The times., 1899-10-09
DIR. PoTTER,s DISCOURSE.
An Interesting Sermon on the Sub
ject of Persian Customs.

ject of Persian Customs.
Rev. Joseph L. Potter, d. D., of Persia,
delivered an interesting sermon yesterday
morning at the Fourth Presbyterian
Church. Of which Rev. Joseph T. Kelly is
pastor, DR.. Potter's talk, for it was really
talk, being a description of the Persian
people, was both instructive and entertain
ing. and for nearly an hour he held the
closest attention of a large congregation.
His style was conversational. 1t was as
though he were addressing a friend His
voice was clear and penetrated every corner
| of,the church. His text was the tenth chap
ter of Romans fifteenth verse, How shall
| they preach except they be sent?'' He told
of the differences that existed between the
Jew and the Gentle, and how the Jews
were the favored children Of God. but that
when Christ died the temple was rent in
twain, thus destroying that difference All
OF US, he said, had within our hands the
means of redemption. The Church of
Christ recognizes and obeys the command
Of the risen Lord.
1T has been my privilege for twenty
years, said he, TO be sent. out by the
Church to the capital of Persia to hold UP
the gospel of the Lord He then proceeded
TO give description of Persia and the
people of that country. 1t was a hot, dry
country, he said, where but little rain falls.
and then only for a brief period The Gov
ernment is an absolute monarchy The
Shah is the supreme ruler and he could
put anyone to death without trial, and
confiscate the victims property. People in
the United States, he said. could not APP
preelate the blessings of freedom and
liberty until they had seen Persia The
governors of the provinces buy their posi-
tions, and then they rob and tax the people
to reimburse themselves. One character
istic of the people is their absolute lack of
truthfuiness. There are three things instili-
ed into the mind of every Persian: Learn
to ride horse, shoot the bow, and tell the
! truth. They are expert horssmen; they can
shoot the bow with wonderful accuracy
and they never tell the truth. The Orien-
tai character, he said, is Interchangeable
The first book put in their hands contains
this adage: "a polite lie is better than
the truth If it stirs up strife This is fol-
lowed to such an extent that no man can
trust his brother.
Partnerships are almost unknown Be-
cause of this condition. the doctor said
there is almost no progress. no great en-
terprises. There are, however, he said,
some 5000 honest Mussulmans scattered
over Persia Here he gave an outline of
the Mohammedan religion. The Moham-
medans say that everyone who does not
( believe as they do is going to destruction,
and may take any road they want The
prayers Of the Mohammedans, he said are
burden and a task. There is a story
among them that Mohammed leaving the
seventh heaven to deliver a message to
his people, met Moses in the sixth heaven
who enquired his errand. Mohammed said
he had been sent TO tell his people that
| they must say fifty prayers a day. Moses
said that was TOO many, and suggested
that Mohammed return and have the num-
Der reduced to ten, which was done The
number has now. said the doctor, been re-
duced to five. He spoke OF the Ramadan,
or month of fasting, which occurs every
year. This custom is reiigiously observed
| From the first streak of dawn until sunset
! the ,Mohammedan neither tastes feor nor
! drink. After sunset they gorge them
selves As a rule no work is done during
| the month of fasting, but on one occasion
a number of men employed by the mission
| at Tesehar TO build a house consented to
work half day. During the hot weather
of that month"; said the doctor, 81 have
| seen the lips of those poor fellows crack
| and bleed, and not drop of water would
(! they take 1t is a real pleasure, he said,
! for missionary to meet one who is seek
| ing after the truth, and he was happy to
! say there We're quite a number of such
seekers. He spoke of the work that had
been accomplished by the mission at Te-
| heran. Recently, he said an order had
been issued prohibiting the introduction
| into Persia of the Bible and religious work,
| but before the order had been made the
mission had scattered abroad thousands of
Bibles that had been translated into the
native tongue. This order, he said, will
soon be forgotten by the Government and
| the Bible will come in as before