PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS.
1828-1831.
Enough was known, in the year 1828, to encourage the belief, that
Greece and Western Asia would soon demand a more extensive
prosecution of the missionary work; but more specific information
was indispensable to an intelligent enlargement. The temporary
suspension of the Syrian mission had brought the whole of the
missionary force of the Board in that part of the world to Malta
(except that Mr. Temple was on a visit to the United States), thus
making consultation easy. Other reasons called for a more free and
extended official intercourse than could be held by letter.
Accordingly the author, then Assistant Secretary of the Board, was
sent to Malta at the close of 1828, with instructions to confer with
the brethren, and afterwards to visit Greece and other parts of the
Levant. The conferences at Malta occupied two months, and aided much
in determining subsequent measures. When these were over, the
author, in company with the Rev. Eli Smith, afterward so favorably
and widely known in the Christian world, visited the Ionian Islands,
the Morea, and the Grecian Archipelago. Count John A. Capodistrias
was then President of Greece, and had his residence on the island of
Ægina. Athens was still held by the Turks. It was made incumbent on
the author to propose inquiries to the President on certain points,
and this was rendered easy by his urbanity and his frank and
explicit answers. The inquiries were mainly for gaining the needed
information; and they elicited some facts which deterred the
Committee from a class of expenditures, that would have been in
accordance with the popular feeling at that time, but might have
proved a fruitful source of disappointment. Mr. King was then in
Greece as a philhellene, in charge of supplies sent by ladies in New
York to be distributed among the impoverished people. Perhaps the
most important result of this negotiation with the Greek government,
besides facilitating Mr. King's protracted and useful connection
with the Greek mission, was a written assurance by the chief ruler
of the nation, that among the books to be used in the schools of
Greece should be the Bible, the New Testament, and the Psalms, all
translated and printed in modern Greek.
Among the results of the consultations at Malta, was Mr. Bird's
visit to Tripoli and Tunis on the African coast, for which he was
specially qualified by his free use of the Arabic language. He had
opportunities at Tripoli for conversing with Jews, Moslems, Papists,
and persons of no religion. His books and tracts were chiefly in the
Hebrew and Arabic languages. At Tunis, he distributed copies of the
Scriptures, but in neither place did there seem to be a sufficient
opening for instituting a mission.
Another result of the Malta conferences was the distribution of the
mission forces; Mr. Bird to Syria, Mr. Goodell to Constantinople,
and Mr. Smith for an exploring tour among the Armenians of Turkey.
Soon after the return of the Assistant Secretary, the Rev. H. G. O.
Dwight was designated to accompany Mr. Smith in his proposed tour of
exploration, and the Rev. George B. Whiting as the companion of Mr.
Bird on his return to Syria. Mrs. Dwight was to remain at Malta
during her husband's absence.
The two explorers sailed for Smyrna in March, 1830, in the same
vessel which had brought Mr. Dwight from Boston. After some days at
Smyrna, in the family of Mr. Brewer, who had returned to that place
in connection with a society of ladies in New Haven, they went
overland to Constantinople. This was a journey of eight days, and
was made necessary by the long detention, to which sailing vessels
were liable from north winds at the mouth of the Dardanelles. The
time for steamers had not yet come in these regions.
The departure from Constantinople was near the close of May, in the
most charming season of the year. As in the journey from Smyrna,
they put themselves under a Tartar, who, for their greater security,
had set his seal to a written contract in presence of the Tartar
aghasy. The government became thus responsible for their persons and
property. Instead of trunks, they had two large bags, two
saddle-bags, and two valises, all of thick Russian leather, fastened
with padlocks, and impermeable to water. Instead of mattresses, each
had a carpet and coverlet rolled in painted canvas, that served as a
floor at night, when it was their lot to lie on the ground. Each had
an ample Turkish pelisse, lined with the fur of the Caucasian fox.
Four copper pans, a mill for grinding coffee, a pot, cups, and a
knife, fork, and spoon for each, were their utensils for cooking and
eating. A circular piece of leather served for a table when spread
upon the ground, and when drawn together like a lady's reticule, and
suspended from the saddle, it formed a bag to carry their bread and
cheese. The whole was so compact as to require, on ordinary
occasions, but a single extra horse. As the Turkish post furnished
only horses, they were obliged to add saddles and bridles to their
other accoutrements; and to their saddles, as was usual, were
attached holsters, to deter from hostile attacks upon them. To avoid
unnecessary notice, expense, and trouble, if not insult, they wore
loose Turkish robes, the Oriental turban, and the enormous Tartar
stockings and boots. Of course they had also the needful firmans,
passports, and letters of introduction.
Their route lay along what at that time might be called, for the
most part, the high road to Tabriz, and passed through Tokat,
Erzroom, Kars, Tiflis, Shoosha, Nakhchevan, Echmiadzin, and Khoy, a
distance of more than fifteen hundred miles. At Tokat, the
travellers visited the grave of Henry Martyn, who died there in
1812. On the 13th of June, they entered Erzroom, then in possession
of an invading army of Russians; which soon retired, and was
accompanied by a large portion of the Armenian population in that
district. The Turks of Erzroom found it hard to comprehend from what
country the travellers came. Kars, Tiflis, Shoosha, and Echmiadzin
had been subjected to Russian rule. Tiflis was the capital of
Georgia. Shoosha, where they arrived about the middle of August,
worn down by fatigue in descending the insalubrious valley of the
Koor, or Cyrus, was then the seat of a German mission, which gave a
cordial reception to their American brethren. The cholera prevailed
in all that region, and it was estimated that as many as seventy
thousand people died of it, during the two months and a half our
travellers spent in Shoosha. They gave an interesting account of the
German colonies in Georgia, which had their origin in extravagant
views concerning the millennium. "Previous to 1817, several popular
and ardent ministers in the kingdom of Würtemberg maintained, in
commentaries on the Apocalypse and other publications, that the
wished-for period would commence in 1836, and would be preceded by a
dreadful apostasy and great persecutions. These views, in addition
to the fascinating interest always connected with prophetical
theories, being enforced with much pious feeling, acquired so great
credit as to be adopted by nearly all the religious people in the
kingdom, and by many others. At the same time, the advocates of the
neological system, being the predominant party in the clergy,
succeeded in effecting some alterations in the prayers and hymns of
the Church in accommodation to their errors. This grieved
exceedingly all who were attached to evangelical principles, and was
taken to be the apostasy they expected. Their prophetical teachers
had intimated that, as in the destruction of Jerusalem the
Christians found a place of refuge, so would there be one now, and
that, somewhere in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea. Many, therefore,
of the common people determined to seek the wished-for asylum, that
they and their children (for whom the better sort were particularly
anxious) might escape the impending storm, and also be able to form
an independent ecclesiastical establishment according to their own
notions. To these were joined others desirous of change, or in
straitened circumstances, who though not at heart pious, professed
for the time to be influenced by the same principles and motives. In
fact the latter became the most numerous. The company, when it left
Würtemberg, consisted of fifteen hundred families. But no adequate
arrangement having been made for the journey, and the sinister
motives of the majority contributing to create disorder, they
suffered exceedingly on the way, and before they reached Odessa, two
thirds had died."1 The number of the colonists, in 1832, was about
two thousand, but their enterprise had not been successful.
1 _Missionary Researches in Armenia_, vol. i. p. 264.
On the way from Echmiadzin to Tabriz, a distance of nearly two
hundred and fifty miles, Mr. Smith suffered greatly from illness.
When seventy miles from that city, his strength gave out entirely,
so that he could go no farther with the conveyances then at command.
His life was probably saved by Mr. Dwight's sending a messenger to
the gentlemen of the English embassy at Tabriz, requesting the aid
of a takhtirewán, the only native carriage known to the Persians. It
resembles a sedan-chair, except in being borne by two mules or
horses, and closed from the external air, and in requiring a lying
posture. The vehicle soon arrived; but was preceded by Dr. McNeill,
the physician and first assistant of the embassy, who then commenced
those acts of kindness which ever endeared him to the Nestorian
mission. Colonel McDonald, the ambassador, had lately died, and Dr.
McNeill was soon obliged to leave for Teherán. Dr. Cormick, who had
healed Henry Martyn of a similar disease, then took the medical
charge of Mr. Smith. After their long experience of filthy stables,
the comfortable, well-furnished apartments provided for them at
Tabriz, through the generous hospitality of Major Willock, former
commander of the English forces in Persia, and Captain Campbell, the
acting Envoy, were more grateful to the weary travellers than can
well be conceived. Mr. Nisbit, an officer in the commissariat
department, together with his wife, entered fully into their
feelings as missionaries, and sympathized with them in their views
of the spiritual wants of the country.
Messrs. Smith and Dwight were required by their instructions, to
investigate and report on the condition of the Nestorians inhabiting
the northwestern province of Persia. In former ages, this people had
been distinguished beyond any other Christian people--except
perhaps, their contemporaries in Ireland--for missionary zeal and
enterprise. From the seventh to the thirteenth centuries, they had
missions both in central and eastern Asia. Previous to the overthrow
of the Califate, A. D. 1258, their churches were scattered over the
region forming modern Persia, and were numerous in Armenia,
Mesopotamia, and Arabia. They had churches in Syria; on the island
of Cyprus; among the mountains of Malabar; and in the extended
regions of Tartary, from the Caspian Sea to Mount Imaus, and beyond
through the greater part of what is now known as Chinese Tartary,
and even in China itself. The names of twenty-five metropolitan sees
are on record, embracing of course a far greater number of
bishoprics, and still more numerous congregations.
These facts, though known to learned historians, had fallen out of
the popular mind. Indeed, they were not in the recollection of the
executive officers of the American Board, when the author drew up
the instructions to Messrs. Smith and Dwight. But while preparing
them, his attention was incidentally drawn to a brief article in a
Virginia publication, from the pen of Dr. Walsh, British chaplain at
Constantinople, entitled "Chaldees in Persia;" and it was the
impression made by that article, which led to a positive direction
to visit that people, should it be found practicable, and see
whether the churches in this western world had any duty to perform
to them. The English at Tabriz confessed to an almost entire
ignorance of the religious doctrines and character of the
Nestorians. The only important fact our brethren could learn there
was, that a considerable body of them were accessible in the
provinces of Oroomiah and Salmas, at the distance of somewhat more
than a hundred miles.
Our travellers remained at Tabriz from the 18th of December to
March, 1831, when restored health and the opening season permitted
them to resume their journey. In Salmas, they first came in contact
with the Chaldeans, as those Nestorians were called who had been won
over by Roman Catholic missionaries since the year 1681. The name
means no more than papal Syrians, or papal Armenians. Some of their
bishops and priests had been educated in the college of the
Propaganda at Rome, and spoke Italian fluently. The Chaldeans were
reported, at that time, as a neglected and declining sect.
Passing from Salmas into the province of Oroomiah, the travellers
were received by the Nestorians in the most friendly and
confidential manner, and the week passed among them was intensely
interesting. While showing very clearly the need the people were in
of religious instruction, they gave as additional considerations in
favor of sending missionaries to them, their extreme liberality
towards other sects, their ideas of open communion, and their entire
rejection of auricular confession.
The return of Messrs. Smith and Dwight was by way of Erzroom and
Trebizond, thence by sea to Constantinople and Malta, at which last
place they arrived on the 2d of July, 1831, after an absence of
fifteen months and a half. In this time, their land travel exceeded
two thousand and five hundred miles.
The results of their inquiries were embodied by Mr. Smith, during a
visit to his native land, under the title of "Researches in Armenia,
including a Journey through Asia Minor and into Georgia and Persia,
with a Visit to the Nestorian and Chaldean Christians," and were
published in two volumes in Boston, and republished in London.
Though nearly forty years have since elapsed, there is still a
freshness of interest in the entire work, which makes it matter of
regret that it is now out of print. The religious condition of the
Armenians at that time, is comprehensively stated in the following
paragraphs:--
"The slightest acquaintance with ecclesiastical history may convince
one, that before the commencement of the fourth century,
Christianity had extensively degenerated from its original purity as
a religion of the heart, into a mere profession of theoretical
dogmas, and the observance of external rites. Such, it is natural to
suspect, was the form of it to which the Armenians were at that
period converted; and the circumstances of the event, if national
tradition has correctly preserved them, confirm the suspicion, that
they have from the beginning known extremely little of true
conversion. We are told that immediately upon King Durtád's
embracing the faith, the nation followed his example in a body, and
were baptized. To say nothing of the doubtfulness of all national
conversions, the very hastiness of this proceeding, by allowing no
time for competent instruction, shows that the Armenians could not
have been enlightened converts; the fact that the Scriptures were
not translated into their language until a century afterward, is an
additional indication of the scantiness of their religious
knowledge; and the confessed backsliding of many of the nobility
into the most scandalous immoralities and the blackest crimes, even
during the lifetime of Durtád, proves how superficial was their
conversion.
"Thus the Armenian Church was a soil well adapted to the rapid
growth of all the corruptions, which from that time sprang up, in
such speedy succession, in different parts of the Christian world.
Even those which then existed were, it would seem, not sparingly
introduced by St. Gregory. For, by the immediate consecration of
four hundred bishops, and a countless number of priests, he betrayed
a disposition to multiply an idle and unqualified priesthood; and by
the construction of convents and nunneries, and spending the last of
his days in a solitary cave, he showed that he was ready to foster
the monastic spirit of his age. So deeply, indeed, was the taste for
monkhood implanted, that his fifth successor is said to have built
two thousand convents.
"Of the rites and dogmas subsequently adopted by other bodies of
Christians, there was a free importation for the two centuries that
the Armenians formed a regular branch of the General Church. A
special messenger was sent to Jerusalem for the ceremonies observed
in that church, and brought thence eight canons regulating the
sacraments and other rites. For a similar object, a correspondence
was carried on with the Bishop of Nisibis. One Catholicos, who had
been educated at Constantinople in the influence of all the secular
ideas and regulations introduced into the Church under the patronage
of Constantine and his successors, brought from thence 'various
observances, which, like precious stones, he inlaid into the old.'
And several who followed him distinguished themselves by their
_improvements_ in the services and laws of the Church. So that when,
by rejecting the Council of Chalcedon, A. D. 491, the Armenians cut
themselves off from the communion of the great body of Christians,
they were doubtless in possession of all the legendary dogmas and
observances which had then been adopted by the Christian world."1
1 _Researches in Armenia_, Amer. Edition, vol. ii. pp. 290-292.