[5] Armenians are especially indebted to the _Manchester Guardian_ and
_The Times_ for their valuable services to their cause, humanity and
truth in exposing the reign of terror in Armenia and the Turk's
affectation of "clean-fighting." Part 101 of _The Times History and
Encyclopædia of the War_ was the first detailed account of what had
happened in Armenia since the outbreak of war, and I may add that,
considering the difficulties of obtaining information, it is a
remarkably well-informed account.
[6] Mr. Israel Zangwill concludes a moving and eloquent tribute to the
agony of Armenia in _The New Armenia_ (New York) of March 1, 1917,
entitled "The Majesty of Armenia," in the following words--"I bow before
this higher majesty of sorrow. I take the crown of thorns from Israel's
head and I place it upon Armenia's."
Is it not a strange fact that of all contemporary authors and publicists
of note, it should have fallen to a famous and gifted Jew to pay the
first tribute to "the majesty" of Armenia's martyrdom for the Christian
faith?
[7] Mr. P. W. Wilson's sympathetic and appreciative articles in _The
Westminster Gazette_ and _The Daily News and Leader_ of February 3,
1917, appeared after the above was written. While I am most grateful to
Mr. Wilson and the two great organs of British public opinion, I avail
myself of this opportunity to make one or two observations on some of
the points Mr. Wilson has raised--
"The first impulse of the refugee" has not only been "to start a shop"
but also to start a school and improvise the means of continuing the
publication of the newspaper he was publishing in Van before the exile,
as the Belgians have done here under more favourable circumstances. The
toleration practised by Armenians and their Church is not due to
adversity, but the true understanding of Christianity. The spirit of
toleration breathes through the pages of the history of the Armenian
Church from the earliest times.
Mr. Wilson says: "It is doubtless regrettable that the Armenians should
have failed to recommend their progressive conception of life to the
Moslems around them." This is a striking example of the misconception
that so often exists in the minds of even the most sympathetic observers
of Armenian affairs. Mr. Wilson knows no doubt for how much prestige
counts in the East. If the European missions with all the prestige of
their great nations, governments, embassies, consulates, etc., behind
them (to say nothing of the unlimited funds at their disposal) have had
such little success in Moslem countries, is it reasonable to blame the
Armenians, oppressed, harried, tortured, massacred, plunged into the
depths of misery, for not having fared better? What respect could the
Armenian's religion inspire among his Moslem neighbours who murdered his
bishops and priests, desecrated his churches and inflicted the most
revolting insults upon the outward symbols of his faith, while his
powerful co-religionists stood by and did nothing? Under these
circumstances what better service could the Armenian render his religion
than die for it? In happier days, the early Armenian Christians were
largely instrumental in converting the Georgians.
[8] It is some consolation to know, as some reports say, that the Arabs
have treated these unfortunates kindly. It is an indication of--and a
credit to--their superior civilization.