History Of The Missions Of The American Board Of Commissioners For Foreign Missions Volume II Part 12

The congregations at Bitlis were composed mostly of young men, apparently drawn together by love for the truth. About twenty were known as Protestants, and five of them had gone through a fiery trial of persecution. The Bible cla.s.s, which had been broken up by that means, was now regularly attended by about thirty young men, some of whom developed rich natural endowments, and gave promise of future usefulness. Sabbath-school instruction was found a valuable auxiliary to the preaching of the missionaries, on account of the opportunity it afforded for free and familiar ill.u.s.tration and personal application of the truth. It also made the missionary acquainted with the superst.i.tions and errors of the Armenian religion. The women's meeting, conducted by Mrs. Knapp and Mrs.

Burbank, was well attended and influential. A school for girls, taught by the wife of the helper, was broken up by the violence of Armenian ecclesiastics. The missionaries appealed to the Pasha, and to Mr. Dalzell, the friendly British Consul at Erzroom. The result was that the priests commenced a free school for boys and girls, and also a preaching service, hoping thus to deter the people from becoming Protestants. The Porte had given orders that the Protestants in every city should have a suitable cemetery, but every effort to secure one at Bitlis had been without success.

Dr. Dwight was much interested in this city. Its population was thirty thousand, and one third were Armenians; the rest were Koords and Turks, and there were hundreds of villages within the district.

The place was proverbial for salubrity, and he saw enough to convince him that the leaven of the Gospel was working powerfully among the people. Moosh, an out-station of Bitlis, was occupied by the native pastor Simon. The truth had taken some hold there, but the people were more degraded than at Bitlis.

Erzroom had several changes of missionaries in the six years previous to 1862. Being near to Russia, it suffered greatly during the Crimean war. The church was disbanded, but was reorganized by Mr. Trowbridge. Mr. Pollard removed thither from Arabkir, and was received with unexpected favor. The government now granted an eligible cemetery; and the Armenian Bishop, having had the benefit of a two years' residence in the United States, was friendly towards the American missionary.

The removal of Mr. Pollard left Mr. Richardson alone at Arabkir. His report for 1862, shows that there was much to encourage him. Turkish women came to the female prayer-meetings; and the opening of Protestant schools had led the Armenians to establish schools for their own children, in some of which a large proportion of the pupils were girls, though but a few years had pa.s.sed since it was considered a shame for females to learn to read. Eleven young men from seven different cities and villages in this district, were connected with the Harpoot Seminary, giving the prospect of an improved cla.s.s of helpers. Yet most of the former helpers had proved themselves sincere and pious; and after having done what they could to bring forward younger men of higher attainments, they were themselves humbly and gracefully returning to their former trades and callings, and laboring for the advancement of the good cause as Sabbath-school teachers and private Christians.

At the close of 1862, Dr. Wood, the Corresponding Secretary of the Board at New York, in consideration of his former experience and his familiarity with the Armenian language, was requested by the Prudential Committee to reside at Constantinople for a year or more, laboring in connection with the mission to Western Turkey. This was necessary in consequence of the sickness of several missionaries, and the special demand, at that time, for labor at that important post. He returned in the summer of 1864, after having rendered important service to the mission.

The clerical accessions to the mission, in 1862 and 1863, were Messrs. John Francis Smith, Moses P. Parmelee, and Giles F.

Montgomery, with their wives; and their respective a.s.signments were to the Western, Central, and Eastern missions. In addition to these, Miss Arabella L. Babc.o.c.k went to Harpoot, Miss Ann Eliza Fritcher to Marsovan, and Miss Mary E. Reynolds to the Bulgarian Mission.

In May, 1863, native pastors were ordained at Antioch, Bitlis, Adana, and Tarsus. In June, a fifth was ordained at Killis, the officiating clergy in this last case, with a single exception, being natives.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

THE ARMENIANS.

1864-1866.

A reactionary movement took place among the Mohammedans of the capital in 1864. The government had encouraged the introduction of European science. Men high in civil positions had delivered courses of lectures on history and other topics, in a surprisingly liberal spirit, and to audiences embracing hundreds of Turks. A "Literary and Scientific Gazette," published monthly under the auspices of a native "Oriental Society," discussed questions of political and social economy from an occidental stand-point; and the press was active in issuing pamphlets and books by native writers, indicating and promoting a new intellectual life. All this the devotees of the "Old School" regarded with suspicion. They were even more alarmed by the religious liberty, which had been successfully claimed for converts from Mohammedanism, who had been openly baptized, and lived unmolested as Christians. The government had some time before been led to discourage Christian education by missionaries and other foreigners, when they could do this indirectly and under plausible pretexts; and they were somewhat rigid in their censors.h.i.+p of the religious press. The Scriptures, however, were allowed to be printed and circulated in the Arabo-Turkish, or sacred character, and no objection was made to simple expositions of Christian truth in that language.

But when copies of Dr. Pfander's book[1] were brought to Constantinople, which defended Christianity against Mohammedanism, and a.s.sailed the latter, it was detained at the custom-house; yet copies got abroad in some way, without foreign agency, and were sought by Mohammedans who were interested in the great question it discussed. A Moslem published a bitter reply; and in July, the manifest increase of both Christian ideas and pantheistic infidelity among the people, and the growing excitement among the fanatical party, began to alarm the government. There was believed to be a somewhat large body, who wished to reform the Mohammedan faith; and it was said that a pet.i.tion was presented to the government, by some Moslems calling themselves Protestants, for a mosque in which to wors.h.i.+p in their own way.

[1] Dr. Pfander, was a highly respected missionary of the (English) Church Missionary Society. The work was printed in London.

The fears of the Sultan were aroused. For several weeks spies beset the missionaries at every step. Finally, on a set day, several Turkish converts were arrested, and cast into prison, some of them being treated with great indignity. On the next day, the printing presses used by the missionaries were seized and put under seal, and rooms occupied by English missionaries, and the bookstore of the American mission and the two Bible Societies were also closed by the police.

These proceedings, being in direct violation of rights secured by treaty, were at once met with a decided protest from Mr. Brown, who, in the absence of the American Minister Resident, was the representative of his government; and after some delay, the British Amba.s.sador, Sir Henry Bulwer, also sent in a remonstrance. An examination of the bookstore discovered no prohibited publications; and after two days it was allowed to be re-opened. The printing offices were likewise restored. A correspondence followed between Sir Henry Bulwer and the Turkish authorities, and between him and the missionaries resident at Constantinople. The Mohammedans professed not to oppose their people's embracing the Christian religion, but only such reckless proselytism, as endangered the public peace; and they declared their willingness to release the imprisoned converts if it could be done consistently with their personal safety. But the missionaries believed that the intention of the Turks, and also the tendency of Sir Henry's movements, were seriously to curtail their own liberty and that of their converts, and greatly to embarra.s.s the propagation of the Gospel, as well among all the nominally Christian sects, as among the Moslems.

The immediate effect of these things was to prevent attendance by the Turks on preaching, the circulation of Christian books, and personal intercourse with the missionaries.

The position of the entire field, at the opening of 1864, from Constantinople to Diarbekir on the East, and to Antioch on the south, was one to interest the intelligent observer. The laborers employed in this wide and populous region, not including the Bulgarians, were--

Missionaries 36 Missionary Physicians 2 Female a.s.sistant Missionaries 41 Native Pastors 20 Licensed Native Preachers 43 Teachers 83 Other Helpers 58 --- Total 283

The printing was done at Constantinople for all the missions; and that reported for the year 1863 was as follows:

In Armenian 1,821,000 pages In Armeno-Turkish 1,128,000 "

In Arabo-Turkish 264,000 "

In Greek 6,000 "

In Bulgarian 1,896,000 "

--------- Total 5,115,000 "

Of Turkish Scriptures twice as many copies had been distributed as in previous years. More than twenty-five thousand copies of the Word of G.o.d went into circulation, in at least twenty different languages. The following is a statement of the Scriptures prepared and printed, under the supervision of the missionaries of the Board, from 1840 to 1863:

In Modern Armenian 37,500 In Ararat 8,000 In Armeno-Turkish 6,500 In Greco-Turkish 55,000 In Koordish 13,000 In Bulgarian 4,000 In Hebrew-Spanish 23,000 Armenian Psalms 14,000 ------- Total 161,000

Of these, there were published at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 100,000; of the American Bible Society, 54,000; and of the American Tract Society (New York), 7,000. In addition to the above printed in Turkey, 10,500 copies of the modern Armenian version were printed in New York, from electrotype plates of the American Bible Society; and 5,000 copies of the same version were printed in London, by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

The number of churches was forty-seven, with one thousand nine hundred and thirteen members. There had been received from the beginning two thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. The efforts to bring the churches to the point of self-support were not always appreciated. The people were poor, and sometimes felt their poverty more than they should, and in almost every church there were members who were ready to resent any transfer of pecuniary responsibility from the mission treasury to themselves. Moreover, it was sometimes not easy for a native pastor, with the tastes acquired during his education, to live in a manner that would put him in sympathy with his people, and encourage the hope of their soon a.s.suming his support. Nor was it easy for the native pastor, from his different stand-point, to appreciate the responsibilities of the missionary. A union of the churches was needed, but had been delayed by their distance from each other and their poverty.

It has been already stated that the Western mission resolved, in 1862, to remove the two seminaries from Constantinople to Marsovan.

Mr. Leonard and his wife and Miss Maria A. West were already there.

Mr. Dodd and family, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Miss Fritcher now removed thither. The delightful harmony and Christian zeal which existed at this station when the mission pa.s.sed the resolution, had been followed by painful disagreements. Through the mistaken zeal of a young school-teacher, anxious to effect some changes in the school, the community were betrayed into an attempt to obtain exclusive control of the funds of the Board appropriated to education. This eventually led to a struggle with the mission for the possession of the meeting-house and a dwelling-house connected with it, which had been purchased by the Board a few years before.

Much ill feeling existed both in the church and the community while this was in progress, and for about six weeks a large number withdrew, and set up public wors.h.i.+p in a private house, with the teacher at their head. This separate movement was then given up, and there was soon a return of peace and mutual affection; but neither of the schools were opened before the next year.

The accessions to the missions in Turkey, in the time now under review, were Messrs. Walter H. Giles, Henry A. Schauffler, Lucien N.

Adams, and Albert Bryant, with their wives; also Miss Clarissa C.

Pond.

The working force of the mission at Constantinople, consisting of Drs. Goodell and Riggs, and Messrs. Trowbridge, Herrick, and Washburn, was quite too small for the demands of that great metropolis, and for the general work of the mission which had to be performed there. The Rev. Isaac G. Bliss, agent of the American Bible Society, rendered valuable a.s.sistance in the care of the book department. Dr. Hamlin was no longer able to render the services he had performed. Robert College was allowed the use of the Seminary building at Bebek, belonging to the American Board, until another building could be erected. Its twenty students paid forty pounds each year for board and tuition. Its successful beginning in 1862, under the munificent patronage of its founder, and the care of its President, Dr. Hamlin, and Professors Perkins and Henry A.

Schauffler, was a subject for general congratulation.

The unhappy dissensions of the Protestant civil community had in some degree subsided; but the Pera church, maintaining its att.i.tude of disaffection, sought patronage from the English Bishop of Gibraltar, offering to receive Episcopal ordination for the pastor, and to become a "Reformed Armenian church," which should reject the grossest errors of the Armenian Church, while it approximated closely to it in government, wors.h.i.+p, and usages. Inquiries were inst.i.tuted by the proper ecclesiastical authorities, and encouragement was withheld from the movement.

It is painful to state that Vertanes, so often favorably mentioned in the early history of this mission, and frequently actuated by a zeal which the missionaries judged too ardent, became now disaffected, and it was necessary to dismiss him as a helper.

The Pera church, at the time of writing this history, is in full fellows.h.i.+p with the missionaries and its sister churches.

The Protestant community at Broosa suffered severely in a conflagration, which consumed nearly the whole Armenian quarter of the city. The neat Protestant church edifice, and the dwelling of the native pastor, happily escaped.

A railway connects Smyrna with Aidin, a city of about fifty thousand inhabitants, eighty miles distant. A church had been formed there previous to 1865; four persons were added to it in that year, and the brethren were grateful for their native pastor, but desired a missionary who could preach in Greek, as they could reckon up scores of Greeks who seemed ready to receive the truth.

Adana remained unoccupied after Mr. Coffing's death, until March, 1863, when Mr. Goss arrived, and, afterwards, Dr. and Mrs. Goodale.

The native pastor was faithful and intelligent. Though neither church nor congregation was large, there was an advance in the observance of the Sabbath, also in self-support and general benevolence. The increased price of the cotton grown on its magnificent plain, as the result of the war in America, had given an extraordinary impulse to the business of the place, and to the spirit of commerce. There was much to encourage hope in respect to this important station.

Dr. Nutting, being transferred from the Eastern to the Central mission, was stationed at Oorfa, where his brother was laboring; Mr.

and Mrs. Montgomery were added to the Central mission; but the return home of Mr. and Mrs. White and of Dr. and Mrs. Goodale, by reason of a failure of health, made the number of missionaries in that field less than it had been the year before.

Yet such was the advance in Aintab, that the mission resolved, at its annual meeting in 1864, that there was no longer a call for the residence of a missionary in that city. The church had increased to three hundred and fifty members, and had two native pastors, both of decided ability, sound judgment, harmonious views, and deep-toned piety; and it was thought that the proper development of the pastoral relation, and the most economical disposal of missionary strength, would be promoted by leaving the station to native cultivation, with occasional visits of missionaries. As, however, a second church was to be formed, and a new house of wors.h.i.+p to be built, mainly with funds from England placed under Dr. Schneider's direction, the mission approved of his remaining there till these things were done, when he was to go--as he has since gone--to another field, where he might hope, with his uncommon power as a preacher in the Turkish language, to reap a harvest like that which had resulted in the truly wonderful ingathering of souls at Aintab.

The division of the church took place in the following year. When the time had fully come for it, the senior pastor proposed that each head of a family choose between them. The result was, that the two churches, thus formed, each contained about one hundred and fifty members. The number in each congregation, small and great, was between eight and nine hundred. The preponderance was slightly in favor of the first church and congregation, of which Baron Avedis was pastor. Baron Krikore became the pastor of the new church.

On the Sabbath when the formal separation took place, the customary services were exchanged for addresses suited to the occasion by the pastors and Dr. Schneider, and there was the same intermingling of joy and sorrow which is sometimes witnessed on similar occasions in our own land. Those who went out made the sacrifice cheerfully. In the afternoon they a.s.sembled in their place of temporary wors.h.i.+p, which was filled to its utmost capacity. "Though uncomfortably crowded, pleasure beamed in every countenance. The Confession of Faith and the Covenant were read and adopted anew by the church, all the members standing. Then they were addressed on subjects appropriate to their circ.u.mstances, with a view to rousing them to new zeal and activity. When all was over, little groups were engaged in lively conversation over the whole house, showing that all were especially interested in what had transpired."

The Female Boarding-school at Aintab, under the care of Miss Proctor, was now firmly established, having overcome much prejudice against female education, and against the regulations necessary in such an inst.i.tution. It had fourteen pupils, who acquitted themselves well at a public examination in the presence of a deeply interested a.s.sembly.

In the high school for young men at the same station, under the very competent instruction of Baron Alexan, twelve candidates for the ministry were taught in secular branches, to whom lectures were delivered in the departments of theological study by Drs. Schneider and Pratt. At an examination of this school in the church, in the presence of several hundred persons,--including six Moslems of prominent social positions, most of whom listened for several hours with the deepest interest,--the scholars gave highly satisfactory proofs of mental ability and discipline; while the simplicity of their piety, and their readiness to labor where divine Providence should call them, gave good promise of their future steadfastness and usefulness. It was then resolved to remove the Theological School to Marash, and place it under the instruction of Dr. Pratt and Mr. Goss, a.s.sisted by Baron Alexan, and that none but pious young men should be admitted. The course of study was to occupy three years; and so much of their own personal expenses were to devolve upon the students, or their friends, as might test their character, and furnish a healthful stimulus to the Protestant community on the subject of education for the ministry.

The Theological Seminary at Harpoot sent forth its first cla.s.s of eighteen young men near the close of 1863. Eight of these had been licensed as preachers of the Gospel, and nearly all the rest were employed at out-stations, as catechists and teachers. Some were expecting to be soon ordained as pastors. The demand for additional laborers was urgent, because of the very general increase in the size, as well as number, of the congregations.