Other non-Mussulman sects

The equality of taxes entailing equality of burdens, as equality of duties entails that of rights, Christian subjects, and those of other non-Mussulman sects, as it has been already decided, shall, as well as Mussulmans, be subject to the obligations of the Law of Recruitment. The principle of obtaining substitutes, or of purchasing exemption, shall be admitted. A complete law shall be published, with as little delay as possible, respecting the admission into and service in the army of Christian and other non-Mussulman subjects.

Proceedings shall be taken for a reform in the constitution of the provincial and communal councils, in order to insure fairness in the choice of the deputies of the Mussulman, Christian, and other communities, and freedom of voting in the councils. My Sublime Porte will take into consideration the adoption of the most effectual means for ascertaining exactly and for controlling the result of the deliberations of the decisions arrived at.

As the laws regulating the purchase, sale, and disposal of real property are common to all the subjects of my Empire, it shall be lawful for foreigners to possess landed property in my dominions, conforming themselves to the laws and police regulations, and bearing the same charges as the native inhabitants, and after arrangements have been come to with foreign powers.

Distinction of class or of religion

The taxes are to be levied under the same denomination from all the subjects of my Empire, without distinction of class or of religion. The most prompt and energetic means for remedying the abuses in collecting the taxes, and especially the tithes, shall be considered. The system of direct collection shall gradually, and as soon as possible, be substituted for the plan of farming, in all the branches of the revenues of the State. As long as the present system remains in force, all agents of the government and all members of the Medjlis shall be forbidden, under the severest penalties, to become lessees of any farming contracts which are announced for public competition, or to have any beneficial interest in carrying them out. The local taxes shall, as far as possible, be so imposed as not to affect the sources of production, or to hinder the progress of internal commerce.

Works of public utility shall receive a suitable endowment, part of which shall be raised from private and special taxes, levied in the provinces which shall have the benefit of the advantages arising from the establishment of ways of communication by land and sea.

Scrupulously observed

A special law having been already passed, which declares that the budget of the revenue and expenditure of* the State shall be drawn up and made known every year, the said law shall be most scrupulously observed. Proceedings shall be taken for revising the emoluments attached to each office.

The heads of each community and a delegate, designated by my Sublime Porte, shall be summoned to take part in the deliberations of the Supreme Council of Justice on all occasions which might interest the generality of the subjects of my Empire. They shall be summoned specially for this purpose by my Grand Vizier. The delegates shall hold office for one year; they shall be sworn on entering upon their duties. All the members of the Council, at the ordinary and extraordinary meetings, shall freely give then opinions and their votes, and no one shall ever annoy them on this aiccount.

The laws against corruption, extortion, or malversation shall apply, according to the legal forms, to all the subjects of my Empire, whatever maj be their class and tne nature of their duties.

Steps shall be taken for the formation of banks and other similar institutions, so as to effect a reform in the monetary and financial system, as well as to create funds to be employed in augmenting the sources of the material wealth of my Empire bulgaria private tours.

Steps shall also be taken for the formation of roads and canals to increase the facilities of communication and increase the sources of the wealth of the country. Ever}” thing that can impede commerce or agriculture shall be abolished. To accomplish these objects, means shall be sought to profit by the science, the art, and the funds of Europe, and thus gradually to execute them.

_ Such being my wishes and my commands, you, who are my Grand Vizier, will, according to custom, cause this Imperial Firman to be published in my Capital, and in all parts of my Empire; and you will watch attentively and take all the necessary measures that all the orders which it contains be henceforth carried out with the most rigorous punctuality.

The Hatti Humayoun was communicated by the Sultan to the representatives of Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Sardinia, and Turkey, who met, in February, 1856, to form the Treaty of Paris. The following is an extract from the Treaty: —

Imperial Majesty the Sultan

“NINTH ARTICLE. —His Imperial Majesty the Sultan having, in his constant solicitude for the welfare of his subjects, issued a Firman, which, while ameliorating their condition, without distinction of religion or race, records his generous intentions towards the Christian population of his Empire; and wishing to give a further proof of his sentiments in that respect, has resolved to communicate to the Contracting Parties the said Firman emanating spontaneously from his sovereign will.

“ The Contracting Powers recognize the high value of this communication. It is clearly understood that it cannot in any case give to said Powers the right to interfere, either collectively or separately, in the relations of His Majesty the Sultan with his subjects, nor in the internal administration of his Empire.”

Celebrated in the 150th Psalm

Ilad your church been organized three thousand years ago, and had they been as thoughtful of King David’s wants as they were of ours, it would have been celebrated in the 150th Psalm. And when he called upon us to praise God “ upon the loud cymbals ” and upon “ the high-sounding cymbals,” he would have added, with an emphasis, “and also upon the six-stop cabinet organ of Mason & Hamlin, furnished by the munificence of Dr. Adams’s church in New York.”

The church is now finished, the bell hung, and the organ in position, and yesterday the whole was dedicated with ap-propriate services to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. In the morning the Pev. Dr. Hamlin preached in Armenian. lie was assisted in the services by Pastor Simon, of Pera, who you will rejoice to hear is again with us, and like one of us, as in former happy times. Wo hope the Lord “ will again turn our captivity as the streams of the south.” Indeed, it really seems as if He had already begun to do so, and all this, we are quite willing to believe, is owing to the increase in your prayers for us; for as a general thing, as I wrote you before, the more a church increases in her contributions the more does she increase in the frequency, fervency, and efficaciousness of her prayers. And this improved state of things first began to appear just about the time your collection was made to furnish us with the organ and the bell.

Preached in Turkish

In the afternoon of yesterday I preached in Turkish, and observed several Jews and also Turks in the congregation. The house was densely crowded both parts of the day, and as one, in describing the aspect of the assembly, remarked, every face seemed radiant with joy. One native sister said that when she heard the sweet music and still sweeter words she could hardly contain herself, but she felt that she must absolutely break out into an exceedingly loud and not bitter, but joyful cry.

Another aged member of the church said she felt like saying, with the aged Simeon, “ Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” It only remains that we pray earnestly that the place may be filled with the glory of God, and that the Lord may “count, when He writ- eth up the people, that this and that man were born there.” We do not forget your former contribution to this mission of a communion service, and for the former and the latter rain, the upper and the nether springs, we thank you. In the name of our whole mission, I thank you. In the name of this poor and very feeble church, I thank you. In the name, the precious name, of Christ, we thank you. May all that pass by your beautiful heritage be constrained to lift up their hands and say, “ The blessing of the Lord be upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord.”

“ The churches of Asia salute you.”

Your very affectionate brother in Christ,

W. GOODELL.

Memoirs of Dr. Goodell is devoted to tributes

The concluding chapter of these Memoirs of Dr. Goodell is devoted to tributes to his memory from some of his early and life-long associates in the missionary work. The first is from the pen of Rev. Isaac Bird, with whom he sailed, in 1822, for their common field of labor in the East. Mr. Bird still survives, enjoying a green old age, at Great Barrington, Mass., in the home of his son, Mr. James Bird, who married the eldest daughter of Dr. Goodell.

The writer of the following brief sketch had the privilege of being a classmate and intimate companion of William Goodell during the three years of his theological studies, and also of being his associate missionary for seven years in Malta and Syria, as well as his familiar correspondent to the time of his decease. Precious is the memory of the many seasons in which we took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in company. Precious the seasons in which our united households knelt at the domestic altar, and the years during which our hearts shared the same joys or sorrows, according to our successes or disappointments in our mission work.

Remarkably uniform and consistent

The life of our brother was remarkably uniform and consistent. As teady as the needle to the pole, so steadily his eye seemed fixed on what, in childhood, his catechism had taught him to consider “ the chief end of man.” A model of industry, he was always busy about something, but having about as much anxiety for the morrow, concerning vrhat he should eat or what he should drink, or wherewithal he should be clothed, as have the fowls of the air or the lilies of the field. After entering on his course of education, his whole time was scrupulously occupied either in intense application to study, or in unbending his mind by a walk, or in conversation, or in familiar correspondence with his friends.

The Mohammedan faith might be seen

“ lint to the Protestant communities here, and to all who will live godly in Christ Jesus, this Ilatti Ilumayoun is a boon of priceless value. Heretofore its principal use was to secure us from the molestation of these corrupt churches, but we have now begun to test its importance with reference to the Mohammedans themselves. Only a few years since the headless bodies of apostates from the Mohammedan faith might be seen ‘ lying in the streets of the great city; and for three days and a half their bodies were not suffered to be put into gravesand, unless flight from the country was possible, nothing better than this was ever expected.

But now such apostates may be seen at all hours of the day, walking these same streets without any apparent danger, urging the claims of Christianity even in the very courts of the royal mosques, and teaching and preaching in the chapel, and in the private circle, and sometimes even in the palaces of the great, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And all this wonderful security is, under God, owing entirely to the Ilatti Ilumayoun.”

Mention was made in a previous chapter of a young Greek who welcomed Dr. Goodell on his first arrival at Constantinople, and who was soon after taken into the service of the mission, in which he remained a faithful and devoted laborer, until he was removed by death, March 11, 18G1. The following tribute to his precious memory, written by Dr. Goodell at the time of his death, deserves a place in his own memoirs, as well for its historical as for its personal interest: —

Panayotes Constantinides

“ Mr. Panayotes Constantinides was called to the knowledge of divine truth, and to trust in Christ, about thirty years ago; and through all his subsequent life his path was that of the just, shining more and more unto perfect day. During this time he was variously employed, sometimes for months together, as dragoman to the American legation, but more generally as a teacher, a translator, or a preacher of the Gospel of Christ, under the direction of the missionaries of the American Board. Some of the best of the Armeno-Turkish hymns were composed by him. All the early petitions which the Protestants presented to the Porte, in the terrible persecutions they suffered, setting forth their grievances and asking for redress, were drawn up by him.

Occasion of the following correspondence

The conferring of this honor was the occasion of the following correspondence with the Rev. William G. Schaufller, who soon after was worthily advanced to the same degree: —

Alas! my brother, I know not whether those two Alma Maters should receive your sympathy, or their poor fosterchild your congratulations. At any rate, “ the children should first be filled.” Of one of those institutions I know only the worthy president, and of the other I know not even the name of a single executive officer.

“ That the soul be without knowledge, is not good.” And these literary institutions, however they may be in appearance, yet in fact are not pure fountains of knowledge; for had they known half as much of my brethren at Constantinople as I know of them, they would not have thus “ erred exceedingly,” but would have bestowed their favors in a much more unexceptionable manner; unless, indeed, they acted on the very benevolent principle of “ bestowing more abundant honor upon the part that most lacked.”

Missionary brethren

Could this “more abundant honor” bring up the weaker one towards an equality with his brethren, it would, indeed, be something to be prized; but, alas! it would take more of this “ abundant honor ” than all the fountains of honor in our land could send forth to effect this. And I assure you I value more the good opinion of my missionary brethren and sisters, and of their sons and daughters, than I do all “ the degrees ” which all the universities in both the Old World and the New could bestow.

Who does not know that the moon shines not by its own light, but by reflecting that of the sun? And who does not know that, as a general thing, “ he who walketh with wise men shall be wise ” himself, or, at any rate, will have the appearance of being so? It is not strange, then, that one who has been so long associated with his brethren here as I have been, so long revolving near these bright suns in the firmament of wisdom and knowledge, should at length begin to reflect some of their light. The only wonder is that this lesser light should, through some defect in the telescope, have been so strangely confounded with the greater.

Another bore the name of Soorpoohi

Another bore the name of Soorpoohi (Holiness). Another, Aroosiag (Morning Star). She has since been very useful as a teacher among the Armenians. Still another was Sopliik ( Wisdom). She became the wife of an Armenian bearing the name of Avedis (Glad Tidings), who has been a Christian pastor at Constantinople. This school, as will hereafter appear, enjoyed to a remarkable degree the blessing of God in the presence and gracious influences of the Iloly Spirit, and it was a nursery in which many precious youth were trained up for lives of usefulness.

Miss Harriet M. Lovell, who afterward became the wife of Mr. Hamlin, joined the mission at this time, taking the principal charge of the school, and finding also a home with Mr. and Mrs. Goodell. Her correspondence, which may be seen in the memoirs of “ The Missionary Sisters ” (Mrs. Everett and Mrs. Hamlin), is filled with expressions of her great happiness in finding in a distant land, among those who had been strangers to her, a circle of devoted and beloved friends, and in Mr. and Mrs. Goodell a father and mother, to whom she became tenderly attached.

To Rev. E. E. Bliss, at Trebizond, he wrote, in reply to a letter asking advice: —

CONSTANTINOPLE, June 2, 1845.

MY DEAR BROTHER, — What persecution your friends suffer from their own neighbors and families cannot be helped. Many of our friends suffer the same here, and have for years. Some of them for a long time have been excluded from the paternal roof; but this kind of persecution is suffered at the present day in France, England, and even in America; and no law can prevent it. So your bishop can excommunicate as much as he pleases, and nobody out of his church has a right to interfere.

Unwilling to suffer with Christ

But if he makes use of the civil arm, if he throws into prison, sends into exile, or uses the bastinado, then there is ground for interference. If your people would be saved, they must endure to the end. If they are unwilling to suffer with Christ, they are unworthy of Him. But this, by the way, teaches us the importance of not encouraging any to oppose their bishop, or to take any strong stand against the errors of their church, till we have good reason to believe that they are the Lord’s people, and have a good deal of faith; for otherwise, it is very certain they will not stand in the day of trial.

If the bishop goes on excommunicating and casting out of the church those who have received the Gospel, after we have suffered patiently long enough, we shall be fully justified, in the view of the whole world, in gathering them into a congregation by themselves visit bulgaria. But it is well to have on hand a good many cases of our great forbearance in order to justify this step, showing that we were not over-greedy for it, snatching at the first opportunity, but wTere literally forced into it.

W. GOODELL.

The year 1846 opened with marked spiritual prosperity, but it ushered in the most severe persecution which the Armenian converts were ever called to endure. The Gospel was so evidently making progress among the people, and was so plainly in conflict with the dead formalism and idolatry which prevailed in the ancient church of the Armenians; the teachings of the missionaries, and of the converts who had become preachers of Christ to their own nation, were so decided a rebuke to the ecclesiastics of all grades, from the patriarch down to the humblest priest, whose lives and ministrations were utterly opposed to the spirit and the letter of the word of God, that their hostility could not longer be restrained; and having the power, as they supposed, to suppress the new religion, they determined to attempt it once more.

On the last Sabbath in January

Accordingly, on the last Sabbath in January, “ the lord archbishop and patriarch of the great metropolitan city of Constantinople ” issued his anathema, which was ordered to be read in all the churches on that day, excommunicating an evangelical priest, Vertanes, and consigning him over to Satan as an enemy of all righteousness. lie was described as “ a vagabond fellow, going about through the metropolis babbling out errors; an enemy to the holy church, a divider of the members, a cause of scandal, and a seducer of the people; a traitor and murderer of Christ, a child of the devil, and offspring of antichrist,” &c. The bull of excommunication continued: —

“ Wherefore we expel him, and forbid him, as a devil and a child of the devil, to enter into the company of our believers; we cut him off from the priesthood as an amputated member of the spiritual body of Christ, and as a branch cut off from the vine, which is good for nothing but to be cast into the fire. By this admonitory bull I therefore command and warn my beloved in every city far and near not to look upon his face, regarding it as the face of Belial; not to re-ceive him into your holy dwellings, for he is a house-destroying and ravening wolf; not to receive his salutation but as a soul-destroying and deadly poison; and to beware with all your households of the seducing and impious followers of the false doctrine of modern sectarists,” .

Entirely conformed to the manuscript

The printing was done at Smyrna, and with neatness and despatch, and the proofs were read there. But in every instance the last proof was sent to me, that I might see whether it were entirely conformed to the manuscript. This I have had for the most part to do alone, as my translator was much of the time in Greece for safety. When he was here, he examined the proof first, and I afterwards, but in no instance, even after he had read the proof, have I found one entirely correct. Accuracy is not in him, nor indeed in any other native I have found, except Bishop Dionysius. He was ‘remarkably accurate, and his services would have been to me invaluable in this respect, and would have saved me many, many months of hard labor; but it was not safe to bring him from Beyrout. A great deal of my time has all along been devoted to those niceties of the language, which it is the province of a native to attend to, and not of a foreigner.

I have done the best I could; but, with all my attention to the subject, minor errors have doubtless crept in through inadvertence. Nor, to speak of the work in general, is it to be supposed that the meaning has in every instance been truly apprehended by us, or that the words used have in all cases been the most judiciously chosen to express what may have been rightly understood. All these things are but approximations towards what is required. We do what we can, and leave it for those who come after us to do better.

I would still suggest, however, though the suggestion might come with more grace from another, that translations which have once obtained, and which are not radically defective, had, like our own English Bible, better remain altogether untouched, than be too often meddled with, or be made to undergo more than partial changes. The history of translations in India is full of instruction on this subject.

Holy Ghost teacheth

And now may the blood of the everlasting covenant be sprinkled upon the book, upon those who have had any thing to do in preparing it, and upon all who shall read it! May it be made use of by the Holy Spirit in softening and sanctifying the hearts of men, and in bringing many sons and daughters unto glory! Already is God pouring out His Spirit upon this people, and your society is at the same time sending among them the very “ words which the Holy Ghost teacheth.” What a wonderful coincidence! what an encouraging fact!

Let it excite our gratitude, and awaken us to more prayer and faith. Tell your society that the blessings of many ready to perish will come upon them. Tell them “ not to be weary in well-doing; for in due season they shall reap, if they faint not.” Tell them not to wait for a vote of thanks, or for a formal expression of obligation and lasting gratitude, from this great community, — these hundreds of thousands the objects of their bounty; but in this respect to be “ perfect, even as their Father in heaven is perfect, who sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Professor Haddock of Dartmouth College

The letter of consolation and reminiscence which follows was written to his friend, Professor Haddock, of Dartmouth College, on seeing a notice of the death of his wife in an American paper: —

CONSTANTINOPLE, Dec. 11, 1840.

MY DEAR BROTHER, — I learned yesterday by the “ Boston Recorder” that you have been visited with affliction; while another of those favored ones, who twenty-five years ago were visited by infinite grace, has now gone to the land of everlasting peace and love. I carried the paper into our weekly prayer-meeting last evening, and read the account, and you had a special remembrance in our prayers. I also made some remarks on the commencement and progress of that great and marvellous work of God at Dartmouth, which had such an influence on the college and on the church of Christ.

I have never known a revival the influence of which appeared to me to be more important and more extensive. All those interesting scenes, — Oh, how fresh and sweet they are in my memory still! I remember, dear brother, the first prayer you ever made in public. It was in the evening, and in that memorable school- house (does it stand there still?) “where prayer was wont to be made; ” and Damon, who himself soon after “ began to call upon the name of the Lord,” intimated to me, in walking home, that he felt it was high time to attend to the eternal interests of the soul.

I remember when Spaulding first raised his spectacles and wiped away the “ rivers of waters that were running down his eyes,” and, lifting up his hands and his voice, addressed the overflowing house in that peculiarly strong manner which had been so natural to him on other subjects, and which was now consecrated to the great subject of salvation.

I remember when those fine scholars in your class and mine and the next after, who have since become presidents and professors in so many of our colleges, were quickened and first began to breathe the breath of spiritual life, and to live for eternity. I remember that evening meeting where all the young ladies of the Plain were assembled at Mrs. Chapman’s, and God was there, and almost all of that lovely circle, if not every one, ultimately became willing to welcome the reign and live under the government of Christ for ever.

Fit only to be burned

In removing, and I have already removed some dozens of times, I always find that a great deal of rubbish has accumulated, which is not worth carrying away, and is fit only to be burned. And when we take our last remove, I fear we shall find that a great deal which we called religion and which we were at the trouble of lugging about with us through our whole pilgrimage, is perfectly worthless, fit only to be burned, and we shall never think of taking it with us to the other world. Oh that we might no longer burden ourselves with such wretched furniture; but might empty ourselves entirely, and trust to our blessed Lord to make all the necessary preparation for us in those mansions above! ”

The following, from a letter to the Corresponding Secretary of the Board, shows his readiness to retrench expenses in a time of need. It also expresses the confidence with which he was anticipating an answer to prayers and labor, in the spiritual reformation of the people by whom he was surrounded, and the wisdom with which he was directing his efforts toward such a result:

Present distresses

“ We sympathize with the Board in their present distresses; but we trust it will in the end prove a great blessing to the cause, to the churches, and to all the missionaries. We find many little things, yea, and some great ones, which can be easily dispensed with, and that without seriously affecting the interests of our mission. And so long as we are not required to make retrenchments in prayer, in faith, and in making known a knowledge of Christ and salvation, I verily believe we shall live and grow. Your circular, instead of leading us to despond, has in fact led us to ‘ thank God and take courage,’ and we feel that now emphatically is the time to labor and pray in earnest.,

“ I see in your letter to Smyrna that, since reading Mr. Boggs’s letter respecting the church missions among the Syrian Christians in India, you feel some doubts as to the correctness of the sentiments you advanced in the instructions to Messrs. H.

Willingness on the part of many Armenians

“ As you already know, we erected His standard at this capital four years ago, and I am happy to report that it is now seen from afar. Many eyes are directed towards it, and not only so, but there is really a gathering round it. Instead of attempting to teach the Bible as heretofore, there is a willingness on the part of many Armenians that the Bible should teach them. They sit down at the feet of Christ to learn of Him, and are, I trust, becoming wise unto salvation. I have never before seen so much tenderness of feeling since I left America, unless perhaps at times in our English congregation at Malta. It seems like the coming over of a cloud, and the first fresh droppings of the rain after a long-continued and most distressing drought. It is like the coming back of the Holy Spirit to dwell with men on the earth, and to fit them to become subjects of the spiritual reign of Christ.

The villages on the beautiful Bosphorus

“ But I was going to tell you of a conversation I had with an Armenian, a friend of ours, who lives in one of the villages on the beautiful Bosphorus, and who can scarcely be less than fourscore years and ten. His limbs shake like those of one afflicted with the palsy, and he cannot even take his coffee without drawing his knees up near to his chin, and grasping the cup between them with both hands. But, strange as it may seem, he is always found working at his trade, and his mind is vigorous and active. As he is sensible that he cannot continue long in this world, his thoughts are much directed to that world of which he is soon to be an inhabitant; and, whenever I visit him, he always has many questions to ask about the momentous concerns of that world, and he always asks them with a serious and tender spirit. It is pleasant to talk with him, and tell him of the fulness and freeness of salvation by Christ.

In the last interview I had with him, something was said ofour conversation/ or, as it should be rendered,citizenship, being in r heaven.’ I told him that during the Greek revolution many respectable families fled to Malta. They lived there several years, but they did not become citizens of Malta. They did not build houses there, nor make any arrangement for a permanent residence there. They did not intermarry nor amalgamate with the people there, but, on the contrary, they retained their own customs and manners, and formed a class by themselves. They were citizens of Greece.