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 http://archive.org/details/cu31 9240293481 37 
 
HISTORY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS 
 IN THE NEAR EAST 
 
By JULIUS RICHTER 
 
 A History of Missions 
 in India 
 
 8vo, Cloth, net $2.50. 
 INTERESTING COMMENDATIONS 
 
 Missionary Herald : 
 
 "The literature of missions is greatly enriched by 
 this book. It is eminently impartial. It tells the whole 
 story of missions in India and tells it with a fine sense of 
 proportion. It is exceedingly informing and thoroughly 
 comprehensive, while it is equally compact." 
 
 Missionary Re'vie'^v of the World : 
 
 "The best and most complete history in the English 
 language, of the beginnings and progress of Christian 
 missions in the Indian Empire. " 
 
 Congregationalist : 
 
 "The work is encyclopaedia in its completeness, yet 
 is written in a style that is refreshingly graphic and 
 attractive. " 
 
 Brooklyn Eagle : 
 
 "Overwhelmingly interesting, and its careful perusal 
 not only calculated to enable readers to view the result of 
 much industry and wide comprehension on the part of 
 the author, but also to stimulate the advocates and sup- 
 porters of Christian missions in their relations to the 
 Church and its evangelizing duty." 
 
A HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 PROTESTANT MISSIONS 
 
 IN THE NEAR EAST 
 
 BY 
 
 JULIUS RICHTER, D. D. 
 
 EDITOR "DIE EVANGELISCHEN MISSIONEN, 
 STORY OF 
 ETC., ETC 
 
 >) 
 
 AUTHOR OF " A HISTORY OF MISSIONS IN INDIA," 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. Re veil Company 
 
 London and Edinburgh i- 
 
Copyright, 1910, by 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 'V " -t -f^ /X 
 
 i^ 
 
 ^ /^Q 
 
 i 
 
 /I 
 
 / 
 
 --^V^ : /■ 
 
 New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
 Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue 
 Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. 
 London: 21 Paternoster Square 
 Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street 
 
Preface 
 
 To the Boards of the great Congregational and Pres- 
 byterian Churches of America I dedicate this volume 
 with an expression of the deep gratitude which Prot- 
 estant Christendom owes to them for their comprehensive and 
 thorough work in the Near East. They have worked during 
 the nineteenth century quietly, with little recognition from 
 outside, for the uplifting and spiritual vitalizing of the vener- 
 able remnants of the Oriental Churches. !N"ow after the 
 sudden changes of the last year, those missions stand out as 
 the well founded corner-stones of great and promising mission 
 churches, as the pillars of hope in the midst of the turmoil of 
 the Near East. 
 
 I have had the privilege during the last month to be for the 
 first time in the United States, at the fountainhead of those 
 beneficent streams which are fertilizing the dry fields of the 
 Levant. What I have experienced during this time has filled 
 my heart with great hopes for the future of the missionary 
 movement. When at the International Convention at Eoch- 
 ester I looked into the bright faces of about four thousand 
 students, kindled with enthusiasm for missions, I realized that 
 the central question of the labourers in the great harvest here 
 finds an ideal solution. When I came in close touch with The 
 Laymen's Missionary Movement, I ventured to hope that by 
 reclaiming the wealth of the Union for the service of the King- 
 dom that other perplexing problem, the money question, would 
 be dealt with satisfactorily. And when in constant intercourse 
 with the leaders interested in missionary movements I saw of 
 what high type these men really are, my confidence increased 
 that the leadership, too, is in good hands and that by such 
 men God has a great work waiting for America. 
 
 This book in English is not a mere translation of the Ger- 
 man edition. Whole chapters have been rewritten, others 
 
6 Preface 
 
 more or less altered. English and American views on mis- 
 sionary questions differ greatly from the German. The writer 
 of history has a task like that of an oculist who adapts the 
 spectacles exactly to the eye so that men may see matters 
 clearly and distinctly in their right proportions. A historian 
 tries to do the same for his readers ; to present the facts in just 
 that form which enables them to be seen in their true perspec- 
 tive and significance. In translating this book into English I 
 had the joy of a man privileged to show to the members of his 
 household a hidden treasure belonging to them, the great value 
 and beauty of which they had not hitherto known. 
 
 I am deeply indebted to the Kev. John Elliot of Priors 
 Marston, England, and to the Kev. Murray Scott Frame of 
 Union Theological Seminary, !N"ew York, for their untiring 
 zeal in revising the book. I gratefully acknowledge the help 
 of both, for they spared no pains in bringing out the book in 
 as correct a form as possible. 
 
 We are on the eve of great events in the Near East. The 
 problem gains in importance and urgency year by year. Those 
 facts become suggestive which show that the American missions 
 have been more effective in their Muhammadan work than 
 generally known. I have just received a letter from the Rev. 
 C. R. Watson, D. D., Foreign Secretary of the United Presby- 
 terian Church in America, proving convincingly to what extent 
 the American Mission in Egypt has worked among the Mu- 
 hammadans. There are 3,945 pupils in its schools, more than 
 10,000 patients treated every year in its hospitals and 139 con- 
 Verts have been gathered in, an earnest of a greater future 
 harvest. May this book, too, increase the Christian and mis- 
 sionary interest in the Muhammadan world and may it, by 
 giving an accurate record of what has been done up to the 
 present time, make many Christians willing to enlarge these 
 missions for greater work in the future. 
 
 Julius Richter. 
 
 New York, On the day of departure 
 from the United States, 
 
Contents 
 
 I. 
 
 11. 
 
 III. 
 
 Introduction 
 
 The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 
 
 1. The Muhammadan World 
 
 2. Two Aspects of Islam 
 
 3. The Oriental Churches . 
 
 4. The Roman Propaganda 
 
 5. The Russian Church 
 
 6. The Position of Christians Under Turkish Rule 
 
 7. What is the Justification of Protestant Missions 
 
 Among the Oriental Christian Churches ? . 
 
 8. Has the Time Come for Muhammadan Missions 
 
 in the Near East ? 
 
 9. The Message of Christianity to Islam 
 
 The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary En- 
 deavour 
 
 1. Peter Heyling 
 
 2. Henry Martyn ...... 
 
 3. The " Mediterranean Mission " of the Church 
 
 Missionary Society ..... 
 
 4. The Basle Mission in Transcaucasia, 1822-1835 
 
 Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 
 
 1. The Mission of the American Board Until the 
 
 Rupturewith the Ancient Church, 1830-1846 
 
 2. From the Organization of the Protestant Church 
 
 in 1 850 Until the Armenian Massacres in 1895 
 
 3. The Armenian Massacres, 1 894- 1 896 
 
 4. Russian Armenia ...... 
 
 5. The Work of the American Board from 
 
 1896 to 1907 
 
 II 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 21 
 
 36 
 46 
 
 56 
 
 58 
 
 66 
 
 76 
 80 
 
 89 
 
 91 
 93 
 
 94 
 97 
 
 104 
 
 106 
 
 113 
 
 135 
 153 
 
 155 
 
8 Contents 
 
 6. Protestant Missions Among the Greeks, 
 
 the Bulgarians andthe Turks . .164 
 
 7. The New Era in Turkey . , . .176 
 
 IV. Syria and Palestine 181 
 
 (^A) Syria 181 
 
 1. The Mission of the American Board, 
 
 1823-1870 185 
 
 2. The Entrance of the Other Missionary 
 
 Societies ...... 201 
 
 3. The Mission of the American Presby- 
 
 terians, I 870- I 908 . . . .212 
 
 {B) Palestine 229 
 
 1. The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary 
 
 Work : Anglo-Prussian Episcopate of 
 Jerusalem ...... 235 
 
 2. The Mission of the Church Missionary 
 
 Society ...... 242 
 
 3. German Missionary Work in the Holy Land 258 
 
 4. Protestant Outposts in Arabia . . .271 
 
 V. Persia 279 
 
 1. Protestant Missions in Persia. The Work 
 
 of the American Board, 1 8 34- 1 870 . 294 
 
 2. The American Presbyterian Mission 
 
 Among the Nestorians, 1870-1908 . 303 
 
 3. Missionary Competition .... 308 
 
 4. American Presbyterian Missions in Persia, 
 
 Exclusive of the Mission Among the 
 Nestorians '317 
 
 5. The Work of the Church Missionary So- 
 
 ciety in Persia . . • . . 329 
 
 VI. Egypt and Abyssinia 337 
 
 {A) Egypt 337 
 
 1. The American Mission .... 344 
 
 2. Spittler's " Apostelstrasse " (Apostles' 
 
 Road) and Other Smaller Missions . 354 
 
Contents 9 
 
 3. The Church Missionary Society Mission in 
 
 Egypt 358 
 
 4. The Egyptian Sudan . . . .363 
 (5) Abyssinia . . , . . . -371 
 
 1. The Church Missionary Society Mission 
 
 from 1830 to 1843 .... 378 
 
 2. The Second Period — The Falasha Mission . 382 
 
 3. The Swedish National Mission . . . 386 
 
 VII. Missions Among the Jews. The Work of the 
 
 Bible Societies 39 1 
 
 {A) Missions Among the Jews , . . • 39^ 
 {B) The Work of the Bible Societies . . . 400 
 
 VIII. Summaries AND Statistical Tables . . .412 
 Index 423 
 
Introduction 
 
 THE " Near East " of this book comprises the Balkan 
 Peninsula, the Levant with Armenia and Persia, and 
 Northeastern Africa. Some of our readers may 
 question the accuracy of our use of the term " Protestant Mis- 
 sions." It may seem to them that these words ought to be used 
 exclusively to denote Protestant missionary activity among 
 non-Christians, whereas only a small part of the grand efforts, 
 with the history of which this book is concerned, have been 
 directed towards the non-Christian population of the JSTear 
 East. Yet we have no word exactly expressing what we want 
 to say, and the word " mission " has been widely and gener- 
 ally used in connection with the evangelistic and educational 
 efforts to enlighten and revivify the old and venerable, but 
 deplorably decaying Churches of the East. So we feel there 
 will be no misunderstanding if, in this book, we use the term 
 so dear to our hearts to describe all efforts to evangelize the 
 Near East. Most of this history is a narrative of admirable 
 undertakings to help on, and to bring to a higher level of 
 spiritual life, the ancient Eastern Churches. Yet throughout 
 this wide area evangelistic efforts among Christians are up to 
 the present time the most important and comprehensive 
 method of preparation for work among non-Christians. And 
 we are convinced that in the near future greater interest will 
 be taken in the hitherto isolated missionary efforts on behalf 
 of the Muhammadans. 
 
 Protestant Missions in the Near East have, during the last 
 century, found scant attention among the larger Christian 
 public. This may be due partly to the fact that missionary 
 writers regarded this work as not properly within their sphere, 
 whilst church historians, even such as were specially interested 
 in the Eastern Churches, either had no access to the sources 
 
 XI 
 
1 2 Introduction 
 
 needed for the compilation of a history, or were unable to 
 thread their way through the labyrinth of material. An ex- 
 tensive and important chapter of modern church history con- 
 sequently remained almost unknown ; or, if writers of earnest 
 purpose ventured into this region, where everything was 
 shrouded in obscurity, they led their readers astray by erro- 
 neous and mistaken statements. Only one who is fairly con- 
 versant with missionary literature is in a position to follow 
 the tangled threads of such a complicated development of 
 events, and even such an one will find that his powers are 
 limited. We present the following studies to our readers only 
 as an imperfect sketch. At the present time, owing to the 
 lack of previous work in this field, it is almost impossible to 
 offer anything complete. May the following pages serve 
 some later historian as a stepping-stone to a more comprehen- 
 sive and discriminating survey. 
 
 Even this fragmentary account will show what an impor- 
 tant and deeply interesting chapter of mission history it is 
 with which we have to do. By the Roman Catholics a lively 
 interest has long been taken in church propagation in the 
 East, and this interest is fostered by means of missionary period- 
 icals, such as Die Katholischen Missio7ie7i and also by means 
 of magazines dealing exclusively with this field.^ We regret 
 that Protestants, on the contrary, except perhaps as regards 
 the Holy Land, have generally failed to perceive the impor- 
 tance and extent of the work carried on by their co-religion- 
 ists in these lands. Their interest has not been aroused even 
 by the fact that the Turkish Empire, with its neighbouring 
 provinces, has been brought into such close connection with 
 Europe by the political developments of the past decades. 
 
 How many are the claims of those desolated lands on our 
 sympathy I Scientific research has for generations been in- 
 tensely alive to the surprising discoveries which their forlorn 
 
 * Suoh periodicals dealing with the Eoman Catholic Missions in the East are 
 the following: in Italy, Bessarione (since March, 1896) ; in France, Revue de 
 V Orient ChrMien; in Germany, Nilles, Calendarium ecclesisB utrivsque {Inushraokf 
 1896). 
 
Introduction 13 
 
 tumuli yield every year to the arohseologist. The gigantic 
 old palaces of JSTineveh and Babylon have been dug out and 
 have revealed to our astonished eyes an admirable culture of 
 almost prehistoric times. The graves and ruins of Egypt have 
 begun to speak again of the ancient glory of the realm of the 
 Pharaohs and its indigenous, Nile-born civilization. Even the 
 old capitals of almost forgotten kingdoms, like the Hittites 
 of the Bible, have been discovered and unearthed again. A 
 man who showed no interest in these wonderful monuments 
 of a remote antiquity would be regarded as deplorably short- 
 sighted. But in these regions there are limng ruins too, living 
 ruins that have a special claim on our sympathy and help. 
 
 Our studies lead us to the lands of the Bible, lands conse- 
 crated by the most sacred associations with the mighty works 
 of God. These are the lands in which the all- wise Disposer 
 of the destinies of mankind worked out on the stage of history 
 the redemption of the human race ; the lands where the 
 Chosen People heard the call of God, where they wandered, 
 suffered and perished ; where the Only Begotten Son of God 
 sojourned in the days of His flesh and accomplished on the 
 cross the redemption of the world ; where the great Apostle 
 of the Gentiles laid the foundations of the Christian Church. 
 There the primary developments in the history of the Chris- 
 tian Church took place. There the martyrs sealed their testi- 
 mony with blood. There the most celebrated church fathers 
 clothed the facts of the Christian plan of salvation in the 
 modes of thought of Greek philosophy and culture, thereby 
 exercising a decisive influence upon the development of Chris- 
 tian doctrine. There the growth of early Christianity was 
 marked by the rise of church buildings and the introduction 
 of liturgical forms, the development of church organization 
 and church practice. There for the first time Christian 
 national Churches took their rise and became prosperous. 
 
 The most severe blow sustained by the Church of Christ 
 throughout the whole course of her history was that which 
 was struck in the year 632, when the Arab invasion swept like 
 a devastating flood over the Eastern provinces of the Church. 
 
14 Introduction 
 
 The century which followed was the most disastrous in the 
 history of the Church. More than half the territory then 
 nominally Christian was brought under the sway of the Cres- 
 cent. It is a reproach to Christian nations that the rest of 
 the Church looked on for seven centuries with short-sighted 
 indolence, whilst the Eastern Koman Empire was being sub- 
 merged beneath successive waves of invasion, until the year 
 1453 witnessed the fall of Constantinople itself. 
 
 Once, throughout a period of nearly two hundred years, the 
 nations of Christendom strove to recover at least one dearly 
 loved province, the Holy Land, from the hands of the fanat- 
 ical Muhammadaus. The time of the Crusades is the most 
 romantic period of the Middle Ages; in spite of all their 
 political folly and petty rivalry, they constituted a grand effort 
 on the part of Christendom to win back the countries of her 
 birth. The effort failed ; the wave of enthusiasm was beaten 
 back by the brazen walls of Muhamraadan fanaticism. 
 
 Since then Christendom has made a second attempt to win 
 back the lost provinces ; not by mail-clad knights or death- 
 dealing cannon, but, just as in the day when the Christian 
 Church was founded in those regions, by the gentle influences 
 which emanate from the preaching of the Cross. She estab- 
 lished churches, schools and hospitals. She sent missionaries, 
 who followed in the footsteps of Him who did not break the 
 bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. Though this 
 work, like the Master Himself, does not make its voice heard 
 in the streets, our Lord's disciples, at any rate, should have 
 their eyes opened to discern its hidden glory. The following 
 pages contain the history of these efforts put forth to recover 
 the provinces wrested by Islam from the Church, this modern 
 crusade, which breathes more truly than that old-time war- 
 fare the spirit of the Prince of Peace. 
 
 The course of our book is dictated by the nature of the sub- 
 ject. We shall endeavour, first of all, to gain a general idea 
 of the religious and social condition of this vast region, direct- 
 ing our attention to the Muhammadan world and to the 
 remnants of the ancient Christian Churches. We shall then 
 
Introduction 15 
 
 take up the different countries one by one, and survey the 
 missionary efforts put forth in each. With the Eomish prop- 
 aganda we deal only in so far as this is necessary to a right 
 understanding of Protestant work. We do not attempt to 
 describe the spiritual life, the constitution, the liturgies, and the 
 checkered history of the Eastern Churches. Nor do we deal 
 with the history of the religious controTersy between Mu- 
 hammadans and Christians. It seems to us better to direct 
 our attention solely to the wide-spread ramifications of the 
 Protestant missionary enterprise. 
 
 May this plain, unvarnished tale open the eyes and warm 
 the heart of many a Protestant Christian. True, we do not 
 record events which have moved the world. We still live in 
 a day of small things. But as we traverse those consecrated 
 lands, we are reminded afresh that it was here that God 
 worked out the redemption of the world. Cannot He, who 
 once caused the river of salvation to flow forth from these 
 lands into all the world, cannot He bring back to these re- 
 gions some currents from that stream of blessing, which has 
 enriched Europe and America ? In these regions Christianity 
 once showed its power, when opposed by the civilized heathen- 
 ism of the Greek-Koman world ; should not the same power 
 approve itself a second time as " the victory that overcometh 
 the world " ? Protestants have carried the Gospel far and 
 wide throughout the world ; they have given heed to the 
 command, " Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel 
 to every creature." But on Mount Olivet the Master, as He 
 was about to leave this earth, issued His instruction, " And 
 ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and in all 
 Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth." 
 The Muhammadan lands of the East lie at the very door of 
 Christendom ; a journey of two and a half days takes us to 
 Constantinople ; in seven to nine days we can reach Jerusalem 
 or Cairo. At the beginning of the last century, if Christians 
 desired to carry the Gospel to the heathen nations of Africa 
 and Asia, it was necessary cautiously to traverse the interve- 
 ning fringe of Muhammadan territory, or to make one's way 
 
i6 Introduction 
 
 around it. The route round the Cape of Good Hope has been 
 exchanged for the more direct route through Muhammadan 
 lands, where the traveller can now pass in safety. The in- 
 habitants of these countries have the right to ask of Christian 
 missionaries no longer to pass them by through disregard or 
 hopelessness. 
 
History of Protestant 
 Missions in the Near East 
 
 THE MUHAMMADAN WORLD AND THE EASTERN 
 
 CHURCHES 
 
 1, The Muhammadan World 
 
 ONLY a part of the Muhammadaa world can claim 
 our attention in the following pages. We shall con- 
 sider Turkey, Persia, Arabia, and Egypt. These are 
 the lands in which Muhammadanism took its rise. They are 
 at the same time the home of more or less important remnants 
 of ancient Christian Churches. Yet, in order to appreciate the 
 position which these nations occupy in relation to the 
 Muhammandan peoples as a whole, we must cast at least a 
 rapid glance over the entire region occupied by the followers 
 of the Prophet. 
 
 The Muhammadan world is a broad strip of territory, ex. 
 tending from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the Dutch 
 East Indies, and far into the interior of China. On the north 
 the boundary line of this wide region passes from the Straits 
 of Gibraltar through the Mediterranean to the Balkan 
 Peninsula, runs northward to the Danube and stretches east- 
 ward across the steppes of Southern Russia and Siberia into 
 China. In China the western provinces of Kan-su, Shen-si, 
 Yun-nan and the new province of Hsin-kiang, have a large 
 admixture of Muharamadans ; the further east one travels, the 
 smaller is the proportion of the Muhammadan population. In 
 
 17 
 
i8 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Africa, the Muhammadan countries in Western and Central 
 Sudan extend into the interior of Guinea, in fact almost as 
 far south as the Congo ; to the east, in spite of the paramount 
 influence of Muhammadan Egypt, they have not advanced 
 south of the latitude of Fashoda, except along the coast. 
 Along the east coast of Africa Arab immigrants have formed 
 a new centre of Muhammadan influence, which has extended 
 westward even beyond the great inland lakes. In Southern 
 Asia we find that in a large part of India, especially in the 
 northern provinces, in the United Provinces, and in Bengal, 
 the Muhammadans form no inconsiderable proportion of the 
 population, numbering many millions of adherents. In the 
 Dutch East Indies they have taken entire possession of Java, 
 the most beautiful and most thickly populated of the islands. 
 They are very strong in the other large islands of Sumatra, 
 Celebes, and Borneo, and have gained a footing on the remotest 
 islands of the group. In addition to this wide belt in which 
 Islam is almost without rival, isolated outposts are to be found 
 at the Cape of Good Hope and on some of the islands off the 
 East African coast. 
 
 Authorities still differ considerably as to how many Mu- 
 hammadans are to be found in these countries. The reason is 
 not far to seek. Only in the case of such territories as are 
 under the dominion of Christian powers do we possess reliable 
 statistics, obtained through an accurate census. Thus we 
 know that in British India there are 62,458,077 Muhammadans, 
 m Egypt, 8,978,775, in Cape Colony, 15,100, in Cyprus, 47,900, 
 in Ceylon, 212,000. But with regard to very large tracts of 
 territory we possess only approximate estimates. So the most 
 careful statisticians differ considerably in their results ; the 
 French geographer Malte Brun reckoned in 1810 and again in 
 1831 only 110 millions. " Brockhaus Konversationslexikon," 
 1894, 175 millions. On the other hand, " Brockhaus Konversa- 
 tionslexikon," 1902 (14th Ed., Yol. YI), 244 millions. The 
 Wurtemburg statistician. Director H. Zeller {Allgemeine 
 Missions-Zeitschrift, 1903), 175,330,000. Hubert Jansen, 
 " Yerbreitung des Islam," 1897, 259,680,672 (!). H. Wichmann 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 19 
 
 in Justus Perthes' Atlas, 1903, 240 millions. " The Moham- 
 medan World of To-day," 1906, 232,966,170.^ 
 
 Of these 228 millions of Muhammadans, taking that figure 
 
 * We append herewith the most important of the separate items, so that the 
 reader may form his own estimate of the accuracy of the total. We print in 
 italics the names of those countries for which the figures may be considered fairly 
 correct, because derived from an official census : — 
 
 Europe: Turkey, 2,050,000 ; Bosnia, 549,000; Bulgaria, 643,000; 
 Roumania, 44,000 ; Servia, 14,000. 
 
 Total 3,300,000 
 
 AfbicA: HfoTth— Egypt, 8,979,000; Tripoli, 1,250,000; Tunis, 
 1,700,000; Algeria, 4,071,000; Morocco, 5,600,000. 
 
 Total 21,600,000 
 
 Central and East — Erythrea, 150,000; Somaliland. 
 1,100,000; British and German East Africa, 1,250,000; 
 Egyptian Sudan, 1,000,000; Abyssinia, 300,000. 
 
 Total 3,800,000 
 
 West— French West Africa, 20,000,000 ; British Africa, 
 7,500,000; German West Africa, 2,000,000; other 
 countries, 1,000,000. 
 
 Total 30,500,000 
 
 Congo, 2,000,000; French Congo, 1,000,000; other 
 countries and islands, 750,000. 
 
 Total 3,750,000 
 
 Total in Africa 59,650,000 
 
 Asia : North and West— Turkey, 12,250,000 ; Independent 
 Arabia, 3,500,000; Persia, 8,750,000; Afghanistan, 
 4,500,000 ; Russian Asia, 6,500,000 ; Bokhara and 
 Khiva, 2,000,000. 
 
 Total 37,500,000 
 
 South — British India, 62,500,000; Ceylon, Malay Peninsula 
 and other British possessions, 900,000. 
 
 Total 63,400,000 
 
 Butch East Indies, 29,250,000 ; French colonies in Hither 
 and Further India, 1,500,000; Siam, 1,000,000. 
 
 Total 31,750,000 
 
 Central— China, 30,000,000. 30,000,000 
 
 Total in Asia 162,650,000 
 
 Asia 162,650,000 
 
 Africa 59,650,000 
 
 Europe 3,300,000 
 
 Total 225,600,000 
 
 If the usual estimate of thirty millions of Muhammadans in China is not 
 thought to be considerably too high, we may reckon that in round figures there 
 is a Muhammadan population in the world of two hundred and twenty-five 
 millions. 
 
20 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 as an approximate total, only thirty-eight millions/ or 
 about one-sixth, live in those parts of Asia and the north- 
 east corner of Africa which, in this book, occupy our attention. 
 But these regions include within their borders the countries in 
 which Islam took its rise, and they embrace its holiest cities 
 and its most celebrated universities ; in a word, they contain, 
 as it were, the heart and head of Muhammadanism. One of 
 the chief duties of the orthodox Moslem is the " hadj " or 
 pilgrimage to Mecca, which every Mussulman is expected to 
 perform at least once in his life. This pilgrimage brings 
 Muhammadans from the remotest countries of the earth to 
 Mecca, whence a flood of Moslem piety flows back into all 
 parts of the Muhammadan world. Besides this, Arabic is the 
 sacred language of Islam. Only in that language is it per- 
 missible to read the Koran and to pray. It is in Arabic alone 
 that Muhammadan theological and philosophical works, in 
 short, original Muhammadan works of learning, have been 
 written. Consequently, the Arabic-speaking countries of 
 Hither- Asia and North Africa claim as their birthright a 
 position of preeminence with regard to the other Muhammadan 
 countries of the world. In addition to this, Church and State 
 are so indissolubly connected in the Muhammadan world that 
 a certain amount of prestige attaches to the holder of the 
 highest temporal office, the lawful Khalif, that is, the Turkish 
 Sultan in Stamboul. In him centre the ambitious political 
 aspirations of the Moslem world. Thus, in spite of their 
 comparatively small population, a unique position in the 
 Muhammadan world is occupied by the lands which con- 
 tain Mecca and Stamboul, in which Medina and Jerusa- 
 lem, the next holiest cities of the Moslems, are situated, 
 and where Arabic is spoken as the mother tongue of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 * Europe according to the note on page 19, 3,300,000 ; Asia Minor, 7,179,000 
 Armenia and Kurdistan, 1,795,000; Mesopotamia, 1, 200; 000 ; Syria, 1,053,100 
 Turkish Arabia, 1,000,000. Independent Arabia, 3,500,000 ; Persia, 8,750,000 
 Egypt, 8,979,000; Egyptian Sudan, 1,000,000; Abyssinia, 300,000 ; Erythrea, 
 152,000. Total, 38,600,000. 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 21 
 
 2. Two Aspects of Islam 
 Muhammadanism shows evident signs of decay ; on the other 
 hand, there are less evident signs of progress. Islam, which 
 was founded by the sword, and the early adherents of which 
 were desirous of proving its truth by the sword, has through 
 many a long year experienced a succession of reverses. These 
 began in Western Europe. Since the victory of Charles 
 Martel at Poictiers the flood of Muhammadanism has receded ; 
 one part of Spain after the other. Lower Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, 
 Corsica, and the Balearic Isles, were freed from the yoke of 
 Islam. It was a hard struggle, lasting several centuries. 
 At the beginning of the fourteenth century the greater part 
 of Eastern Europe was under Muhammadan sway. But then 
 came a reaction. The Russians fought against the Moslems, 
 and in the course of the struggle, which lasted some hundreds 
 of years, they became experts in the art of war and in the 
 subtleties of diplomacy. The absorption by Eussia of terri- 
 tories that were formerly Muhammadan continued throughout 
 the nineteenth century. Thus in 1800 Georgia, and in 1828, 
 1829, and 1878, parts of Armenia were annexed, while from 
 1844 to 1887 the Trans-Caspian territory and Turkestan, the 
 ancestral homes of the Turks in Asia, were subjugated. A 
 third series of Muhammadan reverses dates from 1683, when 
 John Sobieski raised the siege of Vienna. The Austrians 
 gradually gaining courage, after struggles that lasted several 
 decades, succeeded in driving the Turks back from the Leitha 
 across the Danube, and regained possession of Hungary. 
 Throughout the nineteenth century a fourth movement has 
 taken place, whereby the power of Islam has been still further 
 curtailed. The " Sick Man on the Bosphorus " has had to suffer 
 the amputation of one limb of his unwieldy body after the 
 other. Provinces have either been made into independent 
 kingdoms, or have been placed under the protection of 
 European Powers. Thus in 1829 the Turkish Empire lost 
 Greece and Servia, in 1830 Algeria, in 1858 Eoumania, in 
 1878 Cyprus, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro and Bulgaria, 
 in 1882 Egypt and Tunis, and in 1898 the island of Crete. 
 
22 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Turkey is only a comparatively small part of the region 
 under Muhammadan rule. What else remains to-day of the 
 former realm of Islam ? There was a time when the Sudan, 
 the Fulbe and Hausa States of West Africa, Zanzibar and the 
 whole of East Africa as far as the Lakes, in fact as far as the 
 Upper Congo, were ruled by Muhammadan princes. To-day 
 the three Christian Powers of France, Britain, and Germany 
 have divided these territories between them. There was a 
 time when India from the Himalayas to Cape Cormorin was 
 governed by the Great Moguls in Delhi and their vassals ; 
 but years ago the last maharajah bowed his proud neck before 
 Christian Britain. There was a time when the Muhamma- 
 dans were masters of the Mediterranean and the adjacent seas, 
 as well as of the Ked Sea and the Indian Ocean. To-day 
 Britain is mistress of these seas, and the converging points of 
 the trade routes which cross their waters are under her con- 
 trol. Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Perim, Penang and Singapore 
 are important connecting links of the British Empire. 
 
 Of the two hundred and twenty-five millions of Muham- 
 madans only thirty-five millions are at present under Moslem 
 rule, while one hundred and sixty millions are under Christian 
 rule. Whereas the Sultan, the " Commander of the Faithful," 
 Muhammad's Khalif, rules over about eighteen million Mu- 
 hammadans, the Christian King of England commands eighty 
 millions, the French Eepublic and Holland each twenty-nine 
 millions and the Kussian Czar fourteen millions. 
 
 It was disastrous for Islam that from the twelfth century 
 the Turks assumed the leadership. From one point of view 
 this was an advantage. Through the centuries of their world 
 empire the Arabs have never lost their Bedouin characteristics. 
 They never learned statecraft. Their history is a record of 
 ambitious cliques and reckless adventurers. The Turks, on 
 the contrary, are a people with a capacity for rule. By nature 
 excellent soldiers, they founded a lasting government. But 
 they do not take kindly to civilization. There are four 
 great nationalities which have played a leading part in the 
 internal and external history of Islam ; the Arabs, the Per- 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 23 
 
 sians, the Mongols and the Turks. The first three introduced 
 splendid epochs of civilization and stood, at various times, in 
 the forefront of general culture — the Arabs in Egypt, Morocco 
 and Spain ; the Persians in their own country ; and the 
 Mongols in India. They achieved great things in architecture, 
 philosophy, geography, and astronomy. They produced poets 
 and religious thinkers of world-wide renown. Nothing of all 
 this is to be found among the Turks, no truly great poet, no 
 explorer of the unknown, no fruitful constructive ideas in art. 
 They rule with the mailed fist, and their rule is a curse for the 
 peoples subject to them. Under their rule are found repre- 
 sentatives of more gifted nations — Greeks, Egyptians, Mace- 
 donians, Armenians. As long as these languish under the 
 Turkish yoke, they deteriorate outwardly and inwardly. Freed 
 from Turkish tyranny, they recover. Think what Greece, Bul- 
 garia, Servia, Cyprus, and Egypt have become since their lib- 
 eration, and you realize the curse of Turkish rule. In the 
 whole range of history, you will hardly find a nation that haa 
 done so little for civilization after seven centuries of unrivalled 
 opportunity. That Islam to-day is generally regarded as an- 
 tagonistic to culture, is to be attributed, above all, to the 
 Turks. 
 
 There are five chief causes of decay in Islam. 
 
 (1) Muhammadan governments have proved incapable of 
 developing the economical resources of their lands and of 
 helping the population of these lands to thrive. Turkey, 
 Persia and Morocco, almost the only countries still governed 
 by Muhammadans, are in a condition of economical chaos. 
 On the Balkan Peninsula and in Asia Minor Turkey possesses 
 fertile territories, once the seats of a flourishing civilization. 
 Assyria, Babylonia, the Ionian coast of Asia Minor, and Mace- 
 donia were once the granaries of the world. To-day these 
 territories are impoverished and famine-stricken, hardly able 
 to sustain the tenth part of their former population. Turkey 
 herself, the mistress of these precious territories, suffers from 
 chronic financial disability. At the present day, when po- 
 litical questions are so intimately connected with financial 
 
24 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 conditions and when national wealth means national power, 
 such countries are bound to fail in the race.^ 
 
 (2) Hand in hand with this economic incapacity goes inter- 
 nal political incapacity, which has never known how to settle 
 disputes and establish lasting peace and order. First of all, 
 there is the national enmity between Turks and Arabs. The 
 northern half of the Ottoman Empire as far south as Tripoli 
 in Syria is Turkish, the other half Arab. Probably the Arabs 
 are the nobler race ; they are also the nation of the Prophet 
 and the Koran ; they feel it to be an injustice that the Turks 
 have assumed the place of paramount authority in Islam, and 
 that the Sultan regards himself as Khalif. Then there is the 
 bitter antagonism of Turks and Arabs alike against their 
 Christian subjects. Of such discord we shall find many a 
 record in the following pages. Further, Turkey has not been 
 able to amalgamate with herself races nominally Muhamma- 
 dan, such as the Druses, the Nusairiyeh, the Kurds, and the 
 Muhammadan Albanians. Large provinces of the empire — 
 Armenia, Kurdistan, Syria, nearly the whole of Turkey in 
 Europe — are in a chronic state of ferment, that nowhere 
 allows of peaceful settlement. It is often impossible to say 
 whether such countries as Yemen, Central Arabia, and Tripoli 
 are in a state of chronic rebellion, or whether they have 
 achieved full independence. And, to complete the mischief, 
 the government cannot hold in check the Bedouin hordes from 
 Arabia and the Syrian desert, which constantly overrun Syria 
 and Mesopotamia. These Bedouins are like the desert sand, 
 absorbing unhindered one fertile stretch of the country after 
 
 ^ In 1875 Mustafa Fazil Pasha, a brother of the Khedive of Egypt, wrote to 
 the Sultan : — Your Majesty's subjects, of whatever faith they may be, fall into 
 two classes, viz : the ruthlessly oppressing and the mercilessly oppressed. In- 
 dustry, agriculture, trade — all lie prone in the empire. When a man can ex- 
 ploit his neighbour, he takes no pains to improve his mind or his field ; and 
 where tyranny and extortion reign, no one can hope for the fruit of his labour, 
 and no one works. Every passing year robs us of our foreign support. All the 
 European statesmen, on regarding the actions of your officials, exclaim : That 
 government is incapable of reform, it is doomed to destruction. "Well, sire, are 
 such prophecies lies? (Dr. Gundert, " Protestant Missions, " 4th Ed., p. 257), 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 25 
 
 the other, because there is no power to call a halt. This inca- 
 pacity for internal government escapes attention in some de- 
 gree because of the fact that the religion of Islam binds 
 together all Muhammadan races, so that they present a solid 
 front against all non-Muhammadans. This bond of a common 
 religion is so strong that it transcends the ties of blood and 
 race. A Muhammadan father does not hesitate to give testi- 
 mony against his own son, should that son embrace Christian- 
 ity. Those Greeks, Armenians and Bulgarians who have 
 become Muhammadans, are often, in the second and third 
 generation, the bitterest opponents of their countrymen who 
 have remained Christians, their new religious connection 
 severing even the ties of family. This peculiar contrast, on 
 the one hand internal, national enmity of the bitterest kind, 
 and, on the other hand, united opposition against all outsiders, 
 explains many curious anomalies in the history of Muhamma- 
 dan states. 
 
 (3) A third cause of the decay of Islam is the contradiction 
 between the teaching of Islam and established facts. Kead 
 Sura IX of the Koran, the only sura that is not introduced 
 with the words " In the Name of God, the Merciful and Com- 
 passionate," words that would sound blasphemous in this con- 
 nection. Four months are allowed to infidels for considera- 
 tion. If they are not converted to Islam within that time, 
 then "kill the idolaters wheresoever ye shall find them, and 
 take them prisoners, and besiege them, and lay wait for them 
 in every convenient place ; but if they repent and observe the 
 appointed times of prayer and pay the legal alms, dismiss 
 them freely " (Sura IX : 5. Sale).^ " Fight against those unto 
 whom the Scriptures have been delivered, and yet who believe 
 not in God, nor in the last day, and forbid not that which 
 God and His apostle have forbidden, and profess not the true 
 religion, until they pay tribute by right of subjection and they 
 
 ^ To be sure Muhammad uttered the famous saying, ** There must be no com- 
 pulsion in matters of religion." But the Arab commentators say, probably with 
 truth, that this declaration was abrogated by later utterances, such as those 
 given above. 
 
26 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 be reduced low." That Moslems should be subject to the 
 infidel Christians is thus an intolei?able thought, which raises 
 the fanaticism of Moslems to the boiling point. Yet three- 
 quarters of all Muhammadans are subjects of Christian nations, 
 and the rest are in more or less close dependence on Christian 
 Europe. What a contradiction ! There is the same anomaly 
 in Muhammadan theology and learning. There have certainly 
 been centuries in which these have made great progress. But 
 there was always a germ of death in them. That " winged 
 word," with which Khalif Omar, or his Egyptian general Amr, 
 is said to have excused the destruction of the invaluable library 
 of Alexandria, "Either there is in these books what the 
 Koran contains, and then they are superfluous ; or they con- 
 tain something different, and then they are false and noxious," 
 reveals the fundamental genius of Islam, which has fallen 
 like the frost of winter on the scientific spirit. The only 
 allowable task of science is the codifying and explaining of 
 the authoritative words of Allah in the Koran, as they defini- 
 tively regulate all that bears on the common life, the mosque, 
 the courts of law, the bazar, and even the Khalif's throne. 
 But this artificial system of law, which the learned deduce 
 from the Koran and the Sunna with hair-splitting exactitude, is 
 in sharp conflict with stern reality. The Muhammadan higher 
 schools exhaust themselves in an attempt to reconcile facts 
 with the teaching of their sacred writings. The whole modern 
 state would have to be remodeled, in order to be brought into 
 conformity with the will of Allah, as propounded by the 
 mollahs. The same contradictory elements are to be found in 
 the relations of business and civil life. This is increasingly true 
 in proportion as European influence gains ground in Muham- 
 madan lands. Tobacco and wine are an abomination to the 
 orthodox Muhammadan. The camel and the horse carry him 
 on his journeys. Of railways and steamers, of electricity and 
 the telephone his Koran knows nothing. Could he but retire 
 to some distant oasis in the desert, where he could hear noth- 
 ing of these abominations of the giaour, and where he could 
 fashion his life according to the precepts of the Koran 1 The 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 27 
 
 risings of the Wahabis in Arabia, and of the Senussi order in 
 North Africa, are typical attempts to defy the modern reality 
 and to restore the ideal of Islam. 
 
 (4) Connected with this is the fourth cause of decay, 
 the splitting up of Muhammadans into sects. Persia is the 
 classic land of Muhammadan sects, whose name is legion. 
 There are sects philosophical, sects religious, sects political. 
 But the formation of sects is by no means confined to Persia. 
 As a rule there are two doctrines of Islam that are a fertile 
 soil for the growth of sects : {a) the doctrine that Allah calls 
 an Imam (teacher) in each generation, who has divine authority 
 to expound the Koran to his contemporaries. It is not to be 
 wondered at that repeatedly some conceited man, haunted by 
 hallucinations, regards himself as such an Imam; {b) the 
 doctrine that at the end of days the Mahdi is to finish Mu- 
 hammad's still incomplete work, leading Islam to be mistress 
 of the world. What a number of Mahdis have arisen during 
 the last century ! And the sadder the condition of Muham- 
 madan countries becomes, the greater is the likelihood that 
 rage at the disappointing present, and a yearning for the Ideal 
 of Islam, will lead to Mahdi risings. 
 
 (5) In addition to all this, moral deterioration is eating at 
 the vitals of Muhammadan nations. The Koran allows 
 polygamy, one of the worst ethical errors of Muhammad. 
 Polygamy is everywhere the rule, except where poverty en- 
 forces monogamy. The result is that even a greater degree 
 of sensuality prevails in such nations than among Africans or 
 Hindus. This carnality has borne fatal fruit. If the woman 
 is but the plaything of the man and exists only to satisfy his 
 lust, why need she be educated ? On the contrary, the less she 
 knows, the better. In the eyes of the man, she is but flesh. 
 This general feeling has stood in the way of the education of 
 women. Unbridled fleshly desires, also, are fanciful and 
 changeable. The slightest thing may cause antipathy, or at 
 least indifference. Hence divorce and adultery are common. 
 Kev. John Young, the Scottish missionary in Aden, says that 
 he does not know any man over thirty who has not been mar- 
 
28 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 ried two or three times. Snouck Hurgronje has drawn fear- 
 ful pictures of the moral depravity in the holy city of Mecca, 
 where most marriages are temporary, and where many women 
 have been married to thirty or more men consecutively. Still 
 worse, in Asia Minor prostitution is fearfully common, and 
 Turkish society in particular is honeycombed with the un- 
 natural vice of pederasty. Where such moral depravity 
 reigns, a sound family life is impossible. The children grow 
 up in the poisonous atmosphere of intrigue, fleshly lust, bad 
 language and shameless licentiousness. They are polluted 
 from youth up. It is perhaps the greatest curse of the Ori- 
 ental Churches, that they have to exist in such an atmosphere 
 and are liable to become infected by the surrounding corrup- 
 tion. It is refreshing, when wandering through these moral 
 wastes, to come upon a people like the Kurds, a people morally 
 pure, and therefore robust ; and one feels almost inclined to 
 forgive them their ingrained robber instincts because of their 
 moral purity. It is terrible that one who knows Islam as 
 thoroughly as does William Gifford Palgrave, especially as it 
 is in Asia Minor and Arabia, must sum up his verdict in these 
 strong words : Onl}' " when the Koran and Mecca shall have 
 disappeared from Arabia, can we expect to see the Arab as- 
 sume that place in the ranks of civilization, from which Mu- 
 hammad and his book have, more than any other cause, long 
 held him back " (" The Mohammedan World of To-day," 
 p. 80).^ In spite of all this it would be a mistake to look for 
 
 ^ Never perhaps was the general decline of Islam more plainly set forth than 
 at a conference of prominent and learned Muhammadans which met at Mecca 
 from the 27th of March to the 10th of April, 1899, to enquire into the reasons of 
 this decline and to devise remedies. The chairman opened the proceedings vrith 
 an assertion that in any two adjacent conntries, districts, villages or homes, one 
 of which is Muhammadan, the other not, yon will find the Moslems less ener- 
 getic, worse organized in every respect, less skillful in the arts and trades than 
 the non-Moslems, though the former may excel the latter in such other virtues 
 as honesty, courage and liberality. In explanation of this sad state of things, 
 the conference adduced no fewer than fifty-six causes, embracing the whole range 
 of life, religious, political and social. It was resolved to found a society for the 
 revivifying of Islam, the society of *' the Mother of the Villages," and to establish 
 
The Muhammadan "World and the Eastern Churches 29 
 
 an early collapse of Islam, even though it should lose its last 
 remnant of political power. There remains real vitality in 
 the Muhammadan world. The more Islam decays outwardly, 
 the more does this inner vitality reveal itself. It finds ex- 
 pression, above all, in the orders of dervishes, one of the most 
 remarkable phenomena in the Moslem world. Since Islam 
 developed near one of the chief seats of the early Christian 
 colonies of monks in Egypt and the Sinaitic peninsula, and 
 since she won her first successes in countries in which the 
 monastic idea had taken root, it is not to be wondered at that, 
 in Islam also, similar tendencies asserted themselves. The 
 oldest dervish order is said to have been founded by the 
 Khalif Abu Bekr, Muhammad's uncle. Centuries passed, how- 
 ever, before this dervish idea became fully developed. It was 
 too foreign to the genius of Islam to find a home there quickly. 
 In 1165 Abdul Kadr el Jilani, of Bagdad, founded the most 
 celebrated of the earlier orders. Not till the political de- 
 cline of Islam in the nineteenth century was the number of 
 dervish orders, till then small, increased, by way of reaction 
 as it were, to eighty-eight. Millions of adherents flock to 
 them. They are perhaps the most valuable spiritual asset of 
 modern Islam. 
 
 Following the example of the Muhammadan theologian, 
 
 in Mecca a Koraishite Khalifate of a decidedly ecclesiastical character, to be main- 
 tained by an army drawn from all Muhammadan states. The learned Oxford 
 Orientalist, Professor Margoliouth, concludes his report of this significant con- 
 ference by raising the weighty question, ' ' Has Islam any golden age to look 
 back on, except in the sense that at one time Muhammadan sultans were a terror 
 to their neighbours, whereas now their neighbours are safe from their raids? " 
 In answer to which he asserts that ** there is no real abuse current in Muham- 
 madan states from which they have ever been free, except by accident, for a 
 limited time. . . . The days of the ' Pious Khalifs ' could they be repro- 
 duced, would mean no progress even in the most backward Islamic countries. 
 The strengthening of Islam, if it is not to be a calamity to the whole world, is 
 not to be effected by the reproduction of a barbarous past, but by an attempt to 
 utilize the vast force which Islam represents, as a factor in the real progress of 
 the civilizing and ennobling of the race. And whether this can be done, or the 
 whole of this huge capital must be * written off ' is the question which re- 
 formers have to solve " ('* East and West," 1907, p. 393). 
 
30 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Ghazali, one of whose works is astandard in Muhammadan theol- 
 ogy, this theology is divided into three parts, Law, Dogmatics 
 and Mysticism. This mysticism acquired an independent and 
 recognized position. Apart from a knowledge of the law, the 
 thoroughly educated Moslem theologian requires special train- 
 ing to enable him to come into communion with Allah. To 
 effect this is the task of mysticism. It is an anciently accepted 
 principle that a personal instructor, a murshid, is necessary. 
 Such instructors are supplied by the mystical orders, the 
 tariqas. The founder of an order is believed to be in direct 
 communication with Allah, this spiritual bond passing over to 
 the sheikh of the order for the time being, the sheikh being 
 connected with the founder by his silsilah, or " spiritual in- 
 heritance." The sheikh, either immediately and personally, or 
 through vicars and Khalifs commissioned by him, has the care 
 of all souls who place themselves under his spiritual guidance 
 and enter his tariqa, or order. Orthodoxy demands that the 
 study of mysticism be engaged in only after a man has been 
 well grounded in law and doctrine. In practice, however, the 
 dervish orders try to attract to themselves the ignorant masses, 
 who have had no previous training. 
 
 The organization ^ of the orders is generally identical. 
 At the head stands the grand master, called the sheihh, who 
 claims obedience from every member. The dervishes live 
 in zawiyahs or monasteries, under a mukaddirn.^ or abbot. 
 The full members of the order, living in the community, are 
 ikhwan or hhuan^ i.e., brethren. Side by side with them 
 are the lay members, who follow worldly callings, but in times 
 of danger gather round the order by which they are protected. 
 The novitiate is a long and fatiguing process. At first the 
 novice has to perform ascetic exercises with the object of mor- 
 tifying his personal will and of making him a pliable tool in 
 the hands of his superiors. His advance in the order is but 
 slow, from one grade to another according to his fitness. All 
 the orders aim at deepening the religious life by means of an 
 
 ^Cf. Miss. Rev., 1900, pp. 372 ff., 1902, pp. 732 ff. "Missions wissensohaftliohe 
 Studien," pp. 129 ff. Sell, " Essays on Islam," pp. 99 fE. 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 31 
 
 ecstatic sinking of the soul in Allah. Seven steps in this proc- 
 ess seem to be common to all the brotherhoods. The first 
 and second comprise the dihr and the common rules of Islam. 
 The dikr (tikr, trika) is the special formula constituting the 
 peculiar feature of the order. It is added to every prayer and 
 is frequently repeated at every religious service. The third 
 step is the ecstatic passion ; the fourth, the ecstasy of the 
 heart ; the^fifth, the ecstasy of the immortal soul ; the sixth, 
 the mystical ecstasy ; the seventh, the ecstasy of absorption 
 in Allah. These steps are reached by fasts, vigils and special 
 exercises. On the lowest step the dervish is only a " learner " ; 
 on the second, a " seeker after God " ; on the third, d^fakivj 
 i. 6., a man who has dissolved himself into the Nothing. On 
 the fourth step, he is a sufiy i. <?., an object of divine love. 
 At this stage he begins to have visions and revelations, which 
 he regards as coming directly from Allah. Then he becomes 
 a saleh^ " a man who makes for the goal, i. e.^ God." On the 
 next step he is " drawn to God," and constantly shouts in 
 ecstasy. After this he becomes either a " holy fool " or a 
 ** holy teacher," and is filled with the spirit of Muhammad. 
 There is yet a higher step, when the man shall become equal 
 to God, and the soul lose its individuality, being absorbed in 
 God. Yery seldom, however, does any one reach a higher 
 level than that of a " holy fool." Men of this grade are com- 
 mon in Arabian towns. Though they do not beg, they live by 
 alms, and are frequently seen running naked through the 
 streets. 
 
 To give an example of the exercises of these dervishes, we 
 will describe those of the Jcadirija order. The members of 
 this brotherhood have, at every prayer exercise, to repeat 
 (1) " There is no God but Allah " 165 times ; (2) " God be 
 merciful to me," 100 times ; (3) the dikr of the order, " Oh, 
 Allah, bless our lord and master Abdul tadir 10,000 times 
 more than there are atoms in the air," 100 times. Then the 
 worshipper sits cross-legged on the ground, his right hand 
 resting with upturned palm on his right knee, while his left 
 hand lies on his left leg. In this position he continues to utter 
 
32 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the name of Allah slowly and softly, until all evil thoughts 
 vanish — it may be 1,000 or 2,000 times — giving special empha- 
 sis to the last syllable in "AWahu,^^ Then he turns his head 
 1,000 to 2,000 times regularly from left to right, repeating in 
 the same V7ay " Allaha " until good thoughts come. Finally 
 he bows his head low the same number of times, always re- 
 peating " Allah^V until he has no thoughts at all, or, as the 
 dervish expresses it, " until all thought is absorbed in God.'* 
 With other orders the process is not so quiet ; they employ 
 stronger methods to induce the ecstasy. For instance, the 
 aisawiyd join hands in a circle, and, under the lead of their 
 sheikh sway their bodies from right to left, uttering hundreds 
 of times the name of Allah. The oftener they do this, the 
 greater becomes their excitement. Sometimes they cry 
 "Allah" 5,000 or 10,000 times. Finally they jump up and shout 
 the name as loud as they can. Nor do they cease until they 
 collapse in a fainting condition, whereupon they are shoved 
 aside, others taking their places. Some place prickly fruits 
 on their naked backs and roll about upon them. Others inhale 
 the poisonous fumes of charcoal until they become demented. 
 Others again place splinters of wood in their eyes, cheeks, 
 tongue, or sides, while some stand and jump on the edge of a 
 sharp sword, or fix the point of a sword on their bodies and 
 let it be tapped with a boot or stick. As soon as they are in 
 this way brought to the verge of madness, the sheikh gives 
 them a live sheep, which they rapidly devour, skin and hair 
 included, fighting like mad dogs for the most repulsive parts 
 — and all this in the name of God ! Most nearly related to 
 the aisawiya are the two best known European dervish 
 orders, the rufaiya^ or " howling dervishes," and the maulor 
 wiya, or " dancing dervishes." ^ 
 
 ^Snouok Hurgronje, a recognized authority on modern Islam, says of the ha. 
 dirija: "Expressions of the religious life resembling madness are observed only 
 in brethren of the lower grades of the order, or, in a more refined form, in the 
 most secret assemblies of the initiated. Yet . . . these brethren like to 
 linger on the border of two worlds, in the half-light with half -closed eyes. Their 
 highest ideal is to have during their earthly life intoxicated feelings, which can- 
 not be described in human speech." Nor do we miss here " the indispensable 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 33 
 
 It is difficult for us to realize that orders which effect this 
 kind of piety should represent the strength of Islam. And 
 yet to their activity Islam owes its most important progress, 
 its greatest conquests in the nineteenth century. The scope 
 of the Jcadirija is chiefly in Western Sudan, the desire of 
 its adherents being to spread the Muhammadan faith among 
 the heathen nations of Africa. They are to be found as far 
 south as Sierra Leone and the upper Niger. The fact that a 
 tribe, as soon as it becomes Muhammadan, is spared by the 
 slave dealers, has added large populations to Islam. 
 
 The tiyaniyah order is powerful chiefly in Tunis, exercising 
 its influence as far as Sierra Leone and Timbuctoo. This order 
 must be chiefly credited with the mighty advance of Islam in 
 North and East Africa. 
 
 At present the most important and powerful order is the 
 sanussiyah. Founded in 1843 by the Algerian sheikh Sanussi, 
 and since his death in 1859, led with equal skill by his son, this 
 order possessed in 1886 one hundred and twenty-one monaster- 
 ies and houses of the order and had, counting the lay brethren, 
 about eight million adherents. In Tripoli its power is so great 
 that Turkish authority is little more than nominal. The order 
 found a special promoter and adherent in the person of the 
 Sultan of Wadai, through whose influence the population of 
 the adjacent district of Ennedi embraced Islam. The mon- 
 asteries of the sanussiyah are found as far as Morocco, and 
 their influence in the interior of Africa, on the upper and 
 middle Niger, is on the increase. " The great aim of Sheikh 
 Sanussi in his work of reformation is the reestablishment of 
 the original Islam, as he imagines it, the reintroduction of the 
 moral and religious laws and precepts of the Prophet, the re- 
 newing of the purity of the Islamitic faith, free from the 
 besmirching influence of European civilization and Christian- 
 ity. All the modern innovations in Turkey and Egypt were 
 hateful to him, and he therefore adopted an Arabic motto for 
 
 movements of the body and head, full of hypnotic snggestion, whereby the sa- 
 cred formulae pass from one shoulder through the heart to the other side and 
 wander through various parts of the body " (Mekka II, p. 378). 
 
34 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 his order, " The Turks and Christians belong to the same 
 category : we will destroy them both at the same time." 
 
 Much has been said about Muhammadan missionaries and 
 Muhammadan missionary societies ; but in the sense in which 
 we understand it, there are no such organizations in Islam, or 
 at least they have been very short-lived. 
 
 !N"or are the orders, though they perform the greatest part 
 of the work, really the pioneers of Islam among infidels. It is, 
 rather, characteristic of the Muhammadans, that, as a rule, 
 every merchant or traveller is a propagator of his faith. As 
 far as the Hausa merchants advance in West Africa, so far does 
 Islam extend. It is a well-known fact that in the first three 
 centuries of Christianity, the time of its most rapid expansion, 
 the name of hardly one officially appointed missionary is re- 
 corded after the death of the Apostles. And yet Christianity 
 penetrated country after country victoriously, and congrega- 
 tions sprang up like mushrooms. Every Christian was a mis- 
 sionary of his faith, and, wherever he went, he preached it and 
 gained converts. Alas ! how different it is now with the 
 Christians scattered over the whole world. But it still holds 
 good of Islam ; and this championship of his faith by the simple 
 Moslem, his boldness and punctuality in performing his relig- 
 ious duties even in the most alien surroundings, prove to be a 
 most effectual means of propagating his religion. The der- 
 vishes follow in the track of these simple forerunners. 
 
 It has sometimes been expected that the progress of Islam 
 would be crippled in proportion to the waning of the Crescent, 
 and as the claim of Islam to be a political power becomes il- 
 lusory. Facts teach that in its contact with the lower forms 
 of religion among the negroes, the Malays and the pariahs of 
 India, the missionary power of Islam would seem to increase in 
 proportion as Islam loses the support of political influence and 
 the sword. In its propaganda Islam possesses a great advan- 
 tage over Christianity ; it forms a gigantic, concentrated body, 
 which by the natural law of attraction assimilates all that 
 comes within a certain range. Christianity is represented 
 only by individuals, or at most by numerically insignificant 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 35 
 
 communities scattered throughout nearly the whole of the 
 missionary world of Asia, Africa and Oceanica. Where it is 
 in a position to appear with the full weight of its ecclesiastical 
 and political organizations, as in South Africa, North America 
 and the Australian continent, the process of Christianization 
 is rapid. Such favourable conditions are the rule for Islam, 
 but for Christianity the exception. It must be added that, 
 while both religions enjoy the advantage of offering the ben- 
 efit, so attractive to savages, of leading them from barbarism 
 to a certain appearance of civilization, Islam with its polyg- 
 amy, slavery, spirit worship and tolerance of sorcery, makes 
 far lower moral demands than Christianity, which in many 
 cases is also hindered by racial animosities between black and 
 white. Thus it becomes apparent how Islam develops con- 
 siderable missionary power among the uncivilized peoples of 
 Africa and India. 
 
 Still another factor in the world of Islam must be taken 
 into account, the idea of Panislamism. As Muhammad had 
 the empire of the world conferred upon him by Allah, so, ac- 
 cording to the Muhammadan view, his Khalif is the rightful 
 ruler of all the Faithful, — the only one called to rule the 
 world. Since the assassination of the fourth lawful Khalif, 
 Ali, the honour of the Khalifate has passed from one dynasty 
 to another. But since this dignity was surrendered by the 
 Abbaside Khalif of Egypt in 1517 to the Osmanli Sultan, 
 Selim I, it has been claimed by the Sultan of Constantinople. 
 For many Sultans it may have been a mere title, used to en- 
 sure their position with their subjects. The Sultan Abdul 
 Hamid (from 1876) recognized the possible importance 
 of the claim involved in this title in view of the excitable char- 
 acter of the Moslems. By a secret, yet organized agitation 
 in every Muhammadan country, he endeavoured to commend 
 himself to all orthodox Moslems as the only lawful Khalif. 
 It is true that the Persian Shiites, the Arabian Wahabites 
 and the Moslems of Morocco refuse to acknowledge this 
 claim ; true also, that barely a twelfth part of the Muham- 
 madans — about nineteen millions out of two hundred and 
 
36 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 twenty-five millions — are really under the dominion of this 
 Sultan ; true again that the proud Arabs, following an ancient 
 tradition, claim that only one of Koraishite blood may be- 
 come Khalif, and that therefore only the Sherif of Mecca has 
 a right to the title. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that 
 this agitation about the Khalifate has had a real effect upon 
 the minds of Muhammadans. Were the Sultan, like his pred- 
 ecessors in former centuries, still the " ever- victorious," Mos- 
 lems in all the world would willingly submit themselves to 
 the "Commander of the Faithful." Owing to the present 
 feebleness of the " Sick Man on the Bosphorus," this ideal is 
 far from fulfillment, yet this agitation constitutes a constant, 
 latent danger to European governments in Muhammadan col- 
 onies. It is curious that the agitation is strongest in Muham- 
 madan Egypt, governed by Christian England. It must be 
 added that it is merely agitation and not an organized, combined 
 effort. It is with Islam as it is with the Protestant Churches. 
 Its radically democratic character renders combined actions 
 beyond the limits of each state very difficult. Yet, in spite of 
 this lack of combination, the ferment of Muhammadan fanati- 
 cism engendered by such movements is felt throughout the 
 Muhammadan world. In the Crimean war Muhammadans 
 held the grotesque view that the French and English rushed 
 as^his vassals to the help of the "Kuler of the World" against 
 the insolent rebel, Kussia. 
 
 The result was that a high tide of Muhammadan rebellion 
 broke upon Muhammadan countries under infidel rule, with 
 the object of shaking off the offensive yoke of the unbe- 
 lievers. Thus, in 1857, occurred the mutiny in India; in 
 1859, the rebellion in Borneo ; in 1858-1861, Muhammadan 
 risings in Kan-su, Shen-si and Tun-nan. This beating of a 
 single pulse throughout the entire Muhammadan body con- 
 stitutes the danger of Panislamism. 
 
 3. The Oriental Churches 
 From the beginning the chief immediate aim of Protestant 
 Missions in the Near East has been to infuse new spiritual 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 37 
 
 vigour into, and to kindle new intellectual light in, the Oriental 
 Churches, It is therefore necessary to give some general in- 
 formation about the political and religious state of those 
 Churches. To become acquainted with them is of high in- 
 terest to the student of church history. It is as if he were 
 turning over the torn yellow pages of a picture-book. Ancient 
 religious controversies, sympathies and antipathies come to life 
 again, that have lain hidden under the debris of twelve or 
 thirteen centuries. 
 
 The East Eoman Church was the backbone of the early 
 church development. From the time of Constantine it was 
 the established Church of the Eastern Empire. It exists in 
 the present day as the Greeh Orthodox Church, 
 
 In the grand ecclesiastical traditions of Origen, Athanasius, 
 Basil, the Gregorys, and of John Chrysostom, this Church 
 possesses a magnificent heritage from the Past. Since, in ad- 
 dition, she has been upheld by the Greeks, a people as men- 
 tally vigorous and intellectually gifted as they are self-con- 
 scious and proud of their glorious history, it is not to be 
 wondered at that the Greek Church occupies by far the most 
 prominent position in the ecclesiastical life of the Christian 
 East. To this Greek Orthodox Church belong (1) the great 
 Russian Church in which the Czar holds well-nigh the same 
 position of supremacy which the Byzantine Emperor formerly 
 held ; (2) the group of churches among the Slavonic peoples 
 of the Balkan Peninsula, embracing Bulgarians, Servians, 
 Eoumanians, Ruthenians and others, and (3) a group of Greek 
 Churches in Greece, Macedonia, Asia Minor and in those 
 former centres of Graeco-Macedonian civilization, Syria, Pales- 
 tine and Egypt ; in all about ninety millions. These groups 
 of Churches are organized into no single ecclesiastical body. 
 The vigorous Sultan Mahmud II, indeed, recognizing the fact 
 that as a Muhammadan he could not do justice to his Christian 
 subjects, transferred the ecclesiastical and civil oversight 
 (rumi melleti) over all Christians to the Patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, after the taking of this city in 1453. Yet, as 
 those parts of Turkey in which Christianity prevailed broke 
 
38 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 away from the Turkish yoke and were organized into inde- 
 pendent states, they asserted at the same time their ecclesi- 
 astical independence of the Patriarch of Constantinople, and 
 strove to build up national Churches among themselves. Thus 
 autonomous Churches were founded in Greece, Montenegro, 
 Servia, Koumania, Hungary, etc. Even within the dominions 
 of Turkey, the Patriarch of Constantinople had not sufficient 
 power nor prestige to maintain papal authority over the 
 churches of his creed. The Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch 
 and Jerusalem looked back upon an equally glorious ecclesi- 
 astical past, and enjoyed so great a prestige on account of the 
 holy places lying in their territory, that they became autono- 
 mous and independent of Constantinople in nearly every re- 
 spect, although their independence is not legally defined. 
 Even the small Orthodox Greek Church of Cyprus and the 
 ** archbishopric " of the fifty monks of the Sinai Monastery 
 became autonomous. Several factors contribute to the further 
 loosening of this feeble ecclesiastical connection. In the 
 "orthodox" churches of Mediterranean lands, Greek has for 
 ages been the language of the church services and of ecclesi- 
 astical learning. The patriarchs, therefore, claimed the right 
 to put Greeks into all the important livings under their con- 
 trol, even though the congregations might not understand 
 Greek. This gave rise to a fateful quarrel with the Bul- 
 garians, a people proud of their nationality and very ambi- 
 tious. They considered it an insult, that Greeks should be 
 the superior clergy and should conduct the services in Greek. 
 The obstinacy of the Constantinople Patriarchate on the one 
 hand, which refused to accede to the just demands of the 
 Bulgarians, and, on the other hand, the backing up of the 
 latter by the Russian government, led, in 1870, to the issuing 
 by the Sultan of a firman declaring the Bulgarian Church 
 practically independent of the Patriarch, and conferring upon 
 it an autonomous " Exarchate." Although the Patriarch re- 
 plied by excommunicating the Bulgarian Church, thereby 
 forcing it into a kind of schism, the latter has maintained its 
 autonomy, and is striving hard to annex the whole Bulgarian 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 39 
 
 nation to its ecclesiastical, as well as to its political, organiza- 
 tion. The Bulgarians number two and a half millions in 
 Bulgaria itself, and one and a half millions in European 
 Turkey, most of the latter being found in Macedonia. 
 
 Similar difficulties confront the Patriarchates of Antioch 
 and Jerusalem. It is true that in these districts Greek was 
 originally the language of the church services, of culture and 
 of trade, and that the Fathers of this region were without 
 exception Greeks. Yet, after the Arabian conquest in the 
 middle of the seventh century, language and civilization under- 
 went a complete change. The native population, including the 
 Christians, adopted the Arabic language, so that even Greek 
 families, which immigrated in former centuries, speak Arabic, 
 though perhaps in the family circle Greek is spoken and 
 understood. This being so, the congregations feel it to be an 
 insult that only Greek-speaking ecclesiastics are placed over 
 them as bishops and higher clergy. And they have a 
 powerful supporter of their claims in Kussia, who is striving 
 to establish her political supremacy throughout the Near East 
 on the basis of an ecclesiastical unity in Syria and Palestine. 
 
 Of the loose group of Orthodox Greek Churches within the 
 Turkish Empire the Patriarchate of Constantinople is the most 
 important. To it belong the churches in Asia Minor and in 
 that portion of European Turkey in which the population is 
 Greek by birth and language with only a slight intermingling 
 of Slavs. The congregations connected with this Patriarchate 
 number, approximately, two and a half million souls. Here, 
 apart from a not inconsiderable portion of the interior high- 
 lands of Asia Minor, where it has been superseded by the 
 Turkish or Armenian tongues, the Greek language is used 
 by the people and in the churches. Compared with this large 
 Patriarchate, those of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem 
 appear poor enough. Alexandria lost the greater part of her 
 congregations as far back as the sixth century, when nearly 
 the entire Egyptian Church seceded to Monophysitism. Dur- 
 ing fourteen centuries of Muhammadan oppression, their 
 number has further declined, so that at the present day there 
 
40 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 are only 10,000 native members, in addition to 40,000 immi- 
 grants, especially from Greece and the islands of the ^gean 
 Sea. The Patriarchate of Antioch has about 250,000 Syrians, 
 most of whom speak Arabic. In the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, 
 there are at most 50,000 to 51,000 (the greater part of whom also 
 speak Arabic), the largest congregations being in Jerusalem, 
 Jaffa and Nazareth (5,000 each), Bethlehem (3,800), Beit 
 Jala (4,000), Beit Sahur (1,150), Lydda, Gaza and Eamleh 
 (about 1,000 each). 
 
 The creed of the Orthodox Greek Church is based on the 
 seven Ecumenical Councils ; it teaches baptismal regeneration, 
 the conferring of the Holy Spirit by the anointing with holy 
 oil, transubstantiation, etc. Prominent in the religious life of 
 the people are the veneration (not the worship, — TtpoGkuvqaK^ 
 not Xaxpeia) of tho Saints, relics and icons, and, above all. 
 the paying of all but divine reverence to the Virgin Mary. 
 The doctrine of Purgatory is rejected, but prayers and masses 
 for the dead in their intermediate state are generally observed. 
 Critics from the most diverse points of view all come to the 
 conclusion that true religion is seriously declining. National 
 feeling is the strength and stay of the Church. To secede 
 from the Church of the Fathers is simply unpatriotic and dis- 
 loyal. Protestants, particularly, are regarded as dangerous 
 innovators, a secret society after the pattern of Freemasonry, 
 greatly to be distrusted from a moral point of view. The 
 superior clergy and the monks are celibate, while the lower 
 clergy both in town and in country are permitted to marry. 
 
 In the fifth century the churches of the Parthian Empire 
 separated themselves from the Byzantine State Church and be- 
 came the East Syrian Church. Founded by Syrians and 
 intimately connected by language and civilization with the 
 intellectually active Church of West Syria, to which belonged 
 Ephrem Syrus, Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of 
 Mopsuestia, this church adopted Nestorius' doctrine of the 
 Two Natures, thus separating itself from the homogeneous 
 and united Catholic Church. This schism must be attributed 
 to political rather than to dogmatic motives. Throughout 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 41 
 
 the rule of the Parthian Arsazides and Sassanides, the Parthian 
 Empire was in constant conflict with the Byzantine. In the 
 midst of this ruinous strife an ecclesiastical barrier against 
 the Byzantine Church was in some sense a political safeguard. 
 Thus the Nestorian Church was incited to develop its 
 peculiarities of practice and doctrine and to engage in extensive 
 missionary work. In spite of great resistance and fierce per- 
 secution on the part of the rulers of the Sassanian dynasty, 
 who did their utmost to make the fire-worship of Zoroaster a 
 national religion, Christianity spread throughout Persia and 
 far beyond into India and the heart of China. Even under 
 Muhammadan rule these Nestorians of the East for centuries 
 carried on a vast missionary work, of which, however, but 
 scanty information has come down to us. Those times are 
 gone. Of this Church that formerly extended over half Asia, 
 there are to-day but about 100,000 members. They live in a 
 district whose borders may be defined by Mosul in the south- 
 west, the Lake of Yan in the northwest, and the Lake of Urmia 
 in the east.^ 
 
 They are exposed to the merciless attacks of the Kurds, be- 
 tween whom and themselves there has been for centuries un- 
 ending feud. Probably they will in the end be exterminated 
 by their wild neighbours. The ecclesiastical and political 
 head of this small but brave Church is a patriarch who always 
 has the hereditary name of Shimon, and who resides in 
 
 ^ In the absence of reliable statistics, it is difficult to give definite figures. In 
 1831 Smith and D wight calculated 14,054 families, numbering 70,000 souls 
 C'Eesearches in Armenia," Vol. II, pp. 218 ff.). Oussani, in Johns Hopkins' 
 Semitic Papers (1902), probably overestimating their number, gives for the pres- 
 ent day 150,000 members, 250 churches, thirteen archbishops and bishops and 
 about 300 priests. It is certain that not more than from twenty- three to twenty- 
 five thousand Syrians live in Persia, while statistics of the numbers in Turkey 
 vary considerably. Since the Armenian massacres in 1895 and 1896, which also 
 severely afflicted the Nestorians in Turkey, the Nestorian population in Turkey 
 has been, at least for the time being, considerably displaced. It was calculated 
 that by the end of 1896, twelve thousand had fled over the boundary to the 
 Urmia plain. We may safely say that there are at present in Turkey 56,000 
 free Mountain Syrians and about 64,000 ''uniate " Syrians (Chaldeans) in com- 
 munion with Borne. 
 
42 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Kotclihannes in the district of Julamerk on the middle Zab. 
 The separation of the Nestorians in Turkish territory from 
 those in Persia has hindered the ecclesiastical development. 
 These Eastern Syrians of the Nestorian Church are correctly 
 named Syrians, for they have retained through all the centuries 
 of their isolation the Syrian language, not only as the dead 
 language of an obsolete liturgy, but as the living language of 
 daily common life. This language is the sole remaining 
 branch of the once important group of Syrian languages pos- 
 sessing a considerable ecclesiastical literature. It was inter- 
 esting information that the American missionaries brought to 
 the learned world of the Occident in 1835, when they dis- 
 covered this modern Syrian language. Missionaries and 
 scholars have ever since vied with one another in studying the 
 language scientifically, in preparing grammars and dictionaries 
 and, above all, in creating a popular literature in the newly- 
 discovered tongue. 
 
 More disastrous to the Catholic Church than this secession of 
 the Nestorian Church of the East Syrians, was the rent caused 
 by the Monophysitic controversy. About the middle of the 
 sixth century, just as the Byzantine emperors thought they had 
 overcome this difficulty, a powerful advocate of Monophysitism 
 arose in the person of that indefatigable monk and bishop, 
 Jacob el Baradai, who elevated Monophysitism to an actually 
 dominant position among the creeds of the eastern portion of 
 the Byzantine Empire. " Fleet of foot as Asahel, temperate, 
 and shunning no hardship, for well-nigh forty years he hurried, 
 clad as a beggar, through all Asia Minor and Egypt as far as 
 Byzantium and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, collect- 
 ing and encouraging his followers, organizing congregations, 
 consecrating bishops, and ordaining priests and deacons. 
 . . . Doing this work in the daytime, and travelling on 
 some thirty, forty or more miles in the night, he was fortunate 
 enough to escape all persecution ; and, while at the time when 
 he began his work Monophysitism was in a moribund condition, 
 Jacob — as Bishop John of Ephesus tells us — consecrated two 
 patriarchs, twenty-seven (eighty-seven according to another 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 43 
 
 reading) bishops, and ordained probably 100,000 priests and 
 deacons." National Churches such as the Armenian and 
 Egyptian, adopted the Monophysitic creed, which also became 
 dominant in Syria and Mesopotamia. In West Syria the 
 Jacobites are to-day the sole remnant of the Monophysitic 
 Syrian Church. They number no more than about 80,000 
 members. Their ecclesiastical head, the Patriarch of Antioch, 
 resides in the monastery of Es Safaran near Mardin. Besides 
 Mardin, Diarbekr and Mosul, there are considerable congrega- 
 tions in the village of Sadad, on the road from Damascus to 
 Palmyra, and in other villages of this neighbourhood. 
 
 Even more serious than the loss of the Church of Western 
 Syria through this Monophysitic schism was the fact that, in 
 consequence of these conflicts, separatistic tendencies gained 
 a hold in the incoherent provinces of the East Roman Empire. 
 Byzantium with its Greek ecclesiastical culture was unpopular 
 with nations having a language and ancient civilization of 
 their own. Difference of opinion in ecclesiastical matters 
 lent impetus to centrifugal tendencies. It was under the 
 aegis of Monophysitic activities that Egypt, Syria, and 
 Armenia broke away from the Catholic Church. By this 
 separation they preserved the distinctive character of their 
 national culture, their native language, and, in part, their 
 original ecclesiastical customs. But they had to pay for this 
 with their separation from the great stream of church life, 
 and with the consequent ecclesiastical and dogmatic impover- 
 ishment. 
 
 Of these separate national Churches, formed under the in- 
 fluence of Monophysitism, the most important in size and in- 
 fluence is the Armenian. This is the most ancient national 
 Christian Church, for the people of Armenia embraced Chris- 
 tianity in the third and fourth centuries. This was brought 
 to pass largely through the wonderful activity of Gregory 
 the Illuminator, whence the Church is called the Gre- 
 gorian Church. Always confined within the limits of the 
 Armenian nation, it has shared for centuries the sad fortunes 
 of this unhappy people, which was first dragged hither and 
 
44 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 thither between the rival kingdoms of Persia and Byzantium, 
 and later fell an easy prey to advancing Islam. Their chief 
 misfortunes, however, the Armenians have ever owed to the 
 savage hordes of the Kurds, who dwell in the neighbouring 
 wilds to the south and east, and who have persistently 
 opposed every civilizing influence. By their recent superficial 
 acceptance of Islam these Kurds became the welcome tool of 
 Turkish ofl&cials wherewith to harass the Armenians. 
 
 These Armenians originally inhabited the northeast of 
 Asia Minor and the fertile plains lying between Ararat and 
 the Caucasus. Since the province of Erivan was ceded by 
 Turkey to Eussia at the Peace of Adrianople in 1829, about 
 one-half of the Armenians — say a million — have been under 
 the rule of the Czar. In Russian Armenia lies Echmiadzin 
 where the Armenian Catholicos resides. The other half, 
 1,144,000 (according to another authority even as many as 
 1,475,011) dwell in Turkey, where their hereditary homes 
 lie in the northeastern vilayets of Erzerum, Van, Bitlis, 
 Diarbekr and Mamuret el Aziz. In the vilayets of Erivan 
 and Yan they form a majority of the population. There 
 they are for the most part diligent and quiet agriculturists. 
 But the Armenians have always displayed a considerable 
 power of expansion, the unhappy conditions of their home 
 provinces, as well as their native intelligence and business 
 capacity, inducing them to emigrate. They are to be found 
 in large numbers in all the cities of "Western Asia Minor, 
 while in Constantinople there are 97,000 (according to other 
 estimates 200,000 or even 215,000) of them. :N'early half of 
 the Armenians in Turkey live outside of Armenia, and about 
 100,000 reside in Northwestern Persia. 
 
 Like the Greek Church, the Armenian has also developed a 
 group of patriarchates, which, though ecclesiastically inde- 
 pendent of each other, nevertheless stand in close connection. 
 Their president and leader is the Catholicos of Echmiadzin. 
 This diocese includes all Armenians in Russia, together 
 with those scattered in Southern Asia, in Europe outside of 
 Turkey, and in America. Next to him, and almost his equal 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 45 
 
 in rank and power, is the Armenian Patriarch of Constanti- 
 nople, who has no less than forty-four archbishops and 
 bishops under him, and who is the ecclesiastical head of nearly 
 the entire Armenian population of Asia Minor and Turkey in 
 Europe. The other three Patriarchs, those, namely, of 
 Jerusalem, of Sis in Cilicia, and of Aghtamar, an island in 
 the Lake of Yan, occupy an inferior position. 
 
 It is to be regretted that there has also been a divergence 
 in language among the Armenians. Only a few, even among 
 the clergy, understand the difficult classical Armenian. In 
 modern Armenian there are two dialects, which differ con- 
 siderably, the eastern, or Ararat dialect, and the western. 
 Many have altogether given up the use of their native tongue. 
 In many parts of the eastern highlands Kurdish has become 
 the prevalent language. Still greater is the number of those 
 who have adopted Turkish, which, however, with the incon- 
 sistency peculiar to many Orientals, who retain their written 
 characters longer than their language itself, they write in 
 Armenian script. This Armeno-Turkish has developed into 
 a separate mixed dialect. 
 
 In Egyjpt the conservative aborigines had a deep-rooted dis- 
 like of the Greek influence spreading from Alexandria, and of 
 the rule of Byzantium ; and this opened a gulf between the 
 orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and the l^ational Church 
 of Middle and Upper Egypt, which seceded to Monophysitism. 
 The same jealousy blinded the eyes of the ecclesiastical and 
 political leaders of Egypt to such an extent that they wel- 
 comed the Arabs, who flooded their country under the leader- 
 ship of Amr, as their deliverers from the Byzantine yoke. 
 But during the centuries of ever-increasing Muhammadan 
 tyranny, they found that they were being chastised no longer 
 with whips, but with scorpions. By far the greater part of 
 the Egyptian people— 8,971,Y61 out of a total of 9,734,405— 
 has become Muhammadan ; but all the more obstinately does 
 the faithful remnant cleave to the venerable, ancient Church. 
 These latter are called Kopts, and, as they have in this name 
 retained the ancient name of their country — E-gypt, — so also 
 
46 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 their appearance, particularly that of the children, shows at 
 once that they are the pure descendants of the aboriginal 
 Egyptians, whose kings and queens look down from their 
 granite statues with similar faces upon the poverty-stricken 
 fellaheen living in their mud huts. 
 
 In Lower Egypt they are to be found in considerable num- 
 bers only in Cairo (26,440), and Alexandria (6,059) ; in Middle 
 Egypt, thousands of them live in all six provinces ; but they 
 are most numerous in Upper Egypt — in Minyah, 92,223 ; in 
 Assiut, 161,686 ; in Girgeh, 109, Y7Y ; and in Kenneh, 52,802. 
 In these four districts are crowded together 426,488 out of 
 the 592, 3 Y4 Kopts of the ancient creed. In the Assiut district 
 they form more than one-fifth of the population. Ecclesiastic- 
 ally dependent on the Koptic Church from the earliest times, 
 is the Abyssinian Church, numerically the largest Oriental 
 Church extant, having a membership of about three and one- 
 half million souls ; but it is at the same time religiously and 
 morally the most degraded, barbarous and heathenish. The 
 spiritual head, the Abuna (our father), or Abba Salama 
 (father of peace), is appointed by the Koptic Patriarch. 
 Apart from this, it is a state Church, the forms of which bear 
 witness to the fact that it was organized under the despotic 
 rule of violent kings. 
 
 A statistical table of the Oriental Churches in Turkey and 
 iN'ortheast Africa shows that 
 
 The Greek Orthodox Church numbers . . 2,400,000 
 
 The Armenian 1,250,000 
 
 The Nesfcorian 100,000 
 
 The Jacobite 80,000 
 
 The Koptio 592,374 
 
 The Abyssinian 3,500,000 
 
 7,922,374 or, in round num- 
 bers, 8 millions. 
 
 i. The Roman Propaganda 
 ITo clear conception of these ancient Churches of the 
 Orient can be gained, unless those churches and parts of 
 churches which the Roman propaganda has absorbed in the 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 47 
 
 course of centuries, are taken into due consideration. For, 
 curiously enough, those parts of the ancient Churches which 
 have been " united " with Eome, have not as a rule been 
 assimilated with the Koman Church in rites and church polity. 
 On the contrary, they have retained, in greater or less degree, 
 their ecclesiastical peculiarities, their liturgies, and sometimes 
 their ecclesiastical language. They occupy, therefore, a sepa- 
 rate position within the Roman Church as " Churches of the 
 Oriental Kites." ^ 
 
 First and foremost among these is the Maronite Church. The 
 Maronite nation occupies the southern slopes of the Lebanon, 
 from Tripoli in the north to Tyre and the sea of Galilee in 
 the south — an area of about 3,000 square miles. It is uncer- 
 tain whether they were originally a political nation or a Chris- 
 tian sect. They number about 320,000 souls in a pretty com- 
 pact mass, especially in the districts of Kesrwan and Bsherreh 
 near Tripoli, where they form the main part of the population.^ 
 Their name is derived from a monastery of St. Maron (our 
 lord) or Mari (my lord) in the Lebanon. Their ecclesiastical 
 history is somewhat wrapped in darkness, but it appears cer- 
 tain that they joined the Monotheletic party in the eighth 
 century. During the time of the Crusades (in 1182) they went 
 over to the Roman Church, but whether only their leaders at 
 first, and the mass of the people in later centuries, is not to 
 be ascertained. This is the only case of the seceding of an 
 entire Oriental Church to Rome. Strangely enough we have 
 only the following authentic, and yet much contested, report 
 
 * Literature of the subject: J. S. Assemani, Bibliotheka orientalis, Rome, 1819- 
 1828 ; Le Quien, Oriena Christianus (critically inexact and often hasty) ; 
 Silbernagel, Verfaaaung und gegenwdrtiger Beatand aasmtlicher Kirchen dea Orienta, 
 Landshut, 1865 ; W. Koehler, Die kathol. Kirchen dea Morgenlandea, Beitrmge 
 zum Verfaaaungarecht der aogen. uniert-oriental. Kirehen, Darmstadt, 1898 ; espe- 
 cially also the articles in Wetzer und Welte's Kathol. Kirchenlexicon. 
 
 ^The figures of Roman missionary statistics are- not very safe. The most 
 competent sources difEer considerably. We have to content ourselves with 
 placing them side by side and striking an average. Werner gives the number of 
 Maronites as 278,000 {Orbia terrarum cath.), while Miaa. Catholicae, 1907, reckons 
 314,600; Streit, kath. Miaaiona Atlaa, 341,000 ; the Maronite Archbishop Debs, 
 300,000. 
 
48 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 of William of Tyre, the historian of the Crusades, concerning 
 this important event in Church History (Bongart, Gest, Dei 
 jper Francos, I, xxii, cap. 8. Eealenc. 3d Ed., xii, p. 358) : " In 
 that year (1182), a Syrian nation {natio qucBdam Syrorum) liv- 
 ing in the neighbourhood of the city of Byblus in Phoenicia at 
 the Lebanon suffered a great change in its condition (jplurimam 
 jpassa est mutationem). For after they had followed for nearly 
 five hundred years the false teaching of a certain heresiarch, 
 named Maron, from whom they derived the name Maronites, 
 and had separated themselves from the Church of Believ- 
 ers, retaining their special forms of worship, they now, led by 
 divine inspiration, came to the Latin Patriarch, Aimerich of 
 Antioch, renouncing their error and accepting the orthodox 
 faith and, with their Patriarch and certain bishops, joined the 
 Roman Church again. There were more than 40,000 of them, 
 all brave men, practiced in war, who did good service in the 
 war with the Saracens." Ever since that time Rome has 
 endeavoured to effect the spiritual assimilation of this proud, 
 warlike mountain race. The Synods held in the monastery 
 of Kannobin in 1596, and in the nunnery of Luweiz in Kesr- 
 wan in 1736, were important and successful steps in this policy 
 of unification which was pursued for centuries. At present 
 the Maronites, apart from the use of the Syrian ecclesiastical 
 language and the enjoyment of some ancient national privi- 
 leges, are thoroughly Romanized. 
 
 As in the case of the Maronite Church, Rome has ever, 
 especially since the time of the Crusades, made it a point to 
 increase her influence over all the Oriental Churches, and 
 eventually to win over to herself larger or smaller portions 
 of them. The story of this wooing is an interesting and 
 checkered, though not very edifying, chapter in church history. 
 Rome often thought she had succeeded in bringing this or 
 that Church into union with herself, only to be disappointed 
 at the very moment of apparent success. It is beyond our 
 province to follow this story in detail. We content ourselves 
 with giving a review of her propaganda as it exists at the 
 present time, only here and there adding historical data by 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 49 
 
 way of needful explanation. The task is not easy. In spite 
 of the fact that there are a good many statistics of her ad- 
 herents in the modern Koman missionary literature, it is 
 difficult to arrive at definite results for the reason that in most 
 of these statistical tables no careful distinction is made between 
 adherents who have immigrated from Europe and adherents 
 who have actually been won over from the Oriental 
 Churches. 
 
 In this way the number of converts sometimes seems to be 
 greater than it actually is. Just to mention one case. Die 
 KathoUschen Missionen {1907) estimates the membership of the 
 three " uniate " Roman Koptic bishoprics at 20,250 souls, in 
 addition to the 100,184 in the^two other Roman dioceses of the 
 same country. But according to the latest official census (1900), 
 there were only 4,630 Kopts " united " with Rome, besides 
 46,504 Austrian, French, Italian and Spanish Roman Catholics, 
 making a grand total of 56,343. However you may manipulate 
 the figures, you can arrive at no satisfactory solution of the 
 problem. 
 
 The Orthodox Greek Church, which is by far the most in- 
 fluential in European Turkey and Asia Minor, embraces people 
 of various nationalities and tongues, who have met the prop- 
 aganda of the Roman Church in different ways. In Austria- 
 Hungary and Roumania Rome has won great victories ; the 
 Church of the Graeco-Roumanian rite numbers 1,090,000 
 souls ; that of the Graeco-Ruthenian rite, 3,524,000. If we 
 further take into our calculation the countries, or provinces, 
 of Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania, in which Rome has had 
 for ages a membership of 330,000, 13,000 and 131,000 respect- 
 ively — in all 474,400 — it is evident that she is in a strong 
 position in the north of the Balkan Peninsula. On the other 
 hand she has almost entirely failed in her efforts to proselytize 
 among the Orthodox Greek Churches in the southern part of 
 the Peninsula and in the Greek parts of Asia Minor, though 
 she may have had temporary successes. The Servians, the 
 Bulgarians and the Greeks have generally assumed an attitude 
 of resistance. In Servia, apart from 8,200 Catholic immigrants, 
 
50 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Eome has but 2,200 " uniate " Servians. Among the Bulga- 
 rians, a nation which from the earliest times Eome has most 
 persistently pursued, it seemed as if she were to reap a great 
 harvest in the critical years 1860-1870, when the Bulgarian 
 Church tore itself away from the ecumenical patriarch of 
 Constantinople. But when, in 1870, an independent Bulgarian 
 exarchate was instituted with Russian help, the masses re- 
 turned to the national Church. Eome retained in the dioceses" 
 of Sofia, Eustchuk and Philippopolis but 33,780 members, the 
 majority of whom were Latin immigrants. The ^National 
 Greek Church, proud of her great ecclesiastical and political 
 past, has ever offered an obstinate resistance to attempts at 
 proselytizing. Here, too, Eome has gained but little ground. 
 The Latin dioceses of Constantinople and Smyrna number 
 respectively, it is true, 46,000 and 15,500 Eoman Catholics, 
 but we are not informed how many of these are " uniate " 
 Greeks. According to Die Katholischen Missioneuy the 
 "pure Greek rite" has only 180 "uniate" Greeks in the 
 "Mission of Malgara," apart from 49,000 Greeks who had 
 emigrated to Italy and had there become Eomanized. Eoman 
 missionaries in the little town of Peramos on the Sea of 
 Marmora have made several thousand converts of people who 
 had quarrelled with their ecclesiastical authorities about the 
 ownership of monastic property. 
 
 The Syrian Church has not been so steadfast. Eome had 
 here the double advantage that the Arabic language, at 
 present the national language, was formerly despised by the 
 Greek-speaking hierarchy, and that the "uniate" Maronite 
 Church was close by. She succeeded in winning over 138,200 
 Arab Greeks, and organized them into a Church with the 
 " Graeco-Melchitic rite." The name "Melchites" (from the 
 Hebrew melek — king) was applied in olden times to the ad- 
 herents of the imperial State Church in contradistinction to 
 the independent Monophysitic Churches in the provinces. 
 
 The battle has swayed hither and thither in the rest of the 
 Oriental Churches. Morethan once Eome believed she had com- 
 pletely captured the Armenian Church y but again and again 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 51 
 
 this people, proud of their ancient nationality and ecclesiastical 
 traditions, broke away. Nevertheless there are about 125,000 
 Armenians in " union " with Rome, or ten per cent, of that 
 part of the nation that lives in Turkey — a by no means des- 
 picable result. Eome's intrigues proved more ruinous to 
 the small Nestorian Church, The split on the election of a 
 patriarch in 1551, when one of the candidates, Johannes 
 Sullaka, threw himself into the arms of Rome, hoping thus to 
 secure himself in his chair, gave Rome a firm footing, a posi- 
 tion she has retained in spite of occasional reverses. In 1684 
 the Pope ventured for the first time to appoint a special 
 Syrian-Chaldean Patriarch, and since 1778 the subjection of 
 that portion of the Nestorian Church existing in the Meso- 
 potamian plain of Mosul and in the adjacent hill-tracts has 
 been completed. They are called " Chaldean Christians," a 
 name first given by the Latin missionaries. The Porte in 
 1843 officially recognized the Chaldean Church as a separate 
 religious community in Turkey. There are some 64,000 
 members,* as compared with 100,000 Nestorians who have 
 adhered to their ancient Church. Among the latter, the Roman 
 Church has recently reported great progress and accessions 
 on a large scale. Neither has the Jacobite Church been able 
 to withstand this " uniting " policy of Rome. After several 
 attempts, a Roman-Syrian patriarchate was founded in 1783^ 
 with its seat in Mardin ; and although the Patriarch retired 
 thence before the attacks of the faithful remnant of the 
 Jacobites into the Lebanon, yet the Catholic Syrian Church 
 was recognized by the Porte in 1830 as a separate religious 
 body, and since 1854 a Catholic patriarch has resided in Mar- 
 din. The 20,000 Jacobites " united " with Rome form a fifth 
 of the West Syrian Church of to-day. 
 
 It is only possible to guess the exact number of Roman 
 Catholic Christians in the Holy Land ; and how many of these 
 are Latin immigrants, and how many native converts, it is im- 
 
 * Among these are many of the beat edncated of the people. Some separated 
 from Rome in 1870 in consequence of the Vatican Council; but Arohbishop 
 Hassan succeeded in chaining them to Borne again. 
 
52 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 possible to say. Kev. Ludwig Schneller, D. D., in a laborious 
 enquiry (Bote aus Zion, 1905, pp. 49 ff.) estimates them at 
 13,500 ; Streit, 15,000 ; Die Katholischen Missio7ien gives 
 17,000. The latter asserts that, while there were only 4,000 
 in 1847, there are now 17,000, a meagre result considering the 
 efforts which the Roman Church has concentrated on the Holy 
 Land during the last five decades, and the number of Latin 
 immigrants there. 
 
 Egypt Rome has pursued with most persistent ardour. Yet, 
 after many apparent successes, the Kopts, who are obstinately 
 attached to their traditions, have again and again slipped be- 
 tween the fingers of Rome. Leo XIII greatly desired to effect 
 a " union," and he admonished the Catholic Church to make 
 special efforts to do so. Towards the close of the seventies, he 
 sent French Jesuits to assist the Franciscans, who had for ages 
 laboured there. In 1886 he entrusted the Apostolic Prefecture 
 of the !N'ile Delta to the Mission college at Lyons. During the 
 last quarter of the century there arrived a host of new agencies 
 — the Christian School Brothers, the Brethren of the Holy Ga- 
 briel, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the Sisters of Mercy and 
 a great number of others from France, Germany and even 
 Canada. 
 
 In 1895 a Catholic patriarchate for Egypt was founded by 
 the Constitution motu jprojprio. The results were scanty ; the 
 census of 1900 showed that there were only 4,630 Kopts in 
 " union " with Rome. Latterly the Roman missionary maga- 
 zines have recorded that, by a popular movement, 15,000 Kopts 
 have seceded to Rome ; this movement seems at present to have 
 come to an end.^ 
 
 In Abyssinia the Catholic Church thought it had gained 
 one of its greatest victories, when, in 1603, after a fearful 
 massacre of the opposing party, the Negus, Susneus, vrhom 
 the Jesuits had helped to enter a league with Portugal, de- 
 clared the Roman Church to be the State Church, and the 
 Jesuit Alfonso Mendez held an entry into the capital as its 
 
 * According to Father Krose there are 77,820 Roman Catholics in Egypt, of whom 
 45,000 are of European blood. Of the rest 20,250 are said to be of the Koptio rite. 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 53 
 
 patriarch, consecrated bj the Pope. But in 1634, the Koman 
 archbishop was obliged to leave with all the Jesuits, and the 
 ancient Church was restored. When, in 1830, the ports of the 
 country were partially thrown open again, Catholic mission- 
 aries of various orders appeared on the scene, and their often 
 interrupted attempts run parallel with the vain efforts of Prot- 
 estant missionary societies. Latterly, in 1904 and 1906, the last 
 Catholic missionaries — the Capuchins in the South and the 
 French Lazarists in the North — were expelled. In Abyssinia 
 itself, the Catholic Church numbers only 3,000 or 4,000 " uniate " 
 Abyssinians, though in Italian Erythrea just outside the Ab- 
 yssinian boundary there is a more favourable state of things 
 for Catholic Missions, there being here about 15,000 members. 
 The adherents of the Churches "united" with Kome may be 
 thus tabulated : 
 
 Albania 131,400 
 
 The Dioceses of Philippopolis and CoDBtantinoplo 50,900 
 
 Smyrna 15,000 
 
 Syrian Melchites 138,200 
 
 Maronites 320,000 
 
 Chaldean Chnroh (Nesfeorians) 56,000 
 
 Armenians 125,000 
 
 Uniate Jacobites 20,000 
 
 Palestine 15,000 
 
 Egypt 56,343 
 
 Abyssinia and Erythrea 18,000 
 
 Total 946,843 » 
 
 ^ Since this book was written there have appeared new, accurate and pains- 
 taking statistics of the Roman Catholic Missions by H. A. Krose, S. J. {Katho- 
 lische Missiotiistatistik, 1908). According to this author there are at present 
 Roman Catholics : 
 
 Armenians (Uniate) 72,292 
 
 Syrian Melchites 138,733 
 
 Maronites 284,600 
 
 Uniate Nestorians (Chaldeans) 63,950 
 
 Uniate Jacobites 20,200 
 
 Members of the Oriental Rites 579,775 
 
 Roman Catholics of the Latin Rite 50,022 
 
 629,797 
 
 Albania, Philippopolis, Constantinople, Egypt, Abyssinia, and Erythrea 
 (altogether 256,643 in our statistics) are not included in this table. In spite of 
 this reduction Krose has but about 60, 000 less than our table. 
 
54 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 If we add this total to the eight million adherents of the 
 ancient Oriental Churches, we find that nearly nine million 
 Christians have remained faithful to Christianity under the 
 Turkish yoke. When we consider the thirteen centuries of 
 ruthless repression which these Christians have suffered, and 
 when we remember that almost all those parts of Turkey, the 
 population of which was preponderatingly Christian, have, in 
 the course of the nineteenth century, been freed from the 
 Turkish yoke, so that their Christian population is excluded 
 from these statistics, it is surely an honourable testimony to 
 the fidelity of these Churches, that so many have remained 
 steadfast. 
 
 But not only from this point of view is this short description 
 of the Eoman propaganda of interest here. Of greater impor- 
 tance is it, that we thus make the acquaintance of the most pow- 
 erful and dangerous competitor of the Protestant endeavours, 
 which are to engage our attention in these pages. For Eome 
 is a rival without consideration for the rights and feelings of 
 the other party, and sees in Protestantism an intruder and 
 deadly enemy, which must be opposed at any cost, whether 
 by intrigue and calumny or even by violence. For the Koman 
 propaganda judges rightly that wherever a population is per- 
 meated by the Protestant spirit, the prospect of " union " 
 with Rome is hopeless. And this " union," i, 6., ecclesiastical 
 absorption of " schismatic " Churches, is the consistent aim of 
 the Roman Church. 
 
 This Romish competition is a threat to the Protestant mis- 
 sions for two reasons, {a) First, on account of the astounding 
 growth of Roman missionary activity during the last half of 
 the nineteenth century. We take Palestine as a striking ex- 
 ample of this. 
 
 The " custody " of the Holy Land had been entrusted to the 
 Franciscan order ever since the time of the Crusades. The 
 Franciscans represented and guarded Roman interests in the 
 holy places, and looked after the few scattered thousands of 
 Roman Christians. In 1847 Pius IX founded a Latin pa- 
 triarchate in Jerusalem, and since that time Roman Orders of 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches ^^ 
 
 the most varied types have flocked into the country. Some 
 of these carry on direct missionary work, e. g.y the Philistian 
 Mission, 1879, the German Lazarists and the Benedictine monks 
 and nuns. Others care for the holy places, maintain hospices 
 for pilgrims or open schools for the native Catholic popula- 
 tion ; e. g., the Carmelites in Haifa, the Sisters of Zion, the 
 White Fathers, the Dominicans, the Assumptionists, the 
 Lazarists, the Salesians of Dom Bosco, the Brothers of Chris- 
 tian Schools, the Sisters of Nazareth, the Sisters of St. Joseph, 
 the Rosecrucian Sisters, the Benedictine Nuns and the Amer- 
 ican Sisters. There are also special hospices for German, 
 French and Austrian Catholics. Other orders and brother- 
 hoods do deeds of mercy in hospitals and dispensaries ; e, g., 
 the Sisters of St. Yincent and the Brothers of Mercy. Some 
 again lead the contemplative life, as the Trappists in Latrun, 
 the priests of the Heart of Jesus in Betharram near Bethle- 
 hem, the Passionists in Bethany, the French Lazarists in Jeru- 
 salem and the Carmelite Nuns. There are fully thirty Orders, 
 Brotherhoods, and Associations that have thus streamed into 
 the Holy Land since the middle of the last century. Kev. L. 
 Schneller, D. D. {Bote aus Zion, 1905, p. 60), counts from 350 
 to 400 members of male orders and priests in twenty-four 
 monasteries, from 250 to 300 members of female orders in 
 twenty convents, eighteen hospices, six higher* schools, forty- 
 six day schools, sixteen orphanages with seven hundred orphans, 
 four industrial schools, five hospitals {Die Katholischen 
 Missionen 35, pp. 172, 195 ; Bote aus Zion, 1905, p. 49). Com 
 pared with this array, the number of Protestant mission 
 workers is pitifully small. Though nowhere else so strong 
 as in Palestine, yet nearly everywhere the Eoman mission 
 workers are multiplying in the Oriental mission fields. 
 Protestants can nowhere compete with them numerically. 
 
 (p) The competition of the Roman Church is severe, in the 
 second place, because for the last quarter of a century the 
 Roman propaganda has been devoting all its energy to the 
 hitherto neglected cause of primary and higher education. It 
 has realized the fact that the strength of Protestant missions 
 
56 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 lies in their schools, and is determined to outdistance the 
 Protestants in this respect also. Large sums are expended in 
 enlarging and developing the " Catholic Missionary Univer- 
 sity," the St. Joseph's University in Beirut. Chair after chair 
 is being founded, even in such subjects as epigraphy, the com- 
 parative study of Semitic languages, and the Ethiopian lan- 
 guage and literature. The university possesses a very com- 
 plete and valuable library. In addition large colleges are 
 being constantly founded to compete with the colleges of Prot- 
 estant missions. Thus the Capuchin college in Mesereh (in the 
 province of Mamuret el Aziz) is the rival of the Euphrates 
 College of the American Board in Kharput, the Jesuit college 
 in Tokat competes with the Anatolia college of the American 
 Board in Marsovan, and the Jesuit college of the Holy 
 Trinity in Cairo, with the United Presbyterian college in 
 Assiut. As the Koman missionaries charge very small fees, or 
 none at all, in their well-fitted colleges, hundreds of students 
 are Hocking to them. Protestant schools and colleges will 
 feel the strain of this competition still more keenly when the 
 Roman institutions, now in part in a state of development, 
 shall have been fully equipped. It is to be observed how dil- 
 igently the Roman Church copies the Protestant methods in 
 order to gain a position of superiority in the East. 
 
 5. The Russian Church 
 
 "We have considered the Oriental Churches with their pe- 
 culiarities and the untiring Roman propagandism. A third 
 factor must be taken into account, if we are to appreciate all 
 the complicated and militant forces that hinder the Protestant 
 missions, namely the undermining work of the Russian 
 Church, secret, yet almost everywhere active, and in a meas- 
 ure successful. It is well known that one of the most im- 
 portant of Russia's fixed political purposes is to gain free 
 access, by way of the Golden Horn, to the great highroad of 
 world commerce running through the Mediterranean. This is 
 the centre of Russian policy in the Balkan Peninsula as in 
 Asiatic Turkey. In the Balkan Peninsula Russia has had a 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 57 
 
 congenial task in attaching to herself the large and vigorous 
 Slavic nations there by means of the ideal of Panslavism, and 
 by encouraging their desire for political and ecclesiastical 
 independence. In Asiatic Turkey she has won a foothold 
 through the ancient Churches. Closely related to the Rus- 
 sian Church in creed and ritual, and ardently desiring that 
 the Turkish yoke be removed, or at least be made more endur- 
 able, it is no wonder that the Greek Orthodox Churches in 
 Asia Minor set their hopes on the two-headed eagle of Eussia. 
 In Syria and Palestine Russia has attempted to widen the 
 breach between the Greek-speaking hierarchy and the Arabic- 
 speaking congregations by encouraging the latter to demand 
 the use of Arabic in churches and schools in place of the 
 Greek language which has been forced upon them, thus 
 awakening their consciousness of being not Greeks but Syrian 
 Arabs. Divide et impera ! To this end Russia maintains in 
 Syria and Palestine 101 schools with 10,430 pupils and 363 
 teachers, of whom twenty-three are Russians. Russia has also 
 a hand in the nomination of the Patriarchs of Antioch and 
 Jerusalem, and usually succeeds in getting her candidates 
 elected. In Egypt Russia even succeeded in securing the elec. 
 tion of a native of Russia, Nicanor, as Patriarch of Alexandria 
 (1866-1870). The IJNTegus of Abyssinia himself begins to regard 
 the Russian Church as most closely related to the Abyssinian, 
 in spite of the Monophysitism of the latter, and is meditating 
 union with her. There is, however, no immediate prospect 
 of the fulfillment of this plan in spite of the endless missions 
 and expeditions which are sent backwards and forwards. In 
 Armenia the influence which Russia exercises on the nation 
 by means of its Church has been greatly increased by the fact 
 that half of Armenia, including Echmiadzin, the venerable 
 seat of the Armenian Catholicos, has already passed into Rus- 
 sia's hands. For the Armenian Church it would be a disas- 
 trous triumph of state and church policy, if Russia should 
 succeed in incorporating the rest of the Armenian provinces, 
 namely the vilayets of Erzerum, Van, Bitlis and Diarbekr, in 
 her territory, and should then assimilate the entire Armenian 
 
58 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Church. "We shall have later to deal with the Eussian annex- 
 ation of the Nestorian Church in Northwestern Persia. In 
 this account of the ceaseless activity of the Roman Church 
 aiming at ecclesiastical union, and of the Russian State stri- 
 ving for political aggrandizement, we have sketched the dark 
 background of Protestant mission work in the Near East. 
 
 6. The Position of Christians under TurJcish Pule ^ 
 
 The position of Christians under Turkish rule has varied at 
 different times and in different places. Especially in the times 
 immediately following the Turkish conquest, when the Muham- 
 madan power did not feel sufficiently established, or in dis- 
 tricts in which there was a large Christian majority evidently 
 in a position to claim a certain amount of protection from the 
 government, the lot of the Christians was tolerable. For in- 
 stance, in the Monophysitic Church in Egypt and in the Nes- 
 torian Church in Persia conditions were so satisfactory, that 
 they enjoyed a period of prosperity. In all Muhammadan 
 lands the Christians enjoyed a greater or less degree of re- 
 ligious liberty and political representation, since their rulers 
 were well aware that it was impossible for them to direct the 
 affairs of the Christian communities. Compared with the 
 autocratic ecclesiastical despotism under which the Orthodox 
 Greek Church had groaned, when subject to the Christian 
 emperors of Byzantium, this measure of autonomy in such mat- 
 ters as marriage laws, and laws of inheritance, was a distinct 
 gain. To be sure only the Greek and Armenian Churches en- 
 joyed these privileges to the full, because the Osmanli Sultan, 
 Muhammad II, after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, 
 appointed the Orthodox Greek Patriarch as *' Official Admin- 
 istrator of all orthodox subjects in the Turkish Empire," and 
 the Armenian Patriarch (in 1461) as " Head of all the Chris- 
 tians in the Orient," ^. e., of all non-" orthodox " Christians. 
 The rest of the Christian Churches had to be content to be 
 
 *Thi3 paragraph was written before the 24th of July, 1908, when the constitu- 
 tion was granted by the Sultan. Cf. Chap. Ill, 7. 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 59 
 
 represented by these two dignitaries until, beginning in 1831, 
 the Porte granted them one after another the right to manage 
 their own affairs. Then, too, through the centuries the men- 
 tal elasticity of the Christian population, combined with the 
 political backwardness of the Muhammadans who had come 
 to power by brute force, tended to raise Christian families into 
 positions of influence at court. Thus there were Christian 
 physicians and scholars at the court of the Abbassides in Bag- 
 dad, and great merchants and bankers, " Fanariots," in Con- 
 stantinople. And the influential position of such men benefited 
 the Christian Churches in many ways. 
 
 On the whole, however, the Christians were oppressed, the 
 yoke becoming more and more galling from century to century. 
 Muhammad had adopted no fixed attitude towards the Chris- 
 tians. As long as he hoped to gain them over to his own religion, 
 he showed them favour. Disappointed in this, he warned his 
 followers to have no communion with them. In Sura IX : 28 
 he says : " Oh, ye Christians, only those are unclean, who asso- 
 ciate other Gods (Christ, Mary !) with Allah " ; again in Sura 
 III : 27 : "Let not the Faithful enter into friendship with the In- 
 fidels in preference to the Faithful " ; again in Sura III : 108 ' 
 " The wrath of Allah shall smite them (the Christians), poverty 
 shall be their lot, because they have not believed the signs of 
 God (wrought by the Prophet)." These expressions of dislike 
 and hostility have determined the attitude of his successors. 
 
 Two years after the Prophet's death, i. e., in 634, Omar 
 compelled Christians to sign the following agreement : " We 
 promise not to build any new monasteries or churches, nor to 
 repair ruinous ones in our cities and suburbs. Moslems may 
 at any time enter our churches. We will entertain Moslem 
 travellers for three successive days. We will not grant asylum 
 either in our churches or houses to enemies of the state. We 
 . will neither teach our children the Koran, nor exaggerate our 
 Law (the Bible). We will prevent no one from becoming a 
 Muhammadan. We will not assume the Muhammadan mode 
 of cutting the hair, nor wear our hair in their fashion ; nor 
 use their greeting, ' salem alaikum ' ; nor adopt their names. 
 
6o History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 When riding, we will use no saddle, nor will we carry arms. 
 We will not engrave our seals with Arabic characters, nor will 
 we sell spirituous liquors. We will shave our foreheads and 
 wear a belt about the body. When we pass through streets or 
 market-places where Muhammadans are walking, we will ex- 
 hibit neither the cross nor the Bible. We will ring our bells 
 softly, not speak in the presence of Muhammadans, nor sing 
 at our funerals, nor lay our dead near any Muhammadan 
 quarter. We will not buy any slave belonging to a Muham- 
 madan. These are the conditions which we sign, and on the 
 strength of them we and our people may enjoy the protection 
 of the Khalif." 
 
 This is the spirit of the later regulations of the Khalifs and 
 verdicts of the XJlamas. The Zimmy (Christian subjects) are 
 not allowed to ride horses, mules, or valuable asses ; may not 
 frequent public streets, nor linger in groups to talk with one 
 another ; nor have any servants following them in the bazars ; 
 nor speak loudly. Their houses may not be high (at any rate 
 not higher than those of the Muhammadans), nor airy, nor 
 decorated ; their clothes must be of plain dark material ; and 
 their turbans may not be white. They are thus to be openly 
 humiliated. If they attempt in any way to excel Muhamma- 
 dans, or to gain power over them, they shall be punished with 
 death. No Muhammadan may sell land to a Zimmy ; but the 
 latter is under an obligation to sell his field to any Muham- 
 madan who may wish to have it. The Faithful are not al- 
 lowed to greet a Zimmy. A Zimmy may never take a seat of 
 honour in any assembly. Under no circumstances is his witness 
 against a Moslem in a court of justice to be decisive. And the 
 Zimmy have to pay a poll tax. Khalif Omar fixed this at forty- 
 eight dirham for the rich, twenty -four for the middle classes, 
 and twelve for the poor; but subsequent rulers altered the 
 tax at pleasure, always a profitable method of extortion. Per- 
 haps the most dreadful tax was the blood tax. Turkish Sultans 
 in 1329 and 1360 formed Janissary regiments entirely of young 
 Christian captives who had been forced to become Muhamma- 
 dans. These renegades, who were favoured and pampered in 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 61 
 
 many ways, were destined to be the scourge of their parents 
 if the latter refused to be converted to Islam. Sultan Murad 
 specially ordained that this troop was to be recruited solely 
 from Christian captives and from the young men of recently 
 subjected Christian territories. It was terrible when the 
 Turkish recruiting officers passed through the villages, enlisting 
 the flower of Christian youth and placing them in these Jan- 
 issary regiments for the express purpose of systematically 
 training them to be deadly enemies of Christianity. Demor- 
 alization was also bound to be the effect of regulations such as 
 the infamous jadid ul Islam in Persia, stating the privileges 
 of the newly converted : A Moslem, whether he be a Moslem 
 by birth or by conversion, is forbidden on pain of death to 
 embrace Christianity. But if a Christian woman embraces 
 Islam, which sometimes happened in consequence of temporary 
 family quarrels, and which could be effected by the use of a 
 very simple formula, this law gives her the possessions of her 
 father, mother and relations to the seventh degree.^ Nor were 
 these measures of oppression and humiliation sufficient to 
 satisfy the Moslems or to crush the hated Christians. The 
 last resort wasj barbarous cruelty. Well-nigh every century 
 can tell of persecutions in this or that Muhammadan country, 
 once a Christian land. The most fearful of them are crowded 
 into the nineteenth century. In letters of blood are inscribed 
 on the pages of the history of the Oriental Churches the massa- 
 cres of 1822 in the island of Chios ; 1845, in Kurdistan ; 1860, 
 in the Lebanon ; 1875, in Herzegovina ; 1876, in Bulgaria ; 
 1894-1896, in Armenia. Any Christian population, when it 
 threatens to cause annoyance or to become dangerous by rea- 
 son of its increasing influence, is to be kept low by the simple 
 expedient of copious blood-letting. 
 
 In the course of the nineteenth century, under the twofold 
 influence of the growing prosperity of the Christian Churches 
 and of the irresistible advance of the Christian Occident with 
 
 * Fortunately, humane officials and judges are said, aa a rule, not to enforce 
 this law. But what a fearful weapon it must be, when in the hands of fanatical 
 Moslems ! 
 
62 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 its civilization, some of these oppressive regulations v^ere mit- 
 igated. The poll tax has been supplanted by a tax for ex- 
 emption from service in the army. The regulations touching 
 dress have fallen into oblivion, though the native Christians 
 are still distinguishable by their peculiar clothing. Here and 
 there new churches have been erected and even provided with 
 bells, although in every such case interminable negotiations 
 and strong pressure on the Turkish authorities were necessary. 
 The fundamental feeling of Muhammadans towards Christians 
 remains the same. Thus (1) conversion to Christianity is a crime 
 jpunishahle with death. If the authorities themselves, fearing 
 the intervention of European Powers, do not put the renegade 
 to death, every orthodox Moslem considers it an honourable 
 duty to remove him by assassination, and in so doing will have 
 the approval of popular opinion. Even the magistrates and 
 judges devise means whereby, in spite of treaties, renegades 
 are secretly put out of the way. (2) The witness of a Chris- 
 tian against a Moslem is of no weight. " One of the Faithful 
 may not be put to death on account of an unbeliever." Prac- 
 tically, Christians have no legal standing in an Islamitic court 
 in lawsuits with Muhammadans. (3) Generally speaking^ 
 Christians are tolerated in Muhammadan countries only on 
 condition of their submitting to humiliating agreements. If 
 they free themselves from these fetters either by their own 
 exertions or even by the help of the European Powers, they 
 are held to have broken the agreement, and are themselves to 
 blame if their Muhammadan masters treat them as outlaws. 
 Attempts at reform are therefore regarded by the Muham- 
 madans as revolutionary, and to repress them with brutal 
 force is considered to be a meritorious act. 
 
 The long oppression of the Christian population has had a 
 depressing effect, paralyzing mental activity and economic 
 development. No people can be enslaved for centuries with- 
 out deteriorating intellectually and morally. Shut out from 
 political life, and not allowed to enter the army except in the 
 shameful form of renegade Janissaries, Christians had only 
 the Church and trade as fields of activity. But whenever 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 63 
 
 they succeeded in business, they aroused the envy and cupidity 
 of their Muhammadan neighbours and were mercilessly robbed, 
 either with or without the appearance of justice. The only 
 wonder is that commercial enterprise did not die out among 
 the Greeks and Armenians, even as it did among the Kopts 
 and Nestorians, under the influence of the constant fear of be- 
 ing shamefully robbed of their hard-won gains. It is not 
 strange that honest trade dwindled under such oppression and 
 degenerated into an endeavour to outwit and cheat one's 
 neighbours, and to secrete the accumulated profits. 
 
 Church life was at a low ebb even at the time of the Mu- 
 hammadan invasion. The Monophysitic Churches of Armenia, 
 Syria and Egypt were separated as by high barriers from 
 the Greek Church, while the Nestorian Church in Persia 
 was separated from all the rest. Doctrinal controversies 
 had exhausted the best strength of the Greek Church, 
 and the fact that, in a great measure, the influence of the im- 
 perial court decided their issue, had a very embittering effect 
 upon these disputes. J^ot that there did not appear an oc- 
 casional exhibition of spiritual vigour in one or another of 
 these distracted Churches. But in the course of centuries the 
 fearful pressure of humiliating subjection settled as a fatal 
 blight on their life. True the Churches, with praiseworthy 
 persistence, held fast to their ancient languages. But when 
 Arabic gained a footing in the south and Turkish in the north, 
 these languages either died out or gradually underwent such 
 a development that the original forms were more or less unin- 
 telligible among the common people. To the former class 
 belong the Koptic language in Egypt ; West Syrian among the 
 Maronites and Jacobites, and Greek among the Orthodox 
 Greeks in Syria ; to the latter the Geez language in Abys- 
 sinia ; East Syrian among the Nestorians ; Old- Armenian 
 among the Armenians ; and, to a great extent, classic Greek 
 among the modern Greeks. And even this praiseworthy per- 
 sistency hampered church life, for the congregations did not 
 understand the service any more, and even the priests under- 
 stood it less and less. Public worship degenerated into the 
 
64 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 reciting of interminable and unintelligible prayers, with hardly 
 any ^intelligent participation on the part of either clergy or 
 people. Even among the higher clergy, in the ranks of the 
 bishops and patriarchs, the love of study disappeared. In 
 1821 there were among the 180 highest clergy of the Orthodox 
 Greek Church barely ten with any sort of a theological educa- 
 tion. Nor was there at that time a single theological college 
 in that Church. Only in 1844 was one founded in the island 
 of Chalki near Constantinople, and in 1853 a second in the 
 Monastery of the Cross near Jerusalem. To the present 
 day there is none in the Patriarchates of Alexandria and Anti- 
 och. Even these few colleges are, as a rule, accessible only to 
 the [celibate higher clergy or to those who hope to become 
 such. The lower grades of clergy in town and country are 
 married, though for the most part they may not marry after 
 they have entered the priesthood. This partial abolition of 
 the requirement of celibacy has had a beneficial effect upon 
 the morality of the congregations. In another respect the 
 priests are not so fortunate. There are scarcely any benefices, 
 nor is there any fixed salary. The incomes of the lower clergy 
 are therefore very poor. The result is twofold, {a) Only 
 men of the lower strata of the people can be induced to enter 
 the ministry, and there is no provision at all made for their 
 methodical training. Congregations generally choose a work- 
 man, tradesman, or peasant of decent reputation, who can 
 read passably. Him they present to the bishop for ordination. 
 He becomes a reader or deacon and is told to learn by heart 
 as quickly as possible the liturgies, which are composed in a 
 language more or less strange to him, and to perfect himself 
 in conducting the important religious ceremonies. It is a de- 
 cided step forward that a course of study lasting at least a 
 few months has now been arranged in some churches, or that 
 the younger aspirants are sent to older priests to be taught. 
 They receive no further preparation prior to ordination. 
 These inferior priests are therefore mostly ignorant men, 
 utterly incapable of giving religious instruction to the people. 
 The great majority are unable to preach at all ; they can read 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 65 
 
 only with difficulty, and are content to know by heart their 
 church catechism in the vulgar tongue. 
 
 (h) The second evil result of the absence of a regular salary 
 is that these priests are forced to get money by methods of 
 their own devising, and the easiest and most effective method 
 is that of extorting fees from their congregations. Apart from 
 the sacraments all kinds of ceremonies, as well as superstitious 
 customs, are suitable opportunities for doing this. 
 
 ]^o wonder, then, that, owing to the poverty of the people 
 and the condition of the inferior clergy, the church buildings 
 are in a dilapidated condition, and that the church furniture 
 and the priestly vestments are poor and dirty. The monastic 
 system has fallen into discredit and decay throughout all the 
 Churches, except in Egypt and the allied Church of Abyssinia, 
 and in such monastic colonies as that on Mount Athos. Monks 
 are considered to be lazy and immoral do-nothings. The fact 
 that the higher clergy are compelled to be celibate raises them 
 a little in the popular estimation. 
 
 If the education of the clergy is so extraordinarily meagre, 
 it is not to be wondered at that, before the beginning of Prot- 
 estant educational activity and the recent advance of civiliza- 
 tion, education among the common people was in an even 
 worse state, indeed all but nil. To the present day there is 
 no educational system in Turkey. In each church or other 
 religious community it is the business of the superiors to pro- 
 vide education for the children under their charge, a fact that 
 must be taken into consideration, when passing judgment 
 upon missionary educational activity. When the Protestants 
 first arrived on the field, there was hardly any educational work 
 being done by the Churches, and, as a result of this religious and 
 intellectual neglect, there was a boundless ignorance, and all 
 sorts of superstition, approaching idolatry, in their veneration 
 of icons. Yet their Church was to these peoples, deprived 
 as they were of all political ideals, despised and trodden 
 under foot by arbitrary rulers, and shut off from the great 
 intellectual Christian world, their highest good. Whatever 
 there was in them of enthusiasm, of self-sacrificing love, of 
 
66 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 higher aspirations, has been centred for centuries in their 
 Churches. Outside there were only material interests, or 
 hopeless darkness and misery. National feeling found its 
 strength and stay in the bond of church unity. Nation and 
 Church became blended in one. 
 
 We have arrived thus at a point at which we must take 
 our bearings by answering the question : 
 
 7. What is~the Justification of Protestant Missions Among 
 
 the Oriental Christian Churches f 
 There is in some quarters a feeling that Protestant mission- 
 ary activity should be confined to non-Christians. "We Prot- 
 estants hold that genuine faith may be exercised, that com- 
 munion with God may be enjoyed and the salvation of the 
 soul secured, even in the less creditable forms of Christianity 
 and church organization. "We dislike the fanaticism that 
 compasses land and sea to make one proselyte. And we 
 reverence historical ecclesiastical organizations, especially if 
 they have stood the test of fiery trials. Thus, since the 
 massacres of 1895 and 1896 our respect for the Armenian 
 Church, which, in other regards, has not enjoyed the sympathy 
 of the Christian Church at large in any great measure, has 
 increased. A national Church, thousands of whose members 
 willingly die for their faith, evidences thereby its vitality and 
 justifies its existence. It is true that the Protestant Church 
 has been entrusted with the safe-keeping of peculiar treasures 
 such as the free use of God's Word, clearer insight into God's 
 purposes of love, the abrogation of priestly power, and the 
 treasures of Christian literature ; and that the possession of each 
 such gift carries with it the duty of working among all who 
 are less favoured. It is true also that the need of the Oriental 
 Churches is apparent at a glance, when one compares them^ 
 oppressed, uneducated, impoverished, with the flourishing 
 Churches of the Protestant Occident. The contrast was even 
 greater when a century ago the Protestant Churches were 
 beginning their mission work, for at that time the great in- 
 vasion of the Near East by the culture of the West had scarcely 
 
^ The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 67 
 
 begun, and the ancient Churches lay under the debris of eco- 
 nomical and religious ruin. 
 
 Yet would it not be possible to reform these Churches 
 thoroughly from within, thus avoiding on the one hand the 
 deplorable effects of a schism in the several Churches, and 
 conserving on the other hand that sense of nationality which, 
 as we have seen, is practically identical with church loyalty ? 
 "We must consider at some length the relation of the Prot- 
 estant missionary activity to the national ideal and to the 
 ideal of church unity. 
 
 Opponents of Protestant missions in the ITear East have 
 advanced the argument that in all the Oriental Churches re. 
 ligion and national loyalty are indissolubly united, that this 
 union of the two most precious assets of a nation, clung to 
 by peoples languishing for centuries under the cruel yoke of 
 the Turks, has been their salvation and the secret of their 
 survival, and that therefore every secession from the national 
 Church is treason to the national cause. The unscrupulous 
 propaganda of Eome, hovering over them for centuries, now 
 enticingly and again threateningly, has had a share in render- 
 ing the members of the ancient Churches sensitively hostile 
 to all foreign interference. Kome's considerable success in 
 her efforts at proselytizing has notoriously weakened these 
 remnants of nations. The formation of Protestant Churches, 
 it is argued, is driving in another wedge, and so increasing tjie 
 disruption. It is digging the grave of nations that have sur- 
 vived all the winter storms of Turkish tyranny, only to be led 
 to destruction by a deceptive Protestant propaganda, backed 
 by a superior culture and a full money bag. If national ex- 
 istence is to be saved, the national Churches must at all costs 
 remain intact. 
 
 In reply to this argument it must be said, in the first place, 
 that this patriotism which is to be conserved varies greatly in 
 strength and purity. We are helped to form a sober estimate 
 of it by the fact that the Syrian ISTestorians deserted their 
 venerable ancient Church in 1898 to enter the Orthodox 
 Church, solely for the purpose of securing the protection of 
 
68 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Eussia. Nor is it likely that any one acquainted with the 
 country and people will form a particularly high opinion of 
 the national sentiments of Christians in Palestine and Syria. 
 These Syrians, by reason of their being so ardently wooed by 
 politicians, have generally formed an inordinately high esti- 
 mate of their own value, and are bent on offering themselves 
 to the highest bidder. 
 
 In the second place it must be maintained that the identifi- 
 cation of the nation with the Church is a danger to the church 
 life. National questions are the bane of Turkey, making of 
 her internal policy an inextricable tangle. We refrain from 
 offering an opinion on the political aspect of these questions ; 
 but it is notorious that the more the different tribes inhabiting 
 the Balkans and Asiatic Turkey have fought for their national 
 unity and their political future, the more sadly have questions 
 that do not have to do with political existence or supremacy 
 fallen into neglect. Religious interests secede into the back- 
 ground, are swallowed up in these political aspirations, or are 
 even employed to further them. One has only to think of the 
 Bulgarians, the Servians, the Greeks outside of Greece, the 
 Armenians and others. A diseased nationalism renders the 
 work of Protestant missionaries uncommonly difficult, although 
 they can with a good conscience be acquitted of mixing them- 
 selves up with political intrigues, in this respect comparing 
 very favourably with their Roman competitors. They suffer 
 sorely from the suspicion and the constant accusation of being 
 the agents of the political intentions of one or other of the 
 great powers. Viewing this contest from a distance we be- 
 lieve it is a great boon to the national Churches, that, in the 
 midst of this political hubbub, this ebullition of contending 
 national aims, they have, standing side by side with them, 
 Protestant missions which have as their sole aim the moral 
 and religious elevation of the people, and seek only to establish 
 the Kingdom of God. It would be a thousand pities, were 
 these noble nations to be wrecked on the rock of national 
 intrigue after all the conflicts of a glorious past. The Prot- 
 estant missions, by very reason of their entirely non-political 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 69 
 
 character, are the faithful friends of these Churches, pointing 
 them ever to the religious sources whence they may derive 
 true strength. 
 
 In the third place we affirm that conversion to Protestant- 
 ism does not destroy genuine national feeling. Christian mis- 
 sions, whether among civilized or uncivilized nations, whether 
 among Armenians or the Papuas, have to face the objection 
 that they are ruining the national spirit, since every one who 
 joins them ceases to be one of his own people. Yet the most 
 persistent repetition of it does not make the objection true, 
 for it rests on a delusion. It is true that in Europe also the 
 principle " cuius regio ejus religio '* has been the creed of 
 statesmen for a long time, but we have learned at last that 
 church and nation are not necessarily identical quantities. 
 We suffer much from the rupture between Wittenberg and 
 Home, yet no honest Protestant in Germany would for a mo- 
 ment grant that the Eeformation was a national misfortune. 
 He will only deplore the fact that it has not penetrated the 
 whole nation. Just the same is it with the founding of Prot- 
 estant Churches in the Orient ; and matters have improved 
 even in Turkey to such a degree that the members of Protes- 
 tant Churches can, in spite of their creed, stand shoulder to 
 shoulder with their compatriots. The sufferings common to 
 Armenians and Protestant converts during the persecutions of 
 1895 have brought them so close together that their pastors 
 exchange pulpits with one another, that their congregations 
 have in some cases founded schools in common, and that in 
 certain circles the Protestants are asking themselves whether 
 they may not now return to the old Church in order to act as 
 a leaven in it. 
 
 So much for the argument that the founding of Protestant 
 Churches destroys the national spirit. Of greater weight is 
 the objection that a schism in the Oriental Churches is full of 
 evil results for the religious life. Experience teaches that in 
 many cases of proselytism much blind fanaticism and narrow- 
 minded hostility are let loose and that the proselytes are not 
 religiously improved, developing rather a ruinous spiritual 
 
yo History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 pride. Opponents of Protestant missions in the Orient urge 
 that this very condition of affairs exists there. According to 
 them, though the ancient Churches are admitted to be 
 deficient in some points, yet there is nothing to prevent a 
 thorough reformation from within. A better knowledge of 
 church history would, they say, enable us to estimate at their 
 proper value the spiritual treasures and the peculiar beauty 
 which the ancient Churches possess, in spite of evident traces 
 of decay. And it is at any rate a fundamental mistake to 
 graft on the venerable stem of these ancient Churches with 
 their episcopal government, their grand liturgies, and their 
 solemn services, any modern American form of democratic 
 Congregationalism or Presbyterianism with their lack of his- 
 toric episcopate and liturgy. 
 
 These are indeed weighty arguments, containing a certain 
 amount of just criticism, and helping us to understand certain 
 painful facts to be presented by us in subsequent pages. Yet 
 by shooting far beyond the mark this criticism becomes guilty 
 of injustice. Let us examine it without prejudice. The great 
 Protestant missions have been sent to the Near East with the 
 earnest desire, not to found new Churches, but, by self-denying 
 service and by the introduction of Protestant vitality, to pre- 
 pare the way for reform from within. The development of the 
 missions has been the same in nearly every case. Sooner or 
 later the authorities of the native Churches have pushed away 
 the hand offered to them and have set about exorcising the 
 missions and their adherents. This inevitably led to a crisis. 
 The missions had to decide whether they should desist from 
 the task in the face of such opposition — some have done so — 
 or, as the majority of them have done, risk the formation of 
 separate Protestant Churches, and continue their work in the 
 face of the inevitable conflicts. 
 
 Were they right in coming to this decision ? There is no 
 article of Protestant faith which excludes an episcopacy. Ac- 
 cordingly episcopal preeminence and the long liturgies with 
 their acknowledged beauty might have been tolerated by the 
 democratic Congregationalists. Deep-rooted superstition 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 71 
 
 might eventually have been conquered after a long and dreary 
 battle. The want of education among the inferior clergy 
 might have been met by the founding of grammar schools and 
 colleges. Even celibacy among the higher clergy V70uld not 
 have been impossible to Protestantism. Therefore, given 
 mutual good-will, agreement would not have been out of the 
 question. But there would still have remained difficulties al- 
 most insuperable. Ecclesiastical tradition, in which the relig- 
 ious life is everywhere rooted, dies hard. It has the glamour 
 of centuries upon it. Now the venerable ecclesiastical usages 
 of most of the Eastern Churches include the retention of a for- 
 gotten language in the services, the veneration of images and 
 relics, and praying to the saints, above all very long and strict 
 fasting, and an excessive number of feasts. It would have de- 
 manded great self-renunciation on the part of the leaders of 
 those Churches to join with the missionary societies in com- 
 bating these obstructive traditions. And had the Protestants 
 for their part armed themselves with the meekness of Jesus in 
 addition to possessing the most highl}^ developed historical 
 sense, even this could not have done away with the fact that 
 the doctrinal systems of these Churches — some Monophysitic, 
 others Nestorian — were too stunted and insufficient to be re- 
 tained. And had the church leaders persisted in adhering to 
 them, even though there had been in other respects the best 
 will to come to an agreement, negotiations must have failed. 
 It is all in vain, when Lutherans attempt to revivify the 
 IN'estorian Church on the basis of the Augsburg Confession, or 
 when high-church Anglicans set themselves with untiring 
 diligence to disinter the venerable Nestorian liturgies, as if 
 there were no dogmatic differences. The deep chasm is still 
 unbridged and can be ignored only as long as there is the pro- 
 foundest good- will on both sides. As soon as it became clear 
 that this good- will could not be expected from the leaders of 
 the Oriental Churches, the question which faced the mission- 
 aries was not merely how they could most patiently bear the 
 chicanery of the church authorities, but how they could go 
 forward in face of the opposition of these authorities. At first 
 
72 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the missionary motto was " Keform — with the aid of the 
 authorities if possible " ; now it is " Keform— without the help 
 of, and, if need be, in opposition to the authorities." 
 
 The immense difficulty of pursuing such a course in Churches 
 which have been for centuries under the control of the priests 
 could be surmounted only by the formation of separate 
 Churches. But the ideal of reform remains constant. The 
 more so as Protestant missions in the Near East were begun 
 with the definite idea of reaching the Muhammadans by 
 means of the existing Oriental Churches. If it were possible 
 to restore the Oriental Churches to their original purity and 
 vitality, and to fill them with a lively missionary spirit, they 
 would be the grandest practical demonstration of Christianity 
 to the surrounding Muhammadan masses ; the best and most 
 effectual missionaries because native to the soil. Above all, 
 in this way one of the greatest hindrances to the spread of 
 Christianity in Muhammadan countries would be removed, 
 namely, the horror the Muhammadans have of the supposed 
 idolatry and polytheism of the Christians. We must, alas, 
 recognize the fact, that this fond hope of the pioneers of 
 Protestant missions has not been realized. Not one of the 
 larger ancient Churches has roused itself to undertake such 
 radical reforms as would remove the stumbling-blocks for 
 Muhammadans. It has also become evident that the friction 
 which has obtained for centuries between Christians and 
 Moslems living in close contact with each other has produced 
 such deep-rooted animosity and mutual contempt, as well as 
 such a strong feeling of racial incompatibility, that the native 
 Christians are little adapted for service in missions among 
 Muhammadans. It has also proved to be the case that at 
 the present time the Oriental Churches are still too much 
 under the yoke to defy their Muhammadan rulers by permit- 
 ting Muhammadans to join them. Christians are tolerated 
 only on the condition that they abstain from making 
 proselytes of Muhammadans. Should they receive Muham- 
 madans who become Christians into their churches or even 
 harbour them in their homes, they would forfeit whatever 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 73 
 
 amount of freedom they now enjoy, exposing themselves 
 afresh to persecution. 
 
 Yet the fundamental principle of the pioneers was a sound 
 one. The great task of the Christian Church is the spiritual 
 reconquest of these lost provinces of the Church, until at last the 
 cradle-lands of Christianity be again under the shadow of the 
 Cross. In this campaign of reconquest, the ancient Christian 
 peoples and remnants of peoples naturally play a prominent 
 part. Wherever they are in a compact mass with a firm 
 political and ecclesiastical organization, as in Koumania, 
 Servia, Bulgaria and Greece, the political development of the 
 last century has freed them from the Turkish yoke, and in 
 every one of these liberated countries, the return to Chris- 
 tianity has been astonishing, Islam having been completely 
 thrust into the background. Where the Christians are a 
 minority, political and ecclesiastical progress is more difficult 
 and slower. In such cases the Christians must be first raised 
 from the degradation caused by the contempt and neglect of their 
 oppressors. They must be elevated by the education of mind 
 and spirit till they are in a position to compete economically 
 with their more favoured neighbours. It seems impossible 
 to imagine a re-Christianization of the East, save through the 
 vitalizing of the ancient Churches. No lesser aim should 
 satisfy us. Have Protestant missions contributed much to a 
 general intellectual and spiritual restoration of these ancient 
 Christian peoples ? Our further enquiry will prove that we 
 may confidently and joyfully answer, yes. Here we will 
 simply mention a few points that are important for the correct 
 understanding of subsequent chapters of this book, always 
 remembering that we have to apply to these missions a 
 standard different from that applied to missions among 
 non-Christians, since in this case the formation of separate 
 churches is not the main object of the mission work, but 
 only an inevitable consequence which has hardly ever 
 caused the missionaries to loose sight of their chief purpose of 
 reform. 
 
 Protestant missions and Bible societies deserve great praise 
 
74 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 for translating, printing and distributing the Holy Scriptures 
 in all the languages and dialects of the Oriental Churches, 
 and for selling them so cheaply that they may be in the hands 
 of all. In most of the languages of the Christian populations 
 — Arabic, Armenian, Bulgarian — Protestants have laid the 
 foundation of a healthy, popular Christian literature, while 
 in other cases they have been the first to introduce a written 
 language. 
 
 Day schools have everywhere received careful attention, 
 and higher schools have been founded. The Kobert College 
 near Constantinople, the colleges in Marsovan, Kharput, 
 Aintab, Marash, Tarsus and Assiut are leading higher edu- 
 cation in the Near East. The Syrian Protestant College in 
 Beirut is the best and most advanced Christian school in the 
 whole of Turkey. 
 
 The only competitors of these schools are not the native 
 Christian schools, but those of the Eoman Missions. Nor 
 may we underestimate the value of the founding of separate 
 Christian Churches, in spite of all that is to be regretted in 
 connection with them. The course of their history has in 
 general run thus : after the rupture was complete, the ancient 
 Church shut itself up against Protestant aims in a spirit of 
 suspicion and hostility, placing every possible obstacle in the 
 way of influencing its people. Those were critical times of 
 patient endurance, when the missionaries felt as if they had 
 been put into the corner. Their only hope lay in the small 
 Protestant congregations, which the}^ cherished with all the 
 greater solicitude since these were to be an object-lesson to 
 the resisting Churches. When, at times, the question was 
 raised in these Protestant Churches, whether, out of national 
 loyalty they ought not to return to their native Church, the 
 answer was generally in the negative. And the reason given 
 was characteristic. They said : While we maintain a separate 
 position as Protestants, our very existence and all our institu- 
 tions are an incentive to the old Churches to reform them- 
 selves, and to clear away the rubbish of their antiquated 
 usages,* but if we return to the old Church, we shall our- 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 75 
 
 selves come under the influence of the old spirit of stagnation, 
 our salt will lose its savour. And it is in truth our judgment, 
 after having looked at the matter from all sides, that the 
 flourishing little Protestant congregations under the care of 
 the missionaries are the most effectual spur to the ancient 
 Churches. 
 
 The general picture, presented to the careful observer of 
 the present day, differs from that which confronted the first 
 pioneers. At that time there were but oppressed remnants of 
 nations ^ struggling for bare existence; to-day we see power- 
 fully aspiring, strenuous, intelligent peoples, which Turkey 
 cannot disregard and which play an important part in Oriental 
 politics. This change is not to be ascribed solely to the work 
 of the Protestant missions, yet these have had a considerable 
 share in bringing it about. 
 
 The Anglican Bishop Th. Y. French, is a valuable wit- 
 ness to this penetrating influence, especially of the American 
 missions. He had strong high church leanings and entered 
 upon his extensive journeyings in the East with a prejudice 
 against the " proselytism " of the Americans. Yet, in writing 
 an official report to the Archbishop of Canterbury, he says 
 that he had everywhere met with proof of the stimulating, 
 vivifying effect of the schools, public worship and other efforts 
 of the Americans in various Oriental Churches ("Life of 
 Bishop French," Yol. II, p. 262). 
 
 A late annual report of the United Presbyterian Mission 
 in Egypt presents impartially the light and shade of the rela- 
 tion between the old and the Protestant Churches in that 
 land : 
 
 " In some localities, evangelical truth has gained such an in- 
 fluence, that many who have not united with us, like never- 
 theless to be called ' Protestants.' But in many regions, that 
 name is still most cordially hated. Everywhere, the ecclesias- 
 tical authorities are, either openly or secretly, hostile. They 
 represent us as a foreign and schismatic sect. The Koptic 
 community is urged to cling together to preserve its national 
 and ecclesiastical life. This appeal doubtless deters many who 
 
76 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 would otherwise cast in their lot with the Evangelical Church. 
 Inducements of office and honour are used also to hold men of 
 influence, and sometimes even to draw such back when they 
 have left the Church, We seem compelled to believe that the 
 adoption by the Koptic Church of some of our methods, such 
 as the introduction of preaching into church services at some 
 places, has as its chief aim the holding rather than the edifying 
 of the people. In any case, the presence of these new features 
 gives a semblance of life, causing the people to feel less need 
 of looking towards the Evangelical Church, and making them 
 less approachable. Here and there are found enlightened, 
 earnest Christians who retain their connection with the old 
 Church. But they have nearly always gotten their light from 
 outside, and still go outside for their spiritual food. One of 
 these acknowledged to the writer that within his Church as a 
 whole 'spirituality does not exist.' One cannot but feel some 
 sympathy with the desire of this ancient Church to hold to- 
 gether ; but in the absence of spiritual life, it amounts to 
 weighing of tradition and sentiment against eternal truth and 
 eternal life. If the day shall ever come that God shall breathe 
 upon these dry bones and cause them to live and rise up to 
 serve Him by some better process than the naturally slow and 
 painful one of wrenching the members one by one out of their 
 own and into another organization, it will be welcomed by our 
 mission. But that day is not yet here. The Evangelical 
 Church stands as the only rallying point for true faith and life 
 and service " (Unit. Presby. Ann. Kep. 1907, 52). 
 
 8, Has the Time Come for Muhammadan Missions in 
 
 the Near East ? 
 This, too, is a much discussed question, that is answered as 
 often in the negative as in the affirmative. The historical 
 development may be briefly stated, as follows : Missions 
 were sent to do work among Muhammadans by first bringing 
 new life into the old Churches. It was found that this pre- 
 paratory work was more difficult than had been expected, and on 
 it all effort was at first concentrated. Then it dawned upon the 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 77 
 
 missionaries that their work among the old Churches was lead- 
 ing not to, but away from mission work among Muhamraadans. 
 The chasm separating the Muhammadan and Christian popula- 
 tions is so deep that it is well-nigh impossible to reach both by 
 starting from the same point and employing the same agents. 
 Accordingly some of the missions have begun a Muhammadan 
 mission side by side with their work among the old Churches, 
 others have confined themselves to the latter work, while 
 certain societies have begun to work exclusively among 
 Muhammadans. The motto " One as a means to the other " 
 has been changed to *' One or the other, or the two side by 
 side." 
 
 Now there is no difference of opinion among Protestant 
 missionaries that the Muhammadans need the Gospel of 
 salvation in Christ, seeing there is no " salvation in any other ; 
 for there is none other name under heaven, given among 
 men, whereby we must be saved." That the convert stands 
 in danger of his life is no reason for delaying Muhammadan 
 missions, for in every new field, particular dangers must be 
 faced at the beginning. The Lord has told us that before- 
 hand. Again, 160 out of the 225 millions of Muhammadans 
 are under Christian rule. It is evidently the duty of Chris- 
 tian colonial governments to secure religious liberty, in so far 
 at least that throughout the length and breadth of their terri- 
 tories every one shall have a legal right to embrace Christianity 
 and shall be protected in the exercise of this right. And this 
 is the case in most of the colonies of the Christian Powers. 
 
 But it is contended that it is not right to carry on Protestant 
 missionary work among the thirty-eight millions of Muham- 
 madans under Turkish, Persian or Moroccan rule. Yet it is 
 with these latter we have to do in this volume. 
 
 No doubt great difficulties confront mission work in the 
 Near East. Public preaching of the Gospel is forbidden in 
 the streets and bazars. The opening of mission schools for 
 Muhammadan children is difficult, such schools being often 
 forcibly closed by command of the mollah or the government. 
 Muhammadans, too, are forbidden to send their children to 
 
78 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 such schools. The distribution of the Scriptures is rendered 
 difficult, and the publishing of polemic literature directed 
 against Islam is unlawful. There is a tiresome struggle with 
 the authorities over the building of any church or chapel, and 
 if it be found that such buildings are intended for work among 
 Muhammadans, permission to build is withheld. When in- 
 dividual Moslems seek to enter into closer relations with the 
 missionaries, they fall at once under suspicion and threat. To 
 be converted to Christianity means sentence of death, and 
 even if the authorities do not venture to carry out this law of 
 the Koran openly, there are a hundred ways of putting the 
 convert out of the way, whether by poison or enlistment or 
 otherwise. And the nearer relatives of the apostate would 
 probably say, " Better dead than be a Christian." 
 
 These great obstacles have lent weight to the opinion that 
 the time has not yet arrived for Muhammadan missions in the 
 Near East. !N'ow for some missionary societies it is certainly 
 hard to say whether after satisfying the urgent demands of 
 mission work already in full operation in Africa, India, and 
 the Far East, they can find the men and the means to carry 
 on a strenuous mission among the Muhammadans in the Near 
 East. That is a question for Christian charity to decide. 
 Here we would only ask. Is there, as far as we can see, any 
 prospect that the opportunity for mission work among 
 Muhammadans will become more favourable than at present ? 
 
 Egypt has been since 1882 under the control, one may al- 
 most say the rule, of Christian England. But if even so emi- 
 nent a statesman as Lord Cromer has held it to be his political 
 duty to favour Islam, while ignoring Protestant missions and 
 the ancient Koptic Church, we cannot expect any early favour- 
 able change for the better in Egypt. In Turkey religious 
 liberty was legally established by the celebrated firman hatti 
 humayoun. But owing to the fanaticism of the lower officials 
 as much as to the ill will of the central authorities, this has 
 hitherto remained little more than a paper privilege. It is to 
 be lamented that the powers whose influence in Turkey is 
 controlling do not exercise greater pressure to enforce the ob- 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 79 
 
 servance of rights that have been oflBcially granted. In spite 
 of the hatti humayoun conversions are most difficult and 
 perilous in Turkey/ though conditions are not uniform through- 
 out the empire. Perhaps it is in Palestine that Protestant 
 movements of any kind are watched with the greatest sus- 
 picion. On the other hand the province of the Lebanon re- 
 joices, since 1862, in a Christian governor and comparative 
 freedom. In Persia there appears to be the prospect of an 
 early granting of religious liberty beyond even the terms of 
 the late Shah's edict. And even now extensive mission work 
 is possible, in spite of annoying laws and official hindrance. 
 
 It is clear, then, that the greatest opposition to missionary 
 effort does not come from the government. It proceeds rather 
 from the deep-rooted popular dislike of Christianity as a re- 
 ligion and of the Christians as individuals, and from the 
 fanatic hatred of converts sanctioned by the Koran. Thus 
 opposition to Christian missions is by superior and inferior 
 officials as well as by the common people considered to be the 
 proper attitude of a faithful Muhammadan. The strictest 
 laws are effective in keeping this fanaticism within bounds 
 only in so far as Europeans are continually on the alert to in- 
 sist, with force if need be, upon their execution. There can be 
 no hope of a speedy change for the better in this respect. No 
 laws of toleration in India can prevent the all-powerful caste sys- 
 tem from making conversion to Christianity among the higher 
 castes a matter of life and death. No man knows how many 
 are secretly murdered rather than that they should become 
 Christians. To overcome such deep-rooted opposition, sanc- 
 tioned as it is by religioii, only a long-continued exhibition of 
 the beauty of the Christian life and of Christian service avails. 
 If in general it be the first duty of missions to win confidence 
 and to overthrow the barriers of prejudice, suspicion, and 
 fanaticism, this is an especially important task in the Near 
 
 »It is weU known that the constitution of July 24, 1908, has officially 
 granted religious liberty in Turkey. Experience alone will show whether this 
 " irade " will be put into practice with greater fairness than the former liberal 
 laws. 
 
8o History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 East. It is, to be sure, a task of unusual difficulty, but it is 
 now possible of achievement, and the sooner it is seriously at- 
 tempted, the better. 
 
 Mission work among the Muhammadans must for a time 
 differ greatly from that among other peoples. Its policy is 
 conciliatory rather than aggressive. Popular movements in 
 favour of Christianity cannot be expected for a long time to 
 come. It is the part of wisdom to be quiet about such few 
 conversions as occur, and to be reticent in mission reports. In 
 preaching the Gospel, anything that might excite Muham- 
 madan fanaticism is to be avoided, attention rather being 
 drawn to the points of contact between the two religions. 
 There are four kinds of preparatory work which specially 
 recommend themselves : medical missions with their clear and 
 winning message of Christian compassion ; the distribution of 
 Christian literature^ including the Bible, which has the express 
 sanction of the Koran, and simple Christian books written 
 preferably in the form of dialogues, so liked by Orientals ; 
 Christian schools, primary and advanced, which should be 
 opened as soon as they can be filled with Muhammadan chil- 
 dren ; and women's work in the harems, which, with its warm 
 personal sympathy, for the first time lets the light in upon those 
 fastnesses of fanaticism, the Muhammadan homes. All these 
 methods demand patience and quiet, diligent labour. They 
 shun publicity. For such patient work of preparation one is 
 inclined to feel that even free-lance missionaries may be use- 
 ful, if they be not too fanciful and sectarian in their views, 
 and it is no great misfortune that many of them are seeking in 
 Palestine and Syria, latterly also in Egypt, a sphere of 
 work. 
 
 9. The Message of Christianity to Islam} 
 
 A distinction must be made between the apologetic of theo- 
 logians in Christian lands, intended to prove the truth of 
 
 ^Cf. " Methods of Mission Work among Moslems," Papers of the Conference of 
 Muhammadan Missionaries held in Cairo April 4th to 9th, 1906. The papers of 
 this valuable book do not cover the entire ground, but they contain a great 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 8i 
 
 Christianity as opposed to Islam to the mind and conscience 
 of Christians, and, on the other hand, the arguments used by 
 missionaries meant to lead Muhammadans to break with 
 their religion and to come to a whole-hearted conviction 
 of the truth of Christianity. The former method is the 
 easier of the two, as it can confine itself to a few chief 
 themes, e, g., how much Islam has derived from Chris- 
 tianity, and the inferiority ' of the character of Muhammad 
 and the low moral standard inculcated by his example, the 
 formalism of his religious exercises, and the sterility of his 
 conception of God. The task of the missionary is a more 
 difficult and complicated matter, requiring as much patience 
 as wisdom. 
 
 It must at the outset be taken into consideration that the 
 various Moslem populations stand on widely separated spir- 
 itual and intellectual levels, and have been permeated by the 
 religion of Islam in very varying degree. In many tribes 
 of India and Central Africa, as well as among the Druses, 
 Nusairiyeh and others, Islam is but a veneer, beneath 
 which animistic heathenism or deteriorated forms of Semitic 
 religion have been ever retained. It is a disadvantage 
 for the missionary that these ignorant semi-Muhammadans 
 like to retire behind the cover of their religious leaders, 
 whom they expect to ward off the Christian preachers. 
 Even among cultured Muhammadan nations a more inti- 
 mate acquaintance with Islamic theology is by no means 
 common, because the Koran may be read only in Arabic 
 
 number of important observations. Some few of these we give : In public ar- 
 gument it is advisable not to attack Muhammad or the Koran. In countries 
 where Islam is split up into sects, it is well to take the doctrines peculiar to 
 such sects into consideration, for they sometimes offer excellent opportunities of 
 introducing such fundamental Christian doctrines as the Incarnation, Atone- 
 ment, etc. In comparing the Bible with the Koran, it must be kept in mind 
 that the Christian and the Islamic views of inspiration differ (Cf. The Church 
 Miss. Bev., 1907, pp. 295, 355, 549). Islamic inspiration is a dead, mechanical, 
 verbal thing, while the Christian theory is that the Bible has been written by 
 holy men of God under the influence of the Holy Spirit, as a record of the deal- 
 ings of Divine Providence. 
 
82 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 and the best products of Islamic thought are to be found 
 only in Arabic books. Thus the missionary on coming 
 to any Muhammadan people has to ascertain carefully to 
 what depth Islamic modes of thought and customs have 
 covered the lower stratum of heathenism, to what extent 
 Islam has penetrated that heathenism. 
 
 There are five chief strongholds of Islam, which the mis- 
 sionary must be mindful of. (1) Inherent conviction of the 
 truth of Islam, In the lower forms of animistic heathenism 
 the missionary everywhere meets with a feeling of uncer. 
 tainty, which proves these animistic ideas to be comparatively 
 loosely rooted and consequently ready to yield to a well- 
 timed attack. Islam, on the contrary, exhibits an astounding 
 self-assurance, always culminating in the motto : There is no 
 God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet. Even the 
 evident superiority of the Christian culture does not cause 
 the faithful Muhammadan to waver in this conviction. The 
 Moslem commonly argues that Christians may be superior in 
 worldly matters, but that Moslems have the true religion. 
 
 (2) The Monotheistic conception of God. The fulcrum on 
 which to rest his lever in order to loosen the hold of poly- 
 theistic or animistic heathenism, the missionary finds in the 
 protest against the disintegration of the Deity, in setting 
 forth the one only God, Creator, Preserver, and Euler, who 
 destroys the kingdom of demons and establishes the Kingdom 
 of God. The first step in conversion then is the turning from 
 the worship of many gods, ancestors, or spirits and the sub- 
 jecting of one's self to the God of the Christian and to His 
 Son. It is not so with the Muhammadan. However great a 
 part spirits play in his thoughts and actions, yet belief in the 
 absolute power of Allah is part and parcel of his existence. 
 
 (3) Moslem eschatology. Islam is everywhere, especially 
 where it is victoriously advancing, strong in eschatology. 
 All the forces of volcanic activity within it — Jehad, Mahdi, 
 Imam — these have an eschatological character. The kernel 
 of the religious consciousness of a Moslem is : The Moslem 
 is partaker of the joys of a sensually imagined paradise, the 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 83 
 
 non-Moslem goes to hell. And this eschatology has the sanc- 
 tion of a divine revelation. (4) The Muhammadan ideal of 
 ^iety. A heathen believes himself surrounded by countless 
 gods and demons, who claim his devotion and w^hom he must 
 attempt to satisfy. But he is never sure whether he has 
 succeeded in this. The more religious his nature is, the less 
 satisfied is he under this constant pressure. How much easier 
 is the Moslem's creed. Let him but observe his hours of 
 prayer, give the prescribed alms, and make a pilgrimage to 
 Mecca once in his life, his relations with Allah are then quite 
 in order. His assurance that Allah is satisfied with him is 
 not shaken even though sickness and sudden death overtake 
 him. He is sure of the joys of paradise, though he may, in 
 other respects, be a scoundrel. To get the better of inferior 
 demons he need but put the powers of Allah in action, which 
 he accomplishes by magic. Eeligious scruples or qualms of 
 conscience do not trouble him. (6) Mystical communion with 
 God. The more religious natures find scope in the mysticism 
 of Islam, which they are taught leads unfailingly to com- 
 munion with Allah, or even to total absorption with the 
 Deity. It is this belief that animates those who participate 
 in religious revivals or political disturbances. It is not ad- 
 visable to direct the attack against these five strongholds at 
 the outset. No general, when laying siege to a fortress, as- 
 saults straightway the strongest point. Such misdirected at- 
 tacks only provoke bitterness and inflame the fanaticism 
 peculiar to Islam. 
 
 The preaching of the missionaries should proceed on 
 the following three lines : (1) Preparatory teaching. The 
 doctrines of Islam may be traced to three sources, namely, pre- 
 Muhammadan Arabic heathenism, Judaism, and Christianity. 
 Ideas from all three sources were current in Arabia before the 
 time of Muhammad and had become thoroughly intermingled. 
 In the person of Muhammad and in the religion he founded 
 they were fused into a new unity. It is therefore incorrect to 
 regard Islam either as a rationalistic Christian sect, or as a 
 Jewish sect, or as a Christianized development of Arabian 
 
84 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 heathenism.^ Yet the Christian missionary will find it easy 
 to lay emphasis on the points of contact between Islam and 
 Christianity, thus winning an opportunity for the presentation 
 of his wider message, {a) The Koran teaches that the Bible 
 is the revealed Word of God, but that Christians have falsified 
 the text in their own interests. The group of ideas growing 
 out of this teaching, with the errors involved, must engage 
 the close attention of Christian apologists. Skillfully used, 
 they are a forceful appeal to Muhammadans to study the 
 Bible carefully and thoroughly, comparing it with the Koran. 
 If they become convinced that it is not true that the Bible 
 has been tampered with by Christians, and are thus compelled 
 to admit that the Bible is the pure Word of God, the way is 
 open for calm, practical discussion. A commentary on the 
 effectiveness of such preparatory work, as conducted for 
 instance in India, is the curious fact that some years ago a depu- 
 tation of mollahs from Northern India appeared in the El 
 Azhar mosque of Cairo, to enquire after the pure text of the 
 Bible as opposed to the falsified Christian versions.^ 
 
 (b) The Koran contains many of the Bible stories, though 
 with abundant apocryphal excrescences. It is of great impor- 
 tance to compare these Muhammadan legends with the original 
 stories, and to point to their unreasonable and unreliable 
 character, thus undermining confidence in the infallibility and 
 authority of the Koran. This is by no means easy or pleasant 
 work. Tact and conscientiousness are needed, if, in addition 
 
 * Abraham Geiger (in his '* Judentum und Islam ") as well as the rabbinist Em. 
 Dentsch (Literarischer Nachlass, article on Islam) show with great cleverness and 
 erudition, how much Muhammad was influenced in his theories and practice by 
 Talmudio Judaism. The verdict of both these scholars is that Islam is nothing 
 else than a form of Judaism modified to suit Arab requirements, plus a recogni- 
 tion of the prophethood of Jesus and Muhammad. Dr. Joh. Lepsius, on the other 
 hand, maintained in his lecture before the conference of Muhammadan mission- 
 aries at Cairo, that Islam is a degenerate form of rationalized Oriental Christianity. 
 
 ^ This appeal to the Bible naturally occupies a large place in controversial 
 literature. To refute with convincing power the charge that Christiana have 
 falsified the Bible for doctrinal purposes is the chief aim of the interesting book 
 "Sweet Firstfruits," widely known even in England and America through the 
 excellent translation of Sir Wm. Muir. 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 85 
 
 to pulling down the walls of error, the establishing of the 
 authority of the Bible is to be achieved. But it is very 
 effectual in the case of truth-seeking Moslems. 
 
 (<?) The Koran raises Jesus so nearly to the level of Muham- 
 mad, giving Him indeed in certain respects a much higher stand- 
 ing, that it is well worth while thoroughly to exploit such pas- 
 sages in the Koran as contain comparisons between Muham- 
 mad and Christ. In this connection, the foolish statements of 
 the Koran concerning the death and resurrection of the Lord 
 may be exposed, and the eminently superior moral character 
 of Jesus be urged on the conscience. His holiness as compared 
 with the immorality of Muhammad. Such preparatory work 
 naturally demands of the missionary a careful examination of 
 facts and calm judgment. It is therefore in the main a method 
 less suitable for public preaching, being more effectual when 
 used in apologetic literature. It is,- perhaps, superfluous to 
 urge that missionaries and colporteurs should be well versed 
 in the contents of the books they distribute, and should ever 
 be prepared to elucidate and enlarge upon the subjects dis- 
 cussed in such books. Muhammadans have an almost diseased 
 predilection for religious discussions, v^hich wise missionaries 
 will endeavour to lead by some means or other to bear upon 
 such subjects as those mentioned above. 
 
 (2) The preaching of the central doctrine of salvation. 
 Whatever may be its advantages, yet it is a weary way that 
 leads from the Koran through the Bible to Christ, and it will 
 be trodden only by the more educated. The decisive question 
 for Moslems as for other non-Christians is whether they lay 
 hold on the salvation in Christ. If they are to do so, this 
 salvation must be presented to them in such a way as to 
 satisfy and convince them. But apart from the prohibition 
 of public preaching in some Muhammadan countries, great 
 difficulties confront the missionaries. Even in the simplest 
 presentation of the atoning work of Christ, His divinity must 
 be insisted on, nor can those religious truths which underlie 
 the doctrine of the Holy Trinity be passed by in silence. Yet 
 these two doctrines, namely, the Divinity of Christ and the 
 
86 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Trinity, are the very doctrines which have ever been the 
 great stumbling-blocks for Moslems, and which excite in them 
 the most violent opposition. To us they are the heart of 
 Christianity. And our chief object must be to lead Moslems 
 to a full belief in Jesus as the crucified Son of God. Here 
 no compromise is possible. The most effectual method of 
 procedure is to make known in as full a measure as possible 
 the Bible narratives, by their help leading one's hearers to 
 feel a personal interest in the fulfilment of the gracious pur- 
 poses of God in sending His Son to redeem the world. The 
 preaching of the Gospel will be the more effective if it can be 
 illustrated by pictures in the daytime and by the magic 
 lantern at night. Starting with the knowledge of what God 
 has done to save the world the Moslem will come to a con- 
 viction of his own sinfulness. The reverse process is rarely 
 possible, for a Moslem's inherited faith, according to which 
 he is content with a purely formal fulfilment of its compara- 
 tively easy requirements, renders a direct appeal to his con- 
 science very difficult. If Allah does not demand of him more 
 than it has been his custom to perform, why should he trouble 
 himself further ? Only the inexorable logic of the Gospel can 
 shatter such thoroughgoing self-satisfaction. At the same 
 time the missionary among Muhammadans must ever bear in 
 mind the fact that these central truths of Christianity may 
 readily excite the fanaticism of his hearers and cause them to 
 close their ears to his message. Yet however difficult such 
 direct preaching may be, the missionary will never, absorbed 
 in the slow preparatory work, lose sight of the fact that the 
 definite act of conversion can be brought about only by laying 
 hold on Christ. 
 
 In this difficulty we have at least a partial explanation of 
 the fact that mission work among Muhammadans has thus far 
 resulted only in individual conversions, not in general move- 
 ments. Muhammadans cannot be led to embrace Christianity 
 by a preaching of the first article of the creed, since they 
 already believe in one God. Contrast this state of affairs 
 with that which exists among many heathen peoples concern* 
 
The Muhammadan World and the Eastern Churches 87 
 
 ing whom Johannes Warneck, in his book " The Living Christ 
 and the Dying Heathenism," shows convincingly that, when 
 congregations are gathered from their midst, the first step 
 consists in turning from the worship of false gods and demons 
 to the worship of the one God, while comparatively few 
 advance to a complete acceptance of the redeeming work of 
 Christ. Muhammadans, on the contrary, can be brought 
 into the Christian Church only by persuading them of the 
 truth of Redemption through the Son of God, an undertaking 
 the extreme difficulty of which we have pointed out. No 
 wonder, then, that few Moslems find the way to the Christian 
 Church. Muhammadan work is like that among the Jews, 
 who also already believe in one God. 
 
 (3) Subsequent preaching. When ignorant heathen accept 
 Christianity they have passed from under the dominion of 
 demons into the Kingdom of God. They feel that they are 
 thereby bound to conform to the rules of conduct in this 
 Kingdom. They display great willingness to cast out the 
 leaven of heathenism and permit the leaven of Christianity to 
 work through their thoughts and actions. Islam, on the 
 contrary, is too stereotyped and thorough a system of thought 
 and conduct to admit of an easy advance in " putting off the 
 old man." 
 
 A Moslem who has embraced Christianity must recast all 
 his ideas of God in conformity with his new Christian knowl- 
 edge. He must replace his former arbitrary, despotic God by 
 one of ethical excellence. Almost more difficult is it for him 
 to free himself from that fatalism, which, in Islam, is a 
 correlative of belief in the almighty power of God, and to feel 
 himself to be in the Christian relation of a child to the Father, 
 who orders the whole life of His children according to His wise 
 counsel, but who at the same time wills that we should work 
 out our salvation with fear and trembling. 
 
 Side by side with this revolution in his ideas is the necessary 
 adaptation of his life to the Christian ideal in Christ. This 
 is the more difficult since, roughly speaking, what occupies a 
 central position in the ethics of the Christian lies on the 
 
88 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 periphery of the moral instincts of the Muhammadan, and vice 
 versa. Mahammadanisra lays chief stress on individual com- 
 mands, Christianity on a right condition of the heart. The 
 prime virtue of Islam is obedience, submission to the incom- 
 prehensible laws of God, while the Christian gives love the 
 first place, love which delights to do the will of God (Rom. 8 : 
 15). The Christian ideal takes possession of one after another 
 of the ethical wastes in the Muhammadan life, doing away 
 with polygamy and slavery, and laying a foundation for the 
 elevation of woman. 
 
 It is only in the bright light of Christian ethics that the 
 sensual eschatology of Islam with its hitherto intoxicating 
 power fades away, giving place to the pure flame of the 
 Christian hope, founded on faith and love towards Christ. 
 
 It is not to be expected that the conversion of every 
 Muhammadan will proceed in this same manner, for the 
 workings of the spiritual life are very complex. Particularly 
 applicable to conversions are the words of the Lord : " The 
 wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the voice 
 thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it 
 goeth " (John 3 : 8). Still, experience indicates the lines along 
 which to conduct missionary preaching, and, in proportion as 
 Moslem fanaticism is known to be easily aroused, it is impor- 
 tant to heed such indications. 
 
II 
 
 THE BEGINNINGS OF PROTESTANT MISSIONARY 
 
 ENDEAVOUR 
 
 IT was still in the period of the German Reformation that 
 Freiherr Hans Ungnad von Sonegg, a Protestant who 
 had been a captain in the Austrian army in Hungary and 
 in Steiermark in the wars against the Ottomans, began his 
 indefatigable labours. In his old age (1540-1560) after he 
 had left his home for his faith's sake, he spent his entire for- 
 tune on the translation of Protestant literature, 25,600 books 
 in four years into the languages of the Balkans, " hoping that 
 by this means the pure teaching of God's Word might be in- 
 troduced into Turkey and that the All-merciful would in this 
 way smite the Turks with the sword of His almighty power 
 as He had exposed and smitten popery by the hand of Martin 
 Luther of blessed memory" [Christl. Orient^ 1897, p. 3ff.). 
 Many German princes and free cities contributed considerable 
 sums to this in its own way great literary mission enterprise. 
 On the threshold of the history of Protestant Missions in 
 the N'ear East there stands an interesting figure, the Patriarch 
 of Constantinople, Cyril Lucaris (1572-1638). Born in Crete 
 and educated in good schools in Yenice and Padua, Lucaris 
 was raised to the chair of the Orthodox Greek patriarchate of 
 Alexandria in 1603. It was here he seems first to have come 
 into touch with Protestantism. He describes the circum- 
 stances thus in a letter : 
 
 Ubi vero Deo placuit misericordi nos illuminare ut animad- 
 verteremus quo in errore versabamur, mature cogitare incepi- 
 mus, quid opus esset facere. Quid ergo feci ? Libris aliquot 
 evangelicorum doctorum quos Oriens noster non quod nunquam 
 viderit, sed neque utrum essent, obstantibus pontificiis cen- 
 suris, nunquam audiverit, opera et favore amicorum acquisitis, 
 
 89 
 
go History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 spiritu sancto assiduis orationibus invocato, per triennium 
 ffraecaB et latinae ecclesiae cum ea, quae est reformata coUavi 
 (sic !). 
 
 He had, we see, derived Lis acquaintance with Protestant 
 teaching chiefly from the writings of the Kef ormed theologians 
 which he had diligently studied for three years. He came 
 thus to see to what extent his Church had been corrupted by 
 superstition. He says : " Ecclesiam grsecam nil tam pes- 
 sundatj ut superstitio." ^Nevertheless he was all that time 
 still far from planning to introduce reforms, thinking these 
 practicable only, " magno cum scandalo totius christianitatis." 
 A change came when he was raised in 1620 to the patriarchal 
 chair of Constantinople, by far the most important and influ- 
 ential position in his Church. He now came into personal 
 connection with Cornelius Hego, the Protestant Dutch ambas- 
 sador in Stamboul, and with Kev. Anton Leger, chaplain of 
 the Dutch legation there from 1628 to 1636. Leger exercised 
 a great influence upon Lucaris, who, in consequence, formed 
 the large plan of reforming his Church thoroughly after the 
 pattern of Calvinism. His first care was to have the Bible 
 translated into vulgar Greek. This was undertaken by Max- 
 imus Calliupolita, aided by Lucaris, who also wrote a preface. 
 The book was printed in Geneva, but it was only in 1638, 
 after the death of Lucaris, that this first modern Greek edition 
 appeared. Schools were also built, but they do not appear to 
 have been continued for any length of time. The most im- 
 portant act of Lucaris was the publishing of his " Confessio " 
 in 1629. "Within a few years it went through nineteen edi- 
 tions and was translated into most of the languages of civilized 
 Europe. His confession is, according to Gass, founded on 
 Calvinistic doctrine, but drawn up in such a manner as to 
 accommodate it as nearly as possible to the form of expression 
 and the creed of the Greek Church. Hardly had Lucaris 
 come out publicly with his Evangelical convictions, when 
 persecution set in from all quarters. The Jesuits were his 
 bitter enemies, and even after his death they slandered him 
 in their writings. Even in his own Church he met with sharp 
 
The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary Endeavour 91 
 
 opposition. And it was by an intrigue of his opponents that 
 he came to his death. They accused him to the Sultan Murad, 
 on the eve of his entering upon a campaign against the Per- 
 sians, of stirring up the Cossacks against him. Believing this 
 false accusation, the Sultan at once ordered Lucaris to be 
 strangled by the Janissaries and his body to be thrown into 
 the sea. 
 
 Lucaris was the most impressive personality in the Ortho- 
 dox Greek Church of the seventeenth century. For decades 
 after his death the movement which he originated occupied 
 and divided the minds of men in his Church. It was the first 
 and only attempt of one in a leading position to reform the 
 Greek Church from within, in the Protestant sense of the 
 word. False accusation and assassination put an end to it. 
 Who can say whether Lucaris was made of the stuff to be the 
 reformer of his Church, or whether this attempt to reform 
 that Church after the pattern of the Calvinism of Geneva and 
 Holland would in any case have been unsuccessful ? 
 
 1. Peter Heyling 
 
 A younger contemporary of Cyril Lucaris was Peter Hey- 
 ling, a learned man from Ltibeck in Germany. While study- 
 ing in Paris he formed a close friendship and alliance with 
 several other Germans, who resolved to take the Gospel to the 
 dead Churches of the East. Two of these friends went thither ; 
 one, Blumenhagen by name, soon died a violent death in Con- 
 stantinople ; the other. Dome, after a journey of several 
 years' duration through Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt, re- 
 turned disheartened to Germany. Peter Heyling went to 
 Egypt in 1632 to try to get thence to Abyssinia. He spent 
 several years in the monasteries of the Egyptian desert with 
 the purpose of learning the Arabic and Syriac languages 
 thoroughly, throughout that time being often bitterly perse- 
 cuted by the emissaries of the Roman Propaganda, who did 
 not wish to permit this pronounced Lutheran to obtain any 
 influence. In 1634 he found an opportunity to go to Abys- 
 sinia. Negus Basilides, who had expelled the Roman Arch- 
 
g2 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 bishop and all the Jesuits, sent an embassy to Cairo requesting 
 of the Koptic Patriarch that a Monophysitic Abuna be once 
 more appointed, thus restoring the old connection with the 
 Koptic Church. Heyling joined this embassy on their journey 
 home. He was kindly received at the Court at Gondar. 
 Many sons of noblemen were put under his charge to be edu- 
 cated. The Negus is said to have given him his own daughter 
 to wife, and to have entrusted him with several high offices 
 of state. It is also reported that he translated parts of the 
 New Testament, including St. John's Gospel, into Amharic, 
 and compiled a code of laws based on the Koman code. But 
 none of these reports can be traced to its sources. About 
 1652 Heyling, on his way back to Egypt, is said to have been 
 forced by a Turkish pasha to choose between Islam and death, 
 and to have died courageously confessing his faith. Whether 
 he was successful as a missionary in Abyssinia, it is difficult 
 to say. What is certain is that he had no successor.^ 
 
 A century passed by before any active interest in the Ori- 
 ental Churches was again shown by Protestants, although 
 Augustus Hermann Francke, incited thereto by the learned 
 orientalist Ludolf, Jr., sent several young candidates for the 
 ministry to Russia and Constantinople to try to elevate the 
 Greek Church spiritually. After the year 1739, the Moravian 
 Churchy in its first consuming zeal for missions, tried to gain 
 a footing in the Christian Orient. But all these attempts 
 failed, whether in Constantinople (174:0), where they tried to 
 come into touch with the Greek authorities, in the newly ac- 
 cessible colonies of Roumania (also 1740), or in Persia (1747- 
 1750). Nor could they find entrance into Abyssinia. In 
 Egypt the able physician, Rudolph Wilhelm Hocker suc- 
 ceeded, after various vain attempts, in introducing a Moravian 
 Mission, which, however, was confined from the very begin- 
 
 ^Hiob Ludolf, Ad suam historiam eethiopicam Commentarins. Frankfurt, 
 1691, with Appendix. Dr. Job. Michaelis, Sonderbarer Lebenslauf Herrn Peter 
 Heylings, Halle, 1724. Founded on these two booka, AUgemeine MiasioTis- 
 zeitschrift, 1876, pp, 206-223. 
 
The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary Endeavour 93 
 
 ning to evangelization among the Kopts, where, on prin- 
 ciple, no attempt was made to induce converts to leave their 
 Church. Hocker and his assistants, most of whom were plain 
 workmen, laboured for fifteen years (1768-1783) in Cairo and 
 Behnesseh. But as no definite results appeared, and as the 
 disturbed state of the country rendered it unsafe for the 
 Brethren to remain there, they were recalled in 1783. Nor 
 did their work apparently leave any marked traces. 
 
 ^. Henry Martyn 
 
 An eminent young English missionary, Henry Martyn, ap- 
 peared like a brilliant comet in Persia ; but only for a short 
 time, for he was too quickly consumed by the very fire of his 
 zeal. Born in 1780, he died in 1812 in Tokat in Asia Minor. 
 This young man by the intensity of his spiritual ardour made 
 so deep an impression on his fellow workers and upon mis- 
 sionary circles in England in spite of the brevity of his career, 
 that he, like the missionary Bishop, Keginald Heber, in India, 
 who was also still a young man when he died, might be com- 
 pared in this respect with Francis Xavier. Sent as a chaplain 
 to India in 1806, he laboured until 1811 in the cantonments of 
 Dinajpur and Cawnpore, ever in close connection with his 
 friends Brown, Corrie and Buchanan, who, like himself, were 
 nicknamed the " pious chaplains." In addition to his official 
 duties, he strove unremittingly to bring the Gospel to Hindu 
 and Muhammadan. Indefatigable as he was, and aided by an 
 unusual proficiency in acquiring new languages, Martyn 
 translated the whole of the JSTew Testament into Urdu and 
 Persian. But he was so deeply aware of the imperfection of 
 the latter work that he earnestly desired to go to Persia, in 
 order to improve his knowledge of that language on the 
 ground. He therefore went in 1811 to Shiraz, the celebrated 
 seat of Persian learning. The intense heat of India had 
 already thoroughly exhausted him, and on the five months' 
 voyage from Calcutta to Bushir he suffered terribly from sea- 
 sickness. Arrived in Persia, he soon discovered that his first 
 translation was almost worthless. In eight months, with 
 
94 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 failing health, he completed a new translation — a heroic feat, 
 in spite of the evident traces it bears of haste. In his rare 
 hours of leisure he cultivated friendly intercourse with learned 
 Persian theologians, the mollahs and mujtahids of Shiraz? 
 arguing half the night with them about the fundamental 
 truths of Christianity and the trustworthiness of the Bible. 
 Having finished his translation, he had a copy of it made and 
 then set out for Tabriz to present his work in person to the 
 Shah. But his delicate constitution was no longer able to 
 bear the hardships of travel in Persia. He arrived in Tabriz 
 more dead than alive, and needed the most careful nursing for 
 two months before he was able to continue his journey towards 
 Constantinople. The harsh treatment of his Turkish attend- 
 ants, and the fatigues of mountain travel over the snow-clad 
 passes of wild Kurdistan, were the last straw. He died in 
 Tokat on the 16th of October, 1812. The British Ambassador 
 in Teheran presented, in Martyn's stead, his manuscript 
 translation of the I^ew Testament to the Shah, whom he in- 
 duced to issue so laudatory a notice of the work, that the 
 translation, after it had been printed in Kussia, found a wide- 
 spread circulation in Persia. 
 
 S, The ''^Mediterranean Mission^^ of the Church 
 
 Missionary Society 
 
 Soon after its institution the Church Missionary Society 
 had its attention drawn to the Christian Churches of the 
 Levant. Malta, since 1800 a British possession, seemed to be 
 the most suitable place in which to establish a mission, from 
 which to spread the knowledge of the Gospel over all the 
 countries bordering on the Mediterranean, especially among 
 the Oriental Churches on the one hand, and among Islamic 
 nations on the other. The hope was entertained that a 
 spiritual revival in the ancient Churches would exercise a 
 beneficial influence on the Islamic world surrounding them, 
 thus preparing the way for direct mission work among 
 Muhammadans. There was no thought of founding Prot- 
 estant Churches, the missionaries being particularly ad- 
 
The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary Endeavour 95 
 
 monished to respect the customs and views obtaining in 
 the Oriental Churches. On their appointment they were 
 instructed to cultivate a spirit of moderation, tenderness and 
 caution. " Study " — so runs a striking passage in their in- 
 structions — " for it is particularly applicable to the circum- 
 stances of an enlightened and devout Christian labouring in 
 the midst of a benighted and corrupted Oriental Church, 
 study that spirit of moderation, delicacy and caution, which 
 was exhibited by the Apostles towards their countrymen the 
 Jews, and towards their converts from among the Gentiles. 
 Although they acted, and spoke, and wrote under the im- 
 mediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and foreknew cer- 
 tainly the approaching dissolution of the Jewish Polity, yet, 
 in ritual observances, such as Circumcision, Washings, the 
 Change of the Sabbath, Fasts, Attendance at the Temple and 
 in the Synagogues, and, generally, in all the discipline of the 
 old covenant which was waxing old and ready to vanish 
 away, they were temperate, comfortable, conciliatory, and 
 large-hearted. . . . Whenever a member of a church 
 which holds the main truths of the Gospel, though with a 
 great mixture of error, discerns that error, he is perhaps dis- 
 posed to break away from its Communion. It requires much 
 wisdom, candour, and fidelity, to guide the conscience aright 
 in such cases." 
 
 So, in 1815, Malta was made the centre of the " Mediter- 
 ranean Mission." A printing-press was set up, and for years 
 a flood of larger and smaller publications was poured forth. 
 Among these were editions of the Bible in the ancient lan- 
 guages of the Oriental Churches, and also in the modern 
 tongues ; e. ^., a New Testament in Modern Greek, prepared 
 by an abbot in Constantinople, called Hilarion ; Arabic 
 translations of the New Testament and the Book of Common 
 Prayer by Eev. C. F. Schlienz ; and the Book of Common 
 Prayer in Turkish and Amharic, by the same author. Al- 
 though the Pope in 1817 issued a bull forbidding the reading 
 of these translations, and the Sultan, probably under the in- 
 fluence of Koman intrigue, prohibited the introduction of 
 
96 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Christian books into Turkey, yet these publications were 
 largely bought in the countries bordering the Mediterranean. 
 In 1819 Constantinople was occupied as a second mission 
 centre, but was abandoned again in 1821 in consequence of an 
 outbreak of fanaticism among the Turks, caused by the Greek 
 War of Independence. Another station was established in 
 1828 on the island of Syra, where Eev. F. A. Hildner, coming 
 from the seminary in Basle, founded a secondary school, the 
 so-called Pedagogium, of which he was principal for forty-five 
 years, until 1876. In 1830 Eev. J. Zeller and Eev. P. 
 Fjellstedt were stationed in Smyrna, the centre of Greek 
 culture in Asia Minor. Thence they travelled through Asia 
 Minor and the neighbouring countries, preaching everywhere, 
 distributing Christian literature and founding schools, which, 
 however, dwindled away under the opposition of both Greeks 
 and Jews. In Egypt Eev. J. E. T. Lieder and Eev. W. 
 Kruse had begun somewhat earlier, in 1825, to work among 
 the Kopts, meeting with no opposition from the Koptic 
 Patriarch Butros (Peter) YII (1809-1854). They were per- 
 mitted to distribute Protestant literature, and to preach in 
 Koptic churches and even in the monasteries. Lieder founded 
 a training-school for boys in Cairo, which gradually de- 
 veloped under his care into a theological institution for 
 training priests for the Koptic Church. His college, however, 
 could not be maintained because the Koptic bishops refused 
 to ordain candidates from a Protestant school, although they 
 were otherwise not very particular with regard to the char- 
 acter of candidates for the priesthood ; yet one of Lieder's 
 pupils became Abuna of the Abyssinian Church. Lieder 
 and Kruse laboured in Egypt unwearyingly for thirty-five 
 years, in face of many disappointments. Their work laid the 
 foundation of the mission in Abyssinia. 
 
 Although the " Mediterranean Mission " was founded by 
 English missionaries, of whom Eev. Wm. Fowett, who 
 eventually became its superintendent, may be specially 
 mentioned, its agents were almost all of them Germans, 
 trained in the mission college at Basle. Such were Eev. C. 
 
The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary Endeavour 97 
 
 F. Schlienz in Malta, Rev. J. R. T. Lieder in Cairo, Rev. J. A. 
 Jetter in Smyrna and the pioneers of the work in Abyssinia. 
 The number of agents employed by the Church Missionary 
 Society in this mission was always small, and these few were 
 either left to die at their lonely posts, like Hildner in Syra 
 and Lieder in Cairo, or they were transplanted sooner or 
 later to other missions. About the year 1860 it became 
 apparent to the Church Missionary Society that the hopes 
 set on the Mediterranean Mission had not been fulfilled, 
 that in fact it was almost impossible by means of that mission 
 to introduce new life into the Oriental Churches or to bring 
 the Gospel to the Muhammadans of Turkey. The mission 
 was therefore discontinued in its original form. 
 
 4, The Basle Mission in Transcaucasiaj 18^2-1835 
 
 The Basle Mission, founded in 1816, was, in the first years 
 of its existence, content to supply men for other societies, 
 English and Dutch. But, in 1820, feeling at length a measure 
 of strength, it began to contemplate a mission of its own. 
 
 Many pious Suabian families had emigrated, in 1819, to 
 Russian Transcaucasia, and had founded German settlements 
 in Tiflis and its neighbourhood. They requested the Basle 
 Committee to send them some of their young missionaries to 
 minister to them spiritually. The active mind of the leading 
 secretary in Basle, Rev. T. Blumhardt, recognized in this ap- 
 plication a brilliant prospect for an extended mission. From 
 these German colonies as centres he hoped not only to infuse 
 new life into the moribund Oriental Churches, but also to 
 press on to the Muhammadans living in adjacent countries. 
 His expressive face used to light up as he expounded his idea 
 that it would be possible to reach Persia, Russian Trans- 
 caucasia, nay, all the countries round the Mediterranean, within 
 a fewdays, starting from any harbour of the Black Sea. Egypt, 
 Abyssinia and the North Coast of Africa were not too far 
 away but that they might be easily and safely reached and, if 
 necessary, as easily escaped from (Eppler, "Geschichte der 
 Basler Mission," p. 28. W. Hoffmann, " Elf Jahre," pp. 30 ff.). 
 
98 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 The energetic support of the Eussian government was also 
 confidently relied on, since the pious Emperor Alexander I 
 was at that time Czar. It was under his influence that the 
 Eussian Bible Society had been founded in 1813. This Society 
 joined its forces with those of the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society to reprint and distribute the then rare Ancient 
 Armenian Bible. By 1815, 5,000 complete Bibles and 2,000 
 New Testaments (followed, in 1817, by 2,000 more) were sent 
 to Eussian Armenia and were speedily disposed of. It must 
 be confessed, however, that they were bought only by the 
 educated classes and higher clergy, who alone understood 
 ancient Armenian. 
 
 The Basle Mission was begun with the permission of the 
 Eussian government, though under certain restrictions. Pas- 
 tors were allowed in the German settlements, but non-Chris- 
 tians should be baptized only on condition that they settled in 
 the German colonies. There were four tasks that the Basle 
 Committee placed before the first missionaries in 1821 : (1) to 
 distribute the Word of God in every language and dialect of 
 those peoples ; (2) to acquire a knowledge of the chief lan- 
 guages commonly spoken by them ; (3) to found a college for 
 Persians and Tartars, as an advanced school for pupils of the 
 elementary national schools ; (4) to set up a printing-press for 
 the translation of the Bible and of Protestant literature. 
 
 A Scottish missionary society had, in 1802, begun to work 
 in these southeasterly parts of Eussia, especially from two 
 centres, the Tartar village of Karass, on the northern slope of 
 the Caucasus, and Astrachan, the capital, lying on the Caspian 
 Sea. But as the results proved unsatisfactory they determined 
 to make Astrachan the sole centre, and to direct their efforts 
 mainly to the distribution of the Bible and of Protestant litera- 
 ture. They were therefore glad that the Basle Mission was 
 ready to take up their work at Karass. This mission thus 
 secured a firm footing for its work. 
 
 The Suabian colonists in Eussian Transcaucasia welcomed 
 the Basle Brethren with joy, and placed themselves under their 
 spiritual care. Eev. A. H. Dittrich drew up for them a prac- 
 
The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary Endeavour 99 
 
 tical form of church organization and other Brethren became 
 their ministers. But soon Shusha, a town in the mountain 
 district of Karabagh, situated on a height surrounded by deep 
 valleys, became the chief centre of the Basle Mission. Here 
 they began an Armenian and Russian school, and set up their 
 printing-press. On their preaching tours they passed 
 through the districts on both sides of the Caucasus, pene- 
 trating also far into Persia and Mesopotamia. Rev. Johann 
 Jacob Lang, untiring as he was in his labours among the 
 German colonists, still found time to go from one Tartar camp 
 to another, bringing the Gospel to the heathen. Shusha of- 
 fered many opportunities for work among the Armenians, and 
 the Basle missionaries believed they could minister to them 
 with greater freedom and success, not by founding a separate 
 Protestant Church but by arousing the old Churches them- 
 selves to new spiritual life. Especially in Shemacha and Baku, 
 two towns which they regarded as substations of Shusha and 
 often visited, they gained among the Armenians faithful 
 friends. There also they came into frequent, and often 
 friendly, touch with the Muhammadans. Felician Zaremba, 
 one of the missionaries, had a peculiar gift of appealing to their 
 hearts in a simple and hearty way. Felician Zaremba,^ a 
 young count descended from an old Polish noble family, a 
 branch of which had gone over to the Protestant Church in 
 1635, had, in 1817, at the age of twenty-three, under the 
 impulse of very strong religious feelings, turned his back on 
 brilliant prospects of honour and riches by a secret flight 
 across the boundary. In the following year he entered the 
 college of the Basle Mission. The committee saw in him a 
 personality specially fitted to put their Caucasus Mission on a 
 firm footing. By his complete command of the Russian lan- 
 guage and thorough knowledge of Russian state ajffairs he was 
 marked as the man to conduct the many complicated negotia- 
 tions with the Russian authorities. His burning zeal to lead 
 souls to the Saviour, combined with the ease with which he 
 approached Armenians and Muhammadans, made him an ex- 
 
 * " Ein roasisoher Edelmaim ols Missionar," 3d ed., Basle, 1900. 
 
100 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 oellent missionary. Though he may not have been the most 
 talented among the German missionaries in the Caucasus, he 
 was certainly the most prominent personality, and, during the 
 thirteen years of the existence of the mission, its history is in 
 the main the history of his life. 
 
 Karl Gottlieb Pfander^ a clever linguist with a thorough 
 theological education, was sent out in 1825, and proved a 
 master in the difficult task of theological argument with 
 Muhammadans. He fearlessly travelled through the north- 
 west of Persia and the countries bordering on the Euphrates, 
 as far as Bagdad, winning souls for Christ by his clear dialectic 
 and his warm heart. His chief apologetic work, "The 
 Balance of Truth " (Mizan ul Haqq), is founded on his experi- 
 ences as an itinerant missionary in those days. It is one of 
 the best Protestant polemical works directed against Islam, it 
 is still published and much read in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, 
 Hindustani and English, and is almost indispensable to every 
 missionary among Muhammadans.^ 
 
 Pfander is an interesting figure among the Muhammadan 
 missionaries of the nineteenth century. Born on the 3d of 
 IN'ovember, 1803, in Waiblingen, the son of pious and well-to- 
 do parents — his father was a baker — he was early won for 
 mission work, and entered the college of the Basle Mission in 
 1820. In 1825 he was appointed to the Basle Mission in Trans- 
 caucasia, with special instructions to devote himself to the 
 Muhammadans ; and that constituted his life's work for forty 
 years, until his death on the 1st of December, 1865. He 
 laboured in three fields consecutively ; during the first twelve 
 years, 1825-1837, in the service of the Basle Mission in Trans- 
 caucasia; then, with some intervals, for fourteen years in 
 Northern India, in Agra and Peshawar ; and finally, for seven 
 years, 1858 to 1865, in Constantinople. In this volume we come 
 across him in the first and last of these periods. His years in 
 India were no doubt the zenith of his life. It was then that 
 he displayed the greatest power. His famous controversy 
 
 '"Chr. Friedr. Eppler," "Dr. Karl Gottlieb Pfander, ein Zeuge der Wahr- 
 keit." Baale, 1888. 
 
The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary Endeavour 10 1 
 
 with his well-informed opponent Rahmat Allah, in Agra, in 
 the Easter week of 1854:, was a notable event in the North 
 India Mission. Two of the witnesses of that controversy, the 
 Muhammadans Safdar Ali and Imaduddin, became later bold 
 defenders of the Christian faith. 
 
 Pfander is especially celebrated for his striking apologetic 
 book, " The Balance of Truth " (Mizan ul Haqq, English Edi- 
 tion by the Rev. R. H. Weakley, London, 1867). Starting 
 from the deeply rooted and general desire for salvation which 
 can be satisfied only by a revealed religion, Pfander goes on 
 to show that for Muhammadans and Christians there are only 
 three books of revealed religion, the Old Testament, the New 
 Testament and the Koran. Then he proves in three chapters : 
 (1) that the Bible supplies a fully satisfying revelation, (2) that 
 this revelation ought to be known to and appropriated by 
 every Moslem and (3) that, on the other hand, neither was 
 Muhammad a man qualified to give a revelation, nor is the 
 Koran in itself satisfactory. Pfander rightly lays chief stress 
 on the second point, the systematic exposition of salvation 
 through Christ. He does this very positively, but at the same 
 time in a manner that appeals to the thoughts and feelings of 
 Muhammadans. In the first part he disposes of the foolish 
 prejudices of Moslems against the Bible, above all of the utter 
 unreasonableness of the talk about the corruption of the text 
 of the Bible, a means of attack which, devised by Muhammad 
 himself, has been reiterated again and again by Muhammadan 
 controversialists to cover the fact that the Bible opposes the 
 prophetic claims of Muhammad. Yery wisely he postpones 
 his severe polemic against Muhammad and the Koran to the 
 third chapter so that it follows his exposition of the Christian 
 doctrine of Salvation. He does not mince his words, but 
 gives a very clear and strong statement of the shortcomings of 
 the Prophet. 
 
 The varied work of the Basle Brethren was not without re- 
 sults in many ways. The Muhammadans gained were few, 
 but they were men of worth. One of them was Mirza Faruch, 
 a child of Christian parents, who had been kidnapped by the 
 
102 History of Protestant Missions in the Near Esat 
 
 Persians and had been for seventeen years brought up as a 
 Moslem. He became the faithful companion of the mission- 
 aries on their preaching tours. Another convert was Alex- 
 ander Kasim Beg, a learned professor in Kasan. Among the 
 Armenians, also, the mission had faithful friends, such as the 
 two deacons Moses and Parsegh in Shusha, the teacher Arakel in 
 Shemacha, the merchant Hakob, father of Hakob Abuhayatian, 
 the martyr of Urfa in 1895, and others. But a destructive 
 blight was to fall upon this promising work. The higher 
 clergy in the patriarchate of Echmiadzin determined to oppose 
 this active Protestant movement. They refused to give their 
 sanction to the translation of the Bible in the modern Ar- 
 menian tongue, a translation which Dittrichhad prepared with 
 such pains. They sent a memorial to the Russian Court, com- 
 plaining of the unwarrantable interference of the Basle mis- 
 sionaries in the concerns of the Armenian Church. The gov- 
 ernor-general, von Rosen, who was an enemy of Protestant 
 missions, kindled the flame of hostility against the Basle 
 Brethren, by describing them as secret allies of the English 
 and enemies to Russian influence. Nicholas I therefore issued 
 a ukase on the 5th of July (23d of August), 1835, which put 
 a sudden end to the Basle Mission. The ukase forbade any kind 
 of work within the Armenian Church, or among Muham- 
 madans. "Within the Russian dominions, the Russian State 
 Church alone was to be authorized to work among other 
 Christian Churches and among Muhammadans. 
 
 For a time the hope was entertained in Basle that they 
 might be able to continue the Caucasus Mission in spite of this 
 crushing blow. Nothing more might be necessary than to 
 transfer the centre of their activity to the Turkish territory 
 lying close at hand, in order to carry on the work among the 
 Armenians undisturbed. But would not the Armenian clergy 
 there be just as hostile to their work as on Russian territory ? 
 And would they not by such a move be encroaching on the 
 work of the American Board in those parts ? In the opinion 
 of Gottlieb Pfander, Persia ought to be made the centre of 
 the mission's activity. It was, indeed, clear that the time had 
 
The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary Endeavour 103 
 
 not yet arrived for a direct and open preaching of the Gospel 
 there, yet he hoped to be able to found schools for secular ed- 
 ucation. The Basle Committee, however, would not agree to 
 undertake such purely preparatory work. 
 
 So the Caucasus Mission was dissolved. Those of the breth- 
 ren who did not remain as pastors of the German settlements 
 entered the service of English societies, chiefly the Church 
 Missionary Society, in Asia Minor or India. 
 
 There came an unexpected after-effect of the Basle Mission 
 in the Caucasus. In Shemacha, in 1842, the Armenians who 
 had been awakened under the ministry of the Basle Brethren 
 formed, under the leadership of the teacher Arakel and an 
 Armenian named Sarki Hambarzumoff, a small Protestant 
 community within the Armenian Church. Being excommuni- 
 cated in 1861 with fearful anathemas, they obtained permis- 
 sion in 1866, after suffering much persecution, to attach them- 
 selves to the recognized Protestant-Lutheran Church of Rus- 
 sia. In union with that Church they exist to this day, exer- 
 cising no influence on the Armenian Church (Eppler, " Ge- 
 schichte der Grtindung der armenisch-evangelischen Gemeinde 
 in Schamachi," Basle, 1873). 
 
Ill 
 
 PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN TURKEY AND ARMENIA 
 
 WE divide European Turkey into four parts : Albania, 
 Macedonia, Thrace, and Bulgaria, though the Prin- 
 cipality of Bulgaria is in process of becoming inde- 
 pendent. The population of Albania is mainly Albanian, 
 though there is an intermingling of Servians and Turks in the 
 northeast, and of Greeks in Epirus to the south. Of the mil- 
 lion of inhabitants, the Roman Church claims 131,400, at least 
 333,000 belong to the Orthodox Church, and about 100,00 are 
 Bulgarians ; the rest of the population is Muhammadan, save 
 for the modest number claimed by the Protestant Mission. 
 Macedonia, including the vilayets of Salonica, Monastir and 
 Kossovo, is inhabited mainly by Greeks in the south and along 
 the coast, and by Bulgarians in the interior, the number of 
 the population being about 2,Y50,000. Salonica, the chief 
 town, is a busy centre of Protestant missions, which have also 
 secured a footing in the vilayet of Monastir-Bitolia. Thrace^ 
 in which lies the capital, and which consists of the vilayets of 
 Constantinople and Adrianople, has a population of 2,000,000, 
 Constantinople alone claiming more than half a million. In 
 Thrace a majority are Turks. The Christians belong mainly 
 to the Greek Orthodox Church. 
 
 In Bulgaria there are about 3,732,200 inhabitants, of whom 
 643,258 are Muhammadans. In the statistical tables of 1893, 
 2,606,786 are given as Greek or Bulgarian Catholics, 22,617 
 as Roman Catholics, 2,384 as Protestants and 6,643 as 
 Armenian Christians. This makes a total of about 2,640,000 
 Christians. It is computed that the population of European 
 Turkey, without Bulgaria, numbers rather less than 5,891,000, 
 of whom 3,000,000 are Muhammadans and 2,660,000 Christians. 
 
 104 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 105 
 
 Of the latter, 2,250,000 are Greek Orthodox and 320,000 
 Eoman Catholics. 
 
 We divide Turkey in Asia into the five large groups of Asia 
 Minor, Armenia with Kurdistan, Syria, Mesopotamia and 
 Arabia.' 
 
 The following is a statistical table of the population : 
 
 Population, 
 
 Asia Minor 9,500,000 
 
 Armenia and Kurdistan (vilayets Mamuret el Aziz, 
 
 Erzerum, Van, Bitlis and Diarbekr) 2,500,000 
 
 Syria (vilayets Beirut and Syria, mutessarifliks, Lebanon 
 
 and Jerusalem and the Janak Haleb) 2,500,000 
 
 Mesopotamia (vilayets Mosul, Bagdad and Basra and the 
 
 districts of Urfa and Sor) 1,200,000 
 
 Arabia (vilayets Hijas, A^sir, Hodeida, Sana and Taisand 
 
 the Nejd) 1,200,000 
 
 Total population of Turkey in Asia 16,900,000 
 
 We have to deal at present only with the first two divisions, 
 — Asia Minor, and Armenia with Kurdistan. We take them 
 up together, since they are indissolubly connected in their 
 mission history. Muhammadans preponderate in both prov- 
 inces. Orthodox Greeks inhabit the western and northern 
 coasts of Asia Minor, where there are more than a million of 
 them. In the towns of these districts there are scattered col- 
 onies of Armenians, especially numerous in the neighbourhood 
 of Constantinople, one of the most noted churches to which 
 Armenians make pilgrimage, as well as the best Armenian 
 training-school, being situated in Armash near Nicoraedia, 
 In the vilayets of Armenia and Kurdistan the Armenians 
 dwell in fairly compact masses. According to a very super- 
 ficial estimate there are altogether 10,000,000 Muhammadans 
 and 2,500,000 Christians in these lands. 
 
 ^Of the eighteen vilayets and two mutessarifliks which constitute Asia Minor, 
 we find in the Christl. Orient a passably correct statistical statement, following 
 Cuinet, ' * La Turquie d' Asie, ' ' Paris, 1892-1894. According to it the population 
 of Asia Minor is 14,857,118, of whom 11,801,485 are Muhammadans and 2,760,- 
 864 Christians; of the latter 1,475,011 are Armenians. The Armenians form, 
 therefore, the greater part of the Christian population of Asia Minor, 
 
io6 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 1, The Mission of the American Board Until the Rupture 
 with the Ancient Churchy 1830-181^ 
 
 As in so many other fields the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society was the first organization to begin Protestant mission- 
 ary work in Turkey. Just as, with the cooperation of the 
 Kussian Bible Society, it had laboured in Kussian Armenia, so 
 here in Turkish Armenia it distributed Bibles and portions of 
 the Bible in Ancient Armenian at very reduced prices, drawing 
 part of its supply from St. Petersburg, and making use also of 
 the version prepared by the Roman Mechitarists in San Lazaro 
 near Yenice. Soon perceiving, however, that these versions 
 were not easily understood by the people, the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society, in conjunction with the Russian Bible 
 Society, prepared in 1822 a new Armenian-Turkish translation 
 of the i^ew Testament and in 1823 another in the vulgar 
 Armenian tongue (Ashharapar). As the Armenian Church 
 authorities did not wish a Bible to be read by the common 
 people, they refused to give their sanction to these versions, 
 and the British colporteurs had to dispose of their costly 
 wares as well as they could in face of opposition from the 
 Armenian clergy. 
 
 In 1828 the mission of the American Board ^ in Syria, 
 founded by the Congregational Church of the United States, 
 was temporarily interrupted by the Greek War of Independ- 
 ence, and the missionaries had to retire to Malta (cf. Chap. 
 YI, A, 1). Two of them. Dr. Eli Smith and Dr. O. Dwight, 
 were commissioned by their committee to undertake a journey 
 of exploration and research throughout Asia Minor, Armenia 
 and Northwestern Persia. After having been nearly six- 
 teen months on the way, they gave the report of their expe- 
 riences in an important book entitled : " Christian Researches 
 in Armenia." This book, which went through several editions, 
 
 * Cf. Rufus Anderson, "History of the A. B. C. F. M., Oriental Clmrches," 2 
 Vols. For the period 1831-1846 Pfeifer, "Die Armenierin der Tiirkei," Berlin, 
 1863, copied in Chri^il. Orient, 1897, pp. 27, 78, 120. ' ' Forty years in the Turkish 
 Empire. Memoirs of Rev. Wm. Goodell, D. D.," by Ed. G. Prime, D. D., 8th 
 ed., Boston, 1891. 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 107 
 
 drew the attention of American friends of mission work to the 
 peoples of the Near East, and the American Board resolved 
 to begin work at once among the Armenians. 
 
 A way was opened for them in a surprising manner in the 
 large and influential Armenian colony in Constantinople. 
 Certain merchants and bankers of high social position, know- 
 ing that knowledge is power, had come to the conviction that 
 the superiority of European nations was based, to a great ex- 
 tent, on their advanced culture. They were therefore look- 
 ing around for men to bring them that Western culture, and 
 became convinced that good schools were the best channel for 
 this life-giving stream. At the head of this enlightened party 
 was the educator, Peshtiraaljan, who has been called the 
 Erasmus of Armenia. He was a careful and critical student 
 of the Armenian language and literature, and was well versed 
 in the history and theology of the Oriental and Koman 
 Churches. He quoted the Bible with astonishing ease and 
 exactitude, and relied on it as on the supreme guide of faith. 
 Although timid by nature, he led his students slowly but 
 surely into new paths of study, convincing them that their 
 Church was not only not infallible, but that it had actually 
 gone astray on many points of doctrine. He was the best 
 possible precursor of the Protestant missionaries ; from his 
 pupils they obtained their first assistants. Up to his death in 
 183Y he remained a staunch friend of Protestantism, although 
 he never had the courage openly to join the Protestant com- 
 munity. 
 
 It was on the 9th of June, 1831, that the first missionary of 
 the American Board, Eev. "William Goodell, arrived in Con- 
 stantinople, to be followed a year later by the Rev. Harrison 
 Gray Otis Dwight, the pioneer, and by the Rev. William 
 Gottlieb Schaufiler, the linguist. It was fortunate for the new 
 mission that it could retain the services of these excellent men 
 for thirty years and more. Dr. Goodell retired in 1865 in his 
 seventy-third year, and died on February 18, 1867, in Phila- 
 delphia. Dr. Schauffler lived on to 1883, when, at the age of 
 eighty-four, he died in New York, the veteran of the mission. 
 
1 o8 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 These three men determined the character of the Board's 
 work during the first three decades of its existence. 
 
 Dr. H. G. O. D wight worked well-nigh uninterruptedly in 
 Constantinople. His chief power lay in his untiring proclama- 
 tion of the Gospel in Constantinople and its neighbourhood. 
 In addition to learned treatises and magazine articles, he wrote 
 in 1850 his " Christianity Eevived in the East." (The second 
 edition in 1854 had the title " Christianity in Turkey.") He 
 met with his death in an unfortunate railway accident, whilst 
 at home on furlough, on the 25th of January, 1862. 
 
 Two methods recommended themselves as the most effectual 
 in gaining entrance and influence, namely literary and educa- 
 tional work. The former has been from the beginning the 
 most prominent part of American activity, and their work in 
 this sphere has been excellent. It may be said in general that 
 the American missionaries have created a literature in every 
 language in the Near East which fell within the field of their 
 labours. The whole of the Bible was translated into modern 
 Armenian, Armeno-Turkish and Osmanli-Turkish, the classical 
 language of the Turks (cf. Chap. YII, 2, a, h\ and is printed 
 in various editions, as also in portions. Further they published 
 the New Testament and the Psalms in ancient Armenian and 
 in Kurdish. To supplement this direct Bible work, and as 
 helps to a better understanding of the Bible, handbooks, con- 
 cordances, commentaries and other books of the kind were 
 written and published, especially in modern Armenian and 
 Armeno-Turkish. Books of devotion were also compiled in 
 both languages. Then there were handbooks on all the sub- 
 jects taught both in the lower schools and in colleges. Even 
 a weekly paper, the Avedaper (messenger), of a combined re- 
 ligious and secular character, received constant care and 
 attention. It has appeared since 1885, partly in modern 
 Armenian, partly in Armeno-Turkish, and has about one 
 thousand subscribers. Nearly all of the American mission- 
 aries took part in a greater or less degree in this literary 
 work ; but the bulk of it lay on the shoulders of Dr. Goodell, 
 who distinguished himself by the translation of the Bible 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 109 
 
 into Armeno-Turkish, and, later, on those of the linguist, 
 Dr. Elias Riggs. 
 
 Elias Biggs was a reticent, retiring student, whose com- 
 panions were his books, and whose chief delight was the ac- 
 quiring of ancient and modern languages. He was a com- 
 plete master of Greek, Armenian and Bulgarian ; he studied 
 the dead languages of the Near East, Hebrew and Chaldaic, 
 Syriac and Koptic ; he understood most of the living languages 
 of Europe and Western Asia, at least well enough to be able 
 to read their literature without any trouble. He had a gift for 
 exact philological investigation, and was deeply interested in 
 all questions connected with the study of languages. "With all 
 this scientific endowment, he was a man possessed of a steady 
 determination to devote these talents to the service of the 
 Christian Churches of the Orient, by providing them with 
 good Protestant literature in languages understood by the 
 common people. His work was devoted to the three great 
 Oriental Churches, the Greek, the Bulgarian and the Armenian. 
 He wrote many of the tracts and school-books that were neces- 
 sary to the mission in their church and educational work. He 
 assisted in the production of the magazines which the mission- 
 aries published, though he did not edit them himself. He 
 translated and composed many hymns for the church services. 
 Above all else, he devoted himself to the translation of the 
 Bible with all his mind and heart. This work of his predilec- 
 tion was characterized by painful exactitude, patient research, 
 sincere fidelity and a wonderfully consistent style. "With 
 equal intentness he strove to gain for himself a clear under- 
 standing of a passage and then to present it in words and 
 phrases that would be at once understood by the simplest 
 mind. His two complete versions, in Armenian and Bul- 
 garian, are regarded by experts as masterpieces of translation. 
 He was a member of the committee appointed to revise the 
 Turkish version, it being his special task to give everywhere 
 a clear exposition of the sense of the original Hebrew or 
 Greek text of the Bible, which his colleagues undertook to 
 express in the Turkish language. 
 
no History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Dr. Eiggs' life was extraordinarily uneventful. Having 
 been sent to the East as early as 1830, he assisted for some 
 years in the mission schools in Argos (Greece), in Bebek, in 
 Haskeui near Constantinople, and in Smyrna. After that he 
 went to Constantinople, where he spent the latter half of his 
 life, nearly fifty years, in quiet study. Highly esteemed by 
 friends and opponents, greatly admired for his learning, and 
 yet always of a retiring disposition, he spent these years in 
 strenuous work, until at the age of ninety he entered into 
 his rest on the ITth of January, 1901. 
 
 Though only a small minority of the Armenians could read, 
 they were from of old a civilized nation with a great respect 
 for books, and with a deep-rooted faith in the Bible as the 
 Word of God and as the supreme authority for faith and con- 
 duct. So the open Bible was the missionaries' most powerful 
 ally. An appeal to it was always impressive and through 
 such oft-reiterated appeals they justified their work in the 
 minds of the people. The Board's work among the Armenians 
 consisted essentially in carrying out a favourite watchword of 
 American friends of the mission : " The reintroduction of the 
 Bible into Bible lands." Even after the pioneers of this great 
 literary work had died, one after another other able men fol- 
 lowed in their footsteps. Of these we mention only Dr. Ed- 
 ward Riggs, the son of Elias Riggs, Henry Otis D wight, son 
 of H. G. Otis D wight, Dr. Henry S. Barnum (since 1867) and 
 Dr. George F. Herrick. 
 
 It would have been impossible for the Board to carry out 
 its comprehensive literary scheme, had not the British and 
 American Bible Societies, as well as various religious tract 
 societies rendered abundant help. The Bible House in Con- 
 stantinople was the arsenal which supplied all the mission 
 stations with the two-edged sword of God's Wqrd (cf. Chap. 
 YII, 2, c). 
 
 The second of the two methods which the American Board 
 found most useful was educational work. Having made pre- 
 vious attempts in this direction in Greece, the American mis- 
 sionaries opened a grammar school in Constantinople in 1834:. 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 1 1 1 
 
 After various changes, this was transformed in 1848 into a 
 " Seminary '^ in Bebek, a suburb of Constantinople, with Dr. 
 Cyrus Hamlin as its active and capable head. The intention 
 was to attract the flower of the Armenian youth by offering 
 a thorough Western education. Other less important schools 
 had the same aim in view. It soon became evident, however, 
 that this end could not be so easily accomplished as had been 
 expected. There were other opportunities for advanced edu- 
 cation in Constantinople and its neighbourhood, the district to 
 which the mission was at first confined. For the leading Ar- 
 menian bankers, not liking to see the Americans monopolize 
 higher education, set up rival schools. Besides, the mission 
 had learned that, in order to gain influence in the Armenian 
 Church, it was more necessary to spread the knowledge of the 
 Gospel among its clergy, and to get as many of the clergy as 
 possible under their influence for a time. So the seminary in 
 Bebek was converted into a preparatory theological institu- 
 tion. 
 
 It was not the original plan of the Americans to found sep- 
 arate Protestant churches. They rejoiced not to be obliged 
 to take up at once such an attitude towards the ancient 
 Church as had been forced on their brethren in Syria by the 
 deliberate hostility of the Maronites in the Lebanon. They 
 hoped gradually to leaven the Armenians and their Church 
 with Gospel teaching and a vigorous Christian life, being 
 ready, meanwhile, to bear patiently the abuses and antiquated 
 forms of that Church, until in course of time their teaching 
 should promote a reform of the whole church life from within. 
 But they were disappointed. The leaders of the Armenians, 
 and the higher clergy in particular, soon began to look askance 
 at the rapid progress of the Protestant mission, and to combat 
 it with imprisonment, banishment, and a policy of petty vex- 
 ation. The Patriarch Stephan III (1831-1839, and 1840-1841) 
 was dethroned because he was too indulgent, too favourable 
 towards the Protestants. His successor, the Patriarch Matteos 
 (1844-1848), made it his chief aim to extirpate the Protestant 
 
112 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 movement. fiTor is he altogether to be blamed. The Ameri- 
 can Mission was more of a threat than perhaps its missionaries 
 realized to the unity of an ancient Church, with whose eccle- 
 siastical organization and with whose historic forms the demo- 
 cratic spirit of American Congregationalism was, at best, but 
 little in accord. And with this church unity, which the Amer- 
 ican Mission thus threatened, was wrapped up the national 
 ideal. 
 
 Eobbed of political independence, scattered over wide and 
 diverse areas, having not even a common language, the Ar- 
 menians had but one bond of union left them, their Church. 
 To touch this, to threaten its existence, was regarded as a 
 crime against their nation. The most powerful motive of 
 Armenian opposition to the American Mission was the fear 
 that its success would break or at least loosen the unity of the 
 national Church. 
 
 The Patriarch Matteos had effectual means at his disposal 
 to annihilate the flourishing Protestant work. The sharpest 
 weapon at his command was the power of excommunication, 
 and this he wielded in the freest and most effective manner. 
 Protestants, or those suspected of Protestant tendencies, even 
 the pupils of the mission schools, were excommunicated, some- 
 times as individuals, sometimes by companies (1844-1846). 
 The churches in the metropolis, and in all the districts in 
 which the Protestants had exercised any influence, resounded 
 with the anathemas of excommunication. Parents were com- 
 manded to disown their children, employers to dismiss Prot- 
 estant labourers. Protestants were to be forced to pay their 
 debts at once, without any mercy ; no baker nor butcher was 
 to sell them anything ; they were to be shunned like the plague. 
 The peculiar double function of the Armenian Patriarch, who 
 is not only the ecclesiastical but also the political and social 
 head of his community, enabled him to cause the curses of his 
 excommunications to fall with irresistible force on all who had 
 Protestant leanings. Many families, especially in the capital, 
 were bereft of home and sustenance. The missionaries ap- 
 pealed to the Protestants of Europe and America for help in 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 1 1 3 
 
 supplying their persecuted converts with food and shelter, and 
 in giving them a new start in life. 
 
 2. FroTTh the Organization of the Protestant Church in 1850 
 Until the Armenian Massacres in 1895 
 
 A critical turning-point had been reached. What was to 
 be done ? The Protestant Mission and its adherents had been 
 solemnly and officially thrust out of the Armenian Church. 
 If the Americans were not to drop their work altogether, they 
 could hardly avoid organizing a separate Church. This would 
 have a far-reaching influence on civic life. Ecclesiastical com- 
 munities are in Turkey at the same time civic corporations. 
 They have their own taxation registers, they record their 
 own births, deaths and marriages in accordance with the 
 Turkish official forms. They settle among themselves many 
 civil cases, especially heritage quarrels. The religious com- 
 munity must give bond for any of their number who wish to 
 open a shop or to start a trade. If the Americans wished to 
 build up a Protestant community, they would have to organ- 
 ize their adherents as a civic corporation. Their converts 
 must leave the communion, inherited from the fathers and 
 sanctified by age, to form themselves into a new communion 
 based on the Protestant faith. 
 
 Fortunately for the Protestant cause, the English ambas- 
 sador at that time. Lord Stratford Canning de Eedcliff, under- 
 stood and warmly interested himself in what was going on. 
 After consulting with his government and the missionaries, he 
 first made a preliminary arrangement, which was followed in 
 1850 by the proclamation of an imperial firman granting a 
 legal status to the " Protestants " (abbreviated by the Turks 
 into " Prote "), of whom there were 1,007, as a new ecclesi- 
 astical and civic corporation. Since they had no bishop, who, 
 like the patriarchs, might negotiate directly with the Porte, 
 the civic functions of such an ecclesiastical head were trans- 
 ferred to an "Agent of the Protestants," to be chosen by 
 themselves. But be it noticed, all Protestants in the whole 
 of Turkey were by this firman allowed to form only one civic 
 
1 14 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 and ecclesiastical community, whatever their nationalities 
 might be ; they ceased to be Armenians or Greeks, Arabians 
 or Syrians, and all came under the category of " Protestants." 
 However great the gain was, and however thankfully the 
 persecuted Armenians and their missionaries were for the 
 firman, it is evident that it had many disappointments in 
 store for the Protestant cause. Under such a constitution it 
 was very difficult for Protestantism really to become popular 
 in the Eastern Churches ; it looked like a wedge threatening 
 to split up their nationalities. In the name of the patriotism 
 for which both Armenians and Greeks are famous, the Eastern 
 Churches raised repeated protests against such national decom- 
 position, and more than once at critical moments the cry was 
 heard, " "We hope to become twice as much evangelical as you 
 are, but we will never become Protestants." 
 
 Yet these evils did not immediately become apparent ; on 
 the contrary, the firman of 1850 was followed by a great ad- 
 vance on the part of the mission. A great task was placed 
 before it, the task of building up a separate Protestant Church. 
 The first step they took was to extend their sphere of activity 
 considerably. Even prior to the rupture they had gained 
 some footing in Asia Minor. Since 1820 Smyrna had been 
 occupied, though not continually, the first station of the Amer- 
 ican Board in the Levant. When the station in Malta was 
 given up in 1833 (cf. Chap. lY, a^ 1), the printing-press and 
 its accessories, with the exception of what was required for 
 Arabic work in Beirut, was taken to Smyrna, which was per- 
 manently occupied by the American missionaries in 1834. 
 Owing to the close connection of Constantinople with Bithynia 
 on the other side of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmora, 
 some sparks of evangelical truth had been carried into the 
 latter territory and had burst into flame, particularly in Brusa, 
 Nicomedia and Adabazar, where small Protestant congrega- 
 tions had been formed under the leadership of converted 
 priests. Brusa had been occupied as a station in 1834. When, 
 in the same year, the Board's Persian Mission among the 
 Nestorians was begun in Urmia, Trebizond became the Black 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 115 
 
 Sea harbour from which the overland route to Persia started. 
 It therefore was an indispensable place for a depot on the 
 road to the distant inland mission field, and work was begun 
 there in 1840. This single link between Constantinople and 
 the mission field in Persia proved insufficient, in view of 
 the great distance, the bad roads, the lack of facilities for 
 travelling, and the danger from bands of Kurdish robbers. 
 So in 1840 a second station was established in Erzerum^ 
 half-way from Trebizond to Lake Urmia. This ancient 
 and important town recommended itself the more, be- 
 cause it was considered to be the capital of Turkish Ar- 
 menia and lay in the midst of a district very thickly popu- 
 lated by Armenians. 
 
 At the time of the rupture more new stations were founded, 
 either as a favourable opportunity offered itself, or according 
 to a well-considered plan, v^hereby the work was to be ex- 
 tended so as to reach all towns and districts with a large 
 Armenian population. The first station, Aintah, lay far in- 
 land from the Bay of Iscanderun, on the southern slope of the 
 wild Taurus range. Bedros, an Armenian priest in Constan- 
 tinople, had been banished, to a monastery in Jerusalem on 
 account of his Protestant leanings. On the way thither he 
 escaped to Aintab, where his preaching found such unexpected 
 and general acceptance that the missionaries, after a short 
 visit of inspection, established there a station in 1846. In a 
 short time Aintab became one of the most powerful centres 
 of the entire work. From Aintab the work was extended 
 along the southern slope of the Taurus eastwards and west- 
 wards. MarasJi^ the most important of the stations founded 
 from Aintab as a centre, soon became a flourishing sister- 
 station. Other towns were only temporarily occupied by 
 American missionaries. Such towns were XJrfa, the ancient 
 Edessa, the renowned town of Abraham, Aleppo, the thriving 
 centre of ]S"orthern Syria, Ad ana, the capital of the fertile 
 Cilician plain, and the proud, grim mountain fastnesses of 
 Hadjin and Zeitun. In 1856 this branch of the mission to the 
 south of the Taurus was organized as a separate mission, 
 
1 16 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 called at first the " Southern Mission," and later, the " Mission 
 of Central Turkey." 
 
 Another important starting-point of extensive development 
 was in the wild highlands of Southwestern Armenia and 
 Kurdistan, with their deep fertile valleys. The attention of 
 the missionaries was directed to this field of work on their 
 long journeys from Trebizond across the highlands of Asia 
 Minor to Mesopotamia. Just as the importance of establish- 
 ing an intermediate station in Erzerum had become clear to 
 them on their journeyings to Urmia, so did it happen in the 
 case of Diarbehr^ on their way to Mosul. This important 
 ancient city was the end of the weary overland journey. 
 Thence they floated down to Mosul in a few days, on inflated 
 sheepskins or on simple wooden rafts. Diarbekr was occupied 
 in 1851. Soon it became evident that there was a favourable 
 opening in the neighbouring districts Jying to the north and 
 northwest. The missionaries seized the opportunity the more 
 joyfully because they thus won an entrance into the heart 
 of the original home of the Armenians. 
 
 Kharjpui^ on the upper Euphrates, boldly situated on a 
 precipitous mountain, became in 1855 the first mission centre 
 for this district. Arabkir, which was afterwards attached to 
 Khar put, had been occupied two years earlier. In the course 
 of the years other stations were added — Sivas, farther west, 
 Bitlis and Yan to the east and northeast respectively. In 
 1860 this district was organized as the " Mission in Eastern 
 Turkey." 
 
 For some decades there was to the south and southwest 
 another group of stations forming the " Assyrian " or " East 
 Syrian " Mission. When the Board began a vigorous work 
 among the Mountain l^estorians in the wild and pathless 
 highlands lying between the middle Tigris and the Lake of 
 Urmia, it seemed to be indispensable, on account of the 
 difficult travellings to establish a station as a resting-place on 
 the opposite Mesopotamian side of this mountain waste. 
 Mosul was fixed upon for this purpose, which, however, 
 salubrious and central as it was, was unbearably hot during 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 1 17 
 
 the three summer months. The station had to be abandoned 
 temporarily in 1844:, when the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 of America settled there in order to commence a mission 
 among the Nestorians. The Board wished to avoid friction. 
 That mission, however, left Mosul a few years later, and the 
 Board reoccupied it in 1849, in order to make a further ad- 
 vance into the Nestorian highlands. This work was very 
 arduous, and many noble lives were lost on the long and 
 fatiguing journeys to Mosul. So it became evident that 
 Mosul lay too far away to serve the purpose for which a 
 station had been founded there, and it was abandoned in 
 1860. 
 
 The missionaries [working in the Mosul district had come 
 into close contact with the Jacobites, whose ecclesiastical 
 language, like that of the Nestorians, is a Syrian dialect, 
 which, however, is no longer understood by the common 
 people, who know only Arabic. The religious centre of these 
 Jacobites is Mardin, a town lying in a high and healthful 
 position above the Mesopotamian plain. Unfortunately the 
 Roman Church long ago gained a strong influence among the 
 people, and has split them up into two parties. The Americans 
 began their work here in 1858. In 1860 the stations at 
 Diarbekr, Mosul and Mardin were organized as the " Assyrian 
 Mission," of which we have already spoken. "When Mosul 
 was given up, it seemed advisable to connect the other two 
 stations with the "East Turkish Mission." The work in 
 Mardin is still rather isolated, Mardin being the only station 
 of the Board where the work is carried on in Arabic. 
 
 The work in Asia Minor was also extended. Marsovan, 
 which lies inland from the middle of the northern coast, be- 
 came a station in 1851. Other stations were added, in Tokat, 
 where Henry Martyn died ; in Amasia, where Strabo, the 
 great geographer, was born ; in Caesarea, the ancient capital 
 of Cappadocia, the birthplace of the two distinguished 
 brothers, Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa; and in 
 other towns. These stations were organized in 1860 as the 
 " West Turkish Mission." Doors seemed to be opened every- 
 
1 18 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 where. Even in notoriously fanatical places the hostility of 
 the people was overcome and their confidence won. In 
 Diarbekr, where at first not even the lives of the missionaries 
 were safe, ten years later the townspeople extended a truly 
 royal welcome to a missionary on his return. In Had j in and 
 Zeitun the missionaries were at first in the greatest danger, 
 and were obliged to flee for their lives ; five years later their 
 successors were besieged day and night by eager hearers, 
 wishing to learn from them. 
 
 It would lead us too far to follow up in detail the history 
 of the stations and missions. We must not even try to give 
 a complete list of the stations among which there have been 
 so many changes in the course of years. Suffice it to say 
 that the centres of the Armenian population were occupied 
 by the mission. From Erzerum attempts were even made to 
 push forward into Russian Armenia, lying close at hand ; 
 but here the intolerance of the Eussian Church was a great 
 hindrance. 
 
 The personnel of the American Mission has always been 
 large and distinguished. As a rule there have been forty 
 men regularly employed as ordained and medical missionaries 
 and as teachers ; and, including the missionaries' wives, about 
 sixty ladies. The term of service has, owing to the healthful 
 climate, been on the average a long one. The expenses have 
 been partially met since 1854 by the " Turkish Missions' Aid 
 Society " in England, which has contributed from £2,000 to 
 £2,500 annually. 
 
 With a view to supporting the Turkish Mission of the 
 American Board, the Turkish Missions' Aid Society was 
 formed on the 3d of July, 1854, chiefly through the efforts of 
 the Rev. C. G. Young. Contributions came from members of 
 different British denominations, the Aid Society following its 
 own principles in distributing its funds. While not helping 
 to meet such expenses as those of missionaries' salaries, 
 dwellings and travel, they liberally supported the native 
 clergy, the schools, the orphanages and the hospitals. Es- 
 pecially in times of trouble, as during the Armenian massacres 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia ug 
 
 of 1895 and 1896, and the Macedonian disturbances of 1906 
 and 1906, the Society rendered much help. After 1893 its 
 name was changed to " The Bible Lands' Mission Aid Society," 
 on account of the extension of its support to almost all the 
 missions in the J^ear East. It is a magnificent and pleasing 
 expression of English sympathy with the missions in this im- 
 portant and attractive field, in which there is comparatively 
 little done directly by English missionary societies. 
 
 The inner development of the mission kept pace with its 
 territorial extension. Its churches naturally followed the 
 pattern of American Congregationalism. On the 1st of July, 
 1846, a week after the excommunication of the Protestants 
 by the Patriarch Matteos, the first congregation was es- 
 tablished in Constantinople. The procedure in this case is 
 typical of the founding of later churches. 
 
 The Protestant Armenians applied by letter to the mis- 
 sionaries for help in this unaccustomed work. They received 
 a working scheme for a " Protestant Armenian Church," 
 which was set on foot on the 1st of July. After prayer had 
 been offered and a passage of Scripture read, the Confession 
 of Faith, the Covenant and the Rules of Discipline were read 
 and explained. Then all present were summoned to indicate 
 their consent by standing up. All arose and responded after 
 every article of the Confession, " Thus we believe." In the 
 same way they gave their consent to the Covenant. Then 
 the missionaries and certain Europeans arose and pronounced 
 the assembly to be a true church of Christ. A roll of mem- 
 bers was then made, which contained the names of thirty- 
 seven men and three women. These members then proceeded 
 to elect a pastor by ballot. A man named Khatshadurian, an 
 able Armenian who had already proved his sincerity by suf- 
 fering for the Gospel, was chosen. Other church officers were 
 thereupon elected. Finally Rev. O. D wight was requested to 
 assist the inexperienced pastor for a while. A week later a 
 special meeting of the missionaries was called in order to 
 ordain Khatshadurian. He was ordained with the laying on 
 of hands. A pamphlet was issued by the congregation justi- 
 
120 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 fying and describing its procedure. The process of constitu- 
 ting congregations was similar everywhere in Turkey, though 
 the degree of formality varied. The missionaries always 
 adhered to the plan of letting the assembled Protestants 
 choose their own pastor and other church officials, who then 
 organized the ministry and other congregational matters as 
 best they were able. To be sure, this democratic method is 
 not altogether suited to the Eastern mind. After ages of 
 autocratic rule, it was at first difficult for them to accustom 
 themselves to a democratic constitution, which entailed both 
 the privileges and the duties of autonomy. Sometimes they 
 exhibited a childish spirit of rebellion against the authority 
 of the missionaries, e. g.^ in 1861, when the congregation at 
 Pera separated itself from the mission because they were not 
 granted the right to dispose of money sent from America for 
 the mission. At other times, through ignorance and want of 
 experience, they committed faults which were difficult to 
 remedy. Yet it must not be forgotten that, under the cir- 
 cumstances, there lay a well-nigh inestimable advantage in 
 the plan of conceding what was nearly unlimited congrega- 
 tional freedom. The task of the missionaries was, not to sow 
 the first seeds of Christianity among heathen, but to raise a 
 people that had for centuries possessed Christian feelings, 
 thoughts and aspirations, to a higher level of Christian life 
 and knowledge. It was necessary to put an end to the 
 guardianship and autocratic rule of the clergy, which had 
 been a barrier to higher development. To effect this the 
 American democratic ideals were highly adapted, perhaps 
 more so than the constitution of an Episcopal Church. So, 
 after 'all, theMisadvantage of possible democratic excesses was 
 outweighed by the resultant training in self-reliance. 
 
 We mentioned before that every recognized Church in 
 Turkey enjoys a certain amount of autonomy. It was a wise 
 act of the Board that its missionaries conceded those privileges 
 accorded to the Protestants by the firman of 1850, without 
 any restriction, to the newly formed congregations. "With 
 people of so strong a national feeling as the Armenians, the 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 12 1 
 
 only hope of extending Protestantism lies in keeping the 
 foreign element in the background, especially in matters of 
 church government. Further, the Board soon found that 
 a mistake had been made at the outset in supplying money 
 too plentifully for congregational and educational purposes, 
 as well as for salaries, buildings and other ends. As the 
 Armenians had ever been accustomed to make great 
 pecuniary sacrifices for their churches and their ministry, it 
 was only fair that the Protestant congregations should be as 
 far as possible self-supporting, even should this require 
 strenuous effort on the part of small communities. Here, as 
 in other missions, self-support was a lesson learned by Prot- 
 estant converts only after painful experience ; for they did 
 not readily abandon the convenient theory that the money 
 sent out from America was not intended for the missionaries 
 but for themselves. 
 
 The newly formed congregations were at'first sorely isolated 
 in various parts of Asiatic Turkey. It became evident that 
 they must have some kind of union, however loose. For 
 there were several things to be done which could not be left 
 to each congregation, as, for instance, the formation and ac- 
 knowledgment of new congregations, the ordination and dis- 
 missal of ministers and the granting or withdrawal of licenses 
 to preach. Some kind of board of appeal was also evidently 
 required. Further, the great distances separating the con- 
 gregations rendered a yearly conference all the more necessary. 
 So several congregational unions were formed. They coincided 
 only partially with the several missions of which we have 
 spoken, and thus exhibited most strikingly the abstention of 
 the missionaries from mingling in church affairs. Such a 
 union was formed in Kharput in 1865, under the name of 
 " The Kharput Protestant JJniony In 1864 certain congrega- 
 tions in Brusa, Nicomedia, Adabazar and the neighbourhood 
 had united as " The Union of the Protestant Armenian 
 Churches of Bithynia.^^ This union acquired later particular 
 importance by joining with the congregations in Constanti- 
 nople. A third, " The Central Turkish Protestant Union^^ 
 
1 22 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 was formed in Marsovan in 1868, while a fourth, " The 
 Oilician JJnion^^'^ was formed in the south. These unions had 
 a decided effect in developing a spirit of self-government. 
 After a visitation from America in 1883, the unions were 
 constitutionally organized and extended. 
 
 The characteristic feature of the inner life of these congre- 
 gations is the general adoption of the Congregational principle 
 of distinguishing between the communicant members and the 
 adherents. All the seceders from the old Church had already 
 been baptized and confirmed and their children had also been 
 baptized as infants. So it was very surprising and puzzling to 
 them when they learned that the Americans admitted but a 
 small number to the Lord's Supper, and permitted only the 
 children of communicants to be baptized, especially as it was 
 the exaggerated and almost superstitious view of the sacra- 
 ment which had contributed in no small measure to the petri- 
 faction of the Oriental Churches. Under the new regime they 
 must pass an examination to gain admission to the Lord's Sup- 
 per, an examination often by no means easy. In one place 
 twenty candidates were examined for ten hours, after which 
 only eleven of them were considered fit for admission. It 
 will, perhaps, be best to describe the case of a single congre- 
 gation, which, after passing through the stage of utter 
 astonishment, at last accustomed itself to this congregational 
 practice. 
 
 In Diarbekr the pious and zealous medical missionary. Dr. 
 Azariah Smith, founded in 1851 a small Protestant church of 
 about fifty Armenians and Jacobites, eleven of whom he ad- 
 mitted as communicant members. As soon as it became 
 known that only those who were of reputed ^piety would be 
 recognized as communicant members, influential Jacobites en- 
 deavoured to have the rule altered, so that any Protestant of 
 irreproachable character should be regarded as a full member 
 without further test. There ensued much controversy and the 
 Protestant cause was all but ruined, as the natives threatened 
 to return to their old Churches. At length Dr. Smith per- 
 suaded them to listen to a sermon on Luke 18 : 18-30 and 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 123 
 
 Acts 2 : 43-47, in which he set forth the ideal of the " one holy 
 Catholic Church " in glowing words. The difficulty subsided 
 for a time. But by the year 1854 friction had again become 
 so violent that the church of communicant members had to 
 be dissolved. A new examination took place, and again only 
 eleven out of twenty candidates were admitted. For a time 
 there was again a calm. But eight years later there arrived a 
 Protestant Scripture reader, Garabed, a proteg6 of Samuel 
 Gobat, then Bishop of Jerusalem, who had in Jerusalem be- 
 come acquainted with the rules of the Anglican Church. He 
 maintained that all adult Protestants should be admitted to the 
 Lord's Supper, and their children baptized without exception. 
 This naturally gave rise to new trouble and a further crisis. 
 
 As there was no central authority for the Churches, the 
 missionaries travelled hither and thither trying to establish 
 their influence in the congregations, supporting, comforting, 
 advising and admonishing both the native pastors and catechists 
 and the congregations themselves. In some cases, as in 
 Kharput, special men were set apart for this evangelizing 
 work within the Protestant community. 
 
 In 1846 the Board began to pay special attention to educa- 
 tional work. After the Protestants in Turkey had been 
 formed into separate communities side by side with the other 
 Churches, it was necessary, in the nature of the case, to pro- 
 vide a separate educational system for the youth of the con- 
 gregations. This was done by establishing primary schools, 
 which the church-members were expected to maintain as soon 
 as they should be able to do so. Even more necessary was it 
 to train able and reliable teachers and ministers under Prot- 
 estant influence. We have already told how the Board be- 
 gan its educational work in Constantinople by establishing ad- 
 vanced schools with a view to attracting promising young 
 Armenians. This undertaking was now abandoned, for the 
 expense of such institutions was excessive, nor did they seem 
 altogether necessary as a pioneering agency, since there was at 
 that time a general interest in the Gospel among the Armenians. 
 The Board wished to devote attention to the congregations, 
 
1 24 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 and to respond to the calls for teachers, catechists and pastors, 
 which came to them from all quarters. This task of training a 
 native ministry was difficult enough in view of the democratic 
 principles of the Congregational mission. As each congrega- 
 tion is independent, it exercises its own judgment in the elec- 
 tion of a pastor, teacher or catechist. The functions of the 
 Union to which such a church belongs are confined to the 
 examination, recognition and ordination of the ministry. So 
 the Board can but provide institutions for the training of 
 students, some of whom come of their own accord and at their 
 own expense, while others are sent either by the congrega- 
 tions or the missionaries. Their training finished, the mission 
 does not undertake the responsibility of finding situations 
 for them or of providing them with salaries. It is for the in- 
 dividual congregations or the unions or the individual mis- 
 sionaries to engage such candidates. That is the theory at 
 any rate, and it is more and more working out into practice. 
 Tet, after all, the influence of the missionaries is considerable 
 in the matter of the engagement and work of all teachers and 
 pastors, by reason of their superior insight and the weight of 
 their opinion in all church affairs. 
 
 The schools have been subjected to many changes both in 
 their nature and in the standards which they have maintained. 
 In Turkey there is np fixed system of education, there being 
 neither a standard course of study for the pupils nor a re- 
 quired grade of proficiency for the teachers. The entire matter 
 is left in the hands of the various religious bodies. The mis- 
 sionaries who, following home example, were inclined to make 
 high demands on teachers and pupils, had to come to an 
 agreement with the congregations as to what the children 
 should learn and what the qualifications of the teachers should 
 be. On the latter point the question as to what salary the 
 congregation was able and willing to give was decisive. It 
 was long before the members learned to appreciate the value 
 of a thorough primary education for their children. It will be 
 instructive to give the experience of one congregation in this 
 matter. 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 125 
 
 In 1872 the congregation at Aintab applied to the Board 
 thus : " We remember how things stood twenty-five or thirty 
 years ago. At that time we did not realize the necessity and 
 advantages of education. A population of 10,000 Armenians 
 in Aintab was satisfied with one school, in which reading and 
 writing could be learned. When, by the action of the Board, 
 the Bible had been translated into our common language, our 
 views with regard to schools underwent a change, we know 
 not how. We, as Protestant Armenians, were no longer 
 satisfied with even three or four schools, nor with the fact that 
 only our sons could be educated ; something must be done for 
 our daughters too. We found also that ability merely to read 
 and write did not suffice ; the children needed to be taught 
 more than this. While at first we were hardly willing to send 
 our children to school, though it was the missionaries who 
 bore the expense of their education, now we were willing to 
 establish secondary schools at our own cost. In the light of 
 God's Word we saw that we must be educated, would we be- 
 come good Christians, good fathers and mothers and useful 
 members of society. This desire was materially increased by 
 the fact that there was among our Churches a demand for a 
 better educated class of men as teachers and ministers. All 
 the congregations in our union are convinced that the status 
 of the clergy must be raised." 
 
 The pastors and catechists too had difficulties of their own. 
 Preaching itself was almost unknown in the ancient Church. 
 The presbyters and deacons of that Church had only to read 
 the long and unintelligible liturgies. Since for this purpose 
 little more was required than the ability to read, there was a 
 very low grade of education prevalent among the lower clergy. 
 It was not easy to raise up alongside such a clergy one that 
 was versed in the Holy Scriptures, well grounded in Christian 
 doctrine, and experienced in preaching and teaching, in the 
 care of souls and in the administration of church affairs. 
 
 The Board founded four theological seminaries, or training- 
 schools, one for each of the three Turkish Missions : in Mar- 
 sovan for the Western Turkish Mission ; in Kharput for 
 
126 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Eastern Turkey ; and for Central Turkey in Marash. A fourth 
 had to be provided in Mardin for those in the southeast who 
 spoke Arabic. These theological institutions cannot be com- 
 pared with those of the Churches in America. The training 
 in them is confined to the more important theological studies, 
 exposition of the Scriptures standing in the centre of the whole 
 course. Instruction is generally given in the language of the 
 students. Little attention is devoted to foreign languages, 
 either English, Greek or Hebrew. In order, however, to fit 
 the students thoroughly for their work among their own peo- 
 ple, they are made acquainted with the ancient Armenian and 
 the Turkish languages. 
 
 It is natural that the demand for education should expand 
 in proportion to the spiritual advance of the Protestant Arme- 
 nian Church. While the first students in the seminaries were 
 half developed men without much preparatory training, it be- 
 came necessary later to provide a better preliminary training, 
 in order that the work in the theological seminaries might be 
 more thorough and fruitful. Accordingly intermediate schools 
 were instituted between the primary schools and the semina- 
 ries. Such schools had to become more numerous, as more boys 
 grew up in Protestant families, who wished to have a better 
 education, that they might enter the higher professions, not 
 exclusively now as teachers and ministers. The necessity of 
 satisfying this demand was laid upon the mission by the fact 
 that there were no other schools available for the training of 
 these boys. 
 
 At this point in our record of the development of educational 
 institutions we must view in some detail the work of Dr. Cyrus 
 Hamlin. 
 
 Cyrus Hamlin^ was sent to Asia Minor in 1838 and was 
 commissioned in the following year to found the theolog- 
 ical seminary of which we have already spoken, in Bebek near 
 Constantinople — no easy task for a young man of twenty-eight. 
 At first the house was small, the educational apparatus insuflS.- 
 cient and the students nearly all of them poor. It was a task 
 ^ Dr. Cjraa Hamlin : " Mj Life and Times Among the Turks 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 127 
 
 that just suited Hamlin, who knew how to make the best of 
 any situation. His inventiveness so terrified the indolent 
 Turks that they regarded him as the greatest " sheitan " 
 (satan) in Constantinople. It was rumoured that he took a 
 photograph of every convert, and that, should any of them 
 apostatize, Hamlin would shoot at the picture or cut it through, 
 with the result that the man would surely die. His electrical 
 machine, it was said, was for the sole purpose of " making 
 Protestants." If he merely looked intently at an Armenian 
 or Greek, he won power over him.^ But to the poor and the 
 sick he appeared as a guardian angel, and although he was not 
 by profession a doctor, yet he was appointed as medical officer 
 for the poor in the suburb. During a serious epidemic of 
 cholera he was indefatigable in allaying the sufferings of the 
 sick, saving many lives by his loving care. He never shunned 
 hardship or danger. Once, during the holidays, one of his 
 students fell ill and died before Hamlin could reach him. 
 When he arrived at the house it had been deserted, the dead 
 body having been left in it. A terrified crowd stood outside. 
 The foul odour characteristic of cholera issued from the win- 
 dow. 'No one had the courage to help bury the body. Ham- 
 lin at once ordered a number of boards and a hammer and 
 nails to be brought, and soon had made a large box. Then 
 having tied a cloth saturated with vinegar over mouth and 
 nose, he entered the house, carried the dead body out and laid 
 it in the coffin. After that the crowd was willing to complete 
 the burial. 
 
 Such a virile personality could not fail to influence those 
 with whom he came into contact. His college filled astonish- 
 ingly. He was particularly pleased that nearly a fourth part 
 of the students came from Armenian or Greek manses, in spite 
 of the growing hostility to the mission among the native 
 clergy. The greater number of his eager students were poor, 
 unable even to clothe themselves decently. Yet Hamlin did 
 not wish them to receive what they lacked as charity ; he 
 
 ^ These are but samples of the superstition that the missionaries frequently- 
 met with among Oriental Christians as well as among Muhammadans. 
 
1 28 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 preferred to let them earn what was necessary. So he ar- 
 ranged workshops in connection with his college. In addition 
 to the hours devoted to teaching, he stood for an hour every 
 morning at the carpenter's bench, spent another hour at mid- 
 day at the anvil, and at night arranged the work for the 
 tailors or examined the mending of the boots. He was, how- 
 ever, richly rewarded by the happy, busy spirit which he ob- 
 served among his boys. 
 
 Then there came the rupture with the ancient Church, 
 The converts were boycotted, no one having anything to do 
 with the Protestants, no one employing them. It was against 
 Hamlin's principles to give the hungry Protestants food out 
 of charity ; he knew that he would be rendering them better 
 service by obtaining work for them. The outbreak of the 
 Crimean War and the subsequent formation of the large camp 
 of the English army on the Bosphorus gave him his opportunity. 
 He determined to set up a large bakery and a flour mill 
 worked by steam, in order to provide the poor Protestants 
 with work whilst supplying bread to the troops. His American 
 colleagues shook their heads and drew back from him ; but he 
 was not disconcerted, even though the Board refused to sup- 
 ply him with the funds necessary for his undertaking. Day 
 by day he delivered at the camp 14,000 pounds of good loaves 
 of full weight, and withal so punctually and honestly that 
 the military authorities quite seriously proposed that he should 
 supply the troops in other places also. At the close of the 
 war Hamlin discontinued this work, which, to the surprise of 
 his friends, had realized a net gain of £5,500. This sum he 
 paid in to the treasurer of the mission to the last farthing, 
 thus stopping the mouths of those who had doubted his hon- 
 esty. 
 
 Nevertheless Hamlin left the Society in 1860, feeling that 
 he could not agree with their educational methods. The sem- 
 inary which he had founded was to be removed to Marsovan 
 in Asia Minor, and in place of the hitherto prevalent use of 
 English in the teaching, the vernaculars were to be introduced. 
 He determined to continue his work independently, without 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 129 
 
 means and support as he was. His idea was to found in Con- 
 stantinople a college on the American pattern, which should 
 serve as a channel through which to irrigate the parched fields 
 of the ancient Churches, and perhaps even the corrupt Turk- 
 ish society, with the life-giving streams of English Christian 
 culture. But where could he obtain the necessary means? 
 He visited the United States, endeavouring by lectures and 
 conferences to gain supporters for his scheme, and he succeeded 
 in awakening enthusiasm in the heart of Christopher Robert, 
 a New York merchant, with whose help, chiefly, he set to 
 work, calling his institution the " Eobert College." 
 
 Plentifully supplied with money ,^ Hamlin returned to Con- 
 stantinople, but only to meet with new difficulties. The Porte 
 refused to sanction such far-reaching plans, for it was not in its 
 interests to permit its Christian subjects to be well educated. 
 Hamlin was not permitted to build on the first site which he 
 had bought. In buying a second plot he made the stipulation 
 that he should pay no money before permission to build on it 
 was granted. It was not long before a document in the grand 
 vizier's own handwriting, granting him permission to build, 
 was handed to him. Thereupon he paid the price, but hardly 
 was the money out of his hands, when two officials of the 
 Porte appeared on the site to stop the building operations, 
 stating that there were still " some formalities to be attended 
 to." Then followed further difficulties. The Jesuits, who at 
 that time were very influential, did all in their power to sup- 
 press the Protestant college. In this they were supported by 
 the French and Russian ambassadors, while the American 
 consul declared that he was not authorized to support Hamlin. 
 How was the latter now to carry out his project ? Had he 
 not been an American, he would most likely have lost courage. 
 But he persevered. The further development of the case be- 
 came so dramatic, and the denouement was so comical, that it 
 is a pity we cannot give it in detail. The visit of an American 
 admiral to Constantinople, a letter written by Hamlin to his 
 
 * At the time of hia death in 1878 Mr. Eobert had given $400,000 for the col- 
 lege. 
 
130 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 consul, the outbreak of a rebellion in Crete — all these operated 
 together and one day Hamlin, to his great surprise and joy, 
 not only received permission from the Porte to build his 
 college, but was also informed that it would be recognized as 
 a college incorporated by the legislature of !N"ew York and 
 placed under its protection. 
 
 The opening of the college in Bebek, five miles to the north 
 of Constantinople, took place in 1863. It stands in a beautiful 
 position, below it the blue waters of the Bosphorus, imme- 
 diately behind it the bold ruins of the Rumeli Castle, on every 
 side an extensive view of the mountains of Asia and Europe 
 with their castles, towns, and villages. Situated in the midst 
 of such delightful surroundings, picture to yourself an impo- 
 sing structure that would grace an American university. 
 
 The curriculum at the Eobert College, which is affiliated 
 with the New York University, includes, as in similar institu- 
 tions in America, a four years' preparatory course in the 
 academy, which was supplied with a new building called the 
 Theodorus Hall in 1902, and which has at present 194 students. 
 In the college proper there is a twofold four years' course in 
 arts and in science, upon the successful completion of which the 
 degree of B. A. or a science degree is bestowed. The classes 
 are attended by about 180 students. Few, however, go in for 
 the examinations. The college buildings include the Hamlin 
 Hall and the Albert Long Hall. The entire property of the 
 college contains twenty-three acres. In addition to the build- 
 ings already mentioned there are a gymnasium, five profess- 
 ors' dwellings, and numerous outbuildings, the whole present- 
 ing an imposing appearance. But it can hardly be called a 
 missionary institution. On principle it declines to draw away 
 students from their Church in order to make them Protestants. 
 Students are simply required to attend daily morning and 
 evening prayers and the services on Sunday. There is a 
 Young Men's Christian Association, founded in 1892 by 
 Luther "Wishard, the well-known secretary of the American 
 Y. M. C. A., and it does much to create a Christian atmos- 
 phere. It is a remarkable fact, that, although the college lies 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 131 
 
 so close to fanatical Constantinople, there are among the 373 
 students, sixteen Turks, five Kurds and two Arabs. Up to 
 the year 1905, 2,705 students passed through the institution.^ 
 Cyrus Hamlin remained president of the college only till 1873, 
 when he returned home worn out with his labours. There re- 
 mained to him, however, a long eventide of life, which he spent 
 as professor of theology. His countrymen heaped on him 
 high honours ; he received the degrees of Doctor of Divinity 
 and Doctor of Philosophy. He died in Portland, Maine, on 
 the 8th of August, 1900. Several talented and able men have 
 since been successful presidents of the Robert College, e. g.y 
 C. F. Gates, LL. D., D. D., and George Washburn, D. D. 
 
 The mission hesitated to follow the example of Cyrus Ham- 
 lin. It was not their wish to deorientalize their pupils by im- 
 parting an English education to them, nor to make them 
 dissatisfied with their simpler life by arousing unattainable 
 ambitions in their breasts. Yet the demand for higher edu- 
 cation was growing apace. The need of an educated ministry, 
 too, was pressing, and there was a sad gap between the 
 primary schools and the theological seminaries. In 1874 the 
 first college was founded in Aintab.^ Since then two other 
 similar institutions have been opened for the two other mis- 
 sions, the Euphrates College at Kharput in 1876, and the 
 Anatolia College at Marsovan in 1886. All three have, in the 
 course of years, so developed that they provide primary, 
 secondary, and college education, along with certain courses 
 in special subjects. A further stage of development in the 
 general educational system was entered upon about the year 
 1880. The Armenians had become alive to the fact that, if 
 they were to take their proper place in Turkey and in the 
 world, they must surpass the other nations of the country in 
 education. A great desire for enlightenment seized the Protes- 
 
 *In 1900, twelve former students had entered the ministry, eighty-eight had 
 become teachers, fifty were state officials (especially in Bulgaria), fourteen were 
 judges and thirty-seven medical men. Those who, after passing through the 
 Kobert College, wish to pursue study in special subjects, go to the Syrian Protes- 
 tant College in Beirut, where they enjoy special advantages. 
 
 ^ '* The Higher Educational Institutions of the American Board," Boston, 1904. 
 
132 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 tants as well as the Gregorians. The leading missionaries 
 felt bound to satisfy this strong desire. Consequently the 
 number of educational institutions has greatly increased dur- 
 ing the last twenty-five years, and twenty-five " high schools" 
 for boys have been added to the colleges, most of them board- 
 ing-schools. The standards of these high schools are becoming 
 higher from year to year. The English language occupies an 
 ever larger place. 
 
 In the ancient Church the education of girls was at a very 
 low ebb, and it was long before even the Protestant Armenians 
 became aware that it was necessary that the girls, too, should 
 at least be taught Bible history, reading, writing, and singing. 
 In the smaller congregations the girls attended the same 
 schools as the boys, while in larger places separate primary 
 schools for girls gradually sprang up. It became evident that 
 it was of the utmost importance that the girls should be 
 trained under the same Christian influences, if they were to 
 become the wives of teachers and elders, pastors and cate- 
 chists. The first high school for girls was a school for the 
 daughters of educated Armenians, begun in Constantinople on 
 lines similar to those of the Bebek Seminary. After the rup- 
 ture of 1846, however, this plan was abandoned, as it was 
 found that the students in the theological seminary were 
 mostly married men who came with their families to enter 
 upon the four years' course of study. Thus it became neces- 
 sary so to arrange matters that the wives, too, should profit by 
 their prolonged stay in the mission stations, while their hus- 
 bands were attending the seminaries. To meet this want 
 a new system of higher education was tried ; it became even 
 more important when female teachers for the primary girls' 
 schools and Bible-women in the churches came to be needed. 
 Add to this that an increasing number of the more well-to-do 
 Armenian families, especially in Constantinople and Smyrna, 
 were willing at some sacrifice to afford their daughters the 
 advantages of a Protestant education in separate boarding- 
 schools. In consequence of the relations between the sexes in 
 the East, boarding-schools are more necessary for female educac 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 133 
 
 tion than with us. The result was that in 18Y1 a Protestant 
 girls' boarding-school was founded in Scutari, near Constanti- 
 nople. 
 
 The increased demand for knowledge on the part of women 
 caused this side of the educational system of the mission to 
 grow in a surprising manner — we might almost say, too 
 quickly. Perhaps a German writer is not a fully competent 
 critic of American schemes for female education, as it is 
 known that Germans hold somewhat different views on the 
 position of women in society from the American ideals. So 
 Americans are inclined to extend to Oriental women, too, a 
 fuller measure of educational advantages than seems desirable 
 or proper to a German mind. An important factor in this 
 development is to be found in the growing strength and influ- 
 ence of women's missionary societies in America which had 
 at their disposal an ample supply of lady missionaries and of 
 means to further their views. By 1895 the number of girls' 
 boarding-schools had increased to twenty with 1,200 boarders. 
 Some of them, as in Kharput and Marash, became colleges. 
 The highest and most prominent institution is the American 
 College for Girls at Scutari, founded in 1890, publicly recog- 
 nized by an official decree, an irade of the Sultan, in 1895, 
 and even relieved of taxation. 
 
 Turkey has also enjoyed the benefits of medical missions, 
 which since 18Y0 have become so prominent in the work of 
 American missionary societies. Medical missionary work 
 was begun at first on a small scale in all the missions, espe- 
 cially in the towns of Caesarea, Aintab, and Mardin. 
 
 One of the most prominent of the medical missionaries in 
 the service of the American Board during those earlier decades 
 was Dr. Henry West, who, born in 1827, was sent in 1859 to 
 serve among the Armenians, being stationed at Sivas. He 
 died in 1876, having worn himself out not only by unremitting 
 work in his profession, but also in the exercise of an unusual 
 ability for training native assistants to become able doctors 
 themselves. The Kev. E. Kiggs declares, " that the best and 
 most reliable medical men in the towns of Asia Minor were 
 
134 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 mostly pupils of the celebrated medical missionary, Dr. H. 
 West." The natives said of him, " He is like Jesus." 
 
 For the fifty years following the rupture in 184:6 the de- 
 velopment of the Protestant Mission was quiet and steady. 
 The Board's report of the year 1895 stated that the Armenian 
 Mission numbered at that time 14, for the most part well 
 equipped, main stations, and 268 out-stations. There were 
 46 missionaries and one medical missionary, 42 missionaries' 
 wives, and 63 other lady missionaries, making a total Ameri- 
 can force of 152 persons. In addition to these there were 90 
 Armenian pastors, 117 catechists, 529 teachers and 66 other 
 assistants — a total Armenian force of 800. One hundred and 
 eleven churches had 11,835 full members and about 20,000 
 adherents. It was calculated that there were 32,092 adults 
 and 24,132 children in the Sunday-schools. Accordingly the 
 entire Protestant community numbered about 50,000 souls. 
 Protestant influence was evidently on the increase and the 
 prospects of the mission were most promising. 
 
 From our report of this missionary movement it might be 
 supposed that, after the time of the rupture, the American 
 missionaries used all their influence to increase their own 
 congregations by an uncompromising propagandism. It must 
 be stated that, if we look at the mission as a whole, this 
 reproach seems to us quite unjust. It is true that, after the 
 establishing of Protestant Churches had become a necessity, 
 the missionaries shunned none of the difficulties connected 
 with the forming of new congregations and schools in their 
 endeavour to lay a sure foundation for the building up of a 
 virile Protestant ecclesiastical system. They knew that a 
 considerable period of hatred, and even of open hostility, 
 would have to elapse before the Gregorians would be in a 
 frame of mind to judge them fairly, since their work must lie 
 under the suspicion of being a proselytizing effort to destroy 
 the ancient Church, an undertaking similar to the intrigues 
 of the Jesuits. But in the prosecution of their work they ever 
 kept in mind the whole nation, aiming to fill their hearts with 
 evangelical teaching, to give them a new religious life, and to 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 13^ 
 
 raise them to a higher moral level. The means they employed 
 for this purpose, in the face of much misrepresentation, were 
 the distribution of the Bible and sound Protestant literature, 
 and a vigorous work of higher education. As they were de- 
 barred from working among that portion of the Armenian 
 people which lived in Russian territory, they had to concen- 
 trate their labours upon the Armenians in Turkey, numbering 
 144,000, upon whom, therefore, in spite of their wide disper- 
 sion, they have been able to leave a deep impression. Perhaps 
 the plainest proof of this is that the Eoman propaganda, which 
 formerly had quite neglected education, began to establish 
 rival schools in order to counteract the influence exercised by 
 the Protestants.^ 
 
 And the Armenians themselves became incited by the Ameri- 
 cans to make fuller provision for education in a way quite new 
 in the history of the people. They established primary and sec- 
 ondary schools for boys, and even began to pay attention to 
 female education. It seemed as if a new spring time had come 
 to the people. But upon this promising development there burst 
 out a devastating storm which threatened to destroy all the 
 splendour of the new awakening and even to make an end of 
 the Armenians as a nation — the fearful massacres of the years 
 1894-1896. 
 
 S. The Armenian Massacres, 189Jf.-1896 
 
 {a) The Armenian Question? The status of the Zimmies 
 throughout Turkey is, generally speaking, bad, and that of the 
 
 Armenians is particularly deplorable. We have already seen 
 that they are almost everywhere a minority in the prov- 
 inces which they inhabit. They form the bulk of the popula- 
 tion only in certain small sections of their original home and 
 in a district of Cilicia about Zeitun. Their chief curse is the 
 
 * There is in Sivas a Roman Catholic college, a rival of the American Anatolia 
 College in Marsovan, and another college in Mesereh as a rival of the Euphrates 
 College in Kharput. 
 
 i^Jamea Bryce, *' Transcaucasia," 4th ed., 1896. Hepworth, "Through 
 Armenia.'' 
 
1 36 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Kurds. From time immemorial, as witness Xenophon's " Ana- 
 basis," these savage bandits have infected the wild mountain 
 wastes of Eastern Turkey, being subject to no authority, and 
 every man's hand being against his fellow ; terrible neigh- 
 bours for a quiet, unarmed, agricultural population such as 
 the Armenians were in their home country. Only the mailed 
 fist of a strong government could have compelled the rebellious 
 Kurdish sheikhs to leave their peaceable neighbours unmo- 
 lested. The Ottoman Porte had not even the desire to do so, 
 since the Kurds are, at least nominally, Muhammadans, and 
 the Armenians " Christian dogs." As early as 1855 the Eng- 
 lish general. Sir Fen wick Williams, who, from personal 
 observations during the Crimean War, had become aware of 
 the danger threatening the Armenians, stated in a Blue 
 Book report, that the Armenian provinces were subjected to 
 systematic and abominable oppression in all matters of daily 
 life, that the Turkish government was an organized tyranny, 
 the like of which was not to be seen elsewhere in the world, 
 and that no words could fitly describe the infamous character 
 and behaviour of the Turkish police (" Turkey," Yol. XYII, 
 1877, No. 6, p. 3). 
 
 A new age seemed to be dawning for Armenia when, in the 
 Peace of San Stephano on the 3d of March, 1878, Turkey 
 solemnly pledged herself to Eussiato introduce radical reforms, 
 making a similar promise to the Concert of the great European 
 Powers at the subsequent Berlin Congress in the summer of 
 the same year. The sixty-first section of the Acts of the Con- 
 gress required of the Porte that it should without delay carry 
 out such reforms as were demanded by the circumstances 
 existing in the provinces inhabited by Armenians, and as 
 would be sufficient to protect the latter against the Circassians 
 and Kurds. The Porte was to report from time to time to 
 the six signatory powers, which took upon themselves the 
 duty of seeing that the reforms were carried out. England, 
 in addition, received from the Sultan at the Cyprus Conven- 
 tion on the 4th of June, 1878, a promise that he would intro- 
 duce such reforms as the two powers might agree to be neces- 
 
!*" 
 
 Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 137 
 
 sary for the protection of the Christians and other subjects of 
 the Porte in Armenia, These clear and promising provisions 
 appeared to the Armenians to assure them relief from op- 
 pression. But cruel disappointment was in store for them. 
 
 There are few chapters of European history which present 
 so deplorable a picture of hopeless confusion and repeated 
 failure, as the story of the many and weary negotiations 
 between the cabinets of Europe and the Porte concerning 
 Armenian reforms. Of what nature should the reforms be ? 
 Did Europe wish to found a semi-autonomous principality in 
 Greater Armenia similar to those in Samos and Crete, or a 
 Pashalik with a Christian pasha at its head as in the Lebanon 
 since 1862 ? Either plan would be difficult on account of the 
 strong Muhammadan population in the provinces. Nor did 
 Eussia at all wish to have near her Caucasian boundary a 
 national Armenian state which might bar her advance into 
 Asia Minor, and which would be certain to fill the million of 
 Armenians in Russia with a strong desire to be attached to 
 the independent Armenia. Yet no one could suggest any 
 other program of reform. 
 
 The Sultan alone knew that he had determined to nullify 
 every reform which might be suggested. Abdul Hamid II 
 had been on the throne since 1876, a man of great energy and 
 a fanatical Moslem. The demands of the powers appeared 
 to him unreasonable, and he knew that all good Moslems 
 would be of the same opinion. Should the Zimmies, then, be 
 put on social equality with the Muhammadans and even per- 
 haps be set over them as their magistrates ? As subjects 
 under the lash of the Moslems the Zimmies might be tolerated, 
 for they were after all the best taxpayers in Turkey. But to 
 grant them equal rights was contrary to the holy law. This 
 must at all costs be prevented. Any attempt on their part to 
 gain equality was in itself rebellion. An incautious Turkish 
 minister was but saying what he thought when he cynically 
 remarked that the best way to get rid of the Armenian ques- 
 tion was to get rid of the Armenians. And this was the plan 
 Abdul Hamid adopted. Such characteristically Muhammadan 
 
138 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 logic was the more welcome to the Turks since they were 
 aware of the fact that the Armenians excelled both Turks 
 and Kurds in all industrial pursuits and especially in com- 
 merce and the trades, for on such undertakings the Armenians 
 had concentrated their great mental powers. Consequently 
 they had become prosperous, while the Turks had become im- 
 poverished. The Armenians were the owners of the caravans, 
 while the Turks were their drivers and stable boys. Arme- 
 nians had acquired possession of the finest houses and the most 
 valuable estates. All this was opposed to the Muhammadan 
 conception of the position of a subject nation. Is it, then, to 
 be wondered at that, jealous as they were, and unable to com- 
 pete in a fair way with the diligent, talented and capable 
 Armenians, the Turks resorted to the sword, to " get rid of " 
 the latter in cold blood ? 
 
 Unfortunately some of the Armenians provided an excuse 
 for the barbarous treatment to which they were subjected. 
 It is generally admitted that, both in town and country, they 
 had ever been as a nation quiet subjects without any thought 
 of rebellion, though sorely oppressed. Rebellion would be 
 folly, for it could but bring on them sure ruin. They had no 
 experience in politics, and the only weapons they were per- 
 mitted to carry were daggers and swords and primitive match- 
 locks. Could they with these meet the rifles and cannon of 
 newest pattern possessed by the Turkish soldiers ? Further- 
 more Abdul Hamid had in 1891 raised a light irregular troop 
 of cavalry, the " Hamidiye " regiments, from among the wild 
 Kurds, who were robbers by trade and ever ready to swoop 
 down upon the Christians. Yet, in spite of the obvious folly 
 of rebellion, Armenian emigrants in various countries of 
 Europe and America had been forming secret societies for the 
 purpose of remedying the miserable condition of their homo- 
 land. It has never become known how these " Hunchiagists " 
 or " Hunkachists " were organized, what their objects were in 
 particular, nor what their plan of operations. Now and then 
 traces of them are met with in Consular Reports. Unfortu- 
 nately their very existence and work lent a shadow of justice 
 
Protestant Missions In Turkey and Armenia 139 
 
 to the Porte in dealing harshly with the peaceable and de- 
 fenseless Armenians. The government caused a rumour to 
 spread throughout Europe and Turkey that a rebellion among 
 the Armenians was imminent. Thus the poor people, already 
 in the clutches of Turkey, came to lose the sympathy of 
 Christian Europe as well. It was no doubt, also, due to this 
 panic about a rebellion that the wild rage of the Turks and 
 Kurds burst into flame. Only in rare cases did the Turkish 
 authorities have common sense enough at once to seize and 
 imprison the few Armenian agitators. In reality it pleased 
 them better to make the existence of such agitation an excuse 
 for a general massacre. And it is true that some of the Ar- 
 menian communities received the revolutionists with open 
 arms, and permitted themselves to be worked up into an ex- 
 cited state, in which they committed reprehensible acts, thus 
 damaging the national cause. Bitlis and Van were especially 
 dangerous lurking places of the rebels.^ 
 
 (h) The Massacres.^ In the wild mountain district of Sas- 
 sun, south of Mush, trouble had arisen between the Arme- 
 nians and the Kurds, and the former had declared to the gov- 
 ernor that they could not pay their taxes, if the Kurds robbed 
 them of all they possessed. This the governor regarded as 
 rebellion and in August, 1894, he advanced against the peace- 
 able peasants with a large force of regulars, Hamidiye, and 
 other Kurds. The peasants were slaughtered or dispersed, 
 and their villages plundered and burnt. According to the 
 statement of the British consul, 900 Armenians lost their lives. 
 
 * After his escape to America, Fia Bey, who during the whole time of the 
 massacres was the uDScnapulous instrument of the Sultan and of Fehim Pasha, 
 the infamous head of the palace spies, cynically exposed the secret machinery of 
 that bloodshed to reporters and interviewers. A treacherous clique around the 
 Sultan arranged the Armenian demonstrations in Constantinople and afterwards 
 convinced the Sultan that most dangerous plots were being laid, and that his 
 throne and life were endangered by the Armenian revolutionists. "So Abdul 
 Hamid ordered the massacres, not knowing that his own officials had organized 
 the revolutionary demonstrations" {Sonnenaufgang, Vol. XI, p. 171). 
 
 2Dr. Joh. Lepsius, " Arm en i en und Europa," 1896. "Les Massacres d'Ar- 
 menie." Documents Diplomatiques; Affaires Armeniennes ^Fana, 1897. J. Eendel 
 Harris, '* Letters from Armenia," 1897. 
 
140 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 The first massacre caused a great sensation. England brought 
 renewed pressure to bear upon the Sultan to cause him to 
 carry out the I'eforms he had promised, and on the 11th of 
 May, 1895, laid a complete scheme of reforms before the 
 Porte, to the effect that an equal number of Christian and of 
 Muhammadan officials should be appointed for the govern- 
 ment of the Armenian provinces, with a joint Board at their 
 head. The Sultan now saw that the affair was becoming 
 serious. Yet at the same time he rejoiced to observe that 
 there was no unanimity among the European Powers, and 
 that therefore no effective interference could at once take 
 place. He therefore determined to adopt radical measures 
 to reduce the number of Armenians to such an extent as to 
 render any reforms superfluous. 
 
 From September 30th until December 29th, massacre fol- 
 lowed massacre in quick succession, in Constantinople on Sep- 
 tember 30th, in Akhissar on October 3d, in Trebizond on 
 the 8th, in Erzingyan on the 21st, in Baiburt on the 25th, in 
 Bitlis on the 27th, in Erzerum on the 30th, in Arabkir from 
 the 1st to the 5th of November, in Diarbekr on November 1st, 
 in Malatia from the 4th to the 9th, in Kharput on the 10th, 
 in Sivas on the 12th, in Amasiah, Marsovan and Aintab on 
 the 15tb, in Marash on the 18th, in Kaisarieh on the 30th, in 
 Urfu, twice, on October 26th and on the 28th and 29th of 
 December. Other isolated massacres followed in 1896, in 
 Yan on June 26th, and in Constantinople from the 26th to 
 the 28th of August. 
 
 The slaughter of Armenians was a joy to the Turks. A 
 massacre was heralded by the blowing of trumpets and con- 
 cluded by a procession. Accompanied by the prayers of the 
 mollahs or the muezzins, who from the minarets implored the 
 blessing of Allah, the slaughter was accomplished in admi- 
 rable order according to a well arranged plan. The crowd, 
 supplied with arms by the authorities, joined most amicably 
 with the soldiers and the Kurdish Hamidiye on these festive 
 occasions. Every one was in a good humour. The Turkish 
 women stimulated their heroes by raising the guttural shriek 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 141 
 
 of their war cry, the Zilghit, and deafened the hopeless de- 
 spair of their victims by singing their nuptial songs. A kind 
 of wild, cannibal humour seized the crowd. Here an officer 
 shouted, "Down with the Armenians, it is the Sultan's will;" 
 there a Wall exhorted them, " Look alive ! cease not to kill 
 and plunder and pray for the Sultan." Why should they 
 cease to pray, or abstain from the slaughter ? Were they not 
 promised a reward for their pious actions? And were not 
 the stores of the Armenian merchants and their dwelling- 
 houses full of treasures ? Were they not sure, also, not to be 
 punished ? Nay, had not a paternal government made ar- 
 rangements for its faithful subjects to enable them to murder 
 at their own sweet will, without any danger to themselves, so 
 that in fact it was as safe as slaughtering sheep ? 
 
 The savage crew did not even spare the children. Of what 
 use was this brood, whose parents were either dead or had 
 fled ? To save a year-old baby from an orphan's woes the 
 Muhammadans of a village near Marash threw it into the 
 fire 1 In Baiburt they burned suckling babes with their 
 mothers in fourteen houses. Ohannes Avakian, a rich man 
 of Trebizond, offered the attacking party all his wealth if 
 they would but spare him and his family. He was holding 
 his three-year-old son in his arms. The brutes, knowing 
 that they were sure of his wealth, killed the boy first in order 
 to get at the old man. Both were murdered before the eyes 
 of the wife and the other children. In Erzerum the crowd 
 enjoyed itself killing a man's sons on the corpse of their 
 father, whom it had slain by chopping off piece after piece of 
 his body and pouring vinegar into the wounds. 
 
 In Diarbekr the Kurds surrounded the great stone church 
 of the Jacobites in which crowds of fugitives had taken 
 shelter, shot into it and broke open the roof, throwing in 
 fuel and burning torches until they succeeded in bursting the 
 doors open. With yells of joy from the populace those within 
 the church were hunted out into the open to be met by a 
 storm of bullets. Pastor Yinyis Khathershian, who had come 
 from Egypt to visit his relatives, being recognized as a clergy- 
 
142 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 man, was thrown down and beaten with cudgels till he was 
 well-nigh insensible. One of the sacred books lying about 
 was stuffed into his mouth and he was mockingly requested 
 to preach a sermon. Then burning torches were thrown 
 upon him, and when the acute pain roused him from his 
 state of insensibility and he tried to creep away, he was seized 
 and thrown into the flames. 
 
 Shops and houses, villages and fields belonging to Arme- 
 nians were plundered with a thoroughness which left nothing 
 behind. Not a rag of cloth, nor a pot nor a plate remained. 
 Even the doors and windows were wrenched off and carried 
 away. What was not worth taking was broken to pieces 
 and destroyed. " "We have been robbed of everything," says 
 one report ; " they have not left us a rag wherewith to wipe 
 away our tears." 
 
 That the local and provincial authorities had a share in 
 these horrors is beyond question. Sometimes they led the 
 soldiers and the mob in person, more frequently they simply 
 looked on. In very rare cases, as at Mush, they forbade the 
 massacres and were obeyed. The only doubtful question 
 is what share of blame attaches to Abdul Hamid himself, and, 
 as the official correspondence between the local authorities 
 and the Porte was secret, this question can never be definitely 
 answered. It is certain that the authorities as well as the 
 people were convinced that the Sultan approved of the 
 massacres, or even that he had given special orders. It is 
 also certain that some of the most abominable evil-doers were 
 rewarded with orders and promotions. Eradication of Chris- 
 tianity was an essential part of the Sultan's policy, and the 
 massacres may well have been his reply to England's attempt 
 to press reforms on him. Even a statesman like Gladstone 
 did not hesitate openly to call the Sultan " the Great 
 Assassin," who had exhausted every method of well-planned 
 and thoroughly executed cruelty in Armenia. (Open letter 
 to the Duke of Westminster.) Taking everything into con- 
 sideration, it is hardly probable that the Sultan, as Hepworth 
 suggests, had known nothing of most of the massacres 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 143 
 
 beforehand, and that he had been purposely supplied with 
 false information (Hepworth, " Through Armenia," pp. 169ff.). 
 
 According to carefully prepared statistics, 88,243 Armenians, 
 of whom about 10,000 were Protestants, were murdered, and 
 more than 500,000 robbed of all they possessed ; 2,493 villages 
 and towns were plundered ; 568 churches, of which fifty were 
 Protestant, were pillaged and destroyed, and 282 others were 
 turned into mosques. It was characteristic that in many 
 places the victims were offered the choice between death and 
 Muhammadanism. It was only necessary to repeat the Muham- 
 madan Khalima (La illah, etc.), with the knife already at their 
 throats, or to lift a finger as a sign of assent, and they were 
 spared. They thus became the brethren of their enemies, 
 and, if possible, the new bond was sealed by the marriage of 
 a convert with a Muhammadan. The massacres were not due 
 to a question of race but to one of religion. Christianity was 
 the enemy. Who shall blame them, if, harassed and 
 threatened with death, no fewer than 646 villages and even 
 fifty-five priests joined Islam ? It is true that terrible pangs of 
 conscience followed such apostasy when the danger was past. 
 Apostasy from Islam is punished with death, and in their 
 fanatical fury Muhammadans did not waver for a moment in 
 executing the "holy law." Only in a few villages were the 
 British consuls able to procure for Christians, thus converted 
 by force to Islam, liberty to return to their Church.^ 
 
 The heroism of the Armenians, both Gregorians and Protes- 
 tants, was admirable. " Death rather than deny our faith " 
 was their motto. Many died as Christian martyrs. Twenty- 
 five Protestant ministers and 1Y5 Gregorian priests were 
 massacred, often after unspeakable tortures. The names of 
 the murdered members of the churches have to a great extent 
 remained unrecorded ; but they are written in the Book of 
 Life. They will receive their reward from the hand of Him 
 
 ^ The most characteristio case in point was, perhaps, that of Biredjik on the 
 Euphrates, where the entire Christian congregation of about 1,000 souls adopted 
 Islam in the hour of danger, but through British intervention were permitted to 
 reembraoe Christianity. 
 
144 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 who said, " Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him will 
 I also confess before My Father, who is in heaven." It will 
 strengthen our faith to read the record of some of these wit- 
 nesses, whose names, or the peculiar circumstances of whose 
 sufferings, we know. 
 
 The Protestant minister of Sivas, the Kev. Garabed 
 Khalujian, and his wife had laboured there for many years. 
 On the 12th of November he preached with great power on 
 the text : " Not a hair of your head shall perish." Two days 
 later at midday, a mob of raging Muhammadans rushed in, 
 plundering and massacring. The minister and some of his 
 flock took refuge in an upper story of the house, the door of 
 which they locked, and fell on their knees to pray. Towards 
 evening a second crowd of Muhammadans appeared for the 
 express purpose of murdering them all. The minister ap- 
 proached them calmly, so that they were taken aback and 
 offered him life and freedom if he would but deny his faith. 
 His mind reverted to his ailing wife and his four unprotected 
 daughters, and his heart beat hard. Yet he said : " I not 
 only believe in Jesus Christ for my own part, but have all 
 my life striven to bring others to faith in Him." The reply 
 came : " Then you must die." The martyr raised his hands 
 towards heaven and fell pierced with two bullets. He was 
 buried next day with 800 other victims in the yard of the old 
 Armenian church. 
 
 When Sassun was attacked in the summer of 1894, some 
 sixty young married women were locked up in a church and 
 then handed over to the will of the soldiers. After that most 
 of them were massacred. The most attractive of them were 
 kept alive for a while and were promised safety if they would 
 abjure their faith. " Why should we deny our Lord ? " they 
 asked, pointing at the same time to the corpses of their 
 murdered husbands and brothers. " We are no better than 
 they. Kill us too." 
 
 Of another Armenian woman it is told that, being pursued 
 along with several other women by Muhammadans, she took 
 refuge on a cliff that overhung a deep precipice. Turning to 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 14^ 
 
 her companions, she cried, " Sisters, you have now to decide. 
 Either you let yourselves fall into the hands of the Turks and 
 are unfaithful to your husbands, or you follow my example." 
 Having said this, she leaped into the abyss with her twelve 
 months' old baby in her arms. One after another the others 
 followed her example. 
 
 In the prison at Lemal near Bitlis, Azo, a pious Armenian, 
 was subjected by Turkish officials to fearful torture, to compel 
 him to swear a false oath which meant certain death to 
 some of the best men of the village. He was bound with his 
 arms stretched out as if for crucifixion. His teeth were 
 smashed in by the soldiers, his moustache torn out, his body 
 branded with red-hot irons. Yet the pious man remained 
 firm. " I cannot stain my soul with the blood of innocent 
 men. I am a Christian," he cried in the midst of the horrible 
 torture. At length death came to his relief. 
 
 In the monastery at Tadem the aged Archimandrite, 
 Ohannes Papizian, when he refused to adopt Muhammadanism, 
 had first his hands cut off, then his arms at the elbows. As 
 he still remained firm, he was beheaded. In Biredjik an old 
 man who refused to renounce his faith was thrown on to the 
 ground. Live coals were heaped on to his body and as he 
 lay writhing in agony, a Bible was thrust into his face by his 
 tormentors, who mockingly told him to read them some of 
 the promises on which he relied. 
 
 ■1- Once a Turk asked an Armenian, " Will you turn Muham- 
 madan?" The reply was a confession of Christ. At once 
 the Turk cut out a piece of the Christian's arm with a knife 
 and threw it to the dogs. " Will you turn Muhammadan 
 now ? " The tortured man refused firmly. The monster cut 
 a large piece out of the other arm, throwing that also to the 
 dogs. Still the Armenian remained true to his faith. 
 
 A certain Hagop Pattian of Marsovan, who had won the 
 respect and affection of Christians and Muhammadans alike 
 by his self-sacrificing services during an epidemic of cholera, 
 found no pity. As the axe was about to fall upon his head 
 he said, " Father, forgive them, they know not what they 
 
146 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 do," and, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my 
 spirit." 
 
 In Itshan a number of Armenians, who with their aged 
 minister at their head had taken refuge in a church, were 
 dragged out one by one, and asked separately which they 
 loved more, their lives or their faith. Fifty-two of them pre- 
 ferred to die rather than deny their Lord. One by one they 
 were shot or hewn to pieces with the sword. The old 
 Armenian church was turned into a mosque and the Prot- 
 estant church into a stable. 
 
 In XJrfa a mother had to see her two sons attacked by a 
 savage band and given the choice between Islam and death. 
 She appealed to them rather to die than to deny their Lord. 
 
 (c) After the Massacres. The sufferings of the Armenians 
 everywhere, but especially in the districts of Greater Armenia, 
 were beyond description. Yillages were set on fire, houses 
 were pillaged and destroyed, even the clothes were torn off 
 the bodies of the victims. Particularly the rich and in- 
 fluential, the priests and merchants, the heads of families and 
 leaders of the people were massacred. It was thought that 
 there would not be much difficulty in dealing with the women, 
 after the men had been put out of the way. The result was 
 that, after the massacres, there remained probably 100,000 
 widows and orphans. As they had been robbed of all, even 
 of provisions for the winter and of their cattle, very many 
 families were threatened with death from famine and cold. 
 The persecutions had been most violent in the last quarter of 
 the year, just when the winter was beginning, and though 
 Armenia lies far south, its bleak table-lands and high moun- 
 tains are extremely cold and subject to long and heavy snow- 
 falls. 
 
 The distress that followed was beyond description. We 
 can only listen to what eye-witnesses tell about a few villages, 
 and even here the misery that they saw is too fearful to record 
 in full. 
 
 " How very near to starvation the poor people came may 
 be gathered from the condition of a village called Korpey, 
 
/ 
 
 Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 147 
 
 which I visited to-day. There were one hundred and fifty 
 houses in it, of which only about fifteen are left standing. 
 All the rest have been almost entirely destroyed. There are 
 only bare walls where a beautiful village once stood. The 
 people are in rags. There are beds in only twelve of the 
 houses. The people are sleeping on the floor all winter with- 
 out any bedclothes. The trees have their tops lopped off, 
 leaving only the stems. You find no sheep nor cattle, and 
 only two dogs there. Neither grain nor any other victual are 
 in the houses. In some there may be a little bread, but 
 the chief food consists of grass, which lies in little bundles 
 on the floor. The faces of the women and children is 
 pinched and sallow. I asked a little fellow whether he had 
 eaten any bread that day : * ISTo, only some grass.' Others 
 had pieces of bread only the size of my hand. While we 
 were sitting on the ground surrounded by most of the village 
 people, some of the children were continually pulling up grass 
 and eating it, roots and all. As far as I could judge, only a 
 few days stood between them and death by starvation." 
 
 " On my passing through a village lately, all the inhabitants 
 came out into the street, crying, 'We are hungry, hungry, 
 hungry I ' I am still haunted by this cry. Their fields are 
 laid waste, their houses are in ruins and there is no hand 
 stretched out to help them. What is to be the end of it all ? " 
 
 " This morning some villagers came from Terjan, the centre 
 of a group of villages, asking for help. Their very appearance 
 was their strongest appeal to our pity. They had walked for 
 eighteen hours over two snow-covered ranges of hills. One 
 of the men, who had once been able to accommodate eighteen 
 or twenty visitors at once in his house, was in rags that would 
 hardly have clad him sufficiently in summer. Another man 
 of gigantic stature had had his arms crippled by the swords 
 of the soldiers. The villagers who had sent this deputation 
 were in want of everything that the human being needs ; 
 neither mattress nor bedclothes had been left them, and all 
 through the winter months they had slept on straw and hay. 
 This was the way they managed at night: first straw was 
 
148 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 thrown on the ground, then all lay down on it as closely 
 packed as possible except one, who covered them over with 
 hay, creeping under it himself at last as best be could. Some 
 of these villages had been pillaged by the Kurds off and on for 
 forty days." 
 
 " After the massacre in Malatiye all the Armenians who 
 were left had fled from their burning homes to save their lives, 
 taking with them nothing but the poor clothes that they were 
 wearing. Of all the 2,000 plundered families, representing 
 8,000 souls, only fifty are living and these in the deepest 
 despair. Delicate women whose husbands and grown-up sons 
 have been massacred, and whose houses have been burned 
 down, have been robbed of everything and now live in huts 
 or damp cellars. The once rich are now in rags and have no 
 food. Many of them have to go a-begging from door to door 
 or stand in the market-places clamouring]for alms. There, sit- 
 ting in their shops, the men, who have made them widows and 
 robbed them of all their possessions, may throw them a hand- 
 ful of copper coins while they mock them for trying to pick up 
 some scraps like the dogs." 
 
 "A short time ago I was visiting in Gurun, and found the 
 condition of the people indescribable. Once a charming and 
 flourishing place, it is now, as far as the eye can reach, a 
 blackened waste, a picture of utter misery. The shattered 
 walls of from fifteen to sixteen hundred houses that once nes- 
 tled in well-kept orchards, are the only memorials left of de- 
 parted happiness and wealth. Going from one ruin to another 
 I heard only the piercing cry of woe from the lips of women 
 who had lost their all. The surviving inhabitants were con- 
 fined as in peas, sometimes packed together in one room, 
 which was all that was left of a once respectable dwelling. 
 The miserable people were clad in rags fastened round their 
 waists with ropes, and hardly covering their nakedness. 
 Mothers implored me to help them get their captive daughters 
 back. A more heartrending scene than that which I beheld 
 it would be difficult to imagine." 
 
 The knowledge of all this misery made the appeal for help 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 149 
 
 to Christians the world over irresistible. JEngland had ere 
 this shown much sympathy with the Armenians, and it was 
 remembered that in 1878 she had solemnly undertaken the 
 duty of protecting this unfortunate people. Now she was 
 doubly bound to act the part of the Good Samaritan. In ad- 
 dition to the Anglo-American Association which had been led 
 since 1876 by the ex-Cabinet Minister, James Bryce, in a vain 
 attempt to secure political protection for the Armenians, the 
 Duke of Westminster, the church historian J. Eendel Harris, 
 Lady Somerset and other prominent members of society 
 formed now an association, called the " Friends of Armenia," 
 to organize the relief work. 
 
 In France there had been little official sympathy with Ar- 
 menia, in spite of the fact that for a long time this country 
 had assumed the right of protecting Roman missions in the 
 East and their congregations ; but now the glowing words of 
 Pere Charmetant roused great enthusiasm for the work of re- 
 lief. In Germany the leading statesmen, bound as they were 
 by their pro-Turkish policy, could not be persuaded to inter- 
 fere. But the Rev. Dr. Lepsius succeeded in rousing the feel- 
 ings of Christians in all parts of the country, and in infusing 
 new enthusiasm for the work of Christian charity into societies 
 that were working in the Near East. Such societies were the 
 Kaiserswerth Deaconesses' Homes, the Syrian Orphanage in 
 Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Union. Even in Russia pity 
 and charity asserted themselves, though chiefly among the 
 Russian Armenians in Transcaucasia. The Czar ordered a 
 general collection which brought in 60,000 roubles. The 
 greatest zeal was displayed in the United States. Here 
 Christian circles had, since the beginning of the century, been 
 deeply interested in the missions in Armenia. From all these 
 sources there was collected by the autumn of 1897 a relief fund 
 of £300,000. 
 
 Every kind of help was needed. First of all the most desti- 
 tute sufferers must be helped through the winter. True, the 
 Turkish oflficials gave intermittent aid after the massacres, 
 sometimes, however, with stipulations that were dishonouring 
 
150 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 to women. Even such aid used to cease after two or three 
 weeks, and thereafter they did but put obstacles in the way 
 of others who wished to help. It was fortunate that the Amer- 
 ican Board stations were distributed over the whole of the 
 area affected, for they served as centres for the relief work. 
 Even from such strategically situated stations as Yan, Bitlis 
 and Mush it was extremely difficult to get access to the most 
 desolated and needy districts, accessible during the hungry 
 winter months only by snow-covered passes and almost impas- 
 sable mountain gorges. The absence of suitable roads, com- 
 bined with heavy snow-storms, rendered it often quite impos- 
 sible to convey grain and other provisions to the desolate 
 villages. 
 
 The next thing to be done was to provide the destitute with 
 the means of earning a livelihood. There were men who, be- 
 sides having been robbed of their goods, had had their eyes 
 bored out, or their arms hewn off, in order to make them in- 
 capable of supporting themselves. In still greater numbers 
 widows and orphans were wandering from house to house, 
 poor as beggars, and unable to earn anything. Urfa particu- 
 larly became a centre of the industries established to meet the 
 emergency. Miss Corinna Shattuck, an American missionary, 
 established an extensive weaving industry and opened a large 
 room for needlework. Dr. Lepsius' society began and fully 
 equipped a carpet-making business on a large scale. 
 
 Above all there were thousands of orphans to be gathered 
 together, fed and educated. Orphanages opened their doors 
 wide for the reception of crowds of Armenian orphans in the 
 whole of Turkey from the Eussian boundary to Persia, Bul- 
 garia and Palestine. The Kaiserswerth Deaconesses' Homes 
 in Syria and Palestine took 200, and the Syrian Orphanage in 
 Jerusalem 100. New orphanages were founded in great num- 
 bers. In this work the German societies "particularly ex- 
 celled. Eev. J. Lohmann's Armenian Aid Society received 
 1,357 orphans from all parts into their numerous orphanages. 
 Dr. Lepsius' German Aid Association for Armenia founded in 
 Urfa, Khoi and Urmia orphanages for 650 children. Professor 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 151 
 
 Godetj who presided over the Swiss Aid Association, received 
 500 orphans, 300 of them in his large institutions in and near 
 Sivas. Nor were the English and Americans behindhand in 
 this work. Towards the end of 1898 there were about 6,000 
 Armenian children being cared for in Protestant orphanages. 
 
 All this meant difficult work. First of all the children, who 
 had been reduced to a sad state by famine, cold, and neglect, 
 must be patiently nursed back into physical robustness and 
 mental and moral health. The arrangements to be made for 
 their education must also be ^free from any proselytizing 
 tendency which would estrange them from their Gregorian 
 Mother-Church, for the Armenian Church authorities were 
 jealous and fearful lest an improper advantage should be taken 
 of the miserable condition of the people. On the other hand 
 the Protestant foster-parents could not and would not neglect 
 to train the children committed to their care in the knowledge 
 of Bible truth. Another important problem was how to open 
 ways for all these thousands of poor orphans to earn an hon- 
 est livelihood in after life. Everywhere great stress was laid 
 on teaching trades, such as carpentry, masonry and farming. 
 "Workshops were attached to many orphanages. In some 
 cases extensive farms were combined with them. 
 
 At first it was thought that about ten years of this difficult 
 and expensive work would suffice. But as the plundering and 
 the ill treatment of Armenians continued, especially in the 
 eastern mountain districts of Erzerum, Bitlis, Yan, and Mush, 
 it has been found necessary not only to keep the'old orphanages 
 open, but even to found new ones. JsTevertheless in 1907 the 
 number of orphans in Protestant orphanages had been reduced 
 to about 1,000. 
 
 In addition to this, every possible endeavour had to be put 
 forth, as far as the limited means allowed, to give the ruined 
 people a new start in life. Hundreds of wrecked houses were 
 rebuilt, cattle and oxen were lent or given, seed-corn was sup- 
 plied, farming implements, tradesmen's tools and supplies for 
 shops were provided. The need was manifold, but manifold 
 also were the methods of relief. 
 
152 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 A decade has passed since that time of horror, and we are 
 in a position to judge whether the Turks have succeeded in 
 their attempt to annihilate the Armenian nation. We are 
 able to declare that, thanks to the abundant help of Christian 
 people and the astonishing vitality of the Armenians them- 
 selves, the Turks have failed. It is true that the Turks and 
 Kurds still tyrannize over and attempt to crush the Armenians, 
 especially in their original home in the eastern portion of 
 Asia Minor, where massacres on a small scale are reported al- 
 most every month, and the condition of the villagers is 
 desperate. But on the whole the Armenians have recovered 
 in a marvellously short time from what then appeared to be a 
 fatal blow. Untold numbers bear the scars of those fearful 
 years upon their bodies and countenances. Yet could we but 
 be assured that there will be no recurrence of general mas- 
 sacres, we might safely assert that they will recover from the 
 after effects of that terrible blow. Dare we harbour such a 
 hope ? 
 
 The European Powers have unfortunately shown that they 
 are not willing to put themselves to any further inconvenience 
 in behalf of the Armenians. Unable to settle the matter by 
 their interminable diplomatic negotiations, they have left the 
 poor people to their fate. Will Turkey now pursue her policy 
 of extermination ? For the time being she is somewhat taken 
 aback by the merciless plainness of the reports of consuls and 
 philanthropists concerning the horrors of her cruel misdeeds. 
 The wide-spread publicity which has branded her with shame 
 has touched a sore spot. Thus, even when diplomacy fails, 
 the publicity in which every part of the world to-day lives, is 
 to some extent a source of safety for the oppressed. Hence 
 the rancour of the Turkish officials against the well-informed 
 American missionaries whom they try to banish, and their 
 intrigues against all Europeans engaged in the works of mercy. 
 Yet they have not succeeded in preventing Americans, Eng- 
 lishmen and Germans from settling down in the most remote 
 valleys, whence they send at once into the whole of the 
 civilized world reports of every massacre that occurs. How 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 153 
 
 far will this protection reach ? It is, unfortunately, not to be 
 hoped that any change has taken place in Abdul Hamid's 
 policy. And in the ever-increasing Kurdish Hamidiye regi- 
 ments sharper weapons are being forged for the destruction 
 of the Armenian race. It seems to be a fundamental convic- 
 tion of the Porte that the Armenians are a serious danger to 
 Turkey at her weakest point, namely, that part of the Asiatic 
 territory which lies near the Russian border. They are a dan- 
 ger both on account of their unwarlike character, on account 
 of their kinship with the Armenians in Russian Transcaucasia, 
 and on account of their religious ties with the Russians. 
 Against Turkey's formidable foe, Russia, a defense must be 
 provided by employing the warlike Kurds, even as Russia on 
 her part employs the Cossacks for a like purpose. To win 
 favour with the Kurds and to arm them, to render the 
 Armenians powerless or even to exterminate them — this seems 
 to be the terrible policy of the Porte. 
 
 This section was written before the 24th of July, 1908, when 
 the Turkish constitutioii was granted. The change of policy 
 which then occurred will naturally affect the situation of the 
 Armenians deeply. The new era in Turkey we shall discuss 
 in section seven of this chapter. 
 
 -^. Russia/n Armenia 
 
 It is to be deplored that for the other half of the Armenians, 
 who live in Russian territory, the outlook has become more 
 and more gloomy during the last twenty-five years (cf. Son- 
 nenaufgang, 1896, pp. 139, 156, 169, 18Y). For the seventy- 
 five years following Russia's annexation of Transcaucasia in 
 1800, the Armenian Church had trustfully accepted Russian 
 protection. Armenians had entered the Russian army, sup- 
 plying it with several distinguished generals, among whom 
 may be mentioned Loris Melikoff, Lassareff, and Per. Gankasoff, 
 and had proved themselves to be thoroughly loyal subjects in 
 the midst of the restless and unreliable elements of Trans- 
 caucasia., Thus protected they made great progress in com- 
 
154 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 merce and learning, their schools were flourishing, their trade 
 grew by leaps and bounds. ^ 
 
 But in 1880, under the dreadful influence of the mighty 
 Pobedonoszeff, a determined policy of Kussianizing subject 
 peoples was inaugurated, in the hope of strengthening Holy 
 Russia by the suppression of all foreign languages and civiliza- 
 tions. Just as this short-sighted policy of unification has 
 wrought untold mischief in the German provinces on the 
 Baltic Sea, in Finland and in Poland, it has also caused con- 
 fusion in Transcaucasia. Prince Dondukoff struck the first 
 blow in 1885 by abruptly closing 500 Armenian schools, thus 
 depriving 30,000 children of education. A further step was 
 taken when the order went forth that all school property 
 should be turned over to the government. This demand, 
 however, met with determined passive resistance. The 
 Armenians went to the law courts in the case of every school, 
 and their legal rights were mostly so plain that the courts 
 could not but decide in their favour. Then it was ordered 
 that even the name " Armenia " was to be blotted out. 
 Armenia had no longer the right of national existence. 
 
 Armenian newspapers were suppressed. Armenians who 
 ventured to send support to their unfortunate kinsmen in 
 Turkey were declared rebels and were banished. 
 
 The final blow fell on the 12th of June, 1903. The govern- 
 ment commanded the Armenian Church to deliver up its entire 
 property to the Russian State. This command fell like a 
 bomb into a barrel of gunpowder. Not a single church nor 
 monastery would deliver up its property. Doors, chests and 
 locks had to be burst open. Is it to be wondered at that, 
 when the Armenians saw sacrilegious hands laid on their 
 sanctuary, the Church, they flew to arms in her defense)? 
 Bloodshed soon followed. In a short time the whole of Rus- 
 sian Armenia was in rebellion. It was then that Russia com- 
 mitted an unpardonable act. 
 
 We have seen how, after the Berlin Congress of 1878, the 
 Armenians in Turkey hoped in some measure for the establish- 
 ment of a principality in Armenia, which should be wholly or 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 155 
 
 partially autonomous. The Kussian Armenians naturally 
 sympathized with this idea. Such sympathy the Kussian 
 government regarded as treason and rebellion. The Arme- 
 nians must be taught a severe lesson. The wild hordes of 
 Tartars in Cis- and Transcaucasia should be their teachers. 
 Like the Kurds in Turkey, the Tartars fell upon the Arme- 
 nians in Russia. In their first attack, which took place in 
 Baku, they murdered two hundred Armenians, men, women 
 and children ; in Shusha they threatened ruin to the strong 
 Armenian colony and cut off its supplies. But the Armenians 
 defended themselves and even attacked some Tartar villages. 
 The rebellion which burst forth in every part of Russia after 
 the unsuccessful war with Japan helped to fan the flame in 
 Transcaucasia. There was hopeless confusion. Order was 
 restored but slowly. In August, 1906, the government re- 
 pealed the foolish law of confiscation and restored to the 
 Armenian churches such property as had already been seized. 
 But it is not easy to regain the confidence of the Armenians, 
 once so fearfully betrayed. 
 
 5. The Work of the American Board from 1896-1907 * 
 
 The massacres dealt to the Board's mission a blow which 
 seemed for a time likely to prove fatal. Nearly all the sta- 
 tions in Eastern Turkey had suffered heavily. The costly 
 college buildings in Aintab had been plundered and burned. 
 Hundreds of churches and schools in town and country had 
 been destroyed, the congregations scattered, and the pastors 
 and teachers either killed or crippled. It was as if a destruc- 
 tive hail-storm had passed over a field of ripe grain. To repair 
 the damage and to reorganize the work was a gigantic task, 
 rendered the more difficult by the enmity and suspicion of the 
 Turkish government, which placed every possible obstacle in 
 the way of the mission. No firman could be secured granting 
 permission to rebuild the ruined houses or even to execute the 
 most necessary repairs. The members of the congregations 
 were not allowed to go to church nor send their children to 
 
 * *• Missions of the American Board in Asiatic Turkey." Office of the Board, 1904. 
 
1 56 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 school. Happily the American goverDment was at the back 
 of the Board and extended its powerful protection to its un- 
 justly distrusted subjects. After weary and interminable 
 negotiations, which lasted five years, the Turkish government 
 was induced to pay nearly T £20,000 in compensation for the 
 schools destroyed in Aintab and Kharput, and to issue the 
 requisite firmans for their reconstruction. American energy 
 was now displayed in restoring the mission, so that by 1900 
 all traces of the disaster were wiped out in most of the sta- 
 tions, and the work was again well under way. The educa- 
 tion of thousands of orphans has been one of the main under- 
 takings during the last decade, the Board having borne the 
 chief burden of establishing orphanages. During the time of 
 greatest distress it had over 3,000 children under its care. 
 Orphanages were opened in all the stations, the largest being 
 in Kharput, Aintab, Urfa, and Yan. In these orphanages no 
 effort was made unduly to influence the children to become 
 Protestants. They were permitted to attend the Gregorian 
 services, being even conducted thither. The Gregorian bish- 
 ops were permitted to appoint priests to call on the children 
 belonging to their Church, and to strengthen their attachment 
 to it. It is worthy of note that, if one may judge from the 
 fact that the number of the members of the Protestant 
 Churches, which was but temporarily and to a slight degree 
 affected by the massacre of 1895, has since that time shown 
 no striking increase, a large majority of the 6,000 orphans, 
 trained in Protestant orphanages, must have returned to their 
 old Church. 
 
 Two branches of the work came more and more to the fore. 
 Higher education ^ is conducted with admirable energy. The 
 Armenian people, deprived of the means of existence by the 
 tyranny of the Turks, have thronged to the schools, till these 
 are full to overflowing. From year to year it becomes more 
 difficult to meet the applications for admission. It is char- 
 acteristic of these schools that education for girls is on almost 
 
 *"The Higher Educational Institufeiona of the American Board." "Sivaa 
 Normal School." (Two very interesting booklets.) 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 157 
 
 as high a level as that for young men. We give a list of the 
 colleges. 
 
 The Robert College in Bebek near Constantinople is an in- 
 dependent institution for Western Turkey. Then there is the 
 Anatolia College in Marsovan. In April, 1903, the institution 
 founded in Smyrna in 1891 was incorporated as " The Inter- 
 national College." In Scutari, near Constantinople, there is 
 a college for girls of well-to-do families.^ 
 
 In Central Turkey the principal institutions, are Avisely 
 divided between Aintab and Marash ; in the former is the 
 Central Turkey College for boys, in the latter the college for 
 girls. The St. Paul's College for young men in Tarsus in 
 Cilicia, founded in 1888 by the liberality of Col. W. Shepard 
 of New York, passed in 1904 into the hands of the Board, and 
 a similar institution for girls is planned in Adana, the capital 
 of that province. 
 
 In Eastern Turkey the higher schools for the two sexes are 
 united in Kharput. Here the Euphrates College with more 
 than 1,100 students is a complex of primary schools, secondary 
 schools and colleges for both sexes, and of institutions for 
 ministers and female teachers. 
 
 In addition there are in Asia no fewer than forty -one board- 
 ing- and high-schools, some for boys, some for girls, not to 
 mention 312 primary and village schools, attended by 16,191 
 boys and girls. The Board teaches altogether 20,861 children. 
 
 The other branch of missionary work to which peculiar 
 attention has been given is the Medical Mission. Gradually 
 all the chief stations in Turkey are being provided with med- 
 ical missionaries and hospitals. The older hospitals are those 
 in Aintab, Caesarea, Mardin and Yan. Latterly others have 
 been added, in Constantinople (Dr. Codrington's hospital with 
 a nurses' training institution), Marsovan, Sivas, and Kharput. 
 An Armenian now living in America has provided the funds 
 for building a mission hospital in Diarbekr. The mission 
 
 ( — 
 
 * Since the site on the other side of the Bosphonis did not suit the purposes of 
 the college, it is to be removed this year or next to the European side, to Ar- 
 noutkoyi, a southern suburb of StambouL 
 
158 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 plans to build hospitals in Erzerum and Adana, where doctors 
 have already for some time been stationed. In addition, Dr. 
 Lepsius' German Mission in Urfa and Diarbekr, and the 
 Lohmann Society in Marash and Mesereh, have their doctors 
 and hospitals. The growth of the medical work has been due 
 partly to the great amount of sickness prevailing amongst a 
 people destitute of all medical attention, and partly to the 
 hope that this practical evidence of Christian philanthropy 
 may touch the hearts of the Turks. In the vilayet of Sivas, 
 where there is a population of Y50,000, there are only about 
 fifteen doctors with diplomas, and all of these live in the 
 towns, so that country people have to travel for many hours, 
 sometimes for days, in order to see a doctor, if even then they 
 can afford to pay the very high fees. Thus there is an almost 
 boundless field for the beneficent labours of medical mission- 
 aries. They have formed the " Asia Minor Medical Missionary 
 Association" among themselves for mutual consultation. 
 They met for their first conference in 190T. 
 
 The relations of the mission to the Gregorian Church are 
 subject to much fluctuation. There are those who place the 
 Armenian religion on much the same level as the heathenism 
 of India and wrongly conclude that " these people are in as 
 great need of the Gospel as the fetish worshippers of Africa 
 or the savages of the South Sea Islands." The repeated 
 declarations that members of the old Church can become 
 " Christians " only by adopting Protestantism are, at the very 
 least, open to criticism. And the prevalent feeling among 
 the missionaries is that there must be no proselytizing. The 
 great task is as far as possible to rouse to new spiritual life 
 the dead Church. Accordingly, if the mission can but win 
 the confidence of the members of that Church, if it can but 
 gain an open ear for its Gospel message, it is no cause of grief 
 that the number of accessions to the Protestant Church is 
 decreasing. There are, happily, proofs that the confidence of 
 the ancient Church is being increasingly won. In Urfa, some 
 years after the massacres, the Gregorians and Protestants 
 united in educational work. Missionaries and other Prot- 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 159 
 
 estant ministers are frequently requested to preach in Gre- 
 gorian churches. In the neighbourhood of Yan and Bitlis, 
 where the distress was particularly severe, and most effectual 
 and self-sacrificing help was afforded, there appears to be a 
 growing feeling of mutual confidence between the two 
 Churches. In Yan the Protestants even seriously considered 
 whether they should not return in a body to the Gregorian 
 Church. The majority were, however, opposed to such a step 
 (Annual Keport of the Board, 1907, p. 80), the time for such 
 a reunion being, in their opinion, not yet come. 
 
 Even in places where the Gregorian clergy stand aloof, be- 
 cause they are concerned about their loss of influence, there 
 are Protestant tendencies at work. Thus the Gregorians ex- 
 ert themselves assiduously to raise the status of their schools. 
 This may be attributed to the desire to keep the Gregorian 
 pupils out of the Protestant schools by making their own 
 schools equal to, or even better than, those of the mission. Yet, 
 though the missionaries may be right in thinking that the Ar- 
 menian schools would soon be closed were it not for the com. 
 petition of the Protestant institutions, the fact remains that 
 there is real vitality in them. There are other vestiges of 
 this new life in the Gregorian Church. In Aintab the Gre- 
 gorians have begun Bible classes on Sunday, and these classes, 
 which meet in the Protestant school, are attended by 1,000 
 people of the old faith. The Armenian emigrants in North 
 America subscribe liberally to the work of the Board with 
 full confidence. One of them, Asian Sahagian, made a dona- 
 tion of £15,000 to a fund for extending the educational system, 
 another bequeathed a sum of money to build a hospital in 
 Diarbekr, others again subscribed the salary of an American 
 professor in the Euphrates College at Kharput, paid for a 
 gymnasium in that college and built a school for girls in Arab- 
 kir. 
 
 So the mission is in a position of growing influence and 
 strength. Unhappily the prospects of the Armenian nation 
 are dark and gloomy. In the Eastern provinces, in the vilayets 
 of Yan, Bitlis, Diarbekr and Erzerum the conditions are well- 
 
i6o History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 nigh desperate. Bobbery and even open murder are of such 
 common occurrence that they are hardly noticed. In remote 
 villages the Armenians have no security of life or property. 
 Ruthless taxation, aggravated by the extortion of the tax- 
 gatherers, is the last straw. This provokes rebellion, the chief 
 centre of which is in Yan. The revolutionaries are gaining 
 more and more recruits. It is no wonder, then, that all who 
 can, emigrate. The peasants flee in crowds across the bound- 
 ary into Russia, at the risk of their lives. Tradesmen of all 
 kinds resort to the various seaports of Asia Minor. People 
 who have been educated in the American schools like to emi- 
 grate to the United States. This is a great drawback for the 
 mission. From a single college forty-four theological students 
 went thither, only four of them returning home for lasting 
 service in Armenia. In some districts it is no longer possible 
 to supply the schools with teachers nor the pulpits with min- 
 isters. Generally speaking, it is the strong who emigrate, 
 leaving the weak old men and children in all the greater dis- 
 tress, women being compelled to struggle with the stony fields 
 to produce food. The increasingly impoverished congregations 
 can no longer raise the salaries for teachers and ministers. 
 Thus the process of self-support is arrested. All this is further 
 complicated by the fact that the Board finds it extremely dif- 
 ficult to obtain sufficient means for its fast extending work. 
 
 According to the statistics of 1908 there are in connection 
 with the American Board twenty stations and 269 out-stations, 
 forty-two ordained missionaries, twelve medical missionaries, 
 and sixty-eight lady missionaries, ninety-two ordained, and 
 102 lay preachers, and 728 teachers. There are 130 fully or- 
 ganized congregations, with 15,748 communicants and 41,802 
 adherents ; eight colleges, forty-one boarding and high 
 schools, 312 elementary and village schools, with altogether 
 20,861 pupils. In nearly all these items there is a falling off 
 as compared with 1907, and there again as compared with 
 1906. 
 
 The Swiss Aid Association was from the beginning so inti- 
 mately connected with the Board that its work is really a part 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 161 
 
 of the Board's mission. The two German societies have main- 
 tained their independence in a greater degree. The Lohmann 
 Society, still active in orphanage work, has, with increasing 
 interest, taken part with the Board in evangelistic work. In 
 addition to its hospitals in Marash and Mesereh (Kharput), it 
 has taken over in the latter districts, and in the neighbour- 
 hood of Yan, a part of the congregations and schools of the 
 Board. The Lepsius Society, following the original plans of 
 its founder, was transformed on the 11th of May, 1900, into 
 the German Orient Mission. It has medical missionaries and 
 hospitals in TJrfa and Diarbekr, also a missionary in Souch- 
 bulak, a town in Northwestern Persia. The latter is to learn 
 the language of the Kurds and to do literary work, including 
 the translating of the New Testament, in order to be able to be- 
 gin full missionary work among the Muhamraadan Kurds. 
 The society has obtained the service of Johannes Awetaranian, 
 a remarkable convert from Islam. 
 
 Johannes Awetaranian (v. ^'Joh. Awetaranian^ Geschichte 
 eines Mohammedaners, der Christ wurde,''^ Berlin, 1905), orig- 
 inally called, while still a Muhammadan, Muhammad Shukri, 
 was born on the 30th of June, 1861, in Eastern Turkey, of fanat- 
 ical Muhammadan parents, and was brought up in all the observ- 
 ances of the strictest Islam by his father, a dervish of the Bek- 
 tashi order. The reading of the Gospels wrought faith in him. 
 He fled into Transcaucasia, and, after many disappointments, 
 was baptized in Tiflis. By the help of Christian friends he 
 received a good education in a mission house in Stockholm, 
 after which he returned to Transcaucasia as a preacher. But 
 he soon entered the service of the Swedish Evangelical Na- 
 tional Society as a missionary to the Muhammadans in Kash- 
 gar in Turkestan, where he spent five years in translating the 
 New Testament into the classic Kashgar Turkish spoken there. 
 His translation is now being printed. Returning to Europe 
 he joined the German Orient Mission, becoming by his wri- 
 tings a zealous pioneer of the Muhammadan Mission in Bul- 
 garia. 
 
 We will here enumerate some smaller missions hitherto left 
 
i62 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 unmentioned. In 1844 a society called " The German Evan- 
 geliGol Benevolent Society " (" evangelisch-deutscher Wohltdtig- 
 heitsverein ") was formed in Stamboul, at the recommendation 
 of the chaplain of the Prussian embassy, the Rev. Mr. Major. 
 In 1852 three Kaiserswerth deaconesses entered its service- 
 When the sisters removed, in 1877, into the hospital built by 
 the German government, their work increased. The number 
 of deaconesses is, at present, seventeen. This hospital is open 
 to people of every nationality ; it has about 1,600 in-patients 
 a year. In 1853 the deaconesses, at the urgent request of 
 well-to-do Protestants there, opened in Smyrna a higher girls' 
 boarding-school. The boarding department, however, had to 
 be given up in 1891, owing to the keen competition of the 
 Greek Church and the Jesuits, the institution becoming merely 
 a day-school. An orphanage in connection with it, originally 
 intended for Levantine girls, did excellent work after the 
 Armenian massacres, admitting 120 Armenian orphan girls. 
 
 The Friends adopted a small medical mission, begun by 
 Miss Burgess in 1881 for the Armenian population in Con- 
 stantinople, two lady missionaries with two native assistants 
 being secured. Connected with it are an orphanage, a day- 
 school, and a needlework industry, to provide work for 250 
 poor Armenian women. A Miss West also opened, in 1880, a 
 Christian refuge and coJffee-room. 
 
 The American Disciples of Christ (Campbellites) began in 
 1879 a mission in Constantinople, which the American Board 
 justly regarded as an intrusion into its own sphere. It was 
 in the following years extended to many stations in Asia 
 Minor and ISTorthern Syria, the centres being Sivas (1882), 
 Marsovan and Tokat (1883), Aintab, Marash, Albistan, Haleb 
 and Antioch. But there were never many Americans in the 
 mission and it has since been given up. 
 
 In connection with a vigorous Protestant propaganda pro- 
 moted by Bishop Gobat of Jerusalem in 1863, the Armenian 
 Bishop Megerdich, of Aintab, joined the Anglican Church. 
 He succeeded in attracting a good many members to his con- 
 gregation, partly from the Gregorians and partly from the 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 163 
 
 strong and influential Protestant church of his town. This 
 naturally caused some ill feeling. With the help of subscrip- 
 tions from England a church building on a grand scale was 
 begun, but was never finished. The Anglican congregation 
 still exists, but has never become very influential. An 
 Armenian who had left the Board, the Rev. H. Jenanyan, 
 after having enjoyed a theological training in America, 
 founded in 1888 a free mission in Cilicia, which was by prin- 
 ciple independent of foreign management, though, unhappily, 
 not of American money. It gradually adopted three stations, 
 Tarsus (1888), Konia and Marash (1889). In these stations it 
 maintains schools for boys and girls, and orphanages. 
 
 Mesopotamia has been somewhat neglected by the Protes- 
 tant Mission, being rather inaccessible and the conditions 
 there being unfavourable. This ancient cradle of human cul- 
 ture proves to-day, by the desolation of its plains and the gen- 
 eral insecurity of life within its borders, the helplessness of 
 the Turkish administration. Its three centres are Mosul, 
 Bagdad and Basra, towns wrapped in the glamour of fairy 
 tale. 
 
 "We have already told (p. 116f.) how, between the years 1841 
 and 1 860, Mosul was repeatedly occupied by the American 
 Board to serve as a centre for work among the Mountain 
 Syrians. After their final retirement, Protestant missions 
 were not represented for thirty years in these headquarters 
 of -the Roman propaganda. In 1892 the American Presby- 
 terians, who, in the meantime, had taken over the J^estorian 
 Mission in Persia from the American Board, decided to re- 
 occupy Mosul. But in spite of repeated attempts they did 
 not succeed in coming into close touch with the independent 
 Syrians of the wild mountains, on account of the intervening 
 plain and hills where the Roman propaganda was in full 
 force. They therefore handed over their station in 1900 to 
 the Church Missionary Society, which was planning to estab- 
 lish a second station in " Turkish Arabia," in addition to their 
 first station, Bagdad. The chief work of the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society here was the medical mission, for which a 
 
164 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 hospital was opened. In addition they undertook educational 
 work, in which, however, they were much hampered by the 
 Turkish authorities. The success of the mission was so small 
 that, in 1907, the home committee of the society, failing to 
 obtain sufficient financial support, seriously thought of aban- 
 doning the station. But it now became evident what real 
 appreciation of the work existed among the suspicious and 
 stolid Muhammadans, for an urgent and appreciative petition 
 was sent to the London office. The work is accordingly to 
 be continued for the present. 
 
 In Bagdad in 1834, Antony Groves, a rich English dentist, 
 together with several friends, began a mission among the 
 Muhammadans, but did not long persevere in the work. 
 Fifty years later the Church Missionary Society missionary, 
 Dr. Bruce, at that time in Persia, drew attention to Bagdad 
 and the holy places of the Persian Shiites, such as Nejef 
 and Kerbela, and showed how effective preparatory work 
 could be done for the isolated Persian Mission, if the numerous 
 Persian pilgrims were provided with the Bible. The Church 
 Missionary Society thereupon occupied Bagdad in 1882. But 
 the pilgrims proved unapproachable and even hostile, so that 
 the missionaries stationed in Bagdad turned to the native 
 Turko- Arabian population, endeavouring to win their confi- 
 dence by affording medical aid. The medical missionary 
 Dr. H. M. Sutton was stationed there in 1886. But it is 
 stony ground, and the prospect of a harvest is still small. 
 
 6, Protesta/nt Missions ATnong the Greeks, the 
 Bulgarians, amjd the Turks 
 
 a) Missions among the Greeks. We have already men- 
 tioned the work of the Church Missionary Society in Malta and 
 Syra (p. 94ff.). In the years 1821 to 1829 occurred the romantic 
 "War of Independence by which Greece freed herself from 
 Turkey, This unequal struggle was keenly watched by 
 Europe and America, the victors being warmly applauded. 
 It seemed as if the period of the Persian wars of olden times 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 165 
 
 had returned. It was hoped that the new Greece with all 
 the freshness and vigour of youth would promote a regenera- 
 tion of the East. To bring the Gospel to this virile nation 
 appeared to be an undertaking full of promise for the Muham- 
 madan East. Bright dreams were indulged in. Consequently 
 much zealous work was undertaken by various Christian 
 agencies. The American Board, which had occupied Smyrna 
 in 1820, removed its headquarters, as did the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society in 1822, to Malta, which seemed to be the 
 most strategic starting-point for the work on the eastern shores 
 of the Mediterranean. Other stations were soon added, 
 Athens in 1830, Argos and Cyprus in 1834, Scios in 1835, 
 Ariopolis, near the ancient Sparta, in 1837. Other societies 
 also appeared on the field. About 1830 Dr. Hill and Dr. 
 Eichardson came to Athens as representatives of the Episcopal 
 Church of America, having been strictly enjoined, however, 
 not to found a separate Protestant congregation. The 
 American Baptists followed in 1836. But all these hopes 
 were doomed to disappointment. The official Church of 
 Greece would have nothing to do with the missions. No 
 school could be opened without the permission of the govern- 
 ment. No missionary could even be engaged as a private 
 tutor in a family without official permission. The sale of books 
 was subject to a very strict censorship.^ In the schools the 
 only religious book which might be used was the "orthodox" 
 catechism, with its emphasis on the veneration of images and 
 similar superstitious customs. The missionaries met with 
 opposition everywhere. Even when they conducted their 
 Sunday services in their own private houses, the ecclesiastical 
 authorities often watched the houses so that no Greek could 
 be present. Even where the ecclesiastical authorities were 
 not so jealous and intolerant it became evident that the Greek 
 nation was not ready to welcome the Gospel. The Orthodox 
 
 * The ecclesiastical authorities are so suspicions that the sale of the New 
 Testament in modern Greek is forbidden throughout the Kingdom of Greece, 
 which is thus the only country in the world in which the reading of the Bible 
 in the mother-tongue is a criminal act I 
 
i66 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Greeks are so intoxicated with pride both in their national 
 history and in their ecclesiastical tradition, that they have no 
 taste for the Gospel as offered to them by American sects. 
 Did they need to be taught by upstart Americans, they, in 
 whose language Peter, Paul, and John had written (though a 
 Greek of to-day can hardly understand the Greek of the New 
 Testament), they, the Church of Athanasius, Chrysostom and 
 John of Damascus ? 
 
 This dislike of Protestantism was so great as to cause one 
 society after the other to leave Greece. The American Board 
 abandoned its stations, merely leaving the missionary, J. King, 
 in Athens until his death in 1889. The American Episco- 
 palians likewise abandoned theirs, when the able educationalist, 
 Dr. Hill, died in 1882. The American Baptists left in 1856, 
 returning in 1871, only to depart again in 188Y. From 1875 
 to 1891 the Southern Presbyterians made an attempt, only to 
 be disappointed too. At the present day there are but a few 
 native Methodist and Baptist preachers at work, the best 
 known among them being the Methodist pastor Kalopothakes, 
 now in his eighty-seventh year. There are small Prot- 
 estant congregations in Athens, Piraeus, Patras, Larissa and 
 Jannina. 
 
 More effective was the work which the missionaries of the 
 American Board carried on among the Greeks in connection 
 with their labours among the Armenians along the western and 
 northern coasts of Asia Minor, and in connection with their 
 labours among the Bulgarians. Here, in addition to their 
 main undertaking, they extended a hearty welcome to such 
 Greeks as showed a willingness to come and learn, the schools 
 especially proving to be a great attraction. The result was 
 that Greek-Protestant congregations were formed in Turkey, 
 in Demirji in Bithynia (1855), and, later, in Smyrna, Ordu, 
 Constantinople, Salonica and other places. The Board has 
 never again organized an exclusively Greek work. 
 
 In 1907 a conference was held in Constantinople, attended 
 by representatives of Protestant Greek congregations, who 
 met to devise means for forming a union between the widely 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 167 
 
 separated and diverse congregations. Four Protestant con- 
 ference districts were formed, with Athens, Constantinople, 
 Smyrna and Ordu (near Trebizond) as centres. 
 
 The Greek Church, while jealously shutting itself against 
 the influences of American Methodism or Congregationalism, 
 has shown itself more ready than the other ancient Churches 
 to respond to the renovating power of a new spiritual life 
 working from within. Thus there were several revivals 
 within the Church in the nineteenth century, partly of a 
 sectarian character. Associations for the preaching of the 
 Gospel have been formed in some places by laymen, the oldest 
 and best known of which, the Eusebeia, was founded in 
 Smyrna, in 1893, by Greeks who had received education and 
 a stimulus to a more vigorous spiritual life in the schools of 
 the American Board. This association has already 2,000 
 members, and possesses a fund of over £1,500. Similar 
 associations have been founded in Constantinople, Patras, 
 Athens and Leucosia in Cyprus. 
 
 (h) Missions among the Bulgaricms. The attention of the 
 friends of Protestant missions, like that of the world at large, 
 was drawn to Bulgaria with its religiously and politically 
 progressive people, at the time when the Bulgarian nation, 
 numbering some four millions, rose in revolt against the 
 tyrannous Greek hierarchy and the Turkish despotism. 
 Bulgaria first succeeded in winning ecclesiastical autonomy, 
 founding a Bulgarian exarchate, and then gained political 
 independence, being recognized as an autonomous principality 
 in consequence of the Kusso-Turkish war of 1877 and the subse- 
 quent Berlin Congress in 1878. 
 
 The American Board, feeling unable to undertake the work 
 single-handed, invited the cooperation of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Mission, which, at that time (1851), was seriously 
 considering a new mission on the Balkan Peninsula. An 
 agreement was made whereby the Methodists were to occupy 
 the greater part of Bulgaria proper between the Balkan 
 Mountains and the lower Danube and the American Board 
 the vast region south and west of the mountains. In 1857 
 
i68 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 each society founded its first station, the Board occupying 
 Philippopolis, and the Methodists Shumla. 
 
 Both of these missions underwent a similar development, 
 and suffered, alas, similar disappointments. In the troublous 
 times before 1870 great hopes were entertained that, desiring 
 to be freed from the Greek hierarchy without falling into the 
 hands of Kome, a large and influential portion of the Bul- 
 garians would adopt Protestantism. This hope was quenched 
 when, with Russia's help, the Bulgarian exarchate was es- 
 tablished in 1880, all hitherto Greek bishoprics being filled by 
 Bulgarians. Then, during the disturbances of 1870-1878, 
 which resulted in the shaking off of the Turkish yoke that 
 had been borne for 500 years, hope revived that real entrance 
 to the people might be gained. This hope proved vain also. 
 Finally, the hard- won constitution of 1878, which granted 
 religious liberty, seemed to prepare at last a highway for 
 Protestant missions. But the Exarch, uneasy about his own 
 influence, managed to induce the government to adopt 
 measures to prevent the growth of Protestantism, and, when- 
 ever a door seemed to be opening to Protestant influences, 
 Russia, with her strong anti-Protestant instincts, was always 
 at hand to bar it again. During the last decade the hindrances 
 have been aggravated by what is otherwise a pleasing fact, 
 namely, the remarkable advance made by the Bulgarians in 
 national education. The result of this was that the American 
 schools, which had been the leading schools in Bulgaria, were 
 thrust into the shade. 
 
 The mission of the American Methodist Episcopal Church 
 has always been conducted on a small scale owing to lack of 
 funds (v. Reid-Gracey, " Methodist Episcopal Missions," Yol. 
 Ill, pp. 200-272). Generally there have been but two mis- 
 sionaries at any one time, and for years only one missionary 
 of this Church, in Bulgaria. Short spurts of increased activity 
 have alternated Avith long and serious deliberations as to 
 whether the work should not be altogether abandoned. In 
 the course of time three centres of work secured a compara- 
 tively firm footing, a secondary school for boys at Sistova 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 169 
 
 (serving as a training-school for a native ministry, closed un- 
 happily in 1906) ; an advanced girls' school at Lof tcha (admin- 
 istered by some lady workers of the Women's Board) ; and a 
 printing-press in Kustchuk. The great opposition, the lack of 
 a fixed mission policy, and the want of funds have combined 
 to make the result small. There are 432 members of the 
 Methodist churches, including nineteen on trial; nineteen 
 primary schools, ten churches and chapels, and, altogether, 
 1,000 adherents. Neither the masses nor the leaders in church 
 and state appear to be much influenced. 
 
 With more far-sighted deliberation the American Board ex- 
 tended its work not only in the independent Bulgarian terri- 
 tories of Eastern Eumelia (Philippopolis in 1858) and Bulgaria 
 (Samokow and Sofia in 1867), but also among the numerous 
 Bulgarians who were languishing under Turkish rule in 
 Macedonia (Salonica became a station of the Board in 1894), 
 and in Albania (Monastir in 1873), everywhere, according to 
 the wide scheme of its work, reaching out to the members 
 of other Eastern Churches, especially Greeks and Armenians. 
 In Macedonia, Thrace and Albania the Board's work was 
 seriously crippled by the restless strivings of the unruly peo- 
 ples there for independence. The Bulgarians hoped for an- 
 nexation to the autonomous Principality of Bulgaria, the 
 Greeks wished for incorporation in the Kingdom of Greece, 
 the Albanians were trying to found an independent state, and 
 the Servians were keen to enlarge their kingdom. All were 
 of one accord in the ardent desire to shake off the despotic 
 rule of Turkey, but, at the same time, they were in a deplor- 
 able degree fanatical and ruthless antagonists of one another. 
 And all were little more than pawns in the great international 
 chess-play of the Oriental question, moved about by the great 
 powers at their will. It was a chaos of revolution and in- 
 trigues, rendered the more confused by the increasing number 
 of bandits. An American missionary, Eev. W. W. Merriam, 
 was murdered by the bandits on the 3d of July, 1862. Miss 
 Ellen Stone was kept a prisoner from the 3d of September, 
 1901, till the 25th of February, 1902, and was set free only on 
 
lyo History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 tiie payment of a ransom of T £15,000. The American Board 
 has the credit of having provided a wholesome Protestant 
 literature in the modern Bulgarian tongue. The translation 
 of the Bible by Dr. Elias Riggs in 1891 has been referred to 
 already. The same diligent author also prepared, amongst 
 other books, a Bulgarian commentary of the ISTew Testament. 
 The Methodist missionary, Rev. Dr. Long, who was for many 
 years a professor at the Robert College in Bebek, also en- 
 gaged in this literary work. There was a printing-press, first 
 in Constantinople, then, for a time, after Bulgaria became in- 
 dependent, in Philippopolis and now in Samokow. The chief 
 paper is the Zornitza (Morning Star), published at first in 
 Constantinople and later in Philippopolis. It is a monthly 
 Protestant magazine in the Bulgarian tongue, with a circula- 
 tion of 1,300 ; but its existence is at present threatened by 
 want of funds. The educational work of the Board has had 
 its centre since 1872 in the " Collegiate and Theological In- 
 stitute " in Samokow, which was formerly a pattern for the 
 Bulgarian educational system, but has now been equalled or 
 even excelled by the government schools. Though the 
 American school finds it so difficult to compete with the 
 national colleges, which are amply subsidized and privileged 
 by the Ministry of Public Instruction, yet the Board main- 
 tains its institution, because it seems indispensable for the 
 building up of a strong native ministry and teaching staff, and 
 as a counterpoise against the spirit of infidelity and irreligion 
 prevailing in the public schools. The numerical results of the 
 Board's work are but moderate. In addition to 1,408 com- 
 municants there are 3,954: adherents, i. 6., a total of 5,362 
 Bulgarians and Greeks in the European Turkey Mission. 
 
 Without connection with the Board, a Bulgarian Evangelical 
 Society is working in Sofia. Another mission was maintained 
 by the Southern Presbyterians in Salonica from 1874 to 1892, 
 but has been abandoned. At the urgent request of the 
 Albanians the Board has recently decided to found a station 
 for them in Koritza. There are also some out-stations in 
 Servia {e, g.^ Prishtina) and in Bosnia {e. g,y Mitrovitza). The 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 171 
 
 Turkish government, however, is so little favourable to such 
 attempts to raise the subject races, that the censor has for six 
 years withheld permission to publish a translation of the 
 four Gospels, ready for publication, because the Albanians are 
 not to have a national literature. 
 
 (c) Missions among the Turks, The question will be 
 asked, Has, then, no work been done by the Board among 
 the Muhammadans of Turkey ? Reserve is necessary in 
 giving an answer. The Board is very chary of information 
 on this point, knowing that the Turkish officials scan 
 its reports with suspicion. Mere hints that interest has 
 been awakened among Turks or the slightest allusions to 
 Muhammadan converts would put Turkish detectives on the 
 track, and lead to a breaking off of any disposition on the part 
 of a Turk to approach the mission, or even to the ruin of a 
 convert. Yet the silence of the Board is not due merely to 
 wise reticence ; the missionaries, owing to the thoroughly 
 hostile position of the Porte, have, as a rule, abstained from 
 trying to influence the Muhammadan population. They know 
 that any such attempts would arouse the wrath of the govern- 
 ment, and perhaps lead to their being banished. This would 
 not benefit the Muhammadans, and it would put an end to 
 the work of the mission among the ancient Churches. A 
 single piece of work among the Muhammadans may be re- 
 corded here. 
 
 In 1843 an Armenian and a Greek, who had been induced, 
 while intoxicated, to turn Muhammadans, and had subse- 
 quently reverted to Christianity, were beheaded in Constanti- 
 nople. Lord Stratford Canning de Redcliffe, the British am- 
 bassador, used this notorious fact as a ground for remon- 
 strating strongly with the Porte, and forced the proclamation 
 of an edict that henceforth in Turkey no one should be 
 " persecuted on account of his religious views." The Porte 
 promised that no " Christian renegade " might thereafter be con- 
 demned to death. The wording was, unfortunately, dubious. 
 " Christian renegade " might denote merely one born a Chris- 
 tian, who had temporarily become a Muhammadan. Accord- 
 
1 72 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 inglj two Muhammadans who had beoome Christians were 
 actually punished with death in Aleppo and Adrianople re- 
 spectively, in the years 1852 and 1853. Britain again stepped 
 in and demanded an assurance that such a crime should not 
 occur again. 
 
 As it was the time of the Crimean War (1853-1856), the gov- 
 ernment was very dependent on the good-will of Britain and 
 France, which alone stood between the Porte and ruin. The 
 Sultan was therefore willing to comply with the demands of 
 his two allies and issued on the 18th of February, 1856, the 
 famous hatti humayoun with his autograph affixed, granting 
 full religious liberty throughout the whole of Turkey. Chris- 
 tians were to have equal rights with Muhammadans and to be 
 eligible for all offices of state. 
 
 "Every distinction or designation tending to make any 
 class whatever of the subjects . . . inferior to another 
 class, on account of their religion, language or race, shall 
 be forever effaced from the administrative protocol. . . . 
 As all forms of religion are and shall be freely professed 
 in my dominions, no subject of my empire shall be hin- 
 dered in the exercise of the religion that he professes, 
 nor shall be in any way annoyed on this account.^ The 
 nomination and choice of all functionaries and other employees 
 of my empire, being wholly dependent upon my sovereign 
 will, all the subjects of my empire, without distinction of 
 nationality, shall be admissible to public employments, and 
 
 ^The clause originally inserted about converts ran thus : " As all forms of 
 religion are and shall be freely exercised in the Ottoman dominions, no subject 
 of His Majesty the Sultan shall be hindered in the exercise of the religion he 
 professes, nor shall be in any way disquieted on that account, and no one shall 
 be compelled to change his religion." Obviously this clause left an opening for 
 the persecution of a man who had voluntarily changed his religion. The Porte 
 pleaded that the Sultan had no power to alter the law of the Koran, which pun- 
 ishes a "renegade " with death. Lord Stratford, however, refused to sign the 
 decree unless he had in his hands a solemn declaration of the Grand Vizier, to 
 the effect that freedom must apply to all renegades, — renegades from Islam to 
 Christianity and vice versa. The " divine " law of the Koran was not altered, 
 but the Porte engaged not to carry it out. The powers had to be satisfied with 
 this concession. 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 173 
 
 qualified to fill them according to their capacity and merit. 
 . . . All commercial, correctional and criminal suits be- 
 tween Mussulman and Christian or other non-Mussulman 
 subjects, or between Christians or other non-Mussulmans of 
 different sects, shall be referred to mixed tribunals. The pro- 
 ceedings of these tribunals shall be public. . . . The testi- 
 mony of witnesses shall be received, without distinction, upon 
 an oath taken according to the religious law of each sect. 
 . . . Penal, correctional, and commercial laws, and rules of 
 procedure for the mixed tribunals, shall be drawn up as soon 
 as possible, and formed into a code. Translations of them 
 shall be published in all the languages current in the empire." 
 (See the full text of the hatti humayoun in " Forty Years in 
 Turkey," pp. 486 ff.) This decree seemed to open the way for 
 extensive work among the Muhammadans of Turkey. At 
 once more missionaries were added to the Board's staff. Other 
 societies, too, began work. In 1858 the Church Missionary 
 Society sent to Constantinople the ablest of their Muhammadan 
 missionaries. Rev. Gottlieb Pfander, D. D., already known 
 to us by his labours in Transcaucasia. He was accompanied 
 by Rev. Dr. Koelle, formerly a missionary in West Africa. 
 Both these men were to commence a mission to the Muham- 
 madans in Constantinople. Two other men were sent as as- 
 sistants, — a younger English missionary of the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society, and one from the Society for the Propagation 
 of the Gospel. The British and Foreign Bible Society opened 
 new depots and shops, thus extending its work considerably. 
 
 In the first few years hopes were of the brightest. Many 
 Turks showed receptivity towards the doctrines of Christi- 
 anity. Public discourses of the missionaries on religious sub- 
 jects were well attended. Many came to the houses of the 
 English and American missionaries and had interesting con- 
 versations with them for hours together. Conversions and 
 baptisms followed. The baptism of Selim Effendi created a 
 great sensation ; he took the name of Williams. Other promi- 
 nent converts were the former Muhammadan priest, Abdi 
 Effendi, and Mahmud Effendi. Fifteen or twenty Turks may 
 
174 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 have been baptized. In the summer of 1864: ten adults were 
 confirmed at one time. This gave rise to foolish and exag- 
 gerated reports, such as the report that 25,000, or even 400,000 
 Turks had been converted to Protestantism. 
 
 But a storm was brewing, of which the Protestant Mission 
 was wholly unconscious. The suspicions of the Sultan and of 
 hostile reactionaries were excited in two ways. A strong 
 party was planning to separate from Islam and to form a re- 
 ligious community of their own. Its members are even said 
 to have sent a petition to the Sultan asking him to place one 
 of the mosques in the city at their disposal for religious serv- 
 ices. The leaders of this party had no connection whatever 
 with the missionaries, who nevertheless fell under suspicion. 
 The other thing which disturbed the Sultan was that Dr. Pfan- 
 der was busy forging spiritual weapons for the mission, in the 
 form of apologetic and polemic tracts. He had just finished a 
 Turkish translation of his " Mizan ul Haqq," and had put it 
 through the press. Now, if the few Persian copies, which had 
 before come into the hands of Turks, had caused such a stir, 
 it was to be expected that the Turkish translation of the work 
 would be far more disturbing. Violent counter-publications 
 against Pfander and his work were issued with the assistance 
 of the government. Being thus attacked, Pfander openly 
 replied. 
 
 The storm burst suddenly and destructively. Ten or thir- 
 teen Protestant Turks in Constantinople were seized without 
 previous warning on the 17th of July, 1864, and thrown into 
 prison. The next day, the offices of the British and Ameri- 
 can Bible Societies as well as the assembly halls of the mission 
 were closed by the police, and the books confiscated. Even 
 the missionaries were forcibly driven out of their houses. 
 
 It is true that by the intervention of the British ambassador, 
 backed by his government, most of the prisoners were released 
 or were treated less harshly in prison, and the Bible-depots 
 and the confiscated Bibles, though not Pfander's books, were 
 restored to the missionaries. Nevertheless the subsequent 
 official correspondence led merely to the declaration that a 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 1 75 
 
 government can grant toleration only in so far as the genius 
 of the people permits. That, further, though the hatti 
 humayoun was intended to grant religious liberty to all, yet 
 it did not sanction either public attacks on any of the existing 
 religious bodies nor deliberate proselytizing. That it was the 
 right and duty of the Porte as the guardian of the public 
 peace to prevent such things, and, if necessary, to suppress 
 them by force. The Bible might be distributed like the 
 Koran, but it must not be hawked about in the streets (col- 
 portage). The missionaries must exercise patience and give 
 expression to their opinions only with due regard for the 
 opinions of others. Open propagandism was forbidden. The 
 fact is that there was no longer a vigorous Lord Stratford 
 Canning representing Britain. In his place was Sir Henry 
 Bulwer, a weak man, who did not conceal his disapproval of 
 " renting places for religious addresses, nor of hiring men to 
 go among the Turks in order to read to them books which try 
 to prove that the Koran and its Prophet are full of errors and 
 absurdities." With a man of such principles in power, the 
 Protestant Mission was indeed delivered over into the hands 
 of the fanatic reactionaries. 
 
 The mission has never recovered from the effects of this 
 blow. Dr. Pfander died in Eichmond, London, on the 1st of De- 
 cember, 1865, and, soon after, the three most faithful Turkish 
 agents, Mahmud Effendi of the Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel, and Selim Effendi Williams and Abdi Effendi of the 
 Church Missionary Society also passed away. Dr. Koelle re- 
 mained in the service of the Church Missionary Society until 
 1877, and, after retiring from active service, lived quietly in 
 Stamboul, trying to win his neighbours, but with only small 
 success. Only thrice did he experience the joy of baptizing 
 converted Muhammadans. " Proselyting efforts," ha wrote 
 in 1875, " offend both the religious and the political suscepti- 
 bilities of the Mussulmans. . . . An European missionary 
 could not visit in Muhammadan houses without rousing sus- 
 picion. No church for the public Christian service of Turks 
 would have any chance of being authorized by the govern- 
 
176 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 ment. No missionary school for Muhammadan youths would 
 be tolerated " (Stock, " History," Yol. Ill, p. 114). Under 
 such circumstances mission work was an impossibility. The 
 Church Missionary Society abandoned its station in Constanti- 
 nople in 1877, and has never since reopened it. 
 
 An event which occurred in connection with this mission in 
 1879 caused a great commotion in Europe. Dr. Koelle was 
 secretly translating the Book of Common Prayer into Turkish, 
 with the help of Ahmed Tewfik, one of the respected Turkish 
 ulema. Suddenly both were thrown into prison by the police. 
 A naval demonstration, accompanied by a stern ultimatum 
 from the English Premier Lord Beaconsfield, was required to 
 effect the alteration of the sentence of death on Ahmed Tewfik 
 to banishment to Scio. Tewfik escaped later to London, 
 where his baptism in 1881 caused a great sensation. But he 
 did not turn out well ; in fact he seems later to have returned 
 to Islam. 
 
 Forty years elapsed before another deliberate attempt 
 was made to begin a mission among the Turks in Turkey. 
 Dr. Lepsius' " German Orient Mission " began work in. 
 Turkey and Persia in 1900. The plan of the mission is to 
 make Khoi in Persia, Diarbekr and Urfa in Asiatic Turkey, 
 and Philippopolis in European Turkey, centres from which to 
 carry on work among Muhammadans. Urfa and Diarbekr 
 are to be centres of medical work. Khoi, with its industrial 
 work, is to serve as the starting-point of a mission among the 
 Moslem Kurds. In Philippopolis, where a printing-press has 
 been set up, literary work is to be the chief form of activity. 
 But all this is still in the initial stage. 
 
 7. The New Era in Turkey 
 
 Up to the 24th of July, 1908, there seemed to be no pros- 
 pect of any great change in the situation of Protestant mis- 
 sions in Turkey as we have described it. Mission work was 
 hindered on every hand by the unremitting opposition of the 
 government and its officials. No new school could be opened, 
 no new book printed, without a petty strife against malevo- 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and Armenia 177 
 
 lent magistrates, or narrow-minded censors. Every forward 
 step had to be made against decided resistance. Progress was 
 necessarily slow. 
 
 Suddenly, without warning, a peaceful revolution took 
 place. At about one o'clock on that 24:th of July the tele- 
 graph spread through the length and breadth of Turkey the 
 unexpected news that the Sultan had granted, " at the desire 
 of the people and by his own decree," a liberal constitution 
 with a very large measure of freedom. Freedom of speech 
 and of the press, religious freedom, and freedom of travel 
 were guaranteed. The whole system of spies was abolished. 
 A Parliament with a chamber of commons and a senate should 
 direct the affairs of the country. 
 
 Even now, months later, it is not clear what were the 
 causes of this radical change in the politics of Sultan Abdul 
 Hamid. Certain it is that he was sorely pressed by England 
 and Eussia with regard to the Macedonian reforms, and that 
 he was, with all his famous subtlety, at his wits' ends to baffle 
 again, as so many times before, the impatient powers. Equally 
 certain is it that the energetic " Young Turkey " party had 
 quietly won an enormous influence, especially in the army, 
 and that the Second and Third Army Corps were ready to 
 march against the Sultan, if he persisted in refusing liberal 
 reforms. It is also certain at last that not even the Sultan's 
 most confidential councillors, nor the foreign ambassadors, 
 nor the American missionaries in Constantinople foresaw the 
 event three days in advance. It is said that the Grand Yizier, 
 Ferid Pasha, had just stepped into his carriage to go to the 
 Sublime Porte for a meeting of ministers, when he was told 
 that he and all his colleagues had been deposed, and their 
 whole regime overthrown. 
 
 Whatever may have been the secret reasons of the sudden 
 change, it was hailed by the people with the utmost joy, even 
 with loud outbursts of triumphant jubilation. The event was 
 everywhere celebrated by great popular gatherings in city 
 streets, squares, mosques, and churches, with addresses by 
 Muhammadan and Christian speakers. Governors or other 
 
178 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 high officials announced the surprising news, the decree of the 
 Sultan was publicly read, the crowd cheered wildly, military 
 bands played the national anthem. Every one delivered 
 speeches denouncing the old regime, and processions paraded 
 through the streets with banners and flags and bands of music. 
 It was like a general paroxysm of the usually so quiet and 
 dignified Mussulmans and Oriental Christians. 
 
 When, on September 1st, an Imperial Mission sped from 
 Damascus to Medina formally to open the Hejaz Eailway, 
 they saw the stations decorated with banners bearing the 
 motto: "Hurriet, Musaret, TJkhuvvet " (Liberty, Equality, 
 Fraternity). At the ceremonial opening no speech excited 
 more enthusiasm than one by an Egyptian who said, " The 
 Prophet did not permit the railway to reach the holy city 
 before the Khalif granted a constitution to his people." 
 
 One very remarkable feature of this general rejoicing was 
 that the gulf between Muhammadans and Christians seemed 
 in a moment to be bridged over, even to be filled up. Every- 
 where Turkish officials and Armenian ecclesiastics embraced 
 each other, exchanging congratulations and pledging them- 
 selves to mutual brotherhood. In Beirut on the open street 
 a venerable sheikh with green turban and flowing robes de- 
 clared, in a stentorian voice, that all hatred and jealousy 
 against the Christians was now passed, and in the future they 
 were to live as brethren. When people caught sight of a 
 Christian priest and a turbaned Moslem in proximity to each 
 other, they pushed them into each other's arms, and made 
 them kiss one another. In Stamboul, on the 15th of August, 
 there was an imposing peace gathering in the Armenian ceme- 
 tery, where, in 1896, about 5,000 massacred Armenians had 
 been interred in long trenches. About 10,000 persons, mem- 
 bers of the Young Turkey committee, students of the military 
 school, high officers, priests and bishops in their robes, were 
 present, and in sight of the memorials of former hostility and 
 bloodshed everlasting fraternity was proclaimed. 
 
 It is not to be expected that all the hopes thus suddenly 
 aroused will be fulfilled. We know too well what it meant 
 
Protestant Missions in Turkey and'^ Armenia 179 
 
 to almost every country in Europe to change from absolutism 
 to a constitutional parliament. The lessons of the French 
 Ke volution and of the volcanic year, 1848, are not easily for- 
 gotten. And the short career of parliamentary rule in Kussia 
 and Persia is too significant to be overlooked. The probabil- 
 ity of a reaction is great in Turkey in proportion to the sud- 
 denness of the change. The danger is all the more imminent 
 since Austria has taken advantage of the confused situation 
 to assume suzerainty over the long occupied provinces of 
 Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Bulgaria has crowned Prince 
 Ferdinand as king, and in the Young Turkey party there is a 
 strong tendency to grant autonomy to Macedonia. Thus 
 there are on every side combustible materials for a general 
 conflagration in the Near East, just at a moment when peace 
 is of the utmost importance for the prestige and success of the 
 new regime. 
 
 Yet, though a measure of reaction may follow, it is hardly 
 possible that the Sultan or his successors can entirely reverse 
 what he has done ; it is highly probable that there will be 
 some stability in the freedom granted. And that is just what 
 the Protestant missions most sorely need. (1) Freedom of 
 the press. The endless red tape necessary in obtaining per- 
 mission to publish a tract or a supplement to a periodical ; the 
 submission of each manuscript in triplicate to two successive 
 censors, and the necessity of permission to publish, even after 
 permission to print has been given, all this and much more 
 petty tyranny is done away with {Miss. jRev., Vol. 18, p. 745). 
 " Such words as liberty, constitution, Macedonia, patriot, star, 
 which have not appeared for years, may now be used freely." 
 
 (2) Freedom of travel. It will be an enormous relief to 
 the missionaries in the large districts, with their widely 
 scattered congregations, that they will no longer be de- 
 pendent upon the granting of tezkeres by whimsical magis- 
 trates. It will greatly facilitate the journeying of students 
 to and from the colleges and so bring many a promising pupil 
 to the benefits of higher education, for whom it was formerly 
 out of the question because of the impossibility of getting a 
 
i8o History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 tezkere or paying the necessary bribes to unscrupulous 
 officials. 
 
 (3) Freedom of schools. In the political program of the 
 Young Turkey party education takes a foremost place. 
 " Schools and instruction shall be free. Every citizen has the 
 right to open private schools according to the laws. All 
 schools shall be under government inspection. . . . Eelig- 
 ious institutions shall be exempt from these regulations." It is 
 not yet known what the proposed government school system 
 will be like, but it is probable that it will provide ample room 
 for the large educational establishments of the various mis- 
 sions. 
 
 How far direct mission work among the Muhammadans 
 will be facilitated by the new order of things, it is not yet 
 possible to say. Certainly there are, among the leaders of 
 the liberal party, broad-minded and cultured men, who really 
 wish full religious liberty, including the right to change one's 
 religion according to the convictions of conscience. Soon 
 after the proclamation of the constitution there appeared in 
 an influential paper of the Young Turkey party a series of 
 articles demanding the translation of the Koran into Turkish, 
 and the removal of the veil and other disabilities of women. 
 But it was followed almost immediately by the following 
 official proclamation : " Since certain papers are publishing 
 articles detrimental to the laws and customs of Islam . . . 
 (articles which) are hurtful to the heart and conscience of 
 the people, and arouse tumult, editors and publishers of such 
 articles shall be sentenced according to the law." 
 
 However uncertain the future may be, it is sure that we 
 are at the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Prot- 
 estant missions in Turkey, and it is very probable that it will 
 be a time of great possibilities, an unheard of " day of oppor- 
 tunity," an open door of approach not only to the Armenians 
 and the other Christian peoples, but also to the Turks and Kurds 
 and other non-Christian nations. May it find the American 
 Board ready to go forward with a fresh consciousness of her 
 responsibility as a bringer of light and life to the Turkish East. 
 
TV 
 
 SYRIA AND PALESTINE 
 
 (A) Syria 
 
 IN" no part of Asia Minor are the racial and religious con- 
 ditions more complicated than in Syria. The Lebanon 
 and Anti-Lebanon, crossing the country from north to 
 south in two parallel chains, form a mountainous region, diffi- 
 cult of access by reason of its rugged and pathless character. 
 As in the Alps and Pyrenees, the Caucasus and the Himalayas, 
 so also in Syria, in out-of-the-way places, all manner of rem- 
 nants of peoples and Churches are to be found. Of the two 
 million inhabitants (not counting Palestine) about 200,000 be- 
 long to the Greek Orthodox Church, being under the Patriarch 
 of Antioch. To the Roman Church belong 320,000 Maronites 
 and 138,000 Melchites, i. e., Arabic-speaking Syrians of the 
 Greek-Melchite Rite. In addition to these there are about 15,- 
 000 Jacobites, 10,000 Armenians and 10,000 Protestants — in all 
 about 693,000 Christians.^ Syria is one of those parts of Turkey 
 in which the Christian population is large, both absolutely and 
 in comparison with the Muhammadan population. The pity 
 is that there is hardly any possibility of united progress, be- 
 cause of the many ecclesiastical and national divisions among 
 
 ^ According to the statistics of Dr. William Thomson, which, thongh made 
 years ago, are of value to-day, Syria had a population of from 1,360, 000 to 
 1,864,000, comprising 
 
 Sunnites, 565,000 Maronites 180,000-200,000 
 
 Nusairiyeh 
 
 and 
 Ismailidians , 
 
 Melchites 60,000 
 
 150,000-200,000 Orthodox Greeks 240,000 
 
 Druses 80,000-100,000 Armenians, ) or, aao 
 
 Metawileh 25,000-30,000 Jacobites and others / -^"'^"^ 
 
 Total number of Total of Christians (say) 520,000 
 
 Muhammadans (say) 850,000 
 Total number of Jews 30,000 
 
 181 
 
]82 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the Christians. It is worthy of remark that the Eoman 
 Church has by far the greatest number of adherents. Among 
 Muhammadans, too, there is the greatest diversity. Whereas 
 outside of Syria you find in Islam only dervish orders or sects 
 of doctrinal or ascetic character, here in Syria there are a 
 number of peculiar religious bodies of a national character 
 with hardly any Muhammadan characteristics. The best 
 known of these bodies, the Druses, numbers about 83,000, half 
 of whom inhabit the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains 
 to the south of the railway from Beirut to Damascus, the 
 other half living in the wild mountainous district of Hauran, 
 whence the name Jebel ed Drus. Probably an aboriginal 
 tribe of the Syrian mountains, they have maintained their 
 racial and religious identity by adhering to their religious 
 mysteries. When the Shiah party spread in Asia Minor un- 
 der the Abasside Khalifs of Bagdad (750 a. d.), two sects of 
 them were formed, the Imamites and the Ismailites. The 
 Shiahs of both sects hold the belief that Allah has revealed 
 himself at different times in various historical personages, the 
 favourite theory being that of a series of imams appearing 
 regularly in each generation, so that every generation possesses 
 an imam as the exponent of the revelation of Allah. Thus 
 there is a more or less lengthy series of prophets (incarnations 
 of Allah), which culminates in the hero of each particular 
 sect. About the year Y80 A. D. a quarrel arose among the 
 Shiahs, who, until that time, had generally acknowledged the 
 descendants of Ali as the only true imams. The question upon 
 which the Shiahs divided was whether Muhammad el Habib,the 
 son of Ismail, was the legitimate imam, or Musa Kasim, who 
 had been nominated by Ismail's father after his son's death. 
 The Ismailites held the former view, the Imamites the latter. 
 As a result of this division, the Imamites reckon eleven imams, 
 the last of whom died about 900 A. d., and will reappear some 
 time as Mahdi ; while the Ismailites maintain that there are 
 only seven imams, of whom the last is Muhammad el Habib 
 (780-800 A. D.). In the latter person all the wisdom and 
 knowledge of God culminated. To win the victory for their 
 
Syria and Palestine 183 
 
 view^ the Ismailites conducted an active propaganda by means 
 of a special religious order, the Dais, or Missionaries, one of 
 the most active of whom, Abu Abdallah, went to Egypt about 
 900 A. D., and gained so great an influence that he was able to 
 place Egypt under the dominion of Ubeidallah, a fellow-be- 
 liever of his, who became the founder of the Fatimide dynasty 
 (909-1 lYl A. D.). One of his successors was Hakim ba amr 
 Allah (996-1020), one of the most notorious tyrants and shed- 
 ders of blood that have ever sat upon the throne of the Khalifs. 
 He not only persecuted Christians most savagely, but also 
 committed bloody outrages against his fellow-religionists. He 
 took most arbitrary liberties with the precepts of Islam, for- 
 bidding the pilgrimage to Mecca, discontinuing for a time 
 public prayers in the mosques, abrogating the law of the 
 jihad, cursing the memory of the first three legitimate Khalifs, 
 Abu Bekr, Omar and Othman, and abrogating their laws, 
 which form a great portion of the Sunna. There were living 
 at the court of this tyrant, of whom historians are unable to 
 decide whether he was, or was not, insane, three men, Darazi 
 (Muhammad ibn Ismail Darazi), Akhram and Hamza, whose 
 aim it was to procure divine veneration for Hakim, giving out 
 that in him Allah had manifested himself in human form. 
 When Hakim was murdered in 1020, at the instigation of his 
 sister, these three spread the report that he had withdrawn 
 from the earth to test the faith of his adherents, but that he 
 would come again in power and glory to give the kingdom 
 of this world to his faithful followers. This curious form of 
 fanaticism was zealously preached by Hamza among the 
 Lebanon tribe, which received the name Druse from the 
 above-mentioned Darazi. They themselves assume the name 
 of Muwahidin, i. e.^ Defenders of the Oneness of G-od. They 
 developed their doctrine into a complicated Gnostic system, 
 decked out with patches of Christianity, and probably con- 
 taining remnants of the old Syrian heathen nature- worship. 
 (It is asserted that the Druses worskip Hakim in the image 
 of a Golden Calf, which at any rate plays a part in their wor- 
 ship and has not yet been accounted for.) They also believe 
 
184 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 in the transmigration of souls and the final judgment. Only 
 a comparatively small number are initiated into these mys- 
 teries and are called aqqal^ i. e., the knowing ones. The 
 mass of the people goes by the name of johha, or the igno- 
 rant. And the veil cast over their religion is the harder to 
 lift, because it is enjoined on the Druses as a duty to accom- 
 modate themselves in word and action to the religious usages 
 of the countries in which they live. This principle, called 
 taqiyah, i. e., accommodation to Orthodox Islam or to any 
 form of Christianity, or even, if it be convenient, to Judaism, 
 naturally renders mission work among the Druses not only 
 difficult, but also possibly illusory. (The standard work on 
 the religion of the Druses is Silvestre de Sacy — " Expose sur 
 la Eeligion des Druses," 2 vols., of which there is a none too 
 clear digest in Sell, " Essays on Islam," pp. 147-184.) The 
 rest of the Muhammadan sects belong more or less to the 
 Shiite family. But whereas the Druses are a branch of the 
 Ismailites, the Nusairiyeh regard themselves as Iraamites. 
 They dwell to the north of Tripoli and beyond Latakia, in a 
 part of the mountain chains of Lebanon which is called after 
 them Jebel el Ansariye. The name Nusairiyeh, a diminutive 
 of Nasrani — " Christians " — is deceptive and has probably 
 been given by opponents. They themselves adopt the name 
 of El Chussaibiyeh after their revered teacher, Abu Abdullah 
 el Chussaibi, and trace their descent back to the legitimate 
 imam of the Shiites, Hasan el Askari. They worship Ali as 
 an incarnation of God, and call him figuratively "The Lord of 
 the Bees," who reveals himself in nature (sun and clouds). 
 They have retained many traces of ancient Syrian heathenism 
 in their worship. Their number is variously computed, the 
 highest estimate being 250,000 ; but there are probably not 
 more than 75,000 of them. Side by side with them, or scat- 
 tered among them, are the sparse remnants of the Assassines, 
 who made themselves so notorious in the Crusades ; they are 
 now usually called simply Ismailites. By this name they are 
 at once to be recognized as belonging to the same group of 
 sects as the Druses. Their founder, Hasan ibn Sabah, took 
 
Syria and Palestine 185 
 
 possessioa of the mountaia stronghold Alamut, near Kasvin 
 in Persia, whence the sect spread into Northern Lebanon, and 
 especially into the region west and north of Hamath. They 
 recognize as their legitimate imam either the Fatimide Khalif 
 of Egypt, or the chief of their own sect. Their religious sim- 
 ilarity to the Druses is exhibited in their worship of Ali as 
 divine, in the belief in the incarnation of Allah in the imams, 
 especially in Ali, and in the arbitrary allegorical exegesis of 
 the Koran, in which they prove or disprove any doctrine as 
 they please. They, too, lay great sbress on strict secrecy in 
 the matter of doctrine. Fortunately they have discontinued 
 the practice of the former terrible assassinations, as a result of 
 which their oriental nickname, Hashishim (hemp-smokers), was 
 corrupted by Europeans into " Assassines." A similar tribal 
 remnant, numbering about 60,000, are the Metawileh, also a 
 Shiite sect. Here and there among these sects are scattered 
 remnants of the Yezides (devil worshippers), who have their 
 chief seat in the mountains to the east and north of Mosul, 
 as also bands of G-ipsies and other fragments of tribes. 
 
 1. The Mission of the American Board 18^3-1870 
 
 The American Board sent its first missionaries to the Near 
 East in 1819, to inaugurate its great scheme of mission work. 
 Of the work among Armenians and Greeks, which was begun 
 eleven years later in Constantinople, we have treated iu the 
 last chapter. Here we have to do with the work in Syria. 
 At first it was rather difOlcult to obtain a suitable centre for 
 the work in the Near East. The Board established a kind of 
 headquarters with a printing-press on the island of Malta, as 
 the Church Missionary Society had done, in order to prepare 
 the necessary literature in the various languages. The two 
 pioneers, Eev. Levi Parsons and Kev. Pliny Fisk, advanced 
 to the east coast of the Mediterranean, yet did not settle in 
 any one place, but travelled on, preaching and distributing 
 literature throughout Syria, Palestine and Egypt. Parsons 
 died in 1822 in Alexandria and Fisk on the 23d of October, 
 1825. But others were ready to fill their places. As soon as 
 
i86 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the news of the death of Parsons became known, a young 
 American student in Paris, Jonas King, offered his services 
 to the Board, at first only for three months ; but he was to 
 spend a long life of useful activity in the mission. In Oc- 
 tober, 1823, two other missionaries v^ith their wives came to 
 Syria, Eev. Wm. Goodell and Eev. Frank Bird, going first to 
 Jerusalem, where, however, conditions seemed to be so unsafe 
 that they preferred to remove to Beirut. This vras the be- 
 ginning of a regular mission in Syria, for Nicolayson and an- 
 other missionary of the London Jewish Mission, who had 
 settled in Antuf, to the north of Beirut, in 1822, did not long 
 remain. 
 
 The streams of intellectual and spiritual life which have 
 flooded Syria for three quarters of a century took their rise 
 in Beirut, where both the Protestant and the Roman mission- 
 aries have their headquarters. The first good roads in Syria 
 were built from this centre to Damascus and Tripoli. Beirut 
 was the starting-point of the railway to Damascus, and is the 
 centre of the Syrian telegraphic system. It has the only safe 
 harbour on the Syrian coast, a harbour which is entered day 
 and night by steamers bringing European goods to be ex- 
 changed for the products of Syria, especially oranges, silk 
 stuffs, olives and dates. For beauty of situation Beirut is 
 hardly surpassed by the loveliest cities of the world, her white 
 buildings rising in terraces from the dark blue waters of the 
 Mediterranean up to the reddish slopes of the hills which 
 encircle the town and the harbour, alive with great steamers 
 and countless white-sailed boats. Almost on the summit of 
 the peninsula, Ras-Beirut, stands the German Hospital of the 
 Knights of St. John, and, a little higher up, the stately group 
 of buildings forming the Syrian Protestant College. Behind 
 Beirut there rises chain after chain of the imposing Lebanon 
 range of mountains, its lower slopes covered with odorous 
 orange and lemon plantations, higher up its bare crags rising 
 into jagged heights that are covered with dazzling snow. 
 Above this charming picture of tropical richness and Alpine 
 grandeur stretches the deep blue dome of the Southern sky, 
 
Syria and Palestine 187 
 
 in the atmosphere of which the most distant objects appear to 
 be incredibly near. 
 
 The first years of the American Mission opened hopefully. 
 Nearly every day there came visitors of the most various 
 creeds, Greeks, Maronites, Melchites, Armenians, Arabs and 
 Turks, to hold converse with the missionaries on religious 
 questions. A bishop of the Armenian Church, Garabed 
 Dionysius, whom the superstitions of his Church had made 
 restive, and Wartabet Jacob, a well-educated Armenian priest, 
 offered their services as teachers of the language and as as- 
 sistants to the missionaries. Several schools were established 
 in and around Beirut, with an attendance of 700 children. 
 And even 100 girls entered the schools, a thing hitherto un- 
 heard of in Syria. 
 
 Such was the bright spring time of the mission. Very 
 soon, however, bitter enmity, especially on the part of the 
 Roman Church, was displayed against it. The ecclesiastical 
 authorities of the Maronites, Romanists and Uniate Melchites, 
 awoke to the danger threatening them, and did all in their 
 power to offer resistance. In 1824, not quite twelve months 
 after the Americans had settled in Beirut, the Roman Cath- 
 olics induced the Sultan to issue a firman forbidding the dis- 
 tribution of the Holy Scriptures in Turkey. It is true that 
 after certain missionaries, who had been arrested while selling 
 Bibles in the streets of Jerusalem, had, through the energetic 
 interference of the British consul, been avenged by the dis- 
 missal of the governor of Jerusalem, no Turkish official had 
 a mind to burn his fingers in carrying out the firman. Yet 
 this laxity on the part of the officials inflamed the enmity of 
 the Maronite Patriarch still more. He came down from his 
 mountain monastery to threaten with excommunication any 
 Maronite who might let a house to the missionaries. By 
 bribery he also hoped to gain influence over the Greek Bishop, 
 and over the Muhammadans of higher rank, and so to drive 
 away the Americans. He laid on the Americans the follow- 
 ing curse : " We allow no one to receive the Americans ; by 
 the word of Almighty God no one shall dare to visit them, to 
 
i88 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 do them any service or render them help, so that they might 
 be able to remain in these parts. This we forbid most strictly. 
 Every one must avoid meeting them. Whoever dares in his 
 obstinacy to transgress this command, will fall at once and 
 without fail under the great curse of the Church from which 
 I alone can absolve him." Accordingly whoever approached 
 the missionaries was threatened with this curse, and more 
 than once the bolt fell on an innocent head.^ The death of 
 the first martyr of the Gospel in Syria Avas due to this Patri- 
 arch. Asad es Shidiak, a young Maronite, had, after finishing 
 his education in the Maronite Monastery School, Ain Warka, 
 entered the service of the missionaries in order to earn a live- 
 lihood as teacher of Arabic and Syriac. He had as yet no 
 knowledge of Gospel truth, and so little was he inclined in its 
 favour that he spent his spare time in writing against it. But 
 this very work made it necessary for him to examine the Bible 
 carefully. And the Word of God created new life in his 
 receptive heart. Whilst he was studying the prophecies of 
 Isaiah, the light broke in upon him. When the Patriarch 
 heard that he was in communication with the Americans, he 
 summoned him to his monastery and, assisted by his chaplains, 
 endeavoured to dissuade him from adopting the new faith. 
 One dark night Asad fled from the monastery and returned 
 to Beirut, only, however, strengthened in his belief in evan- 
 gelical truth. There he was received with open arms by the 
 missionaries. Hereupon the Patriarch resorted to cunning in 
 order to get him again into his power. Solemnly promising 
 him safe conduct and holding out flattering offers, he induced 
 him to return to his village. Alma, where he was handed over 
 by his relations to the merciless prince of their Church. He 
 was at once cast into a dark cell. That was in 1836. From 
 
 ^ The curse of the Maronite Patriarch in 1829 ran : Because they have received 
 the deceiver, Bird (a missionary), let them be hereby excluded from all Christian 
 society ; let the curse cover them as a garment and sink into their members as 
 an oil and make them wither aa the fig-tree which the mouth of the Lord cursed ; 
 the evil spirit shall also take possession of them, torturing them day and night ; 
 no one shall visit or greet them. Avoid them as mortifying limbs and infernal 
 dragons. 
 
Syria and Palestine 189 
 
 that time he was not seen by any of the missionaries. He 
 made several attempts to escape by night, but always fell into 
 the hands of his vigilant keepers, to be taken back to the 
 monastery and cruelly punished. At last he was cast into a 
 dark dungeon, the only exit from which was built up. Six 
 thin slices of bread and a cup of water formed his meagre 
 daily rations. Against filth and foulness he was defenseless. 
 Nevertheless he remained steadfast. It was probably three 
 years later, in October, 1839, that he was released by death 
 from his sufferings. His body was cast into a gorge and cov- 
 ered with stones. He was the first martyr of the Protestant 
 Mission in Syria, an evident proof of what the Roman Church 
 intended to do with Protestants, if she could lay her hands 
 on them. 
 
 This experience had the advantage or disadvantage, accord- 
 ing to one's point of view, of leaving the Protestant Mission 
 in no doubt as to whether a reformation of these Oriental 
 Churches from within, with the help of their authorities, was 
 possible. If the mission was not to dissolve itself, it was 
 bound to prepare for war with the hierarchy, and to aim at 
 an independent Protestant church organization. The experi- 
 ence of a century has shown that such a step is absolutely 
 necessary in any mission among Oriental Christians. 
 
 A great hindrance to the mission were the warlike disturb- 
 ances, which lasted nearly twenty years (1820-1840), all over 
 the Turkish Orient. The years 1820-1830 were filled with 
 the Greek War of Independence. Beirut became involved, 
 being first besieged by the Greeks and then plundered by the 
 Turkish troops. In 1828-1830 the missionaries had to aban- 
 don their work and seek refuge in Malta. Still more of a 
 hindrance were the Egyptian-Turkish troubles, occasioned by 
 Ibrahim Pasha. The Egyptian army conquered and occupied 
 Palestine and Syria as far as Haraath and Aleppo. The 
 Druses, also, who had till then resisted the attacks of the 
 Turks, were subdued in 1835. An Anglo-French fleet block- 
 aded and cannonaded Beirut, and the missionaries were com- 
 pelled once more to flee, this time to Cyprus. Only after the 
 
igo History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 intervention of the Western Powers was Ibrahim Pasha 
 forced back into Egypt. The Turkish government was re- 
 stored in Syria, and quieter times followed. In 1842 and 
 1845, Syria was once more disturbed by internal strife, in 
 which the Maronites attempted to humiliate the Druses, who 
 were barely one-third of their number ; yet each time they 
 were repulsed with great slaughter. These troubles did not 
 contribute to the progress of the mission. 
 
 In spite of all these difficulties, the Americans began with 
 the distribution of evangelical tracts and books. In this work 
 they undertook long, trying journeys as far as Aleppo in the 
 north and Nazareth in the south. They soon observed 
 that the Arabic books they possessed were defective and 
 also badly printed. The Board had, indeed, established 
 a printing-press in Malta in 1822, in order to supply its 
 missions in the Near East with new and good literature ; but 
 it was found necessary to have Arab compositors working 
 under the supervision of Arabic-speaking missionaries. The 
 Arabic department was, therefore, removed to Beirut in 1834. 
 But even this did not suffice. Since up to that time Arabic 
 had been chiefly written by hand, not printed, and since calig- 
 raphy is one of the few arts open to the orthodox Moslem, a 
 refined taste in the matter of the form of Arabic letters has 
 been developed. If the mission wanted its publications to be 
 well received and enjoyed by the Arabs, they would have to 
 provide type that would equal the best handwriting. Dr. Eli 
 Smith, that able missionary, who was an excellent Arabic 
 scholar, collected about one thousand particularly beautiful 
 characters out of the most perfect manuscripts ; these he had 
 cast into type by a clever type-founder, working under his 
 guidance. This preparatory work was tedious and expensive ; 
 but the result of it was that the productions of the Beirut Mis- 
 sion Press were regarded with different eyes and read with 
 great pleasure. 
 
 ^ The printing office in Malta was at that time given up. The greater part 
 of it had been transferred in 1833 to Smyrna, to be taken later to Constanti- 
 nople, where at the present time the Board haa a large printing establishment. 
 
Syria and Palestine 191 
 
 Other missionary work proceeded but slowly. About the 
 year 1834 a beginning was made with the extension of the 
 educational worlc. First in Beirut, then in its neighbourhood, 
 small schools for boys were opened. They were of a rather 
 ill-defined character, hardly more than elementary schools. 
 In 1835 a higher school was opened, called a seminary, for 
 pupils desiring special instruction in English and other sub- 
 jects, who were able to pay something for board and educa- 
 tion. At that time Turkey had no government schools, nor 
 was there any standard for the missionaries to go by. Ques- 
 tions as to the requirements made of the pupils and the ob- 
 jects of the schools were answered rather differently by differ- 
 ent missionaries. Some attached chief importance to the 
 grounding of the young men in Biblical knowledge and G-ospel 
 truth, while others thought it equally important to give the 
 pupils, entrusted to the mission, a thorough secular education, 
 especially in English, thus fitting them for every-day life. 
 Others again, and their views at that time gave shape to the 
 work, laid stress on the training of assistants of all kinds for 
 mission work, especially as teachers in the schools. The 
 seminary was afterwards removed to Abeih, to the south of 
 Beirut. 
 
 In 1835, also, the first girls'^ school of this mission was 
 opened in Beirut, an epoch-making event. In 1894 a monu- 
 ment was erected on the spot where this girls' school, the 
 first of its kind in all Syria, had stood. It was said at that 
 time that there was not a girl in all Syria who could read, 
 and even educated Muhammadans asserted that one might as 
 well try to teach a cat to read as a girl. The missionaries 
 were thus the pioneers of female education. Looking to-day 
 at the hundreds of girls' schools belonging to Muhammadans, 
 Greeks, Maronites and Jews, which cover Syria from Aleppo 
 to Jerusalem, we realize the change that has taken place in 
 public opinion, a result of the example set by the missionaries. 
 
 Comparatively soon medical missionaries were sent to 
 Beirut, though without the modern equipment of hospitals 
 and dispensaries. The doctors helped wherever help was 
 
ig2 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 needed, and bore a share of the duties of the other missiona- 
 ries as well. 
 
 The missionaries soon found an opportunity for avenging in 
 a noble manner the death of Asad. "When, in 1845, the 
 Druses fell upon the Maronites in Deir el Kamr and mas- 
 sacred them, about 200, among whom were some of the 
 bitterest opponents of the Protestants, sought refuge in the 
 houses of the missionaries and their assistants. Dr. "William 
 Thomson went boldly into the midst of the tumult and in- 
 duced both parties to set a safe watch over the crowded 
 Protestant houses. Then, as a palace filled with Maronites was 
 stormed by the Druses, Thomson again succeeded in arrang- 
 ing that the threatened Maronites should be permitted to 
 leave under a white flag. As the terrified Maronites had 
 nothing to eat, the missionaries at once baked bread near Deir 
 el Kamr, with all the flour available there, while they sent by 
 night to Beirut for fresh supplies. Then they sent the 
 Maronites, still trembling for their lives, to a place of safety. 
 That day the Maronite and Greek bishops of Beirut issued 
 proclamations to their people, calling upon them to render 
 protection to members of the American Mission in any similar 
 calamity. 
 
 An interesting episode in the years 1835 to 1842 was the 
 friendly approach of the Druses to the mission. We have al- 
 ready mentioned that the Druses had been, in 1835, conquered 
 by the Egyptian Viceroy, Ibrahim Pasha. Until then they 
 had made some pretense of being Moslems, in order thus to 
 safeguard themselves against the oppression and humiliating 
 treatment to which Christians were exposed. ISTow the tables 
 were turned, for, after their subjugation, they were, as Mu- 
 hammadans, compelled to send their young men to serve as 
 soldiers. Now it is well known that only Moslems are per- 
 mitted to enter the army. Christians being excluded. The 
 Egyptian Yiceroy, like the Sultan in later years, desired 
 greatly to have these tall and robust mountaineers in his regi- 
 ments. But the Druses were much opposed to military 
 service, and sought for means whereby to avoid it. The only 
 
Syria and Palestine 193 
 
 sure way seemed to be that they should become Christians, at 
 any rate in name. On no account would they attach them- 
 selves to the Roman Church, for the Roman Maronites had 
 ever been their bitterest enemies. And the Roman priests 
 were hated in Syria. So they hit upon the device of becoming 
 Protestants. Naturally they did not explain their motives to 
 the missionaries, else they would have met with no encourage- 
 ment whatever. A remarkable experience now began for the 
 Americans. Hardly a day passed but a deputation from some 
 Druse sheikh sought an interview. Some asked that they 
 should be visited by a missionary, others wanted a day-school 
 or a catechist in their village, and others again asked for the 
 establishment of a higher school for the sons of the nobility. 
 The movement extended further and further, deputations ap- 
 pearing even from the valleys of Anti-Lebanon. Had the mis- 
 sionaries complied with all these requests without more ado, a 
 great portion of the Druses, perhaps even the whole tribe, 
 would have become Protestant, in name at least. But the 
 Americans looked askance at conversions en masse. They 
 would not barter the sacredness of their religion for a mere 
 increase in numbers. Very shyly and shrinkingly they 
 listened to the importunate Druses, establishing a school for 
 the sons of Druse chiefs, and opening village schools here and 
 there, while they themselves went preaching through the 
 country. But they would baptize only such people as had 
 been thoroughly prepared, and had passed through a time of 
 probation. It is difficult to say what this movement might 
 have led to, had not the Turks put an end to it with a strong 
 hand. In 1842 an army marched into the Druse districts, oc- 
 cupying all the villages and forging all the sheikhs, under 
 threats of direst punishment, to promise solemnly that neither 
 they nor their villages would ever forsake Islam for Protes- 
 tantism. Thus an insurmountable wall was built up between 
 the Druses and the mission. Yet the Druses remained the 
 friends of the missionaries, and have often shielded them in 
 times of danger. 
 There came a time when the results of the patient work of 
 
194 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the missionaries hegan to appear. One after another the 
 Syrians had joined them in the early years. But the Prot- 
 estant leaven began to work more vigorously. Now here, 
 now there, a family, a group of families, or a whole village, 
 was inclined to break away from the ancient Church, and to 
 become Protestant. In one village, up in the mountains, the 
 priest said mass for the last time, and then, leaving the church 
 along with his congregation, locked the door and threw the 
 key away, declaring that he would become Protestant, as he 
 could not reconcile it with his conscience to say mass. In the 
 large village of Hasbeiya those who wished to become Prot- 
 estants assembled one Sunday, after the service, around the 
 missionary, and solemnly declared that those who had signed 
 their names bound themselves in the sight of God, and 
 before that assembly, to hold together in one faith, and to 
 worship God according to the teaching of the Gospel. Each 
 took this oath standing, and with his hand on the Bible. In 
 Ain Zehalty, every one who was not a Druse was reckoned as 
 a Protestant ; in Alma, the home of Asad Shidiak, the martyr, 
 a Protestant congregation was formed ; in Kana, to the east 
 of Tyre, all, young and old, expressed a desire to be instructed 
 in the Word of God. From Aintab and Haleb in the North, 
 from Hamath and Homs in the East, and from as far as Lake 
 Merom in the South, requests came for teachers, schools, 
 Bibles, religious instruction and assistance in forming Prot- 
 estant congregations. The missionary map of Syria became 
 covered with red dots, signifying hopeful villages and dis- 
 tricts. The missionaries would have needed to multiply them- 
 selves many times to meet all these requests. At first they 
 had dwelt together in Beirut, but now they were obliged to 
 scatter over the entire country. This was more easy to do in 
 Syria than in other mission fields, for the reason that the 
 Syrian houses, being solidly built of stone, could, without 
 much trouble, be turned into dwellings for the missionaries. 
 Consequently we find, temporarily, missionaries in Abeih, 
 Deir el Kamr, Sidon and Suk el Gharb in the South ; and, 
 to the Northj in Homs^ Hamath, Aleppo and Tripoli. Sad to 
 
Syria and Palestine 195 
 
 say, there were not sufficient missionaries to enter all the 
 open doors. This was the more regrettable, as the Roman 
 and Greek opponents of the mission left no stone unturned to 
 hamper the Protestant cause, and to intimidate Protestant 
 converts. In almost every town and village there had to be 
 a severe contest before those of the ancient faith would tolerate 
 the Protestants. To give one example of such conflicts, we 
 single out Safita,^ a village to the north of Tripoli. It was 
 in the first instance secular reasons that induced a great 
 part of the villagers to go over to the Protestant Church. 
 They were sorely pressed by the cruel Turkish tax-gatherers, 
 and hoped to be secured against injustice by taking this step. 
 But they had reckoned without their host, for the Greek Bishop 
 bribed the Turks to drive the people out of their houses, to break 
 all that could be broken, to consume all that was eatable, and 
 to deliver the women over to the will of the Turkish soldiers. 
 The unfortunate people started in a body to seek help from 
 the chief magistrate of Tripoli. When he refused they turned 
 to the governor in Damascus. By the latter they were kindly 
 received, and were sent home laden with promises of a re- 
 assuring character. But, when harvest-time approached, the 
 trouble began again. Their wheat-fields were ploughed up by 
 their enemies, their olive orchards were secretly plundered ; 
 wherever a Protestant was met, unaccompanied, he was half 
 killed. The Muhammadan governor was bribed to extermi- 
 nate this " abominable sect," and he was willing enough to do 
 so. As if that were not enough, every Protestant, man, 
 woman and child, in Safita was seized in the depth of winter, 
 all being cast together into a narrow room. To torture them 
 still more, straw was set on fire, producing a fearfully suffo- 
 cating smoke. After that, they were set free, but while 
 they were assembled at evening service, Turkish horsemen 
 broke into their houses, plundering them, and when the Prot- 
 estants came home, all, both old and young, were driven out 
 into the night. It was marvellous in the eyes of the mission- 
 
 ^ It is one of the chief places of the Nusairiyeh, and was formerly the seat of 
 their hereditary sheikh. 
 
196 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 aries that, under such pressure, they did not all return to the 
 Greek Church, especially as their persecutors held out the dis- 
 tinct promise that their sufferings should cease, as soon as 
 they abjured Protestantism. Yet a number, at least, of these 
 sorely tried people remained faithful, attaching themselves all 
 the closer to the missionaries, and growing in grace in the 
 furnace of affliction. The only help in such and similar trials 
 was for the missionaries to apply to the British and American 
 consuls for protection, and thereby to exercise pressure on the 
 governor of Damascus. It would seem that in Syria the 
 opposition to the mission is more stubborn and malignant 
 than in Armenia, a fact which is probably to be explained by 
 the greater influence exercised by the Roman Church in Syria. 
 This is the reason why a larger and more connected movement 
 in the direction of Protestantism has never come about. 
 There have been only small groups of converts here and there. 
 During these years the missionaries in Beirut had com- 
 pleted the translation of the Bible into Arabic, a work of im- 
 portance, not only for Syria, but also for all other Arabic- 
 speaking countries. Portions of the Bible had already been 
 translated into Arabic, but these were neither sufficiently 
 accurate, nor were they of an idiomatic and flowing style. 
 Arabic is one of the most delicate, many-sided, and, at the 
 same time, difficult languages, to be master of which demands 
 an uncommon measure of linguistic talent and untiring study. 
 Educated Arabs are very sensitive about an imperfect use of 
 their beautiful language, and are, accordingly, prejudiced 
 against a faulty translation. Two of the most able American 
 missionaries. Dr. Eli Smith and Dr. Yan Dyck, each spent 
 eight years over their great undertaking, the former being 
 snatched from his work by cholera on the 11th of January, 
 1857. The Rev. Eli Smith, D. D., was one of the most promi- 
 nent of the Syrian missionaries. Born in 1801, he was sent 
 in 1824 to Malta and Beirut, especially to superintend the 
 printing establishment, and this remained until his death the 
 centre of his activity. For decades there was hardly a man- 
 uscript printed here that he had not thoroughly revised and 
 
Syria and Palestine 197 
 
 seen through the press. He was a thorough expert in all 
 oriental matters, and a diligent student. In 1830 and 1831, 
 as we have already said, he, with his colleague, Kev. Wm. 
 Goodell, D. D., undertook the now famous exploration of 
 Eastern Asia Minor and Transcaucasia, which is described in 
 that much-read book ** Christian Researches in Armenia" 
 (2 vols.). In 1837, 1838 and 1852 he accompanied Dr. Robin- 
 son, the explorer of Palestine, on his pioneering journey of 
 exploration. But his great achievement was his Arabic 
 translation of the New Testament, the Pentateuch and some 
 of the Prophetic Books. His Arab assistant in this work was 
 the Maronite convert, Butros Bistany, perhaps the most 
 learned, industrious and successful, as well as the most in- 
 fluential man of modern Syria. He has himself written 
 several large works in Arabic, and was a tower of strength to 
 the Protestant Church in Beirut, until his death in 1883. 
 
 The Rev. C. V. A. Yan Dyck, M. D., D. D., LL. D., was 
 sent out as a medical missionary, and was so highly prized as 
 such, that the Orthodox Greeks were glad to ask his frequent 
 help in their St. George's hospital in Beirut, and that, after 
 his death, they erected a monument in his honour, a remark- 
 able testimony of gratitude on the part of a Church that saw 
 in the Americans dangerous rivals. After Dr. Eli Smith's 
 death. Dr. Yan Dyck undertook the task of Bible translation, 
 with the assistance of the mufti. Sheikh Yusuf Asir, a gradu- 
 ate of the Azhar University in Cairo, completing it after 
 eight years of most strenuous work. On the 10th of March, 
 1865, the completion of this monumental work was celebrated 
 in a thanksgiving service in Beirut. Directly after this, Dr. 
 Yan Dyck returned home to have the Arabic version electro- 
 typed in 'New York. Duplicate plates of this then very 
 costly edition were deposited with the Bible Societies in New 
 York and London, and in the vaults of the American press. 
 This Arabic translation is, in the opinion of experts, a master- 
 piece, and one of the best translations of the Bible in our 
 times. It has since been one of the most important mission- 
 ary agencies in Syria and far beyond, to Morocco in the West 
 
198 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 and to Khartum in the South, in Arabia, Persia, North and 
 South India, in fact in all Muhammadan countries in which 
 Arabic is spoken and understood. In 1837 the Mejlis el 
 Maarif, or Board of Public Instruction of the Sultan, placed 
 the seal of authorization upon thirty-three different editions 
 of the Arabic Bible and portions of the Bible. Dr. Yan 
 Dyck died on the 13th of November, 1895, in Beirut, at the 
 age of seventy-seven. 
 
 Among the American missionaries of this period, mention 
 must be made of the learned Rev. Wm. M. Thomson, D. D., 
 the celebrated explorer of Palestine, who gave the results of 
 his comprehensive and careful studies in " The Land and the 
 Book," one of the most read books in America, treating of 
 the Holy Land. He continued for fifty years his work as a 
 missionary in Syria, retiring in 18Y7. He died in Denver, 
 Colorado, on the 8th of April, 1894, aged eighty-nine years. 
 Dr. W. W. Eddy devoted himself chiefly to the training of 
 teachers, opening a theological seminary in Abeih, which he 
 subsequently removed to Beirut in 1873. He died in 1900 in 
 Beirut, at the age of seventy-eight. 
 
 The rebellion of the Druses in 1860 is a tragic episode 
 in the history of the Syrian Mission. It was again the 
 fault of the Maronites. In spite of the defeats they had 
 suffered in 1842 and 1845, they were still eager to fight, 
 hoping thoroughly to humble their hated neighbours. With- 
 out any cause they fell upon several Druse villages, but 
 the Druses rose up against them as one man, being en- 
 couraged and supported also in the work of slaughter 
 by the Turks, who held that a little blood-letting was good 
 for these Christians, who were becoming too powerful and 
 numerous. Soon the mountains and valleys of Southern 
 Lebanon were resounding with the cries of agony and death, 
 uttered by the unhappy Maronites, whose men and growing 
 boys were mercilessly slaughtered, while the women fled 
 helplessly down to the seacoast to seek protection in Beirut 
 and Sidon. In the valley of Ccele-Syria, between Lebanon 
 and Anti-Lebanon, more than a thousand Maronites were 
 
Syria and Palestine 199 
 
 killed, the worst work being done in the Christian quarter of 
 Damascus. On the 9th of July the Druses, assisted by Kurds 
 and Arabs, rushed like a pack of famished wolves upon the 
 Christians there, plundering and burning their houses for 
 four or five days. Five thousand Christians are said to have 
 been mercilessly massacred by these savages. And the Turkish 
 authorities looked on with arms folded, not moving a finger to 
 stop the carnage. What did it amount to, that, afterwards, 
 when the powers, intervening for the defense of the Christians, 
 collected a fleet off the Syrian coast, the Grand Yizier in- 
 flicted fearful punishment on. one or two hundred of the 
 malefactors in Damascus ? It is impossible to say how great 
 the number of the victims was. As usual in such cases, it 
 was to the advantage of the Turks to state the smallest pos- 
 sible number, and they scorned the assumption that more 
 than a few hundred, or at most a thousand, had been massa- 
 cred. On the other hand the Maronites and their Komish 
 friends enormously exaggerated the losses, reporting 30,000, 
 or more, as having been murdered. Probably about 14,000 
 Maronites. Melchites and Greeks^ lost their lives. It is 
 worthy of notice that the Protestants were, in the main, not 
 involved in these massacres. Only in Hasbeiya did they vol- 
 untarily join the Maronites and Greeks, whereupon they suf- 
 fered greatly. That Protestants elsewhere were left for the 
 most part in peace, is a clear proof that it was not mainly a 
 religious struggle, but a feud between hereditary enemies, the 
 Druses and the Maronites. 
 
 The suffering in the devastated districts was boundless, the 
 villages having been plundered, the houses burned down, the 
 plantations destroyed. By hundreds and thousands the help- 
 less and defenseless widows and orphans crowded together on 
 the coast. A cry of indignation resounded throughout Chris- 
 tian Europe that Turkey should permit such inhuman 
 slaughter to take place at her very gates. Pity for the victims 
 
 * Canon Tristram, in "Danghtera of 'Syria," estimates the number of the 
 killed at 11,000; of those who perished from want, at 4,000; of widows and 
 orphans, at 20,000; of rained bouses, at 3,000. 
 
200 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 filled all hearts. It was the American missionaries who 
 proved to be the chief benefactors of the afflicted people, 
 knowing, as they did, land and people most intimately, and 
 having also trustworthy acquaintances in all the villages. In. 
 their hands English, American and German friends placed 
 about £40,000, and they hastened through the country, like 
 Good Samaritans. They supplied the hungry with food, the 
 naked with clothing, the houseless with shelter, the sick and 
 wounded with medicine and nursing. 
 
 This unselfish exhibition of Christian charity on the part of 
 the Protestants did not make any deep or lasting impression 
 upon the Maronites, who were too much under the influence 
 of the repellent spirit of their Jesuitical leaders. While they 
 accepted the benefits, they remained unchanged in heart. 
 The Christian Powers, however, as a result of this outbreak, 
 insisted on the appointment of a special Christian governor 
 for the Lebanon. Accordingly the mutessariflik of Lebanon 
 was separated from the vilayet of Beirut. It comprises the 
 seacoast from the neighbourhood of Sidon to Tripoli, with the 
 exception of the town of Beirut, which, with Galilee and the 
 southern half of Phoenicia, still belongs to the vilayet, and the 
 Lebanon range as far as Bekaa (Coele-Syria), a part of the 
 country that is especially inhabited by Christians. Here 
 dwell the most of the Maronites, from 30,000 to 40,000 
 Melchites, 20,000 to 30,000 Orthodox Greeks and 3,000 Prot- 
 estant Syrians, there being about 60,000 Muhammadans, 
 Druses and Metawileh. In accord with the numerical superi- 
 ority of the Eoman Church, the Pasha is always a Koman 
 Christian, either a Maronite or a Melchite. This new arrange- 
 ment has proved to be very beneficial to the country, 
 especially as most of the governors have endeavoured to be 
 impartial, and to protect all the Christian congregations. It 
 is probably owing to this that, since 1860, more and more 
 Druses have been emigrating to the Hauran, the neighbour- 
 hood of the Christians proving too disagreeable. Consequently 
 comparative order has since then reigned in Syria. As Chris- 
 tians, the inhabitants are exempt from military service, the 
 
Syria and Palestine 2oi 
 
 Druses also having had this freedom granted them. A cer- 
 tain amount of free speech and freedom of the press is allowed, 
 subject to the argus eyes of the censor. The people have 
 their own ecclesiastical courts of justice, in which minor law- 
 suits, especially such as deal with questions of inheritance, 
 may be settled. The buying and selling of land are not so 
 senselessly difficult as in other parts of Turkey. The district 
 enjoys a certain reduction of taxation. The solidly built 
 houses, with their roofs of red tiles, standing in the midst of 
 green gardens and plantations, are in marked contrast with 
 those of the poverty-stricken villages in other districts. 
 
 ^. The Entrance of Other Missionary Societies 
 
 The news of the massacres excited intense sympathy in the 
 whole of the Christian world. Able representatives of the cause 
 succeeded in deepening the momentary feeling of pity into per- 
 manent support. In this way the year 1860 opened a new 
 chapter in the history of Protestant endeavour in the Near East. 
 Apart from the work of Bishop Gobat in Jerusalem, no single 
 event prior to the Armenian horrors in 1895 and 1896 proved 
 to be such an incentive to the active cooperation of Protestants 
 in the evangelization of this part of the world. It is a re- 
 markable fact that hardly any of the great missionary 
 societies, existing at that time in Europe, undertook work in 
 Syria. The work was undertaken, rather, by smaller societies, 
 founded specially for this purpose, or by independent mission* 
 aries. Neither in England, Scotland nor Germany did the 
 mission work in the Near East immediately appeal to the 
 Christian public, nor did it there find such general apprecia- 
 tion and support as in Congregational and Presbyterian circles 
 in America. This is the secret of the fact that these new 
 missionary agencies have accomplished no single great end, 
 but have expended their energies on minor endeavours. Their 
 united forces were hardly equal to that of the American 
 Board or of the Presbyterian Mission of a later date. A 
 characteristic common to these smaller undertakings is that 
 they did not aim at the formation of congregations. Whei i 
 
202 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 their labours resulted ia conversions to Protestantism, their 
 converts, if they did not remain in the service of the mission, 
 joined the congregations established by the Americans. But 
 there were never many such converts, and the influence of 
 these missions has been in general small. 
 
 For convenience we will make mention of all these smaller 
 missions in Syria at this point, though some of them were 
 begun before 1860. 
 
 (a) Two German societies were among the newcomers. 
 One of these was the Kaiserswerth Deaconesses' Homes. 
 Affected by the terrible news from Syria, Pastor Disselhoff, 
 the son-in-law of the Eev. T. H. Fliedner, the founder of the 
 society, received 130 girls into an orphanage called Zoar. 
 As Fliedner's bold example found an echo in German hearts, 
 he finally decided to make this orphanage a permanent 
 institution for training Syrian girls, Maronites, Greeks and 
 Druses — instruction being given in four classes, by nine 
 deaconesses. Soon after the establishment of Zoar, Fliedner, 
 influenced by the experience of the deaconesses in Smyrna, 
 began on the same premises an advanced school for the older 
 daughters of the more well-to-do Syrian families. This 
 boarding-school has been maintained in the face of financial 
 difficulties, and now numbers seventeen boarders and 143 day 
 scholars. Both these institutions form a valuable contribu- 
 tion to the training of women, which had been so long 
 neglected in the Near East. 
 
 In Beirut also in 1861, the Prussian Order of St. John 
 founded a hospital, beautifully situated in the midst of a 
 charming garden. The doctors and professors of the Syrian 
 Protestant College undertook the medical charge of the 
 hospital, and the Kaiserswerth deaconesses did the nursing, 
 while the Order made itself responsible for the considerable 
 expense entailed. For forty-seven years this well-conducted 
 Protestant hospital, with its eighty-three beds, has been the 
 only large Protestant institution of its kind in Beirut. Over 
 700 in-patients and 15,000 out-patients are treated annually. 
 
 {h) Yarious British societies also began mission work in 
 
Syria and Palestine 203 
 
 Syria. In 1854 and 1855, Dr. Bowen Thompson, a man of 
 wealth, had, with his wife's assistance, been doing evangelistic 
 work in Antioch, where he had won many hearts. At the 
 same time Mentor Mott, his brother-in-law, was working with 
 his wife in Southern Syria. Dr. Thompson, while serving as 
 a doctor in the British army in the Crimean War, fell a 
 victim to hospital fever. But his widow decided to devote 
 her life and means to the service of Syria along with the 
 Motts. The massacres of 1860 pointed out a way to them. 
 They established girls' schools, first in Beirut, then also in 
 Damascus, Zahleh, Baalbek, Sidon and Tripoli. These schools 
 were at first maintained at the cost of Mrs. Thompson, but, 
 after her death on the 14th of November, 1870, a well-supported 
 English society furnished her sister, Mrs. Mott, with a yearly 
 contribution of £9,000. With this considerable sum, presu- 
 mably the largest that is at the disposal of any single mission 
 in Syria, save that of the Presbyterian Board, a network of 
 girls' schools was spread over Syria, so that in 1902 there 
 were fifty-six of them with a total of 4,262 pupils. The 
 three most important girls' boarding-schools are at Beirut, 
 Hasbeiya and Tyre. The personnel of the mission consists of 
 one medical missionary, twenty lady missionaries, and 128 
 Syrian female teachers. The society has had regard for the 
 blind also, and has had Smith's and Yan Dyck's Arabic Bible 
 prepared for them. As Prince of Wales, King Edward YII 
 interested himself in these schools, and induced the Sultan 
 to issue a firman, permitting the society to establish schools 
 all over Syria. The Sultan, in recognition of her services, 
 himself presented Mrs. Thompson before her death with a 
 village near Baalbek, which was to help maintain her work. 
 This work has, apart from the establishment of schools, 
 branched out into other forms of quiet mission endeavour. 
 It employs twenty-five Bible-women to read the Scriptures to 
 women and children in the villages, and to impart elementary 
 knowledge of Gospel truth. In Beirut it maintains an 
 "Institute" for training native female teachers and Bible- 
 women. There are seventy students. Medical work is done 
 
204 History of Protestant Missions In the Near East 
 
 to a modest extent, and without charges, mostly by means of 
 dispensaries, in Beirut, Damascus, Baalbek and Tyre. 
 
 English " Friends," who, though few in numbers, are spirit- 
 ually strong and zealous in mission work (Leslie : " The 
 Story of the Friends' Work in Syria "), also took up work in 
 Syria, individual men and women acting more or less as 
 volunteers, at their own charges. As might be expected 
 from the loose organization of the Friends, their mission 
 work abroad was slow to take on the centralized organization 
 of a mission directed by a committee of management at 
 home. The first introduction of a general plan took place 
 after the visitation conducted by Watson Grace, a young 
 mission secretary, who died soon afterwards, in 1901. The 
 Friends chose the airy, high-lying village of Brummana, to the 
 southeast of Beirut, on the slopes of the Lebanon, for their 
 headquarters. Here they opened advanced boarding-schools 
 for boys and girls, these being gradually followed by fifteen 
 village schools, so that now the mission has about 1,300 
 pupils altogether. Later on medical mission work was begun, 
 and a hospital established in Brummana, which has been several 
 times enlarged. It was superintended by two well-qualified 
 Syrian doctors, who had, however, English nurses under 
 them. Four Bible-women carry the Gospel to the mountain 
 villages of the Maronites and Druses. The Friends have 
 formed among the Syrians a community after their own 
 pattern, but there are only eighty-two adult members. Since 
 1890 some out-stations round Brummana have been supplied 
 with missionaries, e. g., Kas el Metn, in 1890, Beit Meri, 
 about half an hour's walk from Brummana, in 1898, and 
 Abadije, in 1899. This has been done chiefly for the sake of 
 the better supervision and guidance of the ever-extending 
 work of the village schools and the Bible-women. This 
 mission has generally a staff of four married missionaries, and 
 from five to seven lady missionaries. 
 
 There has been latterly an interesting offshoot of this work. 
 A former missionary in Abyssinia, Theophilus Waldmeyer, 
 who afterwards entered the Friends' Mission in Brummana, had 
 
Syria and Palestine 205 
 
 set his heart on ministering to the wants of the numerous in- 
 sane, who were being cruelly treated by their ignorant neigh- 
 bours. With the assistance of a committee, which worked in 
 England, America and Germany, one building after another 
 was erected on a suitable plot of ground, that had been ac- 
 quired about three miles from Beirut, in the village of Asfurie. 
 A doctor was placed in charge, with several male and female 
 nurses under him, and the asylum was opened in 1900, the 
 only institution of the kind on modern lines in Syria, and a 
 great boon to its unfortunate inmates. 
 
 Four of the most prominent Scottish clergymen, amongst 
 them Andrew Bonar and McCheyne, were sent to make en- 
 quiries in Syria with a view to establishing there a Protestant 
 Mission. At first nothing came of this. But in 1860, the 
 year of terror, the Scotch were by no means behind others. 
 Under the influence of the massacres, a Lebanon School 
 Association was formed, which soon established nine schools, 
 in which about 500 boys and girls were gathered. The Free 
 Church of Scotland had, as early as 1853, a group of fifteen 
 village schools. For their better management, a main station 
 was founded in 18T2 at Shuweir, to the east of Beirut, where 
 a married, ordained missionary, who also acted as doctor, was 
 placed. The chief branches of this quiet work were an ex- 
 tensive medical practice connected with a dispensary, and a 
 boarding-school for boys at Shuweir, which prepared for the 
 college in Beirut. Dr. Carslaw was at the head of all this 
 work. Latterly both of these Scottish efforts have been 
 amalgamated with the larger cognate work of the American 
 Presbyterians. With characteristic magnanimity the Free 
 Church continues to provide the salary of the missionary, now 
 working under American management. 
 
 The Druses have frequently attracted the attention of 
 friends of missionary work. The interesting connection of 
 the American Board with this remarkable race has already 
 been mentioned. The Church Missionary Society also once 
 came into touch with the Druses in connection with their Pal- 
 estine mission, that is to say, with that portion of the Druses 
 
2o6 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 which had emigrated to the Lejah (Argob, Trachonitis, or 
 Jebel ed Drus). In 1876 they took over five schools for Druse 
 children in Ezra, Lahiteh, Kunawat, Atil and Kharaba, schools 
 which had been established in connection with the work in 
 Damascus (cf. Rev. Mr. Bellamy's report on his journey and 
 visitation. Intelligencer, 1881, p. 81 ff.). These schools were 
 well attended. The Druses were ambitious to make as great 
 progress as was being made by Oriental Christians under 
 missionary influence. Hence they desired to have English 
 schools. They had no thought of becoming Christians ; indeed 
 the older people still held aloof even from the schools. When, 
 in 1885, the Turkish government struck what it hoped would 
 be a death-blow to the schools of the Protestant Mission, by 
 forbidding, under pain of punishment, the attendance of Mu- 
 hammadan children, the Druse schools fell as the first victims. 
 Nor did the Church Missionary Society ever resuscitate them. 
 In 1865 Miss Wordsworth Smith felt herself drawn to work 
 among the western branch of the Druses, in the village of 
 Baaklin, which lies to the south of Deir el Kamr, the former 
 seat of the Emir of the Druses. Succeeding in arousing the 
 interest of a small circle of English friends, she was able to 
 begin a nurses' mission among the Druses of the Lebanon, 
 which extended its work later, under the name of " The Pal- 
 estine and Lebanon Nurses' Mission." Its staff consists of one 
 doctor and three lady missionaries. Their hospital at Baaklin 
 has an annual income of about £400. Another English lady, 
 Miss Louisa Procter, has, since 1885, opened on her own ac- 
 count several boarding-schools in Shuweifat, to the south of 
 Beirut, and in connection with them maintains a medical mis- 
 sion. In 1905 she handed over her institutions to a committee, 
 which she herself appointed, in order to secure their contin- 
 uance after her death. Miss Juliana Williams provided a 
 girls' school in the isolated village of Kuifun, near Shumlan. 
 This school was at first connected with the independent mission 
 of a wealthy English clergyman. Rev. T. H. Worsley ; after 
 the abandonment of the latter, it was, however, continued. 
 In Baaklin, the chief village of the Druses in the Lebanon, a 
 
Syria and Palestine 207 
 
 girls' school (106 pupils) was founded in memory of Kev. John 
 Wilson, a warm friend of the Holy Land. This institution 
 came afterwards under the management of the American 
 Presbyterian Mission, though it still enjoyed its private sources 
 of income. With Safed in the north of Galilee as a centre of 
 operations, an American lady, Miss Ford, began work among 
 the Druses of the Hauran. She is said to have found many 
 open doors for her work, which she subsequently requested 
 the Presbyterian Mission to take over. As a result, there are 
 now two small Protestant congregations in Kharabeh and 
 Khasfin. A Scottish lady. Miss Taylor, began an unpreten- 
 tious work in 1868, with a dispensary, a girls' orphanage, vil- 
 lage schools and visitation of the harems. She died on the 6th 
 of January, 1907, but her work is still being carried on. The 
 Established Church of Scotland has also a Jewish mission 
 station in Beirut, with well-attended boys' and girls' schools. 
 In Kafr Shima, a Swiss lady, Miss Appia, is doing independent 
 work. 
 
 Damascus, the ancient capital of Syria, lies beautifully situ- 
 ated in an extraordinarily fertile and well-watered plain. Its 
 population is about 154,000. Of this population 33,000 were 
 Christians in 1860, the year of misfortune, — Greeks, Jacobites 
 and " united " Eoman Catholics. After the massacre, a great 
 portion of these were dispersed, fearing the effects of a par- 
 ticularly sensitive fanaticism, prevalent at that time in Da- 
 mascus. Thus the number of Christians dwindled down to 
 ten or fifteen thousand, and only slowly is their number ap- 
 proaching the former figures. There are also about 8,000 
 Jews in Damascus. 
 
 In 1843 the Irish Presbyterians, conjointly with the Free 
 Church of Scotland, sent a deputation consisting of Dr. Wil- 
 son, the eminent Scottish missionary in Bombay, and Dr. 
 Graham of Ireland, to Syria to make preparations for a joint 
 mission of those Churches. They recommended Damascus as 
 the point of departure. In 1843 this mission was started. 
 The Free Church soon retired, but its place was taken by the 
 United Presbyterians of America (1845-1877). They also 
 
2o8 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 abandoned the work, after their Church began its mission in 
 Egypt in the year 1854 ; so that the work in Damascus is now 
 carried on by the Irish Presbyterians alone. 
 
 In the first years of this mission several striking conver- 
 sions took place, which aroused great excitement. Thus in 
 1848 Meshaka, a Roman Catholic doctor, joined them, fol- 
 lowed in 1852 by the Dominican missionary, Ferrette. In 
 1860 Damascus suffered severely from the disturbances in the 
 Lebanon. In the massacre of July 9th-15th, the Irish pioneer, 
 Dr. Graham, was murdered. After this visitation a new era 
 seemed to have begun for the mission, for, in 1871, the British 
 consul reported to his government that thousands of Moslems 
 were on the point of embracing Christianity. This expecta- 
 tion was, however, not realized. In 1875 a new door seemed 
 to be opening, for the Greeks, disgusted with their avaricious 
 archbishop, turned en masse to the Protestant Church. But 
 here also there was disappointment in store for the mission. 
 Since then it has gone forward on its quiet way. Eound the 
 main station in Damascus there is a circle of eleven out-sta- 
 tions. The result of fifty years' patient work is to be found 
 in the two hundred communicant members, and five or six 
 hundred adherents, and in the thousand pupils gathered in 
 nineteen primary schools. In 1866 the Edinburgh Medical 
 Mission Association commenced its work in connection with 
 the Victoria Hospital, a work peculiarly appropriate in a 
 place where Moslem fanaticism pertinaciously opposes Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 During the past four years, the Irish Society has transferred 
 several of its out-stations to the Danish Orient Mission, which 
 has lately entered the country under the leadership of Pastor 
 Trip and Dr. Fox Maule, who have settled down among the 
 Beduins on the outskirts of the desert, in Derratije, Nebk and 
 Kirjatein, where they have begun to labour with great zeal. 
 
 {g) In ]S"orthern Syria are to be found missions of an 
 American Church, and of several small English societies. 
 The American Reformed Presbyterians, the so-called Cove- 
 nanters, being but a small Church of barely 10,000 com- 
 
Syria and Palestine 209 
 
 municants, are not able to support a strong mission, es- 
 pecially since their Church has recently begun work in China. 
 They adhere strictly to their Calvinistic traditions, singing no 
 hymns but only a rhythmical version of the Psalms. Here 
 Eev. S. Lyde, an English independent missionary (died 1860), 
 settled in 1854, interesting himself much in the l^usairiyeh, 
 among whom he began an evangelistic work, starting from 
 Bahamrat. 
 
 In 1886 his lungs became seriously affected, and he was 
 therefore glad to hand over the work to his American succes- 
 sors. Soon several of the Nusairiyeh were baptized, and em- 
 ployed as teachers. It was hoped that, by means of schools 
 for boys and girls, this shy and retiring mountain folk could 
 be won over. But the Turkish authorities were watching the 
 attempt with hostile eyes. The forty mission schools were 
 closed, the converts from among the Nusairiyeh were drafted 
 into the Turkish army, being thus removed from the influence 
 of the mission, and the entire people were pronounced to be 
 Muhammadans, being thus debarred from becoming Chris- 
 tians. These Turkish intrigues put a stop to the work among 
 the !N'usairiyeh. 
 
 Attention was now turned to the Oriental Churches, and, 
 with them in view, the work was extended to Cilicia and the 
 island of Cyprus. In Cilicia stations were begun in 1880 in 
 Mersina, Tarsus and Adana. These stations were, however, 
 only feebly occupied, there being at present only two mis- 
 sionaries and one lady nurse, the church-members numbering 
 seventy-four. There is room for the Reformed Church along- 
 side the larger work of the Board in this thickly populated 
 province. Cyprus, which, since 1878, has been under the 
 British Crown, is predominatingly Greek Orthodox.^ 
 
 The Reformed Church Mission, after first stationing an able 
 assistant there, entered upon more extensive work on the 
 island, where, however, they employ but two missionaries, 
 
 ^Of the population of 209,286 in 1891, 158,585 belonged to the Greek Ortho- 
 dox Church, 47,926 were Muhammadans, 1,131 Maronites, 915 Roman Catholics, 
 280 Armenians, and 271 Protestants, among whom many were English, 
 
210 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 brothers, one of whom is a doctor. Under English rule Mu- 
 hammadans proved to be less unapproachable, and some of 
 them joined the mission. But the Greeks kept sternly aloof, 
 and even offered violent opposition. Chapels were maliciously 
 set on fire, and the lives of converts were threatened by ex- 
 cited crowds. The British authorities also intimated to the 
 missionaries that they did not approve of their proselytizing 
 among the Greek Christians, and that sufficient provision was 
 being made for the sick by the government. Cyprus is, there- 
 fore, not an inviting place as a mission field. There are only 
 twenty-five or thirty communicants belonging to the mission. 
 The stations are the harbour town of Larnaka, and Leukosia 
 (ITicosia), the capital of the island. 
 
 Several undertakings on a smaller scale must now be men- 
 tioned, some of which were soon abandoned. Skene, the 
 British consul, tried in 1860 to settle Beduins of the Syrian 
 desert as agriculturists, and to persuade their children to at- 
 tend Christian schools.* 
 
 In Antioch, the ancient capital of Syria, which gives to-day 
 no evidence of its former greatness, two small Churches, the 
 Scottish and Irish Keformed Presbyterian Churches, founded 
 a small mission, which was conducted by a medical mission- 
 ary. After the latter had long managed with an inadequate 
 rented cottage, a roomy mission house was built, costing 
 
 P^' Skene's project was an interesting one. As British Consnl in Aleppo, he 
 had seen how the Beduin robber tribes, such as the Anesi and Heduan, were 
 continually pushing back the peaceful farmers of Syria, in order to obtain more 
 and better pasturage for their ever-increasing herds of camels and sheep. As he 
 had, since the Crimean War, kept up an acquaintance with influential Beduin 
 sheikhs, he thought he would be able, in spite of the Beduins' deep-rooted dis- 
 trust of the Turkish authorities, to induce several tribes to establish a kind of 
 buffer against the desert hordes of nomads and bandits. Under the presump- 
 tion that the hatti humayoun allowed religious liberty in Turkey (cf. Chap. 
 Ill, 6), a Muhammadan missionary society was formed in London onthemotion 
 of Dr. Muehleisen Arnold in 1861. This society entered into communication 
 with Skene, with a view to finding centres for their missionary work in these 
 agricultural settlements. But Skene's project was frustrated by T^kish in- 
 difference, and Arnold' s Muhammadan Mission had no vitality in it {Ev. 
 Missionsmagazin, 1861, pp. 319 ff.). 
 
Syria and , Palestine 2 1 1 
 
 £2,100, and the mission was extended by additional out-sta- 
 tions at Idlib (1884) and Sueidiye (1889). Although every 
 effort is made to reach the entire population, yet the main 
 part of the work has been carried on among the Orthodox 
 Greeks. About forty converts form the only congregation. 
 In Sueidiye, the Seleucia of former times, an Englishman, Dr. 
 Holt Yates, began independent missionary work in 1846. 
 Dying in 1874, he bequeathed the whole of his mission prop- 
 erty to the American Keformed Mission, which, since then, 
 has maintained Sueidiye as an out-station of Latakia. 
 
 The large town of Haleb (Aleppo), the present capital of 
 IN'orthern Syria, which long ago outstripped Antioch, being 
 the central point of various great caravan routes, and the 
 main station (at present also the terminus) of the Syrian rail- 
 way between Beirut and the ITorth, has been occupied by 
 various societies, one after another, first in 1855 by the 
 American Board, which had here the southernmost station of 
 its Central Turkey Mission ; later (1857-1866) by the United 
 Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which, with Aleppo as its 
 starting-point, carried on missionary work among the Jews ; 
 and, since 1895, by the Presbyterian Church of England, 
 which also prefers to labour among the Jews. 
 
 The waste of energy that results from the dividing of the 
 missionary undertaking in Syria among so many small, inde- 
 pendent missions is to be regretted. Though considerable 
 sums have been spent, but little abiding effect has been pro- 
 duced in this religiously and politically distracted country. 
 Yet, by means of their numerous schools scattered over the 
 country, in which according to English custom the English 
 language takes the foremost place, they have had a share in 
 winning a recognition of the importance of the English lan- 
 guage and of Protestant culture, in conjunction with other 
 English influences, that have entered the country. And this 
 result is of importance for the Protestant missionary under- 
 taking, particularly since the French language and Jesuitical 
 influence had been greatly fostered by the powerful Koman 
 Mission and the Jesuit schools. Against these latter an ener- 
 
2 1 2 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 getic pushing of English and Protestant influences is a neces- 
 sary and valuable step in the direction of the preaching of the 
 Gospel. It may be asserted that in the course of the twenty- 
 five years succeeding 1860, every considerable village in the 
 whole of Syria, from Hamath and Latakia in the North right 
 into Galilee, has been occupied by Protestant missions. 
 Herein is to be found an explanation of the fact that the pre- 
 dominant mission of the American Presbyterians has never 
 thought it necessary to vie with other societies in the forma- 
 tion of stations. Its work has been intensive rather than ex- 
 tensive. 
 
 By introducing an account of these minor missionary efforts 
 at this point, we have been anticipating the course of the his- 
 tory of missions in Syria, so that we must now retrace our 
 steps to the year 1870. 
 
 3. TJie Mission of the American Presbyterians^ 1870-1908 
 
 When the American Board was founded in 1810, it gath- 
 ered around itself friends of missions in the Congregational 
 Church, but, like the London Mission in its early days, in- 
 vited other denominations, especially the Presbyterians, to 
 take a share in the work. In the course of the century de- 
 nominational consciousness among the Presbyterians grew 
 stronger, and in 1837 the Presbyterians of the " Old School " 
 separated themselves from the Board. When, in 1870, the 
 " '^Q\Y School " combined with the *' Old School," so forming 
 the great Northern Presbyterian Church of the United States, 
 the Board decided to transfer its mission in Syria, as well as 
 that in Persia (see Chap. Y, 2) to this Church, seeing that 
 its income in America would be seriously reduced by the 
 withdrawal of the Presbyterians. At first, however, this ar- 
 rangement affected the mission in Syria but little, since the 
 old missionaries remained at their posts under the new man- 
 agement. Yet the year 1870 must be regarded as the begin- 
 ning of a new era in the history of Syrian missions. If the 
 entire work had been till then more or less in process of de- 
 
Syria and Palestine 213 
 
 velopment, branch after branch of it now began to be consoli- 
 dated. This is true, first of all, of the mission stations.* With 
 the exception of the headquarters at Beirut, the stations had 
 been often changed. This had been an advantage in the first 
 decades of the work. Now, however, the work was consoli- 
 dated around five stations, chieflv because of the establish- 
 ment of advanced schools in these stations. Tripoli in the 
 North and Sidon in the South were chosen as centres of ac- 
 tivity. It was not so easy to select central stations in the ex- 
 tensive mountain region of the Lebanon, with the numerous 
 villages on its western slopes, and in the fruitful valley of 
 Coele-Syria. There were here for a time two stations, one in 
 Abeih (1873) and the other in Zahleh (1872). With a view to 
 better ecclesiastical concentration, they were combined in the 
 " Lebanon station," with its centre in Zahleh. To the present 
 day there are various American and Scottish married mis- 
 sionaries living within this " Lebanon station," especially in 
 Abeih and Shuweir. Suk el Gharb with its flourishing high- 
 school is an important out-station. 
 
 As Syria is a healthful country, the mission has had the ad- 
 vantage of great continuity in its staff. There are to-day, 
 still living among the missionaries there, and working with 
 their remaining strength, the widows of Dr. Yan Dyck, the 
 Bible translator, and of the missionary Wm. Bird; the 
 former having been sixty-five years in the service of the mis- 
 sion, and the latter fifty-five years. The two Nestors of the 
 mission are Dr. H, H. Jessup and Dr. Daniel Bliss, both of 
 whom celebrated their fifty years' jubilee as missionaries in 
 1906. Dr. Bliss, the founder of the Syrian Protestant Col- 
 lege and its president for many years, has been succeeded in 
 this work by his son. Dr. Howard Bliss. Dr. Jessup is still 
 in active service, as is also Dr. Samuel Jessup. A circum- 
 
 ' At the time of the transfer, the Syrian Mission had four main stations, served 
 by nine missionaries and nine lady missionaries, one Syrian pastor, eleven cate- 
 chists and thirty-four teachers. There were eight churches with 245 communi- 
 cants, thirty-one schools with 1,184 pupils, one theological seminary in Abeih, 
 one seminary for girls in Beirut, and a large printing establishment. 
 
214 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 stance, which has also contributed to the continuity of the 
 work, is that service in the mission seems almost to have be- 
 come hereditary in certain families. Especially do the Jessups 
 distinguish themselves in this respect. The AssemUy 
 Herald (1908, p. 546) reproduces the picture of an interest- 
 ing group of fifteen men still in active service, representing 
 in all 350 years of service. 
 
 A heavy cross laid upon the mission was the intolerance of 
 the Turkish authorities, who have striven to hamper the work 
 in every possible way. The closing of the Church Missionary 
 Society schools among the Druses, and of the schools of the 
 Keformed Presbyterians among the ISTusairiyeh, has been al- 
 ready referred to. About the year 1886, the ill treatment 
 on the part of the Turks became nearly intolerable. Eleven 
 schools, situated between Tripoli and Hamath, were closed, 
 as well as all the mission schools in the neighbourhood of 
 Adana in Cilicia, and to the east of Banias on Mount 
 Hermon. Here also seven Protestant places of worship were 
 officially closed. In spite of many negotiations, the building 
 of a new Protestant church was not permitted. It became 
 known that a secret order had come from the Minister in 
 Constantinople, in 1885, to the effect that no churches, nor 
 other places of worship, nor charitable institutions, might be 
 either built or repaired, and that such as had been repaired or 
 built without special permission should be closed {Intelli- 
 gencer, 1886, p. 793). 
 
 The Protestant missionaries were in sad trouble. All their 
 attempts to obtain relief in high quarters were in vain. At 
 last they drew up an open letter, addressed to the Christian 
 Powers and to public opinion in Europe. This was attended 
 with such a measure of success that the Turkish authorities 
 relented somewhat, though most of the schools remained 
 closed. The time of systematic oppression came to an end, 
 but only after the development of the educational work of 
 the mission had received a check from which it was hard to 
 recover, a striking example of the hostile official influences, 
 with which the mission has ever had to contend. 
 
Syria and Palestine 215 
 
 The Presbyterian Mission has developed chiefly in four 
 directions : 
 
 (1) Introduction of Presbyterian organization. The 
 missionary work of the great American Presbyterian Board 
 throughout the world bears the impress of the Presbyterian 
 form of church organization, according to which members of 
 the native churches are grouped in congregations and presby- 
 teries, and are, as far as possible, independent of the mission- 
 aries, maintaining and governing themselves, as well as 
 carrying on their own evangelistic work. This internal organ- 
 ization resembles the loose connection of the Congregational 
 Church Unions of the American Board in Turkey, but the 
 essential difference of organization between the Congrega- 
 tional and Presbyterian Churches appears distinctly in the 
 stricter constitution and union of the congregations of the 
 Presbyterian Mission. The Presbyterians found thoroughly 
 organized churches, when, in 1870, they took over the work 
 from the Congregationalists. The first native church had 
 been organized in 1848. By the year 1870 there were 
 eight such churches, with 245 members, one native pastor and 
 eleven preachers. The Presbyterian Church wisely left it to 
 time to prepare the way for the change, which should bring 
 the mission into conformity with the Presbyterian system. 
 At the annual meeting of the mission in December, 1882, the 
 plan of forming a synod and several presbyteries was unan- 
 imously adopted. In October, 1883, the first presbytery, 
 that of Sidon, was organized, in 1890 the second, that of 
 Tripoli, in 1896 a third, that of the Mount Lebanon district, 
 which includes Beirut. 
 
 (2) Literary work is one of the chief activities of the mis- 
 sion. The centre of this work is the preparation of new 
 editions, and the multiplication of copies, of the excellent 
 translation of the Bible by Smith and Yan Dyck. In the 
 course of years, fifty editions, differing in form and type, 
 have been issued and 1,250,000 bound copies have been dis- 
 posed of. The great printing establishment in Beirut has 
 also supplied the mission with such other publications as it 
 
2i6 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 has required. Among these are school-books, books for 
 public worship or private edification, and also the Arabic 
 Protestant weekly, En Neslira (The Herald), which, how- 
 ever, has unfortunately a circulation of only 430 copies, and 
 has therefore of necessity been reduced in size of late years. 
 For the use of pastors and teachers there have also been pub- 
 lished comprehensive commentaries on the books of the Bible. 
 Thus there is already appearing a four volume commentary 
 on the New Testament, also one of several volumes on the 
 Pentateuch, and another on the Epistles. The output of this 
 printing establishment at Beirut is considerable. In 1905, a 
 record year, 47,250,000 pages of Bible editions were printed. 
 In this literary work the Presbyterians have been most nobly 
 assisted by the American Bible and Tract Societies. It is 
 only by means of this support that this magnificent work has 
 been made possible. A striking proof of the value of this 
 literary work is the change of policy of the Poman Church 
 in Syria. This Church, in the first decades, tried to suppress 
 the circulation of the Bible, any copies introduced into the 
 country by Protestants being burned. But as this proved 
 without effect, and Protestant Bibles were bought or distrib- 
 uted by thousands and eagerly read, they themselves produced 
 an Arabic translation of the Scriptures in Beirut which, in the 
 main, agreed with the Protestant version, except that the 
 Apocrypha were introduced and annotations containing 
 extracts from the Church Fathers were added to the more im- 
 portant passages, with a view to establishing Roman exegesis. 
 At first this literary work was not much interfered with by 
 the Turkish authorities. But in 1869 the "Imperial Press 
 and School Laws" were promulgated, establishing a very 
 severe censorship over all books and newspapers. More than 
 any other publication the weekly magazine. En JS'eshra, re- 
 ceived severe criticism, and was temporarily suppressed. It 
 was neither permitted to publish any news of current events, 
 nor to make adverse criticism upon the religious beliefs of any 
 of the sects in the empire. So its scope was very limited in- 
 deed. 
 
Syria and Palestine 217 
 
 (3) Medical missionary work was here, as everywhere 
 else, carried on by the Presbyterian Mission. From the be- 
 ginning able doctors were at work, among whom was Dr. 
 Van Dyck, the eminent translator of the Bible. But it was 
 only later on that regular medical mission stations were es- 
 tablished, with the necessary staffs. This work has three 
 centres, the largest of which is Beirut, where the St. John's 
 Hospital has been placed at the disposal of the Syrian Prot- 
 estant College. This is a good example of the advantage of 
 cooperation, the order of St. John providing and maintaining 
 the hospital, the Kaiserswerth Homes supplying the trained 
 nurses, and the Presbyterians the doctors. It was a thought- 
 ful action of the German Emperor, while on his visit to the 
 Near East in 1898, to confer the order of the Eed Eagle on 
 the leading physician, Prof. Dr. Post, and thus to give ex- 
 pression to the gratitude of the German people to the Ameri- 
 cans for their cooperation in this charitable work. 
 
 The Presbyterians have in Tripoli their only medical sta- 
 tion that is fully equipped with hospital and dispensary. 
 There are two dispensaries, at Hamath and Horns. Dr. Mary 
 Eddy, who vvas the first lady in the Ottoman Empire to ob- 
 tain the requisite Turkish diploma for the practice of medi- 
 cine, proved equal to the exertions of many years of constant 
 itinerant medical practice, during which she travelled with 
 her case of medicines and bandages in all directions, in the 
 service of women particularly. Latterly she has settled down 
 on the coast near Beirut, at Funieh, opening also a small 
 sanitarium at Mount Kaneesh for lung patients, who, strange 
 to say, are as much avoided in Syria as lepers are. 
 
 (4) The greatest service which the Presbyterians have 
 rendered has been the methodical development of their edvr 
 cational system. By means of their schools, they have ex- 
 tended their sphere of influence far beyond the borders of 
 Syria. 
 
 The Protestant educational system can be fully understood 
 only by glancing at the development of the Turkish system. 
 About the middle of the nineteenth century, during the reign of 
 
2i8 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Sultan Abdul Mejid, who was a friend of reform (1839-1861), 
 the all-powerful Grand Yizier, Keshid Pasha, systematically 
 endeavoured to raise Turkey to the level of the civilized 
 Western lands, and to this end he established, in all the 
 large towns and centres of trade, schools, which were to be 
 rashdiye, i. e.^ purely secular institutions, in which occidental 
 education was to be offered, especially a thorough grounding 
 in French. Into these schools the children, even of Chris- 
 tians, poured, and it looked as if a new era had dawned for 
 education in Turkey. But, in 1872, there was a backward 
 swing of the pendulum. Occidental languages and subjects 
 were tabooed. The Koran and specifically Muhammadan 
 subjects were substituted for them. The result of this was 
 that nearly all the Christian children left the schools, which, 
 however, retained the name Rashdiye (secular), and, on that 
 account, were supported by taxes, which were with particular 
 pleasure levied upon Christians. Thus Turkey achieved two 
 things by this peculiar educational policy. First, an excuse 
 was supplied for throwing part of the burden of the expense 
 of education on the Christian community, and, second, an 
 effectual means was provided for harassing the mission 
 schools. An order came that only teachers who had been 
 granted diplomas by the official school boards should be al- 
 lowed to teach in " special schools," which meant simply the 
 mission schools. Yet very few such school boards were ap- 
 pointed, and such as were appointed consisted of narrow- 
 minded Muhammadans, who refused to grant a diploma to 
 any one who was a Christian. Such were the troubles that 
 drove almost to distraction the Protestant missionaries of 
 Syria and Palestine in the seventies and eighties of the last 
 century {Tntellingencer^ 1886, pp. 785 ff.). 
 
 In the beginning of the sixties the necessity of establishing 
 a central educational institution in Beirut was forced upon 
 the attention of the Americans. Dr. Bliss, that able scholar 
 and experienced missionary, was the chief advocate of this 
 great undertaking, and to it he devoted his life. This institu- 
 tion was rendered independent of the mission in that a special 
 
Syria and Palestine 219 
 
 fund was collected for it, and a special board of trustees set 
 over it. But as the members of this board are keenly inter- 
 ested in the general missionary undertaking, and as the gen- 
 eral board of management in Beirut consists almost exclu- 
 sively of missionaries, a close personal connection with the 
 mission is maintained. The common interests also of the 
 college and the mission demand continued cooperation. The 
 college was opened in Beirut in the autumn of 1866, a pre- 
 paratory class having been formed the previous year. Since 
 then one chair after another has been instituted. At the 
 present time there are fifteen large buildings and several 
 smaller ones, occupying a lofty site on Ras Beirut, and pre- 
 senting a very stately appearance. The corps of instruction 
 and administration numbers seventy-one. Thirty-three of 
 these are from America, and ten from Europe, while twenty- 
 six are Syrians. It is, therefore, of all the Protestant schools 
 in the Near East, the best equipped with a foreign staff. At 
 present there are 827 students, of whom 346 are Greeks, 14:7 
 Protestants, 127 Muhammadans, sixty-two Jews, and twenty 
 Druses. Thus all the many races of Syria are represented in 
 it. There are seven departments ; a preparatory'' department 
 and a college impart general education, especially the indis- 
 pensable knowledge of the English language, for, unfortu- 
 nately, it has seemed necessary to make English the language 
 of instruction, instead of Arabic, the national tongue. It is 
 not required that all the students go through the entire course 
 of nine years. If they come with sufficient general education 
 , and knowledge of English, they may dispense with a part of 
 the preparatory course. 'Nor is it indispensable that students 
 finish the college course before taking up special studies. Con- 
 nected with the college are four special departments — a school 
 of commerce, a medical department, a school of pharmacy, 
 and a school of Biblical archaeology and philology. It must 
 be borne in mind that, in consequence of their unfavourable 
 position under Turkish rule, Syrian Christians were excluded 
 from many of the higher professions, commerce and medicine 
 alone being really open to them. The medical department is 
 
220 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 a brilliant feature of the institution, having, by its excellent 
 work, gained the approbation, even of the Turkish govern- 
 ment, to such an extent that the Government Board of Ex- 
 aminers comes from Constantinople to Beirut to superintend 
 the examinations. At these examinations, by the way, the 
 procedure is genuinely Turkish, for, since the students have 
 been taught in English, their answers are well-nigh unintel- 
 ligible to the Turkish examiners. Hence the interpreters 
 have almost always a busy time. It is also certainly an ad- 
 vantage to the institution and to archaeological study in gen- 
 eral, that latterly a department for training expert assistants 
 in the work of excavation has been added to the college. Nor 
 are the women forgotten, for, attached to the medical school, 
 there is a training-school for nurses. To provide these nurses 
 with practice in their profession, an infirmary with forty beds, 
 and a large children's hospital, have been added. The entire 
 college is of a thoroughly evangelical character, attendance 
 at the Bible classes and Sunday services being obligatory. 
 The mixed composition of the students naturally leads to the 
 result that in the religious instruction more weight is laid on 
 the commonly accepted religious and ethical truths of Chris- 
 tianity than on specifically Protestant doctrinal views. The 
 Syrian Protestant College is the highest school open to Chris- 
 tians in the JSTear East, and the solidity of its work is not sur- 
 passed by any of the public state schools of Turkey. The 
 schools of all the other Protestant missions in these parts, as 
 well as in Egypt, look up to the Beirut College as to a univer- 
 sity, and send their promising students to finish their educa- 
 tion there. 
 
 In an article entitled ^' America in the East," which Pro- 
 fessor Ludwig Bernhard published in the " Kussian Year 
 Book," in 1905, he pictures the college as a grand and well- 
 executed attempt to prepare the way for American interests, 
 and particularly for American trade in the Near East. Such 
 a conception of the institution is one-sided and misleading ; 
 the college is a missionary institution. Yet Bernhard's picture 
 of the influences which go out from the college is, in the 
 
Syria and Palestine 221 
 
 main, correct, and he paints it in more glowing colours than a 
 missionary author would dare to employ. " It is a pleasure to 
 watch the stream of men that go out from the college to the 
 conquest of the Near East. In a most real sense the medical 
 men prepare the way. For it is through her physicians that 
 America has disarmed her two mightiest enemies . . . 
 even the Turkish government, which makes no attempt to 
 conceal the hatred she cherishes towards the American mis- 
 sionaries. This very government recently gave official recog- 
 nition to the medical faculty of the Americans. . . . It is 
 for the Americans a mighty advantage that they have at 
 their disposal a host of native teachers. These men, who 
 have studied in the colleges at Constantinople and Beirut, are 
 a by no means inferior body of teachers, else they would not 
 be in such great demand in schools 'of the most varied sorts. 
 The numerous mission schools of the Americans, scattered 
 over the Near East, receive teachers from Beirut. . . . 
 Even Turkish and other native schools are coming gradually 
 under American influence, in that they seek teachers from 
 Beirut, and even, in a measure, reform their method of in- 
 struction according to the American pattern. The great 
 Druse school in the Lebanon, which only a few years ago 
 stood under French influence, has put on an American dress. 
 Thus the college is the source of streams which drive many 
 mills. Everywhere in Turkey one sees their operation, and 
 this influence will multiply itself many times." 
 
 While the college is independent of the general mission 
 board, the latter itself conducts a comprehensive educational 
 work, which, in its boys' department, is connected with the 
 college, forming a kind of preparatory department. At the 
 bottom of this system are the numerous village schools, large 
 and small, the number of which is at present 100, with 5,089 
 pupils, 1,800 of whom are girls. Barely a fourth part of the 
 children come from Protestant families. These village 
 schools form one of the most important agencies for carrying 
 Gospel knowledge to the remotest villages. Above them 
 come several boarding-schools, some being for boys and some 
 
222 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 for girls. The oldest of these boarding-schools for boys has 
 already been mentioned, the " Seminary " at Abeih, which 
 was continued, with many interruptions, until 1877. Its 
 most successful head was the Kev. Dr. S. H. Calhoun (in 
 Syria from 1843 to 1876). In 1882 it gave way to a new 
 boys' boarding-school in Suk el Gharb, which enjoys a more 
 elevated situation. This new institution has had a splendid 
 development, having 167 boarders. Of perhaps greater im- 
 portance is the " Gerard Academy " in Sidon. Here many 
 of the mission teachers have received their training. In 1895 
 the scope of this institution was extended by the addition of 
 an industrial department, and provision was also made for 
 the care and instruction of orphan boys of Protestant parent- 
 age. Useful trades are taught as a means of present and 
 future support. A farm of one hundred acres, not far from 
 the city, called Dar es Salam, has been acquired for the use 
 of the orphan department. Mrs. George Wood, the widow 
 of one of the missionaries, has liberally endowed this flourish- 
 ing industrial school. It has at present 227 boarders. Three 
 boarding-schools have also been established for girls, the 
 oldest of which, the Beirut Seminary (1861), is perhaps the 
 principal girls' school, having 129 pupils, who pay 70,000 
 piastres a year in fees. The Tripoli Girls' School, established 
 in 1873, has had for many years an able principal in Miss 
 Harriet La Grange. The Sidon Seminary for Girls is of a 
 somewhat different stamp, having been established in 1863 
 with a view to training teachers and Bible- women in mission 
 work. It has generally received as boarders only Protestant 
 girls. 
 
 There is throughout Syria very keen competition in educa- 
 tional work, due chiefly to the energetic educational policy 
 which the Protestants have maintained in the face of all op- 
 position and all suppression of their schools. According to 
 the educational statistics of Beirut, in 1899, this town alone 
 had sixty-seven schools for boys, and thirty-six for girls, with 
 170 male and female teachers, and 8,705 boys and 6,768 girls 
 under tuition. Of all these schools, twelve for boys and 
 
Syria and Palestine 223 
 
 twenty for girls belonged to the different Protestant missions 
 located in the town. The remaining seventy-one schools are 
 divided among the Muhammadans, Greek Orthodox, Maro- 
 nites, Latins, Melchites, Jesuits, Jews, Jacobites and Armenians. 
 This is surely an embarrassment of riches for a town of barely 
 120,000 inhabitants. In spite of such keen competition, the 
 American Presbyterian Mission maintains the leading posi- 
 tion. 
 
 In order the better to realize the present state of Protes- 
 tant missions in Syria, we must mark the many signs of a new 
 era, that are to be observed at every turn. The country is 
 being rapidly opened up by railways. In addition to the 
 Beirut-Damascus line, which has been in existence for a con- 
 siderable time, there are to-day a line connecting Aleppo 
 with the Beirut-Damascus line, a line from Damascus to 
 Medina, which was opened amid remarkable demonstrations 
 and public rejoicings on the 1st of September, 1908, and 
 which forms the greater part of the proposed Hejaz Eail- 
 way, and a line connecting this Hejaz Railway with Haifa. 
 Electric trams run in the streets of Damascus, and iron pipes 
 convey icy water from a reservoir three miles from the city. 
 In Beirut, also, they have electric tramways and electric 
 lighting. The Turkish government has established a medical 
 school with a hospital in Damascus, and is building a second 
 hospital in Beirut, as well as a large commercial and technical 
 school. The educational institutions of the Turkish Board 
 of Education are open to Muhammadans only ; to provide 
 teaching for " Christian dogs " would be a height of liberality 
 to which the Porte could hardly attain. Yet Christians of 
 all denominations have come to see the importance of educa- 
 tion, and schools are an object of vital interest.^ To learn 
 
 ^An interesting example of this change is seen in the district of Kesrwan, to 
 the northeast of Beirut. The inhabitants of this former stronghold of fanat- 
 ical Maronites, hitherto inaccessible to Protestants, have wakened up, and,, 
 thoroughly tired of priestly tyranny, are now begging the American Mission in 
 Beirut, with an importunity hitherto hardly experienced in Syria, to establish 
 schools amongst them, and to spread the knowledge of Bible truth (Christian 
 Msaions, 1908, p. 47). 
 
224 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the languages of the Occident is the ardent desire of the 
 rising generation, and though but very few get beyond a kind 
 of parrot proficiency in foreign tongues, yet, by naeans of 
 these languages, and of the schools, a stream of AYestern cul- 
 ture is flooding a land made arid by Islam and Turkish mis- 
 management. Political autonomy under a Christian Pasha 
 does not appear to have fulfilled all that was expected of it. 
 No doubt the first Christian Pashas, David, Franco, Eostein, 
 "Wassa and Naura, were able men, and Syria was for forty 
 years the envy of the adjacent provinces. But the Pasha 
 who died in 1908 was a weak man, so that a scandalous state 
 of things marked his term of office, nor is his successor able 
 to cope with the existing abuses. The constitution, granted 
 to the province, appears to be insufficient, and unsuited to 
 the increase of the population and other altered conditions. 
 
 Hand in hand with the entrance of occidental culture into 
 Syria, there is, unfortunately, increasing emigration taking 
 place to Europe and, particularly, to the United States. As 
 it is chiefly the Christians who have hitherto emigrated, the 
 ratio of the Christian population to the Muhammadan in 
 Syria is diminishing. Emigration from the Protestant con- 
 gregations is disproportionately great, both because the mis- 
 sionaries are in intimate touch with foreign countries, and 
 also because the thorough Protestant education which they 
 have received makes the Protestant Christians peculiarly able 
 to improve their circumstances abroad. The Protestant com- 
 munity in Beirut numbers, for instance, 235 communicants. 
 Of these 112 live abroad. JSTearly half of the members of the 
 congregations belonging to the station at Tripoli have emi- 
 grated. It is now customary for the agents of the great 
 steamship companies to visit the Christian villages of Syria, 
 holding out prospects of gold mines in North or South 
 America to the simple villagers. To some extent these emi- 
 grants attach themselves to churches in the countries to 
 which they go. Many also return home, when they have 
 done well abroad. But, alas, still more are ruined, body and 
 soul, in their eager pursuit of wealth. As it is mostly the 
 
Syria and Palestine 225* 
 
 strong, young people, the most fit to earn a livelihood, who 
 emigrate, the efforts of the mission to place the congregations 
 on an independent footing are greatly hindered. But this in- 
 creasing emigration has at least a beneficial effect on the edu- 
 cational work of the mission, for, in order to succeed in 
 America, it is necessary to have a thorough knowledge of 
 English, and consequently every school in which English is 
 taught is well attended, fees, when required, being willingly 
 paid. Nearly all of the Anglo-American schools are crowded, 
 and the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut is compelled 
 every year to add new buildings to meet the rush of students. 
 In fact it is a golden opportunity for the mission in its educa- 
 tional work. 
 
 Relations with the rival Churches have hardly improved. 
 The Maronites have learned to pride themselves on the help 
 of the Roman Church. The Jesuits are busy everywhere op- 
 posing the Protestants and their missions. The fierce con- 
 test between Church and State in France, which has led to 
 the dissolution of the bond that had existed between them 
 there for centuries, has exercised a powerful influence on 
 Roman missions in Syria. For, although these missions have 
 now lost the political protection hitherto extended to them by 
 France, as well as a large share of their financial support, by 
 reason of the confiscation of so much of the property belonging 
 to Church and Monastery in France, yet, on the other hand, 
 the expulsion from France of various religious orders, to which 
 monks and nuns belonged, has brought a host of workers to 
 Syria, many of whom devote themselves to missionary under- 
 takings. Hundreds of them are opening schools in all parts 
 of Syria and Palestine, partly to keep their coreligionists 
 from Protestant enlightenment, and partly with the hope of 
 gradually absorbing the Orthodox Greek Church. 
 
 The Orthodox Greek Church, or at least the few educated 
 men in it, backed by Russian influence and money, is trying 
 to hold its own against both Protestants and Romanists. 
 The Bishop of Beirut is erecting an institution of vast propor- 
 tions to counteract the educational crusade of the Jesuits and 
 
226 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the powerful influence of the Protestant schools. Some years 
 ago conditions were already such that a traveller called the 
 Greek Church a " Eussian colony." Particularly the district 
 of Tripoli and the slopes of Mount Lebanon have recently 
 been flooded with Eussian free schools. As a consequence 
 the people are constantly comparing the Protestant and Eus- 
 sian schools in the matter of methodical discipline, and, above 
 all, with regard to school fees. Pressure of all kinds is some- 
 times put upon parents to take their children from the Prot- 
 estants and to send them to the Eussian schools. One surpri- 
 sing result of this multiplication of Eussian schools is the great 
 demand for Bibles and school-books at the Protestant press in 
 Beirut. The Eussians bought in 1900 no fewer than 4,026 
 Bibles and 7,893 school-books, and in 1901 there were twice 
 as many books bought by the Eussians as by all of the Prot- 
 estant mission schools put together. 
 
 Both the Eoman and the Greek Churches have had polit- 
 ical influence behind them. At the time of the commence- 
 ment of Protestant missions, Italy alone had political inter- 
 ests in Syria, and Italian was considered as the language of 
 the educated. Whatever schools existed at that time were 
 kept by Italian monks, and in these schools Italian was taught. 
 All this underwent a change. France became very interested 
 in establishing and furthering her influence in the Near East, 
 and found it the most convenient and safest means to this end 
 to take the Eoman missions and the Eoman churches under 
 her wing. Starting with the theory that culture is deter- 
 mined by language, France granted large sums to subsidize 
 all schools in which French was taught. As a result of this 
 policy French is so widel}^ understood that, with a thorough 
 knowledge of that language, one can travel throughout the 
 Near East from Alexandria to Constantinople. How the 
 separation of Church and State in France will afl^ect the policy 
 of that country in the Near East is not yet clear. Hitherto 
 she has been the patron of the Eoman Churches, as Eussia 
 has been of the Orthodox Greek Churches. Both countries 
 have found in their respective Churches a convenient tool 
 
Syria and Palestine 227 
 
 wherewith to force an entrance into the tottering Turkish 
 Empire. 
 
 Nothing could be more detrimental to the spiritual devel- 
 opment of the Syrian churches than their being thus wooed 
 from all sides, and flooded with money and schools. It is to 
 be regretted that a people, already inclined to pride and to an 
 overestimate of its own virtues, should be encouraged in this 
 folly, and that the efforts of the Protestant missions to train 
 the Syrian Christians in habits of independence, and in the 
 duty of supporting their own schools and churches, according 
 to their means, should be frustrated. How can the people see 
 the force of such teaching, when the Romanists and Russians 
 offer to maintain both schools and churches free of cost, in 
 some cases even rewarding the pupils for attendance by be- 
 stowing upon them books, clothing and meals ? It is fortu- 
 nate that the Syrians have no immediate use for the Russian 
 language taught in these benevolent schools, and that they, 
 therefore, on the whole, prefer the English schools, which 
 prepare them for entrance into the college in Beirut. A still 
 worse result of this system of patronage is, however, that it 
 encourages the deep-rooted national propensity to rear walls 
 of political and racial partisanship out of religious differences. 
 Those who belong to the Greek Church rely on the powerful 
 protection of the Russian consul or ambassador, while the 
 Romanists look to the French oflBLcials. Genuine religious in- 
 terest is thus choked by worldly considerations, and the Prot- 
 estant Mission, which, because of its American origin, is not 
 involved in politics, being merely a servant of the Gospel, is 
 scorned and pushed aside. 
 
 In the midst of such contending and involved interests, the 
 Protestant Mission has, nevertheless, made satisfactory prog- 
 ress. We have seen how modest the results were in I8TO, 
 the year in which the Presbyterians succeeded the American 
 Board. To-day the Protestant Churches have formally re- 
 ceived into their communion 3,207 members, scattered over 
 this mountainous country. How many children belong to 
 these congregations, or how many adherents reckon them- 
 
228 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 selves as Protestants, it is unfortunately impossible to gather 
 from the reports. Perhaps 2,300 would be a fair estimate. 
 The 2,600 Presbyterian Protestants are gathered into thirty- 
 four churches, belonging to three presbyteries, the largest be- 
 ing the Sidon Presbytery with 1,100 members. Forty years 
 ago these Syrian Protestants had hardly yet learned that it 
 was their duty to show their gratitude for the blessings of the 
 Gospel by contributing of their substance to meeting the ex- 
 penses of church and school. The people expected to have 
 everything provided by the Americans ; thus in 1852 the en- 
 tire contributions made by Syrians amounted to only £400. 
 But in 1907 the sums received from congregations and schools 
 amounted to £10,600, while college fees added another 
 £11,000. Two of these presbyteries raise for church and 
 school requirements considerably more money than is pro- 
 vided by the Presbyterian Board for the maintenance of the 
 mission. The congregation at Homs has made such advance 
 towards self-support that, with money collected amongst 
 themselves and, also, it is true, from members who have pros- 
 pered in foreign countries, it has established a boys' boarding- 
 school of its own. The presbyteries take part also in the 
 work of evangelizing their nominally Christian countrymen 
 by sending out preachers, whose salaries they pay. Emigra- 
 tion, however, has stood greatly in the way of consolidating 
 and developing the Syrian Churches. By far the best devel- 
 oped missionary agency is the educational work. In the year 
 1857, although from the very beginning elementary village 
 schools had received special attention, as being the most ef- 
 fectual means of gaining a footing amongst the people, there 
 were but thirty such schools with 1,030 pupils. At present 
 there are, apart from the Syrian Protestant College, 223 
 schools with an attendance of 12,356. " The pressure on us 
 from every side for aid in opening schools is almost irresistible. 
 It increases every year. The people jingle all the cash they 
 can raise in our ears ; not enough, it is true, to pay all the 
 salary, and they add : We can get free schools from our re- 
 ligious leaders, but yours are better, and we want them, and 
 
Syria and Palestine 229 
 
 will pay all we can to get them " (Presbyterian Annual Ke- 
 port, 1908, p. 500). 
 
 It is, unfortunately, true that the hopes which were enter- 
 tained ninety years ago, when the Syrian Mission was begun, 
 have not been realized. There has been no general awaken- 
 ing to newness of life among the ancient Churches, and even 
 less among the Muhammadans. Nor has the mission had any 
 deep and abiding effect upon the numerous Maronites, Druses, 
 Metawileh and Nusairiyeh. Nevertheless streams of life have 
 flowed from it, bringing great blessing to the country. Every 
 sect and religion in Syria is better to-day than it could ever 
 have been without that mission. A Syrian shrewdly remarked, 
 " You Protestants are a small sect, yet you have changed us 
 all." If the sudden change in political conditions, which took 
 place on the 24th of July, 1908, has the effect of offering a 
 free and equal field to the competing forces of religious ac- 
 tivity in Syria, it will then become evident how great a bless- 
 ing has been conferred upon the Syrian Churches by the in- 
 troduction of new vitality, through the agency of the Ameri- 
 can Mission. 
 
 {B) Palestine 
 
 Although Palestine, with its 650,000 inhabitants, is geo- 
 graphically and ethnographically a province of Syria, it de- 
 serves to be separately treated on account of its unique place 
 in the history both of the world, of the Christian religion, and 
 of Protestant missions. To Jews, Muhammadans and Chris- 
 tians alike it is the Holy Land. The longing to be near the 
 holy places and to have a share in them has attracted thither 
 members of the most varied religious communities. The mix- 
 ture of Churches and sects is accordingly even greater than 
 in any other part of the Near East. Especially in Jerusalem 
 there is a sharp contest between Koman Catholics, Greeks, 
 Russians and Armenians for predominance, and for possession 
 of the ruins, spun round with their web of traditions. Nes- 
 torians, Jacobites, Abyssinians, Kopts, Maronites and others 
 are also found dwelling there. But all these are being more 
 
230 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 and more surpassed in influence as well as in numbers by the 
 Jews, of whom there are 50,000 to 60,000 among the 90,000 
 inhabitants of the Holy City. And yet one cannot say that 
 Jerusalem is a Jewish city, or makes the impression of being 
 one. Of the 500,000 who inhabit the country outside Jerusa- 
 lem, three-fourths are Muhammadan Arabs, and not more than 
 one-eighth Christians. For the most part Turks are found 
 there only as officials or soldiers in the towns. 
 
 Of the entire population of the country, about 80,000 are 
 Christians,^ Jewish statistics give 87,000 Jews, and the rest 
 are Moslems. The Arabs, some 500,000 in number, are on no 
 friendly terms with the 10,000 Turks. They are conscious of 
 belonging to the race of the Prophet, and are angry that they 
 should have been robbed by the indolent Turks of the su- 
 premacy appointed to them by Allah. There is said to be a 
 strong feeling making headway among these Arabs, and those 
 dwelling further south, aiming at a great Arab Empire that 
 shall embrace all Arabs, with Mecca as its capital, — a Utopian 
 dream. Arabs and Turks are contemptuous of both Chris- 
 tians and Jews, though more widely and profoundly so of the 
 Jews. Their contempt for Christianity is often mixed with 
 hatred, because Christians are angrily recognized as superior 
 rivals. In every possible way, therefore. Christians of all 
 creeds, even European travellers, are made to feel the Mos- 
 lem's disdain. This is a great hindrance to missions among 
 Muhammadans. Any Moslem embracing Christianity could 
 not be sure of his life for a single day ; those of his own house- 
 hold would slay him, and the Turkish authorities would not 
 move a finger to protect him. Apart from the 12,000 ^ living 
 in the ancient Jewish towns of Safed and Tiberias in Galilee, 
 the Jewish inhabitants, till recently, consisted chiefly of im- 
 
 * In Palestine, as elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire, the population can only- 
 he estimated. Some of the estimates are 500,000; 650,000 ; 867,000 ; and even 
 1,000,000. 
 
 2 Of the 87,000 Jews, some 55,000 live in Jerusalem ; there are 8,000 in Safed, 
 3,500 in Tiberias, and a like number in Jaffa, 7,000 to 8,000 in twenty-nine Jew- 
 ish agricultural colonies, and 1,690 in Haifa. 
 
Syria and Palestine 231 
 
 migrants in Jerusalem, either pious old men who wished to 
 die in the Holy City, or lazy mendicants who relied on the 
 plentiful chaluha, the weekly doles supplied by European mil- 
 lionaires, amounting in 1899 to £80,000. A.bout forty years 
 ago Jewish philanthropists began to establish agricultural 
 colonies, where Jews from abroad were to till the soil of their 
 forefathers. The Zion movement has given a great impetus 
 to such colonization. After the failure of the leaders of this 
 national movement to establish a more or less autonomous 
 colony in British East Africa, Uganda, Canada, and the Ar- 
 gentines, it was decided to devote all their strength and riches 
 to providing in Palestine a legally secure home for Jews. To 
 accomplish this it was necessary to purchase land on a grand 
 scale, and to get rid of the Arab fellaheen living on it. With 
 the large means at their disposal, they first purchased fertile 
 tracts of land in the plains of Sharon and Jezreel. Careful 
 enquiries were also instituted as to the most suitable methods 
 of agriculture. Success has hitherto attended these colonies 
 only in so far as vast sums of money have been collected for 
 them, since the Jews coming from abroad have proved to be 
 wholly unsuited to the occupation of farming ; nor do well-in- 
 formed men take a hopeful view of their ultimate success. 
 The expropriation of the native fellaheen, who have for ages 
 cultivated the ground, is, therefore, to be deplored. And since 
 there is little prospect of the establishment of a Jewish king- 
 dom in Jerusalem, all of the Christian Powers being opposed 
 to the Judaizing of the Holy Land, Zionism is a chimera, and 
 the approval it fiuds in European circles is only intelligible as 
 the expression of a vain hope of thus easily getting rid of the 
 Jews in Europe. Although there is thus little hope for Zion- 
 ism as a political scheme of colonization, yet the movement is 
 so important, so many-sided, so well-organized, that every 
 friend of the Holy Land is bound to keep it in view during 
 coming years. It is pursuing on a grand scale all the objects- 
 which it planned. First comes a general enquiry into the 
 economical conditions of the country. This is carried out by 
 its commission for the exploration of Palestine, appointed by 
 
232 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the Zionist congress at Basle in 1904, its organ being an excel- 
 lent magazine called Altneuland. There is an experimental 
 station in Athlit, near Haifa, a farm near Hattin on the Sea 
 of Galilee, and a model farm, Duleika um el Jun, to the south 
 of the lake. Secondly, as much valuable land as possible is 
 to be acquired by the Jews, and made national property ; it is 
 to be planted with olive trees and let out to Jewish tenants. 
 Thirdly, the building of schools of all grades is being pushed. 
 There is in Jaffa a Hebrew college, and in Jerusalem a tech- 
 nical school to teach carpet-weaving and other trades. In the 
 schools in the agricultural colonies, Hebrew is spoken and 
 taught. Malaria is being methodically fought. 
 
 In the carrying out of this enormous program, the Zionist 
 leaders are cleverly and successfully arousing the interest of 
 Jews from all over the world. In every Zionist association 
 the members pay a fixed assessment of one shilling towards 
 the opening up of the country of their forefathers. It is ad- 
 mitted by the representatives of Zionism that the colonies es- 
 tablished in Palestine by Baron Rothschild and other mil- 
 lionaires were a failure. They therefore wish now to proceed 
 on scientific lines, and are astonishingly sure of success. 
 
 While the Muhammadans, like the Jews, form, at least out- 
 wardly, a single religious community, the Christians are split 
 up by reason of their different sects, and, still more, by reason 
 of their unyielding national prejudices. This want of union 
 is most apparent in the contests for possession of the holy 
 places, contests which have been going on for centuries and 
 have become a public scandal. 
 
 The majority of the Christians belong to the Orthodox 
 Greek Church, Arabic being the language generally spoken, 
 though the superior clergy mostly come from the Greeks. 
 Although the Church numbers at most 51,000 souls, 7,000 of 
 whom live in Jerusalem, they are divided by this difference 
 of language and nationality. Since each religious community 
 in Turkey has to provide its own schools, the Greek Patriarch 
 can use the schools he has established for the purpose of in- 
 stilling the Greek language and culture into the Arab popula- 
 
Syria and Palestine 233 
 
 tion. On the other hand, the Kussians cleverly make use of 
 the national feeling of the Arab majority in the congregations 
 to undermine the influence of the Greek clergy. They en- 
 courage the desire for a native Arab patriarch, because in him 
 they hope to have a willing tool for the carrying out of their 
 policy in the Near East. The Eussian pilgrimages are very 
 extensive, fully 10,000 pilgrims at a time often staying for 
 months in Palestine, feeling in their simple, pious, yet bigoted 
 souls the attraction of the holy places, to which they are led 
 one after the other. Their presence is employed to the full 
 by the Russian Palestine Association to push Russian interests. 
 Side by side with the Orthodox Greeks the Armenians have 
 hitherto held a leading position. Though only few in num- 
 bers (there are about 2,000 in Palestine, 1,000 of these being 
 in Jerusalem), they are zealous and ready to undergo any dep- 
 rivation in the fight for the holy places. Since they were 
 impoverished by the dreadful occurrences in Armenia during 
 the last decade, their influence in Jerusalem has waned. The 
 rest of the Oriental Churches are only slightly represented. 
 Thus there are about 150 Kopts, 100 Syrian Jacobites and 100 
 Abyssinians. But each of these religious bodies holds fast to 
 its real or imaginary rights to the holy places. 
 
 To the onlooker the Oriental Churches present many points 
 of similarity. In all of them public worship has hardened 
 into endless ritualism and formalities in an unintelligible 
 language. Whatever real religious power there is in them 
 manifests itself in the fear of innumerable evil spirits, 
 sorcerers, witches, the evil eye, and harmful influences, and in 
 the reliance on counter magic, amulets, relict, in short on any 
 magical influences and powers which can be mechanically 
 used. Yet, at the same time, there is an undercurrent of 
 desire for union with God, which they seek to gain not by 
 religious or ethical means, but by convulsive movements, 
 hypnotism, or other forms of exal-ted, abnormal spiritual con- 
 dition. Yeneration of the saints, and, in many cases, the 
 worship of images and pictures, are rife among them. They 
 thus present an altogether degenerate form of Christianity. 
 
234 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 It is but a poor compensation that they possess grand and 
 beautiful liturgical forms, and that some of the superior 
 clergy are versed in the wisdom of the church fathers of their 
 own respective Churches. Of the Roman Catholic congrega- 
 tions we have spoken in Chapter I, 4. 
 
 The weak Protestant Churches are also unfortunately not 
 united. The Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem is at variance 
 with the Church Missionary Society, the largest Protestant 
 mission in the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, also, there is an in- 
 dependent company of American and Swedish Protestants, of 
 peculiar religious views, known, from the name of their 
 leader, as Spaffordites, and numbering about two hundred ; 
 but they do no mission work. 
 
 Nor do the German Protestants form a unified body. 
 Most of them belong to the Templars, a body of Suabians 
 who have gone to Palestine from chiliastic motives. 
 Rev. Christoph Hoffmann, a talented but eccentric theo- 
 logian, who regarded the State Church as a "corpse decked 
 out with beautiful phraseology," and hopelessly lost, felt him- 
 self called to gather the faithful round the " banner of proph- 
 ecy," and to " collect the people of God in Jerusalem to pre- 
 pare the way for the coming of the Kingdom of God." He 
 hoped to take a large number of believers to Palestine. After 
 leaving the Wtirttemberg State Church in 1859 and founding 
 a community called the " German Temple," he established his 
 first colony in Haifa. Colonies at Jaffa and Sarona were 
 founded in the following years, and in 1878 a colony at 
 Jerusalem. The difficulties which the colonists had to sur- 
 mount were very great. Thanks to the Suabian persistency 
 and ability with which Hoffmann entered upon his work, he 
 has been successful, though not to the extent he had originally 
 hoped. Economically, the existence of these Temple colonies 
 seems to be assured. " They possess the best orchards and 
 fields, they hold in their hands trade and commerce and the 
 most important industrial undertakings." 
 
 In addition to these industrious and strenuous, though 
 narrow-minded, templars, there are small congregations in 
 
Syria and Palestine 235 
 
 Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa, affiliated with the Prussian State 
 Church, the congregation in Jerusalem being of special im- 
 portance owing to the scientific institutions connected with it, 
 which are under the patronage of the German Emperor. 
 
 On the whole, the religious condition of the Holy Land is 
 deplorable. Stock, in his " History of the Church Missionary 
 Society," says, " Religion has been for so many years 
 political, and the Christians have been so pauperized by the 
 immense sums spent on them by the Latin and Greek 
 Churches, that few of them have an idea of anything beyond 
 a mere external religion ; while misrule and oppression have 
 degraded the fellaheen to the level of cattle " (Vol. Ill, p. 518). 
 
 1. The Beginnings of Protestant Missionary WorTc. The 
 Anglo- Prussian E^piscopate of Jerusalem 
 
 (a) The Mission of the American Board. The first 
 Protestant missionaries to come to Jerusalem were sent by 
 the American Board, which occupied Jerusalem for twenty- 
 three years (1821-1844) as a station for mission work among 
 Oriental Christians and, at the same time, for a mission among 
 the Jews. There were, however, months and even years in 
 which there was no missionary of the Board there. Yet it 
 was here that the Board gained its first experience in its 
 unique work in the Near East. The chief branch of its work 
 was the distribution of the Bible, which made it necessary for 
 the missionaries to travel about a great deal, more so than 
 was good for their health in the unaccustomed climate 
 and in a land where the roads were bad and the means 
 of conveyance uncomfortable. The mission had conse- 
 quently much to suffer from the sickness and death of its 
 members. One of the two pioneers, the Eev. Levi Parsons, 
 died in 1822. Three years later he was followed by Pliny 
 Fisk, that able and enthusiastic missionary. Twenty years 
 after this, after other missions in the Near East had 
 proved successful, the Board opened schools and a medical 
 mission. But Dr. Dodge, who was sent out, died soon after 
 his arrival, from over-exertion, while the schools suffered 
 
236 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 much from opposition. Since, in the meantime, the Board's 
 missions in Syria had become promising, and since English- 
 men and Germans were attracted by the newly established 
 episcopate of Jerusalem, the Board abandoned its work in 
 Palestine in 1844. There had been no visible results of this 
 patient labour on the part of the Americans ; they had only 
 been sowing the seed. Thousands of Bibles and portions of 
 the Bible had been distributed, even in the remotest parts of 
 Palestine, and a desire and demand for the "Word of God and 
 the truth of the Gospel had been awakened. Bishop Gobat 
 " reaped " where the Americans had " sown." (b) The be- 
 ginning of the English Mission among the Jews. While the 
 Americans were engaged in more exploratory work, the 
 London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews 
 commenced an extensive work in Jerusalem. This Society 
 was founded in 1809, originally on an interdenominational 
 basis; since 1815, however, it has been an almost exclusively 
 Anglican effort. High hopes were entertained at the outset. 
 The first step should be to gather the whole Jewish race into 
 Palestine, and Jews must therefore be encouraged to im- 
 migrate ; after that, mission work should be begun on'a grand 
 scale. Fortunately for the Society it had, in J. Nicolayson, 
 an able and level-headed representative in Jerusalem from 
 1826 to 1856. A favourable time appeared to be coming for 
 the mission, when from 1832 to 1840 the Egyptian rebel, 
 Viceroy Muhammad Ali, was in power in Palestine, for his 
 attitude towards the mission was friendly and tolerant. Ad- 
 vantage was taken of this opportunity, and the mission laid 
 the foundations of the so-called Zion church, the first 
 Protestant church in the Turkish dominions. It was un- 
 fortunate that it was not finished before 1840, for, when 
 the Sultan succeeded, with the assistance of the European 
 Powers, in recapturing Palestine, he followed an even stricter 
 policy of repression than before. Thus the completion of the 
 church was delayed by endless negotiations until 1849. In 
 Nicolayson's time, and with his help, most of the large in- 
 stitutions were founded, that are so characteristic a feature of 
 
Syria and Palestine 237 
 
 this Society's work ; the hospital in 1843, the first of its kind 
 in the ISTear East ; the industrial school for converts from 
 among the Jews, intended to test the sincerity of their 
 motives, as well as, after their baptism, to secure them a 
 livelihood ; the converts' home ; even a training-school, which 
 was temporarily (1843-1849) expanded into a mission col- 
 lege, as a central training-institution for converted Jews, 
 who were to engage in mission work. All these various 
 branches of the work were developing vigorously and seemed 
 to require the guidance of a strong central authority, (c) Tlie 
 ' Anglo-Prussian episcopate. The establishment of an Anglo- 
 Prussian episcopate in Jerusalem is one of the most interesting 
 episodes of mission history in the Near East. Frederick 
 William lY, the idealist King of Prussia, was the originator 
 and motive power of this arrangement. He had four far- 
 reaching thoughts which he hoped to see realized in this way. 
 For one thing, his evangelical heart felt impelled to create in 
 the midst of the petrified and degenerate Oriental Churches a 
 centre of Protestant activity, the spirit of which should 
 regenerate those Churches. He also wished to procure legal 
 recognition and equal rights for the Protestants, scattered 
 throughout Turkey, who, up to this time, had enjoyed no 
 legal status. This he tried to effect by the means customary 
 in Turkey, namely, through the authorization of an ecclesias- 
 tical supreme head. In the third place, he desired to provide 
 for the Jewish Mission, which was at that time beginning to 
 flourish, firm support and a secure centre of activity, and he 
 hoped that the episcopate would afford such a centre. He 
 held the opinion that a firmly established Jewish mission on a 
 large scale in Jerusalem would attract the attention of all 
 Jews. And, lastly, he particularly desired to unite the great 
 Protestant Churches in common work for the spread of the 
 Kingdom of God ; a union of the Churches of England and 
 Prussia, resting on the foundation of common church work, 
 was his highest ideal. 
 
 Here were idealist plans and purposes enough, if the Jeru- 
 salem episcopate was really to become a thing of life, with aa 
 
238 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 intelligible, practical task. Yet still other hopes of a different 
 character were entertained in Anglican circles, in connection 
 with this arrangement. Study of the prophets had convinced 
 the leaders of the Jewish Mission that the return of the Jews 
 to Palestine was imminent. They planned, therefore, to found 
 a Church in Palestine in connection with the Jewish Christian 
 congregation, which had, with much labour, been gathered in 
 Jerusalem. This Church was to be, indeed, Anglican in its 
 organization, yet at the same time it was to be an independent 
 Jewish Church. When, therefore, the European Powers had 
 driven the Egyptian Viceroy, Muhammad Ali, out of Syria, it 
 was hoped in England that, with the support of the govern- 
 ment, which friends of the movement sought to gain, Pales- 
 tine would now be thrown open to a general immigration of 
 the Jews. Still another prospect opened out to the high 
 church wing of the Church of England, when the project of 
 Frederick William TV became known. They hoped that a 
 union with the Church of Prussia would secure such pre- 
 dominance for the Church of England that the "historic 
 episcopate " would be introduced into Prussia also, an idea 
 that was, as is well known, sympathetically entertained by the 
 Prussian king. And, lastly, there was thus a prospect that 
 the " diocese of St. James " might be restored in Jerusalem. 
 St. James the Just, the brother of our Lord, wsis par excel- 
 lence the Apostle of the Circumcision. Only Jews had filled 
 the episcopal throne of St. James up to the destruction of 
 Jerusalem under Hadrian. This apostolate of the circum- 
 cision was now to be restored by the establishment of a specif- 
 ically Jewish Christian episcopate in the Holy City, so that 
 an " apostle to the Gentiles, such as, for instance, the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, might some day indite a new Epistle to 
 the Hebrews." 
 
 These hopes and expectations are indicative of the thoughts 
 and wishes entertained by Christian circles in Prussia and 
 England in 1840. But, with this mixture of numerous and 
 diverse motives before him, no one will be astonished that the 
 practical result stood in no proportion to such expectations. 
 
Syria and Palestine 239 
 
 To be sure, the episcopate was an accomplished fact within a 
 few months, but it was a specifically Anglican episcopate and 
 Prussia's influence upon it was almost nil. Prussia enjoyed 
 merely the honour of contributing ;^600 a year towards the 
 salary of the bishop, and the right to appoint every alternate 
 bishop, who must, however, be an Anglican. 
 
 The British crown appointed Salomo Alexander, a learned 
 Jewish Christian, as the first bishop. He was a Polish Jew 
 from Prussian Posen, and was at that time a professor in a 
 college in London. But he died too soon to be able to display 
 any great activity. As his successor. King Frederick William 
 lY appointed Samuel Gobat, who had returned to Europe in 
 shattered health, after his romantic activity in Abyssinia (cf. 
 Chap. YI, B, 1), and was principal of a mission college in 
 the island of Malta when Frederick William the Fourth's call 
 came to him. He accepted it with joy. The history of his 
 thirty-three years' episcopate (1846-1879) has proved that the 
 King's choice was an excellent one. Whatever Protestant 
 missionary work there is at the present time in the Holy 
 Land is to be traced directly or indirectly to Bishop Gobat. 
 His sane, impressive and determined personality enabled 
 Protestant missions to take root in the stony soil of the 
 neglected country. When Bishop Gobat arrived in Jerusalem 
 in December, 1846, he encountered difficulties on every hand. 
 Though " Bishop of Palestine, Syria, Egypt and Mesopotamia," 
 he had but one parish in his diocese — Jerusalem, with its forty 
 or fifty communicants ; there were newly begun mission 
 stations for Jews only in Jaffa and Safed. Outside Jerusalem, 
 his task, therefore, was to create a Protestant people. But 
 where ? Mission work amongst the Muhammadans was, to be- 
 gin with, out of the question, because of the suspicious 
 vigilance of the Turkish government. And to have won con- 
 verts from the Orthodox Greeks would have offended the 
 high church party in England, who regarded the Greek Church 
 as a sister, with equal ecclesiastical claims. 
 
 The labour of the Americans had spread some little knowl- 
 edge of evangelical truth in the Holy Land, in spite of the 
 
240 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 fact that the Romanists had induced the authorities to forbid 
 the selling of Bibles and to order the burning of any copies 
 that might be found. And now, since the oppressed Chris- 
 tians were always on the lookout for help from a powerful 
 friend who could protect them against the Turks, the ener- 
 getic action of Protestant England and Prussia attracted the 
 attention of many. Bishop Gobat made use of these feeble 
 and mixed motives. He engaged people who were able to 
 read, without demanding of them that they should leave their 
 own Churches, and commissioned them to go through the 
 country reading the Bible and talking with the people about 
 what had been ^read. The success of this scheme was sur- 
 prising. As soon as these simple people opened their Bibles 
 in the streets or public places jn towns and villages, the people 
 crowded round them to listen, and often showed signs of be- 
 ing touched. Individuals often came in the evening to the 
 lodgings of Bible-readers, confessing their sins with tears in 
 their eyes, and asking to be instructed in the way of salvation. 
 There was a general movement throughout the country. 
 People seemed to become aware of their deplorable ignorance 
 and to long for the simple truth of the Bible. It was a 
 favourable circumstance that just then the Sultan issued the 
 firman of 1850, recognizing the Protestant Church, and giving 
 it a legal status in his empire. Bishop Gobat was watching 
 this movement from his quiet dwelling near David's Tower in 
 Jerusalem. Hardly a week passed in which some petition or 
 deputation did not arrive from one place or another in Pales- 
 tine, asking for missionaries, teachers for the young, church 
 buildings and Protestant schools. Nablus and Nazareth, Jaffa 
 and Bamleh, Bethlehem and Ramallah, became centres of the 
 movement. There were, to be sure, times when the contest 
 raged fiercely. In 1848 Bishop Gobat received a letter signed 
 by several Greek Christians in Nablus, declaring their resolve 
 to leave their Church, since they were being kept in a state of 
 ignorance. Bishop Gobat exhorted them not to take such a 
 step without earnest consideration, yet he sent a missionary 
 to them to enquire more closely into the state of things. 
 
Syria and Palestine 241 
 
 This man found four hundred Greeks ready to join the 
 Protestants. Thereupon the Bishop decided to take them 
 under his care. He quietly bought a house, which he ar- 
 ranged as a school for boys and girls, with quarters for the 
 teachers in it. As soon as this became known in ITablus, the 
 storm broke. Two of the leading Arab Protestants were 
 thrown into prison and condemned to death, and Bishop 
 Gobat rescued them only with difficulty, through the influence 
 of the Governor of Jerusalem. But the Greeks had become 
 alarmed and hesitated now to join the Protestant Church. 
 Gobat's " Bible-school," however, flourished, and its teacher 
 proved himself to be a steadfast man, on whom reliance could 
 be placed. His opponents resorted to all manner of intrigue ; 
 they established opposition schools and searched the houses for 
 Bibles, burning all they could discover, and fining the people 
 who had possessed them. When these measures failed, the 
 Greek Bishop excommunicated the refractory. But the people 
 would not give way, nor could Bishop Gobat retire ; he there- 
 fore decided to collect the excommunicated into a Protestant 
 congregation. Throughout the Holy Land a similar develop- 
 ment took place ; but everywhere Bishop Gobat counselled 
 patie^nce. Yet when the people had been thrust out of their 
 Churches, there was nothing left but to receive them into the 
 Protestant Church and to form them into congregations. Al- 
 most more disquieting and threatening were opposition and 
 disapproval in England. For his ever-extending charitable 
 work he had to depend on the sympathy and support of Eng- 
 lish and German Christians. Wow, if to many in the Church 
 of England the whole of the Anglo-Prussian episcopate had 
 been an offense, this forming of members of the Greek Ortho- 
 dox Church into separate congregations was an abomination. 
 For they were so blindly full of enthusiasm for the episcopal 
 Greek Church, as to recognize in it a worthy sister of their own. 
 In fact they felt themselves more nearly related to it than to 
 the Evangelical Church of Germany. As a result, there oc- 
 curred long and painful transactions, bitter accusation and 
 unpleasant controversy in the press. Yet Bishop Gobat kept 
 
242 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 steadfastly on his way ; and even the bishops who were 
 called on to give their decisions, had to acknowledge that he 
 was in the right, when he gathered into congregations those 
 who had been excommunicated from the Greek Church. The 
 rupture in the Greek Church caused by the formation of 
 Protestant congregations, on the one hand, and the long con- 
 tinued hostility of Anglicans, on the other, had the result of 
 bringing the entire hopeful movement to a standstill. Those 
 who had already been converted remained for the most part 
 faithful, but conversions became year by year less frequent. 
 
 One of Bishop Gobat's tasks was the care of the Jewish 
 Mission, on which the English friends of the episcopate laid 
 great stress. IN'or did he lack able assistants in his work, for 
 the London Jewish Society placed their best men at his dis- 
 posal. Ttius he was enabled to found his " diocesan school," 
 a well conducted boys' school, which still does good work in 
 Jerusalem, directing its attention mainly to Jewish children. 
 It was a time of quiet growth for the Jewish Mission. The 
 only notable event was that the mission, in 1857, took over 
 from the volunteer missionary. Miss Cooper, her girls' school 
 and her industrial home for poor women ; these institutions 
 were now considerably enlarged. 
 
 ^. The Mission of the Church Missionary Society 
 
 As soon as the first converts had attached themselves to 
 Bishop Gobat, and had been by him received into the Protes- 
 tant Church, he felt it to be his duty to make permanent 
 provision for the supply of their spiritual needs ; for, lacking 
 this, the congregations could not flourish, and many would 
 probably return to their old Church. He naturally turned 
 first to the Church Missionary Society, in whose service he 
 had been for twenty years, and with which he felt himself 
 most closely related in faith and practice. He was the more 
 encouraged to do this, since that Society had, almost from the 
 time of its inception, been carrying on a mission work in the 
 ISTear East. It was, however, this very fact that caused the 
 Society to hesitate to grant the Bishop's request, for their work 
 
Syria and Palestine 243 
 
 in the Near East was about to be abandoned, after having 
 accomplished but little, in spite of the large sums spent upon 
 it and the able missionaries that had been employed in it. 
 Yet the fact that it was the Holy Land in which they were 
 asked to help, led the Society to comply with Bishop Gobat's 
 request. In 1851 it renewed its work in the IN'ear East, thus 
 entering upon its second period of activity there. The history 
 of the Church Missionary Society Mission in Palestine falls 
 into two periods, each of about thirty years' duration. Bishop 
 Gobat's death in 1879 being the dividing point. During the 
 first period work was carried on on a small scale and with 
 very limited means, being confined for twenty years to the 
 two stations, Jerusalem and Nazareth. Apart from a few 
 English missionaries, who always held the office of Secretary 
 and to a certain extent managed the work, the members of 
 the mission were Germans. These were able men, and their 
 terms of service were extraordinarily lengthy, a circumstance 
 which was of great importance, since the work demanded 
 thorough local and personal acquaintance with all the diffi- 
 culties connected with it. 
 
 Christian Fallscheer, of Wiirttemberg, a locksmith by trade, 
 came, in 1862, from the St. Chrischona Mission House to 
 Jerusalem. After helping Bishop Gobat in the diocesan 
 school on Mount Zion, he was sent by the Bishop to Nablus 
 in 1864. Nablus is one of the most fanatical Moslem towns 
 in Palestine. No European had been able to live there. In 
 spite of all hindrances Fallscheer settled in the town, and, by 
 his patience, gained a footing in it for the mission. He suc- 
 ceeded in building a church and parsonage, and opened the 
 way for the lady missionaries who came. Thanks to his tact 
 in dealing with the government, permission was granted to 
 build a mission hospital. Little known or noticed outside 
 Palestine, he was celebrated throughout that country for his 
 hospitality and his liberality. In Nablus itself he won the 
 respect of all, including the Muhammadans, by his humility 
 and childlike piety. When he died, Christians and Moslems 
 alike said with tears in their eyes, " Our father is dead and 
 
244 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 we are orphans." Muhammadans even requested the honour 
 of being permitted to carry his coffin from the church to the 
 grave. 
 
 Johannes Zeller, a countryman of Fallscheer's, was a man 
 of greater intellect and talent. He arrived before Fallscheer, 
 in 1857. He laboured for twenty years in Nazareth, and for 
 an equal period in Jerusalem. By his persevering energy, he, 
 like Fallscheer in Kablus, developed the mission work in 
 !N"azareth. After years of labour, he experienced in 1871 the 
 joy of witnessing the dedication of a church there, the build- 
 ing of which he himself had superintended. At his request, 
 the Female Education Society founded in ^N'azareth an 
 orphanage and several day-schools, which were afterwards 
 transferred to the Church Missionary Society. Also at 
 Zeller's invitation, a Scottish medical missionary settled in 
 ^Nazareth and began a work, which was gradually extended. 
 Zeller's interest was more and more centred in a task that had 
 till then been neglected in Palestine, namely, the training of 
 educated teachers. With a view to his being able to devote 
 himself entirely to this work, he was removed to Jerusalem 
 to take charge of the Bishop Gobat School, as well as to found 
 a " Preparandi Institute " for teachers. In spite of frequent 
 disappointments he had the joy of seeing many of his pupils 
 turn out well ; eight of them were ordained as preachers, after 
 many years of successful teaching. During his stay of forty- 
 six years in Palestine, Zeller had made the country his second 
 home. Canon Tristram once said of Zeller that he was the 
 only European who could venture to pass through the whole 
 of Palestine without a military escort. He was known every- 
 where, and was distinguished from Greek and Latin priests as 
 the " priest of the Book." Canon Tristram once told a sheikh 
 that Zeller was his friend and brother, to which the reply 
 came, " Then you, too, are one of the Bible Christians ! " In 
 his seventy-first year, in the summer of 1901, Zeller left 
 Palestine to return to his home in Germany. On the 19th 
 of February, 1902, heart-failure put an end to his laborious 
 life. 
 
Syria and Palestine 24^ 
 
 Theodore Friedrich Wolters was sent to Smyrna in 1860, 
 and held this staMon quite alone for the Church Missionary 
 Society till 1876. He was then removed to Palestine, where 
 he engaged in pastoral work, chiefly in Jaffa, for thirty 
 years, until 1907. He was president of the " Native Church 
 Council." 
 
 A. F. Klein was the missionary who, with Dr. Sandreczky, 
 began the Church Missionary Society Mission in Palestine 
 in 1851. He became renowned in Europe in 1868 by his 
 discovery of the famous Moabite stone. When the Church 
 Missionary Society had to restrict its work in 1878, for want^ 
 of means, Klein was recalled to Europe, but later, in 1882, he 
 had the honour of beginning the mission of the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society in Egypt. He died in England on the 1st of 
 December, 1903. 
 
 The end of the seventies was a critical time in the history 
 of the Church Missionary Society Mission in Palestine. 
 Bishop Gobat's advanced age placed the question before the 
 directing board, whether, at his death, the Church Missionary 
 Society should take over his entire mission work as he pro- 
 posed. Against such a course was the feeble financial con- 
 dition of the Society ; and even more threatening was the 
 animosity of the ritualists, who regarded with disfavour 
 Bishop Gobat's " proselytizing " among members of the 
 Oriental Churches. There was to be an extremely painful 
 public discussion between the Church Missionary Society and 
 its opponents. We must anticipate the course of events. Upon 
 the death of Bishop Gobat, the British crown appointed as 
 Bishop of Jerusalem Joseph Barclay^ formerly a missionary 
 among the Jews. Unfortunately he died two years later. 
 After his death there was no bishop appointed for several 
 years, since Prussia, to whom the nomination now fell, could 
 not find in Germany a suitable Anglican clergyman to repre- 
 sent its interests in Palestine. Finally the agreement between 
 England and Prussia was cancelled. England now appointed 
 G. F. P. Blyth, a high churchman, as bishop, a man who had 
 little sympathy with the evangelical Church Missionary 
 
246 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Society. He insisted that the priest should turn to the east 
 during the saying of the creed, that lighted candles should be 
 on the altar, that wine should be mixed with water at the 
 eucharist, that the celebration of the eucharist should be only 
 in the morning, and the like. It was painful to see a man 
 with such ideals at the head of the English Protestant Mission 
 in Palestine. Yiolent collision with the Church Missionary 
 Society was inevitable. In December, 1890, the Bishop, in 
 his " primary charge," accused the Church Missionary Society 
 missionaries of inexcusable proselytism among the Oriental 
 Churches, and claimed the management of the entire missionary 
 work. A conference of Anglican bishops held an enquiry, and 
 their verdict was essentially in favour of the Church Mission- 
 ary Society. Bishop Blyth had, in addition, minor complaints, 
 and made • the following charges : — (1) that he was not a 
 member of the Missionary Conference in Palestine ; (2) that 
 the missionaries presented to him for confirmation persons 
 who had in infancy received the " chrism " of the Greek 
 Church after baptism ; (3) that the Church Missionary Society 
 was guilty of " proselytism." The Conference of Bishops 
 gave it as their opinion (1) that the bishop's membership in the 
 Missionary Conference was not desirable, as being scarcely 
 consistent with the dignity of his position, and they recom- 
 mended that he should rather summon a diocesan synod, 
 which would be attended both by Church Missionary Society 
 missionaries and by other clergy ; (2) that the bishop ought 
 not to refuse confirmation to those who intelligently and 
 conscientiously desired it ; (3) that the charge of proselytism 
 had not been proved ; it appeared, rather, that this was al- 
 together contrary to the instructions issued by the Church 
 Missionary Society (Stock, " History of the Church Mission- 
 ary Society," YoL III, pp. 523 ff.). 
 
 Bishop Blyth did not give way. There was therefore the 
 unedifying spectacle in Jerusalem of two parties in the Angli- 
 can Church, working on different principles. Bishop Blyth 
 was merely the representative of the views and feelings of the 
 ritualists, who were gaining more and more influence in 
 
Syria and Palestine 247 
 
 England. The Church Missionary Society had always to be 
 careful not to give offense. Quite apart from this friction, 
 mission work among Oriental Christians in Palestine, and the 
 care of the congregations of converts, were a difficult and not 
 very promising task. Eev. C. T. Wilson, the well-known 
 missionary in Uganda, who was at that time working in 
 Palestine, characterized the situation in a report in which he 
 said, " The conviction is growing stronger that the day of 
 gracious visitations is rapidly coming to an end for the Chris- 
 tians of this country. This applies only to the Greek Chris- 
 tians, for they are almost the only ones who have come under 
 the influence of the mission. The Roman clergy hold their 
 flock so firmly that no unwelcome influences can touch them. 
 For instance, one often hears that the Eoman priests tell their 
 people that it is much better for people to be Moslems than 
 Protestants, an evidence of a bigotry unknown among the 
 Greeks. But in spite of many points of contact between us 
 and the Greeks, the Gospel has made little progress among 
 them in the last years. We seem to have reached a point 
 beyond which we cannot go. It is true that our schools still 
 dispel ignorance of divine truth, break the charms of super- 
 stition and prejudice and lighten the yoke of priestly domina- 
 tion. But such enlightenment does not lead, in by far the 
 most cases, to true conversion. It can quite well rest in the 
 same heart side by side with unbounded veneration of the 
 Greek Church and observance of superstitious customs. We 
 are as far as ever from a reformation of this Church." So 
 there was a strong inclination for some years to restrict the 
 work as much as possible. One of the first steps in this 
 direction was the recalling of several able missionaries, such 
 as A. F. Klein. But just at that time a change became ap- 
 parent in the circles of the Church Missionary Society, which 
 was destined to have a great effect on the mission in Palestine. 
 In 1875 General Lake, an influential member of the Church 
 Missionary Society committee, called a conference of Church 
 Missionary Society missionaries among Muhammadans. At 
 this conference he set forth with emphasis the problems and 
 
248 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 tasks awaiting this practically new branch of their work. 
 Unfortunately, Lake died before any definite conclusion had 
 been arrived at, so that the whole movement, initiated by 
 him, was threatened with extinction. Yet the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society recognized that Palestine was a strategic land 
 for such an undertaking among Muhammadans. The Society 
 accordingly abandoned their plan of restricting the work, and, 
 at Bishop Gobat's death, took over the whole of his mission^ 
 including, in addition to some schools in Karaleh, Lydda and 
 elsewhere, his diocesan school in Jerusalem, the important 
 station at Nablus, and, above all, the German missionaries, 
 who were so thoroughly acquainted with the country. In 
 thus determining, however, to engage in work in Palestine on 
 a large scale, and with a considerable force, the Society felt 
 the necessit}^ of giving its work a different form, to correspond 
 with the new purpose vvhich it held. Hitherto, under Bishop 
 Gobat's influence, the Society had engaged almost exclusively 
 in mission work among the Greek Christians, and in the care 
 of the congregations formed from among them ; now it must 
 methodically organize a mission among Muhammadans. The 
 new era in the work of the mission was introduced in three 
 ways ; first of all, by an energetic extension of the work over 
 the whole of Palestine. Es-Salt, east of the Jordan, in the 
 ancient Gilead, had been for ages an autonomous town, which, 
 however, paid tribute to Turkey. "When, in 1866, the Turkish 
 government in Damascus extended its authority in this direc- 
 tion and placed a Turkish garrison in Es-Salt, Bishop Gobat 
 sent a Syrian catechist thither. A Jesuit Mission also made 
 its appearance there, and by bribery induced many Greek 
 Christians to join the Church of Rome. Bishop Gobat had 
 only Christian truth to offer, yet he gained a footing, and the 
 congregation grew to be one of the most promising in the 
 Holy Land. It was necessary, however, that a missionary 
 should be stationed there, and, the Bishop not having such an 
 one at his disposal, the station was transferred in 1873 to the 
 Church Missionary Society. To the northeast, further in- 
 land, in the rocky district of Hauran, the Church Missionary 
 
Syria and Palestine 249 
 
 Society took over several schools for Druse children, which, 
 however, had to be abandoned on account of Turkish intoler- 
 ance. In Gaza, formerly one of the cities of the Philistines, 
 and at present the second largest town in Palestine, lying on 
 the caravan route to Egypt, Pritchet, an Englishman, had 
 established schools as a part of his "Philistine Mission," 
 which he was glad to hand over to the Church Missionary 
 Society in 18Y8. In Kerak, the ancient Kir in the land of 
 Moab, a Wesleyan, named Lethaby, began an independent 
 mission in 1883, which, however, he had not sufficient means 
 to carry on, especially as the Turkish authorities were con- 
 tinually throwing new obstacles in his way. Although the 
 place was only about one hundred miles from Jerusalem, it 
 was difficult to reach ; yet the Church Missionary Society 
 took it over in 1894. It was hard work. The Turkish 
 Governor was determined that missions should not succeed ; 
 for months he placed a soldier on sentry duty at the gates of 
 the settlement, to prevent the entrance of any Moslem. The 
 schools were also closed through the intrigues of the leaders 
 of the Greek Church. But patient perseverance overcame 
 all these obstacles. As the great caravan road of the 
 Mecca pilgrims, the darb i haj, and the new Hejaz Rail- 
 way pass close to Kerak, the latter is a very suitable 
 centre from which to itinerate. Yet lack of funds has 
 compelled the Society to abandon the station. At Acca, 
 on the coast, the Church Missionary Society established a 
 station in 1890, with the purpose of reaching the leaders 
 of the Babist movement, who had been banished to that 
 town. 
 
 In Bethlehem, Nazareth and Shefa Amr the Female Educa- 
 tion Society had for decades flourishing girls' boarding-schools' 
 These, too, were subsequently transferred to the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society (1902). 
 
 In this way the work of the Church Missionary Society 
 grew into a spreading tree, its branches reaching from Gaza in 
 the south to Nazareth in the north, from Jaffa in the west 
 to Es-Salt and Kerak in the land east of the Jordan, thus 
 
250 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 casting its shadow over the whole of the Holy Land. This 
 local extension was accompanied by a growth of internal 
 power, the result of the addition of two new and important 
 agencies, namely, the work of lady missionaries and medical 
 mission work. 
 
 The Keswick Conferences had been asked by the mission- 
 aries in Palestine to send lady missionaries, and, after 1887, 
 these came in ever-increasing numbers, thirty in the six years 
 between 1888 and 1894, thirteen of them at their own charges. 
 The mission received a new impulse from the coming of these 
 ladies. They established day-schools and boarding-schools 
 for girls, were indefatigable in visiting the homes of the people 
 in town and country, and endeavoured in every conceivable 
 way to gather round themselves groups of neglected women 
 and girls. Sometimes the women were astonished at their 
 procedure. " What do you want to teach us ? " asked one 
 Moslem woman. " We are after all only goats and asses." 
 And visiting from house to house is indeed trying enough 
 work. 
 
 " Picture to yourself a courtyard, which is entered by a 
 shattered door, and, round this court, perhaps from five to 
 seven houses. A native house means merely one big, window- 
 less room, and living in it the father and mother and one or 
 two generations following. In the summer time the women, 
 when not engaged in the fields or vineyards, congregate to- 
 gether in a courtyard to do their daily household work, such 
 as sifting the corn, cleaning the grain, basket work, cooking, 
 mending their one garment, combing their hair, and so forth. 
 A Felahat (village woman) rarely sits idle, but, true to her 
 Eastern nature, all her work is done in a leisurely fashion. 
 Into this court the missionary enters, Bible in hand, ready to 
 speak to any one she may find, and as she enters her eye gladly 
 and quickly sees a little group of women sitting quietly to- 
 gether in the centre of the court, and she is apt to think 
 what an especially good opportunity has fallen to her ; but 
 after she has been speaking a few minutes, and the women 
 seem to be listening, and she is anxious to drive the lesson 
 
Syria and Palestine 251 
 
 home, suddenly the quiet and attention are broken by the 
 shrill scream of a cock, repeated and repeated, and the hens, 
 not behindhand, begin to cackle, and all the little chickens fly 
 first over one, then over another. Then the dogs start bark- 
 ing, for some Gipsy or other has come to beg a piece of bread, 
 or a neighbour wants to buy some eggs, or to borrow a sieve 
 or spoon. And then the donkeys who up to now have stood 
 quietly tied in the court, begin to bray alternately, or some 
 horse neighs, and, as the afternoon wears on, the husbands and 
 the elder boys return from the fields, bringing with them herds 
 of goats and sheep and oxen, and the whole little company 
 must get up in order to make room for them to enter the one- 
 roomed dwelling, where a place is provided for them beneath 
 the dwelling-room of the family above. By the time we settle 
 down again, the thread is broken, and the children must needs 
 cry, and the women have only a scattered recollection of what 
 has been said" {Proceedings, 1897, p. 178). Female education 
 is, however, undergoing a slow but steady change for the bet- 
 ter. The people are sending their girls to learn to read, write 
 and do needlework. In former days they said it was not a 
 good thing for girls to learn to read, for then they would be 
 able to read the men's secrets ; that arithmetic was not needed 
 by them, as they would never have to keep shop ; and that 
 they did not require to know any geography, because they 
 would never travel. 
 
 Of still greater importance, perhaps, has been the introduc- 
 tion of the medical mission work, which has been carried on 
 with great zeal since 1881. The native doctors are as incom- 
 petent as elsewhere in the Near East. Copious bleeding, ac- 
 complished by biting with the teeth, if there is no knife at 
 hand, burning with a red-hot piece of iron and other such 
 drastic measures are their favourite treatment. At first, how- 
 ever, people distrusted the simple medicines of the mission- 
 aries. To make sure that they were not poisonous, they 
 generally tried the effect of a dose on a dog. Or a blind man 
 would, before an operation on the eye, solemnly curse the cross 
 to ward off sorcery. Yet the calm, patient, self-denying work 
 
252 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 of the missionary triumphed at length over all such prejudices. 
 The medical mission made its way. A single hospital had, in 
 one year, 1,200 in-patients and 30,000 out-patients. In the 
 consulting room, in the wards, or standing in the open with his 
 medicine chest beside him, while on his tours, the medical mis- 
 sionary found suitable opportunities for scattering the seed^f 
 life in receptive and willing hearts. On such occasions even 
 fanatical Moslems will listen to much, which, if spoken in any 
 other place, or by any other person, would fill them with rage- 
 
 The largest mission hospital of the Church Missionary Society 
 is in Nablus, the ancient Shechem, which is, as we have seen, 
 one of the most fanatical Muhammadan towns. It was there 
 that the fanatical mob was on the point of storming the mis- 
 sion settlement in 1895. But it is just this fanaticism that the 
 kindness of the medical missionary is able to overcome. In 
 1901 a fine new hospital was opened, which has since been en- 
 larged so that it has sixty beds. This institution has had a 
 very quieting influence. Gaza is a scarcely less fanatical town. 
 Here for many years Canon Sterling, who is also a physician, 
 made use of a stuffy house of native pattern as a hospital. 
 But in 1907 a new hospital, with all the modern appliances, 
 was opened there, with a medical missionary at its head. 
 Also in Es-Salt and in Acca the Church Missionary Society 
 has stationed medical missionaries, but as yet native houses 
 have to serve as hospitals. In Kerak, too, many patients have 
 been treated by means of dispensaries. 
 
 The educational work has not kept step with the medical 
 mission. Since Bishop Gobat^s time there has been keen 
 competition on the part of the Turkish government, and of 
 the Greek and Koman Churches. This limits the need as well 
 as the possibility of opening Church Missionary Society 
 schools. The original " Bishop Gobat's School " in Jerusalem 
 developed into a boarding-school for boys, a college (1905), 
 and a " Preparandi Institute," to which was attached a 
 divinity school for candidates for ordination. Latterly the 
 institute has been closed. A boarding-school for girls was 
 opened in 1892, and, in 1902, was combined with the girls' 
 
Syria and Palestine 253 
 
 boarding-school which was taken over from the Female 
 Education Society, the entire institution being removed to 
 Bethlehem. Many of the Church Missionary Society stations 
 have also boys' and girls' schools ; in all fifty-four schools, 
 attended by about 3,000 pupils. There are also some small 
 boarding-schools and orphanages. 
 
 It has been of great advantage to the work of the Church 
 Missionary Society in the last twenty years that the staff of 
 missionaries has been greatly strengthened. Until 1880 it 
 had consisted merely of German missionaries, with one or 
 two Englishmen at their head. Now there are working in 
 Palestine fourteen missionaries, G.ve of whom are medical 
 missionaries, and thirty-one lady missionaries. 
 
 The Church Missionary Society has at present seven main 
 stations and a large number of permanent or temporary out- 
 stations, which are for the most part served by lady mis- 
 sionaries. The members of the congregations number 2,323, 
 having doubled since Bishop Gobat's death in 18Y9. Most of 
 these are from the Greek Church. It cannot be said how 
 many of them are converted Muhammadans. 
 
 In 1905, the Church Missionary Society organized the 
 native congregations according to its "Church Council 
 System" of church organization. Since there is such a 
 tendency on the part of the church-members in Palestine to 
 make large demands on the mission, it will be particularly 
 dif3.cult here to educate the people in the matter of auton- 
 omy, and especially in the matter of self-support. 
 
 The Church Missionary Society is the foremost society 
 in Palestine in mission work among Muhammadans, both in 
 the extent of the work, and in the thoroughness of its organ- 
 ization. It may, therefore, justly claim the right to be heard, 
 especially when a man like the Rev. T. F. Wolters, who has 
 served in Palestine for thirty years, pronounces judgment. 
 " It is true that the medical missionaries are breaking down 
 the fence of social separation between Muhammadans and 
 Christians and that medical men and nurses have precious op- 
 portunities of pressing the claims of Christ upon Moslems of 
 
254 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 all classes, and of establishing bonds of friendship, more or 
 less sincere, with their patients. But all this is as yet strictly 
 confined to 'medical work.' An ordained missionary, 
 whether European or native, soon finds that his efforts to 
 reach the people are limited by barriers which have not been 
 broken down. A catechist, employed to follow up cases that 
 have been in the hospital by visits to the villages from which 
 these cases come, has often told me how exceedingly limited 
 even his work is. An occasional visit may be satisfactory, 
 but, as soon as it is repeated, say once a month, the people 
 retire and will have nothing to say to their visitor. Whether 
 the ^ day of visitation ' for the Moslem has come or not, the 
 hard fact, as far as my observation and experience lead 
 me to judge, is that the Moslem is still very far from being 
 accessible to direct effort, except when he is under medical 
 care " {Proceedings, 1905, p. 146). 
 
 Kev. C. T. Wilson gives a slightly more optimistic report. 
 He says : — " As to the work among the Muhammadans, it 
 would seem as if the day of grace were about to break. Our 
 medical missions remove prejudices, overcome opposition, and 
 open a way to many hearts that have been hitherto closed to 
 the truth. There is, therefore, no lack of blessing or encour- 
 agement. But the red of dawn must not be mistaken for the 
 full light of day. Our experiences can again point to the 
 fact that, before the day can come, many social and political 
 limitations have to be removed which hinder Moslems from 
 making an open confession of faith. How and when this will 
 come to pass, no one can say. It may cost hot conflict, it 
 may happen overnight. Who knows ? Grateful for the 
 dawn, we are waiting patiently until God reveals His pur- 
 poses of grace." It must be added that Palestine is the most 
 stony ground which missions among Muhammadans are 
 trying to cultivate, because religious rancour, encouraged as it 
 is by the suspicious policy of the Turkish authorities, is so 
 deeply rooted there. 
 
 We may here refer to the work done in Palestine by various 
 English, Scottish and American societies. First, we must com- 
 
Syria and Palestine 255 
 
 plete the history of the London Jewish Society. In this mission 
 occurred a romantic but disturbing episode when the con- 
 vert Z. H. Friedlaender (1873-1886), in connection with the 
 immigration of Jews from Koumania, which was strong at 
 that time, pursued national Jewish schemes, in this way en- 
 deavouring to gain Jews in great numbers. At that time 
 (1883) the *' Jewish Kefugees' Aid Society " was founded in 
 England. This society bad considerable sums at its disposal, 
 with which it liberally supported Jews emigrating to Pales- 
 tine, establishing an agricultural colony in Artuf, which lies 
 midway between Jerusalem and Jaffa. When, later on, still 
 greater contributions were coming in from rich Jews, most of 
 Priedlaender's adherents left him, and he himself had to be 
 dismissed from the service of the mission on account of cer- 
 tain irregularities. Jerusalem is the only station of the 
 mission that has a comparatively large number of converts. 
 In 1886 there were 217 Protestant Christians, who had been 
 born Jews. In eight years 692 people were baptized. At 
 present there are only about seventy members in the congre- 
 gation, since very few of the converts can earn a living in 
 Jerusalem after they have been baptized, and most of them 
 are, therefore, compelled to leave the city in order to find em- 
 ployment. Extensive missionary work is being done here. 
 First, there is the large mission hospital. Founded in 1872, 
 especially for the benefit of the Jewish population of the 
 city, it was conducted for half a century mainly as a philan- 
 thropic institution, without any great accentuation of its mis- 
 sionary character. In 1897, a new hospital was built on the 
 Heights of Godfrey in the suburbs, consisting of three main 
 buildings and three isolated wards. Two English doctors 
 form the medical staff. About one thousand Jews are re- 
 ceived as in-patients every year, and their religious scruples 
 regarding food and customs are considered. There are also an 
 Industrial Home, in which candidates for baptism are em- 
 ployed during a period of probation and strengthening of 
 their faith ; a boys' and a girls' school for both boarders and 
 day-scholars ; refuges for male and female enquirers ; and a 
 
256 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 bookstore near Christ Church, which is the centre of the 
 whole system. Thus Jerusalem is one of the best-equipped 
 stations of the Jewish mission in the world. The same 
 society has stations at Jaffa and Safed. In Jaffa, which was 
 temporarily occupied in 1845 before it was made a permanent 
 station in 1882, there is but a small congregation, provided 
 with a church. But in Safed there is a hospital with a 
 dispensary, a girls' school, a night-school for boys and for 
 girls, and a bookstore. 
 
 In addition to this society for promoting Christianity 
 among the Jews, special mention must be made of the United 
 Free Church of Scotland, which is working among the Jews 
 of Palestine. In 1884, the mission of this Church occupied 
 Tiberias, a town full of filth, yet held sacred by the Jews, 
 where Dr. Torrance still continues his labours with much 
 patience. Within the last few years he has built a new and 
 roomy mission hospital on a fine site overlooking the Sea of 
 Galilee. The society has also schools for Jews in Safed, 
 which are managed by the missionaries in Tiberias. A still 
 more important point has been gained by the occupation of 
 the fanatical town of Hebron. Here Dr. Patterson, a 
 medical missionary, is stationed, and holds his own in spite of 
 all opposition. He has established a dispensary, which is 
 much visited, and a temporary hospital with ten beds, which 
 it is hoped will soon be followed^y a larger and more suit- 
 able building. A few Mildmay deaconesses also worked for 
 a time among the Jews in Hebron, opening a dispensary. 
 Altogether there are only slightly more than one hundred 
 and fifty baptized Jews in the Holy Land ; these form, how- 
 ever, but a small portion of the Jews that have become 
 Protestants, for very many more have emigrated to escape 
 persecution. 
 
 Working among the Oriental Christian population there are 
 also a number of small societies, which cannot become really 
 effective on account of their isolation. We name such as are 
 known to us in geographical order. In Judea there is the 
 private work of the Anglican Bishop Blyth in Jerusalem, 
 
Syria and Palestine 257 
 
 where lie has built, outside the Damascus gate, a number of 
 houses with a highly ornamented church. There he himself 
 resides and maintains large boarding- and day-schools for boys 
 and girls, in which also higher education is imparted. His 
 teaching staff consists of seven Europeans and twelve natives. 
 Of course no proselytizing is permitted among the Greek 
 Orthodox children. The schools are very popular, particularly 
 because English is well taught in them. 
 
 Further, the English Order of St. John has an ophthalmic 
 hospital in Jerusalem. Agents of the American Christian 
 and Missionary Alliance have also been working there since 
 1894 ; at first there were some American lady missionaries, 
 an ordained missionary, the Kev. Mr. Thompson, coming 
 later. They have a small chapel in Jerusalem, in which 
 regular services are held, also schools in Jerusalem, Hebron, 
 Ain Karim and Jaffa. Eamallah, about ten miles from 
 Jerusalem, where the Church Missionary Society has a con- 
 siderable congregation and a well-manned out-station, is the 
 centre of the work of the American Friends (since 1876), who 
 have a boarding-school for boys and one for girls, and a small 
 congregation of about seventy soufs, as well as schools in the 
 neighbouring villages of Ain Arik, Jifna and et Tayyibeh. 
 
 In 1863, Miss Walker Arnott, of the so-called "Tabitha 
 Mission," founded a girls' school in Jaffa. The school build- 
 ing is a massive structun| and the school is attended by 185 
 girls. Evangelistic work is also carried on. 
 
 The Jaffa Medical Mission was begun in Jaffa in 1878 by 
 an English lady, Miss Morgan. A hospital was built in 
 1882. This work was continued by Miss l^ewton, chiefly at 
 her own cost. The hospital has fifty beds, an English doctor 
 being at the head of it. In Lydda, close by, there is a branch 
 dispensary. Miss Newton died in the autumn of 1908, leav- 
 ing the hospital and its equipment to the Church Missionary 
 Society, which now carries on the work there. 
 
 In the centre of the country, in fanatical Nablus, the Eng- 
 lish Baptists have gathered a congregation of 129 members 
 under a native preacher. In Haifa Bishop Blyth has a well- 
 
258 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 equipped station; there is a church, built by the Society for 
 the Propagation of the Gospel, with an English and an Arab 
 clergyman, a hospital with one doctor and twenty-two beds, 
 schools for boys and for girls, and a lady missionar}^, who 
 works especially among Jews. There does not seem to be 
 any native congregation. In Nazareth, the Armenian, Dr. 
 Yartan, began work under the Edinburgh Medical Missionary 
 Society in 1866. He and his wife cared for the sick, in 
 quarters that were very confined and quite unsuitable, being 
 simply rented native dwellings. He also travelled much 
 about the country with his case of medicines. He died on 
 the 3d of December, 1908. 
 
 The first attempt to build a hospital on European lines was 
 defeated by the machinations of the Turkish authorities, but 
 recently Dr. Scrimgeour, a Scottish medical missionary, went 
 to Nazareth, and a stately modern hospital has been erected. 
 The Board of Directors of the Syrian Protestant Orphanage 
 has built a branch orphanage on a good site on a hill outside 
 Nazareth (1908). 
 
 In addition to all this we read now and then, in mission 
 reports, of smaller undertakings, which are presumably of only 
 a transitory nature ; of a Jewish mission, " Ammiel," in Haifa, 
 which strives to gain Jews by accommodating itself as far as 
 possible to their customs ; of the efforts of the Sabbatists to 
 propagate their peculiar views by means of hydropathic 
 establishments ; and of various independent missionaries, both 
 men and women. 
 
 3. German Missionary Work in the Holy La/nd ^ 
 
 It was not only English friends that Bishop Gobat invited 
 to work in this hard, stony ground ; he also expected German 
 
 * " Geschichte der Dentsohen evangelisohen Kirche und Mission im Heiligen 
 Lande," Guetersloh, 1898. Pflanz, " Verlassen, nicht vergessen. Das Heilige 
 Land und die evangelische Liebesarbeit, " Neuruppen, 1903. Periodicals: the 
 Jerusalem Union, Neuste Nachrichten aus dem Morgenlande, Evangelische Blaetter 
 aus Bethlehem ; the Syrian Orphanage, BoU avs Zion ; the Kaiserawerth Deacon- 
 eases' Homea, Dank und Denkblaett^r^ 
 
Syria and Palestine 259 
 
 Protestants to help. It is a proof of the greatness of Gobat's 
 character that he liked to have others working at his side, 
 even though their methods did not always please him. And 
 in Germany, too, there was a joyful response to his invita- 
 tion, for evangelical Christians here also were strongly at- 
 tracted by the sacred memories attaching to the Holy Land. 
 
 (a) The Jerusalem Union. In 1844 and 1845 Dr. F. A. 
 Strauss, a young curate, who was afterwards to be an influen- 
 tial court chaplain, undertook a tour through the Holy Land, 
 and, on his return, while the impressions he had received were 
 still vivid, wrote his much-read " Sinai und Golgatha." After 
 that he was untiring in his endeavours to interest the Prussian 
 State Church in German Protestant missionary undertakings 
 in the Holy Land. On the 2d of December, 1853, the Jeru- 
 salem Union (Jerusalems-Verein) was founded for the purpose 
 of supporting Protestant institutions and German congrega- 
 tions in the ITear East. This Union grew slowly ; even after 
 five years its income did not exceed £200. But after the 
 number of German travellers to the East had increased, and 
 particularly after the German Emperor's visit in 1898, the 
 Union took a new lease of life and has now an income of 
 £7,000 at its disposal. Bishop Gobat liked to make use of 
 this Union for the carrying out of his plans, and, in 1860, 
 handed over to its care the congregation at Bethlehem, into 
 which he had gathered converted Greeks. When, in 1887 and 
 1888, Pastor Ludwig Schneller, a son of the founder of the 
 Syrian Orphanage, known far and wide in Germany by his 
 interesting books on Bible lands, became the minister of this 
 Bethlehem congregation, he set about collecting £1,500 in 
 Germany for the building of a church in the town of the na- 
 tivity. With this money in hand he began, in 1887, to build 
 an exceedingly attractive church, which he called the " Christ- 
 mas Church." As was usual, especially in the case of new 
 churches, the Turkish authorities caused needless delay, so 
 that the church could not be consecrated before the 6th of 
 November, 1893, and even then only because the German Em- 
 press had personally urged the Sultan to issue the necessary 
 
26o History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 firman. The Protestant congregation in Bethlehem now num- 
 bers one hundred and fifty baptized members. In 1879 a 
 second Protestant Arab congregation was formed in the large 
 and almost entirely Christian village of Beit Jala, close to 
 Bethlehem, which has also, in the[main, had a pleasing growth, 
 and now numbers one hundred and forty baptized members. 
 In 1884 the Union endeavoured to extend its work to the 
 fanatical town of Hebron, where there is a small, but influen- 
 tial congregation of Greek Christians. Here the Union met 
 with fierce opposition, and has only a very limited work, car- 
 ried on by a native catechist. When, in 1895 and 1896, the 
 Armenians were suffering the fearful massacres, the Union was 
 ready to reach a helping hand, and established in 1898, near 
 Bethlehem, an " Armenian Orphanage," into which they re- 
 ceived fifty of the unfortunate children. The house was 
 solidly built, since it was to be'permanently used as a training- 
 school, in which boys belonging to Oriental and Protestant 
 Churches might receive a free education of a simple but 
 thorough character. Inasmuch as the Turkish government 
 subsequently prohibited the introduction of Armenian children 
 into Palestine, it is chiefly children of natives of Palestine and 
 Syria who are received into this institution. In 1899 twenty- 
 four families living in Beit Sahur, near the so-called " Shep- 
 herds' field," left the Greek for the Protestant Church, and 
 were taken under the spiritual care of the Jerusalem Union. 
 Here a building for a boys* and a girls' school, with quarters for 
 the teachers, is being erected. As so often happens in the 
 !N"ear East, the converts, feeling themselves disappointed in 
 their unreasonable expectations, first quarrelled, and then for 
 the most part fell away. 
 
 Encouraged thereto by Bishop Scheele, Swedish friends of 
 the Holy Land sent a doctor to Bethlehem in 1904, who soon 
 had many applications from sick people of all confessions, so 
 that there is prospect of a hospital's being built. 
 
 Thus, amid many difficulties and disappointments, the work 
 of the Jerusalem Union in and around Bethlehem has grown. 
 At present there are about three hundred and forty Arab 
 
Syria and Palestine 261 
 
 Protestants under its care. But the last few years have been 
 particularly full of difficulties. On the 23d of July, 1903, the 
 able leader of the work. Pastor Immanuel Bottcher, was 
 drowned while on a tour in Moab. It was only after a long 
 interval that a successor could be sent out. 
 
 Meanwhile violent dissensions broke out in the small con- 
 gregation. This was partly the result of bitter feuds between 
 influential families, but to a greater extent it was caused by 
 the dissatisfaction of the members, most of whom were poor, 
 with the behaviour of the mission board at home, from which 
 they thought they did not receive sufficient support. It is a 
 fact that Christians of all confessions in Palestine have been 
 spoiled by the competition among foreign governments and 
 Churches in the effort to win them, so that all benefits 
 bestowed are accepted as a matter of course. And, if one 
 congregation is thought to be treated more generously, the 
 others at once become jealous. 
 
 The Jerusalem Union has another work, in addition to this 
 trying labour among the Protestant Arab congregations. 
 Several families of templars in Jaffa and Haifa, desiring to 
 return to the Prussian State Church, have sought to enter 
 into connection with it through the agency of the Union. 
 German immigrants arrived, also, who required to be cared 
 for spiritually. So it came about that a German Protestant 
 congregation was established in Haifa in 1882, and a similar 
 congregation in Jaffa in 1892. Since then each has been 
 placed on an independent footing, having its own minister, 
 church, school, teachers and deaconesses. The congregation 
 in Haifa numbers 178, and that in Jaffa 121 German mem- 
 bers. 
 
 (h) The Syrian Orphanage. In Basle Bishop Gobat had 
 formed a friendship with Father Spittler, the founder of the 
 St. Chrischona Mission near that city. One of Spittler's 
 favourite projects was the establishment of a brotherhood in 
 Jerusalem, " in the way the Moravians are accustomed to be- 
 gin their missions, in order that the poorer people there may 
 have a living example of how Christians live with one 
 
262 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 another, praying and working, showing love to their neigh- 
 bours and seeking to help them in word and deed." His 
 agents were to live as workmen, not as missionaries, and to 
 earn their bread by the work of their own hands. This 
 brotherhood was established in Jerusalem in 1846. Later it 
 was brought into connection with the grand plan of the 
 " apostles' road " to Abyssinia. For this road Jerusalem 
 was to be the point of departure. This plan was never fully 
 carried into execution (cf. Chap. VI, B, 2) ; in fact, after 
 Spittler's death in 186Y, it was altogether abandoned. Yet 
 the brotherhood has been the means of bringing many able 
 men to Palestine. Among the first missionaries whom Spittler 
 sent in 1846, was Palmer, who later became principal of 
 Bishop Gobat's Diocesan School in Jerusalem, where he re- 
 mained until 1889. Then there was Baurat Schick, well 
 known to all visitors in Jerusalem as an archaeologist ; he died 
 in December, 1901. And, in 1854, Father Ludwig Schneller 
 was sent to Jerusalem. Ludwig Schneller ^ was born on the 
 15th of January, 1820, in Erpfingen, situated in the Swabian 
 Alb in the neighbourhood of the celebrated castle of Lichten- 
 stein. His parents were poor peasants. They had no 
 thought of his becoming anything but a peasant like them- 
 selves, and they therefore set him to work at an early age in 
 field and stable. But in this peasant family there lived 
 the memory of grandparents who, in 1734, had, with other 
 Salzburg emigrants, left their home in the Salzach valley, 
 facing poverty for conscience' sake. The memory awakened 
 in the heart of the boy a desire to help in the spreading of 
 the evangelical faith, instead of devoting his life to the stony 
 ground of the Swabian Alb. But how to set about it? His 
 parents could not afford to send him to the higher schools. 
 Yet even at that age he showed the persistency of purpose 
 which characterized him in later years. He spent every 
 available moment with his books. The village minister, 
 recognizing the ability of the lad, gave him private lessons in 
 
 ^Schneller, " Vater Schneller, ein Patriaxoh der evangelisohen Mission im 
 Heiligen Laude," Leipsio, 1898. 
 
Syria and Palestine 263 
 
 Latin, Scripture and history, the school-teacher helping also 
 in other branches of learning. 
 
 At an early age he went in for the WUrttemberg teachers' 
 examination, which he passed with distinction. In his 
 twenty-seventh year he was called by Spittler to be the head 
 teacher and manager of the St. Chrischona Mission House. 
 
 In 1854, Father Spittler appointed him to superintend the 
 brotherhood in Jerusalem. The missionaries who were to be 
 sent to Abyssinia from St. Chrischona, were first to take a 
 practical course in Jerusalem, under Schneller's supervision. 
 
 On the abandonment of the " apostles' road," Schneller 
 felt impelled to begin work among the native Arab popula- 
 tion of Palestine. There was plenty of work waiting for 
 him. Within the walls of Jerusalem was the Church Mission- 
 ary Society Mission, but outside the gates of the city, in the 
 heights and in the valleys of the mountains of Judea, the 
 great mass of the native population lived, and it had not been 
 reached. It was to them that Schneller decided to go. So 
 he bought a high-lying plot of ground about half an hour's 
 walk to the northwest of the city, intending to settle there. 
 The carrying out of his plan demanded all the courage of his 
 faith. He and his wife lived at that time much as the 
 Beduins of the desert live. Where to-day one sees the wide 
 and pleasant gardens of the Syrian Orphanage, there was at 
 that time nothing but a dreary wilderness of rock. Here 
 they lived in miserable sheds made of the boughs of trees, 
 dwellings that a gust of wind could easily overturn, their 
 next-door neighbours being foxes and hares, jackals and 
 hyenas, which often mingled their howling with the hymns 
 the Schnellers were singing. In addition to their house, they 
 had a "dining-room" and a "kitchen," both likewise huts. 
 At last, before the rainy season set in with its hurricane 
 winds and heavy downpours, a few rooms were got ready for 
 habitation in a solidly-built house. Soon, however, the 
 Schnellers were to be unexpectedly reminded that they were 
 exposed to the attacks of predatory neighbours. As Schneller 
 was returning home from the city in company with one of 
 
264 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the missionaries, his companion and he himself were beaten 
 and robbed, being even stripped of their clothing. 
 
 But in the following spring he calmly went on building 
 his house, finishing it that year. On the night in which he 
 entered his new home, he was attacked by robbers. The 
 windows were smashed in, the doors broken with stones, and 
 seven robbers armed with swords and guns burst into his 
 room. Schneller was bidden, with a sword at his breast, to 
 hold a light till they had taken all the clothes and articles of 
 furniture. Finding little money, they struck him several 
 times on the back with a sword, in order to terrorize him 
 into giving them more money, which the poor man did not 
 possess. Schneller lay there bleeding, and the robbers left at 
 last, taking with them plunder amounting to some 9,000 pias- 
 tres in value. Fortunately one of the robbers could be recog- 
 nized, and he was sentenced to pay compensation. Hardly 
 half a year later, in the night preceding the day on which the 
 sum was to be paid, the robbers came again, this time con- 
 templating murder. Schneller was compelled to shoot at 
 them, for he had a wife and child to defend. His shooting 
 had the desired effect. Surprised, and also slightly wounded, 
 the robbers left the house. Those were dark days. The 
 Schnellers had to leave the house they had entered in such 
 courageous spirit, and take refuge within the walls of the city. 
 
 Ludwig Schneller's plans took a new and decisive turn when 
 thousands of widows and orphans were made by the Syrian 
 massacres of 1860. When, at that time, a cry of pity was 
 sounding throughout Christian Europe, Schneller hurried into 
 Syria, and, collecting Maronite orphans, took them to Jeru- 
 salem, founding there the Syrian Orphanage outside the city. 
 Such was the unpretentious origin of what, through the inde- 
 fatigability and pedagogic skill of its founder, was to become 
 in a few decades the most important Protestant institution in 
 the Holy Land. It grew only slowly, yet surely, like a tough- 
 timbered tree in stony soil. It would fatigue the reader to 
 be told in detail of the addition of house after house, and of 
 department after department. Suffice it to say that Father 
 
Syria and Palestine 265 
 
 Schneller himself conducted the institution in patriarchal 
 fashion until his death on the 18th of October, 1896, and that 
 the work has since been continued by his son, the Kev. Theo- 
 dor Schneller, in the same spirit. Those first Maronite or- 
 phans left the orphanage of course, in about ten years, making 
 room for a greater and greater number of poor boys from 
 Palestine, Syria and neighbouring countries. To-day, count- 
 ing teachers and overseers, the orphanage harbours more than 
 five hundred people, thus forming a respectable settlement by 
 itself. 
 
 Ludwig Schneller's main object was to give the children, 
 most of whom were bitterly poor and destitute, a solid educa- 
 tion, calculated to fit them for gaining a living. Accordingly, 
 in addition to the ordinary subjects, he gave them a practical 
 technical training in all manner of handicrafts, the teaching 
 being done by skilled artificers from Germany ; he thus opened 
 workshops for tailoring, boot-making, carpentry and turning, 
 particularly in olive wood, as well as a smithy. His printing 
 establishment is still the best in Palestine, and he began a 
 large pottery and brick business. As a rule, each pupil must 
 learn some trade in addition to his ordinary school tasks, and 
 is properly apprenticed to a master, after his confirmation. 
 Since not all the boys were inclined to master a trade, or 
 adapted to such work, and since agriculture is the chief occu- 
 pation of the Arab population, Schneller rented from the 
 Turkish government in 1890, seven hundred acres of barren 
 land, which was cultivated with great diligence to fit it for 
 the planting of orange trees. As soon as permission was 
 granted by the Turkish authorities, this estate was bought 
 (October 15, 1906), and on it a colony of thirty of the orphans 
 was settled. There is a great demand for able teachers and 
 preachers in all of the Protestant missions of the Near East. 
 Schneller was in the fortunate position of being able to choose 
 from amongst the large number of his orphan boys those who 
 were most talented and suitable for such service, and for these 
 he founded a seminary for the training of teachers and preach- 
 ers. A large bequest of the late Count Muennich, of Saxony, 
 
266 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 provided the means for founding and maintaining an asylum 
 for twenty blind boys, and as many girls. Here the children 
 are, as in Europe, taught basket- and chair-making, brush- 
 binding and other occupations. But all the raw material has 
 to be got from Germany, as none of it is produced in Pales- 
 tine. The disposal of the work turned out is also a difficult 
 matter. Later, girls were also admitted to the benefits of the 
 orphanage, yet there are only thirty-two girls to two hundred 
 boys. In order to fit the girls for an occupation after they 
 leave the school, a needlework room and a steam laundry 
 were opened. 
 
 Eesembling a wide-branching tree in the variety of its 
 occupations, the Syrian Orphanage is a splendid training- 
 institution for the Arab youth in Palestine. Yet the problem 
 was not yet solved, what the object of such training should 
 be. Would it be sufficient to instruct the children in the 
 truths of the Gospel by means of the daily Bible classes, morn- 
 ing and evening prayers and Sunday services, and then urge 
 them, after their six or ten years' stay in the orphanage, to 
 return to their original Churches ? For some decades this 
 plan was tried, but it was the general experience that the 
 evangelical impressions made on the hearts of the children 
 were soon erased, old habits and surroundings proving too 
 strong. Nor could this danger be guarded against by means 
 of visits made by the leaders of the institution, or by exten- 
 sive correspondence, whereby an attempt was made to main- 
 tain a connection with former pupils. It was like the task of 
 Sisyphus ; labour was lost in one generation after the other. 
 A change of plan was therefore made ; the object henceforth 
 should be " to work towards the formation of a national Prot- 
 estant Church for the Arabs," and to this end the pupils must 
 be led to separate themselves definitely from their original 
 Churches, and to join the Protestant congregation. Yet in 
 Palestine there were great difficulties in the way of founding 
 vigorous Protestant congregations. Though a great majority 
 of the pupils had learned handicrafts, there was very little 
 prospect of their being able to earn a secure livelihood in 
 
Syria and Palestine 267 
 
 Palestine, owing to the undeveloped state of the country, and 
 the consequent lack of demand for such work. Only two 
 ways out of this difl&culty seemed to be open. Either upon 
 leaving the school they must emigrate to Egypt, East Africa, 
 Europe, or America, as so many Oriental Christians were 
 doing, thus becoming scattered over the whole world and lost 
 to their own country, or they must be provided with work in 
 connection with the Syrian Orphanage. Now Father Schneller 
 had, from the very beginning, methodically bought up all 
 the ground about the orphanage that he could lay hands on, 
 thus quietly acquiring for the orphanage a considerable prop- 
 erty which was fairly compact, and was steadily rising in 
 value. Upon this estate, then, pupils leaving the orphanage 
 were settled, forming a Protestant community, which, in the 
 course of years, numbered one hundred and forty souls. Some 
 of the pupils also settled in Jerusalem, and, with a view to 
 caring for their children, and at the same time to gaining a 
 footing amongst the inhabitants of the city, a school of three 
 classes was begun there, combined with a kindergarten ; both 
 of these are very well attended. 
 
 After Schneller's death an Evangelical Union on behalf of 
 the Syrian Orphanage was formed, in 1896, in Germany, with 
 its headquarters in Cologne, whence the extensive institutional 
 scheme was directed. The Syrian Orphanage has a yearly 
 budget of nearly £9,000, of which £7,500 are collected from 
 individuals, chiefly as Christmas gifts. 
 
 (c) The Kaiserswerth Deaconesses^ Homes. Previous to both 
 the Jerusalem Union and the Syrian Orphanage, the Kaisers- 
 werth Deaconesses' Homes were at work in Palestine. In 1851 
 Pastor Theodor Fliedner, the founder of this organization, ac- 
 cepted the cordial invitation of Bishop Gobat to come to Jerusa- 
 lem, and, with four of his deaconesses, took possession of a simple 
 house on Mount Zion, belonging to the Prussian crown. From 
 this modest beginning there has grown the extensive work of 
 the German deaconesses with its two main branches. At first 
 the deaconesses devoted themselves to the education of the 
 women, whom they found to be in a very neglected condition. 
 
268 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 This was pioneer work, for, until that time, schools for girls 
 were unknown in Palestine. They founded a boarding- 
 school for girls, which they subsequently removed to a goodly 
 building called " Talitha Cumi," situated on the Heights of 
 Godfrey. One hundred and ten girls are here instructed in 
 the Protestant faith and the usual branches, learning also 
 plain needlework. At first Muhammadan girls were gladly 
 received, but the jealous Turkish authorities sternly pro- 
 hibited this. The work is therefore, of necessity, confined 
 to training the daughters of Protestants and Oriental Chris- 
 tians. If it is difficult for the Syrian Orphanage to induce 
 its boys to join the Protestant Church, it is, of course, a 
 still more difficult task with the girls, especially since, accord- 
 ing to oriental customs, girls are married (or sold) to men 
 chosen by their fathers. Nevertheless in the last few years 
 it has more frequently happened that girls have been permitted 
 by their relatives to join the Protestant Church. Some of 
 these are doing good work as deaconesses or teachers in the 
 girls' schools. More than a thousand girls have, in the last 
 fifty years, enjoyed the blessing of a free Protestant education 
 in Talitha Cumi. 
 
 The Syrian Orphanage, the Talitha Cumi Institution and 
 the Armenian Orphanage near Bethlehem are the three most 
 important German educational institutions in Palestine ; all 
 three are boarding-schools, and charge no fees. They con- 
 tribute richly to the well-being of the younger generation in 
 Palestine. Altogether, four hundred native boys and girls re- 
 ceive a Protestant education in these schools. It is character- 
 istic and appropriate that Germany, the land of schools, should, 
 in her missionary work, do so much in the way of giving 
 children a methodical training. It is true that, as boarding- 
 schools, these institutions are subject to a limitation of their 
 usefulness. Their quiet and patient work resembles the lay- 
 ing of the hidden foundation of a bridge, on which the Gospel 
 may hold a triumphal entry into the land whence it sprang. 
 
 The second method of service which the deaconesses at 
 once adopted, was that of nursing. In their first small house 
 
Syria and Palestine 269 
 
 they arranged two sick-rooms, one for men and the other for 
 women. Soon after, they built a separate sanatorium on 
 Mount Zion. Here, in the midst of the turmoil and filth of 
 the oriental city, they built a hospital with one hundred beds. 
 Patients of all religions and tongues were admitted, 600 in- 
 patients and over 7,000 out-patients being annually treated. 
 But the unhealthful situation in the midst of the city proved 
 to be unsuitable for a hospital. It was therefore decided to 
 remove to the open and airy Heights of Godfrey to the north- 
 west of the city, where a larger building was erected. A 
 great number of Muhammadan patients are received. 
 
 Two other German institutions may be mentioned, which 
 are, as it were, allies of the Kaiserswerth hospital in the care 
 of the sick. When, in 1872, the Grand-Duke of Mecklenburg- 
 Schwerin was staying in Jerusalem, he undertook to pay the 
 cost of ^ve free beds in Dr. Sandrezky's hospital for children, 
 and permitted the institution to be called the " Marienstift " 
 after the name of his wife. Dr. Sandrezky conducted the hos- 
 pital until his death in 1899, enlarging it considerably. An- 
 nual subscriptions were sent to it from the court of the Grand- 
 Duchy of Mecklenburg. It was not found practicable to form 
 a managing committee in Germany, nor was it possible to 
 erect a new building fulfilling all the modern requirements of 
 such an institution. It has therefore been united with the 
 Kaiserswerth hospital. 
 
 When the Pomeranian Baron von Keffenbrink-Ascheraden 
 went to Palestine with his wife in 1865, he was greatly 
 moved by the misery of the four hundred lepers, most of 
 whom were beggars in the neighbourhood of the larger towns. 
 He succeeded, in 1867, in opening a home for them outside the 
 Jaffa gate, which he called " Jesushilfe." In 1881 it passed 
 into the possession of the Moravian Church, under the man- 
 agement of which it had been from the very beginning. In 
 1885 it was removed to a large vineyard farther away from 
 the city. This work demands great self-denial ; in addition to 
 the fact that the nursing of the lepers is very trying, and that 
 there is always danger of the nurses' being infected with the 
 
270 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 disease, there is the bad behaviour of these mendicants to be 
 reckoned with, as well as their ingratitude. Nor does the 
 Turkish government lend any adequate assistance in the mat- 
 ter of confining lepers in asylums in order to prevent the 
 spread of the disease, and it is so jealous that it does not per- 
 mit Muhammadan inmates to attend the Christian services. 
 At present there are fifty patients in the institution, thirty- 
 seven of whom are Muhammadans. German medical mission- 
 ary work, then, includes various charitable undertakings. 
 Such undertakings are to be regarded as real missionary work 
 in Palestine, just as in other mission fields. They are quietly 
 pulling down the walls of prejudice and animosity, which, 
 erected by Oriental Christians and Muhammadans alike, ob- 
 struct the progress of Protestant missions. 
 
 Ten years ago the Kaiserswerth deaconesses were led to de- 
 vote themselves more and more to visiting from house to 
 house among the Protestant communities. They were wel- 
 comed both in Arab and German congregations, for they cared 
 for the sick and the poor, organized the young men and young 
 women into Christian societies, established kindergartens, and 
 taught in girls* schools. Deaconesses are thus employed in Jeru- 
 salem, Bethlehem, Jaffa and Haifa. In their modest way they 
 are helping to make the Protestant congregations under Ger- 
 man care a light to this country, so torn asunder by religious 
 differences. There are, altogether, in these congregations about 
 2,Y00 Protestants, 690 of whom are Arabs, 1,330 templars and 
 460 members of the German State Church. They form the 
 larger share of all the Protestants in Palestine, for in the 
 English and American congregations there are hardly more 
 than 2,600 native and foreign members. 
 
 Just at present, under the special patronage of the German 
 Emperor and Empress, an institution is being established on 
 the northern slopes of the Mount of Olives, known as the 
 " Kaiserin Auguste Victoria Stiftung." The large cluster of 
 houses being built there, at a cost of £100,000, is to be dedi- 
 cated in the spring of 1910, and is to be a centre for all Ger- 
 man charitable work in Palestine. 
 
Syria and Palestine 271 
 
 4'* Protestant Outposts in Arabia 
 (a) The " Cradle of Islam^ Arabia is five times the size 
 of the German Empire, but has only 5,000,000 inhabitants. 
 From ancient times there have been centres of culture on its 
 borders, as Sheba in the far southwest, and Petra in the north, 
 on the borders of the Roman Empire ; and the Sinaitic Penin- 
 sula was, in former centuries, a religious centre both for Bed- 
 uins and for Christian monks. Yet the country, with its 
 gifted Arab population, lay in comparative darkness till Mu- 
 hammad came to raise the Arabs to historical importance. 
 History tells of two other nations which, in the fresh vigour 
 of their youth, were awakened out of sleep by magical per- 
 sonal influences, to become splendid conquerors and to found 
 great empires ; the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, 
 and the Mongols under Genghis Khan. Which of these three 
 nations has had the greatest influence on the history of the 
 world v^ould be hard to say. It was a disadvantage to the 
 Arabs that Muhammad died just when his conquests began to 
 extend beyond the deserts of Arabia. And yet the religious 
 and national impulses given by him were so strong that, 
 within a century, half the known world was in the power, and 
 bore the stamp of Islam. The Near East and ITorthern Africa 
 as far as the Sahara have borne that impress for a thousand 
 years. The Arabic language has had the wonderful effect, 
 not only of ousting Semitic languages related to it, but of 
 well-nigh absorbing a number of ancient, entirely unrelated 
 languages, such as Egyptian and Berber, making the un- 
 known, though beautiful dialect of the desert Beduins the 
 lingua franca for 200,000,000 Moslems, and the language of 
 the religion and theology of Islam. Let us compare Islam 
 with Christianity and Judaism, the other two great religions 
 which originated among the Semites. Christianity, too, 
 worked wonders, bringing the mighty Roman Empire and 
 almost the whole of the then known world under the in- 
 fluences of the Cross. Yet Islam in a single century robbed 
 Christianity of half of her dominion, and established itself there 
 so firmly that the Christian Churches and the powers of 
 
272 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Europe have been able to win back only here and there a little 
 territory on the border of Islam. Judaism was, from the be- 
 ginning, confined as a national religion to the tiny nation of 
 Israel. Only for a little while did it develop a great propa- 
 ganda, which did not belong to its nature, and the impulse to 
 which vanished forever with the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 Islam, too, made its appearance as the national religion of the 
 Arabs. Allah speaks Arabic in heaven, and the Koran may 
 be written and read only in Arabic. The cry of the muezzin 
 and the five daily prayers are uttered in Arabic throughout 
 the Muhammadan world. Instruction in the theology of 
 Islam also may be given only in that tongue. Mecca and 
 Medina are the religious capitals. Yet Islam, in spite of this 
 national character, developed a gigantic propaganda, and has 
 bound non-Arab peoples to itself so fast that they resist the 
 entrance of every other religion with tenacious fanaticism. 
 
 But, while the Arab people and the Arab religion were go- 
 ing conquering over the world, Arabia itself, the " Cradle of 
 Islam," was sinking back into a condition of historical insig- 
 nificance. After the Omayyads had, in 661, only thirty years 
 after Muhammad's death, removed the capital to Damascus, 
 Arabia ceased to play any part in Islam and its conquests? 
 though it retained the place of honour as the guardian of the 
 Kaaba and of Muhammad's tomb. At the present day the 
 political condition of Arabia is pitiably primitive. Only the 
 western coast and part of the eastern are subject to the Sultan, 
 who is forced to assert his power over the holy cities, Mecca 
 and Medina, since his prestige as khalif depends upon his do- 
 ing so. This explains why the Hejaz Kailway from Damascus 
 to Mecca was pushed in such feverish haste, in order to bring 
 the holy cities into close connection with Constantinople. In 
 Yemen, the ancient Sheba in the southwest, and in the dis- 
 trict of El Hasa on the Persian Gulf, the Turkish power is 
 very weak. With difficulty it has at length asserted itself in 
 Yemen against the rebellion which lasted from 1903 to 1905. 
 The rest of Arabia, the interior, the South and the East, do 
 not even nominally submit to the government of Turkey. In 
 
Syria and Palestine 273 
 
 the interior, Muhammad Ibn el Wahhab (died 1Y8Y) and 
 Prince Sand established the Wahhab Empire in the eighteenth 
 century. In the southeast the imams have founded the King- 
 dom of Oman, with Maskat as its capital. On the southern 
 coast of Hadramaut there are several little sultanates. The 
 Beduins are still as impatient as ever of any strict political 
 government, and many are said to be heathens, or at least 
 only nominal Muhammadans. 
 
 (5) Aden^ the southwestern gate of Arabia. When the call 
 came to Protestants to take the Gospel to Muhammadans, 
 Arabia first attracted attention. General Haig of the 
 Church Missionary Society strongly advocated the beginning 
 of work in Aden. He wrote in 1882 in the Intelligencer^ the 
 organ of the society, a significant article on Aden as the Gate 
 of Arabia, laying extensive plans before the society for a mis- 
 sion in Southern Arabia and Somaliland. He himself went 
 to make enquiries in those lands (1886). The Church Mis- 
 sionary Society adopted his plans, stationing the medical mis- 
 sionary. Dr. Harpur, who had been in Egypt, temporarily in 
 Aden and Hodaida. But, in the meantime, at the request of 
 Haig, a talented Scotsman, the Hon. Dr. Ion Keith Fal- 
 coner, a son of the Earl of Kintore, and professor of Arabic 
 in Cambridge, had settled in Aden, and had begun mission 
 work in the desert village of Sheilch Othman^ in a grove of 
 date-palms, the only one in the neighbourhood. Unfortu- 
 nately he soon fell a victim to malaria, dying on the 11th of 
 May, 1887. At once his mother and his widow each offered 
 £300 a year for the continuance of the work, and the Free 
 Church of Scotland, to which he had belonged, adopted Aden 
 as a main station, while the Church Missionary Society very 
 tactfully retired from the neighbourhood. The work in 
 Sheikh Othman proved to be very arduous. The missionaries 
 were, to be sure, protected, since the district belonged to Eng- 
 land, and the place lay on the great caravan route between 
 Aden and Yemen, one of the most important and frequented 
 roads in the peninsula ; on some days more than a thousand 
 camels would pass the mission station, affording a splendid 
 
274 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 opportunity for sending Christian literature into the interior 
 of Arabia. But the Arabs proved to be unapproachable. It 
 was only an episode that during a few years some hundreds 
 of liberated galley slaves lived in the settlement, for soon they 
 were passed on to Lovedale in South Africa to be educated. 
 The work of the mission centred in the medical activity. Dr. 
 Young and Dr. Morris treated thousands in the hospital and 
 the dispensary, especially in times of cholera, plague and other 
 pestilences. Conversions were few, and were mostly among 
 such as had been for some time in the service of the mission. 
 The missionaries now and then had the joy of baptizing some 
 converted native of India, who, not venturing to join the 
 Christian Church at home, now fled thither to do so. The 
 missionaries also attended to the spiritual needs of the gar- 
 rison in the furnace-like fort of Aden, and of the hundreds of 
 sailors of English vessels calling at Steamer Point in Aden 
 harbour. It is now the intention to establish a second station 
 at Dhala, about eighty miles inland, on the border of the 
 British territory, where attempts have already been made to 
 make a beginning. In Makalla, on the Hadramaut coast, 
 Hoyer, a Dane, attempted to establish a Danish mission. But, 
 being driven away by the local sultan, he very sensibly joined 
 the Scots at Sheikh Othman. He there undertook the school 
 work, in which he has been assisted by lady missionaries from 
 Denmark. 
 
 (c) The East Coast of Arabia. Rising precipitously out of 
 the sea on the eastern coast of Arabia, there is a rocky range 
 of mountains forming a large peninsula, bounded inland by 
 vast deserts. This is the Kingdom of Oman, at the head of 
 which stands the imam or sultan of Maskat, a rock -girt town 
 which, like the port-town Muttra, of equal size, and about two 
 miles distant, lies in the narrow, desolate, burning coast-plain. 
 The Persian traveller, Abdar Rezah, who was there in 1842, 
 writes : " The heat was so intense that it^burned the marrow 
 in the bones; the sword in its scabbard melted like wax, and 
 the gems which adorned the handle of the dagger were reduced 
 to coal. In the plains the chase became a matter of perfect 
 
Syria and Palestine 275 
 
 ease, for the desert was filled with roasted gazelles." Inland 
 the land rises abruptly to a height of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet, 
 where there are green fields and a population of about 
 1,000,000. Maskat dates are celebrated. Unfortunately the 
 interior is rendered unsafe by reason of inter- tribal disputes, 
 which often put a stop to trade and travel for months at a 
 time. The Arabs of Oman are an enterprising people. It is 
 they who have chiefly colonized the east coast of Africa, and 
 the sultanate of Zanzibar was, far into the nineteenth century, 
 a dependency of their imamate. The connection of Oman 
 with East Africa was what led to the sending of the first 
 missionaries to Maskat. Alexander Mackay, the pioneer mis- 
 sionary in Uganda, repeatedly insisted on the necessity of 
 energetically counteracting the increasing Arab and Moslem 
 influence at its source, Maskat. The Arabs in Africa would 
 be deeply impressed by the establishment of a strong mission 
 in their homeland. This call found an echo in the heart of a 
 veteran missionary in India, Bishop Yalpy French of Lahore.^ 
 For forty years he had stood in the forefront of the battle in 
 Northern India, having founded the St. John's College in 
 Agra, one of the best Indian mission colleges ; and, later on, a 
 divinity school in Lahore. He served for ten years as the first 
 bishop of Lahore. The infirmities of increasing age and dif- 
 ferences with the Church Missionary Society induced him to 
 resign his office. But the veteran did not think of laying down 
 his arms. He had come into such close contact with the 
 Muhammadans in the Panjab, that he had a burning desire to 
 engage in mission work in the native land of Islam. Mackay's 
 appeal pointed out the way ; he could begin in Maskat. To 
 his grief the Church Missionary Society would not entertain 
 his proposal, but, not to be balked, he went as an independent 
 missionary. Although in his sixty-seventh year, he set out for 
 Maskat in February, 1891, ill supplied with the comforts suited 
 to his years. Arabic he knew fairly well, and he diligently 
 studied the theological literature of Islam. His calmness and 
 dialectic ability fitted him to be a preacher to the easily excited 
 
 * Herbert Birks, " Life of.T. Valpy French, Bishop of Lahore," 2 vols. 
 
276 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Moslems. He was, however, unable to bear the heat of Maskat 
 after the hardships of a laborious life of forty years in the 
 tropics. He died of exhaustion on the 14th of May, 1891. 
 His example had a powerful effect on his old friend, Bishop 
 Stuart, of Waiapu in ITew Zealand, who also gave up his 
 bishopric in his old age in order to become a missionary among 
 the Moslems of Persia. The interest in missions among Mu- 
 hammadans, which agitated the Protestant world in the 
 eighties, was also felt in the theological college of the Dutch 
 Keformed Church at ITew Brunswick, New Jersey, in the 
 United States. The professor of Arabic, J. G. Lansing, a son 
 of the veteran of the American Mission in Egypt, agreed with 
 three of his students to start a Protestant mission in Arabia. 
 Since their Church did not encourage them in this effort, they 
 went as independent missionaries. An opportune legacy of 
 £500 furnished them with means sufficient to cover equipment 
 and initial expenses. In 1889 James Cantine and S. M. 
 Zwemer set out for Aden by way of Syria and Egypt, and, 
 after becoming somewhat acquainted with the land and peo- 
 ple, they founded, between the years 1891 and 1893, three 
 main stations, Basra in 1891, Bahrein in 1892, and Maskat in 
 1893. In 1894 this mission was transferred to the Dutch Re- 
 formed Church of the United States. It has not been extended 
 beyond these three stations. The Bahrein Islands are a small 
 group off the centre of the west coast of the Persian Gulf. 
 Since 1867 they have been under the protection of England. 
 They are celebrated for their great fisheries, which yield an- 
 nually pearls of the value of £300,000. Menama is the chief 
 town, and is the mission station. On the mainland, opposite 
 the islands, is the long sandy province of El Hasa, where many 
 preaching tours are made. The station at Basra is unfor- 
 tunately under the wretched Turkish control, which opposes all 
 mission work. Colporteurs are allowed only in districts where 
 Jews and Christians are in the majority. 'No school may be 
 opened, and no church built, unless there are at least twelve 
 Protestant families in the place. Muhammadans who venture 
 to come into touch with the Protestants are placed under 
 
Syria and Palestine 277 
 
 police supervision, and, if they too frequently enter the mis- 
 sion house, they are forbidden to continue these visits. If 
 they still show signs of inclining to Protestantism, they dis- 
 appear, one perhaps to be a soldier far away in Asia Minor, 
 another never to be heard of again. Since the public preach- 
 ing of the Gospel is forbidden and there are, as yet, no native 
 congregations to unite in public worship, the missionary 
 activity is limited to three kinds of preparatory work. 
 
 (1) Journeys are undertaken from all three stations by the 
 missionaries, and even more by their colporteurs and other as- 
 sistants, far into the interior ; from Basra, by river boats 
 through the delta of the Shatt el Arab, and from Maskat on 
 camel back. On these journeys they usually meet with a 
 hearty welcome and gain some foothold. In this way three 
 out-stations have been formed ; Nasarieh and Amara in the 
 Shatt el Arab, and Kuweit, the projected terminus of the 
 Bagdad railway. In the mission stations, as on all these jour- 
 neys, a diligent work of colportage is carried on. Several 
 bookstores are kept in connection with this branch of the work. 
 
 (2) Medical mission work is perhaps equally important, carried 
 on as it is at all the stations. In Maskat, however, there is 
 thus far only the missionary's wife to attend to the dispensary 
 work. In Basra the building of a hospital is prevented by 
 Turkish jealousy, and unsuitable native houses have to be used 
 instead. There is, however, a fully equipped hospital in the 
 Bahrein Islands, the Mason Memorial Hospital, with two 
 physicians and a nurse. Altogether 31,000 patients are treated 
 in the course of a year. (3) Work among women, and schools, 
 are still in their initial stage, both being much hampered by the 
 stupidity and fanaticism of the Moslems. In Basra only a small 
 school can be held in a private house. In Maskat it was hoped 
 that eighteen negro slaves who had been liberated by the Eng- 
 lish, and entrusted to the care of the mission, might have 
 formed the nucleus of a school. No native Arab children, 
 however, came to it, and the slaves showed no inclination to 
 learn. So the school had to be given up. But a second at- 
 tempt was made in Maskat in 1905. It is only in British 
 
278 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Bahrein that there is a regular boys' and girls' school. Four 
 lady missionaries, in addition to the missionaries' wives, visit in 
 the harems, such visits being rendered more than ordinarily 
 arduous by the oppressive heat in the stuffy houses. They 
 complain much of the obtuseness they meet with, but rejoice 
 over the slightest sign of awakening interest. 
 
 It is not reasonable to expect great results from a Muham- 
 madan mission which has been at work for only seventeen 
 years, and that, too, in so trying a climate and so isolated a 
 position. One of the pioneers of the mission, Peter Zweraer, 
 died in 1898, a victim of the climate. A talented member of 
 the same family, the Rev. S. M. Zwemer, D. D., has made the 
 Protestant world acquainted with missions among the Arabs. 
 He is not only an indefatigable writer,^ but also in person a 
 champion of missions among Muhammadans in general. He 
 was the originator of the conference of missionaries among 
 Muhammadans, which was held in Cairo from the 4th to the 
 9th of April, 1906. 
 
 ^ "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 3d edition, New York, 1900. "Islam, a 
 Challenge to Faith, ' ' New York, 1908. ' * The^Mohammedan World of To-day, '* 
 New York. 
 
PERSIA 
 
 PERSIA has an area of about 640,000 square miles, and 
 is, therefore, about two and a half times the size of the 
 German Empire. Its population, however, is only 
 Y,500,000. Large stretches of country, particularly in the in- 
 terior, are desert, void of human beings. More than half of 
 the country has only one inhabitant to the square mile. Only 
 the provinces along the boundary are at alFthickly populated. 
 Of non-Muhammadans there are only about 100,000. Islam, 
 which overran the country after the battle of Kadesia in 634 
 A. D., swept away nearly all the Zoroastrians who had enjoyed 
 state protection under the Sassanids (531-628), as well as 
 nearly all the Christians, who at that time were thickly scat- 
 tered over the country. Only in the province of Azerbaijan, 
 in the northwest, is a remnant of the ancient Persian Church 
 still met with, the so-called Nestorians, or Syrians, whose 
 number is 23,000 to 25,000. 
 
 The great mass of Muhammadans is a curious conglomerate. 
 In the southwestern province of Khuristan there are 250,000 
 Arab nomad immigrants, who so predominate that the prov- 
 ince goes also by the name of Arabistan. In the wild 
 mountainous western provinces 900,000 Kurdish bandits and 
 Lurs have their homes, the former to the north and the latter 
 to the south of the latitude of Hamadan. In the northern 
 provinces, from Azerbaijan to Khorasan, there dwell nearly 
 1,750,000 people, belonging to nomadic tribes of Turks and 
 Turkomans, known as Ilat^ the " tribes." But the main por- 
 tion of the Muhammadan population is the 5,500,000 Persians, 
 who are the only great and historic nation of the In do-Ger- 
 manic stock that has been almost entirely Islamized. True to 
 the genius of the family of peoples to which it belongs, the 
 
 279 
 
28o History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Persian nation has contributed greatly, and in most original 
 fashion, to the further development of Islam. We will point 
 out but three of these contributions. 
 
 {a) The Shiah. Even before Muhammad's appearance, 
 there had been jealousy between the Omayya and the Hashim 
 branches of his family, the Koreish. It was to the latter 
 branch that the Prophet and the majority of his first followers 
 belonged, while his bitterest opponent, Abu Sufian, belonged 
 to the former. The quarrel became acute during the first 
 decades after the death of Muhammad, in consequence of the 
 intrigues of Ayesha, the most influential of the Prophet's 
 wives, and the boundless ambition of Muawiyya, the son of 
 Abu Sufian. The result was a fight to the death between the 
 Prophet's family and the Omayyads. The sword, to which 
 the Prophet had appealed for the authorization of his prophetic 
 office, brought ruin upon his own family. Ali was murdered, 
 Hasan and Husein, his two sons, were slain in battle. The 
 khalifate passed to the Omayya family, while the Prophet's 
 family was thrust aside. If there had been no truly religious 
 impulses in Muhammad's movement, this violent and ruthless 
 pushing aside of his family might have taken place without 
 causing such a tremendous commotion and division among his 
 followers. As it was, a portion of the Islamic peoples sep- 
 arated from the khalifate of the Omayyads, and, faithful to 
 the memory of Muhammad, gathered round his son-in-law, 
 Ali, and All's two sons, Hasan and Husein. The tragic end 
 of those three, combined with the fact that they were descend- 
 ants of the Prophet, surrounded them with a halo. The Shiah 
 (Sect), as the followers of Ali were named, was thus originated. 
 Though taking its rise in political troubles, it could maintain 
 itself only by making a religious claim. Both religious and 
 secular power had been united in Muhammad. The Omayyads 
 had assumed the secular power, the rule of the world. So the 
 Shiahs claimed the religious succession. Ali, Hasan, Husein, 
 and their immediate successors were thus, in the eyes of the 
 Shiahs, the legitimate imams, the religious leaders and teach- 
 ers of the Moslem community. Thus the peculiar doctrine of 
 
Persia 281 
 
 the imams, the shibboleth of the Shiites (Shiahs), took its 
 rise ; of this doctrine we have spoken at some length in chap- 
 ter four. Intelligible as this dogmatic development is, arising 
 out of loyalty to the Prophet, it was, nevertheless, impossible 
 to carry it through without rejecting the Sunna, or " tradi- 
 tion," which was cunningly used by the opposite party in sup- 
 port of its pretensions to supreme power, and, further, it was 
 necessary to adopt a free allegorical exegesis of the Koran 
 itself, since the Koran is silent about the imams. But in thus 
 freeing themselves to some extent from a literal interpretation 
 of the inspired book, they had undermined the theological 
 foundation. In this way it came about that, while in Sunnitic 
 Islam the doctrinal development soon came to a standstill, 
 and, after the first centuries, no new sects arose, the Shiah, on 
 the other hand, experienced numerous outbursts of dissent of 
 the oddest character. In the pages of this book we meet with 
 the Druses, Ismailites, ]S"usairiyeh, Metawileh, and Babists, 
 and there are innumerable other sects. The orthodox Shiah 
 itself, also, has made full use of the wide scope offered to it 
 for theological development. It is not too much to say that, 
 in some form or other, allegorical exegesis, an inclination to 
 theosophical and mystical speculations, a predilection for mys- 
 tical dervish orders, and the doctrine of the transmigration of 
 souls, are the common property of Shiites of all kinds. 
 
 Sunna and Shiah fought long and fiercely. For a long time 
 Egypt, North Africa, Syria and nearly the whole of the East 
 were Shiite. Yet the Sunna finally won the supremacy, be- 
 cause of the fact that the Arabs held to the Sunna, and that 
 the Turks adopted it. Yet when, in 1502, Ismail Safi Shah 
 mounted the Persian throne as the first native king, after a 
 Mongol government of nearly 250 years, he decreed that the 
 Shiah should be the national religion in his kingdom. And, 
 ever since, Persia has been a stronghold of Shiism. Outside 
 of Persia, it appears only sporadically, as a sect. 
 
 (5) Sufism. By far the most important doctrinal develop- 
 ment of the Shiah is sufism, one of the most profound systems 
 of theology ever produced by any race. By ignoring the 
 
282 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Sunna and adopting an allegorical exegesis, a wider opportunity 
 was gained, as we have seen, for a free development of theology. 
 The innate speculative faculty of the Indo-Germanic race 
 asserted itself, receiving, in addition, from Zoroastrianism a 
 tendency to take a profound view of life. It seems probable 
 that the specifically Persian doctrinal development owes its 
 origin to three influences : (1) to Indian pantheism, (2) to the 
 ISTeopIatonism of the Grecian schools of philosophy in its later 
 form, and (3) to the gnostic speculations of ancient Christian 
 sects. But it is at the present day scarcely possible to unravel 
 this tangle of influences, which enriched the world of Persian 
 thought, and to trace them back to their various individual 
 sources. The determining factor was religious and intellectual 
 dissatisfaction with the dead forms of Islamic worship, and 
 with the incomplete and dry scholasticism of the orthodox 
 doctrine. This Persian theosophy was rendered peculiarly 
 attractive by the grace and finish of the poetic form into which 
 it was cast. Persian poetry is penetrated with its spirit. 
 The greatest Persian poets, Sadi, Hafiz, and Jalal-ud-Din Kumi 
 are profound philosophers. This wonderful combination of 
 the most beautiful poetry with the profoundest philosophy is 
 unique in the history of literature, and exercises even on 
 Oriental students in the Occident an influence that is often 
 nothing short of intoxicating. 
 
 In giving a sketch of the system of sufism, we shall make 
 a distinction between its fundamental principles and its 
 practice. Only the Godhead is real, essential being, it 
 alone existing from everlasting to everlasting in unapproach- 
 able majesty. Though the universe rests on the divine will, it 
 has no being of its own, in fact it is not, but, rather, only 
 appears to be, being intended by God to be a mirror, in 
 which the eternal Godhead is reflected. Conditional being is 
 granted to man alone, who possesses existence in so far as his 
 spirit is a part or an effluence of divine substance, but who 
 does not exist in so far as his body and his world of sense 
 share in the unreality of the universe. Man's being rests on 
 a complicated process of creative emanation. At the begin- 
 
Persia 283 
 
 ning of all things God caused to emanate from His own 
 hidden being the original substance, light, in order by its 
 means to establish relations between Himself and the world, 
 which, in so far as it possessed existence at all, existed apart 
 from Himself. Of this light-substance He formed the throne 
 of His glory, the tablets of the world's destiny and, finally, 
 the soul of man. From among men He has at various times 
 ordained individuals, who have possessed a particularly 
 bright and full measure of the light-substance. These are 
 the prophets, and, above all, Muhammad, who was, in fact, 
 identified with the light-substance, which is often termed 
 " the spirit of Muhammad." The task of man is to return 
 from his own being, conditioned as it is by its union with 
 the non-existent, to true, pure being, to the Godhead, the 
 original Light. One easily recognizes here the influence of 
 Yedanta philosophy, and of the Christian logos theory, as it 
 appeared in the gnostic systems of emanation. But this specu- 
 lative, theosophical view of the universe is not the original 
 contribution of sufism, having been, in its main outlines, 
 adopted from outside, and given a beautiful form in the 
 lyrical poetry of Persia. The characteristic doctrine of 
 sufism is, rather, the " ascent of man to God." In order to 
 solve its religious-ethical problem, and to lead the soul out of 
 the fetters of non-existence back to the pure, true entity 
 whence it emanated, sufism makes use neither of the enquir- 
 ing intellect, nor of the practical will ; neither of orthodox 
 dogma nor of the fixed forms of worship in the mosque ; it 
 sets in activity, rather, a specific faculty of the soul, intuition, 
 the inner eye, taur (the imagination). By complete self-ab- 
 straction from the surrounding world of sense, with its impres- 
 sions, sensual attractions and duties, the soul is to sink itself 
 into the divine by contemplation, thus returning to absorption 
 in the Godhead by a toilsome ascent of eight steps. Only 
 the dervish, who has broken away from all connection with 
 the outside world, is able successfully to enter upon this 
 path ; when he has taken his first step in it he becomes a 
 salih^ a "wanderer." But, since the way is long and the 
 
284 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 goal lofty, and since neither the teaching nor the practice of 
 Islam affords any helpful guidance, it is necessary for him to 
 have a murshidj a spiritual guide, to whom he must commit 
 himself in utter confidence and unquestioning subjection. 
 Only so may he hope to avoid losing his way on the difficult 
 path. The eight steps of the ascent are (1) service, the per- 
 formance of the Islamic precepts for life and worship ; (2) love 
 to God, which the poets extol with particular zest, often 
 painting it in bold colours, which suggest the passions of 
 erotic love; (3) seclusion; (4) knowledge; (5) ecstasy; 
 (6) truth; (7) union with God; (8) extinction. In order 
 that intuition may become fully effective it is necessary that 
 the ordinary functions of the intellect and emotions be 
 suspended as much as possible, the hidden powers of the "imag- 
 ination," or subconsciousness, being allowed full play in their 
 stead. The means to this end are spasmodic movements of the 
 body, dancing, hemp-smoking and the use of other stupifying 
 drugs, but, above all, psychopathic influences of the hidden 
 life of the soul, such as hypnotism and clairvoyance, in which 
 the sufists had attained a high pitch of perfection long before 
 occidental science began to observe those remarkable 
 phenomena in the twilight of the soul-life. (Compare what is 
 said of the dervish orders, and of the mysticism of Islam, in 
 Chapter I, 2.) 
 
 It is easy to understand how a race naturally inclined to 
 mysticism and repulsed by the prose of real life, might 
 prefer to spend life in the mysterious depths'of an artificially 
 produced semi-consciousness. It is equally clear what a dark 
 shadow this artificial and unreal life of the mind must cast on 
 the exalted philosophy upon which it rests. Occidental 
 scholars are inclined to confine themselves to the pantheistic 
 theories of sufism, while they pass by, as unpleasing, the dark 
 shadows of mystical practice. So the actual facts are mis- 
 represented, and this false representation is one of the grounds 
 of the exaggerated extolling of this Islamic philosophy. Yet 
 this mystical practice is the specific characteristic of sufism. 
 
 We must enquire into some of the effects of such mystical 
 
Persia 285 
 
 speculation. (1) Since it is the chief object of this mysticism to 
 lead by the eight steps of intuition to the certain goal of real 
 union with God, an experience which the soul is to attain in- 
 dependently of the Koran and the mosque, all the external 
 forms of doctrine and practice are despised in comparison 
 with that " royal road." The mystic became indifferent to 
 both mosque and church, to the Koran and the Bible, to the 
 cross and the crescent. One often finds, in sufist poets, pas- 
 sages which dispose of every kind of historical religion with 
 equal contempt. One result of this is that freedom from the 
 fetters of the blind fanaticism, elsewhere so sadly prevalent 
 in Islam, renders possible the formation of a sometimes sur- 
 prisingly just estimate of other religions, even of lower forms 
 of worship, such as idolatry. But it more frequently happens 
 that a destructive scepticism grows out of this contempt of 
 outward forms, such a scepticism as we see, for instance, in 
 the famous Eubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Sufism is alto- 
 gether unfavourable to a calm appreciation of Christianity as 
 a divine, just provision for the salvation of mankind. 
 
 (2) If the taur (imagination) is the spiritual function brought 
 into play by the sufist mystic, and if a murshid be indispen- 
 sable to any one beginning to tread the mystic road, then the 
 way is evidently opened for the formation of the most various 
 sects and orders, since the number of those who desire to 
 qualify themselves to become murshids is naturally great; 
 and, as soon as any one is recognized as a murshid by a larger 
 or smaller circle, he at once acquires limitless influence over 
 his disciples, since they are bound to obey him blindly. 
 And, further, in the semi-darkness of mystic clairvoyance 
 there are methods of exciting and increasing the powers of 
 imagination and even of inciting to superhuman acts ; methods, 
 many of which are harmless, though many are also of a doubt- 
 ful, and even of an obviously dangerous, character. Every 
 murshid considers his own method to be the most effectual, 
 and it becomes the shibboleth of his order. This is the soil 
 in which the dervish orders have grown, developing their 
 mystic methods, which appear so abstruse to us. 
 
286 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 (3) If the " imagination " and other similar psychical 
 powers be alone needful for the mystical ascent, the display 
 of practical piety in public and private life loses importance. 
 The mystic who is undergoing absorption in Allah is raised 
 above good and evil ; his conduct in this non-existent world 
 does not affect his progress in the road of intuition. Thus, 
 in presenting itself as the " royal road," in opposition to the 
 common Islamism of mosque and university, sufism under- 
 mined the foundations of morality, and deadened the sense of 
 duty. In fact it was guilty of the fateful error of separating 
 the specifically religious life from the ethical life of the indi- 
 vidual as a whole, concentrating religion in an utterly subor- 
 dinate function of the soul. This is the more dangerous since 
 orientals, quite apart from such teaching, are only too strongly 
 inclined to make a thoroughgoing separation between their 
 religious philosophy and their every-day life. In spite of 
 these dark shadows, sufism is one of the most brilliant proofs 
 of the soul's hunger for communion with God, a hunger 
 which will be satisfied. Even Christians may find edification 
 in listening to the strains of its hymns, which echo the long- 
 ing after true life in God. And this fragrant lotus flower is 
 the more surprising since it springs from the desert soil of the 
 Islamic belief in Allah, and blooms in contrast with the dry 
 formalism of the correct Muhammadan practice of piety. 
 
 (c) JBabism} The doctrine of the imams as a series of 
 progressive agents of revelation, belonging to the family of 
 Muhammad and of Ali, gave rise in the nineteenth century to 
 the most effective and ideal religious movement within the 
 world of Islam. About the beginning of that century, two 
 teachers. Sheikh Akhmed Akhsai (1752-1826) and his disciple, 
 Hadji Seyyid Kasim, appeared in Kerbela, the sacred place of 
 pilgrimage and the seat of learning of the Shiites, and further 
 developed the doctrine of the imams, teaching that in every 
 
 »E. G. Browne, " The Episode of the Bab" ; "New History of the Bab." Dr. 
 F. C. Andreas, "Die Babis in Persien," Leipsio, 1896. Church at Home and 
 Abroad, Vol. XIV. Allgemeine Miasiona-Zeitschrift, 1894, pp. 327 £E. Ev. Misa, 
 Mag., 1894, pp. 12 ff. Sell, "Essays on Islam," pp. 46 fE. 
 
Persia 287 
 
 >. 
 
 generation the imam, though himself hidden, has some one 
 
 who communicates his revelations, and through whom he 
 
 guarantees the spread and the purity of the true faith. 
 
 Among their disciples was a merchant's apprentice from 
 Shiraz, who, to his father's grief, gave up his work, devoting 
 himself to theological speculations. This was Ali Muhammad. 
 He discovered that he possessed the qualifications to be such 
 a medium of revelation, and began, in a small circle in Shiraz 
 at first, to call himself the Bab (gate), that is, the organ of 
 revelation of the hidden imam. Although a youth of barely 
 twenty-four years, he found a following. Among his first 
 disciples were such important men as the talented and ener- 
 getic Mollah Husein. 
 
 The life of Ali Muhammad was short and remarkably un- 
 eventful. At first he claimed to be nothing more than the Bab, 
 the representative of the hidden imam of his generation. This 
 claim he proved in his Surat al Jussuf, a treatise on Sura XII of 
 the Koran, which deals with the history of Joseph. But he 
 soon made the further claim that he himself was the imam, 
 who had been hidden for centuries, but had now appeared as 
 the expected Imam Mahdi, that is the " Eightly Led One," 
 whose calling it was to introduce the time of the final victory 
 of Islam. From that time on he called l^himself the NuMa 
 (point), Nukta i Ula (first point), or Nukia i' Bey an (point of 
 explanation), and set forth his claims in detail in his most im- 
 portant work, the " Beyan," that is, the " explanation." The 
 original substance, light, the original will of Allah, the first 
 creation of Allah, assumes from time to time human form. 
 These " incarnations of the first Will " are the prophets. Of 
 these there have been an untold number in the past, and in 
 the future there will be quite as many. The last great prophet 
 was Muhammad. The prophet of this generation was the 
 Bab. The various incarnations must all be communications 
 of the same divine revelation, which, however, is further de- 
 veloped as the human race progresses. The revelation at the 
 time of Abraham differed from that in Adam's time. Even 
 so, revelation has undergone development between the time of 
 
288 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Muhammad and the time of the Bab. In every age the reve- 
 lation of the respective imam is the highest and most perfect 
 in existence, and must be accepted as such in faith. Thus the 
 teaching of the Bab now supplants that of Muhammad, the 
 Beyan is the legitimate successor of the Koran, and the Bab 
 is to men of the present day what Muhammad was to men of 
 past centuries. The Bab is logical and admits that after him 
 will come he "whom God will make visible," that is, a new 
 imam, or his bab, for a succeeding generation. This teaching 
 of the Bab clears the way for freer doctrinal development. 
 
 It would not be worth while to devote much space to the 
 particular doctrines which the Bab taught, on the strength 
 of his being the highest authority in the matter of revelation. 
 Curiously enough, he thought that nineteen was the sacred 
 number. He found it everywhere in the world-scheme, and 
 was resolved to bring it to the light. His sacred book, the 
 Beyan, has nineteen sections in each of its nineteen chapters ; 
 the Babist year has nineteen months, each with nineteen days ; 
 the day has nineteen hours, each consisting of nineteen 
 minutes ; coins, taxes and even fines are to be regulated on the 
 basis of nineteen. The Bab gave an original turn to the doc- 
 trine of the transmigration of souls, common to all Shiites. 
 He maintained that every soul is, as it were, a letter of the 
 alphabet, written by God. Just as a child rubs out a letter 
 he has written, until he has done it perfectly, so every soul 
 reenters a body until it has gained its perfect form. 
 
 More important are the practical precepts of the Bab. 
 These accord greater rights to women, permitting them to at- 
 tend meetings of the men, abolishing the veil and rendering 
 divorce more difficult. Smoking is forbidden. The dead are 
 to be more carefully buried. The Bab even tried to in- 
 troduce a new form of handwriting, which, however, has 
 fortunately not been generally adopted. It is difficult to 
 determine whether there are in the teaching of the Bab any 
 germs of social and religious progress in Persia. At any rate, 
 his followers are more tolerant of other religions, especially of 
 Christianity. The Bible as well as the Koran is supplanted 
 
Persia 289 
 
 by the Beyan of the Bab, yet it is regarded as an interesting 
 lesson in the progress of mankind to read the records of both 
 those revelations, comparing them with the more perfect 
 revelation of the Beyan. The reading of the Bible is, there- 
 fore, recommended. The question has been debated, whether 
 Babism is an Islamic sect, or whether, banished from Islam, it 
 has grown to be a new religion. Its principles, at least, 
 provided the possibility of a religious development in advance 
 of Islam, and Beha, the successor of the Bab, has invented a 
 kind of universal religion. While the Bab, still a youth, was 
 working out his ideas, a tragic fate overtook him. He was 
 banished first to Maku, a remote little town on the furthest 
 northwestern boundary of Persia, whence he was dragged 
 in 1850 to Tabriz to be barbarously executed. He had not 
 yet reached his thirtieth year. Though the leader had 
 languished in prison and had met with a shameful death, 
 Babism now spread rapidly. People of all grades of society, 
 even the highest and best educated, became his followers, 
 being called Babists. Even in the first generation there were 
 such prominent men as Mollah Husein, the hadji, Mollah 
 Muhammad Ali, and Mollah Muhammad Ali of Zangin, 
 noted for his learning and piety. Above all, there was 
 Zerrin Taj (Golden Crown), a woman of surpassing intellect. 
 Filled with enthusiasm, the Babists called her Qurrat ul 
 Ain (Lustre of the Eye). She had a most attractive person- 
 ality, doubly striking by contrast with her countrywomen of 
 the Persian harems. 
 
 The Persian government foolishly assumed from the very 
 beginning a hostile attitude towards Babism, endeavouring to 
 exterminate it with fire and sword. Seeing their influence 
 threatened, and angered by the sharp criticisms of the Bab 
 and his followers, the mollahs and the mujtahids, the superior 
 clergy of the Shiites, urged on the temporal power. Thus a 
 terrible war of extermination began to be waged against 
 Babism. Barely four years after Ali Muhammad first ap- 
 peared as Bab in Shiraz, a band of his followers in a remote 
 part of the country, led by Mollah Husein, defended the 
 
290 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 mountain fastness of Sheikh Tebersi, in the province of 
 Mazandaran, against a superior force of government troops, 
 the siege ending after four months in the extermination of 
 the faithful defenders. A year later an extremely bloody 
 and bitter civil war broke out in the town of Zangin, under 
 the leadership of the Babist Mollah Muhammad Ali. This 
 contest also ended in the extermination of the Babist com- 
 munity there. The severest blow was struck by the Persian 
 government in 1852. Three fanatical Babists, probably with- 
 out any authority, and even without the knowledge of the 
 leader of the movement, committed a murderous assault on 
 the shah, Nasir-ud-Din. All the Babists had to pay the 
 penalty ; they were to be exterminated root and branch. As 
 many of them as fell into the hands of the government were 
 condemned to death, and were executed with the cruelties 
 that only oriental bloodthirstiness can devise. Blood flowed 
 in streams. But if the government thought that Babism 
 could be thus crushed, it made a great mistake. The move- 
 ment grew, and the Babists went to their death with the joy- 
 ousness of martyrs. Only one of them is known to have 
 denied his faith when threatened with death ; as soon as the 
 danger was past he repented bitterly of his apostasy, and two 
 years later proved the sincerity of his repentance by suffer- 
 ing a still more cruel martyrdom. Even Christians must 
 wonder, when they behold the heroic faith and the triumphant 
 death of these Babists. Singing " From God we came, to God 
 we return," they faced the most shameful and agonizing death, 
 without the trembling of an eyelid. 
 
 Meanwhile the movement was undergoing a rapid inner 
 development. Ali Muhammad had, before his death, solemnly 
 appointed as his successor a disciple of his, Mirza Yahya, with 
 the title of Hazret-i-Ezel (His Highness the Eternal) or Subh-i- 
 Ezel (Dawn of Eternity). Yahya withdrew to Bagdad in 
 order to escape the pursuit of the Persian government. But 
 the latter, remembering the attempt of 1852, was suspicious 
 of such a man so near to the boundary, and induced the Sultan 
 to confine both him and his followers. They were, accord- 
 
Persia 291 
 
 inglj, placed under police supervision as political prisoners, 
 first in Constantinople, later in Adrianople, and finally in 
 Acca in Syria. Mirza Yahya was of a retiring disposition, 
 not a man of action. His elder half-brother, Mirza Husein 
 Ali, better known under the name of Beha Ullah (Beauty of 
 God), became the real leader of the movement. It was not 
 long before this talented and versatile man discovered that he 
 was the imam predicted by the Bab, "whom Allah would 
 render visible," the imam of the succeeding generation, who 
 was called to supplant the revelation imparted by the Bab 
 with a newer and still more advanced revelation. In his 
 great work, " Ikan " (certainty), which he had written while 
 still in Bagdad, he endeavoured to prove in a really masterly 
 way, from the Bible and the Koran, the truth of the teaching 
 of Babism in general. In later works he openly advanced his 
 claims to the prophetic office. And, however much Mirza 
 Yahya resisted these claims, the more energetic and logical 
 Beha gained the upper hand. By far the greater number of 
 the Babists attached themselves to him, and he managed, even 
 in imprisoument in Acca, by means of an extensive correspond- 
 ence, to retain the leadership until his death on the 16th of 
 May, 1892. Since then his son. Abbas Effendi, has been the 
 leader of the movement. 
 
 In 1896 the attention of Europe was widely attracted to the 
 Babists once more when, on May 1st of that year, Shah 
 Nasir-ud-Din was shot by a fanatical Babist as he was enter- 
 ing the mosque in Teheran. Connected with this deed were 
 many dangerous political intrigues, especially that of a re- 
 vengeful adventurer, Jamal-ud-Din. The murder of the shah, 
 an act of vengeance for the cruel and bloody persecution of 
 the Babists, was punished by similar persecutions. But relig- 
 ious movements cannot be exterminated by means of the 
 sword and the gallows. It is estimated that fully one million 
 of the 7,500,000 inhabitants of Persia are at the present day 
 Babists. Bloody persecutions have again burst over them of 
 late years, for instance, in 1903 in Yezd ; but the Babists meet 
 death as defiantly as ever. 
 
2g2 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 {d) Aside from the Shiite Persians, the Syrians or Nes- 
 torians in the northwestern province of Azerbaijan chiefly 
 claim our attention. They dwell partly in the plains to the 
 west of Lake Urumiah, partly in the neighbouring mountainous 
 region of Kurdistan. Lake Urumiah is about eighty miles long 
 and thirty miles wide ; its water is so saline and bituminous 
 that fish cannot live in it, but on its shores there are number- 
 less aquatic birds, especially flocks of beautiful flamingoes. 
 To the west of the lake there is a wonderfully beautiful and 
 fertile plain, which rises gradually towards the mountains and 
 is called " Persia's paradise." On it lie more than three hun- 
 dred villages and hamlets, nestling among fields, gardens and 
 vineyards. I^umerous streams rush down from the mountains 
 to the lake, their banks lined with willows, poplars and fig- 
 trees. The plain has almost the appearance of a great forest, 
 with its plantations of peaches, apricots, pears, plums and 
 other fruit-trees. In the midst of the orchard-land lies the 
 town of Urumiah, situated on a height some four hundred feet 
 above the level of the lake. It is the reputed birthplace of 
 Zoroaster. Towards the west rise the bare mountains, wild 
 and menacing. The lake itself lies 4,100 feet above sea-level, 
 and the hills quickly attain a height of 12,000 feet above the 
 sea, an Alpine range looking down from its snow-covered 
 summits upon the plain at its feet. We enter upon a wild 
 and rugged wilderness of mountains, full of deep gorges and 
 valleys, with wild torrents rushing over mighty blocks of 
 stone. Higher and higher rise the chains up to 14,000 feet 
 and more. There is no proper road pver this wilderness of 
 rocks. The isolated valleys, or valley systems, are separated 
 from one another as by walls. Everywhere there are inac- 
 cessible cliffs, deep hollows, precipitous rocks, affording a last 
 refuge to the pursued. For whole days the traveller passes 
 through this paradise of bandits, until he sees, stretched out 
 like a map before him, the wide-spreading plain of Mesopo- 
 tamia. In this wild, pathless mountain region Nestorians 
 have their homes in about three hundred villages hidden away 
 in twenty-five upland valleys. Unfortunately they are split 
 
Persia 293 
 
 up into many tribes, each of which jealously guards its own 
 rights. The patriarch, who lives in Kotchhannes in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Julamerk on the Zavi, in one of the wildest 
 valleys, is at once their religious and their secular head. 
 Until the year 1843 the Nestorians maintained their inde- 
 pendence against the hordes of Kurds, which surrounded and 
 threatened them. In that year the powerful Kurdish chiefs, 
 Nurallah Bey and Bedr Khan, entered into an alliance with 
 Turkey. While the Nestorians were quarrelling with one 
 another, the Kurds fell with fearful ferocity upon their 
 defenseless opponents, taking possession of valley after valley, 
 and fortress after fortress, and slaughtering 11,000 Nestorians 
 in the space of a few weeks. With that the independence 
 of the Nestorians was a thing of the past, and there has been 
 imposed on them by the Turks a heavy burden of taxation, 
 the amount of which is being raised from year to year. When 
 one looks at their homes among the rocks and at the tiny 
 fields, one wonders how they can pay any taxes at all. In 
 order to do so they sell their sheep and mules at less than 
 their value, and when they have nothing left, they either emi- 
 grate or starve. There is but one explanation of this senseless 
 treatment by the Turks ; they want to ruin their Christian 
 subjects. And this they are fast accomplishing. Compared 
 with these Nestorians of the mountains the 25,000 living in 
 the plain of TJrumiah have an easy time. They are, indeed, 
 heavily taxed by the Persian officials, but they are able to 
 hold their own, though they are, almost without exception, 
 poor. Any one possessing property of the value of £100 is 
 considered a rich man. 
 
 Ever since the Syrians adopted Nestorius' doctrine of the 
 dual nature, there has been no further development in their 
 theology. This may be attributed partly to the Syrian 
 character, which, though impulsive in new undertakings, 
 and often powerful in carrying them out, is not construct- 
 ive either in theology or ecclesiastical organization. An- 
 other reason is probably that this Church was com- 
 pelled to fight for its existence, not against heresies, but 
 
294 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 against Islam and heathenism. In their literature we find 
 different views on most doctrinal questions, with the excep- 
 tion of the dogmas of the dual nature and of the inspiration 
 of the Bible. Thus transubstantiation is both defended and 
 attacked. There is, on the other hand, a general practical 
 tendency to lay stress on simple faith in the crucified and 
 risen Saviour. Even greater importance is attached to works 
 of the law. Fasts hold the largest place in their ecclesiastical 
 life, though vows and pilgrimages are almost equally im- 
 portant. The priests are regarded as successors of the Levit- 
 ical priesthood. They are, however, not ordinarily called 
 priests, but go by the name of kasha, that is, elder, presbyter. 
 Unfortunately for the Syrian Church, Russia, the nearest 
 Christian country, has proved, especially in the last half cen- 
 tury, an attraction not only to honest labouring men, but also 
 to the priests, who make tours among the superstitious peas- 
 ants of Southern Russia, and, under the pretense of collecting 
 money for some church, saint's shrine, or miracle-working 
 image, receive thousands of rubles, which they afterwards 
 squander in riotous living. In Russia they appear in the guise 
 of piety, but they come home as godless mockers. The or- 
 daining of such men as " priests " or " deacons," before they 
 set out upon their predatory excursions, is a chief source of 
 income of the bishops, the high fees charged for ordination 
 being willingly paid, since the title of priest pays so well. 
 The opening up of Western Persia has enabled these itinerant 
 beggars to extend their collecting tours far and wide over the 
 Christian world. 
 
 Protestant Missions in Persia 
 1. The work of the American Board^ 18 3 Jf,- 1870 
 
 The American Board began its work in Persia among the 
 small, courageous Syrian people, and there it continued to 
 
 'Perkins, "Missionary Life in Persia." Shedd, "Islam and the Oriental 
 Churches." Jewett, " Twenty-five Years in Persia. " Marsh, " A Tennessean 
 in Persia." Biographies of Stoddard, Lobdell, Rhea, and of Fidelia Fiske 
 (*• Woman and her Saviour in Persia; " " Faith Working in Love "). 
 
Persia 295 
 
 have its chief work in this country for half a century. It was 
 a revelation to the Christianity of the West when, in 1830, 
 the American missionaries, Smith and Dwight, after visiting 
 the Nestorians, gave their experiences to the world in their 
 book, " Christian Researches in Armenia " (Boston, 1833). 
 They had found the JSfestorians in a state of deep intellectual 
 and spiritual degradation. There were among them not more 
 than twenty or thirty men, and only one woman, able to read. 
 There were no printed books, but only here and there written 
 portions of the Bible, and nowhere a complete Bible even in 
 writing. The language of public worship was exclusively 
 Ancient Syriac, which hardly half a dozen of the priests them- 
 selves understood. There was no preaching at all. The 
 mother tongue of the Nestorians is Modern Syriac, which, 
 though not a development of the Ancient Syriac of the 
 Peshito, is yet an almost pure dialect of Aramaic, the only re- 
 maining branch of the ancient Aramaic- Syriac family of lan- 
 guages. But this rough dialect was not as yet a written lan- 
 guage, and had never been scientifically studied. This de- 
 pressingly low intellectual condition was the more surprising 
 since the Eoman Catholics had succeeded, by craft and in- 
 trigue, in efPecting the ecclesiastical subjection of the E'esto- 
 rians, particularly of those living to the west, on the Mesopo- 
 tamian side of the mountains. But they had done little either 
 for the religious improvement or for the intellectual elevation 
 of the people. Yet the ISTestorians are distinguished above 
 all other Oriental Churches by the childlike confidence with 
 which they received the missionaries, and by their often 
 touching eagerness to acquire knowledge. They felt intensely 
 their degraded and neglected condition, and joyfully welcomed 
 the missionaries as their helpers and instructors. 
 
 It was in the year 1834 that the first American missionary, 
 the Eev. Justin Perkins, D. D., arrived in Urumiah. Dr. A. 
 Grant, a physician, followed him in 1835. Further help was 
 soon sent, and, compared with the other missions of this so- 
 ciety, the mission in Persia was extraordinarily soon under 
 way. In 1836 a " seminary " was opened. This was a board- 
 
296 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 iDg-school for boys, and was for decades the centre of educa- 
 tional work among men. In 1838 a seminary for girls was 
 added, at first only as a day-school and on a very simple scale ; 
 but, on the coming of Fidelia Fiske, a niece of Pliny Fiske, 
 the pioneer missionary in Syria, oriental prejudices were de- 
 fied, an attempt being made to turn the institution into a" 
 boarding-school, and, in a few years, the attempt was crowned 
 with success. Then, in 1837, a printing-press arrived in 
 Trebizond, on its way to Urumiah ; since it proved, however, to 
 be too heavy and large for transport over the mountains, the 
 Board sent another more suitable press in 1839, and also an 
 experienced compositor, who, following Dr. Perkins' instruc- 
 tions, and making use of the characters which he supplied, 
 founded suitable type, with which he at once began to print. 
 Dr. Grant worked up in a very short time such a large prac- 
 tice that he could scarcely manage it. Five years after the 
 arrival of the first missionaries, the work was thus in full 
 operation. It is true that, for a time, the missionaries made 
 use of small contrivances which would have been unnecessary 
 had their missionary experience been greater. Thus the 
 pupils of the lower grades received sixpence as a reward for 
 good attendance, and those in the upper classes a shilling, un- 
 der the name of " support." 
 
 It was particularly pleasing that the Nestorian clergy were 
 willing to associate themselves with the missionaries, who 
 thus almost at once acquired a staff of helpers, many of whom 
 proved to be capable men. Among the first of these helpers 
 were three bishops and two priests, all but one of whom lived 
 in the missionary settlement. Among the first students in 
 the seminary, there were two bishops, three priests and four 
 deacons, all, of course, adults, who were making use of this 
 opportunity to supplement their defective education. 
 
 One of the first and most important tasks was the transla- 
 tion of the Bible into Modern Syriac, after the indispensable 
 preparatory work of studying the language scientifically and 
 reducing it to a system of writing had been accomplished. 
 This work was done by Perkins and Stoddard. Dr. Perkins 
 
Persia 297 
 
 spent ten years of his busy life in translating the Bible. The 
 New Testament appeared in 1846 in an edition containing in 
 parallel columns the Ancient and the Modern Syriac versions, 
 because of the almost superstitious popular veneration for the 
 language of the Peshito. 
 
 In connection with this work of raising Modern Syriac to a 
 written language, and of providing it with a literature, 
 it was a great help to the missionaries that Western ori- 
 entalists took a lively interest in the new language, and ren- 
 dered much assistance in the work of scientific study. The 
 division of labour was, in general, this, that the missionaries 
 provided the manuscripts, while the scholars undertook the 
 more scientific part of the linguistic work. The first Modern 
 Syriac grammar was written by the learned Dr. Stoddard, and 
 was entitled, " A Grammar of the Modern Syriac Language " 
 ( Journal of the American Oriental Society^ Yol. Y, 1853). On 
 this was based Theodor Noeldeke's masterly " Grammatik der 
 l^eusyrischen Sprache " (Leipsic, 1868). The most prominent 
 student of Modern Syriac at the present day is Prof. A. M. 
 MacLean of Oxford, who has published a " Grammar of the 
 Dialects of the Yernacular Syriac " (Cambridge, 1895), and a 
 " Dictionary of the Dialects of the Yernacular Syriac " (Ox- 
 ford, 1900). The American missionaries were meanwhile sup- 
 plying modern Christian literature. In addition to the Bible, 
 such books as Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress " and Baxter's 
 " Saints' Rest," as well as theological tracts and stories, were 
 translated and printed. The mission press was an important 
 part of the mission. Between the years 1839 and 1873, 110,000 
 volumes, with 21,250,000 pages, were published ; and the 
 Syriac type used was, at that time, the best in existence, being 
 copied by the scholars of Europe. 
 
 The Urumiah Mission grew so quietly in the first thirty-five 
 years of its existence, until 1870, that it seems best to take a 
 general survey of the work, rather than to give a history of 
 consecutive events. A threatening enemy, against which the 
 mission had ever to be on the alert, was the rival Jesuit mis- 
 sion of the Lazarists. In 1838, four years later than the 
 
298 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Americans, the Lazarists came to Persia, turning first to the 
 Armenians and Persians living in the large towns. But here 
 they made themselves so obnoxious that, within two years, 
 they were sent away. They thereupon turned to the 
 Nestorians, the more readily since they observed that the 
 Protestant mission had there gained ground quickly. 
 Threatened here also with banishment, they succeeded in 
 holding their ground only by appealing to the powerful aid of 
 the French ambassador. They were untiring in their intrigues 
 against the Americans, now inciting the Persian authorities to 
 banish them, now uniting with the opposing Nestorian bishops 
 in counteracting the work of the mission, now capturing 
 churches by force or by guile. More than once the American 
 missionaries were compelled to undertake fatiguing journeys 
 at unfavourable seasons of the year, in order to save the mis- 
 sion from ruin. 
 
 A characteristic feature of the Nestorian Mission is the 
 religious revivals, which occurred two or three times in every 
 decade, the first of them being in 1836. The revivals usually 
 ran the same course. Beginning with the hoys or the girls in 
 the seminary, they spread thence throughout the town of 
 Urumiah, and afterwards more or less widely into the sur- 
 rounding district. The village of Geogtapa, especially, some 
 five miles south of Urumiah, received almost always its share of 
 the blessing. A deep sense of sin, often touching earnestness 
 in prayer, and an eager desire for the Word of God marked 
 those who were awakened. The missionaries had often 
 trouble to keep the excitement within bounds. These revivals 
 widened the influence of the mission. Thus the mission 
 gradually extended its work to the villages around Urumiah, 
 one after the other. The priests and even the bishops them- 
 selves were the chief agents. Branch schools were opened, 
 and, in as many places as possible, Sunday-schools and preach- 
 ing services were inaugurated, the missionaries diligently en- 
 deavouring to keep in touch with these outposts by frequent 
 visits. At first the priests and deacons of the ancient faith 
 were gladly employed, in spite of their defective previous 
 
Persia 299 
 
 training, since through them it was easier to come into touch 
 with the people. But gradually they were replaced as far as 
 was possible by more proficient teachers and preachers, who, 
 like their wives, had been trained in the seminaries in 
 Urumiah. At the same time the missionaries carefully avoided 
 doing anything that might seem to interfere with the old 
 ecclesiastical arrangements, or that had the appearance of 
 proselytism. They were determined in every possible way to 
 avoid a break with the ancient Church and the founding of 
 Protestant congregations. The assistants of the missionaries 
 continued to be bishops, priests and deacons of their own 
 Church. The ancient Syriac liturgy was retained both in 
 public worship and in the administration of the sacra- 
 ments. 
 
 The missionaries, of course, always insisted that there 
 should be abundant preaching of the Gospel in Modern 
 Syriac, in addition to the more or less unintelligible liturgies. 
 In this way the sermon became a new and important, perhaps 
 a predominant, element in the services of those congregations 
 which came under the influence of the mission. At first the 
 Lord's Supper was celebrated in Protestant fashion only in 
 the missionary circle. Yet it could hardly give offense if 
 they should admit into this circle the more advanced Chris- 
 tians of their acquaintance, when specially requested to do so. 
 This they began to do, and there can be no question that such 
 earnest seekers found more edification and richer blessing in 
 these simple celebrations of the Lord's Supper than in the 
 overloaded masses of their ancient Church. Yery slowly the 
 mission took another step in the same direction. They would 
 admit to the Lord's Supper any who applied, on condition 
 that such persons, in a previous, private interview with the 
 missionaries, convinced the latter that they were sufficiently 
 advanced in the evangelical faith. Next they began to ap- 
 point regular days in the villages in which those who had 
 been thus admitted lived, on which the Lord's Supper was 
 celebrated there in the simple Protestant manner. In 1855 a 
 " Protestant congregation " was established, with 168 mem- 
 
300 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 bers, and in 1862 a native presbytery was organized. Could 
 the ancient Church tolerate within her borders this foreign or- 
 ganization, which was to a great extent independent of her, 
 and was chiefly composed of pupils of the mission, or was 
 there bound to be a rupture ? 
 
 A great majority of the JSTestorians live, as we have seen, in 
 the mountains of Kurdistan, and especially in the districts of 
 Hakkiari and Bohtan, in the high-lying valleys of Tiary, 
 Amadia, and Gawar. In 1839 Dr. Grant, the medical mis- 
 sionary, endeavoured to establish friendly relations with these 
 ISTestorians and their Patriarch. Several things contributed 
 to make regular mission work in the mountains impossible. 
 In the first place, work among these wild mountains meant 
 great fatigue and privation. Then there were the predatory 
 Kurds, with whose friendship the missionaries could not dis- 
 pense if their lives were to be safe, and from whose attacks 
 one was never secure even then. There was also political un- 
 rest, for the Turks were endeavouring to subdue Kurds and 
 Nestorians alike, playing the one against the other most skill- 
 fully. Above all, there was the ever-shifting policy of suc- 
 cessive patriarchs, who were politicians rather than religious 
 leaders, and who, as such, were ever ready to favour those who 
 could best protect them against the Turks and Kurds. After 
 twenty years of romantic adventures and of hardships, to 
 which the untiring pioneer. Dr. Grant, and several of his suc- 
 cessors succumbed, the missionaries came to the conclusion 
 that it was impossible for them to gain a permanent footing 
 in the mountains. They altered their plans, and, instead of 
 sacrificing any more precious lives, employed native helpers as 
 much as possible in that region, the missionaries paying occa- 
 sional visits, and^regular reports being sent to TJrumiah. This 
 was merely a makeshift, especially when one remembers that 
 it was in the mountains that the chief strength of the Syrian 
 population lay. And the missionaries were compelled at last 
 to recognize the painful fact that they had not been successful 
 in exercising any powerful influence on the mountain Nes- 
 torians, either as a Church or as a nation, and that they would 
 
Persia 301 
 
 probably continue to be unsuccessful in the future. Their 
 failure was partly due to the all too great difference between 
 this democratic mission, and that rigid national Church, with 
 its hierarchical institutions. A still more powerful cause of 
 that failure was the tangle of secular and religious interests, 
 which proved here, as among the other Oriental Churches, to 
 be a check on efforts at reform. Since the Patriarch and his as- 
 sociates aimed chiefly at preserving the inherited independence 
 of the nation, they considered the religious question to be of 
 secondary importance, and consequently judged all religious 
 agencies according to their ability to aid in gaining or retain- 
 ing political power. Hand in hand with this was the obstinate 
 oriental conservatism, which holds fast to anything ancient, 
 however foolish it may be ; they clung to their unintelligible 
 Ancient Syriac liturgy, to the equally unintelligible Ancient 
 Syriac Bible, to sacramental errors in doctrine and practice, 
 to veneration of the saints and to strict fasting. Against all 
 this neither evangelical knowledge nor evangelical liberty 
 could contend. 
 
 A brief account must be given of some of the missionaries 
 and Syrian helpers belonging to this period. 
 
 The founder of the mission of the American Board in Per- 
 sia, the Kev. Dr. Perkins,^ was the soul of the work in Urumiah 
 for thirty-five years, until his death in 1869. His greatest 
 service was the literary work he did. In addition to his use- 
 ful translation of the Bible, he prepared other books in Modern 
 Syriac, e. g., commentaries on Genesis and Daniel. "We have 
 already mentioned one of his colleagues, Dr. Asahel Grant,'* 
 a pioneer among the mountain Nestorians. He was a coura- 
 geous man, calm but firm. His great medical skill, his utter 
 devotion to his Saviour, his tactf ulness, won him the confidence 
 even of men who did not trust one another. His fearlessness 
 even in the greatest dangers, the calm ascendency which he 
 exercised over the bandits, and his unswerving faith amidst 
 
 * Justin Perkins, '*A Residence of Eight Years in Persia Among the Nesto- 
 rians," New York, 1893. " Life of Dr. Justin Perkins." 
 ' Grant, "The Nestorians the Lost Tribes," London, 1893. 
 
302 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 painful disappointments, enabled him to prosecute his life's 
 work in the dreary, bandit-haunted mountains. 
 
 Between 1840 and 1860 there were two noteworthy mission- 
 aries in Urumiah, Dr. Stoddard and Fidelia Fiske. Both were 
 of a deep and ardent piety. It was their glowing love to the 
 Saviour that lit the fire of the revivals in the two seminaries 
 which they superintended. 
 
 Stoddard was slight of build, and of an almost feminine 
 gracefulness, resembling what we are w^ont to think must have 
 been the appearance of the Beloved Disciple. Having once 
 devoted himself to the service of the mission, he put his whole 
 soul into it. People in America and Persia who came into 
 contact with him received the impression, thus described by a 
 theological professor from America : — " He passes through the 
 churches like a flaming Seraph. So heavenly-minded a spirit 
 is seldom met with in our country." 
 
 Fidelia Fiske was only fifteen years in Urumiah (1843-1858), 
 being all that time at the head of the seminary for girls, upon 
 which she left so strong a mark that, to the present day, it 
 goes by the name of the " Fidelia Fiske Seminary." Few 
 missionaries in Persia have had the joy of leading so many 
 souls to the Saviour. 
 
 Of the Syrian helpers in the mission we shall mention only 
 two. Bishop Elias died in December, 1863, aged more than 
 eighty years. He had always been a man of deep piety, with 
 an earnest longing for salvation. Although he was already 
 fifty years old when the missionaries came, he welcomed them 
 with joy, and at once allied himself with them, trusting them 
 implicitly as true servants of his God. He was a thoroughly 
 honest and simple-minded man, loving the Bible ardently, and 
 having it ever with him. His last exhortation to those who 
 gathered round his death-bed was, " Children, hold fast to the 
 Word of God ! " He was a bright example of how useful a 
 worker a IS'estorian may be. Barely a year later, in the autumn 
 of 1864, Deacon Isaac died. Had you seen him in his simple 
 clothing, and with his modest manner, you would not have 
 thought that he belonged to the highest nobility of his coun- 
 
Persia 303 
 
 try, nor that he had in his youth often fought against Kurdish 
 bandits. He was a brother of the Patriarch, and it was pain- 
 ful to him that the latter proved to be so unreliable, and that 
 he held more and more aloof from the mission, even putting 
 obstacles in its way. Yet the Patriarch's family was proud 
 of Isaac. Though he had been brought up in a society in 
 which even nobles did not blush when caught telling a lie, his 
 word could be implicitly believed. People seeking redress of 
 wrongs crowded his courtyard, knowing that he would pro- 
 nounce judgment without respect of persons, and would take 
 neither payment nor present, though all around him were 
 open to bribery. While his countrymen treated their wives 
 with deliberate contempt, he held his faithful wife Martha in 
 high respect, and they led together an exemplary married life. 
 At the same time he was by nature of a proud and passionate 
 disposition. "When once a French Lazarist offended him, he 
 sprang up in wrath, and grasped the sword at his side ; but 
 from that day he carried his sword no more. 
 
 ^. The American Presbyterian Mission among the I^es- 
 
 torians^ 1870-1908 
 
 Like the mission in Syria (Chapter lY, A, 3), the Persian 
 Mission was transferred by the American Board in the autumn 
 of 1870 to the American Presbyterians. The second period 
 in the history of the mission in Persia now began. A wider 
 work than that in Urumiah was at once undertaken, but we will 
 first follow the development of the Urumiah Mission. "When 
 the Presbyterians took over the mission work here, they found 
 about 700 people who attended the Protestant celebration of 
 the communion, and about 960 children in the schools. No 
 official separation from the Nestorian Church had yet been 
 effected, the leading missionary, Justin Perkins, having been 
 decidedly opposed to this step up to the time of his death in 
 
 *S. G. WilaoD, "Persia, the Western Mission " ; Rev. James Bassett, "Persia, 
 the Eastern Mission"; Wishard, " Twenty-five Years in Persia "; Wilson, 
 "Persian Life and Customs " ; Bassett, " The Land of the Imams." 
 
304. History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 1869. But it was now recognized that separation was una- 
 voidable, and the Protestants were organized into the " Ke- 
 formed Nestorian Church." It was by no means with a light 
 heart that this step was taken, but a conviction had grown 
 that the organization of the ancient Church could not be 
 thoroughly reformed in the evangelical spirit ; that its services 
 could not be adapted to modern needs ; that there would ever 
 be a remnant of the old half-heathenish leaven. Yet, even up 
 to the time of the Russian invasion, of which we shall speak 
 later, opinions differed among the missionaries themselves as 
 to whether a rupture was absolutely unavoidable, and whether 
 a new, completely independent Church would be altogether 
 an advantage. Since the large secessions to the Russian 
 Church, such doubts have been laid to rest. Facts have proved 
 that the Presbyterians acted rightly. As everywhere in the 
 Near East, the establishment of a new Church involved im- 
 mense difficulties of organization, which only decades could 
 overcome. The influence of the American Mission was strong 
 only among the 25,000 ]^estorians living on Persian territory. 
 But even in this district there were hardly any accessions of 
 whole villages or families ; for the most part only individuals, 
 of whom more than half were women, joined the new Church. 
 And the number grew but slowly. According to the statis- 
 tics given in the Mission Report of 1907, there were at that 
 time in the " Reformed Church " 2,658 communicants, belong- 
 ing to 961 families, thirty-eight per cent, being men, and sixty- 
 two per cent, women. The adherents numbered about 5,000, 
 3,Y70 adults and 3,180 children attending the Sunday services. 
 These live for the most part in Urumiah and the villages of the 
 Urumiah plain, though a few come from the adjacent plains of 
 Salmas in the north and Sulduz in the south, and from the 
 valleys of the Kurd mountains, Beranduz, Tergawar, Marga- 
 war and others. There were a few good-sized congregations, 
 in Geogtapa, Gulpashan, Degala, Charigushi, Charbash, all in 
 the Urumiah plain ; and also smaller groups of Protestants, or 
 even single individuals, living scattered over the country. 
 It was difficult to provide pastoral care for all these Prot- 
 
Persia 305 
 
 estants. Having been accustomed, as !N"estorians, to a more 
 than abundant supply of clergymen, both of superior and of 
 inferior rank, each little group of Protestants now wanted its 
 own ordained minister. But, as they had not been in thq 
 habit of paying their Nestorian ministers regular salaries, it 
 was hard to induce them to provide salaries, however small, 
 for their Protestant ministers. The Board attacked the prob- 
 lem at first by dividing the country of the Nestorians in Persia 
 into fifty districts, each containing 500 members, and by doing 
 its best to provide each of these districts with a minister. In 
 accordance with this scheme thirty-five such ministers were 
 actually appointed. Thus they brought the entire ITestorian 
 Church in Persia within the sound and under the influence 
 of the Gospel ; and, when they had, in addition, founded their 
 village schools, of which there were at times as many as 
 sixty-three, with 1,666 pupils, it might have been supposed 
 that they had made ample provision for the evangelization of 
 that part of Persia. Yet this extensive plan had its serious 
 drawbacks. It was really a missionary organization adapted 
 to reach the entire iN'estorian people, rather than a church and 
 school system for the Protestants. And the Protestants could 
 not be made to feel financial responsibility for carrying out a 
 plan which so far exceeded their own needs, particularly as, 
 up to that time, a generous supply of money had come from 
 America. Besides, the people were too poor to have main- 
 tained such an extensive organization, even had they wished 
 to do so. The Presbyterians, however, as is well known, 
 attach great importance to the placing of their congregations 
 on an independent ecclesiastical and financial basis. 
 
 A change was therefore made ; it was decided to limit the 
 organization to the needs of the existing congregations. This 
 was a diflScult matter. The grouping of four or five villages 
 into a parish was often frustrated by the childish insistence of 
 each village upon having its own minister. And, in localities 
 where the members were widely scattered, it was impossible 
 to form parishes small enough to be cared for by a single pastor, 
 and, at the same time, containing members enough to be able 
 
306 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 to pay the minister's salary. To the present day two- thirds 
 of the expenses of maintaining the churches, and three-fourths 
 of the salaries paid to the ministers are supplied from 
 America. 
 
 XJrumiah continued to be the main station, other stations 
 being only temporarily occupied. All the chief institutions of 
 the mission are in Urumiah. The schools for girls are, in the 
 main, still conducted along the lines marked out by the Amer- 
 ican Board. The Fidelia Fiske Seminary is, as formerly, the 
 crown of the system. In the system of education for boys 
 considerable changes were made. We have seen that the 
 American Board early founded a " seminary " for boys. 
 This seminary was intended to be a school for the training of 
 catechists, of whom a large number were needed, since the 
 mission felt that the best plan for exercising a deep influence 
 on the Nestorian Church was to train two boys out of each 
 village, in Urumiah, at the expense of the mission, and then to 
 send them back home to act as paid helpers. But this plan 
 failed, since most of those who were thus pressed into mission 
 service were unfitted for such work by reason of their lack of 
 spirituality. The plan was therefore discontinued by the 
 Presbyterians. After making for ten years various changes 
 in the boys' seminary, they raised it to the status of a college 
 with three parallel courses, an arts course, a divinity course, 
 and a medical course. There are not always students in the 
 latter two courses. In this form the college has become an 
 important institution for the entire Kestorian people, who can 
 nowhere else find an education so good as is here available. 
 As the Syrians in general are intelligent, and hungry for edu- 
 cation, the college has been well attended. Between 1878 and 
 1896, one hundred and ten students passed the final examina- 
 tion, thirty-six of whom, it is pleasant to report, entered the 
 service of the mission. Here again, however, a peculiar diffi- 
 culty, common in the Near East, presented itself. Since 
 Christians are excluded from the service of the state, and 
 from the most lucrative professions, such students as did not 
 enter the service of the mission were practically forced to 
 
Persia 307 
 
 emigrate. And such emigration was the easier because of the 
 valuable knowledge of the English language which they had 
 acquired while in the^ college where English was, almost of 
 necessity, the medium of instruction. This emigration to Eu- 
 rope and the United States, so disastrous to Protestant mis- 
 sions and Churches throughout the Near East, increased in 
 proportion to the mismanagement of the Persian government, 
 and the impoverishment of the Syrians through overtaxation 
 and the constant raids of the Kurds. 
 
 The printing establishment in Urumiah was conducted on a 
 limited scale, the annual output being about 800,000 pages of 
 Modern Syriac. In addition to the necessary books for church 
 and school, tracts, leaflets, an occasional larger book, and a 
 weekly paper. The Rays of Light, are published. 
 
 The Presbyterians, soon after they took over the mission, 
 began an important medical work in Urumiah. With the large 
 sums placed at their disposal they built the Westminster Hos- 
 pital, placing Dr. Joseph Cochran (1878-1895), a distinguished 
 physician, at its head. 
 
 !N'ot only was Dr. Cochran's extensive practice in itself a great 
 blessing, his work also so increased the respect for Christianity 
 among the Kurds and Persians that the Christians were less 
 subjected to oppression and violence. One of the best ex- 
 amples of this occurred in 1880, when the Kurdish sheikh, 
 Obeid Allah, surrounded Urumiah, threatening to bombard it. 
 In the midst of the general panic and despair, Cochran, at 
 that time a youth of twenty-five, came forward and succeeded 
 in inducing the sheikh to march away from Urumiah, pointing 
 out to him the many benefits which the Kurds had derived 
 from the medical mission. 
 
 Little could be done by the Presbyterians for the Nestorians 
 living in the mountains on the Turkish border. A few Syrian 
 preachers and cateohists worked among them, and now and 
 then a Syrian doctor, who had been trained by Dr. Cochran ; 
 two boarding-schools and twelve primary -schools were also 
 maintained. The missionaries made an effort, in spite of the 
 increasing insecurity of the region, to keep in touch with these 
 
3o8 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 outposts by means of regular visits ; but such visits were often 
 for years at a time impossible.^ 
 
 S, Missionary Com/petition 
 
 When one considers that the iN'estorians of Persia number 
 at most 25,000, and that there are only 80,000 of the moun- 
 tain JSTestorians, whom it is so hard to reach, one could wish 
 that the Presbyterians might have been left to carry on mis- 
 sion work among them alone. But we have already told how 
 the French Lazarists entered into competition with them 
 there. We must, in this section, give some account of a host 
 of rival missions. 
 
 It was unpleasant for the Americans when, in 1881, a small 
 German Lutheran mission began work in the Urumiah district. 
 A Syrian priest. Kasha Pera Johannes, who had wandered 
 into Germany, had met with much sympathy from Pev. 
 Theodor Harms, pastor of Hermannsburg, and, with his 
 help, had aroused the interest of certain Lutherans, in Alsace 
 and in the province of Hannover, in a plan to reform the 
 Nestorian Church according to the Lutheran Protestant faith, 
 without establishing an independent Church. Returning 
 home, Pera Johannes settled in Wazirabad in the neighbour- 
 hood of Urumiah, becoming a pastor within the Nestorian 
 Church. Kasha Yaure Abraham of Geogtapa, five miles to the 
 south of Urumiah, associated himself with Johannes. Plenti- 
 fully supplied with money from Hermannsburg, these two 
 tried to disseminate Lutheran ideas in their small congre- 
 gations. 
 
 More serious for the Presbyterian work was the entrance 
 of the Anglican Mission. After the Presbyterian Mission be- 
 
 *Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, who travelled among the monntain Neatorians for 
 two months, tells ua that they are lovers of the Bible : — " The Bible is free, and is 
 to be found in every house, and every one is able to read it. Daily, morning 
 and evening, they read a good portion when they assemble in their churches. It 
 is not customary to have family worship ; instead of this they meet at sunrise in 
 the church, when Psalms and other portions of Scripture are read." 
 
Persia 309 
 
 gan to form separate congregations, the leaders of the Nes- 
 torian Church, especially the Patriarch Mar Shimun, and those 
 who stood nearest to him, were on the lookout for another 
 mission, which would leave their Church intact, and would 
 act as a counterpoise to the increasing influence of the Pres- 
 byterians. The attention of the leaders of the Anglican 
 Church had already been attracted to the Nestorians. In 
 1835 the Royal Geographical Society and the Society for 
 Promoting Christian Knowledge had sent a joint expedition 
 to Kurdistan, to make enquiries concerning the land and its 
 people, especially, also, to look into ecclesiastical matters. 
 The result was that, in 1842, Archbishop Howley, with the 
 assistance of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 
 sent a learned missionary, the Rev. G. P. Badger, to Mosul, 
 to begin work among the mountain Nestorians. Just at that 
 time the Kurdish sheikh, Bedr Khan, was raging in the moun- 
 tains of Kurdistan. The general confusion and disorder were 
 such that Badger had to return in despair to England within 
 a year. 
 
 Thirty-four years passed before another missionary, Rev. 
 E. L. Cutts, was sent to Kurdistan, and he, too, left within a 
 year. His successor, the Scandinavian Wahl, pressed for- 
 ward into the heart of Kurdistan and established himself in 
 Kotchhannes and Duzza, where he remained five)<years (1880- 
 1885), amidst great deprivations. In the year 1886 the Arch- 
 bishops of Canterbury and York organized this mission under 
 the misleading title, " Assyrian Mission," with the purpose of 
 reforming the Nestorian Church from within. And there was 
 room enough for the Anglicans, if only they would devote 
 themselves to the Syrians in the mountains, among whom the 
 Presbyterians had gained so little foothold. But this the 
 Anglicans did only in that one of their missionaries settled in 
 Kotchhannes, some 7,000 feet above sea-level, where it was al- 
 most impossible to remain during the winter. The head- 
 quarters of their mission they established in Urumiah. This 
 was inconsiderate treatment of the Presbyterians, made worse 
 by the action of the Anglicans injpublicly announcing that 
 
31 o History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 they had come to defend the Nestorians against the AmerL 
 cans. Friction naturally resulted. 
 
 The Anglicans sent out able men of learning and culture. 
 It is not by chance that we owe to them a good literature 
 dealing with the JSTestorians.^ They also deserve the credit of 
 having discovered valuable ecclesiastical treasures in the An- 
 cient Syriac language, which, by their reprints, they have 
 made accessible not only to the scholars of Europe, but also 
 to the Syrian clergy. In contrast with the Americans, who 
 had made Modern Syriac a written language, and had me- 
 thodically used it in their publications, the Anglicans endeav- 
 oured to teach the Syrian clergy the ancient ecclesiastical lan- 
 guage. This language they also taught in their schools. 
 Their printing-press in Urumiah was their chief agency. Apart 
 from this their work lacked continuity, especially since their 
 missionaries did not stay longer than five years, or at the 
 most, ten years in Urumiah, only one remaining for twenty 
 years. They established a boys' boarding-school, and one for 
 girls, in Urumiah, while in Kotchhannes they maintained dur- 
 ing five months in the summer a boarding-school for the sons 
 of priestly families, who were themselves] to become priests. 
 For a time they had three or four lady missionaries and a 
 medical missionary in Urumiah. In addition, they established 
 village schools throughout the territory inhabited by the Nes- 
 torians, even in the remotest valleys, the number of these 
 schools being at times as high as eighty. 
 
 Most fateful for the history of the ancient ISTestorian Church 
 was the Kussian invasion of 1898. We have already seen that 
 the emigration of Nestorians had brought the people into close 
 relations with Southern Kussia. After the great Kurdish at- 
 tack in 1880, the position of the Christians, unprotected as 
 they were by the Persian government, grew to be well-nigh 
 unbearable. The fearful Armenian massacres showed the 
 
 'Dr. Badger, "Nestorians and their Rituals," 1843; Riley, " Narrative of a 
 Visit to the Assyrian Christians in Kurdist-an," 1884; A. F. Maclean, "The 
 Catholicos of the East and his People"; W. Browne, "The Liturgy of the 
 Apostles Adai and Mari " ; O. H. Parry, " Six Months in a Syrian Monastery." 
 
Persia 311 
 
 Syrians what was in store for themselves, should they be de- 
 livered into the hands of the Kurds. Moreover, Eussia's in- 
 tention to occupy the province of Azerbaijan became more and 
 more transparent. At this juncture the idea entered the brain 
 of Mar Yonan, an adventurous Syrian bishop, that the Syrian 
 Church should throw itself into the arms of Eussia by joining 
 the Eussian Church ; she was thus to gain the protection of 
 the Eussian eagle and to be made master of the country. This 
 misguided plan found unexpected acceptance with the op- 
 pressed Syrians, especially since a report was abroad that the 
 Eussians were ready to come to their help as a Church with 
 untold millions of rubles. Thus it came to pass that in the 
 spring of 1897 the ISTestorian bishop, Mar Yonan, and Mirza 
 Joseph Khan Arsenius set out for St. Petersburg, with a 
 lengthy petition in their hands. As a result, two Eussian 
 monks and a married priest arrived in Urumiah on the 25th of 
 May, 1897, to spy out the land. They were enthusiastically 
 welcomed by the N'estorian population, being accorded a trium- 
 phal entry. Men and women sang and danced around them ; 
 they were greeted as deliverers from the yoke of the Moslems. 
 The Christians shouted to the astonished Moslems that it was 
 now their turn, and that Christians would soon have their feet 
 on the necks of their old oppressors, and would occupy their 
 houses and fields. Bishop Mar Yonan himself led the Eussian 
 invasion, which was crowned with great success. The alluring 
 promises of Eussian protection were most effective, for ten or 
 fifteen thousand ITestorians signed their names in the lists of 
 the Eussian monks. The Protestant congregations themselves 
 caught the infection, and hundreds of Protestants joined the 
 members of the ancient Church, anv who refused to do so 
 being treated with scorn, and even beaten. In the summer 
 the monks returned to St. Petersburg, and there followed some 
 months of intense excitement for the ISTestorians, until Eussia 
 should decide what action to take. On the 6th of April, 1898, 
 there was an extraordinary meeting of the Holy Synod in St. 
 Petersburg, to which a deputation of !N"estorian priests was in- 
 vited, Bishop Mar Yonan at their head. It was determined 
 
312 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 that the members of this deputation should be received into the 
 Orthodox Church, and that they should retain their former 
 stations and offices. The ceremony of reception took place 
 with much pomp the next day, in the famous Alexander 
 Newski monastery. At once it was resolved to establish a 
 mission in Urumiah. On their way thither the Kussian mission- 
 aries received into the orthodox communion a colony of from 
 800 to 1,500 Nestorians in Tiflis. In Tabriz the missionaries 
 were ceremoniously received by the Russian consul-general, 
 and also by the frightened Persian authorities. In Urumiah 
 they began without delay to receive into their Church the 
 Nestorians who had entered their names in the lists. Many 
 of these had repented of their action in the matter, but it was 
 now too late to draw back. By promises, persuasions and 
 threats, village after village was induced to abjure the 
 " errors of JSTestorius," and to sign a paper in which they ac- 
 cepted the Orthodox faith. Twenty thousand of the 25,000 
 Nestorians in Persia thus joined the Russian Church. 
 
 Even in the Oriental Churches, with their many vacillations, 
 there had never been so great a falling away. Where was now 
 the incorruptible loyalty of the Syrians to their ancient 
 Church, which had been so lauded by the Anglicans and 
 Lutherans ? Both these missions were compelled to undergo 
 the pain of witnessing how even the congregations in which 
 their influence was strongest went over en masse to the Rus- 
 sian Church. 'Nor did the Americans require any further 
 proof of the correctness of their assertion that the only way 
 to help the Syrian Church was by Protestant reorganization. 
 On the whole, it was only their congregations that remained 
 steadfast, their church organization proving strong enough to 
 resist this attack. 
 
 The Russian conquest swept over the country like a storm. 
 It was years, however, before its effects could be fully appre- 
 ciated. The Reformed Nestorian Church of the Presbyterians 
 suffered little permanent damage ; only a few hundreds of 
 members left it, and these soon came back repentant, so that 
 a year later the Presbyterians were able to report an increase 
 
Persia 313 
 
 of membership. The position of the Protestants towards the 
 other Nestorians had, to be sure, undergone a complete change, 
 and this change was at first unfavourable. Whereas, before 
 the storm, there had been no sharp split between their con- 
 gregations and the ancient Church, so that the missionaries 
 had been able to work as preachers and teachers in the Syrian 
 Church at large, there was now a deep cleft between the 
 " Russian " Christians and those of the Reformed Church. It 
 was hardly possible to exercise any considerable influence 
 upon the seceders in their first zeal. Yet those who gradually 
 became dissatisfied with the Russian Church, and desired to 
 leave it, usually preferred to join the Protestant fold, where 
 they felt that they had solid ground under their feet, rather 
 than to return to the ancient Nestorian Church. In this way 
 the number of members of the Reformed Church increased 
 from 2.100 to 3,161 during the last decade. 
 
 But what was to become of the "Assyrian" Mission of the 
 Anglicans in Persia ? There was practically no longer an in- 
 dependent Nestorian Church, and it was impossible to work as 
 Protestants within the bounds of the Russian Orthodox 
 Church. Equally impossible was it that the Anglicans should 
 make proselytes among the ITestorian members of the Russian 
 Church, or even assist such as wished to return to their ancient 
 Church, for the Greek Church was, like the ancient Nestorian, 
 also a sister Church, since it, too, held the doctrine of an 
 " historic episcopate." The Anglicans have consequently 
 transferred the main part of their work to the other side of 
 the «Turkish border, where they have made Yan a new centre 
 from which to reach the Syrians of the mountains. They 
 have been gradually striking their tents in Urumiah. Their 
 medical missionary and lady missionaries have returned to 
 England. Their boys' boarding-school has been closed, and 
 work in the Urumiah plain discontinued. 
 
 The Russians have made themselves at home in this easily 
 acquired ecclesiastical province. Thanks to their political back- 
 ing, their influence is almost supreme. Political influence has 
 secured for them a commanding site outside Urumiah for the 
 
314 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 building of a cathedral. Thej are in possession of all the old 
 churches and benefices, and have no intention of spending 
 their own money on the support and development of the 
 Church. Many of their converts have returned to their senses, 
 especially since Russia's terrible political collapse during, and 
 after, the war against Japan, it having become apparent that 
 the hopes entertained of help from Eussia were not likely to 
 be fulfilled. These would gladly return to their old Church, 
 if only they could. But this is a very difl&cult matter. Some 
 of the congregations are instituting legal proceedings to re- 
 cover their churches from the Russians, and have been in some 
 cases successful, thanks to the help afforded by the foreign 
 consuls. 
 
 The most unpleasant and regrettable after-affect of these 
 upheavals is the overrunning of this tiny country by small 
 societies. Nestorian adventurers go to America and Europe, 
 where, by touching stories and exaggerated descriptions of 
 the work they are doing, they win the interest of credulous 
 people. Then they return home with full pockets, and, with 
 the continued support of the friends they have made, there 
 enjoy the fruits of the " work " they have done in Christian 
 countries. They open a few day-schools, build a chapel and 
 engage a few Syrian helpers ; they are now in a position to 
 send glowing reports of their work to their easily satisfied 
 friends in foreign lands. 
 
 Such small missionary undertakings have sprung up like 
 mushrooms in Urumiah. The United Lutheran Church of 
 America maintains a few kashas (ISTestorian priests), and in 
 1905, sent an American missionary, the Rev. Mr. Fossum, to 
 superintend the work. A Syrian congregation in Urumiah, 
 which left the Russian Church, has joined this mission. The 
 Swedish- American *' Augustana Synode" employs a kasha 
 who conducts two day-schools. The Evangelical Association 
 for the Advancement of the Nestorian Church, which was 
 founded in 1906 in Berlin, employs a kasha who has had a 
 Lutheran training in Germany. He works in some degree of 
 cooperation with the Anglicans, and has added a fourth to the 
 
Persia 315 
 
 already existing mission printing establishments in TJrumiah. 
 This society gave birth to another, which also supports a 
 kasha. For ten years Dr. Lepsius' German " Orientmission " 
 maintained outside Urumiah an orphanage for Syrian fugitives 
 from the mountains, but it is to be closed soon. The English 
 Plymouth Brethren employ three or four kashas in the 
 " Awishalum " Mission, named after the chief representative 
 of the mission in Persia, Awishalum (Absalom) Seyad. 
 There are also small missions connected with the American 
 Dunkards, the Holiness Methodists, the American Southern 
 Baptists, and the Northern Baptists, as well as a small bod}'^ 
 of English Congregationalists. 
 
 Before we take leave of TJrumiah we must make mention of 
 some of the leading American Presbyterian missionaries, and 
 also glance at the hopeless political situation of the past two 
 years, in the northwest corner of Persia and among the 
 mountain Syrians. A most able member of the Presbyterian 
 Mission was Dr. Cochran, of whom we have already spoken. 
 A skillful surgeon, he enjoyed general respect, even among 
 Muhammadans, on account of his devoted work as a medical 
 missionary. He rendered highly valuable service, also, by 
 training native Syrians to be doctors, or, at least, medical 
 assistants. At the age of fifty he was removed by death 
 (1905). In the circle of the missionaries the Labarees have 
 been a prominent family. The venerable Dr. Benjamin 
 Labaree served for forty-six years (1860-1906), though not 
 continuously, in the Urumiah Mission, of which, particularly 
 after his last return in 1898, he was the soul. In addition to 
 his other activities he did good work as an author in the 
 Modern Syriac language, and as a reviser of the Modern 
 Syriac translation of the Bible. He had the joy of seeing a 
 son and a daughter enter the service of the Persian Mission. 
 This son, while making a missionary tour in the plain of 
 Salmas to the north of Urumiah, was murdered, in the summer 
 of 1905, by a fanatical sayid (a descendant of the Prophet), 
 assisted by a horde of Bogzaba Kurds from the Dasht plain, 
 which lies west of Urumiah. Such unprovoked murder of a 
 
31 6 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 missionary was a thing unheard of ; and it was the E[iore sur- 
 prising since the missionaries were supposed to be on particu- 
 larly friendly terms with these Dasht Kurds, many of whom 
 had derived much benejQt from the mission hospital. Though 
 urged to do so by the English and American consuls, the 
 weak Persian government did not dare to assert its authority 
 and punish the murderers. It was a comfort to the sorrowing 
 father that another of his sons, at that time a minister in 
 America, set out at once to take his brother^s place. Dr. 
 Labaree lived long enough to welcome his second son in 
 Urumiah. Then, attacked by a serious illness, he died, while 
 on the North Sea, on his way to seek the advice of German 
 doctors, on the 9th of March, 1906. 
 
 During the last few years matters have gone from bad to 
 worse in that northwestern corner of Persia. The wheat har- 
 vest failed for several years, and the people have suffered from 
 famine. Nor have the Syrians been able to earn money in 
 Kussia, as thousands of them used to do, because of the revo- 
 lution there. After the Armenian massacres of 1895 and 
 1896, also, tens of thousands of mountain Syrians and 
 Armenians emigrated to Azerbaijan, where the Syrian 
 families, in a noble spirit of hospitality, shared their last 
 morsel with the newcomers, and thus impoverished them- 
 selves. In addition to all this, the Turks took advantage of 
 the extremity of the people in 1907 to raise old boundary 
 questions. They crossed the border with a considerable mili- 
 tary force, established themselves in Souchbulak, and plun- 
 dered the districts to the north and south of Urumiah. 
 
 It is a great pity that the main stock of the Syrians in the 
 mountains of Kurdistan live in so inaccessible a region. 
 And against missionaries from Urumiah the Turkish 
 boundary is often closed for years at a time. Yet, in spite of 
 these obstacles, a Presbyterian missionary passed year by 
 year through the wilderness of Kurdish mountains, seeking in 
 the most remote corners of the land the little companies of 
 Christians. Twenty-eight Syrian preachers care for thirty- 
 two small congregations with about 400 members. In forty- 
 
Persia 317 
 
 eight villages there are schools with 841 pupils. In Baz 
 there is a small boarding-school doing good work under the 
 efficient and faithful supervision of a Syrian kasha. Most of 
 the other schools are small, averaging ten or twelve pupils 
 each. These schools are in session only four months, during 
 the winter, which is entirely too short a term, especially for 
 the larger villages, where there is increasing demand for bet- 
 ter schools. The Presbyterian Mission is planning to found a 
 new station on the Turkish side of the Nestorian territory, in 
 Yan, as a centre for a wider school work. But the uncer- 
 tainty of the political situation has delayed the carrying 
 out of this project. The Eoman Catholic missionaries, who 
 have their headquarters in Mosul, seem to be gaining ground 
 in the midst of the general confusion, and are advancing up 
 the river Zab. They have even won over some of the mem- 
 bers of the Patriarch's family. 
 
 4,. American Presbyterian Missions in Persia, Exclusive of 
 
 the Mission among the JSfestorians 
 
 When the Presbyterians entered Persia in 1870, they 
 resolved not to confine their work to the mission among the 
 Nestorians. In 1872 they opened a station in the capital, 
 Teheran, and, in 1873, another in Tabriz, the capital and the 
 most important commercial centre of the northwestern 
 province of Azerbaijan. Since the miserable state of the 
 roads made frequent communication between Urumiah and 
 Teheran very difficult, and since a further extension of the 
 work was planned, they soon divided the mission in Persia 
 into the Western Persia Mission and the Eastern Persia Mis- 
 sion (1874). 
 
 It was extremely difficult to make a beginning in the new 
 fields. Direct missionary work among Muhammadans, who 
 constituted by far the larger part of the population, was 
 almost impossible. Even ten years later, in 1880 and 1881, 
 the situation had hardly changed, as is shown by an extensive 
 and painful correspondence with the political authorities. 
 It had been brought to the notice of the shah that religious 
 
318 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 meetings on the mission premises in Teheran had been at- 
 tended by certain Muhammadans. An order was immediately 
 issued, not only forbidding the missionaries to give religious 
 instruction to Mussulmans, but even ordering them to pre- 
 vent the attendance of Mussulmans at their religious services. 
 After careful consideration of the whole case, the mission 
 made the following recommendations : — (1) It is the duty of 
 all our missionaries and native helpers to answer in the spirit 
 of meekness, and not of controversy, all who sincerely seek 
 to know the way of life. (2) It is not our duty, nor is it wise 
 to open schools for Mussulmans at the present time. (3) It 
 should be left to each station to act in view of the aforesaid 
 orders as the providence of God and evident duty may dictate. 
 They submitted this reply to the British minister, through 
 whom they were at that time in the habit of communicating 
 with the Persian government. The minister answered that, 
 "should the missionaries here or elsewhere allow Mussulmans 
 to attend their religious services, they will imperil their posi- 
 tion in the country, as the government would probably inter- 
 fere with their work, if they did not even forbid their 
 residing in Persia " ! 
 
 In this strained situation it was wise that the Americans at 
 first confined their labours to the non-Muhammadan parts of 
 the population. There were scattered colonies of Nestorian 
 Syrians to be cared for, and there was an important, though 
 not very large, Armenian element. The Armenians were 
 strongest in the villages of the Salmas plain and in the 
 neighbourhood of Urumiah ; they had colonies of considerable 
 size in many of the large towns, such as Teheran, Tabriz, 
 Resht, Kasvin, Hamadan and Julfa-Ispahan ; and they in 
 habited isolated groups of villages in the Karaghan Moun- 
 tains, half-way between Teheran and Hamadan, and elsewhere. 
 The number of these Armenians in Persia is generally stated 
 to be about 100,000 ; but Lord Curzon, an authority on mat- 
 ters in Persia, thinks that there are no more than 43,000, 
 besides the thousands of refugees who came over the Turkish 
 frontier after the massacres of 1895 and 1896. Then there 
 
Persia 319 
 
 are about 80,000 Jews scattered over Persia, most of them 
 living la and about Hamadan, the old Ecbatana, the royal 
 city of Queen Esther, though there are smaller colonies of 
 them in Teheran, Tabriz and Urumiah. 
 
 It was new ground on which the Presbyterians entered. 
 Henry Martyn had, indeed, spent eleven months in Shiraz ; 
 the Basle missionaries of the Transcaucasian Mission had in- 
 termittently occupied Tabriz as a mission station, between 
 the years 1829 and 1837; after their withdrawal the Scotch 
 missionary, Rev. William Glen, of the United Associate 
 Synod of Scotland, had for some years his headquarters in 
 the same commercial centre, whence he made extensive tours 
 for Bible distribution ; and missionaries to the Jews had from 
 time to time visited the isolated Jewish colonies. But these 
 were only sporadic efforts. 
 
 So the Presbyterians had to learn how to cope with un- 
 familiar and serious difficulties. The first decades of their 
 patient work were days of sowing, in which the seed of the 
 "Word was scattered broadcast on the barren fields, in the 
 hope that here or there a grain might fall on good land. 
 Extensive tours were now and then undertaken, either by the 
 missionaries themselves, or by their native assistants, to the 
 extreme east, where the holy city of Meshhed lies, into the 
 deserts of Central Persia as far as Yezd, to the Armenian and 
 Jewish colonies in the neighbourhood of Hamadan, to the 
 Armenian villages in the Karaghan Mountains, and to the 
 thickly populated plains north of Urumiah as far as the Russian 
 frontier. Schools for boys and girls were opened in Teheran 
 and Tabriz. A footing was gained in Hamadan among the 
 Armenians, and, some years later, among the Jews too, and 
 was maintained in spite of the strong opposition of the Ar- 
 menian archbishop and the Jewish rabbis. After many vicis- 
 situdes and trying persecutions of the Jewish Christians there, 
 a new station was founded in this old and famous city, in 
 1881. Other openings presented themselves, in the village of 
 Sheverine not far from Hamadan, in the scattered group 
 of Armenian villages on the Karaghan Mountains, and among 
 
320 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the comparatively large Armenian population of the Salmas 
 plain. Everywhere the work was uncertain at first. Either 
 it transpired sooner or later that the Armenians merely wished 
 to get cheap schools for their children, or the leaders of the 
 old Church hindered every forward step by petty persecution 
 and intrigue. An advance was made when, in 1884, against 
 the strongest antagonism of the authorities, a fourth station 
 w^as founded in the Salmas plain, near the village of Haft- 
 devan. Congregations were formed in Teheran (1876), Ha- 
 madan (1876) and Resht (1883) ; but all of them were small, the 
 largest, that in Teheran, numbering twelve members. A be- 
 ginning was made with the training of a native ministry, some 
 seven young men, most of them Armenians, being brought 
 together in Teheran for a longer or shorter course of instruc- 
 tion, often interrupted by colportage tours or the require- 
 ments of some out-of-the-way village. A printing-press was 
 sent to Teheran, but it was never really operated, since it 
 was found cheaper to have the necessary books and tracts 
 printed in Persian establishments. Every book, also, had to 
 be approved by the censor of the press before publication, and 
 it was easier for Persians to get through these annoyances 
 than it would have been for an American printer. The 
 schools were one of the hopeful features of the mission. At 
 first it was out of the question to give instruction in Persian, 
 since the authorities were so fearful that Muhammadan chil- 
 dren might attend the schools ; and for a time it was even 
 doubtful whether the authorities would permit schools to be 
 opened in which the Armenian language should be used. 
 But the mission succeeded, though they could, at that time, 
 admit no Muhammadan pupil. A good girls' boarding-school 
 for Armenian girls was opened in the capital. A good many 
 Muhammadans attended public worship in the mission chapels, 
 especially in Teheran. Even two or three baptisms of con- 
 verted Muhammadans gladdened the hearts of the lonely mis- 
 sionaries. But, on the whole, the work was very uphill and 
 taxed the faith and endurance of the missionaries severely. 
 A fresh start was made when medical missions were begun 
 
Persia 321 
 
 in 1878. The first medical mission, naturally, was opened in 
 Urumiah. We have already mentioned the devoted and suc- 
 cessful work of Dr. Joseph P. Cochran. In Tabriz and Teheran 
 medical mission work was begun in 1881. In Tabriz the pio- 
 neer was Dr. G. W. Holmes, a distinguished physician, who, at 
 the urgent request of the Persian crown prince, entered for some 
 years his personal service, thus temporarily severing his con- 
 nection with the mission. Both these stations were reinforced 
 by the arrival of lady doctors. Dr. Mary Bradford coming to 
 Tabriz in 1888, and Dr. Mary Smith to Teheran in 1890. In 
 1893 Dr. J. G. Wishard became head of the medical work in 
 Teheran. Dispensaries were opened at once in both cities, 
 and in the course of time hospitals were built. This medical 
 work was a great blessing to Persians of all classes, for the 
 native physicians and surgeons were extremely ignorant, dirty 
 and unreliable. And Persia was visited almost regularly by 
 the most dangerous epidemics, such as cholera, and the bubonic 
 plague, which devastated whole districts, and decimated popu- 
 lous towns. Yet the medical missionaries had to overcome 
 serious obstacles. The idea of the ceremonial cleanness of the 
 orthodox Muhammadan, and of the uncleanness of the native 
 or foreign Christian, was so deeply rooted that Muhammadans 
 could scarcely force themselves to enter the house of a Chris- 
 tian physician, to be touched by his unclean hands, or to 
 swallow medicines prepared by him. It was even more dan- 
 gerous to stay under his roof in a hospital, daily exposed 
 to the contamination of his presence, and to eat the food pre- 
 pared by the cursed giaour. And the successful treatment of 
 patients was rendered difficult by ignorance, carelessness and 
 superstition. Patients swallowed salves to be applied ex- 
 ternally, and rubbed their bodies with pills to be taken inter- 
 nally ; they ate the paper in which a powder was wrapped, 
 or tried to dissolve it with the powder in water. If the pre- 
 scribed medicine did not help at the first dose, the patient lost 
 all hope and went to a native quack. Besides, the conditions 
 of life were very unfavourable for home treatment. The 
 patient was found lying on the floor, in a room occupied by 
 
322 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 the whole family, perhaps with pigs and fowls mixed up with 
 the children, and a crowd of talking and troublesome visitors 
 around him, even when the disease was contagious. 
 
 Yet European medical skill and Christian charity won their 
 way. After a while all classes learned to find refuge in the 
 mission hospitals in times of extremity. Royal princes, gen- 
 erals and officials of the highest rank sought the advice and 
 help of the medical missionaries no less than the poor. Their 
 renown spread to the remotest corner of the land, colporteurs 
 and itinerating preachers finding that they could get an en- 
 trance and a willing hearing by letting it be known that they 
 belonged to the medical mission. The medical missionary 
 work became a letter of recommendation for the American 
 Mission, well read and understood throughout the land. A 
 remarkable illustration of the degree to which the old preju- 
 dices have been overcome cheered the hearts of the mission- 
 aries in Teheran in 1906. A Persian lady of highest rank, the 
 wife of a major-general, a relative of the ruling Shah, was 
 operated upon, with the Shah's consent. This proof of confi- 
 dence on the part of the leading authorities made a deep 
 impression on the population of the capital. From that day 
 women thronged to the hospital as patients. In the same 
 year a wealthy Persian woman gave the money for an addi- 
 tion to the men's hospital, for the special use of poor women. 
 She paid the cost of furnishing the building also, and took 
 a lively interest in the patients, particularly in the severe 
 surgical cases, for which nothing could have been done with- 
 out a hospital. It has become almost a rule in the Presby- 
 terian Mission in Persia to fit out every new station with one 
 or two physicians. So Hamadan also was supplied with two 
 doctors, a man and a woman. After twenty years of quiet 
 progress along established lines, a large extension of the work 
 was planned, and two new stations were occupied in quick 
 succession, Resht in 1904, and Kasvin in 1905, medical mis- 
 sionary work being the mainstay in both places. 
 
 A second branch of mission work came gradually into 
 prominence, the work of education. Schools had, of course, 
 
Persia 
 
 323 
 
 been a part of the general mission work from the beginning 
 in Persia, as elsewhere. As time moved on and Persia came 
 into closer connection with the outside world, particularly 
 after the Shah Nasir-ed-Din had visited Europe in spite of the 
 superstitious fears of the mollahs and mujtahids, the convic- 
 tion dawned on the Persians that they must fall into line with 
 the universal progress of civilization. The Armenians and 
 Jews were more progressive at first than the bigoted Muham- 
 madans ; they eagerly sought the help of the mission in estab- 
 lishing primary schools for boys and girls, and they soon de- 
 manded the founding of more advanced schools. Gradually 
 the Persians, too, began to see that mission schools were much 
 better than their own, and that it was profitable for the 
 future career of their sons to take the course of such an 
 American school. So a few Muhammadan pupils quietly en- 
 tered the mission schools. It is of interest to follow up the 
 slow process of development in at least one school as an ex- 
 ample of what happened inthem all. 
 
 When, in 1887, the new boys' school was opened in Teheran, 
 most of the pupils were taken in as boarders without charge, 
 even the text-books being presented to them to secure regular 
 attendance. Yet, in spite of these inducements, the school 
 numbered only thirty pupils during the first year. After a 
 time, such means of attraction were abandoned; in 1894 the 
 boarding department was discontinued. Soon pupils were re- 
 quired to pay for their text-books. A few years later fees 
 were required. Yet the school grew in numbers and popu- 
 larity, and, although the mollahs strictly forbade Muhamma- 
 dan pupils to attend, even this opposition was quietly over- 
 come. At present 130 of the 236 pupils of the school are Mu- 
 hammadans, and even princes of the royal family have been 
 educated there. Recent years have witnessed a desperate 
 battle as to who should have the paramount influence in the 
 school. On the 18th of April, 1907, an attempt was made by 
 means of a strike, or revolt, to force the mission to make cer- 
 tain concessions to Muhammadan prejudices. Sixty-two pupils 
 and four teachers left the school. A rival school with the 
 
324 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 pompous name, " The Eternal United School," was started 
 under the auspices of the Persian minister of education. The 
 outlook for the mission school seemed rather gloomy for some 
 months. But the " Eternal United School " soon enough dis- 
 integrated from inward dissension, the rebellious pupils quietly 
 returned with many apologies and promises, and the storm 
 has left the school in an even stronger position than before in 
 the popular esteem. It is encouraging to see how many Mu- 
 hammadan pupils there are at present in the schools of the 
 Presbyterian Mission. In the Teheran girls' school there are 
 forty-nine, as compared with eighty-eight non-Muhammadans ; 
 in the Memorial Boys' School in Tabriz there are eighty Mu- 
 hammadans and 135|Armenians. In Urumiah, where the Amer- 
 ican Mission is most deeply rooted and firmly established by 
 its extensive work among the Nestorians, even separate schools 
 for Muhammadan pupils have been started ; the boys' school 
 numbers sixty-three Muhammadans, as compared with thirteen 
 Syrians and Jews ; the girls' school has sixty -seven pupils, almost 
 all of them Muhammadans. So, by enduring[patience and Amer- 
 ican energy, a footing has been gained on very difficult ground 
 and there is a hopeful outlook for larger efforts. During these 
 last few years a decided change has come over the Persians ; 
 they are beginning earnestly to seek a European education. 
 Schools with Western ideals, and after a more or less European 
 pattern, are springing up everywhere; the Persian government, 
 foreign legations, municipalities and private citizens vie with 
 one another in building up new schools. In some places, like 
 the capital Teheran, and the commercial centre Tabriz, there 
 is already a brisk competition, which sometimes draws pupils 
 away from the mission schools. But, on the whole, this new 
 current is a helpful one, and it is bringing crowds of hitherto 
 uneducated youth of both sexes into school life, undermining 
 the old-time rote schools, and creating a strong appetite for 
 sound education. Up to the present time the Americans have 
 been able to hold their place as the leading educational agency 
 of the land. 
 If there was a tendency, by the establishment of hospitals 
 
Persia 325 
 
 and schools, to confine the interests of the mission to the few 
 large cities where these institutions are located, an extensive 
 work of itinerating made a healthful counterbalance. The 
 colporteurs of the American Bible Society wandered to and 
 fro through the northern half of Persia, and at least a part of 
 the American Mission force of every station spends some 
 months, or at least weeks, of each year among the village 
 people. Itinerating work is of special importance^in the dis- 
 tricts surrounding Tabriz and Hamadan. Around Tabriz, as 
 far as the borders of Turkey and Russia, there stretches the 
 thickly populated province of Azerbaijan, of which Tabriz is 
 the capital, and in the fertile plains of which there are a good 
 many Armenian villages, colonies of Jews, and numerous clans 
 of nomadic Kurds. The station at the village of Haftdevan 
 in the Salmas plains has been abandoned, but in many towns 
 and villages there are Protestant congregations with native 
 pastors and preachers, and almost everywhere the itinerant 
 missionary finds a good hearing even among Muhammadans. 
 The Armenians alone are at present not so open to missionary 
 influences as they were in former decades. The intense polit- 
 ical agitation, which sprang up among them at the time of the 
 massacres in Turkish Armenia, has produced a very strong 
 nationalist feeling, as a result of which every leaning towards 
 Protestantism is eyed with suspicion ; no part of the popula- 
 tion is readier to open rival schools and to attempt in other 
 ways to counteract missionary influences. 
 
 From time to time an opening presented itself among the 
 unstable robber tribes of the Kurds. Gul Baba, an influejitial 
 sheikh, head of a religious sect which claimed 40,000 adher- 
 ents, showed a remarkable tolerance ; he welcomed the mis- 
 sionaries and other Christians to his remote mountain retreat, 
 was glad to engage in religious discussions, and read the Bible 
 with interest. But as the Kurds are most dangerous robbers 
 and thieves, no missionary could live safely in their mountain 
 fastnesses, and at no time has regular mission work been un- 
 dertaken among them. American and English missionaries 
 have translated the New Testament into several of the widely 
 
326 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 divergent Kurdish dialects, but these translations, in so far as 
 they have been printed at all, have been printed for the most 
 part in Armenian letters, unintelligible to the majority of the 
 uncultured clans. Some years ago Kev. D. von Oertsen, a 
 young missionary of the German " Orientmission " settled 
 down in Souchbulak, south of Urumiah, learned the Kurdish 
 language, and has begun a new translation of the Bible. 
 
 The other great centre for itinerant work is Hamadan. 
 The large Jewish villages in this region presented an even 
 greater opportunity than the Armenian colonies in Hamadan 
 itself, in Sheverine and in other towns. We shall hear later, 
 in an account of missions among the Jews in the Near East, 
 of an interesting revival among the Jews of Hamadan, which, 
 between the years 1875 and 1881, gladdened the hearts of 
 the missionaries in Persia. Since that time an entrance has 
 been gained to one of the strange Shiitic sects, the Ali Ilahi, 
 the bulk of whose adherents, estimated at half a million, are 
 living in the hilly tracts west of Hamadan and Kermanshah. 
 Even with Sayid E-ustam, the head of this sect, friendly relations 
 are maintained. In no part of Persia do the itinerant mission- 
 aries find such an open door and such an interested audience as 
 among this simple village folk, most of them Kurds, despised by 
 the orthodox Shiites, regarded as hopelessly unclean by the 
 mollahs, yet a hopeful field for the Christian preacher. Every 
 year a few baptisms are reported in these villages ; not seldom, 
 whole families are converted. The Ali Ilahi villages seem to 
 constitute the strategic point of the mission field in Persia. 
 
 A further important agency of the mission is the work 
 among women. Ever since the mission was handed over to 
 the Presbyterians, lady missionaries have been sent to Persia in 
 increasing numbers. At present there are sixteen unmarried 
 ladies, including four doctors, besides twenty married women, 
 altogether thirty-six ladies in the western and eastern missions 
 together, side by side w4th only twenty-three ordained and 
 medical missionaries. They have a varied work in their hands. 
 Their girls' boarding-schools are a bright spot of the missions. 
 The Iran Bethel School in Teheran and the Faith Hubbard 
 
Persia 327 
 
 School at Hamadan are among the best educational institu- 
 tions for girls in Persia. Less pretentious girls' day-schools 
 are to be found in all the stations. They open the door to the 
 home, and often to the hearts, of the parents of the pupils. 
 The work of the ladies in dispensary and hospital, their itin- 
 erations, the social gatherings in their homes and the visits 
 they make, are all means to conquer the deep-rooted antipathy, 
 and superstitious fear of the Persian women, thus helping the 
 missionaries to come into close relation with them, and bring- 
 ing into their dull and dark lives some rays of new hope and 
 heavenly light. 
 
 What is the result of forty years of this larger mission 
 work ? Among the Jews and the Armenians the fond hopes 
 of the early days have not been fulfilled. Active work among 
 the Armenian colonies in the Karaghan Mountains and in the 
 farming settlements on the slopes of the Elburz range, has 
 been discontinued. The strong nationalist spirit of the Ar- 
 menian community hardens the heart against Protestant in- 
 fluences. The close connection of the Jews with the Jewish 
 world outside Persia, and the munificent donations of the French 
 "Alliance Israelite" make the Jews less accessible to missionary 
 influences. The hopeful revival of 1875-1881 is unhappily 
 almost forgotten. Yet those early endeavours paved the way 
 to the Muhammadan population, and the congregations built 
 up by converts from the Armenian and Nestorian Churches, 
 with a few Jews, are the backbone of the missions ; they sup- 
 ply most of the native helpers. 
 
 And what of the Muhammadans ? It is known that, ac- 
 cording to the Koran, death is the lot of the convert to Chris- 
 tianity. Even if, in connection with the new order of things, 
 this law of the Koran should be abrogated, it will continue to 
 be a requirement of the sacred book, and as such will be bind- 
 ing on all orthodox Muhammadans. And even if conversion 
 should not end with death, there are sure to follow painful 
 persecutions, and the convert will be expelled from home and 
 family. Against such fiery trials, almost inevitable in view 
 of the fundamental hostility of Islam to Christianity, even a 
 
328 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 strong European suzerainty would scarcely be able to protect 
 converts. Yet this situation must not discourage the mission- 
 aries in their work, nor deter converts from the dangerous 
 path of public confession. How much easier it would be could 
 the converted be baptized secretly, could they maintain an 
 outward show of orthodoxy like the Behais and other sects 
 who openly confess Islam, while secretly adhering to their 
 peculiar doctrines. Yet such a course is out of the question 
 for Christians. And already the work among Muhammadans 
 is not lacking in hopeful results. There are small communities 
 of baptized Muhammadans in Teheran and Hamadan. In 
 Urumiah the number of converts from Islam had increased in 
 1890 to twenty-seven. But then a storm of persecution broke 
 out. The pious Mirza Ibrahim from Khoi was thrown into 
 prison, and when all threats and briberies proved useless to 
 silence his open confession, and to bring him back to Islam, 
 he was brought to Tabriz to be sentenced there by the supreme 
 court. There, in a filthy dungeon, surrounded by criminals 
 of the worst type, he witnessed to the last for Christ and his 
 new faith, until his barbarous fellow prisoners ruthlessly choked 
 him to death (1892). His memory is precious in the annals of 
 the Persian Mission. 
 
 Conditions are rapidly changing in Persia of late years. 
 There is in the last decade no annual report of the Presby- 
 terian missions that does not chronicle new conversions and 
 baptisms, though of course such reports are careful not to give 
 the names of converts and the dates when they were baptized, 
 lest their lives be needlessly endangered. Yet, even in Teheran 
 converts live safely, comparatively free from molestation by 
 the Muhammadans. 
 
 In passing, we note another missionary undertaking of short 
 duration. In 1895 the German pastor, William Faber, sent 
 out to Persia two young missionaries, Kozle and Zerweck. 
 The Persian legation at Berlin became aware of what was 
 going on, and made a report to the Shah. Immediately orders 
 were issued to stop the mission. The young missionaries were 
 commanded to leave the country. Kozle was taken ill and 
 
Persia 329 
 
 died. Zerweck returned to Germany. The mission has 
 never been resumed. 
 
 5, The Work of the Church Missionary Society in Persia 
 
 The attention of evangelical circles in the Anglican Church 
 was early directed towards Persia. Henry Marty n, the ardent 
 army chaplain in India, had made a deep impression, and his 
 death was of even wider influence than his life. Yet there 
 was no thought in England of taking up his work in Persia. 
 In 1869, however, Dr. Kobert Bruce, a missionary of the 
 Church Missionary Society in India, was granted permission 
 to visit Persia on his way back to his work in the Panjab, with 
 the purpose of revising on the ground Henry Martyn's Persian 
 translation of the Bible, a translation not unimportant for 
 the mission in India. He chose to reside in Julfa, an impor- 
 tant suburb of the former capital Ispahan, where exiled 
 Armenians had formed a large Christian community. Bruce's 
 leave of absence from India lengthened into several years, till, 
 finally, when a company of nine Persians asked for instruction 
 in the Christian religion and for baptism, he determined to 
 remain there permanently. The Mission Board gave a reluc- 
 tant consent. In the terrible famine of 1871 and 1872, Bruce 
 was able to give efficient help, a sum of £16,000, collected in 
 England, Germany and India, being placed at his disposal for 
 relief work. He thus won a foothold among the fanatical 
 Muhammadan population, and was able to open an orphans' 
 home for Armenian children. Bruce's activity was for a long 
 time confined to modest bounds. His chief work for the Per- 
 sians was a thorough revision of Martyn's translation of the 
 Bible, and other literary labours, though he neglected no op- 
 portunity for conversation about religion. In that time of 
 beginnings one could hardly speak of results. Bruce himself 
 said, " I am not yet reaping, I am not yet sowing, I can scarcely 
 be said to be plowing ; but I am gathering the stones from 
 the field." Easier to see was his activity among the Armenians 
 in Julfa, particularly since he was not content that they 
 should remain within the bounds of their own Church, but 
 
330 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 gave himself steadily to the problem of transforming them 
 into a Protestant congregation. When Bishop French passed 
 through Julfa in 1883, he confirmed sixty-seven Armenians, 
 and ordained one of them as a clergyman, thus laying the 
 foundation of an Armenian-Anglican Church. This Church 
 has to-day a membership of three hundred. 
 
 In spite of many a plea on the part of Bruce, and favourable 
 reports from various missionaries who passed through Persia, 
 the Church Missionary Society did not quickly decide to in- 
 crease its mission in that country. Persia was, it is true, 
 adopted by the Society on the 14:th of June, 1875, as one of 
 her mission fields, but not until 1879 was a second missionary 
 appointed to work with Bruce, and in course of time to become 
 his successor, since Bruce had already been a missionary in 
 tropical lands for almost a quarter of a century. This new 
 missionary to Persia was a medical missionary. Rev. E. F. 
 Hornle. Early in the eighties, however, a change of opinion 
 in the circles of the Church Missionary Society brought mis- 
 sions among Muhammadan peoples into the focus of their in- 
 terest. As a result, the solitary and neglected post in Persia 
 increased in importance. Now everything began to be pushed 
 forward. At Bruce's special request, Bagdad, on the Tigris, 
 was occupied as the second station, in 1882. In Persia itself 
 the Society was for ten years content to occupy the one sta- 
 tion, Julfa, equipping it thoroughly for work among Muham- 
 madans ; thus they established there a medical mission, sup- 
 plied with a hospital and dispensary, and a small printing es- 
 tablishment, sending out, also, lady missionaries. Not before 
 1897 were any more new stations opened. But then there 
 followed in quick succession Kirman in 1897, Yezd in 1898 
 and Shiraz in 1900, all three to be similarly equipped with a 
 medical mission, including hospitals and dispensaries, and to 
 be supplied with lady missionaries. In Shiraz alone is the 
 hospital not yet completed. 
 
 The centre of the mission's activity is the medical work, 
 which, though it, too, had to combat the superstition and 
 prejudices of the Persians, nevertheless won the hardest hearts 
 
Persia 331 
 
 by its unselfish service. The Gospel was diligently preached 
 in the wards of the hospitals, and was heard with gladness. 
 Kor are conversions infrequent among the patients. It would 
 seem from the very reticent reports, that half of the little 
 company of converts who have been baptized had been first 
 influenced by the medical work. The twofold message of 
 health for body and soul was also carried far into the country 
 by the medical missionaries. 
 
 How successful the medical work has been in winning the 
 confidence of the people is well attested by circumstances 
 which attended the building of the new hospital in Yezd. 
 For the erection of this hospital (1907), Parsees in Yezd gave 
 £200, and Muhammadans also made contributions. 
 
 A second branch of the work upon which special importance 
 is placed is the distribution of Christian literature. Ever since 
 the days of Martyn and Bruce great attention has been paid 
 to this form of activity. When the talented Dr. Bruce retired 
 from service in 1893, the Kev. W. St. Clair Tisdall, D. D., was 
 appointed his successor in the literary work. He has made a 
 name for himself both in Persia and in England by his ex- 
 ceedingly well-informed books on Islam. Strange to say, it 
 is the distribution of the Bible which meets with the most 
 stubborn, and, at the same time, the most childish opposition 
 from the Persian authorities. Boxes of Bibles are kept for 
 years in the sheds of the excise officers, and missionaries even 
 experience difficulty in getting their own Bibles into Persia. 
 It is an advantage to the mission that the Persians are a 
 people of ancient culture, having a national literature, so that 
 they are fond of reading. The Christian literature distributed 
 by the agents of the mission, and by the colporteurs of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society as well, is read with intelli- 
 gence, and has awakened a desire for better religious knowl- 
 edge. The Church Missionary Society has a small printing 
 establishment in Julfa, which [prints apologetic and polemic 
 pamphlets. It is called the " Henry Martyn Memorial Press." 
 
 The mission has great difficulties with its schools. The 
 Armenian school in Julfa was, indeed, not greatly hindered 
 
332 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 in its growth for the first thirty years. It was attended 
 chiefly by Armenian children, and the few Persians shared in 
 the religious instruction without making any difficulty. But, 
 since the year 1900, there has been considerable opposition on 
 the part of the Armenians, who have established a school in 
 opposition to the mission ; two other rival schools have also 
 been opened, a Eoman Catholic school by nuns from Paris, 
 and an Orthodox school for girls by certain Russian ladies. 
 Thus there are four schools in a place that numbers but a few 
 thousand inhabitants. 
 
 The Persians are not lacking in a desire to learn, nor do 
 they fail to see that they can learn much in the schools of the 
 mission. As soon as a school is opened, it is usually at once 
 filled with pupils. But the religious leaders, the mollahs and 
 mujtahids, constantly see to it that the influence of these 
 schools shall not become too great. The Church Missionary 
 Society has had a struggle in maintaining every one of their 
 schools for Persians. And if the slightest opportunity pre- 
 sents itself, the mollah at once puts an end to the attendance, 
 Persian parents who send their children to the mission schools 
 being threatened with exclusion from the mosque, and the 
 children themselves being treated with scorn, or even perse- 
 cuted, in the bazars. Yet the missionaries always make a new 
 beginning. In Yezd and Kirman the difficulties are less than 
 elsewhere, since most of the 10,000 Parsees of Persia live 
 there. Since these Parsees are more eager to learn than are 
 the Persians, and since they are not so bigoted, the schools 
 intended for them are fairly well attended. From this sur- 
 vey it is clear that the difficulties in the way of missionary 
 educational work have not yet been so thoroughly overcome 
 by the schools of the Church Missionary Society as by the 
 schools of the American Presbyterians. 
 
 The fourth important branch of the activity of the Church 
 Missionary Society is the work of the lady missionaries, who 
 labour among women, visiting them and inviting them to 
 their homes, and making tours through the villages. Every 
 opportunity is seized to gain a hold upon the women. The 
 
Persia 333 
 
 number of those who have joined the mission church is, ac- 
 cording to the official reports, as large as that of the men. 
 
 On the whole, the results of the mission have been numer- 
 ically small. Of the 392 Christians who are in connection 
 with the Church Missionary Society, fully 300 are Armenians, 
 while a few are Jews. On an average there are annually 
 from twenty to thirty baptisms of adults. Bishop Stuart as- 
 serted in March, 1907, before the London Committee of the 
 Church Missionary Society, that, since 1900, more than one 
 hundred adult Muhammadans had been baptized. Many of 
 these have a hard battle to fight, yet most of them are cou- 
 rageous and remain faithful. Kepeated attempts have been 
 made to come into closer touch with particular groups of the 
 people ; for instance, with the unsettled nomadic Baktiari, 
 living in the steppes of Ispahan, whose sheikhs met the medi- 
 cal missionaries with great friendliness and accorded perfect 
 religious liberty to the members of their tribe. Babists, also, 
 approached the missionaries again and again, and their recog- 
 nition of the Bible as a divine revelation seemed to be a point 
 of contact. Their arbitrary allegorical interpretation of the 
 Bible, however, by which they make any text mean what they 
 want it to mean, dashed this hope to the ground. The 
 friendly reception which the missionaries sometimes receive 
 from all classes of the population on their preaching tours, is 
 astonishing. On a tour which the Kev. H. Stileman made 
 through the districts lying between Ispahan, Yezd and Kir- 
 man, in 1899, he everywhere found " open doors " as never 
 before in Persia. There was hardly any of the usual Muham- 
 madan bitterness in resisting Christian influences, but rather 
 a marked receptivity for the preaching of the Gospel. Chris- 
 tian books were also eagerly received, even by mollahs.^ 
 
 It was a valuable accession to the mission when, after forty- 
 four years of missionary work in various fields, Bishop Stuart, 
 who had done so much for the Maori Mission, resigned the 
 bishopric of Waiapu (1894), and went to Julfa in his sixty- 
 
 ' "Open Doors in Southern Persia," Intelligencer ^ 1899, pp. 498 fiE. 
 
334 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 seventh year as an ordinary missionary. In this he was fol- 
 lowing the example of his departed friend, Bishop French, 
 who, as we have seen, gave up his work in India at an ad- 
 vanced age to go to Muscat. He is still labouring in this 
 difficult Persian Mission, cheerfully bearing its hardships in 
 his old age. Under his leadership, the work of the mission in 
 Julfa has, in the last five years, been transferred from the 
 quiet Armenian suburb to the busy city of Ispahan. Thus 
 the hospitals and the schools of the mission were brought into 
 the centre of public interest. 
 
 It is unfortunate that in late years there has been so much 
 disturbance in connection with the political development. In 
 the autumn of 1906 the Shah MuzafiPar-ed-Din (1896-1907), 
 under pressure from the people, granted a constitution. He 
 died on the 8th of January, 1907. His son, Muhammad Ali 
 Mirza, succeeded him. It was incumbent on the new Shah to 
 fulfill the promises of his father, and to call a parliament. 
 This was, to be sure, rendered difficult by the condition of 
 Persia at that time ; "a revolt led by his brother in the west- 
 ern provinces of Luristan and Arabistan had to be forcibly 
 suppressed ; commerce was at a low ebb throughout the coun- 
 try ; and, in 1904 and 1905, there had occurred a fearful epi- 
 demic of cholera in Persia, raging especially in the two chief 
 towns of Teheran and Shiraz. Yet, apart from this, Muham- 
 mad Ali had no intention of letting himself be hampered by a 
 parliamentary form of government. Persia had ever been 
 the most autocratically governed country of the l^ear East. 
 Suddenly to grant self-government seemed even to European 
 statesmen a leap in the dark, if not an utter impossibility. 
 The Shah, though he called a parliament according to the 
 constitution, listened willingly to such advisers. He at- 
 tempted a coup d'etat, ordering the parliament to dissolve, 
 and abrogating the constitution. But he had miscalculated. 
 His rash step only strengthened the determination of the 
 Persians to put an end to arbitrary government. In the con- 
 flict which arose between the Shah and the parliament, the 
 latter cleverly made use of the excitement to extend its pow- 
 
Persia 335 
 
 ers, and bent all its energies to the task of compelling the 
 ruler to submit. Violent disturbances occurred even in re- 
 mote provincial towns, sometimes assuming the character of 
 rebellions. Everywhere anjumans were formed, constitu- 
 tional corporations which assumed the management of prov- 
 inces or towns, expelling or murdering recalcitrant governors 
 and officials. Thus in the last two years a new era has begun 
 for Persia, though the land still stands in the midst of the 
 struggle. Political demonstrations and mass-meetings are the 
 order of the day. Political agitators openly address gather- 
 ings of thousands in Teheran, Tabriz, and even in provincial 
 towns like TJrumiah. The demand for political freedom re- 
 sounds throughout the country, l^ewspapers have sprung up 
 like mushrooms ; there are dozens of them in towns like 
 Teheran and Tabriz, with such titles as The Cry of the PeopUy 
 The Trumpet of Gabriel^ Justice^ Progress, Knowledge, The 
 True Dawn. In these newspapers radical demands are made 
 without reserve. Stronger methods are also in vogue, like 
 the refusal to pay taxes and rents. Bombs and dynamite are 
 not unknown. Persia is determined, like her neighbour, 
 Eussia, to force a radical change in the government. 
 
 Another mark of the new era is an uncommon desire for 
 education. Old and young alike are beginning to see that 
 self-government is possible only for a people of some educa- 
 tion. Hitherto more than ninety-five per cent, of the Persians 
 have been unable to read. Now there is a loud demand for 
 elementary and higher schools all over the country. ISTot 
 schools like the old mosque schools, in which the pupils merely 
 learned the Koran by heart, but schools that offer a European 
 education. How such schools are quickly to be organized, 
 and where the teachers are to come from, are still unsolved 
 problems. 
 
 The change in Persia will be lasting and thorough. The 
 old Persia with its oriental despotism is doomed ; who can 
 say what Persia will be like under the new regime ? Yet al- 
 ready there is a marvellous transformation. Any one would 
 have been laughed to scorn who, three years ago, had ven- 
 
33^ History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 tured to prophesy that in so short a time Moslem Persia would 
 shake off the dust of centuries, and fashion herself into a 
 modern constitutional state. For Protestant missions in 
 Persia it is likewise a time of large possibilities. The period 
 of difficult beginnings and of bitter opposition is passing 
 away. What shall the future bring ? 
 
VI 
 
 EGYPT AND ABYSSINIA 
 
 (A) Egyjpi^ 
 
 EGYPT has, from the earliest times, been the most in- 
 teresting, and, from the historical and social point of 
 view, the most important country of Africa. It is of 
 importance to note that the Egyptian people, the oldest of 
 civilized nations, is a member of that Hamitio family, the 
 habitat of which extends from the shores of the Mediterranean 
 (Berbers and Kabyles) across Africa (Haussa, Galla, Somali, 
 Wahuma, Watussi) as far as the Cape of Good Hope. Ac- 
 cording to Meinhof, Westermann, Keinisch and von Luschan, 
 the Hottentots are also a Hamitic race. Now, if one repre- 
 sentative of this family has, under favourable conditions, at- 
 tained a high degree of civilization, who will question the 
 ability of other branches of the same family to do the like ? 
 Further, it is a memorable and reassuring fact for the friends 
 of missions, that this Hamitic race was one of the earliest 
 leaders in the Christian Church, and that, with the possible 
 exception of the Armenians, it formed the first national 
 Church, a Church widely diffused, not only in the Hellenized 
 cities of Egypt, but even more among the village population 
 of the Kopts. Islam it was that reduced to political and 
 social insignificance a people which had played a leading part 
 in history thousands of years before the Muhammadan con- 
 quest. Under the ambitious and brilliant Circassian dynasty 
 of Muhammad Ali in the nineteenth century, Egypt enjoyed 
 conditions comparatively favourable to civilization. Yet 
 hardly anything more plainly demonstrates Islam's incapacity 
 
 » M. Liittke, " Aegyptens nene Zeit," 2 vols., 1873. J. M. Neale, " History 
 of the Holy Eastern Church ; Patriarchate of Alexandria^" (not very reliable). 
 Lord Cromer, '* Modern Egypt," 2 vols., 1908. 
 
 337 
 
338 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 for civilization than the contrast between the disturbed state 
 of the country when England assumed the government in 
 1882, and its present orderly condition. The changeful and 
 romantic story of the dynasty of Muhammad Ali forms the 
 political background of the history of missions in Egypt. 
 Muhammad Ali fought his way through bloody civil wars to 
 the government of Egypt in 1804, and was acknowledged by 
 the Porte. His ambitious mind then led him to throw off the 
 supremacy of the Porte and to establish Egypt as an inde- 
 pendent African state. In accordance with this scheme he 
 conquered immense territories in Nubia, Darfur, Kordofan 
 and the countries adjacent to the Upper Nile. He even 
 ventured to snatch Palestine from the Porte. In order to 
 give his country the appearance of a civilized European state, 
 he founded grand schools, providing them with European 
 masters, and imitated the fine manners of the French. He 
 also sent many Egyptians to study in France. To meet the 
 expense of such extravagant enterprises he imposed crushing 
 taxes and forced labour on his unhappy subjects. His two 
 successors. Abbas and Said (1849-1863), were weaker men, 
 and did not adhere to any consistent foreign policy. Yet 
 they endeavoured to make the lives of the fellaheen more 
 bearable, and reduced the taxation. But Ismail Pasha 
 (1863-1879) went even further than Muhammad Ali. His 
 policy was directed towards the aggrandizement of his dynasty. 
 He acquired the title of Khedive, and, as such, was only 
 nominally dependent on the Sultan, the title being also made 
 hereditary. He tried to assume the role of an up-to-date 
 civilized ruler by undertaking magnificent schemes of improve- 
 ment, such as the construction of the Suez Canal, which was 
 completed in 1869, and the building of railways. At the 
 opening of the canal he arranged a pompous ceremony at im- 
 mense cost. All the time the country was groaning under 
 extortionate taxation, and Egypt's debt grew to enormous 
 proportions. The end of it was that his senseless extrava- 
 gance and dilatory payment of interest on loans caused the 
 European Powers to depose him. His well-meaning but weak 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 339 
 
 son, Tewfik Pasha, was not able to manage the government of 
 the country. On the one hand the powers insisted on having 
 a guarantee for the payment of interest in the shape of 
 thorough control of the income of Egypt, while, on the other, 
 the Egyptian nationalists protested, under Arabi Pasha, 
 against European interference. In this protest they were 
 supported by the powerful mosque party, which wished to 
 put an end to the influence of Christians. The conflict was 
 rendered the more bitter by the differences existing between 
 the Circassians, who held the highest positions in the state and 
 army, and the ambitious Egyptian military party, egged on 
 by former holders of sinecure offices, who had been dismissed 
 for the sake of economy. What finally sealed the fate of 
 Egypt was the fact that the Suez Canal had grown to be of 
 supreme importance to England as the gateway to her colonial 
 empire in India and the Far East. England was, therefore, 
 only waiting for a favourable opportunity in the midst of the 
 general confusion to step in authoritatively. This oppor- 
 tunity presented itself in 1882, when Arabi Pasha rose in 
 rebellion. It was, properly speaking, a dispute between the 
 Khedive and his ministers. Yet England was able to make 
 use of it for her own purposes, since the fanatical mob in Alex- 
 andria had savagely attacked foreign and Egyptian Christians. 
 The English occupation of Egypt has been of immense 
 benefit to the country, threatened with ruin under Moslem 
 mismanagement. It is also an object-lesson for Turkey, 
 showing what might be accomplished within her borders, 
 under proper government. During the twenty-five years 
 since the occupation, Egypt has made astonishing progress, 
 industrially, socially and intellectually. Taxation has been 
 regulated, forced labour abolished, and the l^ile made to dis- 
 tribute its waters impartially by means of canals and dams, 
 the productivity of the land being thus vastly increased. 
 Education has been made compulsory, provision having been 
 made for it by the opening of about 1,000 elementary schools, 
 which are attended by upwards of 200,000 pupils, seven per 
 cent, of whom are girls, and by the opening of ten colleges 
 
340 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 of high grade. England has introduced the system of grants 
 in aid, which had been found to work so well in India, the 
 greater number of elementary and intermediate schools being 
 managed by the various religious bodies, under state supervi- 
 sion and with state support. Since 1890 there has been a 
 yearly expenditure of between £100,000 and £230,000 for edu- 
 cation. Freedom of the press has been granted, and the press 
 has gained an astonishing influence. The value of land has 
 risen in proportion to the increasing security of life, property 
 and trade. Immigrants come from all the neighbouring Turk- 
 ish countries to enjoy the benefits of religious and social liberty. 
 Egypt has thus become the intellectual light of the ITear East. 
 Of the total population of Egypt in 1897 (9,734,405) 8,978,- 
 775 were Muhamraadans, an evidence that Islam has prevailed 
 here more than in most of the countries of Western Asia. 
 Only 755,630 were non-Muhammadans. Of these 112,526 were 
 foreigners, chiefly belonging to the Roman Church, among 
 them 24,467 Italians, 14,155 Frenchmen, 7,117 Austrians and 
 Hungarians, and 765 Spaniards, making a total of 46,504 Ro- 
 man Catholics. Of Greek Catholics there were 38,175 Greeks 
 and 3,198 Russians, in all 41,385. Of Protestants there were 
 19,557 British and 1,247 Germans, in all 20,804. Of Jews 
 there were 25,200. Of native Christians the number was 
 637,357, of whom 27,846 belonged to the Greek Orthodox, 
 the Armenian, the Jacobite and the Nestorian Churches, the 
 first of which has a patriarchate in this country, and the sec- 
 ond an archbishopric. Of these 27,846, a considerable portion 
 belong to the "Uniate" Oriental Churches ("united" with 
 Rome), and have a Melchite-Greek patriarchate, a Syrian 
 bishopric and an Armenian archbishopric, which are, how- 
 ever, not always occupied. If we deduct these members of 
 foreign Churches, we have left 609,511 Christian Kopts, of 
 whom, in 1897, 592,374 were orthodox, 4,630 "united" with 
 Rome, and 12,507 Protestant.^ 
 
 * These figures are taken from the census of 1897. On the Ist of January, 
 1897, the American Mission, in connection with which are most of the Protestant 
 Kopts, reckoned only 5,355 communicants j 12,507 Kopts, however, declared 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 341 
 
 In spite of long continued government by foreigners, and 
 in spite of an extensive immigration which has taken place 
 from the earliest times, the Egyptian Koptic type has main- 
 tained its purity and virility in an astonishing manner, espe- 
 cially in Middle and Upper Egypt. The Kopts, who have 
 been preserved from race mixture by their religious antago- 
 nism to the immigrants, have retained the Hamitic type to such 
 a degree that the children of the present day are replicas of 
 the former kings and princes as they are represented on the 
 ancient stone monuments. They have the same broad, low 
 forehead and thick, black, somewhat curly hair, the same 
 straight, sharply-chiselled nose, and, above all, the same nar- 
 row eye, large and always of a deep gleaming black. Yet 
 traces are not wanting of the effects of Muhammadan op- 
 pression, which lasted twelve centuries, and was especially 
 
 themselves in the census as Protestants. There is some donbt about the num- 
 ber of Kopts "united" with Rome, and the Roman Catholics in general, in 
 Egypt. The census gave a total of 56,343 Roman Catholics, inclusive of Euro- 
 pean and Oriental immigrants. Werner, in his "Catholic Church Atlas," reck- 
 ons 80,000 Catholics, inclusive of Europeans, there being 12,000 to 13,000 Uniate 
 Kopts. His figures, hov^ever, are not reliable. Streit, in the supplement of his 
 *' Katholischer Missionsatlas " of 1906 (p. 15), reckons 64,180 Roman Catholics, 
 inclusive of Europeans, there being 17,500 Uniate Kopts (p. 3). The Missiones 
 CathoUcae (1907), in v^rhioh very detailed statistics are given for Egypt, reckons, 
 in one table, 63,173 Roman Catholic immigrants from Europe, 24,000 from 
 Asia, and only 120 of the Koptic rite ; in another table, 61,120 from Europe, 
 23,924 from Asia, and none of the Koptic rite. In the statistical survey, how- 
 ever, the numbers are, 100,184 Roman Catholics, 2,000 Uniate Armenians and 
 20,250 Uniate Kopts. We cannot pretend to account for such discrepancies. 
 The Roman Church makes a great display in Egypt ; in addition to the bishop- 
 rics for the Uniate Oriental Churches, mentioned above, there is a Latin patri- 
 archate of Alexandria, whose occupant resides in Rome, and to which belong a 
 Latin bishopric, a prefecture of the Franciscans in Upper Egypt, a prefecture for 
 the Nile Delta, and a mission of the Franciscans in Lower Egypt ; and there is 
 also a patriarchate for the Uniate Kopts, under which there are three bishoprics, 
 for the Delta, Middle, and Upper Egypt respectively. The numerous high dig- 
 nitaries of the Church control ninety-one priests of various orders, fifty monas- 
 teries, belonging to seven different orders and occupied by 383 monks, and 
 forty-two convents, belonging to twelve orders, with 578 nuns, — a large army 
 in comparison with which the small troop of Protestant missionaries seemB 
 insignLficant. 
 
342 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 severe under the Fatimides and Mamelukes. Travellers, how- 
 ever, differ strikingly as to the nature of the consequent 
 deterioration. Some describe the Koptic fellaheen as being 
 melancholy, silent and unsociable, while others say that they 
 are a merry race, harmlessly joyous under their sunny sky. 
 In either case their mental activity has not been paralyzed. 
 Under Moslem rule they occupied most of the inferior official 
 posts, especially as clerks in the courts of justice and govern- 
 ment offices. And they have made such astonishing use of 
 the educational facilities introduced by England, that there 
 are to-day more Kopts than Muhammadans in the elementary 
 and intermediate schools, while in the higher schools and 
 colleges one-third of the students are Kopts, although only 
 one-fifteenth of the entire population is Koptic [Intelligencer, 
 1906, pp. 651 ff.). 
 
 The stay and backbone of Koptic nationality is the Church, 
 the authorities of which are viewed with uncommon respect. 
 At the head of these church authorities is the Patriarch, who 
 now resides in Cairo, having twelve bishops under him. The 
 rest of the clergy are divided into two strong bodies. One of 
 these, the monks, live in monasteries, some of which are of 
 hoary age and much venerated. That of Maharag (St. Mark) 
 near Manfalut in Upper Egypt, is said to contain 500 monks. 
 There are also convents. Egypt is the original home of 
 Christian monkhood, the country of Antonius the Hermit, of 
 Paul of Thebes and of Pachomius. To the other class of the 
 clergy belong the no less numerous priests, some of whom are 
 attached to the many churches, while the majority are or- 
 dained without receiving benefices, many of them becoming 
 mendicants. Unfortunately the education of both the celibate 
 monks and the married priests is on a low level. Neither of 
 them know more of the ancient sacred language of their 
 Church than is necessary to enable them to repeat the liturgies, 
 and in some cases they do not even understand these. More 
 than half of them can neither read nor write. In 1895 the 
 first " theological college " was opened in Cairo for the pur- 
 pose of imparting some elementary instruction to the clergy. 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 343 
 
 But little benefit has accrued from it, owing to quarrels con- 
 cerning it between the Patriarch and certain progressive Koptic 
 members of the Church. Unhappily very few of the churches, 
 and not many of the celebrated ancient monasteries, are suffi- 
 ciently endowed. By far the greater number of the monks, 
 and almost all the priests, have to rely on their own exertions 
 to earn a livelihood. The more self-respecting work at some 
 trade, others carry on a brisk business in amulets, while the 
 remainder beg. 
 
 Under such conditions it is impossible for the clergy to ex- 
 ercise any strong, elevating influence. Their religion consists 
 chiefly of the painfully conscientious observance of innumer- 
 able fasts, which occur every other day, some of them being 
 very stringent, and of the observance of the many saints' days. 
 "Worship of the Virgin is very prevalent. To this is added 
 gross superstition of a varied character, which is evidenced 
 partly by the use of amulets for many purposes, and partly 
 by the reliance they place on the magical effects of ecclesias- 
 tical ceremonies. 
 
 Of late years there has been growing, side by side with the 
 increasing influence exercised by the missions of the American 
 Presbyterians and of the Anglican Church, a strong party of 
 reformers within the Koptic Church itself, the " Young Kopts." 
 Their most important representative has been the Patriarch 
 Cyril X (1854-1861), who was, however, deposed by the 
 Viceroy, Said, on account of his ambitious projects of reform. 
 Since that time the Young Kopts have succeeded in securing 
 an elected synod (1875), and a clerical council, which is in- 
 tended to act with the Patriarch, for the express purpose of 
 checking him in the administration of church finance. They 
 have also, contrary to the wish of the Patriarch, founded a 
 Koptic college in Cairo, called the Tewfik College, which has 
 proved to be a great success. And, in order to avoid the ne- 
 cessity of sending their children to the Anglo-Egyptian 
 schools, in which they could scarcely escape instruction in the 
 Koran and the influence of the Muhammadan sheikhs from the 
 El Azhar University, they have latterly ventured to establish 
 
344 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 independent schools, in which Christian religious instruction 
 and attendance at Sunday services are obligatory. They have 
 a sufficient number of intermediate schools of a high grade, 
 and are even maturing plans for the founding of a Christian 
 university after the pattern of the Syrian Protestant College 
 in Beirut. With a view to checking this tendency, the gov- 
 ernment has recently issued an order that Biblical instruction 
 is to be given in all schools having at least fifteen Christian 
 pupils in attendance, and the Koptic Patriarch is requested to 
 supply the necessary teachers. 
 
 1. The American Mission^ 
 
 "While various American and English missionary societies 
 were pushing their work among other Oriental Churches 
 about the middle of the nineteenth century, the Anglican 
 Mission to the Kopts had nearly come to a standstill. There 
 was but one missionary left. Rev. Mr. Lieder, a man past his 
 prime and in delicate health. He conducted services for Eng- 
 lish residents and tourists in Egypt. Lieder died of cholera 
 in 1865, and his place was not filled. In the meantime, how- 
 ever, new workers had come. The Associate Reformed 
 Church of America, now called the United Presbyterian 
 Church, had, in conjunction with the Irish Presbyterians, begun 
 work in Damascus in 1845. Concluding, however, after ten 
 years of work there, that the field they had occupied was too 
 circumscribed, the Americans resolved to extend their work 
 to Egypt, and in 1854 they established a station in Cairo. At 
 first it was not their intention to confine their labours to the 
 Koptic Church ; on the contrary, they desired to preach the 
 pure Gospel to Muhammadans, Jews and Christians, wherever 
 opportunity should offer itself. But the position of things 
 in Egypt, the religious fanaticism of the Muhammadans and 
 the comparative accessibility of the Kopts, caused them to 
 turn to the latter exclusively. 
 
 ^ Dr. A. Watson, *' The Amerioan Mission in Egypt," 2d edition, 1904 ; C. R. 
 Watson, "In the Valley of the Nile," New York and London, 1908 ; Mjs. 
 Butcher, " The Story of the Church in Egypt," 2 vols., London, 1897. 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 345 
 
 The method which they adopted differed from that followed 
 by the Church Missionary Society. The latter had expressly 
 abstained from the formation of congregations, confining itself 
 to the spreading of evangelical knowledge and to the winning 
 of individuals. Yet, by this method, in spite of their good 
 fortune in being able to carry on their work under the lengthy 
 rule of Butros (1809-1854:), a patriarch who was well disposed 
 towards them, they had not accomplished much. The Amer- 
 icans, profiting by this disappointing experience, began at 
 once to come into direct touch with the mass of the Koptic 
 agricultural class, without attempting to make any terms with 
 the Koptic hierarchy. From the very beginning they were 
 convinced that they must aim at the formation of Protestant 
 congregations, though they did not lose sight of their main 
 object, the revivifying of the moribund Koptic Church. 
 
 The Americans found it hard to make a beginning. Only 
 with diflB.culty did they succeed in gaining a footing in Cairo, 
 and, later, in 1857, in Alexandria, where they took over the 
 boys' and girls' schools which had been established a short 
 time previously by a Scotch Mission to the Jews. The young 
 headmaster of the boys' school, Dr. Hogg, entered their 
 service, becoming one of their most able missionaries. They 
 purchased a fairly large house-boat, the Ihis, in which they 
 went up the river as far as Assuan, selling Bibles and Protes- 
 tant literature on the way, thus coming into touch with the 
 Kopts. Fortunately for them, the two most influential men 
 in Egypt at that time were favourably inclined towards them. 
 Cyril X, the progressive Koptic Patriarch, was zealously intent 
 on reforming his Church from top to bottom, and therefore 
 hailed the American missionaries as allies. The Viceroy, Said 
 Pasha (1854-1863), the most sympathetic of the rulers of 
 Egypt in the nineteenth century, took care that they should 
 be protected against the intrigues of the Koptic clergy and 
 the Moslem officials, and, in 1862, gave them, as he had pre- 
 viously done for the Eoman Mission, a very valuable site in Cairo. 
 
 The political and commercial crisis during the Civil War in 
 America, in the years 1860-1865, threatened the work with 
 
346 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 extinctioa from want of funds. But just at that time a new 
 friend of the mission stepped in, Dulip Singh, a son of the 
 famous Ranjit Singh of the Panjab. He had been educated 
 in England, where he had been deeply impressed with the 
 truth of Christianity. In 1864 he came to Egypt for the ex- 
 press purpose of seeking a Christian wife. He married a girl 
 of mixed descent, Bamba Mueller, a teacher in the Koptic 
 mission school in Cairo, to whom he had been introduced by 
 the American missionaries. She was a humble-minded, pious 
 wife to this unstable but kind-hearted prince, until she died in 
 1887. It was thus that this Indian prince came into close 
 connection with the American Mission, so close, in fact, that 
 he sometimes took a personal part in the work. He was a 
 princely benefactor. For thirteen years he made an annual 
 present of £1,000 on his wedding-day ; he gave large sums, 
 £17,000 in all, for special purposes, and he presented the mis- 
 sion with a printing-press. (Before his death in 1893, he fell 
 back into heathenism.) By this timely help in its hour of 
 need, the mission was enabled to extend its work. In 1865 
 they occupied Assiut, the most important town of Upper 
 Egypt, lying in the province most thickly inhabited by Kopts ; 
 further stations were established in Medinet-el-Fayum, the 
 most important town in the Fayum, in 1866, and in Mansura 
 on the Damietta branch of the Nile, in 1869. In this way the 
 work of the mission was extended over the whole of Egypt, 
 although there was still a lack of workers. To their great 
 joy they had a considerable accession of Kopts in Kus, in the 
 province of Kenneh, below Luxor, their leader being Fam 
 Stephanos, a tax-collector, who was highly esteemed for his 
 honesty and piety. The village of Kus was occupied for five 
 years by an American missionary. 
 
 Under the friendly rule of Said Pasha, the mission made 
 good progress ; but the situation changed completely upon the 
 accession of the ostentatious and despotic Ismail Pasha 
 (1863-1879). He would have liked to put an end to European 
 influence in Egypt, and found it inconvenient to have the mis- 
 sionaries everywhere as critics and reporters of his tyranny, 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 347 
 
 especially in the matter of enforced labour. Further, the new 
 Koptic Patriarch, Demetrius II (1861-1873), used all his in- 
 fluence to stamp out the Protestant heresy. In 1867 he 
 undertook a long journey far into Upper Egypt, in order to 
 intimidate any Kopts who were suspected of having Protestant 
 leanings, and to punish those who had already left the 
 Church, with the full force of ecclesiastical excommunication 
 and government disfavour. Protestant schools were closed, 
 and prominent Protestants either imprisoned or banished. 
 Happily, in this crisis the American and English consulates 
 gave their powerful support to the missionaries, and enforced 
 the authorities to observe the hatti humayoun, the magna 
 charta of religious liberty in the Ottoman Empire. Such 
 effectual help put a speedy end to the Patriarch's crusade. In 
 the twenty-five years following the year 1869, during which 
 even the violent political upheavals of the years 1879 to 1885 
 did not materially affect the mission, the work of the Ameri- 
 cans quietly expanded in many ways. Three main methods 
 were adopted of reaching the Koptic population in town and 
 country, namely, itineration, colportage and educational work. 
 Every year extensive journeys were undertaken, able native 
 assistants accompanying the missionaries, and an attempt 
 being everywhere made to establish personal relations, and to 
 incite the ignorant Kopts to enquiry on religious subjects. At 
 the same time Bibles and other Christian literature were of- 
 fered for sale. The missionaries introduced also an independ- 
 ent system of colportage. At first they employed a former 
 member of the Chrischona Mission, Mr. Schlotthauer, a Hol- 
 lander. Him they provided with a small but commodious 
 Nile-boat, the Morning Star, in which to journey from village 
 to village along the Nile. Subsequently they divided the 
 country into colportage districts, having a main depot in Cairo, 
 with branches in Alexandria ^ and in seven other places. Con- 
 
 * In Alexandria is the printing establishment of the American Mission, which 
 publishes a number of books every year. But the mission relies chiefly on the 
 Beirut Mission Press for most of its literature, and is the beat customer of that 
 establishment. 
 
348 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 nected with these depots, they had book-shops ia charge of 
 Egyptian managers. From these centres twenty-six colpor- 
 teurs constantly travelled, through the whole of Egypt. 
 Primary schools, also, for boys and girls were everywhere in- 
 stituted. It is true that in all the towns there were already 
 Koptic schools for boys, but the teaching in them at that time 
 consisted for the most part of mechanical reading and writing 
 lessons, so that it was not difficult to enter into competition 
 with them. The only obstacle was the absence of a desire to 
 learn. There was, however, at that time a regulation exonera- 
 ting from enforced labour those who could prove that they 
 attended a school. Concerning this beneficent rule, which re- 
 dounds to the credit of the Egyptian government, there 
 sprang up a lively conflict between the Koptic hierarchy and 
 the American Mission. The Koptic priests tried to exclude 
 the children of the American schools from the benefits of the 
 regulation. Had the priests succeeded, the schools would 
 have collapsed. But, however willing the local Moslem 
 authorities may have been to do the Koptic bishops this 
 favour, their intrigues were against the law, and the Ameri- 
 cans were of all men the least likely to permit themselves to 
 be imposed upon. An unpleasant incident occurred in 1869, 
 when certain Koptic Protestants in Assiut broke into the 
 Koptic church, tore down the sacred pictures from the altars, 
 and destroyed them. This foolish attempt at iconoclasm cost 
 those who took part in it dear, and the mission could not and 
 would not protect them against the consequences of their 
 act. 
 
 The number of adherents of the American Mission in- 
 creased rapidly. While at the beginning of 18Y0 there were 
 but 180 communicants, there were 4,554 at the beginning of 
 1895. In the same period the number of organized congre- 
 gations increased from two to thirty-three. The organiza- 
 tion of these congregations was after the American Presby- 
 terian pattern. This vigorous growth taxed the organizing 
 powers of the missionaries. A Protestant ecclesiastical com- 
 munity had to be formed. This body found official expres- 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 349 
 
 sion in the election and recognition of a Kopt, Gergis Barsum, 
 as agent of the Protestants, and as their representative at the 
 Khedivial Court. The mission was put to much trouble and 
 expense before the small congregations could be provided 
 with modest meeting-houses. Special permission from the 
 central government had to be obtained before a church might 
 be built, and, since each such building was a visible sign of 
 the progress of Christianity and particularly of Protestantism, 
 so hateful to the ruling Muhammadans, a hundred obstacles 
 were put in the way so as to delsiy, if not actually to prevent, 
 the church's being built. School problems were equally 
 great. The Egyptian schools were miserable at the beginning 
 of this period, and, such as they were. Christian children 
 were excluded from them. Though under the English 
 protectorate public instruction was immensely improved, it 
 was undesirable to send the children of Protestant families to 
 the government schools, since instruction in the Koran was 
 compulsory there. The old practice had been that every 
 denomination provided its own schools, and the missionaries, 
 with American energy, undertook to do this for the children 
 of their congregations. Accordingly many of the primary 
 schools, which had been founded as a mission agency among 
 non-Protestants, were turned into church schools, every 
 congregation, in so far as it was possible, being provided with 
 one. By the year 1896 there were 216 of these Protestant 
 schools, 133 of them for boys, with 7,976 pupils, and eighty- 
 three for girls, with 3,038 pupils. At the mission stations 
 there were, in addition, higher boarding-schools, the mission- 
 aries themselves giving part of the instruction. On this 
 foundation a higher educational system was built, to which 
 belong a training college in Assiut (1870), which expanded into 
 a general college in 1875 ; two boarding-schools for girls in 
 Assiut and Cairo respectively, in which teachers and Bible- 
 women could also be trained ; and a large girls' boarding- 
 school in Luxor, attended by 250 girls. There was also a 
 theological seminary, unhappily of a rather interrupted 
 existence, first in Cairo, then for twenty years in Assiut, 
 
350 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 after which it was again moved to Cairo. It was intended 
 for the training of a native ministry. Since in Presbyterian 
 churches the members choose their own ministers, the position 
 of theological seminaries is at times difiS.cult. The mission- 
 aries cannot guarantee pastorates to the students, and only a 
 limited number can be employed by the mission. All that 
 the missionaries can do is to use their influence with the 
 congregations in favour of their choosing their ministers from 
 the candidates trained in the seminary. The natural result 
 of this uncertainty is, however, that many, who might other- 
 wise do so, hesitate to take the course. 
 
 During the last thirty years interest in women's work has 
 grown immensely in the United States. Accordingly, in 
 Egypt a good many lady missionaries are at work. In 1895 
 there were nine of them. As they were seldom permitted to 
 enter a Moslem house, their work lay chiefly among ^the 
 Kopts, where they were sorely needed. Family life among 
 the Kopts was hardly better than among the Muhammadans. 
 The women were despised and ill-treated. It is to be 
 regretted that the Koptic women, stolid, superstitious, fanat- 
 ical, as a rule held themselves aloof from the ladies, so that 
 work among them required much patience. 
 
 A disturbing element in the otherwise steady and peaceful 
 development of the mission were the troubles caused by the 
 Kev. Mr. Pinkerton, who, in 1869, left the mission and began 
 to spread the views of the Plymouth Brethren, hostile as 
 they are to church organization. After a temporary sojourn 
 in America, he returned to Egypt, and, to the time of his 
 death, pushed his peculiar views, causing at times such con- 
 fusion among the Protestants that the missionaries were 
 obliged to oppose their former colleague very sharply. After 
 his death the majority of those who had come under his 
 influence returned to the congregations in connection with the 
 mission. It is only in Assiut and JSTakheileh that there are 
 separatistic congregations, ministered to by a Canadian mis- 
 sionary. They have assumed the name of " The Holiness 
 Mission." The earnestness and sincerity of these simple 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 35] 
 
 Christians are acknowledged, but witness is also borne to the 
 extravagances indulged in at their services. 
 
 The Muhammadans, who form the greater part of the 
 population of Egypt, have hardly been touched, nor have the 
 Americans at any time devoted much attention to them in a 
 systematic way. Dr. Andrew Watson, the historian of the 
 American Mission, calculates that in the period from 1854 to 
 1894 the total number of Muhammadans who were baptized 
 was about seventy-five ; and during the last twelve years 
 about the same figure has been reached, the annual number 
 varying between six and twelve. Most of these come from 
 the lower classes, though a few educated and influential men 
 have been baptized. The great obstacle has been that the 
 principle of religious liberty, established by the hatti 
 humayoun, has been acted upon by the Egyptian government 
 only when pressed by the Christian Powers. Then there is 
 the very strong Muhammadan esprit de corps ; a man would 
 rather kill his brother, or a father his son, than see him turn 
 Christian. One might have supposed that the English occu- 
 pation in 1882 would have altered this, and, indeed, for some 
 time numerous applications for baptism were made by 
 Muhammadans who had stood in friendly relations towards 
 the mission, and who now expected that the new Christian 
 government would favour Christianity, even as the former 
 government had favoured Islam. But this movement was 
 soon arrested by the rather weak consideration of the English 
 authorities for the feelings of the Muhammadans, who were 
 much excited by such conversions as that of the stationer, 
 Muhammad Habib. In their work among Muhammadans 
 the Americans confined themselves to distributing Bibles and 
 other religious literature, especially good apologetic books 
 like Pfander's " Misan ul Haqq " and El Kindi's " Apology," 
 and to receiving as many Muhammadan children as possible 
 into their schools. During the last twenty years they have 
 had never less than 2,000 Muhammadan pupils, and in 1907 
 this number was increased to 3,067, of whom 2,446 were boys 
 and 621 girls, in spite of the fact that the Muhammadans did 
 
352 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 all ia their power to draw away the children of their faith 
 from the Protestant schools into new rival schools of their 
 own. 
 
 The number of ordained American missionaries rose in 1895 
 to fifteen. Two of those who have served in the mission de- 
 serve special mention. The Scotsman, Dr. John Hogg, was 
 one of the pillars of the mission. After his death, Dr. J. G. 
 Bliss, who was well acquainted with the state of things in 
 Egypt, wrote in an American paper, " It is not too much to 
 say that the whole land is in mourning for this eminent serv- 
 ant of God. He was the prince of Bible- workers in this land 
 of darkness. Few are the places on the Nile valley from 
 Assuan to Cairo, where his voice has not been lifted up for 
 God and Bible truth. For more than twenty years he was 
 identified, more than any other one, with the work of evan- 
 gelism in Upper Egypt." His great achievement was the es- 
 tablishment of the large educational centre at Assiut, where he 
 founded the college. He died very suddenly in 1886. Side by 
 side with him stood his faithful friend and fellow worker, Dr 
 G. Lansing (1856-1892), one of the most energetic missionaries 
 in Egypt, a learned man, deeply interested in the archaeology 
 of Egypt in its relation to Bible history. 
 
 Since the year 1890 there has been great progress in the 
 American Mission. No new station had been established in 
 the preceding twenty years, in fact the stations in Kus and 
 in Medinet-el-Fayum had been abandoned. But now a for- 
 ward movement set in again. In 1893 Tanta was occupied, in 
 189-1 Zagazig and Benha, all three being in the Delta. Since 
 then stations have been established in Beni-Suef and Luxor, 
 and Medinet-el-Fayum has again been occupied. The staff of 
 the mission has been increased to 108, of whom fifty- three are 
 lady missionaries, which proves how the work among women 
 has grown. Nineteen of these lady missionaries are engaged 
 in the trying work in the harems of Koptic and Muhammadan 
 families, nineteen are engaged in school work, and fifteen act 
 as medical missionaries and nurses. 
 
 The medical mission has been greatly extended within the 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 353 
 
 last ten years. Up to 1891 there had been medical men among 
 the missionaries only occasionally. In that year a doctor was 
 permanently posted in Assiut, where, in the centre of Upper 
 Egypt, the work has progressed very satisfactorily, especially 
 since a new roomy hospital with eighty beds was placed at 
 the disposal of the doctor in 1901. In 1902 two lady medical 
 missionaries were stationed in Tanta, in the Delta. Here, too, 
 the success of the work justified the building of a comfortable 
 hospital for women and children, which is nearly always full. 
 The success of these two ventures led to the calling of doctors 
 of both sexes to Luxor, Benha and the Fayum, so that at the 
 present time there are six doctors, three lady doctors and 
 twelve nurses engaged there. In the course of a year 2,631 
 in-patients are treated in these hospitals, and 33,16T patients 
 in six dispensaries, in addition to 5,000 patients visited at their 
 homes. Thus 40,000 people each year share in the service 
 rendered by these Good Samaritans. 
 
 An equal degree of strong and sustained advance is being 
 made in the formation of congregations. At present there are 
 fifty-seven fully organized congregations, with a communicant 
 roll of 9,349. In 1906 alone 961 new Koptic members were 
 added to the Church, and twelve Muhammadans. According 
 to Presbyterian usage the congregations form four presbyteries, 
 under the Nile synod. The mission reports, while recognizing 
 that there are many obvious defects in the work, nevertheless 
 maintain that the Protestant Church acts as a light, especially 
 in the midst of the Koptic Church, and that the work of evan- 
 gelization is being carried on outside of that Church in an ever- 
 increasing measure, proof of which is the fact that two or- 
 dained missionaries have been sent to the Sudan. Educational 
 work is also in a flourishing condition. In the 179 elementary 
 schools (147 for boys and thirty-two for girls) there are 15,871 
 pupils, taught by 431 teachers. The three girls' boarding- 
 schools in Assiut, Cairo and Luxor have, in addition, 919 
 pupils, and in the twenty other more advanced schools there 
 are 3,703 boys and girls. The apex of this educational pyra- 
 mid is formed by the magnificent college at Assiut, with its 
 
354 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 729 students, and by the seminary in Cairo, with, alas, only 
 thirteen students. 
 
 2. S^ittler^s " A^postelstrasse " {Apostles* Road) and Other 
 
 Smaller Missions 
 
 Father Spittler's " Apostelstrasse " is but an episode in 
 Egyptian mission work. In 1855 Father Spittler and the 
 Chrischona Brotherhood, which he had founded near Basle, 
 made an attempt to begin a mission in Abyssinia, in conjunc- 
 tion with Bishop Gobat of Jerusalem and that indefatigable 
 pioneer in East Africa, Dr. Krapf (cf. Chap. YI, B, 2). Abys- 
 sinia was remote from the trade routes, was difficult of access, 
 and had irregular and infrequent communication with the 
 outside world. Gobat, Isenberg and Krapf had already felt 
 these drawbacks in their first attempt to work in that coun- 
 try. However, now that the Chrischona Brotherhood, together 
 with various other societies, had entered upon this field in 
 considerable numbers, the hope was entertained that these 
 difficulties might, in some measure, be overcome. The plan 
 was conceived of effecting an organized connection with mis- 
 sionaries working in these far-away posts in Abyssinia, by es- 
 tablishing intermediate stations along the way. There were 
 two routes to Abyssinia. Hitherto the missionaries had all 
 gone through the Eed Sea by way of Massowa. But the al- 
 ternative overland route through Egypt by way of Assuan 
 and Khartum was worth trying. This plan took on an aston- 
 ishing form in the busy brain of Father Spittler, under the 
 influence of the visionary Dr. Krapf. A grand series of twelve 
 stations was to be established from Alexandria to the bound- 
 ary of Abyssinia, each of which was to bear the name of one 
 of the apostles, and to be manned by laymen known as " pil- 
 grims," who should maintain themselves by the work of their 
 hands, at the same time doing mission work in the neigh- 
 bourhood, as opportunity offered, and acting as a link between 
 the stations on either side. Thus a route would be opened for 
 missionaries and traders between Alexandria and Abyssinia. 
 The choice of the name "apostles' road" was a happy 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 355 
 
 thought, and had a mysterious attraction for Christians in 
 Germany. The piroject grew apace in the minds of Spittler 
 and Krapf ; it might be possible to reach darkest Africa by 
 the " apostles' road " up the Nile, for a branch route of twelve 
 stations, to be called the " prophets' road," might start from 
 Khartum and lead into the heart of Africa, perhaps to the 
 great lakes, which were then just rising on the geographical 
 horizon. "While at home the friends of missions were follow- 
 ing these far-reaching projects with intense interest. Father 
 Spittler undertook to carry them out. Several of the stations 
 were established, St. Mark in Cairo in 1861, St. Paul in Meta- 
 mah, on the boundary of Abyssinia, in 1862, St. Thomas in 
 Khartum, St. Matthew in Alexandria, and St. Peter in Assuan 
 in 1865. Then came the fall of King Theodore of Abyssinia, 
 which put an end to the Abyssinian Mission. This rendered 
 the connecting stations purposeless, and the whole plan fell to 
 the ground. Father Spittler was too wise a man to pursue 
 a phantom, were it never so beautiful, when hard facts bade a 
 retreat. One after another the apostle stations were aban- 
 doned. The station at Cairo, which was given up in 1872, 
 deserves particular mention, because from its ruins there arose 
 a Protestant German congregation in that city. Mr. Schlott- 
 hauer, one of the Chrischona brethren, entered the service of 
 the American Mission as a colporteur. 
 
 Another transient attempt was made by Witteween, a 
 Dutch clergyman in Ermelo. In 1846 he sent two young 
 men, who were unfortunately lacking in training and ex- 
 perience, to penetrate through Egypt into the heathen lands 
 on the Upper Nile, there to commence mission work. Of 
 course nothing could come of such an enterprise. One of the 
 men became insane in consequence of the tropical heat, and 
 the other lost courage and returned home. But Witteween 
 would not abandon his enterprise. In 1870 one of his evan- 
 gelists, a young man named Nylandt, offered himself for the 
 gervice. After he had arrived in Egypt, however, he made 
 strict enquiries as to the country, the people, and the pros- 
 pects of mission work, with the result that he modestly 
 
356 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 settled down in Kalyub, which lies to the north of Cairo at 
 the fork of the Nile delta, and there began to work among 
 Kopts and Muhammadans. Confined to this solitary station, 
 the small Dutch mission has carried on its work since then 
 in a quiet and humble way. It maintains several village 
 schools and a small orphanage, and has several colporteurs 
 to distribute literature among Kopts and Muhammadans. In 
 addition to Nylandt, a man named Spillenaar particularly has 
 done much faithful work. The funds for this work are sup- 
 plied by a Dutch society called the " Yereeniging tot Uit- 
 breiding van bet Evangelic in Egypte," which was founded 
 in 1886. 
 
 The JS'orth African Mission, which had begun work in 
 Algiers and Morocco, gradually extended its labours along the 
 north coast, and, in 1892, gained a footing in Egypt also. 
 Here it has two stations, one in Alexandria, the other in 
 Shebin-el-Kom, both being in the Delta. In the latter place 
 there were violent disturbances, the Kopts uniting with the 
 Muhammadans in an attempt to oust these unwelcome 
 neighbours. The missionaries received notice to quit the 
 premises which they had rented. In the spring of 1907, 
 however, they succeeded in buying a site from the govern- 
 ment, on which mission buildings are now being erected. 
 The chief aim of the mission is to work among Muhammadans. 
 This it does by establishing book-depots and reading-rooms, 
 in which Muhammadans can assemble to gain information 
 concerning Christianity. Boys' and girls' schools, Bible- 
 women and itinerant preachers also find a place in the work 
 of the mission. Yet the mission has not been able to develop 
 any great activity, owing to the fact that there are only two 
 missionaries with their wives, and one or two lady mission- 
 aries. The work has also been much hampered by illness. 
 
 The Egyptian General Mission, sometimes called the 
 Egyptian Mission Band, was formed in Ireland in 1898. Its 
 object, also, was to convert Muhammadans, and it does work 
 in the Delta in Alexandria, Bilbeis and Shibin-el-Kanatr, as 
 also in Suez. Here, too, are book-depots, reading-rooms 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 357 
 
 and boys' and girls' schools. In' connection with this mission 
 a monthly magazine is published, which has a considerable 
 circulation in Egypt. But no great number of Muhammadans 
 have been converted. The most interesting of their converts 
 is a Moroccan sheikh (cf. " Story of a Moslem Sheikh "). 
 
 In 1906 there came to Germany Dr. K. W. Kumm, a 
 German who had left the service of the North African Mission, 
 a son-in-law of the well-known, eloquent advocate of missions, 
 Dr. Grattan Guinness. Dr. Kumm awakened in religious 
 circles enthusiasm for the rather adventurous project of a 
 Sudan Pioneer Mission in Nubia among the Bisharin 
 Beduins. The head of this missionary society was the Rev. 
 T. H. Ziemendorf of Wiesbaden. Kumm himself soon left it. 
 Assuan, at the first cataract of the Nile, was occupied as the 
 first station of the mission in 1901. At first there were many 
 difficulties and disappointments both at home and on the 
 mission field, but latterly, under the management of a 
 medical missionary, two young missionaries and a few lady 
 missionaries, the work in Assuan seems to be quietly prosper- 
 ing. Darawi was occupied as a second station, a place lying 
 to the north of Assuan, and inhabited solely by Muhamma- 
 dans. In all probability this mission will need unusual 
 patience, as it has chosen a particularly hard point at which 
 to begin Muhammadan mission work. The Kaiserswerth 
 deaconesses have established hospitals in Alexandria and 
 Cairo. While Fliedner, the founder of this society, was 
 staying in Egypt for the benefit of his health during the 
 winter of 1856 to 1857, he rented a roomy house in a health- 
 ful part of Alexandria, which he fitted up as a hospital. 
 This house was afterwards bought, but, as its sanitary 
 arrangements were not wholly suitable for the purpose, a 
 new house was built, in which as many as 28,850 in-patients 
 and out-patients have been treated in a single year. 
 
 In Cairo the German, Swiss, English and North American 
 residents founded a hospital, which was named the " Victoria 
 Hospital" in honour of the Queen of England. This was 
 handed over to the management of the Kaiserswerth deacon- 
 
358 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 esses. In this stronghold of Islam there is no more effectual 
 preaching of the Gospel than this Christian medical work. 
 Both these hospitals are open to patients of all nations and 
 religions. 
 
 3, The Church Missionary Society Mission in Egypt 
 The work of the Church Missionary Society in Egypt is 
 more important than that of the smaller societies of which we 
 have just spoken. "We have already shown how Church Mis- 
 sionary Society missionaries were sent to Egypt in connection 
 with the great Mediterranean Mission scheme of the society, 
 and how they carried on a quiet work among the Kopts. But 
 as the United Presbyterians of America had started more ex- 
 tensive operations in Egypt, the Church Missionary Society 
 retired for a time from that field. Yet the land of the 
 Pharaohs, hoary with age, and rich in associations with Bible 
 history, always exercised a powerful attraction upon religious 
 circles in England, and the thoughts of the Church Missionary 
 Society were directed anew to Egypt. 
 
 Miss Mary Whately, a daughter of Dr. Whately, the Arch- 
 bishop of Dublin, had begun schools for Muhammadan boys 
 and girls in Cairo in 1861 ; these schools were sometimes at- 
 tended by as many as 600 children, and in connection with 
 them there was medical work. Miss Whately attracted the 
 attention of the English public by her book, entitled " Ragged 
 Life in Egypt." Towards the end of her life (she died in 
 1889), she proposed to transfer the management of the schools 
 to the Church Missionary Society.^ 
 
 At about the same time, two influential members of the 
 Church Missionary Society committee, General Lake and Gen- 
 eral Haig, drew attention to the problems of missions among 
 Muhammadans, in consequence of which the society energet- 
 ically took up this long-neglected branch of mission work in 
 India, Persia, Palestine and elsewhere ; and Egypt was recog- 
 
 ^ This transfer did not actually take place. After Miss "Whately's death, first 
 her sister and then Farida Shaknr, a Syrian lady, carried on the schools until 
 they were transferred to the United Presbyterians of America in 1901, 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 359 
 
 nized as being the best centre from which to work. Arabic 
 is the language of Muhammadan theology and culture ; dc- 
 cordingly, those nations which have Arabic for their mother- 
 tongue are regarded, in a way, as the nobility of Islam. The 
 Arabian Peninsula, though possessing peculiar religious at- 
 tractions, the most striking manifestation of which is the 
 yearly pilgrimage (hadj) to the two sacred cities of Mecca and 
 Medina, plays otherwise no important part, on account of its 
 remoteness and its desert character. Thus Egypt takes the 
 first place. The madriseh in the El Azhar Mosque in Cairo 
 is by far the most important university of the Moslem world. 
 Contemporaneously with the founding of Cairo by Gauhar, 
 the vizier of the Fatimide Sultan Muizz in 969 A. D., this 
 famous university arose, and has, for nine and a half centuries, 
 sent forth an uninterrupted stream of teachers of classical 
 Arabic and of orators speaking in the sacred language of the 
 Koran. In 1879, when the number of students was at its 
 height, there were 11,095 men, taught by 325 professors, 
 while at present there are no fewer than 10,000 students and 
 250 professors. But it must not be assumed that the standard 
 of learning is very high in this university. The curriculum is 
 still that of the Muhammadan scholasticism of the Middle 
 Ages. When the intelligent predecessor of the present mufti 
 attempted to introduce the study of at least some of the ele- 
 mentary branches of modern learning, as geography and his- 
 tory, he failed. Thus the El Azhar University is a gigantic 
 anachronism in modern Egypt. But it is none the less a 
 formidable stronghold of unbending Islamic fanaticism. Since 
 Egypt lies on the world's great highroad of commerce, while 
 at the same time her language is Arabic and the El Azhar 
 University is situated within her borders, she has become the 
 focus of Panislamism, i. e., of the attempt to combine all Mu- 
 hammadans in opposition to Christian states.^ Hand in hand 
 
 ^ Lord Cromer says in his last official report (March, 1907), that every Euro- 
 pean state having political interests in the East should closely watch this Panis- 
 lamic movement, since it may lead to sporadic outbreaks of fanaticism in various 
 parts of the world ; and that such an outbreak had been imminent in Egypt dur- 
 
360 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 with this movement there is a determined nationalism ex* 
 pressed in the motto, " Egypt for the Egyptians," which also 
 aims at putting an end to European influence and English 
 government. It was this importance of Egypt in the world 
 of Islam that induced the Church Missionary Society to take 
 action. After the suppression of Arabi Pasha's rebellion and 
 the occupation of Egypt by England, the mission in Egypt 
 was once more begun, but only for work among Muhamma- 
 dans. 
 
 The Church Missionary Society can hardly be said to have 
 approached this difficult task at the start with sufficient en- 
 ergy. The society contented itself at first with sending to 
 Egypt one of the veterans of their Palestine Mission, who had 
 retired from service some time before, a German named F. A. 
 Klein, the discoverer of the Moabite stone of Mesha. His 
 instructions were to go on with his Arabic translations, in ad- 
 dition to selling Protestant literature and coming into per- 
 sonal touch with the people. Six years later, in 1688, Dr. 
 Harpur, a medical missionary, was sent to Cairo. Zealous in 
 his profession, he nevertheless engaged in general pioneering 
 work rather than devoting himself to constant attendance 
 upon a hospital. We find him, accordingly, during the fol- 
 lowing ten years, doing important and arduous work, now 
 here, now there ; in the Sinaitic Peninsula, in Aden, Hodeida 
 and Suakim. Egypt has had the special benefit of his skill 
 only since there has been placed at his disposal a roomy 
 house-boat, in which he can visit the Delta and Lower Nile as 
 doctor and evangelist. The orderly expansion of the work in 
 Cairo began in 1890, when a considerable number of lady mis- 
 sionaries were sent out, and a mission hospital was built in 
 Old Cairo. Since then the work of the Church Missionary 
 Society Mission has expanded in three directions, medical, 
 
 ing the spring of 1906, when the population let Hself be suddenly lashed into 
 fury by mendacious revolutionary articles in the Panislamic press, the impres- 
 sion having been made that the supreme head of the Islamic religion was being 
 wantonly attacked. At that time Egypt was on the verge of a Panislamic re- 
 bellion ! 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 361 
 
 educational and evangelistic. The Cairo hospital has a ca- 
 pable staff of two doctors and four nurses, and has had a 
 valuable accession in the "Ethel Pain Memorial Hospital" 
 for vromen and children. It has many Muhammadan patients. 
 The lady missionaries devote themselves largely to girls' 
 schools. They have established girls' primary schools in Cairo 
 itself, in the Old Cairo suburb and in Helwan, a health resort 
 of world-wide fame. There are also girls' boarding-schools in 
 Cairo and Helwan. A training class for Bible-women and 
 teachers completes the scheme. Not so many Muhammadan 
 girls, however, attend these schools as the mission could wish, 
 especially since the Muhammadans themselves have opened 
 girls' schools with great zeal, and considerable financial sup- 
 port. Whenever a girl appears to be yielding to Christian in- 
 fluences, or a Muhammadan joins the Christian Church, the 
 schools at once feel the shock. The lady missionaries also do 
 a great amount of house to house visiting among Muhamma- 
 dan and Koptic women, in which arduous work they have to 
 contend with much opposition. 
 
 A new branch of the Church Missionary Society work was 
 inaugurated in 1898, when two close friends, Eev. Douglas 
 Thornton and Rev. Wm. H. G. Gairdner, were sent out to do 
 evangelistic work among Muhammadans. Both these men 
 had prepared themselves for their task by special study. 
 They made arrangements for public discussions in Arabic and 
 English, on which occasions they usually opened the debate 
 with an address. They even ventured openly to preach the 
 Gospel on other evenings, but not without exciting fanatical 
 opposition and stormy scenes. They also made great use of 
 the bookstore, to which, as usual, a reading-room was at- 
 tached, being ntuch frequented. Here they found many an 
 opportunit}'' quietly to present the contrast between Chris- 
 tianity and Islam, Christ and Muhammad. Their weekly 
 paper, Orient and Occident^ which had a large circulation, ex- 
 tending as far as Upper Egypt, was a still more effective 
 branch of their work. This paper, like the Epiphany of the 
 Oxford Brotherhood in Calcutta, opened its columns to any 
 
362 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Egyptian who wished to state his scruples, or to ask questions, 
 or to give his religious experiences. This is exactly what a 
 people in whom new ideas are fermenting requires. In this 
 way doors were opened in various parts of the country. 
 Thornton sought to make the most of this by arranging pub- 
 lic meetings while on his evangelistic tours throughout the 
 country. These meetings were always crowded. Kopts be- 
 longing to the ancient Church, as well as Protestant Kopts, 
 and even inflaential Muhammadans, assisted him in the ar- 
 ranging and carrying out of these mission campaigns, which 
 were quite a novelty in the mission history of the ISTear East, 
 and which were even now possible only by reason of the pro- 
 tection afforded by the pax Britannica. Unfortunately the 
 talented and zealous Thornton died on the 7th of September, 
 1907, while still a comparatively young man. 
 
 There have not been wanting tokens of success in the work 
 of the Church Missionary Society. For twenty years there 
 have been a few Muhammadans baptized each year. Most of 
 these, to be sure, have been young people, who had been 
 brought to seek the truth in the Syrian or Asia Minor Mis- 
 sions, and had fled to seek refuge under the English in Egypt, 
 in order there to be instructed and baptized. Some of the ac- 
 cessions created much excitement, most of all, perhaps, the case 
 of a former violent opponent, Mahmud, the son of an influen- 
 tial sheikh in the south of Palestine, and a graduate of tha EI 
 Azhar University, who, in October, 1905, entered the class of 
 catechumens, and, in February, 1906, publicly confessed the 
 Christian faith in the presence of Lord Cromer and the high- 
 est Egyptian authorities, being baptized and taking the name 
 of Bulus (Paul). 
 
 It was in accordance with the premier position of Egypt in 
 the world of Islam that the first International Protestant 
 Conference of missionaries among Muhammadans was held in 
 Cairo. This conference met from the 4th to the 9th of April, 
 1906. Twenty-nine societies sent delegates to it. The Church 
 Missionary Society offered them hospitality in the house 
 occupied by Thornton and Gairdner, which had once been 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 363 
 
 Arabi Pasha's palace. Two sets of lengthy papers dealt with 
 the chief Islamic countries and the methods adopted by mis- 
 sionaries among Muhammadans. These papers were sub- 
 sequently published in two volumes, " The Mohammedan 
 World of To-day " (295 pp.), and " Methods of Mission Work 
 Among Moslems " (236 pp.), the latter being printed only for 
 private circulation. Without question, missions among Mu- 
 hammadans present so many peculiar difficulties, and demand 
 such special training, that conferences of experts are well- 
 nigh necessary, if Christendom is determined to prosecute this 
 branch of mission work in real earnest. 
 
 4,, The Egyjptian Sudan 
 
 The location of the sources of the Nile was one of the 
 mysteries of antiquity. We do not know how far up the Nile 
 the Egyptians pressed in their conquests and in commerce. 
 But at any rate the kingdom of Meroe extended as far as 
 Khartum. During the first centuries of the Christian era, 
 Christianity spread from Egypt into Nubia, and in the fifth 
 and sixth centuries it reigned supreme from Egypt to Ab- 
 yssinia. After Amr, the Arab, had conquered Egypt, he 
 marched into Nubia, where, however, he was bravely repulsed 
 by a well-disciplined army. Nubia maintained its political in- 
 dependence and its Christian Church under native Christian 
 kings without break into the fifteenth century. An interest- 
 ing record of this period still exists in the description of his 
 journey by the Egyptian Ambassador Abdallah Achmed, who 
 had been commissioned in 970 by the Fatimide Khalif to visit 
 the Christian royal courts of Nubia. He gives glowing 
 descriptions of the cultural and religious condition of the 
 country : — " In the course of three days we passed about 
 thirty towns with beautiful houses, churches and monasteries, 
 numberless palm-groves, vineyards and gardens, extensive 
 fields, and a great number of camels of good breed and of 
 great beauty. From Dongola to the confines of the kingdom 
 of Alua (Sennar) the distance is greater than from Dongola to 
 Assuan. And in all the intervening country you see an 
 
364 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 infinitely greater number of towns, villages, herds, corn-fields, 
 vineyards, and palm-groves than in the province that borders 
 on the Muhammadan territory." Towards the end of the 
 thirteenth century the Mameluke sultans of Egypt found oc- 
 casion to interfere in a question concerning the succession in 
 Nubia, and succeeded in placing their tool upon the throne. 
 In this way the northern province of Dongola first became 
 dependent on Egypt. After this a heavy tribute of slaves 
 was imposed on the Nubians, and eventually the country was 
 ruined by the increasing slave-trade in Egypt. The various 
 provinces and kingdoms into which Nubia was at that time 
 divided fell into constant feud with one another in the at- 
 tempt to capture slaves one from the other. Gradually the 
 slave-driver himself came from Egypt to pursue his nefarious 
 trade on a larger scale, and so the slave hunts and slave wars, 
 that are so well known, began. In this state of anarchy the 
 Christian Church perished. It can hardly be shown how its 
 gradual dissolution took place. 
 
 A Portuguese priest, who travelled in Abyssinia in 1520 
 and 1527, found the country in a miserable state of transition, 
 being " neither Christian, nor Jewish, nor Muhammadan," 
 " without religion or law, but still with the desire to remain 
 Christian." As they had neither bishops nor priests, they 
 sent a deputation to the Abuna of Abyssinia to ask him for 
 priests ; but they got none. Traces of Christianity still re- 
 mained into the nineteenth century. When General Gordon 
 became governor of the Sudan in 1884 he found a bishop in 
 Khartum with seven churches and a convent. Even this poor 
 remnant was fearfully decimated in the Mahdi rising {Intelli- 
 gencer, 1899, pp. 266 ff., 895). 
 
 In 1906 there were found considerable remnants of ancient 
 Christian writings in the ancient language of Nubia, portions 
 of a translation of the Bible and fragments of ecclesiastical 
 literature. This is a fact that must excite thoughts in the 
 mind of a friend of mission work, for the Nubians belong to a 
 large national and linguistic family, formerly called the Nuba- 
 Fulah group, but now the Sudanese, to whom belong also the 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 365 
 
 Ga and Tshi of the Gold Coast and the Ewe of the Slave 
 Coast. Thus one member of this national family, which is to- 
 day sunk in the deepest heathenism, had, more than a thou- 
 sands years ago, a Christian royal house and a native Christian 
 literature. 
 
 Under the ambitious and brilliant dynasty of Muhammad 
 Ali a period of Egyptian conquests began. It was the ambi- 
 tion of Muhammad Ali and of Ismail to found a greater 
 Egypt up to the Equator. The former pushed in 1819 into 
 the Sudan, beyond Khartum. The chief result of this invasion 
 was an increase of the detestable slave-trade, which had al- 
 ready been carried on in the Sudan for a long time on a large 
 scale. Now, under Egyptian rule, it became the staple trade 
 of the country. Military posts were the centres from which 
 to hunt slaves for service in the army, and the Nile became 
 the favourite route of the slave-dealers. Khartum was the 
 chief slave market. Up to 1853 Egyptian rule extended no 
 further than to a point one hundred and twenty miles south 
 of Khartum, so that the negroes living on the upper White 
 Nile and on the Bahr-el-Ghazal were not much troubled. In 
 1853, however, a European trading expedition pushed further 
 up the river, to be followed by others. Stations were estab- 
 lished, which were protected by armed Arabs and Nubians. 
 Within a few years the European traders sold their stations 
 to Arab agents, who were called Khartumers, because they 
 had their headquarters in that city. They became small in- 
 dependent potentates, and never was there a greater curse let 
 loose upon a country. By means of their armed robber bands 
 they plundered the native races or stirred them up one against 
 the other. 
 
 When Ismail Pasha was made viceroy in 1863, he saw that 
 it was impossible to rule over the Sudan by Egyptian agents. 
 He accordingly granted to Sir Samuel Baker unlimited powers 
 over the territory to the south of Gondokoro, which now 
 forms part of the Uganda Protectorate. Baker arrived in 
 Gondokoro in 1871, and formally added it to the newly formed 
 province of Ismailia. The following year he declared Unyoro 
 
366 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 an Egyptian province, and entered into friendly relations with 
 Mtesa, the king of Uganda. For a short time the slave-trade 
 was abolished through his energetic action, but between 1873, 
 when he returned to Cairo, and the year following, when 
 General Gordon came for the first time, the trade revived. 
 First as governor of the province of Ismailia, and then as 
 governor-general of the Egyptian Sudan (1874-1879), Gordon 
 was most earnestly occupied in introducing order into the 
 vast waste territory, and above all he endeavoured thoroughly 
 to root out the slave-trade. But his success, also, was only 
 transient. 
 
 The immorality and corruption of the Egyptian officials had 
 caused great dissatisfaction among the classes of the people 
 that were engaged in agriculture and commerce. The extor- 
 tion of the tax-gatherers had impoverished many. The 
 sporadic attempts to suppress the slave-trade had made the 
 nomad races restless, since their chief source of income lay in 
 that trade. All these disturbed interests were only waiting 
 for a strong man to lead them in open rebellion. And into 
 this powder-magazine there fell the spark of religious fanat- 
 icism. The son of a Dongola carpenter. Sheikh Muhammad 
 Achmed, declared himself, in August, 1881, during the fast of 
 Ramadan, to be the promised Mahdi. On the 3d of ISTovem- 
 ber, 1883, he annihilated the Egyptian army, ten thousand 
 strong, led by Hicks Pasha. All hope for the Egyptian Sudan 
 was then abandoned. In this serious crisis, Gordon was again 
 sent thither to save what remained. But unfortunately the 
 force placed at his disposal was not strong enough. When 
 the wild hordes of the Mahdi stormed Khartum on the 24th 
 of January, 1885, he fell. The Mahdi himself, indeed, died in 
 June of the same year, but the khalif whom he had appointed, 
 Abdullah, a Baggara of the Taaisha tribe from Darfur, carried 
 out the Mahdi's plans with perhaps even greater blood thirst- 
 iness. This reign of terror lasted for twelve years, and is one 
 of the blackest chapters in the history of narrow-minded Mos- 
 lem fanaticism, in all its hatred of culture. The tribes of the 
 Kile Yalley were decimated. Executions, massacres and con- 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 367 
 
 fiscations were the order of the day. The inhabitants of en- 
 tire districts, e. g., along the Blue Nile, were compelled to 
 settle in Omdurman, which was thus increased to a city with 
 a population of 400,000. The horrors of the slave-trade were 
 never more shocking than under this Khalif 's rule. At length, 
 in 1898, an Anglo-Egyptian army under Kitchener succeeded 
 in defeating the Khalif, and putting an end to his rule. 
 
 The immense Egyptian Sudan was, by an arrangement not 
 quite easy to understand, placed under the joint government 
 of England and Egypt. It became practically an English 
 province, governed at the cost of Egypt. There was great 
 enthusiasm among the supporters of the Anglican Mission for 
 following up with mission work the undertaking of General 
 Gordon, who was greatly venerated in evangelical circles. 
 He himself had, from 1874 to 1879, urgently requested the 
 Church Missionary Society to begin work in the Egyptian 
 Sudan. After his death this society received subscriptions 
 amounting to £3,000 for establishing a " Gordon Memorial 
 Mission." The first attempts in this direction, however. Gen- 
 eral Haig's journey to Suakim and Hodeida in 1886, and that 
 of the medical missionary. Dr. F. J. Harpur to Suakim, proved 
 abortive. The time had not yet come. 
 
 But when the British flag floated over the Sudan in 1898, 
 the enthusiasm was renewed. The Church Missionary Society 
 was now ready to begin a mission on a grand scale. The 
 United Presbyterians also began to push their work forward 
 into the Sudan. But just then a new, and for a time insuper- 
 able, difficulty arose, namely, the policy of the English gov- 
 ernment, which strictly prohibited missions in the Moslem 
 Sudan. The reason for this as propounded by Lord Cromer 
 is so instructive that we must give his words as they appeared 
 in the Blue Book, 1905, No. 1, April : 
 
 " In the northern portion of the Sudan ... it would 
 not, for the present, be possible, without incurring great 
 danger, to adopt so liberal and tolerant a policy as that pur- 
 sued in Egypt. The population of the Sudan generally is as 
 yet far too ignorant and uncivilized to be able to distinguish 
 
368 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 between the action of the British government in their corporate 
 capacity, and that of an individual European, whether of Brit- 
 ish or any other nationality. If free scope were allowed to 
 missionary enterprise, it would not only be unproductive of re- 
 sult, but would also create a feeling of resentment, culminating 
 possibly in actual disturbance, which, far from advancing, 
 would almost certainly throw back that work of civilization, 
 which all connected with the country, whether or not con- 
 nected with missionary enterprise, have so much at heart. 
 
 *' Under these circumstances, I have stated in my annual re- 
 port for 1902 that both Sir Eeginald Wingate and myself were 
 of opinion that * the time was still distant when mission work 
 could with safety and advantage be permitted amongst the 
 Moslem population of the Sudan.' We both remain of that 
 opinion. It is impossible at present to assign any precise 
 limit to the duration of the existing restrictions. From the 
 point of view of British missionary enterprise those restric- 
 tions are so far practically unimportant, in that a large field 
 of activity, which they have as yet, owing to want of 
 funds, been unable to occupy, has been opened out to them in 
 the southern portion of the Sudan. To a certain very limited 
 extent, an exception to the application of the principle above 
 enunciated has been made within the second zone, in the case 
 of Khartum. The population of that town is not wholly 
 Moslem. There are many Christians resident, of various de- 
 nominations. Moreover, being the seat of government, the 
 action of any missionary bodies can be carefully supervised ; 
 whilst the Moslem population, being in immediate touch with 
 the governing authorities, can more readily comprehend the 
 policy adopted than those residing in the outlying provinces. 
 Further, an active demand for education, which the govern- 
 ment is unable to meet adequately from its own resources, 
 exists, on the part of both Moslems aud Christians. Under 
 these circumstances permission has been given for the estab- 
 lishment of mission schools at Khartum. It is for the heads 
 of these schools to decide on the amount of religious instruc- 
 tion which shall be afforded to the pupils. The duty of the 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 369 
 
 government is limited to providing that any Moslem parent, 
 or parent of some religious denomination other than that 
 under whose auspices the school has been instituted, shall 
 clearly understand the conditions under which secular instruc- 
 tion is imparted, before he sends his child to the school. Reg- 
 ulations having this object in view have accordingly been 
 framed." 
 
 This refusal on the part of the government has greatly 
 added to the difficulty of establishing the mission securely in 
 the Sudan. Let us take up separately the Arabian Sudan, ex- 
 tending as far south as the latitude of Fashoda (10° N.), and 
 the heathen Sudan, extending southwards to the Protectorate 
 of Uganda. 
 
 (a) There has been a great immigration into the Arabian 
 Sudan since the English occupation, including Christians from 
 Egypt and Syria. The government has opened up the coun- 
 try by the construction of a railway system from Assuan via 
 Wadi Haifa to Khartum, and from Atbara, near Berber on 
 the Nile, to Port Sudan, near Suakim, on the Red Sea ; and 
 also by the establishment of a regular steamboat service. As 
 a great number of officials and educated men of all kinds is 
 required, immigration is liberally encouraged. Khartum is 
 gradually developing into a civilized city, and Haifa, Atbara, 
 Port Sudan and other towns are beginning to flourish. As 
 there were many Protestants from Egypt and Syria among 
 the immigrants, the United Presbyterians felt themselves in 
 duty bound to follow them and, especially, to gather them into 
 congregations and associations. They are mostly young people. 
 The Nile Synod in Egypt regards the Sudan as its mission 
 field, and has already sent two of its ordained ministers 
 thither. The Presbyterians have established a main station 
 at Khartum, and have begun educational work on a modest 
 scale. The latter is hampered by the government regulation 
 that Muhammadans must signify their willingness in writing, 
 before their children may attend Christian religious instruc- 
 tion. The Church Missionary Society has also a station in 
 Khartum, but, since the death of the medical missionary. Dr. 
 
370 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Hall, who was stationed there, the staff has been very weak. 
 This mission is distinguished by having a large, well-attended 
 girls' school in a roomy house. 
 
 (6) While the English government thought it right to ex- 
 clude Christian missions from Moslem Sudan, it not only 
 threw open the heathen part of the country south of Fashoda, 
 but even heartily invited the missions to enter. Lord Cromer, 
 in writing to the English clergyman, Kev. K. Maclnnes, in 
 December, 1904, said that the Sudan government would wel- 
 come the cooperation of the missionaries in the work of civi- 
 lization. Two societies accepted the invitation. The United 
 Presbyterians settled in Dolaib, on the Sobat, sixty miles 
 above Fashoda. Naturally their work in this completely new 
 field is not yet highly developed. Dolaib lies in the district 
 of Shilluk or ShuUa. Comparatively near at hand are the 
 tribal lands of the Northern Dinka, the ISTuehr, the Barun and 
 the Anyok, each with a more or less distinct dialect, so that 
 each tribe requires at least one main station, and the literary 
 work promises to be very heavy. Unfortunately Arabic, and 
 with it Islam, is making great progress, and both are encour- 
 aged by the government. Further, it is a very unhealthful 
 country, so that a frequent change among the missionaries 
 seems to be unavoidable. It is considered desirable that each 
 of them should spend three months of every year in a more 
 healthful climate (F. K. Giffen, " The Egyptian Sudan," New 
 York, 1906). 
 
 In January, 1906, the Church Missionary Society began 
 boldly to push forward a thousand miles south of Khartum 
 into the region of the White Nile, which is very flat, and 
 therefore exposed to the great overflowings of the river, and, 
 eighty miles south of the unhealthfuUy situated English mili- 
 tary post at Bor, three stations followed one another in quick 
 succession, Melwal and Meluk on the Nile, and Gwalla, near 
 Sheikh Bior, inland in an easterly direction. For this work 
 the Church Missionary Society has ample funds and a staff of 
 three ordained missionaries, one doctor and two laymen. All 
 three stations lie in the territory of the Southern Dinka. It 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 37 1 
 
 was hoped that a good beginning might be made in using a 
 Dinka translation of the Gospel according to St. Luke, which 
 had been prepared by Professor Mittelrutzer of Bozen, who 
 had made use of the writings of Eoman Catholic missionaries. 
 Eut all the work had to be done over again, because the 
 dialect of the Southern Dinka differs considerably from that 
 in which the translation was written. It is to be regretted 
 that the population of this region is very small. The mission 
 enjoys an advantage, on the other hand, in the fact that the 
 Dinka as well as the Bari, their neighbours, have a dislike of 
 the Muharamadans, bordering on hatred, on account of the 
 former slave raids. Nor does there seem to be any priestly 
 class among them. There is a great lack of timber, stone and 
 brick-clay for building purposes, so that there will be consid- 
 erable difficulty in building solid and sanitary houses. The 
 English are planning gigantic operations for developing the 
 country. They are about to make a new channel 500 miles 
 long right across the country, to carry off the water from a 
 section of the Nile, which is blocked by the much feared sudd 
 (papyrus islands), that hinders navigation and causes enor- 
 mous floods {Intelligencer, 1906, pp. 62 ff., 668 ff.). 
 
 {B) Abyssinia 
 
 At the time of the Islamic conquest of Northern Africa, 
 only one Christian country offered determined and permanent 
 resistance, the kingdom, or empire, of Abyssinia (C. Paul, " Ab- 
 essinien und die evangelische Kirche." R. W. Dietels, " Mis- 
 sionsstunden." Heft 5, 2te Auflage, Dresden, 1905). At the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century Frumentius and J]]desius, 
 Christians from Phoenicia, brought the Gospel to Abyssinia, 
 having been shipwrecked on the rocky coast. In 326 A. D. 
 the former became the first bishop of the country, having 
 been appointed by Athanasius. During the fifth century 
 many monks went thither from Egypt, continuing the Chris- 
 tianizing of the inhabitants ; by the end of the century the 
 royal family appears to have embraced Christianity. In conse- 
 quence of this connection with Egypt, the Monophysite heresy, 
 
372 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 which was prevalent there, was adopted in Abyssinia as the 
 authorized faith, and has remained so to the present day. 
 Thus the Abyssinian Church, hidden away in the interior of 
 Africa, was removed from the influences of the general ecclesi- 
 astical development. Even the influence of the doctrinally 
 allied Koptic Church declined in proportion as that Church 
 became spiritually impoverished. Yet Abyssinia was not left 
 to herself. For centuries she was obliged to defend her polit- 
 ical and ecclesiastical independence against the repeated and 
 often fierce assaults of Muhararaadanism. Though sometimes 
 brought to the verge of ruin in these wars, she was yet, in the 
 end, able to maintain that independence. Beginning with the 
 sixteenth century a new conflict arose, which was almost more 
 fateful for her culture and her religion. The countless hordes 
 of the savage Galla, " barbarians," broke in upon her from 
 the interior of Africa, occupying first the parts of the country 
 lying near to the boundary, and then pushing on as far as 
 Gojam, Shoa and Amhara, right into the heart of Abyssinia, 
 the very existence of which was thus endangered. Only after 
 decades of tedious wars did the Abyssinians assert their 
 supremacy by forcing the Galla into submission, or at least 
 making them tributary. Those of the Galla who settled in 
 Abyssinia proper were Christianized during the following 
 centuries. But if the Christian culture of the country had 
 before this been poor, it became still more degenerate under 
 the influence of so many superficially Christianized heathen, 
 who introduced their old heathen negro practices into Chris- 
 tian worship. It seems miraculous that, in spite of all these 
 drawbacks, the three and a half million Abyssinians of the 
 present day are mostly Christians. 
 
 It was only owing to her isolated position that Abyssinia 
 was able to maintain herself intact. Like a gigantic, un- 
 broken rampart, the outrunners of the Abyssinian Alps rise 
 from the narrow, sandy, burning and unhealthful plains that 
 border on the Red Sea. Within fifty miles inland from 
 Massowa, the chief harbour on the Red Sea, the only road of 
 any size, running from the coast, rises to a height of more 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 373 
 
 than 7,500 feet. Beyond the coast range, which rises to a 
 height of 13,700 feet, a high and undulating table-land stretches 
 out towards the west. In the east its average height is 
 10,500 feet, while in the west and north it attains an altitude 
 of between 6,200 and 8,200 feet. Deep-cut valleys, some of 
 them lying 3,000 feet below the level of the table-land, in 
 which wild mountain torrents rush through an almost impene- 
 trable tropical undergrowth of primeval forests, cut up into 
 isolated rocky islands the immense land, more than half as 
 great as the entire German Empire. Above the table land 
 tower numberless, precipitous, flat-topped mountains, the 
 " Amba," so characteristic of Abyssinia, which, though ap- 
 proached with difficulty, are well watered and covered with 
 abundant vegetation. Still more lofty, reaching into the 
 region of eternal snow, are the Alps of Simen with the Kas 
 Dashan (14,200 feet). In other parts of the country single 
 peaks rise to a height of over 13,000 feet. On the eastern and 
 northern borders, across which the most dangerous of the 
 enemies of Abyssinia threaten, the country is difficult of ap- 
 proach, and to the west, also, protection is afforded by wide- 
 spread, fever-breeding swamps, the " Quolla " of evil fame. 
 Thus this immense, inland rock-island has been enabled to 
 maintain a separate historic existence and a civilization 
 peculiar to itself, in the very heart of Africa. Quite apart 
 from the point of view of missionary work, this interesting 
 country has constantly claimed the attention of Europe dur- 
 ing the last half century. We are compelled by the fact that 
 its political history is so closely interwoven with the record 
 of missions within its borders, to deal more in detail with 
 that ever changing, romantic and exciting history. 
 
 In 1855 Kasa, an energetic chief of Amhara, who had risen 
 from the lowest ranks of the tribe, succeeded in subduing the 
 rest of the chiefs, including the Emperor of Gondar, who was 
 emperor only in name. He had himself crowned as ISTegus 
 Negust, taking the title of Theodore II (1855-1868). At first 
 his reign was just and strong, many reforms being introduced. 
 But, being passionately proud of his army, he increased it to 
 
374 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 nearly 150,000 men, far too large a standing army for the 
 needs of the country, and a heavy burden on the poverty- 
 stricken people. As he was also intent on arming his soldiers 
 with better weapons, and spared no expense in the purchase 
 of rifles and cannon, he imposed greater and greater taxes. 
 This gave rise to rebellions in province after province, which 
 he had to be constantly suppressing with much bloodshed. 
 The disturbed state of the country led to increasing savagery 
 on the part of the people, the soldiery, and, not least, of 
 Theodore himself. Further, thinking himself despised and in- 
 sulted by the European Powers when he sought to enter into 
 treaties with them as an equal, he developed more and more 
 into a bloodthirsty African tyrant. In the autumn of 1867 
 he imprisoned all Europeans living in his country, ambassadors, 
 travellers and missionaries in the gloomy fortress of Magdala. 
 As all endeavours to treat with him for the release of the 
 prisoners failed, a military expedition of 16,000 men under 
 General (afterwards Lord) ISTapier was dispatched in the 
 spring of 1868 to Abyssinia. The expedition pushed on to 
 Magdala, whereupon Theodore set some of his prisoners free 
 and sued for peace. But the fortress was taken by storm on the 
 13 th of April, and it was found that Theodore had shot himself. 
 Thereupon the British released all the prisoners and retired. 
 
 Some years of civil war ensued, there being several aspirants 
 to the throne, until, in 1871, one of them mounted the throne 
 with the aid of England, taking the name of John. He 
 reigned as Negus from 1871 to 1889. During his eventful reign 
 three fearful storms threatened the very existence of this much 
 assailed land. Egypt had for a thousand years been making 
 attempts to subdue Abyssinia. She had at that time extended 
 her power southwards into the heart of Africa, and her armies 
 now made an attack from the north and the southeast, but 
 they were routed, first at Gundet, in 1875, and then at Gura, 
 in 1876. Peace was concluded in 1879, and Egypt has never 
 again invaded Abyssinia. 
 
 In 1882 Italy occupied a part of the Ked Sea coast, in 1885 
 annexing Massowa, which was necessary to Abyssinia as a 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 375 
 
 poiat of access to the sea. War broke out between the two 
 countries. A treaty was made in 1889, in the reign of John's 
 successor, Menelik, who acknowledged Italy's protectorate. 
 But Menelik soon repented of this concession, which had been 
 made while he did not feel secure on his throne, and he deter- 
 mined to renew the contest. After his general, Eas Mangasha, 
 had suffered several defeats, Menelik succeeded in nearly an- 
 nihilating the Italian army under General Baratieri on the 
 1st of March, 1896, in a bloody battle, in which the Italians 
 lost 250 officers and 7,000 men. Peace was then made, and 
 the Mareb was fixed as the boundary between the Italian 
 colony of Eritrea and Abyssinia. While engaged in this con- 
 flict with Italy, the ISTegus John was attacked in the rear by a 
 more formidable enemy. The Mahdists rushed in from the 
 northwest with furious fanaticism, destroying all before them 
 with fi;'e and sword. John led his army against them, defeat- 
 ing them utterly in a two days' battle near Metammeh (or 
 Metamineh) on the river Kalabat. He himself, however, was 
 slain. Menelik of Shoa, a brave and wise man, seized the 
 throne, and was crowned l^egus Negust with great pomp in 
 the spring of 1890. 
 
 As we are concerned particularly with the history of mis- 
 sionary undertakings, the religious affairs of Abyssinia are of 
 special importance. At the head of the Church stands the 
 Abuna or Abba Salama (Father of Peace), who must always 
 be a Koptic priest, consecrated for this office by anointing at 
 the hands of the Patriarch of Cairo. Although differing in 
 race and language from the people of the country, he possesses 
 great authority by virtue of his office, even the position of 
 Negus depending upon his favour in many a critical juncture. 
 In addition to a numerous priesthood (mostly married men), 
 there is a still greater number of monks and nuns living in 
 large, and sometimes celebrated, monasteries and convents, as 
 is the case in the Koptic Church. These have the guardian- 
 ship of the small remnant of ecclesiastical learning, and, a re- 
 markable fact when we consider thelifelessnessof the Church, 
 are engaged every now and then in bitter theological warfare. 
 
376 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Such a contest on the question whether there had been a two- 
 fold birth of Christ, namely. His coming forth from the 
 Father and His birth in Bethlehem, or a threefold, the de- 
 scending of the Holy Spirit upon Him at His baptism being 
 the third birth, engaged the attention of the entire Church at 
 times during the last century, and had its influence on the home 
 policy of the country. There are numberless churches, mostly 
 on hills under the shade of trees, pleasant structures of modest 
 appearance, built of clay and with thatched roofs. Their pe- 
 culiarity is that they are mostly round, and are divided into 
 three parts, an outer court, a holy place, and a holy of holies, 
 as was the temple at Jerusalem. The outer court, which 
 runs round the main building, is the place in which the people 
 assemble, and serves at night time as a lodging for shelterless 
 travellers. In the holy of holies there is always a wooden 
 ark, made like the " ark of the covenant " in the chief church 
 at Axum, which is regarded as the most sacred possession of 
 the Church. In the services the ancient sacred Geez lan- 
 guage is used, now a dead language, not understood by the 
 common people. There is no preaching. The baptism of boys 
 takes place on the fortieth day after birth, that of girls on the 
 eightieth day. At the same time the children receive the 
 holy communion. There are innumerable church festivals and 
 fast days. Apart from the chief church festivals and the 
 Sabbath there are one hundred saints' days, so that there are 
 one hundred and eighty festivals of one kind or another in the 
 course of a year. The fasts are as a rule rigorously observed, 
 and there are two hundred fast days in a year for one reason 
 or another. The chief virtue of their religion consists in the 
 observance of these fasts and in the worship of the Saints, of 
 the Virgin Mary above all. Circumcision is the rule. Polyg- 
 amy, though forbidden and punished with exclusion from the 
 holy communion, is nevertheless very common. 
 
 In addition to the Christian Abyssinians, numerous other 
 races or fragments of races dwell in Abyssinia, whose religions 
 are most varied, as, for instance, the Kamants and Zalanes. 
 The Falasha, " exiles," are of some importance from the point of 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 377 
 
 view of the missions. From the earliest times of which we 
 have knowledge there has been much Semitic immigration. 
 The royal family proudly traces its descent from Menelik, a 
 reputed son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. For cen- 
 turies the Jews have had independent princes in the country, 
 who have even sometimes usurped the throne. This is the 
 source of the introduction of such things as the ark into the 
 churches, and of the rite of circumcision into Abyssinian re- 
 ligious customs. The Falasha were not, as was generally sup- 
 posed, immigrant Jews, but Judaized remnants of the aborig- 
 inal pre-Semitic, Hamitic Cushites ; for the vulgar tongue is 
 to the present day a pre-Semitic dialect, like that of the Agaw 
 or Agam, who also belong to the aborigines of the country. 
 The Falasha live scattered over many provinces of Abyssinia, 
 being most numerous in mountainous Simen and in the region 
 to the north and northwest of the lake of Tana. Thev are 
 industrious farmers, clever also in the building of houses, yet 
 in other respects even more ignorant than the Christian Abys- 
 sinians. Before the missionaries came into touch with them, 
 they had hardly any books, for instance, none of the Talmudic 
 literature. In fact they seem never to have been under the 
 influence of the later Jewish type, the rabbinical. On the 
 contrary, there are among them traces of the ancient Ca- 
 naanitic Astarte worship. They worship Sanballat as the 
 " Queen of Heaven," expecting riches and prosperity from her. 
 There is amongst them a most remarkable mixture of ancient 
 Jewish, Christian, and heathen African customs. From Juda- 
 ism they have their priests, their high priest, and the blood 
 offerings in their mesgids (synagogues), as well as the painful 
 observation of the laws of purification. From Christianity 
 there came the curious introduction of monks and nuns, the 
 monks being compelled to emasculate themselves on entering 
 the order. To African heathenism the prevalence of sorcery 
 must be ascribed. The Falasha are generally regarded as great 
 sorcerers, and especially as rain-makers.^ 
 
 *H. A. stern, "An Account of a Missionary Tour to the Falasha," London, 
 1861. J. M. Flad, "A Short Description 0! the Abyssinian Jews," Basle, 1865. 
 
378 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 1. The Church Missionary Society Mission from 1830 to 181t3 
 The history of missions in Abyssinia may be divided into 
 three diverse periods, the first of which deals with the most 
 romantic of the missionary undertakings, that, namely, of the 
 Church Missionary Society. It caused much excitement at 
 the time in Protestant circles in England and Germany, and 
 has given Abyssinia a lasting place in their hearts. We make 
 here the acquaintance of men who have accomplished great 
 things by heroic and persevering faith. We must first sketch 
 in a few broad strokes the gloomy and stormy political back- 
 ground, against which this episode stands out in great brilliancy. 
 The ancient imperial dynasty, which had its seat in Gondar, 
 had completely lost its power and was but a name. The 
 princes or kings of the various provinces had become inde- 
 pendent, and engaged in war, especially with one another, on 
 their own account. Sabagadis, the prince of Tigre, was at 
 war with TJbe, the prince of Amhara, and fell in battle in 
 1830. His two sons, Wolda Michael and Cassai endeavoured 
 to regain the kingdom their father had lost, their father's 
 enemy, TJbe, having had himself crowned king of Tigre in the 
 ancient capital, Axum. Wolda Michael was attacked by his 
 foes and murdered. Cassai, after losing several battles, was 
 subdued by TJbe, and when he subsequently rebelled, was defin- 
 itively deposed and imprisoned. For ten years Tigre and 
 Amhara resounded with the din of battle. It was at this 
 juncture that the Church Missionary Society began its mission 
 in Abyssinia. 
 
 Three from among the small company of missionaries sent 
 out deserve special mention, Samuel Gobat, C. W. Isenberg, 
 and Dr. Krapf. All three had enjoyed a similar education. 
 Originally craftsmen, the}'- had come into the mentally active 
 and spiritually stimulating atmosphere of the Basle Mission 
 House. Their stay here, in Gobat's case much interrupted and 
 cut short by illness, deepened in them a tolerant evangelical 
 spirit, rooted in deep piety and an unshakeable confidence in 
 God, which made it easy for them to enter the service of the 
 evangelical English society, and to feel at home in the circles 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 379 
 
 of Anglican piety. All three of them were decidedly inter- 
 ested, also, in scientific studies, Gobat, especially, having had 
 the advantage of studying for some years in Paris under the 
 celebrated orientalist, De Sacy. All three, also, attended for 
 some time the Islington College of the Church Missionary 
 Society, after which they were ordained by an Anglican bishop. 
 But with all this similarity of outward circumstance, there 
 was a great diversity of individual character and talent among 
 them. Yet they met the severe difficulties, M^hich greeted 
 them all alike, in the same spirit of indefatigable and fearless 
 determination, being often led thereby to the verge of destruc- 
 tion. Gobat was the church statesman, who with tact and 
 energy maintained the cause of his divine calling before the su- 
 perior authorities of the Church and the mighty in the land, 
 being the strongest character of the three, in spite of his youth- 
 fulness. Isenberg was the plodding German man of letters, 
 whose chief joy it was to be studying foreign languages, writ- 
 ing grammars and school-books, and laying the foundation of 
 a Protestant literature. Krapf was the man of bold projects, 
 full of brilliant ideas and far-reaching plans. First he 
 fascinated the Protestant public with his scheme of the 
 Apostles' Eoad, and later with the similar plan of establishing 
 a chain of stations right across Africa. God led all three of 
 them later in a marvellous way. Gobat, as Bishop of Jeru- 
 salem, was to develop the full weight of his personality ; Isen- 
 berg went to India as a missionary, and devoted his talents to 
 further study and to educational work ; Krapf became the 
 enthusiastic pioneer of the route from the East Coast of Africa 
 into the pathless interior. But Abyssinia remained for all 
 their first love, the country of romance in their missionary 
 work. 
 
 The attention of the Church Missionary Society was at- 
 tracted to Abyssinia by accident, as it were. An Abyssinian 
 monk, Abu Ruchi, who had accompanied the English explorer 
 Bruce, had come with him to Alexandria, and was there per- 
 suaded by the consul-general of France, Asselin de Cherville, to 
 translate the Bible into the Amharic vulgar tongue, which is 
 
380 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 at the present time most commonly spoken in Abyssinia. 
 The English missionary, W. Jowett, found his manuscript of 
 9,539 pages in Alexandria, and bought it for the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society (1818). After an agreement with the 
 Church Missionary Society, the Bible Society printed portions 
 of the translation, especially the Gospels and the Psalms. 
 Then the question arose how the blessing of a Bible intelligible 
 to the common people was to be introduced into that far-off 
 land, so difficult of access ; how this " talent " was to be " put 
 into the bank." The two young missionaries, Gobat and 
 Kugler, received a commission to go to Abyssinia. But it was 
 three years before they found an opportunity to do so ; at the 
 end of this time, however, the opportunity seemed all the 
 more favourable for having been delayed. In Alexandria they 
 were in a position to earn the deep gratitude of the ambassador 
 of Prince Sabagadis, so that they were permitted to accom- 
 pany him on his return journey to Tigre in 1830. Sabagadis 
 received them with open arms, and, at first, everything seemed 
 to promise well both in the Tigre residence, Adigrat, and in 
 the capital, Gondar, whither Gobat had at once hurried. 
 The Bibles in Amhario were objects of interest, and every- 
 body wanted to talk with Gobat about the differences be- 
 tween his faith and theirs. However, before matters could 
 be fully settled, the civil war between Sabagadis and Ube 
 broke out, and Sabagadis, the protector of the mission, fell in 
 battle. Kugler, unfortunately, died of a wound he had re- 
 ceived from the bursting of his gun while he was hunting. 
 Gobat found a poor enough refuge from the turmoil in 
 monasteries high up in the mountains. Finally, in 1838, 
 he thought it advisable to leave the country for a time. 
 
 He returned a year later, along with Isenberg and certain 
 other companions. Isenberg and he had even the courage to 
 take their young wives with them into this inhospitable land. 
 The civil war was still raging, and unbridled license reigned. 
 Nevertheless they settled down in Adowa, intending to build 
 suitable houses for themselves. But this they could not accom- 
 plish. Gobat fell ill of a tedious abdominal complaint, which 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 381 
 
 disabled him for months and nearly caused his death, so that 
 finally he had to leave the country, temporarily a broken man. 
 Isenberg, who had in the meantime been reinforced by the 
 arrival of Blumhardt and Ludwig Krapf, continued his work 
 quietly and patiently. But several of the higher native 
 clergy, desiring to compass his ruin, spread false reports, in- 
 citing the prince and people against him. Eoman Catholic 
 missionaries had, also, in the meantime, come into the coun- 
 try, and did all in their power to thrust out their inconvenient 
 rivals. The head priest in Adowa, Kiddani Miriam, at length 
 anathematized the missionaries, delivering their souls to Satan, 
 their bodies to the hyenas and their property to the robbers. 
 Whoever approached them was to share their fate. Ube for- 
 sook them, and the Abuna wrote dryly to Isenberg, " The 
 Abyssinians are a people that do not desire knowledge and have 
 no love of acquiring it, nor can they be convinced that you 
 are seeking their best interests. What they want of you is 
 that you should give them of your wealth, nothing else." 
 Naturally, after this there could be no staying there and they 
 left Tigre. 
 
 In the meantime, however, doors seemed to have been 
 opened into the southern province of Shoa, the prince of 
 which, Sahela Selassie, had given the missionaries a friendly 
 invitation to come. At first Dr. Krapf went thither alone, 
 remaining from 1839 to 1842 in the capital, Ankober, or ac- 
 companying the prince on his numerous campaigns. But 
 here, too, all hopes proved delusive. The prince wanted the 
 missionaries on account of their connection with England, and 
 for the sake of their general serviceability, and their guns and 
 gunpowder, but he had neither time nor appreciation for their 
 work as missionaries. Yet Krapf did not lose hope. In 1842 
 he travelled to Alexandria to bring his wife thence with him 
 to Shoa. Isenberg and another young missionary, Mtihleisen, 
 joined him. But, when their caravan arrived at Tajura, on 
 the route to Shoa, they were met with the strict orders of 
 Selassie, that no Englishman was henceforth to be permitted 
 to enter his territory. It was in vain that they waited and 
 
382 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 implored ; the mission, which had been entered upon with such 
 bright hopes, had to be abandoned in 1843, never to be re- 
 newed by the Church Missionary Society.^ 
 
 2, The Second Period— The Falasha Mission 
 
 A new era now began for Abyssinia. Theodore seized the 
 crown, and nearly the whole of the country came under his 
 sway. After innumerable civil wars, quiet and order seemed 
 to have settled down on the unfortunate land. A new Abuna 
 had arisen, who, while still a Koptic monk, had attended the 
 Anglican mission school in Cairo, under Lieder, and could 
 therefore be expected to be well disposed towards the mission. 
 Gobat, who had in the meantime become the Anglican Bishop 
 of Jerusalem, had an ardent desire to recommence the mis- 
 sion in the land of his first labours. Men and means for the 
 purpose were placed at his disposal by friends in Germany, 
 and especially by Father Spittler in Basle, who had just 
 founded the St. Chrischona Pilgrims' House for the training 
 of lay evangelists. 
 
 King Theodore himself lent a helping hand to the scheme 
 of renewing the mission in his land. He placed the Abys- 
 sinian monastery in Jerusalem under Gobat's care, and so be- 
 gan a friendly correspondence with the bishop, who thereupon 
 offered to send missionaries to Abyssinia. Judging by his 
 own former painful experiences, however, he feared that or- 
 dained men would awaken the envy of the Abyssinian clergy, 
 and accordingly suggested that the missionaries might best 
 be chosen from among laymen, who were practicing a trade. 
 These men were to establish a reputation for usefulness by 
 
 ^ The following literary reanlts of the Church Missionary Society Mission of 
 thirteen years' duration are extant : — Isenberg, "Amharic Grammar," " Eng- 
 lish-Amharic and Amharic-English Dictionary," Amhario handbooks of geog- 
 raphy, history and religion, "Samuel Gobat, Sein Leben und Wirken," Basle, 
 1884. Gobat's diaries in the Evangelisches Missions- Magazin, 1834, Heftl and 2. 
 Isenberg and Krapf, "Journals," detailing their proceedings in the kingdom of 
 Shoa, London, 1843. Isenberg, " Abessinien und die evangeliscbe Mission," 
 2 vols., 1844. Krapf, " Eeisen in Ostafrika," 2 vols. 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 383 
 
 showing a general readiness to be of service, at the same time 
 thus earning their living ; they were also to keep school and 
 to preach the Gospel, without, however, trying to form con- 
 gregations. Spittler furnished suitable men from among his 
 Chrischona Brethren. In 1885 Dr. Krapf introduced Martin 
 Flad ^ and three other young Brethren to the court of King 
 Theodore. They met with a friendly reception. But it soon 
 became apparent that King Theodore had formed a wrong 
 idea of what their true business was. He wanted European 
 craftsmen, who would be able above all else to cast cannon, 
 repair rifles and make gunpowder for him. If they wanted 
 to do a little school-teaching as well, he would not hinder 
 them. But he let them have neither the time nor the oppor- 
 tunity to prosecute any thorough work of evangelization. 
 l^or was there any improvement, when, in 1885, four more 
 Chrischona Brethren arrived under the leadership of Theodor 
 Waldmeyer. The unfortunate Brethren became royal can- 
 noneers and rifle manufacturers, and their servile condition 
 grew worse as the wild passions of the African despot gained 
 the ascendency. 
 
 There seemed to be only one way of rendering even a lim- 
 ited amount of mission work possible. The missionaries had 
 come into frequent touch with the Falasha.^ Perhaps Theo- 
 dore would permit the Gospel to be preached among these 
 Jews, and a mission to be begun there. The reports of the 
 capable, self-sacrificing Martin Flad induced two missionary 
 societies, doing work among the Jews, to undertake this task. 
 The great London Society sent H. A. Stern to Abyssinia in 
 1859. He was a talented man, but was incautious, and did 
 not sufficiently consider the suspicious temperament of Theo- 
 dore. A young assistant accompanied Stern. The Scottish 
 Jewish Mission sent the two Chrischona Brethren, Staiger and 
 Brand eis. With one exception all these pioneers were Ger- 
 mans. Martin Flad, tired of being cannoneer-in-chief to the 
 
 1 J. M. Flad, *' Zwolf Jahre in Abessinien," 2d ed., Leipsio, 1887. 
 ^De le Eoi, *'Geschichte der Evangelischen Juden mission," Vol. Ill, 
 pp. 225-245. C, Paul, " Abessinien und die Evangelische Kirche," pp. 72-126. 
 
384 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 king, entered the service of the London Society and became 
 the heart and soul of the Falasha Mission. 
 
 Close to the north shore of the beautiful Lake Tana, in the 
 province of Dembea, two stations were establishtd, that of the 
 London Society at Kobula near Jada, and that of the Scottish 
 Society at Darua, in the same neighbourhood. Their success 
 among the Falasha was astonishing. On the 21st of July, 
 1862, occurred the first baptism, of twenty-two persons, fol- 
 lowed on the 4th of August by the baptism of fourteen others. 
 In little more than five years there was a company of 212 con- 
 verts, among whom there were some splendid characters, 
 people who, for the sake of their newly found faith, bravely 
 faced severe persecutions. Prominent among them was the 
 ardent young weaver, Debtera Paulus Bern, who fearlessly 
 confessed the truth before people of high and low degree, 
 and eventually became the leader of the mission. But the 
 storm-clouds were already gathering over Abyssinia. King 
 Theodore was more and more developing a ferocious character. 
 As he had laid his own country waste, so he let his anger 
 loose on the Europeans living in his dominions. All of them, 
 including the Chrischona Brethren, who had worked so hard 
 for him, were thrown into prison, w^here they languished 
 miserably for years. Only when retribution came in the 
 shape of an English army under Sir Eobert Napier, and Theo- 
 dore's fortress at Magdala was stormed, did relief come to the 
 prisoners. The horrors of Magdala^ (1867-1868) caused a 
 great commotion, and there was the deepest sympathy with 
 the captives. As the English army left the inhospitable land, 
 all the Europeans in the country, including the missionaries, 
 joined it. 
 
 From the political as well as from the missionary point of 
 view, it is only to be regretted that England, which at that 
 time had Abyssinia completely at her mercy, let the country 
 off so easily. The retiring of England meant the death of the 
 Protestant Mission, which has never since fully recovered 
 from that blow. Martin Flad, however, and with him the 
 
 » '* Letters from the Captives in Abyssinia," London, 1865. 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 385 
 
 London Society, faithfully held fast to the Falasha Mission. 
 No less than eight times after the reign of terror in 1868, he 
 undertook the wearisome and dangerous journey to Abyssinia, 
 to see if the door would not be opened to him, or at any rate 
 to take counsel with the native assistants, to strengthen their 
 courage and to supply them with fresh literature. But, even 
 when he came, in 1873, as the bearer of an official letter from 
 the Queen of England, he received the categorical refusal of 
 the new king, John, to permit any European to reside in his 
 land. So all that could be done was to manage the mission 
 from Europe, as far as it was possible to do so. Flad, in re- 
 tirement in beautiful Kornthal in^ Wtirttemberg, translated 
 with untiring diligence one book after another into Amharic, 
 or carefully revised the existing Amharic version of the Bible. 
 And every other year he took a camel-load of newly-printed 
 books to Kassala or Metemeh, on the boundary of Abyssinia. 
 Mission work proper was entirely in the hands of converted 
 Falasha. It is both astonishing and cheering to observe what 
 these simple people have accomplished. Four of them had 
 been prepared for this service in the Chrischona Pilgrims' 
 House near Basle, and they did credit to the training they 
 had received. There were others, also, who worked without 
 any remuneration. Nearly every year accessions and baptisms 
 could be reported. In 1884 the number of converts was be- 
 tween eight and nine hundred. Then a series of storms 
 swept over the tender plant. The Jesuits incited King John 
 to destroy all Protestant books, and any who were found pos- 
 sessing such had to expect severe punishment, even imprison- 
 ment. After this the hordes of Mahdist dervishes broke in 
 upon the country and laid it waste as far as Lake Tana and 
 the river Takezze, the very district in which the mission had 
 gained a footing. The terrified inhabitants were compelled 
 to choose between Islam and death. And so it came about 
 that many of the Falasha converts died the martyr's death. 
 In the next following years a fearful famine visited the land, 
 by which 177 of the small band of Falasha Christians were 
 carried away. It is marvellous that, in spite of all these visit- 
 
386 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 ations, the little flame of Protestant faith in Abyssinia con- 
 tinued to burn. Unfortunately it has never been possible for 
 European missionaries to make a new and energetic beginning. 
 Suspicion of the entrance of European influences into their 
 country, a suspicion unfortunately only too well justified, 
 makes the Abyssinian kings obstinately resist even mission 
 work. 
 
 3. The Swedish National Mission 
 
 While storms were breaking over l^egus Theodore and the 
 Protestant missions, a new mission was begun in the northern 
 Abyssinian mountains, which, though exposed to the severest 
 attacks, and experiencing many disappointments, has been 
 carried pn to the present day with invincible determination. 
 The Swedish National Missionary Society was founded in 
 1861, for evangelistic purposes at home. It soon determined, 
 however, to extend its operations to Abyssinia. The Swedes 
 were advised by Dr. Krapf to begin work among the Galla tribe, 
 which he thought the most promising field for mission work 
 in East Africa. But, after the first missionaries had arrived 
 in Massowa, they took the advice of a Swiss named Munzinger, 
 who knew the country well and went to the Kunama^ an 
 almost entirely heathen tribe in ISTorthwestern Abyssinia. 
 Here, in the next few years, they established four stations, 
 suffering much in the meantime from sickness and want, but 
 receiving strong reinforcements from Sweden. Tendur was 
 their chief station. But their position was rendered so unsafe 
 by the boundary disputes between Egypt and Abyssinia, that 
 they could not settle here permanently. Consequently, being 
 also faithlessly forsaken by the Kunama themselves, they re- 
 tired in 1870 to the Ked Sea port Massowa. There, in the 
 tropical and unhealthful plain along the coast, they began, 
 with indescribable patience, and constantly contending with 
 disease and death, a work which proved to be both diflB.cult 
 and unremunerative. In Massowa an unpretending school 
 was opened, which was attended exclusively by the children 
 of the poor and of slaves. A hospital was built near the 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 387 
 
 thermal springs of Ailet, a health resort of the country. In 
 Monkullo, some six miles from Massowa, a boys' school was 
 begun, in which it was hoped that evangelists might be edu- 
 cated for inaccessible Abyssinia. A printing-press was also 
 set up for the production of portions of the Bible and of Prot- 
 estant literature. In spite of most heroic endeavours, they 
 were not able to penetrate far into the interior of the country. 
 A station which had been begun among the nominally Chris- 
 tian Mensa, up in the mountains to the northwest of Massowa, 
 had to be abandoned. A deputation which was sent to the 
 Negus John, to ask his permission to settle in Abyssinia, was 
 detained by him for two years, only in the end to get the curt 
 reply that he did not want two kinds of Gospel in his country. 
 Three of the natives who had been trained by the missionaries 
 pushed straight across the country to the Galla in the province 
 of Jimma, and commenced a work of evangelization, which 
 has ever since been like " a light that shineth in a dark place." 
 In the face of many disappointments, the brave Swedes con- 
 tinued to send the message home, " Do not abandon Africa." 
 With the year 1882 a new day dawned for this part of 
 Africa. The Italians founded the colony of Eritrea on the 
 shore of the Ked Sea, and, though their intention to subdue 
 the whole of Abyssinia was frustrated by the bravery of the 
 native army, and Eritrea was for ten years in a disturbed 
 state while the war surged to and fro, yet finally order was 
 restored under the Italian flag, and the Swedes were thus en- 
 abled to push forward. By degrees they occupied four moun- 
 tain districts, first of all the province of Hamasen to the west 
 of Massowa, where, in 1891, 1892 and 1908, they established 
 four stations, in Asmara, the capital of Italian Eritrea, and 
 in the neighbouring towns, Bellesa, Zazega, and Adi-Ugri. 
 In this neighbourhood the main part of the Swedish work is 
 done. The inhabitants have for ages been members of the 
 Monophysite Abyssinian Church. They have, perhaps, been 
 even more neglected by the Church, and are consequently 
 more ignorant than those living to the south, where the ancient 
 monasteries, the seats of scholastic learning, are situated. 
 
388 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Originally it was as little the intention of the Swedes to 
 proselytize, and to form congregations, as it was that of most 
 of the other Protestant missions among the ancient Churches. 
 Nevertheless, this has been rendered necessary by the opposi- 
 tion and the persecuting spirit of the native ecclesiastical au- 
 thorities. In 1907 the congregations contained 1,061 members, 
 of whom 452 were communicants. In some villages, especially 
 in Shuma Negus, the Gospel has become a power among the 
 people. 
 
 In connection with the Swedes there is a man, highly 
 respected for his learning, at work further south in Amhara 
 and Sboa, the central provinces of Abyssinia. This is Debra 
 Mariam Tayeleny, a man of extraordinary parts, who has been 
 successful in representing the claims of Protestantism before 
 the Negus Menelik and the highest government and church 
 authorities. 
 
 In comparison with this " Abyssinian '' mission, the so-called 
 " Tigre " branch of the Swedish mission work is less prominent, 
 embracing now, as it does, only outposts in the low-lying torrid 
 plain of Massowa (especially at Monkullo) and at Geleb in the 
 district of Mensa, where the inhabitants, a savage, stolid tribe 
 of hardly 8,000 souls, are nominally Christian, but have been 
 slowlj^ yet surely falling away to Islam. The Swedes have 
 also renewed their work in their first field among the Kunama 
 tribe ; there they have established a station in Kulluko, and 
 are engaged in building a second, in Auso Konoma. They 
 have also translated the Gospels into the language of the 
 country. But thus far no success can be reported. 
 
 We have already mentioned that, through the recommenda- 
 tion of Dr. Krapf, the Swedes originally intended their mission 
 to be for the benefit of the Galla. The people of this Hamitic 
 race, scattered over a large portion of Africa, are well grown 
 men of a warlike disposition, apparently also of mental talent, 
 and are not without political unity, though split up into 
 numerous nomadic hordes. Some of them in the north have, 
 under Abyssinian influence, embraced Christianity, though a 
 far larger number have been converted to Islam. The tribes 
 
Egypt and Abyssinia 389 
 
 in the south and southwest have so strong a strain of negro 
 blood, through intermarriage, that they are gradually taking 
 on negro characteristics. There are, perhaps, three and a half 
 million of them altogether. With their northern tenacity the 
 Swedes kept their eyes upon this people. The first despatch 
 of three native evangelists and their operations in Jimma, a 
 soutbern province of Abyssinia, have been already mentioned. 
 The first advance, the journey of the missionary Arrhenius 
 and his caravan, by way of Khartum, up the Blue Nile to 
 Famaka, on the border of Egypt, in 1882, was a failure, owing 
 to the treachery of Marno, the Austrian consul in Famaka, 
 who ledjthe missionaries and the natives astray by giving them 
 .wrong information, so that nearly half of a caravan company 
 died in the fatal climate. In 1885 the Kev. N. Hylander 
 made another attempt, taking the new road that runs along 
 the coast from Zeile (Sela) to Harar. But he, too, had to 
 leave the country after a stay of twenty months, presumably 
 owing to Romish intrigues. It is only since the beginning of 
 the twentieth century that two really passable roads appear 
 to have been opened. The Rev. K. Cederquist has, with the 
 help of the intelligent Ras Makonnen, settled down in Adia 
 Abeba, whence he makes evangelistic tours among Abyssinians 
 and Galla. He has as assistant a converted Galla, named Ones- 
 imus, whose sphere of work is inland at Nakamte. He is one 
 of the most::remarkable men in the history of the Swedish Mis- 
 sion. A Galla boy of good family, he was kidnapped, passed 
 from hand to hand as a slave, and came at last to Massowa, 
 where he became acquainted with the Swedish missionaries. 
 From them he received instruction, and was their first convert, 
 being baptized in 1872. As the youth showed talent, the mis- 
 sionaries paid great attention to his education, finally sending 
 him to Sweden. He became, along with Tayeleny, the most 
 valuable assistant the missionaries had, either as a teacher in 
 their schools or as a language expert in the work of transla- 
 ting into the Galla tongue. With his help the whole of the 
 "New Testament was thus translated. Latterly he has been 
 doing pioneer work among his own tribe, in which, however, 
 
390 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 he meets with much opposition and animosity on the part of 
 the Abyssinian priesthood. 
 
 After the English had occupied the Somali Coast, the 
 Swedes approached the Galla up the Juba. Their main station 
 is at Kismayu on the coast, while out-stations have been 
 established in Yonti and Mofi further up the stream. But the 
 work has been much hindered by the disturbed state of the 
 country, caused by the predatory attacks of hordes of Somali 
 and Galla, among whom Islam has been making great prog- 
 ress. Latterly, also, there has arisen a Mahdi, the "Mad 
 Mollah." Some of the English officials, too, have opposed the 
 work of the missionaries. Still, there have been a few bap- 
 tisms. The Swedes have not been so fortunate as their pred- 
 ecessors in getting into the country and gaining the hearts of 
 the inhabitants. They have only touched the fringe of both 
 the Abyssinian and the Galla population. In Abyssinia the 
 door was shut by the influence of the ambitious Roman 
 Catholic missionaries, and by the determination of the kings 
 to maintain Abyssinian independence at all costs. And Dr. 
 Krapf's expectation that the Galla would offer a promising 
 field for mission work was not fulfilled, in spite of all the 
 labour bestowed upon them by the Swedes. The work was 
 thus a hard training in patience, a long sowing in hope of a 
 harvest. Tet the Swedes remained at their post, while earlier 
 missions were swept out of the country by political unrest 
 and religious intrigue. 
 
VII 
 
 MISSIONS AMONG THE JEWS. THE WORK OF THE 
 
 BIBLE SOCIETIES 
 
 THUS far two Protestant undertakings that have 
 covered the entire field in the Near East have been 
 left almost unnoticed, missions among the Jews and 
 the work of the Bible societies. It seemed best to present 
 these undertakings in a general review, rather than in connec- 
 tion with the individual countries. 
 
 (A) Missions Among the Jews 
 
 As a rule missions among Jews and missions among Gentiles 
 pursue diverse paths. They differ so widely in their methods 
 of work, in the training which members of the mission must 
 receive, and in the immediate ends at which they aim, that it is 
 impossible to unite the two kinds of mission work in one place 
 and in the hands of the same people. The Near East seemed 
 to be an exception to this rule. Here, where the chosen peo- 
 ple were so thoroughly scattered among the native popula- 
 tion, with which the missions were primarily concerned, it 
 seemed possible to bring them the message of the Gospel 
 through the same agencies through which it was brought to 
 the Gentiles. Several of the great societies, accordingl}'', in 
 addition to their main undertaking, carried on work among 
 the Jews, especially the American Board, the United Presby- 
 terians in Egypt, and the Irish Presbyterians in Damascus. 
 Remarkable to say, the combination has proved to be quite 
 impracticable. Apart from the limited operations of the Irish 
 in Damascus, mission work among the Jews has been handed 
 over to special Jewish missionary societies. Thus there is the 
 strange spectacle of different missionary organizations work- 
 ing side by side in the Near East, some for Jews, some for 
 
 Gentiles. J 
 
 391 
 
392 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 It is hard to say how many Jews there are in the Near 
 East. It is computed that there are 110,000 of them in Euro- 
 pean Turkey, the majority of whom live in Constantinople 
 and Salonica. For, when Ferdinand of Castile drove the 
 Jews from Spain in 1492, and when the Jews were exiled 
 from Portugal in 1497, the greater part of them fled to Con- 
 stantinople, and settled there or in the neighbourhood. They 
 still retain, in common use, the Spanish language of the fif- 
 teenth century, strongly intermixed with Hebrew idioms. 
 They go by the name of Sephardim. In Asia Minor and Ar- 
 menia there are probably not more than 100,000 Jews, the 
 largest colony of them being in Smyrna. In Syria there are 
 said to be from fifty to seventy thousand Jews, mostly in 
 Beirut and Damascus. In Palestine they themselves compute 
 their number as 87,000. The official census of Egypt in 1897 
 gave 25,200 Jews in that country. The estimated number of 
 Falasha in Abyssinia is 200,000 ; this figure is too high. Bag- 
 dad contains a Jewish colony numbering from eight to ten 
 thousand. In Persia there are Jewish colonies, especially in 
 Hamadan and its neighbourhood, and also in Teheran and 
 Tabriz, numbering altogether 80,000.^ Here they have been 
 cruelly persecuted from the earliest times to the present day. 
 According to the Annuaire des archives Israelites (1892), not 
 more than 310,000 Jews live in Asia. 
 
 Only in Palestine are the Jews to-day occupied in farming 
 and fruit-raising, whether in ancient Jewish centres like Safed, 
 or in the modern Jewish colonies. Elsewhere they mostly 
 live huddled together in narrow filthy Ghettos, and, although 
 the majority of them are in an ignorant, superstitious and 
 poverty-stricken condition, certain of their number have ever 
 by their commercial cleverness and by usury amassed princely 
 fortunes. The Sephardim from Spain and Portugal form the 
 main stock of Jews in the Near East, their language being a 
 corruption of Hebrew-Spanish. Yet, particularly since the 
 middle of the nineteenth century, an ever-increasing number 
 
 ^Formerly only 20,000. Cf. De le Eoi, " Gesohiohte der Jndenmission, " Vol. 
 in, p. 208. On the other hand, of. *' The Bible in the World," 1905, p. 229. 
 
Missions Among the Jews 393 
 
 of the Ashkenazim from Poland and Southern Bussia have 
 been immigrating, so that they now number more than the 
 Spanish Jews. Their language is mostly Yiddish. On ac- 
 count of their poverty and their filthy habits they are looked 
 down upon as plebeian by the Sephardim, who regard them- 
 selves as patricians. Within the last twenty years there has 
 also been a considerable immigration of Jews from other 
 European countries, particularly from Germany, thus adding 
 to the patchwork character of Jewish language and habits in 
 the Near East. According to the general practice of the 
 Turkish Empire, the Jews, as a distinct religious body, are al- 
 lowed to manage their own concerns. They elect from 
 amongst their number two superiors, the hhakhams^ one of 
 whom is chosen from the foremost rabbis in Constantinople, 
 the other from the chief rabbis in Jerusalem. 
 
 This patriarchal organization, mostly under orthodox Tal- 
 mudic rule, has been a great obstacle to the work of the mis- 
 sions. It placed in the hands of these authorities, sanctioned 
 by the state, far-reaching powers, which were inconsiderately 
 employed'to suppress Christianity and all inclination to listen 
 to the missionaries. As such persecution was made the easier 
 by fanatical public opinion, those of the same household being 
 often the foremost in casting out and ill using converts, and 
 the latter being deprived of the means of existence by a strict 
 boycott, missions among the Jews in the !N'ear East have gen- 
 erally involved suffering. A further hindrance was the fact 
 that by far the greater number of converts had to leave their 
 homes, and thus the formation of congregations was almost 
 impossible. Then again, since, in many cases, the Jewish 
 missionary societies did not sufficiently exert themselves, in 
 the face of undoubtedly great difficulties, to amalgamate their 
 little bands of Jewish converts with the larger Protestant 
 congregations, these tiny companies took no root. On the 
 other hand, there was danger that the mission should become 
 to the Jews, who were for the most part poor, a mere oppor- 
 tunity for gain, since joining the Christian Church was likely 
 to secure to the converts an easy life, and to their children, 
 
394 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 who were eager to be educated, high and lucrative positions ; 
 for the missionaries, with their societies behind them, obviously 
 had it in their power to be exceedingly rich benefactors. 
 
 Methods of conducting missions among the Jews do not 
 vary greatly throughout the IN'ear East. The first preparatory 
 step is the distribution of Christian literature in the dialects 
 spoken by Jews from Spain, Poland and Germany. The Old 
 and 'New Testaments, which have been repeatedly translated 
 and revised, occupy the first place. Of the books specially 
 written for these missions, McCaul's " True Israelite " deserves 
 to be particularly mentioned. Then, in order to gain the con- 
 fidence and affection of the suspicious and proud Jews, medi- 
 cal mission work was soon commenced among them. There 
 are now hospitals and dispensaries, chiefly in Palestine, but 
 also in the large towns of Asia Minor and European Turkey, 
 which are meant in the first instance for Jews. The third 
 preparatory method, that of establishing schools, was every- 
 where difficult, and demanded much patience on the part of 
 the missionaries. If the Jews were otherwise taught at all, it 
 was only the Talmud and a little reading and writing. They 
 had such a dislike for regular schools that, as late as 1881, an 
 attempt made by the " Israelite Alliance " to establish in 
 Jerusalem a school along modern lines altogether failed. For 
 this reason the missionaries, especially those from Scotland, 
 hit ^upon the plan of admitting Christian children into their 
 schools, in order, for one thing, thus to insure the further ex- 
 istence of the schools, and, further, to arouse a spirit of emu- 
 lation in the apathetic Jewish children. The missions of the 
 Established Church of Scotland have a boys' school and a 
 girls' school in Alexandria, the former having 103 Jewish 
 boys in a total attendance of 260, and the latter 167 Jewish 
 girls out of 233. These mixed schools have done well. 
 
 The main object of all the missions is to win individual Jews, 
 to succeed in which object optimism and wise reserve are 
 equally necessary, and one must be " wise as serpents and 
 harmless as doves." The more the national factor can be 
 eliminated, the better. Certainly Jewish missions must have 
 
Missions Among the Jews 39^; 
 
 the hope set before them of a Christian Israel, but any tribute 
 paid to the deep-rooted Jewish pride of race and religion is 
 attended by evil results. Whenever there has been any co- 
 quetting with national ideals, mischief has come of it, even 
 when it was done by so ardent a progressive as the convert 
 Z. H. Friedlaender, in the Holy Land from 1873 to 1886. 
 De le Koi says, in his " Geschichte der evangelischen Juden- 
 mission," Yol. Ill, p. 193, that the object of such missions 
 must be, and remain, the leading of individuals to Jesus. If 
 more is attempted, neither the one thing nor the other is at- 
 tained. ' 
 
 Subsidiary to the main undertaking there are other agencies 
 at work, especially of an industrial nature, partly in order to 
 enable the converts, who have lost all by their change of re- 
 ligion, to earn a living by honest labour, and partly to accus- 
 tom those who had up to that time lived by begging to earn 
 their own bread in the sweat of their brow. The best organ- 
 ized and most successful of such institutions is the Industrial 
 Home in Jerusalem, upon which Miss Jane Cook of Chelten- 
 ham bestowed £700 for the purchase of a site, £10,000 for the 
 buildings and £2,000 for the maintenance of the workers. 
 This is presumably the largest single gift Jewish missions in 
 the Kear East have received. Unfortunately there has been 
 little success in training converts to be catechists, not one of 
 the societies having among their converts students enough to 
 maintain a training-school, apart from the difficulty arising 
 from the variety of dialects spoken by the people. Nor have 
 the missions thus far combined in a common undertaking of 
 the kind. The London Jewish Mission opened a " Mission 
 College " for this purpose in Jerusalem about the middle of 
 the nineteenth century, but was not able to maintain it. 
 
 The main stations in Tv/rhey in Europe'^ are Constantinople 
 and Salonica. In the former place the American Board 
 laboured from 1831 to 1855, in addition to its extensive work 
 
 *We omit all mention of a considerable number of tinsuccessful attempts. It 
 is well known that failure and disappointment have been but too common in 
 connection with work among Jews in the Near East. 
 
396 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 among the Armenians. In 1842 the energetic mission of the 
 Free Church in Scotland began to work there, conducting, ia 
 addition to its two schools, attended by 500 pupils, two-thirds 
 of whom are girls, a mission hospital and a home for destitute 
 girls. Their work took an upward bound in 1873, when, un- 
 der an energetic missionary, the Rev. A. Tomory, large, new 
 premises were occupied. Special excitement was aroused by 
 the conversion of Eliezer Bassin, one of the most striking 
 conversions of the present day. Burning with zeal for his 
 Talmudic theology, he had set out from his home in Mohilev 
 in Russia, in order to argue with the Christian converts in Con- 
 stantinople, and to lead them back to the faith of their fathers. 
 But D. Landsmann, one of the converts, had the better of 
 the encounter, and, after long and vigorous disputations, con- 
 vinced him of the truth of Christianity. Since 1859 the 
 Established Church of Scotland, like the Free Church, has had 
 a flourishing girls' school and a medical mission among the 
 Jews of Constantinople. The work of the Established Church 
 there began when the American Board, upon abandoning its 
 work among the Jews, requested this Church to take it up. 
 The great London Jewish Society also had work in Constanti- 
 nople intermittently, beginning in 1826, and has maintained 
 its work there permanently since 1851. It has had effective 
 agents, especially in the converts, C. S. Newman (1856-1881) 
 and J. B. Creighton-Ginsberg (since 1885). The former dis- 
 tinguished himself by his careful attention to the Jewish 
 schools, and perhaps still more by his conduct of some difficult 
 legal matters, thus securing the legal status of the converts 
 and checking the arbitrary actions of the rabbis. Whether it 
 is wise for three societies to work in so limited a field is 
 doubtful. It may be added that Ginsberg, in 1899, knew of 
 only forty-five converts in the three societies together. 
 
 Wilhelm Gottlieb Schauffler was by far the most important 
 missionary among the Jews in Constantinople, in fact one of 
 the most distinguished missionaries in the Near East generally. 
 Born on the 28th of August, 1798, in Stuttgart, he emigrated 
 as a child with his father to Odessa. After a defective edu- 
 
Missions Among the Jews 397 
 
 cation, but with an extraordinary gift for acquiring languages, 
 he became acquainted in Smyrna with the American Board 
 missionary, Jonas King, who induced him to enter the re- 
 nowned Andover Theological Seminary in the United States, 
 where, in a five years' stay, characterized by indefatigable in- 
 dustry, he acquired a thorough theological and linguistic 
 training. In 1831 the American Board sent him to Constanti- 
 nople as a missionary to the Jews of the Balkan Peninsula, 
 and there, amid many privations, he did a great work among 
 the Sephardira, his activity extending to Yienna, Buda-Pest, 
 and Odessa. He so thoroughly mastered Spanish and Spanish- 
 Hebrew that, up to the time of his death, he wrote indefati- 
 gably in both of those languages. At the time when the 
 Board abandoned its Jewish mission in 1885, it seemed as if 
 *'a great door and effectual" was being opened for work 
 among the Turks in connection with the Crimean War, which 
 was then raging, and Schauffler, at his own request, was ap- 
 pointed leader of a Turkish mission in Constantinople, which 
 was carried on independently of the Armenian Mission. But 
 when, to Schauffler's great sorrow, the Turkish Mission was 
 also given up a few years later, he left the service of tbe 
 American Board and devoted himself, in connection with the 
 British and American Bible Societies, to linguistic labours, one 
 of the chief of which was an important translation of the 
 Bible into classical (Osmanli) Turkish which, however, on ac- 
 count of its elevated literary style, was only partially pub- 
 lished. The results of his studies were so highly appreciated 
 that the University of Halle conferred the title of D. D. upon 
 him. After a service of fifty years in Constantinople, he re- 
 tired from the work and made New York his home, dying 
 there on the 26th of January, 1883, at the age of eighty-four. 
 In Salonica, where, according to the report of the National 
 Bible Society of Scotland for 1907, there is a colony of 80,000 
 Jews, the Established Church of Scotland has the chief work, 
 having entered upon this diflScult field in 1866. Its activity 
 extends as far as Monastir and Cassandra, which are sub- 
 stations of the mission. There is a small Protestant congre- 
 
398 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 gation in Salonica, and a flourishing girls' school. Adrianople 
 is a station of the London Jewish Society. 
 
 There is only one fully manned station for work among the 
 Jews in Asia Minor^ namely, Smyrna ; and here the Estab- 
 lished Church of Scotland and the London Jewish Mission 
 work side by side. The former began work in 1856 ; the lat- 
 ter came in 1829, and, after some interruptions, has been 
 steadily and permanently at work since 1860. At the head of 
 the Scottish Mission was Abraham Ben Oliel, a talented but 
 unstable man, who has been in the service of the most diverse 
 societies. Flourishing schools and a hospital are the backbone 
 of the Scottish work. The chief missionary of the London 
 Jewish Mission in Smyrna was J. M. Eppstein (1866-1885), a 
 faithful man, who by his medical skill found entrance among 
 the people. 
 
 In Syria^ exclusive of Palestine,^ there are only two centres 
 of work among the Jews which deserve special mention. 
 The Jewish Mission of the Established Cburch of Scotland 
 occupied Beirut conjointly with the Presbyterian Church of 
 Canada, in 1862, and there flourishing schools have been es- 
 tablished. In Damascus the Irish Presbyterians devote them- 
 selves to the Jews, in addition to their work among Oriental 
 Christians, but do not seem to have met with much success. 
 Here, too, the London Jewish Mission has been working since 
 1869, with great persistency, yet with little success, since the 
 few converts cannot remain in Damascus. 
 
 The only place in Egypt that has any importance for an ac- 
 count of Jewish missions is Alexandria, with its more than 
 10,000 Jews. The first society in this field was the Glasgow 
 Scottish Mission to the Jews. They recalled their medical 
 missionary, Dr. Philip, in 185Y, and the Established Church of 
 Scotland took over the work in 1858. It was fortunate for 
 them that the Yiceroy Said, who was a generous friend of 
 mission work, presented them in 1861 with a large site, on 
 which they were able to erect mission buildings. / There, as 
 
 * For an account of missionary work among the Jews of Palestine, see Chap. 
 IV, B. 
 
Missions Among the Jews 399 
 
 in other stations of the Established Church of Scotland, the 
 main part of the work lies in the schools, in which as many 
 Christian children as possible are gathered in addition to 
 Jewish children. Cairo was a station of the London Jewish 
 Society from 1847 to 1867, and Alexandria from 1871 to 1874. 
 But both these stations have been since then abandoned. 
 
 Among the eight or ten thousand Jews in Bagdad^ some of 
 whom are the richest merchants of this ancient city of the 
 khalifs, the London Jewish Society laboured from 1844 to 1866. 
 But it neither succeeded in finding maintenance for its few 
 converts, nor in laying the foundation of a strong Protestant 
 congregation. And as cooperation with other existing 
 churches was found to be impossible, the thankless task was 
 abandoned. 
 
 In Persia the missionaries of the London Jewish Society, 
 starting from Bagdad, made missionary tours, especially to 
 Hamadan, distributing Bibles and Protestant literature. Sur- 
 prising success attended this work. In 1875 Ezekiel Khayim, 
 the son of one of the richest and most respected Jews, and the 
 physician Dr. Aghajan came to the knowledge of Jesus as the 
 promised Messiah by reading the Bible. A small but select 
 company of like-minded men joined them. The cruel perse- 
 cutions which they suffered at the hands of the Jews only 
 made them cleave the faster to their faith. After some of 
 them had been baptized in 1878 by American missionaries, 
 who itinerated in that region, the London Jewish Society sent 
 them a missionary, J. Lotka, in 1881. But the persecutions 
 were so violent that Lotka thought it prudent to leave the 
 country in 1884. At this juncture the Persian Jew Nurallah, 
 who had taken a theological education in London, with a view 
 to becoming a preacher among his own people, was commis- 
 sioned to care for the small but faithful company of converts. 
 The American missionaries who had maintained a station in 
 Hamadan since 1881, also faithfully looked after the converts 
 who were hungering for the truth, building them a Christian 
 synagogue, opening a school for Jewish girls, and receiving 
 the converts into their community. With the tenacity 
 
400 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 peculiar to orientals, who hold fast to the traditional script, 
 though they have forgotten the ancient language itself, the 
 Persian Jews read the Persian language written in Hebrew 
 characters. The British and Foreign Bible Society has there- 
 fore specially prepared for them an edition of the Bible in 
 Persian, but in Hebrew type. The Jewish colonies in other 
 Persian towns, such as Teheran, Urumiah and Souchbulak, 
 have also been cared for, chiefly by the American Presbyterian 
 Mission and the London Jewish Society. The favourite plan 
 has been to establish schools for Jewish children, in spite of 
 the opposition offered by the Persian authorities. Conver- 
 sions have been few, and are always accompanied by much 
 persecution {Missionary Eemew, 1895, pp. 837 ff.). 
 
 [B) The Worh of the Bible Societies 
 
 (1) Translations of the Bible, We have already several 
 times referred to translations of the Bible into the native 
 languages of the Near East, undertaken by the various mis- 
 sionary societies. But this work is of such importance that it 
 deserves to be considered in detail. It forms a bright chapter 
 in the history of Protestant missions. Not one of these 
 Oriental Churches possessed a Bible in the generally under- 
 stood language of the country, and yet it was absolutely 
 necessary that such Bibles should be provided, if the people 
 were to be religiously enlightened. Protestant missions have 
 made the Word of God accessible to the common people. An 
 impartial criticism of Christianity was rendered very diflBcult 
 to a Muhammadan on account of the century-long contempt 
 with which he had proudly looked down upon Christians, 
 The first step in mission work among Muhammadans was, 
 therefore, to find a common meeting-ground for both religions. 
 On the authority of the Koran, Moslems are compelled to 
 recognize the Bible as the Word of God. For this reason the 
 pioneer missionary work among Muhammadans consists in the 
 distribution of the Bible and in an introduction to its study. 
 Jews, it has been found, can be convinced that Jesus was the 
 Messiah only by proving from the Old Testament that this is 
 
Missions Among the Jews 401 
 
 true. And only by diligent searching of the Scriptures can 
 this conviction be gained. Thus the translation of the Bible 
 is in a special way throughout the Near East the foundation 
 of missionary work among Oriental Christians, Muhammadans 
 and Jews alike. We will review (a) translations of the Bible 
 into Muhammadan languages, and (5) translations into the 
 languages of the Oriental Churches. 
 
 {a) Translations into Muhammadan languages. Three 
 languages are here involved, Turkish, Arabic and Persian. In 
 Turkish the predominant dialect is Osmanli Turkish. Into 
 this dialect a great part of the Bible was translated by a court 
 official, Ali Bey, a Polish renegade, during the reign of Sultan 
 Muhammad lY, 1648-1687. The manuscript lay, however, in 
 the Leyden library until it was at length printed in 1819 in a 
 completed, revised and considerably improved form. Yet it 
 was still of too elementary and faulty a character to be even 
 moderately useful. The talented linguist, Dr. W. G. Schauf- 
 fler, accordingly undertook the difficult task of producing an 
 entirely new translation, which was printed in parts in IN'ew 
 York between the years 1867 and 1873. But even this trans- 
 lation did not fully come up to expectation, because it was 
 written in classical Turkish and was therefore unintelligible 
 to the common people. Consequently there have since been 
 two revision committees, which met in 1878 and 1887, consist- 
 ing chiefly of Dr. Riggs, Herrick, "Weakley and H. O. Dwight, 
 with a native linguist, for the purpose of perfecting and even, 
 in some parts, rewriting Schauffler's translation. These re- 
 vised editions are excellent. Osmanli Turkish has spread so 
 far that in Asia Minor it has to some extent taken the place 
 of Greek in the Orthodox Church, and of Armenian in the 
 Gregorian Church; and mixed dialects, Graeco-Turkish and 
 Armeno-Turkish have been formed, which are, however, writ- 
 ten respectively in Greek and Armenian characters, and not 
 in the Arabic characters of Osmanli Turkish. The missions 
 have adopted both these dialects. The New Testament was 
 translated into Armeno- Turkish in 1815 by two learned Ar- 
 menians, and the translation was printed in 1819 in St. Peters- 
 
402 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 burg. It was subjected to a revision by the Kev. H. D. Leeves 
 of the British and Foreign Bible Society. But as it was not 
 yet adequate, Dr. Goodell made a completely new translation 
 of the whole Bible, the New Testament being published in 
 1831 and the Old Testament in 1841. Thoroughly revised 
 versions of this translation appeared in 1858 and 1863. 
 
 William Goodell (1792-186T) was one of the industrious 
 missionaries of the American Board, whose translations of the 
 Bible deserve great praise. In 1823, during the turmoil of 
 the Greek "War of Liberation, he was sent to Beirut, where he 
 at once devoted himself to the study of the Armeno-Turkish 
 dialect. He was removed to Constantinople in 1831 to enter 
 the Armenian Mission, which had just been begun, and in this 
 mission he remained thirty-four years until 1865, that critical 
 period in the history of the mission.^ 
 
 The British and Foreign Bible Society published the "New 
 Testament in Grwco-TurHsh in 1865, the translation being 
 subsequently revised by one of the society's missionaries, the 
 Kev. H. D. Leeves. The next step was to rewrite and re- 
 print Goodell's Armeno-Turkish translation in Greek letters. 
 But as even this did not prove satisfactory, the society com- 
 missioned the two natives, Eev. G. Casakos and Kev. A. 
 Asadurian, to prepare what was to be practically a totally 
 new translation (1884). But during all this work of revision, 
 the conviction dawned upon the missionaries that, since all 
 the three dialects are fundamentally very closely related to 
 one another, it ought to be possible to produce one common 
 translation, though printed in the three different types, 
 Arabic, Greek and Armenian. With this in view a new re- 
 vision committee sat from 1883 to 1887, and its labours seem 
 to have been successful. This example, however, shows to 
 what expenditure of labour and money the British and Ameri- 
 can Bible Societies, in combination with the various mission- 
 ary societies, went, in order to produce as perfect as possible 
 a translation into an important language. 
 
 1 " Memoirs of Eev. Wm. Goodell, D. D.," by Ed. G. Prime, D. D., 8th ed,, 
 Boston, 1891. 
 
Missions Among the Jews 403 
 
 Another dialect of the Turkish language is spoken in Trans- 
 caucasia, which, as it is mostly used in Azerbaijan in North- 
 western Persia, is called Azerbaijani. A translation of the 
 New Testament into this language, made by the Basle mis- 
 sionaries, Zaremba and Pfander, with the help of their faith- 
 ful assistant, Mirza Farukh, continued to be printed either in 
 part or entire until 1875. Mirza Farukh himself later made 
 another translation of almost the entire Bible, but the manu- 
 script lay neglected till his son, Abraham Amirkhanyanz, 
 found it forty years later, completed it, and, with the help of 
 the British Bible Society, published it in 18Y8. Meanwhile 
 Dr. Benjamin Labaree had begun an independent translation. 
 After Dr. Labaree had published several books of the Bible in 
 his translation, they wisely agreed to unite forces. Their 
 translation was completed and printed in 1893. One of the 
 Gospels of this translation is even printed in Hebrew type for 
 the Jews living in the province. It does not lie within the 
 scope of this book to give a detailed account of translations 
 into the Turkish dialects of Kashgar, Dsagatai, Kirghiz, 
 Kumuk, Usbeg and Yakut. 
 
 Translations of the Gospels and of the Pentateuch into 
 Persian had come down from the Middle Ages, but they were 
 very defective. Early in the nineteenth century various 
 Anglo-Indians made attempts at the translation of the Bible 
 into that language, because of its importance for Northern 
 India; among these attempts may be mentioned those of 
 Colonel Colebrooke in 1804, and of Rev. L. Sebastian! in 1812. 
 Then Henry Martyn set himself to the important task. His 
 first hasty translation of the New Testament satisfied him so 
 ill that he went to Shiraz in 1811, and there, with the help of 
 Persian scholars, produced a translation which was repeatedly 
 printed, in Calcutta and St. Petersburg (1816), in London 
 (1837), and in Edinburgh (1847). To complete this work, the 
 Old Testament was translated by the Scottish missionary, 
 Dr. William Glen in Astrakhan (1826), and, independently, 
 by Archdeacon Robinson, in Calcutta. Both these transla- 
 tions were printed, but they stood in sore need of revision. 
 
404 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 So Dr. R. Bruce, a missionary of the Church Missionary So- 
 ciety, and a man of great linguistic talent, undertook a thor- 
 ough revision of the entire Bible in Persian, beginning this 
 work in 1871. The new edition was printed under his direc- 
 tion, in Leipsic, in 1895, at the cost of the British Bible Society. 
 
 More important for the world of Islam than either Turkish 
 or Persian is Arabic, the language of the Koran, and of 
 Moslem culture and learning, upon which, accordingly, a cor- 
 responding measure of devoted toil has been expended. The 
 translation made by John of Seville (750), and the translations 
 printed in Eome in the years 1591 and 1671, were imperfect, 
 at times painfully literal, translations from the Yulgate. The 
 earliest Protestant translations were the translation made by 
 Erpenius in Leyden in 1616, the translation which appeared in 
 "Walton's Polyglot Bible in 1657, and the translation of Pro- 
 fessor Lee, the linguist of the Church Missionary Society. 
 These translations were still faulty, yet, in the absence of a 
 better, they were repeatedly published. At last, however, two 
 highly talented American missionaries in Beirut, Dr. Eli Smith 
 (died 11th of January, 1857), and Dr. C. Y. A. Yan Dyck, 
 made it one of the chief undertakings of their lives to produce a 
 standard Arabic translation of the Bible. The New Testa- 
 ment appeared in 1860, the Old in 1864, and the entire Bible 
 in 1865. Even after this Dr. Yan Dyck never grew weary of 
 improving and polishing the translation. It is regarded as a 
 classical work, and has superseded all other translations, at 
 least in the Protestant world. It is issued in thirty-seven 
 different forms by the American and the British Bible Societies. 
 Parts of it are printed in Syrian letters (Karshun), and in 
 Hebrew letters for the Jews. Even an edition for the blind is 
 published, the Old Testament in the Moon script, the New in 
 Braille. 
 
 The language of the Kurds is of less importance compared 
 with the chief Moslem languages, yet a translation of the 
 Bible is more difficult, both because the language is split up 
 into many dialects and because the Kurds, for want of a script 
 of their own, use Arabic characters in some districts and 
 
Missions Among the Jews 405 
 
 Armenian in others. In 1827 Shevris, the Armenian bishop 
 in Tabriz, translated a portion of the Bible into Hakkiari, a 
 dialect of the Kurdish, and the Basle missionaries of Shusha 
 revised the translation. Yet it was not widely intelligible. 
 Since then three different parties have undertaken transla- 
 tions, the American Board, through Dr. Andrus and Dr. 
 Barton of Mardin, in Armenian characters, while the Anglican 
 missionary, St. Clair Tisdall of Ispahan, and the German 
 missionary. Pastor Detlev von Oertzen in Souchbulak, have 
 made independent translations in Arabic characters. Some 
 of the books of the Bible have appeared in all three of these 
 translations. It is, however, desirable that these three parties 
 should combine their efforts. 
 
 (h) The Oriental Churches were first provided by the Prot- 
 estant missions with Bibles in their own ancient sacred lan- 
 guages. Even in the Churches Bibles had been scarce, since 
 they had to be laboriously copied by hand, and consequently 
 private persons and even some of the priests could hardly afford 
 to acquire copies. Therefore a large issue in print was required. 
 Theologians and philologists have given much assistance in the 
 work, a share of the cost being borne by the Bible societies. 
 Thus editions in Ancient Armenian appeared in 1817 in 
 Calcutta and St. Petersburg ; the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society published a large edition of the New Testament and 
 Psalms ; and the American Bible Society printed in 1838 the en- 
 tire Bible, which was subsequently thoroughly revised by a com- 
 mittee of experts (1896). A Koptic edition of the New Testa- 
 ment was published in 1847 by the Society for Promoting 
 Christian Knowledge, after the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society had printed the Gospels in 1829. In Ethiojpianfi (the 
 ancient Geez) the British and Foreign Bible Society issued the 
 JSTew Testament in 1830, and there has lately appeared a 
 revised edition, done under the supervision of Professor 
 Praetorius of Halle. 
 
 Of far greater importance are the endeavours of the missions 
 to supply these Churches with the Bible in the living languages, 
 understood by the common people. This has been an integral 
 
4o6 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 part, to some extent even the basis, of their work of evangeli- 
 zation. In Modern Armenian Dr. Zohrab of Constantinople, 
 himself an Armenian, made a beginning with a useful transla- 
 tion of the ISTew Testament, which was published first in 1825 
 and has been repeatedly revised by the American missionaries 
 since, the British and Foreign Bible Society doing the print- 
 ing. The translation of the Old Testament was begun in 1840 
 by Dr. Elias Riggs, with the assistance of his colleague, Adger, 
 at first. The complete Bible appeared in 1852. Up to his 
 death Riggs continued to improve his work, which is con- 
 sidered by experts to be an excellent translation ; the Bible 
 societies of America and Great Britain have combined to 
 publish it. " Ararat Armenian " is a dialect which varies 
 considerably from the other, and is spoken in Russian Caucasia 
 and ISForthern Persia. Into it the Basle missionaries, especially 
 A. H. Diettrich, translated the ]N"ew Testament in 1834, the 
 translation being repeatedly issued by the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society until 1879, when it was thoroughly revised by 
 Abraham Amirkhanyanz, who translated also the Old Testa- 
 ment. The complete Bible appeared in this dialect in 1882, 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society publishing it in Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
 The highest praise is due to the American missionary, Dr. 
 Justin Perkins, for devoting many years of his life to produc- 
 ing a useful translation of the Bible into Modern Syriac. The 
 first edition of the Kew Testament appeared in 1846, to be fol- 
 lowed by the Old Testament in 1852, both editions having the 
 Ancient Syriac and the Modern Syriac in columns side by side, 
 though later editions contained only the latter. After Perkins' 
 death. Dr. Labaree undertook a diligent and thorough revi- 
 sion. While the Urumiah dialect had been the basis of former 
 translations. Dr. Labaree borrowed from the purer and more 
 widely used dialects of the mountains, making use of the help 
 of educated Syrians such as Professor Yoshana and Professor 
 Baba. This new translation appeared in an attractive edition 
 in New York, in 1893. 
 
 Great difficulties were connected with the production of a 
 
Missions Among the Jews 407 
 
 JBulgarian version, since there are so many dialects, the chief 
 of which are Western and Eastern Bulgarian. Under the 
 auspices of the British and Foreign Bible Society many at- 
 tempts were made between the years 1820 and 1858, and the 
 Society published parts of translations made by the Bulgarian 
 clergyman Theodosius in 1822, by Sapunoff in 1827, by Barker 
 of Smyrna in 1836-1840, and by Photinoff in 1858. The 
 linguistic difficulties were only overcome when the talented 
 American missionary, Elias Eiggs, in collaboration with 
 Dr. A. Long of the Methodist Episcopal Mission, succeeded in 
 forming a modern Bulgarian language which proved intelli- 
 gible to and popular with the whole nation. This translation 
 was used from 1859 to 1864, when it was revised, Kiggs him- 
 self working at it until the hour of his death on the 17th of 
 January, 1901. It has supplanted all the other translations, 
 and is considered an excellent piece of work. 
 
 The Albanian language has also two essentially different 
 dialects, the ITorthern or Gheg and the Southern or Tosh. 
 Although Protestant missionaries did not begin to work here 
 till late, and have made little headway among this ancient 
 Christian people, yet the British and Foreign Bible Society 
 began in 1819 to make great and continued exertions to 
 produce the New Testament in both these dialects, entrusting 
 the work of translation to native Albanians under the super- 
 vision of their representative in Constantinople. The work of 
 printing was rendered difficult in this case also by the confu- 
 sion of alphabets. At length it was decided to use Koman 
 characters throughout. Translations of the New Testament 
 into the Southern dialect appeared in 1825 and 1827, by 
 Evangelos Mexicos, in 1879, by Christoforides, and, later, by 
 Gerasius Kyrios ; and into the Northern dialect since 1866 in 
 Constantinople. 
 
 For the Spanish Jews of the Near East there already ex- 
 isted a useful translation of the Bible, the so-called Ferrara 
 Bible, which was published repeatedly in the eighteenth and 
 nineteenth centuries, whole or in parts. The revision of this 
 version is the meritorious work of Dr. W. G. Sohauffler of the 
 
4o8 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 American Board and the Scottish missionaries, Dr. J. Christie 
 and Rev. D. B. Spence. 
 
 Of the living languages of Abyssinia the first used in Bible 
 translation was the widely spread Amharicy much of the Bible 
 having been translated into this tongue by the monk Abu 
 Euchi. His work was continued by the missionaries Isenberg 
 and Kugler, the whole being revised by Dr. Krapf, and issued 
 from 1844 to 18Y9, at the expense of the Bible Society. A 
 second edition, revised by Dr. Krapf, M. Flad and J. Meyer, 
 was printed in the St. Chrischona Mission House in 1888. A 
 translation of the four Gospels into Tigre, one of the Northern 
 dialects (the other being called Tigrina) was made by Isenberg, 
 Kugler and Dr. Krapf (published in 1865), and the Gospel ac- 
 cording to St. Mark was translated by Swedish missionaries in 
 MonkuUo. The New Testament was translated into Tigrina 
 by Swedish missionaries, especially the physician Dr. Winquist. 
 This work is being gradually published by the Swedish Mis- 
 sion Press in Asmara. Some of the Gospels have been trans- 
 lated into other dialects of the country, into Bogos (Bilin), into 
 the Falasha dialect of the Agau (Professor Rheinish of Vienna), 
 into Kunama (the Swedish missionaries). There are also a 
 goodly number of translations into the Oalla dialects ; in 
 Northern Galla the entire Bible, translated by the native, 
 Onesimus, was printed in 1899 in the St. Chrischona Mission 
 House. In the Shoa tongue the whole of the New Testament 
 and parts of the Old Testament were translated by Dr. Krapf 
 and printed in 18Y2. In the Itta dialect a translation of St. 
 Matthew was made by a Galla youth, Hailu. In the Bararetta 
 dialect, St. John's Gospel was translated by the Methodist 
 missionary, Wakefield, and printed in 1890. Considerable 
 portions of an ancient ecclesiastical translation of the Bible in 
 the Nuba tongue have recently been discovered. Prof. R. 
 Lepsius has translated at least one Gospel into Fadidja^ the 
 present language of the Berbers to the south of Assuan ; the 
 translation is printed in the " standard alphabet." In 1885 it 
 was printed in Arabic type for use among the Beduins. 
 
 (2) On this immense task of translating and printing the 
 
Missions Among the Jews 409 
 
 Word of God accurately and intelligibly in the numerous 
 languages and dialects of Western Asia, the missions and Bible 
 societies have spent an enormous amount of labour and 
 money. For some decades they received considerable assist- 
 ance from the Eussian Bible Society, founded by the Czar, 
 Alexander I, and from the Ionian Bible Society in Corfu. 
 But both of these societies were dissolved and the burden fell 
 upon the shoulders of the British and the American Bible So- 
 cieties, which were assisted to a limited extent by the Scottish 
 National Bible Society, in Salonica, Tiberias, Safed, Aleppo and 
 Beirut. Equally difficult was the other great task of disi/ribu- 
 ting the Bible. Here the two great societies divided the work, 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society leaving the American 
 Bible Society those districts in which the American mission- 
 aries, especially those of the American Board, labour exclu- 
 sively or preponderatingly, such as Turkey in Europe (the 
 greater part), Asia Minor, the northern half of Persia, Syria 
 and Upper Egypt, while its own extensive operations com- 
 prise three " agencies," one in Turkey, with its chief depot in 
 Constantinople, another in Egypt, with its headquarters in 
 Alexandria, and the third in Persia, having its main station in 
 Ispahan. As far as possible the distribution of the Bible is 
 carried on in connection with the missionary societies, 
 which take large stocks of Bibles and portions of the Bible, 
 these being distributed by colporteurs, Bible-readers and Bible- 
 women, who are partly supported by the Bible Society. But 
 in addition to these, some Bible societies, especially the Brit- 
 ish and Foreign Bible Society, employ their own colporteurs, 
 who work in the great commercial centres, especially in the 
 polyglot harbours of Port Said and Constantinople, where the 
 nations of the world meet. In Port Said there is an annual 
 sale of from fifteen to eighteen thousand Bibles and portions 
 of the Bible, in from sixty to seventy languages. Perhaps 
 even more important is the work of the colporteurs in pene- 
 trating to places where there are either few or no mission- 
 aries, as for instance in Albania, the Egyptian Sudan, Eastern 
 Persia and Northern and Eastern Arabia. 
 
41 o History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Generally speaking, Bible distribution is possible in the 
 whole of the Near East, if it be not resisted by the fanatical 
 opposition of Muhammadans, Jews and, sometimes, even of 
 Christians, especially of Christian priests, to the Christian or 
 " Protestant " Bible. 
 
 In Turkey, to be sure, there was the petty and annoying 
 censorship to be faced. Such geographical names as " Mace- 
 donia " and " Armenia " were not permitted to be published, 
 and had, therefore, to be avoided as far as possible in Bibles 
 issued in the Ottoman Empire. Maps on which such names 
 occurred were torn out. Even the Epistle to the Galatians 
 roused suspicion on account of the similarity of the name 
 " Galatia " to Galata, the name of a quarter of the city of 
 Stamboul, and it even happened that prudent censors de- 
 manded the production of St. Paul's death-certificate to prove 
 that his Epistle to the Galatians is not a revolutionary article 
 aimed at the Sultan. The censorship, also, through the law 
 that any books introduced into Turkey, or any edition pro- 
 duced there, has to be passed by the censor, offered a welcome 
 opportunity to malicious officials to keep back such books as 
 did not please them for months and years. It was also incon- 
 venient that in the parts of Turkey which are inhabited al- 
 most exclusively by Muhammadans, the authorities refused 
 licenses to the colporteurs, if they would not promise to sell 
 Bibles only in villages inhabited by Christians or Jews. In 
 Persia trouble has latterly been caused by the Persian cus- 
 toms officials, who will pass boxes of Bibles for that country 
 only on condition that the missionary and Bible societies 
 promise not to sell to Moslems, which is, of course, out of the 
 question. Accordingly, no Bibles have entered Persia for 
 some years, while the stock kept in the country is nearly ex- 
 hausted. Greece is the only country in the Near East in 
 which (since 1901) the Bible in the popular tongue has been a 
 forbidden book, the sale of which is punishable. 
 
 The question is sometimes raised whether the distribution 
 of Bibles without explanatory preaching is wise, since, it is 
 said, only a few of the books of the Bible are really intelligible 
 
Missions Among the Jews 41 1 
 
 to noa-Christians. In Western Asia such doubts are little in 
 place, for all the races there have been lovers of literature to 
 a certain extent for a thousand years or more, and they all 
 regard the Bible as a holy book, with an undoubted claim to 
 be God's "Word, even though Moslems believe it to have been 
 superseded by the Koran, and Jews reject the revelation of 
 God in the New Testament. 'No doubt here, as everywhere 
 else, the explanatory teaching of the missionary is of extreme 
 importance. But, in face of the barrier which[the prejudices of 
 Moslems, Jews and Christians belonging to the ancient 
 Churches, oppose to such preaching, and in view of the fact 
 that their opposition to the preaching shuts their hearts to the 
 simple Gospel in every form, it is of great importance, as a 
 form of pioneer work, to supply them with the Word of God 
 in their own language, trusting them to prove all things and 
 to keep that which is good. Zwemer, in the Bible Society 
 Eeport of 1904, p. 138, says, " The colporteur is the best 
 pioneer for the missionary, and the Bible is its own best advo- 
 cate, wherever it has a free field, in opposition to the Koran 
 or any other book of religion." 
 
VIII 
 
 SUMMARIES AND STATISTICAL TABLES 
 
 THOUGH statistics are indispensable, they present no 
 true picture of the work that is really being done. 
 N'or can statistics for the same period be obtained 
 from all the societies, and one has often to be content with 
 figures of former years. From some of the smaller societies, 
 also, no figures whatever can be obtained, and one can only 
 estimate the number. 
 
 Nevertheless, in spite of all their deficiencies, the tables 
 which follow help to give a clear picture of the extent and 
 success of missionary work in the Near East. A personnel of 
 299 ordained and lay missionaries, eighty-one medical mis- 
 sionaries and 458 lady missionaries might appear insignificant 
 in so great a mission field. Yet 395 organized congregations, 
 with 34,606 communicants and 94,428 adherents, are evidence 
 of real success, when one considers the extraordinary difficulties 
 to be coped with ; and a staff of 225 ordained native assistants, 
 in addition to 2,227 who are not ordained, prove that the 
 congregations, which have been formed, are caring for the 
 establishment of a Protestant ministry. Hope for the future 
 lies in the 975 primary and secondary schools and the fifteen 
 colleges, with their 64,016 pupils. And the forty-nine hos- 
 pitals with sixty-three dispensaries, in which 666,975 patients 
 are annually treated, represent the sowing of the seed of Chris- 
 tian compassion in the stony ground of Muhammadanism. 
 
 It is the conviction of almost all the Protestant missionaries 
 that there is little prospect that the national Churches of the 
 Near East will be regenerated by the spirit of the Gospel. 
 Yet the Protestant congregations are centres of a far-reach- 
 ing influence upon them. Hundreds of priests of these 
 Churches have attended Protestant schools in their youth, and 
 laymen, who have also been educated in these schools, de- 
 
 412 
 
Summaries and Statistical Tables 413 
 
 mand Biblical teaching from the priests in their sermons. Nor 
 is it, according to the statement of Hoskins, a missionary in 
 Syria, a rare thing to find a Greek priest preaching Moody's 
 sermons year after year. 
 
 A great disadvantage to Christianity in Western Asia is " 
 the ever-increasing emigration, which, while also affecting 
 Muhammadanism, is much more common among oriental 
 Christians, and especially decimates the ranks of Protestants. 
 Yet it is an advantage that the greatest stream of emigration 
 is in the direction of Egypt, which has taken a mighty up- 
 ward bound under British management, for the strength of 
 the Christian element there is thus greatly increased. It is 
 also a consoling thought that by means of this emigration the 
 value of the schools established by Protestant missionaries is 
 being recognized far more widely than formerly. This leads 
 also to greater confidence in, and respect for, the missionaries, 
 who used formerly to be treated with malicious hostility. The 
 hope may also be indulged in, that Christian emigrants, after 
 gaining education, political experience and prosperity abroad, 
 will, in view of the better political conditions which are being 
 established in their home, return thither to be a blessing to 
 their country. 
 
 The prospects of mission work among Muhammadans are 
 still everywhere limited. The position in Egypt is relatively 
 the most promising. Here there are already 1,262 Muham- 
 madan children in the schools of the American Mission, and 
 the lecturing tours of Douglas Thornton, who unfortunately 
 died so soon, prove that, to a considerable extent, preparatory 
 preaching is possible, if it be carefully prepared and prudently 
 conducted. In the Ottoman Empire the Lebanon is the most 
 promising district, since it is under a Christian governor. Yet 
 even here, as in the whole of Turkey, public preaching to Mu- 
 hammadans is forbidden. A perceptible influence, however, 
 is exercised on the Muhammadan population by means of hos- 
 pitals, dispensaries, Bible-women, book-shops and colporteurs. 
 In the rest of the Ottoman Empire all work among Muham- 
 madans has been hindered as much by the fanaticism of the 
 
414 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 common people as by the suspicion and hostility of the au- 
 thorities. The Panislamic movement, also, embitters the re- 
 lationship between Moslems and Christians. This is the case 
 most of all in Egypt, though it is very perceptible in Syria 
 also. It is a very general experience in the Near East that 
 missionary work among Moslems is easier where it is con- 
 nected with a like work among Christians and Jews. Faulty 
 as the Christian congregations may be, and evident as is the 
 Moslem's contempt for the Christians, yet the Moslem toler- 
 ates missions among the Christians, and cannot escape the in- 
 fluences which go out from them. Where such a basis is lack- 
 ing, it easily happens that Moslem sensitiveness resents his 
 being regarded as an object for mission work by the " Chris- 
 tian dogs," a barrier being thus thrown up, which only the 
 medical mission with its self-sacrificing and compassionate 
 work can hope to break down. 
 
 Some parts of the ITear East, particularly Palestine, Syria, 
 Egypt and ^Northwestern Persia, are the working place of 
 many small missionary societies. This has caused a great 
 waste of energy. It is pleasing to see that the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society in Palestine and the American Presbyterians 
 in Syria and Persia are displaying a certain power of assimi- 
 lating smaller missions, and are, at any rate, maintaining a de- 
 cidedly preponderating influence by the extensive and solid 
 work they do. Closer cooperation among Protestant missions 
 in the Near East is extremely desirable. Only once, from the 
 13th to the 19th of August, 1901, at Brummana, near Beirut, 
 has there been an international conference of these mission- 
 aries. It is to be hoped that conferences upon mission work 
 among Muhammadans in general may not stand in the way 
 of the seriously needed consideration of the problems, methods 
 and difficulties of mission work as a whole in the Near East. 
 
 For Syria and Palestine particularly a close cooperation of 
 the distracted forces in a unified and comprehensive program, 
 with a careful apportionment of spheres of work, would be a 
 great gain, especially in the ever-keener competition with the 
 Boman and Kussian Churches. 
 
Summaries and Statistical Tables 415 
 
 Oppressive as the yoke of Turkey and Persia has Keen, and 
 obstructive to the development of mission work as their arbi- 
 trary measures have ever proved, yet it is only under Muham- 
 madan governments that work among the ancient Churches 
 has been possible. It is a remarkable fact that, as soon as 
 Oriental Churches obtain autonomy, as in Greece in 1829 and 
 in Bulgaria in 1870, they obstinately shut themselves up 
 against Protestant influence. The subjection of countries in 
 which such Churches exist to Russia has also meant the de- 
 struction of Protestant missions. Even the English protect- 
 orate in Cyprus hindered Protestant missionary work, and 
 English control in Egypt was far less helpful than might have 
 been expected. 
 
 So it is in lands under Turkish rule, where the missions 
 have in times of need received the powerful and benevolent 
 protection of the representatives of the English and American 
 governments, that mission work has been most highly organ- 
 ized, and that Protestant congregations have been most highly 
 developed. 
 
 It is true of Churches, as of individual Christians, that they 
 live in proportion as Christ lives in them. He does Protestant 
 missions in the Near East a bitter injustice who refuses to 
 recognize that the great central purpose of such missions has 
 been to make the spirit of Christ regnant alike in church life 
 and in the life of the individual. The missionaries are con- 
 vinced that, unless they succeed in this endeavour, the Oriental 
 Churches are doomed. Forced to form separate congregations, 
 they have laid themselves open to the accusation of prosely- 
 tism. Yet, in the main, they have been dominated through- 
 out their work by a spirit of compassion for the old 
 Churches which, while paying divine honours to Christ, 
 have become Christless. And the hope survives that, when 
 these ancient Churches shall have been permeated anew 
 with the spirit of their Master, they will receive power from 
 on high to fight the battles of the Lord among the Muham- 
 madan peoples of the Near East, and ultimately to gain the 
 victory. 
 
4i6 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Syria and Palestine 
 
 1. 
 
 2. 
 
 3. 
 
 4. 
 
 5. 
 
 6. 
 
 7. 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 11. 
 i2. 
 13. 
 14. 
 15. 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 23. 
 24. 
 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 Amer. Preabjterian Miss. Board (North) 
 
 Irish Presbyterian Mission 
 
 English Presbyterian Mission 
 
 Danish Orient Mission 
 
 Kaisers werth Deaconesses' Homes .... 
 
 Amer. Reformed Presbyterians 
 
 Scotch and Irish Reformed Presbyterians 
 
 British Syrian School Society 
 
 English Friends' Miss. Association . . . 
 Palestine and Lebanon Nurses' Mission . 
 
 Church Miss. Society 
 
 Jaffa Medical Mission 
 
 Syrian Orphanage 
 
 Jerusalem Union 
 
 Moravian Church Mission 
 
 London Jewish Mission (Asiatic Missions 
 
 of the Society) 
 
 Mildmay Mission 
 
 German Order of St. John 
 
 TheDufferin and Procter Memorial Schools 
 Edinburgh Medical Miss. Society .... 
 
 Tabitha Mission 
 
 Amer, Friends' Mission 
 
 Amer. Alliance Mission 
 
 Syrian Protestant College 
 
 Total 
 
 Stations 
 
 d 
 
 4 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 9 
 3 
 1 
 16 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 6 
 1 
 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 57 
 
 I 
 
 ■§ 
 
 03 
 
 102 
 5 
 
 3 
 2 
 6 
 2 
 
 49 
 6 
 2 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 4 
 2 
 
 204 
 
 'd 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 14 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 1 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 46 
 
 Foreign Staff 
 
 99 
 
 1^ 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 5 
 1 
 
 23 
 
 d 
 
 o 
 •I— I 
 
 CM 
 O 
 
 13 
 1 
 
 2 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 58 
 
 1^ 
 O) 
 
 ■g 
 
 c3 
 
 a 
 
 d 
 
 10 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 55 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 19 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 29 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 15 
 2 
 
 2 
 4 
 4 
 1 
 5 
 2 
 
 175 
 
 es 
 
 40 
 4 
 1 
 3 
 
 55 
 8 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 2 
 
 56 
 3 
 
 18 
 1 
 6 
 
 44 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 4 
 3 
 6 
 
 56 
 
 354 
 
Summaries and Statistical Tables 
 
 417 
 
 Syria and Palestine 
 
 Native Agency 
 
 Congregations 
 
 Schools 
 
 Medical Mission 
 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 
 
 
 CD 
 
 1— 1 
 
 rd 
 
 P -^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fd 
 
 
 p 
 
 c3 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 .2 
 
 
 a 
 
 'a 
 B 
 
 
 •i-t 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 g 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 a 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 P 
 
 P 
 
 Primary 
 Secondary 
 
 09 
 
 1— 1 
 
 •rH 
 
 Ph 
 
 p 
 
 s 
 
 W 
 3 
 
 Dispensari 
 
 -2 
 p 
 
 •rl 
 
 Ph 
 
 10 
 
 216 
 
 2,744 
 
 4,ooor?) 
 
 115 
 
 5,688 
 
 8,205 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 200 
 
 300 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 642 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 80 
 
 140 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 50 
 
 628 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 5,000(?) 
 11,135 
 
 1 
 
 23 
 6 
 
 
 224 
 40 
 
 401 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 280 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 7,100 
 
 
 
 84 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 42 
 
 40 
 
 2; 630 
 
 
 3 
 
 12,260 
 
 
 26 
 
 14 
 
 82 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 1,057 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2,936 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1.907 
 
 11 
 
 47 
 8 
 
 59 
 4 
 
 864 
 
 2,414 
 131 
 
 1 
 
 60 
 
 48 
 3 
 
 2,549 
 364 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 5 
 2 
 
 54,248 
 22,340 
 
 2 
 
 22 
 
 
 200 
 
 336 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 532 
 
 
 1 
 
 50 
 
 1 
 
 45 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 856 
 50 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 
 42,370 
 
 1,000 
 
 14,157 
 
 1 
 
 
 14 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 4 
 
 60 
 226 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 18,427 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 32 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 250 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 ; 
 
 
 27 
 443 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 365 
 
 1 
 
 183 
 
 456 
 
 1 
 19 
 
 23 
 
 
 26 
 
 196 
 
 3,462 
 
 7,932 
 
 467 
 
 16,306 
 
 201,135 
 
41 8 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 European and Asiatic Turkey. 
 
 
 Stations 
 
 Foreign Staff 
 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 •s 
 
 20 
 1 
 2 
 5 
 2 
 1 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 CO 
 
 269 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 \^ 
 
 tS 
 
 a 
 
 c3 
 
 a 
 
 • r-l 
 08 
 
 o 
 
 42 
 1 
 
 9 
 4 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 61 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
 ■ 
 
 o 
 
 m 
 
 •r-i 
 
 ^ <v 
 
 O OS 
 
 en 
 
 > 
 
 • r-l 
 
 63 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 72 
 
 en 
 
 0) 
 
 • 1— 1 
 
 a 
 
 
 1. American Board 
 
 2. Methodist Episcopal Mission 
 
 3. Kaiserswerth Deaconesses' Homes . . . 
 
 4. Lohmann's Armenian Aid Association . 
 
 5. Dr. Lepsius' German Orient Mission . , 
 
 6. Friends' Armenian Mission 
 
 7. Disciples (Foreign Christ. Miss, Soc.) 
 
 8. Amer. Ref. Presbys. (Cilicia and Cyprus) 
 
 9. British and Foreign Bible Society . . . 
 
 68 
 
 2 
 
 32 
 
 33 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 141 
 
 185 
 4 
 
 50 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 Total 
 
 296 
 
 255 
 
 Persia. Arabia. Mesopotamia 
 
 
 Stations 
 
 
 Foreign 
 
 Staff 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 iJ 
 
 
 1 
 
 § 
 
 CD 
 
 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 a 
 
 • r-l 
 
 5 
 
 W 
 
 64 
 
 n 
 
 4) 
 
 O 
 17 
 
 '3 
 
 o 
 10 
 
 CO 
 
 O cS 
 
 > 
 •i-i 
 
 21 
 
 t-5 
 
 • i-H 
 
 B 
 a 
 
 1— « 
 
 O 
 
 1. Amer. Presbyterian Miss. Board (North) . 
 
 11 
 
 59 
 
 2. Chnrch Miss. Society { Tu^SrArabia 
 
 5 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 3 
 
 12 
 3 
 
 12 
 3 
 
 42 
 9 
 
 3. Hermannsburg Miss. Society 
 
 4. London Jewish Mission Society 
 
 5. Dr. Lepsius' German Orient Mission . 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 3 
 
 6. Amer. Lutheran Mission 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Minor Missions among the Nestorians . . 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Assyrian Mission 
 
 3 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 9. British and Foreign Bible Society .... 
 
 10. (Dutch) Reformed Mission 
 
 11. United Free Church of Scotland .... 
 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 
 4 
 1 
 
 1 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 5 
 
 12. Danish Church Mission 
 
 1 
 25 
 
 79 
 
 1 
 
 48 
 
 25 
 
 44 
 
 
 1 
 
 Total 
 
 36 
 
 153 
 
Summaries and Statistical Tables 
 
 419 
 
 Asia Minor. Armenia 
 
 Native Agency 
 
 
 
 Congregations 
 
 Schools 
 
 Medical Mission 
 
 
 
 
 -2 
 
 
 
 
 so 
 
 _ '0 
 
 p.a 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 a 
 
 c3 
 
 
 w Unordained 
 
 
 
 '3 
 
 a 
 
 Cm 
 
 1 
 
 q 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 t-i 
 
 .a 
 
 <1 
 
 5 
 
 (-H 
 1— ( 
 
 8 
 
 p 
 
 P 
 
 1,232 
 
 CO Primary a 
 CO Secondary Sc 
 
 P 
 
 1 
 7 
 
 S 
 
 (-1 
 
 ea 
 
 a 
 
 P4 
 
 CO 
 
 11 
 
 s 
 
 03 
 (1| 
 
 92 
 
 
 15,748 
 
 41,802 
 
 20,861 
 
 109,863 
 
 17 
 
 2 
 
 
 426 
 
 547 
 
 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 20 
 490 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1,430 
 
 6 
 
 71 
 
 108 
 
 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 1,900 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4,856 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 300 
 400 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2,848 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 200 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 98 
 
 100 
 
 8' 
 
 
 5 
 386 
 
 308 
 
 1 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 7,888 
 
 118 
 
 931 
 
 108 
 
 16,472 
 
 42,649 
 
 1,232 
 
 24,379 
 
 126,885 
 
 
 
 
 Persia 
 
 Arabia. 
 
 Mesop 
 
 otamia 
 
 
 
 
 Native Agency 
 
 Congregations 
 
 Schools 
 
 Medical Mission 
 
 
 
 
 -2 
 
 
 
 
 en 
 '0 
 
 '3^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 'd 
 
 
 p 
 
 J 
 
 p 
 
 P 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sc^ 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 p 
 
 03 
 
 -2 
 
 0) 
 
 p 
 (3 
 
 
 p 
 
 '3 
 
 a 
 
 1 
 
 £ 
 
 .P 
 -d 
 
 
 
 5 
 p 
 
 Primary 
 econdary 
 
 a, 
 
 p 
 
 00 
 
 f 
 
 p 
 
 •1^ 
 
 5 
 
 p 
 
 ■■i 
 
 c 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 1 
 
 cc 
 
 80 
 
 Oi 
 
 W 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 pL, 
 
 24 
 
 158 
 
 3,189 
 
 5,000 (?) 
 
 
 2,770 
 
 41,301 
 
 1 
 
 16 
 
 12 
 
 189 
 
 4i2 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 423 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 78,980 
 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 77 
 
 210 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 234 
 
 1 
 
 
 11,383 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 2 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 400 
 250 
 
 719 
 400 
 
 
 
 4 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 
 190 
 32 
 
 120 
 56 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 800 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 137 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 34,305 
 
 
 3 
 
 19 
 
 
 lo. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 39,221 
 
 33 
 
 224 
 
 4,105 
 
 7,048 
 
 
 150 
 
 4,756 
 
 205,190 
 
420 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East 
 
 Egypt. Sudan. Abyssinia 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stations 
 
 
 Foreign 
 
 Staff 
 
 
 
 SOCIETTRS 
 
 d 
 
 :^ 
 
 12 
 7 
 
 1 
 5 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 6 
 1 
 
 38 
 
 
 'd 
 
 fl 
 
 a 
 
 •s 
 o 
 
 48 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 1 
 
 91 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 0} 
 
 •1.4 
 
 29 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 14 
 
 55 
 
 'd 
 
 SI 
 
 'd 
 
 1 
 
 B 
 a 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1. 
 
 2. 
 3. 
 
 4. 
 6. 
 6. 
 
 American United Presbyterian Mis 
 Church Missionary Society . . . 
 Netherlands Miss, to Egypt (Vereeni 
 Uitbreiding van bet Evangelie in ] 
 Egypt General Mission .... 
 Kaiserswerth Deaconesses' Homes 
 Sudan Pioneer Mission .... 
 
 sic 
 
 2g 
 
 )n . 
 
 • 
 
 jgtot 
 ypte) 
 
 • • 
 
 125 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 35 
 19 
 
 8 
 30 
 2 
 3 
 9 
 
 124 
 35 
 
 2 
 19 
 30 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 North African Mission 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8. 
 9. 
 
 Swedish National Miss. Soo. . . 
 British and Foreign Bible Soo. . 
 
 
 K • • 
 
 44 
 1 
 
 Total 
 
 137 
 
 106 
 
 269 
 
 Summary of Statistics 
 
 
 Stations 
 
 
 Foreign Staff 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 • 
 d 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 1-^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 fd 
 
 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 
 
 d 
 
 OS 
 
 
 
 03 
 
 -d 
 
 
 
 
 
 -d 
 
 ^3 
 
 O 03 
 
 0) 
 
 
 
 d 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 d 
 
 d 
 
 & 
 
 o 
 
 61 
 
 16 
 
 > 
 
 •l-l 
 
 72 
 
 141 
 
 as 
 
 O 
 
 H 
 
 Turkey 
 
 296 
 
 255 
 
 Syria and Palestine 
 
 57 
 
 204 
 
 99 
 
 23 
 
 58 
 
 175 
 
 354 
 
 1: ersia .... .••• ...... 
 
 25 
 
 79 
 
 48 
 
 25 
 
 44 
 
 36 
 
 153 
 
 Ecfvnt and Abvssinia 
 
 38 
 155 
 
 137 
 716 
 
 91 
 299 
 
 17 
 
 81 
 
 55 
 229 
 
 106 
 
 269 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 458 
 
 1,031 
 
 
 
Summaries and Statistical Tables 
 
 421 
 
 
 
 
 Egypt 
 
 Sudan. 
 
 Abyssinia 
 
 
 
 
 Native Agency 
 
 Congregations 
 
 Schools 
 
 Medical Mission 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 __ 
 •d 
 p X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 
 03 
 
 
 
 w) 
 
 
 p 
 
 •s 
 
 -s 
 
 
 
 'd 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 519 
 
 
 "i-i 
 p 
 
 P 
 
 B 
 B 
 
 8 
 
 p 
 
 pp 
 <1 
 
 
 
 -2 
 
 p 
 
 p 
 w 
 
 840 
 
 Pi P 
 
 <^ 8 
 
 187 
 
 
 •a 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 -2 
 
 p 
 
 •43 
 
 45 
 
 9,895 
 
 35,058 
 
 3 
 
 16,255 
 
 56,476 
 
 
 16 
 
 25 
 
 92 
 
 193 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 557 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 31,289 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 68 
 
 272 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 140 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 1 
 
 315 
 
 63 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 17,000 
 2,900 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 70 
 165 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 59 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 61 
 
 512 
 
 1,276 
 
 3 
 
 
 44 
 
 1,010 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 
 48 
 
 629 
 
 96 
 
 10,567 
 
 36,799 
 
 840 
 
 256 
 
 18,575 
 
 133,765 
 
 Summary of Statistics 
 
 Native Agency 
 
 Congregations 
 
 Schools 
 
 Medical Mission 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 -2 
 
 p 
 
 •s 
 
 1 
 
 p 
 
 
 p 
 
 p 
 
 p 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 8 
 
 -2 
 
 p 
 
 (D 
 ^1 
 <X> 
 
 rP 
 
 r— 1 
 
 8 
 3 
 1 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 p 
 
 P 
 
 
 
 fd 
 
 p,p 
 
 «!• 
 H 
 
 tH P 
 
 ^8 
 
 02 
 
 3 
 
 W 
 
 12 
 19 
 11 
 
 7 
 
 49 
 
 n 
 
 •c 
 
 03 
 
 CQ 
 P 
 O) 
 Ph 
 
 Q 
 
 17 
 23 
 11 
 12 
 
 63 
 
 -2 
 
 p 
 
 03 
 
 118 
 26 
 33 
 
 48 
 
 931 
 443 
 224 
 629 
 
 2,227 
 
 108 
 
 196 
 
 19 
 
 96 
 
 16,472 
 3,462 
 4,105 
 
 10,567 
 
 42,649 
 7,932 
 7,048 
 
 36,799 
 
 1,232 
 
 467 
 
 840 
 2,539 
 
 386 
 183 
 150 
 256 
 
 975 
 
 24,379 
 
 16,306 
 
 4,756 
 
 18,575 
 
 126,885 
 201,135 
 205,190 
 133,765 
 
 225 
 
 419 
 
 34,606 
 
 94,428 
 
 64,016 
 
 666,975 
 
Index 
 
 Abadiye, 204 
 
 Abassides, The, 35, 59, 182 
 
 Abbas Effendi, 291, 338 
 
 Abdi Effendi, 173, 175 
 
 Abdul Hamid II, 35, 137-140, 153 
 
 Abdul Kadr el Jilani, 29 
 
 Abdul Mejid, 218 
 
 Abeih, 191, 194, 198, 213, 222 
 
 Abu Abdallah, 183 
 
 Abu Bekr, Khalif, 29, 183 
 
 Abu Ruchi, 379, 408 
 
 Abu Sufian, 280 
 
 Abuna of Abyssinia, The, 364, 375 f. 
 
 Abyssinia, 19, 53, 57, 354 f., 37 1-390 
 
 Abyssinian Church, The — see Oriental 
 
 Churches 
 Acca, 249, 252, 291 
 Adabazar, 114, 121 
 Adana, 115, 157 f., 214 
 Aden, 22, 27, 273 f., 360 
 Adger, 406 
 Adi Ugri, 387 
 Adigrat, 380 
 Adis Abeba, 389 
 Adowa, 380 f. 
 
 Adrianople, 44, 104, 1 7 2, 398 
 Aghtaraar, 45 
 Ahmed Tewfik, 176 
 Ailet, 387 
 Aimerich, 48 
 Ain Arik, 257 
 Ain Karim, 257 
 Ain Zehalteh, 194 
 Aintab, 115, 125, 131, 133, 155 ff., 159, 
 
 162, 194 
 Akhissar, 140 
 Akhmed Akhsai, 286 
 Akhram, 183 
 Alamut, 185 
 
 Albania, 49, 53, 104, 169, 409 
 Albanians, The, 24, i7of. 
 Albistan, 162 
 
 Aleppo, 115, 172, 194, 409 
 Alexander I, 98 
 Alexandria, 45 f., 339, 345, 347, 356 f., 
 
 394. 398 f., 409 
 Ali, Khalif, 35, 182, 280 
 All Bey, 401 
 Ali Ilahi, The, 326 
 
 Ali Muhammad, 287, 290 
 
 Alliance Israelite, The, 327, 394 
 
 Alma, 188, 194 
 
 Amara, 277 
 
 Amasia, 117, 140 
 
 American Bible Society, 174, 216, 402ff., 
 
 409 
 American Board, Missions of, 70, 71 ; 
 
 among the Jews, 390, 395 ; in Persia, 
 
 294-303; in Syria and Palestine, 185- 
 
 201, 235 f. ; in Turkey and Armenia, 
 
 56, 102, 106-135 
 American Colony in Jerusalem (Spaf- 
 
 fordites), 234 
 American Sisters, The, 55 
 Amhara, 372, 378 f. 
 Amharic language, 91, 95 
 Amirkhanyanz, Abraham, 403, 406 
 Ammiel Mission, The, 258 
 Amr, 26, 45, 363 
 
 Anatoha College, 56, 131, 135, 157 
 Anderson, Rufus, 106 
 Andreas, F. C, 286 
 Anglican Mission in Persia, 308 ff. 
 Ankober, 381 
 Antioch, 162, 210 
 Antuf, 186 
 Anyoic, The, 370 
 
 Apostles' Road, The, 262, 354 f., 379 
 Appia, Miss, 207 
 
 Arab Conquest, The, 13 f., 39, 45, 271 f. 
 Arabi Pasha, 339, 360 
 Arabia, 17, 19, 24, 28, 105,271-278,409 
 Arabic language, The, 20, 39 f,, 50, 57, 
 
 63»95' 196, 232, 271 f., 359 
 Arabistan, 334 
 Arabkir, 116, 140, 159 
 Arabs, The, 23, 230 
 Arakel, 102 f. 
 Argos, no, 165 
 Ariopolis, 165 
 Armash, 105 
 Armenia, ii, 21, 24, 62, 98, 105, 1 1 8, 
 
 135' 137. 149, 153 ff-. 159 f- 
 Armenian Aid Society, The, 150 
 
 Armenian Church, The — see Oriental 
 
 Churches 
 Armenian Massacres, The, 41, 66, 1 18, 
 
 140-153, 155, 162, 260, 316 
 
 423 
 
424 
 
 Index 
 
 Armenian Orphanage, The, 260 
 Armenian Schools, iii, 159 
 Armenians, The, 23, 25, 43 fif., 99, 1 10, 
 135 f., 152, 156, 181, 233,298,318- 
 
 329* 333» 340 
 
 Arme no-Turkish language, The, 45, 
 106, 108 
 
 Arnold, Miihleisen, 210 
 
 Arnott, Miss Walker, 257 
 
 Arnoutkoyi, 157 
 
 Arrhenius, 389 
 
 Arsazides, The, 41 
 
 Artuf, 255 
 
 Asad es Shidiak, 188 
 
 Asadurian, A., 402 
 
 Asfuriyeh, 205 
 
 Ashkenazim, The, 393 
 
 Asia Minor, 23, 28, 37, 39, 91,96, 105 f., 
 117, 126, 133 
 
 Asia Minor Medical Missionary Associa- 
 tion, The, 158 
 
 Asir, 105 
 
 Asian Sahagian, 159 
 
 Assassines, The, 184/. 
 
 Assemani, J. S., 47 
 
 Assiut, 46, 56, 74, 348 ff., 352 f. 
 
 Assuan, 345, 354^, 357, 369 
 
 Assumptionists, The, 55 
 
 Astrakhan, 98 
 
 Assyrian Mission, The, 309, 313 
 
 Assyrian Mission of the American Board, 
 ii6f. 
 
 Atbara, 369 
 
 Athanasius, 37 
 
 Athens, 165 ff. 
 
 Athlit, 232 
 
 Atil, 206 
 
 Auso Kunoma, 388 
 
 Avakian, Ohannes, 141 
 
 Awetaranian, Johannes, 161 
 
 Awishalum Mission, The, 315 
 
 Axum, 376, 378 
 
 Ayesha, 280 
 
 Azerbaijan, 279, 292, 3l6f., 325 
 
 Azo, 145 
 
 Baaklin, 206 
 
 Baalbek, 203 f. 
 
 Babism, 286-291 
 
 Babists, The, 249, 281 
 
 Babylon, 13 
 
 Badger, G. P., 309 f, 
 
 Bagdad, 100, 105, 163 f., 290, 330, 399 
 
 Bahrein, 276 
 
 Baiburt, 140 
 
 Baker, Sir Samuel, 365 
 
 Baku, 99, 155 
 
 Balearic Isles, The, 21 
 
 Balkan Peninsula, The, 1 1, 17, 23, 37, 
 57, 68, 89, 167 
 
 Banias, 214 
 
 Baptist Missions, 165 f., 257, 315 
 
 Baratieri, General, 375 
 
 Barclay, Joseph, 245 
 
 Bari, The, 371 
 
 Barnum, Henry S., 1 10 
 
 Barton, Dr., 405 
 
 Barun, The, 370 
 
 Basil the Great, 37, 117 
 
 Basilides, Negus, 91 
 
 Basle Mission, The, 96-103, 378 
 
 Basra, 105, 164, 276 f. 
 
 Baz, 317 
 
 Beaconsfield, Lord, 176 
 
 Bebek, iiof., 126, 130, 157 
 
 Bedouins, The, 24, 208, 2IO, 273 
 
 Bedr Khan, 293, 309 
 
 Bedros, 1 15 
 
 Beha Ullah, 291 
 
 Behais, The, 328 
 
 Behnesseh, 93 
 
 Beirut, 105, 178, 186, 189, 191, 203 f., 
 207, 217, 222 ff., 398, 409 
 
 Beirut Mission Press, The, 190, 215, 347 
 
 Beirut Seminary, The, 222 
 
 Beit Jala, 40, 260 
 
 Beit Meri, 204 
 
 Beit Sahur, 40, 260 
 
 Bellamy, 206 
 
 Bellesa, 387 
 
 Benedictines, The, 55 
 
 Benha, 352 f. 
 
 Beni Suef, 352 
 
 Beranduz, 304 
 
 Berbers, The, 337, 408 
 
 Berlin Congress, The, 136, 154, 167 
 
 Bethany, 55 
 
 Betharram, 55 
 
 Bethlehem, 40, 55, 240, 249, 252, 259 f., 
 270 
 
 Beyan, The, 289 
 
 Bible, The, publication of in ancient lan- 
 guages, 405 ; translation of into mod- 
 ern languages, 196 f., 296 f., 325, 371, 
 379 U 385. 389, 399-408 
 
 Bible Lands' Mission Aid Society, The, 
 119 
 
 Bible Societies, Work of the, 400-411 
 
 Bilbeis, 356 
 
 Bird, Frank, 186 
 
 Biredjik, 145 
 
 Bisharin Bedouins, The, 357 
 
Index 
 
 425 
 
 Bishop, Mrs. Isabella Bird, 308 
 
 Bishop Gobat's School, 252, 262 
 
 Bithynia, 114, 121, 166 
 
 Bitlis, 105, 116, 139 f., 145, 150 f., 159 
 
 Blind, Work among the, 203, 404 
 
 Bliss, Daniel, 213, 218 
 
 Bliss, Howard, 213 
 
 Blunaenhagen, 91 
 
 Blumhardt, T., 97 
 
 Blyth, G. F. P., 234, 245, 256 
 
 Bohtan, 300 
 
 Bonar, Andrew, 205 
 
 Bor, 370 
 
 Borneo, 36 
 
 Bosnia, 19, 21, 49, 170, 179 
 
 Bottcher, Iramanuel, 261 
 
 Bradford, Dr. Mary, 321 
 
 Brandeis, 383 
 
 Brethren of the Holy Gabriel, The, 52 
 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, 98, 
 
 106, 173 f., 402 ff,, 409 
 Brothers of Christian Schools, The, 55 
 Brothers of Mercy, The, 55 
 Brown, Chaplain in India, 93 
 Browne, E. G., 286 
 Browne, W., 310 
 Bruce, Robert, 164, 329 fF., 404 
 Brummana, 204 
 Brusa, 114, 1 21 
 Bryce, James, 135, 149 
 Bsherreh, 47 
 
 Buchanan, Chaplain in India, 93 
 Bulgaria, 19, 21, 23, 38, 50, 62, 73, 104, 
 
 167 f., 170, 179 
 Bulgarians, The, 25, 37 ff. ; missions 
 
 among, 167-170 
 Bulwer, Henry, 175 
 Burgess, Miss, 162 
 Butros, Koptic Patriarch, 96, 345 
 Butros Bistani, 197 
 Byblus, 48 
 Byzantium, 43 ff. 
 
 CiESAREA, 117, 133, 157 
 
 Cairo, 15, 46, 56, 93, 96, 344-361, 399 
 
 Calhoun, S. H., 222 
 
 Calliupolita, Maximus, 90 
 
 Cantine, James, 276 
 
 Cappadocia, 117 
 
 Capuchins, The, 53» 5^ 
 
 Carmelites, The, 55 
 
 Car slaw, 205 
 
 Casakos, G., 402 
 
 Cassai, 378 
 
 Cassandra, 397 
 
 Caucasus, The, 44 
 
 Caucasus Mission, The, 97-103 
 
 Cederquist, K., 389 
 
 Censorship, The, 171, 216, 320, 33 1, 
 410 
 
 Central Turkey College, The, 157 
 
 Ceylon, 19 
 
 Chaldean Church — see Oriental Churches 
 
 Chalki, 64 
 
 Charbash, 304 
 
 Charigushi, 304 
 
 Charles Martel, 21 
 
 Charmetant, 149 
 
 Chios, 62 
 
 Christ Church, Jerusalem, 356 
 
 Christian School Brothers, The, 52 
 
 Christie, J., 408 
 
 Chrysostom, John, 37 
 
 Church Missionary Society, The, 94, 97, 
 103 ; Mediterranean Mission of, 94- 
 97, 358 ; missions of, in Abyssinia, 
 378-382; in Egypt, 344 f., 358-362; 
 in the Egyptian Sudan, 367, 369 ff. ; 
 in Persia, 329-334; in Syria and Pales- 
 tine, 205 f., 234, 242-254, 257; in 
 Turkey and Armenia, 163 f., 173-176 
 
 Cilicia, 122, 135, 163, 209 
 
 Circassians, The, 136, 339 
 
 Cochran, Joseph, 307, 315, 321 
 
 Codrington, 157 
 
 Coele-Syria, 198, 213 
 
 Colebrooke, 403 
 
 Collegiate and Theological Institute^ 
 The, 170 
 
 Colportage, 276 f., 325, 334, 347 f., 409- 
 411 — see also Literature 
 
 Constantinople, 15, 50, 59, 91, 92, 95 f., 
 100, 104, 107, 119, 121, 123,129,132, 
 140, 157, 162, 166 
 
 Cook, Miss Jane, 395 
 
 Cooper, Miss, 242 
 
 Corrie, 93 
 
 Corsica, 21 
 
 Cossacks, The, 152 f. 
 
 Covenanters, The — see Presbyterians 
 
 Crimean War, The, 36, 128, 136, 172 
 
 Crischona Brethren, The, 347, 354, 382-- 
 
 385 
 Cromer, Lord, 79, 337, 359, 362, 367- 
 
 370 
 Crusades, The, 14, 47 f., 55, 184 
 
 Cuinet, 105 
 
 Curzon, Lord, 318 
 
 Cutts, E, L., 309 
 
 Cyprus, 21, 23, 38, 165, 189, 209 f. 
 
 Cyprus Convention, The, 136 
 
 Cyril X, 343, 345 
 
426 
 
 Index 
 
 Damascus, 43, 186, 199, 203 f., 207, 
 
 223,272,344,389 
 Danish Mission in Arabia, 274 
 Danish Orient Mission, 208 
 Darawi, 357 
 Darazi, 183 
 Darua, 384 
 
 De le Roi, 383, 392, 395 
 Debs, 47 
 Degala, 304 
 Deir el Kamr, 192, 194 
 Demetrius II, Patriarch, 347 
 Demirji, 166 
 Derratiye, 208 
 Dervish Orders, 29 ff, ; Kadirija, 
 
 Sanussiyah, Tiyaniyah, 31, 33; Aisa- 
 
 wiya, Maulawiya, Rufaiya, 32 
 Deutsch, Emil, 84 
 Dhala, 274 
 Diarbekr, 43, 105, ii6fF., 122, 140 f., 
 
 157 ff., 176 
 Dietels, R. W., 371 
 Diettrich, A. H., 99, 102, 406 
 Dinka, The, 370 
 Diodorus of Tarsus, 40 
 Disciples of Christ (Campbellites), 162 
 Disselhoff, 202 
 Dodge, 235 
 Dolaib, 370 
 Dominicans, 55 
 Dondukoff, 154 
 Dongola, 363 f. 
 Dome, 91 
 Druses, 24, 81, 182 ff., 190, 192 f., 198, 
 
 200, 204-207, 229, 249, 281 
 Duleika um el Jun, 232 
 Dulip Singh, 346 
 Dunkards, 315 
 
 Dutch Mission in Egypt, 355 f. 
 Dutch Reformed Mission in Arabia, 276 
 Duzza, 309 
 Dwight, Harrison Gray Otis, 107 f., no, 
 
 401 
 Dwight, Henry Otis, no 
 
 East Roman Church, 37 
 
 East Roman Empire, 14, 37, 43 
 
 East Syrian Church, 40 
 
 Eastern Persia Mission, 317 
 
 Echmiadzin, 44, 58, 102 
 
 Eddy, Dr. Mary, 217 
 
 Eddy, W. W., 198 
 
 Edessa — see Urfa 
 
 Edinburgh Medical Mission Association, 
 
 208, 214, 258 
 Educational work, 65 f., 70, 74 f., 80, 96, 
 
 98 f., no, 128, 157, 164; among the 
 Jews, 395, 398 ff. ; in Abyssinia, 386 ; 
 in Arabia, 274, 277 f. ; in Bulgaria, 
 170; in Persia, 295 f., 296, 306 f., 
 310, 317, 320, 322 ff., 331 f. ; in Syria 
 and Palestine, 191, 202-207, 217, 
 221 ff., 228, 236, 242, 249, 25 if., 
 255 ff., 260, 265 f., 267 f. ; in Turkey 
 and Armenia, 107 f., iiof., 123-126, 
 128, 131 ff., 156 f., 162, 168 
 
 Egypt, 13, 17 f-> 19, 21 ff-, 29, 37, 39, 
 43, 45, 58, 63, 91 f., 96,'i83, 337-371 ; 
 mission work in, 78 f., 81, 344-371 
 
 Egyptian General Mission, The, 356 f. 
 
 El Azhar University, 343, 359 
 
 El Hasa, 272, 276 
 
 Elias, Bishop, 302 
 
 Emigration from the Near East, 160, 
 224 f., 306 f. 
 
 Ennedi, 23 
 
 Ephrem Syrus, 40 
 
 Epirus, 104 
 
 Episcopalian Mission (American), 1655. 
 
 Episcopate of Jerusalem, 236-239, 245 
 
 Eppler, C. F., 97, 100, 103 
 
 Eppstein, J. M., 398 
 
 Eritrea (Erythrea), 19, 53, 375, 387 
 
 Erzerum, 105, 116, 118, 140 f., 151, 
 158 f. 
 
 Erzingyan, 140 
 
 Es Salt, 248, 252 
 
 Et Tayyibeh, 257 
 
 Ethel Pain Memorial Hospital, The, 361 
 
 Euphrates College, The, 56, 131, 135, 
 
 Eusebeia, The, 167 
 Ezra, 206 
 
 Falasha The, 376 f., 382-386 
 
 Falconer, Ion Keith, 273 
 
 Fallscheer, Christian, 243 
 
 Famaka, 389 
 
 Fanariots, The, 59 
 
 Fatimide Dynasty, The, 183, 342 
 
 Fayum, The, 353 
 
 Fehim Pasha, 139 
 
 Female Education Society, The, 244, 
 
 249, 253 
 Ferrette, 208 
 Fia Bey, 139 
 
 Fidelia Fiske Seminary, The, 302, 306 
 Fiske, Fidelia, 294, 302 
 Fiske, Pliny, 185, 235, 296 
 Fjellstedt, P., 96 
 Flad, J. M., 377, 383ff.,4o8 
 Fliedner, T. H., 202, 267, 357 
 
Index 
 
 427 
 
 Ford, Miss, 207 
 
 Fossum, 314 
 
 Fowett, William, 96 
 
 Franciscans, The, 52, 55 
 
 Frederick William IV, 237 fF. 
 
 French, Bishop T. V,, 75, 2755., 330, 
 
 334 
 Friedlaender, Z. H., 255, 395 
 Friends, The, 162, 204 
 Frumentius, 371 
 Fulbe, The, 22 
 
 Gairdner, H. G., 361 
 
 Galla, The, 337, 372, 386 fif., 390 
 
 Garabed, 123 
 
 Garabed Khalujian, 144 
 
 Gass, 90 
 
 Gates, C. F., 131 
 
 Gawar, 300 
 
 Gaza, 249, 252 
 
 Geez language, 64, 376 
 
 Geiger, Abraham, 84 
 
 Geleb, 388 
 
 Geogtapa, 298, 304, 308 
 
 Gerard Academy, The, 222 
 
 German Evangelical Benevolent Society. 
 
 The, 162 
 Ghazali, 30 
 GifFen, F. K., 370 
 Ginsberg, J. B. C, 396 
 Girgeh, 46 
 Gladstone, 142 
 Glen, William, 319, 403 
 Gobat, Bishop Samuel, 123, 162, 201, 
 
 236, 239-248, 258 f., 261, 354, 378 ff., 
 
 382 
 Godet, 151 
 Gojam, 372 
 Gondar, 92, 373 
 Gondokoro, 365 
 
 Goodell, Wm., 106 ff., 186, 197, 402 
 Gordon, General, 364, 366 f. 
 Gordon Memorial Mission, The, 367 
 Grace, Watson, 204 
 Gracey, 168 
 Graham, 207 f. 
 Grant, Asahel, 295 f., 300 f. 
 Greece, 21, 23, 371, 50, 73, 165, 166 f., 
 
 415 
 Greek language, 37, 38 f., 64, 95, 232 
 
 Greek Orthodox Church — see Oriental 
 
 Churches 
 Greek War of Independence, 96, 106, 
 
 164, 189, 402 
 Greeks, The, 23, 25, 37, 63; missions 
 
 among, 164-167 
 
 Gregorians, The— see Oriental Churches 
 
 Gregory the Great, 37 
 
 Gregory the Illuminator, 43 
 
 Gregory of Nyssa, 37, 117 
 
 Groves, Antony, 164 
 
 Guinness, Grattan, 357 
 
 Gulpashan, 304 
 
 Gundet, 374 
 
 Gura, 374 
 
 Gurun, 148 
 
 Gwalla, 370 
 
 Hadramaut, 273 
 
 Hadj, The, 20 
 
 Hadjin, 115, 118 
 
 Haftdewan, 320 
 
 Hagop, Pattian, 145 
 
 Haifa, 55, 223, 230, 234 f,, 257, 26 1, 270 
 
 Haig, General, 273, 358, 367 
 
 Hakim ba amr Allah, 183 
 
 Hakkiari, 300 
 
 Hakob, 102 
 
 Hakob, Abuhayatian, 102 
 
 Haleb, 105, 162, 194, 211 
 
 Hall, Dr., 370 
 
 Hamadan, 279, 318 ff., 322, 325-328, 
 
 399 
 Hamath, 194, 217 
 
 Hamidiye regiments, 138 ff., 153 
 
 Hamlin, Cyrus, iii, I26f., 131 
 
 Hamza, 183 
 
 Harar, 389 
 
 Harpur, Dr., 273, 360, 367 
 
 Harris, J. Rendel, 139, 149 
 
 Hasan el Askari, 184 
 
 Hasan ibn Sabah, 184 
 
 Hasbeiya, 194, 203 
 
 Haskeui, no 
 
 Hatti Humayoun, The, 79, 172 f., 210, 
 
 347.351 
 Hattin, 232 
 
 Hauran, The, 200, 249 
 
 Hausa (Haussa), The, 22 34, 337 
 
 Heber, Reginald, 93 
 
 Hebron, 256 f., 260 
 
 Hego, Cornelius, 90 
 
 Hejaz Railway, The, 178, 223, 272 
 
 Helwan, 361 
 
 Henry Martyn Memorial Press, The, 
 
 33' 
 
 Hepworth, 142 
 
 Herrick, George F., no, 401 
 Herzegovina, 21, 62, 179 
 Heyling, Peter, 91-93 
 Hicks Pasha, 366 
 Hijaz, 105 
 
428 
 
 Index 
 
 Hilarion, Abbat in Constantinople, 95 
 
 Hildner, F. A., 96 
 
 Hill, 165 f. 
 
 Hocker, Rudolph Wilhelm, 92 f. 
 
 Hodeida, 273, 360, 367 
 
 Hoffmann, Christoph, 234 
 
 Hoffmann, W,, 97 
 
 Hogg, John, 345, 352 
 
 Holmes, G. W., 321 
 
 Holy Land, The — see Palestine 
 
 Horns, 194, 217 
 
 Hornle, E, F., 330 
 
 Hoyer, 274 
 
 Hunchiagists ( Hunkachists) , The, 138 
 
 Hurgronje, Snouck, 28, 32 
 
 Hylander, N., 389 
 
 Ibrahim Pasha, 189, 192 
 
 Idlib, 211 
 
 Hat, The, 279 
 
 Imaduddin, loi 
 
 Imamites, The, 182, 184 
 
 Imams, Doctrine of the, 27, 281, 287 f. 
 
 Independent missionaries, 80, 258, 314 
 
 Insane, Work for the, 204 f. 
 
 International College, The, 157 
 
 Ionian Bible Society, The, 409 
 
 Iran Bethel School, The, 326 
 
 Irish Presbyterian Missions among the 
 Jews, 390, 398 ; in Damascus, 207 f. 
 
 Isaac, Deacon, 302 f. 
 
 Isenberg, C. W., 354, 378-382, 408 
 
 Islam (Muhammadanism), Attempts at 
 reform in, 28, 33; causes of decay 
 in, 23 f. ; democratic nature of, 36 ; 
 ethics of, 83, 86 ff., 286; in Egypt, 
 337 f,; loss of temporal power by, 
 21 fF., 37 f. ; mysticism of, 83, 283- 
 286 ; propagation of, 34 f., 270 f., 
 370 f.; sects of, 27, 182, 280-294; 
 sources of strength in, 29 ff. ; theol- 
 ogy of, 30, 81-84 
 
 Ismail Pasha, 182, 338, 346, 365 
 
 Ismail Safi Shah, 281 
 
 Ismaihtes, The, 182, 184, 281 
 
 Ispahan, 333 f., 409 
 
 Itineration, 325 f., 347 
 
 Itshan, 146 
 
 Jacob el Baradai, 42 
 Jacobite Church — see Oriental Churches 
 Jacobites, The, 64, 117, 122, 181, 340 
 Jaffa, 235, 239 f., 240, 245, 256 f., 261, 
 
 270* 318, 329, 333 f. 
 Jaffa Medical Mission, The, 257 
 Jalalud Din Rumi, 282 
 
 Jamal ud Din, 291 
 
 Janissaries, The, 61, 91 
 
 Jannina, 166 
 
 Jebel ed Druz, 182 
 
 Jenanyan, H., 163 
 
 Jerusalem, 15, 20, 40, 45, 55, 105, 229 f., 
 
 235, 243, 248, 255 ff., 262, 270 
 Jerusalem Union, The, 259 fif. 
 Jessup, H. H., 213 
 Jessup, Samuel, 213 
 Jesuits, The, 52 f,, 90 f., 134, 162,225, 
 
 248, 297, 385 
 Jetter, J. A., 97 
 Jewett, 294 
 Jews, The, 230 f., 392; missions among, 
 
 318 f., 323, 326 f., 333, 390-400; see 
 
 also Falasha 
 Jewish Refugees' Aid Society, The, 255 
 Jezreel, 23 
 Jifna, 257 
 
 John, Bishop of Ephesus, 42 
 John, Negus, 374 f., 385, 387 
 John of Seville, 404 
 Jowett, W., 380 
 Julamerk, 42, 293 
 Junieh, 217 
 
 Kadesia, battle of, 279 
 
 Kadirija — see Dervish Orders 
 
 Kafr Shima, 207 
 
 Kaisarieh, 140 
 
 Kaiserswerth Deaconesses* Homes, 
 
 149 f., 162, 202, 217, 267-270, 357 
 Kalopothakes, 166 
 Kalyub, 356 
 Kana, 194 
 
 Kannobin, Monastery of, 48 
 Karabagh, 99 
 Karass, 98 
 Kasa, 373 
 Kasala, 385 
 
 Kasim Beg, Alexander, 102 
 Kasvin, 185, 318 
 Kathershian, Yinyis, 14I 
 Katshadurian, 119 
 Kenneh, 46 
 Kerak, 249, 252 
 Kerbela, 164, 286 
 Kermanshah, 326 
 Kesrwan, 47, 223 
 Keswick Conference, The, 250 
 Khakhams, The, 393 
 Kharaba, 206 
 Kharabeh, 207 
 Kharput, 56, 74, 116, I2I, 123, 125, 
 
 I3i» >33» I35» 140, 156 f., 159 
 
Index 
 
 429 
 
 Khartum, 354 f., 365 f., 369 
 
 Khasfin, 207 
 
 Khoi, 150, 176 
 
 Khorasan, 279 
 
 King, Jonas, 166, 186 
 
 Kirjatein, 208 
 
 Kirman, 330, 332 f. 
 
 Kisraayn, 390 
 
 Kitchener, Lord, 367 
 
 Klein, A. F., 245, 247, 360 
 
 Kobula, 384 
 
 Koehler, W., 47 
 
 Koeller, 173, 175 f. 
 
 Komants, The, 376 
 
 Konia, 163 
 
 Koptic Church, The — see Oriental 
 
 Churches 
 Kopts, The, 45 f., 63 f., 341 f., 346-351 
 Koraishite Khalifate, 29, 36 
 Koran, The, 26, 28, 78 f., 81, 84 f., loi 
 
 288, 335; quoted, 25, 59, 172 
 Koreish, The, 280 
 Koritza, 170 
 Korpey, 146 
 Kossova, 104 
 
 Kotchhannes, 41, 293, 309 f. 
 Kozle, 328 
 
 Krapf, 354 f., 378 f., 381 f., 386, 408 
 Krose, H. A., 53 
 Kruse, W., 96 
 Kugler, 380, 408 
 Kuifun, 206 
 KuUuko, 388 
 Kumm, W. W., 357 
 Kunama, The, 386, 388 
 Kunawat, 206 
 Kurdistan, 24,^62, 94, 105, II6, 292, 
 
 300, 309 
 Kurds, The, 24, 28, 43» 45 » 'o^, 136, 
 
 138, I52f., 155, 161, 279, 293, 307, 
 
 310 f., 315 f., 325 f. 
 Kus, 346, 353 
 Kuweit, 277 
 
 La Grange, Miss Harriet, 222 
 
 Labaree, Benjamin, 315 f., 403, 406 
 
 Lahiteh, 206 
 
 Lake, General, 247 f., 358 
 
 Lang, Johann Jacob, 99 
 
 Lansing, J. G., 276, 352 
 
 Larissa, 166 
 
 Larnaka, 210 
 
 Latakia, 184 
 
 Latrun, 55 
 
 Lazarists, The, 53, 55, 297, 308 
 
 Le Quien, 47 
 
 Lebanon, The, 47 f., 51, 62, 79, 105, 
 180, 182, 200, 224 
 
 Lebanon station. The, 213 
 
 Leeves, H. D., 402 
 
 Leger, Anton, 90 
 
 Lejah, The, 206 
 
 Lemal, 145 
 
 Leo XIII, 52 
 
 Lepers, Work among, 269 f. 
 
 Lepsius, Johannes, 84, 139, 149 f., 158 
 
 Lepsius Society, The, 161 
 
 Lethaby, 249 
 
 Leucosia, 167, 210 
 
 Lieder, J. R. T., 96 f., 344, 382 
 
 Literature, Christian, publication and 
 distribution of, 80, 95, 98 f., 108 ff., 
 135' 169 f., 185, 187, 190, 215 f., 235, 
 . 296, 307, 319, 331, 347 f., 351,356, 
 361, 409 ; see also Colportage, Beirut 
 Mission Press, Bible Translations 
 
 Lobdell, 294 
 
 Loftcha, 169 
 
 Lohmann, 150, 158 
 
 Lohmann Society, The, 161 
 
 London Jewish Society, 236 f., 242, 
 
 254 ff., 383-386, 396, 398 ff. 
 Long, A., 170, 407 
 Lotka, J., 399 
 Lucaris, Cyril, 89 ff: 
 Ludolf, Jr., 92 
 Ludolf, Hiob, 92 
 Luristan, 334 
 Lurs, The, 279 
 
 Lutheran Mission in Persia, 308 
 Luttke, M., 337 
 Luweiz, Convent of, 48 
 Luxor, 349, 352 f. 
 Lydda, 40, 248, 259 
 Lyde, S., 209 
 
 McCaul, 394 
 McCheyne, 205 
 Mackay, Alexander, 275 
 MacLean, A. M., 296 
 Maclean, A. F., 310 
 Macedonia, 37, 39, 104, 119, 169 
 Macedonians, The, 23 
 Magdala, 374, 384 
 Mahalla, 274 
 
 Maharag, Monastery of, 34a 
 Mahdi, The, 27, 287, 366 
 Mahdi risings, 27, 364, 366 
 Mahdists, The, 375, 385 
 Mahmud Effendi, 173, 175 
 Mahmud II, 37 
 Major, 162 
 
430 
 
 Index 
 
 Maku, 289 
 
 Malatia (Malatiyeh), 140, 148 
 
 Malgara, Mission of, 50 
 
 Malta, 22, 95, 106, 114, 164, 185, 189, 
 
 239 
 Mamelukes, The, 342, 364 
 
 Mamuret el Aziz, 56, 105 
 
 Mansura, 346 
 
 Mar Shiniun, Patriarch, 309 
 
 Mar Yonan, 311 
 
 Marash, 115, 126, 133, I40f., 157 f., 
 i6rfF. 
 
 Mardin, 43, 51, 117, 126, 133, 157 
 
 Margawar, 304 
 
 Margoliouth, 29 
 
 Marno, 389 
 
 Maron, 48 
 
 Maronite Patriarch, The, 187 f. 
 
 Maronites, The, 48, 53, 64, iii, 181,190, 
 192 f., 198 f., 200, 204, 223, 229, 264 f. 
 
 Marsh, 294 
 
 Marsovan, 56, 74, 117, 122, 125, 128, 
 131, 135, 140, 145, 157, 162 
 
 Martyn, Henry, 93 f., 117, 319, 329,413 
 
 Maskat, 273-277 
 
 Mason Memorial Hospital, The, 277 
 
 Massowa, 354, 372, 374, 386 
 
 Matteos, Patriarch, iii, 119 
 
 Maulawiya — see Dervish Orders 
 
 Maule, Fox, 208 
 
 Mazandaran, 290 
 
 Mecca, 20, 28 f., 272, 359 
 
 Mechitarists, The, 106 
 
 Medical work, 80, 92; in Abyssinia, 
 386 f. ; in Arabia, 274, 277 ; in Egypt, 
 352f., 357 f-* 360 f.; in Persia, 307, 
 320 fF., 330 f.; in Syria and Palestine, 
 203 f,, 206, 25 iff,, 255-258, 268 f,; in 
 Turkey and Armenia, 133, 157 flf., l6l- 
 164 
 
 Medina, 20, 272, 359 
 
 Medinet el Fayura, 346, 352 
 
 Mediterranean Mission, The, 94-97 
 
 Megerdich, 162 
 
 Melchites, The — see Oriental Churches 
 
 Meluk, 370 
 
 Melwal, 370 
 
 Menama, 276 
 
 Mendez, Alfonso, 53 
 
 Menelik, 375 
 
 Mensa, The, 287 f. 
 
 Meroe, Kingdom of, 363 
 
 Merriam, W. W., 169 
 
 Mesereh, 56, 135, 158, 161 
 
 Meshaka, 208 
 
 Meshhed, 319 
 
 Mesopotamia, 24,43,99, 105, Ii6f., 163, 
 
 282 
 Metameh, 355, 385 
 Metamineh, 375 
 
 Metawileh, The, 185, 200, 229, 281 
 Methodist Missions, 166 f, 170, 315 
 Meyer, J., 408 
 Michaelis, Johannes, 92 
 Mildmay Deaconesses, 256 
 Minyah, 46 
 
 Mirza Faruch, 10 1 f., 403 
 Mirza Ibrahim, 328 
 Mirza Yahya, 290 f. 
 Mitrovitza, 170 
 Mofi, 390 
 
 Mollah Husein, 287 
 Mollah Muhammad Ali, 289 f. 
 Mollah Muhammad Ali of Zangin, 289 
 Monastery of the Cross, 64 
 Monastir, 104, 169, 397 
 Monkullo, 387 f. 
 Monophysite Churches — see Oriental 
 
 Churches 
 Monophysitism, 42 f,, 57 
 Moravian Church, 92 
 Morgan, Miss, 257 
 Morocco, 19, 23, S3> 35 
 Morris, Dr., 274 
 
 Mosul, 41, 43, 105, ii6f., 163, 309, 317 
 Mott, Mentor, 203 
 Mount Athos, 65 
 Mount Kaneesh, 217 
 Mount of Olives, 270 
 Muhammad (The Prophet), 24 f., 35, 59, 
 
 81 f., 85, loi, 271, 280 
 Muhammad II, 37, 59 
 Muhammad Achmed, Sheikh, 366 
 Muhammad Ali (ruler of Egypt), 236, 
 
 238, 337 f-» 365 
 Muhammad Ali Mirza, Shah, 334 
 Muhammad el Habib, 182 
 Muhammad Ibn el Wahhab, 273 
 Muhammadan World, The, 17-36; geo- 
 graphical limits of, 17; moral condi- 
 tion of, 27 f. ; political authority in, 
 22; political unrest in, 36; popula- 
 tion, 18, 19 
 Muhammadanism — see Islam 
 Muhammadans, The, conference of mis- 
 sionaries among, in Cairo, 81, 84, 278, 
 362 f. ; missions among, 1 1, 72 f., 77 ff., 
 80, 92, 94, 97, 99 f., 413 f. ; in Arabia, 
 271-278; in Bagdad, 164; in Egypt, 
 78 f., 35 If., 356, 360 ff.; in Persia, 
 317. 327* 333; in Syria and Palestine, 
 247, 253 f.; in Turkey, 171-176, 180; 
 
Index 
 
 431 
 
 difficulties of, 78 ff,, 230, 239, 276 f., 
 317 f. ; methods of, 81, 83-88 
 
 Miihleisen, 381 
 
 Muir, William, 84 
 
 Munzinger, 386 
 
 Murad, 61, 91 
 
 Musa Kasim, 182 
 
 Mush, 139, 142, i5of. 
 
 Mustafa Fazil Pasha, 24 
 
 Muzaffar ed Din, 334 
 
 Nablus, 240, 243, 248, 252, 257 
 
 Nakheileh, 350 
 
 Napier, Sir Robert, 374, 384 
 
 Nasarieh, 277 
 
 Nasirud Din, 290 
 
 Nazareth, 40, 240, 243 f., 249, 258 
 
 Nebk, 208 
 
 Nejd, The, 105 
 
 Nejef, 164 
 
 Nestorian Church — see Oriental 
 
 Churches 
 Nestorians, The, 42, 64, 117, 279, 292- 
 
 298, 304, 310-314, 340; Mountain 
 . Nestorians, The, 116, 163, 292 f., 300, 
 
 ZOT, 309, 316 
 Nestorius, 40 
 Newman, C. S., 396 
 Newton, Miss, 257 
 Nicanor, 57 
 Nicholas I, 102 
 Nicolayson, J., 186, 236 
 Nicomedia, 105, 114, 121 
 Nineveh, 13; see also Mosul 
 Noeldeke, Theodor, 296 
 North African Mission, The, 356 
 Nubia, 363 f. 
 Nubians, The, 364 f. 
 Nuehr, The, 370 
 Nurallah Bey, 292 
 Nusairiyeh, The, 24, 8 1, 184, 209, 229, 
 
 281 
 Nylandt, 355 
 
 Obeid Allah, 307 
 Oertsen, Detlev von, 326, 405 
 Oman, 273 f. 
 
 Omar, KhaUf, 26, 59, 61, 1 83 
 Omar Khayyam, 285 
 Omayyads, The, 272, 280 
 Omdurman, 367 
 Onesimus, 389 
 Ordu, 166 
 
 Orientmission, The, 161, 176, 315, 326 
 Oriental Churches, The, 37, 67-71, 76, 
 112, 114; attempts at reform in, 
 
 67, 70-76, 92, 94 f., 99, III, 167, 189, 
 229, 233 f., 246, 299, 303 f., 308, 415 ; 
 formation of Protestant congregations 
 among, 69, 74fF., 90 f., ii3f., 119, 
 I34» 158* 227 f., 240 f., 245, 267 f., 
 299, 345, 348, 388, 415 
 
 1. Monophysite Churches, 63, 71 ; 
 Abyssinian Church, 46, 65, 371, 
 375, 387 ; Gregorians (Arme- 
 nians), 43,46, 58 f., 63, 66, I02f., 
 132, 134, 156, 158 f-, 162; Jaco- 
 bites, 43, 46, 50, 64, 1 17, 122, 181, 
 340 ; Koptic Church, 39, 43, 45 f,, 
 58, 63, 65, 342 f., 344, 375 
 
 2. Nestorian Church, The, 40 f., 46, 
 58, 7 If., 304, 310-314 
 
 3. " Orthodox " Churches : Greek 
 Orthodox Church, 37-40, 45 f., 
 64, 68, 104 f., 162, 225 f., 340; 
 autonomous National Churches 
 in Bulgaria, 38, 50, 167 ; in 
 Cyprus, T^^ ; in Greece, 37 f., 50, 
 165 ff., 415; in Hungary, 38; 
 in Montenegro, 22, 38 ; in Rou- 
 mania, 38; in Russia, 37, 56 ff., 
 311-314; in Servia, 38, 73. 
 
 4. Roman Catholic Churches= 
 Uniate Churches=Churches of 
 the Oriental Rites : Chaldeans= 
 Uniate Nestorians, 41, 51, 53 f.; 
 Maronites, 47, 50, 54 ; Melchites, 
 50, 53 f', 181, 199 f.; Latin rite, 
 49 J Grseco-Roumanian rite, 49 ; 
 Grseco-Ruthenian rite, 49 ; Uniate 
 Abyssinians, 53; Uniate Arme- 
 nians, 50-54; Uniate Bulgarians, 
 50; Uniate Greeks, 50; Uniate 
 Jacobites, 50, 53 f. ; Uniate Kopts, 
 49, 52; Uniate Servians, 50. 
 
 Oriental Christians, Position of under 
 Turkish rule, 58-63, 227 ; relation 
 between Protestants and non-Prot- 
 estants, 69 f,, 75, Ii2f., 156, 158 f., 
 225, 313 
 
 Oriental rites, Churches of the — see 
 Oriental Churches 
 
 Origen, 37 
 
 Orphanages, 156, 162, 260, 315 
 
 Osmanli Dynasty, 35 
 
 Othman, 183 
 
 Ottoman Empire — see Turkish Em- 
 pire 
 
 Oussani, 41 
 
 Pachomius, 342 
 
 Palestine, 37, 57, 81, 229-270 
 
432 
 
 Index 
 
 Palestine and Lebanon Nurses' Mission, 
 The, 206 
 
 Palgrave, William Gifford, 28 
 
 Palmer, 262 
 
 Panislamism, The ideal of, 35 f., 359 f., 
 414 
 
 Papizian, Ohannes, 145 
 
 Parry, O. H., 310 
 
 Parsees, The, 332 
 
 Parsegh, 102 
 
 Parsons, Levi, 185, 235 
 
 Passionists, The, 55 
 
 Patras, i66f. 
 
 Patterson, Dr., 256 
 
 Patriarch of Aghtamar, 45 ; of Alex- 
 andria, 38 ff., 57, 64 ; of Antioch, 38 ff., 
 43» 57» ^4> ^^ Constantinople 
 (Armenian), 45 ; of Constantinople 
 (Orthodox), 37 ff. ; of Jerusalem (Ar- 
 menian), 45 ; of Jerusalem (Ortho- 
 dox), 39 f. ; of Mardin, 5 1 ; of Sis, 
 
 45 
 Paul of Thebes, 342 
 
 Paul, C, 371, 383 
 
 Pera, 120 
 
 Pera Johannes, 308 
 
 Peramos, 50 
 
 Perkins, Justin, 294 ff., 301, 303, 406 
 
 Persia, ii, 17, 19, 23, 41, 44, 58, 79, 
 
 99 f., 176, 279-336; missions in, 294- 
 
 Persian influence on Islam, 280-294 
 Persian Parliament, The, 334 ff. 
 Peshtimaljan, 107 
 Pfander, Karl Gottlieb, looff., 173 ff., 
 
 351.403 
 
 Pfeifer, 106 
 
 Pflanz, 257 
 
 Philip, Dr., 398 
 
 Philippopolis, 50, 53, 168 ff., 175 
 
 Pinkerton, 350 
 
 Pius IX, 55 
 
 Plymouth Brethren, The, 315, 350 
 
 Pobedonoszeff, 154 
 
 Poitiers, 21 
 
 Port Said, 409 
 
 Port Sudan, 369 
 
 Post, Dr., 217 
 
 Prsetorius, 405 
 
 Preparandi Institute, The, 244, 252 
 
 Presbyterians, American, 212; Cana- 
 dian, 398; Northern, 163, 400; in 
 Persia, 303-308; in Syria, 212-223; 
 Reformed (Covenanters), 208-211; 
 Southern, 166, 170; see also United 
 Presbyterians 
 
 Presbyteries, formation of, in Egypt, 
 
 353 ; in Syria, 215 
 Priests of the Heart of Jesus, 55 
 Prime, Ed. G., 106 
 Prishtina, 170 
 Pritchet, 249 
 Procter, Miss Louisa, 206 
 
 Rahmat Allah, 10 i 
 
 Ramallah, 240, 257 
 
 Ramleh, 40, 240, 248 
 
 Ras el Meri, 204 
 
 Reformed Nestorian Church, The, 304, 
 
 312 
 Reid, 168 
 Reshid Pasha, 218 
 Resht, 318, 320 
 Rhea, 294 
 Richardson, 165 
 Riggs, Edward, no 
 
 Riggs, Elias, 109 f., 133, 170, 401, 406 f. 
 Riley, 310 
 
 Robert College, 74, 129 ff., 157, 170 
 Roman Catholic Missions, 15, 46-56, 
 
 67 f., 74, 117, 135, 163, 211 f., 225, 
 
 295. 317. 332, 381, 390, 414 
 Rosecrucian Sisters, The, 55 
 Rosen, von, 102 
 Roumania, 19, 37 f., 73, 92 
 Rumelia, 169 
 Rumi Melleti, 37 
 Russian Bible Society, The, 91, 106, 
 
 409 
 Russian Church — see Oriental Churches 
 Russian Palestine Association, The, 333 
 Russian pilgrims in Palestine, 233 
 Russian policy in the Near East, 17, 19, 
 
 22, 36, 39, 44, 50, 57 f., 92, 102, 118, 
 
 I35» i37» 149, 153 ff-. 168, 226, 233 
 Russo-Japanese War, The, 314 
 Russo-Turkish War, The, 167 
 Rustchuk, 50, 169 
 Ruthenians, The, 37 
 
 Sabagadis, 378, 380 
 
 Sabbatists, The, 258 
 
 Sacy, Silvestre de, 184 
 
 Sadad, 43 
 
 Sadi, 282 
 
 Safdar Ali, 10 1 
 
 Safed, 207, 230, 239, 256, 409 
 
 Safita, 195 
 
 Sahela Selassie, 381 
 
 Said Pasha, 338, 345 f., 398 
 
 St. Crischona Mission House, 243, 382 
 
 St. George's Hospital, Beirut, 197 
 
Index 
 
 433 
 
 St. John, German Hospital of the 
 
 Knights of, i86, 202, 217 
 St. Joseph's University, 56 
 St. Maron, Monastery of, 47 
 St. Paul's College, 157 
 Salesians of Dom Bosco, The, 55 
 Salmas, 304, 318 
 Salomo, Alexander, 239 
 Salonica, 166, 169 f,, 392, 395, 397, 409 
 Samakov, 169 f. 
 San Stephano, Peace of, 136 
 Sana, 105 
 
 Sandrezky, Dr., 245, 269 
 Sanussi, 33 
 Sanussiyah (Senussi), The — see Dervish 
 
 Orders 
 Sarki HambarzumofF, 103 
 Sassanides, The, 141, 279 
 Sassun, 139, 144 
 Saud, 273 
 Schauffler, William Gottlieb, 107, 396 f., 
 
 401, 407 
 Scheele, Bishop, 260 
 Schick, Baurat, 262 
 Schlienz, C. F., 95, 97 
 Schlotthauer, 347, 355 
 Schneller, Ludwig, 52, 55, 259, 262-267 
 Schneller, Theodor, 265 
 Scio, 176 
 Scios, 165 
 Scottish Missions among the Jews, 
 
 394, 396-399; in Abyssinia, 383 f. ; 
 
 in Egypt, 345; in Persia, 319; in 
 
 Syria and Palestine, 205, 244, 256 
 Scottish National Bible Society, 409 
 Scrimgeour, Dr., 258 
 Scutari, 133, 157 
 Sebastiani, L., 403 
 Self-support, 121, 160, 228, 305 
 Sehm Effendi Williams, 173, 175 
 Sell, 184, 286 
 Sephardim, The, 392 f. 
 Servia, 19, 2i, 23, 37 f., 73, 169 f. 
 Sejryid Kasim, 286 
 Sharon, 231 
 
 Shattuck, Miss Corinna, 150 
 Shebin el Kanatr, 356 
 Shebin el Kom, 356 
 Shedd, 294 
 Shefa Amr, 249 
 Sheikh Othman, 273 
 Sheikh Tebersi, 290 
 Shemacha, 99, 102 f. 
 Shepard, W., 157 
 Sherif of Mecca, The, 36 
 Sheverine, 319 
 
 Shiites, The, 35, 164, 182, 184, 280 f., 
 286 f., 289, 326 
 
 Shimon, 41 
 
 Shiraz, 93, 319, 330, 334, 403 
 
 Shoa, 372, 381, 388 
 
 Shuma Negus, 388 
 
 Shumla, 168 
 
 Shusha, 99, 102, 155 
 
 Shuweifat, 206 
 
 Shuweir, 205, 213 
 
 Sidon, 194, 203, 213, 222 
 
 Sidon Seminary for Girls, The, 222 
 
 Silbernagel, 47 
 
 Simen, 377 
 
 Sinaitic Peninsula, The, 29, 271, 360 
 
 Sis, 45 
 
 Sisters of the Good Shepherd, 52 
 
 Sisters of Mercy, 52 
 
 Sisters of Nazareth, 55 
 
 Sisters of St. Joseph, 55 
 
 Sisters of St. Vincent, 55 
 
 Sisters of Zion, 55 
 
 Sistowa, 168 
 
 Sivas, 116, 133, 135, 140, 144, 157 f., 
 162 
 
 Skene, 210 
 
 Slave trade. The, 33, 364-367 
 
 Slavs, The, 37, 39, 57 
 
 Smith, Azariah, 122 
 
 Smith, Eli, 41, 106, 190, 196 f., 295,404 
 
 Smith, Dr. Mary, 321 
 
 Smith, Miss Wordsworth, 206 
 
 Smyrna, 50, 53, 96, no, 114, I32, 157, 
 162, 165 ff., 398 
 
 Sobieski, John, 21 
 
 Society for Promoting Christian Knowl- 
 edge, The, 309 
 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 
 
 i73» 175. 258, 309 
 Sofia, 50, 169 f. 
 Somali, The, 337, 390 
 Somerset, Lady, 145 
 Sonegg, Freiherr Hans Ungnad von, 89 
 Sor, 105 
 
 Souchbulak, 161, 316, 326, 399 
 Sparta, 165 
 Spence, D. B., 408 
 Spillenaar, 356 
 
 Spittler, Father, 261, 354 f., 382 
 Staiger, 383 
 
 Stamboul, 20, 90, 157, 162, 178 
 Stephan IH, Patriarch, III 
 Sterling, Canon, 252 
 Stern, H. A., 377, 383 
 Stileman, H., 333 
 Stock, 235, 246 
 
434 
 
 Index 
 
 Stoddard, 294, 296, 302 
 
 Stone, Miss Ellen, 169 
 
 Stratford Canning de Redcliff, Lord, 1 13, 
 
 172 
 Strauss, F. A., 259 
 Streit, 47, 52 
 Stuart, Bishop, 276, 333 
 Suakim, 360, 367 
 
 Sudan, The, 18 f., 22, 33, 363-371, 409 
 Sudan Pioneer Mission, The, 357 
 Sueidiye, 2H 
 Suez, 356 
 Suez Canal, 338 f. 
 Sufism, 281-286 
 Sulduz, 304 
 Sullaka, Johannes, 51 
 Sunna, The, 26, 281 
 Sunnites, The, 281 
 Susneus, Negus, 53 
 Sutton, H, M., 164 
 Swedish Evangelical National Society, 
 
 The, 161 
 Swedish Missions, 260, 314 
 Swedish National Mission, The, 386-390 
 Swiss Aid Association, The, 160 
 Syra, 96 
 Syria, 24, 37, 43, 57, 62 f., 69, 81, 91, 
 
 105, 181-229, 264 
 Syriac language, The, 42, 295 f,, 301, 
 
 307 
 Syrian Protestant College, 74, 186, 202, 
 
 218-221, 225 
 Syrian Protestant Orphanage in Jerusa- 
 lem, 149, 258, 261-267 
 
 Tabith/V Mission, The, 257 
 
 Tabriz, 94, 312, 317 ff., 321, 324 f., 335 
 
 Tadem, 145 
 
 Tais, 105 
 
 Tajura, 381 
 
 Talitha Cumi, 268 
 
 Tanta, 35 2 f. 
 
 Tarsus, 74, 157, 163 
 
 Tartars, The, 98 f., 155 
 
 Tayeleny, 388 f, 
 
 Taylor, Miss, 207 
 
 Teheran, 94, 317-321, 323^-1 326, 328, 
 
 334 f-. 399 
 Templars, The, 234, 261 
 
 Temple colonies, 234 
 Tendur, 386 
 Tergawar, 304 
 Tewfik College, 343 
 Tewfik Pasha, 339 
 
 Theodore II, Negus, 355, 373 f, 382 ff., 
 386 
 
 Theodore of Mopsuestia, 40 
 
 Thompson, missionary in Jerusalem, 257 
 
 Thompson, Bo wen, 263 
 
 Thompson, Mrs,, 203 
 
 Thomson, Wm. M., 198 
 
 Thornton, Douglas, 361 f. 
 
 Thrace, 104, 169 
 
 Tiary, 300 
 
 Tiberias, 230, 256, 409 
 
 Tiflis, 161, 312 
 
 Tigr6, 378, 381, 388 
 
 Timbuctoo, 33 
 
 Tisdall, W. St. Clair, 331, 405 
 
 Tiyaniyah — see Dervish Orders 
 
 Tokat, 56, 93, 1 17, 162 
 
 Tomory, A., 396 
 
 Torrance, Dr., 256 
 
 Transcaucasia, Russian, 97, 152-155 
 
 Trappists, The, 55 
 
 Trebizond, Ii4ff., 140 f., 296 
 
 Trip, 208 
 
 Tripoli (country in Africa), 19, 24, 33 f. 
 
 Tripoli (town in Syria), 47, 184, 186, 
 194, 203, 213, 217, 224 
 
 Tripoli Girls' School, The, 222 
 
 Tristram, Canon, 199, 244 
 
 Turkey, 17, 19, 22 f,, 28, 37 f., 44, 65, 
 68, 104 f., 217; Central Turkey Mis- 
 sion, 116, 126; East Turkey Mission, 
 ii6f., 126; West Turkey Mission, 
 117. 125 
 
 Turkish Empire, 24, 34 ff., 39, 75, 230 
 
 Turkish Constitution, The, 153, 176-180 
 
 Turkish language, The, 39, 45, 63, 95, 
 161 
 
 Turkish Missions' Aid Society, The, 1 18 
 
 Turks, The, 23, 104, 131, 138, 152, 230; 
 missions among, 164, 171-176 
 
 Tyre, 47, 203 f. 
 
 Ube, 378, 380 f. 
 Ubeidallah, 183 
 
 United Presbyterian Missions among the 
 Jews, 390 ; in Damascus, 207 ; in 
 
 Egypt, 75 f-' 344-354, 35^; in the 
 
 Egyptian Sudan, 367, 369 f. 
 Unyoro, 365 
 Urfa, 102, 105, 115, 140, 146, 150, 156, 
 
 158, 176 
 Uruniiah (Urmia) 41, 114, 116, 150, 
 
 292, 297, 302-317, 319, 321, 335, 399 
 
 Van, 41, 45, 105, 116, 139 f., 150 f., 
 
 156 f., 159 f., 317 
 Van Dyck, C. V. A., 196, 198, 217, 404 
 Vartan, Dr., 258 
 
Index 
 
 435 
 
 Victoria Hospital, The, in Cairo, 208, 
 
 357 f- 
 Vienna, Siege of, 21 
 
 Wadai, Sultan of, 33 
 Wadi Haifa, 369 
 
 Wahabis (Wahabites), The, 27, 35 
 Wahhab Empire, The, 273 
 Wahl, 309 
 Wahuma, The, 337 
 Waldmeyer, Theophilus, 204, 383 
 Warka, 188 
 Warneclc, Johannes, 87 
 Wartabet, Jacob, 187 
 Washburn, George, 131 
 Watson, A., 344, 351 
 Watson, C. R., 344 
 Watussi, The, 337 
 Wazirabad, 308 
 Weakley, R. H., loi, 401 
 Welte, 47 
 Werner, 47 
 West, Henry, 133 f. 
 West, Miss, 162 
 
 Western Persia Mission, The, 317 
 Westminster, Duke of, 149 
 Westminster Hospital, The, 307 
 Wetzer, 47 
 
 Whately, Miss Mary, 358 
 White Fathers, The, 55 
 William of Tyre, 48 
 Williams, Fenwick, 136 
 Williams, Miss Juliana, 206 
 Wilson, C. T., 247, 254 
 Wilson, John, 207 
 Wingate, Sir Reginald, 368 
 Winquist, 408 
 Wishard, J. G., 321 
 Wishard, Luther, 130 
 Witteween, 355 
 Wolda Michael, 378 
 Wolters, Theodore Friedrich, 245, 253 
 Women's Board, The, 169 
 Women's work, 27, 80, 88 ; in Arabia, 
 277 f. ; in Egypt, 350, 352; in Persia, 
 
 326 f., 332 f. ; in Syria and Palestine, 
 204, 250 f. ; see also Educational 
 Work 
 
 Wood, Mrs. George, 222 
 
 Worsley, T. H., 206 
 
 Xavier, Francis, 93 
 Xenophon, 136 
 
 Yates, Holt, 211 
 
 Yaure Abraham, 308 
 
 Yemen, 24, 272 
 
 Yezd, 291, 319, 330-333 
 
 Yezides, The, 185 
 
 Yiddish language, The, 393 
 
 Yonti, 390 
 
 Young, Dr., 274 
 
 Young, C. G., 118 
 
 Young, John, 27 
 
 Young Men's Christian Association, 130 
 
 Yusuf Asir, Sheikh, 197 
 
 Young Kopts, The, 343 
 
 Young Turks, The, 177--180 
 
 Zagazig, 352 
 
 Zahleh, 203, 213 
 
 Zalanes, The, 376 
 
 Zangin, 290 
 
 Zaremba, Felician, 99, 403 
 
 Zazega, 387 
 
 Zeile, 389 
 
 Zeitun, 115, 118, 135 
 
 Zerrin Taj, 289 
 
 Zerweck, 328 f. 
 
 Zeller, Johannes, 96, 244 
 
 Ziemendorf, T. H., 357 
 
 Zimmies, The, 60, 135, 137 
 
 Zionist movement. The, 23 1 f. 
 
 Zoar, 202 
 
 Zohrab, Dr., 406 
 
 Zoroaster, 292 
 
 Zoroastrianism, 41 
 
 2k)roastrians, The, 279 
 
 Zwemer, Peter, 278 
 
 Zwemer, S. M., 276, 278, 411 
 
mm. 
 
 '1 
 
 Tica^^^^^H