THE ARMENIANS.
1869-1872.
The year 1870 commenced at Marash with another revival. A thousand
persons were present at the prayer-meeting on the 3d of January,
which was admirably conducted by Pastor Murad. The missionaries,
though present, did not deem it necessary to assist him. Fifty-three
new members were received into the two churches, and a much larger
number offered themselves for admission. Successful efforts were
made to reach the women, who were visited in their own homes by the
wives of students in the theological school, and by the older
scholars in the girls' school. The number of houses thus visited
during six weeks, was three hundred and eight, and there were
fifty-five prayer-meetings.
A revival was also in progress at Bitlis. For many weeks there had
been a sunrise prayer-meeting every day; and it was fully attended
for eight months; its location being changed occasionally to
accommodate different parts of the city. The meeting on the 18th of
February was the most interesting and profitable. Nearly ninety
persons were seated on the floor of a room thirteen feet by twenty.
Pastor Simon had charge of the meeting, and so ready were the
people, that it continued two hours and three quarters before he
could bring it to a close. As many as seventeen spoke, and about as
many prayed. During the meeting, a prominent church-member called
the attention of the weeping congregation to the importance of
making a covenant with God _now_; and after reading a beautiful and
appropriate hymn, he requested all who were ready to make such a
covenant to rise. Nearly all rose, and while they were standing, he
offered an earnest prayer for the aid of the Holy Spirit in keeping
that covenant. It was an impressive scene. Forty were added to the
church as the result of this revival. The people paid the debt on
their chapel and parsonage, and enlarged the former. They also gave
a site for the building to be erected by the two Misses Ely for the
girls' boarding-school, in which were twenty pupils, for the most
part wives of native helpers.
Some time in the month of April, the good people of Bitlis observed
a day of fasting and prayer for the village of Havadoric, where the
blind preacher, John Concordance, had labored, and where he died.
After a few weeks, Mr. Knapp visited the place, with Pastor Simon,
and they found delightful evidence of the presence of the Holy
Spirit. It was in contemplation to organize a church in that place,
and the church in Bitlis had sent three delegates, who walked
forty-five miles over the muddy roads. Ten hours were spent, the day
after their arrival, in examining more than a score of persons for
the new church, and eleven were approved, including two women. After
the church had been organized, Avedis, a graduate of the Harpoot
Seminary, was ordained as pastor. Fifty were present at the Lord's
supper from Bitlis, Moosh, and Khanûs.
The barbarous expulsion of Mr. and Mrs. Coffing from Hadjin, in
1862, will be remembered.[1] This was attributed, at the time, to
the priests and the Turkish governor, and not to the people. Mr.
Adams from Adana, and Mr. Trowbridge from Marash, went there in
1870, in company with Hagop Effendi, the Civil Head of the
Protestants in Turkey, who was then on an official tour through the
empire. They found the door for Christian effort wide open, as
Messrs. Montgomery and Perry had done the year before. Though
situated on the northern side of the Taurus mountains, Hadjin is
more conveniently cared for by the Central mission than by the
Western, and that section of country had been transferred
accordingly. Native laborers had gone there, and a great change had
taken place. Thirty-two had been enrolled as Protestants, and no
mention is made of opposition. At the evening services on the
house-top, where the missionary's tent was pitched, not only the
Protestants, but large numbers of the Armenians, listened with eager
attention. From early morn until dark on the Sabbath, there was
hardly an intermission in the preaching, exposition, or reading of
the Word of God.
[1] See p. 221.
In the autumn of 1869, Dr. Schneider, by direction of the mission,
attended the examination of the Theological School at Marsovan. He
writes, "The examination continued through most of three days, and
as a whole was quite satisfactory. The appearance of the students in
theology was peculiarly gratifying. The readiness and propriety of
their answers proved that they had bestowed thought on the various
points brought up, and saw their relations to one another. Their
public addresses, when they received their diplomas, were all
excellent, while some were of quite a superior order, and exhibited
no common degree of oratorical power." He was also much gratified by
the appearance of the girls' boarding-school.
Seven days' travel, on his return to Broosa, brought him to Angora,
a city of from forty to fifty thousand inhabitants. The probable
estimate gave ten thousand to the Catholics, three hundred to the
Greeks, a thousand to the Armenians, and five hundred to the Jews;
the remainder were Mussulmans. Many books had been sold there, much
light disseminated, and a small body of Protestants earnestly
entreated for a missionary to reside among them, or at least for an
educated native preacher. No uneducated man could sustain himself
there against the powerful array which the Roman Catholics could
bring to bear upon him by means of their educational establishments.
Among the obstacles to be encountered, were the extreme worldliness
of the people, and their devotion to sensual pleasures. Angora is
within the limits of the ancient Galatia, and very probably was the
site of one of "the churches of Galatia." It appears not yet to be
occupied as a station.
Another interesting place was Erzingan, within the Erzroom district,
visited by Mr. and Mrs. Cole in the autumn of 1870. They travelled
the whole distance of a hundred miles in a gig; with many risks, it
is true, but with no disaster. The city was supposed to contain as
many as ten thousand Armenians, forming a third part of the
population. Mr. Dunmore, the brave pioneer, had spent three months
there, and various helpers had been stationed there from time to
time. The missionary and his wife were received with the utmost
kindness, and had crowded meetings during the nine days they were
there. Mrs. Cole had several interesting meetings, also, with the
women. "Thus time passed," writes Mr. Cole, "and you may be sure it
was a continual feast to the soul, and we felt quite reluctant to
turn homeward."
The mission sent by native churches to the Koords, like most new
missions, had a tardy success; and, after four years, the zeal of
the native churches began to flag, and some of the native pastors
proposed to stop the work in Koordistan, and devote themselves more
fully to the "home field." Knowing that the influence of such a
course would be disastrous, Mr. Wheeler threw himself into the
breach, and was off for a three weeks' tour in Koordistan. Redwan,
the seat of the mission, was eighty miles east of Diarbekir. He was
accompanied by Hagop Effendi, Civil Head of the Protestants, and two
native preachers; and was rejoiced to find at Redwan a congregation
of eighteen men, thirteen women, and twenty-two children. They had
learned, or begun to learn, to read in the Armeno-Koordish, into
which the four Gospels had been translated; and some were learning
the Armenian language, so as to be able to read the whole Bible.
Their chapel, of sun-dried brick, ten feet by twenty, was crowded on
the evening of their arrival. "They sang 'Sweet hour of prayer,'"
writes Mr. Wheeler, "and 'There is no other name so sweet,'
translated from Armenian by their preacher, who had also translated,
with the help of Pastor Mardiros of Harpoot, 'Forever with the
Lord,' 'How lost was my condition,' 'My faith looks up to Thee,'
'Safely through another week,' 'My days are passing swiftly by,' and
others. Perhaps it was all romance, but somehow that little, close,
low, dark, foul-aired chapel seemed to me almost a heavenly place,
as we joined,--they in Koordish and I in Armenian,--in singing those
sweet hymns." At an expense of forty dollars in gold, the people
bought a fine lot for a larger building, including chapel,
school-room, and parsonage, which they hoped to put up in the
following year. They desired also the formation of a church, and the
ordination of a pastor. "Do you wonder," adds Mr. Wheeler, "that I
returned with a light heart to tell the churches these good news
from their mission field?" The Harpoot church immediately decided to
send a school-teacher to Redwan, so that the preacher might give
himself entirely to his work.
Mr. Pond, of Mardin, went to Sert four days distant in Koordistan,
and experienced the usual trials by the way,--sleeping in "stifling
stables, with a perfect menagerie of animals and fowls, and creeping
creatures too numerous to catalogue."
The church at Sert he found full of brotherly love, simple faith,
and a desire for knowledge. It had given freely to the brethren in
Redwan, and paid the entire salary of its own pastor. "Indeed," says
the missionary, "but for this church in Sert, we should almost
despond for the Arabic-speaking portion of our field. In Mardin, it
is true, we have a flourishing church and community, but not so
refreshing in its simplicity and strength of faith and love. The
pastor of the Sert church is one of the best men for the pastoral
work I have ever seen in Turkey, and is the chief cause, under God,
of the cheering state of his flock."
Mr. Pond next visited Mosul, and found it no longer an unpleasant
part of their field. "Once, and that not long ago, it was the least
hopeful spot in all our bishopric. For over thirty years has the
Gospel been preached there, and by such men as Grant, and Lobdell,
and Williams, Marsh, and Hinsdale. The church contained at one time
twenty members, but had dwindled to ten."
A pastor was to be ordained at Mosul, and Mr. Andrus, missionary
from Mardin, Pastor Jurgis of Mardin, Pastor Elias of Sert, and
delegates from these two churches were there to aid in that service.
The pastor elect was ordained, the dead branches in the church were
cut off, and eight new members were added, while as many more were
ready to join at the next communion.
Dr. Williams died at Mardin on the l4th of February, 1871, at the
age of fifty-three, broken down by an accumulation of labors and
cares, which, until near the close of his life, he had been
compelled to bear alone. It was a great loss to the mission, but
especially to Mardin; and he was called from earth just when the
clouds, which had made his field seem dark to him, began to break.
He saw it, and rejoiced. He said he was like Moses, who was
permitted to look into the promised land from Pisgah, but was not
allowed to enter it.
Mr. H. N. Barnum, who knew Dr. Williams intimately, while admitting
that he was unduly disposed to distrust his own powers and judgment,
says that, aside from this, he was a rare man. "He had great
self-control, and was so undemonstrative, that those who did not
know him intimately can scarcely be said to have known him at all.
He possessed genuine refinement; and with his marvelous fund of
information in almost all departments of knowledge, his fine command
of language, and his good nature and enthusiasm, he was, in his more
cheerful moods, a fascinating member of our social circle. His clear
mind had been carefully cultivated, and his acquisitions were very
exact. However much he distrusted his own judgment, his associates
confided in it. He was forward to acknowledge any mistake, and
correct it, and he was enthusiastic in his zeal for the policy of
self-support in the missionary work. His students held him in the
highest admiration, and very few missionaries have secured the
affection of the people for whom they labor so fully as he did. Had
he remained at home, I am sure he would have stood conspicuous among
the clergy. He was very careful in the use of missionary funds, and
in everything maintained a conscience void of offense. He was,
withal, eminently spiritual. His many trials had wrought in him a
deep and thorough work of grace."
"The _one_ attraction of heaven for Mr. Williams," writes his
bereaved wife, "was _Jesus_. 'Like Jesus,' and 'without sin,' and
'to be with Jesus and see Him as He is,' were phrases ever on his
lips. He used often to speak of the great host gone before, and of
the loved ones constantly gathering there; but it was rare to hear
him speak of joy at the prospect of meeting them. It was always
'_Jesus_, the joy of loving hearts.' Neither did he long for heaven
as a place of _rest_, until very near the end. He loved toil, and
felt a great desire to live and labor for the Master." "At last,"
she says, "he did grow very weary, and often exclaimed; 'So tired,
O, so tired.' In one of those weariest hours, he asked me if I
remembered Bickersteth's description of Paradise. 'Well,' he said,
'I can't bear to think of it. To think of climbing over those
mountains, it is so wearisome. I think, 'In my Father's house are
many mansions,' and I want to be taken right into one of them, and
laid down to rest--to rest--O, how sweet.' His intellect was clouded
in the last hours."
I find some facts, received in 1871, concerning the women in the
region of Cesarea, indicating a decided progress. "Three years ago,
with the exception of Cesarea, Yozgat, and Moonjasoon, the truth
seemed to have gained but very slight hold upon the women at our
several out-stations. But few were ever found in the Sabbath
congregation, scarcely any could read, and some bitterly persecuted
their husbands. But now a marked change is visible, and the women
form no inconsiderable part of all our congregations; large numbers
are learning to read; female prayer-meetings are held at nearly or
quite every out-station; and an earnest desire for improvement is
everywhere apparent. As a consequence, a corresponding change is
observed in the conduct of these women. They become better wives and
mothers, and their influence is felt for good upon those around
them."
Messrs. Wheeler and Reynolds made a visit to Van in the summer of
1871, preparatory to the occupation of that important post. Most of
the ninety miles from Bitlis to Van, was within sight of the lake;
its waters reposing in quiet beauty amid the mountains, on whose
loftiest peaks there still lingered patches of snow. They reached
the city in September, and were there a week. They found more
readiness to receive the Word of God, and its teachers, and to have
intercourse with them, than they had expected. They were also
agreeably disappointed in the number, who were desirous that
missionaries should reside among them. The region southeast of Van,
which they had supposed was exclusively a Koordish-speaking section,
they found to contain a number of Armenian villages, speaking their
own language, with Bibles in the modern tongue, and men accustomed
to read them. At the time of writing these pages, missionaries are
understood to be on their way for the permanent occupation of Van,
should such be the will of Providence.
The church at Cutterbul, and indeed the whole region around
Diarbekir, experienced a severe bereavement early in 1872, in the
death of its first pastor Abd en Noor. "He was a thoughtful man,"
writes Mr. Andrus of Mardin, "and a more independent thinker than
many. He had made him a place in the village, so that even the young
men of the Jacobite community looked to him as their father. He was
very anxious to improve the condition of his race, was faithful both
as a preacher and as a pastor, and in the latter capacity was more
especially active during the past winter. He was one of the eight
pupils received into the first class formed by Dr. Williams in
Mardin, in September, 1862 (was then about thirty years old), and
remained three years in the class, supplying the pulpit in Cutterbul
during the winter months, where he had been preaching before he
entered the school."
The impressions made on Dr. Clarke, Foreign Secretary of the Board,
by occurrences in 1871, on his way from Adana to Aintab, are
significant of the work of grace, now in progress in the region
distinguished by the early labors of the Apostle Paul. His route was
across the Cilician and Antioch plains, over the Amarus mountains
and another range, and for the most part through a region of
wonderful fertility, needing only proper cultivation.
"The journey," Dr. Clarke writes, "was not without some items of
missionary interest, as showing how widely the truth is diffused.
The first night out we encamped a little distance from a village
that bears the name of Missis, built on the ruins of the ancient
Mopsuestia--a place of some note in the early history of the Church.
As we were setting up our tent, two Armenians from the village
accosted us with the question,--'Are you the men that are bringing
light into this dark land?' On being assured that we were just those
very men, they gave us a hearty welcome, and did their best to
assist us in every way, remaining till dark, and coming again in the
early morning. This they did as a labor of love, and to receive some
words of counsel and cheer. They were Protestants, but not
church-members, who had come here for business--one from near
Antioch, and the other from the neighborhood of Harpoot. Here, where
no preacher of the truth had ever been stationed by us, these men
were faithful to the light they had, spending the Sabbath together
in studying the Scriptures and in prayer, and speaking to all who
would listen of the Gospel of Christ. One of the men had formerly
been a keeper of a drinking shop. One day, while plying his trade,
he called out to a passer-by to come in and drink. The reply, 'I
cannot, I am a Protestant,' arrested his attention, and eventually
led him to give up his wicked traffic for an honest calling.
"On another day we met a party of laborers coming down into Cilicia
from Eastern Turkey, whom we at first mistook for Koords. But coming
nearer, Mr. Trowbridge recognized them as Armenians, and at once
asked if there were any Protestants among them. 'O yes,' cried
several; and in proof they drew Testaments from their bosoms. One of
them, a leading Protestant from Haboosi, on learning who I was, at
once beset me to hurry on to the dedication of their new church,
that was to come off in a few days. He, poor man, had been obliged
to come away, but was very anxious to have me go. I was really sorry
I could not do so, and thus be a witness to some of the ripe fruits
of the great work in the villages about Harpoot. What may not be
accomplished by such a party of Christian laborers, going into
villages and neighborhoods unreached by other means? It is thus that
the good seed is now scattered broadcast over the land.
"We had hoped to reach Hassan-Beyli for the Sabbath, but the
distance proved too great, and as it was three hours off from the
main road, we had to give up a visit to this mountain eyrie,--now a
centre of Christian influence, a few years ago a nest of robbers.
But they would not let us off so. Tuesday morning, by six o'clock,
we were surprised to see a half dozen of those stalwart men, who had
left their mountain crags, three hours before, to come down and
exchange Christian salutations. As I looked at them, I could not but
wonder at the work of grace manifest in them. After words of
exhortation through an interpreter, on mounting my horse I took them
each by the hand, while the grasp tightened and eyes flashed and
filled at the words--'Christ, Hallelujah, Amen.'"