, but he turned aside from Beirt to Northern Syria. Letters came also from prominent men in Aintab, written in behalf of a large number of families in that place who had heard the gospel from Bedros, and were resolved to abandon the errors of their Church. They asked for a missionary to instruct them, and said their need of aid was the greater, as they were violently persecuted by their bishop.

1 See chapter xxii.

Mr. Thomson was instructed by the mission to visit Aleppo and Aintab. He went by way of Antioch, and reached Aleppo in August.

Bedros was there, having been driven from Aintab, and Mr. Thomson concluded it was not prudent for him to proceed farther. He accordingly wrote to the Protestants of Aintab, requesting more information as to their condition and wishes. The distance was two long days' ride from Aleppo, and on the fifth day an answer came, that eighteen of their number, including two priests, were coming to see him. A message arrived soon after, stating that they had prepared to come, but fearing the commotion it would produce, they had concluded to abandon the visit and write. Their letter contained a very earnest appeal for a missionary, with strong affirmations of attachment to the gospel, and their determination to adhere to it at all hazards. Mr. Thomson stated, in his reply, why a missionary could not be sent from Beirt, and that he would forward their letters, and those of Bedros, to the missionaries at Constantinople, with a request, that a missionary might be sent who could preach both in Turkish and Armenian; or at least an experienced Armenian preacher, to a.s.sist Bedros in this important work. Just before leaving Aleppo, Mr. Thomson received from them another letter, declaring their satisfaction with this arrangement, and their grat.i.tude for his interest in their welfare. "We are the fish in the great sea," they said, "and wait for you to spread the gospel net for us."

Mr. Thomson estimated the nominally Christian population of Aleppo at twenty thousand, and the whole number of inhabitants at sixty thousand. The most promising were the Armenians, though at that time they were kept aloof by the excommunication of Bedros and all a.s.sociated with him. The Protestant Armenians in that city were thought to be about fifty. The orthodox Greeks were not numerous.

Their bishop was in poor health, but received the missionary with much cordiality, and appeared quite pleased with the prospect of a missionary in Aleppo. The Greek Catholics were by far the largest body of Christians. To this body belonged Athanasius, the Archbishop of Tripoli, so called, but residing at Aleppo. He was not forty years old, and had been two years in England, and two in Malta. Mr.

Thomson had much intercourse with this man, and spoke of him as the most learned theologian of his sect, and the most promising ecclesiastic he had seen in Syria. He seemed to be serious and earnest, evangelical in sentiment, desirous of reforming his countrymen, and enlightened enough to take a comprehensive view of the work to be done, and make a rational estimate of the obstacles to be overcome. He was highly respected by all cla.s.ses; and though his Protestant sentiments were well-known, there was said to be no power in his Church to depose him.1

1 _Missionary Herald_, 1846, p. 418.