1882 commencement address by Professor Edwin Lewis, which was censored by the college board for mildly favoring Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, considered heretical by most Protestants. He stayed in Beirut, practicing at the Hospital of St. George as its chief physician. He published more books in Arabic, including a translation of Lew Wallace's Ben Hur. In 1890, Syrians of all sects celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his coming to their country. He retired in 1893 and died in Beirut. Reputation Van Dyck has long been respected by Arabs for his intimate knowledge of their history, culture, language, and proverbs, for his ability to work among Syrians without condescension, and especially for his contribution to the revival of Arabic literature in the nineteenth century. Modern scholars give more credit for the renaissance to the Egyptian government and to some of Van Dyck's Arab collaborators, but he published more than twenty Arabic textbooks, and his translation of the Bible was used by Arabic-speaking Protestants for a century. Rue Van Dyck is a street in Beirut that was named in his honor. Family State Senator Henry H. Van Dyck (1809–1888) was his brother. References Further reading Goldschmidt, Arthur. "Van Dyck, Cornelius Van Alen," American National Biography. available online at http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01044.html. van Kyck, E. A. 1961. "Cornelius Van Allen Van Dyck." The Bible Translator 12/4:200-201. Available online al-Muqattam (Cairo daily newspaper), November 16, 1895. Penrose, Stephen B. That They May Have Life: The Story of the American University of Beirut, 1866-1941 (1941), pp. 36–37. Tibawi, A. L. American Interests in Syria, 1800-1901 (1966). Sarkis, Yusuf. Mu'jam al-Matbu'at al-'arabiyah wa al-mu'arrabah, Vol. 2 (1928), cols. 1462–4. Zaydan, Jurji. Tarajim mashahir al-sharq, vol. 2 (1903), pp. 39–53. al-Zirikli, Khayr al-Din, al-A'lam, 4th ed. (1980), vol. 5, p. 223. External links American Protestant missionaries Christian medical missionaries Protestant missionaries in Lebanon Translators of the Bible into Arabic American people of Dutch descent 1818 births 1895 deaths Thomas Jefferson University alumni Protestant missionaries in Palestine (region) American expatriates in Lebanon American members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch Reformed Church missionaries American University of Beirut 19th-century American translators Missionary linguists