The elevating influence of the missionaries in Turkey
cannot be over-estimated. It is the most hopeful of
all the influences which are at work in the empire
to-day. Most people at home think of the missionary as a
propagandist whose chief endeavor is to win converts to
his creed, but on the field he appears as a very different
character; he is an educator, a physician, a scientist,
a peacemaker, a neighbor, and an example of civilized
living. Judged by the numbers added to Protestant churches
from the population of the Turkish empire, missions there
might be counted a failure, or, at the most, but a partial
success; but the making of Protestants is the smallest
part of a missionary’s work. 1. The missionary elevates
the whole standard of Christian living and thinking. There
are in Turkey churches hoary with age—Greek, Armenian,
Syrian—in which ignorance, barbarism, superstition, and
low morality hold sway. To retain their members in the
face of the missionary, these churches find intelligence,
purity, spirituality, and civilization necessary, and have
been greatly elevated by missionary enterprise. 2. In
countries like Turkey, where medical skill is beyond the
reach of the mass of the people, the preventable suffering
and death are appalling. How eagerly the villagers bring
their sick to any stranger in the hope that he may be
a physician, almost every traveler can testify. The
brightest spots in the country are the missionary medical
centers, where untold sufferings are allayed. These range
all the way from the village dispensary to the Medical
College at Beirut, where one of the world’s best surgeons
not only helps the suffering, but teaches others to do it
too. 3. The most important phase of missionary work in
Turkey is, however, the educational. From humble schools
scattered widely through the villages to colleges like
Robert College and the Syrian Protestant College at
Beirut (which are the fruit of missionary enterprise)
most successful efforts are being made, by broad-minded,
undenominational methods, to train the young to think,
and to induct them into modern science and civilization.
The effect of this is already widely apparent, and it
is clear that if the day ever comes when Turkey is able
to take her place among the nations as a state which
appreciates the laws of humanity sufficiently to be
trusted, as Japan is now trusted, to control the lives
and property of foreigners resident within her limits,
it will be because of the civilizing influence of these
educational institutions, combined with the lessons in
integrity taught by the missionaries’ simple Christian
lives. Apart from their work for Turkey, the missionaries
have contributed much to science. Archæology owes them
large debts in every part of the empire, and, to mention
no other fields, the only authoritative work on the
botany of Syria is by a missionary. The missionaries
are in my opinion working more directly than any other
class of men to complete the social evolution of mankind,
and to make possible the peaceable federation of the
world.
—GEORGE A. BARTON, PH. D.,
Professor of Semitic Languages in Bryn Mawr College,
Director of the American School of Oriental Study
and Research in Palestine, 1902-1903.
It was no light task to plant missions in a country so little known
and extensive as was the Turkish empire at the beginning of the last
century. Of the races which made up its large population little was
understood except a general knowledge of the Jews and Greeks, and there
was much less information regarding the Turks. In accordance with the
policy already adopted by the American Board, the early missionaries
were sent out to investigate and explore before deciding upon the
location of missions and stations and before fixing the exact nature
and methods of work.
The instructions given the earlier missionaries to Turkey seldom failed
to emphasize the importance of fully examining the different parts of
the country and becoming acquainted with the character, beliefs, and
characteristics of the different races and peoples which comprise its
population. In some cases particular unexplored regions were named as
demanding immediate attention. All the early missionaries were directed
to report to headquarters, in full detail, the results of their
researches and observations.
In the instructions given in 1819 to Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons, the
first missionaries appointed to Turkey, the following passage occurs:
“You will survey with earnest attention the various
tribes and classes which dwell in that land and in the
surrounding countries. The two grand inquiries ever
present in your minds will be, ‘What good can be done?’
and ‘By what means?’ What can be done for the Jews? What
for the pagans? What for the Mohammedans? What for the
Christians? What for the people in Palestine? What for
those in Egypt, in Syria, in Armenia, in other countries
to which your inquiry may be extended?”
This single quotation demonstrates the spirit of them all, and reveals
the deliberate and far-seeing policy of the Board in inaugurating its
missions in Turkey as well as in other countries. Men of the highest
ability and broadest vision were selected for missionary appointment
and upon them was placed the responsibility of selecting the location
of the missions and stations, and deciding the policy and methods of
work.
The archives of the Board are rich with the early reports of those
first missionaries, who explored with fearlessness and zeal, and
observed with discriminating care and precision. They were conscious
of the fact that much in the future depended upon the thoroughness of
their work and the accuracy and fulness of their reports.
Messrs. Fisk and Parsons landed at Smyrna early in 1820 and at once
began the study of modern Greek. They explored the sites of the
seven churches of the Apocalypse and noted their conditions and
needs. Careful and minute journals were kept of all their labors and
observations. In order to facilitate the work of exploration, Mr.
Parsons went on alone to Palestine, where he arrived in February,
1821. One of his chief objects there was to get into touch with the
Christian pilgrims who flock to the holy city in great numbers. The
Greek revolution drove him back to Smyrna after several tours in
Palestine, and from there he went to Alexandria, Egypt, where he
died Feb. 10, 1822. Mr. Fisk was joined by Jonas King, who left his
studies in Oriental literature at Paris for that purpose, and early in
January, 1823, the two set out for Jerusalem by way of Alexandria and
Cairo. They ascended the Nile as far as Thebes, distributing everywhere
Bibles and tracts in Arabic. With a caravan made up of Turks, Arabs,
Greeks, and Armenians, they made the overland journey to Jerusalem and
from there went down to Beirut upon the coast. Here they separated, Mr.
King taking up his residence in the Lebanon mountains among the Druses,
where he was most hospitably received, in order that he might the
better study the Arabic language and the people. By this time, these
men were using with much freedom Arabic, modern Greek, and Italian.
The tours of these first missionaries covered Tripoli, the Lebanon,
Baalbec, Jaffa, Hebron, Damascus, Antioch, and Latakia, thus bringing
them into close personal touch with the desert tribes as well as
with the Druses, Maronites, Turks, Greeks, and other races. Mr. King
returned to Smyrna overland from Tarsus, and Mr. Fisk died at Beirut
Oct. 23, 1825, two years after the arrival there of Mr. and Mrs.
William Goodell.
These pioneer operations were accompanied with great hardship and even
peril. The difficulties were increased at this early period by the
efforts of the Roman Catholics to drive all Protestants from Syria. In
1824 the missionaries in Jerusalem were apprehended, at the instigation
of the Catholics, and brought before a Moslem judge, charged with
distributing books which they declared to be neither Jewish, Moslem,
nor Christian. Attacks by robbers were of no infrequent occurrence and
fanatical uprisings were constantly to be expected. The Greco-Turkish
war brought many personal perils and hardships, but did not result in
the loss of missionary lives.
These experiences and subsequent investigations led to the choice of
Beirut as the missionary center for Syria and Palestine, contrary to
the previous expectation that Jerusalem would be chosen. Jerusalem
was carefully tested and its climate was found to be unfit for the
permanent residence of American missionaries. Beirut was upon the sea,
and at the same time in such relation to the Lebanon mountains that,
during the heated time of the year, the missionaries could withdraw
into the mountains without becoming entirely separated from the people
and their work.
The matter of healthfulness was most wisely taken into consideration in
selecting the location for permanent mission stations. Not that this
was the solely decisive feature, but it was given due place in the
weighing of arguments pro and con. Subsequent experience has proven
that it is the poorest and most wasteful policy to permit missionaries
to reside permanently in cities that are found to be unhealthy, or to
plant in such places central institutions. Beirut has been occupied
to the present day as the great mission center for Syria, and the
wisdom of its choice eighty years ago has been abundantly justified. In
selecting other stations in different parts of Turkey the same wise,
careful method was followed.
During the ten years from 1820 to 1830 the explorations made in that
country by missionaries of the Board were extensive, embracing, as has
been stated, the site of the seven churches, the shores of the Nile as
far as Thebes, the whole of Palestine, and the greater part of Syria.
Cappadocia had been entered from Smyrna; while the Peloponnesus, the
more important of the Ionian and Ægean Islands, as well as Tripoli and
Tunis upon the north coast of Africa, had also received missionary
visits. These careful and scientific investigations had brought to the
attention of the Western world the religious beliefs and practises and
the moral condition of the Copts, the Maronite and Greek Churches, as
well as the condition and needs of other races dwelling in that wide
extent of territory.
Vast regions in that empire were still unexplored and peoples like the
Armenians, Nestorians, Chaldeans, as well as Turks, Turkomans, Koords,
and Persians, dwelt in the far east of Turkey and in Persia and about
them little was known. The conditions and needs, and how best to meet
these needs, could not be determined until all parts of the empire, all
its peoples and their interrelations, were fairly well understood.
Owing to the Greco-Turkish war, which involved some of the European
nations, it became necessary in 1828 to withdraw from Beirut, the
center of the Syrian and Palestine work, to Malta, and for two
years Beirut was unoccupied. Towards the close of 1828, Rev. Rufus
Anderson, then Assistant Secretary of the American Board, was sent
to Malta to meet and confer with the brethren and later to make
personal investigations in Greece and the Levant. This conference led
to the location of Mr. Bird in Beirut, and in sending Dr. Goodell to
Constantinople.
At the same time the Prudential Committee decided to send Rev. Eli
Smith and Rev. H. G. O. Dwight upon an extended tour of investigation
across Asia Minor, Armenia, and Koordistan into Georgia and Persia. Mr.
Smith had learned Arabic in Syria and was also somewhat familiar with
the Turkish language, besides being an experienced traveler and a close
and accurate observer. Mr. Dwight was just entering upon his missionary
career and was full of energy and pluck.
These two men proceeded from Malta to Smyrna in March, 1830, and from
there to Constantinople, overland, in April. Before beginning the
journey, they placed themselves under the protection of a chief of
the Tartars, who witnessed the seal of the Tartar guide to a document
acknowledging responsibility for the safe delivery at Constantinople of
the persons and property of the missionaries. Beds, bedding, clothing,
cooking utensils, dishes, writing material, books, food, etc. were
carried in waterproof leather bags upon the backs of horses. They
clothed themselves in the flowing native dress of the country so as to
attract as little annoying attention by the way as possible. They were
also supplied with passports from the government and official letters
of introduction.
While travelers had repeatedly penetrated the regions to which they
were to go, none had made careful, scientific investigation of the
people and of the religious and moral conditions. There was not even a
map in existence upon which dependence could be placed.
After obtaining at Smyrna and Constantinople all the information
possible regarding the Armenians and the country through which they
were to pass, these two missionary explorers set out from the latter
place on the twenty-first of May, 1830, under their Tartar guide, for
the remote interior of the country. The carefully kept journal of this
memorable tour is a classic of its kind. Later accounts and fuller
knowledge of the region traversed by them and of the people they met
give occasion for little change in the story they told to bring it up
to date.
At Tocat they visited the grave of Henry Martyn who gave up his life
there eighteen years before. On the thirteenth of June they entered the
city of Erzerum and found it in the possession of the Russians and the
headquarters of their army. The most of the Armenian population had
fled. After remaining there for a few days, they pushed on eastward,
creating astonishment wherever they went. Their knowledge of Turkish
made it possible for them to converse freely with the people, while
all were puzzled to explain the fact that their own language was known
by foreigners from beyond the sea. None of the inhabitants could
understand the purpose of their inquiries, for to all classes a mission
solely for the sake of the people was incomprehensible. From here they
faced still eastward, visiting Kars, where they met large numbers of
Armenians. They continued on through Tiflis, Shoosha, Nakhchevan,
Echmiadzin, and Khoy, a distance from Constantinople of more than
fifteen hundred miles. When they arrived at Shoosha in the middle of
August they were nearly worn out with the extreme fatigue of a journey,
in itself most trying, while accommodations at night were often unfit
even for a horse. They were also in the midst of cholera which had
recently carried off over seventy thousand people.
They passed two and a half months in Shoosha with some German
missionaries, which gave an opportunity to recuperate and study more
closely the people, country, and languages. On the way to Tabriz,
Persia, Mr. Smith was taken seriously ill when seventy miles from
the city. Had it not been for the prompt and kindly response of the
gentlemen of the English embassy at Tabriz it is doubtful whether he
would have survived to reach the city.
Hitherto they had been studying the Armenian especially. At Tabriz
they were in contact with the Nestorians, to investigate and report
upon whom a special commission had been given them. They were here
nearly two months, and then passed on to Salmas, Persia, where they
came in contact with the Chaldeans, a class of Nestorians who became
Roman Catholics two hundred and fifty years before. From Salmas they
continued to Urumia, still in Persia, and were warmly received by the
Nestorian leaders.
They returned by way of Erzerum and Trebizond, taking ship from there
to Constantinople and Malta, arriving at the latter place July 2,
1831, after an absence of fifteen and a half months. In that time
they had traveled over one thousand miles by water and twenty-five
hundred miles by horse through a wild country beset with robbers and
perils of every kind. Except when entertained by missionaries or
representatives of foreign governments, a rare occurrence upon all
this journey, they were compelled to occupy Oriental stables or even
worse places as caravansaries and endure multifarious privations and
hardships. They returned well, bringing a rich store of accurate
knowledge regarding the country, people, and religions, which later
proved to be of inestimable value in planting missions in all those
regions. Their “Researches,” consisting almost entirely of the journals
they kept, cover every phase of the life and customs of the people
and the conditions of the country. These were printed in two volumes,
aggregating nearly seven hundred pages, and for their scientific value
to the student of races, religions, geography, and language were at
once recognized to be a classic. By this tour and the publication of
their “Researches in Armenia,” all that region was opened to the world
as a proper field of operation for the Christian missionary.
As a direct result of the work of Messrs. Smith and Dwight, Mr. Perkins
was sent to Tabriz in September, 1833, but owing to the unusual
difficulties of the way, among which were various warring tribes of
Koords, he did not arrive until nearly a year after leaving Boston.
In November, 1835, he with Dr. Grant removed from Tabriz to Urumia,
and both these places have been the seat of mission work since. In
1835 Trebizond was occupied as a mission station, and four years later
missionaries were located in Erzerum. Trebizond is upon the Black Sea
and was the port of entry for all that part of the country. It is
at the terminus of the great caravan route from Persia to the West,
and ever since Xenophon took ship there for Constantinople, with his
retreating ten thousand, has held an important place among the ports
upon the coast. Erzerum is a week’s journey inland upon the caravan
route to Persia and is one of the most important cities in Eastern
Turkey. It is situated upon a high plateau nearly six thousand feet
above the sea and in the midst of a large population of Armenians,
Turks, and Koords.
Dr. Asahel Grant was appointed a missionary in 1835 with the
expectation that he would go to Persia. He proceeded to Urumia by way
of Trebizond, Erzerum, and Tabriz. It was expected that Dr. Grant, the
first missionary physician to enter that country, would investigate
the conditions and needs of the mountain Nestorians who occupy the
high lands of Eastern Turkey and western Persia. His allotted task
demanded extensive journeys amid the wildest, least known, and most
dangerous portions of the Ottoman empire. In addition to repeated tours
up and down the country, his most important explorations were made
in Koordistan and among the head waters of the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. From 1839 to 1845 Dr. Grant visited Van, Diarbekr, Harpoot,
Mardin, Mosul, and many other towns of importance, living among the
people, studying their life, winning them by the depth and sincerity of
his love for them, and planning to reach them by permanently organized
missionary operations. Upon a part of these journeys he was accompanied
by Mr. Holmes, while much of the time, except for native servants, he
was alone.
They reached Diarbekr in July, 1839, and found it in a state of
anarchy. Robbery and murder were the order of the day, with a general
hatred of all Europeans. They withdrew to Mardin, fifty miles south in
Mesopotamia, accompanied by an escort of thirty horsemen sent for their
protection by the Turkish pasha. In Mardin their lives were openly
threatened. Almost by a miracle were they spared, for a mob suddenly
formed and killed the governor in his palace and attacked the lodgings
of the missionaries, who were providentially outside the city at the
time. The city gate, closed to keep them inside for slaughter, barred
them out and so saved their lives.
From here Dr. Grant went on alone to Mosul, upon the Tigris,
two hundred miles below Mardin, while Mr. Holmes returned to
Constantinople. It is an interesting fact that the house in which he
found lodging in this important city of the far interior was but a few
feet from the place that was yet to be his grave.
From Mosul he started alone in the fall of the same year for an
extended tour through the unexplored mountains of Koordistan. He soon
came into contact with the Yezidis, who are worshipers of Satan and
more friendly to the Christians than to the Moslems. He took pains to
call upon the chiefs of the country and make friends with them for the
sake of the missionary work yet to be developed. He found many of the
Koordish chiefs inclined to be friendly.
By means of his medical skill he was able to command the respect if not
the love of all. He attended professionally the emir of a large area
of country in Koordistan, who gave orders a few years previously for
the murder of the scientist Schultz. This tour covered eight months. He
was so much changed by his native dress and rough appearance that he
was not recognized by his associates at Urumia upon his arrival there.
Repeated journeys were made back and forth through that country with
Urumia and Mosul as points to which he occasionally returned. The
work of exploration was made much more hazardous and difficult by
the hostility to each other of the Nestorians, Koords, and Turks, a
hostility often manifesting itself in open war. At one time Dr. Grant
was charged with being an ally of the emir and again with being a
Turkish spy. His great tact, absolute fearlessness, and most winning
Christian character overcame all obstacles, and under the protecting
hand of God preserved him from violence.
The careful journals of Dr. Grant, even though they had to be kept in
absolute secrecy to prevent the arousing of suspicions, contain some
of the very best information extant to-day regarding the character and
conditions of these savage but sturdy people of Eastern Turkey. In
nearly all that wild country to have been caught writing would probably
have resulted in his immediate death. Such an act would have stamped
him as a spy or necromancer, both of which were regarded as worthy
of death. While Dr. Grant was still alive, and largely by him, the
attention of the American Board was emphatically called to the great
needs of that country, and to the possibilities of inaugurating among
the mountain Nestorians a direct evangelistic work. Many of them were
Roman Catholics, nominally, but a large number were not. No special
plans were then made for direct work among the Koords, as attention up
to that time had been directed more to the nominal Christian races. Dr.
Grant, however, pleaded that a mission might be established “to Assyria
and Mesopotamia” rather than to any particular sect or race.
Dr. Grant died in Mosul, April 24, 1844, after a life brief in years
but long in the extent of country covered by its influence, and thereby
opened to his successors for missionary operations. Mr. Layard, the
well-known Assyriologist, who later traversed Koordistan, said he had
heard Mussulmans speak of Dr. Grant in the highest terms of praise,
while the Koords repeatedly referred to him as “the good doctor.” Few
missionaries have done more in so brief a time to open to the world a
country filled with savage, hostile, and warring races, and thus to lay
the foundation for permanent missionary occupation. At least six places
visited by him subsequently became missionary stations, all of which
are now maintained.