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+Project Gutenberg's Woman And Her Saviour In Persia, by A Returned Missionary
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Woman And Her Saviour In Persia
+
+Author: A Returned Missionary
+
+Posting Date: August 20, 2012 [EBook #8699]
+Release Date: August, 2005
+First Posted: August 2, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMAN AND HER SAVIOUR IN PERSIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: PLAIN OF OROOMIAH, FROM THE SEMINARY AT SEIR.]
+
+
+
+
+WOMAN AND HER SAVIOUR IN PERSIA.
+
+BY
+
+A RETURNED MISSIONARY.
+
+
+With
+
+Fine Illustrations, and a Map of Nestorian Country.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+Our Saviour bade his disciples gather up the fragments, that nothing be
+lost; and many who have known of Miss Fiske's fifteen years of labor
+for woman in Persia, have desired her to prepare for publication the
+facts now presented to the reader. The writer was one of these; and it
+was only when he found that she could not do it, that he attempted it,
+in accordance with her wishes, simply that these interesting records of
+divine grace might not be lost.
+
+The materials have been drawn from the letters and conversations of
+those familiar with the scenes described, and especially from Miss
+Fiske. In all cases, the language of others has been condensed, as much
+as is consistent, with the truthful expression of their ideas; and, in
+the translation of the letters of Nestorians, it has not been deemed
+essential to follow slavishly every Syriac idiom, for, instead of these
+letters owing their interest, as some have supposed, to their
+translators, they may have sometimes rather suffered from renderings
+needlessly idiomatic.
+
+It was at one time proposed to embrace the history of both the Male and
+Female Seminaries, but the proposition came too late, and the memoir of
+the lamented Stoddard gives so full an account of the former, that now
+we need to hear only the story of its less known companion; but let the
+reader bear in mind that as much might have been said of the one as of
+the other, had the design been to give an account of both.
+
+A strict adherence to the order of events in the following pages would
+have produced a series of disjointed annals. To avoid such a breaking
+up of the narrative, each subject has been treated in full whenever
+introduced, though that has involved a freedom somewhat independent of
+chronological order.
+
+The notices of the revivals are mere incidental sketches. Their
+complete history remains to be written.
+
+The beautiful Illustrations introduced are all new, copied from
+sketches taken on the spot by the skillful pencil of a dear missionary
+brother, whose modesty, though it will not consent to the mention of
+his name, yet cannot prevent a grateful sense of his kindness. The Map
+is an improvement on others previously published, and, besides adding
+to our geographical knowledge, will be found valuable to the friends of
+missions.
+
+If the readers of these pages enjoy but a small part of the delight
+found in their preparation, the writer will not regret his undertaking.
+May the day be hastened when heaven shall repeat the hosannas of a
+regenerated world, even as now the abundant grace bestowed upon the
+Nestorians redounds, through the thanksgiving of many, to the glory of
+God.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+WOMAN WITHOUT THE GOSPEL.
+
+POLITICAL CONDITION.--NESTORIAN HOUSES.--VERMIN.--SICKNESS.--POSITION
+AND ESTIMATION OF WOMAN.--NO READERS AMONG THEM.--UNLOVELY
+SPIRIT.--SINS OF THE TONGUE.--PROFANITY.--LYING.--STEALING.--STORY
+ABOUT PINS.--IMPURITY.--MOSLEM INTERFERENCE WITH SEMINARY.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+MARBEESHOO.
+
+VISIT THERE.--NATIVE ACCOMMODATIONS.--HOSPITALITY OF SENUM.--MOHAMMEDAN
+WOMEN.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE SCENE OF THE NARRATIVE.
+
+NESTORIANS.--THEIR COUNTRY.--FRONTISPIECE.--LAKE.--PLAIN.--FORDING THE
+SHAHER.--MISSION PREMISES IN OROGMIAH.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MISSIONARY EDUCATION.
+
+OBJECT.--MEANS.--STUDY OF BIBLE.--PUPILS KEPT IN SYMPATHY WITH THE
+PEOPLE.--PEOPLE STIMULATED TO EXERTION AND
+SELF-DEPENDENCE.--TAHITI.--MADAGASCAR.
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+BEGINNINGS.
+
+MRS. GRANT.--EARLY LIFE AND LABORS.--GREAT INFLUENCE.--HER SCHOOL.--HER
+PUPILS.--BOARDING SCHOOL.--GETTING PUPILS.--CARE OP THEM.--POVERTY OF
+PEOPLE.--PAYING FOR FOOD OF SCHOLARS.--POSITION OF UNMARRIED MISSIONARY
+LADIES.--BOOKS.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE SEMINARY.
+
+MAR YOHANAN.--STANDARD OF SCHOLARSHIP.--ENGLISH BOOKS READ IN
+SYRIAC.--EXPENSE.--FEELINGS OF PARENTS.--DOMESTIC DEPARTMENT.--DAILY
+REPORTS.--PICTURE OF A WEEK DAY AND SABBATH.--"IF YOU LOVE ME, LEAN
+HARD."--ESLI'S JOURNAL.--LETTER FROM PUPILS TO MOUNT HOLYOKE
+SEMINARY--FROM THE SAME TO MRS. C.T. MILLS.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+VACATION SCENES.
+
+IN GAWAR AND ISHTAZIN.--VILLAGES OF MEMIKAN.--OOREYA, DARAWE, AND
+SANAWAR.--IN GAVALAN.--ACCOMMODATIONS.--SABBATH SCHOOL.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+EARLY LABORS FOR WOMEN.
+
+FIRST MEETINGS WITH THEM.--FIRST CONVERT.--FIRST LESSONS.--WILD WOMEN
+OF ARDISHAI.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+FRUITS OF LABOR IN NESTORIAN HOMES.
+
+USEFULNESS AMONG RELATIVES OF PUPILS.--DEACON GUWERGIS.--REFORMED
+DRUNKARD AND HIS DAUGHTER.--MATERNAL MEETINGS.--EARLY INQUITIES FROM
+GEOG TAPA.--PARTING ADDRESS OF MR. HOLLADAY.--.VISIT TO GEOG
+TAPA.--SELBY AND HER CLOSET.
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+GEOG TAPA.
+
+DEACON MURAD KHAN IN 1846.--PENTECOSTAL SABBATH IN 1849.--MEETINGS IN
+1850 AND 1854.--EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL OF YONAN IN 1858.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+REVIVAL IN 1846.
+
+PREPARATORY WORK.--SANCTIFIED AFFLICTIONS.--NAME FOR REVIVAL.--SCENES
+IN THE SEMINARIES IN JANUARY.--DEACON JOHN, SANUM, AND SARAH.--MR.
+STODDARD.--YACOB.--YONAN.--MEETING IN THE BETHEL.--PRIEST
+ESHOO.--DEACON TAMO.--PHYSICAL EXCITEMENT AND ITS CURE.--ARTLESS
+SIMPLICITY OF CONVERTS.--MISSIONARY BOX.--MEETINGS BEFORE
+VACATION.--MR. STODDARD'S LABORS.--FEMALE PRAYER MEETING.--REVIVAL IN
+THE AUTUMN.
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+FIRST FRUITS.
+
+SARAH, DAUGHTER OF PRIEST ESHOO.--MARTHA.--HANNAH.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+SUBSEQUENT REVIVALS.
+
+DEACON JOHN STUDYING BACKSLIDING IN 1849.--WORK IN VILLAGE OF
+SEIR.--WIVES OF SIYAD AND YONAN.--KHANUMJAN.--WOMEN AT THE
+SEMINARY.--GEOG TAPA.--DEGALA.--A PENITENT.--SIN OF ANGER,--REVIVAL IN
+1856.--MISS FISKE ENCOURAGED,--STILLNESS AND DEEP FEELING.--UNABLE TO
+SING.--CONVERSION OF MISSIONARY CHILDREN.--VISIT OF ENGLISH
+AMBASSADOR.--REVIVAL OF 1857.--LETTER OF SANUM.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+DARK DAYS.
+
+SEMINARY BROKEN UP IN 1844.--DEACON ISAAC.--PERSECUTION BY MAR
+SHIMON.--FUNERAL OF DAUGHTER OF PRIEST ESHOO.--DEACON
+GUWERGIS.--ATTEMPT AT ABDUCTION OF PUPIL.--PERIL OF SCHOOL.--MRS.
+HARRIET STODDARD.--YAHYA KHAN.--ANARCHY.--LETTER FROM BARILO.
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+TRIALS.
+
+EVIL INFLUENCE OF HOMES.--OPPOSITION IN DEGALA.--ASKER KHAN.--POISONING
+OF SANUM'S CHILDREN.--REDRESS REFUSED.--INQUISITOR IN SCHOOL.--TROUBLES
+AT KHOSRAWA.--LETTERS FROM HOIMAR.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+PRAYERFULNESS.
+
+LANGUAGE OP PRAYER.--PRAYER ON HORSEBACK.--OLD MAN IN SUPERGAN.--MAR
+OGEN.--EARNESTNESS.--FAREWELL PRAYER MEETING IN 1858.--LETTER FROM
+PUPIL.--SPIRIT OF PRAYER IN 1846.--WOMAN WHO COULD NOT PRAY,--"CHRIST
+BECOME BEAUTIFUL."--CLOSET IN THE MANGER.--MONTHLY
+CONCERTS.--PRAYERFULNESS IN 1849 AND 1850.--SABBATH, JANUARY
+20TH.--INTEREST CONTINUED TILL CLOSE OF TERM.--FAMILY
+MEETINGS.--AUDIBLE PRAYER.-ANSWER TO MOTHERS' PRAYERS.--CONNECTION OF
+REVIVALS WITH PRAYER AT HOME.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+FORERUNNERS.
+
+MOUNTAIN GIRLS IN SEMINARY.--PRAYING SARAH.--RETURN TO THE
+MOUNTAINS.--VISIT OF YONAN AND KHAMIS, IN 1850.--OF MR. COAN, 1851.--OF
+YONAN, AGAIN, 1861.--SARAH'S LETTERS.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+LABORERS IN THE MOUNTAINS.
+
+LETTER OF BADAL.--ACCOUNT OP HANNAH.--THE PIT.--LETTER OF GULY AND
+YOHANAN.--ACCOUNT OF SARAH.--LETTERS OF OSHANA.--LETTERS AND JOURNAL OF
+SARAH,--LETTERS FROM AMADIA,--CONFERENCE OF NATIVE HELPERS.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+EBENEZERS.
+
+EXAMINATION IN 1850.--COLLATION AND ADDRESS.--VALEDICTORY BY
+SANUM.--SABBATH SCHOOL IN GEOG TAPA.--EXAMINATION THERE IN
+1854.--PRAYER MEETING AND COMMUNION AT OROGMIAH, MAY, 1858.--SELBY, OF
+GAVALAN, AND LETTER.--LETTER FROM HATOON, OF GEOG TAPA.
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+COMPOSITIONS.
+
+THE FIELD OF CLOVER.--THE LOST SOUL.--THE SAVED SOUL.--HANNAH.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+KIND OFFICES.
+
+HOSPITALITY OF NESTORIANS.--KINDNESS OF PUPILS.--BATHING FEET.--LETTERS
+OF GOZEL, HANEE, SANUM OF GAWAR, MUNNY, RAHEEL, AND
+MARTA.--HOSHEBO.--RAHEEL TO MRS. FISKE.--MOURNING FOR THE
+DEAD.--NAZLOO.--HOSHEBO'S BEREAVEMENT.--DEATH OF MISSIONARY
+CHILDREN.--LETTER FROM SARAH, DAUGHTER OF JOSEPH.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+PROGRESS AND PROMISE.
+
+BENEVOLENCE, EARLY MANIFESTATION OF.--PROGRESS.--REVIVAL OF BENEVOLENCE
+IN APRIL, 1861.--INTEREST OF PARENTS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THEIR
+CHILDEREN.--PEACE IN FAMILIES.--REFORMED
+MARRIAGES.--ORDINATIONS.--COMMUNION SEASONS.--MISS RICE AND MISS
+BEACH.--CONCLUSION.
+
+
+
+       *      *       *       *       *
+
+_List of Illustrations._
+
+I. PLAIN AND LAKE OF OROOMIAH, AS SEEN FROM ROOF OF SEMINARY AT SEIR
+
+II. MAP OF THE NESTORIAN COUNTRY.
+
+III. FEMALE SEMINARY.
+
+IV. TENTS.
+
+V. MISSIONARY SCENE IN TURGAWER.
+
+VI. COURT YARD OF SEMINARY.
+
+VII. SEIR GATE, OROOMIAH.
+
+VIII. TIARY GIRL.
+
+
+
+
+WOMAN AND HER SAVIOUR.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+WOMAN WITHOUT THE GOSPEL.
+
+POLITICAL CONDITION.--NESTORIAN HOUSES.--VERMIN.--SICKNESS.--POSITION
+AND ESTIMATION OF WOMAN.--NO READERS AMONG THEM.--UNLOVELY
+SPIRIT.--SINS OF THE TONGUE.--PROFANITY.--LYING.--STEALING.--STORY
+ABOUT PINS.--IMPURITY.--MOSLEM INTERFERENCE WITH SEMINARY.
+
+We love to wander over a well-kept estate. Its green meadows and
+fruitful fields delight the eye. Its ripening harvests make us feel as
+if we too were wealthy. But while the view of what lies before us is so
+pleasant, our joy is greater if we can remember when it was all a
+wilderness, and contrast its present beauty with the roughness of its
+former state.
+
+So, in viewing the wonders of divine grace, we need to see its results
+in connection with what has been. We can appreciate the loveliness of
+the child of God only as we compare him with the child of wrath he was
+before. Paul not only recounts the great things which God had done for
+the early disciples, but bids them remember that they were once without
+Christ; and before he tells them that God had made them "sit together
+in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," he reminds them that they had
+"walked according to the spirit that now worketh in the children of
+disobedience."
+
+In seeking, then, to set forth the great things which God has done for
+woman in Persia, let us first look on her as his gospel found her, that
+we may better appreciate the grace which wrought the change.
+
+We can understand the condition of woman in that empire only as we bear
+in mind that its government is despotic, and that no constitutional
+safeguards shield the subjects of a thoroughly selfish and profligate
+nobility. The Nestorians, too, are marked out alike by religion and
+nationality as victims of oppression. However great their wrongs, they
+can hope for little redress, for a distant court shares in the plunder
+taken from them, and believes its own officials rather than the
+despised rayahs, whom they oppress. Even when foreign intervention
+procures some edict in their favor, these same officials, in distant
+Oroomiah, are at no loss to evade its demands.
+
+The Nestorian is not allowed a place in the bazaar;[1] he cannot engage
+in commerce. And in the mechanic arts, he cannot aspire higher than the
+position of a mason or carpenter; which, of course, is not to be
+compared to the standing of the same trades among us. When our
+missionaries went to Oroomiah, a decent garment on a Nestorian was safe
+only as it had an outer covering of rags to hide it. [Footnote 1: The
+bazaar is, literally, the market, but denotes the business part of a
+city.]
+
+In their language, as in Arabic, the missionaries found no word for
+_home;_ and there was no need of it, for the thing itself was wanting.
+The house consisted of one large room and was generally occupied by
+several generations. In that one room all the work of the family was
+performed. There they ate, and there they slept. The beds consisted of
+three articles--a thick comfortable filled with wool or cotton beneath,
+a pillow, and one heavy quilt for covering. On rising, they "took up
+their beds," and piled them on a wooden frame, and spread them down
+again at night. The room was lighted by an opening in the roof, which
+also served for a chimney; though, of course, in a very imperfect
+manner, as the inside of every dwelling that has stood for any length
+of time bears witness. The upper part of the walls and the under
+surface of the roof--we can hardly call it ceiling--fairly glitter, as
+though they had been painted black and varnished, and every article of
+clothing, book, or household utensil, is saturated with the smell of
+creosote. The floor, like the walls, is of earth, covered in part with
+coarse straw mats and pieces of carpeting; and the flat roof, of the
+same material, rests on a layer of sticks, supported by large beams;
+the mass above, however, often sifts through, and sometimes during a
+heavy rain assumes the form of a shower of mud. Bad as all this may
+seem, the houses are still worse in the mountain districts, such as
+Gawar. There they are half under ground, made of cobble stones laid up
+against the slanting sides of the excavation, and covered by a conical
+roof with a hole in the centre. They contain, besides the family, all
+the implements of husbandry, the cattle, and the flocks. These last
+occupy "the sides of the house" (1 Sam. xxiv. 3), and stand facing the
+"decana," or raised place in the centre, which is devoted to the
+family. As wood is scarce in the mountains, and the climate severe, the
+animal heat of the cattle is a substitute for fuel, except as sun-baked
+cakes of manure are used once a day for cooking, as is the practice
+also on the plain. In such houses the buffaloes sometimes break loose
+and fight furiously, and instances are not rare when they knock down
+the posts on which the roof rests, and thus bury all in one common ruin.
+
+The influence of such family arrangements, even in the more favored
+villages of the plain, on manners and morality, need not be told. It is
+equally evident that in such circumstances personal tidiness is
+impossible, though few in our favored land have any idea of the extent
+of such untidiness. If the truth must be told, vermin abound in most of
+these houses; the inmates are covered not only with fleas, but from
+head to foot they are infested with the third plague of Egypt. (Ex.
+viii. 16-19). This last is a constant annoyance in many parts of Turkey
+as well as Persia. If one lodges in the native houses, there is no
+refuge from them, and only an entire change of clothing affords relief
+when he returns to his own home; even there the divans have to be
+sedulously examined after the departure of visitors, that the plague do
+not spread. The writer has known daughters of New England, ready for
+almost any self-denial, burst into tears when first brought into
+contact with this.
+
+At first, the teachers of the Female Seminary in Oroomiah had to
+cleanse their pupils very thoroughly, and were glad thus to purify the
+outside, while beseeching Christ to cleanse the heart. Each one, on her
+first arrival, had to be separately cared for, lest the enemy should
+recover ground from which he had already been driven with much labor.
+Missionary publications do not usually tell of such trials, but those
+who drew the lambs from the deep pit, loved them all the more tenderly
+for having gone down into it themselves, that thence they might bring
+them to Jesus. Such trials are less common now, for it is generally
+understood that a degree of personal cleanliness is an indispensable
+requisite for admission to the Seminary; but such a demand, at that
+time, would have rendered the commencement of the school impossible.
+
+The pupils became much improved in personal appearance, and some of
+their simple-hearted mothers really thought their children had grown
+very pretty under their teachers' care. So, as many of them were
+strangers to the cleansing properties of water, they would ask again
+and again, "How do you make them so white?"
+
+But if such houses were comfortless abodes for those in health, what
+were they for the sick? Think of one in a burning fever, perhaps
+delirious, lying in such a crowd. In winter, there they must remain,
+for there is no other place, and in summer, they are often laid under a
+tree in the day time, and carried up to the flat roof, with the rest of
+the family, at night.
+
+Dr. Perkins, in the early part of his missionary life, tells us that in
+a village the family room was given up to him for the night, and in the
+morning he found a little son had been born in the stable. He supposed
+that he had been the unwitting cause of such an event occurring there;
+but longer acquaintance with the people shows that woman almost
+invariably resorts to that place in her hour of sorrow, and there she
+often dies. The number who meet death in this form is very large.
+
+In Persia, as in other unevangelized countries, women spend their days
+in out-door labor. They weed the cotton, and assist in pruning the
+vines and gathering the grapes. They go forth in the morning, bearing
+not only their implements of husbandry, but also their babes in the
+cradle; and returning in the evening, they prepare their husband's
+supper, and set it before him, but never think of eating themselves
+till after he is done. One of the early objections the Nestorians made
+to the Female Seminary was, that it would disqualify their daughters
+for their accustomed toil. In after years, woman might be seen carrying
+her spelling-book to the field, along with her Persian hoe, little
+dreaming that she was thus taking the first step towards the
+substitution of the new implement for the old.
+
+Nestorian parents used to consider the birth of a daughter a great
+calamity. When asked the number of their children, they would count up
+their sons, and make no mention of their daughters. The birth of a son
+was an occasion for great joy and giving of gifts. Neighbors hastened
+to congratulate the happy father, but days might elapse before the
+neighborhood knew of the birth of a daughter. It was deemed highly
+improper to inquire after the health of a wife, and the nearest
+approach to it was to ask after the welfare of the house or household.
+Formerly, a man never called his wife by name, but in speaking of her
+would say, "the mother of so and so," giving the name of her child; or,
+"the daughter of so and so," giving the name of her father; or, simply
+"that woman" did this or that. Nor did the wife presume to call her
+husband's name, or to address him in the presence of his parents, who,
+it will be borne in mind, lived in the same apartment. They were
+married very young, often at the age of fourteen, and without any
+consultation of their own preference, either as to time or person.
+
+There was hardly a man among the Nestorians who did not beat his wife.
+The women expected to be beaten, and took it as a matter of course. As
+the wife lived with the husband's father, it was not uncommon for him
+to beat both son and daughter-in-law. When the men wished to talk
+together of any thing important, they usually sent the women out of
+doors or to the stable, as unable to understand, or unfit to be
+trusted. In some cases, this might be a necessary precaution; for the
+absence of true affection; and the frequency of domestic broils,
+rendered the wife an unsafe depositary of any important family affair.
+The same causes often led the wife to appropriate to her own foolish
+gratification any money of her husband she could lay hands on,
+regardless of family necessities. Women whose tastes led them to load
+themselves with beads, silver, baser metal, and rude trinkets, would
+not be likely to expend money very judiciously.
+
+In 1835, the only Nestorian woman that knew how to read was Heleneh,
+the sister of Mar Shimon; and when others were asked if they would not
+like to learn, with a significant shrug they would reply, "I am a
+woman." They had themselves no more desire to learn than the men had to
+have them taught. Indeed, the very idea of a woman reading was regarded
+as an infringement of female modesty and propriety.
+
+It is a little curious, and shows how we adapt ourselves to our
+situation, that the women were as unwilling to receive attention from
+their husbands as they were to render it. Several years after the
+arrival of Miss Fiske in Oroomiah, the wife of one of her assistants
+visited the Seminary, and on leaving to return to her village, the
+teacher, in the kindness of her heart, proposed to the husband to go
+and assist her to carry the child. She seemed as if she had been
+insulted in being thought unable to carry it, and sent her husband back
+from the door in any thing but a gracious mood, leaving the good
+teacher half bewildered and half amused at this reception of her
+intended kindness.
+
+Indeed, until some of them were converted, all that was lovely and of
+good report in woman was entirely wanting. They were trodden down, but
+at the same time exceedingly defiant and imperious. If they were not
+the "head," it was not because they did not "strive for the mastery."
+They seemed to have no idea of self-control; their bursts of passion
+were awful. The number of women who reverenced their husbands was as
+small as the list of husbands who did not beat their wives. Says Miss
+Fiske, in writing to a friend, "I felt pity for my poor sisters before
+going among them, but anguish when, from actual contact with them, I
+realized how very low they were. I did not want to leave them, but I
+did ask, Can the image of Christ ever be reflected from such hearts?
+They would come and tell me their troubles, and fall down at my feet,
+begging me to deliver them from their husbands. They would say, 'You
+are sent by our holy mother, Mary, to help us;' and do not think me
+hard-hearted when I tell you that I often said to them, 'Loose your
+hold of my feet; I did not come to deliver you from your husbands, but
+to show you how to be so good that you can be happy with them.'
+Weeping, they would say, 'Have mercy on us; if not, we must kill
+ourselves.' I had no fear of their doing that, so I would seat them at
+my side, and tell them of my own dear father,--how good he was; but he
+was always _obeyed_. They would say, 'We could obey a good man.' 'But I
+am very sure you would not have been willing to obey my father.'
+
+"It is one thing to pray for our degraded sisters while in America, but
+quite another to raise them from their low estate. When I saw their
+true character, I found that I needed a purer, holier love for them
+than I had ever possessed. It was good for me to see that _I_ could do
+nothing, and it was comforting to think that Jesus had talked with just
+such females as composed the mass around me, and that afterwards many
+believed because of one such woman."
+
+Sometimes the revilings of the women were almost equalled by similar
+talk among the men, as in a village of Gawar, where they said, "We
+would not receive a priest or deacon here who could not swear well, and
+lie too." In the same village, a young man spoke favorably of Mr.
+Coan's preaching in Jeloo. Instantly a woman called out, "And have you
+heard those deceivers preach?" "Yes," was the reply, "both last year
+and this, and hope I shall again." Hearing this, her eyes flashed, and
+drawing her brawny arms into the form of a dagger, with a vengeful
+thrust of her imaginary weapon, she cried, "The blood of thy father
+smite thee, thou Satan!" and dreadful was the volley of oaths and
+curses that followed. Yet she was only a fair specimen of the village.
+
+We of the calmer West do not know what it is to have a mob of such
+women come forth in their wrath. In one town was a virago, who often,
+single-handed, faced down and drove off Moslem tax-gatherers when the
+men fled in terror. No one who has ever heard the stinging shrillness
+of their tongues, or looked on their frenzied gestures, can ever forget
+them, or wonder why the ancients painted the Furies in the form of
+women. Words cannot portray the excitement of such a scene. The hair of
+the frantic actors is streaming in the wind; stones and clods seem only
+embodiments of the unearthly yells and shrieks that fill the air; and
+yet it was such beings that grace made to be "last at the cross and
+first at the sepulchre."
+
+The East is notorious for profanity, and among the Nestorians women
+were as profane as men. The pupils in the Seminary at first used to
+swear, and use the vilest language on the slightest provocation. Poor,
+blind Martha, on her death bed, in her own father's house, was
+constantly cursed and reviled. She was obliged sometimes to cover her
+head with the quilt, and stop her ears, to secure an opportunity to
+pray for her profane and abusive brother; and though, in such
+circumstances, she died before her prayers were answered, yet they were
+heard, for he afterwards learned to serve his sister's God. "Do you
+think people will believe me," said a pupil to her teacher, who was
+reproving her for profanity, "if I do not repeat the name of God very
+often?"
+
+Lying was almost as common as profanity, and stealing quite as
+prevalent as either. It was a frequent remark, "We all lie here; do you
+think we could succeed in business without it?"
+
+In the early days of the Seminary, nothing was safe except under lock
+and key. Sometimes there seemed to be a dawn of improvement, and next,
+all the buttons would be missing from the week's washing, and the
+teacher was pretty sure to find that her own pupils were the thieves.
+Miss Rice tells of one, amply supplied with every thing by her parents,
+yet noted for her thefts. Indeed, sons and daughters were alike trained
+to such practices. In 1843, Miss Fiske could not keep a pin in her
+pin-cushion; little fingers took them as often as she turned away, and
+lest she should tempt them to lie, she avoided questioning them, unless
+her own eye had seen the theft. No wonder she wrote, "I feel very weak,
+and were it not that Christ has loved these souls, I should be
+discouraged; but he has loved them, and he loves them still." If the
+pins were found with the pupils, the answer was ready--"We found them,"
+or, "You gave them to us;" and nothing could be proved. But one summer
+evening, just before the pupils were to pass through her room to their
+beds on the flat roof, knowing that none of that color could be
+obtained elsewhere, the teacher put six black pins in her cushion, and
+stepped out till they had passed. As soon as they were gone, she found
+the pins gone too, and at once called them back. She told them of her
+loss, but none knew any thing about it. She showed them that no one
+else had been there, and therefore they must know. Six pairs of little
+hands were lifted up, as they said, "God knows we have not got them;"
+but this only called forth the reply, "I think that God knows you have
+got them," and she searched each one carefully, without finding them.
+She then proposed to kneel down where they stood, and ask God to show
+where they were, adding, "He may not see it best to show me now, but he
+will do it some time." She laid the matter before the Lord, and, just
+as they rose from their knees, remembered that she had not examined
+their cloth caps. She now proposed to examine them, and one pair of
+hands went right up to her cap. Of course she was searched first, and
+there were the six pins, so nicely concealed in its folds that nothing
+was visible but their heads. This incident did much good. The pupils
+looked on the discovery as an answer to prayer, and so did their
+teacher. They began to be afraid to steal when God so exposed their
+thefts, and she was thankful for an answer so immediate. The offender
+is now a pious, useful woman.
+
+Yet some were so accustomed to falsehood, that, even after conversion,
+it cost a struggle to be entirely truthful, and missionaries could see,
+as Christians in our own land cannot see, why an apostle should write
+to the regenerate, "Lie not one to another." The teacher labored to
+impress her charge with the sinfulness of such conduct, but in the
+revival of 1846, they seemed to learn more in one hour than she had
+taught them in the two years preceding. Yet that faithful instruction
+was not lost. It was the fuel which the Spirit of God kindled into a
+flame. The sower has not labored in vain because the seed lies for days
+buried in the soil.
+
+In that revival, the awakened hastened to restore what they had stolen.
+One came to Miss Fiske in great distress, saying, "Do you remember the
+day, two years ago, when Sawdee's new shoes were taken from the
+door?"--They leave off their shoes on entering a house.--"Yes, I
+recollect it." "You thought a Moslem woman stole them, but"--and here
+her feelings overcame her--"I took them, for I was angry with her, and
+threw them into a well. What shall I do? I know Christ will not receive
+me till I have confessed it to her. Can I go and confess it to-night,
+and pray with her, and then may I go and work for money to replace
+them?" She paid for the shoes, and became a bright light in her dark
+home. There were many such cases, and from that time the teachers had
+little trouble from theft. New pupils would sometimes steal, but the
+older ones were ready to detect them, and show them a more excellent
+way. Miss Fiske says of this, "The frequent visits of the Holy Spirit
+have removed an evil which mocked my efforts. God made me feel my utter
+helplessness, and then he did the work." That same term there was but
+one case of theft in the Male Seminary, though formerly it was not
+infrequent there.
+
+In reference to transgressions of the seventh commandment, much detail
+is not expedient. It is sufficient to say, that the first impressions
+of earlier missionaries respecting the purity of Nestorian women were
+not sustained by subsequent acquaintance. The farther they went beneath
+the surface of things, the more they found of corruption. One might go
+to Persia supposing that he knew a good deal of the degradation of the
+people, and yet really know very little of the pit into which he was
+descending.
+
+A seminary gathering together such a company of young females, was a
+new thing in Persia, and it will readily be conceived that amid a
+Mohammedan community it was an object of peculiar solicitude to its
+guardians. Many a Moslem eye was on those girls, as the results of a
+religious education appeared in their manners, their dress, and
+personal beauty. In one instance, an officer of government attempted to
+take one of them to his harem, but God thwarted his purpose through the
+interference of the English consul. Similar dangers threatened from
+other sources, and eternity alone will reveal the burden of care and
+watchfulness they involved. If only one pupil had been led astray, what
+a hopeless loss of confidence would have followed among the people! In
+the early years of the institution, when parents could hardly be
+persuaded to trust their daughters out of their sight for a single
+night, it might have broken up the whole enterprise; but in this
+matter, also, God showed himself the hearer of prayer, and not one
+danger of the kind was ever allowed to be more than an occasion for
+renewed intercession, and more confiding dependence on his gracious
+care. Sometimes, in vacation, it seemed strange to its guardians that
+they had no longer a fold to protect, and could retire to rest free
+from that anxious solicitude that sometimes drove sleep from their eyes.
+
+It is not in the beginning of missionary life that all these things are
+understood: they are learned gradually. This is wisely ordered, that
+the missionary be not discouraged at the outset. Strength is given each
+day to meet new trials as they come, and it would not be leaving a
+truthful impression on the reader, if, at the close of this description
+of what has been, it should not be recorded, to the praise of divine
+grace, that a great change has taken place. There are many to-day to
+whom the missionary may say, "Such were some of you; but ye are washed,
+but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord
+Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Not only do some who stole steal
+no more, but many young husbands now provide separate apartments for
+the bride whom they bring home, and they need all that the word "home"
+expresses to describe their mutual joy. The hour of suffering is
+anticipated by a considerate affection, and that affection is so
+reciprocated that many hearts safely trust in the daughters of the
+Female Seminary of Oroomiah.
+
+It is not merely education that has wrought this change, but a Bible
+education. Paul cared for just such converts, and left divine teachings
+for the use of those who should come after him in the same work. As a
+young wife said to her teacher one day, after she had been talking with
+her about her new duties, "I thank you; you are right. I am glad that
+you have told me what Paul says, and I think that God has told you the
+same thing." Many a graduate might say, with another, "I thank you for
+your instructions, and as I look on the trials of ungodly families,
+every drop of my blood thanks you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+MARBEESHOO.
+
+VISIT THERE.--NATIVE ACCOMMODATIONS.--HOSPITALITY OF SENUM.--MOHAMMEDAN
+WOMEN.
+
+The following account of Miss Fiske's visit to Marbeeshoo, in November,
+1847, presents a vivid picture of things as they were, and the
+Christian thoughtfulness of one who had learned a more excellent way:--
+
+"As we sat at dinner a few days since, Mr. Stocking proposed that I
+spend the Sabbath with him at Marbeeshoo. I said at once, 'I cannot
+leave my school.' But he forthwith called Sanum, Sarah, and Moressa, my
+oldest girls, and asked them if they did not love souls in Marbeeshoo
+well enough to take good care of school, and let me be absent till
+Tuesday. They were delighted to think of my going where no missionary
+lady had ever been, and said, 'We will do all we can for the girls, and
+we will pray for you, if you will only go and try to do those poor
+women good.' It was hardly two o'clock before we were on horseback.
+Marbeeshoo is about fifty miles from us, and in Turkey. Two years ago
+it was said 'no lady should try to go there,' but brother Stocking
+thought not so now; and I was willing to follow where he led,
+especially as a former pupil had recently settled there. We must be out
+over night, but we thought best not to spend it in a tent, on account
+of the cold. Near sunset we came to Mawana, a village of mud huts. We
+went to the house of the head man, who joyfully welcomed us to his
+house. It consisted of a single low room, inhabited by at least a score
+of men, women, and children. They came in one by one, but already the
+hens had found their resting place, evidently no strangers there.
+Several lambs had been brought into their corner, and three or four
+calves, each had his couch of grass. Our horses had been arranged for
+the night on the other side of a partition wall, some three feet high.
+When all were within, the coarse bread and sour milk were brought out
+for supper. Then Mr. Stocking read from the Bible, and talked, and
+prayed with the numerous family, and the women sat around me, while I
+tried to do them good, till about ten o'clock. At that time, the mother
+of the family rose, saying, 'Now we will settle it.' I listened to hear
+the settlement of some family quarrel, but to my surprise her meaning
+was, 'We will settle where to lie down for the night;' and as I looked
+over the room I thought, surely some little skill in settling is
+needed, if we are all to sleep here. But soon she took out three of the
+children to an empty manger, where she put new hay, and quickly settled
+them; they were covered with an old rug, and at once fell fast asleep.
+She then returned, saying, 'Now there is room for our guests,' and
+brought a piece of cotton cloth, which she said was _all_ for me. In a
+short time, one and another was fast asleep. They lay on mats, without
+either bed or pillow, and the divers breathing or snoring of men, and
+calves, and lambs was soon heard, all mingled together.
+
+"I found myself sitting alone with the old lady, and so, putting my
+carpet bag under my head, and drawing my shawl about me, I lay down
+too. This was a signal for extinguishing the light; but before that, I
+had marked a road, where I thought I might possibly pass out between
+the sleepers should I need fresh air. There was no sleep for me; and
+the swarms of fleas made me so uncomfortable, that before midnight I
+found my way out, and remained as long as the cold air of that November
+night allowed, and so passed out and in several times during the night.
+I watched long for the morning, and at length it came, and the
+sleepers, one by one, arose. They all hoped I had slept well, and I
+could not tell them I had not, for they had given me the best they had,
+and told me again and again how glad they were that I had come, and
+hoped their house would always be mine when I came that way. There was
+a proposal for breakfast, but the morning was so fine that I suggested
+to Mr. Stocking that a carpet bag sometimes furnished a very good
+breakfast.
+
+"We did enjoy that ride very much after a sleepless night. The road was
+often only a narrow path on the edge of a precipice, and such as I had
+never passed over before; but I thanked my God at every step for the
+pure, fresh air of those mountains. As we approached the village, hid
+away among the cliffs, and in such a narrow spot that houses were
+placed one above another on the terraced hill-side, one of our
+attendants insisted on riding forward, and we were not greatly
+surprised to find a crowd ready to welcome us. One and another cried
+out, 'Senum wants you to go to Zechariah's.' So to Zechariah's we went,
+and there was my pupil, waiting with open arms to receive me. She took
+me from my horse, exclaiming, 'Is it true that you have come? I have
+heard where you staid last night, and I know you did not sleep at all.
+Come right into my room; there are no fleas here; I have a bed that is
+clean, that I keep for the missionaries. I will spread it for you, and
+you shall sleep before any body comes to see you.' The bed was spread;
+she gave me milk to drink (Judg, iv. 19), and then said, 'I will guard
+the door so no one shall disturb you, and I will wake you for dinner.'
+I was soon asleep, and slept two long hours before she woke me.
+
+"When she did, she came with her tray in her hand, where was the
+freshly baked bread, the nicely cooked little fish, which, she said,
+'my husband caught expressly for you and Mr. Stocking,' honey from
+their own hives, milk from their flock, and other simple refreshments.
+All was neatly prepared, and we were so thankful for the dear child's
+attentions! When dinner was over, she said, 'Now I want you to see the
+women; but they must not come here, for they will leave fleas, and you
+will not be able to sleep tonight. There is another large room the
+other side, and we will have meeting there this afternoon.'
+
+"About three o'clock I met there more than one hundred poor women, who
+of course must ask many questions before their curiosity would be
+satisfied. They finally became quiet, however, and I could tell them of
+the Saviour, who had loved to teach just such needy ones as they were.
+I enjoyed the afternoon very much; it was all the more precious for the
+discomforts of the night, and the comforts of Senum's house. The next
+day was the Sabbath, and most of the time I was in the 'large room,'
+where the women came freely. In the afternoon about three hundred were
+present. I was weary at night, but Senum's care, with the thought of
+the privilege of meeting so many who had never before heard of Christ
+as the _only_ Saviour, made me forget it all."
+
+Painful as is this view of woman as she was among the Nestorians, her
+condition was still worse among the Mohammedans; not, indeed, in
+matters of outward comfort, for the wealth of Persia is in Moslem
+hands, and they occupy every position of rank or authority in the land.
+But in all that pertains to morality and religion, they stand on a
+lower level.
+
+The Nestorian woman may not have known what was contained in the Bible,
+yet she knew that it was the word of God, and was ready to receive all
+its teachings as of divine authority. To her Moslem sister it is not
+only an unknown book, but one she is taught to regard as superseded by
+the Koran.
+
+Although the Nestorian woman knew nothing of spiritual worship, yet she
+regarded the Lord's day as set apart for his service. The Moslem, on
+the other hand, regards it like any other day of the week, and exalts
+her Friday to the place that of right belongs to the Sabbath of the
+Lord.
+
+In all her degradation, the Nestorian woman reverenced the name of
+Jesus as her God. True, she had no correct idea of salvation or
+redeeming love; yet even a blind attachment to that sacred name is not
+without its reward. She may have fallen very low, but there was a power
+even in her ignorant adherence to Christ, that kept her from falling to
+the level of those who renounced him for the Arabian impostor. This was
+seen especially in the blessings that came to her through the
+institution of Christian marriage, while others groaned under the
+debasing influence of a sensual polygamy. The wretchedness this
+occasioned is a topic too large and too painful to dwell upon here. But
+the wide gulf that separated the two classes was clearly seen, when on
+her Sabbath the missionary could speak to the Nestorian of her Saviour
+out of her Bible, while the Moslem knows nothing beyond her kohl and
+her henna,[1] her dresses and her follies, and other topics at once
+belittling, debasing, and corrupting. [Footnote 1: Kohl is a black
+powder used to paint the eyebrows and eyelashes. Henna is a plant
+employed to stain the nails, and sometimes the entire hand and part of
+the foot, of a dark orange hue.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+THE SCENE OF THE NARRATIVE.
+
+NESTORIANS.--THEIR COUNTRY.--FRONTISPIECE.--LAKE.--PLAIN.--FORDING THE
+SHAHER.--MISSION PREMISES IN OROOMIAH.
+
+We will now glance at the scene of the events to be narrated, as it may
+not be familiar to every reader. To write of woman in Persia would
+embrace the whole empire as the field of inquiry; for the existence of
+woman is coextensive with the population. But "Woman and her Saviour in
+Persia" confines our attention to those who have been taught the truth
+as it is in Jesus; for when Christ sent forth Paul to preach his gospel
+to the Gentiles, it was that they might receive forgiveness of sins,
+and inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith that is in him;
+and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? Our
+theme, then, confines us to the Nestorians, who number about one
+hundred thousand souls. About two thirds of these live in Turkey; but
+the following pages relate principally to those residing in Persia, and
+hence the title of the volume.
+
+This people inhabit, along with Koords and other races, the territory
+extending from the western shore of the Lake of Oroomiah to the eastern
+bank of the Tigris. It includes the Persian province of Oroomiah, and
+both the eastern and western slope of Central Koordistan. The most
+inaccessible recesses of the Koordish Mountains have been their refuge
+for centuries. The whole region extends across four degrees of
+longitude, with a varying breadth of from one to two degrees of
+latitude. Attention will be called especially to the city of Oroomiah
+and the villages around it. The plain of that name is seventy-five
+miles long and from twelve to twenty miles in width, containing more
+than a thousand square miles. It is dotted with perhaps three hundred
+villages, the population varying, according to the size of the village,
+from less than one hundred to more than a thousand inhabitants.
+
+The frontispiece gives a view of this plain, from the roof of the
+mission premises at Seir, one thousand feet above the city. The lofty
+Wolf mountain appears on the right, and the high range west of the
+narrowest part of the lake on the left. The lake itself is seen beyond
+the plain at the foot of the mountains which rise abruptly from its
+eastern shore. The distance makes it seem much narrower than it is, for
+while one hundred miles in length, it is not far from thirty miles in
+breadth. Its surface is forty-one hundred feet above the sea, and four
+hundred feet below the city of Oroomiah. No living thing exists in its
+waters, which are both salt and bituminous.
+
+The plain is more crowded with villages than here represented, and each
+one is made conspicuous by its grove of trees, as well as its houses.
+The city appears prominent at the foot of the hill, though six miles
+distant from the spectator. It is in the same latitude with Richmond,
+Virginia, and contains about thirty-five thousand souls. The plain
+slopes up very gradually from the lake, and Mount Seir rises, behind
+our point of view, two thousand eight hundred and thirty-four feet
+above the city. Farther west, the summits of Central Koordistan rise,
+range above range, to the height of seventeen thousand feet.
+
+We pass down from Seir to the city by a carriage road, now by the side
+of vineyards, and now near fields of wheat and clover, diversified by
+orchards and gardens of cucumbers. All of these, and indeed the whole
+plain, owes its fertility to canals, led out from the rivers which
+descend from the mountains. Willow, poplar, and sycamore trees line
+these watercourses. All kinds of fruit trees abound, while the rich
+verdure of the plain contrasts strikingly with the bare declivities
+that overlook it from every side. The villages on either hand are
+clusters of mud houses crowded together for greater security, and every
+tree in their groves has to be watered as regularly as the fields and
+gardens.
+
+Before reaching the city we must ford the Shaher, a river that, though
+frequently all drained off into the fields in summer, is very deep in
+early spring, when fatal accidents sometimes occur. It was here that,
+in May, 1846, Miss Fiske narrowly escaped a watery grave. On her way to
+Seir, with Mr. and Mrs. Stoddard, the horse lay down in the middle of
+the river, leaving her to be swept off by the rapid current. Mr.
+Stoddard hastened to the rescue; but the moment his steed was loose, he
+rushed to attack the horse of Mrs. Stoddard, and, as Miss Fiske rose to
+the surface, she caught a glimpse of Mr. Stoddard looking back on the
+battle, and his wife held between the combatants by her riding habit,
+which had caught on the saddle; but while she looked the dress gave
+way, and Mrs. Stoddard was safe. She herself had sufficient presence of
+mind not to breathe under water, and, on coming up for the fifth time,
+floated into shallow water near the opposite shore, forty rods below
+the ford, just as Mr. Stoddard reached the same point.
+
+From the river, beautiful orchards line the road on both sides to the
+city gate, of which a representation is given on page 154; and about
+one eighth of a mile inside of that, where the Nestorian and Moslem
+sections of the city join each other, stand the mission premises, built
+of sun-dried bricks, like the houses around them.
+
+They occupy a little more than an acre, in the form of a parallelogram;
+and if, for the sake of clearness, we compare it to a window, the
+bottom of the lower sash is represented by a long, earthen-roofed
+structure, half of it a dwelling house, once the home of Dr. Grant, but
+now the dwelling of Dr. Wright. It is the building on the left of the
+engraving at page 131, and the round object occupying the nearest
+window in the second story is a clock, the gift of a well-known
+merchant of Boston, brother of one of our deceased missionaries. Let
+our lower sash be filled by two large panes in modern style, and these
+are represented by two courts surrounded by pavements, and shaded by
+large sycamore trees. In the engraving just referred to, the spectator
+stands in one of these courts, looking over a low wall into the other.
+For the top of the lower sash, we have another building, extending
+across the premises. The left half of this appearing on page 131,
+behind the trees, and on the opposite page represented without them,
+was the first home of Dr. Perkins, and is now the Female Seminary; but
+repeated additions and modifications have been required to transform a
+building, originally erected for a private residence, into a structure
+suitable for such a school.
+
+Miss Fiske first taught in one room of a building to the right, which
+does not appear in the engraving, though a part of it is seen on page
+131; then, as the school grew larger, another room was added, and when
+those quarters became too strait, this building was remodelled for its
+use.
+
+[Illustration: Female seminary at Oboomiah]
+
+As we shall have a good deal to do with the Seminary in these pages,
+let us become familiar with its home. Between the central door and the
+one on the left, those three windows belong to a large room once used
+as a chapel, but since then as a guest room for the accommodation of
+the women whom we shall see coming here to learn of Jesus. In this
+room, Nestorian converts first partook of the Lord's supper with the
+missionaries. The left of the three windows directly over these, with
+the rose-bush in it, belongs to Miss Fiske's private room, and the
+other two to her sitting room. This the pupils have named "The Bethel,"
+and it is so connected that the teacher can step into recitation room,
+dining room, or kitchen, as occasion requires. The last named apartment
+is on the rear of the building. The largest recitation room, by a
+curious necessity, is in the form of a carpenter's wooden square, with
+the teacher's desk in the angle between the two compartments. One of
+these is on the back side of the building, out of sight; the other,
+extending across the end, is represented in front by the window at the
+extreme left.
+
+Over the central door is, first, the steward's room, and then closets
+over that; for one of the results of the successive alterations and
+additions is, that parts of the building are two, and other parts
+three, stories high. Miss Rice's room is directly over the door on the
+left hand, as the steward's is here. The three windows in the second
+story, to the right of the two central closets, open into the dining
+room, and one of the girls' rooms occupies the corner beyond. On the
+lower floor, going from the central door to the right, is first a
+closet, and then a large guest room for visitors; and underneath the
+whole is the cellar where the boys' school was first taught, that has
+since grown into the Male Seminary at Seir.
+
+The rooms of the pupils are mostly in the rear. These are large enough
+to accommodate six or eight occupants, as the Oriental style of living
+does not require so much furniture as ours. In each room is a member of
+the senior class, who exercises a kind supervision over her younger
+companions. Every room has two or more closets, designed especially,
+but not exclusively, for devotion; and some sleep in the recitation
+rooms, as such a use of them at night does not interfere with other
+uses during the day.
+
+But we had almost forgotten our imaginary window, the upper sash of
+which remains to be described. In that we have only one pane,
+representing a large court, with the chapel on one side, and the wash
+rooms and other outbuildings of the Seminary on the other. This court
+is more garden-like than the other two, has fewer trees, and a long
+arbor, covered with grape vines, forms a covered walk in the middle of
+it. It was in this arbor that the tables were spread for the collation
+in 1850, to be described hereafter. This court is invaluable as a place
+for out-door exercise, where the pupils may enjoy the fresh air, free
+from the annoyances and exposures of the streets in an Oriental city.
+
+A stream is led through all these courts in a channel lined with stone.
+Its murmuring waters are a pleasant sound at early dawn, when they
+mingle sweetly with the morning song of birds. Here many Nestorian
+women come to fill their earthen pitchers, as the water is not carried
+through the courts of Christian houses. The mission premises belonged
+to Mohammedans; and here, in the shade of the tall sycamores, Mrs.
+Grant used to sit, with her children, and talk with the women who came
+for water. Her successors find time to continue the same practice, and
+as the natives let down their pitchers (Gen. xxiv. 18), and now and
+then one is broken (Eccles. xii. 6), realize that they live in a Bible
+land, and seek to make its daughters feel the power of Bible truth.
+
+The Seminary is outwardly very humble, and would contrast very
+unfavorably with the stately edifices of similar institutions at home.
+But we shall see that the Saviour has not disdained to honor it with
+his presence, and its earthen floors and mud walls[1] have witnessed
+many a gracious visit of the Holy Spirit. Though the glory of Lebanon
+has not come unto it, yet has God himself beautified the place and made
+it glorious. [Footnote 1: The pilasters in the engraving are made of
+brick, and not only support the large timbers of the roof, but, by
+their greater projection, protect the softer material of the wall from
+the weather. The whole is plastered outside with a mixture of lime and
+clay, that requires frequent renewal.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+MISSIONARY EDUCATION.
+
+OBJECT--MEANS--STUDY OF BIBLE--PUPILS KEPT IN SYMPATHY WITH THE
+PEOPLE.--PEOPLE STIMULATED TO EXERTION AND SELF-DEPENDENCE--TAHITI.
+--MADAGASCAR.
+
+Let us now look at some of the principles on which missionary education
+was here carried on, that we may see what kind of an instrumentality
+God was pleased to crown with his blessing.
+
+The Seminary was founded, not to polish the manners, refine the taste,
+or impart accomplishments, but to renovate the character by a permanent
+inward change. The main dependence for bringing this about was the
+power of the Holy Ghost--the only power that can impart or maintain
+spiritual life in man. This dependence was expressed in fervent prayer,
+offered for years amid discouragement and opposition, and, instead of
+ceasing when an answer came, only offered by a greater number. It is
+worthy of note that some of the seasons of greatest revival were
+preceded by disasters that threatened the very existence of the mission.
+
+The principal text book was the word of God; partly, as we shall see,
+through a providential necessity, but chiefly because it was God's own
+chosen instrumentality for the salvation of our race; and it was
+eminently adapted for the education of such a people. The teachers
+could say, with a beloved co-laborer on Mount Lebanon, "To the
+Scriptures we give increased attention; they do more to unfold and
+expand the intellectual powers, and to create careful and honest
+thinkers, than all the sciences we teach." It is also most efficient in
+freeing mind and heart from those erroneous views that are opposed to
+its teachings; and actual trial developed a richness and fulness of
+practical adaptation to the work that astonished even those who already
+knew something of its value. Its precepts and instructions were also
+clothed with power: requirements and counsels which from the missionary
+had only awakened opposition, coming from the Bible were received as
+messages from heaven. Said a Nestorian to a missionary who had been
+speaking to him the words of God, "His words grew very beautiful while
+we were talking." In reference to every suspicious novelty or
+distasteful duty, the Bible was the ultimate appeal. The missionary
+could say to them as Paul did to an early church, "When ye received the
+word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of
+man, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh
+also in you that believe." Besides, those thus educated were to teach
+others, and needed to be thoroughly furnished from the divine oracles
+with the truths they were to impart. It is not strange, then, that in
+the Seminary the Bible was studied both doctrinally and historically;
+that they had a system of theology and tables of Scripture chronology;
+that biblical biography and geography were regular studies; that
+different portions of Scripture occupied different years; and that,
+instead of Butler's Analogy and Wayland's Moral Science, were the
+Epistles to the Romans and Hebrews studied with all the accurate
+analysis and thoroughness bestowed elsewhere upon the classics. Such
+teaching would yield good fruit any where, and the good seed found good
+ground in Persia.
+
+So much for the instrumentality; but, then, influences are every where
+at work to check the growth of the plant of grace, and these must be
+overcome. There is danger that missionary education may be made worse
+than useless by allowing the sympathies of pupils to become alienated
+from the masses around them. Children from heathen families may be
+puffed up with an idea of superiority to their own people. Their taste
+may be cultivated so as to render disgust with heathen degradation
+stronger than the Christian desire to do them good. A foreign language,
+foreign dress, and foreign habits may widen the gulf that separates
+them from their people, till, what with an undue exaltation on the one
+hand and a suspicious jealousy on the other, usefulness is well nigh
+impossible. But here such tendencies have been carefully watched and
+guarded against. The pupils have been trained with the view of doing
+good among their own people. No line of separation has been drawn in
+dress or diet, furniture or household arrangements. While taught to be
+neat, the goal kept ever in sight has been, a happy usefulness in their
+own homes, the elevation of the mass just as fast as was consistent
+with mutual love and sympathy, the people not feeling that their
+daughters were denationalized, and they not lifted out of sympathy with
+the homes they were to bless. Hence, even in 1844, we find the mud
+floor of the small school room covered with straw mats; one window, of
+oiled paper, admitting the light; and a brick stove, with a few rude
+benches, its only furniture. In the other room, where the cooking was
+done, the pupils ate, and spent their time out of school. Here were two
+windows of like material; and besides the mats, the floor was covered
+with a thick felt, on which they spread their beds at night. A table
+was provided, covered with a coarse blue and white check. There were
+also a set of coarse plates and a few other dishes, but no knives nor
+forks. They eat their soup with wooden spoons, and their other food
+with their hands. Their clothing, like their cooking, was mostly in
+native style; and they were taught to make it for themselves.
+
+Another object in missionary education is, to do enough to stimulate to
+exertion, and yet not foster inefficiency or undue dependence. The
+Nestorians are poor, but doing too much for them may make them still
+poorer. They must be brought to sustain their own institutions at the
+earliest possible moment, and their training should keep that end in
+view. Hence Miss Fiske writes, "At first I was inclined to do more for
+them than afterwards, and at length settled down on this principle,--to
+give my pupils nothing for common use which they could not secure in
+their own homes by industry and economy. So I furnished only such
+articles as they could buy in the city. I preferred that they should
+make all their own clothing, and may have grieved friends sometimes by
+declining clothing which they offered to send for them. We chose rather
+to spend our own strength in training them to provide for themselves. I
+do not mean that I am not glad to see foreign articles in Oroomiah; but
+we were in danger of fostering a more expensive taste than they would
+have the means of gratifying. Our great object is to raise up the most
+efficient coadjutors from among the people, and they must labor among
+their neighbors as of them, and not as foreigners, and be prepared to
+carry forward the work when we leave it.
+
+"At first we clothed as well as boarded our pupils, and then led them
+to provide one article after another, till they clothed themselves. It
+was delightful to see the interest parents began to take in clothing
+their daughters, in order to send them to school after they provided
+their own garments. They took better care of them, and so learned to
+take better care of other things. Since I left, Miss Rice has advanced
+farther in this matter; and last year most of the pupils paid a trifle
+for tuition, amounting in all to over twenty dollars. It often costs
+more than the amount to secure these pittances; but it does our pupils
+good, and we spared no pains to this end."
+
+It is touching to see the spirit manifested by some parents in this
+connection. One very poor widow, whose little field of grain had been
+devoured by locusts, brought a large squash and a quantity of raisins
+which she had earned by laboring for others--a self-denial almost equal
+to her previous giving up of her only bed for the use of a daughter in
+the Seminary, which she brought, saying, "I can sleep on the _hasseer_
+[rush mat], if you will only receive her into school."
+
+It certainly is not benevolence to do for others what they can do as
+well for themselves, or to do for them in a way to diminish either
+their ability or disposition to provide for themselves. Missionaries
+may be in danger of staying too long and doing too much for a people,
+rather than of leaving them too soon after the gospel has taken root
+among them.
+
+Native pastors came into being at Tahiti simply because the French
+drove off the missionaries. They were not ordained before, but at once
+proved themselves equal to the work that Providence assigned them; and
+after twenty years of French misrule, in spite of Popery on the one
+hand and brandy and vice on the other, there are now more church
+members under these native pastors than ever before.
+
+Twenty years ago the European shepherds were driven from Madagascar,
+and a few lambs left in the midst of wolves; but God raised up native
+pastors, and, instead of tens of Christians under Europeans, there are
+now hundreds, yea, thousands, under these natives.[1] Those
+missionaries are wise who aim constantly at results like these; and it
+is in such a spirit that work has been done among the women of Persia.
+[Footnote: Rev. Dr. Tidman, secretary of the London Missionary Society,
+in "Conference of Missions at Liverpool," 1860, p. 225.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+BEGINNINGS.
+
+MRS. GRANT.--EARLY LIFE AND LABORS.--GREAT INFLUENCE.--HER SCHOOL.--HER
+PUPILS.--CHANGED INTO BOARDING SCHOOL.--GETTING PUPILS.--CARE OF
+THEM.--DIFFICULTIES FROM POVERTY OF PEOPLE.--PAYING FOR FOOD OF
+SCHOLARS.--POSITION OF UNMARRIED MISSIONARY LADIES.--BOOKS.
+
+We have seen that among the Nestorians it was counted a disgrace for a
+female to learn to read; and even now, in the districts remote from
+missionary influence, a woman who reads, and especially one who writes,
+is an object of public odium, if not of persecution. How, then, could
+the Nestorians be induced to send their daughters to schools? What
+overcame this strong national prejudice? These questions open a
+delightful chapter in divine providence, showing how wonderfully God
+adapts means to ends, even on opposite sides of the globe.
+
+A Christian gentleman in the State of New York, on the death of his
+wife's sister, adopted into his own family her infant child. She was
+trained to the exercise of a practical Christian benevolence, and her
+superior mind was improved by an education remarkably thorough. In the
+classics and mathematics she exhibited uncommon aptitude, and made
+unusual attainments; so that it was truly said of her, "Perhaps no
+female missionary ever left our country with a mind so well disciplined
+as Mrs. Judith S. Grant." She sailed for Persia, July 11, 1835; and
+there she displayed rare ability in acquiring the language of the
+people. The Turkish she soon spoke familiarly. In a short time she read
+the ancient Syriac, and acquired the spoken language with at least
+equal facility. Previous even to these acquisitions, she taught Mar
+Yohanan and others English; and as they noticed the ease with which she
+turned to her Greek Testament, whenever ours seemed to differ from the
+ancient Syriac, they regarded her with feelings in which it would be
+hard to say whether wonder, love, or reverence was the strongest. Some
+might have cried out, when her fine intellect and rare acquirements
+were devoted to the missionary work, "Why is this waste of the ointment
+made?" But had her friends searched the round world for a sphere of
+greatest usefulness, they could not have selected one where her rare
+gifts would have accomplished so much; and when such a woman manifested
+deep solicitude for the education of her sex, ancient prejudice fell
+before her. She taught her own domestics to read. She sedulously
+cultivated the acquaintance of both Christian and Mohammedan women; nor
+did she rest till she had opened a school for girls in what is now Mr.
+Coan's barn. Such was her zeal, that when her health would not allow
+her to go there, she taught the pupils in her own apartment. She
+commenced with only four scholars, but at the same time prepared the
+maps for Parley's Geography in modern Syriac, and the old map of
+Oroomiah, so familiar to the readers of the Missionary Herald, was her
+handiwork. Nor was her usefulness confined to her school room. Hers was
+the privilege of creating such a public sentiment in favor of the
+education of woman, that her successors have found the gates wide open
+before them, and often wondered at the extent and permanence of the
+influence she acquired. There is no one topic of which Miss Fiske has
+spoken to the writer so frequently, and with such enthusiasm, as the
+great work that Mrs. Grant accomplished for woman in Persia, during her
+short missionary life. She was the laborious and self-denying pioneer
+in female education, and every year thus far has brought to light new
+evidence of her extensive usefulness. It was no empty compliment, when
+the venerable Mar Elias said, "We will bury her in our church, where
+none but very holy men are laid. As she has done so much for us, we
+want the privilege of digging her grave with our own hands."
+
+Miss Fiske writes, shortly after her arrival, "The first Syriac word I
+learned was 'daughter;' and as I can now use the verb 'to give,' I
+often ask parents to give me their daughters. Some think that I cannot
+secure boarding scholars, but Mrs. Grant got day scholars; and when I
+hear men, women, and children say, 'How she loved us!' I want to love
+them too. I mean to devote at least five years to the work of trying to
+gather girls into a boarding school, as Mrs. Grant desired to do. She
+has gone to her rest. I wonder that I am allowed to take her place."
+And again: "I am usually in school till three P.M., and then I go out
+among the poor mothers till tea time. They often say to me, 'Mrs. Grant
+did just as you do.' Her short life was a precious offering. I feel
+each day more and more that I have entered into the labors of a
+faithful servant of Christ."
+
+Among the pupils of Mrs. Grant was Selby, of Oroomiah, who was
+hopefully converted while teaching some day scholars connected with the
+Seminary, in 1845. Raheel, (Rachel,) the wife of Siyad, the tailor
+mentioned in the Memoir of Mr. Stoddard, was another. So were Sanum,
+the wife of Joseph; Meressa, the wife of Yakob; and Sarah, the daughter
+of Priest Abraham, and wife of Oshana, of whom we shall hear more
+hereafter.
+
+After the death of Mrs. Grant, January 14, 1839, the school was
+continued under the charge of Mr. Holladay, who employed native
+teachers to assist him, the ladies of the mission cooperating as they
+could. It then passed into the hands of Dr. Wright, who had the care of
+it when Miss Fiske arrived in Oroomiah, June 14, 1843. During all this
+time it was only a day school, and contact with vice in the homes of
+the pupils greatly hindered its usefulness. It was for this reason that
+Miss Fiske was exceedingly anxious to make it a boarding school, so as
+to retain the pupils continuously under good influences. But would they
+be allowed to spend the night on the mission premises? This was doubted
+by many, and all had their fears; yet in August an appropriation was
+made for the support of six boarding pupils, who were to be entirely
+under the control of the mission for three years. Some said they could
+not be obtained for even one year, and not one of them would remain to
+complete the three. Even Priest Abraham said, "I cannot bear the
+reproach of having my daughter live with you." At that time, scarcely a
+girl twelve years old could be found who was not betrothed; and years
+were devoted to the preparation of a coarse kind of embroidery, a
+certain amount of which must be ready for the wedding.
+
+One day in August, Mar Yohanan said to Miss Fiske, "You get ready, and
+I find girls." She devoted that month and the next to preparation for
+her expected charge. But the day came for opening the school, and not
+one pupil had been obtained. The teacher was feeling somewhat anxious,
+when, from her window in the second story, she saw Mar Yohanan crossing
+the court, with a girl in either hand. One of them was his own niece,
+Selby, of Gavalan, seven years of age; the other, Hanee, of Geog Tapa,
+about three years older. They were not very inviting in outward
+appearance; but it did not take Miss Fiske long to reach the door,
+where the bishop met her, and placing their little hands in hers, said,
+in his broken English, "They be your daughters; no man take them from
+your hand." She wrote to a friend an account of her success, adding, "I
+shall be glad to give them to the Lord Jesus, and love to look on them
+as the beginning of my dear school." These two pupils were supported by
+ladies in Maiden, Massachusetts, and the number soon increased to six;
+but fifteen days after, two of them, finding the gate open, suddenly
+left for home. Their teacher did not think it advisable to follow them;
+nor did she see them again till, ten years after, an invitation for a
+reunion of all her scholars brought two whom she did not recognize. She
+said, "Perhaps you were here under Mrs. Grant?" "No, we were your own
+scholars for fifteen days, and we are very sorry we ran away." They are
+now both useful Christians, and the places they left in 1843 were
+speedily filled by others.
+
+The care of the school was much more exhausting than its instruction.
+When the teacher went out, and when she came in, she must take her
+pupils with her, for she dared not leave them to themselves. Indeed, so
+strong were the feelings of their friends, that they allowed them to
+remain only on condition that they should lodge with or near their
+teacher, and never go out except in her company. A native teacher
+rendered such help as he could, needing much teaching himself; and
+everything combined to make the principal feel that hers was to be a
+work of faith and prayer. As the first of January approached, she
+thought how sweet it would be to be remembered by dear friends at Mount
+Holyoke; and when it came, she wrote to Miss Whitman, "In looking over
+Miss Lyon's suggestions for the observance of the day, last year, I
+cannot tell you how I felt as I read the words, 'Perhaps next new
+year's day will find some of you on a foreign shore. If so, we pledge
+you a remembrance within these consecrated walls.' I thought not then
+that privilege would be mine; but since it is, I count your prayers the
+greatest favor you can confer."
+
+At Oroomiah, the missionaries met together for prayer at one o'clock,
+and after that Dr. Perkins and Mr. Holladay preached to the assembled
+Seminaries, while the ladies of the mission met separately for prayer;
+then united intercession again closed the day. And they needed to wait
+on God, for many difficulties combined to prevent success.
+
+One was the poverty of the people. To say merely that they were poor
+gives no true idea of their situation to an American reader. They were
+extremely poor, and grinding oppression still keeps them so. In 1837,
+Mr. Stocking found very few pupils in the schools wearing shoes, even
+in the snow of midwinter; and one sprightly lad in Sabbath school had
+nothing on but a coarse cotton shirt, reaching down to his knees, and a
+skull cap, though the missionary required all his winter clothes,
+besides a fire, to keep him comfortable.
+
+Another evil growing out of their poverty was, that the missionairies,
+in order to give the first impulse to education, resorted to some
+measures which, after an interest was awakened, had to be laid aside in
+order to increase it. For example, poor parents could not be persuaded
+to earn bread for their children while they sent them to school; hence,
+to get scholars at first, the mission furnished their daily bread; and
+this having been done for the boys, had to be done for the girls also.
+So, in the winter of 1843-44, twenty-five cents a week was paid to the
+day scholars, the others having their board instead. But the current
+having once commenced to flow in the new channel, such inducements
+became more a hinderance than a help, and, in the spring of 1844, Miss
+Fiske told her scholars that no more money would be paid for their
+bread; and though some of the mission feared it would be necessary to
+resume the practice, instead of that it was soon dropped in the other
+Seminary also.
+
+But the special difficulty growing out of the condition of woman in a
+Mohammedan country demands our notice. Some may suppose that because
+Miss Fiske and Miss Rice have succeeded so well, an unmarried lady from
+this country has nothing to do but to go there and work like any one
+else. This is not true; such a one cannot live by herself: her home
+must be in some missionary family. She cannot go out alone, either
+inside or outside of the city. In many things she needs to be shielded
+from annoyances here unknown. And God provided all that the teachers of
+the Seminary needed of such help; first, in the kind family of Mr.
+Stocking, and, after his death, in the pleasant household of Mr.
+Breath. Indeed, not one of all the missionary circle ever stood in need
+of such a hint as Paul gave the church at Rome concerning the deaconess
+of Cenchrea. As Miss Fiske says, playfully, "Whenever we went with them
+to visit pupils at a distance, they always made us believe that it was
+a great privilege to take us along;" and every lady who goes out, in a
+similar way, to labor in the missionary field, will find just such
+Christian kindness indispensable to her comfort and usefulness. In such
+a sphere of action, a lady's dependence is her independence.
+
+Another difficulty was the want of books. Such a thing as a school book
+had been unknown among the Nestorians. The only ones to be had in 1843
+were the Bible in ancient Syriac,--a language unintelligible to the
+common people,--and the Gospel of John, with a few chapters of Genesis,
+in the spoken language, besides a few tracts. Later came the Gospel of
+Matthew, and, after that, the four Gospels. Mr. Stocking prepared a
+Spelling Book of fifty-four pages, 8vo, a Mental Arithmetic of
+twenty-four pages, and afterwards a larger Arithmetic. Mr. Coan, a
+Scripture Spelling Book of one hundred and sixty pages, 8vo. Mr.
+Stoddard issued a very full and complete Arithmetic for the older
+scholars in 1856, but his System of Theology did not appear till after
+his decease, in 1857. Dr. Wright was the author of a Geography of three
+hundred and two pages, printed in 1849. Mr. Cochran's Scripture
+Geography appeared in 1856, and Barth's Church History was published
+the same year. But the book studied more than all others, and most
+efficient in enlightening and elevating the people, was the Bible, of
+which the New Testament appeared in 1846, and the Old in 1852. As many
+as three hours a day were devoted to that; and no recollections of
+missionary education in Persia are so pleasant as those of the Bible
+lessons. The pupils have pleasant memorials of some of them in the form
+of Bible maps, drawn by themselves, which now form a conspicuous and
+appropriate ornament of their homes.
+
+It may seem to some as though so much study of the Bible would make the
+pupils weary of its sacred pages; but precisely the contrary was true.
+When the New Testament, shortly after it was printed, was offered to
+those who, during recreation hours, would commit to memory the
+Scripture Catechism, containing more than one thousand texts, some
+learned it in three weeks, and others in a longer time; and their joy
+in receiving the reward could hardly be expressed. It was near the
+close of the term, and some who had not quite finished when vacation
+began remained to complete the task; for they said they could not go
+home unless they carried with them their Testament; and the diligent
+use they made of it afterwards showed that their desire was more than
+mere covetousness. Even eighteen months after, writing to a friend in
+America, they say, "Now we have each of us this blessed book, this
+priceless blessing; would that in it we might all find salvation for
+our souls. This book is from the unspeakable mercy of God; nor can we
+ever repay our dear friends for it." I cannot forbear quoting here the
+closing sentence of the letter--"Dear friend, the gentle love of the
+Saviour be with you. AMEN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+THE SEMINARY.
+
+MAE YOHANAN.--STANDARD OF SCHOLARSHIP.--ENGLISH BOOKS READ IN
+SYRIAC.--EXPENSE.--FEELINGS OF PARENTS.--DOMESTIC DEPARTMENT.--DAILY
+REPORTS.--PICTURE OF A WEEK DAY AND SABBATH.--"IF YOU LOVE ME, LEAN
+HARD."--ESLI'S JOURNAL.--LETTER FROM PUPILS TO MOUNT HOLYOKE
+SEMINARY.--FROM THE SAME TO MRS. C. T. MILLS.
+
+When Mar Yohanan returned to Persia after his visit to the United
+States, in 1843, Prince Malik Kassim Meerza, who could speak a little
+English, asked him, "What are the wonders of America?" He replied, "The
+blind they do see, the deaf they do hear, and the women they do read;
+they be not beasts." Having visited Mount Holyoke Seminary, he often
+said, "Of all colleges in America, Mount Holy Oke be the best; and when
+I see such a school here, I die;" meaning that then he would be ready
+to die. When he brought her first boarding scholars to Miss Fiske, he
+said, "Now you begin Mount Holy Oke in Persia."
+
+As she sought to reproduce one of our female seminaries, as far as was
+possible in such different circumstances, it seems fitting to enter
+somewhat into the minutiae of its arrangements.
+
+Resemblance to similar institutions at home is not as yet to be sought
+in the standard of scholarship, though that is rapidly advancing. In an
+unevangelized community, the people move on a lower level. Not only
+social condition, but morality and education, feel the want of the
+elevating influence of the gospel. A seminary that commences operations
+by teaching the alphabet must advance far, and climb high, before its
+graduates will stand on a level with those whose pupils were familiar
+with elementary algebra when they entered; yet its course of study may
+be the best to secure the usefulness of its members in their own
+community. If ragged village girls, untutored and uncombed, studying
+aloud in school hours, and at recess leaping over the benches like wild
+goats, now study diligently and in silence, move gently, and are
+respectful to their teachers and kind to each other, a thorough
+foundation has been laid; and if, in addition to that, the literary
+attainments of the lower classes to-day exceed those of the pupils who
+first left the school, the superstructure rises at once beautifully and
+securely.
+
+Leaving out the Bible,--which has been already spoken of,--to the
+original reading, writing, singing, and composition; have been added by
+degrees, grammar, geography, arithmetic, and theology; with oral
+instruction in physiology, chemistry, natural philosophy, and astronomy.
+
+But we should neither understand the attainments of the pupils, nor the
+source of their marked ability as writers, did we not notice that, as a
+reward for good conduct during the day, their teacher was accustomed to
+translate orally to them, at its close, at first simple stories, and
+then such volumes as Paradise Lost, The Course of Time, and Edwards's
+History of Redemption. To these were added such practical works as
+Pike's Persuasives to Early Piety, Pastor's Sketches, and Christ a
+Friend; and the pupils understood books a great deal better in the free
+translations thus given, than in the more exact renderings issued from
+the press. Baxter's Saints' Rest, poured thus hot and glowing into a
+Syriac mould, was more effective, at least for the time, than the same
+after it had cooled and been laboriously filed into fidelity to the
+original.
+
+The Seminary was unlike similar schools at home in the matter of
+expense. In 1853, the cost for each pupil was only about eighteen
+dollars for the year, including rent, board, fuel, lights, and clothing
+in part; and as this was paid by the American Board, education to the
+people was without money and without price. We have already alluded to
+the efforts of the teachers to train up the people to assume this
+expense themselves.
+
+Let us now trace the progress made in getting the pupils away from the
+evil influences of their Persian homes. In 1843, besides her six
+boarding pupils, Miss Fiske had a few day scholars; next year she had
+still fewer; and the year after that, they were dropped entirely. Many
+wished to send their daughters in this way; but she was decided in her
+refusal to receive them, because thus only could the highest good of
+the pupils be secured. At first, so great was her dread of home
+influences, that she sought to retain them even in vacation; but she
+soon saw that their health and usefulness, their sympathy with the
+people, and the confidence of the people in them, required them to
+spend a part of the year at home. This also gave their teachers a good
+opportunity to become acquainted with their friends and neighbors, and
+a door was opened for many delightful meetings with women, in which the
+pupils rendered much assistance. It also secured the influence of the
+parents in favor of what was for the good of their daughters, and made
+them interested in the school. During Miss Fiske's entire residence in
+Persia, fathers rarely disregarded her wishes concerning their
+daughters in her school.
+
+The only time that the teachers were ever reviled by a Nestorian father
+was in the case of a village priest. He came one day to the Seminary to
+see his daughter, and because she did not appear at once,--she was
+engaged at the moment,--he cursed and swore, in a great passion, and
+when she did come, carried her home. No notice was taken of it, and no
+effort made to get her back; but three years after, the first
+indications of his interest in religion were deep contrition for his
+conduct on that occasion, and a letter full of grief for such treatment
+of those who had come so far to tell him and his of Jesus. He at once
+sent his daughter back, and three weeks after she too came to the
+Saviour, and even begged, as a favor, to have the care of the rooms of
+the teachers her father had reviled. Since then, the priest has written
+no less than three letters, as he says, to be sure that so great
+wickedness was really pardoned, it seemed to him so unpardonable.
+
+The circumstances of the Seminary required a domestic department. It
+was difficult, in Persia, to have girls only ten years old take charge
+of household affairs; yet a beginning was made; but how much labor of
+love and patience of hope it involved cannot be told to those who have
+not tried it. At first, their one hour of work each day was more of a
+hinderance than a help; but gradually, through watchfulness and much
+effort, they were brought to do the whole without the least
+interference with their regular duties in school. They were thus
+trained to wait upon themselves, and so one deeply rooted evil of
+Oriental life was corrected. This practice also relieved the school of
+the bad influence of domestics, while it prepared the pupils for lives
+of contented usefulness among a people so poor as the Nestorians.
+Besides, in this way they acquired habits of regularity and punctuality
+such as they never saw in their own homes.
+
+But while these Western habits were inculcated, such of their own
+customs as were harmless were left untouched. They were carefully
+taught to do things in their own way, so as naturally and easily to
+fall into their proper place at home.
+
+At first, in their daily reports, Miss Fiske dared not ask any question
+the answer to which she could not ascertain for herself. The earliest
+she ventured to put was, whether they had combed their hair that day.
+The pupils all stood up, and those who had attended to this duty were
+asked to sit down. The faithful ones were delighted to comply. The
+others, mortified and ashamed, remained standing; but if one of them
+tried to sit down, a glance of the eye detected her. This simple method
+laid a foundation for truthfulness and self-respect; and from this the
+teacher gradually advanced to other questions, as their moral sense
+became able to bear them, till, when they could answer five
+satisfactorily, such as, "Have you all your knitting needles?" "Were
+you at prayers?" "Were you late?"--things that could be ascertained at
+once,--they thought themselves wonderfully good, little dreaming how
+much the teacher did not dare to ask, lest she should lead them into
+temptation. After the first revival, she could ask about things that
+took place out of her sight; and now this exercise is conducted in the
+same way as in our best schools at home. There is very little
+communication now between them in the school room. In 1852, there were
+only five failures on this point for four months, and those by new
+scholars. Dr. Perkins wrote, that year, "The exact system in this
+school, and the order, studiousness, good conduct, and rapid
+improvement of the pupils, in both this and the other Seminary, are
+probably unsurpassed in any schools in America."
+
+In reply to a request for the picture of a day in the Seminary, Miss
+Fiske writes, in 1862,--
+
+"You ask for a day of my life in Persia. Come, then, to my home in
+1854. You shall be waked by the noise of a hand-bell at early dawn:
+twenty minutes after, our girls are ready for their half hour of silent
+devotion. The bell for this usually finds them waiting for it, and the
+perfect quiet in the house is almost unbroken. At the close of it,
+another bell summons us to the school room for family devotion, where,
+besides reading the Scriptures and prayer, they unite in singing one of
+our sweet hymns.[1] In a few minutes after this, another bell calls us
+to breakfast, and, that finished, all attend to their morning work.
+Tables are cleared, rooms put in order, and preparations made for
+supper--the principal meal in Persia; then for an hour they study
+silently in their rooms. At a quarter before nine o'clock I enter the
+school room, while Miss Rice cares for things without. We open school
+with prayer, in which we carry to the Master more of our little cares
+and trials than in the early morning. My first lesson is in Daniel,
+with the older pupils, while two other classes go out to recite in
+another room. Yonan stays with me, for I want him to help and be helped
+in these Bible lessons. The class enjoy it exceedingly, and the forty
+minutes spent on it always seem too short. The other classes now come
+in, and all study or recite another forty minutes. After that, a short
+recess in the yard makes all fresh again. The older classes then study,
+while one of the younger ones has a Bible lesson with me on the life of
+Christ. Each time I go over it with them I find things which I wonder I
+had not perceived before. It is delightful to hear them express their
+own thoughts of our blessed Saviour. We trace his journeyings on maps
+prepared by the pupils, and they study the Scripture geography of each
+place. After this, one class recites ancient Syriac to Yonan, and
+another, in physiology, goes out to Miss Rice, leaving me to spend
+forty minutes with the older girls on compositions. At present the
+topic is, "The Christ of the Old Testament;" and I am thankful that I
+studied Edwards's History of Redemption under Miss Lyon. This done,
+fifteen minutes remain for a kind of general exercise, when we talk
+over many things; and then the noon recess of one and a half hours
+allows the girls to lunch, see friends, and recreate, till fifteen
+minutes before its close, when they have a prayer meeting by
+themselves. [Footnote 1: At first, only one hymn was printed on a
+separate sheet; then a little hymn book of five,--as many as Luther
+commenced with at the Reformation. Now the hymn book contains about two
+hundred hymns, and some of the pupils can repeat them all.]
+
+"In the afternoon, Miss Rice takes charge of the school, and I have the
+time out. At present the first hour is given to writing; soon astronomy
+will take its place. Recitations in geography follow till recess, and
+after that singing or spelling. The last hour, I go in and hear a
+lesson in Hebrews. On this Epistle we have full notes prepared in
+Syriac, and we study it carefully, in connection with the Old
+Testament. Miss Rice also has a lesson in Judges, and then all come
+together for the daily reports, more as a family than a school. There
+is still an hour before supper for mutual calls, knitting, sewing, and
+family duties. After supper and work are over, and they have had a
+little time to themselves, come evening prayers. Then they have a short
+study hour in their rooms, followed by the half hour for private
+devotion, which closes the day.
+
+"Of course, at another time, the studies might be somewhat different.
+The hours that Miss Rice and I are out of school we spend in seeing
+visitors, holding prayer meetings, going out among the women, and
+sometimes devote a whole day to a distant village."
+
+Having thus looked in on a day of study, let us, through the same
+glass, take a view of the Lord's day. The letter is dated December,
+1855.
+
+MY DEAR FRIEND: I have learned here that He who fed five thousand with
+the portion of five can feed the soul to the full with what I once
+counted only crumbs. May I give you one of the Master's sermons? A few
+Sabbaths ago, I went to Geog Tapa with Mr. Stoddard. It was afternoon,
+and I was seated on a mat in the middle of the earthen floor of the
+church. I had already attended Sabbath school and a prayer meeting with
+my pupils, and, weary, I longed for rest. It seemed as if I could not
+sit without support through the service. Then I remembered that after
+that came my meeting with the women readers of the village; and O, how
+desirable seemed rest! But God sent it in an unexpected way; for a
+woman came and seated herself directly behind me, so that I could lean
+on her, and invited me to do so. I declined; but she drew me back,
+saying, "If you love me, lean hard." Very refreshing was that support.
+And then came the Master's own voice, repeating the words, "If you love
+_me_, lean hard;" and I leaned on him too, feeling that, through that
+poor woman, he had preached me a better sermon than I could have heard
+at home. I was rested long before the services were through; then I
+spent an hour with the women, and after sunset rode six miles to my own
+home. I wondered that I was not weary that night nor the next morning;
+and I have rested ever since on those sweet words, "If you love me,
+lean hard."
+
+But I intended to tell you of our Sabbaths in school. Saturday is the
+girls' day for washing and mending, and we are busy all day long. Just
+before sunset, the bell calls us to the school room, and there we
+inquire if the last stitch is taken, and the rooms are all in order. If
+any thing is still undone, the half hour before supper sees it
+finished. After leaving the table, every thing is arranged for the
+morning, and then we have a quiet half hour in our rooms. After this,
+half the pupils come to Miss Rice, and half to me. Each has a prayer
+meeting, remembering the absent ones, also the Female Seminaries in
+Constantinople, South Hadley (Mass.), and Oxford (Ohio). All retire
+from these precious meetings to their "half hour," as they call it, and
+before nine o'clock all is quiet, unless it be the voice of some one
+still pleading with her God.
+
+The first bell, Sabbath morning, is at half past five, when all rise
+and dress for the day. Morning prayers are at half past six; then comes
+breakfast, and, our few morning duties being done, the girls retire to
+study their Sabbath school lessons, and sometimes ask to meet together
+for prayer. At half past nine, we attend Syriac service in the chapel.
+The Sabbath school follows that, numbering now about two hundred
+pupils. About two thirds of our scholars are teachers in it, and it is
+a good preparation for teaching in their homes. Those who do not teach
+form a class. We then go home to lunch, flavored with pleasant
+remembrances and familiar explanations of the morning service. The
+afternoon service commences at two o'clock, and our Bible lessons an
+hour before supper, though some are called earlier, to help us teach
+the women who come in for instruction. At supper, all are allowed to
+ask Bible questions, and before leaving the table we have evening
+prayers. At seven o'clock, Miss Rice and I go to the English prayer
+meeting, while the pupils meet in six or seven family meetings, as they
+call them, the inmates of each room being by themselves, and the pious
+among them taking turns in conducting them. If any wish to come to us
+after this, we are glad to see them; and often this hour witnesses the
+submission of souls to God.
+
+Besides these there is a weekly prayer meeting on Tuesday evening, a
+lecture on Friday afternoon, and on Wednesday, as well as Sabbath
+evening, the school meets in two divisions for prayer.
+
+The following journal, kept during the revival, in 1860, by Esli, an
+assistant teacher, forms an appropriate continuation of this interior
+picture of the Seminary:--
+
+"_February 1st_. To-day, a part of the girls wrote compositions on
+'anger,' and a part on 'the gospel.'
+
+"_3d, Friday_. John was here to-day writing to Mount Holyoke Seminary,
+and attended our noon prayer meeting. In the afternoon, Deacon Joseph
+of Degala preached from the words "King of kings and Lord of lords." In
+the evening, Mr. Coan sung with us, and we read the weekly report of
+our conduct.
+
+"_5th, Sabbath_. In the forenoon, Dr. Wright preached from Acts ii. 37.
+He said that we must know what sin is; that we are sinners; and that we
+cannot save ourselves. In the afternoon, Priest Eshoo preached from
+Luke xv. 32. The evening prayer meetings were very pleasant.
+
+"_9th_. A blessed morning. Some of the girls are thoughtful. This was
+seen in the quiet at table and the silence in the kitchen. The work was
+done both earlier and better than usual. During the study hour, the
+voice of prayer sounded very sweetly in every room. When the girls
+walked in the yard, it was very quiet, and so when they came in. Our
+noon prayer meeting was very pleasant; Miss Rice said a few words on
+the shortness of time. While Hanee prayed, some wept. When Miss Rice
+dismissed us, no one moved; all were bowed on their desks, weeping. She
+then gave opportunity for prayer, and while I prayed, all were in
+tears. The girls have kept all the rules well to-day. This evening, the
+communicants met with Miss Rice, and the rest with Martha. Miss Rice
+read about Jonah in the ship, and said a few words; after that, Raheel
+the teacher prayed. Then Hanee spoke a little of her own state, and
+asked us to pray for Raheel of Ardishai, who is thoughtful. I spoke,
+and asked them to pray for Hannah and Parangis, who are in my room.
+
+"10th. The state of our school is the same. Mr. Cochran preached on the
+faithfulness of the Jews under Nehemiah, when they rebuilt Jerusalem.
+After meeting he told us that the members of the Male Seminary spent
+yesterday as a day of fasting and prayer, and many rose confessing
+their sins. One very wicked man, also from the village, asked them to
+pray for him. After work was done in the kitchen this evening, a little
+time remained, and the girls there asked to have a meeting. With
+gladness of heart I knelt and mingled my tears with theirs, as though
+I, too, were commencing the work. Afterwards Mr. Coan came and sung
+with us, and we read the accounts of the week."
+
+Esli, the writer of the above, is the daughter of Yohanan, a pious man
+in Geog Tapa, who for a time was steward of the Seminary. She was one
+of the first fruits of the revival of 1856, and graduated after Miss
+Fiske's return to America. She has since been a most faithful assistant
+of Miss Rice, and is very much beloved by the pious Nestorians. But the
+following letter to Miss Fiske, from her own pen, dated April 1859,
+will form her best introduction to the reader:--
+
+"When I recall your love to me, my heart is full. I remember the times
+when we knelt together before our Father in heaven, in godly anguish
+for priceless souls. Especially do I remember when God first came near
+to me, how you shared my sorrow by day and by night, and pointed me to
+Him who bled for me. After you brought me to Christ, you showed me the
+helps to a Christian life; that I must pray not only in my closet, but
+also in my heart, when at work or studying, that God would keep me. O
+that I had heeded your counsels more!
+
+"This winter the Lord led me to see my cold state. For a time the
+Saviour's face was hidden; then it seemed to be midnight; but I looked
+above, and the darkness fled. I saw him standing with open arms, and
+quickly I threw myself into those arms. Tears of joy fell from my eyes,
+and by the grace of God I was enabled to go forward day by day. Secret
+prayer has since been very pleasant to me.
+
+"We have had pleasant seasons of prayer in our school this winter, and
+we trust that some souls have been born again. I have the care of a
+circle of girls in the kitchen. They work well, and keep it clean. I
+think you know that such work is difficult, but if you were to come in
+you would find every thing in order. Every Wednesday we scour all the
+shelves and the doors.
+
+"The girls have made the yard very pleasant; but one thing is wanting
+there: we miss you at the cool of the day, walking in it to see if any
+evil has grown up in your garden.
+
+"I went to my village in vacation; the prayer meetings there were very
+pleasant, and I enjoyed much, praying with the women alone. Our seasons
+of family devotion also were delightful. In the morning we read the
+Acts in course; and as each read a verse, my father asked its meaning.
+When he went away to preach, I used to lead, and we then read the
+portion for the day, in the book called 'Green Pastures for the Lord's
+Flock.'
+
+"In the school we have studied Ezra, in connection with Haggai and
+Zechariah, and are now in Nehemiah. In the New Testament we are on
+Paul's third journey, and have nearly finished Scripture geography and
+theology."
+
+The Seminary keeps up a Christian intercourse with the institution at
+South Hadley, as the following letters will show; and the beautiful
+melodeon in the sitting room is a tuneful testimony to the liberality
+of Holyoke's daughters.
+
+"Many salutations and much love from the school of Miss Fiske to you,
+our dear sisters of the school at Mount Holyoke. We rejoice that there
+is such a great institution full of holy words and the warm love of
+Christ: we hear that many of you have an inheritance above, and are
+daily looking forward to it. We want to tell you how glad we are that
+the Holy Spirit has come among you, and that God has turned so many to
+himself. Though we are great sinners, we rejoice exceedingly in the
+success of the work of God in every place; and we beg you to pray that
+the Holy Spirit may visit us also, and our people, and strike sharp
+arrows into flinty hearts, that they may melt like wax before the fire.
+Blessed be God, that though we had become the least of all nations, and
+adopted many customs worse than the heathen, and our holy books were
+carefully laid away and never used, yet he put love into the hearts of
+his servants, that they should come to this dark land. We are greatly
+obliged to you and to your people for so kindly sending us these
+missionaries. They have greatly multiplied our books, and, as we trust,
+brought many souls to Christ. Some of us, formerly, knew not who Christ
+was, or whether a Redeemer had died for us; but now he has gathered us
+together in this school of godly instruction; and some of us are
+awaking to our sins, and to the great love God has shown in sending his
+Son to die for us. We thank God very much that we know Jesus Christ,
+the only Saviour.
+
+"Again, we want to thank you for sending Miss Fiske to teach us the way
+of life; we love her because she greatly loves us, and desires our
+salvation. Every day she takes much trouble that we may be the
+daughters of God. But her burdens are so great, that we fear she will
+not remain long with us, unless some one comes to help her. And now we
+have a petition to present: we hear that in many of you dwelleth the
+spirit of our Master, Jesus Christ; and that you are ready to leave
+home and friends, and go to distant lands, to gather the lost sheep of
+Christ. Dear sisters, our petition is, that you will send us a
+teacher.[1] We shall greatly rejoice if one comes, and will love her
+very much. We ask this, not because we do not love Miss Fiske. No! no!
+this is not in our hearts; but she is weak, and her work is more than
+she can do alone. We shall expect one to come, and pray God to bring
+her to us in safety. [Footnote 1: Miss Mary Susan Rice, already
+mentioned in these pages, went out this same year (1847), from the
+Seminary in South Hadley.]
+
+"Please remember us in your closets and in your meetings, and ask your
+friends to pray for us and for our people. Farewell, beloved sisters."
+
+The following extracts are from a letter written by them, in 1848, to
+Miss Susan L. Tolman, now Mrs. Cyrus T. Mills of the Sandwich Islands,
+and formerly of Ceylon:--
+
+"Much love from the members of the Female Seminary of Oroomiah to you,
+our dear Miss Tolman. We are very glad to find one who loves us so
+much, and prays for us. Our delight in your letter was greater than we
+can express. Miss Fiske came in joyfully with it in her hand, and while
+she read, it seemed as if you were present, inviting and drawing us to
+Christ.
+
+"Give our love to all in your favored school, and ask them to pray for
+us. We love all those dear ladies, because they have been so kind to
+us, and have been willing that Miss Fiske and Miss Rice should leave
+them, and come here for our sakes. Though they were dear to you, we
+think that now they have come to us, your joy in them is greater. We
+hope to hear of many of you carrying the leaves of life to the dark
+corners of the earth.
+
+"Dear Miss Tolman, you said, 'You love Miss Fiske, you must also love
+Miss Rice.' Did you think that we would not love her? We love them
+both, not only for leaving their friends to come to us, but also
+because they are full of the love of our dear Redeemer.
+
+"We have heard that you are going to India. We are glad, and love you
+more for it, because the love of Christ constrains you to this, and
+thus in spirit you come very near to our dear teachers. We entreat
+Almighty God to be with you, and bring you in safety to the place he
+appoints for you, that you may be a light among a dark people. We hope
+that when there you will not forget us, but write us about your work,
+and about the daughters of India, whether they love you much or not.
+Tell your friends not to sorrow for you, but to rejoice that they have
+a friend ready to go and teach those who know not Christ. The Saviour
+guide you in all your labors."
+
+Those who aided Miss Lyon to carry out her large-hearted plans in New
+England, little dreamed that offshoots from the vine they planted would
+so soon be carried to the ends of the earth. Who does not admire that
+grace which, in this missionary age, raised up such a type of piety to
+be diffused over the globe? Doubtless it will undergo changes in
+Persia, as it has done already; but the devout student of Providence
+will watch its growth with interest, and its developments will not
+disappoint his hopes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+VACATION SCENES.
+
+IN GAWAR AND ISHTAZIN.--VILLAGES OF MEMIKAN.--OOBEYA, DARAWE, AND
+SANAWAR.--IN GAVALAN.--ACCOMMODATIONS.--SABBATH SCHOOL.
+
+To the interior pictures of the school in the last chapter we add some
+vacation scenes, though chronologically in advance of other things yet
+to come.
+
+[Illustration: Tents.]
+
+Towards the close of July, 1851, Mr. Stocking and family, with Misses
+Fiske and Rice, and several native helpers, spent the vacation in
+Gawar. Mr. Coan accompanied them on his way to regions beyond.
+Wandering from place to place, like the patriarchs of old, they pitched
+their tents at first near the village of Memikan. A sketch of these
+tents is here presented. The women there were frequent visitors, and
+few went away without some idea of the truth as it is in Jesus. The
+pious natives were unwearied in labor, and sometimes woke the
+missionaries in the morning with prayer for the people round about
+them. On the Sabbath, there was preaching in as many as five different
+villages, and after morning service in Memikan, the women came to the
+tents to receive more particular instruction from their own sex. In the
+evening, a mother who had buried her son in February--then a very
+promising member of the Seminary at Seir[1]--brought her youngest
+daughter, about six years of age, saying, "We give her to you in the
+place of Guwergis. He has gone to a blessed place. You led him there.
+We thank you, and now intrust to you our little daughter." Eshoo, the
+father, spoke of his departed son with much feeling, but most sweet
+submission. He said to Miss Fiske, as the big tears glistened in the
+moonlight, "I shall not be here long. I shall soon rejoin him. My hope
+in Jesus grows stronger every day." The death of that dear son was not
+only a great spiritual blessing to him, but the mere mention of his
+name at once secured the attention of the villagers to any thing the
+missionaries had to say about his Saviour. [Footnote 1: Nestorian
+Biography, p. 127.]
+
+On Monday, they left for a visit to the Alpine district of Ishtazin.
+Unable to take horses along those frightful paths, they rode on hardy
+mules. In a subsequent journey over the same road, the fastenings of
+Miss Fiske's saddle gave way, and she fell, but providentially without
+injury. Sometimes they climbed, or, more hazardous still, descended, a
+long, steep stairway of rock, or they were hid in the clouds that hung
+around the higher peaks of the mountain. Now the path led them under
+huge, detached rocks, that seemed asking leave to overwhelm them, and
+now under the solid cliffs, that suggested the more grateful idea of
+the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Down in the valley were
+pleasant waterfalls, little fields rescued by much labor from the
+surrounding waste, choice fruits, and such a variety of flowers, that
+it seemed as if spring, summer, and autumn had combined to supply them.
+Then, in looking up, the eye rested on silver threads apparently
+hanging down from far-off summits, but really foaming streams dashing
+headlong down the rocks, yet so distant that no sound came to the ear
+from their roaring waters.
+
+The party stopped at Ooreya, on one of its flat roofs, shaded by a
+magnificent walnut tree. The villagers brought mulberries, apples, and
+other fruits, till they could prepare something more substantial, and
+seemed to forget their fears of the patriarch in their zealous
+hospitality. After supper, all adjourned to the churchyard, and there,
+in the bright moonlight, a crowd of eager listeners heard of Christ,
+and redemption through his precious blood. The silence of night was
+broken only by the voice of the preacher, and the echoes of the
+surrounding cliffs seemed to repeat joyfully the unwonted sounds. Yonan
+preached from the words "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in
+their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom." He
+commenced by asking whether Christ was right in so doing. They replied,
+"Certainly he did right." "Yes," said the preacher, "and as he did, so
+must his followers do; and you must expect to see them in Ishtazin.
+When we cease to climb over these precipices to come to you, fear lest
+we have become Mussulmans, for Christians cannot but go from village to
+village to preach the gospel." The reader will see the force of such an
+appeal, when he remembers that Mar Shimon had forbidden these people to
+receive the missionaries because they preached. This was followed by a
+statement of the doctrines that Jesus preached, in which he did not
+fail to bring out the essence of the gospel. When he sat down, Khamis,
+the brother of Deacon Tamo, followed with a most impassioned
+exhortation. The missionaries had thought him a good preacher before,
+but the place and the circumstances--he was among his own native
+mountains--seemed to carry him beyond himself. All through this region,
+the people appeared to render as much honor to him as they would have
+done to Mar Shimon. The assembly dispersed, and the travellers lay down
+where they were, to battle with the sand-flies till the welcome dawn
+lit up the conspicuous summits high above them.
+
+Almost every moment of the next forenoon was filled by personal
+religious conversation with many who never heard such truths before. In
+the evening, even more fixed attention was given to another service in
+the open air, at the village of Boobawa, for the pious Mar Ogen[1] was
+then living there, and the bright light of his piety had not shone in
+vain. Several were earnestly inquiring how to be saved. [Footnote 1:
+Nestorian Biography, p. 267.]
+
+On Thursday, the day after their return to Memikan, Mr. Coan, Priest
+Dunkha, Khamis, and Deacon John left for Central Koordistan, and Deacon
+Isaac went to Kochannes. But though the laborers were fewer, the number
+of visitors continued the same. Next Sabbath, besides two services, and
+two meetings with the women in Memikan, there was preaching in three
+other villages. In Chardewar, the home of Priest Dunkha, Miss Fiske
+found his daughter, who had come with them from Oroomiah, already full
+of work. She had just dismissed her Sabbath school, and was reading the
+Bible with her cousin, the village priest, who did all in his power to
+help her, both in her school through the week, and her meetings with
+the women. One Sabbath, almost every woman in the place had been
+present, as was the case also when she was visited by Misses Fiske and
+Rice, and Sanum said that she could not ask for a better place in which
+to work for Christ. There was more of real hunger for the truth here
+than any where else in the mountains.
+
+Leaving Memikan, the travellers removed to Darawe, the village
+described on page 21. Here they could scarcely get permission to pitch
+their tent, or procure provision for themselves and horses; yet even in
+such a place, the manifestation of Christian love was not without
+fruit, though many bitterly opposed them to the last. The neighboring
+villages wondered at the missionaries going there at all, and still
+more at their being able to remain.
+
+At Keyat, the kindness of the people, and pleasant intercourse with
+them, were all the more grateful for the contrast with what had gone
+before. Here Miss Fiske met with that kind reception from Mar Shimon,
+then passing through the place, described on page 159, while the tent
+literally flowed with milk and honey furnished by the villagers, whom
+he had charged to take good care of their visitors.
+
+On the following Sabbath, Yonan preached to a congregation of about two
+hundred, at Sanawar, where forty families of refugees from Saat were
+spending the summer. When Miss Fiske and Miss Rice visited their camp,
+they found a number of temporary huts enclosing a circle, where the
+domestic labors of spinning, weaving, and cooking were actively going
+on. All the women at once left their work, and welcomed their visitors
+with every mark of confidence and gladness. Some of them had heard the
+gospel from the missionaries in Mosul, as they had often spent the
+winter near there. So they drank in every word with eagerness.
+
+The ladies were delighted with their visit, especially with a widow,
+who, though unable to read, showed unusual familiarity with the Bible,
+and, as they hoped, a spiritual acquaintance with its doctrines. When
+the topic of our fallen nature was mentioned, "Yes," said she, "we were
+all shapen in iniquity, as David testifies." When asked if she had any
+hope of being saved from sin, she replied, "I am very far from God, yet
+my only hope is in the wounded side of Jesus Christ. If penitently I
+stand beneath the blood dropping from his cross, I hope that my sins,
+though red like scarlet, may become as white as snow." Her views of the
+way of salvation were not only clear, but beautifully expressed. It was
+exceedingly refreshing, in that region where they had expected only
+darkness, thus to find the rays of light struggling through from their
+associates in another mission; and it gave a delightful foretaste of
+the time when the voice of one watchman upon those mountain tops should
+reach to another, and on all sides the eye behold the trophies of
+Immanuel. It was with feelings of peculiar interest that they heard,
+some years after, that this stranger in Sanawar, but, as they fondly
+hoped, their sister in Christ, held fast her confidence in his grace to
+the end, and so fell asleep in Jesus.
+
+For a companion picture to the preceding, we turn to the summer of
+1852. Mr. Stocking moved out to Gavalan, the native place of Mar
+Tohanan, early in the season, and both teachers followed, with thirteen
+of their pupils, about the middle of June. The village lies near the
+base of a range of mountains, at the northern end of the plain of
+Oroomiah, forty miles distant from the city. On the east the blue
+waters of the lake seem to touch the sky, and stretch away to the south
+in quiet loveliness. Sometimes, when reposing in the gorgeous light of
+sunset, or reflecting the red rays of the full moon, they remind the
+beholder of the "sea of glass mingled with fire" revealed to the
+beloved disciple. The breeze from the lake, in the long summer days, is
+very grateful, and the evening air from the mountains makes sleep
+refreshing.
+
+Mar Yohanan gave the school free use of two rooms as long as it
+remained. In the court yard before them a large tent was pitched, that
+served for dining room, dormitory, and reception room, or diwan khaneh.
+An adjoining house afforded a comfortable recitation room. Here the
+regular routine of the school went on, and while men from the village
+found their way to Mr. Stocking's at the hour of evening prayer, women
+also came to the school room at the same hour. At the last meeting of
+this kind before Miss Fiske returned to the city, nearly forty were
+present, listening with quiet attention to the words of life. On the
+Sabbath, the sides of the tent were lifted outward from the bottom, and
+fastened in a horizontal position, so as to admit the air and exclude
+the sun. The ground beneath was covered with mats, and formed quite a
+pleasant chapel. In the forenoon, this was thronged with attentive
+hearers. The children of the boys' school in the village sat close to
+their teacher. The members of the girls' school could be distinguished
+from their playmates by the greater smoothness of their hair, the
+whiteness of their faces, and general tidiness. Among the old men, the
+venerable father of the bishop was very conspicuous. The members of the
+Seminary crowded round their teachers so as to leave more room for
+others, and still all could not get under the shadow of the wings of
+the tabernacle. Mr. Stocking preached in the forenoon, and in the
+afternoon the people came together again as a Sabbath school. Each of
+the pupils of the Seminary had a class of women or girls, and seemed to
+learn how to do good faster than ever before. They visited them at
+their houses during the week; they sought out the absentees; and it was
+delightful to go round the school and note the interest of both scholar
+and teacher. If these were zealous in teaching, those were no less so
+in learning. The classes, after the introductory services, filled every
+available corner in the rooms, the tent, the front of the house, and
+even sat on the low mud wall of the court. With the same variety of
+character, there was greater diversity of lessons than in schools at
+home. Some studied the Old Testament, and some the New; others were
+just learning to read, and those who could not read at all were taught
+the Scriptures orally. One class of Armenians was taught in Turkish.
+
+Matters went on very well for two Sabbaths, but on the third, women and
+children had vanished. What was the matter? It had been reported that
+all this labor was only a preparation to transport them to America, and
+the simple-minded mothers staid away with their children in great
+trepidation; but visits from house to house, during the week, dispelled
+their fears, and next Sabbath all were again in their places, and this
+pleasant labor in Gavalan continued till September.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+EARLY LABORS FOR WOMEN.
+
+FIRST MEETINGS WITH THEM.--FIRST CONVEKT.--FIRST LESSONS.--WILD WOMEN
+OF ARDISHAI.
+
+The teachers of the Seminary did not confine their labors to its
+inmates; they expended both time and toil for adult women as well as
+for their daughters, and never felt that they gave them too large a
+proportion of their labors. At first there was a strong feeling among
+most of the women that they might not worship God along with deacons
+and readers; and so they could not be persuaded to attend public
+preaching. But Miss Fiske found that a few would come to her room at
+the same hour; so, encouraged by her missionary sisters whose hearts
+were in the work, but whose family cares prevented their doing it
+themselves, she visited the women at their houses, to urge them to come
+in. Then, as her own knowledge of the language was as yet imperfect
+(this was in 1844), and she wisely judged that listening to a gentleman
+would sooner prepare them to come in to the regular service, she
+secured one of the missionary brethren to conduct the meeting. The
+first day only five attended; but soon she enjoyed the sight of about
+forty mothers listening to the truth as it is in Jesus. On the third
+Sabbath, she was struck with the fixed attention of one of them, and,
+on talking with her alone, found her deeply convinced of sin. She had
+not before seen one who did not feel perfectly prepared to die; but
+this one groaned, being burdened, and seemed bowed to the dust with the
+sense of her unworthiness. When Miss Fiske prayed with her, she
+repeated each petition in a whisper after her, and rose from her knees
+covered with perspiration, so intensely was she moved: her life, she
+said, had been one of rebellion against God; and she knew that no
+prayers, fasts, or other outward observances, had benefited her, or
+could procure forgiveness. In this state of mind she was directed to
+Christ and his righteousness as her only hope; and though for some time
+little progress was apparent, at length, as she herself expressed it,
+"I was praying, and the Lord poured peace into my soul." The change in
+her character was noticed by her neighbors. From being one of the most
+turbulent and disagreeable of the women in her vicinity, she became
+noted for her gentleness and general consistency. She has since died,
+and her last days were full of a sweet trust in her Saviour. She was
+the first inquirer among Nestorian women.
+
+This meeting was given up as soon as the women found their way to the
+regular service; but ever since there have been separate meetings for
+them at other hours.
+
+Until the revival in 1846, those who conducted these meetings had to
+labor alone, for there were none of the Nestorians to help them.
+Indeed, Miss Fiske had been in Oroomiah more than two years, before
+women came much to her for strictly religious conversation, or could be
+induced to sit down to the study of the Scriptures.
+
+Some of her first efforts to interest them in the Bible were almost
+amusing in the difficulties encountered, and the manner in which they
+were overcome.
+
+She would seat herself among them on the earthen floor, and read a
+verse, then ask questions to see if they understood it. For example:
+after reading the history of the creation (for she began at the
+beginning), she asked, "Who was the first man?" _Answer_. "What do we
+know? we are women;" which was about equivalent in English to "we are
+donkeys." The passage was read again, and the question repeated with no
+better success. Then she told them, Adam was the first man, and made
+them repeat the name Adam over and over till they remembered it. The
+next question was, "What does it mean?" Here, too, they could give no
+answer; not because they did not know, for the word was in common use
+among them; but they had no idea that they could answer, and so they
+did not, and were perfectly delighted to find that the first man was
+called _red earth_, because he was made of it. This was enough for one
+lesson. It set them to thinking. It woke up faculties previously
+dormant. The machinery was there, perfect in all its parts, but so
+rusted from disuse, that it required no little skill and patience to
+make it move at all; but the least movement was a great gain; more was
+sure to follow. Another lesson would take up Eve (Syriac, _Hawa_,
+meaning _Life_). Miss Fiske would begin by saying, "Is not that a
+pretty name? and would you not like to know that you had a
+great-great-grandmother called _Life?_ Now, that was the name of our
+first mother--both yours and mine." It was interesting to notice how
+faces previously stolid would light up with animation after that, if
+the preacher happened to repeat the name of our first parents, and how
+one would touch another, whispering with childish joy, "Didn't you
+hear? He said Adam."
+
+Such were the women who came to the Seminary for instruction; but the
+teachers also went forth to search out the no less besotted females in
+the villages; and, as a counterpart to the above, we present an account
+of labors among the wild women of Ardishai, a village twelve miles
+south-east from Oroomiah.
+
+When Miss Fiske had been in Oroomiah about one year, Mr. Stocking
+proposed a visit to Ardishai. So the horses were brought to the gate,
+one bearing the tent, another the baskets containing Mr. Stocking's
+children, and a third miscellaneous baggage; besides the saddle horses.
+The first night, the tent was pitched on one of the threshing floors of
+Geog Tapa; but as American ladies were a novelty in Ardishai, the party
+there, in order to secure a little quiet, had to pitch their tent on
+the flat roof of a house. It was Miss Fiske's first day in a large
+village, and she became so exhausted by talking with the women, that
+she can never think of that weary Saturday without a feeling of
+fatigue. As the village is near the lake, the swarms of mosquitoes
+allowed them no rest at night; and morning again brought the crowd with
+its idle curiosity as unsatisfied as the appetite of more diminutive
+assailants. About nine o'clock, all went to the church, where Mr.
+Stocking preached, while the women sat in most loving proximity to
+their strange sisters, handling and commenting on their dresses during
+the discourse. Mr. Stocking could preach though others talked, and
+readily raised his voice so as to be heard above the rest. At the
+close, Priest Abraham, without consulting any one, rose and announced
+two meetings for the afternoon; one in another church for men, and a
+second in this for women, who must all come, because the lady from the
+new world was to preach. So the news flew through the neighboring
+villages. The good lady called the priest to account for his doings;
+but he replied, "I knew that they would come if I said that, and yon
+can preach very well, for your girls told me so." He was greatly
+disappointed, however, when he found that his notice left him alone to
+preach to the men, while Mr. Stocking preached to some six hundred
+women, with half as many children. They were a rude, noisy company, not
+one of them all caring for the truth; and there was no moment when at
+least half a dozen voices could not be heard besides the preacher's.
+When he closed, as many as twenty cried out, "Now let Miss Fiske
+preach." So he withdrew, and left her to their tender mercies. Her
+preaching was soon finished. She simply told them, that when she knew
+their language better, she would come and talk with them, but she could
+not talk at the same time that they did, for God had given her a very
+small voice, and her words would no more mingle with theirs than oil
+and water. They said, "Oil and water never mix; but we will be silent
+if you will come and preach." Months passed on, and she again visited
+the village. The women remembered her promise, and hundreds came
+together; but they did not remember to be silent. As soon as she began,
+they began; and if she asked them to be quiet, each exhorted her
+neighbor, at the top of her voice, to be still; and the louder the
+uproar, of course the louder the reproofs. At length Miss Fiske said,
+"I cannot say any more, unless you all put your fingers on your
+mouths." All the fingers went up, and she proceeded: "I have a good
+story to tell you; but if one takes her finger from her mouth, I cannot
+tell it." Instantly muzzled voices, all round the church, cried, "Be
+still, be still, so that we can hear the story!" Some minutes elapsed,
+and the four hundred women were silent. "Once there was an old woman--I
+did not know her, nor did my father, and I think my grandfather did
+not; but he told me--" Here commenced many inquiries about said
+grandfather; but again the fingers were ordered to their places, and
+their owners told that they should hear no more about the woman if they
+talked about the grandfather. "Now, this woman talked in meeting,--I
+should think she must have been a relative of yours, for ours do not
+talk in meeting,--and after many reproofs she was forbidden to go to
+church any more if she continued to do so. She promised very
+faithfully; but, poor woman, she could not be still; then, as soon as
+she heard her own voice, she cried out, 'O, I have spoken in meeting.
+What shall I do? Why, I keep speaking, and I cannot stop.' Now, you are
+very much like this woman, and as I think you cannot stop, I must." By
+this time their fingers were pressed closely on their lips, and no one
+made a reply. Having thus secured silence, Miss Fiske took the New
+Testament, and read to them of Mary, who, she was sure, never talked in
+meeting; for if she had, Jesus would not have loved her so much. She
+talked to them about fifteen minutes more, and prayed with them, and
+they went away very still and thoughtful.
+
+Miss Fiske gave this account to the writer, with no idea that he would
+print it. But he thinks--and the reader will doubtless agree with
+him--that in no other way could he convey so vivid an idea of woman as
+she was in Persia, or the tact needed to secure a first hearing for the
+truth. Miss Fiske was often called to deal with just such rude
+assemblages, and by varied methods she generally succeeded in securing
+attention. In subsequent visits to Ardishai the number of hearers was
+never again so large; but they came together from better motives, and,
+as we shall see, not without the blessing of the Lord. In March, 1850,
+Miss Rice met nearly three hundred women in the same church, some of
+them awakened, and a few already hopefully pious.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+FRUITS OF LABOR IN NESTORIAN HOMES.
+
+USEFULNESS AMONG RELATIVES OF PUPILS.--DEACON GUWERGIS.--REFORMED
+DRUNKARD AND HIS DAUGHTER.--MATERNAL MEETINGS.---EARLY INQUIRERS FROM
+GEOG TAPA.--PARTING ADDRESS OF MR. HOLLADAY.--VISIT TO GEOG
+TAPA.--SELBY AND HER CLOSET.
+
+Having thus glanced at early labors for women in the Seminary and in
+the villages, let us now turn to another field of usefulness among the
+relatives of the pupils, who came to visit them in school; and here we
+are at no loss for a notable illustration.
+
+In the autumn of 1845, Deacon Guwergis, of Tergawer,--and almost every
+reader was either priest or deacon,--brought his oldest daughter, then
+about twelve years of age, and begged for her admission to the
+Seminary. He was known as one of the vilest and most defiantly
+dissolute of the Nestorians, and Miss Fiske shrunk from receiving the
+daughter of such a man into her flock. Yet, on the ground that, like
+her Master, she was sent not to the righteous, but to the lost, she
+concluded to receive her. Still the father, during his short stay,
+showed such a spirit of avarice and shameless selfishness,--he even
+asked for the clothes his daughter had on when she came,--that she
+rejoiced when he went away.
+
+His home was twenty-five miles off, in the mountains, and she hoped
+that winter snows would soon shield her from his dreaded visits. Little
+did she think that his next coming would result in his salvation. In
+February he again presented himself at her door in his Koordish
+costume, gun, dagger, and belt of ammunition all complete. He came on
+Saturday, when many of the pupils were weeping over their sins; and the
+teacher could not but feel that the wolf had too truly entered the
+fold. He ridiculed their anxiety for salvation, and opposed the work of
+grace, in his own reckless way. She tried to guard her charge from his
+attacks as best she could; but they were too divinely convinced of sin
+to be much affected by what he said. His own daughter, at length,
+distressed at his conduct, begged him to go alone with her to pray.
+(The window on the right of the central door of the Seminary points out
+the place.) Ho mocked and jeered, but went, confident in his power to
+cure her superstition. "Do you not think that I too can pray?" And he
+repeated over his form in ancient Syriac, as a wizard would mutter his
+incantation. His child then implored mercy for her own soul, and for
+her perishing father, as a daughter might be expected to do, just
+awakened to her own guilt and the preciousness of redemption. As he
+heard the words "Save, O, save my father, going down to destruction,"
+he raised his clinched hand to strike; but, as he said afterwards, "God
+held me back from it." No entreaties of his daughter could prevail on
+him to enter the place of prayer again that day.
+
+The native teacher, Murad Khan, then recently converted, took him to
+his own room, and reasoned with him till late at night. Sabbath morning
+found him not only fixed in his rebellion, but toiling to prevent
+others coming to Christ. At noon Miss Fiske went to the room where he
+was. (The two lower windows on the right of the engraving of the
+Seminary mark the place.) He sat in the only chair there, and never
+offered her a seat; so she stood by him, and tried to talk; but he
+sternly repelled every attempt to speak of Jesus. She then took his
+hand, and said, "Deacon Guwergis, I see you do not wish me to speak
+with you, and I promise you that I will never do it again unless you
+wish it; but pledge me one thing: when we stand together in judgment,
+and you are on the left hand, as you must be if you go on in your
+present course, promise me that you will then testify, that on this
+twenty-second day of February, 1846, you were warned of your danger."
+He gave no pledge, but a weeping voice said, "Let me pray." The hand
+was withdrawn, and he passed into the adjoining room, whence soon
+issued a low voice, that Miss Fiske could hardly yet believe was
+prayer. The bell rung for meeting, and she sent her precious charge
+alone, while she staid to watch the man whose previous character and
+conduct led her to fear that he was only feigning penitence in order to
+plunder the premises undisturbed. She staid till a voice seemed to say,
+What doest thou here, Elijah? then went and took her place in the
+chapel; soon the door opened again very gently, and Deacon Guwergis
+entered; but how changed! His gun and dagger were laid aside; the folds
+of his turban had fallen over his forehead; his hands were raised to
+his face; and the big tears fell in silence; he sank into the nearest
+seat, and laid his head upon the desk. After Mr. Stoddard had
+pronounced the blessing, Miss Fiske requested Mr. Stocking to see
+Deacon Guwergis.
+
+He took him to his study, and there, in bitterness of soul, the recent
+blasphemer cried out, "O my sins! my sins! they are higher than the
+mountains of Jeloo." "Yes," said Mr. Stocking, "but if the fires of
+hell could be out, you would not be troubled--would you?" The strong
+man now bowed down in his agony, exclaiming, "Sir, even if there were
+no hell, I could not bear this load of sin. I could not live as I have
+lived."
+
+That night he could not sleep. In the morning, Miss Fiske begged Mr.
+Stoddard to see him, and after a short interview he returned, telling
+her that the dreaded Guwergis was sitting at the feet of Jesus. "My
+great sins," and "My great Saviour," was all that he could say. He was
+subdued and humble, and before noon left for his mountain home, saying,
+as he left, "I must tell my friends and neighbors of sin and of Jesus."
+Yet he trembled in view of his own weakness, and the temptations that
+might befall him. Nothing was heard from him for two weeks, when Priest
+Eshoo was sent to his village, and found him in his own house, telling
+his friends "of sin and of Jesus." He had erected the family altar, and
+at that moment was surrounded by a company weeping for their sins. So
+changed was his whole character, and so earnest were his exhortations,
+that for a time some looked on him as insane; but the sight of his
+meekness and forgiving love under despiteful usage amazed them, and
+gave them an idea of vital piety they never had before. He returned to
+Oroomiah, bringing with him his wife, another child, and brother, and
+soon found his way to Miss Fiske's room. As he opened the door, she
+stood on the opposite side; but the tears were in his eyes, and
+extending his hand as he approached, he said, "I know you did not
+believe me; but you will love me--will you not?" And she did love him,
+and wondered at her own want of faith. In a few days, he was able to
+tell Mr. Stocking, with holy joy, that two of his brothers were
+anxiously seeking the way of life. His own growth in grace surprised
+every one, and his views of salvation by grace were remarkably clear
+and accurate.
+
+When his daughter returned to school, on the 30th of March, she was
+accompanied by one of her father's brothers, who seemed to have cast
+away his own righteousness, and to rely on Christ alone for pardon. As
+no missionary had conversed with him, Mr. Stocking felt desirous to
+know how he had been led into the kingdom, and learned that he had
+promised Deacon Guwergis to spend the Sabbath with one of the native
+teachers of the Female Seminary. This teacher and others prayed with
+him, till he threw away his dagger, saying, "I have no more use for
+this," and in tears cried out, "What shall I do to be saved?" He gave
+no evidence then of having submitted to Christ, but in his mountain
+home he seemed to make a full surrender, and became well acquainted
+with the mercy seat. The native helpers felt that he was moving
+heavenward faster than themselves. In April, it was found that as many
+as nine persons in Hakkie, the village of Deacon Guwergis, gave
+evidence of regeneration, five of them members of his own family; and
+the whole village listened to the truth which the zealous deacon
+constantly taught.
+
+He always remembered the school as his spiritual birthplace, and ever
+loved to pray for it. Once, when rising from his knees in the Male
+Seminary, where he had been leading in evening devotion, he exclaimed,
+"O God, forgive me. I forgot to pray for Miss Fiske's school." So he
+knelt again and prayed for it. And Mr. Stoddard said he did not think
+there was a smile on a single face, it was done with such manifest
+simplicity and godly sincerity.
+
+In June, 1846, Miss Fiske visited Hakkie with Mr. and Mrs. Stocking. It
+was the first time ladies had been in the mountains, and the good
+deacon was greatly delighted. Labors were then commenced for females
+there that have been continued ever since. The annexed sketch will give
+a more vivid idea of the nature of such labors than the most accurate
+description. One day the party was toiling up a rough ascent, and the
+deacon, as much at home among the rocks as the wild goats, offered his
+assistance. The reply was, "We get on very well." At once his eyes
+filled, and he said, "You once helped me in a worse road; may I not now
+help you?" And his aid was at once gratefully accepted. At the top of
+the hill, while the party rested, they heard his voice far off among
+the clefts of the rocks, pleading for them and their relatives in
+distant America.
+
+[Illustration: MISSIONARY SCENE IN TEEGAWER.]
+
+After his conversion, the deacon devoted himself to labors for souls,
+especially in the mountains. One might always see a tear and a smile on
+his face, and he was ever ready, as at first, to speak "of sin and of
+Jesus." He traversed the mountains many times on foot, with his
+Testament and hymn book in his knapsack. In the rugged passes, he would
+sing, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me," and at the spring by the wayside,
+"There is a fountain filled with blood" flowed spontaneously from his
+lips. He warned every man, night and day, with tears, and pointed them
+to Jesus as their only hope. He rested from his labors March 12th,
+1856, and, as his mind wandered in the delirium of that brain fever, he
+dwelt much on those days when he first learned the way to Christ. He
+would say, "O, Miss Fiske was right when she pointed out that way;" and
+then he would shout, "Free grace! free grace!" till he sunk away
+unconscious. Again he would say, "That blessed Mr. Stocking! O, it was
+free grace." These were almost his last words. The daughter who prayed
+with him that first Saturday was by his dying bed, and her voice in
+prayer was the last earthly sound that fell upon his ear.
+
+It may strike the reader as strange that a man so notorious for
+wickedness as Deacon Guwergis was, should be allowed in the Seminary;
+but Oriental notions of hospitality are widely different from ours; and
+in order to do good to a people, however rude, they must feel that you
+are their friend. No protection from government can take the place of
+this feeling of affectionate confidence from the people; and while
+sufficient help was at hand to repel any overt wickedness, the highest
+usefulness required that patient love should have its perfect work, and
+in this case, at least, its labor was not unrewarded.
+
+The usefulness of the Seminary among the relatives of its pupils was
+illustrated in another case that occurred about the same time. March
+2d, 1846, the father of one of the girls called and inquired, with
+tears, if his daughter was troubled for her sins. Surprised at such an
+inquiry from a notorious drunkard, he was exhorted to seek his own
+salvation. He then told how he had been taught the plague of his own
+heart, and, as a ruined sinner, was clinging to Christ alone. His
+prayers showed that he was no stranger at the throne of grace. Father
+and daughter spent the evening mingling their supplications and tears
+before the mercy seat. The daughter had given more trouble than any in
+school, and several times had almost been sent away. Four days later,
+her mother came, and remained several days, almost the whole time in
+tears, and hardly speaking, except to pray. Her daughter and the pious
+members of the school were unwilling to let her go till she came to
+Christ, and she seemed to take him for her Saviour before she left. She
+was a sister of Priest Abraham, and had been so exceedingly clamorous
+and profane in her opposition to religion, that her brother had for
+years dreaded to see her. How did he rejoice, when, instead of the
+customary oath, he found her uttering the praises of her Saviour! The
+sister of her husband had been one of the vainest of the vain, wearing
+an amount of ornament unusual even for a Nestorian; but she no sooner
+put on the righteousness of Christ than she sold her ornaments, and,
+giving the proceeds to the poor, clothed herself with that modest
+apparel which becometh women professing godliness. The husband himself,
+though an illiterate laborer, preached the gospel while at work in the
+field, and often took two or three of his associates aside to pray with
+them, and to tell them of Christ and his salvation.
+
+But these cases must suffice: we can only indicate the ways in which
+the school became a centre of holy influence, especially for woman; but
+it is impossible to narrate all the facts.
+
+After the revival, the Seminary was thronged with visitors, who desired
+the time to be filled up with religious instruction. That year
+witnessed a rich ingathering of wives and mothers, brought by their
+converted husbands and children to be taught the way of salvation. The
+teacher who received visitors always found enough to do both by day and
+by night. As soon as there were two praying women in a village, Miss
+Fiske and Miss Rice sought to establish female prayer meetings; and
+when they visited a village, the women expected to be called together
+for prayer; and when the women returned the visit, they each sought to
+be prayed and conversed with alone. This was done also with the
+communicants generally three times a year. The prayers and remarks of
+the pious members of the school often gave a high spiritual tone to the
+weekly prayer meeting. Occasionally there were maternal meetings; and
+on such occasions one teacher met with the mothers, and the other with
+the children in a separate room.
+
+These took the place of the early meetings with women mentioned in the
+beginning of the chapter, and were very useful.
+
+Nestorian families have been already described in part, but the absence
+of the religious element in them can hardly be realized by Christians
+here. They did not believe that a child was possessed of a soul until
+it was forty days old. This belief affected all their feelings towards
+children, and their custom of burying unbaptized infants outside of
+their cemeteries did not serve to correct such impressions.
+
+Family registers were unknown. In 1835, probably not five Nestorians
+could tell their birthday, and but few knew in what year they were
+born. Miss Fiske kept a list of all the children, which was read at
+every meeting; but at first she could record the birth of only the very
+youngest. The deceased children were written down in a separate page,
+and it was sad to see how much they exceeded the number of the living.
+One childless mother, who had buried eleven, was always present; for
+she said she wanted to pray for the children of others, though her own
+were not. They assembled in Miss Fiske's room, sometimes to the number
+of thirty, with, such of their little ones as were too small to attend
+the other meeting, and, seated on the floor around her, were never more
+happy than when telling their troubles, asking questions, and receiving
+instructions about family duties, much more specific than could be
+given on other occasions. Now and then she read to them, from English
+books, facts and truths adapted to their needs. One good man in
+Fairhaven, Connecticut, who had heard of this, sent a complete set of
+the Mother's Magazine, to be used in that way. So interested were they,
+that many of them walked regularly three miles and back again, under a
+burning sun, to enjoy these gatherings; and from a monthly, it had to
+be changed to a weekly meeting. It sometimes lasted three hours, but
+never seemed to them too long; and, commenced in 1850, it is still kept
+up with as much regularity as Miss Rice's many other duties will allow.
+It would be interesting to dwell on its results; but a single incident
+may suffice. One mother, whose husband was not a Christian, was very
+regular in private devotion, but thought she could not offer prayer in
+the family, till her husband became dangerously sick, when, in the
+agony of her intercession for him, she vowed that, if God would spare
+him, she would establish family prayer. So, as soon as he was able to
+bear it, she gathered her children around his bed, and after they had
+read the first chapter of Matthew, verse about, she led in prayer, and
+so went on reading the New Testament in the morning and the Old
+Testament in the evening, till she got through with the whole of the
+former, before any one of the missionaries knew that she had commenced.
+
+The teachers of the Seminary enjoyed very much the visits of the early
+inquirers from Geog Tapa, in the summer of 1845, most of whom became
+hopefully pious the following winter. Let us look in on one visit made
+towards the end of May. A pupil announces that two women below wish to
+see Miss Fiske; and a middle-aged stranger is shown into her room. In
+answer to the usual inquiry, "From whence do you come?" she replies, "I
+have come from Geog Tapa, for I have heard that you have repented, and
+I want to know about it." She has walked six miles on purpose to make
+the inquiry. "I wish that you, too, had repented," calls forth the
+reply, "Alas, I have not! I am on my way to destruction." Feeling that
+the Bible was the safest guide for such an inquirer, Miss Fiske reads
+appropriate portions, explaining as she reads. The visitor shows a
+great deal of Bible knowledge for one who cannot read, indicating that
+she had not been inattentive to the faithful instructions of Priest
+Abraham and Deacon John, and her questions are numerous and intensely
+practical. Among other things, she asked, "Is it true, that for one sin
+Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden?" and on being told that it was so,
+"There," said she, turning to the unconcerned neighbor, who had come
+with her, "do you hear that? What will become of you and me, who have
+sinned so often?" At length prayer was proposed, to which she eagerly
+and tearfully assented; and though the tongue that commended her to
+Jesus, in that strange language, might have faltered, the heart did not
+share in the embarrassment. The woman, like the first inquirer,
+repeated every word of the prayer in a low whisper, as though unwilling
+to lose a single syllable. The conversation was then resumed till it
+was interrupted by the entrance of some of the pupils on business.
+"Have you finished?" was the woman's eager inquiry. "I wish very much
+to hear more of these things." Her companion now begged her to go home.
+"No," was the kind reply; "you may go, but I must stay here to
+prayers." Evening prayers were earlier than usual that evening for her
+sake, but still she lingered. She had not yet found rest. Selby, one of
+Mrs. Grant's pupils, then in the Seminary, now conversed with her; and
+as there seemed to be a sympathy between them (Selby had recently found
+peace in believing), they were left by themselves. After supper, Selby
+remained with her an hour or more, that they might pray together, till
+it was quite dark, and her friends had sent for her repeatedly. She
+left, having first begged permission to come in to morning prayers.
+Morning came, and before sunrise she was again listening intently to
+the reading of the Word, and, after devotions, left for home, earnestly
+begging Miss Fiske to come and spend a week in Geog Tapa.
+
+The Seminary was dismissed June 5th. On that day, several hundreds of
+the parents and friends of the pupils, in both Seminaries, were invited
+to a simple entertainment, got up in native style. The gentlemen of the
+mission ate in one room, with the men and boys, and the ladies in
+another, with their own sex. The confidence and kind feeling manifested
+by all towards the school was very gratifying. After dinner, the whole
+company, seated in the court, listened to an address from Mr. Holladay,
+then about to return home. He spoke to parents and children on their
+duties, privileges, and responsibilities: towards the close, he spoke
+of the almost certainty of never meeting them again till the judgment,
+and bade them an affectionate farewell. His utterance was often choked,
+and his hearers wept; and well they might, for in him they parted with
+a faithful friend. During the exercises, the members of the two schools
+sang, twice, to the great gratification of their friends.
+
+That evening most of the pupils went home, all but a few of the girls
+carrying with them a copy of the four Gospels, in modern Syriac, which
+they had paid for with their needles.
+
+Miss Fiske left for Geog Tapa on the 14th of June with Mr. Stocking,
+reaching that place as the people were coming out from evening prayers
+in the church. The first to welcome them were six pupils, residents in
+the village, who greeted their teacher with a hearty good will. Next to
+them came Pareza, the inquirer, changed somewhat in her feelings, but
+with no loss of religious interest. John, too, was there (the native
+pastor): he had been busy, day and night, instructing the people, and
+had taken special care of the pupils, that they might both improve
+themselves and exert a good influence on others. When Mr. Stocking
+asked him about matters in the village, "O sir," said he, "it is a very
+good time here now; very many love to hear the truth; their hearts are
+very open. O sir, I have very much hope!" After supper, the villagers
+poured into the room for a meeting, to the number of one hundred, while
+some thirty or forty more were unable to get in. This was all the more
+welcome, as no notice whatever had been given. It was a clear moonlight
+evening, and the groups outside were distinctly visible, through the
+latticed side of the room. John commenced with an earnest prayer for a
+blessing on the evening; asking, in his simplicity, that "the people
+might run after the word like sheep after salt"--a strange expression
+to us, but most appropriate and striking there. Fixed attention was
+given to Mr. Stocking's discourse: then John, who feared that those
+around the door had not been fed, spoke to them of Zaccheus. "The crowd
+about him," said he, "did not know his feelings; but Jesus knew them,
+and loved him; and so, mothers and sisters"--they, as an inferior
+class, had to take the lowest places while the men were within--"if you
+have come here to-night with a broken heart, though we have not seen
+you, Jesus has." He then, with Miss Fiske's pupils, sung a hymn, and
+the meeting closed. Still, many women lingered; some sitting down by
+Miss Fiske, and others in little groups, talking over what they had
+heard; very different from previous visits, when dress and such things
+were the most interesting themes of conversation. This was the first
+meeting in the village in which the missionaries noticed much religious
+interest.
+
+Early in the morning, Miss Fiske's pupils were gathered together for a
+Bible class. The women soon filled the room. The exercise continued all
+the forenoon, simply because it could not be closed. It was impossible
+to send away unfed those who hungered for the word. Among the women
+were a few men, one of them the husband of the inquirer. He was asked,
+"Have you and your wife chosen the good part?" He covered his face for
+a moment; the tears rolled down his cheeks; and then he said, "By the
+grace of God, I hope we have." His heart was too full to say more.
+
+Soon after noon, Mr. Stocking preached in the church, on the barren fig
+tree, to a crowded assembly. The heat and the multitude made the place
+very uncomfortable, but the interest deepened till the close. As soon
+as they were out of the church, many women crowded around Miss Fiske,
+some of whom she could look on as truly pious, and more as thoughtful.
+One, who was the first to be awakened about a year before, seemed now a
+growing Christian. On leaving, she said, "Perhaps I shall not see you
+again till I meet you in heaven." She seemed to be looking forward with
+humble hope to a sinless home. With others, she had encountered much
+opposition from her family and friends. She has since entered into rest.
+
+On the 19th, Selby visited Miss Fiske, and in answer to a question
+about a place for private devotion, "O, yes," said she, "there is a
+deep hole under our house, like a cellar, and there I go every day to
+pray."
+
+A brief account of her may not here be out of place. In 1830, when she
+was an infant in her mother's arms, the cholera in five days carried
+her father and five of his household to the grave. In 1838, she was one
+of the first pupils of Mrs. Grant. She learned more rapidly than the
+rest, and yet was so amiable that she was loved by those whom she
+excelled. Still, she was a stranger to God, and she felt it. When
+thirteen years of age, her brother took her out of school, replying to
+her earnest pleadings, to be allowed to remain, "You have been there
+already too long." At the same time she was forced to marry a boy
+twelve years of age, with whom she had never spoken. For days
+previously, tears were her meat and drink; nor was she the only one
+that wept. After this, the missionaries seldom saw her, till, one cold
+Sabbath in the winter of 1844-45, a girl entered the chapel, wrapped,
+as brides usually are, in a large, white sheet. She was not recognized,
+of course, till her mother led her forward, saying, "I have brought
+Selby here to-day to listen to the words of God; she loves them and you
+very much." She was feeble and much depressed, and expressed a strong
+desire to return to school. Her father-in-law consented to her teaching
+in the primary department, on condition that her husband was received
+into the Boys' Seminary, which was done. She now manifested much
+interest in religion, and one day wept much, and inclined to be alone.
+The next evening, she went to Miss Fiske, distressed with a sense of
+sin. Said she, "I have lied, and stolen, and sworn; nor that only, but
+have lived so long without once loving my kind, heavenly Father! When I
+felt sadly about dying at home, I thought then only of hell; but now my
+sins--O, how many they are! I never knew before that I was such a
+sinner." The next day, at her father-in-law's request, she was to spend
+the Sabbath at home. She was very loath to go, but it was not thought
+best to try to retain her, and she went. There she found neither closet
+nor Christian friend, and the house was full of guests from morning
+till night, whom, she was required to entertain. Yet in the morning she
+returned with even increased interest in spiritual things. Said she,
+"Two or three times I was left alone for a moment, and then I tried to
+commit my soul to my Saviour." Those few moments she seemed to value
+above all price. Not long after, she found peace in Jesus, who became
+her chosen theme. No wonder she loved to point others also to the Lamb
+of God, and lead them to the mercy seat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+GEOG TAPA.
+
+DEACON MURAD KHAN IN 1846.--PENTECOSTAL SABBATH IN 1849.--MEETINGS IN
+1850 AND 1854.--EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL OF YONAN IN 1858.
+
+The village of Geog Tapa is so prominent, and has been so largely
+blessed, that, though there is not room for a continuous account of the
+work in that place, we here give a glimpse of its progress in different
+years.
+
+Deacon Murad Khan, one of the assistants in the Seminary, and a native
+of the place, spent some Sabbaths there in May, 1846. He took turns
+with the other native teacher in this, going Saturday, and returning on
+Monday. He tells us that, after morning prayers in the church, pious
+men met together to pray for a blessing on the day; twelve of their
+number then went to labor in other villages, the rest remaining to work
+at home. Passing through a vineyard, he found hidden among the vines a
+youth setting home gospel truth to a group of others about his own age.
+At their request, he expounded the parable of the ten virgins to them
+till it was time for forenoon service; then they separated, to spend a
+few moments in private devotion before entering the church.
+
+In 1849, the pious men of the village divided it into districts, and
+visited from house to house for religious conversation and prayer.
+Meetings were held daily, and well attended. The most abandoned persons
+were hopefully converted. Crimes committed twenty-five years before
+were confessed, and restitution made. One Sabbath in February, Mr.
+Stocking and Mar Yohanan found a large assembly in the house of Mar
+Elias, listening to an exhortation from Priest Abraham. Mar Yohanan,
+who had not been there since his conversion a little while before, was
+then called on, and spoke of himself as the chief of sinners, having
+led more souls to destruction than any other of his people, and being
+all covered with their blood. In regard to his flock he said, the
+fattest he had eaten, the poorest he had cast away, the lame and the
+sick he had neglected. He begged them no longer to look to their
+bishops for salvation, but to repent at once and turn to God. Priest
+Abraham, then recently awakened, also made a humble confession of his
+sins as their priest, and besought them, one and all, to attend to the
+salvation of their souls.
+
+In the afternoon, the church was crowded, and a number, unable to gain
+admission, retired to a school room, where a meeting was conducted by a
+member of the Male Seminary. In the church, they sung the hymn, "Come,
+Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove." Mar Yohanan offered prayer, and Mr.
+Stocking preached from the text, "Now, then, we are ambassadors for
+Christ," and produced a very deep impression, which was increased by
+short addresses from the bishop and others. This was known afterwards
+by the name of the Pentecostal Sabbath.
+
+In 1850, those previously renewed gained new light, and those whose
+piety was doubtful--to use Deacon John's broken English,-were "very
+much firmed." Miss Fiske and Miss Rice spent a day in the village,
+after the close of their spring term, and had delightful intercourse
+with about twenty women hopefully pious, and many more inquirers. In
+the evening, supper was hurried through, and men, women, and children
+hastened to the house of the pastor. Mr. Stocking preached there to a
+crowded assembly of men, while the teachers adjourned to a neighboring
+house, to meet with the women. Their hearts were full at meeting so
+many for whom they had alternately hoped and feared, now sitting in
+heavenly places in Christ Jesus; they remembered seeing their first
+penitential tears, and could hardly restrain their own for joy. The
+house was full, and in a silence interrupted only by stifled sobs, they
+communed together concerning Jesus and his grace. It seemed as though
+God perfected praise that night out of the mouths of babes, by keeping
+them perfectly still in their mothers' aims; and as the pupils of the
+Seminary belonging to the village, in their prayers, laid mothers,
+sisters, and friends at the feet of Jesus, the place seemed near to
+heaven. Next day, about one hundred and fifty attended another meeting,
+and it was with difficulty the teachers could tear themselves away. One
+of the pious mothers could not bear to have her daughter, recently
+converted in the Seminary, leave her sight; and more than once a day
+they bowed together at the throne of grace. When this mother met Miss
+Fiske her feelings were so intense she could only say, "Thank God,"
+over and over, and weep. Her husband was moved by his child's anxiety
+for his salvation. Once, when she urged him to pray, he replied, "I
+cannot; but you may pray for me." She at once knelt and interceded for
+him, with many tears. The gray-headed man knelt also, deeply moved, and
+tears flowed from eyes not used to weep. When she ceased praying, she
+rose; but his strength was gone; he could not rise. Yet the love of the
+world was strong within him, and it is to be feared that he resisted
+the Holy Ghost.
+
+In 1854, Miss Fiske found about sixty families maintaining family
+prayer, and hardly a family in which there was not some one that seemed
+to be a true disciple. John held a prayer meeting Sabbath morning with
+those whom he sent out, two and two, to preach in the neighboring
+villages, and in the evening they reported what they had done. Sabbath
+school commenced about nine o'clock, and before it opened, almost all
+were reading or listening to those that read; and then the school
+continued in session two hours, without a sign of weariness. The number
+wishing to learn to read was so large that it was difficult to provide
+for them. Men came begging good teachers for their wives, and women
+came pleading for spelling books for their husbands. After school, at
+their own request, Miss Fiske met twenty-one girls, who had been
+members of her school (twenty of them now teachers in the Sabbath
+school), and gave them a word of counsel and encouragement in their
+work. At the close of afternoon service, the women who could read staid
+with her till near sunset, they never so thankful before, and she never
+more thankful to be with them.
+
+The next glimpse we take of Geog Tapa shall be from a native
+standpoint. A young man of the village, possessed of more than ordinary
+abilities, was early taken into the Male Seminary. His influence over
+the rest was so great, and so decidedly opposed to religion, that he
+was about to be sent away, when grace made him the first fruit of the
+revival in 1846. Yonan (for that is his name) was a teacher in the
+Female Seminary from 1848 till 1858, and, as he was generally
+accustomed to spend his Sabbaths in his native village, on Monday
+morning he handed in to Miss Fiske a written report of the labors of
+the previous day; and from, these we now give some extracts:--
+
+"_January 17th_, 1858. I had a pleasant time in morning family prayer,
+at which several young persons were present. The Sabbath school was
+followed by a meeting, at the close of which I returned to my room with
+four young men. I talked with them about two hours, first about coming
+to church,--for they attend only occasionally,--and in this they
+promised to do better. I then questioned until I reached their inmost
+souls. I asked one, 'What is the distance between you and God?' 'My
+teacher, there is a very great distance between us.' 'Is it God's
+fault, or yours?' 'It is mine.' I then looked on another, noted for his
+wickedness, and said, 'Beloved, did not Christ come for you? His
+stripes, his anguish, his crucifixion,--were they not for you? Why,
+then, treat him so ill? Has he left the least thing undone for you?' He
+admitted the truth, but seemed like a rock. At length I said to them,
+'Now, Satan has provided something or somebody outside the door, to
+drive these thoughts from your hearts.' One replied, 'True, Satan has
+let down all the nets of the Sea of Ardishai[1] for us.' I prayed for
+them, and they left me, serious. Then I prayed for them alone. Soon my
+little sister Raheel came in, who is under Papal influence. I talked
+with her about prayer to the saints, and opened to the ten
+commandments, and began to read; but she did not want to hear. My heart
+yearned over my poor sister, and I prayed with her. [Footnote 1: Lake
+of Oroomiah.]
+
+"Moses preached in the afternoon about Achan, and after that I had my
+usual meeting with the pious women. Guly returned with me for
+conversation. I think she is a blessed Christian. She labors and prays
+with two of her companions. She told how her cousin ridiculed her, and
+I encouraged her to go forward, but said, 'If all the world think you a
+Christian, don't rest till you can say, 'I know in whom I have
+believed."' We prayed together, and O, what a prayer she offered!
+Deacon Siyad led the evening meeting.
+
+"_January 24th_. After morning service, I took Baba Khan and Guwergis
+to my room. The first I had labored with last year, and thought him
+interested. His wife fears God, and has often asked me to talk with
+him. He is seldom absent from church or prayer meeting, and often goes
+out with our young men when they preach. This was my thought in talking
+with him: 'Near the kingdom, but not in it.' I earnestly pressed these
+questions: What do you think of yourself? What is your dependence for
+salvation? Have you repented? In short, on which side are you? He was
+troubled; tears ran down his cheeks, and for a time he made no reply.
+At last he said, 'I cannot tell.' A companion began to answer for him,
+with the confidence of ignorance, judging Christians and finding holes
+in the coats of the righteous: 'Who knows whether a man is a Christian?
+God alone.' I said, 'Are there any Christians in our village?' 'Yes.'
+'Then you know some as Christians?' His words were many, while Baba
+Khan's were few. My father here came in, but I prayed with them all,
+and then went to church, where I preached from the words, 'And thou
+mourn at the last.'
+
+"To-day I conversed with Sadee. I found her in the habit of praying
+with her sisters in Christ one by one. I advised her to try and lead
+some of her unconverted neighbors to Christ by her labors and prayers.
+She promised to do so. We spent more than an hour speaking the language
+of Canaan, and then knelt at the feet of the Saviour whom we love. She
+prayed, spreading out her hands to heaven, as I think the early saints
+used to do; and it seemed as though God would fill us with blessing in
+answer to that prayer. She left me alone, and thanking God for these
+blessed opportunities to labor.
+
+"_January 31st_. After meeting, conversed with Munny, daughter of
+Mukdesseh. It was profitable to talk with her. She said that her
+sainted mother used to say, "When, my heart is cold, I go to Christ,
+and never rise from my knees till he warms it." She has some hope for
+her husband, and also fear, since he does not forsake wine. She told of
+a woman for whom she had prayed and labored five or six years, and
+promised to do so with others. O, what a sweet savor of piety did I
+receive from her! If we had many such mothers in Geog Tapa how changed
+it would be! I cannot write all our pleasant words; they remain for
+eternity.
+
+"_February 7th_. I took home from Sabbath school two young men, for
+whom I have fears because they drink too much wine. I talked long with
+them, not as though I would take a pledge from them, or that it is a
+sin ever to drink at all, for I thought this would not be profitable;
+but I asked them questions, that they might themselves distinguish what
+is right; as, 'Does wine make you to sin?' They owned that it did.
+Their hearts seemed won to the right, but the work is the Lord's. May
+he save them from this temptation.
+
+"In the afternoon, I began to talk with Sanum without feeling, but
+ended in tears. I did not ask questions, but carefully explained the
+difficulties and the fight of faith, also the special grace of God to
+his people. When I said to her, 'I want you to enlarge your heart, and
+take in one more besides the two women whom you now labor with,' she
+selected a very ignorant one. I am afraid that I do differently,
+seeking rather an easy work.
+
+"_February 22d_. This afternoon I sent for Nargis. I had never thought
+of her as a Christian, but I found that I was greatly mistaken. It is
+all my own fault. I had seldom met her, and never prayed with her. I
+commenced: 'Do you think yourself a Christian?' 'I do.' 'How long have
+you thought so?' 'About eight years.' 'How is it that I have not known
+it?' 'Yakob was my pastor, and since he left I have had none.' Then she
+told of her awakening, and sufferings for Christ's sake, between her
+betrothal and her marriage. 'I used to go to evening meetings with
+Yakob, and on my return my uncle would take me by the braids of my hair
+and throw me on the ground, saying, "You go because there are young men
+there." Sometimes I found the door barred against me; then I went to a
+neighbor's to lodge, or oftener to the stable, and slept in a manger;
+but I was never afraid, for Christ was with me: for a time my betrothed
+wished to put me away. It was then I found Christ, and I have never
+forsaken him since.' She is now poor and in distress. She attends
+church and Sabbath school, but cannot go to evening meeting, as her two
+little children keep her at home. She lamented this, not thinking that
+she could serve Christ in the care of these little ones. I told her, 'I
+preach that prayer and the care of children are equally a duty.' She
+was greatly comforted: these words seemed like oil poured into the
+flickering lamp. I gave her the 'Green Pastures,' and prayed with her.
+I have great confidence in her piety.
+
+"On Friday forenoon, I saw Martha, the wife of Eshoo. I trust she has
+grace in her heart; and her husband hopes that he is a Christian, but
+looks after her more than himself. She sees him not doing right, and
+tells him in love; he is not pleased. Still, she thinks him a
+Christian. She wished I would talk to them together, that their path
+might be one. I told her I did not think it best that she should talk
+much to him, but be very quiet, pray for him, be obedient to him, and
+hope to win him by her chaste conversation coupled with fear. She
+received my words well.
+
+"_February 28th._ I talked with Moressa. We hoped, seven or eight years
+ago, that she was a Christian; but her husband soon prevented her
+attending meeting, and so she remained, till lately she came to church
+again. I did not know that one of the sisters in Christ had prayed
+regularly with her all this while, but supposed that she had gone back
+to her dead forms, and that God moved me to call her to repentance. But
+I found her trusting that she had been set in Christ's breastplate, the
+light of which can never go out. I said, 'Do you think you love the
+Saviour?' 'Yes, as the apple of my eye.' 'Are you sure that you have
+not forsaken him in all these years?' 'I have been very sinful all the
+time, but do not think I have taken my hand from Christ.' My heart was
+now drawn towards her. I said, 'Moressa, forgive me. I have been an
+unfaithful shepherd. I have not once searched for you. I confess my
+faults.' 'I have faults. I have been a wandering sheep, forsaking the
+fold.' 'Have you kept up secret prayer during all these years?' 'I
+have.' I found that she had learned to read at home, and I gave her a
+Testament. I have a good hope for her; but how negligent I have been!
+There may be many Christians unknown."
+
+These extracts might be extended; but enough have been given to
+illustrate the inner workings of Nestorian piety, and the labors of
+those so appropriately called "native helpers." It was such men that
+Paul called his helpers in Christ Jesus.
+
+The women of Geog Tapa, in a letter to Miss Fiske, written Feb. 1861,
+thanking her for her labors among them, say, "We often think, What are
+we more than the women of other nations, that we should have such
+heavenly blessings? and are ready to cry, Blessed is the dust of the
+land that sends forth such good news, and makes known the way of life
+to the world." They add, that at their last communion more than eighty
+souls sat down at the Lord's table; and it seemed as if He who sitteth
+between the cherubim was present in the church.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+REVIVAL IN 1846.
+
+PREPARATORY WORK.--SANCTIFIED AFFLICTIONS.--NAME FOR REVIVAL.--SCENES
+IN IHE SEMINARIES IN JANUARY.--DEACON JOHN, SANUM, AND SARAH.--MR.
+STODDARD.--YAKOB.--YONAN.--MEETING IN THE BETHEL.--PRIEST
+ESHOO.--DEACON TAMO.--PHYSICAL EXCITEMENT AND ITS CURE.--ARTLESS
+SIMPLICITY OF CONVERTS.--MISSIONARY BOX.--MEETINGS BEFORE
+VACATION.--MR. STODDARD'S LABORS.--FEMALE PRAYER MEETING.--REVIVAL IN
+THE AUTUMN.
+
+The first revival in Oroomiah seemed to burst forth like a fountain in
+the desert. Yet, as such a fountain, though springing full grown from
+the earth, is connected with unseen arrangements working out that
+visible result, so was this revival connected with an extended process
+of preparation. For years there had been a laborious inculcation of
+divine truth, especially in the Seminary. True, there had been few
+conversions; but those few were an essential part of the preparatory
+work. The roots of this revival extended back as far as the conversion
+of Deacon John, in 1844. Even in those still unconverted, there had
+been a wonderful preparation of the way of the Lord. No one could
+compare the condition of the places yet unblessed by missionary labor,
+with those so favored, and not feel this. Religious education had made
+a marked improvement in the appearance of the pupils of both
+Seminaries, in their personal habits, their intelligence, and
+especially in their knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel. Old
+superstitions had lost their hold; they could no longer trust in fasts
+and ceremonies, and they had an intellectual understanding of the way
+of salvation through a Redeemer. True, all this did not necessarily
+involve a spiritual work; but God is pleased to have the way thus
+prepared for that Spirit who sanctifies through the truth. Those who
+had received the most instruction were the first to come to Christ, and
+have since lived the more consistent Christian life.
+
+Then, in the good providence of Him who always observes a beautiful
+order in the manifestations of his grace, other influences tended to
+the same result. The very delay of the blessing called forth earnest
+prayer from the husbandmen who were waiting for precious fruit, and had
+long patience for it, till they received the early and the latter rain.
+The trials which the missionaries had passed through in 1845 also
+tended to produce that despair of help from themselves which usually
+precedes blessing. In 1844 they numbered sixteen souls; but in 1846,
+from various causes, they were diminished to ten. These were not
+discouraged, but remained at their post confident that labors in the
+Lord cannot be in vain. Then the persecution under Mar Shimon shut them
+up to God as their only hope, while it rid them of some native helpers,
+who cared chiefly for their own temporal advantage. The army of Gideon,
+on all sides, was being diminished in order to secure obedience to that
+precept, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." The feeling was
+general, "all our springs are in God." One of the missionaries said, in
+the autumn of 1845, "God never formed a soul that Christ cannot redeem
+from the power of sin. I know this people are sunk in sin and
+degradation; but Jesus died to save them, and we may see them forever
+stars in his crown of rejoicing, if we are only humble and faithful
+enough to lead them to the Saviour."
+
+At the time of the revival, Dr. and Mrs. Perkins resided at Seir, and
+Dr. and Mrs. Wright were temporarily with them in that village. Mr.
+Breath was in the city, but using the Turkish mainly, he never ventured
+to give religious instruction in Syriac; so that Mr. Stocking and Mr.
+Stoddard were the only laborers in Oroomiah. They lived on the mission
+premises already described; and at that time the Male Seminary occupied
+a building in the same enclosure.
+
+One day in the autumn of 1845, Mr. Stocking, Miss Fiske, and Deacon
+John were riding together, when John asked in English, "If we ever have
+a revival here, what shall we call it?" Mr. Stocking replied, "Let us
+get it first; then we will find a name;" and when it did come, the
+pious Nestorians at once called it "an awakening."
+
+Towards the close of December, Mr. Stocking noticed repeated
+indications of deep seriousness among the pupils of Mr. Stoddard, and
+felt that they were on the eve of a revival. About the same time,
+Deacon John was more active in labor, and earnest in prayer. In the
+Seminaries, the teachers did not think so much of what their pupils
+were, as of the power of God to make them like himself. They labored in
+hope, expecting a blessing; but it came sooner than they looked for,
+and in larger measure. The first Monday of the new year, January 5th,
+was spent as a day of fasting and prayer; and the missionaries had just
+begun to pray, when they found that some were praying for themselves.
+Miss Fiske went into her school, as usual, at nine o'clock, and, after
+telling her flock that many prayers were being offered for them that
+day in a distant land, led their morning devotions, and then sent them
+into another room to study with a native teacher. Sanum and Sarah
+lingered behind the rest; and as they drew near, she asked, "Did you
+not understand me?" They made no reply; and she saw they were weeping.
+"Have you had bad news?" Still no reply; but when they got near enough,
+they whispered, "May we have to-day to care for our souls?" and Sarah
+added, "Perhaps next year I shall not be here." There was no private
+room to give them, but they made a closet for themselves among the fuel
+in the wood cellar, and there spent that day looking unto Jesus; nor
+did they look in vain. Their teacher did not know where they had gone,
+till, long after one of them had died, the survivor gave her an account
+of that memorable day.
+
+On Sabbath evening, January 18th, the words at the English prayer
+meeting were few; but the prayers carried the dear pupils and laid them
+at the feet of Jesus. At the close of the meeting, Mr. Stoddard was
+lighting his candle to go home, when Mr. Stocking asked if he saw any
+indications of interest in his school. There was no reply; but the
+expressive face, and the candle dropping unnoticed as he held it,
+showed that thought was busy, and the heart full. At length he said,
+with deep feeling, "I should expect to see interest if we felt as we
+ought to feel;" and passed out. All were impressed with his manner, so
+earnest, yet so humble. He retired to his study, called John, and
+talked with him on the state of the school. He proposed that they
+should each day make some one pupil a subject of special prayer and
+personal effort, and begin that night with Yakob of Sooldooz. They
+prayed together for him, and then he said, "John, I want to talk with
+him to-night; we don't know what may be on the morrow; go and call
+him." Yakob, who had acted badly in meeting that day, came, expecting
+to be punished; but when Mr. Stoddard kindly asked him to come and sit
+down by him, and, taking his hand, said, "Have you ever thought that
+you have a soul to be saved or lost?" he broke down at once. He
+confessed that the whole school had combined to shut out the subject
+from their thoughts, but really felt so uneasy, that if one of them
+should be brought to Christ he thought all would follow. Then the good
+man, who was so distressed that day because he could see no impression
+made by the sermon, thanked God and took courage. Not willing to devote
+Monday to Yakob alone, he conversed with another of the same name, and
+he too went away weeping to his closet. The two had been in the
+recitation room but a little while before their feelings became so
+intense that they had to ask leave to retire. "It is God!" "It is God!"
+was whispered from seat to seat; and at noon a group collected to
+discuss what was to be done. One proposed to rise up against the work,
+and put it down; but at length Yonan of Geog Tapa said, "I don't want
+to be a Christian; I don't mean to be; but I am afraid to oppose this;
+we had better let it alone. If it is God's work we cannot put it down,
+and if it is man's work it will come to nought without our
+interference." Nothing more was said, but before school commenced that
+afternoon, some of those boys were on their knees in prayer.
+
+In the evening, Mr. Stoddard sent for two leaders in the opposition,
+very promising scholars, but of late forward in every thing that was
+evil--one of them this Yonan, and as he himself told afterwards: "Mr.
+Stoddard said, 'If you do not wish to be saved yourselves, I beg of
+you, from my inmost soul, not to hinder others;' and eternity so opened
+up before me, that I was ready to be swallowed up. I longed for some
+one to speak to me of the way of escape; but no such word was spoken to
+me that night. I could not sleep, for I was almost sure there was but a
+step between me and death." Late on Thursday evening, the other Yonan,
+of Ada, came to Mr. Stoddard in extreme agitation, who conversed with
+him a while, and then left him there to pray alone. That night he too
+could not sleep. The years he had spent in sin rose up before him in
+the light of God, and filled him with anguish; but next morning, in
+conversing with Mr. Stoddard, he seemed to find rest in submitting to
+sovereign mercy.
+
+On Monday evening, the indications of interest in the Female Seminary
+were such, that the teacher invited those disposed to seek salvation at
+once, to come to her room at five o'clock. Before that hour, a number
+had retired to pray for themselves. Just then, Mr. Stoddard came to the
+door of the teacher, saying, "I cannot stop; but I wanted you to know
+that four or five of my boys are much distressed for their sins." This
+was the first intimation she had of what was taking place in the other
+school; and she turned away from Mr. Stoddard to find five of her
+pupils in the same condition. Mr. Stoddard came in again, in the course
+of the evening, to pray and consult; and Mr. Stocking gave up every
+thing else to labor with the pupils in both schools. Both Dr. Perkins
+and Dr. Wright came down frequently from Seir. Every day brought out
+new cases of those who were being taught of God. Wednesday evening, at
+the conclusion of a sermon from Mr. Stocking, on the words, "Behold, I
+stand at the door and knock," no member of the Male Seminary seemed
+willing to leave his seat. After a few words of exhortation, they were
+dismissed to their rooms; but so intense were their feelings that they
+came in crowds to the teacher's study, where he preached Jesus Christ,
+and forgiveness through his blood, till near midnight; then, fatigued
+and exhausted, he retired to rest. Thursday evening, in the English
+prayer meeting, Mr. Stoddard said, "God will assuredly carry forward
+his own work. Let us give ourselves up to labor for him, in pointing
+these precious souls to Christ." After the meeting, the teachers of
+both Seminaries left to engage in that blessed work till midnight.
+Eleven years after, on the same evening, and about the same hour, one
+was called to see the other pass from earth into the presence of the
+Saviour whom he then set forth so faithfully. No wonder the survivor
+recalled it in the hush of that parting scene.
+
+It is difficult to describe the occurrences of this eventful week. The
+teachers' rooms were in such demand as closets for the pupils, that
+they could hardly command them long enough for their own devotions.
+They were ready to write "Immanuel" on every thing around them. The
+girls were very free to express their feelings, and they had such
+perfect confidence in their teacher, that often, during the revival,
+some of them woke her in the morning, standing at her bedside, with
+some inquiry about the way of life.
+
+The two schools hardly knew any thing of each other till Friday
+evening, when they met in a room fitted up for the Female Seminary the
+preceding autumn. The first time Mr. Stoddard entered it after this, he
+looked round, and said, "May this room be wholly consecrated to the
+Lord forever;" and this evening Christ seemed to take possession of it.
+The boys sat on one side, and the girls on the other; and seldom,
+perhaps, has there been a company more under the influence of things
+unseen. It seemed as though God himself spoke that evening through his
+ministering servants, and this and that one was born there and then. It
+was in the same room that that last prayer meeting of the teacher with
+her former pupils was held, July 15th, 1858. In the engraving, the two
+upper windows, immediately to the left of the small ones over the
+central door, belong to this room.
+
+At the close of the week, ten of the pupils were trusting in Christ;
+and of the next Lord's day it might truly be said, "That Sabbath was an
+high day," for the Lord was present, and many strong men bowed before
+him. Priest Eshoo had watched the boys; he had watched his own praying
+Sarah; and now he looked within. He had never been known to weep; he
+scorned such weakness; but when, at the close of the afternoon service,
+Mr. Stocking took his hand, saying, "Be sure you are on the right
+foundation," he buried his face in his handkerchief and wept aloud. Nor
+did he weep alone; Deacon Tamo, too,--whose levity all through the week
+had been a sore trial to Mr. Stoddard, so that he had asked, "Can it be
+that God has let him come here to hinder the work?"--now trembled from
+head to foot. Mr. Stoddard prayed with him, and as they rose from their
+knees, Tamo looked him in the face, and, with streaming eyes, said,
+"Thank you, thank you for caring for my soul."
+
+During the following week, most of the inmates of both Seminaries were
+deeply convinced of sin, and daily some souls seemed to come to the
+Saviour.
+
+But some things rendered it apparent that the interest was not all from
+above. One evening, fifteen or twenty boys were found rolling on the
+floor, groaning and crying for mercy. Measures were taken at once to
+prevent the repetition of such a scene, and at evening prayers Mr.
+Stocking commenced his remarks by asking if any of them had ever seen
+the Nazloo River, at Marbeeshoo, near its source. Startled by what
+seemed a very untimely question, a few answered, "Yes." "Was there much
+water in it?" Wondering what he could mean, the answer was, "No; very
+little." "Did it make much noise?" "Yes; a great deal." The catechist
+went on: "Have you seen the same river on the plain?" By this time,
+every ear was listening, and all replied, "Yes." "Was it deep and
+wide?" "Yes; it was full of water." "And was it more noisy than at
+Marbeeshoo?" "No; it was very quiet and still." The parable was now
+applied very faithfully. He said that he had hoped the Holy Spirit had
+been teaching them the evil of their hearts; but their noise and
+confusion that evening showed him that there was no depth to their
+experience. The effect was wonderful; they hung their heads and quietly
+dispersed, and from many a closet that night might have been heard the
+petition, "Lord, make me to know my heart, and let me not be like that
+noisy river." What threatened to be an uncontrollable excitement became
+at once a quiet but deep sense of guilt. Their desires were not less
+intense, but more spiritual; their consciences were very tender, and
+their feelings contrite, but subdued and gentle.
+
+In this revival, the converts had a great deal of feeling, but no
+knowledge of the mode in which such feelings find expression in
+Christian lands; and in the freshness and strength of their emotions
+they yielded to every impulse with an unconscious simplicity that was
+exceedingly interesting. If they were under conviction of sin, that
+found immediate and unrestrained utterance. If they thought they were
+forgiven, that, too, at once found expression. There was a wonderful
+transparency of spirit that revealed each varying aspect of their
+feelings, and withal a tendency to undue excitement that needed careful
+handling. Indeed, it was found necessary to watch their social meetings
+very closely, and sometimes to direct them to pray alone.
+
+For three weeks, very few visitors came to the Seminary. The time
+seemed to be given expressly for the benefit of the pupils, and it was
+like one continual Sabbath. Every corner was consecrated to prayer, and
+most of the work was direct effort for the salvation of souls. But
+after that, visitors began to come, and then the young converts became
+helpers in Christ Jesus, even the sight of their devotion turning the
+thoughts of others to spiritual things. Often ten or fifteen women
+spent the night on the premises; and at such times, all the spare
+bedding was brought into the great room, which was transformed into a
+dormitory. The teacher often staid with them till midnight, and then,
+from her own room, could hear them praying the rest of the night. In
+connection with this, one incident claims our notice. One day in
+February, a box arrived from America for the Seminary; but so engrossed
+was the teacher with more important duties, that it was midnight ere
+she could open it. Next morning, all were invited to her room, to see
+the contents. She told of the kind friends who had sent it, and the
+love of Christ, that constrained to such kindness. They were moved to
+tears, but not one rose to examine the things, and not a word was
+spoken, till the proposal was made that the quilts should be kept for
+the use of their friends who came to hear the word of God. All joyfully
+agreed to that, and then, after looking at the articles, they returned
+to pray for their benefactors.
+
+The last meetings of the school before the March vacation were called
+thanksgivings, and fitly, too, for in the two Seminaries as many as
+fifty souls had begun to love the Saviour, When they left, the
+universal cry was, "Pray for us." "Pray for us in the temptations that
+await us at home." One little girl said, "Did you ever see a new-born
+lamb cast into the snow and live? And can we live?" Thank God, most of
+the hopeful converts did live, and we trust are to live forever, with
+the good Shepherd who gave his life for their salvation.
+
+It does not fall in with the design of this volume to give a complete
+account of the revival, but we cannot leave it without a word more
+about the instrumentality of Mr. Stoddard in connection with that work
+of grace. He was abundant in preaching. He did not think that the most
+ordinary sermons are good enough for the mission field; for he knew
+that the Nestorians could discriminate as well as others nearer home,
+and so wrote out his sermons carefully in English, but in the Syriac
+idiom, noting on a blank page the books consulted in their preparation.
+He also excelled in labors for individuals. The first inquirer became
+such while Mr. Stoddard pressed home upon his conscience his guilt as a
+sinner against God; and the same is true of many others. After
+conversing with a person, he always led him to the throne of grace, and
+then had him present his own offering there; and after such a one had
+left, he seemed unable to turn his thoughts to any thing else, till
+again in private he had commended him to God. Indeed, he often began to
+do this before they descended the stairs. He kept a little book, in
+which he recorded every case, the state in which he found the person,
+and any subsequent change; and it was noticed that where he began, he
+continued to labor, not only till there was hope, but even assurance of
+hope. Such labor is as exhausting as it is delightful; and no wonder
+his strength proved less than his zeal and love.
+
+It was a great joy to him when his people could take part in prayer
+meetings. He divided the thirty converts among them into three circles,
+and met each of them twice a week: this furnished him a season of
+refreshment every day, and each of them took part at least once a week.
+They were thus early initiated into a course of Christian activity, and
+taught that they would lose much themselves, besides failing to do good
+to others, if they held back. The converts were so rooted and grounded
+in this truth, that once, when Miss Fiske was in Geog Tapa, a brother
+said to her that she must not leave the village till she had induced a
+woman to pray with her, whom they all regarded as a Christian, but who
+would not take part in their female prayer meetings; and when she
+objected to urging her, Deacon John replied, "If she was an ordinary
+Christian, we might let her pass; but her position is one of such
+prominence, that the other women will do just as she does; and so she
+must do right," Miss Fiske talked long with the delinquent, but she
+insisted that she could not do it. The missionary told of her own
+trials in the matter,--how she had staid away from meeting lest she
+should be called on, and remained unblessed till she was willing to do
+her duty. She prayed with her once and again, even a third time, before
+she consented, saying, "I will not displease God any more in this." So,
+drawing very close to her instructor, she offered two petitions for
+herself, and one that her friend might be rewarded for showing her her
+duty. Hannah was soon active in the women's meetings, and is to this
+day a most useful and consistent Christian.
+
+Another marked feature in Mr. Stoddard's labors was his tact in setting
+others to work for Christ. He taught his pupils that they must toil as
+well as pray, and soon after the first converts were brought to Christ,
+definite labor for others was assigned to them, not only among their
+schoolmates and those who visited the premises, but also in gathering
+in those not disposed to come to meeting. Once, when three fourths of
+the pupils were hopefully pious, Mr. Stoddard said, "I must bring in
+more, just to furnish work for these converts." He himself was happy in
+his work, because he gave himself wholly to it, without the least
+reservation; and amid the many trials that marked the years of his
+residence in Persia, he looked beyond them all, to Him who not only can
+give joy in suffering, but, by means of it, bring sinners to the
+Saviour.
+
+The hopeful converts in the Seminary, after spending the summer of 1846
+at their own homes, in circumstances of great trial and temptation,
+returned, all save one, not only retaining their interest in spiritual
+things, but established in Christian character. Their friends also
+testified to their thoughtfulness, prayerfulness, and cheerful
+obedience at home, and the influence of their piety was happy on others.
+
+For a while, in the autumn of 1846, the school was disbanded on account
+of the cholera. But, contrary to the fears of many, after a separation
+of two months, all were spared to meet again, though hundreds had
+fallen on all sides. Three weeks afterwards, the Christians among them
+seemed more than usually earnest in prayer for the conversion of the
+impenitent, and at once the answer came. The first one awakened was
+Moressa, now the wife of Yakob, of Supergan, and then about fourteen
+years of age. She had been taken into the family of Mrs. Grant nine
+years before, and that of Mr. Stocking afterwards. She had received
+much religious instruction, with apparently little effect; but now her
+convictions were deep, though she did not submit to Christ for nearly a
+week after she felt she was lost. Her case deeply enlisted the
+sympathies of her fellow-pupils, and soon several others passed through
+a season of deep distress, to rest in the grace of Christ.
+
+One of these was Eneya, sister of Oshana, and now the wife of Shlemon,
+in Amadia. Her widowed mother had fled with her children to Oroomiah
+before the Koordish invasion of her native Tehoma. Few children have so
+deep a sense of sin as she had, or exercise such implicit trust in the
+Saviour. At that time, her teacher wrote, "May she become a messenger
+of great good to her countrywomen;" and now, that prayer is being
+answered in her usefulness in that distant and lonely field of labor.
+Altogether there were seven who seemed at this time to take the Lord
+Jesus Christ as their God and Saviour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+FIRST FRUITS.
+
+SARAH, DAUGHTER OF PRIEST ESHOO.--MARTHA.--HANNAH.
+
+Let us now turn aside to take a nearer view of the first fruits of this
+revival. The first to ask the way to heaven, to find it, and to enter
+through the gate into the city, was Sarah, or Sarra, as the Nestorians
+pronounce it. She was born among the rude mountaineers of Gawar, in
+1831. Her father, Eshoo, then a deacon, regarded her at first with the
+aversion Nestorian fathers usually felt towards their daughters; but
+her strong attachment to him while yet a child, so won his heart, that
+when the Koords overran Gawar, in 1835, and the family fled from their
+smouldering village, he was willing to be seen carrying her on his
+back, in the same way that his wife bore her younger sister. The family
+stopped for a time at Degala, and subsisted by begging from door to
+door, lodging at night in a stable. The fine intellect of the
+self-taught father soon brought him to the notice of the missionaries;
+and one day Mrs. Grant, then just about securing her long-cherished
+desire of a school for girls, asked him, in her winning way, "Have you
+any daughters? and will you not send them to our little school?" The
+inquiry revived a wish that he had felt while yet in Gawar, that his
+daughter should learn to read; and in the spring of 1841, when he moved
+from Degala to the city, he sent her to the mission school. She had
+just entered her tenth year--a tall, slender, dark-eyed girl, even then
+giving indications of her early death, and though often a great
+sufferer, she applied herself so diligently to study, that she soon
+became, as she ever continued to be, the best scholar in the school.
+
+The ancient Syriac Bible was the principal text book; and she so far
+mastered that language as to acquire a knowledge of Scripture rarely
+attained in any land by a child of her years. She was the walking
+concordance of the school; and her knowledge of the doctrines of the
+Bible was even more remarkable. Under the teaching of Mrs. Harriet
+Stoddard, she had also learned to sing sweetly our sacred music. Still,
+with all her acquirements, she was destitute of grace; and her
+declining health led her teacher to feel much anxiety for her salvation.
+
+On the first Monday in 1846, she said to Sanum, one of her schoolmates,
+who, she knew, was thoughtful, "Sister, we ought to turn to God. Shall
+we ever find a better time than when so many are praying for us?" They
+together resolved to spend the day in seeking salvation; and the manner
+in which they made known this purpose to their teacher, and carried it
+out, has been already related. (See p. 116). From that day, she never
+seemed to waver. As soon as she found peace for herself, she sought to
+make others acquainted with her Saviour; not forgetting, however, that
+prayer of the Psalmist, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me,
+and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me
+in the way everlasting." Feeble as she was, she never shrank from
+labor. Hours every day were spent in her closet, and the rest of her
+time was sacredly used for Christ. She had much to do with the
+conversion of the twenty schoolmates whom she was permitted to see in
+Christ before she went home; and she did much for the women who came to
+the Seminary. Her teacher never knew a young person more anxious to
+save souls. Both pupils and visitors loved to have Sarah tell them the
+way. They said, "We can see it when she tells us." No wonder they saw
+it, for she seemed to look on it all the time. Her teacher depended
+much on her, and yet often remonstrated with her for such incessant
+labors. Still she felt that she must be about her Father's business
+while the day lasted. Her desires for the salvation of her father
+seemed to commence with her anxiety for herself; and his feelings were
+soon so tender that he could not answer an inquiry about his own state
+without tears. Sarah was the first to know that he had found peace. His
+first religious intercourse with her was to tell her that he had found
+Jesus. He had known that she was thoughtful, but was not prepared to
+find her so full of humble hope and holy joy. Next day, when urged by a
+missionary to labor for the salvation of his family, he replied, "Sarah
+knows the way to heaven better than I do. She can teach me far better
+than I could her." Their previous strong attachment now ripened into
+Christian love. He never felt that his daily bread had been given him,
+if he had not knelt with her in prayer, and his heart been lifted up by
+her petitions as well as his own. Her mother at first scoffed; but soon
+she, too, sought the Saviour; and her younger daughter, whose evil ways
+for a time tried Sarah sorely, was also afterwards brought into the
+kingdom.
+
+Mr. Stocking used to call her "the best theologian among the
+Nestorians," and often said, "If I want to write a good sermon, I like
+to sit down first and talk with Sarah, and then be sure that she is
+praying for me."
+
+Her attachment to the means of grace was strong. She went to every
+meeting, even after she could not reach the chapel without help. Her
+emaciated form, her hollow cough, her eye bright with unnatural lustre,
+all told that she was passing away, but, combined with her sweet
+singing and heavenly spirit, led her companions sometimes to whisper,
+as she took her seat in the chapel, "Have we not an Elizabeth
+Wallbridge among us?"--"The Dairyman's Daughter," in Syriac, had just
+then issued from the press, and was a great favorite with the
+Nestorians.
+
+As early as March, it was seen that she must die. Still she clung to
+the school, and not for nought. She had a mission to fulfil, and her
+Saviour strengthened her for the work to which he called her. As yet,
+none of the pious Nestorians had finished their course. With the
+converts, victory over death was something heard of, but never
+witnessed; and Sarah was chosen to show them "in what peace a Christian
+can die." Perhaps the last days of no young disciple were ever watched
+with more eager interest. "Will Christ sustain us to the last? Will he
+be with us through the dark valley? Will he come for us and receive us
+to himself, as he promised?" These were to them momentous questions;
+and they stood ready to answer them according as the Lord supported
+her. Ever since her death they have looked upon the last change from a
+new point of view. But we must not anticipate.
+
+The five months between her conversion and her decease were very
+precious to all who knew her. She sometimes sat with her teacher and
+talked an hour at a time on the home of the blessed. She seemed to look
+in upon its glories, and share its gladness; and then her thoughts
+turned to the perishing around her, saying, "I would labor a little
+longer for them, if it is my Father's will." The young converts whom
+she had taught could not bear the thought of her leaving them; but they
+sought to stay an angel in his course. The dross had been consumed, and
+the spirit was made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.
+
+[Illustration: Courtyard of the Female Seminary]
+
+About the middle of May, it was felt that she must go home to her
+father, whose house was near the Seminary. It was a beautiful day in a
+Persian summer. The morning exercises were closed. When her teacher
+told her what they thought, she replied in a whisper, "I think I had
+better go, but I want to be alone a little before I leave not to
+return." With weary step she sought the closet where first she found
+her Saviour: it was occupied. Perhaps He saw she might think more of
+the place than was meet; so she spent an hour in another room, and then
+returned, saying, "I am ready to go now." She went supported by a
+schoolmate on either side: stopping in the court, she turned to take a
+last look of the dear home where she had learned of Jesus, and,
+plucking some of the roses that bloomed by her side, passed on. On the
+preceding page that court is represented, as seen from the adjoining
+one. She suffered intensely for a few days. Her disease forbade her
+lying down, even at night. But still not a day passed that she did not
+gather some women about her, and point them to Jesus. Her teacher
+visited her frequently, and often found her with her Bible open, and
+several women around her bed, to whom she was explaining it. The
+praying pupils, too, often knelt with her at the accustomed throne of
+grace.
+
+One Saturday in June, her father was asked if he could go to
+Tergawer--twenty-five miles distant--and preach. His reply was, "I will
+see what Sarah says." She said, "Go, father, and I will pray for you."
+Sabbath morning came, and her teacher saw that Sarah was almost home:
+she told her so, and once more committed the dear pupil to the Saviour
+who stood by. She had to return to her duties in school, but first said
+to her mother, "Send for me when the Master calls for her, for, if I
+cannot go over Jordan with her, I would at least accompany her to the
+swelling stream." In the afternoon her sufferings became intense; and
+losing herself for a moment, she said, "Call my father." They told her
+where he was. "O, yes, I remember. Don't call him. Let him preach; I
+can die alone." She then said, "Call Miss Fiske;" and her sister
+started to go. But the dying one remembered that it was the hour for
+prayer meeting, and beckoned her to return, saying, "She is in meeting
+now, with my companions. Don't call her; I can die alone." Perhaps,
+with that teacher present, her eyes had not so clearly discerned the
+Lord Jesus. Her sufferings were now so great, she hardly spoke for an
+hour. Then she said, in a clear voice, "Mother, raise me, that I may
+commit my spirit;" for she would never approach her Saviour but on her
+knees. Supported, as she had been hundreds of times before, by that
+mother's strong arms, and in the attitude of prayer, she said, "Lord
+Jesus, receive--" And there she stopped: prayer had ended. Instead of
+the closing words of the earthly petition was the opening of the new
+song in heaven. The Saviour did not wait for the close of her petition
+before he answered it. The teacher had just sat down with her pupils
+when the door opened, and a messenger said "Sarah is asleep!" "Yes,"
+thought she, gratefully, "till Jesus shall say, 'Awake!'" According to
+Eastern custom, Sarah was buried that same evening (June 13th), and the
+whole school followed her to the grave, which was close to that of Mrs.
+Grant. The first fruit of the school appropriately lies by the side of
+her who planted that tree in the garden of the Lord, At the funeral her
+teacher was just thinking that Sarah could help her no more, that her
+prayers and labors were forever ended, when she looked up, and her eye
+rested on the evening star looking down upon the grave. It was a
+pleasant thought that she, too, was a star in glory. She was glad that
+the first to love Christ was the first to go to be with him, and still
+loves to think, of her as waiting for those who used to pray with her
+on earth. The Christian life of Sarah was short; but she did much, for
+she taught her people how
+
+  "Jesus can make a dying bed
+   Feel soft as downy pillows are."[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: For additional foots about Sarah, see Nestorian Biography,
+pp. 25-40.]
+
+After Sarah, like Stephen among the early disciples, had led the way
+into the presence of her Saviour, Blind Martha was the next to follow.
+
+She was constrained by sickness to leave the school early in the spring
+of 1847, and go home to her parents in Geog Tapa. Though six miles
+distant, her schoolmates loved to walk out there to comfort her. They
+prized no recreation so much as the privilege of going to see her. They
+read and talked with her about her favorite portions of Scripture,
+prayed with her, and were never allowed to leave without singing
+"Jerusalem, my happy home." At such times, one of them said, "Her
+countenance always showed that her spirit was walking the golden
+streets." When asked about her health, she uniformly replied, "The Lord
+helps me;" and when urged to speak more particularly, would say, "Dear
+sisters, the Lord helps me, and that is enough." When, after five or
+six of them had prayed in succession, she was asked if she was not
+wearied, she would reply, "I know that I am weak, but prayer never
+tires me." So great a privilege was it deemed to be with her, that one
+morning, when a pious member of the Seminary at Seir was called to
+leave the village early, he said, "I cannot go till I have prayed with
+Blind Martha, and got from her manna for the road."
+
+Her companions desired very much to be present when she went home; but
+this was not permitted. One morning in June, she said, at early dawn,
+"Mother, the day breaks; I think Jesus is coming for me now; let me
+go." But seeing no change in her appearance, her mother lay down again,
+and, when next she woke, found that Jesus had come, and taken her to be
+with him in his home above. What was that vision of the glory of
+Immanuel that prompted the cry, "Mother, the day breaks!" from one who
+never remembered to have seen the light? She became blind in infancy. A
+smile remained on her pale face; and well might the sight of Him who
+said, "If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and
+receive you unto myself," leave such a memento of the bliss.
+
+Little Hannah, the youngest member of the school, was suddenly called
+home the following September, when only eleven years of age. When she
+first came to Christ, her teacher was awakened one morning by her
+asking at the bedside, "Is it wrong to wish to die?" "But why do you
+want to die?" "That I may go and stay with Jesus, and never sin again."
+This desire never left her. Once she said, with tears, "It seems as if
+I cannot wait so long to go to my Saviour;" and at another time, "I
+fear that I have sinned in not being willing to wait till Jesus calls
+me." Before leaving for vacation, each pupil put up her own things in a
+bundle, to be laid away till her return. As Hannah was at work on hers,
+she said to a girl near her, "Perhaps you will open this. I do not
+think that I ever shall. When you come together in the autumn, I trust
+that I shall be in the Saviour's school above." So strong was the
+desire awakened in her by Him who intended soon to gratify it.
+
+While the cholera raged around her in August, she frequently said,
+"This may be my time to go to my dear Saviour;" and repeated it to her
+mother on the last morning of her life, but went out as usual to her
+work in the vineyard. About noon she became unwell, and said to a
+companion, "I am sick; perhaps I shall die soon." "Are you willing?"
+"O, yes, I am not afraid to go to Jesus." The disease made rapid
+progress, and again she said, "I am very sick; I shall die soon: shall
+we not pray together?" Her young friend led in prayer, and then called
+on her to follow; but her time for prayer was almost finished. She
+could just say, "Bless my dear sister; take me gently through the dark
+river;" when she sunk exhausted, and was carried to the house. A mother
+bent over an only daughter, and three loving brothers over an only
+sister; but they could not keep her back from Jesus. She sent for her
+companions, and they hastened to her bedside. She called for her
+Testament; but her eyesight was failing her, and she returned it,
+saying, "I can never use it more; but read it more prayerfully, and
+love the Saviour more than I have done." She lingered through the
+night, and rose with the dawn to her long-desired rest in the presence
+of her Redeemer.
+
+It Is remarkable that three timid girls should have been chosen to lead
+the advance of a great multitude of Nestorians through the dark valley
+into the light beyond. No member of the Boy's Seminary died till three
+years afterwards; and only two others of this before 1858--a period of
+eleven years; but Infinite Wisdom chose, through such weak and timorous
+ones, to glorify the power of Christ to bear his people through the
+last conflict into everlasting rest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+SUBSEQUENT REVIVALS
+
+DEACON JOHN STUDYING BACKSLIDING IN 1849--WORK IN VILLAGE OF
+SEIR--WIVES OF SIYAD AND YONAN--KHANUMJAN--WOMEN AT THE SEMINARY--GEOG
+TAPA--DEGALA--A PENITENT--SIN OF ANGER--REVIVAL IN 1856--MISS FISKE
+ENCOURAGED--STILLNESS AND DEEP FEELING--UNABLE TO SING--CONVERSION OF
+MISSIONARY CHILDREN--VISIT OF ENGLISH AMBASSADOR--REVIVAL OF
+1857--LETTER OF SANUM
+
+The first indication of a work of grace in 1849 was seen in the unusual
+seriousness of Deacon John. He had been reading Pike's Guide to Young
+Disciples, and the chapter on backsliding moved him deeply. For a long
+time, he went mourning his departure from God. One day he was reading
+aloud in the Seminary, when a missionary came in, and wondering to see
+him there, asked what he was doing. He replied, "I am studying
+backsliding; and O, sir, I love it very much;" meaning to say that he
+loved to study the way back to the enjoyment of God. This state of mind
+was followed by earnest effort for the salvation of others, and the
+hopefully pious first passed through a season of deep heart-searching
+and renewed consecration to God. Under an awful sense of the violation
+of covenant vows, for many days some of them did nothing but weep and
+pray. "How unfaithful have I been to my Saviour and to immortal souls!"
+was the cry on all sides. One whose Bible was found blotted with tears,
+had been converted in 1846, and her grief was on account of her
+unfaithfulness as a follower of Christ. Having thus wept bitterly
+herself, she was well fitted to lead others to the God of all comfort.
+Her labors were unwearied, both in and out of school. Indeed, the
+mission was now so reduced in numbers, that much of the work in this
+revival was performed by the Nestorians, and they proved themselves
+very efficient. Naturally ardent, they preached Christ and him
+crucified with a zeal and faithfulness rarely witnessed in our own
+land; but their ardor needed careful guiding, for some were, at one
+time, entirely prostrated by excessive labor.
+
+The pupils of the Seminary, during a short vacation, seemed like angels
+of mercy to their families and friends. In Geog Tapa, their meetings
+for women every evening had an attendance varying from thirty to one
+hundred. Many of these were glad to learn the way of salvation, even
+from children. Besides this, the older pupils, under the guidance of an
+experienced native helper, spent much time in personal conversation and
+prayer with their own sex, as did the members of the other Seminary
+with the men.
+
+In the village of Seir, the work was very general. In addition to the
+labors of the pious students in the Male Seminary there, Sanum and
+Moressa labored from house to house among the women. But hear their own
+account of what they did, in a letter to Miss Lovell's school at
+Constantinople;--
+
+"What shall we tell you, beloved, of the great love God has shown to
+our school and people? For two months we have had such delightful days
+as we never saw in our lives before. The work of the Lord has also
+commenced in the villages, and in many there is great inquiry for the
+way of life. The servants of God are so full of zealous love, that they
+preach till their strength and voice give way. But again they go on to
+preach, for the harvest is great, and the laborers few. How should we,
+with burning hearts, beg the Lord of the harvest to send forth
+laborers! Can we bear, dear sisters, to see the deadly wings of Satan's
+kingdom spread out and destroy those bought by the precious blood of
+Christ? Ought we not rather to wrestle like Jacob till we see the
+loving wings of the kingdom of the Saviour spread out, and impart life
+to wounded souls on every side? We hope that your waiting eyes may see
+greater wonders among your own people than we do here.
+
+"Now we will tell you about the little village of Seir, which contains
+nineteen houses. God has visited every house; and because the women
+were much awakened, and had no teacher, the missionaries sent two of us
+there, not because we were fit for such a work,--for we are deficient
+in Godly knowledge, and every qualification,--but because God sometimes
+chooses the ignorant and weak to do him service. And what shall we tell
+you of the wonders God showed us among those poor women? There was no
+time in which they did not cry, with tears, 'What shall we do?' 'Woe
+unto us!' 'We are lost!' When we asked them to pray in meetings, they
+prayed as if taught of God. We wondered at them very much. In one
+house, we found a woman beating her head with both hands, crying, 'O my
+sins! They are so great! There is no pardon!' We tried to reason with
+her; but if we took her hands from her head, she beat her breast. She
+said, 'You told me, when you prayed with me the other day, to go to
+Christ; but he will not receive me, I am such a sinner.' With
+difficulty we quieted her, and told of the great mercy of the Son of
+David. We prayed with each woman of the village alone, and they with
+us, fervently and in tears.
+
+"In one instance, we heard an old man praying earnestly in the stable,
+and his wife in the house. We waited till they had finished, before we
+went in, and there we found an old man, perhaps ninety years old, and
+his wife, also very aged. We spoke with them of the lowly Redeemer, and
+how he was ready to dwell with them, poor as they were. The tears
+rolled down their wrinkled faces, and made our own hearts burn within
+us. The old man prayed with us as if Christ stood right before him, and
+we prayed with them both.
+
+"There were meetings several times a day, and when they closed, the
+voice of prayer might be heard on all sides, in the houses and stables.
+Every family now has morning and evening worship."
+
+In this revival, the native helpers were very much interested for the
+salvation of their unconverted wives. The families of Siyad and Yonan
+live in Geog Tapa, and their first visits home were blessed to the
+conviction of their companions, who soon came to the school, begging to
+be allowed to stay and learn the way of life. Of course, they were not
+refused. The wife of Siyad had been a frequent visitor there, but such
+an opposer of religion, that her coming was always dreaded; but now how
+changed! Day by day her convictions deepened, till they were
+overwhelming. Tears were her meat, and prayer her employment, day and
+night, till, as she said, "The Saviour found her," and she was at rest.
+Three children and a daughter-in-law joined her in believing, and it
+was delightful to see the family, not long after, each in his or her
+turn, calling on the name of the Lord in one of the rooms of the
+Seminary.
+
+Yonan, the junior teacher of the school, had been married by force two
+years before, by his wicked father; that, too, when his heart was fixed
+on another, every way fitted to be his companion. It was a severe
+trial; but grace triumphed, and his great desire, seemed to be the
+conversion of the wife thus forced upon him. At midnight, he was often
+heard interceding for her, and, in the early part of the revival, the
+answer came. Miss Fiske will never forget the time when, in an
+adjoining room, she heard her for the first time praying with her
+husband. It gave her a new insight into the meaning of that scripture,
+"They believed not for joy." The new convert was very active among the
+women in her village; and when her father-in-law forbade social prayer
+in his house, she took her little company at sunset behind the village
+church, where even the bleak winds of February did not chill their
+devotions.
+
+Khanumjan, the aged mother of John, though past threescore and ten,
+entered into the work with a zeal that might put to shame many younger
+women in our own land. She toiled to bring the more aged women right to
+the cross, taking them one by one into her own closet, that then and
+there they might accept the Saviour. Though herself unable to read, she
+did much for the preachers who went out to the villages, providing food
+for them on their return, and exhorting them to courage and
+faithfulness. No wonder she said to a visitor, "Three years ago, I saw
+Christ in heaven, and I have seen him there ever since; but now he sits
+by my side all day long." When she died, she said, over and over again,
+"I am going after Jesus."
+
+In this revival, the encouragement to labor for woman was greater than
+ever before. After the middle of January, the Seminary was almost
+constantly thronged with inquirers. Day and night, it was consecrated
+by the prayers and tears of women seeking their Saviour. On Friday, and
+on the Sabbath, many from the neighboring villages spent the time there
+between services. The room was filled with them; and even while they
+ate, they must have some one speaking to them of Jesus. Those who did
+so, often spoke with such tenderness as showed that Christ himself was
+very near. Sometimes the women could not eat any thing but the bread of
+life. At times, the anguish of some for sin was so overpowering, that
+the question, "Can a woman forget her sucking child?" might almost have
+been answered in the affirmative. In some instances, the scenes that
+took place were too much for frail nature to bear, and the laborers
+were ready to ask to be clothed upon with immortality while the Lord
+passed by. Those who spent the night in the Seminary slept in the large
+room on the lower floor, between the central door and that on the left,
+in the engraving; and occasionally the sound of their weeping and
+praying banished sleep from the rooms above them. Yet such hinderance
+to rest brought a refreshment all its own.
+
+In Geog Tapa, the village ruler was found sitting at the feet of Jesus,
+and going with the preachers from place to place, to give greater
+weight to their words; and twenty-five young men, though they could not
+read, yet did what they could with untiring zeal.
+
+There was an interesting work in Degala, so noted for vice that it was
+called the Sodom of the Nestorians. The first converted there was a
+young man employed in the Seminary. He passed through a severe mental
+conflict before his proud heart yielded; but when it did, he became a
+living sacrifice to God. One day he came to the teachers, saying, "I
+have a petition to make; will you receive it?" Supposing it to be some
+pecuniary matter, they replied, "Tell us what it is." He at once burst
+into tears, and covering his face with his garment, said, "My village
+is lost; my family is perishing, and their blood is on my neck; let me
+go to-night and beg forgiveness for my wicked example, and urge them to
+flee from the wrath to come." He obtained his request, and left,
+sobbing aloud. Next morning, he brought his wife and two other women to
+be instructed. About a week after, Deacon Tamo found in the village
+several inquirers, and one woman in agony on account of her sins. She
+had been notorious for wickedness, and so vile as hardly to find one
+who would associate with her, though now one of the most lovely
+Christians in any land. The next day, she came to the Seminary, and as
+soon as Miss Fiske sat down beside her, she threw herself into her lap,
+crying, "Do tell me what to do, or where to go, to get rid of my sins."
+She was pointed to the Lamb of God, and one moment her feet seemed to
+rest on the Rock of Ages, and the next a fresh wave of conviction swept
+her into the raging sea. So she vibrated between life and death. She
+was asked to pray. In all her life she had not probably heard ten
+prayers; but her strong crying and tears showed that the Holy Spirit
+was her teacher, and the helper of her infirmities. She had learned to
+pray where her Saviour found a cradle--in the manger--cast out and
+derided by her friends.
+
+She was first awakened in the Seminary; for one day, as soon as she
+entered the door, a pupil, then under deep conviction herself, and to
+whom she was an entire stranger, seized her hand, saying, "My sister,
+my sister, what are you doing? We are all lost. We must repent, or
+perish." These words she could not forget, and from that hour sought
+until she found her Saviour, and then bore ill treatment with such
+meekness as won others also to Christ.
+
+The desire of the converts for instruction was most affecting. One of
+them wept bitterly when asked if she was willing to forsake every sin,
+saying, "What shall I do? I have one sin so strong that I fear I cannot
+leave it off." "What is it?" "I cannot live without these words of God.
+My husband will not let me go to hear them, and anger sometimes rises
+in my heart at this. Tell me what to do with this sin."
+
+An account of the revival in 1850 will be given in the chapter on the
+prayerfulness of the Nestorians. After this were instances of
+conversion each year, but not so marked, or so general, as in 1849. So
+we pass over the intervening time to dwell a moment on the revival of
+1856. That year, the pupils were very studious, and kind in their
+feelings towards each other and their teachers; but the winter was
+nearly over before any additions were made to the now diminished number
+of believers. The teachers mourned; still the heavens were brass, and
+the earth iron. Christians were lukewarm, and none seemed to have power
+with God.
+
+Miss Fiske returned from the English prayer meeting Sabbath evening,
+February 18th, in that desponding state that sometimes follows intense
+and protracted desire, when its object is not attained. At such times,
+the sensibilities seem paralyzed, and emotion dies of sheer exhaustion.
+The pupils had retired; so also had Miss Rice; and she was left alone.
+Her thoughts brooded over the state of her charge, but she had no
+strength to rise and carry those precious souls to Christ. She could
+not sleep, and yet so shrunk from the duties of the morrow, that she
+longed for a lengthening out of the night, rather than the approach of
+dawn. Eleven o'clock struck, and there was a knock at the door. Could
+she open it? Must she see another face that night? She did open it, and
+there stood one of her pupils, not so without feeling as her fainting
+heart had imagined. Struck by the languor of her teacher's looks, she
+inquired tenderly, "Are you very tired?" "No, not very; why do you
+ask?" "I cannot sleep; our school has been resting on me all day, and I
+thought perhaps you would help me to pray." The spell was broken; the
+dry fountain of feeling gushed out afresh, and, with a full heart, she
+said, "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord." As an angel from heaven,
+that dear pupil strengthened her teacher that night, and together they
+carried the whole household to Jesus. When at length she retired, all
+was sweetly left with Christ, and he whispered peace. She could sleep
+now, and when morning came there was still peace. "Could ye not watch
+with me one hour?" was the word spoken to her as she arose; and hardly
+had she repeated it at morning prayers, before three, in different
+parts of the room, were weeping. She said little, for she felt it safer
+to go and tell Jesus their wants and their unworthiness. All day, the
+feeling in the school was subdued and tender. No one asked, "What shall
+I do to be saved?" but there was quiet at the table, and quiet in the
+rooms. The work was done willingly and well, but in silence, and the
+voice of prayer in the closets was gentle. Tuesday passed in almost
+perfect stillness. No one said even, "Pray for me." Towards evening,
+Miss Fiske said, "If there is one who wants first of all to attend to
+her eternal interests, I would like to see her at half past eight
+o'clock." At that hour, her door opened, and one entered alone; then
+another and another, each alone, till the room was full. She closed the
+door, but still they came. What were her feelings when she looked round
+on twenty-three, sitting with their heads bowed down in silence? She
+said little, for she felt that they wanted to hear God, rather than
+man, and the parable of the prodigal son that evening seemed to come
+fresh from the lips of Jesus.
+
+Next day, each lesson was recited in its season, and recited well; but
+tears blurred many a page, and at recess not a few went to be alone
+with God. At eleven o'clock, Mr. Perkins came in as usual to sing with
+them, "Bartimeus" was the first hymn. All began it; but some voices
+faltered on the first stanza, more on the second, and soon the leader's
+voice was heard alone. He took up the Bible lying on the desk, and
+saying, "Perhaps some wanderer would like now to arise and go to her
+heavenly Father," he too read the portion of the night before, and led
+in prayer. The teachers had to lengthen the intermission at noon,
+because they could not bear to summon the pupils so early from their
+closets.
+
+The mission met that afternoon in the Seminary. Mr. Stoddard came down
+from Seir covered with snow, saying, in his pleasant way, as he opened
+the door, "We have snowed down this time;" but when he learned the
+state of things, he said, very tenderly, "You must have thought my
+speech untimely; I did not know God was so near; but my heart is with
+you, and I hope we both shall have a large blessing." That meeting was
+almost all prayer, and the weeks that followed it witnessed a work
+silent but deep. It was characterized by humble contrition, and much
+simple dependence on Christ. Most of those twenty-three, before the
+close of the term, were hoping in his mercy.
+
+Three missionary children were among the converts in this revival, and
+their conversion did much good to the Nestorians; for, though they had
+felt their own need of regeneration, they were in doubt about the
+children of pious parents; but when they saw the children of
+missionaries weep over sin, and come as lost sinners to the Saviour,
+they understood as never before that the entrance into the kingdom was
+the same for all.
+
+At this time, the English ambassador passed through Oroomiah; and
+though, when he and his suite visited the Seminary, there was some
+apprehension felt as to the effect it might have on the religious
+interests of the pupils, they not only did themselves credit, in the
+examination he made of the school, but returned from the interview with
+their relish for spiritual things undiminished. Indeed, the event,
+which ordinarily would have been more than a nine days' wonder, caused
+scarce a ripple on the deep current of spiritual emotion.
+
+The Seminary was again blessed in 1857, and the year following Miss
+Fiske returned from Seir after the funeral of Harriet Stoddard to
+welcome several who had entered the fold of the good Shepherd during
+her absence.
+
+The labors of Miss Rice, who had charge of the school (while she was
+away,) have also been blessed in each of the four succeeding years.
+During that time, eighteen of the pupils have been received to the
+communion. The revival in the winter of 1861-62 was, however, more
+interesting and extensive.
+
+At one meeting in the Male Seminary, the young men burst into tears
+while singing the hymn, "Alas, and did my Saviour bleed?" and soon
+after, in the Saturday evening meeting, Miss Rice's whole school were
+bowed in earnest prayer, and did not move for some time when requested
+by her to retire for private devotion. On this occasion, Mr. Cobb
+writes, "It was my privilege to speak a word to them, and I can truly
+say that I never saw such a scene before, as, with heads bowed down on
+their desks, unable wholly to repress their sobs, they listened, and
+again engaged in prayer." Even then, it was only after repeated
+requests that they went to their own rooms, where many continued their
+supplications far into the night.
+
+The interesting scenes of these awakenings are thus gratefully recalled
+by Sanum, a convert of the first revival, in a letter dated Salmas,
+June 6th, 1859:--
+
+Beloved Teacher, Miss Fiske: I received your priceless letter with many
+tears of joy, and when I read your loving, motherly counsels, my heart
+was full; it was drawn to you with inexpressible love; and when you
+reminded me of those blessed revivals, my eyes were darkened with
+floods of tears, so that, for a time, I could not read. How can I ever
+forget the first night that you met me, after the Lord had touched my
+heart, in that blessed room? or how many times you took me by the hand,
+and led me to the throne of grace? Often I was in the dark, and the
+Lord, through you, was pleased to give me rest. Can I ever forget, when
+the hand of the Lord rested on me in the death of my dear children,[1]
+how many times you came as an angel of peace to wipe away my tears?
+Shall I ever forget the Lord's coming among us by the still rain of the
+Holy Spirit? or those meetings of the sisters for prayer? or those
+tearful pleadings in the closets? Can I ever forget the fervent
+supplications and preaching of blessed Mr. Stocking, and how he begged
+us to flee from the wrath to come? If I forget these, let my right hand
+forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.
+[Footnote 1: Page 185]
+
+It is a year, my beloved, since I have been able to go to Oroomiah. I
+have sorrowed greatly to be cut off so long from the supper of our
+Lord, and them that meet around his table. Perhaps it is because I am
+not worthy of the blessing. The Lord mercifully grant that I be not cut
+off from the heavenly supper of the Lamb.
+
+Our work here is much as before. I grieve to say that there are few
+with whom I can pray, and in the few cases where I can do so, it must
+be done as by stealth. But there are those with whom I can talk. Hoimer
+and I have a meeting for the women every Sabbath, and on other days.
+Every Tuesday, Hoimer, Raheel, and I have a little meeting together,
+and it is very pleasant, but will be more so when the Lord shall
+increase our number. O that we longing ones might see that day, and our
+troubled hearts rejoice!
+
+During the nineteen years since the Seminary was established, it has
+enjoyed, in all, twelve revivals; and though it is not desirable to
+count up the results of human labors, it is due to the praise of divine
+grace to record, that out of those who have been connected with it, as
+many as two thirds have, in the judgment of charity, been created anew
+in Christ Jesus.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+DARK DAYS.
+
+SEMINARY BROKEN UP IN 1844.--DEACON ISAAC.--PERSECUTION BY MAR
+SHIMON.--FUNERAL OF DAUGHTER OF PRIEST ESHCO.--DEACON
+GUWERGIS.--ATTEMPT AT ABDUCTION OF PUPIL.--PERIL OF SCHOOL.--MRS.
+HARRIET STODDAR.--YAHYA KHAN.--ANARCHY.--LETTER FROM BABILO.
+
+The Nestorian mission has encountered less opposition than other
+missions in Western Asia. Yet here, also, they who would live godly in
+Christ Jesus have suffered persecution. On June 19th, 1844, the
+brothers of Mar Shimon issued this order: "Be it known to you all, ye
+readers at Seir, that if ye do not come to us tomorrow, we will
+excommunicate you from our most holy church; your finger nails shall be
+torn out; we will hunt you from village to village, and kill you if we
+can." Miss Fiske was spending the summer there with her pupils, and it
+was not deemed best to provoke further trouble by retaining them. When
+told of this, they all wept aloud. Nor did they weep alone. Their
+teacher, and the family of Mr. Stocking, in which they lived, could not
+restrain their tears. It seemed as if the girls would never tear
+themselves away from their teacher; and when at length they departed,
+again and again the lamentation arose, "We shall never hear the word of
+God again." Miss Fiske laid them at the feet of Jesus, trusting that he
+would bring them back to her, and others with them. A German Jew, who
+was present, said in his broken English, "I have seen much bad to
+missionaries in other countries, but nothing bad like this, to take
+little children from words of Jesus Christ."
+
+Even Deacon Isaac, a brother of Mar Shimon, who was prominent in the
+act, was ashamed of it. On a visit to the school, eight years
+afterwards, he asked leave to speak to the pupils, and said, "My young
+friends, I want you to do all you can to help your teachers, for I once
+troubled Miss Fiske, and it has made my life bitter ever since." Here
+the good man broke down, and there was not a dry eye among his hearers;
+while he added, "I have vowed before God that I will do all that I can
+to help her as long as I live." And all who know him can testify that
+he has kept his word, ever since his conversion in 1849. When he first
+began to be thoughtful, he heard that one of the pupils was in the
+habit of praying for him. He sent for her, and insisted on her praying
+with him; and though he was the most intelligent of the Nestorians, and
+possessed of rare force of character, and Sarah was more noted for
+devotion, than for her mental powers, yet he learned from her in a most
+childlike spirit; and that scripture which says, "A little child shall
+lead them," found in this case a beautiful illustration.
+
+He has been occasionally employed in the school, and always proved a
+very useful and acceptable teacher. When he bade Miss Fiske good-bye,
+in 1858, he said, "You may rest assured that I will do all I can for
+the women till you come back;" and the next Sabbath found him teaching
+a class of adult females. In our favored land, the grace of God has
+made it nothing strange for the governor of a state to be a teacher in
+the Sabbath school; but one who has not lived in Persia can form no
+idea of what it is for a brother of Mar Shimon to teach a class of
+women. He has great skill in bringing out the meaning of Scripture, and
+is every where exceedingly acceptable as a Bible teacher. Along with
+unfeigned piety, he has more real refinement than any of his
+countrymen, and few Nestorians can show kindness with such true
+delicacy of feeling.
+
+The health of Miss Fiske was so impaired in the spring of 1848, that
+she reluctantly yielded to the advice of the mission, and went with Mr.
+Stocking to Erzroom, to meet Mr. Cochran and family, then on their way
+to Persia. When they returned, they found Mr. Stoddard's health so
+seriously affected by long-continued over-exertion, that he only
+awaited their arrival to leave for Trebizond. Little did they dream
+that it was Mrs. Stoddard's last farewell to the scene of her labors.
+
+Nor was this all. The patriarch Mar Shimon, who had long worn the guise
+of friendship, now threw off the mask. He broke up schools in small and
+distant villages, and secured the beating of a man by the governor on
+the charge of apostasy. The Female Seminary was honored with his
+special anathema. "Has Miss Fiske taught you this?" was his frequent
+demand of those who fell into his hands, followed by such reviling as
+only an Oriental could pour forth.
+
+On the morning of July 28th, the infant daughter of Priest Eshoo, named
+Sarah, after her sainted sister, lay on her death bed; and to punish
+her father for his preaching, Mar Shimon forbade her burial in the
+Nestorian graveyard. He collected a mob ready to do his bidding as soon
+as she should die; but she lingered on, and so disappointed him for
+that day. Next day she died, and at once he anathematized all who
+should assist in her burial. A pious carpenter, however, forced his way
+through the mob, and made her coffin. He remained steadfast throughout
+the storm, replying to every dissuasion of his friends, "I must go
+forward, even to the shedding of my blood."
+
+The missionaries appealed to a former governor, who owned that part of
+the city, for leave to bury in the cemetery used by the Nestorians from
+time immemorial; but the patriarch paid no attention to his messages,
+and the child remained unburied. Miss Fiske wrote, "As we look out on
+this troubled sea, and sympathize with these afflicted parents, we love
+to look up and think of the dear child as sweetly resting on the bosom
+of the Saviour. May the Sabbath bring us a foretaste of heavenly rest."
+But it found them still "where storms arise and ocean rolls." The
+governor sent men to demand the digging of a grave, which the mob would
+not allow. Meanwhile, the profligate Mar Gabriel craftily suggested
+that a promise from the priest not to preach any more, might end the
+trouble. "Never," was the prompt reply. "Let my dead remain unburied,
+but I will not go back from the service of the Lord." This so enraged
+the patriarch, that, for the sake of peace, the governor advised to
+bury the body in one of the villages. The sorrowing parents then locked
+their house, and leaving their babe alone in its slumbers, went to the
+chapel. There they found comfort from a sermon on the text, "Through
+much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God." About twenty
+men returned with them to the house. Then one bearing the little coffin
+went before; the rest followed, singing the forty-sixth Psalm. Even
+Moslems gazed with wonder, as they passed close by the door of the
+patriarch, and went out of the city gate. The engraving (page 154)
+gives a very good representation of this gate. On the green hill-side
+at Seir the little one was laid to rest, and the father, thanking the
+company for their kindness, hastened them back, to be in time for the
+afternoon service.
+
+In the mean time, Mar Shimon sent far and near, forbidding all
+intercourse with the missionaries. At Geog Tapa, in the absence of the
+Malis, he ordered an old man, who formerly held that office, to summon
+the people before him. Only a few vagrants obeyed, and these he
+commanded to break up the schools, and prevent preaching in the church.
+So, that evening, when John commenced preaching, they proceeded to
+execute their orders; but, afraid to face the determined people, they
+deferred the attack till the hearers passed out; and then, like stanch
+old Puritans, hardly noticing them, the congregation wended their way
+homewards, singing psalms as they went.
+
+[Illustration: SEIR GATE, OROOMIAH]
+
+The patriarch now excommunicated Mar Yohanan, and made common cause
+with the French Lazarists. He even wrote a fraternal epistle to the
+pope, ready for any thing, if he could only crush the mission. His
+attendants marched about the mission premises with loud threats; pious
+Nestorians were knocked down in the streets; while his brother Isaac
+went to a distant village, to show that he had no sympathy with such
+iniquity.
+
+Soon after, the carpenter who made the coffin was severely beaten by
+his own father for attending a prayer meeting. As the blows fell thick
+and fast, he cried, "Must this come from my own father?" But he
+remained firm, and next day went to the chapel pale and weak, but
+filled with holy joy.
+
+Deacon Guwergis, prevented from going to the mountains,--for the Koords
+sided with Mar Shimon,--fearlessly encountered the revilings of the
+patriarch in his own house, and told him that he hoped to continue
+preaching till he died. His countenance must have shone like Stephen's,
+for his persecutor said to one of the attendants, "See how his face
+glistens. If he is so bold here, what will he be in the mountains?"
+Well might a missionary write, "What a blessing are such men! The sight
+of them is worth ten thousand times the sacrifices made by us all."
+
+Though this was vacation, fifteen of the pupils remained in the
+Seminary for protection during the storm; yet even there they were not
+wholly safe. On the 25th of August, a messenger came in haste for one
+of them, saying that her dying brother wished to see her immediately.
+As the man was her relative, the girl was ready to go at once; but
+providentially Miss Fiske learned that the brother was well, and the
+messenger had been seen last with Mar Shimon. So he left, chagrined and
+enraged at his failure. The patriarch had told him to be sure and hide
+his purpose from that Satan, Miss Fiske, and in case of failure, to
+take the girl by force. But the teacher had had some experience in
+guarding her fold, and both she and her pupil were thankful for the
+deliverance. Next day, Mar Shimon forbade preaching in Geog Tapa; but
+if the church was closed, the house-tops remained open. The same day,
+the school in Vizierawa was repeatedly dispersed, but each time
+reassembled by the teacher.
+
+The 28th of this month was such a day as the mission had never seen
+before. In the forenoon, the teacher from Charbash fled wounded from
+the servants of Mar Shimon to the mission premises. Scarcely had he
+entered, when his brother came in, having escaped from similar
+violence. The Moslem owner of the village had to put a stop to the
+tearing down of their house.
+
+Miss Fiske and Miss Rice had just sat down to dinner with the school,
+when the cry, "A man is killed!" was followed by a rush from all parts
+of the yard. A mob at the gate was trying to break in and seize the
+native helpers. Mar Yohanan was wounded, and all was confusion. The
+teachers exhorted their little flock not to count their lives dear to
+them, for Jesus' sake. Happily, they were not called to such a test of
+discipleship; but the sympathies of the Moslems were plainly with Mar
+Shimon, and no one knew what a day might bring forth. That tried friend
+of the mission, E.W. Stevens, Esq., English consul at Tabreez, feared
+lest the missionaries should fall by the hand of violence. Miss Fiske
+writes, "Our native friends will doubtless suffer much, and we rejoice
+to share with them. We hope that fears on our account will not be
+realized. Still there is danger; and we try to be ready for life or
+death, as our Father sees best. Though in a land of violence, we are
+not unhappy; we trust in God, and hope this vine is being pruned that
+it may bring forth more fruit. We would have all the gracious designs
+of God fulfilled, even though we should be cast down."
+
+The same day came tidings of the death of Mrs. Stoddard, at Trebizond,
+and Miss Fiske wrote that night an account of it to her former teacher,
+at South Hadley, adding, "Precious sister: she died far away; but my
+Father knows why I might not stand by that dying bed, and I would
+submit, though my heart bleeds. _Our_ homes are sad to-night, and there
+is many a weeping eye among those for whom she toiled so faithfully.
+From my first acquaintance with her, she has been to me all that mortal
+could be. Her heart was tenderly alive to the spiritual interests of
+the dear Nestorians; and to them she devoted all her powers. It was she
+who first taught their daughters to sing the songs of Zion. Few,
+probably, have accomplished so much in so short a life. Her family, the
+mission, the Seminary, and all about us, shared in her untiring labors.
+As truly as of dear Mrs. Grant may it be said of her, 'She hath done
+what she could.'
+
+"Like Mrs. Grant, she was the youngest member of the mission at the
+time of her death. When she left her native land, some almost regretted
+that so frail a flower should go forth to encounter the hardships of
+missionary life; but she did much, and did it well. The Seminary in
+Seir still bears the impress she stamped upon it. Her memory is not
+only fragrant today among the Nestorians, but it draws them nearer to
+Christ, and renders them more efficient in his service."
+
+Mar Shimon now made common cause with the Persian nobility. The English
+and Russian ambassadors had procured the appointment of Dawood Khan as
+governor of the Christians in Oroomiah, in order to protect them from
+illegal oppression. The nobility of course opposed this; and Mar
+Shimon, by promising his aid in the removal of the protector of his own
+people, secured their cooperation in his wickedness. The converts were
+now insulted at every turn. They could hardly appear in the street, and
+the authorities afforded no redress. The missionaries had no earthly
+friend nearer than Mr. Stevens at Tabreez, who did all he could for
+them; and the pious natives felt shut up to God as their only refuge.
+
+Yahya Khan, the governor of the province, now wrote urging on Mar
+Shimon, and ordered his agent in Oroomiah to aid him to the utmost of
+his power. As Yahya Khan was brother-in-law to the king, he was able to
+do the mission much harm at the court; and the patriarch, encouraged by
+such a coadjutor, set himself with renewed zeal to destroy it; but in
+September, the prince royal summoned him to Tabreez, and the nobility
+hardly daring to resist the order, he was reluctantly preparing to
+comply, when news came of the death of the shah, and all was confusion.
+The missionaries had been praying for help against their dreaded enemy,
+Yahya Khan, and lo! his power to harm them perished with his master.
+
+The night after the news reached Oroomiah, anarchy reigned, and all
+kinds of crime abounded. Five men were killed near the mission
+premises, and the firing of guns was heard all night long; but though
+outside were robberies and murders, within that enclosure all was
+peace. Though its inmates knew that the fanatical population would
+gladly stone them, yet they felt it a privilege to labor on under the
+care of the Keeper of Israel.
+
+In Persia, no king, no government; so besides this anarchy in the city,
+the Koords came down and plundered many villages, burning the houses
+and driving the people for shelter to Oroomiah. These strokes fell most
+heavily on the Moslems, many of whom were robbers themselves. The fear
+of an attack on Seir was at one time so great, that the ladies were
+sent off, and the gentlemen remained alone to guard the mission
+premises; but both in Seir and the city the houses of the missionaries
+were thronged by multitudes seeking relief, and each approaching
+footstep announced some new tale of woe.
+
+Mar Shimon, after the death of the king, prudently retired into Turkey,
+and his servants were put under bonds to keep the peace. The Koords,
+however, drove him back, later in the season, but stripped of his power
+to persecute. It may sound like the close of a tale of fiction to add,
+that the next time Miss Fiske met the patriarch was in Gawar, August,
+1851, when he rode up to the tents of the missionaries to inquire after
+their health, before he went to his own. He staid an hour and a half,
+appearing more free and social than ever before; and when they returned
+his visit, he came out of his tent to meet them, and treated them with
+unusual respect, saying, in the course of the interview, "I fear that
+Miss Fiske is not happy here: she does not look well." On being assured
+that she was both well and happy, he said to his attendants, "This lady
+is happy only as she has a number of Nestorian girls around her, eating
+care[1] for them, teaching and doing them good." So, when our ways
+please the Lord, he maketh even our enemies to be at peace with us.
+[Footnote: This is the Nestorian idiom. We say, "taking care of them."]
+
+Babilo, the carpenter, who made the coffin for the child of Priest
+Eshoo, was taught to read by the younger girls in the Seminary after
+school hours, and thus writes to Miss Fiske, November 20th, 1859:--
+
+"I remember how, thirteen years ago, in that trouble with Mar Shimon,
+when my father beat me for attending meeting, and men despitefully used
+me, dear Mr. Stocking and you comforted me in the great room. I shall
+never forget your love. Give my love to your dear mother, who so loved
+us that she willingly gave you to the Lord, as Hannah did Samuel.
+
+"If you inquire about my work in the city Sabbath school,--I teach a
+class of ten women; three of them, I trust, are Christians. When I read
+your letter to them they greatly rejoiced. I reminded them of the
+meetings you used to have for them in your room, and their eyes filled
+with tears. In the afternoon I went to Charbash, and read your letter
+to the eighteen women in my class there. They, too, were very glad.
+Five of them, I trust, are Christians. We are now studying Second
+Timothy. After the lesson, I question them on Old Testament history;
+and then I teach the women and their children to sing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+TRIALS.
+
+EVIL INFLUENCE OF HOMES.--OPPOSITION IN DEGALA.--ASKER KHAN.--POISONING
+OF SANUM'S CHILDREN.--REDRESS REFUSED.--INQUISITOR IN SCHOOL.--TROUBLES
+AT KHOSRAWA.--LETTERS FROM HOIMAR.
+
+But, aside from open persecution, there is a constant danger arising
+from the people themselves. The teacher in a Christian land can never
+fully understand the feelings of the missionary teacher. The one sends
+forth his pupils to meet Christian parents, brothers and sisters, who,
+with more than a teacher's love, lead the young convert by still
+waters, and establish him in holy feeling; but the flock of the other
+goes out often into families where every soul would gladly break the
+bruised reed and quench the smoking flax. He can sympathize with Paul
+in his anxiety in behalf of those for whom he had labored in the gospel.
+
+Sometimes the pupils of the Seminary so dreaded the scenes of home, in
+vacation, that they preferred to remain in the school.
+
+In April, 1849, Miss Fiske visited the village of Degala. As it was a
+holiday, most of the women had gone out for amusement; but a little
+company of twelve praying ones gathered around her, and listened in
+tears while she spoke of Jesus and his love. Their fervent prayers for
+neighbors and friends made her feel that a blessing was yet in store
+for Degala. These women suffered all sorts of insult for their
+attachment to the truth; they were often beaten and driven from their
+homes by their husbands. While the pupils of the Seminary were here,
+some of their own sex did all they could to annoy them. But read an
+account of their trials from the pen of Sanum, of Gawar. She writes to
+a friend in this country,--
+
+"I had bitter times this vacation, for our neighbors are all very
+hard-hearted, not listening at all to the words of God. When I opened
+my Testament to read to them, they would shut it, and begin to quarrel
+about the forms of religion. I entreat you to pray for my village, that
+I, so unworthy, may see its salvation.
+
+"One day, Miss Fiske went to the village of Degala, where is a band of
+women who greatly love the Lord. They gathered about her, and she had a
+very pleasant time. All these were inquiring what they should do to be
+saved. She could not stay long with them; but they were so humble that
+they asked to have some of the girls sent to them. So four of us,
+though so weak, ventured to go in the name of Christ. We found these
+sisters in great distress, being reviled and beaten by wicked men, for
+Jesus' sake.
+
+"We were speaking in an upper room there on a feast day, and the women
+with us were weeping very much, while others, afraid to come in, seated
+themselves on the terrace by the window. Suddenly a wicked man came
+with a rod, and drove all those away who were without. Poor souls! how
+my heart burned for them! One, who had not been used to come to
+meeting, came that day for sport. She wore many ornaments, but as soon
+as she heard the words of God, her tears began to flow. After meeting,
+she arose up quickly, and threw aside her ornaments, and followed us
+wherever we went. We were having a meeting in another house, when a
+quarrelsome woman entered, having a large stick in her hand, and began
+to beat her daughter and daughter-in-law, and she carried off her
+daughter; but the other remained, though sorely bruised, saying, 'I
+will spill my blood, but will not leave the place of prayer.' The women
+who fear God wept much because this woman did so.
+
+"We went to the sacrament, and there was a company of women who
+separated themselves from the others, and were weeping in one corner of
+the church. Some very bad women came to them, and said, 'Let us rise up
+and dance, because they are weeping.' Another, in anger, took the
+sacrament from the mouth of one of them, and gave it to her little
+granddaughter. There was much confusion in the village, and they seemed
+like those who cried, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians.' One said, 'I
+wish neither Satan nor God, but only Mar Shimon.' Once, when we were
+assembled with the women, and Moressa was speaking, a wicked man fired
+a pistol to frighten us. But the women encouraged us, saying, 'Go on,
+and speak louder, that he may hear.' And when he heard my sister speak
+of the wickedness of man's heart, he cried out, 'Those words must have
+been for me. She must have known that I was there.'"
+
+It does not fall within the object of this volume to give any detailed
+account of the proceedings of Asker Khan, who for several years sought
+to wear out the saints of the Most High, causing the native helpers to
+be beaten, fined, and annoyed in many ways, and then arrogantly denying
+all redress. Encouraged in his persecutions by the prime minister, he
+was able to defy all interference. Indeed, during part of the time, the
+English ambassador was constrained to leave the kingdom, and the
+Russian ambassador, though personally disposed to do all in his power
+for the mission, was yet officially unable to help.
+
+At one time, he gave orders that no school should be opened without his
+sanction, and that all the teachers must report to him; and in case of
+disobedience, he threatened them with fines and imprisonment.
+
+It may show in what estimation the influence of the Female Seminary was
+held by enemies, when we find him issuing his command, "Allow no girls
+to attend your school; schools are for boys alone;" and claiming credit
+for great forbearance because he did not at once break up the Seminary.
+That which called forth such opposition from enemies was surely not
+inefficient. There must have been a power for good manifest even to
+Moslem opposers, that taught them where to strike so as most
+effectually to destroy.' But there was a Power above them that said,
+"Thus far, and no farther." "The bush burned with fire, yet it was not
+consumed."
+
+The evil wrought by Asker Khan was not confined to his own doings. His
+hostility, in a position so commanding, emboldened every Shimei to
+curse. In Ardishai, two or three unprincipled drunkards, with their
+dissolute bishop (Mar Gabriel), saved themselves from Mohammedan
+rapacity by taking part against the converts. These last were made
+examples of, to deter others from attending preaching or sending their
+children to the schools.' One poor widow, with four children,--a most
+consistent Christian,--was driven from her house by her father-in-law,
+because she allowed her oldest daughter to attend the village school.
+As many as thirty families, unable to endure persecution any longer,
+fled from the village; and Priest Abraham himself, after suffering
+much, was compelled to leave, though his congregation was from one
+hundred and fifty to two hundred every Sabbath.
+
+In Dizza Takka, on the evening of April 20th, 1856, Sanum, who
+graduated in 1850, had arsenic put into the supper which she carried to
+a neighbor's tandoor (native oven) to be warmed. Happily, Joseph, her
+husband, was delayed beyond his usual hour, so that he was uninjured;
+and the quantity of arsenic was so large, that, by the prompt use of
+remedies, the mother's life was saved, though her innocent children
+suffered severely, and, after lingering a few months, both of them
+died. She rose from weeping over their graves to serve her Master more
+faithfully than ever. But Asker Khan,--though the arsenic was found at
+the bottom of the pot, though a portion of the contents, given to a
+cat, speedily produced convulsions and death, and though a Jewess
+testified that "the neighbor" had recently applied to her husband for
+arsenic, and no one else had access to the vessel where it was
+found,--instead of investigating the case, insulted Joseph and his
+friends, and caused his aged father to be beaten; at the same time
+telling the people of Dizza Takka to shoot Joseph if he went to their
+village again. Such conduct emboldened the enemies of the truth to
+complain against the more enlightened of their clergy who had renounced
+many sinful customs, as forsaking the religion of their fathers; and,
+with blasphemous threats, they were ordered to do the bidding of their
+accusers.
+
+On the 1st of June, an order from the authorities at Tabreez to Asker
+Khan was presented to him by the missionaries, which, after a calm
+recital of the facts in the case of poisoning, proceeded thus: "As the
+person who did this act is a criminal, and, if unpunished, the affair
+may lead to the destruction of life, it is necessary that you, high in
+rank, take the attitude of investigation, and having discovered the
+criminal, that you punish him, with the knowledge of the Americans, and
+so act that no one, Christian or Moslem, shall dare to repeat such a
+crime." This order was obtained through the kind offices of the Russian
+ambassador; but the criminals were only detained a few days, and not
+pressed at all to a confession. Asker Khan then proposed, as they had
+not confessed, that the missionaries should intercede for their
+release. Of course, they refused. Then, saying "that if he had known
+that, beforehand, he would not have touched the matter, and that he
+could defend himself at Tabreez," he dismissed the accused, and it was
+in vain for the missionaries to prosecute the matter further.
+
+Indeed, the opposition at this time was more serious than at any
+previous period, and for a time it seemed as though the seminaries, and
+especially the Female Seminary, would be destroyed.
+
+In the autumn, a commissioner, sent from Teheran to examine into the
+proceedings of the mission, made an inquisitorial visit, and went all
+through the building, peeping into the chambers, and making himself and
+suite every where at home. Coming into the recitation room, where most
+of the girls were engaged in study, he selected, a large, robust pupil,
+who could speak Turkish, and questioned her as follows:--
+
+"Are you allowed to follow your own customs?"
+
+"We follow all that are good, but not such foolish ones as you would
+not wish us to follow."
+
+"Do these ladies let you see your friends?"
+
+"Certainly; we always see them when they come here, and we go home
+three times a year, staying, at one time, three months."
+
+"What do you do when at home?"
+
+"We work in the fields, and do any thing that our friends do. Our
+teachers tell us to help our friends all we can, and are displeased if
+we do not."
+
+"Can you work, or have you become Ingleez?" (English.)
+
+"Look at me; I am strong; I can carry very large loads."
+
+"What do you do here?"
+
+"We study, and learn all wisdom."
+
+"Are you allowed to use your own books?"
+
+"Certainly; the principal book of our religion they have printed for
+us, and we use it more than any other."
+
+"But have you not left the books of your fathers?"
+
+"The book I spoke of is our sacred book, like your Koran, and we use
+all others that agree with that."
+
+"Do you fast?"
+
+"One day at the beginning of the year, and other days afterwards."
+
+"But have you not forsaken some of your church fasts?"
+
+"None that are written in that book. I keep all those very carefully."
+
+"What! twice in the week?"
+
+"No; for that is not required in the book."
+
+"But your people do."
+
+"Yes; not being readers, they do many things that are not written in
+the book."
+
+"Would your teachers allow you to fast?"
+
+"O, yes; but we don't want to fast more than our book requires."
+
+"What are your prayers?"
+
+"Those taught in the book."
+
+Then followed questions about dress, employment, and such things, all
+of which she answered in the same manner. The teacher was very thankful
+that the Master had neither left to her the selection of the witness,
+nor her preparation for the examination. But the examiner expressed
+very decided disapproval of female education, and held up their
+previous condition as their only proper one. The truth was, the Moslems
+were angry that their rayahs were being elevated, and they were
+specially indignant at the education of women.
+
+So the opposition went on. Messrs Stoddard and Wright proceeded to
+Tabreez, and secured orders for redress which, as usual, were
+counteracted by secret orders to the contrary. The native helpers were
+now beaten because they were in the employ of the mission: some were
+thrown into prison, and threatened with being sent to Teheran in irons.
+But when the Lord saw that the wrath of man had proceeded far enough,
+he restrained the remainder thereof. For one of the leading spirits in
+this onset on the mission fell under the daggers of the Koords, and his
+death at once called off attention from missionary operations to other
+things.
+
+Again, in January, 1858, two pious residents at Khosrowa, in the
+province of Salmas, were shamefully oppressed; and when application was
+made for redress, Asker Khan not only refused to adjudicate the matter,
+but beat one of the complainants so severely that he was confined to
+his bed for weeks. Still later, after urgent importunity from
+Nestorians and nominal Papists, two very able and excellent men,
+Deacons Joseph and Siyad, were sent to labor in that distant province.
+On one occasion they entered the village of Khosrowa to purchase fuel,
+and were quietly passing along the street, when a mob stoned them out
+of the village. Shortly after, Deacon Siyad was expelled from the
+district so suddenly that he had to leave his wife, Merganeeta: she,
+too, was driven away alone; but Holmar, a pious woman residing there,
+went with her. The first night they spent in a field, and the next day
+they sought refuge in an Armenian village; but, driven from thence, the
+persecuted wife fled to Oroomiah. After long effort, an officer was
+sent from Tabreez to Salmas, and ample promises of full redress were
+given, ending, as usual, in nothing. A mob, headed by a French Lazarist
+and native bishop, rescued the offender, and the officer desisted from
+further procedure.
+
+The reader will be interested in the following extract, from a letter
+of Hoimar to Miss Fiske, in 1859:--
+
+"I cannot tell you how glad I am to hear that your health is better. O
+that quickly you might meet us, if the Lord will! Till death I can
+never forget your love, nor your reminding your pupils to ask the Lord
+to support a poor, ignorant one like me. I do not believe your thoughts
+can ever rest about your little company of Nestorians. If a mother
+leaves a nursing child, she cannot rest till she returns to it. If you
+are far from us in body, I know your spirit is with us. If Jonah
+mourned over the gourd for which he had not labored, how shall not you
+mourn after those for whom you have labored?
+
+"If the breezes did not bring the cry of 'Salvation' over the ocean,
+our desolations would cry out. But thanks to Him who favors those that
+leave their native land to labor among the ignorant. Yet what shall
+this people do? The beast having great iron teeth still reigns here;
+but it may be the Lord will speedily destroy him with the breath of his
+mouth. I trust that you will ever remember in your prayers one who will
+remember you in her weakness till death."
+
+Two years later brought the following, with its graphic delineation of
+the trials that such as choose the better part may meet with yet for
+years to come:--
+
+BELOVED MISS FISKE: Almost every day of this summer has been a bitter
+day. For my mother had become willing to give Raheel (Rachel, sister of
+Hoimar) to the Papists, and she had prevailed over my father to do the
+same. And now I will tell you how Goliah fell upon the earth, and he
+that had no weapons overcame; but it was from the power of God. The
+arrangement had all been made by my parents, and the betrothal feast
+made ready. Sanum and I were in Oroomiah, but Deacon Joseph was in
+Salmas, and we had also this comfort--my oldest brother stood firm,
+saying, "Fear not; till death _I_ stand." Raheel also was firm, hoping
+for help. With entreaties and tears, I asked Deacon Isaac to go to
+Salmas. He went, but Raheel knew it not. She was very sorrowful for
+only an hour remained to the time fixed for putting the betrothal ring
+on her finger. The hope of her life seemed to hang on a hair. She went
+to the vineyard, and prayed God to deliver her; then returned sorrowful
+to her room. She hears them say, "They have come!" and locks her door.
+They ask her to open it, bat she opens it not. Just then, Deacon Joseph
+goes to the window, and, seeing that Doacon Isaac has come, says,
+"Open; be not afraid." Deacon Isaac sits down with the Papists who have
+come to the betrothal. My father leaves it with him, and he says, "Very
+well; I have only now come; I must have time to examine into this
+business. To-morrow I will give you an answer." He talks with my
+father, saying, "How can you give your daughter to the Papists? The
+missionaries are not willing, our people are not willing, I am not
+willing; and more than all, the girl is not willing." My father at
+length said, "She is your daughter, not mine; do as you please." Then
+Deacon Isaac sent word to the Papists, "There is no possibility of your
+carrying this forward. I have questioned the girl, she is not willing;
+speak no more about it." The deacon then asked my father to let her go
+to the city to school again. At first he consented, but finally left it
+with her mother, who did not let her go. The deacon left displeased.
+When I heard this, I arose and took Mar Yohanan's brother, and went to
+Salmas, thinking I might possibly bring Raheel. While yet a good way
+from the village, like Canaan's spies, we sent for my oldest brother
+(who is, as we trust, a Christian). He, gave us good news, and said,
+"Raheel is all ready to go to school." As the Lord favored Eleazar
+about Rebecca, so he favored us; and the next morning my sister and
+Deacon Joseph returned to Oroomiah, while I remained to meet the wrath
+of my mother. As soon as Raheel was gone, she left, and as yet we know
+not where she is. Truly, great is the power of prayer. So God brought
+to nought evil counsels, scattered fearful, dark clouds, and caused the
+light of joy to rise upon us. But I am very sad about my mother,
+because she has turned away from the fear of God, and is fleeing from
+life. My father and husband still get intoxicated. I trust that you
+will multiply your prayers for them; and ask your friends to do the
+same, and to pray for me, and our village and country. Give my love to
+all your friends.
+
+From your lover, HOIMAR.
+
+We shall hear from Hoimar again, in connection with the communion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+PRAYERFULNESS.
+
+LANGUAGE OF PRAYER.--PRAYER ON HORSEBACK.--OLD MAN IN SUPERGAN.--MAR
+OGEN.---EARNESTNESS.--FAREWELL PRAYER MEETING IN 1858.--LETTER FROM
+PUPIL.--SPIRIT OF PRAYER IN 1846.--WOMAN WHO COULD NOT PRAY.--"CHRIST
+BECOME BEAUTIFUL."--CLOSET IN THE MANGER.--MONTHLY
+CONCERTS.--PRAYERFULNESS IN 1849 AND 1850.--SABBATH, JANUARY
+20TH.--INTEREST CONTINUED TILL CLOSE OF TERM.--FAMILY
+MEETINGS.--AUDIBLE PRAYER.--ANSWER TO MOTHERS' PRAYERS.--CONNECTION OF
+REVIVALS WITH PRAYER AT HOME.
+
+The Nestorian converts have been noted for their spirit of prayer.
+
+In 1846, the prayers of the hopefully pious in the Male Seminary were
+very remarkable. Several rooms were appropriated to devotion, and there
+one might hear the voice of supplication from morning till night. Many
+spent several hours a day in this holy employment; and one needed only
+to listen to know that their prayers came from the depths of the soul.
+At one time, they beg that the dog may have a single crumb from the
+table of his master; again, they are smiting on their breasts by the
+side of the publican. Now they are prodigals--hungry, naked, and far
+from their Father's house; and now they sink in the sea, crying, "Lord,
+save me; I perish!" or, as poor outcast lepers, they come to the great
+Physician for a cure. This one builds on the Rock of Ages, while the
+torrents roar around. That one washes the feet of Jesus with his tears,
+and wipes them with the hair of his head; another, as a soldier of the
+cross, plants its blood-stained banner in the inner citadel of his
+heart. Their ardent feelings found such appropriate expression in their
+Oriental metaphors, that one might learn from children to pray as he
+never prayed before.
+
+On the reopening of the Seminary that spring, the first desire of the
+pupils was to enter their closets and commune with God.
+
+Riding out one evening, Mr. Stoddard saw three persons before him on
+the way to Seir. Their horses went from one side of the road to the
+other, at random; and their own heads were uncovered to the cold March
+wind. At first he took them for dervishes; but on coming nearer he
+heard the voice of prayer, and found they were Nestorians. The eyes of
+all were reverently closed, and when one finished the other continued
+their supplications. He turned aside, and left them undisturbed. On
+another occasion, when John and Moses were riding to Geog Tapa on the
+same horse, they again engaged in devotion; but as the horse was
+unruly, they each prayed in turn, while the other held the reins.
+
+Sometimes the language of their prayers is very broken. Mr. Stoddard
+once stood in the church in Supergan, twenty miles from Oroomiah, while
+prayers were read in the ancient Syriac, and overheard an old man, very
+ignorant, praying back in the congregation by himself. He had, perhaps,
+never heard five prayers, in his whole life, in a language he could
+understand; but reverently, and in a low tone, commingling the memories
+of old forms with the utterance of new desires, he was saying, "Our
+Father in heaven--always going, after Satan--O Lord Jesus
+Christ--hallelujah--forever and ever, Amen!" It was incoherent, but
+comprehensive. He addresses God as his heavenly Father. He confesses
+his sins. He appeals to Christ as his only helper. He praises God for
+his unspeakable gift, and then closes in the usual form.
+
+The pious Mar Ogen, of Ishtazin, when in great pain, and hardly able to
+move, often broke out in words like these: "O Lord Jesus, thou art the
+King of glory, the King of kings and Lord of lords; thou art great and
+holy, and merciful. I am a sinner, condemned. My face is black, my
+bones are rotten. O Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me, poor, and blind,
+and naked, and miserable. O Lord Jesus Christ, I am vile. I am lost;
+but do thou remember me."
+
+No language expressed their sense of guilt better than the words, "All
+our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." In the fervor of their desire
+for Christ, and grace through him, they would say, "Blessed Saviour, we
+will cling to the skirts of thy garment, and hope for mercy till our
+hands are cut off." A common petition was, "O Lord, we pray that we may
+never deny thee, even to the blood of our necks"--most expressive
+words, in a land where so many criminals are beheaded.
+
+One prayed for our country, when he heard of the southern rebellion,
+thus: "O God, pour peace into that land. Permit them not to fight with
+each other, but with Satan and their wicked hearts, and may they fight
+spiritually to subdue the whole world to Christ."
+
+During one of the revivals in the Female Seminary, the prayers of the
+pupils were exceedingly earnest. A member of the mission, having
+occasion to open the door of a room where a few of them were together,
+heard as follows:
+
+"We are hanging over a lake of fire, with a heavy load upon our backs,
+by a single hair, and that is almost broken. We are in a ship burned
+almost down to the water; the flames are just seizing upon us. O God,
+have mercy. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy. O Lamb of God, have mercy
+on us." "No wonder," a missionary wrote, "I sometimes think that it is
+pleasanter to pray in Syriac than in our own language, because I have
+such fervent-minded ones with whom to pray."
+
+The day Miss Fiske left Oroomiah, a large number of women and girls
+gathered around to bid her farewell. They said, "Can we not have one
+more prayer meeting before you leave?" They were told that they might
+meet in the school room. "But may it not be in that Bethel?" they
+asked, referring to the teacher's own room. She told them she could not
+lead their devotions then. Their reply was, "You need not do it; we
+will _carry you_ to-day." Seventy were soon assembled in her room. They
+sung, "Blest be the tie that binds," and offered six prayers. One asked
+that when Elijah should go up, they might all see the horsemen and
+chariot, and all catch the falling mantle; not sit down to weep, or
+send into the mountains to search for their master, but take up the
+mantle, go, smite Jordan, and, passing over, go to work. She then
+reminded the Saviour that he had promised not to leave them orphans
+(John xiv. 18, Greek and Syriac), and begged him not only to come to
+them, but to abide with them when their teacher was gone. Her thoughts
+then turned to the departing company, who were to take their long land
+journey of six hundred miles on horseback. She asked that the sun might
+not smite them by day, nor the moon by night. Theirs was a desert way,
+and the Lord was entreated to spread a table for them through all the
+wilderness, and, when they should pass over the narrow, precipitous
+roads, to give his angels charge to keep them in all their ways, and
+bear them up in their hands, lest they dash a foot against a stone; and
+when they should go through the rivers, not to let the waters overflow
+them. The company would lodge by night in tents, and it was asked that
+the angel of the Lord might ever encamp round about the moving
+tabernacle. Borne in mind as they should pass on, first to the steamer,
+and then to the sailing vessel, she asked that when they should be on
+the "fire ship," the flame might not kindle upon them; and when on the
+"winged ship," where the waves would go up to heaven, and down to hell,
+that He would keep them in the hollow of his hand, and bring them to
+the desired haven. She then asked that all her teacher's friends might
+be spared till she should reach them, especially the aged mother, and
+that when she should fold her daughter in her arms, she might say, like
+Simeon of old, "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." Here she
+paused, and Miss Fiske thought she had finished; but soon she added,
+"May our teacher's dust never mingle with a father's dust, or with a
+mother's dust; but may she come back to us to mingle her dust with her
+children's dust, hear the trumpet with them, and with them go up to
+meet the Lord, and be forever with him." Nor did their prayerfulness
+cease after their teacher had left them.
+
+There was a pupil in the Seminary, who, before conversion, was
+exceedingly obstinate and rude; but afterwards, in writing to Miss
+Fiske, she uses expressions like these: "I remember how you used to put
+your arms about my neck, and tell me how Christ became obedient unto
+death; not for friends, but for enemies like me. Especially do I
+remember how you spoke of that love which saw a remedy in its own
+blood, when there was no help for a lost world. At that time I did not
+understand it, but now I know not how to express my gratitude. I know
+that you are very happy with your aged mother, though your heart is
+here; and she is happy, too, that she sees your face. Yet these earthly
+meetings, though so pleasant, are but for a season. But how delightful
+will be that meeting with the holy angels, with the risen Lamb, and
+with God our Father! and if separations are so trying here, what must
+be those of the last day? May I not then be separated from you. If I
+should be, I know you will say, 'Holy, holy Lord God, just art thou,
+for she has been taught.' We miss you much; but the Teacher who is
+better than any earthly instructor, came and taught us this winter
+(1858-1859). The Lord Jesus has been the gardener of our school. He has
+come down and watered it with heavenly rain. He has truly fulfilled his
+promise, 'I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.' He said,
+'Wait for the promise of the Father.' We waited for his coming, and he
+turned himself quickly, and we had delightful seasons. Our times of
+prayer were longed for. We prayed more than we did any thing else. When
+we retire from the school room now, in many places two girls are found
+praying together. In my village I meet the women together and alone. I
+also have precious seasons, praying with a company of girls; and I have
+selected two women to pray with and for till they shall be Christians.
+I hope that they will choose Christ for their portion. Some of the
+women of our village, like Mary, sit at Jesus' feet. One Christian
+mother had an only son, and very wicked, who trod the Sabbath under
+foot, and was wholly given up to his own pleasure. She set apart a day
+for fasting and prayer in his behalf, and soon the Lord met him in his
+evil way, and now he is a decided Christian."
+
+But let us leave these general views, and look at this prayerfulness
+more in the order of its manifestations.
+
+During the revival in 1846, two of the pupils spent a whole night in
+prayer for the conversion of their brothers, first one leading in
+devotion, and then the other, till morning. Like Jacob they felt, "We
+will not let thee go except thou bless us." While the missionaries
+admired their pious zeal, it is proper to add, that they generally
+insisted on the observance of regular hours of sleep, as conducive
+alike to bodily and spiritual health. Yet one writes on a similar
+occasion, "Sometimes, in my anxiety, I have gone to their cold closets
+to persuade them to leave; but the fervor of their prayers has oftener
+driven me to mine, than it has allowed me to call them from theirs."
+
+Twice, and even three times, a day, were not enough for them to retire
+for communion with God. Many spent hours every day at the mercy seat.
+There were but few closets, and this was a great trial to them. Often
+three or four of them might be seen sitting, in tears, waiting their
+turn to go in to the mercy seat. Would that they might have had some of
+those closets at home that are never entered! At another time, the
+Bible of one of the girls was found on one of their wooden stools, open
+at the fifty-first psalm, and the page blotted with weeping, as she
+read it preparatory to retiring for prayer. Her teacher could put her
+finger on no part of those large pages without touching a tear.[1]
+Still later, when news of the death of Munny, of Ardishai, by the
+accidental discharge of a gun, reached Miss Fiske in America, her first
+thought was, "Dear child, I shall never again break off your communion
+with Jesus;" for she remembered that when once she begged her to leave
+her closet and get rest for the Sabbath, her reply was, "O, I am so
+sorry that you spoke to me! I was having such a good time with my dear
+Saviour." Only a few days before her death, while in the vineyard with
+her brother, she suddenly clasped her hands, and exclaimed, "Blessed
+Mr. Stoddard! when shall I see him? and when shall I see my blessed
+Saviour?" [Footnote 1: See page 138.]
+
+A poor woman came to the Seminary one day, weeping for her sins, and
+seated herself on the floor. The teacher was soon at her side, telling
+her of Him who was wounded for our transgressions. She prayed with her,
+and then asked her to pray for herself. "But I can't pray; I don't know
+your prayers." "Hatoon, don't try to pray like me, or like any body;
+but just tell God how you feel and what you want." "May I tell God just
+what is in my heart?" Being assured on that point, she fell on her
+face, weeping aloud, saying amid sobs, "O God, I am not fit even for an
+old broom to sweep with," and could say no more. This was doubtless the
+most worthless thing the poor woman could think of in her humble home.
+But it was not long ere she could join others in their little meetings
+for prayer; and she still lives, honoring the Saviour, whom she loves.
+She is the mother of two of the most useful graduates of the Seminary.
+
+Again: a pious man brought his wife to spend a few days in the
+Seminary, when she was somewhat thoughtful, and left her nearly a week.
+Let Miss Fiske describe their meeting. "He came for her at noon, and I
+was conversing with him in my room, when she passed out from her closet
+without seeing him. (The small upper window to the left, over the
+central door, marks the closet.) But he saw her, and reached out his
+hand, saying, 'My beloved, come here.' She placed her hand in his,
+looked up in his face, and answered his 'Is Christ become beautiful?'
+with a gentle '_I_ think so.' The tears of both fell fast, while he led
+her, without leave, into my chamber, that they might unite in prayer.
+But I was glad to have them offer their first _united_ prayers there.
+It was ever after a more sacred place."
+
+Miss Fiske spent most of the vacation that followed the first revival,
+in 1848, with Mr. Stoddard, in the villages, where her pupils aided her
+much in labors among the people. After a very pleasant evening spent in
+Geog Tapa with those who were seeking Jesus, Hanee, the pupil with whom
+she staid, came and asked, "Would you like to be alone?" It was the
+first time she had ever been asked such a question by a Nestorian, and
+it awakened feelings similar to those that filled her heart when first
+she heard the voice of a Nestorian woman leading in prayer. To use her
+own words, "I followed the dear child, and she led me to the best
+closet she could give me--a manger, where she had spread clean hay; and
+she said to me, as she turned to leave, 'Stay just as long as you
+like.' You may well suppose it was a precious spot to me. It was my own
+fault if I did not there meet Him who was once laid in a manger for us."
+
+The members of the Seminary were especially interested in the monthly
+concert, which was held in Oroomiah, on the first Monday of the month.
+On that day they generally wanted two or three meetings; and in 1846 it
+was often difficult to persuade them to study at all. From the rising
+to the setting sun, the voice of supplication for a dying world
+continually fell upon the ear. At one time, all united in pleading for
+a world's redemption; then, in little companies of five or six, they
+urged the request; and again, each, alone in her closet, still pressed
+the same petition.
+
+Previous to 1846, so few of the Nestorians knew how to pray, that
+religious meetings were for instruction rather than prayer; but now it
+was a delightful privilege to unite with them in pleading for the
+conversion of the world to Christ. Never were their petitions so full
+of unction as when offered for this object. In April, Miss Fiske's
+pupils, not satisfied with an extra meeting by themselves, though
+continued till near sunset, were induced to close it only by the
+promise of having a similar meeting next day. No wonder their teacher
+never enjoyed a monthly concert in America as she did that one. It was
+indeed a rare privilege to unite with such spirits in its observance.
+
+The pupils wrote to the Seminary, at South Hadley--"Dear sisters, we
+love the monthly concert very much. Three hours on that day we meet
+together to pray that the kingdom of God may come among us, and among
+all the nations of the earth. It is a very sweet day to us, and we love
+none so well, except the Sabbath."
+
+In January, 1849, they spent day and night in weeping and prayer,
+mostly for themselves, as unfit to pray for others. The same was true
+of the Male Seminary. The teachers, the older pupils, and Deacons John
+and Guwergis spent nearly the whole of one night in prayer; and so
+burdened were they with the lost condition of their people, and their
+own unfaithfulness, that almost all of them gave up their former hope
+in Christ, and sought anew for pardon. The voice of praise and prayer
+was now heard, not only through the day, but frequently during the
+night.
+
+Up to January 29th, only two or three of the unconverted in the
+Seminary showed any concern for salvation. Most of them were so
+careless and trifling, that their teachers were almost heart-broken;
+but when the retiring bell rung that night, many were so distressed for
+sin that they could not heed it. The pious were pleading in behalf of
+those out of Christ, and many of these last were crying for mercy. One
+prayer commenced, "O Lord, throw us a rope, for we are out in the open
+sea, on a single plank, and wave after wave is dashing over us." So
+they continued till near midnight, when their teachers constrained them
+to retire.
+
+At the beginning of February, the other Seminary witnessed a remarkable
+outpouring of the spirit of prayer. Every spare moment of the previous
+day, and much of the night, had been devoted to fervent intercession by
+those who feared that the Spirit of God was about to leave them. So
+intense was the feeling, that the ordinary services were suspended, and
+at once every closet was filled; yet a majority had no place for
+retirement. One of them proposed prayer in the yard, and there, on that
+wintry day, for an hour, their earnest cries went up to heaven. All of
+the careless were deeply moved, and many dated their conversion from
+that day.
+
+The work extended to Geog Tapa, Seir, and other villages. From Degala,
+Deacon Joseph wrote, "Whenever I went home, I found our house a house
+of mourning. After the lamp was put out at night, I could not sleep for
+the sounds of prayer and weeping on all sides. In some houses, very
+young children had heard their parents pray so much, that they also did
+the same. The women, too, had frequent meetings by themselves. One day
+I led some men to a place where they could hear women praying within
+the latticed window of a house, and, trembling, they begged me to teach
+them also how to come to God."
+
+The missionaries avoided all stirring appeals to the passions, among a
+people so excitable, though the ready performance of every duty
+manifested the sincerity of the praying pupils, while it made the
+labors of their teachers pleasant.
+
+There was not that agonizing wrestling in prayer on the first Monday of
+1850 that had marked the same day the year before; but the following
+week was characterized by unusual tenderness in both Seminaries, and
+two of the older pupils of the Female Seminary found no rest except in
+their closets.
+
+On the evening of the second Sabbath in January, Miss Fiske was not
+able to attend the prayer meeting, and remained in her room alone. The
+gentle opening of her door announced that the meeting was over, and a
+little group passed on hastily, but quietly, to the rooms beyond. She
+had just risen to follow, when she heard several voices in earnest
+supplication. She turned to the stairway, and there also the sound of
+fervent entreaty came up from many closets, while some groped about to
+light their lamps, or stirred the dying embers of their fires. What
+meant this simultaneous movement to the mercy seat? There had been
+nothing unusually exciting in the meeting, and she sat down with the
+sweet assurance that it was from above. It was late before the
+suppliants left their closets, and retired in perfect silence; but
+morning found them resuming the same loved employment, and good news
+came of similar blessings from the Boys' Seminary.
+
+That week was one of deep solemnity. The pious pupils devoted every
+leisure moment to prayer. Their domestic duties were performed
+faultlessly, and much earlier than usual, and then they sought their
+closets. Some spent five hours each day of that week in those sacred
+retreats, and when urged to leave for needed sleep, the reply was, "For
+weeks we have slept, doing nothing for God and souls. How can we sleep
+until forgiven?"
+
+Saturday afternoon, several begged leave to give themselves entirely to
+prayer for a blessing on the morrow; and never did the teachers more
+gladly welcome the approach of holy time. A blessed Sabbath followed
+such a preparation day. During morning service, almost all were in
+tears. At dinner, many seats were vacant. It may seem an exaggeration,
+but it was literally true, that no voice was heard all that day save
+the voice of prayer. Miss Fiske has never known such a Sabbath before,
+nor since. In the afternoon, the feeling was overpowering. There was no
+request for prayer, but unbroken stillness and the perfect performance
+of every duty, without a word being said. At the supper table, every
+face seemed to say, "Our meat and drink are not here." Some asked to be
+excused, but at length all were seated; and the scene that followed can
+never be forgotten. All who were previously interested, and more
+beside, wept tears of silent sorrow. The blessing was asked, and the
+steward[1] began to help them, himself in tears; but no plate was
+touched, for even the uninterested gazed in silent wonder. Their
+teacher urged them to eat; but one, seizing her hand, said in a voice
+too low to be overheard, "You would not ask _me_ to eat if you knew my
+heart." The reply was, "I feel just as sure that the Lord would have
+you eat, as that he would have you pray." They were then besought to
+eat, so as to have strength to pray. This touched a tender chord, and
+so succeeded; and then they silently withdrew to make that use of their
+renovated strength. Each hour that night found some at the mercy seat,
+feeling that to leave off at such a crisis might lessen the blessing.
+[Footnote 1: Yohanan, father of Esli. See page 67.]
+
+Two months now passed on, each day furnishing new evidence that those
+prayers were heard. There was less of excitement, but no diminution of
+interest, to the close of the term. The uniform and sustained
+prayerfnlness of those months surprised the beholders. The voice of
+supplication was the latest sound of evening, the watchword of
+midnight, and the lark song of the dawn. One pupil, nine years of age,
+after spending two hours in her closet, consented to retire only when
+allowed to rise and pray if she awoke during the night; and she was
+sure to wake. About three o'clock every morning, her earnest pleadings
+roused her teachers from repose.
+
+The hours of social prayer were full of tenderness. Those who heard the
+pupils pleading far within the veil, close by the mercy seat, almost
+forgot that they were yet on earth. The school, their parents and
+relatives, were all affectionately remembered. The hour always seemed
+too short, and often closed with such expressions as these: "If we have
+not been heard here, we will go to our closets, and if not heard there,
+we will return here, and again go back to our closets, and so continue
+to plead for these loved ones to the last." These meetings, though
+varied in character, were always of thrilling interest. Now there was
+an overwhelming sense of sin, as committed against a holy God, and
+then, as a ray of hope appeared, a weeping voice would implore, as on
+one occasion, that "the Holy One would walk over the hills of Judea,
+find Golgotha, and let them live." Again, the sight of manifold
+transgressions prompted the cry, "But we fear our sins have covered
+Golgotha from thy sight, and then are we forever lost." Another part of
+the same prayer contained the entreaty, "Lift not the mercy seat from
+off the holy ark, to look on the law we have broken, but look into
+Jesus' grave, and bid us live."
+
+In the daily family prayer meetings every inmate of the room was
+specially and tenderly remembered. Once, when a father had come for his
+daughter, and Miss Fiske went to find her, on opening the door she
+heard a prayer for one who had shown little feeling; and in pleading
+the sufferings of Christ on her behalf, each petition seemed to rise
+higher, till every face was turned upward, as if to see him; and the
+one who led in devotion involuntarily stretched out her hands to lay
+hold of him, saying, "Come, Lord Jesus, and save our perishing sister;
+but if she will not receive thee in this life we must forever rejoice
+in her destruction"--a striking illustration of intense spiritual
+emotion, bringing the heart into sympathy with the whole truth of God.
+(Rev. xix. 3.)
+
+These labors for their impenitent associates, and for those women who
+came to the Seminary, were full of Christ. The hour between supper and
+the evening meeting was usually spent in personal labor from room to
+room; and the entreaties and prayers, then audible on all sides, made
+it delightful to be a stranger in a strange land for Jesus' sake. It
+was scarcely less affecting when superstitious grandmothers, worldly
+mothers, and giddy sisters were prayed with and entreated to come to
+Christ.
+
+The audible prayers of the pupils may trouble some readers, but not
+more than they troubled their teacher. She desired more silent
+devotion; but Mr. Stoddard, himself in the habit of praying aloud,
+looked on it with more favor, and feared to have it checked. Soon after
+his own conversion, a friend remarked to him, "I think you had better
+not pray quite so loud;" and for days after it he could not pray at
+all. He had never thought of others while communing with God, and he
+was troubled that others should think of him. Even to the last he
+continued the practice of praying audibly.
+
+Miss Fiske sometimes spoke to her pupils on the subject. There was one
+who spent hours daily in her closet, but her teacher heard all she
+said. So, on a fitting opportunity, she suggested to her, in a gentle
+way, that she might modify the practice. "I will try to pray in a lower
+voice," was the reply; "but I never thought of anybody's hearing me."
+That night her voice was more subdued, but her prayer was very short;
+and soon after midnight her teacher was awakened by the voice of prayer
+out on the roof. She stepped out quietly; and there was her pupil
+wrapped in a blanket, and thanking the Lord for such a place to pray.
+She continued her devotions till near morning; and the kind teacher had
+no heart to interfere any further. Mr. Stoddard was much amused with
+her success; and it may teach all of us, in this matter, to suffer the
+Holy Spirit to divide to every one severally as he will.
+
+On another occasion, not liking to assume the responsibility herself,
+and yet fearing for the health of her pupil, who generally spent a long
+time in fervent devotion, she led the physician to the outside of the
+door; but he, too, after listening for a while, did not venture to
+interrupt such communion with God. Sarah of Tiary was within.
+
+Meetings were held three days in the week with the women in the
+neighborhood, and were well attended. The older pupils were allowed to
+assist in these in order to form habits of doing good for after life;
+and they did so to edification, both leading in prayer and addressing
+the beloved mothers--as they called those older than
+themselves--tenderly and in fitting words.
+
+It was of such a work that Miss Fiske wrote at the time, "We cannot
+speak confidently of its fruits at this early date, especially as many
+of our dear charge are so young; but we can say what present
+appearances are; and while we daily try to obey our Saviour's command,
+'Feed my lambs!' we trust that friends at home will hear no less
+distinctly the same voice, saying, 'Pray for my lambs in Persia.' All
+those whom we regarded as Christians have shown themselves most
+faithful to their Master during this season. Others, of whom we were
+less confident, have seemed to pass through a previously untried
+experience, and, we tremblingly hope, have laid hold of eternal life.
+The same is true of several never before convicted. Among these last is
+a little girl who was suddenly awakened, with as clear convictions,
+apparently, as I ever saw in any; and her final trust in Christ as
+implicit. For several days she would say, with tears and sobs, 'I have
+never yet loved the Saviour; but O, I do want to love him now.' Her
+mother is one of the few converted in Geog Tapa before the first
+revival. She has suffered almost every thing for Christ. Often, on
+returning late from meeting, she has found herself shut out for an hour
+in a piercing winter wind, before her husband would open the door. At
+other times she has been beaten, but never denied Him who bought her.
+The pious natives often say that in the conversion of her daughter, she
+now receives the reward of her years of prayer and faithful endurance.
+The last days of the term bound the dear pupils very closely to each
+other, and we trust to Christ. When the hour of separation came, a
+prayer meeting was held in each room, and continued to the last moment.
+Those without hope clung to their praying sisters, with tears and
+entreaties for prayer. The hopeful converts went forth with a holy,
+chastened gratitude and trust. We tremble for them among their wicked
+friends, but rejoice that Israel's Shepherd will keep his own."
+
+Their prayer was, "May we not carry to our homes the poison of the
+second death in our hearts, but bear to them the seeds of eternal life."
+
+But the rich blessings bestowed in Oroomiah were not all in answer to
+prayer ascending from that place. There was a connection between them
+and prayer offered in our own country, of which David would say, "Whoso
+is wise, and will observe it, even he shall understand the loving
+kindness of the Lord." Most of the revivals in Oroomiah commenced on
+the day of the monthly concert of prayer, and several on or immediately
+after the first Monday in January--a day specially set apart to prayer
+for missions. But there was a special centre of prayer for the Female
+Seminary in the institution at South Hadley; and pious hearts loved to
+watch the connection between the two. While the two inquirers, on that
+first Monday in 1846, were making closets for themselves with the
+sticks of wood in the cellar, some of Miss Lyon's pupils distinctly
+remember how she said to them that morning, "We must pray more for Miss
+Fiske and her school." They did so; and they remember, too, how the
+good news of the revival cheered them, when it came.
+
+The earliest indication of interest, in 1847, was on the first Monday
+in January; and letters afterwards told of special prayer for the
+school offered that day in South Hadley. Almost every letter written
+during the winter of 1849 contained similar information. The revival of
+1856 came suddenly and unexpectedly; but when, on the night of February
+17th, one of the praying pupils could not sleep, because, as she said,
+"the whole school was resting on her," and at midnight went to her
+teacher to ask her help in prayer, subsequent letters from America
+showed, that on that night she wrestled not alone. In 1857, the first
+inquiry for the way of life was on the last Thursday in February, the
+day of prayer for institutions of learning. Miss Fiske returned from
+the February concert of prayer, in 1858, feeling depressed on account
+of the want of interest in the school, and in half an hour was called
+to see two of her pupils, who felt that they could not remain the
+enemies of God. In the first week of February, 1859, meetings were held
+every evening in the Seminary at South Hadley to pray for the school in
+Oroomiah; and a letter from Miss Rice, written that week, says, "God is
+with us; souls are seeking Christ; and I am so strengthened for labor,
+that I am sure Christian friends are praying for us more than they did
+last month." Do Christians in this country realize as they ought the
+connection between their prayers and the blessings bestowed on the
+opposite side of the globe? Do we go to the monthly concert believing
+that prayer, offered then and there, will, through infinite grace in
+Christ Jesus, result in the salvation of souls and the advancement of
+his kingdom? Such facts as these ought surely to increase our faith.
+Well might a missionary say, "I have so often felt sure that I was
+reaping in answer to the prayers of those far away, that on this
+subject my heart is full, and my first and last word to friends is,
+'Pray for us.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+FORERUNNERS.
+
+MOUNTAIN GIRLS IN SEMINAKY.--PRAYING SARAH.--RETURN TO THE
+MOUNTAINS.--VISIT OF YONAN AND KHAMIS, IN 1850.--OF MR. COAN, 1851--OF
+YONAN, AGAIN, 1861.--SARAH'S LETTERS.
+
+But rich as are the benefits conferred on the females of the plain, the
+influence of the Seminary is not confined to Persia. It has climbed the
+rugged steeps of Kurdistan, and pours into its wild glens and secluded
+hamlets the same spiritual blessings. It is delightful to trace the way
+in which God has led to results, as yet only beginning to appear, among
+the mountain Nestorians.
+
+As the Seminary could not enter the mountains, Providence brought the
+mountains to the Seminary. In 1843, Badir Khan Beg sacked and burned
+the villages of Tiary, and the homeless fugitives who escaped the sword
+fled to the plains of Assyria and Azerbijan. Towards the close of that
+year, a miserable group presented themselves at the Seminary door for
+charity, asking for the lady who teaches Nestorian girls. The quick eye
+of the teacher detected three in the company before her, and replied,
+"Silver and gold we have not, but such as we have we will give you--a
+home for these children." This sent them away sorrowful, for it was not
+what they wanted. But while the parents retired to the shade of the
+tall sycamores to debate the matter, the little ones, attracted by
+kindness in a stranger, staid with their new friend. By and by the
+parents came back, and, falling on the necks of their children, told
+them they might stay, till they returned to Tiary. The teacher never
+heard a more gentle and subdued "thank you" than this announcement
+called forth from those mountain girls. This was the first movement of
+the school towards the evangelization of Kurdistan, and it will be seen
+how Providence led the Seminary at Seir in the same path.
+
+The girls were taken in, washed, and clothed; and though at first they
+knew no more of good manners than of the alphabet, they made
+commendable progress in both. Better than that, Sarah and Nazeo became
+hopefully pious in the revival of 1846, and Heleneh three years
+afterwards.
+
+The last days of the spring term, in 1849, as we have seen, were full
+of interest. The teachers did not understand it then, but now they see
+that God was preparing his first messengers to the rude mountaineers
+for the work before them. Among a company of praying ones, Sarah had
+long been known as "the praying Sarah." She was the pupil whom Deacon
+Isaac invited to come and pray[1] [Footnote 1: See page 151.] with him;
+and the strong man bowed before the simple piety of that mountain girl.
+Her mind was not so gifted as many of her associates. She comprehended
+truth with difficulty, but she prayed with all prayer and supplication
+in the spirit. At this time an unusual spirit of prayer was imparted to
+the school. The prospect of vacation, instead of diverting the mind
+from devotion, seemed to produce intenser earnestness. The voice of
+prayer fell on the ears of the teachers at all hours, except the most
+silent watch of the night. After the evening meeting, some spent two
+hours in their closets, and others of the older pupils could not leave
+till they had prayed with each one in the school alone. On the last
+morning of the term, they separated with many tears and fervent
+supplications. The quiet of the hour seemed a foretaste of the rest of
+heaven. Not a loud voice, heavy step, or harshly shutting door was
+heard in all the house. All was so sacredly quiet that the still small
+voice might be heard the more distinctly. The teachers sent out the
+lambs from the fold with feelings of peculiar anxiety. Some were to go
+into families where every soul would gladly undo in them the work of
+the Spirit; others to villages where not one heart could enter into
+their feelings as the followers of Christ; and as they went forth,
+their teachers prayed, from full hearts, that the Shepherd of Israel
+would himself be to them for a little sanctuary in the places where
+they went.
+
+While their thoughts were on such of their flock as belonged to the
+plain, the thoughts of God were on those also whom he was about to send
+forth to a life-long separation from these means of grace. As late as
+ten o'clock, on the evening after the close of the term, Miss Fiske
+heard the voice of prayer for the absent ones, and fearing that the
+occupant of the closet was transgressing the laws of health, she
+approached the door, intending to enter, and advise her to retire; but
+as she listened to her strong crying, with tears, for each of the
+school by name, she could not find it in her heart to disturb the
+intercessions of Sarah. She was then a great bodily sufferer, but very
+patient, and for a long time had not spent less than four hours daily
+in her closet. The next day her disease assumed a serious form, and for
+more than a week she hovered on the borders of the grave. Several times
+she appeared to have drawn her last breath. But though her sick room
+seemed to all like the gate of heaven, and though to her the dark
+valley was all light, and she longed to embrace the messenger who
+should lead her through, it was not her Father's will to call her then.
+She was at first disappointed at the prospect of coming back to the
+world; yet still she sweetly said, "Thy will be done," as God restored
+her to health, with its responsibilities and temptations.
+
+April came, and a scarcity in the plain, occasioned by locusts, drove
+the fugitives from Tiary back to their mountains. The teachers hoped
+the girls might remain, and besought their parents to allow them to do
+so, but in vain. They were only too glad to get their daughters away
+from influences which in their blindness they abhorred. But God
+intended through these daughters to lay the foundations of many
+generations, and build again the old waste places of those mountains.
+
+It was hard for them to go. How could they leave their Christian home,
+and the means of grace they had enjoyed so much? It was no less hard
+for the teachers to think of those lambs as about to be left at the
+mercy of wolves, in rocky glens, so far away that no cry of distress
+would ever reach them. Yea, even if those loved ones died, long years
+might pass ere their friends could hear of their death. Those were days
+of sadness, and communion with God was the only comfort of all, and
+especially of Sarah.
+
+On the day of their departure, the whole school came together, in the
+room of the teachers, for the parting prayer. All was silent, till the
+three asked to go and bid a farewell to their closets. They went, and
+only He who seeth in secret knows how they prayed. They returned
+weeping. A few words of comfort were uttered, and the teachers
+commended them to God. They rose from their knees, but only to kneel
+again; for one of the pupils proposed that all who would pledge
+themselves to remember their Tiary sisters in every prayer should join
+hands around them, commend them to the good Shepherd, and give to him
+their pledge. About twenty thus enclosed the departing sisters, and so
+they continued in prayer until the last moment. As the dear ones passed
+out, they could not speak, they whispered but one word,--"the
+promise,"--and so they went. For years after, no prayer was heard
+within those walls that did not contain a petition for "blessings on
+our Tiary sisters."
+
+Many a time had her teacher noticed the large folio page of Sarah's
+Syriac Testament wet with her tears, and after she left, found the
+whitewash of the wall in her closet furrowed with the same. It opened
+out of the passage behind the door on the left of the engraving. She
+did not tell this to the school, lest superstition should attach an
+idolatrous sacredness to the place; and yet she could not obliterate
+marks that to her own heart were so full of comfort. Sarah had gone but
+a little way before she pleaded with her parents to stop, and allow her
+to retire a little from the road for prayer.
+
+And so, weeping and praying as they went, these lambs were led into the
+dark recesses of a den of lions. We shall see persecution raging,
+pitiless as the mountain storm, and long continued. But we shall also
+see the Hearer of prayer preserving them unharmed; and if we hear more
+from the others than from Sarah, it may be that the revelation of the
+answers to her prayers is reserved for that day which shall unfold
+displays of grace too glorious for comprehension here.
+
+Nothing was heard from them till October, 1850, when Yonan and Khamis
+entered those rocky fastnesses to gather tidings of them. They spent
+the first Sabbath of the month in the house of Nazee; but she was
+absent. They say in their journal,--
+
+"We preached three times to large assemblies. They brought us Nazee's
+Testament to preach from, and seemed accustomed to the sound of the
+gospel. In respectful attention to the word, as well as in knowledge,
+they were far superior to other villages in Tiary. This we knew was the
+result of her teachings. Monday we waited her return. She came about
+noon. How can we express the joy of that meeting! We spent another
+night there, the most of it in sweet Christian conversation with Nazee.
+We were surprised at the respect shown to her, and the restraint felt
+in her presence. If any chanced to swear, he at once went and asked
+pardon for thus injuring her feelings. Tuesday we had to leave, lest we
+should be detained by the snow till spring. We longed to pray with her
+before we left, but custom here forbade it; yet she accompanied us a
+little on our way, which gave as an opportunity to mingle our prayers
+and tears together. As we bade her farewell, she said, weeping, 'Here
+is my love for my teachers, for my sisters in the school, for the
+missionaries, their children, and all that know me. Tell them to
+remember me in their prayers, that God may keep me in this place of
+temptation.' We left her looking after us, and wiping away her tears,
+till we were out of sight.
+
+"We went that day to the village of the other two. As soon as Heleneh
+saw us, she began to weep, thinking of the past. Sarah we did not see;
+she was in another village, very anxious to come, but her wicked
+husband, whom she had been forced to marry, would not permit it. We
+spent the night with Heleneh, and preached to a large company. Next
+morning we left, and she too, with tears, begged that all her friends
+in Oroomiah would remember her in their prayers."
+
+Was Sarah prevented from seeing her Christian friends, that God might
+show hereafter how, without even that help, he could answer the prayers
+of others for her, and her own?
+
+The next we hear of them is through Mr. Coan, who visited Tiary in
+August, 1851. The writer can understand his account of crossing the
+Zab, as the bridge was in the same condition when he crossed it with
+the late Dr. Azariah Smith, August 31st, 1844. But hear Mr. Coan:--
+
+"A toilsome day, over the roughest of roads, brought us opposite
+Chumba. The bridge had been swept away, and fording such a torrent was
+impossible. Two long poplar trees spanned the flood; and we crossed on
+them, bending under us at every step. Nazee was on the bank, ready to
+greet us. After a few words of salutation and kind inquiry, she
+hastened to prepare a place for us; and while doing this, the malik
+took us to his house. She was much disappointed, but followed, anxious
+to treasure up every word. After supper, we spoke long to the company
+assembled on the roof. It was affecting to see how eagerly she
+listened. She staid after the rest, for religious conversation, till
+near midnight, when she apologized for keeping us up so late. She is
+cruelly persecuted by her wicked mother and ungodly neighbors; for she
+is a shining light, by which the dark deeds of the wicked are reproved;
+and hence their hatred. When Mar Shimon's attendants come, they treat
+her with wanton cruelty. Some friends in America had sent her several
+articles of clothing; but her neighbors came together and tore them in
+pieces before her eyes. She bore it meekly, and only prayed for them.
+She expected fresh insults because of our visit, but prayed that
+nothing might separate her from the love of Christ. Long before day,
+she again sought to improve every moment for Christian conversation. We
+tried to comfort her: and her eyes filled with tears of gratitude. She
+received a copy of the Gospels with joy. When we left, she followed us,
+lonely and sad, to the river side. I opened her Testament, and pointed
+to Matt. xi. 28: 'Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy
+laden;' but her voice choked, and tears prevented her reading. We
+kneeled by the roaring Zab, and in broken accents commended her to Him
+who will keep her, for his promise is sure."
+
+For ten long years we hear nothing of either of the three; till, in
+September, 1861, Yonan--the same who found them in 1850--and another
+preacher visited the mountains. In a village of Tiary, some two
+thousand people were keeping the feast of the cross--eating, drinking,
+dancing, and carousing. They sat down among the quietest of the crowd.
+Heleneh came up and saluted them. Though she had not seen her teacher
+for eleven years, she recognized him at once. They talked from morning
+till near sunset. As they spoke of old friends, Yonan asked, "Heleneh,
+do you remember where our Lord was crucified?" "On Calvary. Can I
+forget _Calvary?_" as though grieved that he should think she could
+forget. Yonan gave her a kerchief for the head, saying, "Take this, and
+remember me by it." "Shall I remember you by this?" was the reply. "I
+will remember you in my prayers." "Do you pray, Heleneh?"--She was the
+last one converted, and left Oroomiah soon after her conversion; so he
+wanted to know whether she still held on her Christian way.--"Always,"
+was the answer. They sought a place to pray together; and though they
+might not go away alone, yet there, in sight, but not in hearing of the
+crowd, they approached the mercy seat, the spectators little dreaming
+of the nature of their intercourse. It was delightful to find that she
+had not forgotten the language or the spirit of devotion.
+
+The accompanying sketch of a Tiary girl will show how the kerchief is
+worn. It also exhibits the mode of using the Oriental spindle, which is
+probably a facsimile of the article mentioned by Solomon. (Prov. xxxi.
+19.)
+
+[Illustration: A TIARY GIRL]
+
+The other two were not at the feast; so, next day, they left to seek
+them at their homes. Nazee was absent, but came home in the morning--a
+widow with two children. She was delighted, and even her children
+seemed to recognize in the strangers their mother's friends. She was
+poor; her house had been burned, and almost all it contained; but a
+stone was on her Testament, and that was saved. They talked long with
+her, and gave her a copy of the Rays of Light (the monthly periodical
+issued by the mission), and a pencil to write to her friends. She gave
+them letters written ten years before, which she had penned in secret,
+and carried about with her ever since, waiting an opportunity to send
+them.
+
+The next day, another long journey brought them to the home of Sarah;
+she saw them coming and hastened to meet them; but that very night she
+had to leave for a distant village: yet not till in answer to prayer
+they had an opportunity to pray together; and the friends left that
+village happy; for, as Yonan said, they "found her, like the others,
+having the love of our Christ in her heart."
+
+That solitary disciple, through those long years of seclusion, never
+hearing the voice of Christian fellowship, or knowing whether her pious
+friends were alive, or if her sisters still remembered their pledge,
+was yet kept of God according to his promise; and it is interesting to
+see that she does not once allude to her persecutions in her letters,
+but only solicits the prayers of her friends for her relatives and
+neighbors; and then, while both Mr. Coan and her teacher testify to her
+usefulness, with what humility does she allude to herself, and "the
+very little she has made known of the Lord Jesus Christ."
+
+Extracts from the letters that she kept so long here follow. The first,
+to friends in Middlebury, Vermont, is dated September, 1851, and reads
+thus:--
+
+"To you, dear friends, I write a letter unworthy and imperfect, in
+which I make known to you my lost condition and my present abode. Know
+ye that a little more than two years ago I left the Seminary, and came
+with my friends to our country. I did not wish to leave so soon, for I
+had learned but very imperfectly what the Scriptures teach about our
+Lord Jesus Christ. But my mother was not willing I should remain, for
+her heart is yet hard and dark. Know, then, dear sisters in Christ, I
+dwell in Tiary, in the village of Chumba, about six days' journey from
+Oroomiah. Again, though so far away, know ye, that your letter reached
+me in May. It was translated and sent to me by Mr. Perkins, our beloved
+father, whom we are unworthy to call such. My dear sisters, when I took
+your letter in my hands and read, my heart longed to fly and sit down
+by you, and behold your faces in the body; but I said, "The will of the
+Lord, not mine, be done." When I look within myself, and see not a
+place worthy to cherish gratitude to God for his great mercy and grace,
+which he hath wrought for us, sinful and unworthy, I liken myself to
+the slothful servant, who did not the will of his Lord. Yet, O, my
+sisters, though I have not done the will of my Saviour, I have hope in
+him that I shall do it, and serve him henceforth so long as I am in
+this world--fleeting as a dream in the night.
+
+Though our country has been, in time past, greatly afflicted by the
+Koords, yet God has spared many of us, who had sinned and trodden under
+our feet the blood of his holy Son. But do not marvel that we have
+sorrow from the scourge God brought upon us for our sins. No. Still
+every day we provoke our Maker more and more. Then ought we not to
+mourn over this people, lost and fallen under the yoke of Satan? For
+should you go through all Tiary, you would not find one soul that fears
+the Lord, but all bound in fetters not to be loosed. If God do not
+loose them, quickly will they perish; and not this country only, but
+many others, sit under the shadow of death and walk in darkness, going
+to destruction. Then, dear sisters, though unworthy, we should increase
+our painful efforts, and our prayers to God, that speedily his kingdom
+may come and his will be done on earth as it is done in heaven, that
+all regions may know him and praise him forever. Beloved sisters, I am
+unworthy to thank you, and still more to thank God, who has disposed
+you to show such kindness to my poor body, and yet more to my perishing
+soul, with words so gentle and full of love; yet greatly do I thank you.
+
+Again, dear friends, I have one request to make--that every time you
+bow before God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of all who
+love him, you will remember me in your prayers, for I am very needy,
+and there is great danger that my soul will perish forever. Remember
+also my mother, and all my friends, sinners, and on their way to
+destruction. Know ye, further, that I conceal the writing of this
+because they would not allow me openly to write, for they are very
+foolish and benighted. Accept, then, this poor letter, as a token of
+friendship and gratitude, in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+From your unworthy and sinful sister,
+
+NAZRE, of Tiary. Amen.
+
+The following are extracts from another letter to the same persons:--
+
+"Though we are far from each other in this evil world, yet I hope that
+our Lord Jesus Christ will make us pure from sin, and worthy of his
+kingdom, where we shall see each other with that light which shall not
+end, in the joy of the holy angels. Ah, my friends, how great are our
+mercies and we how unworthy, but especially I!--unworthy of the gift of
+the gospel of God, which I have received, that I might make it known to
+lost souls around me. But know ye, very little have I made known about
+our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, dear friends, I desire to speak of him to
+lost souls, in the imperfection of my mind. But many do not desire even
+to hear of the sound doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet think
+to gain heaven, while they practise in this world according to their
+wicked desires. And for this reason, O my sisters, I beseech you that
+you will remember this people, lost and fallen under the snares of
+Satan; especially my mother, and brother, and all my friends. But more
+especially, I beseech you to remember me, a sinner, in your prayers,
+every time that you bow the knee before God, the Father of our Lord
+Jesus Christ, and the Father of all who fear him, and listen to his
+commandments."
+
+Accompanying these was the following to Dr. Perkins, dated October 3d,
+1851:--
+
+"To you, O my spiritual father, Mr. Perkins, I presume to send two
+letters, for friends in Middlebury. If you please, you will translate
+them, and send them; but I fear that they will give you much trouble.
+
+"Again, you wrote me in your letter, that I should teach children to
+read. Now, I am very needy myself of instruction. Yet I desire that
+that might be my employment. But that is a very difficult matter among
+such a people, of whom you have heard that although there may be here
+and there one who would walk in this way, yet there is a stone of
+stumbling and a rock of offence therein; so that every one that goeth
+in it, his foot stumbleth, and quickly he turns back.
+
+"Again, O friend beloved, though I am unworthy to call you such, yet I
+beseech you that you remember me always in your prayers. I know that
+you do remember me, but I desire that you remember me more, for I
+greatly fear for my perishing soul. Greatly do I desire to see you once
+more in this world, if the Lord will."
+
+He who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working, commissioned
+these praying souls to prepare his way in the mountains, even as he
+chose those other three to show forth his grace in death; and they who
+live to mark the future course of the river of life in those rocky
+glens will find, we trust, that his strength was made perfect in their
+weakness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+LABORERS IN THE MOUNTAINS.
+
+LETTER OF BADAL.--ACCOUNT OF HANNAH.--THE PIT.--'LETTER OF GULY AND
+YOHANAN.--ACCOUNT OF SARAH.--LETTERS OF OSHANA.--LETTERS AND JOURNAL OF
+SARAH.--LETTER FKOM AMADIA.--CONFERENCE OF NATIVE HELPERS.
+
+Besides these, the Seminary has sent up other laborers into the same
+field. At the monthly concert in Oroomiah, June, 1858, there were
+present four graduates, with their husbands, either going there for the
+first time, or returning to resume their labors. Guly, the wife of
+Yohanan, who had already spent one year in little Jeloo, was now about
+to return there with her husband. Nargis, the wife of Khamis, who had
+spent the winter laboring alone in the vicinity of Amadia, on the
+Turkish side of the mountains, was now with him, going back to Gawar.
+Hannah, the wife of Badal, who had sent her husband, three days after
+marriage, to his winter's campaign in the same region, was now
+accompanying him to the chosen field of his labors; and Eneya, the wife
+of Shlemon, his associate, was also expecting to leave in a few days.
+
+By the way of introducing the reader to one of these laborers, we
+subjoin a letter from Badal to Miss Fiske, dated December 12th, 1859.
+It is a good specimen of Oriental style.
+
+"Writing to you brings to mind many sweet conversations with you.
+Dwelling on them, my mind is sad. My sighs rise like the swelling
+stream, and almost carry me away, especially when I look at your
+garden, where you labored with so much skill to graft in these wild
+olive plants, cutting off your sleep with watchings by night, that they
+should not be rooted up by the desert wind. Thus you watched them, till
+they became as noble forest trees that not even the avalanche can
+overturn. Your garden, now, not only gives a shade pleasant to the
+traveller, but it yields sweet fruits; clouds rise from it that give us
+the early and the latter rain; they empty themselves,--the plain
+rejoices, and the barren places become verdant. Yes, the vine that you
+planted has budded, and blossomed, and gives of its fruit to every
+passer by. Come to us, our beloved, open the door of your garden, that
+the traveller may enter in and be refreshed. You have left many
+pleasant remembrances in the work of your hands. On every side you have
+left a picture for our eyes, and the skilful work of your hands (his
+wife), lo, and behold! it is with me. I cannot be silent. My voice
+shall be heard as the turtle's; 'Behold, your feet are within my doors,
+and your counsels are ever in my family.' The Lord reward you for these
+pupils, that you have taught to be patient and persevering, so that
+they truly help us in the work of life.
+
+"Beloved, give my love to your friends, and ask them, when they go up
+to Shiloh to offer sacrifice, to place me in the censer of their
+prayers.
+
+"We are troubled that as yet we know not the Lord's thoughts concerning
+you,--whether he will allow you to meet your flock again, or says to
+you as to Daniel, 'Thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of
+the days.' Like Moses, you are gathered to your fathers; but Miss Rice
+stands like Joshua, commanding the sun not to go down till the sword of
+the gospel shall triumph. We thank the Lord that she is still a judge
+in Israel, so that as yet the sceptre has not departed from Judah.
+
+"Your affectionate friend, BADAL."
+
+There are some things about Hannah, and the work of divine grace in
+her, that demand grateful record.
+
+She was the daughter of one of the most intelligent and wealthy
+Nestorians, who placed her in the Seminary as early as 1845. She was
+then quite small, and the teacher objected very much to taking her; but
+paternal importunity prevailed. As soon as her father turned to go, she
+began to scream; but he left, saying she must remain, and "learn
+wisdom." The kind teacher took her in her lap to soothe her; but it was
+of no use; her bleeding hands bore the marks of the nails of her new
+protegee for weeks. She called for her father, but he was intentionally
+out of hearing.
+
+The child remained, but learned wisdom very slowly. She had her fits of
+rage so often, that she was sent home sometimes for weeks, and again
+for months. She made little progress, either in study or other good,
+till the winter of 1850, when she seemed to begin to love the truth;
+yet, though her general deportment was correct, she often showed such a
+determined will, that her instructors feared she had never said from
+the heart, "Not my will, but thine," and often told her that, if she
+was a Christian, God would, in love, subdue that will. She could not
+feel her need of this, and thought that they required too much of her.
+So they were obliged to leave her with God, and he cared for her in an
+unusual way. The mission premises had formerly been occupied by an
+Oriental bath; and here and there were old pits, once used for carrying
+off the water, but now covered up, so that no one knew where they were.
+One evening Miss Fiske called the girls together, and told them some
+things she wished they would refrain from. They promised compliance,
+and went out; but hardly had they gone before their teacher heard the
+cry, "Hannah is in the well!" She ran there, but all was right. Then
+they led her to an opening just before the back door, saying, "The
+earth opened and swallowed her up." The covering of one of the pits had
+given way, and she had fallen perhaps twenty feet below the surface.
+Fortunately, as in the case of Joseph, there was no water in the pit,
+and in a few days she was able to resume her place in school, but much
+more gentle and subdued than ever before. The change was marked by all.
+Months after, in a private interview with her teacher, she gave an
+account of the whole matter. She said the girls went out, most of them
+saying, "We will obey our teachers;" but she, stamping her foot, said,
+"I did right before, and I shall do so again." With these words on her
+lips, she sunk into the earth. At first she did not know what had
+happened, but remembered all that had been said, and felt that God was
+dealing with her. Lying there helpless and bruised at the bottom of the
+pit, she made a solemn vow to God, "Never again my will." From that
+time she was a most lovely example of all that was gentle. She seemed
+to give up every thing, and "bear all things." Her father saw the
+change, and one day said to her teachers, "I am not a Christian; but
+Hannah knows nothing but God's will. If she should die now, I should
+know she was with Christ, she is so like him." Her Christian character
+developed beautifully; the school learned of her to be Christ-like. She
+longed to do good, and was ready to make any sacrifice for the good of
+souls. When Badal sought her hand from her father, the latter called
+her, and said, "Hannah, Badal the son of the herdsman, wants you to go
+to the mountains with him, and wants you to live here with him. It
+shall be as you say." She replied very meekly, "I wish to suffer with
+the people of God. I choose to go with Badal;" and June 8th, 1858, she
+left for her mountain home.
+
+The parting prayer meeting with those four girls, going as missionaries
+to the mountains, was one of the pleasantest memories that Miss Fiske
+carried away from Oroomiah. She left soon after, but often heard from
+Hannah and her companions that she was happy in her life of privation
+for Jesus' sake, and did what she could. She suffered, however, from
+the change, and was advised to visit Oroomiah for her health. It was
+hoped she might soon recover; but she went only to leave her sweet
+testimony to the blessedness of knowing no will but God's, and then go
+home. She sent the following messages to Miss Fiske from her dying bed:
+"I love to have God do just as he pleases. I thank you for all your
+love, and especially for showing me my Saviour." She died in December,
+1860.
+
+Having given herself to Missionary work among the mountains, it is
+interesting to know that her little property also went to the same
+object. In the remarkable revival of benevolence, in Oroomiah, in the
+spring of 1861, her brother gave her inheritance, which had fallen to
+him, to sustain laborers in the mountains: thus, after her life had
+been laid down in the work, all her living went to carry it on.
+
+Let Guly introduce herself to the reader by giving her own account of
+her conversion, in 1856:--
+
+MY DEAR SUPERINTENDENT, MISS FISKE: I wish now, as far as I can, to
+describe to you my spiritual state. The first four weeks of the revival
+I did not realize that I was lost, but afterwards was more burdened; my
+sins were round about me like dark clouds. One night I went to Miss
+Rice to have her pray with me. I did not know how to find Christ. She
+told me; yet all that night I saw no light, but only darkness. I was
+almost in despair, yet felt that this was from Satan. In the morning
+the sun rose pleasantly, but it was as night to me; for I knew that I
+had no portion in God. So I continued all that day. I could not read in
+my class, but went to my room, and vowed not to leave it till I had
+some token that Christ was mine. I brought nothing in my hands save my
+sins, which were like mountains. I remembered that scripture, "Though
+your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;" and I
+recalled the promises of God, and that no other could pardon me. With
+earnest longing, I laid my soul into the hands of Jesus. I heartily
+covenanted to serve him all my life, and sought help from him in
+prayer. Then suddenly I saw light, as if he were at my side; and I did
+not wish to rise from my knees, so blessed was that communion. From
+that time I had hope, but sometimes fear I may be deceived. Yet daily I
+find Christ more and more precious. Though old Adam is not dead, yet in
+the strength of God I will resist him.
+
+Yes, my dear mother in Christ, my guide to the cross, my desire is to
+please God, and live for him, not for myself. I cannot say that I shall
+never sin, for I am weak, and my foe is strong; but I will seek help
+from Him who was tempted, and can succor me when tempted.
+
+I am most thankful to you that you have been the means of my salvation,
+and can never forget your love till my tongue is silent in the grave.
+
+Your affectionate GULY, of Seir.
+
+She and her husband, Yohanan, have labored in the mountains ever since
+their marriage. He writes to Miss Fiske in February, 1861,--
+
+"I have not forgotten your pleasant love, and trust I never shall until
+I die. I hope that, with all your friends here, I shall see you again.
+As our joy is not full in your absence, may you not rest till you
+return.
+
+"We are now in Vizierawa of Gawar; for the people of Ishtazin,
+instigated by Mar Shimon, have cast us out. I had hoped to go to
+Amadia, but was robbed and wounded, in the autumn, by the Koords; and
+before I could recover my goods, it was too late to go so far. So I
+remain here; and, thanks to God, our labor in the gospel is more
+pleasant than ever. Some of the men wish to hear the whole will of God;
+and women and girls come to Guly to hear his words. A few children also
+are constant in learning to read. The work of God prospers this year in
+Gawar, and the laborers are more numerous and more faithful."
+
+In estimating the zeal and self-denial of these Nestorian missionaries,
+it should be borne in mind that our missionaries there, think it
+requires as much self-denial for a native of Oroomiah to go to the
+mountains, as for an American to go to Oroomiah; and according to the
+testimony of a native observer, the married graduates of the Seminary,
+in the mountains, are centres of light in that great sea of darkness.
+
+Besides those already mentioned, Oshana and Sarah, with Shlemon and
+Eneya, are laboring in Amadia. This Sarah is daughter of Priest
+Abraham, of Geog Tapa, and was one of the earliest pupils of the
+Seminary. When Deacon Isaac broke it up, in 1844, she was the only
+pupil who remained. She was hopefully converted in 1846, and while in
+the Seminary was supported by the Sabbath school in Owego, New York.
+
+In 1849, it was proposed that her father labor in Ardishai, one of the
+darkest and most wicked villages of the plain, as one might expect the
+home of the notorious Mar Gabriel would be. Great opposition was made
+by the people to his coming among them; and his own wife--not then
+converted--did much to hinder his going; but Sarah did all in her power
+to encourage him; and a letter of hers on the subject decided him to
+go. She rejoiced to give up her friends, her pleasant home, and even
+her privileges, that he might labor in that unpromising field. Nor was
+she by any means idle. She spent all her vacations there, laboring with
+much acceptance and success; and after she graduated, in 1850, besides
+her day school through the week, she had a Bible class on the Sabbath,
+with the women; and on Friday, also, she sent out her pupils, in the
+afternoon, to invite their mothers and other women to a meeting she
+held with them in the evening. She thus acquired great influence, and
+led several to the Saviour. Her labors were very systematic. She had a
+plan for conversing personally with one pupil each day, and was noted
+for her tact and success in efforts with individuals. Others might act
+from impulse, and soon tire; but hers is an activity controlled by
+principle, and therefore uniform and enduring. Very faithful in
+admonition when admonition is required, she is at the same time noted
+for gentleness, and thus expresses to Miss Fiske her delight in
+laboring for Christ: "Separated from Christian friends, I am sometimes
+sad; but I am not greater than my Master, who left the holy society of
+heaven to come to earth, and I am glad for a corner where I may labor
+for such a Master. Come and spend a Sabbath here if you can; if not,
+pray much and often for these poor women." Again speaking of her
+school, she says, "It is the goodness of God that gives me these little
+girls. Pray for them. I see indications that they will be lovers of the
+Lord. Forty or fifty of the women come to meeting, and twenty-two are
+willing to receive the truth." She was accustomed to study the Bible
+with her father, and in that way also aided him in his labors.
+
+But it is time to bring forward her husband, in letters which open up a
+new department of usefulness, and illustrate the meaning of Mar
+Yohanan, when he brought her first pupils to Miss Fiske, and said, "No
+man take them from you." The truth was, that the same parents, who at
+first could not trust their daughters in the Seminary for a single
+night, were now unwilling that they should be united to a husband who
+did not commend himself to its teachers as a suitable companion for
+their pupils. But let Oshana speak:--
+
+HONORED LADY, MISS FISKE: I have a petition to lay before your zeal,
+which is active in doing good to all poor insignificant ones like me.
+Dear lady, whose love is like the waters of the Nile, and spreads more
+than they; for it reaches the sons of the mountains of Kurdistan, as
+well as those of the plain. I am venturing to trouble you more than
+ever before. This summer, when I went to my country (Tehoma), my mother
+and uncles, who greatly love me, with a natural love, beset me to marry
+one of the daughters of my country, whomsoever I should please; but I
+made known to them that I wished, if possible, to take one of the
+pupils of your school, for I said to them, "If I take one of these who
+are so wicked, ignorant, immodest, and disorderly, they will embitter
+my life;"' I entreated of them not to put this yoke of iron on my neck.
+They listened a little to my petition, from the mercy of God, but made
+me promise that if it should reach my hand, I would marry this winter.
+The girl on whom I have placed my eye, to take her, is Sarah; because
+she has the "fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom," and she
+has been brought up in all the graces of Christianity, and has well
+learned the holy doctrines; and in the fear of God, and the knowledge
+she has acquired, she can help me, and strengthen me, in the work of
+God, on which I have placed my heart for life.
+
+And now, to whom shall I look to help me in this matter? I will look to
+God, the Lord of heaven and earth. But he works by instruments. Then to
+whom shall I look, as the instrument to do this work? I am a stranger,
+poor, and without a name here. My relatives are far away. If I have
+friends in Oroomiah, they cannot do this kindness for me. If I remain
+silent, silence alone shall I see. Now, my lady, I look to you for
+help; and with confidence shall I do so more than I should to my
+parents; for you have guided me and my sister better than any
+Nestorians have guided their children. Yes, by your hand God will
+supply my need. Now do as you think proper. From your unworthy
+
+OSHANA.
+
+P.S. The other letter (enclosed) is for Sarah, and on this subject.
+
+Some time after he was engaged to her, she was very sick, when he wrote
+as follows; and the reader will notice that the "honored lady" gives
+place to
+
+DEAR MOTHER, AND NOURISHER OF SARAH: I have no friend in whose
+pleasant, pure love I can delight as in Sarah, and she is now wasting
+away on a bed of sickness. My heart is very heavy with sorrow on her
+account. Yes, I am so borne down with trouble, that for three days my
+tears have not been stayed. I do not say this to boast of my love. I
+owe her all this. I have a petition to make; which is, that you will do
+all you can for Sarah. But I need not ask this, for I am confident that
+your kindness, will lead you to do, and cause to be done, all that can
+be done for her. But will you not let me know whether her sickness
+increases or diminishes?--if it increases, that my sighs and tears may
+increase in pleading before the Lord for mercy, and if it diminishes,
+that my thanksgivings may increase before our merciful Father in heaven.
+
+Dear mother, if it is the will of our Father in heaven to take Sarah to
+the upper mansions,--though I shall be comforted on account of her
+being saved from all the bitter misery of this world, and her blessed
+rest with the Saviour, where she can praise his love with her pleasant
+voice, joined with the sweet songs of angels,--still it will be hard
+for me. If I live after she has gone, God forbid that I behold her
+dust, and not long to be her companion in heaven. Your unworthy
+
+OSHANA.
+
+Our next letter is from Sarah to Miss Fiske, written at Seir, in 1859,
+more than two years after her marriage, and gives a good idea of her
+Christian spirit:--
+
+BELOVED: The good news that you gave us of the revivals in your
+country, rouses our hearts to warmer zeal. Shall we not also prepare
+the way of the Lord? We know, by the gracious visits of God here this
+winter, that Christians there are ever praying for our poor people. For
+we hear from the preachers who come up to the concert every month, that
+the work of the Lord goes forward in the villages of the plain, and
+also in the mountains.
+
+Here in Seir, the good work began among the women. I hear them say,
+"Though we have had revivals before, we have never seen a year like
+this, when the words of God had such deep effect." Mrs. Cochran and I
+have good meetings with these women. Our congregations make glad the
+Christian heart, and I am particularly happy in laboring for them, one
+by one. A portion of them, with tearful eyes, are covenanting to be the
+Lord's. We ask the Lord to strengthen them in their covenant, and we
+entreat of you and of your friends to pray for them.
+
+Our Sabbath schools are very pleasant. Mr. Cochran will tell you how
+the work goes forward. Mrs. Cochran has a class of women, and so have
+I. Last Sabbath Mr. Cochran read one of your letters to the
+congregation, and we learned from it how the work of the Lord goes
+forward in your blessed churches. We praised the Lord, and then we
+entreated him to bless our churches, and make them more spiritual, for
+we are confident that his grace is sufficient for us all.
+
+She visited Tehoma, in May, two months after the date of the preceding,
+with her husband, Oshana, and two little children, and gives the
+following account of their journey:--
+
+"Through the favor of our heavenly Father, I have made a journey into
+these mountains, rejoicing in the opportunity to labor for my people. I
+am very happy that my father and friends brought me on my way in
+willingness of soul. From the day that I left my own country, in every
+place that I have entered, until now, my heart has been excited to
+praise my Guide and my Deliverer, and I have also been grateful to my
+teachers who brought me to labor in a desolate vineyard, joyfully, I,
+who am so weak, and such a great sinner. In all the various
+circumstances in which I have been, your counsels have been of great
+benefit to me.
+
+"I think you will be glad to know that the gospel door is wide open
+here. You and your friends will pray that the Lord of the harvest would
+send forth laborers into his harvest.
+
+"We left the city of Oroomiah, May 6th. We were ten souls--Hormezd, of
+Aliawa, Sagoo, of Geog Tapa, Matlub, the Tehomian, Guly, and little
+Gozel, Oshana and his brother, our two little girls, and myself. May
+8th, we reached Memikan, and remained there three days.
+
+"It was our first Sabbath in the mountains. I met that company of women
+for whom our departed Mrs. Rhea used to labor. May 12th, we left
+Memikan, and went up to the tops of the snowy mountains of Gawar. The
+cold was such that we were obliged to wrap our faces and our hands as
+we would in January. As we descended the mountain, we found it about as
+warm as February. That night we staid in the deep valley of Ishtazin,
+in the village of Boobawa, where Yohanan and Guly dwell. The people
+here are very wild and hard. Yohanan and Guly were not here, having
+gone to visit Khananis. Only a few came together for preaching. The
+people said, 'Yohanan preaches, and we revile.' May 13th, we left
+Boobawa, and soon crossed the river. Men had gone before us, and were
+lying in wait there. They stripped us, but afterwards, of themselves,
+became sorry, and returned our things. As we were going along this
+wonderful, fearful river, and beheld the mountains on either side
+covered with beautiful forests, we remembered Mr. Rhea, the composer of
+the hymn, 'Valley of Ishtazin.' And when filled with wonder at the
+works of the Great Creator, we all, with one voice, praised him in
+songs of joy fitting for the mountains. Here the brethren reminded me
+that our dear Miss Fiske had trodden these fearful precipices. This
+greatly encouraged me in my journey. This day we went into many
+villages, and over many ascents and descents. At evening we reached
+Jeloo, and remained over night in the pleasant village of Zeer, which
+lies in a valley made beautiful by forests, and a river passing through
+it. They showed great hospitality here, and were eager to receive the
+word of the Lord. May 14th, we left Zeer, and went to Bass. It was
+Saturday night, and we remained over the Sabbath in the village of
+Nerik. I shall always have a pleasant remembrance of the Sabbath we
+passed there. Prom the first moment that we went in till Monday
+morning, we were never alone, so many were assembling to hear the words
+of the Lord. With tearful eyes and burning hearts, they were inquiring
+for the way of salvation. They would say, 'What shall we do? We have no
+one to sit among us, to teach us, poor, wretched ones.' Truly, a man's
+heart burns within him as he sees this poor people scattered as sheep
+without a shepherd. May 16th, we mounted our mules, and went on our
+way. Half an hour from Nerik we came to the village of Urwintoos. An
+honorable, kind-hearted woman came out, and made us her guests. This
+was Oshana's aunt. As soon as we sat down, the house was filled with
+men and women. They brought a Testament themselves, and entreated us to
+read from that holy book. Did not my heart rejoice when I saw how
+eagerly they were listening to the account of the death of our Lord
+Jesns Christ! When the men went out, the women came very near to me,
+entreating for the word of the Lord, as those thirsting for water. Then
+I read to them from the book.
+
+"There are many sad deeds of wickedness among these mountain
+Nestorians; and when Christians hear how anxious they are to receive
+the words of life, will they not feel for them? We reached Tehoma May
+17th. Now, from the mercy of God, we are all well and in the village of
+Mazrayee. I am not able to labor for the women here, as I desired,
+because many of them have gone to the sheep-folds. It is so hot we
+cannot remain here, and we will go there also, soon. I trust, wherever
+I am, and as long as I am here, I shall labor for that Master who
+wearied himself for me, and who bought these souls with his blood.
+
+"The Lord keep and bless you, our beloved, who have been a mother to
+the Nestorian girls, all of whom, with longing hearts are expecting
+your return. We continually pray Him who gave you to us, to restore you
+again in mercy to our people. If counted worthy, I should greatly
+rejoice to receive a little note from you."
+
+She returned to Oroomiah in the spring of 1860, and left again in 1861
+for Amadia. When she went away, her three children had the whooping
+cough; so she would not go into any of the mission families lest she
+should spread the disease among the children; but after she was all
+ready to go, and the heads of her own little flock were peeping out of
+the saddle-bag contrivance in which they rode, Mrs. Breath went out to
+bid her good by. Sarah told her how Miss Fiske had said, when she took
+her oldest child into her arms for the first time, "'Now, Sarah, you
+will not seek for this child a pleasant home upon the plain, as Lot
+did, but rather to do God's will, and then he will give you all
+things." "I have always remembered it," she added, "and am not willing
+now to be found seeking my pleasure here."
+
+During the long winter of 1861-62, no messenger could cross the
+mountains from Oroomiah to Amadia; and she thus writes in March, 1862,
+to Miss Rice:--
+
+"I did greatly long for the coming of the messenger. We were very sad
+in not hearing a single word from home. Now I offer thanksgivings to
+Him in whose hands are all things, that he has opened a door of mercy,
+and has delighted us by the arrival of letters. They came to-day. Many
+thanks to you and your dear pupils. The Lord bless them, and prepare
+their hearts for such a blessed work as ours.
+
+"Give Eneya's salutations and mine to all the school. I think they will
+wish to hear about the work of the Lord here. Thanks to God, our health
+has been good ever since we came, and our hearts have been contented
+and happy in seeing some of our neighbors believing, and with joy
+receiving the words of life. Every Sabbath we have a congregation of
+thirty-five, and more men than women. For many weeks only the men came;
+but now, by the grace of God, the women come too, and their number is
+increasing. I have commenced to teach them the life of the Lord Jesus
+from the beginning. I have strong hopes that God is awakening one of
+them. His word is very dear to her. Her son is the priest of the
+village, and a sincere Christian. Four other young men and five women
+are, we trust, not far from the door of the kingdom. We entreat you,
+dear sisters, to pray in a special manner for these thoughtful ones,
+that they may enter the narrow door of life.
+
+"From the villages about us we have a good report. They receive the
+gospel from Oshana and Shlemon, who visit them every Sabbath. In my
+journeys through these mountains, I have seen various assemblies of men
+and women listening to the gospel, poor ones, exclaiming 'What shall we
+do? Our priests have deceived us: we are lost, like sheep on the
+mountains. There is no one to teach us.' They sit in misery and
+ignorance. They need our prayers and our help. I verily believe that if
+we labor faithfully--God help us to labor thus--we shall soon see our
+church revived, built up on the foundation Christ Jesus, and adorned
+for him as a bride for her husband. With tears of joy we shall gaze on
+these ancient ruins becoming new temples of the Lord. Soon shall these
+mountains witness scenes that will rejoice angels and saints. Those
+will be blessed times. Let us pray for them, and labor with Christ for
+their coming."
+
+Our latest news from Sarah is, that during the summer of 1862, her
+little son had died, and she herself was just recovering from a
+dangerous fever.
+
+The joyful anticipations awakened by such a letter from a graduate of
+the Seminary, in ancient Amadia, are not diminished by accounts
+received of a conference of "Mountain helpers," held in Gawar, from May
+30th to June 2d, 1862. They came from Gawar, Jeloo, Tehoma and Amadia.
+At the opening of each session, half an hour was spent in prayer; then
+carefully prepared essays were read on subjects previously assigned,
+and each topic was afterwards thoroughly discussed. The first subject
+was, "Hinderances to evangelization in the mountains,--such as their
+ruggedness, deep snows, superstition of the people, and persecution."
+Deacon Tamo, in speaking, admitted all these, but said, "For rough
+roads we have our feet and goats' hair sandals; for deep snows, snow
+shoes; for the darkness and superstition of the people, we have the
+light of the truth and the sword of the Spirit; and for persecution, we
+have God's promise of protection and the firman of the sultan." "The
+faithful pastor's duty to his flock," and "Means of securing laborers
+for the field," were among the topics discussed. Their discussions on
+the subject of benevolence showed that they regarded that duty as
+binding as any other. They engaged to observe the monthly concert, and
+take up monthly and also annual collections in their congregations, and
+apply the proceeds to the support of a laborer in the mountains. On
+Sabbath evening the monthly concert was observed, and after stirring
+addresses, the contribution amounted to what was for them the very
+large sum of fifty-two dollars. Among the offerings were a horse, an
+ox, a sheep, a goat, and different articles of jewelry. Arrangements
+were made at the conference for the formation of a Protestant community
+in Gawar, in accordance with the firman of the sultan. In all respects
+the meeting was a rich spiritual festival, and from the spirit its
+members manifested, and the progress already made, we may hope for
+extensive and important results before many years have passed away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+EBENEZERS.
+
+EXAMINATION IN 1850.--COLLATION AND ADDRESS.--VALEDICTORY BY SANUM.
+--SABBATH SCHOOL IN GEOG TAPA.--EXAMINATION THERE IN 1854.--PRAYER
+MEETING AND COMMUNION AT OROOMIAH, MAY, 1858.--SELBY, OF GAVALAN, AND
+LETTER.--LETTER FROM HATOON, OF GEOG TAPA.
+
+There are occasions, interesting in themselves, that also serve to mark
+the progress which they promote. Such an occasion was the examination
+of the Seminary, June 6th, 1850. There have been examinations since,
+but none so marked in their influence for good; none where the teachers
+felt so much like calling the name of it "Ebenezer," and saying,
+"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."
+
+The pupils had improved, during the last weeks of the term, more than
+they had ever done in twice the same length of time, both spiritually
+and mentally. At the close of the term, their parents and friends, with
+some of the leading Nestorians, were invited to the examination. More
+than one hundred and sixty spectators, besides the pupils, were crowded
+into the large recitation room. This had been adorned with a profusion
+of roses, from the vineyard of Mar Yohanan, arranged in wreaths and
+bouquets, with festoons of sycamore leaves, and other devices. The
+people were delighted,--for, like other Persians, they are great
+admirers of flowers,--and many, on entering, involuntarily exclaimed,
+"Paradise! Paradise!" In their various studies, the attainments of the
+pupils would have reflected honor on a seminary in our own land; but
+their knowledge of Scripture exceeded all besides. Even on the details
+of the Tabernacle they rarely faltered; and their compositions showed
+an intimate acquaintance with Bible facts and doctrines.
+
+Dr. Perkins delivered an address, comparing the early days of the
+mission with that scene, and felicitously answering various objections
+that had been raised against female education; and, at the close,
+diplomas were given to three of the oldest pupils.
+
+The exercises were pleasantly diversified by a plentiful collation
+under the arbor in the court behind the Seminary, where lambs roasted
+whole, in the native style, lettuce, cherries, pilav (a preparation of
+rice), and some cake, prepared by the pupils, were duly discussed. Many
+of the women had never before sat at the same table with men, and it
+was amusing to witness their awkward embarrassment. Some snatched the
+food from the table by stealth, and ate it behind their large veils, as
+though it were a thing forbidden.
+
+Hormezd, the Miner of John, now aged and blind, who had been led all
+the way from Geog Tapa, said, towards the close of the afternoon, "I
+wish Joshua were here."
+
+"And what do you, want of Joshua?"
+
+"I want him to command the sun and moon to stand still, for the day is
+altogether too short." As the company dispersed, several old men took
+Miss Fiske and Miss Rice by the hand, saying, with moistened eyes,
+"Will you forgive us that we have done no more for your school?" But
+the best of all was, some sixty adult women, from different villages,
+begging for spelling books, that they might commence learning to read.
+Thirty of them did not rest till they could read their Bibles. The
+cause of female education never lost the impulse that it received that
+day.
+
+Instead of the valedictory composed for this anniversary, is here
+subjoined the greater part of the one prepared by Sanum, for a like
+occasion, because it takes a wider range, and is richer in its
+historical allusions:--
+
+"Now that another year is closed, and we are ready to leave each other
+in peace, it is fitting to review the past, that together we may praise
+the sweet Keeper of Israel for the blessings he has poured upon our
+heads. We fear to try to recount them all, lest we tempt the Lord; so
+we will speak of but a few.
+
+"Let us renew the wings of our loving thoughts, send them to the years
+that are past, and see where rests the dust of some of the dear
+teachers of this school. Listen! There comes a voice, 'They are not to
+be found among the living.' Yes, the place of one is empty here, and of
+another there. Then, where are they? Thou, O country art a witness that
+they have pressed thy soil; and you, ye blessed winds, answer us, 'They
+have gone!' and ye green leaves of time are true witnesses that they
+lie among the numbered dead. But where shall we find them? They lie far
+apart. We must visit one that first laid her hand on some of us to
+bless us (Mrs. Grant); and though we remember her not, she often
+embraced us in the arms of love, and carried us before a throne of
+grace. She was one of the first that left all her friends, and ploughed
+the mighty waves of ocean, that she might come to Oroomiah's dark
+border. Though fierce tempests raged, and heavy waves raised themselves
+above the ship, her prayers, mingled with love for us, ascended higher
+still, and overcame all. At the foot of Mount Ararat she doubtless
+remembered the bow of promise; and her consolations were renewed, when
+she thought of it as a prophecy, that a company of the fallen daughters
+of Chaldea should become heirs of glory. She so labored, that her
+influence is widening from generation to generation.
+
+"The Lord is rewarding her even to the third and fourth generation. But
+though she engaged in her work with such holy zeal, her journey was
+short. Some of us had not seen our eighth summer when those lips, on
+which were written wisdom, were still; and that tongue, on which dwelt
+the law of kindness, was silent in death. Now she rests in our
+churchyard. She sleeps with our dead, and her dust is mingled with the
+dust of our fathers, till that day when she shall rise to glory, and a
+company of ransomed Nestorians with her.
+
+"But where is that other dear friend of our school [Dr. Grant], who was
+the beautiful staff of her support? He encouraged her to labor for us
+while many of us were yet unborn. His heart was large enough to love
+every son and daughter of our people. He sowed with many tears, and
+gave himself for the Nestorians. Shall we not believe that the fruits
+of his labors have sprung up among us? Then, where is he? Let us go
+silently, silently, and ask that ancient city, Nineveh. It will direct
+us, 'Lo, he rests on the banks of the noble Tigris.' Would that our
+whisper might reach the ear of the wild Arab and cruel Turk, that they
+walk gently by that stranger grave, and tread not on its dust. Then,
+shall we think no more of it? No; with a firm hope we expect that those
+mountains, on which his beautiful feet rested, shall answer his name in
+echoes, one to the other; and the persons who saw his faithful example
+there shall mingle in the flock of his Saviour.
+
+"But the journey of our thoughts is not finished. We must leave in
+peace this blessed grave, and go search for one with whom we were well
+acquainted [Mrs. Stoddard], and whose gentle, loving example is so
+graven on the tablet of memory, that it cannot be erased. Can we forget
+her prayers with some of us the week she left us? or how, when she took
+our hand for the last time, she said, 'The blessing of the Lord rest
+upon you'? We did not then expect that our eyes would no more rest on
+that lovely face, and our ears no more hear that sweet voice in our
+dwellings. When we heard of her departure to a world of light, it was
+hard to believe that she had gone and left us behind. Lo, on the shores
+of the Black Sea she has laid her down to rest. O ye angry waves, be
+still, and ye winds of God, fan gently that sacred spot. All our people
+are indebted to thee, thou blessed one. Thou, who didst first teach us
+to sing the songs of Zion, now removed from sin and sorrow, thou art
+singing with the myriads of the just. We would not call thee back, but
+rather praise the Lord that you and those other dear friends are
+entered into rest. No, ye are not lost, ye spirits made holy; but as it
+was necessary that some should come from a distant land to labor here,
+so ye were necessary to do a greater work in heaven. We believe that ye
+are doing there more than ye could have done here; yea, that ye form a
+part of that great cloud of witnesses that encompass us to-day. It is
+delightful to us to think that ye blessed ones guard us. It is a
+comfort to our teachers to think that you, who laid these foundations,
+are still round about us. Beloved ones, we would not call you back.
+Cling closely, and more closely, to your Saviour, till we, too, through
+free grace, shall share in your glory.
+
+"And now, beloved friends, who with them flew on the wings of the
+gospel across the ocean to tell us of salvation, we rejoice to-day that
+the sharp arrows of death have not touched you. Ye have been more than
+fathers and mothers to us. Our hearts are full of love to every one of
+you, O blessed band! but we cannot express it, except with a heavenly
+tongue. When darkness reigned in the breast of every son of the
+Chaldeans, and no whisper of salvation had fallen on the ear of their
+daughters, you opened the beauties of the priceless pearl before our
+eyes, that it should enlighten us with heavenly brightness. We cannot
+make known all that you have done for us. Let it remain till that day
+of light when the Lord shall commend you before his chosen. When we
+look at our dear teachers, our hearts warm to you with no common love,
+because you led them to leave the sweet place of their nativity for our
+sakes. You have been parents to them, wiping away their tears with the
+soft hand of a mother, and sharing their trials with a father's heart.
+While you have helped them in every department of their school, the
+blessing has all been ours.
+
+"If on the wings of an eagle we should fly to the extreme north, we
+should find no such school as this, crowned with blessings, but should
+see our sisters groaning in bitterness, saying, 'Not one ray from the
+divine sun rises on us in our misery.' If we turn to the south, there
+we see the daughters of Arabia lamenting, 'In all this desert, not one
+oasis yields the waters of life to quench our burning thirst.' Eternity
+alone will suffice to praise Him who sent you, the only heralds of his
+grace, to us sinners.
+
+"But our southern journey is not finished. From one end of Africa to
+the other our sisters lie wrapped in the shadows of death; and if we
+turn to the east, all the way to China, the daughters cry, 'Wretched is
+our unhappy lot: no cloud of mercy, such as surrounds you, lights up
+the place of our abode. So on the west, as far as Constantinople, our
+companions in suffering have no school to sound in their ears the
+blessed name of Jesus.
+
+"What are we, that the Lord should choose us from the midst of such
+darkness, and send you to us with the message of life? Let all nations,
+with wondering lips, praise the Almighty for his grace to us, so
+worthless.
+
+"Now that we go from you, we leave with you this our handiwork as a
+token of gratitude. [A specimen of needlework now among the curiosities
+at the Missionary House in Boston.] Receive it, though a trifle. The
+figures on it show what you have taught us in our pleasant school. As
+we have first of all been taught to sit at the foot of the cross, and
+neither hope nor glory in anything else, we have made that the
+foundation. Under the cross you have watered us with the showers of
+divine instruction and prayers, that, like this vine, we might entwine
+about it and bear pleasant fruit. From this cross we learned, while yet
+in the bloom of life, like newly-opened flowers, to join together in
+sweet friendship. Above this we have placed a circle around the Holy
+Bible, that bright lamp of the Lord, that will enlighten us like the
+sun if we follow its leading--that well of living waters, which will
+cause us to flourish like the palm tree. Thus will our leaf be ever
+green, and our fruit sweet till the day when the mystery of love shall
+be revealed, and we dwell in the mansions of the blest. There, joining
+with all the singers in heavenly places, we shall receive harps and
+sing glory to our heavenly King, who saved us from everlasting woe.
+There we shall inherit crowns of gold, and, with myriads of the saints,
+cast them down before the Lamb. If but one of us reach that place, will
+you deem your labor in vain? God, who rewards even the gift of a cup of
+cold water, will never forget what you have done to the least of his
+people, and if the least are on the earth, we are they. Now that you
+send us forth into the world, remember us, we beg you, whenever you
+bring your sacrifice before the Lord.
+
+"Dear teachers, your acts of kindness have been more than the hairs of
+our heads; we cannot recount them. We can only ask Him, who alone is
+rich, to reward you from his good treasures, for none but He can meet
+our obligations to you. Each thought that reverts to the past demands a
+tear of gratitude. O blessed seasons, when God sent down his Holy
+Spirit, that through your labors these walls of Jerusalem, so long
+broken down, might be again rebuilt. It is sweet to think that in the
+hand of Christ, you have been the means of the salvation of our souls,
+which are to live forever. We believe that your prayers and tears are
+in the golden censer before the throne. Now that we go out from under
+your wings of love, which cannot reach to all your scattered flock, we
+entreat you to ask the Good Shepherd to lead us in green pastures and
+beside the still waters, and keep us under his wings of mercy in our
+weakness.
+
+[Her address to the native teachers, bishops, &c., is omitted.]
+
+"Dear parents, we rejoice exceedingly to see you here, looking on us
+with eyes of love. No words can express what you have done for us,
+especially in sending us here to learn of Jesus. We trust that it has
+been, or shall be, a blessing to you also. It is our hope that you will
+be willing to send your daughters to distant places, to make known
+eternal life. If you do, great will be your reward from the Lord.
+
+"And now, sweet sisters, another year have we sat under our own vine
+and fig tree unmolested. We have tasted the honey and milk of the
+blessed land, and drank of the waters from the Rock. But now the time
+has come to leave these bowers of knowledge, but not the lessons here
+learned, nor the counsels of our teachers, nor the sweet whispers of
+the Holy Spirit.
+
+"Dear sisters, let us bear forth with us the light-giving countenance
+of the Saviour, which will scatter all the evil around us as the light
+dispels the darkness: without this we cannot go. Though separated in
+body, let us be united in fervent prayer. Let a conscience made
+sensitive by grace be our abiding companion. Let the tent of Abraham
+teach us that we have no abiding city here; and like him, let our first
+work be to offer those prayers to God which shall testify that he is
+ours. And now, before going forth, let us clothe ourselves with the
+meekness and gentleness of Christ. Yea, let us take with us all his
+virtues, being obedient, teaching our dying associates, and leading
+them one and all to Christ. Though we part, our love can never be
+sundered, and we will ask the Lord to send his ministering spirits to
+strengthen our faltering steps, and feed our souls with heavenly manna,
+so that if we never more see each other here, we may meet in heaven
+with our sisters who have gone before."
+
+The teachers improved the interest awakened by the examination in 1850,
+to urge their older pupils to labor in the village Sabbath schools; and
+let us look in on their efforts in Geog Tapa. The children there were
+divided into ten classes, each with one of the pupils for a teacher.
+Others taught the women who could not read. Soon these were joined by
+both old and young men, who were taught by pupils from the Seminary at
+Seir, and as many as forty spelling books were in active use. The
+children, too, were taught to sing. Thus they labored till winter, when
+the school was put in charge of the village school teachers. In the
+spring the pupils resumed the work with undiminished zeal. Nor did they
+toil in vain, for the attendance increased from about seventy to four
+hundred; and some of the teachers testified that they spent there some
+of the most delightful Sabbaths they ever knew. Yonan, who
+superintended the school with Moses, had also a class of old women,
+that increased from six to thirty-seven, whom he taught from the book,
+well known to our Sabbath school children, "Line upon Line." His own
+account of it is very interesting. He says, "The women, especially the
+aged among them, have a habit, when they meet, of engaging in
+unprofitable conversation, and, both on the way to church and in it, we
+could not stop it. Awakening sermons produced no impression; and though
+they had heard preaching for fifteen years, they were still very
+ignorant. But now what I teach them on one Sabbath I require them to
+repeat the next; and so they are obliged to leave off their gossip, and
+talk over what they have heard, that they may not forget it. These
+women are so anxious to be taught, that if I am hindered a little
+longer than usual in arranging the classes, they cry out after me in
+the church, that all the other classes are being taught, but they
+forsaken."
+
+A class of old men, taught by Deacon John, commenced with an attendance
+of ten, but soon numbered forty. Formerly they went to market on the
+Sabbath, or sat sunning themselves in the street, going to hear
+preaching about half the time; but they became so interested in the
+exercises, that they were unwilling they should close. They brought
+others with them, and if one of them was kept away one Sabbath, he
+mourned that the rest had got so far before him.
+
+The women carried their books with them when they went out to the
+vineyards, and at resting time: while others slept, they read. Some,
+who could not afford oil at night, read by moonlight, and when they
+spun, they fastened the book open on a shelf, so that they could read
+at the same time. Once, when a woman was asked if she could repeat her
+lesson, she replied, "O, yes; I repeated it over just now while I was
+milking." The men also took their books out to the fields, that they
+might improve every spare moment, and one was so earnest that, when
+waked in the night to attend to the cattle, he read till morning; but
+his family, finding that he burned so much oil, took care after that to
+let him sleep. Good old Mar Elias rejoiced to see such a work among his
+flock; and it was most pleasant to see the large church so crowded by
+people, seated on the floor, that one could hardly walk about among
+them.
+
+After the teachers had attended to their classes about an hour and a
+half, the younger scholars repeated the portion of Scripture they had
+learned during the week, and the parents were much pleased to hear
+their children recite.
+
+The daily report of the Seminary was introduced into the Sabbath school
+in a way that only Orientals could do it. The older members of the
+school were required to report any cases of swearing, stealing, or
+quarrelling among the younger ones during the week, who were publicly
+reproved on the following Sabbath. This made the parents more careful
+to watch over their children, and the children more circumspect in
+their daily behavior. If any little trouble occurred among them during
+the week, they said to each other, "Let us be careful; Sabbath is
+near;" and though at first some of the people smiled when the children
+were reproved, it soon became more common for them to weep.
+
+After taking an account of the attendance, the children sung, divided
+into two companies, on opposite sides of the church; and then Mar
+Ellas, or some of the elders of the village, addressed the school.
+Yonan closes his account of it by saying, "We have learned in this work
+more than ever before the value of female education. Among our most
+energetic, faithful teachers are young women who love to sit down
+before little children, and the ignorant of their own sex, and teach
+them the way of life."
+
+Thursday, June 1st, 1854, was a great day in Geog Tapa. The forenoon
+was devoted to the examination of a girls' school, taught by Hanee and
+Nargis, graduates of the preceding year, and both belonging in the
+village. As it was a feast day, a large number were present from the
+neighboring hamlets. At nine o'clock the examination commenced in the
+spacious church, which was crowded, the congregation numbering about
+six hundred in all. The fifty pupils occupied the middle of the church.
+The studies pursued were ancient and modern Syriac, geography,
+arithmetic, both Scripture and secular history, reading and spelling;
+and in all of them the pupils did credit both to themselves and their
+teachers. The singing, that day, especially pleased the parents, many
+of whom exclaimed with wonder, "Our daughters can learn as well as our
+sons." Miss Fiske rejoiced to see her children's children in the pupils
+of her first pupil, who gracefully managed her little flock with an
+easy control. The villages of Gavalan, Vizierawa, and Ardishai, had
+each a similar school, containing in all one hundred pupils; and each
+of these schools was as valued a centre of religious influence as of
+intellectual training. The teachers were in the habit of praying with
+one of their pupils alone every day, as well as of opening the school
+with prayer; and Friday afternoon was regularly devoted to a religious
+meeting with the mothers of the pupils. These schools fitted the
+teachers for usefulness, and the pupils for admission to the Seminary,
+as well as for teachers in the Sabbath school; and they furnish a
+delightful view of the present and prospective usefulness of the
+Seminary among the people.
+
+Noon came, and the large assembly scattered, to enjoy the hospitality
+of the village. For the people opened their houses for those in
+attendance, just as they do with us at the annual meetings of the
+American Board. Geog Tapa could also boast of its committee of
+arrangements, in humble imitation of greater things.
+
+After a recess of an hour and a half, the people reassembled for the
+examination of the Sabbath school, in a grove behind the church, as
+that building could not contain the multitude which now numbered more
+than a thousand. First came a class of men, from twenty to seventy
+years of age, headed by Malik Aga Bey, the village chief. They had been
+taught orally by Deacon John, and answered questions in Old Testament
+history very readily. Then followed a class of women, fifty or sixty in
+number, most of them over forty years of age. These had been taught by
+Yonan, and were quite familiar with the Old Testament, from the
+creation to the reign of David. One old blind woman wanted to point out
+the stopping places of Israel in the desert, on the map which hung on
+one of the tall trees: she had learned their names by heart, and was
+familiar with their location by touch.
+
+Next came a class of twenty men, who had recently learned to read; for
+which they had each received a copy of the New Testament. A class of
+women then followed, numbering twenty-three, who had also been taught
+to read by the boys and girls in the village schools. Mr. Stoddard
+called for the teacher of each woman to step forward; and a copy of the
+Old Testament was presented to every one of them, as they stood in a
+row in front of their pupils. There was one woman who stood without a
+teacher. Mr. Stoddard called for hers also, and some one whispered to
+him that she had been taught by her husband. Mr. Stoddard thereupon led
+him out, and, placing his hand on his head, said, before the whole
+assembly, "All honor to the man who has taught his wife to read!" and
+presented him also with a Bible.
+
+One who was frequently present often wept to see Women giving a morsel
+to their infants to quiet them, that they might devote the longer time
+to their lessons; some of them so intent on the work of learning, that
+their faces were bathed in perspiration. She used to fill her pocket
+and reticule with cakes for the little ones, so that their mothers
+might be more free from interruption. The exercises of that day gave a
+great impulse to the cause of education in Geog Tapa. As many as
+seventy adults were soon poring over their spelling books; and the next
+summer one half of the adult women were either readers or engaged in
+the same employment; though previous to the examination of the Seminary
+in 1850, not one in thirty could read, or cared to learn.
+
+Having given an account of these two interesting occasions, let us now
+look in on another equally interesting, though of a different kind,
+that took place in Oroomiah, three years later. During the interval,
+Mr. Stoddard had entered into rest; and his bereaved widow, Dr. Perkins
+and family, and Miss Fiske, were about to sit down together, perhaps
+for the last time, with the Nestorian converts, at the table of the
+Lord.
+
+It was in May, and the day one of the finest of those charming May days
+in Oroomiah. The most of the Nestorians who had been admitted to the
+communion were present; and in distributing the guests among the
+mission families, it was understood that all who had been connected
+with the Seminary should go there. The object of this was, to gather
+all the scattered members of the family together once more in the place
+where prayer had been wont to be made, before they went to the Lord's
+table. As yet, no one knew that their teacher was about to leave them;
+for she did not wish any thing else to turn away their thoughts from
+Jesus. When they had assembled in the school room, she could not say
+much, but besought the Lord Jesus to be the Master of the assembly.
+After singing a hymn, the words "looking unto Jesus" were given as the
+key-note of the meeting. He came and whispered peace, and all felt that
+they sat together in heavenly places. The eyes of their hearts were
+opened, so that they realized the fulfilment of the promise, "There am
+I in the midst of you."
+
+They were invited to speak freely of their joys and sorrows, in order
+that together they might carry them to Jesus. The first to speak was
+Hanee, one of the two whom Mar Yohanan brought to Miss Fiske at the
+commencement of the school.[1] She had, not long before, buried her
+only child; and holding her hands as though the little one still rested
+on her arms, she said, "Sisters, at the last communion you saw me here
+with my babe in these arms. It is not here now. I have laid it into the
+arms of Jesus, and come to-day to tell you there is a sweet as well as
+a bitter in affliction. When the rod is appointed to us, let us not
+only kiss it, but press it to our lips. When I stood by that little
+open grave, I said, 'All the time I have given to my babe, I will give
+to souls.' I try to do so. Pray for me." She told but the simple truth;
+for after the death of her child, she used to bring the women into the
+room where it died, and there talk and pray with them. Since then, she
+has received another little one, and in the same spirit given it back
+to Christ. When she ceased, the whole company were in tears. The leader
+could only ask, "Who will pray?" and Sanum, whose children had died by
+poison, and who could enter into the feelings of the bereaved mother,
+knelt down and prayed as very few could pray for mothers left desolate,
+and for those who still folded their little ones in their arms. There
+was perfect silence while she pleaded for them, save as the sweet voice
+of her own babe sometimes added to the tenderness of her petitions. A
+child in heaven! what a treasure! and what a blessing, if it draw the
+heart thither also! [Footnote 1: See page 51.]
+
+There was a little pause after the prayer; and, to the surprise of all,
+the voice of Nazloo was heard in another part of the room; for they had
+supposed her near, if not already entering, the river of death.
+"Sisters," said she, "since seeing you, I have stood with one foot in
+the grave; and may I tell you that it is a very different thing to be a
+Christian then, from what it is in this pleasant school room. Let me
+ask you if you are sure that you are on the Rock Christ Jesus." A
+tender prayer followed, the burden of which was, "Search us, O Lord,
+and try us, and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in
+the way everlasting."
+
+The next to speak was one of the early pupils, who had come many miles
+that day to be present. She said, "I could think but one thought all
+the way as I came, and that was, 'Freely ye have received, freely
+give.' We have certainly received freely: have we given any thing? Can
+we not do something for souls? I fear the Lord Jesus is not pleased
+with us."
+
+They were then asked if they were ready to engage in direct labors for
+souls, to search them out, and by conversation and prayer seek to lead
+them to Christ. Many pledged themselves to the work, and engaged to
+bring the names of those for whom, they had labored to the next
+communion, that all together might intercede in their behalf to God.
+Before that time arrived, Miss Fiske left for America; but the first
+letter she opened, out of a large parcel that awaited her in Boston,
+was one containing the names of those with whom her pupils had labored
+and prayed in distant Persia. Is it strange that, as the slips of paper
+fell at her feet, her heart was moved?
+
+But we cannot dwell longer on the prayer meeting. As many as twelve
+said a few words, and more than that number led in prayer, during the
+two hours they were together: from thence all repaired to the dining
+room,--the three upper windows on the right of the engraving belong to
+this,--where they did "eat their meat with gladness and singleness of
+heart." Then it was announced that arrangements had been made for class
+prayer meetings. It seemed to be just the thing that all longed for,
+though none had spoken of it; and at once each class went along the
+familiar passages to the room assigned it, and the voice of prayer
+arose from nearly every apartment in the building. The chapel bell
+rung, but it was unnoticed; and each little company had to be
+separately summoned to church. There, according to previous
+arrangement, Miss Fiske led each to a seat, that the communicants might
+be together, and then herself sat down behind them all. A glance
+revealed ninety-three sisters in Christ before her; and as the services
+had not yet commenced, her thoughts went back to the day when, asking
+concerning many of them, "Is this one a Christian?" "or that one?" "or
+that other?" the answer came, "You have no sister in Christ among them
+all!" No wonder she now inwardly exclaimed, "What hath God wrought? The
+Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." There was but
+one among the ninety-three with whom she had not bowed the knee in
+prayer, and that same evening, as she was devising methods to get her
+away from the rest to her room alone, the Lord sent her, unexpectedly,
+to the door; and with her also she enjoyed the privilege of personal
+religious intercourse and prayer.
+
+At the communion, when all stood up to enter into covenant with
+thirty-nine new converts, six of them pupils of the Seminary, there
+seemed a deeper meaning than ever before in engaging to be the Lord's
+forever.
+
+In Hanee we have seen the grace bestowed on one of the two whom Mar
+Yohanan brought to form the nucleus of the school. The other was Selby,
+of Gavalan, his own niece. She became hopefully pious in 1846, when
+hardly ten years of age. There were very few in whom her teachers took
+such uniform delight, though they felt some anxiety when she married
+Priest Kamo, of Marbeeshoo, a cousin of Mar Shirnon--intelligent and
+influential, but unconverted. Yet she had strong faith that he would
+become a Christian, and soon gained a wonderful influence over him,
+without compromising in the least her own religious principles. She
+became his teacher in the Bible,--it was a new book to him,--and in her
+he saw the Christian life it described beautifully exemplified. She had
+just begun to hope that her prayers were answered in his conversion. He
+was much interested in aiding the evangelists in the mountains, and the
+mission was hoping great things from him, under the good influence of
+Selby, when he died. Her feelings, under this affliction, are thus
+described by her own pen, in a letter to her teacher, dated Marbeeshoo,
+June 4th, 1859:--
+
+"It is not because I have forgotten you that I have not written you
+until now. How can I forget you? And were that possible, I could not
+forget your instructions. I remember them at all times, by day and by
+night. They comfort me in sorrow, and strengthen me in anguish. You
+have taught me the duties of this life, and you have pointed me to the
+world to come. I remember when you used to take me by the hand, and
+lead me into your closet, and there pray with me; and my heart fills
+with mingled joy and sorrow--with joy, that such precious seasons were
+given me; with sorrow, that they will be mine no more. Shall I never
+see your face again--that face, which bore to us more than a mother's
+love? You were a perfect mother, because in Christ.
+
+"I grieve very much that I did not see you before you left; but I
+believe that the seed you have sown will continue to spring up to the
+end of the world. You asked me, in your letter, to tell you about my
+work. I have a greater work than any of my companions, but it is in a
+place covered with thick darkness, like that of Egypt. The people are
+stiff-necked, wise to do evil, but of God they have no knowledge.
+Temptations surround me as mountains; they rise up about me like the
+waves of the sea. While Kamo lived, I was comforted, for he loved the
+truth. Every day he used to read the Scriptures with me, and ask the
+meaning of each verse. I had hoped he would have Paul's zeal in the
+work of the Lord. I had expected that we should have schools in our
+village after a year or two, and that the places of concourse for idle
+conversation would become places for reading the Scriptures, and for
+prayer. But it has pleased the Lord to give me a great and heavy
+affliction. He has smitten me with his own rod, making this world a
+vale of tears. But it is the Lord; let him do what he pleaseth. It is
+all for my profit.
+
+"I want to ask you and your friends to pray for me, that I may endure
+to the end."
+
+The feelings of the pupils, after the departure of Miss Fiske, are
+graphically expressed in the following letter from Hatoon, of Geog
+Tapa:--
+
+"My heart longs to tell you of the change in our dear school. Our
+return, after vacation, was much like that of the Jews from Babylon,
+when they found their city laid waste, and their temple in ruins. Every
+time they looked on the spot where it had stood, their hearts were
+crushed. So when we did not see you, and went not to take your hand and
+be kissed by you,--when we saw not your ready feet coming to the door,
+to bring in each one and make her happy,--our hearts were broken, and
+we could not restrain our tears; especially when I remembered the times
+that the daughters of the church used to meet in your room to mingle
+our prayers, our tears, and our joys together. These recollections
+leave an aching void which cannot be filled. It seems to me that the
+ways of your room mourn, because you come not to the solemn feasts. If
+Jeremiah were here, I think he would say, 'How doth Miss Fiske's room
+sit solitary that was full of people! How do the daughters of the
+Oroomiah schools mourn, and their eyes run down with water, because
+Miss Fiske is far from them?' These changes show us that this world is
+as down driven by the wind. Perhaps you will reply, in your cheerful
+way, 'Do you feel so? There is much that is pleasant in the world.' I
+know it; but our school was always such a pleasant place to me. I was
+so happy in it and its heavenly employments, that not even the death of
+friends could destroy that joy. But now I seem overshadowed by dark
+clouds, and sinking in deep mire. Yet I will try, in all this, to bow
+my will to the holy will of Him who doeth all things well."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+COMPOSITIONS.
+
+THE FIELD OF CLOVES.--THE LOST SOUL.--THE SAVED SOUL.--HANNAH.
+
+It was very important that the pupils should be able to express their
+own thoughts, readily and correctly, with the pen, and unwearied effort
+was devoted to this end; but for a long time they seemed incapable of
+clothing an idea in words. The simplest sentence was copied over and
+over without the change of a single word; and even when it was
+expressed for them in other language, they only repeated over that
+variation of the first. Three years were spent in trying to teach them
+to write their own thoughts, with very little success; but in 1846, the
+Spirit of God secured the result that man had sought in vain. After
+that, both their ideas and their language were very beautiful. Nothing
+pleased them better than to be allowed to write; and it was matter of
+grateful remark that those compositions which were penned during a
+revival were always the best.
+
+This was especially true in the awakening of 1850, which was noted for
+the prevalence of a spirit of meditation and holy communion with God.
+The pupils at that time came forth from private intercourse with their
+Saviour, to pen some of the sweetest writings in the Syriac language.
+
+One day that winter, both the teachers wished to attend an examination
+at Seir, and asked them if they would be diligent during their absence.
+"O, yes," was the reply, "if you will only let us write composition."
+The following was found on the slate of Nazloo, when they returned:--
+
+"THE CLOVER FIELD.
+
+"We walk out in the country, and the road leads us by a lovely field of
+clover. We see it in all its modest beauty. There are the green leaves,
+so regular in their form and outline; the beautiful flowers, so
+wonderful in their structure; and the sweet fragrance, that regales our
+senses as we pass. All these are there, but we see not whence they
+come. No showers descend to make it grow; the earth is parched on all
+sides. Do you inquire for the source of all this loveliness? A tiny
+rill of water flows gently underneath. No eye sees it. You cannot hear
+its quiet advance, for it does not murmur as it wears itself out in its
+work of love. Noiseless it hies to each little rootlet. It conveys
+nourishment to every leaf; not one is overlooked or forgotten. That
+unseen rill causes these fair blossoms to spring forth. It distils
+these odors for the enjoyment of all that pass this way. What that
+streamlet is to the field, prayer is to the Christian. We see it not;
+it is all hid from human eye; but O, the rich fruit that it yields
+every day in the soul thus made partaker of the life of Christ! That
+also makes the wilderness to rejoice and blossom as the rose."
+
+At the annual examination in 1850, Sanum read her composition, a
+translation of which is here inserted:--
+
+"THE LOST SOUL.
+
+"I have dreamed a dream, dear friends--may I relate it?
+
+"In my dream I was wandering about, seeking for earthly pleasures,
+though my life was crowned with blessings more plentiful than the dew
+of the morning. My father and mother did every thing they could to
+bring me to Christ. Their labors for me were enough to make me weep my
+last tear, but my hard heart remained unmoved. Four times did the Holy
+Spirit strive with me, and as often I grieved him away. I broke every
+promise that I made to serve the Lord.
+
+"There came a beautiful day in spring. The sun lighted up every thing
+with gladness. The fields were dressed in green. The trees were in
+blossom. Loved by my friends, surrounded by every thing to make me
+happy, and rejoicing that so much enjoyment was still in store for me,
+I was saying to my soul, 'Take thine ease,' when suddenly a voice
+cried, 'This night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall
+be all these?' Another voice added, 'These four years heaven and earth
+have pleaded with you to bring forth fruit to God, but you have
+refused. Your heart has said "I will fix my seat above the stars of
+heaven." Now you must go down to the abyss.' Like arrows these words
+pierced my heart; my strength departed, and others bore me to my home.
+There my parents were speechless with sorrow. The bed of down was made
+ready, but it afforded me no rest. I seemed to lie on thorns. Then I
+appeared to faint, though still able to hear their conversation.
+Sobbing aloud, they said, 'Sweet child, if you were only a Christian,
+gladly would we go with you to the gates of heaven, hoping soon to meet
+again; but this is more than we can bear. Alas, that one borne in the
+arms of our love, with whom and for whom we have prayed, must now say
+that our God is not her God, nor our Saviour hers! Is there no ray of
+light for her in the darkness? Can we never again point her to Jesus?'
+As I listened in anguish, I cried aloud, 'Is there no hope for me?'
+They replied, 'We will implore mercy for you again and again, and
+possibly the physician may help you. Here he is.' As he came in the
+recollection of his past faithful warnings made me weep aloud. He said,
+'Why weep? Do you not wish to see me?' 'Dear friend, it is not that;
+but the sight of you recalls your entreaties to come to Christ, and my
+neglect of them. If you can only give me one hour of quiet, I will try
+to come now.' He saw that the hand of death was on me, and replied,
+'What you do you must do quickly.' 'What can I do in such distress?'
+'Can you not cry, "Lord, remember me," like the dying malefactor?'
+'Those words comforted me once, but now I cannot use them.' 'Can you
+not pray?' 'No. Once I would not hear God, and now he will not hear me.
+O father, mother, friends, pray for me. Send for my teacher to pray for
+me. Ask every servant of God to entreat for me while yet I live.' The
+request went forth. The weeping physician offered supplication at my
+side. My father and mother seemed to pour forth their last breath in
+intercession for me. As I turned, I saw my teachers, and conscience
+arrayed before me every word they had ever spoken to me of Christ and
+heaven. All my own actions were likewise spread out before my eyes.
+Then the whirlwind of my sins swept me away like a tiny leaf, to sink
+in a sea of anguish. My teacher now cried, 'We had hoped to see our
+dear pupil passing over to the new Jerusalem; but, instead of that,
+must she dwell among the lost?' A gentle voice then whispered, 'Go to
+Jesus; he will not cast you out.' 'To Jesus! nay, for knowingly my
+hands have pierced him. Willingly these feet have trampled on his
+precious blood. I have compelled his spirit to forsake me, and must
+perish.'
+
+"Then I saw those whom I had led into sin and encouraged in unbelief,
+and said to them, 'Can you forgive me?' But a voice from heaven
+replied, 'You cannot be forgiven; for the name of Jesus you have set at
+nought, and there is none other.' Then my teacher pressed my hand; she
+could not speak. I said, 'You have ever shown great love; can you not
+help me now?' 'Dear child, have I not told you that though I love you,
+yet I have no power to help in this hour or hereafter.' 'O, dreadful
+thought! Must I leave you all, forever? parents, teachers, all! Can you
+do nothing for me?' 'We can only point you to Jesus.' 'I have no part
+in him. I am a Demas; and with such agony now, what will be the wrath
+to come?' I begged all present not to live as I had lived. 'Seize the
+moments that fly swifter than the lightning. There is no place for
+repentance now: my retribution begins. Forget not these words of your
+lost sister.' I turned to my mother: 'There is no love like a mother's;
+can that do nothing for me now?' What could she do? 'Can no one help
+me? Father, father, I am going; can you do nothing?'
+
+"Now the light forsook my eyes. O for a few moments more! But even this
+was denied me; for, as I remembered, 'Cursed is the man that trusteth
+in man, and whose heart departeth from the living God.'
+
+"I now heard a voice as of a rushing, mighty wind. Trembling seized me,
+as I discerned four fiends of darkness. I uttered a piercing shriek,
+and died. Then I found myself suspended between heaven and earth.
+Behind me, the world I loved so well had gone forever. Before me I saw
+the Ancient of Days seated on his throne, his raiment white as snow,
+his eyes as a flame of fire, his feet like brass glowing in the
+furnace, and a stream of fire issued from before him; thousand
+thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand
+stood before him. Brightness radiated from him on all sides. He fixed
+his eyes on me, glowing with holy indignation, while a two-edged sword
+proceeded out of his mouth. My sins arose before me. Conscience
+condemned me. I could not look up. The pains of hell gat hold upon me.
+In a voice unlike all I ever heard before, he said, 'Slayer of my Son,
+despiser of my grace, what hast thou done? Thou hast set at nought all
+my counsels.' I longed to flee; but above me stood the Judge, below,
+the abyss. I could give no reply. Again he said, 'My covenant thou hast
+trodden under foot;' and he commanded his servants, 'Bind her hand and
+foot, and cast her into outer darkness, where is weeping and gnashing
+of teeth. There let her remain till that great day, when all mine
+enemies shall be trodden in the wine-press of my wrath.'
+
+"Then a voice from out of the throne said, 'Praise our God, all ye his
+servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great;' and all cried,
+like the voice of many waters, 'Amen. Allelujah.' Heaven responded from
+all sides, 'Just and true are thy judgments, thou King of saints.' Then
+Satan and his angels clapped their hands; and mocking my misery, they
+thrust me into the inner prison.
+
+"I now found myself associated with Cain, Judas, Jeroboam, and Jezebel.
+I understood what Christ meant when he said, 'Bind the tares in bundles
+to burn them,' for I was enclosed by them on all sides, and the flames
+from them kindled on me. Then a voice said, 'Judas sold his Lord once,
+but thou many times. Cain slew one brother; thou hast brought many to
+this place of torment.' Then all, especially those whom I had led
+there, cursed me. Fallen spirits gloried over me. The evil passions of
+all the lost were let loose on me. My own wicked feelings were kindled
+into a flame by the divine wrath. Now I understood that scripture,
+'They have no rest day nor night.' My ears, that had taken pleasure in
+evil conversation, were filled with revilings. My tongue, which had set
+on fire the course of nature, now itself set on fire of hell, I gnawed
+for pain. I looked up to beg a drop of water; but instead of it came
+the word, 'Daughter, remember.' As I looked up, I got a glimpse of one
+of my companions in Abraham's bosom. Once we were together pointed to
+Jesus. Now the impassable gulf was between us. Hope now fled forever,
+and that word, 'Remember,' brought every moment of my life before me in
+characters of flaming fire. Gladly would I have exchanged this agony
+for the pangs of death endured a thousand times over, or for all the
+sufferings of earth till the final conflagration. I cursed my soul,
+weeping without a tear. Why were my associates, once, like me, children
+of wrath, now in heaven, while I was shut out? Ah, they listened to
+Jesus, while I rejected him, and to enjoy a momentary pleasure plunged
+into all this anguish. I had loved those who now tormented me, and cast
+aside the loving Saviour. No ray of mercy can ever reach me more. No
+friend will ever love me again. In my madness I sought to flee; but
+wrath held me rooted to the spot. Cloud on cloud rose above me, each
+inscribed, 'Eternity!' A voice cried aloud, 'Forever!' and another
+replied, 'Forever and ever!' The waves of fire now rolled over me, and
+the worm that dieth not seized hold of me. I begged for even the
+smallest mitigation of misery, and the vials of wrath were poured out
+upon me. In my anguish I cried, 'Roll on, ye eternal ages!' But why?
+They will be no nearer through. 'O Lord, how long?' With an earthquake,
+that seemed to shake the very throne, came back the reply, 'Forever!
+Forever!' I sank down in unutterable agony. Then I awoke, and lo, it
+was all a dream. The darkness of night was yet around me; a cold sweat
+covered me; and that word, 'Forever!' still rang in my ears. Friends,
+this was a dream, and only a drop in the ocean, compared with the
+terrible reality. Let us pray that we may be saved from it through
+Jesus Christ our Lord."
+
+The large audience listened to these vivid delineations, part of the
+time, in breathless silence; and again the women beat on their breasts
+with half-suppressed cries for mercy. The reader, as well as they, will
+find relief from the companion picture by Moressa. Sanum's was an
+original conception of her own. The theme of this last was suggested by
+Miss Fiske, as a fitting counterpart to the preceding, but the
+treatment of it was left wholly with the writer.
+
+"THE SAVED SOUL.
+
+"While meditating on death, I fell into a sweet sleep, and dreamed a
+dream which rejoiced my spirit. I cannot refrain from relating it to
+you, dear Christian friends, who are looking forward to the glory that
+shall be revealed. I dreamed that my heavenly Father said to me, 'Dear
+child, heir of my kingdom, you have long enough borne the troubles of
+this vale of tears; now you shall be freed from them, and come to your
+heavenly home, to worship me in holiness.' As I listened, sickness
+came, and I laid me down on my bed of death with this thought: 'One
+more fruit of sin, and then--heaven.' My poor friends, not
+understanding this, inquired, with weeping, if I could not possibly
+recover; but when they saw that I was dying, they gathered round me, to
+go down with me to the banks of Jordan. My soul was exceeding joyful,
+for the light of the promised land shone on me, and the dread river was
+quiet, for Jesus had said to it, 'Peace, be still.'
+
+"While in this joyful state, I remembered with sorrow how many years I
+had refused to acknowledge the Prince of life as my King, while he
+waited with open arms to receive me; and how often, after putting my
+hand to the plough, I had looked back. My backsliding, my evil example,
+my neglect of souls, all rose before me like a dark cloud, and I was in
+agony. But soon a voice said, 'Thy sins are forgiven!' and all was
+light. I said, 'Lord, I must praise thee for this forever; but I cannot
+forgive myself.' Yet, though the pains of death were on me, I was
+comforted to be nearer the land where they sin no more. Earthly
+pleasure now seemed emptiness. The pleasures of heaven filled my
+thoughts. I said, 'Is this death--that which we poor mortals fear?' My
+friends asked, 'Has he no terrors for you?' 'No; none. The king of
+terrors is to me the chief of joys.' One of my teachers said, 'So you
+have no fear of him--no sorrow that your body shall lie in the grave!'
+'Why fear or sorrow, when Christ has overcome both death and sin?' My
+father then asked, 'Do you suffer much'?' 'Yes; but if I suffered a
+thousand times more, what would that be to those bitter hours upon the
+cross. This veil must be rent asunder, though by suffering, before I
+can see Him, whom, even now, I long to behold.' My poor mother
+interposed, 'But are you willing to leave us?' 'You are all very dear
+to me; but there is only one who is altogether lovely. When shall I see
+him as he is, and be filled with his love?'
+
+"It was now difficult to speak, but I could bid my friends farewell. I
+could thank my dear teachers for telling me of Christ, and ask their
+forgiveness for all I had ever done to grieve them. As my weeping
+mother wiped the cold sweat from my brow, she gently whispered, 'Where
+is my child going?' 'Mother,' I replied, 'your poor sinful child is
+going to that Saviour who has been willing to receive her.' His rod and
+staff then comforted me, till I had passed quite over into the blessed
+land. And, as I was borne on in my Saviour's arms, voices cried,
+'Welcome, dear sister; you are now made whole--you shall sin no
+more--enter into rest.' Mortal tongue cannot tell what I now saw of the
+treasures which Christ has prepared for the redeemed. He gave me a
+mansion he had made ready for me, and I found myself gazing on the
+brightness of the Father's glory. What a change had come over me! I was
+among those without spot, for they had been made white in the blood of
+the Lamb. Their voices were one, for all praised the Lord. Now the
+glory of the Ancient of Days filled me with awe. He sat upon a throne
+of light, with seraphim on the right and cherubim on the left, and I
+could read the foundations of his throne. Legions of bright angels and
+happy saints were around him. I fell down with them to worship at his
+feet, when he touched me and raised me up, saying, 'Thou art blessed,
+for thou art redeemed with the blood of my Son.' Then he clothed me in
+a heavenly robe, and bade all heaven rejoice, saying, 'This my child
+was dead, and is alive again, and is saved from everlasting
+destruction.'
+
+"He then revealed to me more fully that mystery of ages--the Redeemer
+standing on the right hand of the Father. He stood with open arms,
+saying, 'Come, daughter of my bitter grief, come in peace. I remembered
+thee on the cross. For thee I drank that cup of agony; thy curse has
+rested on me, that everlasting joy might dwell in thee.' As he thus
+spoke, I fell down to worship, and when I looked up, my eyes rested on
+his pierced hands and wounded side. Tears filled my eyes when I
+remembered that my sins had caused them; but they were tears that Jesus
+wiped away.
+
+"When I saw the book of remembrance at his side, I thought, there is
+the record of my sins; but he opened it, saying, 'Fear not; from the
+day thou first camest to me, they have been blotted out.' He then held
+out to me the Book of Life, bidding me to read my name recorded there,
+and added, 'Ages hence, in the great day of account, the world shall
+know that I have saved thee; and as thou hast not denied me before men,
+I will confess thy name before my Father and before his angels; enter
+into the full joy of thy Lord; inherit the kingdom, prepared for thee
+from the foundation of the world.' Then all the blessed ones cried,
+'Amen.' Their harps were tuned to a new song, and they praised the
+living God that another soul was rescued from the great adversary. A
+crown was also placed upon my head, that, with the saints, I might cast
+it at the feet of the Redeemer.
+
+"Afterwards I was led to our first parent, now for more than five
+thousand years in Paradise, but not walking amid forbidden fruit.
+Still, when he stretched out his hand to the tree of life, he seemed to
+remember that first sin, and to thank God more than others for the
+healing of the nations. His bright face glistened with a tear as he
+took my hand, saying, 'Heir of my fallen nature, welcome to this
+inheritance of the second Adam;' and I learned that tears are always
+wiped from that face when Christ brings home his fallen children.
+
+"As I turned, I saw the great company of the patriarchs, perfect in
+holiness, and clothed in light. Faithful Abraham was there, his faith
+changed to perfect sight, and rejoicing in his spiritual children. The
+meek Moses was there, adoring the Prophet whom God raised up from the
+midst of Israel like unto him. And I beheld Isaiah, satisfied with the
+eternal sight of the glory of which he had a glimpse on earth.
+Jeremiah, too, was no more weeping for the slain of the daughter of his
+people, and all the holy prophets were clothed upon with immortality,
+and praising their Beloved with holy lips.
+
+"While I stood gazing, on them in wonder, my thoughts reverted to my
+former state. What a glorious change, from a world of sin to a world of
+holiness--from sinful friends to the Friend of sinners. How different
+these sweet sounds of praise from the rude sounds of earth! I am
+receiving my reward for every bitter tear of penitence I shed on earth;
+an age of joy is before me. Who am I, that I should be raised from
+companionship with sin to the society of heaven? My soul at length is
+at rest. But how? Not as rests my poor body in the grave, but in
+blessedness; for I rest from sin, but not from praise. I rest from
+suffering, but not from everlasting joy. How sweet to rest, while not
+ceasing to cry, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty! I rest in
+the bosom of my Saviour. My prayers are turned to praise, and my love
+is perfect.
+
+"While these thoughts filled my soul, I thanked the Lord with a new
+song on the golden harp that had been placed in my hands, singing with
+a loud voice, 'What is my worthiness, O eternal King, that thou hast
+made me to walk in thy pilgrimage, while millions are shut out from it?'
+
+"Now a company of the holy ones led me through a street of pure gold,
+to where the river of water of life proceeded out of the throne of God.
+They showed me the hidden manna, and the tree of life yielding its
+twelve fruits, and leaves for the healing of the nations; and beyond, I
+saw a great company of martyrs who had been slain for the word and for
+the testimony of Jesus Christ. They stood beneath the altar, for they
+were living sacrifices. They were clothed in white, and wore crowns of
+glory on their heads, and they sang hallelujah to him who had been
+slain for them, and made them kings and priests forever in his kingdom.
+
+"While thus wandering among those holy mansions, I met a spirit crowned
+with honor,--Mary, the mother of our Lord. She was specially delighted
+at seeing me, saying, 'How glad I am that you, from that erring people
+who trust in me, have found the right way to this blessed place! Are
+there other sisters of like faith, who believe in the only Mediator?'
+When I told her that there were, she embraced me, and led me where I
+could see the twelve apostles of the Lamb. They were all seated round
+their Master, just as they used to be on earth; but no more debating
+who should be greatest, for now they ascribed all greatness to their
+King, and dwelt in perfect love. Among them I saw Peter, zealous still,
+but with a holy zeal. I heard him ask, 'How long shall those precious
+souls, redeemed by thy blood, be led astray? May I not fly on the wings
+of love, and destroy that city of blasphemy on the seven hills, that
+the glory may be thine?' But Jesus looked on him with an eye of love,
+and said, 'Simon, son of Jonas, the time is not yet come.' Then Peter
+only replied, 'Lord, thou knowest. Thy will be done.'
+
+"While in this joyful state, I walked in the green pastures of life. I
+went round about the holy city, and counted its towers. They were all
+of purest gold, and built with skill divine. I looked from the top of
+one of them, and beheld the sea of glass, and also caught a glimpse of
+the abyss, enough to see that the enemies of our God were all beneath
+his feet. I could see some, once my friends among them; but I could
+say, 'Holy and just art thou, O Lord God; and O, wonderful grace, that
+has made such as I to differ.'
+
+"But while thus filled with praise, and delighting myself in that ocean
+of love, I awoke, yet only to say, 'Blessed are the dead that die in
+the Lord.' Dear friends, let us cleave to Christ on earth, until he
+plants our feet on the Mount Zion above."
+
+The next composition was written by Nargis, of Geog Tapa, in 1852. It
+is an account of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, and gives a very good
+idea of the Bible knowledge of the pupils, and their interest in
+Scripture themes. The allusions to the condition of Nestorian families,
+illustrate, and are illustrated by, the statements of Chapter I.
+
+"About three thousand years ago, the family of Elkanah dwelt on the
+hill of Zophim, in Palestine. He was a just man, and one that feared
+God. According to the custom of those days, he had two wives, Peninnah
+and Hannah. Let us turn our thoughts to Hannah, for every memory of her
+is pleasant. She had no son, on whom she could look as a staff of joy
+for her old age. Yet Hannah had a worthy portion in the love of
+Elkanah, which flowed unceasingly like a crystal stream. Why was she
+thus loved? We believe because of the lovely spirit which she had
+received from that gentleness of the eternal Son which maketh great;
+and, like him, her voice was not heard in the streets. Instead of the
+contentious temper of the women of this age, we find in her a meek and
+quiet spirit; instead of pride, humility; and instead of anger,
+patience; she was kind, pleasant, and abounding in other graces. Shall
+not such a woman be praised?
+
+"Now Elkanah took his family to Shiloh, to worship and feast before the
+Lord. But the envious Peninnah so grieved Hannah that she could neither
+eat nor drink. Soon, however, she heard the sweet tones of her
+husband's voice. Was it not like an angel's? saying, 'Hannah, why
+weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? Am
+I not better to thee than ten sons?' When she heard that she arose and
+ate. Love was rewarded by love. She would not grieve Elkanah. Unlike
+many in our day, she was obedient to her husband, yielding her will to
+his, and clothed with humility. They were not only one flesh, but one
+spirit; and they walked together in the valley of love to that world
+where love is made perfect. Now, after she had shown her love by
+partaking of the feast,[1] may we not suppose that she arose and
+whispered to Elkanah to know if he would approve of her intended vow;
+and did he not reply, 'Your vow is mine.' Then did she not seek a
+corner of the court where she might pray? Radiant spot, where Hannah
+communed with God! herself a bright light among the women of that age.
+There, in bitterness of soul, she wept before the Lord, and obtained
+his blessing. She believed that God would grant her request, as he saw
+best, and gave back her expected son to the Lord to be his forever.
+Here was true faith. She left all with God; and though, like her
+Saviour, she prayed the more earnestly: still her voice was not heard.
+But we hear the voice of Eli: 'How long wilt thou be drunken?' 'O Eli,
+Eli, why speak to her thus? She was of thy flock, and thou shouldst
+have distinguished her from other women round about her.' [Footnote 1:
+In Oriental families, anger is shown by refusing to eat, sometimes for
+several days.]
+
+"Bright star of that generation! Blessed art thou among the daughters
+of Levi. The moving of thy lips is like the voice of the dove. There
+was a blessing in thy mouth, like the olive leaf of Noah's dove, that
+told of rest from the tossings of the flood; for thy request was about
+to give rest to the millions of Israel. Blessed art thou, daughter of
+Zion. Thou soughtest not a son for thy own glory, but for the glory of
+thy God.
+
+"What a prayer was Hannah's! It brought a deliverer and a prophet to
+Israel, an intercessor and a preacher to the people of God. May the
+daughters of Hannah and the sons of Elkanah be multiplied among our
+people. She is a mirror into which we may look, to learn how to forsake
+our evil ways. Let us, like her, build up the kingdom of our Lord Jesus
+Christ.
+
+"Her prayer finished, Hannah returned to her house. Her sorrow was now
+turned into joy, and her happy face was like the opening rose of the
+morning. No wonder she was joyful. The will of the Lord was her will,
+and what evil could befall her? Blessed Israel, that contains such a
+praying soul.
+
+"Time passes on, and the answer to that prayer is a beloved son. The
+grateful mother calls him Samuel--'God heard.' Her full heart could
+give no other name to this child of prayer. She would remember ever,
+Not mine, but God's. And now the childless one folds in her arms a
+child of the covenant. New joy fills the heart of Elkanah. Their son
+was new to them every day; yet not alone as theirs, but His who
+answered prayer.
+
+"The time now draws near for them to go again to Shiloh. The happy
+father does not forget God in his mercies. He appears before the Lord
+with his thank offering;--a noble example to us. He asks Hannah to go
+with him: not in a voice of harsh command, but in love he said, 'Will
+you go?' and it was, doubtless, a gentle voice that answered, 'Not now,
+for then I must bring Samuel back with me. He is too small to leave;
+but when he is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear before the
+Lord, and there abide forever.' The good Elkanah was satisfied, saying,
+'Only the Lord establish his word;' for he had not forgotten the vow.
+So the happy Hannah remained at home another year, and taught the child
+as a mother only can.
+
+"When the time came to go up again to Shiloh, Samuel was probably three
+years old. That praying mother did not say, 'He is small; let him stay
+with me one year longer.' No! With her whole heart she carried him to
+the house of the Lord, to abide there; and she went not up empty,
+saying, 'It is enough that I give my son;' but in the three bullocks we
+find the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the peace offering, and
+in her son the first fruits besides. She was ready to say, 'In all
+things I am a debtor to the Lord.'
+
+"Nor did she come in pride of spirit, saying to Eli, 'You called me
+drunken, while offering a prayer that God hath heard;' but in all
+humility she accosts the aged priest, saying, 'I am the woman that
+stood by thee here, praying;' and then, leading forward the child, 'for
+this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, and I have
+lent him to the Lord.' We seem to see little Samuel approaching Eli
+reverently; and then turning those speaking eyes to his mother, he
+says, 'Is this my father, of whom you told me, and with whom I am to
+live?' 'Yes, my child, he will be your father.' And now Eli places his
+hand upon the head of Samuel, saying, 'Blessed art thou, son of a true
+daughter of Levi. The Lord bless thee, and make thee a prophet of the
+Most High.'
+
+"Hannah worships, and returns to her home. Her little son asks not to
+go with her; for he has been taught that he is the Lord's, and is to
+abide in Shiloh. What a blessing are praying mothers, training their
+children for God!
+
+"Still she does not forget the Lord's Samuel. Every year she goes up to
+Shiloh, with her husband, and as often does she carry for the little
+prophet a coat, made by a mother's loving hand. She did not say, like
+some of our mothers, 'If he is in the school of the prophets, let the
+prophets clothe him;' but she clothed him for the Lord's service, and
+he comforted Eli as he was never comforted by his own children. Will
+our mothers follow the example of Hannah? Should a voice come from the
+mountains to-day, calling for preachers, would they give their sons to
+go and save the lost? Blessed are those mothers who give their sons to
+be soldiers of the cross; who, like Hannah, lead the way to the throne
+of grace, and serve God in their households.
+
+"The Lord helped Hannah to pray, and he helped her to write that
+beautiful song. Her words are golden and full of wisdom. It is fitting
+to call her a mother in Israel. Deborah sat as judge, but Hannah gave a
+judge and teacher to the people of God. Both were bright stars, but
+where is the people on whom they shone? The chosen people are
+scattered. Deborah, perchance, sleeps under the oak of judgment, and
+Hannah on the hill of Zephim. We love to think that her son stood by
+her dying bed to thank her for all her prayers and instructions, and
+see her reverently gathered to her people.
+
+"We leave thee, mother of the holy prophet. Thou hast passed through
+this valley of humiliation. Thy works follow thee, and thy God hath
+crowned thee with glory and honor. Sweet singer of Israel, sing on in
+heaven, for with thy Saviour thou canst never sorrow more. Who will
+rise among us to carry forward the kingdom of our Christ? Such as honor
+the Master here, he will honor when mothers in Israel see their sons
+made kings and priests unto the Lord forever."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+KIND OFFICES.
+
+HOSPITALITY OF NESTORIANS.--KINDNESS OF PUPILS.--BATHING FEET.--LETTERS
+OF GOZEL, HANEE, SANUM OF GAWAR, MUNNY, RAHEEL, AND
+MARTA.--HOSHEBO.--RAHEEL TO MRS. FISKE.--MOURNING FOR THE
+DEAD.--NAZLOO.--HOSHEBO's BEREAVEMENT.--DEATH OF MISSIONARY
+CHILDREN.--LETTER FBOM SARAH, DAUGHTER OF JOSEPH.
+
+The foregoing pages have told something of the change that grace has
+wrought among women in Persia. Let us now look at some points in that
+change more carefully.
+
+The Nestorians are noted for their hospitality. Kindness to strangers
+is regarded as a part of their religion; and if, after bringing out the
+choicest of their stores, it is said, even in a strange language, "How
+can I eat this?" or, "Who could endure a dish like that?'" the words
+may be unintelligible, but not so the look and tone of the speaker. Yet
+even such treatment often only calls forth additional efforts to
+please. A stranger may not relish some of their dishes. Yet a spirit of
+kindness would be careful not to let this appear. In the Seminary, the
+pupils studied how to please, even in the folding of a table napkin;
+and the kind-hearted steward was perfectly delighted when reminded that
+the pains he took in the preparation of a meal was so much service to
+Christ, because it strengthened his servants to labor for him.
+
+The girls were very kind to each other. When any one was sick, her
+companions not only readily performed her share of domestic work, but
+nursed her tenderly besides. If their teachers were ill, they coveted
+the privilege of attending them by night and by day. It may comfort
+some timid one to know, that in Oroomiah Miss Fiske never had a
+missionary sister with her by night in sickness; not that they were
+backward to come, but the services of the pupils left nothing to be
+desired. It did good like a medicine to see those girls, once coarse
+and uncouth, showing even kindness in a way offensive to refined
+feelings, now move with noiseless step, anticipating every wish. They
+sought to conform every thing to the home tastes of their teachers; and
+yet there was nothing of that show of effort that says, "See how much
+we do for you." They seemed to feel that they could not do too much, or
+do it well enough. If Miss Fiske was exhausted and feeble during the
+day, they might say nothing at the time, and not trouble her even to
+answer a question; but when they supposed she was ready to retire,
+there would be a gentle knock on the door, sometimes on more than one
+door, and then, with a "Teacher, you looked tired to-day. Shall we come
+in and bathe your feet? The water is warm, and every thing ready,"
+their loving service would not cease, till every thing was in its
+place, and they had put out the light after she retired.
+
+Woman, there, as in the days of our Saviour, still bathes the feet of
+the guest whom she wishes to honor. And sometimes, when stooping over
+them, she rubs them gently with her loosely-flowing hair--not as a
+substitute for a towel, but as a token of kindly welcome. This
+privilege belongs to the oldest daughter of the family; and the custom
+once liable to perversion, now shines with new beauty, as the
+expression of Christian love. He who once accepted the service in his
+own person, will hereafter say, to many a daughter of Chaldea,
+"Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye
+did it unto me."
+
+Their tender sympathy with the afflicted was not confined to their own
+household. In January, 1857, Miss Fiske was absent at Seir, assisting
+in taking care of Mr. Stoddard in his last illness; and from a number
+of letters written to her, at that time, by her pupils, we select the
+following:--
+
+JANUARY 1st, 1857.
+
+Many of your flock have observed this as a day of fasting and prayer;
+and all have looked on it as a blessed day. The pleasant voice of
+prayer has been heard during all its hours, and it seems as if the
+Saviour was about to come among us with great power. I trust that he
+will work in many hearts by the Holy Spirit. We greatly desire to have
+you here; but again, with all our hearts, we wish you to do for the
+sick one whom we love. Yes, if each pupil were to write to you, all
+would say, we wish you to remain, and do all you can for him; and may
+he be raised up again to labor for our poor people. Give our love to
+Mrs. Stoddard, and tell her we are glad to have the one we greatly
+love, with her at this time.
+
+Your daughter, GOZEL.
+
+JANUARY 2d, 1857.
+
+My heart is drawn towards you all the time; but I thank God that he has
+given you strength to do for our beloved brother Mr. Stoddard. I am
+very much distressed when I think of him, and can only say, "The will
+of the Lord be done." I greatly desired to hear your voice yesterday.
+It was indeed a blessed day. Give my love to Mrs. Stoddard, and though
+it is hard for her to bear these bitter pains, tell her to try to trust
+the Lord of our beloved brother.
+
+Peace be to you, HANEK.
+
+The next is written by a graduate, who was then on a visit at the
+Seminary:--
+
+JANUARY 3d, 1857.
+
+I cannot tell you what great anxiety and anguish I have for Mr.
+Stoddard. He has won my whole heart by taking so much pains for my dear
+companions, and particularly for Elisha. I did not think he would be
+taken from us. This trial seems to me heavier than losing Elisha and
+Jonathan (her children, who died by poison), for it is not only a loss
+to his dear family, but also to this band of stranger missionaries, and
+a dreadful desolation to our poor people. May the Lord see how great is
+the harvest, and how few the laborers. I cannot write more; my eyes
+fail because of my tears. Give my tenderest love to dear Mrs. Stoddard.
+I know her sorrows in such trying days; would that I could help her.
+
+From your truly afflicted pupil,
+
+SANUM.
+
+The following was written the day after the death of Mr. Stoddard,
+which took place the 22d of January, and refers to that sad
+occurrence:--
+
+JANUARY 23d, 1857.
+
+What bitter intelligence comes to us these days!--the taking away of
+those who carried us in the arms of love to the blood-stained cross of
+Christ. Truly, my mother, these afflictions fall very heavily on our
+heads. The guides of our souls are cut off from us. What shall we do?
+
+Dearly loved sister Mrs. Stoddard, sorrow and mourning are ours. There
+is hope that you will soon meet the ornament of your life. But in his
+school and in ours are those for whom there is no hope that they will
+ever see him. Wounded sister, blessed is the heavenly pilgrim who has
+spent his life in a strange land, and been a well of living water to
+many thirsty souls. I know this separation is bitter to you; but there
+is consolation for you, for it is not eternal. But what shall I say of
+our poor people?
+
+O, how much more than any of you knew we loved that dear brother. It
+was a quarter past three o'clock this morning when your letter reached
+us (Miss Fiske's). I handed it to Miss Rice, and never saw such a
+bitter night except that in which my father died. I did not sleep till
+almost dawn; and when I slept, I saw the loved one standing in Miss
+Rice's room, his face shining like the morning star. Both his hands
+were raised to heaven, when suddenly he stooped and looked in my face.
+I said, "O, you are not dead!" He answered, "No!" and I cried aloud,
+"O, Mr. Stoddard is not dead!" and my own voice awoke me. How favored
+those of you are who see the face of our beloved friend!
+
+MUNNY.
+
+Still later, she writes to her teacher, who was again at Seir, during
+the sickness of Harriette Stoddard, whose death occurred March 16th,
+1857.
+
+Though it is a time of anguish, yet, blessed be God, he has given us
+One to whom we may look for comfort. A thousand thanks to the Saviour
+that he does not chastise us by taking away the Holy Spirit. Though the
+discipline is bitter, yet it is mingled with love, in that the Lord
+comes by death among his own, and by his Spirit to those who have not
+known him, that he may make them his own also. What grief would the
+lovers of the Lord have, if you now sat by the bedside of a sister of
+whom we had no evidence that her heart was purified by a Saviour's
+blood? If you are so distressed about one whom you trust your Father Is
+taking to rest in the bosom of his Son, how would you feel if she were
+one of those who, as soon as the breath left her body, would dwell with
+everlasting burnings! How thankful we should be that it is not the bed
+of one of these!
+
+I have never seen such a trying year; but I do not believe it is for
+the harm of those that fear the Lord. It only fulfils the promise,
+"Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." O that the gentle voice of Jesus
+might be heard, whispering, "Daughter, I say unto thee, arise!" Who
+knows but, if our faith were as Christ would have it, he would call
+this sister back to life, though now so near to death! But your Father
+knows what is for your good, and you know that here he often gives
+anguish to those who love him, that they may be exceedingly joyful with
+him hereafter. The Lord grant that these afflictions do not harden our
+hearts.
+
+I have conversed and prayed with all the younger girls, save two.
+Eleven say that they are resolved to follow Christ; but I fear lest the
+vineyards and the cotton fields do not testify hereafter that they have
+walked with God. It is very pleasant to me to sit down by them and ask
+them of their state.
+
+Yesterday (Sabbath) was a delightful day, but it seemed very short. The
+Lord help us in our weakness, and cause the dark clouds to rise from
+all your friends. The God of consolation heal the wounded spirit of
+your poor sister, Mrs. Stoddard. I have never seen the death of the
+righteous--only by hearing have I heard of it. The Lord be with you
+more and more.
+
+MUNNY.
+
+Others, written during the same period, are as follows:--
+
+Sorrower for us, who hast also become as a stranger to us!--Now we know
+your anxious love for us. We have no doubt that He who directs not
+according to man's thoughts has directed you to be away from us much
+this year. We had thought that it would be a very pleasant year; but
+the Lord has ordered it as he pleases, and let us say, "His will be
+done." We know that he does all for our profit. What a comfort this is
+to us who have given our all to the Saviour to do with us as he will!
+
+It is very hard to look at your vacant place; but we thank God it is
+not made vacant by death. Though not with us in body, we believe that
+you are, in spirit, and we rejoice that you can do as few can, for the
+sick. The Lord be with you, who are the second in anguish, and
+strengthen your weak body. The prayer of your pupils is ever for your
+life. We have no words with which to comfort you; we can only say, "The
+Saviour, with whom you are better acquainted than we are, give you
+comfort."
+
+What can we say to you, dear Mrs. Stoddard, who are shrouded in a cloud
+that is very dark? We know it is very hard for you to look on the great
+vacancy that is made in your dwelling. But do trust in the Lord; he
+will bring light out of darkness. We feel for you, plunged in a sea of
+sorrow, in the deep places of sighs. Our eyes are every hour upon the
+door, expecting what we shall hear from Harriette; and our prayer is,
+that if it can be the Lord's will, she may be brought back to you; but
+every letter increases our anxiety. We understand not the Lord's
+dealings this year, except this: we know that he does all things for
+the profit of our souls.
+
+RAHEEL.
+
+MARTA.
+
+The writer of the following was at that time a teacher in the Seminary,
+and a striking illustration of the elevating power of a good education.
+Formerly a female who was either lame or deformed was so despised, that
+she could never hope to be the head of a family: she was doomed to drag
+through a miserable life, the object of universal neglect. But Hoshebo,
+though a fall in early youth had shattered her ankle, and the ignorance
+of native surgeons made her a cripple for life, yet because of her
+education was as much esteemed as before she would have been despised,
+and is now the wife of Meerza, our native helper at Saralon. Miss Fiske
+might have filled up her school with such, but, with a wise foresight,
+selected her pupils with an eye to their future usefulness among the
+people, as well as their own personal advantage.
+
+When I understood from Miss Rice, that you would not meet your loved
+flock next Sabbath, I felt that I could not let all your absence pass
+without giving you an account of my charge. I have been sitting with
+them, as I do every Saturday evening, to search out their spiritual
+state; and I have good news to tell you of one for whom you, and also
+others, have been very anxious--Esli, of Takka. I noticed her changed
+all this week; but last night I saw a great breaking down under Mr.
+Cochran's preaching. She came out in anguish of soul. I then saw her
+alone, and found her contrition still increasing. I know this is not
+evidence that she has passed from death unto life; but I rejoice that
+she is visited by the Holy Spirit, and I trust she will become a
+Christian. I am anxious for her and for all the girls of my room. I
+look for the gentle shower that shall make the withered plants like the
+fresh springing grass. Though you are absent, we know well that you
+carry every one of your flock in the arms of love to Him who can do all
+things, whether you are far away or near to us. The girls send up many
+petitions for Harriette. We fear much when we recall your former going
+to Seir. How glad should we be to hear of indications that she will
+recover. Peace and love to Mrs. Stoddard.
+
+Your affectionate
+
+HOSHEBO.
+
+More than a year after this, Miss Fiske left Oroomiah, and at Salmas,
+on her way home, met her dear pupil Sanum, the wife of Joseph. Having
+no other place for devotion, they retired together to an orchard for
+the parting prayer. In a subsequent letter, Sanum thus beautifully
+alludes to it:--
+
+"O, the remembrance of that bitter separation! and of those prayers,
+when the green grass was watered with our tears! How could I have borne
+it, but for the recollection of Him who prayed and wept in the garden
+of Gethsemane, and whose kneeling upon the tender grass was for the
+comfort of our souls!"
+
+The gratitude of the pupils to their teacher extended also to her aged
+mother. Seldom have they written a letter to Miss Fiske, in America,
+without its message of kind remembrance to the parent who gave up her
+daughter, as Hannah gave up Samuel, to be the Lord's; and several wrote
+letters to her separately. From among these we select the following,
+written by Raheel (Rachel), of Geog Tapa, Sept. 10th, 1859:--
+
+MY DEAR GRANDMOTHER HANNAH: Though I have never seen you, yet I must
+write to you, for I love all Miss Fiske's friends as I do my own, and
+especially yourself. I want to thank you for all your love to me.
+Blessings have thus reached me which were not given to my early
+sisters. When it was a great reproach for a girl to learn to read, God
+had mercy on us in that he poured such love into your heart as made you
+willing to send your daughter eight thousand miles, by sea and land, to
+show our people the great mystery that had been previously hidden from
+their eyes--that there is salvation for women. They used to dwell much
+on those words of Solomon, "One man among a thousand have I found, but
+a woman among all these have I not found;" but now they see their
+mistake, and that Christ died for women also. Many thanks for your
+patience all these years. I know something of it from the feelings of
+my own mother, for if she did not see me for five months during term
+time, she would mourn that she had not seen her daughter for so long.
+
+It was certainly a sacrifice for Christ to come into this world, and
+deny himself; and it was also a sacrifice for the Father to send his
+Son, when he knew all the sorrows and wounds there were in the cup
+which he was to drink in this world of sin.
+
+You will see your daughter much changed from what she was fifteen years
+ago; but I am confident that when that day comes, which will be longer
+than any day we have seen in this world,--when He whom the Jews could
+not bear to hear called king, shall sit upon his throne, judging the
+world,--then all troubles, sorrows, and separation from friends will
+appear to the Christian as the small dust of the balance; and I think
+that it will especially seem so to you, when you see a band of
+Nestorian girls on the right hand of the Redeemer, whom you, through
+your daughter, were the means of bringing there. Yes, justly might they
+have been left to dwell with Satan forever; but instead of that, they
+will have joyful life with Christ in his kingdom.
+
+I can never repay your love; but there is one so rich that he can give
+you what man cannot, and I ask him to reward you in heaven.
+
+Is there another Miss Fiske in your country? We can hardly believe it.
+I hope that I shall see her again, but it is difficult for me to expect
+it.
+
+It is very pleasant for me to write to friends, and especially to my
+own dear mother, Miss Fiske. I should never be weary if I wrote to her
+every day; but I thought that this time she would like to have me write
+to you, and I trust that you will live to receive it.
+
+Please give my love to Martha, and also to Mrs. Stoddard and Sarah, and
+tell them that our hearts are with them.
+
+From your granddaughter, whom you have not seen,
+
+RAHEEL.
+
+No reader of the Bible needs any description of Oriental mourning for
+the dead. The rent garments and sackcloth (2 Sam. iii. 31), loud
+weeping and wailing (ver. 32), protracted lamentation as for Jacob
+(Gen. 1.10 and 11), and for Moses (Deut. xxxiv. 8), and the hired
+mourning women (Jer. ix. 17, and Matt. ix. 23), were to be found
+nowhere in greater perfection than among the Nestorians. It is very
+difficult for us, in this land, to realize the force of such habits;
+but it required much grace to break over them; and even now, when the
+Christian heart grows cold, it is apt to return to the old ways. One
+day, in 1845, the whole school were going to attend a funeral. When the
+time came, one of the pupils requested to be excused. "Why? are you
+sick?" "No." "Why not go, then?" "I do not wish to tell." But another
+said, "May I tell you alone?" "It will be a great shame if we do not
+all weep. We all think we can do it but Sarah, and we are afraid her
+tears will not come; and so, lest she bring reproach upon us, we do not
+want her to go." The heart of the teacher sunk within her, as she found
+that she was about to lead a company of mourning women to the funeral.
+She asked them how they could make themselves weep. "O, when we go to
+such places, we call to mind all the sad things we ever knew, and so we
+weep; but if the tears do not come, we leave very quickly."
+
+But grace has wrought a great change in this matter also. In the
+journal of Yonan, we find the following entry: "At the close of
+afternoon service, I had a Bible class with the women: this was
+followed by a prayer meeting. Then Munny came to see me: she has buried
+a little child recently. It is a matter of joy to me, that these women
+can lift up their eyes and see their children with the dear Saviour,
+and feel that they have treasures in heaven. I asked her, 'Did you ever
+do any thing for your little girl that you remember now with
+gratitude?' 'Many times I carried her with me to the stable, and knelt
+with her upon the straw in the manger, to ask blessings on her.'
+'Christ was in the manger, and perhaps there your daughter was
+consecrated to him.'"
+
+In another place, we find him asking Esli,--the wife of Joseph, of whom
+he had just said, "Her little daughter has died recently, and her heart
+is broken,"--"When your child died, did you weep and wail as your
+people do?" and she answered, "No."
+
+Nazloo, of Vizierawa, a pupil who hoped she took Christ for her Saviour
+in 1849, and graduated in 1853, within less than a year after her
+conversion was summoned to the death-bed of her uncle; and scarcely had
+she returned to her studies before she was called to the bedside of her
+father. For three days she watched with him incessantly, by day and by
+night. Those who were present were greatly moved by her tender care of
+him. During the whole of his sickness, she never failed to improve
+every opportunity to point him to Christ. Even to the last, she begged
+him to look to the Lamb of God and live. And when he died, with his
+head resting on her hand, though she had no evidence that her efforts
+were successful, her wonderful calmness, under so severe a stroke, led
+many to feel that she possessed a source of consolation to which they
+were strangers. But her cup was not yet full. A few days passed, and
+she hastened once more to her afflicted home, to find her mother
+entering the dark valley. Others wept aloud, but she pointed the dying
+one to Jesus; and supporting her in her loving arms, she seemed to
+plant her feet in the cold waters of the river of death, and commit her
+departing mother into the hands of Him who could bear her safely to the
+other side. So sensible was her mother of the benefit she and hers had
+received from the school, that when the teacher came in, she beckoned
+her to her side, and said, with difficulty, "God is not willing I
+should be a mother to my daughters any longer. I commit them to you:
+they are yours." She soon fell asleep, as was hoped, in Jesus. After
+this, Nazloo was in the school most of the time till her marriage. As a
+teacher, no one could have been more faithful: her religious experience
+was very marked, and she labored wisely for souls. She still lives to
+show how God can make grievous afflictions yield the peaceable fruit of
+righteousness in his people.
+
+In this connection, we cannot omit another letter, written by Hoshebo
+to her teacher, in 1860, on the death of her son Absalom. It is dated
+Saralon, where she and her husband Meerza reside.
+
+DEAR MOTHER: I received your letter just before I received a bitter
+stroke from the never-erring hand of my heavenly Father. Many thanks
+for your loving remembrances of me. I cannot reward you for one of a
+thousand of the good things that you have shown me, so unworthy. I have
+many thoughts of you, and of those pleasant days that we passed
+together in that blessed school. I am very sad when I think that
+perhaps I may never, in this house of my pilgrimage, see your face,
+which makes others to be exceeding glad.
+
+Dear mother: like a daughter distressed, who would find a little rest
+by falling into the kind arms of her mother, I come to tell you what
+has pierced the heart of your poor child. It is true that you are so
+far from me that I cannot lean on your kind breast, and let you lead me
+in prayer to the Father who has afflicted me; but with a feeling like
+that I write you. Beloved, you used to write me that I must take good
+care of my dear and tender babe, Aweshalom. Perhaps I did not fully do
+as you told me. But one thing I know: the Lord, who loves little
+children, was not willing that I should keep him. And I believe that he
+will take better care of my dear child than I could. You must know that
+I am deeply wounded and crushed by the death of Aweshalom. My tears
+cease not. His first birth was October 14, 1858; his second and
+spiritual one, April 23, 1860. His life with us was a pleasant one, and
+he made our lives very sweet and delightful; but now he has gone to
+heaven, while we remain on the earth. He lives the new life, while we
+die daily. He is strong, while I am weak. He has grown beautiful, in
+the light and image of the Saviour, while I am pining away. If you have
+heard what a child he was, you will not wonder at my sickness since his
+death. My husband is greatly afflicted in the death of this, our first,
+our only child. We find no comfort except in casting our wounded souls
+at the feet of the Saviour, who was tempted that he might heal our
+wounds. It seems, sometimes, as if our comforters were far from us; but
+our Saviour is very near to help and comfort.
+
+Our work has been as last year. My husband has taught in the Seminary
+at Seir, coming here to preach on the Sabbath. I have taught a school
+of eighteen boys and girls here. Before vacation, my babe sickened, and
+rested in Jesus. Since that time, I have had fever, and am still very
+weak.
+
+Five in the village, besides ourselves, are communicants. My father and
+brother are among them. I trust that my mother and brother's wife will
+soon unite with us. The work of the Lord in the village goes forward
+better than formerly. I try to talk and pray with the women alone, and
+they are more ready to have me do it, which makes me to rejoice in the
+Lord.
+
+Give my loving peace to my dear grandmother Hannah. Though with the
+eyes of this mortal body we have not seen each other, nor have I any
+hope that we shall, the Lord her God help me, that we may meet on the
+blessed hill of Zion above. I believe, my mother, that you will
+remember your weak, unworthy lamb, when you bow before the throne of
+mercy and grace. Perhaps this is the last letter you will receive from
+me, for death seems very near. Receive loving peace from the priest
+[her husband].
+
+Your true daughter,
+
+HOSHEBO.
+
+Jesus has seemed to be almost bodily present, taking up these lambs in
+his arms; and the mothers have not feared, for they felt sure that
+under such a Guardian it was well with their children.
+
+Perhaps bereaved missionary mothers In Persia do not realize how much
+their patient suffering has done for their poor Nestorian sisters. The
+short lives of those twenty missionary children, who lie in Persian
+graves, were a precious offering to Christ. They were all missionaries,
+and did not go home till their work was done. Each one had a place to
+fill among the instrumentalities employed by the Master to promote his
+kingdom in Persia. There was no waste in the breaking of those
+alabaster boxes of precious ointment. Nestorian parents looked on, to
+learn how to lay their children into the arms of Jesus, and become more
+Christ-like themselves. No years of mature toil have been more blessed
+than the years of those thus early called home; and in this truth their
+bereaved parents may find abundant consolation. There are influences
+too deep and silent to be fully understood; but they are none the less
+real and powerful; and the mother who to-day misses the little feet,
+the loving eyes, and the pleasant voice, which God had lent to gladden
+her earthly home for a season, may rejoice in the assurance that her
+loving submission to a Father's hand is teaching a lesson to the people
+whom she loves, such as they could never learn from words.
+
+During the revival of 1846, a little child of Dr. Perkins died; and as
+the missionaries laid it away, in the hope of a glorious resurrection,
+it helped them to point others to him who is the Resurrection and the
+Life. It was buried on a snowy Sabbath day, and the faces of the young
+converts, who stood in silence around the grave, showed that to them
+the associations of death were no longer fearful. Turning away from the
+cemetery, Mr. Stoddard, feeling that he could not be separated from
+those young disciples even in death, said, "Do you not hope that you
+shall rest here to rise with these to everlasting life?"[1] Little did
+they who heard him know how soon that cemetery at Seir would become
+more sacred as his own resting place. [Footnote 1: See Nestorian
+Biography, page 242.]
+
+Before leaving this topic, we insert a letter from Sarah, daughter of
+Joseph, a former pupil in the Seminary, and the oldest of four sisters.
+The death of little Deborah seemed to draw her heart very closely to
+her Saviour, and she now sleeps by her side, doubtless understanding
+better the meaning of those arms of love that here she believed "folded
+her little sister in his own bosom."
+
+"What word of fitting love can I write, and how tell you what God has
+done? We are afflicted, for he has taken from us our dear little
+Deborah. She was only two years and seven months old. We mourn; and yet
+are comforted; for we know that He who loves little children has taken
+her into his own arms, that we may love him more and better praise his
+glorious name. She did not leave us to go to a stranger. The dear
+Saviour, we think, has made her happier than we could; and now we dwell
+much on this scripture, 'Prepare to meet thy God.' Deborah was very
+sick, and suffered much; but when she died, there was a pleasant smile
+on her little face. Then she rested from sorrow, and Jesus folded the
+little Iamb in his own bosom."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+PROGRESS AND PROMISE.
+
+BENEVOLENCE, EARLY MANIFESTATION OF.--PROGRESS.--REVIVAL OF BENEVOLENCE
+IN APRIL, 1861.--INTEREST OF PARENTS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THEIR
+CHILDREN.--PEACE IN FAMILIES.--REFORMED
+MARRIAGES.--ORDINATIONS.--COMMUNION SEASONS.--MISS RICE AND MISS
+BEACH.--CONCLUSION.
+
+The pupils were early trained to form habits of self-denying
+benevolence. In 1844, the day scholars made as many as fifty garments
+for poor children. Early in 1845, when some mountaineers came to beg
+money for their ragged children, the question was put, "Who will give
+her own clothes and wear poorer ones till she can make others." Many
+responded at once, and she who gave her best dress was deemed the most
+happy. Some even wept because they could not do the same. In a letter
+written December, 1848, the pupils say, "The last day of the term was
+monthly concert. We had a good time of prayer, and then a collection,
+which went up to thirty-two sahib korans--(seven dollars.) We hope this
+will be increased, and used for sending the gospel to the poor people
+of the mountains."
+
+They were accustomed to devote several hours a week to sewing for some
+benevolent object. At the close of one term the articles thus prepared
+were sold for sixteen dollars, and the proceeds sent to Aintab to pay
+for teaching women there to read.
+
+The same virtue was assiduously cultivated in the people. Deacons John
+and Yonan had for some time been urged to take up a collection at the
+monthly concert at Geog Tapa, but they dared not try; not that they did
+not wish it, but they feared that the people, in their poverty, might
+take offence at the innovation. At length, on the first Sabbath of
+1852, John preached on the subject, and a few korans (worth twenty
+cents each), were contributed. The first Sabbath of February it was
+Yonan's turn to preach there. So he prepared himself thoroughly on this
+subject,--Miss Fiske had read with him the prize essays on Benevolence,
+published by the American Tract Society,--and, carrying his map into a
+crowded church, he spoke at some length about missions in various parts
+of the world. His account was well received. Then Bibles were
+distributed through the church, and the readers were called on to read
+passages previously selected, showing, first, the antiquity of
+benevolent contributions; secondly, that the poor were to give as well
+as the rich; and thirdly, that the blessing of God was promised to the
+benevolent. The readers were scattered all over the church, and the
+people listened with great attention. Then several spoke on the
+subject, and the elders of the village gave the work their hearty
+approval. Afternoon came, and as the time for meeting drew near, old
+and young were eagerly engaged in getting ready their contributions (in
+Geog Tapa the monthly concert is held on Sabbath afternoon), and as
+many as two hundred came together. There were remarks and prayers, and
+while the missionary hymn was being sung at the close, the collection
+was taken up, amounting, in money and cotton yarn, to more than fifteen
+korans. One sick boy, who had heard what was going on, rose from his
+bed, and crept in to deposit his little coin. Instead of spending their
+saints' days in idleness, as had been the custom, many now wrought on
+those days to earn money for giving, saying to objectors that it was
+better to labor for the spread of the gospel than to be idle for Satan.
+Mr. Stoddard attended the March concert, with some idols from India,
+and so interested the people that the collection amounted to more than
+twenty-five korans, thus the good work went on.
+
+After this the spirit of benevolence steadily increased, and instances
+of marked self-denial were not wanting. It shows at once their poverty
+and their disposition to do what they could, that at the monthly
+concert a basket was passed round along with the contribution box, to
+receive eggs from the little children and such as were too poor to give
+any thing else. Crosses of ivory or silver were often found among the
+contributions.
+
+One day, a man was seen to take a silver coin out of his purse; and as
+the missionary went on to describe more of the condition of the heathen
+world, a second and a third was taken out, and held in readiness for
+the collection. At another time, a woman, whom she had not seen before,
+asked for a private interview with one of the ladies of the mission;
+and when alone, besides requesting prayer that she might become a
+Christian, she took out a gold ornament, the only one of any value that
+she possessed, which had been handed down as an heirloom in her family
+for several generations, and said she wanted to give that to send the
+gospel to others, only no one must know who gave it. The ornament was
+sold for four dollars and fifty cents, and the woman, in less than a
+year, became a useful Christian. Sometimes the amount of interest might
+be measured by the number of silver coins manufactured into buttons
+that were found in the contribution box; for when their feelings were
+aroused, the women cut off the fastenings of their outer garments, and
+cast them into the Lord's treasury.
+
+But the most remarkable revival of benevolence occurred in April, 1861;
+and we condense the following account of it from a long letter of Yonan
+to Miss Fiske and Mrs. Stoddard:--
+
+"The prayers and tears of our missionary friends have, this winter,
+received a joyful reward from our Father in heaven. We were told that
+the first week in January would be devoted by all Christians to prayer
+for great things, and my heart was never so enlarged before. It seemed
+as if Persia, nominal Christendom, and all the heathen were under the
+power of prayer; as if the Christian's measuring-line was stretched
+round the four corners of the earth. One day the missionaries met, as
+usual, for prayer in Dr. Wright's large room. It moved me much, and I
+said to my companions, 'They are praying for us while we are idle.'
+They said, 'It is good that we spend this half hour in prayer every
+day.' We did so. On the Sabbath, I went to my village, Geog Tapa, and
+mentioned these things to the people at the evening meeting. The Lord
+opened the mouth of Abraham, who said, 'Brethren, in these places we
+are always idle--let us meet for prayer half an hour before sunset.'
+They did so. The clouds over our heads seemed loaded with blessings:
+still they did not descend. Mr. Cobb and Mr. Ambrose had talked with me
+about commencing in our village to support preachers in the mountains.
+So did Mr. Labaree last week. I told him of our poverty. He said, 'I am
+grieved for that; but begin with some little thing.'
+
+"We went to Geog Tapa the last Sabbath in March. John gave notice, as
+it was the gospel Sabbath, [monthly concert is so called], of the
+contributions for our brothers in India. In his sermon he said that
+much of our poverty is from our indolence. Last year our collection was
+fifteen tomans. [A toman is about two dollars.] If we had more zeal, we
+might raise twenty, and that would support a preacher in the mountains.
+At once Guwergis cried out, 'I will give one.' I said, 'We will support
+one preacher and two schools among ourselves, and if any thing is over,
+we will send it far away.' Priest Abraham approved of this. Then all
+the brethren in the congregation began to speak. 'So is good.' 'Thus we
+will do.' John would have stilled them; but I said, 'Perhaps God is
+blessing your preaching; let them speak.' Praised be God's name
+forever; in a moment every obstacle was swept away. Had we known that
+God was so near, we would have bowed our heads before him. Now Aib Khan
+cried, 'I give one toman;' and 'I,' said Priest Moses, 'twelve korans;'
+and another, 'I two monats.' [A monat is seventy-five cents.] Moses now
+took out his pencil to write. The Malik said, 'I have often thought
+that I would put a gold imperial in the box [four dollars and fifty
+cents]; write that.' I then said, 'My family of eight souls hear
+preaching all the year, and three or four attend school. I am a debtor;
+write for me three tomans--it is not too much.' When God pleases,
+excuses flee away; high prices and oppression were not thought of; we
+were lords of wealth. Moses then said, 'I am troubled that I remain to
+the last; but we are three brothers in company, and I know not whether
+they will act through me, or each one for himself.' One brother cried
+out, 'Our agent and I, five korans more.' Another man then said, 'I
+also am at a loss on account of my brother;' and his brother replied,
+'Four monats.' These things made brotherly love very firm. Guwergis now
+cried out, 'Women, where are you? In the wilderness women gave their
+brazen mirrors.' I said, 'Holy women, to-day ends fifteen years of the
+prayers of Christianity among us. Speak!' [It was fifteen years since
+the revival in 1846.] One replied, 'I half a monat;' and 'I a
+head-dress;' 'I a silver ornament;' 'I my earrings;' and so on. A widow
+said, 'I have kept my husband's coat till now; I will sell it, and give
+half the price.' And others made similar responses. Isaac, a poor old
+mountaineer, gave two korans; and another said, 'I have nothing but the
+mat I sit on: I give that.' It was a new one he had just finished. A
+mother said, 'I have nothing now, but I will give the work of my hands
+this winter--a tope [ten yards] of cotton cloth.' A pilgrim said, 'When
+I was in Jerusalem, an Armenian and a Russian bid against each other,
+and the Russian prevailed, giving five hundred tomans to the Greek
+convent. If they had such zeal for error, we ought to have more for the
+truth.' And one unaccustomed to come to church gave the fruit and
+prunings of fifteen rows in his vineyard. [The prunings of the vines
+are sold for fuel.] We were in the church about four hours. Time was
+given for all to contribute, and then we spent a season in joyful song
+and pleasant prayer.
+
+"The report of what had been done spread quickly through the village,
+and my mother-in-law sent word that she would give a hundred and
+twenty-eight pounds of raisins. At evening meeting, the house was full.
+Benjamin said, 'Brethren, the teacher of our school was one day
+explaining the verse, "Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that
+treadeth out the corn;" and Mr. Stoddard, who stood near, added, "But
+the Nestorian oxen eat from the straw of America." That word has worked
+in my heart ever since. I trust that, hereafter, we will eat our own
+straw.' That night we lay awake a long time for joy. In the morning,
+before I was up, my uncle and his wife came and promised a load of
+wheat [five bushels]; and when passing through the village, a woman put
+an ornament in my pocket to sell for the cause.
+
+"Monday we came to the city for the gospel day [the concert is held
+there on Monday], and every one who met us remarked our glad faces. In
+the meeting, after Mr. Coan spoke, John opened a bundle of the gifts,
+and Moses described the scenes of the day before. I said, 'One toman
+led to sixty in our village yesterday: perhaps it will lead to hundreds
+more. Many times the good in the heart of the Christian comes up into
+his mouth, and then goes back; but when the power of God prevails, it
+not only comes into the mouth, but comes forth and abounds.' Priest
+Moses arose, and said, 'As long as a man is sick, it is no shame if he
+does not walk; but if the blood walks well in his veins, and he becomes
+fat, and still lies in bed, every one reproaches him. We have grown
+fat; and how long shall we lie under the quilts?' Priest Yakob added,
+'For twenty-five years we have said, "Let the Lord go before;" and now
+that he has come, let us wait no longer, but give.' He gave two tomans,
+and others followed. Mar Tohanan's wife gave a toman of ornaments, and
+almost every girl in school from one koran to three or four. Isras, of
+Degala, gave fifteen tomans and a new vineyard that he had recently
+bought. Guwergis, who had already proposed to plough the field the
+second time, now rose, and opening his hand, said, 'If a man thrust his
+hand into a pile of gold, and give of it to God, is it a great thing
+when He has filled his hand with the blood of his Son, and given it to
+us?' Sagoo,[1] of Gulpashan, said, 'My father gave each of my two
+sisters thirty tomans. When Hannah died, hers became mine. I give it
+for the bride's veil; [The kingdom of Christ is here spoken of as the
+bride], also a silver watch.' One who had only two or three sheep
+promised one of them. My little girl, Sherin, had asked, a few days
+before, for a new dress. She now sent word to me that she would do
+without it for a year, if I would give the money for the gospel. I
+cannot fully describe the spirit of the meeting: we went out wondering
+and congratulating each other at having witnessed such a pleasant
+sight. At the evening meeting one said, 'I heard in the market what you
+were doing; I give a gun, the price of which was seven and a half
+tomans.' Some gave for themselves, and others for their wives and
+children. Moses gave four monats for his brother's children. There were
+tithes and sixths, fifths and fourths, thirds and halves, of crops of
+hay and grapes. Priest Abraham said, 'We say a thief will never own a
+house. Did you ever see one that had wealth? We are thieves, and
+therefore are so poor. We have robbed God. I will give a tithe of my
+vineyard.' Another replied, 'And I of every thing.' And a man, who had
+before given one quarter of his vineyard, now gave the half. A widow,
+who had nothing but a cow, pledged a hepta [four pounds] of butter. A
+poor man, who has a few fruit trees in his yard, promised ten heptas of
+apricots. Guwergis spoke up, 'We have butter: what shall we cook in it
+for the bride?' A woman answered, 'I give four heptas of rice;' to
+which her husband added two. [Footnote 1: See page 209.]
+
+"Mar Elias now kissed us much; he put nineteen korans into John's hand,
+saying, 'As yet I have not grown indifferent.' And Mar Yohanan said,
+with tears, 'The crown of the bride remains for me. I give thirty
+tomans.'
+
+"In our village, besides the tithes, seventy tomans were collected, and
+in the city two hundred and fifty. I hope the whole will go up to five
+hundred or more. I stand amazed. I can think nothing but, 'I am a
+miserable sinner.' The glorious God has gone before us in mercy. For
+two or three years our village was going down; we were at variance and
+in trouble; but Immanuel has met us with a blessing, a hundred fold
+beyond our expectation. It is the beginning of a great work for future
+generations. I know that the joy of heaven is awakened in the joy of
+blessed Mr. Stocking and Mr. Stoddard. I want to fly to them and talk
+with them about it, but this veil does not allow it. You, too, will
+want to fly to the people that are so dear to you. I trust that this
+pouring out of such a spirit will be the door of many blessings. We
+have had a scarcity for seven years, so that wheat is six times its
+former price. Our people are poor and sorely oppressed. From the depths
+of their poverty they have given: I never knew them before. If all were
+Christians, what might we not see? Perhaps the poor widows and orphans,
+who have contributed for our good, have been discouraged; but truly
+their gifts have not been sown in vain among our people. I believe at
+the last day you will see fruit according to the word of Jesus--thirty,
+sixty, and a hundred fold. The time is not far off when every converted
+Nestorian will go to ten Mussulmen to teach them the word of God.
+
+"Pray for us more than ever, for many are the enemies of Nehemiah and
+ruined Jerusalem. Our hope is in God. He has begun, and he will finish."
+
+The pledges then made have since been fulfilled, with very few
+exceptions, and that not regretfully, but with a heartiness truly
+affecting to those who knew their poverty. In July, 1861, the mission
+resolved to furnish no teacher for a school--except in new
+villages--where a part of his support was not assumed by the people.
+The Barandooz congregation, in the spring of 1862, cheerfully assumed
+the burden of their schools; and some have also expressed a readiness
+to aid in the support of their pastors. A number of pupils, in both
+Seminaries, contribute liberally towards their support.
+
+In bringing to a close these glimpses of the changes wrought by grace
+among the Nestorians, we must not pass by the number of pious parents
+who now aid the missionaries by their prayers. While, in the early days
+of the Seminary, its teacher was left to pray alone for her pupils,
+before she left, in 1858, she rejoiced to know that two thirds of them
+had either a pious parent, or other member of the family, who prayed
+for their salvation.
+
+One cold morning, in 1856, a pious mother walked three miles through
+the snow, to inquire if there was any interest in the school. "Why do
+you ask?" replied the teacher. "I have thought of you continually for
+two or three days; and last night, after falling asleep, thinking about
+you, I dreamed that God was visiting you by his Holy Spirit. So, when I
+awoke, I arose and baked, and hurried here. I am so anxious about my
+daughter! Can I see her?" She was told that her daughter was among the
+inquirers the evening before, and sank down where she stood, weeping
+for joy. The heart of the teacher grew strong in the feeling that the
+mothers were wrestling with her. The mother passed into an adjoining
+room to see her daughter; and a missionary brother, who came in just
+then, could not restrain his tears as he listened to her earnest
+intercessions, saying, "This is more to me than any thing I have seen
+in Persia." After that year, some parents, when they came to the
+Seminary, were never willing to leave till they had prayed with their
+children. A father once wrote, "Yesterday I invited some Christian
+friends to my house, and had three prayers offered for the school; and
+while praying for you, we felt our own sins very much, and cried to God
+to save us from their power."
+
+Nor were the pupils wanting in interest for their impenitent parents.
+During the long vacation in 1850, Hanee, who used to spend several
+hours a day in prayer for her mother, so pressed her with entreaties to
+come to the Saviour, that one day she roughly replied, "Enough! Enough!
+Stop your praying and weeping for me: you will weep yourself blind." "O
+mother," was the beautiful reply, "it seems as though I would gladly
+become blind, if thereby you might be brought to Jesus."
+
+Perhaps the effects of grace were nowhere more conspicuous than in the
+effects it produced in those great households already described. Let us
+first look in on the hinderances they occasioned to a life of piety.
+Yonan writes, in his journal of March 7, 1858, "Widow Hatoon is a
+devout woman, and tries to erect the family altar in her house; but it
+is very difficult. She often collects the readers in the neighborhood
+on Sabbath morning, to read the Bible with her family. I asked her, 'Do
+you pray with your children? They have no father; they are left in your
+hands, and God will require them of you again.' 'I do; but I find it
+very hard in our house: we are all in one room, our beds very near each
+other, and there is no separate chamber: when about to retire, I gather
+them together behind a quilt, and talk and pray with them.'"
+
+Again he writes, "Hatoon, the wife of Sarhoosh, is a member of a large
+family. Three of the women in the house, and one of their husbands,
+fear God; but the older members of the household are very wicked, and
+even violent in their opposition. She is much troubled about family
+prayer. While the devout ones engage in worship at one end of the room,
+the rest, at the other end, talk, laugh, and revile."
+
+Yet, even in such households, grace reveals its divine power. We find
+Yonan putting this question to a communicant: "Do you and M. live
+pleasantly together?" M. was her sister-in-law, in a household of more
+than thirty souls. "She is a little quick tempered," was the reply;
+"but I try not to trouble her, and to have our love perfect that we may
+be a good example to the rest." Yonan prayed with her, and asked if he
+could do any thing for her relatives. "Dear brother in Christ," she
+replied, "in the name of the Lord Jesus, our precious Saviour, I beg
+you to pray with my husband: it maybe God will bless him." "My sister,
+God will bless him: this your anguish shall be turned into joy." "My
+own heart was moved," adds the narrator. "I saw my own love very
+little, compared with hers, and felt my unworthiness very much."
+
+The change in their social condition was beautifully illustrated by a
+little incident in the Seminary, in 1849. One of the older pupils had
+been betrothed; but when the ring of betrothal was brought, to be
+placed on her finger, she could not be found. After long search, her
+gentle voice was heard in the most retired part of the building,
+imploring the blessing of God to abide with her in that new relation.
+Only those who had seen the rioting and folly common on such occasions
+could appreciate the change.
+
+The marriage of Mar Yohanan, in 1859, was a step in the work of lifting
+up woman to her true position. Formerly, marriage had been deemed
+something too unholy for a bishop; and the consequence was the general
+degradation of the sex. The entrance of the gospel corrected public
+sentiment on this point; and that act of the bishop only gave
+expression to the popular conviction that marriage is honorable in all,
+even the highest and holiest, nurturing some of the loveliest graces of
+the Christian character. The event for a time caused some stir among
+the enemies of the truth; but it soon died away, and the old ascetic
+views of piety are passing away with the social degradation in which
+they had their origin.
+
+About the same time Yohanan, whom we have seen laboring in the
+mountains with his estimable wife, was ordained to the work of the
+ministry without any of the mummeries that had been added to the simple
+usage of the New Testament; the venerable Mar Elias uniting with the
+missionaries in the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Two
+months later, six more of the most pious and best educated young men,
+who had long deferred ordination through aversion to the old forms,
+followed his example; among them our mountain friend Oshana, Deacon
+John, of Geog Tapa, and Deacon Yakob, of Sapergan. Marriage ceremonies
+and entertainments have long been improved, and the revelling of former
+days on such occasions is going into deserved disuse among the more
+enlightened.
+
+In the year 1858, the people of Memikan left off keeping their fasts,
+on the ground that they tended to nullify salvation by grace through
+Jesus Christ. Formerly this would have brought down on them, the wrath
+of the patriarch, their village would have been devoted to plunder and
+the torch, and themselves to death or exile; but now it caused scarce a
+ripple on the current of events--not that men did not see the drift of
+things, but they allowed it to have free course.
+
+There is another sign of the times that calls for more special mention.
+Other missions in Western Asia had been forced by persecution to the
+early formation of churches. They had to provide a fold for the lambs
+driven from their former shelter. Here there had been no such
+necessity; yet the converts longed for a more spiritual observance of
+gospel ordinances.
+
+The mission had hitherto celebrated the Lord's supper by themselves,
+and with one or two exceptions, no Nestorian had witnessed its
+observance. There had been some thought of admitting them; but nothing
+had been done, till, in the spring of 1854, three of the converts, who
+had been reading an English treatise on the subject, asked one of the
+ladies of the mission to intercede with the gentlemen to allow them to
+be present. She informed Mr. Stoddard of their request, and he
+encouraged them to go forward. The matter was laid before the mission,
+and it was concluded that a few of those judged most fit for admission
+to the ordinance should be invited to partake.
+
+The first communion to which the converts were admitted was celebrated
+in September, 1854, in the large room on the lower floor of the Female
+Seminary. Eleven Nestorians partook with the missionaries, and three of
+them were women, who had graduated there. After the service, some of
+the men went up stairs and sat down without speaking. Miss Fiske, not
+knowing the cause of their silence, and fearing lest they might have
+been disappointed by the simplicity of our forms, did not venture to
+allude to the subject, till one of them asked, "Is it always, so when
+you commune, or was this an unusual occasion?" "Why, did you not enjoy
+it?" "Not enjoy it! Jesus Christ himself seemed almost visibly present;
+it was difficult to realize that it was not the Saviour in person who
+presided at the table. It must have been just such a scene when the
+ordinance was first instituted in Jerusalem; and I could not get rid of
+the inquiry, 'Shall one of us go out like Judas and betray him?'" It is
+a significant fact that those most accustomed to mediaeval forms, when
+regenerated by the Spirit, relish them the least; and the more
+spiritual they become, the more they crave the simple forms of the New
+Testament, because they draw the least attention to themselves, and fix
+it most completely on the Saviour.
+
+In January, 1855, as many as seventy of the converts, after careful
+examination, were allowed to partake; and once every four months the
+privilege was renewed, with an accession of from twelve to thirty
+communicants each time. These were occasions of unusual interest.
+Several days were devoted to religious meetings, and even in midwinter
+pious people made long journeys, and crossed bleak mountains on the
+snow, to attend them. One woman, Hoimar, of Salmas,[1] travelled sixty
+miles, through deep snow and piercing cold, to be present at this
+ordinance in January, 1858. [Footnote 1: See page 171.]
+
+In June of that year, the better to distinguish those entitled to this
+privilege, before the sacrament all entered together into solemn
+covenant with God. The whole number received up to that time was two
+hundred and forty-nine; at the close of 1861, it had swelled to five
+hundred. As the meetings became too unwieldy, and it was inconvenient
+for so many to come so far, the ordinance was administered at Seir
+also, in September, 1858; and here providentially another end was
+secured, for as Dr. Wright was then too sick to distribute the
+elements, some of the natives had to perform that service. In June
+following, a very interesting communion was observed at Memikan;
+Yohanan and his wife crossing a high mountain, even then covered with
+snow, to bring their little child for baptism. Next year, the ordinance
+was celebrated in every village where there was a sufficient number of
+hopeful converts to justify its observance. Thus has God led his
+people, step by step, in a way that they knew not, till now there are
+all the essentials of a church at every place where God has raised up
+members of the body of Christ. They enter into covenant with him and
+with each other. They keep his ordinances, and grow in grace, in
+knowledge, and in numbers. They may take one step farther. Since this
+last sentence was written, the converted Nestorians have proceeded even
+to the adoption of a creed and directory for worship.
+
+Did the limits of this volume allow, it would be pleasant to dwell at
+length on the labors of Miss Mary Susan Rice, who joined Miss Fiske in
+November, 1847, and has ever since toiled diligently, and without
+interruption, at her post. Since the return of Miss Fiske she has
+entered into all her labors, both thoroughly and successfully. Her
+fifteen years of toil will never be forgotten by those who have been
+privileged to receive her instructions, both in and out of the
+Seminary. They form an important part of the instrumentalities God has
+employed to bring woman in Persia to the knowledge of her Saviour. A
+mass of her correspondence now lies before the writer, which he has
+read with much interest; but to quote from it would only be,
+reproducing scenes already portrayed. It is not necessary to describe
+the laying of each course of brick in the walls of the spiritual temple.
+
+One sentence, however, now arrests my eye, which I must quote, because
+it shows how the Saviour was preparing her for the sole care of the
+school, that has devolved on her ever since, owing to the protracted
+illness of Miss Aura J. Beach, who was sent out to her assistance in
+February, 1860. Writing to her predecessor, three years ago, she says,
+"O, what a relief to roll the burdens, which we cannot bear, upon the
+strong arm outstretched to help, and feel that, like sinking Peter, we
+shall be sustained amid raging billows!"
+
+Labor among the Nestorians is becoming more assimilated to labor at
+home. Instead of the national peculiarities conspicuous at the outset,
+different from our own, and prominent because so different, things
+begin to move in familiar orbits, because they set out from similar
+conditions and tend to like results. In proportion as the gospel
+advances in its work, the distinguishing characteristics of a people
+fall into the background, to give place to those spiritual features
+common to the work of grace in every land. The river is most
+picturesque high up among the mountains, while its stream is yet small
+and many obstacles oppose its course; after it glides out from among
+the hills into the open plain, it moves with larger volume, but in a
+more monotonous current, to the sea.
+
+May the work of God advance, till this unity of all nations in Jesus
+Christ shall every where replace the diversity and hostility under
+which to-day creation groans, till in the placid surface of such a
+river of life the Saviour shall see his own image reflected, as it is
+from the sea of glass above!
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Woman And Her Saviour In Persia, by
+A Returned Missionary
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