The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-01-29
REV. DIR. TALMAGE
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY TIE
NOTED DIVINE.

SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY TIE
. NOTED DIVINE.
Subject: ssArmenian Horrors"
TEXT: 'They escaped into the land o; Ar
raenia. Kings xix, 81.
+, In Bible geography this is the first time
that Armenia appears, called then by the
same name as now. Armenia Is chiefly a
,tableland, 1000 feet above the level OF the
sea, and on one OF its peaks Noah's ark
landed, with its human family and fauna
the birthplace Of the rivers which fertilized
!. the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve
lived there, their only roof the crystal skies
and their carpet the emerald OF rich grass.
Its inhabitants, the ethnologists tell US. are
superior type Of the Caucasian race. IN eir
religion is founded on the Bible Iheir
Saviour is our Christ. Their crime Is that
they will not become followers OF Monammeo,
that Jupiter of sensuality. To drive them
from the face of the earth is the amoltion oi
all Mohammedans. To accomplish THIS,
murder Is no crime, and wholesale mas
sacre is matter Of enthusiastic appro-
baton and Governmental reward
The PRAYER sanctioned by highest Moham-
4 medan authority and recited every day
! throughout Turkey and Egypt, while styling
all those not Mohammedans as intidels. Is as
follows: so Lord of all creatures! o Allah!
Destroy the inf1de!s and polytheists. thine
enemies, the enemies OF the religion. o
Allah. make their children orphans and deflle
their bodies. cause their feet to slip, give
them and their families. their households
and their women. their children and their
relatives by marriage, their brothers and
their friends, their possessions and the race,
their wealth and their lands as booty to the
Mosiems. o Lord of all creatures" The Life
OF an Armenian in the presence Of those who
make that prayer is Of no more value than
the life of summer insecr.
The Sultan of Turkey sits on throne I'M
personating that brigandage and assassina-
tion. At this time all civilized Nations are
in horror at the attempts OF that Mohomme-
dan Government to destroy all the Christians
of Armenia. hear somebody talking as
though some new thing were happening, and
that the Turkish Government had taken
new role Of tragedy on The stage Of Nations.
No, no! She is at the same old business.
Overlooking her diabolism OF other centur-
les, we come down to our century to find
that In 1922 the Turkish Government slew
10000 anti-Moslems, and in 1850 she slew
10000, and In 1860 she slew 1000 and In
1876 she slew TO- 900. Anything short OF the
slaughter Of thousands Of human beings does
not put enough red wine into her cup OF
abominatlon to make It worth quafing. Nor
Is this the only time she has promised re-
form. In the presence Of the warships at
the mouth of the Dardanelles she has prom
ised the civilized Nations of the earth that
she would stop her butcheries and the inter-
ternational and hemisphere farce has been
enacted Of believing what she says, when all
the past ought to persuade us that she IS
only pausing in her atrocities to put Ma
tions of the track and then resume the work
Of death
" In 1920 Turkey in treaty with Russia prom
ised to alleviate the condition OF Christians,
but the promise was broken. In 1889 the
then Sultan promised protection Of life and
property without reference to religion, and
the promise was broken. In 1874, at the de-
mand Of an English minister plenipotentiary,
the Sultan declared after the public e1ecu-
tion of an Armenian at Constantinopie
that no such death penalty should again be
inflicted, and the promise was broken. In
1850. at the demand Of foreign Nations, the
Turkish Government promised protection to
Protestants, but to this day the Protestants
at Stemboul are not allowed to build q church.
although they have the funds ready. and
the Greek Protestants, who have church,
are not permitted to worship in #. In
1856, after the Crlmean War. Turkey prom
ised tina. no one should be hindered In the
exercise Of the religion he professed. and
that promise has been broken. In 1878, at
the memorable treaty OF Berlin. Turkey
promised religious liberty to all her subjects
In every part of the Ottoman Empire, and
the promise was broken. Not once in all the
centuries has the Turkish Government kept
her promise of mercy. So far from any i'm
provement, the condition Of the Armenians
has become worse and worse year by year.
and all the promises the Turkish Govern
Inent now makes are only gaining Of time
by which she Is making preparation for the
complete determination OF Christianity from
her borders.
Why, after oil the National and continen-
tai and hemisphere lying on the part Of the
Turkish Government, do not the warships Of
Europe ride up as close as Is possible to the
palaces OF Constantinople and blow thnt
accursed Government to atoms? In the
name Of the eternal God, let the nuisance OF
the ages be wiped of the face OF the earth!
Down to the perdition from which 1t smoked
up sink Mohammedanism! Between these
outbreaks OF massacre the Armenians suffer
In silence wrongs that are seldom, if ever,
repeated. They are taxed heavily for the
mere privilege Of living, and the tax is called
''the humiliation tax" They are compelled
to give three days entertainment to any
Monsmmedan tramp who may be pass
Ing that way. They must pay blackmail
to the assessor, lest he report the value OF
their property too highly. Their evidence
in court is Of no worth, and II fifty Armeni-
ans saw wrong committed and one MO-
hammedan was present the testimony OF the
one Mohammedan would be taken and the
testimony OF the fifty Armenians rejected
In other words, the solemn oath Of 8 thou
sand Armenians would not be strong enough
to overthrow the perjury OF one Mohamne-
dan. A professor was condemded to death
for translsting the English "Book OF Com
mon Prayer" into Turkish. Seventeen Arme-
mans were sentenced to fifteen years i'm
priscnment for rescuing Christian bride
hom the bandits
No wonder that The physicians of that re-
gion declared that among all the men and
women that were down with wounds and
sickness and under their care not one wanted
to get VOL. Remember that nearly all the
reports that have come to us Of the Turkish
outrages have been manipulated and modi-
fied and softened by the Turks themselves.
The story Is not half told, or hundredth
part told, or thousandth part told. None
but God and our suffering brothers and sis
tiers in that far-of land know the wholestory,
and it will not be known until in the corona
lions Of heaven Christ shall lift to special
throne OF glory these heroes and heroines,
saying, "These are they who came out OF
great tribulation and had their robes washed
and made white in the blood of the
Lamb" My Lord and my God, Thou
didst on the cross suffer for them, but
Thou. surely, o Christ. wilt not forget
how much they have suffered for Thee! I
dare not deal in imprecation, but never so
much enjoyed the imprecatory songs OF
David as since have heard how those Turks
are treating the Armenians. The fact is,
Turkey has got to be divided up among 9TH