There can be no doubt that, owing to these and other less apparent causes, there was a preparation in the Armenian mind of Turkey for the reception of divine truth, before the arrival of the American missionaries. Though more evident at the capital than in the provinces, there seems to have been some degree of this preparation wherever Armenians were found. In this respect, there was a marked difference among that people, as compared with Jews and Greeks. The common people, where not intimidated by the clergy, almost everywhere heard the Word with gladness; and it was so with many of the parochial priests, when not dreading the wrath of their superiors. In all this we should gratefully acknowledge an overruling Providence in the ordering of events, and the divine agency of the Holy Spirit, making it apparent that the "fullness of time" had come for the entering in of evangelical missionaries.
Messrs. Smith and Dwight, before leaving Constantinople on their eastern tour, earnestly recommended the forming of a station at the metropolis, with special reference to the Armenians. In April, 1831, Mr. Goodell, then at Malta, received instructions from the Prudential Committee to remove to that city. This he did, after having carried the Armeno-Turkish New Testament through the press.
The splendid scene which opened to Mr. Goodell as he drew near the city on the 9th of June, he thus describes: "As we approached Constantinople, the most enchanting prospect opened to view. In the country, on our left, were fields rich in cultivation and fruitfulness. On our right, were the little isles of the Sea of Marmora; and beyond, the high lands of Broosa, with Olympus rearing its head above the clouds and covered with eternal snow. In the city, mosques, domes, and hundreds of lofty minarets, were starting up amidst the more humble abodes of men, all embosomed in groves of dark cypresses, which in some instances seemed almost like a forest; while before, behind, and around us, were (besides many boats of the country) more than twenty square-rigged vessels, bearing the flags of different nations, all under full sail, with a light but favorable breeze,—all converging to one point, and that CONSTANTINOPLE. When we first caught a glimpse of Top-Hana, Galata, and Pera, stretching from the water's edge to the summit of the hill, and began to sweep round Seraglio Point, the view became most beautiful and sublime. It greatly surpassed all that I had ever conceived of it. We had been sailing along what I should call the south side of the city for four or five miles, and were now entering the Bosphorus, with the city on our left, and Scutari on our right. The mosque of St. Sophia, with the palaces and gardens of the Sultan Mahmoud, were before us in all their majesty and loveliness. Numerous boats were shooting rapidly by us in all directions, giving to the scene the appearance of life and business. The vessels before us had been retarded, and those behind had been speeded, and we were sweeping round the Golden Horn in almost as rapid succession as was possible,—every captain apparently using all his skill to prevent coming in contact with his neighbor, or being carried away by the current; and every passenger apparently, like ourselves, gazing with admiration on the numerous objects of wonder on every hand."
Mr. Goodell took a house in Pera, one of the suburbs of Constantinople, where the European ambassadors and most of the foreign Christians resided. Scarcely two months elapsed, before that populous section of the metropolis was almost wholly destroyed by fire. The missionary lost house, furniture, library, papers, and nearly all the clothing of himself and family; and was obliged to remove fifteen miles up the Bosphorus, to Buyuk-Dereh, and to remain there the rest of the year.
The fire had separated the missionary almost entirely from the Armenians, and being thrown into the midst of the Greeks, he established several Greek Lancasterian schools, with the New Testament for a class-book. In most instances the copies were purchased by the parents. To furnish himself with competent instructors, he made arrangements for a normal school among the Greeks of Galata, a central place in which many children were begging for instruction, and he was evidently encouraged by the smiles of heaven upon his labors.
Not long after, he called upon the Armenian Patriarch, a man of dignified manners and venerable appearance, and asked his coöperation in establishing schools among his people on an improved plan. The Patriarch declared, with even more than Oriental politeness, that he loved Mr. Goodell and his country so much, that if Mr. G. had not come to visit him, he must needs have gone to America. After numerous inquiries, he assented to the introduction of the new system of instruction, and promised to furnish suitable persons to learn it; which promise, however, he failed to remember.
Mr. Dwight joined Mr. Goodell, with his family, on the 5th of June, 1832, intending to devote himself wholly to the Armenians, and to labor for them chiefly through the Armenian language, though he afterwards acquired also the Turkish. The Rev. William G. Schauffler arrived in the following month, as a missionary to the Jews.
The Armenians at Constantinople were estimated at one hundred thousand. As a body, they were intelligent, ingenuous, and frank; and many were found who regarded the ritual of their Church as encumbered with burdensome ceremonies, unsustained by the Scriptures, and of no practical advantage. The outset of the Armenian mission was in some respects unlike that to the Maronites of Syria, among whom the converts were at once excommunicated, and treated as outlaws. The object of the missionaries was not to break down the Armenian Church, but, if possible, by reviving the knowledge and spirit of the Gospel, to reform it. They were content that the ecclesiastical organization remain, provided the spirit of the Gospel could be revived under it. They regarded the ceremonies of the Church as mere outworks, not necessarily removed before reaching the citadel; and believed that assaults upon these would awaken more general opposition, than if made upon the citadel itself, and that, the citadel once taken, the outworks would fall of course. They felt, therefore, that as foreigners their main business was to set forth the fundamental doctrines and duties of the Gospel, derived directly from the Holy Scriptures.
This early position of the mission is stated merely as historical truth. When their converts were excommunicated, after some years, the case became changed, and of course their methods of proceeding were greatly modified, so far as the hierarchy was concerned.
Obstacles soon arose that had not been anticipated. First, the plague, with terrific violence, then, the cholera; and lastly, the Egyptian civil war, which shook the capital, and endangered the throne. There could be little intercourse with the people in these circumstances; and during the latter part of 1832, the missionaries were employed chiefly in their own houses, studying the languages, and preparing elementary cards and books for the schools.