THIRTY YEARS AMONG THE JEWS.
1826-1856.
The first missionary sent by the Board to the Jews in the Levant,
was the Rev. Josiah Brewer, who, while connected with the Board, was
supported by the "Female Society of Boston and Vicinity for
promoting Christianity among the Jews." Sailing from Boston,
September 16, 1826, he proceeded to Constantinople by way of Malta
and Smyrna, expecting there to find every facility for learning the
Hebrew-Spanish language, spoken by the Spanish Jews. But
disturbances, growing partly out of the Greek revolution, so
hindered his gaining access to the Jews, that he deemed it his duty
to turn to some more open field of missionary labor.
After the retirement of Mr. Brewer, the ladies assumed the support
of the Rev. William G. Schauffler who became his successor. He was a
native of Stuttgart in Germany, but early removed, with his parents,
to a German colony near Odessa. He came to this country through the
agency of the Rev. Jonas King, and spent several years at the
Theological Seminary in Andover, to prepare himself for a mission to
the East. He was ordained at Boston in November, 1831, and embarked
soon after, going by way of Paris, where he attended the lectures on
the oriental languages and literature, for which that city was then
distinguished. He had been familiar with the French language from
his youth, and, having an aptitude for such studies, applied himself
successfully to the Arabic and Turkish. His health beginning to fail
after some months, and the cholera making ravages in the city, he
resumed his journey through Germany to Odessa, and thence by water
to Constantinople, where he arrived on the last day of July,
1832.[1]
[1] For Mr. Shauffler's account of his residence at Paris and this
journey, see _Missionary Herald_ for 1833 and 1834.
The greater part of the Jews in Constantinople are descendants of
the eight hundred thousand who were expelled from Spain in 1492, and
their language is the Hebrew-Spanish; or the Spanish with a mixture
of Hebrew words, all written in the Spanish Rabbinical alphabet. As
soon as Mr. Schauffler had acquired this language, he began the
careful revision of a Hebrew-Spanish translation of the Old
Testament, already in print, but not intelligible to the common
people. He found the Jewish mind in an unquiet state. Eight years
before, as many as a hundred and fifty had renounced Judaism at one
time, but nearly all were soon driven back by persecution. Several
of these now requested baptism, and were ready to suffer for the
sake of becoming Christians; but they seemed incapable of
understanding that anything more could be required of them than an
exchange of external relations, and gave little evidence of piety.
Near the close of 1834, Mr. Schauffler baptized a German Jew, whom
he named Herman Marcussohn, having formed his acquaintance in South
Russia, sixteen years before. As he could not there profess
Christianity except by joining the Greek Church, he had come to
Constantinople, bringing letters to Mr. Schauffler, and was engaged
by him as a literary assistant.
Religious excitements were not wanting. Three young Jews became
anxious for Christian baptism, and both the Greek and Armenian
Patriarchs refusing it, they fell into the cold embrace of the Papal
Church. Three others expressed the same desire; and ten young men
took advantage of the death of the civil head of their community to
flee, as was supposed, for the sake of greater freedom in religion.
Mr. Schauffler's varying and perplexing experience constrained him
to believe, that private charity, and sacrifices for individual
Jews, should be employed very sparingly.
The year 1835 was chiefly employed in revising the Hebrew-Spanish
version of the Old Testament, and in preparing a Lexicon in the two
languages. He also commenced a series of tracts in Hebrew-German. To
some extent there was among the Jews a hearing ear, and to a greater
extent the absence of an understanding heart. The German and Polish
Jews were less bigoted and more intelligent than the Spanish Jews,
but were more greedy of gain, and more indifferent to religion. On
the great day of atonement they allowed Marcussohn to address them
in their synagogue on the Christian religion; the rulers of the
synagogue having first given him a seat on the platform among
themselves, where they read their Scriptures and prayers, and where
sermons were delivered.
A visit of some months made by Mr. Schauffler among his friends at
Odessa, in 1836, resulted, through divine grace, in a revival, as
has been already stated, among the German population, and was not
without good effects upon the demoralized Jews of that city. During
his absence, his revision of the Psalms in Hebrew and Hebrew-Spanish
was printed at Constantinople, under the superintendence of Mr.
Farman, a missionary of the London Jews Society. A relative of the
chief rabbi called on Mr. Schauffler after his return, and took a
hundred copies for distribution, and he thought his chief might be
induced to give his _imprimatur_ to the contemplated edition of the
Old Testament; but from some unknown cause, the chief rabbi became a
fierce opposer of the Psalms, and prohibited the use of the edition.
In May, 1839, Mr. Schauffler left for Vienna, to superintend the
printing of the Old Testament for the Spanish Jews. As he was
leaving, the caique, in which himself and family, including an
infant child, were going off to the steamer, upset, and the whole
party narrowly escaped drowning. His visits to Odessa, in going and
coming, were the occasion, as before, of spiritual blessings to the
people. His family expenses were paid by the Board, but the printing
was at the charge of the American Bible Society. He was absent
nearly three years, returning in August, 1842; and in that time
carried through the press three thousand copies of the Old Testament
in Hebrew-Spanish, in two volumes quarto, containing fifteen hundred
pages. The Hebrew occupied every alternate page. He also printed
five hundred copies of the Hebrew-Spanish Pentateuch, in two
volumes, 16mo., with the Hebrew on the opposite page. The Sefardim,
or Spanish Jews, having the New Testament previously, were now
favored with the whole inspired volume in their vernacular tongue.
Notwithstanding the anathemas of Jewish rulers, the three thousand
copies of the Psalms, printed in 1836, were nearly exhausted in
1844, and the book was in great esteem among the people. A vain
effort was made by the rabbis to suppress the Vienna edition of the
Old Testament. Only a few of the hundreds of copies in the hands of
the people were delivered up, and it was believed that those
confiscated by the rabbis found their way again into circulation.
About this time, the "Committee of the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland on the Scheme for the Conversion of the Jews,"
made a grant of £2,162 (about $10,000) to this mission for the
circulation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the purchase of rabbinic type,
and the publication of school-books and tracts for the Jews. This,
while it generously enlarged the operations of the mission, afforded
no relief to the treasury of the Board.
Such were the calls for the Hebrew-Spanish Old Testament, that more
than twelve hundred copies went into the hands of the Jews previous
to June, 1843. One rabbi requested twenty copies for poor Jews in
Roumelia; another, and he the chief rabbi, asked for ninety copies
for six destitute places; and another, the rabbi of Orta Keuy, made
repeated solicitations for thirty copies for schools in that suburb,
and for twenty additional copies to place in reading rooms, where
Jews come together in a social manner, on their Sabbath, to read the
Bible.
Calls for religious conversation were frequent, but there was
painful evidence, that in most cases the object was more selfish
than spiritual. There appeared to be a general dissatisfaction with
Judaism, but no proper knowledge of Christianity. Poverty and
distress were the principal occasions of these calls. A few appeared
to be interested in more fundamental truths; and they attentively
read McCaul's "Old Paths," a controversial work that exposes the
absurdity of rabbinism. The chief difficulty with all was in respect
to the divine nature of the Messiah.
The Spanish Jews, numbering seventy or eighty thousand souls in
Constantinople, afforded a field for the faithful sower, rather than
the cheerful reaper. The tyrannical rule of their rabbis rendered
them less accessible, perhaps, than any other people in Turkey, the
Moslems alone excepted; and intellectually they were among the most
degraded races in the East. Yet they stood higher in their morals
than did the Turks. They had but few books; and until the issue of
the edition under Mr. Schauffler's superintendence, they had no copy
of the Old Testament in their vernacular tongue, that was accessible
to the people at large. Two editions of the Old Testament, in
Hebrew-Spanish and Hebrew and Chaldee, with Rabbi Solomon Jarchi's
commentary in opposition to Christian doctrines, had been published
in 1816, at Vienna, in six quarto volumes. Now the Christian church,
while waiting for a wider entrance among the people, was called on
to provide the books that would be indispensable when that entrance
should be secured. Among those most needed now, were a Hebrew and
Hebrew-Spanish vocabulary of the Old Testament (then in
preparation); a Spelling Book for schools; a short Hebrew Grammar; a
brief Arithmetic; a Geography of the Bible, and a Natural History of
the same; various religious tracts and essays on prophecies,
especially those concerning the Messiah; and a translation of
McCaul's "Old Paths" into Hebrew-Spanish.
The Ashkenazim, or German Jews, were only about two thousand, and
were chiefly young men driven from Moldavia by the Boyars, and from
Russia by the law of conscription that threatened them with the
hardships and perils of a soldier's life. This department was under
the charge of Mr. Allan, a missionary of the Free Church of
Scotland, in connection with Mr. Schwartz, a converted Jew.
The Protestant Armenians showed a deep interest in efforts for the
conversion of the Jews, and were forward to render their aid, Nor
could Jews or Mohammedans be wholly uninfluenced by the change then
going on in the Armenian churches of the metropolis in respect to
the use of pictures; the greater part of which had been removed, and
the patriarchal church, in place of them had set the example of
having passages of Scripture painted in large letters on the walls.
Besides the Spanish and German Jews in Constantinople, there was a
small body of Italian Jews who were generally destitute of all
religion. Then as there were many Germans in the city, Mr.
Schauffler held a stated service for them, in which his labors were
blessed to the hopeful conversion of some. The attendance was often
composed largely of Israelites. In the closing month of the year
1844, he baptized a Jewish physician.
The Jews are probably more strongly prejudiced against the Gospel,
than any other people. Their whole literature is anti-Christian. So
are their education and internal religious policy. The great effort
of Jewish learning for fifty generations, has been to prevent the
Old Testament from suggesting Christian ideas to the Jewish mind.
Hence a Jewish mission requires an extraordinary amount of
preparatory work, in the first instance; though its main objects and
duties afterwards will differ little, if at all, from those of other
missions.
Mr. Schauffler was specially adapted to the preliminary work in
Jewish missions, growing out of the peculiar state of the national
mind. What this was, up to the year 1845, has been sufficiently
indicated. In that year, a second edition of the Pentateuch, in
Hebrew and Hebrew-Spanish, was printed at Vienna; and a new edition,
of five thousand copies of the Old Testament in the same languages,
was commenced at Smyrna. The American Bible Society, which bore the
expense of these editions, also authorized the printing of a Hebrew
and Hebrew-German version of the Old Testament, for the German Jews.
The testimony of Mr. Schauffler is so explicit on a point of great
importance in a mission of the Jews, as to justify the following
quotation:--
"My own observation from the first, has established this fact, that
whenever a Jew is truly converted, the hope of seeing all Israelites
settled in Canaan sinks to the level of many other secondary ideas;
and Christ and him crucified,--Christ risen, ascended, and reigning
in glory, Christ and his kingdom, wherever its centre may
be,--becomes the all-absorbing theme. In other words, such Jews I
have always observed to be just what true converts among ourselves
are; differing from us only in this, that they cherish that desire
for the conversion of Israel, which we ought also to cherish, and of
which Paul has left so splendid an example. Half-converted men, in
whom the carnal pride of the old Pharisee has never been broken down
by a divinely wrought sense of the guilt of unbelief in Christ, who,
when they were baptized, thought they did Christ and his people an
honor; these, of course, never fail to consider themselves as
something special in the kingdom of Christ, and they expect to be
treated by Him accordingly. These make an exception. There are,
also, truly converted men among the proselytes, who cherish that
notion. They are those who have been under the influence of
missionaries, who make them a 'royal race,' amid the divinely
designated 'royal priesthood' (than which nothing can be higher) of
Christ's true people. We are all apt to believe what magnifies
ourselves. But I have observed no inherent tendency that way among
truly converted Jews, and never found it necessary to make efforts
to eradicate such carnal hopes."
The particular relations of the Board to the Spanish Jews in
Constantinople underwent an unexpected change in the year 1846.
Owing to the protracted and unavoidable delay in providing
associates for Mr. Schauffler, the brethren from the Free Church of
Scotland had so far taken possession of the ground, as to render
another mission in that city inexpedient. Whatever cause there may
have been for regretting this after the Board had obtained the men,
no blame was attached to our more zealous brethren of the Scotch
Church. Mr. Schauffler would continue to reside in Constantinople,
and would render valuable aid to all the missions to the Jews in
those parts.
Attention was now directed to Salonica (the ancient Thessalonica),
which had been visited by Messrs. Schauffler and Dwight some years
before. The city was visited again by Mr. Schauffler in July, 1847,
and he urgently recommended occupying it as a Jewish station. The
number of rabbinical Jews residing there was estimated at
thirty-five thousand, or about half of the whole population. The
number of their synagogues was fifty-six. The Jews were diffused
throughout the city, and not confined, as in Constantinople, to
certain quarters. There was, therefore, a good degree of
intermingling in civil life with other people. The natural
consequence was, that a Salonica Jew did not evince the shyness so
common elsewhere, in approaching Christians, or in entering their
houses. They were thankful for the gift of the Old Testament in a
language they could understand. Moreover, the centre of rabbinical
learning was at Salonica, and not at Constantinople; which made the
assent given by the Salonica rabbis to the correctness of the
Hebrew-Spanish version, the more influential.
The Rev. Messrs. Eliphal Maynard and Edward M. Dodd, appointed to
this mission, reached Salonica, with their wives, in April, 1849,
going by way of Constantinople. Mr. Schauffler was to remain at the
metropolis, but accompanied them to Salonica and was with them seven
weeks, helping them much towards a successful entrance on their
work. Both of the brethren devoted themselves to the Hebrew-Spanish.
Mr. Dodd gave, also, some attention to the Turkish, with a view to
the Zoharites, or Moslem Jews, numbering about five thousand; all of
whom seemed to rejoice that missionaries had come there to reside.
He describes them as among the noblest of the inhabitants of the
city, and as very ready to talk on religious subjects, with less
self-conceit than the rabbinical Jews.
The Prudential Committee, on sending forth these brethren, stated
the more important facts, principles, and usages, which should be
kept constantly in mind in their mission to the Jews.[1] The
relations of that people to Christ's kingdom were believed to be the
same with those of all other people; and they were no more shut out
from that kingdom by a "judicial blindness," or more really "cast
away," than any other perverse and wicked nation. The obstacles to
be overcome among them were substantially the same with those in the
Oriental Churches. The relations sustained to the spiritual
blessings of the Abrahamic covenant being no longer of blood, but of
faith, these blessings must be common alike to believing Jews and
Gentiles. Never again, in the spiritual kingdom of God, will there
be circumcision or uncircumcision, Greek or Jew. Never again will
there be a need of bloody rites, a mediating priesthood, and a showy
ritual. Never again will there be a theocracy with a sensuous
external economy, limited to a single nation. Never again, in the
kingdom of God, will he be accounted a Jew, in the evangelical
sense, who is one outwardly, nor that be accounted circumcision
which is outward in the flesh; but he will be a Jew, who is one
inwardly, and is, of course, heir to all the spiritual promises made
to the Jews in the Old Testament; and circumcision is of the heart,
in the spirit, and not in the letter. On these broad, fundamental
Scripture principles, rested the whole superstructure of our mission
to the Jews.
[1] More fully stated in the _Missionary Herald_ for 1849, p. 101.
The prevalent idea, that judicial blindness came upon Israel in
consequence of their crucifixion of the Son of God, precluding their
conversion as a people until the arrival of some great prophetic
era, seems without any proper Scripture warrant. They were blinded
only "in part;" only "some" of the branches were broken off; they
are not "cast away" as a people; and when the rest of mankind shall
embrace the Gospel, and come into the kingdom, the Jews will do the
same.
The practical inference drawn from all this was, that the same
general course should be pursued in Jewish missions, which is proper
in missions to any other unevangelized people. They must be
instructed as to the oneness of Christ's body, the church, and the
equal membership of all true disciples. If a church be formed of
Jewish converts alone, it should be in full communion with all other
Christian churches.
Manual labor schools and hospitals for the Jews, employing converts
merely for the sake of giving them employment; boarding-schools to
serve as houses of refuge for the children of converts; expenses
incurred for shielding converts from persecution or for teaching
them trades; were not regarded as within the range of missionary
work; but the converts were, in general, to be left, as the Apostles
left them, to meet the consequences of their conversion upon their
persons, their families, and their business, as God in his
providence and by his grace should enable them.
Mr. Maynard was removed by death from his labors within five months
after his arrival. In company with a New England clerical friend, he
made a tour into the delightful region of Thessaly for relaxation
and health. Unconsciously they exposed themselves to malaria, and
both took the same fever; of which Mr. Maynard died at Salonica, and
his friend at Athens. Mrs. Maynard soon afterwards returned home.
The place thus early vacated was filled, in the following summer, by
the Rev. Justin W. Parsons, who was accompanied by his wife.
The Salonica Jews had scarcely more than the shadow of education. A
school taught in the principal synagogue contained about a thousand
pupils, but with the least possible intellectual value in the
instruction. Half as many more were in private schools, where Hebrew
and Hebrew-Spanish were taught, but nothing like Grammar, Geography,
or History. In a small select school, supported by rich Jews,
Italian (the commercial language) and French were taught.
Familiarity with the Talmud was regarded as the perfection of
knowledge, so that a man needed to know nothing else. "Oh," said a
beardless youth to a missionary, "if you had only read our Talmud,
you would throw all your books into the fire." Salonica was famous
for its books, but they were servile imitations of the Talmud. The
spoken language was essentially Spanish, but, with a deficient
vocabulary, and greatly corrupted with Turkish and Hebrew words,
while subject to constant change. Consequently the many books and
tracts in Hebrew-Spanish, which were published by the English
missionaries in Smyrna, were comparatively useless at Salonica,
because of the difficulty of understanding them. These Jews
therefore needed missionary schools.
The excessive self-righteousness of this people, as described by Mr.
Dodd, disclosed a serious obstacle to missionary success among them.
"Two thousand years of punishment," he says, "have not destroyed the
feeling, that they are the beloved of heaven. They pray, morning,
noon, and night, and that too in the holy language. They always ask
a blessing on their food. They neither eat nor touch any unclean
thing. Except they wash their hands oft, they eat not. When they
fast, it is by entire abstinence from food. They read the Word of
God almost continually. In passing through the bazaars, you may see
the shop-keepers taking up the Bible to read in their leisure hours;
and if a visitor has to wait for you a few minutes, with a Bible
within reach, you will certainly find him reading it, though it be
in an unknown tongue; and once a year they sit up all night to read
through the law. Their recognition of Providence is excessive. Every
event is referred to God. He is thanked for every good; submission
to his will is expressed in every trial. Every hope is uttered
conditionally, in dependence on him; and his aid is invoked in
trouble as frequently, and with as little meaning, as many
Christians speak of fortune, or luck. As to the outward semblance of
piety and devotion, I do not think another such people can be found.
Like their fathers, they seek God daily, and delight to know his
ways. As a nation, they take delight in approaching God. 'Is not the
Lord among us?' 'No evil shall come upon us.' Talk to them of God's
glory, and they will answer by quoting some beautiful Psalm of
David. Talk of man's sinfulness, and they will repeat Psalm 51st,
with seeming penitential devotion. Speak of God's wrath against sin;
they will assent readily, but add, that he is pitiful, remembering
that we are dust. Thus the missionary is baffled. Let him search the
Word of God to find expressions that shall penetrate to their
consciences; the Jew is familiar with them all, and repeats them
every day in his prayers. They either mean nothing, or through a
talmudic gloss, aided by self-righteous blindness, they foster his
confidence in the mercy of the God who is his peculiar friend, and
loves him more than he loves the Gentile world, or even his own
justice and truth."
Mr. Parsons also says, after a visit to Seres, a city fifteen miles
northwest of Salonica: "The Jews of Seres have the same blind
submission to the rabbis, the same prejudices, the same evasions of
the truth. Gold is their God, and traffic is their religion,--one
would say, who should meet them only in their fair. But in their
prayers, and their Sabbath observance, the deceiver makes them
appear to themselves the holy favorites of heaven, separate from the
nations."
Mr. Schauffler had now printed his Hebrew grammar, and commenced the
printing of his Hebrew lexicon. The edition of the Pentateuch was
nearly exhausted.
The Rev. Homer B. Morgan and wife reached Salonica in February,
1852. The brethren were of the opinion, that while for two thirds of
the year the climate of that city was tolerably healthy, the low
portions, where the Jews and Greeks chiefly resided, were subject to
malaria. The missionaries, therefore, would have resided in the more
elevated parts occupied by the Turks, but could neither hire nor
purchase houses in that quarter. The best they could do was to live
in the upper stories of their houses. Mr. Dodd suffered from a
bronchial affection, and sought to recruit his health by an
excursion into Thessaly, where he enjoyed some excellent
opportunities for preaching the gospel, both to Jews and
Gentiles.[1] Mr. Parsons visited the part of Macedonia, which lies
northwest of Salonica, and then extended his journey to Sophia, the
capital of Bulgaria.[2]
[1] _Missionary Herald_ for 1852, pp. 235-238.
[2] _Ibid_. pp. 78-83.
The health of Mr. Dodd did not improve, and he repaired first to
Malta, and then, with the consent of the Committee, to the United
States. In August, 1852, a mouth after his departure, Mr. and Mrs.
Parsons, and Mr. and Mrs. Morgan were all prostrated by intermittent
fever. Mrs. Morgan did not yield to the disease, till she had
exhausted her strength in caring for the others; and then, after a
short illness, during most of which she was unconscious, she was
removed to her heavenly home. Mr. Parsons was at one time very low;
and the three survivors were subjected to such frequent returns of
fever during the winter, that they were advised by physicians to
spend the spring and summer on the Bosphorus. They left the station
in charge of native helpers, and removed to Constantinople. Until
sickness came, their labors had been uninterrupted. Their circle of
acquaintance was constantly increasing, and they were generally
regarded by the Jews as their sincere friends. They were expected in
their visits to declare and make personal applications of gospel
truths. A little volume upon the inspiration of the Old and New
Testaments, by Mr. Dodd, was favorably received by many of the Jews.
It was not deemed expedient for the brethren to resume their
residence in Salonica. Mr. Morgan and Mr. and Mrs. Parsons removed
to Smyrna, where they shared with their English brethren in labors
among the Jews. They hoped to continue to occupy Salonica through
Armenian native helpers, and to visit it themselves in the healthy
season. Mr. Morgan was married to Mrs. Sutphen, of the Armenian
mission, at the close of 1853, and on the return of Mr. and Mrs.
Dodd to Smyrna in the autumn of 1854, they went to Salonica,
expecting to remain there during nine months, and then to retire
before the miasma of summer. Mr. Morgan was welcomed by his Jewish
acquaintance, and found that the spirit of inquiry had spread, and
that there was greater boldness on the part of a few. But whatever
their secret conviction of the truth, none confessed the Saviour
openly. The first fruits ripened elsewhere. A family of three fled
to Malta, and were baptized there; another, a converted rabbi, came
to Smyrna, and became a teacher. There had been a considerable
advance in female education, since Mrs. Dodd had, with great
difficulty, persuaded a Jewish girl to encounter the odium of
learning to read. Some prominent rabbis were teaching their
daughters, and the tide seemed evidently turning.
The Jews of Smyrna were found to be more worldly, and less given to
religious thought, than the Jews of Salonica. But an avowedly
Christian school of near twenty pupils was sustained during the year
1854, and taught by the converted rabbi above mentioned. The teacher
was known to be a proselyte. The New Testament was read daily, and
biblical instruction occupied a large place. It was hopeful that
Jews were found willing to place their children in such an
atmosphere. A boarding-school was opened for a few of the more
promising boys belonging to the day-school. The parents of five
actually signed a contract binding them to the missionaries for
three years. This they did after the most explicit declarations,
that while the boys would be trained for the highest usefulness and
happiness in this world, they would be carefully instructed in the
way of salvation through Jesus of Nazareth. The experiment could not
proceed without opposition. The chief rabbi interposed. The eldest
boy in the school manifested an inclination to embrace the Christian
religion, and was beaten, dragged to the synagogue, and compelled to
go through the form of worship. He was then put in irons procured
from the mad-house. He afterwards fled to Constantinople, where he
was baptized by one of the Scotch missionaries. The teacher was also
thrown into prison, on a false accusation. A young Jewish physician
appeared fully to embrace the truth, and was not moved by the most
cruel threats, or flattering promises. Mr. Parsons was greatly
encouraged.
The instruction of inquirers at Constantinople had passed mostly
into the hands of English and Scotch missionaries to the Jews, while
Mr. Schauffler's labors were chiefly literary. He was preparing a
new translation of the Psalms into Hebrew-Spanish, in a more popular
style; but could hardly expect entire success, owing to the
peculiarities of the language as spoken by the common people in
different places. His translation of the Old Testament into
Hebrew-German, after revision by Mr. Koenig, of the Scotch Free
Church Mission, was printed by the American Bible Society. He was
able to preach in various languages, and did not neglect employing
his talent in that direction. The printing of his Hebrew Lexicon was
completed in 1854.
The reader will scarcely be prepared for the relinquishment of this
mission, which took place early in 1856, though not in consequence
of failing success. The Armenian and Jewish missions, at their
united annual meeting in the spring of 1855, recommended that the
Board relinquish to some other society the Jewish stations of
Salonica and Smyrna. Constantinople, as such a station, had been
practically relinquished some time before. At a conference of
missionaries in Constantinople in November of that year, on occasion
of a visit from the Foreign Secretary of the Board, the subject was
carefully considered, and the question was decided according to the
personal convictions of the brethren in the Jewish mission. The
result was in favor of relinquishing the Jewish field to the English
and Scotch Societies; and of the younger members of the mission
devoting their strength to the Armenian field, the exclusive right
to which had been conceded to American missionaries by the general
consent, as it were, of Protestant Christendom. It had become
certain that the Board could not command laborers enough to do
anything like justice to both fields; while the English and Scotch
churches manifested a special interest in laboring for the
conversion of the ancient people of God; and there were both English
and Scotch missionaries in Constantinople, and English missionaries
in Smyrna; and others from the Established Church of Scotland were
ready to occupy Salonica.
Mr. Schauffler subsequently devoted himself to labors for the
Moslems, many of whom were becoming interested in the spiritual form
of Christianity presented in the Protestant Armenian communities,
that were springing up throughout the empire.