The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-01-13
-------------.--' - IRGdItS LGIEHR TO CHRIST,
Strange Document Said to be in Existence
 in a Museum.


 Strange Document Said to be in Existence in a Museum.
 tFrom the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. l "The ArmenIans," said a clergyman
 of that race the other day, "are the | first Christian race we accepted Christ
 when all others rejected him. Abgar,
 king of the Armenians at Etesia, the city of Abraham, heard of Christ, who
 was at that time in Jerusalem, healing the sick. Abgar wrote letter to Christ saying: You must be Gods son or God himself. for what you are doing no
 man in this world cam do. Pray come
 to my country; 1t is not large country, but it is large enough for you and me This letter is still in existence. It is in Cairo, in the famous strong room of the museum, and has besn read by many English scholars. l told the story of this letter to an English gentleman lloIb long since arrived from Egypt, but had only fairly begun it when he said, Oh, yes; I know about that letter. saw 1t myself in the strong room at Cairo, and it was translated to me there This letter is written in Armen- ian words, but with Syrian letters, for
 at that period of our history our lan- guage was not complete, and we were
 using the Greek and Syrian lstters.
 Christ replied to Abgars letter that
 his mission forbade him to depart from Jerusalem, but that he would send his apostles into Armenia toteach and heal Shortly after this, Abgar who was conn pletely converted to the Christian faith sent a man to Jerusalem ito make q por- trait of Christ, as he wished to behold his features. This the artist found itn- 1 possible to do, as the features of Christ defied portrayal, and his color changed readily from red to white with his varying emotions.
 When Christ observed the futile at tempts of the artist to make his likeness
 he asked for Handkerchief, and when 1t was given to him he pressed his face into it ard madetherupon d prefect like
 ness, This handkerchief the artist and
 his company carried back to Armenia rnfolded all the way lest a. crease
 should injure the face When they re- turned to Abgar he was overcome with emotion, and coming down from his throne, kissed the handkerchief intoken of reverence.
 Shortly after this the Romans. hear ing Of this wonderful handkerchief in
 Abgar's possession, went to war with
 him for 1t. The Armenians made a
 brave fight, bue were as a handful con-
 pared with the Romans, and were soon
 in such straits that 1t was clear the handkerchief would be wregted from them. At this crisis Abgnr determined
 that the sacred Treasure should never fall into the hands of the Romans, and weighted the handkerchief with st0fes and threw 1t into d well in Etesia, and to this day the name of sl1e well is Surp
 Tuschrag, or St. Handkerchief. Such
 is one of the stories of our earlier his tory, for we do not admit that it is
 mere tradition.
 Another thing we claim is that God
 spoke Armenian with Adam and Evgiin the Garden of Eden, which was located i in Armenia, and our history also shows us that the Armenians, were the only people who did not assist in the build
 ing of the tower of Babel Noah was
 alive at the time. and spoke the lan-
 guage Of Adam which was Armenian After the ark rested on Mount Ararat, in Armenia, Noah named the first house he built Nahisoan, meaning T just got down. Yes, we are the oldest people and the oldest Christian natlors in the world We do not need your mission- aries''