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ISLAM, 
 
 TURKEY, 
 and ARMENIA, 
 
 AND 
 
 HOW THEY HAPPENED. 
 
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 By SADIK SHAHID BEY. 
 
 TURKISH 
 
 MYSTERIES 
 
 UNVEILED. 
 
 2m TWO COPIES RECEIVED- 
 
8218 
 
 COPYRIGHT APRIL, 1898. 
 
 ^ 
 
 <\* 
 
 'M^ 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 C. B. WOODWARD COMPANY, 
 
 ST. LOUIS. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 This book is gratefully dedicated to my precious 
 mother in far-away Armenia, who possesses my 
 devoted filial love and efforts, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The frequent requests of many friends, and also realization 
 of the need of a fuller account of the Turkish and Armenian 
 question, have led to the publication of this book. 
 
 The object is to understand the life of Mohamet, "The 
 Prophet;" the Koran and its teachings; Islam and its power 
 over Church and State; the Sultan and the Palace; the 
 school and home life of the Turks; also the origin and life of 
 the Armenians, and the causes of the repeated massacres and 
 their results. 
 
 The facts give-n in this book are of the interior of the Empire. 
 Many of the books about Turkey and Armenia are written by 
 men who have made short visits to or lived in the sea-coast 
 cities, writing of what they saw there, which is far from the 
 real Turkish life and practice. The typical Turkish life can not 
 be seen in the sea-coast cities— as Constantinople, Smyrna, Bey- 
 rout, Jaffa, etc. -which have slowly lost their originalities 
 through constant contact with Europeans and Americans, who 
 are always present as missionaries and merchants, and visitors 
 in great numbers. 
 
 Very few travelers undertake to enter the interior of the 
 Empire. Such parties pass rapidly, and as a rule are guided by 
 Turkish Zabteyahs and are led to the most favorable cities, 
 where the Turkish authorities are prepared to give them a 
 favorable impression. Thus these travelers can know but little 
 about the real situation. 
 
 Names of persons and places of events are withheld, lest 
 they cause greater suffering and death to innocent ones. 
 
 The attitude of this book toward the Turk is as charitable as 
 
 the facts could possibly permit. 
 
 The Author. 
 
EIGHT COMMANDMENTS OF THE KORAN 
 CONCERNING CHRISTIANS. 
 
 (THE ARABIC INSCRIPTION ON THB NEXT PAGE.) 
 
 (1.) "They are surely infidels, who say, Verily 
 God is Christ the son of Mary." (Koran, Chap. V.) 
 
 ( 2 . ) * * O true believers , take not the Jews or Chris- 
 tians for your friends: they are friends the one to 
 the other ; but whoso among you taketh them for his 
 friends, he is surely one of them." (Chap. V.) 
 
 (3.) "War is enjoined you against the infidels; 
 but this is hateful unto you; yet perchance ye hate a 
 thing which is better for you, and perchance you love 
 a thing which is worse for you; but God knoweth, 
 and ye know not." (Chap. II.) 
 
 (4.) "Fight therefore against them, until there 
 be no temptation to idolatry, and the religion be 
 God's." (Chap. II.) 
 
 (5.) "Fight against the friends of Satan, for the 
 stratagem of Satan is weak." (Chap. IV.) 
 
 (6.) "And when the months wherein ye are not 
 allowed to attack them shall be past, kill the idolaters 
 wheresoever ye shall find them, and take them pris- 
 oners, and besiege them, and lay wait for them in 
 every convenient place." (Chap. IX.) 
 
 (7.) "When ye encounter the unbelievers, strike 
 off their heads, until ye have made a great slaughter 
 among them." (Chap. XL VII. ) 
 
 (8.) "Ye are also forbidden to take to wife free 
 women who are married, except those women whom 
 your right hand shall possess as slaves. This is 
 ordained you from God. " (Chap. IV. ) 
 
THE ARABIC FORMULA OF THE MOHAM- 
 ET AN CREED. 
 
 "There is no Deity but Allah and 
 Mohamet is the apostle of Allah." 
 
 EIGHT COMMANDMENTS OF THE KORAN 
 CONCERNING THE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 (IN ARABIC.) 
 
 
 
 atfj&M '&**&>& wJ&& & 
 
 
 
 
 
 For the translation see the reverse page. 
 
The diagram of six great massacres of Christians 
 which took place in Turkey within less than seventy- 
 five years. Every one of these massacres was planned 
 and ordered by the Turkish Government. 
 
 1822. Greeks, especially in Scio (Chios) by Sultan Mah- 
 
 moud, the grandfather of the present Sultan 50,000 
 
 1850. Nestorians and Armenians in Kurdistan, by Sultan 
 
 Mejit, the father of the present Sultan 10,000 
 
 I860, Maromtes and Syrians, in Syria, by the same 11,000 
 
 1876. Bulgarians by Sultan Aziz, the uncle of the present 
 
 Sultan 15,000 
 
 1894. Armenians at Sassoun, by Sultan Hamid II 10,000 
 
 1895. Armenians, in six provinces, by the same 90,000 
 
SEVENTY-NINTH PSALM IN ARMENIAN. 
 
 (An Armenian mother, writing to her son in the 
 United States, requested him to read the seventy-ninth 
 Psalm in order to know of the situation in Armenia. ) 
 
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 See also page 222. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Beginning of Islam or Mohametanism. 
 
 mohamet, the founder of islam. 
 
 1. The parentage and traditions about the birth 
 of Mohamet. — Mohamet was born in Mecca, Arabia, 
 569 A.D., of a noted parentage belonging to the tribe 
 of Koreish. His father was called Abdullah "the 
 Servant of Allah" (God), and his mother Emineh, 
 "the faithful woman." So remarkable was Abdullah 
 for his personal beauty and other qualities that, 
 according to the Arabic traditions, on the day of his 
 marriage with Emineh 200 virgins of the tribe of 
 Koreish died of broken hearts. 
 
 Mohamet was the only child of this most envied 
 family. His birth is related to accompany wonder- 
 ful events. At the moment of his coming into the 
 world a heavenly light enlightened the surrounding 
 regions, and the new-born babe, raising his eyes 
 to heaven, exclaimed: "Allahu ekber; la ilahe fllal- 
 lah, ve enna resuluhu." "Allah is the greatest; 
 there is no deity but Allah, and I am his apostle." 
 In that remarkable night the sacred fire of Zoroaster, 
 which, under the care of Persian magi had burnt 
 without ceasing for more than a thousand years, was 
 said to have been extinguished suddenly, and all 
 the idols in the world and the demons among the 
 stars fell down. The river Tigris bursting its bounds, 
 
 11 
 
12 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 overflowed the neighboring lands; the palace of 
 the Persian monarch shook to its foundation, several 
 of its towers falling down, and the Judge of Persia 
 saw in his dream a ferocious camel conquered by 
 an Arabian courser. 
 
 2. The Childhood of Mohamet. His father died 
 either before or shortly after his birth ; and the child 
 when two months old was given by his relatives, 
 after the fashion of the land, to a Bedouin nurse to 
 be fostered in genuine desert life. On their journey 
 from the city of Mecca to the tent of the nurse, the 
 tradition says the animal which bore the babe, be- 
 coming endowed with speech, proclaimed aloud that 
 it bore on its back the greatest of the Prophets and 
 the favorite of Allah. The flocks of sheep and cattle 
 bowed to him as he passed by, and the moon stooped 
 towards him when he was gazing at it in his cradle. 
 
 He could stand alone, the tradition continues to 
 say, when three months old ; run abroad when seven ; 
 at eight months he could speak so intelligibly and 
 fluently as to astonish all his hearers. At the age of 
 three years, when he was playing in the field with the 
 children of the nurse, two bright angels appeared 
 before them, and taking hold of Mohamet laid him 
 gently upon the ground, and opened his breast with- 
 out causing any pain, and taking forth his heart 
 washed it with snow from all impurities originated 
 from Adam's sin, and after filling it with faith and 
 wisdom and prophetic light replaced it in his bosom. 
 Mohamet in his later life used to show the crescent- 
 shaped scar of that angelic operation to his followers, 
 
MOHAMET, THE FOUNDER OF ISLAM. 13 
 
 who afterwards gave it the title of "the Seal of Proph- 
 ecy." His nurse and her husband being fright- 
 ened at this event, which they thought to be an 
 epileptic fit caused by demons, could not dare to keep 
 the child any longer, so took him back to his kindred. 
 
 When six years old he lost his mother also, and 
 was adopted by his grandfather, who died in two years, 
 when the child was taken and protected by his uncle. 
 It is supposed that the favorable disposition of the 
 Mohametan law in regard to the widows' and orphans' 
 rights was the result of this early bereavement of his 
 parents and of the experience of an orphan's hard life. 
 
 3. The Young Mohamet and his Environment. 
 In the house of his uncle, who was a wealthy mer- 
 chant, and at the same time the chief guardian of the 
 Kabeh — the most sacred temple of the Arab races 
 from times immemorial — Mohamet was in contact with 
 the commercial and religious leaders. The unceas- 
 ing arrival and departure of the pilgrims from all 
 parts of the land, and of commercial caravans from 
 the southern and northern districts, caused Mecca to 
 be the seat of a perpetual fair, where, besides the 
 commercial enterprises, the popular traditions of 
 Arabs were recited and various religions were dis- 
 cussed and enforced, and the heroism of the ancient 
 chiefs and the beauty of fair women were sung by 
 celebrated poets, and poetic contests were held before 
 the people, and the poems to which the prize was 
 awarded were re-written in golden characters and 
 suspended in the Kabeh. All these were exciting 
 events for the young Mohamet and carried his 
 
14 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 imagination to other parts of the country. At his 
 youthful age and upon his hearty requests his uncle 
 permitted him to accompany some of these caravans 
 in their slow but delightful journeys. The careful 
 observations he made on his way and the interesting 
 tales he heard during his travels, and especially the 
 free and detailed conversations he had with some 
 Nestorian Christian monks residing in a secluded con- 
 vent, which, being on the way of these caravans, 
 showed great hospitality to them during their jour- 
 neys from and to home, and other such coincidences, 
 induced the mind of Mohamet to reform the paganish 
 religions of his race by establishing a better system 
 more similar to their original faith supposed to be 
 founded by Abraham and Ishmael, the ancestors of 
 the Arabian races. He was not in favor with the 
 doctrines and practices of Christianity which was 
 divided into various sects, all conflicting with each 
 other and none corresponding with the primitive 
 simplicity of the Apostolic church. He felt much 
 opposition against Judaism of his time and country, 
 calling it a subversion of the ancient religion of 
 Israel, which he mentions very frequently in his later 
 teachings. 
 
 4. The Beginning of the Mohametan Religion. 
 While forming the design of a new religious system 
 Mohamet was for years in the habit of retiring to a 
 cave not very far from Mecca, and there spending days 
 and weeks in silent meditation. According to some 
 historians his isolation in that cave was not altogether 
 for thoughtful planning, but was due to epileptic fits 
 
MOHAMET, THE FOUNDER OF ISLAM. 15 
 
 to which he was a victim from his childhood. The 
 important crisis having at last arrived — not before his 
 fortieth year, however — he supposed or pretended to 
 have received the first divine communication in the 
 solitude of the cave, where the archangel Gabriel 
 appeared to him in human form, with a written rev- 
 elation in his hand, which was in Arabic, and giving 
 it to him commanded him to "read." Mohamet, his 
 followers say, did not know how to read, but as soon as 
 he looked over the " waraka" (the writing) he was 
 endowed with a miraculous gift of reading and began 
 to rehearse it fluently and eagerly. This was the 
 first of 114 warakas which Gabriel brought him from 
 time to time and on various occasions, and which, be- 
 ing compiled after the death of Mohamet, composed 
 the book of the Koran. 
 
 On the day he received this first divine message he 
 returned home, and at once broke to his wife the 
 solemn news of supernatural visions and heavenly 
 voices in his seclusion, and recited before her the 
 "waraka" which he claimed to be conveyed to him by 
 the archangel Gabriel, and invited her to accept this 
 true religion and to become the first believer among 
 his kindred and countrymen. Being unable to resist 
 such a powerful exhortation, she immediately ac- 
 cepted the invitation and became the first proselyte 
 among the future hosts of the Mohametan world. 
 
 5. The Rapid Progress of Islam. Mohamet's 
 teachings, especially those that were against the idols 
 of Kabeh, were very much opposed by his own tribe 
 and kindreds. But owing to the circumstances of his 
 
16 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 time and country, namely, to the discord and corrup- 
 tion among the Christian sects, and the hostility 
 between the proselyte Jews and the Christians, and 
 to the adaptation of Islamic militio-religious system 
 to the adventurous spirit of the Arab races, and to 
 the sensual and avaricious nature of savage tribes, 
 and to the absence of a mighty power to check its 
 fury, this system was firmly established in Arabia 
 " by the edge of the sword," and these local suc- 
 cesses encouraged the followers of Islam to carry on 
 their expeditions by the force and fire of the * ' Holy 
 Wars " which burned all the surrounding countries, 
 ruined and defiled the Christian churches, killed and 
 enslaved the Jews and the Christians, until, in the 
 short space of 80 years from the death of their 
 prophet they could extend the Mohametan dominion 
 from Egypt to India, and from Lisbon to Samarcand, 
 thus waving the bloody banner of the " Crescent' 1 
 over the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. 
 Had it not been for the bravery of Charles Martel 
 Europe would have been overwhelmed by the torrent 
 of Islam, and would most probably be covered with its 
 gloom even unto this day. As an illustration of the 
 rapid progress of Islam, so much would suffice to 
 mention that in the fourth year of his mission Mo- 
 hamet could only make 40 Proselytes, chiefly slaves 
 and the people of the lower ranks, while towards the 
 twentieth year of his ministry he entered the city of 
 Mecca with 40,000 followers to perform pilgrimage 
 in the Kabeh, the sacred temple that was already 
 Mohametanized. The present number of Mohametans 
 is estimated to be over 200,000,000. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE KORAN, THE SACRED BOOK OF ISLAM. 
 
 t. Trie Asserted Supremacy of the Koran. 
 Moharnmetans confess four sacred books, Law of 
 Moses, Psalms of David, Gospel of Jesus and Koran 
 of Mohamet, with these two distinctions, that the 
 Koran, being the last and the best of the revelations, 
 is supreme and authoritative over the others, and 
 that the present books, which Jews and Christians 
 have in their hands, are not the genuine revelations 
 given to Moses, David and Jesus; that the Jewish 
 and Christian scribes intentionally corrupted them in 
 order to conceal all indications about the Latter 
 Day Prophet and his true religion. Hence they 
 have no value as authoritative texts and no Moharn- 
 etan need be led astray by them, as the substance of 
 the original revelations is giveninthe book of Koran. 
 
 The original text of the Koran, they assert, 
 exists upon a tablet co-existent with the throne of 
 God and adored by the celestial hosts as "the 
 Eternal Word." A copy of it, written with silver 
 and golden letters, descended into the first heaven in 
 the sacred month of Kamazan, and piece by piece 
 communicated to Mohamet bv the archangel Gabriel. 
 Each letter of this holy book is said to contain ten 
 thousand mysteries and unmeasurable virtues. 
 Simply the heading of each chapter, "Bis mill ah er 
 rahm'an erratum" (in the name of the most merciful 
 Allah), being composed of 19 Arabic letters, is be- 
 
 17 
 
18 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 lieved to have sufficient power to dispel the evils of 
 the 19 hours of the day, and united with five 
 daily Mohametan prayers is able to keep the believer 
 from the evils and troubles of a whole day. The 
 mechanical rehearsing of certain passages is taught to 
 be an effectual relief for certain calamities, a sure 
 protection in sacred wars, a lucky success in all 
 enterprises, and an assurance in gaining loves and 
 favors. 
 
 2. The Sacredness of the Current Copies of the 
 Koran. A non-Mohametan is not allowed to touch 
 this heaven-descended book; even the Mohametans 
 do not handle it without having first performed the 
 ceremony of ablution — sacred washing. When 
 European or American travelers go to the Turkish 
 Museums at Constantinople and enter, for instance, 
 into the Tomb of Sultan Mahmoud, they will find a 
 Mohametan guide there ready to show and explain the 
 articles of interest, among which are several copies 
 of the Koran wrapped in elegant embroideries and 
 put upon special stands in front of the tomb, both 
 for adornment and for the spiritual benefit of that 
 great Sultan. The guide opens them one by one 
 and explains their authority and dates and estimated 
 prices, always being careful that no infidel's hand 
 shall touch them. If any of the visitors moves his 
 hand toward the finely gilded pages he politely pushes 
 it back, saying, ' 'Please, sir, according to our belief 
 it is not lawful to touch the sacred Koran without 
 first performing the legal ceremony of ablution. I 
 can not myself touch it without,'' The writer had 
 
THE KORAN, THE SACRED BOOK OF ISLAM. 19 
 
 the opportunity to examine the very fine pages and 
 richly ornamented covers while the white-turbaned 
 guide was busy in telling stories about the out-of- 
 order * 'golden clock," which was presented to a pre- 
 vious Sultan by the Emperor Napoleon, aud the 
 heavy embroidered green curtains used many years 
 in the "Sacred Kabeh," and forwarded to him 
 as a compliment to his religious zeal ; and the chest 
 in which "the sacred beard" of the Prophet is 
 still preserved, which no one is allowed to open 
 but the Sultan himself when he comes to kiss the 
 sacred relics kept in that magnificent shrine of white 
 marbles. 
 
 Such a book of boundless mysteries and rich 
 blessings can never be translated into other lan- 
 guages ; hence the Arabs, the Hindoos, the Moors, 
 the Persians, the Turks and the Albanians, all 
 different races with different dialects, read it in 
 the same original Arabic language with the strict- 
 est care of correct articulation. A great many 
 learned people make it their life work to commit the 
 whole Koran (a book about t e size of the New 
 Testament) to memory and rehearse it continually. 
 Even the majority of the blind men among Moham- 
 etans learn the whole book by heart, and on various 
 occasions are invited into the Harems to rehearse 
 certain portions for their own interest and for the 
 benefit of the household. They are called "Hafiz," 
 the Preserver (of the ancient Word). 
 
 It is n ,t an unusual thing to see a pious Moham- 
 etan sit before the window of his house, or even at his 
 
20 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 shop, and engage in repeating or reading his Koran 
 in a monotonous tone and with continual vibrations 
 of the upper part of his body, at the same time notic- 
 ing all things about, having occaskmal talks with 
 others, trying to catch the neighbors' customers, bar- 
 gaining, joking, swearing, cursing, as the circum- 
 stances may demand, and yet trying to finish the 
 portion he began to recite. The great majority can 
 not read the Koran, but they are privileged to carry 
 about them some portions of it written upon a narrow 
 and very long piece of paper, and wrapped in cloth 
 very tightly and put in a tin or silver case and hung 
 around the neck. The simple carrying of such a 
 relic entitles the owner to the same blessings, and he 
 is requested to take it out from time to time — once in 
 a few years, for example — and hand it to a teacher 
 and listen to his reading it. Many children, sleep- 
 less babies, idiots and even mad animals are fur- 
 nished with such relics in order to be protected from 
 "bad eyes" and possible injuries. 
 
 3. Bible Stories as Recorded in the Koran. By 
 his accidental contact with the Christians and Jews 
 Mohamet seems to have received some vague idea of 
 the Old and New Testaments and the apocryphal and 
 Talmudic writings of his time. The Mohametan so- 
 called Bible story is full of mistakes, as it will be 
 seen from the following examples: 
 
 The Story of Adam and Eve. After creating 
 Adam God brought him into the presence of angels 
 and commanded them to bow before this human 
 being [the reason of this command will be given else- 
 
 
THE KORAN, THE SACRED BOOK OF ISLAM 21 
 
 where], which they all have done except Azazil, one 
 of the four distinguished archangels, who refused, 
 saying, "Why should I, whom Thou hast created of 
 fire, bow down to one whom Thou hast formed of 
 clay?" For this offense and rebellion he was accursed 
 and cast out of Paradise, and his name changed to 
 Iblis, which signifies "despair." In revenge for his 
 abasement he works all kinds of mischief against the 
 posterity of Adam. 
 
 After eating the forbidden fruit, and being ex- 
 pelled from Paradise, which was in heaven, Adam 
 was cast down to India and Eve to Jiddeh in Arabia, 
 where they wandered alone 200 years without being 
 able to find each other. On Adam's lamenting, God 
 forgave his sin and led him to the districts of Mecca, 
 where he found his wife, no more to separate. Eve 
 gave twenty births, two children each time, one male 
 and the other female. And God commanded each 
 male to marry his next younger sister. Cain (they 
 call Cabil) being disobedient to this divine order, 
 wanted to marry the girl who was born with him. 
 So God being displeased with him, did not accept his 
 offering as He did that of Abel. Adam lived a 
 thousand years and saw 40,000 of his descendants, 
 after which he died on a Friday (the sacred day 
 of the Mohametans) and was buried in the island of 
 Serendib, Ceylon. 
 
 Seth, the son of Adam, being the most beautiful 
 among mankind, and a favorite of his father, received 
 fifty pieces of revelation from God, and also built the 
 Kabeh with stone and lime. 
 
22 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 The Tradition about Kdbeh, the Holy Temple 
 in Mecca. Adam one day, in the depth of his sorrow 
 and repentance, raised his hands and eyes to heaven 
 and implored the kindness of God that a shrine 
 might be granted to him similar to that which he had 
 worshiped while in Paradise, and around which the 
 angels used to move in adoring processions. The 
 prayer of Adam was heard and a tabernacle formed 
 of radiant clouds which was lowered down by the 
 angels. Toward this shrine Adam thenceforth 
 turned when in prayer, and around it he daily made 
 seven circuits in imitation of the angelic procession. 
 At the death of Adam it passed away or was drawn 
 up to heaven, but another of the same form and on 
 the same spot was built of stone and clay by Seth. 
 This was swept away by the deluge. 
 
 After many generations, when Hagar and her child, 
 Ishmael, were near perishing from thirst in the desert, 
 an angel revealed to them a spring of water near the 
 ancient site of that tabernacle. This spring or well, 
 called Zemzem, is held sacred by the descendants of 
 Ishmael to the present day. In process of time, by 
 the command of God, Ishmael undertook to rebuild 
 the Kabeh, assisted by his father, Abraham. While 
 they were thus occupied the angel Gabriel brought 
 them a stone which was originally the guardian angel 
 appointed to watch over Adam in Paradise, but 
 changed into a stone and thrown out with him as a 
 punishment for not being more watchful. This stone 
 Abraham and Ishmael received with proper reverence 
 and put it in a corner of the exterior wall of the tern- 
 
THE KORAN, THE SACRED BOOK OF ISLAM, 23 
 
 pie, where it remains to the present day, devoutly 
 kissed by worshipers each time they make a circuit 
 around the building. When first inserted in the wall 
 it was a single jacinth of dazzling whiteness, but 
 became gradually blackened by the kisses of sinful 
 mortals. At the resurrection day it will recover its 
 angelic form and stand forth a testimony before God 
 in favor of those who have performed the holy 
 pilgrimage. 
 
 The Story of the Prophets and Abraham. Mo- 
 hametans accept 200,000 prophets or holy men, 313 
 of whom, being endowed by special pieces of divine 
 revelation, are called the apostles or the messengers. 
 Six of this latter class, Adam, Noah, Abraham, 
 Moses, Jesus and Mohamet, had preference over all 
 by special mission to establish new religious systems 
 among mankind. 
 
 Mohamet being the last and the greatest of this 
 group of six is called "The Prophet of the Latter 
 Days," "The Favorite of God," "The Glory of the 
 Universe," "The Prince of Two Worlds," "The Seal 
 of the Prophets," "The Unique Pearl," "The Chief 
 of the Apostles," etc. 
 
 Next in excellence comes Abraham, "Halil Ullah," 
 the Friend of God, upon whose faith, they say, the 
 religion of Islam was founded. They give preference 
 to Ishmael, the patriarch of Arabs, over Isaac, the 
 patriarch of Jews. Among the many Arabic tradi- 
 tions of Abraham the folio wins: is selected to be the 
 fact related in the Koran: Abraham, a worshiper of 
 the Almighty, was persecuted by his tribe and by his 
 
24 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 own family. One day the infidel king of his country, 
 hearing about the heresy of young Abraham, sum- 
 moned him into his presence and commanded him to 
 give up the worship of God and worship the statue of 
 his king, who was greater than God. Abraham not 
 obeying his command was cast into a furnace of fire, 
 which by the divine power was immediately changed 
 to a shining glory. Seeing this miraculous heavenly 
 light many unbelievers turned to God, but the haughty 
 ruler was still more obstinate and insisted upon his 
 supremacy over all gods. One day in a dispute Abra- 
 ham said unto him, "Verily my God bringeth the 
 sun from the east, now do thou bring it from the 
 west if thou art equal to God." Upon this challenge 
 the infidel was confounded and ordered Abraham out 
 of his dominion. As soon as Abraham left the city 
 a mighty wind was sent by God and destroyed it even 
 to its foundations. When Abraham saw the city in 
 this condition he deplored and thought in his heart, 
 how shall God quicken this city. Then God caused 
 him to die for a hundred years and afterwards raised 
 him to life and said unto him, "How long hast 
 thou tarried here?" He answered, "A day, or part 
 of it." God said, "Nay, thou hast tarried here a 
 hundred years; now look on thy food and drink, 
 they are not yet corrupted ; but look on thine animal, 
 which is long dead and the bones scattered. See 
 how I will raise them and clothe them with flesh." 
 And He did according to His word. Then in order to 
 make the doctrine of resurrection plainer to him he 
 told Abraham to take four birds and divide them into 
 
THE KORAN, THE SACRED BOOK OF ISLAM. 25 
 
 pieces, and lay a part of them on every mountain and 
 then call them together, which he did, and the 
 birds being restored to life came swiftly unto him. 
 
 The Story of Jesus Christ. Mohametans regard 
 "Isa el Messih," Jesus, the Christ, with high rev- 
 erence, and attribute his miraculous birth to the 
 power of God, but condemn the Christians with ut- 
 most severity for calling him "God," or "the Son of 
 God." Among the thousand and one Arabic names 
 of divinity they never accept the title of "Father." 
 
 The outline of his life as taken from the Koran is 
 as follows : Mary retired from her family to a place 
 towards the east, and took a veil to conceal herself 
 from men. One day the angel Gabriel appeared unto 
 her and said, " Verily I am the messenger of thy 
 Lord, and sent to give thee a holy son for a sign 
 unto men." Wherefore she conceived and retired 
 aside to a more distant place. And when the pains of 
 childbirth came upon her she reclined upon the trunk 
 of a palm tree and cried, saying, "Would to God 
 I had died before this and lost in oblivion ! ' When 
 the child came she took him in her arms and 
 brought to her people, who being unaware of all 
 these things, with great contempt said unto her, 
 "O Mary, sister of Aaron, now thou hast done a 
 strange thing; thy father was not a bad man, 
 neither was thy mother a harlot!" But she made 
 signs unto the new-born child to answer them and 
 tell the truth all about himself, whereupon he said 
 "Verily I am the servant of God, he hath given 
 me the book of the gospel and hath appointed me a 
 
26 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 prophet, and hath commanded me to observe prayer 
 and to give alms so long as I shall live, Peace be on 
 me the day whereon I was born and the day whereon 
 I shall die and the day whereon I shall be raised to 
 life." When Jesus was grown enough to begin his 
 prophecy he took clay from earth and made it in the 
 figure of a bird, and breathing thereon it became a 
 living bird by God's permission. On another occasion 
 he caused a table to descend unto his apostles from 
 heaven, aud the day of its descent became a festival 
 day unto Christians. Iu one of his discourses Jesus 
 is related to speak unto his followers that in latter 
 days there will arise a greater prophet called 
 6 'Ahmed," glorious (another title of Mohamet), 
 and the world shall obey him. Mohametans assert 
 that the Jewish and Christian scribes maliciously 
 corrupted the books of law and gospel and took out 
 the name of Mohamet from the original writings. 
 
 They never believe that Jesus was actually held, 
 crucified and murdered by the Jews, but simply they 
 were deceived by a divine trick in taking Simon, 
 the betrayer, for Jesus, because God has given him 
 the resemblance of his master in order to punish him 
 for his treason, and to annul the bad intention of the 
 enemies while he took Jesus into heaven, whence he 
 shall come in the last day to testify for Mohamet. 
 In that day God shall say unto Jesus before all 
 Christians, " O Jesus, son of Mary, hast thou said 
 unto men to take thee and thy mother for two gods 
 beside God?" He shall answer solemnly, "Praise be 
 unto Thee ! It is not for me to say that which I 
 
THE KORAN, THE SACRED BOOK OF ISLAM. 27 
 
 ought not; thou knowest what is in me. I have not 
 spoken to them any other than what thou didst com- 
 mand me." 
 
 These few illustrations of the so-called Mohametan 
 bible story will be enough to show that the illiterate 
 founder of that false religion, partly misled, of 
 course, by the apocryphal Christian writings of his 
 age, tried to conceal his fraud by childish stories, by 
 unnecessary details and wholly false representations, 
 at the same time making gross mistakes in geograph- 
 ical and historical facts; e. g., he makes the prophet 
 Elijah contemporary with Moses ; Ishmael to have 
 been offered in sacrifice instead of Isaac; Saul to 
 have led the ten thousand down to the river bank in- 
 stead of Gideon, and by the most monstrous error 
 represents Mary, the mother of Jesus, to have been 
 the same person with Miriam, the sister of Aaron 
 and Moses ! 
 
 4. A Few Quotations from the Koran. In order 
 to get a clearer idea about the moral character of 
 this sacred book let us read some pieces from it. 
 The first chapter reads as follows : "In the name of 
 the most merciful Allah. Praise be to Allah, the 
 Lord of all creatures, the most gracious, the king of 
 the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of 
 thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in the right 
 way, in the way of those to whom thou hast been 
 gracious; not of those against whom thou art in- 
 censed, nor those who go astray." For the sake of 
 impartiality we have quoted one of the best portions, 
 which any Mohametan himself would bring in favor 
 
28 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 of the Koran ; but before giving any decision let us 
 read some other portions, as 
 
 From the 2nd Chapter. "When the Lord said 
 unto the angels, 'I will place a substitute on earth' 
 (he referred to Adam), they said, 'Wilt thou place 
 there one who will do evil therein and shed blood? 
 but we celebrate thy praise and sanctify Thee.' God 
 answered, 'Verily I know that which ye know not;' 
 and he taught Adam the names of all things, and 
 then proposed them to the angels and said, 'Declare 
 unto me now the names of these things if ye say 
 truth.' They answered, 'Praise be unto thee, we 
 have no knowledge but what thou teachest us, for 
 thou art knowing and wise.' God said, 'O Adam, 
 tell them now their names;' and when he had told 
 them their names, God said, 'Did I not tell you that 
 I know the secrets of heaven and earth?' and when 
 he said unto the angels, 'Now worship Adam,' they 
 all worshiped him except Iblis, who refused and 
 was puffed up with pride, and became of the number 
 of unbelievers," etc. This is an example of illogical 
 and objectionable stories with which "the Ancient 
 Word" is full. God's resentful consultation with 
 the angels, their knowledge about the future condi- 
 tion of mankind and at the same time their ignorance 
 in telling the names of things; God's fraud in teach- 
 ing Adam secretly, yet in showing the angels that he 
 (Adam) knew the names himself, and thus gaining a 
 false name for Adam, whom he decided to appoint a 
 substitute in spite of the angels. These are some of 
 the contradictions and blasphemous points. 
 
THE KORAN, THE SACRED BOOK OF ISLAM. 29 
 
 Another example from the 56th Chapter. ''Those 
 who have preceded others in the faith shall precede 
 them to paradise. These are they who shall approach 
 near unto God; they shall dwell in gardens of 
 delight, reposing on couches adorned with gold and 
 precious stones, sitting opposite to one another 
 thereon. Youth, which shall continue in their bloom 
 forever, shall go round about to attend them with 
 goblets and beakers and a cup of flowing wine ; their 
 head shall not ache by drinking the same, neither 
 shall their reason be disturbed; and with fruits of 
 the sorts which they shall choose, and the flesh of birds 
 of the kind which they shall desire. And there shall 
 accompany them fair damsels having large black 
 eyes, resembling pearls hidden in their shells, as a 
 reward for that which they shall have wrought. 
 Verily we have created the damsels of Paradise by a 
 peculiar creation, and we (God is the speaker) have 
 made them virgins, beloved by their husbands, of 
 equal age with them, for the delight of the com- 
 panions of the right hand," etc. This is the sketch 
 of the description of Mohametan Paradise, with which 
 the sacred Koran is full. 
 
 5. Koran's Declaration and Commands about 
 Christians. "They are surely infidels who say, 
 Verily God is Christ, the son of Mary" (Chap. 
 4). "O true believers, take not the Jews or 
 Christians for your friends, they are friends the 
 one to the other; but whoso among you taketh 
 them for his friends he is surely one of them" 
 (Chap. 5). 
 
30 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 " War is enjoined you against the infidels, but this 
 is hateful unto you; but God knoweth and ye know 
 not." * 'Fight, therefore, against them until there 
 be no temptation to delusion and the religion to 
 God's" (Chap. 2). "And when the (sacred) 
 months, wherein ye are not allowed to attack them, 
 shall be passed, kill the associates (of divinity, poly- 
 theists and trinitarians) wheresoever ye shall find them 
 and take them prisoners, and besiege them, and lay 
 wait for them in every convenient place" ( Chap. 9). 
 " When ye encounter the unbelievers, strike off their 
 heads until ye have made a great slaughter among 
 them" ( Chap. 47). "Let them fight for the religion 
 of God, who part with the present life in exchange for 
 that which is to come; for whosoever fighteth for the 
 religion o% God, whether he be slain or be victorious, 
 we will surely give him a great reward" ( Chap. 4). 
 "Fight against them who profess not the true re- 
 ligion, of those unto whom the scriptures have been 
 delivered (Jews and Christians) until they pay tribute 
 by right of subjection, and they be reduced low" 
 ( Chap. 9). "Ye are also forbidden to take to wife 
 free women who are married, except those women 
 whom your right hand shall possess as slaves. This 
 is ordained you from God" ( Chap. 4.) 
 
 The above precepts are a few examples of the 
 diabolic spirit of Islam, with which the whole Koran 
 is saturated. And the most blasphemous side of this 
 is that these words profess to be copied from the 
 "Eternal Word of God," and descended from heaven 
 and from the mouth of the just and merciful God. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 NON-MOHAMETANS IN THE SIGHT OF ISLAM. 
 
 According to the doctrines and practice of Islam 
 non-Mohametans have no right to enjoy the same 
 privileges God has granted to Moslems. They may 
 be allowed to live among Moslems only as subjects 
 and subordinates, in a very restricted limitation in 
 regard to their legal rights, religious privileges and 
 titles of honor and social freedom. 
 
 1. Titles Denied in the Koran to non-Mohame- 
 tans. The Mohametans call themselves "Muslim" 
 (Moslem) which signifies "Submitted" to Allah and 
 his service body and soul, and destined to peace and 
 salvation. Also "Mumin," the "Believer" of the 
 true God and his angels and holy servants. Also 
 "Ibadullah," the servants and worshipers of Allah. 
 A^aio, "Ummeti Muhammed," the people or the 
 
 to " 
 
 flock of Mohamet, etc. The followers of any other 
 religion, idolators, atheists, Sabians, magi, Jews 
 and Christians, are called "Kiafir" (Giaour), blas- 
 phemer, infidel. 
 
 Sultan Mahmoud II., the grandfather of the 
 present Sultan, has formally forbidden his subjects 
 to apply the term Giaour to any European, and one 
 or twu of his successors extended this prohibition to 
 the Christian and Jewish subjects of their own 
 dominions; but such things being well known to be 
 
 31 
 
32 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 insincere could not and did not bring any change. 
 The followers of the false prophet practice the 
 same insulting titles now and will continue to do so 
 as long as Islam rules. 
 
 How can the Mohametans honor Christians whom 
 the Koran declares as "those who go astray," "unbe- 
 lievers," "polytheists," "corrupt doers," "fools," 
 "despised," "hypocrites," etc. etc.? These are the 
 names given to non-Mohametans in the book of 
 Koran, "the latest and best of Divine revelations," 
 in which nothing is more prevalent than the contrast 
 of Moslems' and non-Moslems' present and future 
 conditions. The idea of universal brotherhood of 
 mankind and the attempt to promote the final union 
 of the Kingdom of God are the points most malici- 
 ously ignored in its pages." 
 
 2. Other Popular Titles of Disgrace Used for 
 aon-Mohametans. The mosques of Moslems are 
 called "Jami Sherif," the sacred convent; to the 
 word "kiliseh," church, they never attach the ad- 
 jective sacred. The metropolitan mosques or 
 temples are called "Beitullah or Seiretullah," the 
 house of God or the walking place of God, while 
 the Christian cathedrals are called "Ulu Kiliseh," 
 the big gathering place. The common, rude 
 Mohametan chapels, most of which are not worthy 
 for human habitation, are named "Mesjid" 
 (mosque), the worshiping place, while Christian 
 chapels are named "gathering place." The graves 
 of distinguished Mohametans are called "Turbet 
 Sherif," the sacred tomb, while those of Christians 
 
NON-MOHAMETANS IN THE SIGHT OF ISLAM. 33 
 
 "Makbereh," the burial place. The religious ser- 
 vices of Islam are called "sejdeh, or ibadet," wor- 
 ship or service of God, while those of non-Moslems, 
 * 'rites, forms, ceremonies." The supposed mantle 
 of Mohamet, kept with greatest care and honor, is 
 called "Hurkai Sherif," the sacred mantle, but the 
 cross sign of the Christians' "Salab," the hanging 
 wood. The religious chief of Islam is titled "Emir 
 el Mumin," the sire, the commander of the 
 believers. The Chiistian patriachs, or archbishops, 
 are called "Patrik or Serpiscopos ; "Ser" means head, 
 "Pis" means filth— "Filthy-headed Copos." The 
 bishops are popularly called "Karabash," the black- 
 headed ; the common priests, "Keshish," which has 
 no literal meaning. The Jewish high priest is called 
 "Khakham Bashi," the Boss Khakham (corrupted 
 from the Hebrew word "Hakem," the sage). The 
 Mohametan theological teachers are called "Muder- 
 ris," explainer, interpreter; that of the Christians 
 (vartabcd) "Mahraeah" — mashed food, hash. A 
 Mohametan pilgrim to Mecca is called "Haji" — 
 holy pilgrim. A Christian pilgrim to Jerusalem 
 "Aji" — the bitter one. The noted men among the 
 Mohametans are called "Effendi, agha," sire, yeo- 
 man; among the Christians, "Chorbaji," soup- 
 maker. The learned Mohametans, "Khoja," 
 master; Christians, "Havaja," airy, nonsense, 
 fool. The Moslem women, "Haremi Sherif, 
 Cadin," the sacred harem, the lady; the Christian 
 women, "Giaour Mamasi," the infidel old woman, the 
 mother of infidels. Their Friday is called "Aziz 
 
34 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 Juma," the holy convention. Our Sunday is called 
 "Ahad," the first day of the week, or * 'Bazar," the 
 sale day. The Mohametan fasting month is called 
 "Ramazani Sherif," the sacred Ramazan ; the 
 Christian Lent is called "Behriz," the corruption of 
 "Perhiz," abstinence from certain foods. The 
 Mohametan dead is called "Jenazeh," the funeral 
 worship; that of a Christian is called "Giaour 
 olusi," the dead body of an infidel. When they 
 announce in the papers the death of a noted Moslem 
 they say, "Transferred into the Land of Perpetuity," 
 or "Migrated into the Region of Souls;" of any 
 Christian they say "shriveled, perished." When 
 they mention a dead Mohametan they say, "May 
 God have mercy unto his soul," or "May his 
 tomb be illuminated," or "Peace be upon him." 
 They never use such phrases for the Christians. 
 Of the former sultans they say, "Whose abode is 
 Paradise." 
 
 3. Christians Disgraced in Official Documents. 
 In a- Turkish dictionary, published at Constantinople 
 not very long ago, the word "jeres" (bell) is de- 
 fined as "the special instrument by which the Blas- 
 phemers call their people to perform heathenish 
 rites," and this was fifty years later than the formal 
 prohibition of the Sultan Mahmoud II., "whose 
 abode is Paradise." 
 
 It was custom until very recent times to attach the 
 title of "Zimmi," indebted, to any Christian name 
 in writings, because, according to the declaration of 
 the Koran, Christians are indebted to the Moslem's 
 
NON-MOHAMETANS IN THE SIGHT OF ISLAM. 35 
 
 » 
 
 mercy for their existence and some privileges (for 
 which they have to pay tribute as a ransom fee); 
 also the Christians are called * 'Rayah," pasture, for 
 the flock of Moslem lambs. 
 
 They write * 'Ahmed, the son of Mohamet," to 
 identify a Moslem, but "Peter, born of John," for 
 Christians. This is simply to denounce Christian 
 marriage as illegal. When mixed names are to be 
 put on paper the eminent Christian's name must 
 come after the name of a common Moslem's, the 
 distinction of adjectives never being omitted. 
 
 The following official document of a certain Mah- 
 kemeh, legal court, given not very long ago in con- 
 nection with the burial of a Christian priest, is among 
 the properties of the said person, and reads as follows : 
 
 "From the estrayed sect of Nazarites the infidel 
 Keshish, named — having been shriveled (dead), the 
 official permission of our sacred Mahkemeh was im- 
 plored by his sect to put the corpse under the earth. 
 Though the accursed carrion of the said wretch is not 
 worthy to be placed under the sacred soil, which will 
 refuse the admission of such an unclean thing, yet in 
 order to prevent the stench of atmosphere by the 
 hateful stink of the perished body, this official docu- 
 ment is written and given as a permission for taking 
 away the said filth to their assigned spot, and put it 
 under the soil according to their vain ceremonies. 
 May it stumble down to the infernal abyss." 
 
 The grave-stone of Christians is not allowed to 
 stand erect, but must be prone, in token of their sub- 
 jection to Mohametan rule. 
 
36 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 4. Denial of Religious and Social Rights. Ac- 
 cording to the Mohametan law a non-Moslem's testi- 
 mony cannot be accepted, even listened to, in legal 
 courts, especially when it tends to be against a 
 "believer." But when the interest of Islam demands, 
 a Moslem is justified, even held religiously obliged, 
 to go to the court and give his legal oath and bear 
 false witness against Giaours (Christians.) This is 
 sanctioned by a decree of the Koran and practiced by 
 its followers. 
 
 A Christian can never make a legal will on his own 
 property, leaving it for his church, or school, or any 
 Christian institution ; while most of the wealthy Mo- 
 hametans will their immovable properties to a certain 
 mosque, or even to their living generations or friends, 
 and such properties, by a very small religious fee, 
 are forever exempt from the regular taxation, regarded 
 as the sacred possession of Islam, carefully protected, 
 repaired, and prevented from being sold to others, 
 especially to "Giaours." 
 
 A Christian church, or school, or any other public 
 institution cannot be erected within sixty yards dis- 
 tance from a mosque or Moslem school, even if the 
 latter be ruined and changed to a heap of ashes. 
 
 The words of common salutation used among Mos- 
 lems, "Peace be unto you," can never be addressed 
 to or by a Christian, because this phrase being used 
 among the ancient Moslem prophets, as Adam, Noah, 
 Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and others, and also 
 among the angels and saints of Paradise, no infidel 
 destined to perdition has a right to claim its benefit. 
 
NON-MOHAMETANS IN THE SIGHT OF ISLAM. 37 
 
 If addressed to a Christian by mistake it must be 
 and is withdrawn at once. When they meet a Chris- 
 tian acquaintance they may use common words of 
 recognition or make a slight motion with their hand 
 without uttering a word. 
 
 5. Practical Enmity Against Christianity. No 
 Moslem can change his faith without infliction of the 
 death penalty. Especially those who are proselyted 
 to Islam can never return to their original faith with- 
 out being murdered for the supposed treason, while 
 Christian men and women are induced, forced, and 
 very often tortured to accept Islam. To marry such 
 a convert woman is regarded highly virtuous. In 
 case of such a conversion, which is very rare, the 
 once Christian man is clothed with a heavily em- 
 broidered robe and a rich turban put upon his head, 
 and mounted upon a fine horse and accompanied with 
 a crowd of howling dervishes and sinking mollahs he 
 is paraded in the streets and by the houses of his 
 former friends ; then he is taken to the house of the 
 greatest Moslem and entertained there for several 
 days until a believing woman is found to marry this 
 new-born servant of Allah, who with his faith changes 
 also his name. 
 
 Such common proverbs are publicly spoken, even 
 to the face of the Christians: "Giaour's property is 
 lawful to Moslem;" "Giaour's neck is for the sword 
 of Islam;" "Giaour's head belongs to the govern- 
 ment, and his property to the public;" "It is virtuous 
 to drink Giaour's blood;" "Giaour has no religion;" 
 "On the Day of Resurrection Giaours shall grovel 
 
38 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 with their faces on the earth, while the Moslems will 
 walk erect, and will be borne aloft on winged camels, 
 white as milk, with saddles of fine gold;" "When 
 the Bridge of Surat is reached the Moslem will pass 
 it through as a bird or an arrow and step the blissful 
 gardens of Paradise, but Giaours, fiading it as narrow 
 as a hair's breadth and as sharp as a sword, will not be 
 able to walk upon it, and thus shall stumble down 
 into the lake of hell, full of boiling slime and melted 
 sulphur;" "If a man kills an innocent cat or dog he 
 must build as many mosques as the number of hairs 
 on the animal, in order to escape its future punish- 
 ment, but by killing obstinate Jews or Christians 
 will be rewarded in both worlds." 
 
 Every pious Moslem has to repeat the following 
 prayer when he kueels down before the throne of his 
 most merciful Allah : "I seek refuse with Allah from 
 Satan, the accursed; in the name of Allah, the most 
 merciful. O Lord of all creatures, O Allah! destroy 
 the infidels and potytheists, Thine enemies, the ene- 
 mies 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 relatives 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 crea- 
 tures ! ' ' 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE FIVE RELIGIOUS DUTIES OF ISLAM. 
 
 1. Prayer. Mohametans have five daily prayers, 
 which are nothing but mechanical repetition of some 
 portions from the religious books, in appointed times 
 and in certain manner. 
 
 At first Allah demanded forty daily prayers from 
 the Moslems, but through the intercession and wise 
 counsel of the Greatest Prophet, he was willing to re- 
 duce the number to five. The time for first prayer is 
 at one hour before sunrise, the second at noon, the 
 third two hours before sunset, the fourth at sunset, 
 and the last about two hours after sunset. 
 
 Prayers must be preceded by ablution, the cere- 
 monious washing of the hands, arms, nostrils, mouth, 
 face, ears, forehead and feet. 
 
 Each time of prayer a crier called "muezzin" 
 ascends to the top of the minaret, the slim, high 
 tower attached to the mosque, to invite the believers 
 to worship. He must cry as eagerly and loudly as he 
 can bv which he will be able to reach more people, 
 and also secure a larger space in paradise, as large as 
 the distance of his voice. 
 
 To pray with the congregation is regarded more 
 virtuous, but in case of necessity the believer may 
 perform his prayer at home, in the shop, in any pub- 
 lic place, or on the wayside. The Friday noon prayer, 
 
 39 
 
40 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 the evening prayers of the fasting month and the 
 morning prayers of the Great Festival days are ex- 
 pected to be performed in the mosque. 
 
 At prayer Kabch, the sacred temple of Mcca, must 
 be faced. If a traveler confuses the directions he 
 may face any direction by uttering "My intention is 
 the Kabeh." Shoes must be taken off, but hats kept 
 on. The various positions during the worship are 
 standing erect, the eyes fixed low upon the ground, 
 then partial bending of the body and kneeling, then 
 touching the floor with the forehead, which is repeated 
 several times. While in these attitudes the wor- 
 shiper will repeat certain passages from the Koran in 
 a low, muttering way. The very act of looking 
 around, talking, laughing, coughing, spitting, sneez- 
 ing, or rubbing the flesh in consequence of a flj^-bite, 
 renders the unfinished prayer null and void and 
 obliges the worshiper to begin his devotion anew. 
 
 The Mohametans never pray in a place where any 
 picture may be found. You can not see pictures or 
 photographs in Moslem houses, except in those of a 
 very few liberal minded officers. Mohamet used to say 
 that "the angels would not enter a house in which pic- 
 tures are found, and that those who made them would 
 be commanded in the last day to give souls to them, or 
 be punished in the fire of hell." Some carry this 
 piety to the degree that they scratch the necks of the 
 pictures on foreign coins with a knife, as if to kill or 
 nullify them. There are Napoleons, Victorias, czars, 
 kaisers and Austrian emperors — all intimate friends 
 of the Sultan and protectors of his throne— that cir- 
 
THE FIVE RELIGIOUS DUTIES OF ISLAM. 41 
 
 culate with scratched necks in Moslem markets, 
 especially in the interior of the Ottoman empire, 
 where the actual scratch-necks has been so freely 
 going on by the order of "the most gracious father 
 of the empire," and before the eyes of his great 
 allies. 
 
 2. Fasting During the Month of Ramazan 
 (lunar calendar). During the twenty-nine days of 
 this month all the adult Moslems must fast from dawn 
 to sunset, after which they are let loose to eat and 
 drink and smoke and do all kinds of carnal deeds all 
 the night. The sick and the travelers are allowed to 
 omit this duty upon the condition that they perform 
 it at another convenient time. Any man who fails to 
 keep the fast is disgraced and punished publicly, 
 occasionally by being seized and put on a donkey 
 seated backwards and the tail in his hand for the 
 bridle, and carried all over the market places, followed 
 by a shouting multitude. Sometimes as an additional 
 attraction to this religio-maniacal parade the face of 
 the person is dyed black. 
 
 In this sacred month of prayer and humiliation 
 their religious feelings — namely, their carnal desires, 
 their laziness and their enmity and brutality against 
 Giaours — reach to the highest pitch. Poor Christians 
 suffer more in this single month than in the other 
 eleven months. Every Christian must be very cau- 
 tious not to excite the "long-faced" Moslem by de- 
 manding his debt, or by eating or smoking in his 
 presence, or by disturbing his ear with songs or 
 church bells. 
 
42 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 Ramazan is believed to be the month in which the 
 Koran descended from the seventh to the first heaven, 
 and in which Mohamet had a night's journey to 
 heaven. In the fourteenth night of that month 
 the archangel Gabriel aroused him by gently touch- 
 ing his side and led him out of his house, where a 
 winged mule waited for them. They both rode the 
 animal, which took them in a moment to the top of 
 Mount Sinai; the next moment they were in the 
 Temple of Jerusalem, at the gate of which they left 
 the mule, and Gabriel, carrying Mohamet upon his 
 wings, put him on the threshold of heaven. After 
 visiting all the seven stages of heaven he ap- 
 proached to the throne of the Almighty and saw the 
 eternal plate upon which "the Word of Ages" was 
 written. Mohamet testifies that upon each gate of 
 heaven he saw the Arabic inscription, "There is no 
 deity but Allah, and Mohamet is the Apostle of 
 Allah." After this miraculous visit and glorious 
 vision he was taken home by the same route. In 
 this illustrious night, "El Kadr," there was an extraor- 
 dinary calmness on the earth, so that the roaring 
 streams kept still, the winds did not blow, the poison- 
 ous serpents and the ferocious animals were motion- 
 less in their dens, the robbers could not go out to 
 their business, and the diseases and the evil spirits 
 were controlled. 
 
 3. Pilgrimage to the Sacred Kabeh at Mecca. 
 This is a duty put upon those who can afford the ex- 
 penses and bear the troubles of the long and tiresome 
 journey. If one can not go himself he may send a 
 
THE FIVE RELIGIOUS DUTIES OF ISLAM. 43 
 
 substitute, the virtue being the same. The day when 
 the sacred caravans start towards the holy city of 
 Mecca is regarded as a great occasion, both for those 
 who will make the pilgrimage and those who are 
 sending them. Almost all the Moslem population of 
 the town or city are gathered in one place, dervishes 
 with their drums and holy banners, large turbaned 
 and wide-robed mollahs, with their yellow slippers, 
 followed by a great multitude of men, women and 
 children, some howling aud singing, others talk- 
 ing and crying, some swearing, others trading, all on 
 foot, forming a scene of Babylonian confusion and 
 Sodomite ra^e. The chief motive of this tumult is 
 two-fold: one is to make a sreat religious demon- 
 stration against the Christians, and the other for their 
 belief that every Moslem who accompanies the sacred 
 caravan even seven steps in its journey will be re- 
 garded in the sight of Allah as acceptable as those 
 who perform the whole pilgrimage. 
 
 Many of the pilgrims die during this journey, 
 partly from the effect of unfavorable climate of 
 Arabia and partly from Asiatic cholera, the germs 
 of which are proved to be always found in the water 
 of Zemzem, the sacred well of Ishmael, which is 
 asserted to have the supernatural power of cleansing 
 all diseases and sins of the believers. Those who 
 die during this journey are sure to be enrolled among 
 the blessed martyrs and to enjoy the immediate re- 
 ward of the heavenly presence. 
 
 It is believed that every year 80,000 pilgrims visit 
 the Holy Temple; if the number be less than that 
 
44 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 the angels descend from heaven and complete it. 
 Mohamet permitted the pilgrims to be engaged in 
 commerce on their way to and from Mecca. This 
 attracts many people from Persia and India and other 
 parts of the Mohametan world to profit themselves 
 from these yearly religious fairs and bazars. The 
 chances of highway robbery attract many believers 
 to rub their faces on the threshhold of the house of 
 Allah and make seven circuits a day around the 
 Kabeh, each time kissing the angel stone fallen from 
 heaven. 
 
 4. Alms and Tithes. Alms is an important duty 
 demanded from a Moslem. "Oh! merchants," says 
 Mohamet, "falsehood and deception are apt to pre- 
 vail in traffic; purify it, therefore, with alms; give 
 something in charitv as an atonement, for God is 
 incensed by deceit in dealing, but charity appeases 
 his anger."' By observing the lives of Mohametans 
 one can easily see that they plunder and steal with 
 one hand and give alms with the other. Such teach- 
 ings as the above-quoted passage encourages them to 
 robbery. A copper to a wayside beggar or a morsel 
 of bread to a dog is regarded the very means of puri- 
 fication of the soul. The most bloody tyrant may 
 erect a mosque or a bridge with one part of the 
 money he has plundered from the Christians, and he 
 is noted as one of the benefactors of the human 
 race. On his funeral day his coffin is carried over 
 the shoulders of thousands, and every believer pass- 
 ing by his grave stops a moment with high reverence 
 and deep admiration and repeats his prayer for the 
 
THE FIVE RELIGIOUS DUTIES OF ISLAM. 45 
 
 illumination of that grave, the owner of which is 
 already enrolled among the saints and authorized to 
 mediate for the mortal creatures here below. 
 
 Two angels are said to accompany every Moslem, 
 one on his right hand to record his good works and the 
 other on his left hand to record his evil deeds. God 
 is so tolerant for his chosen people that he permits one 
 good action to be written ten times, while each bad 
 action is not recorded for seven hours, which is an 
 opportunity for repentance. By this holy decree a 
 Moslem may steal ten dollars and give one dollar as 
 alms and have his account all right in the book of 
 the heavenly clerks, even without repentance. 
 
 5 . The Words of Testimony or the Creed of Islam . 
 This is very brief and decisive. "La ilahe illallah, 
 Muhammed er Resulullah." There is no deity but 
 Allah. Mohamet is the apostle of Allah. So much 
 power is attributed to this creed that one single 
 utterance of it in a whole lifetime will be sufficient 
 to secure Paradise. If a Moslem can not perform 
 five daily prayers he is allowed to perform the 
 Friday noon prayers. If he can not do it fifty times 
 a year he may perform the two yearly prayers of the 
 great festivals. In case he omits the same during 
 his life he can utter the above-mentioned creed; if 
 he can not do even that he may raise the forefinger 
 of his right hand as a sign of this creed, and he is 
 sure to be saved. 
 
 Mohametans assert that many Giaours, however 
 obstinate in their lifetime, are compelled to submit 
 at last to the true religion and make this significant 
 
46 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 sign of the finger on their death-bed without letting 
 their friends know anything about it, and many are 
 so afraid of the flames of hell that they are obliged to 
 cry aloud, "There is no deity but Allah, Mohamet is 
 the apostle of Allah!" Some angels, whose special 
 service is to carry corpses from the graves of Giaours 
 to the graves of Moslems, come by night and take 
 the bodies of these converted believers to their re- 
 spective places. We know nothing about such kind 
 of conversions, but positively testify to the fact that 
 over 100,000 Christians were willing to be butchered 
 during these last two years because of their unwill- 
 ingness to utter that single expression. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MOHAMETAN THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. 
 
 1. Ulemah, the Theological Party. This is the 
 most influential, the most fanatic, and the most 
 dangerous element of the Mohametan world. Nur- 
 tured with the destructive spirit of the Koran, they 
 are always ready and eager to indulge in a holy war 
 and renew the formidable expeditions of Islam. 
 Having the Sheikh al Islam (the religious head of 
 Islam) as their leader, and the host of Softas, or 
 Mollahs (the theological students), as their expert 
 agents, and the civil and military parties as their 
 helpers, and the whole Mohametan world as their 
 followers, they plan and practice according to the 
 interests of Islam. If the said head of Islam, being 
 backed by his party, gives his legal decree for the 
 dethronement of a sultan, the community cannot dis- 
 regard it. That is why daring these frequent 
 changes of ministry and secret butcheries in the 
 palace of the Sultan, the Sheikh al Islam is compara- 
 tively safe, and the coward Sultan favors the Softas 
 and Mollahs, the chief actors in the late massacre at 
 Constantinople, with presents, decorations and con- 
 gratulations. On the day of Queen Victoria's jubilee 
 celebration several cannons were discharged over the 
 Bosphorus ; when the Softas heard the first discharge 
 they at once poured out into the streets holding their 
 
 47 
 
48 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 bloody axes, clubs and daggers in their hands, eagerly 
 inquiring whom they were to massacre, the Greeks 
 or the Armenians. 
 
 2. The Character of the Ulemah. The general 
 character of this religious party is corrupt and detri- 
 mental. They have only the Koran for their life- 
 long study, and shutting themselves against any 
 modern or external influence, and relying upon the 
 fatalistic principles of Islamic philosophy, and indulg- 
 ing in cruel pleasures, they live a very depraved life. 
 
 They believe that every event of life, good or bad, 
 is pre-ordained of God, and that no human agency can 
 modify it. "On man's forehead," they say, "his pre- 
 sonal destiny is written in. a mysterious way that the 
 guardian angels only can read it, and when his time 
 is come they immediately take his soul; but before 
 that appointed moment no enemy, no disease and no 
 danger can cause death." This philosophy contradicts 
 the idea of human freedom and responsibility, morti- 
 fies the aspiration towards the better, and leaves the 
 energy of life as an instrument for the prevailing 
 vice, corruption and oppression. , 
 
 A language full of unimaginably corrupt expres- 
 sions, a home discipline full of shameful induce- 
 ments of hellish practices, a street life more wicked 
 than that of Sodomite character, a religious teaching 
 nothing more than a diabolic mechanism of cruelty, 
 a pulpit advocating hatred and malice, a religious 
 system of bloodshed and robbery, a book demoraliz- 
 ing the human likeness. This is the nearest descrip- 
 tion of the modern "Hell upon the earth." The 
 
THE MOHAMETAN THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. 49 
 
 Hindoo and Chinese heathenisms have their standards 
 of morality comparatively rational and pure; also 
 have had their effects for the betterment of human 
 civilization ; but Islam's morality has been immorality, 
 and the effect the destruction of humanity. 
 
 3. Some Teachings of the Ulemah. Besides the 
 erroneous and harmful teachings of Islam mentioned 
 in this book at various points, we will bring forth 
 some ridiculous doctrines taught in the theological 
 schools of Moslems; for example, as to the natural 
 sciences : 
 
 The Origin of Apes. "When the mountain of 
 Sinai was lifted up over the Israelites, and the law 
 was given unto them, some among the people were 
 disobedient and were entirely destroyed. But some 
 part of the Jewish nation, rousing a rebellion against 
 God on a sabbath day, were punished for their trans- 
 gression by being changed into apes and driven away 
 from the society of men, as an example for the con- 
 temporary and future generations.'* (A different 
 theory of evolution) . 
 
 Geography. "The earth, a flat body, rests between 
 the horns of a huge ox, and the ox upon a cake of 
 soap. When this animal slightly moves his head 
 there is an earthquake." (Nobody can tell what will 
 become of the earth when his feet slip off of the 
 soap, which is not a safe foundation). The thun- 
 der is supposed to be the roar of the millstone that 
 grinds oats for this huge animal of heavy burden. 
 
 The apparent heaven, a solid plate, is fastened up 
 with four screws; at the time of the deluge God 
 
50 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 slightly touched one of them ; at the end of this 
 world all four will be taken out. 
 
 Physiology . For each kind of food there is a sep- 
 arate department in the stomach. Similar articles of 
 food are changed iuto similar tissues in the human 
 body. When God created each disease, he has ap- 
 pointed a vegetable near by it as a remedy or anti- 
 dote. Lockman, the originator of medicine, was 
 gifted by the power of hearing the voices of various 
 plants as to what malady they were the remedy. 
 Some favored persons have authority over the evil 
 eyes and sicknesses, and can biud them with threads. 
 
 Chemistry. The four elements of nature are 
 water, earth, air and fire. Gold is composed of three 
 common articles, as copper, brass and mercury ; if you 
 know the proportion, and if you can find the myste- 
 rious powder which, mixed with the said minerals, pro- 
 duces gold, you can manufacture the precious metal. 
 By burning certain mysterious incenses you can con- 
 trol the jealous spirits that watch day and night over 
 the hidden subterranean treasures and possess bound- 
 less riches. Be careful to repeat certain prayers in 
 order to avoid the strokes of those evil spirits. 
 
 4. Supernatural Sciences Taught by Ulemahs. 
 — About the Spirits. In the air and among the 
 stars numerous evil spirits, or demons, reside. Some 
 of them are so enormous and powerful as to threaten 
 the earth and the moon and the sun. Comets are 
 the tails of these gigantic demons, and the eclipses 
 of the moon and the sun are their struggle to swallow 
 them, which can be avoided by crying to Gcd from 
 
THE MOHAMETAN THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. 51 
 
 the minarets, and at the same time frightening them 
 by shooting fire-arms towards the skies and making 
 all kinds of noises, by which the Turk succeeds every 
 time in saving the poor moon from being swallowed. 
 
 Some of these evil spirits walk upon the earth, 
 mostly among the graves and solitary caves. Some 
 nights they take the appearance of a wrapped dead 
 body and walk around to terrify innocent people. 
 The public baths and the Christian churches are their 
 especial gathering places by night, where, by horrible 
 snorings, ugly laughters, hateful gestures, and dread- 
 ful dances they amuse themselves until the dawn of 
 the day. Some of them are so ugly that when they 
 laugh the lower lips rest upon the earth and the up- 
 per lips reach the stars. 
 
 The Size of the Angels. Angels exist in different 
 sizes. Some are so small that 10,000 of them dwell 
 upon a single hair of the Moslem's beard, and some 
 are so large that their wings, when opened, reach 
 from east to west, and some are still larger as to 
 swallow all the water on the earth with a single gulp. 
 Certain angels have certain services under the admini- 
 stration of Allah. Some are messengers, some 
 guides, others clerks (to write the good and evil 
 deeds of mankind and copy them in the heavenly 
 register) ; others porters to carry dead bodies from 
 one cemetery to the other; some are "soul takers," 
 some are guardians of hell, etc. The space between 
 the earth and God's dwelling place is a journey of 
 fifty thousand years, which the angels perform in one 
 day over the celestial stairs. 
 
52 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 The Souls of Good Men, whether living or dead, 
 have special privileges, as to have communion with 
 Allah, to converse with Mohamet, to be present at 
 distant places at the moment they desire, and 
 to help the weakness of mankind. Many living or 
 martyred Moslem saints are believed to ride on 
 winged camels every Friday and go to Mecca to per- 
 form their noon-prayer at the Kabeh, and return the 
 same day to their respective posts or graves. Mollah 
 Hunkiar died 600 years ago, and, buried at Iconium 
 (Asia Minor), is believed to make the same journey 
 riding on a brick wall. Another martyred saint is 
 regularly coming from Persia. 
 
 5. Ulemah's Teachings About the Transactions 
 Beyond the Grave. — The Interrogation in the Sep- 
 ulchre. This will be administered immediately after 
 the burial of every Moslem by two angels upon the 
 following four questions; 1. Who was thy Lord? 
 2. Who was thy Prophet? 3. Which was thy Relig- 
 ion? and 4. Which was thy Cubla (direction faced 
 while in prayer)? He who will answer, Allah was 
 my Lord, Mohamet my prophet, Islam my religion 
 and Kabeh my Cubla, shall find a great illumination 
 in his grave ; but he who shall not make this proper 
 answer shall be involved in darkness until the judg- 
 ment day. 
 
 Resurrection. At the end of the world, when the 
 archangel Israfil shall blow the trumpet, all things, 
 even angels, men and devils, shall be annihilated. 
 Then God will revive in. heaven first the "Angel of 
 Death," who will recall all the souls in general and re- 
 
THE MOHAMETAN THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. 53 
 
 unite them to their respective bodies. Upon the earth 
 the first whom God will raise shall be Mahomet, upon 
 whose shouting, "There is no deity but Allah, Mo- 
 hamet is the apostle of Allah," all the believers shall 
 come to life. One of the sigus of the last day is that 
 the sun shall rise from the west and go to the east. 
 
 The Judgment Day. God will theu prepare a 
 vast plain where all creatures will be summoned to 
 give an account of their past conduct. The duration 
 of that day shall be as long as a century, during 
 which time the Giaours shall sigh and suffer great 
 tribulation and anguish. As to the Moslems it will 
 not be so, because those whose good works outweigh 
 their recorded bad actions, shall immediately enter 
 into Paradise; and those who are found lacking in 
 the balance shall be favored by allowing their five 
 large grave stones to be put on the scale of good 
 actions and weighed again; if he still lacks, which 
 will be very seldom, the good actions of the friends 
 done in his behalf shall be brought forth and added 
 upon the scale; also the prayers offered by his tomb 
 shall be introduced to the account, and, in spite of 
 all these favors, if his sins outweigh, he shall be 
 sent to a temporary purgatory to be punished for the 
 balance account; after which, through the in- 
 tercession of his prophet, he shall be admitted into 
 Paradise and enjoy the full pleasures thereof. 
 Those whose scales shall be equally poised are to be 
 detained in the middle space between Paradise and 
 hell and pass their years ©f penance in that soli- 
 tary place in a neutral condition. 
 
54 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 Paradise. Mohametan paradise is nothing but an 
 imaginary place of carnal gratifications. Nothing to 
 do but to eat whatever you desire, which at once 
 shall be created and brought before you; to drink 
 wine and liquors which shall not disturb the mind; to 
 enjoy the pleasure of numerous pearly damsels; to 
 wear green silken robes which shall not wear out; to 
 sit upon soft couches and talk with the friends you 
 desire; to be served by blooming youths, and be 
 happy by looking down and seeing the wretched con- 
 dition of the Giaours in hell. 
 
 The Hell, as imaginary as the Heaven, is de- 
 vided into sev€n stories ; the first as a purgatory for 
 Moslems, the second for Jews, the third for Chris- 
 tians, the fourth for Sabians, the fifth for Magians, 
 the sixth for idolators. the seventh, and the lowest of 
 all, for the hypocrites, who outwardly professed a 
 religion but in reality had none. The essential means 
 of torment are heat, cold, bitter foods and filthy 
 drinks. The tree of Zakkum, which issues from the 
 bottom of hell and the fruit of which resembles the 
 heads of devils, is the only supply of food in hell 
 with which the damned shall be obliged to fill their 
 bellies, and being burnt of its bitterness shall cry 
 for drink, when a mixture of filth and boiling sul- 
 phur shall be given unto them, which they shall be 
 obliged to drink and vomit and begin the torment 
 anew. When their skin is burned by the fire God 
 will give them a new skin in order to perpetuate their 
 torture. When they make complaint of heat they 
 shall be exposed to extreme cold and vice versa. 
 
THE MOHAMETAN THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. 
 
 5b 
 
 During these ceaseless successions of extremities 
 nineteen angels will take charge of the guardianship 
 of hell not to let anybody escape from it, and to 
 keep the fire and cold always in operation. 
 
 'rfV^r 
 
 - -* 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DERVISHES AND MUFTIES THE TWO RELIGIOUS CLASSES. 
 
 1. Dervishes and Their Doctrine. Dervishes 
 belong to a religious class or order professing self- 
 denial and abstinence from worldly connections and 
 luxuries, and spending their time in worship and re- 
 ligious meditation. Candidates of this order must 
 prove themselves worthy by serving several months 
 or years the Sheikh or the elder of the brotherhood, 
 and by practicing at the same time the strict ordi- 
 nances of the society. Dervish or Fakir means poor, 
 and they glory in calling themselves "poor for the 
 sake of the Truth (God)." But all dervishes are 
 not poor, Some of them are really poor and desti- 
 tute; they are Called beggar dervishes, who go from 
 town to town having nothing of their own but a 
 patched robe and a lamb's or tiger's skin for their 
 outer garment, sometimes barefooted and almost 
 always bareheaded and wear long hair; in their 
 hands a short stick with a battle-ax-shaped badge on 
 one end; also a "Keshgoor," an oval dish, a large 
 tambourine, a horn and long rosaries and some 
 trifling relics or charms. For their daily bread they 
 entirely depend upon the charity of the people. 
 Some of them go silently in the market places and 
 give thanks for anything that may be put in their oval 
 dish. If they don't have enough they never com- 
 
 56 
 
DERVISHES AND MUFTIES. 57 
 
 plain or ask for more. The majority of the beggar 
 dervishes ask for charity by standing in the market 
 places and repeating God's name, "Ya Hakk, ya 
 Allah," O Truth! O God! constantly, and holding 
 their Keshgoor, or horn, to persons they meet. 
 Some of them sing while walking to attract the 
 attention of the people; their good voice and sig- 
 nificant poems are largely emotions and touching, 
 as the soul's aspiration to reach the truth, vanities 
 of this world and follies of a luxurious life or 
 Jacob's lamentation over his lost son, Job's 
 patience and deliverance, and sometimes praises 
 of the martyred heroes, God's unchangeable will 
 and the final destiny of the human soul. 
 
 2. Resident Dervishes. The majority of this 
 order, however, are residents of the cities, having 
 their own regular trades and families and proper- 
 ties. In their appearance they may be distin- 
 guished by green turbans around very high gray 
 or white caps, long mantles and generally very 
 long hair. They have various organizations, which 
 they call certain "path" or "system." On certain 
 nights during the week they come together at some 
 mosque, or the Sheikh's department called "Tek- 
 kieh," convent or monastery, and spend hours in 
 religious conversation. Especially on Thursday 
 nights they hold a very long and fantastic meeting. 
 First they sit on the floor in a circular form and 
 begin to repeat the name of God (Hakk or Allah) 
 with a low voice and in regular intervals of 50-70 
 in one minute. Gradually their enthusiasm in- 
 
58 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 creases and their voices raise to a higher pitch. 
 Then they come upon their knees, then stand upon 
 their feet, aDd later they turn around in a 
 circle, never omitting the regular repetition of God's 
 name. After awhile they begin to whirl around the 
 axis of their bodies, at the same time keeping the 
 circular motion around the center, where they have 
 their leader turning with the group and keeping the 
 time of their gestures and howling. By this time 
 some of them have fainted and fallen down, while 
 the others continue with greater eagerness. Grad- 
 ually others fall, still they continue until every one 
 is exhausted. This practice, commonly united with 
 the use of stimulants and narcotics, has a remark- 
 ably injurious effect upon the bodrly health and 
 mental soundness of the dervishes. 
 
 3. Dervishes as the Guardians of Shrines. 
 Tekkiehs in the towns, smaller convents on the 
 hill sides, the tombs of certain saints or mar- 
 tyrs, and the sacred spots of the past ages attract 
 multitudes of visitors or pilgrims from every part of 
 the Mohametan world. The visitors are sure to bring 
 some presents or kill a sheep, in keeping with their 
 requests and vows. Such places are regarded as cen- 
 ters of supplication for incurable maladies, mental 
 and physical deformities, sterility, poverty, failure in 
 business, and to gain love and favor. The water, 
 the soil, the leaves, the fruits, the shadows of the 
 trees, the wind and the sun of those places, are be- 
 lieved to have miraculous power. Such places are 
 guarded by dervishes. 
 
DERVISHES AND MUFTIES. 59 
 
 Some haughty sheikhs shut themselves in one of 
 these sacred places and never go out of their walls 
 for fifteen, twenty, thirty years. These "Fathers" 
 are the living saints of the present age, and all the 
 wealthy citizens and the eminent visitors are expected 
 to go and kiss the skirts of his mantle and put their 
 presents under his cushion. Even the greatest men 
 would not sit in his presence but by his permission, 
 and that on bended knees ; and never talk freely, 
 only answer his questions, and that very slowly and 
 reverently ; never smoke or drink coffee but by his 
 special favor. These and their followers have a very 
 great influence upon the transactions of the Govern- 
 ment and private affairs of the sultans and their min- 
 isters. As a rule they are not so self-denying and 
 abstinent as they profess to be. 
 
 4. Mufties are the men who alone have authority 
 to apply Mohametan law to the practical transactions 
 of daily life. They have the privilege to consult 
 with the former books and extract their legal decrees 
 from them. The following examples will illustrate 
 their mode of administering the law : 
 
 A camel driver was once so angry with his camel 
 that he swore to sell her for one mite by the first 
 opportunity in the nearest city. After his anger was 
 over he felt sorry for the oath he had made, but 
 could not see any lawful way to escape from it. 
 While in deep meditation he was advised by a friend 
 to apply to the mufti of the town to see whether he 
 could show a right way to settle this trouble. He 
 went and stated the case. The mufti said, "Find a 
 
60 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 cat and tie it to the tail of the camel and take them 
 into the market place and wait for the buyers. When 
 they ask the price say, 'The camel is for one mite, 
 and the cat is for a thousand piastres, but I don't sell 
 them separately.' If they buy them for this price 
 you will lose nothing; if they don't buy you will be 
 free from your oath." 
 
 Another man came to a mufti and said hesitatingly, 
 "My lord, while feeding in the pasture your ox hit 
 and killed mine, and I came to ask your excellency 
 whether you are obliged to repair my loss or note" 
 The mufti, shaking his head as if feeling very sorry, 
 opened the hand-book of the law and read with a loud 
 voice the proposition that "the action of the animal 
 is null," and turning to the man said, "My son, they 
 were both mute animals and could not realize what 
 they did. I am sorry for the loss, but the law, as 
 you have heard, does not oblige me to undertake the 
 responsibility. Do not be grieved ; whatsoever hap- 
 pens it is from God. Your ox was destined from 
 eternity to die in this way. Neither you nor I could 
 change it." The man returned hastily and said, 
 "Oh ! I beg your pardon,- my lord, it was my ox that 
 killed yours, and I was confused in my haste and 
 made the mistake." The pious mufti, with a 
 changed face and tone, said, "Wait a little; the 
 question has got confused. I must consult with the 
 larger book." 
 
 When Sultan Aziz, the dethroned and murdered uncle 
 of the present Sultan, intended to visit Europe, a 
 puzzling difficulty arose in regard to the demands of the 
 
DERVISHES AND MUFTIES. 61 
 
 Mohametan law that the soil upon which a Moslem sov- 
 ereign may tread becomes a possession of Islam, and 
 as the Giaour princes of Frankistan (Europe) could 
 hardly be expected to submit to such a demand, there 
 should be found some way to fulfil the law and enable 
 the Sultan to carry out his intention. The leading 
 religious authorities therefore held a solemn meeting 
 in the palace to discuss the unprecedented subject. 
 After much consideration one of them is said to 
 have suggested the plan of preparing shoes for the 
 Sultan having a layer of Turkish soil under them so 
 that he could walk always upon his own country and 
 not upon other lands. This plan came very noar be- 
 ing agreed upon, when a brighter mufti said, "It 
 would be more glorious for our religion to let the 
 Sultan possess those countries and on his departure to 
 make presents of them to their former owners." 
 This was unanimously approved and offered to the 
 Sultan. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF ARMENIA. 
 
 1. Biblical References of Armenia. Armenia is 
 a high table land on the southern slope of the Cau- 
 causus, between the Caspian- and Black seas and 
 Mesopotamia. Its boundaries have varied at differ- 
 ent times of its history. It is believed by the great- 
 est majority of the Biblical scholars to be the first 
 seat of the human race, and also the cradle of 
 mankind after the deluge. The four rivers men- 
 tioned in the second chapter of Genesis : Pison 
 (the present Joruk that runs to the Black Sea), 
 Gihon (the present Arax that runs to the Caspian 
 Sea), Tigris and Euphrates (both run to the Per- 
 sian Gulf), have their sources in the highlands of 
 Ararat, Armenia. According to the modern critics, 
 Armenia was formerly called Ararat, after the name 
 of that illustrious mountain, about 17,000 feet high, 
 upon which the ark of Noah rested after the abate- 
 ment of the waters. The fertile soil, the magnifi- 
 cent scenery, the mild and healthy climate, the 
 large rivers, and the "one thousand sources" of 
 pure waters, make it worthy to be called the "Gar- 
 den of Eden." 
 
 Other Biblical references in connection with 
 Armenia: In II. Kings, 19:37, and Isa., 37:38, we 
 notice that the sons of Sennacharib, the Assyr- 
 ian monarch, after killing their father (681 B. 
 C), "escaped into the land of Armenia." Again 
 
 62 
 
SKETCHES OF ARMENIA. 63 
 
 in Ezek., 27:14 and 38:6, Armenia is indicated 
 under the name of Togarmah, the great grandson of 
 Noah, to whom the Armenians carry their descend- 
 ance, as furnishing Tyre with horses and mules, a 
 product for which it is still noted. Tigranes I., the 
 celebrated Armenian king, is said to have been an 
 ally of Cyrus the Great in overthrowing the Baby- 
 lonians and thus in liberating the Jews from their 
 seventy years' captivity. A foreshadow of this 
 event is indicated by the prophet Jeremiah (51:27- 
 29; also 50:41, 42): "Call together against her 
 the kingdoms of Ararat, Minnie and Ashkanaz," etc. 
 
 2. About the Origin of the Armenian Nation 
 there are two different opinions. The one, so long 
 cherished by the Armenians themselves, is that their 
 ancestor, Haig, the son of Togarmah and the fifth 
 generation from Noah, a hero, and a worshiper of 
 the true Jehovah, lived in Babylonia, where one of 
 the giants, coming into power, called himself Bel or 
 Baal and claimed fur himself the divine worship. 
 Haig did not recognize him, and after slaying him in 
 a struggle left the country and fled with his men to 
 the mountainous regions on the north, and established 
 there a principality which was named Hai or Haiga- 
 zian, the title which Armenians still use for them- 
 selves. The name Armenian is supposed to be given 
 by foreigners, after the name of the seventh great 
 Armenian ruler, Aram. 
 
 The other opinion lately brought forward is that 
 the Armenian nation, belonging to the Aryan race, 
 came from the north, from Caucasia, and did not 
 
64 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 occupy the country before the seventh century B. C. 
 They followed the track of the Medes, owing to the 
 gradual decline of the Assyrian Empire. The argu- 
 ments in favor of this theory are the facts that the 
 Armenians in their physiognomy and natural con- 
 struction and in their traditions and language have 
 close connection and resemblance with other Aryan 
 nations, which would be the contrary if they had an 
 Assyrian or Chaldean origin. The Armenian lan- 
 guage has not the slightest resemblance of the Se- 
 mitic branch, Assyrian, Chaldean, Phoenician, 
 Hebrew and Arabic; while many original words and 
 other characteristics of the language show the evi- 
 dent identity with the Indo-Germanic (European) 
 branch — for instance, Mayer, mother; Douster, 
 daughter; Hair, hair; Vod, foot; Gow, cow; Luce, 
 light; Dour, door; Gadou, cat; Bardes, paradise; 
 Dev, day; Ash, ass; Anoun, noun, and many others. 
 
 3. Armenia According to the Ancient Foreign 
 Historians. In the famous inscriptions of the 
 Achsemanides (the ancient Persian monarchs, as 
 Darius, Hystaspes, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and others) 
 in Persepolis (the ancient Persian capital of the said 
 dynasty and afterward ruined by Alexander the 
 Great) the name of Armenia is found written in 
 various forms, and the pictures of Armenian tribu- 
 taries are represented as marching after the Cappa- 
 docians to render homage to the great Persian king; 
 the probable date, six centuries before Christ. 
 
 Herodotus, the oldest Greek historian, born 484 
 B. C, also mentions the absorption of the Armenian 
 
SKETCHES OF ARMENIA. 65 
 
 kingdom in that of Darius, and the exaction of a 
 tribute of four hundred talents. 
 
 Xenophon, the celebrated Greek general, histo- 
 rian and philosopher, born 445 B. C, in his account 
 of the adventurous retreat of the Greeks in the 
 East, known in history as "The Retreat of the Ten 
 Thousand," throws much light upon the ancient Ar- 
 menians and Kurds. 
 
 Armenia was included in the conquests of Alexan- 
 der the Great, 320 B. C, and after his death at the 
 partition of his kingdom Armenia was submitted to 
 the Seleucidse of Syria. But in 190 B. C. she re- 
 volted against the Syrian King, Antiochus the Great, 
 and gained her independence through the aid of the 
 Parthian king, Mithridates I., who appointed his 
 brother, Valarsaces, over Armenia. This was the 
 beginning of the second period of the Armenian 
 Kingdom. 
 
 4. The Four Periods of the Armenian King- 
 dom. The first period, beginning with Haig and end- 
 ing at the time of Seleucidse, embraces about 22 
 centuries. The first part of this period is legend- 
 ary, or rather, unknown. The second period begins 
 with Valarsaces, 190 B. C, and goes until 390 A. D., 
 embracing a period of nearly 600 years. The great- 
 est event of this period is the evangelization of the 
 whole nation, about which the reader will find a con- 
 cise* information in the next chapter. The greatest 
 king of this period was Tigranes II., who was able 
 to fight with the Roman rulers. After him Tacitus, 
 the historian, s*ays the Armenians were almost always 
 
66 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 at war with the Romans through hatred, and with the 
 Parthians through jealousy, until the two great ene- 
 mies prevailing over Armenia divided it between 
 themselves, 390 A. D. 
 
 Between the second and the third periods, about 
 500 years, the Armenians were subjected partly to 
 the Roman or Greek Empire and partly to the Per- 
 sian kingdom and Mohametan caliphate. 
 
 The third period begins at 859 A. D. and comes to 
 its end at 1045 A. D., thus embracing about 200 
 years. 
 
 The fourth period of the Armenian independence 
 (1045-1393) was confined to Cilicia. Ruben, a rela- 
 tive of the last king of the third period, escaped into 
 Cilicia and established the Rubenian kingdom, hav- 
 ing the city of Sis for his capital. The mountainous 
 situation of Cilicia helped the Armenians to keep 
 their independence until 1393, when Leon VI., the 
 last king of this dynasty, an exile by the Mohametan 
 caliphate, died at Paris, France, and was buried in 
 the Cathedral at St. Denis. Zeitoun of the present 
 day is the last spark of this local independence. 
 
 According to the above statements the Armenian 
 Kingdom began at twenty -fourth century B. C. and 
 ended at fourteenth century A. D., thus embracing 
 a period of nearly 3,800 years with about 600 years' 
 intervals of subjection, during which time they were 
 governed by provincial system, which can not be 
 called total subjection with the present meaning of 
 the word. During the last centuries Armenia be- 
 came gradually divided between Turkey, Russia and 
 
SKETCHES OF ARMENIA. 67 
 
 Persia. The Ottoman Turks nominally conquered 
 Armenia, but until recent times (1847) it was prac- 
 tically under various Kurdish Sheiks, or chiefs. 
 
 The present number of the Armenians is supposed 
 to be over four millions: 2,500,00 in Turkey, 1,500,- 
 000 in Russia and 150,000 in Persia. It was over 
 twelve millions when subjugated by the Mohametans, 
 but reduced to one-third by unceasing persecutions 
 and frequent massacres, about which read the subse- 
 quent chapters. 
 
CHAPTER Yin. 
 
 THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 
 
 1. Pre-Christian Religion of Armenia. From 
 the ancient Armenian literature, consisting of national 
 songs, only a few quotations are left, and the earli- 
 est inscriptions on the great citadel rock of Van 
 have not yet been satisfactorily made out. What we 
 understand from the authorities existing is that the 
 Armenians, before Christianity, worshiped the heav- 
 enly bodies, the sun, the moon and the stars, and the 
 fire, like other surrounding nations. The names of 
 many places and persons, still in use, are the various 
 derivations of the names of these deities. The relics 
 of those ages of heathenism, however, show that 
 their idolatry was not of the coarser and abominable 
 sort. So far as we know, polygamy, human sacrifice 
 and immoral practices in worship were not introduced 
 nor practiced among the Armenians ; on the other 
 hand, the sacredness of family life, the fidelity in 
 marriage, the obedience to parents, national enthu- 
 siasm, attachment to the " fatherland," social habits, 
 industry, peacefulness, hospitality, and most of all 
 religious'zeal and piety — still prevailing characteristics 
 of the race — are traced back to those remote ages. 
 Haig, the supposed ancestor of the nation, is described 
 as " the eagle of the mountains of Ararat," the first 
 hero w T ho ever declared himself for freedom and con- 
 science. His grandson, Aramais, who has built stores 
 
 68 
 
THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 69 
 
 of luxuries for himself, is condemned for gluttony, 
 and his hateful character was put into a proverb and 
 passed through generations. The seventh ruler from 
 Haig, Ara the Beautiful (the son of Aram, after 
 whom the nation was named " Armenian "), was 
 highly praised, not ouly for his personal beauty but 
 chiefly for his fidelity to his nation and temperate 
 firmness against the worldly and impure intentions of 
 the Assyrian Queen Semiramis (Shamiram), even at 
 the expense of his life, which he lost while bravely 
 fighting with the hordes of this ancient Jezebel. 
 Armenian virgins are described as gathering in the 
 Temple of the Goddess of Parity and singing the 
 virtues of virginity and matrimonial fidelity. Herip- 
 simian virgins fled to Armenia as the safest shelter to 
 preserve their honor against the vicious tyranny of 
 the Roman rulers. Santookhd, the only daughter of 
 the Armenian King in the first century A. D., was 
 converted to Christianity by the Apostle Thaddeus, 
 declined all the glories of a wordly crown, and in 
 spite of the appeals, promises and threatenings of 
 her idolatrous father, kept the true faith until her 
 innocent blood, together with that of her apostle, 
 was shed on the beautiful plains of Shavarshan, 
 where roses and lilies are believed to bloom out of 
 her blood. These were the ideals of the Armenian 
 nation, even before Christianity was fully accepted 
 among them. 
 
 2. Evangelization of the Armenian Nation. Chris- 
 tianity was undoubtedly introduced among the 
 Armenians early in the second century of our era, 
 
70 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 and towards the end of the third century it was 
 officially proclaimed as the national religion of the 
 country. According to the traditions of the Armen- 
 ian church, the Armenian King Abcarius, having a 
 chronic malady, and hearing about the miracles of 
 Jesus, sent special messengers to him with a letter, 
 and invited the Saviour to come and live in his capi- 
 tal Edessa (the present Ourfa) and be safe from the 
 enmity of Jewish authorities. Our Lord, the tradi- 
 tion continues, highly appreciated this kind feeling 
 of hospitality, but as he could not go himself he 
 promised to send one of his apostles after his resur- 
 rection, which he did by sending Thaddeus, called 
 the Apostle of Armenia. Nobody can tell how 
 much truth or probability there is in this tradition, 
 but that Thaddeus and Bartholomew were sent to the 
 northeastern regions and established there Christian 
 churches, and that among the Armenians many con- 
 verted Christians were persecuted and some churches 
 were destroyed through the influences of the great 
 anti-Christian emperors of the Roman commonwealth, 
 are historical facts. Still the general evangelization 
 of Armenia dates towards the end of the third 
 century. 
 
 The historical founder of the Armenian church 
 was Saint Gregore "the Illuminator," an Armenian 
 prince, related to King Tiridates, who during the 
 first part of his reign was a great persecutor of " the 
 new faith transplanted from Judea." The young 
 prince Gregore, resigning his wordly position, conse- 
 crated himself to the enlightenment of his people 
 
THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 71 
 
 in spite of all the difficulties and severe persecutions 
 he suffered from the people and the king. Tiridates 
 being very anxious to change his mind and course, 
 shut him in a dungeon for several years, but could 
 not prevent the rapid progress of the flame of Chris- 
 tianity which was already consuming the remains of 
 the pagan ages. The most cruel thing attributed to 
 Tiridates was his killing some maiden refugees, who, 
 persecuted by the Soman emperor, had fled to 
 Armenia for shelter. His remorse and shame of this 
 guilt was so strong that he is related to have lost his 
 mind for some time, until one night in his dream he 
 saw the graves of the said martyrs illuminated by a 
 bright light, and upon this vision he at once released 
 Saint Gregore and was baptized by him with all his 
 subordinates, and proclaimed Christianity to be the 
 religion of his dominions. Soon churches were 
 established and the visionary light which was believed 
 to illumine the graves of the martyrs was spread 
 over the country; and at the very site of that heav- 
 enly light a magnificent church was erected by the 
 name of " Echmiadzin, " the Descent of the Only 
 Begotten, which is until this day the most sacred 
 headquarter of the Armenian church and the seat of 
 the highest religious authority called "Catholicos of 
 the Whole Armenians." (276 A. D.) 
 
 Saint Gregore, the Illuminator, being consecrated 
 Bishop of Armenia in 302 A. D., was the first Catho- 
 licos or father of that sacred seat, and uninterrupted 
 succession is kept until this day. The present head 
 of the Armenian church is His Holiness Muoerditch 
 
?2 Islam, turkey' and Armenia. 
 
 Khrimian, the honored and the beloved Archbishop. 
 The Bible was translated into the Armenian language 
 early in the fifth century by Mesrob, who also 
 invented and introduced the present alphabet, com- 
 posed of thirty-six letters. (Three more letters 
 were introduced afterwards for foreign sounds.) 
 
 3. The Relation of the Armenian and Greek 
 Churches. Though Christianity was introduced first 
 among the Jews and the Greeks, the Armenian church 
 has the honor of bein^ << the First National Church 
 in Christendom. " Noth withstanding her national 
 independence, she acknowledged the church universal 
 and conducted herself in unity with the sister churches 
 in the East, the principal one of which was the 
 Greek church. St. Gregore, the Illuminator, was 
 trained and even ordained in the Greek school at 
 Csesaria, and was authorized to represent the Armen- 
 ian branch of "the Church Universal" in the gen- 
 eral councils. The early history of the Christian 
 church shows that the Armenian delegates of these 
 councils had their own share in the discussions of 
 various theological and ecclesiastical subjects; so 
 much that the Western delegates and the Bishop of 
 Constantinople, and even the Emperor Constantine 
 himself, could not help to admire and appreciate their 
 superior intellect and zeal for the interest of the 
 church. Especially at the celebrated discussions of 
 Arius' doctrine against the divine nature of our 
 Saviour, the Armenian bishops, as opponents to that 
 heresy, expressed the greatest zeal for the preserva- 
 tion of the old orthodox doctrine. And the Necean 
 
THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 73 
 
 creed that was arranged as a protest and defense 
 against the erroneous teaching of Arius was at once 
 adopted by the Armenian church and used in her 
 worships until this day. Saint Gregore, the Illumi- 
 nator, added to it some sentences in order to empha- 
 size its general spirit. 
 
 The Council of Chalcedon, 451 A. D., the Armenian 
 bishops could not attend on account of the Persian 
 persecutions, and not being contented with the reso- 
 lution of that Council in regard to the number of the 
 natures of our Saviour, refused its decrees in 536. 
 Accepting the Mono-physical Doctrine (that is, in our 
 Lord's person the divine and the human united to 
 one unseparable nature), she proclaimed herself inde- 
 pendent of the Greek church, and since then had no 
 formal union with her, although she regards her as 
 a " sister church." This separation, in spite of its 
 political disadvantages, has proved beneficial for the 
 maintainance of the purity of the doctrines and the 
 practice of the Armenian church. 
 
 The seven sacraments of the early church, as mass, 
 confession, absolution, unction, matrimony, baptism 
 and eucharist, though practiced in the Armenian 
 church, are rather formal than doctrinal, as is proved 
 by her susceptibility to internal reformation. The 
 following hymn, composed by Nerses the Graceful, 
 the Armenian Archbishop who lived in the twelfth 
 century (about 400 years before the Reformation of 
 Martin Luther), and sung in the Armenian church 
 until this day, is one among many that shows the 
 doctrine and spirit of that ancient church : 
 
74 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 O, dawning brightness ! Sun of righteousness ! Shine forth upon 
 
 me. 
 Fatherly issue (spirit), in my heart renew pleasing words for 
 
 thee. 
 Treasure of bounties, thine hidden riches grant my soul to see. 
 Open mercy-door to confessing soul, with heavenlies rank me. 
 Thou one in three, Carer all that be, on me have mercy. 
 Arise Lord helping, raise the slumbering, like angels to be, 
 Eternal Father, Co-existent Son, ever ghost holy, 
 Loving name Jesus, with thy love bruise my heart-stony. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS OF THE PAST AGES. 
 
 After conversion to Christianity the history of the 
 Armenian nation has become largely the history of 
 the church; for, being situated beyond the frontiers 
 of Christendom, they suffered constant persecution 
 from the surrounding heathen nations, and the State 
 was obliged to defend the church at anv cost. 
 
 1. Persecution From Persians. Towards the 
 middle of the fifth century, as it was mentioned in 
 the first chapter, Armenia had lost its national inde- 
 pendence, and one part of it was ruled by Persians, 
 though in a provincial system. The Persians who 
 were bigoted Zoroastrian fire worshipers, aimed at 
 this time the conquest and the conversion of the 
 world. Accordingly, in 450 A. D. the Persian King 
 dictated a letter to the Armenian princes setting 
 forth the superiority of fire worship to Christianity, 
 and inviting the whole nation to accept it. Upon 
 this threatening invitation a great council was held, 
 in which clergy and laymen sat together and a unani- 
 mous reply of refusal was decided upon. The exact 
 copy of that remarkable answer was preserved by one 
 of the bishops who signed it. After intelligibly 
 refuting the false arguments of the Persian King 
 against Christianity, they said in conclusion : " From 
 this faith no one can move us, neither angels nor 
 men, neither sword nor fire, nor water nor any deadly 
 
 75 
 
76 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 punishment. If you allow us our faith we will 
 accept no other lord in place of you, but we will 
 accept no God in place of Jesus Christ; there is no 
 other Grod beside him. If after this solemn confes- 
 sion you ask anything more of us, lo, we are before 
 you and our lives are in your power; from you tor- 
 ments, from us submission; your sword, our necks; 
 we are not better than those who are gone before us? 
 who gave up their possessions and their life for this 
 testimony." 
 
 The haughty King of Persia, being enraged by the 
 boldness of this reply, ordered an army of 200,000 
 men against this small country, which stood alone in 
 front of a vast power. The battle, often called the 
 Armenian Marathon, was fought on the plain of 
 Avarair under Mt. Ararat. In this desperate strug- 
 gle the much smaller army of the Armenians was 
 defeated, and their leader Vartan, the Brave, was 
 killed, but the surprising resistance offered by rich 
 and poor, by men, women and children, convinced 
 the King of Persia that he might crush the Armen- 
 ians, but could never make fire-worshipers of them; 
 and was obliged to admit the declaration of the High 
 Priest of fire worship, that " These people have put 
 on Christianity, not like a garment, but like their 
 own flesh and blood. They are not afraid of fetters 
 and torments, nor care for property, and choose 
 death rather than life. Who can stand against them ?" 
 
 2. The Bravery of the Armenian Women During 
 This Persecution. The above mentioned historian 
 Bishop, who was an eye-witness of this terrible war- 
 
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS OF THE PAST AGES. 77 
 
 fare that reduced the country almost to a desert, 
 describes the condition of the Armenian women at 
 that time, saying: "I cannot enumerate all the 
 wives of the heroes, both of those who were in 
 fetters and those who had fallen in battle. All of 
 them being kindled by a holy ambition, put on the 
 same virtue of fidelity. The delicately reared women 
 went untiringly to the houses of prayer on foot and 
 bare-footed, asking by vows that they might be 
 enabled to endure their great affliction. The ever- 
 lasting Psalms were the words of their lips, and 
 their complete comfort was in the reading of the 
 prophets. With their eyes they saw the spoiling of 
 their goods, and with their ears they heard the moans 
 of suffering of their dear ones. With prayers they 
 opened the closed doors of heaven, and with holy 
 petitions caused the angels of redemption to descend. 
 With their hands they worked and were fed, and the 
 pensions granted them by the court they sent year 
 by year to their husbands and sons for their comfort. 
 The snows of many winters melted, the springs 
 came, the life-loving men saw and rejoiced; but they 
 never could see those for whom they longed. To 
 outsiders they appeared mourning and sorrowful 
 widows, but in their own souls they were adorned 
 with heavenly love. Their desires and prayers to 
 God were only that they might finish their course 
 with faith and courage, filled with heavenly love, 
 even as they had begun.*' 
 
 3. Persecutions From the Mohametans. After 
 the fall of the Persian kingdom in the seventh cen- 
 
78 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 tury Armenia was invaded by the Saracens, the 
 Mohametan warriors, for about 200 years. The his- 
 tory of this time was not brighter than any period of 
 religious persecutions the Armenians had suffered. 
 In the choice of Islam, or sword, or low subjection, 
 Armenians have always chosen one of the last two 
 proposals. While the fury of Islam was overwhelm- 
 ing Persia, Turkey and India were progressing with 
 wholesale conversions of races and tribes. The 
 Armenians proved themselves to be the only excep- 
 tion, and to break off these rapid and sure conquests. 
 If they could not be permitted to live for their friends 
 and country they would prefer death to Islam, hence 
 the saying prevailed among Mohametans as a proverb 
 that, "The old obstinate Armenian will not become 
 Musliman." 
 
 After the withdrawal of the Saracens, owing to 
 the fall of the caliphate in Bagdad, the Armenians 
 gained their independence under the third period of 
 their kingdom. But the land could not gain her rest 
 from the repeated invasions of proselyted Moslem 
 tribes, especially the Tartars. By the short-sighted 
 policy of the Greek emperors, the Armenian king- 
 dom was overthrown in 1045 A. D., and thus the 
 whole eastern frontier was laid open to the invasion 
 of the Seljouk Tartars, who might have been success- 
 fully resisted by the hardy mountaineers of Armenia. 
 The result was fatal, both to Armenia, which was 
 overrun, and to the Greek empire; for in the battle 
 of 1071 A. D. the Emperor Eomanus IV. was 
 defeated and made prisoner by Alp Arslan, and the 
 
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS OF THE PAST AGES. 79 
 
 whole of Asia Mioor was left to the mercy of the merci- 
 less Seljoukian Tartars, who, as most bigoted 
 Mohametans, scourged the country for 200 years. 
 
 Genghis Khan, the Mongolian invader, early in the 
 thirteenth century, dealt comparatively better with 
 the Armenians, which the Mohametans attributed to 
 the influence of his wife, who was a Christian. But 
 after the overthrow of his temporary dominion the 
 Armenians suffered more from the vengeance of the 
 Egyptian caliphate. The exact cause of this ven- 
 geance was the hospitality the Armenians showed to 
 the Crusaders, sheltering and feeding them a whole 
 winter on their way to the Holy Land to recover it 
 from the hands of Mohametans. The cruelties of 
 Timourlane, the Tartar, devastated Armenia at the 
 close of the fourteenth century; his bloody soldiers 
 being tired of killing, buried many Armenians alive, 
 or drove them into the rivers, and many children and 
 women together were drowned. In 1605 Shah Abbas, 
 of Persia, forcibly transplanted 12,000 Armenian 
 families to his country as slaves to serve the good 
 pleasure of the Mohametan Persians. From that 
 time on the Armenians have suffered continuous and 
 severer persecutions from the Kurds and the Turks, 
 the description of which is given in subsequent 
 chapters. 
 
 Armenia, owing to its geographical situation, has 
 always been the battlefield of the eastern and western 
 invasions. Her importance in the history of civiliza- 
 tion and the Christian church was that, she being at 
 \he frontier of Christendom, has done much in check- 
 
80 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 ing the fury of the barbarous invaders, and more 
 perhaps in suffering for the freedom and religion of 
 their western brothers, who, had it not been for this 
 providential stronghold, would not be able to have 
 time and facility in developing their civilization, both 
 secular and ecclesiastical. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ARMENIAN RACE. 
 
 1. Armenians Are an Exceedingly Religious Peo- 
 ple. You cannot find a single member in that com- 
 munion who has not been baptized in the sacred 
 fount of the church and in the name of the Holy 
 Trinity ; not one in ten thousand whose marriage is 
 not performed under the authority of the church. 
 If there be any they are refused to approach the 
 Lord's table and their children are not admitted to 
 baptism, and their dead are not buried with christian 
 ceremonies. In every Armenian town the best build- 
 ing is the church, with the sign of the cross on its 
 top. The choicest lamb in the llock is offered at the 
 threshold of the holy convent; the highest seat in 
 the house and the best portion on the table is for the 
 priest. The most secret affairs and sorrows are 
 entrusted to the fatherly confidence of the pastor. 
 On each visit all the members of the family are 
 glad to hold his hand and reverently kiss it while he 
 utters " God bless you." The aged men and women, 
 in many instances deprived of sight, with remarkable 
 regularity attend the services in the church, which 
 are performed twice a day, very early in the morning 
 and late in the afternoon, repeating silently all the 
 way the beautiful psalms which they learned in their 
 youth. When they meet a friend on their way from 
 
 81 
 
82 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 the church the ready blessing of their mouth is 
 " God be merciful unto your soul." 
 
 On Sunday mornings the great assembly of men 
 and women in the church reverently stand up while 
 the priest is officiating the holy sacrament ; and the 
 children, arrayed in white robes with red crosses on 
 them, and holding lights in their hands, turn around 
 the main altar sweetly singing: "Lift up your 
 heads, O, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlast- 
 ing doors; and the king of glory shall come in." In 
 the presence of such a scene one is reminded of 
 the heavenly seraphin and cherubin which turn day 
 and night around the throne of the Almighty. 
 
 2. The Passion Week in the Armenian Church. 
 After celebrating the glorious entrance of our Saviour 
 into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and following the 
 events of the first part of the week, on Thursday 
 afternoon twelve priests and deacons sit together 
 before the main altar, and imitating the significant 
 events of the upper room in Jerusalem, one of them, 
 the highest in rank, girds the apron, a sign of 
 humility, and approaches the company of twelve, 
 and one by one wash their feet, at the same time 
 repeating portions of the farewell speech of our 
 Lord. One of them taking Peter's part seems too 
 humble to let the Great Master wash his feet, but 
 being persuaded of its necessity, submits himself to 
 the will of the Master. 
 
 At midnight of the same evening, while the 
 scene of the crucifixion is represented with ideal 
 solemnity and sincere piety, all the candles are put 
 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ARMENIAN RACE. 83 
 
 out, and Mary, the afflicted mother, clinging to the 
 foot of the cross, begins to weep and wail through 
 the melodious voice of the best singer in the choir. 
 All the women in the galleries burst into tears of 
 grief, and words of repentance are heard on every 
 side until the blessed mother submits herself to the 
 divine will, and the last word of the bleeding Saviour 
 is heard upon the cross, " It is finished. " The name 
 of this ceremonious night is " Come and Weep." 
 
 When the service of the crucifixion is over, about 
 two hours before sunrise, many people go right away 
 to the cemetery and put candles over all the graves 
 in order to illuminate the valley of death. The out- 
 ward appearance, how impressive and silent! the 
 spiritual meaning is more instructive and full of com- 
 fort. The sweet remembrance of the passed friends 
 is more sweet with the meditation of "the new sep- 
 ulchre in the garden." The rest of the day passes 
 in reverent quiet. 
 
 The Easter services begin on Saturday evening, 
 and at the end of the long and ceremonious services 
 the officiating priest gives the good tidings of the 
 day: "Christ has risen from the dead," and the 
 attendants respond: "Blessed is the resurrection of 
 Christ." Friends meeting with each other during the 
 three days of Easter use the above two sentences for 
 their salutation. The priest is sure to visit each 
 home in his parish, holding a very brief service in 
 each. 
 
 3. Armenians Have Always Been Industrious and 
 Progressive, and kept the highest position among the 
 
84 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 Eastern races in regard to their ability in commerce, 
 trade, agriculture and letters. Their language, with 
 its somewhat difficult pronunciation, excels all the 
 dialects of the Bast, and in its syntax and word- 
 making capacity equals Greek or Latin. Its adapta- 
 tion to the Christian ideas is remarkable. It is a 
 proverbial saying that " the Arabic is fit to swear, 
 Kurdish to quarrel, Turkish to curse, while the 
 Armenian is to pray. 5 ' Soon after the conversion of 
 the nation to Christianity, the Armenian young men 
 flocked into the highest institutions at Athens, Con- 
 stantinople, Edessa and other centers of education. 
 While Mohamet was spending his solitary hours in 
 shaping the immense mouths of the ugliest demons, 
 or describing the devil-headed fruits of the infernal 
 plantation, the Armenians were struggling for pros- 
 perity and development. Upon the fertile land and 
 among the largest rivers they always clung to the 
 plough, and led their flocks in the green pastures of 
 Armenia. Grains and varieties of fruits were 
 exchanged for the other necessities of life, and their 
 commercial enterprises extended to the foreign coun- 
 tries. In spite of ceaseless persecutions and spoils, 
 Armenia has always had her princes, wealthy and 
 able merchants and very skillful traders. Each father 
 regarded his essential duty to train his son in his own 
 trade and perpetuate the source of wealth. Each 
 mother taught her daughter economical housekeep- 
 ing and industry. There has been no time in the 
 history of Armenia when her children assaulted her 
 neighbors, or gave themselves to luxury and idleness. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ARMENIAN RACE. 85 
 
 After so much trouble and suffering their existence 
 and position must and does have some significance. 
 4. One of the Characteristics of the Armenian 
 People is very strong attachment to the family 
 life and "fatherland." The type of the family is 
 patriarchal. The old father and mother, with their 
 grown sons and their families, sometimes numbering 
 altogether forty to sixty, live in the same house, the 
 grandfather being the ruler and the grandmother the 
 manager. Young and modest brides, being taught 
 from their early childhood, are always obedient and 
 diligent, too modest to speak aloud before the grand- 
 father and elder brothers-in-law. When the. old 
 father eats, the brides are eager to wait on him. 
 When he wants to go out they bring his out-door 
 shoes and help him to put them on and take them off 
 when he comes in, and get his good words of bless- 
 ing for all these services. When the morning work 
 is done and the men leave the house for their field or 
 shop the young mother sits beside the cradle and 
 sings softly as she sews, knits or spins: 
 Awake, and open thy beauteous eyes, my child, my little one! 
 Thy mother sees therein her life, her glory and her sun. 
 Thou shalt grow up, grow tall and strong, as rises in the air a 
 
 stately palm tree ; how I love thy stature tall and fair! 
 The heroes of Mount Ararat, their ghosts shall strengthen thee 
 
 with power and might that thou as brave as Vartan's self 
 
 mayst be. 
 Awake and ope thy beauteous eyes, my child, my little one! 
 Thy mother sees therein her life, her glory and her sun. 
 
 And no wonder if these first impressions pressed 
 upon the mind of the baby and make him attached to 
 his " good mother," the " dear home" and " sacred 
 
86 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 fatherland." He is the joy of his mother, the pro- 
 tector of his sister, the lover of his wife, the server 
 of his church and the martyr of his fatherland, so 
 full of charming scenery and sacred memories. 
 
 The ideal and the highest ambition of the Armen- 
 ian is, and always has been, and always will be, Lib- 
 erty in his home-land. The accumulation of wealth 
 is not their highest desire, though they have rare 
 chances and natural ability for that. The luxuries of 
 life are not the greatest attraction for them, though 
 they have the worst example before their eyes. The 
 theory of fatalism has never been a favorite idea 
 with the Armenians, though it broods all over Asia. 
 The ambition has never stirred them to aggress the 
 rights of their neighbors, though they have had 
 many chances in their long national life to do so. 
 They are, and always have been contented, temperate, 
 practical and peaceful. They loved liberty, they 
 were always ready to protest against a despotic spirit. 
 This spirit of protest caused them to be superficially 
 called "Anmiapan," " Discordant," but every free- 
 dom-lover knows that 
 
 The path of freedom is thorny all the way, 
 So many trials and strifes do happen every day ; 
 Too straight and narrow is this world for thee 
 If thou art a lover of Liberty. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ARMENIAN CUSTOMS IN MARRIAGE. 
 
 1. The Intended Bride. Among the Armenians 
 marriage is at an age earlier than in western coun- 
 tries — 19 for boys and 15 for girls may be regarded 
 a medium age for marriage. The engagement takes 
 place earlier than that, sometimes when the 
 couple are too young to understand the meaning of 
 "the cradle contract." The parents are the chief 
 operators in this. When a boy reaches his fifteenth 
 or seventeenth year, his parents, especially the 
 mother, the sisters and the aunts, begin to talk 
 among themselves about a proper candidate for their 
 future bride. Dark and large eyes, long and brown 
 hair, rosy cheeks and round face and medium stature 
 are desired for her physical qualities ; diligence, 
 modesty, manual skill, respectable parentage and 
 good name for the moral qualities. The education, 
 however, is not regarded essential, especially in the 
 interior. In their research for a proper candidate they 
 very often carry their mission and consultation beyond 
 the borders of the family circle — it may be whispered in 
 the church, in the marriage feasts, at the public baths, 
 and on the streets. They make unexpected calls to 
 the home of the girl under their consideration, the 
 object of which is to examine the condition of the 
 house and the manners of the girl, etc. When they 
 
 87 
 
88 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 approve one the subject is taken into more serious 
 consideration among all the members of the family, and 
 the opinion of the young man is consulted. He is 
 too bashful to state his thoughts freely, especially in 
 his father's presence, but he finds many ways to ex- 
 press himself. The young lady and her family are 
 considered formally unaware of the intention, though 
 they actually know about the case and prepare them- 
 selves to respond to the proposition. The girl has 
 less voice than the young man, still her decision can 
 not be entirely overlooked. 
 
 2. The Ceremony of Engagement. When the 
 friends of the young man give their decision for a 
 certain young woman, they send some friends or their 
 priest to make the formal proposition and get the 
 answer of "the other side." If they get a favorable 
 reply a day is appointed for the ceremony of engage- 
 ment, when the friends of the young man, associated 
 with the priest, go to the home of the young woman 
 to perform the ceremony of engagement. The near- 
 est friends of both families are there, but neither of 
 the couple. After some pell mell conversation, the 
 representative of the young man asks the elder mem- 
 ber of the girl's family, "Mr. — — , do you know for 
 what purpose we came here this evening?" He 
 answers, "You are all welcome; what purpose can 
 we expect but friendship and brotherly call. You 
 know our house is always open for the friends; you 
 are a thousand times welcome." "Yes, indeed, we 
 are friends, and always welcomed in your house. 
 God bless you and your home, but in this visit we 
 
ARMENIAN CUSTOMS IN MARRIAGE. 89 
 
 have a special purpose, and, the Lord willing, a good 
 purpose, and we are sure that you will not disappoint 
 us." The girl's friends must never show themselves 
 acquainted with the said purpose or anxious for its 
 discussion ; therefore, must always repeat the same 
 general words of welcome and friendship, until the 
 representative of the young man opens the question 
 
 and says, "Mr. , by the will of God we came to 
 
 beg your favor in giving your noble daughter, Mary, 
 to your servant, our son James. We expect that 
 you will not refuse our proposal and send us away 
 disappointed." After some formal hesitation and 
 repetitions of the proposal the question is referred to 
 the oldest member of the young woman's family, 
 who says, "You are welcome a thousand times, if it 
 is the Lord's will, may it be blessed for us all." 
 This answer being equal to "yes," is responded to 
 with great joy and congratulations, and the young 
 woman being called in, the presents of the young 
 man — pieces of gold coins, heavy embroidered hand- 
 kerchiefs, a gold ring, etc. — presented to her. Her 
 silent acceptance of these things is regarded the sign 
 of her consent for the contract, after which the 
 priest rehearses some words of prayer and vows in 
 behalf of the contractors, then a good supper is 
 served. In larger towns the young man may accom- 
 pany the friends for the ceremony of engagement. 
 Between the times of engagement and wedding the 
 couple do not see nor write to each other — only the 
 parents give visits on special days, as Christmas and 
 Easter, or other occasions, and send presents to each 
 
90 ISLAM, TUKKEr AND ARMENIA. 
 
 other. The presents of the groom are expected to be 
 more valuable and frequent. The bride is expected 
 to furnish the groom and his nearest friends with 
 embroideries, stockings and other articles, all made 
 by her own hand. Also she has to prepare several 
 suits for herself, all to be used after marriage. The 
 wedding garments, however, silken and of any color 
 but white, are to be prepared by the groom. 
 
 3. The Wedding. The families of the bride and 
 groom make special preparations for the wedding and 
 invite their relatives and friends and neighbors to 
 their respective homes two or three days before the 
 marriage. One hundred guests in each home can be 
 regarded a moderate estimate. A feast is served in 
 both homes on the afternoon of the marriage day, 
 after which the family and guests of the groom, all 
 with lighted candles in their hands, go to the home 
 of the bride "to take the bride," as they say. After 
 spending about an hour with the guests there, and 
 partaking of "sherbet," (non-alcholic drink) and 
 fruits, they take the bride to the home of the groom, 
 or to the church, where the religious ceremony is 
 performed by the priest. The ceremony takes about 
 an hour, and sometimes more. Nobody among the 
 friends of the bride except one lady attends the mar- 
 riage ceremony in the church, and the members of 
 her family do not come to see her in her new home 
 within ten to fifteen days, and she does not go to 
 visit them before thirty to forty days. 
 
 In various parts of Armenia they have different 
 customs, e. g. : In some places each guest brings 
 
ARMENIAN CUSTOMS IN MARRIAGE. 91 
 
 with her or him a small sum of money or other pro- 
 visions to meet the wedding expenses. In some 
 places they do not use invitation cards, but send a 
 messenger to each friend's house, or distribute pieces 
 of candy with a message of u salutations." In 
 many places on the marriage-feast day the gates are 
 opened to the poor and strangers. The jewelry pre- 
 sented to the bride by the groom are pieces of gold 
 coins of various value, as $1 to $15 apiece worn as a 
 necklace. On the day after the marriage the friends 
 bring gifts, such as rugs and copper vessels, and from 
 a saucer to a wash-tub. A few days before and 
 after the marriage the groom is called by the name 
 of "King" and another young man will associate 
 him as his " Prime Minister," and a little boy " the 
 groom's brother." In many places the bride has to 
 wear a veil for months or years after her departure 
 from her father's home. The new bride, beginning 
 from the engagement day, is not allowed to speak 
 before her father-in-law, brothers-in-law and their 
 nearest relatives for several months or years after 
 the marriage. If they are obliged to tell something 
 they either speak into the ears of a child of the 
 family, who repeats it aloud, or they themselves 
 express it by signs. In the interior, men and women 
 do not eat together, especially when there is a 
 stranger in the house. 
 
 The Armenian church never allows divorce for any 
 cause; only permits separation without re-marriage. 
 A god-child can never marry his or her godfather's 
 children. The common priests of the Armenian 
 
92 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 church must be married men before they are ordained, 
 but neither the priest nor his wife can marry a sec- 
 ond time. 
 
 The marriage feasts are generally accompanied 
 with music and singing and fire- works, and similar 
 amusements. Once in a Protestant community, when 
 they were taking the groom and the bride from the 
 church back to the home, they sang on the way, 
 " Jesus, I my cross have taken." 
 
 \ P 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 the Armenians' condition in the first half of 
 
 this century. 
 
 1. The Local Governments. The nature of the 
 Turkish Government, especially in the provinces, was 
 until very recently somewhat like a feudal system. 
 The local beys (noblemen), or sheikhs or pashas, 
 had their own arbitrary rule in certain districts, and 
 very often would fight with each other, or even with 
 the central government. The sultans of the last 
 two centuries, being politically impotent and devoted 
 to sensual gratifications, abandoned the task of 
 administration to the favorites and parasites of the 
 palace, who had access to the sale of public function 
 as the readiest mode of performing it, and the most 
 profitable for themselves. Armenia was not an 
 exception to other provinces, but was more unfortu- 
 nate in being abandoned to Kurdish authorities. 
 The Kurds, supposed to be the descendants of the 
 ancient Parthians, are a bloody and semi-savage race, 
 nominally governed or rather led by various local 
 sheikhs or chiefs, and always plundering the Armen- 
 ians and Nestorian Christians, with whom they lived 
 for centuries. Most of them belong to the Persian 
 sect of Mohametan religion, and some tribes still 
 keep the traces of ancient pantheism and fire-worship, 
 and even the devil-worship. While the population 
 
 93 
 
94 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 of Armenia proper was in this condition, other 
 Armenians in Lower Armenia and Cilicia were sub- 
 jected both to the central government and local Turk- 
 ish beys or agas, every one of whom was a king in 
 his own circle and dealt with their ray as (subjects) 
 as a rule very unjustly and, in many cases, very 
 unwisely for themselves. None of these local gov- 
 ernors had any project for the future welfare of the 
 country. Every one acted as if the end of the 
 world was at hand; their motto was, "Impoverish 
 the people in order to enrich yourself." If they 
 had any activity other than robbing and degrading 
 their rayas it was in the line of quarreling with rival 
 chiefs at any expense of life and property. At any 
 moment the aga of the next town could be expected 
 to come with his "seginen" (horsemen) and open a 
 dispute with the chief of this town, shed blood, burn 
 a part of the town, carry away the herds and flocks, 
 spoil the crops and do every harm imaginable. 
 Whether defeat or victory, the people always lost, 
 and the greatest sufferers were the Armenians. The 
 Kurdish or Turkish bey would send word to certain 
 Armenian individuals or community, demanding so 
 much money or provisions, the denial of which would 
 always cost life, honor and property. Very often 
 they would capture the sacred utensils of the church 
 as a security for the payment of the demanded sum; 
 or would take the abbot of the convent a prisoner 
 and torture and disgrace him until the ransom was 
 sent. When Christmas or Easter approached the 
 chief of the town would send for the key of the 
 
THE ARMENIANS CONDITION. 95 
 
 church, which the poor Christians could not dare to 
 refuse, and which they could hardly get back, even 
 by offering large sums of money and by begging for 
 months. As to the janissaries (nominal soldiers in 
 the provinces), it is impossible to describe the hor- 
 rible atrocities they have committed. They at any 
 time, even late in the evening, would knock at the 
 gate of a well-to-do Armenian and demand the 
 immediate delivery of so much meat, rice, butter, 
 bread and wine, and sometimes worse. The beys 
 and their subordinates and sub-subordinates, down to 
 the meanest servant would fall upon the helpless 
 Christians. This was the general condition of the 
 Armenians during the first half of the present 
 century. 
 
 2. How Could the Armenians keep their Exist- 
 ence. In spite of so many disadvantages — religious, 
 political, local, external and internal — the Armenian 
 nation, though greatly reduced in number, has pre- 
 served its existence as a civilized Christian nation in 
 the East. As to how — the chief points are already 
 mentioned in one of the preceeding chapters — it was 
 through their tenacity to the Christian religion, their 
 affinity to the fatherland, their natural abilities and 
 moral characteristics. Other reasons which can be 
 mentioned in connection with this so-called feudal 
 system are as follows : 
 
 (a) Every Christian family, or village, or district, 
 was identified by the name of a certain Turkish or 
 Kurdish aga or bey or sheikh. When a Moslem met 
 an Armenian he would ask him, "What aga's sriaour 
 
96 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 are you?" as one would say, " Whose horse is 
 this?" And the poor Christian, more intelligent 
 and less fortunate than a horse, was obliged to reply, 
 
 "I am aga's giaour, sir," and would be dealt 
 
 with according to his relation with the said aga. 
 This tyrannical system of using the Christians as 
 private property and slaves, for the purchase and 
 support of which they paid nothing, would to some 
 extent protect the Armenians against public attacks, 
 but the main object of this system or protection was 
 for the only purpose of worrying them privately, 
 which may be illustrated by the following incident, 
 which is one of the many that occurred every day: 
 
 The greatest effendi (chief) of a certain town once 
 had heard that a certain Armenian bought a small 
 garden under the name of a subordinate Moslem, 
 whom he bribed to make this arrangement. The 
 said effendi sent for this Armenian, on whose arrival 
 the following conversation took place: 
 
 Effendi — "Chorbaji (soup-maker; wealthy Ar- 
 menians are called by this title of honor), did you 
 hear that Allah gave us a new child in these days?" 
 
 Armenian — "Yes, your honor; may Allah grant 
 him long life." 
 
 Eff. — "But, you know, it is the custom of our city 
 to give some present to new-born children." 
 
 Arm. — (hesitatingly). "Exactly, my lord; the 
 treasures of Egypt are worthy to be offered to your 
 son." 
 
 Eff. — "Let us see what will your present be for 
 him." 
 
THE ARMENIANS' CONDITION. 97 
 
 Arm. — "Your honor, I sacrifice my life for him; 
 but, alas ! what worthy present can be expected 
 from a beggar like me ! " 
 
 (Do 
 
 Erf. — "Hum! I heard all about it. You bought 
 that field under the name of that rascal, eh?" 
 
 Arm. — "My lord, where shall the slave of your 
 door find money enough to buy a field!" 
 
 Eff — "Look here, Chorbaji, I am thinking only 
 for your own good. Do you suppose that those 
 wolves (other Turkish chiefs) will let you enjoy the 
 benefit of your own property? Of course not. I'll 
 tell you what to do. You better leave it to our new- 
 born child as your present. Why will you buy ca- 
 lamity with your own money? If you need anything 
 come to me." 
 
 It is not necessary to say that the garden referred 
 to was then and there, recorded to the name of the 
 future tyrant now in the cradle. 
 
 (6) Armenians were obliged to hold the policy of 
 concealment of their wealth, exceeding caution for 
 their honor, and to be submissive. If they accumulated 
 money, which, owing to their commercial ability and 
 the Turks' and Kurds' stupidity, was an easy task, 
 they were very careful not to let it be known, but put 
 it in an earthen or copper vessel and buried it under 
 the ground. In their clothing and houses they were 
 very simple, so as not to attract attention. Women 
 would wear the most common clothing when out of 
 doors, and cover their ornaments under their robes. 
 Not only for their property, but also for their honor 
 and life they were very cautious. They would never 
 
98 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 travel alone unless some hired Kurd be with them. 
 They would be very careful to close and lock their 
 gates and doors early in the evening, and put strong 
 iron bars and thick shutters to their small windows. 
 They should always act and speak very kindly, even 
 to the meanest Turk or Kurd, giving always the 
 better side of the road to him ? responding his sal- 
 utation with bows or nattering words. If an Armenian 
 was insulted or beaten or murdered by Kurds or 
 Turks, his friends should keep silent in order not to 
 add more horrors upon horrors. The constant coun- 
 sel of the parents to their boys was not to go 
 among the Moslem boys and not to return 
 their bad conduct. There were streets, even quar- 
 ters, in the towns where Christians could not dare to 
 step. The women and the children were shut in 
 their houses ; the pretty girls were clothed like boys 
 and wore short hair until their thirteenth year, when 
 the poor creatures would be secretly married with 
 another child in order to be saved from the assault 
 of the brutes in human form. Thus skill, flattery, 
 bribery and submission were the only means that 
 Armenians could use for their benefit. 
 
 (c) The Turks' and Kurds' oivn Benefit demanded 
 the Armenians'' Existence. The Moslem is identified 
 with his big turban around a very small and deformed 
 head, wide coat, loose and heavy slippers, and a long 
 pipe, sitting on his soft cushion, smoking lazily, and 
 taking strong coffee frequently, walking very slowly, 
 talking unintelligibly, giving his whole attention to 
 his harem and kitchen, keeping a separate servant 
 
THE ARMENIANS' CONDITION. 99 
 
 for each work in the house — one to look after the 
 horses, and sometimes with subordinates under his 
 command, one to prepare coffee, another to follow 
 him and carry his four or five-foot-long pipe, one to 
 tell hideous stories to entertain him and his guests, 
 another to lead him in his five daily prayers, one to 
 carry his child (on the shoulder, and teach him how to 
 swear), one to oversee the crops, another to keep their 
 record, and one to bring them in, etc. — ten, twenty or 
 fifty, gathered in the house and in the harem depend 
 upon him for their extravagant living. The endless 
 flow of beggars, flatterers, fortune-tellers, good 
 dreamers about the chief lady of the harem, guests, 
 untimely callers and their horses, donkeys and 
 camels — all these idle and gluttonous men and women 
 cannot be supported by smoking in the corner of the 
 house, or by hearing and telling stories about houris 
 (the girls of paradise). There must be a constant 
 source of supply. It is the poor Armenian's destiny 
 to be the rayah, the pasture of this cursed flock. 
 They are Turks' and Kurds' cornfields for eating, for 
 selling, for trampling, and for burning. Who wants 
 to give up such a support and laborers as the Ar- 
 menians? It is true, occasionally they thin them out 
 by the sword and reduce to poverty the remainder, 
 but they are not so unwise as to exterminate them 
 and be obliged to work themselves. 
 
 The Turk could not and can not exist without his 
 non-Moslem subjects, and he is well aware of it. 
 
CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 SKETCH OF TURKISH HISTORY. 
 
 1. The Origin of the Turks. The Turks are sup- 
 posed to be identical with the many and extensive 
 Tartaric tribes scattered over the plains and table- 
 lands of Central and Western Asia, pastoral in their 
 occupations, warlike in disposition, plundering in 
 habits, and nomadic in their mode of life. Their 
 ancestors appear to have been known to the ancients 
 by the general name of Scythians. 
 
 Like most other nationalities, the Turkish tribe 
 have a legendary history which goes back to remote 
 antiquity. They claim to be descended from an 
 individual named Turk, a supposed grandson of 
 Japheth. But their authentic history commences at 
 a more recent date; for it was not till the fifth or 
 sixth century, A. D., that Europe had an}^ knowledge 
 of the name and nation of the Turk. About that 
 period, having migrated westward from Central Asia, 
 the barren table-lands of Mongolia, they spread over 
 the vast steppes now bearing the name of Turkestan. 
 
 In connection with the Armenian history the name 
 of Seljouk Tartars or Turks are mentioned, in order 
 to distinguish them from the Ottoman or Osmanli 
 Turk, the present nation designated by that name. 
 The reader is requested to remember that the Seljouks 
 were first settled in Khorasan, the Persian province, 
 
 100 
 
SKETCH OF TURKISH HISTORY. 101 
 
 and founded an independent sovereignty that, under 
 the three vigorous rulers Alp Arslan, Melik Shah 
 and Togrul Bey, rapidly enlarged its bounds, as to 
 include the whole of Persia, Armenia, Syria and the 
 greater part of Asia Minor. The period of the Sel- 
 joukian kingdom in Asia Minor lasted about 250 years 
 (1045-1299 A. D.). The Ottoman, or the present 
 Turks, are their kindreds under a different dynasty or 
 government, as will be seen elsewhere. 
 
 2. The Conversion of the Turks to Mohametan- 
 ism. The religion of these Tartaric tribes, if they 
 had any, seems to be very coarse heathenism ; owing 
 to their nomadic life and savage disposition they could 
 not have fixed temples and systematic mode of wor- 
 ship, and regular religious organization of priesthood 
 and teaching. In their semi-savage career, not much 
 different from the wild animals, they did not show 
 any sign of having been in contact with early Chris- 
 tianity, Hellenistic revival of letters and the European 
 civilization ; they had no literature or history until they 
 met with the Saracens, the Mohametan warriors of 
 Arabia, and were conquered and converted to Islam in 
 Persia in the seventh century. Finding this new religion 
 very suitable to their nature and habits they entered 
 the service of the caliphs of Bagdad and swelled the' 
 Mohametan armies till the degenerate commander of 
 the faithful (caliph of Bagdad) was compelled to resign 
 his temporal power to the new converts, who pre- 
 tended to respect the spiritual authority of the cali- 
 phate. Salur, the first Tartaric Mohametan chief of 
 importance, called his tribe "Turk-iman,'* the Turks 
 
102 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 of the Faith, to distinguish them from their brethren 
 who continued in heathenism. 
 
 The Seljoukians,who were the descendents of Turk- 
 imans, and were called after the name of their leader 
 Suljouk, established in Persia aud surpassed the other 
 Moslems of their age by fanaticism and fierce intoler- 
 ance, and thereby provoked the famous crusades of 
 the western Christian nations. After the fall of the 
 Bagdad caliphate, Syria and Jerusalem fell into the 
 hands of the Egyptian caliphate, but Seljouks, wrest- 
 ing Jerusalem for a time from the dominion of the 
 latter, and dealing worse with the resident and pil- 
 grim Christians, caused Europe to be armed for the 
 deliverance of the oppressed, 
 
 3. The rise of the Ottoman or Osmanli Turks. 
 At the death of Melik Shah, the Seljoukian sovereign, 
 the unity of his vast dominions was ended in conse- 
 quence of several caudiclates claiming the throne, and 
 thus became divided into various principalities, until 
 the irruption of the Mongols under the successors of 
 Genghis Khan changed the entire political situation 
 of the East and everywhere broke the power of the 
 Seljouk Turks, and paved the way for the rise of 
 their Ottoman successors, the present Turks. 
 
 About the middle of the thirteenth century another 
 Turkish tribe, driven forward by the Mongol invaders, 
 left their camping ground in Khorasan and wandered 
 into Armenia in search of pasturage for their flocks. 
 After seven years of exile, deeming the opportunity 
 favorable to return, they set out to their ancient pos- 
 sessions; but while crossing the Euphrates the horse 
 
SKETCH OF TURKISH HISTORY. 103 
 
 of their leader fell with him and he perished in the 
 river. Upon this accident the tribe was divided into 
 four companies by his sons, and Ertogrul, the war- 
 like head of one division, resolved to turn back to the 
 westward and seek a settlement in Asia Minor. While 
 pursuing his course he saw two armies in hostile array, 
 and joined himself to the apparently weaker party, 
 and his timely aid decided the victory. The con- 
 quered were an invading horde of Mongols ; the con- 
 queror was Aladdin, the Seljouk Suit m of Iconium, 
 one of the divided principalities of the great dominion 
 of Melik Shah. As a reward of his timely help Alad- 
 din assigned a territory for Ertogrul and his people, 
 which consisted of the rich plains in the valley of the 
 river Sanffarius, and of the Black Mountains in Asia 
 Minor. This was the accident which led to the estab- 
 lishment of the present Turkish empire, because Erto- 
 grul was the ancestor of the present Ottoman dynasty. 
 4. Osman the First (Ottoman) Turkish Sultan. 
 On the death of the Seljouk ruler of Iconium, who 
 left no son to succeed him, the Emirs, the chiefs of 
 the clans, divided his dominion into petty states 
 anions themselves. Osman, the son of Ertogrul, 
 being one of these local chiefs, became practically an 
 independent prince, 1289 A. D. His dominion as a 
 Sultan began, however, in 1299, by the invasion of 
 Nicomedia, the first conquest of the Ottoman Turks. 
 According to the native historians, a dream fore- 
 told to Osman his future greatness. While resting 
 beneath the roof of a sheikh, whose daughter he 
 admired, and whom he afterwards married, the 
 
104 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 sleeper fancied that he saw a tree sprouting from his 
 own body, which grew rapidly in size and foliage till 
 it covered with its branches the three continents of 
 Europe, Asia and Africa. Beneath this tree four 
 huge mountains raised their snowy tops, from the 
 sides of which came four rivers, the Tigris, Euphra- 
 tes, Danube and Nile. Through the avenues of the 
 valleys were seen cities adorned with domes, towers 
 and minarets; the crescent gleamed on every spire, 
 and from every minaret was heard the voice of the 
 muezzin, the Mohametan crier to worship, and these 
 voices mingled with the notes of thousands of night- 
 ingales and other singing birds. Suddenly the 
 branches and leaves of the tree assumed a glittering, 
 sabre-like aspect, and moved by the breeze towards 
 Constantinople. That capital of the world, placed 
 at the junction of two seas and two continents, 
 seemed like a precious diamond in a ring between two 
 sapphires and emeralds. Osman was about to cele- 
 brate his marriage with the Byzantine city by placing 
 the ring upon his finger when he awoke. 
 
 5. Janissaries, the Furious Turkish Soldiers. 
 Owing to the decayed condition of the Byzantine 
 (Greek) empire, the Turks marched westward, and 
 beginning with Nicomedia, gradually enlarged their 
 dominion. In the year 1354 they crossed the strait 
 of Dardanelles and set foot upon the soil of Europe. 
 This was the first invasion any Tartaric or Turkish 
 sovereign gained over this continent, and was also a 
 preparation for the capture of Constantinople. This 
 occurred at the time of Sultan Orchan's reign. 
 
SKETCH OF TURKISH HISTORY. 105 
 
 By this time the necessity of a permanent military 
 force was felt, and the grand vizier, the prime minis- 
 ter of the Sultan., established a corps of infantry, 
 who, not having yet forgotten, however, the pastoral 
 life, proved ungovernable and unfit for the strict dis- 
 cipline of military life. To remove this difficulty he 
 resorted to rearing up in the doctrine of Islam the 
 children of the conquered Christians, training them 
 from early youth to the profession of arms, and 
 forming them into a separate corps called "Yeni 
 Cheri" (janissary), the new troops. 
 
 The corps proved very valiant, and continued to be 
 supplied by the children of captives taken in war, or 
 by those of Christian subjects. An inhuman tax of 
 every fifth child, or of one child every fifth year, was 
 strictly levied upon them. It has been estimated 
 that not less than half a million Christian children 
 thus cruelly torn from their parents, were made 
 Moslems, and trained them to maintain Islam with the 
 sword. Afterwards the children of janissaries them- 
 selves were admitted into regiments, thus they 
 became a military class, distinguished by their fanati- 
 cism in religion, bravery in wars and cruelty against 
 Christians. Through upwards of three centuries, 
 marked by a long series of great battles, they sus- 
 tained only four signal reverses. Victory and des- 
 potic rule marched hand in hand under their banner; 
 but by the gradual advance of the European nations 
 their power failed abroad, while their disorder 
 increased at home and they became formidable to 
 their masters, deposing them from the throne and 
 
106 
 
 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 raising to it, till, unable otherwise to suppress their 
 boldness, Sultan Mahmoud II., the grandfather of 
 the present Sultan, had the entire order exterminated 
 by the sword. 
 
 ***\^5 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 In order to show the effect of this great historical 
 event upon European civilization, and to illustrate the 
 style of Turkish invasions, it is worth while to say 
 something on this subject. 
 
 1. The Capture of Constantinople. According 
 to the established usa^e of the education of the 
 Turkish princes, Sultan Mohamet was placed under the 
 care of fanatic tutors, so that Islam in all its 
 fierceness and bigotry early enslaved his mind, 
 and he grew up a strict observer of its rites 
 and spirit; for he is said never to have conversed 
 with a Christian without afterwards purifying him- 
 self by the legal mode of ablution. Having twice 
 been clothed with the regal dignity, and twice sus- 
 pended in the lifetime of his father, Mohamet finally 
 gained possession of it when twenty years of age. 
 He may be called the most gifted of all the sultans, 
 but he certainly was one of the most detestable. He 
 commenced his reign with the murder of his younger 
 brothers, who were destroyed to make the throne an 
 indisputable possession. From the moment of his 
 accession all his thoughts were directed to give the 
 death-blow to the Greek empire, and to transfer the 
 seat of his government to Constantinople. Adrian- 
 ople was the Turkish capital by this time. 
 
 107 
 
108 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 2. Preliminary Steps Toward the Siege of Con- 
 stantinople. On the European side of the Bos- 
 phorus, about five miles above the city proper, 
 Sultan Mohamet raised a fortress opposite to one on 
 the Asiatic side, which had been erected by one of his 
 predecessors. The Greek Emperor, Constantino 
 Palseologus, heard of the rise of the massive towers 
 in his neighborhood with alarm; and his anxietv 
 increased upon quarrels arising between his subjects 
 and the Turkish workmen. The latter invaded with- 
 out scruple the surrounding villages and despoiled 
 homes ; horses and mules were turned into the tilled 
 fields and the crops destroyed. If resistance was 
 offered, insult was repeated in an aggravated form. 
 Constantine implored the Sultan to observe the courte- 
 sies of peace, till, convinced of his hostile intentions, 
 he closed the gates of the capital and prepared him- 
 self for the inevitable approach of open war. " My 
 trust," said he, " is in God alone; if it should please 
 him to soften your heart, I shall rejoice in the happy 
 change; if he delivers my city into your hands I 
 shall submit without a murmur. But until the Judge 
 of the whole earth pronounces between us, it is my 
 duty to live and die in defense of my people." In 
 the autumn of that year (1452) Mohamet withdrew 
 to Adrianople, after carefully viewing the grounds 
 about the city and examining its defenses. "Next 
 summer," he said, "I must take up my abode in 
 Constantinople." Both parties during the winter 
 prepared for the approaching struggle. 
 
CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 109 
 
 3. The Siege of the City. Having collected his 
 resources early in the spring of 1453, Mohamet 
 enclosed the city with an army of 120,000 men, deso- 
 lated the environs and confined the inhabitants within 
 the walls. Engines of war and guns of great mag- 
 nitude were slowly dragged by oxen from Adrian- 
 ople. One huge piece of artillery is particularly 
 noticed, which had a caliber of twelve spans in diame- 
 ter, and could carry a stone ball of 600 pounds over 
 a mile. But the imperfect condition of it was indi- 
 cated by the circumstance that it could be loaded and 
 fired only seven times in one day. It finally bursted 
 with an awful explosion, killing the gunner and oth- 
 ers. Including army and navy, the total force 
 brought against the city was 260,000 strong. On 
 the other side was a garrison of only 8,000 soldiers, 
 who had to defend a circuit of thirteen miles, com- 
 prising both sea and land. 
 
 In the Turkish army sheikhs and fanatics predicted 
 a triumph and repeated the dream of Osman from 
 tent to tent, and the passages from Koran was quoted 
 as expressly promising this conquest: " Know ye a 
 city encompassed on two sides by water and on the 
 third by land; the last hour shall not come before it 
 be taken by 60,000 of the faithful." The Greeks, 
 few in number but brave in spirit, heroically defended 
 their walls and kept the enemy in check for more 
 than fifty anxious days. So powerful was their resist- 
 ance that Mohamet at one time despaired of success 
 and thought of raising the siege, but overwhelming 
 numbers proved irresistible in the final assault. 
 
110 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 The Sultan prepared for it characteristically on the 
 preceding day by a religious festival, which involved 
 a rigid fast, ablution seven times repeated, the prayer 
 for victory, and a general illumination. As the night 
 approached lamps were hung out before every tent 
 and fires were kindled in various localities. Thou- 
 sands of lanterns were suspended from the flag-staffs 
 of the batteries and from the masts and yards of the 
 ships, but a deep silence prevailed through the entire 
 camp. The meaning of these demonstrations without 
 the walls was truly interpreted by those within. Em- 
 peror and subjects, bishops and priests, monks and 
 nuns, men, women and children, formed processions 
 to the churches, singing supplicatory chants by the 
 way, with the accompaniment of "the holy and ven- 
 erable images and the divine pictures." Constantine 
 went that night to St. Sophia and received the sacra- 
 ment. 
 
 4. The Fall of the City. Before dawn on the 
 fatal day the signal was given for the attack, and it 
 was obeyed with greatest delight. Column after 
 column advanced in orderly array.. For two hours 
 the besieged kept the enemy at bay. Then the Greek 
 commander received a wound which unnerved him, 
 and dispirited by this calamity the defenders' cour- 
 age failed them, while that of the foe increased. 
 Led by an officer called Hassan, a company of jan- 
 issaries crossed the ruins in the ditch, gained the 
 breach and mastered the position. Constantine fell 
 in defending it; Hassan, too, was slain; and over 
 the bodies of both the Turks rushed into Constanti- 
 
CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE. Ill 
 
 nople. The terrified Greek population hastened into 
 the sanctuary of St. Sophia for protection, and to 
 the last moment many clung to the belief that an 
 angel would be sent from heaven there to vindicate 
 the orthodoxy of the Greek church and destroy the 
 Mohamet an who should dare to enter its door. The 
 victor, attended by his pashas and generals, visited 
 the desolate hall of the imperial palace, and arriving 
 at the door of St. Sophia alighted from his horse, 
 passed into the temple, and ordered all the crosses to 
 be thrown down and all the paintings torn from the 
 walls, and got upon his knees and muttered his prayer. 
 A few days afterwards the muezzin proclaimed the 
 public invitation for prayer in the name of Allah and 
 His apostle, Mohamet. Thus the stately edifice of 
 Justinian, which upon its completion drew from him 
 the exclamation, "I have outdone thee, O Solomon," 
 became a Mohametan mosque, and has ever since 
 been preserved with the greatest care and pride. 
 
 After a time of perfect license to his ferocious 
 troops, the Sultan undertook the task of repairing 
 the ravages of war, and commemorated his triumph 
 by taking the proud title of "The Lord of Two Con- 
 tinents and Two Seas," and fixed his residence on the 
 site of the imperial palace, and founded that seraglio 
 where his successors have resided, and which has been 
 the scene of so much luxury, violence and crime. 
 
 5. "Lord, Save Us from the Devil, the Turk 
 and the Comet." It was the settled purpose of Mo- 
 hamet II. to extend his empire to the west, and some 
 succeeding sultans also entertained the same idea; 
 
112 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 and for over a century after the capital of Christen- 
 dom in the east surrendered, the liberties and institu- 
 tions of the western nations were seriously threatened. 
 In the year 1456 a comet passed very near the orbit 
 of the earth, and swept the heavens with a tail ex- 
 tending over 60 degrees, in the form of a sword or 
 saber. Men watched it with mingled emotions at 
 Rome, Vienna and Constantinople. The night of 
 the full moon having come, and then by chance an 
 eclipse having taken place at the latter city, some 
 thought that the Christian inhabitants of the west 
 had agreed to march against the Turks, and would 
 gain the victory. The Pope, however, regarded the 
 comet as in league with the Moslems, and ordered 
 the prayer "Ave Maria" to be repeated three times 
 a day instead of twice. He directed the church bells 
 to be tolled at noon, a custom which still prevails in 
 Roman Catholic countries. To the "Ave Maria" 
 the prayer was added, "Lord, save us from the 
 devil, the Turk and the comet." Every first Sunday 
 of the month a solemn procession was appointed, 
 with a special mass, and a sermon upon the subject. 
 The comet at length, after patiently enduring some 
 months of daily excommunication, showed signs of 
 retreat, and Europe breathed more freely when it 
 vanished from the skies. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE GREATEST EXTENT OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 
 
 1. Diversions of the Designs of Turkish Am- 
 bition. Four centuries ago the powers of Europe were 
 summoned to solemn meetings to take counsel for 
 the expulsion of the Turk from Europe, but they 
 could not come to an agreement before some internal 
 events turned the Turkish ambition from the west to 
 the east, from the shores of the Adriatic to the defiles 
 of Armenia, and from the banks of the Danube to 
 the plains of Egypt. 
 
 The reign of Sultan Bayazit, the son and successor 
 of Mohamet the conqueror of Constantinople, was 
 greatly disturbed by the rebellion of his brother, who 
 effectually contended for the throne. After a long 
 civil war, being driven to extremity, the prince placed 
 himself under the protection of the Knights of Rhodes, 
 who sent him to France, from whence he was sent 
 to Italy and kept as a prisoner of State in the 
 Vatican. He there served as a hostage for the good 
 conduct of the Sultan, since, in case the latter should 
 become aggressive toward the Christian nations, the 
 captive might be let loose against him as a competitor. 
 
 The janissaries, on the other hand, haughty and 
 powerful, were a constant cause of anxiety to the 
 Sultan, and even bribes failed to keep them in sub- 
 jection to their unfavored master. They made the 
 
 113 
 
114 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 revolt of his youngest son Selim a success, not only 
 in forcing Bayazit to abdicate and leave the capital, 
 but hastening his death while yet on the road to his 
 place of exile. The military spirit and ability of the 
 new Sultan made him a favorite with the janissaries, 
 while his religious frenzy and severity rendered him 
 acceptable to the more bigoted Moslems. 
 
 2. Possession of the Islamic Caliphate. Soon 
 after getting to the throne Sultan Selim, surnamed 
 Cruel, turned his armies eastward, and after reducing 
 Armenia and Mesopotamia conducted a successful 
 war in Persia against Shah Ismael, another Mohame- 
 tan ruler in the east. Persians and Turks, both of 
 the same faith, had a severe religious dispute among 
 themselves in regard to the legitimacy of the first 
 three caliphs, the successors of the Prophet Mohamet. 
 The Persian Moslem rejected them as usurpers, and 
 began to count the true succession with the fourth 
 caliph, Ali, the son-in-law of the prophet. On enter- 
 ing upon his eastern campaign Sultan Selim pro- 
 claimed it to be a religious war, and the legal decree 
 of the Turkish mufties "that there was more re- 
 ligious merit in killing one Persian than in shedding 
 the blood of seventy Christians," strengthened the 
 Turkish fanaticism against their co-religionists. 
 
 The fiery Sultan, at the head of a victorious army, 
 next invaded Syria and Egypt, and added those vast 
 and valuable territories to his possessions. The con- 
 queror showed his bloody disposition the day after 
 the surrender of Cairo by causing the Egyptian 
 governor to be executed at one of its gates and the 
 
GREATEST EXTENT OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 115 
 
 30,000 captives slaughtered in his presence and thrown 
 into the Nile. El Mutevekkil, the last Mohametan 
 caliph in Egypt, was deposed from his rank as the 
 spiritual head of Islam and the Turkish Sultan was 
 clothed with the dignity by the sheriff of Mecca, who 
 consigned the keys of the Kabeh to his hand. Sultan 
 Selim consequently added to his other titles that of 
 "the Caliph of Moslems, and the Shadow of Allah 
 Upon the Earth, and the Defender of the Two Holy 
 Cities (Mecca and Medina)." After this victory he 
 returned to Constantinople with the plunder of Egypt, 
 which required a train of a thousand camels to 
 carry. His successors have since been regarded as 
 the supreme chief of the Moslem world and the Com- 
 mander of the Faithful. 
 
 3. The Turks at the Gate of Vienna. The reign 
 of Sultan Soliman (1520-1566) was the most memo- 
 rable in the history of the empire when it reached its 
 climax, which was never afterwards surpassed. Three 
 years after the conquest of Belgrade and Ehodes the 
 first French Ambassador appeared at the Turkish 
 Court. The envoy came apparently to negotiate a gen- 
 eral commercial treaty, but really to procure a powerful 
 ally for his master Francis I. against the German 
 Emperor Charles V. The division of Christendom 
 into Romanism and Protestantism had commenced, 
 and the anxiety to gain predominance led the un- 
 wise monarchs to avail themselves of the services of 
 this mighty Mohametan State. 
 
 Sultan Soliman, according to his word with the 
 French king to carry a campaign beyond the Danube 
 
116 ISLAM, TDUKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 and divert the attention and the arms of the Austrian 
 house, crossed the said river at the head of 100,000 
 men with 300 pieces of artillery. The day after the 
 terrible "Destruction of Mahoc" in Hungary the 
 Sultan received in state the compliments of his 
 officers, when the heads of 2,000 of the slain, includ- 
 ing those of seven bishops, were piled up as a trophy 
 before his pavilion. At the approach of winter 
 Soliman returned to Constantinople laden with booty 
 and many captives, leaving an impoverished and de- 
 populated country to be contended for by rival pre- 
 tenders to the throne. 
 
 The next summer the Turkish army, upwards of 
 200,000 strong, advanced in the direction of Vienna, 
 capturing castles and towns and devasting the country, 
 till from the walls of the Austrian capital the gloomy 
 light of burning villages were seen round half the hori- 
 zon. The Turks reached Vienna and the siege immedi- 
 ately commenced, but notwithstanding the numerical 
 inferiority of the garrison they were repulsed at every 
 assault and suffered severely from the sallies. Being 
 discouraged, the Turks prepared for an effective and 
 last attack, the walls around the city and all breaches 
 were re-examined by the Sultan and his grand vizier, 
 and immense sums of money were distributed among 
 the soldiers. Enthused by these means a general 
 assault was ordered on the 14th day of October, 1529, 
 but such was the desperate valor of the defenders 
 that the Turks were foiled in every effort. Owing 
 to the advance of the season and the absence of pro- 
 
GREATEST EXTENT OE THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 117 
 
 visions the troops were discontent and it became 
 necessary to raise the siege. 
 
 4. Greatest Extent of the Empire. The Ottoman 
 Turks, once a petty tribe of unsettled wanderers, 
 without an acre of soil they could call their own, had 
 now become, in little more than three centuries, 
 great among the European nations, occasionally en- 
 dangering their independence, civilization and relig- 
 ion. They possessed the most favored climate of 
 the earth and the most fertile soil; a seaboard 
 abounding in convenient roads and harbors; an archi- 
 pelago offering facilities to commerce; straits the 
 most impassable to him who has not the key or who 
 is not on friendly terms with the owner, and a capi- 
 tal adapted by its geographical position to become 
 the center of a dominion extending to three conti- 
 nents. They were masters of countries the most 
 interesting from their sacred, classic and historical 
 associations; the scenes where patriarchs pitched 
 their tents and prophets delivered their oracles, and 
 the soil on which the Savior of the World was born 
 and where apostles first proclaimed the gospel of sal- 
 vation. 
 
 Their empire included in Europe Roumelia, Bulga- 
 ria, Servia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Thessalia, Greece 
 and greater part of Hungary; in Asia all Asia 
 Minor, Armenia, Georgia, Daghistan, Kurdistan, 
 Mesopotamia, Syria, Cyprus and the chief part of 
 Arabia; in Africa Egypt, Tripoli, Tunis and Algiers; 
 while the khanate of Crimea, the principalities of 
 Valachia and Moldavia and Transylvania, with the 
 
118 ISLAM, TUKREY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 republic of Raguza, were vassal states. Also diplo- 
 matic and commercial relations subsisted between the 
 Porte and the leading powers of Christendom. 
 
 5. Decline and Its Causes. Though the Turks 
 benefited by the political disadvantages of the sur- 
 rounding nations, and encouraged by the mutual 
 jealousy and selfishness of the so-called Christian 
 powers had made themselves a name and built up a 
 colossal power, they were destitute of the qualities 
 which alone give honor to greatness and can secure 
 permanence to success. The discipline of the 
 seraglio (Turkish palace) was fatal to a succession of 
 able rulers. The princes of blood, confined within its 
 walls and separated from general society, deprived of 
 every honorable ambition, with eunuchs for their 
 teachers and slaves for their companions, resigned 
 themselves to guilty pleasures to dissipate the tedium 
 of such an existence, and were only fitted, if raised 
 to the throne, to act the part of timid puppets or un- 
 manly tyrants. 
 
 The genius of Mohametanism, by the vain claims 
 of superiority and its stern fatalism, contributed much 
 to retain the Turks in a stationary condition, which 
 necessarily became one of increasing inferiority in 
 comparison with the other nations of Europe. Edu- 
 cated in a creed which confines the intellect to the 
 Koran and inspires sovereign contempt for nations, 
 arts and institutions without the pale of Islam, re- 
 si gued to the belief that all events happen by inev- 
 itable necessity, an arrest was laid upon intellectual 
 cultivation. 
 
GREATEST EXTENT OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 119 
 
 The essentially military constitution of the empire 
 also insured its decay. History continually repeats 
 the lesson that power founded by the sword and de- 
 pending merely upon the sword for its maintenance 
 can never be firm and permanent. The Turks were 
 formidable so long as they could reap a harvest of 
 plunder from the states and countries around them, 
 but when a stop was put to their career of conquest 
 by the increased power of their neighbors and they 
 had to act upon the defensive the deficiency of their 
 own resources was soon apparent, and w r ould ere this 
 have been blotted irreparably from the list of Eu- 
 ropean kingdoms but for the intervention of selfish 
 interests. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TURKISH GOVERNMENT AND THE CHRISTIAN SUBJECTS. 
 
 1. The Nature of the Turkish Government. The 
 Turkish Government is what we may call a politico- 
 religious system. The Sultan claims to be the suc- 
 cessor of the prophet, hence the highest authority 
 over the Mohametan world. The Turkish army is 
 exclusively a Mohametan army. All the struggles 
 and wars, however political they may be, are regarded 
 and fought as religious wars, always sanctioned by 
 the legal decree from the highest religious authority, 
 and led by " sanjak sherif," the holy banner of the 
 "Apostle of Allah," used in religious contests of 
 the Saracens. The law of the Turkish courts in its 
 essentials and details is based upon the Koran, 
 administered and executed by Mohametan judges, 
 who are the white-turbaned religious heads of the 
 communitv. In one word, the interest of the Turk- 
 ish Government is that, and only that, of Islam. 
 Hence the more zealous and intolerant a sultan the 
 nearer the ideal of a Mohametan ruler, and more 
 respected and obeyed by the bigoted people, officers 
 and the army. 
 
 Another phase of the Turkish Government is its 
 dualism. It is a government within a government. 
 Two words, porte and palace, express these elements. 
 The whole machinery of government exists at the 
 
 120 
 
TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 121 
 
 porte, Council of Ministers and Council of State. 
 All business is supposed to pass through their hands, 
 and the whole administration subordinates to them ; 
 still all being subject to the supreme will of the 
 Sultan. Any decision issued from the porte must be 
 carried by the grand vizier to "the foot of the 
 throne " and the Sultan's arbitrary utterance in posi- 
 tive or negative must be regarded as a "firman," the 
 command of " God's shadow upon the earth." The 
 palace is another center of authority more powerful 
 than the official government, made up of chamber- 
 lains, mollahs, eunuchs, astrologers and nondescripts, 
 and supported by the secret police. The general 
 policy of the empire is determined by this party, and 
 the most vital questions of the State are often treated 
 and decided here, while the highest officials of the 
 porte are left in absolute ignorance of what is going 
 on. This party (palace), composed of the repre- 
 sentatives of the most fanatic Moslems and the 
 meanest adventurers, native or foreign, have the 
 greatest influence upon the will and deeds of the 
 Sultan. Not a single communication passes to or 
 from the Sultan but by their agency, and with frequent 
 modification or total fabrication. 
 
 2. The Government and the Christian Subjects. 
 The inhabitants of Turkey, consisting of about fifteen 
 different races or nationalities, are, in the sight of 
 the government and law, divided into two essential 
 classes under the official names of "Moslem" and 
 "non-Moslem." Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Albanians, 
 Tartars, Circassians and Africans belong to the 
 
122 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 "blessed" class (Moslem), while the Armenians, 
 Greeks, Nestorians, Maronites, Jews, Druzes and 
 Europeans belong to the condemned party (non- 
 Moslem). 
 
 Being led by the necessities of affairs, and 
 often enforced by the commanding requests of 
 the European Powers, the Turkish sultans apparently 
 adopted and even officially proclaimed some religious 
 and civil reforms for their non-Moslem subjects; but 
 these schemes of toleration did not go further than 
 the waste-basket. Sultan Mohamet II., the capturer 
 of Constantinople, seeing that the population of the 
 great capital had been thinned out by the sword, by 
 flight and captivity, issued a general proclamation 
 assuring the Greeks who chose to become settlers 
 " that they would be protected in their lives and lib 
 erties, in the free exercise of their religion, enjoying 
 certain privileges relative to their commercial pur- 
 suits; that they were to elect their own patriarchs, 
 subject to approval of the supreme power and were 
 to enjoy the same honors and ranks that had belonged 
 to their predecessors in the ecclesiastical office," etc. ; 
 while another sultan, the grandfather of the present 
 one, being informed of the existence of a conspiracy 
 among the Greek subjects abroad, gave way to frantic 
 rage and let loose the passion of his Moslem subjects 
 against the Greek Christians in the capital and the 
 provinces. Thousands of innocent victims were sac- 
 rificed to their vengeance, many of them without 
 even knowing why they were slain. On Easter day 
 the Gregorian patriarch of Constantinople was exe- 
 
TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 123 
 
 cuted at the door of his own church, and as the 
 greatest possible indignity which could be offered in 
 the eyes of his nation his body was delivered to the 
 Jews to be dragged through the streets. This was 
 what "the honors and ranks" of the above quoted 
 proclamation meant and as understood by the sultans. 
 
 " The Haiti Sheriff" sacred document "of Gul- 
 hane," promulgated by Sultan Mejit, the father of 
 the present Sultan, as a concession of " equal rights 
 and justice to all classes of the Ottoman subjects," 
 infuriated the bitter feelings of the fanatical Turks, 
 who, unable to bear the idea of being placed on the 
 same level with the "infidel dogs," excited the igno- 
 rant population in the capital and provinces and 
 imposed insults and outrages upon the Christians. 
 
 The 61st article of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), 
 signed by the Turk, together with the six great Pow- 
 ers of Europe, to bring an end to the Kurdish and 
 Circassian atrocities committed in Armenia, resulted 
 in the Sassoun massacre of 1894, and the last issue 
 of the scheme of reforms signed by the Sultan and 
 published in eight columns of London papers caused 
 the slaughter of 80,000 innocent Armenians with 
 such horrors that 800 pages of the same papers could 
 not describe and eighty centuries will not be able to 
 wipe away this unparalleled blot on the eighteen 
 Christian governments of Europe. 
 
 3. Constitutional Privileges of the Armenian 
 Church. Nearly thirty-five years ago, after repeated 
 appeals and great struggles, the Armenian mother 
 church secured a constitution granted by the Sultan 
 
124 ISLAM, TUEKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 pertaining to her ecclesiastical rights as to the election 
 and privileges of the patriarchs and synods and provin- 
 cial councils, and the administration of the schools and 
 other institutions. This constitution, though care- 
 fully sifted and limited by Turkish severity, was 
 once supposed to be the guarantee for the protection of 
 the ecclesiastical rights so long disregarded, but soon 
 proved to be a farce upon the part of the Turkish 
 Government. From the election of the patriarch, 
 the head of the executive body of the said constitu- 
 tion and the only authorized agent between the Ar- 
 menian church and the Turkish government, to the 
 appointment of the village teacher, every transaction 
 was meddled with, disturbed, delayed, and frequently 
 prevented by the "good pleasure of the all-powerful 
 Padishah" (the monarch), as well as by the least 
 and the meanest clerk of the porte. 
 
 In 1850 the Protestant Armenians were granted a 
 charter guaranteeing them " religious liberty and 
 other rights conferred on the other Christian commu- 
 nities of the empire." la spite of these promises 
 they have never been allowed to erect one church in 
 the capital, though they have the site and the neces- 
 sary funds in hand and have repeatedly petitioned 
 for the same during fifteen successive years. 
 
 The Catholic Armenians, having their own so- 
 called patriarch in Constantinople, and being indirectly 
 helped by the Roman church, have comparatively 
 greater access to the palace, and that by the cunning 
 policy of the Tur ish government, in order to sow 
 tares among the Christian communities of the empire. 
 
TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 125 
 
 In official documents these three branches of the Ar- 
 menian church are intentionally distinguished by the 
 names of "the Protestant nation," "the Catholic 
 nation" and "the Armenian nation" (the old 
 church). And the common people, unable to realize 
 the real spirit of this distinction, receive it as a com- 
 pliment and recognition of their equal rights. 
 
 4. Governmental Offices for non-Moslems. Non- 
 Moslems are entirely left out of the legal and military 
 services. No Christian is admitted in the Turkish 
 army or navy as a soldier; some few Greeks and Ar- 
 menians, however, serve as physicians in the army. 
 
 According to the later constitution, each community 
 in the empire should have their representatives at the 
 courts in proportion to the numbers of Moslems and 
 and non-Moslems of the country (not of the respect- 
 ive towns), as one to four; the president being always 
 a Moslem and each Christian member being approved 
 by the government herself. Under such limitations 
 there could not be much room for the protection of 
 Christians' rights, especially in the interior, where 
 the Turkish members arrange matters and prepare 
 reports to suit themselves and offer them to the 
 Christian members to sign, even without reading the 
 contents, and that most probably at the expense of 
 the rights of their own friends and communities. 
 Fear, ignorance, and sometimes selfish interests, com- 
 pel them to do so. 
 
 Coming to other subordinate offices, as in tele- 
 graphic or postal departments, or in financial or 
 register bureaus, etc., the Christians are used as 
 
126 
 
 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 helpers or chief laborers for the higher Moslem 
 officers, who are either unable or unwilling to work 
 and are glad to use such active and honest brains and 
 hands for one third of the assigned salary. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 TURKISH TAXES AND THE MODE OF COLLECTING. 
 
 If the institution of government is based upon the 
 idea of justice, protection and mutual help for human 
 progress, the Turkish rule has no right to claim that 
 title. One of the most evident reasons of this accusa- 
 tion is her tax system, which is nothing less than a 
 highway robbery, a well organized system to suck 
 the last drop of blood from the veins of her subjects, 
 be they Moslems or non-Moslems. 
 
 The following taxes and the mode of collection will 
 explain the existing affairs in that country: 
 
 1. Taxes on Real Estate. This is about three 
 per cent of the entire value of the property, to be 
 paid every year, the value being determined by the 
 government. r Fhe severity of this tax and degrada- 
 tion attached tu its collection is more keenly felt in 
 the interior of the empire, especially in small towns 
 and farm villages. There comes a company of ruffians 
 under the title of "Padishah Zabtiehsy" (king's 
 police), numbering five, seven or more, armed to the 
 teeth, tough, ignorant, vulgar and gluttonous men, 
 who stop at the house of the wealthiest, call the lead- 
 ing men of the community and having stated the 
 amount demanded of the town, threaten them in the 
 name and by the authority of the Sultan, "the Father 
 of the Faithful, whose mercy and wisdom till the 
 
 1-27 
 
128 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 earth." These fiends, known as collectors, live on the 
 people for one, two or more weeks, demanding the 
 best of provisions, dictating the bill of fare them- 
 selves. Their horses also must be taken good care 
 of by the town, even if it takes the tender gardens 
 or the fields. Among the means employed by these 
 collectors are beating men with many stripes, smear- 
 ing the face with cow's manure, tying men to the 
 tree or the wall, head fixed and the eyelids stretched 
 up and down so as to expose the eyes to the burning 
 sun for hours at a time, have the body bent forward, 
 place a heavy rock or log on the buck until the 
 muscles and joints give way and sometimes the blood 
 gushes from the nose, and many other such things. 
 The violation of personal honor and unspeakable 
 deeds imposed upon men and women must pass 
 silently. These deeds continue day after day with in- 
 creased intensity until the community is compelled to 
 sell everything at any price to get rid of such brave 
 and faithful officers of "His Imperial Majesty, whose 
 goodness spreads all over the world." 
 
 These atrocities are imposed not upon the Chris- 
 tians alone, but upon the Moslems also. Still the in- 
 justice practiced upon the former is immeasurably 
 severe. In a village known to the writer the total 
 amount demanded for the year was 39,000 piasters, 
 of this 33,465 piasters were paid by 180 Christian 
 families, while twice as many Turkish families paid 
 only 5,535 piasters. 
 
 2. Taxes on Agricultural Products. The vine- 
 yards, orchards, gardens aud grain fields compose 
 
TURKISH TAXES. 129 
 
 this class. The rate levied upon the products is 
 nominally one-eighth, but the time of determining the 
 value and the mode of collecting brings it as high as 
 one-fourth or more. The fruit products are valued 
 by the collectors and while yet in blossom, and 
 though the crops may fail, still the taxes must 
 be paid. It often occurs that vineyards and orchards 
 are deserted by their owners in order to get rid 
 of the heavy taxes. The right of collecting "the 
 tithes" on wheat and similar products is sold to parties 
 known as tithers, most cruel and heartless men, and 
 a great terror to the farmers. The tithes are de- 
 manded for the simple fact that the ground, though 
 bought with the money of its owner, is regarded as 
 the absolute property of the government; therefore, 
 the former must pay for the privilege of using the 
 ground. According to this principle one cannot turn 
 his own field into a garden or orchard, nor can he 
 build houses upon it, nor even can he sell it, without 
 the official permission of the government. The law 
 is that if a field is not tilled for three successive years 
 the government has the right to confiscate it and sell 
 it to others. Because of the absence of modern 
 machinery and many obstacles in the way, an average 
 farmer can cultivate but ten or twelve acres of land. 
 After hard labor and constant watch over the field 
 from the tenderest growth to the harvest, the farmer 
 is not allowed to use any part of the products until 
 the tither has measured the crop and taken his part. 
 So soon as the threshing is over an agent of the 
 tither puts his stamp all around and over the piles of 
 
130 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 the wheat and orders the farmer to watch and wait 
 until he comes again to measure it. In the mean- 
 time the farmer has no bread to eat and no oats for 
 his stock, and is obliged to borrow at a rate of fifty per 
 cent interest. He may have to wait for weeks and 
 sometimes until late in the autumn watching over his 
 crop day and night to keep off the cattle and robbers 
 from disturbing "the marks," in which case he will be 
 accused of stealing and must lose more. When the 
 farmers of the town send word and beg the tithers to 
 come and settle the business the rude answer is "Ya- 
 vash, Yavash" (slowly, slowly). When they do come 
 a horror fills the town, farmers are accused of stealing, 
 insulted, beaten and condemned for so much damage, 
 the act and the mode of execution being in their own 
 hands. After the alleged damages are rectified in 
 their own fashion, the turn comes to the "legal tithe, 
 the divine right bestowed upon the Sultan, the suc- 
 cessor to the prophet." From the best portion of 
 the crop the right of the government is secured. 
 
 3. Taxes on Herds and Flocks. The tax levied 
 upon each sheep, etc., is estimated about one-eighth 
 of the entire value due in the spring, when the sheep 
 sell for the least money. As a hard winter passes, 
 when the owner of the flock has consumed all provisions 
 and left nothing to pay this tax, he is obliged to sell a 
 part of his flock for only one-third of the price they 
 could easily get in the autumn. The only reason 
 this tax is demanded in the spring is because the 
 number of the sheep and goats are greatest at that 
 time. 
 
TURKISH TAXES. 131 
 
 4. Haraj or Zimmet. This tax, demanded of 
 non-Moslems only, is a religious tribute, which ac- 
 cording to the Koran, giaours have to pay for their 
 existence and their " infidel religious rights." Ac- 
 cording to this doctrine no Christian subject can be 
 allowed to live under the Mohametan dominion with- 
 out humbly surrendering to this demand. Under 
 the Turkish rule, which is the best representative of 
 the Mohametan institution, this tax is nominally con- 
 trasted with the military service of the Moslem sub- 
 jects, from which the Christians are "exempt," or 
 rather, deprived. This is an annual tax imposed upon 
 every male member of the non-Moslem communities 
 at the rate of two dollars each, and in advance. The 
 Turkish Government believes strictly in cash business 
 with her own subjects, leaving all delays for her 
 transactions with the foreigners. This tax the gov- 
 ernment is very severe and prompt to collect. The 
 poor who are not able to pay at the demanded time 
 are insulted, imprisoned, beaten and even tortured in 
 the most brutal manner, mentioned under the head of 
 "The Turkish Prisons." Their property, houses, 
 caitle, tool*, even bedding and common utensils, are 
 forcibly sold, the buyers being mostly Mohametans 
 or the officers themselves. This tax begins at birth 
 and goes through life. Often the tributes of the 
 dead are collected from their relatives or churches 
 for several years after their death until a new census 
 is taken. Many persons unable to pay try to conceal 
 themselves from the sight of the collector, give up 
 their work, and sometimes their home, for a teni- 
 orary relief at least, 
 
132 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 5. Taxes on Trade. Every man except the 
 farmer is expected to follow a trade, hence a tax levied 
 on all above fifteen years of age, increasing as the age 
 advances. The supposed gain on a given trade is de- 
 termined by the authorities, and three to four per 
 cent, demanded whether the person follows his trade 
 during the year or not; hard times and failure in 
 business excuse no one. 
 
 Besides the above taxes there are various fees and 
 dues — duty on merchandise, fees on birth and mar- 
 riage and death and burial; dues on building, repair- 
 ing, planting and change of residence; dues on 
 traveling, buying and selling. Great amounts of 
 money are of ten collected for the "improvement of 
 the roads and erection of public buildings and 
 bridges, but no one can see where such roads and 
 buildings are or ask questions about them without being 
 accused of rebellion, which means imprisonment, 
 torture and loss. Frequently a general announcement 
 is circulated all over the country declaring urgent 
 needs of the government and demanding immediate 
 response for this "obligatory help," as it is called. 
 Well-to-do persons, especially among the Christians, 
 are forced to share in this involuntary virtue. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE ABUSES IN TURKISH RULE. 
 
 Here lies one of the curses of Turkish Government. 
 Many things are tolerably good on paper, but the 
 actual practice never harmonizes with the written law 
 in Turkey. The ignorance and unworthiness of the 
 officers may be one of the reasons of this misery, 
 but the greatest defect lies in their principle and 
 character. 
 
 1. Bribery. The majority of the offices are 
 merely sold to those who bid the highest. A cadi 
 (judge), for example, cannot stay in the same country 
 more than twenty-seven months at one time, during 
 which period he gets about $1,000 for his whole 
 service. No cadi can have a position without first 
 paying to the higher authorities at Constantinople 
 an average sum of $800, sometimes as much as his 
 whole salary. This mutual agreement upon bribery 
 and unjust taxation is understood in all departments 
 of the government and the nominations settled 
 accordingly. Offices are bought and services, just or 
 unjust, are sold for the highest price. 
 
 Every officer has a nominal salary, yet many weeks 
 and months may pass during which they cannot 
 receive a single payment; yet they all keep their places, 
 live luxuriously, accumulate wealth and never fail to 
 pray for the prosperity of "the Sultan, the crown- 
 
 133 
 
134 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 giver of the princes of the world," under whose 
 protection the wolves are set loose upon the lambs. 
 
 No man expects to transact business or receive 
 attention in a Turkish court without bribery. The 
 well-known Turkish proverb is that, " As soon as the 
 bribery enters the door the justice escapes from the 
 window." The doors and the windows of Turkish 
 courts are kept open day and night for this accursed 
 draft. 
 
 In a great many instances the bribery is practiced 
 at the expense of the central government. The mer- 
 chants save more by having goods pass through this 
 bribery channel than by the ordinary way. A fewmeji- 
 diehs (dollars) given to an officer or two under the name 
 of "bakshish" (present), will save $40 to $50. 
 Many forbidden books and papers enter the country 
 and circulate widely through bribery. Many build- 
 ings and repairs are allowed through the same means. 
 In fact, if the officers would regard the law and the 
 orders more than bribery, 50 per cent, of the trans- 
 actions in various lines of business would be impos- 
 sible, especially for the Christians. It is the opinion 
 of the writer that bribery, though detrimental to the 
 interests of the central government, is the only good 
 thing in the whole machinery of the corrupt rule. 
 The Sultan's government has for several years posi- 
 tively forbidden the granting of pass-ports to Christians 
 for foreign ports, with repeated orders for arrest and 
 imprisonment of those who allow them to pass ; yet 
 bribery has kept the ports open for those who could 
 afford to pay from $3 to $300. 
 
ABUSES IN TURKISH RULE. 135 
 
 2. The Robbery by the Sultan's Officers. The 
 most important question in the mind of every officer 
 is not the welfare of the government or of the peo- 
 ple, but to devise a new plan to draw more money 
 for themselves regardless of the mode or the conse- 
 quences. Pasha Effendi (the governor) plans with 
 kaimakam beys (the mayors) to blackmail some 
 wealthy Armenian, or Greek or Jewish merchant, 
 which never fails in resulting a goodly sum for our 
 guardian of justice. 
 
 The police department is evidently known as the 
 partner of thieves and the president of the socie- 
 ties of highwaymen. If you have some property 
 stolen and feel anxious to get it back, make a skillful 
 application to the chief of the police and pay some- 
 thing, say half the price of your loss, "as the gov- 
 ernmental expenses for the search in the town and 
 the expedition about," and you will be sure nine 
 in ten to succeed. 
 
 The zaptiehs go from khan to khan (Turkish hotel) 
 and seize the strangers or travelers and inquire about 
 their regular license of trade. If they are able to 
 show it they are asked to present the official receipt 
 of the payment of the current year. If they do this 
 they are demanded to show that of the last year, and 
 if they can do so then are required to prove they 
 are the persons they call themselves. When that is 
 done the officer takes a paper out of his pocket 
 and says : "You are to be arrested and sent to such 
 a place. Here, I have the order (giving your descrip- 
 tion), 'dark hair, medium size and round face; ' you 
 
136 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 are the man I was after for three weeks, and during 
 this period a dozen telegrams were received about 
 you. Get up, now, you dog giaour! You are a 
 member of those secret societies which are plotting 
 against the highest wealth " (government). By this 
 time the whip is at work, and it will not stop unless 
 one mejidieh or two is slipped into the officer's hand. 
 
 At the custom house the goods are roughly handled 
 and spoiled. Photographic plates and drugs are ex- 
 posed to light with the excuse of ascertaining whether 
 there be any dynamite concealed in the case. Many 
 watches, jewels, fountain pens, etc., find their way 
 to the examiner's pockets, their empty cases being 
 put back honestly in their original places. The eat- 
 ables are freely consumed by the officers and some- 
 times carried to their dinner tables at home. 
 
 The government itself is robbed by its own officers. 
 In one of the provinces the government had a bridge 
 built at a certain town. The architect of the said 
 bridge, an Armenian or a Greek, brought the bill of 
 expenditure, which was 8,000 piasters. The mayor 
 looked over it and with great anger tore it in pieces, 
 to the surprise and terror of the architect, who was 
 ordered to be taken to the prison. After some days 
 a sub-officer came to the jail and talked with the ar- 
 chitect and informed him confidentially about the 
 secret of the mayor's indignation and the way to 
 appease it. Soon another bill was prepared for 20,- 
 000 piasters, and everything was all right with the 
 architect. The city clerk who recorded this sum had 
 in the course of several years a position in the finance 
 
ABUSES IN TURKISH RULE. 137 
 
 department at the capital, and saw one day that the 
 same amount had been raised to 80,000 piasters be- 
 fore it reached there. This is but an illustration of 
 daily and universal practice of the Turkish officers. 
 
 3. Delay. Delay is one of the proverbial char- 
 acteristics of the Turkish rule. The words "yavash, 
 yavash" (slowly, slowly), and "gelen hafta" (next 
 week), are the constant utterance and the habitual 
 motto of every officer throughout the empire. The 
 Occidentals, though aware of the Turks' "deceit and 
 delay," have not yet fully realized its depth. The 
 crafty sultans played wonderful tricks in deceiv- 
 ing the European governments with their mysterious 
 "yavashes," and the Government of the United 
 States may keep receiving the same endless answer 
 to its mild claims of indemnity for the mission pro- 
 perties destroyed by the soldiers of the Sultan. The 
 Turks' "next week" will never come unless the 
 language of gunpowder is used by Uncle Sam, as 
 that is the only language the unspeakable Turk un- 
 derstands. 
 
 Electricity, so swift in its traveling throughout 
 Europe and America, seemingly has lost its nature in 
 Turkey. A message sent by telegraph to a distance 
 of only twenty or thirty miles sometimes takes one 
 or two days to reach its destination. The postal 
 service is an eminent specimen of the Turkish 
 promptness in business. The cities of 20,000 or 
 50,000 inhabitants receive mail but once a week, if 
 they receive any, and that on the condition of entirely 
 fair weather. The mail may arrive late in the after- 
 
138 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA^ 
 
 noon simply because the drivers stopped for some 
 rest in a coffee-house on the route, and the policy of 
 "yavash, yavash," detained them for several hours; 
 and when they reach the city in the afternoon, say 
 three or four o'clock, the officials put the mail bags 
 away for the next morning and the anxious waiters 
 (mostly merchants) are sent back because the post- 
 master declares " ajeleh yock; yavash, yavash" 
 (there is no hurry; slowly, slowly). The writer 
 once received mail four days after its arrival in the 
 city. Registered letters are delivered later than the 
 others as a rule. 
 
 On the ordinary business days the members of the 
 Turkish court come late and irregular. The ice cream 
 sellers are always ready at the hall of the court in hot 
 weather and the coffee pot is there m the winter. 
 The shoemaker comes at the office hour to get the 
 measure of the cadi's foot; the tailor comes to fit the 
 coat of the chief clerk. Soon a dervish enters the 
 courtyard and begins his work of singing, as "Padi- 
 shah does not lodge in a palace unless it is well 
 finished ; no man can reach to the truth unless he is 
 far from the world." Before he has finished his 
 verses a mob may rush in dragging a Jew or a Chris- 
 tian who is accused of having cursed a mollah's turban 
 or Mohamet's tomb, which may cause such an uproar 
 as to consume the whole day and cost much money 
 to the falsely accused giaour. 
 
 Fridays and Sundays, the two weekly holidays, are 
 the best pretexts to put the engagements off. If 
 Ramazan (the fasting month) is near you can not 
 
ABUSES IN TURKISH RULE. 139 
 
 expect anything done this side of Bairam (great fes- 
 tival at the end of Ramazan). If the governor of 
 the province is expected the next week the machinery 
 of public affairs in the court is stopped and the at- 
 tention of all directed to the sweeping of the streets 
 and arranging about his entertainment, and trying to 
 make a good collection of taxes with this pretext. 
 
 Traveling in Turkey is constantly interfered with 
 and delayed; the travelers are stopped on their way 
 in many guard stations and are cross-examined, 
 especially if they be Christians; often retained for 
 several days with the excuse of inquiry by telegraph, 
 and sometimes sent back; and are often tied 
 hands and feet and sent to prison, as the fancy of 
 the officer may dictate and the supposed wealth of 
 the accused may suggest. 
 
 One exception to this rule of delay must be men- 
 tioned — that when the unspeakable Turk unsheathes 
 his "dripping sword" to cut off the heads of "dog 
 giaours" in the name of "Allah the Compassionate 
 and His Apostle" and by command of the all-power- 
 ful Padishah — he forgets the words "yavash, 
 yavash;" his thirst for human blood pushes him to 
 extreme activity and madness. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE TURKISH CENSOESHIP. 
 
 One of the most ridiculous, injurious and deliberate 
 movements against liberty is the present system and 
 practice of Turkish censorship. It shows the ignor- 
 ance of the ruling race, the severity of the enslaved 
 officers and the miserable condition of the oppressed 
 people. 
 
 1. The Censor. An infidel Turk, or, it may be a 
 Christian subject, a wretched slave to the arbitrary 
 will of his ruler, is appointed and forced to examine 
 all the publications and report the result to the higher 
 officer. Such a one must be acquainted with the 
 languages of the country, also with French, and 
 especially with English, which is supposed by the 
 Turk to be the most dangerous means of circulating 
 the seeds of freedom. 
 
 We are in a large provincial city, the weekly mail 
 has come, all the books, newspapers and letters for 
 Christians are brought before the Pasha (governor), 
 to be examined before their delivery. The stern 
 Pasha is in his arm-chair smoking his cigarette, several 
 officers are before him to attend his excellent will. 
 The examiner, most probably a Christian young man, 
 is called and seated between the Pasha and the watch- 
 ing officers. The mail-bag is emptied upon the floor, 
 and everything is handed one by one to this young 
 
 140 
 
TURKISH CENSORSHIP. 141 
 
 man for examination. His eyes are upon the paper, 
 and all other eyes are upon him closely watching 
 him, not to miss any chaDge of expression on his 
 face. The Pasha says, "What is that paper?" The 
 examiner says, "London Times." "Oh! the cursed 
 paper, we are ordered to withhold it; give it to me." 
 "What is the next?" "Independent." "What 
 does that name mean?" "It means, not subject to the 
 control of others." "Why, that must be a revolu- 
 tionist paper ; let me have it too." "What is this 
 one?" "Science." "Read the contents," "* * * 
 New Discoveries in Bagdad, the capital of the ancient 
 Assyria." "Cut that article and give it to me. What 
 is that other one?' "The Cougregationalist." 
 "What?" "The Con-gre-ga-tion-al-ist." "Cursed 
 be that long name ; to whom is it directed?" "To 
 Mrs. Cornellia Statenville." "Who is that devil- 
 named man?" "She is a missionary, a hat-wearer." 
 "Curse their hats; what is next?" "An Armenian 
 paper published in Constantinople." "Let me see 
 the seal of the press-official * * * Six copies in one 
 bundle. Oh! crafty hogs! they don't pay their taxes, 
 and sit together and read six papers in one week and 
 learn rebellion against the Highest Wealth (Turkish 
 Government). Put it in the bag and pass to the 
 letters. Be careful now, I had a telegram that 
 giaours are trying to pass arms in air-ships (balloons) ; 
 there must be something in these letters about that 
 satanic scheme." The letters are examined with 
 greater care, and woe be unto him in whose letter 
 any shadow of suspicion is imagined. 
 
142 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 2. Censorship of Press. The manuscript of any 
 book must go to the press-officer, who is the president 
 of a committee charged with the sacred duty of 
 ruling over the thoughts, speeches and writings of 
 millions of human beings. The same transactions 
 must be repeated before each edition of the same 
 book. There were so many books officially sanctioned 
 five to fifteen years ago that they are confiscated and pro- 
 hibited now. This shows that the burden of tyranny 
 is growing heavier. All the books sent from foreign 
 countries must go to the same office, be carefully 
 examined and withheld if some injurious thing is 
 imagined. Any kind of history, geography, even 
 cyclopedias containing articles about Armenia, Turkey, 
 Mohametan religion, etc., are confiscated. 
 
 All the unofficial newspapers, Moslem or non- 
 Moslem, must be published in Constantinople, and 
 each proof-sheet of every paper must first go to the 
 censor in order to be examined and corrected, and 
 detained if he deems proper. On every occasion of 
 the Sultan's anniversary, or of the commencement 
 services of the government schools, the papers are 
 expected and even demanded to give full pages in 
 praise of the wisdom and mercy of the Saltan in the 
 official style of the palace slaves. "The late Shah of 
 Persia has died of dropsy." "M. Carnot, of France, 
 has suddenly died of heart disease." Many viziers 
 who have been strangled in the palace were reported 
 in the papers as "died a natural death from sickness 
 to which he was subject a long time, and in spite of 
 all the skill of the doctors could not be saved." These 
 
Turkish censorship. 143 
 
 false reports are in all the papers, religious, scientific 
 or political; they are forced to announce these things 
 for their existence, and they do it under the title of 
 "Official News." 
 
 ' The endless reports of these last Armenian mas- 
 sacres which have defiled the whole country from 
 border to border, did not pass beyond being "a small 
 local disturbance in such a place, in which two 
 Moslems and three Armenians were killed, and which 
 was at once suppressed by the soldiers of our gracious 
 Sultan." " Cholera has broken out in such a place, 
 but thanks to the attempts of our gracious Sultan it 
 was immediately controlled and health restored." "A 
 tremendous earthquake occurred in certain places, but 
 thanks to the endless graces and wisdom of our Sul- 
 tan there was no loss of life but three, and a few 
 wounded." "This year, through the grrace of our 
 Sultan, the crops seem to be excellently good." Thus 
 the unfortunate country with all its population and 
 possibilities is flooded by the overflowing stream of 
 "the endless graces" of the Sultan. 
 
 3. Other Illustrations that Touch Directly on 
 Religious Liberty. From the International Sunday 
 School Lessons of 1893 the title of "Sorrow in the 
 Palace" (Esth. 4 :l-9), was suppressed, because there 
 can be no sorrow in the Palace, which is called "the 
 region of holy happiness." Also the titles of "Hope 
 in Distress" (Psalms, 38:8-15), "Wicked Devices 
 Frustrated" (Psalms, 33:10-22), and many others, 
 were ordered to be left out. From the religious 
 sonsrs the words "crown," "throue " "fighting" 
 
144 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 "fortress," "soldiers," "victory," "home-land," 
 "trumpet," "kingdom," "enemy," "war," etc., 
 are all stricken out, and all the songs expressing 
 Christian warfare or citizenship or union are canceled. 
 The printing of religious books has been objected 
 to once, on the ground that after having been 
 allowed to have the Bible the Christian subjects have 
 no need of other books. Copies of "Pilgrim's Pro- 
 gress" were confiscated with the idea that they show 
 to the Christian subjects some way to escape from 
 Turkey to a Christian land, from the City of De- 
 struction to Heaven — not an incorrect comparison, 
 however. "The Letters to' Families" was stopped 
 with the thought that it might contain something 
 against the government, as it bears the name "let- 
 ters." A booklet called "The Epistle to the Gala- 
 tians" was supposed to be a special secret letter to 
 the Christians in Galata (a quarter in Constantinople 
 and a center for Armenians), and the book was 
 stopped. The policemen were sent to the Christian 
 church at Galata to arrest St. Paul, who speaks so 
 deliberately about "the deliverance of this present 
 evil world," and advises his men to " stand fast in the 
 liberty, and be not entangled again with the yoke of 
 bondage." It took much effort and trouble to con- 
 vince and send these men back, who were more fool- 
 ish than the ancient Galatians. 
 
 The abject ignorance and malice of the censor is 
 best illustrated by the following fact: When he saw 
 in an English book " H 2 O," the formula of water 
 (two hydrogen, one oxygen), he supposed it to be a 
 
TURKISH CENSORSHIP. 145 
 
 secret emblem against the Turkish Government, and 
 after long meditations and consultations he solved it 
 to mean "Hamid the 2nd (present Sultan) is zero! " 
 and he insisted that he was correct in his discovery. 
 The dark shadow of ignorance, the nest of all in- 
 iquities, is the resting place where "the pearl of 
 ages" is very anxious to hide himself and his sub- 
 jects, in spite of the enlightenment of this century. 
 The Moslem population is the same stupid and lazy 
 Tartaric race — only they so surpass their fathers in the 
 addition of hellish horrors upon horrors as to put the 
 devil in the shade. They show no sign of conscious- 
 ness of their wretched condition. Some individual 
 sparks glowing here and there are at once put out 
 and the national suicide still goes on, and the suffer- 
 ing of the Christian subjects can never be realized. 
 Under all their bondage, intellectual slavery, black- 
 mailing, poverty and persecution they are groaning 
 for liberty. But, alas ! the world seems totally deaf 
 to their cries and sighing! It is a mystery of Divine 
 Providence how the Darkness should be permitted to 
 rule the Light, and a greater mystery that the most 
 civilized nations and governments — the supposed 
 champions of Liberty — would take such a barbarous 
 nation as the Turks for their friend, and such a 
 tyrant, the greatest enemy of Christian civilization, 
 for their ally ! 
 
CHAPTFE XX. 
 
 TURKISH HAREM. 
 
 1. Turkish Harem, which means "the sacred 
 place," is the name given to the ladies' department in 
 the Mohametan home, where no man is allowed to enter 
 witliout special permission from inside unless he is 
 the husband, father, brother, son, grandfather, 
 grandson, uncle — in short, one of the nearest relatives 
 who could not legally marry the women in the harem. 
 In case of a stranger's inevitable visit each woman over 
 twelve to thirteen years of age must cover her face. 
 The visitor's duty is to stop at the outside of the gate 
 and knock, saying, " Take your veils," and wait for 
 the response from inside. The houses in Turkey are 
 surrounded by a strong thick wall, at least ten to 
 twelve feet high, having only one gateway for 
 entrance, which is kept closed and bolted. Some- 
 times the husband locks it in the morning and takes 
 the key with him to his business place. Wealthy 
 people have their special department for men entered 
 by a separate gate, and receive their visitors and 
 guests in this department, which is called " Selam 
 lik." A doctor's visit to a harem, which is very 
 seldom among Moslems, is regarded as an exception 
 for the harem law ? according to the decree of the 
 Koran that "Necessities modify the prohibition." 
 The ladies of the Imperial Palace were lately vacci- 
 
 146 
 
TURKISH HAREM. 147 
 
 nated by doctors, stretching out their arms through 
 a hole in the partition between the two departments. 
 The internal management of the harem is sometimes 
 left to colored eunuchs, but commonly the mother- 
 in-law, or in her absence, the chief hanum (lady of 
 the harem) has its charge. Cooking is done in the 
 harem, and the dishes are sent to the men's depart- 
 ment through a revolving closet in the partition wall 
 and served by male waiters. The inside of the harem 
 yard must not be seen from any house near or far; 
 hence the law for buildings, especially for windows, 
 is very strict, and the exterior of the houses have the 
 appearance of an ancient castle wall. As the mina- 
 rets upon which the muezzin crier calls the believers 
 to worship are always higher than the neighboring 
 houses, the women must conceal themselves in the 
 house until the crier makes his brief tour around the 
 minaret. Very often blind men or children are 
 employed in this service, and men of ugly voice are 
 preferred by many pious Moslems, that their wives 
 may not be attracted and tempted to come out of 
 their inner apartments. Some exceedingly fanatic 
 Turks do not allow even the Christian women to enter 
 their harems. Blind men, idiots, eunuchs, and some- 
 times the old domestic stewards, are allowed in 
 harems. 
 
 2. Polygamy Among the Turks. Any Moslem 
 who can afford may have four wives in legal mar- 
 riage, and may have as many concubines as he can 
 purchase or capture. The present Sultan — not the 
 most intemperate of the Ottoman rulers — is said to 
 
148 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 have 1,500 women in his harem. By the Mohame- 
 tan sacred law all the women in the empire belong to 
 the prophet and his successor on the throne. As 
 the majority are not able to support many wives they 
 must be content with a few on this side of the grave, 
 cherishing the hope that they will have many in the 
 future paradise. Some rich men, however, prefer to 
 have only one or two wives, because of the habitual 
 discord, extravagance and crimes in the larger harems, 
 where jealousy, slander and constant quarreling are 
 the daily practice of the " muminehs," the faithful 
 women. 
 
 Marriage is regarded a religious necessity, hence 
 every man, even the poorest, the maimed and the 
 crazy, are encouraged to marry, very often the 
 expenses for wedding being paid by a wealthy aga or 
 well-to-do neighbors. Their motto is, "A dog can 
 drag a hide anyhow;" that is, a man can support a 
 wife anyhow. They also say, ''When a person is 
 created his supplies also are created with him," and 
 they feel very content with what they may have by 
 working the least. They marry nearer relatives than 
 the Christians do. A man must marry his deceased 
 brother's wife or wives for the sake of preserving 
 the family inheritance. 
 
 3. The Situation of Turkish Women. A man 
 may divorce his wife by simply desiring to do so; 
 no reasonable cause is demanded of him. A woman 
 can never demand a divorce, no matter how cruel 
 and unfaithful her husband may be ; she may 
 be permitted to live separate if she can afford 
 
TURKISH HAREM. 149 
 
 it. Hence, the only possible way to get rid of 
 a bad husband is to irritate him until he asks for a 
 divorce. There is one point favorable to women — 
 that a husband can not get a divorce unless he first 
 pays the dowry he promised to his wife, according to 
 their wealth and rank, differing from ten to one 
 thousand dollars, or more. The "sheri,"the legal 
 branch of the government which attends to marriages 
 and divorces, takes great care on this point to secure 
 and protect the wife's right. A Mohametan may, 
 and often does, marry and divorce the same wife three 
 times by usual transactions of the "sheri" and by the 
 consent of the woman, but not the fourth time unless 
 the woman is married by another man and also divorced 
 by his free will. If a thrice divorced wife is not 
 already married by another man, and if both parties 
 desire a re-union in marriage, the demand of the law 
 is to find another man to marry this woman and 
 divorce her legally, which the poor or the crazy people 
 will do for the sake of money. In some instances, 
 however, the man who was thought crazy proves him- 
 self to be so sane as to keep the wife for himself or 
 demands a very large sum for the desired divorce, 
 for which the law does not force him. If a wife be 
 guilty of impurity in matrimony her husband has the 
 right to have her imprisoned by the government for 
 life, or, as the Koran says, "until she finds some di- 
 vine help to make her escape." The children born 
 of a divorced wife can never be deprived of the 
 right to inherit their father's property, even if they 
 are allowed to live with their mother, in which case 
 
150 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 the man is forced to pay his children's living until 
 the boy is seven years old and the girl nine. 
 
 4. The Rights of Turkish Women. Mohamet, 
 being very fond of his mother (who was widowed 
 soon after, or, according to others, just before the 
 birth of the only child) has repeatedly ordered honor 
 and mercy towards mothers, especially widowed 
 mothers. "No man," the Mohametan law says, 
 "can repay the merit of his mother, even if he could 
 carry her on his back all the way to Kabeh," the 
 holy temple in Mecca. 
 
 But the same law evidently ranks woman lower 
 than man by limiting, for example, her legal rights. 
 An heiress can only get the half proportion of inher- 
 itance that an heir of the same relation may get. The 
 wife can only get one-fifth of the property of her de- 
 ceased husband if he has bodily heirs from her or 
 from a former wife. A woman can never claim a 
 divorce nor make an objection if her husband marries 
 three wives more and desires to keep concubines. 
 During the husband's lifetime the wife has no claim 
 on his movable or immovable properties, only her 
 dowry and personal ornaments and clothing presented 
 to her. The consequences of the limitation of family 
 rights are mutual hatred, unfaithfulness, crime, and 
 a general degradation of woman. Women are not 
 allowed to attend mosques for the daily prayers ; they 
 may have them in the harem. In the month of 
 Raniazan, the fasting month, they are permitted to 
 go to the mosque, but must enter from a special small 
 back door and sit in a gallery enclosed by a thick 
 
TURKISH HAREM. 151 
 
 lattice work. They can never attend social entertain- 
 ments unless given by nearest relatives. They are 
 never allowed to sit at the same table, even with their 
 fathers, brothers and husbands, if there be a guest 
 in the house. When they go oat of their gates they 
 must put on a long gown and a thick veil. If they 
 go with their father, brother or husband, which is 
 very seldom, they must walk behind. The best part 
 of the road must always be given to the man. In 
 the interior of the country if women see a rich man 
 or an official coming they must sit on the floor and 
 turn their face to the wall until "His honor" is past. 
 
 In villages, these harem ceremonies are not practi- 
 cable, but the condition of women is far worse. 
 Their husbands have already purchased them by pay- 
 ing $10 to $20 in cash, or an ox or a few sheep, or 
 some pieces of carpets or rugs, or so many bushels of 
 wheat or barley. Besides the common work of the 
 house they have their share in all farming work, in 
 sowing, reaping or pulling the crop w T ith their hands, 
 carrying it on their backs and threshing it under the 
 burning sun, which takes w r eeks, for the lack of 
 machinery. In such places it is a universal habit 
 for the man to ride on his horse or donkey, and the 
 poor woman, often barefooted, walks after him. At 
 the same time her baby (and perhaps the cradle) is 
 strapped on her back, or a load of wood or other 
 burden. 
 
 The Turkish women, especially in the villages, are 
 very free and quick in their talks, having no hin- 
 drance to use their language. So you can hear 
 
152 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 them speaking very clearly and loud, sometimes 
 laughing, sometimes cursing and very often gossip- 
 ing. When they meet one or more pretty Armenian 
 young people they seldom fail to say, "May 
 plague strike your body," or if they meet a Chris- 
 tian funeral procession, "May Allah cause you all to 
 perish at once," or call loud to the neighbor's wife, 
 "O, Eniineh! look this way, a giaour's corpse is 
 going; may all of them have the same destiny by 
 allah," and the other responds, "Amen!" During 
 any uprising against the Christians Turkish women 
 are very happy and always shout and urge the men 
 to slaughter. 
 
 5. The Titles, and Common Sayings about 
 Women. When you meet with a friend you can 
 never ask about the condition of the women in his 
 house unless you have close relationship with the 
 family; then you must say, " How is the household ? ,: 
 or most intimately, "How is my sister?" or my 
 aunt Emineh?" And he replies, "They kiss your 
 hand." If a man speaks about his wife before oth- 
 ers, he never says "My wife" or "Mrs. so and so," 
 but "the people of the house," "your maid-ser- 
 vant," "ash carrier," "sweeper of the house," 
 " the mother of the children," "your sister," etc. 
 A woman is called after her father's name, even if 
 she be married. 
 
 Some Turkish proverbs may better show their idea 
 about women: "Woman is a deficient creature." 
 "Woman has long hair, but short mind." "Obey a 
 woman's word but one in forty." "Whip must not 
 
TURKISH HAREM. 153 
 
 be far from woman." "Do not walk with woman, 
 else you will suffer calamity." "Woman is the 
 satan of man." "May allah preserve you from the 
 evil of woman." "Do not trust the friendship of 
 woman." "Woman has no religion." " She leaves 
 confusion among seven quarters." " She loads seven 
 houses on a donkey and rides also upon it." "You 
 woman-minded fool!" 
 
 They have numerous stories about the evils and 
 tricks of women. They say, "Satan made a bet 
 with a woman upon a pair of slippers to see which of 
 them could cause greater confusion in the world; 
 and they began the work among the families. After 
 some time, satan being convinced of woman's 
 superiority in devices, and fearing that she might one 
 day harm even himself, he gave up, and putting the 
 slippers on the end of a long pole, stretched it to the 
 woman, being afraid to go near her." 
 
 6. Turkish Family Discipline. In order to under- 
 stand the Turkish character, we must go to the foun- 
 dation, the family discipline. They have no idea and 
 no word for home. The mother has not her proper 
 position in the family. Filial, fraternal and paternal 
 love is not nobler among them than it is among the 
 pigs — if the comparison is not injustice to the latter. 
 The jealousy, slander, quarrelling and crimes among 
 the children of different mothers are terrible beyond 
 imagination. The defect of the Turkish family dis- 
 cipline does not consist simply of some neglects, but 
 also positive inducements to corruption. As soon as 
 the child is able to walk and talk, he is given to the 
 
154 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 hands of the meanest of servants (a nurse) to take 
 them where they please, to teach them what they 
 know, to make of them what they may. When they 
 come down from the shoulders of these first teachers 
 they are sent either to schools as corrupt as Sodom, 
 or let loose in the streets to loaf and learn the accu- 
 mulated corruption of the community, and to harm 
 the Christian children they meet in the streets. If 
 they do not see any giaour to insult and beat, they 
 fight with each other and curse against each other's 
 " faith and religion" and the ancestral graves, etc., 
 most horribly. When several Turks, even the most 
 noted ones, come together and have a little child 
 among them their chief amusement will be, without 
 exception, to make that child utter vulgar words in 
 his broken language. The father of the child, most 
 probably the host of the party, would say to him : 
 "Now, my boy, swear to this uncle's beard," at the 
 same time helping him to speak the necessary words ; 
 then says, "Swear to the other uncle's turban," 
 "to that yonder uncle's daughter," "to this young 
 uncle's sweetheart," etc., etc. All will laugh in 
 concert at his each attempt, and praise him for his 
 smartness, and seriously beg long life for him from 
 Allah. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 TURKISH COMMON SCHOOLS. 
 
 1. A Visit to a Turkish Common School. The 
 first thing which will attract the visitor's attention is 
 the noise produced in a Turkish school, because every 
 pupil must study his lesson with a loud voice. The 
 exterior appearance of the building, which is gener- 
 ally attached to a mosque, has nothing worthy to be 
 called a school house— a single small room, with very 
 low and narrow windows, if at all. During the cold 
 weather these windows are covered with paper or 
 white thin cotton cloth instead of glass, and in the 
 hot seasons they are left open to the burning sun 
 without any shades, unless it be the coats of the 
 students sitting in front of them. There is no chair 
 or desk, or anything like tables. All the children are 
 sitting flat on the floor, on coarse mats or bare boards, 
 which have never seen washiug. The teacher is also 
 sitting on the floor, on a small hard cushion, and a 
 little one-foot-high box before him for his table. All 
 the boys (for no girl is allowed in this school) keep 
 small turbaned fezes on their heads, but their shoes 
 or wooden slippers are left at the front door. All 
 the pupils are repeating their lessons in a loud voice, 
 which is stimulated every six or seven minutes by the 
 coarse howling of the long-bearded, large-turbaned 
 and wide, loose-robed man, whom for convenience 
 
 155 
 
156 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 we shall call Hoja effendi, the lord teacher. These 
 frequent howlings are generally accompanied with a 
 hard stroke of a four-foot-long heavy stick upon the 
 floor its full length, and often with vulgar words. 
 
 We can never expect to see anything like maps, 
 black-boards or other school furniture, but onlv a 
 dirty and badly torn pamphlet in each pupil's hand, 
 in which are some extracts from the Koran in the 
 Arabic language, which the Turkish children do not 
 understand. No geograph} r , arithmetic, natural or 
 unnatural science ; and no writing, class system or 
 programme; but beginning from the right hand of 
 the teacher each pupil must come separately and 
 kneel down before him on the bare floor, and after a 
 solemn denunciation of "Satan the Instigator," and 
 recognition of "the name of Allah, the most merci- 
 ful," must repeat his lesson with a louder voice and 
 chanting tone, all the time swinging the body to and 
 fro. As an approval of the recitation the teacher 
 will simply say "Hum!" two or three times in every 
 line, or sometimes for every single word, even for 
 every syllable if the pupil is spelling. After one or 
 two hundred shut-mouthed "hums!" and an uncer- 
 tain number of scornful corrections, the so-called 
 lesson comes to its end and the next pupil is called. 
 Of the disapproval or complimentary words that pour 
 out from the mouth of the Haja effendi, the following 
 are comparatively milder ones: "Donkey," "Donkey- 
 headed," "Frozen-brain," "Stiff-skulled," "Lazy 
 donkey," "Blind hog," "Lame dog," "Crippled 
 bear," according to the bodily defects of the children ; 
 
TURKISH COMMON SCHOOLS. 157 
 
 "My lamb," "Crazy kid," "Sly fox," "My lion," 
 "Black lion," " Black calf," "My son," "My 
 father," "My brother." In ten minutes he may 
 call the same boy "Donkey" and "My brother," 
 according to the demand of the circumstances. 
 
 2. The Piety of the Hoja Effendi. Let us not for- 
 get to say that our "lord teacher" has also the 
 charge of the muezzin crier, and the leadership in 
 public prayer of the mosque. It is about noon ; the 
 children are very tired of sitting and crying their 
 lessons since the sunrise, also feel very hungry for 
 food and for mischief. The approach of the "noon- 
 bread," as they call it, makes them very uncontrol- 
 lable. The teacher cries with a loud voice and says, 
 "You hog-pigs! you begin to dig the ground again. 
 You are almost perished by hunger, Allah may grant 
 me to see you all perished in one day. No more 
 patience, impatient dogs ! Bring the copper pitcher, 
 let me have my ablution for noon-prayer, and then 
 I will send you away; you better had gone to 
 'jehenem' (hell)! You made my head swell by 
 causing me to speak so much this morning; may your 
 heads be swelled like pumpkins and boiled in the 
 kettle! Bring that pitcher to me." In spite of the 
 insulting tone of this habitual lecture the pupils run 
 eagerly to fill the pitcher with cold water and bring 
 it to the teacher. The teacher cries, "Ah! you 
 will break it; that is a heritage to me from my grand- 
 father; may Allah have mercy on his soul! Be care- 
 ful, whosoever breaks that pitcher, by my religion 
 and faith, I will surely crush his skull. You black- 
 
158 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 face Satans, you are in a hurry, not because you love 
 me, but because you are dying to slip away one 
 minute earlier; may Allah grant that you may be 
 paralyzed in your houses and be unable to come here 
 again. Bring the pitcher this side. * * * 'I seek 
 refuge by Allah from Satan the accursed' (don't 
 disturb my mind children, if I rehearse wrong the 
 sin will be upon your necks), * * * 'in the name of 
 Allah, the most merciful' (Ahmet, open the doors 
 of the mosque)." * * * By this solemn ceremony, 
 mixed with prayer and remarks to the children, the 
 pious teacher finishes his sacred washing, and turns 
 again to the children: "Now I will send you to 
 4 noon-bread,' but I have some special notices: first, 
 do not forget to bring portions to your teacher of 
 what good dishes you may have at your table; bring 
 also any kind of fruits, your aunt (teacher's wife) is 
 not very well, and she will like to have some fruits. 
 And the next thing I am going to order }^ou is that 
 you must keep still in your houses and not disturb 
 your mothers. You see that small bird up that tree? 
 It always brings me news what mischief you do in 
 your houses and tells it secretly to my ear. Now I 
 can tell you all what you did last evening, but for 
 this time I will forgive you, and watch your conduct 
 for the next time ; you have to come back very soon 
 and sweep the mosque for to-morrow, which is holy 
 Friday you know. Look here, I am spitting upon 
 the ground, and you be sure to be back before it 
 dries; go now and keep in your mind what I have 
 said," 
 
TURKISH COMMON SCHOOLS. 159 
 
 3. A New Pupil Brought to the School, As the 
 Turkish schools have no vacation, no division of 
 terms and no class system, a new pupil may be 
 brought in at any time. It is afternoon. All the 
 children are in their places and a pile of small bun- 
 dles near the teacher's seat, and he seems quite de- 
 lighted with them. A father enters, leading a 
 little boy by the hand, and addresses the teacher: 
 ' < Peace be unto you, lord teacher." "And peace 
 unto you, haji aga ! Let us see what is that?" 
 "What will it be, lord teacher? I brought your 
 slave to pour water on your hand and to turn your 
 shoes." "Allah spare his life; you have done very 
 well." "By Allah, lord teacher, I saw that he was 
 loafing in the streets and I thought if I leave him so 
 he will be a donkey like me." "Allah forbid, haji 
 aga; may your life be preserved safe from the evils 
 of the devil; you are one of the noblest Muslims of 
 our district. Oh! the past days; they are gone! 
 What a noble father you had; may Allah illumine 
 his grave. I can faintly remember your grandfather 
 also ; he used to wear, it comes to my mind as a 
 dream, a large green turban, and he always had his 
 long pipe in his hand. He was a pious Mussulman. 
 Allah may perpetuate his posterity. By the way, is 
 your mother still living?" "No, lord teacher, pro- 
 longed life for you, she passed five years next win- 
 ter." "Is that so? Oh ! Allah may grant long life 
 to you. *** How many children have you?" "Only 
 this one, your slave, lord teacher?" "What 
 is his name?" "Mustafa, lord teacher," "Oh! 
 
160 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 that was my grandfather's name; did you steal his 
 name, little boy? Come here and let me see you." 
 The father leads the child by the hand and taking 
 him nearer to the teacher says, "Now, kneel down 
 and kiss the lord teacher's hand." The teacher 
 says "God bless you, my son." The father con- 
 tinues, "Now, lord teacher, his flesh is yours, his 
 bones are mine ; whenever he is disobedient and lazy 
 you may punish him as you please; did you hear 
 it?" Certainly; if he is an obedient boy I will love 
 him just like the light of my eye, but if he is dis- 
 obedient I will beat him as a dog and imprison him 
 in the dark dungeon under this floor and nail his ear 
 to the wall there and leave him to die with hunger 
 and thirst. I am called crazy Haji, and if once my 
 spirit gets up nobody can control me, even the gov- 
 ernor cannot prevent me to do what I decide ; I kill 
 men under my feet." "That is all right, lord 
 teacher; he is yours, not mine, do to him as you 
 please. *** What will our debt be to you?" "May 
 your good soul be alive, my dear neighbor; * parents" 
 and teachers' labors can never be paid enough ; may 
 Allah recompense them in the future; still, as a small 
 present for my labors and prayers, I will be content 
 with one cent a week, and five bushels of wheat at 
 harvest time, and several pounds of raisins at fall, 
 and a pair of slippers when your son commences to 
 read the first "juz" (part of the Koran), and a full 
 suit of clothing when he finishes the sacred Koran, 
 by Allah's help." "Very well, sir, all your orders 
 upon my head (I agree), and for the love of Allah, 
 
TURKISH COMMON SCHOOLS. 161 
 
 lord teacher, whenever you need something you will 
 let your servant know. I kiss your sacred skirt, lord 
 teacher; take as good care of him as if he was your 
 own son. Good-bye, sir." As soon as he leaves the 
 room the teacher murmurs in a low voice, "You 
 stingy hog, I know what character you are. You 
 promise very easily, but you are not going to fill it. 
 Pay the regular dues and let the extra be a flame to 
 your soul. I knew your cursed father very well; 
 may he not find rest in his grave; he was a man like 
 pieces of nail (useless); are you not the puppy of 
 that dog? But anyhow I have your ears now in my 
 hand. I will make you obliged to pay my wao-es. 
 Now, boys, to your books ; when you see a visitor 
 you leave your work and listen to us like sheep listen 
 to the voice of a flute. Go on ! to-morrow is Friday; 
 you have to finish your lessons to-day, else I am not 
 going to send you home to-night. Goon! Read 
 aloud! . . . louder! . . . still louder! . . . that's it." 
 
 Ijf Iff 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 TURKISH HIGHER SCHOOLS. 
 
 1. The Essence of Turkish Institutions of 
 Education. Education is not obligatory in the Turk- 
 ish empire; therefore, the number of the public 
 Turkish schools and the students is considerably 
 smaller compared with other European countries, or 
 even with non-Moslem communities of the empire. 
 During the last twenty to thirty years the govern- 
 ment established some public schools in four grades: 
 a primary school for each town, a higher school for 
 each county, an academy for each State and three to 
 four highest institutions in Constantinople for the 
 whole country. The approximate proportion of the 
 numbers of the institutions to that of the population 
 cannot be more than one primary school for 10,000, 
 one higher school for 100,000, one academy for 
 1,000,000 and one university for the whole popula- 
 tion. 
 
 The grade of these schools also is very inferior, 
 because with the exception of some Christian pro- 
 fessors in the university (?) all the teachers and 
 superintendents are Mohametan fanatics or infidels, 
 unworthy of their position. In the system of 
 instruction there is no radical improvement and can 
 not be as long as the spirit and practice of Islam pre- 
 vails. That is why the Mohametan students in 
 
 162 
 
TURKISH HIGHER SCHOOLS. 163 
 
 European institutions, though very few in number, 
 are generally becoming abject infidels in their hearts 
 and heads, an element which does not seem more 
 favorable to the Christian civilization and a better 
 illustration for the re-entrance of the evil spirit into 
 an empty heart. Hence all the outward appearance 
 of the Turkish education and progress is a total 
 farce, and an extra burden upon the long oppressed 
 and impoverished Christians (for they must con- 
 tribute to support) and a serious danger for Christian 
 civilization. 
 
 2. A Closer Investigation of These Institutions. 
 The buildings are better than the common schools, 
 but not as good as one might expect for the large 
 sums collected from the people. The first floor is 
 generally used for the wood and the ashes, and as a 
 place for the shoes, which must not be taken up to 
 the second floor, because it is used for Mohametan 
 worship as well as school. The second floor consists 
 of a narrow hall, to which all the doors of so-called 
 lecture rooms open. No directory, no time-table and 
 no program in the hall, only the emblem (arms) of 
 the Ottoman government. You have to go from 
 door to door and look in to see the contents. One 
 of them looks like an arithmetic class; all the stu- 
 dents or the class are crowded before one faded 
 small blackboard and working together in great con- 
 fusion. The other room looks like a geography or 
 history class. The torn maps are inscribed all over 
 with Arabic letters, reading from right to left. The 
 largest letters on the eastern end read, "The Great 
 
164 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 Encircling Sea" (Pacific Ocean). Then comes 
 " Chinumachin " (China) ; the next attractive inscrip- 
 tion reads, " The prosperous countries of the Imperial 
 Ottoman" (Turkey). The Mediterranean is named 
 "White Sea;" Austriah, "The Province of Nem- 
 cheh;" Germany, "The Province of Prussia;" 
 France, "The Province of Fransah." When you 
 look more attentively over the map of Turkey you 
 will find that all countries separated from the empire 
 during the last twenty-five to thirty years are put 
 under the same Turkish dominion. Constantinople 
 is called "The Gate of Happiness;" Jerusalem, 
 "The Sacred Holiness;" Damascus, "The Sacred 
 Sham;" Mecca, "The Esteemed Mekkeh of Mys- 
 teries;" Medina, "The illuminated Medineh," etc. 
 Both the map and its design carry us back thirty to 
 forty years, and show how the real sciences of geog- 
 raphy and history are abused in Turkish schools, 
 which, perhaps, is the reason why an eminent 
 telegraphic ofiicer, a graduate of one of these 
 higher schools, could not be persuaded that "Liver- 
 pool" was a single word. He insisted angrily 
 that it was two words — "Liver" and "Pool" 
 — until his Christian subordinate came and ended 
 the dispute. One of the Turkish pashas, the 
 highest provincial officers, hearing from a mis- 
 sionary about the Civil War in the United States, 
 asked him with great surprise: "Why, havaja, did 
 your kings get permission from the Sultan to declare 
 war against each other?" During the last Eusso- 
 Turkish war the copies of a telegram were pasted on 
 
TURKISH HIGHER SCHOOLS. 165 
 
 the walls, telling that "near Alashehir the Moscows 
 suffered such a defeat before the Ottoman braves 
 that the blood of the enemy formed a river so deep 
 as to reach the breasts of the horses of the Ottoman 
 cavalry." And the large-turbaned Turks, who 
 thought the telegraph to be a devil's operation, were 
 heard by this time reporting that this news was pro- 
 duced by itself all over the country, while the secret 
 dispatch was passing from Constantinople to Mecca. 
 3. Commencement Services in Turkish High 
 Schools. It is the "Prize day/' as they call it. In 
 one of the largest halls of the town, teachers, stu- 
 dents and their friends, and many invited persons, are 
 crowded; the service is not yet begun, though the 
 announced time has already passed one hour; the 
 air in the room is almost unbearable; a great many 
 are smoking, walking out and in, talking with a 
 tremendous confusion and noise. Some are going 
 out to drink and bringing a pail of water in for their 
 friends, others calling for "a drop of that water," 
 some trying to reach the pail, laughing, cursing — 
 everything but order. Later on, the pasha, the 
 chairman of the service, comes in, followed by a 
 dozen well-armed soldiers and about all the 
 officers and influential men of the town (there can be 
 no woman in this assembly). By this time the 
 whole congregation rises, as an homage to the pasha 
 and his followers, and a military band begins to play 
 the "Hamidieh March," at the close of which, all 
 being seated, the chairman comes forward, and tak- 
 ing a paper out of his pocket begins to read it as the 
 
166 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 opening address of the exercises. The subject of 
 that paper is praise for the Sultan; the style is 
 oriental, poetic and adorned; the language as high 
 as possible, full of Persian and Arabic words and 
 phrases, and the tone of reading low, monotonous 
 and quivering. 
 
 In order to make our readers better acquainted with 
 the contents of said paper, we shall attempt to trans- 
 late some parts of it, according to the capacity of the 
 English language in expressing oriental formality: 
 "By the boundless grace and endless mercy of the 
 Lord of all creatures on earth and in heaven, and 
 under the safest shadow of the world-stretched wing 
 of his Imperial Majesty, our Sovereign and Sultan, 
 the king of all kin^s and the crown-giver of all the 
 princes of the world, we, the most humble subjects 
 of the glorious Ottoman empire and sons of the 
 sacred and most prosperous countries, are privileged 
 to assemble here to-day to perform our usual sacred 
 duty in sincerely praying for the utmost prosperity 
 and longevity of our powerful, gracious and great 
 padishah, and for the constant welfare of his highest 
 commonwealth. Since the happiest day of the 
 glorious enthronement of his Imperial Majesty, the 
 greatest, wisest of all the rulers of the universe, we 
 most fortunate subjects of the pearly throne — the 
 glory of which equals the brightness of the celestial 
 constellations—have always been enjoying innu- 
 merable and marvellous signs of his bottomless 
 ocean of wisdom and unparalleled prudence, which is 
 the miraculous heavenly gift to the worthiest of all 
 
TURKISH HIGHER SCHOOLS. 167 
 
 the monarchs upon thrones. By this delightful 
 chance we acknowledge once more our most pleasant 
 privilege to offer the emblems of our true faithful- 
 ness and complete obedience to the heaven-like 
 threshold of his imperial glory, the conqueror, the 
 most gracious and the powerful majesty, our merciful 
 father, Sultan Hamid, the Great, by repeating 'Long 
 live my Padishah !' Amen ! and Amen ! !" 
 
 4. The Relation of Christian Subjects to Their 
 Schools. The Turkish high schools are nominally 
 for all the subjects of the empire, but there are very 
 few Greeks and Armenians who could find an}' way 
 to enter them. Especially during these last fifteen 
 years the non-Moslem element is remarkably enfeebled 
 in these institutions. Still the expenses are paid by 
 all communities of the country. The Christians 
 invariably prefer to have their own high schools and 
 colleges for their young men and women, and for 
 further advancement appeal to the European or 
 American institutions. When a doctor or lawyer 
 from foreign schools desires to practice in Turkey he 
 has to go to Constantinople, spend his money and 
 time and be examined before the Turkish faculties, to 
 procure his certificate or their permission. The native 
 Christian students are subjected to very severe 
 examination and restriction. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 TURKISH LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 1. The Scenery in a Turkish Street. The Turk- 
 ish cities are generally in good locations. The 
 streets are narrow, irregular and dirty. The houses 
 are large and strong, but not attractive. They have 
 but few and small windows, and are on the second 
 floor. Every house is surrounded by a high and 
 thick stone wall, with only one gateway, which is 
 locked or barred day and night. In the interior of 
 Turkish houses, from the most destitute to the most 
 elegant and royal, in the houses of poverty and 
 wealth, we find the same degree of sin and misery. 
 
 The scenes and events of a Turkish street cannot 
 be told on paper. Muleteers and carriage men drive 
 and curse their animals and cry to the passing multi- 
 tude, "Be careful; let it not touch you." Street 
 sellers are crying in every style and tone. Porters 
 are carrying heavy burdens on their backs. Dervishes 
 are howling and the fortune-tellers prophesying. 
 The public criers are making official announcements: 
 "0, Moslem servants! may Allah give long life to 
 our padishah (Sultan) ! Hereafter whoever walks in 
 the streets after three o'clock in the evening (three 
 hours after sunset), whether he has a lamp or not, 
 will be arrested and imprisoned and heavily fined; 
 this is the command of his excellency, our governor. 
 
 168 
 
TURKISH LIFE ASD CUSTOMS. 169 
 
 Hear! you will have no excuse hereafter." Another: 
 "Since last night a donkey is lost. Its tail is short; 
 one front leg is lame ; its hair is gray. Whosoever 
 saw it will have three piasters, and whosoever finds 
 it will have five piasters. Come ! and make the 
 owner glad." 
 
 In. this Babylonian confusion many children, large 
 and small, curse and cry. The pasha (governor) 
 passes from his harem to his office with half-a-dozen 
 servants before him and a dozen officers behind him. 
 Everybody must recognize him by stopping and bow- 
 in £, almost touching yie ground with the back of the 
 right hand, then lifting it up to their lips and then 
 to their forehead in perfect silence. He returns this 
 homage by a slight motion of his right hand. The 
 countless hungry dogs are barking and biting each 
 other, and sometimes trying to attack the passers-by, 
 in imitation of their legal protectors (Moslems). 
 
 2. Traveling in Turkey. The Arabic proverb, 
 "Traveling is a portion of hell," is applicable to 
 Turkey, for there is no facility, no safety, and there- 
 fore no pleasure, even in a country which is unique 
 for its natural beauty and healthy climate ; no bridges 
 over the large rivers, no prepared roads in miry 
 places, no wide passages on the precipices. The only 
 means of transportation are large camels, lazy horses, 
 small donkeys and mules, and sometimes oxen and 
 cows, driven by muleteers — the very ignorant vil- 
 lagers. In all Asiatic Turkey there is not more than 
 400 miles of railroad, therefore all journeys must be 
 made by animals or walking, with an average of 
 
170 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 twenty miles a day. The animals are meanly fed in 
 summer on grass, in winter on straw and very little 
 barley. On winter nights the animals and the riders 
 are sheltered together under the same roof of a khan 
 (a rude, low and large building with only one room). 
 There can be no fixed plan for the day. If you ask 
 the muleteer the distance to the next town, khan or 
 stream, he answers, "O, it is just here; about half 
 an hour." You go on for hours and ask again, and 
 get the same answer. You ask, " Where will you 
 spend the night?" He replies, 6 'Allah knows; I 
 don't know; wherever the night comes we will halt 
 there; don't worry about it; these places are very 
 dangerous; the other day highwaymen killed three 
 merchants and captured all their properties just in 
 yonder valley." 
 
 In traveling, women, and especially children, are 
 carried in maf a (two boxes), fastened one on each side 
 of the horse. Owing to the constant dangers the 
 travelers have to go in caravans (a large company of 
 muleteers and passengers, with scores of various 
 animals). They have carriages in the sea coast cities 
 and in some parts of Anatolia, but for the lack of 
 safety and regularity they are not of much use. 
 
 3. Language and Conversation of the Turks. 
 The Turkish language, being composed of coarse 
 Tartaric dialect and Persian and Arabic words and 
 phrases, has its own beauty when spoken by the edu- 
 cated, but among the uneducated it represents the 
 coaivest mode of speech. Turkish conversation is 
 characterized by many and unnecessary adjectives, 
 
TURKISH LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 171 
 
 exaggerations and obscenity, spoken in an imaginative 
 and proverbial style. Among the educated the rule 
 is that the first person of the pronoun is expressed in 
 humblest style and the second person just the con- 
 trary, for instance: I — "your servant," "your hum- 
 ble servant," "your most worthless slave;" you — 
 "your highness," "your excellency," "} T our highest 
 excellency;" how are you — "how is the honored 
 pleasure of your excellent nobility?" The answer is, 
 "your servant kisses the sacred hands of your high- 
 est personality." 
 
 The Turkish style of addressing a letter: "By 
 the grace of the Most High. Behold this letter is 
 offered to the sacred direction of sagacious Ali 
 Effendi, the assistant clerk in the financial depart- 
 ment of the County of Keller, in the State of Bag- 
 dad." 
 
 In anger and quarreling the following expressions 
 are very commonly used: "May your eyes be 
 blinded, and you be left by the walls helpless;" 
 "may your bread run from you on horseback, 
 and you pursue it on foot and never reach 
 it;" "may you not own two garments;" "may 
 your lamp be extinguished suddenly" (die), "may 
 you fall down like a pine tree;" "may melted 
 lead be poured into your ears ; " " may you be a vaga- 
 bond in your life, and be dead in a stormy day;" 
 and many indecent words which we can not put here. 
 
 The expressions for good wishes also are many and 
 flattering, as: "May God hold your hands;" "may 
 God build your household;" "whatever you touch 
 
172 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 as dust may be turned to gold;" "may Allah give 
 you a dark-eyed sweetheart;" "may you enjoy the 
 benefit of your child;" "may your enemies be 
 blinded," etc. 
 
 4. Some Turkish Riddles, Proverbs and Love 
 Songs. "When I go it goes galloping behind me." 
 (Shadow.) 
 
 "A well and water in it, and a snake in the water 
 with a pearl in its mouth." (A lamp.) 
 
 "It can jump down the mountain without hurt, 
 still it cannot step in a stream." (Paper.) 
 
 "If you tie, it goes; if you let it loose, it stops." 
 (Shoes.) 
 
 "It is woman that builds or ruins a house." 
 
 "The girl makes a woman like her mother." 
 
 "He begs at the door of St. Sophia, and gives 
 alms at Sultan Ahmed." (Two mosques that are 
 very near each other in Constantinople.) 
 
 "When you ask a lazy man to work he will preach 
 you a long sermon." 
 
 "Two captains sink the ship." 
 
 * 'Little bread , peaceful head . " ( Content and peace . ) 
 
 "Death is a black camel that kneels before every 
 door." 
 
 "He tries (in vain) to dig a well with a needle." 
 
 "A stone rolled into the well by a fool, cannot be 
 taken out by forty wise men." 
 
 "Know the man by his friends." 
 
 "He who eats without desire digs his grave with 
 his teeth." 
 
 "He thinks he has created the small mountains." 
 (Shows vanity.) 
 
TURKISH LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 173 
 
 "Eh, no money, no money, 
 In his pocket no money ; 
 Unminding his blindness, 
 That fool man tries to own me." 
 
 "I'll tell you don't madden me, 
 Or I'll cat your willow-tree; 
 If you marry some one else, 
 I'll surely leave this country." 
 
 "Water pail in hand has she, 
 Walks to the fount slowly ; 
 Girl, your sweetheart is coming, 
 Run back homew r ard, make hurry." 
 
 "Moon rises leaping, leaping, 
 Through the branches peeping; 
 I have got sad news to-day, 
 My love for me is weeping " 
 
 "My daughter, pearly, pearly, 
 Soon grow be a lady ; 
 I 11 marry you a gypsy, 
 Play your gong, be happy." 
 
 5. Miscellaneous Customs Among the Turkish 
 People. — Medication. They do not use many medi- 
 cines, and those which are used are such things as the 
 blood of a black hen, the skin of a black cat, certain 
 animals' manure, roasted snake, the mixture of seven 
 flowers from seven fields, the milk of a woman who 
 nurses a girl baby, the fat of the bear, the milk of a 
 bird, the rain-water that falls in the month of April, 
 and other thiugs that cannot be found easily, if at 
 all. They believe in supernatural power of relics, 
 reading from Koran, touch of a dervish, favorable 
 words of an idiot, the tombs of certain saints, waters 
 of certain fountains, threads bound around the wrist 
 by a witch, or rags tied to certain bushes. 
 
174 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 Eating. They sit flat upon the ground and eat 
 from the same dish with wooden spoons, or dip the 
 bread, which, being thin and soft, is folded like a dip- 
 per or cup-shape. As a rule, women do not eat with 
 men; they have their black coffee after each meal. 
 Tea is very little used among the Turks ; wine never, 
 but brandy and other liquors are much used. Among 
 the fruits, grapes are used the most, because they are 
 plenty and very cheap. They are gluttonous in their 
 eating; their motto is, "nevermind the death of a 
 horse if it is from barley." 
 
 Dreaming . They give vital importance to dreams. 
 To dream of a white horse is wealth, riding upon it 
 is gaining wealth ; of red color is some event which 
 is going to take place soon; of a girl is some "hot 
 news;" of fifth, is luck; of a Christian priest, is 
 angel; of water is trouble, bathing is bad. Pulling 
 the tooth in a dream shows the death of some friend, 
 the nearer to the back teeth the worse. To take 
 food from the hand of a dead friend is an ill-omen 
 for the taker. 
 
 Burial. They bury their dead as soon as possible, 
 while the sun is up. The corpse is washed with hot 
 water and soap and wrapped in a white, cotton cloth 
 like a mummy. The body is put in a long bier 
 (frame) and carried upon the shoulders of four men, 
 changing hands frequently for an honor to the dead, 
 and for the religious merit which is promised by 
 Mohamet to those who carry a Moslem corpse seven 
 steps. A religious service is held in the cemetery by 
 all the friends and neighbors, which is a common 
 
TLRKISH LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 175 
 
 Mohametan prayer. They believe that the departed 
 soul uQites with them in that prayer. At the end of 
 the prayer the priest asks the opinion of the congre- 
 gation about the character of the deceased. If two 
 among them can give favorable testimony the soul 
 goes to happiness. 
 
 6. A Common Turk's Idea about the Foreigners. 
 As the Turks never wear hats and do not allow their 
 Christian subjects to have them (except in a few sea- 
 coast cities), the common name given to the foreign- 
 ers is "hat- wearers," and when they are angry at 
 them they use indecent expressions for their hats, 
 blue eyes and whiskers. When the American travel- 
 ers happen to pass through a Turkish village and 
 stop at the edge of the town, the people come and 
 gather around them, looking amazed; and if some 
 lady is found in the company the women come near 
 by and touch her hat, clothing and jewelry, and ask 
 about their prices. They will not forget to ask 
 whether she is married or not; if thev 2fet a negative 
 answer, they seem surprised, and inquire the reason. 
 If they get a positive answer, they ask which one of 
 the gentlemen is her husband; has she children and 
 how many, and why she did not bring them with 
 her, etc. 
 
 Ninety-nine in a hundred Turks have never heard 
 the name of America, and nine in ten who have heard 
 have not the right idea what and where "Amelikan" 
 is. All foreigners are called " Frank." Russia, their 
 immediate neighbor and memorable enemy for cen- 
 turies, is called "Mosgof " (Moscow), and her people 
 
176 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 < 'Black giaour," "Blind Mosgof," "Blind hog." 
 They say "Hog Frank has sharp mind." They call 
 a railroad (without having seen it), "ship on the 
 land;" bicycle, "the devil's horse." Balloon is called 
 "ship in the air," and they talk about Armenians 
 having passed arms and ammunition into the interior 
 through these "air-ships," and even some have 
 declared that they saw them passing in the night. 
 They say "Frank can destroy a whole army by hold- 
 ing a huge looking-glass against the sun and burning 
 the enemy with its light," and sometimes use this 
 means by night. They think about the telegraph that 
 you strike here and the words are heard at the other 
 end. They are very cautious not to touch the wire, 
 thinking that it will cause wrong news at the other 
 end, and you will be held responsible for it. When 
 they hear the sound produced upon the wires by the 
 wind they say, "There, the news is going!" 
 
 Some think that "the people in the interior" 
 (Europe) walk with their heads down, and there are 
 people in China that have one eye, which is at the 
 top of their heads. When they hear an American 
 talk English they say "he is talking bird language," 
 and ask the native Christians whether they know this 
 language. If they say "no," they are surprised and 
 ask "Why do they not talk giaourish" (infidelist) ? 
 All the customs of the foreigners seem to them very 
 strange and unnatural, especially their tables, where 
 men and women sit together, talk and laugh while 
 eating. They most bitterly detest the foreigners,, be 
 they missionaries or merchants, for their neglect to 
 
TURKISH LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 177 
 
 invite the stranger or visitors to eat who may happen 
 to come in while they eat, because hospitality is the 
 highest ideal of every Oriental. 
 
CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 THE CAUSES THAT LED TO THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 
 
 Two of the fundamental causes which underlie 
 every Turkish massacre have already been discussed 
 in the previous chapters, namely : The anti -Chris- 
 tian spirit of Islam and the savage nature of Tartaric 
 blood. Besides these general causes, there were 
 some special motives which led "The Gracious Father 
 of the Ottoman Empire" to these late deeds of 
 unparalleled devastation and death. 
 
 1. The Multiplication of the Armenians in the 
 Empire Excited the Jealousy of the Turks. The 
 last and careful census made about twelve years ago 
 perplexed the Turkish Government over the unex- 
 pected and sad condition of numbers of the people. 
 Armenians, as Christian and civilized people, live a 
 moral life, regarding also the physical and hygienic 
 laws; on the other hand, the Turks were not only 
 slow in increase, but were found diminished in num- 
 bers. This decrease was due to several reasons, such 
 as the practice of polygamy, vice of abortion, con- 
 stant supply of military troops and loss of life in wars, 
 ignorance and carelessness in respect to the laws of 
 health, and fatalistic refusal of preventive and cura- 
 tive means in times of epidemics, which are frequent 
 in Turkey. Besides, a goodly portion of the country 
 was severed from the empire since the last Russo- 
 
 178 
 
ARMENIAN MASSACRES, THEIR CAUSES. 179 
 
 Turkish war, which caused considerable decrease in 
 the number of the Mohametan element. All these 
 things were facts which the Armenians could not help, 
 and the Turks would not stand indifferent. It was 
 repugnant and alarming to the haughty Mohametan 
 to see the multitudes of Christians in the streets on 
 Sundays and young "infidels" crowding the roads 
 on their way to and from schools every day. 
 
 According to the last "Scheme of the Armenian 
 Reforms," prepared by the representatives of the 
 six great Powers and forcibly signed by the Sultan, 
 the governors in the six provinces should be elected 
 in proportion with the numbers of two parties. This 
 would create a great change in the fabric of the old 
 despotism, securing some Armenian governors to 
 the first position. Hence the question of numbers 
 was the crisis of "To be or not to be" in the palace 
 and the porte. 
 
 2. Turks were Jealous of the Increasing Wealth 
 of the Armenians. As a reaction of the Armenian 
 dark ages, which continued from the middle of the 
 fourteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century, 
 these last forty to fifty years offered a better chance 
 for commercial movements, especially to those who 
 live in large towns and seaports where there was 
 more safety and freedom. The long suppressed busi- 
 ness ability of the Armenian race showed itself in 
 the banks and commercial circles of the capital and 
 provincial centers; extending its branches al^o in 
 every commercial city of Europe and of the United 
 States. Even the greatest distance of the British 
 
180 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 colonies could not prevent them from the search and 
 accumulation of wealth. They transported the silky 
 wool and superior hides of Armenia to the markets 
 of Egypt, and brought the costly indigo blue to the 
 doors of Armenian dyers. They put the delicious 
 pistacio nuts in the French confectioneries, and 
 exchanged the money for delicate European dry 
 goods; hunted all the old rugs from the oriental 
 parlors and furnished the halls of the United States 
 with them. The Armenians of the Harpoot district, 
 mostly common laborers in the New England facto- 
 ries, were known to send to their friends $5,000 weekly 
 to purchase acres of land from their Turkish and 
 Kurdish neighbors. 
 
 There was a commercial revival among the Armen- 
 ians. The young men, more vigorous than their 
 conservative fathers, took out the buried treasures 
 and began a strong competition with the Moslems, 
 and succeeded. The big-turbaned Turk and the 
 ragged Kurd, together with the barefooted Arab, 
 began to ask the way to the Armenian banks to bor- 
 row money for their antediluvian plowing work, at 
 the same time sighing in their souls and murmuring 
 in each other's ears, "I wish I had the giaour's mind 
 and wealth." 
 
 The young Armenian minds, enlightened with 
 66 the modern civilization," began to think that the 
 gunpowder stores of the Turk were emptied, and that 
 the sharp teeth of Tartaric brutality had becomes 
 dull, and especially that the originators and protec- 
 tors of the modern civilization would never allow 
 
ARMENIAN MASSACRES, THEIR CAUSES. 181 
 
 the repetition of the old barbarities against the 
 honor of humanity and glory of Christianity. Rely- 
 ing on these realities, which soon proved to be mere 
 dreams of delirious minds, they dared to show their 
 heads out of the dark cellars of their ancestors, and 
 began to build good houses and live as honorable 
 men among degenerate semi-barbarians. 
 
 3. The Progressive Schools of the Armenians 
 Made the Turks very Jealous. In one of the pre- 
 vious chapters the reader had a description of the 
 Turkish schools. The late changes are not radical, 
 and cannot be under the circumstances. Now we are 
 in an Armenian school ; it is the examination day ; 
 the governor of the city, with all his turbaned and 
 military companions, is invited (as should be done), 
 and held the best seats in the clean and quiet hall. 
 The teacher calls a boy, not more than twelve years 
 old, and asks him how many hours are in a week. 
 He answers at once, 168. The teacher asks again, 
 how many minutes are in a week; the child finishes 
 the problem quickly, and says 10,080. The governor 
 looks around at his subordinates and expresses his 
 wonder for the smartness of that "one inch tall" 
 boy. The teacher gives a third question: "How 
 many seconds are in a year?" The governor calls 
 aloud to the cadi (Turkish judge), asking whether he 
 could find that out; he says, "Not indeed, by proph- 
 et." He asks the chief clerk of the court, and he 
 answers, "No, sir, by Allah." The governor says to 
 the judge and the clerk: "If I order a donkey's 
 head cooked, can you eat it all?" Before the clerk 
 
182 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 gives his answer to this complimentary question our 
 boy reads his figures on the board with a clear voice 
 and pronunciation. The Turkish officers are ashamed 
 of themselves ; but this feeling does not produce in 
 them a true competition, but a jealous spirit to retard 
 the one who is making progress. 
 
 Science and education are always held in great 
 esteem by every Armenian, but there never was a time 
 in their history more noted for rapid and brilliant 
 progress than these last thirty or forty years. Almost 
 in every town numerous and graded schools were es- 
 tablished and managed by competent principals, 
 mostly educated in European or American schools. 
 Armenian literature has got a new life, and jour- 
 nalism, even in its narrow space, made remarkable 
 progress. Several daily papers were full of ar- 
 ticles about the living questions of Christian civilization 
 and progress. French has become almost common 
 in the schools. English is highly cultivated, especially 
 in the Protestant institutions, which are not few in 
 number or inferior in grade. The Russian, German 
 and Italian languages have had their entrance among 
 the Armenians, who have a proverbial name of being 
 linguists. 
 
 Armenians gave also a remarkable impulse to 
 Turkish literature. Muhendisian made the best and 
 most varied types of Turkish letters, and saved the 
 reader from the unendurable troubles of the old style 
 cryptograms. Arakel, Caspar and other publishers con- 
 tributed marvelously to the production and circulation 
 of Turkish books. Some eminent teachers, as Apik- 
 
ARMENIAN MASSACRES, THEIR CAUSES. 183 
 
 ian and Bogos, prepared the best grammars and dic- 
 tionaries of the Turkish language. This, too, made 
 the Turks jealous that giaours were better acquainted 
 with their business and books than themselves. In 
 an old style Turkish school the Arabic grammar 
 was a life work, while in the Armenian schools the 
 necessary principles of that language are simply a 
 few months" work. Many poor and honest Armen- 
 ian young men gain name and position through edu- 
 cation, while hosts of Turkish boys are loafing in the 
 streets and stepping over wild street dogs and build- 
 ing a character worse than dogs. 
 
 4. Armenians, Noble Aspiration for Christian 
 Liberty Excited the Wicked Turk. In spite of con- 
 tinuous and severe p rsecutions of ages the fire of 
 freedom was never quenched in the soul of the Ar- 
 menian. The exiled young professor's last sighs 
 from the depths of Siberian gloom have always and 
 everywhere found their echo in the hearts of his 
 countrymen : "I will be true to thee till death; yea, 
 even upon the gallows' tree the last breath of a death 
 of shame shall shout thy name, O Liberty! " Their 
 contact with the civilized part of the world and their 
 enlightenment by the dawn of Christian education 
 added much upon this natural and holy aspiration. 
 Aided by the American and English Bible Societies, 
 they translated the Holy Scriptures and some other 
 books into the Turkish language, and in some parts 
 of the empire they evangelized and baptized the 
 dialect of the oppressor, with the long-cherished as- 
 piration of evangelizing them, too. When the British 
 
184 ISLAM, TUltKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 Ambassador said, " Soon the Christians will be able 
 to preach the gospel in Mohametan pulpits," there 
 was a general shouting of jubilee, not that the Ar- 
 menians would have a chance to slaughter Turks in 
 their mosques, but that they would have the freedom 
 and privilege of bringing their neighbors to the 
 knowledge of true salvation. They did not take any 
 aggressive course against the Turks or other Moslem 
 communities, but rather, taking the favorable procla- 
 mations of the Sultan as sincere, cherished the expec- 
 tation that both parties, hand in hand, would try to 
 elevate the country to the level of European pros- 
 perity. 
 
 While the Armenians were thus hopeful and aspir- 
 ing, the fanatic Turk kept swinging his head and 
 sighing, "Alas! Islam lost its power and glory; the 
 field remained in the hands of giaours!" The deep- 
 rooted enmity that drew this exclamation out of the 
 bigoted Turk was not idle, but by a gradual advance 
 prepared and accomplished horrors too terrible to de- 
 scribe and too deep to realize. 
 
 X P 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 PRELIMINARY STEPS TAKEN BY THE TURKISH GOVERN- 
 MENT TOWARD THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 
 
 Confronted by the facts mentioned in the preceding 
 chapter, the Turk could not stand indifferent. He 
 had two alternatives, to submit or to oppose. He 
 could appreciate the vitality of this progressive ele- 
 ment in his dominion, and, laying aside every preju- 
 dice and fanaticism, endeavor to rebuild his decayed 
 government, or take his ancient policy of reducing the 
 Christians low by plundering their accumulated 
 wealth and crushing their honor and aspirations un- 
 der his feet. He preferred the latter policy, and by 
 Satanic devices prepared the way of destruction in 
 the following steps : 
 
 1. The First Step Was to Have a Fanatic and 
 Narrow-Minded Sultan. In 1876 Sultan Aziz was 
 dethroned and secretly murdered with the apparent 
 accusation of " Abusing the Treasury (!) of the 
 Highest Commonwealth." Just three months later 
 his nephew and successor, Sultan Murad, was deposed 
 with the accusation of " Sick-mindedness." Perhaps 
 both accusations were true ; yet who can say that nine 
 in ten Sultans did not abuse the wealth of the govern- 
 ment and have a sound and practical mind? The 
 fanatic and adventurous party of the palace was after 
 another thing; they planned to have a Sultan that 
 
 185 - 
 
186 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 could be used as an instrument in their hands. Prince 
 Hamid, the brother of Sultan Murad, was the man. 
 Exceedingly timid and suspicious in nature, feeble in 
 structure, short-sighted in mind, devoid of education, 
 and especially fanatical in religion, Prince Hamid, 
 who was every moment fearing the assassinator's ap- 
 proach, was put on the throne and given the 
 titles of "The Finest Pearl of the Age," "The Es- 
 teemed Center of the Universe," "The Sultan of the 
 Two Shores and the High King of the Two Seas," 
 "The Crown of Ages and the Pride of All Centu- 
 ries," "The Greatest of all Caliphs," "The Shadow 
 of God on Earth," "The Crown-giver of all the 
 Princes of the World," "The Gracious Father," 
 "The Victorious Sultan Abdul Hamid Khan," etc. 
 Among the palace party there were men clever 
 enough and able to make plans for the diabolical 
 steps to be taken in the future. Some proselyte 
 Christians, some European adventurers, had the light 
 and mind to study the inner and the outer condition 
 of the country and prepare reports for the mechan- 
 ical endorsement of the Sultan. By the strict police 
 system of the palace and suspicious guardianship of 
 the imperial harem, it was impossible to see the oper- 
 ations which were going on in that "region of holy 
 happiness," as it is called. All the telegraphic and 
 postal transactions were in the hands of the palace 
 favorites ; they could modify, annul or invent any 
 news they thought favorable for their policy. The 
 Sultan was but a slave in their hands. 
 
STEPS TAKEN TOWARD ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 187 
 
 Gradually "the seat of the prophet" (palace) be- 
 came the center and the den of the most cruel 
 butcheries and unheard of tortures. Any Ottoman 
 subject, be he a Turk or Christian, a common student 
 or vizier, a stranger or relative to the palace, upon the 
 slightest suspicion or false accusation unfavorable to 
 their plans, would be summoned to the horrible cir- 
 cles of "the star palace" and put to death. The 
 bottom of the Bosphorus and Mar moral waters were 
 covered with the bones of slaughtered students and 
 officers, men and women of the imperial harem, until 
 all the authority remained in the hands of a degen- 
 erate Arab slave called Aziz Effendi, who blotted the 
 history of the nineteenth century with infamous 
 deeds of cruelty and vice. 
 
 2. The Second Step was to caress and enthuse the 
 fanaticism of the Moslem population and show them 
 that a zealous and true caliph was occupying the sacred 
 seat of the prophet. It was very easy to deceive the 
 ignorant. Sultan Hamid ordered several mosques 
 and tekkiehs to be erected around the palace and 
 bigoted shiekhs were rallied i 1 them and encouraged 
 to practice their religious services under the super- 
 vision of "the pious sovereign," who himself was 
 very regular to attend these mosques for his Friday 
 noon prayer, which is called "selamlik" (the pro- 
 cession of the Sultan and the princes and all civil, 
 military and religious chief officers, encircled by 
 thousands of soldiers and spectators). 
 
 The public criers repeatedly walked in the streets 
 and bazaars of Constantinople to inform the Moslem 
 
188 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 population of the absolute will of the Sultan that 
 the women cover their faces with veils when they went 
 in the streets — which met the ideal of the fanatic 
 majority — and the necessity of Eamazan fasting was 
 discussed and enforced everywhere. The ruined 
 mesjids and the Mohametan chapels were repaired 
 and opened for public prayers and the believers were 
 enforced to attend them. The schools were started 
 and religious leaders were sent to neglected Moslem vil- 
 lages and towns. Lightning-stricken minarets were 
 repaired and the unceasing cry of muezzin was heard 
 upon them. The disputed properties of the mosques 
 were secured from the hands of the local beys or 
 agas and delivered into the hands of the clergy. 
 The annual pilgrim caravan of the Sultan, loaded 
 with great riches and in Oriental pomp, started on its 
 journey in the streets of Scutari, and continued for 
 weeks, until the heavy-laden camels sat in front of 
 the door of the kabeh, the holy temple at Mecca. 
 The sacred mantle of the Prophet Mohamet, kept in 
 the closets of the old seraglio, was kissed by the 
 Sultan and all palace authorities every 14th of Eama- 
 zan, the memorial day of Mohamet's " journey to 
 Heaven." The holy banner of the religious wars, 
 ever ready to lead the Moslem hosts against the 
 "infidels," showed itself in the hand of "the con- 
 queror," Sultan Hamid — though he has never been 
 out of the capital since his enthronement. 
 
 This central zeal made its favorable effect felt in 
 the remotest parts of the empire, and a very great 
 majority of the Moslem population thought Sultan 
 
STEPS TAKEN TOWARD ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 189 
 
 Hamid II. as one of the most proper representatives 
 in the chair of Mohamet. And the spirit of Islam 
 took a new fire all over the country, and the chronic 
 anti-Christian enthusiasm began to boil the blood of 
 the followers of Islam. 
 
 3. The Third and a Natural Step was the restraint 
 put on the Christian subjects. This began to show 
 itself in the slow and gradual exclusion of the 
 Armenian students and officers from their positions. 
 Then the number of Armenian schools and churches 
 was decreased by not allowing the new ones to be 
 established, and closing some of the former ones for 
 trifling reasons. Sultan Hamid is said to have given 
 firmans only for one new Armenian church near the 
 frontiers of Russia, and for the repairing of a few, 
 while he ordered scores of churches and schools and 
 other institutions to be disbanded. Almost all liter- 
 ary, educational, charitable and economical societies, 
 even the Young Men's Christian Associations, were 
 prohibited and dissolved when discovered. The pro- 
 grams of the schools and the text-books were 
 minutely examined. Armenian and universal histo- 
 ries, geography and readers, which contained direct 
 or indirect allusions to the above subjects, foreign 
 atlases, statistics, historical novels, all were confis- 
 cated and officially prohibited. Teachers who could 
 not be made blind instruments in their hands were 
 expelled, imprisoned, tortured, and in many cases 
 killed. Christian doctors, lawyers, merchants and 
 influential members were arrested by false accusa- 
 
190 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 tions. Even the priests and the ministers of the 
 gospel were not left out of this detrimental perse- 
 cution. 
 
 Correspondence and traveling were strictly guarded 
 and almost entirely prohibited. Immigration to any 
 foreign country, and even to the Turkish seacoast 
 cities was absolutely forbidden to the Armenians. 
 Many Armenians who had official pass-ports for some 
 Turkish cit} r , as Constantinople, Smyrna or Beirout 
 were arrested, imprisoned in the ports of Trebizond, 
 Samsoun, Mersina and Alexandretta or sent back to 
 their own town. All the Armenians who escaped to 
 Europe or the United States could do so only by suf- 
 fering terrible hardships and perils and by bribing 
 the police. An Armenian was several times captured 
 and sent back to Harpoot, and at last, in his sixth 
 attempt, succeeded iu reaching a French steamer for 
 the United States by swimming about two miles to 
 where it was anchored. 
 
 The clergy and influential men were forced to sign 
 false reports or accusations prepared by the govern- 
 ment. Blackmailing became a universal practice 
 among the Turkish officers, every town and village 
 was besieged, every road was watched by detectives 
 and officious officers ever ready to rob the innocent. 
 The news of the Sassoun massacres in 1894 was not 
 heard in other parts of Armenia and Asia Minor 
 until four months after the event. No one could £o 
 safely in the streets with a manuscript in his pocket, 
 however harmless it might be. Any policeman would 
 at any time attack him and get the paper aud take it, 
 
STETS TAKEN TOWARD ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 191 
 
 with its owner, before the governor, who, generally 
 without examination, would order the poor Armenian 
 to be imprisoned. Several days, and very often 
 weeks, would pass until that paper — perhaps a moth- 
 er's letter or a discourse on botany — could be handed 
 to its owner and several hundred piasters demanded 
 for his release. If that paper had contained any- 
 thing directly or indirectly about the government, or 
 some words that the examiner's arbitrary and vicious 
 will could give an unfavorable interpretation, the 
 poor man could not expect to come out of his prison. 
 
 Turkish Prisons are always attached to the city 
 hall and in its dark and damp basement. These 
 prisons, far from being the means of correction, are 
 the most terrible device of bribery, vengeance, 
 cruelty and suffering, especially for the poor Chris- 
 tians who are shut in these subterranean hells under 
 the name of political prisoners. For them there 
 is no law, no justice, no conscience and no name. 
 Exposed to cold, hunger, thirst, flogging, bodily tor- 
 tures of every description, made to squat in deep 
 mud, sitting in freezing water, pulling out of mus- 
 tache and beard, hanging head downward, burning 
 portions of the body with red-hot tongs, pouring 
 filth over the head, burying the head in manure and 
 violation of personal honor, these are the common 
 tortures which could be mentioned among the various 
 unspeakable brutalities perpetrated upon the poor, 
 helpless Christians daily. 
 
 "The Inquisitorial dungeons of the Middle Ages," 
 says one, "may be regarded as paradise compared with 
 
192 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 these nineteenth century hells of Turkish barbarity." 
 4. Another step as a preparation for the Armen- 
 ian massacres was the organization of the " Ham- 
 idieh troops." These troops, which consisted largely 
 of Kurdish chiefs and their allies, were at first supposed 
 to be the means of precaution against the impending 
 invasion of Russian Kossacks from Caucasia, near Kur- 
 distan, but soon after it was clearly seen that the 
 plan was for an internal massacre of the Armenians, 
 with whom these Kurdish tribes lived for centuries, 
 sometimes on friendly terms and very often in severe 
 enmity. The Turks, however fanatical they may be, 
 are cowardly and lazy, especially prone to plunder 
 property and outrage women, while Kurds, not in- 
 ferior in the same barbarities, are ferocious murder- 
 ers. During the last massacres how often the leaders 
 of the government were heard to cry aloud among 
 the mobs, "Stupid Turks! you are absorbed again 
 in plunder and are not killing giaours ! Kill the men, 
 and the women, and the property will naturally be 
 yours ! Kill the bee, and the honey is yours ! Allah ! ' ' 
 And this is a proved fact, that wherever the Kurdish 
 Hamidieh troops were let loose, as in Ourfa, Gurin, 
 Severek, Egin, etc., the devastation and butchery 
 was complete. Kurds are more murderous than re- 
 ligious Moslems, and whenever the drum of slaughter 
 sounds in their ears they can not control their blood- 
 thirsty natures, be it excited against Christians or 
 Turks. In the history of Turkish militia this or- 
 ganization may be regarded the most malicious device 
 next to that of Janissaries. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 SO-CALLED ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONISTS. 
 
 1. Armenia's Appeal to Europe Considered 
 Rebellion. As the natural result of Christian civiliza- 
 tion, the Armenians could not help cherishing in 
 their hearts the sacred ambition of freedom, as a liv- 
 ing plant could not help bursting into life under the 
 necessary conditions of nature. Being oppressed and 
 deprived of this human privilege, they could not help 
 sighing under the heavy burden of Turkish perse- 
 cutions and Kurdish outrages. Who can blame them 
 for feeling such pain and pleading for any help that 
 might be offered? 
 
 The presentation of their deplorable condition be- 
 fore the representatives of the Great Powers, as they 
 did in the Berlin Conference in 1878, was simply to 
 implore their help in suppressing the Kurdish and 
 Circassian cruelties, and obliging the porte to regard 
 the promises of reform, which were entirely cast into 
 oblivion, especially after learning that the European 
 governments had repeatedly shown themselves anx- 
 ious in securing these promises of the Sultans and 
 pretending zealousness for their fulfilment. 
 
 A pamphlet lately published under the title of 
 "England's Responsibility Towards Armenia," by 
 Canon McCall of the Anglican Church, contains evi- 
 dence enough to prove from the Blue Books of the 
 
 193 
 
194 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 British government for the past fifty years that the 
 condition of the Armenians was as deplorable as ever 
 under the tyranny of Turks and Kurds, and the in- 
 difference of the English government to suppress 
 these atrocities, which it was her duty to do, accord- 
 ing to her treaties and promises. The terrible reports 
 mentioned in these Blue Books were all written by 
 the British consular agents residing in Armenia, 
 and contain all the details of events. The Armen- 
 ians, being unaware of this indifference on the part 
 of the English government, have made repeated ap- 
 peals to Christian England, and through her to 
 Europe, for succor. 
 
 Especially, knowing that in this century Greece, 
 Eoumania, Bosnia, Montenegro, Servia and Bulgaria 
 were liberated from the tyrant of ages, and Lebanon, 
 Samos, Crete and Egypt had gained especial privi- 
 leges, all through the aid of European powers, Arme- 
 nia would and might naturally desire and implore of 
 the same Powers for a reformed and just administra- 
 tion under their guarantee. Moreover, the Czar 
 Nicholas of Russia has promised the Armenian nation 
 to furnish her with some kind of provincial govern- 
 ment under the care of the Russian throne. 
 
 The sixty-first article of the Berlin Treaty, signed 
 by the six great Powers of Europe, reads as follows : 
 "The Sublime Porte undertakes to carry out, without 
 further delay, the improvements and reforms de- 
 manded by local requirements in the provinces inhab- 
 ited by the Armenians, and to guarantee their 
 security against the Circassians and Kurds, It will 
 
SO-CALLED ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONISTS. 195 
 
 periodically make known the steps taken to this effect 
 to the Powers, who will superintend their applica- 
 tion." Can the Armenians be blamed for their 
 anticipation of interference by the Powers, who 
 pledged themselves for their protection? 
 
 2. Hunchag, the Supposed Armenian Conspira- 
 tor. The atrocities which were promised to cease 
 after the solemn Berlin Treaty) have continued and 
 increased systematically and in such rapidity, and 
 committed even before the eyes of the Signing 
 Powers for seventeen long and weary years, that 
 the Armenians have lost all hopes of any assistance 
 from abroad. In Armenia proper the Kurdish and 
 Turkish tax-gatherers succeed each other and 
 plunder what is left, and commit such atrocities 
 that cannot be told in a public book like this. At 
 last the helpless Armenians said to the Turkish 
 officers: "The Kurds left nothing to pay you; 
 here we are, take what you find; we do not know 
 who is our ruler, the Turk or the Kurd. If you are 
 our masters, protect us against these Kurds." This 
 pleading and just protest was taken as an open declar- 
 ation of rebellion and soon was telegraphed to the 
 palace of the Sultan, who was already watching for 
 this opportunity to commence his infernal plan. A 
 few young teachers and students who took their edu- 
 cation in Germany and Russia, and had some social- 
 istic air in their religious creed, taught the people to 
 bring the above-mentioned protest before the Turk- 
 ish tax-gatherers under the said condition of affairs. 
 These few hot-headed young men and their very few 
 
196 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 co-thinkers, who called themselves "Hunchag" 
 (sounding instrument), and were ranked by some 
 empty-minded or malicious writers with Anarchists 
 and Nihilists, could have been easily arrested and 
 controlled if the Turkish government had any inten- 
 tion of doing so. Besides, Hunchag's creed and 
 course was not encouraged or approved by the 
 Armenians themselves. There was among the 
 Armenians a common suspicion that either Russia 
 had intentionally prepared and sent them in order 
 to arouse disturbances and create a chance to carry 
 her selfish purpose, or that these persons were only 
 hired agents of the Turkish Government to excite the 
 Moslem population. Learning these things, how 
 could the Armenians show sympathy for such a 
 movement? Suppose that these few Russian Armen- 
 ians were conspirators and murderers, could this 
 justify the government for the universal massacres 
 of the thousands of innocent Armenians, men, 
 women and children? Who could justify the Span- 
 ish Government had she undertaken to plunder and 
 massacre all the Italians in Spain for the murder of 
 Canovas by an Italian anarchist? Who could blame 
 Americans that John Wilkes Booth shot President 
 Lincoln? Another fact is, that the greatest devasta- 
 tion and slaughter has been made in places where the 
 Armenian people had no information of or sympathy 
 with the Hunchag movement, and were most submis- 
 sive to the local government. Besides, these endless 
 atrocities and the plan of massacres were at work 
 long before the existence of Hunchag. Socialism, 
 
SO-CALLED ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONISTS. 197 
 
 anarchism and nihilism are new words and strange 
 ideas for a peaceful, industrious and religious nation 
 like the Armenians. What they demanded from their 
 own o-overnment and from the European Powers was 
 safety of life, regard of honor and protection of 
 property and religious liberty — the points which were 
 promised in the schemes of reforms and guaranteed 
 by the Christian governments. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 
 
 1. The Massacre of Sassoun, (1894), the First in 
 the Series. Sassoun is a small, mountainous district 
 in the Province of Bitlis, in the heart of Armenia. 
 The inhabitants of this district, being impoverished 
 by heavy taxes imposed upon them by the Turkish 
 Government and by several tribes of the Kurds, and 
 being oppressed by tortures and outrageous barbari- 
 ties of these tax-gatherers, were obliged to raise 
 their voices and implore the help of the local and 
 central government. These appeals were responded 
 to by severe Kurdish assaults and increased Turkish 
 atrocities. The Armenians of that district, there- 
 fore, decided to oppose the Kurds when they came to 
 collect taxes, upon which the barbarous race, being 
 enraged, made a stronger attack for the purpose of 
 murder and revenge. Among the Kurds whom the 
 Armenians of Sassoun opposed, there were a few 
 Hamidieh Kurdish soldiers, the authorized brigands 
 of Kurdistan, several of whom were killed in the 
 struggle. The exaggerated report sent by the Gov- 
 ernor of Bitlis made the Sultan enraged, and accord- 
 ingly he ordered <; the suppression of this Armenian 
 rebellion with the severest means." This was the 
 opportunity which the Sultan was anxiously watching 
 for many years, and for which end he was planning. 
 
 198 
 
THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 199 
 
 Thus he ordered his troops to march to the Sassoun 
 district and help the Kurds in their bloody work. 
 This plan being hidden from the Armenians, and 
 most probably from the European Powers, was car- 
 ried on in a very systematic way. The various Kurdish 
 tribes had received special invitation to take part in 
 this great expedition, and the chiefs, with their men, 
 arrived one after the other, and the total number of 
 the Kurds who took part in the campaign was esti- 
 mated at 30,000. The Armenians believed in the 
 beginning that they had to do only with the Kurds, 
 but they soon realized that a Turkish regular army, 
 with provisions, rifles and cannons, was standing at 
 the back of the Kurds. Sassoun was doomed whether 
 she submitted or opposed. After two weeks' self- 
 protection against the Kurds they saw that the regu- 
 lar army entered into active campaign. Mountain 
 pieces began to thunder, and the Armenians, having 
 nearly exhausted their ammunition, took to flight, 
 when the Kurds and the Turks pursued them and 
 ruthlessly massacred men, women and children (not 
 less than 10,000), plundered the properties and 
 burned seventy villages, and after many horrible 
 outrages, carried many girls and women to Kurdish 
 and Turkish harems. These things took place in 
 August and September of 1894. 
 
 2: The Scheme of Reforms in The American 
 Provinces. The news of the Sassoun massacre was 
 concealed about four months, during which time the 
 Turkish Government worked steadily to remove every 
 sisrn and trace of these hellish deeds. But through 
 
200 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 the reports of the American missionaries and the 
 European consuls and the impartial investigators, 
 both from England and America, and even the 
 information from the Turks and Kurds themselves, 
 the awful news proved to be true, and public 
 opinion was so aroused in England that the repre- 
 sentatives of the Great Powers came together and 
 prepared a scheme of reforms for the six provinces 
 where the Armenians were greater in number, namely, 
 Erzeroom, Van, Bitlis, Diarbekir, Harpoot and 
 Sivas. 
 
 These reforms, which were mild and in the line of 
 what the Turkish Government had frequently promised, 
 and the execution of which was entrusted to the 
 Sultan, involved civil offices, judgeships and public 
 appointments of Moslems and non-Moslems in the 
 six provinces proportionately. This, however, while 
 simple justice, was a bitter pill to the Mohamctans, 
 who had ruled over the Christians with a rod of iron 
 for five hundred years. The scheme was presented 
 to the Sultan on May 11, 1895, but he obstinately 
 refused to accept them. Spring and summer passed, 
 the anniversary of the Sassoun massacre arrived, no 
 redress had been secured, nor the punishment of a 
 single official, while the greatest butchers were deco- 
 rated by the Sultan. On the 30th day of September, 
 some Armenians being indignant of this delay, which 
 would mean the sleep of death for their race, made a 
 demonstration to present a petition to the Grand 
 Vizier in an orderly way, which led to a riot in Con- 
 stantinople, and several hundred Armenians were 
 
THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 201 
 
 brutally killed. The number of victims in two mas- 
 sacres in Constantinople is estimated at 6,000, mostly 
 laboring men. On the 8th day of October the mas- 
 sacre at Trebizond occurred and about 1,000 were 
 killed. These two unjust massacres obliged the dip- 
 lomats to insist upon their demands of the signing 
 of the " Scheme of Reforms," which the Sultan did 
 October 16, 1895. 
 
 3. Subsequent Massacres. October 16th was a day 
 of rejoicing in Constantinople and in the provinces, 
 but it will be remembered as one of the blackest 
 days in Armenian history. On that day the Sultan 
 professed to accept the Scheme of Reforms, but what 
 he really did, as subsequent events show beyond any 
 doubt, was to sign the death-warrant of the Armen- 
 ian nation. From this time on reform by massacre 
 was the order of the day. About thirty-five large 
 cities, with hundreds of villages, were given over to 
 slaughter and spoliation, so that by a moderate esti- 
 mate 100,000 Armenians, the most influential men, 
 were massacred, a greater part of their property was 
 lost, and business ruined. About 40,000 houses 
 and shops, churches and schools were burned. Thous- 
 ands were forced to accept Islam. Thousands of vir- 
 gins and pure women, after beastly violation, were cap- 
 tured and carried to the Mohametan harems. About 
 sixty Gregorian and fifteen Protestant and several 
 Catholic ministers were most cruelly martyred, many 
 churches were turned to mosques or stables, the holy 
 utensils and scriptures defiled, and before the altars 
 the most brutal outrages were committed. Many 
 
202 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 orphans were taken far away to Turkish houses to be 
 trained in the Mohametan faith. About a quarter of 
 a million widows and orphans and helpless aged peo- 
 ple were left to the mercy of nature and their Moslem 
 neighbors. The unspeakable Turk, with a single blow, 
 made the ridiculous scheme of reforms inoperative by 
 reduciog the proportion of the Armenians in the 
 mentioned six provinces and in the greater part of 
 the Province of Aleppo, where Zeitoon, being the 
 neuclus, the Silesian Armenians were expecting their 
 share in the promised reform. 
 
 The following are the names of 105 Armenian 
 clergymen killed in massacres : 
 
 "A. OF THE GREGORIAN ARMENIAN CHURCH. 
 
 I. 
 
 " PROVINCE OF TREBIZOND. 
 
 1-6. Six priests, names not given. 
 
 II. 
 "province of erzeroum. 
 
 7. Der Kerekine, of Erzeroum. 
 
 8. Der Yeghia, of Tevnik. 
 ^9. Priest, of Kak. 
 
 10. Priest, of Oumdoun. 
 
 11. Abbot Timotheus, of Hassan-Kaleh. 
 
 12. Archimandrite Khorene Guroyan, of Baibourt. 
 
 13. Der Ohannes, of Ksanta. 
 
 14. Der Harutiun, of Ksanta. 
 
 15. Der Magar, of Plour. 
 
 16. Der Krikor, of Bushdi. 
 
 17. Priest, of Balakhor. 
 
 18. Der Khatt, of Hanksdoun. 
 
 19. Der Ghevont, of Monastery of the Illuminator. 
 
 20. Priest, of Khunzdrig. 
 
 21. Priest, of Karatash. 
 
 22. Der Hagop, of Large Armundan. 
 
 23. Der Krikoriss, of Little Armundan. 
 
THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 203 
 
 III. 
 "province op van. 
 24-7. Four priests, of the District of Lower Gargar. 
 
 28. Priest of Badagantz. 
 
 29. Abbot Bedross, of Sourp. 
 
 IV. 
 
 " PROVINCE OP BITLIS. 
 
 30. Priest, of Khoyt. 
 
 31. Der Mukhitar, of Khoyt. 
 
 32. Priest, of Vanik. 
 
 33. Abbot Isaac, of Holy Cross Monastery. 
 
 34. Priest, of Broshentz. 
 
 35. Abbot, of Monastery of St. Gamaliel. 
 36-7. Priests of Yeghikiss. 
 
 38. Abbot Sarkiss, of Monastery of the Holy Mediator. 
 
 V. 
 
 " PROVINCE OP SIVAS. 
 
 39. Der Vosgui. 
 
 40. Der Gronites. 
 
 41. Der Asdvadzadour. 
 
 42. Der Reteos, of Istanos. 
 
 43. Der Yeghia, of the Church of the Holy Savior at 
 
 Shaban-Kara-Hissan. 
 
 44. Der Krikor, of Tainzara. 
 
 45. Der Kude, of Tamzara. 
 
 46. Der Aharon, of Aghvaniss. 
 
 47. Priest, of Sis. 
 
 48. Priest, of Anarghi. 
 
 49. Der Matteos, of Bousseyid. 
 
 50. Der Sarkiss, of Gurassin. 
 
 51. Der Michail, of Gurassin. 
 
 52. Priest, of Armudan. 
 
 53. Bishop Isaac, of Derendeh. 
 
 54. Priest of Ashodi. 
 
 55. Der Arisdakes, of Zilleh. 
 
 56. Der Mgurdich, of Zilleh. 
 
 57. Der Vassil, of Vezir-Keupru. 
 
204 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 VI. 
 
 " PROVINCE OF HAEPOOT. 
 
 58. Archimandrite Ohannes, of Tadem. 
 
 59. Der Harutiun, of Hadousi. 
 
 60. Der Sarkiss, of Mouri. 
 
 61. Der Seth, of Komk. 
 
 62. Der Sarkiss, of Khoylou. 
 
 63. Der Hagop, of Tadem. 
 
 64. Der Aharom. of Tadem. 
 
 65. Der Hagop, of Kesserik. 
 
 66. Der Khazar, of Morenik. 
 
 67. Der Ohannes, of Husseynik. 
 
 68. Der Vahram, of Husseynik. 
 
 69. Der Nishan, of Miadoun. 
 
 70. Archimandrite Krikor Aprahamian. 
 
 71. Der Migerdich Shamlian. 
 
 72. Der Kegham Shamlian. 
 
 73. Der Nerses Baltayan. 
 
 74. Der Kurken Yazidjian. 
 
 75. Der Tonig Pakhigian. 
 
 VII. 
 
 " PEOVINCE OF DIARBEKIE. 
 
 76. Der Harutiun, of Diarbekir. 
 
 77. Der Sacristan, of Diarbekir. 
 
 78. Priest, of Ali Pounar. 
 
 79. Priest, of Arghani. 
 
 80. Der Krikor, of Hava. 
 
 81. Der Garabed, of Hava. 
 
 82. Der Kevork, of Marshmezra. 
 
 83. Der Harutiun, of Tzet. 
 
 84. Der Nerses, of Khozad. 
 
 11 NOTES. 
 
 No. 8. Der Yeghia, of Tevnik, was killed while presenting 
 a petition to the Government for protection. 
 
 No. 29. The Abbot Bedross, of Sourp, had his tongue torn 
 out and limbs cut off one by one. He was then killed " with 
 
 tortures." 
 
 Nos. 33-35. The Abbot Isaac of the Holy Cross, the priest 
 
THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 205 
 
 of Broshentz and the Abbot of St. Gamaliel were impaled in 
 the form of a cross and then burned. 
 
 No. 38. The Abbot Sarkiss, of the Monastery of the Holy 
 Mediator, was first blinded. 
 
 No. 43. Shot while conducting funeral services. 
 
 No. 49. The body of Der Matteos was treated with the 
 grossest indignity. 
 
 No. 56. The eyes of Der Mugurdich, of Zilleh, first de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 No. 57. Der Vassil, of Vizir-Keupru, was burned alive. 
 
 "B. OF THE EVANGELICAL ARMENIAN CHURCH. 
 " The following are the names of twenty-one martyred 
 Protestant pastors in Armenia, compiled by a correspondent of 
 the Independent: 
 
 1. The Rev. Krikor, pastor at Ichme, killed November 
 
 6, 1885. 
 
 2. The Rev. Krikor Tamzarian. 
 
 3. The Rev. Boghos Atlasian, killed November 13. 
 
 4. The Rev. Mardiros Siraganian, of Arabkir, killed No- 
 
 vember 13. 
 
 5. The Rev. Garabed Kilijjian, of Sivas, killed November 
 
 12. 
 
 6. The Rev. Mr. Stepan, of the Anglican Church, at Maf 
 
 rash, killed November 18. 
 
 7. The preacher of a village of Hajin, killed at Marash, 
 
 November 18. 
 
 8. The Rev. Krikor Baghdasarian, retired preacher at Har- 
 
 put, November 18. 
 
 9. Retired preacher at Divrik, killed November 8. 
 
 10. The Rev. Garabed Hosepian, pastor at Chermuk, No- 
 
 vember 5. 
 
 11. The Rev. Melcon Minasian, pastor at Shepik, Novem- 
 
 ber. 
 
 12. The Rev. Aboshe Jacob, pastor at Kutterbul, November 
 
 6. 
 
 13. The Rev. Jurjis Khudherdhaw, Anteshalian, preacher 
 
 at Kutterbul, November 6. 
 
 14. The Rev. Sarkis Narkashjian, pastor at Chunkush, No 
 
 vember 14. 
 
206 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 15. The pastor of the church at Severek, November. 
 
 16. The pastor of the chnrch at Adiaman. 
 
 17. The Rev. Hohannes Hachadorian, pastor at Kilisse, 
 
 November 7. 
 
 18. The Rev. Hanoosh Melki, pastor at Karabash, near 
 
 Diarbekir, November 7. 
 
 19. The Rev. Mardiros Terzian, pastor at Keserik, near 
 
 Harpoot, November. 
 
 20. The Rev. Hagop Abu Hayatian, pastor at Urfa, gradu- 
 
 ate of Leipzig, December 29. 
 
 21. The Rev. Hannah Sehda, preacher at Sert. 
 " How many more there are we do not know." 
 
 4. Some Touching Events Reported by Mis- 
 sionaries. "The Kurds being not satisfied by mas- 
 sacre, rapine and plunder of the living at that time, 
 disinterred the body of a minister who died before 
 the troubles, and fired into it volleys of bullets and 
 treated it with almost fiendish indignities." 
 
 In another place, very far from the above men- 
 tioned, "the Turks broke the marble stones of the 
 grave of a wealthy Armenian who died ten years 
 before the massacres, and taking out the bones crushed 
 them into pieces and scattered all around, making 
 diabolic indignities." 
 
 "Children were placed in a row, one behind 
 another, and bullets fired through the line to see how 
 many could be dispatched with one bullet." "Infants 
 and small children were piled one on the other, and 
 their heads struck off. In one instance a little boy 
 ran out of the flames, but was caught on a bayonet 
 and thrown back into the flames." Children were 
 held up by their hair, and cut in two, or had their 
 jaws torn apart," 
 
THE AMRENIAN MASSACRE. 207 
 
 "At Galigozan many young men were tied hand 
 and foot, laid in a row, covered with brush-wood and 
 burned alive. On the last day of August (1894), the 
 anniversary of the Sultan's accession to the throne, 
 the soldiers were especially urged to distinguish them- 
 selves, and they made it a day of the greatest 
 slaughter." 
 
 "At another village a priest and several leading 
 men were captured, and all but the priest were killed. 
 a chain was put around the priest's neck and pulled 
 until he was choked, after which several bayonets 
 were planted upright, and he was raised in the air 
 and let fall upon them." 
 
 "A man who protested against the degradation of 
 his household was taken to a lonely place in the 
 mountains, and buried up to his neck in the ground. 
 He was left there until wolves came and tore his head 
 to pieces. Four bride-grooms were murdered at one 
 time while vainly attempting to protect their brides 
 against a party of Kurds." 
 
 "A missionary and a British vice-consul stayed at 
 the house of an Armenian priest for a few hours. 
 After they had left the village Turks seized the 
 priest, skinned him alive, and stuffed his skin with 
 hay, and hung it in the village street as a warning of 
 worse things to come if the Christians dared to 
 complain of persecution and oppression ; and many 
 others." 
 
 5. That the Last Armenian Massacres were Pre- 
 meditated, planned and ordered by the Sultan, is evi- 
 dent from the fact that almost all of them took place 
 
208 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 in the six provinces where the scheme of reforms 
 were to be practiced, and the manner, the duration, 
 etc., were all alike; for example, in each place 
 Kurds and Turkish irregulars and the regular soldiers 
 were sent together; in each place the Christians were 
 disarmed by full promise of protection ; in each place 
 the massacres and plunder had a certain limit of time ; 
 also began and ended with military bugle-sound ; in 
 each place the Turks were told they were obeying 
 the Sultan's order; in each place only Armenians 
 suffered, while other Christian people and foreigners 
 were specially protected; in each place the most 
 influential and young men were selected. 
 
 These atrocities were composed of murder, plunder, 
 rape, torture, imprisonment and forcing to Islam. 
 It was very evident that local Turkish authorities in 
 each place had a detailed list in their hands as whom 
 they were to plunder, which house to burn after 
 plundering, which persons to be Killed and which to 
 be imprisoned. Those who attempted to protect 
 themselves were horribly dealt with, and those who 
 were destined for death could not find safety even in 
 their Moslem neighbor's houses or in the government 
 houses. Enforcement to Islam was more eagerly 
 practiced in villages and small towns. Kape and out- 
 rage was left to the will of the mob ; but as a rule 
 the women and children were not sought for murder 
 in the later massacres. Almost all the slaughtered 
 bodies were destroyed by the Turks themselves. 
 Very few aggressors among Mohametans lost their 
 
THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES. 209 
 
 lives, probably not more than 1,000 in all, besides 
 those who were killed in the Zeitoon and Sassoun 
 struggles. 
 
 Do 
 
 For the sake of truth and humanity it must be 
 said that some influential Turks defended their neigh- 
 borhood and personal friends, and gave them shelter 
 and provision for days; and some of them dared to 
 express their disgust against this unjustifiable blood- 
 shed. Some of the murderers are reported to have 
 felt "pain in their brains" and suffered much in 
 their imagination if not in their conscience; but the 
 great majority were very much pleased, yet not satis- 
 fied, and waiting eagerly for other orders of extermi- 
 nating " giaours, " and cleansing the country from 
 the filthiness of "infidel hogs," and plainly expressed 
 their sorrow that they did not use the first chance as 
 they should. 
 
 •nsCr&jflr 
 
CHAPTEE XXVIII. 
 
 Christendom's attitude towards the Armenian 
 
 massacres. 
 
 1. The Armenians as a Nation or Church, have 
 no immediate connection with any ruling power or 
 stately church. The idea of human brotherhood 
 does not yet seem to have very strong grasp in the 
 hearts of men, faintly manifesting its power over the 
 selfish interests. None of the three great churches 
 of Christendom, Greek, Eoman Catholic and Angli- 
 can, has any special interest in the Armenian church. 
 The Russian church is rather indifferent, while 
 the Greek and Roman churches feel a decided an- 
 tagonism towards the Armenian church, though call- 
 ing her "sister church." As to the denominational 
 Protestantism, nothing can be said definitely. Her 
 independence from the State should not place her in 
 a position of utter indifference and heartlessness 
 toward the cry of these bleeding Christians. 
 
 2. England's Attitude Toward the Armenian 
 Massacres. The only possible explanation of Eng- 
 land's inactivity is her selfishness and fear. If we 
 go back towards the beginning of this century we 
 cannot help but see that England in her activity in 
 the Eastern question showed too much selfishness by 
 repeatedly annulling the probable results of Russia's 
 invasions on the soil of "the sick man of Europe," 
 
 210 
 
Christendom's attitude. 211 
 
 and by supporting the " great assassin'' of ages in 
 his barbarous course against Christianity and human- 
 ity. The Crimean war, and the following British 
 transactions in the East, all resulted from the same 
 selfish and jealous policy. In the last Russo-Turkish 
 war Russia had reached to St. Stefano, only a suburb 
 of Constantinople, and the Russian officers walked 
 in the streets of this historic capital, and it was 
 thought for some time that the Turk, gathering his 
 4 'bag and baggage," should migrate back towards 
 the interior of Asia Minor. It was under this terror 
 that "the crown-giver of all the kings upon earth, 
 the Sultan," hurried to sign the Treaty of St. 
 Stefano, one of the terms of which was "Russian 
 occupation of Armenia until the promised reforms 
 were practiced." It meant nothing less than the co- 
 ercion of Turkish-Armenia, and consequent libera- 
 tion of a long-enslaved Christian people. But Eng- 
 land tried and succeeded in annulling this treaty by 
 obliging the European Powers to have a general con- 
 ference at Berlin, as if to settle the Eastern question, 
 and at the same time having a secret convention 
 (1878) with Turkey (to protect her in case of Rus- 
 sian attack) and getting Cyprus for the security and 
 facility of this bargain. In all these transactions the 
 outward pretext was "the welfare of the Eastern 
 Christians," but in reality the dominating project 
 was selfish interest. Russia was too wise to ignore 
 these intrigues and too cautious to repeat the same 
 follies again. These last two centuries were very 
 remarkable, with the open antagonism between the 
 
212 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 4 'Blind Black Mosgof" and " Heathen Turk," but 
 Russia has now changed the methods of carrying 
 forward her policy, and adopted England's way — 
 outward friendship and inward machination. There- 
 fore, she did not do anything to prevent the late 
 Turkish atrocities, but even encouraged the Sultan 
 by petting and caressing him. 
 
 3. The Armenian Relief Work. Among these 
 greatest calamities, and blackest transactions, which 
 have blotted the glory of the nineteenth century for 
 eternity, the brightest point was the relief movement 
 seen among the persons and private churches and re- 
 ligious societies, largely in England and in the United 
 States. As soon as the sad news of devastation and 
 need reached these countries, the first thought of 
 good-hearted Christians were directed to a practical 
 sympathy, and considerable sums provided and sent 
 to the region of horrors. During the last three years 
 a total sum of $150,000 was collected and forwarded 
 through the Red Cross Society and the American 
 Missionaries in Turkey. Almost every church in the 
 United States, without denominational distinction, 
 united in this blessed act of charity. Among the nu- 
 merous relief agencies, the American Board, the 
 Armenian Relief Committees in large cities, the 
 Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Christian 
 Endeavor Societies, the "Christian Herald," and many 
 others, are specially praiseworthy. Had it not been 
 for this timely help, the number of the starved and 
 the degree of affliction would be far greater. 
 
Christendom's attitude. 213 
 
 Besides, it is a great blessing still to some of the 
 widows and orphans of the martyred Christians to be 
 under the shelter and instruction of local and tempo- 
 rary orphanages lately established in various centers 
 of Armenia, and conducted by the American Mission- 
 aries and German Sisters. 
 
 All the missionaries in Turkey, being perfectly 
 assured of their personal safety, stood firm in their 
 positions. Most of them have written detailed re- 
 ports, and thus helped the circulation of the sad news 
 in the civilized parts of the world. Many of them did 
 actual work among the stricken families and churches, 
 and some of them rightly deserved the name of 
 "hero" for their deepest sympathy and generous 
 shelter and self-sacrificing help, and unfatigued 
 labors for the sufferers. 
 
 Many Armenian refugees found great help on their 
 way to the United States — especially in France and 
 in Switzerland — and on their arrival to this land of 
 liberty they received temporary shelter, aid, sympa- 
 thy and work almost everywhere from the Christian 
 men and women who unanimously express their desire 
 for "something to be done to save the long-suffering 
 Armenian nation," at the same time almost always 
 excusing themselves for the governmental policy of 
 the United States, as if "Monroe" was greater than 
 Jesus Christ, and his so-called "Doctrine" was more 
 sacred than the principle of Universal Love ; and that 
 politics were more essential than the everlasting 
 Kingdom of Heaven. 
 
214 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 The temporal benefit of the above-mentioned hu- 
 manitarian movement was secondary to its spiritual 
 blessing for those heavily stricken Christians. The 
 tearful prayers, the encouraging messages, the life- 
 giving presence of so many benevolent Christian 
 brethren and sisters, helped those afflicted people to 
 carry their burden with more patience and to meet 
 death with more courage. 
 
 The name of Miss Frances Willard will never be 
 forgotten bv the Armenians for her noble deeds 
 toward the Armenian refugees at Marseilles, France. 
 An Armenian woman, writing of Miss Willard, said: 
 "A precious woman of Christ-like heart, has, by her 
 tender look and touch, made our unbearable sorrows 
 lighter. We could not understand her words, nor 
 could she understand ours, but we understood her 
 tears, which flowed freelv for us." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE OUTCOME OF THESE MASSACRES. 
 
 The late Armenian massacres, far from being a 
 local or temporary and accidental event, have their 
 deeper and wider effects, that touch the universal 
 interests of the world, and especially of the Christian 
 church; We are very anxious to bring the subject 
 before our readers as the subject of their own interest, 
 from the following point of view : 
 
 1. Islam is a Destructive Power, Admitting some 
 good principles disclosed in the Koran, be it borrowed 
 or original ; admitting some past service of the Arabs 
 in acting as birds to carry the seeds of Greek phil- 
 osophy to other parts of the world; admitting its 
 temporary effect upon the surrounding heathen tribes, 
 in extending the idea of one God (though very 
 erroneous compared with the evangelical idea of 
 divinity), yet, as a whole, its influence has been 
 detrimental and injurious to progress and Christianity. 
 
 Besides, Islam is not a dead power. Under the 
 hypocritic appearance of humanity, and the imitative 
 mockery of civilization of Islam, still lies the same 
 venomous dragon of the early ages— to ruin the 
 vitality of the Christian church; and whenever it 
 finds an opportunity for its deadly work, it is eager 
 and able to act. The great Queen of England may 
 feel herself happy and proud for the millions of her 
 
 215 
 
2L6 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 Mohametan subjects — as a little girl would feel for 
 some pretty small eggs of snakes. May the Lord 
 grant that she may see her mistake before the season 
 of the ripening of iniquity. It is not necessary to be 
 a prophet for the prediction of a near future outbreak 
 of a united Islam against a divided Christianity. The 
 Mohametans themselves are conscious that their end 
 is approaching nigh, and that a great and last conflict 
 will occur between themselves and the "giaour" 
 powers of the world before Islam is driven to its 
 former source. They say, "Sham (Damascus as the 
 capital of Islamic regions) was the first, and Sham 
 will also be the last." Islam is praying daily for this 
 final conflict. 
 
 The unwise policy of Christendom is to give them 
 time and opportunity to carry forward their long- 
 cherished ambition. The Sultan of Turkey has craft- 
 iness and advisers enough to devise plots against 
 "the giaours" who are trying to seize his alienee 
 against the brother nation. In the history of Islam 
 there has been no more proper time to score a victory 
 upon the Christian world. Egypt and other African 
 territories, India and Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey, 
 all Mohametan countries — and all offended by the 
 policy of England — are finding good help in the anti- 
 British union of Russia and France and unwise co- 
 operation of the hot-headed German Emperor, to rise 
 against England and to throw off her yoke; what 
 then? Just what would be the destiny of a lion- 
 keeper when the beast became excited and let loose? 
 This is not a political dream, but a fearful reality, 
 
THE OUTCOME OF THESE MASSACRES. 217 
 
 the pains of which is already begun in the "Houses 
 of England." 
 
 2. England's Influence on the Eastern Question is 
 Decreased. There was a time when the English 
 Ambassador was the highest authority in Constanti- 
 nople, and the English papers governed the destiny 
 of the Eastern question. Two years ago British 
 warships could enforce the Dardanelles and command 
 before the walls of Bosphorus. The coward " Sov- 
 erign of Turkey " was constantly watching the hori- 
 zon with his field-glasses to see the smoky trace of 
 the " Ingilis " ironclads. The crisis has passed, the 
 British vessels were ordered back from the mouth of 
 the Dardanelles. That was the decisive victory that 
 Russia gained over England, without firing a single 
 gun. Even in the interior the common people, who 
 know nothing about the geography and history of 
 England, began to speak against her as the "Cahbe 
 Ingilis" (Treacherous English), and to jeer at the 
 Queen and her Prime Minister. The present favorite 
 of the country is Russia, once "the Blind Mosgof, 
 the Black Infidel." 
 
 In the arena of Eastern question Russia organized 
 the play, Turkey acted, Armenia suffered and England 
 lost. The writer is not of the opinion that it is too 
 late for England, though far more difficult than ever, 
 to rush into the field and save the present and future 
 generations from the calamity which will follow the 
 unnatural union of Turkish Mohametanism and Rus- 
 sian orthodoxism. 
 
218 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 The loss of the English Government means the loss 
 of the Anglo-Saxon influence, something far more 
 preferable than the selfish and avaricious policy of the 
 government, or rather of the millionaires, who, having 
 credited treasures to Turkey, do not want to lose their 
 interest, even if it costs the blood of the Armenian, 
 or any other nation. The loss of the Anglo-Saxon 
 influence means the loss of Christian civilization. 
 Russia, with her despotic policy of the Middle Ages, 
 will be too glad to grasp the staff of the church 
 universal and drive the nations back to the dark 
 centuries. 
 
 3. Christianity is Passing a Test. This is the 
 most delicate and inevitable phase of the question, 
 and worthy to be considered. What have the Christian 
 nations of the world done to save those who have 
 suffered because of their Christianity ; and what are 
 they going to do to-day to better their condition, 
 which is more dangerous and deplorable now than 
 ever? Experience of the last Greek war encouraged 
 the Turk in his bloodshed and brutality, and discour- 
 aged the Christian element of the country, especially 
 the Armenians who, living largely in the interior, have 
 little connection with the surrounding countries. 
 " Well, it is the business of the governments to act," 
 is the answer of Christian people and ministry. If so, 
 then what is the mission of the church? What has 
 been the influence of the Christian church upon the 
 governments ? 
 
 What can the Armenians think about their pow- 
 erful and inactive fellow Christians? What can 
 
THE OUTCOME OF THESE MASSACRES. 219 
 
 the Armenian ministers tell to their smitten and 
 scattered flock when they inquire about the cause of 
 their long neglect? What would you think if you 
 had fallen into the hands of a wolf, and seen your 
 older and stronger brothers stand by with folded 
 arms and watch your agonies in cold blood? 
 
 The financial relief was necessary and exceedingly 
 helpful in its time ; but who does not know that the 
 Armenian needs something more and something 
 different? If the little bread given by a few Chris- 
 tians is taken as the full satisfaction in the con- 
 science of Christendom, we are regretfully obliged to 
 disturb the tranquility of that conscience, and solemn- 
 ly declare before God and men that Armenia needs 
 more than a morsel of bread. What greater need has 
 ever been shown to the Church of Christ to supply? 
 What more sacred cause was ever presented to the 
 spiritual soldiers of the heavenly kingdom to pray and 
 to fight for? 
 
 Going one step further, what are the Mohametans 
 thinking about the sincerity of Christian fellowship, 
 and about the essence of Christian religion? Many 
 Turks were heard to cry, even at the moment of their 
 most bloody deeds, "Now! where is your Christos? 
 Let him come and take you out of our hands ! ' ' and 
 the helpless victims groaned in their souls and said 
 "My God ! why hast Thou forgotten me? ' This is 
 something that the enemies of Christianity would 
 gladly grasp and use it against Christianity. This is 
 something that true and zealous Christians, the advo- 
 cates and protectors of our holy doctrines, must take 
 
220 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 into consideration, and act according to their responsi- 
 bility; knowing that God will never do His part if 
 human agents fail in their parts. 
 
 4. The Most Remarkable Outcome of these mas- 
 sacres is the manifestation of Christian life in the 
 old Armenian church. Until recent times the 
 majority of the civilized people had a vague idea of 
 this Eastern nation. The last massacres taught 
 the world about the faith and perseverance of that 
 ancient Christian church. During the fiendish and 
 wholesale slaughter of a few months 100,000 strong 
 and noble men gave their lives for the sake of 
 humanity and religion ; though they knew perfectly 
 well that by a single repetition of the short Moham- 
 etan creed they could be reckoned "Believers," and 
 the law of Koran would protect them from every 
 harm. The majority of the killed were offered the 
 choice of Islam or the sword ; even some were urged 
 by their Mohametan friends and neighbors simply to 
 repeat that one word and be saved. But they were 
 not willing to do this. Not a single Gregorian priest 
 among the eighty-four that were killed with most 
 torturous deaths was willing to be an evil example 
 before their flocks, who were waiting to follow his 
 footsteps. Twenty-one Protestant ministers chose a 
 martyr's destiny rather than a Mohametan name, some 
 of them leaving their motherless children behind 
 them. Catholic ministers were dismembered and 
 tortured to death, still clinging to the faith of the 
 cross. A poor, good man was seized by the mob 
 and brought out of his shop upon the street to be 
 
THE OUTCOME OF THESE MASSACRES. 221 
 
 butchered like a sheep. The Turkish neighbors tried 
 to persuade him to accept Islam and be saved. "You 
 are a harmless, meek man ; we will take you from the 
 mob if you will only say that you accept Islam, and 
 afterwards you can pursue your Christian life." He 
 asked two minutes to think. It was granted as an 
 exceptional favor. He at once knelt down upon the 
 cold stone to use these two last minutes in communion 
 with his beloved Savior, and then put his head under 
 the bloody axe, saying : " I cannot deny my beloved 
 Jesus." While he was struggling in his blood his 
 wife was killed at home, and four little children were 
 left orphans. The only son of a widow was killed 
 and the headless body was brought home after three 
 days by a few neighboring friends; and, when the 
 mother learned that her son w T as slain because he 
 would not deny his Lord, she knelt beside him and 
 kissed his blood-stained hand, and said, with flowing 
 tears: " Rather so, my beloved son, than to see you 
 deny our blessed Jesus! ' "Blessed are the dead 
 who die in the Lord." 
 
 Following is the English translation of an Armenian 
 mother's letter to her son in the United States: 
 
 "My Dear Son: Our silence could not be pre- 
 vented. We live and die clinging to the cross. 
 Thank God for your safety. Read Psalm seventy- 
 nine and know of us. Pray for us." 
 
222 ISLAM, TURKEY AND ARMENIA. 
 
 ARMENIA. 
 
 t 4 A RMENIA, Armenia ! 
 **■ Will nations heed thy cry, 
 
 Or must thou feel the Moslem's steel 
 Till all thy people die? 
 
 Thy land that once held Eden, 
 
 Where Adam went to dwell, 
 The savage Turk by fearful work 
 
 Hath made it now a hell. 
 
 Where Noah's mighty mountain 
 
 Uplifts its ancient head, 
 And views a plain piled high with slain, 
 
 Armenia's martyred dead ! 
 
 Where maidens, Christian maidens, 
 
 Knelt down to fiendish Kurds, 
 And on the air they breathed a prayer 
 
 We dare not frame in words. 
 
 A prayer that even a savage 
 
 Might listen to with pain, 
 As daughters fair with bosoms bare 
 
 Begged simply to be slain. 
 
 To woman's prayer was answered 
 
 A demon's mocking laugh, 
 And then the knife that ended life 
 
 Seemed kinder far by half. 
 
 O chivalry of England ! 
 
 Of Europe ! Of the earth ! 
 Your swords should flash, your cannons crash, 
 
 For human right and worth. 
 
 Ought Turkish tigers shepherd 
 
 This primal Christian fold, 
 And boast of crimes unnumbered times, 
 
 Too awful to be told? 
 
 Wake, lion-hearted Richard ! 
 
 Shake off the clingiDg sod ! 
 And once again lead Christian men 
 
 Against these foes of God," 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Chapter I. Page 
 
 The Beginning of Islam or Mohametanism 11 
 
 Chapter II. 
 The Koran, the Sacred Book of Islam 17 
 
 Chapter III. 
 Non-Mohametans in the Sight of Islam 31 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 The Five Religious Duties of Islam 39 
 
 Chapter V. 
 The Mohametan Theological Schools 47 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 Dervishes and Mufties the Two Religious Classes 56 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 Geographical and Historical Sketches of Armenia 62 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 The Armenian Church 68 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 Religious Persecutions of the Past Ages 75 
 
 Chapter X. 
 General Characteristics of the Armenian Race 81 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 Armenian Customs in Marriage 87 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 The Armenians' Condition in the First Half of This Century 93 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 Sketch of Turkish History 100 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 The Capture of Constantinople 107 
 
INDEX.— Con. 
 
 Chapter XV. Pag? 
 
 The Greatest Extent of the Turkish Empire 113 
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 Turkish Government and the Christian Subjects 120 
 
 Chapter XVII. 
 Turkish Taxes and the Mode of Collecting 127 
 
 Chapter XVIII. 
 The Abuses in Turkish Rule 133 
 
 Chapter XIX. 
 The Turkish Censorship : 140 
 
 Chapter XX. 
 Turkish Harem 146 
 
 Chapter XXI. 
 Turkish Common Schools 155 
 
 Chapter XXII. 
 Turkish Higher Schools - 162 
 
 Chapter XXIII. 
 Turkish Life and Customs 168 
 
 Chapter XXIV. 
 The Causes that Led to the Armenian Massacres 178 
 
 Chapter XXV. 
 
 Preliminary Steps Taken by the Turkish Government 
 
 Towards the Armenian Massacres 185 
 
 Chapter XXVI. 
 So-called Armenian Revolutionists 193 
 
 Chapter XXVII. 
 The Armenian Massacres 198 
 
 Chapter XXVIII. 
 Christendom's Attitude Towards the Armenian Massacres. 210 
 
 Chapter XXIX. 
 The Outcome of these Massacres .--_ — 215 
 
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