SYRIA.
1857-1860.
Dr. Eli Smith, whose name has an honorable place among the
translators of the Scriptures, died at Beirût, Sabbath morning,
January 11th, 1857.[1] Thirty years had elapsed since his first
arrival in Syria, and he had before been connected for several
months with the press at Malta. In 1829, he made an exploring visit,
with the author, to the Ionian Islands, the Morea, and the Grecian
Archipelago; and the next year, he and Dr. Dwight explored Armenia,
and a part of the Nestorian country. The other more important events
of his life are so far known to the reader, that they need not be
repeated.
[1] Dr. Smith expressed a decided opinion, in his last sickness,
that no memoir of his life and labors should be published, since he
had never kept a journal, and there were not sufficient materials.
In this he was probably correct, considering what the public would
have expected. A well written obituary, somewhat extended for that
publication, may be found in the Missionary Herald for 1857, pp.
224-229. See, also, pp. 123-125.
The mind of Dr. Smith was rich in general principles, and in
well-considered applications of them to the missionary work; though,
in this latter respect, he was restricted more than his brethren
among the Armenians, by the less pliable nature of the materials on
which he was called to operate. After having explored countries
which others were to occupy; after contributing largely to the
accuracy, variety, and value of Dr. Robinson's "Biblical
Researches"; and after securing the formation of type that would be
acceptable to the most fastidious Arab; he set himself to prepare a
new translation of the Bible into the Arabic language. With this in
view, he pursued the study of Arabic and kindred languages to a
greater extent than was necessary to become either a good speaker,
or a good preacher. His learning was both extensive and accurate,
and he was continually adding to his stores by a wide range of
judicious reading. To a good knowledge of the ancient classics, he
added an acquaintance, more or less perfect, with the French,
Italian, German, and Turkish languages. With the Hebrew he was
familiar; and the Arabic, by far the most difficult of all, was to
him a second vernacular.
Dr. Smith was eminently a man of business, and was accustomed to
give attention to the minutest details. He spent much time in
superintending the cutting, casting, and perfecting of the various
fonts of type, made from models that he had accurately drawn from
the best specimens of Arabic caligraphy.[1] For many years he read
the proof-sheets of nearly every work that was printed at the
mission press; and he bestowed much thought and labor upon the
mechanical apparatus and fixtures of that establishment.
[1] See. vol. i. p. 233.
To him every pursuit was subsidiary to a faithful translation of the
Word of God into the Arabic language. Yet he did not neglect the
regular preaching of the gospel, which he regarded as the first duty
of every missionary; and having early become a fluent speaker in the
Arabic, this was ever his delight. "Almost as a matter of course,
his preaching was expository and didactic. In clear, lucid, logical
exposition of divine truth, he had few equals. His language, though
select and grammatical, was always simple, and within the
comprehension of the humblest of his hearers. In regard to matter,
his discourses were eminently Biblical, sound, and evangelical. In
form and costume, his theology was that of Edwards, and Dwight, and
Woods,--the theology of the Puritan fathers of New England. Upon
this system of divine truth his own hopes of eternal life rested,
and it was this which he earnestly labored, for thirty years, to
infuse into the Arabic literature, and transplant into the hard and
stony soil of Syria's moral desert."
The author, having had the best opportunities for knowing Dr. Smith,
bears testimony to his excellent judgment, and to the great value of
his correspondence with the executive officers of the Board, in the
forming period of the missionary work.
It did not please the Lord to grant the earnest desire of Dr. Smith
to live and complete his translation of the Scriptures; and it must
be admitted, that his ideal of perfection in the work was such, that
it is doubtful whether he ever could have been satisfied that his
entire translation was ready for publication. Only Genesis, Exodus,
and the first sixteen chapters of Matthew, had received his final
revision, and were acknowledged by him as complete. But, with the
help of Mr. Bistâny, his assistant translator, he had put into
Arabic the entire New Testament, the Pentateuch, the Historical
Books of the Old Testament, and the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Lamentations, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, and Nahum.
He had revised, and nearly prepared for the press, the whole of the
New Testament, and all except Jeremiah, Lamentations, and the last
fourteen chapters of Isaiah, of the books named in the Old
Testament. With these finished specimens, and with so large a
portion of the remainder translated and carefully revised, together
with the helps to translation which he had accumulated, his brethren
believed that he had laid the foundation for one of the best
versions of the sacred Scriptures to be found in any language.
Dr. Van Dyck had been connected with the mission since 1840, and
very soon made himself master of the spoken Arabic, in which he
greatly excelled as a preacher. It soon appeared, that he was the
man to succeed Dr. Smith as translator of the Scriptures, and the
mission arranged his removal, for that purpose, from Sidon to
Beirût; so that in due time he was enabled to bring the great work
to successful completion.[1]
[1] See chapter xl.
Mr. Aiken had joined Mr. Wilson at Hums, a new station north of
Damascus, where he was bereaved of his wife before she had been six
months in the field. The arrangement for 1857 was that Beirût should
be occupied by Messrs. Van Dyck and Ford, and Mr. Hurter, the
printer; Abeih by Messrs. Calhoun and Bliss; Sidon by Mr. Eddy; Deir
el Komr by Mr. Bird; Bhamdûn by Mr. Benton; Tripoli by Messrs.
Jessup and Lyons; and Hums by Mr. Wilson. Dr. Thomson and Mr. Aiken
were in the United States; the latter with health so impaired as to
forbid his resuming his mission. He had previously married Miss
Cheney. In the following year, Miss Jane E. Johnson and Miss Amelia
C. Temple arrived to take the care of a girls' boarding-school at
Sûk el Ghurb, on Mount Lebanon; but the former was soon found unable
to endure the climate. Dr. Thomson, while in this country, published
a valuable work on Biblical literature, in two volumes, entitled
"The Land and the Book." Dr. and Mrs. De Forest had come to this
country in the hope of a restoration of his health; but on the 24th
of November, 1858, this excellent missionary was released from long
and severe physical sufferings by a peaceful death.
The health of Mrs. Wilson made it necessary, for a time, to leave
Hums without a resident missionary. The principal operations, both
here and at Deir el-Komr, were through schools for both sexes, which
had been embarrassed by Syrian and Greek opposers, but in no case
suppressed. The female department of the school at Deir el-Komr
commenced with a dozen pupils, but in six months the attendance
exceeded fifty. When Mr. Bird came to that place, he thought there
were not six females in the nominally Christian population, who
could read; but a year had not passed before half the pupils in his
girls' school could read their Bibles. There were other mountain
schools under the care of the station, and in one there were more
than sixty pupils.
The following contrast of the state of things in 1857 with what it
had been fifteen years before, indicates a preparatory work in no
small degree encouraging. "Then, the missionary could hardly
purchase here the necessaries of life; and when he left, he was
followed by stones and execrations. Now, he is welcomed and honored.
Then, fear kept even his friends from venturing to visit him; now,
priests and even a bishop are ashamed not to return his calls. Then,
the Protestant sect could not be vilified enough; now, it is spoken
of with favor in public and in high places. The old Emir Beshir,
once the persecutor and terror of Protestants, has passed away, and
his dilapidated palace is used as barracks for Turkish soldiers. His
prime minister, or secretary, who did much injury to the cause of
evangelical religion, and whose mansion was, as it were, the
stronghold of the enemy, is no more. What remains of this
Ahithophel's house is the abode of the missionary, and furnishes
apartments for Scripture schools, and a Protestant chapel. His
sons-in-law were leaders in the movement which brought us to Deir
el-Komr, and are among our firmest friends. His grandchildren learn
the folly of popery by the knowledge of the Bible they acquire in
our schools.
"Time was, when every one trembled at the anathema of the clergy.
Now, the latter dare not show their impotence by pronouncing it.
Some of the people would be glad to be thus dissevered from a church
which they abhor, for they would thus not only gain their end, but
retain the sympathies of many who would else oppose them. Those who
send their children to our schools, have been refused admission to
the confessional and the eucharist; the Maronite bishop, however,
has at length yielded the point, and tries to win, rather than
compel. Their high school he has made free of charge, and has
promised to open a girls' school beside. In the Greek Catholic
communion, on the other hand, the men and some of the women remain
"suspended;" yet they are of good courage, some glad of so excellent
an excuse to get rid of the confessional, and others incensed at the
glaring injustice that would admit the drunkard and the notoriously
vicious, but exclude the respectable and the moral. We have here the
anomaly of those being thrust out of the church, who are still its
very pillars, its substantial supporters, whose names are known, and
whose influence is felt, throughout the region.
"We have reason to thank God and take courage. Still we long to see
a work more purely spiritual. Light is being diffused, but there is
not the corresponding religious interest. The truth is viewed by
many as a beautiful theory, the heart remaining a flint. We have to
regret the fact, that some of the best minds in the place are tinged
with skepticism. Happily the most influential are, notwithstanding,
our firm friends, and are in favor of good education and good
morals."
Ain Zehalty, a village situated in the heart of Lebanon, has been
already mentioned.[1] Mr. Bird says, "We now have there five
church-members. There have been regular Sabbath services under the
charge of the native helper, Khalil. The audience has been on the
increase, and is now not only larger than that in Deir el-Komr, but
is composed of better materials. Those who come desire instruction,
and are regular attendants and declared Protestants." An Ain
Zehaltian, when out of his village, if not a Druze, was set down at
once as a Protestant. The day school in that place had forty
scholars, and half as many attended the evening school for adults.
This school was for the special purpose of studying the Bible, and
the pupils had gone through the historical books of the Old and New
Testaments. Their custom on Saturday and Sabbath evenings was to
read the devotional parts, and hold a prayer meeting.
[1] Vol. i. p. 383.
Mr. Ford made a visit to Hasbeiya in February, 1857, with Mr. Jones,
Secretary of the Turkish Missions Aid Society. He had never before
been in that region, and speaks highly of the native laborers. Of
the church-members he says: "When compared with the rock from which
they were hewn, and the hole of the pit from which they were digged,
they show the genuineness of the work of grace in their hearts."
"The signs of the times," he adds, "in the community around, are
most encouraging. I will only refer now to a remarkable stirring up
of the Maronites to defend themselves against the inroads made by
the gospel upon their hitherto solid ranks. Their ecclesiastics have
always maintained an attitude of proud contempt, as though conscious
of the strength of their hold upon their people, and they have
rarely deigned to come into personal contact with the despised
preachers of the gospel. But the serious diminution of their numbers
in various parts south of us, and the diffusion of spiritual light
among the rest of their flocks, have forced them down from their
assumed elevation, and now they select the ablest of their priests,
ordain him bishop, and send him on a crusade through Deir el-Komr,
Hasbeiya, Merj Aiun, and so on to Alma, where the spirit of Asaad
es-Shidiak, the modern martyr of Syria, seems to be revived in the
hearts of a simple people, preparing them to brave death itself for
the Gospel's sake. This bishop has sought public discussions with
Mr. Bird, at Deir el-Komr, and also with Mr. Wortabet, at Hasbeiya.
In the latter place there had been two such discussions held just
before we arrived. In the first, the bishop was effectually caught
in his own craftiness, and so completely worsted, that he and his
friends came to the second session prepared to regain by violence
the advantage they had lost in argument; and the result was a stormy
debate, terminated abruptly by an assault upon some of the
Protestants present."
Kefr Shema, a promising out-station, became a station by the removal
thither from Aleppo of Mr. and Mrs. Eddy. No objection to their
residence was made by the people, though it was not four years since
they had combined in a desperate attempt to drive all Protestants
from the village. The missionaries were visited and welcomed by
many.
Honorable mention is made of Antonius Yanni, the only native
Protestant in Tripoli, who had been two years connected with the
mission church, and had suffered much for the cause of Christ. He
had refused the honorable and highly lucrative post of vice-consul
for Russia, because its acceptance would necessarily have made him
subservient to the corrupt Greek Church, and an attendant upon its
services.
There had been preaching for several years at Aramon, three miles
from Abeih. But the congregation was broken up in midsummer by a
mob. Mr. Calhoun, who was regarded with great respect by the people,
visited the place, and in a very kind, gentle manner, told the
people that religious freedom was guaranteed to all, and that they
of the mission should be allowed to worship in their own hired
house. The people listened with attention. On Monday Mr. Calhoun
referred the case to the English Consul-general, and to the acting
Consul for the United States. Late in the week, two officials from
the government in Beirût, and two from the governor of the mountain
district, met Mr. Calhoun at Aramon. "When the time for service
arrived, the officials publicly stated, that there is to be perfect
religious freedom for all;--to-day, to-morrow, this year, next year,
and for all time. This they repeated over and over again, as the
will of the Sultan, and then ordered some one to go upon the
house-top and proclaim aloud, after the manner of the Mohammedans,
_that it was time for prayers, and that all who wished to come might
come_. Services were then conducted as usual, with an attentive
audience; and at the close, in a place appointed, the officials
demanded that the persecutors should ask pardon of the persecuted,
which was accordingly done, many kissing the hand of the man whose
house they had entered, and which we had hired. The governor also
called some of the men to his own village, and threatened them with
severe punishment if they should again molest any one on account of
his religion. He then, Mohammedan as he was, repeated, in substance,
the sentiment advanced, in the presence of his officers, by Mr.
Calhoun, that religion pertains to the individual conscience and to
God alone." Henceforward Mr. Aramon, the first teacher in the
seminary, met with no opposition in a regular preaching service.
The number of pupils in the Seminary, at the close of the year, was
twenty-five, and some of them were of unusual promise. A theological
class, of four middle-aged, married men, was kept up during the
summer, and then they went forth preaching the gospel, or laboring
as teachers and colporters. Thoroughly-educated young men, otherwise
qualified to preach the gospel, could only be obtained to a limited
extent. But men of riper age, of good common sense and
simple-hearted piety, could be fitted, by a few months of direct
Biblical training annually, to preach to the uninstructed
peasantry,--a labor for which there was the loudest call.
On the 12th of January, 1858, a deputation of four young men was
received by Mr. Eddy, at Sidon, from a large village east of Tyre,
called Cana. These brought a letter, signed by twenty-six persons,
professing their dissatisfaction with their own corrupt Church, in
connection with which they obtained no knowledge of God or of
heaven, and asking that a preacher might be sent to them at once,
and a teacher for their children. They denied being actuated by any
worldly motive, and were sent back with two New Testaments, and the
assurance that some one would be sent to instruct them as soon as
possible. They were, accordingly, visited by Daher Abud, a faithful
native helper, who was much gratified with the zeal and interest he
found among them. In February, Mr. Eddy went himself, and was warmly
welcomed. About forty men attended his preaching, whose eagerness to
hear and converse detained him over the next day.
From thence he went to Alma, a village of five hundred inhabitants,
a long day from Cana, beautifully situated upon the summit of a high
range of hills, two miles from the sea. The evangelical movement had
commenced there two years before, and there was a Protestant
community of about forty, including nine members of the church.
"This was considered, in some respects," writes Mr. Eddy, "one of
the brightest spots in the Syrian field. The great adversary of
souls tried in vain, by the terrors of persecution and the
seductions of flattery, to recover the people to himself. Failing in
this, he sought to sow discord among brethren, and thus to conquer
them; and for several months past he has rejoiced in seeing this
'house divided against itself.' I felt much anxiety as to the issue
of my visit, and had made it the subject of special prayer. I spent
three days among the people, one of which was the Sabbath. The
conversation and the preaching were mainly directed to the end of
securing peace, and a day of fasting and prayer was observed. On the
morning of the fourth day the clouds parted, and the Saviour
revealed himself in love. Then, amid tears, and confessions, and
promises, and prayers, the covenant of peace was signed, and
thanksgiving offered to God, and we separated."
Mr. Eddy visited Cana twice in the summer, and found the people,
young and old, eager to be instructed in the Word of God. So many
children attended the school from Catholic families, that the priest
sent word to the bishop in Tyre, that if he did not interpose his
authority, all the village would turn Protestant. Accordingly the
bishop came, bringing with him several wealthy and influential men
of the city. The Protestants were all invited to assemble at the
house of the head man of the village, and then these friends of the
bishop, in company with the head man and the priest, labored most of
the night to induce them to return to their church. It would have
been beneath the dignity of the bishop to have interceded directly
with them, especially if he had not succeeded. The effort was a
failure. Next the Prior of all the convents in that part of the
country, hearing of the bishop's ill success, came, and sought to
obtain, by love and promises, what the bishop had failed to
accomplish by threats. But he too returned disappointed; and
coincident with his departure, two persons came out from the
Catholic Church and joined the Protestants.
The month of November found Mr. Eddy again at Alma, to dedicate the
first completed Protestant church in Syria. The enrolled Protestants
numbered then about fifty. Dr. Van Dyck, before leaving Sidon, had
selected a site for the building and seen the foundation laid, and
had since collected from native Christians and foreign residents
nearly the amount required for the church, which was of stone,
thirty-two feet long and twenty-two feet broad, and capable of
holding from one hundred and fifty to two hundred persons. It cost
about three hundred dollars; thirty of which were contributed by the
people of Alma out of their deep poverty, besides a large amount
freely bestowed in labor. No opposition was made by the government
to its erection.
After the dedicatory sermon, the Lord's Supper was administered to
the nine church-members, who renewed their vows to the Lord; and
these, with other appropriate services, made it a Sabbath long to be
remembered.
In the summer of 1859, Mr. Eddy again visited Cana, taking Mrs. Eddy
with him to secure access to the women. He pitched his tent, the
first night, on the banks of the ancient Leontes, six or seven miles
north of Tyre, and the next day at noon they were at Cana. The poor
women, ignorant, yet eager to be taught, had never before enjoyed
such an opportunity, and prized it exceedingly.
The people had passed through severe sufferings. Several of the
women had been beaten, and the men had a bitter tale to tell of
oppression by their governor. He demanded a duplicate payment of
taxes, and when the head man of the Protestants respectfully showed
him a receipt, with his own seal affixed, he ordered him to be
severely beaten and placed in confinement. He then sent officers to
bring others of the Protestants before him, but, suspecting his
intention, all except two fled into the open country. These two,
when brought, were thrown down upon the ground before the governor,
and beaten with staves without mercy upon their backs and feet, he
encouraging his servants to deal harder blows with commands and
threats. Thus beaten till their backs were livid and swollen, they
were wounded also by being kicked and stepped on by those who beat
them, to make them lie still. When hardly left alive, chains were
placed upon their necks and feet, their hands were placed in wooden
stocks, and they were cast into prison, where they spent the night
with companions who had been previously beaten. Next morning they
were brought before the governor, and two of them were again beaten,
when they were dismissed with a threat, that if they left the
village he would pull down their houses. They however, despite his
threats, made their way to Tyre, whence they embarked in a vessel to
Beirût, to seek redress from the Pasha, and sympathy from the
missionaries. When they appeared before the Pasha's court, their
backs were ordered to be uncovered, and their wounds exhibited; and
the greatest indignation was expressed by the members of the council
against him who had so barbarously treated them, in violation of the
laws of the realm."
The governor was sent for, and the indications were, that he would
be expelled from office. But he was not. The Pasha suddenly changed
his tone towards the Protestants, ordered one of them to be cast
into prison on a false charge by the governor, and forbade the
council to proceed further against him. The Cana people were
detained two months from their homes. The proffered interposition of
the English Consul was rudely rejected, and their release, when it
was effected, was with no regard to the claims of justice. The visit
of Mr. and Mrs. Eddy at that time must have been very seasonable and
acceptable.
From Cana they proceeded to Alma, where they remained about a week.
The women here, being more numerous and more enlightened, and some
of them members of the church, were prepared to receive greater
benefit from the instruction of a Christian sister. Three additions
were made to the church. The people, though poor, had here also been
compelled by their governor to pay their taxes twice.
The Seminary at Abeih was now made more directly a training school
for native preachers and helpers; and a female boarding-school was
opened at Sûk el-Ghûrb, a village six miles north of Abeih, under
the direction of Miss Temple. The training of female helpers was its
leading object, and the removal of Mr. Bliss thither made a home for
the pupils.
Ain Zehalty continued to be a marked village, and the papists made
great efforts to reclaim it. A Maronite bishop at one time, and a
wily Jesuit at another, repaired thither, at the urgent request of
the papal party, to uproot the dangerous exotic. The coming of the
bishop was with great boasting on the part of his adherents, but,
much to their chagrin, he declined commencing a controversy with
Khalil, the native helper there; and was afterwards so hotly plied
with texts of Scripture by some of the church-members whom he
ventured to attack, that he fled for refuge to the more
accommodating "traditions of the elders." It was supposed that the
disciple of Loyola would carry all before him; but the undaunted
Bible-men were more than ready to meet him, which they did
effectively; and his visit was productive of more good than harm.
The report of the mission for 1858, furnishes many striking
evidences of the influence exerted, especially in the department of
education. Soon after the opening of the first Protestant school at
Tripoli, the Greeks opened a school for boys, which soon became
large and prosperous. And when the Protestant girls' school became a
success, a board of directors was organized, under the direction of
the Greek bishop, to break up the other, if possible. Not finding an
educated woman in Syria who was not a Protestant, the Greeks applied
to two Protestant young ladies to take their school, but without
success. To secure the needful pecuniary means, they constrained the
Patriarch to surrender a part of the convent revenues for this
purpose. The Russian government, moreover, took up the subject of
education in Syria, and remitted twelve thousand piasters (four
hundred and eighty dollars) to the Greek school directors in Tripoli
for the city schools; but with the injunction, that the tenets of
the Greek Church should be the chief subject of instruction.
Nineteen persons were added to the churches of the mission during
the first half of the year 1859. This of course involved various
local indications of progress, for which the limits of this history
afford no space. A new place, however, is brought to our notice by
Mr. Eddy, named Deir Mimas, a large village on the river Litany. A
few had here professed Protestantism about two years before, and had
encountered a storm of persecution from members of the Greek Church,
and from the Mohammedan governor of their district. Yet they had
constantly increased in numbers and strength. The missionary
spending several days there, was delighted to find an audience each
evening of more than one hundred, after their severe labors, all
eager to hear. The number of men professing Protestantism was above
sixty, and counting the women and the children, the number was one
hundred and fifty, the largest in Syria. Their enemies were on the
alert, and it was a sad fact, that no competent native teacher could
be found to reside among them. They were then dependent on a native
teacher, who came to them each Sabbath from a distance, having first
preached in his own village.
The annual meeting of the mission in this year was one of unusual
interest. "From the beginning to the end of the meeting, it was
apparent that there was much of a spirit of prayer among the native
brethren. The native female prayer meeting in Beirût was more fully
attended than usual; and the union meetings in Arabic and English,
held in the chapel, in which the missionaries and native brethren
united and large audiences assembled, were occasions of deep
interest. The statements made in the meeting when the annual reports
were read, at which W. A. Booth, Esq., of New York City, and Hon.
Alpheus Hardy, of Boston, a member of the Prudential Committee, were
providentially present, filled the minds of all with the conviction,
that never before in the history of the Syria mission have we had so
much encouragement, or such strong proofs that God is with us, and
that the work is going forward in this land."
Before this meeting, the mission had been favored with a visit from
the Hon. James Williams, United States Ambassador at Constantinople,
whose friendly and most useful agency was duly acknowledged by the
mission. His reply to them may be found in the "Missionary
Herald."[1]
[1] See _Missionary Herald_, 1860, p. 163.
The translation of the New Testament was now completed and published
under the care of Dr. Van Dyck. The pocket edition was admitted to
be one of the most beautiful books, in its typographical execution,
in the Arabic language. It had this advantage, that it could be
carried and read without attracting notice; which was something in a
land where Bible readers met with so much determined opposition.