VIIIA GENERAL SURVEY

From the foregoing history it will easily be understood that the Armenians have been subjected to all kinds of cruelties. Owing to calamitous wars, merciless persecutions, voluntary and involuntary exiles, and emigrations into different countries, they have been justly compared to the Jews. Like them scattered all over the globe the Armenians are met with in every commercial city throughout Europe and Asia. However, until the beginning of 1915 the great majority of them still dwelled in the land of Ararat in the Turkish empire. There were over two hundred thousand Armenians in the city of Constantinople, and as many in other European countries. The number of the Armenians in Turkish Armenia and in Asia Minor was not considered to be below two millions and a half.[69]

The Armenians lived (before this world war) in their respective villages, towns and cities. If a town, or village is not exclusively occupied by the Armenians, then they had their own district clustered bythemselves with sufficient churches and schools for their religious and educational needs. The dwellings in the villages and towns are of primitive style in the interior being built either of unhewn stone entirely, or half of stone and half of sun-dried bricks. The roofs are flat. Large logs or beams are laid crosswise, supported by strong pillars. These are covered with planks and earth to a thickness of two or three feet, and then hardened to prevent leaking. But in spite of all sometimes “through idleness of lands, the house droppeth through.”[70]

Some of these villages are built on the hillsides, and the roofs of the lower row of houses are on the level with the streets above, or with the yards of the houses above. Some travelers, careless in their observations or basing their statements on the information of others, betray incorrectness in their assertions in regard to them when they say that “the inhabitants are literally dwelling under ground.”

The villagers and some dwellers in towns were and are (what is left of them in Asia Minor) exclusively engaged in agricultural pursuits and the raising and tending of cattle and sheep, their land and fold, being within a distance of several miles from the villages and towns. The farmers go to their fields of labor in the morning early and return in the evening to their homes. They could not do like the farmers in this country, live on or near their farms on account of insecurity of life and property. The Turkish government had determined foryears to expose the Armenians to all manner of oppressions, thefts, plunders and murders perpetrated by the Circassians, Kurds and Turks, especially the former two, who have been human parasites on the Christian inhabitants of Turkey.

In Armenia many families formerly could be found (still some may be found) living in a patriarchal style like the families of Abraham, Job and Jacob, who could raise a force and chase the invaders from their borders; the younger sons and grandsons with the hired servants tending the flocks and following the herds like Jesse’s younger son, and not a few of them had the fate that Job’s servants had.

Many Armenian youths have been like Jesse’s youngest son, leading the sheep on the lonely hills of Armenia. Yet none finds the life of an Oriental shepherd an easy and pleasant one, not only because it is exposed to dangerous conflicts with robbers, thieves, wild beasts and ravenous wolves, but also the irksome anxiety to find green pastures and still waters to lead the flocks thereto. Added to this is the feeling of loneliness day and night and compulsive association with the mute creature whom they call by their names. Some shepherds again, like David, have a source of comfort, not the harp, but their flutes, and the sheep seem to delight to listen to those pensive melodies, when the shepherds play, while the shepherd-dogs with their accredited faithfulness, always follow the flocks.

The farming implements are also in primitive simplicity, like the mode of cultivation. The westernplows, planters, sowers, cultivators, reapers, and self-binders and threshing machines are comparatively unknown in most of the places in the Turkish Armenia. The employment of oxen and tamed buffaloes, instead of horses in some hilly and rocky districts, for hauling and farming might be justifiable, but in many places and for many many purposes on the farm the horses could be used with advantage. They are not, however, except for riding and traveling.

It is due to the inexhaustive fertility of the land and to the industry of the people, and not to the modern improvements or advantageous circumstances, that the inhabitants of Armenia have not starved long ago. If we, moreover, remember the absence of railroads and good roads, the difficulty of transportation of the products into the market, the dangers from the highway robbers encountered in traveling which paralyze the spirit of enterprise and energy of the farmer, we well may be surprised to know that they not only make a living, but that thousands of bushels of grain were annually exported into the European countries.

In every village, town and city of Armenia and in Asia Minor where there were and are Armenians, churches and schools are found, one, two, or more of them according to the numbers of the Armenian inhabitants. Some of these villages and towns are wholly inhabited by the Mohammedans who have seized the property of the Christians and have alsoconverted their churches into mosques and their schools intotekes(schools).

Many of the churches are of great antiquity, but some only a few centuries old. They are invariably of substantial characters. One of the peculiarities of the older churches is that their entrances or doors are quite small and low. The reason of this was and still is in the interior to prevent the enemies of their religion from desecrating the sacred edifices by putting their horses into the churches and converting them into stables, as the greatest insult to Christianity and a single triumph of Mohammedanism. Sultan Bajazet himself boasted he “would one day feed his horse at Rome with a bushel of oats on the altar ofSt.Peter’s.” What Bajazet and others of his type and character boasted that they would do in Europe, so both long before and after him, others have done it in Armenia and elsewhere; and even worse, as the following verse, composed by our immortal “prince of poets.” Nerses Shnorhali (graceful or gracious), who lived in the twelfth century:

“Close by the altar in the sacred fane,Where daily God’s own paschal lamb was slain,Hadji, the impious, made vile harlots sing,And drunken broils throughout the temple ring.”

The Armenians, living in large towns and cities, were and are engaged in various occupations. The following trades were almost exclusively in the hands of the Armenians in Asiatic and partly in European Turkey: Blacksmithing, goldsmithing, coppersmithing, locksmithing, watchmaking, shoemaking, tailoring,weaving, printing, dyeing, carpentry, masonry, architecture, etc. Some are storekeepers of all sorts. Others are merchants and traveling merchants, money-brokers, bankers, lawyers and physicians. “The Armenian nation,” says a writer, “is the life of Turkey.” But the Turks have been committing suicide by attempting to annihilate the Armenians in the Empire. Another says, “They are a noble race and have been called ‘the Anglo-Saxons of the East.’ They are an active and enterprising class. Shrewd, industrious and persevering, they are the bankers of Constantinople, the artisans of Turkey, and the merchants of Western and Central Asia.”

One of the first missionaries of the American Board, theRev.Dr.H. G. O. Dwight, says: “The principal merchants are Armenians, and so are nearly all the great bankers of the Turkish government; and whatever arts there are that require peculiar ingenuity and skill, are almost sure to be in the hands of Armenians.”

“In these Armenian provinces of Russia the machinery of administration is conducted by a handful of Russian officials through Armenians, who are employed even in the higher grades. The Armenian is a man of ancient culture and high national capacity; neither the instinct nor the quality would be claimed by his Russian superior.... Moreover, the Russian official gives the impression of being overwhelmed by his system, like a child to whom his lessons are new, and when you see him at work among such a people as the Armenians, you ask yourselfhow it has happened that a race with all the aptitudes are governed by such wooden figures.”[71]

One more quotation from another Englishman, which will be an exception from the other testimonies, yet the exception proves the rule: “As a people (the Armenians) there are few who have a good word for them. They are said to be cowardly and treacherous, to be mere money grubbers, and so onad nauseum. The charges vary; but all agree that the objects of them are objectionable somehow. They seem, in fact, to be a sort of ‘Dr.Fell’ of nationalities for every one dislikes them, though often enough they cannot tell the reason. Even the writer, who has not the least objection to thieves, murderers, and devil-worshipers, who has kindly feeling for a successful cheat, admits to getting on less well with Armenians than with other Orientals.”[72]Surely does the exception prove the rule. Every Armenian ought to be thankful that he is not a thief, he is not a murderer, he is not a devil-worshiper or even a successful cheat, so as to merit thisRev.Dr.Wigram’s approval. However, there are some things that man cannot deny; so this writer is compelled to say, “And yet there is much about them that anyone must admire.... In the massacres of 1895, armed men were butchering unarmed, and there was no test of anything but passive endurance. Yet how many could have saved their lives by a mere verbal acceptance (of Mohammedanism)?” But they did not.

In the days of old the Armenians were also noted as merchants and traders in Western Asia. Herodotus, the great historian who lived in the fifth century before Christ, tells us that next to the marvelous city Babylon were the boats constructed in Armenia by the Armenian merchants in the following manner:

“But the greatest wonder of all that I saw in the land, after the city itself, I will now proceed to mention. The boats which came down the river (Euphrates) to Babylon are circular and made of skin. The frames which are of willow, are cut in the country of the Armenians above Assyria and on these, which serve for hulls, a covering of skin is stretched outside and thus the boats are made, without either stem or stern, quite round like a shield. They are then entirely filled with straw, and their cargo is put on the board, after which they are suffered to float down the stream. Their chief freight is wine, stored in casks made of the wood of the palmtrees.“They are managed by two men, who stand upright in them, each plying an oar, one pulling and the other pushing. The boats are of various sizes, some larger, some smaller; the biggest reach as high as five thousand talents burthen. Each vessel has a live ass on board; those of larger size have more than one. When they reach Babylon the cargo is landed and offered for sale, after which the men break up their boats, sell the straw and frames, and, loading their asses with the skins, set off on their way back to Armenia. The current is too strong to allow a boat to return upstream, for which reason they make their boats of skin rather than wood. On their return to Armenia they build fresh boats for the next voyage.”[73]

“They are managed by two men, who stand upright in them, each plying an oar, one pulling and the other pushing. The boats are of various sizes, some larger, some smaller; the biggest reach as high as five thousand talents burthen. Each vessel has a live ass on board; those of larger size have more than one. When they reach Babylon the cargo is landed and offered for sale, after which the men break up their boats, sell the straw and frames, and, loading their asses with the skins, set off on their way back to Armenia. The current is too strong to allow a boat to return upstream, for which reason they make their boats of skin rather than wood. On their return to Armenia they build fresh boats for the next voyage.”[73]

The prophet Ezekiel, more than a hundred and fifty years before the time of Herodotus, in his enumeration of the ancient merchant nations who were engaged in mercantile pursuits with the Phœnicians in the markets of Tyre, speaks of the Armenians under the popular appellation of “the house of Togarmah.” “They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.”[74]

The descendants of Togarmah, on account of their ingenuity and intelligence, have accumulated great wealth, and demanded, by fitness, from the indolent Turk, many high trusts in the government and its affairs, but by the jealousy, cruelty, and cupidity of the latter many of them have been precipitated from their elevated state and prosperity into terrible misery, often ending in execution.

“The most remarkable circumstance is that these Armenians who have undergone execution have the modes of their death commemorated on their sepulchres by the effigies of men being hung, strangled or beheaded. In explanation it is stated that having become wealthy by their industry, they suffered as victims to the cupidity of former governments, not as criminals; and hence their ignominious death was really honorable to them and worthy of a memorial. An inscription on one of the tombs of this class is as follows:“You see my place of burial here in this verdant field,I give my goods to the robber,My soul to the regions of death;The world I leave to God,And my blood I shed in the Holy Spirit.You who meet my tomb,Say for me‘Lord, I have sinned.’1197.”[75]

“You see my place of burial here in this verdant field,I give my goods to the robber,My soul to the regions of death;The world I leave to God,And my blood I shed in the Holy Spirit.You who meet my tomb,Say for me‘Lord, I have sinned.’1197.”[75]

Sultan Mohammed II after he made Constantinople his capital appointed Bishop Onaghim, of Brousa, patriarch over the Armenians in his dominions in 1461, as the head of his people with certain privileges. This custom of appointing the patriarchs by the Sultans continued for a long time. But it did not prove to be the popular way, on account of abuses of procuring the offices, and unqualified persons often obtaining the appointment by the influence of their friends. The nation, therefore, obtained the right from the Porte to choose her own patriarch by suffrage. The appointment, however, had to be ratified by the Sultan of Turkey.

Some prominent Armenians drew up a Constitution in 1860 and presented it to the Turkish government for approval. The Porte approved it with a few changes. The following is the introduction of the Constitution:

“The privileges granted by the Ottoman Empire to its non-Mohammedan subjects are in their principles equal for all, but the mode of their execution varies according to the requirements of the particular customs of each nationality.“The Armenian patriarch is the head of his nation,and in particular circumstances the medium of execution of the orders of the government. There is, however, in the patriarchate a Religious Assembly for particular affairs. In case of necessity these two unite and form the mixed Assembly. Both the patriarch and members of these Assemblies are elected in a general Assembly composed of honorable men of the nation.“As the office and duties of the above Assemblies and the mode of their formation are not defined by sufficient rules, for this reason different inconveniences and special difficulties in the formation of the general Assembly has been noticed.“As each community is bound according to the new Imperial Edict (Hatti Humayan 6-18 of Feb., 1856) to examine within a given time its rights and privileges and after due deliberation to present to the sublime Porte the reforms required by the present state of things and progress of civilization of our times.“As it is necessary to harmonize the authority and power to the religions of each nationality with the new condition and system secured to each community.“A committee of some honorable persons of the nation was organized, which committee prepared the following Constitution.”

“The Armenian patriarch is the head of his nation,and in particular circumstances the medium of execution of the orders of the government. There is, however, in the patriarchate a Religious Assembly for particular affairs. In case of necessity these two unite and form the mixed Assembly. Both the patriarch and members of these Assemblies are elected in a general Assembly composed of honorable men of the nation.

“As the office and duties of the above Assemblies and the mode of their formation are not defined by sufficient rules, for this reason different inconveniences and special difficulties in the formation of the general Assembly has been noticed.

“As each community is bound according to the new Imperial Edict (Hatti Humayan 6-18 of Feb., 1856) to examine within a given time its rights and privileges and after due deliberation to present to the sublime Porte the reforms required by the present state of things and progress of civilization of our times.

“As it is necessary to harmonize the authority and power to the religions of each nationality with the new condition and system secured to each community.

“A committee of some honorable persons of the nation was organized, which committee prepared the following Constitution.”

The General Assembly is the principal body of the national representative administration, which is composed of one hundred forty members, twenty of these are clergymen, elected from Constantinople, forty are representatives elected from provinces, and eighty are representatives from the districts of the capital. This assembly is elected for ten years, but one-fifth of its membership is changed by election every two years. Thus the whole Assembly is changed every ten years. The General Assembly assumesthe entire responsibility of the national affairs; the patriarch is the presiding officer. There are two other assemblies or councils: Ecclesiastical or religious and political or civil. The former consists of fourteen clergymen, the latter is composed of twenty lay members. The members of these councils are also elected from the General Assembly for two years.

The ecclesiastical council has its sphere of action in religious matters and is the highest religious authority in the Turkish empire. The political or civil council is the civil authority, and has four sub-councils or committees under its supervision through which to operate, namely, council of Revenues, council of Expenditures, Judicatory Council and Educational Council (or the committee on Education). These names indicate the sphere of their activities or duties.

This mode of operation or division of the work is carried out into the provinces wherever Armenians are found. The Bishops or their substitutes are the presidents of these provincial councils. And all the councils and sub-councils in the provinces and in the districts of Constantinople are amenable to the General Assembly, and the Assembly and the Patriarch to the Porte.[76]

Oppressions, resulting from wars, political andreligious, persecutions, the division of the country among different powers, and the desire of the people to better themselves have caused the people to scatter from their paternal homes all over the world. An early company of emigrants entered India via Persia. After the appearance of the East India Company, the Armenians rendered the Company very important services, acting as interpreters. Thus they also received special privileges as traders and became very wealthy. In every important city they have their churches and schools and printing press. They have been also liberal in giving large sums for the education of the poor and orphan Armenian children.

The Armenians in Persia, or under the Persian rule, are not in a very desirable condition, from a religious and educational point of view. Especially those living in Western Persia, or Pers-Armenia, are subject to all sorts of cruelties at the hands of the Kurds, with whom they unfortunately neighbor. But the presence of the Russian armies who occupy these regions may be the end of oppression in the East.

Russia having in the last century wrested from Persia and Turkey a large portion of Armenia, there are over a million of Armenians in the Armenian provinces of Russia, besides those who reside in the commercial cities of the same empire. Their financial and intellectual condition is far better than that of those living in Persia, or in the interior of the Turkish provinces of Armenia. Now that the entire Armenia is occupied by the Russian forces, the prospectis that probably the dawn of the liberty of the long oppressed Armenians is at hand. Russia of this century is different from the Russia of the past. She will be liberty-loving, the good company that she is in will guide her to heal the wounds made in the past, and make those who have served her faithfully, both in the past and at the present, acknowledge her as their liberator.

A proximate estimate of the number of Armenians in different countries in the world may be given as follows: Two millions in the Turkish empire, before the war; one million and three hundred thousand in Russian Armenia and in the same empire; one hundred and fifty thousand in Persia and in other eastern countries; one hundred thousand in European countries and a hundred thousand in America; total three million and six hundred fifty thousand.

The Armenians belong to the branch of the human family which is commonly called the Aryan Race. The nations of Aryan stock extend from Hindustan or India to Europe, for this reason it is also called Indo-European or Indo-Germanic. This Aryan race is geographically divided into two branches, the eastern and the western. The western branch comprehends the inhabitants of Europe with the exception of the Turks and others of Mongolian origin. The eastern branch comprehends the Armenians, the Persians, the ancient Medes and Afghans and the inhabitants of Northern Hindustan.

The studies of anthropology, philology, psychology and sociology have confirmed the original unity ofthese nations. The Armenian language also, therefore, belongs to the Indo-European family (the occidental branch) of languages. This is proved not only by numerous words with the identical sense in this family of languages, but also by the very construction of the language itself. “In any case it is clear that many of the oldest forms which the Armenian shared with other Indo-Germanic dialects were lost and replaced by forms of which the origin is obscure.... The attempt made by S. Bugge to assimilate Old Armenia (language) to Etruscan, and by P. Jesen to explain from it the Hittite inscriptions, appear to be fanciful.”[77]

There are, however, two Armenian languages, the ancient and the modern; the former was the language of the pre-Christian era, and after the conversion of the nation, and the translation of the Bible into the same, it became the standard language of literature. “In its syntactical structure the Old Armenian resembles most nearly the classical Greek.” The modern Armenian is not a distinct language, but it is simplified and adapted to the present use of the most of the people. Within little more than a century it has become a very rich language by numerous original and translated works, by periodicals and papers published in various centers of learning, and especially by the translation of the Bible. The relations of the modern to the ancient Armenian might well be compared with that of the modern Greek to ancient Greek language.

The Armenian literature of the pre-Christian era has not survived, excepting a few fragmentary songs, which lingered until the time of Moses of Khorene, in whose history of Armenia they are preserved; and the inscriptions of Van, which some claim as “the oldest specimens of the Asiatic branch of the Indo-Germanic family.”

Christianity brought with it into Armenia a great love for learning. After the conversion of the nation, Armenian youths flocked into the schools of Alexandria, Constantinople and Athens. Most of them engaged in translating valuable works from the Greek and other languages into the Armenian. A writer speaks of these translators in this manner: “Some of them attained celebrity in this chosen pursuit. To this tendency we owe the preservation, in Armenian, of many works that have perished in their original languages.” “Hundreds of other translations from Syriac and Greek writers soon followed (the translations of the Bible), some of which are extant only in Armenian.”

The original works consist of theological and expository discourses, commentaries, histories, sacred songs, devotional works, etc. “The existing literature of the Armenians dates from the fourth century and is essentially and exclusively Christian.” This “literature is rich and continuous, uninterrupted through all the middle ages. It has furnished the philosophers, historians, theologians, and poets.” The catalogue of the works in the library of Etchmiadsin contains about 5000 titles.

“They (the Armenians) are a people of fine physical development, often of high stature and powerful frame, industrious and peaceable, yet more jealous of their rights and liberties than any other Oriental race. They passionately cherish the memory of their fathers, and preserve the use of their national language, which belongs to the Indo-European family, and possess aliterature of considerable importance.”[78]

“These Armenians are a superb race of men ...; their physiognomy is intelligent. They are the Swiss of the East. Industrious, peaceable, regular in their habits, they resemble them also in calculation and love of gain. The women are lovely; their features are pure and delicate, and their serene expression recalls the beauty of the women of the British Islands or the peasants of Switzerland.”[79]

“By nature the Armenians are deeply religious, as theirwhole literature and historyshow. It has been a religion of the heart, not of the head. Its evidence is not to be found in metaphysical discussions and hair-splitting theology, as in the case of the Greek, but in a brave and simple record written with the tears of saints and illuminated with the blood of martyrs.”[80]

There is no nation in the world which has suffered as much persecution, oppression, injustice and martyrdom as the Armenians, yet there is not a nation, even with less advantages, that can compare with them in education. They are like the Jews also in this respect that wherever there is a sufficient number, they have a church and close by is a school. There is less illiteracy among the Armenians than among some Roman Catholic countries.

Since the coming of the Catholic and Protestant missionaries a new impetus has been imparted to the Armenians in the line of education. Mukhetar of Sebaste, an Armenian monk, established an order of the Catholic monks at the convent ofSt.Lazarus in Venice (1717), which became a great center of learning. The monks of this order and monastery have rendered great service for the education of the Armenians in general, and the Catholic Armenians in particular. “These fathers have won the interest and admiration of European scholars by their publication of Armenian classics, together with many learned original contributions.”[81]

The Armenian youths also, like in the olden times, flocked into other centers of learning both in Europe and America. Roberts’ College, in Constantinople, had the largest number of Armenian students from its beginning (1860). The native schools, in every town and city in the provinces, were also very much improved; moreover, the Protestant mission schools of all grades were also freely patronized by many.[82]The Christian civilization and education brought out the metal and character of the Armenians, and also created in the hearts of the Mohammedan rulers the rankest kind of hatred against the former. So they have decided to destroy both the Christian and Christianity in their native home. Mohammedanism is a moral and religious photophobia; it dreads the lightof civilization and Christianity. So the ministers, priests and teachers are slaughtered; the churches and schools are burnt down by the followers of the false prophet.

A few samples of Armenian poems also might have been given but my determination not to write a large book restrains me. The following is a poem—one of many—written by Father Leo Alishan, a monk of the Mukhetarist order of the convent at Venice, translated by Alice Stone Blackwell:

WEEP NOT

(Jesus is Near)

Why art thou troubled, wandering heart?Why dost thou sigh with pain?From whom do all thy sufferings come?Of whom dost thou complain?Is there no cure for wounds, no friendTo lend a pitying ear?Why art thou troubled, wandering heart?Weep not! See Jesus near!Sorrow and hardship are for allThough differing forms they wear.The path He gave us teems with thorns,The feet must suffer there.What life, though but a day’s brief span,Is free from pain and woe?’Tis not for mortals born in griefTo live at ease below.Not, for the transient joys of earthThy heart to thee was given,But for an instrument of griefTo raise thy life toward heaven.If joys be few, if pains abound,If balms bring slow relief,If wounds be sore and nature weak,Thy earthly life is brief.This is the vale of death and pain,Ordained for ancient sin,Except through anguish, Eden’s gateNo soul shall enter in.Justice ordained it; mercy thenMade it more light to bear.Unasked by thee, Christ sweetened it,His love infusing there.From heaven’s height He hastened down,Pitying thy trouble sore;With thee a servant He becameHimself thy wounds he bore.He filled His cup celestialFull of thy tears and pain,And tremblingly, yet freely,He dared the dregs to drain.Remembering this, wilt thou not drinkThy cup of tears and care?’Tis proffered by thy Saviour’s hand,His love is mingled there.He feels and pities all thy woes,He wipes away each tear;Love He distils into thy griefs;Weep not, for He is near.

Blackwell, “Armenian Poems,” pp. 112-114.

FOOTNOTES:[69]The total number of Armenians was estimated by some as follows: 2,900,000. In Turkey 1,500,000; in Russia 1,000,000; in Persia 150,000; in Europe, America, and East Indies 250,000. But this is quite a low estimate. (See p. 146.)[70]Ecclesiastes 10:18. Prov. 19:13 and 27:15.[71]Lynch, “Armenia, Travels and Studies,” Vol. I, p. 60.[72]Wigram, “The Cradle of Mankind,” p. 237.[73]Rawlinson, “Herodotus,” Book I, p. 194.[74]Ezekiel 27:14.[75]Milner, “The Turkish Empire,” p. 264. The date possibly is the Armenian which begins 551, and which brings up toA.D.1748. About this time, two wealthy and influential Armenians, who were especially connected with the government, were beheaded, and four others, who also were holders of high places in the governmental affairs, were executed in 1817.[76]The Turkish government promulgated a decree, on August 12, 1916, which revokes the Constitution of the Armenian community in Turkey, and creates an ecclesiastical head for the administration of religious matters with his seat in Jerusalem, thus abolishing the office of Armenian patriarch in Constantinople.[77]Encyclopedia Britannica, the 11th ed., under the article, “The Armenian Language.”[78]Van Lennep, “The Bible Lands,” p. 367.[79]Lamartine, “Voyage en Orient,” Vol. II, p. 190.[80]Greene, “The Armenian Crisis in Turkey,” p. 140.[81]The Mukhitarists also have translated from the Greek, French and English classics. The writer read Milton’s “Paradise Lost” first in Armenian translated by the fathers of Mukhitar’s order.[82]See Chapter X, pp.122and123.

[69]The total number of Armenians was estimated by some as follows: 2,900,000. In Turkey 1,500,000; in Russia 1,000,000; in Persia 150,000; in Europe, America, and East Indies 250,000. But this is quite a low estimate. (See p. 146.)

[70]Ecclesiastes 10:18. Prov. 19:13 and 27:15.

[71]Lynch, “Armenia, Travels and Studies,” Vol. I, p. 60.

[72]Wigram, “The Cradle of Mankind,” p. 237.

[73]Rawlinson, “Herodotus,” Book I, p. 194.

[74]Ezekiel 27:14.

[75]Milner, “The Turkish Empire,” p. 264. The date possibly is the Armenian which begins 551, and which brings up toA.D.1748. About this time, two wealthy and influential Armenians, who were especially connected with the government, were beheaded, and four others, who also were holders of high places in the governmental affairs, were executed in 1817.

[76]The Turkish government promulgated a decree, on August 12, 1916, which revokes the Constitution of the Armenian community in Turkey, and creates an ecclesiastical head for the administration of religious matters with his seat in Jerusalem, thus abolishing the office of Armenian patriarch in Constantinople.

[77]Encyclopedia Britannica, the 11th ed., under the article, “The Armenian Language.”

[78]Van Lennep, “The Bible Lands,” p. 367.

[79]Lamartine, “Voyage en Orient,” Vol. II, p. 190.

[80]Greene, “The Armenian Crisis in Turkey,” p. 140.

[81]The Mukhitarists also have translated from the Greek, French and English classics. The writer read Milton’s “Paradise Lost” first in Armenian translated by the fathers of Mukhitar’s order.

[82]See Chapter X, pp.122and123.

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