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33 chapters
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
In offering to the public this volume on Bleeding Armenia under the Curse of Islam the writer does not seek to harrow the feelings of sensitive readers by the recital of blood-curdling outrages, tortures, murders , and butcherings; neither does he aim to discuss at any length the involved problems of the Eastern Question, but he does definitely seek to awaken interest in the history and fate of what may truly be called the Martyr Nation of the World. It is not the isolated fact that Armenia is n
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INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
For the present the Sultan reigns in Constantinople and the Czar governs. The situation is evidently an unsettled one, as Hamid’s suicidal policy has prostrated the whole country, and a radical change is to come in the near future. The final doom of the Ottoman Empire can not delay much longer. The world expects to see some sudden developments in the affairs of the East. The fate of agonizing Armenia will be decided, and the relations of the Christian with the Moslem world will enter on a new ph
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THE SARACENS IN ARMENIA.
THE SARACENS IN ARMENIA.
The Saracens soon reëstablished their power; the governors being appointed from Damascus. To punish the Armenians for what they termed their rebellion, many of the nobility were decoyed into churches which were then set on fire and the poor Armenians were burnt alive. Their property was then confiscated, their families siezed and put to death with fiendish cruelty on account of their religious faith. This reads like a chapter of living horrors: for the photographs of to-day are only those of yes
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BOGHA THE TYRANT.
BOGHA THE TYRANT.
The Caliph gave these hapless victims but one alternative—the only alternative Islam ever offers when it has the power, viz: either to renounce Christianity and embrace Islamism, or be put to torture and to death. We shall learn what torture is when we come to rehearse in your tingling ears the devilish cruelties under which upwards of sixty thousand Armenians have perished within the last few months. Many outwardly renounced Christianity as the sight of the prolonged tortures lacerated their he
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THE THIRD ARMENIAN DYNASTY. (A. D. 856.)
THE THIRD ARMENIAN DYNASTY. (A. D. 856.)
In 892 the Caliph confirmed the crown to Sumpad, eldest son of Ashod and the ceremony of coronation was again performed. The treaty of his father was renewed with the Emperor of Constantinople, but his reign proved to be a stormy one through successive invasions of the Persians. At length he was enticed into the power of Yussuf, the Persian, bound in chains and cast into a dark dungeon for a year. From prison he was taken before the walls of a castle which was being besieged. Furious with rage b
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CHAPTER II. THE RISE OF ISLAM.
CHAPTER II. THE RISE OF ISLAM.
This ancient temple, built according to Arabian tradition by the patriarch Abraham, contained besides these molten and graven images, the Black Stone—one of the stones of Paradise which fell down with Adam, but being taken up at the deluge, it was brought to Abraham by the angel Gabriel as a sacred ornament for his restored temple. At any rate, here at this temple in Mecca was the great center of worship, of sacrifice, and to it thronged in vast numbers the idolaters of Arabia. The wild Arab of
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THE CRUSADE OF THE MOB.
THE CRUSADE OF THE MOB.
The verdict of candid history is that the rabble which started in obedience to a popular ferment and perished as a miserable crowd of crazed humanity, deserved the fate they invited; for the world had never witnessed a more pitiable exhibition of demoniacal fanaticism and flagrant violence than was shown by these lawless crowds who followed the cry of Peter the Hermit. They achieved nothing heroic; but their disasters taught Europe that to conquer Jerusalem would be no holiday work. The Princes
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THE CRUSADE OF KINGS AND NOBLES.
THE CRUSADE OF KINGS AND NOBLES.
And now that all Europe seemed pouring into the empire and capital of Alexius, the Emperor began to be alarmed. He had not forgotten the excesses of the first swarm of Crusaders. Should these multitudes now sweeping into and through his domains choose to do so, they could speedily wrest his sovereignty from him and find riches and dominion far easier than in remote and hostile Asia. We have no time to dwell upon the intrigues and treachery that marked his dealings with these mighty leaders of th
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THE DYNASTY OF THE SELJUKIAN TURKS. (A. D. 1038–1152.)
THE DYNASTY OF THE SELJUKIAN TURKS. (A. D. 1038–1152.)
Basilius, the Chief of the city, was a man of great bravery and military skill. He was assisted in the defence of the city by a skillful Armenian priest who, by his inventions rendered the machines raised by the Persians against the walls entirely useless. Then they planned to undermine the fortifications; but this new design was revealed by a soldier who, smarting under some grievous and unjust punishment, shot an arrow into the city to which was fastened a letter making known their plans. A co
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CHAPTER V. THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
CHAPTER V. THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
His reign was from 1451 to 1481. Coming to the throne at the early age of twenty-one, he had read Plutarch assiduously and studied the careers of Alexander, Cæsar and other great conquerors; causing also the biographies of illustrious men to be translated into Turkish, to give to himself and to his people the emulation of glory. On returning to Adrianople, this thirst of glory and of conquest devoured him as it had devoured his ancient models. He coveted Constantinople with a consuming avidity t
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VIENNA NOTE.
VIENNA NOTE.
The Christian nations in solemn treaty pledged themselves to let the Turk do what he would with the people under his yoke and promised that they would do nothing to help them. They disclaimed any right to interfere with the relations existing between the Sultan and his subjects: the relations between the robber and his victim, the master and the slave, the tyrant and the oppressed. Future generations will stand aghast at the hideous spectacle of three civilized nations fighting side by side with
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CHAPTER VII. THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR.
CHAPTER VII. THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR.
The Grand Vizier, Midhat Pasha, replied, that he was preparing a Constitution which would, he believed, embody these and other measures of reform. The Powers trusted his integrity and disposition to promote these reforms; but even though the entire Imperial ministry saw clearly the evils out of which the insurrections had grown, it were in the face of centuries of deceit and the cruelty and the intolerance of Islam, to believe that the Porte would of its own volition enforce these reforms agains
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CHAPTER VIII. THE SULTAN ABDUL HAMID.
CHAPTER VIII. THE SULTAN ABDUL HAMID.
Abdul Hamid cordially disapproved of this check on the absolute power enjoyed by predecessors. He was willing to do justice and to temper it with mercy, but to be placed in the position of a servant to his people was odious to himself. At a council held, when only his other ministers were present, the Sultan asked, what should be done with Midhat Pasha. Two of those present said: “Let him die.” But Abdul Hamid was not bloodthirsty, hence he only banished him to Arabia where two years later he wa
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A CHAPTER OF MISSION HISTORY IN TURKEY.
A CHAPTER OF MISSION HISTORY IN TURKEY.
Then came the reaction against the evangelicals. The more ignorant and bigoted of the clergy looked with terror upon the influx of light among the common people. It seemed to promise only harm to ecclesiastics who had not, and cared not to have, spiritual understanding of the priestly duty. The reactionary party gained the control of the church, they secured the imprisonment and banishment of the evangelical leaders in the Armenian Church, and the excommunication and cruel persecution of all amo
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HAVE MISSIONS IN TURKEY BEEN A FAILURE?
HAVE MISSIONS IN TURKEY BEEN A FAILURE?
The congregations are made ready to hear more thoughtful sermons. Don’t think that it will be a very easy matter to preach in those churches. Criticism of sermons is not confined to American and European churches. Even the sermons of the missionaries are not so welcome as before. They are nowadays anxious to hear only the thoughts that come out from thoroughly educated minds. The cities of Marash, Aintab, etc., which are educational centers, are choosing their pastors from those who are educated
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MODERN TRIUMPHS OF THE GOSPEL IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
MODERN TRIUMPHS OF THE GOSPEL IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
I. The Gospel has triumphed in securing in a great measure to the people of Turkey that most precious treasure, religious liberty and freedom of conscience. In 1820, every Ottoman subject had a right to remain in his own sect and to think as his fathers thought before him. Muslim could remain Muslim, Greek remain Greek, Armenian Armenian, and Maronite Maronite. Each sect was a walled enclosure with gates bolted and barred, and the only possible egress from any was into the fold of Islam. The app
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THE OUTCOME.
THE OUTCOME.
In 1850 the Sultan gave a firman granting to Protestants all the privileges given to other Christian communities, and in 1853 another, declaring Christians before the law equal in all respects to Mohammedans, and the death penalty for apostasy from Islam was abolished. This Magna Charta of Protestant rights is the charter of liberty of conscience to all men in Turkey. The Ottoman Government became to a great extent tolerant, and to-day, as compared with its Northern Muscovite neighbor, it is a m
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THE OUTLOOK.
THE OUTLOOK.
Turkish Armenia, the northwestern division of Kurdestan, is a great plateau of nearly sixty thousand square miles, bounded on the north by the Russian frontier, by Persia on the east, the plains of Mesopotamia on the west, and Asia Minor on the south. There are in all, at the present time, about four million Armenians on the globe, of whom little more than half are in Turkey, and the rest in Russia, Persia, other Asiatic countries, Europe and America. In Armenia—the name and geographical existen
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ARMENIA IN THE MOUNTAINS.
ARMENIA IN THE MOUNTAINS.
If we should leave the valley of the Euphrates to the northward, five hours of steep climbing would bring us to the top of the mountain ridge that overlooks the great plain of Moush, which stretches forty miles away to the eastward towards Lake Van. From the top of this ridge to the Monastery of St. John the Baptist the road is one of the most beautiful in all Armenia, as it follows a terrace path along the mountain side through low forests, commanding a succession of beautiful views into the va
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SASSOUN.
SASSOUN.
The Kurds, notwithstanding their immense number, proved to be unequal to the task. The Armenians held their own and the Kurds got worsted. After two weeks fight between Kurd and Armenian, the regular army entered into active campaign. Mountain pieces began to thunder. The Armenians, having nearly exhausted their ammunition, took to flight. Kurd and Turk pursued them and massacred men, women and children. The houses were searched and then put on fire. The scene of the massacre was most horrible.
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CHAPTER XII. THE REIGN OF TERROR—TREBIZOND AND ERZEROUM.
CHAPTER XII. THE REIGN OF TERROR—TREBIZOND AND ERZEROUM.
The frantic mob, seething and surging in the streets of the cities, swept down upon the defenceless Armenians, plundered their shops, gutted their houses, then joked and jested with the terrified victims, as cats play with mice. As rapid whirling motion produces apparent rest, so the wild frenzy of those fierce fanatic crowds resulted in a condition of seeming calmness, composure, and gentleness which, taken in connection with the unutterable brutality of their acts, was of a nature to freeze me
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CHAPTER XIII. THE REIGN OF TERROR—VAN AND MOUSH.
CHAPTER XIII. THE REIGN OF TERROR—VAN AND MOUSH.
English liberality has already spent five thousand dollars, and the authorities gave reluctant consent to our coming up to distribute it. We located here at Semal, while the Turkish committee has its headquarters at Shenig, half an hour distant. It was evident that the thing to be first accomplished was the erection of houses, and only a few weeks remained in which it would be accomplished, so we set about persuading the people to begin preparing their walls for the timbers the government had pr
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CHAPTER XIV. THE REIGN OF TERROR—HARPOOT AND ZEITOUN.
CHAPTER XIV. THE REIGN OF TERROR—HARPOOT AND ZEITOUN.
Letters received from persons engaged in relief work among the Armenians, gave the following carefully prepared statistics concerning the recent massacres by the Turks under the tolerance of Christian powers in the year of our Lord, 1895–6. These statistics were given in detail for the several villages in Harpoot province. “Killed, thirty thousand six hundred and one; burned to death, one thousand four hundred and thirty-six; preachers and priests killed, fifty-one; died from starvation, two tho
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CHAPTER XV. RELIEF WORK IN ARMENIA.
CHAPTER XV. RELIEF WORK IN ARMENIA.
To the depredations of the Kurds, were added the cruel extortions of the Zaptiehs, or official tax-gatherers. There was absolutely no redress for Christians who suffered in property, life or limb at the hands of Mohammedans. The taxes levied upon Armenians were exorbitant; the bribes that invariably accompanied them, and were imposed by the Zaptiehs, swelled to any proportions, and assumed the most repugnant forms, while the methods employed to collect both constituted by themselves sufficient j
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CHAPTER XVI. THE CURSE OF ISLAM.
CHAPTER XVI. THE CURSE OF ISLAM.
The mental inferiority of the Turk unfortunately matched with a religion of a very low order, has made of him what he is, worse than savages. There is much to say of the inferiority of Islam, but I shall confine myself to showing that the moral law of Islam is essentially immoral . This may seem to some too bold an assertion. Let us see. According to the Koran, the woman must be veiled lest any man look at her and lust after her. She is not to talk with any man other than her nearest relatives.
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TREATY OF BERLIN.
TREATY OF BERLIN.
Art. I. If Batoum, Ardahan, Kars, or any of them shall be retained by Russia, and if any attempt shall be made at any future time by Russia to take possession of any further territory of His Imperial Majesty, the Sultan, in Asia, as fixed by the Definitive Treaty of Peace, England engages to join His Imperial Majesty, the Sultan, in defending them by force of arms. In return, His Imperial Majesty, the Sultan, promises to England to introduce necessary reforms, to be agreed upon later between the
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ANGLO-TURKISH (CYPRUS) CONVENTION.
ANGLO-TURKISH (CYPRUS) CONVENTION.
The Berlin Treaty did not release England from this distinct and individual obligation nor did she wish to divide the honor of being the defender of the Armenian Christians. It may be questioned whether she had any right to expect anything more from the other signatory Powers than their moral support in any attempted enforcement of its terms. Passing by the first part of Art. I. in the Anglo-Turkish Convention the reader is asked to give special attention to the wording of the second part: “In r
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GLADSTONE ON ARMENIA’S FATE.
GLADSTONE ON ARMENIA’S FATE.
The Prison at Erzeroum. “I will refer to the last of these witnesses, one whom I must say I am disposed to name with honor, it is Dr. Dillon, a man who, as the special commissioner of the Daily Telegraph newspaper, some months ago with care and labor, and with the hazard of his life (hear, hear), went into Turkey, laudably making use of a disguise for the purpose, and went into Armenia, so that he might make himself thoroughly master of the facts. (Cheers.) He published his results before any pu
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THE CASE OF DR. CHRISTIE.
THE CASE OF DR. CHRISTIE.
The missionaries of the American Board throughout Anatolia declined to follow the advice of minister Terrell and seek a place of safety, feeling it to be their duty to care for the property of the Boards , to preserve the schools from being scattered and destroyed, and by their presence restrain the impulses of fanatical Moslems and make safer the conditions of native Christians. “If we fall martyrs to our desire to prevent horrible massacres so be it. God has plenty of workers to take our place
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HEROISM OF MISSIONARIES.
HEROISM OF MISSIONARIES.
But time would fail to tell you of the noble deeds wrought by brave, devoted women at Sivas, Hadjin, Adana, Oorfa and among the villages of Mesopotamia. Only the recording angels at the last day can fully recite their deeds of heroism. At the great crisis in their life’s work, nobly did they fulfill their highest, holiest duty. Action of the United States Senate—a protest against European apathy in not compelling Turkey to observe the Berlin Treaty: On January 22, 1896, Mr. Cullom, from the Sena
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DUTY OF THE POWERS.
DUTY OF THE POWERS.
Mr. Cullom (Rep., Ill.) reported from the Senate committee on foreign relations the following Armenian resolution: “Whereas, The supplementary treaty of Berlin of July 13, 1878, between the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and Russia contains the following provisions: “‘LXI.—The Sublime Porte undertakes to carry out without further delay the ameliorations and reforms demanded by local requirements in the provinces inhabited by the Armenians and to guarantee thei
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CULLOM’S ARMENIAN RESOLUTION.
CULLOM’S ARMENIAN RESOLUTION.
“Resolved, That the President be requested to communicate these resolutions to the governments of Great Britain, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and Russia. “Resolved, further, That the Senate of the United States, the House of Representatives concurring, will support the President in the most vigorous action he may take for the protection and security of American citizens in Turkey, and to obtain redress for injuries committed on the persons or property of such citizens.” Mr. Cullom said the r
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