persuaded, the Syrians would have preferred assistance from us, such was their ardent desire for improvement, and such their conviction of the gross abuses in their Church, that they welcomed the missionary who was sent out to them, and continue to frequent his meetings in spite of the excommunications which have been issued against a few of their number by their diocesan. Thus another schism has been formed, and another field opened for the spread of sectarian doctrines. Some blame is imputed to the Bishop for having in a measure invited the Independents to Mosul, as well as for other inconsistencies; but when we take into consideration the difficulty of his position, his anxiety for the maintenance of unity, his own continued attachment as well as that of a portion of his people to certain erroneous practices, and withal his desire for many radical reforms,—we may not judge him too harshly. It is beyond dispute, however, that he is decidedly opposed to the efforts of the new missionaries from America.
As might naturally be expected, the lower orders of the Syrian clergy are generally more illiterate than the Bishops; and how can it be otherwise? Their education for the priesthood is confined to a perusal of the Syriac rituals, which they are taught to read in a convent or in some obscure school, or of which they pick up a superficial knowledge whilst acting as servants to the church or village where they reside. From indigence or a love of gain, they often ply a trade or engage in mercantile speculations, and their sacerdotal functions are for the most part restricted to reading the prayers, administering the sacraments, and receiving the confessions of their parishioners. Among the many Jacobite priests with whom I am acquainted, I do not know one who preaches or who is capable of preaching to the people, and pastoral visits, or the catechizing of children, are equally unheard of among them.
Such being the backwardness and inefficiency of their clergy, it is not to be wondered at that religious knowledge and vital godliness are at a very low ebb among the Syrian laity. Notwithstanding the comparative affluence of this community, I believe that there do not exist among them more than twenty small schools in the whole of Turkey, where their population amounts to something like 100,000 souls. The following is a
