nor the ease with which the pious qualities of Staupitz, and other instruments in Luther's change of mind, are discarded, to make way for Luther's preponderancy as the hero-much in the same manner as, in some modern Lives of John Wesley, all that he learnt from the pious Bishop Taylor and others, and even from his own father, is sacrificed to the personal renown of the "Founder of Wesleyan Methodism." It had been far otherwise useful to show how all those elements of piety were lost and rendered unavailable to the cause of the Reformation, by pointing out what were the real defects of the hierarchical body in Germany at that time, instead of wholly condemning it, or else leaving it unnoticed. We find that writers frequently speak of Rome as if she had fallen under the blows of Luther; whereas she is still vivacious, and struggles energetically to make sure her footing.

The present period, when, after coming out of a long general contest, the nations are preserved in peace, is not without some analogy with the times of the Reformation. Having, therefore, the precedent before us, let us profit by it, and carefully avoid those democratic views in religion which have been the cause of so much division, error, and fearful revulsion. Under all the circumstances of the state of Europe, we might, indeed, see in Protestant-we would rather say true Catholic Episcopacy (in contradistinction with Roman Catholic) a bond of union, the strongest and the most durable, between the different nations, since it would be founded upon the moral elevation and spiritual instruction of the populations, and would be a means of retrieving the abasement attendant upon superstition, as well as curbing the bad passions which spring from unbelief. The Almighty's purposes far surpass man's ken: to us only it pertains to await in entire trust and confidence, hastening their accomplishment by our prayers, and doing whatsoever His providence may set

before us.

ART. VIII.-The Nestorians; or, the Lost Tribes: containing Evidence of their Identity; an Account of their Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies; together with Sketches of Travel in Ancient Assyria, Armenia, Media, and Mesopotamia; and Illustrations of Scripture Prophecy. BY ASAHEL GRANT, M.D. London: John Murray. 1841.

KOORDISTAN was comparatively an unknown region, until it was explored by the late accomplished and justly lamented Claudius Rich; the accuracy of some of whose geographical

observations is confirmed by Dr. Grant, whose character as a missionary physician secured him a welcome reception wherever he went, and enabled him to explore tracts with safety, which would have cost another his life. His volume consists of three parts; first, a narrative of his journey to Ooroomiah, the capital of a province of the same name, which forms an important part of ancient Media, and is situated in the north-western part of the modern kingdom of Persia. Thence he proceeded to visit the independent Christian Koords

66

"The province of Ooroomiah (says he), is separated by a lofty chain of snowy mountains from ancient Assyria, or Central Koordistan on the west; while on the east the beautiful lake extends about eighty miles in length and thirty in width. The water of this lake is so salt that fish cannot live in it: its shores are enlivened by numerous water-fowl, of which the beautiful flamingo is most conspicuous, and sometimes lines the shores for miles in extent. "A plain of exuberant fertility is enclosed between the mountains and the lake, comprising an area of about five hundred square miles, and bearing upon its bosom no less than three hundred hamlets and villages. It is clothed with luxuriant verdure, fruitful fields, gardens, and vineyards, and irrigated by considerable streams of pure water from the adjacent mountains. The landscape is one of the most lovely in the east; and the effect is not a little heightened by the contrast of such surprising fertility with the stern aspect of the surrounding heights, on which not a solitary tree is to be seen; while in the plain, the willows, poplars, and sycamores by the water-courses, the peach, apricot, pear, plum, cherry, quince, apple, and vine, impart to large sections the appearance of a rich, variegated forest.

"Near the centre of this plain stands the ancient city of Ooroomiah, containing a population of about twenty thousand souls, mostly Mohammedans, and enclosed by a fosse and wall of nearly four miles in circuit. At a little distance on the

east of the city an ancient artificial mound rises to the height of seventy or eighty feet, and marks the site, as it is said, of the ancient shrine or temple, where in days of yore the renowned Zoroaster kindled his sacred fires, and bowed in adoration to the heavenly hosts.

"The climate is naturally very delightful: but owing to local causes a poisonous miasma is generated, occasioning fevers and the various diseases of malaria, to which the unacclimated stranger is specially exposed; and the mission families have suffered much from this cause.”

Convinced that his character as a physician would procure him a safe passport to any part of the Koordish mountains,

Dr. Grant, passing through Mesopotamia, Diarbékir, and Mardin, crossed the river Tigris into Assyria; he stopped at the ruins of Nineveh, near which are two villages of the Yezidees, the reputed worshippers of the devil. Here he was hospitably entertained, being a Christian; for the Yezidees cherish a settled aversion towards the Mohammedans. Of this little known people the author has given the following particulars:

66

They are said to cherish a high regard for the Christian religion, of which clearly they have some corrupt remains. They practise the rite of baptism, make the sign of the cross, so emblematical of Christianity in the east, put off their shoes and kiss the threshold when they enter a Christian church; and it is said that they often speak of wine as the blood of Christ, hold the cup with both hands, after the sacramental manner of the east, when drinking it, aud if a drop chance to fall on the ground, they gather it up with religious care.

66

They believe in one supreme God, and, in some sense at least, in Christ as a saviour. They have also a remnant of Sabianism, or the religion of the ancient fire-worshippers. They bow in adoration before the rising sun, and kiss his first rays when they strike on a wall, or other object near them; and they will not blow out a candle with their breath, or spit in the fire, lest they should defile that sacred element.

Circumcision and the passover, or a sacrificial festival allied to the passover in time and circumstance, seem also to identify them with the Jews; and altogether they certainly present a most singular chapter in the history of man.

"Their system of faith has points of strong resemblance to the ancient Manichean heresy; and it is probable that they are a remnant of that heretical sect. This idea derives support from the fact, that they seem to have originated in the region where Manes first laboured and propagated his tenets with the greatest success; and from the coincidence of the name of their reputed founder or most revered teacher, Adde, with an active disciple of Manes of the same name and place of abode. If Adde of the Yezidees and of the Manicheans was one and the same, the circumstance at once reconciles their remains of Christian forms and sentiments, with the testimony of the Syrian and Nestorian Christians around them, to their Christian origin, and throws important light upon the early history of this remarkable people. Their Christian attachments, if not their origin, should at least plead strongly to enlist the sympathies of Christians in their behalf, while it holds out cheering encouragement for us to labour for their good.

66

"That they are really the worshippers of the devil can only be true, if at all, in a modified sense, though it is true that they pay him so much deference as to refuse to speak of him disrespectfully (perhaps for fear of his vengeance); and, instead of pronouncing his name, they call him the "lord of the evening," or prince of darkness;" also, Sheikh Maazen, or exalted chief. Some of them say that Satan was a fallen angel with whom God was angry; but he will at some future day be restored to favour, and there is no reason why they should treat him with disrespect. It may be found that their notions of the evil being are derived from the Ahriman of the ancient Magi, and the secondary or evil Deity of the Manicheans, which was evidently ingrafted on the Oriental philosophy. Some of the ancient Nestorian writers speak of them as of Hebrew descent; a question which I shall examine more at length in another place in this volume.

"The Christians of Mesopotamia report that the Yezidees make votive offerings to the devil, by throwing money and jewels into a certain deep pit in the mountains of Sinjar, where a large portion of them reside; and it is said that when that district, which has long been independent, was subjugated by the Turks, the pasha compelled the Yezidee priest to disclose the place, and then plundered it of a large treasure, the offerings of centuries. The Yezidees here call themselves Daseni, probably from the ancient name of the district Dasen, which was a Christian bishopric in early times. Their chief place of concourse, the religious temple of the Yezidees, is said to have once been a Christian Church or convent."

The Papists in Mesopotamia assured our traveller that no effort would be spared to bring over the whole of the Nestorian Church to their faith; for which purpose three bishops and priests had just been sent from the propaganda at Rome. We trust that the machinations of Popery will be frustrated, and that the Nestorians will be preserved in the pure faith of the Gospel. At length Dr. Grant reached the mountainous residence of the independent Nestorian Koords, among whom he met with the most hospitable reception. The following is his account of their worship on a Sunday :

Each

"A thin piece of board was struck rapidly with a mallet, to call the villagers to church at the rising of the sun. person, on entering the church, put off his shoes, and testified his reverence for the sanctuary of God by kissing the door-posts or threshold, and passed on to kiss the gospels lying upon the altar, then the cross, and finally the hand of his religious teacher.

"The church, like all I saw in the mountains, was a very solid stone edifice, with arched roof, and might stand for ages. Others that I saw had stood for more than fourteen centuries, according to their ancient records. For the narrow door (which would not admit a man without much stooping) the usual explanation was given, strait is the gate,' &c., a truth of which they wished to be reminded when entering the sanctuary. The prayers and the singing or chanting of the psalms were all in the ancient Syriac language, and quite unintelligible to the common people; but one of the priests read a portion of the gospels, and gave the translation into the vulgar Syriac spoken by the Nestorians; and this constituted the preaching. Sometimes the reading is accompanied by some explanations or legendary stories, of which they have many.

"It was a sacramental occasion; and the bread and wine were consecrated in the sanctuary or 'holy place' of the church, and then brought out by a priest and a deacon, while each member of the church went forward in rotation, and partook of a small piece of bread from the hand of the priest, who held a napkin to prevent any particle from falling, as he put the morsel into the mouth of the communicant: and then he drank off the wine, which was held with great care by the deacon, so that not a drop should be spilled. But there was none of that idolatous adoration of the host, so characteristic of the mass of the Romanists and of the other Oriental Churches. On the contrary, there was almost a scriptural simplicity in the observance of this solemn ordinance.

"The priest who had officiated in the prayers and instruction of the congregation first partook of the sacred elements, and then invited me to partake. Hitherto I had never partaken of this ordinance with the Nestorians; but to have declined under present circumstances would have done as much injustice to my own feelings as to theirs. For many months I had not been privileged with coming to the table of the Lord: God had in great mercy preserved me through many perils, and brought me among a people who had received the Gospel from the apostles and immediate disciples of our Saviour, and had preserved its doctrines with a great degree of purity; and though there was painful evidence of a great want of spiritual life, I was encouraged to hope that some almost smothered sparks of vital piety were still burning upon these altars. I could not but regard it as a branch of the true Church of God, though immersed in the darkness of gross ignorance, superstition, and spiritual torpor, yet not of death. But there was still much in their character and circumstances of deep and lively interest; my