travellers left Constantinople on horseback, April 12th, 1830. They were dressed like native Turks, in order not to attract attention, and they proposed to go overland from the straits of the Bosphorus to the shores of the Caspian Sea, a distance of about one thousand miles in a direct line. The regions through which they were to pass were then little known; many parts of Turkey were inhabited by independent and hostile tribes; property was unprotected; there was no post, no telegraph in the country; there were no steamers on the Black or Mediterranean seas. Such a journey, then, may be compared to a trip from the head of Lake Superior to Alaska, or to a journey from Allahabad into the heart of Central Asia at the present time. Our travellers were gone fifteen and a half months, and returned in good health and spirits. They were richly rewarded by the information which they had obtained in regard to the regions through which they had passed, and the tribes and races which they had seen. This information is common enough now, but it was rare and interesting then. The travellers told their story in two modest volumes, which were published in Boston in 1833. That story made a deep impression on the minds of many thoughtful men, and led to the inauguration of important measures for the enlightenment and reformation of the tribes which the travellers had visited. The exploration of Palestine by Dr. Edward Robinson, aided by Dr. Eli Smith, soon followed that of Armenia and Persia by Smith and Dwight. These investigations marked an era in antiquarian research: they began in 1838 and were renewed in 1852. No one can read the volumes of these explorers without being impressed by the great amount of labour which they performed, and by the practical common sense which they applied to every branch of their investigations. It is hardly too much to say that a great part of the romance of the Holy Land was destroyed by these unpoetical Americans, yet in its place we have a vast amount of historical information resting on a solid basis of ascertained facts. The dross of history has been thrown away, its pure gold remains with us. The efforts of Robinson and Smith changed the method of antiquarian research in the East, and gave a new impulse to such research. The very title of Robinson's volumes has been a constant stimulus to all subsequent explorers. That title,Researches in Palestine and the adjacent regions,' exactly explains the character of the work. Since these volumes appeared men have not felt satisfied with second-hand reports; explorers have been compelled to see for themselves, to examine, to measure, to weigh the evidence on the spot. Later visitors have added much to what Robinson recorded, but no one of them of any respectability fails to acknowledge large indebtedness to the American traveller. A few have not agreed with him on isolated points, but any attempt to detract from the importance of what he did meets a quick protest from the best scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. At the time of his death Robinson was engaged on what he hoped to make the great work of his life, a treatise on the physical geography of Palestine, Syria, and the adjoining regions. The fragment of this work which was published after his death makes us deeply regret that he was not spared to carry out a design of such grand proportions. That Dr. Robinson was often dogmatic, and extremely tenacious of his own opinions, cannot be denied. IIe sometimes unjustly and too severely criticizes the opinions of others in these respects some of the unpleasant characteristics of our trans-Atlantic cousins appear to his great disadvantage-yet it must be admitted in his favour that he formed his opinions only after mature deliberation, and therefore held them the more firmly, and his most severe criticisms were reserved for those who were pretenders in biblical research: for such persons his most bitter sarcasm seemed to him to come short of their deserts. Our own Palestine Exploration Committee speak thus of Robinson ('Our Work in Palestine,' pp. 7, 8): 'But the first real impulse, because the first successful impulse, towards scientific examination of the Holy Land, is due to the American traveller, Dr. Robinson. He it was who first conceived the idea of making a work on biblical geography, to be based, not on the accounts of others, but on his own observations and discoveries. He fitted himself for his ambitious undertaking by the special studies of fifteen years, mastering the whole literature of the subject, and above all clearing the way for his own researches by noticing the deficiencies and weak points of his predecessors. He went, therefore, knowing what to look for, and what had been al ready found. His first journey was in 1838, his second in 1852. On each occasion he had the good fortune to be accompanied by his fellow-countryman, Dr. Eli Smith, a master of the Arabic language, and a keen and careful observer. Both travellers were gifted with that calm and sober common sense necessary above all things in a country where enthusiasm so often endangers accuracy, and a man, perfectly and entirely truthful 1 and honest, sees what he wishes to see. Dr. Robinson seems first to have recognized that most important aid to biblical identification, the modern Arabic names, and the first edition of his work contains a very valuable list of names, chiefly collected by Dr. Eli Smith. Dr. Robinson, starting with the broad canon that all ecelesiastical tradition respecting the sacred places in and around Jerusalem and throughout Palestine is of no value, except so far as it is supported by circumstances known to us from the Scriptures or from other contemporary hi tory,' was the first (except the German bookseller Korte, of the eighteenth century) to impugn the accuracy of the traditional sites. Let it be understood that Dr. Robinson is the first of scientific travellers. His travels took him over a very large extent of ground, covering a large part of the whole country from Sinai north, and his books are still, after thirty years, the most valuable works which we possess on the geography of Palestine.' This is high praise, but not too high, and graceful as coming from Englishmen. Dr. Thomson has followed up the explorations of Robinson and Smith, and has added greatly to the information which they have given us. In these latter days the Americans have undertaken the scientific exploration of the region east of the Jordan. It is too soon to judge of their success, but it is pleasant to know that they are working in entire harmony with the English Palestine Exploration Society. One of the best illustrations of what the Americans have accomplished in Turkey in the way of exploration, is afforded in the labours of Dr. Grant in Kürdistan. The Kürds are undoubtedly the descendants of the ancient Carduchians, who are mentioned so frequently by Xenophon in the Anabasis. They live in the same mountains, and are now what the Carduchians were 2,000 years ago. When Dr. Grant went among them they were still lawless robbers, unsubdued by the Turkish Government. A few years before, Schultz-the celebrated German traveller-lost his life among them. Grant was not afraid to enter the mountain fastnesses of their country, to stop at their villages, to examine their habits and customs, and note the peculiarities of the physical geography of that part of Turkey. He gave us the first authentic information we have received in modern times in regard to many interesting questions relating to the Kurds, the Nestorians, and other dwellers among the Kürdish mountains. Не was undoubtedly greatly aided in making these explorations by his knowledge of medicine and his skill as a surgeon. Even with this powerful ally, thirty-five years ago it required no little moral courage to explore Kürdistan. Here is a description of his attending a celebrated Kürdish chief in 1839. 'The sentinels upon the ramparts were sounding the watchcry at midnight in the rough tones of their native Kürdish. We entered the outer court through wide, iron-cased, folding-doors. A second iron door opened into a long dark alley, which conducted to the room where the chief was lying. It was evident that he was becoming impatient; and as I looked upon the swords, pistols, guns, spears, and daggers, which hung around the walls of the room, I could not but think of the fate of the unfortunate Schultz, who had fallen, as it is said, by the orders of this sanguinary chief. He had the power of life and death in his hands.' The chief recovered, and, in token of his gratitude, made his benefactor the present of a beautiful horse. Grant soon fell a victim to his own enthusiasm: he died at Mosul, after an active career in the East of but a few years. His memoir and letters in the Missionary Herald' give us, even now, the most reliable information we have in regard to the Kürdish mountains and their wild inhabitants. Dr. Grant was followed at Mosul by Dr. Lobdell, whose memoir has been prepared by Professor Wm. II. Tyler, of Amherst College, U.S.A., but we shall speak of his labours under the head of Medical Practice. In this memoir (pp. 213-227) will be found an instructive account of a visit to the singular sect of the Yezidees, or devil-worshippers; and in the various numbers of the Missionary Herald' the letters of Dr. Lobdell contain a large amount of information in regard to this strange people, information which could only be gathered by the personal inspection of one acquainted with their language. Besides these extended and positive explorations, the correspondence with the Missionary House shows that nearly all of the Americans have been more or less engaged in the work of exploration. There are accounts of extended journeys by Hamlin, Riggs, and Byington, in European Turkey; by Johnston, Azoniah Smith, Peabody, Dunmore, and Trowbridge, in ancient Armenia; by Coffing, [Schmider, and Adams, in Cilicia and Cappadocia; by Wheeler, Basnum, Allen, and Williams, in Mesopotamia; and by Knapp in the region of Lake Van. Trus, the immediate object of these travellers was not the exploration of the country, but with commendable common sense they have noted almost innumerablefacts in regard to its general features, and have collected a great amount of informa- tion that must be of special value to all students of the geography of those regions. The history of the civilized portions of our race seems to flow back to Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Armenia, the very countries where the Americans have lately studied and worked. May we not hope that their continued occupation and examination of the country will throw light on some of the interesting questions that are now attracting so much attention, the questions, we mean, relating to the early occupation of those lands by the primitive races. The physical features of the country naturally attracted the attention and secured the admiration of the Western strangers. They found the climate delightful, the soil rich broad plains stretched far and wide, till they struck the base of rough, towering mountains. The vine, the olive, the mulberry, rich fields of waving grain, reminded them of the luxury of nature, so often the burden of classic song. The rivers, too, so celebrated in the history and the poetry of the world, the Halys, the Araxes, the Cydnus, the Tigris and the Euphrates, the Orontes and the Meander, still roll on to the seas, as they did in the infancy of our race. Here are the plains where the armies of the Greeks and Persians, the Romans and the Barbarians, the Moguls and the Turks, enriched the soil with their blood. Through these narrow passes of the Taurus Alexander and the Crusaders defiled as they marched to the East. The physical features of Asia Minor are deeply interesting in themselves, but that interest is increased by the fact that you cannot look there upon external nature without connecting it with the wonderful events that have occurred in the past in the very presence of these same natural objects. As you climb the Asiatic Olympus, you remember that Pliny was once governor of Bithynia; as you stand on the battle-field of Issus, and look north to the snow-covered Taurus ranges, you remember that some of the most beautiful! letters of Cicero were written when he was governor of Cilicia. Egypt, Palestine, the Nile, the Jordan, the Hellespont, the Bosphorus, Rhodes, Cyprus, the islands of the Egean Sea, Smyrna, the plains of Troywe mention them all, only to bring before the mind's eye the wonderful physical beauty of the localities in which so many of the great events of man's history have occurred. What of the races of men now inhabiting these countries, and what light have the Americans thrown upon their national characteristics? These questions open before us a wide field, and we must limit ourselves in this branch of our subject. We may partially answer the last question first, by saying that in their published works and letters the Americans have brought out in the clearest manner the marked and peculiar characteristics of each nationality. This is especially true of the scholarly works of Dr. Van Lennep, but it appears in all of the published writings of the Americans who have lived in Turkey. One of the marked peculiarities of the Turkish Empire is the great number of separate races over whom the Sultan is called to bear rule. Some of these are the following: the Kürds, the Osmanli Turks, the Arabs, the Yezidees, the Greeks, the Bulgarians, the Circassians, the Copts, the Armenians, the Druses, the Maronites, and the Turcomans. Besides these there are great numbers of occasional and straggling residents, as Gipsies, Persians, Hindu Fakirs, and wanderers from the interior of Africa and from the most distant regions of Central and Eastern Asia. Of the Christian races, the Americans have come most in contact with the Greeks, the Armenians, the Bulgarians, and the Copts. The Greeks are too well known to require special notice here. As the Armenians, in modern times, have been brought forward to the notice of the civilized world in great measure by the Americans, a brief but particular notice of them will not be out of place. The same may be said of the Bulgarians. The Armenians are undoubtedly one of the old, or primitive races of men. One of the names which they give to their country is 'Ashkanzean:' this is derived plainly from Askenaz, who was the brother of Togarmah and the son of Gomer. They also call their country Doon Torkomah,' the House of Torkomah,' or Togarmah. There seems much reason to believe that the Armenians have occupied Armenia ever since the nations were dispersed over the face of the earth, and that they retain, to a great extent, the early characteristics of the race. They are described by one of the Americans as of medium height, squarely built, complexions rather dark, hair a glossy black, dark and beautiful eyes, thin frames firmly knit, so that they are capable of a great amount of physical labour. Many of the men have great strength. The marriage relation is guarded with the greatest sanctity; illegitimate births are almost unknown among them; marriage ties are seldom broken, or marriage vows violated: for many centuries intermarriages of relations have been strictly prohibited both by law and custom. These causes, combined with a bracing climate, have produced a people remarkable for health and physical strength. Many of the the Kürds, the Bedawin Arabs, and the Yezidees, if it is proper to class those last named among Mohammedans. We must, however, refer our readers to the works we have mentioned for information in regard to these races, remarking only in passing that the best description we have seen of the life and character of the Kürds is found in the Memoir of Dr. Grant. females of the higher classes, especially in | papers, the Scriptures, magazines, tracts, and youth, are very beautiful.' The same wri- pamphlets, are having an immense sale ter adds: The Armenians have a high de- among them. Under the fostering care of gree of mental capacity: this is shown in a good government there can be little doubt their ready mastery of the details of busi- that the Bulgarians would soon rise to a ness, in the rapid progress they make in high scale among the nations of Europe. study whenever the opportunity is present- We mention them thus particularly, because ed to them. Their young men generally in various ways since 1858 they have come take a high stand in scholarship when ad- in contact with the Americans. Many of mitted to the schools and colleges of Europe their books have been prepared by the and America. They have a sincere rever- Americans, and the Bulgarian newspaper ence for the aged, and delight in recounting that has by far the largest circulation is the deeds of the great heroes of their race. edited and published by them. In comparing them, in respect to their men- Of the Mohammedan races, the Amerital characteristics, with the civilized nations cans have thrown special light upon the hisof the West, we should remember their history and peculiarities of the Osmanli Turks, tory, a history which, for several hundred years, has been one sad tale of oppression and sorrow. If we bear this in mind, we shall wonder at the great amount of mental life and activity now existing among this interesting people.'* It would take us too far from our purpose to enter largely into the history and prospects of the Armenians. This much is plain, that the Armenians belong to the races that have a future before them. In Russia and Persia as well as in Turkey they are increasing in numbers and in wealth. They have an aptitude for business, and this will serve them a good turn as the semi-civilized countries in which they dwell are more opened to the commerce of the world. The Bulgarians have recently acquired a painful notoriety in consequence of their treatment by the irregular troops of the Turkish Government. They come criginally from the Volga, that part of Asia which has so long been the swarming hive of the human race. They are part of the great Slav family: the old Slavic is their ancient language, and they use the same alphabet and character in writing and printing Bulgarian as is used by the Russians. They number about five millions, and occuthe great plains of European Turkey on both sides of the Balkan mountains. They are essentially an agricultural people, very industrious, hard-working, peaceful. During the past twenty years no one of the subject races of Turkey has made such rapid strides in education; great numbers of common and high schools have been established among them; the teachers are all supported by the people, and are well paid. A separate exarch and bishops of their own have recently been granted them by the Porte, so that they are now free from the overbearing dominion of the Greek patriarch and Greek ecclesiastics. School-books, news ру *Armenia and the Armenians.' The New Englander, New Haven. U.S.A. Jan. 1874. Such then are the physical aspects and such the motley character of the inhabitants of the Eastern lands on which the Americans entered fifty years ago. What have they accomplished? A full answer to this question would take us beyond the limits of our space. We can only briefly indicate certain lines of effort, and the results that have thus far been reached. Mistakes have inevitably been made in prosecuting so difficult a work, and no doubt a considerable degree of imperfection is to be found in the results themselves. We turn first to what is usually designated as the work of the Press. Under this general term we include everything of every sort that the Americans have published in the various languages of Turkey. It is but fair to mention that when they began their labours in this department, somewhat over fifty years ago,. the modern press was unknown in Turkey. Not a newspaper was published in the country, there was not a school-book in any one of the modern languages. We have before us a catalogue of the books, tracts, and newspapers published by the Americans in the various languages of Turkey. We find in this list publications in Arabic, Greek, Armenian (ancient and modern), Bulgarian, Turkish, Hebrew-Spanish, and Kürdish, besides what has been issued in the European languages. Moreover, some of the books are published two or three times in the same language, but in a different character. Thus we find the Scriptures issued in Turkish written with three different characters, the Arabic, the Armenian, and the Greek; and these versions are styled the Arabo-Turkish, the Armeno-Turkish, and the Greco-Turkish. So also of certain school and hymn-books. It is found that many Armenians, do not know Armenian, but Turkish: books therefore have to be prepared for them in the Turkish language, but written with the Armenian character. The same is true in respect to a large percentage of the Greeks in Turkey they know only Turkish, but write it with the Greek character. When it is remembered that these bocks must be prepared in these different languages and diaJects, and in these different characters, and so correctly as to stand the test of the severe criticism of educated men, we can form some idea of the obstacles overcome and the amount of labour bestowed by the Americans on this department of their work. Take for example the books that have been prepared for the common and higher schools. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin declares that when his country inen entered Turkey there was not a school-book to be found in the spoken languages of the country. In looking over the published catalogue of books, we find a great number of schoolbooks in the various languages now spoken in Turkey. A few of these we shall mention, as illustrating this special department of work. been prepared in the other languages and dialects; in the above list we have placed only those works that seem most interesting and important. In examining this list, we should remember that these works have been prepared only as an incidental part of the work of the Americans in Turkey. In the preparation of these books they have doubtless been greatly aided by well-educated natives of the country, but the final decision, and indeed the main responsibility, must have rested with the missionaries. As large editions of these school-books have been sold, and as the books themselves are now used in all parts of the country, their influence in raising the general standard of education must be considerable. The most important contribution, however, which the Americans have made to the literature of Turkey, is found in the accurate translations which they have made of the Christian Scriptures. These translations are worthy of special notice, because, apart from the religious influence of the Scriptures, they are making a marked impression upon the intellectual life of the various nationalities of Turkey. Fifty years ago there was no version of the Scriptures in any one of the modern languages of that country. The task of making these translations was not an ordinary one. Regard must be had, on the one hand, to the uneducated classes-the style must be such that the common people would readily understand the meaning; on the other hand, regard must be had to the educated classes -the style must be sufficiently elegant and idiomatic to commend itself to the taste of those who are proud of the literary excellences of their ancient tongues. The Americans may fairly claim that they have succeeded in this difficult task, in respect at least to four of the important languages of the country. We refer to the modern Armenian, the Arabic, the Turkish, and the Bulgarian. The Turkish versions have varied somewhat, according as they have been prepared for the Armenians, the Greeks, or the Osmanli Turks. The preparation of the entire Bible in the ArmenoTurkish language (the Turkish language written with the Armenian character) was the life work of the late William Goodell, D.D. The Rev. Dr. Schauffler has given many years to the preparation of a version of the Scriptures in the Arabo-Turkish, or Turkish written with the Arabic character; while at the present time a permanent committee, of which the Rev. Dr. Riggs is chairman, is engaged in an attempt to recast all the Turkish versions of the Bible, and form one that may be printed in any |