Considerable annoyance was felt, about this time, growing out of the efforts of an Armenian, named Garabed, to form a church at Diarbekir, which should admit persons to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper without requiring evidence of piety, and baptize the children of any who might desire it. He made similar efforts at Aleppo, Aintab, and Marash. He visited Jerusalem, and so far gained the confidence of English missionaries residing there, that the excellent Bishop Gobat was induced to give him ordination. But he failed to secure the confidence of the missionaries and native pastors in Central and Eastern Turkey, where he was better known; and the evidence at hand constrains me to add, that the missionaries at all the stations anticipated nothing but evil from such intrusions, at this stage of the missionary enterprise in Turkey.[1]
[1] "We desire to call your attention to the efforts of our English (Church) brethren to obtain a foothold in Aintab. It seems that large sums of money have been appropriated under the direction of Bishop Gobat, of Jerusalem, for this purpose; and a large and costly church building is being begun under the superintendence of the English Consul at Aleppo. We are surprised and grieved at this breach of courtesy on the part of these English friends, especially so soon after the earnest protests of the officers of our Board against such interference by other missionary societies."—Letter written in 1872.
The congregations at Bitlis were composed mostly of young men, apparently drawn together by love for the truth. About twenty were known as Protestants, and five of them had gone through a fiery trial of persecution. The Bible class, which had been broken up by that means, was now regularly attended by about thirty young men, some of whom developed rich natural endowments, and gave promise of future usefulness. Sabbath-school instruction was found a valuable auxiliary to the preaching of the missionaries, on account of the opportunity it afforded for free and familiar illustration and personal application of the truth. It also made the missionary acquainted with the superstitions and errors of the Armenian religion. The women's meeting, conducted by Mrs. Knapp and Mrs. Burbank, was well attended and influential. A school for girls, taught by the wife of the helper, was broken up by the violence of Armenian ecclesiastics. The missionaries appealed to the Pasha, and to Mr. Dalzell, the friendly British Consul at Erzroom. The result was that the priests commenced a free school for boys and girls, and also a preaching service, hoping thus to deter the people from becoming Protestants. The Porte had given orders that the Protestants in every city should have a suitable cemetery, but every effort to secure one at Bitlis had been without success.
Dr. Dwight was much interested in this city. Its population was thirty thousand, and one third were Armenians; the rest were Koords and Turks, and there were hundreds of villages within the district. The place was proverbial for salubrity, and he saw enough to convince him that the leaven of the Gospel was working powerfully among the people. Moosh, an out-station of Bitlis, was occupied by the native pastor Simon. The truth had taken some hold there, but the people were more degraded than at Bitlis.
Erzroom had several changes of missionaries in the six years previous to 1862. Being near to Russia, it suffered greatly during the Crimean war. The church was disbanded, but was reorganized by Mr. Trowbridge. Mr. Pollard removed thither from Arabkir, and was received with unexpected favor. The government now granted an eligible cemetery; and the Armenian Bishop, having had the benefit of a two years' residence in the United States, was friendly towards the American missionary.
The removal of Mr. Pollard left Mr. Richardson alone at Arabkir. His report for 1862, shows that there was much to encourage him. Turkish women came to the female prayer-meetings; and the opening of Protestant schools had led the Armenians to establish schools for their own children, in some of which a large proportion of the pupils were girls, though but a few years had passed since it was considered a shame for females to learn to read. Eleven young men from seven different cities and villages in this district, were connected with the Harpoot Seminary, giving the prospect of an improved class of helpers. Yet most of the former helpers had proved themselves sincere and pious; and after having done what they could to bring forward younger men of higher attainments, they were themselves humbly and gracefully returning to their former trades and callings, and laboring for the advancement of the good cause as Sabbath-school teachers and private Christians.
At the close of 1862, Dr. Wood, the Corresponding Secretary of the Board at New York, in consideration of his former experience and his familiarity with the Armenian language, was requested by the Prudential Committee to reside at Constantinople for a year or more, laboring in connection with the mission to Western Turkey. This was necessary in consequence of the sickness of several missionaries, and the special demand, at that time, for labor at that important post. He returned in the summer of 1864, after having rendered important service to the mission.
The clerical accessions to the mission, in 1862 and 1863, were
Messrs. John Francis Smith, Moses P. Parmelee, and Giles F.
Montgomery, with their wives; and their respective assignments were
to the Western, Central, and Eastern missions. In addition to these,
Miss Arabella L. Babcock went to Harpoot, Miss Ann Eliza Fritcher to
Marsovan, and Miss Mary E. Reynolds to the Bulgarian Mission.
In May, 1863, native pastors were ordained at Antioch, Bitlis, Adana, and Tarsus. In June, a fifth was ordained at Killis, the officiating clergy in this last case, with a single exception, being natives.