In the year 1860, in a public address in the city of London, the Earl
of Shaftesbury paid the following tribute to the character of the
American missionaries in Turkey:—
“I do not believe that in the whole history of missions;
I do not believe that in the history of diplomacy, or in
the history of any negotiations carried on between man
and man, we can find anything to equal the wisdom, the
soundness, and the pure evangelical truth of the body of
men who constitute the American mission. I have said it
twenty times before, and I will say it again—for the
expression appropriately conveys my meaning—that ‘they
are a marvelous combination of common sense and piety.’
Every man who comes in contact with these missionaries
speaks in praise of them. Persons in authority, and
persons in subjection, all speak in their favor; travelers
speak well of them; and I know of no man who has ever been
able to bring against that body a single valid objection.
There they stand, tested by years, tried by their works,
and exemplified by their fruits; and I believe it will
be found that these American missionaries have done more
toward upholding the truth and spreading the gospel of
Christ in the East, than any other body of men in this or
in any other age.”
Mr. William T. Stead once said, “How many American
citizens, I wonder, are aware that from the slopes of
Mount Ararat all the way to the shores of the Blue Ægean
Sea, American missionaries have scattered broadcast over
all the distressful land the seed of American principles.
When General Mosseloff, the director of foreign faiths
within the Russian empire, visited Etchmiadzin the
Armenian patriarch spread before him the map of Asia
Minor, which was marked all over with American colleges,
American churches, American schools, American missions.
They (the American missionaries) are busy everywhere,
teaching, preaching, begetting new life in these Asiatic
races.”
—From “Memoirs of William Goodell.”
Industrially Turkey was ages behind even at the beginning of the last
century. Practically nothing modern had entered the country from
without and found acceptance there. The agricultural implements in use
were of the same primitive character as those of two thousand or more
years before. The plow of Abraham’s day, made of the branch of a tree
and only scratching the surface of the soil, was the only plow known,
and it is not by any means extinct. The winds of the plains winnowed
the grain, and the old threshing instruments with teeth still performed
its ancient service upon the threshing-floors of earth.
In some respects the people were more jealous to guard their methods
of work than they were their beliefs. It was found, however, that
when a man had enlarged the horizon of his thinking, he was far more
susceptible to suggestions as to his method of living and working.
Little by little new tools were brought in and made use of by native
carpenters. Winnowing-mills for cleaning up threshing-floors, after
years of opposition, won favor and are now found everywhere. In some
sections cotton-gins run by water-power have brought a blessing to
the farmers, while now and then a modern plow and other improved
implements are finding acceptance. The sewing-machine is found in
almost every town of importance, and the kerosene lamp has completely
changed the character of multitudes of homes and greatly multiplied the
possibilities of intellectual improvement and social reform.
The first electric telegraph instrument ever set up and operated in
the empire was exhibited to the sultan of Turkey by Cyrus Hamlin, the
missionary. The potato, the tomato, and other vegetables have been
introduced into various sections, and in many cases have become regular
articles of diet and staples in the market. Space forbids mention
of the many industrial, mechanical, and economic improvements which
have entered the country through the influence and even by the direct
exertions of the missionaries.
All this in the earlier years was incidental to the mission work.
During the last twenty years deliberate plans to teach industries have
been made by the missionaries in some of the leading schools. While
this industrial instruction was begun for the purpose of affording an
opportunity to worthy but needy students to earn their way through
school, the experiment proved that there was still another advantage
not second to this in importance, and that was the educational value
of practising an industry, as well as an economic value to the student
and to the country. Industrial plants have been attached to some of
the higher educational institutions like Anatolia College at Marsovan,
where the results have amply justified the effort. It is surprising
to see how rapidly new industrial ideas are disseminated from such a
school.
At the time of the massacres of 1895-96 a large number of orphan
children, both boys and girls, were taken in charge by the
missionaries. These numbered many thousands. Their presence and needs
forced the adoption of methods by which they could earn a part, at
least, of their own support. Various industries sprang up wherever
orphans and widows were found gathered into homes superintended by
the missionary. These activities include cabinet work, carpentry,
tinsmithing, blacksmithing, baking, embroidery, lace-making, with
many other trades, besides silk culture and farming. As the children
are bright and quick to learn the use of tools and remarkably good at
imitation, marked progress is made. It is inevitable that out of these
industrial plants will come new ideas and new industrial and mechanical
impulses. Many of the young men who have come to the United States have
learned trades which they will carry back to their own country as soon
as they are satisfied that liberty is given them to return in safety.
Probably industrial reform has not taken hold of the country as yet
with the same force as other reforms. One prominent reason for this is
that all industries are discouraged by the government. We can expect
but moderate results until there is a change in this respect in the
policy of administration.
Many changes in the construction of houses have taken place in the
interior of the country. Wooden floors are rapidly coming into use,
and windows admitting light and often with a few panes of glass are
found even in remote villages. The one-story buildings in agricultural
villages in which the family and the cattle during the winter occupied
one room, are having a second story added for the family with pure
air and with plenty of light. This one change alone is of inestimable
value in lifting up and improving a people. Whitewash made with lime
is freely used upon the inside of the living rooms and much pride is
exhibited in the surroundings of the home. All this indicates a decided
advance in family life and in the desire for what is civilized and
wholesome. Every step forward is permanent. The industrial advance
goes hand in hand with the introduction of comforts in the home.
The possibilities for rapid enlargement of these reform measures
are innumerable as soon as freedom of action and safety to life and
property are assured.
Enlightened by education, chafing under the restrictions which crushed
all enterprise in that country, and knowing about the large freedom
and the wider opportunities open to all in the United States, a large
number of Armenians have left their homes in Turkey for this country.
Emigration began largely from Harpoot, but has extended now to all
parts of the country, until it is estimated that there are now in the
United States more than thirty thousand Armenians, with perhaps as
many Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians, Turks and Syrians. Many of these
have become prosperous business men, worthy and loyal citizens of the
United States. Others are farmers, professional men, and laborers in
factories. Some have returned, but the Turkish government is suspicious
of all, and especially of Armenians who have been in this country, and
is likely to deport them if they succeed in passing the guards at the
frontier. In proportion to their numbers, the Protestants in Turkey
have furnished by far the largest number of emigrants. They were the
first to come into closest contact with the American missionaries and
to catch the spirit of modern education. It was most natural that they
should be the first to turn their attention to this country as the
land of the greatest opportunity. Many have come here to secure more
education for work among their own people at home, but the severity of
Turkish rule has hitherto kept the most of these here. Many Armenian
Protestant churches and congregations have been formed in this country,
at points from Boston to California, and in every case the pastors and
preachers were trained at mission schools in Turkey. If it prove true
that old restrictions are removed and safety and freedom assured to
these exiles from their fatherland, no doubt the greater part of these
will return with joy, carrying back with them not only the capital they
have secured, but the enterprise and skill they have acquired in their
experience here. Many of these men may soon become a great force in
aggressive commercial Christian and educational enterprises for their
own people.
The missionaries set out to aid the Armenians and other races in
Turkey to an intelligent and reasonable faith and practise. Separation
from among the Armenians was forced upon the evangelicals, as we have
already seen, but the line that divided the Protestants from the old
Gregorian Church did not mark a cleavage between those who seriously
thought upon religious matters and those who were blind followers of
the Church. Many thoughtful men remained in the old Church, and the
discussions that produced so much disturbance outside were carried on
in greater quietness, even among the clergy. There were two reform
movements proceeding at the same time; one through the propagandism
of the Protestant or evangelical body, separated in 1846 from the
old Church by the action of the Church itself, and the other a much
less marked but no less sincere spirit of investigation and inquiry
continuing within the old Church. The general reform movement had been
too rapid and aggressive for the conservative elements of the Church,
but after the withdrawal of the most active leaders the reform spirit
continued to develop and exert its influence.
These two widely divergent parties of sixty years ago have now
drawn toward each other. There are probably to-day more intelligent
evangelical believers within the old Gregorian, Greek and Syrian
Churches than comprise the entire Protestant body. Separation no longer
takes place in any marked degree. The same men preach occasionally
in both Protestant and Gregorian churches. Evangelical teachers are
engaged without dissent to teach Gregorian schools, while in many
instances there are more Gregorian than Protestant pupils in Protestant
schools.
Gregorian young men preparing themselves for orders in their Church are
welcomed to the Protestant theological schools where they stand upon
precisely the same footing as the Protestant youth with that ministry
in view, while missionaries are invited to give lessons in Gregorian
theological schools.
The Gregorian Church, as a whole, while yet far from the goal reached
by many of its strongest supporters, is making advance towards an
intelligent faith and practise. No longer do the leaders believe that
there is virtue in the forms of worship or salvation in submission to
the demands of the priesthood. They believe that true religion consists
in true belief and right living and to this end they strive.
It is also evident that the Mohammedans have been perceptibly affected
by reading the New Testament; thousands of copies have been sold them.
Whereas heretofore they had interpreted Christianity by the lives of
the people among them who bore that name, they are now studying the
sources and see that between the two there is a wide gulf. They have
been compelled, in self-defense, to search their own religion for
fundamental truths of high character in order to prove to the reformed
Christians that Islam is not as bad as it appears in the lives of many
of its adherents.
In a word, all classes in the empire are learning that religion is a
matter of conviction and life, and not of form, and that it manifests
its true character in the acts of its followers, and not in the boasted
declarations of its leaders.