It was no wonder that the Armenians had welcomed the missionaries and had they been left alone they would not have attempted to prevent the work of reformation at all.
“When the missionaries came to Turkey they were kindly received by the patriarch and clergymen, who showed great hospitality and favor to them, and encouraged them to build up schools, which they promised to support by sending their young men and priests to be educated. But afterwards the Jesuits, who are ever the uncompromising enemies of Protestantism, secretly stirred up the Armenian and Greek leaders against the missionaries and their work, whom they now began to regard with suspicion and envy. Even among the Armenian priests and college-men were those who, though they at first persecuted the Protestants, became not only their stanchest friends, but also earnest workers for the cause of Christ.”
The above quotation from a native writer is well supported by the following statement of an American writer, a returned missionary of the American Board:
“In 1834 these schools had two thousand scholars, and though supported by the people, yet, having been established by the advice and assistance of the mission, their influence was great in its favor, till the monks and priests began to preach violently against the mission and schools, ‘and even against the patriarch for favoring them.’ But it was too late to destroy their influence. The Armenians had become roused by the spreading light,” and “in 1835 the revival of learning and piety among the Armenians continued to advance hand in hand.”[95]
The Seminary at Bebek in 1840 commenced with three scholars. The following year the number of the students had increased to twenty-four, and many had been refused for want of funds. A few years later a female seminary was started at Pera, Constantinople, and this had a wonderful effect upon the community. Education of the female, neglected for centuries, began to revive in the East, even the adult women and matrons attempted to learn to read their Bibles and they generally succeeded well. “Fifty adult females have begun to learn to read during the year; more than fifty have already learned to read well, and many others are in the process of learning.” Wherever the missionaries went there they started schools, and these schools were not only the centers from which the light of truth radiated around, but they also became in many places nuclei for new churches.
The Bebek Seminary, in 1854, reported its number of students as fifty, and “its former pupils are employed as preachers, teachers, translators, and helpers in many places.” In the following year the demand for teachers and preachers from the seminary was so great that other schools were started—one at Tokat, and another at Aintab. The number of free schools had increased this year (1855) to thirty-eight, and the whole number of pupils nine hundred and sixty.
It was in the same year that the American Board sent the Rev. Dr. Anderson and Thompson to India and Turkey. In the previous year the Baptist Missionary Society also had sent its deputation to India. “The result of these delegations was that the character of the education of nearly all the missionary institutions of the highest grade was wholly changed. The English language was proscribed and the curriculum of studies reduced to a vernacular basis. Many schools were closed and some missionaries came home, and considerable friction was occasioned, but the new system was rigidly enforced.”[96]
Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, Dr. H. J. Van Lennep, and some other missionaries advocated the importance of a thorough education and the knowledge of the English language for the native ministry, believing that “no country was ever reformed but by its sons, and that for such a great work a better education IS necessary.” They, however, met not a little opposition from the Board and some of their associates in the mission.
“The American Board’s change of base on the matter of education” furnished an occasion—for some trouble in the field—for some Armenian young men who sought a better education abroad. But their aspiring and venturing into England and America for a thorough English education, subjected them to opposition, from some of the missionaries, and afterwards, when they attempted to secure employment in the mission-fields, they met discouragement and disappointment. Even as late as in 1880 Dr. Hamlin, advocating his position, wrote:
“Every young man who started with a good foundation of English, and of character, has done well. I recall at this moment five such cases: (1) Alexan Bezjian, now professor in Aintab College; (2) Alexander Djijisian, who spent one or two years in Edinburgh, now pastor at Ada Bazar. He is a noble and strong man in judgment and power of argument, in true insight, in theological training and as a preacher, the supervisor of many a missionary; (3) The late Broasa pastor, now head of the High School, who studied at Basle. No one will dare to impugn his character and ability; (4) Pastor Keropé, like the others, a Bebek Seminary student. He went to England and Mr. Farnsworth, instead of opposing him, had the grace to aid him. He made a good impression in England and obtained aid to build a church; Mr. Farnsworth pronounced it the best church that has been erected among the Protestants in Turkey; (5) Pastor Thomas, of Diarbekir. I do not know of a man who speaks the Armenian language who is his equal for a platform speech. He carries his audience with him. He is clear and logical. He lifts his audience to higher planes of principle, thought and feeling.”