D. Ghambashidze, in a recent statement regarding the Georgian Nation,
alludes to the progress made in the second half of the nineteenth
century as follows:
The number of daily papers and weeklies in 1913 was twenty-four,
and the number of books published in the same year on various
subjects was about 240, amounting to 460,000 copies. It must also
be remembered that 75 per cent. of the total population can read
and write, and there are many schools and libraries. Eighty-five
per cent. of the total population is composed of peasantry,
whose chief occupation is very intensive agriculture, tobacco,
wine, cotton, and silk being included in their products. The
co-operative movement is also very strong in Georgia, there being
about 400 co-operative societies, nearly 70 per cent. of the
peasants being members.
During the last eight centuries the nobility of Georgia has
devoted its attention chiefly to military occupations. There
were about 5,700 officers in the Russian Army, among whom may be
mentioned the very distinguished Generals, Princes Bagration,
Amilakhvari, Tchavachavadze, Orbelliani, and Amiradjebi. Prince
Imeretinski has acted as Governor General of Poland, and
through his wise rule won great respect among the Poles. He was
instrumental in obtaining the permission of the Emperor for
the erection of a monument to the great Polish poet Mickevits
in Warsaw. General Kazbek was commander of the fortress of
Vladivostok and General Orbelliani was Commander in Chief of the
Russian troops stationed in Finland.
Among the Georgian Bishops the most celebrated was Bishop Gabriel,
whose famous sermons have been translated into English by the Rev.
Dr. Malan, one-time Vicar of Oxford. There were also a great many
Georgian professors at various Russian universities, among them
the celebrated physiologist, Professor Tarhanov; the philologist,
Professor D. Tchubinov, and Petriev, the late Dean of Odessa
University. Distinguished Georgians like Prince Tchavachavadze
and Eristov were members of the Russian House of Lords, while Mr.
Tsereteli, the celebrated Georgian Deputy in the Duma, acted as
one of the leaders during the present revolution.
The Armenian Nation also goes far back into ancient history. Six
centuries before Christ the texts engraved on the rocks by King Darius
mentioned Armenia by its present name. During centuries immediately
before and after the beginning of the Christian era Armenia was an
independent kingdom occupying the region between Mesopotamia and the
valleys south of the Caucasus Mountains. This kingdom became Christian
about the same time as the Roman Empire, and since then the Armenian
Church has not ceased to be independent, not only of the Eastern,
Greek, and Slavic Churches, but also of the Roman Church.
[Illustration: ARMENIA, SCENE OF EARLIER TURKISH ATROCITIES]
Professor Meillet of the Collège de France, Paris, states that there
has been an Armenian literature since the fifth century of our era,
and that the old Armenian writings are more original and interesting
than the ancient Slavic literatures, which date from several centuries
later. Historians of art agree that in architecture, from the fifth to
the ninth century, the Armenians were creators of new forms. Professor
Meillet adds that at a time when the very name of Franco did not yet
exist, and when the French language had not been differentiated the
Latin, Armenia was playing a great part in history and had an important
literature of its own.
At the period of the Crusades the Armenians founded a kingdom in
Cilicia and aided the Crusaders. Since the last of the Crusades there
have been no independent Armenians. Mussulman, Persian, and Turkish
States have dominated their former country. In the nineteenth century
the Caucasus portion was taken by Russia. But the Armenian Nation had
its own customs, language, literature, and church, and all these it has
kept. It had the will to live, and in spite of its subjugation it has
lived.