rve many saint's days. At times as many as
four thousand men and women would gather in the yard of some building
built in honor of an ancient saint and would there spend several days
in eating, drinking and dancing. Sometimes quarreling, fighting and
even murder would result from these gatherings. Moslems often mingled
with the crowd and sometimes kidnaped some of their fairest daughters.
Instead of places of worship these gatherings became places of sin. All
of these vicious customs have now vanished before the influence the
true gospel.

More than half the days of the year were days of fasting with the old
Assyrians. On these days they ate no meat, milk, butter, cheese, eggs
or fish; some very religious old people would eat nothing before noon.
All has now been changed.

Members of the evangelical church do not fast and but few of the old
Assyrians do. There is no longer faith in the virtue of fasting.

CONVERSION TO MOHAMMEDANISM.

Before the missionaries came many beautiful girls and ladies were
converted by force to the faith of Moslems. Girls were often stolen
when alone in the fields and vineyards. Mothers feared for their
daughters, and advised them not to wash their faces, nor put on nice
clothes lest a Mohammedan would be attracted by their beauty. When a
Mohammedan saw a beautiful girl he would say, "God created her for us
and not for these infidels." When girls were converted by force, it was
not much use to complain to the government, as the government is
Mohammedan and it is in the Mohammedan doctrine that when a man
converts a Christian he has done a good thing and all his sins will be
forgiven. The method of making the convert is not questioned. The
conversions now as compared with the number when the missionaries came
are very few. Kidnaping is not easy now as parents can telegraph to the
king, or the prime minister, or even to Europe and cause much trouble.

A few years ago a prince had a beautiful Armenian stolen from her home,
and tried to get her to consent to be a Mohammedan and become his wife.
But the woman stood firm, and denounced him and his faith. Her friends,
and the missionaries of all denominations, were making an angry search
for the missing woman, and the prince ordered his servants to return
her to her native village. When a girl has been stolen and complaint is
made to the government, officers bring the girl into court, if she can
be found, and ask her if she had been taken by f