Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/317

Rh who was then at a village not far from Leezan, and made known to him their designs. The Patriarch did all in his power to turn them from their purpose, and told them plainly that he would not be an accomplice in the plot. Finding him inexorable, they modified their plan, and proposed, that as Noorallah Beg had rendered himself obnoxious to the Christians of the mountains, he should be deposed, and Suleiman Beg elected in his stead, in which scheme they could rely upon the co-operation of many of their neighbours the Coords. Seeing that they were not to be turned from their purpose, Mar Shimoon chose the lesser of two evils, and promised to become the medium of communicating to Suleiman Beg the result of their conference, which he did shortly after. In the meantime, however, the affair got wind; but as Noorallah could not hope to overcome them by force of arms, he set new intrigues on foot, and fomented dissensions among the principal confederates. Some months passed away without any strike having been made, when the Meleks and Elders came to Kasha Kena and desired him to write and inform the Patriarch that they had decided to fall upon the Emeer within a few days and destroy him,—that the young and old were ready to join them,—that arms had been provided for those who did not possess them,—and that it was now useless for him to attempt to foil them in their project. On the receipt of this letter. Mar Shimoon sent a confidential messenger to Kash' Audishu, calling him to a consultation. 'Thinking that I might be a long time absent,' said the priest in his narrative, 'I took my ass and gun, and accompanied by one of the villagers set off into the Berwari to fetch a load of salt, which I required for the use of my household. While seated at a short distance from the village a Coord accosted me, and inquired what was going on in the mountains. I accordingly related to him what I knew; whereupon, to my great surprise, he told me that the Nestorian elders had visited the Moollah of that same village a few days before, and had got him to write a letter to Noorallah Beg, to the effect that they gave up the person of their Patriarch into his hands, to do with him as he pleased, and that henceforth they recognised him as their only chief, to which letter all affixed their seals. (Whether this was a blind or not to throw the Emeer off his