y energetic as a
persecutor. But Boghos, his successor, was. On receiving
instructions from the Patriarch in the spring of 1845, he
immediately set the whole persecuting machinery in motion. And so
terrific did it become, that in the space of ten days about one half
of the Bible readers had recanted.

Just at this juncture, a highly respected evangelical inhabitant of
Trebizond, named Tateos, returned from a visit to Constantinople,
Smyrna, Broosa, Nicomedia, and Adabazar, whither he had been to make
the acquaintance of the missionaries and native brethren in those
places. Fearing the influence of such a man, the persecuting party
resolved to put him out of the way. He was accordingly decoyed on
board the steamer as it was leaving for Constantinople, thrust down
into the hold, and confined there by order of the Turkish Pasha.
Thus was he torn from his affectionate wife and children, and
carried off like a felon, they knew not whither, without even the
show of a trial. Arriving at the capital, he was taken to the
Armenian hospital, and shut up in the mad-house. Placed in a sitting
posture, he was fastened with two chains, one from his neck to the
wall, the other from his feet to the floor. Orders from the
Patriarchate were, that no one should have access to him, but some
of the native brethren discovered the place of his confinement, and
gained admittance. He was then removed to another place, where it
was believed he could not be found. On the Sabbath, the eighth day
of his imprisonment, while the Armenian congregation was engaged in
singing in the chapel at Pera, he entered, a free man! Much prayer
had been offered for him, and his sudden liberation reminded all of
Peter the Apostle. Sir Stratford Canning had been informed of his
case, and there was no doubt that the remonstrances of this
benevolent statesman had caused the Patriarch to loosen his grasp
upon this innocent victim of his oppression.

But whatever was the influence exerted to moderate the proceedings
of the Patriarch in this case, he was fully resolved not to fail of
success. In the beginning of 1846, he entered upon the more decisive
course of subjecting the evangelical Armenians to the pains and
penalties of excommunication. He began with Vertanes, who escaped
arrest only through the friendly agency of his landlord, (not a
Protestant,) and was concealed for several weeks in the house of a
friend. At the patriarchal church, after the morning service,