The Catholicos of the East and his People. By Arthur
John Mac- leane, M.A., and William Henry Browne, LL D. (S.P.C.K.)— The " Catholicos of the East" is the Patriarch of the Syrian, otherwise Assyrian, otherwise Nestorian, Christians. His people are settled partly in Persia and partly in Turkey. These latter are divided again into Ashiret and Rayat. The former are semi- independent mountaineers, the latter dwell in the plains, and, what with Kurds and oppressive Turkish officials, have a bad time. So bad, indeed, is their condition that the Turkish Government is suspected, though Messrs. Macleane and Browne think without truth, of desiring their extermination. The authors of this volume, which we may say at once is full of in- teresting information from beginning to end, deal with three subjects. These are the doctrine and ritual of the Nestorians, their social condition, and their political relations to Turkey and Persia, and, of course, to Russia. Technically, the Syrian Churches are heterodox. Nestorins is reverenced as a saint, and the Council of Ephesus is not received. A Syrian Christian, for instance, will not accept the term" Theotokos." (The average non- theological Englishman would probably be shocked by the phrase "Mother of Gol,"—and, indeed, the English has a nuance of meaning other than that which belongs to the Greek.) Neverthe- less, they are substantially orthodox, if, as Dr. Bright suggests, one gets "behind words." The account of their worship and of their religious life, in which long and rigorous fasts play an important part, is very curious. The description of their social life is cer- tainly attractive. There is a simplicity and kindliness about them which pleases much. At the same time, they have their faults, litigiousness being one of the chief. This habit, indeed gives their enemies great advantage over them. Of the oppression
which the Rayat endure, there are accounts which are nothing less than heartrending. Still, there is a tendency in their affairs to mend. The Turkish Governor of their district, for instance, is a decided improvement on his predecessor. And the presence of Europeans is a decided help to them. Of one thing the reader may be assured, on the unimpeachable testimony of the two gentlemen who write this book,—the sufferings of these poor Christians are real. There is a class of politicians in England who make it an article of faith not to believe in anything to the discredit of the Turkish Government. Let them see what Messrs. Macleane and Browne have to say. What do they say to this ? It is the law that any Christian embracing Islam has a right to all the property of his kinsfolk. It is too iniquitous to be carried out to the full, even there ; but it is the law, and to a certain extent it is taken advantage of, especially in the case of women, who are abducted and practically compelled to apostatise.
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