Volume I Part 16 (1/2)
After some delay, this was done, but I know not to what extent. Mr.
Paicos, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, objected, on purely technical grounds, to reversing the judgment founded on the charge of reviling the dogmas of the Greek Church; and as Dr. King very properly refused to receive a pardon, that judgment remained in force. It was never revived, however, and Mr. Pellicas, one of the counsel for the defense, having become Minister of Justice, a royal order was issued, revoking the sentence of banishment.
”Dr. King and his creed,” writes Mr. Marsh to the Secretary of State, ”have served as a convenient scape-goat, to bear maledictions intended for other teachers and other doctrines, as well as for himself and his faith; or perhaps as an experiment, to test how far the Greek government would sustain, or foreign powers permit, the encroachments of an intolerant priesthood upon the guarantees of the independence of Greece, and the solemn sanction of the const.i.tution and laws.”
A manifest change now took place in the popular sentiment towards the persecuted missionary. Many who had been bitterly opposed, became cordial. The preaching service had forty or fifty hearers, who were generally attentive. The ”Exposition of an Apostolical Church” continued to attract notice. Dr. Barth's ”Ecclesiastical History,” translated by Dr. King, was extensively read; and the American Bible Society responded to an application for a new grant of ten thousand copies of the New Testament for the schools. Near the close of 1854, Dr. King placed at the disposal of the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public Instruction for the use of schools, a thousand copies of ”Chrysostom on Reading the Scriptures,” printed with the sanction of the American Tract Society. The Minister replied, thanking him for the books, and sending him a copy of a circular he had addressed to the teachers strongly recommending the reading by the pupils, not only of Chrysostom, but of the Scriptures also. Several young men appeared truly converted, and a cla.s.s in theology was formed, made up of two young men from Athens and four from Constantinople. These had been in the Greek department of the Bebek Seminary, and were sent to study with Dr. King in consequence of the death of Mr. Benjamin.
After a year and a half he still had this cla.s.s. To aid them he wrote a little work in modern Greek, combating the idea, prevalent with many, that nothing in the Word of G.o.d can be understood, except by those who have been enlightened by the study of the Fathers. In January, 1857, he finished correcting the fifth volume of the American Tract Society's publications in modern Greek. The first volume he printed in 1853, the second and third in 1854, the fourth in 1855. The five volumes contained more than two thousand five hundred pages, and were in an eligible form; but they were found to be in advance of the national taste for religious reading.
The old enmity in Greece burst forth, once more, with violence, in forgeries and fictions of an extraordinary character. It was then regretted by many patrons of the mission, that the veteran missionary sustained consular relations to the United States, which prevented him from meeting this crisis in the simple character of a missionary; and such may have been the feeling of Dr. King himself, but he found it difficult to change his relations while the storm was raging. The public excitement, however, soon subsided, and he went on with his work unmolested.
In September, 1859, Dr. King was most unexpectedly cited to appear before the judicial authorities, to answer to charges brought against him, two years and a half before, by a Greek named Kephalas.
After an examination of two hours, the accusation was read to him.
Its import was not clear; but it implied an apprehension, that he was secretly endeavoring to form a Christian Church,--an exclusive body, with members, meetings, rules, and occupations, and a religion not recognized by the government.
After nearly a year, the Council of Judges decided not to proceed then with the proscution, [sic] and it was never resumed. Dr. King now printed, at private expense, five volumes of his own writings; one in French, and four in modern Greek. Two of the volumes in modern Greek are supposed to have been made up of forty-eight of his sermons, and one of miscellaneous doc.u.ments. Among them were his Farewell Letter; his Defense; Speech before the Areopagus in 1846; Exposition of an Apostolic Church; Religious Rites of an Apostolical Church; Canons for the Interpretation of the Scriptures; Orgies of Simonides; Answer to the Greek Synod; The Opinion of Twelve Lawyers; Letter of the Hon. George P. Marsh to the Greek Government; etc.
In the great work of giving the Word of G.o.d to the people of Greece, Dr. King fully acknowledges the hearty cooperation of the Episcopal and Baptist missionaries, and of Bible agents both British and American.
In the autumn of 1862, King Otho and his queen were constrained to fly from Greece. In the midst of the consequent revolution, the head of police sent a company of soldiers to protect the house of the missionary, but Mrs. King told him they were not afraid, and the soldiers went away. The editors of the ”Age” and of the ”Hope,” his most bitter persecutors in years past, now fell into deep disgrace, and were in peril of their lives. Prince Alfred, of Protestant England, was elected king by an almost unanimous vote. Not obtaining him, they elected a king from Protestant Denmark. George I. arrived in October, 1863, and was received by the people with much joy. The form of government is a const.i.tutional monarchy. There are neither t.i.tles nor privileged cla.s.ses among the people. The only qualification for voting is that of a prescribed age, and all citizens are eligible to the offices of the state, who possess the required mental qualifications. Unfortunately for Greece, the article of the const.i.tution of 1843 is retained, which, while it grants toleration, prohibits proselytism from the Established Church, which it declares to be a crime punishable by the penal code. It will be well for Greece, if this be dropped from the const.i.tution in the revision to be made in 1875. In March of the year following, twenty-six editors of newspapers at Athens formed a society, ”to discuss subjects connected with the good of the country,” and, by a large majority, chose Dr. Kalopothakes, editor of the ”Star of the East,” for their President. In May, the venerable missionary was invited by the king to administer the Lord's Supper in the palace; which was no more than an act of public justice towards one of the oldest, most disinterested, and self-sacrificing of the friends of the Greek nation.
Dr. King's health was now much impaired, and required a change; and in July, 1864, he left Athens, with Mrs. King, and reached the United States in August, where they remained three years. Their return to Greece was in the autumn of 1867, and the missionary was happy to find some of his former pupils actively engaged in labors not very dissimilar to his own. Two were preachers of the Gospel; Mr. Kalopothakes, from the New York Union Theological Seminary, ordained by a Presbytery; and Mr. Constantine, from Amherst College and Andover Seminary, and ordained by a Congregational body. A third, Mr. Sakellarius, a printer, studied for a while in the Baptist Seminary at Newton, and had charge of the office of the ”Star.” All three had their Bible cla.s.ses and Sunday-schools. Dr.
King wisely avoided interfering by a separate service of his own.
Sometime before his return, a mob, excited by the report that ”Puritanism” was taught in these schools, nearly forced its way into the house of Dr. Kalopothakes; but an officer of the police pa.s.sed at the moment, and arrested some of the ringleaders. The Cretan refugees were then there, and about twelve hundred of these were in their day and Sabbath-schools.
In April, 1868, a distinguished Professor in the University arranged for an interview between Dr. King and the President of the ”Holy Synod.” This man in 1863 signed the accusation against Dr. King, in consequence of which, after his return to Greece, he was a third time cited before the Criminal Court, though without any result. The interview was altogether pleasant, and was a striking ill.u.s.tration of the progress of public opinion. ”A considerable degree of religious liberty has been gained,” writes the missionary, ”and a foundation has been laid, on which, I trust, will one day arise a beautiful superstructure.”
Dr. King finished his course at Athens on the 22d of May, 1869, in the seventy-seventh year of his age.
The characteristics of this remarkable man are everywhere apparent in the preceding narrative. He was evidently designed by Providence to be a reformer; and though he lived not to witness anything that could be called a reformation among the Greek people, the battle he fought through so many years with the bigotry and intolerance of the Greek hierarchy, will be held in perpetual remembrance. A reformation has begun, and Dr. King, more than any other Protestant, was the instrument of Providence in bringing it about. To him is it owing, preeminently, that the Scriptures, since the year 1831, have been so extensively used in the schools, and that, in Greece, ”the Word of G.o.d is not bound.” It is not forgotten, that others labored with him, and not in vain; but it is mainly to the preaching of Dr.
King, during his protracted residence in Greece, in connection with his persistent and triumphant struggle with the Greek hierarchy, that we owe, under G.o.d, the visible decline of prejudice against evangelical truth and religious liberty.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE NESTORIANS.
1841-1848.
Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, finding a sea voyage necessary for the recovery of her health, left Oroomiah July 5, 1841, and arrived at New York on the 11th of January, just in time to be present at the special meeting of the Board in that city. Their pa.s.sage from Smyrna had been prolonged to one hundred and nine days, and much solicitude was felt for their safety. They were accompanied by Mar Yohannan, who desired so earnestly to see the new world, that he could not be dissuaded from coming. As the early friend and constant helper of the mission, and as representing one of the most interesting branches of the ancient Church of Christ, he was received by the Board and the religious community with Christian affection, and his visits to different parts of the country with Mr. Perkins were both pleasant and useful.
The number of pupils in the seminary at the close of 1841 was forty-six; there were also eighteen in the boarding-school for girls, and there were twenty free schools in as many villages, all taught by Nestorian priests. The free schools contained four hundred and seventy pupils, of whom forty were girls; making the whole number in the schools five hundred and sixteen. The press, during its first year, sent forth sixteen hundred volumes, and three thousand six hundred tracts, containing in all five hundred and ten thousand pages. Under the superintendence of Mr. Perkins, Mr. Homan Hallock cut and cast a new font of type, modeled on the best Syriac ma.n.u.scripts. This was in the year 1841. Three years later, Mr.
Breath, the printer at Oroomiah, with the help of a native a.s.sistant, cut and prepared two sets of type after the most approved forms of Syriac calligraphy. The natives p.r.o.nounced these types perfect. The two sets resembled each other, the only difference being that in one the stroke was larger and the letter more open.
Mr. Breath afterwards prepared a third set, of a medium size compared with the other two.
While the plain of Oroomiah is perhaps one of the most fertile and beautiful in the world, its luxuriant vegetation occasions fevers at certain seasons, and ophthalmia is prevalent. To escape fevers, the missionaries built dormitories on the tops of their flat-roofed houses. This preventive not being found sufficient, a health-station was formed in the elevated village of Seir, about six miles from Oroomiah, where dwellings were provided for two families, which were surrounded by a strong stone wall, to serve as a defense against any sudden incursion of the Koords.
Mr. and Mrs. Perkins and Mar Yohannan embarked at Boston on their return in March, 1843. They were accompanied by the Rev. David T.
Stoddard and wife, and by Misses Catherine E. Myers and Fidelia Fiske, who went to promote the education of their own s.e.x among the Nestorians. They reached Oroomiah on the 14th of June, and were received by the Nestorians with great manifestations of joy. Mr.
Perkins, while at home, prepared for the press an octavo volume of five hundred pages, ent.i.tled ”A Residence of Eight Years among the Nestorian Christians.” It is in the form of a journal, is ill.u.s.trated by a map and plates, and is a history of the mission during that time.