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THE

MISSIONARY HERALD.

VOL. LIII.

MAY, 1857.

No. 5.

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Northern Armenian Mission.-Turkey. | furniture. The brethren are welcomed

BAGHCHEJUK.

LETTER FROM MR. J. W. PARSONS, FEBRUARY 19, 1857.

THE intelligence from this station, it will be seen, continues to be of a most cheering character. 66 'During the past month," Mr. Parsons says, "two persons have been added to the church. The congregations have been increasing, owing to the coming in from the mountains of a large number of colliers, many of whom are enlightened." Of this class, there are several hundred whose time is spent in the mountains except when the snow is on the ground. There are, besides, several hundreds who have no work in the winter, and of these "enough wish to listen to the truth to warrant a full congregation every day. To the extent of our preaching ability, we meet this demand for the truth by extra public services during the week.” The faithful efforts of members of the church, the wide door which is opened for these efforts, and the great progress which the cause of truth is making, are 'clearly seen from the following statements of

this brief letter.

Preaching in the Coffee-shops.

The members of the church have been active and faithful in improving the opportunities occurring daily, in the coffeeshops, of disseminating the light. In many of these shops, the Bible has become a fixture, as much so as a piece of

warmly in all of them, and are expected to read and expound the Scriptures. From ten to thirty in each place, form the circle of listeners. The teacher of the school is much sought for, being a good reader and a ready talker. He says he is often called in when passing, and sometimes for two or three hours he keeps the attention of his hearers, who often entirely forget, meanwhile, their choobooks and coffee. He called recently at a shop where formerly Protestants were not admitted. There was no Bible there, and he had none with him. Those present would not believe that he was without a New Testament, until they had searched him. "What!" they said, “you a Protestant, and without the New Testament." On another occasion he took with him his New Testament, and was welcomed. After talking awhile the coffee-jee said, "That's enough, this is not a church." The people replied, “We don't hear the gospel in the church, we wish it to go on." The coffee-shop is controlled by the wishes of those who frequent it, rather than by the proprietor; the coffee-jee is a public servant. Our brother proceeded. Soon the church board sounded; the coffee-jee called the attention of the hearers to the fact, but

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in vain. They said, "This is our vartabed, this is our church, this is the gospel." There are many of the brethren thus employed daily, during the intervals of labor. The blacksmiths finish their day's work before noon, and thus have several hours daily for self-improvement and their labors of love. Many of our brethren are blacksmiths.

The Past and the Present.

These brethren say, in comparing the present with the last winter, that there is a great difference. There is less excitement, but more thought and feeling. There are now no loud discussions, but a serious examination of the truth. There is a hungering for the word.

It is so, and to a remarkable extent God has provided warm-hearted Christian brethren, who delight in the work of dispensing the Word to those who are hungering for it. These simple-minded believers take it for granted that there is a demand for the Word of Life wherever they go, and so they go every where preaching the gospel.

In traveling, I have heard it remarked that the Protestants of this place are the worst of all, that they disregard all rules of politeness, and talk in coffee-shops as if they were in the church. Those of the capital, and Nicomedia and Adabazar, are said to be more civil. The brethren usually reply to the complainants, "Brethren, what shall we do? Without faith in Christ, men will perish forever."

Superstitions rejected-A Confession.

The patron saint of this place is St. James. On his day the old church is crowded. This year it was not crowded. The vartabed took occasion to say, for the encouragement of the weak and desponding, that Saint James had a special regard for the place and a good stock of merit to be used in its behalf. Upon this sixty persons arose and left in a body, creating a great sensation.

The idea is no longer abroad, that

Protestantism is irreligion and infidelity, but, on the contrary, that it is the true religion, pleasing to God. An illustration of this fact is the case of a woman, who, during a severe illness, made a vow that if she recovered she would attend the Protestant chapel. She got well, and for some months she has been one of the regular hearers of the word.

Females constitute about one-third of the usual congregations. In their behalf, in a remarkable manner, the grace of God has proved stronger than the power of the priests and superstition. One after another, they have dropped away from the confessional and become regular attendants at the chapel. The mother of one of the now Protestant families, when called to confess, went and confessed that she had sinned in various ways, and was by nature a lost sinner. But that which lay heaviest on her heart was, that she had looked to her fastings and confessions, and the sacrifices of the sacrament, and the absolutions of the priest, instead of Christ, the only and all-sufficient Savior. At this the priest cast her from him as a viper.

At the close of his letter Mr. Parsons says, "The church in Adabazar is enjoying a season of excitement which they hope may prove to be a season of refreshing from above." The attendance at the chapel in Nicomedia is increasing under the labors of Baron Serope, a licensed preacher.

LETTER FROM DR. JEWETT, DECEMBER 18, 1856.

THE first subject to which Dr. Jewett refers in this letter is one of deep interest, not only to himself, but to the several missionary families at Sivas, Arabkir, Tocat, and Cesarea. It is, the great importance of having at least one more missionary physician in that region. At all the stations mentioned, the missionaries now look to him for medical attendance. Yet the distance from Sivas to Tocat is eighteen hours, about fifty-four miles; to Cesarea,

thirty hours; and to Arabkir, thirty-six hours. Within the past few months, he writes, "I have been once to Arabkir, twice to Cesarea, and three times to Tocat. Since the tenth of

July, I have traveled eleven hundred miles; and that not leisurely in a carriage, over a good road, but on horseback, and generally at 'post rate.' Several times I have made the journey between Tocat and Sivas in a single day, a distance of fifty or sixty miles over a mountainous road. While I was in Cesarea, a special messenger arrived, bringing a letter from Tocat announcing Mr. Van Lennep's dangerous illness, and urging me to go there as soon as possible. The next morning I mounted my horse, and after four days' hard riding I was able to reach Tocat. I arrived there nine days after Mr. Van Lennep was taken ill, and not until the crisis of his disease had nearly or quite passed." Under such circumstances, he may well urge, as he does, "the necessities of these eight mission families;" the wants of the missionary work at his own station, where he "sees a great amount of direct missionary labor" which he earnestly wishes to peform; his duties to his own family, who may be, as they have been, urgently needing his medical attendance when he is far away; and regard for his health, which is in danger of seriously suffering from such continued labor and exposure, as reasons why another physician should be sent. Who will go?

The Work at other Stations—Arabkir. Having been thus called to visit different portions of the missionary field, Dr. Jewett has had much opportunity to observe the good work which is going forward; and the statements which he makes respecting the different stations will be read with the more interest, as coming from one not connected with these stations. He writes:

Since the first of September last, it has been my precious privilege to be a personal observer of the progress which the work of God has made, and is still making, in Arabkir, Divrik, Tocat, and Cesarea; and to become acquainted with the missionary brethren and native assistants lab oring at these several stations. Arabkir and Divrik I had not visited before, and it gave me great pleasure to behold the work of the Lord in those places.

Arabkir is well known to the readers of the Herald, as one of the most interesting and flourishing stations in this mission. A great work seems to be in progress in that city; and also in its nu

merous surrounding towns and villages. At least twenty preachers, teachers and colporters are at work under the direction of that station. The missionaries resident there, Messrs. Richardson and Pollard, have a great and responsible work to perform, in directing and overseeing the numerous native laborers connected with the work in the city and its large out-stations. Toward Erzengan and Egin on the north, Keban Maden and Malatia on the south, and Divrik on the west, their attention must be constantly directed. Their native preachers and teachers, and native churches, all require constant oversight and direction.

Many of the Armenians of Arabkir and its villages are merchants, who spend months in Erzroom and Aleppo, engaged in trade, and then return to their native city or village. Many who have thus gone to those cities, have come back enlightened men, Protestants. Thus the missionaries who have been sowing the good seed in Erzroom and Aleppo, though they may not have seen it spring up in the place where it has been sown, may yet have the blessed assurance that the seed has not been lost, but that it has sprung up, and is bearing good fruit in another portion of the Master's vineyard. The same is true in Sivas. Here also the light came first from Erzroom. What an encouragement do these facts afford, to cast our bread upon the waters, assured that it will be found again, even though it be after many days, and in a distant place.

Divrik and Villages around.

Divrik (an out-station) is twelve hours, that is about thirty-six miles, nearly west of Arabkir. I was able to make but a brief stop in the city. I saw, however, sufficient to assure me that the good hand of the Lord has been, and still is, at work there, and was much gratified with all I saw. The spirit of humility, of intelligence and devotion to his work, manifested by the native preacher, was especially gratifying. The evidence of

brotherly love among the members of | had left the old church, in whose doc

the church and community, was very marked and pleasing. I was informed that the wives and families, as well as the husbands, in Divrik, are Protestants. At many of the stations this is not so. The women, ordinarily, are much more ignorant and degraded than the men, and consequently are much more under the influence of the priesthood, and much more opposed to the reception of the truth. In calling upon the Turkish governor of the city, and the Judge, I was pleased to find that they manifested much friendly interest in the Protest

ants.

Returning from Divrik, I stopped for an hour in the middle of the day, at a small village among the mountains. While seated, taking some refreshment, a villager came in and extended his hand toward me with words of welcome. I was not a little surprised to find one in that secluded village ready to give so cordial a greeting to an entire stranger. Soon, another man came in, and repeated the same kind salutation. They said, "We are brothers, and are Protestants." They gave me a pressing invitation to call at their house, which I accepted, and there had a very pleasant talk with these two rude mountaineers, their aged mother, and the wife of one of them, upon things pertaining to the kingdom. They all seemed very glad to see and converse with me; and when we parted, they expressed many kind wishes, and sent many Christian salaams to the brethren in Sivas. One of these villagers is a member of the Divrik church. They have suffered persecution for the truth's sake, but have remained firm, and assured me that they preached the gospel to their friends and neighbors as they had opportunity.

At another mountain village, where I spent the night, I found two men from Divrik, trading in the village. One of these was quite an old man, the father of the Protestant preacher in Divrik. He seemed to feel very badly that his son

trines and ceremonies he appeared to retain the fullest confidence. "How long is it since this new Protestant religion was got up? Where are your churches? You have no churches as we Armenians have. How can you worship God without a church?" This is a specimen of the poor old man's talk. The other was an intelligent-appearing, serious-minded young man, not an open Protestant, but a reader of the gospel, and very friendly to the truth. He said that he was one of about a dozen young men of Divrik, who were accustomed, on the Sabbath, to resort to a shady nook by the river side, there to read the gospel, and discuss together the truths of God's word. These young men, he said, were not quite ready to come out and be known as Protestants, but were earnestly searching the Scriptures in order to learn the way of God more perfectly.

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