There was no Armenian question till the time of the present
Sultan; under Abdul Aziz, whatever his faults as a ruler or a
man, the Armenians prospered well, and though the whole system of
administration is bad, corrupt, and uncertain, they had no special
grievance as a race to complain of. I have already referred to Abdul
Hamid's usurpation, his Bulgarian atrocities, his famous war against
Russia, and the Congress in Berlin in which the powers ordered him
to execute reforms in Armenia, and report to them, and the Sultan
signed the treaty promising to do it. This was in 1878. The Sultan
lost no time in violating the treaty, and not only so, but in acting
grossly contrary to it. He called in Circassians and Kurds to settle
in the midst of Armenians, and confiscated Armenian lands for them to
settle on. The Armenians were far worse off than before the treaty; but
foolishly depending on the powers, they did not try to arm themselves
for the future. They have had plenty of chance to repent in blood
and tears, agony and shame, their faith that Christian nations would
not ignore a solemn obligation, voluntarily entered into, to save a
whole people from being exterminated by fire and sword. England was
the worst of these sinners, for she had taken on special obligations
by a separate treaty, and forced those who would have taken the Sultan
by the throat to let go.