The Portland daily press., 1897-11-22


hundreds and thousands of Moslems in
Turkey have been converted? And his
confidence that the Christian community
("most of u.s. believe the same? There
Is no missionary society In all Christen
dom, since President Andrews was a
Freshman in college that has sent sim
gle missionary to the Moslems in Turkey.
II there have been any conversions the
converts have Immediately disappeared;
and there have been no reports of any
conversions in any missionary or other
publications, In any quarterly or monthly
or weekly or daily publication. Lord
Straftord de Redcliffe stopped public ex-
ecution, but it is still sure death to
Moslem in Turkey to say openly that
the Gospels are superior to the Koran.
AS no society has labored for any such
result, and as there has been no such re-
suit. and as nobody has had any such
impression in this or any other country,
we are forced to believe that the presi-
dent has dreamed a dream. We do not say
this lightly. Joseph and Pharaoh and
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams from
which great events flowed. We would
honor this dream, but there is no signif-
canoe in it. 1t is utterly false and empty
as a boys soap bubble.
A part of this same dream is that no
Moslem drinks lntoxicants. Back in the
country it is true. In the cities thought
full Mosleus themselves mourn the prev
alence of drunkenness among wealthy
and official Turks. I was once offered a
glass of brandy by a Turk of high official
rank. He was surprised that declined.
demanded his Interpretation of the Ko-
ran on prohibition. He coolly replied,
t'Our blessed prophet knew nothing of
brandy, and every good Moslem may
drink as he pleases." Every resident in
the cities knows the alarming fact of in
creasing Moslem intemperance.
Another remark is from the place of
dreams that ''the Mohammedan society
of western Asia and northern Africa is
just as solidly Mohammedan today as it
was one hundred years ago or over.'
To appearances it is so. There is sure
death 10 the renegade. Moslems have de-
clared the teachings OF Jesus superior to
those of Mohammed, but all such persons
have mysteriously disappeared. The
good president on this subject should
have dropped his plummet deeper still.'
There are many facts, too many to be here
enumerated. showing that the Moslems
themselves fear the underground change
going on. This Sultan has strictly for
hidden the purchase and reading of the
Gospsls. Some eight or ten years ago
four to five thousand Turkish New Tes-
taments were sold annually to Turks by
our colporteurs.
"We have no future,' said venerable
Moslem to missionary. 1.-THE future is
for you A young captain in the army
once said to the writer, eff there were
only freedom for man to change his re-
aigion. would become Christian at
once, and would bring ten thousand with
me-" He then narrated a conversation
he had with his colonel (Ben Bashi),
who said to him, so would i. But il you
speak such words you will be ordered to
the Euphrates orSsome other malarious
place. Exactly what he meant by the
word "malarious'' do not know.
A few months later this interesting
man called at my house when l WAS
away. "Tell your father, " no said. "that
the young yuzbashi (oaptain) who talked
with him in Philippopolis is on his way
to the Euphrates." never heard of him
again. The All-seeing knows what be-
came of him. Some do secretly buy the
Gospels at their peril, but as many of our
colpoFteurs are dying, or have died, in
filthy prisons there are fewer opportuni-
ties. The enlightened Moslems lie low at
the present, for Hamid has raised Moslem
fanaticism to white heat. Islam Is being
undermined by many influences, and the
mad Panislamism of the Sultan can save
it only SO long as Germany and Russia
sustain him.
We come now to the learned presidents
estimate of the Turks and Armenians:
f'The Turks are the nobler and more
moral race"
As the ruling race, wearing all the
high official costumes and living upon
the labor Of five millions of rayahs, Ar
Inenian, Greek and Jewish, they natural
ly have that appearance of superiority
which leisure, pride, wealth, station and
conscious power give. But what of their
character and course in history
The elimination Of their wealth and
power was under Solyman the Magnif1-
scent 1920 to 1865. Europe trembled before
them. They had the wealth and the in
dustries of the twelve millions of Chris
tian subjects (rayahs). What use have
they made OF all these pre-eminent advan-
tagesp They have lost nearly all their
vast possessions in Europe. Hungary,
the pe Crimea, Konmania, Bulgaria, seryia,
Greece, with her Seven Islands. In Asia
they have lost large Trans-C Caucasian
territory to Russia. in the Mediterranean
and Africa they have lost Cyprus and
Egypt to England, and northern Africa
TO France. For three hundred years they
have played q tremendously losing game.
All this time the Turkish race has been
diminishing. They are three millions less
now than they were when Solyman came
to the throne, while the Christian races
have increased
while these moral Turks were seiz-
ing thousand choice Christian boys
every year and training them up as
Moslem Janissaries. and were recruiting
their harems, ad libituyn, from Christian
homes, the rayahs were kept in check.
The Janissaries stopped that in their own
nuCAOoe5J duu b1o iIllIlOIdllUlOo VI tuO
race have been slowly destroying it.
They have lost credit as well as num-
bers and domain and character. The
Sultan lives in great splendor by means
of cruel oppressive taxation. But he can
not pay half of one per cent. on his pub
TO debt, and he cannot raise loan of one
penny in any money market in Europe.
The Sultan knows all this, and proposes
to remedy it by his scheme of Panlslam-
ism. He will exterminate his rayahs,
Armenians and Greeks, and bring in
fierce Moslem immigration that shall
raise the empire to its ancient splendor
At the time President Andrews was
imbibing his notions of the higher nobili-
ty and morality of the Turks they had
slaughtered at least one hundred thou
sand of their unarmed and peaceful Chris
tian subjects because they would not de-
ny their faith and profess Islam. They
had destroyed 9, 493 villages. foroibly con-
yerted 246, destroyed 563 Protestant and
Gregorian churches, changed 326 to
mosques and destroyed n monasteries
l<