History of the Missions of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to the Oriental | Page 2

the Lord Jesus, to be
with his missionaries, pledges the divine interposition in their behalf;
and that "whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall
understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." In the work of missions,
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." The
history before us often presents cases, in which there is no more reason
to doubt the divine agency, than the human; and no intelligent
missionary would labor hopefully and cheerfully, after becoming a
disbeliever in a particular providence.
Nearly all the early laborers in the fields here presented, have finished
their work on earth. Parsons and Fisk were the only ones, with whom
the writer had not a personal acquaintance. Of not a few others,--and of
some who, like himself, still linger here,--he has many pleasant
personal recollections that sweeten anticipations of the heavenly world.
He is thankful in being allowed to commemorate their labors and
virtues, and only regrets the want of space and ability to do it better.
His constant endeavor has been to present the missions to the reader as
their imprint is left on his own mind. More biographical notices would
have been gladly inserted, had there been room. The details of
persecution are sufficient to furnish glimpses of the severe ordeal,
through which it has pleased the Head of the Church to bring the infant
churches of those fields.
The Syria and Nestorian missions passed under the direction of the
Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in the year 1870, and our
history of them closes at that time. Up to that date, the Congregational
and New School Presbyterian Churches (the Old School Presbyterians
also up to the year 1837, and the Reformed Dutch Church for many
years) sustained an equal relation to all these missions. The mission to
the Jews in Turkey was relinquished in 1856, out of regard to Scotch
and English brethren, who had undertaken to cultivate that field. The
communities in Turkey among whom our missionaries now labor, are
the Armenians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Mohammedans, and the
Arabic-speaking Christians of Eastern Turkey.

The Board has ever acted on the belief, that its labors should not be
restricted to pagan nations.1 The word "heathen" in the preamble of its
charter, is descriptive and not restrictive. It is not in the Constitution of
the Board, which was adopted at its first meeting only a few weeks
after its organization. The second article of the Constitution declares it
to be the object of the Board, "to devise, adopt, and prosecute ways and
means for propagating the Gospel among those who are destitute of the
knowledge of Christianity." This of course includes Mohammedans and
Jews; and those who carefully consider the statements embodied in the
Introduction to the History, will see that it embraces, also, the Oriental
Churches, as they were fifty years ago.
1 These remarks were suggested by a speech at the Annual Meeting of
the Board in Salem, by the Rev. S. B. Treat, Home Secretary of the
Board.
In November, 1812, the year in which the first missionaries sailed for
Calcutta, a committee, appointed by the Board to appeal to its
constituency, used this emphatic language: "It is worthy of
consideration, that the Board is not confined in its operations to any
part of the world, but may direct its attention to Africa, North or South
America, or the Isles of the Sea, as well as to Asia." At the Annual
Meeting in 1813, it was voted: "That the Prudential Committee be
directed to make inquiry respecting the settlement of a mission at San
Salvador, in Brazil, at Port Louis, in the Isle of France, or on the island
of Madagascar." In the latter part of 1818, it was resolved to commence
a mission in Western Asia. The Prudential Committee said, in their
Report for 1819: "In Palestine, Syria, the provinces of Asia Minor,
Armenia, Georgia, and Persia, though Mohammedan countries, there
are many thousands of Jews, and many thousands of Christians, at least
in name. But the whole mingled population is in a state of deplorable
ignorance and degradation,--destitute of the means of divine knowledge,
and bewildered with vain imaginations and strong delusions." In that
year Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons embarked for this field.
This historical review makes it clear, that those who organized the
Board and directed its early labors, regarded not only Pagans, but

Mohammedans, Jews, and nominal Christians, as within the sphere of
its labors; and such has been the practical construction for nearly sixty
years.
The reader is referred to the close of the second volume for an Index;
also, for a detailed statement of the Publications issued by the several
missions, which must impress any one with the amount, value, and
influence of the intellectual labor