Has turned the course of many a river;
A dew-drop on the tiny plant,
May warp the giant oak for ever.”
MISSIONARY LIFE.
Miss Fiske had the spirit of a missionary, before she had the most distant conception of ever being engaged in the work. Her missionary life would not suffer by comparison with that of the most devoted agents who ever entered the field. At Seir, the Lord gave her an earnest of the blessing He was about to bestow on her self-renouncing labours in Persia. When the intelligence was received by her of sixty young ladies who were unconverted at the time she left Mount Holyoke, and all but six of whom were now rejoicing in hope, she burst into a flood of grateful tears.
When the American missionaries went to Persia, there was but a single Nestorian female who could read. She was Helena, the sister of the Patriarch, whose superior rank secured her this accomplishment. The rest were not only ignorant, but content to remain so. In addition to this, the poor Nestorians groaned under the bondage of a Mohammedan yoke, whose rule was capricious and tyrannical. In entering on her missionary duties, Miss Fiske writes: “Soon after our arrival, one of the elder members of our circle remarked that he did not know of five in the whole Nestorian nation whom he could look upon as true Christians.” The female seminary, which has done so much for the social, intellectual, and spiritual improvement of woman in Persia, was, during the first five years of its existence, simply a day-school: the pupils boarding at home, and spending only a few hours daily with their teachers in the school-room. From the first, she was very desirous of changing the character of the school, making it a boarding-school, in which pupils might remain several years, and be under the exclusive care and training of the teachers. The very idea of such a school was so repugnant to all the hereditary views of social propriety among the Nestorians, as to seem almost chimerical. Most of the girls were betrothed before they were twelve years of age; and the parents were afraid to give up those who were not, lest they should lose some favourable opportunity of marriage. They were also apprehensive that if their daughters were put to a boarding-school, they would not be able to carry heavy burdens, nor wield the spade so successfully as their companions who had never learned to read. But notwithstanding these difficulties, Miss Fiske succeeded in establishing a flourishing school conformed to her own ideal.
Her efforts to interest the women in the Bible were sometimes amusing. After reading the history of the creation, she asked, “Who was the first man?” They answered, “What do we know? we are women.” Then she told them that Adam was the first man, and made them repeat the name till they remembered it. The next question was, “What does it mean?” Here too they could give no answer; but were delighted to find that the first man was called red earth, because he was made of it. This was enough for one lesson. It woke up faculties previously dormant. She was not content with the few women who came to receive religious instruction at the seminary; but visited them at their homes, going from house to house, where filth and vermin would have repelled any woman of refinement whose heart did not glow with love to Christ, and love to perishing souls for whom He died.
RESULT OF A CONSECRATED LIFE.
The great study of Miss Fiske was to be Christ-like. She lived but for one object—the glory of the Redeemer in connection with the salvation of immortal souls. Hence, she carried with her a kind of hallowing influence into every company into which she entered; and her friends were accustomed to feel as if all were well when their measures met with the sanction and approval of the young missionary. In January, 1846, the work of the Holy Spirit became deep and general. The first Monday of the new year was observed by the mission as a day of fasting and prayer. “We had spoken,” writes Miss Fiske, “of passing that day in wrestling for souls. But we had only begun to seek, not to wrestle, when we learned that souls were pleading for themselves.” The intellects of the girls seemed greatly quickened by the grace in their hearts; thus illustrating the power of the gospel, to elevate and improve the whole character and life. The conversion of Deacon Gewergis, one of the vilest of the Nestorians; and his subsequent devotion to Christ, is too beautiful and of too profound significance to be omitted. After much faithful and affectionate conversation, Miss Fiske said to him, “When we stand at the bar of God, and when you are found on the left hand, as you certainly will be if you go on in your present course, promise me that you will tell the assembled universe that, on this 22nd day of February, 1846, you were told your danger.” She could say no more; her heart was full. He burst into tears, and said, “My sister, I need this salvation.” On the 12th March, 1856, he died in the Lord. The year 1849 witnessed one of the most interesting and extensive revivals that ever occurred in connection with the Nestorian mission. All the girls in the female seminary over twelve years of age, were hopefully converted, and many of them were, from that time, bright and shining lights in that dark land. The secret of these conversions may surely be said to be the spirit of entire dependence upon God. The imagination was not appealed to by terrors. There were no dramatic scenes to awaken fear. There was no mere got-up excitement. It was as if flowers that had been in darkness were persuaded to crave the blessed sunlight.
CHARACTER OF MISS FISKE.