APPEAL 
 
 ON BEHALF OF 
 
 Religious Work in the Turkish Empire, 
 
 FROM REPRESENTATIVES OF 
 
 BIBLE & MISSIONARY SOCIETIES AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 A TENDENCY is plainly evident in some Turkish ofBcial 
 circles to restrict or even to deny the privileges hitherto 
 gratefully enjoyed by Missionaries in the Turkish 
 Empire. Recent orders, apparently intended merely 
 to secure a legitimate supervision of the sale of books, 
 place it in the power of subordinate officials in the 
 Provinces to treat books circulated by the Bible and 
 Missionary Societies as though they had not received 
 official authorization to be published. Notwithstanding 
 that each copy bears on its title page the number and 
 date of the permit for its publication, officials in the 
 Provinces have detained, mutilated or confiscated these 
 
2 
 
 books, and arrested their sale in many vexatious ways. 
 A project of law now under consideration at the Sublime 
 Porte, of which a copy is given below, would legalise 
 many of the restrictions from which the Societies have 
 suffered, and so threatens to break up the important 
 business conducted for years by the Bible and Mis- 
 sionary Societies, of selling these authorized books in 
 all parts of Turkey. 
 
 Of equally grave import is an edict issued during 
 the year i8gi, of which a copy is given later on, which 
 requires Missionaries to refrain from -'transforming" 
 dwelUng houses " into churches or schools," except by 
 authority of an Imperial Firman. This edict may be 
 intended merely for the prevention of the unlawful 
 transfer of dwellings into the category of permanent 
 churches and schools, which by law are freed from taxa- 
 tion. But it is so worded as to be officially interpreted in 
 the sense that Missionaries may not hold worship or 
 conduct school in their houses unless those houses have 
 been permanently set apart for the purpose by Imperial 
 Firman. In this connection, it should be borne in mind 
 that Firmans fix the use of the property for all time, 
 while long experience has shown that the difficulty of 
 obtaining Firmans for churches and schools is such as 
 to amount to a restriction often prohibitive. 
 
 Under the ancient capitulations, the usage which 
 has fixed their interpretation, and the treaties con- 
 secrating the liberal declarations of religious liberty 
 which have been made by the Sultans of Turkey, the 
 right of Missionaries to exercise their profession in the 
 Empire cannot be called in question. 
 
3 
 
 UvSage also shows that their profession has been 
 understood from the first to include the performance of 
 their religious functions in Divine worship, in the 
 instruction of the young and in the care of the sick. 
 The new edict, as commonly understood by the officials 
 severely charged to enforce it, is an innovation which 
 places it in the power of the Turkish authorities to 
 prohibit Missionaries from exercising their vocation in 
 Turkey. 
 
 It appears under these circumstances to be of great 
 importance to the Bible and Missionary Societies that 
 the home Governments should instruct their Diplomatic 
 and Consular Agents in Turkey to intervene and remon- 
 strate against edicts, laws or decrees which set aside 
 or restrict the long-established rights of these Societies. 
 The right of protection of both the persons and the 
 establishments of Missionaries in Turkey is clearly 
 assigned to the Powers by the 62nd Article of the 
 Treaty of Berlin. 
 
 The points requiring special attention seem to be 
 the following; — 
 
 1. The maintenance of the principle that the Bible 
 and Missionary Societies are entitled under the laws of 
 religious liberty to circulate their books in the Turkish 
 Empire ; and, further, that the^ official authorization 
 granted for the publication of these books constitutes 
 them lawful articles of commerce special restrictions upon 
 the sales of which are in violation of the Treaties. 
 
 2. The maintenance of the principle^ that Mis- 
 sionaries in Turkey cannot now be deprived of their 
 immemorial right to exercise in the houses which they 
 
4 
 
 own or control, the functions, including the education 
 of the young and the care of the sick, which have 
 been understood and admitted ab antiquo by the Otto- 
 man Government as belonging to the profession of 
 those set apart for the religious life. 
 
 The necessity as well as the propriety for action in this 
 direction will appear from the following details. For con- 
 venience they are grouped under two heads : "The Restrictions 
 of Religious Work," and " The Rights of Missionaries in 
 Turkey." 
 
 I. 
 
 THE RESTRICTIONS OF RELIGIOUS WORK. 
 A. Restrictions on the Circulation of Books. 
 
 1. In November, 1890, two boxes of books destined to the 
 city of Bitlis were detained " for examination " by the authori- 
 ties at Erzroum while in transit through that city. They were 
 released, in part, six months later. The books were chiefly 
 Sunday-school lesson books for Bible study, published at the 
 expense of the Religious Tract Society, London, by the 
 American Mission ; they were all officially authorized, and the 
 boxes containing them were sealed with the leaden seal of the 
 Constantinople Custom House to indicate that examination 
 had been made. 
 
 2. In 1890 and 1891 the authorities at Erzroum con- 
 fiscated about 500 volumes of officially authorized books, 
 consisting chiefly of the Church Hvmnal and the Bible 
 Dictionary, in Armenian. 
 
 3. In December, 1889, a travelling salesman of Bibles and 
 other authorized books, issued by the American Press at 
 Beyrout, was arrested at Dere Zor, in Mesopotamia. Seventy- 
 nine copies of the Bible or its parts, and 179 volumes of other 
 authorized books, were confiscated and publicly burned as 
 " injurious." 
 
 4. On the 22nd of January, 1890, six copies of the Bible 
 Dictionary, and 54 copies of the Church Hymnal in 
 Armenian, were seized at the Custom House at Galata " for 
 examination," although officially authorized for publication. 
 On the 7th of February in the same year, 50 copies of the 
 Church Hymnal were taken from boxes passing through this 
 
5 
 
 Custom House en route to Teheran, Persia, a place over ship- 
 ments to which the Turkish Government has no jurisdiction. 
 On the i8th and 25th of March in the same year, the same 
 officials seized 140 Scriptures, or parts of Scriptures, 15 Bible 
 Dictionaries, and 255 copies of the Hymnal, from boxes 
 destined to different points in Asiatic Turkey. All of these 
 books, although admittedly authorized for publication, were 
 retained " for examination " more than eighteen months. 
 
 5. In March, 1889, a Colporteur selling Bibles in the 
 province of Angora, was arrested, his books seized, and with 
 himself sent to the capital of the province, where he was 
 compelled to wait until orders to release these authorized 
 books could be obtained from Constantinople. 
 
 6. In April, i88g, a Colporteur selling Bibles and other 
 authorized books in the province of Aleppo, was arrested, and 
 his books seized, he obtaining release only through Consular 
 interference to demand respect for the authorization of the 
 books. 
 
 7. In July, 1889, a Colporteur selling Bibles and other 
 authorized books in the town of Alacham, district of Janik, was 
 compelled by the authorities to discontinue his sales. 
 
 8. In October, 1889, the authorities at Erzroum seized a 
 quantity of Bibles while in transit to the Bible Society's depots 
 in the interior of the country, and retained them, notwith- 
 standing the official authorization. 
 
 g. In October, 1889, the authorities at Salonica obliged a 
 Colporteur to surrender his officially authorized books in order 
 that the provincial Censor might review the judgment of his 
 superiors on their innocuousness. The books, having been 
 released after a week's detention, were offered for sale, upon 
 which the Colporteur was again arrested, and his books once 
 more seized. They were not returned to him for several days. 
 
 10. In February, 1890, a Colporteur was arrested in the 
 province of Sivas, and his authorized books were seized. 
 Having been at last released, three weeks later he was again 
 arrested in a neighbouring district, of which the authorities 
 preferred not to recognise the official authorization of the books, 
 nor the second authorization of the Censor of the first district. 
 He was sent three days' journey under guard, as if guilty of 
 selling " injurious " books, and was finally released on bail. 
 
 11. In March, 1890, two Colporteurs were arrested in 
 the province of Salonica, and their books seized, although 
 authorized for publication, on the pretence that the provincial 
 authorities alone are competent to authorize books for sale in 
 the province. 
 
6 
 
 12. In July, i8go, the book depot of the Bible and Mis- 
 sionary Societies in Marash was closed, and a large number 
 of authorized books were seized by the authorities. At the 
 same time the travelling agent of the American Bible Society 
 was arrested, and his books seized. He was released only on 
 promising not to take the journey to sell Bibles, which he 
 had contemplated. 
 
 13. In November, 1890, a Bible Society Colporteur in 
 the province of Broosa was arrested and detained three weeks, 
 on pretence that his licence was not sufficient ; a pretence 
 which was finally set aside by the Sublime Porte. 
 
 14. In the same month another Colporteur was arrested, 
 and imprisoned at a town in the province of Adrianople, 
 although his books were all published under official autho- 
 rization. Having been sent as a culprit under guard to 
 Adrianople, he was there released. 
 
 15. In i8go and i8gi the authorities at Salonica mutilated 
 by tearing out leaves the Bible Dictionary in Bulgarian, 
 authorized by the Ministry of Public Instruction. 
 
 16. In February, 1891, the authorities of Monastir refused 
 to allow the circulation of authorized books except as the 
 provincial censor might see fit to permit. 
 
 17. In i8go and 1891, the authorities of Monastir notified 
 the Colporteurs of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and 
 the American Bible Society, that they may sell books in places 
 named in advance only. A list of places having been made 
 out, where the Colporteurs expected to sell books, the 
 Colporteurs were forbidden to visit several of these places. 
 
 18. In March, 1891, the authorities at Alacham, district 
 of Janik, forbade the sale of the Bible in that place, although 
 authorized for publication, and arrested the bookseller, sending 
 his books under guard to Samsoun. He himself was imprisoned 
 as a criminal for some time. His books were detained 
 for six months ; some of these Bibles are still in custody, 
 although others were released. 
 
 ig. In June, i8gi, a Bible Colporteur was arrested in the 
 province of Erzroum, and imprisoned 12 days " for selling 
 injurious books." His Bibles, authorized for publication, were 
 seized and held for six weeks. 
 
 20. In August, 1891, a Colporteur in the province of 
 Adrianople, was deprived of his books, all being duly authorized, 
 which were held " for examination " during several days. 
 
 21. In November, i8gi, another Colporteur in the 
 province of Adrianople, was deprived of his books which have 
 notyetbeenrestoredtohim. All were authorized for publication. 
 
7 
 
 22. In November, 1891, the authorities of Trebizond pro- 
 hibited the Colporteurs of the American Bible Society from 
 selling Bibles in the villages of the province, or in the streets 
 of the city. 
 
 23. In November, 1891, the authorities at Samsoun pro- 
 hibited sales by Colporteurs in that place and in the surrounding 
 villages. 
 
 24. In November, 1891, the authorities at Adana arrested 
 the Superintendent of Sales of the American Bible Society 
 while travelling to sell authorized books. At the same time 
 66 Bibles were seized from the book shop in Adana. 
 
 25. In November, 1891, a Bible Colporteur was arrested, 
 and his books seized at Geordes. He is still held on bail 
 while the authorities are examining the Bibles to see if they 
 are " injurious." 
 
 26. In September, 1891, the authorities at Erzroum seized 
 from boxes in transit through that city, destined to Bitlis, 151 
 volumes of authorized books. 
 
 27. In December, i89i,the authorities at Adana informed 
 the American Bible Society's agent there that they will no 
 longer recognise the authorization for publication as sufficient, 
 but must decide for themselves what books are injurious. 
 
 28. In the course of 1891 the Ministry of Public Instruction 
 at Constantinople has forbidden the publication of the Scrip- 
 tures in the Albanian language, stopping this enterprise of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, although the Bible has 
 been authorized to be printed in all languages in Turkey. 
 
 29. In December, 1891, the authorities of Erzroum 
 detained the Turkish Lexicon of Sir James Redhouse, pub- 
 lished by the American Mission at Constantinople with the 
 authorization of the Ministry of Public Instruction. After 
 holding the book for two weeks they defaced it by blotting out 
 with ink the Turkish word signifying Armenia. 
 
 30. In November, i89i,the authorities at Dede Aghaj, near 
 the Dardanelles, seized a Bible from the hands of a traveller, 
 notwithstanding the record of official authorization. They 
 sent the volume " for examination" to Adrianople, ^nd gave 
 the owner the choice between losing the book entirely, waiting 
 a week or two for a verdict from the Governor-General, of 
 going himself to Adrianople (100 miles distant) whence he had 
 just come with the book. The practice of seizing books from 
 the hands of travellers is of almost daily occurrence, in many 
 places the owner of the book being held under bail until a 
 judgment can be had from the capital of the province, whether 
 the book is a fit one for him to read. 
 
8 
 
 The frequency of these interferences with a lawful trade of 
 more than sixty years standing, is sometimes explained by 
 small officials who declare their opinion that all Christian 
 books are dangerous. The following translation of the project 
 of law relating to the Colportage of authorized books, which is 
 now under consideration of the Sublime Porte, offers much 
 ground for such an opinion. Art. III. makes the licence to sell 
 books, unlike that for any other trade, obtainable only by petition 
 to the highest authority of the province. Moreover, it provides 
 that a foreigner must give up his national rights before he can 
 engage in such a trade. Art. VI. makes it perilous for anyone 
 to offer books for sale on faith of the official authorization, for 
 it permits officials to punish men for selhng books which the 
 officials deem injurious, without regard to the authorization. 
 Art. IX., by giving all officials the right to prohibit book sales 
 in their districts without assigned reason, cannot but suggest 
 to the official that there must be something about the use of 
 books which is inherently dangerous. 
 
 The proposed law offers to the Societies, which have 
 invested large capital in the lav/ful business of publishing the 
 books, ground for the strongest protests against such needless 
 precautions to hamper the sales of works, of whose innocuous 
 character the Government satisfies itself before authorization 
 to publish. 
 
 31. — Translation of the Projected Law on Book 
 Colportage. 
 
 " Art. I. Those who sell in the streets or other places 
 books or tracts of any description, or pictures or photographs, 
 or any printed or written papers, excepting newspapers, by 
 carrying them or placing them on some means of conveyance, 
 or by spreading them out on temporary exhibition, are called 
 book-hawkers (Colporteurs). 
 
 "Art. II. Book-hawkers are required to obtain a licence, 
 in the capital from the Prefecture of the city, and in the 
 provinces from the Municipality. 
 
9 
 
 " Art. III. In order to obtain a licence, those who wish 
 to become book-hawkers are required to draw up a petition 
 containing name, title or profession, age, residence, nationality, 
 and the names of the places where it is proposed to carry- 
 about (books), as well as the promise not to sell books, tracts 
 or other papers or pictures or photographs which are opposed 
 to the public peace, to morals, or to the religious sects. To 
 this is to be attached a testimonial from some honourable 
 quarter as to the good repute of the applicant. This petition 
 is to be presented in Constantinople or its dependencies to the 
 Prefect of the city, and in the provinces to the Governor- 
 General of the Vilayet ; or, in those districts which are 
 separately administered, to the Governor of the District. In case 
 the petitioner is a foreigner, he is required to add to his petition 
 and his testimonial a bond certified by the Embassy of the 
 Government of his ahegiance, whereby he agrees to be treated 
 as an Ottoman subject. 
 
 " Art. IV. These who have not entirely fulfilled the con- 
 ditions laid down in Art. III. will not be given licences for 
 Colportage. 
 
 " Art. V. If Colporteurs shall call out the books which they 
 sell by any words, aside from the title, which suggest the contents 
 of the books, their licences are to be given up, and they them- 
 selves are to be fined in accordance with Art. 254 of the Penal 
 Code. 
 
 "Art VI. Book-hawkers who knowingly seU any kind of 
 pernicious or immoral books, tracts, pictures, photo- 
 graphs, or other papers, either openly or secretly, are 
 regarded as accessories in crime with the authors or printers, 
 and besides suffering the treatment prescribed by law, they 
 will be restrained from exercising their calling for from one to 
 three rr.onths. 
 
 "Art. VII. The force of the licence is limited to the time 
 specified in it, and if the books and tracts relate to religious 
 matters they are not to be sold in the vicinity of any place of 
 worship. 
 
 " Art. VIII. Those who sell books, tracts, pictures, photo- 
 graphs, or other papers printed or prepared without permission, 
 or imported from abroad, and those who engage in book- 
 hawking without obtaining an offiicial licence, are fined from 
 three to ten Turkish pounds. 
 
 "Art. IX. It is in the hands of the Government to 
 prevent the purchase and sale of books, tracts, and other 
 papers, whose printing and publication rests on an official 
 authorization, when their circulation in some places is thought 
 
10 
 
 to be harmful for the time being. Booksellers selling such 
 books within the prohibited districts give up their licence, and 
 are punished in conformity with Art. VIII. 
 
 " Art. X. The term of validity of the licence and the course 
 to be pursued in regard to its being limited to the owner, 
 conforms to the system in vogue with regard to trade licenses. 
 
 " Art. XI. Book-hawkers ai^e subjected to the inspection 
 of the officers of the Ministry of Public Instruction, of the 
 Municipality and of the police. 
 
 "Art. XII. The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry 
 of Public Instruction are charged with the execution of this 
 law." 
 
 B. — Restrictions on the Exercise of the Missionary 
 
 Profession. 
 
 1. The following is a tfanslation of the essential parts of a Note 
 
 communicating to the Foreign Diplomatic representatives in 
 Constantinople the decree in reference to the "transformation" 
 of dwelling-houses into "churches or schools." The Note is 
 dated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aug. 17, 1891. 
 " It occurs sometimes that Missionaries or Religieux trans- 
 form in an irregular manner into churches or schools, buildings 
 which they construct or buy as private houses. In order to 
 stop this abuse it has been decided that hereafter the buildings 
 which have undergone such a transformation without authori- 
 zation by Imperial Firman, will be restored to their primitive 
 purpose. Instructions in this sense having been given to the 
 competent authorities, the Minister of Foreign Affairs begs 
 . . . . to be kind enough on its part to inform those who 
 are concerned." 
 
 2. The following is a translation of an order sent early in 1891 
 
 by the Sublime Porte to the Governors of Provinces upon 
 this subject : — 
 
 " While it is prohibited to construct such estabhshments 
 as churches and schools without superior authority, it has been 
 the custom in many places to establish such institutions and 
 afterwards to ask the Imperial Government to kindly grant 
 permits for them, and this privilege has been put to a bad use. 
 Since the prohibition is unquestioned, and the necessity for 
 enforcing it is evident, by decision of the Council of State, 
 approved by decree of His Imperial Majesty, hereafter, any 
 official who allows the making of churches and schools, and 
 such like, without permission, will be brought to judgment." 
 
II 
 
 Neither of these two documents shew precisely what is the 
 object aimed at.* The natural answer of a Missionary to a 
 charge of having illegally transformed his house into a church 
 or school, is that it has undergone no such transformation, and 
 pays as a dwelling-house the taxes laid upon it. But the 
 average provincial official, informed that he is to be brought to 
 judgment if he allows an undefined something in regard to 
 schools and churches, deems it safest to stop Divine worship 
 and close schools held in buildings which have not an Imperial 
 Firman. In this sense, it has been learned, the decree is 
 interpreted by many officials in Government Bureaux in 
 Constantinople. Interpreted in this way, the order implies the 
 prohibition of any new Missionary operations in Turkey, and 
 perhaps even the closing of long-established undertakings, 
 unless the Missionary can induce the Sultan to protect him by 
 a Firman. 
 
 3. The following are instances where this interpretation has been 
 given to this decree by provincial officiah : — 
 
 {a.) The Governor-General of Van having closed an 
 American mission-school at the village of Agantz, was directed 
 to allow it to be reopened under the terms of the agreement 
 by which American schools of long standing are not to be 
 closed on the sole ground of a lack of a formal permit. On 
 the appearance of the above order the Governor-General 
 promptly closed the school again, declaring the meaning of 
 the order to be that no Christian school in the smallest village 
 can be carried on without special Imperial Firman. 
 
 (6.) In October, 1891, the Governor-General of Adana 
 notified the American Missionaries, in that province, that all of 
 their schools will be closed, unless, within three months, they 
 obtain an Imperial Firman authorizing the continuance of 
 each one. 
 
 (c.) About the same time the authorities in Antioch served 
 a notice of similar tenor upon the Missionaries of the Irish 
 Presbyterian Church in that city. 
 
 {d.) In August of 1891, the Governor of Herek, in the 
 province of Sivas, closed and sealed up the Protestant chapel 
 in that place, and forbade meeting for worship in any other 
 room, saying, "Any and every place where Christians meet for 
 
 * See, however, Postcript on page ig. 
 
X2 
 
 prayer is a church, and must have an Imperial Firman before 
 worship can be held." 
 
 {e.) An American Missionary at Bourdour, in the province 
 of Iconium, bought a piece cf land, and, obtaining the usual 
 municipal permit, commenced to build himself a house. In 
 October, 1891, just as the roof was about to be tiled, the 
 Governor of the district stopped the work, and refused to allow 
 the roof to be completed unless the owner would sign a bond 
 to the effect that Divine worship should not be statedly held in 
 the building, nor a school opened there. 
 
 These examples suffice to show the danger threatening 
 all Missionary institutions in Turkey, if the interpretation of 
 these officials is to become general. In many towns are tem- 
 porary residents in small numbers who desire to meet for 
 worship. In others, the native Protestant Community is too 
 poor to build church or school-house. Whether Missionaries 
 would offer to such a place of meeting, or whether the people 
 would meet for prayer in one of their own houses, according to 
 the interpretation put upon this decree, they may not meet 
 anywhere unless they can devote property to the construction 
 of a church and have it set apart by Firman. 
 
 But if worship in places which have not a Firman is to be 
 prohibited, perhaps it may be supposed that a Firman can be 
 easily obtained. On the contrary, if a Missionary applies for 
 a Firman he is often denied it on the ground that there are 
 none of his nation living in the place where he would build a 
 church or school. If a small group of native Protestants ask 
 it, they are in a fair way to be told that being few in number 
 they do not need a church or school. In the most favorable 
 circumstances a Firman for a Christian church or school in 
 Turkey cannot be expected to issue in less time than one year 
 from the date of application. 
 
 4. The following; are the ordinary conditions required by Turkish 
 regulations to be fulfilled before a Firman can be issued for 
 a Christian Church or school building : — 
 
 I. The owner of the property must consent to dedicate it 
 inalienably to the purpose specified. 
 
13 
 
 II. The land must be free from Mortmain lien (vakouf) to 
 any Mohammedan sanctuary, or, in view of the rarity in cities 
 of unencumbered land, the lien must be transformed into a 
 perpetual ground- rent of one per cent, per annum of the actual 
 value of the land and its buildings. This transformation into 
 ground-rent requires a special and separate authorization from 
 the Sultan. 
 
 III. The parties applying for church or school must show 
 that they have a proper number of families living in the district. 
 
 IV. The parties applying must show that they have money 
 to build, and must explain how they became possessed of this 
 money. 
 
 V. The plan of the building must be approved by the 
 Municipality. 
 
 VI. An official plan of the land and its surroundings must 
 be made by the local city engineers to go with the application. 
 
 yil. The application for the Firman must be approved in 
 writing by the following : — 
 
 (a.) The neighbours of all sects. 
 (b.) The nearest Muslim notables. 
 
 (c.) The Municipality, which must also certify that the 
 site is not in a Mohammedan quarter, and is not " near " a 
 mosque. 
 
 (d.) The Governor of the Province and his Council. 
 (e.) The Minister of the Interior (provisionally). 
 (/.) The Grand Vezir (provisionally). 
 
 ig.) The Court of Supervision of Mortmain Trusts, which 
 has to give judgment in regular form in favour of the arrange- 
 ment proposed. 
 
 (A.) The Minister of the Evkaf (Mortmain Trusts) and his 
 Council. 
 
 (j.) If the application is for a school, the Minister of 
 Public Instruction and his Council. If it is for a church, the 
 Minister of Justice and Public Worship and his Council. 
 
 {k.) The Grand Vezir (again provisionally). 
 
 (l.) The Council of State. 
 
 (;«) The Council of Ministers. 
 
 (n.) His Imperial Majesty. 
 
 Failure to secure the approval of any one of the above series 
 stops all proceedings, save for such as have direct access to the 
 ear of the Sovereign. A single notable in the town where the 
 church or school is to be built, can often prevent its construction 
 bya black-ball vote. The application of the Armenian Protestants 
 
of Constantinople for a Firman to build a church has been 
 detained ten years in its 'earliest stages — by certain local men 
 of influence, who wrongly certify, now that it is in a Mohamme- 
 dan quarter, now that it is " near " a Mosque, and now that 
 there are no Protestants in the quarter where 40 or 50 
 Protestant families are almost heart-broken over the opposition 
 to their having a Church. 
 
 Enough has been said to show that application for an 
 Imperial Firman does not offer a means of escape from the 
 hardships of a decree understood to mean that Missionaries may 
 not exercise their profession in the houses which they 
 inhabit. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE RIGHTS OF MISSIONARIES IN TURKEY. 
 
 A.— The Right to Circulate Books. 
 
 No argument is required to show that after the sovereign 
 right of the Ruler of the Empire to decide what may and what 
 - may not be published in his domains has been exercised, 
 and respect for the laws of religious liberty has led to the issue 
 of permits to print the Bible and other religious books, justice 
 requires that this authorization should not be nullified by 
 restrictive orders given to the officials who supervise the 
 operations of the book agents. After a Society established in 
 Turkey has incurred the expense of printing a book on faith 
 of the permit to print it, the principles of the Commercial 
 Treaties ought to protect the Society in its freedom to sell its 
 ware under the authorization which has made them lawful 
 merchandise. Reference to the list given above of expensive 
 and vexatious interferences in the book trade of the Societies, 
 will sufficiently show the bearing of this remark. It is worthy 
 of note, however, that the perpetual examinations and re-exami- 
 nations of authorized and well-known books, which are a chief 
 obstacle to success in the book trade in Turkey are contrary to 
 
15 
 
 law. The following decree, exempting authorized books from 
 detention for examination, is published in the official collection 
 of the laws of the Ottoman Empire (Dustur) : — 
 
 " Although it was formerly ordered that books published in 
 the Empire, or imported from abroad, should be examined by 
 Custom House officials, and those deemed injurious seized, 
 yet, since the treatment like those published abroad, of books 
 published within the Empire, and transported from one place 
 to another in Turkey, has been found to hinder the desired 
 development of the art of printing, and since no books can 
 be published in the Empire without first obtaining a permit 
 for the same, after examination of their contents, the fact that 
 books have been published by permission will be regarded as 
 sufficient, only books imported from abroad being examined at 
 the Custom House." — 5 Sefer, 1293 (1876). 
 
 B. — The General Right of Missionaries to Exercise 
 THEIR Profession in Turkey. 
 
 The following documents show that Missionaries have a 
 right, fortified by what amounts to an international agreement, 
 to exercise freely their profession in the Turkish Empire in 
 places which they inhabit or control. 
 
 I. Translation of an Extract from the French Capitulations of 
 
 1740. 
 
 "Art. 82 The Bishops and members of 
 
 the religious orders under the French Emperor who are in my 
 Empire, shall be protected so long as they keep within the 
 limits of their calling, and no one shall prevent them from 
 exercising their rights according to their custom, in the 
 churches which are in their hands, as well as in the other 
 places which they inhabit, and when our tributary (non- 
 Muslim) subjects and the French go and come between their 
 respective residences for sales, purchases or other business, 
 they shall not be molested, contrary to law, on account of 
 these visits " 
 
 2. Extract from the British Capitulation of 1809. 
 
 " Art. 18. That all capitulations and privileges granted to 
 to the Venetian, French, and other princes who are in amity 
 with the Sublime Porte, having been in like manner through 
 
i6 
 
 favor granted to the English by virtue of our special command, 
 the same shall be always observed according to the form and 
 tenor thereof, so that no one in the future do presume to violate 
 the same or act in contravention thereof." 
 
 3. Extract from the Treaty of Berlin, 1878. 
 
 " Art. 62 The freedom and outward exercise 
 
 of all forms of worship are assured to all, and no hinderance 
 shall be offered either to the hierarchical organisation of the 
 various communions, or their relations to their spiritual chiefs. 
 
 " Ecclesiastics, pilgrims and monks of ah nationalities tra- 
 velling in Turkey in Europe or in Turkey in Asia, shall enjoy 
 the same rights, advantages and privileges. 
 
 "The right of official protection by the Diplomatic and 
 Consular Agents of the Powers is recognised, both as regards 
 the above-mentioned persons and their religious, charitable 
 and other establishments in the holy places and elsewhere." 
 
 4. The attitude of the U nited States on this subject. 
 This is shown by the following extracts from a despatch of 
 Mr. Bayard, Secretary of State of the United States of America, 
 to Mr. Straus, U.S. Minister at Constantinople, dated April 20, 
 1887, and published in the volume for 1887 of " The Foreign 
 Relations of the United States ": — 
 
 " _ • • ■ • The construction given by Turkey to these 
 treaties, and especially to the capitulations to Great Britain, 
 quoted above is evidenced by her continued protection of the 
 American Missions in Turkey, with their hospitals and schools, 
 m which Turkish patients are received and Turkish children 
 instructed .... The protection by Turkev of the 
 schools established by other religious communions on 
 Turkish soil, a protection which has existed from a time 
 coincident with the establishment of such schools, shows that 
 Turkey has regarded them as among the incidents of the terri- 
 torial rights assigned by the capitulations to those religious 
 communions. ^Ve have, therefore, in this protection not only 
 a contemporaneous construction of the Turkish capitulations, 
 treaties, and edicts, but a construction so continuous that it has 
 the force of settled law .... 
 
 " From what has been said it will be seen, therefore, that 
 the right of Protestant citizens of the United States to conduct 
 their various missions, chapels, hospitals, and schools, in the 
 way they have been heretofore conducted, rests on the privi- 
 leges of extra-territoriality granted to Christian foreigners in 
 Turkey, as expanded in the present case by usage established 
 
17 
 
 in Turkey so as to enable persons of Turkish nationality to be 
 received in such hospitals and schools. 
 
 " So far as concerns the right of Americans, whatever be 
 their religious faith, to protection in the exercise of that faith, 
 the right rests on the concessions of extra-territoriality above 
 stated. So far as it concerns their right to receive in their 
 hospitals and schools (otherwise than as servants) persons of 
 Turkish nationality, it rests on usage amounting from duration, 
 and the incidents assigned to it by law, to a Charter." 
 
 5. The conformity of this view with that of the Ottoman 
 Government in the past as to the right of Missionaries freely 
 to exercise their profession in Turkey, is seen from the 
 following : — 
 
 In 1867, Fuad Pasha, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, sent 
 to the Turkish representatives in Europe a circular on the 
 progress made by the Ottoman Government in giving effect 
 to the Hatti Humayoun of 1856. The chmax of his claim in 
 regard to the completeness of religious liberty in Turkey, is in 
 these pregnant words : — 
 
 " Not only no Christian or other non-Muslim is or has 
 been constrained to accept Islamism, but the notion of 
 Mohammedan proselytism is unknown in the Ottoman Empire, 
 so that it may be claimed with truth, in respect to religious 
 propaganda, that none exists in Turkey save that which the 
 various Christian sects carry on with a freedom which has no 
 limits but the absolute necessities of pubhc order." 
 
 6. Note on the usage of the past in regard to the freedom 
 of Missionaries to preach and to teach in Turkey : — 
 
 " Usage alone establishes a right, but it also serves to show 
 the interpretation put upon treaties in cases where a new inter- 
 pretation is proposed." 
 
 (a.) The usage of the past shows that the Ottoman Govern- 
 ment has hitherto interpreted the treaties as conferring upon 
 Missionaries the right of holding religious worship according 
 to the custom of their communion in their private houses. 
 During sixty years American Missionaries have enjoyed this 
 right unquestioned in all parts of Turkey. It has always been 
 conceded that they are entitled to enjoy the rights conferred 
 on the French clergy by the Treaty of 1740 and hence that no 
 
i8 
 
 Ottoman official may call in question the act of the Missionary 
 in holding Divine worship in houses which he owns or controls, 
 or in admitting to such worship such of the people of the 
 country as choose to attend. 
 
 (b.) The usage of the past shows that the Turkish Govern- 
 ment has formerly and continuously interpreted the capitula- 
 tions as conferring on Missionaries the right to open and 
 carry on schools. It has not only not interfered with such 
 schools in their establishment and continuance to the present 
 period, but it has repeatedly intervened to protect them against 
 unlawful aggression on the part of ill-disposed persons. Moreover, 
 in the Decree of 1864 concerning the Custom House franchise 
 accorded to religious bodies and their establishments of benevo- 
 lence, the Ottoman Government has made formal definition of 
 what these establishments are understood to comprise. It recites 
 for the information of all concerned (Art 3), that " Since, to the 
 convents named in Art. 2. {i.e., of all religious orders in Turkey) 
 there are or may be attached, either in whole or in part, 
 seminaries, and establishments or works of benevolence, such 
 as hospitals, dispensaries for the care of needy and indigent 
 sick, orphanages, free hoarding and day schools for the in- 
 struction of poor children, and hospices, the Custom House 
 will accord to these seminaries, and to each of these works of 
 benevolence, the annual allowance of franchise, which will be 
 distinct, be it well understood, from that given to the persons 
 belonging to the convent." 
 
 There is no hint here of authorizations or Firmans for 
 these schools, and at the time of the issue of this decree the 
 demand for such had never been made. The decree provides 
 that new schools are entered on the list for enjoyment of the 
 franchise upon a Consular certificate to the fact of their 
 existence. And to-day the Consular certificate is still the 
 document which compels the Administration of the Custom 
 Houses to enter new schools upon the free list. This 
 shows conclusively that Missionaries were held, as religious 
 bodies in Turkey have always been held, to be by 
 reason of their religious vocation engaged in teaching the 
 young in schools forming a part of the establishments where 
 they are free to exercise their profession. 
 
19 
 
 But no room remains for denial of the interpretation to be 
 
 put upon the usage of the past, in respect to the Hberty to 
 estabHsh schools, after perusal of the following : — 
 
 7. Extract from the Haiti Hiimayoun, noted in the Treaty of 
 Paris as an obligation voluntarily assumed by Turkey toward 
 all of the powers. 
 
 " Moreover, each Community is authorized (Turkish mezun) 
 to establish its own schools of science, of art, and of industry, 
 only the method of instruction and the choice of teachers in 
 this class of Public Schools being under the supervision and 
 inspection of a mixed Council of Instruction, whose members 
 will be appointed by ourself." 
 
 The conclusion from the examination of these documents 
 can hardly be other than that the right of Missionaries to 
 exercise their profession in Turkey is incontestable. In fact, 
 every examination of the subject only emphasizes the greatness 
 of the innovation which proposes that the Missionary may 
 neither hold worship nor open schools until he has fulfilled the 
 cumbersome formalities connected with securing a Firman of 
 authorization from the Sovereign himself. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 Since the above was in type the following order, issued by 
 the Sublime Porte explains fully the attitude toward freedom 
 of worship and freedom of education, which has been adopted 
 by the Ottoman Government. 
 
 Translation of General Order of January, 1892. 
 " The prohibition against founding or opening, in the 
 Ottoman Empire, schools or places of worship without obtain- 
 ing official permission is reiterated. Moreover, peremptory in- 
 structions should be given to those concerned, that in respect 
 to schools and places of worship, which have been opened 
 without official permission, it will be necessary for them, within 
 
20 
 
 a period fixed according to the locality, to obtain, by the usual 
 method, permits for these also, and, further, that those 
 schools and places of worship which do not obtain permits 
 will be closed at the expiration of the specified time. It must 
 also be made known to them that those who found schools or 
 places of worship without permission will be treated according 
 to provisions of Art. 129 of the Law of Public Instruction, 
 and to the present edict. The decision upon these points of 
 the High Council of Ministers having received by Irade the 
 sanction of His Imperial Majesty, the orders for its execution 
 have been given."