Jacobite Church were convinced
of the truth, and of the emptiness of their own rites and
ceremonies. Some openly avowed that they retained their connection
with their old church merely to fight against it, hoping to turn the
whole community to Protestantism. The people demanded that the Bible
should be read in the church in Turkish or Arabic, instead of the
ancient Armenian and Syriac, which were, to most of them, dead
languages; and the Jacobite bishop was forced to yield. Finding, at
length, that this must rapidly undermine the priestly influence, he
secretly removed the Scriptures from the church. But the word of the
Lord was not bound, for the deacons or readers carried their own
Bibles.

At the out-station of Haine, Stepan, the native preacher who had
come to Diarbekir with Mr. Walker, was enabled by divine grace to
maintain his position. The Pasha at one time ordered him to leave,
but he thought it right to disobey. At a subsequent period, being
stoned and beaten in the streets, he was obliged to flee, and the
Protestants suffered much oppression. Through the energetic efforts
of the Consul at Diarbekir, the persecuting governor was deposed,
and another appointed.

Across the river from Diarbekir is Cutterbul, a large Christian
village, where were twenty Protestants, with several church-members;
and the missionary, in his occasional visits, gathered almost as
large a congregation as the one at Mosul. The preaching would have
been acceptable in Turkish, or Koordish, though the people preferred
the Arabic. Cutterbul was but a sample of what the villages on all
sides of Diarbekir might have been, were the station fully manned.

The Protestants at Mosul obtained no relief from their oppressive
taxes until January, 1854; when, through the efforts of Lord
Stratford de Redcliffe, a firman was addressed to the Pasha for
their protection. The Pasha then ordered an equitable rate to be
made for them, which encouraged the Protestants, and disheartened
their enemies. The year was one of progress. Five were added to the
Protestants, and two to the church, while there was a decided
improvement in the attention given to preaching. The boys' school
prospered, with forty pupils. Women were to some extent instructed
in reading the Bible by the scholars, who went from house to house
for the purpose. Thirty adults were taught at their houses, and
thirty others attended the male school regularly. The church-members
gained a repu