Infidelity
had received a check, and so had its influence on surrounding
peoples. The Word of God, printed in the spoken language, was in
very many habitations of the people; and the elements of their
intellectual, moral, and social being were not, and can never again
be, as if missionaries had not been among them.

The efforts made by Dr. King in Greece, for nearly a quarter of a
century after this time, to secure freedom in the worship of God and
in the preaching of the Gospel, will form the subject of future
chapters. And in the histories of the Syrian and Armenian missions,
the reader will occasionally notice hopeful outbreaks of the spirit
of religious inquiry among the people bearing the Grecian name.

CHAPTER XI.

THE NESTORIANS.

1833-1836.

The facts brought to light by Messrs. Smith and Dwight respecting
the Nestorians, made it the duty of the American Board to commence a
mission among them. Accordingly in January, 1833, the Rev. Justin
Perkins, then a tutor in Amherst College, was appointed the first
missionary to that people; and Mr. Smith, being ready to return to
the Mediterranean, having published his "Researches in Armenia and
Persia," it was decided that Mr. Perkins should accompany him as far
as Malta. They received their official instructions together, in the
chapel of the Theological Seminary at Andover, on a Sabbath evening
in September, and the two brethren embarked, with their wives, on
the 21st of that month. Mr. Perkins, in the interval, had been
prostrated by a fever, but it was deemed safe for him to proceed,
and his recovery was so rapid that he was soon able to administer to
the comfort of his associates at sea.

"Your first duty among the Nestorians," said the Prudential
Committee in their instructions to Mr. Perkins, "will be to
cultivate an intimate acquaintance with the religious opinions and
sentiments of the Nestorians. You are aware that, excepting the
information collected by Messrs. Smith and Dwight, during the few
days they were at Oroomiah, almost all we know concerning that sect
in modern times, is derived from papal writers. The learned
investigations of some of these entitle them to high honor, and may
be of great use to you, in the way of furnishing topics for inquiry,
but the Committee wish the information which you communicate
concerning the present state of the Nestorian Church, to be the
result of your own personal investigations; at least to be thus