Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-12-12

tensive and mountainous territory south
of Armenia. partly in Asiatic Turkey
and partly in Persia They lead no.
madic life and are very good horsemen.
The men are adventurous and warlike
and inclined to brigandaGc. OF them
Miss Mary Wright, u returned mission
ary who spent several years in Asia
Minor. says:
Tho kurds are the supposed descend
ants Of an ancient warlikc race, and
accordingly they are cruel and barba-
rous. They are not afraid of anybody,
but everybody is afraid of them. The
Mohammclan government winks at
their performances, and they are free to
do as they please without fear of inter
ference. Often / have seen the little
Armenian girls cry ut tho sight of \
Kurd and remark Shrinkingly,
'Khurlc. The word means wolf, and
think theirs is we'll named race
They don't cultivate their fields
and wont do work of any sort. Almost
any other Turk will steal sometimes,
but these live entirely by plundering.
1t is not uncommon for the kurds to
wait until tine grain is all harvested and
then 80 and reap the results of the hard
labor of their victims by stripping tho
fields of everything.
Armenia possesses peculiar historical
interest on account of its great antiquity.
There is legend which is not without
much confirmatory evidence that Adam
was an Armenian. and that in the pic
turcsQuc region near tho hcadwaters of
the Euphrates was situated the garden
Il 90
it seems probable that Noah was ono of
that country's old settlers. The ancient
navigator must have landed ON n snow
bank unless the climate of that region
has greatly changed since his time, for
it is now said that tho snow has never
been known to melt on Ararat, though
in the valleys n mild and salubrious
climate prevails.
The religion of Armenia is also of
great antiquity, and it is said to be the
| first entire nation to be ChristianiZed.
The church of Armenia's traditions
claims an older than apostolic founda'
ton, but its founder, according to &C,
ccpted history, was St. Gregory, called
| the illumination, member of the Ar
menian royal family. St. Gregory:
preaching began i'll the year y. d. 276,
The manner in which this church be
camo independent of tho church o.
| Romc and also of the Greek church.
which it moro nearly resembles doctri
| nally, Is n sort of historical puzzle. Blu
| il is Il distinct ecclesiastical institution
which has persisted through manifold
tribulations and prosecutions. perhap
even has been purified by them. 1t ha
l - t., sEs,
sacraments, baptism, confirmation, tn
eucharist, penance, ordination, mar
riagc and extreme JUNCTION; its own lit
urgy, said to date from the first centur,
and TO have been modelled upon that O
the church of Jerusalem.
There is threefold order of Arme
MAN clergy. bishops, priests, deacons
And there are three degrees of episcopa
rank, the archbishop, the bishop and tn
vartabed or doctor of theology, who OF
ten has charge of a diocese with episcC
pal functions. The priesthood is hcred
itary.
The history of Armenia is q long ste
ry of persecution and suffering. For cen
turtles its people Were the prey of Sara
cen caliphs. and now they moan the tyl
amy of Turkish pashas. The bounda
ries of the country have varied great
Mt different periods and now embrace n
area of about $50, 900 miles. althoug
they arc not officially fixed. They touc
the Caucasus mountains ON tho north
run nearly to the Caspian sea ON til
east and extend west to the Euphrate:
1t is estimated that not more tina
5000, coo Armenians now remain
their native country, while 3. 900, 900 {
1000, 600 are scattered i'll other lands.