CONSTANTINOPLE

[s. 211] : Capital of the Turkish Empire, is located at the confluence of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmora and stands partly m Europe and partly in Asia. It is the natural center toward which converge the lines of interpopulation, of Southeastern and est, of trade, Europe and Western Asia. Because it is partly in Europe and partly in Asia, it partakes of the character of both continents to such a degree that the natives of each find themselves at home The beauty of its scenery is scarcely more in it. marked than are the characteristics that make it a healthy residence at every season of the year, and a center whose influences make themselves The value felt in every portion of the empire. of its location has been much impaired by the restrictions upon trade of absurd custom-house regulations, and that jealousy of purely foreign investments that has characterized the Turkish Produce that was formerly Government. CoBBtantinople Converts brought from the ports of the Black Sea and reshipped at the Golden Horn for Europe, now goes direct from Ode a, Varna, Poti and Trebizond. Topographically the city is divided into three 1. Stamboul, or the city proper, between parts: the Marmora and the Golden Horn, occupying the site of the old city. 2. Galata and Pera, where are centered the European commercial interests. 3. The shores of the Bosphorus, the islands, and Marmora suburbs. The city stands on several hills, so that there is the best of natural drainage. The climate is, in general, mild through the whole year, the winter being tempered by south winds, while in the summer the prevail There is usually ing winds are from the north. some snow, but it does not lie long, and there is rarely much ice. In the summer the thermometer very rarely rises above 90°. The chief drawback to residence is the heavy winds, which are hard for delicate throats and lungs The spring months, April, May and to bear. June, are the most favorable for visiting the city. The buildings were formerly almost entirely frame houses, poorly put together, which burned like tinder when a conflagration was once started. Succe ive disasters of this kind have resulted in the use of brick and stone in a great degree, tho much that appears to be brick is really only stucco. In its political relations Constantinople is the very key to the “Eastern Question,” but, aside from this wider international importance, its political influence is a most important element m its national life. It is the seat of all government for the empire. Every local official, from Adrianople to Bagdad, from Trebizond to Tepedelen, feels the influence that binds him to the capital, and this in more ways than the mere reference to responsible chiefs there. The sovereign keeps his eye not merely upon the pashas, but on every little village mudir; and no one, from the highest to the lowest, can tell when he may be called upon to account to headquarters for some act that it would be supposed was left entirely to his discretion. Hence if any disturbance occurs among the Kurdish Mountains, on the Persian border, it must be settled, not at the capital of the province (vilayet), but at Constantinople. The absolute centralization of the Turkish government in Constantinople is almost more marked than is that of Ru ia in St. Petersburg. The same thing is true of the various hierarchical influences. The Armenian Patriarch resident in Constantinople is subordinate spiritually to the Catholicos at Etchmiadzine (in the Caucasus), but politically he is the head of the Armenian nation, and the supremacy of the Patriarchate is maintained in much the same way as is that of the Porte. So with the Greeks and other Christian communities. again, So, Constantinople as the seat of the foreign emba ies is the center for those foreign influences which permeate the empire to a degree almost inconceivable to any one not acquainted with the country. Thus Constantinople is the center of all interests of the remotest sections of the empire. The population of Constantinople is variously estimated at from 900,000 to 1,100,000 souls, of whom considerably more than half are Mohammedans. The Armenians and Greeks number 194: perhaps 80,000 each, the Jews, 70,000, while the remainder comprise almost every race of Europe and Western Asia, for you sands of men come up from the villages of all Western Asia, spend a few years, and then having ama ed a little money, return to their homes. The number of these it is impo ible to estimate at all accurately. I’hey make up by far the majority of the laboring cla , the porters (hamals), boatmen, carpenters and even the petty tradesmen. In former times each religious sect occupied a distinct quarter of the city. Stamboul had its Mohammedan, Armenian, Greek and Jewish quarters, while the Europe ans were found chiefly in Pera, and social intercourse between those of different creeds was almost unknown. Of later vears this has changed in a great degree; districts have encroached on each other until in some cases boundary-lines have been jjractically obliterated. The languages are as varied as the races. The official court language is Turkish. Greek, Italian, English and German are almost e ential to any one whose busine relations are extensive, while the language of diplomacy, and the common language which every educated person of any race or nation is a umed to know, is the French. Armenian is used only among Armenians, who, however, all speak Turkish, while many of them write it. Besides these one hears a perfect jargon of sounds Bulgarian, Ru ian, Arabic, Persian, Spanish, etc. as he pa es through the streets or stops in a restaurant or ea{6. 4. Mi ion Work: The above statements will readily explain the importance that has always been attached to the occupation of Constantinople as a center for mi ionary operations. The British and Foreign Bible Society occupied it as a post in 1823 and has now (1902) an agency and a depot with 17 colporteurs and Bible women. The American Bible Society established an agency there in 1856, and now has an agent and a book depot and 10 colporteurs and Bible women. Both of these societies, together with the mi ion of the ABCFM, have publishing and editorial rooms, besides book storage depots and salesrooms in the Constantinople Bible House. The ABCFM (1831) was the first Society to establish mi ionaries in the city. It now (1902) has there 17 mi ionaries, of whom 13 are women, and in the city and its 3 outstations in neighboring districts, 31 native workers, men and women, 13 preaching centers, 6 elementary schools, 1 publishing house and 390 church-members. The American College for Girls is also connected with this Society. Robert College (1860), an off’shoot from this mi ion, is not in any way connected with it, but is under its own Board of Trustees in New York. Mi ions to the Jews were the next to be established in Constantinople, beginning with that of the London Society for the Evangelization of the Jews (1835), followed by that of the Free Church of Scotland (1842) and the Established Church of Scotland. These Societies now (1900) have ia the city, 11 mi ionaries, men and women (one a physician), 25 native workers, 3 preaching centers, 2 orphanages, 4 elementary schools, 1 high school and 1 dispensary. The Kaiserswerth deacone es also have a station here (1852) with a hospital and a kindergarten school, with 17 deacone es in charge of these — — institutions. Later enterprises are the FCMS (1879) and the Seventh Day Adventists’ Mi ion (1887), which 105 men and women, and in the city and their 27 outstations in have both together 10 mi ionaries, different parts of Asia Minor, 4 native workers, 6 preaching centers, 4 elementary schools and 462 profe ing Christians. The political relations of the representatives of these various mi ionary bodies in a center of influence like Constantinople is a phase of mi ionary life which is found to be of no small diff i The mi ion culty, but of great importance. aries themselves often have cases affecting their rights as citizens which must be carried to the emba y; and there are innumerable instances when their kind offices are sought in behalf of people who have been for one cause or another imprisoned or persecuted in every part of the This work requires time, tact, patience, empire. and an intimate knowledge of the country and its people, their laws and customs. While there is much valuable mi ionary work done in Constantinople, its chief importance after To withdraw or even all is as a strategic point. weaken the force there would be to court disaster If Constantinople can be in the whole empire. held, the Levant will certainly be evangelized. Amicis (E. de), Constantinople, New York, 1896; Grosvenor (E. A.), Cons i anti-nople, 2 vols., Boston, 1895; Dwight (H. O.), Constantinople and Its Problems, New York, 1901 Prime (E. D. G.), Forty Years in the Turkish Empire, New York, 1875. 213