Oct. 21.—There has just been acting here a scene of duplicity, falsehood, and bloodshed, which appears strange to us, but is not uncommon in this land of misrule and cruelty. A Capidji (or Ambassador) from the Porte to the Pasha has been long expected, and with evident anxiety by him and those immediately about him, which was increased to the highest pitch, when by a messenger from Aleppo, the Pasha received the intelligence, that this man’s intention was to supersede him, and of course to destroy him. It then became the object of the Pasha to endeavour to get him into his hands, which was the more difficult, as it is usual for the Capidji to read publicly his firman, and proclaim the successor at Mousul, or some place near, who, collecting the Arabs, marches to lay siege to this place, till the head of the Pasha is delivered to him. To prevent this, therefore, the Pasha made the Imrahor, or Master of the Horse, who has the whole arrangement of the military force, to write a letter to the Capidji, begging him to come here at once, and that he would, without a struggle, give the head of Daoud Pasha into his hand, whereas if he remained at Mousul, there must be an open contention about it.
By this he was allured to approach the city, and the Pasha sent out 700 or 800 men under pretence of showing him honour, to meet him and secure him in case any accounts of the true state of the case should reach him, that he might have no possibility of flight. Thus he was brought into the city, and his quarters appointed in the house of the Musruff; when, after the Pasha had obtained from him the declaration of his object, a Divan was called, and it was determined to put him to death. This event has thrown the city into great consternation, and every one who can, is buying corn in expectation of what is to follow. For the tragedy will not end here, as a friend of the Capidji is left behind at Mousul, and another Capidji is at Diarbekr, waiting the result of this negociation. So it appears that the Sultan is determined to act at once and decidedly against this Pasha. We are now, therefore to expect a siege, and a state of anxiety and fear in this city for some months; but the Lord, who sitteth in the heavens, is ordering all for his own glory, and for our safety, and he will provide for us.
Oct. 22.—We have this day heard that the Syrian Patriarch of Merdin has recovered one of his churches from the Roman Catholics, and is, on the whole, making, in a certain sense, a more successful stand against them; but not in the spirit of Christ, I fear. He has two of his priests who had turned Roman Catholics in prison.
This day our new Armenian teacher has arrived from Sheeraz. He seems an interesting man; but our final plans with him are not yet arranged.
We have also heard that the school at Bushire, established by Mr. Wolff, is going on badly. He promised to send out a teacher and money, neither of which having arrived, the school has dwindled to seventeen, and these are neglected.
It is the common conversation to-day in the Bazaar that the Capidji was put to death last night. This man was the Accountant General of the Porte, and formerly Kiahya. Our Arabic Moolah has been buying corn, in the expectation of the present state of things here terminating in an open contest, in which he thinks the Pasha, now having no hope, will throw himself into the hands of Abbas Meerza, and that thus Bagdad will again become subject to Persia. Amidst all these wars and rumours of wars, our path is to sit still and wait the Lord’s pleasure, which he will assuredly manifest to our heart’s content, for they that wait upon the Lord, shall not make haste, nor be confounded, world without end.
Our schoolmaster has come to a full understanding of the principles on which we intend to conduct the school: to have nothing that is contrary to God’s word admitted, and I think he very fully and heartily enters into this plan. But he informs us that the parents of many of the children are dissatisfied with our superseding the church prayers, called the Shanakirke, by the New Testament, and ask, “Who are these people? Are they wiser than our Bishops and ancient fathers, that we should reject what they introduced?” This is what we must expect. But we can, with a quiet heart, leave all to the Lord, to order as he will. That the schoolmaster is truly on our side I feel very thankful, and, I hope, the hearts of many of the children.
November 10.—After having waited now several weeks for an opportunity to send letters and a parcel, and not having found any, from the extreme vigilance there is here to prevent any communications going to Constantinople, I have determined to avail myself of the offer of an Austrian merchant here, to enclose them in a bale of goods going to Aleppo, and to have them forwarded thence to Constantinople. It is a great comfort to know that all the intelligence essential to our cause, as being God’s, will reach, and all that is separate from that, though it may not be against it, is of little consequence.
We have had two Armenian priests to converse with Mr. Pfander, one from Nisibin; and the other from Diarbekr. The one from Nisibin said they had no printed books among them, and that they were very anxious to go into the Russian provinces, but were afraid, since the death of the Russian Ambassador, to make any attempt to go.
The Armenians seem going from all the Mohammedan states that they can to Russia. From Erzeroum, great numbers have gone to the Karabagh, and thus they may people the desolate provinces of Georgia. The other Armenian Priest, from Diarbekr, confirmed the information we had previously obtained, that the Armenian population of that city was 5,000 houses,[17] about 25,000 of all ages, and that they have two schools there, containing about 300 children, but no one cared about them.