The sun., 1901-08-11

irvot Of Aimed pnsha's twenty-thrss bat
ta1ions: and, finally, MS dashing flank
march from 1edyr to Beyazid, and the relief
Of thas place In front Of two Turkish corps.
him General Of division OF the first class
Had the Gar many morc like him, this
war wouk heve been completes, q month
aro' Again the gallant young staff
officer. Tarnaiofr. who planned and led ;.c
desperate attack on the Azizi fort In front
for his daring with his life At the present
day the frontier police engaged In con-
trolling the Kurds OF the border Is re-
crhted from among Armenians. MIR.
Lynch deems theso examples sufficient
TO nah TO the counter an inveterate lie from
which tho Armenians have. suffered more.
at least In British estimation. than from
any other supposed defect.
Our author who. It should be remembered.
speaks from hrst-hand observation. says
that were no asked what characteristics dis
tingush the Armenians from othcr Orientals
he should be disposed to lay most emphasis
as eyif It Is this quality to which they
owe their preservation as people and they
are not surpassed in this respect by any
European nation. Their intellectual ca
pacities are supported by solid foundation
OF character, and. unlike the Greeks. but
like the Germans, they are averse TO SUI
their tasks, and plumb them deep. There
Is no race In the nearer East moro quick
OF Learning than are the Pcrsians; yet our
author sug yests that. should you be visit
ed by Persian gentleman accompanied by
his Armenian man OF business. you might
do well to try the experiment OF taking
book down from your shelves. preferably
with illustrations, and hand II to them after
q passing reference. II will be found that
the Persian will look at the pictures, which
he may praise. The Armenian, on the
other hand, will devour the text Of the book
and at each pause In the conversation you
will see him poring over 1t with knitted
brows. This tendency to concentration
IL naturally accompanied by forethought
and balance; 1t Ia these qua lities which
have given the Armenian his pre6mincnce
In commercial ahairs. He Is not less clever
than the 0rsek. but he sees further and,
although ingrained with the petty vices
Of all Oriental traders, the Armenisn mer-
chant IL quick TO appreciate the advantages
Of fair dealing when they are commended
by the conditions under which his vocation
b pursued. 1t seems that amid the hetero-
geneous urban populations OF the Balkans
the proportion Of Armenians implicated
In bankruptcy b comparatively low. II
the fact does not attest the greater integrity
OF Armeniane Il at least indicates their
power to resist an immediate temptation.
and their promptitude in recognizing the
pecuniary value OF commercial stability.
In order, however, to estimate this people
at anything like their true worth, Mr..
Lynch warns us that we should study them
not In the Balkans. or In the Levant, where
corruption Is widespread, but In the Russian
provinces OF Armenia. Here they have
turned to account most successfully the
interval between the period, when the
sword Of Russia was the sword of the de-
liverer, and the present state OF things.
kna tka ~ w
are inspired are those of pan-orthodoxy
and pan-Slavism SO much surprised
was our author by the results achieved
and by the contrast offered between the
progress Of this newly emancipated popu-
lation and the stagnation and retrogres-
sion Of tn eir neighbors OF different nation
alities spread over the wide area Of the
nearer Asia that, without any fixed pre-
vious plrpose he determined to pursue the
study OF the Armenians further. and to
extend his journey into Turkish territory.
What was the spectacle that 40 much i'm
pressed him In Russian Armenia? He
Found that In every trade and profession.
In business and In the Government services
the Armenian was without a rival, and
In full possession OF the field. He equips
, the postal service by which one travels.
and, II one is fortunate enough to encounter
an Inn. thellandlord will be an Armenian.
Most OF the villages in which one sojourns
are inhabited by a brawny Armenian peas
antry. In the towns, II the local Governor
attaches TO a travellers service the head
OF the local police. that officer win be a
stalwart Armenian In Russian uniform.
Through his aid the traveller will find a
lodging or q shady garden in which to
erect his tents.
n one remark on the way some we'll
built edifce that aspires to architectural de-
sign, II will turn out TO be the work OF an
Armenian builder from Alexandropol. In
that city itself, where the Armenians are
most numerous, the love OF building, which
was a marked characteristic Of their fore
fathers, has blossomod again under rela-
lively genial circumstances; a spacious
cathedral and several large churches stand
among new stone houses fronted with am
bilious facades. In Erivan, each toler-
ably rich merchant has lodged himself
In an agreeable villa, tho Italian architect
ure of which nses from amid the shade
OF poplars and willows and fruit trees. The
excellent wine met with In Erivan Is made
according 10 the newest methods by an
Armenian. who investi gated for two years
In Germany the most modern appliances
OF the ~ine.makins industry In Europe.
The financial transactions OF the country
are In the hands Of Armenian bankers.
The skilled workmen, such as jewellers,
watchmakers and carpenters are Arme-
mans Even the officer OF mounted frontier
police, whose long association with the
wilder elementS OF tne pOpuldtpn- -hufuS
and robbers has lent him the appearance
OF a chief Of brigands. viii bear an Armenian
name. The large majority 81 the people
do not speak Russian. or speak IL very i'm
perfectly. We're II not. indeed. for the
fact that the Governors and chief polics
officials OF large districts are Russians,
and that Cossacks and Russian regular
soldiers may be seen here and there the
traveller would not suspect that he was
In Russian province, and would g. his
way with composure until rudely awak
ened by some abrupt collision with the
Russian bureaucratic system. In fine
the Armenian has edged out the Russian,
and, II the conquests OF peace could be
unhlndered. he would ultimately rule In
the land.
Under the circumstances, II Is not sur
prising that the Armenian's g Oriental I'm
aginatlon has been wrought upon to an
imprudent extent. The dream Of a re-
vived Armenian kingdom has fired the
national enthusiasm, which the perusM
OF historical records has fed. The ex-
amples furnished In eastern Europe have
seemed to Justify tho vision. In his second
volume, which deals with the Turkish
provinces, our author undertakes 10 show
the falseness Of such analogics Mean
while, he points out that the hope of an
independent Armenian State. could il ha
realized In a remote future. would not
appeal to all minds alike. Many discern
danger to human progress in the creation
sf small States Tho national scn'imen'
! A al. n