the elevating influence of the missionaries in turkey cannot be over-estimated. it is the most hopeful of all the influences which are at work in the empire to-day. most people at home think of the missionary as a propagandist whose chief endeavor is to win converts to his creed, but on the field he appears as a very different character; he is an educator, a physician, a scientist, a peacemaker, a neighbor, and an example of civilized living. judged by the numbers added to protestant churches from the population of the turkish empire, missions there might be counted a failure, or, at the most, but a partial success; but the making of protestants is the smallest part of a missionary’s work. 1. the missionary elevates the whole standard of christian living and thinking. there are in turkey churches hoary with age—greek, armenian, syrian—in which ignorance, barbarism, superstition, and low morality hold sway. to retain their members in the face of the missionary, these churches find intelligence, purity, spirituality, and civilization necessary, and have been greatly elevated by missionary enterprise. 2. in countries like turkey, where medical skill is beyond the reach of the mass of the people, the preventable suffering and death are appalling. how eagerly the villagers bring their sick to any stranger in the hope that he may be a physician, almost every traveler can testify. the brightest spots in the country are the missionary medical centers, where untold sufferings are allayed. these range all the way from the village dispensary to the medical college at beirut, where one of the world’s best surgeons not only helps the suffering, but teaches others to do it too. 3. the most important phase of missionary work in turkey is, however, the educational. from humble schools scattered widely through the villages to colleges like robert college and the syrian protestant college at beirut (which are the fruit of missionary enterprise) most successful efforts are being made, by broad-minded, undenominational methods, to train the young to think, and to induct them into modern science and civilization. the effect of this is already widely apparent, and it is clear that if the day ever comes when turkey is able to take her place among the nations as a state which appreciates the laws of humanity sufficiently to be trusted, as japan is now trusted, to control the lives and property of foreigners resident within her limits, it will be because of the civilizing influence of these educational institutions, combined with the lessons in integrity taught by the missionaries’ simple christian lives. apart from their work for turkey, the missionaries have contributed much to science. archæology owes them large debts in every part of the empire, and, to mention no other fields, the only authoritative work on the botany of syria is by a missionary. the missionaries are in my opinion working more directly than any other class of men to complete the social evolution of mankind, and to make possible the peaceable federation of the world.
—george a. barton, ph. d.,
professor of semitic languages in bryn mawr college,
director of the american school of oriental study and research
in palestine, 1902-1903.
[pg 119]
it was no light task to plant missions in a country so little known and extensive as was the turkish empire at the beginning of the last century. of the races which made up its large population little was understood except a general knowledge of the jews and greeks, and there was much less information regarding the turks. in accordance with the policy already adopted by the american board, the early missionaries were sent out to investigate and explore before deciding upon the location of missions and stations and before fixing the exact nature and methods of work.
the instructions given the earlier missionaries to turkey seldom failed to emphasize the importance of fully examining the different parts of the country and becoming acquainted with the character, beliefs, and characteristics of the different races and peoples which comprise its population. in some cases particular unexplored regions were named as demanding immediate attention. all the early missionaries were directed to report to headquarters, in full detail, the results of their researches and observations.
in the instructions given in 1819 to pliny fisk and levi parsons, the first missionaries appointed to turkey, the following passage occurs:
“you will survey with earnest attention the various tribes and classes which dwell in that land and in the surrounding countries. the two grand inquiries ever present in your minds will be, ‘what good can be done?’ and ‘by what means?’ what can be done for the jews? what for the pagans? what for the mohammedans? what for the christians? what for the people in palestine? what for those in egypt, in syria, in armenia, in other countries to which your inquiry may be extended?”
[pg 120] this single quotation demonstrates the spirit of them all, and reveals the deliberate and far-seeing policy of the board in inaugurating its missions in turkey as well as in other countries. men of the highest ability and broadest vision were selected for missionary appointment and upon them was placed the responsibility of selecting the location of the missions and stations, and deciding the policy and methods of work.
the archives of the board are rich with the early reports of those first missionaries, who explored with fearlessness and zeal, and observed with discriminating care and precision. they were conscious of the fact that much in the future depended upon the thoroughness of their work and the accuracy and fulness of their reports.
messrs. fisk and parsons landed at smyrna early in 1820 and at once began the study of modern greek. they explored the sites of the seven churches of the apocalypse and noted their conditions and needs. careful and minute journals were kept of all their labors and observations. in order to facilitate the work of exploration, mr. parsons went on alone to palestine, where he arrived in february, 1821. one of his chief objects there was to get into touch with the christian pilgrims who flock to the holy city in great numbers. the greek revolution drove him back to smyrna after several tours in palestine, and from there he went to alexandria, egypt, where he died feb. 10, 1822. mr. fisk was joined by jonas king, who left his studies in oriental literature at paris for that purpose, and early in january, [pg 121] 1823, the two set out for jerusalem by way of alexandria and cairo. they ascended the nile as far as thebes, distributing everywhere bibles and tracts in arabic. with a caravan made up of turks, arabs, greeks, and armenians, they made the overland journey to jerusalem and from there went down to beirut upon the coast. here they separated, mr. king taking up his residence in the lebanon mountains among the druses, where he was most hospitably received, in order that he might the better study the arabic language and the people. by this time, these men were using with much freedom arabic, modern greek, and italian.
the tours of these first missionaries covered tripoli, the lebanon, baalbec, jaffa, hebron, damascus, antioch, and latakia, thus bringing them into close personal touch with the desert tribes as well as with the druses, maronites, turks, greeks, and other races. mr. king returned to smyrna overland from tarsus, and mr. fisk died at beirut oct. 23, 1825, two years after the arrival there of mr. and mrs. william goodell.
these pioneer operations were accompanied with great hardship and even peril. the difficulties were increased at this early period by the efforts of the roman catholics to drive all protestants from syria. in 1824 the missionaries in jerusalem were apprehended, at the instigation of the catholics, and brought before a moslem judge, charged with distributing books which they declared to be neither jewish, moslem, nor christian. attacks by robbers were of no infrequent occurrence and fanatical uprisings were constantly to be expected. the greco-turkish war brought many personal perils and hardships, but did not result in the loss of missionary lives. [pg 122]
these experiences and subsequent investigations led to the choice of beirut as the missionary center for syria and palestine, contrary to the previous expectation that jerusalem would be chosen. jerusalem was carefully tested and its climate was found to be unfit for the permanent residence of american missionaries. beirut was upon the sea, and at the same time in such relation to the lebanon mountains that, during the heated time of the year, the missionaries could withdraw into the mountains without becoming entirely separated from the people and their work.
the matter of healthfulness was most wisely taken into consideration in selecting the location for permanent mission stations. not that this was the solely decisive feature, but it was given due place in the weighing of arguments pro and con. subsequent experience has proven that it is the poorest and most wasteful policy to permit missionaries to reside permanently in cities that are found to be unhealthy, or to plant in such places central institutions. beirut has been occupied to the present day as the great mission center for syria, and the wisdom of its choice eighty years ago has been abundantly justified. in selecting other stations in different parts of turkey the same wise, careful method was followed.
during the ten years from 1820 to 1830 the explorations made in that country by missionaries of the board were extensive, embracing, as has been stated, the site of the seven churches, the shores of the nile as far as thebes, the whole of palestine, and the greater part of syria. cappadocia had been entered from smyrna; while the peloponnesus, the more important of the ionian and ægean islands, as well as tripoli and tunis upon the north coast of africa, had also received missionary visits. these careful and scientific investigations had brought to the attention of the western world the religious beliefs and practises and [pg 123] the moral condition of the copts, the maronite and greek churches, as well as the condition and needs of other races dwelling in that wide extent of territory.
vast regions in that empire were still unexplored and peoples like the armenians, nestorians, chaldeans, as well as turks, turkomans, koords, and persians, dwelt in the far east of turkey and in persia and about them little was known. the conditions and needs, and how best to meet these needs, could not be determined until all parts of the empire, all its peoples and their interrelations, were fairly well understood.
owing to the greco-turkish war, which involved some of the european nations, it became necessary in 1828 to withdraw from beirut, the center of the syrian and palestine work, to malta, and for two years beirut was unoccupied. towards the close of 1828, rev. rufus anderson, then assistant secretary of the american board, was sent to malta to meet and confer with the brethren and later to make personal investigations in greece and the levant. this conference led to the location of mr. bird in beirut, and in sending dr. goodell to constantinople.
at the same time the prudential committee decided to send rev. eli smith and rev. h. g. o. dwight upon an extended tour of investigation across asia minor, armenia, and koordistan into georgia and persia. mr. smith had learned arabic in syria and was also somewhat familiar with the turkish language, besides being an experienced traveler and a close and accurate observer. mr. dwight was just entering upon his missionary career and was full of energy and pluck.
these two men proceeded from malta to smyrna in march, 1830, and from there to constantinople, overland, in april. before beginning the [pg 124] journey, they placed themselves under the protection of a chief of the tartars, who witnessed the seal of the tartar guide to a document acknowledging responsibility for the safe delivery at constantinople of the persons and property of the missionaries. beds, bedding, clothing, cooking utensils, dishes, writing material, books, food, etc. were carried in waterproof leather bags upon the backs of horses. they clothed themselves in the flowing native dress of the country so as to attract as little annoying attention by the way as possible. they were also supplied with passports from the government and official letters of introduction.
while travelers had repeatedly penetrated the regions to which they were to go, none had made careful, scientific investigation of the people and of the religious and moral conditions. there was not even a map in existence upon which dependence could be placed.
after obtaining at smyrna and constantinople all the information possible regarding the armenians and the country through which they were to pass, these two missionary explorers set out from the latter place on the twenty-first of may, 1830, under their tartar guide, for the remote interior of the country. the carefully kept journal of this memorable tour is a classic of its kind. later accounts and fuller knowledge of the region traversed by them and of the people they met give occasion for little change in the story they told to bring it up to date.
at tocat they visited the grave of henry martyn who gave up his life there eighteen years before. on the thirteenth of june they entered the city of erzerum and found it in the possession of the russians and the headquarters of their army. the most of the armenian population had fled. after remaining there for a few days, they pushed on eastward, [pg 125] creating astonishment wherever they went. their knowledge of turkish made it possible for them to converse freely with the people, while all were puzzled to explain the fact that their own language was known by foreigners from beyond the sea. none of the inhabitants could understand the purpose of their inquiries, for to all classes a mission solely for the sake of the people was incomprehensible. from here they faced still eastward, visiting kars, where they met large numbers of armenians. they continued on through tiflis, shoosha, nakhchevan, echmiadzin, and khoy, a distance from constantinople of more than fifteen hundred miles. when they arrived at shoosha in the middle of august they were nearly worn out with the extreme fatigue of a journey, in itself most trying, while accommodations at night were often unfit even for a horse. they were also in the midst of cholera which had recently carried off over seventy thousand people.
they passed two and a half months in shoosha with some german missionaries, which gave an opportunity to recuperate and study more closely the people, country, and languages. on the way to tabriz, persia, mr. smith was taken seriously ill when seventy miles from the city. had it not been for the prompt and kindly response of the gentlemen of the english embassy at tabriz it is doubtful whether he would have survived to reach the city.
hitherto they had been studying the armenian especially. at tabriz they were in contact with the nestorians, to investigate and report upon whom a special commission had been given them. they were here nearly two months, and then passed on to salmas, persia, where they came in contact with the chaldeans, a class of nestorians who became roman catholics two hundred and fifty years before. from salmas they [pg 126] continued to urumia, still in persia, and were warmly received by the nestorian leaders.
they returned by way of erzerum and trebizond, taking ship from there to constantinople and malta, arriving at the latter place july 2, 1831, after an absence of fifteen and a half months. in that time they had traveled over one thousand miles by water and twenty-five hundred miles by horse through a wild country beset with robbers and perils of every kind. except when entertained by missionaries or representatives of foreign governments, a rare occurrence upon all this journey, they were compelled to occupy oriental stables or even worse places as caravansaries and endure multifarious privations and hardships. they returned well, bringing a rich store of accurate knowledge regarding the country, people, and religions, which later proved to be of inestimable value in planting missions in all those regions. their “researches,” consisting almost entirely of the journals they kept, cover every phase of the life and customs of the people and the conditions of the country. these were printed in two volumes, aggregating nearly seven hundred pages, and for their scientific value to the student of races, religions, geography, and language were at once recognized to be a classic. by this tour and the publication of their “researches in armenia,” all that region was opened to the world as a proper field of operation for the christian missionary.
as a direct result of the work of messrs. smith and dwight, mr. perkins was sent to tabriz in september, 1833, but owing to the unusual difficulties of the way, among which were various warring tribes of koords, he did not arrive until nearly a year after leaving boston. [pg 127] in november, 1835, he with dr. grant removed from tabriz to urumia, and both these places have been the seat of mission work since. in 1835 trebizond was occupied as a mission station, and four years later missionaries were located in erzerum. trebizond is upon the black sea and was the port of entry for all that part of the country. it is at the terminus of the great caravan route from persia to the west, and ever since xenophon took ship there for constantinople, with his retreating ten thousand, has held an important place among the ports upon the coast. erzerum is a week’s journey inland upon the caravan route to persia and is one of the most important cities in eastern turkey. it is situated upon a high plateau nearly six thousand feet above the sea and in the midst of a large population of armenians, turks, and koords.
dr. asahel grant was appointed a missionary in 1835 with the expectation that he would go to persia. he proceeded to urumia by way of trebizond, erzerum, and tabriz. it was expected that dr. grant, the first missionary physician to enter that country, would investigate the conditions and needs of the mountain nestorians who occupy the high lands of eastern turkey and western persia. his allotted task demanded extensive journeys amid the wildest, least known, and most dangerous portions of the ottoman empire. in addition to repeated tours up and down the country, his most important explorations were made in koordistan and among the head waters of the tigris and euphrates rivers. from 1839 to 1845 dr. grant visited van, diarbekr, harpoot, mardin, mosul, and many other towns of importance, living among the people, studying their life, winning them by the depth and sincerity of his love for them, and planning to reach them by permanently organized [pg 128] missionary operations. upon a part of these journeys he was accompanied by mr. holmes, while much of the time, except for native servants, he was alone.
they reached diarbekr in july, 1839, and found it in a state of anarchy. robbery and murder were the order of the day, with a general hatred of all europeans. they withdrew to mardin, fifty miles south in mesopotamia, accompanied by an escort of thirty horsemen sent for their protection by the turkish pasha. in mardin their lives were openly threatened. almost by a miracle were they spared, for a mob suddenly formed and killed the governor in his palace and attacked the lodgings of the missionaries, who were providentially outside the city at the time. the city gate, closed to keep them inside for slaughter, barred them out and so saved their lives.
from here dr. grant went on alone to mosul, upon the tigris, two hundred miles below mardin, while mr. holmes returned to constantinople. it is an interesting fact that the house in which he found lodging in this important city of the far interior was but a few feet from the place that was yet to be his grave.
from mosul he started alone in the fall of the same year for an extended tour through the unexplored mountains of koordistan. he soon came into contact with the yezidis, who are worshipers of satan and more friendly to the christians than to the moslems. he took pains to call upon the chiefs of the country and make friends with them for the sake of the missionary work yet to be developed. he found many of the koordish chiefs inclined to be friendly.
by means of his medical skill he was able to command the respect if not the love of all. he attended professionally the emir of a large area of [pg 129] country in koordistan, who gave orders a few years previously for the murder of the scientist schultz. this tour covered eight months. he was so much changed by his native dress and rough appearance that he was not recognized by his associates at urumia upon his arrival there.
repeated journeys were made back and forth through that country with urumia and mosul as points to which he occasionally returned. the work of exploration was made much more hazardous and difficult by the hostility to each other of the nestorians, koords, and turks, a hostility often manifesting itself in open war. at one time dr. grant was charged with being an ally of the emir and again with being a turkish spy. his great tact, absolute fearlessness, and most winning christian character overcame all obstacles, and under the protecting hand of god preserved him from violence.
the careful journals of dr. grant, even though they had to be kept in absolute secrecy to prevent the arousing of suspicions, contain some of the very best information extant to-day regarding the character and conditions of these savage but sturdy people of eastern turkey. in nearly all that wild country to have been caught writing would probably have resulted in his immediate death. such an act would have stamped him as a spy or necromancer, both of which were regarded as worthy of death. while dr. grant was still alive, and largely by him, the attention of the american board was emphatically called to the great needs of that country, and to the possibilities of inaugurating among the mountain nestorians a direct evangelistic work. many of them were roman catholics, nominally, but a large number were not. no special plans were then made for direct work among the koords, as attention up [pg 130] to that time had been directed more to the nominal christian races. dr. grant, however, pleaded that a mission might be established “to assyria and mesopotamia” rather than to any particular sect or race.
dr. grant died in mosul, april 24, 1844, after a life brief in years but long in the extent of country covered by its influence, and thereby opened to his successors for missionary operations. mr. layard, the well-known assyriologist, who later traversed koordistan, said he had heard mussulmans speak of dr. grant in the highest terms of praise, while the koords repeatedly referred to him as “the good doctor.” few missionaries have done more in so brief a time to open to the world a country filled with savage, hostile, and warring races, and thus to lay the foundation for permanent missionary occupation. at least six places visited by him subsequently became missionary stations, all of which are now maintained.
explorations along the upper euphrates
and tigris rivers
in 1850 rev. and mrs. dunmore were appointed missionaries to the city of diarbekr, which had been previously visited by dr. grant and others. this city, known in classic history as amida, is an ancient walled town upon the tigris river located at the northern extremity of mesopotamia. it was nearly a year before they reached their destination, having stopped for a time in aintab and urfa to study the turkish language. the city was hot with persecution when they arrived, so that repeatedly the life of mr. dunmore was in peril. he was openly refused protection by turkish officials and so became the common prey of all who were opposed to the hated protestants. mr. dunmore was bold but tactful, and [pg 131] succeeded finally in gaining a foothold in the city, although dire persecution was meted out to those who identified themselves with him. after the work had become fairly well established there, he began explorations into the populous, prosperous, and little known regions lying to the north. he went as far as erzerum, visiting mardin, arghuni, haine, harpoot, arabkir and many other towns of importance—in fact including in his tours nearly every city of influence in all those extensive regions.
near the close of 1852 he was at harpoot, and wrote most enthusiastically of the character of the armenians he met there, and also of the strategic location of the city. he says: “the city overlooks a vast, rich plain studded with three hundred and sixty-six villages, of from one hundred to five thousand inhabitants each, nearly all armenians, and all within a few hours’ ride of the city. it presents, therefore, the richest country and the most inviting and promising missionary field i have seen in turkey.” he went on at length to describe the people, the climate, the accessibility of the vast populations on all sides. he urgently pleaded for missionaries to occupy the city. he not only reported upon that city, but upon many other places from twenty-five to one hundred and fifty miles away, all in the same general euphrates river basin, presenting such a glowing account of it all that within two years two new missionary families were on their way to occupy the field. it is an interesting fact that every large place visited by mr. dunmore became, not many years later, either the residence of missionaries or a center of christian operations under trained native workers.
mr. dunmore’s gentle firmness and absolute fearlessness made a profound impression upon all whom he met. he did much to prepare the minds and [pg 132] hearts of the people for the coming of those who followed him; as, for instance, after enduring stonings and revilings and open threats of assassination at diarbekr, he went boldly to the turkish governor with a complaint against a wealthy moslem who had greatly wronged him. the governor gave little heed, and at once exonerated the moslem. mr. dunmore announced his purpose to appeal to the british embassy at constantinople, even to make the journey in person, in order to secure justice. the governor, after some deliberation, reversed his decision and put the moslem in prison for two days. when he was released he called upon the missionary, begged his pardon, and announced his personal friendship. a little later, another turk threatened mr. dunmore’s life and was put in jail for it. this seemed to be what was required in order to give the cause standing before the community, for the attitude of the turks changed at once, and many began to inquire about the truth which the missionaries were teaching.
wherever mr. dunmore went, as was also the case with dr. grant, the way was remarkably prepared for the missionaries who were to follow them. these men opened all eastern turkey to its first knowledge of americans and for the residence of missionaries.
in the early missionary explorations no attention was given to arabia. at that time there seems to have been little thought about the conversion of the mohammedans, and even had there been, the other parts of the turkish empire afforded a sufficient number upon which to begin. arabia seems to have been considered a remote and unknown land to which no missionary turned his tours of investigation and to which no committee at home commissioned one to preach. arabia was indeed a [pg 133] remote country before the suez canal was opened and when bombay was reached by sailing-vessels going around the south of africa. of the country itself little was known, and for the most part it has never come under the full control of the sultan of turkey or of any other country. of the six million inhabitants of arabia not more than one million two hundred thousand are confessedly subjects of the sultan. while he lays claim to the whole country he has not been able, up to the present time, wholly to make his claims good.
in hejaz and yemen, regions under the sultan, no christian is permitted to reside or travel, and in the rest of the country the ruling emirs or imams readily inflict the death penalty upon moslems for departure from the faith. long after the english took control of aden, at the extreme southwestern part of the peninsula, a mission was opened there which is called the keith-falconer mission, and which is now carried on by the united free church of scotland. in 1889 an independent inter-denominational mission was opened upon the western shore of the persian gulf. members of this mission have penetrated into the interior of the country and have given to the world much valuable information regarding this land of mystery and its inhabitants of ancient name and fame. this mission was adopted by the board of the reformed (dutch) church of america in 1894.
it is remarkable that this cradle of islam, lying so close to the great highway between the west and the far east, should still remain practically untouched by modern education and the fundamental truths of christianity. it cannot long maintain its barriers against the onrush of modern thought and life.
