AMERICA'S DUTY AND PRIVILEGE.
Our self-imposed task to voice as clearly and strongly as we could
the History and Horrors of Armenia under the Curse of Islam is nearly
finished. For many weeks the fires have burned hot within us, and
the daily news from the land of sorrows has only made our heart beat
more rapidly and our pen fly the faster that our appeal might reach
your ears while yet there was time to save from utter destruction
a remnant of this most ancient Christian people of whom two hundred
thousand now look to England and America for daily bread.
"The Armenians are the representatives of one of the oldest civilized
Christian races, being beyond all doubt one of the most pacific,
one of the most industrious, and one of the most intelligent races
in the world."
--Gladstone.
In all the history of the Roman Empire, from Nero down to the days
of Constantine, there is no chapter so cruel, so terrible as the
atrocious crimes of the present Turkish Empire. These massacres have
been committed at the command of the Sultan, and with flourish of
trumpets, as at Zilleh, when at noon November 28, 1895, the trumpet
was blown and the Turks began to assault the Christians with the cry,
"Down with Armenians. This is the Sultan's order."
This is the Curse of Islam that it makes it the religious duty of
every follower of the prophet, from the Sultan down to the howling
dervishes, to hate the Christians, to kill and plunder, rob, outrage
and torture every one who will not accept the faith of Mohammed. The
evident intention of the Sultan is to utterly destroy and exterminate
the Christian people in Armenia.
It is reserved for the dawning of the twentieth century to see all
the horrors of the conquests of Tamerlane repeated, and to realize
for itself what these Christian races have suffered since the fateful
year 1453, when Constantinople, the glory of Eastern Europe, fell a
prey to hordes of the Ottoman Turks. It is because he has outdone the
cruelties of all the ages that caused the foremost of living English
poets to stigmatize the reigning Sultan as "Abdul, the Damned."
In our helplessness we can only take refuge, perhaps, under the
arms of the Almighty. Justice and judgment are the habitations of
His throne and a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of His
kingdom. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."
When Christendom repeats that phrase "Thy Kingdom Come" in the
universal prayer it means the downfall of Islam, the overthrow of
every throne of iniquity, and of all kingdoms whose foundations are
laid in blood.
The kingdom of Christ is a kingdom of righteousness and between it
and the cruel, lustful barbarism of Islam there can be no peace. It
affords an outlet for one's outraged feelings as the cries of smitten
Armenia fill our ears, to read the woes once denounced by the prophets
of Jehovah against the gigantic wickedness of empires founded in blood.
The cry of the bittern is heard in the pools of Chaldea, and the
howling of jackals amid the ruins of Nineveh. The lions roam among
the deserted palaces of Babylon and it shall be desolate forever.
When the judgments of the Lord are visited upon the earth the nations
will learn righteousness. The ultimate issue can not be doubtful,
but still the cry is, "How long, O Lord? How long?"
There are three kingdoms which are chiefly concerned in this Eastern
question:--Turkey, England and Russia; and while they are debating
and manoeuvring, poor Armenia is being ground between the upper and
nether millstones of their mutual jealousies and ambitions and the
coming of the Kingdom of Righteousness is delayed.
These three nations have stood facing each other for more than a
century. Russia on the one side resisting the invasions, conquests
and atrocities of the Turk, England on the other his right hand of
strength in time of pressure. Throughout the entire history of the
Tartar invasions with all their bloody victories and cruel conquests
you see Russia rising again and again across his path like a stone
wall. But England, in spite of all professions to the contrary and in
spite of the earnest and solemn protests of her people against the
atrocities of the Sultan's reign--and never more hot or indignant
words have been uttered throughout England than during the last few
months--England has always stepped in just in time to save the Empire
from destruction and prolong its barbarous rule.
Is it not written large on the page of history that in 1798, when
Napoleon invaded Egypt, England came to the rescue and fought France to
save the Turk? In 1853, it joined France and fought Russia, when the
Czar attempted to protect the Greek Christians in Turkey: and by the
treaty of Paris restored to the Sultan the command of the Lower Danube,
shut out the Czar from his protectorate over the Danubian provinces
and closed the Black Sea against all ships of war. Worst of all the
treaty adopted the Porte into the family of European nations. Mr. James
Boyce, in a Century article on the Armenian question, says: "The other
nations of Europe now treat the Turks as if they were a civilized
state and even talk of respecting their susceptibilities." But they
have no title to be so treated and ought never to have been admitted
into the rank of civilized nations. Mr. Freeman describes them as
"merely a band of robbers encamped in a country whose inhabitants they
despoil." And the passionate words of Edmund Burke are quoted as he
exclaimed, "What have these worse than savages to do with the Powers
of Europe but to spread destruction and pestilence among them. The
ministers and the policy which shall give these people any weight in
Europe will deserve all the bans and curses of posterity."
Brave and noble words, but this is just what England forced on
Russia and Europe by the treaty of Paris. And again at the close of
the Russo-Turkish war, when the Porte was pleading for life and had
gladly accepted the San Stefano treaty, the wily Beaconsfield and the
present Premier stepped in and, by the Berlin treaty, handed back
to the tender mercies of the Turk more than forty thousand square
miles of territory and three million Bulgarian Christians. But what
do we see in 1895? England afraid in the critical moment to send her
despatch boat through the Dardanelles to insist that the promised
reforms in Armenia should be executed and that the massacres of
Christians should be stopped. Yet for this purpose had she secured
the cession of the island of Cyprus.
By declining at the last moment to give her consent to the forcing of
the Dardanelles, Russia most shrewdly outwitted England and humiliated
her before the world. England lost her prestige and the glory of
her power was tarnished when she failed, through fear of Russia,
to execute what before the world she had pledged herself to do.
We are not called upon to defend Russia's internal policy--her
argus-eyed espionage, the cruelties attending the exiling of
criminals to Siberia and deporting many suspects without even a form of
trial. But when Russia is called semi-civilized, or half-barbarous, and
is scarcely allowed to rank among the Christian nations of Europe--we
merely remark that she has no opium war laid to her charge, she never
blew mutinous sepoys from the mouths of shotted guns. She has never
taken possession of any Turkish territory under pretext of reforming
the internal administration of the Sublime Porte. If now, by shrewd
diplomacy, the Czar rules at Constantinople, while the Sultan reigns
but is in reality only his vassal, there is a decided checkmate on
the political chessboard of European politics since the last move
at Berlin.
If it be true then the Bosphorus is free to Russia, and the Czar is
at liberty to march Russian troops at any time into Armenia. Indeed
the rumor was that the excessive massacres ceased immediately when
the Czar said "enough."
England was brought into this humiliating situation by her own
hesitation to do the right when all Europe except Russia was a unit
with her in insisting that the Sultan must be brought to terms even
if they should be obliged to force the Dardanelles.
It is remembered that Mr. Terrell openly expressed the opinion
that if European pressure for reforms repulsive to the Turk, which
were to admit to the army a subject race should be successful,
a general massacre was sure to result unless concerted and armed
coöperation among the Powers prevented it. There was no such
coöperation, and accordingly on the very day that these reforms
were announced, Mr. Terrell demanded immediate military protection
for all missionaries, saying that if a single hair on the head of
one of our missionaries was injured the Sultan must answer for it:
and the protection was granted.
On December 19, 1895, the President transmitted to Congress a
communication from Secretary Olney on the Armenian outrages, in
response to the resolution of the Senate. Secretary Olney stated
that the number of citizens of the United States resident in the
Turkish Empire is not accurately known, but there are one hundred
and seventy-two American missionaries and dependents scattered over
Asia Minor. There are also a number of American citizens engaged
in business in the Turkish dominions, and others originally Turkish
subjects, but now naturalized citizens of the United States.
The bulk of this American element is to be found remote from our few
Consular establishments. He bore testimony to the energy and promptness
displayed by our Minister, Mr. Terrell, in taking measures for their
protection which had received the moral support of naval vessels of the
United States. He added that while the physical safety of the United
States citizens seemed to be assured, their property had been destroyed
at Harpoot and Marash, in the former case to the extent of $100,000.
The Turkish Government had been notified that it would "be held
responsible for the immediate and full satisfaction of all injuries
on that score." The loss of American property at Marash had not been
ascertained, but a like demand for adequate indemnity would be made
as soon as the facts were known.
Of the incidents contained in the correspondence in which the rights
and power of the United States to demand protection for its citizens
whether missionaries from this country or naturalized Armenians
returning to their native country, one is given that it may be seen
that the demands of our Government for justice will always be met
when backed by a warship.
THE CASE OF DR. CHRISTIE.
"On the night of the 4th of August last the premises of Dr. Christie,
principal of St. Paul's Institute, at Tarsus, who was spending the
summer months at the neighboring village of Namroun, were invaded
by an armed mob, obviously collected in pursuance of a preconcerted
plan, and an outrageous attack made on a defenceless native servant
of Dr. Christie and some students of the institute who were then at
Namroun. The authors of this brutal attack were abundantly identified,
and through the prompt intervention of the United States Consul at
Beirut and the Consular agent at Mersine--the nearest port--a number
of arrests were made. Notwithstanding the peremptory demands of the
United States Minister for simple justice the assailants, when taken
before the local Judge of Tarsus, were released.
"So grave did this miscarriage of justice appear that an early occasion
was taken to send the 'Marblehead' to Mersine to investigate the
incident and lend all proper moral aid to Consular representatives
of the United States in pressing for due redress. Their efforts to
this end were most cordially seconded by the Mutessarif (Prefect) of
Mersine and on October 28 last the accused, to the number of eight,
were brought to trial at Tarsus, and convicted upon the evidence,
subsequently confessing their guilt.
"Having established his rights, and in view of the dismissal of the
Tarsus Judge who had conducted the preliminary inquest, and a promise
to degrade the incompetent Mudir of Namroun, Dr. Christie interceded
with the Court for clemency to the individual culprits, upon whom
light sentences of imprisonment were passed. The signal rebuke
administered in high places where responsibility really existed and
was abused, coupled with the establishment of the important principle
that American domicile in Turkey may not be violated with impunity,
renders the conclusion of this incident satisfactory."
The correspondence closed with the statement by Secretary Olney that a
telegram just received from Minister Terrell, under date of the 16th,
expressed the gravest apprehensions concerning the ultimate fate
of American citizens in the disturbed region unless the appalling
massacres can be stopped by the united efforts of the Christian
Powers. He saw no hope, however, of a European conceit to that end. He
said that if the missionaries wished to leave Turkey he could procure
their transportation to Christian ports; if the men wished to remain
he could get escorts for all to the seacoast, whereupon the men could
return; but he added that the women and children should quit Turkey.
HEROISM OF MISSIONARIES.
The missionaries of the American Board throughout Anatolia declined
to follow the advice of minister Terrell and seek a place of safety,
feeling it to be their duty to care for the property of the Boards,
to preserve the schools from being scattered and destroyed, and by
their presence restrain the impulses of fanatical Moslems and make
safer the conditions of native Christians. "If we fall martyrs to
our desire to prevent horrible massacres so be it. God has plenty of
workers to take our places."
Nobly did they stand in their places protecting lives and property
as far as possible.
At Oorfa there were but two lady teachers Miss Shattuck and Miss
Mellinger. They were four days' journey from any other American
missionaries. But when the massacre began they threw open the mission
premises and through all that reign of horror they preserved two
hundred and forty-six women and children from assault and death.
More than three thousand men, women and children, who had fled to the
Armenian church suffered most horrible cruelties before the church was
set on fire: most of them were burned alive. Some sixty or a hundred
escaped by secret stairs. This large stone church, now purified,
is used as a hospital for some eight hundred Armenians and these two
women have sole care of them. What heroism!
But more than that the Sublime Porte had learned the temper of our
government and knew that damages would have to be paid for all mission
property destroyed, hence the Governor of the city sent a double guard
of soldiers to protect the premises from fire or assault. The mob was
never so desperate as not to realize that they must obey orders. This
fact makes the responsibility of the Powers the more fearful as the
pressure of an ultimatum at Constantinople backed by a war fleet would
have been instantly felt to the extremity of the remotest vilayet.
At Harpoot the bullets fell thick around the missionaries, but
they were divinely protected, and saved the lives of many of their
scholars; at Marash, the lady missionaries stood bravely in front of
their students in the college, ready to die, if the call came; but
they were unharmed. "I thought our time had come," wrote one worthy
missionary, afterward, and he added, "and if we were to lay down our
lives there, we felt that we would not have chosen it otherwise." But
they were preserved for still further duty in the Lord's vineyard,
and it is largely due to their humane efforts to-day that any relief
work is being done in Armenia at all.
Not one of the American missionaries deserted his post, not even one
of the women missionaries. Never has there been a time in the history
of Turkey when a brave and faithful missionary counted for so much,
and never has the power of the United States counted for as much.
The presence of these Christian men and women has been a comfort and
protection to thousands of those afflicted, frightened and smitten
people. Many a martyr has been strengthened to bear the awful
agonies of torture by their devotion in the midst of most terrible
scenes. Alone has some noble American woman dragged from the hands of
a mob a young girl screaming for life. Mr. Wingate and Miss Burrage
were alone in the city of Cæsarea on that fearful 30th of November and
nobly did they defend the persecuted, saving many lives. Mr. Wingate
took a policeman, went to a Turkish house and demanded a bride and a
daughter, who had been carried off and got them both. The people in
all that region are ready to kiss his feet.
But time would fail to tell you of the noble deeds wrought by brave,
devoted women at Sivas, Hadjin, Adana, Oorfa and among the villages
of Mesopotamia. Only the recording angels at the last day can fully
recite their deeds of heroism. At the great crisis in their life's
work, nobly did they fulfill their highest, holiest duty.
DUTY OF THE POWERS.
Action of the United States Senate--a protest against European apathy
in not compelling Turkey to observe the Berlin Treaty:
On January 22, 1896, Mr. Cullom, from the Senate committee on foreign
relations, reported a resolution in the Senate relative to the
Armenian troubles. It recited the provision of the treaty of Berlin
as to religious freedom and resolved that it is the imperative duty
of the United States to express the hope that the European powers
will bring about the carrying out of the treaty, and requested the
President to transmit this resolution to the Powers.
CULLOM'S ARMENIAN RESOLUTION.
Mr. Cullom (Rep., Ill.) reported from the Senate committee on foreign
relations the following Armenian resolution:
"Whereas, The supplementary treaty of Berlin of July 13, 1878, between
the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain, Germany, Austria, France, Italy,
and Russia contains the following provisions:
"'LXI.--The Sublime Porte undertakes to carry out without further
delay the ameliorations and reforms demanded by local requirements
in the provinces inhabited by the Armenians and to guarantee their
security against the Circassians and Kurds. It will periodically
make known the steps taken to this effect, to the powers, and will
superintend their application.'
"'LXII.--The Sublime Porte having expressed the wish to maintain
the principle of religious liberty, to give it the widest scope, the
contracting parties take note of this spontaneous declaration. In no
part of the Ottoman Empire shall difference of religion be alleged
against an individual as a ground for exclusion or incapacity as
regards the discharge of civil and political rights, admission
to the police service, functions and honors, and the exercise
of the different professions and industries. All persons shall be
admitted without distinction of religion to give evidence before the
tribunals. Liberty and outward exercise of all forms of worship are
assured to all, and no hindrance shall be offered either to hierarchial
organization of the various communions or to their relations with their
spiritual chiefs. The right of official protection by the diplomatic
and consular agents of the powers in Turkey is recognized both as
regards the above mentioned persons and their religious, charitable,
and other establishments in the holy places;' and,
"Whereas, The extent and object of the above cited provisions of
said treaty are to place the Christian subjects of the Porte under
the protection of the other signatories thereto, and to secure to
such Christian subjects full liberty of religious worship and belief,
the equal benefit of the laws, and all the privileges and immunities
belonging to any subject of the Turkish empire; and,
"Whereas, By said treaty the Christian powers parties thereto, having
established under the consent of Turkey their right to accomplish
and secure the above recited objects; and,
"Whereas, The American people, in common with all Christian people
everywhere, have beheld with horror the recent appalling outrages and
massacres of which the Christian population of Turkey have been made
the victims,
"Resolved, by the Senate of the United States, the House of
Representatives concurring, That it is an imperative duty in the
interests of humanity to express the earnest hope that the European
concert brought about by the treaty referred to may speedily be given
its just effects in such decisive measures as shall stay the hand of
fanaticism and lawless violence and as shall secure to the unoffending
Christians of the Turkish Empire all the rights belonging to them,
both as men and as Christians and as beneficiaries of the explicit
provisions of the treaty above recited.
"Resolved, That the President be requested to communicate these
resolutions to the governments of Great Britain, Germany, Austria,
France, Italy, and Russia.
"Resolved, further, That the Senate of the United States, the House
of Representatives concurring, will support the President in the
most vigorous action he may take for the protection and security
of American citizens in Turkey, and to obtain redress for injuries
committed on the persons or property of such citizens."
Mr. Cullom said the resolution was reported by the unanimous vote of
the committee, and he desired immediate action.
Mr. Gray (Dem., Del.) said he did not anticipate any objection to
the resolution, but it was of such importance that there should be
time for consideration of the terms of the resolution.
Mr. Cullom acceded to this suggestion, giving notice that he would
ask for action to-morrow.
On the 24th, the resolutions were brought up and Senator Cullom
took the floor and spoke of the serious conditions prevailing
in Turkey. He said that he was appalled by the carnival of blood
prevailing. A massacre of innocence, unparalleled for ages, had been
perpetrated. The evidence of the bloody enormities was given by all
classes and nationalities until it was beyond the slightest doubt. A
Turkish army had bayonetted, robbed, murdered and flayed alive the
people of Armenia. There was no war, but a pitiless, merciless tornado
of ruin, bloodshed and death. The demon of fanaticism had been let
loose. There was a responsibility somewhere. It did not rest with the
slavish ruler of Turkey, the Sultan. Back of this were the disputes
of the countries of the European alliance, seeking their territorial
advantages. These countries were responsible. The Sultan was but a
puppet in their hands. It was a matter of regret and embarrassment,
continued Mr. Cullom, that the policy of the United States was such as
to prevent the sending of a fleet to Turkish waters to put a stop to
the bloody rule prevailing. But Europe had assumed the obligation of
protection to Armenia. The people of the United States were intensely
interested in seeing the obligation executed and the purpose of
these resolutions was to plead with the greatest earnestness for the
protection of Armenia. It was amazing to people of the United States
to witness this appalling slaughter and at the same time to see the
indifference of the Christian powers. There was a double obligation
upon England and yet nothing had been done to stay the hand of the
Sultan, except by fruitless diplomatic correspondence. No event of the
centuries called so loudly to the civilized world as this slaughter
in Turkey, the greatest, the Senator believed, in the history of
the world.
Then Senator Frye, of Maine, arose and addressing the chair began an
address that electrified an audience which constantly grew until the
galleries were crowded.
In the midst of his speech with intensely dramatic earnestness and
thrilling effect Senator Frye cried aloud: "I would gladly have this
Congress send a memorial to Russia, saying, 'Take Armenia under your
protection, and the United States will stand by you with all its power
and resources.'" The words are strong but the manner and emphasis
of the orator cannot be described. Every Senator upon the floor gave
expression of approval. Many of them clapped their hands. The people
in the galleries broke forth in prolonged applause, which the voice
of the Vice President found difficulty in checking.
The scene was one of the most dramatic ever witnessed in the
Senate. Again and again Senator Frye gave expression to aggressive
views of a similar character, and from beginning to close of his
address he received the closest attention and frequent applause. He
declared that Great Britain is no friend of this country, nor of any
country. Great Britain should have taken part in the suppression
of the slaughters in Armenia, but she has not done so. The other
countries of Europe are equally derelict.
Mr. Frye declared the United States had never given its assent to
the agreement of the European powers closing the Dardanelles, and
proceeded with much vigor and earnestness to say that if necessary in
order to protect American citizens he would order the American ships
to sail up the Dardanelles, regardless of the European alliance,
and when in front of Constantinople demand the protection of our
people within the Sultan's dominions. The resolutions were adopted
with great applause without a dissenting vote.
The action of our government has been energetic and effective in
preserving the lives of the American missionaries in Anatolia. It
has been conclusively shown that the Sultan has a considerate regard
to an emphatic demand when backed by a battleship. It is a serious
question whether the time has not come for the United States to rise
to the higher question of privilege, and demand in the name of common
humanity that the massacres shall cease and the Christian populations
be protected according to the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, and the
former promises of the Sublime Porte, "that no one shall be compelled
to change his religion."
The latest reports from Constantinople asserted that there have
been many thousands of forced conversions to Islam and that scores
of Armenians who had accepted Islam but did not live up to all its
requirements with sufficient zeal to please the Turks have been put
to death since the wholesale massacres have ceased.
How much longer can human nature stand the strain? What
greater--greater outrages can be conceived of to rouse the Christian
conscience, than have filled our ears for months? It was published in
London as very important news that Sir Philip Currie was the first
Ambassador invited this year to take "iftar" at the Palace. The
audience lasted half an hour and was very cordial. "It is understood
that the Sultan renewed his assurances regarding the execution
of reforms." Thereupon the English Government washes its hands in
Pilate's basin and rids itself of all responsibility.
If we haven't any treaty rights in this matter in God's name let
us assert the higher law of human rights--the right of every man to
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Let us declare through
Congress our judgment to the Porte that the hour has come for armed
interference in the cause of outraged humanity.
Mr. Chauncey M. Depew having been invited to deliver an address in
Detroit, Mich., in the interest of Armenia, not being able to attend,
wrote a letter to Gen. Alger, the chairman of the meeting, from which
we quote as follows:
"The air is full just now of wars and rumors of wars. The fighting
blood of all the peoples of all civilized countries seems to be
warmed to the battle point. But, while there is a great and dangerous
excitement over a boundary line in Venezuela and a filibustering
expedition in South Africa, the peoples of Europe and of the United
States remain unmoved and undisturbed by the burnings, sackings,
slaughter and every form of savage murder and lust perpetrated upon the
Christians of Armenia simply because of their adherence to the faith of
Christendom. I have seen congregations weep at the presentation of the
tortures and massacres of Christian martyrs under Nero and Diocletian
two thousand years ago. Where are the tears for Christian men tortured
and killed, Christian women outraged and slain, Christian children
tossed upon the bayonets of a savage soldiery yesterday, last week
and last month, with the frightful assurance that they will continue
to be slaughtered and outraged and tortured and tossed upon bayonets
to-morrow, the day after and next month and for months to come?
"Much as I believe in peace and its blessings, much as I detest war
and its horrors, much as I feel that great provocations and the most
imminent dangers to the liberty or the existence of the territories or
the safety of the citizens of the country will justify an appeal to
the arbitrament of arms, nevertheless I do feel that by a concert of
action of Christian nations, of which the United States should be one,
such a presentation should be made to the Sultan and his advisers as
would stop these horrors and save our Christian brethren."
The case of Rev. Mr. Knapp, of Bitlis, who is to be sent to
Constantinople for trial on the charge of sedition, will afford a
splendid occasion for a naval display. Let the question be opened up
whether these treaty obligations of the Porte mean anything outside
the reach of a warship. How can we maintain our traditions as the
friend of the oppressed and downtrodden of earth if we let the brutal
fanatical Sultan riot still in plunder, lust and blood?
Did we care for the poor manacled negro undergoing the horrors of
the Middle Passage? Did we have any interest in healing "the open
sore of the world?" Did we once have spirit enough to demand of the
Bey of Algiers the release of all Christian slaves, the abandonment
of the piracy he had practiced for years, and compel him to forego
the tribute exacted from all nations?
And have we no voice, no heart, no sympathy, no power to demand that
the Sultan shall stop his awful carnage of blood and prove before
the bar of all Christendom by what right he any longer shall reign?
We can do this because the Eastern Question does not exist for
us. Higher questions of humanity demand the first consideration. We
can interfere in defence of the lives and property of Christians
in Turkey without violating the Monroe Doctrine and would merit the
gratitude of Europe and the world, if the final decision should be
that the Sultan had forfeited by the slaughter of one hundred thousand
men, women and children with the fiendish accompaniments of outrage,
violation, torture, all right to be treated as anything else than an
enemy of humanity, and a wild beast to be caged and gazed upon with
execration and horror.
Are not the lives and happiness of a half million Armenians left
homeless and penniless and who still tremble with fear and terror
at the sight of their relentless foes of more consequence than the
boundary line of Venezuela? And yet for the location of an imaginary
line the President's message came perilously near being a threat
of war.
Had the President written as strong a message as that to the Sultan
in November or December, 1895, and sent it with an escort of three
battleships under the Stars and Stripes (stars for heroes, stripes for
tyrants) demanding that the massacres cease at once or Yildiz Palace
would be bombarded, the telegraph wires might have melted under the
hot haste with which every Governor had been ordered to call off the
hounds of hell from their battening on human blood. (I beg pardon of
the hounds, hyenas, tigers and all other wild beasts for using their
names in simile or metaphor to describe the swiftness, eagerness or
ferocity of Kurd or Turk. It is only the poverty of language that
makes such use allowable.)
But there is another thing we can do and England has shown us how
to do it, scores of times, if not hundreds of times, in her own
history. The American Board has suffered the loss of hundreds of
thousands of dollars in the destruction of missionary property;
American citizens have suffered great money losses and their work
has been broken up in many quarters; many churches in all parts of
Anatolia, built wholly or in part with contributions from America,
have been laid in ruins; they have gone down in ashes and pillage under
the trampling hordes of Islam; the cost of relief has been enormous
and the extra cost to all the missionaries has been very great, to
say nothing of all the indignities to which they have been subjected
(and in British estimation outrage upon the dignity of an Englishman
is placed at very high figures.) Now let these damages be tabulated
at full value and the bill presented to the Sublime Porte payable on
demand and let us land a few marines at Stamboul and open out a few
port holes upon the Palace and wake Mr. Sultan to the fact that it
is quite as serious an affair to pluck the feathers of the American
eagle as it is to twist the tail of the British lion.
As Mr. Talmage has said in his own inimitable style: "When the English
lion and the Russian bear put their paws on that Turkey, the American
eagle ought to put in its bill."
Seriously this demand ought to be made with such energy, decision
and despatch with such a demand for adequate protection and guarantee
of inviolability of domicile both as to churches, colleges, schools
and private residences of missionaries with a demand for necessary
papers for all the consuls we may choose to send into Anatolia, that
the Sultan would have very little time for the next few weeks to talk
to his three hundred and sixty-five wives, or lay out any new plans
for reforming the Armenians out of existence.
Another thing is possible, and possible only to America, viz: The
calling of an International Conference--say on the Island of Cyprus,
which England holds as a pledge that she will see that necessary
reforms shall be executed--to discuss the further existence of the
power of the Porte.
After the battle of Waterloo the Powers of Europe dealt with Napoleon
as an enemy of the human race, of the peace and prosperity of every
realm and not liking to take him off suddenly, they took him off to
the island of St. Helena, where English ships and soldiers guarded
him from all danger till the angel of death, black or white, called
him before a higher tribunal.
There would be some grim justice in the retribution if the Sultan
should be exiled to the island of Cyprus where he could be supported
without cost to Europe according to Article III. of the Annex to the
Cyprus Convention. It is understood "that England will pay to the
Porte whatever is the present excess of revenue over expenditure in
the island."
One gunboat could guard the island, and Abdul-Hamid II., after whom
there should be no III., could dwell in peaceful security, unless
through his seared Islamic conscience some dreams of blood should
come, or shrieks of outraged womanhood be heard above the waves of
the resounding sea.
It has been said that if the contents of the Blue Book on Armenia were
known Lord Salisbury would be mobbed in the streets of London. The
Christian Herald, of New York, has also stated that a number of
official documents has come into its possession which form such an
indictment against the Turk as has never yet been framed in the Saxon
tongue. "It may never be necessary to drag this shameful exhibit
to the light, nor will it ever be done save as a last resort in the
interest of justice and mercy."
As nothing which has yet been told has touched the springs of power
in Europe or America, save to start a few rills of generosity for
pity's sake and a few tears which a dainty lace handkerchief could
wipe away, it would seem as if justice to the Turk and mercy to the
Armenians demanded that these official documents, whether in England
or America, should be given to the light, if perchance at last the
nations of Christendom might be roused to action before the country
shall be utterly laid waste and the only service left us shall be to
lay a cross upon the grave of Bleeding Armenia.
Armenia has stood the only Christian race and nation in Asia, for
more than a thousand years, despite the oft repeated threat, Islam or
Death. At any hour, in any age its glorious roll of martyrs would have
been filled up and its blood would have ceased to flow, if it had been
willing to deny the Christ and swear allegiance to the false Prophet.
The History of this Martyr Nation that has been written in tears and
blood as thus rehearsed to you will, I trust, not have been told in
vain. May the voice of an outraged humanity be heard above the din
of all conflicting political alliances demanding mercy and justice
for the perishing.
I believe our indignation would burst into fiercest flame if these
awful atrocities could but be realized; and to noble, free and
Christian America might be the honor of leading in a glorious crusade
for the deliverance of crushed, desolated and bleeding Armenia from
the accursed rule of Islam.
THE END.
APPENDIX.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Massacre of Armenians by Police, Softas and
Kurds.--Frontispiece. Sept. 30th, 1895, and the following days will
long be remembered as a Reign of Terror in Constantinople. Scarcely
an Armenian family but mourns the loss of some of its members. The
Mahommedans seemed worked to such a pitch of fury, that mere death
was too mild a punishment to inflict on their victims.
They battered the heads of the Armenians with bludgeons, mutilated the
unhappy creatures in every possible way, and left them lying about
the streets in ghastly heaps. Many lived thus for hours in horrible
agonies, no one daring to succor them.
Great and Little Ararat from the North-east.--Page 19. The village of
Aralykh, from which the view of the mountain is taken, is merely a row
of wooden barracks, neatly painted, with a smith's and carpenter's
shop, cottages for the soldiers scattered about it, and a few trees
for shade and shelter.
The situation is striking. The mountain seems quite close, but in
reality its true base is fully twelve miles distant. As you look
up into the great black chasm you can see the cornice of ice, 300
or 400 feet in thickness, lying at a height of about 14,000 feet,
and above it a steep slope of snow, pierced here and there by rocks,
running up to the summit.
About seven miles to the south from Great Mountain, rises the
singularly elegant peak of Little Ararat, which in the autumn is free
from snow.
Armenian Types and Costumes.--Page 38. The costumes of the better class
of Armenian women, before these terrible days, were very picturesque
and some quite costly.
They are fond of personal adornment, and wear silver coins about the
head and neck; sometimes the ornaments are of gold, very handsome and
expensive. The costume of the men varies considerably according to
the province and occupation. Many of the merchant class have adopted
the European dress almost entirely.
Monastic Rock-Chambers at Gueremeh.--Page 55. The mountains in
this neighborhood of Kaiserieh are remarkable for the numerous
rock-chambers and caves, which were filled with hermits in the early
days of Christianity.
In one valley, about one mile in length and one thousand feet
across, a gorge opens out about five hundred feet deep. The cliffs
fall steeply away, sometimes with a sheer descent; sometimes in a
succession of terraces, and from them rise up pyramids and pinnacles
of rock; the wonders of the valley. On both the face of the cliffs,
and in these detached masses there are caves and niches, all the work
of human hands. At one time the whole valley was the abode of a vast
monastic community.
The Sultan in the Park of the Yildiz Palace.--Page 74. The Sultan
rises at six o'clock, and labors with clerks and secretaries until
noon, when he breakfasts. Then he goes for a drive, or a row on the
lake in the palace park, and returning gives audience until eight. At
that hour he dines as a rule, alone.
The Sultan's food is prepared by chosen persons, cooked in sealed
vessels, within locked rooms, and tasted before it is served to
him. The water he drinks is brought from a distance in sealed barrels.
Sometimes the Sultan, who is fond of light operatic music, plays
duets on the piano with his younger children. For other recreations,
he studies odd machines and novelties of inventions.
He never sleeps two successive nights in the same room, and when the
fear of death is strongest upon him, he goes to a chamber reached by
a ladder, which he draws up after him.
Types of Softas.--Page 91. At Cairo, in Egypt, are the most famous
universities of Islam. To these schools, students flock from all
quarters of the Mahommedan world.
These Softas are the most fanatical of the Moslems; their entire
training is one of bitter intolerance and hatred of Christianity;
they have been the inciters to riots in many cities in the Turkish
Empire, notably in that of Constantinople, in September, 1895. The
number of Softas in the Empire, is said to be about 30,000--8,000 of
them being in Stamboul.
His majesty has at times sought to have some of them return to their
native provinces, but to this, great opposition has been shown, so
that he was obliged to abandon his first plan and get rid of them
quietly. From time to time numbers of them have been put on board of
transports for unknown destinations.
"The Turks are upon Us." A Panic in Stamboul.--Page 110. While the
photograph, from which this illustration is reproduced, was taken in
Stamboul, it would answer equally well for the panic that prevailed
among Armenian merchants, everywhere, whenever the cry was raised that
the feared and hated Turk was coming. Costly merchandise was quickly
thrust behind doors, that were as quickly barred against the common
foe, and children were hastily summoned from the streets. That such
scenes have their ludicrous side, is evidenced by the upsetting of the
young man who, in his haste to gain a place of safety, has trodden
upon the trailing end of one of the rugs which the venerable dealer
in such merchandise, is in equal haste to place beyond the reach of
the marauders.
The New Grand Vizier on his way to the Sublime Porte.--Page 127. The
renowned office of grand vizier, in the realms of the Ottoman Turk,
is a very precarious and dangerous post. Rifaat Pasha, the latest
appointee, is the nominal head of whatever government may be supposed
to exist at the Porte. He has been many years in the civil service,
and has been Governor, successively, of the former Danubian Provinces,
of Salonica, of Smyrna, and of Monastir, and latterly Minister of
the Interior.
Explaining the Inflammatory Placards.--Page 146. There is a cry
for reform in the system of government in Turkey, and revolutionary
placards are posted up almost daily in the streets of Stamboul. The
police specially patrol the streets at night with the object of
tearing down these seditious utterances. The illustration shows a man
of education, explaining to some of his more ignorant fellow-citizens,
the meaning of one of these placards, that has escaped the notice of
the police.
Taking Armenian Prisoners to the Grand Zaptieh Prison.--Page 163. Over
the portal of the Grand Zaptieh Prison, Stamboul, might well be
inscribed "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." The engraving gives
a forcible illustration of the brutality exhibited by the Turkish
soldiers and police towards their prisoners, whom, in many instances,
they literally dragged to their place of confinement.
British Cabinet Debating the Armenian Question.--Page 182. The
councils of the English Government are more important to the welfare
of the world than the decision of any other European power. But
British interests--interest on Turkish bonds held in London--have
been paramount to all questions of righteousness and humanity; and
Bleeding Armenia cries in vain for deliverance from the accursed rule
of the Turk.
The British Mediterranean Fleet.--Page 199. When the squadrons of the
great powers began to assemble in Eastern waters, it seemed for awhile
as if the day of reckoning for Turkey had surely come. The British
fleet is seen in the harbor of Salonica, ready for action. At this
time the French ironclads were in the Piraeus, the German warships off
Smyrna, the Italian and Austro-Hungarian squadrons had started for
the East, and Russia's fleet was close at hand in the Black Sea. A
single warship in front of Constantinople would have restored order
in Armenia; none were sent.
Types and Costumes of Kurdish Gentlemen.--Page 218. The Kurdish
costumes are picturesque and nearly all the tribesmen are magnificent
horsemen. They are always formidably armed. They are very cruel; fierce
in battle; merciless in torture and outrage of their victims. They
have neither books nor schools; not one in ten thousand can read.
A Common Scene in the Streets of Erzeroum.--Page 235. A camel caravan
from Persia passing through to Trebizond. Some of these caravans
consist of as many as eight hundred camels--estimating the value
of a camel at $150, which is moderate, we have the sum of $120,000
as the worth of the caravan, without counting the vast stores of
merchandise. This immense trade is for the time destroyed and the
inhabitants of Erzeroum reduced to great extremities.
Armenian Women Weaving Turkish Carpets.--Page 254. In the reign of
Edward VI. we read that before communion-tables were placed, "Carpets
full gay, that wrought were in the Orient." The greater part of the
real Turkey carpets are manufactured in the province of Aidin. No
large manufactory exists; the carpets are the work of families and
households. The illustration shows Armenian women engaged at their
primitive looms.
Armenian Peasants Fleeing to Russia.--Page 271. Fortunate indeed is
the family that could escape into Russia and save their lives. Yet,
across the borders there is no peace and prosperity. Thousands are
on the mountains, or out on the plains escaping from the sword and
bayonet and spear of the Turk and Kurd. Their misery, as they wander
in rags, or creep about the ruins of their villages, is appalling.
Armenian Women, Province of Van.--Page 290. Besides trade and
agriculture, the inhabitants of this province are engaged in a few
industries, such as the making of coarse cotton chintz, a highly
prized water-proof fabric of goat hair and a thick woolen cloth called
shayah. The women assist in all the labors of the men, particularly
in the field, where entire families may be seen.
Armenian Mountaineer of Shadokh.--Page 307. This illustration gives a
good idea of the sturdy manliness of these people, who, if permitted
to bear arms and defend themselves, would soon deliver their villages
from plunder, and their wives and children from outrage and misery.
Grand Mosque and Interior at Urfah.--Page 324. Urfah is the present
name for Edessa, once the capital of Armenia--the Ur of the Chaldees.
There was a Christian church at Edessa as early as 200 A. D., and
it was famous for its schools of learning, which were large and
flourishing. A great tower is still standing, from which, five times
a-day, the Muezzin calls Mahommedans to prayer, marks the site of
the great Christian seminary of the fourth century.
The Turks pay thousands of dollars to the mosque for the privilege
of being buried in this place.
Passage Boat on the Arras.--Page 343. Ferriage and transportation by
water in Asia Minor is still carried on in primitive fashion. The
illustration shows an unwieldy craft, propelled by long and
heavy oars. The usual shape of the boats is much like that of a
coffin. The submerged portion is coated within and without with hot
bitumen. Frequently, when the craft arrives at her destination, she
is broken up, and the bitumen, with which she is coated, is sold,
as well as the cargo.
Arresting the Murderers of Armenians.--Page 362. These arrests have
only been a matter of form, and only because some foreign consuls
may have demanded it.
Turkish justice, outside the centers of European influence, rarely
ever punishes either Kurd or Turk for outrage, plunder or murder,
if only the Armenians are the sufferers.
Sketches of Armenia and Kurdestan.--Page 379. A group of views showing
the interior of a Kurdish tent, in which three chiefs are partaking
of coffee; a soldier, in picturesque dress, standing on guard,
or, to salute his superior officer; a valley of surpassing beauty,
with snow-capped mountains in the distance; a Kurdish encampment,
with houses in the background, and a view of Sinna, the capital of
Persian-Kurdestan.
Refugees and Cavasses at an Armenian Church.--Page 398. After the first
riots in Constantinople, the various Armenian churches were filled with
refugees who could hardly be persuaded to leave their sanctuary. After
repeated assurances of protection by the dragomans of the six European
embassies, the refugees returned to their homes. As they left each
church, they were drawn up in line and searched for arms.
A Prayer for Revenge.--Page 415. The heart-rending agonies of the
martyr have died out, and his soul has gone up in anguish before the
throne. The aged father and brother have been favored in being able
to secure the body for burial. But how can they pray? The Turkish
soldiers cried out as they tortured the dying man, "Where is your
God, now? Why doesn't he deliver you?" and filled his ears with awful
blasphemies in his last moments.
Massacre of Armenians at Erzeroum.--Page 434. The massacre at Erzeroum
began October 30, 1895, in the Serai, the chief government building in
which the Vali and his chief officials reside. The massacre started by
the shooting of the priest of Tevrick by Turkish soldiers when he and
other Armenians were at the Serai trying to gain audience of the Vali.
Burying the Bodies after the Massacre at Erzeroum.--Page 451. This
illustration was reproduced from a photograph taken in the Armenian
cemetery, two days after the massacre. Two rows of dead, thirty-five
deep, had already been laid down and partially covered with earth by
laborers, when the photograph was taken. Four men had just deposited
another corpse, and so started a third row. The open spaces between
the bodies were filled up with skulls, thigh-bones, and other human
remains disturbed by digging this grave, which was fifty-three feet
square, for the reception of the slaughtered Armenians.
A Grim Corner of the Cemetery, Erzeroum.--Page 470. About 1,000
Armenians were inhumanly butchered in the massacre of October 30,
1895. The illustration shows how their corpses were laid out in
the cemetery, waiting until one large common grave could be dug for
their reception.
Principal Street and Bazaar of Erzeroum.--Page 480. Erzeroum is a town
of great antiquity. In 1201, the time of its capture by the Seejuks,
140,000 of its inhabitants were said to have been lost. Recent
estimates of the population are from 50,000 to 100,000, of which,
probably, two-thirds are Armenians. The circular-towers, shown in the
illustration, with their conical tops, add a certain picturesqueness
to the view, and are popularly reputed to be the tombs of holy men
who died in the fourteenth century.
The Prison at Erzeroum.--Page 481. To describe the sufferings of a
Turkish prison is impossible. It combines the stifling air of the
Black-Hole of Calcutta, the stench of an open sewer, the poison of
a yellow fever ward, the pangs of starvation, besides the horrors of
the Inferno when Moslem criminals are shut in with Christian prisoners.
"It is a living grave, a visible hell, a world without God." Men are
suffering in nakedness and rags, and dying of hunger and disease,
but there is no one to pity.
Trebizond.--Page 491. This city, the principal seaport for the
Armenians, is on the southern coast of the Black sea, and has
a population of about forty-five thousand. The old walls are now
ruinous, but the engraving shows how formidable they must have been
originally. Many Armenians were massacred at Trebizond in the autumn
of 1895.
Town and Citadel of Van.--Page 502. Van, the capital of the province of
the same name, lies in an extremely fertile plain--one of the gardens
of the East. Its low, flat-roofed houses are enclosed within a double
line of walls and ditches on the three sides not protected by the
rock which rises 300 feet sheer above the plain, and is crowned by
the citadel. In this rock are numerous galleries and crypts which
probably date back to the ninth century. The city of Van is one mile
from the shore of the lake to which it gives its name.
Armenian Refugees at the Labor Bureau at Van.--Page 503. At this
point Dr. Grace N. Kimball has, so far, been able to employ over
900, representing 4,500 souls, keeping them from starvation by her
efforts. Thousands of famished, almost naked creatures have toiled
barefoot to the city. Her factory has also been a school of honesty to
those employed, and the work is a shining example of clean, upright,
business methods and Yankee executive ability.
NOTES
[1] The above description is taken literally from a report of the
British Vice-Consul of Erzeroum. Copies are in possession of the
diplomatic representatives of the Powers at Constantinople. The scene
occurred in the village of Semal before the massacres, during the
normal condition of things.
[2] The Koords are divided into Torens or nobles, who lead in war time,
and possess and enjoy in peace; and Rayahs, who sacrifice their lives
for their lords in all raids and feuds, and are wholly dependent on
them at all times. A rayah's life may be taken by a toren with almost
the same impunity as a Christian's.