Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/302

248 "Our proposals to establish schools were well received by Mar Shimoon, who promised to open ten in as many of tbe largest mountain villages; but the Patriarch endeavoured to impress upon me, that unless something be done for the Nestorians in a political point of view, the establishment of schools, or any other kindred measures, in the present unsettled state of the mountains, will be very precarious. Noorallah Beg, the Coordish Emeer of Hakkari, has virtually robbed them of their independence, and unless timely assistance be rendered to the Christian population, we may soon expect to see them entirely subjugated by the barbarous and lawless Coords. …

"The proceedings of the American Dissenters here necessarily formed a leading topic of our discourse. Through the influence of Noorallah Beg they have been permitted to settle in the mountains, and two large establishments, one at Asheetha and the other at Leezan, a village one day distant, are at present in course of being built. They have also a school in actual existence at Asheetha, the expenses of which are defrayed by the board, and, if I am rightly informed, another at Leezan. … I did not fail to acquaint the Patriarch how far we are removed in doctrine and discipline, from the American Independent missionaries, and this I did not so much by exposing their system as by unfolding the principles of our own Church; for Mar Shimoon seemed well aware of their distinguishing tenets. I showed him, moreover, that it would be injudicious, and would by no means satisfy us to have schools among his people by the side of theirs, and pressed upon him to decide what plan he would pursue under existing circumstances. I think the Patriarch expressed his real sentiments for the peculiar doctrines of the Independents when he said: 'I hold them as cheap as an onion;' but there are other considerations which have more influence in inclining him to keep on friendly terms with the missionaries. In the first place. Dr. Grant has gained the apparent good-will of Noorallah Beg, and the Patriarch may fear that if he manifests any alteration in his conduct towards the American missionaries the Emeer might revenge it. Secondly, although I am fully convinced that there is hardly a Nestorian in the mountains who sympathizes with the doctrine or discipline of the Dissenters whenever these differ from their own,