Volume I Part 10 (1/2)
Hinsdale, whose life had been seriously endangered by a relapse of fever.
Messrs. Hinsdale and Mitch.e.l.l were forty-one days on their voyage to Smyrna, from whence an Austrian steamer took them to Beirt. Mr. and Mrs. Beadle accompanied them as far as Aleppo, to commence a new station. Mr. Mitch.e.l.l had a slight attack of fever and ague at Aleppo, which detained him till the 28th of May. That was rather late in the season, still all might have gone well, had they been able to press on with the usual speed. The abundant green gra.s.s on the plain, however, caused the muleteers to loiter, and, once on the road, the company was entirely at their mercy. Still the journey, as far as Mardin, where they arrived June 19th, was both pleasant and prosperous. On the plain below the city Mr. Mitch.e.l.l, in efforts to keep their tent from being blown down in a storm, became wet and chilled. This brought on another fit of ague, which was repeated after three days. On the 25th, with scarcely any apparent disease, he lost his reason, and from that time drooped, like the withering of a plant, till he died on the morning of June 27th, 1841. The Koordish villagers refused the Christian a grave, nor would they aid in carrying the body a few miles to the Jacobite village Telabel, The survivors had not strength themselves to carry it, but secured its conveyance thither as best they could. There they buried the mortal remains in the village cemetery, and two rude stones mark the grave.
Eight hours brought them in sight of the Tigris, at Beshabor. The next day they crossed on rafts supported by inflated goat-skins, and, on the 30th, rode six and a half hours to a Yezidee village.
Next morning, after riding an hour, Mrs. Mitch.e.l.l became too ill to proceed, and she lay four days in a mud hovel, among Arabs so rude that they could not be kept from the sick room, where they laid their hands on whatever they fancied. To remain there was out of the question, so Mr. Hinsdale constructed a litter, and at exorbitant prices obtained men from a distant village to carry it. She had to be repeatedly laid upon the ground, while he rode far and near to find four men willing to perform the degrading service of carrying a woman. At length the sun became so hot, that they could travel only by night. Their troubles were somewhat relieved by the services of a man, whom Mr. Ra.s.sam had kindly sent to meet them. On the 7th of July, they entered Mosul, and were cordially welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Ra.s.sam. Mrs. Mitch.e.l.l's disease then a.s.sumed a new form, and from that time till her death, on the 12th, her reason was dethroned. Mr. Hinsdale was taken violently ill before the death of Mrs. Mitch.e.l.l, and Mrs. Hinsdale was unable to render any a.s.sistance to her husband. It was in these trying circ.u.mstances, that Dr. Grant so opportunely arrived.
There was ample evidence in the subsequent experience of the mission, that these fatal results were not owing to any peculiar hazard in the journey itself, though they may have resulted from the lateness of the season. All the way from Aleppo to Mosul, they had the a.s.sistance of Mr. Kotschy, who, in addition to his medical knowledge, had travelled seven years in Western Asia and Africa. The route, moreover, had been, and is still, one of the great highways of nations.
No doubt Divine Providence is always consistent with itself, and with the Saviour's promise; and so would it always appear to us, could we see, as G.o.d sees, the end from the beginning. To the devoted missionary, who dies at the outset of his career, all is satisfactory, however painful the circ.u.mstances, as soon as he pa.s.ses the dark portal. Then, too, in contemplating the reverses which were now beginning to thicken upon the mission, we should bear in mind, that the divine plan for the Mountain Nestorian mission, as afterwards appeared, was not that it be prosecuted from the western side of the mountains, but from Oroomiah, the position first taken by the mission; where, as we shall soon see, Gospel influences were gathering a peculiar and most needful strength.
As soon as Mr. Hinsdale was able to travel, he accompanied Dr. Grant on a tour among the Yezidee and Nestorian villages lying near to Mosul.1
1 For an account of this tour, see _Missionary Herald_, 1842, pp.
310-320.
The Jacobites are a branch of the venerable Church of Antioch, and were then painfully struggling to repel the inroads of the Papacy.
As soon as they learned the adherence of the American missionaries to the Bible, and their opposition to Papal innovations, they began to welcome them as friends. Having been duped by the plausible pretenses of the Papists, they were at first cautious in their advances; but a priest from the Syrian Christians in India, named Joseph Matthew, on his way to be ordained metropolitan by the Syrian Patriarch at Mardin, did much to dispel their fears, and promote friendly relations with the missionaries. He was a graduate of the English college at Cotayam, was evangelical in his views, spoke English with propriety, and at once gave the right hand of fellows.h.i.+p to the missionaries, and bespoke for them the confidence of the people. Early in the following year, he returned from Mardin as Bishop Athanasius, and consented to remain and preach among the Jacobites during Dr. Grant's absence in the summer.
Nrllah Bey had now commenced making war on the mountain Nestorians, with the aid of the Turks; and the Nestorians, split into hostile parties, were incapable of combined resistance.
Suleiman Bey, being opposed to an alliance with Turkey, had seized the reins of government in the absence of the Emir; and since the object of the Osmanlis was to subjugate the Nestorians, as well as the Koords, the Patriarch naturally, but as it proved unhappily, sided with Suleiman.1
1 _Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians_, p. 203.
Dr. Grant believed it would now be easier to enter the mountains from the east, than from the west. Accordingly he set out for Oroomiah, on the 6th of June, 1842, going the southern route by way of Ravandooz. Mr. Hinsdale and Bishop Athanasius accompanied him the first day. When about to return, the bishop offered prayer in the English language, and thus they parted, not all to meet again.
Athanasius wrote a letter to Dr. Grant from Malabar, but with a date nearly a year subsequent to Dr. Grant's death, in which he stated, that his people had welcomed him with great joy, and gladly received the Word of G.o.d.1
1 _Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians_, p. 219.
Dr. Grant crossed the plain of Arbela, where Alexander conquered Persia, and in ten days arrived at Oroomiah. Being impatient to get into the mountains, the mission a.s.sembled immediately, and delegated Mr. Stocking to accompany him. Dr. Wright said of him, at this time, that ”his spirits were buoyant, his step elastic, and his energy untiring.” Two Nestorians went with them, and they had letters from the governor and some Persian n.o.bles to the Persian Khan and the Emir of the Hakary Koords. At Khosrawa, Mr. Stocking was constrained by sickness to return; and both the native a.s.sistants were so alarmed by the warlike aspect of things, that they declined going farther. The now solitary traveller succeeded, at the last moment, in getting the brave bishop Mar Ysf to be his companion.
The Emir had now broken his treaty with the Sultan, formed two years before in the hope of immediate aid to subdue the Nestorians; and had sworn perpetual allegiance to the Shah, who promised him support against the Sultan. Dr. Grant found Yahya Khan and the Emir at the castle of Charreh, on the summit of an isolated rock near the river of the same name. The tents of more than a dozen chiefs dotted the green banks of the stream. Nrllah Bey still professed to regard Dr. Grant as his physician and friend, and in the presence of the Khan promised to protect him and his a.s.sociates, and permit them to erect buildings in Tiary for themselves and their schools.
The Khan, to whose friendly agency with the Emir Dr. Grant was specially indebted, had a good reputation for integrity. He was a Persian subject, then governor of Salmas, and also chief of a branch of the Hakary tribe. He had married a sister of the Emir, and given him one of his own in return, and another was in the harem of the Shah. He a.s.sured his missionary guest of the Emir's personal friends.h.i.+p, and interested himself for his future safety.
After sundry adventures among precipitous mountains and savage Koords, Dr. Grant was once more the guest of Mar s.h.i.+mon, who kindly received the New Testament, the Psalms, and other books from the mission press. The Doctor was himself suffering from the effects of exposure in a wet dormitory the previous night; but the bracing air of that elevated region renewed his strength, and he was glad to resume his journey towards Asheta, which he had proposed as the site of his first mountain station. On this part of the way he had the company of Mar s.h.i.+mon, who had then decided not to join the Koords and Persians against the Turks, having discovered that the strife between them was for the supremacy over his own people. Of the two he preferred the Turks. He was, however, advised by Dr. Grant to cultivate the friends.h.i.+p of the Emir. Further than this Dr. Grant would not interfere, being, fully resolved not to meddle with their political relations. A secret correspondence of the Patriarch with the Turkish Pasha, when discovered, cost him the favor of the Emir; and it soon became apparent that the Turks, whatever their pretensions, were resolved upon nothing short of the complete subjugation of his people. It was but too evident, also, to his missionary friend, that the Patriarch was himself more concerned for their political, than for their religious and moral condition.
Amadia, on the western frontier of the Nestorians, had now surrendered to the Turks; and the war on that side of the mountains being ended, Mr. Hinsdale left Mosul on the last day of September, and in eight days was at Asheta. The prospect from the summit on the western side of the valley was of singular beauty. The village of Asheta extended below him for a mile and a half, with numerous plats of grain and vegetables interspersed, the whole diversified with shade trees of various kinds. A short distance above the village was a deep ravine, from which the snow never disappeared. The spot selected for the mission house, was on the summit of a hill, near the centre of the village.
Soon after the arrival of Mr. Hinsdale, the papal bishop of Elkosh and an Italian priest found their way to Asheta. They stated to the Patriarch, that many boxes of presents were on their way from Diarbekir, and requested permission to remain till they arrived. The following Sabbath the Patriarch, with Mar Ysf and several priests, held a public discussion with them on the prominent errors of the Papacy. The result was not favorable to their object, and the next day their presents were returned, and they had permission to leave the country. They left during the week, but not till they had taken much pains, though apparently without success, to shake the Patriarch's confidence in the American missionaries. Soon after, early in November, Mr. Hinsdale returned to Mosul.
Up to this time, Mar Ysf had been fearless and tolerably patient, but he had now become heartily tired of the mountains, and longed for his peaceful home on the plain. It was the first time in a life of fifty years, that he had been ill when far from home. Yet he had been faithful in imparting religious instruction, and the missionary regretted his departure. Near the close of November, Dr. Grant received a letter from Nrllah Bey, requesting his professional services at Julamerk. His Nestorian friends strongly objected to his going, as they were apprehensive of treachery, and not without some reason; but he went, committing his way unto the Lord. He found the chief sick of fever, from which he recovered, through the blessing of G.o.d on the remedies employed. There was now opportunity to counteract reports intended to enlist the Emir in measures to destroy the mission. He became convinced that Dr. Grant was neither building a castle at Asheta, nor a bazaar to draw away the trade.
Elsewhere, as will appear in the sequel, these reports had a more serious effect.
Dr. Grant had already heard of the arrival of the Rev. Thomas Laurie and wife at Mosul; and two days after, returning from Julamerk, he received the painful intelligence that Mr. Hinsdale was dangerously sick. He at once hastened to his relief, but he was too late. The devoted missionary rested from his labors on the 26th of December, at the age of thirty-five, after a sickness of twenty-four days. His disease was typhus fever. Mr. Hinsdale was a native of Torrington, Connecticut, and received his education at Yale College, and the Auburn Theological Seminary. ”On the night of his decease,” says Dr.
Grant, ”while his deeply afflicted wife and Mr. Laurie were sitting by him, he was heard to say, amid the wanderings of his disordered intellect; 'I should love to have the will of my Heavenly Father done!' It was his 'ruling pa.s.sion strong in death.' Desiring to have the will of G.o.d done in all the earth, he had toiled to fit himself for the missionary work, and then, regardless of sacrifices, he had come to a field rich in promise, but full of hards.h.i.+ps. His daily spirit, as evinced in all his actions, made me feel that he was just the man for this portion of the Lord's vineyard.”
The Papists were, to say the least, not the main cause of Mar s.h.i.+mon's alienation from his American friends. In 1840, after Dr.
Grant had pa.s.sed through the mountains the second time, on his return to America, the Patriarch was visited by Mr. Ainsworth, travelling at the expense of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and the Royal Geographical Society. The statements of this gentleman and of his companion, Mr. Ra.s.sam, to Mar s.h.i.+mon, so resembled those made by the Papists, that the Patriarch suspected them of being Jesuits in disguise, and they actually left the mountains without removing that suspicion. Nor was it creditable to them, that they pa.s.sed through Oroomiah without even calling on the American missionaries there.1