Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/303

Rh yet I am persuaded, that from the Patriarch to the poorest peasant all value the important services of a good physician; and besides this, they highly prize the money which the missionaries have already expended and are still expending among them with no niggardly hand in presents, buildings, schools, &c. I am sorry to say that the mountaineers, from the highest to the lowest, appear to be an over-reaching and gift-loving people, of which I had abundant proof in the continual demands made upon me, both by clergy and laity during my short stay at Asheetha. They look for these as a matter of course, and are not only disappointed but even affronted by a refusal. The presents which I took in my hand to the Patriarch satisfied him at the time, as did also those which I gave to his brother and Kash' Auraha, his archdeacon; but since my return to Mosul I have received a written request from the former to send him the sum of £120 for the expenses of schools, a mare, a silk girdle, and a string of coral beads; and from the latter, a demand for £5 in money, a scarlet cloak, and a silk turban. These requests are tendered in the most business-like way, as if the petitioners had the right to make, and it was our duty to grant them.

"In consequence of Mar Shimoon's letter, touching the schools, wherein he informs me, that he has already opened two according to his promise, and hopes soon to open eight more, I have sent Kasha Mendu to inform his Holiness, that although I prefer that the priests who act as teachers should be paid through him, yet I am not at liberty to place such large sums of money at his disposal; that as soon as the schools are established, I shall either go or send Mr. Fletcher to visit them;—that I am willing to make the remittances to him for the teacher's salary every three months, but that these salaries must be fixed beforehand. In the meantime, I consent to advance him a small sum to cover the expenses of opening the schools, and for making other necessary arrangements in connexion therewith. I have, moreover, requested his Holiness to inform Kasha Mendu, where he has already opened the two schools mentioned in his letter, and have directed the priest to visit them before he returns; as I have some fear that he may mean those under the direction of the American Missionaries at