Under such circumstances it is not difficult to imagine the general conditions of society and the deplorable life of the Church. These conditions were more or less modified in the large coast cities like Constantinople and Smyrna, but even in these places, while more educated men were found than in the interior, there was dense ignorance among the masses, and no provision for the education of girls. The entire empire had few newspapers or periodicals of any kind in any language, and the state of education stimulated the production of no great literature, even had there been those capable of producing it. The beginning of the nineteenth century, apart from the revival of learning among the Greeks of the West, may be called the dark age for literature, learning, and religion in the Turkish empire. Constantinople and Syria were the two centers for Christian work in Turkey among the Oriental churches, because these were the centers of control for all of these churches. The chief patriarch resided at the Porte and was in close touch with his majesty the sultan, while the secondary patriarch resided at Jerusalem, cooperating with his superior at the capital. These churches could best be reached and influenced for evangelical Christianity from the same points. Missionaries were sent to the ancient churches, not to attack them either in their doctrines or in their practises, but to cooperate with their leaders in organizing a system of education and in creating a sentiment that should demand for the Church an educated and morally upright clergy. It was expected that the Church would accept the modern version of its own Scriptures and encourage its circulation among the people. For the best conduct of a work of this character, the missionaries needed to be in close contact with the centers of ecclesiastical power in all of these churches, that from them the ordinary lines of communication might be utilized in reaching the remote interior districts. In order that misunderstandings may be cleared up, it should be stated here that missionaries to the Armenians and Greeks were not sent to divide the churches or to separate out those who should accept education and read the Bible in the vernacular. Their one supreme endeavor was to help the Armenians and Greeks work out a quiet but genuine reform in their respective churches. The missionaries made no attacks upon the churches, their customs, or beliefs, but strove by positive, quiet effort to show the leaders how much they lacked and to help them bring about the necessary changes.