Reminiscences of my life in Persia

MY LIFE IN PERSIA
A REMINISCENCE

MISS JEWETT

REMINISCENCES
OF MY LIFE IN PERSIA

BY

MARY JEWETT

WITH INTRODUCTION

BY

ROBERT E. SPEER

THE TORCH PRESS

CEDAR RAPIDS. IOWA

1909

J3VS2t1

"ABHENTIEII

DEDICATED TO THE MEMOBY OF MY BE-
LOVED AND HONOBED FATHEB, WHO GAVE
HIS ELDEST CHILD TO THE WOBK OF FOB-
EIGN MISSIONS AND SOON AFTEB LAID
DOWN HIS OWN LIFE IN THE WOBK OF
HOME MISSIONS

M183707

PKEFACE

When in the providence of God my duty had
been made plain to me that I should retire from
active service on the foreign field to spend the
remainder of my days in the home land, I was
glad that they said to me "Come and tell us of
your life and work," hoping thus to do something
for the cause. I soon found that it is very little
that can be told in the short time given for a
missionary address. So I felt impelled to write
it out, and thus tell more fully of my experiences
in Persia. My little book is not a history, nor is
it a diary or a journal. It does not go into deep
things, but is only a simple story of my missionary
life, with greetings to my many friends whose love
and prayers have been a help and blessing to me
all the years. I have been guided in the selection
of matter by questions that have been asked me,
and what I have written is largely answers to such
questions. I beg of my readers leniency in judg-
ment, for my work is far from perfect ; but imper-
fection marks all our labors here below. With the
salutation of the East I greet you

1 * Sala 'am-alakum * J
Peace be unto you.

CONTENTS

Introduction 9

I. Going to Persia 13

II. Learning the Language and Beginnings

of Work 27

III. Azerbyjan . . . . . 36

IV. How We Live in Persia ... 45
V. Religions 64

VI. Tabriz for Christ .... 80

VII. How We Work 95

VIII. Woman's Work for Woman . . 106

IX. Touring 119

X. Some Tours I Have Made ... 129

XI. Khoi 146

XII. Mahmud 159

XIII. Eabbi Rachel 167

XIV. Does it Pay? 175

XV. Just a Word More .... 182

Glossary 189

LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS

Miss Jewett ....

Eose Tree at Tabriz
Ladies on a Journey
Buffalo Team Drawing Hay
Women Eeturning from Harvest

Field

The Azan, or Call to Prayer
Dervish, or Wandering Holy Man

Tabriz

Women Grinding at the Mill
Matron and Pupils, Girls' School
Persian Gentleman
Armenian Women in Maragha
Moslem Village Women at Work
Where We Dwelt Six Weeks
In Front of a Tea House
Moslem Women Churning..
Tent in the Mountains
Mahmud, His Mother and Niece

frontispiece

facing page 40

facing page 40

facing page 48

facing
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page 48
page 64
page 72
page 80
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page 96
page 102
page 120
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page 136
page 136
page 144
page 144
page 160

INTRODUCTION

Persia is still one of the unaltered lands of
the Orient. The tide of Western material civiliza-
tion carrying with it schools, commercial houses,
railways, trolley cars, and the English language,
which has poured over Japan, Korea, China, Siam,
and India, has not yet spread to Persia. There
are no railways. There is one German school in
the capital, subsidized by the German Government
and so Mohammedanized in its religious exercises,
conducted daily by a Mollah, as to give no offence
to Islam. But the land is still, save for one influ-
ence, undisturbed in its Oriental stagnancy.

That one influence is not the modern spirit of
independence demanding constitutional govern-
ment. This spirit has come to Persia. The tri-
umph of Japan over Russia and the growth of
nationalism throughout Asia have affected Persia
as they have affected all of Asia. Newspapers
have sprung up. Public discussion has claimed
the liberty of opinion and of expression of opinion.
Local self-governing bodies have been organized
in many cities, sometimes quite usurping the power
of the officials representing the Shah. All this
ferment promises new conditions. But in spite
of it all, the old Persia is still there. The surface
has been stirred but the national character has
been unchanged.

10 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

The one influence which has wrought construc-
tively in the life of the nation has been the mis-
sionary influence. The only good schools and
almost all the hospitals, indeed all of them outside
of the capital, have been the institution of the
missionaries. The missionary has been the only
foreigner who has settled down and learned the
language of the people and lived among them.
Others have come and gone but he has remained.
The traveler and explorer have passed through,
reading the great inscriptions, the rug buyer has
come and departed, the Consul and Minister have
stayed as long as they had to and have then
eagerly escaped. But the missionary has come
and lived and died in Persia.

In consequence, he has known the people as
no one else has. It is true that some of the travel-
ing visitors and men in diplomatic service have
written good books. "Haji Baba" is a classic
picture of Persian character. Curzon's " Persia' '
is still a good standard work. Browne's "A Year
Among the Persians" is a marvel of vivid and
faithful portrayal of the mind and ways of the
people. But only the missionaries have the knowl-
edge which comes from long years of intimacy and
personal contact, such knowledge as in China and
Japan others besides the missionaries possess.
And especially in the case of the family life and
the lot of women, the woman missionary knows
what no traveler can ever know, not even a trav-
eler like Mrs. Bishop.

Miss Jewett was for thirty-six years one of
these missionaries in Persia. In city and country

INTRODUCTORY 11

she went to and fro among the people, and in their
homes for more than a generation. I remember
visiting her while she was living alone at Mian-
duab, a little town south of Urumia Lake. The
Moslem and Armenian women of the town crowded
her home, and the men and the children came as
freely to her. As we rode away one frosty No-
vember morning, our last picture of her was as
she stood in her doorway, a gray-haired open-
faced figure among the group of chuddar-covered
women who stood about her leaning their weak
and evil lives against her strength and love.

I am glad to commend Miss Jewett's clear
and careful account of the life which she knew in
Persia, presented here in such simple and attrac-
tive style, for the information of those friends
of Persia at home who would understand better
in order that they may help more.

For the need of help is great, and the oppor-
tunities were never richer than now. Whatever
reactions may come, there is to be henceforth a
new liberty of investigation and discussion in the
Moslem lands and nowhere more than in Persia.
To a people in need shall not the thing that they
need be given — not mere secular education, not
mere political agitation, not mere constitutional
change, but the life of God and the light of men
in Christ!

Eobekt E. Speer

A EEMINISCENCE OF MY LIFE IN PEESIA

I

GOING TO PEBSIA

I have been retrospecting, going over in mind
thirty-six years of my life — those years in which
I was actively engaged in missionary work.
What experiences! What happenings! What
providences! What joys and sorrows, ups and
downs, comings and goings! What progress!
What changes in these thirty-six years! Many
things have not been recorded, many things have
been forgotten, many things that once seemed in-
teresting, do now, after the lapse of years, seem
scarcely worth mentioning. Some things stand
out in the halls of memory, never to be forgotten,
and fnll of interest as ever.

14 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

When in 1871 the call came to me to go to do
mission work in Persia, I hesitated not, but said
"I will go." Then followed preparations for the
long journey thither and for the long sojourn in
a strange land. I knew nothing of what was
needed, what to do, or how to get ready. I soon
found that I had nothing to do, only to let others
do for me. Kind and devoted friends in Iowa,
especially in the towns of Marshalltown, Cedar
Eapids, and Vinton, took me up, furnished my out-
fit and sent me on my way with many tokens of
love and with their prayers and benedictions,
which have followed and blessed me all these
years. Oh, the inestimable value of such friend-
ship! In it they have been blessed — and I. I
pass lightly over the parting with loved ones.
The time from my appointment to the time of my
sailing was very short, and some of those dearest
of all, I could not see. Some I have not seen since,
for they passed over the river before even my first
visit home.

August 9th, 1871, we steamed out of New
York harbor. Besides myself there were in our
party, Eev. James Bassett and wife and three chil-
dren, Eev. William E. Stocking and wife, and Mrs.
D. P. Cochran with her two daughters, the latter
returning to Persia from a visit in the home land.
Mrs. Cochran, a devoted "Mother in Israel,' 9
loved and honored by all who knew her, lived and
labored until the winter of 1893, when she went to
her rest after more than forty-seven years of mis-
sionary life. Mrs. Stocking, so lovely and con-

GOING TO PEESIA 15

secrated I could only think of her as an angel of
light, remained with us but one short year when
she was taken to her heavenly home. The others
were afterwards called to different fields of labor
on earth. Dr. Irving, of blessed memory, then one
of the secretaries of the Board, came on deck to
bid the outgoing missionaries God-speed and good-
bye. As he grasped my hand and told me what
he expected of me, I resolved, by the grace of God,
to try to prove worthy of his expectations. Then
there were my fellow missionary workers to be-
come acquainted with, as at that time they were
all strangers to me. After sundry offerings to
Neptune, and several days and nights spent in
the state-room bunk, I crawled out on deck, and
reclining in a steamer chair, thought of home and
loved ones left behind.

The voyage was a pleasant one, though less
speedy than voyages nowadays. "We were ten
days crossing the Atlantic, and reached Liverpool
Saturday evening the 19th. Eesting in Liverpool
over Sabbath, we went the next day to London,
where we remained a few days. Then followed a
fine trip across Europe via Dover and English
Channel to Ostend, thence across the country via
Cologne and Nuremburg to Vienna, thence to Basi-
as on the Danube, then by boat down the pictur-
esque, rock-bound windings of that magnificent
river to Euschuk, then again by rail to Varna on
the Black Sea, whence we went by steamer to Con-
stantinople. Approaching that great city we had

16 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

a fine view of palaces, mosques, minarets, beautiful
gardens, rugged cliffs, channels, inlets and outlets
and innumerable ships and boats. It was a sight
well worth seeing. But how great was the feeling
of disappointment on getting into the city and
passing along the narrow, dirty streets, crowded
with lazy Turks and mangy dogs. It was pleasant
to be met by missionary gentlemen, with a hearty
welcome, among them Bev. J. Gr. Cochran, who had
come from Persia to meet his family. Cordially
and lovingly the missionaries in Constantinople
received us into their homes and entertained us
during the few days we were in that city. I was
the guest of Eev. and Mrs. Tracy, then stationed
in Constantinople, but who have since labored
in the interior of Turkey. We improved our op-
portunity of seeing some of the sights in Constan-
tinople, as the Hippodrome, the costumes of the
Janizaries, the Mosque of St. Sophia, etc. We
crossed the Bridge of Boats, where it is said that
every nationality on earth is represented, went
through the curious and thronged bazaars, rode in
a caique, visited the Bible House and some of the
missionary homes.

Again we were on the stormy Euxine bound
for Trebizond. Exceedingly amusing was the
landing at Trebizond. We were paddled toward
the shore in a little boat, where it seemed we must
hold on tight or tumble into the water. Near the
shore we met a motley crowd of funny looking
men standing in the shallow water with trousers
rolled up to knee waiting to help us ashore. In

GOING TO PERSIA 17

the midst of yells and screams and indescribable
noise they dragged the boat a little nearer land;
but still in water it kept bobbing up and down with
the rise and fall of the waves. Then, watching
her opportunity, when the wave would recede, a
lady would give a hand to a man on each side of
her, and with their help make a spring over water
and mud, and fortunate would she be if she landed
on dry ground with dry feet. Then right along
with horses, mules, donkeys, men carrying boxes
and trunks on their backs, men carrying children
in their arms and men with arms full of bundles,
tired and anxious missionaries, dodging this way
and that to keep out of mud and out of the way
of animals and men, we reached a house where we
were to camp down during our stay in Trebizond.
We were hungry, and some queerly cooked meat
and bread and some coffee were brought. I dis-
covered that we were in an old building that had
once been used as a church, and I took possession
of the space behind the pulpit, called it my play-
house and amused myself arranging my bed and
other things. The rest of the building was divided
into compartments by the stretching of curtains.
There was a gathering together of saddles, bridles,
whips, horse blankets, tents, camp bedsteads, bed-
ding, folding chairs, waterproof cloaks, rubber
sheets, food and cooking utensils. Among the
last were plates (unbreakable), cups and saucers,
knives, forks, spoons, etc. Bags innumerable, of
all sizes, were provided for carrying these things
and our clothing and personal effects. I was much

18 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

interested in the provision chest, in which were
packed these table utensils, together with rice,
flour, cheese, crackers, cakes, bread, sugar, tea,
coffee, macaroni, etc., for we were to travel
through a country where people do not live like
Americans. After several days of diligent prepa-
ration all things were ready, horses hired and last
things all done. We lay down at night expecting
to start early in the morning. Morning came, but
horses did not come. The muleteers were hunted
up and the horses demanded. They had some
affairs of their own to attend to and were not
yet ready. They said, "We will not go to-day.' '
No power could move them. A day and a night
we waited. Again the next morning they said,
"We will not go to-day.' ' I became impatient.
An older missionary gave me some good advice.
He said, ' ' There are three things above all needed
by the missionary : the first is patience, the second
is patience, the third is patience. ' ' Finally, after
several days of waiting, and when patience was
nearly, if not quite exhausted, we started, or as we
say in Persia, using a Persian idiom, "we fell on
the way." Our first day's ride was slow and
short, only a few miles. We stopped for the night
on a plain near a village. Tents were set up and
curtains hung. We arranged our belongings for
the night and lay down for a rest until the steam-
ing tea urn was brought. We drank and were
refreshed. Supper was served on a cloth spread
on some rugs on the ground, after which we lay
down for the night, but not until there had been a

GOING TO PERSIA 19

prayer with thanksgiving and a committing of
ourselves to our merciful Heavenly Father's care
for the night and the coming days. At the early
dawn we were awakened by sounds of quarreling,
with yells and screams. One of the party, new
and inexperienced, rose in great distress and
called to Mr. Cochran, "Our muleteers are fight-
ing.' ' He received a laughing reply and was
advised to lie down and take it easy, for it is their
custom to thus do much fighting with one another
and there was no danger. After an early break-
fast, and while the muleteers and our native
attendants were arranging the loads, a prayer was
offered. And after much loud talking, quarreling
and delay, boxes, trunks, saddles and huge saddle
bags were arranged on the horses, the last ropes
and straps were drawn taut, the last knot tied,
and we were again mounted and on our way. All
the time the rain poured down, and it rained all
day. So right at the beginning we had use for our
rain cloaks and our waterproof clothing. Some
times on the journey there would be a literal
"falling on the way," as some horse would stum-
ble and fall, spilling rider and load on the ground,
or boxes would be tumbled into a muddy stream,
or a poor, tired animal would lie down under his
load with no strength or desire to rise. One day
we enjoyed a hearty laugh at the steward of the
party — a Nestorian deacon from Urumia. On
the horse he rode were huge saddle bags loaded
with traps for use on the journey. On top of the
saddle bags were his bed, quilt and pillow made

20 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

into a big bundle, and on top of all sat the deacon
attired in a green coat with gathered skirt and
lined with red, on his head a turban of an astra-
khan cap with a red scarf wound around it, and
a gun swung over his shoulder. Suddenly his
horse stumbled and fell and he rolled over in the
dust. As he picked himself up he solemnly re-
marked in broken English, "You laugh me now,
next day I laugh you. ' ' Sure enough he did, for
next day some one else had a similar experience.
We truly were a funny looking caravan com-
pany, gentlemen and ladies on American saddles,
Nestorian attendants with their queer dress,
mounted high on the loaded pack saddles, boxes,
trunks, tents and great saddle bags strapped on
to the clumsy pack saddles, Mrs. Bassett and baby
in a takhtrawan, and little girls carried in baskets
arranged with seats, one on each side of a horse.
As we slowly moved along we whiled away the
time in conversation with one another. I began
picking up words in the language I was to use.
I learned to count, to ask for water, milk, bread
and necessary things. Sometimes I would laugh
at the queerly dressed and queerly acting people
and funny sights along the way. Sometimes I
was ready to cry from very weariness and discom-
fort. Over mountains, valleys and plains, at times
overcome with heat or suffering with cold, now
and again stopping to gaze upon the magnificent
scenery as one grand view followed another in
quick succession — verdure covered hills — some

GOING TO PERSIA 21

mountains covered with forests, some without a
tree — mountain streams and waterfalls — graz-
ing flocks and herds — the ' ' cattle on a thousand
hills' ■ — villages on mountain sides, or in valleys,
or on plains — gorges, precipices, forests, ever-
greens, mosses, crocuses — up, up, above the
clouds, then down again. I enjoyed the nights
and rested comfortably when the tents were
pitched, but when we stopped for the night in the
houses of the people, or in stables, in the midst
of fleas, dirt, close quarters and bad air, it was
almost impossible to sleep or rest. Never were
the evening and morning prayers omitted, and in
every prayer the dear home land and the loved
ones there were remembered. Then would we lie
down in peace and safety for the Lord did protect.
How delightful were the Sabbath days on that
journey, when plans and efforts having been made
to reach some stopping place cleaner and more
comfortable than usual, the Sabbath days were
really rest days. How we enjoyed the sweet,
simple services of worship on those days, singing
our sacred songs, reading our Bibles, engaging in
quiet conversation and meditation, in just lying
still or in taking quiet walks.

How delightful were the few days spent in the
homes of the missionaries in Erzroom in Turkey.
Then again we rode over steep mountain passes
and dreary plains. We crossed the Euphrates
and visited an old Gregorian church, where
among other relics we were shown the hand of

22 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

John the Baptist! How our hearts thrilled as
snow capped Mt. Ararat in all his glory loomed
up before us. As we slowly reached the top of
the mountain range that forms the boundary be-
tween Turkey and Persia, my companion said,
i ' There is Persia. 9 ' With wondering eyes, I gazed
on that strange land. A village was pointed out.
I looked in vain for the abode of civilization. Low
mud huts huddled together, with narrow, crooked
dirty alleys for streets, heaps of manure and piles
of straw were what I saw. Queer looking people
were moving about; there were droves of cows,
flocks of sheep and goats, dogs barking and un-
heard-of noise. A few trees had been planted
outside the village, giving some shade and show
of comfort. A stream of water ran along by the
village. In a muddy pond wallowed some buffa-
loes. A string of camels, loaded with bales of
cotton and Persian rugs, were slowly and clumsily
winding along their way. There we were to spend
the night. A comfortless night it was. Back-
ward, downward had we traveled until we had
reached a land of darkness. Strange indeed
seemed the country and the people.

As we crossed the last mountain pass before
reaching Urumia, a never to be forgotten sight
burst upon our view. It was the beautiful blue
waters of Lake Urumia, lying calm and bright in
the sunlight. Here and there above its surface
appeared small islands, some of them rising moun-
tain high. A clear stream rippled down toward

GOING TO PERSIA 23

the lake. On plain and mountain side were little
towns and villages surrounded with green, looking
clean in the distance, like oases in the desert, and
all teeming with life. It seemed a happy intro-
duction to the home of my adoption. On the 18th
of October we reached Urumia. The last day but
one of our journey, as we were riding on we saw
two missionary gentlemen on horses galloping
toward us. Then a little fun was planned. One
of the party said, " Let's not tell them which is
which and see if they will know which of the two
young and new missionaries is Mrs. Stocking and
which Miss Jewett." The next day we met a
carriage full of ladies and gentlemen coming to
meet us, more gentlemen horseback and quite a
company of native friends. We entered the city
gate through high surrounding walls, then through
a great, strong gate and more walls into the
Mission premises, all these gates and walls being
necessary for safety and built around all the
houses in all the cities in Persia. The gates are
kept locked at night and sentinels are stationed at
them in the day time. I felt at first as though I
were a prisoner, but soon learned to be glad of the
security they afforded. The glad greetings of the
native people, the cordial hospitality of the mis-
sionaries, and resting in their comfortable homes,
made me rejoice that the journey of two months
and nine days, of which six weeks were on horse-
back from Trebizond to Urumia, was ended, and
now I was where I could engage in the blessed
work to which the Lord had called me.

24 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

During the years there have been many-
changes, one of which is the difference in time
required to make the journey between New York
and Persia. Now there is a railroad in the south-
ern part of Eussia reaching to the border line, and
a wagon post-road in Persia extending north to
meet the railroad in Eussia. So when I came
home in 1907 carriages drawn by four horses
abreast brought us in two days the eighty miles
from Tabriz to Julf a. This is the port of passage
between Persia and Eussia, on the Aras Eiver,
which is the dividing line between these two coun-
tries. At Julf a passports are examined, and woe
to the traveler who, by any mishap, has not his or
her passport always ready at hand and properly
viseed when traveling in Eussia. Those Bears of
the North count it a very indispensable adjunct
of traveling, and the would-be traveler who has
not one will be either turned back or taken to
Siberia, or held in custody until one may be ob-
tained through the Consul of his country. From
Julf a we came by rail to Batoum, a port on the east
coast of the Black Sea. As the Eussians never
hurry, we were much longer than we should have
been in reaching Batoum. There we tarried three
days waiting for the steamer, on which we were
twelve days passing through the entire length of
the Black Sea, through the Bosphorus — the Sea
of Marmora — the Dardanelles — the Archipelago
— south of Greece — past Italy and Sicily through
the Mediterranean to Marseilles. Too late for the
train to Paris, we rested at Marseilles one night
and day, and another night and day brought us to

GOING TO PERSIA 25

London. There a delay of a week and then to
Liverpool and across the Atlantic to New York.
With all delays, this journey was one month and
three days shorter than the one from New York
to Persia in 1871.

From the first the appearance of Persia im-
pressed me as a country full of resources, which
with a liberal government, a true Christianity and
a free, enterprising people, would be equal to any.
Experience has borne me out in this, my first im-
pression, which may be verified when in the provi-
dence of God the inhabitants shall become enlight-
ened, the mountains shall yield up their stores of
mineral wealth, and the valleys shall be filled with
homes of comfort and plenty. The natives were
not attractive to me then. Many things were for-
bidding, and the slow, leisurely movemlents of
those who were never in a hurry, knew no reason
for haste and had no enterprise, were very trying.
I was glad I could not talk to them until I should
become somewhat acquainted with them, should
learn to love them and could understand and sym-
pathize with them.

I was soon introduced to sorrow and death,
for Mr. Cochran, after two weeks of pain and suf-
fering, passed away on the 2nd of November. He
was buried in the cemetery at Sier, where lie the
bodies of many sainted missionaries and their
children. Like all Christians, I can testify from
experience that "whom the Lord loveth He chas-
teneth," and that through bereavement and
mourning He oftentimes sees fit to prepare them

26 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

for their work. Only five months after reaching
Persia I received word of the death of my father,
whom I had left robust and well. Again, like
others, I must become acclimated, which in my
case ended in an attack of typhoid fever.

II

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE AND BEGINNINGS OF WORK

The first work of the missionary in any for-
eign land is the learning of the language which
is to be his or her medium of communication with
the people. Persian is not the one and only lan-
guage of Persia. It is the language of the
Southern and Eastern part of the country, but
the language of the North and West is Turkish.
Nor is this the only language used in that region.
There are in the country several nationalities, each
having its own distinct and separate language,
viz: Syriac, Hebrew, Armenian, and Kurdish.
Turkish is understood by all in Northwest Per-
sia and is very extensively^ spoken, not only
in Turkey and Northwest Persia, but also in
Southern Eussia, in Eastern China, Afghanistan,
Beluchistan, and adjoining countries. So those
who have the command of this language can travel
through these countries, communicating with their
millions of inhabitants and preaching the gospel
to them. Still it is not in all these countries a
written language, for most of the people are il-
literate, very few being able to read. Not hav-
ing a literature, different people in different dis-
tricts pronounce the same words differently and
use different words for the same thing. Thus it
follows that there are many dialects. In order
to work successfully in any region one must learn

28 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

the dialect of that region. The dialect used in
Northwest Persia is the Tartar Turkish, a dialect
very different from the Turkish spoken in Turkey,
which latter is called Osmanli Turkish. Those
who have learned the Osmanli Turkish think it
a very beautiful language. Tartar Turkish is not
so. It is a rude, barbarous language, with no
literature and no polish. It has strong roots and
has borrowed many words from Arabic and Per-
sian. It is a strong, forcible language, well adapt-
ed to preaching to a barbarous people. This was
the language given me to learn. There were then
no books in it and to learn it was no easy task.
But enthusiasm and perseverance won the victory.
The air seemed full of words, I trying to catch
them and they continually eluding my grasp. I
kept listening, or as we say in Persia, "hanging
my ear," to conversations and to preaching, get-
ting words, memorizing them and making them my
own. A teacher was provided, and there was
translation from English ; a primer, a geography
and the Bible being text books. It was interest-
ing to learn words and then practice them on the
native people. I would be happy when I could
make them understand, but alas ! when they would
reply and I could not understand them. The work
of translating the Bible into Tartar Turkish had
been begun, and glad was the day when I first
took in my hand a Gospel of Matthew translated
and printed in this language, and could read it.
This language study was really a very delight-
ful work — with difficulties overcome, tongue
trained to pronounce the strange sounds, mind a

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE 29

store house of new words, ability to speak, read
and think in Turkish and understand what others
were saying. Sometimes there would be hearty
laughter over funny mistakes. One day a lady
told her cook to make the mouse ready for din-
ner ; she meant chicken, but used the wrong word.
The poor cook was convulsed with laughter. I
tried to order my horse shod, and afterwards
learned that I had ordered gaiters for him. Many
words are similar in sound but dissimilar in mean-
ing, as dava means medicine, dawa — fighting,
dewar — a wall, dawar — cattle, dua — prayer.
One day the horses were fighting and one of the
ladies, using the wrong word, called out, "The
horses are praying;" "6t" means horse, "eet"
— dog, "at" — meat. A gentleman, who was
only just learning the language, entertaining na-
tive guests at his table, said, "Will you have
some more dog?" Once on a journey, trying to
hasten some dilatory attendants, I wished to say
"Indy chottin" — "Now load up." I did say
* l Indy chotliin " — " Now burst. ' ' They did near-
ly burst with laughter. Again, when afterwards
I was learning Armenian I made a mistake which
became a standing joke. I used the word "gee-
nee" — wine, instead of "geen" — wife, and thus
instead of asking the man for his wife, I asked
him for wine. He brought me a bottle of wine and
a wine glass.

Building up a literature in an uncultured lan-
guage is an interesting occupation. I have done
a little in that line, viz: the translation of The
Tract Primer from English to Turkish, some work

30 MY LIFE IN PEESIA

on a geography, helping some in Scripture trans-
lation, preparing some Armenian tracts and con-
siderable oral work for immediate use. I studied
Persian some, reading the New Testament and
Pilgrim's Progress in that language, and speak-
ing it brokenly. It is a beautiful, polished lan-
guage in which poets, scholars, historians and law-
givers have expressed themselves. In 1871 there
was only one Mission Station in all Persia, and
that was in Urumia. From the beginning in 1835
to that time, the work had been in the Syriac lan-
guage and for the Nestorians, a Syriac speaking
people. The workers saw and felt the great need
of the Turkish speaking Moslem population and
were actuated with the desire to reach them with
the gospel. So the policy had been to use all pos-
sible means of winning their friendship and pre-
paring the way more and more for preaching
Christ to them. The way was steadily opening
up for this grand work, and I became enlisted in
the great struggle of the age.

In Holy Writ we read of famines and pes-
tilences. Some of my first experiences were with
these things. Indeed, during all my life in Per-
sia I was familiar with famine, sickness, suffer-
ing and distress of all kinds. When I first reached
Urumia they had just passed through a scourge
of cholera. Beginning that winter and continu-
ing on through more than two years there was
famine. Indescribably wretched poverty, dis-
tress, rags, hunger, nakedness, starvation. Our
hearts ached for the suffering ones, knowing that
many of them must soon die, and that without hope

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE 31

of a better life beyond, knowing, too, that there
was no need of such suffering. Had the rulers
been honorable, had there been a spirit of phil-
anthrophy, had the rich cared what became of the
poor, it need not have been. We need not have
seen hungry women and children all over the coun-
try hunting roots and herbs and eating grass ; we
need not have known of men fighting over a few
grains of barley fallen from the manger of the
rich man's horses ; there need not have been black,
unhealthy bread made of barley mixed with bran,
dirt and gravel, the only bread the wretchedly
poor could get. It need not have happened that
the starving should eat human flesh. One day the
Nestorian pastor of the Protestant Church in
Hamadan missed his little daughter. She was
found in the hands of those who were preparing
to kill and eat her. She was a fat little girl and
would have made them a good meal. The rich had
plenty. What cared they for the poor? They
took their tnoney, their clothing, their houses, their
all, and said "Let them die." So it was, not only
during that famine of 1871-3, but often since. As
I have walked the streets in Tabriz I have heard
the cry, l ' Oh lady ! one bread money give me, oh,
lady ! one bread money give me. ' ' Turning to see
whence the cry, I would behold a wretched, ragged,
dirty, nearly naked girl or woman or boy or man
sitting by the wayside begging. Only one bread
money! No home, no friends, no comforts, no
happiness in this life or in the life to come.
Thousands of such die every year. In heat, in
cold, in storms, the famishing cry for bread. Is

32 MY JJFE IN PERSIA

there no bread? Is there no shelter? Can no
help be found ? Many are living in luxury, having
more than enough. Could they not spare a pit-
tance ? Have they no pity, no mercy, no care for
the perishing?

The famine of 1871-3 opened a wide door for
work. The government cared nothing for the des-
titution and suffering and in accordance with their
fatalistic ideas would say, "It is the will of God,"
and do nothing to help. Christian nations came
to the rescue, as Christian men and women of Eu-
rope and America sent help. Large sums of
money thus contributed were committed to the mis-
sionaries for distribution. They visited the miser-
able haunts to ascertain by personal observation
conditions and needs. Such abodes of destitution
and distress ! Many could not get any kind of a
shelter and were passing the long cold winter
nights in the streets. I have in mind the picture
of a place, one of many, where the husband, half
blind and a cripple, and the hungry wife — both
in rags — crouched under a quilt that had been
given them. Their pretty little three-year-old
daughter seemed happy and contented with a bone
and a crust. In the city of Urumia not far from
the residences of the missionaries a large room
and yard were rented, where the famine sufferers
assembled every day. A Nestorian Christian
preacher was put in charge. At noon the door
would be opened to the waiting crowds. Before
giving bread the preacher would preach to them.
They would give eager attention, nodding assent,
with tears running down their sad pinched faces

BEGINNINGS OF WORK 33

as the story of the Savior's love would touch
their hearts. Shelter and clothing were supplied
for many, and soup was furnished to the sick.
They would rehearse the words of the preacher,
and many seemed to forget their hunger in feast-
ing on the Bread of life. There were those who,
on their death beds, were visited, prayed with and
pointed to Jesus, and who passed away with the
name of Jesus on their lips and peace in their
hearts. When the Persians saw that christians
of other and far off lands were sending food and
clothing they were astonished, and were convinced
that there must be something worthy in a religion
that manifested itself in such works of mercy.
Thus a good impression was made, want was re-
lieved and the Gospel was preached.

Out of this work grew the first Mission School
for Moslem girls in Persia. It was on this wise.
I was much interested in the hungry crowds that
gathered every day, and being eager to do some-
thing for them, I would go there with Bible in
hand and with a reading prepared for them. The
women would remain after the men had gone.
Then I would have a meeting with them. Among
them were some bright interesting girls, whom I
gathered into a room and taught. As we had no
books I had some leaflets prepared with letters
and easy words. At the same time there was an
opening in a Moslem village near Sier. Sier is
a mountain village four miles from the city of
Urumia, where there are also missionary homes.
I had often visited this Moslem village and had
found there some interesting girls who wished to

34 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

learn. So I moved the girls from the city to Sier,
and there gathered together all the girls. Three
horses carried all the little company of eight pre-
cious girls with all the quilts and all our school
property. As they crossed the river, on reaching
the opposite bank, two loads of girls fell, some in
water and some on dry land, but with no serious
result. One of the girls cried, "I died, I died,"
but a dose of castor oil restored her to life. I
taught them reading, simple lessons in geography
and arithmetic, sewing, housework and cleanliness.
Above all the higher lessons, morality, honesty, the
love of Grod, love to one another and the way of
salvation through Jesus Christ, were impressed
upon them as I read and explained the Bible and
they committed to memory some of the sacred
words. There was no opposition worth mentioning,
and the general verdict was in our favor. They
said, "It is a good thing. It is a good work, taking
orphans and poor children, feeding and clothing
them and teaching them knowledge, cleanliness
and manners. ' f At one time some Moslem priests
had a conference and tried to influence the gov-
ernor to stop the school, but he did not heed them.
Companies of women from the city and from the
different villages came from time to time to see
what we were doing. Thus opportunities were
given for preaching which we ever endeavored to
improve. This work continued steadily and pros-
perously from May 1st to July 21st, 1873, during
which time I did not leave the girls night or day.
Then a vacation was given. The girls wept when
told that school must close for awhile, and all went

BEGINNINGS OF WORK 35

away with the best of feeling. I had thought to
continue in this delightful work, but that was not
my privilege, for I was transferred to the newer
and more difficult field of Tabriz.

After many varied experiences, encouraging
and discouraging, there is now a flourishing Mos-
lem Girls ' School in Urumia. I rejoice to say that
Moslem girls are now being taught by missionary
ladies in all our Mission Stations in Persia.
There is more and more a growing sentiment
among Moslems that girls as well as boys may
learn to read, and many are thus reading in their
own abodes.

Ill

AZERBYJAN

The Persian ensign is the Lion and the Sun —
symbolic of strength and brightness. Persia —
the land of poets and warriors — the land re-
nowned in ancient and Bible history — where
reigned Queen Esther, Cyrus the Persian, and Da-
rius the Mede — where lived Daniel, the man
"greatly beloved' 9 of God — the land whence came
the wise men to worship the Babe in the Manger —
whose people were once the firm friends and de-
fenders of God's chosen people — is no longer Per-
sia of the past. Mental and moral darkness, ig-
norance, superstition and sin have had their bane-
ful influence upon the people and even upon the
very face of the country. Quoting from Gibbon,
we read, "In the more early ages of the world,
while the forests, that covered Europe, afforded
a retreat to a few wandering savages, the inhab-
itants of Asia were already collected into populous
cities, and reduced under extensive empires, the
seat of arts, of luxury and of despotism." And
again, i ' The Persians, long since civilized and cor-
rupted, were very far from possessing the martial
independence and the intrepid hardiness, both of
mind and body, which have rendered the Northern
barbarians masters of the world. The science of
war, that constituted the more rational force of

AZERBYJAN 37

Greece and Rome as it now does of Europe, never
made any considerable progress in the East.
Those disciplined evolutions which harmonize and
animate a confused multitude were unknown to the
Persians. They were equally unskilled in the arts
of constructing, besieging or defending regular
fortifications. They trusted more to their num-
bers than to their courage, more to their courage
than to their discipline. The infantry was a half
armed, spiritless crowd of peasants, levied in haste
by the allurements of plunder, and as easily dis-
persed by a victory as by a defeat. The monarch
and his nobles transported into the camp the pride
and luxury of the seraglio. Their military opera-
tions were impeded by a useless train of women,
eunuchs, horses and camels, and in the midst of a
successful campaign, the Persian host was often
separated or destroyed by an unexpected famine.
But the nobles of Persia, in the bosom of luxury
and despotism, preserved a strong sense of per-
sonal gallantry and national honor. ' '

The area of the present kingdom is 648,000
square miles. It lies between 23° and 40° north
latitude. It is divided into the provinces of Azer-
byjan, Ghilan, Mazandaran, Irak- A jam, Khor-
asan, Kerman, Laristan, Farsistan, Kuzistan, Lur-
istan and Ardelan. Azerbyjan lies in the extreme
Northwest, and in that province was my home.
Situated in the temperate zone it has the climate
of that zone. The changes are gradual from in-
tense, dry, burning heat in the middle of summer
to severe cold in winter, and vice versa. As it is
a very mountainous country there may be all the

38 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

different degrees of temperature at the same time
in different parts of the province and at different
elevations. So one may pass from the intense
heat of summer on plain or valley to never melting
snow and winter cold on mountain top. There are
parts of Persia where there are the intensely hot
summers with a plentiful rainfall, where the
orange tree grows and roses are abundant, but
the greater part of the land consists of dry barren
plains and treeless mountains where there is no
rain all summer, and all the country is parched
and desert-like. In the bowels of the earth there
is water, and the people have learned to bring this
water to the surafce by a series of wells called
connaughts. They begin on the slopes of the high
hills, digging first a well until water is reached,
then a few rods lower down another with an under-
ground aqueduct connecting the two wells, and so
on until the water from the mountain depth is
brought to the surface in a beautiful, clear, cool,
fresh water spring. Thence it is carried by chan-
nels and distributed over the country, and by its
life-giving power transforms the dry land into
fields, gardens, orchards and vineyards, making
mother earth, wherever it touches her, beautifully
green and productive, a vivid illustration of
Psalms 1-2, where we read of the " trees planted
by the rivers of water.' 9 Unfortunately, owing to
lack of enterprise, the supply of water is insuffi-
cient to meet the demands of the population. So
it is dealt out sparingly, and there are many fights
over the water courses, and the strongest man gets
the water.

AZERBYJAN 39

The products of Azerbyjan are such as would
be expected to be found in such a climate. Bar-
ley is abundant and takes the place of oats, which
are not found. Very little maize grows, but there
is an abundance of wheat, rice and other grains.
There are the fruits, flowers and vegetables of the
temperate zone. Honey is plentiful. Of vegeta-
bles there are onions, beets, carrots, radishes, tur-
nips, spinage, cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, peas,
beans, cabbages, lettuce, squash and all kinds of
herbs. Cotton is raised. The vineyards produce
a great variety and great abundance of most lus-
cious grapes. Several varieties of them are hung
in dry storerooms in autumn for winter use, and
they keep all winter, so we may be eating grapes
from August to spring. Raisins, molasses, vine-
gar and wine are made from the grapes, and from
raisins, alcohol. Other fruits of this province are
plums, apricots, cherries, peaches, pears, nectar-
ines, apples, quinces, melons, the mulberry (black
and white), barberry, blackberry, cornel. Of nuts
we find almonds, English walnuts, chestnuts, fil-
berts, pistachio and others. Dates, figs and other
dried fruits, spices of all kinds from Arabia and
the South are found in the markets. The silk
worm is raised, fed on the mulberry leaf, and one
of the industries of the country is spinning the
silk and making it into thread and cloth. The
domestic animals are the horse, cow, sheep (with
big tails), goat, buffalo, camel, mule, donkey, dog,
cat. On the mountains are found the mountain
goat, the deer, wolf, bear, fox, snake, hare and
other wild animals. Bugs and insects of all kinds

40 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

abound everywhere. We find the domestic fowl
and many birds, some with plain plumage and
some beautifully colored. In the rivers there are
some fish. Alfalfa is the hay.

English enterprise has built a telegraph line
from London to Calcutta, and it passes through
Azerbyjan. The tall, straight iron poles, set in
perfect lines and perfect angles, are a striking
contrast to the crooked, irregularly set wooden
poles of the telegraph line built by the Persians
within the last twenty-five years. As well are they
advance lines of civilization, pleasant company for
the lonely traveler, and a prophecy of what may
be in the future. The fuel used everywhere by the
natives in their cylindrical ovens in the ground
floors, where bread is baked and cooking done,
and around which they sit to warm themselves in
winter, is dried manure from the stables. The
wood of fruit trees and other trees, as well as
roots and branches from the grape vine, furnish
fuel for the foreigner, and also is used by some
of the wealthier natives. In winter the entire
face of the country is covered with snow and in
spring and autumn there are rains. Often in
springtime the rains, mingling with the melting
snows, come down through the valleys in such
floods as to carry away houses and destroy much
property. In the summer time many of the rivers
dry up and disappear. "What time they wax
warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are con-
sumed out of their place. ' 9 — Job 6 :17. Many of the
rivers have treacherous bottoms. Often had I
ridden across the Lalan river in the dry season and

1 . Rose tree at Girls' School, Tabriz, planted by Miss Jewett in 1 886.
School building in the rear.

2. Two ladies on a journey, attended by Persian men, one of the ladies
in the takhtrawan.

AZERBYJAN 41

had never seen water there, but one spring day as
I passed that way the river was full of water and
the bottom slippery. My horse slipped and fell
and I sat in the water.

There are no farm houses or school houses
dotting the country here and there as in our own
free America. This is on account of the shiftless
government and the unsettled state of the coun-
try, rendering it unsafe for a family to live alone.
The inhabitants are grouped together in villages
and towns in the valleys, all over the plains and
far up on the slopes of the mountains. These vil-
lages are collections of low adobe houses with a
hole in the flat roof for chimney, a hole in the wall
for window and a hole in the ground for stove.
On the mountain slopes the roof of one house often
makes the yard of another, and all over some of
the villages one may go, walking on the roofs. In
most villages there are some houses with upper
room, in which are glass windows, or in lieu of
glass, oiled paper. Also there may be found a
fire-place in one end of the room, and the floor cov-
ered with Persian rugs. In the larger towns there
are many of these better houses and in the cities
there are many fine buildings, comparatively
speaking. In some large towns they are trying
to ape European customs and have hotels with
furnished rooms. I was much amused once when
on a journey I spent a night in one of these hotels
in Kazvin. My room was furnished with table
and chairs. On the table were pen, ink and paper
provided for the use of the guest. There was a
single bedstead with mattress and bedding and a

42 MY "LIFE IN PERSIA

nightcap, and with the toilet articles was also
provided a tooth-brush. There are no railroads in
Persia, unless six miles at the capital city may be
called a railroad. And there are very few car-
riage roads. All traveling and all transportation
is by caravan, with horses, mules, donkeys or
camels. The halting places for the night are at
caravansaries in empty unfurnished rooms, so
beds, bedding, all articles of comfort and most
articles of necessity must be carried by the trav-
eler. He will find no lack of entertainment, how-
ever, for the Persians are hospitable and ever
ready to entertain the stranger.

Tabriz is the capital of Azerbyjan and is the
metropolis of Persia. It is situated in latitude 38°
5' 10" and longitude 47° 17' 46" E. Its altitude is
4944 feet above sea level. It is surrounded on
three sides by high and barren hills. These hills
— red, yellow and brown — are rich in their
wealth of minerals, but undeveloped on account
of lack of enterprise in government and people.
The plain, on the fourth side, reaches out to Lake
Urumia and is dotted over with villages and green
with fields, gardens and vineyards. Tabriz means
fever-scatterer. Tradition tells us that a long
time ago a certain great man was traveling with
his family. On the way his wife was taken ill
with a fever. Stopping for awhile at this place,
the salubrious air soon scattered the fever, hence
the name. The air of Tabriz is certainly delight-
ful — dry, clear and cold in winter, and only for
a short time uncomfortably hot in summer. There
is almost always a pleasant breeze, which blowing
down from the mountains or up from the lake is ac-

AZERBYJAN 43

ceptable and invigorating and carries away bad
air and sickness.

Tabriz is a very ancient city. It has wit-
nessed many vicissitudes of fortune, at times very
prosperous and again overwhelmed with earth-
quake, war or pestilence. It was formerly sur-
rounded by a moat and a high wall. There were
seven gates which were kept locked at night. Now
the city has outgrown its former limits, its sub-
urbs and gardens occupying a space of more than
sixteen miles in circumference, and the wall is so
crumbled and the moat so filled that scarcely a
trace of either may be found. Because of the
great altitude of Tabriz water is very deep below
the surface, some wells being ninety feet deep.
The houses are built with basements and founda-
tions lower than the street of sun-dried bricks
made of the earth excavated right on the spot.
They are low one or two-story structures with flat
roofs. The better houses are faced with burned
brick, thus having the appearance of solid brick
houses. The streets are narrow and crooked,
eight or ten feet wide, a few wider and many nar-
rower. Walls arise on both sides of the streets
to the height of ten or twelve feet, with openings
through strong wooden doors into the yards, so
that every house and yard is completely shut off
from outside and is a little world in itself. Tabriz
is cleaner than most Eastern cities and has many
fine buildings. Many trees have been set out,
giving shade and a pleasant, forest-like appear-
ance as one looks over the city from the roof of
some building higher than the others. The
bazaars are long, narrow, close and uncomfortable,

44 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

thronged with men, veiled women, horses, mules,
camels and donkeys. The display of all kinds of
produce, industry and merchandise is very fine
and very abundant.

The population of Tabriz is supposed to be
about 200,000, of whom 3,000 or more are Ar-
menian. There are a few foreign merchants, tele-
graph operators and the Consuls of different Euro-
pean nations and of the United States of America.
There are said to be 3,800 shops in the bazaars,
250 caravansaries, 100 schools, 210 mosques and
2,000 turbaned men. There is an extensive rug
factory where most beautiful Persian rugs are
made, fifteen hundred boys being employed in
weaving them. Three objects of special interest
to visitors are the Blue Mosque, the Citadel, and
the Prince's Palace. The Blue Mosque was built
several hundred years ago and faced with blue
tiles. It is now a crumbling ruin. The founda-
tion walls of its inner apartment are inlaid with
the beautiful Persian marble, resembling ala-
baster. The Citadel, or Armory, is high and con-
spicuous. It is the first object to be seen on ap-
proaching the city. It is built very solidly of
burned brick. There the guns, ammunition and
cannon are kept. It has been a fine building but
now it has an old look and its walls are cracked
in many places by earthquakes. The Prince's
Palace is the summer residence of the Heir Ap-
parent, who is Governor of Tabriz until called to
the throne. This palace stands in the midst of
extensive gardens, and from its cupola one may
have a fine view of the city and country.

IV

HOW WE LIVE IN PERSIA

It is interesting in this strange land to study
customs and learn how the people live. We find
things funny, things sad, things odd, things old.
So different are manners and customs, conditions
of thought and living, and circumstances of life
there from what they are in America, that I
despair of clearly describing the one country to
dwellers in the other. My sympathies are with
the woman to whom I was trying to explain the
changes of day and night. In amazement she ex-
claimed "What strange people they must be over
there to have night while we have day." In my
first days in that land I saw so many things so
queer, so funny, so laughable, that the natives
dubbed me the " laughing lady." Living among
these things helps one to understand many things
mentioned in the Bible, for it is written that the
"law of the Medes and Persians altereth not."
So it is that we wonder at the changes that are
taking place in these latter days. It is the cus-
tom now, as in Bible times, to send a messenger
before to prepare the way for the King or any
important person. This makes it easy to under-
stand Mark 1:2: "Behold I send my messenger
before thy face, which shall prepare thy way be-
fore thee." There are the dwellers in tents now

46 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

as then, and when we pass them we think of the
patriarch Abraham as he ' ' sat in the tent door in
the heat of the day." Scenes like that of Abra-
ham buying a "possession of a burying place' ' for
his dead are enacted every day in Persia, when
men in buying and selling are bartering over
prices. In the fierce chiefs of the wild Kurdish
tribes, armed to the teeth and carrying long spears,
we see David and his band of warriors when pur-
sued by King Saul, and we think of the ancient
"kings of the nations' 9 making war one with an-
other. The salutations of the East are lengthy,
so as the business of Elisha required haste, he bade
his servant salute no one by the way. The par-
able of the sower is beautifully illustrated as we
watch i the sower going forth to sow. Scattering
the seed by hand, some seed falls by the wayside,
some on stony ground, some among thorns and
some into good ground. The threshing floor is
the same now as then, the grain being heaped
on threshing floor and trodden out by oxen, then
tossed up by a wooden fork and the "wind driveth
the chaff away." Implements used in farming
are crude and old fashioned, as in the times of
Moses and Elijah. The plow is a long stick sharp-
ened and covered with iron at one end, fixed with
a handle at the other and drawn by from two to
eight or ten oxen or buffaloes, a man holding the
handle and a boy sitting on the yoke of the first
pair, whip in hand and riding backward. Wheat
is ground into flour by being, crushed between two
heavy round stones turned by water power. The
house of mourning, with hired mourners and the

HOW WE LIVE IN PERSIA 47

wailing for the dead are the same. Now as then,
hypocrites pray in the market places and on the
street corners to be seen of men. There are sim-
ilar multitudes of Wind, lame, halt, sick, palsied,
lunatic and those taken with divers diseases, wait-
ing to be healed. The women grinding at the mill,
the leaven, the ceremonial purification, the flocks
and herds, the sheep and goats, the "cattle upon
a thousand hills," all the same.

Other strange customs are there in that ' ' top-
sy turvy land." The floors being of earth, it is
necessary to cover them with matting and rugs.
As a Persian does not consider it polite or cleanly
to step on the rugs with the shoes he has worn in
street or yard, he leaves his shoes at the door,
but does not take off his hat. It is better that
he does not because his head is shaven. Every-
body sits on the floor, there being no chairs, and
all rise when a guest or a person older or superior
enters. The rooms are so arranged that there is
a higher and a lower place, those older or super-
ior in rank taking the higher, and the younger
and inferior in rank the lower place. Extrava-
gant are the greetings and expressions of welcome.
i ' Peace be unto you. Your coming is pleasant —
You come on my head — You come on my eyes —
My house is yours — My sons are your servants —
My daughters are your handmaidens — All I have
is yours. ' ' Introductions follow after all are seat-
ed, with polite bows from everybody to every-
body. On the floor beds are spread at night. In
day time the bedding is wrapped in large checked
cotton sheets, and either leaned against the wall

48 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

or stacked on a frame made for that purpose.
Mattresses are made of wool or cotton. They are
short, and a large round pillow filled with wool
or cotton is laid on the floor at the end of the
mattress, on the top of this a large feather pillow,
and over all a heavy quilt. The poor have no
sheets, and beds and bedding are washed once a
year. Some of the wealthy use sheets. The floor
serves as table at meal time. All eat with fingers
from a common dish, men first, women afterwards.
It is evident that it is necessary to wash the hands
before and after eating. The giving and sending
of portions is a token of respect and love, as
Joseph to Benjamin in Egypt. We learn not to
be shocked when the host or hostess tears a choice
bit from the chicken and presents it to us with
fingers. It is not good manners to talk while eat-
ing. The smoking of tobacco, either with the com-
mon pipe or the caleon (water pipe) is universal,
by women as well as men. Cigars and cigarettes
have become common. In some parts opium is
smoked. I have seen mothers breathe opium
smoke into the ears and nostrils of their babes.
Tea and coffee have been introduced in later years
and now the tea urn or samovar is in requisition
in every house, poor as well as rich. Meeting any
one by the way it is proper to turn to the left in-
stead of to the right. Persian books begin at the
end and are read from right to left. In knitting
stockings they begin at the toe. The carpenter
sits on the floor when using saw or plane. Water
is carried on the shoulder in jugs or in skins. In
the villages it is customary for the maidens to

1 . Buffalo team drawing load of hay.

2. Village Moslem women returning from the harvest field.

HOW WE LIVE IN PERSIA 49

bring the water, reminding us of the stories of Re-
becca, Rachel and the seven daughters of the priest
of Midian. Moslem women keep their heads cov-
ered and are careful to veil their faces if a man
appears, but they go barefooted. They are much
exercised over our custom of having our feet well
shod and our heads uncovered. Often would they
ask me, ""Doesn't your head get cold?" I would
laughingly reply "Don't your feet get cold?"
One day in a village a poor, ragged, dirty, bare-
footed beggar girl, with a rag tied on her head,
stood gazing on me with wide open eyes. Pres-
ently she broke out with the remark, i i Cover your
head," and ran away. When according to our
custom, in going out of the house I would put
on my hat, they would exclaim, "She wears a
basket on her head." When riding my side
saddle I have often heard them saying to one an-
other, ' ' See, she has only one foot. ' ' They always
ride astride. The mother or an older sister car-
ries the baby on her back. At a village a woman
prepared for me a meal, her baby bound on her
back, its little head bobbing this way and that. It
is proper to ask any one you meet by the way,
"Where are you going?" And Persians are very
accommodating in giving directions to a stranger.
Persians are very superstitious, fearing the
evil eye and patronizing the sorcerer. If start-
ing on a journey or to make a visit or begin any
work, he consults the stars and omens. If he
sneezes once, it is an unfavorable omen and he
waits awhile. If he sneezes twice or more times
it is good and he goes ahead. Some ladies came

50 MY LIFE IN PEESIA

to call. They came an hour late because just as
they were starting some one sneezed once. That
meant "wait awhile.' 9 A mother brought her
daughter to the physician. After receiving in-
structions as to medicines, etc., some one sneezed
once. She got up, left the medicines and went
away crying. A father fears a complimentary
word about his child. He puts a bone of an ani-
mal — say of a horse or a donkey — in the wall of
a new house, has a sentence from the Koran writ-
ten on a piece of board and hung over the door or
on a tree for good luck. Thirteen is an unlucky
number which in counting he skips. Many a
mother will not allow her children to be counted,
and if asked how many children she has will say
she does not know, fearing they may become one
less. Sometimes boys are dressed in girls' clothes
and called by girls' names and vice versa, hoping
thereby to cheat the angel of death. A dear little
girl was named Ezekiel — and she lived. When
she attended our Mission School for girls her name
was changed to Estelle. A mother makes a vow
over her boy that if he lives his hair shall not be
cut for a certain number of years. Then after
he has reached the age of her vow she takes him
to a holy shrine, offers a sacrifice and cuts his
hair. There are prayers and incantations to ex-
orcise the evil spirit and striking with the needle
to kill him. Charms are worn on head or arm or
about the neck to protect from the evil eye ; such
as a small copy or portions of the Koran — a
double almond — the tusk of some wild animal —
certain precious stones having efficacious power —

HOW WE LIVE IN PERSIA 51

written prayers — clippings of the nails or a lock
of hair of some saint or of some one who has made
the pilgrimage to Mecca, and other like things are
sewed in a tiny pouch and worn to frighten away
evil spirits, protect from the evil eye, ward off
disease and bring blessings of various kinds.
Sometimes the charm is a silver hand, or thin
plates of silver cut in ornamental shapes with
verses from the Koran engraved on them, or a
silver coil worn around the neck. An eclipse al-
ways brings fear and presages dire calamities.
Occasionally in some barren part where there is no
water and little rain, and the soil produces only
thorn bushes and stones, a lone tree stands green
and flourishing, doubtless drinking from some un-
derground stream which the roots reach. The ig-
norant people think that a good spirit dwelling in
that tree keeps it green, and their reverence for it
amounts to worship. In passing the tree they will
tear a piece from their clothing and tie it on a
branch with a prayer, hoping thus to leave their
sorrows or get a blessing. I have seen such trees
covered all over with such rags. No one will dare
break off a branch for by so doing he would show
disrespect to the good spirit and would be in dan-
ger of contracting some disease or inheriting some
distress left there. In an Armenian village north
of Tabriz there is a large, fragrant and beautiful
bush like a sweet scented brier. It is not near a
stream and is only watered by the infrequent
rains. It is considered holy and is covered with
these sacrificial rags, and no one is allowed to
touch it except with reverence. " Under such

52 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

superstitions men pass their days in bondage
through fear." A Moslem will never show dis-
respect to a holy book. One day some American
ladies were entertaining a company of Moslem
ladies. Politely the rocking chair was offered.
They did not know how to sit on it, so one sitting
too much on the edge the chair tipped forward,
another sitting too far backward the chair tipped
backward. They were frightened and went away
to tell that we had a machine for making chris-
tians. At another time it was near the hour for
sending letters to the postoffice when some women
came to visit. One lady entertained them while
the other finished her letters for the mail. They
thought we were sending to America a list of their
names as converts.

Punishments in Persia are cruel and brutal;
as, for instance, cutting off ears or hands — put-
ting out eyes — whipping — the bastinado — bury-
ing alive — stabbing — shooting — blowing from
mouth of cannon. Parents punish their children
in anger, beating and reviling them. Woman is
degraded and the bride is a slave. There are few
schools and those not of a high order. Reading
and writing are looked upon as a trade, to be en-
gaged in by some, not by all. It is sometimes
quite inconvenient not to be able to read one's own
letters. A woman received a letter from her ab-
sent husband. She brought it to me to read.
When she answered it she must go to a scribe and
pay him to write her letter. At the other end of
the line the husband must go through the same
process of getting his letter read and answered.

HOW WE LIVE IN PERSIA 53

Not much privacy and not many letters written.
It often happens that husband, brother or son die
away from home, and for two or more years his
family do not know it. If perchance others know
it, the dislike of giving bad news prevents them
from telling it. Trades and occupations are mer-
chant, tailor, mason, carpenter, broker, butcher,
grocer, jeweler, peddler, priest, teacher, rug weav-
er, cloth weaver, maker of embroidery, soldiers,
robbers, thieves, highwaymen, beggars, etc., all
struggling, striving, grasping for money. Very lit-
tle money is in the hands of the common people.
The rich are overbearing, robbing the poor that
they themselves may live in luxury. The children
are naturally beautiful, with bright black eyes and
rosy cheeks. More than half of them die in infan-
cy. Of those who live most of the boys become
fierce, coarse, forbidding men, and of the girls ugly
old women. History tells us that the youths of the
ancient Persians were taught to speak the truth, to
shoot with the bow and arrow and to ride, and that
in the last two of these arts they made more than
common proficiency. They are still fine riders on
fine horses, but the bow and arrow have given place
to the gun, sword, pistol and dagger. Truth is
lost, trampled in the dust, for " truth is fallen in
the street, and equity cannot enter. ' 9 Lying, steal-
ing, swearing, quarreling, blasphemy, and all the
long catalogue of sins are universal. They are
very artful and very successful deceivers. When
they visit us in our homes they put on the garb of
decency, and so nicely is it worn that we are al-
most persuaded to forget their true character and

54 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

are ready to believe that they are really quite sin-
cere, good people. When we visit them in their
abodes they receive us with extreme politeness and
in every way make themselves so agreeable that we
can scarcely imagine the mass of moral filth that is
hidden behind the moral screen. There are no
sins small or great that are not unblushingly prac-
ticed by them. Even those things that we would
blush to even think of are talked about by them
openly and without shame. So wicked, so degrad-
ed are they that they seem not to possess a realiza-
tion of what is sinful and degraded. This is a
dark picture. A brighter picture shows us the
Persians as a genial, polite, hospitable people,
kind and sympathetic in times of sickness, death
or trouble of any kind. They are a complex peo-
ple, fair and foul — good and bad — all mixed.
Their sins bring their own punishment. Hot
winds, burning sun and scarcity of water destroy
the crops. Even when there are good crops
grasping men hold them at exorbitant prices.
Want and poverty dry up the very bones of the
poor. Their flesh is gone and their skin is shriv-
eled and yellow. They drown their sorrows in
tobacco smoke and opium. The rich eat, drink,
smoke and take their ease. If we warn them to
prepare for eternity, they shrug their shoulders
and say ' ' God is merciful. ' '

One of my early trips was to Geog Tappa, a
Nestorian village four miles from Urumia. It
was winter and, although we were warmly clad, it
was difficult, on a side saddle, to sufficiently protect
one's self from cold. We were more than an hour

HOW WE LIVE IN PERSIA 55

on the way, and when we reached the place I was
thoroughly chilled. We entered what seemed to
me more like an underground stable than like a
living room. We were invited to sit by the fire.
I looked for the stove and was guided to a hole in
the ground about three feet in diameter. Could
I sit down by that? I did, and hung my feet over
the edge. Soon I was infused with a pleasant
warmth. There the food of the family was cook-
ing, having been prepared and put into an earthen
vessel and well covered. Slowly and steadily for
from six to ten hours it would simmer and cook
and when taken out would be tasty and good, es-
pecially the meat, which the Persians know well
how to prepare. On the sides of this oven, or
tanoor, the thin sheets of bread are baked. Over
it, in winter, is placed a low square table, or kuri-
see, covered with a large widely extending quilt.
Around the kurisee the household sit, eat and
sleep, on the floor. The process of firing the
tanoor is anything but agreeable, as immense vol-
umes of smoke arise, and what does not get out the
hole in the roof or wall stays inside, blackening
ceiling, walls, rafters and pillar supports of roof.
Is it any wonder that many of the women who
build these fires have sore eyes and headache?
Well, while I was sitting by the tanoor warming,
gazing and wondering, our hostess began taking
up a meal. She reached down for it. Her arms
disappeared in the depths, her head also and her
shoulders. I was lost in amazement, when pres-
ently she emerged with pot in hand. She brought
a large round copper waiter and arranged on it

56 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

several thin sheets of bread with cheese, curds,
herbs, salt, pepper and buttermilk. Into a large
bowl she poured some of the hot stew, putting the
meat in a separate dish. It was indeed appetizing.
We were warmed and fed and ready for our return
trip. This meat stew is the universal evening
meal. After eating, the beds are spread around
the tanoor and all lie down to sleep. It is not
necessary to undress, more than to take off two or
three outside garments. The morning toilet is
easy as there is no special dressing to do. Each
one pours for another water on the hands for
washing. As the caps and head-dresses are worn
all the time there is no combing to do. That is
done once in eight to fifteen days at the public
bath. Brooms are made from a kind of weed and
are not more than two feet long. Washing is
done either at a stream where the clothes are beat-
en with a paddle on a stone, or in the house or
yard in a low tub, the washerwoman sitting on a
cushion on the ground while washing. It is not
necessary to iron the clothes. There is little dish
washing, so few dishes having been used.

In making a visit to the house of a friend we
knock at the door in the outside wall instead of
at the door of the house. The houses of the mis-
sionaries are no exception to this rule. These
adobe houses do not appear particularly inviting
on the outside, but they may be made very pleas-
ant and comfortable inside. The* homes of the
missionaries are furnished tastefully while at the
same time simply and plainly. Formerly chairs
were imported, now native carpenters have learned

HOW WE LIVE IN PEESIA 57

to make chairs, tables, cupboards, desks, bedsteads,
many necessary things and things ornamental, and
many things are imported by merchants from Eu-
rope. When we go from America we take with us
many things that are to us indispensable. We are
happy over our belongings and eagerly begin
housekeeping. We proudly display our pretty
china and glassware, our shining cook stove and
utensils and kitchen furniture, as well as many
pretty and useful gifts from friends. We soon
find that we cannot do our own housework if we
are to do missionary work. So we bring the na-
tives into the house and kitchen. Then alas ! brok-
en china and glass testify to their carelessness,
tins become rusted and battered and soon our
pretty things are old and spoiled. We would glad-
ly do our own work, but we cannot carry wood and
water, sweep with the short brooms, do our own
washing, ironing and cooking, with lessons, meet-
ings and visits crowding, more to do for the peo-
ple than we can find time or strength for. We
ladies cannot go on the streets without an escort.
We cannot go to the bazaars alone, or do our own
marketing. If we try to do so we are outrageous-
ly cheated, for Moslems consider it legitimate for
them to cheat Christians. And the jamming, hus-
tling, the rude staring of rough men and boys, the
crowding of mules, horses, camels and donkeys
would be not only disagreeable and tiring but
would take time and strength needed for mission-
ary work. The butcher, the baker, the huckster,
the grocer, the ice man and all the servants of
civilization do not serve us there as here. So we

58 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

commit our buying to cook or steward, even when
we know that he will secretly charge a percentage
or commission on what he buys — comforting our-
selves with the thought that he will not cheat us
as badly as the shopkeepers themselves would do.
Once I wanted a pen case. Some were brought to
the house. I chose one and asked the price. The
price named was enormous. I jewed the man
down to one-seventh, and afterwards learned that
I had paid too much. If I needed a new dress or
any such thing from the bazaar I would have the
bazaar brought to me, i e., pieces of goods brought
to the house. I must be careful not to show by
word or look that anything pleased me, for that
would instantly cause a rise in price. The year's
supply of flour for the missionary's family is gen-
erally laid in in the autumn. This is quite a pro-
cess. Samples of wheat are brought. After it is
decided which kind to take and the price is agreed
on a man must go for it. When it arrives it must
be weighed, then it must be washed and dried and
picked over kernel by kernel. "Women do this.
They too know how to cheat. Then it must be
weighed again and put into bags to be carried on
donkeys to mill. The man we trust must go with
it to watch that none be stolen or an inferior kind
be substituted. When the flour is brought home
it must be weighed again before it is stored for
use.

We have nominally three Sabbath days —
Friday, Moslem — Saturday, Jewish — Sunday,
Christian. No one keeps the day holy. Many
Moslems have their shops open on Friday, will

HOW WE LIVE IN PERSIA 59

work on that day as on any other day, or will take
that day as a day of recreation and pleasure. Jews
will not buy and sell or work on Saturday, but they
make it a day of drunkenness and revelry, and
they will hire Moslems on that day to buy some-
thing they want from the bazaars and to build
their fires for them. Armenians (who are nom-
inal christians) in some districts, call Sunday the
Bazaar day, because on that day they do more
trading and have the greatest bazaar of the week.
Some working women go out for work six days
and clean house and do their own housework on
the seventh. Also these nominal Christians make
the day one of visiting, feasting and amusement.
It is customary when a couple are engaged to
be married to make a great occasion of the be-
trothal, with tea drinking, music, dancing, feast-
ing, and too often wine drinking and drunkenness.
I was much interested in the betrothal and mar-
riage of my young friend Hosein (Moslem). His
mother was a widow. Her three older sons were
heads of families and she was desirous that this,
her youngest boy, should take a wife "before she
died." She visited here and there looking around
among the girls for some one she would like for
daughter-in-law. When I inquired of the mother
the age of her son she replied that she had him in
her arms when bread was scarce the time before.
So I calculated him to be about twenty-six. He
said to his mother, "I cannot afford a wife. It is
all we can do to live now." But she heeded not
and went on with the hunt. One day she saw a
pretty girl whom she admired and proceeded to

60 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

do the courting. Hosein had not seen her, and
she had no say about it, as all arrangements were
being made by the mothers. Inquiries were being
made by each family about the other, and negotia-
tions were begun about dowry, outfit, presents,
etc., when Hosein protested, and that marriage
was not arranged. Another girl was recommend-
ed, but she would require a dowry of $200.00,
which was more than he could afford. Then it
was discovered that there was another, with whom
he had played when they were children, and though
they had not seen each other since she was old
enough to put on the veil, memories of childhood
lingered. The mother visited the girl's mother,
proposed and was accepted. Next followed the
formal betrothal and arrangements about the dow-
ry. This is the sum of money the man agrees to
pay the wife should he divorce her. One day trays
on which were arranged a mirror, a veil, a piece
of silk, several loaves of sugar, heaping plates
of candy and some other things were sent to the
girl's house, where a company of women were as-
sembled drinking tea, dancing and smoking. At
the same time some men, including the priest, the
girl's brother and Hosein 's substitute (for he was
ashamed to be there) were assembled in a house
near by. The girl was in the basement of the
house where the women were being dressed,
painted and ornamented. She sat on the floor
in front of the closely curtained window. Un-
der the window the mirror was leaned against
the wall. In front of the mirror was spread on
the floor an embroidered cloth, and on it were

HOW WE LIVE IN PERSIA 61

placed a Koran, two strings of prayer beads or
rosaries, eye ointment, comb and case, and on a
waiter little plates of wheat, flour, seeds of vari-
ous kinds, and sweets, emblematic of the wish that
her life might be full of goodness, plenty and
sweetness. Several women were there with her.
Hosein's mother put the ring on her finger.
Others placed the veil and a piece of silk on her
head. Two women stood behind her rubbing to-
gether two pieces of sugar, collecting its fine dust
in a handkerchief that was spread on her head.
This last was to be kept and fed to the bride and
groom at the wedding, that their married life
might be sweet. The men from the other house
came into the yard and stood on one side while an
old man, uncle of the girl, lifted one corner of the
curtain over the window and called out "In the
name of God and His prophet Mohammed, do you
take Hosein to be your husband ? ' ' This was mere
form. There was no reply, for she must be mod-
est. Again he called out the same words. No
reply. After the third call she replied, "Yes,"
but so low as not to be heard. Again he called
and she replied loud enough to be heard, "Yes."
The word was passed on to the other men and
they retired to make out the papers. The girl
was then escorted to the upper room. She first
bowed to the mother-in-law and received her kiss
and blessing, then to the others and was seated.
In the meanwhile candies were being thrown on
the guests. After the necessary sewing and pre-
parations were completed for the wedding the
bride was escorted from her house and given to her

62 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

husband. One day a girl saw from an upstairs
window a young man coming into the yard to see
her father on business. She admired him and said
to her mother, "You must get that young man for
me," and she did. A young man in the street
passed an open door where stood a pretty girl.
Before she could hide he saw her. There was love
at first sight. He went to his mother about it and
she secured the girl for him. In a village a young
woman saw a young man from the city. She loved
him but the fates were against her and she was
given to another. A little girl was promised by
her father to a man old and ugly. Bitterly she
wept and pleaded with her parents not to give her
to him, but they were inexorable for the man was
rich. The night of the betrothal, during the feast-
ing and merry making, she was curled up in a cor-
ner on the floor asleep. After a few months the
priest performed the marriage ceremony. She
was put on a horse, completely covered with a red
calico veil and carried to her future abode.
Strange to tell, customs of bethrothal and mar-
riage are changing even in Persia. The first
wedding I attended in Persia was that of a Nes-
torian girl, who stood by the wall enveloped in red
calico while the guests were feasting. Some years
afterwards I attended the wedding of her daugh-
ter, dressed in white silk with white lace veil and
orange blossoms on her head. Baby John was to
be named. The most intimate friends and rela-
tives were to be present, and I was favored with
an invitation. After supper and a short time
spent in conversation, the baby, all wrapped in

HOW WE LIVE IN PERSIA 63

swaddling clothes, was brought out from under
some quilts to receive its name. It was a wee bit
of humanity, the eighth son born to his mother,
and he the only one living, so he was very precious
to his parents, who naturally desired that his life
might be spared. Numerous charms and prayers
were hung around his neck and bound on his arms
and body. The first day of his life he had been
carried to the bazaar and mustachios and beard
painted on his little face, with a prayer that he
might live to be a man and do business in the
bazaar. Faith was placed in those things, and all
the laws of health were disregarded. Should he
live they would think it was because of the charms.
If he should die they would say, "It is the will of
God." An old woman took him in her arms and
holding his right ear near her mouth, she repeated
the Moslem creed and said, "John, your father
and mother have chosen this name for you, so
now that is what you are to be called. John, may
you be blessed and great and live a long life."
Then another old woman repeated the same in his
left ear. Then every one in turn took him, kissed
him and blessed him. I pressed the soft little face
to my cheek with a prayer that he might be kept
pure and innocent and if he lived be a good
man. But he died. After the naming an oppor-
tunity was presented and I was glad to say a few
words to them of how Jesus took the little ones
in His arms and blessed them, and how He would
have us all become like little children.

* RELIGIONS

Of the more than 200,000,000 Moslems in the
world 9,000,000 are in Persia — all the inhabitants
of the land except some one to two hundred thou-
sand, who are either Jews, nominal Christians or
Fire Worshippers. The Persians, once the fol-
lowers of Zoroaster, kept the eternal fires burning
on the mountains. Since the ascendancy of Islam
only a remnant of them remains in Persia, said to
be 5,000. Occasionally a few relics of their ancient
worship are found in some deserted ash hill.
Islamism is now the national religion and it is
that which has degraded the land and keeps it in
a state of darkness and ignorance. This religion
began in Arabia, its founder and leader being
Mohammed. He was born in Mecca, A. D. 570,
belonging to the most distinguished of the Arab
tribes, but he was poor and ignorant, having never
learned to read or write. He was a camel driver
but became a merchant. "Employed by the
wealthy widow Khadijah, the chief lady of Mecca,
as her business agent, he so won her gratitude and
esteem that although fifteen years his senior she
offered him her hand and became his wife." She
encouraged him in his visions which he saw when
under the influence of epileptic fits. The people
about him thought he was being filled with the

The azan, or call to prayer

RELIGIONS 65

Spirit and was receiving revelations, and they
called him a prophet. From some Jews and
christians, then in Arabia, he learned a little of
the christian religion and that idolatry is wrong
because there is only one God. He set out to turn
his people from paganism, but he, himself, having
failed to learn the truth of the Triune God so
dwelt on the oneness of God that he did not accept
the divinity of Christ, and taught a half truth,
which is the greatest lie of all. The God of Mo-
hammed stands alone, "unknown," " unknow-
able," "unapproachable," "unbegotten and unbe-
getting." Some of the names ascribed to God by
the Moslems are the Merciful, the Gracious, the
Holy, the Creator, the Faithful, the Pardoner, the
All Wise, the Just, the Omniscient, the Omni-
present, the All Powerful. Moslems reject the
divinity of Christ, calling him a good man and a
prophet along with Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham
and Moses, and all the 124,000 prophets, of whom
the last and greatest is Mohammed. They say
that christians blaspheme when they speak of
Jesus as the Son of God. Their "Holy Book" is
the Koran. It is supposed to be made up of the
sayings, teachings and revelations of Mohammed.
They were not put in book form until after his
death, when some of his followers gathered to-
gether what they remembered of his words. It is
so holy as not to be allowed to be read or touched
by an unbeliever, i. e., one not a Moslem. But it
has been translated into English and into Persian
by English and American scholars.

66 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

Their creed is " Allah akbar! la illaha ill* Al-
lah ! Mohammed rasul Allah, ' ' which means ' ' God
is great. There is no God but God. Mohammed
is his prophet/ ' This creed is cried from the
roofs of the Mosques three times a day, at early-
dawn, at noon and at evening twilight. Then, and
also in the afternoon and in the night, making five
times a day, every good Moslem is supposed to
perform his ablutions and say his prayers. The
ablutions are performed in a prescribed manner,
and they make much of ceremonial cleanliness.
The prayers are vain repetitions from the Koran,
which the Persians do not understand because it is
in Arabic. Of the true nature of prayer they know
nothing. A relic of idolatry still remains in their
prayers as they use rosaries and small cakes of
sacred earth from the tombs of "holy men," plac-
ing them before them and bowing down until the
forehead touches the sacred earth. One month
in the year is a month of fasting, when no
Moslem is allowed, under penalty of death,
to taste a morsel of food or drink a drop
of water from early dawn to evening twi-
light. They eat in the night and have the best
meals of the year in this month. It is easy for
the rich, who sleep in the forenoon and spend the
afternoon in the mosque, but for the poor who
must work to earn a living it is very difficult. It
is supposed that all keep this fast, laying up for
themselves merit in heaven. But many do not
keep it, and so the fast becomes a hypocrite and
lie factory, those who do not keep it professing
to do so. They eat secretly, behind closed doors,

RELIGIONS 67

fearing lest some one seeing them eat should for
some reason during the year have a quarrel with
them, and to injure them should report, "I saw
so and so eating in fast," and thus be the cause
of their death. There is no confidence or trust
among them, and it has come to be in Persia that
the law, although nominally existing, is virtually
a dead letter, for who could accuse anybody when
everybody knows that everybody could accuse
everybody? Drinking wine and other intoxicants,
although forbidden by the Koran, is very gener-
ally indulged in. There is an immense amount of
gambling. Greed of gain, a desire for luxurious
living, has taken possession, so what care they for
prayers, fasting and all that? They are fatalists.
Their almsgiving is done to be seen of men and
to lay up for themselves merit in heaven, and they
fail to realize any other motive in any one who
does an act of charity or benevolence. Every year
large companies go on long, hard pilgrimages to
their 'holy cities — Mecca, Kerbela and Meshed.
These caravans of pilgrims are interesting, some
on camels, some on horses, some on mules, some
in takhtrawans, some in cajavas, some on foot.
They suffer many hardships. Many sicken and
die and are buried by the wayside. As I rode
along the pilgrim road I saw many newly made
graves. I saw a sick man tied on his horse where
he died. He was buried at the first burial ground.
Such deaths they think win for them high places
in heaven, no matter how wicked may have been
their lives. They camp for the night in some open
place near some town, build camp fires, boil water,

68 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

make tea, eat bread and lie down on a quilt on the
ground with only the canopy of the heavens above
them, and start on the next stage soon after mid-
night. If one can accomplish a pilgrimage to
Mecca, he or she becomes especially holy and is
called Haji, that is, pilgrim. At Mecca there is an-
other remnant of idolatry. It is the worship of
the black stone in the temple of Ca'aba, "brought
from heaven by the angels.' ' It is probably a
meteor. These pilgrimages are supposed to atone
for sin, but in fact the pilgrims become tenfold
more the children of hell than before. One pil-
grimage is good — two better — three make a man
dangerous, for he has laid up so much merit that
he can balance with any amount of wickedness.
Of these pilgrimages Rev. Samuel M. Zwemer
writes, "They are a public scandal, even to Mos-
lem morality, so that the 'holy cities' are hotbeds
of vice and plague spots in the body politic."
Moslems claim that God gave four books to man,
viz: The Law and the Prophets — the Psalms —
the Gospel — and the Koran. The first three were
good in their time but they have been superseded
by the last and greatest — the Koran. They call
themselves Mussulman, meaning True Believers,
and christians they call infidels. Four wives are
legal to a Moslem, and as many concubines as he
finds convenient. Divorce is very common and
for trivial causes. Lazy, selfish, sensual, fatalis-
tic, the Moslem passes his life in the indulgence of
sin, hoping by works of merit to strike a balance
and gain a place in heaven, where he may continue
to exist in blissful indolence, surrounded by black-

EELIGIONS 69

eyed houris. Many would rather lose hope of
heaven than leave off their sins. A man said to
me, when I remonstrated with him about his sins,
"I would rather go to hell than change my life. ? '
It is said that "one-seventh of the earth's land
surface feels the blighting effect of the teaching
of the prophet of Arabia, and also one-seventh
of the population of the globe. No doubt in Islam
Christianity finds its sturdiest foe." Our Savior
conquered by love and His kingdom is a kingdom
where love and mercy reign. Mohammed made
his conquests by war and bloodshed. We read
that the streets of Medina ran with blood as he
with his savage hordes slew all who would not
repeat the creed. It was in this way that Persia
became a Moslem land. And the Moslems of Per-
sia do not now belong to the orthodox sect, but
are Sheahs — a great division of Islam. They
reject Omar as the rightful successor of Moham-
med and adhere to Ali, his son-in-law. They curse
Omar and keep the anniversary of his death as a
day of feasting and rejoicing. They almost deify
Ali, and celebrate the month of Moharrem every
year as a month of mourning for the cruel deaths
of Hassan and Hosein — sons of Ali. They again
are all split up among themselves into many differ-
ent sects. Although these sects wear the outward
garb of Islam, there are thousands who secretly
curse Mohammed and the Koran. A house di-
vided against itself — how can it stand?

The most evident of these sub-divisions are
Babism and Ali-Allahism. Bab means door —
the channel of grace from the unseen. This sect

70 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

has arisen during the last century. It claims to
be a new revelation — has many books, much writ-
ing, many missionaries and many followers. Their
leaders send letters into all parts of the world,
propagating their religion and gaining adherents.
It is not necessary to speak the truth, but any
scheme, any invention, any deceit may be used to
further their objects. Whatever doctrines they
have that are good they have borrowed from Chris-
tianity. They profess to accept the Holy Scrip-
tures, but they do not follow the teachings of
Christ. The influence of their teachings and of
their lives is as harmful as is that of pure Islam-
ism. They have no clear distinction between good
and evil, no perception of sin, so they wander in
fog, and their missionaries have a doubtful repu-
tation for morality. The founder of this sect was
Mirza Ali Mohammed, born in 1820. When a
young man he made a pilgrimage to Kerbela —
the center of theological thought among Sheahs.
There he sat for a few months under the teaching
of a noted and rather mystical instructor of Mos-
lem theology and became his enthusiastic disciple.
From long and earnest meditation he became con-
vinced that he received special communication
from the supreme Fountain of all Truth, and that
he himself was an inspired prophet. He an-
nounced himself the Bab. He had many followers,
but persecution arose and he was put to death.
Persecution and martyrdom only served to in-
crease their numbers. It is impossible to estimate
how many there are because outwardly they con-
form to Moslem usages, and break the law and

KELIGIONS 71

practice their own religion secretly. One writer
says, "The rise of the Babi faith in Persia is in
large measure due to the spread of the Gospel.
The best of their doctrines are borrowed from it.
They treat with respect our Holy Scriptures and
profess to reject any opinion they may hold when
once proved contrary to the Bible. The rise and
spread of such a faith is in itself an indication that
the people of Persia are in large measure wearied
with Islam and anxious for a higher, a more holy,
a more spiritual faith."

The Aii-AUahees are an interesting people
who are outwardly Moslem, contorm to many of
their customs, and are generally known as a sect
of Moslems, but are really not Moslems at all.
Many of them dwell among the Kurds, live like
them, wear their dress, speak their language and
are supposed to be Kurds. Chameleon-like, they
adopt the manners and customs of the people
among whom they dwell, "accommodating them-
selves to their surroundings, provided they are not
able to overcome them. ' ' They are found in Per-
sia, Turkey, Russia, China and in Africa. In
places where they are more numerous they are
quite free and independent, possessing little of
that fear which they have where they are few in
number. In Tabriz and in some other large cities
they appear somewhat civilized and refined, while
in many villages they are scarcely above the ani-
mals, eating, sleeping and existing in the same
enclosure with them. Of the men there are those
who can read, but women readers among them are
rare indeed. Some of the men hold high positions
in government and army and some have acquired

72 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

wealth. Their religion is a strange combination
of truth and falsehood, mostly falsehood. Their
origin is obscure. They are thought by some to
be descendants of ancient Persian Christians, who
had grown cold and indifferent, so that when the
armies of the false prophet conquered the land
they became easy prey. Fearing for their lives,
they substituted the name of Ali for Jesus, saying,
"Ali is God" instead of " Jesus is God." Hence
they are called Ali-Allahees. I saw in one of their
books a name so written that it may be read either
Ali or Jesus. They say they have a holy book of
their own which takes the place of the Bible and
the Koran, but it is too sacred for profane eyes, so
no one ever sees it. They hold to the traditions
of their ancestors, and these traditions, handed
down from father to son, they call a M White Book
written on our hearts.' ' Thus their book is a
myth. They call themselves "The People of the
Truth. ' ' A more appropriate name would be ' ' The
People of Lies." Hiding their light under a
bushel, it has gone out. All lie and deceive, swear
and revile. Many of them are wild men, high-
waymen and robbers. There is one Benyamen
(Benjamen) for whom they have a profound rever-
ence and whom they call a prophet. He lived a
long time ago in a town called Khoraman, and was
buried in Kerind, where there is a shrine over his
grave which they consider sacred. The history
of this man is shrouded in mystery. He taught
them many secret signs and passwords by which
they know one another when they meet even as
strangers. They believe in the transmigration of

A Dervish, or wandering holy man, Moslem.

KELIGIONS 73

souls. After a man dies his soul wanders about
for a thousand and one years, after which time it
may again enter a human body. If he was a
wicked man he may be punished by becoming one
of the lower animals. If he had lived a devout
and holy life he might become a manifestation of
the Deity. So God appears at different times in
different forms in different human beings. Thus
Moses, Gabriel, Jesus Christ, Ali, Benyamen,
Henry Martin, David Livingstone and others were
one and the same — God manifest in the flesh.
Many of them are Pantheists. Some worship
Satan. Some worship fire. One evening I wit-
nessed a service of their fire worship. A fire had
been built in a fireplace and was now one mass
of bright coals. A company of men sat around the
sides of the room. Half a dozen dervishes were
breathlessly waiting. One of the men was playing
on a stringed instrument. Others were chanting.
As the leader entered the room he cried out in a
loud voice, "Ya Ali! Ya Hak!" (Oh Ali! Oh
Truth!) Then all the assembly began clapping
their hands, continuing the chanting and crying
out "Ya Ali! Ya Hak!" the instrumental music
also continuing all the time. The waiting dervish-
es jumped to the fire, clawed out the red hot coals
with their hard hornlike hands (hard from expos-
ure for they live much like beasts). They played
with the coals, throwing them around on the carpet
and putting them in their mouths. All the while
the clapping of hands and the noise was going on.
When the leader thought it was enough he called
out to stop and all was quiet. The panting

74 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

dervishes were on their hands and knees be-
fore the fire that still remained in the fire-
place. The leader patted them on the back,
saying, "He has entered/' meaning that the
Spirit of God had entered them. I could only
think of Hell. They thought they were worship-
ing God. One of them afterwards told me
that they were filled with the Spirit and that
was why the fire did not burn them. After this
part of the performance was over they had a sacra-
ment, which this time consisted of portions of
quince, and after that a supper of meat and rice
was served.

As they do not keep the Moslem fast or make
the Moslem prayers, they are often called upon
to practice deceit when thrown among Moslems.
A friend told me how that once when on a journey
he put up for the night at a Moslem village where
the people were very bigoted. They would not
give him shelter so he camped under a tree. When
the time of prayer arrived he performed the pre-
scribed ablutions and went through all the forms
of prayer. The people seeing him thus engaged
took him to be a very devout Moslem, went out to
him with extravagant professions of hospitality,
invited him into the house, entertained him with
honor and gave him everything for his comfort.
They hold their meetings in secret, at night in
cellars or in darkened rooms with closed doors.
This they do from fear, and this gives occasion
to their enemies to report that they observe ob-
scene rites. They have the rite of circumcision,
and a sacrament which seems to be a relic of the

RELIGIONS 75

Lord's Supper, also another which may be called
a love feast. They are all divided among them-
selves into different sects. The different sects
may intermarry, but no bride can be given from
them to a Moslem. If a Moslem bride be taken
into their midst she must accept the religion of
her husband, and ceasing to be Moslem she be-
comes an Ali-Allahee. They do a great deal of
proselyting secretly, and there are said to be large
numbers yearly won over to them from Moslem
ranks. Plurality of wives is forbidden them, but
such is the influence of their surroundings that
many of them do have more than one wife. They
are very hospitable and" not forgetful to entertain
strangers. They receive the missionary with love
and kindness. Some call themselves Christians.
Some acknowledge their sins and long for a better
life. They received me with warm friendship,
with open doors and with confidence. With one
whom they trust they talk freely and like Chris-
tians. But let an orthodox Moslem enter and
instantly the "curtain drops," and to all outward
appearance they are Moslem. They say "There
is a curtain." There is much religious discussion
going on among them, which must be an influence
felt for their enlightenment. The missionaries
are meeting with them, becoming acquainted with
them, and the way is opening up more and more
for Gospel work among them.

Of the Kurds it is said that there is almost
infinite variety in their religious beliefs and super-
stitions. They are known as Sunis (orthodox
Moslem, the same as the Moslems of Turkey).

76 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

Many of them are robbers and highwaymen, and
many are quiet and peaceable. They have no lit-
erature in their language, and those few who are
educated read Persian. The Jews are the same
as Jews everywhere, and are despised and op-
pressed in Persia as in other countries. The wan-
dering tribes are Moslem. Persians, like the
Athenians of old, are "very religious,' f and fond
of religious discussion. This gives the missionary
opportunities for presenting to them Gospel truth.
Armenian history presents their nation as
ancient, rich and powerful. They were idolators
and were converted to Christianity in the fourth
century by Gregory, the Enlightener. Accepting
Christianity as a national religion, it was not with
them a heart religion, but a religion of outward
forms and rites and ceremonies. They have the
Bible in all purity but in the ancient language.
Thus it is virtually a sealed book, for although
there is liberty allowed in reading it, there are
few who care to read it, few who understand the
ancient language, and few who can read any lan-
guage. In their worship there are fasts which
occupy half the year when they abstain from all
animal food. They also have burning of candles,
offering incense, the sign of the cross, pictures of
saints, of the Holy Virgin and Christ, holy oil,
reverence for relics, pilgrimages, sacrifices, pray-
ers for the dead, prayers to Mary — "Mother of
God," confession to the priest, mediation of saints,
baptism of infants on the eighth day by triune
immersion, transubstantiation, communion to the
dying. They are industrious, energetic and enter-

RELIGIONS 77

prising, but proud and quarrelsome. Lack of true
heart Christianity and contact with Islam have
greatly affected their morals and we find them in
common with their neighbors, lying, stealing,
swearing, Sabbath breaking, drinking, etc. They
know they are sinning and will exclaim, "Oh my
sins !" One of them said "We are steeped in sin,
we steal, lie, cheat, slander, extort and what not.
No one goes truly in the right way. ' 9 On the other
hand, it is very common to find them self-satisfied
and trusting in their own good works for salvation.
Their need is true, living Christianity, with
changed heart and changed life. They are widely
scattered in these Eastern lands, and when truly
christianized will be a power for good.

It was for the Nestorians, in the city and plain
of Urumia and in the mountains of Kurdistan, that
the first mission in Persia was established in 1835.
They were an ancient Christian people with whom
had been the true light and life of Gospel truth,
but they had lost all vital Christianity, and having
kept nothing but dead forms, were almost as
wicked in their lives as the Moslems among whom
they dwelt. In China a tablet has been found
which shows that they were a missionary people.
The tablet is described as a granite slab about
eight feet high, three feet wide and nearly a foot
thick. Its title is "A Tablet Eulogizing the Pro-
pagation of the Illustrious Eeligion in the Middle
Kingdom." On the face of the tablet is found
"The Lord's Prayer" in Syriac, an outline of the
doctrines taught by the Nestorians and a sketch
of the fortunes of Christianity in China. The Nes-

78 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

torians took their name from their leader Nes-
torus, who was Bishop of Constantinople in the
fifth century. He was orthodox in his christian
beliefs and teachings, and refused to call the Vir-
gin, "Mother of God." The missionaries found
the Nestorians miserably oppressed by the ruling
race. No one dared wear a new garment unless
covered by one old, ragged and dirty, lest it be
taken from him. Their only books were in the
ancient Syriac — a dead language. There was
only one woman among them (she the sister of
the Patriarch) who could read, and only a few of
the priests, and' that not understandingly. They
received the missionaries with warm enthusiasm.
Dr. Perkins, their first missionary, wrote, "Our ar-
rival to reside among them was welcomed with the
strongest demonstrations of joy. In some villages
they marched out in masses to meet us, with their
rude trumpets and drums, to express their glad-
ness." Their leading men were gathered into
schools to learn to read. As there were then no
books in modern Syriac, letters and words were
written on cards and they were used as text books.
After ten years there was a great awakening
among them and many became truly converted.
The good work begun grew steadily ever after, and
now the Nestorians of Urumia are a reading evan-
gelical Christian people. They are again becoming
a missionary people. They now command the res-
pect of the Moslems, dress well, have good homes,
own vineyards, are many of them scholars, preach-
ers, teachers. There have been and are among
them Bible women, noble mothers and many men

RELIGIONS 79

occupying positions of trust and honor. The Bible
and many other books, religious and educational,
have been translated and written in modern Sy-
riac. There is a Syriac paper — "The Bays of
Light." There are schools and churches in the
city and in most of the villages. At the great
meeting in the Jubilee year celebrating the first
coming of the missionaries, the request was made
that all the women present who could read should
stand. Instantly all were on their feet, several
hundred of them.

VI

TABRIZ FOR CHRIST

In those first years there were German mis-
sionaries residing in Tabriz under the auspices
of the Basil Society. It is recorded of them that
they sowed some seeds of truth, but were unable
to do open and direct missionary work and did
not remain long. In October, 1835, Mr. Merrick
arrived in Tabriz, having been sent out by the
A. B. C. F. M. as a missionary to Moslems. He
had with him some copies of the Persian Testa-
ment and Psalms and Proverbs, but the German
missionaries did not think it prudent or advis-
able to distribute them owing to the excitable
prejudice of the population. In 1836 he started
on a tour through the country, partly to ascertain
the best place of residence for the missionary and
partly to study the Persian and Arabic languages.
He spent seven months in Sheraz and returned to
Tabriz in May, 1837. His observations of the
Moslems of the country greatly dampened the en-
thusiasm with which he had gone to Persia. He
concluded that Islamism was a "masterpiece of
skill and power, and at the same time a bottom-
less pit, not easily fathomed or filled up." He
wrote "Public preaching to the Persians is not
only inexpedient, but impracticable." As to ed-
ucation among the Persians, he pronounced Tab-

1 . Tabriz.

2. Women grinding at the mill.

TABRIZ FOR CHRIST 81

riz the most promising field for the missionary.
He was so discouraged, however, by the result of
his efforts to establish Christian schools, or in any
way to evangelize the Moslems, that in 1842, after
a seven years' residence, the Board discontinued
this mission to Islam and transferred Mr. Merrick
to Urumia. Tabriz was thus abandoned as a mis-
sion station and so remained until 1864, when it
was occupied as an out-station by settling there
Deacon Ishoo (Nestorian). It was also from that
time on occasionally visited by missionaries. In
the autumn of 1860 Rev. S. A. Rhea had gone
there on business. He wrote from there in refer-
ence to the inhabitants of the city, "They are in
the blindness and bigotry of Mohammedanism,
which still reigns with unbroken sway in all this
empire. All is silent as the grave, no spiritual
movement, no inquiry about the soul and its
breathless interests. It has been my privilege to
pray for this city and that is all I can do." He
again went to Tabriz in 1865, and the last sermon
he ever preached was while there at that time.
It is recorded that "he conducted the services of
the communion, the baptizing of Deacon Ishoo's
child, and preached in Turkish before an audience
of thirty-five persons, who listened with breathless
attention and beaming eyes. The Spirit of the
living God was in the midst and the interest at-
tending the services was something not of earth,
but imparted from on high." In 1868 Eev. Ben-
jamin Labaree went there with his family to spend
the winter, with the hope of becoming more thor-
oughly acquainted with the field and of being able

82 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

to more intelligently urge the Board to send mis-
sionaries to occupy it. He remained there six
months. Eegular preaching services were held
in his hired house. He wrote, "These services
were attended chiefly by Armenians and by a few
Moslems. The congregations were very variable,
and no deep impression seems to have been made."
How little any one knows of the results following
faithful, earnest and consecrated effort. All
these first beginnings were preparing the way for
permanent and persistent labors in this darkest
of dark regions.

Such were the preparations for the perman-
ent establishment of a Mission Station in Tabriz
by American missionaries. In the meantime mis-
sion work in Persia had been transferred to the
Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian
Church. A meeting was held in Urumia in Sep-
tember, 1873, when the expediency of the immedi-
ate occupancy of Tabriz was discussed. Eev.
P. Z. Easton, then just from America, argued that
special preparations had been made for this work.
He hoped that the "Nestorians, like the Walden-
ses, might be a beacon light to the nations, but it
is not enough that we teach the Nestorians. The
door is wide open to others. The Armenians are
ready to hear. There is a spirit of inquiry. One
openly confesses Christ. Let us take another step
forward and enter upon this work. God has given
this world to His Son, and this field among the
rest." Rev. H. N. Barnum of Turkey being pres-
ent said, "Tabriz is a good field for work among
Moslems. No doubt there will be persecutions,

TABRIZ FOR CHRIST 83

even to missionaries, bnt Tabriz is near the boun-
dary and the English Consul is there. Those are
the best workers who enter upon the work hope-
fully. Those who make the first inroads upon
Mohammedanism will do the greatest work for
Christ in this generation." Rev. W. L. Whipple
reminded us that "Mohammedanism is all honey-
combed with many sects ; the country is ripe for
the entrance of the Gospel, many quietly inquiring
and many receiving the truth.' ' Rev. G. W.
Coan, D.D., said, "There is no question as
to the desirability of occupying it if we look
at it is as a strategical point. The question
is do we hear the voice 'Go forward.' I
think we do. Preparatory work has been
done. Mr. Rhea's and Mr. Labaree's works
there were not without results. As a point of in-
terest the way is open. As a point of legality the
way is not open. The death penalty hangs over
every Moslem who turns from his faith. Even in
view of this we must follow the voice of the Lord.
The way is open to the Armenians, but the Arch
Bishop is bitterly opposed. Some defy him. One
man has boldly spoken of the rottenness of the
Armenian Church and will not retract. If we
wait for obstacles to be removed we will wait a
long time. Great care and prudence are neces-
sary, for we have wily and powerful foes. The
question of religious liberty was brought to the
attention of the Shah and he replied encouraging-
ly.' '

It was decided to establish the new station.
Mr. and Mrs. Easton and myself were set apart

84 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

as pioneers in this work. So I packed my few be-
longings and prepared for the journey of one hun-
dred and fifty miles from Urumia to Tabriz. Our
company consisted of Dr. G. W. Coan (going to
help start the work), Mr. and Mrs. Easton and
baby boy (she with baby in takhtrawan) and my-
self, two Nestorian preachers and the wife of one
of them, some Armenians and several Moslem
men who furnished the horses. The latter walked,
all the others were mounted. We were seven days
by the way, including a Sabbath day, when we rest-
ed. Never was rest sweeter than it was that day.
It was in the latter part of September and the days
were hot. The caravan moved very slowly. Ev-
ery afternoon, when we would have finished the
stage for that day, it would seem as if every bone,
muscle and sinew of my body had been pulled,
jerked, twisted, pounded. I would sink on the
floor exhausted. The natives said I was not
" cooked.' ' But the night's rest would build me
up and I would be ready for another day's ride.
It was an interesting journey. We rode along the
shore of Lake Urumia, resting our eyes on its
deep blue waters lying tranquil in the bright sun-
shine and keeping its secrets locked in its own
bosom. We rode around several points of moun-
tains extending down towards the lake. We
crossed a mountain pass, long and winding in its
ascent and steep in descent. This pass is danger-
ous because robbers prowl around. At the very
top there is a guard house, which is but a low mud
hut. As we approached it we saw men coming
out of it, like ants from an ant hill. As we drew

TABRIZ FOR CHRIST 85

near they demanded a present for making it safe
for us to pass. Probably some of them were very
robbers themselves. After they had received a
present of a few cents they retired into their
stronghold and we went on our way unmolested.
We crossed the beautiful plain of Salmas, bound-
ed on three sides by mountains, the other side ex-
tending down to the lake. This plain and the
mountain slopes are dotted all over by villages
and towns, and the continuous trees, gardens,
orchards and vineyards make a very attractive
landscape. A river, like a silver thread, runs
the entire length of the plain and artificial water-
ways carry the water in every direction. Persian
skies are very blue, stars very bright, moon as
beautiful as in our own land, and the sun shines
nearly always. Studying the people we met along
the way, I wondered what would be my experi-
ence with them in the coming years, and I lifted
my heart in prayer for God's blessing on this
great work to which He had called me. We
reached Tabriz September 30th, 1873, and took
possession in the name of the Lord.

October 1st, 1873, is the date of the establish-
ment of the station. We find on record the fol-
lowing: "Besolved: That we record our sense
of the goodness of God in permitting us to open
a Station of the Persia Mission at Tabriz, October
1st, 1873, and that we invoke the Divine blessing
upon our labors; observing a day of fasting and
prayer in connection with the inauguration of our
work here."

86 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

On the first Sabbath of October, 1873, a
preaching service was held in a room of the house
rented for the residence of the missionaries.
There were present thirty persons, of whom seven
were Moslem. On the second Sabbath there were
forty present, of whom four were Moslem.
Preaching was begun in Turkish by the Nestorian
preachers, Mr. Easton not yet having learned the
language. Turkish was understood by all and
was the medium of communicating the truth to
the Moslems. These Sabbath day services have
been continued ever since. A mid-week prayer
meeting was also begun, which has been continued
all the years. Other services in both Turkish and
Armenian were afterwards begun and have been
carried on at different times and places as the way
has opened. There were two men who had be-
come converts to Protestant Christianity through
the reading and study of the Scriptures. One
was a Moslem, who afterwards died a peaceful
death, which greatly impressed his friends and
neighbors. They said "He died with a smile
on his face like a child going to sleep. We never
saw anything like it." The other had been a
very stiff Gregorian Armenian, keeping the fasts
with all punctiliousness, making pilgrimages to
sacred shrines, offering sacrifices and strictly
observing the rites and ceremonies of the Old
Church. He was very generous, giving large gifts
to the Church. A large costly picture of the Holy
Virgin and the Child Jesus still remains in the
Armenian Old Church which he put there. He
was a wealthy merchant in partnership with

TABRIZ FOR CHRIST 87

his brothers. The brothers had a quarrel
and he was thrown out of business. One
day alone in his room, anxious and troubled, he
was pacing back and forth, when he espied a Bible
lying on a shelf, unused and covered with dust.
Merely as a pastime he took it up and began to
read. It was in the ancient language, but he was
a scholar. He became interested and read on and
on. As he continued reading and searching he
exclaimed, "If this be true, we are wrong.' ' He
found the truth and became a devoted student of
the Bible and an humble, true Christian.

On Friday, April 9th, 1875, the Evangelical
Church of Tabriz was organized with six mem-
bers. On Sabbath April 11th, the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper was administered. In October
of the same year a convert from Islam was re-
ceived on confession of his faith in Christ, pub-
licly baptized and admitted to the communion.
He had been led to think about this new faith by
the disturbance of 1874, and said he had no use
for a religion that must keep its adherents by
whipping. He was Tabriz's first martyr, for he
fled from the persecutions of his family and ac-
quaintances to Constantinople. There he was
thrown into the Bosphorus, and drowned, because
he was a Christian. Next Isaac, a Nestorian, was
received into church membership, and soon after-
wards Mariam, an Armenian woman. She be-
came a teacher and a helper in gospel work for
six years, when she died "faithful unto death."
There were many hindrances to the progress of
the work and the building up of a flourishing

88 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

church in Tabriz. Yet, in spite of all obstacles,
it gained steadily and the little band of believers
increased year by year. Some who were received
proved unworthy; some died witnessing for
Christ; some removed to other places; and still
the work grew. It is impossible to estimate in
figures the membership and influence of this
church. It is a beacon light sending out its rays
in all directions, not only in the city, but all around
about. Tabriz being the metropolis and center of
trade and travel, many coming for a short time or
passing through would learn of the Protestant
preaching and would come to hear. Thus many
heard the preaching and would go away with seeds
of truth lodged in their hearts, and so a great and
widely extended influence was exerted. There
has been aroused much reading of God's word,
much inquiry and discussion, and there are many
secret believers. Some we know, but all are only
known to Him who is the searcher of hearts, and
only at the last great day shall the true reckoning
be made manifest.

In the first years a Kurd was baptized. He
went away and was never heard from. There was
one Alaskar, a village man who came one Sabbath
day to the missionary, and weeping, threw himself
at his feet, asking advice. He had gotten posses-
sion of a Testament, had read and become a be-
liever. One day as he read Matt. 5 : 15 he felt that
he ought not to hide his light under a bushel but
ought to confess Christ. When he did so his
father in anger snatched the book and threw it in-
to the fire. His wife left him. He was beaten

TABRIZ FOR CHRIST 89

and so persecuted that he fled and came to Tabriz.
The missionary talked and prayed with him, gave
him another Testament, and advised him to re-
turn to his village and try again. He did so,
but soon his life was threatened and he again fled
to Tabriz. There he remained some time, faith-
ful, humble, consistent. When it was known in
Tabriz that he was a Christian he was there per-
secuted and he fled to Eussia, where he was able
to live a quiet, undisturbed, Christian life. The
story of Sheikh Baba, the Kurdish chief, is very
interesting. He was converted through the read-
ing of the Bible and the faithful efforts of some
of our evangelists in conversation, explaining and
exhorting. He was baptized, lived a Christian life
and was known and recognized among his people
as a teacher of truth. His sayings were quoted
and his influence was wide spread. His wife and
brother, coming more personally under his influ-
ence, also accepted Christianity. In 1890 I visit-
ed his headquarters in a mountain village in Kurd-
istan, and spent one happy night there sumptu-
ously and lovingly entertained by his wife. The
sheikh was a fine appearing man of open counte-
nance and noble bearing. He said "It was love,
the love of God and the love of these, his children
(referring to the evangelists), that constrained me
to be a Christian." Sayid KhaleePs story is of
thrilling interest. He was a leader of dervishes.
Through the reading and study of the Bible he
was convinced of the truth of Christianity and he
became an humble devoted Christian. He suf-
fered persecution and lost all his earthly posses-

90 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

sions, while he spent the last years of his life in
proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation. He
died poor and needy and his body was refused bur-
ial by his acquaintances because he was a Chris-
tian. In 1879-80 there was a famine, which gave
the missionaries an opportunity of manifesting
the spirit of Christ in feeding the hungry and
clothing the naked. Large sums of money from
Europe and America were sent for disbursement
and thousands were thus saved from starvation.
Great numbers were in this way brought under the
sound of the Gospel and there were many con-
verts.

The history of Tabriz Church might almost
be called a recital of persecutions, for all along
there has been bitter opposition. Sometimes the
attendance upon Sabbath day services has been
small, sometimes the chapel has been crowded,
sometimes the numbers and regularity of attend-
ance of Moslems has attracted attention. Just
then the police would be needing some money. So,
during time of service, they would place them-
selves in the street, watching the gate, and after
the service was over, they would pounce on those
who would come out from the meeting, and beat-
ing them along the way, would drive them to the
Chief of Police, where they would be cast into the
dungeon, beaten and robbed. Then for awhile no
one would venture to come to the meetings. The
first outbreak occurred about the first of Febru-
ary, 1874, less than five months after the beginning
of the station. There was a remarkable interest
among both Armenians and Moslems. There were,

TABRIZ FOR CHRIST 91

in addition to the regular meetings, some Friday
meetings with large companies of men at Moslem
houses. Both nationalities were attending the
Sabbath day services and there was much dis-
cussion on religious themes. It was some Armen-
ian priests who stirred up the commotion. They
were afraid of the truth as taught by the mission-
aries, and powerless themselves to hinder the
work, they took advantage of this growing interest
among Moslems by complaining to the Moslem
Ecclesiastical Head that we had come to turn not
only Armenians from their faith but Moslems as
well. They told lies about us, saying that we
preached that there is no God, no prophet. They
said to the Chief Ecclesiastic, "We must unite to
get these people away from here." Moslem auth-
orities became excited. Spies were sent to the
meetings, police were stationed in the street, and
one Sabbath day some Moslems were taken up,
put in prison and whipped. One man was beaten
nearly to death, and actually did die soon after
from the effect of the beating. He had not be-
come a Christian, but was the leader of a sect
obnoxious to the orthodox Moslems and they took
this opportunity of wreaking their hate on him.
Mullah Abdul Hassan was known to be a Chris-
tian. He remained firm and faithful, crying out
in agony when they were beating him, "Oh, God,
oh King of Heaven, do thou show judgment.' 9
They plied him with questions and they said "Oh,
Mullah (priest), isn't it a shame for you a Mullah
to go to those people and to let your son be a gate
keeper for them for ten cents a day. ' ' One Mirza

92 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

Ibrahim, a scribe in the employ of the Mission,
was one of those taken to prison. He had in his
pocket a small book of hymns that had been trans-
lated into Turkish, which he was copying for use
in the meetings. They saw the book and com-
manded him to read. He read. They exclaimed
"Bah! bah! what good words.' 9 They took the
book and his cloak and sent him away with cuts
and bruises. When the missionary and the two
Nestorian preachers interviewed the Secretary of
Foreign Affairs about these things, he asked,
"What have you come to Tabriz for? Are you
merchants I" "No, we preach." "What do you
preach?" "We preach God and Christ, we do
not teach the people to lie and steal, but to be
honest and truthful." "To whom do you
preach?" "To all who will listen." "But your
business is unripe. It is not cooked. You should
get permission. Wait awhile. I will write to
Teheran, and when I get permission for you you
may preach." That permission never came, but
preaching went on, not being even once discon-
tinued. There came a telegram from the Shah,
demanding quiet in Tabriz, and it was astonish-
ing how quickly all the excitement passed away.
The Governor said to the missionary, "We know
you are right, and your religion is true, but we fear
our priests, we must do something.." This per-
secution, at the time so terrible, had good results
in this way, that by it knowledge of our being
there was published all over the city, and people
began to inquire, "Who are these preachers?
Why is it necessary to whip people to keep them

TABRIZ FOR CHRIST 93

from leaving their religion?" Though fear kept
them away for awhile, afterwards larger numbers
than before came to see and hear. Our own lives
were in danger, and the great day of mourning
for Hassen and Hosein, when Moslems are always
very excitable, coming in March, soon after the
disturbance, the English Consul invited us to
spend the day at the Consulate, ostensibly as
guests, but really for protection.

In 1881 an order came from the Persian Gov-
ernment to the effect that our work for Moslems
should cease. The missionaries were united in
the feeling that we could not desist from teaching
and preaching to all classes of Persians as the
Lord should give opportunity. Had He not called
us there, and should we not go forward trusting
in Him? Is it not His work and cannot He pro-
tect it? After prayer and consideration a care-
fully prepared answer was returned as follows:
"Though we cannot close our doors to any who
wish to visit us in a friendly way, and while we %
endeavor to treat politely any persons who come
to us, and occasion offering, entreat them to good
works and higher morals, we shall use no undue
persuasion for any to attend our meetings or visit
our homes, and we shall endeavor to avoid any-
thing that would disturb the peace of this land
or cause any one to become religious. ' ' The work
did not cease but was carried on a little more cau-
tiously.

There were petty persecutions from time to
time. One Mullah was the terror of all. After-
wards, in 1894, he was found poor and destitute

94 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

and sick nigh unto death. He was visited and
ministered unto by the missionary physician and
the native evangelist. He died professing him-
self a convert to Christianity. It was in 1885 that
an outbreak came that for a long time closed
doors. Mirza Ali was a Moslem convert and a
member of the church who stood high in the es-
teem of the missionaries. His family life did not
run smoothly, and as the result of a family quar-
rel his wife and daughter went to the Chief Ec-
clesiastic and reported him a Christian. This was
just the spark that was needed to ignite the com-
bustible material. The city was in an uproar.
Mirza Ali fled to the missionary for protection
and was hidden in his house several days. When
it was no longer safe there, one evening at dusk,
dressed in American clothes, wearing American
hat, spectacles and muffler, carrying a cane and
leaning on the arm of an American gentleman, he
passed by the armed police, who were watching
for him, and entered another missionary's house
in safety. That night he left the city and went to
Russia.

VII

HOW WE WORK

I. Schools. Teaching, teaching, teaching!
The missionary is always teaching — teaching the
people, large and small, old and young, men and
women; so little do they know and so much is
there to tell them. We have schools for boys and
young men and for girls and young women. We
have boarding schools, kindergartens, preparatory
schools, high schools, colleges, seminaries, theo-
logical classes, industrial schools for boys and
training of girls in sewing and all kinds of hand
work and embroidery and in housekeeping. There
is an extensive curriculum of studies. The Bible
is taught daily. All the influence is for truth,
purity, uprightness. Eefined and earnest Chris-
tian young men graduate from our Boys ' Schools,
and taking unto themselves lovely, devoted, intel-
ligent Christian wives from our Girls' Schools, go
out in different directions, forming Christian
homes which are centers of light.

We find on record the following, dated Octo-
ber 10th, 1873: "Judging from all we see and
learn, such is the thirst for knowledge among the
Armenians, and such also their dissatisfaction
with their own schools, as now carried on, that we
should find no difficulty in establishing two

96 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

schools — one for boys and another for girls.
The great drawback in both cases is the want of
teachers.' ' On the part of the Girls' School a
beginning was made. Two day schools were start-
ed during the first year, one in each of the two
Armenian quarters. An old woman who could
read in a chanting, sing-song style, was found to
assist in one of the schools ; and another who was
herself learning to read took charge of the other.
It was soon discovered that the "want of teach-
ers" was not the only drawback. It was con-
trary to custom for girls to learn to read. There
was much suspicion of this new movement, and
there was a very strong mercenary spirit. A
father would sell his two daughters to me for thir-
ty dollars. A mother would give her daughter if
she should be fed and clothed. Another wished to
be paid for sending children to our school, and so
on. The first school began with twelve girls, of
whom five were Armenian, one Nestorian, two
Moslem and four French. The second school be-
gan with eight — all Armenian and some of them
were boys. The attendance fluctuated from five
to twenty, as the school would be popular or un-
popular. It was the day of small things, but not
to be despised. Furrows were made in the virgin
soil and influences were started which have been
going on ever since. Little Antoine, one of the
first pupils in the second school, was taken ill and
died. During his illness, and as long as he could
speak, he kept repeating verses of scripture he
had learned. Each of these schools was a center
for evangelistic work, and every now and then in

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Matron and boarding pupils in Girls' School, Tabriz, in 1 908

HOW WE WORK 97

after years we hear of first impressions for good
then and there received.

These two day schools straggled on with many
ups and downs for six years, when they were
merged into the boarding and day school for Ar-
menian and Moslem girls, which was started in the
Autumn of 1879. At first there were only three
girls who could be persuaded to become inmates
of the missionary's house, but in February, 1880,
there were ten, seven Armenian, two Moslem and
one Nestorian. The first year of this new depart-
ure one of the Moslem girls made a public pro-
fession of Christianity and was received into
church membership. She afterwards fell away.
The other did not profess Christianity, and one
day ran away from school and did not return.
But she had received impressions which could not
be obliterated and which influenced her in her
married life. In 1881 the first Armenian school
girl united with the church. It was said of her
by her neighbors, "We are sure that Horepsema
is a Christian because she does not swear and
revile and get angry and say bad words any
more.'' She was married to one of our teachers
and together they have worked for Christ in Khoi.
The accommodations for the school were poor,
and in 1882 ground was purchased and a commodi-
ous building was put up. We opened school in
the new building about the middle of November,
1882, with nineteen in attendance, two of whom
were from Maragha. We gave instruction in Ar-
menian, Turkish, Persian and English — in read-
ing, writing, grammar, Bible study, catechism,

98 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

arithmetic, geography, singing, fancy work, plain
sewing and housekeeping. We held the closing
exercises that year in the church. One hundred
and fifty invited guests were present. The girls
did well, and their friends were surprised and de-
lighted. In 1883-4 forty-two names were enrolled,
of whom four were Moslem. Three of the latter
remained but a short time. The other one con-
tinued in the school a year, when she was taken
by that dread foe diphtheria and died. She gave
beautiful evidence in her life and on her death-
bed that she had become a child of God. Her
mother was a widow and very poor. Their room
was very small. She said, "Mother, can't we take
a wide room?" Then she closed her eyes a few
moments, and soon after opening them she said,
"I have taken a wide room," and her spirit took
its flight. That year, through the enthusiastic ef-
forts of Mrs. Holmes, a kindergarten department
was introduced. We now find the school estab-
lished on sure foundations, going on and prosper-
ing year by year, and with a higher course of study
instituted. In 1888 a Band of King's Daughters
was organized. This organization was very pop-
ular among the school girls and a great help in
their Christian life and work. Later a Society of
Christian Endeavor was organized. Christian in-
struction is daily given. The spiritual influence
is steady and faithful towards leading the pupils
into the fold of the Good Shepherd. This Prot-
estant Girls' School has reached out beyond the
city of Tabriz and taken under its care pupils
from Maragha, Mianduab, Suldus, Urumia, Sal-

HOW WE WOKK 99

mas, Kara Dagh, Muzhumbar, Suhril, Alcha
Mulkh, Ilkhichee and Zenjan and from Russia.
Its daughters are now living and witnessing for
Christ in most of these places. It is a recognized
institution and a power for good.

In 1876, so great was the pressure from Ar-
menians for us to teach their boys, that we did
attempt teaching a few, even though our equip-
ment was so poor we were unable to do the work
well. Stephen, an Armenian young man from
Khoi, had so thirsted for knowledge that he had
sought a place in the school in Urumia, where he
was being taught in the Syriac language. He was
called to Tabriz to be trained as a helper in gos-
pel work. This was the beginning of the Train-
ing Class. Afterwards others were added to this
class, both Armenian and Moslem. There were
many hindrances to the progress of this Boys'
School so that it was not fairly launched until
February, 1880, when a day school with thirty-five
boys in attendance began to be a success. In 1882
more commodious quarters were provided and in
1883 an excellent teacher, Armenian, from Har-
poot College, Turkey, was secured, and a Board-
ing Department was the next forward movement.
The attendance that year was fifty-two, of whom
thirteen were Moslem, thirty-eight Armenian and
one Nestorian. The curriculum of study was en-
larged. Six languages, Turkish, Persian, Ar-
menian, English, Arabic and Eussian, were taught
and used in the school. In 1884-5 we find record-
ed seventy-one Armenians and fifteen Moslems.
"A good religious sentiment prevailed, with five

100 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

church members, four probationers, and others
showing signs of true Christian life — the week of
prayer attended by a spirit of revival, a weekly
prayer meeting carried on and sustained by the
scholars — good progress in outward gifts and in
the inner graces of the Spirit."

In 1884 bitter opposition broke up the Mos-
lem department. But it could not destroy the in-
fluence of the religious teaching already given.
Then the school was named "The Normal and
Training Class for the Armenians of West Per-
sia, ' ' with the hope in time of gaining an influence
over the Moslem population and making the school
an evangelizing agency for them, but chiefly a
training school for evangelists and teachers.

The first commencement was held in June,
1889, when seven young men were honorably grad-
uated and presented with diplomas. There were
present at the closing exercises the "English,
French and Turkish Consuls, the General of the
Persian army, the Principal of the Persian Gov-
ernment Schools, the Tutor of the children of the
Heir Apparent, and others, who expressed them-
selves as highly gratified." The next year an-
other class of seven was graduated. From these
fourteen young men four were selected and organ-
ized as a theological class, who were afterwards
ordained as evangelists. The school kept grow-
ing and soon outgrew its accommodations. A
gift of $12,000 by Mrs. William Thaw of Pitts-
burg enabled the Mission to secure grounds and
build a new school building, including assembly
hall, recitation rooms, dormitories, teachers'
dwellings and missionary residence. The name

HOW WE WORK 101

was changed to the ! ' Memorial Training and Theo-
logical School of Tabriz. * 9

Bright was the outlook. But trials and trib-
ulations were not yet over. "In the Autumn of
1892, with encouraging prospects, the wheels were
set in motion, when, on the 28th of October, no
intimation of their purpose having been given to
the missionaries, both church and Boys' School
doors were closed and sealed by government offi-
cials. This was probably the outcome of intrigue
by the Armenians." But on the very day that
the missionaries and native Christians had set
apart as a day of fasting and prayer the seals
were officially removed and work went on again.
"And it shall come to pass that before they call
I will answer, and while they are yet speaking
I will hear." Isa. 65:24. The influence of
this school is not by any means confined to
Tabriz but reaches out over all parts of the
country. Our "boys" teach in Maragha, Mian-
duab, Souj Bulak, Khoi, Ilkhichee, Zenjan,
in villages on Urumia and Salmas plains,
occupy posts of honor in business houses, and
do evangelistic work, influencing Armenians, Nes-
torians, Jews, Persians, Tartar Turks and Kurds,
not only in Persia but also in Russia.

This story would not be complete without an
extract from the report of the Memorial school
in 1907. "In the midst of the startling political
events which are occurring in Persia, it may seem
prosaic to record the simple annals of school life.
In spite of all the agitations and revolutions, pro-
mulgations of constitution and election campaigns,
patriotic processions and drilling of volunteers,

102 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

plottings of Eoyalists and Nationalists, closing
of bazaars and suspension of business, riots,
mobs and murders, rumors of Kurdish raids
and of invasions by Turkish Hamidiehs and
Russian Cossacks, the Memorial School has
gone on regularly. The Persian pupils in-
creased to eighty, of whom fifty were over
sixteen years of age. There were one hun-
dred and thirty-five Armenian and Syrian pupils.
Some of the Persians were from the families of
Hadjis, Sayids and Mullahs, but more were from
the ranks of the nobles. It is curious to call a
roll in which more than half of the pupils answer
to the title of Khan (Lord), and whose fathers
are the honorary ' Regulator of the State, ' ' Glory
of the Court,' 6 Prosperity of the Kingdom,'
1 Splendor of the Country,' \ Pride of the Army,'
1 Sword of the Physicians,' etc. Our primary
teacher is a Khan and a General. Our Arabic is
a descendant of Mohammed and son of the ' Noble
of the Mullahs. ' Though their fondness for titles
amuses us, yet the fact that we are training the
ruling class has a marked significance in this new
era of Persian development. It is an encouraging
fact that the Persians show an increasing desire
to pursue a course of sound learning. Formerly
a smattering of languages satisfied them. Eng-
lish is now fully introduced as the language of
higher instruction. This has given prestige to
the school."

II. Missionary work naturally falls into
three great divisions — educational, evangelistic,
medical. The one great object of all efforts in all

Persian Gentleman

HOW WE WORK 103

departments of work is the advancement of the
Kingdom of God and the building up of the true
church on earth by the saving of souls. The
specially evangelistic work is carried on by the
direct preaching of the Gospel, "for it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them
that believe." I Cor. 1:21. So, on mission
ground, the Gospel is preached from the pulpit,
in Sabbath school, in the houses of the people,
in our own homes, everywhere that a listener
may be found, be that audience one or many.
It is the story of the cross and it is ever the
same, whether proclaimed in the churches, or
told by the wayside, in the house, on the roof,
in field, in garden or vineyard, on threshing
floor, down by the. mill, under the almond tree,
to rich or poor, sick or well, man, woman or child,
in hovel or palace, to Moslem or Christian, to wan-
dering tribes and dwellers in tents, to Kurds and
robbers, anywhere, everywhere, at all times, in
season and out of season, here a little, there a
little, line upon line, precept upon precept, ever
the story of the cross, sometimes accepted, some-
times rejected.

In the cities we do much house to house visita-
tion. We always carry with us the Bible. We
read, explain, exhort, pray and invite the sinner
to repent and give himself or herself to Jesus.
Meetings are held on the Sabbath and on week
days. We are encouraged to preach the word
boldly, sowing the seed beside all waters, because
God hath said, "So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto

104 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

me void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it." Isa. 55:11. Sometimes our hearers
seem hard and unresponsive, but we know that
even then impressions are made. We have the
commission ' ' Go ye into all the world and preach
the Gospel to every creature.' ' Mark 16:15.
It is ours to labor on, leaving results with
Him whose we are and whom we serve, study-
ing not only the language and the customs
of the people, but the people themselves, enter-
ing into their very thoughts and feelings and
their way of looking at things. An aged mission-
ary once said to me, after he had been convers-
ing with a man who seemed unimpressible, "I
wanted to look right into his heart and see what
was there.' 9 We thus strive to become thorough-
ly acquainted with them, their surroundings and
the influences that enter into their lives, putting
ourselves as much as possible in their place, so
that we may be able to sympathize with them and
exert a greater influence upon them for good. We
strive to be earnest, faithful students of the Bible,
getting clear views and right ideas, and to so pre-
sent them in an attractive manner that we may
through the power and indwelling of the Holy
Spirit reach the heart and win souls.

The necessity of having the Bible ready for
use in the vernacular of the people, also the need
of books in the schools and for distribution, such
as dictionaries, commentaries, hymn books, tracts
and religious books, demands a great and exten-
sive literary work. The native converts to Chris-

HOW WE WORK 105

tianity also assist greatly in all these grand divi-
sions of work. The Bible in whole and in por-
tions and much religions literature have been scat-
tered very extensively over the land by colpor-
teurs, by native evangelists and by missionaries.
Seed has been sown and impressions made that
are permanent and are steadily increasing. A
spirit of inquiry has been aroused among the peo-
ple; Bibles are bought and asked for; old Bibles
are brought out from dark closets, dust wiped off
and read. I went with the physician to a house
where a little child was ill. I was much interested
in the father. He was ill also. He sat propped
up in his bed reading the Bible. He died, but I
could not but have hope of his soul. And there
are many such. The other day a man died in
Tabriz who had been a very wicked man. He gave
good evidence of being prepared, having become a
changed man, reading his Bible, desiring religious
conversation and enjoying religious tracts.

There is much sickness in Persia. The peo-
ple, not understanding the laws of health, do not
know how to take care of themselves and are taken
with all the ills flesh is heir to, acute and chronic.
Our physicians, walking in the footsteps of Jesus,
go about doing good, carrying with them healing
for body and soul. Thousands all over the land
rise up to bless the missionary physician. Per-
sians have great respect for a doctor, the name by
which they call him or her — Hakim — meaning
learned. Thus dispensaries and hospitals are a
very prominent and very important feature of our
missionary work.

VIII

There was a time when Persia was one of the
mighty nations of the earth. It has been said of
the Persians that ' ' they were ever the firm friends,
liberators and protectors of God's chosen peo-
ple— the first to welcome and worship the new-
born Messiah — the first among those who re-
ceived the baptism of the Holy Ghost — the first
among those who began to preach the gospel which
is to be proclaimed in every land and in every
tongue, until all nations shall have become evan-
gelized.' ■ We cannot say that of Persia now.
With the degradation of woman has come the fall
of the land. What could we expect from such a
religion, such a government, where woman is un-
educated and cast down, " whose desire is unto
her husband," who looks upon her merely as an
animal — a chattel or machine — a piece of prop-
erty — where she is one of many wives who may
be divorced at his pleasure. Oh woman! hard is
thy lot. I have visited the Moslem lady of rank
and wealth in the harem. Passing the outside
entrance, which is kept guarded by soldiers, I have
been escorted through a long, dark, narrow, wind-
ing passage to the inner court, where the heavy
curtains would be lifted and I would there be met
by eunuchs or women of inferior rank, and by

WOMAN'S WORK FOR WOMAN 107

them conducted into the presence of the lady. She
would be found reclining on elegant cushions, at-
tended by her maids, herself bejeweled, painted
and dressed in gorgeous silks and velvets with
gold and silver embroidery; and surrounded by
all sorts of pretty and costly things, and spending
her time in gossip and idleness. So she fritters
her life away, doing a little needle work, eating,
drinking, smoldng, counting her rosary, repeating
her meaningless prayers. Perhaps she reads a
little ; but that is in the Koran and as meaningless
to her as her prayers. Occasionally enveloped in
overalls, mantle and veil, attended by a train of
men servants and maid servants, she goes to the
bath to spend a day, or to visit a friend or neigh-
bor, just as secluded and with a life as aimless as
her own. What thought has she of training her
children for a life of usefulness or the glory of
God? What pure and exalted motives has she in
the ordering of her own life, what mental train-
ing, what preparation for eternity? None what-
ever. Oh, my sister, my poor blind sister! my
heart aches for thee !

A great contrast in social standing is the vil-
lage poor woman, bare-footed, but head and face
covered, rude, noisy, dirty, quarrelsome, degraded.
Pitiable indeed is her condition. The women of
the middle class have much more freedom than
those of the higher class. They may visit more
often, may go to the bazaars and walk the streets
unattended. In this class too there is less polyg-
amy, because the men of this class cannot afford to
support more than one wife. There is also among

108 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

them a certain degree of intelligence, self respect
and independence.

Moslem women expect to be beaten by hus-
band and mother-in-law. Is she not their prop-
erty, their slave? She knows no other way and
has no redress. She may revile and curse and
hate, but she still continues to drag on her weary
existence. She may fret because she cannot have
all the things she wants. She may be wearing out
her life in jealousy and hatred of her husband's
other wives, spending her energies in inventing
ways of making them miserable, and of making
herself so attractive to the husband that she may
always be his favorite wife. If, perchance, she
is the only wife, she is in constant dread of the
time when another may be taken. Knowing that
at any time her master may divorce her, she often
secretly gathers together all the jewelry and val-
uable things she can get possession of to take with
her when she is sent away. The one wife of a
wealthy Moslem confidentially unlocked a box and
showed me the contents — gold and silver orna-
ments and precious stones, which she was thus
secretly hoarding for such an emergency. If she
should become poor she would have them for sale
for her living. Having children of her own, whom
she loves with all the natural passion given to
mothers, it often happens that in some secret way
a woman manages to destroy the life of the chil-
dren of the other wives, in order that her own
children may be heirs of all the property. While
there is rejoicing over the birth of a boy, there
are expressions of sympathy and resignation to-

WOMAN 'S WORK FOR WOMAN 109

the will of God if the baby is a girl. The ordinary
greeting to the mother from her friends when a
boy is born is "May God bless him," for the baby
girl ' ' May God forgive you. ' * This is not without
reason, for do they not know that the future of the
little girl is a dark one? It is not necessary that
she learn to read, but she must be an adept in all
the proprieties and assumed modesty. A man was
teaching his daughter to read. I suggested that
he also teach her to write. He replied, "Oh, no,
that would never do. It would be a shame for a
girl to learn to write." We are glad to know,
however, that in these later years many girls are
learning to write as well as read. Such a one
earns a title and is called "The reading woman."
A father is responsible for the sins of his daugh-
ter until she is twelve years old; after that her
husband assumes the responsibility. Few women
are brought to judgment, because the husband an-
swers for her misdeeds, and he inflicts the punish-
ment on her, and with interest too. "When she is
but a child she must be married. If there can be
found for her a suitable husband, well and good,
if not she must take what she can get. As a rule
she has nothing to say as to the one to whom she
shall be given. From twelve to sixteen is the most
acceptable age. From twenty to twenty-five it is
considered a calamity if she is unmarried, and
with shamefacedness she stands while it is an-
nounced that she is only a girl. Harriet Mar-
tineau wrote of Moslem women as "the most
studiously corrupted women she ever met. ' \

110 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

Such are the women in whom we are inter-
ested and for whom we labor in Persia. We make
many visits to them in their own abodes. They
always receive us politely, cordially, gladly, and
always entertain us with the best they have. The
rich entertain sumptuously, with sherbets, tea,
coffee, sweets, fruit, lettuce, cucumbers, melons,
pomegranates, etc. The very poor will find some-
thing to set before us, it may be a dish of nuts and
raisins.

What a break in the monotony of the Persian
ladies' life, what a refreshing treat from the out-
side world, is the visit of the missionary lady to
the harem! Like little children, they are full of
curiosity and ask many questions. They want to
know about our world and all our life in it, our
habits, our dress, our home land and our friends
and relatives. How could we leave home and
loved ones so far away? Did we come to learn a
new language, to learn their religion or something
of them? Or were we laying up for ourselves
merit in Heaven? Then we seize the opportunity
of telling them of the love of Christ constraining,
and that we came to tell of Him, how He loves
them so much that He left His glorious home
above, to suffer and die for them. As we tell of
Jesus, frequently they exclaim, "Oh, yes, we love
Jesus too. He was a good man and a prophet."
" Yes, indeed," we reply, "He was a good man and
a prophet, but he was more than a prophet, He
was and is our Savior." Then they say, "He is
your Savior and Mohammed is ours." Then we
tell them over and over the story of Jesus and

WOMAN'S WORK FOR WOMAN 111

His love, His life on earth, His works and words,
His death and resurrection, and how He is now the
risen Lord and our and their Savior and Interces-
sor. Sometimes they will be politely indifferent,
sometimes refuse to listen at all and make inter-
ruptions. Sometimes they will argue and oppose,
and accuse us of blasphemy if we speak of Christ
as God or the Son of God. Sometimes they listen
eagerly, exclaiming, "What good words, tell us
more." We must tell the story simply as to a
little child, and over and over. We may speak
plainly to them of their sins. They are always
ready to acknowledge that they are great sinners,
often crying out — "what shall we do? We don't
know any better. We are beasts." Or with a
shrug of the shoulder they say, "God is merciful,"
and go on in the same way. Every opportunity
thus improved is one more stroke in undermining
and battering down the mighty structure of Islam.
It impresses them favorably for us to open
the Bible and read from its pages. All the Word
of God is profitable, but I found some portions
more especially adapted to our woi;k. It is often
expedient to begin with the "Sermon on the
Mount;" there is the beautiful story of the mirac-
ulous birth and the appearance of the Shepherds ;
there are the parables and miracles; the healing
of the sick, raising the dead, the Creation and the
Fall, when we show them how woman was degrad-
ed by the Fall and is exalted by the Savior. There
are Bible stories, the Commandments, lessons on
cleanliness, not outside and ceremonial, but true
purity of heart and life. At a Moslem village they

112 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

would not let the woman who was with me use a
vessel of theirs in which to cook for me a chicken
because she was a Christian and consequently un-
clean. Later, as a crowd of them, dirty and re-
pulsive, gathered around me, I improved the op-
portunity of giving them a lesson on true cleanli-
ness and purity, putting the truth right home to
them. They listened and exclaimed, "It is true,
it is true." At another place, sitting on the grass
in an orchard, some women asked me to tell them
a story. I told them the story of Joseph. How
interested they were. The story was called for
again and again by different companies of women.
And such experiences are of frequent occurrence.
The home life of the missionary impresses them
as they see the courtesy and love shown by the
husband to the wife, her security of position
and her happiness and content, with no fear of
ever being divorced and how she is loved and hon-
ored by her children. They say "Your prophet
was good to you, but our prophet gave us a hard
life. ? ?

In working with nominally Christian women
we have much in common to begin with. We have
the same Bible, the same belief in Jesus — the Son
of God and Savior of sinners — the same Sabbath
day, and the same views of the sacredness of the
marriage relation. We find much superstition
with them and many errors — and it is our priv-
ilege to show them where they are making mis-
takes, and bring home to them their duties and
responsibilities as Christians, so leading and guid-
ing them to higher and holier living, and in all our

WOMAN'S WORK FOR WOMAN 113

intercourse with them striving to turn their
thoughts from things worldly and trivial to things
higher and better. We can sympathize with them
in their trials and temptations as much as pos-
sible, bridging over the chasm between us caused
by their lack of culture and education as well as
difference of race and country. We may give
careful and loving answers to their innumerable
questions, many of them frivolous. All this re-
quires tact, patience, perseverance, prudence, wis-
dom, consecration and the presence and indwell-
ing of the Holy Spirit in our own hearts. It may
be that some little kind word or act may find lodg-
ment in some mind, awaken thought and lead to
further inquiries. We must not become discour-
aged, even when we are misunderstood and our
efforts seem to fail. When we remember the long
patience of our Heavenly Father with us, we may
learn to bear with the poor, ignorant women to
whom He sent us. Then we must not expect too
much from them, even after they have become con-
verted, for the fetters of custom are strong and
they often fall. The work is not altogether easy,
the ignorance is so great, the darkness so dark,
the superstitions so powerful, the attachments to
the old ways of belief and habits of life so bind-
ing, Satan's stronghold so strong and his hold on
the hearts of the people so firm, that it is only by
a miracle of grace that any woman is rescued from
her lost condition and brought from death to life.
It will take more than one generation of mission-
ary toil in preaching and teaching and pleading

114 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

and praying to lift them up to light and truth and
pure Christianity.

With the hope of bringing the women of all
classes and races under the influence of refined
Christian homes, we do much entertaining. We
arrange our homes as nearly as we can like Amer-
ican homes, and there is much for them to see
and wonder at — and question about. Very true
is it that only a partial report can be written,
the daily routine, the weariness, our own short-
comings, the seemingly fruitless efforts, the little
annoyances, the frequent interruptions, the many
times that our hearts are wounded by the coldness
and indifference and ingratitude of those for whom
we labor and pray. How long is the seed sowing !
When shall the harvest be? The great work of
the missionary lady is to carry the Gospel to the
abodes of the people, to teach the women and
children of Christ and the way of salvation, to
influence the entire family toward righteousness
and true living. This evangelistic work among
the women of Tabriz was all along, even from
the beginning, attended with difficulties. At first
no woman of self respect would come near us.
They were very secluded and very suspicious of
strangers. They were especially suspicious of us
because of the false impression they had received
as to our moral character, and they believed we
had come to set aside the right religion and estab-
lish in its place heresy and infidelity. Our not
keeping the fasts and feasts, not going through
the prescribed forms of prayer, not performing the
required ablutions before and after meals, not

WOMAN'S WORK FOR WOMAN 115

hiding our faces if a man appeared, and many
things that we did or did not do, shocked the Mos-
lems. Among the Armenians it was reported that
we spat upon the image of the Holy Virgin, that
the reason for our closing our eyes in prayer was
that we might not see the Virgin if she should
pass by, and that we trampled on the cross of
Christ because we did not wear the crucifix or
make the sign of the cross in our devotions. And
they called us unbelievers. The priests and ec-
clesiastical rulers, being afraid of our teaching,
forbade the women to come to us, and those who
did venture to come or to receive us into their
homes were called to an account and threatened
thus, "If you go there we will not bury you when
you die." Gradually, however, doors began to
open and an entrance to be obtained in many
houses in different parts of the city, both Armeni-
an and Moslem.

It was the Bible that opened these doors.
There were two young men, Moslem, who came
asking to be taught English. That work fell in-
to my hands, and through them I obtained an en-
trance to their dwellings. I read the Bible to the
women assembled. With astonishment and de-
light they heard the new and wonderful words.
After that first visit I was repeatedly invited to
visit them. Neighbors and friends would as-
semble, would listen and would invite me to visit
in their houses. So the visiting work grew and
grew until there were more places to visit than
time or strength for visiting. The entrance to
Armenian houses was effected in a similar manner.

116 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

Simply with Bible in hand, doors were opened
everywhere, among high and low, rich and poor,
of both nationalities, and we were, called "The
People of the Book." These visits have become
a prominent feature of our work. It is the en-
deavor of the missionary ladies that they shall be
occasions of making spiritual impressions. They
vary in length from ten or fifteen minutes to three
or more hours. Occasionally there is no oppor-
tunity presented for religious conversation, but
almost always we can speak a word for the Mas-
ter, and most frequently a visit becomes a Bible
meeting.

Very soon after the establishing of the new
station I began a regular weekly Woman's Meet-
ing. At first there were very few who would at-
tend. But the numbers increased, and when other
missionary ladies were added to our little band
they also took part in this work. These meetings
have been kept up all the years with varying
interest and attendance. In the first years they
were often noisy and disorderly, the women not
yet having learned how to conduct themselves —
a marked contrast to many precious meetings held
since. Many would come from motives of cur-
iosity or hope of worldly gain. Many would stay
away from fear of consequences, saying, '"It is
not safe to go to those meetings, because there
we are reminded of our sins and become uncom-
fortable. M So we go among the women of Persia,
knowing nothing but Christ and Him crucified.
Our Captain rules over all and in His own good
time and way He will "bring it to pass." We

WOMAN'S WORK FOR WOMAN 117

believe that Persia will become an enlightened
Christian land, and that her women will rise to
that position of honor and purity and freedom
which is only attainable by the Gospel truth and
the power of God. "I have sworn by myself, the
word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness
and shall not return, that unto me every knee
shall bow, every tongue shall swear.' ' Isa. 45 :23.
During the first winter of my sojourn in
Tabriz I counted all who might be considered
true spiritual Protestant Christians in the city,
and the number was sixteen. Af ten ten years the
number of our Protestant women was sixteen.
And the character of our women's meetings was
wonderfully changed. We had been observing
the week of prayer in the Church. There was
a spirit of revival in our midst — a solemnity,
earnestness, spirituality never before so manifest.
I called a special meeting of the "sisters" who
were church members. Nearly all present volun-
tarily took an active part in the exercises. We
spent together at that meeting one hour and a
half, and the time seemed too short, so great was
the interest felt and the joy experienced. There
was no excitement but deep calm and peace. At
our next regular meeting there were fifty present.
Several of the leading ones were kept away from
that meeting by sickness, and I feared the timid
ones would not have courage to speak before
such an audience, but what was my joy to find
that the spirit of our week of prayer meetings
was still with us and more abundantly. One sur-
prise followed another as a voice was heard in

118 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

one part of the room, then in another, one reading
a portion of scripture and making a few remarks,
one reading some thoughts she had composed and
written down, another leading in prayer and so
on. One whose voice I had not before heard in
prayer found courage to pray. Her voice was
scarcely above a whisper, but the effort was a
blessing. The meeting continued two hours with-
out interruption or abated interest. This marked
a new era in woman's work for woman in Tabriz.

IX

TOURING

Tabriz is the center of a large and interesting
tract of country, dotted all over with villages and
towns, where there are hundreds of thousands of
deluded ones, sitting in the darkness of the Val-
ley of the Shadow of Death, into whose hearts
the light of the Gospel has not yet penetrated.
Some missionary work has been done in this
region, but little compared with the great need.
Colporteurs travel over the country trying to sell
Bibles, but owing to the fact that so few read, the
sales are comparatively small. Missionaries and
native evangelists go on tours preaching, teach-
ing, sowing the seed. We do not always know the
results or see the fruit, but we do know that as
God's Word is true there shall be a harvest.

As we go south from Tabriz, after riding
twenty miles we reach Ilkhichee — a large village
of Ali-Allahees. For many years we have been
acquainted with them and they have always been
friendly. They would gather around us when-
ever we visited them, and would listen attentively
as we read and preached to them. We knew they
would steal, beg, lie, swear, and that their best
motives were all mixed with deceit and supersti-
tions. Still our hearts would go out to them in
love and sympathy, and we were glad to be with

120 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

them to do them good. I find among my papers
a report of a Sabbath day spent there, as fol-
lows: " After breakfast a little company of men
and women gathered in the room where I was stay-
ing and we had a meeting. On the wall I hung
some pictures of Bible scenes, told the stories, and
taught the lessons from them. Then some men
came for religious conversation which lasted until
noon. Then I rested. After lunch I took my
Testament and went to a neighbor's and had a
meeting there. When I returned to my room
some women came in to see the pictures, and again
there was a talk. After dinner, in the evening
there was again a meeting." Was it not a priv-
ilege to spend the whole day working for Jesus?
Much good seed has been sown in Ilkhichee. The
son of the spiritual leader became a Christian.
He lived and died "faithful and true," by his
life influencing the lives of others. Going on
from Ilkhichee, our road passes through Moslem
towns, leaving many to right and left. We stop
at the different places. We preach and there are
many hearers. There are the wayside, the stony
ground, the thorny choked hearers, and we trust
some seed finds a spot of good ground.

Touring is not easy but it is interesting. To
go out on a pleasant day in an inhabited, civilized
land for an exhilerating horseback ride with good
roads and pleasant surroundings is very delight-
ful. It is quite another thing to ride for hours in
the burning heat of summer over desert and sandy
plains — no trees — no grass — no habitation —
or miles and miles over steep, rocky, barren

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2. Moslem village women spinning, combing and knitting wool.

TOURING 121

mountain passes, or in winter over snow, ice and
mud, or in a storm of wind, rain or snow, aching
and tired, parched with heat or wet and cold, to
reach a dark, dirty, uninviting stopping place
where to spend the night. A towel dipped in cold
water placed on the head under the hat with white
cheese cloth wrapped about the hat are some pro-
tection in heat; warm clothing, arctics, leggings,
wool gloves or mittens, and fur cap are very ac-
ceptable in winter ; in a rain storm the waterproof
raincoat is indispensable. All these things, and
whatever else may be invented for comfort, fail
to make the ride easy. Quite a contrast to an
elegant Pullman! After such a ride of several
hours almost any kind of shelter is gladly wel-
comed. A broom is brought and half-inch thick
dust that has been quietly resting now begins to
fly. A piece of carpet is spread. If it is winter
a fire is built in the fireplace. Possibly smoke
fills the room on account of defective chimney.
The camp bedstead is put in place. We lie down
a few moments. The steaming samovar is
brought. Tea is steeped. How refreshing it is!
We drink and feel rested. The cook proceeds to
prepare a supper. If there is time a chicken will
be nice, but most often there is not time for that.
Generally a piece of mutton can be procured. We
can have bread, rice, cheese, herbs, onions, pota-
toes, fruit, nuts, sweet milk, buttermilk, butter,
honey. Eggs can always be obtained. As the
butter to fry them in is not always unobjection-
able we usually prefer boiled eggs. While supper
is being prepared we engage in gospel work.

122 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

Perhaps a crowd of curious women have already
come to see the show, for we are a great show to
them. They are just as interested in studying us
as we are in studying them. We have with us
our knife, fork and spoon. We are amused by
overhearing the remarks of the women watching
us eat. Nothing escapes their notice — the nap-
kin, the eating even rice with a fork, all come in
for remarks. We carefully put our traps out of
the way of light fingers. We try to give our mes-
sage in a way that shall reach the understanding
and the heart. We think we are talking simply,
plainly, convincingly ; surely they will immediate-
ly and gladly accept the truth, when to our con-
sternation some one calls out, "How many chil-
dren have you?" "You are not married !"
"You are a girl!" "Why?" "Didn't any one
want you?" and we hear all sorts of incongruous
questions and remarks. Our hearts sink within
us. We think of America, of home and friends,
of the privileges we enjoyed there, the quiet
lofty, solemn churches, the reverent assemblies,
the enthusiastic meetings, the clean, nicely
dressed, orderly congregations — how much good
we might have done there. We are tempted to
say " What is the use of it all — the isolation and
loneliness in the midst of these unappreciative, un-
thankful people, and all this trouble and ex-
pense?" So Satan tempts. Then we cry to God.
He helps and comforts and strengthens, and we
begin again. We remember the commands and
the promises, "I will not fail thee nor forsake
thee." "Have not I commanded thee?" "Be

TOURING 123

strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid,
neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God
is with thee wherever thou goest." "And, lo! I
am with you always.' 9 We must "go tell," be it
difficult or easy, "whether they will hear or
whether they will forbear." Many a time have I
had the same experience as Miss Fiske when try-
ing to preach to a crowd of village women. She
would request them to be still and listen. Then
every one would tell every one else to be still,
thus making more noise than before.

But we do not by any means always have
noisy meetings. Time and again would these
companies of women listen with breathless at-
tention, drinking in the precious words and with
sighs exclaiming "If what you say is true, we
are all lost." "We will die in our sins for no
one has taught us any better." Or we may hear
a remark from a self-satisfied Moslem woman, like
the following, "What a pity such a nice, refined
lady as you are is going to Hell." Or we may
hear an encouraging word, as when I entered a
room where sat a woman alone. Looking up she
recognized me and exclaimed, "I know you, you
have been here before." Then to prove that
she knew me she repeated a verse I had taught
her eight years previously. It was this, "Wash
me and I shall be whiter than snow." She said
she had been praying that prayer all the years.
Yes, they do understand and remember much that
we tell them, as I have often experienced when
afterwards revisiting a place where I had thought
nothing was accomplished, I would hear my own

124 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

words repeated, and some would tell me they were
trying to do as I had taught them. In one of my
reports, speaking of a village I had visited, I find
these words : ' ' The women there seemed hungry
and thirsty for the truth, and they listened most
attentively as we spoke to them. Our opportun-'
ities were not confined to the hour while we were
holding a meeting, but at all hours they were with
us, and we had much religious conversation with
them. * f Again, speaking of a tour, i ' Everywhere
the women listened attentively and eagerly to the
words we spoke. * ' A tour of forty-five days made
by Mrs. Van Hook and myself in the Kara Dagh
mountains north of Tabriz was full of interesting
experiences. Sabbath day as we rested at a
Kurdish village we held a meeting in the morning
on a low roof. There were men on the right, wo-
men on the left, and boys and girls in front. All
listened quietly and attentively as we sang, read,
preached and prayed. Companies thronged us
all the day, coming to our room or gathering
around us when we stepped outside our room, and
we endeavored to improve the opportunities. At
the Armenian town, Khaniga, where we rented
rooms and made our headquarters for six weeks,
there were daily efforts for the people of the
town. From there I visited a Moslem village.
After climbing a mountain up and down, much of
the way on foot because it was so steep I could
not sit on the horse, I reached the village in a
narrow valley. Quickly the room where I put
up was filled with a crowd of curious women and
men, and the windows too were crowded with on-

TOURING 125

lookers. For an hour or more I talked and read
to them. Then I begged them to go away and let
me have a little chance for rest and lunch. I only
had a little bit of rest for they were back again
and more than ever, not a foot of space in the
room to spare. I stood and preached to them
two hours. Some listened eagerly, some got
angry, some said "She speaks truth." Some said
"We don't want anything to do with Jesus. Ali
is our prophet." There was an uproar, and the
man of the house drove them all away. But
seeds of gospel truth were scattered, and
they will remember. A man who was a read-
er called, and I gave him a Testament, which
he gladly received. In other towns which we
visited we were glad to sow the seed. Once
when on a tour with one of our native evangel-
ists we visited an Armenian village. The priest
was not willing that any place be given us. The
evangelist told him we "wanted a place to sit."
Said the priest "But you don't sit still." On
another tour, as I talked with a sweet-spirited wo-
man, a convert from Islam, I asked her what her
profession of Christianity meant. She replied "It
means that I've gotten tight hold of Jesus."
Sometimes women have begged me to send them
a teacher. And my heart has bled for them as I
knew we had no teacher to give them, not nearly
enough workers for the great work to be done, and
not money enough to pay expenses in carrying on
the work, and realized how inadequate are all our
equipments.

126 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

I have had all sorts of experiences and ad-
ventures while on tours. Onee when making
preparation for a tour I had taken special pains
to have my wardrobe in good condition, nothing
expensive or extravagant, only simple, plain ap-
parel, clean and whole, washed and ironed. Well,
one day in crossing a stream the horse that carried
my baggage fell and rolled over and over in the
muddy water. Imagine the condition of my cloth-
ing, my Bible, books, papers, envelopes, stamps,
medicine case, sugar, tea, coffee, bread, butter,
etc. Some Moslem men came along that way and,
seeing the predicament, wanted to know why I
did not swear. Always the Angel of the Lord did
encamp around. God protected and verified His
promises. I rejoiced over the possession of a
strong constitution, and the power to endure and
laugh at adventures. If my horse fell and I rolled
over in the dust I would get up and mount again,
thankful that no bones were broken. Always I
rejoiced that I was permitted to engage in this
grand work. There would be singing in my heart
as I helped to sow the seed, not knowing "whether
shall prosper either this or that; or whether they
both shall be alike good. ' ' Eccl. 11 :6. In touring we
combine medical with evangelistic work, for every-
where we find the sick and suffering. Here the mis-
sionary physician has a grand opportunity. If we
are not physicians, a little knowledge of medicines
and simple remedies helps, as often a dose of qui-
nine and a little advice as to how to care for the
sick, wins friends and prepares the way for gospel
work. Indeed, the missionary on tours as well

TOURING 127

as at home utilizes every incident, every oppor-
tunity, to advance the kingdom. Once on a tour
the physician had with him an extra pair of spec-
tacles that he did not need. An old man came in.
He was a reader, but he mourned that by reason
of age his eyes had become dim so that he could
no longer see to read. A present to the old man
of the spectacles and a Testament made him
happy. Eeal joy it is to find at out of the way
places a reader and to give such an one a Testa-
ment, the whole or portions of the Bible or a
hymn book.

We expect to meet in heaven redeemed ones,
saved because we went to them in the Spirit of
Christ, in obedience to His command, and carried
to them the Bread of Life. Else why called to
the bedside of a dying woman to tell her of Jesus
and pray with her? Why the opportunity of
speaking to a crowd of women, who with clasped
hands and tear-stained faces listened to the story
of the cross? Why permitted to teach the true
way of prayer to those who come begging for
written prayers to use as charms? Why led to
speak so earnestly to one in apparent health who
died suddenly a few days after? Why so often
constrained to listen to tales of woe and helped
to point out the only true source of peace and
comfort?

In riding over the rough, hilly country how
vividly would come to mind the words of the
prophet, "Every valley shall be exalted and every
mountain and hill shall be made low, and the
crooked shall be made straight and the rough

128 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

places plain." Isa. 40:4. Surely the glory of the
Lord shall be revealed, when in every village and
town and city in Persia there shall be Christian
churches and school houses ; when instead of ignor-
ance and superstition there shall be light and
knowledge; when the family altar shall be set up
in the peaceful homes and the whole land shall
become an enlightened Christian land.

SOME TOTJES I HAVE MADE

Biding south by a circuitous route about sev-
enty-six miles from Tabriz we reach Maragha.
In a direct line the distance is only about thirty-
five miles. But as the Sahend mountains extend
between Tabriz and Maragha nearly to the lake,
and the mountain pass is difficult and dangerous
and infested with robbers, the traveled road leads
around the foot of the mountains. Looking down
from the last height just before reaching the city,
a picturesque view is presented. The large col-
lection of adobe houses, extending lengthwise for
about six miles up and down the valley, and up
the slopes of the hills, resembles a huge scorpion.
The Sufi river runs like a silver thread the entire
length of the valley. This river, together with
the melting snow from the mountains, furnishes
the water supply. And we find the valley very
fertile, with many villages surrounded by trees,
fields, gardens and vineyards. The antiquity of
the city of Maragha is very great, far exceeding
that of Tabriz. It was once a Nestorian town
and the abode of the Nestorian Bishop, Mar-Agha
(Bishop Agha), hence the name. It was at one
time the capital of Azerbyjan and one of the mag-
nificent cities of the East. But it has undergone
many vicissitudes of fortune, and having lost its

130 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

former splendor, is now a miserable, dirty, un-
healthy, uninviting place. The present popula-
tion is supposed to be about 25,000. Of these
perhaps one thousand are Armenians, and the re-
mainder Tartar Turks.

Three towers and two bridges, all built of
solid masonry, have stood for several centuries as
monuments of the wealth and glory and enter-
prise of Hulaka Khan, grandson of the conqueror
Ghengis Khan. One of these towers is said to
have been built for the use of the great Persian
astronomer, Haji Nasir, as his watch tower while
he studied heavenly bodies. The ruins of this
tower stand just outside the city. The other two
are in the heart of the city, side by side. In one
of these twin towers is the tomb of the mother of
Hulaka Khan, and in the other that of his wife.
His own tomb is on a mountain not far distant.
There is a tradition that for many years treas-
ures have been hidden in one of these towers.
Once a year they cry out begging to be found,
but no one has yet found them. There are on the
towers inscriptions in strange characters, and
the remains of tiling in blue and green and black.

At the time of the famine of 1871-3 Urumia
Mission sent two Nestorian evangelists to Mara-
gha with help for the starving. In 1878 Mr. and
Mrs. Ward made a tour there of several weeks
duration. They were thronged with visitors, some
of them earnestly inquiring the way of life.
Afterwards an evangelist was stationed there per-
manently. There was much encouragement in the
work and a church was organized. Opposition

SOME TOURS I HAVE MADE 131

and persecution arose. The majority of the in-
habitants are worldly and bigoted, preferring
darkness rather than light, and many who would
come to hear the preaching are kept away by fear.
Many times have I visited Maragha, trying
to do something for the spiritual good of the
people there. One of the most interesting tours
I ever made was in that direction, going by the
short road over the Sahend mountains. It was
the 20th of July, 1895, that Dr. Mary E. Bradford
and I started together on this tour. We "fell
on the road" on a Saturday, purposing to spend
the Sabbath day at Lewan, a mountain village
about twenty-five miles from the city. We got
possession of some rooms in an old mansion, high
above the village, where we could breathe the pure
mountain air. Our first work was to remove
prejudice, after which we found the women friend-
ly and teachable. Monday we made an excursion
to some hot springs eight miles distant. Tuesday
morning we went on our upward climb. At
noon we lunched by a mountain spring. Then
after riding several hours in the rain, towards
evening we reached a village of black tents of one
of the wandering tribes. The tent we entered was
a large one and we found quite a company of
people there. The patriarch of the establishment
was lying ill on a pallet on the ground. This af-
forded the doctor an opportunity of conferring
healing benefits. The women were exceedingly
friendly, helping us off with our wet wraps, hang-
ing them up to dry, placing cushions for us to re-
cline on, and sitting by us lovingly and pleasantly

132 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

as though we had been old friends. Women from
other tents also came and sat with us. And they
brought their sick to the physician. A corner of
the tent was curtained off for a private room for
us, and who could wish for better milk, butter,
curds, cheese, bread and stew than they gave us.
The night was cold. I drew over me my extra
blanket and slept soundly. Perhaps my sleep
would not have been so peaceful had I known then
that the two fierce-looking men whom I had seen
there, also guests and sleeping in the same tent,
were professional robbers. In the morning we
were delayed in starting, and were further hin-
dered by our horses being poor, and the muleteers
still poorer. It was late when we reached another
collection of tents, where we again found friendly
people and lunched and rested a little. Then as
we started on in the afternoon there was a long
stretch of uninhabited country. We rode on and
on over hills and valleys. The sun set. The
moon went down. The stars disappeared behind
clouds. The muleteers were growling, reviling
and threatening to throw down the loads. Final-
ly we reached a wheat field on a high plain and
the horses turned aside to eat the grain. We were
all walking by that time. The muleteers then did
throw down the loads, and there on the dry sandy
bed of a mountain stream our beds were spread
and we lay down to wait for morning. The wind
blew and some rain fell, but there was no other
sound and no other happening. Bobbers were
prowling around but none came near us. Early
dawn revealed to us that we were not far from

SOME TOURS I HAVE MADE 133

habitations. For a couple of days our roads
parted, the doctor taking one and I another. I
entered the near village to find the inhabitants
just awakening from sleep. With generous hos-
pitality they received and entertained me. I
spent several hours there preaching, teaching,
answering questions and winning them. When in
the afternoon I moved on I felt as though I were
leaving not strangers but friends. There our
muleteers left us. I obtained donkeys to the next
village, two miles farther on, where I spent the
night. Again the cordial, warm-hearted hospital-
ity of the people amazed me. There was a nicely
carpeted room and plenty to eat. Every woman
in the village came to see and hear. Some men
also came. I preached and pointed them to a
higher life. They frankly acknowledged their
sins and accepted my words as true. Late in the
night they left reluctantly and early in the morn-
ing they were again present. An old man, the
village scribe and a school master, called. He
asked to see my book. He began to read. An-
other man came. They both read for some time,
every now and then asking for explanation.
When reading Luke 11 :9-13, as I told them of the
nature of prayer and spoke of the Holy Spirit,
they turned to each other exclaiming, "Bah, bah,
she speaks true words.' ' I gave them the book.
After they had been gone some little time the older
one returned, saying "Haven't you a book for me
too? He took that one." So I gave him a Book
of Psalms. He began to read and then went away
hugging it to his breast like a happy child with

134 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

a new toy. At the next village six miles further
on the doctor again joined me, and together we
met crowds of women in our room, in the yard,
on the roof. The next day we reached a village
where we spent the Sabbath, literally in the midst
of crowds. The sick and afflicted came to the
physician for healing. Monday we moved on, and
on Tuesday I turned my face homeward via
Mianduab. The doctor remained two days long-
er and returned via Maragha. I spent two days
in Mianduab, and came for the Sabbath to Goigan,
a large town along the way. There a Persian,
Moslem, telegraph operator called. He was well
dressed and came in style with four attendants.
After a few commonplace remarks he said ' ' Lady,
I am not satisfied with our religion. It is only
outward meaningless forms and ceremonies. I
am seeking something better. f ' I opened the Tes-
tament at the 3rd chapter of John and handed it
to him to read. We conversed awhile, and some
one came in. Nicodemus like, he seemed afraid.
Soon he was called away. I marked a few pas-
sages and gave him the book, praying that the
Holy Spirit would enlighten the pages for him.
I afterwards learned of his conversion to Chris-
tianity. I reached Tabriz on Monday, August 5th,
thankful that in my experience the words of the
91st Psalm had been verified.

Thirty miles in a westerly direction from
Maragha, and directly south of Lake Urumia, is
the town of Mianduab. My first visit there was in
the Autumn of 1884 in company with Eev. S. G.
Wilson. I find on record these words: "Each

SOME TOURS I HAVE MADE 135

evening a company of eagerly listening men and
women gathered in the room occupied by the mis-
sionary to hear the good news, and our days
were spent in conversations with them. On Sat-
urday I talked most of the day to Jewish women.
Had not our time been limited we would gladly
have remained there to continue the blessed work
much longer." So promising was the work, so
encouraging the prospects, so eager the people to
be taught, that we felt something should be done
for them. But it was not until in 1885 that we
were able to send a man with his wife to dwell
among them, to teach and to preach. Mianduab
means between two waters, and this place is so
called because it lies between the Jagati and the
Titivi rivers, which flow into Lake Urumia. The
population of Mianduab is said to be 11,000. Of
these only seventy are Armenian, one thousand
are Jews, five thousand Persians from Kirman,
called Kirmanlees, and the rest Tartar Turks.
The Kirmanlees arQ a brave, bold, independent
people, victorious in war, revengeful and greatly
to be feared by those who offend them, but gentle
and kind to those whom they love. They were
brought from Kirman, a province in the southern
part of Persia, populated by a wild, fierce, free
spirited people. So lawless and ungovernable
were they that more than a hundred years ago
the government transported several thousand of
them, exiles and prisoners, and settled them in
Mianduab with the hope that being settled near
Kurdistan they would be a check to the ravages
of the Kurds in that region. They were some-

136 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

what subdued by the change, but were far from
anything like civilization. A Christian teacher
who labored there many years ago reported them
as savages, and savages they were. Bobberies
and murders were frequent among them and fights
a daily occurrence. At the time of the Kurdish
war in 1880 the Kurds got the upper hand in
Mianduab. They robbed, burned houses, car-
ried off helpless women and children and mur-
dered many of the men. Pretty women and
girls smeared and blackened their faces and
dressed themselves in rags for self protection.
Families fled, leaving everything they possessed,
if only they might save their lives. Tales of woe
and suffering I heard from them were heart rend-
ing. My interest in these people continued and
increased until in the summer of 1896 I went there
to sojourn for awhile, hoping that by being right
among them I might the more successfully give
to them the light of the gospel. More than eight
months I dwelt in peace and safety among those
wild and lawless people. Let us "publish with
the voice of thanksgiving' 9 and "tell" of the
"wondrous works" of the Lord. At the begin-
ning of my stay there, there was a frightful scene
of murder and robbery within three miles of my
headquarters. All the town was in an uproar and
the excitement continued many weeks. The men-
tal and nervous strain to myself during that time
was considerable, but the Lord sustained and
afterwards it was plain to me that this was His
opportunity, for while the people were all wrought
up over the disturbances and the coming to town

1 . House in a mountain village where we dwelt six weeks.

2. Miss Jewett and traveling companions in front of a tea house.

IC IV, 0

SOME TOURS I HAVE MADE 137

of government officers and soldiers, those who
might have opposed my being there were other-
wise occupied and did not notice that a Christian
had moved in and settled among them. During
this time I was startled one day towards evening
by a great noise in the near vicinity — unearthly
yells and screams of women. Looking out I saw
a company of soldiers running away. They had
come into that neighborhood to be quartered
there. The women told them there was a Frank
lady living in that street and no soldier would be
allowed to remain there, so the women drove the
soldiers away. They considered me as belonging
to them and had taken me under their protection.
My life in Mianduab was like a kaleidoscope,
no one day being like any previous one. Each
morning I wondered what the day would bring
forth, and each evening recorded new experiences.
Every day there were opportunities of doing
something for the Master, either in my own home
or in the abodes of the people — in vineyard or by
wayside, sometimes with one or two, sometimes
with a crowd, sometimes conversational, some-
times a lesson, sometimes quiet, orderly meetings,
sometimes noisy ones. By the help of God I
read and taught them the pure gospel, at first with
a good deal of apprehension. After a while I
felt that I was too cautious, and I determined to
be fearless in declaring the whole Word of God.
I took up in course the gospel of John, following
with the other gospels. How the truth sparkled !
How clearly shone out the divinity of Christ!
The only way of salvation through Jesus Christ

138 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

was plainly declared. I endeavored to present
these truths in an acceptable manner, by reason-
ing with the people from their own beliefs and
showing them that they did not follow their own
teachings, or by simply reading to them select pas-
sages from the Bible, or by giving with the read-
ing full and careful explanations. Naturally op-
position followed. I was warned not to say that
"Christ is God." I replied that I must preach
the Word of God just as I found it. When one
man said to me, "I am a Christian" and I asked
him "Why then do you not confess Christ open-
up?" he said "I am afraid." One said "I dare
not confess Christ, for if I did in four days my
children would be fatherless." Another, after
listening awhile, said, " If we should practice that
our heads would be cut off." But they were not
afraid of gambling, smoking, lying, reviling, blas-
phemy, swearing, drinking, quarreling, fighting,
and worse things which they practiced. More
than once was I carried off to some house to recon-
cile a quarreling husband and wife. More than
one was made ashamed of his or her evil practices
by the Christian teachings given them. And as I
endeavored to teach by precept and example the
sacredness of the Sabbath Day, they called that
day "The Lady's Holy Day."

I wish I could give a picture of some evening
talks and meetings which we occasionally held in
the yard of moonlight evenings and the sweet ' ' old
story" was the theme, of tea drinking at different
places when the "Book" would be opened and
read, of evening visits where again the "Book

71

SOME TOURS I HAVE MADE 139

would be the center of interest. Often the men
would come with hard questions and arguments
and the Spirit would teach the answer. There was
also a kind of a school. It was not possible to at-
tain real order or regularity, but contrasted with
their own schools, it was excellent, and it was an
opportunity of getting hold of the young people.
We had no school room. On the floor sat the child-
ren in my one small room, which served as sitting
room, dining room, bed room, guest room, meeting
room, school room. We had the primer and all
the Bible in Turkish, and there were lessons in
Turkish and English reading, oral instruction in
geography, arithmetic, indeed in a variety of sub-
jects, in right living, in whatever manner circum-
stances seemed to call for. Every morning we
would have a Bible lesson and prayer. Hymns
and portions of Scripture were memorized and
the children became familiar with Bible stories.
Some days there would be sewing and miscellan-
eous employments. Then we called the room the
" Workshop.' ■ It was interesting to see the girls
sewing and knitting, and the boys engaged in kin-
dergarten employments, writing, etc. What was
lacking in many ways was made up in love and
enthusiasm and much was accomplished. Seed
was sown and lessons were learned that can
never be lost. The influence of these lessons
reached out to parents and friends, many of whom
would be present at the morning opening exer-
cises and Bible lessons. Mothers, sisters, aunts
and cousins were helping at home with the patch-
work and taking patterns. All friends were in-

140 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

terested in the teachings, so my pupils could be
numbered by the hundreds instead of twenty-five.
My Sabbath days were the busiest of all.
Early in the morning my pupils and others would
assemble and we would have Sunday school for
the Moslems. Then I would attend the Armenian
Sunday school. At noon I would have a rest and
all the afternoon would be occupied in evangelis-
tic work. The Sabbath afternoon congregations
were very varying, sometimes women, sometimes
men, sometimes children, sometimes all together;
sometimes one or two, sometimes my room full;
sometimes one meeting, sometimes half a dozen.
The evenings would find me tired but glad. Week
day evenings too were generally full, with much
instruction given, most often conversational, on a
great variety of subjects, and closing with read-
ing, exhortations and prayer. I might tell of
reformations, of special efforts for individuals;
of a bad, troublesome, disobedient boy who was
changed to a quiet, gentle, manly, obedient boy;
of increasing order and good behavior in my little
group; of many of the women learning to leave
off swearing, lying, quarreling, etc., and becoming
enlightened; of good sister Khan Bajee, who so
let her light shine that they said of her "Khan
Bajee is a good Christian"; of girls who were
learning to comb their hair every day ; of precious
meetings when the Holy Spirit was with us ; of a
dying man's testimony as I sat by his side, the
room full of people, who said "I have made my
peace with Jesus.' ?

SOME TOURS I HAVE MADE 141

Mianduab is a center for hundreds of thous-
ands of needy and accessible peoples, presenting
amazing opportunities for the missionary. I
could not visit in the country as I wished, but I
did go out to many neighboring villages, and only
wished I had time and strength for more. The
friendliness of my friends in Mianduab was shown
in many kindly ways, such as the sending to me
of portions of food on some special occasion, a
bowl of cream or curds, baskets of grapes and
other fruit, a baked squash, raisins, nuts, etc., with
frequent invitations to tea or to dine. When I
was ill and suffering with a severe cold the kind
acts and expressions of sympathy were cheering
indeed.

About the middle of March the weather be-
came springlike, and in all the Moslem dwellings
there were active preparations for Noo Boos (New
Year's day) which fell on the 21st of March.
Houses were cleaned, sweets were prepared, new
clothes were made, all thoughts were of the com-
ing holiday. The morning of the day all — fath-
ers, mothers, children, dressed in their best, were
sitting waiting. A little before noon guns were
fired announcing that the sun had crossed the
equator and the new year is begun. Instantly all
were on their feet. There were mutual congrat-
ulations, hand shakings and good wishes for the
New Year. Then everybody started out to see
everybody. The streets were scenes of gaity and
rejoicing. My room was crowded with callers and
well wishers. I, too, went out to see my friends,

142 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

going from house to house, visiting and feasting
many days.

The morning of April 27th, 1897, when I was
starting on my return to Tabriz, my yard was
full of my friends among the men — Armenian
and Moslem — who had come to see me off. My
room was full of my women friends and my boys
and girls. To those in the room and standing by
the open windows I read from the Blessed Book
one more lesson. All hearts were touched and
many tears were shed. When at last everything
was ready and I "fell on the road," the crowd
of men, women and children accompanied me to
the river bank with loving farewells. When since
I have visited Mianduab, I have rejoiced to see that
my tarrying with them had not been in vain. It
was plain that lasting impressions had been made.
Much of the teaching had been remembered, and
there were signs of improvement. A woman said,
"We have so learned that now we seldom swear,
even among ourselves. ' ' Some asked to be prayed
for. Many are reading the Bible and there is
much discussion. "The Kingdom of Heaven is
like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in
three measures of meal, till the whole was leaven-
ed." Matt. 13:33. My visit to Mianduab in 1898
was especially a cheering one, with a hearty wel-
come from all. There were daily opportunities
for work, and the joy of the work drove away all
weariness. The governor and his wife showed
themselves unusually friendly and favorable to
Christianity.

SOME TOURS I HAVE MADE 143

In villages dotting the plain all around Mian-
duab there is a wide open door for the evangelist
in work for Armenians, Jews, Moslem, all these
peoples being friendly and accessible. One day's
ride south from Mianduab is Sein Kalla, where
lived a woman who became a sweet lovely Chris-
tian. In the midst of poverty, temptation and
ostracism she clung to her faith in Jesus. She
said, "I cannot read and I cannot learn, but I can
love Jesus.' ' She told me how that after she had
been deserted by her husband, she and her little
ones had been kept from starvation. A little
work here, a little help there, and generally there
was at least dry bread for the children. Once
they were six days hungry and they had become
so weak they could scarcely move when help came.
In harvest time, like Euth, she gleaned in the fields.
She said, "I know Jesus will take care of me some
way."

Twenty-four miles westward from Mianduab
is Souj Bulak, a city of 10,000 inhabitants, mostly
Kurds, some Armenians, a few Nestorians and
three hundred Jews. Light has shined in the
darkness there through the instrumentality of
missionaries, native evangelists, a day school and
a Nestorian pastor stationed there. Some have
confessed Christ and a church has been organized
there. One of those who embraced Christianity
was a Kurd, a man of wealth and influence. He
was fearless in his profession, and was ostracised,
ridiculed and called an infidel, but he remained
firm and was teaching the Bible to his son. Not

144 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

being able to speak Kurdish, I was not able to do
much in Souj Bulak.

From Souj Bulak we turn northwest and
crossing the Suldus plain we come to Urumia. We
tarried on the plain of Suldus, visiting villages
here and there. In some of them evangelists have
been stationed, who keep up regular services on the
Sabbaths and teach day schools on the other days
of the week. I spent a night, between Suldus and
Urumia, at the village Shatan Abad (The Abode
of Satan) . There we found a community of nom-
inal Christians who had forgotten their Christian-
ity and their own language. They received us and
our message with real gladness, and we were busy
late and early preaching to them. One of the
women, bewailing their fallen condition, said "We
are not in our own religion. We deny our faith.
We are like Kurds. How do we know that our
faith is better than theirs ? We have no preacher,
no meetings.' ' Sad indeed such spiritual dark-
ness, and sad that we have no one to send to them.

In the city and on the plain of Urumia are
hundreds of thousands of interesting and accessi-
ble people, among whom some of my missionary
life was spent. The last winter of the nineteenth
century I spent there touring in Armenian and
Ali-Allahee villages. Volumes could not tell of
all the grand work done by American missionaries
in Urumia since 1835. And that good work still
goes on.

North and east from Urumia we come* to
Salmas. There much gospel work has been done
by missionaries and native evangelists. I have

1 . Mountain Moslem women churning outside the tent.

2. Tent in the mountains where Mrs. Van Hook, Miss Jewett, two Christian
women, and six others, spent a night.

SOME TOURS I HAVE MADE 145

done some touring on that plain. One day while
there I was exhorting some women to "watch and
pray," one of them exclaimed, "Oh, lady, I sleep
so soundly, how can I watch?" Going up into a
mountain village, off the plain where no evangelist
had ever yet been, we were surprised to find from
twenty to thirty enlightened Christian families.
The village priest informed us that when he was
a boy he studied in one of the Protestant schools
in Turkey and was himself a Protestant. They
had a teacher and a boys' school. One of the
women, a reader and enlightened, was taught in
our school in Urumia. Who knows into what
other out of the way places rays of light may have
reached from centers where we have our schools
and churches?

XI

KHOI

From Salmas we make a detour to Khoi.
This is a city of some 40,000 inhabitants including
suburbs, and with the exception of about five hun-
dred Armenians they are all Moslem. Khoi lies
about one hundred miles from Tabriz in a north-
westerly direction. It is a strongly fortified town,
being enclosed within a double wall and a wide and
deep moat, and entered by four strong, double,
stone gates, all kept in good repair. A succession
of batteries are built in the inner wall, and this
wall is wide enough to allow a road on the top for
dragging cannon. Wide avenues lined with trees
lead to the gates of the city. The streets in the
city are comparatively wide and straight. Through
the middle of the streets run artificial streams of
water with trees planted on each side the streams.
The bazaars are extensive. When approaching
the city from a distance we have a fine view, look-
ing down from the overhanging mountain over the
fertile basin-like plain, watered by two rivers and
all under cultivation.

I was the first American lady to visit this
interesting city, and have had varied experiences
there. At one visit we were having a fine work
among Armenians, crowds coming to hear. But
we were too popular for the approval of the old

KHOI 147

church priests, who set themselves to hinder.
They stood in the streets and threatened with
dire calamities any who would come near us. The
ignorance and superstition of those priests is dis-
tressing. They fast, offer sacrifices, burn candles
and incense in the churches, make pilgrimages and
do works of merit, but are loose in morals. Lying,
stealing, drinking, swearing, Sabbath breaking
are common among them, and some of them have
indistinct ideas about the marriage relation. Like
priest, like people. A woman whose husband had
been absent seven years was asked in marriage by
another man. The priest gave her to him to keep
and to care for until her husband should return,
when she should be restored to him. As I was
speaking of the necessity of a change of heart,
some of the women exclaimed, "Why! What shall
we do ? We are Christians now. Do you want us
to leave our faith for another f " When I exhorted
them to refrain from the use of bad words they
said, "What shall we say when our husbands whip
us?" One said, "What do you mean by i Christ
the way?' " Another asked, "Who is Jesus !"
These were nominal Christians. They are very
strict about keeping their fasts, and have many
ingenious and palatable preparations of seeds,
herbs, beans, lentils, nuts, etc., to take the place
of meat, milk, eggs and butter at that time. Dur-
ing fast they are faithful in attendance at church.
The pictures in the church are kept veiled so that
sinners may not look upon them. One day during
fast penitents knock before the veiled altar, beg-
ging admittance. A voice from within replies,

148 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

"You are not worthy." "What shall we do to
become worthy f " " Repent of your sins. M " We
repent." Then the veil or curtain is removed.
They build fires on the church roofs, run through
them, then gather the ashes and treasure them as
charms. In a village formerly Armenian but now
Moslem there is an old church which is crumbling.
Its ruins are held in superstitious awe by both
Armenians and Moslems. The sick are carried
there for healing. The very stones and timbers
are sacred, and no one dares lay sacrilegious hands
on them. One day a Moslem carried away one of
the stones for use in his stable. That evening he
accidentally ran a hot poker into his eye. This was
considered a punishment for taking the sacred
stone and he hastened to restore it to its place.
An old bishop brought an arm of St. Stephen,
presented it for adoration, preached the duty of
ministering to the saints, and raised money for
building a church. In one old church I looked
upon the head of St. Titus kept there for adora-
tion.

The appearance of Khoi and vicinity presents
a decided contrast in winter and in summer. On
one of my summer tours I remember a gentle
breeze wafted from mountains and lake. Along
the way there were wheat fields, some harvested
and gathered in great heaps on threshing floors,
and some not yet harvested, hung full and heavy.
In winter the damp, chilly air penetrated through
warm clothing, and wading through melting snow,
mud and sheets of rotten ice, the ride was not
pleasant. But there was sunshine in my heart and

KHOI 149

thankfulness for the privilege of going. Always as
I rode through the streets there I was a great curi-
osity. Timid children would scream and run.
Bolder ones would stare and call their companions
to come to see the sight. Men and women would
be exercised over my appearance. I would over-
hear them saying to one another, "Is it a man or
a woman ?" "It is a woman, see how she gathers
her hair in a coil, see how she sits on the saddle
with both feet on one side. ' ' To the women in the
houses I would explain my style of dress and
think I was doing missionary work.

It was nearly nine o'clock of a winter morn-
ing when I started on my last and most eventful
tour to Khoi and beyond. Our party consisted of
Dr. Wright, Mr. Brashear and myself, and our
two men — Meshedy, Moslem and Nicholi, Armen-
ian. The roads were bad, and we made slow pro-
gress, only at sundown reaching the end of that
day's journey of twenty-four miles. It was the
month of the Moslem fast. The people of the
house where we stopped, not having eaten any-
thing since early morning, were hungry and were
just beginning their evening meal. They laughed
when I told them I was hungry, too, and good-
naturedly helped us get something for our supper.
I was too weary to work that night, but the gentle-
men had a long talk with some men. Early in the
morning we were on our horses and after a long
wearisome ride of ten hours we reached a stopping
place, too tired for anything but rest. The next
day we crossed a rocky mountain pass so steep
that we dismounted and slowly climbed, panting

150 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

for breath, and resting on the huge stones and
looking down on the calm, blue lake and the plain
beyond gradually rising into a background of
mountains. The next day we reached the mission
house in Khoi.

There are two centers of work in Khoi, one in
each of the two Armenian quarters. In one a
Nestorian native preacher lived and held meetings
on Sabbath and week days ; in the other an Armen-
ian teacher drilled a crowd of restless Armenian
boys and girls in the rudiments of science and
Christianity. He and his wife were graduates of
our schools in Tabriz. There was a little com-
pany of communicants in Khoi and the work
seemed encouraging.

After a few days Dr. Wright went on to
Salmas and Mr. Brashear and I remained some
time working in the city and in adjacent villages.
An extract from my journal shows how the days
were occupied. "Sunday was a busy day with
continuous meetings all day. Monday we rode
ten miles to Var, formerly a large and prosperous
town, but being near the border was almost de-
stroyed during the Armenian massacres in 1897.
Some Kurds from Turkey came down from the
mountains across the border and slaughtered the
Armenians living there. They left behind them
destruction, desolation and sorrow. How our
hearts ached as we listened to their tales of woe
and saw the marks of the destroyer. In some
places entire families were slain, in others one or
two were left to mourn. Orphaned children were
there, destitute of food and clothing, sleeping at

KHOI 151

night on the ground with no covering. We tried
to speak to the poor, bereaved people of Jesus —
the only source of comfort — but it seemed as if
no word could reach them in their utter, abject
grief. We could only be silent and mourn with
them. Tuesday I visited a Moslem lady. Wed-
nesday I received visitors and held meetings in
my room. Thursday I went to a Moslem house
and had a good work. Friday at the teacher's
house we had a meeting. Saturday I visited an-
other Moslem lady. Sunday was again a busy
day. Monday we entertained the two families of
the preacher and the teacher. Tuesday we went
to another village and preached there. Wednes-
day I received callers. Friday there was a snow
storm and we were snow bound. Saturday we
were mud bound, for the snow melted and the
streets were impassable. Again a busy Sunday.
Monday there were meetings in Armenian houses.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were filled
with calls made and received, and preparations
for a tour to Maku."

Maku is the district occupying the extreme
northwest corner of Azerbyjan. It is a region
inhabited by wild and barbarous people and in-
fested with robbers. We left Khoi on the after-
noon of Friday, March 11, and rode six miles to
a small village. Accommodations were very poor
and we were content to camp down in a room
which the family vacated for us. In a corner cur-
tained off for me my camp bedstead was set up.
Mr. Brashear and the two men took possession of
the rest of the room. The oven in the ground

152 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

floor gave some heat. Fresh air from the skies
came down through the hole in the roof. After
we had been refreshed with tea, eggs and bread,
Mr. Brashear read and talked long into the night
to a few interested men. The next day's ride
was a delightful one. The weather was pleasant
and the panorama of snow-clad hills rising one
above another on all sides was grand indeed.

Saturday afternoon we reached a large town
where we were to spend the Sabbath. We were
glad to find two comfortable rooms. I enjoyed
sitting before a bright clear fire in a fireplace and
talking to the companies of women who came to
see and hear. The message was all new and
strange to them, for no missionary had ever be-
fore visited them. So utterly ignorant were they,
and so full of their degrading superstitions, that
it seemed almost as if they could not understand
what I said, even though spoken in the simplest
and plainest language. They thought I was a
physician and brought their sick for healing.
They beseiged me with entreaties for written
prayers to be used as charms, and I tried to teach
them how to pray. Monday there was a heavy
snow storm so we were detained that day. Tues-
day morning was clear and at an early hour we
were again on our way. After an exhilerating
ride in the pure mountain air we found ourselves
for the night in a village of Ali-Allahees. They
received us cordially, treated us well and listened
attentively. Wednesday afternoon we reached
another Ali-Allahee village on the top of a moun-
tain. Our hosts there were old friends. Our op-

KHOI 153

portunities were splendid and we remained over
another night. We enjoyed the hospitality of
those simple, kind hearted mountain people. As
we talked of Jesus with the aged patriarch his
hearty "amens" and frequent exclamations of
"Oh, beloved God" and "thousand praises" in-
terested us much. He seemed sincere when he
said he was done with the world, and for the rest
of his life would care for the things of eternity.
I read and talked to the women and taught hymns
and Bible verses to the children. Not the eldest
son, as is usually the case in Persia, but in this
house the second son, being the more clever of the
two, had become the head of the establishment.
It was a large household consisting of sons, sons'
wives and their children and grandchildren —
four generations, from the aged great grand
parents to the three months old babe — twenty-
eight in all. One large room was where they
lived. There, too, the household stores were kept.
Besides the human inhabitants there were cats and
chickens. A calf, a sheep, a lamb, a donkey or a
dog might be seen coming in at any time. Camels,
horses, buffaloes, cows and donkeys filled the
roomy stables. Three fierce dogs acted as sen-
tinels. We stood on the roof and gazed on grand
old Ararat towering toward the sky, all white with
snow and sparkling in the bright sunshine.

Friday morning the 18th we again started
northward through one of the most \mcivilized
regions of Persia. The day was fine and we en-
joyed the ride. At noon, because we did not have
any time to spare for dismounting and lunching,

154 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

we were eating a bite as we rode along. A little
ahead of us we saw some twenty horsemen
stopping by the wayside, apparently resting.
Some of them were sitting on their horses,
some were standing, some were sitting on the
ground. They did look fierce indeed as we
rode past and through their midst. Mr. Bras-
hear had a piece of bread in his hand. One
of the men snatched it saying, "I'm hungry."
We laughed and rode on, but we began to realize
that we were among savages. No man travels in
that region without a loaded gun on his shoulder
and pistols in his belt. About two hours later,
as we were riding over a barren uninhabited
plateau, and not anticipating danger, we heard a
loud voice behind us calling out "Stop." Not
knowing any reason why any one had any author-
ity or need to stop us, we did not stop. Presently,
hearing some rough voices behind me, I looked
back and beheld the fiercest, ugliest man I ever
saw holding his gun pointed at Mesheddy 's head.
He had first aimed at Mr. Brashear's back, think-
ing that the saddle bags on his horse contained
money. But when Mesheddy called out to him,
"What are you doing? Stop," he turned on
Mesheddy with the threat "I'll shoot you right in
your eyes." Only a movement of the robber's
thumb and Mesheddy would have been killed. But
that thumb could not move because the Lord held
it. Mesheddy looked him steadily in the eye with-
out moving a muscle or uttering a sound. We
sat silent and motionless on our horses, and lift-
ing up our hearts in prayer. The muleteer stepped

KHOI 155

up to the robber and, taking hold of his arm,
pulled it and the gun down and said, " Don't
shoot.' ' Again we moved on. The robber, after
some words with Mesheddy demanding money, ac-
cepted twenty cents and galloped off and we saw
him no more. We were somewhat frightened and
decided to stop for the night at the next village.
As we rode into the village and asked for a place
to stay we were surrounded by a crowd of fierce,
wild, noisy men, women, boys and girls and bark-
ing dogs. The situation was not reassuring, es-
pecially as at first they refused us a night's lodg-
ing. After awhile a somewhat civilized looking
man came forward and guided us to a house where
they took us in. We were a great show in the
town. The host's two wives proceeded to fire the
oven in the same room where we were and to bake
the daily batch of bread. Smoke filled the room.
Crowds came to gaze on me, as they had never
before seen such an object. I smiled, spoke pleas-
antly to them and assured them that I was a
human being like themselves. Mr. Brashear and
I were eating our supper of fried eggs and bread
from the same dish and one of the young men
sitting by and intently watching exclaimed (much
to our amusement) "The man is getting the big-
gest share." We also had tea, milk and cheese.
Our hunger was appeased and we were thankful.
Then Mr. Brashear read a portion of Scripture
and prayed. They listened attentively and were
favorably impressed. Next there were prepara-
tions for sleeping. A corner was curtained off
for me. "I laid me down and slept, I awakened;

156 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

for the Lord sustained me." Ps. 3:5. Besides our
party of four there were eight other occupants of
the room that night. In the morning we took with
us as an escort an armed footman, to whom Mr.
Brashear presented a copy of the Testament —
for he was a reader. Our ride was up a narrow
gorge — grand, magnificent Mt. Ararat in front
of us, and ever varying mountain scenery on each
side. We reached the fort early in the forenoon.
It is substantially built, right under a mighty
over-hanging rock. We only tarried there a short
time and hastened back to reach a village sixteen
miles distant where we might spend the Sabbath.
They said some Kurds were following us with
intent to rob. But they did not overtake us for
we reached the village and were safely housed
before they came up. They hung around all that
Sabbath day but did not venture to commit any
depredations while we were in the house. It was
a time of anxiety, driving us to the Lord as our
refuge and our deliverer. Never were the psalms
of David so precious as they were that day, espec-
ially the forty-sixth Psalm. We could say with
the psalmist, "What time I am afraid, I will trust
in thee." Ps. 56:3. We gave ourselves to prayer
and trusted and waited. Wonderfully were we sus-
tained. Some men called on Mr. Brashear. Crowds
of women came to see me, as they had heard that a
lady had come to town who had died and come to
life again. I assured them that I had always been
very much alive. I had occasion to comfort a ten
year old boy who was frightened at my appear-
ance. I read our Turkish Book of Gospel Hymns

KHOI 157

with an interesting young man and gave him the
book and a Testament. It rained all day and
towards bed time the roof began to leak. I spread
my waterproof sheet over my bed, and with water
dropping inside and danger outside I slept well.
In the morning we hired two armed horsemen to
act as escort. It was in answer to prayer that a
fellow traveler joined our party. He was armed
and military looking and added greatly to our
little force. God sent the beautiful snow as a
curtain. So thick was it that we could see only a
little ways in any direction and no one could see
us. Our escort guided us over the hills, off the
main road, until we had passed the dangerous
places, and we made the day's journey in safety.
That night we were with our friends the Ali-AUa-
hees. So kindly was our reception and such a
feeling of rest and security had we that we slept
nine hours of unbroken sleep. We were out one
more night, and at the last place we left another
Testament. Wednesday the 23rd we reached the
Mission house in Khoi.

We remained in Khoi a few days. On the
Sabbath the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was
solemnized and five new members were received
into the church. On the first day of April, with-
out farther incident, we reached our homes in
Tabriz.

This completes the circuit of Lake Urumia,
touching and traveling over the most interesting
territory of the West Persia Mission. Several
times I made this circuit, one of the times occupy-
ing forty-six days, during which time I rode four

158 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

hundred and forty miles and visited twenty vil-
lages, towns and cities, * * sowing the seed. " l ' Oh
when shall the harvest be ? f 9 It is sure we know,
but only in eternity shall the results be made man-
ifest. Our Tabriz field also extends north and
east, taking in the mountainous region from Maku
eastward through Muzhumbar and Ahar, on to
Ardabil — where there are thousands and thou-
sands of people, wild, fierce and quarrelsome,
whose spiritual darkness is like that of Egypt.
Then on the King's highway, between Tabriz and
Teheran is Zenjan, a post that was at one time
occupied as an out station by a native evangelist.
It is also a center of an interesting and important
field of labor.

XII

MAHMUD

Very precious in my memory is the sweet
story of Mahmud. He was one of the poor, miser-
able sinners in Tabriz who was brought from the
dense darkness of ignorance and sin to the bright
light of the truth, and a joyously blessed life in
Christ Jesus. When I first became acquainted
with him he was twenty-six years of age. He had
been well, strong and active, able with ease to walk
forty miles a day. An incurable disease took hold
of him so that he was no longer able to work,
and he became dependent on charity for his liv-
ing. Long years he lay a cripple, his hands bent
and crooked, and he was unable to move his ema-
ciated body, but his mind was bright and clear.
When I first visited him I found him not only sick
in body but soul sick too — absolutely ignorant of
the Bible and the Savior. He had become un-
happy and peevish, fretting and complaining of
God because of his sickness and poverty. As I
read to him he listened with wondering curiosity.
Again I visited him and again I read. He had
been thinking about what he had heard and was
eager for more. After that I visited him often,
always reading, explaining what I read and pray-
ing with him. In his lonely hours, as he lay on
his pallet, he would meditate on the wonderful

160 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

words. His friends and neighbors too, both men
and women, would gather to hear what the lady-
had to read and tell from the Christian's book.

One day I suggested to him that he learn to
read. Most eagerly did he fall in with the sug-
gestion, and a twelve year old boy was hired to
give him lessons. How quickly he learned ! Soon
he was able to read the Bible, and how he loved
it ! It was his constant companion, under his pil-
low while he slept, and by his side, or open in his
hand while awake. He would never tire of read-
ing to those who would gather around him, which
occasioned no little interest and discussion. He
became a true, humble, earnest Christian. Many
precious hours have I spent sitting by his bedside.
A glad day it was when God's messenger went to
him, baptized him, received him into the mem-
bership and communion of the church and ad-
ministered to him the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper. His mother said, "Mahmud is not
sad any more — now he is happy because he
loves his book so much, and he reads it all
the time. He does not get angry and swear
and revile any more, and he is teaching me
too." Often as he read on late in the night his
mother would say to him, "My son, it is time now
to put out the light and sleep." He would say
"Let me finish this chapter, mother." Then he
would forget and read on and on. When she
would speak to him again he would exclaim, ' ' Oh,
it is so sweet I cannot leave off." Wondrous
visions had he in the night watches, when the Lord
Jesus seemed to appear to him, and how his face

us >

Mahmud, his mother, and niece

MAHMUD 161

shone as he told them. It seemed as if one were
looking into the face of an angel, so lifted above
earth was he. He used to say "I know there is
a place for me up yonder," and his face would
glow with joy and peace.

One day a friend visiting him saw his book,
and on learning that it was the Bible said, ' ' They
will come and choke you as they did Mirza Ibra-
him.' ' Mahmud replied, "Let them come; I am
not afraid." Indeed, he longed to die that he
might be released from the prison house of pain
and suffering here below and go to dwell in his
mansion above. But he became resigned to stay
as long as the Lord willed, that he might preach
to others.

Because of his poverty he had no home of his
own and must often be moved from one place to
another. There being no conveniences for carry-
ing a helpless cripple, some men would lay him
on a board and carry him so. This moving al-
ways caused him great pain. When once I visit-
ed him after one of these removals, he passed
lightly over his physical sufferings saying with a
joyful countenance, "I had a good congregation
last evening. Jesus wanted me to preach to the
people in this neighborhood, and that is why He
brought me here." Afterwards friends bought
him a little home, and there he lay patiently bear-
ing his cross, nay, forgetting it, because of the
love, joy and peace in his heart. At last the
angels came and took him home to Heaven, but
the fragrance of his holy life remains fresh. It
was ten years from the time he first heard of

162 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

Jesus until he went to dwell with Him forever.
During that time he suffered much, learned much,
rejoiced much, and lying on his lowly bed,
preached to many, and thus the lives of many
were influenced by his example and teaching.
Could it be possible that such a transformation
should take place and not be felt by those around
him? Cast a pebble into the water. It does not
sink without displacing circles of water all around
it, and the circles increase in ever widening areas.
The influence of Mahmud was felt. The good
work begun in that little room of suffering is a
link in a chain that has gone on lengthening ever
since. The boy who was engaged to teach him
became himself interested in the reading and
study of God's word, was converted, grew up a
Christian man and studied medicine with one of
our missionary physicians in the hope of becoming
a Christian physician for his own people. Mah-
mud 's mother became deeply impressed and the
gentle, lovely character she developed was re-
freshing to one's soul.

This influence reached out beyond Mahmud 's
circle of friends and neighbors in the city of Tab-
riz and was felt in other places. When in the
autumn of 1893 I was about to go on a tour to
Mianduab and vicinity Mahmud told me of his
brother and an uncle who lived in Three Hills, a
village six miles from Mianduab, and requested
me to visit them. Giving me a letter of introduc-
tion to them he said, "They will treat you well."
I went and was treated well — royally. I was a
guest at the uncle's house several days. Crowds

MAHMUD 163

of women, crowds of boys and girls, and men too,
came to see me. Ragged, dirty, noisy, uncouth
were they, but we had a blessed time. Tears ran
down the soiled cheeks of women as they listened
for the first time to the story of Jesus and His
love. The brother of Mahmud was already a
reader, and he began to teach a little school.
After a year I again visited that village. There
was a manifest change. There were the same
eager crowds, but all more orderly in behavior
and neater in appearance. Again we had precious
meetings. One evening this brother told me that
he had accepted Jesus as his Savior. His study
of the Bible had been the means of his conversion.
Another year passed and he was baptized and re-
ceived into the church. Often did I visit Three
Hills after that. On each visit I was glad to see
that the good work was still going on, the same
crowds gathering, but greatly improved in appear-
ance and behavior, some of the children learning
to read, women repeating lessons and Bible stor-
ies which had been taught them, and evidently
trying to practice what they had learned. Sev-
eral men professed to believe in Jesus as their
Savior. One of them was learning to read that he
might be able to read the Holy Book for himself.
On my last visit there I was with them over
Sabbath, and it was a busy, busy day, with a most
interesting work and a large number of most at-
tentive hearers. Before noon there were two ser-
vices with men and boys, and the time of a service
was not limited to one short hour. At noon there
came crowds of women. Many were " coming and

164 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

going," so that I had no leisure "so much as to
eat." About two o'clock I slipped out into an-
other room for a little food and rest. Afterwards
I started out for a walk and quickly I was
thronged with a crowd of boys and girls and
women. I sat down on the ground and taught
them. One of the women said "Will you come to
my house?" I arose and went with her. Im-
mediately a company gathered there. While I
was talking to them a call came to return to the
house where I was lodging. Some men had come
there to see me. After talking with them for
awhile I went out to the yard and sat on a low
wall. There a crowd assembled. The bright eyed
boys interested me and I spoke especially to them.
How they listened as I talked of the Lamb of God
and exhorted them to be lamblike. One of the
men said "You have won those boys." I was ex-
pecting that from that same crowd of boys should
grow up a company of true, Christian, God fearing
men. The change in them had already been very
great since the first time I saw them. My experi-
ence with them was interesting. One evening
after a busy day I went out for a walk. A troop
of them, ragged, dirty, noisy, followed me. They
were rather annoying, but I thought "What would
Jesus have me do?" So I turned, sat down by
the side of the road, talked to them kindly, told
them stories and gave them some good advice.
Among other things I asked them if they could
not wash their faces and hands and feet. They
were surprised that they were not reviled and
driven away, and they became subdued and quiet.

MAHMUD 165

The next time I saw them it was evident that ef-
forts had been made towards cleaning up. After
that I had no better friends or more appreciative
listeners than those boys. They were won for
Christ, and were growing to manhood upright and
respectable. An American musician would be in-
terested to hear them sing. One of them, nearly
grown, had the gift of a sweet voice. He would
sing our gospel hymns to Persian tunes and a
hush would fall upon the listeners. Were they
not as truly worshiping God as if they had been
trying to sing American tunes? The improve-
ment in the women too was great. On my last
visit I rarely heard the profanity, reviling and
quarreling everywhere so common.

One morning as I sat in the room at Three
Hills a Moslem gentleman called. Soon the con-
versation turned to religious subjects. I handed
him a Testament and three hours quickly passed
as we read. In answer to his intelligent questions
I would refer him to passages of scripture. Other
passages I marked and gave him the Book to
take with him. A year later, one day as I sat
in my sitting room in Tabriz, a caller was an-
nounced. He was a brother of the one I had met
in Three Hills. He informed me that they were
eight brothers living in Eock Spring, a village in
the mountains south of Tabriz, and that all of
them were readers. He said, "We have been
reading the book you gave my brother," and he
related stories of Jesus' life and work as he could
not have done had he not read them. I took up
two Persian Testaments and handed him one.

166 MY LIFE IN PEBSIA

We read for several hours. Next day he came
again. And again the next day he came and one
of the brothers with him. They were in Tabriz
on business, and during their stay they came al-
most daily for the Bible readings. I afterwards
visited them in their mountain village and found
them there with their widowed mother, and a
teacher for the younger boys, an exceedingly in-
teresting family. I gave them Bible, Hymn Book,
Pilgrim's Progress and some other books, all
which they accepted as valued treasures. "The
entrance of thy word giveth light."

If there is joy in Heaven over one sinner that
repenteth, is there not manifold rejoicing over
these precious ones plucked from the burning?
Shall we not rejoice to meet them when we have
all reached the golden city? Is this good work
ended? "Will it ever end? No, it goes on and on
and will continue to increase in ever widening
circles as each one, who by Mahmud's life has
been brought to the Savior, shall in turn become
a center of influence and light, reaching out and
bringing in others to the fold. Eternity alone
shall reveal the results of work for Christ done
by the bedside of the poor, ignorant cripple —
Mahmud.

XIII

EABBI RACHEL

We had not many Bible women helping in
work for women in Tabriz. One Eabbi Rachel,
Nestorian, was so earnest, so faithful, so con-
secrated, so devoted in her Christian life and work
that I think she is worthy of especial mention here.
For a number of years she labored among the
women in Tabriz until she became ill and was
taken to the home of her daughter in Urumia to
die. That terrible disease, cancer, had poisoned
her whole system and death came as a glad release
from pain and suffering on earth to joy and rest
in heaven. When she left us there was only the
voice of regret from those whom she used to visit
in Tabriz — "Why doesn't Rabbi Eachel come
any more?" "She was our teacher and preach-
er. We loved to have her come for she taught
us good words." For many years I have pre-
served a copy of a letter she wrote to a Christian
woman in America. It is translated from the
Syriac. "To my Beloved Sister in Christ: I
have peace and love for you. With a handshake
I wish to pour my peace upon you, and ask a share
in your sisterhood and an opportunity for a few
minutes talk. I wish to bring before your hon-
ored presence the condition of the church in Tab-
riz. Thirteen years before this, I, with my fam-

168 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

ily, was invited to work here. With willingness
we came, hoping that we might work in this ready-
field for many years, but by the will of the Lord
it was not to be. Before one year had ended my
husband, son and daughter in one month died.
Like Naomi, I returned empty to Urumia. This
is the fourth year now since again the will of
the Lord has brought me here. I am rejoicing
that I have the opportunity. At that time only
two houses I visited for prayer. Now there are
more than sixty houses that I can enter with per-
fect freedom. Doors that at that time were locked
are now by the grace of our Lord and Savior
opened, although there are many against us.
Ajnong the Mohammedan people there are many
who receive our gospel, yet because there is no
freedom our hearts burn for them. Many times
as we go to their houses, or they enter our houses,
we hear them say, l Indeed this religion is true,
but what can we do ? We are afraid for there is
no freedom for us.' Pray ye that our Savior
himself with free grace may quickly open the door
for them. Our work is more with the Armenians,
a lofty and proud people who think that all the
other people in the world are people of only one
eye, and they the possessors of two. Working
for them is very difficult that they might throw
away their false hopes and their belief in their
good works. Through all from day to day it is
the word of the cross, the word of the cross.
Like a hammer it must strike upon their hearts.
Many receive the truth. When we go into their
homes they ask many questions, especially about

KABBI RACHEL 169

Mary,, the i Mother of God/ who they think is
their Intercessor. First they bow the head to
Mary, then to Christ. We give answer as far as
possible from the Bible by the help of our Savior.
Those against us are mighty and many but the
word of our God is mightier."

I want to tell of four young native mission-
aries who met in our parlor one evening, two Nes-
torian, two Armenian, earnest, consecrated, in-
telligent young men, with their devoted young
wives. The Nestorian was an ordained preacher,
trained and set apart for the Lord's work by Uru-
mia Mission. His wife was one of the first girls
honorably dismissed from the Tabriz Girls'
School. After her graduation she taught for
some time in this same school. With zeal and en-
thusiasm they started on their four weeks' jour-
ney to Eesht to labor there in that, to them, for-
eign land, counting it all joy that they had been
found worthy to be thus sent. The other couple
came from Harpoot in Turkey, graduates from
College and Female Seminary there. On account
of difficulties by the way they were a month in mak-
ing the journey to Tabriz. Then they must be-
come acclimated, learn the differing customs of
people in Persia and the different idioms of their
language. For many years he was an honored
teacher in the Boys' School and by his simple un-
assuming piety and steady Christian walk and con-
versation was having a felt influence for good up-
on the young men under his care.

Of the brave Christian martyr, Mirza Ibrahim,
who languished a year in a Tabriz dungeon and

170 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

was buried in a Tabriz grave-yard, Dr. Benjamin
Labaree wrote, "Well worthy was this brother,
Mirza Ibrahim, of a place in the noble army of
martyrs. His brief life as a Christian convert,
full of suffering and contumely on earth, was it-
self a moral triumph to which the world pays its
tribute of respect. Imagine the agony of that
long year of bodily want and pain and satanic as-
sault on the soul, when a word of recantation
would have opened his prison doors and given him
freedom. Yet the temptation was steadfastly re-
sisted ; to the very last his testimony was clear and
bold. His entrance into the presence of his Mas-
ter must have been a blessing indeed and jubilant
with the joy of victory. Such a record of martyr
faith on the part of a Persian Moslem marks a
new era in the progress of the gospel in that king
dom. What hopes and possibilities it opens be-
fore us for the triumphs of Christian truth over
Mohammedanism. ' ' Mirza Ibrahim had been con-
verted in Khoi through the instrumentality of the
native evangelist there. His conversion had been
thorough, with no lingering friendliness to Islam
or love for the world. He spoke openly and boldly
and thus brought upon himself persecution. It
became unsafe for him to remain in Khoi and he
fled to Urumia. There for awhile he lived in
peace, but he could not keep quiet. His friend
and companion (also a Moslem convert) said to
him, as they were one day walking together, "If
you speak so openly they will kill you." He re-
plied, "I can't help it. I must speak. Oh the
love of my Savior! I love him so I must tell

RABBI RACHEL 171

others of this wonderful love." Sure enough, he
was taken up and put into prison. As his apos-
tasy was so great he was sent to the dungeon in
Tabriz. There he preached to his fellow prison-
ers, they having been justly imprisoned for crimes
committed. Who knows but that some even there
were saved by the preaching of this noble martyr?
After a year some ruffians were cast into that dun-
geon. One day they tried to force Mirza Ibrahim
to deny Christ. When he would not they choked
him until he died. The Crown Prince permitted
his body to be given for burial to Moslems who
were friends of the missionaries. When they
struck the spade in the ground to dig the grave
they found it to be hollow. It was where the body
of a rich man (Moslem) had been laid until it
was carried to one of the holy cities for interment,
and they buried him there. Like the Jesus whom
he loved, he made his " grave with the wicked and
with the rich in his death."

Now let me mention here a couple whom I
knew and loved. He was one of the Mianduab
Armenian boys. He longed for an education, so
he was received into the Boys' School in Tabriz,
and there sincerely converted. At the same time
in the Girls' School was one who was making good
progress in her studies and growing in Christian
experience. They became acquainted and loved.
Both graduated the same week and they were mar-
ried. They went as missionaries to Mianduab,
and there they established a home, clean and at-
tractive. Such a home as it was ! — a bright light
shining in the darkness. Sixteen years they lived

172 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

there faithful and true, standing firm for right
and godliness. She taught the women to be clean
in their homes, in their bodies, in speech. Moth-
ers learned to bathe and comb their little children.
Swearing, quarreling, reviling ceased among the
little band of Armenians there, and they began
to command the respect of the Moslems, which they
had not done previously. Together these two
taught a school and did evangelistic work. His
steady, unflinching integrity and granite-like ad-
herence to what was right and true and Christ-like
won for him the respect of all, Armenian, Persian,
Turk, Kurd, Jew. Conscientious in the use of any
funds entrusted to his care, he established a char-
acter for uprightness. Faithfully did he labor for
Christ, teaching, exhorting, discussing. The re-
sult of their combined labors in the conversion of
souls and in elevating and purifying society can-
not be estimated by man, and is only known by the
Lord of the harvest. Seven children — six sons
and one daughter, were born to them. Two of the
sons and the sweet little daughter were taken from
them to join the angels. The daughter's name
was Bytzar — Brightness. After her death the
stricken mother wrote to me the following" pathetic
words, "The joy of my heart is gone. The sor-
row of my heart is very bitter. How can I bear
the sorrow of my heart? How easily she gave up
her spirit, I cannot tell you. Not a foot she
moved, not a hand she moved, not a lip she moved.
After she had given up her spirit you would think
she was asleep. After her death she was so beau-
tiful as I cannot tell you. Oh Bytzar! oh Bytzar!

RABBI RACHEL 173

how can I be comforted? How can I forget?
Sweet Bytzar! darling By tzar! beloved Bytzar!
her sweet words, her loved words, when I remem-
ber them, a little remains that my heart is broken.
Oh my beloved, yon don't know my Bytzar, how
lovely she was to me, how sweet to me. Always
I was hoping God wonld hear my prayer and spare
my Bytzar to me. But as His will is, so let it be."
The father wrote "On the human side we are very
sad about her, but spiritually we are glad that our
Lord took her to Himself. He did not wish that
she should remain in this wicked world. He has
claimed His own." Truly theirs was a model
Christian home. Many happy hours have I spent
there. So I might go on and on, mentioning case
after case of blessed results of our labors where
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has been the
means of saving souls, producing pure and lovely
homes, and building up His Church on earth. Not
all our efforts have been so successful in grand
results. Often have we been deceived and our
hearts have bled over those who proved unworthy.
Still the promises have been verified and we have
rejoiced.

One day an incident came under my observa-
tion that beautifully illustrated one of our Lord's
parables — the good Shepherd and the lost sheep.
It was in a mountain village. In the evening after
a busy day I walked on a low roof for fresh air
and exercise. Below me lay the village; lower
down the narrow stream of water that ran along
at the foot of the high hill. On the other side the
stream another hill arose mountain high. Way

174 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

up on that mountain height the villagers pasture
their flocks and herds. As I looked I saw a flock
of sheep running down the way towards the vil-
lage, for it was time for them to be in fold for
the night. The shepherd was going before and
the sheep following after, "for they know his
voice.' 9 One of the sheep lingered behind nib-
bling a little longer at some pleasant pasturage
he found by the wayside. Presently he realized
that the other sheep had gone on after the shep-
herd and he was left alone. He started on at full
speed. Soon he came to an obstruction in the
road which he could not pass over. He turned
another way. He wandered here and there in a
frightened, excited manner, not knowing where to
go. The shepherd called but he was too far away
to hear. He went back up the mountain, farther
and farther away. Poor lost sheep! How like
many professing Christians who linger among
worldly pleasures and get so far away from the
Good Shepherd that they do not hear his voice.
After the shepherd had guided the other sheep
each to its place he went back and brought the
wandering one home. It was well that he did for
there were wolves in the mountains.

XIV

DOES IT PAY?

One day a friend in conversation said to me,
" After all your life in Persia and all your experi-
ences in missionary work there, can you now say
that it pays?" Enthusiastically I replied, "Yes,
it pays ; it pays all the time, one hundredfold, one
hundred times a hundredfold, yea a thousand, ten
thousand times a hundredfold, infinitely more than
mind can grasp." Then I began to think of my
life in the East. I do not forget that there were
hard things, that there were hills of difficulty, but
the trials are buried 'neath the joys. I remember
being so happy, so enthused in my work, so glad
in telling the "old, old story" that it seemed as
though I were too highly favored, having a good
time rather than doing hard work.

Now I think of the millions on millions of our
fellow men who are sitting in the "valley of the
shadow of death," knowing nothing aright of the
true God, or how to serve him as they ought;
bound by the bands of heathenism and bowing
down to idols of wood and stone; or enslaved by
the degrading example and teachings of the false
prophet ; or going on in the broad way to destruc-
tion by clinging to the lifeless forms of the effete
religion of an old dead church ; or lost as the Jew-
ish haters of the Nazarene. Do not our hearts go

176 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

out to them in pity and longing to do them good,
to carry or send them the gospel, to raise them
from the depths of degradation? As we med-
itate on the condition of these multitudes, do we
not feel like saying with the Apostle Paul that
"necessity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me
if I preach not the gospel." It is our duty and
privilege to cause to reach to them the glad tid-
ings of salvation by telling them of Jesus and
His love and thus gather them into the kingdom.
It is not ours to count the cost, but following
our leader, go on conquering and to conquer, from
victory unto victory. Can we estimate the worth
of even one soul? In an old church in the East
I saw pictured on the wall an angel standing be-
tween earth and heaven, holding in his hand a bal-
ance. On one side the scales was the soul of one
human being; on the other side the world. As
the angel held the balance the soul side went down,
down, low down, with a weight beyond reckoning ;
the world side flew up light as a feather. A Hindu
child was taught in a Mission School, was con-
verted, grew to womanhood and came to America.
On hearing her speak, watching her ladylike,
graceful bearing, noticing her intelligence and
lovely Christian character, an eminent divine ex-
claimed that if Christian missions in foreign lands
had accomplished nothing more than the bringing
up and sending forth of that young woman they
had paid. So we believe that if one may be the
means of saving even one soul, he or she will not
have lived in vain. If the value of one soul is
more than that of all the world, what shall we say

DOES IT PAY 177

of the multitudes that have been saved and that
shall be saved ; of many who have lived true lives
and gone to their home in heaven, many who are
still living and by their exemplary lives adorning
the religion they have found. Not only thus in a
spiritual point of view, but intellectually, socially,
temporally are Foreign Missions a blessing to man-
kind; in the thousands who having been found in
degradation and misery have been gathered into the
mission schools and have become intelligent, influ-
ential citizens ; in lands of darkness opened up to
commerce, enterprise and improvement. The mis-
sionary can travel in China where the merchant can-
not go. In Thibet where no other white person had
ventured the missionary went. What but mission-
ary enterprise brought about the wonderful chang-
es in India, Japan and Korea? In Persia we are
seeing the influence of the work of the missionary
in the widespread desire of the people for a bet-
ter government ; a better condition of society and
religion ; for schools and education for their young
men and maidens ; in the parliament with new laws
and a constitution. "Missions are not a weak
effort. They are a prevailing force. They trans-
form where they touch. " They everywhere Chris-
tianize and elevate. They are a power in religion,
society, education, merchandise, commerce and en-
terprise of every kind. Yes, "it pays," spiritual-
ly, morally, intellectually, universally. We were
riding over the desert plain outside the city of
Tabriz. All the country was dry, hot, burning,
and the travelers were weary and thirsty. Ahead
of us we espied a line of mounds of the irrigation

178 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

wells, and on the other side of them green fields
and trees. We knew that water was there, and
soon we were dismounted and slaking our thirst
by the cool, refreshing spring. As the barren
land of Persia becomes fertile by irrigation, so
by the gospel hard hearts are softened, sinners
are converted, and the people become a changed
people. "Whosoever drinketh of the water that
I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life." — John 4:14.
Like oases in the desert, like green villages dotting
the arid plains, are the native churches, schools
and Christian families where the Sabbath is kept,
the Bible read and loved, the family altar estab-
lished and the children brought up in the fear of
the Lord; and many individual converts who are
lights shining in the darkness. What care we
for toil, weariness, loneliness, separation from
home and friends, exposure, hardships and such
things when we can realize such glorious re-
sults,— the "glory of the impossible," for "the
things that are impossible with men are possible
with God."

Is it not true that beyond and above their
preaching, teaching and active labors the lives of
the missionaries are a power in any land? I can
truly say it is so in Persia. Standing like mon-
uments of light and purity and truth, firm in
righteousness and integrity, courageous and un-
daunted, their character is respected. They are
looked up to as examples of what is right and God-
like. Many desire to imitate them and many are

DOES IT PAY 179

following in their train. Surely the efforts of our
missionaries during these many years have made
powerful and lasting impressions on the Moslems
of Persia. Why else was it that the Shah some
years ago in moving his harem to Teheran com-
mitted them to the care of the American Christian
physician, because he could not trust his own?
Why did Dr. Cochran on his return to Urumia
after a visit to America receive remarkable hon-
ors from Persian officials? Why is it that the
word of the missionary is always believed while
there is no trust or confidence among themselves?
Why is it that Moslem men will listen with respect
to American women, when they have it in their
nature to look down on woman, saying of their own
women ' ' She is a donkey ? ' 9 Why is it that many,
and they too of the higher classes, are passing
by their own schools and patronizing our schools ?
Why is it that they are even now modeling their
schools after ours ? Why is it that so many come
to the missionary to learn the truth and confess
even with fear and trembling that they are Chris-
tians? Is it not that already Christian integrity
is triumphing over Moslem infidelity? True it is
that Persia is emerging from the darkness of ages.
The influence of the gospel is telling on the people
and on the whole face of the country. Not less than
twenty-five thousand individuals yearly come un-
der the direct influence of the mission in Tabriz
alone in its various departments of work. In the
province of Azerbyjan there are more than one
and a half million souls, for whom our Presbyter-
ian church is directly responsible. For all this

180 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

multitude we have not more than thirty mission-
aries on the field, making at least fifty thousand
persons for one missionary.

Christians have long prayed for open doors.
Now the doors are open everywhere, in all lands.
Nowhere is there a spot where the missionary can-
not go with Bible in hand and preach to eager,
listening multitudes. Formerly came the call for
more workers. Now the workers are ready, wait-
ing, eager for service, but there is not money
enough to send them and to carry on the work.
So now we must pray for money. "Will not our
church arise in her power and privilege and from
her abundance bring, every man and woman a will-
ing offering unto the Lord until there shall be more
than enough for the service of the work which the
Lord commanded?

" There is a call from the far-off heathen land,
Oh what can we give for the great demand !

"If we have not wealth, the rich man's store,
We will give ourselves, if we have nothing more.

"We will give our feet; they shall go and go
'Till the heathen's story the world shall know.

"We will give our hands, till their work shall turn
To the gold we have not, but can earn.

"We will give our eyes the story to read

Of the heathen's sorrow, the heathen's need.

"We will give our tongues the story to tell,
'Till Christian hearts shall with pity swell.

DOES IT PAY 181

"Though we have little to give, by and by
We may have a call from the voice on high —

"To bear my gospel o'er land and sea.
Into all the world 'go ye, go ye'."

XV

JUST A WORD MORE

I was on a long wearisome caravan journey.
Our bridle-path lay between hills and through
valleys. Because of the intense heat we would
take only a short sleep, rise in the wee small hours,
eat a bite of breakfast and mount our horses long
before sunrise. The moon was just hiding away
for the day, casting parting gleams which softly
lighted hill tops and threw dark shadows in the
valleys. Presently dawn began to appear. A mild,
gentle light was spread over the land, which, as
it gradually increased, marked the lights and
shadows more intensely. Through a gap in the
hills the light shining would cast its brightness on
our pathway. Then as we would pass 'neath a
high hill the shadow thrown would be intensified
in its darkness by contrast with the light we had
just passed through. Again there would be light
and again darkness, until the sun in all his splen-
dor appeared above the hills and all the country
was flooded in his glory. We thought of the Son
of Eighteousness, as He shall arise with healing
in His wings and shall shine to dispel the moral
darkness of that dark land. Will the darkness
disappear all at once? No, it does not go away
even quickly. Long and slow is the dawning.
The lights and shadows chase each other. Often

JUST A WORD MORE 183

clouds intervene and we are ready to exclaim
" There is no light.' f But we do know that the
light is there beyond the clouds, and that some
time it will shine forth gloriously, illuminating
all hearts. Do we weary of the darkness ? Do we
long for day without clouds, without shadows?
Dense indeed is the darkness, the midnight dark-
ness. Here and there we see a glimmer of light,
but the stains of centuries of sin and uncleanness
cannot be cleared away in the service of one life
time.

Mine was a pioneer work — years of grubbing,
clearing away rubbish, digging up stumps, carry-
ing and throwing stones, helping make ready the
ground for the plow, seed sowing here and there,
hard work that shows not much in the eyes of men,
only fully known to the Master. He has heard
the prayers, has known the longing desires, has
seen the efforts, the failures, the tears, has sym-
pathized in the weariness and oft disappointments.
Lights and shadows have chased one another all
along the way. But oh! it was joy to be able to
tell to those who knew it not the glad tidings of
salvation.

"I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story because I know it's true;
It satisfies my longings as nothing else could do.
I love to tell the story, 'tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it, more wonderfully

sweet.
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard

184 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

The message of salvation from God's own holy
word."

"I love to tell the story;
'Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and His love."

I have told the story to high and low, to rich
and poor, to men, women and children, to Per-
sians, Turks, Jews, Nestorians, Armenians. Some
have heard gladly. Some have scoffed. Some,
because of hearing the old, old story have become
heirs of glory. There have been bright days when
all went well, with grand opportunities, heart
bursting with love, great energy and enthusiasm in
presenting the truth, exhorting and pleading with
the sinner to repent and come to Jesus for for-
giveness and salvation, the Holy Spirit present
and working with power. Then there was light.
There have been dark days — no life — no power
— no eager listeners, but bitter opposition, weari-
ness and disappointment. Then the shadows
hung heavy.

In the beginning of our work in Tabriz
we were unknown and unloved, and we were treat-
ed with opposition, suspicion and indifference.
Then we had only a hired house, no school, no
church, no Bible in the vernacular of the people
(the translation and publication of that having
been completed later) really no books of any kind
which we could use in the work. From those small
beginnings already there are great results. And
what of the still greater progress in the future?

JUST A WORD MORE 185

Then we were only three missionaries ; now there
are twelve and the work demands more. Now,
in the city, there is a commodious church build-
ing with a good membership, a large number of
adherents with a strong sentiment in our favor,
two flourishing schools, many friends and many
visiting places, everywhere eager listeners, many
searching the scriptures and seeking the truth,
two medical plants (male and female), with each
plant a hospital and dispensary connected, crowds
coming to the missionary physician for healing
and at the same time hearing the Bible read and
the gospel preached. All over the surrounding
country the gospel work is being carried on as
missionaries and native evangelists go out from
Tabriz, north, south, east and west, from town to
town sowing the seed.

With the Apostle Paul, we can say, in journey-
ings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,
in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness,
in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often,
in hunger and thirst, in fastings, in cold and in
heat, by pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering,
by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the
armor of righteousness on the right hand and
on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil re-
port and good report, as unknown and yet well
known, as dying and behold we live, as sorrowful
and yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many
rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.
For we preach, not ourselves but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. For God, who commanded the

186 MY LIFE IN PERSIA

light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I count
it an honor to have been called to be one in the
beginning and development of this wonderful and
difficult work in this, one of the most bigoted of
Moslem cities.

Implanted in the hearts of all men, in all
climes, be they never so ignorant and degraded, is
the idea of the worship of a Supreme Being, and
the hope of Heaven. Truly do we find this to be
the case among the different nationalities and peo-
ples in Persia, be they Christian or Moslem. I
once saw this exemplified, as on a tour I was
spending the night in a Kurdish village. A com-
pany of the women gathered, but we had no com-
mon language and I could not read or talk to them.
I managed by signs and a few words we had in
common to make them understand when I asked
them how and whom they worshiped. All with
one accord raised both hands toward heaven and
looked up. May it not be that they were sincere,
and may it not be that God, who searcheth the
heart, could find in their hearts that which He
could own and honor in blessing?

Strange things are coming to pass in Persia
today. Watching the progress of events, we won-
der how in His overruling providences God will
bring order out of chaos. Missionaries for many
years have been praying for religious liberty in
Persia. We hoped for a revolution without blood-
shed, but such is not history. The forces of the
Evil One are marshaled against the right. The

JUST A WORD MORE 187

kingdom of the Shah is divided against itself, and
the whole land has been torn with dissension and
civil war. Even as we write, and before the ink is
dry, we learn of wonderful events and progress and
changes that make us stand still and say, "It is
the Lord, He reigns." Dress, customs, thoughts,
purposes, are changing. It can no longer be said
that the "customs of the Medes and Persians
change not. * ' It will take volumes to recount the
progress and the change. There shall arise a new
regime, a new and civilized government over an
enlightened people, a Christianized nation.

r* f ****** J tfi la\> U Uj

John 3:16, in Persian.

GLOSSARY

Afghanistan (af-ghan-is-tan')
Alaskar (al-as-kar')
Alcha Mulkh (al-cha, mulkh)
Ali-Allahee (al-i-al-lah-hee')
Ardabil (ar-da-bil')
Ardelan (ar-de-lan')
Azan (a-zan')
Azerbyjan (a-zer-by-jan')

Bajee (ba-jee')
Beluchistan ( bel-u-chis-tan' )
Bytzar (bite-zar')

Cajava (ca-ja-va')

Farsistan (fax-sis-tan')

Haji Nasir (h'a-ji na-seer')
Hakim ( ha-kim' )
Horepsema ( ho-rep-see-ma/ )
Hulaku ( hu-la-kii' )

Ibrahim (ee-bra-heem')
Ilkhichee (il-khi-chee')
Irak Ajam (ee-rak a- jam')
Islam (is-lam')

Julfa (jul-fa/)

Kara Dagh (ka-ra dagh)
Kazvin (kaz-veen')
Kerind (ke-rfnd')
Kerman ( ker-man' )
Khadija (kha-di-ja/)
Khan (khan)
Khoraman (kh5-ra-man')
Khorasan (kho-ra-san')
Koran (ko-ran')

Kurd (kurd)
Kurdish (kiird'-ish)
Kurisee (ku-ri-see')
Kuzistan (ku-zis-tan')

Lalan (la-lan')
Laristan (lar-is-tan')
Lewan (lee- wan')

Madina (ma-dee-na/)
Mahmud (mah-mud')
Maku (ma-ku;)
Maragha (mar-a-gha/)
Mariam (ma-ri-am' )
Mesheddy (me-shed'-dy)
Mianduab (mi-an-du-ab)
Mussulman (mus-sul-man')
Muzhumbar (mu-zhum-bar')

Omar (6-mar')

Salmas (sal-mas')

Shatan Abad (sha-tan-a-bad')

Sier (Seer)

Souj Bulak (souj-hu-lak')

Suhril (suh-ril')

Suldus (siil-dus')

Sunis (su-neez')

Tabriz (tab-reez')

*Takht Eawan (takht-ra-wan')

Tanoor (tan-oor')

Teheran (teh-ran')

Urumia (u-ru-mi-a/)
Zen j an (zen-jan')

* Takht Rawan means a "moving throne" It is a box from
five to six feet long, three feet wide, four feet high, with a window
door on each side. It is hung on two long poles, extending like the
shafts of a buggy both in front and behind. It is carried by two
horses or two mules, harnessed in the poles, one in front and one
behind.

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