The visit of Messrs. Perkins and Stocking to Mosul, in May, 1849, has been already mentioned.[1] That visit did much to prepare the way for Mr. Ford, of the Aleppo station, who went there at the close of 1849. He was kindly received by Mr. Rassam, the English Consul, and had a joyful greeting from the little band of "gospel men," who welcomed the return of their long lost privileges of Christian instruction. Of the fifty who soon called upon him, about twenty appeared to be decidedly evangelical, and ready to stand by the Gospel at all hazards, though few of them gave evidence of a work of grace in their hearts. Twenty more were enlightened and favorably disposed; and the remaining ten might be regarded as indifferent or hostile. This little band was the remainder of those who had been brought under the influence of the Gospel, when our brethren of the Mountain Nestorian Mission were detained in the mysterious providence of God, to labor and suffer there. Yet the Lord had not forsaken them, for Meekha, the ingenious mechanic, who had learned the truth from Mr. Laurie, had given them the benefit of his steadfast piety and diligent instruction.
[1] Chapter xx.
The reader knows, already, what led to the temporary occupation of Mosul by the Board, in 1841. Its relinquishment in 1844, was chiefly in view of the fact, that the Episcopal Church of the United States had a mission then in Turkey, with the avowed object of laboring among the Jacobites of Mesopotamia.[1] That mission having been withdrawn from the Turkish empire, the operations of the Board were naturally extended again to Mosul, to look after the fruits of former labors, as well as to meet the exigencies of the mission in western Koordistan.
[1] This was first known through Dr. Grant, who forwarded a copy of a letter from seven of the American Episcopal Bishops to the Syrian Patriarch at Mardin, as evidence of the fact. After stating the object in sending the Rev. Horatio Southgate to reside for a time at Mardin, with the hope of associating two others with him, to which no exception could be taken, the Patriarch was informed by the letter, that Mr. Southgate "will make it clearly understood, that the American Church has no ecclesiastical connection with the followers of Luther and Calvin, and takes no part in their plans or operations to diffuse the principles of these sects."
The Rev. Dwight W. Marsh arrived at Mosul on the 20th of March, 1850, going by way of Beirût, Aleppo, Aintab, Oorfa, and Diarbekir; from this last place he floated down the Tigris on a raft supported by inflated goat-skins, in less than four days to his new home. He describes the river as breaking through between bold precipices, and scenery delightfully and unexpectedly romantic. Mr. Schneider was his travelling companion from Aintab to Diarbekir, and Mr. Ford was at Mosul to greet him on his arrival. The Rev. William Frederic Williams removed from the Syria Mission to Mosul in the spring of 1851, going in company with Dr. Bacon and his son Mr. Leonard W. Bacon, then travelling in the East. Salome Carabet, the eldest of the girls in Mr. Whiting's family at Abeih, went with Mr. Williams, to take charge of a school of thirty girls.
Dr. Bacon's visit to Mosul was in compliance with a request of the Prudential Committee, that he would make his tour of relaxation and improvement the occasion of visiting the several stations of the Board in Western Asia. The attempt to proceed from Mosul to Oroomiah through the mountains by the most direct route, was unsuccessful. The two travellers, in company with Mr. Marsh, soon after crossing the Zab, were set upon by Koordish robbers, who had been requested by an Agha, near Akra, to kill them. So imminent was the peril, that they united together in prayer to God, led by Dr. Bacon. Some Moolahs seeing this, interceded for their lives, and though they could not hinder their being plundered, they succeeded in sending them safely to another Moolah, three hours distant, who was revered for his sanctity; and it was through his resolute protection, under God, that they effected a safe return to Mosul. Mr. Rassam gave information of the outrage to the English Ambassador, and the Pasha, in the following year, having received orders from Constantinople, sent three hundred men, with three cannon, against the robber, who was compelled to pay the full value of the losses, and much more besides to the government.[1]
[1] Missionary Herald, for 1851, p. 295, and 1852, p. 388.
The Assyria Mission was so named for geographical reasons. Its most northern station at this time, was Diarbekir. Dr. Grant passed through this city with Mr. Homes, in 1839, Messrs. Hinsdale and Mitchell passed through it in 1841, and Mr. Laurie in 1842. The city was visited by Mr. Peabody in 1849, when he found several persons awakened by reading the Scriptures and other books, brought there by colporters. It was visited again by Mr. Schneider in the following year, who reported that nearly fifty Armenians were accustomed to meet on the Sabbath for reading the Scriptures. These were then subjected to a severe persecution, and they sent to Constantinople for a vizierial letter, which was granted, but brought little relief. Dr. Azariah Smith organized a small church at Diarbekir in the spring of 1851. It included both Armenians and Jacobites; but only those were to be received who gave satisfactory evidence of piety. As soon as this restriction was announced, the most influential Syrians in the congregation resolutely set themselves to secure admission to the church for all Protestants of good moral character. For a time their efforts to unite the congregation in opposition prevented attention to their ordinary business; and but for the conservative spirit of the Armenian portion, perhaps the audience, as a whole, would have gone back to their churches. In the end all were persuaded to listen to a discourse on the subject, by Dr. Smith, and the character of the young ruler, in Luke xviii. 18-30, was unfolded in connection with Acts ii. 43-47. The exhibition of a church, as an association of men devoted, body and soul, time and wealth, to the extension of Christ's kingdom, was new to them. That repentance involved the ceasing to live for selfish and worldly ends, and that faith in Christ included the consecration of our energies to his service, was no part of their old creed. And though these truths had been previously preached by the missionaries, the practical connection in which they now came up made them more impressive.
Mr. and Mrs. Dunmore, after spending some months at Aintab, arrived at Diarbekir in November, 1851. They were accompanied by Stepan, a graduate of the seminary at Bebek. This man, not long after his arrival, was rudely arrested by a Turkish officer as a Protestant, and cast into a prison, where he spent the night with vagabonds and thieves. The Pasha refused Mr. Dunmore a hearing, but at once ordered Stepan's release.
Mr. Dunmore had not yet a free use of the Turkish, which was the language spoken by the Armenians; but an average of more than seventy persons came on the Sabbath to hear Stepan, and new faces were seen at every meeting.