Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1877-03-06

.now ill July, is on the north and Taurus
on the south. with the fruitful "well
watered plain" Of Harpoot. or as the peo-
pie say "Eden," between, and the city
looks down upon this plain. As we en-
ter this city we shall not see stars and
stripes floating. but you will at once be
interested in the building at the western
portion of the city, and we may as we'll
confess at once that here is our little
Oberlin that has grown up in the past
twenty years. Here pastors, preachers,
teachers. doctors and lawyers are being
raised up TO 60 forth and bring back
Eden to its pristine glory.
We call it Oberlin because first you
come TO the Female Seminary where,
like Holyoke. all the girls are expected
to be Christians, and continual revival
is in progress. Then comes the Theo-
logical School, where the "sons Of the
prophets live. Then the Normal school
where teachers grow out OF rude boys;
and then the College. where an old white
turbaned Turk teaches Turkish law, and
the medicine doctor brings In his nos
trums and pills. and tells his students
how TO mend the house we live in. About
thirty years ago the Lord put it into the
heart of q certain rich man TO build a
nice house large enough Tor an old feudal
castle in the western part of the city and
inclose quite large garden. The loca-
ton was high and well chosen, the very
best in the city. After finishing this
house the rich man failed and had to flee
from his creditors 10 distant city. A
Turk rented the house and would pay no
rent. A missionary came to the city,
but tried in vain for house The agent
tried to get rent from the Turk but the
Moslem had no idea OF paying. and the
missionary was permitted TO come in, in
order to get the Moslem out. He shrewd-
ly rented this house for ten years, thinking
i. would do for dwelling house, chapel.
and school-house. The Turk did not
relish his infidel neighbor and moved out.
The missionary had not been long in the
house before the pasha OF the district ap-
piled to the owner for it, wishing to
make it his headquarters and build bar
racks for the soldiers near. The mis-
sionary said he would leave when his
lease expired. but not before. After
some threatening the pasha gave up his
suit, and the owner offered the house for
sale q. very low price. The missiona-
ries felt it was just the house needed Tor
their work, but how could they get the
money to buy? II they should write 10
the Prudential Committee at Boston,
three months time must elapse before
they could get an answer. and they could
not buy till permission should come. The
Bowdoin student was the one who could
help them out of their difficulty. The
bakery money was not all expended. lie
was written 10 and replied: IL will lend
the money without interest, and you shall
pay it back as you can" The house was
bought. The papers made out in the
name of one of the Christians. The
rents were saved and sent yearly to Mr..
Hsmlin till the debt was all paid, and
then the house belonged to the A. b. Z.
F. NJ. who owned the missionaries. This
house is now the Female Seminary and
the residence of two of the missionaries.
All the other buildings which comprise
Armenia College are built on land be-
longing to this house. So we can truly
say that not only Robert College but Ar
menia College. looking down on old
Eden and not far from the sacred Euphra-
tss. hang on that little screw that Maine
boy made when in college. The time
will come when the Armenian Bulgarian.
Greek, and Turk will stand with uncov-
cred heads at the unveiling of statue
that shall be erected on the classic shores
Of the Bosphorus to the memory OF the
Pine Tree States missionary boy, CYRUS
U,uIy W.