m^ W^m?M>0 \f:^ \^y-^/y m-M^ AND 'lIliKOGl(EClANWAI( -y. ^•%-:>>>#('>^% >-i<-;<^'.ssi/>^^v^/: X^O^ i-t^- Armenian Massacres OR The Sword of Mohammed CONTAINING A COMPLETE AND THRILLING ACCOUNT OF THE TERRIBLE ATROCITIES AND WHOLESALE MURDERS COMMITTED IN ARMENIA BY MOHAMMEDAN FANATICS INCLUDING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE TURKISH PEOPLE, THEIR HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, MANNERS, CUSTOMS AND STRANGE RELIGIOUS BELIEF BY FREDERICK DAVIS GREENE, M.A. Secretary of the National Relief Committee and late Missionary to Armenia. TO WHICH IS ADDED A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE WAR BETWEEN TURKEY AND GREECE EDITED BY Henry Davenport Northrop, D.D. The well-known author. Embellished with nearly lOO Engravings showing the Characteristics of the People, Massacres, etc., etc AMERICAN OXFORD PUBLISHING CO., PHILADELPHIA. PA. & CHICAGO. ILL. Enterc'l accortlinjj to Act of Congress, in the year 1896, by J. R. JONES, In the OfTice of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C A!l Rights Reserved. SRLF YRL [Letter from the Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone , to the author ^ , ^ , ^ ^ ocll5(o0(o7(^ /^,;,^^^JUi^^ 0^ - <,^^ A /ti?^. f' '/XO/M^ ^'^^fam'^eiad to hear that your work is about to be published. I believe it will materially assist in arousing public atten- tion to the recent outrages in Armenia which almost pas!* description and have inflicted indelible disgrace on the Sultan of Tulkey and on his officers and soldiers concerned in perpe- trating, in denying and in shielding them. I remain, dear sir, Your very faithful and obedient To Rev. F. D. Green. W. E. G1.ADSTONE. [The above is a copy of Mr. Gladstone's autograph letter.] TO THE MEMORY OF THE CHRISTIANS MASSACRED IN ARMENIA BY THE SWORD OF MOHAMMED THIS WORK IS DEDICATED THE PUBLISHERS. INTRODUCTION. THIS is an important book. It deals with a burning question, and in a way which will command public attention and public confi. dence. 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 Turk- ish 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 po- litical, 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 V vi l7it7'oduction. must therefore come through the interference of tht powers of Europe. Their action depends largely on the support of the public. ^'Public opinion^' there- fore, " Duist 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 chap- ter 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 'itizens. JosiAH Strong. '"JV W GO l-i o w u o pq W en ID H I a. M W tt \ C4 7 O tl W ^ s V H J?: o o ■*Vr g ^^^^^^UBi *^i^^H S ■H^H|^^^H hH jSisa fa ' '^ > ^ \ K ^^^■M^ W k4 ^ J H &i \, ; < CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGH A CHAPTER OF HORRORS . i CHAPTER n. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT EASTERN TUR- KEY 42 CHAPTER HI. THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA AND KURDISTAN 54 CHAPTER IV. OTTOMAN PROMISES AND THEIR FULFILMENT. 70 CHAPTER V. THE OUTCOME OF THE TREATY OF BERLIN . . 76 CHAPTER VI. THE SULTAN AND THE SUBLIME PORTE .... 87 CHAPTER VII. PREVIOUS ACTS OF THE TURKISH TRAGEDY . . 95 CHAPTER VIII. ISLAM AS A FACTOR OF THE PROBLEM 110 vU viii Contents. CHAPTER IX. PAGE GLADSTONE ON THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE AND ON TURKISH MISRULE 121 CHAPTER X. WHO ARE THE ARMENIANS? 131 CHAPTER XI. AMERICANS IN TURKEY, THEIR WORK AND IN- FLUENCE 147 CHAPTER XII. ARMENIAN VILLAGE LIFE 157 APPENDIX A. A BIT OF AMERICAN DIPLOMACY 169 APPENDIX B. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES CONSU- LATES IN EASTERN TURKEY 175 APPENDIX C. DR. CYRUS HAMLIN'S EXPLANATION 179 APPENDIX D. THE CENSORSHIP OF THE PRESS '81 CHAPTER" XIII. THE APPALLING CONDITION OF ARMENIA ... 185 CHAPTER XIV. MR. GLADSTONE ON ARMENIA 243 CHAPTER XV. THE CRY FRO.M ARMENIA 256 Contents. ix CHAPTER XVI. PAGE THE SHAME OF CHRISTENDOM 285 CHAPTER XVn. AN APPEAL FOR ARMENIA 309 CHAPTER XVIII. THE MASSACRE AT URFA 340 CHAPTER XIX. THE LAST THE WORST 345 CHAPTER XX. RUSSIA AND TURKEY 351 CHAPTER XXI. THE TYRANT TURK AND THE CRAVEN STATES- MEN . . 356 CHAPTER XXII. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AT CONSTANTINOPLE 358 CHAPTER XXIII. THE BLOT ON THE CENTURY 365 CHAPTER XXIV. THE ARMENIANS— WHO ARE THEY ? 371 CHAPTER XXV. THE TURKISH QUESTION IN GERMANY 380 CHAPTER XXVI. TURKISH OPPRESSION 386 X Contents. CHAPTER XXVII. fAGB MISSIONARY WORK IN TURKEY 396 CHAPTER XXVni. TURKEY AND THE TURKS 405 CHAPTER XXIX. THE TURKISH GOVERNiMENT 413 CHAPTER XXX. RELIEF FOR SUFFERING ARMENIA 418 CHAPTER XXXI. CAUSE AND EXTENT OF THE RECENT ATROCI- TIES 431 CHAPTER XXXII. TO THE RESCUE 440 CHAPTER XXXIII. WHAT ONE MAY SEE IN ARMENIA 449 CHAPTER XXXIV. THE TURKS AND THEIR RELIGION 458 CHAPTER XXXV. HISTORY OF TURKEY AND THE MOHAMMEDAN POWER 475 PREFACE. HE would be a rash man who should claim to have mastered the Eastern Question — a ques- tion which it is not easy even to define, and of which the future of Turkey is only a part. To throw light on some phases of the latter problem is the writer's object — and this by way of inform.ation rather than argument. What he has learned of the subject has been by residence, travel, absorption, and investigation in the land itself, and by reading. The very short time allowed in the preparation of this humble contribution to the subject has necessi- tated a hasty and partial treatment at the expense of literary form. Some of the material and most of the illustrations are reproduced from articles by the author in the American Rcvieiu of Reviews^ by the kind permission of the editor, Dr. Albert Shaw. No pains have been spared to insure accuracy. Refe'"ences to authorities have been given as far as possible, but in regard to much information from most reliable sources names must be withheld. This book, with all its harrowing details and records of murders and pillage, was prepared to prove the awful character of the first great massacre of Arme- nians which had taken place in Sassouu some months Xll Preface before, but of which no authenticated evidence had up till that time been made public. It was believed that, if the people of Great Britain could be con- vinced of the condition of Armenia, for which they were largely responsible, such a public opinion would be aroused as would at once lead to vigorous and determined action by that government. It was stated in the Preface: "If such action is not taken, the effect of this book, as of all agitation in behalf of the victims of Turkc}-, will be to draw the fetters deeper." The expectation that England would do her duty has proved to be groundless, but the Turk has lived up to his reputation. Irritated by Eng- land's threats, but emboldened by her cowardly and vacillating course, the Sultan, while pretending to reform Armenia, inaugurated there a reign of terror of which Sassoun was a mere local incident. The Sword of Mohammed is used as a sub-title. because there is still a crisis in the history of that important race ; and there will soon be one in Europe if selfishness, jealousy, and duplicity con- tinue to stifle all considerations of humanity, national honor, and — I blush to add it — of Christianity. In order to protect "British interests," for two- score years, not to say longer, has " Christian " Eng'rand stood guard at the Sublime Porte, warn- ing all intruders away. With her hand on the door of the Turk's disorderly house, she has compla- cently informed the world that she in particular — as well as the other Powers — has secured prom- ises, and even guaranties, that all would go well. But all the while, Her Majesty's Ministers, of what- Preface xiii ever party, have heard the bitter and despairing cry of the poor wretches within, and have done their best to stifle it by carefully suppressing, in their archives, the consular reports which have kept them officially informed of the real situation.' And all the while, England's share of the profits of this partnership with " her friend and ally," has been steadily dropping into her overflowing coffers. Was Cyprus nothing? Is Egypt nothing? Is the inter- est on Turkish bonds, extracted in blood-drops by a pressure that England helps to maintain, nothing? England's Christian statesmen who so jealously pro- tect "British interests," even to the extent of con- niving, for " reasons of state," at the outrage and murder of Armenia — whose chief guardianship they insisted on assuming, — would do well to remember that there is a kingdom of God, which has its in- terests, and which for state reasons of its own has swept away mighty empires that defied its laws. As for France, whose cant at least is not religious, she tattoos her fair figure with " Liberie, Egalitd, Fraternite"' wherever there is space to write the words, but she evidently confines her motto to her- self. It is reported that, at the close of the Berlin ' " I am at a loss to know why the reports of consuls ceased to be furnished in or about the year lS8i. 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 prin- ciple of eternal silence about the horrors that prevail in Armenia." — Speech by the Rt. Hon, W. E. Gladstone, in House of Commons, May 23, i88g, xiv Frcpce Congress in 1878, Prince Bismarck expressed the sentiments of official Germany, by saying that he " Avould not give one Pomeranian grenadier for the Balkan Peninsula." If so, she would probably sac- rifice even less now for Armenia, though she would object, of course, to a division of Turkey without receiving some compensation herself. Austria would gladly extend her protectorate over Macedonia, which would also dispose of that bone of contention between Bulgaria and Greece. Poor Italy finds it hard to swallow what she has already bitten off in Abyssinia, and would be glad of something better. Holy Russia feels so sure of the Armenian apple, which is bound to fall into her lap when it is ripe, that she does n't even care to shake the branch, lest it might alarm her rivals. She is mistress of the situation, and time is in her favor. As for Turkey, she has long seen the sword of Damocles over her head, and will bow to the stroke of Fate whenever it falls. She hates and distrusts all the Powers, but, as a last resort, will probably yield to Russia, the nearest and the strongest, in hope of escaping the rest. Nobcdy expects or is really trying to secure reforms in Turkey, though promises of reform will still be d.^mandcd of the Sultan, and will always be ready on demand. What is the real underlying difficulty in Turkey? Is it a conflict of race, or religion? Primarily it is neither, though both of these elements seriously complicate the case at present. /// oiu word, it is i)iisiyvcru})iciit. Do not be deceived b\ this rather mild word, and dismiss the subject witl the reflec- w o I— I > < o o S 03 Pi w Q K^ O to w I— ( P^ H TVPKS OF GREEK SOLDII-.RS. Preface xv tion that " there is misgovernment everywhere," Misgovernment, as it exists in Turkey, is a system breeding corruption and death. It is a disease, hereditary, chronic, penetrating the whole body poHtic and fastened on its very vitals. No creed is exempt ; every race is attacked by it. I have seen the crushing and — what is worse — demorahzing conditions from which all the races in Turkey suffer under Moslem misrule. I know how rapidly these fine races would advance along every line, were these conditions changed. I know the grand possibilities of the Armenians as a people, physically, intellectually, and morally. 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. If the Armenians are to be left as they are, it is a pity that Europe ever mentioned them in the Treaty of Berlin or subsequently ; and to intrust reforms in their behalf to those who have devoted three months' time to killing and robbing them is simply to aban- don the Armenians to destruction and to put the xvi Preface seal of Europe to the bloody work. The only way to reform Turkey, as history has so often shown, is by forcible foreign intervention — not the threat of it, but the intervention itself. The position and power of Russia give her a iinjque call to the work. Should she enter on it at once the whole civilized world would approve her course. Russia should have as free a hand in Ar- menia as England has insisted on having in Egypt. By frankly admitting this, England would gain in the respect and sympathy of the world and strengthen her own position. During a conversation with Mr. Gladstone in his home at Easter, 1895, I asked him if he shared the horror expressed by some, of opening the Eastern Question. Quick as a flash he replied, " The only way to close it is to open it." If in this fair, honest, and determined spirit the statesmen of Europe should come together, it would not take long to dis- pose of the so-called " Sick Man." The fact is he is already dead, and the only way to dispose of him is by burying him out of sight. He is too far decomposed to hold together and must, therefore, be buried piece- meal. No "joint action " will succeed. Each of the European undertakers should dispose of a part, be paid proportionately out of the estate, and adminis- ter the remainder as permanent guardians in the interests of the " Sick Man's " various children, thus happily orphaned. I preach no crusade ; none is needed. But it is high time for the conscience of the civilized world to assert itself — not simply the " non-Conformist Preface xvii 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 rule of the Turk will be ended, and one more blot will be wiped out from the annals of the world. The policy of the United States Government in this world crisis has been one of impotence as far as the cause of humanity is concerned, contemptible from the standpoint of national honor, and suicidal as regards American interests. While not lifting so much as a finger to shield tens of thousands of helpless women and children from murder and outrage. President Cleveland, by his gallant thundering about a few miles of swamps in Venezuela, at once threw into hopeless confusion the calculations of European statesmen in regard to the Armenians, and removed 11 pressure in their be- half. Meanwhile, thirteen respected and law-abiding United States citizens were actually bombarded by the Sultan's troops, and had their houses plundered and burned. Though four months have passed, no indemnity has been secured, and it is not probable that any official will be punished for this insult to America. Emboldened by such timid and tardy action by this country, the Porte has now assumed the aggres- sive and audaciously accuses the American resi- dents of sedition and murder. The object of this xvlli Preface charge is simply to secure their expulsion from the countr}-. In this policy of getting rid of the Americans, the Turks are ably seconded by the Russian Ambassa- dor and by the American Minister at Constantinople, though from different motives. Turkey seeks the expulsion of the Americans because she knows that, as spiritual and educational leaders, they are a mighty influence in the development of her Christian sub- jects whom she wishes to retain as helpless serfs. Russia expects soon to inherit the land and would iike to have it cleared of what she considers religious weeds and political brambles. The United States ^Minister professes to be haunted by the future ghosts of American citizens, whom, for the very pur- pose of terrifying him, the Turks threaten to murder. These citizens, both men and women, have bravely and cheerfully stood at their posts while the storm of death has raged around them ; and now that it is passed, it is ridiculous to suppose that Turkey can- not continue to protect them. Just as soon, how- ever, as the Sultan is convinced that it would be safe to have them massacred under the cloak of " a fanatical mob " that event is likely to occur. The jeopardy to American life and interests arises from the undignified and half-hearted way in which they are being " defended." A reversal of this policy would safeguard not simply the persons and property of American citizens, but, what is more, our national honor. It would, at the same time, indirectly, greatly advance the cause of humanity and civiliza- tion in that unfortunate land. CHAPTER I. A CHAPTER OF HORRORS. CERTIFIED EVIDENCE OF THE MASSACRE IN SASSOUN. WE, the undersigned, by examination and com- parison, 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 form- ing 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 indig- nation 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. FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE Governor of Massachusetts. FRANCES E. WILLARD President National W. C. T. U. WM. LLOYD GARRISON Jr. SAMUEL J. BARROWS Editor Christian Register. GEO. C. LORIMER Pastor Tremont Temple, Boston. WILLIAM E. BARTON Pastor Shawmut Church, Boston. H. M. JEVVETT Ex-U. S. Consul, Sivas, Turkey.' MARY A. LIVERMORE Author and Lecturer. ALPHEUS H. HARDY FRANCIS E. CLARK Pres. United Society Christian Endeavor. ' Brother and predecessor of the present Consul Jewett, at Sivas. 3 cS^^uO ^ c/k:!^^ r. Jctduk L^^ the Imperial Reform Commissioner, and Raouf Pa^ha, the best Governor in all the East- srn provinces, wei'e in command at Erzerum : " Erzerum, Nov. 5, 1895. •' The wave of d-iSiruction started at Constanti- nople and has so far swept through Trebizond, Bai 34 The Crisis in Ttirkey. boort, Erzingan, Erzerum, Bitlis, Harpoot, and the intervening districts. The entire Erzerum province has been deluged in Christian blood and the bulk of Christian property plundered or destroyed. "The scheme of reform has nowbecome an impossi- bility. The only hope of this land is foreign occu- pation. Appeal for relief funds. The remnant of the people are left in utter destitution. They cannot get out of the country. Two cents a day will give a man about a pound and a half of bread. For the love of God do all you can to get relief for these wretched people ! " The scene in the cemetery was awful. The re- mains are simply the wrecks of human bodies. Awful cruelty was practised. The majority have bullet wounds in addition to bayonet, sword, and dagger cuts. Some were skinned, some burned with kerosene. A great many women are missing. Very many of the dead have been disposed of by the Turks them selves. There must have been a thousand killed. About seven hundred houses and fifteen hundred shops were plundered of all that was in them. The wanton destruction of property that could not be removed was very marked. Boxes and other furni- ture were split to pieces. Provisions that could not be carried away were destroyed. " The Armenians had shown a great amount of patience. I am perfectly sure they had no thought of attack, much less any preparation for it. The attack was made by Moslems after leaving the mosques, after the noon hour of prayer, and it was simultaneous all over the city. The Armenians A Chapter of Horrors. 35 were in their places of business, which were simply death-traps. For instance, the silversmiths' row was cut off at either end and not a man escaped, and the shops were not only plundered but wrecked. In fact, the most violent Armenians, /. e., the Hiincha- gijis, had determined to keep perfectly quiet till the scheme of reform was well tried. The soldiers de- clare that they had been instructed beforehand. The Turks were expecting it for a long time, and evi- dently the orders were given from Constantinople. The massacre was almost entirely in the hands of the military. It began and ended with the bugle. The following has been received from perfectly trust- worthy sources in regard to the massacre at Sivas : " The outbreak began on November 12th and was * permitted ' to continue for seven days ; during this ' bloody week ' about twelve hundred Armenians and ten Turks were killed. Suddenly at noon, as if at a given signal, the Turkish laborers seized their tools, clubs, or whatever was at hand ; soldiers, Circassians, and police their arms, — all under command of ofificers. — and rushed to the market to begin their dreadful work of killing, stripping the dead, and looting the houses. No resistance was made by the Armenians. Many of the merchants and their clerks were killed ; thus at one blow the Armenian element is eliminated from the trade at Sivas. The Armenian villagers in the vicinity have been robbed of everything, and the people are left to beg and die. The suffering on the approach of winter will be very great. " As the fury of this storm of blood an& greed subsided, the stricken Armenians of Sivas slowly 36 The Crisis i?z Turkey, gathered the mangled and naked bodies of their kinsmen to their cemetery, where a great trench had been dug to hold the horrid harvest of death. A single priest read a short service over the long and ghastly rank, and thus was closed another chapter in the yet unfinished story of cruelty, lust, and fanaticism." Similar reports from a score of other places might be given, but for the fact that space and the feelings of the reader forbid. The story is the same every- where. The greatest loss of life was in the province of Harpoot or Mamouret-ul-Aziz. Here 15,000 were slaughtered. Letters from that region state : " The Kurds plunder, but do not generally kill unless re- sisted ; but the Turks kill in cold blood and in ways suggested by the Arch-Fiend himself. The fate of the survivors is even worse than that of those who have been killed. The villagers wander about the fields houseless, with scanty clothing, no food, and winter is upon them. Everywhere they meet yith the dread alternative, ' Become Moslems or die.' At least fourteen Prote^.tant pastors, besides Gregorian priests and hundreds of their flocks, have been pub- licly martyred on refusing to deny their faith." " In many places the Moslems are picking up the destitute widows and orphans and simply taking possession of them in order to make them Moham- medans without any will of their own." " Fifty-five Armenian women and girls, thus carried off from Ozoonovah, a village near Harpoot, were being con- veyed along the Euphrates, when, by a swift (fe cision, they all jumped into the river and drowned ABDUL HAMID II, Sultan of Turkey SMOKING AND TAKING TURKISH COFFEE. A Chapter of Horrors. 37 themselves to escape a life of Mohammedan slavery and bestiality." A letter from Cesarea of Dec. 3, 1895, states: " The method taken with the women was to de- mand that they proclaim themselves Moslems. If they refused, as many did, even young girls from twelve to fifteen years of age, they were cut down mercilessly. This is not intended to be a sensational account. It is a cruel fact which can be substantiated with the utmost ease." Enough of this Chapter of Horrors ! It has been necessary to omit the most cruel details, and the stories of inhuman lust of which hundreds of pure Christian women, both matron and maid, have been the victims, shall not be allowed to soil the pages of this book nor to defile the imagination of the reader. It will be sufficient to give a general sum- mary of the massacres of October, November, and December, 1895. A GENERAL SUMMARY. Careful study of trustworthy reports from all the regions devastated proves beyond doubt thdt the recent outbreaks^ zvhile sudden, were under careful direction in regard to place, time, nationality of the victims and of the perpetrators, zvere prompted by a common motive and their true character has been sys- tematically concealed by Turkish official reports. I. With some exceptions, the massacres have been confined to the provinces to be reformed. In out- rages elsewhere, as at Marash, Aintab, Oorfa and Cesarea, the Moslems were excited by the r.earness 38 The Crisis i7i Turkey. ot the scenes of massacre, and by the reports of the plunder which others were securing. The region devastated is vast, being five hundred miles east and west, and three hundred north and south. It ex- tends from Asia Minor proper to the Russian and Persian frontiers, and from the Black Sea to the Mesopotamian plain. 2. The massacre in Trebizond occurred just as the Sultan, after six months of refusal, was about to consent to the scheme of reforms demanded by the Powers, as if to warn them that, in case they per- sisted, the mine was already laid for the destruction of the Armenians. In fact the massacre of the Armenians is Turkey's real reply to the demands of Europe that she reform. From Trebizond the wave of murder and robbery swept on through almost every city and town and village in the six provinces where reforms were promised. When the news of the first massacre reached Constantinople, a high Turkish official remarked to one of the am- bassadors that massacre was like the small-pox : they must all have it, but they would n't need to have it the second time. 3. The victims were exclusively Armenians. In Trebizond there is a large Greek population, but neither there nor elsewhere have the Greeks been molested. Special care has also been taken to avoid injury to the subjects of foreign nations, with the idea of escaping foreign complications and the payment of indemnities. The only marked exceptions were in Marash, and in Ilarpoot, where eight buildings belonging to the American Mission were plundered A Chapter of Horrors. 39 and burned, the total losses exceeding ;^ 100,000, for which no indemnity has yet been jaaid, though more than three months has passed. 4. The method in the cities has been to kill within a limited period the largest number of Armenians — especially men of business, capacity and intelli- gence — and to beggar their families. Hence the mas- sacres were begun during business hours, when the Armenians could be caught in their shops, just after the noonday prayer of the Moslems. The surprised and unarmed Armenians made little or no resist- ance, and where, as at Diarbekir and Gurun, they undertook to defend themselves, they suffered the more. The killing was done with guns, revolvers, swords, clubs, pickaxes, and every conceivable weapon, and many of the dead were horribly mangled. The shops and houses were absolutely gutted, and often burned. Upon hundreds of villages the Turks, Kurds, and Circassians came down like the hordes of Tamerlane, robbed the helpless peasants of their flocks and herds, stripped them of their very clothing, and car- ried away their bedding, cooking utensils, and even the little stores of provisions which they had with infinite care and toil laid up for the severities of a rigorous winter. Worst of all is the bitter cry that comes from every quarter that the Moslems carried off hundreds of Christian women and children. The number killed in the massacres thus far is estimated at forty thousand. Not less than two hundred and fifty thousand wretched survivors, most of whom are women and children, are in danger of 40 The Crisis in Tzirkcy. perishing by starvation and exposure unless foreign aid is promptly sent and allowed to reach them. 5. The perpetrators were the resident Moslem population — armed and instigated by the authorities, who had previously disarmed the Christians, — rein- forced by Kurds, Circassians, and in several cases by the Sultan's soldiers and officers, who began the dreadful work at the sound of a bugle, and desisted when the bugle signalled to them to stop. This was notoriously true in Erzerum. In Harpoot, also, the soldiers took a prominent part, firing on the build- ings of the American Mission with Martini-Henri rifles and Krupp cannon. It is an utter mistake to suppose, as some have, that the local authorities could not have suppressed the " fanatical " Moslem mobs and restrained the Kurds. The fact is that the authorities, after look- ing on while the massacres were in progress, did generally intervene and stop the slaughter in the cities as soon as the limited period during which the Moslems were allowed to kill and rob had expired. 6. The motive of the Turks is apparent even to the superficial observer. The scheme of reforms devolved civil offices, judgeships, and police appoint- ments on Mohammedans and non-Mohammedans in the six provinces proportionately. This, while simple justice, was a bitter pill to the Mohamme- dans, who had ruled the Christians with a rod of iron for five hundred years. All that was needed to make the scheme of reforms inoperative was to alter the proportion of Christians to Mohammedans. This policy was at ojice relentlessly and thoroughly exe- A Chapter of Horrors. 41 cuted. The Armenians have been both diminished and utterly prostrated, first, by killing at a single blow those most capable of taking a part in any scheme of reconstruction, and, secondly, by com- pelling the survivors to die of starvation, exposure, and sickness or to become Moslem. Thousands in despair of help from God or man have already ac- cepted the religion of the murderers of their rela- tives. Though only an outward acceptance now, it will soon become an irrevocable fact, unless the awful pressure of the Turks is broken by foreign inter- vention. It is the very essence of Mohammedanism that \\i& ghiaour ^iXdiS no right to live save in subjection. The abortive schemes of Europe insisting on the rights of Armenians as men and Christians have enraged the Moslems against them. The arrogant and non-progressive Turks know that in a fair and equal race the Christians will outstrip them in every department of business and industry, and they see in any just scheme of reforms the handwriting on the wall for themselves. 7. The refinement of cruelty appears in this, that the Turkish Government has attempted to cover up its hideous policy and deeds by the most colossal lying and hypocrisy. By the constant publication of men- dacious telegrams and reports, it has tried to make Europe and America believe that the agricultural and commercial Armenians, stripped of all weapons and in a hopeless minority, are in rebellion. It is true that on September 30, 1895, some hot-headed young Armenians, contrary to the entreaties of the Armc- 42 TJie Crisis in Turkey. nian Patriarch and the orders of the poHce, attempted to take a well worded petition to the Grand Vizier, according to a time-honored custom. It is also true that brave and oppressed mountaineers in the one isolated town of Zeitoun drove out a small garrison of Turkish soldiers, whom, however, they treated with humanity ; it is likewise true that in various places individual Armenians, in despair, have advo- cated acts of violence and revenge with the hope of calling attention to their wrongs. But the universal testimony of impartial foreign eye-witnesses is that, with the above exceptions, the Armenians have given no provocation whatever. If the Armenians made attacks, where are the Turkish dead ? And all this has been done by those who have for years dazzled and deceived Europe with Hatti Shereefs and Hatti Humayouns, promulgating civil equality and religious liberty for their Christian sub- jects. The Sultan who is the head of all authority in Turkey, wrote to Lord Salisbury, and pledged his word of honor that the scheme of reforms should be carried out to the letter, at the very moment when he was directing the massacres. And the six great Christian Powers of Europe, as well as the United States, still treat this man with infinite courtesy and deference. The most appalling feature of this vast tragedy is the fact that all the " civilized " and " Christian " na- tions of the world have watched it for months with- out moving a finger to check it. The sober truth is that civilization is not progress, and that the Chris- tianity of to-day is not Christian. 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 ad- ministration, the elements that compose the popula- tion, and their relations to one another. The massacre took place in the mountainous Sas- soun district just south of Moosh, two days' ride west of Bitlis, a large city where the Provincial-Gov- ernor and a permanent military force reside. It is near the western end of Lake Van, about eight hun- dred 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 dis- tances 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, 43 44 1^ Crisis in Turkey. 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 coun- try. 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 Har- poot to Van, in eight days, but that was quite ex- ceptional. 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 light- ning 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 quad- rangular 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, consist- ing 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 great)/ varied in extent at different epochs. "^ Tnforfnation about Eastern Turkey. 45 reaching to the Caspian at one time, and even bor- dering on the Mediterranean Sea during the Crusades. It included the Southern Caucasus, which now con- tains a large, growing, prosperous, and happy Arme- nian population under the Czar, whose government allows them the free exercise of their ancestral re- ligion, and admits them to many high civil and mili- tary 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 hun- dred thousand scattered through Europe, and five thousand in the United States. The scenery, while harsh, owing to the lack of ver- dure, 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 bril- liant 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 migl:t 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 ValiSf provincial governors, who are sent from 46 The Crisis i7z Turkey, Constantinople to represent the sovereign, and i.ni accountable to him alone. The blind policy which was inaugurated by the present Sultan of dismissing non-Moslems from every branch of public servict — post, telegraph, custom-house, internal revenue, en- gineering, and the like — has already been carried out to a large extent all over the empire, and especiojly in Armenia. The frequent changes in Turkish offi- cials 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, r.nd 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 indicat- ing 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 Kcrmanshah. A KURD OF THE OLD TYPE. 47 4^ The Crisis in Turkey. 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 con- sular ofificers 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.' 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 ex- clusively 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 Meso- potamian plains, prefer a migratory life, oscillating with the season between the lowlands and the moun- tains. The sedentary greatly outnumber the nomad Kurds, but the latter are more wealthy, independent, and highly esteemed. There is, probably, little eth- nic 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 ' Encyc. Britannica, " Kurdistan." Information abotit Eastern Turkey. 49 patriarchal state, surrounded by hereditary nobihty, regarded by his clansmen with reverence and affec- tion, 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." ' Within two days' ride southeast of Van, I found the ruins of four massive Kurdish castles at Shaddakh, Norduz, Bashkallah, 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 power- ful 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 degener- ated into a wild, lawless set of brigands, proud, treacherous, and cruel. The traditions of their for- mer 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. One who has a taste for adventure and is willing to take his life in his hands, can find among them as ' Encyc. BHtannica, " Kurdistan." 4 50 The Crisis in Turkey 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 RUINS OF A KURDISH CASTLE AT KHOSHAB. of a tiger. I vividly recollect having just this impres- sion under circumstances analogous to that of a hunter who suddenly finds himself face to face with Informatio7t about Eastern Tier key, 5 1 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 ex- periences as the above, that the usual retinue of cooks, servants, and zabtiehs should be dispensed with in order to secure the best opportunities for observation. The Kurdish costumes, alway? picturesque, show much local variation in cut and color. The beys and khans of the colder north almost invariably pre- fer broadcloth, and find the finest fabrics and richest shades — specially imported forthem — 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 dig- nity. 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 Mo- hammedan custom, go unveiled and have large lib- erty, but there is no reason to suspect their virtue. Their prowess, also, is above reproach, and rash would 52 The Crisis in Turkey. 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 gov- ernment much might be expected of them in time. They keep up a strict tribal relation, owing alle- giance 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 dis- arm them. But three years ago His Majesty sum- moned 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 be- stow the name Haincdic'Ji^ after his own. Thus, shrewdly appealing to their pride of race, and wink- ing 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 con- tingent was worse than useless as was shown by Mr. Norman,' 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 ' Armenia and the Campaign of 1877. Information about Eastern Turkey, 5^ is a serious crime in the case of Christians, al- though 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 ol its wonderful vitality and excellent quality. For three thousand years Armenia, on account of her location, has been trampled into dust both by devas- tating armies and by migrating hordes. She has been the prey of Nebuchadnezzar, Xerxes, and Alex- ander ; of the Romans, the Parthians, and Persians ; of Byzantine, Saracen, and Crusader; of Seljuk and Ottoman, and Russian and Kurd. Through this awful record, the Christian church founded by Gregory, " The Illuminator," has been the one rally- ing 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 in- ference is drawn that they are exaggerations, not based on exact knowledge of the facts. This chap- ter will, therefore, contain nothing but definite inci- dents and figures, names and places also being added regardless of consequences. This information is fur- nished by a trustworthy authority on the ground, and has already been published in TJie 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 Mansurich of Bohtan (Kaimakamlik of Jezireh) by the government, and by Mustapha Pasha, a Kurd- ish Kocher, or nomad chief, in 1893 : Condition of Armenia and Kurdistan. 55 I. Government Exaction^ SUMMARY. Excess of official de- mand 3,000 ps.' Amount of double tax 4,000 Produce taken by gen- darmes 2,000 9,000 ps. 2. ExactionbyM. Pasha. Excess of tithe revenue 1,500 Damage to crops 2,000 3,500 Total excess taken from village for 1893 12,500 Total of legitimate taxes on village for the year. . . 14,000 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 AgJias of Shcrnakh (one day north of Jezireh), from Hassana of Bohtan, dur- ing years i89i-'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 *' " " 15 pieces of cloth 150 " Taher Agha, cash 14 liras 1,400 " " " taken from village priest, cash 75 ps., saddle 75 ps., watch 200 ps 350 " Sahdoon Agha, cash 2 liras 200 " Mohammed 120 Carried forward 3,370 ps. ' 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. 56 The Crisis in Turkey, Brought forward 3,370 ps. For Khorsheed 57 " Mohammed Agha, harvest, 500 men at 3 ps. . itjOu " repair of his roads, 65 mtp. 3 days 487 " repair of his roads, somen, 3 days 375 ' ' preparation of boiled wheat for winter, 450 men and 14 animals i,l6o " building house in Dader, 150 men 375 " 2000 ceiling sticks, 10 posts 554 " 4 large trees for rafters, at 50 ps 200 Total for 1893 8,078 ps The above were ^oted in a book at the time of the occurrence by a villas'^ priest, as being seen by him personally, and do not give the great part of the ex- actions 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 i88o-'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, i89i-'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 occur- Condition of Armenia and Kurdistan 57 rence. 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 generahzed. Robbery. — Cash, 9 liras; again 10 Hras ; again 15 liras ; smaller sums being taken continually. Mohammed Beg, of Berwer, and his relatives re. sponsible 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 with- out 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 moie 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 extor- tion 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 58 The Crisis in Turkey. escape any further inquisition. Even the old mother of the murdered man was frightened until she de- clared that she did not know of any such occurrence, and had no complaints to make against anybody." " Kannybalaver — Kaimakamlik of Amadia. Dur- ing the years 1893-94 this village was raided sev- eral 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 hun- dred 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, Chris- tians are robbed and killed openly. Three cases are given. Last year a young man, of the Protestant com, munity, 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 in- fluential families among the Christians of the city, did not dare to make accusation against him, know- ing that the only result would be more bloodshed." Condition of Armenia and Kurdistan. 59 " An old missionary who has been famihar 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 Chris- tian. It is the daily constant exactions and oppres- sions 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 gener- ally 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 in- creased by the methods here classified : SUMMARY OF ABUSES. "I. Unjust and corrupt assessments. 1. Villagers are compelled to give assessors pres- ents 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," 6o The Crisis in Turkey, "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 ofificials and other Kurds, in whose interests such opportu. nities 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 succeed- ing 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 V. o o M w Q J O HuN. VVILJ-IAM E. GLADSTONE Condition of Armenia and Kurdistan. 6i dare to ask for them. Or the head man of the vil- lage who keeps the account has been bribed to falsify his accounts. These taxes are collected again, en- tailing 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. Farnihig 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 gov- ernment 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, zvho, with their horses, must be kept at the expense of the village, thus entailing a very heavy additional burden upon them. Sol- diers and servants sent to the villagers to make 62 The Crisis hi Turkey. collections, very naturally take something for them- selves." 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 pre- vails among the Armenians as I witnessed previ- ously among the Syrian ' r ayahs. It is more than alarm, it is abject terror, and not without good reason. In plain English, general lawlessness pre- vails over much of this region. Caravans are stopped and robbed, travelling is, for Armenians, absolutcl)) 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.'" ' Often called Nestorian. ' Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, youmeys in Persia and Kurdistan, vol. ii., p. 374, 375. Condit{o7i of Armenia and Kurdistan. 63 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 state- ment of facts to the Foreign Office and also to a Parliamentary Committee, That the recent outrages in Sassoun are conspicu- ous by their extent rather than character, the follow- ing 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 be- yond recognition. They resolved to make a des- perate efTort 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 64 The Crisis in Turkey. 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 ofificials, till it paused be- fore 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 dan- ger of arousing the Kurds to greater atrocity by further efforts to punish them, that the case was dropped and soon forgotten in the callousness pro- duced 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 Condition of Armenia and Kurdistan. 65 out of the country, told me that during a large prac- tice of a year and a half in Armenia, while using every effort to save life, only one case was remem- bered 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 nour ished for days by artificial feeding, because his stom- ach could not retain food. Constant and skilful care for a month brought him back to life, from the con- dition 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 with- out 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 ex- cuse for imprisonment. This course exposed me to 66 The Crisis in Turkey. further attacks of thieves and necessitated a night watcliman. 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. ClifTord 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 im- pression of the condition of the country. At that very time, October, 1890, Mr. Lloyd called atten- tion, in an official dispatch, published in the " Blue Books,'' to : " I. 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 noi; abso- Condition of Armenia and Ktirdistan. 67 lutely sure of, and arc 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 refus- ing to touch the case unless allowed to use names. Second. Missionaries, whose mouths are sealed. Thev would be the best informed and most trusts woichy witnesses. Butthey feel it their first duty to safeguard the great benevolent and educational in. terests committed to them by not exciting the sus- picion and hostility of the government. Their position is a delicate one, conditional on their neu- trality, like that of officers of the Red Cross Society in war. Third. Occasional travellers, M^hose fir^ 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 in- vestigations in an article entitled, " The Shadow of the Kurd " in TJie Contemporary Review} 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 "onfidence in Turkish explanations and promises. ' The Contemporary Jieview, May and June, iSgr. 68 The Crisis t7i Turkey. WHAT CAN BE DONE? The scope of this book does not permit a discus- sion of even the Armenian phase of the Eastern question, bcj-ond a bare reference to its possible three-fold solution. There is, first, Russian annexa- tion, 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 alterna- tive 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, man)' 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 sor- row 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. ARMENLIN LADY GROTTP OF ARM^^^IANS Condition of Armejiia and Kurdistan. 69 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 ad- ministrative 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 six- teen 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,' founded by Prof. James Bryce, M.P., and by the Phil-Armenic Society in this country.^ 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. '77^1? Case for the Armenians. London: Anglo-Armenian Asso- ciation. '^ A7t Appeal to the Christians of America by the Christians of Ar- menia. New York : Phil-Armenic Society. CHAPTER IV. OTTOMAN PROMISES AND THEIR FUL- FILMENT. 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 o'" 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 fa/ 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 emphat- ically 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 partia. list of Turkish promises which have been broken in whole or in part, with the circumstances under which they were made. I. In 1829, by the Treaty of Adrianople at the close of a war with Russia, Turkey promised to re- JO Ottoman Promises and their Fulfilment. 71 form in her treatment of Orthodox Christians, and acknowledged Russia's right to interfere in their behalf.' 2. In 1839 Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid, in order to en- list European sympathy and aid — when the victori- ous Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pasha was threat- ening Constantinople — issued an Imperial rescript, the Hatti Sherif, in which he promised to protect the life, honor, and property of all his subjects irre- spective 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 foriner/y 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 Chris- tianity, and have been put out of the way, quietly in most cases. 4. In 1850 the same Sultan, on the demand q1 the same Powers, in view of the continued and fierce per- secution of the Protestant subjects of the Porte^ granted the latter a charter, guaranteeing them lib- erty 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 * MorfiU's Jiussia, p. 287. Putnam. 72 The Crisis i?i Tier key. 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.* 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- I\Icdjid,to anticipate demands Avhich he knew would be included in the Treaty of Paris then being drawn up, issued the Imperial edict known as the Hatti Ilumayoun. 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 need- less to add that it has been a dead letter.' 6. In 1878 the Anglo-Turkish Convention, entered into just before the Treaty of Berlin, included these ' Rev. II. O. Dwight, The Independent, New York, January /y, 1895. * At the time of the Crimean \Var Lord Aberdeen said : " Notwithstanding tlie favorable ojiinion 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 despatches of Lord Stratford (de RadclifTe) himself, and of our own consuls, who describe a fright- ful picture of lawless oppression and cruelty." (Sir Theodore Mar- tin's Life of the Prince Consort, vol. ii., p. 528.) Quoted by Canon MacCoU, The Contetnporary Review, January, 1895. Ottoman Promises and their Fulfilment. 73 words in its First Article: "His Imperial Majesty, the Sultan, promises to England to introduce neces- sary reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two Powers, into the government and for the protec- tion 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 Ar- menia], His Imperial Majesty, the Sultan, further con- sents 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 re- forms demanded by local requirements in the prov- inces 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 ap- plication." 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 74 The Crisis in Turkey. 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 m^ost judiciously ; imprisonment or free- dom 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,' especially those in the cazas," 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 mem- bers, 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 appoint- ments, 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 * Judge, * Local districts. Ottoman Promises and their Fulfilment. 75 to receive bribes ; and there are others who, whilst giving way to temptation, deplore the necessity to do so." ' 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 follow- ing translation is from the Arabic : " I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, [the rejcev{\ the accursed. In the name of Allah the Compas- sionate, 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!"" All who do not accept Mohammed are included among "the infidels" referred to in the prayer. 1 Report of Mr. Wilson, Blue-Book, Turkey, No. 8 (1881), page 57, No. 48. * The Mohammedan Missionary Problem, p. 31. Jessup. Phila- delphia, Presb. Pub. Soa 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 duiing 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 dis- charge the additional obligation for the improve- ment of Armenia which she assumed by the so-callec Cyprus Convention ? We find that in November, 1879, ^'^^ 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 demonstra- tion. The Turkish Government was greatly ex- cited, and with a view to getting the order counter- manded, made the fairest promises. But England was not the only Power aroused. On June II, 1880, an Identical Note of the Great Powers demanded the execution of the clauses of 76 « Ii. D O The Outcome of the Treaty of Berlin. JJ 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 zvell asthat of the Ottoman Empire, requires the execution of the Sixty-first Article of t lie Treaty of Berlin, and that the Joint and incessant action of the Powers can alone britig 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 distinguish- ing characteristics of modern Ottoman diplomacy namely, first, great facility in assimilating the ad- ministrative and constitutional jargon of civilized countries ; second, consummate cunning in conceal- ing 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 preju- dices 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.' They concur in a crushing condemna- tion of the Ottoman Government. These conclusions, moderately and very diffusely expressed in diplomatic phraseology, are reflected in ' BCue-Book, Turkey, No. 6, 1881, reports of Wilson, Bennett, Chermside, Trotter, Stewart, Clayton, Everett, and Cilotti. 78 The Crisis in Turkey. the Collective Note which was sent on Sept. Ii, 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 sim- ply a matter of form.' I have condensed this outline of events since the Treaty of Berlin from Armenia, tJie Armenians, and the Treaties,^ following as far as possible the words of the writer, M. G. RoHn-Jae- quemyns, a high authority on International Law. From 1 88 1 to the present time, almost with- out exception, England, on her part, has allowed * Blue-Book, Turkey, l88i, p. 242. ' Published by John Hey wood, London, 1891, pp. 82-89. The Outcome of the Treaty of Berlin. 7-9 no mention in her Blue-Books of the manner in which \icx prott^gcs 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 rchef. The other Powers are only less guilty, in proportion as they have done less to perpetuate Ottoman mis- rule, 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 sign- ing a treaty which left the nations of South-eastern 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." ' It is thus clearly seen that both the Sixty-first Article of the Berlin Treaty, and the Cyprus Con- vention 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. This condition, I further maintain, is in large measure directly attributable to those treaties them- selves 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 Ar- menians up? It was primarily the Sixty-first Article ' Freeman, The Turks in Europe, 8o The O'isis in Turkey 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 PROFESSOR MINAS TCHERAZ. Present at the Berlin Congress. 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 The Outcome of the Treaty of Berlin. 8i roused tJiem 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 segis 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 intelli- gent Armenians that an autonomous Armenia ii impracticable. But I have never been able to con- vince one of them that the course of England and the other powers has been anything but one of sel- fishness, jealousy, and dishonor as far as fulfilment of their treaty obligations is concerned. During a residence of four years in Eastern Tur- key I noticed a marked and rapid alienation of Arme- nian 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 con- tempt of the Moslem rulers and population gener- ally 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 with- out. But the pressure should not be of a petty, nagging and galling nature. This is worse than nothing. What is needed is prompt, decisive, ayid final action. 6 82 The Crisis in Tiirhcy, And things have now arrived at such a pass that in such action Hes the only hope of preventing a ter- rible catastrophe, which will eclipse even the massa- cres of Sassoun. The wheels of progress will not go backward except as they are broken. The Chris* tians 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, reck- less, and foreign to the real spirit, objects, and meth- ods 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 suc- cess. The Turkish Government and its partisans, in order to conceal the real character of the massacre in Sassoun, have made persistent, extensive, and dis- honorable 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 maybe found in Appendix C. The idea of Armenian revolution is a new thing The Outcome of the Treaty of Berlin. 83 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 viru- lent and contagious until the European doctors apply vigor- ous and radical treat- ment to the " Sick Man." It is difficult to see how anything but a surgical opera- tion can be helpful. The knife has fre- quently been used in the case of this incur- able patient during the present century, and always with ex- cellent 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 Blowit*^ in the October, ZEIBEK, TURKISH SOLDIER, "IRREGULAR." 84 The Crisis in Turkey. 1894, issue of TJie NinctccntJi 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 victo- rious 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, un- der M. de Kallay's administration, not only to re- move 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 3'ear 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. dc Kallay. From this moment all is changed. The powers given to the new administration are almost unlimited. The civil element has been sub- stituted for the military element, and pacification has succeeded conquest. The greatest effort is made to reassure all minds. Not a single minaret has disap- peared, not a viuczzin 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 opi)ortunity now, which may never come our way again, of settling a dififi- The Outcome of the Treaty of Berlin. 85 culty which, if allowed to develop much longer, will prove more fruitful of mischief than any with which we have been confronted for a generation 01 more." * C. B. Norman, special corre- spondent of TJie London Tijucs, in his Armenia and the Cam- paign of iSyy '' wrote words which are even truer to-day. I condense: " Naturally, since I have been here I have had many, very many, opportunities of convers- ing 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 ! ' ° " There is no finer race in the world than the Turk turkish soldier, "regular." ' " Diplomatist," " The Armenian Question " in The New Review, January, 1895. " Pp. 158-9. London : Cassell, Fetter, & Galpin. * Speech in St. James's Hall, December, 1S76. 86 T^he Crisis in T'urkey, 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 Ques- tion Association as keen a sense of justice as they have love of writing, they would long ago have oblit- erated the Avord ' Christian ' from their lengthy docu- ments, and striven to ameliorate the condition of the lower orders of the subjects of the Porte, down- trodden 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 en- deavor to check the present system of misgovern- ment, he would not remain in of^ce one week. Captain Gambler's able article on the ' Life of Midhat Pasha' ' bears me out in this idea." ' The Nineteenth Century, January, 1878. 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 erec- tion 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 regime, 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 87 88 The Crisis in Turkey. would still feel compelled to adopt the same course, as a matter of internal political necessit}-. The Moslem population look to him as the Defender of the Faith, girded with the sword of the Prophet. He fjels 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. ' 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 de- mands that anything be done, and if the rest of humanity and civilization have any responsibility in the matter, let practical statesmen proceed to busi- ness. All hope of reform from within depends on ' From a descendant of Dahir Billah, the thirty-fifth caliph of Bagdad, Sultan Selim I. "procured the cession of his claims, and ob- tained 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."^ The Persians and Moors, however, reject this claim, and at the CiOse of the Russian War not a few of the Arab muftis declared that the caliphate had been for- feited by the inglorious defeat of the Turks, and should now return to the Arab family of Koreish. ' Freeman, The Saracens, p. 158. Quoted by Jessup, The Mo- hammedan Missionary Problem.^ p, 21, Philadelphia : Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1879. The Sidtan aitd the Sztbliine Porte. 89 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 bet- ter off, and his subjects also — Moslem no less than Christian. The shrieks of ten thousand slaughtered Arme- nians 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 Iradds 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.' Not one of them is expected or even allowed to serve in the army. Non-Moslems, whose services are indis- ' Hughes, Notes on Muhammadanism, pp. 209, 210. 90 The Crisis in Turkey. pensable to the government, are, in rare cases, put in civil offices, especially financial, for which no Moham- medan 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 car- ried 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, venal- ity, and taxation. They drink the cup of woe, all but the more bitter dregs of religious persecution, which is reserved for Christian lips. Their be- numbed condition, natural stolidity, and unquestion- ing obedience to Islam, a creed whose cardinal prin- ciple is submission,' 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 Constantino- ple, in an article entitled " Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid," in TJie 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 pub- lic, and could hardly be better stated than in thesq extracts : ' Hughes, Notes on Muhammadanism, p. 10, The Sultan and the Sublime Porte. 91 " So far as we can judge, the Sultan is a sincere and honest Mohammedan, and regards himself as a H. I. M. ABD-UL-HAMIU KHAN, THE SULTAN OF TURKEY. true Caliph — a successor of the Prophet — the chief defender of the faith, under God the absolute arbi- ter of its destinies. He has undoubtedly done his ^2 TJic Crisis in Turkey. 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 concen- trate 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 sup- posed to be subordinate to them. All is, of course, subject to the supreme will of the Sultan, but his ofificial 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 of^cial 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 im- portant questions of state are often treated and decided, while the highest of^cials 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 TURKISH WATER-CARRIERS The Sultan and the Sublime Porte. 93 all questions, great and small, for himself. In form he docs so, but no man can act independently of all his sources of information, and of the personal influ- ence 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 tell- ing 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 difificulties with foreign Powers. All foreign relations are supposed to be managed through the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Grand Vizier, but these ofificials have no power and but little influence. They can promise nothing and do nothing. But in all delicate diplomatic ques- tions 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 any- thing to save this Empire ; that it is hopelessly cor- rupt, and the sooner it comes to an end the better for the world. There is no longer any concerted 94 TJic Crisis i)i Turkey. action of Europe at Constantinople for the improve- ment 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 sub- jects, 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 \\x'lcomc 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 mifjht have saved it and did not." CHAPTER VII. PREVIOUS ACTS OF THE TURKISH TRAGEDY. IN this chapter' I shall take no account of events that have taken place in legitimate warfare, where the slain were foreign enemies or rebel- lious subjects of the Sultan, resisting with arms in their hands after being ordered to submit. The" in- surgents " — 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 NineveJi), have confirmed the whole Turkish princi- ple, that " the Armenians were becoming too numer- ous, and needed diminishing." ' 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." 95 gS The Crisis iii Turkey. 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 1896. 3822, Greeks, especially in Scio (Chios) . 50,000' 1850. Nestorians and Armenians, Kur- distan 10,000' i860. Maronites and Syrians, Lebanon and Damascus 11,000' 1876. Bulgarians, Bulgaria . . . 10,000* 1894-1895. Armenians, Asiatic Turkey . 40,000* Total 121,000 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 suc- cess of the Greek insurgents by ordering massacres, ' Latham, Rtissian and Turk, p. 417. London : W. H. Allen, 1878. "^ Layard's Nineveh. 'Colonel Churchill, Druses and Maronites, p. 219. London: Quaritch, 1862. ■* Eugene Schuyler and Correspondent MacGahan, quoted in The Independent, January lo, 1895. * Chapter I, of this book. Previous Acts of the Turkish Tragedy. 97 violations, and enslavement in regions without de- fense, 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 sus- pected 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, 1 82 1, the intrepid Tombasis, with fifteen brigs from Hydra and ten schooners from Psara, had ap- peared before the island, and his patriotic advances having been ill received, he had retired. The in- habitants 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. 7 98 The Crisis in Turkey. "At this moment, on Easter Day, 1822, the Capi- tan-Pasha anchored in the harbor, with seven sliips 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 ; basJii-bazoiiks from Rumelia, Zeibeks and Yuruks from Asia Minor, the most ferocious and cowardly to be found in the empire. The adventurers had come in great num- bers, 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 be- sieged 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. Previous Acts of the Ttirkish Tragedy, 99 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." ' In regard to the massacre of Nestorians in 1850, Layard states that after 9000 had been massacred, " 1000 men, women, and children concealed them- selves in a mountain fastness. Beder Khan Beg, an of^cer of rank in the employment of the Sultan, un- able 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 in- discriminate slaughter, until, weary of using their weapons, they hurled the few survivors from the rocks into the river Zab below. Out of nearly looa only one escaped." " In regard to the massacre of Maronites and Syri- ans in i860, the anonymous authority in The Inde- pendetit goes on to say : "After the massacre of June and July, i860, in Lebanon and Damascus, under the direction of Tahir Pasha in Deir el Komr, Osman Beg in Has- beiya, Kurshid Parsha 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 'M. Gaston Deschamps : "En Turquie — Ll'le de Chio," Revue des Deux Alondes, p. 167, January i, 1893. ^ Layard's Nineveh, pp. 24-201. 7 TOO The Crisis in Tiirkey. Christians had been massacred, the European rep- resentatives 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 con- sent 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 >f the Sultan's authorities, the following insult to tiie common sense, the feelings, and judgment of Chris- tian Europe was deliberately penned : ' The Pleni- potentiary of the Sublime Porte takes note of this declaration of the representatives of the high con- tracting Powers, and undertakes to transmit it to his court, pointing out tJiat the Sublime Porte has em ployed, 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, how- ever, 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," IB J Hi o t— I H < H O a w PC P(5 W o w o < < p- o H la < c w u <: pi \^ Previous Acts of the Turkish Tragedy, loi The writer in TJie Indcpe7ident adds : " Thus we have Nejib Pasha in 1840, Bcdcr Khan in 1850, Kurshid Pasha in i860, 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 basJii-bazoiiks in the spring of 1876. I quote verbatim from the pre- liminary report ' of the Hon. Eugene Schuyler, Amer- ican 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 resist- ance. In many instances they surrendered their arms upon the first demand. Nearly all the villages which were attacked by the bashi-hazouks 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 ' Article by Mr. Savage, The Independent, January lo, 1S94. I02 The Crisis in Turkey. 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 Bul- garians 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 sur- rendered, Ahmed Aga ordered the destruction of the village and the indiscriminate slaughter of the inhabitants, about a hundred young girls being re- served 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 inhabi- tants not 2000 are known to survive. " Ahmed Aga, who commanded the massacre, has since been decorated and promoted to the rank of yuz basJii [centurian]. "These atrocities were clearly unnecessary for the suppression of the insurrection, for it was an insig- nificant rebellion at the best, and the villagers gen- erally surrendered at the first summons. " I am, sir, yours very truly, " Eugene Schuyler. "The Hon. Horace Maynard, etc." Previous Acts of the Turkish Tragedy. 103 " 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 dis- trict by Mr. J. A. MacGahan, the brilliant correspond- ent of the London Daily Nezvs, who confirms all that Mr. Schuyler discovered, in a special despatch 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 ? Un- doubtedly. " 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 de- struction, and the civilized world looks to her for a iulfilment of her high mission in the East. I04 The Crisis in Turkey " May British public opinion compel British j^ublic 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 Canca, 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 impera- tively demand the immediate suspension of hostili- ties, 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 Prus- sian.* OUTRAGES IN ARMENIA IN 1877. The wrrtei' is C. B. Norman, special correspondent of TJie London Times, who says in his preface : " In my correspondence to the Times I made it a rule to report nothing but what came undei my own personal observation, or facts confirmed by European evidence. ' U. S. Consul Stillman's The Cretan Insurrection of 1S66-7-8. Henry Holt & Co., 1874. Previous Acts of the Turkish Tragedy. 105 " A complete list it is impossible for me to obtain, but from all sides — from Turk and Armenian alike — ■ ' V ' '-'^^dHHHHJIH ^^fl Ih ^MMN I^H HHH»^^3f--^^^ HjHHHf HHHH^^P^^',^- ' 'I^^m:''' ^^BBI^^^^^B r^Hpi^i^p ^^9|^H ' '" '^^Sm^B^B^BB h^^I^HmJ^^^H ■t. •^.--i-^HM^^^^^BPBEy ^■B^^^^^BShI^^^^I ^S 'Jr^r-i^Simy^J^^3tKKKtKKKB3:ilL ^^HH^^I A HIGHWAY IN ARMENIA. I hear piteous talcs 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 mourn- ing 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 per- petrators 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 punish- io6 The Crisis iji Ttirkcy. ment. The subject is too painful to need any color- ing, 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 at- tacked 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, Bog- hatz, 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 inhabi- tants driven naked into the fields, to gaze with horror on their burning homesteads."* 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 Mo- ' C. B. Norman, Armenia and the Campaign of iSjj, pp. 29 J- 298. London ; "i^^^aiall. Fetter, & Galpin, 1879. Previous Acts of the Turkish Tragedy. 107 sul, 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 Moham- med. 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 moun- tains 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 Gov- ernment 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. io8 The Crisis in Turkey. "The Yczidis who remained in their villages on the plain had Moslem priests set over them to in- struct them in the Moslem faith. They were com- pelled to attend prayers and nominally become Mohammedans ; but in secret they practised their own rites and declared that they were still Yczidis." "' 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.' The writer in TJie Independeftt of Jani'ary 31st, gives this explanation : " The reason of the recurrence of massacres \.\ Turkey is the fanatical intolerance of the Moslem populace and their hatred to Christianity, unre- strained and often fomented by Turkish of^cials. " Lord Stratford de Redcliffc, the ablest and best friend Turkey ever had, who believed that ' England should befriend Turkey in order to reform her,' says : ' " ' 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 un- certain, and their effects destructive ' (p. 6). "'Did not the massacres in Syria in i860 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?' ([>. 79). * The Independent^ January 17, 1895. * Ibid,^ January 31, 1895. ^ The Eastern Question. c c Previous Acts of the Turkish Tragedy. 109 " * The position of the Ottoman Empire is one of natural determination toward a state of exhaustive weakness ' (p. 97). " ' 111 fares the country where neither strong hand nor willing heart is to be found ' (p. 104). " A joint Commission is now en rotite 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 Commis- sions] have their portion of inconvenience and risk. Their failure is discreditable ; the effect of their suc- cess, 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 Cory stantinople.' " 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 sub- ject 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 consider- able merit,' 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 sa 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 ' New Review for January, 1893. no Islam as a Factor of the Problem, 1 1 1 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-religions system. This is the necessary constitution of any Moham- medan 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 fabr'": 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 112 The Crisis in Turkey, 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 differ- ent formulae used show this. In the case of a Mohammedan it is, " His Lordship, So and So, testi- fied 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 evidenee before the courts without dis- tinctio7is of creeds The practical application of the above clause is shown in the official reports of British Consuls.' Mr. Wilson, Consul-General in Anatolia, writes: " In the greater portion of Anatolia, though Chris- tian evidence may be received, no weight is attached to it. When Moslem and Christian evidence are op- posed 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 wit- nesses to gain his case." ' These extracts are from Blue-Book, Turkey, No. 8 (1881), pp. 57- 110, as quoted l)y the high authority, M. Rolin-Jaequemyns, in his Armenia, the Armenians, and ike Treaties, pp. 74-76. London : John Heywood, 1891 Islam as a Factor of the Problem. 1 1 3 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 rela- tive importance to it that, from its tenor and con- sistency, it is entitled to, are very different matters; and there is no doubt that, especially in civil cases, tradition, sympathy, and education prejudice the Hakini^ against it — sentimental considerations, how- ever, 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 sec- ond 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 fanati- cal than corrupt. The injustice done to Christians even in commer- cial transactions is shown by Mr. Bilotti, Consul a*- 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 Mussul- man has ever been condemned on the testimony of Christians ; so much so, that the latter are in the ' T he Hak'nn, who is a member of the religious body of Ulemas, presides over tlie lower court (Bidayet), which is to be found iu every caza (hundred), and also over the Sandjak or district court. 114 ^'^^ Crisis iji Turkey. 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 con- sidered 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 punishmenf Islam as a Factor of the Problem. 1 1 5 as criminals. Apostacy from Islam is treason to the Sultan. Converts to Christianity are arrested and imprisoned. In the rare instances when foreign gov- ernments 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 doc- tors, is vital, as in the case of the Siamese twins. Inasmuch as the bond cannot be cut, the only re- maining hope must be in improving the health of the two bodies thus indissolubly united. Unfortu- nately, no change can be hoped for in the case of either part of this dual patient. Mohamvie danism at its birth was a vtalforuiation, 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, sufificient and final," and " Islam is a separate distinct, and absolutely exclusive religion." As attempts are frequently made to convey a con- trary 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 year::, has observed its practical work- 1 1 6 The Crisis iii Tiirkey. ings in 'he Ottoman Empire. At the World's Par- liament 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 fair- ness, 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. Wash- burn tliinks that every orthodox Moslem would ansv/rr in the negative. Pie adds: "It is very im- portcint to bear in mind that there are nominal Mohammedans who arc theists, and others who are p'intheists 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 Dcistic rationalism is represented in that most interesting work of Justice Ameer AH, T]ie Spirit of Islam. He speaks of Mo- hammed 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 Mo- hammedanism, any more than Renan's Life of Jcstts 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 DERVISH hk(;(;ars Islam as a Factor of the Problem. 1 1 7 Testaments happen to be mentioned one hundred and thirty-one times in the Koran, they are only quoted twice. The fundamental doctrines of Chris- tianity, 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. Free- man, who will close the debate ' : " 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 free- man ; 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 i;i past times have done things quite as bad as the Turks. This is partly true, but not wholly. Nc Christian government has ever gone on for so long a time ruling as badly as the Turk has ruled. But il is true that Christian governments have in past times ' The Turks in Europe. 1 1 S The Crisis in Turkey. done particular acts, \vhich 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 y?.ars 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 Alohammedans 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 Islam as a Factor of the Problem. 1 19 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 Scrvia 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 to- gether 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 en- camped 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, faith- lessness, and brutal lust ; it has not been govern- ment, 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 impu- dently 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 I20 The Crisis in Turkey. which cannot be reformed, there is one remedy only — to get rid of it. Justice, reason, humanity, de- mand that the rule of the Turk in Europe should be got rid of ; and the time for getting rid of it has now- come." ARMENIAN REBELS WHO WOULD NOT PAY TAXES. This was written seventeen years ago with refer- ence to the discontinuance of the Ottoman power in Europe. Does it not now apply with equal force to the discontinuance of the same regime 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 per- haps more particularly to you and to my own coun- trymen, 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 w^as, on my part at least, quite undeserved. I have done nothing for you in circum- stances of great difificulty, 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 repre- X2Z 122 TJie Crisis iji Turkey. sentcd a state of horrible and indescribable outrage in Armenia. The impulse of every man in circum- stances 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 hu- manity and of justice. (Hear, hear.) These are prin- ciples 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 assum ing 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 ac- tive 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 abso- lute despair in regard to any hopes that I could en- tertain of a proper representation of British feeling Gladsto7ie o?i the Armenian Massacre. 123 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 confi- dence 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 wrong- doers, 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 lim- ited even to Christendom. (Hear, hear.) And there is a great power in the collected voice of outraged humanity. What happened in Bulgaria ? The Sul- tan and his government absolutely denied that any- thing 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 extrava- gance 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 ififenial acts which disgraced the year 1876, so tar Tnricey was concerned. (Cheers.) 124 "^^^^ Crisis in Turkey. " 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 con- trary, 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 abomina- tions 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 out- raged 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 quali- ties, 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 ^>«:^:%:^ p o ;4 Pi o u Pi w cu Pi o H en o ai, and the repetition thus made possible has occurred. Author. 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': 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 geo- graphical isolation and the danger and hardship of travel in that region'; third, to the linguistic obstacles to be overcome. So little clear and accurate information aboui 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 ' " Kurdistan abounds in antiquities of the most varied and interest- ing 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 Kirman- shahan." — Major-General H. C. Rawlinson, Encyc, Briiannica, article on " Kurdistan." "Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, yourneys in Persia and Kurdistan. 2 vols. New York : Putnam's, 189I. London : John Murray- 132 The Crisis in Turkey, 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- Germa/.ic tongues. Their physiognomy and physi- cal 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 Par- thian s. 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 Gomcr, a patri- arch of the line of Japhet.^ Foreigners applied to them the name Armenians, derived from King Aram, said to be a descendant of Haig, who made great conquests.' 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 dis- trict rather than a peak.' Another scriptural allusion is in connection with Sennacherib, whose parricidal sons are said to have escaped, 681 B. C, " into the land of Armenia."^ Ezekiel also refers to Armenia under the name Togarmah, as furnishing Tyre with ' Gen. X., 2, 3. JMoses of Khorene, History, Bk. i., chap. 12. •Gen. viii., 4. ^H«b. Ararat, 2 Kings xix., 37 ; Isa. xxxvii., 38. MOUNTAIN ROAD IN ARMEN'A HOWLING DERVISH Who are the Armenians? 133 horses and mules, a product for which it is still noted.' 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."^ In the famous inscriptions of the Achemenida^, 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.^ Herodotus mentions the absorption of the Ar- menian Empire in that of Darius, 514 B. C, and a tribute of four hundred talents exacted." Xenophon's account of the retreat of the ten thousand through this mountainous region, in mid- winter, and constantly harassed by enemies, is valua- ble, 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.^ Armenia was included in the conquests of Alex- ander, and afterwards submitted to the Seleucidae of ' Ezek. xxvii., 14; also xxxviii., 6. '^ Jer. li., 27-29; alsol., g, 41, 42. ^Christian I.assen, Die altpersischen JCeil-Jnsc/irif/en von Per- sepolis, Bonn, 1836, pp. 86, 87. ^History, Bk, iii., chap. 93. ^ Anaiasis, Bk. iv. 134 The Crisis in Turkey. 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 Mithri- dates 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.* Princes of this line continued to rule, however, until the Arsacidas were driven from the Persian throne by the Sassanid Ardashir. Though frequently con- quered 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. After the fall of the Sassanid^, in the seventh cen- tury, Armenia was divided between the Greek Em- pire and the Saracens ; but from 859 to 1045 i^ '^^''^s again ruled by a native dynasty of vigorous princes, the Pagratidae. 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 ^Annales, Bk. ii., ch. 56. AN ARMENIAN TOMBSTONE OF A.D. 934. ^■fvdence of a high state of art, 135 136 The Crisis iii Turkey. open the whole eastern frontier to the invasion of the ScIjoLik 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, 107 1 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.' 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 wel- comed 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 Edcssa or Ur, and that the apostles Thaddaeus and Bartholomew preached the Gospel to them. But the historical founder of the Armenian church was St. Gregory " Tozer, The Church and the Eastern Empire, pp. 22, 86. Who are the Armenians ? 137 " The Illuminator," ' an Arsarcid prince, related to KingTiridates (Dertad), who was consecrated Bishop of Armenia, at Caesarea, 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 es- trangement was doubtless political as much as doc- trinal, on account of the attempts at ecclesiastical supremacy by the churches of Constantinople and Rome, As far as her ecclesiastical writers are con- cerned, and her beautiful liturgy, the Armenian church is in general orthodox. Her heresy, in com- mon with that of the rest of Christendom, is one of life rather than of doctrine. A chism 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 Etchmiad- zin 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 vicis- ' Krikor " Loosavoritch," from which title the Armenian Gregorian church calls itself Loosavortchagan. 138 The Crisis m Turkey. situdes of so many centuries. It is true that Ar- menians who have come under European influence, especially French, have to some extent become scep- tical 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 con- dition 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 a£ a mother ignorant and bigoted beyond hope of re- form ; 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 broad- minded man who is now the Catholicos at Etchmiad- zin, 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 ori- ental fr.shion, with respect for the man and for himself. His la;t words to me, found upon the title-page, were " HusaJiadclii chciik" meaning, " We must not despaii " — a good motto for us all. Who are the Armenians f 139 That the grand old church of ** The Illuminator" should somewhat lose its hold on the mind and con- science of the rising generation at this stage of super- THE CATHOUCOS OF ETCHMIADZIN, IN THE CAUCASUS. Religious head of the Armenian Church. ficial enlightenment is not strange. Her real merits are concealed, unfortunately, under a growth of super- stition and ignorance which even the clergy admit. 140 The Crisis in Turkey. but lac"k 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 Ar- menian people than aid and encouragement in estab- lishing 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 mean- time, 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, a? 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. The seeds of a thorough and far-reaching reforma- tion have been carefully sown and are already bear- ing 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 w p> a o m a H -t o 2: M H H O u Who are the Armenians f 141 tradition, can in due time be discarded ; third, she h^s always acknowledged the supreme authority of THE SUBORDINATE CATHOI.ICOS OF AGHTAMAR, A TOOL OV THE TURKS. "Wearing the Sultan's highest decorations for services rendered. 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 142 The Crisis in Turkey. 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 exten- sively 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 su- perior, and intellectually acute, and above all tJicy are a race which can be raised in all respects to our own level, neither religion, color, customs, nor i7iferi- ority in ifitellect or force constituting any barrier be- tween 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 Who are the Armenians f 143 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 intelli- gent 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 re- form 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 mo- mentous importance. " ' Language and Literature. — The Armenian grammar is analogous to that of other languages of the same origin. It has not the distinction of gen- der, but is rich in its declensions and conjugations. The accent of Armenian words is on the last sylla- ble, 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 Ger- man, 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, con- sisting of national songs, has entirely perished, ex- * Mrs, Bishop, Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, vol. ii., p. 336. 144 ^^ Crisis in Turkey, cept 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, al- ways 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 que^n 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 Manichaeans ; 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 Who are the Armenians ? 145 annals of Matthew of Edessa give interesting facts about the first Crusade. Samuel of Ani, John THE ISLAND MONASTERY OF AGHTAMAK, IN LAKE VAN. One of many similar Armenian Monasteries still existing, rich in parchment manuscripts exposed to decay and vandalism. Vanagan, Vartan the Great, and Thomas of Med- 2op wrote succeeding chronicles. A third revival of Armenian letters was begun by 10 146 TJie Crisis i7i Turkey. 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 inter- est 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 Em- pire are brought into the discussion of ahnost every question that arises in that land Especially is this true at present, in connection with the Armenian problem. So many wild and contrr dictory statements are made in regard to them, and the Protestant communities which are the direct re suits of their labors, that the mind of the public is more or less confused on the subject. The mission- aries, and the many thousands who have gladly fol- lowed 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 statis- tics at his command. But Jie is not connected with any of the various missionary societies involved, and is alojie responsible for the statements made in this or any other part of the volume. 148 Hie Crisis iii Turkey, 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 investi- gation 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 ofificials have repeatedly borne public testi- mony 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 arc supposed to entertain. Many are x\c' aware of the great work already ac- complished 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 depart- ments 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 messen- gers 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 gen eral statements, the reader must pardon a few statis. tics compiled from the latest official tables, showing the direct results of American missionary effort in Turkey, SCENE IN STAMBOUL — "THE TURKS ARE UPON US." tilRKKT SCENE IN STAMBOUL Americans in Turkey. 149 STATISTICS OF AMERICAN MISSIONS IN TURKEY.' The following figures, with the exception of che 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 1 821 . . . 550 ' 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 mat- ter of fact there are many other large and successful missionary, be- nevolent, 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 o^ French connections and introduce that language in their work as the Americans do English, The following is a partial list of other socie ties 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 Pres- byterian Mission, and the German Deaconesses. In addition to all these agencies, there are many private and local schools and institu- tions 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 Mis- sions, is independent of them. I50 The Crisis in Turkey, Plant. Value of property held by Americans, exclusive of churches, schools, etc., erected in the names of native subjects, with foreign aid, for which sta- tistics 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 ..... Other stated preaching places . Total number of preaching places . Communicants (received on confession of faith) Members of Protestant civil communities (adherents^ Average Sunday congregations . Sunday-school membership Educational. Colleges well equipped, for both sexes .... 5 Theological seminaries . . 6 j- students High-schools for boys 1 Boarding-schools for girls f Common schools for both sexes 80 530 621 Students 155 281 13,528 60,000 40,000 35,000 4,085 23,315 27,400 Total schools of all grades 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 Col- lege and Hospital at Beirut, and American missioii. Americans in Turkey. 151 ary physicians treat, yearly, many thousands of patients of all classes and races throughout the land, both in their dispensaries and in private prac- tice, at a nominal sum and very often gratuitously. Publishing. Both weekly and monthly newspapers are pub- lished by the American missionaries at Constantino- ple, 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, con- tains separate titles to the number of about 1000. The publications in the catalogue of the Presbyte> rian 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 1^93' ^s 1,378,- 715. The number of copies of the Scriptures (entire or in part) in langitages and type available for Mo- liamtnedans, 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/xc 152 The Crisis i^i Turkey. 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 ARMENIAN lAMlLY, BITLIS. necessity, and also to destroy unit)' of feeling and action among the subject peoples, all nort-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 Americans in Turkey. 153 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 mis- sionaries, who are mostly Congregational or Presby- terian, 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 re- ligious and civil communities on a simple representa- tive basis, which has gradually developed indepen- dence 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 everwhere ; their aid in sickness, distress, and famine has always ignored race or creed. Many thousands of Armenians, Greeks, Syrians, Jacob- 154 T"^^^ Crisis in Turkey. ites 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 con- tact 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.' 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' — gratefully by the Armenians and Christians generally, but often with chagrin by the Turks, who find themselves ' " The creation of churches, strict in their discipline, and protest- ing against the mass of superstitions which smother all spiritual life in the National Armenian Church, is undoubtedly having a very salu- tary effect far beyond the limited membership, and is tending to force reform upon an ancient church which contains within herself the ele- ments of resurrection." — Mrs. Bishop, yoitrneysin Persia a7id Kurd, istan, vol. ii., p. 336. ^ 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 [Eyron] 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 obliv- ion 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 ; H?trper j^nd Brothers, 1839. Americans in Turkey. 155 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 estab- lish Moslem schools throughout his empire, some of which are already quite large, creditable, and popu- lar 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 grow- ing, 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 156 The Crisis in Tttrkey. 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. 4 W "A < <: o > '4 < > < <; o w u o to ID N f4 W o W P«i w 12 I— 1 W w o 03 CHAPTER XII. ARMENIAN VILLAGE LIFE. THE following description will show to what con- dition the villagers of Armenia had been re- duced by their oppressors. And yet it was sucJl people who had to be further inpoverished and massacred, lest by their indomitable hopefulness and industry, and by the operation of reforms guaranteed by Europe, they might rise to equality with their Mohammedan neighbors. Of course the customs and style of living of the Armenians in the cities and in some villages, were on a far higher plane, but they too have now been utterly prostrated. It is very easy to miss the villages as one travels through the country ; their location is indicated by a few trees and cultivated fields rather than by con- spicuous buildings. The houses themselves are in- variably low and contiguous, and of the color of the mud and stones of which they are made. Where the houses are on a hillside they run back into the ground, so that they present only a front elevation, the solid earth forming the sides and rear wall. In the region of Bitlis the earthen roofs of the houses, instead of being flat, are rounded, and thus the vil- lage at a distance looks like a collection of gigantic 157 158 The Crisis i^i Turkey. ant-hills, from the centre of which, however, there towers a church, symbolic of the great and promi- nent part which religion plays in the humble lives of the people. The churches and monasteries are often very ancient structures of hewn stone, in some cases richly carved with inscriptions and reliefs, and sur- mounted with a low round conical tower. The dif- ference between these fine old structures and the modern hovels which surround them forcibly sug- gests to the beholder the former prosperity of this ancient people when independent, in contrast with the poverty and degradation to which they have been reduced by their Ottoman masters. In some places the remains of fine stone bridges are to be seen, where now the traveller is compelled to ford the. stream, at the risk of losing his baggage and perhaps his life. The family is conducted on strictly patriarchal lines. As the sons grow up and are married they bring their brides to the father's house instead of starting new homes of their own. For this large establishment, which includes all, from grandparents to grandchildren, the word " family " or " house " is used. With this explanation it does not seem so strange to hear of families of twenty or even fifty souls. These large families are the units which com- pose the village. The members of each family have everything in common, property, living rooms, house- hold cares and pleasures included. The freedom of the family home belongs not sim- ply to every human member of it, but is also gener- ously conferred upon the numerous animals on which Armenian Village Life. 159 the family depends. As day declines, cows, buffaloes, horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and chickens all turn their steps to the common entrance, where each knows his place and is duly cared for. There is little distinction between drawing-room, kitchen, chamber, and stable ; they all form parts of one semi-subterranean cavern, which is divided by posts, railings, and walls, forming a veritable labyrinth to the stranger, though every turn is familiar to the regular occupants. The people gladly welcome the European traveller, as an angel from the outside world, who can take back their story, and who, they know, will pay for all he receives, instead of extorting it as do the Kurds and Turkish zaptieJis, or police. On reaching the village where one is to spend the night, he naturally desires at once to see his quar- ters. After the saddle is removed that it may not be injured in going through the low passages, both horse and traveller are led in by the light of a flicker- ing wick in a cup of linseed-oil, which barely suffices to reveal the sooty walls and posts. The guide warns you not to strike your head on that beam, or to step into the puddle on your left ; in avoiding the puddle you stumble over something on the right, but your host immediately puts you at your ease by saying it was only a calf. He then proceeds to remove a yoke of buffaloes or half a dozen sheep from one obscure corner, and informs you that it is at your disposal. The poor creatures linger so near that you can hear them breathe and catch the reproachful expression Qi their lustrous eyes. Before you realize what is i6o The Crisis in Turkey. going on, the corner has been swept, with the effect of raising a stifling dust. In summer you would prefer the roof to the inside accommodation, but this happy alternative would be impossible in win- ter. The temperature of these crowded, unventi- lated, damp compartments — not to mention the fleas — makes you so uncomfortable that sleep is out of the question. A hole in the roof is often the only window, and serves also as a chimney ; but in winter even this is generally closed. The heavy pungent smoke of the animal fuel with which your supper is being cooked at last drives you out of your corner, and you conclude to take a quiet look about the house. The children, overawed by your presence, make no sound and hardly dare to move. You notice one woman nursing a baby, tightly rolled in swaddling bands and strapped into a cradle. She does not remove the child, but sits upon the floor, which is of earth, tilting the cradle over to her. The cradle has no rockers, and if the child cries he is rudely " soothed " by being bumped from side to side. Another woman is churning a goatskin full of sour milk by jerking it back and forth as it hangs from a beam in the roof. The meal, which consists of fermented milk, boiled wheat or rice, and eggs fried in a sea of butter, is at last served in the middle of the floor, on a round tray, about a yard in diameter, of wood or copper, resting on a low stool. Every article of food is served in a single dish, from which each helps himself, using his fingers for a fork. If the food is liquid, it is eaten by twisting the thin tenacious bread into the form of Armenian Villa^i Life. 161 a spoon, which disappears in the mouth together with what it conveys. The civilized drudgery of dish- washing is thus reduced to the simple process of washing hands, which each one does for himself, both before and after the meal. A certain etiquette and kindly feeling refines even these dismal homes, and points to higher ideals than the material condition would indicate. THE SASSOUN COMMUNITY. As a matter of history I wish to place on record a brief description of the inhabitants of Sassoun, who were killed, scattered and destroyed as a com- munity by the massacre of 1894, and subsequent events. Hemmed in by rough mountains and wild Kurds, the Armenians of the Sassoun district were a re- markable community of about forty villages, shut off from the outside world, of which they had only the most vague ideas. Their position, bravery, and numbers had enabled them to resist, to some extent, the robber tribes around them, but not the con- stantly increasing extortions of the Turkish tax- gatherer. The dread of the former and the burden of the latter were all that clouded their otherwise glad and simple existence. They were not, like the more exposed and impoverished Armenians of the plains, in the habit of seeking employment in distant cities, but, like all mountaineers, were passionately attached to home. The commercial instinct, so strong in most Armenians, was foreign to them. I once asked one of the leading men of Ghelieguzan, 11 1 62 Thi Crisis in Turkey, " What is there you need which you cannot make' yourselves ? " " Nothing but salt," he instantly re- plied, adding, after a pause, "and gunpowder." Shut out the Kurds, and the Armenians would have had no use for gunpowder except against the bears and wolves. Though the mountains were rocky and precipitous, a large population supported itself by the care of fields and flocks in the fertile and sheltered valleys. Life in Sassoun was physically comfortable, though not luxurious. Open-handed hospitality and care of the poor were as much a duty as provision for one's own family. The houses were of stone, often two and even three stories high. There was considerable variety in the occupations which followed one another in rapid succession throughout the year. No drones were tolerated in that busy hive, and in all their toil men and women stood shoulder to shoulder. Which bore the heavier burden the reader may decide. Take the care of the flocks and herds for instance, in which their chief wealth consisted. To the men was entrusted the task of pasturing and protecting them, but the women did all the milking and made the butter and cheese. The shearing of the sheep was men's work, but the women washed, carded, and spun the wool into thread, which was then woven into excellent cloth by the men on their heavy looms, and after- ward made into garments for all the household by the women. Crude cotton, also, brought from Mesopotamia, was put through the same stages. The bringing of wood and water was always left to Armenian Village Life. 163 the women and girls. After the men had ploughed, sowed, and irrigated the fields, the reaping — a very- slow and laborious task — was done by their wives and sisters, who also winnowed and cleaned the grain, after the men had threshed it. The straw was carefully stored for the food of the horses and cattle in winter. During the dry months of summer practically all the animals and most of the women and children would migrate to the cool upper slopes of the mountains, where the melting snow keeps the grass always green. The men by irrigation were able to raise wheat, millet, barley, and rye, together with such vegetables as potatoes, tomatoes, squashes, cucum- bers, turnips, peas, and beans. Around their rude low stone houses they nourished a few fruit trees such as the apple, pear, cherry, apricot, and quince. In the lower valleys of Talori the fig also flourished and the vine, but in the course of the massacre all fruit trees and vineyards throughout the region were systematically cut down. Honey of excellent quality was very abundant. These clever people made even their own iron tools, which were so good as to be readily sold in Moosh and other neighboring towns. The villagers obtained the iron from the crude ore which, after being laboriously extracted by hand was reduced in rude furnaces, kept at melting heat by hand bellows day and night, two weeks at a time. The only fuel used was wood, and care had to be taken not to let the metal run out in quantities larger than a black- smith could easily handle in making a plowshare. 164 The Crisis in Turkey, scythe, axe, sword, or knife. The report that these blacksmiths even had the skill to make a rifle barrel is a mistake. I once asked a man and his wife to enumerate the various tasks which fell to their respective sexes and was quite amused at the eagir competition into which they at once entered. Strange to say, the woman entirely omitted the training and care of children as one of her additional burdens. When I called attention to this oversight they both exclaimed " The children take care of themselves." And so they do, almost from the first. The children, with their bright eyes and ruddy faces, would be attractive but for the fact that they were often far from tidy, and were dressed in coarse garments of red or blue. They were loved but not often petted, being taught to bp silent and to show an air of reverence in the presence of their elders. At a very early age, the children were initiated into the employments which were to occupy their lives. Almost the only men who knew how to read and write were those connected with the Church, and they were by no means adepts. In the matter of numbers, however, they could easily calculate with- out the aid of figures. These intelligent highlanders knew the value of education, and had repeatedly tried to start schools in their villages, but they were invariably closed by the government. The morality of the people of Sassoun was of a very high standard. Wine made by themselves was moderately used on festive occasions, but drunken- ness was practically unknown. The mountain Jlrmenian Village Life. 165 women, unlike their sisters of the cities, used the veil, not to cover the face, but to fall as a graceful drapery down the back. They had the frank and direct look which we are accustomed to see only ii» children, and were quick to detect and resent evil, even with violence, as the intruder would find to his cost. These people had neither laws nor courts, but referred their disputes to the head-man of the vil lage, from whose decision appeal was rarely made The head-man, or " rc'is,'' held ofifice simply by com- mon consent of the villagers, not as a hereditary right or a prerogative of wealth, but because of superior character and ability. Religion was a vital matter to the people of Sas- soun, but concerned itself only with the barest essen- tials. They had no more conception of theologi- cal doctrines than had the people who listened to the Sermon on the Mount. Christianity was to them a story, the characters of which were real and kept before them by the frequent festivals of the Chris- tian year. They felt profound reverence for the Virgin Mary, but Christ was the object of their wor- ship. Their gratitude, submission, and love to Him would find expression in brief significant exclama- tions, deep sighs, and sometimes silent tears. Such evidences I have frequently noticed among Armenian peasants as they listened to the reading of the Scrip- tures or engaged in prayer. Their first daily act as they stepped from their dark cheerless dwellings was an act of prayer, accompanied by repeated prostra- tions to the East with the sign of the Cross. A large number of villagers who had escaped the 1 66 TJie Crisis in Turkey . general massacre, and, relying on Turkish promises, followed their priest into the soldiers' camp, were offered their lives on condition they would trample upon the Crucifix and Holy Gospels. But the priest in horror refused to commit this sacrilege, and every member of his flock, following his example, was forth- with butchered. I have carefully verified these details of Sassoun life and of the massacre in conversation with Bedros and his wife, who, after escaping almost miraculously, when a score of their relatives were killed before their eyes, were brought to London to give their testimony. I was profoundly impressed with the simple dignity and absolute truthfulness of these witnesses, who bore bodily scars, and in their faces showed the evidence of the terrible sorrow and suf- fering through which they had so lately gone. When asked what his impression was of England, the man thoughtfully replied : " I wonder at the houses, the great buildings, the fields all like gardens, the multitude of people, their wealth, and their churches ; but, most of all, I wonder that with all their greatness and power they did not lift a finger to save us, their poor fellow-Christians, of whose sufferings they have so long been officially informed." The following incident throws much light upon the character and environment of the people of Sassoun. About six years ago twenty armed Kurds suddenly came down upon the house of a rich man near Ghelieguzan to steal the sheep, when only his wife and children were at home. They ordered the woman to prepare a good meal before they left. In Armenian Village Life. 167 the most obliging manner the housewife set about her task. But in the meantime she dispatched one of her Httle boys to give the alarm to the men, away on the mountain side. The unsuspecting Kurds hung their long flint-lock rifles on the walls of the kitchen, and went out to search the stables and collect the live stock. While they were engaged in this work, out of sight, the woman with her strong fingers, quickly pulled out the flint from the lock of each musket, leaving them still hanging on the wall. In order to allow the men of her family more time, she prepared a specially elaborate meal, to which the Kurds made no objection. But when they were in the midst of the repast, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by the villagers who had hastily mustered. Each Kurd seized his flint-lock only to find it useless. They thereupon drew their swords and daggers, and were about to make a rush to escape, but were quickly brought to bay by the levelled muskets of the Armenians, to whom they thought best to surrender. After being stripped of all their arms and outer garments the Kurds were informed that they might go home, and if they wished their weapons they might return the next day with reinforcements and try to take them. The Kurds did not see fit to try this method, but so pes- tered the Armenians in other ways, that at the end of three months the muskets were given back to avoid further trouble. It should net' Le thought, however, that such inci- dents as thk cojNi occur among the Armenians any- where in TuAvw except among the highlanders of 1 68 The Crisis in Turkey. Sassoun, or those of Zeitoun, three hundred miles west in the Taurus mountains. These two httle communities were quite exceptional in their secure location and brave spirit. The other Armenians throughout Eastern Turkey, timid and crushed by- more severe oppression, used to speak of the Sas- sounlis with an admiration almost akin to reverence. It was on this account that they were singled out by the Government for extermination, for it was feared that their brave and independent spirit might spread to the Armenians of the plains and cities, while their destruction, on the other hand, would strike terror everywhere, and prove a salutary object-lesson to those who might be disposed to express dissatisfac- tion with the Sultan's rule. In this calculation the Turks were mistaken. The blood of those noble mountaineers, instead of acting like a stupefying drug upon the Armenian race, proved to be a stimu- lant, and enlisted the sympathy of Europe. This so alarmed and irritated the Turks that, in order to prevent any progress of the Armenians either through their own efforts or those of Europe, they have committed further massacres in comparison with which Sassoun hardly deserves to be mentioned. There are no words to characterize the cowardly betrayal of the Armenians by England, and Europe which guaranteed their protection. The " Powers " impotent for good, while masquer- ading in the livery of Christianity, have proved its worst enemies and shown themselves calloui* even ti> the principles of ordinary humanity APPENDIX A. A BIT OF AMERICAN DIPLOMACY IN TURKEY THE CASE. (Foreign Relations of the United States, 1884, pp. 538-539.V (Inclosure in No. 317.) Mr, Wallace to Aariji Pasha, Note Verbale. Legation of the United States, Constantinople, Jatmary 24, 1S84 The legation of the United States of America has the honor to lb- vite the attention of his highness, the minister of foreign affairs, ic the matters following : By note No. 167, June 13, 1883, the legation informed his high- ness 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 in- difference about the affair, and might be fairly charged with responsi- bility 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 appre- hension of the robbers. By a communication, No. 71235, June 13, 18S3, his highness was good enough to answer the note of the legation, and give the pleas- ' This is an exact copy of the official documents as published by the State Department, capitalization included. ^69 170 "The Crisis in Tier key, ing intelligence that the governor-genera! had succeeded in discover- ing 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 as- sault 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 nalmes of the sub- ordinate 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 vil- lage 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 cus- tody and carried them for identification to Messrs. Knapp and Rey- nolds, Who said they were not the assailants. During the night, in Aozou, a bundle was thrown through a window into a roojti occupied by the police, which on examination proved to Appendix, 1 71 contain a portion of the stolen goods. With this the governor-gen- eral rested from his efforts and dispatched to his highness the minis- ter 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 lega- tion 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 indem- nity which otherwise it would be the duty of the legation to present against the Imperial Government in this connection." On November 7, 18S3, 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 per- sons 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 un- trustworthiness of the governor-general by charging that Moussa Bey had already obtained from him assurances of immunity in the event S)i 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 (or the transfer of the criminals to Constantinople for trial. The three notes last named of the legation of the United States 172 The Ci'isis in Tiirkey. have not been answered by his highness, the minister of foreign affairs, except in a note, dated December 8, lS33, 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 ap- plication for redress, and demand of the Sublime Porte indemnity in behalf of Messrs. Knapp and Reyiiclds, for the former ^^i, 500, and for the latter, because of the more serious nature of his injuries^ £,2,,OQO. 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 ij, 188/ Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 317, cf vb>* 25th ultimo, relative to the case of the Rev. Mr. Knapp and Ijr. Reynolds, murderously attacked by Kurds near Bitlis, and to say that, after a careful consideration of all the facts before the Depart- ment, 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,, F&£S'K T. F&sunguuysen. Appendix, 173 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 en- Joyed, to a very exceptional degree, the personal confidence and friendship of His Majesty the present Sultan, The following quota- tion 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 i, 1884. The Porte, in deciding how far it is safe to affront foreign Gov- ernments, has even ranked the United States below some of the European States. The Porte during the past year has treated Gen- eral Wallace as if he were the representative of a Danubian Princi- pality. 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 ofHcials even suppose that the American navy is afraid to risk adven- tures 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 situa- tion. 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 Min- ister 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 inju- ries 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, 174 The Crisis in Turkey, 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 Ray- nolds, 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 vil- lages of the great Moosh plain, until his r -/.'A'kU <''"? u '-r^ i-iVr r i'v? • — qT r t* — '^ — — -• — t — -. — i-^ — , **. ^^ ... ^, — , — ^ ^ — ^ ^ ^ — , l^^i:^^^i}^iv:^sc-jt^ ;^'^ij»^ii)V>i.ya';:jii;(i « y.. i^^a^?ac8!|a^H; For Translation, see next page. 182 PART II. THE MOHAMMEDAN REiaN OF TERROR IN ARMENIA. CONTAINING THE LATEST ACCOUNTS OP THE MAS- SACRES ; THRILLING SPEECH OF THE HON. "W. E. GLADSTONE ; RELIEF WORK OF CLARA BAR- TON, DR. GRACE KIMBALL AND OTHERS ; THE HISTORY OF TURKEY; MAN- NERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE, ETC., ETa ^ NOTE. To guard our readers against the prejudiced and often unfounded statements that have appeared in regard to Arme- nia, and the terrible massacres that have been perpetratec there, we have used great care as to the source of the material here presented, and desire to express our thanks to The Inde- pendent for much valuable information, the general accuracy of which is unquestioned. 184 CHAPTER XIII. Appalling Condition of Armenia. The first part of this volume, by Frederick Davis Greene^ M. A., is fully endorsed by the eminent names found in the first chapter. Dark and horrible as the record is, it does not comprise the complete story of those deeds of pillage, murder and outrage in Armenia which have shocked the whole civil- ized world, and awakened universal horror and indignation. We present additional details of these bloody massacres, and also trace the causes which led to the recent outbreak of Mo- hammedan fanaticism and crime. The following facts are indisputable : The Armenians, in hundreds of cities and villages throughout an area five hun- dred miles long and three hundred miles wide have been given over to murder, rape and robbery. The latest trust- worthy estimates from Constantinople place the actual deaths at 40,000, the great majority being males, the bread-winners of the people. Of the survivors, half a million have been reduced to extreme poverty, and two hundred and fifty thous- and, mostly women and children, are in danger of perishing from starvation, exposure and sickness, unless they will accept Mohammedanism. Misrepresentation of Facts. Persistent efforts are made to obscure the situation and to alienate sympathy from the Armenians on the ground that they are rebels. Some color has been given to this idea by ^e wild t^lk of a few desperate Armenians outside of Turkey^ 185 186 Appalling Condition oj Armenia. but, with the one exception of the isolated and inaccessible town of Zcitoun, there never has been anything that can be called an Armenian insurrection. The very idea of such a thing is ridiculous ; for, in the first place, the Armenians are only one- tenth of the Sultan's subjects, and nowhere consti- tute a majority of the population except in the city of Van, where, strange to say, there has been no outbreak at all. Secondly, they are exclusively a commercial and agricultural people, possessing neither arms, nor a knowledge of their use. Third, they are people of sense, and know that their only hope is through European intervention. Wliy then have tlicy been massacred? Because Europe did intervene and compel the Sultan to accept a Scheme of Re- forms which would give the Christians equality with Moham- medans before the law, and a proportionate share in the judicial, civil and police administration in the six eastern provinces. Motive of the Massacres. While the Sultan outwardly accepted this scheme, he could not allow its execution without endangering his authority as religious head, and the supremacy of the Turks, who are the ruling class ; for in principle the " Infidel " has no right to live in a Mohammedan State, except in subjection, and in practice the active, capable Armenian would soon outstrip the stolid, non-progressive Turk if given a fair chance. The only course left, from the Turkish point of view, was to diminish and par- alyze the Armenian population to such an extent as to render the Scheme of Reforms inoperative. This was immediately and thoroughly accomplished within one month after the Sul tan gave his consent to the Scheme of Reforms on October i6th, 1895. While the motive of the massacres at first was political, Appalling €^ondition of Armenia. 187 Moslem fanaticism and hope of plunder were kindled, and this accounts for the extremes of cruelty and brutality with which the work was done. But now that it has been accomplished, the fires of race hatred and lust have, to some extent, burned themselves out, the massacres have ceased, and " order " will be restored. The Crime of the European powers consists in not having guaranteed the successful execution of the reforms they demanded by a prompt and determined use of force. This would have prevented all bloodshed. Account by an Eye-witness. The following description of the present condition of Arme- nia is furnished by Mr. E. J. Dillon, the special Commissioner of the London Daily Tclcgrapli. It is the account given by a close observer who has been upon the ground, and is accurate and truthful in all its horrifying details : P^ pretty story is told of a little girl, who, fearing to lie in bed in the dark, begged her mother not to take the candle away until sleep should render it needless. " What are you \fraid of, darling ? " asked the strong-minded parent. " Of darkness," was the reply. " But remember, dear, that God is here in the room with you, and God is light itself Pie will stay with you all night to keep you company." The silence that followed this dogmatic announcement seemed to show that the intended effect had been produced, until it was softly broken by the sweet voice of the child : " Then please, mamma, take God away and leave the candle. " The attitude of the Armenian population in Turkey toward the humane peoples of Western Europe, who, to fiendish tor- tures and bloody massacres, hopefully oppose well-timed expressions of righteous indignation and moral sympathy, offers considerable analogy to the frame of mind of that untu- tored child. " We can dispense with your sympathy and pity EARLY PORTRAIT OF ABDUL HAMID, SULTAN OF TURKEY. 188 Appalling Condition of Armenia. 189 if only you guarantee us security for life and property." So reasons the grateful Armenian. The impartial outsider, ac- quainted with the horrible condition of country and people, would naturally go a step further, and fearlessly affirm that the expression of S3^mpathy at public meetings, followed, as in England, by supine inactivity, is not merely inferior to effect- ive material aid, but is positively disastrous. Turkish Hatred of Armenians. Formerly the Turks disliked the Armenians, and the blood- bath of Sassoun offers a fair indication of the vehemence of their feeling. At present, after the wanton humiliation in- flicted upon them by the European friends of their victims, they loathe the very name of Armenia, and deem no cruelties sufficient to satisfy their outraged self-love. The Vali (Gov- ernor-General) of Erzeroum, when the foreign consuls of that city lately brought an unusually crying case of injustice to his notice, told the Dragomans that the Turkish Government and Armenian people stood to each other in the relation of hus- band and wife, and that outsiders who felt pity for the wife when her husband maltreated her, would do wisely and well to abstain from interfering. And the remark is quite true, if the pair are to go on living together ; for the brutal husband can always choose his own time and place to vent his feelings on his helpless mate. And this is what is being actually done in Turkish Arme- nia. Under the eyes of the Russian, English, and French delegates at Moush, the witnesses who had the courage to speak the truth to the representatives of the Powers were thrown into prison, and not a hand was raised to protect them; and within a stone's throw of the foreign consuls and missionaries, loyal Armenians were hung up by the heels, the hair of their heads and beards plucked out one by one, their 190 Appalling Condition of Armenia. bodies branded with red-hot irons and defiled in beastly ways that can neither be described nor hinted at in Christian coun- tries, their wives dishonored in their presence, and their daughters raped before their eyes. And all that the philan- thropic English nation has to offer these, its proteges, is elo- quent indignation and barren sympathy. Would it not have been much more benevolent to hush up the massacre of Sas- ,soun and ignore the Pits of Death than to irritate the Turk to the point of madness and then leave him free to vent his fury upon Christians who are shielded only by sentimental elo- quence ? A Costly Blunder. And yet the duty of England is simplicity itself; she should either put a speedy end to the horrors of Turkish Da- homey, or publicly proclaim her inability to fulfil her obliga- tions in Armenia, at the same time repudiating her gigantic engagement to maintain the integrity of the Turkish Empire in Asia. For as it was a grievous blunder to raise this Ar- menian Question without having first made sure that she could work it out to a satisfactory issue, it is little less than a crime to give the Turks the needful time to carry out their nefarious plans by refusal to look the facts in the face. Those who are familiar with the condition of the five prov- inces and their Christian inhabitants will unhesitatingly acqui- esce in this view of the subject ; for those who are not, the following brief sketch may prove instructive : Turkey's real sway in Armenia dates from the year 1847, when Osman Pasha gave the final coup de grdce to the secular power of the Koordish Derebeks in the five south-easterr? provinces (Van, Bitlis, Moush, Bayazed, and Diarbekir). During that long spell of nearly fifty years, we can clearly distinguish two periods : one of shameful misgovernment (i 847-1 891), and the other (1892- 1894) of frank extermina- Appalling Condition of Armenia. 191 tion. Suasion or remonstrance may do much to remedy the abuses that flow from the former system ; force alone can achieve anything against the latter. And in this sense Lord Salisbury's expressed view of the matter is absolutely correct. In the year 1891 the Sublime Porte, fearing serious dangers from the promised introduction of reforms into Armenia, and from the anticipated hostility in war time of the Christians living in provinces bordering upon Russia, resolved to kill two birds with one stone, and created the so-called Hamidieb cavalry, composed exclusively of Koords, It was an applica- tion of the principle on which rebels and rioters throw open the prison doors and invite convicts to rob and kill the mem- bers of the upper classes. The plan as propounded by some of the highest officials of the Empire was that the Armenians were to be driven out of the border lands, such as Alashkerd, their places to be taken by Mohammedans, that their numbers in all the five provinces were to be so considerably reduced that the need of special reforms for them should pass away, and that in case of war the Koords should act as a counter- weight to the Cossacks. Armenians Threatened with Extermination. This plain policy of extermination has been faithfully carried out and considerably extended from that day to this, and unless speedily arrested, will undoubtedly lead to a final solu- tion of the Armenian problem ; but a solution which will (disgrace Christianity and laugh civilization to scorn. The enlisted Koords were left in their native places, exempted from service, supplied with arms, invested with the inviolability of ambassadors, and paid with the regularity characteristic of the Sublime Porte. And they fulfilled their mission with scrupulous exactness : robbing rich Armenians, looting houses, burning corn and hay, raiding villages, lifting cattle, raping 192 Appalling Condition of Armenia, young girls of tender age, dishonoring married women, driving away entire populations, and killing all who were manly or mad enough to attempt to resist. Armenians are now among the poorest and most wretched people on the globe. Perhaps the Turkish authorities did not foresee, nor Turkish justice approve, these results? The authorities not only expected them, but aided and abetted, incited and rewarded those who actually committed them ; and whenever an Armenian dared to complain, not only was he not listened to by the officials whom he paid to protect him, but he was thrown into a fetid prison and tortured and outraged in strange and horrible ways for his presumption and insolence. The massacre of Sassoun itself is now proved to have been the deliberate deed of the repiesentatives of the Sublime Porte, carefully planned and unflinchingly executed in spite of the squeamishness of Koordish brigands and the fitful gleams of human nature that occasionally made themselves felt in the hearts even of Turkish soldiers. To complain, therefore, of the insecurity of life and property in Armenia, so long as the country is irresponsibly governed by the Sublime Porte, is as reasonable as it would be for a soldier to object to the great danger to life and limb from the enemy's bullets during a sanguinary engagement. The result complained of is precisely the object aimed at, and its com- pleteness the most conclusive proof of the efficiency of the means employed. An eminent foreign statesman who is com- monly Credited with Turcophile sentiments of uncompromis- ing thoroughness, lately remarked to me in private conversa- tion that Turkish rule in Armenia might be aptly described as organized brigandage, legalized murder, and meritorious immorality. Protests against such a system may be right and proper, but they can hardly be considered profitable. A philanthro" Appalling Condition of Armenia, 193 pist visiting a prison may feel shocked when he discovers one of the convicts with his hands and feet tied with cords ; but he will scarcely spend time in complaining if he learns that the prisoner has been condemned to death, and is about to be hanged by the executioner. The People Reduced to Poverty. The first step in carrying out the Plan of Extermination was the systematic impoverishment of the people. This is natural in a country whose officials are kept waiting eight or ten months for their salaries, and must then content them- selves with but a fraction of what is due. " I have not re- ceived a para * for the past twenty weeks, and I cannot buy even clothes," exclaimed the official who was told off to " shadow " me day and night in Erzeroum. " Do they pay you your salary regularly?" I inquired of the head of the telegraph office at Kutek. " No, Effendi, not regularly," he replied; "I have not had anything now for fully eight months. Oh, yes, I have; a month's salary was given to me at Bairam."t " How do you manage to live, then ?" " Poorly." "■ But you must have some money to go on with, or else you could not keep body and soul together?" "I have a little, of course, but not enough, Allah is good. You have now given me some money yourself." " Yes, but that is not for you ; it is for telegrams, and belongs to the State." " Well, my shadow will have grown considerably less before the State beholds the gleam of it. I keep for myself all money paid in by the public. I take it as instalments of my salary. It does not amount to very much. But whatever it happens to be, I pocket it." These men are, of course, petty officials, but their case is not essentially different from that of the * A Turkish coin. Forty paras are equivalent to twopence, f Bairam is the festival which follows the long fast of Ramazan. 13 194 Appalling Condition of Armenia. majority oftheir betters, and judges, officers, deputy-governors, and valis, etc., are, to the full, as impecunious and incompar- ably more greedy. Tahsin Pasha, the late Governor-General of Bitlis, is a fair specimen of the high Turkish dignitary of the epoch of exter- mination. An avaricious skinflint, he was as cruel as Ugolino's enemy, Ruggieri, and as cold as Captain Maleger in Spenser's " F'aery Queen." He cultivated a habit of imprisoning scores of wealthy Armenians, without any imputed charge or show of pretext. Liberty was then offered them in return for exor- bitant sums representing the greater part oftheir substance. Barbaric Tortures. Refusal to pay was followed by treatment compared with which the torture of the Jews in mediaeval England, or the agonies of the eunuchs of the princesses of Oude in modem India, were mild and salutar^^- chastisements. Some men were kept standing up all day and night, forbidden to eat, drink or move. If they lost strength and consciousness, cold water or hot irons soon brought them round, and the work of coercion continued. Time and perseverance being on the side of the Turks, the Armenians generally ended by sacrificing everything that made life valuable, for the sake of exemption from maddening pain. It was a case of sacrificing or being sacrificed, and that which seemed the lesser of the two evils was invariably chosen. In the Vilayet of Bitlis several hundred Armenians who possessed money, cattle or crops, were arbitrarily imprisoned, and set free on the payment of large bribes. Some of them, unable to produce the money at once, were kept in the noisome dungeons until they raised the sum demanded, or were re- leased by death. About one hundred Armenian prisoners died in the prison of Bitlis alone. Appalling Condition of Annaiia. 105 The following petition signed and sent to nie — and if I mis^ take not, also to the foreign delegates at Moush — from a well- known man whose name and address I publish, will help to convey some idea of how the Vali of Bitlis governed his province, and prospered the v.hile : " We, who have served the Turkish Government with absolute loyalty, are maltreated and oppressed, more particularly of late years, now by the PALACE OF THE SL'LTAN — CONSTANTINOPLE. Government itself, now by Koordish brigands. Thus last year (1894) I was suddenly arrested at my own house by Turkish police and gendarmes, who escorted me to the prison of Bitlis, where I was insulted and subjected to the most hor- rible tortures. Having been kept four months there, I was released on condition of paying $2250, by way of ransom. " No reason, no pretext has been given for this treatment. On my return home, I found my house Id disorder, my affairs 196 Appalling Condition of Armenia. ruined, my means gone. My first thought was to appeal to the Turkish Government for redress, but I shrank from doing so, lest I should be condemned again. Hearing that you have come to Armenia for the purpose of investigating the condition of the people, I venture to request you, in God's name, to take notice of the facts of my case. Signed, Boghos Darmanian, of the village of Iknakhodja of the Kaz? of Manazkerd." From Wealth to Want. In 1890, the village elder of Odandjor in Boolanyk, Abdcx/ by name, was a wealthy man, as wealth goes in that part of the world. He possessed 50 buffaloes, 80 oxen, 600 sheep, besides horses, etc. The w^omen of his family wore golden ornaments in their hair and on their breast, and he paid 5^50 a year in taxes to the treasury. That was in 1890. In "'894 he was a poverty-stricken peasant, familiar with miser) and apprehensive of death from hunger. His village and those of the entire district had been plun- dered, and the inhabitants stripped, so to say, naked, the Turkish authorities smiling approval the while. During the year 1894, in the districts of Boolanyk and Moush alone, upwards often thousand head of cattle and sheep were driven o^ by the Koords. This was the method in vogue all over the country; the details varied according to the condition of things, places, and kinglets, but the means and end never varied. The result is the utter disappearance of wealth and the rapid spread of miser)'-, so intense, so irremediable, so utterly loathsome in its moral and physical effects as to have inspired some of its victims with that wild courage akin to madness which always takes its rise in despair. Between the Vali or Governor-General and the Zaptieh or tax-gatherer the rungs of the administrative ladder are many, Appalling Condition of Armenia. 107 and to each and all of them some portion of the substance of industrious Armenians adheres. No doubt there are far worse things than the loss of one's property, and unemotional Eng- lishmen would rather save their sympathy for those who have endured them. But surely even that is bad enough when the outcome not of crime, accident, or carelessness, but of shameless and defiant injustice, and where the loser has a family of some fifteen to twenty persons. And that the loss of property very often entailed far greater losses will be evident from some of the following facts : A Tale of Horror. In July, 1892, a captain of his Majesty's Hamidieh Cavalry, Idris by name, an ornament of the Hassnanlee tribe, came with his brother to demand a contribution of fodder from the inhabitants of Hamsisheikh. They accosted two of the Armenian notables, Alo and Hatchadoor, and ordered them to provide the hay required. " We do not possess such a quantity in the whole village," they replied, " Produce the hay without more ado, or I'll shoot you dead," exclaimed Idris. " But it does not exist, and we cannot create it." " Then die," said the gallant captain, and shot them dead on the spot. A formal complaint was lodged against Idris, and the Kaimakam, to his credit, arrested him and kept him in prison for four weeks, when the valiant Koord having paid the usual bribe was set at liberty. About thirty similar murders were committed in the same district of Boolanyk during that sea- son, with the same publicity and the same impunity. At first the Armenians were wont to complain when their relatives or friends were killed, in the hope that in some cases the arm of the law might be raised to punish th'^ m"rderers 198 Appalli7ig Condition of Arme7iia. and thus produce a deterrent effect upon others who might feel disposed to go and do likewise. But they were very soon weaned of this habit, by methods the nature of which may be gathered from the following incident : In July, 1892, a Koord named Ahmed Ogloo Bahal rode over to Govandook (District of Khnouss) and drove off four CATHEDRAL (M i\V Tlil. .M 11 ^T. Siil'iilA, CONSTANTINOPLE. oxen belonging to an Armenian named Mookho. In 1892 the law forbidding Christians to carry arms was not yet strictly obser\^ed, and Mookho, possessing a revolver, and seeing that the Koord was about to use his, fired. Both weapons went off at once, and both men fell dead on the spot. What then happened was this : Nineteen Armenians of the village, none of whom had any knowledge of what had occurred, were arrested and put in jail and told that they would be released on payment of a heavy bribe. Ten paid it and were set fre^ Appalling Conditio7i of Armenia. 19S at once. The remainder, refusing, were kept in prison for a long time afterwards. None of the Koords were molested. "Why should Mohammedans be punished for killing Armenians ?" asked a Koordish brigand who was also a Hamidieh officer, of me. " It is unheard of" Why indeed ? That the relatives of the murdered people should be punished and punished severely for complaining of those who have made them widows or orphans seems meet and proper to the Mohammedan mind — perhaps because it is usual. Incidents of Cruelty. lu August, 1893, the Djibranlee Koords attacked the vil- lage of Kaghkik, plundered it, and wounded a merchant named Cannes, who was engaged in business in his shop. Next day Cannes went to the Deputy Governor (Kaimakam) in Khnoussaberd and lodged a complaint, whereupon the Kaimakam put him in prison for " lying." The sufferings in- flicted upon him in that hotbed of typhoid fever exceeded belief — but that is another story. After eight days his neighbors brought a Koord before the Kaimakam who bore out their evidence that Cannes had been really wounded in the manner described, and that he was not lying. Then, and then only, the authorities allowed the peo- ple to pay a bribe of ten pounds for the release of the wounded man. The inhabitants of Krtaboz (a village in Bassen,) told me several horrible stories of what they had to endure lately from the Koords, who drove off their twenty-three oxen, twenty-eight horses, sixty cows, and twenty sheep. Cne which illustrates the method of Turkish justice will suffice to give the reader an inkling of their nature. " Last May (1894) twelve mounled Hamidiehs attacked our village and seized our priest, Der David. They promised 200 Appalling Condi tio7t of Armenia. to release him if he paid them six pounds. He borrowed the sum, gave it to his captors and was set free. The troops fired upon the other villagers, who ran away. Next day Guil Beg went to Hassankaleh to complain to the authorities. They abused him, called him a liar, and ordered him to be impris- oned. After having spent forty days in the horrible hole called a prison, he was permitted to pay a bribe of seven pounds and go home." No Protection to Christians. There is no redress whatever for a Christian who has suf-« fered in property, limb, or life at the hands of IMohammedans; not because the law officers are careless or lethargic, but be- cause they are specially retained on the other side. And the proof of this, if any proof were needed, is that the complain- ants themselves are speedily punished for lodging an informa- tion against their persecutors. But whenever a Koord or a Turk is the victim of a " crime," or even an accident, the energy of the Government ojfificials knows no bounds. In the spring of last year, when the snows were thawing and the waters rose high in the rivers and streams, some needy Koords were moving along the bank of the river, hard by Hussnaker. They were wretched beggars, asking alms, and battling with fate. In an attempt to ford the river they were carried away and drowned. Forthwith the villagers were accused of having murdered them, and four Armenian notables were arrested and imprisoned in Hassankaleh on this trumpery charge, the real object of which was not disguised. After the lapse of seven or eight months the villagers were told that on payment of a bribe of $375 the prisoners would be dis- charged. The money had to be scraped together and paid to the authorities, whereupon the men were released. I saw two of them, Atam and Dono, myself. Appalling Condition of Armenia. 201 The taxes levied upon Armenians are exorbitant ; the bribes that invariably accompany them, and are imposed by the Zap- tiehs, may swell to any proportions, and resume the most repugnant forms, while the methods employed to collect both constitute by them- selves a sufficient justi- fication for the sweep- ing away of Ottoman rule in Armenia. To give a fair in- stance of the different rates of taxation for Christians and Mo- hammedans in towns, it will suffice to point out that in Erzeroum, where there are 8,000 Mohammedan houses, the Aloslems pay only 395,000 piastres, while the Christians, whose houses number but 2,000, \. .y 430,000 pi- astres. In the country dis- tricts, everything, with marble staircase in the sultan's pal- out exception, is highly ^^^e at Constantinople. taxed by the Government, and the heaviest burden of this legal exaction is light when compared with the extortion practiced by its agents, the Zaptiehs. A family, for instance, is supposed to contribute, say, twenty-five dollars, and fulfils its obligation. The Zaptiehs, however, ask for fifteen or twenty dollars more for themselves, and are met with a rash 202 Appalling Co7iditio7i of Armenia. refusal. Negotiations, interlarded with violent and abusive language, ensue, and five dollars are accepted. But the Zap- tiehs' blood is up. In a week they return and demand the same taxes over again. The Armenians wax angry, protest and present their receipt ; whereat the Zaptiehs laughingly explain that the document in question is no receipt but a few verses from a Turkish book. The villagers plead poverty and implore mercy. Greed, not compassion, moves the Zaptiehs to com- promise the matter for fifteen dollars more, but the money is not forthcoming. Then they demand the surrender of the young women and girls of the family to glut their brutal appetites, and refusal is punished with a series of tortures over which decency and humanity throw a veil of silence. Rape, and every kind of brutal outrage conceivable to the diseased mind of Oriental profligates, and incredible to the average European intelli- gence, varied perhaps with murder or arson, wind up the incident. These are Facts. I have seen and spoken with victims of these representa- tives of the Sublime Porte ; I have inspected their woun Js, questioned their families, interrogated their priests, their per- secutors, and their gaolers (some of them being incarcerated for complaining), and I unhesitatingly affirm, not merely that these horrors are real facts, but that they are frequent occur- rences. The following is the translation of an authentic document in my possession, signed and sealed by the inhabitants of Melikan (Kaza of Keghi), addressed recently to his Beatitude, the learned and saihtly Metropolitan Archbishop of Erze- roum, a dignitary who enjoys the respect and esteem of friends and foes •- Appalling Condition of Armenia, 205 " For a long time past the four or five Zaptiehs charged with the collection of the imperial taxes have chosen our village for their headquarters, and compel the inhabitants of the outlying country to come hither to pay their contribu- tions. They eat, drink, and feed their horses at our expense, undisguisedly showing that they are resolved to reduce us to beggary. " Lately seven other Zaptiehs, who had not even the pre- text of collecting the taxes, entered our village, beat the inhabitants, insulted the Christian religion, and dishonored our wives and daughters, after which they seized three men who protested — Boghos, Mardig, and Krikor — bound them wiih a twofold chain, and hung them up by the feet from the rafters. They left them in this position until the blood began to flow from their nostrils. These poor men fell ill in conse- quence. The Zaptiehs, however, declared publicly that they had treated the people thus merely in obedience to the special orders of the chief of the police. " We therefore appeal to imperial justice to rescue us from this unbearable position. The inhabitants of the village of Melikan, Kaza of Keghi. (Signed) Katshere. " 26th March, 1895." Here is another petition from another village of the same Kaza, likewise addressed to the Metropolitan Archbishop of Erzeroum : " A number of Zaptiehs, on pretext of gathering the taxes, rode into our village at five o'clock Turkish time (about ten o'clock A. M.), broke open the doors of our dwellings, entered the inner apartments, clutched our wives and children, who were in a state of semi-nudity, and cast them into the road along with the couches on which they lay. " Then they beat and maltreated them most cruelly. Finally they selected over thirty of our women, shut them up in a barn, and wrought their criminal will upon them. Before leaving they took all the food and fodder we possessed, as is 204 Appalling Coiidition of Artnenia. their invariable custom. We beg to draw your attention to these facts, and to implore the imperial clemency. The in- habitants of the village of Arek, Kaza of Keghi. (Signed) MooRADiAN, Ressian, Berghoyan, Melkonian. "26th March, 1895." I was present myself in the house of an Armenian peasant, of the Village of Kipri Kieu, when a number of mounted Zap- tiehs arrived, woke up the inmates, and insolently demanded food for themselves, barley for their horses, and couches for the night. What more they would have called for I am not prepared to say; but I extricated my host from the difficulty by refus' ig them admittance on the ground that I had hired the house for the night. No wonder that the peasants of the District of Khnouss complain, in the petition which they asked me to lay before "the noble and humane people of England," " that the once prosperous and fertile country is now deserted, waste a..d desolate." Armenians not the Aggressors. These, then, are the horrors which are connoted by the phrase so flippantly uttered by certain enlightened English people : " These Armenians and Koords are eternally quarrel- ing, and a little bloodshed more or less would not seem se- riously to affect the general average." It is true enough in the sense in which it is correct to say that sheep and wolves are perpetually at war with each other, and in this sense only. The Armenians are naturally peaceful in all places, passion- 'ately devoted to agriculture in the country, and wholly ab- sorbed by mercantile pursuits in the towns. Lest their in- born aversion to bloodshed, however, should be overcome by the impulse of duty, the instinct of self-defense, or deep-rooted affection for those near and dear to them, they are forbidden Appalling Condition of Armenia. 205 to possess arms, and the tortures that are inflicted on the few who disregard this law would bring a blush to the cheek of a countryman of Confucius. They must rely for protection ex- clusively upon the Turkish soldiers and the Turkish law. Khozro, a well-to-do inhabitant of Prkhooss, near Lake Nazig (District of Akhlat), was a lucky exception. True, he did not exactly possess a gun, but he was suspected of having one. His house was searched, the floor dug up, the roof examined, in vain. Then he was imprisoned for a month, and allowed to purchase his liberty by paying ^350 in gold, and signing a paper to the effect that he never had fire-arms of any kind. The nature of the protection afforded by the Imperial troops was sufficiently clearly revealed last August and September en the slopes of Frfrkar and the heights of Andok, in the hamlets of Dalvorik, and in the valley of Ghellyegoozan. The villages of Odandjor, Hamzasheikh, Kakarloov Kharagyul, flourishing and prosperous in 1 890-1 891, did not contain one sheep, one buffalo, one horse in 1894. Reduced to Ashes. The stables were all tenantless, the stalls all empty, and the ashes of seventy enormous stacks of corn told the rest of the tale. This was the congenial work of the Koords, whose friends, the Turkish troops, were quartered, to the number of 200 horse soldiers in Yondjalee, half an hour distant from Odandjor, 200 in Kop, and 100 in Shekagoob. The protec- tion which they afforded was given to the Koords, and the reward they received was a share in the spoils. The protection given by Turkish law is of a like nature, only incomparably more disastrous to those Armenians who venture to have recourse to it. Two or three instances, vouched for by a host of witnesses, verified by foreign con- suls, and authenticated by official documents, will throw light Appalling Co7idition of Armenia. 207 enough for all practical purposes upon the strange forms assumed by Turkish justice in the provinces of Armenia. Kevork Vartanian, of the village of Mankassar (Sandjak of Alashkerd), testified, among other things, as follows : " In 1892, a Koord, Andon by name, son of Kerevash (of the tribe of Tshalal), came with his comrades to my house and took five pounds in gold belonging to me, which I had saved up to buy seed corn with, I lodged a complaint against him, but the authorities dismissed me with contempt. Andon, hearing of my attempt to have him punished, came one night w'th twelve men, stood on our roof, and, looking down throug'xi the aperture, fired. A Tale of Horror. " My daughter-in-law, Yezeko, struck by a bullet, fell dead. Her two boys and my child Missak (two years old) likewise lost their lives then and there. Then the Koords entered the apartments and took my furniture, clothing, four oxen ancf four cows.* I liastened to the village of Karakilisse and complained to Rahim Pasha. Having heard my story, he said : ' The Hamadieh Koords are the Sultan's warriors. To do thus is their right. You Armenians are liars.' And we were imprisoned. We did not obtain our release until we had paid two pounds in gold. "The following winter two hundred soldiers entered our village under the leadership of Rahim Pasha himself. He at once told us that it was illegal to complain of the doings of the Koords. Then he quartered himself and his troops upon us, and demanded daily eight sheep, ten measures of barley, besides eggs, poultry and butter. * Cows, horses, ecc, are frequently lodged in the apartment in which the inmates live and sleep. I have passed many a restless night in a spacious foom along with horses, buffaloes, oxen, sheep and o-nat^. 208 Appalling Conditioti of Armenia. " Forty days running our village supplied these articles of food gratis, receiving curses and blows for our pains. Rahim Pasha, angry with his host, Pare, for grumbling, had a copper vessel hung over the fire, and, when heated, ordered it to be placed on Pare's head. Then he had him stripped naked and little bits of flesh nipped out of his quivering arms with pincers. " These ruffians had scarcely quitted our village when Aipe Pasha with sixty horsemen took their places. Seeing that there were no more sheep to be had in the village, they slaughtered and ate our cows and oxen, and having inflicted much suffering upon us during six days, they too left. To whom could we address our complaints, seeing that the legally constituted authorities themselves perpetrated these things? Nothing was left for us but to quit the country, which we did." A Raid by Koords. In the month of June, 1890, the village of Alidjikrek wai the scene of a double crime. The Armenian shepherds who were tending the flocks of the villagers rushed in eicitedly asking for help. " The Koords of Ibil Ogloo Ibrab-^ii Cc me up with their sheep and drove us out of the village pastures." It was one of the commonplaces of village life in Turkish Armenia. Four young men set out to reason with the Mos- lems and assert the rights of property ; but scarcely had they reached the ground, when the Koords opened fire and killed one of the youths, named Hossep, on the spot. Another fell mortally wounded ; his name, Haroothioon. Their comrades fled in horror to the village ; the people, dis- mayed, abandoned their work ; the parish priest and several of the principal inhabitants ran to the scene of the murder, others rode off to inform the gendarmes. The Zaptiehs (gendarmes), accompanied by an official, Appalling Condition of Armenia. -^''^^ were soon on the spot. They found Hossep dead, and the parish priest, Der Ohannes, administering the last consola- tions of religion to the dying Haroothioon. They ordered the prayers to cease and menacingly asked, " Where are the Koordish murderers?" "They have fled," was the reply. " Indeed ; probably you, dogs, have killed them, and buried them out of sight. You are all my prisoners." (Turning to the priest.) " You, too, come ! " And they were all taken to Hassankaleh and thrown into the loathsome dungeon there. After a time they were transferred to the prison of Erzeroum. Systematic Extortion. The parish priest, Der Ohannes, was a well-to-do man. The process of systematic impoverishment was then only bcijinniniT. His brother, Garabed, and their ten comrades in misfortune, were likewise men of substance, and it seemed desirable to the officials that their property should change hands. They were left, therefore, to soak in the fetid vapors of a reeking Eastern prison-house. The time dragged slowly on, day by day, week by week, and month by month, till they seemed to have been completely forgotten. Their families were in an endless agony of fear, their affairs were utterly neglected, their health was wholly undermined. In this pandemonium they passed a year — the most horrible period of their lives. Then they humbly besought their persecutors to help them to their liberty and to name the price. The terms were agreed to, and they were advised to send Koords to hunt up traces of the Koordish murderers whom they were accused of having murdered in turn. " If they be found you will be set free." The cost of this advice and of the ways and means of carrying it out amounted to about ^2000, which the prisoners were compelled to borrow at 40 per cent, interest. 14 •^iu Appalling Conditiofi of Armeiiia. 21 1 The search was of course successful, Koordish and Turkish assassins, when their victims are Christians, having no need to hide their persons, no motive to hang their heads. What they do is well done. These particular heroes were found enrolled in a battalion of his Majesty's favorite cavalry — the Hamidieh of Alashkerd. They confessed and did not deny ; a cloud of witnesses — Turks and Koords of course, Christians being disqualified — testified in court in favor of the twcWe Armenian prisoners, who were then set at liberty, with ruined fortunes and broken health. Murderers Escape. The sentence of the court set forth that the Armenians, charged with the crime of having killed certain Koords who had assassinated two Armenian villagers, had proved their innocence, the Koords in question having been discovered living and well, serving the Commander of the Faithful in the Hamidieh Corps. The Koordish murderers, about whose precious lives so much fuss was made, were left in peace, and they still con- tinue to serve his Majesty the Sultan with the same zeal and contempt of consequences as before. A dog will bark if another dog be shot in his presence. These Armenians did not even grumble ; they simply called in the representatives of Imperial law and justice, who pro- ceeded to deal with them as with murderers. But Christians in Armenia dare not aspire to be treated with the considera- tion shown to obedient dogs by good-natured masters. The stories told of these Koordish Hamidieh officers in general, and of one of them, named Mostigo, in particular, seemed so wildly improbable, that I was at great pains to verify them. Learning that this particular Fra Diavolo had been arrested and was carefully guarded as a dangerous 2 1 '1 Appalling Condition of Arme7iia. criminal in the prison of Erzeroum, where he would probably be hanged, I determined to obtain, if possible, an interview with him, and learn the truth from his own lips. My first attempt ended in failure ; Mostigo being a desper- ate murderer, who had once before escaped from jail, was subjected to special restrictions, and if I had carried out my original plan of visiting him in disguise, the probability is tha' I should not have returned alive. After about three weeks' tedious and roundabout negotiations, I succeeded in gaining the gaoler's ear, having first replenished his purse. I next won over the brigand himself, and the upshot of my endeavors was an arrangement that Mostigo was to be allowed to leave the prison secretly, and at night, to spend six hours .a my room, and then to be re-conducted to his dungeon. When the appointed day arrived the gaoler repudiated his part of the contract, on the ground that Mostigo, aware that his life was forfeited, would probably give the prison a wide berth if allowed to leave its precincts. After some further negotiations, however, I agreed to give two hostages for his return, one of them a brother Koord, whose life the brigand's notions of honor would not allow him to sacrifice for the chance of saving his own. At last he came to me one evening, walking over the roofs, lest the police permanently stationed at my door should espy him. I kept him all night, showed him to two of the most respectable Europeans in Erzeroum, and, lest any doubt should be thrown on my story, had myself photographed with hiir. next morning. The talc unfolded by that Koordish noble constitutes a most admirable commentary upon Turkish regime in Armenia. This is not the place to give it in full. One or two short ex- tracts must suffice. Q. " Now, Mostigo, I desire to hear from your own hps, Appalling Condition of Armenia. 213 and to write down, some of your wonderful deeds. I want to make them known to the ' hat-wearers.' " * A. " Even so. Announce them to the Twelve Powers." f There were evidently no misgivings about moral con- sequences; no fears of judicial punishment. And yet retribution was at hand ; Mostigo was said to be doomed to death. Desirous of clear- ing up this point, I went on : Q, " I am sorry to find that you are living in prison. Have you been long there ? " A. " I, too, am sorry. Five months ; but it seems an age." Q. "These Armenians are t ) blame, I sup- pose ?" A. "Yes." Q. " You wiped out too many of them, carried off their women, burned their villages, and made it generally hot for them, I am told." A. (Scornfully.) " That has nothing to do with my imprison- ment. I shall not be punished for plundering Armenians. We all do that. I seldom killed, except when they resisted. But the Armenians betrayed me, and I was caught. That's what *The Koords call all Europeans hat-wearers, and generally regard them with respect and awe. \ I. e,, to the whole universe. TURKISH LADY. 214 Appalling Co7idition of Armenia. I mean. But if I be hanged, it will be for attacking and rob- bing the Turkish post, and violating the wife of a Turkish Colonel who is now here inErzeroum. But not for Arme- nians! Who are they that I should suffer for them?" Boasting of Infamy. After he had narrated several adventures of his, in the course of which he dishonored Christian women, killed Ar- menian villagers, robbed the post and escaped from prison, he went on to say : " We did great deeds after that — deeds that woulJ astonish the Twelve Powers to hear told. We attacked villages, killed people who would have killed us, gutted houses, taking money, carpets, sheep and women, and robbed travelers. . . . Daring and great were our deeds, and the mouths of men were full of them." Having heard the story of many of these '* great deeds," in some of which fifty persons met their death, I asked: Q. " Do the Armenians ever offer you resistance when you take their cattle and their women? " A, " Not often. They cannot. They have no arms, and they know that even if they could kill a ^&\v of us it would do them no good, for other Koords would come and take vengeance ; but when we kill them no one's eyes grow large with rage. The Turks hate them, and we do not, We only want money and spoil, and some Koords also (Want their lands, but the Turks want their lives. A few months ago I attacked the Armenian village of Kara Kipriu, and drove off all the sheep in the place. I did not leave one behind. " The villagers, in despair, did follow us that time and fire some shots at us, but it was nothing to speak of. We drove *iie sheep towards Erzeroum to sell them there. But on the Appalling Condition of Armenia. 21 o way we had a fight near the Armenian village of Sheme. The peasants knew we had lifted the sheep from their own people^ and they attacked us. We were only five Koords, and they were many — the whole village was up against us. Two of my men — rayalis'^ only — were killed. We killed fifteen Arme- nians. They succeeded in capturing forty of the sheep. The remainder we held and sold in Erzeroum." Q. " Did you kill many Armenians generally ? " A. " Yes. We did not wish to do so. We only want booty, not lives. Lives are of no use to us. But we had to drive bullets through people at times to keep them quiet; that is, if they resisted." Q. " Did you often use your daggers ? " A. " No ; generally our rifles. We must live. In autumn we manage to get as much corn as we need for the winter, and money besides. We have cattle, but we take no care of it. We give it to the Annenians to look after and feed." Q. " But if they refuse?" A. " Well, we burn their hay, their corn, their houses, and we drive off their sheep, so they do not refuse. We take back our cattle in spring, and the Armenians must return the same number that they received." Q. " But if the cattle disease should carry them off? " A. " That is the Arniejuani' affair. They must return us what we gave them, or an equal number. And they know it. We cannot bear the loss. Why should not they ? Nearly all our sheep come from them." After having listened to scores of stories of his expedi- *The Koords are divided into Torens or nobles, who lead in war time, and possess and enjoy in peace ; and Rayahs, who sacrifice their lives for their lords in all raids and feuds, and are wholly dependent on them at all times. A rayaJis life may be taken by a toren with almost the same impunity as a Christian's. 216 Appalling Condition of Armeiiia. tions, murders, rapes, etc., I again asked : " Can you tell me some more of your daring deeds, Mostigo, for the ears of the Twelve Powers ? " to which I received this characteristic reply : CASTLE ON THE BOSPHORUS. " Once the wolf was asked : Tell us something about the sheep you devoured ? and he said : I ate thousands of sheep, which of them are you talking about? Even so it is with my deeds. If I spoke and you wrote for two days, much would still remain untold." This brigand is a Koord, and the name of the Koords is Appalling Conditio7i of Armenia. lYi legion. Ex Jino disce onmes. (From one you may learn the character of all.) And yet the Koords have shown them- selves to be the most humane of all the persecutors of the Armenians. Needing money, this man robbed ; desirous of pleasure he dishonored women and girls ; defending his booty, he killed men and women, and during it all he felt absolutely certain of impunity, so long as his victims were Armenians. Is there no law then ? one is tempted to ask. There is, and a very good law for that corner of the globe, were it only administered ; for the moment he robbed the Imperial post and dishonored a Turkish woman, he was found worthy of death. Promises are only a Mockery. Laws, reforms and constitutions, therefore, were they drawn up by the wisest and most experienced legislators and states- men of the world, will not be worth the paper they are writ- ten on so long as the Turks are allowed to administer them without control. The proof is contained in the life and acts of Turkish officials any time during the past fifty years. Here, for example, is an honorable record of an energetic administrator, his Excellency Hussein Pasha, Brigadier-Gen- eral of his Majesty the Sultan, which will bear the closest scrutiny. Commanding a gang of Koordish brigands, which could be increased to about 2,000 men, he continually har- assed the peaceful inhabitants of the province, plundering, torturing, violating, killing, till his name alone sent a thrill of terror to the hearts of all. The Armenians of Patnotz suffered so much from his depredations that they all quitted their village en masse and migrated to Karakilisse, where the Kaimakam resides ; where- upon Hussein surrounded the house of the Bishop of Karaki- lisse with a large force and compelled him to send the people back. 218 Appatting Condition of Armenia. Even the Mohammedans felt so shocked at his doings, that the Mussulman priest of Patnotz, Sheikh Nari, complained of him to the Vali (Governor-General) of Erzeroum. Hussein then sent his men, who murdered Sheikh Nari and frightened his daughter-in-law to death. In one expedition he carried off 2,600 sheep, many horses, kine, etc., took ^2,500, burnt nine villages, killed ten men, and cut off the right hands, noses and ears of eleven others. Crimes Unpunished. Early in the year 1890 he raped five Christian girls of Patnotz, and in September and October of the same year he levied a contribution of ;^ 1,500 on the peoole of the same dis- trict. For none of these crimes %vas he ever tried. In Decem- ber, 1890, he sent his brother to raise more money, which was done by raiding twenty-one villages of the Aintab District, the net result being ;^i,75oand 200 batmans of butter (=3,000 lbs.). Hatsho, an Armenian of Patnotz, who coulJ not, or would not, contribute a certain sum to his coffer, had his house raided in his absence, and his wife and two children killed. All this time the gallant Hussein occupied the post and " discharged the duties" of a Mudir or Deputy Sub-Governor. One day he drove off 1,000 sheep and 7 yoke of buffaloes from Patnotz and Kizilkoh and sold them in Erzeroum to a merchant, after which he confiscated a fine horse belonging to Manook, an Armenian of Kizilkoh, and sent it as a present to the son of an Erzeroum judge. One night towards the end of February, 1891, Hussein, his nephew Rassoul, and others, entered the house of an Armenian, Kaspar, for the purpose of carrying off Kaspar's handsome daughter-in-law. The inmates, however, shouted for help, whereupon Hus- sein, raising his revolver, shot the young woman dead. A Appalling Condition of Armenia. 219 petition was presented asking that he be punished, but the Vali of Erzeroum decHned to receive it, and Hussein was summoned to Constantinople, welcomed with cordiality, deco- rated by his Majesty, raised to the rank of Pasha, and ap- pointed Brigadier-General, When the troops went to Moush and Sassoun in 1894, Hussein was one of the heroe.s, and when " order " was restored there, he returned to Patnotz with several young Sassounian girls whom he abducted, and he now lives happy and respected. Conspirators in Crime. No doubt there are missions which might be entrusted to a gentleman like Brigadier-General Hussein Pasha and men of his type. But is the government of a Christian people one of them ? And if we assume that the then Vali of Erzeroum and the other administrators of the country were men of a much higher moral standard than he, of what avail were their noble character and admirable intentions, seeing that they allowed him to plunder, ravish, burn and kill unchecked? And is it reasonable to blame Hussein Pasha for deeds, after the perpetration of which, he was honored and promoted by the guardian of all law and order, the Commander of the Faithful ? Not all of the officials have the same tastes or the same degree of courage as his Excellency Hussein Pasha. There are others — many others no doubt — who, whatever their pri- vate proclivities may be, feel moved by their official sense of the fitness of things to cast about for a pretext for acts for which there could be no conceivable justification. And the follies which they commit in pursuit of this shadow would seem incredible were they not notorious. The following case has been inquired into and verified by the foreign representa- tives in Turkey : 220 Appallmg Conditio7i of Armenia. In the spring of 1893 Hassib Pasha, the Governor of Moush, feehng the need of some proofs of the disaffection of the Armenians of Avzoot and the neighboring villages, despatched Police Captain Reshid Effendi thither to search for arms. Reshid set out, made careful inquiries and dili- gently searched in the houses, on the roofs, under the ground, but in vain. There were no firearms anywhere. He returned SERAGLIO POINT — CONSTANTINOPLE. and reported that the villagers had strictly observed the law forbidding them to possess weapons of any kind. But Hassib Pasha waxed wroth. " How dare you assert what I know to be untrue ? " he asked. " Go back this minute and find the arms. Don't dare return without them ! " The Police Captain again rode off to Avzoot and searched every nook and corner with lamps, so to say, turning the houses inside out. But he found nothing. Then he summoned the village Elder and said : " I have been sent to discover the Appalling Condition of Armenia. 221 hidden arms here. Tell me where they are." " But there are none." " There must be some." " I assure you, you are mistaken." " Well, now listen. I have to find arms here, whether there are any or none, and I cannot return without them. Unless you deliver me some, I shall quarter myself and my men upon your village." This meant certainly plunder and probably rape. The Elder was dismayed. " What are we to do?" he asked. "We have no arms." "Go and get some then, steal them, buy them, but get them." Cart-loads of Weapons. Two or three persons were accordingly sent tc the nearest Koordish village, where they purchased three cart-loads of old daggers, flintlock guns and rusty swords, which were duly handed over to Reshid. With these he returned to the Governor of Mouish exulting. Hasib Pasha, seeing the col- lection, rejoiced exceedingly and said : " You see now, I was right. I told you there were arms hidden away there. You did not seek for them properly at first. Be more diligent in future." Verto Popakhian, an inhabitant of the village of Khalil Tshaush (Khnouss), narrated the following, the story of his troubles, which throws a curious sidelight on Turkish justice and Armenian peasant-life generally ; " A Koord named Djundee endeavored to carry off my niece, Nazo, but we took her to Erzeroum, and gave her in marriage to an Armenian. We often have to give our young girls in marriage when they are mere children, eleven to twelve years old, or else dress them up in boy's clothes, to preserve them undefiled. Nazo's husband was the son of the parish priest of Hertev. The Koords vowed vengeance upon me for saving the girl thu*^. Djundee beat my brother so serionsly that he was ill in bed for nearly six months, and he 222 Appalling Conditioji of Armenia. and his men drove off my cattle, burned our grain, threshing- floor and hay, and ruined us completely. When the girl came home on a visit, Djundee and his Koords attacked the house, and carried her off. We com- plained to all the authorities in the place and in Erzeroum too. By the time they agreed to examine the girl publicly, she had borne a child to the Koord, and shame prevented her return. She remained a Mohammedan. We then bought a gun for our protection, the law forbidding firearms not exist- ing yet. In 1893 we sold the gun to a Koord named Hadji Daho, but in 1894 the police came and demanded it. We said we had sold it, and the Koord bore out our assertion. He even showed it to them. But they arrested my brother and myself, and compelled us to give our two buffaloes in exchange for two guns, which they took away as incriminat- ing proo^ of our guilt ; and then they sent us to Erzeroum prison. " We were kept here, suffering great hardships, for a long time. When eight months had passed away, my brother died of ill-treatment. Then they promised me my liberty in con- sideration of large bribes, which reduced me to absolute beggary. I had no choice. I gave them all they asked, leaving myself and family of nineteen persons completely destitute. Ajid then they condemned me to five years' imprison- inc7it." Justice Denied to Armenians. Justice in all its aspects is rigorously denied to the Arme- nian. The mere fact that he dares to invoke it as plaintiff or prosecutor against a Kocd or a Turk is always sufficient to metamorphose him into a defendant or a criminal, generally into both, whereupon he is invariably thrown into prison. In such cases the prison is intended to be no more than the half-way house between relative comfort and absolute misery, the inmates being destined to be stripped of all they possess and then turned adrift. But what the prison really is cannot be made sufficiently clea'r in words. If the old English Star Chamber, the Spanish Appalling Condition of Armenia. 223 Inquisition, a Chinese opium den, the ward of a yellow-fever hospital, and a nook in the lowest depths of Dante's Hell be conceived as blended and merged into one, the resulting picture will somewhat resemble a bad Turkish prison. Filth, stench, disease, deformity, pain in forms and degrees incon ceivable in Europe, constitute the physical characteristics : the psychological include the blank despair that is final, fiendish, fierce malignity, hellish delight in human suffering^ stoic self-sacrifice in the cultivation of loathsome vices, stark madness raging in the moral nature only — the whole incar- nated in grotesque beings whose resemblance to man is a living blasphemy against the Deity. A Nightmare of Horrors. In these noisome dungeons, cries of exquisite suffering and shouts of unnatural delight continually commingle ; ribald songs are sung to the accompaniment of heart-rending groans ; meanwhile the breath is passing away from bodies which had long before been soulless, and are unwept save by the clammy walls whereon the vapor of unimagined agonies and foul disease condenses into big drops and runs down in driblets to the reeking ground. Truly it is a horrid nightmare quickened into life. Last March I despatched a friend of mine to visit the political prisoners in the Bitlis penitentiary, and to ask them to give me a succinct account of their condition. Four of them replied in a joint letter, which is certainly the most gruesome piece of reading I have beheld ever since I first perused a description of the Black Hole. Only the least sensational passages can be stripped of the decent disguise of a foreign language and exposed to the light of day. It is dated " Bitlis Prison, Hell. March 28 (April 9th), 1895," and begins thus : Appalling Condition of Armenia. 225 " In Bitlii- Prison there are seven cells, each one capable of containing from ten to twelve persons. The number *-hey actually contain is from twenty to thirty. There are no saiiilary arrange incuts whatever. Offal, vermin, and the filth th.it should find a special place elsewhere are heaped together in the same cell. . . . The water is undrinkable. Frequently the Armenian prisoners' are forced to drink ' Khwlitsh ' water — i.e., water from the -tank in which the Mohammedans perform their ablutions " Then follows a brief but suggestive account of the treat- ment endured by the writer's comrades, many of whom died from the effects. For example : " Malkhass Aghadjanian and Scrop Malkhassian of Avzoot (Moush) were beaten till they lost consciousness. The former was branded in eight places, ;he latter in twelve places, with a hot iron." The further outrage which was committed upon Serop must be nameless. " Hagop Seropian, of the village of Avzoot, was stripped and beaten till he lost consciousness ; then a girdle v/as thrown round his neck, and having been dragged into the Zaptieh's room, he was branded in sixteen parts of his body with red- hot ram-rods." Nameless Outrages. Having described other sufferings to which he was sub- jected, such as the plucking out of his hair, standing motionless in one place without food or drink till nature could hold out no longer, the writer goes on to mention outrages for which the English tongue has no name, and civilized people no ears. Then he continues : " Sirko Minassian, Garabed Malkhassian, and Isro Ard- vadzadoorian of the same village, having been violently beaten, were forced to remain in a standing position for a long time, and then had the contents of certain vessels poured upon their lieads. Korki Mardoyan, of the village of Semol, was violently beaten ; his hair was plucked out by the roots, 226 Appallbig Condition of Armenia. and he was forced to stand motionless for twenty-four hours Then Moolazim lladji Ah and the gaoler, Abdoolkadir, forced him to perform the so-called Skeitantopyj^ which resulted in his death. He was forty-five years of age. " Mekhitar S.iforian and Kluitsho Baloyan of Kakarloo (Hoc'lanykj were subjected to ihe sa^ne treatment. Mekhitar was but fiiteen and Kliatsho only thirteen years old. Sogho Sii.iroyan, of Alvarindj (Moush), was conveyed from Moush to iiiclis prison handcuhed. Here he was cruelly beaten, and forced to maintain a standing position without food, " Whenever he fainted they revived him with douches of cold water and stripes. They also plucked out his hair, and burned his body with red-hot irons. Then . . , . (They sub- jected him to treatment which cannot be described.) .... Hambartzoon Boyadjian, after his arrest, was exposed to the scorching heat of the sun for three days. Then lie was taken to Semal, where he and his companions were beaten and shut up in a church. They were not only not allowed to leave the church to relieve the wants of nature, but were forced to defile the baptismal fonts and the church altar Where are you, Christian Europe and America?" The four signatures at the foot of this letter include that of a highly-respected and God-fearing ecclesiastic. Prison Tortures. I am personally acquainted with scores of people who have passed through these prison mills. The stories they narrate of their experience there are gruesome, and would be hard to believe were they not amply confirmed by the still more eerie tales told by their broken spirits, their wasted bodies, and the deep scars and monstrous deformities that will abide wi'h them till the grave or the vultures devour them. ■"■Literally" Devil's rini^.'' The hands are tis^htlv bound toj^cther, and the feet, tied toc^cther by the _L,neat toes, arc forced up over the hands. The remainder of the Sheitantopy consists of a severe torture and a beastly crime. Appcilling Condi tioYi of Armenia, 227 There is something so forbiddingly fantastic and wildly gro- tesque in the tortures and outrages invented by their gaolers or their local governors that a simple, unvarnished account of them sounds like the ravings of a diseased devil. But this is a subject upon which it is impossible to be explicit. Turkish Dungeons. The manner in which men qualify for the Turkish prison in Armenia can be easily deduced from what has already been said. The possession of money, cattle, corn, land, a wife or daughter, or enemies, is enough. We are shocked to read ol the cruelty of brutal Koords, who ride to a village, attack the houses, drive off the sheep, seize all the portable property, d'shonor the women, and return leisurely home, conscious of having done a good day's work. We call it a disgrace to civilization, and perhaps the qualification is correct. But bad as it sounds, it is a mercy compared with the Turkish methods, which rely upon the machinery of the law and the horrors of the prison. A man whom poverty, na)^ hunger, prevents from paying imaginary arrears of taxes, who declines to give up his cow or his buffalo as backsheesh to the Zaptiehs, who beseeches them to spare the honor of his wife or his daughter, is thrown into one of these dungeons, which he never leaves until he has been branded with the in- delible stigma of the place. But let us take one of the usual and by no means most revolting cases of arrest and imprison- ment as an illustration. A young man from the village of Avzood (Moush District) went to Russia in search of work, and found it. He also married, and lived there for several years. Towards the close of 1892 he came back to his native village, and the police, informed that " an Armenian who has lived in Russia is re- turned," despatched four of their number under the orders of Appalling Condilion of Aniienia. 220 Isaag Tshausli to Avzood. They arrived two hours after sundown, and, while three of them guarded the house where the young man was staying, the leader entered. Shots were heard immediately after, and the young Armenian and Isaag lay dead. False Evidence. Tho authorities in Bitlis then sent a Colonel of the Zaptiehs ;.) Avzood to see "justice" done. And it was done very speedily. The Colonel summoned the men of the village — none of whom were mixed up in the matter — and put them in prison. Then the officials deflowered all the girls, and dis- honored all the young women in Avzood, after which they liberated the men, except about twenty, whom they conveyed to the jail of Bitlis. A few of these died there, and ten others were soon afterwards dismissed. Finally they decided to chaige a young teacher, Markar, of the village of Vartenis, with the murder of Isaag Tshaush, and as there was no evi- dence against him, the other prisoners were ordered to testify. Armenians have the reputation of being liars, but they cer- tainly draw the line at swearing away an innocent man's life; and they refused in this case to commit the double crime of perjury and murder. Strenuous efforts were made to deter- mine them; they were stripped naked, burned in various parts of the body with red-hot irons, till they yelled with pain. Then they were prevented from sleeping for several nights, and tortured acutely again, till, writhing and quivering, they promised to swear anything, everything, if once relieved from their agony. A document declaring that Markar was in the village when Isaag Tshaush arrived there, and that he had shot Isaag in their presence, was drawn up in their names. To this they duly affixed their seals. Meanwhile Markar himself was being tortured in another part of the prison. 230 Appalling Condition of Armenia. When the trial came on and the incriminating document was read, the signatories stripped themselves in court, exhib- ited the ugly marks left by the red-hot irons, and called God to witness that that evidence of theirs, wrung from them by maddening torture, was a lie. Markar, on the other hand, declared that he was not in Avzood village at all on the night in question. But th^^se statements were unavailing; he was hanged last year, and the " witnesses " condemned to various terms in fortified towns. Some of the women dishonored by the Zaptiehs died from the effects of the treatment to which they were subjected. Shrewd Method for Making Money. The jailors grow rich on the money they wring from the inmates of the cells. The prison-keeper of Bitlis Prison, Abdoolkader, a wretch who, God having presumably made him, may be called a man, earns enormous sums this way. He lately spent $2,500 on his house, and two or three Turk- ish merchants are said to be doing business on his capital, although his salary is only about 50^". a month. These sums are received as bribes, not for any positive return made to the prisoners, but for mere relief from torture employed solely for this purpose. The following case may give some idea of the nature of the relief thus highly paid for: Some five months ago three men of the village of Krtabaz were arrested and imprisoned. The fact that they were released without trial ten weeks later is evidence enough of their innocence of crime. They were taken to the prison of Hassankaleh. The room in which they were confined was overcrowded. The term overcrowding does not denote the same thing in Armenia as in European prisons. They had no room to He dow7i at all. Some Koordish prisoners confined in the same Appcilling Cojidition of Armenia. 231 dismal den, who enjoyed special privileges, had but two and a half feet space to sleep in. In one corner of the dungeon a hole in the wall represented the prison-equivalent for sanita- tion, and these three Armenians were told that they must stand up by this hole, and might lean against the wall to sleep. TJiis tJicy did for fifteen consecutive nights. The stench, the filth, the vermin exceed all conception. After the lapse of fifteen days, by dint of starving them- selves- they were enabled to give part of theii food to some of the Koords, one of whom allowed the Armenians to take his place in turn during the day. This was not much, for the Koords themselves had only sitting space, about two and a half feet long; still it did afford relief. But the Koord was severely punished for this benevolence or enterprise. His ations of bread were cut off, and lie was put in irons for sev- eral days. In Constant Danger. The men he thus befriended, who now aver they owe their lives to him, were notables of their village, and innocent per- sons to boot, who were released some weeks later because " they had done no wrong." It is no easy thing for an Armenian man to cross the fron- tier and enter Russia, if he possess a gold or silver coin or an article of clothing; nor for a woman to leave the country without first undergoing indignities, the mere mention of which should make a man's blood boil with shame and indig- nation. " Oh, but these things are not felt so acutely by y\rmenians as they would be by Europeans," said an English lady to me a few days ago: "the wind is tempered to the shorn lamb, don't you know?" It may be so; but I have seen and conversed with hundreds and hundreds of Armenian women lately, and I found no signs of the tempering process. 1^32 Appalling Condition of Armenia. Whatever vices or virtues ma)' be predicated of Armenian women, chastity must be numbered among their essential characteristics. They carry it to an incredible extreme. In many places an Armenian woman never even speaks to any man but her husband, unless the latter is present. Even to her nearest and dearest male relatives and connections she has nothing to say; and her purity, in the slums of Erzeroum as in the valleys of Sassoun, is above suspicion. Driven over the Frontier. Yet these are the people who are being continually out- raged by brutal Koords and beastly Turks, oftentimes until death releases them. But the difficulty of emigrating from Turkey, with money, clothing, or women, will be best under- stood in the light of a few concrete examples. Not that the Turks object to their leaving. On the contrar)- — and this is the most conclusive proof of the existence of the Plan of Ex- termination — they actually drive them over the frontier, and then persistently refuse to allow them to return. Sahag Garoyan, questioned as to the reasons why he and his family of ten persons emigrated from his village oi Kheter (Sandjak of Bayazid), deposed as follows : " We could not remain because we were treated as beasts of burden by Rezekam B^y, son of Djaffer Aglia, and ' is men, who belong to his Majesty's Hamidieh corps, and can therefore neither be punished nor coni[)lained of. I emi- grated towards the end of last year. Rezekam had come with his followers, as if it were war-time, and taken possession of the houses of the Armenians, driving the occupants away. " Only seven families were allowed to stay on. The others, having no place to go to, took refuge in the church. We had to feed the Koords for three months, giving them our corn, sheep, etc, and keeping their cattle in fodder. We had to serve some of them as beasts of burden.* Rezekam him * This is no uncommon thing in Armenia, 234 Appalling Condition of AiDicnia. self paid a weekly visit to the village of Karakilisse, and levied a contribution of ^50 Turkish on the inhabitants, besides hay, barley, etc., for his men. " At last, unable to bear this burden any longer, we ad- dressed a complaint to the authorities. They told us to be gone. Then a Koord, named Ghazas Teamer, ordered us to sign a document setting forth that we were prosperous and happy. This was to be sent to Constantinople, as he wished to be ap- pointed Yoozbashi of the Hamidiehs. No one signed the paper, whereat Teamer grew angry, and killed Avaki and his brother. Five months later he killed ]\Iinass, son of Kre, of the village of Mankassar. When the winter came on last year, Rezekam Bey imprisoned our neighbor Sarkiss, son of Sahag, had his head plunged in cold water and dried ; after that it was steeped in petroleum and his hair burned off. " Then he endeavored to violate Sara, Sarkiss' sister, but she was smuggled away in time. Rezekam's servant, Kheto, dishonored Moorad's wife ; and a few days later entered the 'louse of Abraham, an inhabitant of the same village, com- manding him to go and work for Rezekam Bey. Abraham's wife, who was about to become a mother, begged that he might be allowed to stay at home ; but Kheto kicked her in Mie stomach, and she was delivered of a dead child an hour or so after. Oh, we could not live there — not if we "^rere beasts, instead of Christians." A Common Story. Mgirdeetch Mekhoyan, aged thirty-five, of the village of Koopegheran (Sandjak of Bayazid), deposed : " I emigrated in 1894 because Aipa Pasha came with forty Koordish families, demolished our church, and took everything wt had." The same story, with variations, comes from every Sandjak, almost from every village of the five Armenian provinces. Bedross Kozdyan, aged fifty-five, of the village of Arog (Sandjak of Van), testified : " I left my village and my country with my family in August, last year (1894), because wf* were driven away by Appalling Condition of Armenia. 235 the Koords under Kri, son of Tshalo, who was abetted by the Turkish authorities. He first came and violated tliree girls and three young married women, whom he took away in spite of their cries and prayers. Three Armenians tried to protect the wretched women, who implored them not to let them go. " But the Koords killed the three on the spot. Their names were Sarkiss, Khatsho and Keveark. Next day he and his men drove off the sheep of the villagers. We com- plained to the Governor of Van, but he said he could not move in the matter. Ten days later the Koords came again, and carried away our wheat, barley, and live stock, and burned the hay which they could not transport. Then they knocked down the altar of our church, hoping to find gold and silver hidden away there. We again besought the authorities to protect us, but they replied, ' We'll slaughter you like sheep if you dare to come again with your com- plaints against good Mohammedans.' " Then we took what we could with us and set out for Russia. When we reached Sinak six armed Kc ords attacked us, robbed us of everything we had, and sent us over the frontier with nothing but our clothes." Processions to the Churchyard. The Plan of Extermination is obviously working smoothly and well. The Christian population is decimated, villages are changing hands almost as quickly as the scenes shift in a comic opera, and the exodus to Russia and the processions to the churchyard are increasing. This is not the place to give a list of islainizcd villages, but a typical case may help to con- vey an idea of the process that is going on even now. In the province of Alashkerd, which borders upon Russia, there are five villages to the east of Karakilisse, named respectively, Khedr for Kheter), Manga.ssar, Djoodjan, Ziro and Koopkheran. These villages Eyoob Pasha sent his sons to occupy. Koords of the Zilanlee tribe, they are all officers W<'''' '^m^ 'siA W w 286 Appallmg Condi tiou of Armenia. 237 in the Hamidich corps. General Eyoob has three sons, Rezgo Bey, Khalid Bey and Yoossoof Bey, and these gallant officers with their followers set out last spring and took the villages for themselves. There were about 400 Armenian houses there at the time, or, say roughly, some 3,000 Christian inhabitants. There is not one there to-day. Only one individual, named Avedis Aghg, has remained, and even he lives not in one of the four villages, but in Yoondjaloo. He was a wealthy man when the Koords arrived ; he is indigent now. The Armenians were completely driven out in the course of a {q^^ months by methods which may be termed somewhat drastic. Killed for Disobedience, For example : one day the Koords met Markar, son of Ghoogo, in the fields carrying home his corn. They de- manded his aniba (cart). He replied that it was engaged now, its 4iey could see for themselves, but that he would give it later on. They killed him on the spot for disobedience, and threw his bocy on the cart. Thirty villagers went with their children to complain to the Kaimakam in Karakilisse. The Kaimakam caused them to remain waiting in the open air for eleven days before he would hear them. And having heard them, he told them to go — to Russia. In the Vilayet of Bitlis (Kaza of Boolanyk and Sandjak of Moush) there is a village named Kadjloo, which, being inter- preted, means "Village of the Cross." It is a village of the Crescent now. The means by which the sudden change w.is effected are identical in character with those already described. Mohammed Emin led a number of Koords (outcasts from the Djibranlee and Hassnanlee tribes) against the village, took it, so to say, by storm, and, to use their own picturesque expres- '.'on, " sat down in it." I 238 Appalling Conditio7i of Armenia. Happily it is situated only five miles distant from the seat of the Turkish Deputy-Governor, but, unhappily for the peo- ple, he refused to move a finger, and they were all driven off like sheep. Perhaps this is one of the cases in which the wind is tempered to the shorn sheep ? Villages Raided and Despoiled, Then the conquerors set about raiding the neighboring vil- lages, and in particular Piran, which is about a mile further off These would likewise have changed hands had it not been for a bright idea of one of the chief villagers, at whose suggestion a Koord named Assad Agha was invited to come and quarter his men in Piran, accepting for himself twenty cor)i-ficlds, ten meadozvs, and a spacious two-stor}'' house, which was built expressly for him by an architect from Bitlis, in return tor which he undertook to protect the Armenians from Mohammed Emin and his merry men. Three hundred and six of the principal inhabitants of the District of Khnouss gave me a signed petition when I was leaving Armenia, and requested me to lay it before ''the humane and noble people of England." In this document they truly say : " We now solemnly assure you that the butchery of Sas- soun is but a drop in the ocean of Armenian blood shed gradually and silently all over the Empire since the late Turko-Russian war. Year by year, month by month, day by (lay, innocent men, women and children have been shot down, stabbed, or clubbed to death in their houses and their fields, tortured in strange, fiendish ways in fetid prison-cells, or left to rot in exile under the scorching sun of Arabia. "During the progr.^s of that long and horrible tragedy no voice v/as raised for mercy, no hand extended to help us. That process is stili going on, but it has already entered upon its final phases, and the Armenian people are at the last gasn. 239 240 Appalling Condition of A7me7na. Is European sympathy destined to take the form of a cross upon our graves?" I have also received two touching appeals from the women of Armenia, sealed with their seals, and addressed to their sisters of England. What they ask is indeed little — that they be protected from dishonor. And, until the General Elections gave us a strong Government, which knows its own mind, it seemed as if these women were asking for the moon. On November 7th last, a Turk of the city of Bayazid asked Avedis Krmoyan to pay a little debt. The Armenian, not having the money at the tin:ic, besought his creditor to wait a few weeks. The Turk refused, and insisted on taking Krmoyan's wife as a pledge that the money would be paid. Entreaties and iears were unavailing ; the woman was carried off, and then forced to become a Moslem. She can never return to her husband again. Story of an Unfortunate Girl. In the village of Khosso Veran (Bassen) a girl named Selvy was seized by a Turk as security for a debt contracted by her father. The creditor kept her three months and dishonored her ; nor would he consent to set her free until Giragoss Ohannissean went bail for her. As the debt, however, is un- paid, the Turk has a mortgage on her still. This sort of thing cannot be said to be uncommon, for although I knew but three cases of it from personal knowledge, I heard of more than a score in different parts of Armenia. It is not only absolutely useless, but often positively dan- gerous, to complain to the officials, who, from high to low,, take an active part in this Oriental " sport" themselves. The Kiateeb of Alai entered the house of Ohannes Goolykian (vil- lage of Karatshoban in Khnouss) in the broad daylight, and AppalliiLg Conditio7i of Armenia. 241 raped the daughter of Ohannes, who was fifteen years old, and then sent her off to Trejizond. Her father complained, besought the authorities to restore her, and it is only fair to say that, so far as I know, he was not punished for his temerity. A Shameless Demand. The Deputy-Governor of Arabghir actually arrested and expelled a number of the men of the town whose wives were considered to be among the most handsome women in Armenia. He next approached the latter, but was received with the scorn he deserved. Then these women shut them- selves up in their houses, refusing to allow him or his men to enter, whereupon he told them publicly and shamelessly, that if they wished their husbands to return, they must yield to his desires. The following case is one in which I took a very lively interest, because I am well acquainted with the victim and her family. Her name is Lucine Mussegh, her native village Khnoossaberd. Born in 1878, Lucine was sent at an early age to the American Missionary School at Erzeroum, where she was taught the doctrines of evangelical Christianity, her father, Aghadjan Kemalian, having always manifested a strong sympathy for Protestantism. Armenian girls are in chronic danger of being raped by Turks and Koords, and Armenian parents are continually scheming for the purpose of shielding them from this calamity which, as we have seen, occasionally results in death. The means usually employed are very early marriages or attempts to pass off the girls as boys. In the village of Ishkhoe, for instance, the daughter of Tepan Agha was brought up as a boy. She was arrested and imprisoned in Erzeroum, for this, too, is a crime. I have known children to be taken from school, married, allowed to live a few 16 242 Appalling Condition of Armenia. months v/ith their husbands or wives, and then sent back to school again. This is what happened to Lucine, who, taken from school at the age of fourteen, was wedded to a boy of her own age, Milikean by name, and having lived some time with him under his father's roof, was sent to the Protestant school once more. One night, during her husband's absence from home, she was seized by some men, dragged by the hair, gagged, and taken to the house of Hussni Bey. TJiis vian is the son of the Dcputy-GovcTJior of the place. He dishonored the young woman, and sent her home next day, but her husband refused to receive her any more, and she is now friendless and alone in the world. Wholesale Butchery. The massacre of Sassoun sends a shudder to the hearts of the most callous. But that butchery was a divine mercy com- pared with the hellish deeds that are being done every week and every day of the year. The piteous moans of famishing children ; the groans of old men who have lived to see what can never be embodied in words ; the piercing cries of vio- lated maidenhood, nay, of tender childhood ; the shrieks of mothers made childless by crimes compared with which murder would be a blessing ; the screams, scarcely human, of women writhing under the lash ; and all the vain voices of blood and agony that die away in that dreary desert without having found a responsive echo on earth or in heaven, com- bine to throw Sassoun and all its horrors into the shade. CHAPTER XIV. Mr. Gladstone on the Armenian Question. A MEETING was held in the Town Hall, Chester, England, on the 6th of August, 1895, for the purpose of discussing the claims of the Armenians in Turkey. The assembly room at the Town Hall was crowded to excess, and many thousands of persons had to be refused admission. The Duke of Westminster presided, and among those pre- .i/^nt were a great number of members of Parliament. Mr. Gladstone, who was received with prolonged cheers, said: — My Lord Duke, my Lords, and Ladies and Gentle- men, — My first observation shall be a repetition of what ha:^ already been said by the noble Duke, who has assured you that this meeting is not a meeting called in the interests of any party (hear, hear), or having the smallest connection with those differences of opinion which naturally and warrantably in this free country will spring up in a complex state of affairs, dividing us on certain questions man from man. (Hear, hear.) But, my Lord Duke, it is satisfactory to observe that free- dom of opinion and even these divisions themselves upon certain questions give increased weight and augmented emphasis to the concurrence of the people to the cordial agreement of the whole nation in these matters wher> the broad principles of common humanity and common ju-^ticr ^-revail (Cheers.) 243 244 Gladstone on the Armenian Qtustion. A Question of Humanity. It is perfectly true that the Government whose deeds we have to impeach is a Mahometan Government, and it is per- fectly true that the sufferers under those outrages, under those .'ifflictions, are Christian sufferers. The Mahometan subjects of Turkey suffer a great deal, but what they suffer is only in the way of the ordinary excesses and defects of an intolerably bad Government — perhaps the worst on the face of the earth. (Hear, hear.) That which we have now to do is, I am sorry to say, the opening up of an entirely new chapter. It is not a question of indifferent laws indifferently enforced. It is not a question of administrative violence and administrative abusf It cuts further and goes to the root of all that concerns humau life in its elementary conditions. But this I will say, that if, instead of dealing with the Turkish Government, and impeaching it for its misdeedi towards Christian subjects, we were dealing with a Christiai. Government that was capable of similar misdeeds towards Mahometan subjects, oui indignation ought to be not less, but greater, than it is now. (Cheers.) Well, I will take the liberty of reading a resolution which has been placed in my hands, and which seems to me to express with firmness, but with moderation, the opinions which I am very confident this meeting will entertain, and this meeting, in entertaining such opinions, is but the representative of the country at large (Cheers.) American Sympathy for Armenia. Allow me to go further and to say that the country at large in entertaining these ideas is only a representative of civilized humanity, and I will presume to speak on the ground, in part, of personal knowledge; I will ]:)resume to speak of the opinions und sympathies that are entertained in that part which is most" Gladstone on' the Armenian Question. 245 remote from Armenia — I mean among our own Transatlantic brethren of the United States. If possible, the sentiment in America entertained on the subject of these recent occurrences is even more vivid and even stronger, if it can be, than that which beats in the hearts of the people of this country. The Resolution. The terms of the resolution are as follows : " That this meeting expresses its conviction that her Majes- ty's Government will have the cordial support of the entire nation, without distinction of party, in any measures which it may adopt for securing to the people of Turkish Armenia such reforms in the administration of that province as shall provide effective guarantees for the safety of life, honor, re- ligion, and property, and that no reforms can be effective which are not placed under the continuous control of the Great Powers of Europe." (Cheers.) That means, without doubt, the great Powers of Europe, all who choose to combine, and those great Powers which happily have combined and have already, in my judgment, pledged their honor, as well as their power, to the attainment of the object we have in view. (Cheers.) The Atrocities Proved. Now, it was my fate, I think some six or more months ago, to address a very limited number, not a public assembly, but a limited number of Armenian gentlemen, and gentlemen interested in Armenia, on this subject ; and at that time I ven- tured to point out that one of our duties was to avoid prema- ture judgments. There was no authoritative and impartial declaration before the world at that period on the subject of what is known as the Sassoun massacre ; that massacre to which the noble duke has alluded, and with respect to which, horrible as that mas- /i46 Gladsto7ie on the Ar7neniaii Question. sacre was, one of the most important witnesses in this case declares that it is thrown into the shade, and has become pale and ineffective by the side of the unspeakable horrors which are being enacted from month to month, from week to week, and day to day, in the different provinces of Armenia. (Cheers.) It was a duty to avoid premature judgment, and I think it was avoided. There was a great reserve ; but at last the en- gine of dispassionate inquiry was brought to bear, and then it was found that another duty, very important in general in these cases, really in this particular instance had no particular place at all, and though it is a duty to avoid exaggeration — a most sacred duty — it is a duty that has little or no place in the case before us, because it is too well known that the powers of language hardly suffice to describe what has been and is being done, and that exaggeration, if we were ever so much disposed to it, is in such a case really beyond our power. (Cheers.) Those are dreadful words to speak. It is a painful office to perform, and nothing but a strong sense of duty could gather us together between these walls or could induce a man of my age, and a man who is not wholly without other jifficulties to contend with, to resign for the moment that repose and quietude which are the last of many great earthly blessings remaining to him, in order to invite you to enter into a con- sideration of this question — I will not say in order to invite you to allow yourselves to be flooded with the sickening details that it involves. I shall not attempt to lead you into that dreadful field, but I make this appeal to you. I do hope that every one of you will for himself and herself endeavor, in such a degree as your position may allow of you to endeavor, to acquire some acquaintance with them (hear, hear), because I know that, when I say that a case of this kind puts exaggeration out of Gladstone on the Armeiiian Questioji. 247 the question, I am making a very broad assertion, which would in most cases be violent, which would in all ordinary cases be unwarrantable. But those who will go through the process I have described, or even a limited portion of the process, will find that the words are not too strong for the occasion. (^Cheers.) What witnesses ought we to call before us ? I should be disposed to say that it matters very little what witnesses you call. So far as the character of the testimony you will receive is con- cerned, the witnesses are all agreed. At the time that I have just spoken of, six or eight months ago, they were private witnesses. Since that time, although we have not seen the detailed documents of public authority, yet we know that all the broader statements which had been made up to that time and which have made the blood of this nation run cold have been confirmed and verified. They have not been overstated, not withdrawn, not qualified, not reduced, but confirmed in all their breadth, in all their horrible substance, in all their sickening details. (Hear, hear.) American Witnesses. And here I may say that it is not merely European wit- nesses with whom we have to deal. We have American witnesses also in the field, and the testimony of the American witnesses is the same as that of the European ; but it is of still greater importance, and for this reason — that everybody knows that America has no separate or sinister political interest of any kind in the affairs of the Levant. She comes into court perfectly honest and perfectly unsus- pected, and that which she says possesses on that account a double weight. I will not refer to the witnesses in particular, as I have been told you will receive a statement by my 248 Gladstone 07i the Armenian Question. reverend friend, Canon McColl, who is one of them (cheers; ; but I believe they are absolutely agreed, that there is no shade of difference prevailing among them. Endorsement of Dr. Dillon. I will refer to the last of these witnesses, one whom I must ;>ay I am disposed to name with honor: it is Dr. Dillon (cheers), whose name has appeared within the last three oi four days at the foot of an article of unusual length — Ah ! and good were the reasons for extending it to an unusual length — in the Coiitcjuporary Rmiew. (Cheers.) Perhaps you will ask, as I asked, "Who is Dr. Dillon?" and I am able to describe him to his honor. Dr. Dillon is a man who, as the special commissioner of the Daily Telegraph newspaper, some months ago, with care and labor, and with the hazard of his life (hear, hear), went into Turkey, laudably making use of a disguise for the purpose, and went into Armenia, so that he might make himself thoroughly master of the facts. (Cheers.) He published his results before any public authority had given utterance to its judgments and those results which he, I rather think, was the first to give to the world in a connected shape — at any rate he was very early in the field — those results have been com- pletely confirmed and established by the inquiries of the dele- gates appointed by the three Powers — England, France and Russia. (Cheers.) ^. say he lias, at the risk of his life, acquired a title to be believed, and here he gives us an account which bears upon it all the marks of truth, but which, at the same time that we must believe it to be true, you would say is hardly credible. Unhappily some of those matters which arc not credible do, in this strange and wayward world of ours, turn out to be true ; and here it is hardly credible that there can dwell in Glads t07ie on the Armenimi Question, ^49 the human form a spirit of .such intense and diabohcal wicked- ness as is unhappily displayed in some of the narratives Dr, Dillon has laid before the world. I shall not quote from them in detail, though I mean to make a single citation, which will be a citation, if I may say so, rather of principle than of detail. I shall not quote the details, but I will say to you that when you begin to read them you will see the truth of what I just now said — namely, that we are not dealing at all with a common and ordinary question of abuses of government or the defects of them. We are dealing with something that goes far deeper, far wider, and that imposes upon us and upon you far heavier obligations. The Four Crimes. The whole substance of this remarkable article — and it agrees, as I have said, with the testimony of the other wit- nesses — I am quoting it because it is the latest — the whole substance of this article may be summed up in four awful words — plunder, murder, rape and torture. (" Shame.") Every incident turns upon one or upon several of those awful words. Plunder and murder you would think are bad enough, but plunder and murder are almost venial by the side of the work of the ravisher and the work of the torturer, as it is described in th^se pages, and as it is now fully and authentically known to be going on. I will keep my word, and I will not be tempted by — what shall I say? — the dramatic interest attached to such exaggera- tion of human action as we find here to travel into the details of the facts. They are fitter for private perusal than they are for public discussion. I will not be tempted to travel into them ; I will ask you for a moment, any of you who have not yourselves verified the particulars of the case, to credit me 250 Gladstone on the Armenian Question. with speaking the truth, until I go on to consider who are the doers of these deeds. In all ordinary cases, when we have before us instances of crime, perhaps of very horrible crime — for example, there is a sad story in the papers to-day of a massacre in a portion o*" China — we at once assume that in all countries, unfortunately, there are malefactors, there are plunderers whose deeds we are going to consider. Here, my lortl duke, it is nothing of the kind; we have nothing to do here with what are called the dangerous classes of the community; it is not their proceedings which you are asked to consider ; it is the proceedings of the Government of Constantinople and its agents. (Cheers.) The Turkish Government Responsible. There is not one of these misdeeds for which the Govern- ment of Constantinople is not morally responsible. (Cheers.) Now who are these agents ? Let me tell you very briefly. They tall into three classes. The first have been mentioned by the noble duke — namely, the savage Kurds, who are, unhappily, the neighbors of the Armenians, the Armenians being the representatives of one of the oldest civilized Chris- tian races, and being, beyond all doubt, one of the most paci- fic, one of the most industrious, and one of the most intelli- gent races in the world. (Cheers.) These Kurds are by them ; they are wild, savage clans. There was but one word, my lord duke, in your address that I should have been disposed to literally criticise, and it was the expression that fell from you that the Sultan had " organ- ized " these Kurds. They are, in my belief, in no sense organized — that is to say, there is no more organization among them than i.; to be found, say. in a band of rol^bers ; they have no other offjanization, being nothing but a band of robbers. (Cheers.) Gladstone on the Armenian Question. 251 These the Sultan and the Government at Constantinople have enrolled, though in a nominal fashion, not without mili- tary discipline, into pretended cavalry regiments and then set them loose with the authority of soldiers of the Sultan to harry and destroy the people of Armenia. (Cheers.) Well, these Kurds are the first of the agents in this horrible busi- ness; the next are the Turkish soldiers, who are in no sense behind the Kurds in their performances ; the third are ihc peace officers, the police and the tax-gatherers of the Turkish Government ; and there seems to be a deadly competition among all these classes which shall most prove itself an adept in the horrible and infernal work that is before them, but above them and more guilty than they, are the higher officers of ^he Turkish Government. You will find, if you look into this paper of Dr. Dillon's, that at every point he has exposed himself to confutation if what he says is inaccurate or untrue. He gives names, titles, places, dates, every particular which would enable the Turkish Government to track him out and detect him and hold him up to public reprobation. Three Propositions. You will never hear of an answer from the Turkish Gov- ernment to that article. That may be a bold thiug for me to say; but I am confident you will never hear an answer from them which shall follow these statements of Dr. Dillon's, based on his own personal experience, through the details, and attempt to shake the fabric of grievously composed materials which he has built up in the face of the world. I think there are certain matters, such as those which have been discussed to-day and discussed in many other forms, on which it is perfectly possible to make up our minds. And what I should say is, that the whole position may be summed 2b'2 Gladstone on the Arfnenian Question. up in three brief propositions. I do not know to which of these propositions to assign the less or the greater importance It appears to me that they are probably each and every one of them absolutely indispensable. The first proposition is this, You ought to moderate your demands. You ought to ask for nothing but that which is strictly necessary, and that possibly according to all that we know of the proposals before us, the rule has been rigidly complied with. I do not hesitate to say, ladies and gentlemen, that the cleanest and clearest method of dealing with this subject, if we should have done it, would have been to tell the Turk to march out of Armenia. (Loud cheers.) He has no right to remain there, and it would have been an excellent settlement of the question. Accept no Turkish Promises. Bu' it is by no means certain that Europe or even the three Powers would have been unanimous in seeking after that end. Therefore, let us part with everything except what is known to be indispensable. Then I come to the other two rules, and of these the first is that you should accept no Turkish promises. (Hear, hear.) They are absolutely and entirely worthless. They are worse than worthless, because they may serve to delude a few persons who, without information or experience, naturally would suppose, when promises are given, that there is something like an intention of fulfillment. Recol- lect that no scheme is worth having unless it be supported by jefficient guarantees entirely outside the promises of the Turk- ish Government. (Applause.) There is another word which I must speak, and it is this: Don't be too much afraid if you hear introduced into this discussion a word that I admit, in ordinary cases, ought to be excluded from all diplomatic proceeding, namely, the word Gladsto7ie on the Armenian Question. lio^ coercion. Coercion is a word perfectly well understood in Constantinople, and it is a word highly appreciated in Con- stantinople. It is a drastic dose — (laughter) — which never fails of its aim when it is administered in that quarter. (Laughter.) Gentlemen, I would not use these words if I had not myself personally had large and close experience of the proceedings of the Turkish Government. I say, first make your case good, and when your case is made good, determine that it shall prevail. (Cheers.) Grammar has something to do with this case. Recollect that while the word " ought " sounded in Constantinople, passes in thin air, and has no force or solidity whatever attaching to it; on the contrary, the brother or sister monosyllable, the word " must " is perfectly under- stood — (cheers) — and it is a known fact supported by positive experience, which can be verified upon the map of Europe, that a timely and judicious use of this word never fails in its effect. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I must point out to you that we have reached a very critical position indeed. How are three great Govern- ments in Europe, ruling a population of more than two hun- dred million souls, with perhaps eight or ten times the popu- lation of Turkey, with twenty times the wealth of Turkey, with fifty times the influence and power of Turkey, who have committed themselves in this matter before the world, I put it to you that if they recede before an irrational resistance — and remember that I have in the first instance postulated tint our demands should be reasonable — if they recede before the irrational resistance of the Sultan and the Ottoman Govern- ment, they are disgraced in the face of the world. Every motive of duty coincides with every motive of self- respect, and, my lord duke, you yourself let drop a word which is a frightful word, unhappily not wholly out of place, and that the word is 254 Gladstone on the Armeiiian Question, ' ' Extermination. ' ' There has gone abroad — I don't say that I feel myself com- petent to judge the matter, I don't think I do, but there has gone abroad, and there is widely entertained a belief, that the recent proceedings of the Turkish Government in Armenia particularly, but not in Armenia exclusively, are founded upon deliberate determination to exterminate the Christians in that Empire. I hope it is not true, but at the same time I must say that there are evidences tending to support it — (hear, hear) — and the grand evidence which tends to support it is this : the perfect infatuation of the Turkish Government. Now, in my time there have been periods when Turkey was ruled by men of honesty and ability. I will say that, until about thirty years ago, you could trust the word of the Turkish Government as well as any Govern- ment in Europe; you might not approve of their proceedings, but you could trust their word ; but a kind of judicial infatua- tion appears to have come down upon them. What has hap- pened in Turkey ? To hear of this vaunting on the part of its Government, and this game of brag that is from time to time being played, that it cannot compromise its dignity, it cannot waive any of its rights. What would come of its rights iu one-third part of its empire? Within my lifetime Turkey has been reduced by one-third part of her territory, and sixteen or eighteen millions of people, inhabiting some of the most beautiful and formerly imost famous countries in the world, who were under the Ottoman rule, are now as free as we are. (Cheers.) The Ottoman Government are as well aware of that as we, and yet we find it pursuing these insane courses. On the other hand, my lord duke most judiciously referred to the plan of Government that was introduced in the Lebanon about 1 86 1, whereby a reasonable share of stabiHty to local institu- Gladstone on l/u Armenian Question. 255 tions and popular control has been given in Turkey, and the results have been most satisfactory. There is also a part of the country, although not a very large part, where something like local self-government is per- mitted, and it has been very hopeful in its character. But when we see these things — on the one hand that these experi- ments, in a sense of justice, have all succeeded, and that when adapted to the Greeks and the Bulgarians, and four of five other States, have resulted in the loss of those States, then I say that the Turkish Government is evidently in such a state of infatuation that it is fain to believe it may, under certain circumstances, be infatuated enough to scheme the extermi- nation of the Christian population. vVell, this is a sad and terrible story, and I have been a very long time in telling it, but a very small part of it; but I hope that, having heard the terms of the resolution that wiU be submitted to you, you will agree that a case is made ou.. (Cheers.) I for one, for the sake of avoiding other complica- tions, would rejoice if the Government of Turkey would come to its senses. If only men like Friad Pacha and Ali Pacha, who were in the Government of Turkey after the Crimean War, could be raised from the dead and could inspire the Turkish policy with their spirit and with their principles ! That is, in my opinion, what we ought all to desire, and though it would be more agreeable to clear Turkey than to fi id her guilty of these terrible charges, yet, if we have the sm lUest regard to humanity, if we are sensible at all of what is due to our own honor, after the steps which have been taken within the last twelve or eighteen months, we must interfere. We must be careful to demand no more than what is just — but at least as much as is necessary — and we must be determined that, with the help of God, that which is neces- sary and that which is just shall be done, whether there will be a response or whether there be none. (Loud cheers.) CHAPTER XV. The Cry from Armenia. As »'e look farther into the details of the crimes committed under Mohammedan rule, we are more and more shocked by the appalling record. From the most trustworthy sources, from eye-witnesses and from letters received in America and other countries, written, many of them, by missionaries, we are able to obtain some faint idea of the magnitude of these terrible outrages. Early in October, 1895, a serious outbreak occurred at Constantinople, of which one of the religious journals giveL the following account : It is the expected that has happened. A riot has occurred -'n Constantmople itself, directly under the eyes of the foreign ambassado.s, and three or four Turks have been killed, and as many imndred Armenians are dead or missing, and busi- ness is interrupted, and men, women and children are crowd- ing the Armenian churches, and the garden of the British Ambassador. The Huntchagist Armenians, on the one hand, and the Moslem softas, on the other, have for a long time been spoiling for a fight. The Armenians have been goaded to exasperation by the long delays connected with the effort to institute reforms in the Empire. They have said repeatedly that there was no hope until such a disturbance was raised that the Powers would be compelled to intervene. So also the softas have been ^'•■-— ^ more than usually by the talk of 256 The Cry from Armenia. 257 partition of the Turkish Empire, and the loss of Ottoman prestige. The bitter denunciation by Mr. Gladstone, and the even more significant threat of Lord Salisbury, have been well understood throughout the Turkish Empire, and have giver force to the claim set forth by the Ulema that the present course was sure to end in disaster ; that if Ottoman glory was to be restored, Ottoman methods must be resumed. Cause of the Outbreak. The immediate occasion of the disturbance was simple. A petition to the Sultan is recognized by all as within the right of every citizen. The appearance, however, of a large number of armed Armenians bearing the petition was dis- tinctly revolutionary in its aspect, and, though promptly met by the police, proved too much for the excited Moslem imagination, and rumors spread rapidly through the city which called out the Turkish students. Once out they cared little where they went or what they did. The police were inefficient, and for a time there was a veritable reign of terror. The Government recognizing the gravity of the situation, called out its military, and compelled both students and Armenians to keep the peace. More significant than anything else, however, is the appointment of Kiamil Pasha as Grand Vizier. He is by far the ablest statesman in Turkey. His predecessor, Said Pasha, was a politician pure and simple. Kiamil is a friend of England; Said, a tool of Russia. When the former was in office the country enjoyed peace and prosperity such as it has not had any time for half a century and more. Whether he will be strong enough to stay the influences now at work remains to be* seen, especially if Said remains as Minister of Foreign Affairs. 17 258 The Cry from Arjnenia. But most important is the action taken by the representa- tives of the powers, who have sent a collective note to the Porte, and put their guard-ships where they can protect foreigners. Sir Philip Currie, the British Representative, demands that arrests shall cease and amnesty be given to those arrested. He also peremptorily requires a public proc- lamation, accepting the demands of the powers, and tells the Porte that the accession of the Earl of Salisbury implies no change in the attitude of Great Britain. This is welcome nevvs and disposes of disquieting rumors. Our Missions in Turkey. The following, concerning American missions in Turkey, is of special interest. It is the statement of Tlie Indcpe)iderfi,t\ie well-known journal : In our mission columns we give a detailed statement of the situation of the American missionaries in Turkey That situation is indeed perilous in the extreme. While as yet we have no word of loss of life, there is no telling what news any day may bring, not merely from the interior cities, but from Constantinople itself. We wish that it were possible for us to tell, or even to know, the full story of heroism. The facts will be known in time, and then we shall realize the calm courage that has faced, and still faces, difficulties and dangers that recall the stories of the Indian mutiny and the early experiences in the South Seas. That protection against these dangers has been repeatedly promised, and as repeatedly denied, makes them not less but more fearful ; and with the admiration for the heroism there stirs also a sense of indignation that combined Christendom should stand aghast before gangs of Kurds, and believe the weak lies of a treacherous Sultan. • We confess also to an even deeper indignation that al The Cry from Armenia. 259 such a crisis great metropolitan dailies should sneer at the work of these missionaries as indicating a " disease of mora) hysteria," and should calmly talk about the "failures" of mis« ARMENIAN REFUGEES. sions. To be sure they do not agree, and one approves what the other disapproves, but the ignorance and lofty disdain displayed make us ashamed for them. For sixty-four years the American Churches have been carrying on mission work in the Turkish Empire. The 260 The Cry from Armenia. principal agent has been the American Board ; but the organi- zations of the Presbyterians, Reformed Presbyterians and Disciples of Christ have been represented in S)'ria, Northern Syria and Mesopotamia, During that time they have started and developed five colleges for young men, one for young women, besides a large number of seminaries, academies and training schools of a high grade. They have inaugurated a system of common schools all over the Empire of such excellence and influence that every Dther community, however hostile to Protestant Christianity, has felt compelled, in self-preservatiou, to establish similar ones for itself, so that not merely Armenians, Greeks, Jacobites and Maronites have raised their standard of educa- tion, but the Moslems themselves have learned to boast of their girls' schools, a thing unknown before the missionaries landed in Smyrna. Power of Islam in Danger. Hand in hand with education has gone general literature. It is well known that one of the most potent influences for Bulgarian freedom was the weekly Zornitza, published by the missionaries ; and their various Armenian and Greek paper? have had a marked effect not only in the establishment but i^. the development of journalism, while their translations of the Bible into the spoken language of the people, and the'** preparation of other books, have stimulated the people to a degree that can scarcely be exaggerated. They were wise mollahs who used to shake their heads as they passed the Bible House in Constantinople and muttered imprecations upon the men who more than any one else were endangering the power of Islam. The outrages at Harpijt, of which horrifying accounts have been given, are fully depicted in the subjoined letter from a missionary: The Cry from Aj-menia. 261 The world will have heard of the physical side of the dis- asters which have come upon this country. The moral aspect is still more deplorable. When the Saracens conquered these lands, they offered the people the alternatives, the Koran, tribute or the sword. These Moslems first strip the people of everything, commit other nameless outrages, and then the only alternative presented is Islam or d?ath; and this in the nineteenth century. Hundreds of people have accepted martyrdom rather than deny their faith. Many more, some from fear of death, and others to save their families from a fate worse than death, have formally accepted Moham- medanism. Ohurclies Turned into Mosques. In most of the villages and towns in this region, the majority of the survivors who were not able to flee, are noM professed Moslems. Throughout all this wide Harpijt mis- sior ..eld, there is probably scarcely a Christian service helJ among Gregorians or Protestants outside of this quarter d the city. Although the church here was burned, our Sunday services have been maintained in the college. Churches have become mosques, and the trembling Chris- tians are taught to pray after the Mohammedan form. Schools, of course, are disbanded, although we are gathering together the boys of our male department at the college; and we hope to do the same for girls, if we can secure rooms out- side, as the girls' college is a complete ruin. Every day, from morning till night, our hearts are torn by the recital of most horrible tales of bloodshed and outrage and heartless persecution. Some of our best and worthiest men tell of the agony which they suffer from the position which they hold as Mohammedans in form, while their whole being revolts against it. They say: ''We would welcome martyrdom with cruel torture, if only our wives and children 262 The Cry Jro7n Armenia. could be saved from the clutches of these men by death or by some sort of freedom. We have gladly surrendered our homes to the flames and our property to plunder; but we cannot sacrifice our families." Here is a very serious problem. Of course we cannot justify this position; and yet when we see the fate of many of these helpless families, bereft of their protectors, it is not in our hearts to reproach those who have saved their lives by this hypocrisy. Either alternative is dreadful ; and to stand in the presence of such calamities so utterly helpless, except to cry to God in the agony of our hearts, is a trial which we never expected to experience. Dreadful Forebodings. Of course we cannot tell what the outcome will be. ,^e believe that God has a people here, and that in some way, out of all this ruin, he will rebuild his Church; but at present the outlook is dark in the extreme. Many of the churches, par- sonages and schools have been destroyed, how many we do not know, for the country is in such a state that traveling is very unsafe, and reports come in slowly. We know that seven of our pastors and six preachers have been killed, and we may hear of still others. Few of the preachers remain at their posts. Not only would they be put under a pressure to accept Islam, but they are hated because they are understood to be promoters of freedom of thought. Then, too, where their congregations are recognized as Mohammedans, their presence among them now would not be tolerated. Here, too, is another problem. We have been steadily pressing for self-support, but even our city congregations are impoverished, and the congregations in the out-stations are most of them naked and hungry, and de- pendent on charity ; so these faithful men and these bereft The Cry from Ai-menia. 263 preachers' families come back upon the Board for support. Some of them were wholly supported by their own people, who are now able to give nothing. We are now organizing a system of relief in the hope that funds will come to us from abroad. Even were there abun- dant funds in hand, it is a most difficult and delicate business. Even those who have declared themselves Moslems receive no mercy from their co-religionists, who yet would resent foreign aid. The Government has the name of supplying rations, but so far it is simply a farce, and it does not reach the most destitute. The mortality this winter from scanty clothing, exposure and starvation will inevitably be great. God pity this poor people ! The Story of the Harput Massacre. A more detailed account of the conflict is furnished by another missionary as follows : Doubtless you know the main facts in the case; and I hope some time we may be able to get the details into shape, so that the Christian world may understand the enormity of the outrage which has been committed. We are not ourselves, I am sure, fully aware of the extent of the pillaging of villages and murder of innocent men, and the capture of women and girls for the harems of brutal Turks and Kurds. But I must give a izw details. We were surrounded for a week or ten days by a cordon of burning villages on the plain. Gradually the cordon of fire and fiendish savages drew nearer the city. The attack iu the city w.-^.s planned for Sunday, November lo, 1895, and some of the city rabble began to make demonstrations ; but the soldiers drove them back. The invading Kurds, Redifs (in disguise as Kurds) were not ready for the onset. On Monday, November nth, the attack began on Husenik, where 200 264 l^he Cry from Ar7ne7iia. were killed and as many more wounded, then up the gorge to Sinamood and the east part of the city. Then a body of men appeared in the Turkish cemetery below the city. They came near a body of soldiers posted on the hill with a cannon. Big Turks came down to them from the city ; a conference seemed to be held. Apparently the invaders were forbidden to touch the markets (from which, of course, they knew that both Christians and Turks had re- moved their goods to their houses.) Then the soldiers with- drew and were posted on the road higher up, apparently to better defend the empty markets. A Murderous Attack. Then the invaders, with a great cry of " AsJi ! ash /" begav. to fire their guns. The soldiers also began to fire. It was soon apparent that this was only a little sham fight ; but it was too thin to cover the nefarious design of the men who planned this thing. Then began the attack on the houses in this quarter. The soldiers protected the raiders, and not a finger was lifted by the military officers on the ground to pro- tect the people or us from the plundering, murderous mob. There were hundreds of plunderers. Scarcely a house in this quarter escaped, and a large number were set on fire. A crowd of refugees were in our court and house and girls' school. Soon our outside gate was attacked, and the crowd of fugitives fled for their lives. One company pressing through a narrow passage were fired upon ; the bullets fell like hail around them : four were wounded. A cannon ball went through the same passage-way. This company fled to the hill and were taken into the city (twenty-seven school-girls in the crowd ; they suffered untold misery in a khan that night ; delivered next day, and brought away under an escort of sol' The Cry from Armenia. 265 diers). The rest of the refugees took refuge in the yard of the girls' school, surrounded by a high wall. At the last moment I ran out to see if our heavy front: gate was standing. I saw a hole a foot wide made, and instantly the loud report of a rifle warned me to retreat. We had been in the yard but a few moments when the marauders were at the door of the yard inside the school buildings. We made another start and hurried out from the gate, and this time for the college (boys') building as our last refuge. I was on the outside of the fleeing crowd, our invalids, Mr. W. and Mrs A., borne in strong arms. A Brutal Turk. Suddenly a savage-looking Turk appeared at the corner of the building outside. I instinctively raised my hand to prevent his coming toward the fleeing crowd. Instantly he he drew and flourished a revolver and deliberately pointed it at me. I thought for an instant it was only to frighten us and make us hasten our flight, but two shots from his pistol convinced me that his purpose was to murder. Some thirty or more had been shot down in the houses just below us. Again, before we were all through the gate, he aimed at Mr. Gates and Miss Wheeler and fired a third time, but no one was hit. We breathed more freely as we pressed into the three-story stone building with the more than four hundred fugitives. Soon the smoke began to rise from the front o:' my house and Mr. Brown's ; some say the house was set on fire by bombshells. Soon the whole of the houses connected with the Girls' College were on fire, and the large college building was no doubt set on fire ; also fifty to seventy houses were burning below ours. Then the chapel close to us was set on fire, and the intense heat would have set fire to the large high-school building 266 The Cry from Armenia. between the college and chapel ; but with our new fire engine and a plentiful supply of water, Mr. Gates was able to save it A BEREAVED FAMILY. rhis woman, with h^r daughter and son, has lost .^ll the other memhers of her family, and has been robbed of ».U her household goods. The girl was cruelly maltreated by the soldiers. from taking fire. Here in the college building, with 450 per- sons, we spent the night, with little bedding and only dry crusts of bread to eat. The plan was evidently to destroy all the buildings, and thus ^-ender our stay here impossible. Mr. Barnum's house The Cry from Armenia. 267 was fired in three places, but the fire went out. A bombshell was fired into Mr. Barnum's study, and burst in the room from which they had fled only a little before. Mr. Gates's house would have been burned — oil was poured in two places — but happily was left unburned. Three nights we remained in the college building, then went into a room in thr Gates's house ; the Barnums also went to theirs. The next morning after the attack the commander advised and urged leaving the college building, saying : " 1 can't pro- tect you here." Mr. Barnum replied : " The time has come for plain talk. I saw you standing on the hill there yester- day when our houses were plundered and burned, and you did nothing to prevent it. If you wish to protect us, you can do it better here than anywhere else." The treacherous rascal said two days before that he would be cut in pieces before he would allow a Kurd to enter the city. He now brazenly t'^plied : "What could I do against 15,000 Kurds?" Mohamniedanisni or Death. They wanted to get the people scattered in the city and us out of the buildings, and then they would have been burned. But I must not write more, although there is much to tell. We write to Constantinople, but can't be sure of our letters getting through. We have telegraphed a good many times, but telegrams can't tell all. The pressure on the villages to become Moslem is terri- ble; large numbers have been instantly shot down or butch- ered who would not instantly abjure their Christian faith. We have already heard of the murder of seven of our native pastors and six preachers. But I have not time to enter on these horrible details. If I can get letters sent on, perhaps I will send again; 45 killed in the west quarter, 100 in the whole city. Husenik, 200 killed, 200 wounded. Official 268 The Cry from Armenia. reports will represent Turks killed. There has not been a single one killed or wounded. Another Account. A later account, signed by "An Observer," furnishes the following additional details of the outbreak at Harput: The reign of terror still continues, although the feeling is not as tense as it has been. In the city only a few Christians venture to open their shops, and in the villages, where there is a mixed population, the Christians show themselves but little in public. Not a single person has been punished, or even arrested, for the awful crimes which have been perpetrated during the last few weeks ; consequently evil men have very little fear of punishment for new crimes which they may com- nit, although the Government is apparently trying to prevent further outbreaks. Threats are freely uttered, and so the Christian population is kept in a state of anxious suspense. The most common threat, that which is uttered by officials as well as by civilians, is, that in case Europe uses force, the Christian population will be wiped out altogether. In the weekly London Times, of November 22d, 1895, it is written that the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs has authorized a Constantinople correspondent to announce that " the Sultan, prompted by the noble sentiments with which he is universally known to be animated, has issued an Irad6, ordering all those who have suffered during the troubles in Asia Minor to be clothed, fed and housed at the expense of the State until the situation improves. The widows and orphans unable to maintain themselves will receive a State pension. This measure is to apply alike to Christians and Mohammedans, to the innocent and to the guilty." His Excellency added: "Tell me in what country there is another sovereign whose humanity and goodness are equally bound- less ! " The Cry from Armenia. 269 We are in the midst of a population suffering as few peo- ple have ever suffered. Now what are the facts as to official' relief? I cannot say what orders His Majesty may have given ; but, after daily and careful inquiry of people from many places in this region, I can affirm that the only aid which is given, or has been given in any case, is a little bread or a very small quantity of grain, and that, in many cases, of the poorest quality. I have seen a sample of the bread given in Arabkir, and it is a strange mixture, almost black. In Malatia and Palu the rations issued to a limited number of the actually needy is one-half of a small loaf of bread. The Government ration for its soldiers and police is three such loaves a day ; that is to say, the ration issued to these sufferers is one-sixth of that given to those in public service. Efforts for Relief. Other large towns and villages have various experiences. A Relief Commission has been appointed here, and its mem- bers have made tours among the villages, prepared a record of the destitute, and promised aid. In some cases a small quan- tity of grain, sufficient to last four or five days, has been given, with the promise that after ten days they should receive more. Six weeks have passed, petitions have been given, and now the people are told that the grain in the Government storehouse is exhausted. In some other cases the Commissioners have taken a few bushels of wheat from men who have plundered from their Christian neighbors hundreds of bushels, and this is doled out to those who have been plundered, and the Government is credited with great generosity. I have to-day questioned several men from a village on this plain, who say that after waiting six weeks the Government has given fifty measures 270 The Cry from Armenia. of wheat for the village, which numbers five hundred and •eighty souls. This is an average of fifteen pounds to a person, and they understand that they can expect no more. This village was plundered of everything. Even many of the doors of their houses were carried away; of their one hundred and ten houses, fifty were burned ; fifty men were killed and five wounded. "Boundless Humanity and Goodness." I have to-day inquired of two intelligent men from Peri, the residence of a Kaimakam, in a district north of us, and they say that the authorities there received an order from the Government here to help the destitute, but that not a particle of aid has been rendered, except to such as are willing to become Moslems ; and others are given to understand that if they wish relief that is the only way to secure it. These are illustrations of the " boundless humanit}' and goodness," as they are revealed here. I have no doubt that the Central Government appropriates much more than reaches the sufferers themselves. Local officials are enriched, as is always the case when there is a distribution of relief Next to food, the most pressing need now is for clothing and bedding. Many were stripped of everything except a cotton shirt and drawers, so that those who have food are in danger of perishing from cold, as many have already. The Government has done nothing in the way of supplying these needs, except that in a few cases in the city, it has helped to restore stolen beds to their owners. I have not heard of the bestowal of a single garment, except it may have been recovered plunder, or the giving of a yard of cloth to the most needy. The Turks do not aid even those of their neighbors who, to save their lives, have accepted the Mohammedan faith. There is here and there a Turk who The Cry from Armenia. 271 shows genuine kindness and pity, but the mass of them seem to be dead to every such sentiment. And here, in justice to the local government, I should say that since the disaster which befell us, and for which the authorities were largely responsible, we have been carefully protected and great courtesy is shown us. We have a new Governor-General, who seems to be a very kind man. Our Minister, Judge Terrell, has been very energetic, and has secured orders from the Sultan himself for our protection. A company of a hundred soldiers is quartered on our premises, somewhat to our inconvenience. It would seem as though years must elapse before we can feel the confidence of former times. A Scene of Suffering. A great relief work is suddenly thrown upon us. We have the promise of funds from England and America, and we are in the midst of all this suffering. It is a very difficult and delicate undertaking. We have asked our Minister to secure for us permission from the Central Government to distribute reUef, for any general public distribution will be sure to excite jealousy and opposition. Meanwhile, we are employing a good number of men in clearing the ruins of our buildings of rubbish, and the ladies are employing women to make underclothing and bedding ; and they are sending to poor women in the villages, cotton and wool to be made into cloth and stockings. We are also securing carefully prepared lists of the most needy in all the places within reach, and are giving a little money here and there, as far as we can, without attracting attention. Daily rations of bread are issued in the city to nearly two hundred families, who take our tickets to the baker. It is an especially delicate matter to assist those who have declared 272 The Cry from Arjjienia. themselves Moslems. They are afraid to be known as receiv- ing aid, as it would expose them to serious danger from their new co-religionists. Another difficulty is to find means to reach distant places. Roads are unsafe, so that money cannot be easily sent ; there are no people in such places, with money left, upon whom we can draw for funds, and if money is sent, it is not always easy to know through whom to dispense it. Vast Extent of the Devastation. The Lord, however, in answer to our daily prayers, is opening channels through which relief can flow out to places remote from us. But when one considers the vast extent of this disaster, the intensity of the suffering, and the fact that the most of the thousands who were killed were men who have left widows and children who are dependent, and many of whom are in a moral condition worse than their physical state ; the picture is overwhelmingly appalling. Add to all this the terror u^der which the whole Christian population lives, and we have a condition which, it seems to me, has rarely had a parallel in history." We present herewith a letter from a prominent Christian worker in Armenia to an Armenian lady, of high culture, in America. Names are withheld only to avoid adding to the danger by which the writers are now surrounded, but the truth of the statements, considering their source, admits of no doubt. December 12, 1895. My Dear Sister: — I hope you received my letter of last week and learned about our condition. After the massacres and the pillages of the i6th and 17th of November, the condition of our people became something most heartrending. Though we do not know yet the exact number of the The Cry frcnn Armenia. 273 killed ones in , it is estimated at 500 to looo. Two-thirds of all the properties of Christians are pillaged. Every kind of business and work is stopped altogether. Everybody is shut up in their houses, and no one dares to come out of doors. You can understand what it means to our people. At the present day we have 4,000 destitute survivors, of course all of them being Christians. The Turks are enjoying the booty they got from us. I have no doubt our destitution shall be doubled in a few weeks. Oh, do tell the most heartrending condition of our people to the Christian friends in America, and raise money and send it to me through the American Board, and I shall disburse it in a most judicious way ! It is simply impossible to describe the dark scene of the unheard-of cruelties of these two con- tinual days' massacre. Every day we hear of something new. They placed the head of a young man to his gray-haired old father's knees and butchered him there. A Turk took eight Armenian men to his shop by promising that he should keep and protect them there, and immediately went out and brought a few more Tu-ks to assist him in butchering them there. Mutilating the Dead. Seven Armenian young men hid themselves in one of their shops. The Turkish soldiers, breaking the door of the shop, killed them with bayonets and clubs in their hands. After killing our most prominent men (Babigian Garabed- agha), they cut off their heads, and, as a disgrace, placed the heads on a spear and made a march of rejoicing through the streets. Our great market (Baluck laghan) flowed like a stream with the blood of the butchered ones there. A butcher seized an Armenian at the same market, and as he had no bayonet or sword ready at hand, picked up a stone from the street and struck his head with it until the brain and all the contents of his skull came out, and was emptied and crushed. Such fiendish and brutal facts are so frequent that we are sick. There is no end to these unutterable barbarities and hellish horrors, and for all these atrocities there has been no 18 274 The Cry Jrmn Armenia. cause whatever on the part of the Armenians. They are perfectly blameless. We do not know how we shall pass this winter. The cold season, starvation and misery will no doubt kill as many as the Turks have. We are safe at present, but are not allowed to go to the town. We still trust God, who can turn all these harms of ours to everlasting joy. After these terrible slaughters by the Turkish soldiers, the Turkish peasantry and the Kurds around the town, encour- aged and incited by the soldiers, rushed into the city several times and made attacks on the survivors, in addition to the pillage and slaughter that already l^ave been done. Hundreds of houses and shops have been pillaged, and hundreds of families left without food and clothing. Many have lost their houses even, which are being torn down by the Moslems, or seized by the soldiers to stay in. All trade and work are stopped; the men dare not go out of their houses. Reduced to Abject Poverty. Many rich and comfortable families have become poor Merchants are ruined. Almost all the houses of the wealthiest men are stripped of all furniture and then burned. In some, the owners of the houses were burned as well. Those of the prominent merchants who are not killed are imprisoned. The hospital is full of wounded. The schools stopped, and school- rooms full of people who have no houses. The Third Church is pillaged. Services are now being held in the First Church and Gregorian Church morning and afternoon. Very fully attended. People have nothing else to do but pray, and they crowd the churches and pour out their souls before God. You have gone to the United States for a greater work, I hope, than getting a building for your Mission. I hope you may be the means of saving many of your people from starva- tion and death, by opening the hearts of Christian people to give for the relief of these suffering thousands. It is estimated that 500,000 are reduced to abject want by the recent mas- sacres throughout Turkey. Oh, the thousands of widows and orphans that are crying The Cry fro7n Annenia. 275 to God to-day! Hundreds of families are sure to starve and freeze this winter. The poor Armenian nation, persecuted and oppressed before, Hes now crushed and bleeding and ready to die. The horrible things done in the massacre make one feel that Turkey is not living in the nineteenth century, but in the most bar- barous and cruel ages of the past. Men hewed to pieces, beaten to death, bodies left in the streets for the dogs to eat, or dragged to the caves and stones thrown over them. Those killed in the market were thrown into the moat of the castle, and burned altogether. Scramble for Spoils. Women and children in the houses were not killed, but wounded, and clothing torn from them, while their rugs, bed- ding, boxes of clothes, dishes and everything had been taken from the houses. Ear-rings were torn from the ears of women and girls, tearing the flesh with them ; beds and covering taken from them. Sick people, and women in confinement, had their beds and covering taken from them. Many were told to choose between Christ and death, and Iskm and life. No doubt many, to save themselves, chose the latter. Some Christians are protected by their Turkish friends. But some treacherously made a show of protection only to give them up to be killed by the mob later. It is now more than a month since the first outbreak, but everything is yet at a standstill. This week a few weavers tried to work at their looms, but were so ill-treated by the Moslems that they had to flee home again. Only a few who have looms in their own houses can venture to weave what little material they have on hand. Oh, when will peace be established again, and what is to become of the Armenians till then? Every one living is in fear of more to follow. It is a condition of living death. I am glad you have been saved from seeing the terrible condition into which your own town and nearly all our large cities have fallen. Poor Marash! Nearly all of the Christian houses burned up. Rut may the Lord show you how you can help your poor people where you are. Do what you can for your poor dying people. 276 The Cry from Armenia. Atrocities in Many Places. The following notes are from various letters received by The Independent, N. Y.'. KuUeth, a Mesopotamia village with a population of about looo souls, lost her sheep by a raid of the Kurds on the fourth of November, and the next day the village was attacked. The Government came to the aid of the villagers with members of an Arab tribe, and succeeded in holding out against the Kurds. At Goeli, a village of nearly 2000 inhabitants, the people gathered in the church when attacked by the Kurds on the evening of November 7th. The next morning they surren- dered, but were protected by troops in their escape to the city r^f Mardin. The number of killed, captives and those in hid- ing was not known, but about one-third of the Protestant community were unaccounted for. At Kala'at-el-Marat, a village of 1500 inhabitants within four miles of Mardin, the villagers fled with their goods to Dere Zafran, the monastery where the Jacobite Patriarch has his official seat. The next day the village and the monastery were surrounded by the Kurds. The village was entered, and what goods had been put into the village church were taken, the doors and windows of the houses even being taken away. The Turkish Government sent 100 soldiers to defend the monastery, together with the villagers, and they were able to hold it against the Kurds. The villagers from Benabeel, another village in that vicin- ity, fled to a cave high up in the rocks and maintained them- selves there against the Kurds for two days, when troops arrived from Mardin and escorted 500 men, women and chil- dren into the city, among them being the Protestant preacher with his wife and small children. The Cry from Armenia. 277 At Arabkir and Malatia the Armenians undertook to defend themselves, with the result that the fighting was very severe ; but they were overpowered with the loss, so far as can be learned, of 5000 Armenians in Malatia, and certainly 2000 in Arabkir, while from 500 to 800 Turks were slain. The Pro- testant preacher and his wife were saved throug^i the kindness of a Turkish officer who was a neighbor In Malatia Grego- I'ians, Catholics and Protestants gathered together in two churches and fought for their lives until obliged to surrender. One churchful first gave up their arms on condition of being protected, but after that they were surrounded, and on the next day very many of them were killed. Martyrs to their Faith Among those killed on the Harpiit plain were an evan- gelist and his wife who had done most noble work in the village until the last moment, although repeatedly urged to leave. The wife was first killed by a bullet, and her husbanc^ had his arms cut off and was then hacked to pieces. One noble womai\, whose husband was one of the first killed ir^ the city of Harput, said : " I am so glad he is gone, and we shall all of us soon follow." The preacher at Keserik was awfully tortured and then killed. In one village thirty men were taken to the Gregorian Church, among them the Protest- ant pastor. One by one they were asked if they would accept the Moslem faith. On refusing they were killed. The pastor was asked the question seven times, and each time he replied: " I believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost." At another village ten men were taken outside and asked to choose Mohammedanism or die. One of the best women of the place, seeing their fate, said : " Come, let us cast ourselves into the Euphrates and be free." Fifty-five thus chose a watery grave. 278 The Cry frovt Armenia. Two missionary ladies were in the city of Arabkir just before the massacre. They wished to go to Harpijt and repeatedly requested safeguards from the Government. For a long time it was impossible for them to secure the guards, but at last one was given. Many times on the way they were stopped by bands of Kurds, but passed through without harm. The day they reached Harput in safety the attack occurred at Diarbekir, and on the same day the large town of Maden on the Euphrates was destroyed. One of the colporteurs of the American Bible Society located at Arabkir was called upon to become a Moslem. He raised his hands in prayer, and the Turks cut off both hands with a sword and shot him dead. The Relief Inadequate. The relief work in Harput is opening up rapidly, and trte money goes faster and faster; but the missionaries cannot oegin to keep pace with the needs. On one day came in a list of 396 souls from one village, out of more than twice that number in the village. These are absolutely destitute. Suppose only ten piasters — forty cents — per soul be given to them, that is 3,960 piasters, and this is only one village. How long will ten piasters last them for food, and how can they be clothed ? As late as January, 1896, the reign of terror continued, as may be seen from the following summary of the situation in the columns of one of our most reliable religious journals : The week's record of news from Turkey is alarming in the extreme. The lawlessness of the Kurds in the eastern provinces has grown constantly, and has extended apparently to all classes of Moslems. In only one section does there seem to be any real opposition to the Turkish Government, and that is in the vicinity of Zeitun in the Taurus Mountains The Cry from Armenia. 279 north of Marash. There, according to reports, the Armenians besieged the Turkish garrison and compelled it to .surrender, and notwithstanding the approach of troops, are holding their own in opposition. Massacres are reported from every section of the country, including Erzeroum, Harput, Van, Sivas, the Jebel Tur region east of Mardin, where the Jacobites are the only Christians, and disturbances from Mosul, Damascus, the whole Hauran, and the city of Nablus. Detailed accounts on the best of authority state that the massacres have been worse than the telegrams have indicated. On every hand there is a reign of terror, increased by the fact that the Turkish Government is making every effort to supply Moslems with arms, while it makes the possession of arms by Christians the pretext for the most wholesale murder and pillage. The situation in all the large cities is terrible and the anxiety is increasing in Constantinople. American Missionaries Attacked. Hitherto foreigners have been considered reasonably safe, but at Harput the mob attacked the premises occupied by the American missionaries, and eight out of the twelve houses were looted, thus destroying not merely the property of the Americans, but the property of many Armenians who had taken refuge there. These houses were under the direct protection of the Turkish troops, as Minister Terrell had been informed by the Government. The missionaries' lives were saved, but, according to a telegram from a well known mis- sionary to Minister Terrell, in response to an inquiry from him, they are in great danger. The missionaries at Bitlis have telegraphed to Constanti- nople asking for a safe conduct for themselves and theii families to Van. Armenians are making every effort to escape 280 The Cry fj'om Armenia, from the country, and telegrams from Odessa state that every steamer from ports in Asia Minor brings numbers of refugees who are mostly destitute. Crowds of refugees are also daily crossing the Armenian frontier into Russia. The disturbance also is spreading into Arabia, where there is organized revolt. There has been a pitched battle between Arabs and Turks at Sana, in Yemen. There is trouble also in Crete, and the Albanians are threatening revolt. The reser\'es of the Turkish army have been called out, but in some sections they absolutely refuse to serve, on the ground that they have no assurance of receiving pay or even sufficient food. The Turkish Government is making every effort to persuade Europe that the trouble is due entirely to the Armenians, and makes the usual promises of reform. Assassinators Honored. Meanwhile the ambassadors at Constantinople report thdi they can secure no answers to questions as to the period when the reforms will commence. The Sultan is improving every opportunity to decorate and advance men who have been identified with the outrages ; and it is reported that the pre- sent Grand Vizier, Halil Pasha, is to be succeeded by Shakir Pasha, indicating still further defiance of the demands of the Powers. New plots are also being discovered in Constantinople, and there are reports of increased bitterness on the part of the Turks against the Sultan. Large numbers of warships are gathering in the harbor of Salonica, but as yet there is no apparent plan for united action. The English papers, espe- cially TJic Spectator, which speaks with an air of authority, assert that Lord Salisbury has a distinct policy of interference ready for contingencies, the time to develop which is fast approaching. The Cry from Armenia. 281 They, however, say that a joint ultimatum will be pre- sented to the Sultan transferring the internal government to persons who are trusted by the Powers. If the Sultan refuses to grant the demands the combined squadrons will advance on Constantinople. On the other hand, it calls attention to the fact that any such action may be too late ; that though the Sultan is reported as terrified, he shows no sign of aban- doning his position of defiance, and that the moment he is satisfied that the Powers do not intend to have any trifling with their demands, he may retreat to Brusa, where they can- not reach him. He is almost insane with fear, and has sent orders to the governors throughout the Empire that they must stop the disturbances. In view of this it is reported that the governments are awaiting the result of these orders before proceeding to the extremity of occupying Constan- tinople. A Moslem War. Reviewing the foregoing story of outrage, plunder and murder, one of our most influential newspapers says : The news of the sacking of the missionaries' houses at Harput will bring home to Americans, as nothing else has, the real condition in Turkey. All will be profoundly grateful that, so far at least, their lives are safe ; yet we cannot fail to recognize that any day may bring news that they, too, have fallen victims to the " holy war " which for years has been the dread of every Christian under Moslem rule, and which there is increasing proof has been practically declared by the Mos- lem leaders, including the Sultan himself That proof is found in the wholesale slaughter of Armen- ians all over the country after they have been found to be unarmed, in the spread of the massacre to the section in the vicinitj' of Mardin, where there are no Armenians but Jacobites, against whom, no whisper of a charge of revolution has ever 282 The Cry from Armenia. been uttered , in the furnishing of arms to Moslem villagers and the punishment of every Christian found with arms ; in the repeated statements of Turkish officials of a determined purpose to destroy the Armenians before the reforms can be secured, and now in the absolute disregard of solemn promises for the protection of American lives and property. The outlook is indeed dark. American missionaries are located all over the land, in Bitlis, Van, Mardin, Sivas, Cesarea, Marsovan, Aintab, Marash, Adana, Tarsus, Haiin, Brusa and Nicomedia, as well as in Constantinople and otnyrna. Which company will be the next to suffer no one can tell. The Bitlis misjionaries have telegraphed to Constantinople asking for safe conduct to Van. It is a wild country througl. vhich they must go. Can their escort be trusted? It is not sufficient that verbal assurances be given to Minister Terrell and the State Department. The only argu- ment that can avail in the present crisis is the argument of force. The presence of the allied fleets in the Bosphorus, with their guns trained on the Sultan's palace, will do more than anything else to insure safety not only for Americans, but for every Christian subject of the Turkish Government. If that fails, then troops must occupy every available point, and high officials held as hostages for Christian lives. America, who is not tied up with political complications, may be called upon to act independently. The White Squad- ron could be sent on no better errand. The following appeal in verse voices in a striking mannei the Christian sentiment of America. Always when great wrongs are cor^mitted the conscience of the world utters its condemnation, /n how many instances, as in the present, the voice of wrath and rebuke is heard too late. The deeds that shock high heaven arc done, and there is now no redress. The Cry from Armenia. 283 Armenia's Bitter Cry. BY HETTA LORD HAYES WARD. World, world, hear our prayer 1 Oh where is Russia, where ? A fearful deed is done ; Its glare affronts the sun. Smoke ! Flame ! Fire ! E.ouse thee, great Russian Sire ! When Christian homes are ablaze. Hast thou no voice to raise ? Thy neighbor to thee has cried ; Pass not on the other side. Look on our dire despair ! Where art thou. Czar, oh, where ? Land of the sun and sea. Wake, Rome and Italy ! Our ancient Church in vain Calls thee to break her chain. Shame ! Shame ! Shame ! Where sleeps thy early fame? To death our priests are led, Their flocks lie slaughtered, dead. Awake, good Pope of Rome ! Our saints through blood go homCj, Hear thou their dying plea, Where, where is Italy ? Land of Fraternity, Brave France, turn not away ! Shall blood thy lihes stain ? Wilt bear the curse of Cain ? Wake ! Wake ! Wake ! For God and glory's sake ! On a ghastly funeral pyre, Brave men are burned with fire; God calls to France, the free, "Thy brother, where is he ?" Lest God in wrath requite, Awake, befriend the right I 284 The Cry fj'-07ii Armenia. Where is good Frederick's son When evil deeds are done ? Shall prisons reek and rot, His mother's blood speak not? Haste ! Haste ! Haste! Time runs too long to waste. If halts the Kaiser dumb, Let all the people come. Your oath must sacred stand, Treaties of Fatherland ; Victims of Turk and Kurd Rest on your plighted word. Your sisters' shame and blood Cry out to England's God. Slain on the church's floor, Their blood flowed out the door Speak ! Speak ! Speak I The strong must help the weak. Leave Turkish bonds unsold ; Betray not Christ for gold. Let the Moslem dragon feel Once more Saint George's heel. England, awake, awake! World, hear, fur Jesu's sake ! CHAPTER XVI. The Shame of Christendom. One or two things about the outburst of fury against the Armenians which has swept over the Turkish Empire ought to be clearly understood. In the first place these massacres were not " conflicts/' except that in nearly every case some personal encounter between one or two individuals is made the excuse for a rising of savages who have carefully prepared for such an opportunity against the hated giaours. To this rule the affair at Zeitlln was an exception ; and there may be others in that region, for there is no doubt that the revolutionists have been planning for a rebellion in Cilicia for some time, and we have not the details to show to the contrary. The conflict in Constantinople consisted of three sharp brushes between police and Armenians about noon on Sep- tember 30, 1895. No one can blame the police for killing the men who fell in those street fights in the attempt to restore order, if it was really necessary to break up the assembly of Armenians. All Armenians killed after two o'clock on that day were killed in cold blood and because they were "giaours," or "infidels." They were all, or nearly all, innocent people, so far as any disturbance of the peace was concerned. At Ak Hissar (October 9th, near Adabazar) the Turks came to the village on the market day armed, and began by search- ing Armenians to see if they had arms. The " conflict " took place after they had satisfied themselves that the people were 286 286 The Shame of ChHsiendom. unarmed. A Turk went up to an Armenian dealer in dried meat and seized his knife, crying out that he was armed. " Why, that is what I cut my meat with," said the Armenian, trying to get the knife back. " And I will cut you with it," said the Turk, stabbing him. That began the butchery and the loot of the bazar. At Trebizond an Armenian tried to kill the ex-Governor of Van in the street. The Turks then began to talk massacre, and a week later an Armenian going home in the evening found himself pursued by some Turks. He fled ; the men were gaining on him, and he fired at the supposed robbers. One of the Turks was killed. This was the "conflict" in this case. The next day the Turks suddenly began to fire upon the Armenian shopkeepers. They killed 700 o^" ^kx), and looted every Armenian shop in the city. Hund'-eds Slain at Bitlis. At Bitlis eight hundred were killed, and there is every reason to believe that the " conflict " was of this nature, since the Government only claims ten Turkish dead. So much loss is accounted for, as at Trebizond, by the Turks bemg killed by their own people's stray bullets, or, in a few cases, by their encountering resistance when they were breaking into houses. It cannot be denied that the Government began to dis- tribute arms to the Moslem villagers in some parts of the country; and since the outbreak in Constantinople they have shown great stringency in punishing Armenians found with arms, and great eagerness to aid Turks to buy them. About the same time the Governor of Palu was indiscreet enough to say to the Armenians that the Sultan had decided to reform them, but the reform would be with the sword. This spee«'.h was reported to the British Embassy, and the Governor was The Shame of Christendom. "28 7 removed. The officers in the Sultan's palace have been in the habit of saying that the Powers will be welcome to all the good they can get out of the reform scheme after the Sultan has finished with the Armenians, in case he is forced to accept it. All the massacres have been coolly conducted. Care has been taken to avoid killing any but Armenians, and the police have been spectators of most of the outrages, and have repeated constantly the warning not to kill women and small children. At Ak Hissar they added, " For the women and children will fall to us after the men are all killed." In no case have Turks who killed Armenians been interfered with iince the crime, and in no case has the Government made any expression of disapproval. Instead of this it has uniformly ^ried to cover up the facts. Denial of the Massacres. On October 25th and 26th, 1895, hundreds of Armenians at Marash were killed, and the heads of the three Christian communities united in a telegram begging for protection, which their Governor had failed to give. The next day the Porte sent out an official declaration that these Bishops (and the Protestant pastor) who sent the telegram had lied, and that no massacre had taken place. Since then it has attempted to suppress all private telegrams into the interior, and has forbidden all travel in any direction, lest the facts come out. All this points in the one direction of the sym- pathy of the Central Government with the operation of killing off the giaours. It seems inconceivable that men can do these things and have no qualms of conscience. But if any one will read the canon law that is studied in all of the Moslem schools, he will find minute discussions of the treatment to be accorded to 288 " TJie Sha7ne of Christendom. unbelievers who pay the tribute that saves their Hves. All of these discussions center about the one principle, that " giaours," or " infidels," have a right to live as long as it is convenient to the Moslem State, on condition of paying tri- bute. But if they refuse the tribute or for any other reason become a nuisance, the Imam may order their destruction ; and in that case their women and their goods become the pro- perty of the men who kill them, after the Sultan's fifth has been taken out. Consequent!}' when the Imam has ordered the slaughter of the Armenians, no one has the slightest feel- ing of guilt in doing it. A Burning Question. Every judge and lawyer, and most of the governors, and all of the religious teachers are brought up on this canon law. The question what the world is to do with a religion that insists on such license is going to become a burning one soon. A Turkish Governor lately remarked that Islam is not blood- thirsty. When these laws were cited, he replied : " Oh, but you see that is only when the giaour becomes a nuisance." He was asked what they could do if they considered the giaour a nuisance and yet the giaour does nothing against the State. He answered : " Well, if it comes to that, we have to find some way of making him do something that will justify the penalty.'' This contains the whole policy of Turkey for /he last five years. It has been to goad the Armenians into rebellion so as to have a justification for the predetermined massacre. Not even in the darkest days of the Middle Ages or under the terrible onslaught of the Huns was there manifest so dia- bolical a spirit as has been revealed in the course of the massacres carried out under the express orders of the Turkish Government. It has not been a wild outburst of untamed The Shame of Christendom. 289 fury, but a cool, well-laid plan for slaughter, rapine, and out- rage. The severity of the blow has been only equaled by the self- restraint that waited until everything was ready, and then carefully singled out the victims, choosing those whose life was most to be feared, whose death could give the fullest immediate return in booty, material and human. Even the stoutest arm wearies with repeated blows, and amm.unition is not inexhaustible. Therefore the orders went out, " Kill the men ; the women and children will then fall to us ! " One Story Every^^Arhere. The story is the same everywhere. Terror on the part of the Christians; quiet, soothing words from the Turkish officials, assuring all of the protection his Imperial Majesty accorded to all his subjects ; mitigation of the fear and partial restoration of confidence ; the opening of shops ; and then, at some fixed hour, in every i)art of the cities, murder — and such murder! Cool, calm, implacable. Pleas for mercy met with the bullet or the sword, and that too not of ordinary brigands, but of the uniformed officers and soldiers of the Government. After murder came robbery, until not a shop was left whose contents had not been distributed among the fiends. This was the case in Trebizond, Erzriim, Harpiat, Sivas, Marash, Aintab, Diarbekir — all the large cities of Eastern and South- ern Turkey. But this was not all. For half a century American mis- sionaries have been carrying on their work in these same places. Turks as well as Christians have paid them high honor, for nobility of character and self-sacrificing devotion. They were protected by treaty rights, and solemn promises were given by the Turkish Government that those rights would be respected. Yet in two cities at least, Harput and 19 2 Of The Shame of Chnstetidom. Marash, the officers of that Government stood by and saw their homes pillaged and destroyed. Whose turn it will be next only God knows. There are some lights in the darkness. The courage of those missionaries, facing the disaster, fully conscious of the peril, yet never swerving a hair's breadth from duty, and refus- ing to leave those whom their sympathy may comfort and their presence encourage, is sublime. One such wrote : " Every letter that I have written home for two months past, I have written with the feeling that it may be my last. This will give you an idea of the constant strain under which we live. At any moment the earth may open and swallow us up." He has been warned by officials that his life is in peril, yet every day he goes to and fro doing his duty, as calmly as in the days of Shiloh and Fort Donelson. We know of others, a husband and wife in another city. The husband urged the wife to take the children to Constantinople. She refused, and bound up wounds, comforting the bereaved, imparting her own high courage to the terror-stricken women about her. And they are not alone. All over the land American men and women are meeting the most fearful peril with simple trust in God. What Will the End Be? What the end will be and when it will come, no mortal can foresee. The responsibility rests not merely upon the Sultan and his advisers, but upon the Governments of Europe. If their mutual jealousy be the cause of their delay, then let them beware lest when vengeance falls, as fall it will, it do not overwhelm them as well as the Government they are pro- tecting. With the diffusion of intelligence there has developed material prosperity. The advance of the Christian races of The Shame of Christendom. 291 the Empire during the past half century has been marvelous. Gradually improved methods of agriculture and business crept in; homes were neater; there was more of frugality; foreign interests developed, and with all came prosperity and wealth. This aroused the envy of the Moslem leaders, and has had not a little share in stirring up the present outrages. The thing, however, that gave force to this advance, and that made the Moslem desperate, was the increase in moral and religious power. In those respects the change that has come over the Empire has been great. When the missionaries commenced work among the Armen- ians they had no thought of founding a separate Church. To ♦;his they were, however, forced by the ignorant hostility of the clergy. To-day that has ceased; and in every part of the land the wisest and best of the ecclesiastics welcome the mis- sionaries for what they have done in developing a higher purity of life, a greater integrity of character, a more spiritual worship. Work of Devoted Missionaries. All this is the direct result of the earnest, faithful, constant labors of the missionaries. To speak of it as in any sense a failure is absurd. To deride those who have been instru- mental in bringing it about is monstrous. To allow it to be destroyed, as it will be if the present situation continues, would be criminal. It has received a blow from which it cannot recover for many years to come. Christendom must see to it that the light is not totally extinguished. A daily journal in Montreal, Canada, quoted an appeal to England from one of our religious journals, and said : " All this while the United States is the only country ol whose influence no other country is jealous, and that is free to act ; and the only one that, through the outrages on hei* missionaries, has a distinct quarrel." 292 The Sha??ie of Christeiidom. To which the journal that pubhshed the appeal rephed as follows : This is worth considering, and we are considering it. But if we appeal first to England, it is because it would be impertinent for us to offer to interfere until England has declined to do her duty. By the treaty of Berlin the powers agreed to protect the integrity of Turkey, and it is made the special duty of England to protect the Christians of Turkey, and see that the Porte does not massacre or oppress them. Politically we are outsiders. We are not parties to that treaty. A special power, and that power Great Britain, has this responsibility; and if we ask Lord Salisbury to do his duty, it is because he took that duty upon Great Britain, and so upon himself, he being Prime Minister. The United States may have to Act. If, now, he refuses to do this duty, or if Russia tells him .le need not, from some fear that England will gain some political advantage, or because, as appears to be the case, in any interference of Great Britain and the other Powers, Russia will fail to get possession of Constantinople, or as big a slice of Turkey as she wants, then it may be that Great Britain, having failed to do, or to be able to do, her duty, that duty may fall to the United States. It looks, at present, as if Great Britain were the only one of the six signatory powers that really is influenced by any feeling of sympathy, and really wishes to do anything to pro- tect the persecuted Christians. Germany holds back as ind.f- ferent as in the time of Bulgaria's agony. Austria is domi- nated by Germany. Italy is too isolated and too occupied with her Abyssinian war to do anything by herself. France waits as a humble lackey on the will of Russia, and Russia is not ready. The Shame of Christendom. 29 S Intervention is very likely to mean partition. The powers that intervene have got to hold territory, and may not give it up. To protect the Armenians of Eastern Turkey Russia must send an army to Erzrum and Van, and France, Austria, Italy, Germany and England their armies and navies to Constantinople and the Mediterranean coast. Russia would thus hold a big piece of territory along the Black Sea, perhaps down to the Persian Gulf; but that would not satisfy her. Rnssia's Great Purpose. She means to have Constantinople and Jerusalem. She regards herself as the successor of the Greek Empire, as well as of the Greek Church, and to her, therefore, must come the old capital of Constantine and holy city of Helena. An inter- vention of England and the other powers might put off inde- finitely the accomplishment of this purpose. She will do nothing, and allow nothing which will interfere with he. " manifest destiny." The pear, when ripe, will fall, she thinks, into her lap, and she does not want it plucked prematurely. Besides, Russia is now very busy with even more pressing issues in the far East. There has been a war between China and Japan, and the latter power has seized Korea and Chinese ports on which Russia has cast a covetous eye. First Japan must be driven out of Korea and China, and a big part of Chinese territory must be acquired by Russia, and this will brook no delay. Therefore Russia will forbid and prevent England's intervention in Turkey. Unless there be some massacre of Greeks, or some uprising of young Turks in Constantinople, or an insurrection and slaughter in Jerusalem affecting Russian interests there, it now seems as if Russia would block the way to any vigorous action by England or any other European power. If no European power does anything, then has the United 294 The Shame of Chrisieiidom. States any duty ? This is a very serious question which we commend to the most careful attention of President Cleve- land and Secretary Olney. As our Montreal contemporary has said, the United States is the only country of whose influ- ence no other country is jealous, and which is thus perfectly free to act ; while, at the same time, it is the only one which, through the outrages on her citizens, has a distinct quarrel. These outrages on our citizens are already of such a magni- tude that they justify and demand our interference, not for any territorial aggrandizement or any political purpose, hut simply in the long line of our action for the protection of our people abroad. Destruction of American Property. Large amounts of American property have been destroyed ; our citizens are now practically prisoncs in such of their houses as have not been burned ; their homes have been sacked, and they are in daily danger of their lives. It is a duty of our Government to see that they are protected. We have hitherto depended very much on England to do it ; now we must depend on ourselves. We have blustered, and we have threatened the Porte, and this has done no good. Against our warnings our buildings have been destroyed at Harput and Marash and 'slsewhere, and it is time for us to do something. But this is not all. Turkey is, by the consent of all Christendom in its dealings with her, a semi-barbarous power. No strong civilized power should allow a barbarous people to murder its citizens ; and least of all can Christian nations stand still and see tens of thousands of subject Christians made martyrs because they believe in the same Saviour whom we honor. We are brethren, as Christians; more than that, we are all brethren as human beings, and we have brotherly duties to our fellow-men. We may not be a proud, vain, The Shame of Christendom. 295 selfish, overbearing, grasping nation among weaker nations, but we have some duty in the poHcing of the world and the putting down of piracy and massacre. Perhaps the time has come — we think it has — for us to wait no longer for the European powers to act. We believe that if we should send our strongest force to the ports of the Mediterranean, perhaps to Constantinople itself, or if we should send a thousand or more soldiers or marines as a police force to protect our citizens and our property in Adana, Tarsus and Marash, England, and Italy and Germany and Austria would be delighted to see it done, and the result would be immediately good. Are we not ready for it ? Shall we not protect our citizens and our property, which Turkey cannot protect? In doing this we shall take no part in the political affairs of the Old World, and — if anybody worries about it — we shall not in any way impair our Monroe Doctrine. First and Imperative Duty. When our neighbor's house is burning we do not need to stop any longer to watch an election bonfire. When the Christian population of Turkey is being murdered we can adjourn our difficulty with Great Britain until we have first protected the Armenians. The Monroe Doctrine, with all its applications, will not spoil if we keep it on ice for a little while. With no prejudice to all our duties of protection to Vene- zuela, we protest that there is a much greater duty on hand just now, one that more closely affects our own people who have come from the Armenian country to live with us, many chousands of them, and our own citizens, hundreds of them, v/ho are carrying on their lawful pursuits in that unhappy land. Without forgetting Venezuela, but letting it cool in 296 The Shame of ChHstendoni. the pot of diplomacy for a while, we had better hurry up to rescue those who are caught in that burning house. But the apathy of people next to it is shocking, is dis- graceful. No wonder that we hear from Constantinople the cry, "We are ashamed of the nations of Christendom." The repeated, the continued massacres are enough to make heathen Japan intervene, just out of human sympathy. Of course the first duty of intervention and protection rests on the powers which have agreed by treaty to be responsible for the continued existence of Turkey, and for the defense of its Christian subjects from persecution ; that is, on England, assisted — or hindered — by Russia and the other nations whose councils and armies maintain the sacred " balance of power." But they do absolutely nothing, It is the most amazing exhibition of incompetence, inefficiency and iniquity in the history of Europe, We repeat the cry from Constantinople. We are ashamed of the nations of Christendom. The Shame of England. We maybe more indignant with selfish Russia or Germany, but we are ashamed of England. That country has its special duties to protect the Armenians, put upon it by obligation c ' treaty. We know that Salisbury says that he can do nothing without the consent of the other powers ; but we declare that the horrors of massacre and of forced apostasy are such that it is no time to wait for consent. It is a time for intervention. The English fleet ought to be ordered immediately to seize Constantinople, and then the Russian and Italian and French fleets would be quick enough to seize the other ports. Then the Government of Turkey should be put immediately into commission ; and at whatever danger of temporary dis- order, which cannot be worse than what now exists, order should be restored, the assassins reduced to submission and The Shame of Christendom, 297 punished, the captive women and children restored, and time taken to decide how Turkey can be safely governed in future, VVe are heartily ashamed of England that she does not take the lead in this duty which is hers first. But Great Britain and the other powers have as yet done nothing. Each says it is hindered by the others. Meanwhile, the house is burning down, and is there not time for the neighbors a little further away to come to the help, seeing that the neighbors near by are so busy quarreling as to which will loot the plunder that not one of them can get near the fire? Has not the United States a duty of intervention ? The Higher Law of Humanity. We fully believe that this is our duty, and that, too, nOt because our citizens need protection, although that were enough, but from the vastly higher obligation of humanity. Have we a right to stand still while fifty thousand men are slaughtered, martyred because they are Christians, because they refuse to accept the Moslem faith, and while their women and children are seized and carried to the harems of the Turks? No. If the man next door does not run to the help, then we should. We do not need to wait till our own citizens are also killed. All international law, all decency, all brother- hood, all Christianity require us, these United States, to make forcible and effective intervention. It is too late now to prevent the massacres past; there is no time to be lost in saving those who remain ; and, seeing that the United States is not at all concerned in the political outcome there, and is more interested than all other countries put together, so far as the protection of her citizens is con- cerned, we trust that speedy action may be taken, much more vigorous, and that shall back up with force the threats of our Minister at Constantinople. We have not a very big 298 The Shame of ChTdstendom. navy, but we have ships enougli for this purpose, and we can charter all the transports needed. We are not impressed by the widely-repeated declaration that the warning given by the United States to Great Britain, that the Monroe Doctrine must be enforced, has emancipated Great Britain from all obligation to protect the Armenian Christians from their murderous oppressors. The war scare, precipitated by a paragraph in the President's message, more plain-spoken than diplomatic, lasted but two days. Side Issues no Excuse. It was a foolish scare, for it was inconceivable that our two Governments should not come to a peaceable conclusion of their difficulties without dishonor to either. Great Britain's duties are not changed, for we are not going to tie her hands. If we had any serious quarrel with her we could adjourn it in the interests of humanity. The lawless invasion of a semi-independent State in South Africa by British subjects, in defense of their fellow-subjects against real wrongs, has aroused Europe to indignant denun- ciations of England. Our beloved mother country seems to be attacked on every side, even although the British Govern- ment has done its best, at the last hour, to prevent the filibus- tering movement of Dr. Jameson's army. The dispatch of the German Emperor is positively and insultingly hostile, and invites the Free Republic to throw off all its allegiance to England in foreign affairs. He definitely interferes with the British colonial policy ; and France is echoing Germany. This is really serious ; it is no two-days' scare. It may compel Great Britain to call back part of her fleet from the door of tlic Dardanelles. If our little warning over Venezuela could excuse Great Britain from doing her boun- The Shame of Christendom. 299 den duty for the Armenians, then Germany's threat does it tenfold more. And we fear that it does it effectually. We suspect that, for the present, Great Britain is annihilated as a factor in the protection of the Armenian Christians. A Startling Possibility. What then? Possibly Russia, England being out of the way, may feel that she has a free hand even to take Coni>taii- tinople, and wipe out the Turk. But that is so tremendous a possibility, and might so involve a European war, that we can hardly believe it probable. It is more likely that, since the only power is crippled that has any Christian sympathy, nothing will be done, and the Porte will be left at liberty to murder to his heart's content, and once more offer the alter- native of the sword or the Koran, as he has done so many times before. Calamity has overtaken the American missions in Turkey. During the storm of blood and fire, by which Islam has com- mended itself to its subjects and the world, these missions have been special objects of malice. To the aggressors the missions represent the source of the enlightenment and civiliza- tion, to eradicate which the massacres were ordained. Of the destruction which has overtaken the Harput station of the American Board's mission, the whole country is aware. Four buildings out of twelve remain, stripped of every particle of their contents, torn with bullets and cannon balls, blackened with fire, and surrounded by the grim ash-heaps which are all that remain of the other buildings gradually erected during the last forty years to be the centre of operations for this noble station. Of the desolation which has overwhelmed Marash station, the American churches have also heard. The Theological Seminary there is a pile of smoking ruins, and the two other 800 The Shame of Chnstendom. buildings in the same enclosure stand pillaged and empty. Whatever the attacking soldiers could not carr}' away or did not value, was destroyed by rufifian hands through sheer hatred of the teachings against which they had been called into action. Disasters to be Remedied. Thus far the missionaries in all of the stations have been ilmost miraculously saved from death. But congratulations are misplaced which regard the safety of the persons of the missionaries as sufficient cause for condoning the loss of prop- erty which they have suffered. The lives of the missionaries are not all in which the American churches have an interest in Turkey. Disaster has overtaken the general equipment of the American Board's missions in Turkey. This equipment is the property of the American churches. Since 1830 the churches have spent more than six millions of dollars upon the equipment, maintenance and development of these missions. Except Constantinople and three other stations in the extreme west of Asia Minor, all of the Ameri- can Board's stations have suffered more heavil}^ than was sup- posed. Information oozes but slowly from under the nau- seous mass of falsehood which seeks to cover up the facts. Probably at least one hundred of the village chapels and school-houses have been pillaged and destroyed, or seized by the Mohammedans for purposes of their own. Five-sixths of the stock of the books which the American Board and the American Bible Society had placed on sale in scores of the depots and salesrooms in various parts of the country, have been carried off, cast into rivers and ponds, or used, after satu- ration with petroleum, as convenient instruments of incen- diarism. Congregations have been scattered, schools are broken up, leading men are dead, and numbers of Christian women and The Shame of Christendom. 301 children are missing. The congregations, in general, are financially ruined, and their members are among those now dependent on charity for daily bread. For years past these congregations have been paying about one-half of the aggre- gate expense of maintaining pastors and schools under the care of the American Board in Turkey. Slaughter of the Faithful. This power of sustaining evangelistic work has vanished. More than all this, as the reports come in, the roll of the dead among the pastors and preachers and teachers is constantly increasing. Pastor Kilijjian, of Sivas, was killed, and his body laid in a trench, with 800 other mangled corpses, to rest until the day when it shall be raised in glory. Seven pastors in the Harpiit station field are already known to have died the martyr's death, willingly testifying to their faith in Jesus Christ when told that they must die if they did not deny Him. The head teacher of the boys' school at Bitlis is dead, and his bruised and gashed body was found, after long search, lying naked in the mud of a street. Teacher Leon, of Marash, was flayed alive. The full facts will be long in coming to light; but a great reduction in the number of workers in these mis- sions is to be expected. At first sight the enterprise of the American Board in Turkey appears to be all but annihilated, so far as its most important and most interesting branch is concerned, the village evangelistic work. But ask the missionaries what of the future, and all s[ieak. in one voice. That band at Harptat, saved by the hand of Get! from the hail of bullets, stripped of all their possessions and left huddled together in the bare houses surrounded by smok- ing ruins, and within sight of the bodies of slaughtered parishioners, in almost their first utterance after the disaster, said: "Please do not order us to leave Harput." In that 302 The Shame of Christendom. utterance they spoke for all the missionaries in Turkey who have passed through this baptism of fire. The very disaster which has overwhelmed the missions of the American Board has opened the way for a glorious work for God and humanity. To leave the country now would seem to the missionaries the desertion of a sacred trust, the abandonment of a unique opportunity for doing Christ's own work, and the casting away of the fruitage from the labor of more than half a century. No, the missionaries cannot leave Turkey. American Sympathy Demanded. But the American churches must also rise to the height of the present opportunity to show this stricken people and their persecutors what Christianity really is. Gods Provi- dence now calls to the churches to rally to the support of the American Board in an effort to extract beauty from ashes. While the whole nation is grandly moving to feed and clothe the bodies of the starving, let not the need of the stricken souls be forgotten. Let the Board be furnished with ample funds to restore its equipment, and to prosecute its great work of comfort and enlightenment with renewed vigor. The people are listening as never before to the comforting words of God's promises. Onward ! is the Master's call in this emergency. Let advance along the whole line be the program of th-^ churches everywhere in reference to the American Board. Americans have invested millions in the enterprise of missions in Turkey. This enterprise, so far as the laws are concerned, is a pure questich of business. American citizens choose to invest large sums of money in a lawful enterprise in Turkey, which they have carried on for many years with the strictest regard to the laws of the land. "Whether the enterprise which occupies American citizens The Shame of Christe7idom. 303 and American capital in Turkey is mining or railroad build- ing, or, as in the case of the missions, it is the manufacture and sale of books, or the erection of a large system of educa- tional institutions, the treaties guarantee its protection, and the millions of American gold invested in it are entitled to the protection of the United States against attack by the Turkish people or the Turkish Government. The disaster which has come upon the missions of the Board is not the work of a great popular uprising or of a revolution outside of the control of the Ottoman Government It is the dehbcr- ^te act of the Ottoman Government itself. Hatred of Civilization. The present administration of government in Turkey dislikes the civilization which its predecessors invited and protected when the missions were being organized. It there- fore has set at nought all treaties with the United States, anr' has ordered its officials, its troops and its people to unite in destroying the property and the business of these Americans of the missionary force. The hundreds of thousands of American citizens who have invested their money in this great enterprise and are the real owners and shareholders of the property thus destroyed, should let the Government at Washington know that protec- tion of their agents where they are, and not mere provision of ships to take them away because the Sultan has changed his mind about observing treaties, is the aim which the importance o'i the capital invested demands of the United States to-day. As information comes in from the districts south of Eastern Turkey, the proof increases that the whole series of massacres in Bitlis, Diarbekir, Erzrum, Harp^t, etc., were under the direct supervision of the Turkish Government. The city of Mardin is about sixty miles south of Diarbekir, on the edge 304 TJie Shame of Christendom. of the great Mesopotamia plain. To the east lies the region of'Jebel Tiir, occupied by Jacobites and Kurds. The Kurds are in some respects bolder and more aggressive than their fellows to the north, but not more brutal. A Successful Defense. As the news came of the sacking of Diarbekir their taste lor plunder was whetted, and they began to form plans for attacks upon ^lardin itself, and jMidyat, the chief city of the Jebel Tiir region. They gathered in large numbers, and with no city walls it seemed as if the cities would be at their mercy. Representations were immediately made to the Governor of the city. All available troops were called out, and troops and citizens, both Christian and Moslem, combined in defense, with the result that both of these cities have been spared, and ^re considered to be out of danger. More than that, the troops were sent to a number of villages that were threatened by the Kurds, drove back the marauders, and brought the people under the protection of the Government in the city. Similar statements come from Mosul. There, too, there were fears of an incursion of the Kurds from the region of Rowandiz — the same men who, under Sheik Obeidullah, rav- aged the plain of Urumia about fourteen years ago. There, too, the Governor acted with promptness and determination, and not merely saved the city, but infused not a little courage into the minds of the people. Contrast with these facts those at Bitlis, Harput and else- where. In Bitlis, at the sound of the bugle, the markets were closed, and the entrapped merchants cut down in their stalls. At the sound of the bugle the killing stopped, and the pillage began, and went on till every Christian shop was looted. At Harput, after a parley with the Kurds, the Turkish troops drew up on an eminence below the city, and, when The Shame of Christendom, 305 ordered to fire, fired not at the Kurds, but at the city itself, the marks of their bullets appearing in the walls of the American houses, and one of their bombs being found in a ruined house. The same facts occurred in Erzrum, Diarbekir, Trebizond ; every place where there was massacre. Note, also, the fact that not a single Greek village has been attacked, though there are many in the vicinity of Trebizond, Cesarea and Marsovan. Was there no significance in the fact that even in Diarbekir the massacre and pillaging stopped as suddenly as they had begun, and was there no connection between it and the fact that the French Ambassador sent word to the Porte that, if any damage at all came to the French Consulate in that city, a French fleet would hold Alexandretta until the head of the Governor had fallen? So also when a band of Kurds, inflamed by their success in the Harput plain, wandered west, they were met by Turkish officials on the border of the Province of Sivas, and told to go back ; that there was nothing for them there ; that work had been done. They grumbled, but they turned back. Base Hypocrisy. If the Turkish Government could protect Mardin and Mosul, and the French Consulate at Diarbekir, and turn the Kurds back from Sivas, it is the height of absurdity for it to say that it could do nothing at Harput, Bitlis and Erzrum. It could even have done more, for the Kurds of the South are more to be dreaded than the kinsmen of the North, and the Turkish garrisons are weaker. It has been the boast of those who defended Abdul Hamid II., that he was so deeply inter- ested in the welfare of his people that he must know their affairs to the minutest detail. Not a school was to be established, not a ship repaired, not a house built without his supervision. Their own arguments 306 The Shame of Christendom. return on them with terrible force. If he did not know of the massacres, then he is an ignorant puppet in the hands of his Ministers. If he did know but could not stop them, he is an absolute incompetent. If he not only knew but condoned or even ordered the destruction of a nation, he is a criminal to be ranked with the Neros, Caligulas, and Borgias of infamy. A Question of Personal Obligation. Just now the attention of the world is turned to Turkey and the Armenian people. Those who are not interested in the mission work are interested in the terrible events of the last {q\w months and the efforts made to relieve the suffering and starving thousands there. The Christians of America have reason carefully to consider their personal duty to their Christian brethren in Turkey. Owing to the heavy debt upon the American Board, at the last annual meeting held in Brooklyn it was voted that The Prudential Committee in making the appropriations and expending the resources committed to our hands are not to be held responsible for disastrous results which may ensue from the insufficiency of those expenditures ; and that they be instructed so far as practicable to restrict those operations within the measure of the means furnished them. For all limitations or -suffering thus occasioned the churches must answer. Acting under these instructions the Prudential Committee reduced the salaries of the missionaries in all fields of the Boards, except in Asiatic Turkey, by ten per cent., and the amount given for the general work — for churches, schools and general evangelization — about forty per cent. ; this was neces- sary to avoid increasing the debt. However severe this reduc- tion may be in other mission fields we desire to call attention to the fact that it will be almost fatal to the work in Turkey. Some of the reasons, as given us by Secretary Barton, are ; The Shame of Christendom. 307 1. A large number of churches, parsonages and schools have been destroyed during the past three months in Turkey, if these are not rebuilt, the people cannot hold services or continue their schools. To fail to rebuild is to openly acknow- ledge defeat. 2. The people have been impoverished by fire, robbery and slaughter, and a large number of the most wealthy Protestant lamilies have been completely wiped out. Churches that have been independent are now in immediate need of assistance in order to support any kind of Christian work. 3. The Christians of Turkey feel, and that, too, with ^'ood reason, that the Christian nations of the world have abandoned them to their fate. They have looked in vain for political help, and are almost in despair. If now the churches in America shall seem to be unmindful of their need of spiritual help and relief, and withdraw in these darkest hours the help heretofore given when less necessary, it cannot fail to be to them the last bitter potion in their terribly bitter cup of despair. 4. If in any measure we curtail our help for Turkey at this juncture, when difficulties multiply and dangers increase, it cannot fail to give the impression to the people of Turkey and the world that we of America are willing to do mission work so long as we can do it easily and safely. Such action cannot fail to be interpreted that our zeal for Christ and for men is not strong enough to endure persecution. A terrible thought must this be to those who, during the last few weeks, have faced a hundred deaths for Him! 5. Missions have, during the last sixty years, brought before the world the Armenian people. The marked prog- ress this nation has made has drawn down upon it the jealousy ;md wrath of the Moslem rulers. The depths into which it is crushed to-day are made more dark and deep and terrible by tlie height to which it had climbed. Can we abandon this race now, or afford even to appear to do so, amid the perils wliich liave come to it through the enlightenment we ourselves have carried to it ? 6. The movement in Turkey is against an enlightmed Christianity. The first terrible blow has been struck. If, 308 The Shcwie of Christe7tdo77i. now, the Moslems see the Christian forces weakening and a quiet retreat bei^un, they will at once prochum the victory tlieirs. The forces of Islam will be collected and unified, and a crusade against the Cross, and all the Cross represents, will be inevitable. But we need not continue. It is true, hundreds of Chris- tians — yes, thousands, have been martyred ; but that is no reason why we should abandon the thousands who yet remain true to their faith. The missionaries, in their common suffer- ing and danger, have won the confidence and affection of thousands more who never knew them before. Shall we bind the hands of the brave missionaries, crush the hope of starving, bleeding Christians and openly confess victory for the Moslem persecutors ? CHAPTER XVII. An Appeal for Armenia. The following appeal, addressed to the people of England and to the British Government, by Mr. E. J. Dillon, should also come home to every heart and conscience in America. Mr. Dillon says : The tini'^ has come for every reasoning inhabitant of these islands deliberately to accept or repudiate his share of the joint indirect responsibility of the British nation for a series of the hugest and foulest crimes that have ever stained the pages of human history. The Armenian people in Anatoli?, are being exterminated, root and branch, by Turks and Kurdi. — systematically and painfully exterminated by such abomin- able methods and with such fiendish accompaniments as may well cause the most sluggish blood to boil and seethe with shame and indignation. For the Armenians are not lawless barbarians or brigands ; nor are the Turks and Kurds the accredited torch-bearers of civilization. But even if the roles of the actors in this hideous drama were thus distributed, an excuse might at most be found for severity, but no pretext could be discovered for the slow torture and gradual vivisection employed by fanatic Mohammedans to end the lives of their Christian neighbors. If, for instance, it be expedient that Armenians should be exterminated, why chop them up piecemeal, and, in the inter- vals of this protracted process, banter the agonized victims who are wildly calling upon God and man to put them out of pain ? Why must an honest, hard-working man be torn from 809 310 An Appeal for Armenia. his bed or his fireside, forced to witness the violation of his daughter by a band of all-pitiless demons, unable to rescue or help her, and then, his own turn come, have his hand cut off and stuffed into his mouth, while a short sermon is being preached to him on the text, " If your God be God, why does He not succor you ?" at the peroration of which the other hand is hacked off, and, amid boisterous shouts of jubilation, his ears are torn from his head and his feet severed with a hatchet, while the piercing screams, the piteous prayers, the hideous contortions of the agonizing victim intoxicate with physico-spiritual ecstasies the souls of the frantic fanatics around? Jokes and Blasphemies. And why, when the last and merciful stroke of death is being dealt, must obscene jokes and unutterable blasphemies jear the victim's soul and prolong his hell to the uttermost limits of time, to the very threshold of eternity ? Surely, roasting alive, flaying, disembowelling, impaling, and all that elaborate and ingenious aggravation of savage pain on which the souls of these human fiends seem to feast and flourish, have nothing that can excuse them in the eyes of Christians, however deeply absorbed in politics. But it is the Turks and Kurds who, at their best, are stag- nant, sluggish, and utterly averse to progress ; and at their worst are — the beings who conceive, perpetrate, and glory in the horrors just enumerated and in others that must be name- less. The Armenians, on the contrary, constitute the sole civilizing — nay, with all their many faults, the sole humanizing — element in Anatolia ; peaceful to the degree of self-sacrifice, law-abiding to their own undoing, and industrious and hope- ful under conditions which would appall the majority of man- kind. At their best, they are the stuff of which heroes and An Appeal for Armenia, 311 martyrs are moulded. Christians, believing, as we believe, that God revealed Himself to the world in Jesus Christ, they have held fast to the teachings of our common Master in spite of disgrace and misery, in the face of fire and sword, in the agonies of torture and death. From the middle of the fifth century, when the hero Vartan and his dauntless com- panions died defending their faith against the Persian Maz- deans,* scarcely a year has elapsed in which Armenian men and women have not unhesitatingly and unostentatiously laid down their lives for their religious belief. Untold Agonies. The murdered of Sassoun, of Van, of Erzeroum, were also Christian martyrs ; and any or all of those whose eyes were lately gouged out, whose limbs were wrenched asunder, and whose quivering flesh was torn from their bodies, might have obtained life and comparative prosperity by merely pronounc ing the formula of Islam and abjuring Christ. But, instead of this, they commended their souls to their Creator, deliv- ered up their bodies to the tormentors, endured indescribablt agonies, and died, like Christian martyrs, defying Heaven itself, so to say, by their boundless trust in God. Identity of ideals, aspirations, and religious faith give this unfortunate but heroic people strong claims on the sympathy of the English people, whose ancestors, whatever their relig- ious creed, never hesitated to die for it, and when the breath of God swept over them, breasted the hurricane of persecu- tion. *Yezdiged II., King of Persia, insisted on the apostasy of the Arme- nian people, whom he commanded to embrace the garbled doctrines of Zoroaster. Vartan, the chieftain of the race, gathered 287 members of the royal family around him, and with a following of 749 others, man- fully died on the field of b:\ttle after a bloody combat with the Persian troops, on June 2, 4.50. 312 An Appeal for Armenia. But what special claims to our sympathy are needed by men and women whom we see treated by their masters as the damned were said to be dealt with by the devils in the deepest of hell's abysses? Our written laws condemn cruelty to a horse, a dog, a cat; our innate sense of justice moves us to punish the man who should wantonly torture a rat, say, by roasting it alive. And shall it be asserted that our instincts of justice, humanity, mercy need to be reinforced by extrinsic considera- tions before we consent to stretch out a helping hand, not to a brute or to a single individual, but to tens of thousands of honest, industrious Christian men, pure, virtuous women, and innocent little children to save them from protracted tortures, compared with some of which roasting alive is a swift and merciful death ? Suffering not Relieved. Yet it is a melancholy fact that we have not alleviated tht sufferings of thesd woe stricken people by a single pang, and that the succor which no one of us, individually, would dream of withholding from a friend, a neighbor, nay, a bitter enemy were he in such straits, we all, as a nation, deny to our Christian brethren who are being bludgeoned, sawn in twain, burned or thrust fainting into a gory grave. Why is it that our compassion for these, our fellow-men, has not yet assumed tne form of effective help? For reasons of " higher politics ; " because, forsooth, the Turks and Kurds, in whose soulless bodies the Gadarene legion of unclean spirits would seem to have taken up their abode, are indis- pensable to Christian civilization — for the time being ; and because the millions of soldiers, the deadly rifles and the destructive warships which are accounted the mo':t costly possessions of contemporary Europe cannot be spared in such An Appeal fur Armenia. 313 a cause — they are wanted by the Christian nations to mow each other down with. In a word, the civiUzation built up on Christ's Gospel can- not stand, or at least cannot thrive, without the support of Kurdish cruelty and Turkish thuggery ! It may be asked, on what grounds the people of Great Britain ought to show themselves more ready to pity, and more eager to succor, the Armenians than our Continental neighbors. The qucsti( n differs little in spirit from that which the priest and the Le\ itc asked themselves as they passed the helpless man mentioned by Jesus, who, on his way to Jericho, had fallen among thieves, and was left lying half-dead. Fixing the Responsibility. But in the present case an answer is forthcoming, an answer which is calculated to satisfy the most callous among us, and transform us into Good Samaritans. Briefly, it is this : because we are primarily responsible for their sufferings ; because they are the innocent victims of our selfish pursuit » f political interests- -which have none the less eluded our grasp, and left us empty-handed, and face to face with the calan:iitous results of our egotism. In the first place, we refused to recognize the Treaty of San Stefano, and to allow the Christian subjects of the Sultan to owe the boon of humane treatment to Russia's policy or gen- erosity. We insisted on delivering them back, bound hand and foot, to their rabid enemies, undertaking, however, to undo their fetters later on. But the " later on " never came. Oppression, persecution, incredible manifestations of savagery, characterized the dealings of the Turks with the Christians, but we closed our eyes and shut our ears until the Porte encouraged by our connivance, organized the wholesak massacres of Sassoun. 314 A7i Appeal for ArmeJiia. Then, for the first time, we interfered, striking out a Hne of action which we knew must prove disastrous if not completely successful, and without first assuring ourselves that we could and would work it out to a favorable issue. And the result was what was feared from the first. We acted as a surgeon might who, about to perform a dangerous operation, should lay the patient on the table, probe the wound, cut the flesh, and just when the last and decisive manipulation was needed to save the life of the sufferer, should turn away, and leave liim to bleed to death. Punished, only in Theory. These are reasons why we, and we more than any other people, are responsible for the misery of the Armenians. The condition of Armenian Christians when we first inter- fered (1878) was, from a humane point of view, deplorable. Laws existed only on paper. Mohammedan crimes were runishable only in theory. Life and property depended for security solely on the neighborly feeling which custom and community of interests had gradually fostered between Mos- lems and Christians, and which greed or fanaticism might at any moment suddenly uproot. Russia was willing to substi- tute law and order for crime and chaos, and to guarantee to Christians the treatment due to human beings. But we then denied her right to do this, as she refuses to admit our claim to undertake it single-handed. Our inter- ference was inspired by purely political calculations, unre deemed by considerations of humanity. About this there i'? now no doubt, nor was there then any disguise. Our poli- .ical interests needed, or our Government fancied they neetled, the propping up of the Turkish Empire, when the Turkish Empire had already become the embodiment of the powers of darkness. And to these fancied interests were sac- An Appeal for Armenia. 315 rificed the property, the honor, the hves of the Armenian people. But, not to appear less generous or humane than our north- ern rival, we solemnly and emphatically promised to compel the Porte to deal fairly with its Christian subjects, and we undertook to see that such reforms were introduced as would enable Armenians to work without fear of legalized robbci}' or lawless brigandage, to marry without the certitude of hav- ing their wives dishonored and their daughters violated, and to worship God after the manner of their fathers without being liable to imprisonment, torture, and death. We said in effect : " Though our political interests may clash with those of Russia, we will see to it that they are not subversive of the elementary principles of human justice and the immutable law of God. Therefore we declare that we are actuated by the will and possessed of the power to induce or compel the Porte to grant such political and administrative reforms as are essential to the well-being of its Armenian subjects." This promise, and the events that rendered it necessary, constitute the main claim of the Armenian people in Turkey to English sympathy and assistance. A Solemn Promise not Kept. Yet we never took any efficacious step to fulfill that solemn promise. We never said or did anything the effect of whici was to assuage the sufferings which owed their continued existence to our egotism. Nay, more ; we allowed things to drift from bad to worse, mismanagement to develop into malignity, oppression to merge in extermination, and for the space of seventeen years we deliberately shut our eyes and closed our ears to the ghastlv sights and lugubrious sounds that accompanied the horrors of Tuikish misrule in Armenia. 316 An Appeal for Armenia. Our consuls forwarded exhaustive reports, the Press pub- lished heart-rending details, Armenian ecclesiastics presented piteous appeals — all of them describing deeds more gruesome A HORRIBLE vSCENE and nefarious than those which in patriarchal days brought down fire from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. But we "pigeon-holed" the consular reports, pooh-poohed the parti- culars published by the Press, or characterized them ns a tissue of gross exaggerations, and ignored the petition of the priests. An Appeal for Armenia. 317 Let it not be supposed for a moment that this breach of faith was a mere "political peccadillo." It is often impli- citly assumed, and sometimes flippantly affirmed, that politics postulate a code of morals different from that of private life. Even if this strange theory were true,, it would furnish no justification, no excuse, no pretext for this indefensible con- duct of a great nation towards a poor and down-trodden peo- ple. For the guiles and wiles, the subterfuges and stratagems which commonly characterize the diplomatic dealing of inde- pendent peoples and States are usually confined, even in their furthest consequences, by the narrow limits of the political sphere. They leave the real weal and woe of individuals practically untouched. Fiends in Human Shape. National prestige, commercial advantages, or, at most, a strip of territory, is all that is at stake. But our unfortunate action and inaction made themselves immediately and fatally felt in the very homes and at the firesides of hundreds of thousands of Christian men and women, driving them into exile, shutting them up in noisome prisons, and subjecting them to every conceivable species of indignity, outrage, and death. We pressed a knob, as it were, in London, and thereby opened hell's portals in Asia Minor, letting loose legions of fiends in human shape, who set about torturing and extermi- nating the Christians there. And, lest it should be urged that our Government \\a? ignorant of the wide-reaching effects of its ill-advised action, it is on record that for seventeen years it continued to watch the harrowing results of that action without once interfering to stop it, although at any moment during that long period of persecution it could have redeemed its promise, and rescued the Christians from their unbearable lot. 318 An Appeal for Armenia. If a detailed description wore possible of the horrors which our exclusive attention to our own mistaken interests let loose upon Turkish Armenians, there is not a man within the king- dom of Great Britain whose heart-strings would not be touched and thrilled by the gruesome stories of which it would be composed. Robbed cf Liberty and Life. During all those seventeen years written law, traditional custom, the fundamental maxims of human and divine justice were suspended in favor of a Mohammedan saturnah'a. The Christians by whose toil and thrift the empire was held together, were despoiled, beggared, chained, beaten and banished or butchered. First their movable wealth was seized, then their landed property was confiscated, next the absolute necessaries of life were wrested from them, and finally honor, liberty, and life were taken with as little ado as if the.':^ Christian men and women were wasps or mosquitoes. Thousands of Armenians were thrown into prison by governors like Tahsin Pasha and Bahri Pasha, and tortured and terrorized till they delivered up the savings of a lifetxrne, and the support of their helpless families, to ruffianly parasites. Whole villages were attacked in broad daylight by the Imperial Kurdish cavalry without pretext or warning, the male inhabitants turned adrift or killed, and their wives and daugh- ers transformed into instruments to glut the foul lusts of these bestial murderers. In a {<^\n years the provinces were deci- mated, Aloghkerd, for instance, being almost entirely " purged " of Armenians. Over 20,000 woe-stricken wretches, once healthy and well- to-do, fled to Russia or to Persia in rags and misery, deformed diseased, or dying; on the wa\' they were seized over and over again by the soldiers of the Sultan, who deprived them of the little money they possessed, nay, of the clothes they An Appeal for Armenia. dl9 were wearing, outraged the married women in presence of their sons and daughters, deflowered the tender girls before the eyes of their mothers and brothers, and then drove tliem over the frontier to hunger and die. Those who remained for a time behind were no better off. Kurdish brigands Hftedthe last cows and goats of the peasants, carried away their carpets and their valuables, raped their daughters, and dishonored their wives. Cruelty and Torture. Turkish tax-gatherers followed these, gleaning what the brigands had left, and, lest anything should escape their avarice, bound the men, flogged them till their bodies were a bloody, mangled mass, cicatrized the wounds with red hot ramrods, plucked out their beards hair by hair, tore the flesh from their limbs with pincers, and often even then, dissatisfied with the financial results of their exertions, hung the men whom they had thus beggared and maltreated from the rafters of the room and kept them there to witness, with burning shame, impotent rage, and incipient madness, the dishonoring of their wives and the deflowering of their daughters, some of whom died miserably during the hellish outrage. Stories of this kind in connection with Turkish misrule in Armenia have grown familiar to English ears of late, and it is to be feared that people are now so much accustomed to them that they have lost the power of conveying corresponding d finite impressions to the mind. The more is the pity. It is only meet that we should make some effort to realize the sufferings which we have brought down upon inoffensive men and women, and to understand somewhat of the shame, the terror, the despair that must take possession of the souls of Christians whose lives are a martyrdom of such unchroni- cled agonies, during which no ray of the life-giving light that plays about the throne of God ever pierces the mist of blood o20 An Appeal for Armenia. and tears that rises between the blue of heaven and the ever- lasting gre)- of the cliarncl-hou.se called Armenia. It should be renie.nbered that these statements are neither rumors nor exaggerations concerning which we are justified in suspending our judgment. History has set its seal upon them ; diplomacy has slowly verified and reluctantly recog- nized them as established facts, and religion and humanity are now called upon to place their emphatic protest against them on record. They Glory in their Shame The Turks, in their confidential moods, have admitted these and worse acts of savagery ; the Kurds glory in theni at all times ; trustworthy Europeans have witnessed and described them, and Armenians groaned over them in blank despair. Officers and nobles in the Sultan's own cavalry regiments, like Mostigo the Kurd, bruit abroad, with unpardonable pride, the story of the long series of rapes and murders which marked their official careers, and laugh to scorn the notion of being punished for robbing and killing the Armenians, whom the Sublime Porte desires them to exterminate. Nay, it was the Armenians themselves who were punished if they com- plained when their own celatives or friends were murdered. And they were punished, either on the charge of having cruelly done their own parents, sisters, children to death, or else on suspicion of having killed the murderers, who, how- ever, were always found afterwards living and thriving /// llic Sultan' s employ , and were never disturbed there. Three hundred and six of the principal inhabitants of the district of Khnouss, in a piteous appeal to the people of England, wrote : "Year by year, month by month, day by day, innocent men, women and children have been shot down, stabbed or clubbed to death, in their houses and their fields, tortured in strange fiendish ways in fetid prison cells, or left to rot in Ail Appeal for Armenia. 321 exile under the scorching sun of Arabia. During that long and horrible tragedy no voice was raised for mercy, no hand extended to help us. . . . Is European sympathy destined to take the form of a cross on our graves ? " Now the answer has been given. These ill-starred men might now know that European sympathy has taken a different form — that of a marine guard before the Sultan's palace to shield him and his from harm from without while they proceed with their orgies of blood and lust within. These simple men of Khnouss might now know and wonder at this — if they were still among the living; but most of them have been butchered since then, like the relatives and friends whose lot they lamented and yet envied. Orowded Dungeons. In accordance with the plan of extermination, which has ' een carried out with such signal success during these long years of Turkish vigor and English sluggishness, all those Armenians who possessed money or money's worth were for a time allowed to purchase immunity from prison, and from all that prison life in Asia Minor implies. But as soon as terror and summary confiscation took the place of slow and elaborate extortion, the gloomy dungeons of Erzeroum, Erzinghan, Marsovan, Hassankaleh, and Van were filled, till there was no place to sit down, and scarcely sufficient standing room. And this means more than English people can realize, or any person believe who has not actually witnessed it. It would have been a torture for Turkish troopers and Kurdish brigands, but it was worse than death to the educated school- masters, missionaries, priests and physicians, who were im- mured in these noisome hotbeds of infection, and forced to sleep night after night standing on their feet, leaning against 322 An Appeal for Anne^iia. the foul, reeking corner of the wall which all the prisoners were compelled to occupy alike. The very worst class of Tartar and Kurdish criminals were turned in here to make these hell-chambers more unbearable to the Christians. And the experiment was everywhere successful. Human hatred and diabolical spite, combined with the most disgust- ing sights and sounds and stenches, with their gnawing hun- ger and their putrid food, their parching thirst and the slimy water, fit only for sewers, rendered their agony maddening. Yet these were not criminals nor alleged criminals, but upright Christian men, who were never even accused of an infraction of the law. No man who has not seen these pris- ons with his own eyes, and heard these prisoners with his own ears, can be expected to conceive, much less realize, the sufferings inflicted and endured. Scene of Horrors. The loathsome diseases, whose terrible ravages were freely displayed ; the still more loathsome vices, which were contin- ually and openly practiced ; the horrible blasphemies, revolt- ing obscenities and ribald jests which alternated with cries of pain, songs of vice, and prayers to the unseen God, made these prisons, in some respects, nearly as bad as the Black Hole of Calcutta, and in others infinitely worse. In one cor- ner of this foul fever -nest a man might be heard moaning and groaning with the pain of a shattered arm or leg ; in another, a youth is convulsed with the death spasms of cholera or poi- son ; in the centre, a knot of Turks, whose dull eyes are fired with bestial lust, surround a Christian boy, who pleads for mercy with heart-harrowing voice while the human fiends actually outrage him to death. Into these prisons venerable old ministers of religion were dragged from their churches, teachers from their schools, An Appeal for Armenia. 323 missionaries from their meeting-houses, merchants, physi- cians, and peasants from their fire-sides. Those among them who refused to denounce their friends, or consent to some atrocious crime, were subjected to horrible agonies. Many a one, for instance, was put into a sentry-box bristhng with sharp spikes, and forced to stand there motionless, without food or drink, for twenty-four and even thirty-six hours, was revived with stripes whenever he fell fainting to the prickly f jox, and was carried out unconscious at the end. It was thus that hundreds of Armenian Christians, whose names and histories are on record, suffered for refusing to sign addresses to the Sultan accusing their neighbors and relatives of high treason. It was thus that Azo was treated hy his judges, the Turkish officials, Talib Effendi, Captain R.eshid, and Captain Hadji Fehim Agha, for declining tc swear away the lives of the best men of his village. A whole night was spent in torturing him. He was first bastinadoed in a room close to which his female relatives and friends were shut up so that they could hear his cries. A Living Cross. Then he was stripped naked, and two poles, extending from his arm-pits to his feet, were placed on either side of his body and tied tightly. His arms were next stretched out horizon- tally and poles arranged to support his hands. This living cross was then bound to a pillar, and the flogging began. The whips left livid traces behind. The wretched man was unable to make the slightest movement to ease his pain. His features alone, hideously distorted, revealed the anguish he endured. The louder he cried, the more heavily fell the whip. Over and over again he entreated his tormentors to put him out of pain, saying : " If you want my death, kill me with 324 An Appeal for Armenia. a bullet, but for God's sake don't torture me like this ! " His head alone being free he, at last, maddened by excruciating pain, endeavored to dash out his brains against the pillar, hoping in this way to end his agony. But this consumma- tion was hindered by the police. They questioned him again ; but in spite of his condition, Azo replied as before : " I cannot defile my soul with the blood of innocent people. I am a Christian." Enraged at this obstinacy, TaHb Effendi, the Turkish official, ordered the application of other and more effective tortures. Roars of Infernal Laughter. Pincers were fetched to pull out his teeth; but Azo, remarn- ing firm, this method was not long persisted in. Then Talib commanded his servants to pluck out the prisoner's mous- tachios by the roots, one hair at a time. This order the gendarmes executed, with roars of infernal laughter. But this treatment proving equally ineffectual, Talib instructed his nen to cauterize the unfortunate victim's body. A spit was heated in the fire. Azo's arms were freed from their supports, and two brawny policemen approached, one on each side, and seized him. Meanwhile another gendarme held to the middle of the wretched man's hands the glowing spit. While his flesh was thus burning, the victim shouted out in agony, " For the love of God kill me at once ! " Then the executioners removing the red-hot spit from his hands, applied it to his breast, then to his back, his face, his feet, and other parts. After this, they forced open his mouth, and burned his tongue with red-hot pincers. During these inhuman operations, Azo fainted three several times, but on recovering consciousness maintained the same inflexibility ot purpose. Meanwhile, in the adjoining apartment, a heartrending scene An Appeal for Armenia. 325 was being enacted. The women and the children, terrified by the groans and cries of the tortured man, fainted. When they revived, they endeavored to rush out to call for help, but the gendarmes, stationed at the door, barred their passage, and brutally pushed them back.* Bribed or Poisoned. Nights were passed in such hellish orgies and days in inventing new tortures or refining upon the old, with an ingen- uity which reveals unimagined strata of malignity in the human heart. The results throw the most sickening horrors of the Middle Ages into the shade. Some of them cannot be described, nor even hinted at. The shock to people's sensibili- ties would be too terrible. And yet they were not merely described to, but endured by, men of education and refine- ment, whose sensibilities were as delicate as ours. And when the prisons in which these and analogous doings were carried on had no more room for new-comers, some of the least obnoxious of its actual inmates were released for a bribe, or, in case of poverty, were expeditiously poisoned off. In the homes of these wretched people the fiendish fanatics were equally active and equally successful. Family life was poisoned at its very source. Rape and dishonor, with name- less accompaniments, menaced almost every girl and woman in the country. They could not stir out of their houses in the broad daylight to visit the bazaars, or to work in the fields, nor even lie down at night in their own homes without fearing the fall of that Damocles' sword ever suspended over their heads. * The above description is taken literally from a report of the British Vice-Consul of Erzeroum. Copies are in possession of the diplomatic representatives of the Powers at Constantinople. The scene occurred in the village of Semal before the massacres, during the normal condition <»f things. 326 An Appeal for Armenia, Tender youth, childhood itself, was no guarantee. Child- ren were often married at the age of eleven, even at ten, in the vain hope of lessening this danger. But the protection of a husband proved unavailing ; it merely meant one murder more, and one " Christian dog " less. A bride would be mar- ried in church yesterday, and her body would be devoured by the beasts and birds of prey to-morrow — a band of ruffians. often officials, having within the intervening forty-eight hours seized her and outraged her to death. Others would be abducted, and, having for weeks been subjected to the loathsome lusts of lawless Kurds, would end by abjuring their God and embracing Islam ; not from any vulgar motive of gain, but to escape the burning shame of •eturning home as pariahs and lepers to be shunned by th^se near and dear to them forever. Little girls of five and six were frequently forced to be present during these horrible scenes of lust, and, they, too, were often sacrificed before the eyes of their mothers, who would have gladly, madly accepted death, ay, and damnation, to save their tender offspring .rom the corroding poison. Fate of a Young Woman. One of the abducted young women who, having been out- raged by the son of the Deputy-Governor of Khnouss, Hussni Bey, returned, a pariah, and is now alone in the world, lately appealed to her English sisters for such aid as a heathen would give to a brute, and she besought it in the name of our common God, Lucine Mussegh — this is the name of that outraged young woman whose Protestant education gave her, as she thought, a special claim to act as the spokeswoman of Armenian mothers and daughters — Lucine Mussegh besought, last March, the women of England to obtain for the women of Armenia thQ privilege of living a pure and chaste life! An Appeal for Armenia. 327 This was the boon which she craved — but did not, could not, obtain. The interests of " higher pohtics," the civiHzing missions of the Christian Powers are, it seems, incompatible with it ! " For the love of the God whom we worship in common," wrote this outraged, but still hopeful, Armenian lady, " help us, Christian sisters ! Help us before it is too late, and take the thanks of the mothers, the wives, the sisters, and the daughters of my people, and with them the gratitude of one for whom, in spite of her youth, death would come as a happy release." Neither the Christian sisters nor the Christian brethren in England have seen their way to comply with this strange request. But it may perhaps interest Lucine Mussegh to learn that the six Great Powers of Europe are quite unani- mous, and are manfully resolved, come what will, to shield his Majesty the Sultan from harm, to support his rule, and to guarantee his kingdom from disintegration. These are objects worthy of the attention of the Great Powers ; as for the privilege of leading pure and chaste lives — they cannot be importuned about such private matters. What astonishes one throughout this long, sickening story of shame and crime is the religious faith of the sufferers. It envelops them like a Nessus' shirt, aggravating their agonies by the fear it inspires that they must have offended in some inexplicable way the omnipotent God who created them. What is not at all wonderful, but only symptomatic, is the mood of one of the women, who, having prayed to God in heaven, discovered no signs of His guiding hand upon earth, and whose husband was killed in presence of her daughter, after which each of the two terrified females was outraged by the band of ruffians in turn. When gazing, a {q^n days later, on the lifeless corpse of that beloved child whom she had vainly endeavored to save, that 328 A7i Appeal for Ar7nenia. wretched, heart-broken mother, wrung to frenzy by her soul- searing anguish, accounted to her neighbors for the horrors that were spread over her people and her country by the startling theory that God Himself had gone mad, and that maniacs and demons incarnate were stalking about the world ! Such, in broad outline, has been the norjnal condition of Armenia ever since the Treaty of Berlin, owing at first to the disastrous action and subsequently to the equally disastrous inaction of the British Government. The above sketch con- tains but a few isolated instances of the daily common-places of the life of Armenian Christians. When these have been multiplied by thousands and the colors duly heightened, a more or less adequate idea may be formed of the hideous reality. Ideas of Justice Perverted. Now, during all those seventeen years, we took no serious step to put an end to the brigandage, rapes, tortures, and murders which all Christendom agreed with us in regarding as the normal state of things. No one deemed it his duty to insist on the punishment of the professional butchers and demoralizers, who founded their claims to preferment upon the maintenance of this inhuman system, and liad their claims allowed, for the Sultan, whose intelligence and humanity it was the fashion to eulogize and admire, decorated and rewarded these faithful servants, making them participators in the joy of their lord. Indeed, the utter perversion of the ideas of justice and humanity which characterized the views of European Chris- tendom during the long period of oppression and demoraliza- tion has at last reached such a pitch that the Powers have agreed to give the Sultan a " reasonable " time to re-establish once more the normal state of things. The Turks, encouraged by the seventeen years' connivance An Appeal for Arme?iia. 3'j:0 of the only Power which possessed any formal right to inter- vene in favor of the Armenians, and confident that the British nation was a consenting party to the policy of sheer extermi- nation which was openly proclaimed again and again, organized a wholesale massacre of the Christians of Sassoun. " Systematic Turkeries." The particular reason for this sweeping measure lay in the circumstance that the Armenian population in that part of ihe country consisted of the hardiest, bravest and most reso- lute representatives of the race, and that their proportion to the Mohammedans there was more than twice greater than '^Isewhere. The systematic Turkeries, which had impover- ished and depopulated the other less favored districts, were consequently of little avail in Sassoun ; therefore, a purgative measure on a grandiose scale was carefully prepared, for a whole year before, by Imperial officials, whose services the Sultan has since nobly requited. The preparations were elaborate and open. The project was known to and canvassed by all. A long report was addressed by the Abbot of Moush, Kharakhanian, to the British representative at Erzeroum, informing him of this inhuman plan, proving its real existence, and appealing to the people of England to save their Christian brethren. But international comity forbade us to meddle with the " domestic affairs of a friendly Power," and the massacre took place as advertised. Momentary glimpses of the blood- curdling scenes, as described by Turkish, Kurdish and Arme- nian eye-witnesses, have since been vouchsafed us; not by the Government, which " pigeon-holed " the reports of its consuls, but by the Press. And in these dissolving views we behold long processions of misery-stricken men and women, bearing witness Xq the light invisible to them, as they m.ove 330 An Appeal fo7' Armenia. onward to midnight martyrdom amid the howls of their frantic torturers. The rivulets were choked up with corpses ; the streams ran red with human blood ; the forest glades and rocky caves were peopled with the dead and the dying ; among the black ruins of once prosperous villages lay roasted infants by their mangled mothers' corpses ; pits were dug at night by the wretches destined to fill them, many of whom, flung in while but lightly wounded, awoke underneath a mountain of clammy corpses, and vainly wrestled with death and with the dead, who shut them out from light and life forever. He Did his Best. It was then that our present Ambassador at Constantinople took action, and displayed those remarkable gifts of energy and industry to which the Prime Minister lately alluded w^h pride. It was owing to his enlightened initiative and inde- fatigable perseverance that the unfortunate Armenians . But what, ask the Armenians, have we to feel grateful for? What act of clemency, what deed of humanity, do wc owe to British intervention ? The British Ambassador, however, did his best. He prose- cuted inquiries, studied reports, made energetic representa- tions to the Sultan, and at last carried the appointment of a Commission of Investigation. An excellent result, apparently, and the beginning of much else. Yes, but on one condition — viz.: that the British Government, before beginning this arduous work, saw its way to bring it to a successful issue, and, having irritated the Turks and Kurds to fury against the Armenians by this foreign intervention, were resolved not to abandon the Christians to the mercies of the Mohammedans without foreign protection. Otherwise it was only too clear that our tardy action would An Appeal for Armenia. 331 turn out to be a piece of inexcusable inhumanity. This view was expressed and maintained at the time by some of the leading organs of our Press, But the Government went its way unheeding. Yet, while the Commission of Inquiry was still sitting at Moush, the deeds of atrocious cruelty which it was assembled to investigate were outdone under the eyes of the delegates. Threats were openly uttered that, on their withdrawal, massacres would be organized all over the coun- try — massacres, it was said, in comparison with which the Sassoun butchery would compare but as dust in the balance. And elaborate preparations were made — aye, openly made, in the presence of consuls and delegates — for the perpetration of these v/holesale murders ; and, in spite of the warnings and appeals published in England, nothing was done to prevent them. Wholesale Destruction of Life. In due time they began. Over 60,000 Armenians have been butchered, and the massacres are not quite ended yet. In Trebizond, Erzeroum, Erzinghan, Hassankaleh, and num- berless other places the Christians were crushed like grapes during the vintage. The frantic mob, seething and surging in the streets of the cities, swept down upon the defenceless Armenians, plundered their shops, gutted their houses, then joked and jested with the terrified victims, as cats play with mice. As rapid whirling motion produces apparent rest, so the wild frenzy of those fierce fanatical crowds resulted in a con- dition of seeming calmness, composure and gentleness which, taken in connection with the unutterable brutality of their acts, was of a nature to freeze men's blood with horror. In many cases they almost caressed their victims, and actually encouraged them to hope, while preparing the instruments of slaughter. 332 A?i Appeal for Armenia. The French mob during the Terror were men — nay, angels of mercy — compared with these Turks. Those were not insensible to compassion; in these every instinct of humanity seemed atrophied or dead. In Trebizond, on the first day of the massacre, an Armenian was coming out of a baker's shop, where he had been purchasing bread for his sick wife and family, when he was surprised by the raging crowd. Fasci- nated with terror, he stood still, was seized, and dashed to the ground. Pie pleaded piteous'y for mercy and pardon, and they quietly promised it ; and so grim and dry was the humor of this crowd that the trembling wretch took their promise seriously and offered them his heartfelt thanks. In truth they were only joking. When they were ready to be serious they tied the man's feet together, and taunted him, but at first with the assumed gentleness that might well be mistaken for the h'^rbinger of mercy. Bloodcurdling Barbarities. Then they cut off one of his hands, slapped his face with the bloody wrist, and placed it between his quivering lips. Soon afterwards they chopped off the other hand, and inquired whether he would like pen and paper to write to his wife. Others requested him to make the sign of the cross with his stumps, or with his feet, while he still possessed them, while others desired him to shout louder that his God might hear his cries for help. One of the most active members of the crowd then stepped forward and tore the man's ears from his head, after which he put them between his lips, and then flung them in his face. "That Effendi's mouth deserves to be puni.shed for refusing such a choice morsel," exclaimed a voice in the crowd, where- upon somebody stepped forward, knocked out some of his An Appeal for Armenia. 333 teeth, and proceeded to cut out his tongue. " He will never blaspheme again," a pious Moslem jocosely remarked. There- upon a dagger was placed under one of his eyes, which was scooped clean out of its socket The hideous contortions of the man's discolored face, the quick convulsions of his quivering body, and the sight of the ebbing blood turning the dry dust to gory mud, literally in- toxicated these furious fanatics, who, having gouged out his other eye and chopped off his feet, hit upon some other excru- ciating tortures before cutting his throat and sending his soul " to damnation," as they expressed it. These other 'ngenious pain-sharpening devices, however, were such as do not lend themselves to description. In Erzeroum, where a large tract of country, from the lofty mountains of Devi Boyen to the Black Sea shore, has just been laid waste and completely purged of Armenians, similar scenes were enacted. The vilayet of Van, the town of Has- sankaleh, and numerous other places have been deluged with blood, and polluted with unbridled lust. A man in Erzeroum, hearing the tumult, and fearing for his children, who were playing in the street, went out to seek and save them. He was borne down upon by the mob. He pleaded for his life, protesting that he had always lived in peace with his Moslem neighbors, and sincerely loved them. The statement may have represented a fact, or it may have been but a plea for pity. The ringleader, however, told him that that was the proper spirit, and would be condignly rewarded. The man was then stripped, and a chunk of his flesh cut out of his body, and jestingly offered for sale : " Good fresh meat and dirt cheap," exclaimed some of the crowd. "Who'll buy fine dog's meat?" echoed the amused bystanders. The writhing wretch uttered piercing screams as some of 334 An Appeal for Armenia. the mob, who had just come from rifling the shops, opened a bottle, and poured vinegar or some acid into the gaping wound. He called on God and man to end his agonies. But they had only begun. Soon afterwards, two little boys came up, the elder crying, " Hairik, Hairik,^ save me ! See what they've don'" to me ! " and pointed to his head, from which the blood was streaming over his handsome face, and down his neck. The younger brother — a child of about three — was playing with a wooden toy. The agonized man was silent for a second and then, glancing at these, his children, made a frantic but vain effort to snatch a dagger from a Turk by his side. Slash of a Sabre. This was the signal for the renewal of his torments. The bleeding boy was finally dashed with violence against the dying father, who began to lose strength and consciousness and the two were then pounded to death where they lay. The younger child sat near, dabbling his wooden toy in the blood of his father and brother, and looking up, now through smilei at the prettily-dressed Kurds, and now through tears at the dust-begrimed thing that had lately been his father. A slash of a sabre wound up his short experience of God's world, and the crowd turned its attention to others. These are but isolated scenes revealed for a brief second by the light, as it were, of a momentary lightning flash. The worst cannot be described. And, if it could be, no descrip- tion, however vivid, would convey a true notion of the dread reality. At most of these manifestations of bestial passion and delirium the Sultan's troops, in uniform, stood by as delighted spectators when they did not actually take an active part as zealous executioners. And these are the Turks, whom unanimous Europe has * Father, father. An Appeal for Armenia. 335 Judged worthy of continuing to govern and guide the Chris- tians of Asia Minor. True, the Powers have courteously- signified their desire, and the Sultan has graciously pledged his "word of honor " that these massacres shall cease. His Majesty, in fact, undertakes, if a reasonable time be given him, to re-establish the normal state of things in Turkish Armenia; and we know that that normal conditiou implies the denial to Christians of the fundamental rights of human beings, the refusal of elementary justice, the prevalence of universal vio- lence and brutality, the abolition of womanly purity, the dis- integration of the family, the rape of tender children — in a word, a system of " government " for which the history of the world affords no parallel. Yet unanimous Europe, we are told, entertains no doubt that thf true interests of Christendom demand that Turkish rule, ai thus understood, should be maintained. And, with the genuine interests of Christianity at heart, the Great Powers are agreed to maintain it, in God's name. Is Forbearance a Virtue? If the refusal of the Powers to compel the Mohammedans of Turkey to respect the manhood, the motherhood, and maidenhood of their Chri.stian fellow-subjects could be, and had been, based upon their religious reluctance to employ force even against superlative evil, one might question the wisdom of such forbearance, but it would be impossible to withhold respect from the principle underlying it. Rut such is not the plea. Those same Governments who persistently proclaim Christianity on the one hand and un- blushingly support the fiendish torturers of Christians in Turkey on the other, are eager to blow each other's Christian subjects in thousands off the face of the earth — aye, and to invoke God's blessing on the work over and above. 336 All Appeal for Armenia. But indefensible as the conduct of Continental nations may appear to us, it is only fair to say that none of them was pledged specially and solemnly to see justice done to the Armenians ; none of them broke any solemn promise by con- niving for seventeen years at every species of human villainy in Asia Minor, nor could any of them reproach themselves with having roused the sleeping devils, lashed them to fury against the Armenians, and then left the latter to be trampled upon, burned, disembowelled, and pitchforked into eternity. Silence Means Approval. This unenviable role was reserved for Great Britain. Is it to be further persisted in ? And if it is, are we, as Christians — nay, as men — to give the approval of silence to a line of conduct that would disgrace a tribe of heathens ? Is there any political advantage so important and so seductive that the hope of ultimately securing it should harden our hearts to utter insensibility to the laws of God, the prompt- ings of conscience, the inborn instincts of healthy human nature ? To some, even among us, it may perhaps seem possible tu imitate the Christian States of Continental Europe, and keep the standard of true morality hidden away, to be applied only to bygone times and buried generations. But surely the bulk of normal Englishmen are still capable of assuming a definite attitude towards contemporary crimes, even though they have a political aspect, without staggering and reeling from the centre of Christianity to the distant and dangerous circum ference. It cannot be too clearly stated, nor too widely published, that what is asked for is not the establishment of an Armenian kingdom or principality, not a " buffer State," not even Christian autonomy in any sense that might render it ofifen- An AppcaC for Armenia. 337 sive or dangerous to any of the Powers of Europe ; but only that by some efficacious means the human beings who profess the Christian religion in Anatoha, and who professed and practiced it there for centuries before the Turks or Kurds were heard of, shall be enabled to live and die as human beings, and that the unparalleled crimes of which, for the past seventeen years, they have been the silent victims, shixll speedily and once for all be put a .stop to. What Hope for Armenians? What serious hope is there that the lot of the Armenians will be bettered in the future ? The question of the promised /eforms has already ceased to be actual. The Grand Vizier, explaining lately his reasons for not publishing the Sultan's recent undertaking to better the condition of the Christians, alleged, and very truly alleged, that the present Commander of the Faithful had brought no new factor into the question that needed to be published or made known. " His Imperial Majesty," he said, " made exactly the same kind of promise, respecting the same kind of reforms, as his illustrious prede- cessor seventeen years ago." Exactly ; and it will have prccisel} the same kind of results. The Christian Powers of Europe will see to this, and England's duty is admittedly to follow the Powers. Continental juris- consults have just given it as their conscientious opinion that any special reforms for the Armenians would necessarily in- volve a grave violation of the rights of man and of the law of God; and the jurisconsults ought to know. If this be so. the sensitive Sultan will naturally shrink from such lawless- ness and godlessness, and piously shelve the reforms The reason given by these conscientious jurisconsults is intelligent enough ; because to favor any one class of the population — say the Christians — to the exclusion of the others, 22 338 An Appeal for Armenia. would be to foster race hatred, to rouse religious fanaticism, and to unchain the most furious passions that now lie dor- mant (?) in the Mohammedan breast. They would strongly recommend — would these learned spokesmen of the Christian Powers — the introduction of wide-reaching reforms for all Turkish subjects, were it not that insuperable objections ren- der even such a course absolutely impossible ; for, in the first place, the Powers have no right to interfere in favor of the Sultan's Molianwiedaii subjects, who, in this case, would be mainly concerned ; in the second place, the Turks and Kurds themselves desire no such reforms, are, in fact, opposed to their introduction; in the third place, they are utterly unripe for them ; and, in the fourth place, general reforms for all would necessarily prove as disastrous as special reforms for Armenian Christians, because the Armenians, as the most intelligent and only self-disciplined element of the population, would profit by the improvements to obtain political prepon- derance for themselves. How the Question would Settle Itself. Things had better, therefore, remain as they are, with the wholesale butcheries left out; that is to say, the normal con- dition of things must be re-established, which in a very few years will solve the Armenian Question by exterminating the Armenians. And England — Christian, moral England — apparently en- dorses this view, and seeks to persuade herself that by com- bining with the Powers to carry it out, she will have discharged all her duties, general and special, to the Chris- tians whom she solemnly promised to protect. Is it right and proper to acquiesce even by silence in such unqualifiable conduct as this ? Have the tender humanities of the teachings of Jesus no An Appeal for Armenia. 339 longer any virtue that can pass into our souls and move us to condemn in emphatic terms the abominations which are even now turning the hves of our brothers and sisters in Armenia into tortures and their horrible deaths into the triumph of the most ferocious malignity that ever lurked in the abysses of the human heart ? If any Englishman in any walk of life, be he a Cabinet Minister or a Yorkshire boor, had been appealed to for help by the wretched woman whose little girl was outraged to death in her presence, after she had been dishonored in the presence of her daughter, and her husband had been killed before the eyes of both, would he have taken much time to reflect before according it ? Had he witnessed the living, quivering Christian s flesh being offered for sale as " fresh dogs' meat," while th( wretched man's children, whom he loved more than life, stood opposite him, the one with cloven skull asking for help, the other innocently plashing with his wooden toy in the red pool fed by his father's blood, would he have suspended his judgment until Continental Christians told him what opinion he should hold concerning these fiendish ferocities ? Yet these are the deeds which, in thousands and tens of thous- ands, are being perpetrated, while we rejoice and thank God that at last all Europe is unanimous — unanimous in its resolve to shield the Turks, the doers of these deeds, from harm. If there still be a spark of divinity in our souls, or a trace of healthy human sentiment in our hearts, we shall not hesi- tate to record our vehement protest against these hell-born crimes, that pollute one of the fairest portions of God's earth, and our strong condemnation of any and every line of policy that may tend directly or indirectly to perpetuate or condone them. CHAPTER XVIII. The Massacre at Urfa. BV MISS CORINNA SHATTUCK, Missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. We had often heard that the Moslems were dissatisfied with the attempt in October, 1895, which resulted in the destruc- tion of onlv forty lives and about ;^75O,O0O worth of goods, the plunder of 600 shops and 289 houses. After this the Chris- tians were all completely disarmed by the Government. Some eighty men had been imprisoned, and we feared another scene of i"error. It came at last with great suddenness. Jn Saturday, December 28th, 1895, the firing of a few guns in the Moslem quarter south of us proved the signal. Imme- diately an immense multitude gathered on the hill back of our house. The guards in the street east of us went to meet ihe people, fired a few shots over their heads, and then allowed the mass of wild humanity, thirsty for blood, to pass into the city and begin their work. The horrid work con- tinued until dark. Three soldiers kept the mob from enter- ing our street, constantly proclaiming : " It is the house of a foreigner, and it is forbidden to touch her." We find by count that our " shadow " covered seventeen houses and two hun- dred and forty people. The mob came as far as to enter our girls' schoolrooms in the churchyard, and they broke open the third door below us on the street and plundered the house. I saw one man beaten and then thrown down on the roof just opposite to me on the other side of the street. The Syrians and Roman 340 The Massacre at Ur/a. 541 Catholics were also spared. All other Christians Buffered complete loss of all home furnishings, and some houses were burned. The number of killed cannot be less than 3,500 and may reach 4,000. Of these it is estimated that 1,500 perished in the great Gregorian church. On Saturday that portion of the city was hardly touched, and great numbers of Armenians flocked to the church for safety that night. Sunday morning the work began again at daybreak, and when the people reached the church the soldiers broke open the doors. Then entering, they began a butchery which became a great holocaust. It was participated in b" nany classes of Moslems. For two days the air of the city was unendurable ; then began the clearing up. During two days we saw constantly men lugging sacks filled with bones and ashes. The dragging off of 1,500 bodies for burial in trenches was more quickly completed, some being taken on animals. How they Escaped. The last work of all has been the clearing of the wells. From one very large well it is said that sixty bodies were taken. It is well authenticated that twenty bodies were taken from another well. About three hundred persons escaped from the church by way of the roof, which was reached by a narrow staircase on the inside. Shortly after noon on Sun- day some fifteen or more of the prominent citizens and Gov- ernment officials (not including the Mutessarif, or the military commander), preceded by a military band and mounted guard, made a grand parade of the city. They entered our yard, and, speaking with me from the veranda, they assured me of perfect safety and begged me not to be alarmed, as it was "nothing that pertained to me." I very quickly went into my room. The work did not cease until dark on Sunday, the 29th. 342 The Massacre at Urfa. On Monday the Kurds and Arabs were prevented from enter- ing the city, the firing beginning about dawn. All day Sun- day a strong guard was about our premises. A captain of the army sat on his horse for hours at our northwest corner, just outside of the church premises. Repeatedly I received salutations and assurances of perfect safety from Government officials during that longest day I ever knew. It was evident that the utmost was done to protect inc. How willingly I would have died that the thousands oi parents might be spared for their children ! The work of plunder is complete. Literally naught remains. By actual count only ten Protestant houses remain untouched, and five of these are in the district which I have spoken of as my shadow. The Number Lost. Our loss of life is one hundred and five, all but nine being men. These nine include two women and seven children, who were in the Gregorian church when it was sacked. Our wounded are many. I have eighteen under my immediate care. Most of these have several severe wounds. One has eleven ; one has eighteen; ghastly sword and axe cuts on head and neck. There are a few gunshot wounds. There is only one doctor for the whole city. He has three hundred and fifty, and cannot care for more, nor for these but in part. He came at my call to see one who we supposed must lose bis hand, dressed the arm, and committed the case to my cafe. Thus far, thank God, all are doing well. I have found three persons who, like myself, are inexperienced in such matters ; but they are proving careful, sensible workers with me. We dress most of the wounds in the church. Our schoolrooms (all but one, used as headquarters of our guard) are crowded with some two hundred and fifty or three hundred of the most forlorn and needy. Our home is also full. Those The Massacre at Urfa. 343 who are spared to their lamihes are in great fear, and wish to be near me. We cannot receive all, and it is hard to daily- turn away so many. Some have a little food, found in their houses, and some nothing. One of the several great men who have called to express sympathy, and to say, Turkish style, " It was from God," has sent provisions, for which I am exceedingly grateful. The Government provides about 200 loaves of bread per day for the poor. But all this kindness will soon come to an end, and utter poverty will be the lot of most. The Protest- ant pastor, the Rev. H. Abouhayatian, and several efficient members of the church are among the dead, I tried to secure the body of the pastor, but failed. His children — six — they immediately granted to me. Done Systematically. The custom in these affairs so general in Turkey seems to "^e for one party to rush ahead and kill. This is followed by another party which hurries off the women and children to some mosque, khan or some Moslem home temporarily open for their reception. Lastly, this operation is followed by the stripping of the house. Children often get separated from parents and are late in being found. One of the earliest offers made to me was to undertake finding any lost if I would send in the full name. My own guards, twenty in number since Sunday, do my every bidding as if I were a queen. I use them for help in all sorts of ways. Markets are closed, and it is very difficult to get some things much needed. We have had but forty-five beds given back to us of those plundered, and a few pieces of copper ; as yet I fail to secure more, or instructions as to method of procedure for individuals to secure stolen goods. The Gov- ernment has large numbers of beds and much copper-ware 344 TJie Massacre at Urfa. stored for return to the owners, but all fear to stir lest the end has not yet come. The aged Bishop of the Gregorians was spared, but only one, or possibly two priests. Our own teacher of the Boys' High School and several Gregorian teachers were killed. I believe the Gregorians are in greater suffering than the Protestants, having no foreigner to do for them, and any efficient ones spared are afraid to venture out. To-day the long-expected soldiers have arrived — eight or nine hundred. Our city has been guarded (?) by resident soldiers. We must have your prayers and your pecuniary aid. How are the people to live through this winter ? CHAPTER XIX. The Last the Worst. BY KINSLEY TWINING, D.D., LL.D. The bare, bald and humiliating fact that must dawn on us, sooner or later, as to these Armenian massacres, is that, in spite of the assurance our nineteenth-century civilization and progress were supposed to give against such atrocities, the impossible has hurst on us, and of all the records of cruelty and horror enacted by man on man, this latest extirpation of the Christian population in Asiastic Turkey is the worst. There is an awful ferocity in it which balks and baffles this fancied age of peace, and sets a-ringing in our ears the impre- cation which Mohammed died repeating : " Lord, destroy the Jews and Christians ! " When at his first victory over the Kore\sh he ordered and supervised in person the massacre of six hundred Jews in one day, he could plead in extenuation the cruel necessity which religious fanaticism accepted as the law of God. He could even say that he had first pondered the question as it lay between a propaganda by truth and reason, or a propaganda by the sword, and that when at last the sword had been placed in his hand the cruelty of his cam- paigning was but the stern faithfulness of the Prophet against the enemies of God. When, under the Caliphs who succeeded him, women and children swarmed over the battle-fields, armed with clubs to beat the life from the wounded Christians, still warm and breathing on the ground, there still remained the plea that 345 346 The Last the Worst. Islam's God called them to this sacrifice of pity in the breasts of women and children. During the hundred years when Islam was trampling out the faith in Christ with fire and massacre in Syria and Egypt, shook its sword over the enfeebled churches of Africa, the rich fields of Spain, and finally went down at Poictiers under the tremendous blows of Charles Martel and his Austrasian Franks, during all this bloody course the Saracen could say for himself that he had confined his cruelty to the field of war, and that his reign in peace was mild and just. Some such palliation has been attempted for the Inquisition in Spain, for the Duke of Alva in the Netherlands, for the ineffable atrocities of St. Bartholomew's Day and the French Reign of Terror. Heathenish Ferocity. Torture as an adjunct of the law and for the examination ^f witnesses throws a black-enough cloud on the history of Europe from far back in Grecian times when Aristogeiton was tortured after the assassination of Hipparchus, or Philotas, when accused of conspiring against Alexander. It is to the everlasting credit of Egypt and of the Mosaic code that no traces of these terrible ministers of law exist in them ; while in Greece the wheel, the rack, the burning brick, were employed to further the ends of justice. For such barbarisms as these some palliation may be found in the prevailing customs, in the ideas of a dark age, in the gentler instincts of humanity blunted by the stern conception of an overmastering mission. Excepting for the fantastic atrocities of Nero, some such modifying considerations will apply to the two centuries and a half of persecution in which the Roman Emperors tried and tested the Christian Church-" especially when emperors like Trojan, Marcus Aurelius and Diocletian are concerned. The Last the Worst. 347 But when we search for comparisons with what has been going on in Asiatic Turkey against the Armenians for about seventeen years, there are no large examples anywhere to match it. A few solitary instances stand out in Roman his- tory, such as Suetonius's reports of the Emperor Tiberius adding zest to his besotted life by delight in these inhuman pleasures and these terrible pursuits, or of the monster Caligula introducing torture as the pleasing accompaniment of his dinners or a relish to his meals, while the Emperor Claudius sat by enjoying the fun. The Scourge of the Century. Expand these solitary instances, these demoniac examples, sifted out of all the history of the world's ferocious examples and preserved to us, not as characteristic of the times, but as horrible exceptions to affright the reader and as monumental subjects for everlasting scorn — expand these solitary instances, and we have before us the fair, typical representation of the Governmental extermination which Turkey has for these last fifteen years been practicing on the Armenian Christians in Anatolia, in an age of toleration, in a time of peace and social order. There never was anything like it before in the history of the world. The only model or precedent for it is to be found in Ihe inhuman practices of a Tiberius or a Caligula, in serving "Up human torture at table as a dish fit for a king. What the Roman historian has described as the exceptional horrors privately practiced in Rome by its trio of imperial demons, has for seventeen years been the policy of Turkey for the' government, the extermination, I should say, of the Armenians. It has called to its aid the passion, the lust, the fanatic ferocity of a population which in these elements of inhumanity was never surpassed ; with cool deliberation and 348 The Last the Worst. proceeding one step at a time it has first despoiled these industrious tribes of the proceeds of the toil and thrift on which the Empire subsisted. When beggared, unarmed, helpless, and incapable of self-support or defense, it has taken from them the ordinary protection of law, denied them the common rights of trial for which Governments exist, and flung them instead into a Mohammedan saturnalia in which nothing was forbidden but humanity, and nothing rewarded but ferocity. Masters of Cruelty. No cruelty that could be practiced was omitted by these masters of the art. Fathers, husbands, friends were slowly and systematically done to death, while their wives, sisters and daughters were compelled to witness their sufferings. Wives were outraged in the presence of their husbands ; sisters, of their brothers; maidens, of their agonized mothers. Women with child were ripped up by a demon soldiery, with bets among them on the sex of the unborn infants. With grim ingenuity these demons practiced an economy in their art which tortured the poor sufferers out of life slowly inch by inch and drop by drop, every inch in agony, every drop the quintessence of some ingenious torture. As for the forms of law, none were thought of until it be- came important for the Porte to put a decent face on the terrible proceedings of its officers. Districts were laid waste, villages, were burned, but pillaged first, of course. The Armenian population of thriving provinces fled in terror across the bor- der to Russia or to Persia. At Erzrfim, Bitlis, Trebizond, Erzingan, it was the soldier and the official who led on the fray. At Harpiit, Urfa, Cesarea and elsewhere, it was the fanatic population let loose to plunder, torture, rape and work their brutal will on Christians, from whose property and person the The Last the Worst. 349 protection of the civil law was removed. Probably seventy- five thousand Christian corpses lie mouldering in the glens, and around the once happy villages of Anatolia ; and, among them all, happy were the men who met their fate without torture, and the women who met it without outrage. The best impression of what it was comes to us from a woman who, frenzied by her sufferings, but still clinging to the drifting wrecks of faith, is reported to have cried among her kindred that God himself had gone mad, and that maniac? and demons were ranging the earth. Deliberate Murder. Never before in the history of cruelty has the Government '^f a country thus reversed its functions, systematically, and lith cool deliberation invoked such agencies for the predeter- mined extirpation of its population. Roman rigor was not equal to this in its proceedings against the Christian faith. The martyrs of Lyons had nothing like this to confront. De- portation is bad enough ; but when before in the history of man has the deportation of a people been committed to fierce Kurds, hanging on the flanks of the fugitives to plunder th^ men and outrage the women as many times as a fresh barn. might assail them ? One of the worst features of religious persecution has always been that it subjected the morally best, most refined^ intelligent, pure and sensitive people in the community to be treated as the worst. Never before has the world had such an example of this as now. With cool and predetermined purpose, intelligent, thrifty and morally sensitive people have been thrust into the most infamous relations. The rich are systematically beg- gared and left to sufferings m.ore cruel than death. Teach- ers, scholars, ministers of religion, missionaries and people of 350 The Last the Worst. refined life and character are submitted to the brutal rigor and infamous demoralization of Mohammedan prisons. Mo- thers have been compelled to witness with their own eyes the outrage of daughters whom they have been training in Chris- tian purity. Women not trained for the Turkish seraglio nor to set a low price on a woman's honor, but to rate it as dearer than life, have been violated in the open sight of day, on the public highway, and in the company of brutal men. Worst of all, these things are done in an age of light whose pulses are full of mercy and whose every policy is peace, done too with every feature of mediaeval brutality brutalized, with fury infuriated, and license libertinized, done with glee and gloating, in bold demoniac defiance of the light that Shines, the right that rules, the ideas that dominate the moral world for Turk and Christian, done with cold deliberation and persistent purpose against the protest of the Christian worl4 and with neither war nor rebellion to excuse them. And now the last step in this incomparable history of hor- rors adds an fnfinite hypocrisy to the infinite atrocity of it all. The Sultan rises to disclaim his deeds, and do homage to the humanities he has outraged as they were never outraged before. CHAPTER XX. Russia and Turkey. BY CYRUS HAMLIN, D.D., Formerly Missionary in Turkey and Foimder of Robert College, Con- stantinople, When Ivan III. married Sophia, niece of Constantin Palae- ologus, the last Emperor of Constantinople, he claimed to be the rightful heir to the Byzantine throne and adopted its symbol, the double-headed eagle. This was in 1472, and during all these four hundred years Russia has kept her eye upon Constantinople. In 1492 Ivan III. wrote a letter to Sultan Bajazet com- plaining of certain acts of injustice to Russian merchants. In 1495 he sent an Ambassador to Bajazet and ordered him not to bow the knee to the Sultan or permit any other ambassa- dor to have precedence. Thus began with offensive arro- gance a diplomatic intercourse of four hundred years which has become more polished, but not less imperious and agres- sive. Then Ivan claimed only 37,000 square leagues, or 273,000 square miles. The Czar now claims 8,644,000, with a population of 102,000,000 (1880). The first conflict of arms occurred in 1569, and was signifi- cant of all the future between Russia &nd Turkey. Sokolli, the very able and enterprising Grand Vizier of Selim II., undertook to open a water communication between the Black Sea and the Caspian through the Sea of Azof and the rivers Don and Volga. These two great rivers approach each other 351 352 Russia and Turkey. within thirty miles, and then the Volga turns to the Caspian and the Don to the Sea of Azof. SokoUi had a powerful army, but the Russians fell upon him and routed his army at Astrakhan and his army and workmen on the Don. Russia thus struck a fatal blow to one of the grandest schemes for the expansion and strength of the Turkish Empire. The canal of only thirty miles then projected remains unaccomplished to this day. More than eighty years passed before another armed conflict occur'-ed. A Decline Past Remedy. The decline of the great empire was very rapid. The Eng- lish Ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe (1622), declared that cor- ruption, venality, oppression and poverty, the wasting of the population and signs of anarchy proved the condition of things to be past remedy. It is just so now after 274 years. The destruction of the great Turkish army before Vienna, 1683, and the disorder which followed gave Russia an oppor- tunity for war, which she improved, and wrested some impor- tant places from the Porte. She had been for a long time successful in stirring up war between Turkey and Austria and Turkey and Poland, being equally satisfied with the weakening of either party. After disastrous battles by sea and land with Venice, Austria and Poland the celebrated treaty of Carlowitz was signed (1699). England, Holland, Venice, Poland, Austria, Russia and the Porte were concerned in it. Austria, Venice and Poland were strengthened by it. Russia captured Azof and the shores of the Euxine. Turkey diminished and weakened. Since then Turkey has been a center of diplomatic war to the European nations, but all fear of her as a military power ceased. From that time Russia comes forward as the crafty and persistent enemy of Turkey and the claimant of Constantinople. Russia and Turkey. 363 Peter the Great now began to rouse the Moldavians and Wallachians to revolt, and he declared himself the friend and defender of all the members of the Greek Church. He easily- found occasion to declare war with Turkey. It was a strange fortune for Peter to be caught in a position so commanded by the Grand Vizier that he could neither fight nor escape, and must have surrendered at discretion ; but the jewels of the Empress bribed the Vizier to make peace. Thus Peter the Great escaped. He was making vast preparations to break the treaty when he died (1736). Seeds of Evil to Turkey. War again, fierce and bloody, with victories and defeats on both sides, but with a great preponderance of loss to the Turks, ended in the peace and treaty of Kainardji. Its XIV. sections are too long to be discussed here. They were full of the seeds of evil to Turkey. Von Hammer calls it " the commencement of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, at least in Europe " (1774). Europe exulted in this crowned glory of Russia and degradation and humiliation of the Great Sultan. Russia soon broke the treaty and subjugated the Crimea, whose independence she had guaranteed. She declared, however, that she did it solely for the good of the people. She destroyed many thousands of the Moslems in the most ruthless massacres. Seventy thousand Armenians also, who would not join the Russian Church, were driven out into Turkey in a severe winter, and nearly all perished by the way. In 1779 a modification of the treaty of Kainardji was made to suit the Czar and further humiliate the Sultan. After another fierce war the treaty of Jassy, 1792, gave Russia more territory and Turkey less ; but the Empress Catherine only regarded it as furnishing an opportunit',- 'o 23 354 Russia and Turkey. make final and decisive preparation to take the great capital and place one of the royal family of Russia on the throne. Death interrupted her plans and saved Constantinople. The Treaty of Bucharest, 1812, closed another conquering war. Moldavia and Wallachia that had been occupied by Russia were given back to Turkey, who engaged to regard all the obligations of previous treaties toward Russia. Russia was called off by European wars and had need of all her troops. Turkey would always " keep " for any occasion. The next important treaty between Russia and Turkey was that of Adrianople. The Sultan had lost his fleet at Navarino, and had destroyed his Janizaries ; Russia pounced upon him to destroy him. But the new recruits fought with such des- peration, that the campaign of 1828 was a failure. In 1829 Diebitsch, with overwhelming force, crossed the Balkans and took Adrianople. A very damaging treaty was imposed upon Mahmoud while the Russian army was wasting away with cholera or plague at such a fearful rate that, had the Sultan delayed two weeks, he might have imposed conditions. He had to pay an indemnity of ;^25,ooo,ooo and grant Rus- sia whatever privileges she asked. The Pasha of Egypt gave Russia the next good chance of contact with Turkey. His war-like son, Ibrahim, had con- quered Syria, and h?d united Asia Minor triumphantly. The Sultan called upon England for help, but her eyes were holden that she could not see. Russia jumped at the chance, entered the Bosphorus and landed an army on the Asiatic shore to defend Constantinople. The treaty of Unkiar Iske- lessi followed, and Turkey became little more than a vassal of the Czar. By successive and bloody wars and successive and skillful treaties she had made her gradual approaches un<-il no liberty of movement in foreign affairs was left. England, France and Austria viewed this progress of Rus- Russia and Turkey. 355 sia with alarm ; and when the Czar declared his intention to administer upon the estate of " the sick man," they, with Sar- dinia, united against him — Austria holding a semi-neutral ground. The result of the Crimean war need not be remarked upon. England triumphed at Sebastopol, and Russia at the Peace of Paris. Louis Napoleon, who had no honest streak in his character, betrayed the allies and united with Russia to secure absolute freedom of reform to Turkey, which was to make reform impossible. Beaten and Disorganized. Ten years more passed — a long space for Russia not to be at war with Turkey — and the Servian war of 1876 led to the Russo-Turkish war, in which the Turkish armies were beaten and disorganized, and Russia marched to the confines of Con- stantinople, She had at length the long-coveted prize in her grasp ; but the Congress of Berlin wrested it from her, made Bulgaria, Servia and Bosnia free, and left the Armenians to the tender mercies of the Turk. One thing should be considered in all this marvelous his- tory of aggression and increasing strength on one side, of growing weakness and ruin on the other: Russia has attained her ends by the power of gold as much as by arms. She has always a large party openly or secretly in favor of her plans. She has always opposed every reform which England has inaugurated. Lord Stratford De Redcliffe was more than a match for her, but with that one exception England's attempts to strengthen Turkey have been notorious failures. Russia's labors to weaken her have been a notorious success. The result is Turkey is now in the hands of Russia. Europe looks on and thinks. CHAPTER XXI. The Tyrant Turk and the Craven Statesmen. BY FRANCES E. WILLARD. 1 An ancient nation is being slowly slaughtered at the foot of Mt. Ararat, fifty thousand victims stretched out under God's sky in the slow cycle of a year ; women, pure, devout and :omely, suffering two deaths — a living and a dying death ; ittle children poised on the bayonets of Moslem soldiers, villages burned, and starvation the common lot. On the other hand, Christian Europe, with seven millioi^ ^f soldiers who take their rations and their sacrament regu- larly ; statesmen who kneel on velvet cushions in beautiful cathedrals, and pray, " We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord ;" diplomatists who can " shape the whisper of a throne" and shade the meaning of an Ultimatum ; but neither states- man, diplomat nor soldier has wit, wisdom or will to save a single life, shelter a single tortured babe, or supply a single loaf of bread to the starving Christians on the Armenian hillsides : *' vested interests " are against it, " the balance of power " does not permit it, the will of the Sultan is the only will in the Empire of Turkey, and all the wills of all the Christian nations cannot move it one hair. The Turk is a savage, while the statesmen are — over- civilized ; he is a tyrant, while they are — craven cowards. Meanwhile, a star moves toward the East ; it caught its light from the Star of Bethlehem. One woman, well-nigh seventy years of age, takes her life in her hands and goes 866 Tyrant Turk and Craven Statesmen. 357 forward to the rescue ; she goes to bind up wounds, to give out bread, to light the fires on blackened hearthstones, to put hope into broken hearts. She is a greater power to-day for God and l^rotherhood than all the statesmen, diplomatists and soldiers. The world's eyes follow her with love, they cannot see her plainly for tears. Did our Heavenly Father overrule the wickedness of leaders to put before humanity an object lesson, on the broadest scale, of the futility of force and the omnipotence of Love? CHAPTER XXII. International Politics at Constantinople. BY GEORGE WASHBURN, D.D., Presidenf of Robert College, Consiatitinople. Constantinople has been the great battle-ground of Euro- pean diplomacy. England was the first in the field. The occasion of her action was the destruction of the Armenian villages and the massacres of many of the people in the Kurdish mountains near Sassun, in August and September, 1894. The facts were denied by the Turkish Government, and she demanded an investigation and such reforms as should insure the safety and well-being of the Armenians. She invited Russia and France to unite with her in securing both these ends. They consented. Italy expressed a wish to join them, but this offer was declined. Austria and Germany were not invited, and did not wish to be, as they had no interest in Asiatic Turkey. England. France and Russia worked together m apparent harmony, secured a Turkish commission of investigation and appointed their own delegates to oversee its action. This Commission, appointed in November, 1894, continued its sit- tings until July, 1895, and a report of its doings has just been published in an English Blue Book. Meanwhile, the English. Russian and French ambassadors devoted their attention to the elaboration of a scheme of reforms for the six provinces in which the Armenians were most numerous. This was completed and presented to the Sultan as the minimum of 358 International Politics at Constantinople. 359 reforms which the three Powers could accept, and his imme- diate acceptance of them demanded. This was in May, 1895. After a delay of more than two weeks, the Sultan returned an evasive and unsatisfactory answer. Up to this point the three Powers seem to have worked together in harmony. The other Powers, when appealed to by the Sultan, declined to interfere. Three Powers Opposed to Coercion. The question then arose what was to be done. Should these demands be presented as an ultimatum, and the Sultan be forced to accept them and carry them out ? or should they be left where they were as so much good advice, which he might take or reject ? England was in favor of coercion, but Russia and France opposed it. Just at this time the Liberal Government in England resigned ; the Conservatives came in, with a practical interregnum until after the elections in July. Lord Salisbury took up the question as he found it. Russia and France persisted in their refusal to admit of the use oi force, and gave this assurance to the Sultan. Still the three Powers pressed their demands diplomatically, and the English fleet came into the vicinity of the Dardanelles. Germany expressed her sympathy with the Sultan, but still advised him to come to terms with the three Powers. At the end of September came the outbreak at Constantinople and the massacre of some two hundred Armenians in the streets. Three weeks later the Sultan accepted, with some unimportant modifications, the scheme of reforms presented to him in May, and here ended the alliance of England, France and Russia. There had been no real harmony between them for some time. Russia and France remained in it, not to help the Armenians, but to control the action of England, and, if pos- sible, prevent her sending her fleet to Constantinople. Still there was no positive, acknowledged break. S60 International Politics at Constantinople, Meanwhile there had been massacres at Trebizond, Ak Hissar, Baiburt, Giumushkhane, Erzingan, Diarbekir, and other places, which showed that the situation was far more grave than any one in Europe had supposed. The excitement in England was intense. It was believed that there was a deliberate purpose to exterminate the Armenians, and the English Government believed that armed intervention was necessary to dethrone the Sultan, or at least to limit his power. Exactly what happened between the first of October and the middle of November between the Great Powers we do not know. There is reason to believe that Germany proposed to England to join the Triple Alliance, in which case the four Powers would go to Constantinople together. The Policy of Do-Nothing. England refused, and Germany resented it, and threw all her influence into the scale with Russia. At this point was formed the Concert of the Six Powers, which was simply a mutual agreement that no Power should act independently, and all the fleets gathered in the ^gean to watch each other. By the end of December it was evident that nothing would be done, and one by one they stole silently away, leaving the Sultan apparently master of the situation. There is no doubt that all through the year the Sultan showed consummate skill in this diplomatic conflict, and a better knowledge of the situation than most of the statesmen concerned in it. Technically he won the battle. England has been beaten and humiliated, and the Sultan is in close alliance with Russia, France and Germany, stronger, if he can trust his allies, than ever before. The Continental Governments have had a per- fectly free hand in this conflict, because there has been no popular feeling of sympathy for the Armenians. The Conti- nental press has either ignored the massacres, or represented International Politics at Constantinople. 361 them as due to the revolutionary spirit of the Armenians. " Anyway," they have said, " who are the Armenians ? What interest have we in these Asiatics ?" But can the Sultan trust his allies ? In fact he has but one ; France and Germany are simply bidding against one another for the friendship of Russia, and follow her lead at Constantinople. The real victor in this conflict is not Turkey, but Russia — who has played the part of a disinterested friend of the Sultan so well that she has, for the first time in history, driven England off the field, and become the sole protector of'he Ottoman Empire, thus realizing the dream of centuries. Ihe first result of this triumph is a close alliance of Russia with Bulgaria, Servia and Montenegro, and the overthrow of Austrian influence in the Balkan Peninsula, to be consum- mated this week at Sofia. Supremacy of Russia. Russia is now supreme in this part of the world, and can do what she pleases. What she will do with her newly- acquired influence remains to be seen. She will do nothing for the Armenians. That is certain. She has not professed any interest in them. She has before her three possible courses of action from which she must choose one. She may seize upon the present opportunity, the best she has ever had, to come to Constantinople, first, perhaps, as the friend and supporter of the Sultan ; but, anyway, come to stay. The alliance with the Balkan States makes this easy, even if the Sultan should be inclined to resist. But he will not. It is only necessary to stir up serious trouble in Constanti- nople to make the coming appear as a friendly act of a trusted ally. If no effort is made to put a stop to the troubles in the interior or here, this will be an indication that this plan is in favor at the Russian Embassy here, if not at St. Petersburg, 362 Internatio7ial Politics at Constantinople. and may be realized soon. I do not think that either France or Germany would object. Austria is powerless by herself. Italy would be glad to resist, but could not. England is doing her best now to persuade herself that she cares nothing for Constantinople. What may Happen. The second possibility for Russia is to make her alliance with Turkey and the Balkan States as agreeable to them as possible, to do her best to restore and preserve order, and with them as allies to guard her rear and flank, to attack Austria and bring all the southern Slavs under her own rule, or at least under her protection. This is the dream of the Pan-Slavists, who are the strongest and most active party in Russia. This would mean a general European war; for Ger- many and Italy are bound by treaty to defend Austria from any such attack. France would improve her opportunity to recover Alsace and Lorraine. England pretends to believe that the old Austrian Alliance is no longer of any value to ^ler, but the chances are that she would become involved in such a war. The third possibility for Russia is to maintain the present state of things here, to continue to play with France and Ger- many, giving encouragement to both, and securing the aid of both to destroy English influence in China, and to gain a commanding position there herself, with some compensation to France and Germany. This might lead to a war with England. It is plain that Russia cannot do more than one of these things, and to decide which is the most desirable and practi- cable will demand the highest statesmanship. My own opinion is that no deliberate choice will be made, but that, as in most Russian affairs, the decision will be left to chance, and be International Politics at Constantinople. 363 determined by some accident, by a massacre in Constantino- ple, by some resentful action on the part of Austria in con- nection with the Balkan States, or by some event in the far East. Russia is never in a hurry. The Czar has determined to have grand coronation ceremonies in May, and will hardly be inclined to stir up trouble anywhere before that time. This is the outlook at present. I am not a prophet to fore- tell what is to come in the future, and I know very well that nothing is more uncertain than the ways of European diplo- macy. The Great Powers have, each of them, some general ideas of what they consider to be their interests. Each has a policy of some kind. But now that the telegraph has put an end to all independent action on the part of ambassadors, and everything is managed by the foreign ministers — diplomacy has become a hand-to-mouth affair. Uncertainties of the Situation. There is very little planning for the future. It has become an axiom that it is time enough to meet a difficulty when it arises. Nothing is more difficult than to get an ambassador, or a foreign minister even, to express an opinion on what he would do under given circumstances next week. He is only too happy if he can get through the troubles of to-day. In addition to this there are special reasons for uncertainty at the present time in the character of those who control the action of the Great Powers. The Sultan, to begin with, has proved himself to be one of the boldest and most skillful diplo- matists in Europe; and his point of view is so totally different' from that of Christian rulers that no one can calculate in what direction it will lead him. The Emperor of Russia is a weak man, little inclined to rule and liable to be influenced now by one party and now by another. The Emperor of Germany is an enigma — some say 364 International Politics at Constantinople. a genius, some say a madman — at any rate, he is hasty in his decisions and has the most absolute confidence in himself. France has no stable government, and no able statesman. She is at the mercy of demagogues. The wisest sovereign in Europe is the Emperor of Austria ; but he may die any day, and his successor is a stick. Lord Salisbury was described by Bismarck as not a man of iron, but a man of wood cov- ered with tin plates ; and his conduct of the Armenian question has seemed to justify this view. The English Premier Lost his Opportunity. Certainly he had the game in his own hands up to the last of November, and if he had had the courage to order the fleet to force the Dardanelles and come to Constantinople he would have won the day and gained the place now held by Russia, whose complete triumph is not due to any superior skill in diplomacy either here or at St. Petersburg, but simply to Lord Salisbury's lack of courage to do what he wished to do. With such elements of uncertainty in the methods of diplo- macy and in the men who direct it, it would be folly to venture upon any predictions for the future. Things may drift on for months or years very much as they are to-day, or some unforeseen incident may change the whole face of Europe. CHAPTER XXIII. The Blot on the Century. BY FRANCIS E. CLARK, D.D., President of the United Society of Christian Endeavor. The Armenian problem is by no means a new one, though it has reached its acute stages only within the last three years. Had there been no atrocities in Sivas and HarpM, no massa- cres in Marash and Cesarea, there would still be abundant reason for the indignant remonstrance of the civilized world, and for the interference of the Great Powers in behalf of long- suffering Armenia. The rule of the Turk is hopelessly and remedilessly bad wherever that rule extends. The mildew and blight of his occupation are found wherever the Star and Crescent wave. Just as truly as in the olden days, destruction and desolation were left in the wake of the victorious " horse-tails " of the triumphant Sultans, so now desolation and destruction are left in the retreating wake of the decadent and conquered Sultan. The history of six hundred years teaches us that it is of little use to talk about mending the reign of the Turk. There is nothing left but to end it. To mend it is out of the ques- tion; to end it is the only hope for Moslem and Christian alike who dwell within the Sultan's domains. We hear less about the tribulations of the Syrians and the Arabs of Palestine and other parts of the Levant than of the dreadful fate of the Armenians ; but their troubles are none 365 366 The Blot on the Century. the less real, even if they do not so much excite the horror of the civilized world. Throughout a large section of the fairest part of the earth's surface business enterprise and intellectual progress, to say nothing of religious freedom, have long been dead. In the fair lands which border on the Mediterranean, lands which ''hould be the garden spots of the earth, there is, and has been for many generations, poverty, wretchedness and squalor, which can hardly be credited in lands that are better governed. Naturally the character of the people has deteriorated, and a hopeless fatalism or cunning mendacity, which seeks to win by deceit what it cannot gain by fairer methods, has become characteristic of the people. In fact, whether we consider the character of the people, the soil on which they live, the houses that cover them, or the institutions by which they are misgoverned, we find that the trail of the Turk is over them all. The traveler through Palestine cannot but be impressed by these facts ; still more he who takes the overland journey across Asia Minor, where the Turk has had more full and undisputed sway. Great Natural Resources. He wil find himself in a land of great natural resources and large possibilities ; a land with a fertile soil, and exhaust- less mines of precious metals ; a land of rushing rivers and bold and rugged mountain scenery. When the Turk is deposed and some decent Government establishes its sway in Asia Minor, we shall read of Cook's Parties and Gaze's Tourists in the magnificent land of the Taurus. The Cilician gates will be open to the traveler, though for many years they have been practically closed by the inefficient shiftlessness of a Government which taxes the people to death for roads which are never built, and bridges which are never constructed. The Blot on the Century, 367 Then the mines which, with their hidden treasures, have been sealed to all enterprise, will pour their wealth into the world's coffers. But now the Turk reasons, with character- istic phlegm, that so long as the mines are undisturbed the wealth of the nation is intact, and he does not propose to allow outer barbarians to come in and open up mines and cart off his treasures of gold and silver. This is carrying the .stocking-leg theory of finance to its absurdest limits. To be sure the traveler finds one feeble, struggling little railway on ♦■he Mediterranean coast of Turkey from Mersin to Adana, ji dis'inc^ of about forty miles. It was built by foreign capital, however, and is managed by foreign enterprise, and has been hampered and taxed almost off the face of the earth by the ruling Turk. Difficulties of Travel. There is also a passable wagon-road for Turkey for a few iniles from Tarsus toward the Cilician gates; but this passable road soon runs into an almost impassable cart-track, the cart- track degenerates into a camel path, and though the camel path does not exactly " run up a tree,'' it seems to lose itself when it gets to the most inaccessible portions of the Taurus Mountains, or at least is fit only for the sure-footed " ships of the desert " that continually traverse it with their swaying loads and their tinkling bells. The only bridges in many parts of the country are those built by the Romans eighteen hundred years ago so substantially and so scientifically that the war of the elements and the neglect of the Turk for twenty centuries has not been able to destroy them. It should be said that this road, which starts from Tarsus, comes to light here and there during the hundreds of miles which lie between the birthplace of St. Paul and the ancient city of Angora, in old Galatia ; but it as often gets lost again 368 The Blot on the Century. or is obstructed and rendered impassable by falling trees and descending bowlders, which no one has energy enough to move out of the way. And yet this road is the excuse for wringing tens of thousands of pounds every year out of the poverty-stricken inhabitants. To be sure the money is not expended upon the road, and every year it is falling into a more utterly impassable condition; but no matter, it furnishes an excuse for yearly taxes and for more misgovernment. Stone Huts for Hotels. There are no hotels in our sense of the word, or inns, even, of the humblest character along this highway, which is the only artery between Constantinople and the Mediterranean ports ; but there are stone huts called khans, in which men and bullocks and camels and asses may rest their wearied bodies in delightful promiscuity, while all are impartially attacked by other occupants that are not recorded in the census, and are not registered upon the books even of a Turkish khan. For much of the distance along this highway every tree and shrub and root has been plucked up to furnish a little scanty fuel for the shivering inhabitants. The broad stretches of tableland, naturally fertile, are so poorly tilled with the rude implements of the past, that only a scanty population can be maintained, and these at " a poor dying rate," where millions might thrive under a good Government. The villages in the interior are, for the most part, built of sun-dried mud, though sometimes of stone, and are fiUliy and squalid beyond all description — dead sheep and donkeys and camels lying in the streets. I have myself counted in one street of a little village more than a dozen dead animals, which the inhabitants were too unenterprising to bury or to haul away. The Blot on the Century. 369 Very naturally, all enterprise and energy are killed out of such a people by hundreds of years of misrule and oppres- sion. Why should a man strive to get on in the world, when he knows that he will only make himself by his enterprise the special prey of the oppressor ? Why should he plant an orchard of superior fruit, when he knows the tax-gatherer will get the best of it ? Why should he try to improve his worldly condition in any way, when he knows that unless he can cover up his wealth and simulate poverty, he will but become the target for every corrupt and unscrupulous official? A Land Picked to the Bone. The land of Turkey has been picked bare ; even the pin feathers of enterprise, if we may be excused the expression, have been singed off by a rapacious officialism during many generations. And now these centuries of atrocious misrule and almost inconceivable corruption are crowned by the murder and the pillage and the wholesale massacres, which have caused the blood of civilization to run cold, outrages that will mark the years of 1895-96 with such blots as no other years have known for many centuries. Yet the civilized world allows the Great Powers, each disarmed against the Turk by their mutual jealousies, to look on supinely while the butchery in Armenia never ceases. Still, the Queen's speech, read at the op-^niii;^ of Parliament in the year 1896, talks gingerly about the Sultan's promises to institute reforms, while very likely, at the very moment when her speech was read, the Sultan's hirelings were murdering Christians, pillaging their property and firing their villages ! What will our grandchildren think of the boasted civiliza- tion of the nineteenth century? How vnW the people of the happier age which is to come, look back with shuddering ^'1 370 The Blot on the Century. horror, not only upon the deeds enacted in Turkey, but. with scarcely less horror, upon the Christian nations, who, by reason of their insane jealousy of one another, permitted those atrocities, which they might have prevented. Alas, that this century should be known not only as the century of invention and discovery, of the railway and the steamship, and the telegraph, and the telephone, — the century of religious progress and missionary enterprise, — the century of the Sunday-school, and the young people's movements, but also the century, stained with the deepest dye of Christian blood of which the great Christian Powers can never wash their hands ! God grant that before the record of the century is closed, before the Armenians are utterly exterminated, and no faith- ful Christians in Asia Minor are left to rescue, Europe and America may awake to their responsibilities and tardily save •■.hemselves from the reproachful scorn of future generations. CHAPTER XXIV. The Armenians — Who are They? BY JAMES D. BARTON, D.D., Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. According to Armenian histories, the first chief of the Armenians was Haik, the son of Togarmah, the son of Co- mer, the son of Japheth, the son of Noah. It is an interest- ing fact that the Armenians to this day call themselves Haik, their language " Haiaren " and their country " Haiasdan." *' Armenia " and " Armenian " are words which cannot be spe'^ed with Armenian characters or easily pronounced by .hal people. That name was given them and their country by outside nations because of the prowess of one of their kings, Aram, the seventh from Haik. Probably this people is composed of the resultant of strong Aryan tribes overrunning and conquering the country now occupied by the Armenians, and which was then possessed by primitive Turanian populations. Subject to the vicissi- tudes of conquest and invasion, the borders of Armenia have fluctuated. Lake Van has always been within the kingdom, -md the capital has usually remained, during their highest prosperity at the city of Van. They have had a long line of kings of valor and renown. They were an independent nation, but with varying degrees of power, until A. d. 1375, when they became completely a subject people. Since that time their country has been under the Governments of Russia, Persia and Turkey, far the larger portion being in Turkey. During the years of their greatest 871 372 TJie Ayjueiiians — Who are Theyf prosperity, from 6oo b. c. to about 400 a. d., this nation played a prominent part in the wars of the Assyrians, Medes, Per- sians, Greeks and Romans. There are, perhaps, from two and a half to three miUions of Armenians in Turkey, Russia and Persia. In the absence of accurate records we must be content with a mere estimate, bised upon observations and inadequate Government returns. In no extended district do they comprise a majority of the inhabitants. They are everywhere mingled with and sur- rounded by Kurds and Turks. The Armenians are forbidden to carry or possess arms under severe penalties, while the other races are armed, many of them by the Government. First Nation to Adopt Christianity. Armenian histories relate that, soon after the resurrectior. of Christ, Abgar, the King of Armenia, with his court, accepted Christianity. This was short-lived, however ; but in the third century, a. d., under the leadership of Gregory the Illuminator, the Armenian people, as a nation, became Chris- tian. This was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a national religion. The Church was called " Gregorian " by those outside, but " Loosavochagan " by the Armenians, the word meaning " Illuminator," the name given to Gregory. The Gregorians and Greeks worked in harmony in the great councils of the Church until 451. At the fourth Ecumenical Council, which met at Chalcedon that year, the Gregorian Church separated from the Greek upon the so-called Mono- physite doctrine, the former accepting and the latter rejecting it. Since then the Gregorian Church has been distinctly and exclusively an Armenian national Church. The organization and control of the Church is essentially Episcopal. The spiritual head is a Catholicos ; but in addi- tion to him there is a Patriarch, whose office bears largely The Armenians — Who are They? 373 upon the political side of the national life as related to the Ottoman Government. There are three of the former residing in the order of their importance at Echmiadzin, in Russia- Aghtamar, on an island in Lake Van, and at Sis, in Cilicia, each with his own diocese. There are two of the latter residing at Constantinople and Jerusalem. There are nine grades of Armenian clergy. The Bible was translated into their language in the middle of the fifth century. Owing to a change in the spoken tongue the Bible became a dead book to the people, although it was constantly read at their church services. As the priests scarcely 'ver understood the Scripture which they read, Christian doctrines were kept alive by oral teachings ; but the restraint upon life which pure Christianity exercises was largely removed. They blindly accept the Bible as the Word of God. They have many large, fine churches, some of which are sev- eral hundred years old. Centuries of Persecution. This nation has suffered great persecutions for its faith during the last eleven centuries, but with wonderful patience and endurance has clung to the old beliefs and forms o^ worship. Mission work was begun among them for the pur- pose of introducing into the Church the Bible in the spoken language of the people, in order that its teachings might reform the Church and the nation. The Armenian nature is essentially religious. Born into the Church, its customs, traditions and teachings have large influence over the life. Although much of their teachings and many of their customs are based upon mere traditions and are not in accord with the enlightened, educated Christianity of the West, nevertheless the fact that during the last few months thousands among them have deliberately chosen 374 The Armenia7is — Who are They? death, with terrible torture, to life and Islam, shows that among them there exists much essential Christian faith. It must not be overlooked that the old Church has been greatly enlightened and elevated by the mission schools and colleges planted in their country, and the evangelistic work carried on among them. They, too, in imitation of the evan- gelical branch of their nation, have organized schools accepted the Bible in the spoken language, and introduced into their church worship many of the methods of Christian instruction used by the Christian Church all over the world. An Armenian Proverb. The Armenians' greatest enemy outside of Islam is their incompatibility of character. They cannot agree among themselves. ^' Haik voch niiapan'' ("Armenians cannot agree") is one of their many proverbs. This is their national weakness. Owing to this fact, which led to internal jealousies and bickerings and strife, during the period of their most suc- cessful national life, they were weakened, then disrupted, and finally completely subjugated. This characteristic has con- stantly appeared in the management of their ecclesiastical affairs; and the Turks, in order to control them, have made great use of this weakness, playing one party off against another. The source of this national weakness lies in their jealousy of imagined or actual rivals. Suspicious of each other and jealous of competition, the race has been broken up into fac- tions which has rendered impossible anything like a national growth or unity, and has made it easy for the ruling Turk to keep them in complete subjection. Many times the Arme- nians themselves have been the most effective instrument in the hands of their diplomatic rulers in checking national progress. The Armenians — Who are They? 375 Owing to this fact, if for no other reason, a plan for a general revolution upon the part of the Armenians could lead only to exposure and failure. The most intelligent have from the first fully understood this, and have deprecated any agitation which must necessarily end in disaster. The advocates of revolution have almost invariably been men of narrow views, with no leadership in the nation at large, who have, outside of Turkey, organized rival societies to collect money from^ credulous Armenians to the credit of their own personal bank account, and for the injury of their protesting people in Turkey. This same characteristic would make it impossible to-day for the Armenians to be self-governing. The Armenians are the most intelligent of all the people of Eastern Turkey. In Western Turkey their only rivals are the Greeks. They far outclass their Mohammedan rulers in the desire for general and liberal education, and in their ability to attain to genuine scholarship. During the last twenty years few institutions of higher education in the United States and in England have failed to have Armenians among their pupils, and the rank which they have usually taken is most creditable to the race. The popularity of Euphrates College, in Harput, and of Central Turkey College, at Aintab, whose students are almost exclusively Armenians, as well as Anatolia College, at Mar- sovan, and Robert College, at Constantinople, which have many Armenians among their students, taken together with the fact that large sums are paid each year by the people for the education of their sons and daughters, all proves that, in addition to the ability to advance mentally, there is a strong desire upon the part of the Armenians for general enlighten- ment. Bilingual from childhood, and many of them trilingual, they learn languages easily. Their general tendency is to prefer metaphysical studies, 376 The Ar77ienians — Who ar'e They? being inclined rather to the speculative in their manner of thought. They have taken readily to the idea of female education, and the three colleges for girls in Turkey are among her most popular evangelical institutions. These are largely patronized by the Armenians. This nation has pro- duced many well-known scholars, which fact, taken together with the general high standard of scholarship among her students, and the eager desire prevalent among the people for a liberal education, shows that the race intellectually compares favorably with the most favored nations of the world. An Enterprising Race. The Armenians are the farmers, artisans, tradesmen and bankers of Eastern Turkey. They have strong commercial instincts and mature ability, and, being industrious withal, have made much progress in all these lines. In spite of the heavy restrictions placed upon them by the Turkish Govern- ment, in the form of general regulations and excessive taxes, in some parts of Turkey the leading business operations are largely in their hands. In some sections of the vilayets of Harpiit and Diarbekir, twentj^-five years ago, the land was owned almost entirely by ^Moslems, but rented and farmed by the Armenians. At that time the Armenians were not permitted to possess, to any extent, the soil. Lack of industry upon the part of the Mohammedans, and the acquirement of property upon the part of the Armenians, largely by emigration to the United States, have led the Turks to sell their ancient estates to Armenians, who are supplied with funds from their friends who are working in this countr}^ The careful management of the property thus acquired led to the advancement of the Droprietor farmer, while the one from whom the land was purchased was left without an income. The Arme^iiajis — VVJw are Tliey? 377 While the Turks, in many of the principal cities where Armenians dwell, own most of the shops, the renters are largely Armenians. An intelligent Turkish Governor once told the writer that if the Armenians should suddenly emi- grate or be expelled from Eastern Turkey, the Moslem would necessarily follow soon, as there was not enough commercial enterprise and abihty coupled with industry in the Turkish population to meet the absolute needs of the people. Readily Adapts Himself. The Armenian, while industrious and naturally inclined to follow in the footsteps of his father, takes very readily to a new trade. When emigrating to foreign countries he easily adapts himself to his ne^v surroundings and does creditable ser\^ice in al^.iost any line of work. This adaptability, together with a tendency to hold on to a line once begun, has given a stable character to the nation. The Armenian is domestic in his habits and aspirations, and not militarj^ In the early historj' of the race we do not find much written of their conquests. They did not go out- side of their borders, as a general thing, to conquer their neighbors. While not lacking in physical courage and prow- ess in war when called to defend their country' against inva- sion, they did not seek to conquer. Sometimes in driving back an aggressive foe they carried the w^ar into his territory and levied upon it for injuries received ; yet it never seems to have been their ambition to be a great nation ruling over conquered races. Their chief ambition appears to have been to possess in quiet their beloved fatherland, " haircnik," where they might worship God according to the demands of their own national Church. To-day they have no desire of conquest or ambition to rule. Their greatest wish is to be permitted to enjoy without 378 The Arnteniajis — IVho are They? fear the blessing of their simple domestic life, together with the privileges of worship and education and the opportunity to possess in peace the fruits of their frugal industry. The Armenian loves his children and is most closely attached to his home. When he emigrates it is only for the purpose of trade and gain. His heart's affection centers in the old rude home to which he, if unprevented, will return to rejoin his loved ones. In all his native land the city or village of his birth is the dearest spot on earth. Habits J'.nd Characteristics. The Armenians are most simple and frugal in their mannt, of life. Uncomplaining and generally cheerful, they continue their occupations, following in the footsteps of their fathers without desire for change. The son of the carpenter is a car- penter content with the adz and saw, and the shoemaker sticks to his last without a thought of being anything else so long as that trade serves him. The home life is patriarchal, the father ruling the household, and the sons bringing their wives to the paternal roof In the event of the death of the father the oldest son takes his place at the head of the family. The aged are held in high esteem, and their counsel sought and honored. The women occupy inferior positions, the nation copying many customs in regard to them from the Turks among whom they live. They are not an immoral race, but are inclined to drink wine which is a cheap product of their country. Thus we have a race old in national history when Alexan der invaded the East ; and with its star of Empire turning toward decline when the Caesars were at the height of their power ; a nation not mingling in marriage with men and women of another faith and blood now as pure in its descent froro the undiscovered ancestors of nearly three decades of The Armenians — Who are They 9 379 centuries ago as the Hebrews stand unmixed with Gentile blood ; with a language, a literature, a national Church, dis- tinctively its own, and yet a nation without a country, without a government, without a protector or a friend in all God's world. This is not because it has sinned, but because it has been terribly sinned against; not because of its intellectual or moral or physical weakness, but because it has little to offjr in return for the service, which the common brotherhood of man among nations should prompt the Christian nations of the world to render. CHAPTER XXV. The Tiirkish Question in Germany. BY THE COUNTESS VON KROCKOW. Was it Lord Palmerston who said of the Schleswig-Holstein war, now over thirty years ago, that nobody understood the cause of it but himself, and he was not sure ? I remember reading the anecdote ard retain this gist of it, which is, as it seems to me, the gist cf a large number of political problems, the Turkish question included, although few statesmen arc so outspoken as to own their ignorance and confusion in the *ace of it. In Germany, during the recent disturbances in the Ottoman Empire, no one even set up as a seer ; nor did any one go so far as to try to demonstrate the enormity of the crimes going on, as was the case in America and England, or denounce them, as did Gladstone, with weight and power. Not only light was conspicuously wanting, but passion likewise. The young Emperor, who is superficially considered a hot-headed champion in all current matters, was silent upon this. None of the many words which he uttered in public was spent on the massacres of Armenian Christians. What went out of his Cabinet to the press of the country was ambiguous or cynical in tone. The people were left without any clear or sharp impression either as to what was desired by the Ministry or what was being pursued by it. Its inaction during most of the time, its cross-actions on occasion — as when it refused to support England and Russia in the 380 The Turkish Question in Germmiy. 381 request to the Porte to permit extra vessels of war to enter the Bosphorus — its evident intriguing as time went on, alone gave the people a hint that its policy was, for the present at least, a policy of non-intervention. Political Parties in Germany. WJiy this policy was adopted, native Germans understand as little as foreigners understand it. They are as much in the dark over the attitude taken by His Majesty's Government as outsiders are. In the Imperial Diet no interpellation has been made on the subject ; and if one were ever proposed, it has been suppressed before it reached a stage that rendered the proposition a fit subject for public attention or scandal. Very probably no such proposition was ever broached or supported. For who should make it save the Opposition ? And what does the Opposition consist of in Germany? Of Socialists and Libf-als, or of men who are opposed by principle to war and State leligions, and of the advocates of trade. When the impulsive public in America feel moved to wonder over the apathy of the Germans before this grave and horrible spectacle going on in the Christian East, they should recall to mind, in order the better to apprehend it, certain far- reaching historical facts. Among these facts, for example, is the important one of religion having taken on the form of an established Church and, in the main, this Church has been subservient through its ministers to the powers that be. Now these latter powers were, until a recent period, many an 1 oppressive. Hence, when antagonism raised itself, it raised itself against both the State and the Church. There are six million Socialists in Germany — working men and women, factory hands, artisans, petty burghers, the poor and ill-to-do of many classes ; and this vast factor in the population disparage contesting with the brutal might of arms 382 The Tiwkish Question in Germany. over religion, and, in the Turkish question, which is largely a matter of religion, they logically express deprecation of both contestants — Christians and Mussulmans. The Evangelical Synod in Berlin expels a pastor (the Rev. Dr. Naumann) for advocating Social Reform through Socialistic means ; in response, the Socialistic multitude point in derision to holy synods that go further, and, for a difference in doctrinal opinion, cause the exile of whole communities, or their tor- ture and death, cause a Turkish question with all that it implies ! Sympathy for Armenians. There is indubitably private, intense sympathy among this class for the sufferers in Armenia ; but publicly and officially all expression of it is excluded. The Socialists this very year have been schooled and trained in repression of natural feeling; they took no part in the jubilations over the estab- lishment of the Empire and the commemoration of the victory of Sedan ; much less, therefore, could their leaders call upon them to take part in our foreign contests. And without Social- ists and their families, who compose in every large city the bulk of the street population, how were the German mass-meetings, that Englishmen and Americans have missed, to take place ? The Church, the press, I hear my reader exclaiming, have they no bowels ? Is everything in the hands of Socialists ? It would be absurd of me to pretend to know the reasons for the attitude of the Church ; or, indeed, of any one of the great organizations that I am passing in review in treating of the question that interests us. I take the opportunity here of stating that all my explications are mere attempts to account for the apathy which constitutes the characteristic demeanor of Germans towards the Turkish troubles. If single clergymen here and there throughout the country have lifted up their voices in protest against this apathy, their pro- The Turkish Question in Germany. 383 testations have been without great effect. This is all that a private observer of affairs, like myself, can affirm with safety. It is common for the Church, as a body, not to run counter to the Government ; and the Government's position of neu- trality once having become evident, it would have been unpre- cedented for the Church to have opposed this policy by actively striving to arouse the public conscience to antagonism against it. In being subject to the State, the Church is practically on all occasions subject to the governmental will ; and what may be called the Non-conformist body of Christians in Germany have nothing like the vigor and public spirit of English Non- conformists. I would like to leave this chapter to more competent hands. As a layman, the thought suggests itself, And are not clergymen also citizens and susceptible to the drifts of political loves and enmities, like other men ? Why Germany Hesitates. For here must be mentioned another powerful cause of German hesitation in taking the part of their oppressed fellow- Christians in Armenia — the hatred of England. The Turkish question cannot be settled for good and all except by means of war and the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire ; and who, in case of such dismemberment, would have the gain ? Why at present, whatever other countries might secure, Great Britain would be certain to obtain the lion's share. And Bismarck has taught Germans not to approve of England i.icreasing her territorial possessions; his warnings, his work, his political testament were both openly and secretly against such increase. The interruption in this long and steady policy, caused by the young Emperor's wilfulness, was an episode. It was already passed when the reconciliation of the Monarch and the retired Chancellor took place in 1894. German dispar- 384 The TtwkisJi Question i7i Geinnany. agement of England became vehement after that incident. It had been cultivated into being during Bismarck's regime. The Emperor's telegram to President Kriiger was, to the initiated, much more than a personal impulse ; it was an ex- pression of popular feeling, and a betrayal (over-hasty) of a fixed policy — of a policy that embraces, in German opinion, a portion also of the Turkish question. " What call has the Fatherland to scorch itself in drawing chestnuts out of the fire for England?" was a phrase that could be read in many newspapers when the probability or the chances of a war were discussed. And although it was inti- mated that the astute Chancellor, Prince Hohenlohe, would know how to win some compensation for Germany's aid in such a war, still it was calculated that these winnings would be less than could be demanded later when the power of Greater Germany (the Fatherland and its colonies) should have had time to become consolidated. The action of the German Government in the China- Japan war, through which, by supporting Russia in exerting a pressure on Japan, Germany had secured, without cost or trouble, two Chinese islands for coaling stations, seemed to point to a plan and continuity in the imperial foreign policy. " Let the present disturbances be used on our side to push our commercial interests," wrote the editor of th** National Liberal Nezvs of Dresden. " We have no political interests in the Turkish question. Germany is friendly to the Sultan, and our merchants will be welcomed by Mussulman traders who have sufficient cause to withdraw their business from the hands of the brow-beating English to give it to their well- wishers." The trade returns will have to be studied, I fancy, by every historian who sets himself to ferreting out the causes and results of Germany's policy in the Turkish-Armenian trouble. The Turkish Question in Germany. 385 If Germans were as accustomed as are English men and women to look over the field of the Government's colonial work and were become familiar with the condition of foreign peoples, and were schooled in the sentiment of" fair play;" if, in a word, Germans were as public-spirited as are the popula- tions of Great Britain and America, their voice would be lifted aloud as are the voices of English-speaking peoples against the wrongs and persecution of the Armenians. But, as matters necessarily are, the really knowing ones consist largely of members of corporations engaged in foreign enterprises, and these naturally have an eye chiefly for the opportunity which circumstances present them with, for increasing business. And the Government only follows the precedent which Great Britain has given the world for two centuries, when it strenuously supports them. Finally, the attitude of Russia must be regarded when reason is looked for to explain Germany's non-enforcement o the Berlin Treaty. The taking part against England involves an advocacy of England's enemy, Russia, and this enemy is Germany's neighbor. History tells us how Prussia has ever been forced to fawn upoA this terrible colossus, and the main- tenance of this traditional relationship is as much a need of the new Empire as ever it was of the little Electorate of Brandenburg and Kingdom of Prussia ; indeed, since the war of 1 870-'/ 1 with France, and the French threats of revenge, the need is become absolutely imperative. Germany would be between an upper and nether millstone if it stood between the ponderous enmity of the Czar as well as the fretting wrath of France. Hence the last words of warning of the old Emperor, which doubtless have been ring- ing in the ears of the statesmen in Berlin whenever they dis- cussed the Turkish question : " Keep on good terms with Russia." 2r CHAPTER XXVI. Turkish Oppression. BY HERANT MESROB KIRETCHJIAN, General Secretary of the Armenian Relief Association. "The oppressive character of the Government of the Turkish Empire with respect to the subject races," is a very- clear declaration on the part of the editor of The hidcpcndcnt of the situation in the country known as the Turkish Empire It is a character that is important; it is an actually existing Government that counts, and the mischievous results of that Government concern the civilized world to-day more in the relation to the " subject races " than the general reformation of that misrule itself. The question is not so complicated as vast; not requiring so much skill in dealing with it as patient study to have a full comprehension of the main factors enter- ing into it as potent influences. As in a medical examination, so in this, euphony of diction is to be sacrificed to truth ; and, first, the " Government of the Turkish Empire," as it is to-day and has been for 500 years, is only Mohammedan domination with regard to the non-Mo- hammedan population in the country. Secondly, the " sub- ject races " are only slave population and prisoners of war; and, thirdly, the essential character of that domination over those races has been a thorough and absolute system of op- pression. In entering upon remarks regarding the character of that oppression, it might be necessary to point to the proofs of the above statements regarding the Government itself and the 386 TurJdsJi, Oppression. 387 status of the "subject races." For that part, it is quite suffi- cieat to point to the whole history of the Turkish Govern- ment through every step of its settled existence during 500 years. Not very keen insight is necessary, either, but only deliberate study and simple, impartial judgment, to convince any intelligent mind of the justice of the charges. The character of the oppression of the Turkish Government must be tried by the one test which stands higher than all theory and even logical inferences ; by that test which has the stamp of the highest authority and comes with the power of a prima facie evidence that compels conviction : " By their fruits, ye shall know them," Judged by its Fruit. The timber of the oak is what tells, and we care not so nuch for the foliage or the acorn. The flower of the rose- bush is enough to satisfy us regarding the result of the. gar- dener's work ; but from the orchard we expect fruit, and by its fruit we judge of the value of the husbandman's labor and of the wisdom of his management. A Government is not for exhibition. It is not merely to make history. Before the judgment bar of God and man it is to stand and be judged by the fruit of its influences upon human life ; its happiness, its comfort, its development — moral, physical and intellectual. Judged by that standard, I. The Government of the Turkish Empire, in its relation to the "subject races," is found to be radically and essentially oppressive. The Turkish Government is based upon the Mohammedan religion, the component elements of which are the Sword and the Koran. While for half a century European diplomats have been deceiving themselves and the civilized world that the Koran could cease to be the law that regulated the move- 388 T**rkish Oppression. ments of the Sword, the events of the past year and a half have proved what the history of the Turkish Government has long ago demonstrated, that the Sword and Koran are united so that nothing but the death of one or the other can put them asunder. Oppression a Settled Policy. If the Government of the Turkish Empire could be induced to recognize and permit the development of an " Ottoman Empire " after the type of civilized governments, where the equality of all citizens before the law is the basic principle, oppression in that Government might be treated as a disease ; but as the Turkish Empire has always been, and is to-day, a " Mohammedan Empire," oppression of the Christian and the "infidel " in it is a constitutional quality. For those who have at heart, not only the fate of the Chris- tian races in Turkey, but also the interests of civilizatioii and Christendom at large, this must stand as the most important element in the case, namely, that the Government of the Turkish Empire, when true to itself, and standing upon the ground of its highest efficiency, is by nature destructive of those forces which make for righteousness in this world, and are the foundation of that which is counted by the Aryan races as the highest civilization. All the other characteristics are the outcome of this one essential fact, and will be influenced by the remedy brought to bear upon this root of the evil itself. 2. Turki.sh oppression is universal. It oppresses the '^ sub- ject races " in all places and in all their relations. The unal- terable disabilities deny them justice in the courts, assuring immunit}' to the robber and the highwayman and the swin- dler, if he is only a Mohammedan. The prosperity of the Christian races, merchant and artisan, dependent upon justice and protection, is thus reduced to a deplorable minimum. Turkish Oppression. 389 Poverty is the highway open before every Christian com- munity; but as taxation, unremitting, unlimited, and merci- less, is also the law of the land, the instinct of self-preserva- tion drives them on to labor incessantly in order to remedy the evil as far as possible. In spite of a fertile soil and abun- dant natural resources, therefore, the " subject races " of the Turkish Empire are under the heel of a grinding oppression. Without Modern Improvements. After centuries of honest, toilsome life, in sight of the golden dawn of the world's greatest century, and with the thunder of the chariot-wheels of modern progress in their ears, the Christian "subjects" of the Sultan are there to-day without railroads or even highways, without any "improve ments," ancient or modern, in science or art, agriculture or sanitation, with no police and no fire-alarms, no water-works, and no house-lighting or street-lighting system ; and as the shadows of evening descend, the entire land from Ararat to the Adriatic sinks into fitful slumber under the black wings of anight of terror and insecurity that best enables weary souls to comprehend the felicity of a hereafter when " there shall be no night there." The universality of the oppression is also assured by the fact that the Mohammedan of all conditions, however ignorant or dull in other respects, is remarkably well versed in this one doctrine, that he is lord and master while the Christian is the slave, who is to be reminded of his subordinate con- dition with every opportunity. An intelligent residence of any length of time in Turkey would convince one of this almost astounding fact. The Governor and the Pasha, as true Moslems, have never had scruples in denying justice to the Christian, in receiving bribes from defendant and plaintiff alike, in extending their protection to the murderers 390 Turkish Oppression, of men and the ravishers of women ; but the barbarous Kurds on the mountains, as well as the beggar women in the streets of Constantinople, are just as conscious of their privilege in this direction as the watchful guardians of Turkish law in high places. On the hills of the Golden Horn, above Balat, on a sunny afternoon, a Protestant minister was out walking with a little girl and her brother. The girl was dressed after the fashion of Europeans, and to guard her eyes from the bright sunlight a green veil covered her face. There were Turkish villages around, and a group of Turkish women were passing by. Suddenly one of them sprang toward the little girl and snatched the veil from her head, and tore it into shreds with ominous mutterings and imprecations. The veil was green, the sacred color of the Mohammedan religion, to be worn only by the highest clergy. How could the child of the accursed " Giaour " dare to go about under its shadow ! Years afterward, far away on the jagged heights of Monte- negro, a bridal party of Christians was attacked, as reported by the British Consul, by a band of Turkish ruffians. The/ cut the bride mto pieces, half killed the bridegroom, raised a funeral pyre, and burned the dead and dying under the rays of the setting sun. The bride had worn a green velvet jacket. Away on the mountains of Armenia the Kurdish Chief Genjo, upon the recovery of his son from a fatal malady, went out to seek a thank-offering to the God of Heaven, and the sacrifice he decided upon was the lives of seven Christian priests. Up and down through the length and breadth of the Turkish Empire, at the hands of millions of Mohammedans, universal oppression in every conceivable shape has been the law for the " subject races" of the Turkish Empire. 3. The oppression of the Turk is cumulative. Poverty Turkish Oppression. 391 and ignorance bring degradation, and degradation hardens human nature; cruelty becomes an instrument, and lust is ihere as the impelling power. Slowly, steadily, from villages to the city, from the cities to the capital of the Empire, the great tidal waves of cruel oppression liave brcL'%'ht devastation through the centuries, and once and again the return current has dashed itself against the high- land.-; oi Armenia, as well as the habitations of other Christian races, ai.d opened before the eyes of Christendom ghastly pictures of bloo.^ and destruction, that to the minds , " -^he uninitiated have appeared as accidental developments. The ?brces of this evii are there always, and are constantly ac- cumula^'ng their n:oMentum.. Fanatic\,3m not Uncontrollable. It is a farce to speak Df inability to control fanaticism on &e part of the Governniftj\t or the Sultan of Turkey. It were just as reasonable to speak of the helplessness of the man to avert disaster who loosens a mighty bowlder from th'^ mountain heights above his village, or finds the entertainme.^t o^ a summer day by carving a channel in the dam above the city. Sure enough, the ignorance oi the Mohammedan dis- qualifies him from understanding the science of the correlation of forces in the kingdom of the devil; b:!t of their nature he is not ignorant, and glories in his liberty to set them movinjj- in the midst of the Christian populations of the Empire. 4. And, hence, the greatest evil of Turkish oppression is its far-reaching character. We must admit that there are degrees of sin and evil ; that there is a sin av,ruinst the Spirit which far outweighs many transgressions. The oppression of the Mohammedan Government by its universal, .cumulative weight has crushed and is now crushing out thost .spiritual qualities which make the fiber of tr"e human souls. No one 392 Turkish Oppression. who believes in the soul of man and its undying worth, could fail to be appalled at the sight of the havoc that has been wrought upon the manhood of the peoples inhabiting Turkey in consequence of Mohammedan oppression. Degeneration and degradation lose their significance here. It is spiritual contagion ; it is intellectual rottenness. From early childhood, thousands of the Christian subjects of the Turkish Government, directly or indirectly in its employ, are led to seek promotion by qualifying to serve men whose busi- ness is theft and corruption. A pasha or governor in the interior seeks an accountant or a treasurer, not to render accurate accounts to the Minister of Finance, but to devise ways and means by which both the imperial treasury and the population of the district can be robbed in a manner that will be the least open to detection and the most profitable for tb^ private treasury of the Pasha or the Governor himself Thousands of the Christian youths of the land, naturally the most intelligent and capable among them, have been for centuries trained in a school of corruption and villainy, to oppress their own countrymen, as the servile tools of the corrupt ofificials of the Government. The most approved methods of fraud and bribery, of smuggling and wholesale deceit have, therefore, been at a high premium in the land known as the Turkish Empire, from the morning that the Crescent waved over the walls of the city of Constantine. A lie is disreputable if it fails to deceive. It has the double reward of both remuneration and promotion to higher service if it prevails. How blessed the Christian under-secretaries of the Turkish Foreign Office, when they return with the trophies of the intellectual scalps of the astute diplomats whom Europe sends to Constantinople to fish for facts in the awful maelstrom of falsehoods of Turkish diplomacy ! It is a matter of surprise, indeed, that there are men in Turkish Oppression. 393 high places of the Christian West who have fallen into the habit of measuring the hideous injustice and oppression of all the Christian races in Turkey, only in a balance where houses, farms, and bodies of men and women can be weighed. We have been asked: "Oh! the condition of the Christians in Turkey is surely not intolerable, except for these occasional massacres, which European diplomacy ought to prevent?" and the answer is : " No, the disasters of fire and sword are nothing compared to the frightful havoc of the souls of men that has been brought with an iron hand and a persistent, unrelenting compulsion upon the Christian races in Turkey." An Unmitigated Curse. Turkish government, which is mainly nothing but a colos- sal avalanche of corruption and sensuality overwhelming the peoples of Turkey, cannot be justly qualified by any definition that falls short of signifying an absolutely unmitigated curse. I am reminded here of the sterling words of the golden- tongued prophet, the noble Gladstone, who stands towering above British mediocrity in these dark days of ours: "This is strong language, gentlemen, but language must be strong where the facts are strong." We are told that the condition of the Christians in Turkey might be worse ; they might have been exterminated. It surely is in order to ask here. Where is the justice of it, when there is help for it? What right has Europe to attend to the balance of power that is kept at the right level by piling high in the pan of the scale, souls of men, both of Turk and Chris- tian, laid low with the contagion of corruption and the rotten- ness of all iniquity combined, in order that they may serve as dead weights ? And the iniquity of this condition and the awful responsi- bility at the door of those who are responsible for it, is 394 Turkish Oppression. enhanced by the fact, that the Christian " subject races " under the Government of the Turkish Empire, have been striving and strugghng through all these years of subjection, for a higher manhood, nourished by the abundance of good works, and especially at the touch of Western civilization, have been aspiring for their highest possibilities, as individual men and as nations. No Hope of Remedy. This qualification of the oppression of the Turkish Govern- ment is especially justifiable and unavoidable, because, 5. An essential factor in the character of the oppression of the Turkish government is its hopelessness. Some one wrote upon a prison wall the gamut of national degeneration. It went down from wealth and pride to war and poverty, and then started on a return tide of indust/y and prosperity back over the same path. If there is any correctness in this itiner- ary, it must have counted upon rapid transit not to give time for pride and povert}^ to leave an impression upon the s',ul 01 the nation. The universal, accumulative and all-pervadiiig flood of Turkish oppression has torn up and borne down with it every single anchorage and mooring of virtue an i n^anhood for the ship of State, so that no returning tide is ever possible for it. Action and reaction, with increasing rapidity even tLt:>:igh the past fifty years, have brought disastrous loss in nil direc- tions ; so that Turkey has to-day less money, less manhood, less wisdom, less patriotism and less confidence in itself! Only one power rises in the midst of universal degeneration, and that is the rampant spirit of desperate and malignant oppression. In the midst of the colossal calamity of tens of thousands of innocent people murdered in cold blood, villag