THE NESTORIANS.
1851-1857.
The return of Mr. Stoddard, accompanied by his wife and Mr. and Mrs.
Rhea, was mentioned in the first volume. He thus describes the
manner of his reception: "While crossing the plain of Oroomiah, we
arrived at a village twelve miles from the city, where a company of
our brethren and sisters, with their little ones and many of the
Nestorians, greeted us with tender emotions. A tent had been
pitched, and a breakfast prepared; and we all sat down on the grass,
under the grateful shade, to partake of the repast. Our hearts were
full. During the three hours which we spent at this village,
Nestorians of all classes, many of them our brethren in Christ, were
continually arriving; and when, soon after noon, we set out for the
city, our progress resembled more a triumphal procession than a
caravan of weary travellers. Every mile increased our numbers. Our
way was often almost blocked up by the people who came to meet us,
some on horseback, some on foot; bishops, priests, deacons, village
teachers, members of the seminary, with whom I had many times wept
and prayed, all pressing forward in eager haste to grasp our hands,
and swell the notes of welcome. Three years ago, they followed us
out of the city, holding our horses by the bridle, and begging us
not to leave them, while their mournful looks bespoke the sorrow of
their hearts. Now I was returning to them with restored health, to
identify my interests with theirs. I brought with me the salutations
of many thousand Christians in our native land, and was accompanied
into the harvest-field by new reapers. As I turned from thoughts of
the past, and looked on the animating scene around us, the contrast
almost overcome me."
This was in 1851. In October of the following year, Dr. and Mrs.
Perkins, going to meet Mr. and Mrs. Crane, and Sarah Stoddard, on
their way from Trebizond, experienced a severe affliction in the
death of their only surviving daughter, a very interesting girl. The
journey was expected to be of advantage to the health of Mrs.
Perkins and to their two children, Judith and Henry; and it was due
to the new-comers that some one, acquainted with the language and
country, should aid them through the long and tedious route from
Erzroom. After a ride of thirty miles, they were unexpectedly
exposed to a pestilential atmosphere at Khoy, where they spent the
night. All went well with them until they had crossed the plain of
Khoy, and the mountain beyond, and passed their last resting-place,
when the beloved daughter showed signs of cholera. They could not
rest there under the burning sun, and there was no water near; so
they were obliged to proceed three or four miles further, to the
Moslem village of Zorava. The nature of the disease was now
painfully certain. The Mohammedan villagers were terrified and
inhospitable. They would not even allow a morsel of bread to be sold
to the faithful Nestorians who accompanied the family, nor even
barley for their tired, hungry horses. And when the limbs of the
child were cold and stiffening under the power of the deadly
disease, they would not sell one stick of wood to warm water for
her; but again and again ordered the heart-stricken travellers to
leave the village with their dying child. As a further aggravation,
after the father had twice administered laudanum, the vial
containing the medicine disappeared from their tent, and could no
more be found. There were all the usual accompaniments of the
cholera, and in that high region the night air was cold. Collecting
dry weeds, they managed to kindle a fire, and heated a stone which
they placed at her feet.
The spirit of the child was quiet, and beautifully resigned to the
will of God. There had been no doubt as to her piety before her
sickness, and the whole scene was all that could have been expected
of an older person. At length the end came. "Breathing shorter and
shorter for fifteen or twenty minutes," writes her father, "she
gently slept, as we believe, in Jesus, at three o'clock on the
morning of September 4, 1852, aged twelve years and twenty-six
days."
The bereaved and afflicted family was now a hundred and forty miles
from home; but home was the place for her burial. The mother washed
the corpse with her own hands, and dressed it for the grave. As no
coffin could be obtained, the loved one was sewed in a strong
oriental felt of the size and form of a bed-quilt, and placed upon a
bed, and two willow sticks, cut from the margin of the brook, were
sewed upon the sides of the bed, and it was then bound to the back
of a faithful horse; the panic-stricken villagers calling upon them
all the while, "Depart, depart." With what different feelings were
they received on their return, by their large circle of weeping
friends! One of the Nestorians, who had accompanied the family,
standing by the grave, artlessly described to the Nestorians the
affecting scenes he had witnessed, and all were bathed in tears. "In
all the families of the village," wrote Miss Fidelia Fiske, "Judith
had taken a deep interest, and several of the middle-aged women had
been taught by her in the Sabbath-school. Indeed, she had greatly
endeared herself to all the scores and hundreds of Nestorians who
knew her, and was a universal favorite among the people. A Nestorian
of a distant village said, on hearing of her death, "There was none
like her,--so beautiful, so wise, so pious. She would pray like an
angel."[1]
[1] See _The Persian Flower; A Memoir of Judith Grant Perkins of
Oroomiah, Persia_.
The Gospel made its way among the Nestorians amid many
discouragements. Yet there was progress, Even in the mountains of
Koordistan, where the brethren could do little more than watch the
leadings of Providence, there was much that was hopeful. It was an
indication of promise, that the people of Memikan, the mountain
station, notwithstanding their sufferings for the sake of the
Gospel, did not falter in their adherence to it. Strangers, after
listening to the reading and reciting of the school children,
sometimes went away exclaiming, "Glory to God! There is nothing bad
in all this." Religious worship was well attended. Even in the busy
season, when the laborers were in their fields before dawn, and
worked till late, a goodly number attended the daily evening
service. Nor was it here, only, that a listening ear was found. In a
tour among some of the largest neighboring villages, the
missionaries were kindly received. Some sat from morning till the
setting of the sun, giving earnest heed to the preaching. Could the
people have been assured that they had nothing to fear from the
civil power, they would have braved their ecclesiastics. Even as it
was, the missionary pursued his work without molestation, and was
treated with uniform respect by the authorities.
On the plain of Oroomiah, there was more preaching than ever before,
and the line of demarkation between an evangelical church and a dead
Christianity, was becoming more and more distinct. Mar Yohannan
boldly discarded many customs of his Church, and then seemed
disposed to go as fast in the work of reformation as his people
could be induced to follow; and there was the same spirit among the
helpers of the mission.
The two seminaries were coming under a stricter discipline, and
aimed at a higher standard of scholarship. About half of the forty
students under Mr. Stoddard were hopefully pious, and some of them
gave high promise of usefulness. One was appointed to succeed the
bishop of the largest diocese in the province. Several were from
different mountain districts, and one was from the valley of the
Tigris.
The number in the female seminary had increased from forty to fifty,
and it was delightful to witness the intelligent zeal of some
teachers in the Sabbath-schools. The ten who graduated in March were
all hopefully pious, well educated, and quite refined, and most of
them were expected to become teachers in their own villages.
The description given by Mr. Stocking of a very aged priest, whom he
saw among the hills north of Gawar, encourages the belief that the
Holy Spirit sometimes makes the faintest rays of Gospel light
effectual to salvation. The man was nearly deaf, and bending under
the weight of a century or more, according to the statement of the
people, but was able to converse intelligently about events which
happened two or three generations before. "We were much surprised,"
writes Mr. Stocking, "at the correctness of his views in regard to
some of the cardinal doctrines of the Scriptures, and particularly
as to the necessity of an evangelical faith, in distinction from one
that was dead, and of the work of the Holy Spirit in renewing and
sanctifying believers. Though not remarkable for his learning, he
appears to have been taught by the great Teacher himself; for he had
never before seen a missionary. As I left him, to see him no more,
he affectionately took my hand, and said he had one request to
make, which was that we would remember him in our prayers at the
mercy-seat. He also requested a New Testament in the ancient and
modern Syriac, for his village, which we sent to him."
In August, 1851, Mr. Coan, accompanied by Priest Dunka and Deacons
John and Khamis, visited the districts of Jeloo, Bass, Tekhoma,
Tiary, and Diss, and discoursed to more than four thousand persons.
A part of this ground had never been trod before by a missionary.
The ecclesiastics were, as usual, the greatest opposers, but there
were two pleasing exceptions. In Alsan, a village of five hundred
souls, there was one priest who, at first, seemed reserved, but as
his prejudices were removed, he became, with his people, an
attentive listener. The missionaries tarried four or five hours,
preaching the Word to the hungry multitude. The people, in little
companies, conversed about what they had heard, and publicly
upbraided their priest for letting them remain in such ignorance. He
made humble confession, and expressed a desire to send his little
boy, a bright looking lad, to Oroomiah for instruction. At another
village, they found a decidedly evangelical priest. That his
influence over his large village was good was apparent in the quiet
and orderly behavior of the people, and their attention to the
Gospel. Indeed, they were accustomed to the word of exhortation
daily at their evening prayers. This priest had a small school every
winter, to which several lads resorted from neighboring districts.
A very different scene was witnessed in the village of Mar Ziah,
which was thronged with ecclesiastics who obtained their livelihood
by begging. "They were dressed," Mr. Coan writes concerning them,
"in scarlet and silk, and were exceedingly haughty in their bearing.
We met the people in the churchyard, but, after a few words, there
arose such a tumult as I hope never to see again. For an hour or
more, the place was like a pandemonium. Some wished to hear what we
had to say; but others, with savage fierceness, flew at them,
yelling at the top of their voices, and looking as if ready to drink
their blood. In the course of an hour or two their rage had spent
itself, and after a few words of solemn admonition, we left them."
At another village, scarcely three miles distant, where was no
priest, a few persons assembled in a room where the missionaries
stopped, and their solemn and tearful attention was very unlike the
noisy scene they had just left. One young man begged, with tears, to
receive a copy of the Gospel.
Nazee was one of three Tiary girls who came to Oroomiah after the
massacre of the mountain Nestorians, and in the seminary became
hopefully pious. She was now living at Chumba, and having heard of
the coming of her missionary friends, was standing on the bank of
the impetuous Zab, awaiting their arrival. There was no fording the
torrent, but the travellers ventured across on two single string
pieces, bending under them at every step. She greeted them joyfully,
and hastened to prepare a place for their lodging. While she was
gone, the Malek came and took them to his house. Nazee was
disappointed, but followed, eager to hear every word. During the
address to the villagers assembled on the roof, it was affecting to
see the eagerness with which she listened. Though others left she
could not leave, and not till near midnight did she bethink herself,
and apologize for keeping Mr. Coan up so late after a fatiguing
day's journey. She was a light in her village, by which the deeds of
the wicked had been reproved, and she had consequently suffered much
persecution. Some friends in America, interested in the account
which had been given of her while in the seminary, had sent her
articles of dress; but her neighbors assembled and maliciously tore
them into fragments before her eyes. She bore it meekly, and only
prayed for them. She expected fresh insults because of the kindness
shown her in the present visit. Long before light, on the day they
were to leave, she was with the visitors, anxious to improve the few
moments left for Christian conversation; and she followed them,
lonely and sad, to the river's side. There they kneeled by the
roaring stream, and commended her to the Great and Good Shepherd.
Mr. Stoddard mentions the visit of Mr. Khanikoff, a Russian
scientific gentleman, in the summer of 1852, to obtain information
concerning the elevations and climates of these districts. Lake
Oroomiah was ascertained to be about four thousand one hundred feet
above the ocean, and the city four thousand five hundred feet, the
plain sloping down gently towards the lake. Mount Seir rises two
thousand eight hundred and thirty feet above the city, and seven
thousand three hundred and thirty feet above the ocean; differing
not greatly, in real height, from the White Mountains in New
Hampshire. The mission residence, on the mountain side, is a
thousand feet above the city. The mountains of Koordistan, some of
which are capped with snow through all the year, often rise to the
height of twelve thousand feet, and one peak is supposed to be
fourteen thousand feet above the sea. Mr. Khanikoff afterwards
became Russian Consul General at Tabriz, and proved himself a
sincere and valuable friend to the mission.
Failure of health constrained Mr. Stocking to return, with his
family, to the United States, and he was never able to resume his
missionary labors. Since his lamented decease, a son has taken his
place among the Nestorians.
It should be gratefully acknowledged, that violence towards
missionaries has almost everywhere been the exception, and not the
rule. It has been so even in Koordistan. But Mr. Cochran, while
travelling with several Nestorians through Nochea, was assailed by
five robbers in the employ of a Koordish chief, named Seyed Khan
Bey. As Moslems the assailants were of course reckless of the life
of Christians; and, for a time, the party were apprehensive of being
murdered. But at last, while the freebooters were intent on their
prey, the company fled up the steep mountain side, leaving their
effects. Their horses were afterwards recovered.
The year 1854 opened with a revival in both the seminaries. At the
commencement of it, scarcely half the students in either of the
institutions gave evidence of piety, which was an unusually small
proportion. The thought of this, and especially that several of the
senior class were about going forth into the world without Christ,
led to earnest prayer, and to efforts which were followed by an
immediate blessing. The special religious interest continued several
weeks, and extended to the large village of Geog Tapa, but the
results appear not to have been distinctly reported.
The eighteen young men who graduated in 1854, were of higher promise
than any previous class. Several of the performances at their
graduation were very gratifying, particularly the valedictory
addresses, pronounced by a young man of eighteen, which would not
suffer in matter or manner, Dr. Perkins thought, by the side of
similar addresses at any American college. Nearly all were hopefully
pious, and were returning to homes widely distant from each other.
In some parts of the field there was much enthusiasm. In Geog Tapa,
for example, about seventy adults had commenced learning to read.
The mode pursued there and elsewhere, was to induce teachers,
scholars in the village schools, and other readers to teach adults,
by the promise of a Bible, Testament, or other book, if they were
successful. At an examination, the forenoon was devoted to the
girls' school, taught by two graduates of the female seminary, and
the afternoon to the Sabbath-school. Such a crowd of Nestorians was
present, that it was necessary in the afternoon, to meet in a grove.
The first class examined in the Sabbath-school consisted of men from
twenty to seventy years of age, headed by the chief man of the
village. Then followed a class of women, fifty or sixty in number,
from forty to fifty years of age. These classes, not being able to
read, had been taught orally. Next came a class of men, about twenty
in number, and a class of twenty-three women, who had recently
learned to read. These had been taught individually by boys
connected with the village schools, each of whom received a copy
of the Old Testament as a reward. On the plain of Oroomiah
seventy-three free schools were reported, with more than a thousand
boys, and one hundred and fifty girls and women as pupils.
In Gawar, two schools embraced fourteen boarding and thirty-two day
scholars. Fourteen of these were from Jeloo, Bass, and Tekhoma
districts. Among them were four deacons, four from the family of the
bishop of Jeloo, and nearly all were from prominent families. They
were wild mountaineers, and in some thing's difficult to manage, but
they acquired knowledge rapidly and with delight; and the constant
study of the Bible wrought a perceptible change in them. In the
Bootan districts, hitherto inaccessible to missionary influence,
there was now a strong desire for schools, and for the labors of
evangelical teachers.
The New Testament in the modern language was beginning to be
circulated among the people; a much enlarged edition of the hymn
book had been issued, and a volume, entitled "Scripture Facts," had
a wide circulation. Mr. Perkins had completed a translation of
Doddridge's "Rise and Progress," and was engaged in translating
Barth's "Church History."
Mr. Crane died at Gawar on the 27th of August, 1854, at the
commencement of a career of bright promise. So ardently was he
beloved by the people there, that at the funeral service the whole
assembly repeatedly broke forth into weeping. The afflicted widow
was called, within a week of her husband's death, to mourn also the
loss of a beloved son, and removed to Mount Seir, where she was a
valued helper in the mission. She returned home in 1857. Mr. Rhea
and Miss Harris were united in marriage in October, and spent the
winter at Gawar.
The audacity of the papal missionaries, backed by the French
embassy, was marvelous. The American mission having been importuned
to open a school in the large village of Khosrova, in Salmas, where
popery predominated, two young men, graduates of the seminary, were
successively sent thither. The first was several times driven away,
through the instigation of the Lazarists, and those who were
friendly to the mission also became objects of persecution. The
second was assailed by the mob, headed, by the French chief of the
Lazarists, and by a bishop. These two men, with their own hands,
threw him into a canal, and called on the people to drown or kill
him. He was mercifully delivered, but narrowly escaped with his
life. The matter being reported to Mr. Abbott, the English Consul at
Tabriz, the chief of the Lazarists, with some fifteen of his
satellites, went thither, and apprehending a cool reception from the
Consul, whose protection the Lazarists enjoyed in common with the
American missionaries, he applied for assistance to the Russian
Consul, proposing to transfer his passports to his hands. Mr.
Khanikoff refused, and severely rebuked them for their conduct. Mr.
Abbott obtained an order from the Governor of Azerbijan to lay heavy
fines on the Mussulman deputies of Khosrova for withholding
protection, and on the principal papists for their acts of violence,
with the requirement of bonds for future good behavior.
Messrs. Abbott and Stevens, English consuls at Tabriz and Teheran,
kindly exerted their protecting influence, and Mr. Cochran
subsequently spent a week at Khosrova, and had his house thronged
every evening with from fifty to a hundred and fifty people, eager
to listen to the preaching of the Word. The ecclesiastics raged, and
stirred up the agent of the master of the village (who lives in
Tabriz) to endeavor to drive our brother away; but the attempt
failed. Sixty houses gave their names and seals, wishing to become
Protestants. They were exceedingly desirous of having a missionary,
and even threatened, good-naturedly, to take one by force to live
among them.
The reader may remember what Dr. Lobdell said of the course of this
mission in respect to the forming of distinct churches.[1] Dr.
Perkins, writing in May, 1855, gives the following account of the
progress of the reformation towards that result: "Our communion
occurred about two weeks ago, and nearly one hundred communicants
sat down to the table of the Lord, including our mission. It was a
solemn and delightful season. Among the native brethren present were
Mar Yohannan and Mar Elias; and most of the others, of both sexes,
were educated and quite intelligent; but, what is of far greater
importance, they were, as we trust, true Christians. It would be
easy at once to triple the number from those who, in the judgment of
charity, are the children of God; but we think it better to
introduce them somewhat gradually and cautiously to the ordinance;
while, at the same time, we would not too long allow any of the
sheep and lambs of Christ's flock to suffer for want of this
important means of grace. It is exerting a powerful influence on
those who participate in it, and on many others; and it cannot fail
ultimately to produce the effect either of redeeming the ordinance
from abuses, as administered in Nestorian churches, or drawing off
the pious part of the people to a separate observance of it. We are
quite willing that the scriptural administration of the ordinance to
the pious Nestorians should work out either of these results, in the
legitimate time and way, or both of them, as the Lord shall direct."
[1] Chapter xxvii.
Some months later, notice was given that, in the future, instead of
personal invitations, the door would be thrown open for all who
should consider themselves worthy candidates. Uniting with the
missionaries would thus seem more like a voluntary and public
profession of religion. None were to be received, however, to the
communion without a private examination. On one sacramental occasion
about one hundred united with the missionaries, and more than thirty
of them for the first time. A large number were also present as
spectators, many of them deeply interested.
Deacon Guwergis of Tergawer, the well known "Mountain Evangelist,"
died on the 12th of March, called suddenly from earnest and most
useful labors to his reward.
The course of the Persian government towards the mission and its
friends, at this time, was very unsatisfactory. Asker Khan, a
general in the Persian army, was appointed to investigate the truth
of certain charges brought by the papists against the American
missionaries, and early evinced a most unfriendly feeling towards
them, and a partiality for their accusers. Indeed, he took no pains
to conceal his hostility, and did all he could to stop the schools
and other evangelizing agencies. But the missionaries had the aid,
as far as aid could be rendered, of the Hon. C. A. Murray, the
English Ambassador, and of Mr. Abbott at Tabriz, and Mr. Stevens at
Teheran, and also of Mr. Khanikoff, the Russian Consul General at
Tabriz. The disturbed state of political relations, and especially
the want of harmony between the English and Persian governments,
made it impossible for these friends to accomplish what they desired
to do in their behalf. After withdrawing from Teheran, Mr. Murray
visited Oroomiah, and the correspondence which then passed between
him and the missionaries, showed his desire to aid both the
suffering Nestorians and the missionary work. In his absence, the
Russian Consul General became their protector,--"at first," as he
said, "unofficially, but with very good heart; and officially,
whenever he should have the right so to do." It is remarkable, and
reveals a protecting Providence, that no department of labor, with
the exception of village schools, very materially suffered at this
time.
In February, 1856, there began to be indications of the special
influences of the Holy Spirit in some of the villages occupied by
native helpers; and very soon there were marked indications of
another work of grace in the two seminaries. The feeling in both the
schools became very general. The voice of prayer was heard on every
side; and a large proportion of those who were not pious, appeared
to be seeking in earnest the way of life. On the 30th of March, Mr.
Cochran reported that, with the exception of those most recently
admitted, nearly all were hoping that they had passed from death
unto life. In the villages, also, there were cases of peculiar
interest.
Mr. and Mrs. Rhea were alone in Gawar. In the autumn it was deemed
advisable, in view of the insurrectionary state of Koordistan, that
they should withdraw for a time. They at first felt it their duty to
remain; but the progress of events soon made it plain that Gawar was
an unsuitable place for a lone lady, especially when winter should
render it impossible for her to remove. Mr. Rhea, while at Oroomiah,
continued, as far as possible, to superintend the labors of the
native helpers in Memikan, and he returned the next summer, with
Mrs. Rhea, to their mountain home. The Koordish chieftains, who had
proudly boasted, that they would put their heels upon the necks of
the poor Christians, were soon fleeing in dismay before the
advancing Ottomans.
Mr. Stoddard wrote, in September, 1856, that for six months, in
consequence of the withdrawal from Persia of the English Ambassador,
the missionaries had been without any political protection, and at
the mercy of a hostile government, yet there was perhaps never a
time when their work presented a more cheering aspect on the whole.
The seminaries, being on the mission premises, suffered less
annoyance than did the village schools, which were scattered widely
over the plain. The teachers in these schools had many of them been
educated in the seminaries, and were altogether superior as a class
to what they were a few years before; and thus the standard of
instruction was raised, and more religious influence was exerted
over the pupils. Nor was there ever a time when more people were
brought within the sound of the gospel, or when there were more
stated attendants on preaching. And much use was made of the Monthly
Concert on the first Monday of the month. The whole day was devoted
to the natives. "Early Monday morning," writes Mr. Stoddard, "some
of our friends arrive from the nearer villages, and others are
continually dropping in during the forenoon. At about the dinner
hour, nearly all are assembled. We occupy considerable time with
them in private, or in little companies, each one attending to the
helpers under his care, in hearing the monthly reports of their
labors and trials, their hopes and fears, and intermingling the
reports with religious conversation and prayer. At three in the
afternoon we assemble, and spend an hour or two in public religious
exercises. In the evening a similar meeting is held, when the
natives not only speak freely, but often occupy nearly the whole
time, leaving the brother who has charge of the meeting little to
do. It very often happens, also, that after the meeting has been
together two hours, there are several who feel that they want to be
heard, if but for a few moments." These monthly occasions Mr.
Stoddard enjoyed exceedingly, and came to look upon the "First
Monday" as the great day of the month.
In October, Messrs. Stoddard and Cochran and Miss Fiske made a tour
of three weeks in the mountains of Koordistan. At Gawar they were
joined by Mr. and Mrs. Rhea, and visited the districts of Ishtazin
and Bass. From that point Messrs. Cochran and Rhea extended their
journey to Amadiah, and returned to their party at Tekhoma, a week
later. Thence they passed through the districts of Tâl, and up the
Zab to Gawar. The fact that American ladies traversed in safety the
gorges and precipices of central Koordistan, was an encouragement to
native helpers and their families to reside in those difficult
regions; but such tours were too fatiguing, probably, to be often
repeated.
The object of the visit to Amadiah was to make further explorations
with reference to the formation of a station on the western side of
the mountains. The mass of the people were on that side, and could
not be advantageously reached from Oroomiah. The eastern district
was fast becoming supplied with pious helpers, and it seemed very
desirable for that section of the country to share in this
initiatory work, before anything occurred to hinder it. The
convictions of the brethren as to the desirableness of commencing a
station there were much strengthened, and Mr. Cochran offered his
own services for that purpose.
November was ushered in by an event deeply interesting to the
mission families; a public profession of religion by the three
eldest children of the mission; and hope was entertained as to the
piety of some of the younger.
Asker Khan, agent of the Persian government at Oroomiah, now became
more troublesome than ever, resorting to every form of annoyance in
his power. At the instance of Mr. Khanikoff, Dr. Wright and Mr.
Stoddard visited him at Tabriz, to see what could be done to induce
the government to check the doings of its agent. But in this they
failed, though the Consul did all he could to assist them. Even the
Turkish Consul volunteered his aid, but almost in vain. Through Mr.
Khanikoff, they learned that the orders from Teheran to the Kaim
Makam required him to forbid the labors of the missionaries in the
province of Salmas; to see that no school was established save in
the two places where missionaries resided; and that the number of
the schools should not exceed thirty, nor the number of pupils one
hundred and fifty. He was to require that no girl receive
instruction, at all events, in the same school with boys. The
missionaries were not to induce any person to change his religion,
and were to enter into a written engagement not to send forth
preachers. Books conflicting with existing religions in Persia were
not to be printed, and native teachers and preachers were to be
approved by Mar Yoosuf and Mar Gabriel, two unprincipled and bitter
opposers of evangelical religion. Such were the orders issued, it is
believed at the instigation of the French, by the Prime Minister of
Persia, and Messrs. Stoddard and Wright, unable to secure even delay
in carrying them out, returned to Oroomiah. The mission now, at the
suggestion of the Consul, made a formal application for protection
to the Russian Ambassador at Teheran.
Asker Khan was assassinated six days after the return of the
brethren from Tabriz, by a Koordish chief at Mergawer. But his
coadjutor, Asker Aly Khan, governor of the Nestorians, pursued the
same persecuting course, urged on by the Kaim Makam at Tabriz. The
career of the Kaim Makam, however, was now short, for in January,
1857, the populace of that city, exasperated by his oppression, rose
in a body, broke into his palace, plundered it, and compelled him to
flee for his life. He was subsequently summoned to Teheran, and on
his approach to that city, was stripped of his honors, mounted on a
pack saddle, and thus led to prison, while a fine was imposed on him
of a hundred thousand tomans.