Gedik Pasha Mission House

By the time that this service is finished the visitor is tired and wants to go back to the hotel for dinner. But the missionary says firmly but gently, “ You have come out to see the missionary work in the city and you ought to finish seeing it.” So they go on another half mile into the very heart of the old part of the city, and come to a shabby old shed which they enter, and see empty seats for some two hundred people, with a few of the congregation of Armenians which has just been dismissed, lingering to finish their chat before they go home. Near by, they enter a great stone house, which the visitor is told is the Gedik Pasha Mission House of the Woman’s Board of Missions. Some American ladies receive them cordially and give them a lunch at railroad speed, because Sunday School begins at half-past twelve.

After lunch the whole of the Mission House is a bee-hive for a couple of hours. There is no room in it large enough to seat all the people at once, so that for the preliminary exercises all sit as they can in adjoining rooms with doors wide open. The visitor is taken through the house to see the various classes; the old men and the young men, the old women and the young women, and the boys graded by themselves and the girls by themselves, and the infant classes with their pictures and their frequent hymns. He is shown, also, the further subdivisions made necessary by the fact that some of the people who come know Greek only, and some, Armenian only, and some, Turkish only. And he is caused to note that the work is not done by the missionary ladies alone, but that natives have come forward to do the work of the teacher tailor-made bulgaria tours.

Sabbath School at the Mission House

Right there is an illustration of the manner in which the missionary work does its most effective and permanent good service. It is in multiplying workers, so that by the grace of God the single labourers become a hundred or a thousand because the Gospel cannot be hid nor can it abide alone when it has fallen into the sincere heart. He sees also an illustration of the capabilities of this city as a place in which to do the work of the missionary. Not half of the people in the Sabbath School at the Mission House are permanent residents of Constantinople. The other half are from distant portions of the country to which they will take what is taught them here in this Mission House, to brood over the lesson until it causes at least some improvement in life. As these facts are pointed out to the visitor, lie can not but feel enthusiasm when the reckoning of attendance is given him, and he finds that about three hundred people will attend the Bible lessons at the Mission House almost any Sunday.

Perhaps the stranger is more than satisfied with his morning’s work. But he is not allowed to stop his travels about the great city. He is made to go back to the Bible House again that he may see there at three o’clock a meeting of the Young Men’s Christian Association managed by a clear-headed young Armenian. From there again he is taken across the city to a district near the old harbour of the Wheat Merchants on the Sea of Marmora, where he finds another congregation of Greeks, coming down stairs from an upper room which serves as a chapel at Ivoumkapou, and where he sits a while to hear the missionary preach in Turkish to another congregation which collects as the Greeks disperse.

Gedik Pasha Mission House

By the time that this service is finished the visitor is tired and wants to go back to the hotel for dinner. But the missionary says firmly but gently, “ You have come out to see the missionary work in the city and you ought to finish seeing it.” So they go on another half mile into the very heart of the old part of the city, and come to a shabby old shed which they enter, and see empty seats for some two hundred people, with a few of the congregation of Armenians which has just been dismissed, lingering to finish their chat before they go home. Near by, they enter a great stone house, which the visitor is told is the Gedik Pasha Mission House of the Woman’s Board of Missions. Some American ladies receive them cordially and give them a lunch at railroad speed, because Sunday School begins at half-past twelve.

After lunch the whole of the Mission House is a bee-hive for a couple of hours. There is no room in it large enough to seat all the people at once, so that for the preliminary exercises all sit as they can in adjoining rooms with doors wide open. The visitor is taken through the house to see the various classes; the old men and the young men, the old women and the young women, and the boys graded by themselves and the girls by themselves, and the infant classes with their pictures and their frequent hymns. He is shown, also, the further subdivisions made necessary by the fact that some of the people who come know Greek only, and some, Armenian only, and some, Turkish only. And he is caused to note that the work is not done by the missionary ladies alone, but that natives have come forward to do the work of the teacher tailor-made bulgaria tours.

Sabbath School at the Mission House

Right there is an illustration of the manner in which the missionary work does its most effective and permanent good service. It is in multiplying workers, so that by the grace of God the single labourers become a hundred or a thousand because the Gospel cannot be hid nor can it abide alone when it has fallen into the sincere heart. He sees also an illustration of the capabilities of this city as a place in which to do the work of the missionary. Not half of the people in the Sabbath School at the Mission House are permanent residents of Constantinople. The other half are from distant portions of the country to which they will take what is taught them here in this Mission House, to brood over the lesson until it causes at least some improvement in life. As these facts are pointed out to the visitor, lie can not but feel enthusiasm when the reckoning of attendance is given him, and he finds that about three hundred people will attend the Bible lessons at the Mission House almost any Sunday.

Perhaps the stranger is more than satisfied with his morning’s work. But he is not allowed to stop his travels about the great city. He is made to go back to the Bible House again that he may see there at three o’clock a meeting of the Young Men’s Christian Association managed by a clear-headed young Armenian. From there again he is taken across the city to a district near the old harbour of the Wheat Merchants on the Sea of Marmora, where he finds another congregation of Greeks, coming down stairs from an upper room which serves as a chapel at Ivoumkapou, and where he sits a while to hear the missionary preach in Turkish to another congregation which collects as the Greeks disperse.

Anglican church at Kadikeuy

There are about 1200 of these native Protestants in Constantinople. Three churches have been organized among them, which manage their own ecclesiastical affairs independently of foreign control. The influence of these “ Gospel Christians ” must be reckoned upon in any summing up of forces that tend for the substitution of the service of God for the service of self in this place. Besides the native “ Gospel Churches ” in Constantinople there are congregations of English speaking Protestants connected with the chapel of the British Embassy and the Crimean memorial church in Pera, with the Union Evangelical Church which worships at the chapel of the Dutch Legation in Pera, with an Anglican church at Kadikeuy, the ancient Chalcedon, and with a little Union Church of English and Americans at Bebek on the Bosphorus.

German Protestant congregation at Bebek

There is also a German Protestant congregation at Bebek, and a more important one under the charge of the Chaplain of the German Embassy in Pera. All of these efforts to secure the spiritual culture of foreign residents of Constantinople are to be regarded as one in purpose and interest with missions among the natives, because people who do not know Christ learn of Him more influentially through the lives and conduct of his followers than through the most eloquent of sermons. It is entirely possible that an English or Swiss or German merchant, who is of incorruptible character, and who lives in Constantinople without thought of what is beyond the Bosphorus may exert a Christianizing influence in Bagdad through the return to that place of natives who have admired the Christian life of such business men tailor-made bulgaria tours.

Among these forces for the reform of life and character will be reckoned, too, every one of the foreign missionary establishments in Constantinople alluded to in the last chapter. As a type of the influence which such establishments may wield the work of the mission of the American Board may be described, since it is one of the oldest and largest of these institutions in the city.

After seeing the Colleges and the Bible House, the traveller sometimes leaves Constantinople with the idea that he has looked into all the enterprises of the American missionaries there, and that they do educational work alone. As a remedy for this idea the visitor has to be taken to see sights on Sunday. A missionary calls at the hotel at nine o’clock on Sunday morning, and takes the stranger to a chapel about two blocks away. There for the first time in his life the visitor hears “ Praise God from whom all blessings flow,” sung in Armenian to the tune of Old Hundred, and then listens to a prayer in Armenian offered by the preacher.

He is hurried away from this chapel, however, and taken to another two blocks farther along. Here an-other native congregation is assembled, and another pastor is in the midst of a service in the Greek language. There the visitor hears for the first time, perhaps, the Greek Testament read with its natural pronunciation. Thence again he is hurried a mile and a half to the Bible House, where in a neat chapel another Greek preacher is just finishing a very eloquent sermon. The bene-diction is pronounced and the congregation disperses.

The visitor wishes to go, too, when he discovers that an entirely different set of people are beginning to come into the chapel. Before he knows what is happening a new congregation has filled the place. It is composed of all classes of people, from the professional man and the merchant to the day-laborer and the donkey driver, and from the lady in silk to the tired handkerchief painter in her faded cotton dress. Then he hears for the first time a sermon in Turkish, to which the people pay profound attention, and which a Turkish officer or two also come in to hear. By their tunes he recognizes the hymns in Turkish, sung by every man, woman and child, roaring at full lung power. He further understands without the services of an interpreter, the collection, and drops a gold piece on the plate, to the vast amazement of the coppers and five-cent pieces into the midst of which it falls.

Anglican church at Kadikeuy

There are about 1200 of these native Protestants in Constantinople. Three churches have been organized among them, which manage their own ecclesiastical affairs independently of foreign control. The influence of these “ Gospel Christians ” must be reckoned upon in any summing up of forces that tend for the substitution of the service of God for the service of self in this place. Besides the native “ Gospel Churches ” in Constantinople there are congregations of English speaking Protestants connected with the chapel of the British Embassy and the Crimean memorial church in Pera, with the Union Evangelical Church which worships at the chapel of the Dutch Legation in Pera, with an Anglican church at Kadikeuy, the ancient Chalcedon, and with a little Union Church of English and Americans at Bebek on the Bosphorus.

German Protestant congregation at Bebek

There is also a German Protestant congregation at Bebek, and a more important one under the charge of the Chaplain of the German Embassy in Pera. All of these efforts to secure the spiritual culture of foreign residents of Constantinople are to be regarded as one in purpose and interest with missions among the natives, because people who do not know Christ learn of Him more influentially through the lives and conduct of his followers than through the most eloquent of sermons. It is entirely possible that an English or Swiss or German merchant, who is of incorruptible character, and who lives in Constantinople without thought of what is beyond the Bosphorus may exert a Christianizing influence in Bagdad through the return to that place of natives who have admired the Christian life of such business men tailor-made bulgaria tours.

Among these forces for the reform of life and character will be reckoned, too, every one of the foreign missionary establishments in Constantinople alluded to in the last chapter. As a type of the influence which such establishments may wield the work of the mission of the American Board may be described, since it is one of the oldest and largest of these institutions in the city.

After seeing the Colleges and the Bible House, the traveller sometimes leaves Constantinople with the idea that he has looked into all the enterprises of the American missionaries there, and that they do educational work alone. As a remedy for this idea the visitor has to be taken to see sights on Sunday. A missionary calls at the hotel at nine o’clock on Sunday morning, and takes the stranger to a chapel about two blocks away. There for the first time in his life the visitor hears “ Praise God from whom all blessings flow,” sung in Armenian to the tune of Old Hundred, and then listens to a prayer in Armenian offered by the preacher.

He is hurried away from this chapel, however, and taken to another two blocks farther along. Here an-other native congregation is assembled, and another pastor is in the midst of a service in the Greek language. There the visitor hears for the first time, perhaps, the Greek Testament read with its natural pronunciation. Thence again he is hurried a mile and a half to the Bible House, where in a neat chapel another Greek preacher is just finishing a very eloquent sermon. The bene-diction is pronounced and the congregation disperses.

The visitor wishes to go, too, when he discovers that an entirely different set of people are beginning to come into the chapel. Before he knows what is happening a new congregation has filled the place. It is composed of all classes of people, from the professional man and the merchant to the day-laborer and the donkey driver, and from the lady in silk to the tired handkerchief painter in her faded cotton dress. Then he hears for the first time a sermon in Turkish, to which the people pay profound attention, and which a Turkish officer or two also come in to hear. By their tunes he recognizes the hymns in Turkish, sung by every man, woman and child, roaring at full lung power. He further understands without the services of an interpreter, the collection, and drops a gold piece on the plate, to the vast amazement of the coppers and five-cent pieces into the midst of which it falls.

Great branches of the Eastern Church

Meanwhile not a week passes without inquiry at the Bible blouse for new books suitable for the family circle. People belonging to both of the great branches of the Eastern Church come, saying that only from the mission press do books issue which interest the children, and can be read by them without harm. “ But,” they add, “ our children have read all the books which you have published.” What a situation is this! Where a boy has read, by the time that he is twelve years old, every morally pure book which has been published within his mental range, someone has sinned against God in neglecting the duty of providing for his Christian culture.

There is full opportunity for circulating from Constantinople clean, and stimulating books among the people of the Eastern Church. The better class of these people are ready to clutch at all good books, throbbing with thought, even though published by foreigners belonging to the American Missions. Listen to what some of them say. An evangelical Armenian layman writes: “ What are we going to do with the children? They have nothing to read. The whole collection of books now existing suited to children consists of but three or four volumes. The strength of the missionary enterprise rests on its use of opportunities to shape the thoughts and lives of the children. We must have material to direct their minds tailor-made bulgaria tours.”

An Armenian evangelical pastor says: “ Once the trouble with our people was that they had no appetite for books. Now they have appetite but no food.”

The Eastern Church

An eminent bishop of the Eastern Church says: “ We have men who can write infidel books, but we have none who can write Christian books. That you must do. The Armenian presses of Venice and Vienna publish Roman Catholic literature, but do not help in the struggle against ungodliness. Mohammedans publish attacks on Christianity, and all the native Christians look to the missionaries to answer such attacks for they themselves cannot. Your mission is weak when it is weak in books.”

An Armenian Professor in a large College, says: “The Armenians are divided into two classes, the infidels and the undecided. What there is for the undecided to read in order that they may fix their minds, is a mass of infidel writings. That is practically all. It is absolutely necessary to increase the amount of Christian literature in order that the people may understand what true religion is, and in order to give preachers and others the latest material for answering the loose and impudent claims of infidel writers.”

The point of this whole discussion of the half forgotten uses of the press at Constantinople is that while there is now opportunity, the opportunity will not wait. For schools of every denomination all over the country arc pouring out partially educated young people who demand books to read. To these every printed word that conies from Constantinople seems like a drop from the fountain of truth. The very simplicity of their ardous to use their new powers threatens to make the press the instrument of their destruction. The vendors of the pander’s literature have already found that there is money in this situation. These rubbish-mongers are already hasting to turn into Oriental languages the rejected remainders of the literary garbage heaps of France.

No argument for action can increase the compulsive force of the facts as to such a catastrophe as a suspension of publication work at the mission press at Constantinople. The missionaries have been largely the agency for extending the knowledge of reading through the country. Before any one had thought of doing it they prepared books that the common people could understand. It is clear that a like opportunity cannot again occur if apathy or lack of foresight permits the apostles of sensuality to wrest preeminence in the field of literature from their hands.

Great branches of the Eastern Church

Meanwhile not a week passes without inquiry at the Bible blouse for new books suitable for the family circle. People belonging to both of the great branches of the Eastern Church come, saying that only from the mission press do books issue which interest the children, and can be read by them without harm. “ But,” they add, “ our children have read all the books which you have published.” What a situation is this! Where a boy has read, by the time that he is twelve years old, every morally pure book which has been published within his mental range, someone has sinned against God in neglecting the duty of providing for his Christian culture.

There is full opportunity for circulating from Constantinople clean, and stimulating books among the people of the Eastern Church. The better class of these people are ready to clutch at all good books, throbbing with thought, even though published by foreigners belonging to the American Missions. Listen to what some of them say. An evangelical Armenian layman writes: “ What are we going to do with the children? They have nothing to read. The whole collection of books now existing suited to children consists of but three or four volumes. The strength of the missionary enterprise rests on its use of opportunities to shape the thoughts and lives of the children. We must have material to direct their minds tailor-made bulgaria tours.”

An Armenian evangelical pastor says: “ Once the trouble with our people was that they had no appetite for books. Now they have appetite but no food.”

The Eastern Church

An eminent bishop of the Eastern Church says: “ We have men who can write infidel books, but we have none who can write Christian books. That you must do. The Armenian presses of Venice and Vienna publish Roman Catholic literature, but do not help in the struggle against ungodliness. Mohammedans publish attacks on Christianity, and all the native Christians look to the missionaries to answer such attacks for they themselves cannot. Your mission is weak when it is weak in books.”

An Armenian Professor in a large College, says: “The Armenians are divided into two classes, the infidels and the undecided. What there is for the undecided to read in order that they may fix their minds, is a mass of infidel writings. That is practically all. It is absolutely necessary to increase the amount of Christian literature in order that the people may understand what true religion is, and in order to give preachers and others the latest material for answering the loose and impudent claims of infidel writers.”

The point of this whole discussion of the half forgotten uses of the press at Constantinople is that while there is now opportunity, the opportunity will not wait. For schools of every denomination all over the country arc pouring out partially educated young people who demand books to read. To these every printed word that conies from Constantinople seems like a drop from the fountain of truth. The very simplicity of their ardous to use their new powers threatens to make the press the instrument of their destruction. The vendors of the pander’s literature have already found that there is money in this situation. These rubbish-mongers are already hasting to turn into Oriental languages the rejected remainders of the literary garbage heaps of France.

No argument for action can increase the compulsive force of the facts as to such a catastrophe as a suspension of publication work at the mission press at Constantinople. The missionaries have been largely the agency for extending the knowledge of reading through the country. Before any one had thought of doing it they prepared books that the common people could understand. It is clear that a like opportunity cannot again occur if apathy or lack of foresight permits the apostles of sensuality to wrest preeminence in the field of literature from their hands.

Half forgotten agency in Constantinople

The other department of the half-forgotten agency in Constantinople for elevation of the character of the people is the pulpit. This in- eludes all efforts by men or women to reach and arouse the dormant sense of need for communion with God, which is characteristic of the whole human race.

When the missionaries of the American Board went to Constantinople in 1831, they had no idea of interfering with the Eastern Church. They hoped to have the aid of the clergy in their efforts to enlighten the people. For a time they had this aid. But when it appeared that people cannot be enlightened without coming out of darkness, the clergy turned their bitterest denunciations against these disturbers of the sleep of ages. A Greek bishop, speaking to an English friend, once said: “ We want light, but the light that these people (the American missionaries) bring is a fire to burn us up.” lie would have the light withdrawn because where there is light there is heat. Something of the same feeling brought persecution upon those Armenians who, in 1840 to 1845, had learned to read the Bible and to prize its searching words tailor-made bulgaria tours.

Upon all Armenians

An intolerant Armenian Patriarch proclaimed a “ boycott ” upon all Armenians who should refuse to abandon relations with the American missionaries and their heresies. For the excommunication hurled at these people in the early forties was really a boycott. Ender the Turkish system the police is required to aid the Patriarch in matters of discipline. The men of evangelical views were forbidden to buy bread or to sell goods, to marry or be buried, and numbers of them were arrested when their shops had been closed, and were sent as “ without visible means of support ” into exile in Asia Minor. After some time the British Embassy and the Prussian Legation took up the case of these people and secured from the Porte an edict that Protestants should not be molested on account of their religious faith.

Now a curious thing happened. When an Armenian was persecuted as a ‘‘ Gospel heretic ” and applied to the police for protection, he was asked “ What are you ? ” Naturally he would answer “ I am an Armenian.” The police official would reply, “ If you are an Armenian, you must obey the commands of your bishop. I have orders which concern Protestants only as to protection against the interference of the bishops.” The man would then enter into explanations and the persecuted one would declare himself a Protestant, which he had never thought of doing until the Turk suggested it, for the sake of protection in the ordinary civil rights of man. Thus the list of Protestants at the Turkish police headquarters was opened and grew.

By this curious and unexpected requirement of the Turkish method of administering the affairs of Christian subjects of the Sultan, the “ Protestant community” in Turkey was formed. It is now a recognized body, with about 100,000 members in all parts of the empire, and a Civil Head at Constantinople who communicates with the Porte on all matters relating to the civil rights of its members, whether Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Anglicans, or of other denominations. The official name of this body is “ Protestant.” But its members do not like that name. It has no pertinence and was chosen by the Turkish Government merely because at the time of the persecution the Ambassadors of the Protestant Powers of Europe spoke of the people as Protestants. The people, whether orginally Greek, Armenian or Jew, call themselves “ Gospel Christians ” and it is better that they should hold to this name, for their attitude toward the Eastern Church is not one of hostility. They did not come out; they were cast out of its fold.

Half forgotten agency in Constantinople

The other department of the half-forgotten agency in Constantinople for elevation of the character of the people is the pulpit. This in- eludes all efforts by men or women to reach and arouse the dormant sense of need for communion with God, which is characteristic of the whole human race.

When the missionaries of the American Board went to Constantinople in 1831, they had no idea of interfering with the Eastern Church. They hoped to have the aid of the clergy in their efforts to enlighten the people. For a time they had this aid. But when it appeared that people cannot be enlightened without coming out of darkness, the clergy turned their bitterest denunciations against these disturbers of the sleep of ages. A Greek bishop, speaking to an English friend, once said: “ We want light, but the light that these people (the American missionaries) bring is a fire to burn us up.” lie would have the light withdrawn because where there is light there is heat. Something of the same feeling brought persecution upon those Armenians who, in 1840 to 1845, had learned to read the Bible and to prize its searching words tailor-made bulgaria tours.

Upon all Armenians

An intolerant Armenian Patriarch proclaimed a “ boycott ” upon all Armenians who should refuse to abandon relations with the American missionaries and their heresies. For the excommunication hurled at these people in the early forties was really a boycott. Ender the Turkish system the police is required to aid the Patriarch in matters of discipline. The men of evangelical views were forbidden to buy bread or to sell goods, to marry or be buried, and numbers of them were arrested when their shops had been closed, and were sent as “ without visible means of support ” into exile in Asia Minor. After some time the British Embassy and the Prussian Legation took up the case of these people and secured from the Porte an edict that Protestants should not be molested on account of their religious faith.

Now a curious thing happened. When an Armenian was persecuted as a ‘‘ Gospel heretic ” and applied to the police for protection, he was asked “ What are you ? ” Naturally he would answer “ I am an Armenian.” The police official would reply, “ If you are an Armenian, you must obey the commands of your bishop. I have orders which concern Protestants only as to protection against the interference of the bishops.” The man would then enter into explanations and the persecuted one would declare himself a Protestant, which he had never thought of doing until the Turk suggested it, for the sake of protection in the ordinary civil rights of man. Thus the list of Protestants at the Turkish police headquarters was opened and grew.

By this curious and unexpected requirement of the Turkish method of administering the affairs of Christian subjects of the Sultan, the “ Protestant community” in Turkey was formed. It is now a recognized body, with about 100,000 members in all parts of the empire, and a Civil Head at Constantinople who communicates with the Porte on all matters relating to the civil rights of its members, whether Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Anglicans, or of other denominations. The official name of this body is “ Protestant.” But its members do not like that name. It has no pertinence and was chosen by the Turkish Government merely because at the time of the persecution the Ambassadors of the Protestant Powers of Europe spoke of the people as Protestants. The people, whether orginally Greek, Armenian or Jew, call themselves “ Gospel Christians ” and it is better that they should hold to this name, for their attitude toward the Eastern Church is not one of hostility. They did not come out; they were cast out of its fold.

If you are a Christian be a Christian

For some weeks he read only the two pages de-voted to political news, and carefully burned the rest. Then one day he saw an article on the telephone on one of the other pages. After that he did not burn the paper until he had read its notes on current science. He noticed religious articles with a shudder until one day his eyes fell on the sentence “ If you are a Christian, be a Christian.”

That seemed sensible, and he read the whole article, though his conscience objected. To his amazement it contained no attacks on his own Church or his own faith, but was simply an urgent appeal for Christians to know and follow Jesus Christ. From that day the merchant read the whole paper every week. After some time the editor was surprised by a letter from this merchant enclosing money to pay for six copies of the paper to be sent for one year to various friends of his. The final outcome was the conversion of the Greek merchant, who is now a most earnest Christian worker. One of the most eloquent of the Armenian Protestant preachers in Turkey, ascribes his conversion to the reading of two books published in Armenian by the Mission: “ Pilgrim’s Progress,” and D’Aubigne’s “ History of the Reformation tailor-made bulgaria tours.”

Probably the reader, before this, has queried what propriety included this work in a chapter with such a title, if the Mission Press is doing so much at Constantinople. That press has done good work in the past, and a certain number of books exist in stock for future use. But no new books are being printed. The churches at home seem to have half-forgotten the enormous value of literature as a tool for demolishing old barriers. The educational branch of the work in Turkey is borne in mind. Fifty or more men and women specially trained for that branch of effort are cheerfully supported in Turkey. But few seem to remember the need to maintain trained specialists in literature in connection with the Mission. Yet the school, excepting those of the highest grade, where all the instruction is in English, cannot do its work without books in the languages of the country. Indeed it may be questioned whether it is right to awaken the mind by education, if we arc to neglect provision of books by which readers can grow.

The press at Constantinople

The conditions of efficient work by the press at Constantinople are fulfilled so far as the state of the people is concerned, and during the period while native writers are trying to fit themselves to supply the demands of the people, the Mission has the field of letters largely at its command. Surely the powers of darkness overreached themselves in producing a condition which forces the missionary to begin his work with teaching men to read. This one fact unexpectedly gives the missionary priority of occupancy of the field of literature in almost every country which he enters.

There is Providential importance in this fact. God designs the missionary to keep this leadership in literature in his own hands. By diligent use of printing facilities the modern revival of letters throughout Asia will take place under Christian auspices. Yet when we turn to the single publishing establishment of the Missions in Turkey we see none of the fiery activity which its importance demands. In place of applying its tremendous power to the problems of these awakening races, the printing apparatus at Constantinople is crippled for lack of funds! Twenty years ago six missionary specialists using different languages, found full occupation at Constantinople in literary work. Now two veterans only can be afforded for it. Then $26,000 annually was at the disposal of the Publication Committee. Now an allowance of $9,000 only, is available for all the printing done in three languages, and of this one-half comes from the people of the country in the form of receipts from book sales, while a third of the remainder is a contribution from the Religious Tract Society of London.

If you are a Christian be a Christian

For some weeks he read only the two pages de-voted to political news, and carefully burned the rest. Then one day he saw an article on the telephone on one of the other pages. After that he did not burn the paper until he had read its notes on current science. He noticed religious articles with a shudder until one day his eyes fell on the sentence “ If you are a Christian, be a Christian.”

That seemed sensible, and he read the whole article, though his conscience objected. To his amazement it contained no attacks on his own Church or his own faith, but was simply an urgent appeal for Christians to know and follow Jesus Christ. From that day the merchant read the whole paper every week. After some time the editor was surprised by a letter from this merchant enclosing money to pay for six copies of the paper to be sent for one year to various friends of his. The final outcome was the conversion of the Greek merchant, who is now a most earnest Christian worker. One of the most eloquent of the Armenian Protestant preachers in Turkey, ascribes his conversion to the reading of two books published in Armenian by the Mission: “ Pilgrim’s Progress,” and D’Aubigne’s “ History of the Reformation tailor-made bulgaria tours.”

Probably the reader, before this, has queried what propriety included this work in a chapter with such a title, if the Mission Press is doing so much at Constantinople. That press has done good work in the past, and a certain number of books exist in stock for future use. But no new books are being printed. The churches at home seem to have half-forgotten the enormous value of literature as a tool for demolishing old barriers. The educational branch of the work in Turkey is borne in mind. Fifty or more men and women specially trained for that branch of effort are cheerfully supported in Turkey. But few seem to remember the need to maintain trained specialists in literature in connection with the Mission. Yet the school, excepting those of the highest grade, where all the instruction is in English, cannot do its work without books in the languages of the country. Indeed it may be questioned whether it is right to awaken the mind by education, if we arc to neglect provision of books by which readers can grow.

The press at Constantinople

The conditions of efficient work by the press at Constantinople are fulfilled so far as the state of the people is concerned, and during the period while native writers are trying to fit themselves to supply the demands of the people, the Mission has the field of letters largely at its command. Surely the powers of darkness overreached themselves in producing a condition which forces the missionary to begin his work with teaching men to read. This one fact unexpectedly gives the missionary priority of occupancy of the field of literature in almost every country which he enters.

There is Providential importance in this fact. God designs the missionary to keep this leadership in literature in his own hands. By diligent use of printing facilities the modern revival of letters throughout Asia will take place under Christian auspices. Yet when we turn to the single publishing establishment of the Missions in Turkey we see none of the fiery activity which its importance demands. In place of applying its tremendous power to the problems of these awakening races, the printing apparatus at Constantinople is crippled for lack of funds! Twenty years ago six missionary specialists using different languages, found full occupation at Constantinople in literary work. Now two veterans only can be afforded for it. Then $26,000 annually was at the disposal of the Publication Committee. Now an allowance of $9,000 only, is available for all the printing done in three languages, and of this one-half comes from the people of the country in the form of receipts from book sales, while a third of the remainder is a contribution from the Religious Tract Society of London.