Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/109

Rh in the practice of this species of deception, that I was astonished to learn afterwards that he could not even read. It was a common custom with him, on the arrival of despatches from the Porte, to have a long private interview with the Tatar who brought them, from whom he generally managed to glean something of their import. Thereupon calling for his secretary he first gave him an outline of what he pretended to have perused, and then directed him to read over the whole in his presence.

Mohammed Pasha had already ruled over this province for seven years, and had been instrumental in introducing many salutary reforms in the administration. Before his appointment Mosul had been governed for a century and a half by native pashas of Christian origin. Abd-ool-Jeleel was a Nestorian, one of whose sons embraced Islamism, and afterwards rose to the dignity of pasha. "From him the government of the province became hereditary in that family, and descended in unbroken succession till within a few years, when it was violently interrupted by an insurrection, which introduced a train of miseries that have but just now ceased. The people esteeming themselves oppressed by their ruler, determined to free their city from him and from the race altogether. Several pashas of the family, who attempted to regain the government, were murdered, and the last of the name, having added to the hate of the people the ill-will of the Sultan, was sent into banishment near Constantinople.

"The town during these events became a scene of complete anarchy. The people were divided into factions, and the peace of the city was destroyed by incessant brawls and murders. Walls were built across the streets to separate hostile quarters. Trade was almost entirely destroyed, and the place was, for some time, without a governor. The rayahs procured their safety by combining in companies of three or four to support some influential partisan, who, in turn, protected them. Clothes were torn from passengers in the street. Assassinations were frequent and committed with impunity. The inhabitants could not go half an hour from the city, on the land side, for fear of robbers from the desert, who came and plundered to the very walls.

"In the midst of these commotions, the Sultan interfered, and sent the present Pasha, a man noted for his severe and