There were also embarrassments of a serious nature within the Nestorian community. In the subjugation of the mountain Nestorians, while the Patriarch fled to Mosul, several of his brothers escaped to Oroomiah, and threw themselves on the hospitality of the mission, which of necessity fell short of their wishes. They demanded money of the mission, on the ground that they were the ecclesiastical heads of the people. In this they were unhappily countenanced by the Patriarch, upon whom an influence hostile to the mission had been successfully exerted; who wrote a letter, calling upon the ecclesiastics and people of Oroomiah to oppose the mission and its schools. The people, as a body, had sense enough to refuse obedience. In view of the attitude thus assumed by the patriarchal family, and the questionable conduct of some of the bishops, a thorough reconstruction of the school system was rendered necessary. The seminary for boys and the village schools were accordingly dismissed, and finally the female boarding-school under Miss Fiske. "When this last result was announced to the pupils," writes one of the mission, "there was a general burst of grief. Their tears and sobs told, more expressively than language, the bitterness of their hearts. Nor did they weep alone. And who would not weep at such a scene? Here were those, whom we had hoped to train up for immortal blessedness, about to be sent back to a darkness almost like that of heathenism. The stoutest Nestorians who were standing by were melted. After these tender lambs had been commended to the gracious Shepherd of Israel, they began to make their preparations for leaving us. The most trying thing was the parting, of the pupils from each other, and from those who had been to them as parents. They threw their arms around the neck of their teacher, and said again and again, 'We shall never more hear the words of God.'"
Nearly all the pupils of this seminary returned of their own accord, and after the hostility of the patriarchal family had become known to their parents. Miss Fiske was aided in the instruction by a pious Nestorian deacon. Besides the ordinary instruction, the pupils were taught several useful arts, of which their less favored mothers knew little or nothing; among which were knitting and sewing, and these branches many of the mothers were eager to learn from their children. Moreover they were taught industry, self-denial, benevolence, and the preciousness of time. The boys' seminary was reorganized in the following spring, under the superintendence of Mr. Stoddard; who received a number of promising boys into his family as an experiment, with the understanding that the pupils would reside wholly on the mission premises.
There was still enough of vacillation among the bishops, and of dissatisfaction among the Patriarch's brothers, to raise a question which the mission submitted to the judgment of the Prudential Committee, as to how far it was proper to employ the higher ecclesiastics on wages. The Committee approved of the course which had been pursued in relation to the four bishops on the plain of Oroomiah, Mar Yohannan, Mar Elias, Mar Joseph, and Mar Gabriel; but intimated, while deprecating sudden changes, that the services of the bishops, should they prove troublesome helpers, might be dispensed with gradually. What the Committee feared was, that putting them forward in a manner which had seemed proper in time past, might now give them too much control of the reformation that was believed not to be far off. The fundamental principle was, to pay only for services rendered, and for none more than their fair and true value. It was also recommended, that care be taken to preserve the independence of the mission; the evangelical character of its influence upon the people; its unquestioned right to prepare for the expected religious awakening; and when it came, to pursue the appropriate measures according to their own better informed judgments.
The mission to the Mohammedans of Persia, of which an account is given elsewhere, having been discontinued, the Rev. James L. Merrick and wife joined the Nestorian mission in 1842. In 1844, the health of Mrs. Merrick made it necessary for her to visit England, her native land. She was followed by her husband in the next year, and he, soon after his arrival at Boston, was released from his connection with the Board. Mr. Jones retired from the mission in 1844.
John and Moses, two young Nestorians of hopeful piety, were ordained deacons by Mar Elias and Mar Yohannan. John was a native of Geog Tapa, the largest Nestorian village in the province, and one which always took the lead, whether for good or for evil. Abraham, the well-known priest, and the two newly ordained preachers, divided the village into districts for visiting and preaching. Mr. Stocking, and after him Dr. Perkins, found there abundant evidence of unusual religious interest. Scores of persons called on the native preachers almost every evening, after the toils of the day, and many lingered to a late hour. There were cases of special interest, and none but a skeptic could doubt the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
In May, 1845, the Shah, at the instance of the English and Russian Ambassadors, appointed Dawood Khan, of Tabriz, an Armenian from Georgia and an officer of the army, Governor of the Nestorians. The object was to protect the Christians from the oppressions they had long suffered from the Moslem nobles residing in the district.
We have now entered on an auspicious period in the history of the mission. Geog Tapa became the radiant centre of spiritual life. The preceding year had been one of apprehension, but the brethren now learned not to despond every time the heavens gathered blackness, for in the darkest hour the sun may break forth and change the whole scene. We have come to the beginning of that series of revivals, with which the mission was so remarkably blessed.
The first revival was in the year 1846, and the first hopeful conversions were in the female seminary in January. Both seminaries were moved. A number in each came to their teachers with the inquiry, "What shall I do to be saved?" The religious concern rapidly increased. The 23d of January was set apart by the mission as a day for private fasting and prayer. On the preceding evening, as the people were assembling for a religious service, Mr. Stoddard observed signs of deep feeling in different groups, and was convinced that a revival had begun. After service, the people came in crowds to his study, and he, with unutterable delight, unfolded the Gospel of Christ to one company after another, until near midnight. On the 25th, Tamo, a deacon from the mountains, was overwhelmed with a sense of his sinfulness. At the same meeting, priest Eshoo sat with his face buried in his handkerchief, and when spoken to wept, but said nothing. On the day following, he led the devotions in the male seminary, in a prayer so humble and earnest, so in contrast with his former sing-song tone and thoughtless manner, that Mr. Stoddard could not refrain from tears. He had evidently learned how to pray, and his knowledge, his stable character, and his important position would enable him, if truly converted, to do much good among his people. Though every room about the premises, that could possibly be spared from other uses, had been opened for retirement, so numerous were the awakened that they could not find places in which to pour out their souls to God. Such was the natural excitability of the people, that it was difficult to keep their expressions of feeling within proper bounds. On the 26th, deacon John came to Mr. Stoddard, saying that the boys were weeping violently in one of their rooms, and desired that he would go to them. John added, that he had been looking at them with amazement, having never before seen anything of the kind, and he knew not what to do. Mr. Stoddard entered the room with Dr. Wright, and they found fifteen or twenty boys lying on the floor, weeping, groaning, and in broken sentences praying for mercy, presenting a scene of great confusion. Some older people were standing around in silent wonder, thinking that an angel had visited the school. Measures were immediately taken for checking this disorder. The pupils all promised that no two of them would again pray aloud at the same time. The school was still the next day, but with no diminution of solemnity.
Miss Fiske had often ten or fifteen women, relatives of her pupils, to pass the night with her, making it necessary to collect together all the spare pillows, cushions, and quilts in the house, and make the sitting-room one great dormitory. She frequently conversed with them till midnight, and then she heard them from her room, praying most of the night.
Priest Eshoo called his neighbors together, and told them of the great change in his feelings. So upright had he been as a priest, that a confession of his need of salvation through the blood of Christ made a strong impression. It became more and more evident that he was truly a child of God. On the 5th of February, he announced his great joy that his oldest daughter, a member of Miss Fiske's school, was hopefully born again, and he thought she knew the way to the cross better than himself.