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[Illustration:

  KURDISH SHEIKHS.
]




                              THE ARMENIAN
                            CRISIS IN TURKEY
         THE MASSACRE OF 1894, ITS ANTECEDENTS AND SIGNIFICANCE
    WITH A CONSIDERATION OF SOME OF THE FACTORS WHICH ENTER INTO THE
             SOLUTION OF THIS PHASE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION


                                   BY

                      FREDERICK DAVIS GREENE, M.A.

                FOR SEVERAL YEARS A RESIDENT IN ARMENIA

                  _Յուսահատելու չէնք_։—ԽՐԻՄԵԱՆ ՀԱՅՐԻԿ

             WITH INTRODUCTION BY REV. JOSIAH STRONG, D.D.
              AUTHOR OF “OUR COUNTRY,” “THE NEW ERA,” ETC.

                          G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
                    NEW YORK                 LONDON
            27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD ST. 24 BEDFORD ST., STRAND
                       =The Knickerbocker Press=
                                 1895




                            COPYRIGHT, 1895
                                   BY
                          G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS

                  Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London


                  =The Knickerbocker Press, New York=




                             TO THE MEMORY

                                 OF THE

                    VICTIMS OF THE SASSOUN MASSACRE

                                  1894

                               I DEDICATE
                   THIS APPEAL TO THE CIVILIZED WORLD
                 IN BEHALF OF THEIR RACE AND OF ALL THE
                            RACES IN TURKEY




                             INTRODUCTION.


This is an important book. It deals with a burning question, and in a
way which will command public attention and public confidence.

The author is thoroughly equipped for his task. Birth, residence, and
travel in Turkey have made him personally acquainted with the situation
which he discusses, and the independence of his position enables him to
write without restraint and without prejudice. After nearly four years
of service as a missionary of the American Board in Van, the centre of
Armenia, during which no criticism of his course was ever made either by
the Board or by the Turkish Government, he was recently ordered by his
physician to return to America. Having resigned his connection with the
American Board, he writes as the representative of no society, religious
or political, and is connected with none. In issuing this book he is
simply discharging what to him is a personal and unavoidable obligation;
and as he frankly avows its authorship, it will be impossible for the
Turkish Government to hold any one else responsible for it.

The author shows that the case of the subject races in the Ottoman
Empire is desperate, that there is no hope of reform from within, and
that relief must therefore come through the interference of the powers
of Europe. Their action depends largely on the support of the public.
“_Public opinion_,” therefore, “_must be brought to bear upon this
case_,” as Mr. Gladstone said in the House of Commons six years ago.
Since then there has been added a new chapter of horrors, and the demand
for decisive action in the name of our common humanity has become more
urgent. The facts furnished by this book ought to arouse such public
opinion as will justify and compel prompt and efficient action on the
part of the Powers.

The United States need not depart from its long-established foreign
policy, but is bound to protect its own honor and the lives and property
of its citizens.

                                                          JOSIAH STRONG.

  NEW YORK, March 1, 1895.




                               CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER                                                           PAGE
      I.— A CHAPTER OF HORRORS                                         1

          Certified Evidence of the Armenian Massacre, Preceded by
          an Endorsement of the Evidence, with Signatures in
          Fac-simile, and an Explanatory Note.


     II.— GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT EASTERN TURKEY                    43

          The Physical Aspects, Inhabitants, and Administration of
          the Country.


    III.— THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA AND KURDISTAN              54

          Specific and Detailed Instances of Kurdish Plunder and
          Oppression.—The Turkish System of Taxation and its
          Abuses.—Why these Facts are so little Known.—What can be
          Done to Improve the Situation.


     IV.— OTTOMAN PROMISES AND THEIR FULFILMENT                       70

          The Treaty of Adrianople, 1829.—The Hatti Sherif,
          1839.—Pledge of 1844.—Protestant Charter, 1850.—Hatti
          Humayoun, 1856.—Anglo-Turkish Convention, 1878.—Treaty of
          Berlin, 1878.


      V.— THE OUTCOME OF THE TREATY OF BERLIN                         76

          British Naval Demonstration, 1879.—The Identical Note of
          the Powers, 1880, and the Turkish Reply.—The Collective
          Note of the Powers, and the Aggressive Response of the
          Sublime Porte.—The Circular of Great Britain, 1881, its
          Cool Reception by the Powers, and the Indefinite
          Postponement of Turkish Reforms.—The Effect of the Berlin
          Treaty in Arousing Armenian Aspirations and Increasing
          Turkish Oppression.—Armenian Revolution a Nightmare of
          the Turks.—The Real Armenian Position.—The Only Treatment
          for the “Sick Man” a Surgical One.


     VI.— THE SULTAN AND THE SUBLIME PORTE                            87

          The Demands of his Office as Sultan-Calif.—Justice to
          Christian and Moslem both Impossible.—Status of
          non-Mohammedans.—The Palace and the Porte.—A House
          Divided against Itself.


    VII.— PREVIOUS ACTS OF THE TURKISH TRAGEDY                        95

          The Massacres of Greeks, 1822; Nestorians, 1850; Syrians,
          1860; Cretans, 1867; Bulgarians, 1876; Yezidis, 1892;
          Armenians, 1894.


   VIII.— ISLAM AS A FACTOR OF THE PROBLEM                           110

          A Politico-Religious System.—Indissoluble and Incapable
          of Modification.—The Military, Civil, and Legal Rights of
          non-Mohammedans.—Freeman’s Conclusion.


     IX.— GLADSTONE ON THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE AND ON TURKISH MISRULE  121


      X.— WHO ARE THE ARMENIANS?                                     131

          Their Origin, History, Church, Language, Literature, and
          General Characteristics.


     XI.— AMERICANS IN TURKEY, THEIR WORK AND INFLUENCE              147

          Their Attitude and Recognized Position.—Statistics of the
          Direct Results of their Efforts.—Their Indirect Influence
          on All Classes.—The Present Threatening Attitude of the
          Turkish Government.


 Appendix A.—A BIT OF AMERICAN DIPLOMACY                             157

          B.—ESTABLISHMENT OF U. S. CONSULATES IN EASTERN TURKEY     163

          C.—DR. CYRUS HAMLIN’S EXPLANATION                          167

          D.—THE CENSORSHIP OF THE PRESS                             169

          E.—BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SUBJECT                             171

          GENERAL INDEX                                              175




                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.


                                                                  PAGE
 KURDISH SHEIKHS                                        _Frontispiece_

 FAC-SIMILE OF SIGNATURES                                      2 and 4

 VICTIMS OF TURKISH TAXATION                                        10

 REVIEW OF KURDISH CAVALRY                                          19

 NAREG: ANCIENT CHURCH AND MODERN HOVELS                            29

 ARMENIAN GIRLS OF VAN                                              39

 A KURD OF THE OLD TYPE                                             47

 RUINED KURDISH CASTLE AT KHOSHAB                                   50

 MINAS TCHÉRAZ                                                      80

 ZEIBEK “IRREGULAR”                                                 83

 TURKISH SOLDIER, “REGULAR”                                         85

 H. I. M. SULTAN ABD-UL-HAMID KHAN                                  91

 HIGHWAY IN ARMENIA                                                105

 ARMENIAN REBELS WHO WOULD NOT PAY TAXES                           120

 KURDISH HAMIDIÉH SOLDIERS, EXECUTING THE “SWORD DANCE”            127

 ANCIENT ARMENIAN TOMBSTONE                                        135

 THE CATHOLICOS OF ETCHMIADZIN                                     139

 THE SUBORDINATE CATHOLICOS OF AGHTAMAR                            141

 THE ISLAND MONASTERY OF AGHTAMAR                                  145

 ARMENIAN FAMILY OF BITLIS                                         152




                                PREFACE.


The writer has, from his birth, been a student of the Eastern Question,
but makes no claim to having mastered it. What he has learned of the
phases of that question here treated has been by absorption,
observation, travel, residence, and investigation, in the land itself,
and by study and reading in regard to it. The very short time allowed in
the preparation of this humble contribution to the subject has
necessitated a hasty and partial treatment at the expense of literary
form. Some of the material of the second and third chapters and most of
the illustrations in this book are reproduced from an article by the
author in the American _Review of Reviews_ for January, 1895, by the
kind permission of the editor, Dr. Albert Shaw. No pains have been
spared to insure accuracy. References to authorities have been given as
far as possible, but in regard to much information from most reliable
sources names must be withheld. It is a very significant feature of the
situation in Turkey, that people who are thousands of miles away from
her, and who may never set foot there again, do not dare to publicly
state the facts, lest vengeance may be taken on their families and
friends, still within reach of Turkish violence and intrigue. If His
Imperial Majesty, the Sultan, but knew the real facts of the atrocious
massacre of last year, and realized the disgrace attaching to the
Turkish name on account of the unspeakably brutal deeds of his Turkish
and Kurdish soldiers, officers included, we cannot but hope that some
punishment would be visited upon them, experience to the contrary. He
certainly should welcome the revelations of this book, and do all in his
power to protect any who may aid him in bringing the facts to light and
securing a better state of affairs. God help him, and save all his
subjects, Turk, Arab, and Kurd, Christian, Jew, and Pagan, from the
curse of a system of government not only “sick,” but dead and rotting!

I preach no crusade; none is needed. But it is high time for the
conscience of Europe and America to assert itself—not simply the
“non-Conformist conscience,” but the Established, the Orthodox, the
Catholic, the Agnostic, and the Infidel conscience, in fact the human
conscience—against this crime upon humanity. If this conscience is once
aroused, I care not what parties are in power, or how the game stands on
the diplomatic chessboard, the Eastern Question will be settled, instead
of forever threatening the peace of Europe, and one more blot will be
wiped out from the annals of the world.

I use the title THE CRISIS IN TURKEY because there _is_ a crisis in the
history of one of her most important races; there _ought_ to be one
throughout Turkey; and there _may_ be one in Europe if selfishness,
jealousy, and duplicity are forever to stifle all considerations of
humanity, national honor, and—I blush to add it—of Christianity.

In order to protect “British interests,” for twoscore years, not to say
longer, has “Christian” England stood guard at the Sublime Porte,
warning all intruders away. With her hand on the door of the Turk’s
disorderly house, she has complacently informed the world that she in
particular—as well as the other Powers—has secured promises, and even
guaranties, that all would go well. But all the while, Her Majesty’s
Ministers, of whatever party, have heard the bitter and despairing cry
of the poor wretches within. These Ministers have, since 1881, with rare
exceptions, carefully suppressed in their archives the consular reports
which have officially kept them informed of the real state of
affairs.[1] And all the while, England’s share of the profits of this
partnership with the unspeakable Turk has been steadily dropping into
her overflowing coffers. Was Cyprus nothing? Is the interest on Turkish
bonds nothing? Of course the creditor must have his due, even though it
is extracted in blood-drops by a pressure that England and the other
Powers help to maintain.

A famous London divine recently preached a sermon in connection with the
Armenian Massacre, using as a text Ezra ix., 3: “And when I heard this
thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my
head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.” May I suggest that it is
high time to rouse oneself from mere astonishment, as did the Hebrew
prophet? If the eloquent preacher is at a loss for an appropriate text
for another sermon to an English audience, he can find it in the sixth
verse of the same chapter: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up
my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head,
and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.”

The very well informed correspondent of _The Speaker_ wrote from
Constantinople two months ago: “I fear there can be no doubt about the
essential facts. We have already the official reports of the consuls at
Van, Erzroom, Sivas, and Diarbekir, which have not yet been published,
but which, we know, confirm the most horrible statements made in the
newspapers. We have the reports of the Armenian refugees who were
eye-witnesses. We have the reports sent to the Armenian Patriarchate
here, and the reports of Catholic and Protestant missionaries in the
vicinity of Sasun. Beyond this, and most horrible of all, we have the
testimony of the Turkish soldiers who took part in the massacres. These
soldiers ... have talked with the greatest freedom in public places, and
to all who would listen, boasting of their deeds. We have full reports
from all these places of the statements made by hundreds of these
soldiers, and they agree in all essential points.”[2]

The author does not ignore the repeated and earnest efforts that have
been made for years, by such individual Englishmen as the Hon. James
Bryce, to call attention to the condition of Armenia. Their protests
have kept alive Armenian hope that England at least would not entirely
repudiate her obligations. But the futility of these same protests has
also given assurance to the Sublime Porte in carrying out its policy of
repression and extermination in Armenia.

Of course neither the party in power, nor its successors, will proceed
energetically unless assured of the support of the people whom they
represent. As soon as there is sufficient pressure from behind something
more will be done than to dally with Turkish Commissions of Inquiry,
sent under circumstances which make a true and full report simply a
physical and moral impossibility.[3] The Turk is on trial and should be
allowed to plead “Not Guilty.” But it is not customary, in courts where
justice is the object, to allow the criminal at the bar the privilege of
acting also as the prosecuting attorney, and of summoning and examining
the witnesses. As is well known, the most stringent measures have been
taken by the Sublime Porte to prevent any representative of the press
from watching the proceedings of the Commission of Inquiry at Moosh, or
from making any independent investigation on the ground. Such
precautions are hardly necessary, for all evidence of the massacre was
concealed by torch and spade six months ago. If the executioners
themselves overlooked any of their victims, the jackals, dogs, and
vultures have surely found them by this time.

There are fifty native-born American citizens, not counting their
children, who are now buried in Eastern Turkey. The fanatical outbreak
which has slain thousands in their midst may yet involve them. The
President of the United States long ago ordered a U. S. Consul to make a
report as to the facts, simply for his own government, which has no
official knowledge of what has or is taking place in that isolated
region. The Sultan stamped his foot, and Consul Jewett was told to put
his instructions in his pocket, where they still remain.[4]

As for France, who tattoos her fair figure with “_Liberté, Égalité,
Fraternité_” wherever there is space to write the words, she evidently
confines her motto to herself. It is reported that at the close of the
Berlin Treaty of 1878, Prince Bismarck expressed his sentiments by
saying that he “would not give one Pomeranian grenadier for the Balkan
Peninsula.” If so, probably he would sacrifice even less now for
Armenia. Have the German people nothing to say?

Holy Russia feels so sure of the Armenian apple, which seems bound to
fall into her lap, that she doesn’t even care to shake the branch,
unmindful of the fact that the apple is tenacious of its hold, and is
being pecked to pieces and rotting on the stem. Austria would not refuse
the task of instituting reforms as far south as Salonica. Poor Italy is
willing to be useful, and Greece does not care to be left out. They all
want their share. Nobody expects or is trying to secure reforms from
within, though promises to that effect may still be demanded, and will
always be ready on demand.

As for official Turkey, she has long seen the sword of Damocles over her
head, and will bow to the stroke of Fate whenever it falls. If it only
comes hard enough, and is aimed true to the mark, she will even get out
of the way. _Not a drop of blood need be shed._

What is the real difficulty in Turkey? Is it a conflict of race or
religion? _Primarily_ it is neither, though both these elements
complicate the case. _In one word it is misgovernment._ Do not be
deceived by this rather mild word, and dismiss the subject with the
reflection that “there is misgovernment everywhere.” Misgovernment as it
exists in Turkey is an organization that breeds death and corruption. It
is a disease, of which the germs penetrate the whole system of the body
politic. It is a disease, hereditary, chronic, and fastened upon the
very vitals of its victim. No creed is exempt, every race is attacked by
it. The more apparent result is outward impoverishment and material
prostration. The more dangerous and deplorable symptom is the moral
deterioration of all the races affected.

I am no eulogist of the mass of Armenians in their present condition.
But I know their grand possibilities as a race, physically,
intellectually, and morally. The depths to which an individual or a race
can fall indicate the height which might have been attained. The only
wonder is that a people of so great ability, energy, and spirit have so
long submitted. But when one sees, as I have been compelled to, during
years of residence both in Constantinople and the interior, how the
fetters have been forged on every limb, and how the movement of a finger
even brings down immediate and terrible vengeance, the wonder arises why
these wretches are so foolhardy as to undertake revolution. The fact is
they are not engaged in any such enterprise. Individual agitators there
are, but even their object is only to force the civilized world to give
attention to the despairing cry of their race, which even God does not
seem, to them, to hear.

The case of the Armenians demands immediate and thorough attention. But
the Armenian question should not be allowed to fill the whole horizon in
the Levant. Just now the blaze comes from their house, but no one can
tell when it may result in a general conflagration. All the other
Christian races and the Mohammedan races, too, are equally concerned.
Europe itself is endangered, as her statesmen well know, and safety
depends only on their prompt and united action.

I have seen the crushing and—what is worse—demoralizing conditions from
which the Armenian and all other races in Turkey suffer under Moslem
misrule. I know how rapidly these fine races would advance along every
line, were these conditions changed. It is my firm belief that such
changes may now be secured, if the interest already aroused throughout
the civilized world be expressed in intelligent and determined action.
In the hope of such action I send forth this little book. If action is
_not_ taken, the effect of this book, as of all agitation in behalf of
the victims of Turkey, will be to draw the fetters deeper. What result
may follow to my many friends and former associates on the ground, with
whom it is very difficult to communicate, I do not know. But I know
them, and do not believe that there is one among their number who, to
shield himself from danger, would stay my pen.

Reader, your voice and help are needed.

  “He’s true to God who’s true to man; wherever wrong is done
  To the humblest and the weakest, ’neath the all-beholding sun,
  That wrong is also done to us; and they are slaves most base
  Whose love of right is for themselves, and not for all their race.”
                                                        —LOWELL.

[Illustration:

  MAP OF

  TURKEY IN ASIA

  The shaded section is commonly called

  ARMENIA
]




                               CHAPTER I.
                         A CHAPTER OF HORRORS.


             CERTIFIED EVIDENCE OF THE MASSACRE IN SASSOUN.


We, the undersigned, by examination and comparison, have satisfied
ourselves that the following statements are verbatim reports, written
under the dates which they bear, by American citizens who have spent
from six to thirty years in Eastern Turkey. We have examined also the
fact that they are written from six different cities from one hundred to
two hundred miles apart, but forming a circle about the centre in which
the massacres occurred. For the personal safety of the writers the names
of the places cannot now be made public. They are independent reports
from a country where refugees and returned soldiers of the Sultan speak
of what they know. We have the utmost confidence in these statements and
regard them worthy the belief of all men.

In the name of a suffering humanity we urge the careful perusal of these
statements, and recommend that all readers take measures to make the
indignation of an outraged Christian world effectually felt. We
deprecate revolution among these helpless Turkish subjects, but bespeak
cordial co-operation in bringing to bear upon Turkey the force of the
righteous condemnation of our seventy millions of people.

[Illustration]

             FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE

                   Governor of Massachusetts.

             FRANCES E. WILLARD

                   President National W. C. T. U.

             WM. LLOYD GARRISON

             SAMUEL J. BARROWS

                   Editor _Christian Register_.

             GEO. C. LORIMER

                   Pastor Tremont Temple, Boston.

             WILLIAM E. BARTON

                   Pastor Shawmut Church, Boston.

             H. M. JEWETT

                   Ex-U. S. Consul, Sivas, Turkey.[5]

             MARY A. LIVERMORE

                   Author and Lecturer.

             ALPHEUS H. HARDY

             FRANCIS E. CLARK

                   Pres. United Society Christian Endeavor.

[Illustration]

         EDWARD EVERETT HALE

               Pastor New South Congregational Church, Boston.

         JULIA WARD HOWE

               Author and Lecturer.

         FRANCIS A. WALKER

               Pres. Mass. School of Technology.

         A. E. PILLSBURY

               Ex-Attorney-General of Massachusetts.

         ISABEL SOMERSET

               Lady Henry Somerset.

         CYRUS HAMLIN

               Founder of Robert College.

         I. J. LANSING

               Pastor Park Street Church, Boston.

         JOSEPH COOK

               Author and Lecturer.

         WM. E. RUSSELL

               Ex-Governor of Massachusetts.

         JONATHAN A. LANE

               Pres. Boston Merchants’ Association.


                    EXPLANATORY NOTE BY THE AUTHOR.

These letters are written by men who can have no possible motive for
misrepresenting the facts in the case, while, on the other hand, each
writer subjected himself to personal danger by putting such statements
upon paper and sending them through the mails. Several of the documents
have gotten through Turkey by circuitous routes, in some instances
having been sent by special messenger to Persia, and so on to this
country. Others were never risked in the Turkish mails, but have come
through the British post-office at Constantinople.

It must be borne in mind that no writer was an eye-witness of the actual
massacre; nor could he have been, inasmuch as the whole region was
surrounded by a military cordon during the massacre and for months
after. The letters are largely based on the testimony of refugees from
that region, or of Kurds and soldiers who participated in the butchery,
and who had no hesitation in speaking about the affair in public or
private until long after, when the prospect of a European investigation
sealed their lips. Much of the evidence is, therefore, essentially first
hand, having been obtained from eye-witnesses, by parties in the
vicinity at the time, who are impartial, thoroughly experienced in
sifting Oriental testimony, familiar with the Turkish and Armenian
languages, and of the highest veracity. No one letter would have much
force if taken alone, for it might be a large report of a small matter;
but these sixteen letters are written independently of one another, at
different times, and from seven different cities widely apart, five of
them forming a circle around the scene of destruction. The evidence is
cumulative and overwhelming.

There is absolute unanimity to this extent: that a gigantic and
indescribably horrible massacre of Armenian men, women, and children did
actually take place in the Sassoun and neighboring regions about Sept.
1, 1894, and that, too, at the hands of Kurdish troops armed by the
Sultan of Turkey, as well as of regular soldiers sent under orders from
the same source. What those orders were will probably never transpire.
That they were executed under the personal direction of high Turkish
military officers is clear. There can also be no doubt—for the official
notice from the palace was printed in the Constantinople papers in
November last—that Zekki Pasha, Commander of the Fourth Army Corps, who
led the regular troops in the work of extermination, has since been
specially honored by a decoration from the Sultan, who was also pleased
to send silk banners to the four leading Kurdish chiefs, by a special
messenger.

The latest, most accurate, and comprehensive document in this
correspondence is No. 6, which is based on evidence obtained with
special care at the nearest attainable point to the scene, and was
prepared by parties in intimate relations with the European official who
made the first investigation on the ground last October, but whose
report has not yet been made public.

The letters are arranged in chronological order. In view of the fact
that the names of the cities from which the various documents are dated
must be withheld at present, these places are designated by letters of
the alphabet. The separate extracts are also numbered to facilitate
reference. In order that there may be no confusion, all explanatory
comments of the author are enclosed in brackets.


                             THE EVIDENCE.


                                 No. 1.

[The reader should take notice that this first letter was written over
four months before the massacre actually occurred.]

                                                    D..., April 3, 1894.

It does seem in this region as if the government were bent on reducing
all those who survive the process to a grovelling poverty, when they can
think of nothing more than getting their daily bread. There is good
reason for thinking that unless so-called Christian nations extend a
helping hand, they [the Armenians] will become wellnigh extinct. Of
course I do not sympathize in any way with the extremists in other lands
who are stirring things up here. Nor do I agree with those papers that
decry this movement as very foolish because there is no hope for
success. If I rightly interpret the movement in this region, the thought
is not revolution at all, but a desperate effort to call the attention
of Europe to the wrongs they are suffering and will ever continue to
suffer under this government. They feel that they will never succeed in
attracting that attention unless they show that they are desperate
enough to sacrifice their lives. _And there is no computing the lives
that are going, not in open massacre as in Bulgaria—the government knows
better than that,—but in secret, silent, secluded ways._ The sooner it
is known, the better. There never will be peaceful, prosperous
conditions here until others take hold with a strong hand.

[Illustration:

  VICTIMS OF TURKISH TAXATION ABANDONING THEIR VILLAGE HOMES.
]


                                 No. 2.

[This is the first report of the massacre.]

                                                   D..., Sept. 26, 1894.

Troops have been massed in the region of the large plain near us.
Sickness broke out among them, which took off two or three victims every
few days. It was a good excuse for establishing the quarantine around,
with its income from bribes, charges, and the inevitable rise in the
price of the already dear grain. I suspect that one reason for placing
quarantine was to hinder the information as to what all those troops
were about in that region. There seems little doubt that there has been
repeated in the region back of Moosh what took place in 1876 in
Bulgaria. The sickening details are beginning to come in. As in that
case, it has been the innocent who have been the greatest sufferers.
Forty-eight villages are said to have been wholly blotted out.


                                 No. 3.

[Efforts to conceal the truth as soon as Vice-Consul Hallward arrived on
the scene, and to ward off investigation.]

                                                     D..., Oct. 3, 1894.

As the time goes on the extent of the slaughter seems to be confirmed as
greater than was first supposed. Six thousand is a low figure—it is
probably nearer ten. Mr. Hallward, the new [English] Consul at Van, has
gone directly there, and it is said that the other consuls from Erzroom
have also been sent to investigate. The government tried to get the
people here to sign an address to the Sovereign, expressing satisfaction
with his rule, disclaiming sympathy with the Armenians who have “stirred
matters up,” stating that the thousands slain in Talvoreeg met their
just deserts, and that the four outsiders captured should be summarily
punished, expressing regret that it has been thought best to send
consuls to investigate, and stating that there was no need for their
coming. From this document we at least get some facts that before were
suppositions. It consisted of about two thousand words, and it was
expected that it would be sent by telegraph with at least a thousand
signatures. The Armenians here have not yet signed it, though in four
districts similar papers have been secured properly sealed. _The effect
of such papers on foreigners will be much modified when they know the
means used to procure them._ Sword, famine, pestilence, all at once—pity
this poor country!


                                 No. 4.

[The following is from a different source.]

                                                    A..., Oct. 31, 1894.

We have word from Bitlis that the destruction of life in Sassoun, south
of Moosh, was even greater than was supposed. The brief note which has
reached us says: “Twenty-seven villages annihilated in Sassoun. Six
thousand men, women, and children massacred by troops and Kourds. This
awful story is just beginning to be known here, though the massacre took
place early in September. The Turks have used infinite pains to prevent
news leaking out, even going to the length of sending back from
Trebizond many hundreds from the Moosh region who had come this way on
business.” This massacre was ordered from Constantinople in the sense
that some Kourds having robbed Armenian villages of flocks, the
Armenians pursued and tried to recover their property, and a fight
ensued in which a dozen Kourds were killed. The slain were
“semi-official robbers,” _i.e._, enrolled as troops and armed as such,
but not under control. The authorities then telegraphed to
Constantinople that Armenians had “killed some of the Sultan’s troops.”
The Sultan at once ordered infantry and cavalry to put down the Armenian
rebellion, and they did it; only, not finding any rebellion, they
cleared the country so that none should occur in the future.


                                 No. 5.

[This from a third place.]

                                                    B..., Nov. 16, 1894.

Last year the Talvoreeg Armenians successfully resisted the attacks of
the neighboring Kourds. The country became very unsettled. This year the
government interfered and sent detachments of regular soldiers to put
down the Armenians. These were assisted by the Kourdish _Hamediéhs_
[organized troops]. The Armenians were attacked in their mountain
fastnesses and were finally reduced by the failure of supplies, both of
food and ammunition. About a score of villages were wiped out of
existence—people slaughtered and houses burned.

A number of able-bodied young Armenians were captured, bound, covered
with brushwood and burned alive. A number of Armenians, variously
estimated, but less than a hundred, surrendered themselves and pled for
mercy. Many of them were shot down on the spot and the remainder were
dispatched with sword and bayonet.

A lot of women, variously estimated from 60 to 160 in number, were shut
up in a church, and the soldiers were “let loose” among them. Many of
them were outraged to death and the remainder dispatched with sword and
bayonet. A lot of young women were collected as spoils of war. Two
stories are told. 1. That they were carried off to the harems of their
Moslem captors. 2. That they were offered Islam and the harems of their
Moslem captors,—refusing, they were slaughtered. Children were placed in
a row, one behind another, and a bullet fired down the line, apparently
to see how many could be dispatched with one bullet. Infants and small
children were piled one on the other and their heads struck off. Houses
were surrounded by soldiers, set on fire, and the inmates forced back
into the flames at the point of the bayonet as they tried to escape.

But this is enough of the carnage of death. Estimates vary from 3000 to
8000 for the number of persons massacred. These are sober estimates.
Wild estimates place the number as high as 20,000 to 25,000.

This all took place during the latter part of August and [early part of]
September. The arrival of the commander-in-chief of the Fourth Army
Corps put a stop to the carnage. It is to be noted that the massacres
were perpetrated by regular soldiers, for the most part under command of
officers of high rank. This gives this affair a most serious aspect.

A Christian does not enjoy the respect accorded to street dogs. If this
massacre passes without notice it will simply become the declaration of
the doom of the Christians. There will be no security for the life,
property, or honor of a Christian. A week ago last Tuesday evening at
sundown a Turk kidnapped the wife of a wealthy Armenian merchant of the
town of Khanoos Pert. Next morning her cries were overheard by searchers
and she was rescued from a Turkish house. No redress is possible.

Wild rumors have been abroad for a long time, but trustworthy
information came to hand slowly. Everything has been done to hush it all
up. Some of the minor details of the stories I have told above may not
be exact, but I feel quite certain they are in the main. However, that a
cruelly barbarous and extensive massacre of Christians by regular
soldiers assisted by Kourdish _Hamediéhs_, under command of officers of
rank and responsibility, has occurred cannot be denied.

What now will the Christian world do?


                                 No. 6.

[This is the most complete account, compiled on the ground. The
following document was carefully prepared in common by parties, the
signature of any one of whom would be of sufficient guaranty to give
great weight. One of the party, who is largely responsible for the data
given, is a man of high position and wide influence. The material was
collected with the greatest difficulty and under the constant espionage
of Turkish officials. Armenian Christians who were known to appear at
the place where the writer was staying, were arrested and some are yet
in prison if they have not met a worse fate already. The documents were
sent by secret, special carriers into Persia and came by Persian post to
the United States. They left Turkey about the last of November, 1894.
This document alone is sufficient to stir the indignation of a Christian
world.]

                                                       C..., Nov., 1894.

There is uneasiness in Bitlis as to the safety of that city. Scrutiny of
the mails by the Turkish authorities continues, and some letters
addressed to residents and officials in the United States are failing to
arrive.

The _Hamediéh_ soldiers, who are Kourds, and who have been enrolled
during the past three years, are uniformed to some extent, but left in
their homes. They are committing all kinds of depredations. The
government continues to exact taxes in the plundered districts, sends
_zaptiehs_, or Turkish soldiers, to abide in the villages, and eat the
people out of provisions until in some way they manage to secure the
money. In the Bashkalla region many of the men find, on returning, that
the government has taken possession of their property and refuses to
restore it or allow them to remain in their old homes.

The authorities have taken and are taking every precaution to prevent
accounts of the famous massacre of Moosh from reaching the outside
world. The English consul, Mr. Hallward, went on a tour in the region
affected. He was subjected to constant annoying espionage, and was
absolutely unable to penetrate into the devastated region.

To what extent Armenian agitation has provoked the terrible massacre it
is difficult to determine. For a year or more there seems to have been
an Armenian from Constantinople staying in the region as an agitator.
For a long time he skilfully evaded his pursuers, but was at last caught
and taken to Bitlis. He demanded to be taken to Constantinople and to
the Sultan, and, it is said, he is now living at the capital, receiving
a large salary from the government. Evidently he has turned state’s
evidence.


       FACTS REGARDING A MASSACRE AT SASSOUN, NEAR MOOSH, TURKEY.

Late in May, 1893, an outside agitator named Damatian was captured near
Moosh. The government had suspected that the Talvoreeg villages were
harboring such agitators, and had sent orders to certain Kourdish chiefs
to attack the district, assuming the responsibility for all they should
kill, and promising the Kourds all the spoil.

Not long after Damatian had been brought to Bitlis, the first week in
June, the Bakranlee Kourds began to gather below Talvoreeg. As the
villagers saw the Kourds gathering day by day, to the number of several
thousands, they suspected their designs, and began to make preparations.
On the eighth day the battle was joined. The stronger position of the
villagers enabled them to do considerable execution with little loss to
themselves. The issue of the contest at sunset was some one hundred
Kourds slain, and but six of the villagers, one of whom was a woman who
was trying to rescue a mule from the Kourds. The villagers had succeeded
in breaking down a bridge across the deep gorge of a river before a
detachment of Kourds from another direction could join in the attack
against them. The Kourds thus felt themselves worsted, and could not be
induced to make another attack that summer.

At this juncture the Governor-general set out with troops and two
field-pieces for Moosh, and infested the region near Talvoreeg, but
either he considered his forces insufficient, or he had orders to keep
quiet, for he made no attack, but merely had the troops keep siege.
Before leaving, he succeeded, by giving hostages, in having an interview
with some of the chief men in Talvoreeg, and asked them why they did not
submit to the government, and pay taxes. They replied that they were not
disloyal to the government, but that they could not pay taxes twice, to
the Kourds and to the government. If the government would protect them,
they would pay to it. Nothing came of the parley, and the siege was
continued till snow fell. During the winter, while blackmail was rife in
the vilayet, several rich men of Talvoreeg were invited to visit the
Governor-General, but did not see best to accept.

In the early spring the Kourds of several tribes were ordered to attack
the villages of Sassoun, while troops were sent on from Moosh and
Bitlis, the latter taking along ammunition and stores, and ten muleloads
of kerosene (eighty cans). The whole district was pretty well besieged
by Kourds and troops. The villages thus besieged would occasionally make
sorties to secure food.

[Illustration:

  REVIEW OF KURDISH CAVALRY BY THE GOVERNOR OF VAN, BAHRI PASHA—AT THE
    LEFT.
]

The Kourds on one occasion stole several oxen, and their owners tracked
their property to the Kourdish tents, and found that one ox had been
butchered. They asked for the others, and were refused, whereupon the
villagers left, and later returned with some companions. A scrimmage
ensued, in which two or three were killed on either side. The Kourds at
once took their dead to the government at Moosh, and reported that the
region was filled with Armenian and foreign soldiers. The government at
once sent in all directions for soldiers, gathering in all from eight to
ten _taboors_ (regiments). Kourds congregated to the number of about
twenty thousand, while some five hundred _Hamediéh_ horsemen were
brought to Moosh.


          METHODS OF PROCEDURE AND INCIDENTS OF THE MASSACRE.

At first the Kourds were set on, and the troops kept out of sight. The
villagers, put to the fight, and thinking they had only the Kourds to do
with, repulsed them on several occasions. The Kourds were unwilling to
do more unless the troops assisted. Some of the troops assumed Kourdish
dress, and helped them in the fight with more success. Small companies
of troops entered several villages, saying they had come to protect them
as loyal subjects, and were quartered among the houses. In the night
they arose and slew the sleeping villagers, man, woman, and child.

By this time those in other villages were beginning to feel that
extermination was the object of the government, and desperately
determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible. And then began a
campaign of butchery that lasted some twenty-three days, or, roughly,
from the middle of August to the middle of September. The _Ferik_ Pasha
[Marshal Zekki Pasha], who came post-haste from Erzingan, read the
Sultan’s firman for extermination, and then, hanging the document on his
breast, exhorted the soldiers not to be found wanting in their duty. _On
the last day of August, the anniversary of the Sultan’s accession, the
soldiers were especially urged to distinguish themselves, and they made
it the day of the greatest slaughter._ Another marked day occurred a few
days earlier, being marked by the occurrence of a wonderful meteor.

No distinctions were made between persons or villages, as to whether
they were loyal and had paid their taxes or not. The orders were to make
a clean sweep. A priest and some leading men from one village went out
to meet an officer, taking in their hands their tax receipts, declaring
their loyalty, and begging for mercy; but the village was surrounded,
and all human beings put to the bayonet. A large and strong man, the
chief of one village, was captured by the Kourds, who tied him, threw
him on the ground, and, squatting around him, stabbed him to pieces.

At Galogozan many young men were tied hand and foot, laid in a row,
covered with brushwood and burned alive. Others were seized and hacked
to death piecemeal. At another village a priest and several leading men
were captured, and promised release if they would tell where others had
fled, but, after telling, all but the priest were killed. A chain was
put around the priest’s neck, and pulled from opposite sides till he was
several times choked and revived, after which several bayonets were
planted upright, and he raised in the air and let fall upon them.

The men of one village, when fleeing, took the women and children, some
five hundred in number, and placed them in a sort of grotto in a ravine.
After several days the soldiers found them, and butchered those who had
not died of hunger.

Sixty young women and girls were selected from one village and placed in
a church, when the soldiers were ordered to do with them as they liked,
after which they were butchered.

In another village fifty choice women were set aside and urged to change
their faith and become _hanums_ in Turkish harems, but they indignantly
refused to deny Christ, preferring the fate of their fathers and
husbands. People were crowded into houses which were then set on fire.
In one instance a little boy ran out of the flames, but was caught on a
bayonet and thrown back.

Children were frequently held up by the hair and cut in two, or had
their jaws torn apart. Women with child were ripped open; older children
were pulled apart by their legs. A handsome, newly wedded couple fled to
a hilltop; soldiers followed, and told them they were pretty and would
be spared if they would accept Islam, but the thought of the horrible
death they knew would follow did not prevent them from confessing
Christ.

The last stand took place on Mount Andoke [south of Moosh], where some
thousand persons had sought refuge. The Kourds were sent in relays to
attack them, but for ten or fifteen days were unable to get at them. The
soldiers also directed the fire of their mountain guns on them, doing
some execution. Finally, after the besieged had been without food for
several days, and their ammunition was exhausted, the troops succeeded
in reaching the summit without any loss, and let scarcely a man escape.

Now all turned their attention to those who had been driven into the
Talvoreeg district. Three or four thousand of the besieged were left in
this small plain. When they saw themselves thickly surrounded on all
sides by Turks and Kourds, they raised their hands to heaven with an
agonizing moan for deliverance. They were thinned out by rifle shots,
and the remainder were slaughtered with bayonets and swords, till a
veritable river of blood flowed from the heaps of the slain.

And so ended the massacre, for the timely arrival of the Mushire
[Commander-in-chief of the Fourth Army Corps at Erzingan] saved a few
prisoners alive, and prevented the extermination of four more villages
that were on the list to be destroyed, among which was the Protestant
village of Havodorick. This was the formidable army the government had
massed so many troops and Kourds to vanquish.

So far as is known, not more than ten or fifteen outsiders were among
them, and all told it is not likely they had more than one hundred
breechloading rifles.


                     THE NUMBER OF ARMENIANS SLAIN.

Even if one were able to visit the district, it would be impossible to
get more than an approximate estimate of the number of victims, for many
were thrown into trenches, which the rain had washed out, and were
covered with earth. Where no such trenches existed the bodies were piled
up with alternate layers of wood, saturated with kerosene, and set on
fire. But it seems certain that the villages of the whole district were
wiped out. A Kourdish chief coming late with his men, and finding that
there was nothing left for him to do, went off on his own hook and got
all the plunder he could from the village of Maineeg, near Havodorick.

A soldier while in quarantine said he had killed five persons, and he
had killed less than anybody else. Another confided to one that he had
killed a hundred. A soldier got angry while trading with an Armenian the
other day in the Bitlis market, and shouted out that they had slain a
thousand thousand, and would turn to those in the city next.

It seems safe to say that forty villages were totally destroyed, and it
is probable that sixteen thousand at least were killed. _The lowest
estimate is ten thousand_, and many put it much higher. This is allowing
for more fugitives than it seems possible can have escaped.

To cap the climax, the Governor-General, through imprisonment and
intimidation of various kinds, has forced the chief men in all the
province (the city of Bitlis alone excepted), to seal an address of
gratitude to the Sultan, that the Governor has restored order in the
_vilayet_!!


                                 No. 7.

[The following extract is from a personal letter written by one whose
name would be immediately recognized by every reader were we at liberty
to make public use of it. The writer is a person of broad influence; but
for the present, owing to facts which we are not at liberty to relate,
he cannot take a public stand. He will probably be heard from yet.]

                                                    F..., Nov. 10, 1894.

The massacre which took place a few weeks ago—I do not know the exact
date—occurred in the district of Talvoreeg which lies between Moosh and
Diarbekir. It is an Armenian district, comprising thirty or forty
villages, surrounded by Kourds.

Last year some of the Armenians there armed themselves and resisted the
Kourds, who are constantly making raids on their villages and carrying
off their property. The Governor sent some soldiers, who killed a few
Armenians and received a medal from the government for having wiped out
a great rebellion. This year there are said to have been ten or fifteen
revolutionists among these Armenians. A Kourdish chief in order to get
out of some difficulties that he had gotten into with the government set
the ball rolling by carrying off some cattle belonging to certain of the
Armenians. The Armenians endeavored to recover the cattle, and a fight
followed, in which two Kourds were killed and three were wounded. The
Kourds immediately carried their dead to Moosh, laid them down at the
government house, reporting that Armenian soldiers were overrunning the
land, killing and plundering them.

This furnished the government with the desired excuse for collecting
soldiers from far and near. The general is said to have worn on his
breast an order from Constantinople, which he read to the soldiers,
commanding them to cut down the Armenians root and branch, and adjuring
them if they loved their Sultan and their government they would do so. A
terrible massacre followed. Between five and ten thousand Christians are
said to have been butchered in a most terrible manner. Some soldiers say
a hundred fell to each one of them to dispose of; others wept because
the Kourds did more execution than they.

No respect was shown to age or sex. Men, women, and infants were treated
alike, except that the women were subjected to greater outrage before
they were slaughtered. The women were not even granted the privilege of
a life of slavery. For example, in one place three or four hundred
women, after being forced to serve the vile purposes of a merciless
soldiery, were taken to a valley near by and hacked to pieces with sword
and bayonet. In another place about two hundred women, weeping and
wailing, knelt before the commander and begged for mercy, but the
blood-thirsty wretch, after ordering their violation directed the
soldiers to dispatch them in a similar manner. In another place a large
company, headed by the priest, fell down before the officers saying they
had nothing to do with the culprits, and pleading for compassion, but
all to no purpose—all were killed. Some sixty young brides and more
attractive girls were crowded into a little church in another village,
where, after being violated, they were slaughtered, and a stream of
human blood flowed from the church door. To some of the more attractive
women in one place the proposition was made that they might be spared if
they denied their faith. “Why should we deny Christ,” they said, and
pointing to the dead bodies of their husbands and brothers before them,
they nobly answered, “We are no better than they; kill us too,”—and they
died.

After the above-mentioned events the Governor attempted to persuade and
compel the Armenians to sign a paper thanking the Sultan and himself
that justice had been done to the rebels!


                                 No. 8.

[From another city to which soldiers returning brought details of what
they had done.]

                                                     E..., Dec. 6, 1894.

The Armenians, oppressed by Kourds and Turks, said, “We can’t pay taxes
to both Kourds and the government.” Plundered and oppressed by the
Kourds, they resisted them; there were some killed. Then false reports
were sent to Constantinople that the Armenians were in arms, in
rebellion. Orders were sent to the Mushire [Commander-in-chief] at
Erzingan to exterminate them root and branch. The orders read before the
army collected in haste from all the chief cities of Eastern Turkey was:
“Whoever spares man, woman, or child is disloyal.”

The region was surrounded by soldiers of the army and twenty thousand
Kourds also are said to have been massed there. Then they advanced upon
the centre, driving in the people like a flock of sheep, and continued
thus to advance for days. No quarter was given, no mercy shown. Men,
women, and children shot down or butchered like sheep. Probably when
they were set upon in this way some tried to save their lives and
resisted in self-defense. Many who could fled in all directions, but the
majority were slain. The most probable estimate is fifteen thousand
killed, thirty-five villages plundered, razed, burnt.

Women were outraged and then butchered; a priest taken to the roof of
his church and hacked to pieces; young men piled in with wood saturated
with kerosene and set on fire; a large number of women and girls
collected in church, kept for days, violated by the brutal soldiers, and
then murdered. It is said the number was so large that the blood flowed
out of the church door. Three soldiers contended over a beautiful girl.
They wanted to preserve her, but she too was killed.

Every effort is being made and will be made to falsify (excuse the
blots—emblematic of the horrible story) the facts and pull the wool over
the eyes of European governments. But the bloody tale will finally be
known, the most horrible, it seems to me, that the nineteenth century
has known. As a confirmation of the report, the other day several
hundred soldiers were returning from the seat of war, and at a village
near us one was heard to say that he alone with his own hand had killed
thirty pregnant women. Some who seem to have some shame for their
atrocious deeds say: “What could we do, we were under orders?”

[Illustration:

  NAREG: ANCIENT CHURCH AND MODERN HOVELS.
]


                                 No. 9.

[Later from the same place as the preceding extract. Evidence of a
regular soldier who helped dispose of the dead.]

                                                    E..., Dec. 17, 1894.

The soldiers who went from here talk quite freely about matters at
Sassoun. A. heard one talk the other day. He said the work was mostly
finished before the E... soldiers got there. There was great
spoil—flocks, herds, household goods, etc.—but their chief work was to
dispose of the heaps and heaps of the dead. The stench was awful. They
were gathered into the still standing houses and burned with the houses.
They say that the work of destruction was wrought by the _Hamediéh_,
_i.e._, the newly organized Kourdish regiments. Those regiments are one
of the chief elements of danger to the country now.


                                No. 10.

[From a city some distance from the scene.]

                                                    B..., Dec. 22, 1894.

You may believe most all that the papers say about the mountains west of
Moosh. I wrote you giving you a few more authenticated details. I hope
that letter reached you. I give the outline here again. In August the
Armenians were declared in rebellion. The regular soldiers and
_Hamediéhs_ were ordered to the spot. Orders were issued from
Constantinople to put down the rebellion. Both regulars and _Hamediéhs_
were used. The massacre began after the middle of August—about the
18th—and continued to about the 10th of September. The safe estimates
put the number of victims at about four thousand, not less than three
thousand five hundred, and, in all probability, more than four thousand.

Men, women, and children were most barbarously slaughtered—unnamable
outrages were perpetrated on all. The less horrible outrages were some
of the following: bayoneting the men, and in this wounded condition
either burying or burning them; outraging women and then dispatching
them with bayonets or swords; ripping up pregnant women; impaling
infants and children on the bayonet, or dispatching them with the sword;
houses fired, and the inmates driven back into the flames.

The unspeakable horror of those three weeks must have sent many a one
crazy. The story is told that one soldier found a comely infant and took
compassion on it and wished to save it. The mother was found in a crowd
of poor, wretched women, but she was raving, calling for her children.
She did not recognize the child, and nothing was left to the soldier but
to dispatch it.


                                No. 11.

[Efforts to block the Commission and put the country in shape for
inspection by emptying prisons of innocent people.]

                                                    B..., Dec. 29, 1894.

The Bitlis Governor asks for a cordon on Moosh, as there is cholera
reported there. So the Consular Commission is delayed. The Turkish
Commission is at Moosh now. Only, the president of it was recalled. In
the meantime Sassoun refugees are scattered over the country, begging.
Their stories, together with the stories of the soldiers, confirm the
most horrible of the reports of cruelty.

In all this, remember that the same thing has been going on on a lesser
scale all over the country.

Two weeks ago thirty-six men were dismissed from B... prison after three
years three months’ detention. A little over three years ago three
Armenians were most barbarously murdered in the Narman district, north
of this city and near the Russian boundary. Some Turks were called up
for examination, and all were dismissed. Later, three Turks were
murdered and mutilated, apparently in retaliation. The able-bodied
men—sixty-two in number—of two villages were thrown into prison. Some of
them were condemned to death, some to life imprisonment, and others to
various terms of imprisonment. A number of them died—fifteen, I think—in
prison. Thirty-six were released the other day, and eleven are still in
prison. They have suffered horribly during these three years. In what
condition will they find their homes when those who are released return?
It is almost certain that none of them knew anything about the murder or
had any hand in it. It is said that the murderer is well known, and is
in Russia. This case is a Sassoun atrocity on a smaller scale.

For God’s sake do not let the public conscience go to sleep again over
this reign of terror. The land is almost paralyzed with horror and
terror!


                                No. 12.

[The crisis and the need of keeping the issue clear. The real
explanation of the massacre.]

                                                     A..., Jan. 7, 1895.

The importance of the present crisis grows upon me. In the first place
Turkey is preparing for a terrible catastrophe by squeezing Armenians,
and arming Moslem civilians in Sivas, Aleppo, Castamouni, and other
provinces; and in the second place it is putting on the screws tighter
everywhere excepting in the three eastern provinces where the Commission
is now commencing investigation. In Van and Bitlis the process of
arresting and intimidating witnesses went on until the very hour of the
departure of the Commission of Investigation. Then the order went out to
stop, and those provinces are enjoying the first semblance of quiet that
they have known for five years.

This policy of continued massacre and outrage is favored by the profound
ignorance which prevails everywhere as to the actual state of things in
Turkey. People think that the Sassoun massacre is something exceptional,
and that until that is proved there is no evidence of a need of European
interference in behalf of Christians in Turkey. What ought to be done is
to fix on the mind of the public the fact that Turkey has taken up the
policy of crushing the Christians all over the Empire, and has been at
it for several years, so that even if the massacre had not taken place,
the duty of Europe to prohibit Turkey from acting the part of
Anti-Christ was still self-evident.


                                No. 13.

[Turks getting nervous, but not enough to forget taxes.]

                                                     B..., Jan. 5, 1895.

The horrible stories are only being confirmed. It is said that unborn
babes were cut from their quivering mothers and carried about on spear
tops. The Turks themselves now see that they went a step too far, and
they are feeling the awful tension of suspense as much as the
Christians. However, the pitiless collection of taxes is causing fearful
suffering.


                                No. 14.

[Prospects of the Commission of Inquiry, and its inadequacy in any case
to do justice to the chronic state of the country.]

                                                    B..., Jan. 12, 1895.

The people are in a state of horror because of the massacre. The
Commission has been expected for some time, and without doubt the local
authorities have used every means to cover up their tracks and terrorize
still further those who may be probable witnesses. Those who are
encouraged to testify will be again at the mercy of the Turks after the
Commission rises. I have not the slightest doubt that some will be
courageous enough to testify, but it will be at great odds. Almost
everything is against the perfect success of the Commission’s work, or
rather the favorable outcome of the work of the European delegates. It
will not be right to stake the fate of Armenia on the outcome of the
work of this Commission.

Rather it should be remembered that Sassoun is the outcome of a
governmental system. There have been hundreds of Sassouns all over the
country all through the last ten years, as you know. The laxity of
Europe has afforded opportunity for the merciless working of this system
in all its vigor. It is born of religious and race hatred, and has in
mind the crushing of Christianity and Christians.

It is not the Kourdish robbers, or famine, or cholera that have to
answer for the present state of the country. It is rather the robbery,
and famine, and worse than cholera entailed on the country by the
workings of this system. It is not alone the blood of five thousand men,
women, children, and babies, that rises in a fearful wail to heaven,
calling for just vengeance, but also the fearful suffering, the desolate
homes, the wanton cruelty of tax collectors and petty officials, and the
violated honor of scores and scores.

The Turk is on trial. Let not Sassoun alone go in evidence, but remember
that the same wail rises from all over the country.

[Evidence of an eye-witness, whose occupation saved him. Very few
succeeded in escaping to tell the tale.]

I saw an eye-witness to some of the Sassoun destruction. He passed
through three villages. They were all in ruins, and mutilated bodies
told the horrible tale. For four or five days he was in one village.
During the day parties of the scattered inhabitants would come in and
throw themselves upon the mercy of the officer in command. About two
hours after sundown each evening these prisoners of that day were
marched out of camp to a neighboring valley, and the air was rent with
their pitiful cries. He saw nothing more of them. He estimates that five
hundred men disappeared in that way while he was there.

Between two hundred and three hundred women and children were brought
into camp. They also disappeared, how he did not know. He was an
Armenian muleteer pressed for the transport of the military. He was sent
out of the district to Moosh. He and his companion are the only
eye-witnesses we have seen.

Another refugee from a village on the border tells the story of how his
mother, after terrible hardships, escaped to a monastery where this
young man was a servant. She told of the merciless slaughter of all the
rest of the household, and destruction of the village. She with her
young child succeeded in reaching the monastery, where after a few days
she died of her wounds.

The country waits breathlessly the result of the investigation. May the
Lord of nations stretch forth His almighty arm to save!


                                No. 15.

                                                    B..., Jan. 25, 1895.

Eight to ten thousand breaths gone out is about enough, but the form
beggars description. Some impaled, some buried alive, some burned in
houses with the help of kerosene, pregnant women ripped up, children
seized by the hair to have the head lopped off as if it were a worthless
bud, hundreds of women turned over to the vile soldiery with sequence of
terrible slaughter.


                                No. 16.

[The last letter was written in this country by one who has spent years
in the very heart of the afflicted region.]

                                                NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 1895.

Up to May, 1894, when I left Van, the whole Christian population of that
region was simply paralyzed by fear, and there was no manifestation of
any revolutionary thought or intention by the Armenians. Certainly, if
such a revolution were contemplated, you would expect to find it in the
Van and Bitlis _vilayets_ [provinces], where the provocation is the
greatest.

[Many other letters have been received which contain no new evidence,
but which in every particular confirm what is here reported. It would
add nothing to the evidence to give further extracts here.

Many who have given no reports, but knowing that some others have done
so, say: “You can safely believe all, and more, for the sickening
details that come in are becoming worse and worse.” “No report can be
exaggerated as to the horrible event,” etc., etc.

All the sixteen preceding extracts, and the original letters from which
they are taken, are endorsed by the twenty names which are reproduced in
facsimile on pages 2 and 4. The following additional letters, which have
arrived too late to be submitted with the above, have come through the
same channels and are of equal weight.]


                                No. 17.

[This is an extract from a letter written from a town in the province of
Erzroom, and has no connection with the Sassoun affair. It is the
written testimony of a pure, sensitive Christian woman, who is only one
of hundreds that have been and are being trodden in the mire of Moslem
lust. It was intended for the eye of a beloved teacher of the poor
victim who wrote it. If it is wrong for me to publish it to the world,
let God and the reader judge. Remember that the silence of death reigns
in Sassoun, and that throughout other regions terror paralyzes the
tongue. It bears date, November 4, 1894, Old Style (i. e., November
16th). It is eloquent in its agonizing pathos, and shows the condition
of the country in which such events are common occurrences, and against
which there is no redress.]

[Illustration:

  ARMENIAN GIRLS OF VAN.
]

                             [Translated.]

                                                     G..., Nov. 4, 1894.

“_I implore and earnestly entreat that you will remember one of your
former pupils, and hear my cry for sympathy and protection. I have been
outraged. Oh, woe is me, eternal pain and sorrow to my young heart! Evil
disposed and lawless men have robbed me of the bloom and beauty of my
wifely purity. It was H—— Bey, the son of Kaimakam (the local Turkish
Governor residing in the village). It was in the evening between six and
seven o’clock. I was engaged in my household work. I stepped outside the
door, when I suddenly found myself in the grasp of four men. They
smothered my cries and threatened my life, and by force carried me off
to a strange house. Oh, what black hours were those till the sweet light
of the sun once more arose! Though this is written with ink, believe me,
it is written in blood and tears._”


                                No. 18.

[The following letter was written from an entirely different part of
Turkey from the preceding letters. It is a region far remote from the
massacres, and yet indicates a state of affairs that is deplorable. The
writer is not an American nor is he a native of Turkey; he has spent
several years in that country and is a man in whom all would have the
highest confidence were we at liberty to give the name.]

                                                    H..., Jan. 11, 1895.

Those cordons and quarantine, together with the extraordinary
precautions, taken by the hitherto immovable Turk, with regard to
cholera that was still far away and in an entirely different direction,
were a mystery to all, although every person knew that the ostensible
purpose was not the real one. Now that the tidings from Moosh have come
in, the mystery of the series of cordons between here and Harpoot is
explained. There is very strong evidence that a general massacre or a
series of massacres of Christians has been understood by the local
governments to be the order of the day. It is not likely that a definite
order to that effect has been given out from the Capitol, but multitudes
of recent events go to show that the everlasting persecutions and
annoyances, and the methods used in past times to grind down the
Christians, have come to be regarded as insufficient. Everywhere there
is an activity, a watchfulness, and an energy displayed by the
government in the recent efforts to encompass the Christians and to cut
off their name and existence, that point to a newly formed plan to be
put into execution with as little waste of time as possible. Woe to the
poor remnant in this land if the European and American governments
disregard recent events in Turkey! Christian nations in that case, even
if they do not directly participate in what will certainly follow sooner
or later, cannot be held guiltless of the blood of their fellow-men....

Another case in which I was concerned has gone the same way. Last spring
a Protestant woman in Y. was assaulted and violated by three Turks. They
were tried in F. and found guilty; but that infamous court in S., under
the influence of the still more infamous _Mutesarif_ (Governor), having
recently reviewed the case, reversed the original judgment and released
the guilty. There is no remedy. No appeal can be made. The only thing
that can be done is to prosecute the court in S., but that, in the
present state of things, would be utterly useless. The result will be
that such crimes will become more frequent than ever—the perpetrators
feeling confident that there is very little likelihood of punishment
being meted out to them.

The government pretends to look with special suspicion on H. just now.
The _Vali_ (Governor-General) claims there are secret societies here. I
told him there is nothing of the kind in H. now. The poor people are
afraid to open their mouths or to go out of their houses. You can
scarcely conceive the change that has come over the people within the
past few months. Terror and amazement have taken hold of them to such an
extent as to become manifest in their countenances even. All arms and
weapons are being taken from the people here these days.

The _Kaimakam_ (local Governor) and other officers walk the streets and
the K. road every night. Attempts have been made by officers and
soldiers to draw Christians into a quarrel, but they have hitherto
failed. One night this week, the _Commissaire_ (Chief of Police) without
any provocation fired three times at a Christian, but the other offered
no resistance. Moslem officers are taking possession of the property of
Christians and doing just as they please without regard to law or
justice....

The church and school in O. have been closed and for two months now the
people have not been allowed to come together for worship. They are
forbidden even to have prayers offered in their houses.




                              CHAPTER II.
               GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT EASTERN TURKEY.


In order that the ordinary reader may grasp the situation in Armenia,
information is given at this point in regard to the country itself, its
administration, the elements that compose the population, and their
relations to one another.

The massacre took place in the mountainous Sassoun district just south
of Moosh, two days’ ride west of Bitlis, a large city where the
Provincial-Governor and a permanent military force reside. It is near
the western end of Lake Van, about eight hundred miles east of
Constantinople, two hundred and fifty miles south of Trebizond on the
Black Sea, and only one hundred and fifty miles from the Russian and
Persian frontiers of Asiatic Turkey. These distances do not seem great
until the difficulties of travel are considered. The roads are, in most
cases, bridle paths, impassable for vehicles, without bridges, infested
with highwaymen, and unprovided with lodging-places. It is, therefore,
necessary to go to the expense of hiring government guards, and to
burden oneself with all articles likely to be needed on the way—tents,
food supplies, cooking utensils, beds, etc., which also imply cooks,
baggage horses, and grooms. Thus equipped, it is possible, after
obtaining the necessary government permits, often a matter of vexatious
delay, to move about the country. The ordinary rate is from twenty to
thirty miles a day. With a good horse and no baggage I have gone three
hundred and fifty miles, from Harpoot to Van, in eight days, but that
was quite exceptional. In spring, swollen streams and mud; in summer,
oppressive heat; and in winter, storms, are serious impediments. In the
neighborhood of Bitlis the telegraph poles are sometimes buried, and
horses cannot be taken out of the stables on account of the snow. The
mails are often weeks behind, both in arriving and departing, and even
Turkish lightning seems to be _yavash_, and crawl sluggishly along the
wires.

Turkish Armenia—by the way, “Armenia” is a name prohibited in Turkey—is
a large plateau quadrangular in shape, and sixty thousand square miles
in area, about the size of Iowa. It is bounded on the north by the
Russian frontier, a line from the Black Sea to Mount Ararat, by Persia
on the east, the Mesopotamian plain on the south, and Asia Minor on the
west. It contains about six hundred thousand Armenians, which is only
one fourth the number found in all Turkey. The surface is rough,
consisting of valleys and plains from four to six thousand feet above
sea-level, broken and shut in by bristling peaks and mountain ranges,
from ten to seventeen thousand feet high, as in the case of Ararat.
Ancient Armenia greatly varied in extent at different epochs, reaching
to the Caspian at one time, and even bordering on the Mediterranean Sea
during the Crusades. It included the Southern Caucasus, which now
contains a large, growing, prosperous, and happy Armenian population
under the Czar, whose government allows them the free exercise of their
ancestral religion, and admits them to many high civil and military
positions. The Armenians now number about four million, of whom two
million five hundred thousand are in Turkey, one million two hundred and
fifty thousand in Russia, one hundred and fifty thousand in Persia and
other parts of Asia, one hundred thousand scattered through Europe, and
five thousand in the United States.

The scenery, while harsh, owing to the lack of verdure, is on a grand
scale. Around the shores of the great Van Lake are many views of
entrancing beauty. The climate is temperate and the atmosphere brilliant
and stimulating. It is a dry, treeless region, but fertile under
irrigation, and abounding in mineral wealth, including coal. Owing to
primitive methods of agriculture, and to danger while reaping and even
planting crops, only a small part is under cultivation, and frequent
famines are the result. The mineral resources are entirely untouched,
because the Turks lack both capital and brains to develop them, and
prevent foreigners from doing it lest this might open the door for
further European inspection and interference with their methods of
administering the country.

All local authority is practically in the hands of the _Valis_,
provincial governors, who are sent from Constantinople to represent the
sovereign, and are accountable to him alone. The blind policy which was
inaugurated by the present Sultan of dismissing non-Moslems from every
branch of public service—post, telegraph, custom-house, internal
revenue, engineering, and the like—has already been carried out to a
large extent all over the empire, and especially in Armenia. The
frequent changes in Turkish officials keeps their business in a state of
“confusion worse confounded,” and incites them to improve their chance
to plunder while it lasts. Traces of the relatively large revenue, wrung
from the people, and spent in improvements of service to them, are very
hard to find.


                            THE INHABITANTS.

Probably about one half of the population of Turkish Armenia is
Mohammedan, composed of Turks and Kurds. The former are mostly found in
and near the large cities, such as Erzingan, Baibourt, Erzerum, and Van,
and the plains along the northern part. The Kurds live in their mountain
villages over the whole region. The term Kurdistan, which in this region
the Turkish Government is trying to substitute for the historical one
Armenia, has no political or geographical propriety except as indicating
the much larger area over which the Kurds are scattered. In this vague
sense it applies to a stretch of mountainous country about fifteen
hundred miles in length, starting between Erzingan and Malatiah, and
sweeping east and south over into Persia as far as Kermanshah.

[Illustration:

  A KURD OF THE OLD TYPE.
]

The number of the Kurds is very uncertain. Neither Sultan nor Shah has
ever attempted a census of them; and as they are very indifferent
taxpayers, the revenue tables—wilfully distorted for political
purposes—are quite unreliable. From the estimates of British consular
officers there appear to be about one and a half million Turkish Kurds,
of whom about 600,000 are in the _vilayets_ of Erzroom, Van, and Bitlis,
and the rest in the _vilayets_ of Harpoot, Diarbekir, Mosul, and Bagdad.
This is a very liberal estimate. There are also supposed to be about
750,000 in Persia.[6]

The Kurds, whose natural instincts lead them to a pastoral and predatory
life, are sedentary or nomad according to local and climatic
circumstances. Where exposed to a severe mountain winter they live
exclusively in villages, and in the case of Bitlis have even formed a
large part of the city population. But the tribes in the south, who have
access to the Mesopotamian plains, prefer a migratory life, oscillating
with the season between the lowlands and the mountains. The sedentary
greatly outnumber the nomad Kurds, but the latter are more wealthy,
independent, and highly esteemed. There is, probably, little ethnic
distinction between the two classes.

A fourteenth-century list of Kurdish tribes contains many names
identical with those of powerful families who claim a remote ancestry.
“There was, up to a recent period, no more picturesque or interesting
scene to be witnessed in the East than the court of one of these great
Kurdish chiefs, where, like another Saladin, [who was a Kurd himself,]
the bey ruled in patriarchal state, surrounded by hereditary nobility,
regarded by his clansmen with reverence and affection, and attended by a
body-guard of young Kurdish warriors, clad in chain armor, with
flaunting silken scarfs, and bearing javelin, lance, and sword as in the
time of the crusaders.”[7] Within two days’ ride southeast of Van, I
found the ruins of four massive Kurdish castles at Shaddakh, Norduz,
Bashkalla, and Khoshab, which must have rivalled those of the feudal
barons on the Rhine. The Armenian and Nestorian villagers were much
better off as serfs of the powerful masters of these strongholds than as
the victims of Kurdish plunder and of Ottoman taxation and oppression
which they now are.

The Kurds are naturally brave and hospitable, and, in common with many
other Asiatic races, possess certain rude but strict feelings of honor.
But since their power has been broken by the Turks, their castles
ruined, and their chiefs exiled, these finer qualities and more
chivalrous sentiments have also largely disappeared under the principle
of _noblesse oblige_ reversed. In most regions they have degenerated
into a wild, lawless set of brigands, proud, treacherous, and cruel. The
traditions of their former position and power serve only to feed their
hatred of the Turks who caused their fall, and their jealousy and
contempt of the Christians who have been for generations their serfs,
whose progress and increase they cannot tolerate.

[Illustration:

  RUINS OF A KURDISH CASTLE AT KHOSHAB.
]

One who has a taste for adventure and is willing to take his life in his
hands, can find among them as fine specimens of the human animal as are
to be found anywhere—sinewy, agile, and alert, with a steady penetrating
eye as cool, cold, and cruel as that of a tiger. I vividly recollect
having just this impression under circumstances analogous to that of a
hunter who suddenly finds himself face to face with a lord of the
jungle. There was no sense of fear, at the time, but rather a keen
delight and fascination in watching the magnificent creature before me.
His thin aquiline face, his neck and hands were stained by the weather
to a brown as delicate as that of a meerschaum pipe, and on his broad
exposed breast the thick growth of hair obliterated any impression of
nudeness. For a few moments he seemed engaged in some sinister
calculation, but at last quietly moved away. Perhaps he wanted only a
cigarette. Perhaps he wondered if I, too, had claws. The Winchester
rifle behind his back did not escape my notice, nor did the gun across
my saddle escape his. It is hardly necessary to remind those who may
desire such experiences as the above, that the usual retinue of cooks,
servants, and _zaptiehs_ should be dispensed with in order to secure the
best opportunities for observation.

The Kurdish costumes, always picturesque, show much local variation in
cut and color. The beys and khans of the colder north almost invariably
prefer broadcloth, and find the finest fabrics and richest
shades—specially imported for them—none too good. But the loose flowing
garments of the Sheikhs and wealthy Kocher nomads of the south are often
very inexpensive, and suggest Arab simplicity and dignity. There is, no
doubt, considerable Arab blood in some of these families, who refer to
the fact with pride.

The women of the Kurds, contrary to usual Mohammedan custom, go unveiled
and have large liberty, but there is no reason to suspect their virtue.
Their prowess, also, is above reproach, and rash would be the man, Turk
or Christian, who would venture to invade the mountain home when left in
charge of its female defenders. On the whole, the Kurds are a race of
fine possibilities, far superior to the North American Indian, to whom
they are often ignorantly compared. Under a just, intelligent, and firm
government much might be expected of them in time.

They keep up a strict tribal relation, owing allegiance to their
Sheikhs, some of whom are still strong and rich, and engage in bitter
feuds with one another. They could not stand a moment against the
Ottoman power if determined to crush and disarm them. But three years
ago His Majesty summoned the chiefs to the capital, presented them with
decorations, banners, uniforms, and military titles, and sent them back
to organize their tribes into cavalry regiments, on whom he was pleased
to bestow the name _Hamediéh_, after his own. Thus, shrewdly appealing
to their pride of race, and winking at their subsequent acts, the Sultan
obtained a power eager in time of peace to crush Armenian growth and
spirit, and a bulwark that might check, in his opinion, the first waves
of the next dreaded Russian invasion. In the last war the Kurdish
contingent was worse than useless as was shown by Mr. Norman,[8] of the
_London Times_.

The Armenians, a very important element of the population, are generally
known as being bright, practical, industrious, and moral. They are of a
very peaceable disposition, and entirely unskilled in the use of arms,
the mere possession of which is a serious crime in the case of
Christians, although the Kurds are well equipped with modern rifles and
revolvers, and always carry them. Their great and fundamental weakness,
seen through all their history, is a lack of coherence, arising from
their exaggerated individualism. They have the distinction of being the
first race who accepted Christianity, King Dertad receiving baptism in
276 A. D., thirty-seven years before Constantine ventured to issue even
the Edict of Toleration. Their martyr roll has grown with every century.
The fact that the Armenian stock exists at all to-day, is proof of its
wonderful vitality and excellent quality. For three thousand years
Armenia, on account of her location, has been trampled into dust both by
devastating armies and by migrating hordes. She has been the prey of
Nebuchadnezzar, Xerxes, and Alexander; of the Romans, the Parthians, and
Persians; of Byzantine, Saracen, and Crusader; of Seljouk and Ottoman,
and Russian and Kurd. Through this awful record, the Christian church
founded by Gregory, “The Illuminator,” has been the one rallying point
and source of strength, and this explains the tremendous power of the
Cross on the hearts of all, even of the most ignorant peasant.




                              CHAPTER III.
            THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA AND KURDISTAN.


Many statements in regard to the state of affairs in Eastern Turkey are
criticised as being too sweeping and general, and the inference is drawn
that they are exaggerations, not based on exact knowledge of the facts.
This chapter will, therefore, contain nothing but definite incidents and
figures, names and places also being added regardless of consequences.
This information is furnished by a trustworthy authority on the ground,
and has already been published in _The Independent_, of New York,
January 17, 1895, from which I quote verbatim. It shows the usual course
of things in times of so-called peace between Kurds and their Christian
slaves, and indicates to what sort of a life these Armenian, Jacobite,
and Nestorian Christians are condemned when no massacre is in hand. From
my own residence and travels in Armenia, I know that the incidents
related would apply to hundreds of villages with simply a change of
name.

“_A Partial List of Exactions made upon the Village of Mansurieh of
Bohtan_ (Kaimakamlik of Jezireh) by the government, and by Mustapha
Pasha, a Kurdish Kocher, or nomad chief, in 1893:

                                SUMMARY.

 1. Government Exaction   Excess of official     3,000 ps.[9]
                            demand
 „            „           Amount of double tax   4,000
 „            „           Produce taken by       2,000         9,000 ps.
                            gendarmes
                                                 —————
 2. Exaction by M. Pasha. Excess of tithe        1,500
                            revenue
                          Damage to crops        2,000         3,500
                                                 —————         —————
    Total excess taken from village for 1893                  12,500
    Total of legitimate taxes on village for                  14,000
      the year

The village complained to the government of Mustapha Pasha’s exactions,
but no redress was given by the government, nor anything done to
Mustapha Pasha, who, when he learned of their having made complaint,
sent droves of sheep to devour the crops that remained, viz., five
pieces of ground sown and bearing cotton, millet, flaxseed, etc., valued
at 2000 piasters.”

“_Partial List of Exaction by Aghas of Shernakh_ (one day north of
Jezireh), from Hassana of Bohtan, during years 1891–’93. Hassana has
sixty houses:

 1893.
 Use of 30 men to carry flour for Mohammed Agha, 2 days          150 ps.
 For Mohammed Agha, cash 10 liras                              1,000
 For Mohammed Agha, 15 pieces of cloth                           150
 For Taher Agha, cash 14 liras                                 1,400
 For Taher Agha, taken from village priest, cash 75 ps.,
   saddle 75 ps., watch 200 ps.                                  350
 For Sahdoon Agha, cash 2 liras                                  200
 For Mohammed                                                    120
 For Khorsheed                                                    57
 For Mohammed Agha, harvest, 500 men at 3 ps.                  1,500
 For Mohammed Agha, repair of his roads, 65 men, 3 days          487
 For Mohammed Agha, repair of his roads, 50 men, 3 days          375
 For Mohammed Agha, preparation of boiled wheat for winter,
   450 men and 14 animals                                      1,160
 For Mohammed Agha, building house in Dader, 150 men             375
 For Mohammed Agha, 2000 ceiling sticks, 10 posts                554
 For Mohammed Agha, 4 large trees for rafters, at 50 ps.         200
                                                               —————
                        Total for 1893                         8,078 ps.

The above were noted in a book at the time of the occurrence by a
village priest, as being seen by him personally, and do not give the
great part of the exactions of the Shernakh Kurds, which he did not see.

One item additional to above: all the cotton of Mohammed Agha of
Shernakh is, by the villagers, beaten, spun, twisted, woven, and
returned as cloth (involving many days’ labor and two days’ journey),
and any weight lost in the making up the amount must be made good.

This oppression is increasing from year to year. The above priest noted
for years 1880–’82, taken by Aghas—cash, 4141 ps.; 90 animals used, 450
ps.; 314 men used, 785 ps. Total for three years, 5376, as over against
10,973 ps. for three years, 1891–’93.”

“Testimony given in writing, by a Christian of the District of Berwer,
in reference to the oppression of Christians in that district by the
Kurds, of which he himself was an eye-witness, the examples given being
confined to three small villages and of recent occurrence. He gives the
names of places and of the parties concerned, both Kurds and Christians.
We summarize them.

_Murders._—Eight men mentioned by name, others generalized.

_Robbery._—Cash, 9 liras; again 10 liras; again 15 liras; smaller sums
being taken continually.

Mohammed Beg, of Berwer, and his relatives responsible in greater part
for the above; also for robbing of two houses in Ina D’Noony.

For generations these Christians have sown the fields of these Kurds,
harvested them, done their threshing, irrigated their fields, cut and
brought in the grass as fodder for the sheep for use during the winter,
together with much other labor, and all without recompense, they finding
themselves.

(These things are accompanied, of course, with cursings and beatings.)”

“A number of Christian villages lying farther back in the mountains are
even more severely oppressed. The people are literally bought and sold
as slaves. In other districts the buying and selling of Christians by
Kurds is common.”

“Village of Shakh (five hours from Jezireh); like Mansurieh deserted for
months by reason of extortion by tax collectors. Many of the people
lived during the winter in caves in the mountains.”

“The writer was in Nahrwan when the Kaimakam of Jezireh came, several
weeks after a murder, to examine into it. The examination was rendered
so oppressive to the Christians that the people were glad to declare
that nothing had happened, in order to escape any further inquisition.
Even the old mother of the murdered man was frightened until she
declared that she did not know of any such occurrence, and had no
complaints to make against anybody.”

“Kannybalaver—Kaimakamlik of Amadia. During the years 1893–’94 this
village was raided several times by the Gugier and Sendier Kurds of the
Kaimakamlik of Jezireh. They took one hundred head of animals, field
tools, household utensils, beds, wool and yarn, gall-nuts—all of their
fall gathering,—and dry goods which had been brought in to sell. At
their last visit everything movable was carried off, and the people
deserted the village. A leading man of the village, Gegoo by name, was
seized by the Kurds, carried for several miles, and was then murdered in
cold blood. There were about one hundred Kurds in the band led by Ahrno,
brother of Hassu of Ukrul and Kerruvanu. The chief men of their village
are Sherriffu and Hassu, who would be responsible for such a raid.”

“In the city of Mosul, where there is a Vali, Christians are robbed and
killed openly. Three cases are given. Last year a young man, of the
Protestant community, of high standing in the city as a merchant, was
standing before his door when two young Kurds of notorious character
came along, and one of them, without the slightest provocation, at the
time or previously, from mere wantonness, stabbed him, and would have
killed him had he not been restrained. The family of the man, though one
of the most influential families among the Christians of the city, did
not dare to make accusation against him, knowing that the only result
would be more bloodshed.”

“An old missionary who has been familiar with the region from Bohtan to
Amadia for years, says these oppressions are increasing, and unless
something is done speedily, all the Christian villages of these various
districts will soon fall into the hands of the Kurds just as they have
in Zabur.”

“These instances of oppression given are but a few of the many which
might be given. Indeed it is not these greater occurrences, as the big
raids and murders, which are the most serious to the Christian. It is
the daily constant exactions and oppressions which are crushing the life
out of them.”

A whole chapter might well be devoted to the oppression by government
officials in assessing and collecting taxes. This evil is general,
affecting all Turkey. A brief summary of these abuses as generally
practised will be given. In view of the poverty-stricken condition of
the land, even the legitimate taxes are an exceedingly heavy burden on
Moslem and Christian alike, but the burden is greatly increased by the
methods here classified:


                           SUMMARY OF ABUSES.

“I. _Unjust and corrupt assessments._

1. Villagers are compelled to give assessors presents of money to
prevent them from over estimating the taxable persons and property.

2. Assessors, to secure additional bribes, signify their willingness to
make an underestimate. This, in turn, affords opportunity for blackmail,
which is used by succeeding officials.”

“II. _Injustice and severity in collecting._

1. The collectors, like the assessors, have ways of extorting presents
and bribes from the people.

2. The collectors, as a rule, go to the villages on Sunday, as on that
day they find the people in the village. They frequently interrupt the
Christian services, and show disrespect to their churches or places of
prayer.

3. The collection of the taxes is accompanied with unnecessary abuse and
reviling, sometimes even with wanton destruction of property.

4. Disregard of impoverished condition of people. Even after several
failures of crops in succession, when famine was so severe that the
people were many of them being fed by foreign charity, the taxes were
collected in full and with severity.

Their food supply, beds, household utensils, and farming implements were
seized by the collectors in lieu of taxes. Many were compelled to borrow
money at enormous rates of interest, mortgaging their fields and future
crops. Unscrupulous officials and other Kurds, in whose interests such
opportunities are created, thus became possessed of Christian villages,
the people of which henceforth becoming practically slaves to them.

5. These collectors make false returns of taxes received. The official
in the city is secured by a bribe, and the matter is kept quiet until a
succeeding set of officials come into office. They send their officers
to the villages to present claims for back taxes. The villagers in vain
contend that they have paid them. They have no receipts. They do not
dare to ask for them. Or the head man of the village who keeps the
account has been bribed to falsify his accounts. These taxes are
collected again, entailing much suffering upon the people.

6. The books in the government offices at the Kaimakamlik are often
incorrect through mistakes or dishonesty, and in consequence taxes are
paid on fictitious names or on persons who have been dead for years.”

“III. _Farming of taxes._

Taxes are often farmed out to the highest bidder, who usually is some
powerful Kurdish chief. Either in consequence of his power, or by means
of bribes, he is secure from interference on the part of the government.
He collects the amount due the government and then takes for himself as
much as he chooses, his own will or an exhausted threshing-floor being
the only limit to his rapacity.

While he is collector for these villages they are considered as
belonging to him. During the year his followers pay frequent visits to
the villages. They are ignorant and brutal, and on such visits, as also
when collecting taxes, they treat the villagers with the utmost
severity.”

“IV. All the above assessors and collectors—and they are many, a
different one for each kind of tax, personal, house and land, sheep,
tobacco, etc.—on their visits to the villages, take with them _a retinue
of servants and soldiers, who, with their horses, must be kept at the
expense of the village, thus entailing a very heavy additional burden
upon them_. Soldiers and servants sent to the villagers to make
collections, very naturally take something for themselves.”

All the preceding testimony refers to regions where Jacobite and
Nestorian Christians predominate and thus prove that Armenians are by no
means the only sufferers.

The same state of affairs was found by Mrs. Bishop, who made
investigations on the ground five years ago.

“On the whole, the same condition of alarm prevails among the Armenians
as I witnessed previously among the Syrian[10] _rayahs_. It is more than
alarm, it is _abject terror_, and not without good reason. In plain
English, general lawlessness prevails over much of this region. Caravans
are stopped and robbed, travelling is, for Armenians, absolutely unsafe,
sheep and cattle are being driven off, and outrages, which it would be
inexpedient to narrate, are being perpetrated. Nearly all the villages
have been reduced to extreme poverty, while at the same time they are
squeezed for the taxes which the Kurds have left them without the means
of paying.

The repressive measures which have everywhere followed ‘the Erzerum
troubles’ of last June [1890]—the seizure of arms, the unchecked ravages
of the Kurds, the threats of the Kurdish Beys, who are boldly claiming
the sanction of the government for their outrages, the insecurity of the
women, and a dread of yet worse to come—have reduced these peasants to a
pitiable state.”[11]

Through the influence of the British Ambassador at Constantinople Mrs.
Bishop was allowed to state the situation to the Grand Vizier in person,
and on arriving in England she presented a detailed statement of facts
to the Foreign Office and also to a Parliamentary Committee.

That the recent outrages in Sassoun are conspicuous by their extent
rather than character, the following incident, which came within the
author’s own knowledge, on the ground at the time, will show. In June,
1893, four young Armenians and their wives, living only two miles from
the city of Van, where the Governor and a large military force reside,
were picking herbs on the hillside. They carefully kept together and
intended to return before night. They were observed by a band of passing
Kurds, who, in broad daylight, fell upon the defenceless party,
butchered the young men, and, as to the brides, it is needless to relate
further. The villagers going out the next day found the four bodies, not
simply dead, but slashed and disfigured almost beyond recognition. They
resolved to make a desperate effort to let their wrongs at least be
known.

Hastily yoking up four rude ox carts, they placed on each the naked
remains of one of the victims, with his distracted widow sitting by the
side, shorn of her hair in token of dishonor. This gruesome procession
soon reached the outskirts of the city, where it was met by soldiers
sent to turn it back. The unarmed villagers offer no resistance, but
declare their readiness to perish if not heard. The soldiers shrink from
extreme measures that might cause trouble among the thirty thousand
Armenians of Van, who are now rapidly gathering about the scene. The
Turkish bayonets retreat before the bared breasts of the villagers. With
ever increasing numbers, but without tumult, the procession passed
before the doors of the British and Russian Vice-Consulates, of the
Persian Consul-General, the Chief of Police and other high officials,
till it paused before the great palace of the Governor.

At this point Bahri Pasha, who is still Governor, stuck his head out of
the second-story window and said: “I see it. Too bad! Take them away and
bury them. I will do what is necessary.” Within two days some Kurds were
brought in, among whom were several who were positively identified by
the women; but, upon their denying the crime, they were immediately
released and escaped. The utter hopelessness of securing any justice was
so apparent, and experience had so often demonstrated the danger of
arousing the Kurds to greater atrocity by further efforts to punish
them, that the case was dropped and soon forgotten in the callousness
produced by other cases of frequent occurrence. The system of mail
inspection is so effective (all letters of subjects must be handed in
open at the post-office) and the danger of reporting is so great that I
doubt that any account of this incident has ever been given to the
civilized world. This case was doubtless reported by the former British
Vice-Consul, unless he was busy hunting, and, as usual, was buried in
the archives of the Foreign Office for “state reasons.”

A foreign physician, never a missionary, and now out of the country,
told me that during a large practice of a year and a half in Armenia,
while using every effort to save life, only one case was remembered of
regret by the doctor for a fatal ending,—so sad is the lot of those who
survive. This instance will explain the strange statement. A call came
to see a young man sent home from prison in a dying condition. He could
not speak, and had to be nourished for days by artificial feeding,
because his stomach could not retain food. Constant and skilful care for
a month brought him back to life, from the condition to which his vile,
dark, unventilated cell and scanty food had brought him. As soon as the
police learned of his unexpected recovery, he was seized and
re-imprisoned, though an only son, with a widowed mother and sister
dependent upon him. When last heard of, he was still “awaiting trial.”
Such confinement is a favorite method of intimidation and blackmail in
the case of the innocent, and, in the case of the guilty, amounts to
punishment without the cost and labor involved in proving the guilt and
securing sentence by legal process.

From my own house in Van goods of considerable value were stolen in
November, 1893. Though I had good clews to the guilty parties and would
have been glad to recover my property, I felt constrained to use every
precaution _not_ to let the affair come to the ears of the police, lest
they should use it as a pretext for searching the houses of many
innocent Armenians, in the hope of finding a letter, book, or weapon of
some kind, which might serve as an excuse for imprisonment. This course
exposed me to further attacks of thieves and necessitated a night
watchman.


                     WHY ARE THESE FACTS NOT KNOWN?

The ignorance and incredulity of the public is a most significant
commentary on the situation. But the explanation is simple. In the
nature of the case, in reports of outrages where the victims or their
friends are still within the clutches of the Turks, all names of
individuals and often the exact locality must be concealed. Such
anonymous accounts naturally arouse little interest, and, of course,
cannot be verified. The former British Consul-General at Erzerum, Mr.
Clifford Lloyd, showed me at that place many such reports sent to him by
members of Parliament for verification. He was unable to verify them,
but said that the reports gave a correct impression of the condition of
the country. At that very time, October, 1890, Mr. Lloyd called
attention, in an official dispatch, published in the “_Blue-Books_,” to:

  “1. The insecurity of the lives and properties of the Armenians. 2.
  The insecurity of their persons, and the absence of all liberty of
  thought and action. 3. The unequal status held by the Christian as
  compared with the Mussulman in the eyes of the government.”

On this subject there are five channels of varying market value. First.
Consular reports, meagre and often inaccessible. The United States has
no consuls in Armenia, and consequently no “official” knowledge of its
condition. European consuls are expected to report nothing that they are
not absolutely sure of, and are given to understand, both by their own
governments and by that of Turkey, that they must not make themselves
obnoxious in seeking information. They are, at best, passive until their
aid is sought, and then alarm the suppliants by refusing to touch the
case unless allowed to use names. Second. Missionaries, whose mouths are
sealed. They would be the best informed and most trustworthy witnesses.
But they feel it their first duty to safeguard the great benevolent and
educational interests committed to them by not exciting the suspicion
and hostility of the government. Their position is a delicate one,
conditional on their neutrality, like that of officers of the Red Cross
Society in war. Third. Occasional travellers, whose first impressions
are also often their last and whose hasty jottings are likely to be very
interesting and may be very misleading. Not so in the case of Mrs.
Isabella Bird Bishop, whom I had the pleasure of meeting there, and who
embodied the result of her careful investigations in an article
entitled, “The Shadow of the Kurd” in _The Contemporary Review_.[12]
Fourth. Much evidence from Armenian sources, which is often unjustly
discredited as being the exaggeration, if not fabrication, of
“revolutionists who seek a political end.” Fifth. Turkish official
reports, often obtained by corrupt or violent means, or invented to suit
the circumstances. Though the financial credit of the Ottoman Government
was long ago exhausted, there are some well meaning people who still
place confidence in Turkish explanations and promises.


                           WHAT CAN BE DONE?

The scope of this book does not permit a discussion of even the Armenian
phase of the Eastern question, beyond a bare reference to its possible
three-fold solution. There is, first, Russian annexation, a step for
which the sufferers themselves are praying, and which Russia is prepared
to execute at a moment’s notice. If this were the only alternative from
present conditions, it should be universally welcomed. Russia is crude,
stupid, and, in certain aspects, brutal, but she is not decrepit,
debauched, and doting like official Turkey. The diseases of the “Sick
Man” are incurable and increasing, while the bully of the North is
young, of good blood, and with an energy suggestive of a force of
nature. Russia shaves half the head of seceders from the Orthodox Church
and transports them. Turkey, with more tact, quietly “disposes” of
converts from Islam, many of whom would step forth if the prospect were
less than death. The Jewish question, from the Russian standpoint, is
largely a social and industrial one, like the Chinese question in the
United States. When the writer passed from Turkish Armenia into the
Caucasus, it was from a desert to a garden; from danger to perfect
security; from want and sorrow to plenty and cheer.

Until lately, thousands of Turkish Armenians have been in the habit of
crossing the Russian border in spring, earning good wages during the
summer, and returning to spend the winter with their families. This has
opened their eyes to the contrast between the two lands and turned their
hearts to Russia.

The second solution is Armenian autonomy, like that of Bulgaria, the
fond dream of those who ignore the geographical difficulties, the
character, and distribution of the population, and the temper of Russia
and other powers by whom it would have to be established and maintained.

The only other method is radical and vigorous administrative reforms,
which the European powers should initiate, and report to Turkey, instead
of _vice versa_, as arranged in Article LXI. of the Berlin Treaty. These
“Christian nations” have for sixteen years violated most sacred treaty
obligations, and England a special guarantee for such reforms. While
attended with difficulties, this is the most desirable solution, and is
favored by the great mass of Armenians throughout Turkey, by the
Anglo-Armenian Association,[13] founded by Prof. James Bryce, M.P., and
by the Phil-Armenic Society in this country.[14] The real spirit and aim
of the Armenian race, as a whole, is unfortunately obscured, in the mind
of the public, by utterances and acts of a few irresponsible Armenian
hot-heads, who have imbibed nihilistic views in Europe, and are trying,
in a very bungling way, to apply them.




                              CHAPTER IV.
                 OTTOMAN PROMISES AND THEIR FULFILMENT.


Imperial edicts of toleration, and promises of reform on the part of the
Sublime Porte, have been very numerous, and have served Turkey well as
political expedients. Their value is that of so much dust thrown in the
eyes of Europe when her aid or her mercy was needful. As these reforms
have all been promised under pressure, they have likewise been abandoned
just so fast and so far as the pressure has been removed. In many cases
there has been serious retrogression. The sow that is washed is forever
returning to wallow in the mire. It is as true of the “Sick Man” as of
him out of whom seven devils were cast, that the last state of that man
is worse than the first. This is emphatically so in regard to the
freedom of the press, the curtailment of religious and educational
privileges, and the safety of the lives and property of Christians.

The following is a partial list of Turkish promises which have been
broken in whole or in part, with the circumstances under which they were
made.

1. In 1829, by the Treaty of Adrianople at the close of a war with
Russia, Turkey promised to reform in her treatment of Orthodox
Christians, and acknowledged Russia’s right to interfere in their
behalf.[15]

2. In 1839 Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid, in order to enlist European sympathy
and aid—when the victorious Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pasha was
threatening Constantinople—issued an Imperial rescript, the Hatti
Sherif, in which he promised to protect the life, honor, and property of
all his subjects irrespective of race or religion.

3. In 1844 the same Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid gave a solemn pledge that
thenceforth no apostate from Mohammedanism _who had formerly been a
Christian_ should be put to death. This pledge was extorted from the
Sultan by the Ambassador of Great Britain, supported by those of other
Powers, after the public execution in Constantinople of a young
Armenian, Ovagim, who had declared himself a Mohammedan, but who
afterwards bravely maintained his Christian profession in the face of
torture and death. Since that time many Moslems even have embraced
Christianity, and have been put out of the way, quietly in most cases.

4. In 1850 the same Sultan, on the demand of the same Powers, in view of
the continued and fierce persecution of the Protestant subjects of the
Porte, granted the latter a charter, guaranteeing them liberty of
conscience and all the rights as a distinct civil community, which had
been enjoyed by the other Christian communities of the empire. But to
this day the numerous Protestants of Stamboul have never been allowed to
erect even _one church_, although they have owned a site and had the
necessary funds, and been petitioning for a firman to build for fifteen
years.[16] The Greek Protestants of Ordoo, who have a church, are not
allowed to worship in it. There are many other flagrant violations of
this charter.

5. In 1856, after the Crimean War, Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid, to anticipate
demands which he knew would be included in the Treaty of Paris then
being drawn up, issued the Imperial edict known as the Hatti Humayoun.
This edict not only promised perfect equality of civil rights to all
subjects of the Porte, but also added: “As all forms of religion are and
shall be freely professed in my dominions, no subject of my empire shall
be hindered in the exercise of the religion that he professes, nor shall
he in any way be annoyed on this account.” But as the interpretation and
enforcement of this edict has remained absolutely in the hands of the
Turkish Government, it is needless to add that it has been a dead
letter.[17]

6. In 1878 the Anglo-Turkish Convention, entered into just before the
Treaty of Berlin, included these words in its First Article: “His
Imperial Majesty, the Sultan, promises to England to introduce necessary
reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two Powers, into the
government and for the protection of the Christian and other subjects of
the Porte in these territories [Armenia]; and in order to enable England
to make necessary provision for executing her engagement [the keeping of
Russia out of Armenia], His Imperial Majesty, the Sultan, further
consents to assign the Island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered
by England.” Comment unnecessary.

7. In July, 1878, by the Treaty of Berlin, religious liberty and the
public exercise of all forms of religion were guaranteed in separate
articles to the people of Bulgaria, Eastern Roumelia, Montenegro,
Servia, Roumania, and finally to all subjects of the Porte in every part
of the Ottoman Empire. Cases of glaring violation of the principle of
religious liberty may be found in Appendix C. on _The Censorship of the
Press_.

The Sixty-first Article of the same treaty reads thus: “The Sublime
Porte undertakes to carry out, without further delay, the improvements
and reforms demanded by local requirements in the provinces inhabited by
the Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the Circassians
and Kurds. It will periodically make known the steps taken to this
effect to the Powers, who will superintend their application.”

What the condition of Turkey was three years later, not simply in
Armenia, but throughout Asia Minor, is shown by a report of Mr. Wilson,
British Consul-General in Anatolia.

“There has probably never been a time in which the prestige of the
Courts has fallen so low, or in which the administration of justice has
been so venal and corrupt. The most open and shameless bribery is
practised from highest to lowest; prompt, even-handed justice for rich
and poor alike is unknown; sentence is given in favor of the suitor who
‘places’ his money most judiciously; imprisonment or freedom has in many
places become a matter of bribery; robbers, when arrested, are protected
by members of the Court, who share their spoil; a simple order may send
an innocent man to prison for months; crime goes unpunished, and all
manner of oppression and injustice is committed with impunity. The
Cadis,[18] especially those in the cazas,[19] are, as a rule, ignorant
men, with no education, knowing little of law, except the Sheri, on
which they base their decisions, and sometimes not overmuch of that. As
to the members, it is sufficient to say that they are nearly all equally
ignorant of law, and that probably not twenty-five per cent. of them can
write Turkish, or read the sentences to which they attach their seals.
In the Commercial Courts, the Presidents are frequently entirely
ignorant of the duties which they have to perform. The low pay of the
Cadis, the short term—two years—during which they hold their
appointments, and the manner in which they obtain them, render the
receipt of bribes almost a necessity. The first thought of a Cadi who
buys an appointment in the provinces is to recoup himself for his
outlay; the second, to obtain enough money to purchase a new place when
his term of office is finished. Even under this system men are to be
found who refuse to receive bribes; and there are others who, whilst
giving way to temptation, deplore the necessity to do so.”[20]

The sequel to the Treaty of Berlin is found in the next chapter.

The non-fulfilment of Ottoman promises in regard to Christian subjects,
and the frequent massacres of the latter are an exact fulfilment of


                      THE OFFICIAL PRAYER OF ISLAM

which is used throughout Turkey, and daily repeated in the Cairo “Azhar”
University by ten thousand Mohammedan students from all lands. The
following translation is from the Arabic:

  “I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, [the _rejeem_] the accursed.
  In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful! O Lord of all
  Creatures! O Allah! Destroy the infidels and polytheists, thine
  enemies, the enemies of the religion! O Allah! Make their children
  orphans, and defile their abodes! Cause their feet to slip; give
  them and their families, their households and their women, their
  children and their relations by marriage, their brothers and their
  friends, their possessions and their race, their wealth and their
  lands, as booty to the Moslems, O Lord of all Creatures!”[21]

All who do not accept Mohammed are included among “the infidels”
referred to in the prayer.




                               CHAPTER V.
                  THE OUTCOME OF THE TREATY OF BERLIN.


It is quite needless to remark that Turkey, instead of doing anything to
improve the condition of the Armenians, has done much to make it worse
during the past fifteen years. The question now arises, what have the
Powers signatory to the Berlin Treaty done to compel the Sublime Porte
“to carry out the improvements and reforms” demanded in the Sixty-first
Article? And what steps has Great Britain taken in addition, to
discharge the additional obligation for the improvement of Armenia which
she assumed by the so-called Cyprus Convention?

We find that in November, 1879, the English Government, seeing that
matters throughout Asia Minor were really going from bad to worse, went
the length of ordering an English squadron to the Archipelago for the
purpose of a naval demonstration. The Turkish Government was greatly
excited, and with a view to getting the order countermanded, made the
fairest promises.

But England was not the only Power aroused. On June 11, 1880, an
Identical Note of the Great Powers demanded the execution of the clauses
of the Treaty of Berlin which had remained in suspense. In the
conclusion of the Identical Note a clear recognition is made of the fact
that _the interest of Europe, as well as that of the Ottoman Empire,
requires the execution of the Sixty-first Article of the Treaty of
Berlin, and that the joint and incessant action of the Powers can alone
bring about this result_.

On July 5th, the Turkish Foreign Minister sent a Note in reply to the
representatives of the Powers. “It is of great length and small real
value, except as combining in a remarkable degree the distinguishing
characteristics of modern Ottoman diplomacy, namely, first, great
facility in assimilating the administrative and constitutional jargon of
civilized countries; second, consummate cunning in concealing under
deceptive appearances the barbarous reality of deeds and intentions;
third, cool audacity in making promises which there is neither the power
nor desire to make good; and, finally, a paternal and oily tone,
intended to create the impression that the Turkish Government is the
victim of unjust prejudices and odious calumnies.”

As soon as the reply of the Porte was received, Earl Granville sent
copies to the British Consuls in Asia Minor, inviting observations
thereon. Eight detailed replies to this request are published in the
Blue-Book.[22] They concur in a crushing condemnation of the Ottoman
Government.

These conclusions, moderately and very diffusely expressed in diplomatic
phraseology, are reflected in the Collective Note which was sent on
Sept. 11, 1880, to the Sublime Porte by the Ambassadors of the Great
Powers. On October 3d, without making the slightest references to
censures which had been addressed to it, and even appearing completely
to ignore the Collective Note, the Porte, assuming a haughty tone,
merely notified the Powers of what it intended to do.

In a Circular of the 12th of January, 1881, Earl Granville tried again
to induce the other five Powers to join in further representations to
the Sublime Porte on the subject. But the other Powers seem to have
thought that the diplomatic comedy had gone far enough, and sent evasive
answers. Prince Bismarck expressed the opinion that there would be
“serious inconvenience” in raising the Armenian question, and France hid
behind Germany. Such action by the powers had been anticipated by the
British Ambassador at Constantinople, Mr. Goschen, who had already
written to Earl Granville: “If they [the Powers] refuse, or give only
lukewarm support, the responsibility will not lie with Her Majesty’s
Government.” The whole correspondence was simply a matter of form.[23] I
have condensed this outline of events since the Treaty of Berlin from
_Armenia, the Armenians, and the Treaties_,[24] following as far as
possible the words of the writer, M. G. Rolin-Jaequemyns, a high
authority on International Law.

From 1881 to the present time, almost without exception, England, on her
part, has allowed no mention in her Blue-Books of the manner in which
her _protégés_ and those of Europe have been treated. Her energies have
seemed to be devoted to stifling the ever-increasing cry of despair from
Armenia, instead of attempting her rescue or relief. The other Powers
are only less guilty, in proportion as they have done less to perpetuate
Ottoman misrule, and have made less pretence of sympathy and help for
the oppressed. Freeman says of England,

“By waging a war on behalf of the Turk, by signing a treaty which left
the nations of Southeastern Europe [and Asia Minor] at the mercy of the
Turk, by propping up the wicked power of the Turk in many ways, we have
done a great wrong to the nations which are under his yoke; and that
wrong which we have ourselves done it is our duty to undo.”[25]

It is thus clearly seen that both the Sixty-first Article of the Berlin
Treaty, and the Cyprus Convention as well, have been of positively no
value in securing for the Armenians any of the reforms which were
therein recognized as imperatively called for and guaranteed. It is also
clear that the condition of Armenia, and of Turkey as a whole, is even
vastly worse and more hopeless than it was twenty years ago.

[Illustration:

  PROFESSOR MINAS TCHÉRAZ.

  Present at the Berlin Congress.
]

This condition, I further maintain, is in large measure directly
attributable to those treaties themselves and to the attitude
subsequently assumed by the Powers which signed them. It is said that
the Armenians have brought trouble on themselves, by stirring up the
Turks. I ask what stirred the Armenians up? It was primarily the
Sixty-first Article of the Treaty of Berlin. Many a time has that
precious paragraph been quoted to me in the wilds of Kurdistan by common
Armenian artisans and ignorant villagers. They had welcomed it as a
second evangel, and believed the word of England as they did the
gospels. _It was that Article which roused them from the torpor of
centuries._ They saw Bulgaria rise from her blood and shame and enter on
a career of honor and prosperity under the ægis of European protection.
Is it surprising that hopes and aspirations have been born anew in the
heart of the Armenian race—a people not inferior to the Bulgarians and
in many respects more talented?

I have rarely found it difficult to persuade intelligent Armenians that
an autonomous Armenia is impracticable. But I have never been able to
convince one of them that the course of England and the other powers has
been anything but one of selfishness, jealousy, and dishonor as far as
fulfilment of their treaty obligations is concerned.

During a residence of four years in Eastern Turkey I noticed a marked
and rapid alienation of Armenian sentiment from England in favor of
Russia, who now seems to them the only source of succor. _They_ see in
England only a dog in the manger.

There is another sequel to the Berlin Treaty and to the attitude of the
powers, namely, its effect on the Turks themselves. The natural enmity
and contempt of the Moslem rulers and population generally for the
Christian subjects has been greatly increased by reason of the pressure
which foreign Powers have occasionally brought to bear on the Turks in
order to procure relief for the Christian. To be sure the only hope of
such relief is from without. But the pressure should not be of a petty,
nagging and galling nature. This is worse than nothing. _What is needed
is prompt, decisive, and final action._

And things have now arrived at such a pass that in such action lies the
only hope of preventing a terrible catastrophe, which will eclipse even
the massacres of Sassoun. The wheels of progress will not go backward
except as they are broken. The Christians of Armenia can be
exterminated, but it is too late for them to accept slavery or Islam.
They may be slaughtered like sheep, but they will not all die like dogs.
The revolutionary movement, as it is called, is thus far nothing but a
blind turning of the worm. It is ill considered, without resources,
reckless, and foreign to the real spirit, objects, and methods of the
Armenians on Turkish soil. It is not denied that there are a few
Armenians in Europe who, in despair and for lack of better teaching,
have imbibed Nihilistic views and are trying, in a very bungling way, to
apply them. They are hated by the vast majority of Armenians in Turkey.
They are related to the question at issue in the same way and degree as
train wreckers and box-car burners were to the industrial problem during
the riots of Chicago in July last, and deserve the same treatment. The
Turks take great pains to thrust them into public notice, as a cloak for
themselves, and with good success. The Turkish Government and its
partisans, in order to conceal the real character of the massacre in
Sassoun, has made persistent, extensive, and dishonorable use of a
letter by the first President of Robert College, Constantinople, Dr.
Cyrus Hamlin, written December 23, 1894. Dr. Hamlin’s vigorous and
indignant protest may be found in Appendix C.

[Illustration:

  ZEIBEK, TURKISH SOLDIER, “IRREGULAR.”
]

The idea of Armenian revolution is a new thing in the history of that
peaceable race, which has quietly submitted for centuries to the yoke of
the Turk. But it is the natural outcome of the horrible situation in
Armenia since the Treaty of Berlin, and the disease is bound to grow
more virulent and contagious until the European doctors apply vigorous
and radical treatment to the “Sick Man.” It is difficult to see how
anything but a surgical operation can be helpful. The knife has
frequently been used in the case of this incurable patient during the
present century, and always with excellent results, as for instance in
the case of Greece, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Boznia-Herzegovina, and Egypt.

A situation in many respects parallel to that in Armenia existed until
lately in Bosnia and Herzegovina. How quickly and completely that
difficult problem has been solved, is narrated by M. de Blowitz in the
October, 1894, issue of _The Nineteenth Century_, from which I condense
in his own words.

“The orders, given after the taking over of the country, to surrender
all arms or to destroy them, was given a sweeping application. Yet,
before the victorious entry of the Austro-Hungarians, each Bosnian each
Herzegovinian, was a walking arsenal.

“To-day weapons and ambuscades are things of the romantic past. Twelve
years have sufficed, under M. de Kallay’s administration, not only to
remove all traces of the wild, inhospitable, inaccessible Bosnia of
which I have been speaking, but indeed and especially to banish even the
memory of those dark days of strenuous battle, and to wipe away from the
hearts of both invader and invaded all traces of the hate which then
animated them. In the year 1882, the superior administration of the two
provinces (Bosnia and Herzegovina) passed into the hands of the Minister
of Finance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who was then, and who is
still, M. de Kallay. From this moment all is changed. The powers given
to the new administration are almost unlimited. The civil element has
been substituted for the military element, and pacification has
succeeded conquest. The greatest effort is made to reassure all minds.
Not a single minaret has disappeared, not a _muezzin_ is deprived of his
resources.”

A recent writer wisely says that “the Armenian question, if it ever be
settled at all, must be taken out of the Turk’s hands, whether he like
it or not.... And we have an opportunity now, which may never come our
way again, of settling a difficulty which, if allowed to develop much
longer, will prove more fruitful of mischief than any with which we have
been confronted for a generation or more.”[26]

[Illustration:

  TURKISH SOLDIER, “REGULAR.”
]

C. B. Norman, special correspondent of _The London Times_, in his
_Armenia and the Campaign of 1877_[27] wrote words which are even truer
to-day. I condense:

“Naturally, since I have been here I have had many, very many,
opportunities of conversing with Turkish officers and men on the
so-called Eastern Question; and the consequence is that, arriving in the
country a strong philo-Turk, deeply impressed with the necessity of
preserving the ‘integrity of the Empire’ in order to uphold ‘British
interests,’ I now fain would cry with Mr. Freeman: ‘Perish, British
interests, perish our dominion in India, rather than that we should
strike a blow on behalf of the wrong against the right!’[28]

“There is no finer race in the world than the Turk proper. Brave,
honest, industrious, truthful, frugal, kind-hearted, and hospitable, all
who _know_ the Osmanli speak well of him. He is as much oppressed by the
curse of misgovernment as his Christian fellow-subject; and had the
members of the Eastern Question Association as keen a sense of justice
as they have love of writing, they would long ago have obliterated the
word ‘Christian’ from their lengthy documents, and striven to ameliorate
the condition of the lower orders of the subjects of the Porte,
downtrodden as they are by an effete section of the Mohammedan race, who
have degenerated in mind, body, and estate, since coming in contact with
Western civilization.

“I do not for one moment mean to deny that there are honest, energetic
Turks, capable of exercising their talents for their country’s good; but
these men are powerless. The vital powers of the nation are so sapped by
centuries of misrule, the minds of the majority are so imbued with the
belief that all ideas not born of Moslem brains and sanctified by Moslem
usage are false, and to be scorned, that were any honest-minded
gentleman to rise to power, and endeavor to check the present system of
misgovernment, he would not remain in office one week. Captain Gambier’s
able article on the ‘Life of Midhat Pasha’[29] bears me out in this
idea.”




                              CHAPTER VI.
                   THE SULTAN AND THE SUBLIME PORTE.


Church and State are one and inseparable in Turkey. The Sultan of the
empire is also Calif of the Mohammedan religious world. He cannot
abdicate either office, if he would, without vacating the other by the
same act. In fact, herein lies the secret of the present Sultan’s
policy, which seems suicidal on general principles of government. He
has, on the one hand, been lavish in the building and repairing of
mosques, and in establishing Moslem schools throughout his dominions. On
the other hand, he has infringed and ignored the ancient rights and
privileges of the Christian Patriarchates which were guaranteed by
Mohammed II., and have hitherto been regarded as sacred. He has blocked
the erection of new Christian schools and churches, and even the
repairing of such as are falling into decay. There were formerly
thousands of non-Moslems in civil positions, faithfully serving the
government; under the new régime, however, they have been systematically
removed and excluded. And why has all this been done? Because the Sultan
is a good conscientious Mohammedan, it is only fair to believe. Even if
he were not a sincere believer, he would still feel compelled to adopt
the same course, as a matter of internal political necessity. The Moslem
population look to him as the Defender of the Faith, girded with the
sword of the Prophet. He feels it imperative at all hazards to regain
lost prestige over his fanatical subjects, especially in the south,
where rumblings of discontent and disloyalty are ominous.[30]

Let us be reasonable and practical. Why longer exact or accept from the
Sultan promises which he cannot make without doing violence to his own
conscience and to his office, and which he cannot execute without
imperilling his throne? You might as well ask the Pope to abandon the
doctrines of temporal sovereignty and of infallibility, which to him are
fundamental. If the situation in Turkey demands that anything be done,
and if the rest of humanity and civilization have any responsibility in
the matter, let practical statesmen proceed to business. All hope of
reform from within depends on the distrustful, distracted, hoodwinked
Sultan, who is clearly, in the circumstances, a helpless and pitiable
object. But he should no more be allowed to stand in the way of the
emancipation of Turkey, than the Pope was allowed to impede the making
of Italy. “The Prisoner of the Vatican” has still abundant scope for his
great and beneficent spiritual projects; and the Captive at Yildiz
Palace—for such he has for years constituted himself—may also be allowed
a sphere in which his personal virtues and ability shall shine forth,
unobscured by the clouds and darkness that surround him now. He
certainly would be better off, and his subjects also—Moslem no less than
Christian.

The shrieks of ten thousand slaughtered Armenians pierce for the moment
above the groans of others. But it should not be forgotten that all the
races in Turkey are under the same curse, and that the present is a
chance to help them as well as the Armenians.

According to the Koran, which is the basis and ultimate authority of
Mohammedan law—Code Napoleon, treaty stipulations, and Imperial _Iradés_
notwithstanding,—the whole non-Moslem population of Turkey are outlaws.
The millions of ancient, hereditary inhabitants, whether Greek,
Armenian, Nestorian, Jacobite, Jew, or Syrian, are considered aliens.
Their legal status is that of prisoners of war, with corresponding
rights and responsibilities.[32] Not one of them is expected or even
allowed to serve in the army. Non-Moslems, whose services are
indispensable to the government, are, in rare cases, put in civil
offices, especially financial, for which no Mohammedan of sufficient
integrity or ability can be found.

It cannot be denied that the above is true in theory, and it is equally
true that the theory is carried out so far as fear of intervention by
Christian nations permits.

But in this hour, when our hearts are stirred by the lot of our
co-religionists under the Crescent, let us not forget that the Moslem
population almost equally is cursed and impoverished by Turkish misrule,
venality, and taxation. They drink the cup of woe, all but the more
bitter dregs of religious persecution, which is reserved for Christian
lips. Their benumbed condition, natural stolidity, and unquestioning
obedience to Islam, a creed whose cardinal principle is submission,[33]
accounts for the fact that they do not appear as a factor of the
problem. Yet even Mohammedans often secretly come pleading that Europe
take some interest in their case too. In the name of humanity, yes, of
Christianity, let them not be forgotten.

“An Eastern Resident,” writing from Constantinople, in an article
entitled “Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid,” in _The Contemporary Review_, January,
1895, gives an able analysis of the Sultan’s position and policy,
showing at the same time great appreciation of His Majesty as a man. His
position and relations to the Sublime Porte are not well understood by
the public, and could hardly be better stated than in these extracts:

[Illustration:

  H. I. M. ABD-UL-HAMID KHAN, THE SULTAN OF TURKEY.
]

“So far as we can judge, the Sultan is a sincere and honest Mohammedan,
and regards himself as a true Caliph—a successor of the Prophet—the
chief defender of the faith, under God the absolute arbiter of its
destinies. He has undoubtedly done his best to reconcile the interests
of the Caliphate with those of the Empire....

“In one particular it [the policy of the Sultan] is condemned by most
enlightened Mohammedans as strongly as by Christians. His attempt to
concentrate the whole administration of the Empire in his own hands has
led to the establishment of a dual government—that of the Palace and the
Porte. The whole machinery of a government exists at the Porte. There
are Ministers and fully organized departments. There is a Council of
Ministers and a Council of State. All business is supposed to pass
through their hands, and the whole administration is supposed to be
subordinate to them. All is, of course, subject to the supreme will of
the Sultan, but his official advisers and his official agents are at the
Porte.

“In fact, however, there is another government at the Palace of Yildiz,
more powerful than the official government, made up of chamberlains,
mollahs, eunuchs, astrologers, and nondescripts, and supported by the
secret police, which spares no one from the Grand Vizier down. The
general policy of the Empire is determined by this government, and the
most important questions of state are often treated and decided, while
the highest officials of the Porte are left in absolute ignorance of
what is going on. It is needless to add that the Porte and the Palace
are at sword’s-point, and block each other’s movements as far as they
can....

“The Sultan evidently believes that he is equally independent of both
these governments, and decides all questions, great and small, for
himself. In form he does so, but no man can act independently of all his
sources of information, and of the personal influence of his
_entourage_. Under the present system he makes himself responsible for
every blunder and every iniquity committed in the Empire, but he has
disgraced three distinguished Grand Viziers for telling him so, and
seems to have no idea of the causes of the intense dissatisfaction with
his government which prevails among his Mohammedan subjects. The Turks,
as well as the Christians, also condemn the laws restricting personal
freedom, which have increased in severity every year. In many ways these
laws are more galling to the Turks than the Christians....

“There is another evil connected with this system which may lead to
serious difficulties with foreign Powers. All foreign relations are
supposed to be managed through the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the
Grand Vizier, but these officials have no power and but little
influence. They can promise nothing and do nothing. But in all delicate
diplomatic questions it is essential to treat with responsible agents,
and to discuss them with such agents in a way in which it is impossible
to treat with the Sovereign himself. The present system has been a
serious injury to Turkey. It has roused the hostility of all the
Embassies and led them to feel and report to their governments, that
there is no use in trying to do anything to save this Empire; that it is
hopelessly corrupt, and the sooner it comes to an end the better for the
world. There is no longer any concerted action of Europe at
Constantinople for the improvement of the condition of the people....

“If Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid would come out of his palace, restore to the
Porte its full responsibility, disband its secret police, trust his
Mohammedan subjects, and do simple justice to the Christians, his life
would be far more secure than it is to-day, with all precautions; his
people and all the world would recognize the great and noble qualities
which they now ignore, and welcome him as the wisest and best of all the
Sultans....

“The sad pity of it is that he will never do it. It is too late. The
influence of the Palace favorites is too strong. He will appear in
history not as the Sultan who saved the Empire, but as the one who might
have saved it and did not.”




                              CHAPTER VII.
                 PREVIOUS ACTS OF THE TURKISH TRAGEDY.


In this chapter[34] I shall take no account of events that have taken
place in legitimate warfare, where the slain were foreign enemies or
rebellious subjects of the Sultan, resisting with arms in their hands
after being ordered to submit. The “insurgents”—as the Porte has called
them—in all these cases have consisted of men, women, children, and
infants, and in each case, by a curious coincidence, have been
non-Mohammedan.

In all of these massacres, Turkish military or civil officers presided
and directed the bloody work, as will be seen by reference to the
authorities mentioned. There have been many other massacres of less than
ten thousand during the intervals, which, to use the language of Beder
Khan in Mosul (see Layard’s _Nineveh_), have confirmed the whole Turkish
principle, that “the Armenians were becoming too numerous, and needed
diminishing.”

This item of Turkey’s account, for the past seventy-five years only,
stands about as follows:


    DEFENSELESS CHRISTIAN SUBJECTS MASSACRED IN TURKEY 1820 TO 1894.

     1822. Greeks, especially in Scio (Chios)          50,000 [35]
     1850. Nestorians and Armenians, Kurdistan         10,000 [36]
     1860. Maronites and Syrians, Lebanon and Damascus 11,000 [37]
     1876. Bulgarians, Bulgaria                        10,000 [38]
     1894. Armenians, Armenia, Sassoun                 12,000 [39]
                                                       ——————
                              Total                    93,000

The above figures indicate the extent of the massacres mentioned. The
following extracts reveal the occasion and manner in which they were
carried out.

The first extract is in regard to the Greeks, and is a translation, by
Mr. Robert Stein, from the French:

“The blow had been long premeditated. Sultan Mahmoud was in the habit of
replying to every success of the Greek insurgents by ordering massacres,
violations, and enslavement in regions without defense, where there were
none but women, children, and inoffensive merchants. After the first
exploit of Kanaris, the quiet commercial town of Cydonia had promptly
been burnt. The Turkish admiral was beaten at Samos; for that reason
thirty days were spent in Cyprus in cutting off heads. The town of
Tripolitza, in the Morea, having been taken by the Palikares, the
inhabitants of Cassandra, in Thrace, were given up to bands of Arnauts.
The Sultan wished to take new reprisals to terrify the _rayas_
[Christian subjects], and to cause the nations of Europe to reflect. He
took care not to fix his choice on Crete, where his _nizams_ would have
been received with gunshots. Chios was an easy prey, and suspected
nothing, having always lived on good terms with the Porte, and having
even refused to take part in the insurrection of Hellas and the islands.
The Chiotes had always been the gentlest, the most docile, the most
timid of all the _rayas_. The secret societies which endeavored to rouse
the Greek people had not even deigned to initiate these islanders in
their projects of national resurrection. On the 8th of May, 1821, the
intrepid Tombasis, with fifteen brigs from Hydra and ten schooners from
Psara, had appeared before the island, and his patriotic advances having
been ill received, he had retired. The inhabitants of Chios, in order to
give new guaranties of submission, had sent to the Turks large amounts
of money, numerous hostages, and all their arms; even the little knives
with which they cut their bread had been taken from them.

“At this moment, on Easter Day, 1822, the Capitan-Pasha anchored in the
harbor, with seven ships and eight frigates. Inasmuch as many of the
people, frightened by the sight of this fleet, had fled to the
mountains, they were made to come down by promises of safety, and by
sending to them some consuls, who were simple enough to lend themselves
in good faith to this ignoble fraud. The Turkish admiral brought his
executioners with him; _bashi-bazouks_ from Roumelia, Zeibeks and Yuruks
from Asia Minor, the most ferocious and cowardly to be found in the
empire. The adventurers had come in great numbers, eager for their prey,
attracted by this country, so rich in harvests, in gold coins, and in
women. On the day fixed for this surprise all this rabble was crowded
into boats, with pistols and knives, and the carnage began. Whole
regiments courageously besieged villages containing three hundred souls.
For many of them, this slaughter was a great joke, a gigantic
_bakshish_. They slashed and burned all day; in the evening they
reckoned up the price of the slaves, the sheep, the goats, all huddled
together pell-mell in the profaned churches. The children and the women
escaped death; their youth and beauty saved them from the massacre, to
deliver them over at once to outrageous assaults or to reserve them for
the shameful fate of the harem. They were led off in long troops; they
were put on the market and sold in the bazaars of Smyrna,
Constantinople, and Brussa. Whatever resisted was killed without mercy.
At Mesta, a young girl cried and struggled against an Arnaut; the madman
seized her loosened hair, turned back the collar, and with a cut of his
sabre severed the pretty head. The person who described this scene to me
saw it with his own eyes.”[40]

In regard to the massacre of Nestorians in 1850, Layard states that
after 9000 had been massacred, “1000 men, women, and children concealed
themselves in a mountain fastness. Beder Khan Beg, an officer of rank in
the employment of the Sultan, unable to get at them, surrounded the
place, and waited until they should be compelled to yield by thirst and
hunger. Then he offered to spare their lives on the surrender of their
arms and property, terms ratified by an oath on the Koran. The Kurds
were then admitted to the platform. After they had disarmed their
prisoners they commenced an indiscriminate slaughter, until, weary of
using their weapons, they hurled the few survivors from the rocks into
the river Zab below. Out of nearly 1000 only one escaped.”[41]

In regard to the massacre of Maronites and Syrians in 1860, the
anonymous authority in _The Independent_ goes on to say:

“After the massacre of June and July, 1860, in Lebanon and Damascus,
under the direction of Tahir Pasha in Deir el Komr, Osman Beg in
Hasbeiya, Kurshid Pasha in Lebanon, and Ahmed Pasha in Damascus, a
conference was held in Paris, August 3d, by the representatives of Great
Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, and Turkey. As 11,000
Christians had been massacred, the European representatives called the
attention of the Sultan to his promise in the Treaty of Paris, March 30,
1856, ‘that serious administrative measures should be taken to
ameliorate the condition of the Christian population of every sect in
the Ottoman Empire....’ And then, in the presence and with the consent
of the five aforesaid Christian representatives, assembled together for
the express purpose of taking measures to stop the effusion of Christian
blood in Syria, caused by the wicked and wilful collusion of the
Sultan’s authorities, the following insult to the common sense, the
feelings, and judgment of Christian Europe was deliberately penned: ‘The
Plenipotentiary of the Sublime Porte takes note of this declaration of
the representatives of the high contracting Powers, and undertakes to
transmit it to his court, pointing out _that the Sublime Porte has
employed, and continues to employ, her efforts in the sense of the wish
expressed above_!’” (Churchill, pp. 220, 221.)

Colonel Churchill further says (p. 222):

“Nejib Pasha, who was installed Governor of the Pashalick of Damascus on
the restoration of Syria to the Sultan in 1840, declared to a
confidential agent of the British Consul in that city, not knowing,
however, the character of the person he was addressing, ‘the Turkish
Government can only maintain its supremacy in Syria by cutting down the
Christian sects.’ What Nejib Pasha enounced as a theory, Kurshid Pasha,
after an interval of twenty years, succeeded in carrying into practice.”

The writer in _The Independent_ adds:

“Thus we have Nejib Pasha in 1840, Beder Khan in 1850, Kurshid Pasha in
1860, Chefket Pasha in 1876, and Zekki Pasha in 1894, concurring in this
noble and philanthropic scheme for relieving the Turkish Empire of its
surplus Christian population!”

The following facts relate to the terrible atrocities perpetrated in
Bulgaria by Turkish _bashi-bazouks_ in the spring of 1876. I quote
verbatim from the preliminary report[42] of the Hon. Eugene Schuyler,
American Consul-General, to the Hon. Horace Maynard, the American
Minister, at Constantinople:

                                        “PHILIPPOPOLIS, August 10, 1876.

“SIR:—In reference to the atrocities and massacres committed by the
Turks in Bulgaria, I have the honor to inform you that I have visited
the towns of Adrianople, Philippopolis, and Tatar-Bazardjik, and
villages in the surrounding districts. From what I have personally seen,
and from the inquiries I have made, and the information I have received,
I have ascertained the following facts:...

“The insurgent villages made little or no resistance. In many instances
they surrendered their arms upon the first demand. Nearly all the
villages which were attacked by the _bashi-bazouks_ were burned and
pillaged, as were also all those which had been abandoned by the
terrified inhabitants. The inhabitants of some villages were massacred
after exhibitions of the most ferocious cruelty, and the violation not
only of women and girls, but even of persons of the other sex. These
crimes were committed by the regular troops as well as by the
_bashi-bazouks_ [irregulars]. The number of villages which were burned
in whole or in part in the districts of Philippopolis, Roptchus, and
Tatar-Bazardjik is at least sixty-five.

“Particular attention was given by the troops to the churches and
schools, which in some cases were destroyed with petroleum and
gunpowder.

“It is difficult to estimate the number of Bulgarians who were killed
during the few days that the disturbances lasted; but I am inclined to
put 15,000 as the lowest for the districts I have named.... This village
surrendered, without firing a shot, after a promise of safety, to the
_bashi-bazouks_, under command of Ahmed Aga, a chief of the rural
police. Despite his promise, the arms once surrendered, Ahmed Aga
ordered the destruction of the village and the indiscriminate slaughter
of the inhabitants, about a hundred young girls being reserved to
satisfy the lust of the conqueror before they too should be killed. Not
a house is now standing in this lovely valley. Of the 8000 inhabitants
not 2000 are known to survive.

“Ahmed Aga, who commanded the massacre, has since been decorated and
promoted to the rank of _yuz bashi_ [centurian].

“These atrocities were clearly unnecessary for the suppression of the
insurrection, for it was an insignificant rebellion at the best, and the
villagers generally surrendered at the first summons.

                           “I am, sir, yours very truly,
                                                       “EUGENE SCHUYLER.

  “The Hon. HORACE MAYNARD, etc.”

“The British Government had glossed over and tried to cover up these
horrible transactions, Premier Disraeli turning them off with a sneer.
The facts, as unearthed by Consul Schuyler, shook the British nation
like an earthquake, and came near unseating the Ministry....

“A similar investigation was made in the same district by Mr. J. A.
MacGahan, the brilliant correspondent of the London _Daily News_, who
confirms all that Mr. Schuyler discovered, in a special dispatch to the
_Daily News_, dated Philippopolis, July 28, 1876.”

The circumstances and character of the Armenian massacre of 1894 are
found in the first chapter of the present volume. In regard to this
event the writer in _The Independent_ of January 17th above quoted asks:

“Will history repeat itself in 1895? Will the remaining Armenians of
Sassoun be so terrorized as to refuse to testify before a Commission?
Undoubtedly.

“If the facts already known do not force Europe to place Eastern Asia
Minor under a Christian Viceroy there is little hope that any new facts
will influence them. The dead tell no tales. The living fear to speak,
lest they fall victims to the humane theories of Beder Khan and Nejib
Pasha.

“Will England now insist upon the protection of the Christian? She is
morally bound to. Four times has she saved the Ottoman Empire from
destruction, and the civilized world looks to her for a fulfilment of
her high mission in the East.

“May British public opinion compel British public men to action!”

To make this chapter a little more complete for reference, I add a
passing allusion to three other outrages not included in the above list,
which takes account of no massacres of less than ten thousand victims at
once.


                      OUTRAGES IN CRETE IN 1866–7.

On July 21, 1867, the British, Russian, French, and Italian Consuls at
Canea, Crete, sent the following identical telegram to their several
governments: “Massacres of women and children have broken out in the
interior of the island. The authorities can neither put down the
insurrection nor stay the course of these atrocities. Humanity would
imperatively demand the immediate suspension of hostilities, or the
transportation to Greece of the women and children.”

The number of relieving ships sent to Crete in obedience to this accord
was four French, three Russian, two Italian, three Austrian, and one
Prussian.[43]


                      OUTRAGES IN ARMENIA IN 1877.

The writer is C. B. Norman, special correspondent of _The London Times_,
who says in his preface:

“In my correspondence to the _Times_ I made it a rule to report nothing
but what came under my own personal observation, or facts confirmed by
European evidence.

[Illustration:

  A HIGHWAY IN ARMENIA.
]

“A complete list it is impossible for me to obtain, but from all
sides—from Turk and Armenian alike—I hear piteous tales of the
desolation that reigns throughout Kurdistan—villages deserted, towns
abandoned, trade at a standstill, harvest ready for the sickle, but none
to gather it in, husbands mourning their dishonored wives, parents their
murdered children; and this is not the work of a power whose policy of
selfish aggression no man can defend, but the ghastly acts of Turkey’s
irregular soldiery on Turkey’s most peaceable inhabitants,—acts the
perpetrators of which are well known, and yet are allowed to go
unpunished....

“A bare recital of the horrors committed by these demons is sufficient
to call for their condign punishment. The subject is too painful to need
any coloring, were my feeble pen enabled to give it.”

A few, out of many cases reported by Mr. Norman are given:

“This gang also attacked the village of Kordjotz, violating the women,
and sending off all the virgins to their hills; entering the church they
burned the Bible and sacred pictures; placing the communion-cup on the
altar, they in turn defiled it, and divided the church plate amongst
themselves....

“Sheik Obaidulah’s men rivalled their comrades under the flag of
Jelaludeen; these latter operated between Van and Faik Pasha’s camp.
They attacked and robbed the villages of Shakbabgi and Adnagantz,
carrying off all boys and virgins. At Kushartz they did the same, and
killing 500 sheep, left them to rot in the streets, and then fired the
place. Khosp, Jarashin, and Asdvadsadsan, Boghatz, and Aregh suffered in
like manner; the churches were despoiled and desecrated, graves dug up,
young of both sexes carried off, what grain they could not transport was
destroyed, and the inhabitants driven naked into the fields, to gaze
with horror on their burning homesteads.”[44]


             THE MASSACRE OF THE YEZIDIS NEAR MOSUL, 1892.

“The Yezidis are a remnant of a heathen sect, who have never been
converted to the Moslem faith.

“Their holy place is not far from the city of Mosul, one day’s journey,
and their principal villages are also close by. In the summer of 1892
the Sultan sent a special officer, called Ferik Pasha, to Mosul to
correct certain abuses in the government, to collect all back taxes, and
to convert the Yezidis. His authority was absolute, the Vali Pasha of
the city being subject to his orders.

“In reference to his work among the Yezidis, he, it was generally
reported, was to get a certain sum per capita for every convert made.

“He first sent priests among them to convert them to the “true faith.”
They not succeeding, he very soon gave them the old alternative of the
Koran or the sword. Still not submitting, he sent his soldiers, under
command of his son, who put to the sword all who, not able to escape,
refused to accept Mohammed. Their villages were burned, many were killed
in cold blood, some were tortured, women and young girls were outraged
or carried off to harems, and other atrocities, too horrible to relate,
were perpetrated.

“Those who escaped made their way to the mountains of Sinjar, where,
together with their brethren of the mountains, they intrenched
themselves and successfully defended themselves until the spring of 1893
against the government troops which had been sent against them.

“This massacre was reported to the French Government by M. Siouffi,
Consul at that time in Mosul, and to the English Government by Mr.
Parry, who was in that region under the instructions of the Archbishop
of Canterbury.

“The Yezidis who remained in their villages on the plain had Moslem
priests set over them to instruct them in the Moslem faith. They were
compelled to attend prayers and nominally become Mohammedans; but in
secret they practised their own rites and declared that they were still
Yezidis.”[45]

After the massacre of the Yezidi peasants in 1892 an English lady of
rank, visiting Mosul, was refused permission by the Pasha to travel
through the Yezidi district, lest she witness the dreadful results of
the massacre.[46]

The writer in _The Independent_ of January 31st, gives this explanation:

“The _reason_ of the recurrence of massacres in Turkey is the fanatical
intolerance of the Moslem populace and their hatred to Christianity,
unrestrained and often fomented by Turkish officials.

“Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, the ablest and best friend Turkey ever
had, who believed that ‘England should befriend Turkey in order to
reform her,’ says:[47]

“‘Turkey is weak, fanatical, and misgoverned. The Eastern question is a
fact, a reality of indefinite duration. Like a volcano it has intervals
of rest; but its outbreaks are frequent, their occasions uncertain, and
their effects destructive’ (p. 6).

“‘Did not the massacres in Syria in 1860 come upon us by surprise?...
Have we any substantial security against the recurrence of similar
horrors, of a similar necessity, and of a similar hazard?’ (p. 79).

“‘The position of the Ottoman Empire is one of natural determination
toward a state of exhaustive weakness’ (p. 97).

“‘Ill fares the country where neither strong hand nor willing heart is
to be found’ (p. 104).

“A joint Commission is now _en route_ to investigate the Sassoun
massacres. Will any good come from it? Doubtful. Lord Stratford says (p.
117):

“‘We know not how soon or where the kites may be again collected by a
massacre or insurrection.... Such occasional meetings [of Commissions]
have their portion of inconvenience and risk. Their failure is
discreditable; the effect of their success, at best, transient and
partial. The _evils_ they are meant to correct are themselves the
offspring of one pervading evil, the source of which is in
Constantinople.’”




                             CHAPTER VIII.
                   ISLAM AS A FACTOR OF THE PROBLEM.


It is with reluctance that I approach this side of the question. It is
not desirable that the subject be complicated or embittered by religious
animosities. But unfortunately these animosities do exist and have
always formed a primary and essential feature in all the relations of
the Turks with their Christian subjects. A writer who styles himself
“Diplomatist,” in a recent review article of considerable merit,[48]
with a stroke of the pen, disposes of this phase of the subject by
characterizing it as “pure moonshine.” But real diplomatists do not find
it so easy to dispose of, nor do the great historians treat it as
moonshine. The fanatical gleam that I have often caught in the eye of
Turks and Kurds was never suggestive to me of the mild rays of the lunar
orb, but seemed rather like a gleam from the political Crescent, whose
baleful influence dominates the East.

The question is not concerning the merits of Mohammed or of
Mohammedanism in the abstract. I have a profound respect for the Prophet
of Arabia, who might have been another Apostle Paul, but for the fact
that the corrupt church of that day failed to give that young and ardent
seeker after God a true and worthy conception of Christianity. I would
fain admit the high conception of the Mohammedan ideal, portrayed so
skilfully by Mr. R. Bosworth Smith in his lectures before the Royal
Institution of Great Britain.

But such considerations are irrelevant to the present discussion, which
is simply, What are the practical bearings of Islam upon the question of
reform or of reconstruction in Turkey?

As has been already shown in Chapter VI., the Ottoman Government is a
_politico-religious system_. This is the necessary constitution of any
Mohammedan sovereign state, but the conception has special force and
vitality in Turkey, whose Sovereign claims to be the successor of
Mohammed, and thus the Calif of the Mohammedan world. The whole fabric
of the Turkish Empire rests on a religious foundation. This religious
foundation is not the general religious principle in man, but the
particular form of religion established by Mohammed.

To what _extent_, now, does Islam enter into the political structure? We
find on investigation that it is part and parcel of the bone and sinew
of the organism in Turkey called the State,—called so by courtesy on
account of its faint analogy to what is understood in other countries by
that name. The Turkish army is exclusively a Mohammedan army, the
national festivals are Mohammedan festivals, the official calendar is a
Mohammedan calendar, both as to year and month, the laws are based on
the Koran and Mohammedan tradition, the expounders of the law are
Mohammedan judges, and even testimony is a religious act of which only
true believers are, in the nature of the case, capable. It is not denied
that the testimony of Christians is allowed to be _given_ in Turkish
courts, but that does not signify that it is _valid_ evidence in the
eyes of the Court, especially when a Mohammedan is involved. Even the
different formulæ used show this. In the case of a Mohammedan it is,
“His Lordship, So and So, testified to the face of God”; in the case of
a Christian it is, “Mr. Blank stated.”

In Article 63 of the Treaty of Berlin we read Turkey’s solemn (it is
hard to suppress a smile) promise to the European Powers in regard to
the rights of Christians before the law: “_All shall be allowed to give
evidence before the courts without distinctions of creed._” The
practical application of the above clause is shown in the official
reports of British Consuls.[49]

Mr. Wilson, Consul-General in Anatolia, writes:

“In the greater portion of Anatolia, though Christian evidence may be
received, no weight is attached to it. When Moslem and Christian
evidence are opposed to each other, the latter is disregarded. For
instance, three Christians are travelling along a road, and one of them
is robbed by a man well known to all of them; in the action which
ensues, the robber has only to prove an _alibi_ by two Moslem false
witnesses to gain his case.”

Mr. Chermside, Vice-Consul at Sivas, writes:

“As regards the acceptance of Christian testimony, theoretically is it
accepted in all _Nizam_ courts. Hearing testimony, however, and
attaching the relative importance to it that, from its tenor and
consistency, it is entitled to, are very different matters; and there is
no doubt that, especially in civil cases, tradition, sympathy, and
education prejudice the _Hakim_[50] against it—sentimental
considerations, however, are not proof against the love of gain.”

According to the latter part of this quotation, the spirit which
animates the courts of Asia Minor may be defined as fanaticism tempered
by corruption. The following is the opinion of Mr. Everett, Vice-Consul
at Erzerum: “The first consideration of the administrators of justice is
the amount of money that can be extorted from an individual, and the
second is his creed.” The only doubt as to the morality of the Turkish
magistrates appears to be whether they are more corrupt than fanatical,
or more fanatical than corrupt.

The injustice done to Christians even in commercial transactions is
shown by Mr. Bilotti, Consul at Trebizond:

“Christian evidence is accepted in the town of Trebizond, but I am
assured in the districts, that though the same principle is admitted, no
Mussulman has ever been condemned on the testimony of Christians; so
much so, that the latter are in the habit of having their bonds
witnessed only by Mussulmans.”

Much is said in regard to the truthfulness of the Turks. Consul-General
Wilson writes: “From the peculiar value of Moslem evidence, most of the
false witnesses are Turks.”

As a matter of fact, we thus see that the millions of Christians in
Turkey neither are nor can be considered and treated as citizens of the
state, simply because they do not belong to the religion of the foreign
invaders who rule them. No degree of loyalty can secure for non-Moslems
admission to the army. Christians are rapidly being excluded from even
the humblest positions in the civil lists also, except from such as
Mohammedans are incompetent to fill. The status of the Christian before
the law is that of an alien in regard to his own rights, and of a slave
as far as the interests of Mohammedans are concerned.

And yet we are told that the Ottoman Turks are tolerant of the members
of other faiths. This is true in the same sense that the stomach is
spoken of as being “tolerant” of certain easily digestible articles of
food. Yes, so long as Christians submit to all forms of oppression, and
make no claims in regard to rights which are generally supposed to
belong to all men, they are gladly tolerated.

That the discrimination against Christian subjects is due to their
religious belief, is, further, clearly shown by the fact that
Mohammedans, who abandon the creed of the government, immediately
forfeit their special privileges, and even incur punishment as
criminals. Apostacy from Islam is treason to the Sultan. Converts to
Christianity are arrested and imprisoned. In the rare instances when
foreign governments venture to inquire into such cases, the Ottoman
authorities blandly insist that they care nothing for the man’s
religion, but that he must be arrested for “avoiding conscription,” or
on some other fictitious charge. He is, thereupon, hurried off to some
distant military post, or finds a living grave in an unknown dungeon.

Such is the politico-religious organization called the Ottoman
Government. Can this union of Church and State be dissolved? It can not
be. The bond which unites them, according to Mohammedan doctors, is
vital, as in the case of the Siamese twins.

Inasmuch as the bond cannot be cut, the only remaining hope must be in
improving the health of the two bodies thus indissolubly united.
Unfortunately, no change can be hoped for in the case of either part of
this dual patient. _Mohammedanism at its birth was a malformation_, to
say the least, and will continue so even though restored to a state of
perfect health. In the opinion of every orthodox Mohammedan, the Koran
is a “perfect revelation of the will of God, sufficient and final,” and
“Islam is a separate distinct, and absolutely exclusive religion.”

As attempts are frequently made to convey a contrary impression on this
point, I quote the words of President George Washburn, of Robert
College, Constantinople, an impartial student of Islam, who for
thirty-five years has observed its practical workings in the Ottoman
Empire. At the World’s Parliament of Religions, in Chicago, 1893, he
read a paper on “The Points of Contact and Contrast between Christianity
and Mohammedanism.” His whole treatment is remarkable for its judicial
fairness, and his paper is commended to the reader who may desire a
brief, comprehensive, and fair estimate of Islam.

To the question whether Mohammedanism has been in any way modified,
since the time of the Prophet, by its contact with Christianity, Dr.
Washburn thinks that every orthodox Moslem would answer in the negative.
He adds: “It is very important to bear in mind that there are nominal
Mohammedans who are theists, and others who are pantheists of the
Spinoza type. There are also some small sects who are rationalists, but
after the fashion of old English Deism rather than of the modern
rationalism. The Deistic rationalism is represented in that most
interesting work of Justice Ameer Ali, _The Spirit of Islam_. He speaks
of Mohammed as Xenophon did of Socrates, and he reveres Christ also, but
he denies that there was anything supernatural in the inspiration or
lives of either, and claims that Hanife and the other Imams corrupted
Islam, as he thinks Paul the apostle did Christianity; but this book
does not represent Mohammedanism, any more than Renan’s _Life of Jesus_
represents Christianity. These small rationalistic sects are looked upon
by all orthodox Moslems as heretics of the worst description.”

Although the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments happen to be
mentioned one hundred and thirty-one times in the Koran, they are only
quoted twice. The fundamental doctrines of Christianity, such as the
Incarnation, the Trinity, the Atonement, and the Resurrection of Christ
are specifically repudiated in the Koran.

The reform of Islam as a system is, therefore, not within the range of
possibility. How about the reform of the Ottoman Government? On this
point I yield the floor to the great historian E. A. Freeman, who will
close the debate[51]:

“There are some people who say the Turks are no doubt very bad, but that
the Christians are just as bad, and have done things just as cruel. Now,
as a matter of fact, this is not true; and, if it were true, it would be
another reason for setting the Christians free; for if they are as bad
as the Turk, it is the Turk who has caused their badness. While other
nations have been improving, the Turk has kept them from improving. Take
away the Turk who hinders improvement, and they will improve like the
others. The slave never has the virtues of a freeman; it is only by
setting him free that he can get them.

“When we point out the evils of the rule of the Turk, some people tell
us that Christian rulers in past times have done things quite as bad as
the Turks. This is partly true, but not wholly. No Christian government
has ever gone on for so long a time ruling as badly as the Turk has
ruled. But it is true that Christian governments have in past times done
particular acts, which were as bad as the acts of the Turks. But this
argument, too, cuts the other way; for Christian governments have left
off doing such acts, while the Turks go on doing them still. The worst
Christian government is better now than it was one hundred years ago, or
five hundred years ago. The rule of the Turk is worse now than it was
one hundred years ago, or five hundred years ago. That is to say, the
worst Christian government can reform, while the Turk cannot.

“It is sometimes said that we ought not to set free the Christians for
fear that they should do some harm to the Mohammedans who would be left
in their land. Now, if the question were really put, Shall a minority of
oppressors go on oppressing the people of the land, or shall the
majority of the people of the land turn round and oppress the minority
who have hitherto oppressed them?—this last would surely be the lesser
evil of the two. But there is no ground for any such fear. No one wishes
to hurt any Mohammedan who will live peaceably and not hurt Christians.
No one wishes that any man, merely because he is a Mohammedan, should be
in any way worse off than a Christian, or be put under any disability as
compared with a Christian. There is no reason why he should be. For the
Mohammedan religion, though it does not command that Christians shall be
persecuted, does command that Christians shall be treated as subjects of
Mohammedans. But the Christian religion in no way commands that
Mohammedan shall be treated as the subject of Christian. Christians and
Mohammedans cannot live together on equal terms under a Mohammedan
government, because the Mohammedan religion forbids that they should;
but Mohammedans and Christians may perfectly well live together under a
Christian government. They do so under the governments both of England
and of Russia. The few Mohammedans who are left in Greece and in Servia
are in no way molested; there are mosques both at Chalkis and at
Belgrade. But it is foolish to argue, as some people do, that because
men of different religions can live together under a Christian
government, therefore they can live together under a Mohammedan
government; for both reason and the nature of the Mohammedan religion
prove that it is not so....

“The Turk came in as an alien and barbarian encamped on the soil of
Europe. At the end of five hundred years, he remains an alien and
barbarian encamped on soil which he has no more made his own than it was
when he first took Kallipolis. His rule during all that time has been
the rule of strangers over enslaved nations in their own land. It has
been the rule of cruelty, faithlessness, and brutal lust; it has not
been government, but organized brigandage. His rule cannot be reformed.
While all other nations get better and better, the Turk gets worse and
worse. And when the chief powers of Europe join in demanding that he
should make even the smallest reform, he impudently refuses to make any.
If there was anything to be said for him before the late Conference,
there is nothing to be said for him now. For an evil which cannot be
reformed, there is one remedy only—to get rid of it. Justice, reason,
humanity, demand that the rule of the Turk in Europe should be got rid
of; and the time for getting rid of it has now come.”

[Illustration:

  ARMENIAN REBELS WHO WOULD NOT PAY TAXES.
]

This was written seventeen years ago with reference to the
discontinuance of the Ottoman power in Europe. Does it not now apply
with equal force to the discontinuance of the same régime in Armenia?




                              CHAPTER IX.
       GLADSTONE ON THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE AND ON TURKISH MISRULE.


On the eighty-fifth anniversary of Mr. W. E. Gladstone’s birth, December
29, 1894, a deputation of members of the National Church of Armenia
presented to his son, the Rev. Stephen Gladstone, rector of Hawarden, a
silver gilt chalice for the use of the church, in memory of the
ex-Premier’s sympathy with and assistance to the Armenian people. On
that occasion Mr. Gladstone made a long and eloquent speech, in the
course of which—after thanking the deputation for their token of
sympathy and their grateful references to himself—he said:

“Well, Mr. Stevenson—I address myself now perhaps more particularly to
you and to my own countrymen, to any of them who will take notice of the
deputation. I have said that in my opinion this manifestation from the
Armenian community in England and in Paris was, on my part at least,
quite undeserved. I have done nothing for you in circumstances of great
difficulty, and that, let me assure you, has not been owing to
indifference. I will explain the cause in very few words. Rumors went
abroad, growing more and more authenticated, which represented a state
of horrible and indescribable outrage in Armenia. The impulse of every
man in circumstances of that kind is to give way to a burst of strong
feeling, but I had the conviction that in a grave case of this kind
every nation is best and most properly represented by its government,
which is the organ of the nation, and which has the right to speak with
the authority of the nation.

“And do not let me be told that one nation has no authority over
another. Every nation, and if need be every human being, has authority
on behalf of humanity and of justice. (Hear, hear.) These are principles
common to mankind, and the violation of which may justly, at the proper
time, open the mouths of the very humblest among us. But in such cases
as these we must endeavor to do injustice to no one, and the more
dreadful the allegations may be, the more strictly it is our duty not to
be premature in assuming their truth, but to wait for an examination of
the case, and to see that what we say, we say upon a basis of
ascertained facts.

“Well, gentlemen, it was, my fate—my fortune, I think—about eighteen
years ago to take an active part with regard to other outrages which
first came up in the shape of rumor, but were afterwards too horribly
verified, in Bulgaria; but I never stirred in regard to those outrages
until in the first place, their existence and their character had been
established by indisputable authority; and, secondly, until I had found
myself driven to absolute despair in regard to any hopes that I could
entertain of a proper representation of British feeling on the part of
the government which was then in office. You will see, therefore, that
my conduct on this occasion has not been inconsistent with what I then
did (hear, hear), and it does not imply, old as I am, that my feelings
have been deadened in regard to matters of such a dreadful description.
(Cheers.)

“Now I remained silent because I had full confidence that the government
of the Queen would do its duty, and I still entertain that confidence.
Its power and influence are considerable; at the same time they are
limited. It is not in the power of this country, acting singly, to
undertake to represent humanity at large, and to inflict, even upon the
grossest wrongdoers, the punishments that their crimes may have
deserved; but there is such a thing as the conscience of mankind at
large, and the conscience is not limited even to Christendom. (Hear,
hear.) And there is a great power in the collected voice of outraged
humanity. What happened in Bulgaria? The Sultan and his government
absolutely denied that anything wrong had been done. Yes, but their
denial was shattered by the force of facts. The truth was exhibited to
the world. It was thought an extravagance at the time when I said: ‘It
is time that the Turk and all his belongings should go out of Bulgaria
bag and baggage.’ They did go out of Bulgaria, and they went out of a
good deal besides. But, quite independent of any sentiment of right,
justice, or humanity, common sense and common prudence ought to have
taught them not to repeat the infernal acts which disgraced the year
1876, so far as Turkey was concerned. (Cheers.)

“Now, it is certainly true that we have not arrived at the close of this
inquiry, and I will say nothing to assume that the allegations will be
verified. At the same time I cannot pretend to say that there is no
reason to anticipate an unfavorable issue. On the contrary, the
intelligence which has reached me tends to a conclusion which I still
hope may not be verified, but tends strongly to a conclusion to the
general effect that the outrages and the scenes and abominations of 1876
in Bulgaria have been repeated in 1894 in Armenia. As I have said, I
hope it is not so, and I will hope to the last, but if it is so it is
time that one general shout of execration, not of men, but of deeds, one
general shout of execration directed against deeds of wickedness, should
rise from outraged humanity, and should force itself into the ears of
the Sultan of Turkey and make him sensible, if anything can make him
sensible, of the madness of such a course.

“The history of Turkey has been a sad and painful history. That race has
not been without remarkable and even in some cases fine qualities, but
from too many points of view it has been a scourge to the world, made
use of, no doubt, by a wise Providence for the sins of the world. If
these tales of murder, violation, and outrage be true, then it will
follow that they cannot be overlooked, and they cannot be made light of.
I have lived to see the Empire of Turkey in Europe reduced to less than
one half of what it was when I was born, and why? Simply because of its
misdeeds—a great record written by the hand of Almighty God, in whom the
Turk, as a Mohammedan, believes, and believes firmly—written by the hand
of Almighty God against injustice, against lust, against the most
abominable cruelty; and if—and I hope, and I feel sure, that the
government of the Queen will do everything that can be done to pierce to
the bottom of this mystery, and to make the facts known to the world—if,
happily—I speak hoping against hope—if the reports we have read are to
be disproved or to be mitigated, then let us thank God; but if, on the
other hand, they be established, then I say it will more than ever stand
before the world that there is no lesson, however severe, that can teach
certain people the duty, the prudence, the necessity of observing in
some degree the laws of decency, and of humanity, and of justice, and
that if allegations such as these are established, it will stand as if
it were written with letters of iron on the records of the world, that
such a government as that which can countenance and cover the
perpetration of such outrages is a disgrace in the first place to
Mahomet, the Prophet whom it professes to follow, that it is a disgrace
to civilization at large, and that it is a curse to mankind. (Cheers.)
Now, that is strong language.

“Strong language ought to be used when facts are strong, and ought not
to be used without strength of facts. I have counselled you still to
retain and to keep your judgment in suspense, but as the evidence grows
and the case darkens, my hopes dwindle and decline; and as long as I
have a voice I hope that voice, upon occasions, will be uttered on
behalf of humanity and truth.” (Cheers.)[52]

In a remarkable paper entitled _Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of
the East_ called forth by the atrocities in 1876, Mr. Gladstone sums up
some of the qualities of the Turkish race and of Turkish rule as
follows:[53]

“Let me endeavor very briefly to sketch, in the rudest outline, what the
Turkish race was and what it is. It is not a question of Mohammedanism
simply, but of Mohammedanism compounded with the peculiar character of a
race. They are not the mild Mohammedans of India, nor the chivalrous
Saladins of Syria, nor the cultured Moors of Spain. They were, upon the
whole, from the black day when they first entered Europe, the one great
anti-human specimen of humanity. Wherever they went, a broad line of
blood marked the track behind them; and, as far as their dominion
reached, civilization disappeared from view. They represented everywhere
government by force as opposed to government by law. For the guide of
this life they had a relentless fatalism; for its reward hereafter, a
sensual paradise.

“They were, indeed, a tremendous incarnation of military power. This
advancing curse menaced the whole of Europe. It was only stayed—and that
not in one generation, but in many—by the heroism of the European
population of those very countries part of which form at this moment the
scene of war, and the anxious subject of diplomatic action. In the olden
time all Western Christendom sympathized with the resistance to the
common enemy; and even during the hot and fierce struggles of the
Reformation there were prayers, if I mistake not, offered up in the
English churches for the success of the emperor—the head of the Roman
Catholic power and influence—in his struggles with the Turk.

[Illustration:

  KURDISH HAMIDIÉH SOLDIERS EXECUTING THE “SWORD DANCE.”
]

“But, although the Turk represented force as opposed to law, yet not
even a government of force can be maintained without the aid of an
intellectual element such as he did not possess. Hence there grew up
what has been rare in the history of the world, a kind of tolerance in
the midst of cruelty, tyranny, and rapine. Much of Christian life was
contemptuously let alone, much of the subordinate functions of
government was allowed to devolve upon the bishops; and a race of Greeks
was attracted to Constantinople which has all along made up, in some
degree, the deficiencies of Turkish Islam in the element of mind, and
which at this moment provides the Porte with its long-known and, I must
add, highly esteemed ambassador in London. Then there have been, from
time to time, but rarely, statesmen whom we have been too ready to
mistake for specimens of what Turkey might become, whereas they were, in
truth, more like _lusus naturæ_, on the favorable side,—monsters, so to
speak, of virtue or intelligence. And there were (and are) also,
scattered through the community, men who were not, indeed, real
citizens, but yet who have exhibited the true civic virtues, and who
would have been citizens, had there been a true polity around them.
Besides all this, the conduct of the race has gradually been brought
more under the eye of Europe, which it has lost its power to resist or
to defy; and its central government, in conforming perforce to many of
the forms and traditions of civilization, has occasionally caught
something of their spirit....

“I entreat my countrymen, upon whom far more than perhaps any other
people of Europe it depends, to require and to insist that our
government, which has been working in one direction, shall work in the
other, and shall apply all its vigor to concur with the other states of
Europe in obtaining the extinction of the Turkish executive power in
Bulgaria. Let the Turks now carry away their abuses in the only possible
manner—namely, by carrying off themselves. Their Zaptiehs and their
Mudirs, their Bimbashis and their Yuzbachis, their Kaimakams and their
Pashas,—one and all, bag and baggage,—shall, I hope, clear out from the
province they have desolated and profaned. This thorough riddance, this
most blessed deliverance, is the only reparation we can make to the
memory of those heaps on heaps of dead; to the violated purity alike of
matron, of maiden, and of child; to the civilization which has been
affronted and shamed; to the laws of God, or, if you like, of Allah; to
the moral sense of mankind at large. There is not a criminal in a
European jail, there is not a cannibal in the South Sea Islands, whose
indignation would not arise and overboil at the recital of that which
has been done; which has too late been examined, but which remains
unavenged; which has left behind all the foul and all the fierce
passions that produced it; and which may again spring up, in another
murderous harvest, from the soil soaked and reeking with blood, and in
the air tainted with every imaginable deed of crime and shame. _That
such things should be done once is a damning disgrace to the portion of
our race which did them, that a door should be left open for their
ever-so-barely possible repetition would spread that shame over the
whole._[54] Better, we may justly tell the Sultan, almost any
inconvenience, difficulty, or loss associated with Bulgaria,

               ‘Than thou reseated in thy place of light,
               The mockery of thy people and their bane.’

“We may ransack the annals of the world; but I know not what research
can furnish us with so portentous an example of the fiendish misuse of
the powers established by God ‘for the punishment of evil-doers, and for
the encouragement of them that do well.’ No government ever has so
sinned; none has so proved itself incorrigible in sin, or, which is the
same, so impotent for reformation. If it be allowable that the executive
power of Turkey should renew, at this great crisis, by permission or
authority of Europe, the charter of its existence in Bulgaria, then
there is not on record, since the beginnings of political society, a
protest that man has lodged against intolerable misgovernment, or a
stroke he has dealt at loathsome tyranny, that ought not henceforth
forward to be branded as a crime.”




                               CHAPTER X.
                         WHO ARE THE ARMENIANS?


That a field so rich in possibilities for the student of history,
ethnology, or language as Armenia and Kurdistan should have remained as
yet so little explored, is due, no doubt, to three causes[55]: first,
the apparent loss of significance of the Armenian nation, which now,
like Poland, seems but a stranded wreck in the stream of history;
second, to her geographical isolation and the danger and hardship of
travel in that region[56]; third, to the linguistic obstacles to be
overcome.

So little clear and accurate information about the Armenians is readily
accessible that the following brief outline is offered in the hope of
meeting this want at the present time.

HISTORY—The Armenian race belongs to the Japhetic branch of the human
family, falling under the same category as the inhabitants of India and
Persia, who form the Aryans of Asia. The Armenian language proves this
by its affinity with the Indo-Germanic tongues. Their physiognomy and
physical constitution connect them with the best types of Caucasian
stock. Their manners and customs, as well as their religious beliefs, in
heathenism, were similar to those of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, of the
Medes and Persians, and, still later, of the Parthians.

These people call themselves Haik, after Haig, the most celebrated of
their ancient kings, and their land Haiasdan. Their national legends,
fortified in their eyes by the Bible, make Haig descend from Ashkenaz or
Togarmah, children of Gomer, a patriarch of the line of Japhet.[57]
Foreigners applied to them the name Armenians, derived from King Aram,
said to be a descendant of Haig, who made great conquests.[58]

The earliest biblical mention of this land is the statement that the ark
“rested upon the mountains of Ararat,” a term which evidently refers to
a district rather than a peak.[59] Another scriptural allusion is in
connection with Sennacherib, whose parricidal sons are said to have
escaped, 681 B. C., “into the land of Armenia.”[60] Ezekiel also refers
to Armenia under the name Togarmah, as furnishing Tyre with horses and
mules, a product for which it is still noted.[61] Tigranes I. is said to
have been an ally of Cyrus the Great in overthrowing the Babylonians,
and thus in liberating the Jews after their seventy years’ captivity,
538 B. C. A foreshadowing of this event is probably found in the prophet
Jeremiah: “Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and
Ashkenaz, ... to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an
inhabitant.”[62]

In the famous inscriptions of the Achemenidæ, at Persepolis and at
Behistun, the name Armenia is found in various forms, and the Armenian
tributaries march after the Cappadocians to render homage to the great
king.[63]

Herodotus mentions the absorption of the Armenian Empire in that of
Darius, 514 B. C., and a tribute of four hundred talents exacted.[64]

Xenophon’s account of the retreat of the ten thousand through this
mountainous region, in midwinter, and constantly harassed by enemies, is
valuable, not only as a tribute to the splendid discipline and spirit of
the Greeks, but for the light which it throws upon the ancient Armenians
and Kurds, whose houses, domestic habits, and employments are the same
in many respects even at the present day.[65]

Armenia was included in the conquests of Alexander, and afterwards
submitted to the Seleucidæ of Syria. In 190 B. C., when Antiochus the
Great was defeated by Scipio, Armenia revolted under Artaxias, who gave
refuge to the exiled Hannibal. About 150 B. C., the great Parthian king,
Mithridates I., established his brother Valarsaces in Armenia. The most
celebrated king of this branch of the Arsacid family was Tigranes II.,
who, while aiding Mithridates of Pontus, was defeated by Pompey. After
this, Tacitus says that the Armenians were almost always at war; with
the Romans through hatred, and with the Parthians through jealousy.[66]
Princes of this line continued to rule, however, until the Arsacidæ were
driven from the Persian throne by the Sassanid Ardashir. Though
frequently conquered by the kings of that dynasty, Armenia was enabled
as often to re-assert her freedom by the help of Roman arms.

When Tiridates embraced Christianity, 276 A. D., the struggle became
embittered by the introduction of a religious element, for the Persians
were bigoted Zoroastrians. This condition reached a climax when the
country was divided between the Romans and Persians, under Theodosius
the Great, 390 A. D.

[Illustration:

  AN ARMENIAN TOMBSTONE OF A.D. 934.

  Evidence of a high state of art.
]

After the fall of the Sassanidæ, in the seventh century, Armenia was
divided between the Greek Empire and the Saracens; but from 859 to 1045
it was again ruled by a native dynasty of vigorous princes, the
Pagratidæ. This was brought to a close by the suspicious and
short-sighted policy of the Byzantine emperors, one of whom, Constantine
IX., at last overthrew the Armenian kingdom, thereby laying open the
whole eastern frontier to the invasion of the Seljouk Turks, who shortly
before had begun their attacks, and who might have been successfully
resisted by these hardy mountaineers. The result was fatal, both to
Armenia, which was overrun, and to the Greek Empire; for by the battle
of Manzikert, 1071 A. D., when Romanus IV. was defeated and made
prisoner by Alp Arslan, the whole of Asia Minor was left at the mercy of
the Seljouks.[67]

Rupen, a relative of the last Pagratid sovereign, escaped into Cilicia,
and established the Rupenian dynasty, which was not extinguished until
the death of Leon VI., 1393, an exile in Paris, and the last of the
Armenian kings. The Rupenians had entered into alliance with the
Crusaders. They welcomed the Mongolian hordes under Genghis Khan, early
in the thirteenth century, and suffered the vengeance of the Mamelukes,
1375.

A graphic account of the cruelties of Timour the Tartar, who devastated
Armenia at the close of the fourteenth century, has been left us by
Thomas of Medzop. The last great calamity which fell upon the mother
country happened in 1605, when Shah Abbas forcibly transplanted twelve
thousand families to Ispahan in Persia.

THE ARMENIAN CHURCH.—It is the oldest of all national churches. Their
legends claim that our Lord corresponded with King Abgarus of Edessa or
Ur, and that the apostles Thaddæus and Bartholomew preached the Gospel
to them. But the historical founder of the Armenian church was St.
Gregory “The Illuminator,”[68] an Arsacid prince, related to King
Tiridates (Dertad), who was consecrated Bishop of Armenia, at Cæsarea,
in 302 A. D. The Armenian church is Episcopal in polity, and closely
resembles the Greek in outward forms.

Misled by imperfect reports of the Council of Chalcedon, 451, which they
were not able to attend on account of Persian persecutions, the Armenian
bishops annulled its decrees in 536, thus gaining the credit of being
Eutychians, which led to their gradual separation from the orthodox
church, much to the satisfaction of the Persian ruler Chosroes. This
estrangement was doubtless political as much as doctrinal, on account of
the attempts at ecclesiastical supremacy by the churches of
Constantinople and Rome. As far as her ecclesiastical writers are
concerned, and her beautiful liturgy, the Armenian church is in general
orthodox. Her heresy, in common with that of the rest of Christendom, is
one of life rather than of doctrine. A schism in the Armenian church was
brought about in the sixteenth century by Jesuit missionaries, who
succeeded in detaching the community of Catholic Armenians from the
mother church, of which the Catholicos at Etchmiadzin is recognized as
the supreme head.

All Armenians—except perhaps the Catholic, whose allegiance has been
transferred of course to Rome—still cherish a passionate attachment for
the venerable church of their ancestors, to which they owe their
identity as a people after the terrible vicissitudes of so many
centuries. It is true that Armenians who have come under European
influence, especially French, have to some extent become sceptical and
indifferent to religion. But even such men still profess at least an
outward loyalty, as a matter of sentiment, and because they believe the
formal preservation of the Armenian church to be the condition of
national union in the future as it has been in the past. It is, indeed,
almost a political necessity, as the Ottoman Empire is now constituted.

It is to be hoped that the time will come when the children of the
Armenian church of every shade will no longer look upon her as a mother
frail and failing, yet to be treated with respect while she lasts; nor
as a mother ignorant and bigoted beyond hope of reform; still less, as
one heretical and to be abandoned for Rome. Rather, let all her sons
rally around her and help her to fulfil her true spiritual mission. She
will then renew her youth and again take her honored place in the front
ranks of “the Church of the living God, which is the pillar and ground
of the truth.”

Would that the spirit of the grand and broadminded man who is now the
Catholicos at Etchmiadzin, His Holiness, Mugerditch Khrimian, might
pervade the whole body of which he is the honored and beloved head. Less
than a year ago, the author had the privilege of a long private
interview with this venerable ecclesiastic, whose hand he kissed in
oriental fashion, with respect for the man and for himself. His last
words to me, found upon the title-page, were “_Husahadelu chenk_,”
meaning, “We must not despair”—a good motto for us all.

[Illustration:

  THE CATHOLICOS OF ETCHMIADZIN, IN THE CAUCASUS.

  Religious head of the Armenian Church.
]

That the grand old church of “The Illuminator” should somewhat lose its
hold on the mind and conscience of the rising generation at this stage
of superficial enlightenment is not strange. Her real merits are
concealed, unfortunately, under a growth of superstition and ignorance
which even the clergy admit, but lack the courage and ability to remove.
These abuses, however, are not due to any demoralization of the Armenian
race itself, but to its isolation, and to the repeated and terrible
devastations that have checked its growth and reduced it to a condition
of extreme poverty and helplessness.

No greater service could be rendered to the Armenian people than aid and
encouragement in establishing institutions for the education of the
clergy, who under present circumstances are their natural leaders. The
twentieth century will bring, we hope, better political privileges. But
unless, in the meantime, the ancient church has maintained her hold on
the conscience of the rising generation, she is in danger of sinking
into the position of the church in France.

By nature the Armenians are deeply religious, as their whole literature
and history show. 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 Greeks, but in a brave and
simple record written with the tears of saints and illuminated with the
blood of martyrs.

[Illustration:

  THE SUBORDINATE CATHOLICOS OF AGHTAMAR, A TOOL OF THE TURKS.

  Wearing the Sultan’s highest decorations for services rendered.
]

The seeds of a thorough and far-reaching reformation have been carefully
sown and are already bearing fruit. The prospect of reform is brightened
by three facts: first, the Armenian church is essentially democratic,
and is not in bondage to any “infallible” human authority; second, her
errors of doctrine and practice are not fundamental, and, having never
been sanctioned by councils, but simply by custom and tradition, can in
due time be discarded; third, she has always acknowledged the supreme
authority of the Bible, which is no longer a sealed book, having been
translated into the modern tongue by American missionaries, very widely
scattered, and at last gladly received by all classes. The demand for
progress and reform is by no means confined to the so-called
“evangelical” element, but is making itself heard even in the pulpits of
the old church and in the secular press.

The Armenians, very numerous in ancient times, now number only about
4,000,000, of whom 2,500,000 are under the Sultan, 1,200,000 in Russia,
150,000 in Persia, and the rest widely scattered in many lands, but
everywhere distinguished for their peaceable and enterprising character.
They are the leading bankers, merchants, and skilled artisans of Turkey,
and extensively engage in the various trades, manufactures, and
agriculture as well. They love their native home and are yet destined to
play an important part in the moral and material regeneration of western
Asia.

The following estimate is from an experienced and discriminating
authority, who is also a member of the Church of England:

“I have confessed already to a prejudice against the Armenians, but it
is not possible to deny that they are the most capable, energetic,
enterprising, and pushing race in Western Asia, physically superior, and
intellectually acute, and _above all they are a race which can be raised
in all respects to our own level, neither religion, color, customs, nor
inferiority in intellect or force constituting any barrier between us_.
Their shrewdness and aptitude for business are remarkable, and whatever
exists of commercial enterprise in Eastern Asia Minor is almost
altogether in their hands. They have singular elasticity, as their
survival as a church and nation shows, and I cannot but think it likely
that they may have some share in determining the course of events in the
East, both politically and religiously. As Orientals they understand
Oriental character and modes of thought as we never can, and if a new
Pentecostal _afflatus_ were to fall upon the educated and intelligent
young men who are being trained in the colleges which the American
churches have scattered liberally through Asia Minor, the effect upon
Turkey would be marvellous. I think most decidedly that reform in Turkey
must come through Christianity, and in this view the reform and
enlightenment of the religion which has such a task before it are of
momentous importance.”[69]

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.—The Armenian grammar is analogous to that of
other languages of the same origin. It has not the distinction of
gender, but is rich in its declensions and conjugations. The accent of
Armenian words is on the last syllable, and many of the strong
consonantal sounds strike the ear of a foreigner with harshness, and
defy his tongue. The rich native vocabulary has been increased by
additions from languages with which it has come in contact. It possesses
also, as the German, great facility in building compound words.

The earliest specimen of this language, though in the cuneiform
character, is probably to be found in the tri-lingual inscriptions on
the great citadel rock of Van, which have not yet been satisfactorily
made out. The pre-Christian literature of Armenia, consisting of
national songs, has entirely perished, except a few quotations. All that
has come down to us is subsequent to the fourth century, and refers
exclusively to history or religion. Poetry and fiction never greatly
flourished among this serious race, always in the midst of danger or
suffering.

The ancient Armenian version of the Bible, made by Mesrob, the inventor
of their alphabet, and his disciples, early in the fifth century, has
been called the queen of versions for its beauty, and, though not based
on the Hebrew, is of some critical value in determining the readings of
the Septuagint, of which it does not follow any known recension.
Hundreds of other translations from Syriac and Greek writers soon
followed, some of which are extant only in Armenian.

The fifth century, their Golden Age, was adorned by such classic writers
as Yeznig of Goghp, who wrote most eloquently, in four books, against
the Persian fire-worshippers, the Greek philosophers, the Marcion
heresy, and the Manichæans; Goriun, the biographer of Mesrob; David, the
philosopher and translator of Aristotle; Yeghishe, who relates the
heroic struggle of Vartan for the Christian faith against the Persian
Zoroastrians; Lazarus of Parb; and Moses of Khorene, their national
historian. There follows a period of four centuries of literary
barrenness, due to political disorder and schism.

Under the Rupenian dynasty there was a second period of literary
brilliancy. Then flourished Nerses Schnorhali “The Gracious,” an orator
grafted upon the poet; as well as Nerses of Lampron, whose hymns also
enrich the beautiful Armenian liturgy. The annals of Matthew of Edessa
give interesting facts about the first Crusade. Samuel of Ani, John
Vanagan, Vartan the Great, and Thomas of Medzop wrote succeeding
chronicles.

[Illustration:

  THE ISLAND MONASTERY OF AGHTAMAR, IN LAKE VAN.

  One of many similar Armenian Monasteries still existing, rich in
    parchment manuscripts exposed to decay and vandalism.
]

A third revival of Armenian letters was begun by Mechitar of Sebaste
(Sivas), who established an order of Catholic monks at the monastery of
St. Lazarus in Venice, 1717. These fathers have won the interest and
admiration of European scholars by their publication of Armenian
classics, together with many learned original contributions. Other
centres of literary activity are to be found in Vienna, Paris, and the
Institute of Moscow, as well as the schools of Constantinople and
Tiflis.

A list of authorities on Armenian subjects is given in Appendix E.




                              CHAPTER XI.
             AMERICANS IN TURKEY, THEIR WORK AND INFLUENCE.


The American missionaries in the Turkish Empire are brought into the
discussion of almost every question that arises in that land.
Especially is this true at present, in connection with the Armenian
problem. So many wild and contradictory statements are made in regard
to them, and the Protestant communities which are the direct results
of their labors, that the mind of the public is more or less confused
on the subject. The missionaries, and the many thousands who have
gladly followed their leadership in intellectual, moral, and religious
reform, _are_ an important, though not a noisy or conspicuous element.
For this reason, as well as on account of popular ignorance and
hostile misrepresentation, they cannot be overlooked in any fair and
adequate survey of the situation. The writer has long been familiar
with this phase of the subject, and has a large mass of evidence and
statistics at his command. _But he is not connected with any of the
various missionary societies involved, and is alone responsible for
the statements made in this or any other part of the volume._

It is very important to note that charges against the missionaries, of
disloyalty to the Sultan, have never been sustained for a moment, and
that investigation has shown them to be obedient to the laws, and
opposed to revolutionary sentiments upon the part of any of the subjects
of the Empire. The highest officials have repeatedly borne public
testimony to the valuable services of the Americans in educational,
literary, medical and philanthropic lines. Even H. I. M. Sultan
Abd-ul-Hamid has graciously given expression to his confidence in
Americans as being free from any political designs, such as all
Europeans are supposed to entertain.

Many are not aware of the great work already accomplished by American
missionaries during the past seventy years in the Ottoman Empire, nor of
the vast influence they have exerted, both directly and indirectly. They
have been in many departments the pioneers of civilization. They have
stuck to their posts, obscure or prominent, in peace or in war, in
famine, plague and persecution. Pashas and diplomats and generals have
sought their aid without fear of being misled or betrayed. But the
messengers of the Cross have never been swerved from what they consider
a “higher calling”—to instruct the ignorant, young and old, to counsel
and reclaim the erring, to attend the sick and imprisoned, and to
comfort the broken-hearted. To support these general statements, the
reader must pardon a few statistics compiled from the latest official
tables, showing the _direct results_ of American missionary effort in
Turkey.


             STATISTICS OF AMERICAN MISSIONS IN TURKEY.[70]

The following figures, with the exception of the Press statistics,
represent the work of the American Board (Congregational) and of the
Presbyterian Board taken together.

The Congregational proportion constitutes about three fourths and the
Presbyterian one fourth in all these figures, the work of the latter
society being confined to Syria and Mosul.

                               THE FORCE.

 _Laborers._
     Foreign missionaries                                            223
     Native pastors, preachers, teachers, etc.                     1,094
                                                             ———————————
           Total force of laborers                                 1,317
     American missionaries to Turkey since 1821                      550

 _Plant._
     Value of property held by Americans, exclusive of
       churches, schools, etc., erected in the names of
       native subjects, with foreign aid, for which
       statistics are not available                           $2,500,000

 _Annual Expenditure._
     Appropriations from America                                $225,000
     From native sources                                          60,000
                                                             ———————————
           Total expenditure annually                           $285,000
     Total American expenditure from the first, at least     $10,000,000


                              THE RESULTS.

 _Religious._
     Churches organized                                              155
     Other stated preaching places                                   281
                                                                  ——————
           Total number of preaching places                          436
     Communicants (received on confession of faith)               13,528
     Members of Protestant civil communities (adherents)          60,000
     Average Sunday congregations                                 40,000
     Sunday-school membership                                     35,000

 _Educational._
     Colleges well equipped, for both sexes       5 students
     Theological seminaries                       6    „           4,085
     High-schools for boys                       80    „
     Boarding-schools for girls                  „     „
     Common schools for both sexes              530    „          23,315
                                                ———               ——————
                    Total schools of all grades 621 Students      27,400

There are six American institutions in Turkey incorporated under the
laws of the United States, and controlled by trustees in that land.


_Medical._

There is a well equipped American Medical College and Hospital at
Beirut, and American missionary physicians treat, yearly, many thousands
of patients of all classes and races throughout the land, both in their
dispensaries and in private practice, at a nominal sum and very often
gratuitously.


_Publishing._

Both weekly and monthly newspapers are published by the American
missionaries at Constantinople, in the Armenian, Turkish, Greek, and
Bulgarian languages, and an Arabic weekly is published at Beirut.

The catalogue of editions of the Scriptures and of religious,
educational, and miscellaneous books and tracts in various languages,
which may be obtained at the American Bible House, Constantinople,
contains separate titles to the number of about 1000. The publications
in the catalogue of the Presbyterian Press at Beirut, mostly in Arabic,
number 507. The number of copies of the Scriptures (entire or in part)
put in circulation by the Levant Agency of the American Bible Society
alone, 1847 to 1893, is 1,378,715. The number of copies of the
Scriptures (entire or in part) _in languages and type available for
Mohammedans_, put in circulation by the same Agency in 1893, was
Osmanli-Turkish (Arabic type), 5,392; Arabic language (Arabic type),
34,077; total, 39,469.

The number of copies of Scriptures (entire or in part) circulated in
Turkey since 1820 amounts to about 3,000,000. The number of copies of
other books and tracts for the same period is about 4,000,000. The total
number of copies of the Scriptures and of miscellaneous literature
circulated is therefore about 7,000,000.

[Illustration:

  ARMENIAN FAMILY, BITLIS.
]

Even these large figures by no means measure the extent and significance
of Protestant influence in Turkey. The idea and spirit of Protestantism
has a breadth which cannot be measured or portrayed by figures. As a
matter of convenience and political necessity, and also to destroy unity
of feeling and action among the subject peoples, all non-Moslem races
were classified by Mohammed II., after the capture of Constantinople in
1453, according to their religious belief. These lines of division have
always been strictly observed by the government in all its dealings with
non-Moslems. Even many of the taxes are collected through ecclesiastical
organizations. This policy of the government, together with the bitter
persecution of Protestants by the older churches, led to the formation
of a Protestant civil community in 1850, contrary to the original desire
and instruction of the missionaries, and in spite of the protests of
many evangelicals who preferred to retain connection with their
ancestral church, but who were thrust out with violence and anathema.

The Protestant communities which then sprang up all over the Empire,
were not ruled, as are the other Oriental churches, by hierarchical
bodies. The missionaries, who are mostly Congregational or Presbyterian,
while ready to advise and guide, have never exercised ecclesiastical
control over their converts. The Protestants, in accordance with their
inherent spirit and beliefs, have naturally organized their religious
and civil communities on a simple representative basis, which has
gradually developed independence of thought and character, and desire
for progress.

We come now to the _indirect results_ of missionary effort, namely, the
stimulus of evangelical example and success upon the Gregorian and other
communities including even the Mohammedans. The homes, schools, and
churches of the missionaries have been open to all comers; their varied
literature has gone everywhere; their aid in sickness, distress, and
famine has always ignored race or creed. Many thousands of Armenians,
Greeks, Syrians, Jacobites and others—Moslems being prevented by their
rulers except in rare instances—have received education in Protestant
schools, without changing their church relations. But, nevertheless, a
deep impression has been made on these pupils by contact no less than by
teaching, and this, together with a natural and worthy loyalty to their
own institutions, has stirred up all the other races to higher ideals
and efforts.[71]

The existence of a marked desire for progress by all classes is now
clear, and that this is largely due to foreign missionaries is admitted
by all[72]—gratefully by the Armenians and Christians generally, but
often with chagrin by the Turks, who find themselves being rapidly left
behind in the forward march which they have been too stupid or too proud
to fall in with. It is, however, very gratifying to see that the
Mohammedan leaders in both Church and State are at length becoming aware
of the marked intellectual awakening and substantial progress that
education has quietly brought about among the Christian races. Robert
College on the Bosphorus stands at the head of the many well equipped
American institutions in Turkey which have largely contributed to these
results.

We gladly recognize the wisdom and energy of His Majesty the present
Sultan, in trying to establish Moslem schools throughout his empire,
some of which are already quite large, creditable, and popular with the
Turks. It cannot be doubted that these schools will lead ultimately to
an awakening and a desire for reform and progress among Moslems which
will make them no less restive under present conditions than are the
non-Moslems to-day, and thus hasten the necessary reforms. While most
hearty praise is due His Majesty for fostering and even forcing
education among his Moslem subjects, it is greatly to be regretted that
there is another side to this policy as carried out by his agents,
namely, an equal zeal in curtailing and even closing, as far as
possible, Christian schools.

The hostility of the Sublime Porte has been growing, just in proportion
as the excellent results of American institutions, already enumerated,
have appeared. Does the Turkish Government desire that its hostility be
considered the most convincing proof of the success of disinterested
efforts to benefit its subjects of all classes? And does it propose to
continue to cripple and suppress such efforts? If so, it is not the two
hundred and fifty American missionaries in her borders who will suffer,
but the many schools and churches which they have planted and the many
thousands of peaceable and hitherto loyal subjects, who have been taught
in them to serve God as well as honor the king.




                              APPENDIX A.
                 A BIT OF AMERICAN DIPLOMACY IN TURKEY.


                               THE CASE.

    (Foreign Relations of the United States, 1884, pp. 538–539.[73])

                        (Inclosure in No. 317.)

                     _Mr. Wallace to Aarifi Pasha._

                             Note Verbale.

                                 LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
                                     _Constantinople, January 24, 1884_.

The legation of the United States of America has the honor to invite the
attention of his highness, the minister of foreign affairs, to the
matters following:

By note No. 167, June 13, 1883, the legation informed his highness that
two American citizens, traveling in the vilayet of Bitlis, had been set
upon by Kurds, robbed, and left to die, and that the governor-general of
the vilayet had manifested the most singular indifference about the
affair, and might be fairly charged with responsibility for the escape
of the malefactors. The suggestion was then made that his highness would
serve the cause of humanity and justice by ordering the most energetic
measures to be taken for the apprehension of the robbers.

By a communication, No. 71235, June 13, 1883, his highness was good
enough to answer the note of the legation, and give the pleasing
intelligence that the governor-general had succeeded in discovering the
goods taken from the two gentlemen, and that the robbers had been
arrested and delivered up to justice. This information his highness
reported as derived from the governor-general.

This report the legation found it necessary to correct; and for that
purpose it addressed a second note to his highness, the minister of
foreign affairs, No. 179, dated September 10, 1883, declaring that the
robbers had not been arrested, and that the goods and money taken from
Messrs. Knapp and Reynolds had been returned to them, but in small
parts. Under impression that it was yet possible to obtain the powerful
assistance of the Sublime Porte in bringing the thieves and assassins to
justice, the legation in the same note proceeded to give the full
particulars of the affair, both those connected with the assault and
those descriptive of the action of the governor-general. Of the assault,
it remarked that Messrs. Knapp and Reynolds, accepting the assurance of
the governor-general that the roads were perfectly safe, set out on
their journey without a guard of zaptiehs. They put up for a night at a
house where there was present Moussa Bey, son of Meza Bey, an
influential Kurdish chief. When they took their coffee they failed to
send a cup of it to the said Moussa, who feeling himself insulted by the
inattention, took four assistants and next day waylaid the gentlemen,
one of whom, Mr. Knapp, they beat with clubs until they supposed him
dead. Moussa Bey, with his own hand, cut down Dr. Reynolds, giving him
ten cuts with a sword. The two were then bound and dragged into the
bushes and there left to die. That there might be no excuse, such as
that the murderers were unknown, the legation gave his highness the
names of the subordinate assassins and their places of abode, Sherif
Oglon Osman and Iskan Oglon Hassan, both of the village of Movnok. A
third one was pointed out as the servant of Moussa Bey, living in the
village of Kabiaa. Of the action of the governor-general the legation
said further that when the affair was reported to him he made a show of
action by sending zaptiehs to arrest the robbers, but, singular to
remark, he selected Meza Bey, the father of Moussa, to take charge of
the party. Going to the village of Auzont, Meza Bey pointed out four
Kurds of another tribe as the guilty men, took them into custody and
carried them for identification to Messrs. Knapp and Reynolds, who said
they were not the assailants.

During the night, in Aozou, a bundle was thrown through a window into a
room occupied by the police, which on examination proved to contain a
portion of the stolen goods. With this the governor-general rested from
his efforts and dispatched to his highness the minister of foreign
affairs, that the stolen goods were recovered and returned, and the
felons captured and punished. This report, the legation took the liberty
of informing his highness, was not true, also that the chief of the
assassins, Moussa Bey, was still at large; and to emphasize its
statement, the legation further said to his highness, that the details
it communicated were current through all the region of Bitlis, having
been first given out by Moussa himself. The legation then, in the same
note, exposed the maladministration of the governor-general in language
plain as respect for his highness, the minister, and for the Sublime
Porte would permit, and suggested as the only means of accomplishing
anything like redress that a brave impartial officer be sent to Bitlis
to investigate the conduct of the governor and take the affair in his
own hands. “Such a step,” it was added, “might serve to save the lives
of many Christians,” and it was further represented that “could the
assassins be brought to just sentence it would unquestionably lessen the
demand for indemnity which otherwise it would be the duty of the
legation to present against the Imperial Government in this connection.”

On November 7, 1883, the legation of the United States, by a third note,
No. 184, communicated to his highness, the minister of foreign affairs,
that the governor-general of Bitlis had confronted four persons with Mr.
Knapp for identification, and that that gentleman had recognized Moussa
Bey as one of those who had robbed and wounded him. The legation of the
United States then expressed a hope that the minister of foreign affairs
would give proper orders for bringing Moussa Bey and his companions in
crime before the tribunals for trial.

Still later, on November 12, 1883, the legation of the United States
addressed a fourth note, No. 185, to his highness, the minister of
foreign affairs, detailing again the circumstances of the attempted
murder of Messrs. Knapp and Reynolds, and representing the
untrustworthiness of the governor-general by charging that Moussa Bey
had already obtained from him assurances of immunity in the event of a
trial and conviction.

His highness, the minister, was then requested that, if it was decided
to maintain the governor-general at his post, orders be given for the
transfer of the criminals to Constantinople for trial.

The three notes last named of the legation of the United States have not
been answered by his highness, the minister of foreign affairs, except
in a note, dated December 8, 1883, in which he is pleased to renew
assurances based upon telegrams from the governor-general, which are
utterly unreliable.

Wherefore, abandoning hope of justice through the governor-general of
Bitlis, and the judicial tribunals of the empire, the legation of the
United States finds itself compelled to change its form of application
for redress, and demand of the Sublime Porte indemnity in behalf of
Messrs. Knapp and Reynolds, for the former £1,500, and for the latter,
because of the more serious nature of his injuries, £2,000.


                   THE POSITION TAKEN IN WASHINGTON.

        (Foreign Relations of the United States, 1884, p. 544.)

                                No. 419.

                  _Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Wallace._

  (No. 153.)

                                          DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
                                        _Washington, February 13, 1884_.

SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 317, of the 25th
ultimo, relative to the case of the Rev. Mr. Knapp and Dr. Reynolds,
murderously attacked by Kurds near Bitlis, and to say that, after a
careful consideration of all the facts before the Department, the
inaction of the governor of Bitlis and the failure of the supreme
Government to force him to undertake such measures as the case evidently
demanded, must be regarded as a denial of justice. While this Government
is always averse to making money demands for indemnity in countries
whose administration of justice may differ from our own, the Department
feels compelled to resort to this remedy under circumstances which
manifestly make the local officers and the Government of the Porte
responsible for the failure to do justice in this case.

The action reported in your dispatch is, consequently, approved.

                                I am, &c.,
                                                FRED’K T. FRELINGHUYSEN.


                 THE POSITION TAKEN IN CONSTANTINOPLE.

General Lew Wallace is understood to have been emphatically a _persona
grata_ as U. S. Minister to Turkey, in fact to have enjoyed, to a very
exceptional degree, the personal confidence and friendship of His
Majesty the present Sultan. The following quotation will show what
treatment even he received in the discharge of his official duties in
the case under consideration:

            _From the Regular Correspondent of the Tribune._

                                          CONSTANTINOPLE, March 1, 1884.

The Porte, in deciding how far it is safe to affront foreign
Governments, has even ranked the United States below some of the
European States. The Porte during the past year has treated General
Wallace as if he were the representative of a Danubian Principality.
Remonstrance after remonstrance against fresh violations of the treaties
it has left unanswered, and it has repeatedly omitted the courtesy of a
bare acknowledgment of their receipt. In fact, Turkey has been relying
upon the distance of the United States. Perhaps its officials even
suppose that the American navy is afraid to risk adventures so far from
home as the coasts of the Levant.

General Wallace found it necessary, for the sake of the safety of
American citizens in Turkey, to press for some definition of the
situation. During nearly five weeks he had been refused a personal
interview with the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the ground of
“indisposition.” During all that time the representative of that
Minister declined to enter upon any discussion of the important
questions at issue. Four times the Minister Plenipotentiary of the
United States had been turned away from the door of the Sublime Porte by
the refusal of the Grand Vizier to see him. Each time plausible reasons
were assigned which seemed to render any insistance on the part of the
General uncourteous. Yet it became daily more evident that all these
plausible excuses for declining negotiation on the injuries done by
Turkey to American commerce and to American citizens were part of a
settled purpose not to redress the wrongs.—_New York Semi-Weekly
Tribune_, March 28, 1884.


                              THE RESULT.

The ten years that have elapsed since the above was written clearly show
that what seemed then to be a “settled purpose” has become the settled
policy of the Ottoman Government in regard to Americans and their rights
in Turkey.

In regard to the outcome of the case of Messrs. Knapp and Reynolds, the
humiliating fact must be recorded that not one cent of the indemnity
demanded by the United States of America has to this day been obtained.
The monster, Moussa Bey, was allowed by the Turkish Government to
continue his outrages on the Armenian villages of the great Moosh plain,
until his record became so appalling, that under European pressure the
Porte summoned him to Constantinople, where he was entertained as the
Sultan’s guest. He was whitewashed by the courts, but the Sultan was
prevailed upon to invite him to make a pilgrimage to Medina at his
expense, and there spend the remainder of his days in religious
exercises.




                              APPENDIX B.
                  U. S. CONSULATES IN EASTERN TURKEY.


The following petition was recently presented to the Hon. Walter Q.
Gresham, Secretary of State, and to the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America, for the establishment
of U. S. Consulates at Erzerum and Harpoot. The necessary legislation
has been promptly enacted, for which the thanks of all Americans in
Turkey is due to His Excellency the President, to the Secretary of State
and to members of both Houses of Congress.

                                        WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 3, 1895.

Apropos to the recent massacre of five thousand Armenians in Turkey, it
is clearly inexpedient for the United States to mix up in the Eastern
Question. But it is equally clear that _the duty of protecting a large
body of native-born American citizens constantly subjected to danger,
injury and insult in that land is not complicated by any Monroe
Doctrine_. In their interests, attention is called to this brief
statement of facts, and to a practical request for consular protection.


1. NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS AND INTERESTS INVOLVED.

Distributed in thirty of the principal cities of Asiatic Turkey alone,
there is a permanent body of _two hundred and fifty Americans_, not
including their children, who hold _over two million dollars_ of
American property for residence and the use of their educational,
medical, publishing and religious enterprises.

These figures do not cover the large commercial interests of Americans
in Turkey, for which statistics are not at hand.


2. NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE DANGER TO WHICH THEY ARE EXPOSED.

There are two sources of danger: first, the _lawlessness_ of numerous
highwaymen who infest the country, and of the fanatical Moslem
population of the cities; and second, the _hostility_ of Turkish
officials, who have repeatedly failed to restrain, and in some cases
have even encouraged attacks upon the lives and property of American
citizens.


3. EVIDENCE OF THIS DANGEROUS CONDITION.

So far back as June 29th, 1881, Secretary Blaine, in official
instructions to Minister Wallace at Constantinople, wrote:

“Your attention will doubtless be prominently and painfully drawn to the
insecurity of the lives and property of foreign travelers in Turkey, and
the failures of the authorities to prevent or repress outrages upon
American citizens by wayside robbers and murderers, or even to execute
its own laws in the rare instances of the perpetrators of such outrages
being brought to justice. I cannot take a better text on which to base
this instruction, than the accompanying copy of a letter addressed to
the President by a number of American residents in Turkey. Its
statements are known to be entirely within the truth, and can be
verified abundantly from the files of your legation. They show in simple
yet forcible language, the insecurity of traveling in that country, and
_the instances to the number of eight, within the past two years, when
American citizens have been robbed and beaten by lawless marauders_. On
these occasions the lives of the assailed have been at the mercy of the
robbers and, in one instance at least, the taking of life preceded the
robbery.”—_Foreign Relations of the United States 1881._

The above extract refers to outrages in Western Asia Minor and the
vicinity of Constantinople, but it is well known that in the Eastern and
interior part of Turkey, where many of us live, _the insecurity is
greater and has steadily increased, during the thirteen years that have
elapsed since the above facts were admitted by the State Department_.

The murderous attack by a Kurdish chief in person, which nearly cost Dr.
G. C. Reynolds, of Van his life, and for which _no indemnity was ever
obtained_, though the assailant was positively identified in court, is
reported in full in _Foreign Relations of the United States_, 1883,
1884, and 1890.

The arrest and indignities inflicted upon Mr. Richardson of Erzerum, by
the Governor-General, for which _no apology even was ever secured_, are
related in _Foreign Relations of the United States_ 1891.

The burning of Marsovan College by an unrestrained Turkish mob and the
_danger to the lives of many American residents_ is found in _Foreign
Relations of the United States_ 1893.

More cases of injury and insult, may be found in the same official
records. But in many other instances it has been felt to be useless and
inexpedient to even report them. _The absence of any American
representative to substantiate and vindicate our rights on the ground,
and the hopelessness of securing anything but further injury by trying
to press our claims, often drives us to the humiliating necessity of
suffering injustice with scarcely a protest._


                              THE REQUEST.

We feel that the condition shown by the above evidence, not to add more,
abundantly justifies a renewed request for _some Consular protection in
the Eastern part of Turkey, for the American citizens permanently
residing there in the prosecution of lawful pursuits_. Our present
exposed and helpless condition is clearly set forth in a communication
from the United States Legation at Constantinople, to the State
Department: “It may not be doubted that the absence of an American
Consul at Erzroom leaves our citizens there singularly destitute of
means to vindicate their rights and protect their interests; this is the
more regrettable as Erzroom is a missionary station of considerable
importance, and situated in a province where official protection is most
frequently and urgently needed. _The British Consul there is instructed
to act ‘unofficially’ for our citizens, but his right to represent them
is not recognized by the Ottoman authorities; the obvious consequence
is, that when his good offices are most needed, they are of least
avail._” _Foreign Relations of the United States_ 1891.

We are thus seen to be cut off from Consular protection of any kind. The
nearest U. S. Consul, Mr. Jewett of Sivas, an excellent man, is
unavailable for us for three reasons: first, the delay and difficulty in
communicating with him on account of our isolation, and the very
circuitous post-routes, in case the local authorities were kind enough
not to intercept our letters, as they have repeatedly, even the official
correspondence of the United States Minister (_Foreign Relations of the
U. S._ 1893); second, the distance and methods of travel are such that
probably from one to two months would elapse after any outrage, before
the Sivas Consul could be notified and arrive; third, the Consul at
Sivas could not leave his post without neglecting the large American
interests in Asia Minor.

Aside from being needed when special difficulties do occur, it is
obvious that the mere presence of a United States Consul on the ground
would have a marked effect in _deterring_ both the lawless and fanatical
elements, and the officials, who have never seen the stars and stripes,
from repeating acts which have caused much injury to the interests of
American citizens, and have been _the occasion of tedious and unpleasant
diplomatic correspondence between the two countries_. The expense of
living in Turkey is unusually low.

In view of all the foregoing facts, it is urgently requested that
American Consuls be located at Erzerum and Harpoot. These cities are
large centres of population and of American interests, and the seats of
Provincial Governors. They have large commercial and strategic
importance, and as good facilities for communication by post, telegraph,
or private messenger as the country affords. From Erzerum, Bitlis and
Van could also be cared for, while Mardin and Mosul would naturally be
under Harpoot, and thus the Americans of that whole territory would be
brought within two or three week’s journey of Consular protection.

We are from seven hundred to one thousand miles from Constantinople,
which means a journey of three to six weeks. The fact that at least
_5,000 men, women and children in our midst have been massacred, and
this fact kept nearly three months from the civilized world, is a
significant hint as to our isolation and danger_. The articles in the
last _Harper’s Weekly_, Dec. 29, and in the _Review of Reviews_, Jan.
1895, give much light on the situation.




                              APPENDIX C.
                       DR. HAMLIN’S EXPLANATION.


                (_New York Herald, December 20, 1894._)

  _To the Editor of the Herald_:

A cutting from the _Herald_ has been sent to me to-day containing a
letter of His Excellency, Mavroyeni, on the Armenian atrocities. I must
strongly object to the use he makes of a letter of mine in the Boston
_Congregationalist_ of last year (December 23, 1893).

The object of that letter was to show the absurdity of the revolutionary
plotters. The Armenians are a noble race, but few in number, scattered
and unarmed. The Turkish Government has never had the least fear of any
such movement. It knows well that there is no place in the Empire where
one thousand or even one hundred Armenians could assemble with hostile
intent. And besides they have no arms, and they are not accustomed to
their use. They would be lambs in the midst of wolves. Every one knows
this who knows anything of Turkey outside of Constantinople.

It is to be greatly regretted that the Ottoman Ambassador should attempt
to cover up the path of these horrid atrocities which have agitated the
whole Christian world and for which Turkey must give account. It were
far better to deplore the fact and work for justice and judgment. It may
be the time has passed when such deeds of blood and torture, committed
upon unarmed men, women and children, can be condoned by the civilized
world.

The plots of the revolutionists were harmless as to any effective force,
but were very pernicious in arousing fanaticism. The fact that a few
hair-brained young men in foreign lands had plotted a revolution was a
sufficient reason in the view of Moslem fanaticism for devoting the
whole race to destruction. It was this which I feared and it is this
which has happened.

Another object of the letter, from which His Excellency has quoted, was
to draw attention to the fact that this revolutionary movement is a game
which Russia is playing in her own interests. And she has played it
well. She has again caught Turkey in her trap. The whole civilized world
will now approve of her marching in with force to stop the slaughter of
an industrious, peaceful, unarmed peasantry. If Russia enters, it will
be with professions of great kindness toward the Sultan. It will be to
aid him in his well known benevolent intentions in the government of his
Christian subjects! But she will call the Armenians to her standard and
will arm and train them and they will prove a brave and valiant
soldiery. Some of the ablest generals of the Russian army have been
Armenians. Thus armed and trained, with the aid of their Russian allies,
they will defend their own homes in the Sassoun or any other district.

Turkey has brought this upon herself. His Excellency is a Greek
gentleman, and has a natural sympathy with Russia. His influence has
been to magnify the revolutionary plots instead of showing, as my letter
did, their insignificance and their Russian character, and has led his
government to give to them an importance which seems absurd. The Turkish
Government has had sufficient opportunity to study and understand Russia
since the Treaty of 1829, and again of 1833. Have her trusted advisers
been true to her, or have they betrayed her interests?

The civilized and Christian world awaits with profound and fixed
attention the solution of the question whether bloody, fanatical
violence or law shall reign over the Eastern regions of the Turkish
Empire.

                                                           CYRUS HAMLIN.

  Lexington, Mass., December 18, 1894.




                              APPENDIX D.
                      THE CENSORSHIP OF THE PRESS.


  With what intelligence and religious toleration the censorship of
  the press is conducted may be judged from examples found in an
  official document:

  “The quotation, in religious books, of the words of Scripture for
  proof or illustration, has been subjected to the will of the censor;
  and even the printing of religious books has been objected to on the
  ground that since Christians are graciously allowed to use the Holy
  Bible, they need no other books of religion. Appeal from the
  decisions of the censors is practically unavailing. This censor
  insists that the Scriptural phrase ‘Kingdom of Christ’ may not be
  used by Christians....

  “The index list of the Bible lessons for 1893 is simply a table of
  contents prepared by the British Sunday School Union. The censors
  have refused to permit the publication of this index list, unless
  some fifty titles are erased, or modified into a form at variance
  with the matter of the lessons, or expanded to a degree impossible
  in a brief table of contents, for example: St. Luke iv., 14–21,
  ‘Gospel liberty.’ The word ‘liberty’ must be erased. Jeremiah
  xxxiii., 7–16, ‘Sorrow turned to joy.’ This title must be
  suppressed. Haggai ii., 1–9, ‘Encouraging the people.’ This title,
  which refers to the Divine encouragement given to the people in the
  work of rebuilding the temple in the days of Zerubbabel, must be
  erased.

  “Psalm xxxiii., 10–22, ‘Wicked devices frustrated.’ This title must
  be stricken out.

  “Esther iv., 1–9, ‘Sorrow in the palace.’ This title must be
  suppressed.

  “Romans iv., 1–8, ‘Saved by grace.’ This title must be modified to
  read ‘Saved from sin by grace.’

  “Psalm xxxviii., 8–15, ‘Hope in distress.’ This title must be
  suppressed.

  “Joshua i., 1–9, ‘Fear not.’ This title can not be allowed.

  “Romans viii., 31–39, ‘Rejoicing in persecution.’ This title must be
  erased.

  “Romans xv., 25–33, ‘A benevolent object.’ This title cannot be
  allowed to stand unless the object is stated.”—_Foreign Relations of
  the United States_, 1893.

We learn that four months after the complaint was made the particular
points specified above were arranged. But as soon as foreign pressure
was relaxed the activity of the Censor revived, and is now more
intolerable than ever. A gentleman of long experience and intimate
knowledge writing from behind the scenes within a month, states: “The
Censorship of the Press is so severe as to amount almost to a
prohibition. At Constantinople a most reckless and destructive
mutilation of books goes on; and, contrary to the expressed utterances
of the Porte guaranteeing religious liberty, Christian doctrines are
expunged or changed, so as, at times, to become ridiculous and false.
The men appointed as Censors of the Press seem to be utterly ignorant of
all Christian literature and history and their object is to make all
books conform to the doctrines of Islam.

“The religious weekly of the American Mission in Syria, which had been
published for thirty years, was suppressed for a whole year, no reason
being given; and when the permit was finally secured, it was accompanied
by puerile and humiliating conditions.”

Some special departments of literature, such as history and poetry, are
forbidden, wholesale, by the Censor. Many of the Censor’s decisions and
the grounds on which they are based would be most laughable, but for the
fact that they are part of an attempt to throttle and starve the hungry
and growing minds of millions.




                              APPENDIX E.
                  PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SUBJECT.


                              HISTORICAL.

NORMAN, _Armenia and the Campaign of 1877_. London, 1878.

MILNER, _The Turkish Empire_. London: Religious Tract Society.

CLARK, _The Arabs and the Turks_. New York: Dodd & Mead.

TOZER, _The Church and the Eastern Empire_. New York: Randolph. London:
Longmans.

LATIMER, _Russia and Turkey in the XIX. Century_. Chicago: McClurg &
Co., 1894.

MORFILL, _Russia_. New York: Putnams. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1893.

LANE POOLE, _Turkey_. New York: Putnams. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1893.

CHURCHILL, _Druzes and Maronites_. London: Quaritch, 1862.

Viscount STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE, _The Eastern Question_. London: John
Murray, 1881.

LATHAM, _Russian and Turk_. London: Allen, 1878.

LAYARD, _Nineveh and its Remains_. London: Murray.

RAWLINSON, _The Five Great Monarchies_. Murray.

RAWLINSON, _The Sixth Great Oriental Monarchy_. Longmans.

RAWLINSON, _The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy_. Longmans.


                                TRAVEL.

SMITH and DWIGHT, _Researches in Armenia_. 2 vols. Boston: Crocker &
Brewster, 1833.

STEPHENS, _Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Poland_. 2 vols. New York:
Harpers, 1839.

SOUTHGATE, _A Tour through Armenia, Persia, and Mesopotamia_. 2 vols.
New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1840.

VAN LENNEP, _Travels in Asia Minor_. 2 vols. New York: Van Lennep, 1870.

VAN LENNEP, _Bible Lands: Their Modern Customs and Manners_. New York:
Harpers, 1875.

THEILMANN, _Journey in the Caucasus, Persia, and Turkey_. 2 vols.
London: 1875.

CREAGH, _Armenians, Koords, and Turks_. London: 1880.

TOZER, _Turkish Armenia and Eastern Asia Minor_. London: 1881.

BISHOP, _Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan_. 2 vols. New York: Putnams.
London: John Murray, 1891.


                             MOHAMMEDANISM.

SALE’S, _The Koran_. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Wardle, 1833.

SMITH, R. Bosworth, _Mohammed and Mohammedanism_. London: John Murray.
New York: Harpers, 1875.

WASHBURN, _The Points of Contact and Contrast between Christianity and
Mohammedanism_. Chicago: The Parliament Publishing Company, 1893.

BURTON, _Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Mecca_. New York: Putnams.
Belfast: Mullan.

MUIR, _Life of Mahomet_. London.

SPRENGER, _Life of Mohammed_. Allahabad, 1851.

IRVING, _Life of Mahomet_. Putnams.

STOBART, _Islam and its Founder_. Christian Knowledge Soc.

PFANDER, _Mezan el Hoc_. London: Church Missionary Society.

HUGHES, _Notes on Muhammadanism_. London: Allen, 1877.

OSBORN, _Islam under the Arabs_. London: Longmans, Green.

MUIR, _The Coran_. London: Christian Knowledge Society.

KOELLE, _Mohammed and Mohammedanism_. London: Rivington’s, 1889.

ARNOLD, _Islam and Christianity_. London: Longmans.

AMEER ALI, _The Spirit of Islam_.

AMEER ALI, _Life and Teachings of Mohammed_. London: Williams.


                               MISSIONS.

_The Missionary Herald, 1820–1894._ Boston: The American Board.

DWIGHT, _Christianity Revived in the East_. New York: Baker & Scribner,
1850.

ANDERSON, _Missions to the Oriental Churches_. 2 vols. Boston:
Congregational Publishing Society, 1872.

WHEELER, _Letters from Eden_. Boston: American Tract Society, 1868.

WHEELER, _Ten Years on the Euphrates_. Boston: American Tract Society,
1860.

WHEELER, _Daughters of Armenia_. New York: American Board, 1891.

PRIME, _Forty Years in the Turkish Empire_, or Memoirs of Rev. William
Goodell, D.D., Boston: American Tract Society, 1877.

LAURIE, _Missions and Science_. Boston: American Board, 1885.

LAURIE, _Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians_. Boston: Gould &
Lincoln, 1853.

JESSUP, _The Mohammedan Missionary Problem_. Philadelphia: Presbyterian
Board of Publication, 1879.

SCHAUFFLER, _Autobiography_. New York: Randolph, 1888.

HAMLIN, _Among the Turks_. New York: Robt. Carter & Bro.

HAMLIN, _My Life and Times_. Boston: Congregational S. S. and Pub. Soc.


                           ARMENIAN HISTORY.

MOSES CHORENENSIS, _Armenian History_, Arm. and Lat. London: William and
George Whiston, 1736.

LANGLOIS, VICTOR, _Collection des Historiens anciens et modernes de
l’Arménie_, en Français. Vol. i. Historiens grecs et syriens traduits
anciennement en Arménien. Vol. II. Historiens arméniens de 5^e siècle.
8º. Paris, 1867.

DULAURIER, _Recueil des Historiens des Croisades. Documents Arméniens_.
Paris, 1869. Folio with facsimile reproductions. Pp. 855. Arm. and
French.

DULAURIER, _Étude sur l’Organisation Politique, Religieuse et
Administrative du Royaume de la Petite-Arménie à l’époque des
Croisades_. Paris, 1862.

LENORMANT, _Sur l’Ethnographie et l’Histoire de l’Arménie, avant les
Achéménides_. In Lettres Assyriologiques. 1871.

_Inscriptions d’un Reliquaire Arménien._ With plates. Paris, 1883.

NEUMANN, _The History of Vartan by Elisaeus_. Translated from the
Armenian. London, 1830.

MALAN, _The Life and Times of St. Gregory the Illuminator_. Translated
from Armenian. London, 1868.

CHAMICH, _History of Armenia_. Translated from Armenian into English by
Avdall. Calcutta, 1827.

STUBBS, WILLIAM, _The Mediæval Kingdoms of Cyprus and Armenia_. In
Seventeen Lectures, etc. 1886.

_Genealogical Catalogue of the Kings of Armenia._ Oriental Translation
Fund. Vol. ii. London, 1834.

GABRIELIAN, _The Armenians or People of Ararat_. Philadelphia: Allen,
Lane & Scott, 1892.


                          ARMENIAN LITERATURE.

NÈVE, FÉLIX, _L’Arménie Chrétienne et sa Littérature_. Louvain, 1886.

_Catalogue des anciennes traductions Arméniennes, siècles iv.-xiii._ 8º
pp. 783. Venezia, 1889.

DWIGHT, _Catalogue of all Works known to exist in the Armenian Language
earlier than the Seventeenth Century_. American Oriental Society. Vol.
iii. 1853.

FORTESCUE, _The Armenian Church, History, Literature, Doctrine_. London,
1872.

ISSAVERDENZ, _The Divine Ordinances according to the Catholic Armenian
Ritual_. Venice, 1867.

ALISHAN, _Armenian Popular Songs_. Armenian and English. Venice, 1867.

LORD BYRON’S _Armenian Exercises and Poetry_. Armenian and English.
Venice, 1870.




                             GENERAL INDEX.


                                   A

 ABERDEEN, Lord, 72

 AGHTAMAR, 141, 145

 ALEXANDER, 53, 133

 AMERICANS
   Position, 67, 148
   Number, 149
   Work, 141, 148–151
   Influence, 152–154
   Interests, 147–166

 ANGLO-ARMENIAN ASSOC., 69

 ANGLO-TURKISH CONVENTION
   See England

 ARMENIA
   _Land_
     Name, 44, 46
     Extent, 45
     Aspects, 44–46
     Inhabitants, 45, 46
     Condition, 9, 15, 32, 35, 39, 42, 46, 62–65
     Autonomy, 69, 81
   _Race_
     Origin, 132
     Number, 45, 142
     Distribution, 44
     Characteristics, 52, 140
     Condition, chap. i., ii., iii., iv.
     “Revolution,” Preface, Chap. i., 69, 81, 167
     Progress, 79, 117, 154
   _History_
     Biblical, 132, 133
     Classical, 134, 135
     Armenian Sources, 144
     In General, 53
   _Church_
     Apostolic Tradition, 136
     Founder, 136
     Doctrine, 137
     Form, 137, 144
     Heroic Struggle, 53
     Decline, 139
     Reform, 140, 143, 154
     Catholicos, 137, 138
     Political Significance, 138
     Future, 138
   _Literature_
     Language, 132, 143
     Pre-Christian, 143
     Golden Age, 144
     Second Period, 144
     Modern Revival, 146
     General Character, 144
   _Massacre_
     See Massacres

 ARNAUT, 98

 AUSTRIA, Preface, 104

 AUTHOR, Purpose, Preface, 147


                                   B

 BAGDAD, 48

 BAIBOURT, 46

 BASHI-BAZOUK, 98, 102

 BASHKALLA, 16, 49

 BERLIN TREATY. See Treaties

 BIBLIOGRAPHY, Appendix E

 BILOTTI, Consul, 113

 BISHOP, Mrs., 62, 67, 131, 154

 BISMARCK, Preface, 78

 BITLIS, 12, 16, 37, 43

 BLUE-BOOKS. See England

 BLOWITZ, M. de, 83

 BOSNIA, 83, 84

 BRITANNICA, Encyc., 48, 49

 BRYCE, Hon. James, Preface, 69

 BULGARIA, 73, 83, 96, 101, 126

 BYRON, Lord, 154

 BYZANTINE EMPIRE, 53, 134


                                   C

 CAIRO UNIVERSITY, 75

 CASTLE, Kurdish, 49

 CATHOLICOS. See Armenia

 CENSORSHIP, 73, Append. C

 CHERMSIDE, Consul, 113

 CHIOS, 97

 CHOSROES, 137

 CHRISTIANITY, Toleration. See Mohammedanism

 CHURCHILL, 96, 100

 CIRCASSIANS, 73

 CODE NAPOLEON, 89

 COMMISSION of Inquiry. See Massacres

 CONSULAR REPORTS.
   British. See England
   United States, 66

 COUNCIL of Chalcedon, 157

 COURTS. See Turkey

 CRETE. See Massacres

 CRIMEAN War, 72

 CRISIS, 33, 35, 82, 84, Preface

 CYPRUS Convention, 72, 76


                                   D

 DIARBEKIR, 48

 DIPLOMACY
   American, Preface, Append. A, B
   European, Preface, Chap. v.
   Turkish, 70, 77, 93


                                   E

 EASTERN QUESTION, Preface, 68, 85

 EDUCATION, 87, 140, 143, 150, 155

 EGYPT, 83

 ENGLAND
   Attitude, Preface
   Responsibility, 69, 73, 76, 79, 103, 128. See Treaties
   Efforts, 76–79, 123
   Consular Reports, Preface, 48, 66, 68, 74, 77, 78, 112

 ERZERUM, 46, 62, 66, 113

 ERZINGAN, 21, 23, 46

 EVERETT, Consul, 113


                                   F

 FANATICISM. See Mohammedanism

 FRANCE, Preface, 78, 104, 107, 138, 140, 149

 FREEMAN, 79, 85, 88, 117


                                   G

 GENGHIS KHAN, 136

 GERMANY, Preface, 78, 104

 GLADSTONE, on
   Consular Reports, Preface
   Sassoun Massacre, 121–125
   Turkish Rule, 126–130

 GOSCHEN, 78

 GRANVILLE, 77

 GREECE, 83, 89, 97, 127, 133, 154

 GREGORY, The Illuminator. See Armenian Church


                                   H

 HALLWARD, Consul, 16

 HAMLIN, Cyrus, 81, 167

 HANNIBAL, 134

 HARPOOT, 48

 HATTI HUMAYOUN, 72

 HATTI SHERIF, 71

 HERODOTUS, 133

 HERZEGOVINA, 83

 HUGHES, 89

 HUMANITY, Preface, 1, 33, 123, 127, 129


                                   I

 IBRAHIM PASHA, 71

 IDENTICAL NOTE, 76

 “ILLUMINATOR,” 53, 137, 138. See Armenian Church

 IMPERIAL RESCRIPT, 71

 INDEPENDENT, The, 54, 95, 101

 INFORMATION
   Channels, 66
   Danger of, Preface, 1, 15, 16, 54, 62
   Sultan’s, 13, 89, 92, 93

 ISLAM. See Mohammedanism

 ITALY, Preface, 104


                                   J

 JACOBITE, 54, 89

 JESSUP, 75

 JESUIT, 137

 JEWS, 68, 89


                                   K

 KALLAY, M. de, 84

 KERMANSHAH, 46

 KHRIMIAN, Catholicos, 138
   Motto on Title-page

 KHOSHAB, Castle, 50

 KNAPP, Attack on, 157

 KORAN. See Mohammedanism

 KURDISTAN
   Country, 46
   Kurds, 48–52
   “Hamediéh” Troops, 1–30, 126
   Outrages, 54–69, 157–164


                                   L

 LATHAM, 96

 LAYARD, 96, 99

 LEBANON, 93

 LEON VI., 136

 LLOYD, Consul-Gen., 66


                                   M

 MACCOLL, Canon, 72

 MACGAHAN, 96, 103

 MALATIAH, 46

 MAMELUKES, 136

 MARONITES, 99

 MASSACRES in Turkey
   _Greek_ (1822), 96–98
   _Nestorian_ (1850), 96, 99
   _Syrian_ (1860), 96, 99
   _Cretan_ (1867), 104
   _Bulgarian_ (1876), 96, 101
   _Armenian_ (1877), 105–107
   _Yezidi_ (1892), 108
   _Armenian_ (1894), Chap. I.
     Victims, Dedication
     Evidence, 1–42
     Uncalled for, 21, 23, 26, 36
     Premeditated, 17, 18
     Ordered, 7, 12, 14, 20, 28–30
     Long Duration, 21, 31
     Number Slain, 11, 15, 24
     Manner, 20–23, 26, 31
     Violation of Women, 15, 22, 27, 28, 39, 41
     Denials, 12, 25, 27
     Concealment, 11–15, 29–34, 40
     Commission of Inquiry, Preface, 103
     Gladstone’s Opinion, 121–125

 MIDHAT PASHA, 86

 MISSIONS. See Americans
   Other Missions, 149

 MOHAMMEDANISM
   Founder, 110, 125
   Koran, 89, 99, 111, 115
   Exclusive, 115, 116
   Spirit, 22, 74, 89, 110, 167
   Rationalistic Types, 116
   “Tolerance,” 42, 71, 74, 84, 107, 114, 127, 169
   Converts from, 68, 114
   Union with State, 111, 119

 MOOSH, 43

 MORFILL, 69

 MOSUL, 48, 58


                                   N

 NEBUCHADNEZZAR, 53

 NESTORIANS, 54, 89. See Massacres

 NORMAN, 52, 85, 104


                                   O

 ORDOO, 72

 OTTOMAN. See Turkey


                                   P

 PAGRATIDÆ, 134

 PARRY, 107

 PARTHIANS, 53, 134

 PERSIA, 6, 43, 48, 53

 PHIL-ARMENIC, 69

 POPE, 88

 PORTE, SUBLIME. See Sultan of Turkey

 POWERS, EUROPEAN
   Attitude, Preface, 67, 76, 81, 99, 104
   Responsibility, 33, 41, 69, 88, 119, 122

 PROTESTANTS
   Origin, 153
   Number, 150
   Success, 147–154
   Hostility to, 58, 71, 155


                                   R

 REYNOLDS, Attack on, 157, 163

 REGISTER, The Christian, 127

 RELIGION
   Classification by, 152
   Freedom of, 70–75, 110–120, 169
   See Mohammedanism, Turkey

 REVIEW OF REVIEWS, Preface

 ROBERT COLLEGE, 115, 149, 155

 ROLIN-JAEQUEMYNS, 78, 112

 ROMANS, 53

 RUPENIAN Dynasty, 136, 144

 RUSSIA
   Attitude, 53, 68, 104, 168
   Feeling toward, 45, 52, 68, 73, 81


                                   S

 SALADIN, 48

 SARACEN, 53

 SASSANIDÆ, 134

 SCHUYLER, EUGENE, 96, 101

 SELJOUK, 53, 136

 SELEUCIDÆ, 133

 SHAH, 48

 SHAW, DR. ALBERT, 7

 SIOUFFI, 107

 SMITH, R. BOSWORTH, 111

 STAMBOUL, 70

 STEIN, ROBERT, 96

 STEVENSON, Preface, 121

 STILLMAN, 104

 STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE, Lord, 69, 109

 STRONG, DR. JOSIAH, Introduction

 SUBLIME PORTE, 90–94, 155

 SULTAN
   _Mohammed II._, 87, 152
   _Selim I._, 88
   _Mahmoud_, 97
   _Medjid_, 71, 72
   _Abd-ul-Hamid_, Preface
     Sincerity, 13, 87, 91, 155
     Helplessness, 88
     Isolation, 124
     Absolutism, 90–94

 SYRIAN, 89, 96, 100
   See Massacres


                                   T

 TACITUS, 134

 TAMERLANE, 136

 TIGRANES II., 134

 TIMES, THE LONDON, 104, 127

 TOZER, 136

 TREATIES, Chapter iv.
   Adrianople, 70
   Berlin, 69, 73, 76–81, 112
   Cyprus, Preface, 73, 76
   Paris, 72

 TREBIZOND, 12, 43, 113

 TURKEY
     Americans in. See Americans, United States
     Antecedents, 117–120, 124, 127
     Attitude, Preface, 81
     Future, 108–109, 120, 127–130
   _Government_
     Administration, 11, 35, 46, 74, 109, 123, 128, 153
     Courts, 41, 65, 74, 112
     Divided, 92
     Favors Kurds, 17, 20, 30, 62
     Hostile to Christians, 10–41, 53, 66, 89, 100, 110–120, 153
     Reports, 48, 67
     Union with Islam, 111
     Massacres. See Massacres
     Moslem Races, 86, 90
     Reform, 10, 70–75, 83, 88, 94, 109, 117–120, 129
     Treaties. See Treaties
     Taxation, 16, 27, 34, 49, 59–62
     Travel, 43, 131
     Turks, 46, 86


                                   U

 UNITED STATES
   Attitude, Introduction, Preface
   Consulates, 66, 163
   Diplomacy, 157
   Armenians in, 45


                                   V

 VAN, 37, 43, 49
   Governor of, 19, 64

 VIOLATION OF WOMEN, 15, 22, 27, 28, 39, 41, 98, 101, 105–107, 129


                                   W

 WALLACE, GEN. LEWIS, 157–162

 WASHBURN, PREST. GEORGE, 115

 WILSON, CONSUL-GEN., 73, 112, 114


                                   X

 XENOPHON, 133

 XERXES, 53


                                   Y

 YEZIDI Massacre, 106

 YURUK, 98


                                   Z

 ZEIBEK, 83, 98

 ZEKKI PASHA, 21

 ZOROASTRIANS, 134

-----

Footnote 1:

  “I am at a loss to know why the Reports of Consuls ceased to be
  furnished in or about the year 1881. Consuls are supposed to keep
  their eyes open and to report facts regarding the people among whom
  they live, and it is altogether a new idea that their Reports are to
  be regarded as confidential documents. If they are to be so, that is
  simply condemning the Consuls’ Reports to perpetual barrenness and
  absolute inutility. Why are not consular reports to be made, and being
  made, why are they not to be printed? If in this respect I am
  personally, or anyone associated with me, is open to censure, let the
  facts be brought out; but do not let a particular act at a particular
  time be confounded with the adoption of the principle of eternal
  silence about the horrors that prevail in Armenia.”—Speech by the Rt.
  Hon. W. E. Gladstone, in House of Commons, May 28, 1889.

Footnote 2:

  _The Speaker_, London, January 12, 1895.

Footnote 3:

  “A good deal of misapprehension exists with respect to the
  constitution of the Commission of Inquiry. It is not an international
  but a Turkish Commission, and, to judge by past experience, Turkish
  Commissions are instruments by which truth is suppressed and issues
  are obscured. It is satisfactory that representatives of Great
  Britain, France, and Russia will have the opportunity of examining the
  _procès-verbaux_, besides being present at the sittings of the
  Commission; and credit is due to the British Foreign Office for having
  taken the initiative in securing this concession; but it must be
  remembered that the powers of the international representatives will
  be strictly limited, and that they will not be able to guarantee the
  security of the witnesses.”—F. S. Stevenson, M.P., “Armenia,” in _The
  Contemporary Review_, February, 1895.

Footnote 4:

  See APPENDIX B on the establishment of new U. S. Consulates in Eastern
  Turkey. Also APPENDIX A on American Diplomacy.

Footnote 5:

  Brother and predecessor of the present Consul Jewett, at Sivas.

Footnote 6:

  _Encyc. Britannica_, “Kurdistan.”

Footnote 7:

  _Encyc. Britannica_, “Kurdistan.”

Footnote 8:

  _Armenia and the Campaign of 1877._

Footnote 9:

  A piastre is a Turkish coin of about five cents, or two pence-half
  penny. In this region the pay of a day laborer is from two to five
  piastres.

Footnote 10:

  Often called Nestorian.

Footnote 11:

  Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, _Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan_, vol.
  ii., p. 374, 375.

Footnote 12:

  _The Contemporary Review_, May and June, 1891.

Footnote 13:

  _The Case for the Armenians._ London: Anglo-Armenian Association.

Footnote 14:

  _An Appeal to the Christians of America by the Christians of Armenia._
  New York: Phil-Armenic Society.

Footnote 15:

  Morfill’s _Russia_, p. 287. Putnam.

Footnote 16:

  Rev. H. O. Dwight, _The Independent_, New York, January 17, 1895.

Footnote 17:

  At the time of the Crimean War Lord Aberdeen said:

  “Notwithstanding the favorable opinion entertained by many, it is
  difficult to believe in the improvement of the Turks. It is true that,
  under the pressure of the moment, benevolent decrees may be issued;
  but these, except under the eye of some Foreign Minister, are entirely
  neglected. Their whole system is radically vicious and inhuman. I do
  not refer to fables which may be invented at St. Petersburg or Vienna,
  but to numerous dispatches of Lord Stratford (de Redcliffe) himself,
  and of our own consuls, who describe a frightful picture of lawless
  oppression and cruelty.” (Sir Theodore Martin’s _Life of the Prince
  Consort_, vol. ii., p. 528.) Quoted by Canon MacColl, _The
  Contemporary Review_, January, 1895.

Footnote 18:

  Judge.

Footnote 19:

  Local districts.

Footnote 20:

  Report of Mr. Wilson, _Blue-Book_, Turkey, No. 8 (1881), page 57, No.
  48.

Footnote 21:

  _The Mohammedan Missionary Problem_, p. 31. Jessup. Philadelphia,
  Presb. Pub. Soc.

Footnote 22:

  _Blue-Book_, Turkey, No. 6, 1881, reports of Wilson, Bennett,
  Chermside, Trotter, Stewart, Clayton, Everett, and Bilotti.

Footnote 23:

  _Blue-Book_, Turkey, 1881, p. 242.

Footnote 24:

  Published by John Heywood, London, 1891, pp. 82–89.

Footnote 25:

  Freeman, _The Turks in Europe_.

Footnote 26:

  “Diplomatist,” “The Armenian Question” in _The New Review_, January,
  1895.

Footnote 27:

  Pp. 158–9. London: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin.

Footnote 28:

  Speech in St. James’s Hall, December, 1876.

Footnote 29:

  _The Nineteenth Century_, January, 1878.

Footnote 30:

  From a descendant of Dahir Billah, the thirty-fifth caliph of Bagdad,
  Sultan Selim I. “procured the cession of his claims, and obtained the
  right to deem himself the shadow of God upon earth. Since then the
  Ottoman padishah has been held to inherit the rights of Omar and
  Haroun, and to be the legitimate commander of the faithful, and, as
  such, possessed of plenary temporal and spiritual authority over the
  followers of Mohammed.”[31] The Persians and Moors, however, reject
  this claim, and at the close of the Russian War not a few of the Arab
  muftis declared that the caliphate had been forfeited by the
  inglorious defeat of the Turks, and should now return to the Arab
  family of Koreish.

Footnote 31:

  Freeman, _The Saracens_, p. 158. Quoted by Jessup, _The Mohammedan
  Missionary Problem_, p. 21. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of
  Publication, 1879.

Footnote 32:

  Hughes, _Notes on Muhammadanism_, pp. 209, 210.

Footnote 33:

  Hughes, _Notes on Muhammadanism_, p. 10.

Footnote 34:

  Parts of this chapter are taken from an article, “Notes on the
  Armenian Massacre,” in _The Independent_, New York, January 31, 1895,
  by a high authority, who is compelled to sign himself “A Student of
  Modern History.”

Footnote 35:

  Latham, _Russian and Turk_, p. 417. London: W. H. Allen, 1878.

Footnote 36:

  Layard’s _Nineveh_.

Footnote 37:

  Colonel Churchill, _Druzes and Maronites_, p. 219. London: Quaritch,
  1862.

Footnote 38:

  Eugene Schuyler and Correspondent MacGahan, quoted in _The
  Independent_, January 10, 1895.

Footnote 39:

  Chapter I. of this book.

Footnote 40:

  M. Gaston Deschamps: “En Turquie—L’Ile de Chio,” _Revue des Deux
  Mondes_, p. 167, January 1, 1893.

Footnote 41:

  Layard’s _Nineveh_, pp. 24–201.

Footnote 42:

  Article by Mr. Savage, _The Independent_, January 10, 1894.

Footnote 43:

  U. S. Consul Stillman’s _The Cretan Insurrection of 1866–7–8_. Henry
  Holt & Co., 1874.

Footnote 44:

  C. B. Norman, _Armenia and the Campaign of 1877_, pp. 293–298. London:
  Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1879.

Footnote 45:

  _The Independent_, January 17, 1895.

Footnote 46:

  _Ibid._, January 31, 1895.

Footnote 47:

  _The Eastern Question._

Footnote 48:

  _New Review_ for January, 1895.

Footnote 49:

  These extracts are from _Blue-Book_, Turkey, No. 8 (1881), pp. 57–110,
  as quoted by the high authority, M. Rolin-Jaequemyns, in his _Armenia,
  the Armenians, and the Treaties_, pp. 74–76. London: John Heywood,
  1891.

Footnote 50:

  The _Hakim_, who is a member of the religious body of _Ulemas_,
  presides over the lower court (Bidayet), which is to be found in every
  _caza_ (hundred), and also over the _Sandjak_ or district court.

Footnote 51:

  _The Turks in Europe._

Footnote 52:

  _The London Times_, Weekly Edition Jan. 14, 1895.

Footnote 53:

  Reprinted from _The Christian Register_, Boston, Dec. 1, 1894.

Footnote 54:

  And yet England by the Cyprus Convention pledged all her resources to
  _keep the door open_, and the repetition thus made possible has
  occurred. Author.

Footnote 55:

  “Kurdistan abounds in antiquities of the most varied and interesting
  character.... It may indeed be asserted that there is no region of the
  East at the present day which deserves a more careful scrutiny and
  promises a richer harvest to the antiquarian explorer than the lands
  inhabited by the Kurds from Erzeroum to Kirmanshahan.”—Major-General
  H. C. Rawlinson, _Encyc. Britannica_, article on “Kurdistan.”

Footnote 56:

  Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, _Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan_, 2 vols.
  New York: Putnam’s, 1891. London: John Murray.

Footnote 57:

  Gen. x., 2, 3.

Footnote 58:

  Moses of Khorene, _History_, Bk. i., chap. 12.

Footnote 59:

  Gen. viii., 4.

Footnote 60:

  Heb. Ararat, 2 Kings xix., 37; Isa. xxxvii., 38.

Footnote 61:

  Ezek. xxvii., 14; also xxxviii., 6.

Footnote 62:

  Jer. li., 27–29; also l., 9, 41, 42.

Footnote 63:

  Christian Lassen, _Die altpersischen Keil-Inschriften von Persepolis_,
  Bonn, 1836, pp. 86, 87.

Footnote 64:

  _History_, Bk. iii., chap. 93.

Footnote 65:

  _Anabasis_, Bk. iv.

Footnote 66:

  _Annales_, Bk. ii., ch. 56.

Footnote 67:

  Tozer, _The Church and the Eastern Empire_, pp. 22, 86.

Footnote 68:

  Krikor “Loosavoritch,” from which title the Armenian Gregorian church
  calls itself Loosavortchagan.

Footnote 69:

  Mrs. Bishop, _Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan_, vol. ii., p. 336.

Footnote 70:

  By far the largest part of foreign missionary work in Turkey has
  always been in the hands of Americans, although, of course, they
  neither claim nor have any monopoly in this respect. As a matter of
  fact there are many other large and successful missionary, benevolent,
  and educational enterprises conducted in that land by other foreign
  societies as well as individuals. The various Roman Catholic orders
  are strongly established in many parts, and are generally of French
  connections and introduce that language in their work as the Americans
  do English. The following is a partial list of other societies at work
  in Turkey: The British and Foreign Bible Society, the Church
  Missionary Society, the Bible Lands Missions Aid Society, the British
  Syrian Mission Schools and Bible Work, the Church of Scotland Mission
  to the Jews, the Society of Friends (both English and American), the
  Irish Presbyterian Mission, the Reformed Presbyterian Mission, and the
  German Deaconesses. In addition to all these agencies, there are many
  private and local schools and institutions that are doing excellent
  work, but of which only this general mention can here be made.

  The statistics of Robert College, Constantinople, are not included in
  these tables, as that institution, though a child of American
  Missions, is independent of them.

Footnote 71:

  “The creation of churches, strict in their discipline, and protesting
  against the mass of superstitions which smother all spiritual life in
  the National Armenian Church, is undoubtedly having a very salutary
  effect far beyond the limited membership, and is tending to force
  reform upon an ancient church which contains within herself the
  elements of resurrection.”—Mrs. Bishop, _Journeys in Persia and
  Kurdistan_, vol. ii., p. 336.

Footnote 72:

  Unhappily there are some who can see nothing but bigotry and mistakes
  in what the missionaries have done. Such characters are to be found
  among all races, as the following extract shows:

  “It might be thought that here, [Missilonghi] on the spot where he
  [Byron] breathed his last, malignity would have held her accursed
  tongue; but it was not so. He had committed the fault, unpardonable in
  the eyes of political opponents, of attaching himself to one of the
  great parties that then divided Greece; and though he had given her
  all that man could give, in his own dying words, ‘his time, his means,
  his health, and, lastly, his life,’ the Greeks spoke of him with all
  the rancour and bitterness of party spirit. Even death had not won
  oblivion for his political offences; and I heard those who saw him die
  in her cause affirm that Byron was no friend to Greece.”—Stephens,
  _Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Poland_, New York: Harper and Brothers,
  1839.

Footnote 73:

  This is an exact copy of the official documents as published by the
  State Department, capitalization included.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                          TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES


 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.
 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.