UNDER THE CARE 
 or THE 
 
 
 Board of 
 
 Toreign IDissions 
 of the 
 
 _Presbyterlan 
 Church 
 
 Historical 
 
 
 Sketch 
 
 
 IDissions in 
 
 
 9yviA ^ ^ ^ 
 
 
 Sixth Edition 
 
 REVISED BY 
 
 
 REV. WILLIAM S. NELSON, D. D. 
 
 Tht Uloman's Toreign 
 missionary Society of 
 tit* Presbyterian Cliurch, 
 Ulitherspoon Building. 
 Philadelphia : : mi 
 
 Price, 10 Cents 
 
Historical 
 Sketch 
 IDissions in 
 Syria <^ ^ «^ 
 
 Sixth Edition 
 
 REVISED 8Y 
 
 Rev. William s. Nelson, d. d. 
 
 UNDER THE CARE: 
 OF THE I 
 
 Board of 
 
 Foreign IT)i$$ion$ 
 of the 
 
 Presbyterian 
 Church 
 
 The Uloman's ?«reicin 
 missionary Society of 
 the Presbyterian Church. 
 Ulitherspoon Building, 
 Philadelphia : : 1909 
 
SYRIA. 
 
 Syria is that Asiatic country at the eastern end 
 THE LAND of the Mediterranean. On the north it runs 
 
 up to the Taurus mountains. On the east it 
 stretches away to the Euphrates and the Arabian desert. On 
 the south hes Arabia.* The total length from north to south 
 is some four hundred miles, and the area about sixty thousand 
 square miles, or about one and a quarter times that of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Syria may be roughly described as a country of alternate 
 depression and elevation. With such variety of surface 
 there must, of course, be great variety of climate. While 
 there is tropical heat at some seasons on the coast and in the 
 Jordan valley, Lebanon always carries some snow and sends 
 down ice-cold streams. Where water is not lacking, the 
 fertile soil produces the fruits of earth in great variety even 
 under the poor tillage it now receives. Wheat, barley, rice, 
 corn, tobacco, grapes, olives, figs, dates, oranges and 
 lemons are staples. The mulberry thrives, and makes the 
 rearing of the silkworm and raising of silk an important 
 industry. The cedar, the pine, the fir, once clothed the 
 mountains. Bufifaloes, camels, horses, goats and sheep are 
 the domestic animals, lliis land, even after centuries of mis- 
 rule, is still a rich, a fair, a goodly land. 
 
 It scarcely need be said that Syria is a storied land. It 
 figures largely in human history. Through it lies the great 
 highway between Asia and Africa, which has been so often 
 thronged by caravans of trade, so often trodden by hosts of 
 war. Pharaohs of the days before Moses, Assyrian con- 
 querors, the great Alexander, Pompey with his Roman 
 cohorts, Moslem hosts and crusading armies, French battalions 
 under both Napoleons, conflicting Egyptian and Turk- 
 ish forces — all these appear in the procession which has 
 
 * It is perhaps well to note that this is not the Syria of the Old Testament, from which 
 Phcenicia and Palestine were distinguished ; but it coincides wiih the Roman province in the 
 days of Paul, and is the Syria of the present day. 
 
4 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 moved across the Syrian soil. More important still, here was 
 unrolled the ancient revelation of the true God. Patriarchs 
 wandered here; this was in part the ancient territory of the 
 chosen people. Prophet and apostle lived and labored here. 
 Highest of all, here occurred the life, the toils, the sorrows, 
 the death, the rising again, of our Lord. Hence went out at 
 the first the word of life for all mankind. 
 
 Who and what are the inhabitants of this 
 THE PEOPLE land? Estimates of the population of Syria 
 vary widely. The lowest is one million, the 
 highest, two millions. There really is an uncertain and ever- 
 changing element of considerable magnitude; we mean the 
 wandering desert tribes, who, to-day in Syria, to-morrow 
 are far down in Arabia. The fixed population is in the cities, 
 towns and villages. Damascus has 150,000 inhabitants, and 
 in the plain around there are 140 villages, with a total popu- 
 lation of 50,000 more. Aleppo has something more than 
 roo,ooo; Hamath, over 65,000; Hums, 71,000; Tripoli, 36,000; 
 Beirut, 120,000; Jafifa, 8,000; Jerusalem, 25,000; Sidon, 7,000. 
 
 As to races, there are said to be in Syria over 25,000 Jews. 
 Those in Palestine — who constitute probably more than half — • 
 have come from other countries, whereas the Jewish element 
 in Aleppo and Damascus is native there. There are a few 
 Turks and fifty to sixty thousand Armenians, but the great 
 bulk of the population of Syria is to be regarded as Arab. 
 There is substantially but one race; there is one prevalent 
 language; there are, however, many divisions and sects. 
 
 The Moslems constitute the mass of the population. They 
 are most numerous in the secondary towns and rural districts. 
 They are of the orthodox faith, or Sunnites, and, of course, 
 look to the Sultan as not only their political, but also their 
 religious head. The Druses are often counted as a Moslem 
 sect. Their doctrines were long kept secret, but are now 
 better known. Though the Druze superstition sprang, in the 
 eleventh century, from Islam, it has so far departed from it 
 as not properly to be reckoned with it. They regard the 
 English as their friends; yet they have sometimes been 
 wrought upon by Turkish Mohammedan influences, and have 
 taken arms against those bearing the Christian name, as in 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 5 
 
 1851, 1845, and notably in i860. The Druzes profess one 
 God, indefinable, incomprehensible, and passionless. He has 
 become incarnate in a succession of ten men, the last of whorh 
 was Hakim, Caliph of Egypt, who was assassinated A. D. 
 1044. With that incarnation the door of mercy was closed, 
 and no converts are now to be made. Hakim will one day 
 reappear and conquer the world. The doctrine of the trans- 
 migration of souls is held by the Druzes. They have seven 
 great commandments, one of which enjoins truth; but this 
 holds among themselves only, and practically the Druzes in 
 this respect are sadly like the Cretans of old. They do not 
 believe in prayer. It has been charged that in their secret 
 assemblies they are guilty of the most nefarious practices; but 
 the charge has not been sustained. There is among them a 
 special class — the 'Akals — who alone are initiated into the 
 deeper mysteries of the faith. The Druzes are a mountain 
 people, their territory embracing the eastern slopes of Lebanon 
 and all the Anti-Lebanon. Their number is variously esti- 
 mated, and perhaps the estimates are not all made from the 
 same point of view. Some give fifty thousand; others not less 
 than three times that number. Their political head, the Great 
 Emir, lives near Deir el Kamar, not far from Beirut. The 
 Sheik of the 'Akals is the religious head. 
 
 In 1895-96 there was almost constant armed conflict be- 
 tween the Druzes and the Turkish Government. At great 
 expense of life and treasure, the strength of the Druzes was 
 finally broken, and many of their leaders humiliated and 
 exiled, so that it will probably be a long time before this 
 warlike people will again be in a position to exercise much 
 influence. During these conflicts, two churches connected 
 with Sidon station, at Mejdel and Ain Kunyeh, were sacked 
 and partially destroyed, while the people were almost impov- 
 erished. 
 
 The Nusaireeyeh are a strange, wild, bloodthirsty race, 
 numbering about two hundred thousand, who live to the 
 north of Mount Lebanon, inhabiting the mountains that ex- 
 tend from Antioch to Tripoli. They seem to be the last 
 remnants of the old heathen Hittites or Canaanites, and there 
 is indication of a blood atonement in their worship. They 
 
6 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 keep their doctrines secret, and have signs of recognition, like 
 a secret order. Women are not allowed to be initiated, and 
 are meanly esteemed. Polygamy is common, and divorce 
 occurs at the will of the man. Swearing and lying are 
 universal. 
 
 We come now to the nominal Christians of Arab race and 
 tongue. They are, first, the Greeks, about 150,000 in number. 
 They are called Greeks, although Arabs by race, simply on 
 account of their religion, being orthodox members of the 
 Greek Church. They are under the patronage of Russia, and 
 have a Patriarch of Antioch and a number of bishops. 
 
 The Jacobites are a small body of dissenters from the 
 Greek Church. They get their name from Jacobus, Bishop 
 of Edessa, who died A. D. 578. 
 
 The Greek Catholics are converts from the Greek Church 
 to Romanism. They have, however, made few changes in 
 passing over. Their worship is in their native Arabic. 
 Their priests are allowed to marry. The sect embraces about 
 fifty thousand souls, and includes many of the most enter- 
 prising and wealthy of the native Christians of Syria. They 
 have had a patron in Austria. 
 
 The Maronites represent the ancient Syrian Church. They 
 get their name from John Maro, monk, priest and patriarch, 
 who died A. D. 707. Since the twelfth century they have 
 been in close communion with the Latin Church, though 
 adhering to the Oriental rite. Their service is conducted in 
 the Syriac, a language not understood by the people. They 
 are ignorant and bigoted. Their head is the patriarch of 
 Antioch, whose residence is in the convent of Cannobeen, 
 near Tripoli. The Maronites number one hundred and fifty 
 thousand, and dwell chiefly in Mount Lebanon. They cherish 
 friendship for the French. These, then, are the sects — the 
 orthodox Greek Church, the Jacobites, the Greek Catholics, 
 and the Maronites — that make up the nominally Christian 
 element in the Arab population of Syria. 
 
 To some extent these various elements form separate 
 communities. Thus the Druzes are the exclusive popula- 
 tion of about 120 towns and villages. So there are regions 
 where Maronites alone are found. Sometimes, however. 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 7 
 
 they are mingled. ^ In the north, Druzes are intermingled 
 with Maronites, in the south with Greeks. They share thus 
 with the Christians the occupation of about 230 villages. 
 This contact may, at times, do something to increase the 
 spirit of toleration; at others it only gives greater occasion 
 for bitterness and jealousy. Religious and political hatred 
 and distrust would readily break out into violence if allowed, 
 The conflict between Egypt and Turkey, ending in 1840, broke 
 up peaceful relations that had long existed between Druzes 
 and Maronites, and since then there have been a number of 
 "battle years." 
 
 It must be obvious that the presence of so 
 DIFFICULTIES many rival and jealous sects, all calling them- 
 OF THE FIELD selves Christians, constitutes a very great 
 
 difficulty in this mission field. A still greater 
 is offered by the religion dominant in the land. 
 
 The law long made it death for a Moslem to change his 
 faith. In 1843, a young man was publicly beheaded in Con- 
 stantinople on this account. This event was the starting- 
 point of a series of diplomatic agitations, which culminated 
 after the Crimean War in the issue of the Hatti Humaiyoun, 
 the firman in which the Sultan ordained religious liberty. 
 But the letter of this charter has always been evaded. The 
 Turks in general do not understand religious liberty in the 
 same sense in which we do. Practically, freedom of con- 
 science does not exist for converts from Mohammedanism. 
 These abandon the faith of their fathers at their own peril. 
 But were there no hindrances of this kind, there would 
 remain Moslem pride and bigotry. In the Turkish empire 
 the nominal Christians are in a state of subjection; and it is 
 not often the case that the rulers accept the faith of the ruled. 
 There have been special reasons why it has not been so here. 
 There has been, it must be confessed, little to attract in the 
 Christianity exhibited by the fossilized churches of the East. 
 The Moslem's notions of Christianity have been derived from 
 those whose doctrines are corrupt, whose worship is idola- 
 trous, whose morals are debased. The very truth contained 
 in the Moslem's system — its doctrine of the spirituality of 
 God — has been an obstacle to the progress of Protestantism, 
 
8 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 which he has been unable to distinguish from the forms of 
 Christianity with which he was familiar. 
 
 The oppression of the Turkish Government has been a 
 hindrance to the progress of missionary work, while its active 
 opposition must constantly be met with patient, persistent 
 effort on the part of the mission to secure the fulfillment of 
 promises and protection against the violation of contracts. 
 The poverty of the people is largely the result of the oppres- 
 sive system of taxation, which gives little encouragement to 
 industry or frugality, and thousands of the inhabitants have 
 been driven to emigration. 
 
 "People are so pressed in the unequal strife," writes one missionary, 
 "that they cannot or will not give time to anything else. The Sabbath 
 is broken by labor from which they claim they cannot escape. If six 
 men agree to harvest their grain in a certain part of the plain, during 
 the coming week, and in so doing work on two Sabbaths, the seventh 
 man must work with them, even under protest, for the moment the six 
 men are through they drive their cattle into the stubble, and if the 
 seventh man's grain is still standing, he will lose half his year's toil in 
 a single night. Moslems, of course, have no Sabbath, neither have the 
 Druzes, and the members of the Oriental churches are excused after 
 early mass. Indeed, they are taught that a special blessing will attend 
 their labors if they will plough and reap on the Sabbath the portions 
 designed for the priests and the poor."* 
 
 This is only an illustration of the obstacles that stand in 
 the way of the convert, when trying to conform his life to 
 Scriptural rules. 
 
 The Constitution, proclaimed July 24th, 1908, establishes 
 religious liberty and equality of treatment to all classes of the 
 population. This is an unspeakable boon to all religious and 
 educational movements in the Empire, and should mark the 
 opening of a new era of liberty and progress. The censorship 
 of the press has been abolished, and the Bible can be pub- 
 lished and circulated freely. Religious literature and current 
 publications are no longer subjected to unfriendly scrutiny 
 for official sanction. The evangelical churches and schools 
 will be accessible to Mohammedans as never before, and a new 
 opportunity and serious responsibility are before us. It is 
 too early as yet to see fully all that the new order of things 
 
 * Rev, F, E. Hoskins, Church at Home and Abroadt December, 1889. 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 9 
 
 must bring, but all the indications are such as to give great 
 promise and to emphasize the duty of pressing forward with 
 great earnestness. 
 
 MISSIONARY WORK IN SYRIA. 
 
 The history of American missions in Syria — and they are 
 the principal ones theret — begins with the appointment, in 
 1818, of Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons as missionaries to 
 Palestine. These zealous and devoted men were sent out 
 by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
 sions — at that time and for a number of years later the only 
 agency for foreign evangelistic work available to American 
 Presbyterians. In 1870, at the reunion of the Old and New 
 School branches of the Presbyterian Church, the members of 
 the former New School body, who had constituted a very 
 considerable proportion of the supporters of the American 
 P>oard, gave up their relation to it and became constituents 
 of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. In the re- 
 adjustment of work which these changes made necessary, the 
 care of the mission in Syria was transferred to the Presbyte- 
 rian Board. 
 
 Mr. Parsons arrived at Jerusalem February 
 JERUSALEM 17th, 1821. He was the first Protestant mis- 
 sionary who ever resided there, and he began 
 the work of distributing the Scriptures. It was not long, 
 however, before the disturbing influence of the revolt in 
 Greece against the oppression of Turkey extended to Syria. 
 Mr. Parsons thought it best to withdraw for a time, and died 
 m Egypt, February loth, 1822. Mr. Fisk reached Jerusalem 
 in 1823, having been joined on the way by Jonas King, known 
 afterward so long and so well by his evangelistic labors in 
 Grtece. They preached and taught in Jerusalem, with various 
 intervals of sojourn and travel in other parts of the land, until 
 
 t The Irish Presbyterian ChOrch has a station in Damascus; the British Syrian School Society 
 has schools in Beirut. Dainascus, Zahleh, I.ebiinon. Baailjek, Hasbeiya and Tyre; tlie 
 Established Church of Scotland has a mission to the Jews in Beirut; the Church Missionary 
 Society (Church of England) occupies Palestine; the English Friends are established at 
 Brummana, and the Mildinay Mission at Baakleen; the Reformed Presbyterian Church of the 
 United States has a !nissi<in at I.atakia and other points, laboring chiefly among the 
 Nusaireeyeh race. The Presbyterian Church of England has a mission in Aleppo especially 
 for the Jews. i-r . r j 
 
lO 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 the spring of 1825, when civil disturbances forced them to 
 withdraw. Mr. King left Syria shortly and Mr. Fisk died. 
 The station at Jerusalem was suspended for a time, and in 
 1844 it was finally abandoned. 
 
 It having early become apparent that Jerusalem 
 BEIRUT was not a favorable centre for missionary opera- 
 1823 tions, a new point was chosen. This was Beirut, 
 
 an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast, with 
 a roadstead and a small artificial harbor. It was the port of 
 Damascus, distant seventy-five miles, or by diligence fourteen 
 hours, but is now the more important city of the two as re- 
 .spects commerce. A railroad now connects Beirut with 
 Damascus and the Hauran, and another is under construction 
 on the seacoast to connect Sidon and Tripoli, passing through 
 Beirut. On the east extends the range of Mount Lebanon; 
 to the south is a beautiful and fertile plain. The city rises 
 from the water's edge and extends back upon a hill. From 
 a population of perhaps 15,000, in 1820, Beirut has increased 
 to at least 120,000. This is mainly Semitic and comprises 
 Druzes, Maronites, Greeks (i. e., Arabs belonging to the Greek 
 Church), Moslems and Jews. The streets are wide, the houses 
 lofty and spacious, the suburbs beautiful with gardens and 
 trees, and it is well supplied with water. From the sea the 
 aspect is more that of a European than an Oriental city. 
 
 The first missionaries — Rev. William Bird and Rev. William 
 Goodell — ^landed October i6th, 1823. They occupied them- 
 selves with the circulation of the Scriptures, which soon ex- 
 cited the opposition of the Papists, and called out the anathe- 
 mas of the Maronite and Syrian patriarchs; with the prepara- 
 tion of useful books; and with the education of the young. 
 On account of the Greek war and the unsettled state of the 
 whole East, Messrs. Bird, Goodell and Smith — Eli Smith, who 
 had joined the mission the year before — thought best to re- 
 move for a time and retired to Malta in May, 1828. 
 
 In 1830, Mr. Bird and wife returned to Beirut, and were 
 followed later by Mr. Smith. The work was taken up in the 
 same forms, and, with the exception of another period of 
 suspension, 1839-40, similar to the one just mentioned, it has 
 been prosecuted ever since. The history of the mission, like 
 
 ■i 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 II 
 
 that of every other, presents alternations of success and 
 (Hscouragement. There are seasons of great promise and 
 again there is need of faith and patience, as what seemed 
 opportunities of expanded worlc and permanent growth 
 vanish. Having so large an element of Moslem population, 
 Syria is wonderfully responsive to the agitations of the 
 Moslem world. The land has frequerrtly been disturbed by 
 political commotions, depending upon the attitude of the 
 European powers, and these influences have had their effect 
 upon the progress of missionary work. Such events as the 
 Russo-Turkish War of 1877, the rebellion of Arabi Pasha in 
 Egypt in 1882, and the rebellion of the Mahdi in 1883, have 
 been prejudicial to such work by introducing into the mission 
 field a new, disorderly and hostile element. During the Rus- 
 sian War, thousands of ruffianly Circassians were shipped 
 from Constantinople to Syria, and there let loose to lead a 
 life of beggary and robbery. The Egyptian rebellion brought 
 another army of refugees from Egypt, to demoralize every 
 port and beach on which they landed. 
 
 The Druzc and Armenian troubles of 1894-96 indirectly 
 affected all missionary work by increasing the poverty of the 
 people, creating a general feeling of anxiety and furnishing 
 fresh opportunity for lawlessness. 
 
 At the present time the most serious drawback is the con- 
 stant emigration of the most enterprising and promising young 
 men and women. They go everywhere, especially to the 
 United States, to escape the poverty and oppression of their 
 life at home; and those who stay behind are often too restless 
 and dissatisfied to take up Christian work with whole-hearted 
 energy. 
 
 The first printing in connection with the 
 THE PRESS mission was done at Malta, where the Ameri- 
 AND ITS can Board had an establishment in full opera- 
 PUBLICATIONS tion as early as 1826. There were three 
 presses and fonts of type in several languages. 
 Three works were issued here in Arabic. One was "The 
 h'arewcll Letter of Rev. Jonas King;" another was "Asaad 
 .Sliidiak's Statement of His Conversion and Perscjcutions :"' 
 the third was Mr. Tlird's "Reply to the Maronite Bishop of 
 
12 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 Beirut." In 1834, the Arabic portion of the establishment 
 was transferred to Beirut. Mr. Smith, who had charge of the 
 press, bestowed much thought and labor upon the outfit, tak- 
 ing the greatest pains to secure models of the most approved 
 characters and to have the type cast corresponding with these. 
 For many years he read the proof-sheets of nearly every work 
 printed and became one of the most accurate and finished 
 Arabic scholars of his day. 
 
 The press has continued in active operation, with a con- 
 stantly enlarging establishment and more complete equip- 
 ment. The total number of pages printed from the beginning 
 amounts to over nine hundred millions. The issues comprise 
 weekly and monthly journals, Westminster Sunday School 
 lessons, text-books and educational works of all grades, tracts, 
 Bibles, an Arabic hymn book, and other books, religious and 
 miscellaneous. The list of publications includes more than 
 six hundred and fifty titles. 
 
 Among these may be mentioned text-books on "Scripture 
 Interpretation and Systematic Theology," by Dr. J. S. Dennis ; 
 a translation of the "Confession of Faith," by Dr. C. V. A. 
 Van Dyck; a Harmony of the Gospels; a Bible Dictionary; 
 a Concordance of the Arabic Bible; and a "Commentary on 
 the New Testament," by Rev. W. W. Eddy, D. D., the com- 
 pletion of which, shortly before his death, was the crowning 
 labor of his long and fruitful life. 
 
 . The influence of this work is not confined to Syria. "The 
 Tongue of the Angels," as the Arabs proudly call their beau- 
 tiful language, is the native tongue of sixty million people, 
 and the sacred language of nearly two hundred millions, who 
 dwell in all quarters of the world; and for all these our Mission 
 Press is the chief fountain of intellectual and spiritual light. 
 
 The work done for the American Bible Society constitutes 
 nearly seventy per cent, of all the printing done at the press, 
 and in 1908 the Bible distribution amounted to 92,311 
 volumes. The increase in this branch of the work is one that 
 is full of richest promise for the future and demands the most 
 hearty support. 
 
 We are indebted to Syria missionaries for excellent literary 
 work in the service of Biblical and scientific learning. Dr. 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 13 
 
 Robinson's "Researches in Palestine" — still a great authority 
 in its department — owes something to the labors of Dr. Eli 
 Smith, who traveled with its author, and gave him the assist- 
 ance of his Arabic scholarship. Dr. William M. Thomson 
 was fitted by his life in Syria to write "The Land and the 
 Book:" while Dr. Post's "Flora of Palestine and Syria," the 
 result of twelve years' patient study and labor, is a choice 
 contribution to the science of botany. But the great glory 
 of the Mission is its translation of the Bible into Arabic. 
 There existed numerous translations already, both of the Old 
 Testament and the New, some in print and some in manuscript. 
 These, however, were of comparatively late date, and were 
 in some cases made from other versions, as Syriac, Coptic, 
 Latin, etc. The text of the translation used by the mission- 
 aries came from Rome. It offended the taste of the Arabs, 
 fastidious as to correctness of language and elegance of style, 
 and it was resolved to make a new translation into Arabic 
 from the inspired originals. 
 
 The work was begun by Dr. Eli Smith, who was aided by 
 Mr. Bistany, a native scholar. When Dr. Smith died, eight 
 years later — in 1857 — he had put into Arabic more than three- 
 quarters of the Bible. A small portion had received his final 
 and exacting revision, and a much larger part was nearly ready 
 for the press. The work was taken up by Dr. C. V. A. Van 
 Dyck, connected with the mission from 1840, and recognized 
 by all as possessing in high degree the necessary qualifications. 
 He had the assistance also of the best native scholarship. 
 The translation was finished in 1864, and the entire Bible 
 printed in 1865. It was thus the work of sixteen years. 
 
 The little room where the work was done is now a part of 
 the American School for Girls, Beirut, and a memorial tablet 
 in Arabic and English, commemorating the fact, has been 
 placed on the wall. The translation of the Scriptures is 
 praised as accurate and classical. The Jesuits of Beirut, with 
 the avowed purpose of combating Protestant errors, have 
 issued an Arabic Bible, differing scarcely at all from our own, 
 which is widely circulated where ours would not be admitted. 
 
 Mr. Bistany, the assistant of Dr. Smith and Dr. Van Dyck, 
 was a Maronite, who became a convert about 1840. He was 
 
14 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 one of the most learned and influential men of modern Syria. 
 Chief among his literary labors was the preparation of two 
 Arabic Dictionaries and of an Arabic Encyclopsedia. The 
 latter is in twelve volumes, a compilation and translation from 
 the best French, English and American works. 
 
 Educational work has been especially prominent 
 EDUCATION in Syria. Schools were begun in Beirut in 1824. 
 
 Little companies of children were first gathered 
 by the wives of the missionaries, and as the number of pupils 
 increased, native assistants were employed. 
 
 Contrary to the native idea that it was unnecessary and 
 even unsafe that a woman should be taught, the missionaries 
 received girls into their families and allowed them to share 
 equally with their brothers in the privileges of the schools. 
 
 In 1894, a memorial column was unveiled in Beirut, on 
 the spot where had stood, fifty-nine years before, the first 
 building ever erected in the Turkish Empire for the instruc- 
 tion of girls. One of the speakers on this occasion was Miss 
 Alice Bistany, the daughter of Dr. Smith's assistant, already 
 referred tp. Her mother was an adopted daughter of Mrs. 
 Smith, and was the first girl taught to read in Syria. At 
 first only reading and writing were taught, as there was no 
 demand for higher instruction; nor were there teachers quali- 
 fied to give it. These schools, for both boys and girls, 
 spread from Beirut into other parts of the land — into Mount 
 Lebanon, into the interior, into the other cities of the coast. 
 They have done a good work, raising up a great body of 
 readers, causing a demand for books and preparing the way 
 for higher schools. Many taught in them have become con- 
 verts, and thus Protestantism has been advanced. Bible in- 
 struction is made prominent, and the amount of Scripture 
 committed to memory, which can be recited whenever called 
 for, is a surprise to any visitor at the village schools. 
 
 Dr. Dennis writes: 
 
 "I have attended examinations in the village schools in Syria where 
 classes of the children recited entire hooks of the New Testament by- 
 heart. Once I examined a class in the Gospel of Matthew, and 
 they knew it _ from beginning to end. I have heard them examined 
 in Scripture history in considerable detail, from Genesis to Revelation, 
 r have heard them recite the Catechism, giving from memory the proof- 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 15 
 
 text with every answer. They will recite from ten to forty hymns, if 
 you have time to hear them." 
 
 Government interference and opposition of priests often 
 hinder the work of these schools and make it necessary to 
 close them for longer or shorter periods. The number varies 
 from year to year, and some of those formerly under our care 
 are now supported by other societies. There are also many 
 other schools — Moslem, Greek, Maronite, Druze and Jewish 
 — ^which would never have existed save for those under the 
 care of the mission. For these mission schools have not only 
 furnished many competent teachers, but they have had an 
 important influence in rousing other sects to rivalry, in diffus- 
 ing knowledge and raising the standard of intelligence. 
 
 More advanced schools soon became necessarv, 
 BOARDING- and have been established in the different 
 SCHOOLS stations. Three boarding-schools for girls give 
 FOR GIRLS opportunity for more thorough intellectual 
 training of the young women of Syria, and 
 afford the teachers a greater opportunity to influence their 
 characters and lives than if they returned to their homes each 
 day. 
 
 The American School for Girls in Beirut was established in 
 1861, and for some years was supported by private means, 
 but since 1872 has been under the care of the Women's Board 
 of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. The 
 patronage comes from all quarters — Protestant, Greek, 
 Catholic, Maronite, Jewish and Moslem. From 1868 to 1895, 
 Miss Eliza D. Everett presided over the school with rare 
 ability and wisdom. Miss Emilia A. Thomson, now the head, 
 has been connected with the school since 1876. The income 
 from pupils has advanced greatly in late years, as in all our 
 mission schools, and helps to offset the large increase in all 
 classes of expenditure. In 1908-09, the enrollment was fiftv- 
 three boarders and seventy-seven day pupils. 
 
 Sidon Seminary was founded in 1863 as a purely missionary 
 institution, with a view to training teachers and helpers in 
 the work. The boarders are largely Protestant girls, who 
 perform the household duties of the institution, after the 
 Holyoke plan. The day-school is made up of girls from all 
 
i6 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 the sects, including Jew, Moslem and Metawaly. Almost all 
 the graduates since 1881 have become teachers, either in our 
 own schools or those of other missions, and wherever a pupil 
 marries and settles, the mission workers are sure of welcome 
 and help. In 1908 there were fifty-six boarders and seventy- 
 five day pupils. The income of the school from pupils was 
 $1,212.00. A recent gift from friends in America, through 
 the Philadelphia Woman's Board, has made it possible to pur- 
 chase property contiguous to the Seminary compound, thus 
 securing the necessary room for expansion and protecting the 
 school against injurious neighbors. 
 
 Tripoli Girls' School is a younger institution, the outgrowth 
 of a High School for Girls, established in 1873. A fine 
 property was bought for it by the Woman's Foreign Mission- 
 ary Society in 1876, at a cost of $10,000, and a new building 
 was put up in 1882. The first class, numbering nine, was 
 graduated in 1885. Changes were made in the building, in- 
 creasing its capacity, so that a family of sixty-two boarders 
 can be cared for, and there are seldom any vacant beds. 
 
 In all these schools the ladies in charge are assisted by 
 native teachers. Careful religious instruction is given, while 
 thorough work of a high grade is required in the class-room. 
 As a result, the graduates and those who are connected with 
 the school for a shorter time carry with them to their homes, 
 not only literary and scientific knowledge, but much Scripture 
 truth, and the personal influence of the lives and example of 
 their teachers. Many of them become earnest Christians, and, 
 in their turn, as teachers and wives and mothers, become 
 centres of Christian influence all through the land. 
 
 Abeih Seminary and Suk el Ghurb Training 
 BOARDING- School. — In 1834 we find at Beirut ten young 
 SCHOOLS men receiving instruction from the missionaries 
 FOR BOYS in English and science. Out of this grew a 
 
 seminary for boys, suspended in 1842, but re- 
 vived at Abeih in 1845, and placed under the care of Mr. 
 Calhoun. It was meant to raise up teachers and pastors; but 
 the end was not accomplished as fully as was hoped, although 
 considerable classes were gathered, and these from many quar- 
 ters. In 1850, for example, of nineteen pupil§, four were 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 17 
 
 Dnizes, three Greeks, four Maronites, four Greek Catholics, 
 two Protestants, one Syrian and one Armenian. Up to 1870, 
 most of the teachers in the schools and religious instructors in 
 the congreg-ations were graduates of this institution. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun left the Seminary in 1875, and Mr. Wood 
 was transferred to Abeih and put in charge. Later it seemed 
 that the work accomplished by this Seminary might better 
 be done by the preparatory department of the Syrian Prot- 
 estant College at Beirut. In accordance with this yiew, the 
 Seminary was closed in 1877, though the number of pupils 
 had never been so large. A new enterprise connected with 
 this Abeih field was begun in 1882. A boys' school at 
 Schweifat was broken up by a riyal Greek school. The 
 teachers were thereupon transferred to Suk el Ghurb, and a 
 boarding-school for boys opened there. It began with 34 
 pupils, and has prospered from that time. In 1908, there 
 were 147 boarders, in a pleasant and convenient building. 
 
 Gerard Institute. — This name, adopted by Sidon Academy in 
 1900, commemorates the family name of Mrs. George Wood, 
 to whose generous interest it largely owes its present pros- 
 perity. In 1895 the scope of the institution was enlarged by 
 the addition of an Industrial Department, and provision was 
 also made for the care and instruction of orphan boys of 
 Protestant parentage. Much of the work of the house is done 
 by the boys, and useful trades are taught as a means of present 
 and future support. 
 
 The old buildings of this school by the old city wall soon 
 became far too small to accommodate all departments of the 
 growing institution. Plans were adopted for the gradual 
 removal of a large portion of the pupils to the fine new site 
 outside of the city, secured for the orphanage. Tlie Ramapo 
 Church generously manifested their interest in the work of 
 their former pastor, Rev. Dr. George N. Ford, and provided 
 the funds needed for the erection of Ramapo Hall on the hill 
 top overlooking Sidon City and plain. In the new premises 
 the prosperity of this school is ensured, and its usefulness will 
 be greatly enhanced. In 1908 there were 308 pupils receiving 
 instruction in all departments. 
 
i8 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 Shzveir. — In 1900 the Lebanon Schools Committee trans- 
 ferred to our Board their property and school in Shweir in 
 Mt. Lebanon. The institution, which had attained a high 
 degree of efficiency under the superintendence of Rev. William 
 Carslaw, M. D., has continued to do good work under the care 
 of our mission and trains every year forty or more boys. 
 
 Tripoli Boys' School. — In 1904 the demand for education in 
 American schools had increased to such an extent that the 
 older schools could not meet the requirements. Another 
 school was opened in Tripoli on a self-supporting basis. This 
 school closed its fourth year in July, 1908, with eighty- three 
 boarders, having never drawn anything from mission funds 
 but rent for its premises. 
 
 Hums. — Following the development of mission schools, the 
 Syrian Evangelical Community entered the field. A prosper- 
 ous elder in the Hums church took the lead, and with the 
 active co-operation of the pastor of the church, a boarding- 
 school for boys was opened in that city in 1906. This has 
 done an excellent work and a commodious building has been 
 erected outside of the city in a beautiful and healthful location. 
 No aid has been asked from the mission, and it is in many 
 ways one of the brightest developments of enterprise and 
 constructive work undertaken by the Syrians themselves. 
 
 Theological Seminary. — This school was begun in 1869 in 
 connection with Abeih Seminary. Subsequently a special 
 building was provided on the college campus in Beirut, and 
 several classes were instructed there. It was decided, how- 
 ever, after some years, to conduct this work on a simpler plan. 
 For a time classes were held at Suk el Ghurb during the sum- 
 mer months. More recently a permanent home for the The- 
 ological Seminary has been provided in connection with the 
 mission compound adjacent to the Press in Beirut. 
 
 The time came when the need was felt for an 
 
 SYRIAN institution of high order. The project for a 
 PROTESTANT Syrian Protestant College was discussed at a 
 
 COLLEGE meeting of the mission in t86i, and the plan 
 sketched. "The objects deemed essential 
 were: to enable natives to obtain in their own countrv, in their 
 own language, and at a moderate cost, a thorough literary. 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 19 
 
 scientific and professional education; to found an institution 
 which should be conducted on principles strictly evangelical, 
 but not sectarian, with doors open to youth of every Oriental 
 sect and nationality who would conform to its regulations, but 
 so ordered that students, while elevated intellectually and 
 spiritually, should not materially change their native customs. 
 The hope was entertained that much of the instruction might 
 at once be intrusted to pious and competent natives, and that 
 ultimately the teaching could be left in the hands of those 
 who had been raised up by the college itself." It was deemed 
 best that the college should be independent of the Board of 
 Missions. Still the connection with the mission could not 
 but be close. "Missionary instruction created a demand for 
 it; the plans and prayers and labors of missionaries estab- 
 lished it; the friends of missions endowed it. Its aim and that 
 of other missionary labor are one — the enlightenment and 
 salvation of the Arabic-speaking race." Most of the money 
 was raised in America. A plot of ground was purchased in 
 the suburbs of Beirut, and buildings were erected. The col- 
 lege was opened in 1866, with a class of fourteen members, 
 and Dr. Daniel Bliss as President. 
 
 This institution has not disappointed the promise held out. 
 Year after year it has welcomed in increasing numbers select 
 young men from Syria and Egypt, and, imparting to .them its 
 training, has sent them out to be in their respective commu- 
 nities what educated' men always are. Since 1879 the English 
 language has been the medium of instruction. The Medical 
 Department, which was early added, has been especially use- 
 ful and successful. It is a testimony to its importance that in 
 1882 the Jesuits felt it advisable to open a rival college. The 
 Protestant College has a steadily growing influence through- 
 out the land by means of its graduates. 
 
 Fourteen stately buildings adorn the campus, which con- 
 tains forty acres of land. There are about 850 students in 
 attendance, coming from Syria, Palestine, Asia Minor, Persia, 
 Arabia, Egypt, Cyprus and Greece. One Persian student 
 from Teheran came a forty days' journey, expecting to remain 
 eight years. Dr. Bliss resigned the Presidency in IQ04, on 
 account of advancing years, and was succeeded by his son. 
 Rev. Howard Bliss, D. D. 
 
20 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 CHURCHES AND STATIONS. 
 
 "He commanded us to preach unto the people," said the 
 apostles. The press and the school have their place; but the 
 chief agency in spreading the Kingdom must be the oral 
 proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom. Jt may happen, 
 however, for a time in some communities, that the way is not 
 open for preaching on an extended scale. Hence the need 
 of a preparatory work, in which attention is given chiefly to 
 methods and agencies that are avowedly subordinate. This has 
 been the state of affairs in Syria. The Moslems especially could 
 not be reached by preaching. The most that could be done 
 for them was through the press and the school. 
 
 Preaching, however, has by no means been neglected. At 
 first much was informal, and partook of the nature of conver- 
 sation and individual address. The missionaries admitted all 
 comers to their family worship, and used it as a means of 
 making known the truth. The early efforts were not in vain. 
 In 1827, a little band of twenty converts had been gathered. 
 It comprised several who long survived, and since have been 
 very useful in the service. One had a short course, and re- 
 ceived the martyr's crown. Asaad Shidiak was a young edu- 
 cated Maronite, teacher of science and theology in a convent, 
 and afterwards conductor of an Arabic school for boys in 
 Beirut. There he became a convert to Protestant Christian- 
 ity. The Maronite patriarch sent for him, and detained him 
 in custody, trying all means to reclaim him. Asaad escaped, 
 but was again taken. It became known that he was impris- 
 oned and enchained in the convent of Cannobeen. He lin- 
 gered through a few years of oppression and cruelty, main- 
 taining his Christian profession to the last, and died about 
 1830. 
 
 For many years the converts at Beirut were received into 
 the mission church, which included the missionary families 
 there. In 1848 the native Protestalits of Beirut petitioned to 
 be set off in a church by themselves. This was accordingly 
 done. The next year this church had a membership of 
 twenty-seven. Ten were from the Greek Church, four were 
 (jreek Catholics, four Maronites, five Armenians, three Druzes 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 21 
 
 and one a Jacobite. In 1869 a fine building, well located, 
 provided with tower and bell, was completed. 
 
 In 1844 there was an interesting movement in Hasbeiya. 
 This was a place of several thousand inhabitants, mainly 
 Druzes and Greeks, at the foot of Mount Hermon. A con- 
 siderable body seceded from the Greek Church, declared 
 themselves Protestants, and applied to the mission for instruc- 
 tion. Their motives were at first somewhat mixed; but the 
 course of affairs showed a great deal of sincerity and earnest- 
 ness. Native helpers were sent, and some of the missionaries 
 themselves went thither. The Greek patriarch at Damascus 
 became alarmed, and a troop of horsemen were sent to quarter 
 themselves on the Protestant families. The Druzes now inter- 
 fered for the protection of the Protestants, and succeeded in 
 checking persecution for a time. It subsequently broke out 
 violently, and the victims were obliged to flee. We need not 
 follow the course of events further than to say that in the 
 spring of 1847 the Protestants of Hasbeiya succeeded in laying 
 their grievances before the Sultan, and an order was issued 
 that they be protected and no one allowed to disturb them in 
 their meetings and worship. A church of sixteen members 
 was formed in July, 185 1, which increased to twenty-five the 
 same year. Good testimony is given respecting it in the fol- 
 lowing years. Hasbeiya suffered greatly in the war of 1860. 
 It was the scene of a terrible massacre by the Druzes, and the 
 Protestant house of worship was partially destroyed; but of 
 more than one thousand persons murdered there and in the 
 vicinity, only nine were Protestants. "It is," says Dr. Ander- 
 son, "a remarkable fact that, excepting perhaps in Damascus, 
 no injury, was offered to a missionary, and Protestants, when 
 recognized as such, were generally safe." 
 
 We have interesting accounts of the rise and progress of 
 the native churches at Sidon, at Tripoli, at Hums; but on 
 these we cannot dwell. The general features are the same. 
 The work begins, and then local persecution arises. At 
 Hums, the native brethren were stoned and beaten in the 
 streets. At Safeeta, in 1867, the whole Protestant community 
 was arrested, released, driven into the wilderness, and their 
 houses plundered. What Syrian converts, from Asaad 
 
22 
 
 HISTORICAI, SKETCH OF 
 
 Shidiak down, have been willing to endure, shows how 
 genuine has been the work of grace in their hearts. 
 
 When the Syria Mission was transferred to the care of the 
 Presbyterian Board, it was wisely left to time to prepare the 
 way for the change which should bring the mission into con- 
 formity with the Presbyterian system. This course has been 
 vindicated by the result. At the annual meeting of the mis- 
 sion, December, 1882, the plan of the formation of a Synod 
 and five Presbyteries, to have no organic ecclesiastical con- 
 nection with churches in Great Britain or the United States, 
 was unanimously adopted. This plan has been carried out so 
 far as the organization of the Presbytery of Sidon, at Jedeideh, 
 in October, 1883; one at Amar, in the Tripoli field, in Sep- 
 tember, 1890; and the Presbytery of Lebanon, which includes 
 the churches of the Mount Lebanon district and the First 
 Church of Beirut, in June, 1896. 
 
 The meetings of these Presbyteries show that the Syrian 
 Church is learning the lessons of ''concerted action, the valid- 
 ity of representative authority, and the majority rule," and the 
 responsibility of self-support. 
 
 The Syria Mission naturally divided itself into five fields, 
 the principal point in each serving as a centre for evangelistic 
 work, which is carried on by means of outstations and itinera- 
 tion, the missionaries being assisted by native pastors, teachers 
 and colporteurs. 
 
 In Beirut there has been steady advance. The 
 BEIRUT oldest, or Central Church, prospers. A beautiful 
 chapel, built at the expense of Mr. and Mrs. Henry 
 Dale, of New York, was dedicated in December, 1880, and 
 provides needed accommodation for Sunday school work. In 
 1890, Rev. Yusef Bedr became the pastor. The church was 
 weakened for a time by the withdrawal of some of its members, 
 who maintained an independent organization for a few years. 
 Tlie two branches were reunited in 1907, under the ministry 
 of Rev. Asaad Abdullah. 
 
 The building occupied by this church is also used by the 
 Anglo-American Congregation of Beirut, which is under the 
 pastoral care of Rev. G. M. Mackie, of the Established Church 
 of Scotland. 
 
THE MrSSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 23 
 
 A Christian Endeavor Society, formed in 1889, lias proved 
 a source of great blessing to the Protestant community in 
 Beirut. Societies have also been formed in Shwifat, Zahleh, 
 Sidon, Tripoli and Aleppo. 
 
 In Sidon field regular preaching is kept up at twenty- 
 SIDON three places. Two of the churches supply their own 
 pulpits. Forty-five native helpers are employed. 
 Government interference has sometimes hindered the work, 
 closing schools and churches, depriving Protestants of their 
 legal rights, and stimulating the zeal of the enemies of the 
 Gospel to many new efforts to impede its progress. In spite 
 of such hindrances, the progress in this field is encouraging; 
 advance is steadily made in the direction of self-support and 
 benevolence, while the growth in membership, especially from 
 the pupils of the various schools, is steady. 
 
 The area and population of this district comprise 
 TRIPOLI about half that of the whole mission. It contains 
 over 1,000 cities and villages, the most important of 
 which, Tripoli, El Meena, Hamath and Hums, are connected 
 by a carriage road. There are eleven organized churches in 
 this field, with over eight hundred members, showing a net 
 increase of nearly ten per cent, a year. The emigration fever 
 which affected Mount Lebanon in earlier years has carried 
 away very many Protestants from Tripoli field more recently. 
 The extent of the field renders much touring necessary for 
 the oversight of the churches and schools. In early years 
 strife of sects was particularly virulent and the converts were 
 subjected to long-continued and bitter persecution. Now the 
 work seems firmly established in many villages, and new doors 
 are constantly opening. The contributions of the native 
 church increased fourfold in ten years. In 1908, Syrians in 
 this field raised and expended in support of their churches, 
 schools and other work directed by the mission and for the 
 education of their children in evangelical institutions, more 
 than the mission expended in the same territory for all pur- 
 poses, including the maintenance of the missionary force. 
 
 In 1893 Aleppo was added to the Tripoli field, extending 
 the work to the limit of the Arabic-speaking territory. A 
 native worker was located there and later a school opened. 
 
24 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 missionaries from Tripoli visiting the city twice a year to over- 
 see the work. In 1897 this work was transferred to the 
 Presbyterian Church of England, which had already inaugu- 
 rated effort among the Jews in that city. 
 
 Lebanon Station, occupying Central Lebanon and 
 LEBANON all Ccele-Syria, was formed in 1900 by the con- 
 solidation of the Abeih and Zahleh fields, together 
 with the Shwcir district. Since 1861, the Lebanon district 
 has been controlled by Christian governors, appointed by the 
 Sultan, with the approval of the European powers. The 
 population is about 380,000. There are nine churches con- 
 nected with the station, and thirty-nine preaching places are 
 maintained, with thirty-eight village schools, besides the larger 
 boarding-schools at Shweir and Suk el Ghurb. 
 
 Abeih was first occupied in 1843, and was for years the resi- 
 dence of the veteran, Rev. William Bird, D. D. Work was 
 begun at Zahleh in 1872, and the first church organized the 
 following year. All this region has suflfered much from emi- 
 gration. Within a few years, twenty-five thousand emigrants 
 left Mt. Lebanon for North and South America. 
 
 Much opposition is experienced from zealous priests and 
 bishops, who lose no opportunity to obstruct Gospel work; 
 nevertheless, progress has been rapid and on a gratifying 
 scale. The people, except the papists, are friendly and anx- 
 ious to obtain education for the children. 
 
 At all these points, the work of preaching is supplemented 
 by personal visitation, prayer meetings, meetings of women 
 for sewing and Scripture instruction, by some of which Mos- 
 lem women are reached. Societies for benevolent work give 
 the native women opportunities to send the Gospel message 
 to others more ignorant than themselves, while Mission Bands 
 and Societies of Christian Endeavor are important agencies 
 for developing the young people of the stations in Christian 
 character and preparing them for usefulness. 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 25 
 
 MEDICAL WORK. 
 
 • Nowhere more than in Syria is there need for the minis- 
 trations and influence of Christian physicians. Tlie Board 
 maintains no medical work in Beirut, because of the presence 
 there of the spacious Johanniter Hospital, supported by the 
 German order of the Knights of St. John, and cared for by 
 the medical staff of the Syrian Protestant College, under the 
 direction of Dr. George E. Post. The nurses are provided by 
 the deaconesses of Kaiserwerth. With the growth of the 
 work, it became necessary to enlarge the hospital and clinical 
 possibilities. This has been done by the erection of a special 
 hospital for women and children, pavilions for eye diseases 
 and skin affections, and a Nurses' Training School. These 
 are all om the premises of the college and under the direction 
 of the medical faculty. The number of patients treated annu- 
 ally in the wards is about 500, while a polyclinic held daily 
 reaches from 10,000 to 15,000 each year. Patients come from 
 all parts of Syria and from Egypt, and carry back with them 
 to their homes impressions of Christian love as well as direct 
 Gospel teaching. 
 
 In 1893, Dr. Mary Pierson Eddy, daughter of Rev. W. 
 W. Eddy, D. D., of Beirut, having completed a thorough 
 course of medical study in America, returned to Syria as a 
 missionary physician. She was the first woman to receive 
 the permission of the Turkish Government to practice medi- 
 cine within the empire. Making her headquarters at Beirut, 
 D'r. Eddy spent most of her time for some years in medical 
 and evangelistic tours throughout the mission field. In 1903 
 she opened a hospital and dispensary for women at Junieh, 
 fifteen miles across the bay from Beirut. In spite of preju- 
 dice and opposition, the people have been won to friendliness. 
 There are now regular Sunday services, a day-school for the 
 children, a reading-room, a colporteur, and a Bible woman 
 to visit the families. 
 
 A sanitarium for tuberculous patients was opened by Dr. 
 Eddy in 1908. There is a summer camp on a high spur of the 
 mountains, and winter quarters at Junieh Bay, where buildings 
 are being erected as a memorial to the late Dr. Teunis Ham- 
 
26 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 lin, of Washington, D. C. Tuberculosis is greatly on the in- 
 crease in Syria, and is regarded by the people with much fear. 
 This institution is independent of the mission. 
 
 The first regularly organized Hospital for the Insane in 
 Syria was opened at Beirut in 1900 by Mr. Theophilus Wald- 
 meier. This is a direct outgrowth of missionary interest in 
 the Syrian people, and is supported by gifts from abroad. 
 
 At Tripoli, in the northern section of Syria, is the most ex- 
 tensive medical work of the mission. This work was begun 
 in 1863 by Dr. George E. Post; when he went to the Syrian 
 Protestant College in Beirut, his place was taken by Dr. G; 
 B. Danforth, and afterward by Dr. C. W. Calhoun. 
 After Dr. Calhoun's death (1883), his work was taken up by 
 Dr. Ira Harris, who has carried it on ever since. The Tripoli 
 Hospital has beds for thirty-five patients. These are used 
 for surgical cases; the medical patients are treated in a rented 
 building near by. The operating room has recently been 
 enlarged, and the work reinforced by the addition of a trained 
 nurse. In 1908, Miss Ara E. Harris, M. D., the daughter of 
 Dr. Harris, became a regular member of the stafif. There is 
 a dispensary in the harbor, and every year trips are made to 
 Hums and Hamath, where sufferers of all tribes and faiths 
 come to the doctor for healing. 
 
 The thirty-nine years since the transfer of the Syria Mission 
 to the care of the Presbyterian Church have witnessed a 
 growth that furnishes ground for devout thanksgiving. In 
 1870, the year of the transfer, there were eight ordained 
 American missionaries under commission, and ten women, 
 including wives. Now there are twelve ordained missionaries 
 two laymen, three medical missionaries, two being women, 
 and twenty-four other women. In 1870 there were two or- 
 dained native ministers, thirteen licentiates, and fortv-eight 
 teachers and helpers; now there are ten native pastors, thirty- 
 one licentiates and evangelists, and one hundred and seventy- 
 four native teachers. The number of communicants has in- 
 creased from 294 to 2,744, and the number of pupils in the 
 mission schools from 1,671 to 5,688. 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 27 
 
 With such looks backward to mark progress, and with 
 careful study of the present condition of the land, we see 
 indeed that it is one "where the enemy is most strongly in- 
 trenched, and is making a desperate stand ;" but we see also 
 that there are already thousands of children in Protestant 
 schools; that literary and scientific education has been given 
 to many young men; that the taste for reading has been 
 formed in many, and provision made for its satisfaction; that 
 native teachers and physicians, trained under evangelical in- 
 fluences, are making themselves felt at many points; that wo- 
 man is rapidly assuming her proper place in social Hfe, and 
 many new homes of purity and happiness are formed and 
 forming; that Protestant communities are growing, and con- 
 gregations are increasing, and the roll of communicants 
 lengthening. No doubt, much of toil, perhaps of sorrow, of 
 tribulation, remains. But what has been done and gained 
 is enough to confirm even a feeble faith as to what the out- 
 come must be. 
 
 In view of our Syria Mission as we have now contemplated 
 it, we may ask, as another has already done : "Is it not a work 
 of which patriotism alone might well make an American 
 proud? The name of his country has been made a synonym 
 in the East, not for political aggression and intrigue, but for 
 education, truth and religion. And the American Church 
 should ofifer praise to God for the wonderful works which He 
 has wrought in our time through His faithful servants. They 
 should now unite in prayer that the last barrier, the iron gate 
 of Moslem bigotry and intolerance, may open at His word, 
 and give liberty for evangelism among the Mohammedan 
 populations." 
 
 STATISTICS, 1908. 
 
 Missionaries 
 
 Native helpers 
 
 Churches 
 
 Communicants 
 
 Pupils in schools 
 
 Pupils in Sabbath schools 
 
 2,744 
 5,688 
 
 5,831 
 
 41 
 226 
 
 34 
 
28 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 STATIONS. 
 
 Beirut (1823)— Rev. Henry H. Jessup, D. D., Rev. T. W. March and 
 Mrs. March, Rev. F. E. Hoskins, D. D., and Mrs. Hoskins, Mr. E. G. 
 Freyer and Mrs. Freyer, Mrs. C. V. A. Van Dyck, Miss Emilia Thom- 
 son, Miss Rachel E. Jolles, Miss Ottora M. Home, Miss Mary Pierson 
 Eddy, M. D. 
 
 Mt. Lebanon— Rev. O. J. Hardin and Mrs. Hardin, Rev. William 
 Jessup, D. D., and Mrs. Jessup, Rev. Paul Erdman and Mrs. Erdman, 
 Mrs. William Bird, Miss Emily G. Bird. 
 
 Tripoli (1848)— On the seacoast, fifty miles north of Beirut. Ira 
 Harris, M. D., and Mrs. Harris, Rev. William S. Nelson, D. D., and 
 Mrs. Nelson, Rev. James H. Nicol and Mrs. Nicol, Rev. James B. 
 Brown and Mrs. Brown, Miss Harriet N. La Grange, Miss Bernice 
 Hunting, Miss Ara Elsie Harris, M. D. 
 
 SiDON (1851)— On the sea coast, thirty miles south of Beirut. Rev. 
 Samuel Jessup, D. D., Rev. George A. Ford, D. D., and Mrs. Ford, Rev. 
 George C. Doolittle and Mrs. Doolittle, Mr. S. D. Jessup and Mrs. Jes- 
 sup, Miss Charlotte H. Brown, Miss M. Louise Law. 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SYRIA. 
 
 29 
 
 MISSIONARIES IN SYRIA, 1870-1909. 
 
 [Figures, Term of Service in the Field.] 
 
 Barber, Miss Alice S 1885-1902 Harris, Mrs 1885- 
 
 *Bird, Rev. Williamt. .. 1853-1902 Harris, Miss A. E., M.D. 1908- 
 
 Bird, Mrs 1853- Home, Miss O. M 1902- 
 
 Bird, Miss E. G 1879- Hosldns, Rev. F. E 1888- 
 
 Brown, Miss C. H 1885- Hoskins, Mrs. (Miss H. 
 
 Brown, Miss Rebecca. . .1885-1892 M. Eddy, 1875) 1888- 
 
 Brown, Rev. J. B 1907- Holmes, Miss M. C 1884-1895 
 
 Brown. Mrs 1907- Hunting, Miss B 1896- 
 
 *Calhoun, Rev. S. H.f. . 1843-1876 Tackson, Miss Ellen 1870-1884 
 
 Calhoun, Mrs 1843-1887 Tessup, Rev.H.H.,D.D.t.i8ss- 
 
 *Calhoun, C. W., M.D. . . 1879-1883 *Jessup, Mrs 1855-1864 
 
 Calhoun, Miss S. H 1879-1885 *jessup, Mrs 1867-1881 
 
 Cundall, Miss F 1879-1883 *Jessup, Mrs 1884-1907 
 
 *DaIe, Rev. G. F 1872-1887 Jessup,Rev.Samuel,D.D.t 1863- 
 
 Dale, Mrs. (Miss M. *Jessup, Mrs 1863-1895 
 
 Bliss) 1879-1905 Tessup, Rev. William. . .1890- 
 
 *Danforth, G. B., M.D..1871-1875 Jessup, Mrs 1890- 
 
 *Danforth, Mrs 1871-1881 Jessvip, Miss Fanny 1895-1900 
 
 Dennis, Rev. J. S., D.D.f 1867-1904 Jessup, Mr. Stuart D....1904- 
 
 Dennis, Mrs 1872-1904 Jessup, Mrs 1904- 
 
 Doolittle, Rev. G. C 1893- Johnston, Rev. W. L. . . . 1879-1880 
 
 Doolittle, Mrs 1893- Johnston, Mrs 1879-1880 
 
 *Eddj',Rev.W.W.,D.D.t .1851-1900 Kipp, Miss M 1872-1875 
 
 *Eddy, Mrs. , 1851-1904 La Grange, Miss H 1875- 
 
 *Eddy, Rev. W. K 1878-1906 Law, Miss E. M ..1892-1898 
 
 Eddy, Mrs. (Miss B. M. Law, Miss M. L 1893- 
 
 Nelson, 1881) 1884-1908 Loring. Miss S. B 1870-1873 
 
 Eddy, Mary P., M.D....1893- Lyons, Miss M. M 1877-1880 
 
 Erdman, Rev. Paul 1901- March, Rev. F. W 1873- 
 
 *Erdman, Mrs 1901-1902 March, Mrs 1880- 
 
 Erdman, Mrs 1905- Nelson, Rev.W.S., D.D..1888- 
 
 Everett, Miss E. D.f 1868-1905 Nelson, Mrs 1888- 
 
 Fisher, Miss H. M 1873-187S Nicol, Rev. J. H 1906- 
 
 *Ford, Mrs. M. P., Nicol Mrs 1006- 
 
 1881-1885; 1894-1902 Pond, Rev. T. S 1873-1890 
 
 Ford, Miss Sarah A 1883-1885 Pond, Mrs 1873-1800 
 
 Ford, Rev. G. A., D.D...1880- Thomson, Rev. W. M.f. 1833-1877 
 
 Ford, Mrs 1906- *Thom son, Mrs i833"iS73 
 
 Ford, Miss M. T. M.. . .1887-1905 Thomson. Miss E. A. ...1876- 
 
 Freyer, Mr. E. G 1897- Tolles, Miss Rachel 1899- 
 
 Freyer, Mrs 1897- *Van Dyck, Rev. C.V.A.f. 1840-1895 
 
 *GreenIee, Rev. W. M. . . 1884-1887 Van Dyck, Mrs 1840- 
 
 Greenlee, Mrs. (Miss Van Dyck, Miss L 1875-1879 
 
 Alice Bird) 1886-1887 Watson, Rev. W. S 1889-1892 
 
 Hardin, Rev. O. J 1871- Wat.son, Mrs 1889-1892 
 
 Hardin, Mrs 1873- ' *Wood, Rev. F. A 1871-1878 
 
 Harris, Ira, M.D 1884- Wood, Mrs 1871-1878 
 
 ♦ Died while connected with the Mission, f 'transferred from the American Board. 
 
30 
 
 BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 
 
 Among the Holy Hills. H. M. Field (1884). $i..SO. 
 Arabia: the Cradle of Islam. S. M. Zwemer (igoo). $2.00. 
 Bible Lands. H. J. Van Lennep (1875). 2 Vols. $5.00. 
 Bible Work in Bible Lands. Rev. J. Bird (1872). $1.50. 
 Daybreak in Turkey. James Barton, D. D. (1Q08). r~ 
 Forty Years in the Turkish Empire. (Life of Dr. Goodell.) E. D. G. 
 
 Prime (1876). $1.20. 
 History of Missions of A. B. C. F. M. Vol. Oriental Churches. 
 
 Rufus Anderson. 
 Islam and Christianity. (1903-) American Tract Society. 
 Islam: A Challenge to Faith. Rev. S. M. Zwemer, D. D. (1907). 
 Kamil. H. H. Jessup, D. D. (1898). $1.00. . , o x 
 
 Letters from Armenia. J. Rendel Harris and Helen B. Harris (i«97)- 
 Mahomet and Islam. Sir W. Muir. 4^. 
 
 Methods of Mission Work among Moslems. (Cairo Conference, 
 
 1906.) $1.00. 
 Missions and Politics in Asia. R. E. Speer. $1.00. 
 Mohammed and the Rise of Islam. Margoliuth (1905)- $l-50. 
 My Life and Times. Cyrus Hamlin (iSg.^). 
 Our Moslem Sisters. Annie Van Sommer (1907)- 
 Social and Religious Life in the Orient. K. H. Basmajian. $1.00. 
 Sweet First Fruits: A Tale of the Nineteenth Century. Translated 
 
 from the Arabic, with Introduction by Sir W. Muir. $1.00. 
 Syrian Home Life. H. H. Jessup (1874). $1.50. 
 The Land and the Book. W. M. Thomson. 3 vols. $18.00. 
 The Mohammedan Missionary Problem. H. H. Jessup (1879). 75 cts. 
 Women of the Arabs. H. H. Jessup, D, D. (1874). $2.00. 
 
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