way of Merdin and Mosul, that the caravan which left this place more
than three months ago, entered Aleppo about thirty days ago. They
remained in the desert till the Pasha of Aleppo had quitted that place
on his expedition against the Pasha of Bagdad, from the fear, that if
they entered the town he would seize their camels for the use of his
army. Much alarm is entertained here by the inhabitants as to the
result of this attack. From past experience they are led to expect
great lawlessness, from both friends and foes. May the Lord keep our
hearts in perfect peace, stayed on him. We now begin to feel that it
is very doubtful when we shall see our dear friends: certainly no
caravan will pass the desert till all these disturbances are settled.
It may be also possible, that the journal and packet of letters I sent
packed in a bale of goods belonging to a merchant here, may yet reach
their destination.
_Feb. 28._--This day brought us news of the arrival of our very dear
and long expected friends and fellow-labourers safe at Aleppo, on the
11th of January, after many delays and many trials. We had never been
allowed to doubt our Lord's most gracious dealings with us, but yet
this overwhelmed us with joy and praise; and this welcome news reaches
us just as our dear brother Pfander is on the point of leaving us
alone. We received, at the same time, a packet of letters from most of
our dearest friends in England, at the very moment when our little all
was within a month of coming to a conclusion, telling us that the Lord
had provided us with supplies for at least four months to come, which
we might draw for. Surely the Lord has most graciously seen fit to dry
up those sources from whence we anticipated supply, that we might know
we depend on him alone, and see how he can supply even here; we were
ashamed of every little anxious feeling we had ever had, and were much
encouraged to trust him more and more. My soul is led to abhor, more
and more, that love of independence which still clings to it, when I
see how it would shut me out from these manifestations of my Father's
loving care. Oh! how hard it is to persuade the rebellious will and
proud heart, that to depend on your Father's love for your constant
support, is more for the soul's health, than to be clothed in purple
and fare sumptuously every day--or at least, as we would say, on bare
independence; and yet how plain it is to spiritual vision.
We met together in the evening to bless the Lord for the past, and
supplicate his continued blessing for the future--that he would
accomplish what he had begun, that our hearts may never cease to
praise and bless him. My soul was much comforted, especially with a
text to which one of our dear correspondents called my attention,
Zeph. iii. 17. "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he
will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in his
love; he will joy over thee with singing." All the letters amounted to
twenty-six, which, after so long an interruption of all intelligence,
was an especial source of joy. And now we can think of our dear
friends definitely as absolutely at Aleppo, only waiting for the
termination of disturbances to join us.
To-day, a Chaldean, from near Julimerk, came to see us, and we expect
him again, with his brother, who, he says, can read, when I hope to
obtain from him a fuller account of the state, numbers, and
disposition, of his wild countrymen.
A Mohammedan Effendi was with me to-day; a very amiable young man, who
sees many things in the customs of his people bad, arising out of the
Mohammedan laws. He came to borrow an Arabic bible for, he said, a
poor schoolmaster, which I gladly lent him. Whether it be really for a
schoolmaster, or for himself, I do not know.
_March 4._--Read this morning, with peculiar pleasure, Hawker's
Evening Portion: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange
land:" heightened as it was by the localities of our situation; but
above all, by the unity of our experience with the sentiments of the
writer; for we have indeed found the love of our Father, the pastoral
care of our Elder Brother, and the consolation and visits of our
Comforter, that which has enabled us to sing the Lord's song in this
strange land, even the song of the redeemed.
_March 13._--The time is now fast approaching when we expect the
struggle for the Pashalic to commence, at the conclusion of the
Ramazan. Yet it may all pass over, for the government of Turkey is so
utterly without principle, that by a well timed application of money,
all difficulties may be surmounted with the Porte, and as the Pasha
seems now disposed to meet this desire, it may, especially in the
present difficulties of the Sultan with Russia, lead, after all, to an
amicable termination of one year's anxiety and suspense. We are now
especially anxious for the pacification of these countries, that our
dear friends may be able to pass over the desert, as our dear and kind
brother Pfander left us last evening for Ispahan. It was a great
rending to us all, and has left a vacuum we cannot easily hope to have
filled up in all its parts; and till our dear brothers and sisters
come, we shall be very solitary, and very much pressed; but our
strength will be as our day. Had he seen it right to remain I might
have crossed the desert to our dear friends; but this not being the
case, it is impossible for me to leave this, and perhaps in the
present state of things here, from apprehensions of plague and war, it
would have been impracticable even if he had remained.
Caravans pass much more frequently between this place and Damascus
than between this and Aleppo, and it appears to me the shorter and
better way of communication to Bayrout and Damascus to Bagdad than by
Aleppo. Three caravans have passed over the desert from hence to
Damascus within these few months. With one of these an Armenian with
his wife and children went, and with another several Mohammedan
families; thereby hoping to avoid the troubles they expected here. So
at least we may venture for our Lord what men venture for their own
various interests. In fact, it does not appear that any further danger
is incurred than that of being plundered, or perhaps only a heavy
exaction from the Arab tribes through whom the caravan passes, whose
interest it is not to press so hard upon caravans as that they shall
be stopped coming, but to levy a tax upon them sufficiently
considerable to help to support the tribe.
An English merchant and a Consul are about settling, if not
already settled, at Damascus, which will still further facilitate
communications; and besides the road from Beyraut to Damascus is much
better than that from Latakeea to Aleppo. This arrangement, as well as
that at Trebisand, shows that these countries are becoming the objects
of public, or rather mercantile, interest.
A Jew came to borrow an Arabic bible from me which I have let him
have. Another Jew was with me yesterday, who translated the Hebrew
into Arabic very tolerably; but, generally, they only learn to read,
without understanding what they read.
An Armenian Priest has just come to ask for four or five Armenian
Bibles, to send to some villages between Hamadan and Teheran. This is
a plan we like better than sending many to one place, not only as
spreading knowledge further, but also from the greater probability of
their being read.
We have just seen another of the Chaldeans, from the mountains. He
says that they understand the Syrian Scriptures; so that at least I
hope to send a letter to the Bishop, with a copy or two of the Syrian
Bible I have with me, that when they return next year they may bring
me an account whether they understand them or not; and also it will
serve as a means of opening a personal communication with their chief;
as, by that time it may be possible that one or two of us may be able
to return with these men to the mountains. As far as their personal
assurances go, they promise me a most welcome reception. One of these
people told me, if I would come to his village, he would kill a sheep
for me, and I should have plenty, and 200 walnuts for two-pence; they
said every thing was very abundant there and very cheap. Their pride
seems much gratified by their being the head and the Mohammedans the
tail in the mountains; so that they cannot open their mouths, or raise
their hands against them.
_March 15._--A packet of letters has just arrived from Shushee, after
more than six months interruption, three days after our dear brother
had left us. However, we got the messenger to set off immediately to
overtake him, and he having seen the caravan on the way, promised to
return in five days. In this packet I also received one letter from
our dear brother J. B. Dublin, a note from dear Mr. R. informing me of
his having forwarded the books to the brethren at Shushee. Surely they
are worthy for whom he has done this, and he will be happy in being
thus a fellow-helper in the truth. Mr. Knill also mentions their
arrival safe at Petersburgh, and his purpose of forwarding them to
Shushee. It has been a year of great trial at Shushee for the mission,
but of exactly what nature and to what extent we know not, nor how
things now stand in the communications to our dear fellow-helper who
has just left us, as they are in German; but should he not be able on
the road to write us a full account, he doubtless will when he has
reached Kermanshah or Hamadan.
We hear that the prince royal is marching against his brother the
Prince of Kerman, by way of Ispahan, the roads, therefore, are very
unsettled in Persia, but the Lord will encamp round about our brother
and bear him safely through.
_March 16._--The letters we yesterday received from Tabreez assured us
of the willingness of the Armenian Bishop to have a school as soon as
a fit person could be found; and on reading one of the tracts from
Shushee, he said he would read it in his church to his flock. Mrs. N.
also mentions the willingness among the Mohammedans to receive the
New Testament, and that in many instances, pleasing results have
manifested themselves; but of what kind she does not mention. She
mentions also one of the principal Mohammedan merchants asking for a
Testament to read on his road to Mecca. May the Lord stop him by it
before he gets there, at the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem. In fact,
there is room in these parts for much preparatory work, when the time
comes that the power of the Gospel shall have taken such root as to
show by the power and individuality it gives to the Christian
character that their craft is in danger. They will do as they have
done in Shushee; but by the Lord's blessing it may then be too late.
What appears to me to require the greatest patience and the most
unwavering perseverance, is the language; for, while on the one hand
there is every thing to encourage, if we only take the burthen of the
day on the day, there is such a natural tendency in the mind of man
to accumulate all the difficulties together, and make one great
impassable mountain, that it becomes more difficult than many would
imagine, to go on successfully and happily like a little child. That
measure of knowledge of a language which so enables one to move about
in the common transactions of life, does not seem difficult to attain;
but to be able to state clearly the power of moral distinctions, to
detect the fallacy of false systems, and put beside them the true
light of life, is another and a very difficult thing, but yet the Lord
doubtless sees in this reasons of immense weight, or he would again
bestow upon us the gifts of the Spirit as before.
God our Father has most marvellously eased our way, and so great has
been the kindness of our ---- here, that he would do any thing
he could for us. He even told me the other day, never to let our work
stand still for want of funds, for should I ever want any he would
gladly supply me, and lend me for my personal wants whatever I might
need. Now when we consider there is but one English family now
resident in Bagdad besides our own, how like the Lord's acting it is
to make them willing to supply to us the necessary help: not only does
the Lord supply us with means necessary for our expense, but does not
allow us when our little fund gets low, to know the anxiety of
expecting, or thinking what we should do. And, surrounded as we have
been these many months, by the alarm of war and the fear of plague or
cholera, even our dear native islands have not been without their
anxieties; but I have been much struck of late with the peculiar
dealings of God towards his chosen; as of old, the pillar that was all
darkness to the enemy, was light to the church in the wilderness, so
now all this dark cloud, the darkness of which may be felt, which is
spreading from one end of the Christian and Mohammedan world to the
other, has, towards the church in her pilgrimage, its full steady
bright light surmounted by "Behold he cometh!" Blessed assurance! But
a little day of toil, and then we shall come with him, or rise to join
his assembled saints, dressed all anew, with our house from heaven,
that spiritual clothing meet for the new creature in Christ Jesus. Oh,
what glorious liberty we are heirs to, as children of God, one day to
love our Eternal Father, Son, and Spirit, with unalloyed affections,
when our whole nature shall be again on the side of God, and not a
place left for the enemy to put his foot to harass the heir of glory.
_March 17._--A Chaldean Roman Catholic priest has been here to-day,
and read me the same passages of the Psalms in the Chaldean and Syrian
languages, and there appears to be no other difference than in
character, as far as he read. The Syrians, the Chaldeans, and the
Jews, might become most valuable objects of missionary labour, not
only as being in greater numbers here, but from the great similarity
of their languages, so that the mastering of the one would be to the
mastering of the three, with very little additional trouble. I
endeavoured to find out from him the difference between the spoken
and written languages, and as far as he produced illustrations, the
difference was only in pronunciation; the words seemed substantially
the same. But there is a very strong prejudice to contend with in all
those among these people who know any thing of these languages, in the
contempt in which they hold their vulgar, and the reverence and
sanctity they attach to their old language, so that I think tracts, in
the shape of paraphrases on particular parts of the Scriptures, would
be exceedingly valuable among them, as well as tracts generally. I
trust we shall be able to turn our attention to these when we are
able, from our knowledge of the languages, to judge sufficiently of
translations or compositions.
_March 18._--This evening the messenger I sent after Mr. Pfander with
the letters from Shushee, returned with a letter, which I shall here
insert, as it supplies a good deal of information concerning the dear
brethren in the Karabagh.
"_In the Desert near the Village Bakoobah_,
"_17th March, 1831._
"My dear Brother,
"I am very much obliged to you, that you sent this man after me
with the letters from Shushee. He reached us a day's journey
and a half from Bagdad. We advance very slowly, only from five
to ten English miles a day, on account of the spring season,
when the Dschervedars[18] feed their horses on grass, and
because they waited for other parties which had yet been
behind. The weather is very fine; we had rain twice, but only
slightly. The remaining time of the day I spend in reading, and
conversation with the Persians in the caravan. The first day I
felt very solitary, but the second, and since, the Lord
afforded me plenty of opportunity to give testimony of him who
is our Saviour and Lord, and to distribute several tracts and
books among my fellow travellers, and this rejoiced my heart
greatly. According to the manner of our present travelling we
shall not be in Kermanshah till after twenty days. They speak
in the caravan from fear of the Arabs after this; but it will
be easy for the Lord to bring me safely through. The caravan is
increased to about 500 horses and 180 persons.
[18] Muleteers.
"Now something out of dear Zaremba's letters; but I had only
time to read them once over, so that I am not able to give you
any regular extracts out of them. Should I forget any thing I
will write it from Kermanshah or Hamadan. The letter was of
December last. All had been attacked with sickness more or
less, and dear Brother Sallett, stationed at Teflis, was called
home: he died of the cholera.
"The circumstance with the Armenians is this: The two deacons
did go on in their spiritual life prosperously, and continued
to give testimony of the truth. This excited so much the hatred
of the Armenian clergy against them, that soon after Zaremba's
arrival in Shushee from Erzeroum, the Armenian Archbishop of
the Karabagh desired to have them sent as prisoners to
Etchmiazin, the seat of the Armenian Catholicos,[19] near
Erivan. This the Russian Governor of Shushee, after he was
informed of it from Zaremba, did not allow. So it got a little
quiet: but these young Armenians thought it impossible, at
present, to remain longer in Georgia, and so they prepared for
their departure to Germany. But during this time the Armenian
clergy got an order from the Russian Governor of Teflis, that
the two deacons should appear before a council in Etchmiazin.
The Governor in Shushee did again so much for them, that they
should go to Teflis, and be allowed to lay their case before
the governor. Zaremba went with them, though he was not quite
well. The one of these deacons, he who assisted Dittrich in
translation, died there, happy in his Lord. The other went
at last, but in a very good state of mind and heart, to
Etchmiazin, putting his confidence in his Lord, for whom he was
going to suffer. The brethren had not yet heard more of him
than his arrival there. During the time Zaremba was at Teflis,
the cholera took daily many away, and some days before his
departure, our beloved Saltett, as mentioned before. Zaremba
got worse too, but reached Shushee again. After his arrival, he
and Hohenaker, and Dittrich had been attacked from the cholera,
but recovered again. During this time the person from
Etchmiazin arrived in Shushee, and preached and spoke against
our brethren, and condemned all the persons who sent their
children to them. So the school was broken up. But now the
children are beginning to collect again, and the school is
again opened. Dittrich was with his family, yet at Teflis,
where Zaremba wrote the letter. Hohenaker was gone to the
German village, where you stopped, and Haas was kept in Moscow,
in quarantine, because of the cholera. Two Armenian tracts had
been printed in Moscow, and the copies of the first were
already in Shushee. In Shushee they are printing the Armenian
Dictionary.
[19] Patriarch.
"With our not going to the mountains, they are quite contented;
but they think I should rather go to Tabreez than to Ispahan,
where I might go at any other time. I do not yet know what I
shall do. I shall see how the Lord will lead me. But this is
clear now, that a long stay at Ispahan I must give up. Zaremba
writes further, that he has now little hope to be able to go
any more on a journey, and therefore they rather wish that I
should travel and do the Lord's work in the neighbourhood of
Shushee, as long as the door is yet open. I cannot reject this,
and so I must for the present give up my plans for travelling
in Persia. If the way to Ispahan should be quite open, I would
go thither, distribute books, and see that I might be in
Shushee in July; if not, I shall go direct to Shushee.
"The case with the mission in Shushee, is now laid before the
Emperor, and so they are waiting what decision they may receive
from thence; but they are sure that the Lord will direct and
order every thing as it will be best, and therefore are not
discouraged. The Russian government does not yet in the least
hinder them in their work.
"My letters all arrived safely at Shushee, and the cause of
their not writing, was their own sickness and the plague all
round about them. It does not seem that one of our letters was
lost. Boxes with Armenian and Persian books are in Tabreez.
They speak good of the Americans. For the news in your letter I
thank you: we live certainly in a most eventful time, and we
have therefore the more to work so long as it is yet day. May
the Lord mightily bless you, your family, and work. In him,
under every circumstance, we have every reason to be glad and
to rejoice that we have him on our side.
"Your affectionate brother,
"C. G. PFANDER."
"P.S. From Alexander Kasembeg[20] they received a letter which
rejoiced them much. It seems to be good with him.
[20] This affords us unfeigned joy, as we had heard
from one who was with him in Cazan, an account that made
us a little anxious about him.
"The other Armenian in Baku[21] came to Shushee to be employed
in distributing tracts and Bibles. He has already made a
journey into Georgia, and preaches to Armenians and Turks."
[21] This is the Armenian whose history I gave a
little account of before, as the son-in-law of the richest
merchant in Baku, who has given up all the prospects of his
connection with his father-in-law, which are very considerable,
to endure afflictions with the people of God. This young
Armenian is another proof of the immense importance of having
those to bear testimony to the power of the Spirit's work in
regenerating the soul in the image of him that created it, from
among themselves. The people can see in him the contrast
between the past and the present man. They have also a
knowledge of the peculiar modes of thinking and feeling among
those with whom they have been educated, and been in the
closest terms of intimacy with from their infancy, that they
cannot have with foreigners.
The two dear and most interesting deacons, of whom one is mentioned as
having died in the faith in his way to suffer for the truth, and the
other has gone to witness alone before his enemies and persecutors at
Etchmiazin, were both in the school at Shushee, and in the study of
and translating the word of God, had been led step by step, to see
through the errors of the system by which they were bound.
Another proof of the progress of the same spirit manifested itself in
our infant beginnings. The two little Armenian boys who live with us,
eat and live as we do; on being asked by the boys without, why they
did not fast as their nation did for fifty days? without any knowledge
or direction from me, they set about selecting from the New
Testament, in conjunction with my own little boys, those passages
which bear on the question, and which shew that if we eat not we are
none the better, and if we do eat, none the worse. Remarks of a
similar kind have many times occurred in the course of our
translations from the Testament. At all events, there is a growing
tendency in the minds of the children, to feel that God's word is the
one rule on which they must justify all they impose, and thence the
necessity of understanding it; and these principles upset at once the
whole system of ignorant mummery which is now called or thought to be
the religion of Jesus here. If it be the Lord's pleasure to spare our
lives, and grant us the ability and opportunity to publish his truth,
results will follow to rejoice our hearts, I have no doubt: God has
declared it shall not return to him void, nor shall it. And to the
Mohammedans also these converts from among the fallen churches become
invaluable preachers, from their vernacular facility in the language,
and from their being continually exposed to the question, why they do
not do so and so; they are called upon by the very necessity of their
position to defend with meekness and wisdom their new position;
whereas, with us, they are satisfied with just simply making up their
minds to this, that theirs is best for them, and yours best for you.
_March 20._--The Moolah yesterday, in speaking of the contest between
the Pasha and the Sultan, said, that if the English would guarantee
both sides, both might be satisfied and make peace; but that if not,
they would never believe one another, for says he, every Osmanli will
lie. This opinion of their own low moral condition, is universal among
Turks and Persians. This man has often said to me, No Osmanli cares
for more than his own bread, and if that is safe, the whole empire may
be destroyed.
Two tribes of Arabs, whom the Pasha has brought up to help him in the
approaching contest, in consequence of some feud between them, came to
blows, and all last night and this morning were firing at one another
in that quarter of the city which is on the other side of the river,
where they are stationed.--It caused much alarm, and may be but a
precursor to general confusion and greater trials; but the Lord
Jehovah who sitteth on the everlasting hills, is our shield and
defence. The firing has since ceased, and one of the tribes has been
driven out of Bagdad.