CHAPTER XX

ROBERT COLLEGE AND OTHER AMERICAN SCHOOLS

The forty-seventh scholastic year at Robert College opened in October, 1910, under most favourable and gratifying auspices. Never before were the prospects of usefulness so glowing. Through the efforts of Mr. Straus, the American ambassador, Robert College has been recognized by the Turkish government and is no longer a mere squatter on Turkish soil, without legal rights and simply tolerated. After many years of patient application and argument an imperial irade has been issued recognizing the institution in the fullest sense as entitled to all the legal rights and privileges of Turkish institutions of learning, under its charter by the State of New York; and, at the same time, granting it exemption from the recent “laws of association,” which require all foreign corporations doing business in Turkey to have Turkish representation in their boards of directors and trustees. The same privileges are granted at the same time to the Protestant college at Beirut, the American College for Girls at Scutari, and to all other American missionary institutions for higher education throughout the Turkish Empire. For this recognition these institutions are indebted to the persistency and the influence of Mr. Straus, who, during all the years that he has served as the diplomatic representative of the United States at the Turkish court, has been an active friend and protector of Christian missionaries and the work in which they are engaged.

In addition to this irade the Turkish government has placed in Robert College five more students, making ten in all, to be educated according to American ideas for teachers and superintendents of schools. Although Robert College is founded on the Christian faith and its students are required to attend religious worship on Sunday and morning prayer on week days, it is entirely non-sectarian and no questions are ever asked as to the religious belief of students, any more than concerning their political views. They attend worship just as they attend lectures, as a part of the curriculum, be they Jews, or Greeks, or Mohammedans. But it is very significant that a Mohammedan government should select a Christian college for the education of Mohammedan youth. Perhaps it would not do so if there were Mohammedan institutions where these young men could be educated. But the Turkish cabinet shows confidence in the good faith as well as the capacity of the American missionaries not only in this case but in a hundred other similar cases where the government is paying the expenses of Mohammedan students in missionary schools.

Robert College occupies one of the most superb sites of any institution in the world. It stands on the summit of one of the highest bluffs of the Bosphorus, commanding a view in both directions and over both shores of that wonderful body of water. It is a test of limb and lung to climb the path that leads up the Hill of Science from the boat landing at the suburban village of Bebek, but when you reach the top you are fully repaid for the exertion by the panorama that is spread out before you as well as by the cordial welcome of President Gates and his associates.

Mohammed II selected this commanding point for the Rumili Hisar, a mighty castle which he built in the middle of the fifteenth century while he was besieging the city of Constantinople. Immediately opposite, upon the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, a similar castle was erected, and the two commanded the passage so that every ship passing up and down was compelled to pay toll. Mohammed called this castle Boghag Kessen (Throat Cutter), for he had a very pleasant way with him. The ruins are as picturesque and extensive as any in Europe, and the towers are almost perfect after nearly 600 years, although the floors and ceilings have long since fallen through. The walls have crumbled and much stone has been taken away for building material. They were originally thirty feet thick and thirty feet high and were built with the greatest haste and energy. Mohammed employed 1,000 masons, 1,000 lime burners, and 10,000 labourers in the construction, and to each mason was assigned the task of building two yards of wall in three months. By this division of labour and responsibility the work was completed in the time named by the ingenious designs of the engineers, and the outline of the walls forms the Turkish word “Mahomet.”

Certain incidents in connection with the foundation and early history of Robert College are quite romantic. During the Crimean war a New York merchant, Christopher Robert, was visiting Constantinople, and while crossing the Bosphorus one day in a boat to Scutari, the principal suburb on the Asiatic side, ran across a boat-load of bread which looked very much like that he was accustomed to at home. Upon inquiry he learned that the loaves came from the ovens of an American missionary school conducted by a man named Hamlin at Bebek, on the opposite side of the strait, and that they were on their way to hospitals established by Florence Nightingale for the care of the sick and wounded British soldiers. Mr. Robert, who was a keen Scotsman, was impressed with the sagacity of a missionary who would enter into an arrangement like that, and took an early opportunity of visiting the school. Dr. Hamlin explained that he obtained the contract to supply the British hospitals with bread: first, because he needed the money; second, because they needed the bread, and, third, because he had an industrial department in connection with his school and was trying to teach his students how to earn their living.

The missionary baker and the Scottish merchant soon became intimate friends, and Dr. Hamlin lost no opportunity to impress upon him the opportunities for an American college at the capital of the Ottoman Empire. As a consequence Mr. Robert gave Dr. Hamlin $30,000 to purchase a site and put up a building.

Dr. Hamlin selected the ground on which the college now stands, but the owner, Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Turkish ambassador to Paris, and a famous man in his day, declined to sell. So Dr. Hamlin had to go elsewhere, and examined twenty-two sites. As the best, he selected one above the village of Courouchesmeh, and bought it, but the Turkish notables in the vicinity protested against the erection of a Christian college in their neighbourhood, and the ground remained unoccupied until its sale a few years ago. Meantime Ahmed Vefik Pasha was in need of money, owing to the failure of the government to provide for his heavy expenses in Paris, and he accepted the offer he had refused before. A permit to build was obtained without much difficulty, but no sooner was work begun than the police stopped it, strange to say, upon the complaint of France and Russia, whose ambassadors objected to the influence of an American college on the banks of the Bosphorus.

But Dr. Hamlin was not to be deterred in his purpose and in September, 1863, with three professors and four students, began work in a room of a large house, now the residence of Mr. Heizer, the American vice-consul general, which was then used for Christian worship by members of the English and American colonies, and also by the missionaries of the American Board for a theological seminary. The college remained there for eight years while Dr. Hamlin was importuning the government for a permit to build on his own ground. He became such a nuisance that Ali Pasha exclaimed one day:

“Will this man Hamlin ever die and stop bothering me about his everlasting college?”

About that time the late Edwin D. Morgan of New York visited Constantinople and became interested in the embryonic institution. Upon his return to Washington he told Mr. Seward, then secretary of state, about the situation. The latter sent for the Turkish minister and gave him some very strong talk. The minister, being impressed with Mr. Seward’s earnestness, telegraphed the Sublime Porte to give a building permit to the American college at once, “lest it prove a thorny question.”

The thorn which he predicted, all unconscious of its own influence or the apprehension it created in the mind of the sultan, appeared in the Bosphorus a few weeks later in the form of that grand old man-of-war _Hartford_, with Admiral Farragut in command. The admiral was making a cruise around the world, without the slightest political or diplomatic responsibility, but the guilty conscience of the sultan needed no accuser.

Dr. Hamlin’s son Alfred, now a professor in Columbia University, New York, was so eager to see an American flagship that he persuaded his father very reluctantly to waste the time, as he then believed, to go on board; and, upon paying his respects to the admiral, he explained who he was and what he was trying to do in Constantinople, and his difficulty about getting a building permit from the Turkish government. Dr. Seropain, an Armenian physician, who understood the situation, was present at the interview, and, knowing that the admiral was to dine with the grand vizier that evening, suggested that he ask his host the simple question:

“Why do you refuse the American college permission to put up its buildings?”

“Please do not say anything more,” said Dr. Seropain, “and do not make any comments upon the answer you receive.”

A few days later an imperial irade was received authorizing the erection of the necessary buildings for the college. Dr. Hamlin was almost paralyzed, but he soon learned that the Turkish government, putting one thing and another together, imagined that the _Hartford_ had been sent over to enforce the demands of our government in behalf of the American college, and accepted the situation before it became serious.

The corner stone of the first building was laid on the Fourth of July, 1869, and on the Fourth of July, 1871, it was formally inaugurated in an address by William H. Seward, then on his journey around the world.

Mr. Robert continued to support the institution until his death, when he bequeathed it one fifth of his entire estate, making his benefactions altogether nearly a half million dollars. Since his death the college has had many generous benefactors, and the late John S. Kennedy, who had given a good deal of money before, left it a legacy of nearly $2,000,000 in his will.

There have been three presidents--Cyrus Hamlin, its founder; George Washburn, now president-emeritus, who is spending his well-earned vacation in the United States, and Caleb Frank Gates, D.D., LL.D., who was born in Chicago and is a son of the late Caleb F. Gates, a partner of E. W. Blatchford in the shot tower and lead works on North Side. Dr. Gates graduated at Beloit College in the class of ’77, and from the Chicago Theological Seminary in the class of ’81; went to Turkey as a missionary, where he engaged in educational work and was elected president of Euphrates College in 1894. He remained there until 1902, when he took a year’s vacation, and was elected president of Robert College in 1903.

The most distinguished member of the faculty is Professor Alexander van Milligen, a Scotchman from Edinburgh, where he was educated. He is perhaps the highest authority in archæology in the Levant, and has written several books on the Byzantine Empire, Turkey and Constantinople.

The commencement of 1910 at Robert College was of unusual interest and significance. It not only added another class of twenty-eight well-trained young men of ambition to the list of leaders of modern civilization in the East, but marked an epoch in the history of one of the most useful of all educational institutions. Robert College has been struggling along for half a century with limited resources, but, by reason of a legacy from the late John S. Kennedy of New York, the trustees will be able to increase its educational capacity threefold, add eight new chairs to the faculty, extend the campus, and thus enlarge its usefulness and influence.

“You will find the graduates of Robert College scattered pretty thoroughly over Turkey, Armenia, and the Balkan states,” said Dr. Caleb F. Gates, president of that institution, in reply to my inquiry. “You will find many physicians, attorneys, teachers, bankers, merchants, shipping agents, clerks in the Imperial Ottoman Bank, in the post-office service of Turkey, and in the counting-houses of Constantinople and other cities. Several of our students are merchants in New York. One of our graduates of the class of ’72, Dr. Zenos, is professor of theology in McCormick Seminary at Chicago. Dr. Mangasarian of the Chicago Society for Ethical Culture graduated in the class of ’76. Our first class, graduated in 1868, was composed of two men, both of whom have since become distinguished. One of them is Professor Hagopos Djedjizian, who occupies the chair of Armenian language and literature in Robert College, and the other is Petco Gorbanoff, who has occupied several prominent positions in the government of Bulgaria and is now vice-president of its parliament.

“Our graduates have played a most important part in the building up of Bulgaria. We have furnished at least two prime ministers, Constantine Stoiloff and Todor Ivantchoff; four ministers of foreign affairs, three secretaries to the king, one secretary to the Bulgarian cabinet, three attorney generals, two ministers of public works, a minister of commerce and agriculture, a minister of the interior, a minister of finance, a minister of posts and telegraphs, a director of the state railways, three ministers of justice, a commissary general for the Bulgarian army, the administrator of the Bulgarian national bank, the administrator of the state agricultural bank, no less than twenty-two members of the Bulgarian parliament, and ten or twelve members of the diplomatic service of that country.

“You will find among the list of our alumni the names of two members of the deputation which selected Prince Ferdinand to be the sovereign of Bulgaria and offered him the crown, and the names of both the commissioners to the St. Louis Exposition, Peter M. Mattheoff and Dimiter M. Stantcheff. We have furnished ten or twelve professors for the colleges of Bulgaria, numerous superintendents of schools, teachers, lawyers, doctors, dentists, and surgeons in the army.

“You will find our alumni teaching in all the American schools and colleges throughout Turkey, in Armenia, Macedonia, and other provinces. Most of our Greek graduates have gone into commercial life and several have been remarkably successful. They are the sons of Greek merchants in Constantinople, Athens, Patras, and the islands of the Mediterranean. Some of our Greek students have come from Russia also. The Armenian graduates have generally gone into professional life, and have been remarkably successful in medicine, law and education. Two of them are now studying engineering in Edinburgh.”

“What has become of your Turkish graduates?”

“We have had only one Turkish graduate before this year and he is now a teacher. Under the old régime Mohammedan boys were not permitted to attend Robert College. They frequently came, but the government ordered them away. At one time we had two nephews of former Sultan Abdul Hamid, but they remained only a few weeks. As soon as he heard they were studying in a Christian college he sent for them, and we never saw them again. But since the new order of things we have more applications from Turkish students than we can accommodate. We have fifty-four Turks now on our rolls, and I reckon we turned away more than a hundred last fall. Among them is a nephew of the superintendent of education and a grandson of the sheik of one of the orders of dervishes. The Turkish government is sending five students annually, selected by the department of public instruction. The head of that department said to me:

“‘Take these young men and make good Americans of them if you want to, but make them good teachers; we need them for our schools; train these men; we need good men in Turkey; make them good men.’”

“Do you teach the Christian religion?” I asked.

“We are absolutely non-sectarian, but try to practise the Christian religion. We do not ask our students to become Christians, but every student who enters this institution has an opportunity to learn what the Christian religion is, and can accept it if he pleases, but he is never asked to do so. We have Mohammedans, Jews, Armenians, orthodox Greeks, Persians, Russians, Bulgarians, Servians, Bosnians, Egyptians, Germans, Englishmen, and altogether representatives of fifteen different races and five different religions, and every one of them is required to attend daily prayers and the regular services on Sunday. They sing Christian hymns; they hear Christian prayers; they listen to Christian sermons, according to the creed of the Congregational Church, but the sermons are usually lectures on morality rather than doctrinal exhortations.

“The students thus get the truth concerning religion in the chapel on Sunday, as they do in the classroom concerning science, history, and geography on week days, and they can make such use of it as they please. We have never had any complaints concerning the preaching. The Jewish and the Moslem students are often among the most attentive listeners to the sermons and the most punctual in their attendance upon prayers, but we never ask their impressions; we never discuss doctrinal questions with them; we never invite their confidence; we never interfere with the faith they profess.”

“Have you received any congratulations from the Turkish government upon your recent legacy?” I asked.

“Officially, no; but unofficially several members of the government have sent us their congratulations. Robert College is now regarded not only as a part of the Turkish educational system, but as an important agency in carrying out the plans of reform of the Young Turk party. They have given us full recognition. Our students have the same privileges as those of the Imperial University and the government lyceums. They will be exempt from military service until they finish their courses; our diplomas will be recognized for admission into the Imperial University without examination, and the same applies to appointments in the civil service.

“We had very little trouble with the old régime, although the former sultan was opposed to all modern ideas and especially American ideas, because they are inconsistent with his theory of administration. But the present government is as far removed from that line as possible. It favours all modern ideas and is especially friendly to American institutions.

“The government wants to subject Robert College and all other foreign institutions to the regulations of the Turkish laws of corporations. They want us to be under Turkish control, to be incorporated as a Turkish association, and have a certain number of Turkish directors, but I do not think they will insist upon it, because it would be entirely contrary to our charter. We are organized under the laws of New York. The title of our property is held in the name of an individual and the use of our endowments and the proper management of our institution require that we shall continue on the same basis as we are now. None of the foreign corporations, however, is submitting to the new arrangement. They decline to accept the conditions and we shall do the same.”

“Has there been any difference in the conduct of your students since the constitution was proclaimed?”

“Yes; at first all over the empire there was a manifestation of a very crude and vague idea of what they called liberty having possessed the minds of inexperienced people. They thought liberty meant that everybody could do as he pleased, but they soon found out their mistake. They had the same delusions concerning equality. Liberty became license. In some of the Turkish schools the students refused to obey the teachers and tried to run things themselves; they drove the teachers out of their rooms and insisted that they should sleep in the dormitories with the students. At Beirut the Moslems demanded exemption from compulsory attendance upon chapel and Bible classes; in some of our colleges the students insisted that, under the new constitution, they had a right to come and go as they pleased; but that wave of hysteria soon passed over; all the institutions have resumed their normal condition and the greatest change that we see is a new inspiration to work and a realization of the opportunities that are offered educated men. Interest in education has increased to such a degree that every school is filled, and the schools do not suffer from the restrictions that often embarrassed them during the reign of Abdul Hamid.

“One of the most important reforms is the removal of restrictions upon travel. In former times no citizen could go from one town to another without the permission of the authorities. That law has been abolished and now there is no interference with travel. Our students come and go without passports. The people in the interior can go about and trade with each other without interference. This has enlarged their markets; it has given them an opportunity to become acquainted; it broadens their ideas; it removes prejudices and relieves the social and commercial stagnation that formerly kept them down. They can now read newspapers freely. They can read any books they like, and while no doubt the influence of some of the publications is pernicious, that fault will correct itself in time.”

“The late revolution was the result of education, was it not?”

“I think it most certainly was. The leaders of the Young Turk party were educated either in Paris and elsewhere abroad or in the Turkish military schools, and by that education they were able to realize the deplorable condition of the empire and the necessity of the reforms which they have since accomplished.”

“Is the present government doing any more for education than the old one?”

“It is doing a good deal. The department of public instruction has been thoroughly organized and is under progressive and intelligent direction. Normal schools have been established, one for women and one for men, which will assist to solve the greatest difficulties under which the department is labouring, and that is the lack of teachers. Abdul Hamid reduced the university to nothing; the new régime has restored it, enlarged its scope, and introduced new methods and many improvements. There has been a considerable increase in the appropriations for education and a general improvement has taken place in all the schools. The military schools of Turkey have always been the best educational institutions in the empire, and their influence has been good. As a proof of that I can point to the moderation and good judgment shown by the military leaders in the recent revolution. Most of them were educated in the military schools.”

“How far are the American colleges in the Ottoman Empire self-supporting?”

“The conditions are about the same as among similar colleges at home. About two thirds, and in some cases three fourths, of the running expenses are paid from the tuition fees, and the deficit must be met by endowments. American colleges in Turkey are not charitable institutions by any means. While they need endowments, and must have them in order to make both ends meet, they do not need them any more than Harvard, or Yale, or Princeton, or any other college in Massachusetts or Kansas. The same amount of money will go a great deal farther here than in the United States, because our students do not expect so much, and the standard of living is lower here. Hence, I am confident that the American colleges in Turkey are more nearly self-supporting, on the average, than similar institutions in the United States.”

There were at last accounts 447 American schools in Asia Minor, with 23,846 students in all grades, from kindergartens to theological seminaries. The lower grades are entirely supported by the patrons; the higher grades require a certain amount of assistance to maintain a high standard, but no more than corresponding institutions in the United States. There are hospitals connected with most of them, which are also very important. In almost every case they are the only places in those sections of the country where the sick may receive medicines and care. Some of the hospitals are practically self-supporting, the fees of the patients and the sums paid for medicines being sufficient to meet the cost of attendance, supplies, and care.

Few of the schools receive financial assistance from missionary boards, and whenever assistance is given it is with the understanding that it shall diminish as the income of the school increases. The people for whom these institutions are provided appreciate the value of education and are willing to pay what they can for it. Methods of self-help are provided for students who cannot pay their tuition, so that their self-respect and independence are not disturbed. In the same way provision is made for books. In the hospitals no one who is worthy is ever refused treatment or medicine, but those who are able to pay are required to do so.

This principle of self-support has been a fixed rule from the beginning in all missionary work in Turkey, and it has proved to be one of the most important features of policy. Missionary physicians and teachers learned at the start that they could accomplish more good by requiring compensation for all services rendered, because in the Orient, as elsewhere, no real value attaches to that which costs nothing. Parents and pupils would be indifferent regarding attendance if the schools were free; books would be easily lost or damaged or destroyed if they had not been paid for; and where assistance is rendered to individuals it is arranged in such a way that the beneficiary shall be impressed with the value of what he is receiving.

The five colleges and the many preparatory and high schools for men and women in Asia Minor have not less than 6,000 students, who are being trained for useful citizenship by a wide range of instruction in the applied sciences, agriculture, chemistry, pharmacy, engineering, and even manual training. The courses of study are adapted to the needs of the country and with a view to qualifying the students for the highest service for their own people. There are six theological seminaries training young men for the ministry. Two of them are intended especially for workers among Arabic-speaking people, one for work among the Armenians, another for the Turks, and others for Greeks and Bulgarians.

In these seminaries the largest number of students are natives of Turkey. Some of the graduates have afterward had the benefit of post-graduate training in Europe or the United States, but that is not encouraged. It has been demonstrated by many cases that students from Turkey who go to the United States find it difficult to return to their native country, while others are made discontented by differences in conditions. It is the policy to employ native teachers and professors, so far as is consistent with maintaining a high intellectual and moral tone in the schools. That is the rule in all lines of work. No missionary is ever pastor of a native church. He supervises and directs, but he leaves the active work to the natives.

Perhaps the greatest value of the educational work done in Turkey by the American missionaries has been its influence upon native educational methods; in setting a standard to native schools; in furnishing text-books; and in awakening an ambition for learning. These missionary schools have in a large measure caused a revolution in the social life of Turkey. Men and women who have graduated or have taken partial courses command the best positions in commerce and society and have been most successful in professional life. Their services are sought for and they are able to command larger salaries than others who have not enjoyed their advantages. Large numbers of former students are prosperous business men in the principal cities of Turkey, while others are the leaders in their respective professions. Most of them are examples in the eyes of the community of the benefit and the value of an educational training.

The college at Beirut is not included in the estimate I have made. It was established in 1866 by Rev. Daniel Bliss, who remained at the head of it until a few years since, when his son succeeded him. It is one of the most successful educational institutions in all the world, and one of the most prosperous. It has a campus of over forty acres, a model plant of dormitories, laboratories, and lecture-rooms for between 700 and 800 students, representing fourteen different races and nationalities. No other institution between Athens and Tokio compares with it.

The International College at Smyrna is the youngest of the group of American institutions, having been established in 1902. Under the direction of Dr. Alexander MacLaclan it has had remarkable success, and has not only become self-supporting but two or three years ago the trustees were astonished to find a surplus in their treasury. There is a faculty of twenty-two professors and instructors and between 350 and 400 students, the largest number being Greeks. The International College has a wide field, because Smyrna is the second city in Asiatic Turkey, whose cosmopolitan and enterprising population, previous to its foundation, had no educational privileges nearer than Beirut or Athens and sent their young men to European universities. The great popularity and success of the college have undoubtedly been due to its non-sectarian policy, and while the Christian religion is the corner stone of its foundation and attendance at chapel exercises and Protestant worship is required of Jews, Greeks, and Mahommedans, as well as Christian students, every tendency to proselyting is avoided. The courses are especially strong in the scientific branches, and the college has been made a government meteorological station, with seismograph, a full set of apparatus for recording the weather and for taking the time. The American College for Girls in Constantinople is doing similar work.

The Central Turkey College at Aintab is 250 miles east of Tarsus in the valley of the Euphrates. It was founded in 1874 by Rev. Dr. Trowbridge, who died after he had placed it firmly upon its feet, and was succeeded by Dr. Merrill. The college has no endowment, but by reason of its marvellous management has been practically self-supporting from the first. It has the reputation of being more sectarian than other American institutions, and strongly Protestant, which is natural, because most of the students are studying for evangelical work. Protestantism is very strong in that section of Turkey. Three churches in Aintab and Marash have more than one thousand members each, and congregations of 2,000 are not uncommon. Until recently there have been no Turks or Jews among the students of the Central Turkey College, and the patronage has been drawn entirely from the native Protestants and Armenians, but since the constitution was proclaimed large numbers of Mohammedans have matriculated, and President Merrill has provided a private room for them, where they can worship according to their own custom. The medical department is especially important.

At Marash, a neighbouring city, is a prosperous college for women, started in 1882, with preparatory departments at Adana, Hajin, and Aintab, all flourishing and popular, particularly since the new régime has made it possible for Turkish families to send their girls to school. At first, it was difficult to persuade even Protestant parents to educate their daughters. It was contrary to custom, but now that an educational “boom” has been started, these schools are overwhelmed with applications from young women they cannot accommodate. Their educational standards are about the same as those of the average finishing school for young women in the United States, and the same text-books are used.

The college at Marash is on the Mount Holyoke plan. There has been another college for women on the Mount Holyoke plan at Bitlis for more than forty years, where two noble women, the Ely sisters, have been training wives and mothers for the passing and the coming generations. Their usefulness cannot be even estimated.

There is a school for girls at Smyrna, founded in 1881, with 250 students, and another at Adabazar, eighty miles from Constantinople, with about one hundred students.

A very promising American institution in Turkey is St. Paul’s College, at the ancient city of Tarsus, with a preparatory department known as St. Paul’s Academy, founded by the late Elliott F. Shepherd of New York and chartered by the legislature of that state in 1887. Dr. Howard Crosby was the first president of the board of trustees. He was succeeded by Dr. Henry Mitchell MacCracken, chancellor of the University of New York. Daniel W. McWilliams is secretary, Frederick A. Booth is treasurer, and William Jay Schieffelin, a son-in-law of the late Colonel Shepherd, is the other member of the board. The academy was opened in the fall of 1888, the college in the following year, and the first class graduated in June, 1893.

St. Paul’s is not a sectarian institution and is intended primarily to train young men in that part of Turkey to be useful citizens, with a foundation of Christian learning. The language of the schools is English, the faculty are all Christians, and most of them are Americans, and every year a number of the graduating class go up to the theological seminaries of the American Board, or the medical department of the Presbyterian College at Beirut.

Tarsus, which, you will remember, was the birthplace of St. Paul, is a thriving city, eighteen miles from the Mediterranean on the river Cydnus, and is connected by rail with both Mersina, the port of the province of Cilicia and Adana. The buildings of the institute occupy an elevation in the suburbs and command a fascinating view of a great plain and a long line of the Taurus Mountains in the background. There is no other institution for higher education within a six days’ journey, and the educational boom that has recently broken out in Turkey has caused a rush of students from the most influential families in that part of the empire. Unfortunately only a few of them can be taken care of. The capacity of the college is limited.

THE END

THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.

INDEX

A

Abdul Hamid’s books, 399 cruelty, 156, 169, 172

Adana, massacre at, 169

Albanian Revolution, 383

Alexander the Great, 27, 234

Alexander III, Czar, 285

Alexandropol, city of, 132, 134

Allen, Herbert N., 196, 207

Aloupka, town of, 282

Amastris, city of, 26

American churches in Turkey, 188 College for Girls, 418 Colleges, 446 concessions, 60 schools in Turkey, 415

Americans at Trebizond, 32

Anatolia College, 17

Anatolia, location of, 16

Anatolia Railway, 74

Angel, President, quoted, 193

Antiquities of Georgia, 96

Ararat, Mount, 129, 146 in the Scriptures, 144

Argonauts, 85 story of, 24

Armenia, history of, 154 Russian, 135

Armenian clergymen, 4, 138, 155, 192 emigration, 188

Armenian massacres, 168 monasteries, 138 schools, 197

Armenians, persecutions of, 156 of Tiflis, 111

Army, Turkish, 173

Azov, sea of, 259

B

Baghdad Railway, 74

Baku, city of, 217

Balaklava, battle of, 293, 303 village of, 320

Batoum, city of, 56

Battleship, the stolen, 343

Bible House, 187

Bibles sold in Turkey, 202

Bible, translation of, 185, 202

Bosphorus, beauties of, 10 residences on, 12

Bryce, James, quoted, 105, 144

Bukharest, city of, 363 University of, 367

Bulgarians, famous, 438

C

Camels, Turkish, 48

Caravans, camel, 47

Cardigan, Earl of, 306

Carmen Sylva, 358

Carol, King of Roumania, 354

Caspian oil fields, 222 Sea, peculiarities of, 217

Catherine, the Great, 265

Caucasus, the, 85

Caucasus Railways, 99

Cherigan Palace, burned, 11

Chester, Admiral, 61

Christ, relics of, 96, 140

Christian soldiers in Turkey, 173

Cimmerians, the, 269, 271

Circassians, the, 266

Circassian beauties, 256 costumes, 257

Clement, Pope, 323

Clergymen, Armenian, 4, 138 Turkish, 4

Coal deposits, 68

Colchis, ancient, 56, 85

Colleges, American, 17, 36, 41, 176, 198, 430, 444

Concessions, railway, 60

Congregations, American, 188

Conquests, Russian, 266

Constantinople, libraries of, 395 schools of, 388

Cossack capital, the, 258 country, the, 254

Cossacks, history of, 259

Costumes, Georgian, 122

Cotton, culture of, 83

Crawford, Dr. L. S., 33, 161, 191

Crimea, the, 265 flowers of, 269 history of, 271 scenery of, 263, 279

Crimean War, 293

Crim Tartars, the, 270

Customs, Circassian, 257 Georgian, 125

Customs, Tartar, 229 Turkish, 5

D

Daghestan, 228 customs of, 230 history of, 233 railways of, 230 wars of, 241 wheat fields of, 230

Dariel Pass in Caucasus, 250

Dashkoff, Prince, 121, 282

Derbent, city of, 239, 243

Dervishes, 4

Diana, home of, 26

Diogenes, birth place of, 26

E

Eden, Garden of, 79

Education in Germany, 150 in Roumania, 367 in Russia, 341 in Turkey, 42, 385

Elburz, Mount, 255

Elizabeth, Queen of Roumania, 356

Emancipation of Turkish women, 411

Emigration, Armenian, 188 from Turkey, 166

Etchmiadzin, city of, 138

Erivan, city of, 138

Erzroom, city of, 135 mission, 36

Euphrates College, 176

F

Farming in Caucasus, 214, 253 in southern Russia, 262

Finances of American missions, 190

Fire worshippers, 238 of Persia, 220

Flour mills, floating, 108

Fruit in Caucasus, 215

G

Gates, Caleb F., 177, 181, 436

Georgia, capital of, 95 conquest of, 98

Georgian costumes, 122

Georgians, origin of, 95

German interference, 71

German, Russo-, agreement, 71

Germans in Caucasus, 118 in Daghestan, 232

Gypsies of Roumania, 349, 368

H

Halideh Salih, 417

Hamlin, Dr. Cyrus, 209, 433

Harpoot, city of, 177 mission of, 177

Hay, Colonel John, 376

Heavy Brigade, charge of, 305

Herbert N. Allen, 196, 207

Hercules, story of, 25

Honey poison, 25

Hoskins, Rev. Franklin P., 205

Hospital at Erzroom, 36

Hospitals, American, 18, 36, 38, 149

Howard, John, grave of, 340

I

Immigration into Turkey, 84

Inkerman, battle of, 322 village of, 322

Irrigation in Mesopotamia, 78

J

Jackson, A. V. Williams, 234

Jews of Crimea, 274 of Odessa, 329 of Roumania, 371 in Turkey, 84, 174

K

Karaim sect of Jews, 275

Kasbek, Mount, 255

Kertch, city of, 272

Kherson, city of, 339

Koran has not been translated, 204

Kurds, the, 160

L

Lazis, customs of, 8, 53

Librarian of St. Sophia, 405

Libraries of Constantinople, 395

Licorice root, 15

Light Brigade, charge of, 304

Livadia, Palace of, 268, 285

M

Mahmoud Bey, 386

Manisson Pass, 250

Manuscripts at St. Sophia, 403

Marsovan mission, 16

Massacres of 1895, 161

Massacres of 1909, 168

Masterson, American Consul, 66

Mazeppa, original of, 244

Medical work in Turkey, 20, 36, 38, 149

Mesopotamia, irrigation of, 78

Milesians, origin of, 272

Mineral deposits, 68

Minerals in Asia Minor, 65 in the Caucasus, 89

Mission at Erzroom, 30 at Trebizond, 33

Missions, American, 16, 36, 38, 149, 176, 185

Missionary text books, 206

Missionaries, American, 185

Monasteries, Armenian, 138

Monuments, Crimea, 322

Moslem priests, 6 religious rules, 196

Mountains, Caucasus, 88, 244, 254

Mtskheta, city of, 95

Museum, Tiflis, 109

Mythology, Black Sea, 22 in Caucasus, 85

N

Nakhikheban, village of, 129, 142

Nightingale, Florence, 311

Nikolaieff, city of, 335

Noah, grave of, 142 landing place of, 142

Nobel, Alfred, at Baku, 223

O

Odessa, city of, 325 Jews of, 329

Officials, Russian, 117

Oil fields, Caspian, 222

P

Passengers on Black Sea steamers, 3

Passes through Caucasus, 250

Patrick, Dr. Mary Mills, 415, 418

Peasants, Russian, 263

Persian quarter of Tiflis, 110, 107

Petroleum at Baku, 222

Politics in Caucasus, 116

Priests, Moslem, 192

Printing offices, mission, 201

Prometheus, story of, 86

Publications, American, 207 missionary, 201

R

Railway concessions, 60 to Mount Ararat, 131 Baghdad, 74

Railways in Asia Minor, 61 of the Caucasus, 90, 99, 102, 214, 252 of Daghestan, 230 Turkish, 74 of Roumania, 377

Ramsey, Sir William, quoted, 415

Ravndal, American Consul, 169

Red Cross work in Turkey, 169

Refineries, oil, at Baku, 226

Reforms in Turkey, 442

Religions of Caucasus, 245

Resorts, seashore, in Russia, 277

Revolution in Caucasus, 100 in Turkey, 379

Riggs, Dr. Elias, 202, 208

Rizeh, town of, 50

Revolution, Russian, 343

Robert, Christopher, 432

Robert College, 430

Rostov on the Don, 258

Russian policy in Caucasus, 132

Russian policy in Turkey, 69

Russians in Daghestan, 249 in Tiflis, 109

Roumania, History of, 350 kingdom of, 348

S

Samsoun, city of, 13

Schools, American, 17, 36, 38, 149, 176, 198, 415, 430, 440 Mohammedan, 393 of Russia, 341 Turkish, 43, 190, 383

Scenery, Black Sea, 23, 50 of Crimea, 268, 279

Scenes on Black Sea steamers, 9

Schamyl, Prince of Daghestan, 242

Schauffler, Rev. Dr., 211

Sevastopol, cemeteries of, 301 city of, 292 harbour of, 297 monuments of, 300 siege of, 294

Sheikh-ul-Islam, 175

Sinub, port of, 26

Sivas, city of, 38 mission of, 38

Smith, Rev. Ely, 204

Soldiers in Caucasus, 116

St. George, Monastery of, 321

St. Gregory, the Enlightener, 138

St. Sophia, library of, 401

Steamers on the Black Sea, 3

Straus, Oscar S., 171, 395

T

Tamara, Queen, 95, 99

Tamerlane, 240

Tartar characteristics, 229, 270

Tartars of Tiflis, 111

Teachers, American, 188

Ten Thousand, retreat of the, 32

Text books, missionary, 206

Theodosia, port of, 271

Tiflis, city of, 102, 105

Tigris valley, 78

Timour the Tartar, 240

Tobacco, Turkish, 15

Trade, American, 153

Translations of Bible, 202

Trebizond, city of, 29, 47 massacre at, 161

Troglodytes, ancient, 269, 323

Turkey, new régime in, 379, 381

Turkish customs, 5, 51 women, 411

U

University of Bukharest, 367 Ottoman Imperial, 388

V

Valley of the Don, 259

Van Dyke, Rev. Dr., 205

Van, city of, 147 lake, 66, 148 mission of, 149

Viceroy’s palace at Tiflis, 120

Vladikavkas, city of, 248

W

Watering places, Russian, 277

Wheat fields of Daghestan, 230

Wheeler, Dr. Crosby H., 177

Willcocks, Sir William, 78

Women, American college for, 416

Women, education of, 424 Turkish, 411

Woronzoff palace, 282 Prince, 326

X

Xenophon’s Retreat, 32

Y

Yalta, city of, 278

Young Turk Party, 379, 412

Z

Zoroaster and fire worshippers, 230, 238

Transcriber’s note:

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed. When in doubt, Transcriber kept the hyphens in end-of-line hyphenated words.

Many simple typographical errors were silently corrected.

Text frequently uses “régime” and “regime”; both forms retained here.

Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations.

The original book included a large foldout map affixed to the inside back cover. The digitized source of this eBook divided that map into four quadrants of unequal sizes. In the HTML versions of this eBook, the map is displayable in several ways, including smaller and larger versions of the entire map and smaller and larger versions of its four quadrants. The Transcriber was unable to recombine the quadrants into a seamless single map. Some text in the smaller versions is not readable. The larger versions of the map may not be included in some mobile (epub and mobi) versions of this eBook, but they are available at Project Gutenberg.

The index was not systematically checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.

Page 3: Redundant book title removed.

Page 453: “Hospitals, American” includes a reference to page 149. In the original book, that page number was printed below the entry for “Howard, John”. Page 149 mentions an American hospital but does not mention John Howard.