SMITH, Eli

[s. 703] : Born at North ford, Conn., September 13, 1801; graduated at Yale College, 1821; taught in Putnam, Georgia, for two years; graduated at And over Theological Seminary, 1826; ordained May 10, same vear; left for Malta under appointment of the ABCFM, May 23 1826, as superintendent of a mi ionary printing estabIn 1827 he went to Beirut to study lishment. Arabic. The mi ionaries being obliged to leave Syria on the general outbreak of the war, after the battle of Navarino, Mr. Smith, in 1828, returned Smith, BlI K. S. P. C. He traveled through Greece in 1829, with Rev. Dr. Anderson. In 1830, with Rev. H. G. O. Dwight, he set out from Constantinople for an extended and adventurous exploring tour of Asiatic Turkey, Western Persia, and the Caucasus. The tour occupied a whole year, and secured the information on which was based the establishment of the Board’s mi ions to the Armenians and the Nestor i ans. Returning to the U. S. in 1832 he published the report of these to Malta. explorations under the title Researches in Armenia (2 vols., Boston, 1833), also a small volume of Mi ionary Sermons and Addre es. In 1833 he embarked for Syria, accompanied by Mrs. Smith, formerly Sarah Lanman Huntington, whose brief but bright mi ionary career of only three years was terminated by her death at Smyrna, SeptemIn 1837-38 and 1852 he was the ber 30, 1836. companion and coadjutor of Prof. E. Robinson in By his his extensive explorations of Palestine. experience as an Oriental traveler, his tact in and his intimate knowledge eliciting information, of Arabic he contributed largely to the accuracy, variety, and value of the discoveries of Biblical geography recorded in Dr. Robinson’s celebrated Researches. At the same time these travels, in close relations with the people of the country, added to his own information, and prepared him for the literary work in Arabic which was the great and enduring fruit of his mi ionary career. He visited the United States again in 1838 and During these visits 1845, for reasons of health. he traveled extensively in the United States, speaking on “Mi ions” and preaching with He also took the opportunity great acceptance. while pa ing through Europe to study the methods of Arabic typography there in use, and gathered information which enabled him to make For his printing house as complete as po ible. all this time pre ing on the work of Among his publication of books and tracts. qualifications as translator as well as editor was his ripe scholarship. His learning was extensive and accurate. To the ancient cla ics he added an acquaintance with French, Italian, German, he was and Turkish. With the Hebrew he was very familiar, and the Arabic, the most difficult of all, was to him a second vernacular. Not only did his learning fit him for the difficult office of editor, but by long practise and close attention to the busine of printing in all its branches, he acquired an unusual skill in managing the minutest details. He not only wrote himself in Arabic, but devoted much time and labor to correcting and editing works written or translated by others. For many years he carefully read the proof-sheets of nearly everything that went through the mi ion pre . He spent also much time and intense labor in superintending the cutting, casting, and perfecting of various fonts of new type made from models which he had himself drawn with the utmost accuracy. This work was done at Leipzig in the celebrated establishment of Tauchnitz. It was in 1847 that Mr. Smith devoted himself to the translation of the Bible into Arabic. To this task all his studies and all his previous work had been made to serve as preparation. After eight years of ince ant toil he completed the translation of the New Testament, the Pent a teuch, the minor Prophets from Hosea to Nahum, and the greater part of Isaiah. In 1856 failure of health compelled Dr. Smith (he had received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Williams College) to suspend his labors for a 686 time. He prayed often and earnestly that he might recover and be permitted to complete his work of translating the Scriptures. But it was not to be. He died at Beirut January II, 1857. During all his labors in the literary branch of the mi ion. Dr. Smith never forgot that he was a me enger of Jesus Christ, and he entered with all his heart into every plan for the spread of divine truth. Being a fluent speaker of colloquial Arabic, it was ever his delight to preach the Gospel in the family, by the wayside, and in public a emblies. His work of Bible translation was taken up by his a ociate, Rev. C. V. A. Van Dyck, D.D., and carried to a full and admirable completion. SMYRNA A city in Asiatic Turkey, at the head of the Gulf of Smyrna, about 200 miles southwest of Constantinople. Population about 150,000, of a little more than half are Mohammed: whom ans and the remainder Greeks (40,000), Armenians (10,000), Jews (15,000), and Europe ans. The climate is hot and trying, the summer being very oppre ive. The general appearance of the city from the sea and also from the Acropolis is very attractive, many of the houses, especially in the Christian quarters and along the quay, being of stone and well built. As a busine center Smyrna has grown rapidly in importance, especially since the establishment of two lines of railway connecting it with the interior of Asia Minor. European customs and influence have also been largely predominant, and the intimate connection of the large Greek population with Greece and the islands of the jEgean has helped to make it a center of far greater commercial activity even than Constantinople. It has also derived considerable importance from the fact that it is the only Turkish city which the fleets of Europe and America can visit, and during the cooler months there is seldom a time when one or more warships are not anchored in the roadstead. The colloquial Turkish name of the city is Giaour Izmiri (Infidel Smyrna). As a center for mi ionary work Smyrna has been prominent from the The earliest times. interest of its name as the home of Polycarp, and as one of the Seven Churches addre ed by the Apostle John, naturally drew attention to it; but even more was probably due to the fact that at the commencement of the 19th century it was the only city of Turkey that was really open to mi ionaries, and with which there was direct communication from European and American seaports. The British and Foreign Bible Society early established an agent here, and the first mi ionaries of the to the Levant were located here. ABCFM At present the mi ionary societies working in Smyrna are as follows: ABCFM (1820), with (1903) 3 mi ionaries, two with their wives; 6 women mi ionaries, 46 native workers, men and women; 5 outstations, 7 day schools, 1 kindergarten, 2 boarding schools, 1 college, and 203 profe ed Christians; London Jews Society (1829), with (1903) 1 mi ionary and his wife and 4 native workers; Church of Scotland Jewish Mi ion, with (1900) 6 mi ionaries, men and women; 2 schools, a dispensary, and a hospital; Kaiserswerth Deacone es’ Institute (1853), with (1903) 14 deacone es and a istants, 1 boarding school, 1 orphanage, and 1 sanitarium for deacone es; FCMS (1891), with (1901) 1 mi ionary and his wife, 1 woman mi ionary, 1 place of worship, 1 day school, and 14 profe ed Christians. There 687. also a Sailors’ Rest, which serves as for work among foreign sailors, and is a center also for native inquirers. One of the most interesting developments of mi ionary worlt has been the formation and the growth of the Greek Evangelical Alliance. It originated in the effort of Rev. Geo. Const an tine, D.D., a native Greek educated in America, to place the work among the Greeks on a firm basis Dr. Const an tine commenced a of self-support. series of sermons in the hall connected with “The Rest,” and by his eloquence drew large crowds. A profound impre ion was made, and the hierarchy saw that they were in danger of losing their The volatile nature of the Greeks ren power. dered it easy to stir a tumult. Threats were uttered, stones were thrown at the windows of the hall, and on one Sunday a mob attacked the place, Not seeking especially for Dr. Const an tine. finding him, they turned and went to his house, which they a aulted. The priests soon saw that such proceedings The result chiefly injured their own church. was a greater interest in Christian life than at any until it has Alliance grew The time before. become a most potent influence, not only in Smyrna, but in many other Greek communities of Asia Minor. 705