The printing was done at Constantinople for all the missions; and that reported for the year 1863 was as follows:
In Armenian 1,821,000 pages
In Armeno-Turkish 1,128,000 "
In Arabo-Turkish 264,000 "
In Greek 6,000 "
In Bulgarian 1,896,000 "
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Total 5,115,000 "
Of Turkish Scriptures twice as many copies had been distributed as in previous years. More than twenty-five thousand copies of the Word of God went into circulation, in at least twenty different languages. The following is a statement of the Scriptures prepared and printed, under the supervision of the missionaries of the Board, from 1840 to 1863:
In Modern Armenian 37,500
In Ararat 8,000
In Armeno-Turkish 6,500
In Greco-Turkish 55,000
In Koordish 13,000
In Bulgarian 4,000
In Hebrew-Spanish 23,000
Armenian Psalms 14,000
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Total 161,000
Of these, there were published at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 100,000; of the American Bible Society, 54,000; and of the American Tract Society (New York), 7,000. In addition to the above printed in Turkey, 10,500 copies of the modern Armenian version were printed in New York, from electrotype plates of the American Bible Society; and 5,000 copies of the same version were printed in London, by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
The number of churches was forty-seven, with one thousand nine hundred and thirteen members. There had been received from the beginning two thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. The efforts to bring the churches to the point of self-support were not always appreciated. The people were poor, and sometimes felt their poverty more than they should, and in almost every church there were members who were ready to resent any transfer of pecuniary responsibility from the mission treasury to themselves. Moreover, it was sometimes not easy for a native pastor, with the tastes acquired during his education, to live in a manner that would put him in sympathy with his people, and encourage the hope of their soon assuming his support. Nor was it easy for the native pastor, from his different stand-point, to appreciate the responsibilities of the missionary. A union of the churches was needed, but had been delayed by their distance from each other and their poverty.
It has been already stated that the Western mission resolved, in 1862, to remove the two seminaries from Constantinople to Marsovan. Mr. Leonard and his wife and Miss Maria A. West were already there. Mr. Dodd and family, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Miss Fritcher now removed thither. The delightful harmony and Christian zeal which existed at this station when the mission passed the resolution, had been followed by painful disagreements. Through the mistaken zeal of a young school-teacher, anxious to effect some changes in the school, the community were betrayed into an attempt to obtain exclusive control of the funds of the Board appropriated to education. This eventually led to a struggle with the mission for the possession of the meeting-house and a dwelling-house connected with it, which had been purchased by the Board a few years before. Much ill feeling existed both in the church and the community while this was in progress, and for about six weeks a large number withdrew, and set up public worship in a private house, with the teacher at their head. This separate movement was then given up, and there was soon a return of peace and mutual affection; but neither of the schools were opened before the next year.
The accessions to the missions in Turkey, in the time now under
review, were Messrs. Walter H. Giles, Henry A. Schauffler, Lucien N.
Adams, and Albert Bryant, with their wives; also Miss Clarissa C.
Pond.
The working force of the mission at Constantinople, consisting of Drs. Goodell and Riggs, and Messrs. Trowbridge, Herrick, and Washburn, was quite too small for the demands of that great metropolis, and for the general work of the mission which had to be performed there. The Rev. Isaac G. Bliss, agent of the American Bible Society, rendered valuable assistance in the care of the book department. Dr. Hamlin was no longer able to render the services he had performed. Robert College was allowed the use of the Seminary building at Bebek, belonging to the American Board, until another building could be erected. Its twenty students paid forty pounds each year for board and tuition. Its successful beginning in 1862, under the munificent patronage of its founder, and the care of its President, Dr. Hamlin, and Professors Perkins and Henry A. Schauffler, was a subject for general congratulation.
The unhappy dissensions of the Protestant civil community had in some degree subsided; but the Pera church, maintaining its attitude of disaffection, sought patronage from the English Bishop of Gibraltar, offering to receive Episcopal ordination for the pastor, and to become a "Reformed Armenian church," which should reject the grossest errors of the Armenian Church, while it approximated closely to it in government, worship, and usages. Inquiries were instituted by the proper ecclesiastical authorities, and encouragement was withheld from the movement.