ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
147 
scarcely acquired a word of the Persian language, but could converse 
fluently in Armenian and Turkish. We seized the first opportunity of 
paying him a visit, and we had no difficulty in finding where he lived, 
for he seemed to be known by every inhabitant of Julfa. We went 
early in the morning, and knocked for a considerable time at the door 
of his house, before we heard any noise that indicated an inhabitant. 
At length the door was opened very cautiously by the Padre himself, 
who had well ascertained who were his visitors, before he ventured 
upon so bold a step. His precautions were very natural, for himself 
and his companion, a cat, were the only inhabitants of his house and' 
church, which forming one entire spacious building, were calculated to 
hold a much larger number than its present tenants. In most 
Mahomedan countries, where Christians are constantly molested and 
oppressed, they are very cautious to whom they open the doors of their 
houses. Our early intrusion had awaked the good man from his sleep, 
for we perceived his bed spread on the brick floor, and in his hurry he 
had not had time to adjust his dress. First, he showed us the church, 
which, considering his very slender means of existence, we found to be 
in good repair, clean, in good order, and better ornamented than we 
could have expected. It belongs to the order of the Dominicans, of 
which generally four or five monks used to reside at Ispahan ; and was 
built by a Catholic lady in the year 1700, who left a legacy for that 
purpose, and whose tomb is now to be seen in the interior of the church. 
Formerly the Carmelites and Jesuits had each their church and monas¬ 
tery at Julfa, whilst the Augustins and Capuchins had theirs in Ispahan 
itself; but it is long since they have ceased to exist. 
Padre Yusuf informed us that his flock does not at present amount 
to more than fourteen or fifteen souls, but that in the better days of Per¬ 
sia, large numbers of Europeans formed apart of the congregation on Sun¬ 
days and holidays. We could almost imagine ourselves to be in Europe, 
conversing as we were in Italian, in a church so like in its interior to 
those of Catholic countries. The Padre informed us, that as long 
as the Pope was in power, he used to receive succours in money, but 
now his necessities were so great that he scarcely knew how to live. 
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