by the friends of the missionaries here that it will be necessary for the Persian Government to extend special protection to them, or they may become the victims of Mohammedan fury, should they escape other dangerous contingencies of the war. I therefore respectfully suggest that the grave emergency of the situation would appear to call for an immediate communication from this government to the Persian Government, requesting the necessary protection for the American missionaries. I am moved to an urgent appeal to you for action in this matter by the fact that my sister, her husband and family are of this party of missionaries. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant, calling the attention of this Department to the perils to which you have reason to believe your sister, her husband, and other American missionaries of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions are now exposed at the missionary station of Oroomiah, in Persia, in consequence of the condition of war in the province of Oroomiah, and the fact that the missionaries are falsely accused of complicity with the Koordish sheik, whose forces, according to your advices, are confronting that province. In view of these circumstances you suggest that the emergency is one which calls for the intervention of this government with that of Persia for the protection of the American citizens in question. In reply I beg to thank you for having called my attention to the danger to which the ladies and gentlemen referred to in your letter are exposed, and to inform you that as this country has no diplomatic representative in Persia, I will instruct Mr. Lowell, the minister of the United States at London, to request the good offices of the British Gov ernment. I have, &c., No. 3. Mr. Evarts to Mr. Lowell. WM. M. EVARTS. No. 78.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 26, 1880. SIR: I inclose herewith for your information a copy of a letter, dated the 20th instant, from the Hon. R. R. Dawes, of Marietta, Ohio, a member-elect of the Forty-seventh Congress, in which that gentleman calls the attention of this Department to the perils to which he says he has reason to believe his sister, her husband, and other American missionaries of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions are now exposed at the missionary station at Oroomiah, in Persia, in consequence of the condition of war said to exist in the province of Oroomiah, and of the fact that the missionaries are falsely accused of complicity with the Koordish sheik, whose forces, according to the advices received by Mr. Dawes, are confronting that province. As the representations made by Mr. Dawes in reference to this matter are doubtless very trustworthy, and inasmuch as this country has no diplomatic representative in Persia, I have to instruct you to lose no time in communicating to the foreign office the statements contained in Mr. Dawes' letter in regard to this matter, with a request that the representative of Her Majesty's Government in Persia may be asked to use his good offices for the protection of these American citizens, for whose safety great anxiety is felt here. I am, &c., (For inclosure vide ante, No. 1.) WM. M. EVARTS. No. 4. Mr. Lowell to Mr. Evarts. [Telegram.] LONDON, December 11, 1880. EVARTS, Secretary, Washington: British minister in Persia has intervened for protection of missionaries. Persian Government has instructed its representative at Oroomiah to this effect. No. 5. Mr. Lowell to Mr. Evarts. LOWELL, Minister. No. 98.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, December 11, 1880. (Received December 23.) SIR: Referring to your number 78, of the 24th ultimo, I have the honor to acquaint you that immediately after its reception on the 7th instant, I addressed a note to Lord Granville requesting his kind offices for the protection of the American missionaries in Persia through the British legation in that country. I received late last evening a letter from his lordship inclosing the copy of a telegram from Her Majesty's minister at Teheran which arrived yesterday. I am also informed that a more formal letter from Lord Granville to myself has gone to his lordship for his signature, which will reach this legation in due course, and which states that instructions had been sent to Her Majesty's minister at Teheran in accordance with my wishes. I inclose a copy of the correspondence which has already taken place, and I shall telegraph to you to-day the substance of the dispatch from Teheran. J. R. LOWELL. I have, &c., [Inclosure 1 in No. 98.] Mr. Lowell to Earl Granville. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MY LORD: I have the honor to ask your lordship's attention to a letter, a copy of which is inclosed herewith, addressed by the Hon. R. R. Dawes, of Marietta, Ohio, a member-elect of the Forty-seventh Congress, to Mr. Evarts, in which that gentleman brings to the notice of the Department of State the perils to which he says he has reason to believe his sister, her husband, and other American missionaries of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions are now exposed at the missionary station Oroomiah, in Persia, in consequence of the condition of war said to exist in the province of Oroomiah, and of the fact that the missionaries are falsely accused of complicity with the Koordish sheik, whose forces, according to the advices received by Mr. Dawes, are confronting that province. As the representations made by Mr. Dawes in reference to this matter are doubtless very trustworthy, and inasmuch as the United States have no diplomatic representative in Persia, I am instructed to lose no time in communicating to your lordship the statements contained in Mr. Dawes' letter in regard to this matter, with a request that your lordship will kindly ask the representative of Her Majesty's Government in Persia to use his good offices for the protection of these American citizens, for whose safety great anxiety is felt in the United States. Commending this matter to your early attention, I have, &c., J. R. LOWELL. [Inclosure 2 in No. 98.] Earl Granville to Mr. Lowell. FOREIGN OFFICE, December 10, 1880. Earl Granville presents his compliments to Mr. Lowell, and with reference to his letter of the 7th instant has the honor to transmit a copy of a telegram received this day from Her Majesty's minister at Teheran, relative to the measures taken for the security of the American missionaries at Oroomiah. [Inclosure 3 in No. 98.] Copy of telegram from Mr. Thomson. FOREIGN OFFICE, Teheran, D. 7. 30 p. m. R. 5. 30. The ill feeling against the American missionaries at Oroomiah, which was prevalent for some days after Sheik Obeydullah's attack on the city, has now, I believe, entirely subsided. The Sepah Salar is expected at Oroomiah to-morrow, and the Persian Government are sending him instructions by telegraph to take all necessary measures for the protection of the missionaries. [Inclosure 4 in No. 98.] Mr. Thornton to Mr. Hoppin. FOREIGN OFFICE, December 10, 1880. DEAR MR. HOPPIN: I inclose a letter to Mr. Lowell concerning the missionaries at Oroomiah. A previous letter to Mr. Lowell on the same subject is gone to Lord Granville for his signature, and will reach your legation in due course. It states that instructions had been sent to Her Majesty's minister at Teheran, in accordance with Mr. Lowell's wishes. In the mean time a telegram has been received in reply; and we think you may be glad to possess the information without further delay. Perhaps you will kindly explain this to the minister. Believe me, &c., C. CONWAY THORNTON. [Inclosure 5 in No. 98.] Mr. Lowell to Earl Granville. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, December 11, 1880. MY LORD: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your lordship's note of yesterday, iuclosing the copy of a telegram which has just been received from Her Majesty's representative at Teheran, in relation to the case of the American missionaries at Oroomiah, and I beg to express my cordial thanks for the prompt courtesy with which your lordship has been kind enough to accede to the wishes of my government in this matter. I have, &c., J. R. LOWELL. No. 99.] No. 6. Mr. Lowell to Mr. Evarts. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, December 13, 1880. (Received December 27.) SIR: I have the honor to forward herewith the copy of a further communication and its inclosure received by me from Lord Granville since my last dispatch was written in relation to the position of the American missionaries at Oroomiah, in Persia. I have, &c., [Inclosure 1 in No. 99.] J. R. LOWELL. Earl Granville to Mr. Lowell. FOREIGN OFFICE, December 11, 1880. Earl Granville presents his compliments to Mr. Lowell, and with reference to his letter of yesterday's date, has the honor to transmit a copy of a telegram received this day from Her Majesty's consul-general at Tabreez, through Her Majesty's minister at Teheran, relative to the position of the American missionaries åt Oroomiah. [Inclosure 2 in No. 99.] Have received a telegram, dated 10th instant, from Mr. Abbott, as follows: "Most recent information in letters from American missionaries is to the effect that they are on cordial terms with Persian authorities at Oroomiah; the reports concerning them much exaggerated." When I received your telegram to-day, I called upon foreign office agent. He said he would address heir apparent on the subject, and promised to cause Sepeh Salar, who was thought to be already at Oroomiah, to be instructed in the matter by special messenger. No. 102.] No. 7. Mr. Lowell to Mr. Evarts. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, December 14, 1880. (Received December 27.) SIR: Since my last communication to you in relation to the American missionaries at Oroomiah (No. 99, December 13, 1880), I have received a further note from Lord Granville upon this subject, a copy of which, together with the printed matter which accompanied it, I herewith inclose for your confidential information. I have, &c., [Inclosure 1 in No. 102.] J. R. LOWELL. Earl Granville to Mr. Lowell. FOREIGN OFFICE, December 10, 1880. SIR: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 7th instant requesting that instructions might be sent to Her Majesty's representative in Persia to use his good offices for the protection of the American missionaries and their families, resident at Oroomiah, who, it is feared, are in some danger owing to their being falsely accused of complicity with the Kurdish chief Sheik Abdullah. I have had much pleasure in complying with the wishes of the United States Government in this matter, and, for their confidential information, I have the honor to inclose printed copies of some reports recently received at this office from Mr. Abbott, Her Majesty's consul at Tabreez, who, under instructions from Her Majesty's Government, proceeded to Oroomiah in the month or October to inquire into the condition of the Nestorian Christians of that district, and was at that place at the time of the Kurdish invasion. I have, &c., [Inclosure 2 in No. 102.] GRANVILLE. No. 26.] Consul-General Abbott to Earl Granville. TABREEZ, November 11, 1880. (Received December 4.) MY LORD: I have the honor to transmit herewith to your lordship my report upon the condition of the Nestorian Christians of Oroomiah, resulting from investigations held by me during my recent visit to that district, and trust that it will meet with your lordship's approval. I have, &c, WILLIAM G. ABBOTT. [Inclosure 2 in No. 102.] Report by Consul-General Abbott upon the condition of the Nestorian Christians of Oroomiah. In order to form a true and impartial opinion of the position in which the Nestorians are placed, it seems indispensable to inquire carefully into the relations existing between Christian tenants and Mussulman landlords, as well as into the mode employed for the collection of the taxes, and to draw a comparison between the state of things under which the two races respectively live. By these means I have endeavored to arrive at an accurate judgment regarding the alleged grievances which form the subject of Pastor Yacob's petition to Her Majesty the Queen, copies of which, and of its inclosure, have been forwarded to me by Her Majesty's minister at Teheran. The plain of Oroomiah, in which the town of that name is situated, stretches about 50 miles north and south. It is bordered on the east by a salt lake 200 miles in circumference, and is thickly dotted over with about 2,020 villages, of which it is computed that 120 are peopled by Nestorian Christians, and the remainder by Mussulmans. The majority of the latter are Shiahs, but there is also a considerable sprinkling of villages on the plain inhabited by Kurds of the Sunni persuasion. The three principal rivers, which rise in the mountains, water the plain, and discharge themselves into the lake, are the Chehr Tchai, the Barandooz Tchai, and the Nazloo Tchai. Fertile and well wooded, the plain of Oroomiah must in spring well deserve the appellation it has acquired, the "Paradise of Persia." The landlords, or masters of villages, are principally members of the Affshar tribe, and belong to the Shiah persuasion. |