Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-10

ERIVAN. Armenia, June z, 1910.
Armenia is perhaps the oldest Of all
the Christian countries In the world
1t was a powerful ma
Pre-. Christian ton at the advent Of
u;... Christ. although at diff
A0AJ' ferent periods in its his
tory it was occupied by the Persians
under Cyrus, the Macedonians under
Alexander the Great and the Romans
under the Caesars. One of the kings OF
Armenia, Tigranes II, made treaty with
Pompey. under which he submitted to
q protectorate from Rome. but after his
death his son and successor. Artavasdes
III. rebelled, was severely chastised by
Marc Antony and taken prisoner to Alex
andria. where he was beheaded In the
year 80 B. c. by order of Cleopatra.
There is legend that one Of the i'm
mediate successors of Tigranes. having
heard Of the teachings Of Jesus and his
persecution by the Jews. sent Him
letter by a distinguished envoy, offering
Him the hospitality Of Armenia and the
widest freedom In carrying on His work.
Jesus. the tradition continues. replied
that His duty lay among His own people,
but sent a representative In the person
of His disciple Thaddeus. who was warm
ly received and preached the new gospel
throughout the kingdom until the entire
population accepted the Christian faith.
Some clever fabrfcator several years
manuscript Of this correspondence among
the archives Of one Of the ancient Arme-
MAN monasteries. and the announcement
created a decided sensation.
It is matter Of regret that this
legend cannot be sustained. but 1t is
an actual fact that
Earliest sTridates. King of Ar
menia, was converted
Conversion. to Christianity in the
year $50 A. D. by st. Gregory. THE
Enlightener," and was therefore the first
sovereign in the world to accept the new
faith and to adopt it as the religion OF
his nation. The Emperor Constantine did
not accept Christianity until thirty years
or more after. of
and the monastry Of Etchmiadzin, twelve
miles from Erivan-is still, as 1t has
been from the third century. the ecclesi-
astical headquarters OF the Armenian
church. The word in English means The
only begotten.''
But the Armenians have had a stormy
time in defense of their religion ever
since Theological controversies began
early among them. and persecution has
refused to accept the decree of the coun-
Gil Of Chalcedon and in 491 A. D. seeded
from the Church Of Rome. Later they
separated from the orthodox Greeks and
although frequent attempts have been
made to bring about q reunion with the
church of Russia. which is q branch of
the Greek church. the Armenians have
remained an independent ecclesiastical
I,rlx v~-{<k mr. nat Ia rch Io6 a
KatholiSos as its administrative head.
with the monastery of Etchmiadzin as
his metropolis. He Is elected for life by
delegates from the various Armenian
come here for that purpose when a va
cancy occurs, and he is the spiritual
head OF all Delivers in the Armenian
creed In America. Europe, Asia and AZ
Katholikos does not extend to theologi-
cal questions The creed Of that faith
cannot be altered except by q vote Of
the house of bishops. and he does not
claim to be infallible: His jurisdiction
is executive and judicial. and he Is pro-
tected by the Car Of Russia, who en-
forces his edicts.
No people have suffered so much for
their religion. not even the children Of
Israel. as the Armen-
Turkish ians. and the atroci-
nA: ties committed upon
keIsecutIou. them during the thirty
years Of the reign Of Abdul Hamid. the
late Sultan of Turkey, were the most bar
barous that modern history has ever re-
corded. I do not remember that ever be-
FORE at least in modern times. the SOW
ereign of a country deliberately set about
to exterminate by massacre the subjects
{a lnY11 a
question that THE Great Assassin: the
Unspeakable Turk" as Mr. Gladstone
called him. gave the instructions that
led to the slaughter OF nearly !oo.oOe
Armenia. the destruction OF their homes,
| the plundering Of their property and
the violation of their wives and daugh,
| tiers. Even If there had been any previ-
Gus doubt Of his guilt. documents found
| in the Yildiz Kiosk after he was deposed
established the fact that he had de-
liberate intention to depopulate A RI
Systematic and thorough manner.
1t has long been conceded that a
Mahommedan. cannot govern pe1evers
IA far o' Abdul Hamid was actuated BY
fanaticism, how far he applied reli-
gious prejudices for political purposes.
whether he was a1said tn s',cc cee in
throwing of his yoke. are con1ecsuttes
upon which students Of Turkish ana .hs
will never agree. he knew from TIC
events of the past that he could never
convert the Christian inhabitants OF his
empire to Islam by the sword. because use
Which c the only
strengthened their faith: but no sultan
since Selim the Infiexible ever did more
to stimulate religious intolerance ana
encourage his Musselmen subjects TO
persecute his Christian subjects tnan
Abdul Hamid in Bulgaria ana otner
parts Of his empire as well as ARMENIA
The Armenians who inhabit the norm
ern part Of Asia Minor along the south
ern coast of the Black sea are simple,
Quiet. primitive people of AGRICULTURAL ana
IA storal pursuits. They live In small VII
| iaRees and are devoted to their families ana
their religion. For centuries they nave SUI
Tered from the depredations or the kuros
migratory half civilized tribes VINO nauht
The mountains during the summer, out
In winter come down to the plains ana
either quarter themselves upon the Ar
| menian peasants or plumber them. some
VILLAGES pay regular blackmail. as the
ccottish farmers used to do to protect
themselves from troublesome highland
Clans Sometimes the Armen1ans oeIeho-
| cd themselves. but while they nave not
Iacked courage. as their records snow
very few had arms and those VINO oio
nrrchase guns and ammunition were IN
Constant peril of arrest for conspiracy
Occa sionally when they resisted the lhVa-
s;ons Of the KurdS their villages were
entirely destroyed and the lnaapitants put
| IN the sword, men. women ana chli9ien
allie with a ferocious brutahty In winch
turkish soldiers invariably joined with