SYRIA.
1845-1856.
Good tidings were received in 1845 concerning Aintab, in Northern
Syria, communicated by Dr. Kerns, of the London Jews Society, and by
Bedros, an Armenian vartabed, who had been banished from
Constantinople by the Patriarch Matteos.1 His banishment was to the
Armenian monastery at Jerusalem, but he turned aside from Beirût to
Northern Syria. Letters came also from prominent men in Aintab,
written in behalf of a large number of families in that place who
had heard the gospel from Bedros, and were resolved to abandon the
errors of their Church. They asked for a missionary to instruct
them, and said their need of aid was the greater, as they were
violently persecuted by their bishop.
1 See chapter xxii.
Mr. Thomson was instructed by the mission to visit Aleppo and
Aintab. He went by way of Antioch, and reached Aleppo in August.
Bedros was there, having been driven from Aintab, and Mr. Thomson
concluded it was not prudent for him to proceed farther. He
accordingly wrote to the Protestants of Aintab, requesting more
information as to their condition and wishes. The distance was two
long days' ride from Aleppo, and on the fifth day an answer came,
that eighteen of their number, including two priests, were coming to
see him. A message arrived soon after, stating that they had
prepared to come, but fearing the commotion it would produce, they
had concluded to abandon the visit and write. Their letter contained
a very earnest appeal for a missionary, with strong affirmations of
attachment to the gospel, and their determination to adhere to it at
all hazards. Mr. Thomson stated, in his reply, why a missionary
could not be sent from Beirût, and that he would forward their
letters, and those of Bedros, to the missionaries at Constantinople,
with a request, that a missionary might be sent who could preach
both in Turkish and Armenian; or at least an experienced Armenian
preacher, to assist Bedros in this important work. Just before
leaving Aleppo, Mr. Thomson received from them another letter,
declaring their satisfaction with this arrangement, and their
gratitude for his interest in their welfare. "We are the fish in the
great sea," they said, "and wait for you to spread the gospel net
for us."
Mr. Thomson estimated the nominally Christian population of Aleppo
at twenty thousand, and the whole number of inhabitants at sixty
thousand. The most promising were the Armenians, though at that time
they were kept aloof by the excommunication of Bedros and all
associated with him. The Protestant Armenians in that city were
thought to be about fifty. The orthodox Greeks were not numerous.
Their bishop was in poor health, but received the missionary with
much cordiality, and appeared quite pleased with the prospect of a
missionary in Aleppo. The Greek Catholics were by far the largest
body of Christians. To this body belonged Athanasius, the Archbishop
of Tripoli, so called, but residing at Aleppo. He was not forty
years old, and had been two years in England, and two in Malta. Mr.
Thomson had much intercourse with this man, and spoke of him as the
most learned theologian of his sect, and the most promising
ecclesiastic he had seen in Syria. He seemed to be serious and
earnest, evangelical in sentiment, desirous of reforming his
countrymen, and enlightened enough to take a comprehensive view of
the work to be done, and make a rational estimate of the obstacles
to be overcome. He was highly respected by all classes; and though
his Protestant sentiments were well-known, there was said to be no
power in his Church to depose him.1
1 _Missionary Herald_, 1846, p. 418.
Mr. Calhoun visited Hasbeiya in February, 1846, accompanied by
Tannûs, and was there eighteen days. The congregations were smaller,
but made up mainly of those who sought to know the way of life;
while their townsmen, softened by last year's war, were not disposed
to persecute, as before. Mr. Whiting, Mr. Hurter, and Butrus were
there in June. The spirit of the congregation is thus described by
the missionary. "They like to hear a good long exposition, and then
to stay and hear and converse, after prayer, as long as we are able
to sit up. Some are coming in during the day at all hours, so that
we scarcely cease teaching and preaching from morning until
bed-time." Some of the declared Protestants, and even some new
inquirers, took a bold stand under persecution by the Governor; and
many, who did not venture to call upon the missionary, were in an
inquiring state of mind.
Mr. Laurie's health suffered at Mosul, and also in Syria, so that he
was obliged to return home in the autumn of this year, and to
relinquish the idea of resuming the foreign service. His subsequent
labors through the press, have endeared him to a large number of the
friends of missions.1
1 See his works: "_Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians_." Boston,
1853; and "_Woman and her Saviour in Persia_." Boston, 1865.
The year 1847 opened with an earnest and eloquent appeal from the
missionaries for an increase to their number.1 And there is nothing
more painful in the retrospect of this mission, than the numerous
and often unexpected and surprising openings for usefulness, that
were so often effectually closed, solely, as it would seem, because
there were not missionaries to enter and take possession. There is
space for only a single extract from this appeal. Addressing the
Prudential Committee, they say:
1 See _Missionary Herald_, 1847, pp. 185-193.
"We tell you, with all earnestness, that there is great danger, that
the work may languish almost to lifelessness, even at the two posts
which you now occupy in Syria, before your new messengers can be
found, cross the ocean, and pass through the primary process
indispensable to fit them to prophesy upon the slain. Yes, we must
make you understand with unmistakable explicitness, that unless you
hasten the work, and quicken the flight of those who have the
everlasting gospel to preach, the voice may cease to sound, even in
the valleys and over the goodly hills of Lebanon! Your infant
seminary for training native preachers may droop, or disband; your
congregations on the mountains, and on the plain, may be left
without any one to break to them the bread of life; and your press
may cease to drop those leaves, which are for the healing of the
nations. All this may, yes, must occur, by a necessity as inexorable
as the decree that commands all back to dust, unless you hasten to
renew the vitality of our mission, by throwing into it the young
life of a new generation of laborers."
The appeal was published; but it continued painfully true, that the
harvest was plenteous, while the laborers were few.
Among the interesting events of the year, were the accession of nine
persons to the church at Abeih; and a "fetwa" of the mufti, or
Moslem judge, at Beirût, deciding that the Druzes stand in the same
relation to the Mohammedan community and law with the Jews, or any
Christian sect; _i.e_. as "_infidels_;" and, consequently, that a
Druze was not subject to prosecution in the Turkish courts, in case
of his embracing Christianity. Mr. and Mrs. Benton joined the
mission in the latter part of the year.
In the spring of 1847, the Protestants of Hasbeiya sent one of their
number to Constantinople, to lay their grievances before the Sultan.
The agent was informed, that the Pasha of Damascus had been
instructed to protect the Protestants. The British Ambassador
afterwards made inquiries, and received a copy of the document,
which proved satisfactory. The Pasha sent a strong order to the Emir
at Hasbeiya in 1848, for their protection; and he, though extremely
reluctant to obey, sent word to the Protestants, that they might
meet and worship together as Protestants, and he publicly forbade
all parties to interfere with them.
When the Greek Patriarch saw that the Turkish government had
recognized the principle of toleration, and acknowledged the
Protestants as a Christian sect, he resolved to try the effect of a
bull of excommunication. The form of these missives is similar in
the Latin and the Oriental Churches, and the reader will recall some
of the specimens already given.1 The consequence at Hasbeiya, for a
time, was that no Protestant could buy, sell, or transact any
business, except with his fellow Protestants, and many of the poorer
ones were at once thrown out of productive employment, and cut off
from the means of living. They were compelled to pay their debts,
but could collect nothing due to them, and no redress could they get
from the Governor. Many suffered for the necessaries of life. But
the faith of the brethren, with a single exception, did not fail.
The Druzes and other sects remonstrated against the whole
proceeding, and the rigor of the excommunication began at length to
fail, and in December it had lost its force.
1 See in the case of Dr. King, chapter xvii.; and Mr. Bird, chapter
iii.
The most important event in the year 1848, was the formation of a
purely native church at Beirût. Hitherto the native converts had
joined the mission church, formed at an early period of the mission,
which was composed mostly of the missionaries and their families.
Circumstances had made it seem inexpedient, hitherto, to form a
church exclusively of native converts. Whether the brethren were
right in this, it is not needful now to inquire. The new church
originated in the best manner. At the annual meeting of the mission,
a petition was presented from the native Protestants at Beirût to
the American missionaries, asking that they might be organized into
a church, according to certain principles and rules embodied in
their petition. The whole originated with the native brethren. The
principles proposed for the constitution and discipline of the
church were afterwards modified somewhat, at the suggestion of the
mission, in order to a closer conformity with the organization
adopted by the Protestant Armenians in another part of the empire.
For some special reasons, they were advised to delay the election of
a native pastor.
The great work of translating the Scriptures into Arabic, was now
committed to Mr. Smith; and he was assisted by Butrus el-Bistany and
Nasif el-Yasijee.
Messrs. Ford and Benton removed to Aleppo, with a view to a
permanent station. They were accompanied by Mr. Smith, Butrus, and
Wortabet, the latter of whom remained there until his services were
required at Hasbeiya. Mr. Smith visited on his return, the
Nusairiyeh in Antioch, Suwaidiyeh, and around Ladikiyeh, and then
both them and the Ismailiyeh in their mountain fastnesses back of
Ladikiyeh. He found them a rude people in a rough country.
The Rev. Horace Foot and wife arrived in Beirût in August, 1848, and
were associated with Mr. Wilson at Tripoli. Bedros Vartabed, whose
labors were so much blessed at Aintab, died after a very short
illness at Aleppo, on the 13th of November, 1848. His last hours
were spent in fervent prayer, and his last words were expressive of
his gratitude to God. His life had been characterized by visible
progress in the way of holiness, by habitual prayerfulness, and by
zeal in the work of urging upon men the claims of the gospel.
A very hopeful fact in the missions to Oriental Churches, has been
the number of able men affected by the truth. Eminently such was a
learned Greek Catholic of Damascus, named Michael Meshakah, who
became convinced of the errors of his Church, and openly declared
himself a Protestant in 1848. He had embraced infidel views to quiet
his conscience, but the reading of "Keith on the Prophecies" in
Arabic, and other books from the mission presses, especially the
Scriptures, led him to relinquish these, and personal intercourse
with missionaries, especially with Dr. Smith, induced him to take a
decided stand for Christ. He used no reserve in professing his
attachment to the gospel. This brought on a controversy between him
and his Patriarch, and as he was esteemed the most intelligent
native layman in the country, and the Patriarch the most learned
ecclesiastic, attention from all quarters was directed to their
debate. Having decided to publish the reasons of his secession from
the Catholic Church, and to prove the corruptness of the doctrines
and practices in that Church, he commenced a free and full
correspondence with Dr. Smith in Arabic. The result was a treatise,
which was published by the mission. After making the reader
acquainted with his own history, he disproved the supremacy of the
Pope, the existence of any priesthood but that of Christ, or of any
atonement but his. He then showed that there was no authority for
more than two grades of officers in the church, or for the doctrine
of transubstantiation. There were, also, chapters on justification
by faith and the new birth. Dr. Smith declares the treatise to have
been "well and thoroughly argued, sometimes most impressively
solemn, at others keenly sarcastic, and spirited and fearless
throughout."1
1 The _Bibliotheca Sacra_, for October, 1858, contains an account of
Dr. Meshakah by Dr. Thomas Laurie, and a translation of a treatise
by him on skepticism.
Michael Aramon took the place of Butrus in the seminary, and gave
the highest satisfaction both as to his literary and his religious
qualifications for the post. A Hasbeiyan brother, well informed,
upright, "a burning and shining light," taught a school among the
Druzes in the higher part of the mountains. Another, named Asaad
el-Maalûk, exercised a silent influence for good, in a school and
upon the people of another mountain village where he taught. Through
him, a priest in the Greek church of that village, named Elias,
became gradually enlightened. When Asaad began declaring the truths
of the gospel, the villagers appealed to priest Elias, and he
several times endeavored publicly to defend the doctrines and
ceremonies of his Church. Perceiving at length how much the Bible
was against him, and that he could not answer his opponent, he
became angry, and forbade all communication with Asaad. But the mild
and earnest manner of the native brother at length won his heart,
and he came to the conclusion, that nothing in his Church had any
authority, which was not derived from the Bible. This change in his
views he soon declared to his people, and absented himself from the
church. Once and again they forced him to go and say mass. Sometimes
he yielded, and sometimes refused; till, near the end of January,
1849, having performed mass, he went out with the people, locked the
door of the church, threw the key down before the door, and
declared, in the presence of them all, that he was a Protestant, and
could no more act against his conscience by officiating as a priest.
Various methods were tried to bring him back, but in vain.
In May, 1849, Mrs. Thomson and Mrs. De Forest accompanied their
husbands to Hasbeiya, and had delightful intercourse with the native
Protestant women, who had from the first gone hand in hand with the
men.
The brethren at Tripoli endeavored to secure a summer residence in
the Maronite village of Ehden, where Mr. Bird had been so rudely
assailed twenty years before, but were driven thence by similar acts
of violence. The English Consul at Beirût, without the knowledge of
the missionaries, laid the facts before the British Government, and
Lord Palmerston promptly administered a severe rebuke to the
Patriarch and Emir. The case was eventually settled by the offenders
paying seventy dollars, and by the governor of the mountains
furnishing the missionaries with an official guaranty in writing,
for their protection wherever they should be able to hire houses.
The American Ambassador also procured a strong vizieral letter to
the Pasha in the Tripoli district.
A fourth class was admitted to the seminary at Abeih in October,
1849. One member of the class was from the most influential family
in Hasbeiya, another was a Greek Catholic from Ain Zehalty, another
a Maronite from Kefr Shema, another from the Greek sect at El Hadet,
and the fifth was a young Druze emir of the Raslân family. Three
pupils had been expelled for bad conduct in the previous year, and
the discipline had a good effect on the school. Arabic was the
medium of instruction; English was taught only as a branch of
knowledge, and near the end of the course.
The printing in 1849 exceeded a million of pages. There were two
fonts of beautiful type, of different sizes, modeled on the best
Arabic calligraphy, and cut by Mr. Hallock at New York. The type
were cast in Syria under the supervision of Mr. Hurter.
Of the twenty-seven members in the native church at Beirut, up to
the close of 1849, ten were from the Greek Church, four were Greek
Catholics, four Maronites, five Armenians, three Druzes, and one a
Jacobite Syrian; showing how men of different sects may be made one
in Christ Jesus. These church members were widely dispersed, and
most of them exerted a salutary influence in the places where they
resided.
In the autumn of 1850, the Greeks and Greek Catholics of Aleppo were
subjected to terrible outrages by the Mohammedans. Their number was
from fifteen to twenty thousand, and they were more wealthy and
refined than their brethren in most eastern cities. They looked upon
themselves as the aristocracy of Syria. Instead of prudently
concealing their wealth, they made an ostentatious display of it in
furniture, dress, and costly decorations of their churches. Added to
this was an arrogant bearing, often even towards the Moslems,
rekindling their hereditary hate; while the recent efforts of the
Sultan to establish liberty throughout his dominions, both inflated
still more the pride of the Christians, and stirred up the
indignation of the Moslems.
The arrival of a government order for a military conscription, a
thing most unwelcome to the Moslems, occasioned a popular tumult.
They determined, while setting the Pasha at defiance, to gratify
their hatred of the Christians. The attacks on these commenced on
the 16th of October. Thousands of wild Arabs, along with ruffians
from the city, filled the houses and churches, and splendid
furniture, gorgeous dresses, and gold and silver hoarded for
generations, were suddenly transferred to the swarthy Arabs. All the
churches, save one, were rifled and then burnt or destroyed,
together with a large number of private houses. Not a few of the
Christians were murdered, or severely wounded. The Pasha, unequal to
the crisis, took refuge among the soldiers of the barracks, and
yielded to the demands of the populace until new orders should
arrive from the Sultan. There was a fortnight of anarchy, while the
Pasha was employed in collecting troops sufficient to regain his
authority. Then, having received explicit instructions from the
capital, he commenced a bloody attack upon the insurgents. These
were all Moslems, and such was their desperation that they suffered
more severely than had the Christians.
Until this outbreak, there had been a manifest change going on in
the feelings of the nominally Christian community towards the
Protestants. There was a growing respect among all classes for the
missionaries and their teachings, a readiness on the part of many to
acknowledge the truth, and a more easy access to the houses of the
people. All this the outbreak interrupted for a time, and the effect
was not good on the whole. There was a bloody feud between the two
great parties. Yet the bonds of superstition had been weakened;
especially the faith of the people in the miraculous virtue of the
pictures, which filled their churches and had been worshipped for
centuries. Some of these pictures were supposed to be so sacred,
that whoever touched them would have a withered hand. But they had
now seen them torn in pieces, trampled under foot, and burned by the
enemies of their religion.
Of the nineteen pupils in the seminary at Abeih in 1850, four were
Druzes, three were Greeks, four Maronites, four Greek Catholics, two
Protestants, one Syrian, and one Armenian; all on a level, eating at
the same table, mingling in the same sports, and meeting at the same
place of prayer.
The native brethren at Hasbeiya suffered considerably in their
spiritual interests, from the delay in organizing a native church
with a native pastor. A church of sixteen members was formed in
July, 1851, and the number of members, before the end of the year,
was increased to twenty-five. Mr. John Wortabet, son of the Armenian
convert of that name, had been their preacher four years, and
ultimately became their pastor. He inherited the abilities of his
father, and was an acceptable, courageous, and zealous preacher.1
There were occasional dissensions among his people, but the church
gradually increased in compactness, order, and efficiency. When
there was a call for discipline, it was carried through firmly and
wisely, without assistance from the mission.
1 He was educated in the first Seminary, in English and Arabic. When
that closed, he commenced the study of medicine and Latin under Dr.
Van Dyck, and completed his medical course under Dr. De Forest.
After practicing for a time in Tripoli, he commenced his theological
studies, Greek and Hebrew included, at Beirût, under the care of
Messrs. Smith, Whiting, and Thomson. These studies he prosecuted for
a time at Aleppo, and afterwards at Abeih. Upon the establishment of
the Hasbeiya station, in 1851, he took up his residence at Hasbeiya
as preacher, and was ordained at Beirût in the spring of 1853. The
honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon him by Yale
College, in view of an article from his pen on the fevers of Syria,
published in the _American Journal of Medical Science_.
The annual meeting of the mission, in 1851, was favored with the
valuable assistance of Dr. Leonard Bacon, and the meeting in 1852,
with that of Dr. Edward Robinson; both corporate members of the
Board.
A girls boarding-school had been commenced at Beirût, under the
general superintendence of Dr. and Mrs. De Forest, and the
instruction of Miss Whittlesey. The decease of the latter, in 1852,
was a check to its growth. The Rev. William Bird, son of one of the
pioneers in this mission, with his wife, and Miss Sarah Cheney,
arrived in the year 1853. Miss Cheney was to take the place of Miss
Whittlesey. The value of this school as a means of elevating women,
became more and more evident. The marriage of the senior teacher in
the seminary at Abeih with a young lady trained by Mrs. De Forest,
gave them a native family, which Mr. Calhoun says, "in its domestic
economy and religious order, would do no discredit to the best
portions of New England." In this year a native church was formed at
Abeih, and another at Aleppo.
The Rev. William W. Eddy and wife joined the mission in 1852, and
were designated to Aleppo. The political condition of Hasbeiya and
the surrounding region, now became so disordered as often to make it
inaccessible to missionaries, or their native assistants. Yet Mr.
Wortabet persevered in his labors during all these troubles, and was
afterwards ordained pastor of the church. Protestant communities at
Ibel near Hasbeiya, and at Rasheiya over the mountain, survived the
severe persecutions to which they were subjected by the combined
efforts of bishops, priests, and local governors; until the
governors, who had been the real cause of most of the difficulties,
were summoned to Damascus, through the agency of the English
Ambassador at Constantinople, to answer for their conduct.
At Sidon, there was an average congregation of thirty-live, and
persecution did not shake their constancy. In a dozen villages near
that city, there were persons in the habit of reading the
Scriptures, and visiting the missionaries. Mr. William Thomson, a
son of the missionary, rendered valuable service in this portion of
the field. Messrs. Foot and Wilson, on a visit to Hums and Hamath,
northward of Damascus, found the former place peculiarly accessible
to religious teaching, and that Dr. Meshakah of Damascus had sent
books to several persons in this place, and been in correspondence
with them. Dr. De Forest was much interested in what he saw in
villages along the coast, as far south as Carmel. Everywhere the
people were anxious to know more of the new way, which was
everywhere spoken against.
One of the persons received to the Abeih church, about this time,
had a somewhat singular experience. In the war with the Druzes, nine
years before, his party plundered a large village. In one of the
houses he saw a Bible, which he seized and carried home. Soon he
became intensely interested in reading it, and learned from it the
errors of his Church. He then sought the acquaintance of the
missionaries, and several of his relatives adopted his new views. He
was excommunicated, his house attacked, his property destroyed, and
his just dues were withheld. But he remained firm, and was admitted
to the church. His wife and other relatives became Protestants; and
by his judicious course, at once decided and conciliatory, he lived
down the persecution. A school which he opened, was attended mostly
by Druze pupils, but several of his former co-religionists intrusted
their children to his instruction.
In August, 1853, Dr. Smith had completed the translation of the Four
Gospels. His work was then suspended by the failure of his health.
He was afterward able to resume it, and in May, 1854, he had
translated the Acts, the Epistle to the Romans, and the greater part
of the Epistles to the Corinthians.
In 1853, interesting developments occurred in the southern portion
of the field, which was that year under the special charge of Dr.
Thomson. Yacob el-Hakim, interrupted in his school at Ibel by
opposers, made two extended medical tours, and preached the Gospel,
with another native helper, in villages to the south as far as
Nazareth. In one village, after visiting from house to house for
some time, he was invited to preach in the church on the Sabbath,
and there the entire community listened for two hours to the Word of
God. In consequence of these labors the whole village, with the
priest at their head, declared themselves Protestants, and went to
Nazareth to be enrolled with the Protestant community at that place,
under the care of the Episcopal brethren at Jerusalem. In his last
tour, Yacob reported fifty men in Rany, another village not far from
Nazareth, who had adopted the same course, and he met with great
encouragement in several other places. Indeed he became so much
interested in this work, that he did not wish to return to his
school. These tours were made wholly at his own expense, and he was
able to support himself by his medical practice.
Elias Yacobe, a native of Rashaiah, spent the summer at Abeih in the
study of theology, and was found to possess uncommon preaching
talents. He subsequently labored with success at his native place,
at Ibel, and especially at Khuraibeh. Wherever the native brethren
went, they reported an unusual desire among the people to hear the
Word of God. At Sidon the attention paid to the preaching of Mr.
Thomson and his helpers was marked and solemn. More than thirty were
in a Bible-class. It was somewhat remarkable that the whole class
found the study of Romans far more interesting than any other
portion of the New Testament. The powerful arguments of Paul, when
clearly opened to their comprehension, seemed to fall upon their
minds with the charm of novelty. And having clearly understood and
embraced the great fundamentals of Christian faith, there was good
reason to hope, they would never return again to the beggarly
elements of this world. What they learned in the class they made
known abroad. The surrounding country was awakened more or less to a
spirit of inquiry. At a village directly east of Sidon, several
families declared themselves Protestants. At Kanah, in the
neighborhood of Tyre, at Alma, higher up on the mountain, and at
Acre and Kaifeh, there were decided Protestants.
The clergy of the different sects became thoroughly alarmed, and for
a time worked in concert to arrest this spirit of inquiry. A strong
corps of women, under the general name of Sisters of Charity,
settled in Sidon, and opened large schools to which the parents were
commanded, by the clergy of the various sects, to send their
children; and strenuous exertions were made to break up the mission
school. Every possible measure was employed to intimidate the
people.
Nearly all the professed converts stood firm; though subjected to
want, cruel hatred, and banishment from their homes. There was an
advance in religious character; more decision, more intelligence,
more earnestness. The inquiry was, what is real religion, and how
can one become a partaker in its infinite blessings. Progress was
thus made towards organizing a church at Sidon.
The Protestants at Hasbeiya, under favor of the Druzes, who then had
the upper hand in all political matters, and under the successful
pastorate of Mr. Wortabet, now built a neat, substantial church,
forty-five feet by thirty-five, with a basement for schools and
prayer meetings.
Mr. and Mrs. Foot left the mission in the autumn of 1854, on account
of her illness, but too late to save her life. She died when near
the shores of her native land. The Rev. Jerre L. Lyons and wife
arrived at Beirût early in the following year. Dr. Smith had now
completed the translation of the New Testament; and in addition to
the Pentateuch, previously completed, he had gone through seven of
the Minor Prophets, and commenced upon Isaiah.
The author made his second visit to this mission in 1855, on his
return from India. During this visit he accompanied Dr. Smith to Ain
Zehalty, a place of difficult access in the heart of Lebanon, where
Mr. and Mrs. Lyons were residing, with no one to speak the English
language, in order the sooner to learn the Arabic. There, through
the teachings of a native brother from the church at Abeih, the
people had lost all confidence in the ceremonies and superstitions
of their Church. The priest, after making vain attempts to bring
them back, left the place in disgust, and begged the bishop to send
him elsewhere. He was obliged to return, however, and as his flock
would not support him, a salary was given him by the bishop, in the
hope of ultimately recovering them to his fold. The experiences of
this little community of Protestants will again claim our attention.
It was now agreed to leave Aleppo, and northern Syria from Kessab
northward, to be cultivated by the Armenian mission; since the
language in that region was chiefly the Turkish.
The Rev. Messrs. Edward Aiken, Daniel Bliss, and Henry H. Jessup,
and their wives, were added to the mission in this year. Mrs. Aiken
died at Hums before she had completed a residence in the field of
half a year. In November, one of the older missionaries, the Rev.
George B. Whiting, finished his course, after a devoted service as a
missionary through a fourth part of a century.1 Mrs. Whiting
returned, in poor health, to the United States.
1 For an obituary notice of Mr. Whiting by Mr. Calhoun, see
_Missionary Herald_ for 1856, pp. 129-133.
The Gospel was preached statedly at sixteen places. At four of
these--Beirût, Abeih, Sidon, and Hasbeiya--churches had been
organized. Fifteen members were added during the year 1856. The
number admitted from the beginning was one hundred and six, of whom
eighty were living and in regular standing. The average number of
hearers was about four hundred and twenty; but the whole number was
of course much larger. The sons-in-law of the old Emir Beshir, the
unrelenting persecutor no longer among the living, were among the
firmest friends of the mission, and his grandchildren were in its
schools. The anathemas of the Maronite clergy, once so terrific, had
lost their power. Light was spreading; and though there was not a
corresponding religious interest, yet the most influential
inhabitants were on friendly terms with the mission, and in favor of
education and good morals.