the Eastern field, containing the cities of Teheran and Hamadan, and the Western, including the cities Tabriz and Oroomiah.

Mission work in Persia has various branches. A Female Seminary was established in 1838. In 1880 a College was organised at Oroomiah, affording literary and theological training; four High Schools are connected with each of the Knooshyas, and a large number of village schools. The College is attended by about one hundred pupils, the High Schools by one hundred and fifty, and the village schools by some fourteen hundred. Many publications are issued by the Mission press, among others the Rays of Light, a Syriac monthly, and a Quarterly Exposition of the International Sabbath School Lessons.

There is also a large amount of medical work done at the Hospital and Dispensary. This has been found of the utmost value, not only in relieving suffering, but in securing opportunities for favourably presenting Gospel

truths.

(The following Sketch, which Dr. Shedd of Oroomiah, has written, furnishes an exceedingly interesting account of :

The Reformed Evangelical Church of Persia.

29. "The Old Syrian Church of Persia, commonly called the Nestorian, has dwindled to a remnant of about 100,000 souls. Half as many more of the same race and language are united to the Church of Rome. This interesting people were first fully reported to the Protestant world by Messrs. Smith and Dwight in 1830. Their report was so favourable that the American Board soon after began a Mission called the Mission to the Nestorians.

"This outline will briefly show the relation of the Mission to the Old Nestorian Church, the nature of the reform going forward, and the history of the Native Evangelical Church that has sprung up.

"The Nestorian controversy carries us back to the decisions of the Council of Ephesus, A.D. 431. Nestorius was condemned on two charges (1) For refusing to call Mary the Mother of God. In this certainly no Protestant would accuse him of heresy. (2) For saying that there are not only two natures but also two Persons in Christ. Students in Church history recall to what controversies the Greek words Οὐσία, Υπόστασις, and Πρόσωπον, and other corresponding terms in Syriac, gave rise. The difficulty of definition and of adjusting their meanings to each other gave the opportunity for endless misunderstandings. Nestorians have always held to the true divinity, the true humanity, and the true incarnation. In their controversy with other Churches on the term Mother of God, we are their allies. The same is true on many other points at issue between them and the Papacy. The errors of the fourth and later centuries entered this Church, but not the later unscriptural dogmas and practices of the Greek, Armenian, or Latin Churches, such as the refusal of the cup to the laity, purgatory, confession, the mass, image worship, tradition, and a hierarchy. They hold to the Bible as the full and only rule of faith. They have a liberal spirit toward all who teach the Word of God. They confess that the teachings of the Presbyterian missionaries agree with the primitive doctrines of their Church, and that errors have crept into their system in later times which should be reformed.

"The missionaries in 1835 were welcomed by the ecclesiastics and people, and for many years an honest effort was made to reform the old body without destroying its organisation. This effort failed. God was pleased to pour out His Spirit, and many souls were renewed, and a new Church was gradually formed for the following reasons:-(1) Persecution.-The Patriarch did all in his power to destroy the evangelical work. He threatened, beat, and imprisoned the teachers and converts, and thus did his utmost to alienate the spiritual-minded, and make them leave his fold. (2) Lack of discipline.-The converts could no longer accept unscriptural practices and rank abuses that prevailed, and it became evident that there was no method of reforming these abuses and practices. The missionaries and converts alike gave up the hope of such reform. At every effort the rent was made worse. (3) Lack of teaching. The converts asked for better care and purer and better instruction

and means of grace than they found in the dead language and rituals and ordinances of the Old Church. The missionaries were slow in abandoning the hope that the Nestorian Church would become reformed and purified. But their hope was in vain, and so they have come to realise that their commission was to this whole community alike. Their efforts therefore have been, not to proselytise, but to leaven the whole people with Scripture truth. The separation was made in no spirit of hostility or controversy. There was no violent disruption. They never published a word against the Old Church ecclesiastics or its polity. They have taught God's Word, and tried to follow the things which lead to salvation, purity, and peace. The new life has not been forced into a Western mould, but left to adapt itself to the peculiar character and wants of the people.

"The method was guided by providential exigencies. The converts were first invited to unite with the missionaries in the Lord's Supper. As the numbers increased, and societies were formed in the several villages, native pastors were placed over them. In time these pastors and their elders and other preachers, including bishops, presbyters, and deacons, all of whom had received ordination in the Old Church, met in conference with the missionaries. The first conference was in 1862. This conference adopted its own confession, form of government, and discipline-at first very simple. Some things were taken from the canons and rituals of the Old Church, others from the usages of Protestant Churches. The traditions of the Old Church were respected to some extent; for example, no influence has induced the native brethren to remit the diaconate to a mere service in temporalities. The deacons are a preaching order. Several of the missionaries were Congregationalists, and their influence was felt in the conduct of the local Church, but the outcome has been a system essentially Presbyterian. The Confession and rules were enlarged, and the Form of Government more fully adopted in 1878. In 1887 the Rules of Discipline were added, so that at present the Church Book has (1) The Confession of Faith, in twenty-seven Articles and in the Shorter Catechism; (2) The Form of Government, in Church Sessions, Presbyteries, and a Synod; (3) The Rules of Discipline, much like those of the Presbyterian Confession of Faith. There remain two divisions yet to be added. (4) Directory of Worship, which involves the question of ritual; and (5) Rules for secular matters and finances. In this land of Islam, each Church must settle the disputes between its members as to inheritance, marriage, and divorce, and some other things which in Christian lands fall under the civil law. Our Church has a Legal Board and a short code of laws adapted from the ancient canons. The name adopted is 'The Evangelical Syriac Church.' The ordination of the Old Church has always been accepted as valid. The missionaries and the evangelical bishops have sometimes joined in the ordination service, and it would be difficult to draw the line when the Episcopal ordination ceased and the Presbyterian began in the Reformed body.

"The relation of the Presbyterian Mission work to the Old ecclesiastics is thus something different from that found among any other Eastern Christians. The Patriarch in office fifty years ago was at first very friendly to the missionaries, and personally aided in superintending the building of mission houses. Subsequently he did all in his power to break up the Mission. His most able brother, however, Deacon Isaac, accepted the evangelical doctrines, and till his death in 1865 was the foremost man in the Reformed Communion, while his sons are now the chief advisers in the Patriarchal house. These sons were educated partly in our schools, and are liberal, enlightened men. The Patriarch now in office has taken the attitude of neutrality, with frequent indications of fairness and friendliness toward our work.

"The next in ecclesiastical rank is the Mattran (Syriac for Metropolitan), the only one left of the twenty-five Metropolitans named in the 13th century. The present incumbent recently made distinct overtures to our Evangelical Church to come to an understanding by establishing the scriptural basis of things essential, and allowing liberty in things non-essential. He fails, per

haps, to understand all the scriptural issues between us, but he has a sincere desire to walk uprightly and to benefit his people.

"Of the Bishops, three have united with the Reform, and died in the Evangelical Church. Of those remaining, the two in Persia, to the extent of their ability, oppose the light. They hate it because their deeds are evil. The three Bishops in Kurdistan are friendly, and give their influence in favour of our schools.

"A large majority of the priests or presbyters of the Old Church, in Persia at least, joined the Reform movement, and as large a proportion of the deacons. In Kurdistan, further from the Mission Station and influence, a smaller number. In all, nearly seventy of the priests have laboured with the Mission as teachers, preachers, or pastors, and more than half of these continue, and are members of our Synod. Many others acknowledge that the reforms of the Evangelical Church are scriptural and salutary, but for worldly reasons, remain neutral or adhere to the Old party.

"These facts as to the ecclesiastics (and the same might be said of the Maleks or leading men) show that we are regarded, not as aliens or schismatics or proselytisers, but as co-labourers, by the leading minds of the people who welcome us, are enlightened by our instruction, and toil with us to reform their nation.

"As to the common people, the Mission has been true to its aims, and has embraced the whole people in its plans for spiritual and temporal improvements. The Medical work has been for all, and also, the relief in time of famine. In civil affairs there is no Protestant community, and any relief obtained through missionary influence is shared by all. The Schools are

open to all alike, and as barriers have given way before the increasing light, every village and house is open to the workers as truly as can be said of any community in America. The Evangelical Church has its Board of Evangelisation that meets monthly, and, by combining funds and counsels with the Missionaries, a system of pastoral care and itinerant labour is in operation, which enables the forty-five preachers in Persia to carry the Gospel statedly to every hamlet. In Kurdistan the same system covers fourteen circuits, and is extending annually. Our earnest hope and aim is to see this people as a whole brought under evangelical influence, and instructed in Bible truth by means of a regenerate Church that rescues what is most precious from a system that decayeth and waxeth old and is ready to pass away. The members of the Reformed Church revere and love much in the history of their fathers, and appeal to their examples of zeal and piety, and desire to conserve their true doctrines and their virtues.

66

What is the progress of this Reformed Church? The communicants in 1857 were 216; in 1867, 697; in 1877, 1087; and in 1887, 2003. The preaching places vary somewhat with the seasons of the year. In the winter they number about 120, in summer somewhat less. The roll of ministers show 40 fully ordained, with 30 licentiates and preaching deacons, 87 elders, and 91 deaconesses of the congregations. In some places the Reform has gathered nearly all the population within its influence. In many places it is not unusual to find half the population in our winter services. On the other hand, there are many places where the ecclesiastics are immoral and opposed, and ignorance and vice abound, and the Reform moves very slowly.

"The people are poor in worldly goods, but are able to do much for their own support, and also to spread the Gospel. In three congregations all the expenses are paid by the people. In four places half or more, in fourteen places from a fourth to a half, and in all the rest a less amount. All contribute to a missionary fund from which the Native Board pays one-fourth of the expense for advance work. They share in the support of ten preachers, and of as many students, and various other expenses. The responsibility of winning this land for Christ is laid primarily upon this Evangelical Church. The American Missionaries go hand in hand with the native brethren in ecclesiastical bodies and Missionary Boards, helping them to realise their responsibilities and privileges, to plant and train self-supporting and aggressive local Churches.")

INDIA.

India received its first knowledge of Christianity probably from Nestorian missionaries, the fruit of whose labours may survive in the Syrian Christian Community of the Malabar Coast.

Of the early history of this Community we know very little. When the Portuguese under Vasco de Gama reached Southern India in 1498, they found more than a hundred Christian churches there, that for centuries had been under bishops appointed by the Patriarch of Antioch. The newly arrived ecclesiastical authorities at once proclaimed these churches to be heretical, and so acted toward them, that Rome's Madura mission, from Francis Xavier in 1541, down to the Jesuit, de Nobili, forms one of the saddest chapters in the history of persecutions. At length the Portuguese priests succeeded in breaking up the Community. Many of the native Christians were martyred, and their churches ceased to exist; some were led to conform to Rome's demands, while others fled to the interior of the country rather than deny their hereditary faith.

These self-exiled fugitives lived almost unknown by the Western world till the beginning of the present century, when they were visited by Claudius Buchanan, by whom copies of the Syriac versions of the Scriptures were distributed among them, and considerable interest in their welfare awakened among British Christians. This was much deepened by the publication

of Buchanan's "Christian Researches in India."

The East India Company.

The East India Company received its charter in 1600, having declared that one of its objects in seeking such was to spread Christianity among the natives of India. In evidence of its desire to do this, it appointed Episcopalian ministers to reside at each of the central factories, such as Surat, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, etc., as chaplains of the British officials, but not as missionaries to the heathen. For these nothing was even attempted. In 1698, the renewed charter required that a schoolmaster and a minister should reside in every garrison and central factory, and be required to learn the Portuguese and the vernacular, "the better to enable them to instruct the Gentoos in the Protestant religion." Such enactments were good, yet little came of them for the Protestant officials, and for the heathen around,-nothing what

ever.

Up to the battle of Plassy in 1757, which practically laid all Hindostan at its feet, the East India Company had not been hostile to Christian missionary effort in India. It had even on more than one occasion assisted the missionaries; but from that date onwards, its sympathy with them diminished, until at length, in 1793, dreading a Mussulman or a Hindoo outbreak, it absolutely refused to permit any Mission work within its territory. This action caused such indignation in England that on the renewal of the charter in 1813, the Company was compelled to abandon its position, and to grant to the missionaries perfect freedom of speech and of travel throughout its whole territory. Provision on a larger scale than ever before was made for the religious interests of the employees. An Anglican bishop was appointed for Calcutta with an archdeacon for each Presidency, while to meet the claims of the Scottish Presbyterians, the Company appointed one Presbyterian chaplain to the chief city of each Presidency.

The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, opened up anew, discussions as to the relations of the East India Company to the English Crown, when finally, the Company was deprived of all territorial sovereignty, and the supremacy it had acquired was declared to be vested in the British Crown and Parliament.

Mission Work.

Protestant Mission work in India may be said to date from the year 1705, when Frederick IV. of Denmark appointed the Lutheran Ziegenbalg, as a chaplain to the Danish possessions in Tranquebar.

Ziegenbalg and his associates, while faithful to their duties as chaplains,

threw themselves with great energy into work for the natives. The Scriptures were speedily translated into Tamil, and a large number of converts gathered together. In 1750, Schwartz arrived at Trichinopoly, and made this his headquarters till his death in 1798. Schwartz's labours among Hindoos and Mussulmans and his influence over them, were marvellous, so that he is said to have made more converts than any other Protestant missionary in India. The present Native Christian Church in South India owes to him its existence to-day.

In 1709, the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel assisted the Danes in carrying on this Mission, and contributed towards its expenses.

In 1726, the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, undertook the full support of this Southern Indian Mission, and enlarged it by appointing a special agent at Madras. The work was thus carried on for a century, till in 1826, the whole was handed over to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, by which it is now maintained.

In 1793, William Carey, "the pioneer of modern Missions in India," landed at Calcutta from a Danish vessel, and from 1797 to 1800, along with Marshman, Ward, and others, found protection in the Danish settlement of Serampore.

Within that territory and outside of it, by means of their printing presses, in defiance of the East India Company, and despite inconceivable difficulties, these three men carried on for many a year one of the most remarkable Mission works that the world has ever yet seen, so that the "Particular or Calvinistic Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel" has done its full share of giving to the Christian Church that impulse towards Mission work which so characterises this nineteenth century.

In 1798, the London Missionary Society sent to Chinsurah, near Calcutta, its first missionary to India. The work then commenced was mainly educational, and, while successful as such, was yet, as the close of fifty years of labour, found to be very meagre in distinct Christian results. In 1849, this station was handed over to the Free Church of Scotland.

In 1816, other stations were opened by this Society, and by that year, the great field of India lay open for the Church of Christ.

In 1810, there had been formed in the United States, the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions-at first a general Society, but subsequently, closely connected with the Congregational Churches. In 1812 this Society sent out six missionaries to India. These landed at Calcutta just when the excitement about the renewal of the charter was at its height. The Indian authorities instantly ordered their withdrawal. Two went to the Isle of France and afterwards to Madagascar, while two removed to Bombay. There they commenced Mission services, and were the first non-Anglican ministers that had ever preached in that city. After a little while the question of the charter was settled so that the missionaries were not again disturbed, and the Society has continued its work in Bombay ever since.

It is an interesting fact that the first movement toward the formation of a Native Presbyterian Church in India was made by missionaries connected with this Society. According to its constitution, the agents of the American Board are free to adopt or employ on their respective fields any form of Church polity they may prefer. Thus there came to be formed at Ahmednugger, in 1833, a native Presbyterian Church of some fourteen members, of whom ten were Hindoos, with elders and deacons. The first minister was the Rev. Mr. Read, and on his death, in 1835, the Rev. Mr. Allen became his successor.

In 1854, a second congregation was formed at Jalna, and, in 1856, these two, evidently expecting to organise a Native Presbyterian Church, agreed to a plan of government substantially as follows:1. Native Churches shall have native pastors. 2. The male members shall form the constituency.

:

3. Any Congregation may elect a Session to act along with the pastor in attending to the business of the church, and to determine all those matters which, but for the existence of this Session, would come before the church.