CHAPTER XXX.

THIRTY YEARS AMONG THE JEWS.

1826-1856.

The first missionary sent by the Board to the Jews in the Levant, was the Rev. Josiah Brewer, who, while connected with the Board, was supported by the "Female Society of Boston and Vicinity for promoting Christianity among the Jews." Sailing from Boston, September 16, 1826, he proceeded to Constantinople by way of Malta and Smyrna, expecting there to find every facility for learning the Hebrew-Spanish language, spoken by the Spanish Jews. But disturbances, growing partly out of the Greek revolution, so hindered his gaining access to the Jews, that he deemed it his duty to turn to some more open field of missionary labor.

After the retirement of Mr. Brewer, the ladies assumed the support of the Rev. William G. Schauffler who became his successor. He was a native of Stuttgart in Germany, but early removed, with his parents, to a German colony near Odessa. He came to this country through the agency of the Rev. Jonas King, and spent several years at the Theological Seminary in Andover, to prepare himself for a mission to the East. He was ordained at Boston in November, 1831, and embarked soon after, going by way of Paris, where he attended the lectures on the oriental languages and literature, for which that city was then distinguished. He had been familiar with the French language from his youth, and, having an aptitude for such studies, applied himself successfully to the Arabic and Turkish. His health beginning to fail after some months, and the cholera making ravages in the city, he resumed his journey through Germany to Odessa, and thence by water to Constantinople, where he arrived on the last day of July, 1832.[1]

[1] For Mr. Shauffler's account of his residence at Paris and this journey, see Missionary Herald for 1833 and 1834.

The greater part of the Jews in Constantinople are descendants of the eight hundred thousand who were expelled from Spain in 1492, and their language is the Hebrew-Spanish; or the Spanish with a mixture of Hebrew words, all written in the Spanish Rabbinical alphabet. As soon as Mr. Schauffler had acquired this language, he began the careful revision of a Hebrew-Spanish translation of the Old Testament, already in print, but not intelligible to the common people. He found the Jewish mind in an unquiet state. Eight years before, as many as a hundred and fifty had renounced Judaism at one time, but nearly all were soon driven back by persecution. Several of these now requested baptism, and were ready to suffer for the sake of becoming Christians; but they seemed incapable of understanding that anything more could be required of them than an exchange of external relations, and gave little evidence of piety.

Near the close of 1834, Mr. Schauffler baptized a German Jew, whom he named Herman Marcussohn, having formed his acquaintance in South Russia, sixteen years before. As he could not there profess Christianity except by joining the Greek Church, he had come to Constantinople, bringing letters to Mr. Schauffler, and was engaged by him as a literary assistant.

Religious excitements were not wanting. Three young Jews became anxious for Christian baptism, and both the Greek and Armenian Patriarchs refusing it, they fell into the cold embrace of the Papal Church. Three others expressed the same desire; and ten young men took advantage of the death of the civil head of their community to flee, as was supposed, for the sake of greater freedom in religion. Mr. Schauffler's varying and perplexing experience constrained him to believe, that private charity, and sacrifices for individual Jews, should be employed very sparingly.

The year 1835 was chiefly employed in revising the Hebrew-Spanish version of the Old Testament, and in preparing a Lexicon in the two languages. He also commenced a series of tracts in Hebrew-German. To some extent there was among the Jews a hearing ear, and to a greater extent the absence of an understanding heart. The German and Polish Jews were less bigoted and more intelligent than the Spanish Jews, but were more greedy of gain, and more indifferent to religion. On the great day of atonement they allowed Marcussohn to address them in their synagogue on the Christian religion; the rulers of the synagogue having first given him a seat on the platform among themselves, where they read their Scriptures and prayers, and where sermons were delivered.

A visit of some months made by Mr. Schauffler among his friends at Odessa, in 1836, resulted, through divine grace, in a revival, as has been already stated, among the German population, and was not without good effects upon the demoralized Jews of that city. During his absence, his revision of the Psalms in Hebrew and Hebrew-Spanish was printed at Constantinople, under the superintendence of Mr. Farman, a missionary of the London Jews Society. A relative of the chief rabbi called on Mr. Schauffler after his return, and took a hundred copies for distribution, and he thought his chief might be induced to give his imprimatur to the contemplated edition of the Old Testament; but from some unknown cause, the chief rabbi became a fierce opposer of the Psalms, and prohibited the use of the edition.

In May, 1839, Mr. Schauffler left for Vienna, to superintend the printing of the Old Testament for the Spanish Jews. As he was leaving, the caique, in which himself and family, including an infant child, were going off to the steamer, upset, and the whole party narrowly escaped drowning. His visits to Odessa, in going and coming, were the occasion, as before, of spiritual blessings to the people. His family expenses were paid by the Board, but the printing was at the charge of the American Bible Society. He was absent nearly three years, returning in August, 1842; and in that time carried through the press three thousand copies of the Old Testament in Hebrew-Spanish, in two volumes quarto, containing fifteen hundred pages. The Hebrew occupied every alternate page. He also printed five hundred copies of the Hebrew-Spanish Pentateuch, in two volumes, 16mo., with the Hebrew on the opposite page. The Sefardim, or Spanish Jews, having the New Testament previously, were now favored with the whole inspired volume in their vernacular tongue.

Notwithstanding the anathemas of Jewish rulers, the three thousand copies of the Psalms, printed in 1836, were nearly exhausted in 1844, and the book was in great esteem among the people. A vain effort was made by the rabbis to suppress the Vienna edition of the Old Testament. Only a few of the hundreds of copies in the hands of the people were delivered up, and it was believed that those confiscated by the rabbis found their way again into circulation.

About this time, the "Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on the Scheme for the Conversion of the Jews," made a grant of £2,162 (about $10,000) to this mission for the circulation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the purchase of rabbinic type, and the publication of school-books and tracts for the Jews. This, while it generously enlarged the operations of the mission, afforded no relief to the treasury of the Board.

Such were the calls for the Hebrew-Spanish Old Testament, that more than twelve hundred copies went into the hands of the Jews previous to June, 1843. One rabbi requested twenty copies for poor Jews in Roumelia; another, and he the chief rabbi, asked for ninety copies for six destitute places; and another, the rabbi of Orta Keuy, made repeated solicitations for thirty copies for schools in that suburb, and for twenty additional copies to place in reading rooms, where Jews come together in a social manner, on their Sabbath, to read the Bible.

Calls for religious conversation were frequent, but there was painful evidence, that in most cases the object was more selfish than spiritual. There appeared to be a general dissatisfaction with Judaism, but no proper knowledge of Christianity. Poverty and distress were the principal occasions of these calls. A few appeared to be interested in more fundamental truths; and they attentively read McCaul's "Old Paths," a controversial work that exposes the absurdity of rabbinism. The chief difficulty with all was in respect to the divine nature of the Messiah.

The Spanish Jews, numbering seventy or eighty thousand souls in Constantinople, afforded a field for the faithful sower, rather than the cheerful reaper. The tyrannical rule of their rabbis rendered them less accessible, perhaps, than any other people in Turkey, the Moslems alone excepted; and intellectually they were among the most degraded races in the East. Yet they stood higher in their morals than did the Turks. They had but few books; and until the issue of the edition under Mr. Schauffler's superintendence, they had no copy of the Old Testament in their vernacular tongue, that was accessible to the people at large. Two editions of the Old Testament, in Hebrew-Spanish and Hebrew and Chaldee, with Rabbi Solomon Jarchi's commentary in opposition to Christian doctrines, had been published in 1816, at Vienna, in six quarto volumes. Now the Christian church, while waiting for a wider entrance among the people, was called on to provide the books that would be indispensable when that entrance should be secured. Among those most needed now, were a Hebrew and Hebrew-Spanish vocabulary of the Old Testament (then in preparation); a Spelling Book for schools; a short Hebrew Grammar; a brief Arithmetic; a Geography of the Bible, and a Natural History of the same; various religious tracts and essays on prophecies, especially those concerning the Messiah; and a translation of McCaul's "Old Paths" into Hebrew-Spanish.

The Ashkenazim, or German Jews, were only about two thousand, and were chiefly young men driven from Moldavia by the Boyars, and from Russia by the law of conscription that threatened them with the hardships and perils of a soldier's life. This department was under the charge of Mr. Allan, a missionary of the Free Church of Scotland, in connection with Mr. Schwartz, a converted Jew.

The Protestant Armenians showed a deep interest in efforts for the conversion of the Jews, and were forward to render their aid, Nor could Jews or Mohammedans be wholly uninfluenced by the change then going on in the Armenian churches of the metropolis in respect to the use of pictures; the greater part of which had been removed, and the patriarchal church, in place of them had set the example of having passages of Scripture painted in large letters on the walls.

Besides the Spanish and German Jews in Constantinople, there was a small body of Italian Jews who were generally destitute of all religion. Then as there were many Germans in the city, Mr. Schauffler held a stated service for them, in which his labors were blessed to the hopeful conversion of some. The attendance was often composed largely of Israelites. In the closing month of the year 1844, he baptized a Jewish physician.

The Jews are probably more strongly prejudiced against the Gospel, than any other people. Their whole literature is anti-Christian. So are their education and internal religious policy. The great effort of Jewish learning for fifty generations, has been to prevent the Old Testament from suggesting Christian ideas to the Jewish mind. Hence a Jewish mission requires an extraordinary amount of preparatory work, in the first instance; though its main objects and duties afterwards will differ little, if at all, from those of other missions.

Mr. Schauffler was specially adapted to the preliminary work in Jewish missions, growing out of the peculiar state of the national mind. What this was, up to the year 1845, has been sufficiently indicated. In that year, a second edition of the Pentateuch, in Hebrew and Hebrew-Spanish, was printed at Vienna; and a new edition, of five thousand copies of the Old Testament in the same languages, was commenced at Smyrna. The American Bible Society, which bore the expense of these editions, also authorized the printing of a Hebrew and Hebrew-German version of the Old Testament, for the German Jews.

The testimony of Mr. Schauffler is so explicit on a point of great importance in a mission of the Jews, as to justify the following quotation:—

"My own observation from the first, has established this fact, that whenever a Jew is truly converted, the hope of seeing all Israelites settled in Canaan sinks to the level of many other secondary ideas; and Christ and him crucified,—Christ risen, ascended, and reigning in glory, Christ and his kingdom, wherever its centre may be,—becomes the all-absorbing theme. In other words, such Jews I have always observed to be just what true converts among ourselves are; differing from us only in this, that they cherish that desire for the conversion of Israel, which we ought also to cherish, and of which Paul has left so splendid an example. Half-converted men, in whom the carnal pride of the old Pharisee has never been broken down by a divinely wrought sense of the guilt of unbelief in Christ, who, when they were baptized, thought they did Christ and his people an honor; these, of course, never fail to consider themselves as something special in the kingdom of Christ, and they expect to be treated by Him accordingly. These make an exception. There are, also, truly converted men among the proselytes, who cherish that notion. They are those who have been under the influence of missionaries, who make them a 'royal race,' amid the divinely designated 'royal priesthood' (than which nothing can be higher) of Christ's true people. We are all apt to believe what magnifies ourselves. But I have observed no inherent tendency that way among truly converted Jews, and never found it necessary to make efforts to eradicate such carnal hopes."

The particular relations of the Board to the Spanish Jews in Constantinople underwent an unexpected change in the year 1846. Owing to the protracted and unavoidable delay in providing associates for Mr. Schauffler, the brethren from the Free Church of Scotland had so far taken possession of the ground, as to render another mission in that city inexpedient. Whatever cause there may have been for regretting this after the Board had obtained the men, no blame was attached to our more zealous brethren of the Scotch Church. Mr. Schauffler would continue to reside in Constantinople, and would render valuable aid to all the missions to the Jews in those parts.

Attention was now directed to Salonica (the ancient Thessalonica), which had been visited by Messrs. Schauffler and Dwight some years before. The city was visited again by Mr. Schauffler in July, 1847, and he urgently recommended occupying it as a Jewish station. The number of rabbinical Jews residing there was estimated at thirty-five thousand, or about half of the whole population. The number of their synagogues was fifty-six. The Jews were diffused throughout the city, and not confined, as in Constantinople, to certain quarters. There was, therefore, a good degree of intermingling in civil life with other people. The natural consequence was, that a Salonica Jew did not evince the shyness so common elsewhere, in approaching Christians, or in entering their houses. They were thankful for the gift of the Old Testament in a language they could understand. Moreover, the centre of rabbinical learning was at Salonica, and not at Constantinople; which made the assent given by the Salonica rabbis to the correctness of the Hebrew-Spanish version, the more influential.

The Rev. Messrs. Eliphal Maynard and Edward M. Dodd, appointed to this mission, reached Salonica, with their wives, in April, 1849, going by way of Constantinople. Mr. Schauffler was to remain at the metropolis, but accompanied them to Salonica and was with them seven weeks, helping them much towards a successful entrance on their work. Both of the brethren devoted themselves to the Hebrew-Spanish. Mr. Dodd gave, also, some attention to the Turkish, with a view to the Zoharites, or Moslem Jews, numbering about five thousand; all of whom seemed to rejoice that missionaries had come there to reside. He describes them as among the noblest of the inhabitants of the city, and as very ready to talk on religious subjects, with less self-conceit than the rabbinical Jews.

The Prudential Committee, on sending forth these brethren, stated the more important facts, principles, and usages, which should be kept constantly in mind in their mission to the Jews.[1] The relations of that people to Christ's kingdom were believed to be the same with those of all other people; and they were no more shut out from that kingdom by a "judicial blindness," or more really "cast away," than any other perverse and wicked nation. The obstacles to be overcome among them were substantially the same with those in the Oriental Churches. The relations sustained to the spiritual blessings of the Abrahamic covenant being no longer of blood, but of faith, these blessings must be common alike to believing Jews and Gentiles. Never again, in the spiritual kingdom of God, will there be circumcision or uncircumcision, Greek or Jew. Never again will there be a need of bloody rites, a mediating priesthood, and a showy ritual. Never again will there be a theocracy with a sensuous external economy, limited to a single nation. Never again, in the kingdom of God, will he be accounted a Jew, in the evangelical sense, who is one outwardly, nor that be accounted circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he will be a Jew, who is one inwardly, and is, of course, heir to all the spiritual promises made to the Jews in the Old Testament; and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter. On these broad, fundamental Scripture principles, rested the whole superstructure of our mission to the Jews.

[1] More fully stated in the Missionary Herald for 1849, p. 101.

The prevalent idea, that judicial blindness came upon Israel in consequence of their crucifixion of the Son of God, precluding their conversion as a people until the arrival of some great prophetic era, seems without any proper Scripture warrant. They were blinded only "in part;" only "some" of the branches were broken off; they are not "cast away" as a people; and when the rest of mankind shall embrace the Gospel, and come into the kingdom, the Jews will do the same.

The practical inference drawn from all this was, that the same general course should be pursued in Jewish missions, which is proper in missions to any other unevangelized people. They must be instructed as to the oneness of Christ's body, the church, and the equal membership of all true disciples. If a church be formed of Jewish converts alone, it should be in full communion with all other Christian churches.

Manual labor schools and hospitals for the Jews, employing converts merely for the sake of giving them employment; boarding-schools to serve as houses of refuge for the children of converts; expenses incurred for shielding converts from persecution or for teaching them trades; were not regarded as within the range of missionary work; but the converts were, in general, to be left, as the Apostles left them, to meet the consequences of their conversion upon their persons, their families, and their business, as God in his providence and by his grace should enable them.

Mr. Maynard was removed by death from his labors within five months after his arrival. In company with a New England clerical friend, he made a tour into the delightful region of Thessaly for relaxation and health. Unconsciously they exposed themselves to malaria, and both took the same fever; of which Mr. Maynard died at Salonica, and his friend at Athens. Mrs. Maynard soon afterwards returned home. The place thus early vacated was filled, in the following summer, by the Rev. Justin W. Parsons, who was accompanied by his wife.

The Salonica Jews had scarcely more than the shadow of education. A school taught in the principal synagogue contained about a thousand pupils, but with the least possible intellectual value in the instruction. Half as many more were in private schools, where Hebrew and Hebrew-Spanish were taught, but nothing like Grammar, Geography, or History. In a small select school, supported by rich Jews, Italian (the commercial language) and French were taught. Familiarity with the Talmud was regarded as the perfection of knowledge, so that a man needed to know nothing else. "Oh," said a beardless youth to a missionary, "if you had only read our Talmud, you would throw all your books into the fire." Salonica was famous for its books, but they were servile imitations of the Talmud. The spoken language was essentially Spanish, but, with a deficient vocabulary, and greatly corrupted with Turkish and Hebrew words, while subject to constant change. Consequently the many books and tracts in Hebrew-Spanish, which were published by the English missionaries in Smyrna, were comparatively useless at Salonica, because of the difficulty of understanding them. These Jews therefore needed missionary schools.

The excessive self-righteousness of this people, as described by Mr. Dodd, disclosed a serious obstacle to missionary success among them. "Two thousand years of punishment," he says, "have not destroyed the feeling, that they are the beloved of heaven. They pray, morning, noon, and night, and that too in the holy language. They always ask a blessing on their food. They neither eat nor touch any unclean thing. Except they wash their hands oft, they eat not. When they fast, it is by entire abstinence from food. They read the Word of God almost continually. In passing through the bazaars, you may see the shop-keepers taking up the Bible to read in their leisure hours; and if a visitor has to wait for you a few minutes, with a Bible within reach, you will certainly find him reading it, though it be in an unknown tongue; and once a year they sit up all night to read through the law. Their recognition of Providence is excessive. Every event is referred to God. He is thanked for every good; submission to his will is expressed in every trial. Every hope is uttered conditionally, in dependence on him; and his aid is invoked in trouble as frequently, and with as little meaning, as many Christians speak of fortune, or luck. As to the outward semblance of piety and devotion, I do not think another such people can be found. Like their fathers, they seek God daily, and delight to know his ways. As a nation, they take delight in approaching God. 'Is not the Lord among us?' 'No evil shall come upon us.' Talk to them of God's glory, and they will answer by quoting some beautiful Psalm of David. Talk of man's sinfulness, and they will repeat Psalm 51st, with seeming penitential devotion. Speak of God's wrath against sin; they will assent readily, but add, that he is pitiful, remembering that we are dust. Thus the missionary is baffled. Let him search the Word of God to find expressions that shall penetrate to their consciences; the Jew is familiar with them all, and repeats them every day in his prayers. They either mean nothing, or through a talmudic gloss, aided by self-righteous blindness, they foster his confidence in the mercy of the God who is his peculiar friend, and loves him more than he loves the Gentile world, or even his own justice and truth."

Mr. Parsons also says, after a visit to Seres, a city fifteen miles northwest of Salonica: "The Jews of Seres have the same blind submission to the rabbis, the same prejudices, the same evasions of the truth. Gold is their God, and traffic is their religion,—one would say, who should meet them only in their fair. But in their prayers, and their Sabbath observance, the deceiver makes them appear to themselves the holy favorites of heaven, separate from the nations."

Mr. Schauffler had now printed his Hebrew grammar, and commenced the printing of his Hebrew lexicon. The edition of the Pentateuch was nearly exhausted.

The Rev. Homer B. Morgan and wife reached Salonica in February, 1852. The brethren were of the opinion, that while for two thirds of the year the climate of that city was tolerably healthy, the low portions, where the Jews and Greeks chiefly resided, were subject to malaria. The missionaries, therefore, would have resided in the more elevated parts occupied by the Turks, but could neither hire nor purchase houses in that quarter. The best they could do was to live in the upper stories of their houses. Mr. Dodd suffered from a bronchial affection, and sought to recruit his health by an excursion into Thessaly, where he enjoyed some excellent opportunities for preaching the gospel, both to Jews and Gentiles.[1] Mr. Parsons visited the part of Macedonia, which lies northwest of Salonica, and then extended his journey to Sophia, the capital of Bulgaria.[2]

[1] Missionary Herald for 1852, pp. 235-238.

[2] Ibid. pp. 78-83.

The health of Mr. Dodd did not improve, and he repaired first to Malta, and then, with the consent of the Committee, to the United States. In August, 1852, a mouth after his departure, Mr. and Mrs. Parsons, and Mr. and Mrs. Morgan were all prostrated by intermittent fever. Mrs. Morgan did not yield to the disease, till she had exhausted her strength in caring for the others; and then, after a short illness, during most of which she was unconscious, she was removed to her heavenly home. Mr. Parsons was at one time very low; and the three survivors were subjected to such frequent returns of fever during the winter, that they were advised by physicians to spend the spring and summer on the Bosphorus. They left the station in charge of native helpers, and removed to Constantinople. Until sickness came, their labors had been uninterrupted. Their circle of acquaintance was constantly increasing, and they were generally regarded by the Jews as their sincere friends. They were expected in their visits to declare and make personal applications of gospel truths. A little volume upon the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments, by Mr. Dodd, was favorably received by many of the Jews.

It was not deemed expedient for the brethren to resume their residence in Salonica. Mr. Morgan and Mr. and Mrs. Parsons removed to Smyrna, where they shared with their English brethren in labors among the Jews. They hoped to continue to occupy Salonica through Armenian native helpers, and to visit it themselves in the healthy season. Mr. Morgan was married to Mrs. Sutphen, of the Armenian mission, at the close of 1853, and on the return of Mr. and Mrs. Dodd to Smyrna in the autumn of 1854, they went to Salonica, expecting to remain there during nine months, and then to retire before the miasma of summer. Mr. Morgan was welcomed by his Jewish acquaintance, and found that the spirit of inquiry had spread, and that there was greater boldness on the part of a few. But whatever their secret conviction of the truth, none confessed the Saviour openly. The first fruits ripened elsewhere. A family of three fled to Malta, and were baptized there; another, a converted rabbi, came to Smyrna, and became a teacher. There had been a considerable advance in female education, since Mrs. Dodd had, with great difficulty, persuaded a Jewish girl to encounter the odium of learning to read. Some prominent rabbis were teaching their daughters, and the tide seemed evidently turning.

The Jews of Smyrna were found to be more worldly, and less given to religious thought, than the Jews of Salonica. But an avowedly Christian school of near twenty pupils was sustained during the year 1854, and taught by the converted rabbi above mentioned. The teacher was known to be a proselyte. The New Testament was read daily, and biblical instruction occupied a large place. It was hopeful that Jews were found willing to place their children in such an atmosphere. A boarding-school was opened for a few of the more promising boys belonging to the day-school. The parents of five actually signed a contract binding them to the missionaries for three years. This they did after the most explicit declarations, that while the boys would be trained for the highest usefulness and happiness in this world, they would be carefully instructed in the way of salvation through Jesus of Nazareth. The experiment could not proceed without opposition. The chief rabbi interposed. The eldest boy in the school manifested an inclination to embrace the Christian religion, and was beaten, dragged to the synagogue, and compelled to go through the form of worship. He was then put in irons procured from the mad-house. He afterwards fled to Constantinople, where he was baptized by one of the Scotch missionaries. The teacher was also thrown into prison, on a false accusation. A young Jewish physician appeared fully to embrace the truth, and was not moved by the most cruel threats, or flattering promises. Mr. Parsons was greatly encouraged.

The instruction of inquirers at Constantinople had passed mostly into the hands of English and Scotch missionaries to the Jews, while Mr. Schauffler's labors were chiefly literary. He was preparing a new translation of the Psalms into Hebrew-Spanish, in a more popular style; but could hardly expect entire success, owing to the peculiarities of the language as spoken by the common people in different places. His translation of the Old Testament into Hebrew-German, after revision by Mr. Koenig, of the Scotch Free Church Mission, was printed by the American Bible Society. He was able to preach in various languages, and did not neglect employing his talent in that direction. The printing of his Hebrew Lexicon was completed in 1854.

The reader will scarcely be prepared for the relinquishment of this mission, which took place early in 1856, though not in consequence of failing success. The Armenian and Jewish missions, at their united annual meeting in the spring of 1855, recommended that the Board relinquish to some other society the Jewish stations of Salonica and Smyrna. Constantinople, as such a station, had been practically relinquished some time before. At a conference of missionaries in Constantinople in November of that year, on occasion of a visit from the Foreign Secretary of the Board, the subject was carefully considered, and the question was decided according to the personal convictions of the brethren in the Jewish mission. The result was in favor of relinquishing the Jewish field to the English and Scotch Societies; and of the younger members of the mission devoting their strength to the Armenian field, the exclusive right to which had been conceded to American missionaries by the general consent, as it were, of Protestant Christendom. It had become certain that the Board could not command laborers enough to do anything like justice to both fields; while the English and Scotch churches manifested a special interest in laboring for the conversion of the ancient people of God; and there were both English and Scotch missionaries in Constantinople, and English missionaries in Smyrna; and others from the Established Church of Scotland were ready to occupy Salonica.

Mr. Schauffler subsequently devoted himself to labors for the Moslems, many of whom were becoming interested in the spiritual form of Christianity presented in the Protestant Armenian communities, that were springing up throughout the empire.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE BULGARIANS OF EUROPEAN TURKEY.

1857-1862.

The geographical position of European Turkey brings it directly in contact with European civilization. Its interior may easily be reached from the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora, the Dardanelles, the Grecian Archipelago, the Adriatic Sea, and from the Danube flowing down from the heart of Europe. The Mohammedan population is estimated at four millions, and three fourths of these are supposed to be of Christian origin, and less firmly wedded to the Moslem faith than the remaining million of Osmanly Turks. And even these, born and educated on the borders of Europe, in the midst of divers Christian races, must form a character different from that of the Asiatic Turks in other parts of the empire.

Of the various races in European Turkey, the Bulgarians, properly so called, who are estimated at four millions, speaking the Bulgarian language, claim our first attention. They inhabit not only Bulgaria proper, extending from the Danube to the Balkan Mountains, but also an extensive region south of these mountains, reaching to the Bosphorus, the Marmora, and Albania; and embracing a good part of ancient Thrace, Albania, and Macedonia.[1]

[1] On the map, this country is called Bulgaria, Roumelia, and Macedonia. Roumelia, formerly called Moldavia and Wallachia, north of the Danube, is peopled by a race supposed to be descended from the old Roman military colonies. The language has an affinity to the Latin. Servia is peopled by Slavs, who speak substantially the same language with the Bulgarians. The population of Roumania is estimated at 3,864,000, and that of Servia at 1,078,000.

The Bulgarians are of Slavonic origin, and their race is among the oldest in Europe. In the latter part of the fifth century they crossed the Danube, and gave their name to the country between that river and the Balkan Mountains. In subsequent ages they extended their conquests into Thrace and Macedonia, and, encamping before the walls of Constantinople, sought to drive the Byzantine emperors into Asia Minor. In 712, the Bulgarian troops defeated the armies of the Eastern Roman Empire, and laid siege to Constantinople. Three years later their king concluded a commercial treaty with the Emperor Theodosius III. which is said to have remained in force for a long time. In the year 814 the Bulgarians again invaded the Roman Empire, captured Adrianople, and carried a bishop named Manuel, with others of the citizens, into captivity. This person formed the companions of his captivity into a church, and they remained true to their faith, and labored earnestly for its spread. Having made proselytes among the Bulgarians, the bishop and many of the captives suffered martyrdom. Somewhat later, a captive monk, named Constantine Cypharas, endeavored to carry forward the work thus commenced; but the Greek empress, Theodora, for some special reasons, was led to redeem this monk, and procure his return to his native country. At this juncture, a sister of the Bulgarian king Bogoris was residing at Constantinople, whither she had been conveyed as a captive in early youth, and where she had been educated as a Christian, and the effort to secure the return of the monk resulted in her being sent back to her friends. She now labored to gain over the king, her brother, to the Christian faith. Circumstances at length favored her pious efforts, and she sent for Methodius of Thessalonica, a monk and a skilful painter. He was afterwards joined by his older brother Constantine, or Cyrill, surnamed the Philosopher, on account of his learning. Cyrill reduced the Slavonic language to writing, taught the barbarous nation the use of letters, and translated the Scriptures into that language. In the year 861 he baptized king Bogoris. The king undertook to force his people to change their religion and they revolted. He succeeded in suppressing the rebellion, and showed the superficial nature of his Christianity by the cruel revenge he took on the leaders of the revolt. Then the nation followed the lead of their king, and has ever since been nominally Christian. Neander says, that Cyrill was distinguished from all other missionaries of that period, by not yielding to the prejudice which regarded the languages of the rude nations as too profane to be employed for sacred uses, and by not shrinking from any toil which was necessary to master the language of the people among whom he labored.

The Bulgarians wavered for a time, according to the sway of their political interests, between the Greek and Latin Churches, until finally they decided wholly in favor of the former, and a Greek archbishop and bishops were set over them.[1]

[1] Neander's Ecclesiastical History, vol. iii. pp. 307-316, Torrey's Translation; and Dr. Murdock's Note to p. 51 of Mosheim's Institute of Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii.

In the year 924, Simeon, the Bulgarian monarch, compelled the Byzantine Emperor, Romanus I., to recognize the National Church of Bulgaria as wholly independent of the Greek Hierarchy. This independence, after about fifty years, was partially destroyed by a Greek Emperor; and in 1018, Basil II. restored the supremacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The kingdom was revived in the latter part of the twelfth century, but was again overthrown in 1393, by the Sultan Bajazet I. Mohammed II., when he subverted the Eastern Empire in 1453, made the religious chiefs of the Christian sects responsible, not only for the spiritual administration of their respective flocks, but also for that of a large share of their temporal affairs,—such as public education, civil suits, contracts, wills, and the like. The Bulgarians appear for a time not to have been formally recognized by the Turks as belonging to the Greek Church, and of course were not subject to its Patriarch; but the Fanariote Greeks succeeded at last in making the Porte believe that, being of the same religion with the Greeks, they should be placed under the direct authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople; and this was effected in the year 1767. Thus the Bulgarians lost their religious independence.

Since then, they have ever cherished an intense dislike of the Greek bishops, whose aim has always been to extinguish every remnant of national feeling, and obliterate all traces of their origin. They earnestly desired to have the Bible and the church-services in their own vernacular language, while the Greek Patriarch and his bishops insisted upon using only the ancient Greek. The people desired to have their children taught in the schools through the language of their own homes, while the bishops insisted that the instruction should be in the Greek language. They desired that their bishops and other ecclesiastics should be chosen from among themselves; but the Patriarch forced upon them Greek bishops, men of a foreign tongue, and foreign habits and sympathies, whose whole aim was to keep the people under the galling yoke of ecclesiastical tyranny.[1]

[1] Missionary Herald, 1858, p. 322.

What the Bulgarian people specially desired was ecclesiastical independence; and, in order to be freed from their forced dependence on the Greek Patriarchate, their leading men sometimes inclined to go over to the Pope. This of course was favored by the intrigues of the Jesuits, and politically by all the power of France. This awakened state of mind led many to examine the teachings of Scripture, and compare them with those of the Greek and Papal Churches; and some made inquiries of the missionaries at the several stations, as to Protestantism; and the question naturally arose, whether it would not be as well to become Protestants, as Roman Catholics.

The Greek Patriarch was decided and bold. In 1861, he summoned the Bulgarian bishops to appear and answer for themselves before his great ecclesiastical Council at Constantinople; but they refused, declaring that they owed him no allegiance. The summons was thrice repeated, but in vain; whereupon the bishops were anathematized, and it was resolved to banish them to Mount Sinai. This was prevented by the interference of the Protestant Ambassadors, and the Bulgarians rallied to the defense of their bishops. Three thousand of them gathered at one time in one of their churches in the metropolis, and were prevented from proclaiming a Free Bulgarian Church only by the intervention of the Turkish government. Meanwhile the Bulgarian nation was agitated with the discussion of religious doctrines and ecclesiastical relations, and the Papists flooded the land with their publications. When the anathema against the bishops was sent to the Bulgarian towns, the people in some places would not allow it to be read, and publicly burnt it. They even caused a counter anathema to be read against the Greek Church. They doubtless regarded this matter as wholly a religious one; but, in an evangelical point of view, it was little more than a national movement for securing their rights. Sentiments were sometimes uttered, however, which strongly reminded one of the commencement of the Reformation in Germany. "The religion of the Greeks," says Mr. Crane, "has been denounced as contrary to the Bible, and the Scriptures eulogized and recommended to the people. In their printed speeches we have seen no instance, in which they have called upon Mary and the saints for protection, but many in which they have called upon God to vindicate their cause."

Roumelia was partially explored in 1857 by Dr. Hamlin, accompanied by the Rev. Henry Jones, Secretary of the Turkish Missions Aid Society, then visiting our missions in Turkey. From Rodosto to Adrianople, a distance of seventy-two miles, they saw but few Bulgarian villages. Yet what came within their observation was of special interest, "Wherever we saw flocks, we saw Bulgarian shepherds; and wherever we saw cultivation, we saw Bulgarian laborers. They are indeed spread all over Roumelia, as laborers and shepherds, and the industry of the country is in their hands. The land is generally of excellent quality. It lies spread out in beautiful levels, and undulating, gently rising hills. In the neighborhood of villages it is covered with rich fields of grain, but elsewhere, for successive miles, it is roamed over by flocks of sheep, which, however, cannot crop a tithe of the grass. It is a beautiful region, waiting for the taste and intelligence of virtuous industry to make it a paradise."

We have also a charming view given us of the hundred miles of country between Adrianople and Philippopolis, as it presented itself to the travellers in the opening of spring. "The Greek race disappears entirely from the soil, and the predominant race is the Bulgarian. So entirely unconscious are the people of the Balkan's being the boundary, that when I spoke of Bulgaria, I was repeatedly corrected by the remark, 'You are now in Bulgaria.' The soil along our route is of the finest quality, and large villages were occasionally seen on our right and left, with magnificent views of cultivated lands and vast pastures, the snowy Balkan summits bounding the north, and lower ranges of hills the south. The fields, clothed in the brightest verdure of spring, gave promise of unsurpassed abundance; and in view of the inspiring scenes before us, we could not forbear exclaiming, with the Psalmist: 'Thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.'"

Dr. Hamlin speaks thus of the people: "In the midst of this fertility, we had only to cast the eye upon one of the villages in order to feel that cruel oppression and spiritual darkness are upon the people. In some of the Bulgarian villages we saw no window, nor even a place for one, in a single house. The country being destitute of forest trees, there is no timber, except what is brought from a great distance, and so they construct their dwellings of the lightest material possible. They are generally of wicker work, plastered within with mud. A large mud chimney and a door are the only openings. And yet the Bulgarians, in these miserable cottages, are the cleanliest people in the world. Excepting the rice cultivators, who dress expressly for their muddy work, we saw not a ragged Bulgarian between Adrianople and Philippopolis. Their clothes are of home manufacture, coarse, strong, whole, and clean. The unembarrassed, kind, respectful bearing of the people, men, women, and children, must impress the most cursory observer. An impudent laugh, an over-curious gaze, or a rude remark, we did not meet with from old or young. We could hardly say this after going ten steps into a Greek or Turkish village."

The favorable report made by Dr. Hamlin to his mission, awakened much interest, and it was resolved, "That the Bulgarian and other Slavonic races inhabiting European Turkey, call loudly for immediate and vigorous missionary efforts; and being providentially thrown upon the American churches as the chosen instrumentality for evangelizing them, are worthy of their most devoted patronage."

The mission was commenced with the understanding, that the operations of the American Board would be in the country south of the Balkan Mountains; while the missionaries of the American Methodist Episcopal Church were to occupy stations north of these mountains. The Methodist brethren desired the aid of one of the older missionaries at Constantinople in the selection of their first station, and Mr. E. E. Bliss accompanied them. They visited Varna, Shumla, Rasgrad, and Rustchuk, and decided upon occupying the first and second of these places. The acquaintance thus formed between the two missions was ever after a source of mutual pleasure and profit. Mr. Bliss thus concludes a report of his visit:—

"This, my first acquaintance with the Bulgarians, has given me a very favorable opinion of them. Others have expressed a different opinion, but I should rank them before the Armenians in native intelligence and cultivation. Certainly a higher degree of civilization prevails among them, than among the Armenians of Asia Minor. They have better homes, better vehicles, better implements of husbandry. Wherever we went, we found much to remind us that we were in Europe, and not in Asia. Our road from Varna to Rustchuk was bordered by the posts and wires of the telegraph. Every town had its telegraphic station and corps of operators—French, English, and Polish gentlemen. More than once, through their unsolicited kindness, our approach to a stopping place was announced by the wire, and we found lodgings made ready against our coming. This, to me, was quite a strange feature of missionary travelling, very unlike my experience in Asia Minor."

The Rev. Charles F. Morse, who joined the Armenian mission in 1857, was appointed to commence the mission. Leaving his family at Constantinople until he had completed his arrangements, he proceeded to Adrianople in March, 1858, with Hagopos, a graduate of the Bebek Seminary, as an assistant. The population of Adrianople was then estimated at one hundred and forty thousand, of whom forty thousand were supposed to be Turks. The books in the Turkish language found in Mr. Morse's baggage, including a large number of New Testaments, were at first detained at the custom-house, under instructions from the Porte, but were released upon application of the American and English Consuls. His bookseller obtained a firman for the sale of books, and freely exposed the Turkish Testament, and Mr. Morse was himself allowed free access to the largest and finest of the mosques,—a favor not granted at the capital.

The most formidable opposition apprehended was from the Romish missionaries. They had been quick to see a double advantage in the disaffection of the Bulgarians with the Greek Church, and the fall of the Russian Protectorate, and had already erected a fine church. The French residents, their consul, and even the English consular agent, were Catholics. An intelligent Bulgarian expressed the opinion that Protestant missions furnished the only possible safeguard against Rome in that country, and one of the best informed of the American missionaries declared his belief, that the greatest contest of Protestantism with Rome, since the era of the Reformation, would be in Turkey.

The Rev. Theodore L. Byington and wife joined the mission in 1858, and were stationed at Adrianople. In the next year, the mission was strengthened by the arrival of Rev. Messrs. William W. Meriam and James F. Clark and their wives, who commenced a station at Philippopolis, in ancient Thrace. The Rev. William F. Arms and wife arrived in 1860, and were associated with Mr. Byington in a new station at Eski Zagra, seventy-five miles northwest from Adrianople, sixty northeast from Philippopolis, and twenty miles south of the Balkan Mountains. Mr. Oliver Crane was transferred from the Western Turkey Mission to Adrianople, in 1860. The population of Philippopolis was estimated at about sixty thousand, of whom twenty thousand were Bulgarians, sixteen thousand Mohammedans, fourteen thousand Greeks, and five thousand Jews. Surrounding the city, there were, within a circuit of thirty or forty miles, more than three hundred villages, including a large population, mostly Bulgarians. These villages were easy of access, and some of them would afford a healthy retreat in summer. There were numerous mosques, and five Greek and three Bulgarian churches. The Romanists were building a large church edifice. The situation of Eski Zagra was at the northern extremity of a luxuriant and beautiful plain, and contained ten thousand Bulgarians and eight thousand Turks.

Mr. Byington found a remarkable zeal for education. There were in the town six Bulgarian schools for boys, with eight hundred scholars, and four for girls with one hundred and thirty-five scholars; and in the surrounding villages there were eleven schools, with three hundred pupils. For the two principal schools they had spacious buildings, that would grace a New England town. The teachers were gentlemenly men, and enthusiastic in their work. This class of teachers had generally received their education abroad, for the most part in Russia, where they could secure it without expense. They were earnest in their efforts to introduce a higher civilization, and gave the missionaries a cordial reception. It was otherwise with the priests.

The readiness of the Bulgarians to receive the New Testament in their spoken language, is deserving of special note. An English gentleman, at one of the fairs in 1857, sold four hundred copies, which was all he had. Several editions were printed under the direction of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and were exhausted in 1859. At least fifteen thousand copies had been distributed, chiefly by sale, and the demand did not seem diminished. Mr. Byington reports at Eski Zagra in September, 1860, that, at the examination of one of the schools, each of twelve members of the most advanced class was presented by the Trustees with a handsome copy of the Bible Society's edition of the New Testament. Subsequent experience tended somewhat to diminish the value of such facts.

A church was formed at Adrianople, on the first Sabbath in 1862, with a mixed membership. Pastor Apraham, already known to the reader in connection with the church at Rodosto, came by invitation, with one of his deacons, to assist in its formation; as also did the missionaries from Eski Zagra.

Mr. Meriam at the close of 1861, stated as the results of observations in his recent tours, that in villages and towns where colporters had penetrated with the Word of Life, the people were no longer afraid of Protestants, but respected and confided in them; while they venerated and clung to their own form of religion; and that the obvious way to benefit the people, spiritually and temporally, most thoroughly and speedily, was to have suitable native helpers quietly settled in such villages. His account of some of the incidents on these tours will prepare the reader to sympathize with this excellent missionary, and his estimable wife, in the sad events soon to be narrated.

"On reaching Tatar Bazarjik, the family of one of our boarding scholars would not permit me to go to a public khan, but insisted that I should go to their house. I accepted the kind invitation, and while with them, at their request, conducted family worship, morning and evening. Visited a dozen families and was cordially welcomed by all. In walking the street, one morning, I heard a voice from a shop inviting me to come in, and on entering found a company of Bulgarians, with their faces all aglow with the questions they had to ask. A number of persons collected from other shops, and after an hour, all seemed still unwilling that the conversation should be broken off. Their questions showed an intelligent desire for light on the true way of salvation."

"Early Sabbath morning, a number of Bulgarians came to our room at the khan (at Otluk-Keuy), and began to ask questions about Christ, the Virgin Mary, the New Testament, Popery, Protestantism, the ceremonies of the Greek Church, etc., etc. The number of persons increased until we had an audience of forty. They gave us no time to eat until nightfall; and in the evening nine more came, and seemed convinced of the truth. We spent a week in this village. Wine is drank largely, and most of the young men are very wild, but we found some whose conversation encouraged us much. For example, there are three who hold regular meetings for the study of the New Testament on Sabbaths and fast days. Such questions as they cannot solve for themselves they reserve, until some one who can, passes through their village. They have become fully aware, by their study of the New Testament, that the Greek Church is not the one established by the Apostles. One of their earnest questions was, 'Can we find salvation in the Greek Church?' We found one enlightened priest in this village, and spent a half day conversing with him. He informed us that he was endeavoring to have the church service in the vulgar tongue, so that all might understand. He quotes Scripture readily, and is doing much good. All the other priests are miserable wine drinkers. On my refusing the invitation of one of these to drink with him, he exclaimed in astonishment, 'What! are you not a Christian'?"