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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



forth in the history of this college bear- 

 ing diplomas or certificates of various 

 kinds, that of Doctor and Surgeon, and 

 that of Master of Pharmacy, that of 

 Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of 

 Arts. They become the doctors of Asia 

 Minor; they become the doctors of the 

 Sudan as far as the Equator; they be- 

 come the doctors of Egypt; they become 

 lawyers and teachers and preachers. 

 Those eighteen hundred are but a small 

 proportion of the students who attend the 

 college, for many of them leave before 

 the end of the course or a degree has 

 been received. 



I admit that I am a prejudiced speaker, 

 but I assure you that I have tried to be 

 accurate in my statements, and I ask you 

 to judge for yourselves whether those 

 eighteen hundred men, going out into the 

 world after a fixed course of study, do 

 not go forth as a mighty force to break 

 down the antagonisms of races and re- 

 ligions? go forth as forces of a patriot- 

 ism, of a solidarity, of a unity that speak 

 well for the future of the Turkish Em- 

 pire? 



I do not conceal the fact that the diffi- 

 culties that lie before us are very great. 

 But do not forget that eight or nine col- 

 leges are doing in Turkey the same kind 

 of work as ours. You can imagine that 

 wherever a graduate is found there is a 

 new light illuminating the region around 

 about him ; that there is emanating from 

 that doctor's office, or that lawyer's office, 

 or that preacher's house a force that is 

 making for civilization — those centripetal 

 forces that overcome the forces of ig- 

 norance. 



TURKEY OUR ONLY FRIEND IN 1862 



Forty-six years ago my venerable fa- 

 ther, the founder of this college and its 

 first president, now in his eighty-sixth 

 year, visited Washington and saw Presi- 

 dent Lincoln. He had been directed by 

 his fellow-missionaries in Syria to visit 

 Secretary Seward. His mission was 



this : There had been some petty misun- 

 derstanding in connection with some 

 matter affecting missions, and my father 

 was charged by his fellow-missionaries to 

 see whether it was not possible for the 

 Washington government to us»e such rep- 

 resentations with the Turkish govern- 

 ment as to put an end to these petty an- 

 noyances. Mr Seward said to my fa- 

 ther, "Dr. Bliss, do you know that of all 

 the foreign powers, the government of 

 Turkey is the only one that has expressed 

 any sort of sympathy with the United 

 States in the great struggle now going 

 on?" My father was silent and bowed 

 himself out. He understood. 



And I wonder, ladies and gentlemen, 

 whether there are not still more potent 

 reasons why we, citizens of a republic 

 that has not yet completed the journey 

 toward the goal of liberty, but citizens of 

 a republic that has been able to measure 

 many a mile upon the arduous pathway, 

 passing over a road that has not been 

 always easy, should not content ourselves 

 with simply sending a message from 

 our Congress to Turkey at this critical 

 hour in her history. Shall we not send 

 to that empire a message in the form of 

 support of these schools and institutions 

 that quietly and silently but effectively 

 are strengthening those forces that are 

 making for civilization? 



I understand that many of you here in 

 Washington have been interested in a 

 noble enterprise established upon the 

 slopes of Lebanon, the first hospital in 

 the Turkish Empire for consumptives. 

 It is a good work. But I would plead 

 also for those other enterprises, which 

 are making not simply for physical 

 health, not simply for intellectual integ- 

 rity, but are making for the moral and 

 spiritual regeneration of the empire. 



I thank you most sincerely and heartily 

 for your attention. I only hope you will 

 yourselves visit Turkey and see for your- 

 selves the growth of liberty, fraternity, 

 and equality in that great empire. 



