ROBERT COLLEGE AND OTHER AMERICAN SCHOOLS
The forty-seventh scholastic year at Robert College opened in October,
1910, under most favourable and gratifying auspices. Never before were
the prospects of usefulness so glowing. Through the efforts of Mr.
Straus, the American ambassador, Robert College has been recognized
by the Turkish government and is no longer a mere squatter on Turkish
soil, without legal rights and simply tolerated. After many years of
patient application and argument an imperial irade has been issued
recognizing the institution in the fullest sense as entitled to all
the legal rights and privileges of Turkish institutions of learning,
under its charter by the State of New York; and, at the same time,
granting it exemption from the recent “laws of association,” which
require all foreign corporations doing business in Turkey to have
Turkish representation in their boards of directors and trustees. The
same privileges are granted at the same time to the Protestant college
at Beirut, the American College for Girls at Scutari, and to all other
American missionary institutions for higher education throughout the
Turkish Empire. For this recognition these institutions are indebted to
the persistency and the influence of Mr. Straus, who, during all the
years that he has served as the diplomatic representative of the United
States at the Turkish court, has been an active friend and protector of
Christian missionaries and the work in which they are engaged.
In addition to this irade the Turkish government has placed in Robert
College five more students, making ten in all, to be educated according
to American ideas for teachers and superintendents of schools. Although
Robert College is founded on the Christian faith and its students are
required to attend religious worship on Sunday and morning prayer on
week days, it is entirely non-sectarian and no questions are ever asked
as to the religious belief of students, any more than concerning their
political views. They attend worship just as they attend lectures, as
a part of the curriculum, be they Jews, or Greeks, or Mohammedans.
But it is very significant that a Mohammedan government should select
a Christian college for the education of Mohammedan youth. Perhaps
it would not do so if there were Mohammedan institutions where these
young men could be educated. But the Turkish cabinet shows confidence
in the good faith as well as the capacity of the American missionaries
not only in this case but in a hundred other similar cases where the
government is paying the expenses of Mohammedan students in missionary
schools.
Robert College occupies one of the most superb sites of any institution
in the world. It stands on the summit of one of the highest bluffs
of the Bosphorus, commanding a view in both directions and over both
shores of that wonderful body of water. It is a test of limb and lung
to climb the path that leads up the Hill of Science from the boat
landing at the suburban village of Bebek, but when you reach the top
you are fully repaid for the exertion by the panorama that is spread
out before you as well as by the cordial welcome of President Gates and
his associates.
Mohammed II selected this commanding point for the Rumili Hisar, a
mighty castle which he built in the middle of the fifteenth century
while he was besieging the city of Constantinople. Immediately
opposite, upon the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, a similar castle was
erected, and the two commanded the passage so that every ship passing
up and down was compelled to pay toll. Mohammed called this castle
Boghag Kessen (Throat Cutter), for he had a very pleasant way with him.
The ruins are as picturesque and extensive as any in Europe, and the
towers are almost perfect after nearly 600 years, although the floors
and ceilings have long since fallen through. The walls have crumbled
and much stone has been taken away for building material. They were
originally thirty feet thick and thirty feet high and were built with
the greatest haste and energy. Mohammed employed 1,000 masons, 1,000
lime burners, and 10,000 labourers in the construction, and to each
mason was assigned the task of building two yards of wall in three
months. By this division of labour and responsibility the work was
completed in the time named by the ingenious designs of the engineers,
and the outline of the walls forms the Turkish word “Mahomet.”
[Illustration: Robert College, on the Bosphorus]
Certain incidents in connection with the foundation and early history
of Robert College are quite romantic. During the Crimean war a New
York merchant, Christopher Robert, was visiting Constantinople,
and while crossing the Bosphorus one day in a boat to Scutari, the
principal suburb on the Asiatic side, ran across a boat-load of
bread which looked very much like that he was accustomed to at home.
Upon inquiry he learned that the loaves came from the ovens of an
American missionary school conducted by a man named Hamlin at Bebek,
on the opposite side of the strait, and that they were on their way to
hospitals established by Florence Nightingale for the care of the sick
and wounded British soldiers. Mr. Robert, who was a keen Scotsman, was
impressed with the sagacity of a missionary who would enter into an
arrangement like that, and took an early opportunity of visiting the
school. Dr. Hamlin explained that he obtained the contract to supply
the British hospitals with bread: first, because he needed the money;
second, because they needed the bread, and, third, because he had an
industrial department in connection with his school and was trying to
teach his students how to earn their living.
The missionary baker and the Scottish merchant soon became intimate
friends, and Dr. Hamlin lost no opportunity to impress upon him the
opportunities for an American college at the capital of the Ottoman
Empire. As a consequence Mr. Robert gave Dr. Hamlin $30,000 to purchase
a site and put up a building.
Dr. Hamlin selected the ground on which the college now stands, but the
owner, Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Turkish ambassador to Paris, and a famous
man in his day, declined to sell. So Dr. Hamlin had to go elsewhere,
and examined twenty-two sites. As the best, he selected one above the
village of Courouchesmeh, and bought it, but the Turkish notables in
the vicinity protested against the erection of a Christian college in
their neighbourhood, and the ground remained unoccupied until its sale
a few years ago. Meantime Ahmed Vefik Pasha was in need of money, owing
to the failure of the government to provide for his heavy expenses in
Paris, and he accepted the offer he had refused before. A permit to
build was obtained without much difficulty, but no sooner was work
begun than the police stopped it, strange to say, upon the complaint of
France and Russia, whose ambassadors objected to the influence of an
American college on the banks of the Bosphorus.
But Dr. Hamlin was not to be deterred in his purpose and in September,
1863, with three professors and four students, began work in a room
of a large house, now the residence of Mr. Heizer, the American
vice-consul general, which was then used for Christian worship
by members of the English and American colonies, and also by the
missionaries of the American Board for a theological seminary. The
college remained there for eight years while Dr. Hamlin was importuning
the government for a permit to build on his own ground. He became such
a nuisance that Ali Pasha exclaimed one day:
“Will this man Hamlin ever die and stop bothering me about his
everlasting college?”
About that time the late Edwin D. Morgan of New York visited
Constantinople and became interested in the embryonic institution. Upon
his return to Washington he told Mr. Seward, then secretary of state,
about the situation. The latter sent for the Turkish minister and gave
him some very strong talk. The minister, being impressed with Mr.
Seward’s earnestness, telegraphed the Sublime Porte to give a building
permit to the American college at once, “lest it prove a thorny
question.”
The thorn which he predicted, all unconscious of its own influence or
the apprehension it created in the mind of the sultan, appeared in the
Bosphorus a few weeks later in the form of that grand old man-of-war
_Hartford_, with Admiral Farragut in command. The admiral was making a
cruise around the world, without the slightest political or diplomatic
responsibility, but the guilty conscience of the sultan needed no
accuser.
Dr. Hamlin’s son Alfred, now a professor in Columbia University, New
York, was so eager to see an American flagship that he persuaded his
father very reluctantly to waste the time, as he then believed, to go
on board; and, upon paying his respects to the admiral, he explained
who he was and what he was trying to do in Constantinople, and his
difficulty about getting a building permit from the Turkish government.
Dr. Seropain, an Armenian physician, who understood the situation, was
present at the interview, and, knowing that the admiral was to dine
with the grand vizier that evening, suggested that he ask his host the
simple question:
“Why do you refuse the American college permission to put up its
buildings?”
“Please do not say anything more,” said Dr. Seropain, “and do not make
any comments upon the answer you receive.”
A few days later an imperial irade was received authorizing the
erection of the necessary buildings for the college. Dr. Hamlin was
almost paralyzed, but he soon learned that the Turkish government,
putting one thing and another together, imagined that the _Hartford_
had been sent over to enforce the demands of our government in behalf
of the American college, and accepted the situation before it became
serious.
The corner stone of the first building was laid on the Fourth of July,
1869, and on the Fourth of July, 1871, it was formally inaugurated in
an address by William H. Seward, then on his journey around the world.
Mr. Robert continued to support the institution until his death,
when he bequeathed it one fifth of his entire estate, making his
benefactions altogether nearly a half million dollars. Since his death
the college has had many generous benefactors, and the late John S.
Kennedy, who had given a good deal of money before, left it a legacy of
nearly $2,000,000 in his will.
There have been three presidents--Cyrus Hamlin, its founder; George
Washburn, now president-emeritus, who is spending his well-earned
vacation in the United States, and Caleb Frank Gates, D.D., LL.D., who
was born in Chicago and is a son of the late Caleb F. Gates, a partner
of E. W. Blatchford in the shot tower and lead works on North Side.
Dr. Gates graduated at Beloit College in the class of ’77, and from
the Chicago Theological Seminary in the class of ’81; went to Turkey
as a missionary, where he engaged in educational work and was elected
president of Euphrates College in 1894. He remained there until 1902,
when he took a year’s vacation, and was elected president of Robert
College in 1903.
The most distinguished member of the faculty is Professor Alexander
van Milligen, a Scotchman from Edinburgh, where he was educated.
He is perhaps the highest authority in archæology in the Levant,
and has written several books on the Byzantine Empire, Turkey and
Constantinople.
The commencement of 1910 at Robert College was of unusual interest
and significance. It not only added another class of twenty-eight
well-trained young men of ambition to the list of leaders of modern
civilization in the East, but marked an epoch in the history of one of
the most useful of all educational institutions. Robert College has
been struggling along for half a century with limited resources, but,
by reason of a legacy from the late John S. Kennedy of New York, the
trustees will be able to increase its educational capacity threefold,
add eight new chairs to the faculty, extend the campus, and thus
enlarge its usefulness and influence.
“You will find the graduates of Robert College scattered pretty
thoroughly over Turkey, Armenia, and the Balkan states,” said Dr.
Caleb F. Gates, president of that institution, in reply to my inquiry.
“You will find many physicians, attorneys, teachers, bankers,
merchants, shipping agents, clerks in the Imperial Ottoman Bank, in
the post-office service of Turkey, and in the counting-houses of
Constantinople and other cities. Several of our students are merchants
in New York. One of our graduates of the class of ’72, Dr. Zenos, is
professor of theology in McCormick Seminary at Chicago. Dr. Mangasarian
of the Chicago Society for Ethical Culture graduated in the class of
’76. Our first class, graduated in 1868, was composed of two men, both
of whom have since become distinguished. One of them is Professor
Hagopos Djedjizian, who occupies the chair of Armenian language and
literature in Robert College, and the other is Petco Gorbanoff, who has
occupied several prominent positions in the government of Bulgaria and
is now vice-president of its parliament.
“Our graduates have played a most important part in the building up of
Bulgaria. We have furnished at least two prime ministers, Constantine
Stoiloff and Todor Ivantchoff; four ministers of foreign affairs,
three secretaries to the king, one secretary to the Bulgarian cabinet,
three attorney generals, two ministers of public works, a minister of
commerce and agriculture, a minister of the interior, a minister of
finance, a minister of posts and telegraphs, a director of the state
railways, three ministers of justice, a commissary general for the
Bulgarian army, the administrator of the Bulgarian national bank, the
administrator of the state agricultural bank, no less than twenty-two
members of the Bulgarian parliament, and ten or twelve members of the
diplomatic service of that country.
“You will find among the list of our alumni the names of two members
of the deputation which selected Prince Ferdinand to be the sovereign
of Bulgaria and offered him the crown, and the names of both the
commissioners to the St. Louis Exposition, Peter M. Mattheoff and
Dimiter M. Stantcheff. We have furnished ten or twelve professors
for the colleges of Bulgaria, numerous superintendents of schools,
teachers, lawyers, doctors, dentists, and surgeons in the army.
“You will find our alumni teaching in all the American schools and
colleges throughout Turkey, in Armenia, Macedonia, and other provinces.
Most of our Greek graduates have gone into commercial life and
several have been remarkably successful. They are the sons of Greek
merchants in Constantinople, Athens, Patras, and the islands of the
Mediterranean. Some of our Greek students have come from Russia also.
The Armenian graduates have generally gone into professional life, and
have been remarkably successful in medicine, law and education. Two of
them are now studying engineering in Edinburgh.”
“What has become of your Turkish graduates?”
“We have had only one Turkish graduate before this year and he is now
a teacher. Under the old régime Mohammedan boys were not permitted to
attend Robert College. They frequently came, but the government ordered
them away. At one time we had two nephews of former Sultan Abdul Hamid,
but they remained only a few weeks. As soon as he heard they were
studying in a Christian college he sent for them, and we never saw them
again. But since the new order of things we have more applications from
Turkish students than we can accommodate. We have fifty-four Turks
now on our rolls, and I reckon we turned away more than a hundred
last fall. Among them is a nephew of the superintendent of education
and a grandson of the sheik of one of the orders of dervishes. The
Turkish government is sending five students annually, selected by the
department of public instruction. The head of that department said to
me:
“‘Take these young men and make good Americans of them if you want to,
but make them good teachers; we need them for our schools; train these
men; we need good men in Turkey; make them good men.’”
“Do you teach the Christian religion?” I asked.
“We are absolutely non-sectarian, but try to practise the Christian
religion. We do not ask our students to become Christians, but every
student who enters this institution has an opportunity to learn what
the Christian religion is, and can accept it if he pleases, but he is
never asked to do so. We have Mohammedans, Jews, Armenians, orthodox
Greeks, Persians, Russians, Bulgarians, Servians, Bosnians, Egyptians,
Germans, Englishmen, and altogether representatives of fifteen
different races and five different religions, and every one of them is
required to attend daily prayers and the regular services on Sunday.
They sing Christian hymns; they hear Christian prayers; they listen to
Christian sermons, according to the creed of the Congregational Church,
but the sermons are usually lectures on morality rather than doctrinal
exhortations.
“The students thus get the truth concerning religion in the chapel
on Sunday, as they do in the classroom concerning science, history,
and geography on week days, and they can make such use of it as they
please. We have never had any complaints concerning the preaching.
The Jewish and the Moslem students are often among the most attentive
listeners to the sermons and the most punctual in their attendance upon
prayers, but we never ask their impressions; we never discuss doctrinal
questions with them; we never invite their confidence; we never
interfere with the faith they profess.”
“Have you received any congratulations from the Turkish government upon
your recent legacy?” I asked.
“Officially, no; but unofficially several members of the government
have sent us their congratulations. Robert College is now regarded not
only as a part of the Turkish educational system, but as an important
agency in carrying out the plans of reform of the Young Turk party.
They have given us full recognition. Our students have the same
privileges as those of the Imperial University and the government
lyceums. They will be exempt from military service until they finish
their courses; our diplomas will be recognized for admission into
the Imperial University without examination, and the same applies to
appointments in the civil service.
“We had very little trouble with the old régime, although the former
sultan was opposed to all modern ideas and especially American ideas,
because they are inconsistent with his theory of administration. But
the present government is as far removed from that line as possible.
It favours all modern ideas and is especially friendly to American
institutions.
“The government wants to subject Robert College and all other foreign
institutions to the regulations of the Turkish laws of corporations.
They want us to be under Turkish control, to be incorporated as a
Turkish association, and have a certain number of Turkish directors,
but I do not think they will insist upon it, because it would be
entirely contrary to our charter. We are organized under the laws
of New York. The title of our property is held in the name of an
individual and the use of our endowments and the proper management of
our institution require that we shall continue on the same basis as we
are now. None of the foreign corporations, however, is submitting to
the new arrangement. They decline to accept the conditions and we shall
do the same.”
“Has there been any difference in the conduct of your students since
the constitution was proclaimed?”
“Yes; at first all over the empire there was a manifestation of a very
crude and vague idea of what they called liberty having possessed
the minds of inexperienced people. They thought liberty meant that
everybody could do as he pleased, but they soon found out their
mistake. They had the same delusions concerning equality. Liberty
became license. In some of the Turkish schools the students refused
to obey the teachers and tried to run things themselves; they drove
the teachers out of their rooms and insisted that they should sleep
in the dormitories with the students. At Beirut the Moslems demanded
exemption from compulsory attendance upon chapel and Bible classes;
in some of our colleges the students insisted that, under the new
constitution, they had a right to come and go as they pleased; but that
wave of hysteria soon passed over; all the institutions have resumed
their normal condition and the greatest change that we see is a new
inspiration to work and a realization of the opportunities that are
offered educated men. Interest in education has increased to such a
degree that every school is filled, and the schools do not suffer from
the restrictions that often embarrassed them during the reign of Abdul
Hamid.
“One of the most important reforms is the removal of restrictions upon
travel. In former times no citizen could go from one town to another
without the permission of the authorities. That law has been abolished
and now there is no interference with travel. Our students come and
go without passports. The people in the interior can go about and
trade with each other without interference. This has enlarged their
markets; it has given them an opportunity to become acquainted; it
broadens their ideas; it removes prejudices and relieves the social
and commercial stagnation that formerly kept them down. They can now
read newspapers freely. They can read any books they like, and while
no doubt the influence of some of the publications is pernicious, that
fault will correct itself in time.”
“The late revolution was the result of education, was it not?”
“I think it most certainly was. The leaders of the Young Turk party
were educated either in Paris and elsewhere abroad or in the Turkish
military schools, and by that education they were able to realize the
deplorable condition of the empire and the necessity of the reforms
which they have since accomplished.”
“Is the present government doing any more for education than the old
one?”
“It is doing a good deal. The department of public instruction has
been thoroughly organized and is under progressive and intelligent
direction. Normal schools have been established, one for women and
one for men, which will assist to solve the greatest difficulties
under which the department is labouring, and that is the lack of
teachers. Abdul Hamid reduced the university to nothing; the new
régime has restored it, enlarged its scope, and introduced new methods
and many improvements. There has been a considerable increase in the
appropriations for education and a general improvement has taken place
in all the schools. The military schools of Turkey have always been the
best educational institutions in the empire, and their influence has
been good. As a proof of that I can point to the moderation and good
judgment shown by the military leaders in the recent revolution. Most
of them were educated in the military schools.”
“How far are the American colleges in the Ottoman Empire
self-supporting?”
“The conditions are about the same as among similar colleges at home.
About two thirds, and in some cases three fourths, of the running
expenses are paid from the tuition fees, and the deficit must be met by
endowments. American colleges in Turkey are not charitable institutions
by any means. While they need endowments, and must have them in order
to make both ends meet, they do not need them any more than Harvard, or
Yale, or Princeton, or any other college in Massachusetts or Kansas.
The same amount of money will go a great deal farther here than in
the United States, because our students do not expect so much, and
the standard of living is lower here. Hence, I am confident that the
American colleges in Turkey are more nearly self-supporting, on the
average, than similar institutions in the United States.”
There were at last accounts 447 American schools in Asia Minor, with
23,846 students in all grades, from kindergartens to theological
seminaries. The lower grades are entirely supported by the patrons; the
higher grades require a certain amount of assistance to maintain a high
standard, but no more than corresponding institutions in the United
States. There are hospitals connected with most of them, which are also
very important. In almost every case they are the only places in those
sections of the country where the sick may receive medicines and care.
Some of the hospitals are practically self-supporting, the fees of the
patients and the sums paid for medicines being sufficient to meet the
cost of attendance, supplies, and care.
Few of the schools receive financial assistance from missionary boards,
and whenever assistance is given it is with the understanding that it
shall diminish as the income of the school increases. The people for
whom these institutions are provided appreciate the value of education
and are willing to pay what they can for it. Methods of self-help
are provided for students who cannot pay their tuition, so that their
self-respect and independence are not disturbed. In the same way
provision is made for books. In the hospitals no one who is worthy is
ever refused treatment or medicine, but those who are able to pay are
required to do so.
This principle of self-support has been a fixed rule from the beginning
in all missionary work in Turkey, and it has proved to be one of the
most important features of policy. Missionary physicians and teachers
learned at the start that they could accomplish more good by requiring
compensation for all services rendered, because in the Orient, as
elsewhere, no real value attaches to that which costs nothing. Parents
and pupils would be indifferent regarding attendance if the schools
were free; books would be easily lost or damaged or destroyed if they
had not been paid for; and where assistance is rendered to individuals
it is arranged in such a way that the beneficiary shall be impressed
with the value of what he is receiving.
The five colleges and the many preparatory and high schools for men
and women in Asia Minor have not less than 6,000 students, who are
being trained for useful citizenship by a wide range of instruction in
the applied sciences, agriculture, chemistry, pharmacy, engineering,
and even manual training. The courses of study are adapted to the
needs of the country and with a view to qualifying the students for
the highest service for their own people. There are six theological
seminaries training young men for the ministry. Two of them are
intended especially for workers among Arabic-speaking people, one for
work among the Armenians, another for the Turks, and others for Greeks
and Bulgarians.
In these seminaries the largest number of students are natives of
Turkey. Some of the graduates have afterward had the benefit of
post-graduate training in Europe or the United States, but that is not
encouraged. It has been demonstrated by many cases that students from
Turkey who go to the United States find it difficult to return to their
native country, while others are made discontented by differences in
conditions. It is the policy to employ native teachers and professors,
so far as is consistent with maintaining a high intellectual and
moral tone in the schools. That is the rule in all lines of work.
No missionary is ever pastor of a native church. He supervises and
directs, but he leaves the active work to the natives.
Perhaps the greatest value of the educational work done in Turkey
by the American missionaries has been its influence upon native
educational methods; in setting a standard to native schools; in
furnishing text-books; and in awakening an ambition for learning. These
missionary schools have in a large measure caused a revolution in the
social life of Turkey. Men and women who have graduated or have taken
partial courses command the best positions in commerce and society and
have been most successful in professional life. Their services are
sought for and they are able to command larger salaries than others who
have not enjoyed their advantages. Large numbers of former students
are prosperous business men in the principal cities of Turkey, while
others are the leaders in their respective professions. Most of them
are examples in the eyes of the community of the benefit and the value
of an educational training.
The college at Beirut is not included in the estimate I have made.
It was established in 1866 by Rev. Daniel Bliss, who remained at the
head of it until a few years since, when his son succeeded him. It is
one of the most successful educational institutions in all the world,
and one of the most prosperous. It has a campus of over forty acres,
a model plant of dormitories, laboratories, and lecture-rooms for
between 700 and 800 students, representing fourteen different races and
nationalities. No other institution between Athens and Tokio compares
with it.
The International College at Smyrna is the youngest of the group of
American institutions, having been established in 1902. Under the
direction of Dr. Alexander MacLaclan it has had remarkable success,
and has not only become self-supporting but two or three years ago the
trustees were astonished to find a surplus in their treasury. There
is a faculty of twenty-two professors and instructors and between 350
and 400 students, the largest number being Greeks. The International
College has a wide field, because Smyrna is the second city in Asiatic
Turkey, whose cosmopolitan and enterprising population, previous to
its foundation, had no educational privileges nearer than Beirut or
Athens and sent their young men to European universities. The great
popularity and success of the college have undoubtedly been due to
its non-sectarian policy, and while the Christian religion is the
corner stone of its foundation and attendance at chapel exercises and
Protestant worship is required of Jews, Greeks, and Mahommedans, as
well as Christian students, every tendency to proselyting is avoided.
The courses are especially strong in the scientific branches, and
the college has been made a government meteorological station, with
seismograph, a full set of apparatus for recording the weather and for
taking the time. The American College for Girls in Constantinople is
doing similar work.
The Central Turkey College at Aintab is 250 miles east of Tarsus in the
valley of the Euphrates. It was founded in 1874 by Rev. Dr. Trowbridge,
who died after he had placed it firmly upon its feet, and was succeeded
by Dr. Merrill. The college has no endowment, but by reason of its
marvellous management has been practically self-supporting from the
first. It has the reputation of being more sectarian than other
American institutions, and strongly Protestant, which is natural,
because most of the students are studying for evangelical work.
Protestantism is very strong in that section of Turkey. Three churches
in Aintab and Marash have more than one thousand members each, and
congregations of 2,000 are not uncommon. Until recently there have been
no Turks or Jews among the students of the Central Turkey College, and
the patronage has been drawn entirely from the native Protestants and
Armenians, but since the constitution was proclaimed large numbers of
Mohammedans have matriculated, and President Merrill has provided a
private room for them, where they can worship according to their own
custom. The medical department is especially important.
At Marash, a neighbouring city, is a prosperous college for women,
started in 1882, with preparatory departments at Adana, Hajin, and
Aintab, all flourishing and popular, particularly since the new régime
has made it possible for Turkish families to send their girls to
school. At first, it was difficult to persuade even Protestant parents
to educate their daughters. It was contrary to custom, but now that
an educational “boom” has been started, these schools are overwhelmed
with applications from young women they cannot accommodate. Their
educational standards are about the same as those of the average
finishing school for young women in the United States, and the same
text-books are used.
The college at Marash is on the Mount Holyoke plan. There has been
another college for women on the Mount Holyoke plan at Bitlis for more
than forty years, where two noble women, the Ely sisters, have been
training wives and mothers for the passing and the coming generations.
Their usefulness cannot be even estimated.
There is a school for girls at Smyrna, founded in 1881, with 250
students, and another at Adabazar, eighty miles from Constantinople,
with about one hundred students.
A very promising American institution in Turkey is St. Paul’s College,
at the ancient city of Tarsus, with a preparatory department known
as St. Paul’s Academy, founded by the late Elliott F. Shepherd of
New York and chartered by the legislature of that state in 1887. Dr.
Howard Crosby was the first president of the board of trustees. He
was succeeded by Dr. Henry Mitchell MacCracken, chancellor of the
University of New York. Daniel W. McWilliams is secretary, Frederick A.
Booth is treasurer, and William Jay Schieffelin, a son-in-law of the
late Colonel Shepherd, is the other member of the board. The academy
was opened in the fall of 1888, the college in the following year, and
the first class graduated in June, 1893.
St. Paul’s is not a sectarian institution and is intended primarily
to train young men in that part of Turkey to be useful citizens, with
a foundation of Christian learning. The language of the schools
is English, the faculty are all Christians, and most of them are
Americans, and every year a number of the graduating class go up to the
theological seminaries of the American Board, or the medical department
of the Presbyterian College at Beirut.
Tarsus, which, you will remember, was the birthplace of St. Paul, is
a thriving city, eighteen miles from the Mediterranean on the river
Cydnus, and is connected by rail with both Mersina, the port of the
province of Cilicia and Adana. The buildings of the institute occupy
an elevation in the suburbs and command a fascinating view of a great
plain and a long line of the Taurus Mountains in the background.
There is no other institution for higher education within a six days’
journey, and the educational boom that has recently broken out in
Turkey has caused a rush of students from the most influential families
in that part of the empire. Unfortunately only a few of them can be
taken care of. The capacity of the college is limited.
THE END
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
INDEX
A
Abdul Hamid’s books, 399
cruelty, 156, 169, 172
Adana, massacre at, 169
Albanian Revolution, 383
Alexander the Great, 27, 234
Alexander III, Czar, 285
Alexandropol, city of, 132, 134
Allen, Herbert N., 196, 207
Aloupka, town of, 282
Amastris, city of, 26
American churches in Turkey, 188
College for Girls, 418
Colleges, 446
concessions, 60
schools in Turkey, 415
Americans at Trebizond, 32
Anatolia College, 17
Anatolia, location of, 16
Anatolia Railway, 74
Angel, President, quoted, 193
Antiquities of Georgia, 96
Ararat, Mount, 129, 146
in the Scriptures, 144
Argonauts, 85
story of, 24
Armenia, history of, 154
Russian, 135
Armenian clergymen, 4, 138, 155, 192
emigration, 188
Armenian massacres, 168
monasteries, 138
schools, 197
Armenians, persecutions of, 156
of Tiflis, 111
Army, Turkish, 173
Azov, sea of, 259
B
Baghdad Railway, 74
Baku, city of, 217
Balaklava, battle of, 293, 303
village of, 320
Batoum, city of, 56
Battleship, the stolen, 343
Bible House, 187
Bibles sold in Turkey, 202
Bible, translation of, 185, 202
Bosphorus, beauties of, 10
residences on, 12
Bryce, James, quoted, 105, 144
Bukharest, city of, 363
University of, 367
Bulgarians, famous, 438
C
Camels, Turkish, 48
Caravans, camel, 47
Cardigan, Earl of, 306
Carmen Sylva, 358
Carol, King of Roumania, 354
Caspian oil fields, 222
Sea, peculiarities of, 217
Catherine, the Great, 265
Caucasus, the, 85
Caucasus Railways, 99
Cherigan Palace, burned, 11
Chester, Admiral, 61
Christ, relics of, 96, 140
Christian soldiers in Turkey, 173
Cimmerians, the, 269, 271
Circassians, the, 266
Circassian beauties, 256
costumes, 257
Clement, Pope, 323
Clergymen, Armenian, 4, 138
Turkish, 4
Coal deposits, 68
Colchis, ancient, 56, 85
Colleges, American, 17, 36, 41, 176, 198, 430, 444
Concessions, railway, 60
Congregations, American, 188
Conquests, Russian, 266
Constantinople, libraries of, 395
schools of, 388
Cossack capital, the, 258
country, the, 254
Cossacks, history of, 259
Costumes, Georgian, 122
Cotton, culture of, 83
Crawford, Dr. L. S., 33, 161, 191
Crimea, the, 265
flowers of, 269
history of, 271
scenery of, 263, 279
Crimean War, 293
Crim Tartars, the, 270
Customs, Circassian, 257
Georgian, 125
Customs, Tartar, 229
Turkish, 5
D
Daghestan, 228
customs of, 230
history of, 233
railways of, 230
wars of, 241
wheat fields of, 230
Dariel Pass in Caucasus, 250
Dashkoff, Prince, 121, 282
Derbent, city of, 239, 243
Dervishes, 4
Diana, home of, 26
Diogenes, birth place of, 26
E
Eden, Garden of, 79
Education in Germany, 150
in Roumania, 367
in Russia, 341
in Turkey, 42, 385
Elburz, Mount, 255
Elizabeth, Queen of Roumania, 356
Emancipation of Turkish women, 411
Emigration, Armenian, 188
from Turkey, 166
Etchmiadzin, city of, 138
Erivan, city of, 138
Erzroom, city of, 135
mission, 36
Euphrates College, 176
F
Farming in Caucasus, 214, 253
in southern Russia, 262
Finances of American missions, 190
Fire worshippers, 238
of Persia, 220
Flour mills, floating, 108
Fruit in Caucasus, 215
G
Gates, Caleb F., 177, 181, 436
Georgia, capital of, 95
conquest of, 98
Georgian costumes, 122
Georgians, origin of, 95
German interference, 71
German, Russo-, agreement, 71
Germans in Caucasus, 118
in Daghestan, 232
Gypsies of Roumania, 349, 368
H
Halideh Salih, 417
Hamlin, Dr. Cyrus, 209, 433
Harpoot, city of, 177
mission of, 177
Hay, Colonel John, 376
Heavy Brigade, charge of, 305
Herbert N. Allen, 196, 207
Hercules, story of, 25
Honey poison, 25
Hoskins, Rev. Franklin P., 205
Hospital at Erzroom, 36
Hospitals, American, 18, 36, 38, 149
Howard, John, grave of, 340
I
Immigration into Turkey, 84
Inkerman, battle of, 322
village of, 322
Irrigation in Mesopotamia, 78
J
Jackson, A. V. Williams, 234
Jews of Crimea, 274
of Odessa, 329
of Roumania, 371
in Turkey, 84, 174
K
Karaim sect of Jews, 275
Kasbek, Mount, 255
Kertch, city of, 272
Kherson, city of, 339
Koran has not been translated, 204
Kurds, the, 160
L
Lazis, customs of, 8, 53
Librarian of St. Sophia, 405
Libraries of Constantinople, 395
Licorice root, 15
Light Brigade, charge of, 304
Livadia, Palace of, 268, 285
M
Mahmoud Bey, 386
Manisson Pass, 250
Manuscripts at St. Sophia, 403
Marsovan mission, 16
Massacres of 1895, 161
Massacres of 1909, 168
Masterson, American Consul, 66
Mazeppa, original of, 244
Medical work in Turkey, 20, 36, 38, 149
Mesopotamia, irrigation of, 78
Milesians, origin of, 272
Mineral deposits, 68
Minerals in Asia Minor, 65
in the Caucasus, 89
Mission at Erzroom, 30
at Trebizond, 33
Missions, American, 16, 36, 38, 149, 176, 185
Missionary text books, 206
Missionaries, American, 185
Monasteries, Armenian, 138
Monuments, Crimea, 322
Moslem priests, 6
religious rules, 196
Mountains, Caucasus, 88, 244, 254
Mtskheta, city of, 95
Museum, Tiflis, 109
Mythology, Black Sea, 22
in Caucasus, 85
N
Nakhikheban, village of, 129, 142
Nightingale, Florence, 311
Nikolaieff, city of, 335
Noah, grave of, 142
landing place of, 142
Nobel, Alfred, at Baku, 223
O
Odessa, city of, 325
Jews of, 329
Officials, Russian, 117
Oil fields, Caspian, 222
P
Passengers on Black Sea steamers, 3
Passes through Caucasus, 250
Patrick, Dr. Mary Mills, 415, 418
Peasants, Russian, 263
Persian quarter of Tiflis, 110, 107
Petroleum at Baku, 222
Politics in Caucasus, 116
Priests, Moslem, 192
Printing offices, mission, 201
Prometheus, story of, 86
Publications, American, 207
missionary, 201
R
Railway concessions, 60
to Mount Ararat, 131
Baghdad, 74
Railways in Asia Minor, 61
of the Caucasus, 90, 99, 102, 214, 252
of Daghestan, 230
Turkish, 74
of Roumania, 377
Ramsey, Sir William, quoted, 415
Ravndal, American Consul, 169
Red Cross work in Turkey, 169
Refineries, oil, at Baku, 226
Reforms in Turkey, 442
Religions of Caucasus, 245
Resorts, seashore, in Russia, 277
Revolution in Caucasus, 100
in Turkey, 379
Riggs, Dr. Elias, 202, 208
Rizeh, town of, 50
Revolution, Russian, 343
Robert, Christopher, 432
Robert College, 430
Rostov on the Don, 258
Russian policy in Caucasus, 132
Russian policy in Turkey, 69
Russians in Daghestan, 249
in Tiflis, 109
Roumania, History of, 350
kingdom of, 348
S
Samsoun, city of, 13
Schools, American, 17, 36, 38, 149, 176, 198, 415, 430, 440
Mohammedan, 393
of Russia, 341
Turkish, 43, 190, 383
Scenery, Black Sea, 23, 50
of Crimea, 268, 279
Scenes on Black Sea steamers, 9
Schamyl, Prince of Daghestan, 242
Schauffler, Rev. Dr., 211
Sevastopol, cemeteries of, 301
city of, 292
harbour of, 297
monuments of, 300
siege of, 294
Sheikh-ul-Islam, 175
Sinub, port of, 26
Sivas, city of, 38
mission of, 38
Smith, Rev. Ely, 204
Soldiers in Caucasus, 116
St. George, Monastery of, 321
St. Gregory, the Enlightener, 138
St. Sophia, library of, 401
Steamers on the Black Sea, 3
Straus, Oscar S., 171, 395
T
Tamara, Queen, 95, 99
Tamerlane, 240
Tartar characteristics, 229, 270
Tartars of Tiflis, 111
Teachers, American, 188
Ten Thousand, retreat of the, 32
Text books, missionary, 206
Theodosia, port of, 271
Tiflis, city of, 102, 105
Tigris valley, 78
Timour the Tartar, 240
Tobacco, Turkish, 15
Trade, American, 153
Translations of Bible, 202
Trebizond, city of, 29, 47
massacre at, 161
Troglodytes, ancient, 269, 323
Turkey, new régime in, 379, 381
Turkish customs, 5, 51
women, 411
U
University of Bukharest, 367
Ottoman Imperial, 388
V
Valley of the Don, 259
Van Dyke, Rev. Dr., 205
Van, city of, 147
lake, 66, 148
mission of, 149
Viceroy’s palace at Tiflis, 120
Vladikavkas, city of, 248
W
Watering places, Russian, 277
Wheat fields of Daghestan, 230
Wheeler, Dr. Crosby H., 177
Willcocks, Sir William, 78
Women, American college for, 416
Women, education of, 424
Turkish, 411
Woronzoff palace, 282
Prince, 326
X
Xenophon’s Retreat, 32
Y
Yalta, city of, 278
Young Turk Party, 379, 412
Z
Zoroaster and fire worshippers, 230, 238
[Illustration: ASIA MINOR,
THE CAUCASUS AND THE BLACK SEA
Turkish Territory coloured Green. Russian Territory coloured Brown.
The Vilayets of Turkey and the Governments & Provinces of Russia are
separated by Red Lines.]
Transcriber’s note:
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they
were not changed. When in doubt, Transcriber kept the hyphens in
end-of-line hyphenated words.
Many simple typographical errors were silently corrected.
Text frequently uses “régime” and “regime”; both forms retained here.
Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs
and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support
hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to
the corresponding illustrations.
The original book included a large foldout map affixed to the inside
back cover. The digitized source of this eBook divided that map into
four quadrants of unequal sizes. In the HTML versions of this eBook,
the map is displayable in several ways, including smaller and larger
versions of the entire map and smaller and larger versions of its four
quadrants. The Transcriber was unable to recombine the quadrants into a
seamless single map. Some text in the smaller versions is not readable.
The larger versions of the map may not be included in some mobile (epub
and mobi) versions of this eBook, but they are available at Project
Gutenberg.
The index was not systematically checked for proper alphabetization or
correct page references.
Page 3: Redundant book title removed.
Page 453: “Hospitals, American” includes a reference to page 149. In
the original book, that page number was printed below the entry for
“Howard, John”. Page 149 mentions an American hospital but does not
mention John Howard.