CHAPTER XI.
THE NESTORIANS.
1833-1836.
The facts brought to light by Messrs.

Smith and Dwight respecting the Nestorians, made it the duty of the American Board to commence a mission among them.

Accordingly in January, 1833, the Rev.Justin Perkins, then a tutor in Amherst College, was appointed the first missionary to that people; and Mr.Smith, being ready to return to the Mediterranean, having published his "Researches in Armenia and Persia," it was decided that Mr.Perkins should accompany him as far as Malta.

They received their official instructions together, in the chapel of the Theological Seminary at Andover, on a Sabbath evening in September, and the two brethren embarked, with their wives, on the 21st of that month.

Mr.Perkins, in the interval, had been prostrated by a fever, but it was deemed safe for him to proceed, and his recovery was so rapid that he was soon able to administer to the comfort of his associates at sea.
"Your first duty among the Nestorians," said the Prudential Committee in their instructions to Mr.Perkins, "will be to cultivate an intimate acquaintance with the religious opinions and sentiments of the Nestorians.