New Britain herald., 1918-11-23
WHO ARE THE ApMEN5zlAANS?

l ine Each nation great or small, to- ! dav has come to know about the rest of the members of the human race more than ever before. Upon the fall ! Of the autOcratic governments and complete surrender of Germany, the small and oppressed nations are Stiv- ing to make all the possible appeals for freedom and self-goVcrnnla ant to , the Peace Conference which is about to convene. Among many others, the Armenians have the full rights and courage to appeal to that Court of Justice, based on their national capac- ity-in the past and at the present.
 The name Arm cnia" has become familiar to the Christian world in con- nectiCn with the wholesale massaCres inflicted upon it's people since 1894. Some pity and others blame them for their hard lot and a very poor and incomplete picture of the Armerians is drawn in the popular imagination.
 The language, the race, the religion, the past and present conditions, and the character of the Armenians have been subject of careful research by many scholars and travellers. But the general public remain largely ignorant of knowledge thus accumulated. It is, and we expect will be, of great i'm pOrtance for the American public to get some general view of this most interesting race, which is again at tracting attention.
 The Armenians are recognized to be the most capable, and they are cer- tainly destined to be the main inter- mediaries between the Western Civi- lization and the nations of Western Asia.
 The Armenians by race and lan- guage are an ancient people of the Indo- European family, like the Eng fish, the French and the Americans. Of a stature usually above the aver age, they are well built and powerful They are described as 'serious, sober, frugal, and hospitable." They are everywhere noted for their industry, their quick intelligence, their apti- tude for business, and their sturdiness of character. The Armenians have had very little chance to develop their capabilities in their own native land, being subject to perpetual persecu- tiOns. Hence the necessity for many to emigratc into foreign countries. And wherever they have gone they have met with success. and not a few
  selves in the fields of diplomacy and military service, as well as those of commerce and industry There are over 100, ,000 Armenians in this coun- try largely settled~ in the manufac- turing centers of the Eastern States. and in California where they are en- gagged in farming and raising fruit orchards Before the war there were \ 5r,,N colleges and universities of this Re- public. These young men and women had to work their way through. and earn scholarships, to enable them for further study.
 The Armenian language in it's fun damental stock is rich in roots and capable of infinite development through new combinations. The Classical Armenian, as found in the golden literature of the Fifth Century was a plastic and noble laneua.ce capable of rendering faithfully the Greek and Latin literature of that time. As to the value of the Ancient Medieval and modern Armenian literature, Sir Henry Norman, an English scholar, thinks them to be Tn their limited form, comparable to any other literature
 The Armenians are deeply religious and display unshaken loyalty to their spiritual convictions. King Tiridates established Christianity as the offica1 religion of Arm enia toward the end of the third century, and set an oyan,n1n which was followed by Emperor Con stantlne In 451 the Armenian peonIe rose, under the leadership of Genera1 Vartan, against Persia to defend inc church against the prosecutions of Mazdasm. Ever since the ten,nos+ of persecution has always streng+b- ened the roots of Christianity in Armenian hearts. While unshakeablo ln his faith, the Armenian has intel lectually been very free and open- minded Theirs is a religion of the heart, not of the head alone.
 Such being the deadly earnestnase and religious sincerity of the race. no wonder it has suryived it's ancient contemporaries - Babylon. Assvria Fers1a and Rome. Upon the over WheImlnS invasion of the Turks and egyptian Memluks the Kinedono of armenia was shattered to pieces in Ilicla by 1875. But ever since inc spirit ot Independence lived in the heart of every Armenian.
 For long centuries tha Armenians nave stood between the East and inc West on the confines of barbarism ana c1VIllzatlon, with the sword in one hand to fight the Persians. Arahs Turks and Kurds, and with the torch or Christian faith and culture in the other hand to enlighten the Eastern peoples.
 Armenia is Europe Asia in the oud' It is land out of which will develop fresh clements of economic moral and religious progress Bv it's strong religious sentiments and philo- soph1cal turn of mind it is the kin of all the fine sensitive natures among