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LETTERS    FROM    ARMENIA 


Introductory  Letter  from 
Mr.   Gladstone. 

Hawardeii  Castle, 
Chestet', 

Jan.  14,  iSgy. 

» 

Dear  Mr.  Rendel  Harris, 

I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  you 
intend  to  publish  a  volume  of  your  letters 
on  your  experiences  while  distributing  relief 
and  travelling  through  Armenia. 

I  am  sure  that  it  is  of  great  importance 
that  all  the  information  possible  shoidd  be 
given  on  this  subject,  especially  where  it  can 
be  given  at  first  hand. 

Yours  faithfully, 

W.  E.   GLADSTONE. 


LETTERS 

FROM    THE    SCENES    OF    THE 
RECENT    MASSACRES    IN 

ARMENIA 


BY 

J.    RENDEL    HARRIS 


AND 


HELEN    B.    HARRIS 


5Lanlioii 

JAMES    NISBET    &    CO.,    LIMITED 

21  BEKNERS  STREET 

1897 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hanson  &  Co. 
At  the  BallaiUyne  Press 


PREFACE 


The  following  letters  consist  of  a  correspondence  carried 
on  by  my  wife  and  myself  with  a  small  circle  of  in- 
terested friends  in  England  who  followed  our  expedition 
to  Armenia  in  the  spring  of  the  present  year  with  every 
form  of  sympathy,  spiritual,  moral,  and  material.  As 
often  happens  in  such  cases,  the  information  which  we 
were  able  to  send  concerning  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
the  interior  of  Asiatic  Turkey  was  soon  in  demand  by 
others  than  those  for  whom  it  was  initially  designed ;  and 
when  the  channels  which  we  had  marked  for  our  little 
stream  of  testimony  had  once  been  overflowed,  it  was 
not  easy  to  refuse  the  request  of  a  leading  London  firm 
of  publishers  who  wished  to  make  our  brook  into  a  river 
(with  appropriate  banks  of  copyright).  And  so,  though 
we  had  no  intention  in  the  first  instance  of  allowing 
general  publicity  to  these  letters,  we  have  in  the  end 
agreed  that  they  may  be  reproduced. 

One  reason,  which  encourages  us  to  believe  that  they 
may  be  further  helpful  in  the  cause  of  the  redemption 
of  the  Eastern  Christians  from  Turkish  tyranny,  lies  in 
the  fact  that  they  have  already  been  the  means  of  con- 
vincing some  thoughtful  persons  of  the  gravity  of  the 


2234542 


vi  PREFACE 

issues  involved.  And  this  lias  been  accomplished,  as  I 
suppose,  not  by  any  extravagant  tale  of  horrors,  nor  by 
the  recapitulation  o£  stories  of  unnatural  cruelty  and 
crime,  but  by  the  rude  sketch  which  the  letters  furnish 
of  the  Armenian  national  life  and  character  as  seen  by 
those  who  have  taken  time  for  the  study,  and  who  are 
both  sympathetic  and  critical  in  their  attitude  towards 
these  unfortunate  people,  so  as  not  to  underrate  their 
virtues,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  to  be  blind  to  their 
faults.  We  were  soon  compelled  to  recognise  that  civi- 
lisation in  Armenia  was  making  very  rapid  strides  in- 
deed, even  in  face  of  a  tyranny  which  had  assiduously 
encompassed  the  destruction  of  "the  whole  forest  of 
civility,"  as  Wordsworth  calls  it,  and  which  in  recent 
repressive  measures  had  "  doomed  it  to  perish,  to  the 
last  fair  tree."  But  of  a  genuine  civilisation  it  may  be 
said,  as  of  a  truly  progressive  religion  (and  the  Armenians 
have  both),  that  the  forces  which  are  with  us  are  more 
than  those  that  are  against  us. 

The  moderate  tone  of  the  letters  was  necessary,  too, 
in  a  country  where  correspondence  was  continually  in 
danger  of  being  intercepted  by  the  authorities ;  but  it 
must  not  be  assumed  that  we  have  told  more  than  a 
fraction  of  the  misery  which  we  have  seen,  or  reported 
more  than  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  horrors  of  which 
we  have  heard. 

Some  trifling  expansions  have  been  made  by  means 
of  footnotes  for  the  sake  of  persons  who  may  not  have 
followed  the  story  of  Armenian  undoing  so  closely  as  to 
be  familiar  with  all  the  historical  matters  alluded  to. 


PREFACE  vii 

I  take  this  opportunity  of  thanking  those  friends  who 
have  helped  us  hitherto  in  the  prosecution  of  our  journey 
and  in  the  circulation  of  the  letters,  especially  Mr.  F.  W. 
Crossley  of  Manchester,  whose  advice  and  assistance  have 
been  invaluable  to  us,  Dr.  E.  Kingston  Fox,  who  took  upon 
himself  the  burden  of  the  transcription  and  distribution 
of  our  bulletins,  and  our  friend  Edmund  Wright  Brooks, 
who  acted  and  still  acts  as  treasurer  of  the  fund  which 
the  Society  of  Friends  opened  on  our  account,  and  whose 
sympathetic  co-operation  has  been  given  to  us  so  freely 
through  the  whole  of  this  difficult  expedition. 

J.  RENDEL  HARRIS. 


CONTENTS 


LETTER  PAGE 

I.    ARRIVAL  AT  CONSTANTINOPLE — VISIT  TO  THE   BRITISH  EMBASSY  I 

IL    VISIT  TO  JUDGE  TARRING — A  FRIENDS*    MEETING   IN   STAMBOUL — 
ROBERT   COLLEGE — VISIT   TO    THE    PATRIARCH     IZMIRLIAN — 
FRIENDS     OF    THE    SUFFERING    ARMENIANS   AT   OHALOEDON, 
ETC.     ...........  6 

III.  ARRIVAL  OF  THE  "  TESKEREH  "—THE  NEWLY  DISCOVERED  SIXTH- 
CENTURY   GOSPELS 15 

IV.  PROJECTED  DEPARTURE  FROM  SMYRNA  TO  ALEXANDRETTA — AN 
AMERICAN  LADY  MISSIONARY  FROM  THE  INTERIOR  —  POSSI- 
BILITY   OF   ARMENIAN   EMIGRATION l^ 

V.    ARRIVAL   AT   ALEXANDRETTA— START   FOR   THE   INTERIOR     .  .         22 

VI.    JOURNEY    TO   AINTAB — TROUBLES     AT    KILLIS — AN    EARLY    START 

BAULKED — A   HARD   NIGHT — ARRIVAL   AT   AINTAB           .            .         27 
VII.   AMERICAN     BRAVERY — OFFICIAL     HYPOCRISY     AND     FATALISM — 
DETAILS   OF   THE   GREAT   MASSACRE — INSULTS    TO    ENGLAND 
— OCCUPATIONS     OF     ARMENIAN     WOMEN  —  SOME     COMPAS- 
SIONATE  TURKS,    ETC 30 

VIII.  AMERICAN  CIVILISATION  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  TURKISH  DESOLA- 
TION—  REVIVAL  OF  RELIGION  IN  AINTAB— REMARKABLE  SER- 
VICES  IN   THE  OLD   GREGORIAN   AND   PROTESTANT   CHURCHES         4 1 

IX.  CROSSING  THE  EUPHRATES— DRYING  UP  OF  THE  GREAT  RIVER 
— DIFFUSION  OF  THE  KURDS — MISS  SHATTUOK,  THE  HEROINE 

OF   OURFA,    ETC 49 

X.    A    MORNING    WITH   MISS    SHATTUCK   AT   OURFA       ....         54 

XI.  HOUSE  HIRED  IN  OURFA  —  ANCIENT  LEGENDS  OF  EDESSA — 
RELIEF  WORK  IN  THE  CITY  —  AN  ARCH^OLOGICAL  PUZZLE, 
ETC 59 

XII.  VISIT  TO  THE  BURNED  CHURCH — A  CALL  UPON  THE  PASHA'S 
WIFE — HER  WARM  SYMPATHY   WITH  THE  SUFFERING   PEOPLE, 

ETC 

ix 


68 


ICONTENTS 


LETTER  PAGE 

XIII.  A  COMMUNICATION   FEOM   SOME  LEADING  EDESSANS  .  ,        75 

XIV.  SCHEMES  OF   BELIEF  AND  SOCIAL    RECONSTRUCTION — ORPHANS, 

WIDOWS,    AND  SCHOOLS 8 1 

XV.  OUR  FOURTH  SUNDAY  IN  OURFA — WOMEN'S  MEETING  IN  THE 
PROTESTANT  CHURCH — AN  ARMENIAN  BETROTHAL — LETTERS 
FROM   MISSIONARIES 88 

XVL  WE  LEAVE  OURFA  AND  VISIT  GABMOUSH  AND  SEVERER — A 
NIGHT  IN  A  HOVEL — MASSACRE  IN  SEVERER — OUR  SERVANT 
CLAPPED  IN  PRISON — A  NIGHT  IN  A  KURDISH  TENT — 
ARRIVAL   AT   DIARBEKIR 96 

XVII.  DIFFICULTIES  AT  DIARBEKIR — A  ROUGH  RIDE  TO  MARDIN — 
EXCURSION  IN  SEARCH  OF  MSS. — ALEXANDER  IN  TROUBLE 
AGAIN 103 

XVIII.   CLOSING  OF   THE  HIGH  SCHOOL — IMPOSING   CEREMONIES — VISIT 

TO   THE   JACOBITE   SCHOOLS,    ETC IO9 

XIX.   FIRST  RUMOURS   OP   THE   VAN   MASSACRE II3 

XX.   A    MODERN   SIMEON    STYLITES— BRIEF   ACCOUNT    OF   A  VISIT  TO 

THE   TUR   ABDIn — VISIT   TO   A   TURKISH   PRISON,    ETC.  .       II5 

XXI.  JOURNEY  FROM  MARDIN  TO  DIARBEKIR— FORDING  THE  TIGRIS 
RIVER — INCIDENT  AT  A  DESOLATED  VILLAGE — NATURE  AND 
EFFECTS  OF  THE  MASSACRE  AT  DIARBEKIR — THE  FRENCH 
CONSUL — PLANS    FOR   FUTURE   MOVEMENTS  .  .  -123 

XXII.  ATTEMPTS  AT  RELIEF  IN  DIARBEKIR  AND  NEIGHBOURHOOD — 
A  REVIEW  OP  HAMIDIYEH  CAVALRY,  ETC. — A  SAD  LETTER 
FROM  AINTAB I30 

XXIII.  JOURNEY    FROM    DIARBEKIR   TO   HARPOOT— TAURUS    MOUNTAINS 

— SOURCE  OP  THE  TIGRIS — HEROIC  BAND  OF  MISSIONARIES 
AT  HARPOOT  :  STORY  OP  THEIR  PRESERVATION  DURING 
THE   MASSACRE   AND   IN   THE   PRESENCE   OF   DEATH     .  .       I4I 

XXIV.  HOW      TO      HELP      THE      DESOLATED      VILLAGES  ?  —  CONDITION 

AROUND  HARPOOT  —  DESPAIR  OF  THE  VILLAGERS — PETI- 
TION FROM  HOO-I-LOO  FOR  REBUILDING  OF  PROTESTANT 
CHURCH  —  VISIT  TO  THE  VILLAGE  IN  RUINS  —  MEAL  IN 
AN  ORCHARD  —  ASSESSING  THE  TAXES  OP  THE  DEAD 
UPON  THE  SURVIVORS — PLANS  FOR  FUTURE  WORK — VAN, 
MALATIA,    ETC. 147 


CONTENTS  i 

LETTER  PAGE 

XXV.  VIGOROUS  PROTESTS  AGAINST  WESTERN  SCEPTICISM — DIFFI- 
CULTIES OF  RELIEF  WORK — REBUILDING  OF  VILLAGES, 
ETC 155 

XXVL  DETENTION  AT  HAEPOOT  OWING  TO  DIFFICULTIES  OF  TRANSIT 
— STORY  OF  A  YOUNG  ARMENIAN,  JUST  RECOVERED  FROM 
HIS  WOUNDS,  NOW  PUT  IN  PRISON — QUESTION  OF  THE  RE- 
LEASE OF  THE  MANY  IMPRISONED  ARMENIANS  ;  IS  BRIBERY 
LAWFUL  ? — A  HARD  CASE  —  EXAMPLE  OF  THE  EARLY 
CHURCH — THE  MISSIONARIES'  DECISION — LETTER  FROM 
OURFA — TEACHING  THE  WOMEN  AND  GIRLS — WORK  FOR 
THE  ORPHANS — "HARRIS  HOME"  IN  FULL  OPERATION — 
ONLY   THOSE   ENTIRELY   ORPHANED   CAN   BE   HELPED  .       l6o 

XXVII.  ARRIVAL  AT  MALATIA — EXTENSIVE  DISTRESS  THERE — A  PARA- 
DISE CITY — ACCOUNT  OF  THE  MASSACRE — THE  RUINS  TO- 
DAY— HOW  TO  HELP  THE  PEOPLE — THE  REFORM  COM- 
MISSIONER— LARGE  MEETING  IN  A  GARDEN — DEPARTURE 
OP  J.  R.  H. — PASSPORTS  FOR  THE  TWO  SERVANTS — INTER- 
VIEW WITH  SHAKIR  PASHA,  AND  WITH  THE  PASHA's 
WIFE  IN  THE  HAREM — A  FRIENDLY  BEY  WHO  HELPED 
THE  ARMENIANS — EMBROIDERY  WORK — BOARDING  OUT 
THE  ORPHANS:  FIVE  POUNDS  FOR  ONE  YEAR  —  THE 
PRESS  OF  TEARFUL  WOMEN — CONFISCATING  THE  FRUIT 
IN  THE  GARDENS — PERSECUTION  OF  KURDS  WHO  REFUSED 
TO  MASSACRE — MISS  BUSH  AND   DR.   GATES       .  .  .      l66 

XXVIII,  OUE  LAST  DAY  IN  MALATIA  :  A  BUSY  CROWD — SELECTING 
FIFTY  ORPHANS  OUT  OF  FIFTEEN  HUNDRED— DEPARTURE 
— GOODNESS  OF  SOME  MOSLEMS — THE  ZAPTIEHS— JOURNEY 
BACK  TO  HARPOOT  BEGUILED  BY  HYMNS — WELCOME  AT 
HAHPOOT — PLANS   FOR   VAN 1 75 

MEMORANDUM  :    NOTES  OF   INFORMATION  FROM  J.   R.   H.  .      l8o 

XXIX.  PRIVATE  LETTER  OF  THANKS  FOR  UNEXPECTED  CONTRIBUTION 
— BUILDING  OP  SCHOOLS,  ETC.,  AT  MALATIA — THE  PEOPLE 
SET  OHOROH  BEFORE  HOUSES — ONE  THOUSAND  CHILDREN 
TO  BE  ACCOMMODATED — A  JOINT  SCHOOL  BOARD — UNION 
OF  THE  CHURCHES I9I 

XXX.  JOURNEY  TO  VAN  PUT  ASIDE  FOR  THE  PRESENT — HEMMED  IN 
AT  HARPOOT — SIGNS  OF  TROUBLE  AROUND — PRESENCE  OF 
H.  B.  H.  "  A  SAFEGUARD  TO  THE  TOWN  " — COLLEGE 
FLOURISHING — H.  B.  H.  ILL  WITH  MALARIAL  FEVER — 
THE   GREAT   NEED   OF   HELP  FOB  THE  ORPHANS         .  .199 


xii  CONTENTS 

LETTER  PAGE 

XXXI.  SUMMARY   BY   K.   H.    F.    OF   PRIVATE    LETTER   FROM  H.   B.   H — 

SYMPTOMS  OF  FURTHER  MASSACRES — THE  BLOW  FELL  AT 
EGHIN — HARPOOT  THREATENED — STATE  OF  TERROR — THE 
PROTESTANTS  TO  BE  SUPPRESSED — REPORT  OP  THE  EGHIN 
MASSACRE 206 

XXXII.  INTENDED     VISIT     TO     EGHIN  —  FURTHER     REPORT     OF     THE 

MASSACRE  THERE  —  TWO  LETTERS  FROM  PROTESTANT 
ARMENIANS    IN    NEIGHBOURING   TOWNS      .  .  .  .212 

XXXIII.  LETTER    PROM    J.    R.    H.,    NARRATING    HIS    JOURNEY    OUT    OF 

ARMENIA  IN  AUGUST,  VISITING  KHANGAL,  SIVAS  :  MAR- 
TYRDOM OF  PASTOR — TOKAT  :  TOMB  OF  HENRY  MARTYN — 
MARSOVAN — AMASIA  :  CLIMATE  OF  PONTUS  :  TERTULLIAN 
ON  MARCION — SAMSOUN — REPORT  ON  REBUILDING  VIL- 
LAGES— FURTHER   REPORT   ON   EGHIN   MASSACRE        ,  .      217 

XXXIV.  ON   THE   EVE   OF   SETTING    OUT   FROM    HARPOOT    FOR    ARABKIR 

AND  EGHIN — THE  LATE  PANIC  :  MASSACRE  AVERTED — 
THAT  AT  EGHIN  CARRIED  OUT  BY  THE  CITIZENS  :  ALLEGED 
REVOLUTIONARY  CAUSE  FALSE — AT  ARABKIR,  THE  PEOPLE 
STARVING — THE  REPAIRED  SCHOOLHOUSE  AT  HARPOOT 
WELL   FILLED — COLLEGE   DOING   EXCELLENT    WORK   .  .227 

XXXV.  DEPARTURE  FROM  HARPOOT — DELAYS,  FAREWELLS— TOILSOME 
JOURNEY — ARABKIR — A  FINE  CITY,  IN  RUINS — THE  BETTER 
CLASSES  IN  POVERTY — VISITS  FROM  THE  WOMEN  TILL 
STOPPED  BY  THE  GOVERNOR — A  HEROIC  TURKISH  ZAP- 
TIBH  :   VISIT  TO   HIS   SICK-BED 23 1 

XXXVI.  LETTER  FROM  H.  B.  H. — VISITING  THE  WOMEN  AT  ARABKIR: 
A  MEETING  WITH  THEM — DISORDER  HARSHLY  QUELLED 
BY  THE  SEXTON — JOURNEY  TO  EGHIN  :  A  ROMANTIC  LITTLE 
CITY,  RUINS  OF  BEAUTIFUL  HOUSES  :  SAD  TALES  OF  THE 
MASSACRE  THERE,  AND  AT  FIVE  NEAR  VILLAGES — THE 
BEREAVED  WOMEN  IN  THEIR  HOMES  —  PROVISION  OF 
WHEAT,  BEDDING,  ETC.,  FOR  WINTER  NEEDS  —  LETTER 
FROM  MISS  BUSH,  EGHIN — LETTER  FROM  MISS  SHATTUCK, 
OURFA 238 

XXXVII.  JOURNEY  FROM  SIVAS  TO  MARSOVAN  VIA  TOKAT — HARD 
TRAVEL — WELCOME  AT  MARSOVAN — AN  IDEAL  MISSION 
THERE — TOILSOME  JOURNEY  TO  SAMSOUN — LETTER  FROM 
HARPOOT,  STATING  PRESENT  DIFFICULTIES  AND  THE 
APPARENT  INTENTION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  TO  CLOSE 
THE  MISSION   SCHOOLS,    ETC. — RELIEF  WORK   IN   EGHIN   .      249 


TURKISH  AHMKNIA 

with  routB    of 

J.R.<3e  H.B.Hartits  . 


Tiflis    ^ 


TRANS  CAUCASIA 


PERSIA 


O Nisi  bin 

M  E  S  O  P  0  '\  A  >^  ^  ^ 


Mosul  (S 


LETTERS    PEOM    ARMENIA 


LETTER  No.  I. 

ARRIVAL  AT   CONSTANTINOPLE — VISIT  TO   THE 
BRITISH   EMBASSY. 

Constantinople,  March  28,  1896. 

Dear  Friends, — We  arrived  here  safely,  as  we  expected, 
on  the  afternoon  of  March  25,  the  weather  being  glori- 
ously fine,  though  much  cooler  than  in  Paris,  and  after 
some  Custom  House  difiiculty  drove  through  the  crowded 
streets  to  the  Hotel  in  Pera,  where  for  several  days  we 
have  been  most  comfortably  housed,  though  now  we  have 
removed  to  the  house  of  our  most  kind  and  hospitable 
friends,  G.  D.  and  his  wife,  where  we  feel  quite  settled 
and  at  home. 

R.  sent  his  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr.  Atkin,  with 
our  cards,  to  the  British  Embassy  immediately  on  our 
arrival,  and  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  kindly  accom- 
panied by  Mrs.  D.,  we  called  on  Clara  Barton,^  and  heard 

1  President  of  the  American  Red  Cross  Society. 

A 


2  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

from  her  and  Mr.  Pullman  a  most  interesting  account  of 
their  experience  since  coming  here.  She  said  that  they 
had  been  very  kindly  treated  by  the  Turkish  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  that  the  English  newspapers  were 
wrong  in  saying  that  every  obstacle  had  been  placed  in 
their  way.  Four  gentlemen,  agents  of  the  Red  Cross,  are 
now  en  route  for  Armenia,  by  way  of  Smyrna,  viz.,  Dr. 
Hubbell  and  Mr.  Mason ;  and  Messrs.  Wistar  and  Wood, 
who  left  by  the  last  steamer  for  Alexandretta.  Large 
supplies  of  clothing  have  gone  with  them,  and  sewing- 
machines  as  well !  These  have  all  gone  with  a  simple 
Turkish  passport,  not  waiting  for  the  Irad^,  which  is 
still  in  cloudland. 

We  feel  much  sympathy  for  Miss  Barton  and  party, 
however,  in  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Mason,  the  only  other 
lady  who  came  with  them,  and  mother  of  one  of 
the  two  gentlemen  who  went  off  first,  died  on  the 
day  of  our  arrival  from  bronchitis,  &c.,  no  doubt 
intensified  by  travel  and  the  change  of  climate.  She 
was  buried  the  next  day,  and  her  loss  will  leave  Miss 
Barton,  who  will  not  herself  attempt  to  travel  further, 
very  lonely. 

On  Thursday  morning  we  called  at  the  British  Em- 
bassy, but  were  asked  to  come  again  in  the  afternoon. 
Later  we  received  an  informal  note  from  one  of  the 
attaches,  enclosing  two  invitations  from  Sir  Philip  and 
Lady  Currie,  one  for  an  afternoon  reception  the  same  day  at 
five,  and  the  other  for  dinner  en  petit  comit4  for  yesterday. 
This  we  took  as  very  encouraging,  and  then  went  with 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  3 

Mrs.  J),  to  a  bazaar  got  up  in  aid  of  the  Armenians. 
Here  we  met  some  of  the  most  interesting  English 
residents  in  Constantinople,  and  had  several  nice  talks, 
and  heard  many  things  which  cannot  be  pnt  on  paper. 
Evidently  the  feeling  here  is  a  very  deep-seated  one ;  but 
spies  abound,  and  you  have  the  consciousness  all  the  time 
that  you  have  to  be  very  careful  when  you  speak  at  all 
freely. 

Duly  at  five  we  were  at  the  Embassy,  and  were  ushered 
from  staircase  to  staircase,  and  from  one  grand  salon  to 
another,  till  at  last  we  came  to  the  Eeception  Eooms,  and 
met  our  ambassador  and  his  lovely  wife.  They  were  both 
most  cordial ;  but  the  room  was  fast  filling  with  visitors, 
and  beyond  a  few  friendly  sympathetic  words  we  did  not 
get  any  private  conversation.  People  here  say  that  either 
the  Sultan  is  entirely  controlled  by  some  Palace  clique,  or 
that  he  is  the  "  most  remarkable  man,"  because  all  the 
massacres  have  certainly  been  ordered  from  the  Palace,  and 
yet  he  will  at  times  express  the  most  humane  sympathies. 
We  heard  that  our  Embassy  is  in  great  ill-favour,  and  any 
Turk  of  consequence  who  ventures  to  come  there  is  at 
once  a  marked  man. 

Yesterday  morning  R.  and  I  thought  we  would  take 
the  opportunity  of  a  quiet  time  and  go  to  see  St.  Sophia. 
Previously  we  had  been  asked  at  the  Embassy  if  we 
would  go  to  the  Selamlik,  but  we  declined,  saying  we 
knew  the  Sultan's  portrait  quite  well.  Yesterday,  how- 
ever, was  extra  grand,  because  Prince  Ferdinand  was  to 
be  received  by  the  Sultan,  and  all  the  world  attended  ; 


4  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

and  a  gentleman  told  me  afterwards  the  Sultan  was  treated 
as  if  he  were  a  god ! 

On  our  way  to  St.  Sophia  and  on  the  Galata  Bridge 
we  met  all  the  Turkish  cavalry,  lancers,  &c.  ;  and  E. 
pointed  out  that  their  dress  was  in  most  respects  just  as 
in  the  time  of  the  Crusaders  and  earlier,  and  that  the 
musical  instruments  of  the  mounted  band  were  far  earlier 
and  even  Biblical  in  character.^ 

St.  Sophia  has  been  so  often  described  that  I  will  not 
add  mine  to  other  accounts,  but  simply  say  that  it  im- 
pressed me  more  than  St.  Peter's,  and  less  than  the 
Mosque  of  Omar. 

In  the  evening  we  went  to  the  Embassy,  and  Sir  Philip 
told  R.  that  he  would  do  all  in  his  power  to  help  us,  and 
thought  we  should  be  able  to  get  to  the  places  we  want, 
particularly  to  Diarbekir. 

This  afternoon  we  are  going  up  the  Bosphorus  to 
stay  the  night  at  the  country-house  of  the  British 
Consular  Judge,  Mr.  Tarring  —  who  has  also  pro- 
mised to  help  us  all  he  can — and  other  invitations  are 
coming  in. 

I  might  add  before  closing  this  long  letter,  that  this 
morning  Mrs.  D.  and  I  went  to  an  Armenian  shop  in 
Stamboul  and  purchased  a  quantity  of  material  which  we 
got  under  cost  price,  and  which  poor  Armenian  women 
are  already  set  at  work  to  make  up'  into  garments  for  us 

^  Alluding,  I  suppose,  to  the  Parthian  kettledrums  mounted  on  horse- 
back, which  are  described  in  Apoc.  ix,  under  the  figure  of  the  humming  of 
the  wings  of  locusts. — J.  R.  H. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  5 

to  carry.i — With  love,  I  remain  for  us  both,  very  affec- 
tionately, 

Helen  B.  H. 

^  As  a  warning  to  those  who  may  be  engaged  in  similar  philanthropic 
attempts  to  get  clothes  to  the  backs  of  people  in  the  interior,  it  may  be  as 
well  to  confess  that  this  piece  of  charity  did  not  reach  its  destination  at 
Harpoot  until  October,  by  which  time  the  contents  of  the  boxes  were  very 
much  "minished  and  brought  low." — J.  R.  H. 


LETTER   No.  IL 

VISIT  TO  JUDGE  TARRING — A  FRIENDS'  MEETING  IN  STAMBOUL — 
ROBERT  COLLEGE — VISIT  TO  THE  PATRIARCH  IZMIRLIAN — 
FRIENDS   OF   THE   SUFFERING   ARMENIANS   AT   CHALCEDON,   ETC. 

Constantinople,  April  i. 
Dear  Friends, — So  many  things  have  happened  since 
I  last  wrote  that  I  hardly  know  what  to  tell  first,  but 
perhaps  a  brief  journal  account  is  best.  In  the  afternoon 
of  Saturday,  March  28,  we  went  up  the  Bosphorus  with 
Judge  Tarring  to  Bebek,  the  place  of  his  country  resi- 
dence, and  also  the  landing-stage  for  Eobert  College,  which 
is  on  the  height  above,  in  a  magnificent  situation.  The 
steam  up  the  Bosphorus  was  most  interesting ;  one  -pala.ee 
which  we  passed  was  the  one  in  which  poor  Abdul  Aziz, 
the  Sultan's  uncle,  committed  suicide,  and  the  next  to  it 
had  just  been  done  up  to  receive  Prince  Ferdinand,  Mr. 
Tarring  said  a  fortnight  ago  it  was  a  wretched  tumble- 
down place,  but  numbers  of  workmen  had  been  put  on, 
and  now  it  was  quite  gay.  A  little  further  np  still  was 
the  palace  to  which  the  Khedive  comes  when  he  visits 
Constantinople.  Bebek  is  nearly  half-way  up  the  Bos- 
phorus, and  close  by  the  great  towers  built  by  Mohammed 
II.  before  taking  Constantinople.  They  are  very  pictur- 
esque now.  Close  by  also  is  the  spot  where  Darius  crossed 
on  his  bridge  of  boats. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  7 

A  number  of  English  and  American  friends  met  us 
to  tea  at  our  friends'  hospitable  home,  principally  those 
connected  with  the  college,  and  the  president  and  his 
wife.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Washburn,  and  Dr.  Long  and  his 
daughter  and  others  came  to  dinner.  Mrs.  Washburn 
has  a  sister,  a  Mrs.  Lea,  who  is  a  missionary  at  Marash, 
and  she  told  us  some  awful  accounts  of  sufferings.  They 
are  feeding  thousands  there  daily,  at  the  rate  of  2|d.  a 
week  each.  This  only  gives  bread,  and  sickness  of 
various  kinds  prevails.  These  ladies  told  me  that  they 
had  been  hard  at  work  all  the  winter  making  garments, 
that  Armenian  merchants  had  given  their  committee 
about  ;^iooo  worth  of  material  (first  and  last),  and  that 
they  themselves  had  sent  over  3000  garments,  yet  this  is 
nothing  to  what  is  needed.  At  Erzeroum  the  clothing 
has  been  pretty  well  distributed,  but  only  very  imper- 
fectly elsewhere. 

On  Sunday  we  came  into  the  city  with  the  Tarrings,  and 
while  they  went  to  the  one  evangelical  Englisli  place  of 
worship  in  the  city,  we  went  to  the  Friends'  meeting  and 
mission,  in  which  we  were  deeply  interested.  All  present, 
except  the  mission  staff,  ourselves,  and  one  Turk,  were 
Armenians ;  and  both  K.  and  I,  in  our  words  to  them, 
which  Dr.  D,  interpreted,  dwelt  on  the  present  situation, 
and  endeavoured  to  encourage  them  with  ourselves  to  an 
unwavering  trust  in  God  through  all. 

Then  came  lunch,  and  then  a  mission  meeting,  when 
we  both  spoke  again,  but  this  time  simply  to  tell  the 
story  in  few  words  of  the  Saviour's  love  for  sinners.  We 
then  shook  hands  with  every  one  present,  and  some  of 


8  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

the  dear  people  were  very  loving.  The  indefatigable 
mission  party  now  turned  their  attention  to  the  Sunday- 
school,  while  we  left  and  steamed  up  the  Bosphorus 
once  more,  as  R.  had  promised  to  address  the  college  in 
the  evening. 

This  audience  was  a  very  different  one  to  the  morning 
one.  About  two  hundred  students,  besides  professors 
and  wives  and  friends,  were  present,  and  a  very  mixed 
audience  ;  they  were  ecclesiastically  Armenians,  Catholics, 
Greek  Church,  and  Jews,  besides  Protestants.  R.  spoke 
on  the  direct  communication  of  God  to  the  soul  of  man 
by  the  Spirit,  and  told  some  of  his  own  early  experience 
— a  thing  I  never  heard  him  do  in  public  before — but  I 
think  it  was  the  right  thing  for  boys  like  these,  who  are 
too  much  brought  up  to  separate  religious  doctrine  from 
personal  conduct.  We  slept  at  Dr.  Washburn's  house  that 
night,  and  returned  to  the  city  in  the  morning  with  Judge 
Tarring. 

That  afternoon  (Monday)  we  visited  M.  Izmirlian,  the 
Armenian  Patriarch,  and  Dr.  and  Mrs.  D.  accompanied 
us,  Dr.  D.  interpreting.  We  had  a  card  from  Dr.  Baro- 
nian,  of  Manchester,  to  introduce  us,  and  the  Patriarch 
said  he  had  also  received  a  letter  from  him  about  our  visit. 

He  is  a  noble  old  man,  but  extremely  sad-looking — 
indeed,  "  sad  "  is  too  mild  a  word,  "  broken-hearted"  would 
be  better.  We  were  quite  alone  with  him  in  his  private 
room,  and  the  ecclesiastic  who  brought  in  coffee  imme- 
diately retired.  He  spoke  very  warmly  and  gratefully  of 
the  efforts  of  English  people,  "  Friends  "  and  others,  to 
relieve  his  suffering  nation,  but  with  intense  surprise  and 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  9 

indignation  at  the  lack  of  action  on  the  part  of  the  Chris- 
tian nations  politically.  He  said  that  so  systematic  a 
persecution,  which  was  not  a  mere  wave  of  fanaticism, 
was  unparalleled  in  history.  Monsters  like  Nero,  he  said, 
have  flooded  the  world  with  blood,  and  then  disappeared ; 
"  hut  our  suffering  has  no  respite,  no  end  !  "  He  gave  us 
his  blessing  as  we  rose  to  go,  and  we  also  said  that  we 
prayed  God  to  keep  and  sustain  and  bless  him  in  his  most 
arduous  position. 

He  impressed  us  greatly,  and  Lady  Currie  told  me  later 
in  the  day  that  she  looked  upon  him  as  a  holy  man,  or  as 
if  he  were  almost  an  apostle.  The  Sultan  has  not  only 
threatened  but  tried  to  buy  him  by  offers  of  the  greatest 
favours,  but  he  can  neither  be  bribed  nor  intimidated; 
and  yet,  if  he  thought  it  would  be  for  his  people's  good, 
no  personal  love  of  power  would  for  a  moment  weigh 
with  him  to  prevent  him  resigning.^  They  say  that  an 
unprincipled  Armenian  has  just  been  offered  i^io,ooo  to 
bring  about  his  downfall. 

After  our  visit  to  the  Patriarch  we  went  to  afternoon 
tea  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  ,  Mr. being  the  corre- 
spondent of  the  Daily .    There  we  heard  much  about 

the  condition  of  the  European  press,  and  of  the  immense 
number  of  papers  in  the  Sultan's  pay.  There  is  a  gentle- 
man in  Constantinople  (whose  name  we  heard)  who  has 
taken  an  enormous  sum  to  contradict  the  facts  sent  to  the 

English  papers  from  the  interior  by  Mr. and  others. 

This  man  is  ostracised  by  all  English  people  here,  and  so 

^  His  resignation  has  since  been  forced,  and  the  good  Patriarch  is  in 
exile  at  Jerusalem. — J.  R.  H. 


lo  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

pays  some  penalty  for  his  Judas-like  action.  The  Sultan, 
it  is  said,  spends  untold  sums  in  bribes,  and  not  less 
than  ;^40,ooo  a  month  in  paying  spies  as  well. 

After  our  visit  to  the 's  we  crossed  the  Bosphorus, 

and  went  to  the  ancient  village  of  Chalcedon  (where  an 
early  Church  Council,  which  condemned  the  Monophysite 
doctrine,  was  held  a.d.  451),  where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whittall 
and  their  family  reside  in  a  lovely  home  commanding  a 
perfectly  exquisite  view  of  Constantinople,  with  St.  Sophia 
rising  above  the  buildings  of  the  Seraglio,  and  mosques 
and  minarets  standing  out  against  the  eastern  sky  in 
perfectly  distinct  beauty,  while  every  prosaic  detail  is 
too  distant  to  interfere. 

Mr.  W.  is  chairman  of  the  Eelief  Committee  in  Con- 
stantinople, which  is  mixed  in  nationality,  Americans  and 
English  working  together  under  him  in  perfect  harmony. 
He  had  just  read  a  budget  of  letters  by  the  same  post 
from  different  parts  of  the  interior,  which  he  said  he 
should  send  on  direct  to  the  Duke  of  Westminster's 
Committee.  I  do  hope  some  of  the  particulars  will  be 
publifihed.  One  hundred  thousand  people  at  least  are 
being  kept  alive  now  through  their  efforts.  Three 
thousand  pounds  has  just  gone  to  Ourfa,  but  the  needs 
are  unspeakable.  The  wicked  Turks  have  cut  up  the 
Armenian  vineyards  by  the  roots  at  Marash,  &c.,  and 
taken  all  their  agricultural  implements,  as  well  as  all  their 
household  utensils,  from  the  people,  not  leaving  a  spade 
or  a  kettle  ;  and  all  that  is  being  done  now  is  just  to  try 
and  keep  the  absolutely  helpless  from  dying,  ordinary 
poverty  not  being  assisted,  and  every  kind  of  disease  is 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  ii 

rife.  Camp  fever,  from  lack  of  food,  &c.  &c.,  and  from 
contact  with  every  kind  of  pollution,  is  present,  and  in 
Marash  both  missionaries  and  doctors  (two  out  of  four) 
are  themselves  down  with  it.  Mr.  W.  and  his  wife  urge 
us  to  go  there  if  we  possibly  can ;  it  is  I  think  about  eight 
days  from  Ourfa. 

We  left  Chalcedon  (the  modern  name  of  which  is  Yadi 
Keui)  yesterday  morning,  after  a  very  stormy  night,  and 
drove  to  Scutari,  where  the  crossing  was  feasible.  Yester- 
day afternoon  I  had  a  very  interesting  visit  with  Lady 
Currie  for  about  an  hour. 

Mr.  Terrill  has,  you  know,  returned  to  America.  The 
Sultan,  either  before  he  left  or  just  after,  sent  orders  to 
Bitlis  for  the  American  missionaries  to  leave,  which 
caused  a  panic  here  ;  but  short  measures  were  taken  with 
him  by  the  American  Charge  d'Affaires  and  Sir  Philip, 
and  now  the  Porte  says  it  was  all  a  mistake,  and  they  may 
remain. 

Our  passports  to  the  interior  have  been  issued  by  the 
English  Consulate  and  are  now  waiting  to  be  signed  by 
the  Turkish  authority — we,  and  every  one  here,  quite 
hope  that  it  will  soon  come  all  right.  If  any  difficulty  is 
made.  Sir  P.  Currie  told  R.  to  let  him  know  at  once. 

Last  night  our  dear  friends  here  invited  a  very  inter- 
esting company  to  meet  us.  Several  Armenians  were  of 
the  number,  one  a  Protestant  pastor  named  Kapriolian — 
who  is  called  here  "the  Armenian  Spurgeon" — who  told 
us  that  the  troubles  have  drawn  the  Old  Armenian 
Church  and  themselves  into  the  closest  sympathy,  and 
that   the  Uishop  of  Scutari  (the   "  Catholicos  ")  said  to 


12  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

him  recently,  "We  have  misunderstood  you  in  the  past, 
but  now  we  are  brothers  and  can  never  again  be  sepa- 
rated ; "  this  in  itself  is  great  gain.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greene 
were  here,  and  Mr.  Cobb,  the  head  of  the  British  Post 
Office.  Mr.  Greene  is  head  of  all  the  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sions in  Asia  Minor,  and  father  of  the  author  of  that  book 
on  Armenia  which  has  been  so  much  read  in  England ; 
Miss  Armitage  of  the  Sailors'  Rest,  Mrs.  White,  matron 
of  the  English  Hospital,  and  the  minister  of  the  English 
Church  previously  referred  to,  and  many  others,  were  pre- 
sent. At  the  close  of  the  evening  R  read  the  91st  Psalm, 
and  then  said  that  our  faith  in  God  would  not  fail  us  at 
this  time  if  we  all  of  us  gave  ourselves  continually  to  be 
His  instruments,  or  as  R.  put  it,  "  lesser  providences," 
for  the  help  of  the  Armenians.  Only  those  people  who 
did  nothing  should  despair.  Then  we  had  an  open  time 
of  prayer,  and  several  took  part  very  earnestly. 

I  have  now  brought  our  movements  up  to  date,  and  as 
Dr.  Long  of  Robert  College  is  coming  here  directly  to 
take  us  to  see  the  Museum  I  will  say  good-bye. — Yours 

affectionately, 

Helen  B.  H. 

p.^. — The  weather  is  cold  now  again  and  wet,  and  we 
are  glad  of  warm  clothing. 

p.^. — 4.30  P.M.  The  matter  of  our  permit  for  travel 
has  now  gone  up  to  the  Grand  Vizier,  and  they  say  they 
hope  to  give  us  not  only  the  ordinary  teskereh,  but  a 
special  one  which  will  insure  us  particular  attention  wher- 
ever we  go !      The  special  Providences  which  have  led  up 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  13 

to  this  have  been  most  remarkable,  and  especially  this 
afternoon.  We  shall  now  see  about  a  dragoman  and 
other  things.  Dr.  Long  went  with  E.  to  the  Sublime 
Porte,  and  afterwards  took  us  over  the  Museum,  which 
is  wonderful. 

[As  the  interview  with  the  Armenian  Patriarch  Izmirlian  re- 
corded in  the  foregoing  letter  was  of  special  interest,  I  subjoin  more 
extended  memoranda  of  the  conversation. — J.  R.  H. 

The  interview  was  a  very  painful  one ;  the  Patriarch  showed 
great  agony  of  mind  for  his  people,  and  opened  his  heart  freely  to 
his  visitors.  He  expressed  deep  gratitude  for  English  sympathy 
and  charitable  aid  sent  to  his  starving  and  suffering  folk,  and 
prayed  that  a  higher  and  spiritual  blessing  might  be  poured  out 
upon  the  Armenian  people  by  thus  coming  into  contact  with  Chris- 
tian England.  Pointing  to  letters  on  his  desk,  he  continued,  "  The 
terrible  tales  of  torture  and  massacre  which  I  receive  are  too  heart- 
rending," adding,  with  great  animation,  "the  whole  Armenian 
nation  is  steeped  in  blood.  It  is  impossible  to  grasjD  the  fact  that 
six  great  Clu-istian  Powers  of  Europe  could  look  at  these  terrible 
massacres  with  folded  arms.  It  is  my  firm  belief  that  God,  at  any 
rate,  will  hold  the  stronger  Christian  nations  responsible  for  the 
defenceless  Christians  butchei'ed  in  cold  blood."  Surely  England, 
who  forty  years  ago  could  find  allies  to  save  the  Turk,  and  who 
later  on  could  tear  up  the  San  Stefano  Treaty,  could,  if  she  would, 
intervexie  to  rescue  an  ancient  Christian  nation,  which  had  clung  to 
its  faith  for  fifteen  centuries,  though  surrounded  by  foes,  and  for 
whose  safety  England  had  expressly  stipulated.  There  was  no 
parallel  in  history  for  such  systematic  and  continuous  persecution 
— by  robbery,  torture,  imprisonment,  exile,  and  murder — of  men, 
women,  and  children,  going  on  for  years.  "  There  have  been  Neros 
who  appeared  and  flooded  tlic  world  with  blood  like  big  waves,  and 
then  disappeared  ;  but  our  suffering  has  no  respite,  no  end."  Asked 
if  he  approved  of  the  idea  of  emigration  for  the  Armenians,  the 
Patriarch  replied,  "  Yes,  if  it  could  be  done  nationally,  not  if  it  is 
to  break  lis  up.  We  have  stood  so  long,  and  suffered  so  much  to- 
gether, that  we  will  stand  together  to  the  end,  whether  that  end  be 
a  free  Armenia,  or  a  common  home  in  some  other  country,  or  ex- 
termination."    After  being  assured  of  the  strong  feeling  in  England 


14  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

that  sometliing  must  be  done,  the  Patriarch  said  it  was  his  belief 
that  God  would  make  the  nations  feel  their  great  responsibility,  and 
that  they,  and  England  especially,  would  of  themselves  demand  a 
final  settlement.  He  felt  comforted  by  so  much  sympathy  shown 
and  so  much  practical  help  rendered  by  the  English,  and  said  at 
parting,  with  solemnity,  "  I  wish  to  convey  my  heartfelt  thanks  to 
those  who  have  shown  such  deep  interest  and  great  activity  in  send- 
ing help  to  the  helpless.  .  .  .  After  all,  we  are  all  brothers  and 
sisters  united  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  it  has  seemed  good  in  God's 
sight  that  while  the  Armenians  are  passing  through  such  teriible 
sufferings,  I  should  be  in  the  position  of  a  shepherd  of  this  branch 
of  the  Christian  Church."] 


LETTER   No.   III. 

ARRIVAL   OP   THE   "  TEBKBREH;" — THE   NEWLY   DISCOVERED 
SIXTH-CENTURY   GOSPELS. 

Constantinople,  April  6,  1896. 

Deae  Fkiends,  —  The  tesJcereh,  or  passport,  arrived 
yesterday  afternoon,  too  late  for  us  to  catch  the  steamer, 
but  we  were  so  thankful  to  have  it,  there  was  no  room 
in  our  hearts  for  disappointment.  It  is  worded  very 
nicely,  giving  command  that  we  shall  have  every  assist- 
ance in  travelling,  even  to  food.  How  this  will  work 
out  practically  remains  to  be  seen,  meanwhile  we  are 
much  encouraged. 

Nothing  else  of  moment  has  happened  since  I  last 
wrote.  The  apprehension  of  the  Sultan's  order  for  all 
American  missionaries  to  withdraw  from  Asia  Minor 
hangs  like  Damocles'  sword  over  the  heads  of  all 
English  and  Americans  here.  It  is  now  known  to  be 
his  design,  and  it  is  said  also  to  be  the  wish  of  the 
Russian  Government,  but  perhaps  this  is  not  true. 

The  Russian  Ambassador  sent  a  message  to  R.  on 
Friday  last  by  Mr,  Lister,^  that  he  would  be  glad  to 
show   him   the    newly  acquired   Greek   New    Testament 

'  Mr.   Liater  ia  au  attache  of  our  Embassy,   and  a  brother  of  Lord 

Ribbleadale. 

15 


i6  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

MS.,  for  which  £1000  has  been  given,  and  a  Church 
is  to  be  built.  As  this  is  the  same  one  E.  nearly- 
purchased  himself  four  years  ago,  and  has  mourned  for 
ever  since,  he  was  of  course  delighted  at  the  invita- 
tion.^ Mr.  Lister  also  told  R.  that  the  Ambassador  had 
said  to  him,  that  he  had  had  a  letter  from  Prince 
Lobanoff  with  reference  to  our  journey,  asking  him  to 
help  in  any  way  he  could.  When  R.  went  to  the 
Russian  Embassy  several  Russian  Professors  were  ex- 
amining the  book,  but  it  was  at  once  put  into  his 
hands.  The  critical  results  of  this  examination  will  of 
course  be  tabulated  elsewhere.  When  R.  left,  the  Am- 
bassador took  him  aside  and  privately  expressed  his 
sympathies.  This  kindness  is  of  course  the  result  of 
our  friend  Edmund  Brooks'  interest  at  St.  Petersburg. 

We  are  not  sure  what  day  we  shall  get  off.  We 
have  to  lay  in  supplies  for  the  journey,  as  it  seems  a 
great  risk  as  well  as  expense  to  take  a  proper  drago- 
man, at  least  from  here,  but  we  shall  leave  by  the  first 
steamer  of  any  sort. — Affectionately  your  friend, 

Helen  B.  H. 

^  A  purple  vellum  MS.  of  the  Gospels  written  in  gold  and  silver  letters. 
Stray  leaves  of  it  were  already  in  the  great  European  libraries  (Rome, 
Vienna,  London,  and  in  the  island  of  Patmos).  The  book  has  for  a  long 
time  been  in  process  of  diminution,  from  various  causes.  The  people  of 
the  village  confided  to  me  that  when  their  bishop  came  amongst  them  he 
always  had  this  book  to  pray  with,  and  they  implied  that  the  leaves  grew 
fewer  as  the  prayers  grew  more  numerovis.  Its  curative  value  was  also 
great.  You  soak  a  leaf  in  water,  and  give  the  liquid  to  the  patient  to 
drink  !— J.  R.  H. 


LETTER   No.JV. 

PROJECTED  DEPARTURE  FROM  SMYRNA  TO  ALEXANDRETTA  —  AN 
AMERICAN  LADY  MISSIONARY  FROM  THE  INTERIOR  —  POSSI- 
BILITY  OF   ARMENIAN   EMIGRATION. 

Smyrna,  April  12,  1896, 
My  dear  Feiends, — I  have  nothing  much  to  add  to  the 
news  which  Helen  has  already  communicated,  but  as  we 
expect  to  leave  to-morrow  in  a  little  Greek  steamer  for 
Alexandretta,  and  this  is  the  last  place  where  our  letters 
will  have  the  protection  of  a  British  post-office,  I  think  I 
had  better  take  the  opportunity  and  report  what  we  are 
doing. 

As  we  draw  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  places  where  our 
call  takes  us,  the  accounts  become  more  distressing.  We 
have  met  here  a  young  lady  missionary  from  Ourfa,  who 
was  the  companion  and  helper  of  Miss  Shattuck,  the 
heroine  of  that  place,  who  has  borne  all  the  burden  and 
heat  of  the  day.  Miss  M.  is  from  Iowa,  and  an  American 
in  every  respect ;  keen  and  active,  as  rapid  as  a  rotifer,  or 
whatever  those  little  creatures  are  that  dart  about  under 
the  microscope  ;  she  is  a  very  interesting  Christian,  and  is 
only  waiting  for  permission  to  return  to  the  place  where 
she  has  been  labouring  for  the  last  five  years. 

She  was  in  Ourfa  until  before  the  great  massacres ;  at 
that  time  they  were  caring  for  some  thousands  of  refugees 


17 


B 


i8  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

who  had  made  their  way  on  foot  from  Moush  (nearly 
fifteen  days'  journey),  and  had  arrived  in  extreme  destitu- 
tion, with  their  bodies,  as  she  says,  a  mass  of  corruption. 
From  these  people  Miss  M.  took  the  fever,  and  after  some 
weeks,  during  which  she  was  unconscious,  and  was  nursed 
by  Miss  S.,  who  never  left  her  for  more  than  two  hours  at 
a  time,  she  recovered,  and  eventually  was  able  to  come  to 
Smyrna.  She  says  she  is  all  the  better  for  having  had 
this  dispensation,  and  would  come  on  with  us  at  once  if 
the  American  Board  would  let  her,  and  the  Turks  give  her 
the  necessary  pass.  But  both  of  these  are  withheld  at 
present,  and  perhaps  it  is  all  right,  for  she  is  doing  good 
service  here  in  digesting  written  communications  which 
come  from  the  interior,  and  sending  her  copies  and  transla- 
tions westward.  We  have  arranged  for  her  to  send  some 
of  her  letters  to  our  friends  in  England.  So  you  must 
imagine  a  bright  American  Western  girl,  with  her  hair 
just  growing  afresh  on  her  head  after  the  fever,  and  as 
full  of  enthusiasm  for  Christ  and  the  people  of  Christ 
as  a  whole  platform  of  Exeter  Hall  people. 

I  begin  to  see  that  the  deeds  of  Christian  heroism  which 
have  gone  on  here,  and  are  still  going  on,  equal  anything 
in  the  pages  of  Eusebius  (indeed  much  of  it  is  very  like 
his  account  of  the  Martyrs  of  Palestine  in  the  ninth  book 
of  the  Ecclesiastical  History).  Also  it  is  clear  that  things 
are  far  worse  than  we  thought ;  perhaps  the  destitution  has 
reached  the  point  where  it  is  hopeless  to  help  except  by 
emigration.  We  hear  that  from  several  provinces  the 
Armenians  have  petitioned  the  Sultan  either  to  give  them 
the  means  of  re-tilling  their  fields,  or  to  let  them  leave  the 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  19 

country,  or  to  send  his  soldiers  back  again  to  put  them  out 
of  their  misery. 

We  are  thinking  much  on  the  second  head.  It  looks 
as  absurd  as  if  one  proposed  to  dig  up  Armenia  and 
carry  it  away.  I  had  a  long  talk  yesterday  with  a  rich 
American  railroad  king,  who  was  passing  through  Smyrna, 
on  one  of  the  French  steamers.  He  almost  promised  to 
take  some  thousands  of  Armenians,  if  I  could  get  them 
to  New  York,  and  locate  them  in  the  Western  States. 
Whether  anything  will  come  of  it,  it  is  hard  to  predict. 
But  perhaps  something  like  this  would  have  to  be  done, 
and  we  might  have  to  go  to  the  Government  about  it.  It 
would  not  cost  more  than  an  ironclad,  perhaps. ^  How- 
ever, on  these  thiugs  we  must  not  say  more  at  present ; 
only  we  must  be  on  our  guard  against  acquiescing  in 
hopeless  misery,  or  giving  help  where  it  does  not  really 
dispel  the  distress.  We  shall  know  more  about  this  when 
we  get  a  little  nearer  to  the  scene  of  action. 

You  will  probably  have  seen  by  the  papers  that  the 
Turks  have  stopped  the  relief  in  Harpoot,  and  proposed 
to  take  over  the  relief  funds  and  distribute  them  by  a 
local  committee  of  their  own.  I  saw  the  telegrams, 
which  arrived  in  Constantinople  just  before  we  left. 
They  came  from  Mr.  Gates,  who  is  one  of  the  American 
missionaries,  if  I  remember  rightly .^  Mr.  Whittall,  the 
chairman  of  the  Constantinople  Committee,  was  sending 
them  on  to  the  ambassador,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 

^  Unfortunately  a  Government  that  operates,  not  to  destroy  men's  lives 
but  to  save  them,  has  not  yet  appeared. 

'  This  interference  with  the  relief  work  was  afterwards  abandoned. — 
J.  II.  II. 


20  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

immediate  pressure  will  be  put  on  the  officials  who  are 
so  zealously  disposed  towards  the  new  virtue  of  charity 
(but  to  whom  ?).  Sir  Philip  Currie  has  done  a  great  deal 
of  noble  work  in  this  crisis,  and  must  not  be  condemned 
for  the  sins  of  Lord  Beaconsfield,  whose  policy  he  has  to 
follow.  He  is  almost  the  only  person  in  Constantinople 
who  has  stood  for  justice,  and  has  often  made  himself 
heard  and  obeyed. 

We  have  met  with  astonishing  kindness  from  people  of 
all  nationalities  and  all  classes  in  society.  The  poorer 
Armenians  in  Constantinople  seem  to  have  had  an  inkling 
of  our  business,  and  they  have  been  helpful  to  us  in  many 
little  ways.  One  young  man  who  came  to  help  me  bargain 
for  a  quilt  from  a  Turkish  shop,  replied  to  my  thanks  for 
a  successful  encounter  between  the  buyer  and  seller,  by 
saying, not  "backsheesh,"  but  "it  is  nothing,  it  is  for  our 
people."  And  this  is  only  a  little  specimen  of  a  great 
deal  of  kindness  that  has  been  showered  upon  us.  The 
wonder  is  that  the  Turkish  spies,  who  are  everywhere, 
have  not  laid  their  hands  upon  us.  But,  so  far,  we  seem 
to  have  escaped. 

This  evening  Helen  is  going  to  address  a  meeting  at 
the  Sailors'  Rest.  We  found  a  friend  of  ours  in  charge 
of  this  work,  a  Miss  Turnely  from  Ireland ;  her  brother 
is  also  here,  engaged  in  educational  mission  work.  It  is 
very  pleasant  to  find  so  many  of  our  people  everywhere ; 
it  makes  home  nearer,  travelling  easier,  and  the  world 
of  a  smaller  radius ;  and  all  these  advantages  are  prized 
by  us.  The  last  of  them  is  not  the  least :  it  is  easier 
to  believe  in  the  unity  of  humanity  in  a  moderate-sized 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  21 

"world  than  in  a  very  large  one ;  and  I  have  had  lately 
a  keen  feeling  of  the  strong  natural  ties  which  defy  the 
severing  influences  of  races  and  of  religions. 

Our    love   with   this    to    all    our    friends    in    England. 
Letters  will  come  now  more  slowly.     God  bless  you  all. 

J.  K.  H. 


LETTER  No.  V. 

ARRIVAL   AT   ALEXANDRETTA — START   FOR   THE   INTERIOR. 

Khan,  Alexandretta,  April  i8,  1896. 

Dear  Friends, — The  second  stage  of  our  journey  from 
Constantinople  here  has  now  been  safely  accomplished, 
and  we  are  landed  here  with  the  Custom  House  behind 
our  backs.  We  had  a  rather  trying  voyage  from  Smyrna, 
as  we  were  obliged  to  take  a  little  Greek  coasting  steamer, 
the  alternative  being  a  ten  days'  wait.  We  had  every 
attention  from  captain  and  steward,  but  the  little  vessel 
rolled  and  pitched,  and  loitered  in  several  little  harbours, 
and  we  neither  of  us  proved  as  impervious  to  these  cir- 
cumstances as  might  have  been  wished.  Nevertheless 
we  were  glad  to  be  on  board,  and  now  we  are  veri/  glad 
to  be  on  land  again. 

We  hear  from  the  American  Consul  here  (the  British 
Consul  being  at  Aleppo,  we  are  thrown  on  the  help  of 
the  former)  that  the  country  is  very  disturbed,  and  he 
considers  our  journey  a  very  risky  one ;  but  as  we  knew 
this  before,  of  course  it  makes  no  difference. 

We  are  now  negotiating  for  a  servant  as  far  as  Aintab, 
and  may  start  this  afternoon.  The  man  under  special 
consideration  is  a  Greek.  We  hear  that  two  of  the  Red 
Cross  workers  have  gone  to  Marash,  where  the  need  is 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  23 

so  great ;  two  others  are  at  Ourfa,  and  we  may  meet  them 
there  :  I  hope  we  shall. 

The  big  turret-warships  in  the  beautiful  little  harbour 
here  look  very  out  of  keeping  with  the  lovely  scenery — 
grand  snow-capped  mountains  all  around,  and  such  a  blue 
calm  sea ! 

Near  our  little  khan  the  hubbub  is  indescribable.  The 
usual  Moslem  crowd  of  every  hue  and  dress,  and  I  have 
just  had  to  close  the  shutter  in  front  of  this  table  where  I 
am  writing,  because  two  Turkish  women  were  flattening 
their  faces  against  the  window  to  get  a  good  look  in. 

Our  tesJcereh  (Turkish  passport)  does  not  appear  to  be 

an  unusual  one  after  all — so  Dr.  D 's  servant,  who 

first  interpreted  it  for  us,  must  have  romanced  a  little — 
it  does,  however,  recommend  us  to  ordinary  attention. 

We  feel  much  peace  in  being  here,  and  believe  we  are 
not  alone.  Please  continue  to  pray  for  us,  for  we  need 
help  in  this  way  very  much,  and  shall  do. 

Mr.  Knapp,  the  American  missionary  from  the  interior, 
who  is  charged  with  inciting  to  rebellion  (no  doubt  because 
he  showed  active  sympathy  with  the  poor  Armenians),  and 
who  is  to  be  tried  at  Constantinople,  is  expected  here  to- 
day en  route,  so  we  may  see  him.    I  honour  him  very  much. 

R.  joins  with  me  in  love  to  all  our  dear  friends,  and  I 

remain,  ever  yours  affectionately, 

Helen  B.  H. 

Postscript. 

KiLLis,  April  22. 

We  left  Alexandretta  yesterday  punctually  at  6  A.M., 

and  with  a  carriage  for  ourselves,  a  waggon  for  our  lug- 


24  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

gage  and  the  servant,  and  two  zaptichs  to  guard  us,  we 
set  out.  The  drive  was  first  over  the  dangerous  malarial 
plain,  then  up  beautiful  mountain  steeps  and  passes,  with 
constant  glorious  views,  and  the  purest  air,  and  as  the  day 
was  showery  in  its  first  hours,  a  lovely  rainbow  seemed  to 
travel  with  us,  which  we  took  as  an  omen  of  promise  for 
our  journey.  After  a  while  we  descended  again  by  a  long 
and  beautiful  zig-zag,  with  a  capital  road  and  most  lovely 
flowers  skirting  the  way,  anemones  in  profusion,  &c. 
Below  us  was  an  outstretched  lake  with  marshy  land,  but 
when  we  reached  the  shore  we  found  a  very  different 
climate,  &c.,  from  A. — the  most  luxuriant  country,  the 
richest  pasturage,  delicious  streams,  half  covered  with  a 
lovely  white  water-flower,  immense  herds  of  sheep,  camels, 
buffalo,  and  also  horses,  and  the  road  one  constant  stream 
of  caravans ;  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  camels,  crowds 
of  donkeys,  and  multitudes  of  pack-horses.  The  traffic 
between  Alexandretta  and  Aleppo  must  be  something 
enormous  to  sustain  such  a  stream  of  trade. 

All  along  the  plain  the  agriculture  seemed  far  more 
prosperous  than  we  had  expected  ;  magnificent  sweeps 
of  growing  corn  and  grazing  land,  and  later,  fig  and 
olive  orchards  and  some  vines,  but  a  far  richer  country 
than  Palestine — the  soil  seemed  extremely  rich,  and  as 
if  it  could  never  be  exhausted. 

From  time  to  time,  we  saw  very  curious  looking  mounds 


/ i 


rising  from  the  plain ;  E.  says  that  they  probably  cover 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  25 

ruined  cities,  and  that  there  was  once  a  very  fine  civiHsa- 
tion  here. 

We  had  four  relays  of  soldiers  each  day,  and  it  was  very 
amusing  to  notice  their  different  characters.  Seven  out  of 
the  eight  of  yesterday  had  good  horses,  and  all  were  gaily 
dressed  and  carried  a  gun  over  their  shoulders.  They 
salaamed  when  they  first  came,  and  came  for  backsheesh 
before  leaving,  between  which  processes,  they  carried  out 
their  ideas  of  guardianship  differently.  Several  rode  close 
by  our  carriage  window  all  the  time,  frequently  looking 
in,  I  suppose  to  see  that  we  had  not  fallen  out  by  the 
way.  Some  caracolled  off,  and  kept  quite  at  a  distance 
in  front  or  behind,  and  one  actually  threw  a  rose  in  at 
the  window.  Our  journey  yesterday  was  about  forty  odd 
miles,  and  at  its  close  we  stayed  at  a  khan — such  a  place 
as  I  never  was  in  before — absolutely  nothing  but  four 
bare  walls, — fancy,  after  such  a  journey !  Our  servant, 
whose  name  is  Griva,  and  a  young  Armenian  who  had 
attached  himself  to  our  party,  did  what  they  could,  but 
altogether  one  realised  as  never  before,  I  think,  some  of 
the  conditions  of  primitive  existence. 

We  passed  immense  beds  of  asphodel  in  the  plains,  and 
also  the  liquorice  plant.  At  Hammam,  Kendel  had  a  bath 
in  a  hot  sulphur  stream,  and  felt  much  the  better  for  it. 

To-day  we  journeyed  about  thirty  miles,  and  reached 
this  most  Oriental  city.  We  were  first  taken  to  the  great 
khan,  where  our  coming  caused  tremendous  excitement ; 
afterwards,  we  came  to  a  quiet  Greek  home,  and  were 
thankful  for  Mr.  Aristides'  kind  hospitality.  He  is  factor 
to  Mr.   Walker  at   A.,  and  we  carried  a  letter  to  him 


26  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

which  insured  a  welcome.  We  found  on  coming  here 
that  there  were  a  hundred  men  killed  on  the  20th  March, 
and  that  about  fifty  are  still  suffering  from  wounds  then 
received.  There  seem  to  be  several  influential  Turkish 
families  here,  who  did  what  they  could  to  prevent  blood- 
shed. We  saw  a  young  doctor  from  Beyrout,  who  is 
doing  what  he  can,  but  he  told  us  of  many  horrors, 
especially  of  hands  cut  off,  which  seems  a  common  form 
of  brutality  in  these  outbreaks. 


LETTER  No.  VL 

JOURNEY  TO   AINTAB — TROUBLES   AT   KILLIS — AN   EARLY   START 
BAULKED — A   HARD    NIGHT — ARRIVAL   AT   AINTAB. 

AiNTAB,  April  23,  1896. 

We  have  just  arrived  here,  and  find  that  there  is  a  post 
going  seaward  to-day,  so  I  catch  the  opportunity  to  send 
word  where  we  are.  The  last  four  days  have  been  occu- 
pied in  continuous  travel,  and  we  are  somewhat  the  worse 
for  wear. 

We  rode  two  days  in  a  carriage,  engaging  a  waggon  or 
araha  for  our  servants  and  bags  of  needment.  By  this 
means,  as  the  roads  were  at  their  best,  we  made  forty 
miles  odd  on  Monday  and  nearly  as  many  on  Tuesday, 
and  finished  the  two  days'  journey  at  Killis,  which  you 
will  remember  as  the  scene  of  the  latest  massacre  some 
three  weeks  or  so  ago ;  we  thus  found  ourselves  in  the 
wake  of  the  storm,  and  were  able  to  form  some  idea  of 
what  it  must  have  been  like.  The  Armenian  church  was 
turned  into  a  hospital,  and  I  was  told  that  there  were 
seven  men  still  lying  there,  several  of  whom  cannot  sur- 
vive. As  it  is  no  part  of  my  business  to  officiously  thrust 
myself  into  the  political  life  of  the  country,  1  did  not 
indulge  the  sightseer's  natural  instinct  to  look  at  any- 
thing that  has  the  flavour  of  death   or  dying,   and  no 

doubt  my  conduct  would  in  this  way  be  more  acceptable 

27 


28  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

to  the  authorities ;  for  I  gathered  that  the  Jcaimakam 
or  mayor  does  not  approve  of  such  visits  being  made, 
and  I  do  not  think  he  would  wish  an  interior  view  of 
the  church  to  be  taken,  nor  that  an  "  interview "  (in 
the  modern  sense)  should  be  sought  with  sufferers  and 
doctors. 

We  had  great  trouble  in  getting  away  from  Killis. 
I  ordered  our  horses  to  start  at  six,  and  was  up  at  jBve 
myself  to  superintend  operations,  but  no  horses  appeared, 
and  only  after  a  long  while  two  or  three  sorry  mules. 
We  had  a  solid  fight  with  the  Killisians  for  two  hours 
and  a  half,  and  succeeded  in  getting  the  anchor  up  (please 
notice  my  Greek  love  of  the  sea,  and  how  it  deranges  my 
metaphors)  by  8.30  of  the  clock. 

The  consequences  of  all  this  delay  were  apparent  in 
the  afternoon,  when  we  were  informed  by  the  police- 
man or  zaptieh  who  had  us  in  charge,  that  it  was  un- 
safe to  push  through  to  Aintab,  as  the  road  was  infested 
with  Circassians  and  robbers,  and  that  we  must  put  up 
for  the  night  at  a  village  khan.  My  dear  friends  will 
regard  it  as  a  historical  benediction  on  their  lives  that 
they  have  never  had  to  sleep  in  such  quarters ;  it  was 
an  alternation  of  conflicts  with  savage  men  and  brute 
beasts  of  minute  dimension  ;  but  I  think  I  had  better 
leave  Helen  to  describe  our  horrible  night,  the  attempt 
that  was  made  to  break  in  upon  us,  and  the  general 
sense  of  savagery  around.^  I  don't  think  we  ever  slept 
less  or  found  a  night  longer,  or  were  more  glad  of  day- 
light and   ready  to  jump  up  from   the  floor  where   we 

^  This  letter  has  apparently  been  lost. — J.  R.  H. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  29 

were  lying  and  thank  God  that  it  was  five  o'clock  and 
time  to  be  off. 

And  now  to-day  we  have  crept  on  somewhat  wearily 
and  painfully  to  the  great  American  college  at  Aintab, 
and  are  enjoying  the  luxury  of  the  bath  and  the  hospi- 
tality of  the  kindest  of  hosts,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Fuller. 

So  now  you  have  us  placed  on  the  map :  in  yonr 
prayers  also  we  are  sensibly  well-placed,  even  though 
perhaps  on  your  side  it  may  sometimes  seem  as  diffi- 
cult to  pray  intelligently  as  if  we  were  Robinson  Crusoe, 
and  cast  on  a  lonely  island.  To  such  places  love  under- 
stands the  navigation. 

J.  R.  H. 


LETTER   No.  VII. 

american  braveby— official  hypocrisy  and  fatalism— details 
of  the  great  massacre — insults  to  england — occupations 
of  armenian  women — some  compassionate  turks,  etc. 

Dr.  Fuller's  House,  American  College, 
AiNTAB,  April  24,  1896. 

Dear  Friends, — The  interest  here  is  so  deep,  and 
the  things  we  are  hearing  and  seeing  every  hour  so 
remai'kable,  that  if  I  can  only  convey  a  hundredth  part 
to  you  of  what  we  have  been  made  to  feel  and  think, 
I  shall  be  glad. 

And  first  let  me  say  that  words  can  never  express"-^ 
the  welcome  and  kindness  we  have  received  here,  nor 
our  wonder  at  the  possibility  of  such  an  establishment 
and  work  existing  amidst  such  absolutely  antagonistic 
surroundings.  Here  is  a  noble  building  with  extensive 
grounds,  tennis-court,  president's  and  professors'  houses, 
and  in  a  word  peace,  culture,  Christianity,  courtesy,  edu- 
cation, surrounded  by  four  strong  walls,  with  a  porter's 
lodge,  and  outside  anarchy,  fanaticism,  and  confusion 
reign.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  F.,  the  joint  directors  of  this  grand  ^ 
work,  each  in  their  own  sphere  are  worthy  of  their 
position,  and  nothing  dismayed  or  daunted  because  the 
Turkish   Government   has   demanded   their   dismissal   as 

seditious  persons.     (The  request,  I  need  hardly  say,  was 

30 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  31 

not  favourably  received  by  the  United  States  Embassy, 
and  so  they  are  here  still.) 

To  show  how  bravely  they  face  their  position,  I  must 
mention  one  incident  which  specially  shows  Mrs.  F.'s 
character.  Lately  her  husband  had  escorted  some  lady 
missionaries  to  Alexandretta,  and  the  Governor  of  Aintab 
took  the  opportunity  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the 
senior  professor  here,  a  noble,  elderly  Armenian  gentle- 
man (who  spent  an  hour  with  us  yesterday  evening). 
The  Turks  had  tried  to  get  him  before  and  had  been 
refused,  and  now  they  thought,  the  Dr.  being  absent, 
was  their  time  !  So  an  official  arrived  one  morning  with 
a  document  from  the  Governor  and  politely  asked  Mrs. 
F^  who  was  her  husband's  deputy  ?  She  replied  that  she 
was,  when  with  many  regrets  he  presented  his  paper. 
She  looked  at  it,  and  said  such  a  request  was  impossible 
to  comply  with.  He  demanded  and  urged  his  authority, 
but  she  simply  said  "No," — she  would  go  herself  if  need 
be,  but  give  up  the  Professor — never !  So  the  official  re- 
turned the  way  he  came,  and  they  have  heard  no  more 
of  the  matter.  This  Professor  has  his  home  within  fifteen 
minutes'  walk  of  the  college,  but  he  has  not  ventured 
outside  the  walls  for  six  months.  Nor  indeed  do  any 
of  the  Armenian  collegians  venture  out,  nor  for  three 
months  did  any  one. 

There  are  a  number  of  interesting  looking  people  on 
the  grounds  here,  who  have  lost  their  own  homes.  They 
all  seem  patient  and  doing  their  best  to  be  trustful  and 
hopeful. 

One   lady    had    her   harmonium    and    sewing-machine 


32  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

smashed  up  before  her  eyes,  but  the  loss  of  such  things 
is  trifling  compared  to  their  other  losses,  and  her  husband 
is  in  prison  at  Aleppo.     Some  of  the  marauders,  when] 
they  find  they  cannot  use  the  things  they  stole  at  the  | 
time  of  the  massacre  here,  are  bringing  them  back  and  1 
selling  them  boldly  to  their  former  owners !     There  were 
about  300  killed  here,  November  16,  1895,  and  numbers 
mutilated,  hands  and  right  arms  cut  off,  and  eyes  gouged 
out,  to  render   the   poor   people   helpless.     Dr.  F.   says 
when  they  first  got  among  these,  the  day  after  the  mas- 
sacre,   it  was    awful   hearing  them   crying  for  death  to 
end  their  sufferings. 

The  same  day  he  went  to  the  Governor's  house,  where 
he  sat  surrounded  by  his  satellites,  and  when  Dr.  F.  came 
in  they  were  very  polite  and  said,  "  Ah !  How  terrible 
this  is !  Our  town  is  all  broken  to  pieces,  but  what  can 
we  do?  God  wills  it."^  At  the  very  same  moment  of 
these  lamentations,  the  best  rugs  and  other  furniture  of 
the  looted  houses  were  being  safely  conveyed  to  their 
own  homes,  where  they  were  afterwards  seen  and  re- 
cognised. "~ 

One  of  the  cruel  ways  of  outraging  Christian  feeling,  as  '. 
well  as  of  maltreating  the  bodies  of  the  sufferers  here  and 

^  Any  attempt  to  dispute  this  fatalistic  statement  is  met  by  the  inquiry, 
"  Does  anything  happen  without  God  ? "  If  we  cannot  directly  meet  the 
question  (and  indeed  the  only  way  to  meet  it  is  to  suggest  that  some  other 
things  will  happen  presently  "with  God  "  ),  we  can  at  least  detect  in  the  form 
of  this  question  a  survival  from  an  earlier  theology  than  the  Turkish.  For 
in  the  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  we  are  told  to  receive  the  things 
that  come  upon  us  as  good  —  knoiving  that  without  Ood  nothing  happens  ! 
There  must  have  been  a  streak  of  fatalism  in  the  Early  Church.  All  Eastern 
Churches  preserve  traces  of  it. — J.  R.  H. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  33 

elsewhere,  was  to  slash  them  twice  across  the  breast  in  \ 
the  form  of  the  cross,  and  say,  "  Where  is  your  Christ ' 
now  ?  Where  is  your  Jesus  ?  Why  does  He  not  save 
you."  After  the  massacre  the  Turks  got  a  panic  that  the 
English  were  going  to  come  and  punish  them,  and  many 
went  to  the  Armenians  they  knew,  and  said,  "  You  know 
we  did  not  let  you  be  killed,  (?)  now  you  must  shelter  us." 

This  change  of  feeling  passed  again,  when  it  was  found 
that  no  English  came,  and  then,  several  times  they  led  a 
donkey  with  a  mangy  dog  tied  on  its  back  around  the 
town,  amid  great  uproar  and  scorn,  and  cries  of  "Make 
way  for  Queen  Victoria ! "  They  also  had  a  somewhat 
similar  demonstration  in  derision  of  the  Christ,  who  they 
said  could  not  save  the  Armenians  any  better  than  Queen 
Victoria.  Apropos  of  the  scare  of  the  English  coming  to 
punish  them,  some  of  these  Turks  got  up  a  report  that 
an  artesian  well,  which  was  being  dug  at  the  time  on  the 
College  grounds,  was  an  tinderground  way  to  England,  and 
that  soon  English  soldiers  would  come  up  from  its  depths 
and  destroy  the  town !  Others  said  it  was  not  an  under- 
ground way  to  England,  but  to  America  itself. 

We  have  now  had  some  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
Armenians  themselves,  both  of  the  higher  and  lower 
classes.  The  Professors  here  and  their  wives  and  families 
are  the  top  of  the  tree,  and  probably  of  the  finest  type 
and  education  to  be  found  in  the  country,  and  as  they 
have  spent  a  good  part  of  two  evenings  here  in  Mrs.  F.'s 
drawing-room  with  us,  and  there  has  been  no  lack  of 
conversation,  we  have  become  pretty  well  acquainted. 
They  all  speak  English  excellently  and  talk  with  great 


34  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

interest  and  intelligence  of  the  situation :  indeed  I  see 
no  inferiority  on  their  part  to  Europeans,  and  they  are 
a  fine  set  of  men  physically  as  well  as  intellectually. 
,  ^^o^  '  Yesterday  Mrs.  S.,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Shephard  (just  re- 
turned from  Zeitun  and  Marash  with  the  English  Consul, 
Mr.  Barnham),  took  me  to  a  number  of  poor  homes  in  the 
town,  from  which  husbands,  sons,  &c.,  have  been  taken  by 
the  recent  trouble,  either  by  death  or  to  be  put  in  prison. 
Mrs.  S.  is  employing  a  number,  about  two  hundred,  of 
these  men  and  women  in  embroidery,  a  most  exquisite 
industry  to  which  they  seem  born,  and  the  results  of  which 
she  is  sending  to  "  Liberty's,"  London.  I  want  very  much 
that  some  English  friends  of  the  Armenians  should  open 
a  depot  for  its  sale,  so  that  a  mere  business-firm  should 
not  absorb  all  the  profits  from  this  fruit  of  industry,  every 
penny  of  which  one  could  wish  the  poor  women  to  have. 
From  house  to  house  we  went  (five  or  six),  and  in  each  one 
was  the  same  exquisite  cleanliness,  great  delicacy  of  per- 
sonal neatness — their  hands  so  fine  and  clean  for  their 
beautiful  work — and  in  every  home,  in  spite  of  bare  walls, 
a  plant  or  two,  scented  geranium  mostly,  and  in  every  case 
a  leaf  or  two  was  picked  and  presented  to  us  both  on 
leaving.  In  better  homes  they  give  a  little  button-hole 
bouquet,  but  you  cannot  call  anywhere  and  come  away 
flowerless  !  The  girls  here  are  strikingly  pretty ;  bright 
brown  eyes,  delicately  marked  eyebrows,  white  regular 
teeth,  and  gentle  manners,  and  their  black  glossy  hair  they 
wear  in  long  braids ;  and  these  are  the  women  the  Turks  are 
taking  and  treating  as  we  know.  Delicate,  modest,  gentle 
girls !  Several  cases  we  have  heard  of  here  were  sad  enough. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  35 

I  took  my  "  Frena  "  camera  with  me  and  photographed 
some  ruined  and  burnt  houses,  but  I  wish  I  could  have 
photographed  a  regular  catacomb  I  went  down  into,  under 
one  house.  It  is  being  dug  now  by  one  family,  in  the 
courtyard  of  their  house.  You  see  the  better  houses  are 
protected  by  high  walls  with  iron  doors  outside,  and  a 
court  within,  and  inside  the  court  they  cannot  he  seen,  so 
they  are  preparing  a  place  of  refuge  for  any  future  cala- 
mity. It  was  a  scramble  getting  down,  some  ten  feet 
underground ;  but  once  there  they  had  already  made  a 
good  cave,  very  much  indeed  like  some  of  the  chambers 
in  the  Catacombs  at  Rome.  This  catacomb  is  connected 
with  the  well,  so  that  in  case  of  detention  they  would  have 
water.  I  took  the  opportunity  of  telling  them  of  the  early 
Christians  who  had  suffered  at  Rome  and  acted  much 
as  they  were  doing  now,  at  the  same  time  expressing  my 
earnest  hope  that  their  catacomb  might  never  be  used. 

When  one  of  the  large  Christian  houses  was  attacked 
and  fired,  some  one  called  out  for  the  water-hose  to  put  out 
the  fire,  and  a  man  ran  to  seek  it.  It  was  sent  attached, 
not  to  vMter — but  a  petroleum  barrel,  and  so  the  fire  was 
helped  instead  of  hindered.  The  lady  of  this  house  and 
her  son  were  both  shot  as  they  came  out — offering  to  give 
the  mob  anything  they  wanted — and  their  bodies  burned. 

I  do  not  mean  to  put  many  tales  of  horror  into  my 
letters,  but  one  more  I  must  add  just  now,  as  it  was  told 
on  the  lawn  -  tennis  ground  yesterday,  by  one  of  the 
students  to  a  horrified  group  of  his  companions,  and  then 
interpreted  to  me.  One  of  their  own  number,  a  hot- 
headed young  fellow,  had  left  the  college  at  the  time  of 


36 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 


the  Zeitun  excitement,  with  the  idea  of  helping  his  fellow- 
countrymen  there.  News  had  just  come  in  that  he  had 
died  in  prison,  and  on  his  dead  foot  the  marks  were  found 
where  a  red-hot  horse-shoe  had  been  fastened. 

Now  for  a  change.  It  will  do  your  hearts  good  to  know 
that  all  the  Turks  are  not  cruel.  The  American  hospital 
here  would  undoubtedly  have  been  wrecked  but  for  the 
determined  efforts  of  a  Turk,  whose  brother's  life  Dr.  S. 
had  saved.  Other  Turks  also  secreted  Christian  friends 
and  neighbours  in  their  houses.  The  Armenians  them- 
selves are  helping  one  another  splendidly. ^  Everywhere 
this  is  the  case.  It  is  not  only  England  and  America 
that  have  given  money.  Many  rich  Armenians  have 
quite  impoverished  themselves,  and  they  are  waiting  on 
the  sick  and  caring  for  the  homeless  in  the  church  and 
school-houses  here  most  lovingly. 

This  letter  is  so  long  I  must  now  draw  to  a  close,  though 


^  In  verification  of  this  statement,  here  is  a  little  table  of  contributions 
in  money  and  goods  made  at  Aintab  between  November  1 6,  1 895,  and 
March  8,  1896,  the  values  being  given  in  piastres  : — 

Bread,  &c.           .         .         .  350 

Shoes,  &c.  ....  250 

Soap  .....  120 

Clothes  and  unmade  mate- 
rial .  .  .  .30,220 
Bedding  ....  1,560 
Alaja  .  .  .  .2,152 
Ornaments  (gold  and  silver)  3, 145 
Cash 3i»i23 


Cereals 

13,000 

Wheat 

12,100 

Lentils 

2,050 

Molasses    . 

1,025 

Raisins 

2,250 

Salt    . 

125 

Charcoal    . 

1,120 

Wood,  &c. 

515 

Butter 

513 

Olive  oil     . 

100 

Meat 

2,560 

Vegetables 

270 

Total 


•   104,548 
^T.  829 


from  which  it  appears  that  the  conjunction  of  "  deep  poverty  "  and  "  riches 
of  liberality  "  still  exists. — J.  R.  H. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  37 

I  have  already  enough  more  facts  to  tell  to  fill  several  letters. 
Yesterday  the  English  Consul,  who  has  been  at  Zeitun  for 
months,  and  Dr,  S.,  who  went  over  when  the  fever  broke 
out  there,  returned  together ;  the  Consul  weak  from 
recovery  from  typhus  just  gone  through.  All  this  morn- 
ing he  was  in  the  drawing-room  receiving  visitors.  The 
Turkish  Governor  of  Aintab  came  to  see  him ;  then  came 
the  General  of  the  Turkish  army  in  Asia  Minor  and  his 
aide-de-camp,  now  staying  here ;  and  after  they  left  an 
archbishop,  and  the  Protestant  head  of  the  Y.M.C.A.  here, 
an  Armenian  gentleman  educated  in  America  and  Eng- 
land. What  contrasts,  and  what  phases  of  life  all  these 
men  represented  you  can  imagine  as  well  as  I — but  R. 
and  I  sat  through  all  the  visits  and  shook  hands  with  all 
the  men,  though  I  did  not  enjoy  the  operation  with  the 
Turks.  Still  these  are  only  the  tools  used — not  the  respon-  "1 
sible  arch-schemer  and  commander  of  the  tragedy — and 
one  pitied  more  than  anythiug  else,  while  looking  and 
listening,  and  watching  them  smoking,  drinking  coffee, 
eating  sweetmeats,  and  laughing.  ^ 

Since  then  I  have  gone  over  the  hospital,  have  seen  the 
tears  running  down  tlie  cheeks  of  a  strong  man  paralysed 
for  life  by  cruelty,  as  he  told  of  all  his  family  and  friends 
being  killed  but  himself;  there  was  also  a  poor  woman 
from  Ourfa  whose  hand  was  nearly  cut  off.  She  brightened 
up  a  little  when  I  said  I  was  going  to  her  city,  and  sent  her 
"  salaams  "  to  her  son  of  fourteen,  and  to  Miss  Shattuck. 

To-morrow  we  shall  have  a  wonderful  day.  It  is  the 
day  of  prayer  for  Armenia  in  England,  and  the  com- 
mencement here  of  a  week  of  services.     The  great  Gre- 


38  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

gorian  Church,  which  holds  when  full  over  three  thousand 

people,  will  be  packed  twice,  once  at  daybreak  for  men, 

when  a  special  service  of  ritualistic  prayer  will  be  held, 

and  then  Dr.  Fuller  and  R.  are  to  speak ;  and  at  noon  it 

is  to  be  filled  again  with  the  women  (such  a  thing  as  never 

happened  before),  for  me  to  read  the  letter  I  have  from 

the  Women's  Armenian  Relief  Committee  and  speak,  and 

also  a  letter  of  sympathy  from  America  is  to  be  read  to 

them.    The  Gregorian  priests  belonging  to  the  Church  are 

to  be  present,  and  the  Protestant  minister,  a  professor  of 

the  college,  will  conduct  the  meeting  and  interpret,  but  no 

other  men.     At  the  same  time  a  children's  meeting  will 

be  held  in  another  church. 

In  the  afternoon  R.  is  to  speak  at  the  Protestant  Church, 

and  in  the  evening  both  of  us  at  the  College  Service. 

Three  weeks  ago  these  meetings  and  services  would  have 

been  utterly  impossible,   so  you  see  how  wonderful  has 

been  the  leading  that  has  brought  us  here  for  the  opening 

of  this  week  of  services  and  prayer,  and  of  which  we  knew 

nothing. — Yours  affectionately, 

Helen  B,  H. 

[As  it  is  interesting  to  know  the  grounds  upon  which  the  attempt 
(alluded  to  in  the  foregoing  letter)  was  made  to  expel  Dr.  Fuller  from 
the  country,  I  subjoin  a  part  of  a  communication  from  him,  dated 
August  19,  1896,  which  will  show  how  causeless  and  unjust  was  the 
agitation  against  the  Americans. — J.  R.  H. 

The  week  in  Aintab  has  been  very  quiet,  but  it  has  brought  to  a 
culmination  a  characteristic  incident  which  will  be  of  interest  to  all 
who  are  watching  the  progress  of  affairs  in  this  country,  viz. :  The 
first  massacre  and  plundering  at  Ourfa  occurred  October  25-27  ; 
Miss  Shattuck  was  at  that  time  the  only  member  of  our  Mission  in 
Ourfa.     While  the  mob  were  yet  murdering  and  plundering  her 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  39 

neighbours,  she  sent  a  letter  to  us  at  Aintab  by  special  messenger, 
who  delivered  the  message  October  26  ;  on  November  i,  as  he  was 
returning,  I  gave  him  a  note  to  Miss  S.  in  reply.  This  man  was 
arrested  at  Biredjik,  his  papers  taken  from  him,  and  himself  tried 
and  condemned  as  a  spy.  It  was  immediately  and  loudly  heralded 
that  a  letter  written  by  the  president  of  the  college  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  police,  and  that  it  contained  undeniable  and  damn- 
ing proof  of  the  complicity  of  the  missionaries  with  jjolitical  agita- 
tors. This  report  was  industriously  circulated  at  Aintab  and  Ourfa, 
and  was  made  a  matter  of  repeated  and  formal  complaint  to  our 
Consiil  at  Aleppo  by  the  Vali.  As  I  was  wholly  ignorant  of  what 
particular  letter  might  be  referred  to,  I  could  only  give  and  authorise 
a  general  protestation  of  innocence,  with  a  challenge  to  jjroduce  any 
letter  bearing  my  signature  to  which  the  Government  could  right- 
fully object ;  I  especially  wrote  our  Consul,  Mr.  Poche,  authorising 
him  to  make  the  most  explicit  and  positive  denial  of  any  and  all 
political  interlerence  or  intrigue  on  my  part,  and  requesting  him  to 
demand  from  the  Vali  copies  of  any  objectionable  documents  bearing 
my  signature  which  might  be  in  his  possession,  and  offering  to  come 
personally  to  Aleppo  to  explain  or  to  answer  for  anything  which 
might  cause  anxiety  to  the  Government  in  any  word  or  act  of  mine. 
This  method  of  adjusting  affairs  did  not,  however,  meet  the  approval 
of  his  Excellency  ;  the  charges  against  us  as  a  mission  were  jjersis- 
tently  kept  alive,  and  chiefly  on  the  strength  of  the  feeling  aroused 
by  this  mysterious  letter,  two  petitions,  one  signed  by  the  present 
Governor  and  some  of  the  principal  officials  of  Aintab,  and  another 
quite  widely  signed  by  citizens,  and  representing  the  college  as  a 
pestilent  centre  of  political  intrigue,  and  the  missionaries  generally 
as  highly  ol)jectionable  persons,  and  requesting  their  immediate 
expulsion  from  the  country,  were  sent  to  Aleppo  and  Constantinople. 
On  the  return  of  our  Ambassador  from  Amerjca  the  matter  was 
taken  in  hand,  and  a  copy  of  the  famous  letter  was  demanded  and 
finally  furnished.  I  take  pleasure  in  adding  a  copy,  and  commend 
it  to  all  who  have  occasion  to  send  messages  in  Turkey,  as  a  specimen 
of  wliat  is  here  regarded  as  "  seditious." 

Aintab,  Nov.  i,  1895. 
Deau  Miss  Shattuck, — Your  letter  received.      We  are  in  the 
deepest  anxiety  about  you,  especially  as  we  get  no  further  news  ;  we 
are  doing  all  in  our  power  to  secure  inlluences  for  your  protection. 


40  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

When  your  letter  came  Dr.  S.  and  Mr.  S.  were  both.  away.  Dr.  S. 
came  last  night,  bnt  it. does  not  seem  possible  for  any  one  to  get 
through,  to  Ourfa  in  the  present  state  of  things.  Brother  S.  will  be 
here  Saturday  or  Monday,  and  we  will  do  all  in  our  power  to  reach 
you.  Be  sure  we  think  of  you,  and  pray  for  you  every  moment. 
The  situation  here  is  very  critical,  but  so  far  there  has  been  no  out- 
break. Dr.  S.  and  Mrs.  Fuller  send  much  love,  as  would  all  in  our 
circle  if  they  knew  of  this  letter  going. — Very  sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)  A.  Fuller.] 


LETTER  No.  VIIL 

AMERICAN  CIVILISATION  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  TURKISH  DESOLATION — 
REVIVAL  OF  RELIGION  IN  AINTAB — REMARKABLE  SERVICES  IN 
THE   OLD   GREGORIAN   AND   PROTESTANT   CHURCHES. 

AiNTAB,  April  27,  1896. 
I  MUST  not  delay  to  write  and  tell  you  how  increasingly 
interesting  our  work  here  is  becoming,  and  how  wonder- 
fully the  way  is  being  made  before  us.  We  are  much 
impressed  by  what  we  see  here,  both  as  regards  the  con- 
flict between  civilisation  and  barbarism,  and  as  regards 
the  religious  emancipation  of  the  people  from  their  ancient 
superstitious.  We  are  staying  here  at  the  American 
College,  which  has  been  doing  a  great  work  in  this  part 
of  Turkey,  and  is  naturally  much  hated  by  those  who  are 
fanatically  inclined  amongst  the  Moslems.  It  is  an  un- 
speakable comfort  to  be  landed  in  this  oasis,  where  one 
can  enjoy  for  a  little  while  the  comforts  and  conveniences 
of  Western  life.  Will  it  sound  strange  to  hear  that  in 
Aintab  I  play  tennis  with  the  professors  and  students  of 
the  college,  and  that  last  night  we  had  some  passages 
from  the  Messiah  sung  for  us  ?  If  it  surprises  you,  it  is 
equally  strange  to  us,  who  were  quite  unprepared  to  find 
how  fast  things  have  been  moving  here  in  the  last  few 

years.     No  wonder  the  authorities  are  alarmed,  as  they 

41 


42  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

see  the  old  order  passing  away,  and  feel  their  supremacy 
disintegrating  from  day  to  day.  But  enough  of  this ;  I 
only  want  to  impress  upon  you  the  fact  that  Armenia  is 
very  little  understood  as  far  as  relates  to  its  place  in 
civilisation,  for  the  simple  reason  that  its  place  is  chang- 
ing so  rapidly. 

You  must  imagine  us  then  as  living  in  a  beautiful 
American  house  in  the  midst  of  the  college  grounds. 
We  look  across  the  valley  to  the  American  Hospital  and 
the  Girls'  Seminary,  behind  which  is  the  city  with  its 
minarets.  On  the  left  the  old  Arab  castle,  which  appears 
to  be  rebuilt  from  an  earlier  structure  of  the  Crusaders. 
If  that  is  right,  as  I  think  it  is,  the  view  comprises  the 
obsolete  chivalry  of  Western  Christendom,  the  decaying 
barbarism  of  Islam,  and  the  rush  of  advancing  progress 
from  beyond  the  sea.  A  singular  combination  !  One 
moment  the  eye  rests  upon  the  burnt  ruins  of  the 
massacre  of  last  November,  the  next  upon  the  towers 
and  parapets  which  tell  of  the  battles  of  the  mediaeval 
world,  and  side  by  side  the  splendid  buildings  which  re- 
present the  missionary  impulse  and  the  philanthropy  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

But  what  I  want  to  tell  you  most  of  is  the  remarkable 
religious  phenomena  that  are  before  us  here.  The  first 
result  of  all  these  horrible  massacres  has  been  to  draw 
together  the  various  bodies  of  Christians,  and  to  accom- 
plish a  religious  unity  such  as  no  councils  could  ever  have 
found  a  basis  for.  I  think  I  mentioned  in  one  of  my 
previous  letters  that  an  Armenian  Protestant  pastor  in 
Constantinople  had  said  to  me,  in  view  of  the  reconcilia- 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  43 

tion  that  was  gt)ing  on  between  the  Protestants  and  the 
old  Armenian  Church,  that  it  would  not  be  long  before 
the  evangelical  preachers  would  be  occupying  the  old 
churches.  But  I  certainly  hardly  expected  to  see  this  so 
soon  fulfilled,  still  less  to  be  myself  a  small  factor  of  the 
fulfilment.  But  here  in  Aintab  the  thing  is  an  accom- 
plished fact ;  and  when  I  tell  you  of  it  you  will,  I  am 
sure,  be  astonished,  and  praise  God.  Yesterday  my  wife 
and  myself  preached  to  audiences  of  about  11,000  people, 
and  this  alone  is  sufficient  to  make  the  day  one  of  the 
most  memorable  in  our  lives. 

The  way  it  comes  about  is  something  like  this  :  it  is 
the  result  of  three  operating  factors.  First,  the  solidify- 
ing influence  of  an  awful  persecution ;  the  same  cause 
which  brought  in  the  early  Christian  Church  the  orthodox 
and  the  so-called  heretic  before  the  same  tribunal,  and 
often  resulted  in  the  canonisation  of  the  heretic  along  with 
the  orthodox  (as  in  the  case  of  Perpetua  and  Felicitas,  and 
other  well-known  martyrs),  has  been  at  work  here ;  and 
the  Christians  here  have  been  wonderfully  drawn  together 
by  the  trials  through  which  they  have  had  to  pass.  As 
one  of  the  pastors  said  to  me  to-day,  "We  were  like  pieces 
of  cold  iron,  but  this  persecution  has  welded  us  together." 
The  second  cause  which  has  been  at  work  is  the  sympathy 
of  Western  Protestant  Nonconformity.  The  Armenians 
know  very  well  how  much  of  sympathy  has  come  to  them 
from  the  old  English  and  American  Evangelicals,  and 
they  have  drawn  their  own  conclusions.  They  say :  "  Wo 
understand  the  Protestants  now,  and  know  that  they  are  not 
heretics."     And  thirdly,  since  the  alleviation  of  the  suffer- 


44  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

ings  of  the  people  has  largely  flowed  through  the  hands  of 
the  native  Armenian  pastors,  working  with  the  old  Gre- 
gorian Armenians,  the  two  poles  of  religious  thought  and 
life  have  been  brought  into  such  contiguity  that  sparks  of 
material  love  have  been  passing  all  the  time.  No  doubt 
other  and  higher  influences  have  also  been  at  work  which 
do  not  admit  of  classification  under  firstly,  secondly,  and 
thirdly,  because  they  are  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in 
all.  Well,  one  result  of  this  upheaval  in  Aintab  has  been 
that  the  Protestants  (including  the  college  professors  and 
native  preachers)  have  been  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the 
old  Gregorian  Church,  and  in  the  very  midst  of  the  old 
Gregorian  ritual. 

The  people,  too,  in  the  midst  of  their  sorrows,  have 
turned  their  attention  to  religion  in  a  way  that  has  pro- 
bably never  been  known  before.  All  the  churches  are 
crowded,  generally  twice  a  day,  and  the  people  will  sit 
for  hours  listening  to  the  consolations  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Yesterday,  as  I  said,  was  our  great  day.  Dr. 
Fuller,  president  of  the  American  College,  had  been 
invited  to  preach  at  the  Gregorian  High  Mass,  and  he 
obtained  permission  for  me  to  come  and  share  the  privi- 
lege with  him.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  had  the 
opportunity,  and  the  first  time  I  had  been  in  anything  of 
the  kind.  The  service  began  before  daybreak,  and  as  the 
ritual  is  extremely  long,  and  without  any  preaching  occu- 
pies about  two  hours,  you  can  judge  what  it  would  be  like 
with  a  couple  of  Protestant  addresses  intercalated  in  it. 

I  was  out  of  bed  by  ten  minutes  after  five,  and  after  a 
cup  of  coffee  and  a  bit  of  bread  we  were  soon  on  onr  way 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  45 

to  the  church,  where  we  found  the  service  ah-eady  well 
advanced.  But  what  a  sight !  From  end  to  end  of  the 
building  a  sea  of  heads  ;  the  men  stood,  of  course,  as  there 
are  no  seats,  but  only  carpets  on  the  floor,  and  I  need  not 
say  that  the  capacity  of  a  building  is  vastly  increased  when 
the  people  stand  or  when  they  sit  close  packed  upon  the 
floor ;  away  in  the  galleries  and  behind  lattice-work  was 
a  throng  of  women,  and  a  glance  overhead  at  the  lantern 
showed  that  a  crowd  of  women  were  also  listening  on 
the  roof.  I  suppose  there  must  have  been  3000  people 
present,  and  they  say  that  another  thousand  was  in  the 
courtyard  and  unable  to  get  into  the  church.  When  the 
first  sunbeams  fell  on  this  crowd  within  the  church,  with 
their  red  fezzes,  blue  jackets,  and  striped  shirts,  it  made 
a  fantastic  sea  of  colour  that  is  not  easy  to  describe.  The 
service  is  much  more  extended  than  most  masses  of  which 
I  know  anything.  The  main  features  of  the  eucharistic 
method,  however,  were  not  difficult  to  recognise.  The 
Nicene  Creed  was  recited  by  the  whole  congregation,  and 
the  kiss  of  peace  was  given,  usually  by  turning  one's 
cheeks  to  one's  neighbours,  first  to  the  one  side  and  then 
to  the  other,  but  without  any  actual  contact  between  the 
lips  and  the  face.  The  procession  of  the  priests,  as  they 
brought  the  elements  from  one  altar  to  the  other  to  place 
them  in  the  hands  of  the  celebrant,  was  very  interesting. 
The  approaching  priest  recites  from  the  psalm,  "  Lift  up 
your  heads,"  &c.,  and  the  celebrant  inquires,  "Who  is 
this  King  of  Glory  ?  "  and  so  on,  the  elements  being  placed 
on  the  altar.  But  I  need  not  enlarge  further  on  this 
ancient  ritual.     Indeed  I  do  not  understand  it  as  well  as 


46  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

I  could  wisli  (speaking  as  an  archaeologist).  In  the  midst 
of  the  service  one  of  the  clergy  read  a  paper  of  subscrip- 
tions for  the  poor,  usually  in  the  form  of  thanksgivings  or 
requests  for  prayer,  and  it  was  very  interesting  to  note 
that  no  less  than  four  donations  were  made  in  thankful- 
ness for  the  safe  return  of  the  American  doctor  (Dr. 
Shephard)  from  Zeitun.  One  person  added,  "  and  for  the 
safe  return  of  the  English  Consul,"  who  had  been  prayed 
for  by  the  people  in  the  great  church. 

When  it  came  to  the  time  for  the  sermon,  Dr.  Fuller 
was  introduced  and  preached  to  the  people  extempore; 
they  listened  with  breathless  attention,  and  often  by  a 
murmur  of  sympathy  or  by  a  responsive  "Amen,"  ex- 
pressed their  approval  of  what  was  said.  I  was  back  in 
Antioch  by  this  time  with  Chrysostom  !  Then  came  my 
turn  to  say  a  few  words.  After  this  the  service  continued  ; 
the  elements  were  elevated,  portions  of  blessed  bread  were 
distributed  amongst  the  people,  and  finally  the  first  chapter 
of  the  Gospel  of  John  was  read  (in  the  Old  Armenian,  I 
think),  and  so  the  liturgy  concluded.  A  short  service  was 
then  commenced  in  commemoration  of  the  dead,  but  by 
this  time  we  were  tired,  it  was  eight  o'clock,  and  most  of 
the  people  were  leaving.  So  we  came  back  to  the  college 
with  thankful  hearts  for  the  opportunity  we  had  enjoyed 
of  speaking  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  a  people  who  do 
not  generally  hear  anything  on  that  point,  beyond  the 
obscure  intimations  of  the  ritual. 

At  noon  the  great  church  was  crowded  again,  but 
this  time  3000  women  had  the  floor,  and  my  dear 
wife  was  the  celebrant  of  the  mysteries.     I  must  leave 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  47 

her  to  give  her  own  impressions  of  that  remarkable 
service. 

The  afternoon  was  appointed  for  services  in  almost  all 
the  churches,  and  I  promised  to  come  and  help  them  at 
the  First  and  Second  Protestant  Churches,  beginning  with 
the  latter,  and  then  going  on  to  the  former.  As  there 
was  likely  to  be  a  great  crowd,  a  service  was  also  arranged 
by  the  Protestant  pastors  in  the  old  Armenian  Church. 
Not  to  allow  the  brotherly  kindness  to  be  all  on  one  side, 
the  first  hour  of  the  service  in  the  Second  Protestant 
Church  was  given  up  to  the  Gregorians,  who  were  allowed 
to  bring  their  altar  with  them,  and  set  it  up,  with  a  censer 
and  other  necessaries,  in  front  of  the  Protestant  pulpit. 
And  when  they  had  done  their  evening  service  the  Pro- 
testant worship  began.  Here,  again,  it  was  a  wonderful 
sight.  The  open  galleries  and  a  small  part  of  the  main 
floor  were,  reserved  for  women  ;  the  rest  was  filled  with  a 
dense  mass  of  worshippers,  who  filled  the  building  long 
before  the  appointed  hour,  and  would,  to  judge  from  their 
interest,  have  willingly  stayed  all  day.  Professor  Papagian 
led  the  service  and  expounded  the  Scriptures ;  he  then 
called  upon  me,  for  whom  he  interpreted  most  beautifully  ; 
and  when  I  had  done,  wo  slipped  off  to  the  other  church, 
and  left  him  to  preach  to  the  people  on  his  own  account. 

The  First  Church  is  a  splendid  building,  with  a  waggon 
roof  on  wooden  pillars — no  galleries.  This  time  the 
women  sat  on  one  side  of  the  floor  in  a  place  reserved  for 
them.  Here  there  must  have  been  again  3000  people  ; 
and  how  they  listened  !  First  of  all  their  pastor  (educated 
at  Yale  University  in  America)  preached  them  a  closely 


48  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

reasoned  discourse  on  the  necessity  of  progress  in  the 
interpretation  of  Christianity,  and  then  I  had  my  little 
say,  and  so  we  ended.  My  own  mind  was  full  of  blessed 
astonishment  at  the  things  which  I  had  seen  and  heard. 

In  the  evening  we  had  a  meeting  with  the  students  of 
the  college,  to  whom  my  wife  and  I  both  said  a  few  words. 
But  you  may  very  well  believe  that  by  nightfall  we  were 
tired  enough.  But  who  would  not  be  tired  in  such  a 
service ! 

And  now  I  must  conclude  this  letter.     The  people  of 

whom  I  have  been  speaking  to  you,  are  as  good  material  as 

any  similar  audience  you  could  gather  in  England.     Alas  ! 

that  they  should  be  destroyed.     The  preachers  with  whom 

I  have  been  working  are  earnest,  educated,  and  devout. 

We  are  well  and  happy.     The  time  of  our  coming  is  the 

right  time.     A  few  weeks  ago  the  people  could  scarcely 

stir  abroad ;  even  now  there  is  great  danger  and  constant 

fear.     But  they  are  plucking  up  courage  a  little,  and  we 

are  doing  all  we  can  to  help  them.     Continue  with  us 

in  your  prayers  to  God  for  this  unhappy  land  and  this 

precious  people. 

Eendel  Hakris. 


LETTER    No.    IX. 

CROSSING  THE  EUPHRATES  —  DRYING  UP  OF  -THE  GREAT  RIVER — 
DIFFUSION  OF  THE  KURDS — MISS  SHATTUCK,  THE  HEROINE  OF 
OURFA,  ETC. 

OuRFA,  May  5,  1896. 
My  dear  Friends, — You  see  we  really  are  at  last  in  a 
position  to  understand  "that  blessed  word  Mesopotamia," 
for  we  crossed  the  Euphrates  last  Thursday,  arrived  here 
on  Saturday,  and  have   had  two  or  three   days  to  look 
about  us  and  take  stock  of  the  situation.     We  crossed  the 
Euphrates  at  Biredjik,  where  there  is  now  not  a  single  Chris- 
tian left :  all  have  either  been  killed  or  embraced  Islam.i 
We  came  across  some  of  these  unfortunate  apostates,  and 
indeed  one  or  two  were  in  our  party,  unless  I  am  much 
mistaken.     One  man  who  came  to  Aintab  wept  much  over 
his  unfortunate  position,  and  with  others  will  take  the 
opportunity  of   confessing  his  faith   again   when  better 
times   come.       I    fancy  they   will    not   find   it    so    easy. 
Another  man  sends  word  that  although,  for  the  sake  of 
his  wife  and  children,  and  in  view  of  his  lonely  situation 
in  the   country,   he  has    embraced    Islam,   he    keeps   up 
morning  and  evening  prayer  secretly  with  his  wife.    Poor 

^  Wc  understand  that,  through  the  influence  of  Vice-Consul  Fitz- 
maurice,  these  forced  converts  have  been  permitted  to  return  to  their 
former  profession. — J.  R.  H. 


50  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

fellows !  We  can  hardly  appreciate  the  terror  under 
which  they  live. 

As  we  approached  the  Euphrates  I  asked  Helen 
whether  she  expected  to  see  the  river  dried  up,  alluding 
of  course  to  the  interpretation  which  many  people  put 
upon  the  passage  in  the  Apocalypse,  which  speaks  of  the 
drying  up  of  the  great  river  Euphrates  that  the  way  of 
the  kings  of  the  East  may  be  prepared  ;  but  I  was  hardly 
prepared  to  find  that  the  suggested  event  had  really  taken 
place.  The  great  river  had  evidently  been  in  flood  not 
long  since,  and  had  now  shrunk  to  a  fifth  of  its  size ;  and 
it  seemed  to  me  easy  to  conclude  that  the  drying  up  of 
the  Euphrates  is  a  regular  spring  phenomenon.  Conse- 
quently the  passage  in  the  Apocalypse  is  a  cipher  method 
of  saying,  that  when  the  spring  floods  subside  a  Parthian 
army  is  waiting  to  cross  the  Euphrates.  So  I  read  it  as 
history,  as  so  many  other  events  in  that  book,  and  the 
only  question  is  to  determine  the  time  when  the  invasion 
was  actually  threatened.  The  Parthians  were  the  terror 
of  the  world — at  least,  of  the  Eastern  world — in  the 
century  before  and  the  century  after  Christ.  They  were 
on  a  large  scale  what  the  Kurds  are  to-day  on  a  small 
scale. 

Speaking  of  the  Kurds,  I  was  surprised  to  find  how  far 
westward  they  extended.  Our  ride  from  Biredjik  to  Ourfa 
took  us  for  two  days,  partly  over  hilly,  rolling  country 
covered  with  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats,  and  partly  through 
splendid  plains  covered  with  waving  corn.  But  every- 
where that  I  could  see  the  Kurd  was  in  possession ;  he 
was  not  only  the  nomad  visiting  the  spring  pastures,  but 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  51 

he  was  the  agriculturist.  We  spent  the  night  at  Serouj 
(the  ancient  Serug,  a  place  in  which  I  was  much  interested 
as  being  the  home  of  one  of  the  most  famous  fathers  of 
the  Syrian  Church,  Jacob  of  Serug) ;  the  city  is  now  a 
mere  collection  of  Kurdish  huts,  built  of  mud,  and  having 
the  api^earance  of  a  group  of  beehives.  And  the  whole 
of  the  plain  was  dotted  over  with  similar  ant-hills,  which 
made  one  think  of  Africa  rather  than  of  Asia.  Nothing 
remains  of  the  old  civilisation  of  this  region  except  a 
series  of  hills  or  mounds  covering  the  sites  of  ancient 
cities  and  villages,  and  no  doubt  rich  in  antiquities,  if  one 
could  be  permitted  to  excavate  them. 

As  I  said,  it  surjjrised  me  to  see  the  way  in  which  the 
Kurd  was  holding  the  country.  The  nomadic  Kurd  was 
encamped  in  tents  with  reed  walls  and  canvas  roofs  by 
the  side  of  the  agriculturist,  who  was  tilling  the  rich 
plain.  I  reckon  him  to  be  about  as  unvarnished  a  savage 
as  one  could  wish  to  see.  Their  wild  dogs  flew  at  us,  and 
would  cheerfully  have  torn  us  to  pieces,  and  the  men  are 
not  much  better.  And  the  Armenian  population  in  this 
country  has  this  unvarnished  savage  for  its  nether  nnll- 
stone,  and  a  certain  other  varnished  savage  for  its  upper 
millstone  —  an  over-lord  and  an  under-lord.  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  they  talk  of  leaving  the  country,  and  eagerly 
discuss  any  and  every  possible  scheme  of  emigration  ? 

Here  in  Ourfa  we  are  in  the  city  that  was  once  the 
metropolis  of  Eastern  Christianity  (the  home  of  Abgar, 
of  Tatian,  and  of  Ephrem),  and  now  has  become  its 
charnel-house  and  sepulchre.  We  pass  constantly  by 
looted    shops    and    battered    doors ;    we   talk   with   the 


52  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

widows  and  pity  the  orphans ;  we  try  amid  these  wrecks 
to  keep  our  own  faith  alive,  and  to  rekindle  the  faith  of 
the  suffering  people  of  God.  They  are  a  precious  people, 
their  patience  is  boundless  and  unutterable,  and  their 
charity  towards  one  another  abundant.  What  has  been 
done  for  them  in  the  West  has  fractional  moral  value 
compared  with  their  care  for  one  another.  If  the 
problem  of  living  here  can  be  solved  they  will  solve  it ; 
but  for  myself  it  seems  to  be  the  insoluble  and  impossible 
problem,  the  reductio  ad  ahsurdum  of  existence. 

We  are  delighted  with  the  way  in  which  relief  opera- 
tions have  been  carried  on  here.  Miss  Shattuck,  the 
heroine  of  the  massacres,  is  the  mainspring,  but  she  has 
a  capital  local  committee  (of  Armenians),  who  investigate 
all  cases  and  classify  them,  and  give  help  in  the  wisest 
way,  so  as  not  to  multiply  distress  in  relieving  it.  There 
is  no  one  here  now,  as  far  as  I  can  make  out,  that  is 
starving ;  the  trouble  may  recur  next  autumn,  but  for  the 
present  the  people  are  preserved  alive,  and  most  of  them 
are  getting  to  work  again.  The  weavers  have  been  em- 
ployed to  make  cloth  for  the  naked,  and  the  coppersmiths 
are  now  being  set  to  work  to  supply  the  empty  houses 
with  the  necessary  cooking  gear;  and  so  gradually  the 
broken  fabric  of  social  order  is  being  pieced  together,  and 
the  smashed  machine  made  ready  for  some  more  revolu- 
tions. The  greatest  trouble  ahead  will  perhaps  be  the 
orphans ;  but  here  also  the  people  are  taking  hold  of  the 
matter  for  themselves,  and  it  will  not  do  to  open  orphan- 
age operations  until  everything  has  been  done  that  can  be 
done  in  the  way  of  finding  homes  for  them.     Some  help 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  53 

will  be  needed  in  this  direction  very  soon,  but  not  imme- 
diately. We  have  some  idea  that  the  house  we  have 
taken,  which  we  have  rented  for  a  year  at  the  sum  of 
£  5  Turkish,  may  be  useful  as  a  preliminary  shelter  after 
we  are  gone,  but  of  this  we  shall  know  better  presently. 
There  is  small-pox  in  the  city,  and  one  case  is  under  care 
at  the  Mission  House.  They  do  not  seem  to  mind  much 
about  it,  and  have  little  or  no  idea  of  disinfection  and 
similar  modern  ideas. 

I  find  that  the  experience  through  which  we  are  passing 
is  helping  me  to  a  much  better  understanding  of  the  condi- 
tions of  primitive  Christianity ;  the  situation  is  sometimes 
quite  Apocalyptic,  and  one  readily  comprehends  the  way 
in  which  those  books  were  produced,  which  dealt  with  the 
secret  hopes  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  with  the  judg- 
ments that  follow  after  persecutors.  I  must  tell  you  one 
little  story  from  a  Moslem  quarter.  There  is  a  woman  in 
Aintab — a  Moslem  who  is  held  in  high  repute,  whether 
for  sanity  or  sanctity  I  hardly  know  (the  two  things 
ought  to  tend  to  synonym).  She  is  reported  to  have  gone 
to  the  mavor,  and  related  a  vision  which  she  had  of  a 
tree  growing  in  a  vessel  of  water ;  gradually  the  vessel 
filled,  aiid  when  it  filled  the  tree  fell  over.  The  explana- 
tion is  that  the  vessel  contained  the  tears  of  the  Chris- 
tians. I  leave  you  to  interpret  the  rest,  and  to  drop  your 
quota  in  the  flood. — With  every  good  wish  to  my  beloved 

friends, 

J.  R.  H. 


LETTER   No.  X. 

A   MORNING  WITH   MISS   SHATTUCK  AT   OURPA. 

May  6,  1896. 

Deak  Friend  H.  S.  Newman, — At  this  time  of  dis- 
tress and  emergency  in  Armenia,  it  is  wonderful  what  a 
work  God  is  giving-  to  American  missionaries,  and  especi- 
ally to  the  lady  missionaries,  to  do.  At  Van  all  know  of 
Dr.  Grace  Kimball  and  her  noble  and  successful  work. 
That  of  Miss  Shattuck  at  Ourfa  is  perhaps  less  known,  but 
not  less  heroic.  She  was  the  one  help  and  hope  of  the 
Christian  population  during  the  massacres  (her  own  life 
at  one  crisis  being  in  great  danger) ;  and  ever  since,  her 
house,  with  the  mission  premises  and  the  adjoining  large 
Protestant  church,  has  been  the  centre  of  distribution  of 
the  charity  which  has  flowed  hither  from  America  and 
England,  as  also  from  the  Armenians  themselves.  The 
mission  premises  surround  a  large  courtyard,  and  when 
I  arrived  there  this  morning  on  a  brief  errand,  as  I 
supposed,  I  found  a  busy  scene.  Here  are  a  group  of 
Armenians  waiting  to  state  their  various  needs.  Here 
are  two  native  women  who  are  employed  as  Bible-readers. 
They  also  gather  the  donations  from  the  poor  people 
among  whom  they  visit,  so  freely  given  for  those  poorer 

still.     Some  of  these  are  not  able  to  give  more  than  the 

54 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  55 

value  of  the  well-known  widow's  mite,  while  others  give 
good  sums,  and  brides  the  gold  coins  from  their  dowry- 
strings,  while  last  night  a  pair  of  chased  gold  earrings 
were  brought  in.  These  Bible-women,  by-the-bye,  find 
those  they  go  to  so  hungry  for  Bible  comfort,  that  instead 
of  the  twos  and  threes,  as  is  usual,  coming  together,  the 
women  are  crowding  by  the  hundred,  and  yesterday  one 
of  the  Bible-women  told  Miss  Shattuck  that  in  one  house 
and  courtyard  alone  there  were  as  many  as  three  hundred. 
As  Miss  S.  is  afraid  of  this  attracting  too  much  attention, 
she  has  told  them  not  to  allow  such  large  gatherings. 
How  different  this  thirst  for  the  Gospel  is  to  the  state  of 
things  in  many  favoured  English  towns,  and  how  it  shows 
that  Grod  is  even  now  bringing  good  out  of  evil. 

Near  these  groups  are  a  band  of  children,  mostly 
orphan,  and,  standing  a  little  aloof,  two  Turkish  soldiers, 
who  are  the  immediate  guards  of  the  establishment  (there 
being  twenty  others  a  little  further  off) ;  some  of  these 
go  with  us  when  we  go  out,  and  seem  to  take  a  real 
interest  in  what  is  going  on. 

Mounting  the  out-door  stairs  to  the  verandah,  upon 
which  open  Miss  Sbattuck's  private  rooms,  and  entering, 
I  find  her  seated  amidst  her  Armenian  Eelief  Committee, 
seven  earnest,  good,  and  reliable  men  of  responsible  posi- 
tions in  the  town,  and  she  is  manifestly  their  leader  and 
guide  in  all  their  work.  Every  day  they  thus  sit  in 
council,  and  consider  every  case  of  need  separately,  and 
then  scatter  to  carry  out  the  blessed  work  upon  which 
they  are  engaged. 

Just  now,  as  I  enter,  they  are  considering  how  to  send 


56  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

some  orphans  to  Smyrna,  for  whom  the  good  German 
deaconesses  there  are  ready  to  provide.     They  have  also  a 
letter  from  Mrs.  Dobrashian  of  Constantinople,  concerning 
her  taking  some  more  of  these  parentless  little  ones  under 
her  care,  and  the  whole  matter  is  carefully  considered.    Miss 
Shattuck  and  the  committee  receive  numerous  personal 
appeals  daily,  and  she  had  a  number  of  these  translated 
to  me  this  morning,  from  an  appeal  for  a  donkey  from  a 
pedlar  now  recovered  from  his  wounds,  who  declares  he 
is  too  weak  for  any  other  work,  to  a  request  to  be  made 
whole  by  a  dying  woman  who  thinks  the  committee  have 
all  power.     Most  of  the  cases  are,  however,  from  widows 
with  children  whose  husbands  were  killed.      This  com- 
mittee work  takes  about  an  hour.     Then  comes  looking  at 
needle-work,  for  in  one  of  the  mission  rooms  are  many 
girls  engaged  embroidering  felt,  for  mats  and  other  pur- 
poses, in  hope  of  an  English  market.     In  the  church  are 
great  heaps  of  wool  being  prepared  for  making  up  into 
beds  for  the  poor.     This  is  of  course  cleared  out  every 
Sunday,  when  the  church  is  crowded  with  worshippers, 
holding  about  2000  people.     One  of  the  visitors  to  Miss 
Shattuck  this  morning  was  an  Armenian  gentleman  who 
had  supplied  her  with  money  before  help  could  come  from 
Europe,   and   she   was  returning  what  had  been  lent  by 
him.     His  life  had  been  saved  by  two  Turkish  neighbours, 
whose  wives  called  on  Miss  Shattuck  when  I  was  present 
yesterday.     It  is  needless  to  say  that  social  intercourse 
with  the  Turks  on  such  a  basis  is  one  of  the  bright  spots 
in  this  dark  picture,  which  are  happily  not  wanting  to 
relieve  it  in  every  place. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  57 

After  the'se  items  of  business  Miss  Shattuck  and  I, 
accompanied  by  our  guard  and  some  of  the  Eelief  Com- 
mittee, went  to  inspect  an  Armenian  house,  kindly  lent  free 
of  cost  for  two  months,  to  receive  orphans,  until  further 
arrangements  can  be  made.  It  has  been  terribly  battered 
about,  and,  indeed,  we  have  not  been  in  one  Armenian 
house  yet  which  does  not  show  marks  of  violence  ;  but,  in 
spite  of  injury,  it  is  a  fine  old  house,  evidently  belonging 
to  a  family  or  families  (since  life  is  on  the  patriarchal 
basis  here)  of  the  better  class.  Carved  marble  pillars 
and  beautifully  carved  woodwork  on  doors  and  shutters 
showed  the  refinement  of  its  late  occupants.  The  owner 
was  with  us,  and  told  us  that  twenty-one  of  his  kith  and 
kin  who  had  lived  there  with  him  had  been  killed  in  the 
massacre.  Twenty-one  !  Just  think  of  the  desolation  of 
his  hearth  and  home !  and  of  the  nobility  and  charity  of 
nature  that  could  take  joy  in  giving  the  scene  of  former 
happy  family  life  to  shelter  the  orphan  children  of  his 
people.  After  Miss  Shattuck  and  her  helpers  had  decided 
what  had  to  be  done  to  put  the  house  in  order,  we  next 
proceeded  to  the  little  infirmary  where  the  few  wounded 
people  who  have  neither  recovered  nor  died  yet  remain. 
Here  is  a  man  with  a  great  sword-gash  across  his  face 
cutting  the  nose  in  two,  another  shot  through  the  lungs, 
another  with  one  hand  off  and  the  other  wounded,^  &c. 
Miss  Shattuck  gives  kind  words  and  sympathising  looks 
to  each,  and  as  she  is  so  occupied  it  becomes  known  that 
she  is  here,  and  women  crowd  into  the  outer  court,  each 
with  lier  own  hope  for  a  word  and  a  promise  from  their 
one  friend. 


58  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Here  let  me  leave  her  surrounded  by  the  needy  people 
she  loves — utterly  self-forgetful  and  apparently  incapable 
of  fatigue,  a  woman  full  of  the  deepest  sympathy  and 
tenderness,  and  yet,  as  Mr.  Fitzmaurice,  the  British  Vice- 
Consul,  said  of  her,  possessing  the  most  level  head  of  any 
one  far  and  near. — Sincerely  thy  friend, 

Helen  B.  Harkis. 


LETTEE   No.   XT. 

HOUSE   HIRED   IN   OURPA — ANCIENT   LEGENDS   OF   EDESSA — RELIEF 
WORK   IN   THE   CITY— AN   ARCH^OLOGICAL   PUZZLE,   ETC. 

OuRFA,  May  g,  1896. 

My  deae  Feiends, — We  are  comfortably  settled  in  a 
part  of  a  house  which  we  have  hired  for  a  year  at  a  very 
modest  sum.  We  expect  to  stay  here  some  time,  as  this 
is  one  of  the  chief  centres  of  misery  that  we  are  in  search 
of,  and  when  we  leave,  our  thoup^ht  is  that  our  part  of  the 
house  can  be  stocked  with  or]ihans  (or  as  I  amuse  myself 
by  calling  them,  Ourfans),  of  whom  the  city  is  full. 

As  you  know,  this  is  the  ancient  Edessa,  the  metropolis 
of  Syrian  Christianity,  and  in  many  ways  the  university 
of  the  early  Church.  It  was  to  this  city  that  King  Abgar, 
according  to  the  legend,  invited  Jesus  Christ  to  escape, 
promising  Him  protection,  and  assuring  Him  that  the  city 
was  small  but  beautiful,  and  large  enough  for  two.  The 
description  is  still  accurate,  except  for  the  last  words ; 
Jesus  Christ  finds  small  scope  here  to-day  as  far  as  the 
goodwill  of  the  government  is  concerned.  It  is  fortunate 
that  the  letter  of  Christ  to  Abgar,  which  used  to  be  pre- 
served in  the  archives  of  the  city,  and  was  supposed  to 
confer  immunity  upon  it,  is  a  forgery ;  for  otherwise  the 

irony  of  the  present  situation  would  be  tremendous.     It 

59 


6o  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

is  bad  enough  that  the  people  should  have  dreamed  them- 
selves secure  under  Divine  protection,  and  then  have  been 
awakened  from  their  fabricated  safety  by  the  rudeness 
of  the  rule  which  has  culminated  in  the  horrors  of  these 
last  days. 

Perhaps  you  will  be  interested  to  know  that  the  pro- 
tection supposed  to  be  conferred  by  Christ's  letter  to 
Abgar  was  extended  from  Edessa  to  England;  for  the 
letter  became  an  amulet  or  phylactery,  was  translated  into 
Saxon,  and  as  late  as  the  last  century  was  worn  by  poor 
countryfolk  in  England  about  their  jDersons  to  keep  off 
various  ills.  What  a  lot  of  superstition  there  is  in  our 
common  blood ;  but  the  faith  will  outlive  the  superstition, 
and  now  is  our  time  to  quicken  the  faith  of  these  people 
by  giving  them  a  higher  order  of  phylactery  ;  and  if  they 
gave  us  Abgar's  letter,  and  a  lot  of  other  false  literature, 
we  can  give  them  back  some  of  the  better  hopes,  to  which 
they  are  very  willing  to  listen. 

I  have  been  sitting  this  morning  with  the  Eelief  Com- 
mittee, composed  of  Miss  Shattuck  and  her  seven  deacons 
(as  I  call  them),  investigating  the  cases  of  plundered  men 
and  helpless  women  and  children.  One  begins  to  under- 
stand what  went  on  in  Jerusalem  in  the  daily  ministration, 
and  how  their  needs  were  met  in  times  of  early  persecution. 
To-day  we  were  chiefly  concerned  in  trying  to  get  some 
of  the  empty  shops  re-opened.  The  artisans  have  no  tools 
and  the  tradesmen  no  stock,  but  if  there  is  any  chance  of 
a  man  re-opening  his  business  we,  i.e.  they,  look  into  the 
case  to  see  where  he  can  be  helped.  One  man  was  a 
coppersmith,  but  his  hand  was  cut  off ;  what  could  he  do  ? 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  6i 

Another  man  was  weak  from  his  wounds  and  quite  unable 
to  take  up  hard  work  again :  he  was  willing  to  try  his 
hand  at  some  retail  trade.  They  planned  these  two  men 
to  open  a  shop  together,  and  gave  a  small  sum  (such  a 
little  !)  to  help  them  begin. 

We  do  this  especially  in  cases  where  the  men  are 
struggling  to  support  large  families  of  relations,  who 
must  otherwise  come  on  our  hands.  Some  of  these 
people  were,  not  long  since,  quite  well  off.  One  man 
before  us  to-day  was  a  silversmith ;  at  the  first  mas- 
sacre his  shop  was  plundered,  and  at  the  second  his 
house.  So  here  he  is  without  stock,  or  tools,  or  capital ; 
and  he  is  working  as  an  apprentice  in  another  man's 
shop.  The  question  is  whether  his  tools  could  be  bought 
for  him  for  some  thirty  shillings  or  so,  so  that  he  could 
begin  life  again  in  his  old  shop.  Then  other  cases  come 
on.  One  woman  wishes  to  mortgage  her  house  to  pay  a 
debt  that  a  Moslem  is  pressing  for ;  that  was  promptly 
dismissed,  with  the  remark  from  one  of  the  committee 
that  they  had  better  ask  us  to  import  some  bankers  from 
Europe.  And  so  we  went  on.  I  was  astonished  at  the 
shrewdness  shown  by  our  native  helpers,  and  do  not  think 
a  better  committee  could  be  found  anywhere. 

You  would  be  delighted  at  the  way  in  which  these 
poor  people  help  one  another.  At  the  present  time  the 
difficulty  of  paying  rents  is  pressing  severely,  and  the 
poor  people  are  collecting  for  the  poorer.  The  women 
bring  their  few  remaining  ornaments ;  and  to-day  one 
woman  sent  her  wedding  dress,  to  be  sold  for  her  poorer 
sisters.     I  think  "her  spirit  will  have  rest." 


62  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

But  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  tell  you  in  detail  what 
goes  on  in  this  relief  work.  I  only  want  you  to  know 
that  it  is  splendidly  managed,  and  that  you  need  not 
have  any  fear  that  the  help  given  here  will  go  into  wrong 
or  doubtful  hands.  It  is  all  being  used  to  set  the  people 
on  their  feet  again;  but  this  is  no  slight  task,  for  the 
work  of  Armenian  eradication  has  been  anything  but 
a  random  frenzy.  The  men  have  been  taken,  and, 
amongst  the  men,  the  strongest  and  ablest  and  wisest. 
Sometimes  in  one  family  you  will  find  a  score  gone,  and 
perhaps  only  the  grandfather  with  a  handful  of  children 
left ;  but  I  will  not  write  more  horrors  or  pitif ulnesses 
than  I  can  help. 

And  now  I  think  I  will  conclude  this  little  letter  with 
something  of  quite  a  different  character,  something  in- 
teresting to  me,  and  perhaps  not  altogether  uninteresting 
to  you.  If  you  will  look  in  Helen  Harris'  translation 
of  the  Apology  of  Aristides,  you  will  find  that  in  the 
account  of  the  superstitions  of  the  Egyptians,  amongst 
other  things,  they  are  charged  with  worshipping  a  sacred 
fish,  whose  name  is  Shebyta.  This  fish  has  been  a  great 
perplexity  to  the  editors  of  Aristides.  To  begin  with, 
the  sacred  fish  in  Egypt  is  the  oxyrhynchus,  or  "  pointed 
nose,"  and  no  such  fish  as  Shebyta  was  known,  except 
that  the  Arabic  lexicons  said  there  was  a  fish  of  that 
name  in  the  Euphrates,  and  that  it  was  brought  for  sale 
to  Aleppo.  But  how  could  Aristides,  the  Athenian  philo- 
sopher, have  talked  about  such  a  fish,  or  credited  the 
Egyptians  with  worshipping  it  ? 

I  must  tell  you  how  I  solved  this  riddle.     First  of  all 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  63 

when  we  crossed  the  Euphrates  at  Biredjik,  and  had  taken 
up  our  quarters  in  a  very  dirty  khan,  a  man  brought  us 
a  large  fish,  something  like  a  salmon.  Something  re- 
minded me  of  Aristides,  and  I  said,  "  What  is  its  name  ?  " 
He  said,  "  Shehjta."  So  here  was  the  disputed  fish 
placed  on  our  table ;  and  the  Arabic  Dictionary  was 
right,  for  they  assured  me  such  fish  were  carried  to 
Aleppo,  and  to  Aintab,  and  to  Ourfa. 
•  Still  this  did  not  explain  to  me  why  the  Syriac  trans- 
lator of  Aristides  should  have  made  this  fish  sacred 
amongst  the  Egyptians,  That  part  of  the  puzzle  I  solved 
yesterday,  and  the  answer  came  in  the  following  way. 
I  was  visiting,  under  guard  of  a  Turkish  soldier,  the 
most  beautiful  part  of  Edessa,  the  fish-pond  on  the 
borders  of  which  staud  the  Mosque  of  Abraham  the 
friend  of  God,  and  a  Moslem  college.  This  college  is 
the  successor  of  the  famous  Christian  school  of  Edessa, 
and  the  mosque,  no  doubt,  marks  the  site  of  an  ancient 
Christian  church.  The  pool  is  fnll  of  fish,  which  it  is 
prohibited  under  severe  penalty  to  kill,  and  which  every 
one  feeds  with  bread  and  pennyworths  of  parched  corn. 
Such  a  rush  when  you  throw  it  in  !  They  tumble  over 
one  another,  and  jump  half  out  of  the  water.  Obviously 
the  protection  and  support  which  the  fish  enjoy  comes 
from  a  time  when  they  were  considered  sacred.  So  I 
asked  my  soldier  what  was  the  name  of  the  fisli,  and  his 
answer  was,  "  In  Arabic  they  are  called  shahit."  So 
here  was  my  fish  again,  and  the  explanation  of  the  whole 
riddle.  The  translation  of  Aristides  was  made  in  Edessa, 
on  the  borders  of  the  sacred  pool ;  and  when  the  trans- 


64  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

lator  came  to  the  passage  dealing  with  Egyptian  fish- 
worship,  he  substituted  the  Syrian  sacred  fish  for  what 
he  found  in  his  Greek  text. 

Now  I  hope  you  do  not  mind  a  taste  of  archgeological 
research  in  place  of  the  burdens  of  the  people.  I  harden 
my  heart  this  way,  and  it  is  necessary. 

The  people  constantly  ask  us  what  is  coming  next. 
Will  there  be  another  massacre  ?  Are  we  to  be  allowed 
to  live  ?  And  I  can  only  tell  them  that  the  Ethiopian 
has  not  changed  his  skin,  nor  the  leopard  his  spots,  but 
neither  has  God  forgotten  to  be  gracious.  And  with  this 
I  will  conclude  my  little  letter.  J.  R.  H. 

[I  add  a  few  particulars  of  the  troubles  in  Edessa,  for  the  sake  of 
those  who  may  not  be  quite  familiar  with  the  story.  The  best 
complete  account  is  Mr.  Fitzmaurice's  Rej^ort  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment (Blue  Book,  Turkey,  No.  5,  price  a^d.). — J.  R.  H. 

Extracts  from   Recent   Letters   {chiefly  from 
American  Alissionaries). 

From  Ourfa. 

January  3,  1896. 

I  know  you  will  be  anxious  for  further  report  of  the  massacre. 
By  actual  count  1500  of  those  killed  in  the  streets  were  dragged  by 
the  feet  to  a  long  trencli  outside  of  the  city  and  there  thrown  in,  one 
on  top  of  another.  Many  of  those  you  and  I  knew  intimately,  our 
Boys'  High  School  teacher,  nine  of  the  priests,  and  our  pupils' 
parents  took  refuge  in  the  big  Armenian  church.  There  were  in 
the  church  between  1500  and  2000  people.  The  soldiers  came  and 
entered  it  and  were  followed  by  other  butchers,  some  were  first 
killed,  but  most  were  burned.  The  church  itself  is  of  most  solid 
stone  and  did  not  burn.  They  have  been  longer  in  cleaning  up  the 
church  tha'i  in  the  streets.  For  several  days  I  have  seen  men 
lugging  in  sacks  the  ashes,  bones,  &c.,  along  the  brow  of  the  hill 
just  by  our  house,  and  dumping  the  contents  over  the  wall.     The 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  65 

air  in  the  city  is  very  had.  I  have  with  me  in  the  house,  church, 
and  school-rooms  250  people,  many  of  them  seriously  woiinded.  It 
takes  me,  with  the  help  of  the  others,  from  five  to  six  hours  daily  to 
dress  the  wounds.  One  woman  will  probably  lose  her  arm.  Each 
person  has  more  than  one  wound.  I  sent  to  the  Government  and 
demanded  300  loaves  of  bread  and  500  beds  and  clothing.  H\in- 
dreds  of  people  have  come  to  me  for  shelter,  but  I  had  to  turn  them 
away,  as  there  is  no  room.  They  come  with  pale,  drawn  faces, 
having  lived  in  wells,  coal-heaps,  manure-heaps,  and  similar  places, 
and  have  not  tasted  food  for  several  days.  The  massacre  was 
carried  on  systematically.  One  set  of  soldiers  went  ahead  and 
killed  the  men,  and  were  followed  by  another  set  who  drove  the 
women  and  children  in  crowds,  and  with  much  rough  treatment, 
to  the  khans  and  mosques.  Still  another  set  followed,  who  then 
stripped  the  houses  of  everything. 

Our  pastor  had  a  most  peaceful  end  ;  was  shot  and  no  blood  ran. 
The  six  orphaned  children  were  sent  to  me  and  are  with  me  still. 

Some  of  the  most  wealthy  of  our  people  have  now  nothing  left  in 
this  world  ;  they  are  with  me,  and  so  humble  and  patient  and  un- 
tiring in  helping  me  and  otliers.  Is  this  the  answer  to  our  hours 
of  prayer  that  the  Church  might  be  purified  ?  They  have  indeed 
passed  through  the  fire.  I  am  so  grateful  that  the  people  here  with 
me  are  so  calm.  We  have  had  some  very  precious  services  among 
them. 

March  i. 

We  have  cut,  tied  up,  and  marked  555  garments  within  three  or 
four  days,  and  also  kept  on  with  the  bed-making.  We  have  a  great 
many  beds  made,  and  next  week  will  begin  to  give  them  to  the 
Gregorian  Armenians.  We  have  just  given  out  fifty  beds  to  the 
Protestants,  including  pillows,  mattresses,  and  covers.  All  beds  are 
made  substantially  of  wool,  and  will  last  several  years.  For  cloth 
alone  I  spent  ^100  the  past  week.  It  is  an  immense  work  to  par- 
tially clothe  this  people,  now  utterly  ragged  from  wearing  two 
months  their  one  suit.  I  think  I  never  was  so  glad  to  feel  the 
spring-time  appi'oarhing. 

How  to  get  work  for  the  widows  is  my  great  ])iobloni.  I  turn  it 
over  in  my  mind  early  and  late.  Cotton  work  is  the  only  thing  I 
can  see  just  now. 

Mr.  Sanders  Avent  to  Garmoush  (a  village  aliout  an  hour  from 
here)  last  week.     No  massacre  has  occurred  there,  but  the  whole 

E 


66  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

village  is  most  wonderfully  spiritually  awakened.  Gregorians  come 
in  large  numbers,  and  are  earnestly  seeking  light.  There  is  quite  a 
temperance  movement  in  connection  with  these  meetings. 

March  6. 
We  have  purchased  cotton  in  the  husk,  and  are  giving  it  out  for 
women  and  children  to  prepare  by  picking,  cleaning,  and  spinning. 
Three  hundred  or  more  are  now  engaged  in  weaving,  &c.  We  then 
use  the  cloth  in  bedding  and  garments.  I  am  sitting  now  in  our 
reception  room  with  six  women  cutting  garments. 

March  II. 

I  have  had  a  rare  outing  this  p.m.,  the  first  of  my  being  in  the 
street  in  four  and  a  half  months.  I  have  been  to  greet  the  wife  of 
our  new  pasha  just  arrived.  She  is  the  Moslem  I  so  much  loved, 
and  to  whom  in  sorrow  we  ministered  when  she  buried  three 
daughters.  She  embraced  and  kissed  me,  and  sat  down  by  my  side. 
"When  I  tried  to  leave,  they  insisted  on  the  pasha's  coming  in  to 
meet  me,  and  we  five  talked  as  freely  as  if  elsewhere.  All  were 
so  cordial  and  sensible,  that  I  with  redoubled  assurance  told  the 
Christians  on  my  return,  they  should  no  longer  fear. 

As  our  dining-room  and  kitchen  each  have  a  family,  we  use  few 
dishes,  temporarily  on  a  shelf  on  my  bookcase  in  my  room,  and  eat 
from  my  study  table,  living  on  rations  as  served  to  the  people  about 
us,  and  two  meals  a  day.  I  am  physically  in  excellent  state,  but 
that  accounts  and  letters  keep  me  up  too  late  after  each  full  day  of 
overseeing  the  dispensing  of  clothing  and  bedding.  Some  300  to 
500  are  cut,  tied  up,  and  marked  daily.  We  have  a  good  investi- 
gating committee  of  eight  or  nine. 

Money  is  at  present  coming  in  a  degree  to  cheer  us  in  our  relief 
work,  but  it  will  be  a  long  work,  and  friends  must  be  patient  in 
helping  carry  the  burden. 

What  is  to  be  done  with  the  great  mass  of  widows,  probably  over 
1 500,  and  some  say  3000  !  All  have  children,  without  a  father  to 
support  tliem— a  bare  house  in  place  of  former,  at  least  comparative, 
comfort,  and  with  nothing  to  wrap  the  new  comers  in.  What 
wonder  that  some  of  the  women  in  desperation  expose  their  children 
to  quick  death,  rather  than  awake  the  slow  death  of  a  future  with- 
out means  of  support. 

We  are  administering  the  relief  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  as 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  67 

many  as  possible  of  the  Christians  to  begin  work.  In  those  trades 
the  produce  of  which  can  be  used  in  relief  work,  the  problem  is 
easy,  and  quite  a  number  of  looms,  which  have  been  idle  for  a  long 
time,  are  now  running,  and  all  the  help  given  them  is  a  small  loan 
for  buying  thread.  The  product  is  taken  by  the  relief  funds  at  a 
very  reasonable  rate,  and  the  weavers  are  put  in  a  condition  to  sup- 
port their  families.  We  can  use  ^200  or  more  a  week  for  the  next 
two  months,  and  then  only  clothe  a  part  of  the  needy. 

We  are  now  convinced  that  the  loss  of  life  here  was  6000,  and 
perhaps  near  8coo.  The  stench  is  yet  very  great  in  the  Armenian 
church.  There  is  a  crack  in  the  stonework  of  the  gallery  from 
which  blood  flowed. 

We  have  this  week  opened  a  temporary  home  for  convalescents. 
This  course  seemed  imperative  in  order  to  save  a  few  of  our  few 
men. 

The  church  is  packed  every  Sabbath  to  the  very  door.  I  never 
saw  it  thus  before. 

Yesterday  in  the  midst  of  very  busy  cares,  the  mother  of  our  High 
School  teacher,  who  was  killed,  was  announced.  I  was  glad  I  did 
give  time  to  see  her  though  it  upset  me  for  a  full  hour  after  she 
and  her  companions  had  gone.  The  mother  had  lost  her  husband 
and  two  sons,  her  daughter  had  lost  her  liusband,  beside  her  father 
and  two  brothers,  and  a  son  of  seventeen  years.  Her  mother-in-law, 
a  widow,  had  three  sons  killed  and  two  sons-in-law.  I  could  find 
no  words,  but  could  only  weep.  They  evidently  had  no  more  tears 
to  shed,  were  culm,  but  their  sorrow  had  a  depth  which  God  grant 
few  may  ever  know. 

It  is  best  for  us  to  forget  if  we  can. 

A2vil  I. 

All  party  spirit  between  Protestants  and  Gregorians  is  a  thing  of 
the  ])ast. 

After  the  massacre  in  ,  S.'s  husband  Ix^ld  prayer-meetings 

in  his  house,  and  large  numbers  attended,  and  many  hearts  were 
softened  and  turned  to  Christ.  He  continued  this  good  work  till 
in  the  last  massacre  he  went  to  join  the  heavenly  host  of  martyrs.] 


LETTEE  No.  XII. 

VISIT  TO   THE  BURNED  CHURCH — A  CALL  UPON  THE   PASHA's  WIFE — 
HER   WARM   SYMPATHY  WITH  THE   SUFFERING   PEOPLE,  ETC. 

OuRFA,  May  (jrrohably  near  i6th). 

Dear  Friends, — A  day  or  two  since  Miss  Shattuck, 
Mr.  S.,  E.  and  I  went  to  see  the  great  chnrcli  where 
the  multitude,  between  2000  and  3000,  were  killed  at 
the  time  of  the  massacre,  and  an  awful  sight  it  was. 

The  two  priests  who  remain  alive  (who  were  both 
wounded  and  left  for  dead),  met  us  at  the  outer  gate 
of  the  yard,  and  with  very  sad  faces  led  us  to  their 
mined  church.  As  we  entered,  the  first  feeling  was 
one,  not  so  much  of  horror,  as  of  awe  and  thankfulness 
to  God,  who  has  given  such  ability  to  man  to  confess 
to  His  name,  and  to  suffer  for  His  sake,  and  as  we 
thought  of  the  individual  and  collective  victory  of  faith 
and  faithfulness  that  was  witnessed  by  Christ  and  the 
angels  on  that  great  day  of  the  sacrifice  of  priests  and 
teachers  and  people  in  this  place,  for  the  moment  the 
greatness  of  the  subject  seemed  to  fill  one's  mind  to 
the  exclusion  of  anything  else.  Not  that  all  the  people 
massacred  here  were  martyrs,  of  course;  but  so  many 
were  consciously  and  deliberately  so,  who  could  have 
escaped  if  they  would  have  denied  the  faith,  that  their 

68 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  69 

constancy  casts  a  halo  over  the  entire  company  who 
perished  with  them. 

But  these  feelings  gave  place  after  awhile  to  the 
contemplation  of  the  scene  itself,  and  that  in  its  turn 
to  some  slight  imagination  of  the  awful  and  unutter- 
able agony  that  had  been  endured.  Here  is  the  enor- 
mous church — blackened  from  floor  to  roof — the  roof, 
a  mass  of  black,  except  where  the  white  calcined  stone 
shows  through.  All  along  both  sides  are  the  calcined 
and  broken  stone  brackets  which  once  supported  the 
two  great  galleries  where  the  women  worshipped,  and 
these  galleries  were  crowded  on  that  day  as  closely  as 
it  was  possible.  What  must  have  been  the  scene  as 
these  fell  in  with  their  living  burden  upon  the  crowd, 
and  into  the  flames  below !  There  is  another  large 
gallery  opposite  the  altar — not  fallen — and  from  the 
crowd  of  women  here,  numbers  of  girls  were  selected 
and  taken  away  to  Moslem  harems  both  here  and  at 
Aleppo.  One  sad  tale  I  must  tell,  to  bring  home  to 
your  hearts  the  realisation  which  only  detail  affords, 
and  then  we  will  again  reverently  leave  the  Church 
and  turn  to  other  things. 

One  woman  had  sought  refuge  here  with  her  hus- 
band and  six  children.  She  was  a  very  nice-looking 
woman,  and,  in  spite  of  her  mature  motherhood,  still 
young,  and  a  certain  Turk  had  cast  his  eyes  upon  her. 
Her  husband  was  killed  in  the  churchyard ;  she  saw 
it,  and  sought  the  church  with  her  children ;  the  Turk 
followed  her  triumpbautly,  saying,  "Now  I  shall  have 
you,"  &c.     This  drove  the  poor  creature  to  despair,  and 


70  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

she  flung  one^  of  her  children  into  the  flames  from  the 
gallery,  and  then  exclaiming,  "  What  is  there  to  live 
for  ? "  sprang  after  it  herself  and  perished.  The  child 
was  saved,  and  with  four  others  of  the  family  (for  one 
was  burned)  will  we  hope  be  soon  sent  to  Constantinople 
and  taken  under  the  kind  care  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  D. 

We  learn  that  the  people  were  lured  to  the  church 
by  soldiers  going  to  their  houses  previously  and  telling 
them  that  if  they  went  there  they  would  be  protected. 
One  of  the  priests  also  told  us  that  they  knew  who  the 
chief  instigator  of  this  crime  was,  and  that  he  some- 
times meets  him  in  the  street,  and  when  he  does  so,  he, 
the  Moslem,  always  smiles  triumphantly  at  him ! 

I  should  have  mentioned  previously  that  the  head  priest, 
who  was  killed  in  the  church  during  the  massacre,  having 
anticipated  the  fate  which  was  hanging  over  the  people 
and  himself,  had  spent  the  entire  night  previously  in 
administering  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  after 
the  custom  of  their  Church,  to  one  after  another  of  the 
congregation.  Surely,  whatever  superstition  may  have 
mingled  with  this,  to  him,  most  solemn  ceremonial,  one 
cannot  but  greatly  admire  his  devotion  and  constancy, 
and  believe  that  it  was  accepted  above  as  faithful  service 
by  Him  whose  eyes  pierce  earthly  mists,  and  whose  love 
accepts  very  imperfect  offerings  when  truly  offered. 

You  will  remember  that  in  a  recent  letter  we  spoke  of  a 
house  kindly  lent  by  an  Armenian — who  had  had  twenty- 
one  of  his  family  killed — for  the  use  of  orphans.     When 
visiting  it  a  few  days  since  we  were  shown  from  the  roof 
^  Query,  three.     Cf.p.  94. — J.  R.  H. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  71 

a  cave  under  the  wall  of  the  city,  which  had  been  filled 
with  bodies  after  the  massacre,  dragged  thither  by  their 
heels,  the  cave's  mouth  being  then  stopped  up  with  earth. 
While  we  were  looking  we  noticed  three  or  four  Armenian 
women  there  weeping  and  wailing  over  the  spot — no  doubt 
their  dearest  were  there  buried ! 

Now  for  a  change  of  scene. 

On  the  loth  May  I  received  intimation  in  the  morning 
that  at  two  in  the  afternoon  the  Pasha's  lady  would  re- 
ceive Miss  Shattuck  and  myself.  This  Pasha,  I  think  you 
know,  is  not  the  one  under  whom  the  massacre  took  place, 
but  a  really  humane  man  sent  to  allay  the  excitement  and 
quiet  the  people. 

So,  attended  by  our  two  guards  and  Miss  Shattuck's 
man-servant,  we  went,  and  at  the  door  poor  Miss  S.  was  in 
great  distress  because  she  had  forgotten  to  tell  me  either 
to  wear  goloshes  or  to  carry  slippers,  for  no  boots  had  ever 
before  trodden  those  lovely  carpets  of  the  reception  room ! 
No  notice  was  taken  of  my  delinquency  however,  and  I 
am  sure  I  did  not  let  one  speck  of  dust  fall  upon  the  floor! 
The  great  lady  and  her  son's  wife — a  very  beautiful  young 
woman,  beautifully  dressed  and  with  her  two  little  children 
by  her  side  (quite  a  picture) — received  us  very  graciously, 
and  gave  us  the  seat  of  honour,  &c.  The  first  half-hour 
was  spent  in  polite  nothings.  One  rug  I  greatly  admired, 
representing  the  Eastern  hemisphere  in  beautiful  colours, 
on  a  crimson  ground,  which  she  said  cost  ^90  or  £lOO,  I 
forget  which,  and  so  on.  Then  the  young  lady  went  out, 
returning  with  a  tray  on  which  were  two  elegant  high 
silver-gilt  vases  with  little  forks  in  one,  and  in  the  centre 


72  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

a  dish  of  preserved  citron.  You  had  to  take  a  fork,  spear 
a  piece  of  citron  and  eat  it  from  the  fork,  and  then  return 
the  fork  to  the  other  receptacle,  and  this  while  the  lady- 
stands  waiting.  This  ordeal  over,  a  servant  brought  in 
coffee,  and  after  that  real  conversation  began. 

I  ventured,  in  spite  of  the  many  cautions  I  had  received 
on  the  subject,  to  refer  to  the  poor  Armenian  prisoners, 
and  to  say  how  we  hoped  and  believed  her  husband  would 
interpose  on  their  behalf.  She  said  he  had  already  done 
what  he  could,  though  so  far  unsuccessfully,  and  would 
continue  his  efforts.  None  of  us  had  dry  eyes  while  we 
spoke  of  their  sufferings  and  those  of  the  people,  and  I 
then  ventured  to  take  the  lady's  hand  while  I  said  that 
the  Christians  of  England  would  bless  her  and  her  hus- 
band if  they  would  be  like  a  father  and  mother  to  the 
poor  Armenians  here.  She  returned  the  pressure  of  my 
hand  very  warmly,  and  held  it  a  while,  saying,  "It  would 
be  a  heart  of  stone  that  would  not  be  touched  to  think  of 
what  the  Christian  people  had  gone  through."  Both  Miss 
S.  and  I  believe  her  a  genuine  woman,  and  in  her  position 
she  may  do  much  good  even  within  her  harem  walls. 
Other  ladies  (Turkish)  called  while  we  were  there, — one 
the  wife  of  a  captain,  who  said  that  her  husband  had 
saved  200  Christians  the  day  of  the  massacre  by  taking 
them  into  safe  quarters.  Of  course  I  spoke  very  warmly 
in  response.  Before  leaving  we  were  both  presented  with 
pretty  little  bouquets — and  these  Turkish  ladies  are  evi- 
dently fond  of  flowers,  as  they  and  the  children  all  wore 
some  on  their  heads. 

The  day  following  this  visit  (yesterday),  imagine  my 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  73 

surprise  to  receive  word  that  the  Pasha's  lady  would 
return  my  call  in  the  afternoon !  I  believe  this  unex- 
pected celerity  was  to  show  special  honour,  though  rather 
embarrassing  to  Miss  S.  and  myself.  I  could  not  make 
many  preparations  except  flowers,  our  quarters  not  allow- 
ing, and  Miss  S.  discouraging  my  bringing  our  preserved 
ginger,  figs,  and  raisins — of  which  I  have  a  small  store 
— in  imitation  of  the  citron,  so  I  contented  myself  with 
coffee  and  half-a-dozen  bouquets  of  roses. 

E.,  our  servants,  and  the  guard  had  all  to  hide  or  be 
sent  out  of  the  house  before  the  great  lady  arrived  (Miss 
Shattuck  bringing  her  from  the  Mission  House,  where  she 
had  previously  called).  She  had  four  servants  with  her, 
and  Miss  S.  brought  a  girl  to  hand  the  coffee,  and  as  I 
watched  them  ascend  our  steps,  each  lady  a  bundle  of 
black  silk  and  gauze,  I  thought  it  a  strange  sight  and 
very  picturesque.  They  were  most  elegantly  attired  for 
indoors,  however,  when  their  wraps  were  removed,  and  I 
could  hardly  keep  my  eyes  off  the  younger  one,  she  was  so 
exceedingly  pretty  (again  with  her  little  children  about 
her).  I  had  much  feared  beforehand  that  conversation 
would  flag  this  visit,  but  it  did  not  do  so,  as  the  elder  lady 
propounded  a  scheme  for  bringing  here  a  skilled  worker 
in  carpets  from  near  Smyrna,  and  teaching  the  women 
to  make  them.  Finally  she  promised  to  write  to  the  most 
skilled  whom  she  knew  personally  and  make  iiKjuiries  as 
to  expense.  They  stayed  nearly  two  hours,  and  nearly  all 
the  time  one  little  slave-girl  stood  behind  tlie  young  lady's 
chair,  who  was  nicely  dressed,  and  seemed  very  gentle, 
and  had  been  bought  at  this  same  place — an  Asia  Minor 


74  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Sparta,  I  think.  I  suggested  her  sitting  down  two  or  three 
times  to  Miss  S.,  but  noticed  that  she  did  not  think  best 
to  translate  it.  We  parted  from  these  friendly  ladies  with, 
I  believe,  very  kindly  feelings  on  both  sides. 

Our  next  letter  will  not  exactly  be  ours,  though  a  cir- 
cular, but  an  abbreviation  of  a  long  letter  E.  and  I  have 
received  from  the  Gregorians  here  about  their  church  and 

schools. — Yours  very  truly, 

H.  B.  H. 


LETTEE    No.    XIII. 

A   COMMUNICATION    FROM   SOME   LEADING    EDESSAN8. 

Edessa,  April  26,  1896. 

Dear  Professoe  and  Mrs.  H., — We  respectfully  wel- 
come you  to  our  obscure  but  historical  city.  Your  pre- 
sence here  has  been  a  great  comfort  to  our  afflicted 
hearts,  and  to  the  thousands  of  poor  orphans  and  widows. 
We  come  to  express  our  heartfelt  thanks  on  behalf  of 
the  Armenian  people  of  this  city  for  your  kind  visit 
here. 

Dear  Sir  and  Lady,  pardon  us  if  we  take  this  as  an 
opportunity  to  present  to  you  some  concise  information 
concerning  this  city — our  birthplace — and  concerning  our 
Apostolical  Church.  Also  concerning  the  events  which 
have  taken  place  in  these  "  latter  days  "  and  the  miserable 
condition  to  which  our  people  have  fallen,  and  concerning 
their  vital  needs,  although  we  believe  they  are  not  un- 
known to  your  learned  minds. 

Ourfa  or  Edessa  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  cities,  and  at  the 
time  that  Christ  did  preach  on  eartli  it  was  governed  by 
Abgar,  an  Armenian  king  of  the  dynasty  of  Arshazoony. 
This  prince,  wlio  was  contemporary  to  Christ,  desired  to 
know  and  hear  about  llis  teaching,  and  this  desire  he 

75 


76  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

showed  by  sending  messengers  to  the  land.  After  the 
ascension  of  Christ,  St.  Thaddeus,  one  of  the  Apostles, 
came  to  Ourfa  and  preached  the  Gospel,  both  to  the  king 
and  people,  and  founded  the  new  religion.  .  .  . 

After  the  death  of  his  pious  father,  the  son  of  Abgar 
broke  the  legs  of  St.  Adde,  who  was  ordained  as  Bishop 
by  St.  Thaddeus,  and  afterwards  put  him  to  death,  and  his 
remains  were  interred  in  the  same  church,  in  a  special 
sepulchre,  where  they  continue  till  now — but  the  light  of 
Christianity  did  not  go  out  by  this  martyrdom.  New  dis- 
ciples rose  up,  and  although  the  Church  of  Edessa  passed 
through  many  religious  and  political  persecutions,  from 
century  to  century,  yet  she  remained  faithful  to  her  apos- 
tolical foundation. 

In  1845  the  Armenian  bishop,  Haretoon  Kahengian  of 
Edessa,  considering  that  the  remaining  part  of  the  temple 
was  nearly  destroyed,  and  that  it  was  now  holding  a 
crowded  congregation,  began  the  building  of  a  new  and 
a  larger  church,  which  is  now  standing.  .  ,  .  On  this 
church  the  free  labour  of  thousands  of  pious  believers 
was  spent.  This  mother  church  had  about  20,000  children 
around  her,  who,  having  entered  upon  a  path  of  mental 
and  material  progress,  were  expecting  a  very  bright  future  ; 
but  alas!  the  year  1895  brought  with  it  unexpected  cala- 
mities which  not  only  destroyed  the  flourishing  present, 
but  also  ruined  the  hopeful  future. 

For  the  prosperous  condition  of  the  Armenians  had 
excited  passionate  envy,  and  on  October  25th  the  signal  of 
the  first  attack  was  given  to  our  Moslem  countrymen  by 
some  armed  men  entering  the  Armenian  quarter,  and  kill- 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  77 

ing  a  harmless  man,  a  money-changer,  by  name  Baghas. 
On  the  following  day  violent  attacks  were  made  on  all 
sides,  and  also  hundreds  of  houses  which  were  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Armenian  quarter  were  pillaged.  About 
sixty-five  persons  were  killed  and  thousands  of  men, 
women,  and  children  were  taken  by  force  to  the  barracks 
and  there  compelled  to  put  on  white  turbans  and  to 
profess  Islam  to  save  their  lives. 

After  these  painful  events  the  Armenians  were  be- 
sieged. They  were  deprived  of  water  and  victuals  ;  besides 
this,  about  seventy  Armenians  were  put  in  prison,  on 
the  pretext  that  they  were  revolutionists.  After  this  the 
Government  demanded  all  the  weapons  possessed  by  the 
Armenians  for  travelling  purposes,  on  pain  of  terrible 
punishment  as  rebels,  which  they  obediently  yielded 
up,  feeling  assured  that  the  Imperial  Government  would 
protect  their  lives. 

On  December  27th  and  28th  took  place  the  second  dis- 
turbance, in  such  a  dreadful  manner  that  we  spare  your 
feelings  the  relation  of  them  in  detail.  It  is  enough  to 
say  that  our  Moslem  countrymen  plundered  all  our  houses 
and  shops,  and  fired  very  many,  making  an  exception  of 
such  as  were  around  the  Protestant  church,  which  were 
protected  on  account  of  Miss  Shattuck,  the  American 
missionary,  being  a  foreign  subject.  The  Moslems  carried 
on  their  deadly  work  by  means  of  all  kinds  of  instru- 
ments, i.e.,  by  Martini  rifles,  revolvers,  bayonets,  axes, 
daggers,  spears,  &c. ;  their  aim  was  to  kill  all  males  above 
ten  years  of  age.  Many  bhnd,  dumb,  sick,  and  crippled 
were  among  the  killed. 


78  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Then  the  gendarmes  advised  the  poor  Armenians  to 
take  refuge  in  the  church,  because  they  said  they  were 
going  to  protect  it.  But,  instead,  the  fiercest  attack  was 
made  upon  the  church.  They  set  it  on  fire,  and  men, 
women,  and  children,  first  embracing  each  other,  were 
burned  to  death. 

Many  ladies  and  girls  were  dragged  half-naked  to  the 
mosques,  from  which  they  were  taken  to  different  Moslem 
houses,  according  to  the  choice  of  their  captors.  After 
that,  under  threat  of  a  third  massacre,  from  five  to  six 
hundred  weak  Christians  accepted  Islam. 

Without  reckoning  the  wounded  or  those  who  have  lost 
a  limb  or  been  paralysed  through  fear,  the  number  of  the 
slain  is  approximately  as  follows  :  2350  men,  830  women, 
1290  children.  But  it  is  thought  that  when  all  the 
names  are  collected  the  number  will  rise  to  5000. 

In  deep  sorrow  we  mention  that  among  the  slain  there 
are  found  respectable,  useful,  and  diligent  public  men. 

Now  this  aSlicted  people,  deprived  of  all  its  useful 
members,  deprived  of  its  rightful  properties,  is  also  de- 
prived of  the  one  single  consolation  which  it  can  have  on 
earth,  namely,  the  Christian  services  which  had  their  origin 
nineteen  centuries  ago.  These  have  now  for  six  months 
altogether  ceased,  on  account  of  the  injuries  to  the 
church.  The  capacity  of  the  church  of  our  Protestant 
brethren  not  being  sufiicient  to  hold  the  two  congre- 
gations, many  have  been  deprived  of  public  religious 
comfort  of  any  kind. 

As  with  the  church,  so  with  our  schools,  which  have 
been  dispersed,  and  the  poor  forlorn  orphans  wander  about 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  79 

in   the    streets  begging.      They  are  in   great  danger  of 
being  immoralised  and  turned  to  Moslems. 

Thus  the  once  flourishing  congregation,  which  has  never 
before  held  out  its  hands  to  others  for  help,  is  now  in  a 
languishing  state.  Those  of  them  who  have  survived 
through  the  kind  providence  of  God,  are  a  group  of  poor 
men  who,  with  their  material  goods,  have  lost  all  their 
means  of  livelihood ;  so  much  so,  that  they  are  utterly 
unable  to  rebuild  the  church  and  re-establish  the 
schools. 

Life  in  the  last  few  months  would  have  been  unbear- 
able if  England  and  other  Christian  countries  had  not  sent 
us  material  help  through  Miss  Shattuck.  These  kind 
acts  have  made  a  great  impression  upon  every  heart  of 
this  poor  people,  and  this  sense  will  not  easily  pass 
away. 

Now,  dear  Professor  and  Mrs.  H.,  you  that  have  left 
your  happy  land  and  on  the  wings  of  kindness  have  come 
as  far  as  this  unfortunate  country,  while  passing  through 
this  half-deserted  land  you  meet  on  your  way  a  giant  who 
is  wounded.  It  is  the  people  of  the  unfortunate  Arme- 
nians. Alas !  no  surgeon  passes  this  way  Be  good 
Samaritans  to  dress  our  wounds!  And  our  needs  are 
twofold.  First,  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  morality  of 
conduct ;  secondly,  the  rebuilding  of  our  ruined  church, 
and  the  establishment  of  an  oqihanage. 

These  two  things  alone  will  be  able  to  comfort  us  and 
alleviate  our  indescribable  affliction.  These,  if  done,  will 
keep  together  our  thousands  of  orphans  and  widows  in 
the  bosom  of  Christianity. 


8o  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Your  manifest  kindness  permits  us  to  apply  to  you  in 
this  righteous  cause.  But  we  are  not  sure  that  we  are 
not  infringing  the  laws  of  propriety  when  we  request  you 
to  make  an  appeal  to  the  celebrated  generosity  of  the 
noble  people  of  England,  in  order  to  the  restoration  of  the 
church  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  school. 


LETTER   No.  XIV. 

SCHEMES   OF   RELIEF   AND   SOCIAL   RECONSTRUCTION— ORPHANS, 
WIDOWS,    AND   SCHOOLS. 

OuRPA,  Maij  17,  1896. 

Dear  Friends, — I  thought  you  would  like  to  know  that 
we  are  finding  opportunities  for  helping  the  people  here, 
in  directly  spiritual  work,  and  in  the  matter  of  the  pros- 
pects of  this  suffering  people.  This  morning  at  7  A.M. 
we  had  again  a  very  large  audience  in  the  church ;  and  I 
had  the  privilege  of  addressing  them  through  an  inter- 
preter. At  midday  H.  had  a  large  company  of  women  to 
talk  to  ;  not  as  large  as  at  Aintab,  but  then  Aintab  is, 
relatively  to  Ourfa,  a  much  more  advanced  place.  It  is  no 
slight  blessing  to  have  an  American  college  and  hospital 
in  a  city ;  in  Ourfa  we  have  only  a  mission  with  schools. 

After  the  morning  service,  we  met  by  appointment  three 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  community  (Gregorian  Arme- 
nians), in  order  to  discuss  with  them  the  appeal  which 
they  recently  sent  us,  of  which  you  have  a  tolerably  exact 
translation  in  our  Circular  Letter  No.  XIII.  You  will  re- 
member that  they  appealed  for  help  in  the  matter  of  their 
orphans,  their  schools,  and  their  ruined  church.  I  had 
been  thinking  over  these  different  points,  in  order  to  enter 
into  right  sympathy  with  them,  as  well  as  to  form  a  cor- 

8.  J. 


82  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

rect  judgment  as  to  what  was  needed  for  the  common 
salvation.  The  elementary  needs  of  food,  clothing,  and 
shelter  have,  as  you  know,  been  met  for  the  present, 
largely  through  the  mutual  helpfulness  of  the  people,  but 
with  the  supplement  of  the  help  given  by  the  West- 
minster Committee,  the  Eed  Cross  Society,  &c.  No  re- 
lief, or  next  to  none,  has  been  given  in  money — a  very 
wise  restraint. 

Postponing,  then,  the  further  consideration  of  beds  and 
shoes  and  the  like,  we  had  to  face  the  question  of  the 
readjustment  of  the  social  fabric.  What  was  to  be  done 
with  these  wrecked  and  desolated  families,  often  the  mere 
shreds  of  once  prosperous  households  ?  I  told  my  Grego- 
rian friends  that  the  first  thing  to  deal  with  was  the  need 
of  the  orphans,  and  that  we  had  already,  as  they  knew, 
made  a  start  in  that,  and,  as  we  could  see  our  way,  we 
would  extend  the  work.  But  I  pointed  out  to  them  that 
we  were  not  building  an  orphanage  in  the  European  sense 
(which  could  not  be  done  without  firmans  from  Constanti- 
nople), but  finding  homes  for  the  children  for  whom  no 
homes  were  available  (you  will  see  from  my  previous 
message  on  this  point  at  how  low  a  figure  we  are  able  to 
work  this  maintenance  of  the  orphans.  Five  pounds  for 
a  year  is  so  moderate  that  a  number  of  our  friends  might 
indulge  in  the  luxury). 

I  then  went  on  to  the  question  of  the  widows,  with  the 
view  of  showing  that  this  was  a  question,  not  of  mainten- 
ance, but  of  finding  occupations  and  industries.  The 
women  of  Ourfa  are  not  nearly  as  clever  as  those  of  Aintab  ; 
they  have  forgotten,  moreover,  an  art  which  they  once 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  83 

knew,  of  making  embroideries  in  gold  thread,  &c.  How- 
ever, Miss  Shattuck  has  been  able  to  set  them  to  em- 
broidering felt  mats  in  colours,  and  we  have  also  made 
some  efforts  to  revive  the  older  kind  of  work,  and  expect 
some  very  pretty  results.  I  cannot  see  that  anything 
further  can  be  done  for  the  widows ;  we  shall  send  speci- 
mens of  their  work  to  our  friends  for  approbation,  and 
with  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  market. 

The  next  question  was  that  of  the  schools ;  and  this  was 
very  important,  and  demanded  a  long  investigation.  It 
may,  perhaps,  sound  strange  that  we  should  lay  stress  on 
this  point ;  but  you  will  easily  see  that  it  is  by  superior 
intelligence  that  the  Armenians  have  made  such  progress 
in  the  East,  and  it  is  imperative,  unless  they  are  to  relapse 
into  the  old  barbarism  of  fifty  years  back,  that  the  schools 
be  maintained  and  improved.  The  recent  attack  upon  the 
Armenians  was,  if  I  may  put  it  figuratively,  a  blow  at  the 
head.  Most  of  the  leading  men  are  gone,  and  many  of 
the  teachers.  And  the  recent  calamities  have  made  it 
impossible  that  the  schools,  which  have  just  been  reopened, 
can  be  at  once  self-supporting,  as  they  were  before  the 
massacres.  The  Gregorians  have  reopened  with  about 
300  children  out  of  a  former  500,  and  this  they  could  not 
have  done  without  the  aid  of  the  Protestants.  The  number 
of  teachers  is  wholly  inadequate,  and  there  is  no  school 
for  girls.  There  are  thousands  of  children  unprovided 
for.  As  to  the  Protestant  part  of  the  community,  they 
lean  somewhat  upon  the  American  Mission,  and  will  re- 
cover more  rapidly  ;  they  have  begun  work  with  300  to  400 
children,  both  boys  and  girls.     The  whole  of  the  work  is 


84  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

elementary  in  character,  and  there  is  urgent  need  for  some 
provision  of  a  more  advanced  nature. 

On  putting  the  thing  into  figures  (with  the  fact  be- 
fore us  that  the  Gregorian  school  building  had  not  been 
destroyed  at  the  time  of  the  massacre,  so  that  there  was 
no  question  of  buildings),  I  found  that  it  was  possible  to 
provide  accommodation  for  400  boys  and  300  girls,  with 
a  staff  of  ten  teachers,  six  for  the  boys  and  four  for  the 
girls ;  and  that  these  ten  teachers  could  be  obtained,  in  the 
present  distress,  for  such  moderate  salaries  as  from  1000  to 
1 500  piastres  for  a  school  year  of  ten  months  ;  this  sounds 
rather  enigmatic,  on  account  of  the  Turkish  money,  but  it 
comes,  all  told,  to  about  ;<l"8o  Turkish,  which  is  less  than 
;^8o  English  by  several  pounds.  At  this  point  I  told 
them  that  I  was  prepared  to  furnish  them  with  this  sum 
for  the  first  year,  until  peace  should  return  and  trade 
revive,  &c. 

But  here  I  paused.  We  had  still  to  remember  that 
we  were  dealing  only  with  the  schools  of  the  Gregorian 
Armenians ;  what  of  the  Protestant  part  of  the  commu- 
nity ?  They  were  almost  in  as  bad  case,  and  we  had  to 
consider  the  whole  question,  and  not  a  part  of  it.  More- 
over, we  have  been  learning  some  of  our  old  lessons  about 
religious  liberty  and  social  progress  over  again  in  these 
days ;  and  if  we  could  put  the  education  of  Ourfa  outside 
the  range  of  religious  jealousy  and  animosity,  what  a  bless- 
ing it  would  be  !  So  I  proposed  to  our  Gregorian  friends 
the  question,  "  What  need  was  there  for  two  separate 
committees  to  deal  with  the  children  ?  "  Were  they  pre- 
pared to  unite  with  the  Protestants  in  a  single  committee,  so 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  85 

as  not  to  have  any  social  friction,  provided  that  they  had 
a  numerical  preponderance  on  the  committee  in  considera- 
tion of  the  fact  that  their  school  was  the  larger  one.  To 
my  delight  they  replied  at  once  that  they  had  no  wish  to 
teach  the  peculiarities  of  their  own  church  system  in  the 
school,  and  would  gladly  join  with  the  Protestants  in  the 
formation  of  a  School  Committee,  if  it  should  be  found 
that  the  Protestants  wished  it.  And  I  promised  in  that 
case  to  furnish  them  with  ^120  (Turkish)  for  the  first 
year  for  the  joint-committee.  The  question  of  one  or 
two  higher  teachers  we  hope  to  be  able  to  deal  with 
later  on. 

I  feel  pretty  sure  that  this  is  the  right  thing  to  do. 
The  Armenian  holds  his  own  here,  because  he  is  brighter 
and  better  educated  than  the  rest  of  the  community. 
Recent  events  have  put  him  down  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ladder ;  and  as  the  Armenians  say  in  their  appeal,  the 
children  are  "  immoralising  "  in  the  streets.  Unless  they 
are  rescued,  many  will  be  far  behind  their  dead  fathers  and 
mothers,  and  some  of  them  will  be  in  danger  of  a  change 
of  religion.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  rescue  of  the  children 
intellectually  is  as  important  as  shoes  for  their  feet,  or 
beds  to  sleep  on. 

From  this  question  we  passed  to  a  much  more  difficult 
one,  viz.,  the  restoration  of  the  great  church,  which  was  the 
scene  of  so  many  martyrdoms.  The  Armenians  at  present 
are  conducting  a  little  service  in  their  school,  where  about 
600  people  meet,  the  rest  of  them  worshipping  with  the 
Protestants.  Their  great  church  holds  several  thousands, 
but  its  interior  is  ruined,  and  the  fabric  has  been  declared 


86  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

unsafe  by  the  Government.  The  pillars  are  calcined  by- 
fire,  and  perhaps  part  of  the  roof  also.  They  estimate 
that  it  will  take  ;^2O0O  to  restore  it,  and  want  help  to  do 
so.  I  was  obliged  to  tell  them  that  I  did  not  at  present  see 
any  way  of  making  this  appeal  public,  because  the  Sultan 
was  hardly  likely  to  permit  them  to  rebuild  with  foreign 
money.  If  they  could  obtain  permission  to  worship  within 
the  blackened  walls,  I  urged  them  to  do  so ;  but  this  they 
said  was  prohibited  by  the  authorities.  As  I  did  not  see 
what  steps  to  take  to  help  them,  we  agreed  to  defer 
the  matter  for  the  present.  One  naturally  feels  no  slight 
interest  in  the  repair  of  a  building  which  has  become 
historical  in  the  Christian  world ;  and  they  have  no  other 
church  in  which  to  worship.  But  what  could  one  say  or 
do  in  such  a  case  ?  And  now  I  must  conclude  my  little 
report. — Sincerely  yours,  J.  R.  H. 

Postscripts  hy  H.  B.  R. 

...  I  have  much  sympathy  with  the  two  forlorn  priests 
and  the  few  leaders  of  the  people  left  who  mourn  over 
their  ruined  temple,  and  who  pray  continually  for  its  resto- 
ration (yet  it  does  not  seem  as  if  the  money  entrusted  to 
us  should  any  of  it  go  to  such  a  fund), 

R.'s  meeting  this  morning  and  mine  at  noon  with  the 
dear  women  were  very  interesting  times.  After  my  meet- 
ing the  women  all  stayed  to  kiss  our  hands.  Miss  S.'s  and 
mine,  filing  up  one  aisle  and  down  another,  several  hundred, 
and  most  of  them  with  tears  in  their  eyes  or  running  down 
their  cheeks.  Some  would  stay  to  tell  of  husbands  and 
children  killed ;  but  there  were  so  many,  we  (Miss  S.  and 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  87 

I)  had  to  pass  them  on  when  we  would  gladly  have 
listened.     I  spoke  from  "Let  their  widows  trust  in  Me," 

Miss  S.  is  a  truly  wonderful  woman,  and  so  free  from 
self-life ;  but  oh,  she  is  so  tired !  and  there  is  no  possible 
release,  not  even  for  a  day.  We  had  planned  a  three 
days'  excursion  to  the  "  Haran  "  of  Scripture,  and  had  all 
arranged  to  start  to-morrow,  but  now  word  comes  that  the 
Pasha  cannot  permit  or  give  guards,  as  he  does  not  con- 
sider it  safe.  There  is  also  a  very  pleasant  gentleman,  a 
missionary,  here  for  a  few  days,  who  travels  around ;  they 
both  come  in  to  our  quarters  for  a  little  fellowship  every 
evening. 

Our  next  journey  will  be  to  Mardin ;  but  letters  must 
go  still  to  us,  c/o  Bible  House,  British  Post-Office,  Con- 
stantinople. You  cannot  think  how  much  we  want  to 
hear.  We  have  had  710  letters  at  all  since  leaving  Constan- 
tinople, April  9. 

The  heat  is  commencing  here.     We  are  both  fairly  well. 

P.S.  (20th). — Since  writing,  letters  of  April  29th  have 
come  and  greatly  cheered  our  hearts. 

Everything  here  is  at  a  standstill,  except  the  spirit  of 
inquiry  about  spiritual  things,  which  is  awakening  among 
the  suffering  people,  and  which  is  really  wonderful,  and  a 
prophecy  to  me  of  good  things  to  come  ! 

Our  plans  are  changed,  as  the  Pasha  says  it  is  not  safe 
for  us  to  go  to  Mardin  now,  the  road  being  frequented 
by  wild  Arabs,  so  we  are  going,  D.  V.,  to  Diarbekir  next 
Monday  instead. 


LETTER  No.  XV. 

OUR  FOURTH  SUNDAY  IN  OURFA  —  WOMEN's  MEKTING  IN  THE  PRO- 
TESTANT CHURCH — AN  ARMENIAN  BETROTHAL — LETTERS  FROM 
MISSIONARIES. 

OuRFA,  May  24,  1896. 

My  dear  Fkiends, — This  is  our  fourth  Sunday  here, 
and  I  am  just  home  from  the  morning  meeting,  which 
began  about  7  A.M.  I  had  the  opportunity  of  speaking 
again  through  an  interpreter,  and  such  an  attentive  audi- 
ence !  We  shall  not  easily  forgot  the  privileges  which  the 
Lord  is  giving  us  in  the  way  of  ministering  to  this  suffer- 
ing people,  and  you  may  imagine  our  heart-strings  are 
getting  tangled  up  with  them  by  this  time.  It  brings  us 
into  unexpectedly  primitive  Christianity  to  be  standing  in 
the  place  of  a  martyred  pastor  and  to  be  preaching  to  an 
audience  of  confessors,  where  many  bear  the  marks  of 
deep  wounds,  and  all  have  lost  a  heavy  percentage  of 
their  friends.  And  such  a  patient  people  !  I  never  hear 
any  resentment  from  them,  only  desires  for  peace,  and,  if 
possible,  for  escape  from  the  net  in  which  they  are  caught. 

Now  we  are  moving  further  east,  and  expect  to  find 
even  more  acute  suffering  and  worse  physical  distress 
than  here,  if  one  may  judge  by  the  letters  that  reach  us 
from  those  quarters.  Our  next  stopping-place  will  be 
Diarbekir,  and  after  that  we  go  to  Mardin,  where  we  have 

88 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  89 

a  most  cordial  welcome  from  our  friends  at  the  American 

Mission.     How  long  this  will  take  we  cannot  tell  yet,  and 

beyond  that  we  have  made  no  definite  plans ;  indeed,  all 

our  plans  are  made  subject  to  the  revision  of  the  pillar 

of  cloud  by  day  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night. 

I  enclose  two  letters  ^  from  missionaries  in  the  district  to 

which  we  are  now  moving,  which  will  give  you  an  idea  of 

our  prospects.     If  any  public  use  is  made  of  them,  it  will 

be  best  not  to  quote  names  of  places  and  people  more  than 

is  necessary  for  intelligence, — With  remembrance  to  all 

our  people,  sincerely  yours, 

•J.  R.  H. 

Postscript  hy  H.  B.  R. 

You  may  like  to  know  that  last  Sunday  I  had  the 
privilege  of  holding  another  women's  meeting  in  the 
Protestant  Church,  Miss  Shattuck  interpreting.  The 
large  proportion  of  these  dear  veiled  and  sheeted  crea- 
tures were  widows  from  the  massacre,  and  all  had  lost 
dear  ones.  It  was  a  most  interesting  sight — perhaps 
eight  hundred  or  more — of  whom  a  large  proportion 
stayed  to  kiss  our  hands,  and  some  to  tell  their  tales,  very 
briefly  of  course.  I  longed  to  put  all  your  love  and 
sympathy  as  well  as  my  own  into  my  words,  for  I  felt  it 
a  beautiful  "  opportunity  "  given  by  God  for  endeavouring 
to  cheer  and  comfort.     I  spoke  from  Jer.  xlix.  1 1. 

On  Saturday  we  attended  a  very  different  gathering, 
the  first  one  of  a  genial  kind  that  has  taken  place  among 
the  Christians  here  since  the  massacre.     It  was  the  be- 

^  See  p.  92. 


go  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

trothal  of  the  daughter  of  the  murdered  Protestant  pastor, 
a  sweet  young  girl  who  has  acted  as  a  mother  to  her  Httle 
brothers  and  sisters  since  that  time,  to  one  of  the  Eelief 
Committee,  a  Mr,  Koradgian  (whose  uncle  is  now  in 
England),  and  belonging  to  a  very  nice  family. 

Miss  Shattuck  had  the  party  at  the  mission-house,  and 
R.  and  I  had  special  invitations  from  both  her  and  the 
bridegroom's  family.  We  felt  it  right  to  go,  and  were 
very  glad  afterwards  that  we  had  done  so.  The  dear 
people  seemed  so  pleased,  indeed  E.  told  them  if  they  made 
any  more  polite  speeches  about  our  presence  we  should 
think  it  was  he  and  I  who  were  to  be  betrothed  afresh ! 
About  fifty  guests  were  present,  and  the  women  (I  cannot 
call  them  ladies,  it  sounds  so  conventional  and  European) 
were  in  semi-bridal  costume,  with  flowers  in  their  hair  or 
on  their  veils — for  all  the  married  ones  were  veiled  even 
in-doors. 

Before  the  religious  ceremony  began  R.  was  asked  to 
"  make  a  few  remarks,"  which,  rather  reluctantly,  as  it  was 
so  unexpected  a  request,  he  did,  and  then  there  were  other 
little  speeches.  The  bride-elect  was  by  no  means  con- 
spicuous either  in  dress  or  place  in  the  room,  and  the 
bridegroom  did  not  even  look  her  way  as  he  came  in,  but, 
followed  by  a  crowd  of  men  friends,  went  to  another  part 
of  the  room  entirely  and  took  his  seat. 

Lemonade  (or  a  drink  like  it  made  of  some  flower)  was 
served  first,  and  when  all  had  had  and  drunk  a  large 
glassful,  Mr.  Sanders,  the  American  travelling  missionary, 
performed  a  little  ceremony  of  prayer,  Scripture-reading, 
and  singing.      Then  the  bridegroom  took  a  beautifully 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  91 

bound  Bible  and  hymn  -  book  (from  Constantinople), 
wrapped  in  a  blue  and  green  silk  scarf,  and  presented  it 
very  bashfully  to  the  young  girl,  who,  never  once  looking 
up,  took  it  and  gave  it  to  Miss  Shattuck  to  put  back  on 
the  table  again,  and  then  they  exchanged  rings,  also  with 
the  same  shamefacedness ;  and  then  both  retired  to  their 
places  once  more,  not  a  word  having  passed  between  them. 

After  this  the  bridegroom-elect's  sister,  attended  by  a 
maid,  carried  sweetmeats  around,  giving  two  bundles  to  the 
highly  favoured  and  one  to  the  less  so.  As  I  received  my 
two  the  first,  I  made  the  mistake  of  saying  one  would  do 
for  R.  and  me  together,  but  found  I  was  quite  "  out "  as 
to  etiquette,  and  our  four  bundles  now  adorn  our  room  ! 

Then  Miss  Shattuck  gave  coffee  all  round,  and  after  this 
the  ceremonious  part  of  the  affair  was  over,  and  conver- 
sation became  general,  I  mean  between  the  men  friends 
and  the  foreigners,  for  the  Armenian  women  never  talk 
except  when  quite  alone,  and  then  they  do  ! 

Several  young  girls  were  present  whose  betrothed  had 
been  killed,  but  for  the  time  the  sadness  was  lessened — 
I  could  not  say  it  was  all  gone,  for  every  speech  referred 
to  it — but  one  could  see  how  capable  of  pure,  true  enjoy- 
ment these  people  are,  who  have  been  called  upon  to 
drink  a  cup  of  such  almost  unparalleled  sorrow.  Before 
the  friends  left  I  felt  as  if  I  must  express  to  the  bride- 
groom and  his  father  my  prayer  that  he  and  his  wife-elect 
might  live  to  see  the  deliverance  of  their  people. 

After  the  betrothal,  no  matter  liuw  long  delayed  the 
wedding  may  be,  the  etiquette  is  that  the  young  man  does 
not  visit  at  the  young  girl's  home. 


92  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 


Letters  from  Mardin, 

May  lo,  1896. 

My  dear  Professor  ,H.,— Your  favour  of  the  3rd  inst.  was 
received  to-day,  and  was  quite  a  surprise  to  us.  We  heartily  con- 
gratulate you  and  Mrs.  H.  upon  your  successful  journey  thus  far. 
The  mail  of  last  week  informed  us  that  you  were  en  route,  but  we 
had  not  supposed  you  were  quite  so  near  us.  May  the  dear  Lord 
prosper  you  and  yours  everywhere  you  may  go  in  this  part  of  the 
country.  We  have  long  been  longing  to  see  you,  and  to  do  for  you 
all  we  possibly  can  to  j)ut  yuu  in  the  way  of  attaining  the  objects  of 
your  visit.  As  to  hints  for  your  guidance,  I  scarcely  know  what  to 
offer,  as  I  do  not  know  just  what  line  you  are  desirous  to  pursue. 
Can't  you  come  on  here  first  direct  from  Ourfa,  and  then  perhaps 
Brother  D.  and  I  can  help  you  to  lay  out  your  plans  with  reference 
to  the  best  times  to  be  at  this  place  and  that,  and  the  order  of  your 
itinerary,  with  perhaps  fresh  information  about  this,  that,  and  the 
other  place.  For  instance,  I  can  give  you  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  the  Jacobite  Syrian  Patriarch  now  residing  in  Diarbekir.  We  are 
on  a  pleasant  footing  with  him. 

We  are  still  busy  with  relief  work,  and  in  the  last  two  days, 
Friday  and  Saturday,  we  aided  over  1 500  souls  to  money,  comfort- 
ables, and  felt  mats,  to  serve  in  lieu  of  mattresses.  Day  after  to- 
morrow we  send  off  L.T.ioo  {i.e.,  L.T.,  jjounds  Turkish)  to  the 
monastery  of  Aiar  Kriarkos,  in  the  Beshare  Kuzze,  north  of  the 
Tigris,  and  in  a  few  days  a  second  distribution  at  Nisibin,  The 
Sanjak  and  Allan  will  take  between  ^300  and  ^400,  some  3000  being 
on  our  lists  from  that  region  alone.  There  are  between  25,000  and 
35,000  needy  souls,  hungry,  poorly  clad,  and  with  almost  no  bedding 
in  the  district  we  are  trying  to  look  after,  though  for  more  than  a 
month  now  the  Government  has  succeeded  in  stopping  our  work  in 
the  lied  wan  and  Sert  districts  through  the  arrest  and  imjjiisonment 
of  our  distributing  agent.  We  were  stopped  twenty  days  here  on  all 
kinds  of  relief  work,  and  a  month  on  industrial  relief,  though  now 
we  are  again  in  full  blast,  the  Government  having  backed  down 
from  its  dc^mineering  attitude. 

Were  it  not  for  this  relief  work  I  should  be  tempted  to  go  on  to 
Ourfa  to  meet  and  escort  you  to  our  Mardin  home,  but  I  have  thrown 
everything  else  aside  to  push  this  business  day  and  night,  while  D. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  93 

runs  the  station  and  the  school  work.  Mrs.  A.  joins  me  in  Christian 
love  and  greeting  to  Mrs.  H.  and  yourself,  as  also  to  Miss  Shattuck. 
— As  ever,  cordially  yours,  A.  N.  A. 

[^N.B. — These  missionaries  are  evidently"caring  for  a  very  large 
district.  Nisibin  is  about  fifty  miles  from  Mardin  ;  Eedwan,  sixty 
miles  ;  Sert,  eighty  miles,  &c.— R.  H.  F.] 

May  12,  1896. 

Dear  Miss  Shattuck,— You  have  been  much  in  our  thoughts 
these  past  weeks,  and  I  should  have  written  you  but  for  the  uncer- 
tainty whether  or  not  you  are  in  Ourfa.  We  hope  you  are  Itept  in 
health  and  peace.  What  an  inexhaustible  mine  of  comfort  and 
encouragement  we  have  in  the  Word  that  is  sure  and  tried  ! 

We  are  so  glad  Mr.  Sanders  has  been  with  you — perhaps  he  is  still 
— if  so,  our  greetings  to  him.  We  are  all  in  reasonable  health  and 
strength,  though  Mrs.  B.  is  a  little  indisposed  this  morning  ;  nothing 
very  serious,  I  think.  How  good  God  is  to  keep  us  all  so  well,  and  give 
us  strength  for  the  extra  burdens.  Our  hearts  are  sick  and  sore 
at  the  prospect — we  see  nothing  to  encourage  or  give  hope  save  as 
wc  lift  our  eyes  above  to  the  everlasting  hills  of  refuge  and  help — 
they  are  always  there,  for  our  help  cometh  from  the  Lord  which 
made  heaven  and  earth. 

Mr.  A.  gives  all  his  time  and  strength  to  the  relief  work,  which 
taxes  them  to  the  utmost.  1  should  say  that  he  also  supplies  Pastor 
Jurjise's  pulpit  at  the  Sunday  morning  service  while  he  (pastor)  is 
in  ])rison. 

Relief  work  was  stojjped  for  some  days,  but  has  now  started  up 
again.  The  destitution  and  want  are  beyond  all  description.  Last 
week  Mr.  A.  and  I  made  a  hasty  visit  to  one  of  the  near  villages  that 
was  destroyed— between  500  and  600  houses— a  most  pitiable  sight, 
the  ruined  houses.  The  building  was  of  karpeetch,  I  suppose  you 
know  that  word,  the  sim-dried  brick  covered  with  poles  and  earth  ; 
many  of  the  walls  were  broken  through  or  jmrtially  thrown  over, — 
the  lai'ge  poles  had  generally  l)een  carried  aw  ay,  though  in  some  cases 
the  whole  roof  would  .seem  to  liave  been  l)urned,  that  is,  the  com- 
bustible part  of  it.  A  few  wretched  families  were  gathered  in  the 
two  stone  churches — Syrian  Jacobite  and  Syrian  Catholic — as  the 
Government  insists  on  their  returning  to  their  village.  Remember- 
ing what  a  busy  hive  of  industry  the  place  was  in  former  years,  the 
present  desertedness,  with  the  listless,  apathetic  air  of  the  families 


94  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

found,  seemed  to  me  inexpressibly  sad.  On  our  way  home  we  made 
a  little  computation  of  the  material  damage  wrought ;  it  seemed  to 
us  that  ^500,000  was  a  low  estimate  !  But  the  demoralisation  among 
the  survivors,  the  moral  damage,  in  what  terms  can  it  be  estimated  ] 
The  brightness  and  beauty  of  spring  seems  almost  a  mockery,  yet 
we  hiow  that  God  is  good,  and  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever. 

I  purposed  a  word  of  sympathy  and  cheer,  but  I  fear  I  have  missed 
it.    Your  experiences  have  been  so  much  harder  and  sadder  than  ours. 

Mrs.  B.  sends  you  her  warmest  love. — Very  sincerely  yours, 

N.  C.  D. 

[I  add  tlie  following  interesting  letter  from  Ourfa. — J.  E,  H.] 

Letter  from  Ourfa. 

May  18,  1896. 
My  dear  Miss  M., — You  will  be  interested  in  the  following  story 
of  the  six  orphans  we  are  to  send  to  Mrs.  D.  of  Constantinople.  The 
oldest  is  fourteen  years  and  the  youngest  ten.  Their  names  are 
Hagop,  Armen,  and  the  twins — Victoria  and  Ozmo — and  Zexapat. 
Their  father  was  a  merchant.  All  his  goods  were  stolen,  and  he 
was  wounded  in  many  places  on  Saturday,  December  28,  in  his  home. 
He  lived  that  day  and  night.  The  next  day,  when  the  massacre 
began  again,  though  suffering  terribly,  he  started  with  his  wife  and 
children  for  the  Armenian  church.  He  died  in  the  street.  His 
body  was  left  in  a  house  near.  When  the  church  was  attacked  the 
mother  and  children  were  in  the  church,  on  the  second  floor.  Turks 
came  up  the  stairs  after  killing  many  on  the  first  floor.  The  grand- 
mother of  the  children  took  Hagop  and  Victoria  and  got  down  the 
stairs,  Turks  seized  Hagop  and  were  about  to  kill  him,  when  a  Kurd 
took  him  and  said  he  wanted  to  keep  him,  but  after  three  days  sent 
him  away.  One  of  the  Turks  said  to  the  mother,  "  We  killed  your 
husband  yesterday  because  I  wanted  to  marry  you."  Both  the 
mother  and  children  tried  to  get  away  from  the  Turks,  but  find- 
ing they  could  not,  decided  they  would  jump  into  the  fire  which  had 
been  started  in  the  church.  This  poor  mother  threw  down  Armen,  a 
boy  of  eight  years,  and  Ozmo  and  Zexapat,  and  then  she  leaped  down 
after  them.  The  mother  and  the  boy  of  eight  years  were  burned, 
but  though  the  others  were  burned  some,  and  considerably  harmed 
by  the  fall,  they  are  now  well.  We  send  with  these  our  pastor's 
son  of  about  six  years,  as  Mrs.  D.  said  they  would  take  six  children. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  95 

I  am  too  weary  to  do  best  Avork,  and  hope  to  get  refreshment 
in  a  trip  to  Haran,  takincj  me  away  from  home  three  days.  Mr. 
Sanders  urges  me  to  go  with  Professor  H.  and  wife,  and  we  expect 
to  start  in  the  morning.  I  enjoy  Professor  and  Mrs.  H.  every  minute 
I  can  be  with  them.  You  can  scarce  know  how  pressed  I  am,  yet 
usually  I  am  peacefiol — so  kept  by  the  prayers  of  my  friends  and 
trust  in  God  for  each  moment.  I  visited  the  interior  of  the  Armenian 
church  last  Saturday  for  the  first  time  since  the  change.  I  did  not, 
after  all  I  had  heard,  believe  it  what  I  saw  it  to  be.  It  made  me 
nearly  ill  for  that  day.  It  is  terrible,  beyond  all  language  to  describe 
the  testimony  that  the  pile  gives  to  the  agonies  of  the  occupants. 
Well  that  you  are  not  here.     You  could  not  endure  the  strain. 

3/ay  igth. — During  the  past  week  we  have  been  collecting  the 
children  for  Smyrna  and  Constantinople.  Yesterday,  on  making 
application  to  the  Government  for  proper  papers  allowing  a  quiet 
and  undisturbed  journey,  the  Pasha  said,  "  No,  we  shall  attend  to  the 
orphans  ourselves."  (It  now  seems  a  settled  plan  of  the  Moslems  to 
get  these  girls  into  their  harems.)  It  is  hopeless  for  us  to  try  to  do 
anything  more.  I  am  wondering  now  if  these  children  will  be  left 
undisturbed  in  the  temporary  home  we  have  opened  here  in  Ourfa. 
I  am  so  sad  that  I  cannot  write  more  of  it  now. 

The  Pasha  says  it  is  unsafe  for  us  to  go  to  Haran,  and  so  we  must 
not  go.  Many  and  constant  and  continued  thanks  to  you  for  your 
efforts  for  funds.     We  need  it  all. — Yours  affectionately. 

C.  Shattuck. 

[I  add  a  farewell  message  which  I  received  from  some  of  my 
Armenian  friends  in  Ourfa,  omitting  the  Armenian  text,  and  giving 
their  own  English  translation. — J.  R.  H. 

Ourfa,  June  i,  1896. 
To  Rev.  {sic !)  Professor  Harris. 

Dear  Sir, — Your  condescension  to  visit  our  city,  tlie  kindness 
and  the  .sympathy  which  you  have  shown  to  our  aftlicted  brethren, 
have  filled  our  hearts  witli  deep  gratitude.  Indeed  we  are  at  a  loss 
how  to  express  our  feelings,  especially  for  the  great  help  you  have 
done  for  our  orphanage  and  the  schools.  We  cannot  but  admire  your 
noble  heart.  We  a.sk  your  pardon  for  our  own  inability  to  express 
our  gratitude  personally  when  you  were  here,  and  by  forwarding  to 
you  this  proof  of  our  feelings  we  imjilore  tlie  Almighty  CJod  to  bless 
you,  and  send  from  on  high  His  heavenly  rewards  of  more  enduring.] 


LETTER  No.    XVI. 

WE  LEAVE  OURFA  AND  VISIT  GARMOUSH  AND  SEVERER — A  NIGHT 
IN  A  HOVEL — MASSACRE  IN  SEVERER — OUR  SERVANT  CLAPPED 
IN  PRISON  —  A  NIGHT  IN  A  KURDISH  TENT  —  ARRIVAL  AT 
DIARBEKIR. 

DiARBEKiR,  June  I,  1896. 

Dear  Feiends, — We  left  the  much-beloved  Ourfa  and 
dear  Miss  Shattuck  on  Tuesday,  May  26th,  the  latter 
kindly  accompanying  us  some  miles  on  our  journey  on 
her  plump  little  mule.  Mr.  Sanders  had  left  a  few 
hours  earlier  for  Aintab,  so  after  speeding  us  on  our  way, 
this  brave  woman  returned  back  with  her  servant  and 
guard  to  her  lonely  home  and  work,  and  to  the  special 
effort  of  endeavouring  to  obtain  leave,  once  refused,  to 
send  her  little  prepared  band  of  orjjhans  to  Smyrna. 

Our  first  night  was  at  Garmoush,  the  Christian  village 
of  which  I  wrote  you  in  my  last,  which  had  been  so 
miraculously  saved  by  a  storm,  so  that  the  marauders 
and  the  Moslems  had  themselves  said,  "  Allah  does  not 
will  it " — i.e.,  the  destruction  of  the  village.  Here  we 
stayed  at  the  house  of  a  Protestant  pastor,  and  here 
we  found  to  our  regret  that  a  very  fine  old  Armenian 
copy  of  the  Gospels,  for  which  R.  had  offered  a  good  sum, 
and  hoped  to  get,  had  been  plastered  up  again  inside  a 
wall,  fears  having  prevailed,  and  was  therefore  lost  to  him 

and  scholarship. 

96 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  97 

After  a  long  day's  ride  the  following  day,  during  which 
we  saw  many  locusts,  a  plague  of  which  is  threatened,  we 
stopped  at  a  Kurd  village,  the  like  of  which  may  none  of 
you  ever  be  called  upon  to  enter  ! 

The  mud  hovel  in  which  we  did  not  sleep  was  occupied 
by  a  crowd  of  villagers,  our  two  zaptiehs,  a  number  of 
muleteers,  our  two  servants,  and  ourselves,  besides  the 
closest  proximity  of  dogs,  horses,  and  mules.  None  of 
these  companions  could,  however,  vie  for  a  moment  as  to 
disagreeability  with  the  fleas,  each  one  as  big  as  four  or 
five  English  ones,  which  left  us  not  a  moment's  rest,  while 
a  heavy  thunderstorm  rolling  overhead  towards  morning 
completed  the  chaos. 

We  started  before  it  cleared  next  day,  and  reached 
Severek  about  6  p.m.  I  got  soaked  to  the  skin  with  the 
storm,  though  R.  happily  had  his  waterproof,  and  neither 
of  us  were  the  worse,  as  the  hot  sun,  when  it  did  come 
out,  soon  dried  my  clothes.  At  Severek  we  went  straight 
to  the  little  Protestant  church  and  pastor,  and  slept  the 
night  in  the  school-house. 

This  town  has  suffered  very  terribly,  and  there  are 
many  hundreds  of  widows,  and  they  have  had  iLardlij  any 
help.  We  therefore  have  promised  to  get  some  sent 
there,  as  the  people  are  "  all  hungry,  all  needing  clothing 
and  bedding."  We  also  left  a  small  sum.  The  pastor, 
Abraham  Haratunyan,  is  an  extremely  earnest  young 
man,  a  graduate  of  one  of  the  American  Mission  colleges, 
who  was  simply  teacher  previous  to  the  murder  of  the 
pastor ;  but  he  seems  to  have  had  the  prophet's  mantle 
descend    upon  him,   as   his   preaching   attracts  not  only 


98  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Protestant  and  Gregorian  people  (as  at  Aintab  and  Ourfa), 
but  the  Gregorian  and  Syrian  priests  also,  who  say  to  him, 
"  We  wish  to  hear  you  whenever  you  preach." 

This  good  man  is  one  of  those  who  braved  death  for 
Christ's  sake.  He  was  offered  the  usual  choice,  "  Islam 
or  death  ?  "  and  chose  death  ;  so  they  cut  him  about  and 
left  him  for  dead,  but  he  afterwards  revived  and  is  now 
well.  He  and  another  confessor  who  had  had  two  guns 
held  to  his  breast,  and  expected  death  instantly,  but 
something  intervened,  told  us,  on  my  asking  if  they  felt 
no  fear  in  the  prospect,  "  No  fear,  for  we  expected  we 
should  directly  be  with  Jesus,  but  the  flesh  trembled  a 
little."     This  was  said  so  simply  that  it  struck  me  much. 

We  had  scarcely  had  time  to  sit  down,  much  less  to 
change  our  riding  clothes,  when  our  visitors  began  to 
come ;  and  soon  we  had  a  room  full,  and  had  quite  a 
reception — the  Syrian  "Metropolitan  of  the  East,"  the 
Gregorian  priest — the  one  doctor  from  whom  all  his  medi- 
cines and  appliances  were  taken  at  the  time  of  the 
massacre,  so  that  he  could  do  nothing  for  the  sick  and 
wounded,  and  who  looked  the  most  forlorn  and  helpless 
doctor  I  have  ever  seen — a  fine  old  Armenian  gentleman 
once  venj  rich,  from  whom  everything  had  been  taken, 
and  others.  E.  and  I  sat  at  one  end  of  the  room,  the 
Metropolitan  at  my  side,  a  very  fine  old  priest,  and  the 
rest  all  in  front,  and  for  a  long  long  time  they  told  us  of 
their  sorrows,  and  of  one  woe  after  another. 

Close  behind  us  on  the  wall  were  thick  blood  and  brain 
stains,  where  the  previous  Protestant  pastor  had  been 
killed  by  an  axe-blow  on  the  head,  smashing  in  the  skull 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  99 

and  scattering  the  brains.  Right  up  to  the  ceiling  were 
these  blood-marks,  and  all  around,  from  a  clearly-marked 
centre  to  a  wide  diameter.  So  under  the  blood  of  his 
martyrdom  we  conversed,  with  those  who  had  been 
equally  confessors  of  Christ,  though  their  lives  had  been 
spared,  of  the  past  and  future  of  their  nation,  and  of  the 
realities  of  the  faith  we  held  in  common,  endeavouring  to 
cheer  them  with  the  hope  that  however  much  man  had 
failed  them,  God  was  even  now  working  out  some  grand 
design  of  love  for  them.  R.  quoted  to  them  that  couplet 
of  Trench  ^  beginning — 

"  Though  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  yet  they  grind  exceeding 
small," 

and  they  all  caught  at  the  idea  in  a  moment,  and  seemed 
to  feed  upon  it. 

We  had  hardly  parted  from  these  most  interesting 
guests  before  a  very  different  party  entered,  viz.,  the 
Turkish  Icaimakam,  or  governor,  and  liis  olhcials  and 
soldiers — also  quite  a  company.  They  were  very  gruff 
and  not  at  all  friendly,  though  the  great  man  did  con- 
descend to  drink  our  coffee ;  and  he  put  R.  through  a 
very  long  and  unpleasant  cross-examination,  and  also 
had  our  two  servants  in,  and  treated  them  the  same  way. 
How  thankful    we  were  that  our  previous  visitors  had 

^  Not  Trench,  though  at  first  sight  it  has  the  appearance  of  being  from 
the  "  Century  of  Couplets."  As  usually  quoted  in  English,  it  is  Longfellow's 
translation  of  a  German  couplet,  which  itself  goes  hack  into  a  verse  of  a 
lost  Greek  poet,  which  is  quoted  in  the  Sibylline  Oracles,  in  Kextus 
Empiricus,  in  Origen  against  Celsus,  and  furnishes  a  text  for  Plutarcli  in 
his  tamous  tract  on  the  Tardy  Vengeance  of  the  Deity. — J.  R.  11. 


loo  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

departed  when  these  arrived,  as  it  would  have  been  very- 
dangerous  for  them  to  have  been  found  with  us. 

This  cross-questioning  elicited  the  fact  that  our  poor 
Alexander  had  no  passport  (in  fact,  there  is  no  doubt  in 
our  minds  but  that  he  is  with  us  because  he  has  escaped 
from  his  own  city  of  Aleppo,  but  concerning  this  we  have 
asked  no  questions).  Imagine  our  grief  when,  after 
thinking  we  had  passed  through  our  ordeal  safely,  the 
following  morning  he  was  sent  for  and  put  in  prison ! 
Poor  Griva,  the  cook,  was  in  despair,  and  the  boy  had 
behaved  so  beautifully  and  devotedly  to  us  throughout 
our  travels  that  we  felt  as  deeply  concerned  as  if  a  real 
personal  friend  were  in  trouble. 

So,  as  Bunyan  says  of  his  pilgrims,  we  "  betook  our- 
selves to  prayer ; "  and  after  awhile  E.  obtained  permis- 
sion to  call  on  the  kaimakam  on  his  behalf,  the  Protestant 
pastor,  who  speaks  English  nicely,  accompanying  him  to 
interpret.  I  sent  a  special  salaam  and  request  in  my 
own  name,  and  after  R.  had  explained  and  mollified  the 
great  man,  the  pastor  proffered  my  petition,  and  the 
reply  was,  "Well,  in  consideration  of  your  wishes,  and 
for  the  sake  of  madam's  petition,  I  will  forgive  him." 
Thus  our  prayers  were  answered,  and  we  received  the  boy 
back  again  with  great  rejoicing. 

All  danger  for  Alexander  is  not  over  yet,  however,  as 
R.  was  obliged  to  promise  to  report  him  at  Diarbekir,  and 
the  Pasha  here  is  very  severe  indeed,  and  the  one  under 
whom  all  the  atrocities  were  perj)etrated ;  but  after  so 
signal  a  deliverance  we  are  not  inclined  to  doubt  final 
success,  and  my  great  desire  is,  after  our  journey  is  over, 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  loi 

to  send  Alexander  to  Robert  or  Aintab  College,  for  he 
is  extremely  quick  and  intelligent,  and  if  educated  will 
make  a  very  useful  man,  I  think.^ 

Of  our  journey  from  Severek  to  Diarbekir,  the  chief 
feature  was  one  night  in  a  Kurdish  tent.  We  did  not 
want  to  go  to  the  Kurds  at  all,  but  it  was  a  choice 
between  that  and  the  open  hillside  on  a  chilly  night,  and 
without  proper  appliances,  and  our  chief  zaptieh  was 
determined  we  should  go  to  the  tent.  Indeed,  he  pretty 
nearly  pulled  me  off  my  horse  in  his  energetic  demonstra- 
tions, and  we  thought  it  wiser  to  surrender. 

These  Kurdish  tents  are  not  at  all  like  the  eleo-ant  ones 
travellers  are  accustomed  to  in  Palestine,  but  huge  goat- 
hair  sheets  of  canvas  stretched  on  poles,  and  not  touching 
the  ground  by  four  or  five  feet,  divided  by  reed  fences 
about  four  feet  high.  Alexander  soon  spread  our  rugs 
and  pillows  in  a  corner,  and  barricaded  us  in  with  our 
luggage,  and  the  chief  and  his  wife  came  and  smoked  the 
pipe  of  peace,  and  gave  us  milk  and  Jcaimak  (sour  curd). 

So  we  resigned  ourselves  to  circumstances,  but  it  was 
the  wildest  scene  we  were  ever  in.  The  wild  Kurds — 
men,  women,  and  children — came  and  stared  at  us  in 
party  after  party,  but  offered  us  no  rudeness,  and  we 
were  as  friendly  as  looks  and  smiles  and  biscuits  could 
go ;  and  so  after  awhile  the  excitement  of  our  coming 
subsided,  and  all  resumed  its  ordinary  course.  Just  the 
other  side  of  the  reeds  by  my  side  two  camel  foals  were 

^  The  young  man  escaped  from  Constantinople  at  the  time  of  the  August 
massacres,  and  has  reached  England  in  safety,  where  he  has  found  a  place 
of  service. — J.  R.  H. 


I02  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

lying  down,  while  the  mother  of  one  of  them  kept  invad- 
ing the  tent,  and  being  as  often  driven  out.  The  soldi-ers 
and  Kurdish  men  were  sitting  over  a  wood  fire  close  by, 
smoking  and  talking  in  that  peculiarly  high  and  unplea- 
sant key  I  shall  never  forget,  which  is  habitual  to  them, 
and  almost  amounts  to  a  scream,  and  always  suggests 
anger ;  while  on  the  other  side  the  women  and  children 
prepared  their  mats  for  sleeping,  and  our  servants  kept 
watch  and  ward.  I  did  not  think  under  such  circum- 
stances that  either  of  us  would  close  our  eyes,  but  we 
were  very  weary,  and  by-and-by  the  scene  all  faded 
away,  and  the  nest  thing  I  knew  was  the  grey  of  early 
morning,  and  our  men  were  preparing  for  the  start.  So 
without  food  or  drink  we  mounted  about  4.30,  and  pur- 
sued our  onward  course. 

On  the  second  day  from  this  we  reached  Diarbekir 
(yesterday),  and  have  ever  since  been  hearing  fresh 
horrors,  past  and  present,  from  Mr.  Hallward's  drago- 
man and  his  wife — Mr.  H.,  the  British  Vice-Oonsul,  being 
away — and  a  young  Armenian  doctor  who  studied  in 
Baltimore,  and  who  is  nearly  wild  with  indignation,  pity, 
and  fear  for  the  future  of  his  people. 

All  these  beg  and  entreat  us  to  do  something  to  help 
the  people  to  emigrate.  "  If  we  have  to  leave  our  houses, 
our  property  that  was,  everything,  we  will  go  all  of  us,  so 
that  only  our  lives  are  granted  us."  The  dragoman  says 
that  almost  the  entire  population  of  Diarbekir  would 
emigrate  if  the  way  were  made,  for  otherwise  they  will 
die  of  starvation  next  winter. — Affectionately, 

H.  B.  H. 


LETTER  No.   XVII. 

DIFFICULTIES  AT  DIARBBKIR  —  A  ROUGH  RIDE  TO  MARDIN  — 
EXCURSION  IN  SEARCH  OP  MSS.  —  ALEXANDER  IN  TROUBLE 
AGAIN. 

Mardin,  June  15,  1896. 

Dear  Friends, — We  left  Diarbekir  on  Wednesday, 
June  3rd,  under  some  difficulty,  my  having  taken  some 
photographs  the  day  before  of  the  walls  of  the  city  and 
of  a  ruined  Christian  village  across  the  Tigris,  coupled 
with  some  incautious  remarks  of  one  of  our  servants, 
being  the  immediate  occasion,  but  behind  that,  no  doubt, 
a  strong  Government  suspicion  of  strangers.  Again  and 
again,  when  we  thought  we  were  off,  was  the  consular 
dragoman  summoned  to  the  Government  headquarters  to 
answer  some  fresh  question  about  us,  and  at  last,  after  we 
had  been  put  under  guard  of  a  centurion  and  two  inferior 
soldiers,  and  had  started  to  walk  to  our  arabas  or 
springless  waggons  outside  the  city,  which  had  been  await- 
ing us  for  a  couple  of  hours,  we  were  stopped,  and  had  all 
to  go  back  again  and  undergo  fresh  examination. 

You  can  imagine  our  pleasure,  then,  when  we  really 

found  ourselves  outside  the  city  gates,  and  this  time  riding 

inside  our  carriage  instead  of  upon  horseback,  and  actually 

by  the  side  of  the  Tigris !     But  whatever  our  pleasure 

was   in    escaping    from    Diarbekir,    the   term    is    hardly 

'03 


104  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

applicable  to  any  other  part  of  our  ride  to  Mardin,  and 
many  a  time  did  we  repent  of  having  quitted  the  saddle 
and  its  evils  to  "fly  to  others  that  we  knew  not  of." 

A  large  part  of  the  carriage  road  (so  called)  between 
Diarbekir  and  Mardin  is  no  better  than  a  rough  river-bed 
with  boulders,  the  small  ones  as  big  and  bigger  than  one's 
head,  over  which  it  is  one  series  of  bumps  and  jumps, 
until  one  wonders  that  one's  neck  is  not  dislocated.  The 
floor  of  our  araha  was  spread  with  our  bed-coverlets  and 
our  pillows  piled  at  the  back,  but  they  made  no  appreci- 
able difference  as  to  the  result ;  and  then  the  night  in  the 
sheikh's  house  ! — but  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  what 
those  who  travel  in  this  country  in  summer  suffer  at  night 
from  fleas,  though  you  must  know  that  sleep  is  out  of  the 
question  except  in  brief  snatches.  I  hope  we  shall  soon 
sleep  on  the  roofs  of  our  resting-places  instead  of  under 
them,  as  the  natives  mostly  do  in  summer. 

Our  escort  swelled  to  nine  soldiers  before  we  reached 
Mardin  next  day — a  fact  due  probably  to  the  desire  of 
these  poor  men  for  a  little  proper  food,  since  they  left  us 
on  our  arrival  here  without  asking  any  backsheesh  (a  quite 
unusual  event).  One  of  them,  a  Kurd,  flourished  a  lance 
— instead  of  bearing  gun  and  sword  like  the  others — fully 
fourteen  feet  long,  and  when  galloping  about  with  some 
of  the  others  (for  our  edification  from  time  to  time)  he 
looked  just  like  a  picture. 

Mardin,  which  we  reached  in  two  days,  is  in  a  moun- 
tainous region,  most  picturesquely  situated,  with  a  won- 
derful old  castle  on  the  summit  of  a  grand  rampart  of 
rock  overlooking  the  city.     All  around  the  country  was 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  105 

desolated  last  autumn  and  winter  by  Kurds,  though  more 
by  pillage  than  actual  massacre,  and  hundreds  of  villages 
were  laid  waste.  The  consequence  is  that  here  is  one  of 
the  large  Relief  centres  receiving  help  from  the  Duke  of 
Westminster's  Fund,  and  not  less  than  20,000  to  25,000 
people  have  been  at  one  time  receiving  help,  and  about 
15,000  are  now  being  regularly  assisted.  This  work  will 
soon  be  closed  for  the  summer. 

Mr.  Andrus,  one  of  the  missionaries  here,  is  the  head 
of  the  Relief  Committee,  and  has  done  a  splendid  work. 
He  is  at  it  morning,  noon,  and  night,  having  handed  most 
of  his  missionary  work  over  to  his  colleague,  Mr.  Dewey, 
but  though  his  energy  seems  boundless  and  his  resources 
and  devices  for  helping  the  sufferers  endless,  yet  one  can 
gather  from  word  and  look  that  he  with  all  the  other 
missionaries  whom  we  have  met  look  at  the  ajDproaching 
winter  with  great  uncertainty  and  dread. 

The  population  of  the  devastated  region  referred  to 
have  next  to  no  harvest,  and  what  they  have  is  even  now 
being  eaten  by  the  Kurds'  camels,  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep, 
which  they  are  pasturing  with  great  triumph  on  the 
Christians'  corn ;  and  what  can  be  done  ?  Of  course  this 
is  not  everywhere — a  request  for  sickles  came  in  yester- 
day from  one  district — but  it  is  very  general. 

The  refugees  here  have  been  put  to  road-making  and 
mending  in  the  neighbourhood  by  the  Relief  Committee 
(not  the  Diarbekir  road,  alas !),  but  the  money  will  only 
do  a  very  little  in  this  direction  ;  and  what  then  ? 

This  city  was  saved  from  massacre  by  one  very  powerful 
Kurdish  family  or  tribe,  which  lives  here,  who,  though 


io6  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

thieves  themselves,  are  friendly  with  the  missionaries, 
and  for  their  sakes  saved  the  Christians  of  the  city.  Mrs. 
Dewey  told  me  that  -from  the  elevation  of  the  mission 
premises  they  could  see  the  plains  around  black  with  the 
Kurds  day  after  day,  who  were  gathered  together  for  the 
purpose  of  massacre  and  only  waited  permission.  This 
however  they  did  not  get,  and  had  to  retire  again.  For 
in  no  place  did  the  Kurds  dare  to  kill  without  express 
permission. 

This  mission  centre  is  not  Armenian  but  Syrian,  and 
one  notices  a  decided  difference  in  the  character  of  the 
people.  They  do  not  seem  to  me  nearly  so  intelligent 
and  refined  as  the  Armenians,  but  we  are  told  they  are 
more  trustworthy  and  less  fickle,  but  have  had  no  oppor- 
tunity of  judging  of  this  ourselves.  Also  one  notices  far 
less  spiritual  awakening,  far  smaller  audiences  in  the 
church,  and  less  interest.  This  may  arise  from  the  fact 
that  massacre  was  averted  here,  and  that  they  have  not 
had  the  baptism  of  blood  and  fire  of  other  places  to  drive 
them  to  God — I  cannot  tell — but  the  difference  is  very 
manifest  in  spite  of  the  beautiful  and  continuous  work 
and  effort  of  the  faithful  little  missionary  band  here,  equal, 
I  suppose,  in  earnestness  to  that  of  any  other  centre. 

Now  I  must  tell  you  that  R.,  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Andrus  and  helpers,  has  gone  out  on  a  little  tour  in  the 
neighbourhood,  manuscript-hunting.  This  is  a  special 
centre  for  Syrian  MSS.,  and  many  which  are  of  great 
value  are  known  to  exist  in  the  neighbouring  monasteries 
and  churches.  But  the  priests  also  know  their  value  in  one 
sense  very  well  (though  not  how  to  utilise  this  value),  and 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  107 

they  will  not  sell.  All  they  seem  willing  to  do  is  to  lend 
a  hook  for  a  short  time,  and  this  is  of  course  very  tanta- 
lising to  E.  However,  perhaps  this  trip  may  be  specially 
successful  ;  we  are  hoping  that  it  may.  It  will  be  a 
very  fatiguing  one  at  any  rate,  and  I  shall  be  thankful 
when  it  is  over,  which  may  not  be  for  two  or  even  three 
weeks. 

I  did  not  go,  as  there  would  have  been  no  special  object, 
and  I  am  quite  settling  in  to  the  life  here  and  enjoying  it, 
and  finding  also  little  bits  of  work  to  do.  Our  one  recrea- 
tion, after  the  day's  heat  and  work,  is  riding,  and  as  the 
missionaries  have  reallv  beautiful  animals,  and  are  fear- 
less  riders,  and  they  kindly  provide  me  with  a  good  mount, 
we  often  go  out  for  a  run,  which  is  very  different  to 
ordinary  travel,  and  quite  a  change. 

Our  Armenian  boy  got  himself  (and  nearly  the  com- 
munity) into  grave  trouble  a  few  days  after  his  arrival 
here.  He  went  out  at  night,  as  at  Ourfa,  to  try  and  get 
some  of  the  dreadful  dogs  around  shut  up.  This  was 
specially  on  my  behalf,  as  he  knew  how  they  annoyed 
me ;  but  in  dealing  with  a  neighbouring  dog,  he  forgot 
it  was  a  Kurdish  and  not  an  Armenian  one,  as  at  Ourfa, 
and  was  threatened  with  being  killed  by  its  master,  and 
the  next  day,  in  the  bazaar,  he  was  attacked  and  badly 
cut  on  the  head,  hand,  and  arms,  and  beaten  as  well,  the 
Moslem  soldiers  standing  by  and  not  interfering.  When 
I  saw  him  after  he  had  been  rescued,  he  was  a  sorry  sight, 
the  blood  all  ptrenming  from  his  head.  His  injuries  were 
not  serious,  however,  and  we  administered  quite  as  much 
admonition  as  sympathy  to  him  afterwards ;  and  it  is  now 


io8  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

understood   that   in    Kurdistan   the   dogs  are  to  be  left 
alone. 

Our  friends  here  are  finishing  their  present  school  term 
in  a  few  days,  and  having  examination.  I  am  attending 
the  English  examination  only.  When  this  is  over  they 
close  np  their  work  for  a  time  and  retire  to  a  country  home 
about  two  miles  off. 

Before  concluding  this  letter,  I  should  say  that  the 
native  Protestant  pastor  here  is  in  prison  and  under 
sentence  for  five  years,  and  his  only  crime — that  a  copy 
of  a  scheme  of  reforms  was  found  in  the  possession  of 
another  person,  who  said  that  the  pastor  had  given  it  to 
him !  He  is  said  to  be  a  very  good  man  indeed.  When 
we  return  to  Diarbekir  we  will  hear  from  the  Consul 
whether  there  is  any  hope  of  a  reprieve,  though,  being  a 
Turkish  subject,  of  course  Mr.  Hallward  can  do  nothing 
officially  for  his  rescue. — Your  friend  affectionately, 

Helen  B.  H. 


LETTER   No.   XVIII. 

CLOSING   OF   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL — IMPOSING   CEREMONIES — 
VISIT   TO   THE  JACOBITE   SCHOOLS,  ETC. 

Mardin,  June  22,  1896. 

Dear  Friends, — Life  here  is  very  quiet,  while  E.  and 
Mr.  Andrus  are  away  on  their  inanuscript-huntiDg  tour, 
the  one  great  event  being  the  closing  of  the  Missionary 
Schools  (High  Schools)  for  the  summer.  These  schools 
have  not  been  interrupted  as  those  at  the  other  mis- 
sionary stations  have  been,  there  having  (as  I  before 
mentioned)  been  no  massacre  here,  though  all  the  country 
around  was  pillaged,  and  one  burnt  village  lies  in  its  deso- 
lation on  the  plain  just  below  the  town.  The  examina- 
tions had  been  going  on  for  the  previous  week,  but  as 
it  was  all  conducted  in  Arabic  I  did  not  attend,  except 
the  examinations  in  English,  which  were  creditable,  if 
not  brilliant.  But  early  in  the  morning  of  Wednesday, 
June  17,  I  went  by  special  invitation^  to  witness  the 
recitations  and  diploma-giving — first  in  the  girls'  school, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Mrs.  Andrus,  and  later  in 
the  boys'  department,  under  Mr.  Dewey. 

These  schools  are  not  large,  the  boys  numbering  only 
forty-five  and  the  girls  twenty-five,  but  being  High  Schools 

'  I  waa  the  first  European  visitor  they  ever  had. 
109 


no  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

they  mean  a  constant  supply  of  good  education  for  the 
elect  of  the  young  people  of  the  town  and  neighbour- 
hood. Imagine  us  then  in  the  bright  and  airy  (though 
heavy)  stone  building  of  the  girls'  school-room.  The 
windows  are  prettily  draped  and  adorned  with  flowering 
geraniums,  &c.,  though  their  strong  iron  grating  (com- 
mon to  all  windows  in  the  houses  here),  prison-like,  re- 
minds one  that  danger  abounds  even  during  the  most 
peaceful  times  and  occupations.  A  large  part  of  the 
room  is  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  relations  of  the  girls, 
and  here  great  interest  is  manifested— the  women,  veiled 
and  in  native  costume,  occupying  one  part,  and  the  men 
(an  American  innovation)  another. 

The  graduating  class  were  all  neatly  dressed,  and  had 
flowers  and  ribbons  after  the  manner  of  girls  generally, 
while  one,  richer  than  the  rest,  added  necklace  and 
bracelets  to  these.  Their  part  was  each  to  read  a  com- 
position of  their  own  to  the  assembled  company,  which 
they  did  with  as  much  modesty  and  yet  self-possession  as 
English  girls  could  have  shown.  Their  subjects  were 
— (i)  The  advantages  of  learning  for  women.  (2)  The 
love  of  one's  country.  (3)  \^j  what  means  can  you  lift 
yourself  to  a  higher  plane  of  life  ?  The  boys'  declama- 
tions were  on  similar  subjects,  viz. — (i)  Civilisation.  (2) 
Your  relation  to  your  country.  (3)  Perseverance  in  well- 
doing.    (4)  i'ight  the  good  hght  of  faith. 

With  the  boys  (or  young  men,  for  I  suppose  they  were 
eighteen  to  twenty  years  of  age)  declamation  was  the 
object,  the  subjects  being  selected,  and  truly  these  young 
Syrians  did  so  well,  with  hand  and  eye,  as  well  as  voice, 
that  I  could  not  but  tell  them  afterwards  I  thought  they 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  iii 

were  not  behind  the  students  I  had  heard  give  their  com- 
mencement orations  at  Haverford  College,  U.S.A.,  some 
years  since.  This,  of  course,  pleased  them  immensely,  as 
America  is  their  beau-ideal  in  all  things.  But  I  felt  I 
must  go  further  still,  not  this  time  in  compliment,  but  in 
the  earnest  expression  of  my  desire  that  their  education, 
as  well  as  natural  powers,  might  be  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  God,  and,  if  it  were  His  will,  to  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  to  their  own  'people.  The  two  eldest  boys 
at  once  responded  most  earnestly,  with  uplifted  hand  and 
eye,  according  to  the  Eastern  habit,  and  the  words,  "May 
God  grant  it !  "  and  "  If  He  permits  it !  " 

On  Friday  I  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting  very  different 
schools,  namely,  those  belonging  to  the  ancient  Jacobite 
Church.  This,  you  know,  is  the  oldest  Church  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  different  from  the  Gregorian  or 
Armenian,  which  is  probably  its  contemporary.  It  is 
much  purer  in  faith  and  practice  than  the  Syrian  Catholic, 
which  exists  here  also,  and  much  less  bigoted.  When 
taking  us  over  the  adjoining  church,  and  showing  us  the 
pictures  in  it,  the  teacher  and  sexton  took  care  to  inform 
us  that  they  did  not  worshiji  them,  they  "were  not  so 
ignorant  as  that ; "  but  at  the  same  time,  I  must  own 
they  showed  some  superstition  by  bringing  us  "a  piece 
of  the  true  Cross,"  and  some  bones  of  saints,  as  very 
precious  treasures ! 

In  the  boys'  school,  the  little  fellows,  all  with  the  red 
fez  on  their  heads  and  their  legs  tucked  under  them, 
spouted  for  us  several  of  their  dirge-like  Church  hymns, 
and  then  the  teacher  asked  nie  if  I  would  like  to  ask 
them  some  questions.     This  surprised  me  much,  not  only 


112  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

because  I  was  a  Protestant,  but  also  a  woman.  How- 
ever, being  pleased  with  the  liberality  the  invitation 
showed,  I  responded  and  asked  what  they  could  tell  me 
about  Bethlehem,  the  Message  to  the  Shepherds,  &c., 
telling  them  a  little  of  our  visit  there.  To  my  great 
pleasure,  the  boys  answered  quite  as  well  as  they  would 
have  done  in  any  English  school,  and  then  at  a  word  from 
their  teacher,  changing  their  position  to  a  kneeling  one, 
they  sang  an  Eastern  Christmas  carol  for  us — very  well 
indeed.  All  these  young  Syrians  were  perfectly  grave 
and  well-behaved  during  our  visit,  and  all  rose  to  their 
feet,  both  at  our  coming  and  going.  I  have  given  this 
incident  somewhat  at  length,  to  show  the  friendly  rela- 
tions between  the  American  missionaries  (for  it  was  a 
lady  missionary  who  took  me)  and  the  ancient  Church. 

Yesterday  (Sunday)  the  Protestant  service  was  at  6  a.m., 
and  a  native  gentleman  preached.  At  2.30  I  had  a  meet- 
ing for  women,  though  much  smaller  than  at  Ourfa  or 
Aintab,  because  there  is  not  at  all  the  same  spiritual 
awakening  here  as  in  those  places ;  and  afterwards  there 
was  a  "Christian  Endeavour"  meeting  and  a  boys'  school. 

The  post  (weekly),  to  which  we  look  forward  so  much, 
has  just  come  in,  but  brought  us  no  letters,  alas !  I 
wonder  where  they  are,  for  I  feel  sure  some  of  you,  dear 
friends,  have  written  to  cheer  us  up  with  news  from  "a 
far  and  beloved  country  "  within  the  past  month.  Well, 
we  must  wait,  and  have  long  patience,  for  many  things 
(letters  included)  while  in  this  unhappy  land,  and  in  due 
time,  no  doubt,  there  will  be  a  reaping  time,  if  we  faint 
not. — With  love  to  all,  your  friend  sincerely, 

Helen  B.  H. 


LETTER   No.  XIX. 

FIRST   RUMOURS   OF   THE   VAN   MASSACRE. 

Mardin,  June  29,  1896. 

My  dear  Friends, — I  liave  very  little  personal  news 
for  you  to-day,  for  our  life  here  has  gone  on  very  evenly 
since  I  last  wrote ;  but  the  rumours  that  are  coming  in 
are  most  disquieting.  We  have  no  certain  news  except  a 
telegram  from  Dr.  Raynolds  of  Van  to  the  effect  that  the 
missionaries  are  safe,  but  the  rumour  in  the  market-place 
here  is  that  every  Christian  at  Van  has  been  killed,  and 
that  the  Government  have  turned  the  cannon  on  the 
towns  of  Erzeroum  and  Bitlis  and  levelled  them  with 
the  ground.^  There  is  a  great  panic  here,  of  course,  and 
the  Christian  men  who  have  any  money  say  they  will 
take  out  their  papers  and  go  to  Beyrout,  or  anywhere, 
and  leave  everything.  We  hear  also  of  Arab  risings  near 
here,  and  altogether  it  seems  as  if  a  new  reign  of  terror 
is  commencing. 

E.  and  Mr.  Andrus  have  not  yet  returned,  but  we 
expect  them  to-morrow,  and  probably  at  the  end  of  the 
week  we  shall  return  to  Diarbekir  (which  is,  however,  in 
a  most  unsettled  condition).     Our  future  movements  we 

^  The  state  of  thiiigH  at  Viin  was  not  quite  so  bad  as  the  alarmist 
rumours  painted  it,  though  the  outlook  was  dark  and  sad  indeed.  And 
the  other  reports  as  to  Erzeroum,  &c.,  were  not  substantiated. 

113  H 


114  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

must  leave  entirely  to  that  Divine  guidance  which  has 

been  so  wonderfully  with  us  hitherto,  and  believe  that  in 

some  way  God  will  use  our  presence  here  for  His  own 

glory.     He  keeps  our  hearts  and  minds  in  His  own  peace. 

— Yours  affectionately, 

Helen  B.  H. 

F.S. — We  have  received  large  budgets  of  letters  from 
the  Bible  House  and  from  Aintab,  and  are  grateful.  Miss 
G.  Kimball  is  returning  from  Van  to  America,  for  which 
I  am  very  sorry. 

Excuse  so  poor  a  letter.  I  had  a  nice  meeting  with 
the  women  yesterday  (Sunday),  in  spite  of  great  heat. 
The  missionaries  here  are  most  kind,  and  we  have  much 
fellowship  with  them  every  way.  Their  one  thought  is 
for  the  people. 


LETTER  No.  XX. 

A  MODERN   SIMEON   STYLITES — BRIEF   ACCOUNT   OP   A   VISIT  TO   THE 
TUR   ABDJn — VISIT   TO   A  TURKISH   PRISON,    ETC. 

Mardin,  July  3,  1896. 

Dear  Friends,  —  In  visiting  among  the  Christian 
women  to-day  I  have  just  heard  a  very  interesting  his- 
tory of  one  of  the  men  martyred  at  Harpoot  during  the 
massacres,  and  must  send  it  on. 

He  was  originally  a  Jacobite  monk,  and  from  a  boy 
of  fourteen  he  sought  by  penance  and  self-inflicted 
suffering  to  buy  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins.  After  his 
conversion  to  Protestantism  he  showed  his  adopted  mother 
(who  has  just  told  us  about  him)  the  scars  all  round 
his  body  where  he  had  worn  a  belt  with  nails  in  it, 
and  when  Mr.  Andrus  found  him  first  he  was  in  an  old 
disused  cistern  in  a  small  monastery  near  Midyat,  in 
which  he  had  fastened  a  rope  from  side  to  side,  and 
when  sleep  came  on  he  flung  himself  across  it  to  keep 
himself  awake  to  pray.  In  fact  he  acted  as  like  St. 
Simeon  Stylites  as  a  modern  monk  could.  Before  this, 
however,  and  when  he  was  first  en  route  with  other  lads 
for  the  monastic  life,  an  earnest  native  preacher  had 
met  him  and  prophesied  to  him  that  he  should  yet  see 
the  insufficiency  of  the  way  he  had  chosen  to  walk  in, 
and  would  leave  it  and  believe  the  pure  Gospel. 

"5 


ii6  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Mr.  Andrus  was  the  instrument  through  whom  God 
opened  his  eyes,  though  Bibles  had  previously  been  intro- 
duced into  the  monastery,  and  this  young  monk  with 
others  was  earnestly  reading  for  himself ;  when  he  once 
saw  his  errors  he,  with  the  same  earnestness  and  deter- 
mination which  had  marked  his  monkish  life,  renounced 
it,  and  took  a  theological  course  at  the  Protestant  college, 
and  had  just  gone  through  it  and  was  ready  for  ordina- 
tion when  the  end  came.  He  was  one  of  those  martyred 
as  well  as  massacred,  and  tortured  as  well  as  martyred. 
His  adopted  mother  showed  us  his  photograph,  and  told 
of  his  namie  written  in  the  family  Bible  with  those  of  her 
own  children,  and  then  with  a  sob  added,  "When  they 
asked  him  to  deny  Christ  and  he  refused,  they  cut  off 
one  of  his  arms,  and  then  said,  '  Will  you  not  become  a 
Moslem  now  ? '  '  No,'  he  replied,  '  for  I  have  come  to 
this  hour  in  God's  will  and  appointment,  and  I  will  not 
change.'  Then  they  literally  cut  him  to  pieces  before 
finally  killing  him."  The  photo  shows  a  face  of  no 
ordinary  force  of  character,  and  especially  of  great  de- 
termination.     His   name   was   Baulus   Bursom   or   Paul 

Barsauma. 

H.  B.  H. 

My  dear  Feiends, — I  do  not  know  that  there  is  very 
much  of  special  interest  to  report.  The  greater  part  of 
the  last  three  weeks  has  been  spent  by  me  in  the  moun- 
tains to  the  north  and  east  of  Mardin,  as  far  as  the  Tigris 
river.  This  is  the  Mount  Masius  of  the  ancients,  but  in 
the  present  day  is  known  as  the  Tur  Abdin,  or  Mountain 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  117 

of  the  Servants ;  I  suppose  it  acquired  this  name  from 
the  frequency  of  the  monasteries  which  are  found  all  over 
the  district.  By  a  mixture  of  Syriac  and  Arabic  it  is 
often  called  the  Jebel  Tur,  which  is  a  mere  repetition 
(Mt.  Mountain).  A  dreary  country  enough,  for  the  most 
part  bare  limestone  crags  with  a  little  growth  of  scrub 
oak,  and  almost  waterless  in  many  parts,  except  where 
the  limestone  gives  place  to  some  more  generous  soil. 
The  interest  of  this  country  to  me  lies  chiefly  in  the  fact 
that  the  Syriac  language  is  still  spoken  here,  both  by  the 
clergy  and  the  people,  and  there  is  hardly  a  church  where 
th^re  are  not  some  Syriac  MSS.  It  is  a  good  district  also 
for  studyiug  the  decline  and  prophesying  the  approaching 
decease  of  Syrian  monasticism,  for  most  of  the  monasteries 
are  either  in  ruins  or  so  much  reduced  as  not  to  be  much 
better  than  ruins.  I  am  glad  to  be  at  the  bedside  of  this 
erratic  religion,  and  if  a  shake  would  hasten  the  patient's 
dissolution,  I  would  gladly  give  him  a  brace  of  shakes. 

It  is  also  a  good  country  for  studyiug  the  decline  of  the 
Turkish  Government ;  for  the  people  are  almost  bled  to 
death  by  their  unjust  rulers,  and  I  found  village  after 
village  either  wholly  deserted  or  reduced  to  a  fraction  of 
its  original  population,  while  the  hill-sides  were  full  of 
traces  of  ancient  vineyards,  and  fruit-trees  were  growing 
wild  that  must  at  one  time  have  been  carefully  cultivated. 
There  has  been  no  systematic  massacre  over  this  region, 
only  habitual  oppression  and  local  outbreaks  of  dis- 
order. We  passed  through  one  village  which  had  been 
raided  a  few  hours  before  by  Moslems,  who  had  carried 
off   300  sheep ;  but  these  robberies  ought  hardly  to  be 


ii8  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

classed  with  what  has  been  going  on  in  other  places,  for 
they  are  probably  as  natural  to  the  life  of  the  people  as 
the  ancient  Border  raids  between  England  and  Scotland. 
However  that  may  be,  the  decline  of  the  prosperity  of  the 
district  was  to  me  very  patent,  and  one  can  only  hope 
that  the  sick  man  who  is  responsible  for  the  state  of 
affairs  will  before  long  find  some  one  to  give  him  also 
a  necessary  and  sufficient  shake. 

The  travelling  was  very  hard  and  rough,  the  more  so 
because  the  hot  weather  has  now  fairly  set  in ;  so  that 
although  there  was  generally  a  favourable  breeze,  and  we 
were  seldom  at  a  lower  altitude  than  4000  feet,  I  found 
my  endurance  well  tested.  We  had  often  to  rise  very 
early  in  the  view  of  a  hard  day's  riding;  the  last  two 
days  were  especially  heavy;  we  were  up  on  these  two 
days  at  1.40  and  1.30  a.m.,  and  in  the  saddle  at  2,50 
and  2.40,  riding  six  hours  at  a  stretch  before  we  had 
a  proper  breakfast.  But  the  night  air  and  the  early 
morning  air  are  wonderfully  refreshing,  and  I  do  not 
find  any  unpleasant  result  except  a  little  extra  weari- 
ness, which  will  soon  pass  off. 

As  to  the  results  of  this  little  expedition,  well,  they 
were  a  little  disappointing ;  a  great  deal  of  damage  had 
been  done  in  some  places  by  the  Kurds,  who  have  an 
especial  spite  against  books,  and  love  to  show  their  an- 
tipathy to  Christianity  by  destroying  the  Gospels.  One 
monastery  where  we  hoped  to  find  interesting  matter  was 
completely  ruined,  and  all  the  books  destroyed.  It  is 
fortunate  that  we  do  not  live  by  books  alone.  In  other 
places  the  people  had  walled  up  or  hidden  away  their 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  119 

treasures,  or  if  they  showed  them,  resolutely  refused  to 
part  with  them.  So  you  will  easily  see  how  disappoint- 
ments can  come  in  battalions. 

To-day  (July  3)  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  visit- 
ing the  Turkish  prison  in  Mardin  in  company  with  my 
friends  of  the  American  Mission,  Dr.  Audrus  and  Mr. 
Dewey,      We  went   to   see   the   Protestant   pastor   and 
teacher,  who  have  been  for  more  than  seven  months  in 
prison  on  the  charge  of  sedition  and  treason.     You  will 
be  surprised  when  I  tell  you  what  it  all  amounts  to ; 
a  copy  of  reforms  supposed  to  be  those  agreed  upon  by 
the  European  Powers  (though  I  suspect  the  whole  docu- 
ment was  a  forgery)  was  found  in  the  possession  of  the 
teacher,  and   it   was  maintained   that   he   had   obtained 
them  from  the  minister.     A  charge  of  treason  was  laid 
against  them  both,  and  they  were  sentenced  for  a  term 
of  years.     Happily  we  hear  that  there  is  some  chance  of 
a  new  trial  being  granted  in  consequence  of  appeals  made 
to  Constantinople,  but  what  the  outcome  will  be  is  still 
uncertain, 1     You  can  put  this  case  along  with  the  rest  of 
the  Turkish  caricatures  of  justice,  such  as  the  case  of  the 
preacher  who  was  condemned  for  having  a  copy  of  Lord 
Salisbury's  speech  in  his  pocket,  &c. 

We  were  not  allowed  to  go  into  the  wards  of  the  prison, 
but  only  into  an  outside  room,  into  which  the  prisoners 
were  presently  brought,  I  should  have  liked  to  go  over 
the  whole  of  the  building,  but  all  I  could  see  was  a  court- 
yard with  a  tank  in  it,  a  number  of  men  sitting  in  the 
shade  under  one  of  the  walls,  and  at  the  tank  a  man 
^  Unfortunately  the  sentence  was  confirmed. 


I20  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

helping  another  prisoner,  who  was  heavily  ironed,  to  wash 
his  face,  a  new  version  of  the  law  of  bearing  one  another's 
burdens. 

We  had  a  pleasant  interview  with  our  incarcerated 
friends,  who  seem  to  be  well  cared  for.  An  Eastern 
prison  is  not  like  one  of  ours.  The  prisoners  feed  them- 
selves, except  for  a  ration  of  bread  and  water  supplied 
by  the  Government,  and  this  means  a  certain  amount 
of  access  to  them  from  outside.  They  were  bright  and 
cheerful,  had  books,  I  think,  with  which  their  friends 
had  supplied  them,  and,  on  the  whole,  my  first  impres- 
sion of  a  Turkish  prison  was  favourable.  If  we  are  to 
be  thrown  into  prison  on  frivolous  charges,  it  is  some- 
thing to  have  one's  books  and  one's  dinner  sent  to  one 
from  the  outside. 

And  now  our  time  at  Mardin  is  coming  to  an  end,  and 
we  move  northward.  We  hear  good  reports  of  the  work 
done  by  our  Red  Cross  friends  in  the  district  to  the  east 
of  Harpoot;  one  of  them,  Mr.  Wood,  is  not  many  days 
from  us;  he  was  at  Diarbekir  till  the  25th  of  last  month, 
and  is  now  organising  relief  at  Meiafarkin,  a  place  not 
far  to  the  north  of  Diarbekir,  where  there  seems  to  have 
been  much  suifering.  Apparently  we  have  just  missed 
seeing  him,  but  perhaps  we  may  meet  by-and-by. 

With  best  wishes  to  all  our  good  friends  in  England, 
sincerely  yours,  J    R    H 

[Note. — Miss  Kimball  writes  to  tlie  Women's  Fund  from  Van  down 
to  22nd  July.  Slie  expected  to  start  for  England  4tli  August.  The 
results  of  tlie  late  outbreak  were  not  yet  known  ;  entire  regions,  in 
which  terrible  things  had  happened,  were  still  shut  up  by  the  Kurds, 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  121 

but  it  was  evident  that  tlie  whole  province  was  utterly  laid  waste. 
About  6000  were  still  on  their  relief  bread  list  in  the  town,  on  the 
principle  of  just  keeping  soul  and  body  together,  but  they  were 
trying  to  reserve  funds  for  the  yet  darker  times  of  autumn  and 
winter.  Help,  after  Miss  Kimball  leaves,  is  to  be  administered  con- 
jointly by  the  British  Consul  and  Dr.  Raynolds,  the  solitary  repre- 
sentative remaining  of  the  American  Mission.  They  still  continue 
the  four  bakeries  at  a  total  cost  of  ^45  per  week.  The  Government 
severely  refuses  all  applications  for  permission  to  emigrate  or  leave 
the  town.— R.  H.  F. 

Note. — For  reasons  which  belong  to  secret  crafts,  as  well  as  because 
such  fox-hunting  as  I  was  engaged  in  does  not  properly  belong  to 
the  Armenian  question,  I  have  not  in  this  place  told  all  that  I  know 
about  the  diffusion  of  Syriac  literature  in  the  Tur  Abdin.  There  is, 
further,  no  law  requiring  one  to  dilate  upon  one's  disappointments. 
One  thing  at  least  was  the  reverse  of  disappointing,  the  bath  in  one 
of  the  rivers  of  Paradise,  the  loving  remembrance  of  which  induces 
me  to  add  a  fragment  of  a  private  letter  to  a  brother  who  has  often 
partaken  of  such  aquatic  joys  with  me  :  "Midyat,  Jione  21,  1896. — 
.  .  .  How  many  times  I  have  wanted  thee  lately.  But  most  of  all 
this  last  week,  when  I  was  washing  away  the  accumulated  sin  of  a 
week's  travel  by  bathing  in  that  sweet  river  of  Paradise  whose  name 
is  Hiddekel,  Diklath,  or  Tigris.  If  thou  hadst  been  there  and 
iTuder  the  same  burden  of  the  llesh  and  that  live  and  dead  matter 
that  clings  thereto,  how  sportively  would  we  have  swum  across 
it,  at  the  risk  of  landing  a  quarter  of  a  mile  lower  down,  to  say 
nothing  of  being  indited  by  the  River  Conservancy  Board  of  Mosul 
under  an  Act  to  Prevent  the  Pollution  of  Rivers.  We  might  even 
have  conspired  to  do,  what  I  ached  after,  we  might  have  hired  a 
kellik  or  raft  on  skins  and  floated  down.  It  would  have  only 
cost  us  five  days  to  Nineveh,  and  we  could  have  been  better  than 
Hemerobaptists,  of  whom  the  Sabean  remnant  exists  down  the  river 
at  liagdad.  But  wishes  are  of  small  service,  and  the  axiom  'I 
wished  for  Leonard  there '  does  not  verify  itself  with  '  I  found 
him  !n  Filanberis.'^.  .  . 

I  am  taking  a  week  or  two  to  search  this  mountain  (I\Iount  INIasius) 
for  some  early  relics  which  ought  to  be  extant  amongst  a  people  who 
talk  Syriac  to  you  and  understand  you  when  you  talk  back.  It  has 
been  hard  work  some  of  the  time.     If  we  have  not  exactly  been 


122  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

'  bedmate  of  the  burdock  and  the  snake,'  we  have  been  under  the 
sign  of  the  Scorpion,  and  have  our  own  interpretation  of  '  fighting 
with  beasts  at  Ephesus '  ,  .  . 

One  day  this  week  we  were  up  at  3.30  and  in  the  saddle  at  4 
(breakfastless),  and  did  not  reach  our  sleeping  place  till  7  p.m.  By 
the  end  of  that  day  we  came  to  a  country  where  there  was  no  need 
to  prohibit  the  use  of  opiates. 

My  love  with  this.  Goodness  and  mercy  are  following  us  as 
though  they  belongt^d  to  our  caravan.  'Sister'  is  in  Mardin, 
busied  with  good  works  and  orisons  in  which  we  are  both  re- 
membered."— J.  R.  H.] 


LETTER  No.   XXI. 

JOURNEY  FROM  MARDIN  TO  DIARBEKIR  —  FORDING  THE  TIGRIS 
RIVKR — INCIDENT  AT  A  DESOLATED  VILLAGE — NATURE  AND 
EFFECTS  OF  THE  MASSACRE  AT  DIARBEKIR — THE  FRENCH  CON- 
SUL— PLANS   FOR   FUTURE  MOVEMENTS. 

DiARBEKIR,  July  9,  1896. 

Dear  Friends, — Having  purchased  two  very  nice  horses 
for  ourselves  at  Mardin  (for  the  sum  of  about  £16  for  both), 
we  had  a  much  less  fatiguing  return  journey  to  Diarbekir, 
sixty  miles,  than  the  araba  ride  thither.  We  were  ac- 
companied part  way  on  our  first  day's  journey  by  the  two 
gentlemen  of  the  mission,  Mr,  Andrus  and  Mr.  Dewey,  and 
also  the  two  younger  ladies,  Miss  Pratt  and  Miss  Graf,  and 
we  have  become  so  attached  to  the  brave  little  company 
who  hold  the  fort  at  Mardin  that  it  was  not  very  easy 
saying  good-bye,  especially  as  we  left  them  surrounded  by 
so  many  difficulties  and  dangers.  The  night  before  leaving 
we  had,  however,  a  very  comforting  season  of  united 
prayer,  and  we  are  sure  that  we  left  them  as  truly  safe 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Divine  wings  in  their  lonely 
station,  as  that  we  ourselves  are  led  and  guarded  in  our 
going  forth  once  more. 

We  were  quite  a  cavalcade  in  this  setting  out,  and 
more  numerous  than  we  wished,  by  the  customary  addi- 
tion of  soldiers.     Four  of  these,  with  the  Chief  of  Police, 

123 


124  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

were  appointed  to  accompany  us ;  so  with  five  military, 
four  missionaries,  two  servants  and  a  muleteer,  and  a  Syrian 
Christian  gentleman  who  attached  himself  to  our  party, 
and  ourselves,  we  were  fifteen  in  all,  and  when  all  were 
on  the  canter  together  it  was  quite  a  pretty  sight  looking 
back.  Indeed,  one  time  the  soldiers  became  quite  ex- 
cited, and,  quitting  the  beaten  path,  galloped  round  and 
round  on  the  hillside,  flourishing  their  guns  at  arm's 
length  in  the  left  hand,  while  the  Chief  of  Police  (by  no 
means  either  a  young  man  or  light  weight)  went  along 
with  the  rest,  whirling  his  sword  over  his  head,  and  all 
five  shouting  a  haute  voix. 

This  man  has  anything  but  a  satisfactory  record  with 
regard  to  the  late  troubles,  but  having  no  choice  as  to 
having  his  company  or  not,  we  did  our  best  to  be  kind 
to  him,  giving  him  portions  of  Mrs.  Dewey's  nice  Ameri- 
can cookery  at  each  meal,  and  in  return  he  always  had 
his  own  carpet  spread  for  us,  sitting  on  the  rocks  or 
ground  himself,  and  when  I  thanked  him  was  profuse 
in  his  declarations  that  he  was  the  one  under  obligation, 
and  so  on.  Thus  we  reached  our  journey's  end  quite 
friendly,  regretting  that  with  so  kindly  a  disposition  he 
should  at  the  same  time  have  been  so  frightfully  cruel 
when  acting  under  the  direction  of  a  fanatical  religion 
and  Government. 

We  forded  the  Tigris  before  entering  Diarbekir,  to  cut 
off  a  bend  in  the  road,  and  as  the  current  ran  with  great 
force  and  it  was  a  good  width,  it  was  something  of  an 
undertaking.  Of  course  we  got  pretty  wet,  and  to  add 
to  my  trials  my  horse  lay  down  and  rolled  on  the  dry  soft 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  125 

sand  the  moment  we  landed,  and  I  had  only  just  time  to 
extricate  myself  from  the  saddle.  It  was  extremely  hot, 
however,  and  we  soon  dried  up,  and  came  into  Diarbekir 
at  the  Mardin  Gate  in  excellent  spirits. 

I  should  say  that  after  crossing  the  Tigris  we  passed 
through  a  desolated  village,  by  name  Kahby.  Somehow 
I  did  not  at  the  first  moment  understand  what  the  silence 
and  desolation  meant.  We  had  forgotten,  in  the  pleasure 
of  nearing  our  journey's  end,  that  we  were  surrounded  by 
the  marks  of  the  havoc  of  last  winter,  and  when  we  passed 
one  large  building  after  another  (for  these  houses  are  built 
like  granaries  or  fortifications,  very  high  and  solid,  and 
quite  different  from  those  of  the  southern  plains)  with  no 
sign  of  life,  and  all  more  or  less  dilapidated,  it  seemed  at 
first  as  if  we  had  fallen  upon  some  recently  excavated  city 
of  the  past,  and  then,  in  a  moment  of  course,  the  real 
state  of  the  case  rushed  into  the  mind.  Of  the  one 
hundred  houses  belonging  to  this  village,  the  Consular 
Report  gives  eighty  as  having  been  burned  ! 

As  we  were  leaving  it,  a  poor  Christian  woman  suddenly 
appeared  from  behind  a  building  where,  no  doubt,  she 
had  hidden  on  our  approach,  and  seeing  a  lady  among 
the  party,  rushed  up  to  me  and  took  my  extended  hand 
with  gesticulations  more  eloquent  than  words.  It  was 
sad  to  leave  her  with  only  the  small  expression  of 
sympathy  I  was  able  to  give  by  a  warm  hand-clasp, 
but  delay  was  not  possible  at  the  time.  I  wonder 
what  her  tale  would  have  been  could  we  have  stayed 
to  listen ! 

We  received  a  very  kind  welcome  from  our  consul,  Mr. 


126  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Hallward,   and  later   on  from   M.   Meyrier,  the  French 
consul,  who  dined  with  us. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  this  delightful  gentleman  is  soon 
to  leave  Diarbekir,  but  my  regrets  are  not  on  his  account, 
for  he  has  had  a  truly  awful  time  here,  and  has  not  dared 
to  leave  his  responsible  post  even  to  visit  Mardin,  since 
he  came  two  years  since,  but  I  lament  for  the  people 
whom  he  has  so  helped.  He  was  alone  here  at  the  time 
of  the  massacre,  for  Mr.  Hallward  did  not  come  till  after- 
wards, and  he  was  the  means  of  saving  fifteen  hundred 
lives  at  the  risk  of  his  own  and  family's  safety,  by  open- 
ing the  Consulate  buildings  to  the  Armenians.  He  also 
made  efforts  which  restrained  in  some  degree  the  tide  of 
diabolical  cruelty,  and  stopped  the  massacre  after  three 
days,  through  the  French  Ambassador's  remonstrance  with 
the  Porte.  His  wife  and  four  children  were  with  him  in 
the  Consulate,  and  for  three  days  they  could  not  be 
screened  from  sights  and  sounds  the  most  terrible.  He 
has  since  sent  them  to  Constantinople. 

Even  here,  however,  the  Moslems  were  not  equally 
fanatical,  and  M.  Meyrier  told  us  last  night,  when  we 
dined  with  him,  that  on  one  of  these  massacre  evenings, 
believing  himself  to  be  alone,  he  threw  himself  on  his 
divan,  and  gave  way  to  a  burst  of  uncontrollable  weeping. 
Suddenly  four  or  five  Moslems  made  their  way  into  the 
room,  but  he  could  not  at  once  restrain  himself,  and  con- 
tinued weeping,  while  covering  his  face  from  them  as 
much  as  was  possible.  Seeing  this,  they  all  sat  down  in 
silence  at  first,  and  then  one  after  another  broke  down 
and  wept  too  (and  he  said  they  were  real  tears  !),     Explain 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  127 

the  phenomenon  as  we  may,  the  fact  is,  at  any  rate,  some 
alleviation  to  the  general  tale  of  horror. 

We  find  things  in  a  terrible  state  here.  The  two  con- 
suls are  not  able  to  grapple  with  the  needed  work,  and 
cannot,  of  course,  do  anything  among  the  women  like  the 
lady  missionaries,  and  the  distress  is  dreadful.  Three 
Christian  Protestant  women  called  on  me  to-day  and  told 
me  such  horrors,  and  they  say  there  is  no  one  in  Diar- 
bekir  who  has  not  lost  some  near  relative,  husband,  or 
father,  or  brother,  or  wife,  while  the  sufferings  of  the 
poor  abducted  women  and  girls  are  beyond  words.  About 
forty  of  these  have  been  reclaimed  from  neighbouring 
Kurds,  and  before  leaving  Diarbekir  I  am  going  to  make 
some  arrangement  for  helping  them,  for,  of  course,  they 
are  perfectly  destitute,  besides  being  utterly  broken- 
hearted. 

I  had  arranged  to  visit  a  good  many  of  the  Armenian 
women  in  their  own  houses,  and  so  to  hear  their  tales 
with  my  own  ears,  but  we  are  so  entirely  under  super- 
vision that  this  very  plan  was  immediately  reported  to 
the  authorities.  The  women  are  now  afraid  to  be  brought 
under  Government  notice,  and  so  I  have  given  up  the 
idea,  but  shall  have  opportunities  on  Sunday  of  speaking 
both  to  the  Gregorians  and  Protestant  women  after  their 
usual  services,  and  of  reading  my  letter. 

R.  has  had  a  good  deal  of  disappointment  here  on  the 
manuscript  question.  The  Syrian  Patriarch  who  controls 
all  the  MSS.  of  his  Church  is  said  by  our  consul  to  be  a 
man  of  very  bad  character,  in  league  with,  and  in  fact 
a  nominee  of,  the  Vali  here  who  carried  out  the  massacre. 


128  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Whether  from  our  known  friendshijj  with  the  American 
missionaries  or  from  the  simple  fact  that  ignorance  and 
fanaticism  hate  Western  scholarship,  the  fact  is  that  he 
has  set  himself  to  prevent  R,  seeing  the  books  he  most 
wished  to  see,  and  told  the  Yali,  while  we  were  at  Mardin, 
that  he  should  not  let  him  see  them  !  This  is  very  trying, 
but  we  comfort  ourselves  in  the  thought  that  the  issue 
of  this  matter  not  being  in  our  hands,  but  under  Divine 
control,  we  may  leave  the  matter  where  it  is  without 
frettinsf  about  it,  R.  having  done  all  that  has  seemed 
possible  to  obtain  access  to  these  treasures  (which  un- 
doubtedly exist,  and  may  be,  we  trust,  reserved  for  some 
future  more  successful  investigator). 

We  are  going  to  Harpoot  on  Monday  (the  13th),  and 
expect  to  stay  there  a  while  till  we  shall  have  time  to 
hear  from  England.  We  were  planning  to  omit  Bitlis 
and  Van  from  our  route,  partly  because  of  recent  events, 
and  the  apparent  uselessness  of  expecting  to  find  more 
valuable  MSS.  in  the  present  state  of  panic  in  these  parts, 
and  also  because  every  one  here,  and  the  two  consuls  the 
most  recently,  are  anxious  for  us  to  do  all  in  our  power 
to  promote  a  speedy  Government  permission  for  emigra- 
tion, for  which  it  looks  as  if  our  presence  in  Constan- 
tinople to  make  representations  to  the  authorities,  and 
especially  the  Ambassadors  there,  would  be  a  necessary 
part. 

But  yesterday  we  received  an  urgent  appeal  from  Mr. 
Atkin,  of  the  Duke  of  Westminster's  Committee,  to  re- 
main here  for  some  mouths  longer,  we  being  presumably 
the  only  English  travellers  in  this  j)art  of  the  country, 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  129 

and,  since  the  Red  Cross  agents  are  now  recalled  to 
Constantinople,  the  only  persons  with  permission  to  go 
from  place  to  place,  which  lays  upon  us  great  respon- 
sibility. 

Will  you  aid  us  in  our  decision  by  sending  us  your 
united  and  individual  judgment  on  this  matter,  for  we 
do  not  see  clearly  for  ourselves?  Tell  us  also  what  the 
Friends'  Appeal  has  brought  forth,  and  how  we  stand 
as  regards  funds  to  administer.  Probably  we  shall  leave 
£100  or  i^200  for  the  destitute  women  here,  and  our 
little  fund  is  getting  low.  Please  send  our  letters  still  to 
Mr.  Peet,  Bible  House,  Constantinople,  as  we  communicate 
with  him  by  telegraph. — Yours  affectionately, 

H.  B.  H. 


LETTER   No.   XXIL 


ATTEMPTS  AT  RELIEF  IN  DIARBEKIR  AND  NEIGHBOURHOOD  —  A 
REVIEW  OF  HAMIDIYEH  CAVALRY,  ETC,  —  A  SAD  LETTER  FROM 
AINTAB. 

Harpoot,  July  1 8,  1896. 
Deae  Friends, — You  may  remember  that  in  my  last 
letter  I  spoke  of  a  poor  Christian  woman  who  had  rushed 
up  to  me  from  behind  a  wall  at  the  ruined  village  of 
Khayad  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  as  we  were  coming 
from  Mardin,  and  with  whom  I  had  clasped  hands  for 
a  moment.  She  had  also  made  a  similar  appeal  to  R., 
and  we  thought  little  of  it  at  the  time ;  but  afterwards, 
when  we  found  that  if  the  village  were  repaired  the  people 
could  return  to  work  and  quiet  life,  and  that  there  was  no 
special  money  at  Mr.  Hallward's  command  for  this  pur- 
pose, we  felt  that  we  had  had  through  that  silent  appeal  a 
special  call  to  the  work,  and  so  left  ;^ioo  with  Mr.  Hall- 
ward  for  the  purpose  of  rebuilding  it,  and  the  same  sum 
for  another  still  more  utterly  devastated  village,  or  rather 
small  town,  called  Kitabel,  also  on  the  Tigris,  close  to 
Diarbekir,  where  very  many  were  killed,  and  witnessed 
a  good  profession  for  Christ,  especially  the  Protestant 
X^astor. 

We  have  also  felt  it  right  to  leave  the  same  sum  for 

130 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  131 

the  relief  of  the  utterly  destitute  women  with  whom  this 
city  abounds.  The  wife  of  Mr.  Hallward's  dragoman  and 
another  Christian  woman,  both  graduates  of  the  American 
College  at  Harpoot,  have  undertaken  the  investigation 
of  cases  for  us,  and  they  will  send  their  reports  to  the 
Consul,  who  will  advance  to  them  according  to  need. 
This  help  is,  of  course,  only  to  carry  the  poor  creatures 
through  the  present  distress,  and  does  not  deal  with  the 
future,  for  there  is  no  industry  for  them  to  turn  to  here 
as  at  Aintab  and  Ourfa,  and  no  lady  missionaries  to 
organise  anything  of  the  kind.  Many  of  these  helpless 
and  needy  ones  were  once  wealthy  ladies  who  had  their 
own  servants,  and  lived  in  every  (Eastern)  comfort ;  now, 
with  husbands  and  sons  killed,  and  their  homes  entirely 
pillaged,  what  can  they  do?  When  I  asked  Madame 
Tomas,  the  dragoman's  wife,  "What  can  the  poor  crea- 
tures do?"  she  replied,  "There  is  nothing  they  can  do, 
only  they  look  to  God,  for  He  only  can  help." 

Then,  besides  these,  there  are  the  poor  ruined  village 
girls  who  have  been  brought  back,  after  months  of  im- 
prisonment worse  than  death,  from  Kurdish  homes, 
recovered  at  last  by  the  indefatigable  efforts  of  the 
French  and  English  Consuls.  There  are  many  of  these 
now  in  Diarbekir  who  have  no  homes  and  no  parents  to 
return  to,  and  whose  moral  nature  as  well  as  physical 
health  is  all  crushed  and  broken  with  what  they  have 
gone  through.  Again,  what  is  to  be  done  with  them  ? 
I  have  told  my  small  committee  to  try  and  find  them 
some  work — anything  to  occupy  their  minds — and  to  feed 
and  clothe  them. 


132  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Then  there  are  the  maimed  and  the  sick !  One  poor 
young  woman  was  brought  for  me  to  see,  both  of  whose 
hands  had  been  literally  cut  to  pieces  while  endeavouring  to 
save  her  head,  which  was  also  wounded,  during  the  mas- 
sacre, her  husband  being  killed  at  the  same  time,  and  she, 
poor  wretch,  after  his  death  and  her  own  mutilation,  bore 
twins  (just  think  of  it !),  but,  from  being  unable  to  nurse 
them,  the  babes  of  course  died — a  matter  of  much  grief 
to  herself  and  other  pitying  women,  though  to  me  it 
seemed  more  cause  for  thankfulness  than  sorrow ;  and 
yet  what  a  tragedy !  This  woman,  I  need  not  say,  is  on 
our  list. 

I  made  an  effort  to  get  a  large  woman's  meeting  here 
as  elsewhere,  and  the  Armenian  bishop  had  given  leave, 
and  planned  for  it  in  the  great  church  at  the  close  of  the 
early  Sunday  service,  when  soldiers  from  the  Government 
came  "  making  inquiries,"  so  it  was  relinquished,  and  also 
the  plan  for  R  to  speak  in  the  Protestant  church  at  the 
same  time.  Afterwards,  however,  I  met,  and  read  my 
letter  to  and  addressed  about  fifty  women  in  the  drago- 
man's house,  where  his  good  wife  holds  a  little  prayer- 
meeting  every  Sunday,  and  the  letter  was  listened  to  as 
always  with  many  tears. 

Although  thus  prevented  from  ourselves  taking  any 
public  work  in  Diarbekir,  we  were  cordially  invited  to  the 
native  Gregorian  service,  and  given  places  of  honour  on 
the  chancel  platform  of  the  great  national  church,  all  the 
people  rising,  both  as  we  entered  and  retired,  to  show  their 
appreciation  of  our  visit  of  sympathy  to  their  suffering 
town.     And  how  they  have  suffered  here !     Three  thou- 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  133 

sand  massacred  at  once,  and  all  the  Christian  shops  and 
numbers  of  houses  burned  and  pulled  down  ! 

You  see,  there  being  no  mission  station  at  Diarbekir 
nor  relief  committee,  there  has  been  little  heard  in  Eng- 
land of  the  sufferings  here.  The  French  Consul,  of  whom 
I  have  already  written,  has  done  his  uttermost  most 
nobly,  and  since  he  came,  Mr.  Hallward,  the  British 
Vice-Consul,  has  spared  no  pains  to  investigate  and  help, 
and  has  been  sustained  by  the  Relief  Committee  at  Con- 
stantinople ;  but  all  that  has  been  done  has  been  but  as  a 
drop  in  an  ocean,  and  our  contribution  will  also  only  help  a 
very  little  ;  and  yet  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  every  little 
relieves  some  of  the  misery,  and  lifts  some  of  the  weight  of 
despair  from  the  hearts  of  the  helpless  and  almost  hope- 
less. Could  permission  for  emigration  be  once  obtained 
from  headquarters,  probably  a  very  large  number  from 
Diarbekir  would  be  among  the  first  to  go. 

You  will  think  it  strange  if  I  now  tell  you,  as  I  think  I 
must,  one  incident  of  our  stay  in  this  place — an  incident 
which  almost  made  one  wonder  at  one's  own  identity,  and 
yet  probably  it  was  permitted  to  give  us  an  insight  into 
the  inner  life  of  the  oppressing  race  and  of  the  wild  people 
under  their  command. 

One  afternoon,  as  I  was  sitting  on  Mr.  H.'s  balcony 
quietly  reading  one  of  Dr.  Westcott's  works,  the  drago- 
man came  in  great  haste  to  know  if  I  would  ride  out  with 
the  Ferik  Pasha  (the  Turkish  military  commandei-)  and 
the  two  Consuls,  as  well  as  my  husband.  I  naturally  thought 
it  was  to  visit  some  neighbouring  scene  of  interest,  and  of 
course  complied,  feeling  that  we  ought  to  do  everything 


134  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

in  our  power  to  be  friendly  with  the  man  who  has  so 
much  control  over  the  destinies  of  the  poor  people  here, 
and  who  has  shown  himself  far  more  merciful  than  the 
Vali,  although  the  head  of  the  military.  Imagine,  then, 
my  feelings  when  I  was  escorted  to  a  large  tent  outside 
the  gates,  and  with  E,.  and  the  Consuls  given  the  places 
of  honour,  with  Turkish  officers  and  soldiers  all  around, 
and  a  display  of  the  horsemanship  of  the  Kurdish  cavalry 
as  our  entertainment ! 

Whether  this  was  devised  to  impress  us  as  English 
people  with  their  skill  and  warlike  prowess,  or  was  in 
regular  order,  and  we  only  invited  from  courtesy,  I  do 
not  know;  but  it  was  a  scene  of  barbaric  interest  and 
wonder,  impossible  to  describe.  The  beauty  and  pace  of 
the  horses,  the  skill  and  enthusiasm  of  the  riders,  the 
shouts,  the  gesticulations  and  cries  of  the  soldiers,  the 
waving  and  brandishing  of  lances  and  swords  baffles 
description,  and  yet  the  control  of  the  whole  fantasia 
by  those  in  authority — horseman  over  horse,  and  com- 
mander over  commanded — was  perfect. 

It  did  not  last  long,  such  a  show  could  not,  and  after 
coffee  and  hand-shaking,  and  as  few  words  as  possible,  we 
returned  and  had  a  long  discussion  on  the  peace  question 
afterwards  with  the  Consuls — the  Frenchman  of  course 
thinking  our  hopes  and  anticipations  for  the  future 
coming  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  of  peace  and  goodwill 
on  the  earth,  quite  impossible  and  Utopian.  On  the  other 
hand,  all  we  see  and  hear  of  the  evils  of  national  hatred 
and  fanaticism  only  convinces  us  more  than  ever  of  the 
necessity  and  certainty  that  all  this  must  pass  away,  and 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  135 

this  and  all  other  countries  become  at  last  subject  to  the 
Prince  of  Peace. 

One  thing  is  cheering  us  even  now  amidst  the  gloom,  and 
it  is  that  permission  has  been  given  for  those  who  have, 
under  fear  of  death,  or  more  generally  under  fear  of  the 
dishonour  of  wives  and  daughters,  professed  Moslemism, 
to  return  to  the  Christian  profession  of  faith,  and  num- 
bers are  availing  themselves  of  this  privilege  and  are  so 
doing.  At  Biredjik,  for  example,  where  there  was  not  a 
single  professed  Christian  when  we  came  through,  120 
have  now  returned  to  the  faith,^  and  have  asked  for  a 
Protestant  pastor  to  be  sent  them,  and  so  also  in  other 
parts.  This  is  cheering,  and  the  accounts  we  still  receive 
of  the  advancing  tide  of  real  conversion  and  faith  in 
Aintab,  in  spite  of  much  trouble  there,  is  also  very  cheer- 
ing and  encouraging  in  regard  to  other  places  where  we 
believe  the  same  change  will  soon  take  place ;  but  we 
will  let  our  Aintab  friends  speak  for  themselves,  and  so 
enclose  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Dr.  Fuller  just  received. — Your 

friend  affectionately, 

Helen  B.  H. 

II. 

Mrs.  Dr.  Fuller  to  H.  B.  H. 

Aintab,  July  4,  1896. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Harris, — Your  very  kind  letters  of 
June    5th    and    15th    are    at    hand.     I   have  been   quite 
poorly  of  late,  or  the  Ourfa  letter  would  have  been  answered 

1  A  result  which  was  duo  to  the  energy  of  Vice-Consul  Fitzniauiice, 


136  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

at  once.  Our  hearty  thanks  for  the  efforts  you  and 
your  dear  husband  are  making  in  the  emigration  scheme. 
Your  loving  labours  have  already  born  fruit.  Last  week 
we  had  letters  from  Miss  Frances  Willard  and  from  Mrs. 
Amos,  both  writing  hopefully  of  the  matter.  We  have 
replied  at  once  and  have  assured  them  of  our  most  earnest 
co-operation  in  any  plan  to  ameliorate  this  distressed, 
dying  nation.  Now  very  little  aid  is  coming  to  us.  Star- 
vation stares  them  in  the  face,  and  we  have  a  horrible 
winter  in  prospect.  Oh,  is  there  no  merciful  hand  to 
save  these  perishing  ones  ?  Now  is  the  time  to  strike 
for  it.  Let  there  once  be  a  beginning,  the  rest  comes 
easier.     We  are  writing  everywhere  on  this  subject.  .  .  . 

All  our  circle  are  quite  well,  though  much  worn  from 
the  strain.  College  commencement  passed  off  very  quietly, 
only  a  few  friends  of  the  graduates  present.  In  jjlace  of 
flags  there  were  flowers  and  mottoes.  Seventeen  gradu- 
ated. Many  of  our  youth  are  fleeing  to  America.  Who 
wonders  ?  I  had  a  good  letter  from  our  student  Baron 
Abraham  of  Severek,  who  spoke  with  great  warmth  of 
your  visit  there,  and  of  your  kindness.  He  is  one  of  our 
most  worthy  young  men,  and  we  felt  it  to  be  a  calamity 
to  the  college,  when  he  was  obliged  to  stay  out  one  year  to 
teach.  He  is  a  junior.  His  high  Christian  character  has 
been  the  means  of  helping  many  of  his  companions  in  the 
college,  and  of  leading  some  to  Christ.  He  writes  of  his 
work  and  hopes.  God  spared  him  for  some  great  purpose. 
He  was  my  teacher  in  Armenian,  so  I  thoroughly  know 
him,  and  thoroughly  trust  him. 

The  weather  is  very  hot  here,  and  takes  all  the  little 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  137 

strength  I  have  quite  away.  The  Governor  will  not  guar- 
antee our  safety  at  the  mountain,  only  five  hours  away,  even 
with  a  guard,  so  we  are  prisoners  here.  There  is  nothing 
to  do  but  to  keep  as  cool  as  possible,  both  in  body  and  in 
mind.  We  are  having  many  applications  from  the  Gre- 
gorian community  for  college  next  year,  but  alas  we  are 
so  crippled  I  fear  many  must  be  turned  away,  and  we 
may  not  be  able  to  keep  all  our  professors,  which  will  be 
a  great  calamity.  We  hope  we  can  tide  over  this  year  in 
some  way,  but  the  outlook  is  very  dark.  If  the  friends 
at  home  could  only  realise  our  sore  straits  more  fully  ! 
Never  did  we  need  support  more.  We  must  have  it  some- 
Jiow.  There  is  a  marvellous  awakening  here.  Many  from 
the  Gregorians  are  inquiring  the  way  to  eternal  life. 
Visitors  are  appointed  to  go  from  house  to  house  for 
prayer  and  reading  of  God's  Word.  The  services  are 
union  on  the  Sabbath  and  on  week-days.  The  Sunday- 
schools  also.  Over  1500  in  the  Gregorian  Church  (of 
children).  Truly  a  nation  may  be  born  in  a  day.  The 
harvest  is  ripe,  but  the  labourers  how  few !  Our  pastors 
are  all  worn  out  with  the  demands  upon  them.  Deeply 
spiritual  laymen  are  helping  also,  yet  the  force  is  weak. 
Miss  Shattuck  wishes  some  one  for  Ourfa.  What  shall 
we  do?  We  have  tried  for  five  weeks  to  get  a  helper 
there. 

Mr.  Fuller  joins  me  in  warm  love  for  yourself  and 
Mr.  H.  The  Lord  be  with  thee  and  bless  thee. — Yours 
in  Christian  love,  my  dear  Mrs.  H., 

A.  G.  Fuller. 


138  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

III. 
Private  Letter  from  LL.  B.  LI. 

Harpoot,  July  21,  1896. 
My  dear  Friend, — The  Friend  with  report  of  the  Yearly- 
Meeting  is  now  to  hand.  We  think  that  our  Ourfa  letters 
about  the  orphanage  there,  and  Miss  Shattuck's  subsequent 
letters  which  I  have  forwarded,  will  have  indicated  to  the 
committee  one  very  clear  and  'plain  way  of  immediate  and 
heatdiful  help,  and  perhaps  also  they  will  assist  in  the 
schools,  which  have  already  succeeded  so  wonderfully. 
We  have  advanced  enough  money  for  the  current  year 
for  both — and  are  answerable  for  four  years  more  for 
the  orphans — and  if  Friends  accept  this  burden  it  will 
leave  us  more  to  disburse  for  some  of  the  innumerable 
pressing  needs  all  around.  Will  you  let  us  know  as  soon 
as  possible  where  we  stand  in  this  matter — as  we  shall 
be  very  glad  indeed  of  more  ready  money  for  the  hungry, 
and  needy,  and  houseless  people  about  us.  Could  you 
not  telegraph  to  what  extent  we  may  count  on  Friends 
for  the  immediate  pressing  needs  of  the  people?  Of 
course  emigration  is  the  one  present  hope  for  the  people, 
besides  keeping  them  alive.  If  it  is  not  in  some  way 
carried  out  this  autumn,  multitudes  must  perish.  Every 
one  (consuls  included,  and  of  course  missionaries)  says 
so.  The  mass  of  destitute  humanity  is  so  great,  some 
must  he  lifted  off  the  rest  in  this  way,  or  very  few  will 
be  able  to  do  what  they  else  could  to  recuperate.  They 
will   crush   one   another.     What  makes  Ourfa  so  much 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  139 

better  able  to  make  a  fresh  start  than  other  places  is 
no  doubt  that  so  many  were  killed  outright,  and  those 
who  are  left  have  a  chance  to  do  something. 

Here,  the  massacre  was  small,  but  every  one  suffered, 
and  hundreds  of  villages  were  pillaged  and  their  houses 
burned;  and  although  a  great  deal  has  been  done  for 
them,  and  some  6o,ooo  people  kept  alive,  yet  they 
have  no  means  of  livelihood,  and  no  homes  for  next 
winter. 

Our  Red  Cross  friends,  of  whose  work  we  hear  such 
good  accounts,  have  now  left  this  country,  and  God's 
blessing  will,  we  are  sure,  follow  them.  They  laboured 
largely  in  this  field,  but  they  had  not  enough  funds 
at  their  disposal  (wisely  as  they  administered  them)  to 
do  more  than  help  the  people  for  the  immediate 
distress. 

The  food-relief  work  is  now  closing  for  the  summer, 
and  our  missionary  friends  dread  the  scene,  when  they 
shall  tell  the  people  they  have  no  more  bread  for  them 
next  week.  The  people  will  then  be  thrown  back  on 
mulberries  and  a  kind  of  wild  spinach  that  they  dry — 
for  they  cannot  possibly  afford  Icben  ^ — or  the  sour  curd 
which,  with  bread,  used  to  be  their  chief  sustenance. 
Now  that  we  have  appeared  on  the  scene  every  one  is 
looking  to  us,  yet  we  have  only  what  is  left  of  private 
friends'  gifts,  and  have  not  as  yet  bad  any  of  what 
Friends  have  publicly  raised.  Thus  you  will,  I  am  sure, 
sympathise  with  our  position,  and  relieve  it  as  soon  as 
possible. 

^  Turkish  :  yn'jhoort.     Lehcn  is  the  Arabic  name. 


I40  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Our  address  is  still  as  before,  and  letters  reach  liere 
better  from  ConstantinoiDle  than  from  Aintab  or  Ourfa. 

Helen  B.  H. 

P£, — Just  as  I  was  closing  this,  a  note  from  the  Consul 
arrived,  telling  of  a  telegram  from  Constantinople  an- 
nouncing the  receipt  by  Mr.  Whittall  of  p^iooo  for 
Professor  H.  We  are  deeply  and  profoundly  grateful 
for  its  receipt  just  at  this  time,  and  please  express  our 
special  thanks  for  its  extreme  appropriateness, 

H.  B.  H. 


LETTER   No.  XXIIL 

JOURNEY  FROM  DIARBEKIR  TO  HARPOOT — TAURUS  MOUNTAINS — 
SOURCE  OF  THE  TIGRIS  —  HEROIC  BAND  OF  MISSIONARIES  AT 
HARPOOT  :  STORY  OP  THEIR  PRESERVATION  DURING  THE 
MASSACRE   AND   IN   THE   PRESENCE   OF   DEATH. 

Harpoot,  Jidy  22,  1896. 

Dear  Ffjends, — We  left  Diarbekir  for  Harpoot  early 
on  the  morning  of  July  13,  accompanied  for  the  first  hour 
or  BO  of  our  journey  by  our  kind  friend  and  host,  Mr. 
Hallward.  Towards  evening  we  began  our  ascent  of  the 
Taurus  mountains,  and  all  the  following  day  were  in  their 
midst,  now  climbing  up,  up,  up ;  and  then  winding  down 
again  through  some  narrow  pass  or  beside  the  edge  of 
some  steep  precipice,  while  all  around  the  wild  and  lonely 
mountain  scenery  every  moment  seemed  to  offer  some 
fresh  beauty  or  wonder  to  our  view. 

We  kept  very  near  the  Tigris  a  good  part  of  the  way, 

and  at  one  part  it  was  extremely  beautiful,  rushing  over 

a  rocky  bed  with  great  volume  and  force.     We  believed 

we  finally  traced  its  source  to  a  wonderful  blue  lake  of 

"  incredible  crystal,"  as  Mr.  Ruskin  would  say,  which  lies 

high  up  amid  the  mountains,  lonely  and  without  even  a 

boat  on  its  surface,  reminding  us  very  much  of  the  Sea  of 

Galilee  (except  that  it  is  smaller),  and  our  imaginations, 

looking  forward  to  the    good   time    coming   when    this 

country  shall  be  open  to  civilisation,  pictured  it  a  lovely 

141 


142  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

summer  resort  for  the  dwellers  on  the  neighbouring  plains, 
all  dotted  over  with  white  sails,  and  its  shores  with  happy- 
homes. 

Our  descent  on  the  third  day  into  the  great  plain  on 
the  northern  side  of  the  Taurus  was  very  tedious  and  try- 
ing, especially  as  we  accomplished  it  under  a  blazing  sun 
— but  our  good  horses  never  once  made  a  false  step — and 
before  evening  we  had  arrived  at  the  Government  village 
Mezreh,  at  the  foot  of  the  steep  hill  of  1 000  feet  high,  on 
the  summit  of  which  Harpoot  stands,  and  were  met  and 
kindly  greeted  by  our  Consul,  Mr.  Fontana,  and  also  by 
Dr.  Barnum  and  Mr.  Ellis,  two  of  the  missionaries  from 
Harpoot,  who,  after  we  had  stayed  a  little  while  in  con- 
versation with  the  Consul  (who  lives  at  Mezreh),  escorted 
us  up  the  hill  to  their  fortress-like  town.  In  riding  across 
the  plain,  we  had  come  through  much  desolation  and  two 
ruined  and  burned  villages,  and  on  entering  the  town,  we 
rode  through  the  entirely  ruined  Christian  quarter  until 
we  arrived  at  the  American  Mission,  where  four  buildings 
only  remained  standing  out  of  twelve,  the  rest  being 
heaps  of  ruins. 

The  kindest  welcome  awaited  us  here  as  at  every  mis- 
sion station  previously  visited,  and  we  were  soon  at  home 
with  this  heroic  little  band,  every  one  of  whom  has  faced 
immediate  and  terrible  death  without  fear  or  flinching. 
This  is  no  figure  of  speech,  for  their  destruction  was  evi- 
dently intended  by  the  authorities  here,  if  not  by  those 
at  Constantinople,  and  it  was  not  by  any  Government 
protection  (as  with  Miss  Shattuck  at  Ourfa),  but  by  direct 
Providential  intervention  that  they  were  saved. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  143 

The  soldiers  were  ranged  on  the  hill-side  below,  and 
the  cannon  planted  pointing  at  their  buildings,  which 
stood  high  above  the  Christian  quarter,  and  the  bullets 
fell  in  shoivers  upon  the  premises,  while  one  shell  burst 
in  Dr.  Barnum's  little  study,  and  we  saw  the  path  it  made 
and  where  it  broke,  with  its  own  remains,  which  he  keeps 
as  a  relic. 

The  officials  put  the  blame  for  this  disgraceful  attack 
on  those  above  them  when  not  on  the  Armenians  them- 
selves, and  justice  and  truth  are  things  unknown. 

And  this  continued  reign  of  deceit  and  lies  and  oppres-  1 
sion  is  never  for  a  moment  varied  by  the  opposite.     The  j 
poor  villagers  send  constantly  to   the   mission  with  one 
tale  of  sorrow  or  another.     The  Kurds  are  taking  their 
harvest,  for   example ;  the    missionaries   tell   this  to  the  j 
Vali,  with  name  of  village,  date  of  robbery,  &c.,  who  pro- 
fesses to  be  as  much  interested  as  they  in  the  good  of  , 
the  people ;  and  then  follows  the  invariable  report,  which 
sounds  like  an  echo  of  the  Sultan's  letter  to  Queen  Victoria 
last  winter,  "  We   have  made  all  inquiries,  and  we  find 
none  of  these  complaints  are  true,"  and  that  is  the  end  !    _- 

This  neighbourhood  has  suffered  more  largely  in  pillage 
and  destruction  of  property  than  any  other  in  Armenia, 
and  already  about  ^30,000  has  been  spent  here,  and  over 
73,000  people  kept  alive,  and  still  the  needs  are  almost 
as  great  as  ever.  There  is  not  a  village  rebuilt  yet  of  the 
more  than  150  which  have  been  pulled  down  and  burned.^ 

The  tale  our  missionary  friends  here  (Dr.  and  Mrs.  and 

^  A  waggon -load  of  kerosene  cans  was  supplied  by  the  Government  to 
the  Kurds  for  the  purpose,  &c. 


144  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Miss  Barniirn,  Mr.  Ellis,  and  two  single  ladies)  told  us  of 
the  time  of  the  tragedy  here,  was  most  thrilling.  They 
were  all  together,  with  over  i  oo  of  their  people,  afterwards 
400  gathered  round  them,  and  driven  by  the  fire  and  the 
whistling  of  bullets  from  one  place  to  another.  They  had 
also  with  them  two  aged  and  paralysed  missionaries,  who 
had  to  be  carried — a  Mr.  Wheeler  and  Mrs.  Allen — and 
they  all  found  a  temporary  shelter  on  the  top  of  the  roof 
of  the  girls'  school-room,  since  burned,  which  having  a 
little  parapet  around,  was  some  protection  from  the  ob- 
servation of  the  soldiers  on  the  opposite  hill.  Here  they 
expected  and  prepared  to  die  together,  but  after  a  while, 
finding  the  entrance  to  the  boys'  school-room,  which  was 
on  higher  ground,  accessible,  they  planned  a  united  retreat 
thither.  In  doing  so  they  were  deliberately  fired  at  by  a 
Turk,  who  had  found  his  way  to  the  roof  on  which  they 
were,  as  well  as  became  again  the  targets  for  a  brief  space 
of  the  soldiers'  bullets.  The  Turk  aimed  too  high,  else 
one  or  more  must  have  heen  killed,  his  bullet  was  found  in 
the  gateway  they  passed  through  afterwards  ;  and  as  for 
the  rest,  the  Lord  had  evidently  given  His  angels  charge 
concerning  His  servants  to  protect  them  in  all  their  ways, 
and  these  bullets  also  did  not  touch  them. 

I  asked  our  friends  what  their  feelings  were  under  these 
terrible  circumstances,  and  I  will  give  you  some  of  their 
replies  as  nearly  verbatim  as  possible.  One  said :  "  I  had 
always  feared  death  till  then,  but  at  that  moment  all  fear 
was  taken  from  me  and  death  seemed  nothing."  Another 
said  :  "I  believe  my  husband  was  almost  disappointed  we 
did  not  go,  it  would  have  been  so  lovely  to  have  been  taken 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  145 

out  of  all  the  confusion  and  trouble  here,  by  a  brief  pang, 
and  all  together."  She  also  told  me  she  had  unloosed  her 
dress  in  front  that  a  sword  should  meet  with  no  hindrance 
in  its  thrust,  and  so  she  should  go  the  quicker.  A  third 
said :  "  My  thought  was  a  query  whether  a  bullet  going 
through  me,  would  have  force  to  wound  Mr.  Wheeler  or 
not "  (the  helpless  friend  whom  he  was  assisting  to  carry) ; 
and  Dr.  Barnum  said:  "I  assure  Mrs.  H.  there  was  not 
a  woman  screamed  on  our  whole  ground,  and  our  ladies 
were  as  calm  and  collected  as  they  are  now." 

The  evident  Divine  protection  over  these  servants  of  the 
Lord  extended  to  the  scholars  also.  When  the  buildings 
were  fired,  sixty  of  the  young  girls  made  their  escape  to 
neighbouring  houses,  each  of  her  own  choice  taking  from 
her  small  stock  of  possessions  neither  jewellery  nor  clothes, 
but  just  her  little  Bible  under  her  arm.  All  of  these  girls 
returned  safely  two  days  after,  when  the  immediate  danger 
was  over,  and  then  indeed  there  was  excitement  and  many 
tears,  and  Mrs.  Barnum  said  she  was  so  hugged  by  the 
women  and  girls  in  their  joy,  it  was  hard  for  her  to  keep 
on  her  feet ! 

When  one  contrasts  this  safety  with  the  dreadful  occur- 
rences outside  the  mission  circle,  it  is  the  more  remarkable. 
Only  a  very  short  distance  from  Harpoot,  for  example, 
thirty-two  women,  headed  by  a  noble  and  very  intelligent 
woman  well  known  to  the  missionaries,  had  thrown  them- 
selves into  the  Euphrates  and  were  drowned,  to  escape 
apparently  otherwise  unavoidable  dishonour,  and  more 
than  one  father  played  the  part  of  Virginius  of  old  and 
killed  his  daughter  outright. 

The  missionaries  lost  everything  they  had  in  the  looting 

K 


146 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 


that  followed  tlie  massacre  and  fire,  but  have  since  bought 
back  a  good  deal,  so  that  they  are  living  quite  comfortably 
now ;  but  the  Government  holds  out  no  hope  of  any 
indemnity  for  rebuilding  at  present,  and  objects  even  to 
small  walls  being  put  up,  for  immediate  convenience.^ 

As  the    post  is  now  going  out  I  must  conclude,  and 
remain  for  us  both,  yours  always  affectionately, 

Helen  B.  H. 

^  A  tiny  statistical  return  will  assist  the  imagination  to  grasp  the  extent 
of  the  desolation  in  the  districts  of  Harpoot  and  Palu : — 

Statistics  for  Palu  and  its  Forty -three  Villages, 


Armenian  houses 

2,074 

Kidnapped  girls 

43 

Number  of  Arineuians 

14,878 

, ,          women 

152 

Houses  plundered 

2,059 

Girls  married  to  Turks 

29 

,,       burned     . 

755 

Women     „             „ 

21 

, ,      destroyed  afterwards 

259 

Girls  returned 

16 

Killed          .         ,         .         . 

900 

Women     ,, 

92 

Wounde'd     .         .         .         . 

513 

Churches  destroyed 

44 

Families  converted 

474 

Monasteries    ,, 

2 

Individuals     ,, 

3,181 

Schools             ,, 

37 

,,          circumcised 

603 

Ecclesiastics  killed 

16 

This  list  does  not  include 

those  wh 

3  died  from  fear  and  exposure.     The 

kidnapping  represents  but  a  small  part  of  the  violence  done  to  women. 

Statistics  gathered  at  Gregorian  Episcopate  for  ffarpoot  and  its 
Seventy-three  Villages. 


Needy  persons     .         .         .  26,990 

Houses  plundered         .         .  6,029 

,,       burned     ,         .         .  i,S6l 
Churches  badly  injured  and 

defiled      ....  29 

Churches  burned          .         .  15 

Protestant  chapels  destroyed  5 

„         badly 

damaged           .         .         .  18 

Monasteries  burned     .         .  2 

,,           damaged           .  4 

Forced  marriages  to  Turks  166 

Rape  .....  2,300 

Forced  conversion  of  priests  12 

Loss  of  property 


Forced   conversion   of   men 

and  women  .  .  .  7,664 
Wounded  ....  1,315 
Miscarriages  .  .  .  829 
Killed  in  fields  and  highways     280 


Persons  burned 

Died  of  hunger  and  cold 

Suicides       .  .         .         , 

M"'^-  j  SS  :    : 

Protestant  ministers    . 
Teachers     .         .         .         , 
Men,  women,  and  children 
Total  deaths 

1,651,956  lires  Turkish. 


56 
1,014 

23 

I 

II 

3 

7 

1,903 
4,127 


This  does  not  include  Malatia,  Arabkir,  Egin,  Oharsanjak,  Gighi,  Palu, 
Choonkoosh,  and  Diarbekir  districts. 

These  statistics  have  been  carefully  prepared. 


LETTER   No.   XXIV. 

HOW  TO  HELP  THE  DESOLATED  VILLAGES? — CONDITION  AROUND 
HARPOOT — DESPAIR  OF  THE  VILLAGERS — PETITION  FROM  HOO-I- 
LOO  FOR  REBUILDING  OP  PROTESTANT  CHURCH — VISIT  TO  THE 
VILLAGE  IN  RUINS — MEAL  IN  AN  ORCHARD — ASSESSING  THE 
TAXES  OP  THE  DEAD  UPON  THE  SURVIVORS — PLANS  FOR  FUTURE 
WORK — VAN,  MALATIA,  ETC. 

Harpoot,  July  25,  1896. 

Dear  Friends, — One  of  the  most  difficult  problems  in 
connection  with  the  relief  of  Armenian  distress  is  that  of 
the  villages,  and  it  is  difficult  in  two  ways.  The  first  is 
that  these  villages  are  so  numerous  that  to  deal  with  them 
is  much  the  same  as  trying  to  deal  with  single  shops, 
houses,  or  persons  in  a  city  where  there  has  been  murder 
and  pillage.  One  does  not  know  where  to  begin,  and 
even  if  one  had  a  millionaire  on  the  Relief  Committee, 
one  would  hardly  know  where  to  stop.  But  the  second 
reason  which  makes  it  hard  to  help  is  that  a  village  is  a 
village.  It  has  no  walls,  nor  gates ;  little  or  no  active 
government  (though  that  is  not  always  a  hardship,  when, 
as  in  this  country,  the  dogs  persistently  fraternise  with 
the  wolves) :  and  consequently  when  an  attack  has  once 
been  made  upon  the  Christians  either  by  their  neighbours 
or  by  outside  tribes,  the  chances  are  that  it  will  be  re- 
peated as  often  as  there  is  anything  worth  plundering  in 
the  village.    In  the  city,  people  can  combine  their  strength 

147 


148  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

(even  when  disarmed  by  the  Government  as  the  first  step 
in  a  massacre) ;  they  can  hide  a  good  deal  of  their  pro- 
perty or  carry  it  from  place  to  place ;  but  what  can  a 
poor  villager  do,  who  owns  a  very  obvious  yoke  of  oxen, 
and  an  almost  as  obvious  store  of  grain  ?  I  know  of  several 
towns  that  have  been  able  successfully  to  resist  massacre, 
but  I  cannot  at  present  recall  a  successful  defence  of  a 
village. 

And  it  is  the  sense  of  their  helplessness  in  these 
villages  that  makes  their  and  our  hopelessness,  whenever 
we  give  way  to  despair  with  them.  Here  at  Harpoot,  one 
looks  to  the  south,  from  the  cliffs  where  we  are  perched, 
across  a  great  upland  plain  bounded  on  the  south  by  the 
Taurus  mountains,  which  we  crossed  on  coming  from 
Diarbekir.  This  plain  is  well  watered  by  mountain 
streams  and  dotted  all  over  with  villages,  mostly  Chris- 
tian villages,  and  almost  all  of  them  have  been  burned 
and  destroyed.  For  days  before  the  massacre  and  plun- 
der at  Harpoot,  the  missionaries  watched  the  flames  rising 
from  one  village  after  another,  as  the  Kurds  and  Turks 
drew  nearer  and  nearer  to  this  doomed  city.  And  what 
is  true  of  this  plain  is  true  of  every  plain  and  hillside  in 
this  part  of  the  country.  It  is  the  same  to  the  north  of 
Harpoot,  across  the  Euphrates,  where  they  have  not  only 
carried  off  the  spoil  of  the  people,  in  oxen,  grain,  imple- 
ments, and  other  properties,  but  have  come  back  again  to 
plunder  them  of  the  oxen  purchased  for  them  by  some  of 
the  relief  workers  (happily  the  Government  has  secured 
restitution  of  this  last  bit  of  plunder),  and  are  even  now 
threatening  them  with  a  renewal  of  the  attacks  of  last 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  149 

autumn.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  people  feared  to  till 
their  fields,  or  that  they  fear  to  gather  in  their  harvest, 
or  that  they  huddle  together  like  sheep,  in  villages  that 
have  not  been  burned,  or  where  the  desolation  is  less  com- 
plete ?  It  is  a  problem  to  aid  them,  a  more  difficult  one 
to  secure  them  from  further  danger:  both  parts  of  the 
question  appear  at  first  sight  equally  hopeless. 

Some  days  ago  we  had  an  interesting  visit  from  some 
villagers  at  the  south  side  of  the  plain,  coming  from  what 
was  once  the  richest  Christian  village  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  men  came  to  the  mission  (two  of  them,  if  I 
remember,  were  the  deputation)  to  ask  for  advice  and 
help.  They  had  been  visited,  I  believe,  some  time  since 
by  one  of  the  Red  Cross  agents,  who  had  urged  them  to 
begin  to  rebuild  their  ruined  houses,  and  had  offered  to 
start  them  by  giving  ;^5  a  piece  to  the  first  ten  or  twenty 
houses — an  excellent  plan,  and  one  that  went  right  to  the 
heart  of  the  difiiculty.  The  people,  however,  had  refused 
the  help,  not  because  they  were  averse  to  help,  but  be- 
cause they  were  in  despair.  What  was  the  use  of  build- 
ing what  would  be  pulled  down  again,  or  of  storing  what 
would  be  plundered  again?  So  the  offer  was  declined, 
strange  as  it  may  seem.  It  will  help  you  to  understand 
the  discouragement  of  the  people. 

Their  recent  visit  was  on  a  slightly  different  errand. 
There  is  (or  was)  in  the  village  a  fine  Protestant  church, 
which  was  built  four  years  ago,  and  is  now  wholly  de- 
stroyed, only  the  bare  walls  standing.  Since  the  troubles, 
they  have  been  holding  their  service  in  the  Gregorian 
Armenian  church,  at  the  close  of  the  Armenian  service; 


I50  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

but  without  much  sympathy  from  their  hosts,  who  have 
now  told  them  that  they  cannot  any  longer  entertain  them. 
So  the  deputation  came  to  Harpoot  to  know  if  something 
could  not  be  done  to  put  their  church  in  order ;  they  did 
not  want  their  houses  built,  but  they  wanted,  so  they  said, 
a  place  to  pray  in,  and  they  begged  for  help  in  rebuilding 
their  house  of  worship.  Dr.  Barnum  told  them  that  there 
were  no  funds  available  for  any  such  purpose,  and  sent 
them  away,  only  promising  that  we  would  think  over  their 
case.  I  need  hardly  say  that  I  was  very  interested  in  the 
people  who  put  God  first  in  this  way;  and  while  I  do 
not  believe  in  exterior  sanctities,  I  felt  the  sanctity 
of  spirits  that  had  become  prayerful  by  misfortune,  and 
wished  to  know  more  about  them.  And  so  it  came  about 
that  we  planned  an  expedition  to  them,  and  yesterday  five 
of  us  rode  across  the  plain  to  examine  into  things  for 
ourselves. 

Hoo-i-loo  is  the  name  of  the  place,  as  nearly  as  I  can 
write  it  from  sound  (for  you  will  not  find  it  marked  on 
any  map),  and  it  lies  between  three  and  four  hours  from 
here  (all  distances,  as  you  know,  are  measured  by  hours 
with  us,  like  the  German  Stunde,  and  an  hour  stands  for 
the  distance  covered  by  a  laden  horse  in  an  hour  of  time, 
say  between  three  and  four  miles  English).  Our  party 
consisted  of  Mr.  Gates,  Miss  Bush,  Miss  Emma  Barnum, 
our  two  selves,  our  servant,  and  a  zaptieh.  There  was  a 
cool  breeze  blowing,  and  we  had  a  delightful  ride  across 
the  plain,  passing  on  the  way  a  little  Armenian  church 
into  which  were  built  two  Latin  inscriptions,  dedicated 
by  Nero  to  some  ofiicers  of  the  third  legion.     It  seemed  ] 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  151 

appropriate  to  find  the  name  of  Nero  here !  It  ought  to 
be  inscribed  over  the  whole  country-side,  and  on  a  thou- 
sand broken  walls  and  ruined  homes. 

When  we  came  to  the  village,  we  found  that  it  consisted 
of  about  three  hundred  houses,  and  that  not  more  than  six 
were  standing.  All  the  rest  was  brown,  bare,  broken  wall 
of  mud-brick,  without  a  roof,  and  with  hardly  a  door  or  a 
window-shutter  left.  The  people  began  to  come  around 
us  and  welcome  us  ;  one  of  the  first  women  that  drew  near 
had  lost  her  hand ;  there  was  no  more  than  a  stump  left 
by  the  sword  of  the  destroyer. 

We  went  to  the  ruins  of  the  church  ;  the  roof,  as  I  said, 
was  gone,  and  every  piece  of  timber  in  the  walls  was  burnt 
out  by  fire.  The  debris  had  raised  the  floor  by  perhaps  a 
foot.  The  people  crowded  round  with  eyes  full  of  tears, 
the  women  telling  of  slain  sons  and  other  pitiful  things  ; 
the  pastor,  too,  came  to  talk  to  us — a  fine  young  fellow,  in 
whom  we  were  much  interested.  We  made  the  tour  of  the 
village,  found  a  little  Catholic  church  similarly  destroyed ; 
then  I  took  a  lesson  in  archaeology,  for  I  noticed  the 
streets  deep  in  dust  from  the  disintegrating  brick,  and  saw 
how  these  mounds  or  tells  were  formed  that  we  have  seen 
so  many  times  on  our  journey.  Moreover,  it  was  clear 
that  desolations  of  this  kind  had  occurred  from  the  earliest 
times  in  this  country,  for  how  else  could  we  explain  the 
frequency  with  which  such  tells  or  mounds  are  found?  If 
the  people  at  Iloo-i-loo  do  not  rebuild,  there  will  be  a  tell 
formed  there  within  a  couple  of  years. 

One  single  thing  I  found  which  had  escaped  destruction. 
High  on  the  wall  of  a  ruined  house,  in  the  second  storey, 


152  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

a  photograph  was  nailed.  We  sent  for  a  pole  and  got  it 
down.  It  was  a  group  of  Armenian  workmen  from  a 
factory  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  had  doubtless  been  sent 
home  by  some  happy  emigrant  to  his  relations. 

When  we  had  finished  our  tour  of  the  village,  we  were 
taken  to  an  orchard,  where  they  had  prepared  us  a  meal. 
"The  robbers  have  not  stolen  our  gardens,"  said  the  poor 
people.  "No,"  I  replied,  "nor  did  they  steal  the  sun- 
shine," at  which  they  brightened  up.  They  set  before  us 
great  dishes  of  apricots,  apples,  plums,  and  mulberries  and 
cherries  prettily  arranged  with  hollyhock  blossoms,  and 
brought  us  milk,  both  fresh  and  curdled ;  and  did  every- 
thing in  the  way  of  hospitality  that  an  Eastern  people  can 
do  so  much  better  than  we.  And  we  talked  over  all  their 
plans,  and  encouraged  them  to  believe  for  better  days. 

I  must  not  forget  to  state  that  our  study  of  the  village 
showed  that  the  houses  were  fired  one  by  one ;  those  that 
were  spared  belonged  to  Turks.  They  were  fired  by 
petroleum,  the  supply  of  which  was  brought  in  a  waggon 
from  Harpoot,  by  an  official  of  the  Government.  The 
man  who  did  it  is  well  known ;  and  I  suppose  he  will  be 
rewarded  by-and-by  with  promotion,  if  one  may  judge 
from  parallel  cases. 

And  now  what  are  we  going  to  do  for  these  poor  people  ? 
We  are  encouraging  them  again  to  rebuild  their  houses, 
and  shall  try  to  help  the  foremost  of  them ;  and  as  to  the 
church,  who  knows  but  what  we  may  find  some  way  pre- 
sently to  fulfil  the  desire  of  their  hearts  and  give  them  and 
their  pastor  a  "  place  to  pray  in  ?  " 

I  must  not  close  this  letter  without  saying  how  delighted 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  153 

we  were  to  hear  that  Friends  had  sent  us  £1000  for  our 
work  here.  Some  of  it  may  go  to  the  village  of  Hoo-i-loo. 
We  shall  try  to  be  very  wise,  very  wary,  and  very  econo- 
mical in  the  distribution  of  it,  so  that  all  of  it  may  go  to 
the  neediest  people,  and  none  of  it  may  be  turned  into 
taxes.  By  the  way,  in  regard  to  taxes,  we  have  bad  news 
from  Ourfa  ;  the  Government  is  assessing  the  taxes  of  the 
dead  upon  the  survivors !  If  this  is  true,  it  is  one  of  the 
most  heartless  schemes  that  could  be  devised,  and  will 
throw  the  people  back  again  just  as  they  are  rising.  And 
I  am  almost  certain,  from  the  character  and  position  of  my 
informant,  that  it  is  true. — Your  sincere  friend, 

J.  R.  H. 

Extracts  from  Private  Letters. 

If  ail  goes  well,  I  hope  to  see  thee  and  the  rest  of  our 
friends  in  about  six  weeks'  time.  Meanwhile  letters  will 
still  find  me  if  addressed  to  the  Bible  House  at  Constan- 
tinople. 

J.  E.  H. 

Partly  on  account  of  Mr.  Atkin's  earnest  request  to  us 
to  continue  our  reports  from  this  country,  and  partly 
because  I  am  glad  to  remain  in  the  country  a  while  longer, 
I  am  letting  K.  return  alone.  But  I  shall  continue  to  write 
you  as  before,  because  there  is  always  so  much  to  tell,  and 
now  that  R.  is  going  there  is  (perhaps)  less  need  of  reti- 
cence in  using  any  information  I  may  give,  because  the 
Tprks  despise  women  so  much  I  don't  think  they  will 
trouble  themselves  very  iiincli  about  my  doings  or  say- 


154  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

iugs.     Both  our  servants  will  go  with  E.,   and  I  shall 

accompany  him  with  two  o£  the  missionaries  to  Malatia 

and  then  return  here  with  them,  leaving  the  future  to 

Divine  guidance.      I   am  so  thankful  that  your  ;^I000 

came,  or  the  news  of  it,  before  E.  left,  so  that  we  could 

consult  about  its  use. 

Please  do  not  forget  your  lonely  friend  and  sister  in 

the  service  of  Christ,  now  that  my  so  greatly  better  other 

self  is  going  home,  and  let  me  have  a  line  from  time  to 

time,  to  old  address. 

Helen  B.  H. 


LETTER   No.  XXV. 

VIGOROUS   PROTESTS   AGAINST   WESTERN   SCEPTICISM — DIFFICULTIES 
OF   RELIEF  WORK — REBUILDING   OF  VILLAGES,   ETC. 

Harpoot,  July  25,  1896. 
My  deae  Friend  E.  W.  B., — We  are  delighted  to 
hear  from  Constantinople  as  well  as  from  thyself  the 
news  of  the  arrival  of  £1000  from  the  Friends.  I  have 
already  sent  word  as  to  what  we  have  been  doing  finan- 
cially, and  will  now  say  a  little  more  on  the  subject  in 
order  that  our  friends  may  know  exactly  what  our  policy 
has  been,  so  far  as  that  policy  has  been  susceptible  of 
definition.  But  first  let  me  say  something  with  regard 
to  the  statement  in  thy  last  letter,  that  there  are  Friends 
who  still  talked  of  atrocities  being  "manufactured,"  and 
others  who  feared  that  what  was  contributed  would  go 
into  Turkish  hands.  The  first  of  these  difficulties  moves 
my  indignation.  Do  they  want  me  to  bring  home  a  col- 
lection of  people  with  slashed  heads  and  faces  and  minus 
hands  and  ears  ?  Or  to  dig  up  the  burnt  bones  from  the 
caves  and  trenches  into  which  they  have  been  thrown  by 
the  sackful  ?  It  can  be  done,  I  suppose,  but  I  fail  to  see 
how  it  would  add  to  the  evidence  of  credible  witnesses, 
including  ourselves.     The  fact  is  that  not  one  half  of  tlie 

horrors  of  last  winter  has  been  told  in  Europe.    No  doubt 

155 


156  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

there  has  been  occasional  inaccuracy  in  the  newspaper 
reports,  but  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  these 
reports  erred  always  by  excess,  and  not  by  deficiency. 
As  to  the  fear  of  our  funds  falling  into  Turkish  hands, 
that  is  a  reasonable  fear.  It  has  happened  with  other 
workers  in  a  number  of  cases,  and  will  happen  again, 
unless  our  simplicity  succeeds  in  outwitting  the  rapacity 
of  Turkish  officials  and  magnates.  The  real  answer  to 
this  difiiculty  seems  to  be  in  having  a  right  policy  for 
relief.  Our  i)olicy,  then,  is  as  follows :  In  the  first  place, 
we  generally  avoid  giving  personal  relief ;  the  distress  is 
of  such  magnitude  that  any  attempt  to  deal  with  indi- 
vidual cases  can  only  be  compared  with  the  conventional 
draining  of  the  sea  by  means  of  a  shell.  What  we  aim  at 
is  the  reorganisation  of  social  order,  which  in  most  cases 
appears  to  be  hopelessly  shattered.  It  is  not  the  giving 
of  relief  in  food  and  clothing,  except  as  a  temporary  ex- 
pedient, for  if  we  do  nothing  more  than  that,  the  people 
are  presently  back  again  at  the  bottom  of  the  pit  of  dis- 
tress. If,  however,  we  can  encourage  them  to  return  to 
their  ordinary  occupations,  and  find  them  the  means  of 
recommencing  the  task  of  bread-winning,  then  we  do 
something  that  is  permanently  good.  And  we  do  the 
same  when  we  relieve  the  social  organisation  of  the  bur- 
den of  those  who  are  quite  incapable  of  self-maintenance, 
as  in  the  case  of  widows  and  orphans.  No  money  can 
possibly  go  into  the  hands  of  rapacious  officials  when  you 
buy  back  a  man's  tools,  or  when  you  provide  orphans 
with  food,  and  shelter  them  in  your  own  hired  house. 
In  the  villages  we  find  the  problem  very  acute ;  the 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  157 

houses  are  all  ruined,  and  the  people  are  afraid  to  rebuild. 
Consequently  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  restore  con- 
fidence by  finding  a  few  of  the  more  courageous,  who  are 
willing  to  make  the  attempt  if  they  are  helped  with  the 
necessary  timber  and  materials.  It  is  impossible  to  re- 
build a  village  which  would  cost  ;^iooo  to  ^2000  in  the 
necessary  timber  and  mud-brick  wdthout  paying  anything 
for  labour,  but  it  is  possible  to  help  a  few  people  who  are  not 
wholly  in  despair,  and  when  they  begin  to  build  the  others 
follow  them  like  a  flock  of  sheep,  and  one  soon  has  enough 
shelters  in  order  for  the  coming  winter.  This  is  what  we 
are  trying  to  do  here,  and,  while  I  admit  that  the  building 
of  a  single  village  seems  almost  as  absurd  as  the  relief  of 
a  single  needy  person,  it  is  not  really  so,  for  the  good  that 
is  done  is  contagious,  and  is  sure  to  be  imitated. 

I  am  sending  a  little  account  of  a  visit  which  we  paid 
yesterday  to  one  of  the  ruined  villages,  which  will  help  to 
explain  this  part  of  our  programme.^  It  is  very  difiicult 
indeed  to  set  people  to  work  again  in  their  crafts  and 
trades.  Agriculture  recovers  because  nature  goes  on  with 
her  benevolence  irrespective  of  atrocities,  and  without  in- 
quiring who  rules  the  land,  but  trade  and  commerce  are 
at  a  standstill ;  there  is  no  home  consumption,  and  no 
export  of  manufactured  goods.  The  ablest  artisans  are 
idle,  and  it  will  be  long  before  they  find  occupation  again, 
and  as  if  to  crown  their  miseries,  we  hear  now  from  Ourfa 
that  the  authorities  are  beginning  to  assess  the  taxes  of 
the  dead  on  the  living.  I  see  no  way  out  of  this  phase 
of  the  misery,  which  results  from  the  rottenness  and  rajia- 

1  See  p.  149. 


158  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

city  of  tlie  Government.  The  case  is  hopeless ;  the  tree 
must  come  down,  and  the  people  had  better  stand  from 
under.  Unless  they  are  enabled  to  make  a  partial  emi- 
gration, they  will  probably  be  all  destroyed.  But  emigra- 
tion, like  relief,  is  useless  if  sporadic ;  it  can  only  be  done 
successfully  on  a  large  scale,  and  this  means  Government 
co-operation. 

I  hope  that  nothing  I  have  said  will  discourage  our 
friends.  Thus  far  we  have  not  been  without  success,  and 
in  Ourfa  the  success  has  been  phenomenal.  The  schools 
which  we  reopened  have  now  over  1000  scholars,  and  the 
orphanage  which  we  started  has  70  children,  without 
counting  those  which  have  been  sent  to  Constantinople. 
We  should  try  to  do  something  with  the  broken  machine 
here,  and  perhaps  at  Van.  At  Diarbekir  the  people  were 
in  such  fear  that  we  were  not  able  to  plan  much  per- 
manent work,  still  I  hope  that  there  and  elsewhere  the 
suffering  has  been  alleviated.  Our  friends  will  see  that 
it  was  wisely  decided  to  make  no  new  organisation  for 
relief,  no  organisation  can  come  near  to  the  fitness  of  the 
American  Missions.  If  the  country  can  be  saved,  the  foci 
of  its  salvation  are  the  mission  stations,  and  in  a  lesser 
degree  the  consulates.  No  one  knows  the  needs  of  the 
people  like  the  Americans,  and  no  one  is  so  busy  and  so 
wise  in  giving  aid  as  they  are.  They  at  all  events  have 
come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this.  I  have 
just  briefly  given  some  of  the  leading  impressions  made 
on  my  mind  by  this  summer's  work.  It  is  a  great  delight 
to  know  that  our  friends  are  taking  hold  of  it  with  us. 
They  may  be  sure  we  will  do  our  best  to  see  that  their 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  159 

benevolence  is  not  wasted  or  misapplied,  and  they  will 

share  with  us  the  benedictions,  which  attend  the  service, 

both  the  outward  blessings  o£  those  who  are  ready  to 

perish,  and  the  more  precious  commendations  of  the  Man 

of  Sorrows  that  are  spoken  inwardly, 

J.  R,  H. 

P.S, — I  am  turning  homeward  in  a  few  days,  while  H. 
remains  for  a  month  or  two  longer  in  the  hope  of  con- 
tinuing and  of  extending  the  work.  Perhaps  she  may  go 
as  far  as  to  Van  if  the  way  should  open. 


LETTER  No.  XXVI. 

DETENTION  AT  HAKPOOT  OWING  TO  DIFFICULTIES  OF  TRANSIT — STORY 
OF  A  YOUNG  ARMENIAN,  JUST  RECOVERED  FROM  HIS  WOUNDS, 
NOW  PUT  IN  PRISON — QUESTION  OF  THE  RELEASE  OF  THE  MANY 
IMPRISONED  ARMENIANS  ;  IS  BRIBERY  LAWFUL  1 — A  HARD  CASE 
— EXAMPLE  OF  THE  EARLY  CHURCH  —  THE  MISSIONARIES'  DE- 
CISION —  LETTER  FROM  OURPA  —  TEACHING  THE  WOMEN  AND 
GIRLS  —  WORK  FOR  THE  ORPHANS — "HARRIS  HOME"  IN  PULL 
OPERATION — ONLY  THOSE  ENTIRELY  ORPHANED  CAN  BE  HELPED. 

Harpoot,  July  30,  1896. 
Dear  Friends, — We  are  detained  here  by  a  concurrence 
of  such  events  as  make  travelling  in  Turkey  difficult ;  for 
example,  the  Government  is  harassing  us  over  the  travel- 
ling papers  of  our  servants,  and  I  have  already  spent  a 
Turkish  pound  in  telegraphing ;  then  one  of  our  baggage 
waggons  has  been  seized  by  the  military  pasha,  with  the 
promise  that  he  would  find  us  another,  and  it  turns  out 
that  the  other  is  broken  down  and  needs  repair ;  and, 
last  of  all,  one  of  the  waggoners  who  has  turned  up  is 
badly  drunk,  and  as  these  fellows  killed  a  woman  this 
morning,  as  she  stood  at  her  own  door,  by  their  reckless 
driving,  we  don't  feel  like  employing  a  drunken  man 
belonging  to  a  craft  where  the  sober  ones  are  so  risky. 
So  we  are  stopped  till  to-morrow  morning,  and  perhaps 
by  that  time  some  of  the  difficulties  will  be  cleared  away. 

Almost  every  day  brings  some  fresh  story  of  injustice. 

160 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  i6i 

Oue  of  the  most  pitiful  of  recent  cases  was  that  of  a 
young  Armenian  who  came  to  call  here ;  he  belongs  to  a 
wealthy  family,  but  in  the  recent  troubles  he  lost  father 
and  brother,  and  almost  all  their  estate  :  he  was  wounded  in 
forty  places,  and  you  will  not  be  surprised  that  he  has  taken 
eight  months  to  recover ;  rather  you  will  be  surprised  at 
his  recovering  at  all,  and  will  pronounce  it  an  irregular 
proceeding.  And  now,  just  as  he  is  recovering,  face  to 
face  with  a  ruined  business  and  a  desolated  home,  the 
Government  have  arrested  him  on  a  charge  of  conspiracy, 
and  are  searching  his  house.  The  ground  of  this  pro- 
ceeding is,  that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  Erzeroum 
asking  him  to  assist  a  poor  fellow  either  to  find  em- 
ployment or  to  escape  to  Russia.  This  letter  has  been 
intercepted,  and  is  considered  evidence  of  conspiracy. 
The  pathetic  side  of  it  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  man  has 
already  suffered  to  the  utmost  limit,  but  this  does  not 
satisfy  the  persecutors,  and  I  suppose  they  will  not  spare 
him.  unless  he  can  bribe  his  accusers  and  his  judges. 

Talking  of  bribery  and  its  prevalence  in  the  social 
order,  we  have  been  dealing  with  it  in  the  mission  lately 
as  a  burning  question,  which  had  to  be  faced,  not 
merely  theoretically,  but  practically.  (We  are  all  of  us 
sound  theoretically,  it  is  no  question  of  abstract  ethics.) 
The  question  arose  as  follows.  As  you  know,  the  prisons 
in  Turkey  are  filled  with  leading  people  from  the  Ar- 
menian community,  especially  with  Protestant  teachers 
and  preachers,  who  are  the  chief  agents  of  civilisation  in 
this  country,  and  therefore  the  favourite  victims  of  the 

Government  in  their  attempts  to  reduce  the  Armenian 

L 


1 62  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

people  to  primitive  serfdom  and  savagery.  In  Malatia, 
and  in  Arabkir,  two  neighbouring  towns,  there  are  many 
Armenians  in  prison,  all  of  them  known  to  be  innocent  of 
the  political  offences  with  which  they  are  charged,  and 
none  of  them  as  yet  honoured  with  a  trial,  although  they 
have  spent  two-thirds  of  a  year  waiting  for  it. 

Well,  last  week  the  leading  Armenians  out  of  prison 
succeeded  in  opening  communications  with  the  authorities 
for  the  release  of  the  leading  Armenians  in  the  prison. 
An  intimation  was  made  that  the  major  part  of  them 
would  be  released  on  a  payment  of  i^8o  Turkish.  The 
people  were  prepared  to  close  with  the  offer.  They  raised 
;^40,  and  came  to  the  missionaries  (and  I  suppose  to 
ourselves)  to  aid  in  the  good  work  of  emancipation  of 
the  brethren.  The  terms  were  not  bad ;  the  Government 
would  allow  all  the  prisoners  except  four  or  five  to  go  out, 
reserving  only  the  handful  in  question  for  trial,  in  order 
that  the  world  might  see  that  it  was  the  Armenians  who 
made  all  the  trouble,  from  which  it  looks  as  if  they  meant 
to  hang  five,  but  were  not  particular  which  five. 

Here  comes  the  rub !  The  missionaries  say  (with  one 
or  two  exceptions),  "  We  have  never  bribed,  and  we  never 
will.  If  we  once  begin  this,  even  with  good  ends  in  view, 
there  will  be  no  end  to  the  claims  that  will  be  brouarht 
forward,  and  we  shall  encourage  injustice,  &c. ;"  others 
pleaded  the  importance  of  the  liberation  of  the  preachers 
and  teachers  at  this  crisis ;  and,  for  the  sake  of  argument, 
I  reasoned  on  their  side,  pointing  out  that  we  do  not  pay 
people  to  do  wrong,  but  to  do  right ;  just  as  in  the  Custom- 
house, when  you  have  nothiug  contraband,  you  pay  to  be 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  i6 


J 


let  alone,  and  are  guiltless  of  any  wrong  to  the  revenue. 
Also  I  quoted  the  Apology  of  Aristides,  who  says  of  the 
early  Christians  that  if  any  of  their  number  are  im- 
prisoned for  the  sake  of  their  Messiah,  they  help  him  to 
the  best  of  their  ability,  and  if  it  be  possible  that  he  be 
liberated,  they  liberate  him.  These  words  imply,  at  the 
time  when  they  were  written,  the  maintenance  of  the 
prisoner  from  outside,  and  his  release  by  what  we  should 
call  bribery,  but  which  in  the  East  is  named  backsheesh. 

However,  I  do  not  think  our  friends  here  thought 
the  argument  convincing ;  they  have  indeed  supplied  the 
needs  of  the  imprisoned  by  money,  food,  &c.,  but  shrink 
from  direct  interference  with  the  distribution  of  justice 
and  with  the  repression  of  injustice. 

Probably  they  are  right,  especially  as  their  choice  of  a 
selected  number  of  prisoners  would  involve  the  execution 
of  the  remainder — a  grave  responsibility — and  in  the  end 
we  all  agreed,  I  think,  to  do  nothing ;  we  naturally  come 
to  that  conclusion  in  the  special  case,  because  we  do  not 
feel  that  we  have  any  funds  to  spend  that  way.  It  is, 
however,  very  interesting  to  find  oneself  discussing  a 
problem  which  must  have  often  presented  itself  in  the 
early  Christian  Church,  and  which,  I  imagine,  they  usually 
settled  in  a  different  way  to  ours.  The  Armenians  do  not 
understand  our  attitude,  but  then  they  are  so  accustomed 
to  pay  blackmail  for  everything,  that  they  have  hardly 
reached  the  point  at  which  the  problem  asserts  itself. 

One  thing,  however,  is  clear  to  me ;  that  just  as  one  is 
obliged  to  suffer  with  the  people  when  we  are  not  free  to 
struggle  for  them ;  so  if  we  cannot  open  prison  doors  with 


1 64  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

golden  keys,  we  must  find  some  other  keys,  in  the  shape 
of  lawful  persuasion.  If  only  we  might  be  able  to  do 
something  in  this  work  ! — With  every  good  wish,  your 
sincere  friend,  J.  R.  H. 

Extracts  from  Letter  from  Miss  Shattuck. 

OuRFA,  June  27,  1896. 
Professor  and  Mrs.  H. 

My  dear  Feiends, — We  can't  get  permission  even  for 
Burbulian  to  come  here  as  preacher.  The  poor  people 
are  all  wanting  a  pastor.  Mr.  Knadjian  and  the  old 
preacher  of  the  Protestant  Syrians  preach  for  us  on  the 
Sabbath;  the  church  reopened  during  the  week.  The 
women  teachers  I  have  had  to  increase,  and  also  to  put 
in  teachers  from  house  to  house,  so  many  of  the  women 
are  intent  on  learning  to  read.  The  large  girls,  many 
of  whose  betrothed  have  been  killed,  are  in  our  school, 
and  have  one  appointed  to  teach  them  at  as  fast  a  rate  as 
they  can  follow,  and  meanwhile  to  read  the  Gospels  to 
them  giving  the  life  of  our  Lord,  and  they  are  required 
to  give  back  from  memory  what  they  can. 

I  had  not  called  at  the  Palace  since  the  week  you  left 
till  last  Friday.  The  wife  of  the  Pasha  inquired  particu- 
larly for  you,  Mrs.  H.,  and  sent  salaams.  The  son  informed 
me  that  "an  American  traveller  is  expected  here,  name 
not  in  mind."  I  suspect  it  is  some  one  who  has  come  and 
gone,  as  long  after  Messrs.  Wistar  and  Wood  had  left  us 
our  inspectors  reported  their  "  intended  visit  to  Ourfa," 

The  sums  you  have  given  I  indicate  by  enclosed  receipt. 

Including  Yevnige's  Vohan,  we  have  in  Harris  Home 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  165 

twenty-nine,  i.e.,  twenty-seven  children.  We  have  the 
necessity  of  opening  a  second  home  for  girls,  and  I  am 
doing  this  now  (Monday).  We  took  in  no  girls  last  week 
for  want  of  room.  We  have  several  on  the  list,  also 
boys  to  be  received  immediately.  I  am  having  stone-men 
enlarging  kitchen  in  our  back  yard,  so  we  yet  are  far  from 
order  and  quiet,  but  since  it  is  the  season  for  sleeping- 
outdoors  we  get  on  tolerably  well.  We  have  eighteen, 
and  four  to  come  in  to-day ;  all  are  complete  orphans  but 
one,  and  the  sons  of  the  matron  at  Harris  Home.  We 
dare  not  yet  open  the  way  for  half-orphans,  though  many 
widows  unable  to  care  for  their  many  children  want  to 
give  us  one.  The  uribounded  confidence  in  any  plans  I 
make  for  these  poor  women  and  children  throws  upon  me 
a  very  heavy  responsibility.  The  Lord  grant  us  all  wisdom 
and  grace  for  what  is  our  part  to  carry  on  the  great  work. 

— Very  affectionately, 

C.  Shattuck. 


LETTER   No.    XXVIL 

ARRIVAL  AT  MALATIA — EXTENSIVE  DISTRESS  THERE — A  PARADISE 
CITY — ACCOUNT  OF  THE  MASSACRE — THE  RUINS  TO-DAY — HOW 
TO  HELP  THE  PEOPLE — THE  REFORM  COMMISSIONER — LARGE 
MEETING  IN  A  GARDEN — DEPARTURE  OF  J.  R.  H. — PASSPORTS 
FOR  THE  TWO  SERVANTS — INTERVIEW  WITH  SHAKIR  PASHA, 
AND  WITH  THE  PASHA'S  WIFE  IN  THE  HAREM — A  FRIENDLY 
BEY  WHO  HELPED  THE  ARMENIANS  —  EMBROIDERY  WORK  — 
BOARDING  OUT  THE  ORPHANS  :  FIVE  POUNDS  FOR  ONE  YEAR — 
THE  PRESS  OF  TEARFUL  WOMEN — CONFISCATING  THE  FRUIT  IN 
THE  GARDENS  —  PERSECUTION  OF  KURDS  WHO  REFUSED  TO 
MASSACRE — MISS   BUSH   AND   DR.    GATES. 

Malatia,  August  3,  1896. 

My  dear  Friends, — As  I  am  now  on  my  way  home,  I 

suppose  this  will  be  the  last  circular  letter  that  I  shall  be 

able  to  write.     We  arrived  here  safely  on  Saturday  night, 

after  a  two  days'  journey  over  a  mountainous  country,  from 

Harpoot.     "We  "  stands  for  Miss  Bush  and  Mr.  Gates  of 

the  American  Mission  at  Harpoot,  Professor  Tenekedjian 

of  the  Euphrates  College,  and  our  two  selves.     All  of 

them  are  here  for  purposes  of  relief,  and  I  only  wish  I 

could  stay  with  them,  for  the  trouble  in  Malatia  is  very 

great,  worse  than  in  any  place  we  have  visited  except 

Ourfa,    and   in    some   respects   it  is  worse   than   Ourfa, 

although  the  sum  total  of  misery  and  wickedness  is  less. 

However,  if  I  cannot  stay  another  three  or  four  months 

as  I  could  wish,  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  the  work 

166 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  167 

is  in  such  good  hands  in  this  district,  and  that  good 
care  is  taken  to  make  the  help  given  such  as  will  be  of 
permanent  benefit.  Up  to  the  present  time  7732  people 
have  been  assisted  in  this  city ;  but  the  work  has  now 
passed  out  of  the  stage  of  immediate  relief  to  sick  and 
wounded  or  starving  individuals,  and  our  friends  have 
to  face  the  problem  of  putting  together  as  best  they  may 
the  broken  pieces  of  the  social  fabric.  You  will  under- 
stand what  is  involved  in  this  if  I  tell  you  the  state  of  the 
city  a  little  more  in  detail. 

Malatia  is  the  most  beautiful  city  I  have  yet  visited  in 
Asiatic  Turkey.  If  we  use  the  word  Paradise  in  the  old 
Persian  sense  of  park  or  garden,  this  place  is  or  was  a 
paradise.  It  is  a  succession  of  beautiful  gardens,  planted 
with  poplar  trees  and  every  variety  of  fruit  trees,  and 
watered  by  streams  that  descend  out  of  the  neighbouring 
mountains.  Almost  all  the  houses  stand  in  the  midst  of 
their  own  gardens,  and  the  impression  of  the  city  as  one 
approaches  it  from  outside  is  more  like  that  of  a  long 
stretch  of  woods  than  of  an  inhabited  place,  as  the  houses 
are  almost  entirely  hidden  away. 

Before  the  troubles  began  in  this  place  the  relations 
between  Moslems  and  Christians  were  very  friendly,  and 
there  was  no  revolutionist  propaganda  of  any  kind,  as  there 
is  also  no  trace  of  any  such  movement  in  the  majority 
of  the  inland  cities  of  Asiatic  Turkey.  But  the  fire  of 
fanaticism  is  easy  to  light ;  a  part  of  its  fuel  was  found 
in  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the  Armenians,  and  the 
match  was  set  to  the  fuel  by  a  direct  telegram  from  the 
Sultan.     As  the  Moslems  are  five  to  one,  it  is  not  sur- 


1 68  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

prising  that  the  massacre  was  a  successful  one ;  what  is 
surprising  is  that  the  Christians  were  able  to  defend 
themselves  for  many  days  by  firing  from  the  roof  of  the 
chief  Gregorian  church  upon  the  attacking  Turks,  when 
they  had  only  old-fashioned  guns  with  flint-locks,  whereas 
their  persecutors  were  armed  by  the  Government  with 
Martini-Henry  rifles. 

I  could  tell  you  many  tales  of  horror  in  connection  with 
these  days  of  violence  and  persecution.  The  estimate  of 
Christians  killed  varies  from  2000  to  4000 ;  most  of  the 
leading  Protestants  were  slaughtered,  and  the  flesh  of 
their  chief  men  carried  round  the  market  for  sale  at  20 
paras  (about  id.)  the  oke  (2|  lbs.)  !  (I  may  say  that  I 
thought  this  last  piece  of  atrocity  must  be  apocryphal, 
but  we  have  heard  it  from  four  different  quarters.)  In 
one  of  the  churches  fifty  people  were  bnrned,  and  no 
doubt  the  great  Gregorian  church  would  have  been  the 
scene  of  a  massacre  like  that  at  Ourfa,  if  it  had  not  been 
for  the  heroic  defence  made  by  the  people  who  were 
imprisoned  in  it. 

The  Protestant  church  and  schools  which  I  have  visited 
to-day  is  a  mere  pile  of  bare  walls.  Of  the  houses  in 
the  Christian  quarter  560  were  destroyed,  and  up  to  the 
present  time  I  cannot  find  one  case  of  rebuilding,  such  is 
the  fear  in  which  the  poor  people  live.  Add  to  all  this 
wreck  of  property  in  the  destruction  of  houses,  churches, 
and  schools,  the  wholesale  robbery  of  everything  that 
could  be  carried  away,  the  violence  done  to  the  women 
(600  girls  and  brides  carried  off  to  Kurdish  and  Turkish 
houses),  and  the  ruin  of  families  by  the  murder  of  the 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  169 

men,  and  you  will  get  a  faint  idea  of  the  state  of  things 
in  jMalatia.  As  I  have  said,  it  is  in  some  ways  worse 
than  Ourfa.  At  Ourfa  the  houses  are  built  of  hard  stone, 
upon  which  fire  had  little  effect ;  but  here  the  material  is 
sun-dried  bricks  made  of  mud,  with  roofs  of  poplar  beams, 
and  such  houses  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  destroy. 

What  is  to  be  done  with  it  all  ?  It  would  take  an 
immense  sum  to  rebuild  the  mined  quarter ;  I  cannot 
see  how  any  relief  committee  can  take  the  responsibility 
of  it.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  some  shelters  must  be 
found  for  the  people  against  next  winter,  or  tliey  will  die 
like  sheep.  They  cannot  live  in  the  gardens  when  the 
frost  and  sdow  come,  nor  sleep  on  the  ground  without 
beds,  as  many  are  doing  now.  The  only  thing  I  can 
think  of  is  to  stir  the  people  out  of  their  lethargy  by 
offering  some  help  towards  building  to  selected  indi- 
viduals, and  so  stimulating  the  rest  by  their  example  to 
build  themselves  some  rude  shelters.  Then  there  are 
the  widows  and  orphans  and  the  ruined  schools,  &c.  &c. 

Our  friends  will  have  their  hands  full  during  the  next 
few  weeks,  as  they  proceed  to  the  closer  analysis  of  all 
this  distress ;  but  they  have  good  experience  of  the  work 
from  their  toil  during  the  past  eight  months,  and  we  shall 
be  able  to  help  them  in  many  ways  in  rolling  the  load  from 
off  the  back  of  this  crushed  and  suffering  community. 

We  have  come  here  at  a  good  time,  as  Sbakir  Pasha, 
the  Reform  Commissioner,  is  at  present  here  investiga- 
ting into  the  abuses  of  Government  and  the  misfortunes 
of  the  people.  We  hope  to  have  an  interview  with  him 
this  afternoon,  and,  if  possible,  shall  urge  the  release  of 


I70  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

certain  prisoners  who  are  still  under  ward  thougli  they 
are  known  to  be  perfectly  innocent.  Perhaps  we  may 
also  obtain  from  him  permission  for  the  rebuilding  of  the 
ruined  church  and  schools.  We  shall  see.  And  here  for 
the  present  I  must  stay  my  pen. — Your  sincere  friend, 

J.  R.  H. 

P.S. — We  had  a  pood  meeting  with  the  Protestants 

yesterday.     As  the  church  is  in  ruins,  the  people  met 

under  the  trees  in  a  garden.     They  were  very  attentive. 

When  we  proposed  that  they  should  sing  a  hymn  they 

shook  their  heads ;  since  the  troubles  they  had  not  been 

able  to  sing.    However,  some  of  our  party  started  a  hymn 

which  they  all  knew  very  well,  and  presently  they  joined 

in.     The  number  of  orphans  in  the  town  is  very  great ; 

they  say  at  least  two  thousand. 

J.  R.  H. 

Further  Account  hj  H.  B.  H. 

Malatia,  August  6th. 
R.  left  us  on  the  4th,  our  entire  party  and  the  British 
Consul,  Mr.  Fontana,  accompanying  him  for  two  hours, 
when  we  were  obliged  to  return.  Our  two  servants 
accompanied  him,  having  obtained  tesJcerehs  for  the  rest 
of  the  journey  by  the  good  help  of  the  Consul ;  and  these 
permits  will  prove  a  valuable  aid  to  his  safe  return  to  Con- 
stantinople, so  that  we  have  now  no  more  fear  of  prison 
for  them,  or  detention  on  their  behalf  for  him — a  danger 
which  for  the  last  month  has  been  threatened  for  both  of 
them,  as  Griva  the  cook  lost  his  road-paper  when  flounder- 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  171 

ing  in  a  mnd-hole  we  went  through  near  the  Tigris,  and 
the  Pasha  at  Harpoot  refused  to  grant  another. 

E.  and  the  other  gentlemen  had  an  interview  with 
Shakir  Pasha  before  he  left,  but  they  did  not  get  as  far  as 
to  be  able  to  intercede  for  the  prisoners,  but  Miss  Bush 
and  I  fared  somewhat  better  in  a  visit  to  Mrs.  Shakir  and 
the  harem  yesterday.  We  were  able  to  put  the  matter 
plainly  before  her,  and  Miss  Bush  assured  her  that  she 
had  known  the  imprisoned  pastor  for  years,  and  highly 
esteemed  him  and  most  of  the  others  in  prison.  Then  I 
put  in  my  word  in  testimony  of  the  good  work  done  every- 
where by  the  American  missionaries,  both  for  Christians 
and  Moslems,  and  I  said  they  loved  all.  "  Not  the  Turks,  I 
fear,"  she  said,  with  a  slightly  sarcastic  smile ;  but  Miss 
Bush  said  most  emphatically,  "  Yes,  the  Turks  also,  and  we 
earnestly  desire  that  all  may  dwell  together  as  brothers." 
How  much  of  what  we  said  sunk  in  we  cannot  tell,  but  we 
felt  God's  presence  and  help  as  we  sat  talking  there  in  the 
shady  harem  tent,  and  sipping  first  tea  and  then  sherbet, 
and  we  believe  good  must  and  will  come  of  the  visit.  This 
lady,  we  should  say,  is  a  Polish  Roman  Catliolic,  and  the 
Pasha's  chief,  though  not  his  only  wife.  How  she  re- 
conciles her  position  with  any  sort  of  Christian  profession 
I  do  not  know ;  we  looked  upon  her  simply  as  a  Turkish 
lady.  Her  position  must  in  any  case  be  most  painful 
and  anomalous. 

After  visiting  her,  we  went  to  the  harem  of  the  governor 
of  the  city,  and  got  on  satisfactorily,  and  again  after 
that  visited  the  ladies  of  a  very  friendly  Turkish  Bey,  the 
only  one  in  the  city  who  has  really  befriended  the  Christians, 


172  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

but  he  has  done  so  all  through  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  and 
at  the  time  of  the  massacre  had  his  house  full  of  Arme- 
nians ;  and  we  saw  a  woman  whose  hand  had  been  nearly- 
severed  by  a  sword,  the  wound  having  been  at  the  time 
dressed  by  the  Turkish  ladies  of  this  home.  An  Armenian 
woman  and  a  sufferer  was  in  the  room  with  us  during  our 
reception,  and  lovingly  treated  by  them ;  and  you  may 
imagine  how  cordial  our  intercourse  was  under  the  circum- 
stances, and  how  we  all  united  in  the  desire  that  such 
events  as  have  just  transpired  here  might  never  again  be 
repeated  while  the  world  lasts ! 

Now  that  R.  has  gone,  I  am  only  remaining,  as  you  can 
easily  imagine,  to  help  the  people  a  little  longer,  working 
with  the  missionaries,  and  also  doing  some  things  alone. 
For  example  I  am  ordering  a  good  deal  of  sample  em- 
hroidery  to  be  made  (as  at  Ourfa  and  elsewhere),  hoping 
to  get  a  sale  for  it  in  England  and  America.  It  is  quite 
unique  here,  and  used  for  divan  covers ;  but  I  am  having 
squares  and  round  pieces  done  for  cushions,  footstools,  and 
strips  for  borders  of  curtains. 

Then  I  must  do  something  with  the  money  of  the 
Friends'  Fund  for  the  hundreds  of  widows  and  orphans — 
of  course  taking  advice  with  the  missionaries  and  Consul — 
whom  the  other  friends  are  unable  to  attend  to  for  lack 
of  funds.  Instead  of  starting  an  orphanage  as  at  Ourfa, 
I  want  to  give  two  or  three  fatherless  and  motherless 
children  to  such  widows  as  have  lost  their  own  or  have 
room  to  take  them,  and  already  there  are  a  hundred  wait- 
ing !  Five  pounds  each  would  keep  a  child  for  a  year  and 
be  a  little  help  to  the  widow,  and  this  means  j;^500  at  one 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  173 

stroke  !  Of  orphans  whose  fathers  only  have  been  killed 
there  are  thousands,  and  of  these  many  must  also  be  sup- 
ported ;  ^500  would  be  none  too  much  for  them,  and  then 
it  is  only  for  a  year ;  and  what  then  ?  Happily  there  are 
veiy  good  people  here  to  superintend  this  work,  both  men 
and  women  who  once  lived  in  every  comfort,  had  beautiful 
houses,  and  are  educated  according  to  the  standard  of  the 
country,  and  who  also  are  full  of  deep  sympathy  for  their 
people,  while  themselves  are  suffering  with  them,  and  who 
can  be  fully  trusted. 

Oh  !  if  you  could  only  see  and  hear  these  people  !  The 
women's  eyes  are  always  full  of  tears,  and  for  the  most 
part  the  men's  too,  only  farther  back  ;  the  women  cling  to 
one's  dress,  they  catch  and  clasp  our  hands,  they  luill  not 
let  us  go  without  a  promise  of  help,  and  yet  they  evidently 
hate  to  trouble  us,  and  are  not  a  bit  like  common  beggars ; 
but  what  can  they  do  ?  We  seem  to  them  like  messengers 
from  above,  and  they  Hock  around  so  that  often  there  is 
not  room  to  move  for  the  press  ;  and  what  can  we  do,  in 
our  turn,  but  still  hand  on  their  sad,  sad  beseeching  cry 
for  help  to  those  at  home  who  love  Christ's  poor  ? 

Another  piece  of  injustice  I  must  tell  you  before  I 
close.  E.  has  written  of  the  beautiful  fruit-gardens,  and 
the  fruit  is  most  abundant ;  but  since  he  left  we  have 
heard  that  the  Turks  have  stationed  people  to  guard 
the  Christians'  gardens  (outside  the  city  where  the 
largest  are)  to  prevent  the  owners  picking  the  fruit,  on 
the  threat  of  having  their  throats  cut.  So  they  cannot 
eat  their  own  fruit. 

One  more  tale  and  I  have  finished  for  this  time.   Yester- 


174  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

day,  outside  Shakir  Pasha's  encampment,  were  a  number 
of  Koordish  women  begging.  To  my  surprise  Miss  Bush 
gave  them  each  a  small  alms  ;  and  as  this  is  not  her  prac- 
tice, even  with  the  Christians,  I  naturally  inquired  the 
reason ;  and  then  she  told  me  these  women  belonged  to  a 
Koordish  village  near  the  city  which,  for  some  reason,  had 
refused  to  help  with  the  massacre  (the  only  one  out  of  a 
hundred  who  did  refuse).  Because  of  this  humanity, 
regular  troops  were  sent  who  destroyed  and  burned  and 
pillaged  their  village  as  if  it  had  been  a  Christian  one ! 
They  therefore  have  a  special  claim  upon  our  sympathies, 
and  you  will  no  longer  wonder  at  Miss  Bush's  action. 

Miss  Bush,  I  must  tell  you,  is  a  second  Miss  Shattuck, 
who  has  lived  twenty  years  in  this  country,  and  has  visited 
most  of  the  chief  towns,  and  all  the  people  love  her ;  she 
and  I  are  likely  to  work  together  pretty  closely  now  that  I 
am  alone,  which  is  a  great  privilege  and  blessing  for  me. 
Dr.  Gates,  President  of  Euphrates  College,  is  also  with  us, 
a  very  interesting  man  and  devoted  missionary. 

We  shall  probably  stay  here  ten  days  longer,  making 
arrangements  to  send  more  money  after  we  leave  ;  and  we 
shall  probably  also  return  by  Arabkir,  where  there  is  also 
great  need,  to  Harpoot. — Yours  affectionately, 

H.  B.  H. 


LETTER   No.    XXVIII. 

OUR  LAST  DAY  IN  MALATIA  :  A  BUSY  CROWD  —  SELECTING  FIFTY 
ORPHANS  OUT  OF  FIFTEEN  HUNDRED — DEPARTURE — GOODNESS 
OF  SOME  MOSLEMS — THE  ZAPTIEHS — JOURNEY  BACK  TO  HAR- 
POOT  BEGUILED  BY  HYMNS  —  WELCOME  AT  HARPOOT  —  PLANS 
FOR  VAN. 

Harpoot,  August  19,  1896. 

Deaii  Friends, — In  our  last  joint  circular  from  Malatia 
you  heard  of  E.'s  departure.  I  can  now  report  his  safe 
journey  as  far  as  Marsovan,  and  no  doubt  very  sopn, 
almost  as  soon  as  this  reaches  you,  he  will  be  on  English 
ground  once  again,  and  able  to  talk  with  you  face  to  face  ! 
It  seems  strange  to  continue  my  lonely  circulars  after 
losing  him,  the  chief  actor  in  our  past  travels,  but  as  I  am 
writing  on  the  condition  of  this  afflicted  land  and  beloved 
people  quite  as  much  as  to  describe  personal  experience, 
I  will  do  my  best  to  keep  you  in  touch  with  matters  here 
so  long  as  I  remain,  and  as  I  move  from  point  to  point  to 
carry  you  with  me  in  my  travels. 

Our  last  day  in  Malatia  was  our  busiest,  I  think.     All 

our  premises  were  in  a  constant  crowd,  in  which  it  was 

difficult  to  say  who  were  coming  and  who  going !     Turkish 

commissioners  and  zcqyiichs,  Gregorian  priests,  Protestant 

deacons !     The  architect,  yesterday  out  of  prison,   busy 

suggesting  how  to  rebuild  the  ruined  Protestant  schools, 

175 


176  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

so  that  on  Sundays  they  can  be  also  used  as  church,  to 
hold  looo  people.  The  young  preacher,  also  just  released 
(the  joint  effect  of  the  visits  of  the  British  Consul,  Mr. 
Fontana,  and  Shakir  Pasha,  to  Malatia),  going  in  and  out 
among  the  crowd  with  a  constant  smile  on  his  fine  open 
countenance.  The  still  imprisoned  pastor's  wife  trying  to 
rejoice  in  the  freedom  of  her  husband's  late  companions, 
but  with  a  twitching  of  the  mouth,  and  repressed  tears 
in  the  eyes,  because  her  dear  one  is  still,  with  one  other, 
held  in  thrall  for  no  other  conceivable  or  pretended  pur- 
pose, except  to  save  the  appearance  of  opening  the  prison 
door  too  widely  (and  also,  if  possible,  to  secure  a  bribe). 

Here  are  the  Building  Committee,  deep  with  Mr. 
Gates  in  plans  and  projects  for  rebuilding  the  houses 
of  the  town,  a  grant  of  money  for  this  purpose  having 
just  been  telegraphed  from  ConstantinoiDle.  There  is 
Miss  Bush  in  an  inner  room,  writing  down  from  the 
lips  of  an  eager -looking  young  woman  seated  at  her 
feet  an  account  of  heroic  courage  and  self  -  sacrifice 
during  massacre  days,  a  tale  which  will  equal  any- 
thing on  record  almost  of  womanly  heroism,  and  which 
I  hope  to  send  you  by-and-by.  And  in  the  midst  of  all, 
here  come  trooping  up  the  stairs,  and  on  to  the  verandah, 
accompanied  by  a  number  of  women  caretakers,  the  band 
of  orphan  children  from  whom,  with  the  help  of  the  com- 
mittee, I  am  to  select  the  fifty  orphans  I  have  promised 
on  behalf  of  the  Friends'  Eelief  Committee  to  care  for 
during  one  year.  Each  little  creature  salaams  in  a  way 
that  tells  of  a  high  civilisation  somewhere  in  past  history, 
if  not  of  present  culture,  and  stands  waiting  my  verdict, 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  177 

and  then  for  each  pleading  voices  are  lifted  up, — and 
these  Armenian  women  know  how  to  plead !  Fifty  out 
of  fifteen  hundred  good  orphans  are  not  hard  to  select, 
except  that  so  many  must  be  rejected,  and  I  will  have 
none  but  those  whose  fathers  were  actually  killed  in  the 
massacre.  It  is  hard  to  say  "  no  "  to  many,  but  this  is 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  joy  of  accepting  some  ; 
and  I  only  wish  the  dear  friends,  who  have  contributed  to 
the  Fund  from  which  they  will  be  supported,  could  have 
seen  the  delight  and  heard  the  grateful  words  of  the 
crowd,  as  one  after  another  of  the  silent  little  candidates 
for  succour  were  selected,  and  their  names  written  down. 
We  did  not  finish  our  work  until  the  stars  were  overhead, 
and  had  to  begin  again  by  daylight  next  day ;  many 
visitors  attended  us  during  our  early  breakfast,  so  that 
instead  of  our  usual  quiet  devotional  time  afterwards,  we 
had  prayer  in  Armenian  for  the  company,  offered  by  the 
native  preacher. 

Then  we  mounted  our  horses,  which  were  all  in  excel- 
lent spirits,  and  rode  out  of  the  beautiful,  though  ruined, 
town  in  the  quiet  morning,  the  streets  lined  with 
Armenians  to  bid  us  farewell,  and  the  market-place  with 
Turks,  who  saw  us  depart  no  doubt  with  great  satisfac- 
tion. Once  again,  however,  I  must  bear  witness  here  to  the 
goodness  of  some  of  the  Moslems  in  the  time  of  trouble, 
in  Malatia  as  elsewhere.  One  man  who  came  to  see  us 
bad  sheltered  several  hundred  Christians,  and  another  had 
kept  sixteen  in  his  house.  I  believe  with  all  my  heart 
that  there  is  good  stuff  hidden  away  in  the  ordinary  Turk 

behind  a  mass  of  evil.     For  he  is  a  slave  to   those  in 

M 


178  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

authority,  and  to  the  cruel  part  of  his  creed,  and  these 
two  forces  hold  him  in  bondage  to  that  which  is  bad ; 
under  better  auspices  I  believe  miich  good  would  appear, 
and  the  same  remark  applies  to  the  Kurds,  only  that  they 
are  more  savage  still. 

Our  zaptiehs  are  almost  always  helpful,  and  I  think  glad 
to  be  with  us.  One  who  came  part  way  from  Malatia  to 
Harpoot  poured  out  to  Dr.  Gates  a  tale  of  woe — zaptieh 
woe,  of  which  who  ever  thinks  ? — which  was  sad  to  hear  ; 
no  pay  for  a  year,  and  hurried  here  and  there,  tired  and 
sick  at  heart ;  no  home  life,  no  comfort  of  any  kind : 
they  almost  quarrelled  for  the  chance  of  who  should 
come  with  us  to  get  our  food  and  fee,  at  one  stopping 
place. 

Our  journey  back  to  Harpoot  was  unmarked  by  any 
incident  worth  recording.  The  heat  was  intense,  such  as 
we  never  feel  in  England,  and  we  rode  from  eight  in  the 
morning  till  five  in  the  evening  under  the  blaze  of  the 
sun,  with  hardly  an  hour,  in  the  middle  of  the  first  day,  to 
rest  and  eat  by  the  side  of  the  Euphrates  before  crossing, 
under  the  flickering  shadow  of  a  lonely  tree ;  and  in  the 
second  day  in  a  little  khan,  where  for  lunch  we  drank 
bowls  of  hot  sheep's-milk,  and  ate  a  very  little  native 
bread,  and  the  luxury  of  that  lunch  I  shall,  I  think,  never 
forget ! 

The  road  was  good  and  broad  most  of  the  way,  it  being 
the  central  road  through  Turkey,  and  we  rode  four  abreast, 
and  Mr.  Gates  and  Miss  Bush  sang,  besides  many  sweet 
hymns,  "Way  down  upon  the  Swanee  River"  and  other 
old-time  songs,  which  brought  back  to  my  remembrance 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  179 

my  own  girlish  days.  What  I  enjoyed  most,  however, 
was  the  hymn — 

"  From  Greenland's  icy  mountains," 

and  the  stanza  commencing — 

"  Waft,  waft  ye  winds  His  story," 

made  my  heart  thrill  with  joyfnl  anticipation  for  this  land 
as  for  all  others,  so  that  I  could  not  but  look  backward 
and  ask  our  zapiieJi  if  he  did  not  think  the  missionaries' 
song  very  good. 

But  I  must  not  be  discursive.  In  the  afternoon  of  the 
second  day  we  met  the  entire  Harpoot  Mission  Station, 
six  in  number,  come  out  three  hours  from  the  city  to  meet 
and  welcome  us  back.  Thus  Oriental  lavishness  in  wel- 
coming courtesy  is  engrafted  upon  the  graciousness  of 
Western  manners,  and  makes  unitedly  a  most  charming 
compound. 

Shakir  Pasha  is  here  now,  and  I  am  endeavouring  to 
negotiate  through  the  Consul  a  journey  under  the  shelter 
of  his  wing  to  Van,  taking  dear  Miss  Bush  with  me,  if 
the  Board  permit,  but  this  is  quite  uncertain,  and  we  may 
go  to  Arabkir  instead,  whence  the  cry  is  loud  for  help. — 
Yours  affectionately, 

Helen  B.  H. 

[H.  B.  IT.  adds  in  a  letter  :  Please  do  not  slacken  interest  in  the 
country  and  people  because  of  my  husband's  return,  for  their  very 
existence  depends  on  our  keeping  up  our  work  for  them,  and  not 
growing  weary.  He  will  be  able  to  do  more  for  them  in  England 
now  I  feel  sure  than  were  he  still  here,  and  I  know  you  will  still 
continue  to  pray  for  mu  in  my  solitary  lot.] 


MEMORANDUM. 

Notes  of  Information  from  J.  R.  H.  to  a  Special  Meeting 
of  the  Society  of  Friends  held  i7i  Lo7idon,  Sept.  4,  1896. 

I,  —  GENERAL    FEATURES     OF     THE     H.'S    MISSION  —  THE     AMERICAN 

missionaries'  grand  work  —  RECONSTRUCTION  OP  THE 
BROKEN  SOCIAL  MACHINE  —  HOUSE-BUILDING  —  THE  WIDOWS, 
ORPHANS,  AND  SCHOOL  CHILDREN — SAFE  ADMINISTRATION  OF 
THE  FUNDS  —  THE  OURFA  WORK  —  SPIRITUAL  LIFE  AMONGST 
THE  PEOPLE  :  MANY  POWERFUL  MEETINGS — THE  PROGRESSIVES 
OP  THE  KAST  —  FICLLOWSHIP  IN  THE  CROSS  —  THK  CONSTANTI- 
NOPLE  MASSACRE  :    PERSONAL   EXPERIENCE. 

II,  —  NARRATIVE      OF      JOURNEY      PROM      HARPOOT  —  MALATIA  :      A 

RUINED  COMMUNITY  :  FIFTEEN  HUNDRED  ORPHANS  AND  FIVE 
HUNDRED  WIDOWS — GREAT  MEKTING  IN  AN  ORCHARD  :  HYMN- 
SINGING  :  BREAKING  THE  SPELL  OP  DESPAIR  —  HELP  TO  THE 
SCHOOLS:  THE  SECTS  UNITING  —  HELP  FOR  THE  ORPHANS  — 
RESTORING  OP  HOMES  —  ARABKIR  AND  GURUN  :  A  TRIANGLE 
OF  DESTRUCTION  —  H.  B.  H.'S  CONVICTIONS  FOR  VAN  — SIVAS  : 
A  TERRIBLE   MASSACRE — TOKAT,    AMASIA,   AND   MARSIVAN. 

I. — General  Notice  of  the  Mission  of  J.  E.  and 
H.  B.  H.  TO  Armenia. 

J.  R.  H.  described  some  of  the  delays  and  difficulties 
they  had  met  with,  but  which  had  proved  generally  help- 
ful in  the  end,  e.g.,  they  could  not  have  well  got  into  the 
country  earlier  than  they  did,  or  at  a  better  moment. 
They  had  indeed  been  wonderfully  guided. 

Their  great  care  in  going  to  work  silently  had   not 

180 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  i8i 

perhaps  been  understood  at  first,  but  events  had  shown 
it  was  wise. 

They  had  been  able  to  visit  every  city  they  designed  to 
visit ;  once  only  having  met  with  prohibition  as  to  route. 
They  soon  found  that  no  fresh  organisation  was  wanted : 
the  Armenian  question  is  an  American  one.  The  civilisa- 
tion of  Asia  Minor  is  American ;  it  is  covered  by  a  net- 
work of  American  agencies ;  there  are  good  colleges  and 
schools,  medical  colleges,  and  schools  for  training  preachers. 
The  same  thing  is  going  on  as  in  Bulgaria  :  the  Americans 
are  training  the  future  rulers  of  the  country.  The  Arme- 
nians were  getting  wealthy,  enterprising,  full  of  skill  and 
commercial  activity,  thus  provoking  the  hostility  of  the 
Turk,  and  furnishing  a  seed-bed  of  persecution.  Our 
friends  always  co-operated,  where  they  could,  with  the 
American  missionaries  as  well  as  with  the  English 
Consuls,  and  never  had  he  met  with  more  beautiful  co- 
operation than  with  the  Americans,  who  were  always  at 
their  service. 

It  felt  like  putting  together  a  clock  that  had  been 
smashed :  it  was  a  piece  of  broken  society,  and  you  had 
to  study  the  conditions  of  life,  beginning  at  the  bottom — 
food,  clothing,  shelter — working  up.  Suppose  in  one  of 
our  towns,  one  half  of  the  shops  were  looted,  one  fifth  of 
the  population  dead  or  wounded,  one  fifth  of  the  women 
widows,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  put  it  all  together 
again.  Whole  trades  had  disappeared  :  you  want  to  shoe 
a  horse,  all  the  smiths  are  dead ;  tools  are  stolen,  and  the 
workmen  have  nothing,  and  cannot  get  them  back.  The 
social  problem  was  therefore  very  difficult,  requiring  much 


i82  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

adaptation  and  skill.  What  could  they  do  ?  Put  together 
those  who  belonged  together — try  to  construct  a  common- 
wealth out  of  ruins  ! 

The  capital  necessary  for  this  would  be,  indeed,  almost 
boundless ;  it  was  absolutely  impossible  to  undo  the  work 
that  the  Turks  and  Kurds  had  done  by  giving  money. 
You  come  into  a  village  where  every  house  but  five  or 
six  are  in  ruins,  and  in  the  midst  of  these  ruins  the  people 
are  living  and  sleeping,  with  very  little  to  cover  them. 
The  villagers  say,  "It  is  useless:  the  houses  will  only  be 
pulled  down  again  if  we  build  them ;  "  but  you  converse 
with  them,  and  you  see  that  if  some  would  build  a  few 
houses  others  would  follow  suit.  This  is  the  true  evolu- 
tionary line.  Our  friends  supplied  not  money,  but  mate- 
rials for  building,  the  people  found  labour;  they  built 
five  or  six  small  houses,  and  this  furnished  a  nucleus : 
others  would  then  build.  It  would  take  ;^i 0,000  or 
;^ 1 5,000  to  rebuild  a  village;  they  could  only  put  down 
;^I00  worth  of  raw  materials  as  a  beginning. 

They  devoted  attention  to  this  because  the  winter  was 
coming,  and  they  saw  that  many  would  die  of  cold  as  well 
as  starvation. 

Then  as  to  the  widows  and  orphans :  No  one  else  was 
working  for  them,  that  part  of  the  community  was  in- 
capable of  recovering  itself :  men  could  begin  again  and 
go  to  work ;  the  child  is  helpless,  and  widows  nearly  so. 
In  Malatia  there  were  1560  orphans  and  500  widows, 
and  almost  every  Christian  house  was  ruined.  Imagine 
the  state  of  fear  and  despair  in  which  the  people  were. 
Our  friends   took    hold  of  the    question,   and   began    to 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  183 

organise,  collecting  some  of  the  orphans  into  little  groups, 
and  setting  women  to  take  care  of  them.  The  children 
were  running  wild  about  the  streets,  playing  at  massacre, 
and  learning  everything  that  was  bad.  Our  friends  in- 
duced the  Gregorians  and  Protestants  at  Malatia  to  com- 
bine in  a  school  committee,  and  they  then  furnished 
accommodation  for  1500  children  for  the  present.^  They 
saw  no  other  way  of  restoring  the  social  machine. 

Something  permanent  was  thus  done.  Others  had 
given  away  corn ;  the  harvest  was  being  collected,  and 
was  a  rich  one.  They  had  not  therefore  given  much  for 
food,  and  never  gave  money,  lest  the  Turks  should  take 
it  away.  The  Turks  had  indeed  made  strenuous  eiforts 
to  get  at  the  relief  funds,  and  not  always  without 
success,  but  so  far  as  he  knew  they  had  got  none  of 
theirs. 

They  had  gone  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
country,  having  ridden  1 5CO  miles :  H.  B.  H.  would 
probably  ride  another  looo.  Some  journeys  were  very 
rough  and  dangerous ;  they  could  not  have  done  it  with- 
out a  sense  of  Divine  help,  and  the  prayers  of  the  people 
of  God,  which  they  felt  were  given  them.  We  should 
not  now  diminish  our  intercessions,  but  remember  the 
one  left  behind,  who  had  taken  the  hardest  part  of 
the  work,  and  was  bearing  the  burden.  May  the  Lord 
preserve  her  and  bring  her  back ! 

Some  of  the  work  had  developed  in  a  remarkable  degree, 
especially  at  Ourfa.     They  came  there  at  its  worst  point. 

^  Obstacles  have  been  thrown  in  our  way  in  the  prosecution  of  this  plan, 
which  we  hope  will  be  surmounted. 


i84  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

The  condition  was  something  like  that  in  England  after 
the  Black  Death.  The  price  of  labour  had  risen,  and  this 
made  revival  easier.  The  Turks  tried  to  get  complete 
control  of  trades,  &c.,  but  could  not.  Our  friends  under- 
took 20  orphans  to  begin  with,  and  tried  to  restore  the 
school  for  700  children ;  now  Miss  Shattuck  writes  there 
are  70  orphans  and  1 100  children  under  care,  and  the 
city  has  largely  recovered,  and  trade  and  industry  are 
reviving.  The  place  where  things  were  worst  has  now 
a  better  prospect  than  most. 

He  had  had  many  precious  and  beautiful  opportunities 
of  speaking  to  the  people,  through  an  interpreter — many 
large  and  powerful  meetings.  The  Turks  sent  watchers 
to  try  and  find  objectionable  matter,  but  exhausted  their 
subtlety  in  seeking  for  such.  He  had  two  or  three 
thousand  people  at  a  meeting,  and  they  would  listen  all 
day,  if  you  would  speak  :  like  the  early  Friends'  meetings, 
where  there  was  no  clock  but  the  celestial  ones. 

The  Gregorian  Armenians  were  as  a  rule  willing  to 
help  them ;  sometimes  they  were  suspicious  and  would 
not,  but  generally  otherwise.  H.  B.  H.  had  a  large 
women's  meeting  at  Malatia :  the  priests  were  present 
and  sympathetic. 

After  these  meetings  they  seemed  to  get  hold  of  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  community :  every  one  comes 
and  tells  you  their  trouble,  and  in  a  little  while  you 
can  take  stock  of  the  situation,  and  begin  to  put  the 
works  together. 

There  is  a  good  work  to  be  done  amongst  these  people  : 
they  are  not  savages,  but  the  progressives  of  the  East. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  185 

They  know  your  sciences,  your  mechanics,  and  are 
rapidly  imbibing  the  principles  of  Protestantism.  There 
are  many  deep  and  sincere  Christians,  loyal  to  Jesus 
Christ ;  many  have  borne  every  discredit  and  dishonour 
for  the  Great  Name.  In  one  case,  a  man  at  Malatia  was 
riddled  with  bullets  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  that,  as  they 
said,  Jesus  Christ  might  find  him  if  He  wanted  him. 
A  woman  came  to  J.  R.  H.  to  ask  why  God  permitted 
such  dishonour  to  His  Name :  she  was  referred  to  the 
Gospel,  where  Jesus  was  reviled  and  taunted  on  the 
cross.  The  people  were  thus  down  at  the  lowest  point 
in  regard  to  faith,  and  in  danger  of  gravitating  to  despair. 
He  hoped  that  their  service  had  helped  the  people,  and 
had  shown  them  that  God  rules  through  all. 

There  is  still  need  of  caution  at  present  in  any  publica- 
tion, as  a  hostage  is  in  the  enemy's  country. 

J.  E-.  H.  arrived  at  Constantinople  on  Sunday,  August 
24th,  and  for  two  days  was  engaged  in  trying  to  see  am- 
bassadors and  other  persons  of  influence,  but  without 
much  avail.  Miss  Kimball,  from  Van,  with  whom  and 
her  two  companions  he  had  travelled  from  Samsoun, 
while  walking  down  the  streets  of  Galata,  said,  "  These 
streets  will  run  with  blood  before  long."  They  did  so. 
It  was  known  that  something  was  going  to  happen. 

J.  R.  H.'s  personal  experience  in  the  streets  during  the 
massacre  on  Wednesday  generally  confirmed  the  news- 
paper accounts.  It  was  systematically  organised :  the 
carts  were  ready,  and  the  wards  of  the  city  were  taken 
one  after  another;  the  porter  of  one  hotel  said  ninety- 
six  carts  of   dead  bodies  passed  the  door  before  4  A.M. 


1 86  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

on  Friday  morning;  not  a  single  male  Armenian  was 
left,  it  is  said,  in  one  quarter :  they  were  hunted  like 
rabbits. 

II. — Notes  of  J.  R.  H.'s  Journey. 

Chiefly  a  Summary  of  Circular  Letter  No.  XXVII. 

Taking  up  the  thread  of  our  narrative  from  Harpoot, 
July  30th:  We  went  from  Harpoot  to  Malatia :  Shakir 
Pasha,  the  Reform  Commissioner,  was  there ;  the  British 
Consul  went  also,  and  some  missionaries  from  Harpoot. 
There  was  much  excitement  in  the  place  on  our  coming, 
the  whole  town  came  out  to  view  us,  and  we  were  wel- 
comed remarkably. 

We  were  much  surprised  at  what  we  found.  At  Har- 
poot it  had  been  a  country  difficulty,  a  village  question, 
many  of  the  houses  were  not  destroyed ;  the  lives  had 
been  mainly  spared, — a  few  hundred  people  killed.  In 
Malatia  it  was  a  contrast.  A  city,  in  which  the  destruc- 
tion of  life  was  awful,  almost  all  the  houses  were  down ; 
it  was  like  Ourfa  again,  where  there  were  very  few  Chris- 
tian villages  outside  the  city. 

We  visited  Shakir  Pasha,  and  called  on  the  Mutessarif, 
— it  was  he  who  gave  the  direct  orders  for  the  massacres ; 
he  killed  the  Christians  even  in  the  Government  build- 
ings, ordered  them  out  in  the  street  and  had  them  shot 
under  his  eyes,  when  they  begged  to  be  spared.  We 
asked  permission  of  Shakir  Pasha  for  H.  B.  H.  to  pay  a 
visit  to  his  wife.     She  is  a  European  (Polish).  .  .   . 

After  these  arrangements  on  the  Saturday,  we  looked 
about  the  city,  a  beautiful  one,  a  city  of  gardens — every 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  187 

honse  in  its  own  garden,  with  streams  of  water  running 
through ;  perhaps  40,000  inhabitants.  The  houses  were 
not  as  at  Ourfa  of  stone,  but  of  mud  bricks  and  poplar 
beams,  some  very  beautiful,  but  destroyed  easily,  simply 
burnt  out ;  500  or  600  had  gone,  only  two  or  three  Chris- 
tian houses  were  left, — we  had  one.  The  people  were 
living  in  gardens  and  on  the  ground.  The  place  had 
been  visited  by  the  Red  Cross  Mission. 

There  are  no  missionaries  living  at  Malatia :  it  is  under 
the  Harpoot  station,  the  preaching  all  done  by  natives, 
and  well  done.  There  are  1560  orphans  in  the  city,  and 
over  500  widows.  In  one  ward  of  the  city  there  was  only 
one  male  Christian  left.  Christians  are  perhaps  one  in 
nine  of  the  population ;  there  were  killed  altogether  about 
3000  (November  1895).  Very  little  news  of  this  came  to 
Europe.  The  people  defended  themselves  in  the  Arme- 
nian church,  barricaded  themselves  on  the  roof  of  the 
church  with  the  stones  found  there,  and  kept  up  fire  for 
eight  days,  till  the  Government  was  obliged  to  send  them 
protection. 

The  missionaries  and  ourselves  examined  into  the  state 
of  the  city.  On  the  Sunday  we  went  to  see  the  Protestant 
church,  which  we  found  ruined  and  the  school  destroyed ; 
it  was  a  large  and  a  beautiful  church,  not  yet  completed. 
The  pastor  was  in  prison ;  we  tried  to  get  him  released. 
We  had  a  meeting  in  an  orchard,  where  there  was  a 
verandah ;  the  people  came,  and  the  missionaries  also,  a 
large  crowd  in  the  open  air  under  the  trees.  I  spoke, 
of  course  through  an  Armenian  interpreter.  I  asked  the 
people  to  sing  a  hymn ;  some  hymns  are  not  allowed  by 


1 88  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

the  Turks  (as,  "  Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun "). 
They  said,  "  We  can't  sing ;  we  have  not  sung  anything 
since  the  massacre."  I  said,  "  You  must  sing  :  "  a  lady 
started  a  hymn,  and  by-and-by  the  whole  congregation 
joined  in.  This  broke  the  spell, — the  apathetic  despair- 
ing mood  of  the  people ;  they  had  "  hung  their  harps  on 
the  willows,"  and  we  got  them  down.  I  spoke,  it  was  a 
very  good  meeting  ;  they  said  it  was  what  was  wanted,  and 
their  condition  had  been  spoken  to. 

Then  the  people  began  to  visit  us,  and  we  learned  the 
state  of  the  city.  It  was  like  Ourfa,  but  with  the  compli- 
cation that  the  people  were  houseless,  and  there  was  not 
the  same  number  of  wounded. 

We  left  after  three  days.  H.  B.  H.  stayed  on  and  in- 
vestigated the  whole  of  the  city  for  orphans  and  widows. 
We  examined  the  question  of  the  scJiools.  I  promised  to 
put  a  roof  on  the  Protestant  school-house,  so  that  they 
would  meet  there  on  Sundays  for  worship.  Understand- 
ing that  we  were  going  to  help  the  Protestant  school,  the 
Gregorians  also  asked  help.  We  made  them  a  similar 
offer  to  that  which  we  had  made  at  Ourfa.  "  Were  the 
Gregorians  prepared  to  join  the  Protestants  in  a  com- 
mon School  Committee?"  Yes,  they  were  now  willing. 
So  we  put  our  heads  together  and  reorganised  the  school, 
to  take  1500  children,  Protestant  and  Gregorian.  The 
people  were  penniless :  Armenian  schools  are  generally 
independent  and  self-supporting ;  now  the  children  were 
running  wild  in  the  town.  We  arranged  this,  getting  a 
builder  to  roof  the  school-room. 

As  to  the  Orphans :  We  could  not  found  an  orphanage 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  189 

(had  no  firman  from  the  Government),  so  we  did  as  before, 
got  some  of  the  best  women  to  take  the  children  into  their 
homes,  and  to  look  after  them  at  an  estimate  of  so  much 
per  head ;  twenty  to  begin  with,  and  I  telegraphed  after- 
wards to  take  more. 

Houses  had  to  be  built.  Of  course  we  could  not  rebuild 
a  city,  even  though  labour  is  cheap.  So  we  set  a  good 
example  to  stimulate  them  to  rebuild,  provided  materials 
for  certain  houses — maybe  we  shall  build  ten  or  twelve 
houses  to  encourage  the  others.  The  people  in  winter 
will  be  making  mud  bricks  for  themselves.  "  Will  they 
be  destroyed  again  ?  "  Well,  we  must  relieve  ;  we  can't 
speculate  as  to  the  future.  The  people  said,  "It  is  no 
good,  the  houses  will  be  pulled  down,  and  we  shall  be 
plundered."  Miss  Bush  of  Harpoot  was  put  at  the  head 
of  the  schools. 

All  our  money  is  kept  in  the  mission  safes,  and  none  of 
it,  as  far  as  we  know,  has  been  lost. 

Malatia  forms  a  triangle  with  other  two  towns  {Arabldr 
and  Gurun)  that  have  been  very  roughly  treated.  Arabkir 
was  visited  by  the  Red  Cross  Mission  early  in  the  spring, 
when  typhus  was  raging  (2000  cases),  and  they  had  done 
chiefly  medical  work. 

H.  went  back  to  Karpoot,  travelling  with  two  mission- 
aries (Mr.  Gates  and  Miss  Bush)  to  that  place.  She  is 
staying  on  with  a  prospect  of  further  relief  work  in  the 
country. 

I  worked  my  way  down  from  Malatia  to  Sivas  by  Satur- 
day night,  five  long  days'  journey.  There  was  a  very 
terrible  massacre  there,  the  Protestant  pastor  was  shot  and 


ipo  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

many  leading  Christians.  I  put  up  at  the  American  Mis- 
sion. On  Sunday  I  preached  in  the  Protestant  church, 
and  there  were  other  services  also  throughout  the  day.  I 
stayed  to  meet  the  English  and  American  Consuls ;  they 
were  all  of  one  mind,  the  situation  is  intolerable,  a  disgrace 
to  England. 

I  reached  Tohat  two  days  after  (where  Henry  Martyn 
died);  there  had  been  no  trouble  there,  but  the  people 
were  threatened. 

Amasia  came  next,  after  two  days  more.  The  people 
here  were  plundered,  but  helped  one  another.  No  outside 
aid  required. 

I  was  at  Marsovan  for  Sunday,  and  preached  in  the 
church.  The  town  was  badly  treated.  Much  relief  money 
had  been  received,  and  all  put  into  industries.  Fifty  looms 
were  started,  and  thus  they  got  all  the  money  back  again 
(the  relief  work  has  therefore  become  self-supporting). 
I  found  a  difficulty  as  to  drugs;  one  of  the  lady  mis- 
sionaries was  providing  them  out  of  her  own  salary. 

I  came  on  to  Constantinople  on  August  24. 


LETTER  No.    XXIX. 


PRIVATE  LETTER  OF  THANKS  FOR  UNEXPECTED  CONTRIBUTION — 
BUILDING  OF  SCHOOLS,  ETC.,  AT  MALATIA — THE  PEOPLE  SET 
CHURCH  BEFORE  HOUSES  —  ONE  THOUSAND  CHILDREN  TO  BE 
ACCOMMODATED  —  A  JOINT  SCHOOL  BOARD  —  UNION  OP  THE 
CHURCHES. 

Harpoot,  Sept.  I,  1896. 

Beloved  Friends, — "Before  they  call  I  will  answer,"  &c. 

The  lovely  letter  of  encouragement  and  the  cheque  for 
^^250  seemed  like  a  direct  reply  to  my  telegram  from 
Malatia,  though  posted  probably  before  that  was  thought 
of.  How  good  God  is  thus  to  fulfil  His  promises  of  old, 
and  how  lovely  of  you  to  have  the  needs  of  my  now  lonely 
work  so  much  in  mind !  I  do  thank  you  most  warmly 
and  shall  use  it  all,  or  nearly  so,  for  the  purpose  indicated 
in  my  telegram,  and  already  I  hear  with  the  inward  ear  the 
multiform  sounds  which  accompany  building  at  Malatia. 

If  permission  is  granted  by  the  local  government  for 
rebuilding  the  schools,  which  on  Sundays  will  be  used  for 
church,  the  shape  of  them  will  be  something  like  this — 

I'luaeliei's  Stand. 


Girls' 
to  hold 


School 
500 


Primary 
500  to 


School 
GOO 


The  dotted  lines  show  wooden  partitions  which  will  be 
removed  on  Sundays,  and  the  preacher  can  then  have  an 


lyl 


192  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

audience  of  looo  or  more  very  well.  They  get  in  about 
twice  as  many  people  to  the  square  yard  here  as  in 
England,  because  there  are  no  chairs  or  benches ;  all  sit 
on  carpets  as  close  together,  if  need  be,  as  is  physically 
possible,  and  you  never  saw  such  a  sight  as  they  present 
when  crowded,  especially  the  women. 

We  have  sent  the  first  instalment  of  money,  and  oh 
how  glad  they  are  !  for  this  is  a  religious  people,  and  it  is 
true  that  they  begged  that  their  church  might  be  rebuilt 
before  their  houses — and  so  it  will  be — though  I  rejoice  to 
say  the  Duke  of  Westminster's  Committee  has  allotted 
^2000  for  rebuilding  houses,  and  that  work  will  also 
begin  soon.  I  Lave  also  advanced  50  liras  for  the  roof  of 
the  boys'  school  in  the  market-place — a  new  building  at 
the  time  of  the  massacre,  only  needing  the  roof.  Now 
they  will  soon  get  this  up,  and  500  boys  will  then  be  taken 
from  the  streets  (indeed  they  are  being  gathered  together 
now),  and  so  there  will  be  accommodation  for  1000 
children. 

The  people  will  themselves  provide  the  teachers,  and 
Miss  Bush  and  I  appointed  the  school  board — part  Pro- 
testant, part  Gregorian,  with  a  Protestant  as  chairman, 
and  Miss  Bush  as  real,  though  absent,  head,  just  as  Miss 
Shattuck  at  Ourfa.  This  union  of  the  ancient  and  more 
modern  Churches  in  joint  work  is  a  most  blessed  thing. 
The  Gregorian  priest  spoke  of  it  with  enthusiasm  after 
the  women's  meeting  Miss  Bush  and  I  had  in  their  big 
church  (1500  at  least)  as  what  he  longed  for — the  uplift- 
ing, the  teaching,  the  enlightenment  of  his  people.  It 
was  at  his  entreaty  that  the  boys'  school  was  undertaken 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  193 

and  the  committee  formed,  and  now  they  are  working 
away  with  a  will. 

Do  not  think,  beloved  friends,  that  this  is  any  less 
relief  work  than  feeding  the  bodies  of  these  poor  sufferers. 
Without  public  worship  or  schooling,  they  do  not  feel  as 
if  they  are  really  living,  only  existing. 

I  was  extremely  touched  at  the  account  of  that  young 
Christian  servant  and  her  noble  gift.  I  read  it  to  our 
assembled  company  of  missionaries,  and  I  do  not  think 
there  was  a  dry  eye.  I  have  made  her  gift  a  special 
donation  for  aiding  the  most  destitute  of  the  Christian 
women  here,  under  two  of  the  lady  missionaries,  so  that 
every  penny  will  be  prayerfully  expended. — Your  sister 
as  always,  H.  B.  H. 

Armenian  Relief  Fund. 

[I  add  a  report  of  relief  work  done  in  the  Harpoot  district,  wliich 
will  enable  friends  in  tlie  West  to  understand  the  condition  of  tlie 
Armenians  in  that  district  at  the  close  of  the  present  summer. — 
J.  R.  H. 

Harpoot,  September  3,  1 896. 

Dear  Friends, — For  nine  months  a  constant  stream  of  benevo- 
lence has  been  flowing  into  this  country  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers 
from  the  sad  events  of  last  November.  It  is  now  a  litting  time  to 
look  forwards  and  backwards,  to  recount  the  good  that  has  been 
accomplished,  and  to  forecast  the  needs  of  continued  relief. 

The  field  of  which  Harpoot  is  the  centre  contains  a  much  larger 
proportion  of  desolated  towns  and  villages  than  any  other.  In  256 
towns  and  villages  we  have  given  relief  to  74,805  souls.  The 
money  distributed  amounts  to  L.T.  27,544.  The  greater  part  of 
this  has  been  paid  out  in  small  sums  for  the  purchase  of  food  ; 
each  family  received  a  sum  varying  according  to  the  number  of 
Bouls — ten  piastres  for  every  adult,  and  one-half  that  amount  for 
children. 

N 


194  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

In  this  way  relief  lias  been  distributed  tliree  times,  and  in  some 
places  four  times,  during  the  winter  :  and  it  is  the  universal  testi- 
mony of  the  people  that  they  owe  their  lives  to  the  relief  money 
sent  to  them  from  England,  America,  and  Europe.  They  are  con- 
stantly invoking  God's  richest  blessing  for  those  who,  for  love  of 
God  and  humanity,  have  cared  for  them  in  their  distress. 

The  monej'  thus  given  has  been  largely  paid  from  our  hands  into 
the  hands  of  the  recipients.  Favoured  by  an  excej^tionally  mild 
winter,  the  people  liave  come  a  journey  of  two  and  three  days  to 
receive  the  help  which  has  kept  them  alive.  Our  premises  were 
thronged  daily  by  crowds  of  applicants  waiting  their  turn.  It 
would  have  been  impossible  for  us,  with  the  small  number  of 
workers  we  could  command,  to  have  fed  this  army  of  70,000  souls 
in  any  other  way.  We  could  not  go  to  them,  nor  send  grain  to 
them  ;  but  they  could  come  to  us,  and  they  could  buy  food  for 
themselves  with  the  small  sums  given  to  them. 

At  the  same  time  a  bureau  of  industrial  relief  for  women  was 
opened  under  the  care  of  Misses  Bush  and  Seymour,  where  the 
destitute  women  of  the  city,  and  refugees  who  had  lied  hither  for 
safety,  received  small  wages  for  cutting  cloth  and  making  garments 
to  be  given  to  the  destitute  ;  3630  pieces  of  bedding  were  given  out 
from  this  depository,  and  18,228  suits  of  cotton  underclothing. 
"Where  70,000  souls  are  in  need,  it  is  very  obvious  that  this  supply 
is  wholly  inadequate.  In  some  cases  money  was  given  to  the  people 
to  enable  them  to  buy  back  the  beds  which  had  been  stolen  from 
them,  but  thousands  of  families  slept  on  the  ground  without  cover- 
ing all  through  the  winter,  and  in  many  other  families  the  sick  and 
the  well  occupied  the  same  beds. 

Emijloyment  was  given  to  men  also  in  clearing  away  the  ruins  of 
our  burned  buildings,  repairing  the  Protestant  graveyard,  making 
roads,  and  the  like,  at  wages  which  would  barely  provide  bread  for 
their  families. 

L.T.  1 20  have  been  expended  in  giving  relief  to  refugees  not  reached 
from  any  of  our  relief  centres.  Many  of  these  were  in  a  deplorable 
condition.  The  storm  broke  upon  them  when  they  were  away  from 
home.  Stripped  of  clothing,  without  money  or  food,  ignorant  of 
the  condition  of  their  families,  they  came  to  us  for  aid  to  make  their 
way  back  to  their  desolated  homes. 

Erom  this  same  fund  we  have  aided  the  refugees  who  were 
crowded  together  in  the  cities  to  go  back  to  their  villages  and  find 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  195 

employment  there,  and  we  have  cared  for  those  who  came  here  to 
obtain  relief.  To  these  last  we  gave  sums  equal  to  one  or  two  cents 
per  night,  with  which  to  obtain  food  and  shelter.  They  slept  in  the 
khans,  huddled  together  like  sheep  to  keep  warm,  for  they  had  no 
covering  to  protect  them  from  the  cold  of  winter. 

L.T.io  was  expended  in  redeeming  girls  and  women  from  the 
hands  of  the  Kurds  who  had  carried  them  off  captive.  Others  were 
redeemed  in  the  same  way  by  the  help  of  special  gifts  or  by  their 
friends  and  relatives. 

L.T.I  16  have  been  expended  for  the  relief  of  Gregorian  priests 
and  teachers.  The  condition  of  this  class  is  often  most  deplorable. 
The  communities  are  no  longer  able  to  support  them.  They  are 
unused  to  labour,  and  have  no  trade  with  which  to  support  them- 
selves. Their  condition  is  one  that  appeals  strongly  to  our  sym- 
pathies, and  I  should  be  glad  if  some  special  provision  could  be 
made  for  them. 

Through  the  winter  we  employed  a  physician  to  care  for  the 
sick ;  we  sheltered  many  sick  and  wounded  in  a  temporary  hospital, 
and  fiirnished  food  and  medicines.  The  whole  expense  was  small, 
L.T.33. 

With  the  opening  of  spring  we  felt  that  relief  methods  must  be 
changed,  and  that  efforts  must  be  made  to  start  the  people  in  busi- 
ness, 80  that  they  might  become  independent  of  aid  from  abroad. 
Our  missionary  force  was  too  small  to  grajiple  with  this  problem, 
but  at  this  juncture  the  agents  of  the  Red  Cross  arrived  upon  the 
field,  and  oiganised  three  expeditions  to  Arabkir,  Charsandjak,  and 
Palu.  These  expeditions  were  most  helpful  in  just  the  lines  of 
greatest  need,  inspiring  the  people  with  hope,  and  furnishing  them 
with  means  of  resuming  their  former  occupations.  The  very 
thought  that  some  one  cared  for  them  gave  hope  to  the  people 
and  proved  a  stimulus  to  them.  Since  the  departure  of  the  Red 
Cross  agents  the  same  work  has  been  carried  on  m  Chemesligesck 
and  Malatia.  Time  is  needed  for  the  country  to  recover  from  such 
terrible  ruin  as  has  been  wrought.  For  a  long  time  the  people  seemed 
completely  paralysed.     They  were  left  not  only  helpless  Ijut  liojieless. 

Now,  as  it  is  the  season  of  harvest  and  fruit-gathering,  we  are 
suspending  relief  work  for  a  sea.son,  willi  the  exception  of  efforts 
to  put  the  people  in  the  way  of  earning  their  own  living,  and  we 
are  trying  to  estimate  how  far  it  will  be  possible  for  them  to  care 
for  themselves  during  the  coming  winter. 


196  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Much  has  been  accomplislied  in  the  lines  we  have  indicated,  and 
the  number  of  those  who  must  still  receive  relief  has  been  greatly- 
diminished.  In  Malatia  the  list  has  been  reduced  from  7700  to 
about  2000  souls,  and  in  other  places  a  great  many  will  be  able  to 
get  through  the  winter  without  aid.  But  there  are  some  features 
of  the  situation  which  make  it  inevitable  that  there  should  be 
much  distress  during  the  coming  winter,  and  which  make  it  neces- 
sary to  continue  relief  measures  even  though  it  be  on  a  reduced 
scale. 

In  the  first  place,  many  have  no  houses  to  shelter  them.  When 
cold  weather  sets  in  they  will  be  no  longer  able  to  live  in  gardens 
as  they  have  been  doing  through  the  summer,  but  will  be  forced  to 
huddle  together  in  small  and  unsuitable  quarters,  where  disease  will 
break  out  and  carry  off  many.  This  is  notably  the  condition  of 
Arabkir  city,  where  1561  houses  were  burned,  and  only  621  remain 
to  the  Christians.  If  some  provision  is  not  made  for  sheltering  the 
people,  last  year's  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  is  almost  certain  to  be 
repeated  there.  i\Iore  than  600  died  of  this  disease  last  year  ;  the 
fatality  is  likely  to  be  worse  this  year,  because  the  people  are  more 
enfeebled.  Many  villages  are  in  the  same  condition  as  regards 
shelter.     This  is  the  most  pressing  need  at  the  present  moment. 

The  second  need  is  that  of  help  to  start  in  business.  Many  are 
still  unable  to  provide  themselves  Avith  tools  or  capital  so  that  they 
may  resume  their  former  occupations.  In  Arabkir  weaving  was 
the  principal  industry.  The  Eed  Cross  gave  some  150  looms. 
Others  had  rej^aired  old  looms  or  provided  themselves  with  new 
ones.  With  the  opening  of  the  winter  there  will  be  a  demand  for 
all  the  cloth  they  can  make,  but  they  have  not  the  capital  to 
purchase  thread  for  their  looms,  and  the  merchants  who  formerly 
furnished  the  capital  have  been  impoverished,  so  the  looms  stand 
idle.  If  L.T.2000  could  l^e  invested  in  thread,  and  distributed 
among  the  weavers  of  that  city,  it  would  set  that  industry  going, 
and  furnish  employment  for  many  of  the  widows  and  orphans 
there. 

In  Choonkoosh  business  is  at  a  standstill.  The  people  were 
artisans  and  tradesmen  who  pursued  their  business  in  the  villages, 
travelling  all  over  the  region  through  the  summer  and  fall,  and 
returning  to  their  houses  in  the  winter.  Since  the  massacres  they 
have  not  dared  to  go  out  to  the  villages,  and  they  lack  the  capital 
to  make  a  start  in  business.     Malatia  was  in  the  same  condition, 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  197 

but  a  recent  visit  there  did  miTcli  to  restore  confidence,  and  to  set 
things  going.  A  visit  to  Choonkoosh  was  also  planned,  but  the 
Vali  objected  to  our  going  by  the  direct  route  on  account  of  danger, 
so  the  visit  has  been  deferred.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  better 
investment  for  relief  money  than  is  offered  in  this  line  of  furnish- 
ing men  with  a  small  amount,  seldom  exceeding  ten  dollars,  with 
which  to  begin  business.  It  is  better  to  put  a  man  in  the  way  of 
earning  his  own  living  than  to  support  him  by  alms. 

The  third  feature  of  the  situation  is  one  that  calls  for  serious 
thought  and  eff'ort.  It  is  the  large  number  of  widows  and  orjihans 
left  without  any  bread-winners  on  whom  to  depend  for  supjjort.  A 
careful  canvass  of  the  city  of  IMalatia  and  seven  near  villages  shows 
that  there  are  1883  orphans  and  630  widows  there.  The  number  in 
Arabkir  is  said  to  be  even  larger.  In  the  village  of  Harboosi  there 
are  between  thirty  and  forty  orphans  who  wander  about  the  village 
as  the  dogs  do,  eating,  sleeping  where  they  can.  Every  town  and 
village  furnishes  its  contingent  of  widows  and  orphans,  and  the 
villagers  are  too  much  engrossed  in  the  struggle  to  provide  bread 
for  their  own  families  to  care  for  these  helpless  ones  as  they  would 
ordinarily  do.     What  is  to  become  of  them  ? 

In  Malatia,  Mrs.  Harris,  the  wife  of  Professor  J.  Rendel  Harris  of 
Cambridge,  England,  has  gathered  samples  of  embroidery  wrought 
by  the  women,  hoping  to  find  a  market  for  it  in  England  and 
America.  Anything  that  can  be  done  to  furnish  lucrative  employ- 
ment to  widows  and  orphans  will  greatly  relieve  this  saddest  feature 
of  the  present  situation. 

Some  efforts  have  been  made  to  care  for  the  orphans.  Ten  have 
been  sent  to  the  Deaconess'  Home  in  Smyrna,  and  a  few  more  will 
shortly  be  sent  to  Broussa  and  Constantinople.  Through  Mm.  Hai-ris' 
kindness  some  fifty  have  been  placed  in  homes  in  Malatia  for  one  year. 
But  the  multitude  uncared  for  is  hardly  affected  by  these  efforts. 

I  think  the  most  feasible  plan  of  caring  for  them  is  to  find  homes 
for  them  in  Christian  families,  who  will  receive  them  and  bring 
them  up  until  they  are  able  to  earn  their  own  living.  This  would 
involve  an  expense  of  about  twenty-five  dollars  (£$)  per  year  for  each 
child.  It  should  be  stipulated  that  the  children  shoidd  iittend  a 
Chi-istian  school,  and  wherever  the  number  of  or])hans  in  a  ])lace 
will  warrant  it,  some  faitlifnl  man  or  woman  should  be  appointed 
as  giiardian  to  visit  the  children  in  their  homes,  and  see  to  it  that 
they  are  properly  brought  up. 


198  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

In  some  cases,  perhaps,  ten  children  could  be  placed  in  the  care 
of  a  worthy  widow.  Some  children  could  be  received  into  our 
boarding-schools  if  provision  could  be  made  for  the  expense. 
Our  schools  are  already  so  heavily  burdened  that  we  could  not 
assume  more  without  help.  The  cost  per  year  would  be  about  forty 
dollars  (^8)  for  a  boy  or  girl.  This  plan  has  the  advantage,  that  a 
beginning  can  be  made  at  once.  Whenever  the  money  is  provided 
a  boy  or  girl  can  be  at  once  cared  for  either  in  a  family  or  in  our 
schools. 

After  all  that  has  been  done,  or  may  be  done,  in  these  lines,  it  is 
certain  that  there  will  be  at  least  20,000  souls  in  this  field  who 
will  need  help  to  get  through  the  coming  winter.  The  provision 
hitherto  made  for  beds  and  clothing  is  wholly  inadequate,  and  there 
will  be  great  suffering  as  winter  comes  on  unless  help  can  be  given 
for  this. 

Then,  too,  many  can  make  no  adequate  provision  of  food  for  the 

winter.     In  the  Cliarsandjak  region  the  harvests  are  scanty,  and  it 

is  estimated  that  by  the  time  the  people  have  paid  their  taxes  little 

will  be  left  for  them.      In  all  cpiarters  the  Government  is  now 

pressing  hard  for  taxes  which   have  been  suffered  to  remain  in 

arrears  until  the  time  of  harvests.     Now  the  officials,  who  have 

received  no  salaries  for  months,  collect  the  taxes  with  the  greatest 

rigour,  and  do  not  scruple  at  any  treatment  of  the  people  to  extract 

money  from  them.     A  great  part  of  the  harvests  will  go  to  satisfy 

the  claims  of  the  Government.      Moreover,  there  are  many  who 

have  no  fields,  to  whom  the  harvests  bring  no  relief.     This  is  the 

case  with  a  large  proportion  of  those  who  dwell  in  the  cities  of 

Malatia,  Arabkir,  Palu,  and  Harpoot.     Even  now  the  cry  for  help 

for  food  from  Arabkir  is  bitter,  and  growing  increasingly  urgent. 

It  is  difficult  to  forecast  the  future,  but  I  think  it  will  require  at 

least  L.T.  12,000  to  provide  food  for  the  starving  durintf  the  winter, 

and  if  the  need  of  beds,  clothing,  and  shelter  is  to  be  met,  very 

much  more  will  be  required. 

(Signed)        C.  F.  Gates.] 


LETTER  No.  XXX. 

JOURNEY  TO  VAN  PUT  ASIDE  FOR  THE  PRESENT  —  HEMMED  IN  AT 
HARPOOT — SIGNS  OF  TROUBLE  AROUND — PRESENCE  OP  H.  B.  H. 
"a  safeguard  TO  THE  TOWN" — COLLEGE  FLOURISHING  — 
H.  B.  H.  ILL  WITH  MALARIAL  FEVER  —  THE  GREAT  NEED  OF 
HELP   FOR  THE   ORPHANS. 

Appended. 

I.   APPEAL   FROM   MALATIA   FOR   MORE   HELP   FOR   ORPHANS. 
II.    THANKS    FOR    HELP    IN    REBUILDING    CHURCH    AND    SCHOOLS   AT 
ARABKIR. 
HL    LETTER    ASKING    PERMISSION    FOR  PROTESTANTS  TO  WORSHIP  IN 
GREGORIAN   CHURCH   AT   MALATIA. 

Harpoot,  Seiotember  i6,  1896. 

Dear  Friends,  —  After  my  confident  expectation  of 
being  able  to  make  the  proposed  journey  to  Van  in  the 
company  of  Shakir  Pasha's  party,  yoii  may  be  surprised 
to  find  me  still  dating  from  Harpoot.  Our  change  of 
plan  was  certainly  a  great  disappointment  and  surprise 
to  me,  but  I  will  simply  narrate  events. 

We  had  planned  to  follow  two  or  three  days  after  the 
Marshal,  so  as  to  avoid  travelling  on  Sunday,  and  because 
he  expected  to  remain  four  or  five  days  at  Pain,  where  we 
were  to  join  the  company  (leaving  Harpoot  on  Monday, 
August  31).  Mr.  Fontana,  the  Consul,  brought  up  our 
teskerehs  on  Saturday  evening  ;  the  Kurdish  muleteers  (six 

of  them)  were  on  the  grounds  with  their  animals,  our 

199 


200  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

tents  were  ready,  and  baggage  and  provisions  all  packed, 
when  a  telegram  from  the  British  Embassy,  telling  of  the 
events  of  the  27th  at  Constantinople,  changed  the  aspect 
of  affairs.  The  Consul  would  have  still  let  us  go,  travelling 
under  the  circumstances  not  being  more  dangerous  than 
staying  here  in  his  judgment,  but  the  mission  party  felt 
that  in  the  uncertainty  of  events  here,  they  must  all  keep 
close  together,  mid  not  leave  the  college  premises.  This 
opinion  was  quite  united  and  decisive,  and  as  I  could  not 
travel  alone  without  dragoman  or  interpreter,  it  decided 
the  question  for  me  too. 

So  here  I  am  until  the  way  opens  for  some  new  plan. 
Humanly  speaking  we  are  hemmed  in  on  every  hand,  and 
I  will  tell  you  briefly  that  the  people  all  around  are  greatly 
disturbed,  and  we  hear  of  trouble  in  various  quarters,  near 
and  far.  I  myself  do  not  believe  that  it  will  be  anything 
like  last  autumn  and  winter,  for  I  believe  the  Turkish 
Government  is  on  the  alert  to  prevent ;  but  no  doubt 
terrible  threateniugs  are  being  uttered  on  one  side,  and 
believed  on  the  other,  and  so  people  are  bringing  their 
goods  to  the  college  for  safety,  and  the  Consul  has  asked 
for  a  largely  increased  guard  of  soldiers  for  us. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Vali  making  this  request,  he  gave, 
as  an  added  reason  for  the  precautions,  the  fact  of  an 
English  lady  being  for  the  time  here,  and  the  great  import- 
ance of  her  safety.  This  troubled  me  not  a  little,  for,  as 
you  all  know,  I  have  no  confidence  for  myself  in  the  pro- 
tection of  guns,  &c.,  and  so  I  wrote  and  asked  the  Consul 
to  tell  the  Governor  /  had  no  fear  for  myself  and  did  not 
wish  any  more  soldiers  sent  here  on  my  account.     The 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  201 

Consul  replied  very  courteously  that  he  would  remember 
my  wish,  and  added  that  he  himself  considered  my  pre- 
sence here  a  great  safeguard  to  the  place.  This  is  a  new 
light  on  the  subject,  and  perhaps  it  is  for  this  purpose  I 
have  been  permitted  this  detention. 

In  spite  of  all  the  trouble  around,  however,  the  college 
has  just  reopened  with  more  attenders,  both  of  boys  and 
girls,  than  ever  before,  about  300  boys  and  over  200  girls, 
and  most  of  these  are  paying  for  themselves.  This  indi- 
cates, I  think,  the  hopeful  and  elastic  character  of  the 
people,  and  their  great  love  of  education.     Does  it  not  ? 

And  this  is  going  on  in  face  of  a  mandate  from  , 

lately  received,  to  the  Government  here,  to  discourage  the 
Protestant  propaganda,  which  has  had  the  effect  of  shutting 
up  one  school  and  place  of  worship  already,  but  not  the 
one  that  we  gave  ;^40  to  repair  before  E.  left,  for  that  is,  I 
thank  God,  open,  and  full  of  children,  and  when  I  am  well 
enough  I  am  going  to  pay  it  a  visit. 

For  you  must  know,  dear  friends,  that,  in  company  with 
several  of  the  dear  missionary  party,  I  have  been  down 
with  some  kind  of  malarial  fever  since  our  journey  was 
given  up,  and  am  rather  weak  still ;  but  do  not  trouble,  as 
I  am  all  rij^ht  again. 

I  am  sending  with  this  a  letter  (No.  I.)  from  Malatia,  or 
part  of  one,  about  the  fifty  orphans  I  arranged  for  there, 
out  of  Fiiends'  funds,  for  one  year,  the  sum  being  p^200. 
You  will  see  they  want  £40  more,  and  no  doubt  next  year 
will  hope  for  a  repetition.  As  I  am  still  reserving  some 
money  for  other  places,  I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  the  means 
of  acceding  to  their  request,  but  I  send  the  petition,  that 


202  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

if  Friends'  Committee  wish  these  added  ten  to  be  taken 
on,  they  may  communicate  directly  with  the  "  modestly- 
shining  "  Miss  Bush  herself,  whose  address  is  simply — 
American  Mission,  Harpoot,  Turkey.  I  thought  the 
letter  so  characteristic  of  the  people,  that,  apart  from  the 
request,  you  would  like  to  see  it, 

I  also  send  a  long  document,  of  which  extracts  might 
be  sent  round  in  a  circular,  about  the  general  state  of  the 
orphan  question.  The  friends  here  think  the  way  we  are 
doing  at  Malatia  is  the  best  way  to  grapple  with  the  diffi- 
culty, and  better  than  for  the  mission  stations  to  try  and 
take  such  masses  of  children  in,  or  to  form  orphanages. 
I  send  the  paper  specially  to  make  you  all  feel  the  terrible 
necessity  of  providing  for  as  many  as  is  possible  of  these 
bereft  little  ones  for  the  next  few  years,  and  if  at  Ourfa 
and  Malatia  and  Van  (?)  Friends  can  maintain  fifty 
or  sixty  for  four  or  five  years  at  £4.  each,  it  will  be  a 
work  the  beauty  and  blessing  of  which  no  words  can 
ever  tell. 

The  Malatia  letter  makes  no  mention  of  Friends  as  their 
benefactors  about  the  orphans,  though  we  impressed  upon 
them  again  and  again  from  whom  the  help  came ;  this 
you  must  forgive,  for  poor  human  nature  looks  to  the 
immediate  hand  held  out,  and  so,  no  doubt,  we  have 
had  more  than  our  share  of  gratitude,  though  you  are 
mentioned,  I  am  glad  to  see,  under  the  general  title  of 
"  philanthropists." 

I  send  also  a  note  of  thanks  (No.  II.),  which  really  belongs 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crossley,  for  help  to  repair  the  Protestant 
church  at  Arabkir.     This  is  really  being  done  now,  and 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  203 

will  soon  be  used,  for  which  we  may  give  great  thanks,  in 
view  of  others  forbidden.  The  one  at  M.,  about  which  I 
wrote  when  there,  and  for  which  help  to  rebuild  is  given 
and  in  Dr.  Barnum's  hands,  is  again  stopped,  after  leave 
having  once  been  given.  Now  that  the  hot  weather  has 
gone  there  is  nowhere  for  the  Protestants  there  to  worship 
under  shelter,  which  is  grievous,  and  no  prospect  of  any, 
so  I  have  made  bold  to  send  a  personal  request  to  the  two 
priests  and  two  leading  Gregorians  that  they  will  kindly 
allow  the  Protestants  to  worship  in  their  great  church 
once  during  Sunday,  till  they  can  build  for  themselves. 
The  note  (No.  III.)  of  Miss  Bush  making  this  request  for 
me  I  also  enclose,  because  it  is  itself  quite  Oriental  in 
style,  I  think. — With  much  love  to  all  dear  friends,  yours 
always,  ^    ^    ^^ 

No.  I. 

Malatia,  August  13,  1896. 
Modestly-shining  Mibs  Bush. 

Dear  Sister  in  Christ, — This  first  time  of  our  writing,  we 
reveal  our  and  tlie  orphans'  fathomless  gratitude  to  you  and  to  the 
gentle  and  good-hearted  lady,  Mrs.  H.,  and  to  all  philanthropists. 

After  your  departure,  the  orphan  committee  immediately  put 
their  hands  to  the  work  liy  going  aliout  among  the  different  quarters 
of  the  city  and  observing  the  orphans  and  tlieir  guardians,  according 
to  the  arrangements  which  you  had  directed.  From  the  money  you 
gave  us  we  give  to  each  of  the  iifty  orphans  33  ]>iastres  (ahout  5s,  4d.). 
We  re(iuired  of  their  guardians  that  tliey  should  be  kept  clean  and 
should  have  home  training  and  be  taught  to  work.  For  one  or  two 
who  had  no  natural  guardians  we  found  places. 

As  we  said,  again  we  I'cpeat — Malatia  will  remain  always  grateful 
to  you.  Your  lienefaclions  are  not  to  be  forgotten.  You  (the  mis- 
sionaries) were  the  savioiu-s  of  IMalatia  from  being  destroyed  by 


204  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

famine,  therefore  it  is  indebted  to  you  for  existence.  You  satisfied 
the  hungry  ;  may  the  Lord  reward  you,  we  have  no  compensation. 
Now,  also,  you  (meaning  Mrs.  H.  and  her  friends)  care  for  orphans. 
We  pray  that  the  Lord  will  reward  this  also  with  His  abundant 
gifts.  "RHiat  you  have  done  are  such  benefits  as  not  only  such  a 
fallen  city  as  Malatia  cannot  recompense,  but  even  a  people  burdened 
with  good  things  coiild  not. 

You  also  will  witness,  and  we  told  you  when  here,  that  to  examine 
into  the  condition  of  orphans  required  time,  which  it  was  impossible 
to  find  then.  After  you  went,  when  we  made  examination,  there 
were  found  many  worthy  orphans  serving  your  purpose  who  had 
been  altogether  forgotten.  Our  conscience  now  tortures  us  as  to  why 
these  more  worthy  of  sympathy  should  have  been  forgotten.  For 
long  it  will  torture  us,  modest  sisters,  if  for  these  remaining  miser- 
able ones  we  do  not  offer  a  petition  to  you.  If  possible,  we  entreat, 
be  pleased  to  give  the  privilege  of  adding  ten  orphans  to  the  fifty 
now  cared  for,  by  which  these  wretched  forgotten  ones  also  will  be 
comforted,  and  you  also,  without  doubt,  have  gained  the  right  of 
being  yet  more  rewarded  of  God. 

Our  gratitude  and  respect  offering  to  you,  Ave  remain,  the  ones 
praying  with  you, 


No.  II. 

Translated  from  Preacher  Bedros  Hacliadooryan^s  Letter 
from  ArabJcir,  August  22,  1896. 

"For  the  ^^30  sent  by  modestly- shining  lady,  Mrs.  H.,  for  the 
renewing  of  our  chapel  and  schools  we  are  very  grateful.  Be  pleased 
to  be  the  interpreter  of  the  grateful  feelings  of  myself  and  the  people, 
and  to  ofl'er  her  our  deep  thankfulness.  This  great  favour  done  to 
us,  and  this  graceful  service  for  the  glory  of  God,  wall  remain  an 
indelible  memory  upon  our  city  and  in  our  hearts.  We  entreat  that 
the  Lord  reward  her." 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  205 


No.  III. 

Translaiiun  of  Letter  from  Carrie  E.  Bush  to  Gregorian 
Armenians  in  Malatia. 

"  Mrs.  H.  salutes  you  and  says,  '  Because  I  have  tried  to  gladden 
you  and  to  care  for  you,  in  a  friendly  way  I  wish  to  entreat  some- 
thing of  you  ;  that  is,  that  you  will  give  permission  to  the  Pro- 
testants to  worship  once  on  the  Sabbath  in  your  Holy  Trinity 
Church  until  they  are  able  for  themselves  to  build  a  chapel.  Be- 
cause I  will  help  them  to  build,  but  at  present  they  are  hindered. 

'"If  you  give  this  privilege,  I  know  that  to  God  and  to  us  it 
will  be  pleasing,  and  I  will  especially  pray  that  in  return  for  this 
brotherly  love  and  sympathy  you  may  be  rewarded  by  the  protection 
and  peace  of  God.' " 


LETTER   No.  XXXI. 

SUMMARY  BY  R.  H.  F.  OF  PRIVATE  LETTER  FROM  H.  B.  H. — 
SYMPTOMS  OF  FURTHER  MASSACRES— THE  BLOW  FELL  AT  EGHIN 
— HARPOOT  THREATENED — STATE  OP  TERROR — THE  PROTESTANTS 
TO   BE   SUPPRESSED — REPORT   OF   THE   EGHIN   MASSACRE. 

Pkivate  letters  were  received  on  October  lo  from 
H.  B.  H.,  dated  from  Harpoot,  Sept,  21.  The  account  she 
gives  of  the  present  situation  is  distressing  in  the  extreme. 
The  people  had  begun  to  have  some  hope,  the  widows 
were  again  gathering  the  little  interests  of  a  home  around 
them  and  their  half-clothed  little  ones  ;  the  men  were 
settling  into  work ;  the  children  were  collected  from  the 
streets  and  again  placed  in  schools,  and  the  churches  were 
regularly  filled  by  the  saddened  remains  of  their  former 
congregations.  Gleams  of  a  brighter  day  seemed  breaking 
upon  the  unhappy  people ;  but  alas  !  these  have  been  dis- 
pelled, and  again  the  dark  shadow  of  massacre  has  risen. 
The  symptoms  which  ushered  in  last  year's  terrible  events 
are  again  present,  massacre  is  in  the  air ;  there  are  whis- 
pers, communications,  reports,  letters.  A  day  is  spoken 
of,  "no  protection,  no  quarter  this  time  :  "  must  the  woes 
of  the  flock  of  wretched  unarmed  sheep,  ready  for  the 
slaughter,  be  yet  further  prolonged  ?  So  in  Harpoot  came 
this  terror  upon  them :  the  women  were  wailing,  the  men 
praying  that  they  might  die  by  the  bullets  of  the  Kurds, 

205 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  207 

and  not  by  torture.  They  knew  not  wliere  the  blow 
would  first  fall.  It  fell  at  Eghin  (Sept.  15);  so  at  Har- 
poot  there  is  a  respite. 

But  at  Eghin  the  scene  was  terrible.  Most  of  the 
Christian  houses  were  burnt,  many  of  the  best  and 
most  respected  townsmen  are  killed  ;  a  father  and  his 
three  sons,  for  example,  who  have  all  left  widows  except 
the  youngest.  Some  of  the  women  and  girls,  to  escape 
dishonour,  flung  themselves  into  the  river.  Alas  !  for  the 
unutterable  woes  of  these  people.  Our  friends  deem  this 
act  to  be  justified  :  "  It  is  better  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
God." 

Some  assert  that  the  Armenians  always  themselves  bring 
on  these  troubles,  that  they  do  something  to  bring  down 
reprisals.  H.  B.  H.  (speaking  for  the  localities  she  knows) 
states  that  this  is  a  falsehood  patent  to  all  who  witness 
the  events.  The  massacres  are  planned  beforehand.  The 
Armenians  have  been  deprived  long  since  of  their  arms, 
they  are  defenceless  and  cowed.  Do  the  sheep  attack  the 
wolf?  They  have  no  recourse,  no  place  to  flee  to.  Abject 
submission  is  their  attitude,  and  their  only  possible  policy. 

And  now  Harpoot  is  trembling.  The  fiery  trial  of 
November  last  was  not  enough.  The  Turks  are  saying 
"  Wait  a  little,  wait  until  the  harvest  is  gathered  in.     By 

the  middle  of  October  this  will  be  done,  and  then ." 

Imagine  with  what  feelings  the  peasants  are  reaping  their 
fields,  and  the  poor  wives  and  daughters  are  going  about 
their  daily  tasks ! 

The  face  of  the  country  has  changed  during  the  past  few 
weeks.     II.  B.  H.  says  she  has  herself  gone  through  more 


2o8  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

suffering  in  these  three  weeks  than  in  all  her  previous  life, 
but  she  adds,  "  It  is  not  of  ourselves  that  any  one  thinks 
in  this  mission  circle,"  though  danger  is  great.  The 
British  Consul  is  doing  his  utmost  for  their  and  her  pro- 
tection, yet  their  safety,  even  as  to  life,  is  far  from  sure, 
and  she  desires  that  no  warlike  reprisals  should  be  taken 
if  aught  happens  to  her.  "  But  these  poor  terrified  crea- 
tures, who  have  no  Government  to  protect  them,  no 
Consul  to  interfere  for  them,  only  an  unseen  foe  hunger- 
ing for  their  extermination, — God  protect,  and  pity,  and 
save  them  !  " 

"  I  think  God  held  me  here,"  she  continues,  "  that  I 
might  hear  and  see  what  before  we  had  but  heard  of. 
Also  I  can  comfort  the  people  a  little,  and  sympathise 
with  these  dear  and  noble  missionaries.  Last  Sunday  I 
held  a  meeting  for  women  after  the  other  service,  and 
I  think  about  200  were  present,  and  I  spoke  to  them 
on  '  overcoming  faith.'  Afterwards  how  they  gathered 
round  me  !  weeping  and  smiling  at  once,  so  grateful  and 
loving,  and  now  I  am  to  speak  to  them  again  to-morrow. 

"  An  edict  has  come  to  the  Governor  here,  and  no  doubt 
to  all  other  places  where  American  missionaries  v/ork,  '  to 
suppress  the  Protestant  propaganda,'  so  there  is  a  general 
stopping,  or  forbidding  to  open,  of  these  places  of  worship 
and  schools.  But  on  the  college  premises  worship  still 
goes  on  as  usual,  only  it  is  far  more  fervent,  and  in  spite 
of  everything  there  are  now  over  600  students,  boys  and 
girls,  on  the  grounds,  whose  laughter  at  play,  or  singing 
in  the  schools,  often  comes  to  my  ears  as  a  strange  con- 
trast to  everything  else  around. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  209 

"In  less  than  a  fortnight  I  may  attempt  the  journey 
to  Sivas,  where  other  missionaries  are,  and  where  most 
earnest  invitation  calls  me,  and  thence  as  way  shall  open, 
Van  being,  humanly  speaking,  impossible. 

"  Possibly  I  may  go  to  Eghin  instead  of  to  Sivas,  as  the 
accounts  that  are  coming  in  of  the  distress  there  are 
terrible.  But  the  road  is  very  rough,  and  the  missionaries 
say  I  have  not  the  physical  strength." 

Our  friend  goes  on  to  suggest  possible  means  to  help  in 
this  crisis,  and  some  steps  which  have  now  been  taken, 
the  nature  of  which  cannot  be  stated  here,  but  these 
means  are  followed  by  very  earnest  thoughts  and  prayers 
that  they  may  be  blessed.  She  concludes,  "I  will  go 
anywhere  and  do  anything,  and  meet  any  one,  for  the 
sake  of  this  suffering  people,  I  am  at  your  and  God's 
disposal." 

A  telegram  has  been  received  stating  that  H.  B.  H. 
started  from  Harpoot  on  Oct.  5  for  Arabkir  and  Eghin, 
hoping  to  go  on  to  Sivas,  and  so  to  the  Black  Sea  coast, 
homeward. 

A  short  report,  by  one  of  the  Harpoot  missionaries,  of 
the  Eghin  massacre  has  been  received,  and  is  given  below. 

R.  H.  F. 


Harpoot,  Sept.  23,  1896. 

I  am  very  sorry  to  report  that  a  great  calamity  has  befallen  the  city 
of  Egliin.  There  is  no  town  in  the  interior  with  more  wealth  probably 
and  with  better  houses.  There  were  about  1000  Armenian  houses 
and  an  equal  number  of  Turkish.  Of  the  Christian  houses  it  is 
said  more  than  600  have  been  burned.  The  estimate  of  the  killed  is 
from  800  to  1000. 

0 


2IO  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

Egliin  is  one  of  the  few  places  that  was  spared  during  the  devas- 
tation last  autumn.  A  large  ransom  was  paid  to  the  Kurds  at  that 
time,  and  the  Turks  and  Christians  joined  in  defending  the  place. 

The  official  version  of  the  late  affair  is  (I  have  it  from  superior 
officers),  that  the  Christians  gathered  in  large  numbers  in  the 
churches,  Sunday  morning  and  Monday  morning,  and  prolonged 
their  services  so  that  the  suspicions  of  the  Turks  were  excited.  On 
Tuesday  the  Armenians  set  fire  to  some  of  their  own  houses  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  city,  and  began  to  fire  on  the  Turkish  houses, 
killing  a  soldier. 

The  facts  seem  to  be  these.  The  local  governor,  who  is  a  native 
of  the  place,  with  two  or  three  others  has  represented  to  the 
Governor  here  that  there  were  some  seditious  characters  there, 
and  it  is  claimed  that  some  Eghinlees  in  Constantinople  were 
concerned  in  the  late  disturbances  there.  The  Vali  spoke  to  some 
of  the  Eghinlees  who  live  here  in  regard  to  it,  and  they  wrote  to 
their  friends,  and  they  said  there  was  only  one  suspicious  character 
there,  and  he  was  a  Harpootlee,  and  had  been  sent  away.  Corres- 
pondence between  the  Eghin,  Harpoot,  and  Constantinople  autho- 
rities has  been  going  on  for  several  weeks,  and  it  would  seem  that 
the  Constantinople  Government  was  persuaded  that  there  was  a 
seditious  element  in  Eghin,  and  orders  were  sent  to  eliminate  it. 
A  few  days  ago,  the  Kurds,  but  not  in  large  numbers,  threatened 
the  place,  but  they  were  sent  away  by  the  soldiers.  This  was 
repeated  two  or  three  times.  On  Monday  the  14th  instant  they 
again  appeared,  and  the  Christians  had  begun  to  distrust  their  own 
neighbours  and  closed  their  shops.  Tuesday  morning,  as  the  shops 
were  not  opened,  the  Governor  sent  criers  throughout  the  city,  to 
proclaim  that  the  Kurds  had  been  dispersed  and  the  Government 
wovild  assure  the  perfect  safety  of  every  citizen,  and  every  person 
was  commanded  to  open  his  shop  and  resume  his  business.  Uj)on 
this,  the  shops  were  opened  and  business  resumed  its  usual  course. 
About  noon  a  single  shot  was  fired,  and  the  slaughter  immediately 
begun.  The  gun  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  signal,  although  the 
Turks  claim  that  it  was  fired  by  an  Armenian.  Massacre  seems  to 
have  been  the  first  thing  in  order ;  plunder,  and  the  burning  of 
houses,  later.  It  is  reported  that  many  women  and  girls  threw 
themselves  into  the  Euphrates,  which  flows  just  at  the  foot  of  the 
city. 

The  Kaimaham  has   telegraphed   that  two  or  three  thousand 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 


211 


persons  are  helpless  and  hungry,  and  he  appeals  for  aid.  The 
Government  will  probably  do  a  little  for  present  relief,  but  it  will 
be  only  temporary  and  inadequate.  Eghin  seems  to  have  suffered 
even  worse  than  Arabkir  and  Malatia. 

Some  prominent  Turks  intimate  that  the  probabilities  are  that 
trouble  is  in  store  for  this  region,  and  they  say  that  if  it  comes,  it 
will  be  worse  than  last  year. 


LETTER  No.  XXXII. 
I. 

INTENDED  VISIT  TO  EGHIN  —  FURTHER  REPORT  OF  THE  MASSACRE 
THERE — TWO  LETTERS  FROM  PROTESTANT  ARMENIANS  IN  NEIGH- 
BOURING  TOWNS. 

Harpoot,  Sept.  29. 

As  we  are  hoping  to  start  for  Eghin  to-morrow,  I  have 
no  time  to  write  a  circular  letter,  but  enclose  this  week's 
"  News  Notes "  (respecting  the  Eghin  massacre),  the 
same  that  goes  to  all  the  stations  of  the  American 
Missionary  Board  here  (for  each  station  issues  such  notes 
weekly  or  fortnightly). 

I  also  enclose  two  letters  from  A.  I  think  the  one  from 
the  pastor  most  touching. 

I  did  not  write  last  week  because  we  were  in  the  midst 
of  a  panic,  not  knowing  what  an  hour  might  bring  forth ; 
we  do  not  know  even  yet  that  the  Vali  will  allow  us  to 
leave,  for  of  course  it  is  hateful  to  the  Turks  to  have  us  go 
to  see,  and  seek  to  alleviate,  the  misery  they  have  caused, 
and  the  Vali  is  sure  to  make  every  possible  objection  ;  but 
the  news  from  Arabkir  is  so  pitiful  that  we  are  going  to 
try  and  get  there  for  next  Sunday,  three  days'  hard  ride 
over  one  of  the  worst,  if  not  the  worst,  of  mountain  roads 
in  Turkey !  If  we  go  I  shall  probably  not  return  here, 
but  go  on  to  Sivas ;  that  is,  if  I  can  get  escort. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  213 

I  am  getting  better  from  the  fever,  though  rather  weak 
yet ;  but  I  shall  gain  strength  on  the  saddle  and  in  work, 
I  know. 

F.S. — 9  P.M.  I  am  within  the  last  hour  in  receipt  of  a 
very  kind  and  interesting  letter,  which  speaks  of  three 
sums  of  money  sent  me  by  your  committee,  and  so  far  I 
have  not  heard  of  either  of  them  having  arrived  at  Con- 
stantinople !  (i^300,  ;^400,  and  £$06).  How  grateful  I 
am  to  Friends  for  these  large  sums  I  cannot  tell !  I  shall 
probably  use  a  great  deal  in  Eghin,  and  do  it  with  such  a 
thankful  heart ;  but  even  now  I  must  not  speak  too  confi- 
dently of  going  to  Eghin,  for,  remembering  Van,  I  tremble 
yet.  If  we  go  I  shall  not  attempt  writing  from  thence, 
but  wait  till  I  reach  Sivas,  a  place  of  comparative  safety. 

H.  B.  H. 

10  P.M. — Dr.  Gates  has  just  been  up  to  say  that  ;^300 
has  reached  Mr.  Whittall.  Again  many  thanks.  I  shall 
draw  it  at  once. 

II. 

Further  Report  on  the  Egliin  Massacre. 

Harpoot,  Sept.  29,  1896. 
The  news  which  I  gave  last  week  concerning  Eghin  was  derived 
chiefly  from  two  candid  Turks  who  were  there  at  the  time  of  the 
massacre — they  left  before  there  was  a  definite  knowledge  of  the 
extent  of  the  disaster.  I  do  not  know  of  any  persons  who  have  come 
from  Eghin  since  that  time,  but  letters  received  by  to-day's  mail  more 
than  confirm  the  first  reports,  and  agree  in  fixing  the  estimate  of 
about  2000  as  the  number  of  the  killed.  More  women  and  children 
in  proportion  seem  to  have  suft'crod  this  fate  llian  in  any  previous 


2  14  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

massacre  of  which  I  know.  Many  of  the  dead  were  left  in  the 
streets  for  days  as  food  for  dogs,  and  large  numbers  were  thrown 
into  the  Euphrates.  They  have  been  seen  floating  down  the  river 
forty  or  fifty  miles  below  the  city.  In  some  cases  whole  families 
have  been  obliterated.  Two  thousand  is  a  large  proportion  in  an 
estimated  population  of  between  5000  and  6000  Christians. 

The  letters  give  the  number  of  houses  as  iioo,  and  of  these  it  is 
said  that  only  about  150  are  left.  The  carnage  of  blood  and  tire 
lasted  from  Tuesday  the  15th  to  Thursday  the  17th  Sejjtember. 

All  the  testimony  concurs  in  showing  that  the  massacre  was  offi- 
cial, and  that  it  was  wholly  without  reason.  There  was  no  disturb- 
ing element,  except  in  the  imaginations  of  a  few  officials.  They 
had  alarmed  the  central  government.  The  Vali  and  the  military 
commander  were  in  the  telegraph  office  here  most  of  the  time  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end,  conmiunicating  with  Eghin  and  Constan- 
tinople. As  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  people  made  no  resistance  what- 
ever, and  no  Turks  were  killed,  except  possibly  later,  in  the  division 
of  the  spoils.  There  were  no  Kurds  in  the  place.  The  work  was 
done  by  citizens  and  soldiers.  The  massacre  extended  to  several  of 
the  Eghin  villages,  but  we  have  no  details. 

The  local  government  is  constant  in  its  assurance  that  no  further 
massacres  will  take  place  in  this  region,  and  a  good  deal  of  energy  is 
shown  in  restraining  the  turbulent  element.  Five  people  were  killed 
in  the  Aghun  villages,  one  of  them  a  priest  ;  but  the  timely  arrival 
of  soldiers  prevented  a  general  massacre.  After  all  that  has  hap- 
pened, it  is  not  surprising  that  the  Christians  have  no  sense  of 
security,  and  that  they  are  unnerved  by  fear.  The  destitution  of 
the  coming  winter  threatens  to  be  almost  as  great  as  last  year. 

We  were  extremely  glad  to  welcome  Mr.  Browne  from  Boston. 
His  coming  gives  us  much  cheer  and  courage.  He  hopes  soon  to 
visit  Eghin  with  some  other  members  of  our  circle. 

The  schools  have  opened  prosperously  with  nearly  seven  hundred 
pupils.     They  are  mostly  in  rented  premises. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  215 

III. 

Translation  of  Letter  from  Protestant  Preacher  at . 


Sept.  20,  1896. 

Modestly-shining  Lady,  Miss  Bush, — Your  Sept.  12th  letter  I 
received,  and  became  aware  of  its  contents.  I  cannot  write  as  before, 
because  my  mind  has  become  completely  weakened,  and  is  not  able 
to  work. 

My  spirit,  this  troubled  spirit  of  mine,  I  have  wholly  given  and 
commit!  ed  to  the  Lord.  As  yet  the  expected  peace  I  have  not. 
Pray  that  the  Lord  will  cause  to  cease  the  perplexity  and  trouble  of 
my  heart,  and  grant  to  the  whole  world,  peace.  What  shall  I  say 
of  the  disturbers  of  our  peace  ?  The  Lord  grant  them  grace.  The 
Lord  give  to  our  illustrious  Sultan  more  wisdom,  that  he  may  skil- 
fully find  means  to  return  peace  to  this  land. 

Finally,  we  have  the  condition  expressed  in  2  Cor.  i.  8.  En- 
couragement and  discouragement  combined  have  melted  and  wasted 
us.  One  encourages  us  and  says,  "  Do  not  fear,  there  is  nothing." 
Another,  from  another  direction,  brings  gloomy  news  to  cast  us 
down.  The  Lord  grant  to  our  uneasy  hearts,  peace  ;  and  to  our 
country,  quiet. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that,  through  fear,  many  have  become  ill  and 
have  forgotten  hunger.  The  local  government  encourages  us,  but 
no  heart  has  remained  in  us.  Whatever  may  be,  the  Lord  lead. — 
Yours  in  Christ, 

K . 


IV. 

Extract  from  a  Letter  from  an  influential  Armenian 
Protestant  at . 

"  You  write  it  as  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Gates  and  some  of  the  brethren 
that  at  present  no  one  will  die  of  hunger.  This  is  a  mistake  for  this 
town.  The  widows  and  orphans  here  are  many  of  them  without 
work,  and  therefore  wholly  uucared  for.  If  you  were  here  you 
would  sec  with  your  own  eyes  a  crowd  of  orphans  who  wander 


2i6  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

tlirougli  the  streets  to  beg.  But  who  gives  ?  Who  has  anything  to 
give  ?  Wliat  is  this,  and  evils  like  this,  which  come  as  the  result  of 
hunger  ?  It  is  not  necessary  to  mention  other  contemporaneous  evils 
which  spring  from  hunger  and  j^overty.     I  wonder  if  these  are  less 

painful  than  death,  though  that,  also,  is  threatened.     has  need 

of  bread  as  long  as  the  people  have  not  commenced  work. 

"Upon  all  this,  the  days  of  fear  have  commenced  again.     Our 

G M brother,  when  coming  from  a  village,  was  wounded 

with  a  dagger,  and  the  poor  man  is  now  in  bed.  Things  threatened 
like  this  are  not  lacking.     The  Lord  have  mercy  ! " 


LETTER  No.   XXXIII. 

I.    LETTER  FROM  J.  R.  H.,  NARRATING  HIS  JOURNEY  OUT  OP  ARMENIA 
IN  AUGUST,  VISITING  KHANGAL,  SIVAS  :   MARTYRDOM  OF  PASTOR 
— TOKAT  :      TOMB    OF    HENRY    MARTYN — MARSOVAN — AMASIA  : 
CLIMATE   OF   PONTUS  :    TERTULLIAN   ON   MARCION — SAMSOUN. 
IL    REPORT   ON   REBUILDING  VILLAGES. 
III.    FURTHER   REPORT   ON   EGHIN   MASSACRE. 

I. 

Clare  College,  Cambridge, 
October  22,  1896. 

My  dear  Fkiends, — I  have  been  asked  by  some  of  yoii 
why  I  did  not  give  some  account  of  the  journey  from 
Malatia  to  the  Black  Sea;  so  I  take  up  my  pen,  rather 
late  in  the  day,  to  satisfy  your  inquiries,  and  to  say  just 
a  few  words  about  the  places  through  which  I  passed  and 
the  people  I  met.  You  will  observe  that  this  part  of  the 
way  has  to  be  written  in  the  first  person  singular,  and  if 
the  word  "  we  "  ever  comes  in  it  will  be  the  editorial  and 
regal  "we,"  with  its  affected  and  deceitful  multiplicity. 

You  will  not  expect  me  to  say  anything  about  the  diffi- 
culty of  leaving  Helen  behind  me ;  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  she  rode  with  me  from  the  modern  Malatia  for  several 
miles  along  the  North  Road,  until  we  came  to  the  ancient 
Malatia,  the  Melitene  of  Church  and  other  history,  an  inte- 
resting walled  city,  whose  ruins  I  had  no  time  or  heart  to 

investigate ;  and  under  the  walls  of  the  city  we  parted, 

217 


2i8  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

as  we  believed,  in  the  Will  of  God,  with  the  good  hope 
of  meeting  again  before  long,  in  the  same  adorable  Will. 

The  road  to  Sivas  lay  for  five  days  over  a  dreary  suc- 
cession of  mountains.  The  scenery  was  quite  equal  to 
the  average  of  what  one  had  become  accustomed  to  in  the 
central  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  that  is  to  say,  the  rocks  were 
limestone  and  the  like,  scarcely  decently  clad  with  vege- 
tation, and  very  often  as  bare  as  the  scalp  of  death,  and 
blazing  as  if  it  were  high  noon  on  the  Day  of  Judgment, 
as  indeed  it  ought  to  be,  if  that  day  is  ever  going  to 
materialise.  Those  people  who  praise  the  paradisaical 
character  of  Turkish  scenery,  and  the  speakers  who  pero- 
rate about  paradises  turned  into  pandemoniums,  seem  to 
me  to  cast  the  mantle  of  their  laudations  somewhat  too 
liberally  over  the  nakedness  of  the  country.  It  is  not  a 
rich  country ;  too  often  the  interior  is  like  the  bare  hills  of 
Judea,  a  country  decidedly  not  flowing  with  milk  and  honey. 

I  passed  through  very  few  villages  on  the  way  to  Sivas. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  to  me  was  a  town  which  I 
turned  aside  to  see,  named  Khangal.  It  is  celebrated  for 
possessing  a  very  early  and  valuable  copy  of  the  Armenian 
Gospels.  I  went  to  the  church  to  look  for  it,  and  found 
the  marks  of  recent  destruction  both  in  the  church  and 
in  the  ruins  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  Armenian 
brethren,  to  whom  I  had  unfortunately  no  introduction, 
told  me  that  the  book  had  been  carried  off  by  the  Turks. 
That  was  true,  but  they  did  not  tell  me,  what  I  found 
out  afterwards,  that  the  whole  village  had  performed  a 
three  days'  fast,  in  order  to  save  money  enough  to  buy 
back  their  precious  book  from  the  robbers.     Under  such 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  219 

circumstances  I  should  not  have  been  likely  to  get  very- 
far  in  the  negotiations  for  the  transfer  of  the  book  to  a 
place  of  safety,  and  I  was  obliged  to  leave  without  having 
seen  anything  of  the  splendid  volume.  As  I  have  already 
intimated,  there  had  been  plunder,  and  I  think  massacre 
also,  in  the  village,  but  this  is  so  common  a  thing  that 
one  almost  gives  up  registering  it. 

At  Sivas  one  strikes  the  northern  civilisation ;  and 
from  this  point  on,  the  scenery  becomes  more  beautiful, 
the  vegetation  richer,  and  the  towns  and  villages  are  more 
and  more  Swiss  in  their  appearance.  Pretty  tiled  roofs 
begin  to  appear,  ornamental  balconies,  and  the  like.  Then 
there  is  a  beautiful  American  Mission,  where  we  had  the 
heartiest  of  welcomes  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hubbard,  and 
from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Perry.  There  is  a  British  Consulate, 
presided  over  by  Major  Bulman,  and  an  American  ditto, 
whose  head  is  Dr.  Jewett.  The  French  Consulate  was, 
I  think,  vacant.  From  all  of  these  we  received  the 
warmest  welcome,  though  I  think  Major  Bulman  was 
not  quite  pleased  with  me  for  going  to  the  American 
Mission  as  headquarters,  instead  of  wrapping  myself  up 
in  the  folds  of  his  hospitable  Union  Jack.  I  may  say 
also  that  I  don't  think  he  quite  approved  of  the  wisdom 
of  my  conduct  in  preaching  on  the  Sunday  morning  in 
the  Protestant  church.  But  what  could  I  do?  Tlie  city 
had  been  the  scene  of  the  most  terrible  massacre ;  the 
pastor  of  the  church  had  been  killed  under  circumstances 
that  in  many  ways  reminded  me  of  the  story  of  Polycarp. 
When  I  tell  a  little  of  his  story,  it  will  be  clear  enough 
that  it  was  an  immense  honour  to  me  to  stand  in  his 


2  20  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

place  and  speak  to  liis  people,  even  at  the  risk  of  some 
misunderstanding  on  the  part  of  the  Turks. 

He  was  in  the  bazaar  on  the  day  of  the  massacre,  and 
at  the  hour  of  noon  the  signal  was  made  for  the  attack 
upon  the  Armenians.  He  fled  to  a  khan,  and  being  pur- 
sued, he,  with  other  Armenians,  took  refuge  in  an  upstairs 
room,  from  which  there  was  no  escape.  Here  they  were 
first  robbed  of  their  valuables,  and  afterwards,  by  relay 
after  relay  of  soldiers  and  fanatics,  required  to  abandon 
their  religion  and  exchange  Christ  for  Mahomet.  This 
was  kept  up  until  five  in  the  afternoon,  and  then  the 
minister  declared  to  them  openly  and  finally  that  he  was 
not  only  a  believer  in  Christ,  but  had  been,  as  they  knew, 
for  many  years  a  teacher  of  His  Gospel,  and  that  so  he 
purposed  to  remain.  They  might  do  their  worst  with 
him,  for  he  knew  they  did  not  mean  to  spare  him.  He 
raised  his  hands  in  prayer,  and  the  controversy  was  ended 
by  a  bullet.  "  Give  my  salaams,"  said  the  dying  man, 
"toMaritza"  (his  wife). 

Now,  was  not  this  a  noble  piece  of  Christian  fortitude 
and  simplicity?  It  made,  as  they  told  me,  a  profound 
impression  upon  the  Moslem  population  of  the  city.  Four 
of  the  daughters  of  that  good  man  were  sheltered  at 
the  American  Mission ;  the  two  eldest  were  students  of 
Marsovan  College,  and  preparing  to  be  teachers.  Their 
mother  I  did  not  see ;  she  was  absent,  if  I  remember 
rightly,  on  an  errand  of  mercy  to  some  neighbouring 
scene  of  devastation.  Probably  this  was  Gurun,  where 
760  houses  were  destroyed,  not  one  of  which  has  up  to 
the  present  been  rebuilt,  such  is  the  feeling  of  in- 
security of  the  population.     I  may  add  that  the  Turks 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  221 

refused  the  rite  of  burial  to  the  martyred  pastor ;  his 
body  was  thrown  aside,  along  with  those  of  the  other 
Armenians  that  were  with  him ;  and  of  these,  one  that 
was  left  for  dead  recovered,  and  to  him  we  are  chiefly 
indebted  for  the  account  of  the  martyrdom. 

From  Sivas  I  reached  Tokat,  which  is  quite  a  beautiful 
little  town,  with  excellent  shops  and  khans.  The  Arme- 
nians are  in  the  majority  here,  and  there  was  no  massacre. 
I  had  the  opportunity,  under  the  guidance  of  Miss  Brewer, 
of  the  American  Mission  at  Sivas,  of  visiting  Henry  Mar- 
tyn's  grave,  or  rather  his  two  gravestones  in  the  Protestant 
cemetery.  The  first  of  these,  a  flat  stone,  is  the  original 
monument  to  him,  placed  originally  in  the  Armenian 
graveyard  under  the  orders  of  Claudius  Rich,  the  British 
Consul  at  Baghdad;  the  other  is  a  more  imposing  stone 
monument  erected  by  Dr.  van  Lennep,  a  former  Ameri- 
can missionary.  The  first  of  these  monuments,  a  stone 
slab,  was  evidently  inscribed  by  some  one  who  had  a  copy 
to  work  from  which  he  did  not  understand,  for  there  are 
some  curious  misreadings  in  it.     It  runs  as  follows : — 

REV.    VIR 

QUO.    MARTINO 

SACBR.    AC.    MISS.    ANGLO 

QUEM  :     IN.    PATH.    REDI. 

DOMINUS 

HIC.    BERISAE.    AD.    SB.    VOC. 

PIUM.    D.    EIDEL.    Q.    SER. 

A.D.       M.DCCCXII 

HUNG.    LAP.    CONSAC. 

C.    I.    R. 
A.D.    M.    (d?)    GCGXIL 

I  have  underlined  two  stone-cutter's  errors  (sb.  for  se.,  and 
eidel  for  Jldel).     The  letters  C.  I.  R.  stand  for  Claudius 


222  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

I.  Rich.  Notice  Rich's  mistake  in  calling  him  William 
Martyn,  Dr.  van  Lennep's  inscription  is  wordy  and  un- 
satisfactory ;  I  transcribed  the  English  version  of  it.  But 
it  had  one  advantage.  It  told  the  date  of  Martyn's  birth 
at  Truro,  February  i8,  1 781,  and  the  date  of  his  death  at 
Tokat,  October  16,  18 12,  and  furnished  the  information 
that,  in  the  thirty-one  years  of  his  short  life,  he  had 
translated  the  Scriptures  into  Hindostanee  and  Persian. 

I  mention  these  points,  not  only  as  information,  but 
because  I  am  afraid  I  have  not  always  done  Henry 
Martyn  sufficient  justice.  The  fact  is  that  I  do  not 
appreciate  the  school  of  piety  which  he  represents,  and 
of  which  he  is  one  of  the  few  saints;  it  is  a  morbid 
school,  and  wanting  in  intellectual  and  moral  courage. 
However,  I  see  clearly  that  Martyn's  life  ought  to  be 
judged  by  what  was  accomplished  in  its  brevity,  and  not 
to  be  contrasted  with  the  work  or  the  failures  of  those 
who  had  a  longer  time  than  he  to  work  or  fail  in.  The 
Armenian  Protestants  have  him  in  their  calendar,  as  the 
saint  of  Tokat. 

From  Tokat  I  passed  through  Amasia  to  Marsovan, 
where  there  is  the  finest  equipped  of  all  the  American 
colleges.  It  was  vacation  time,  so  I  had  no  opportu- 
nity of  meeting  the  students.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  and 
Mr.  Riggs  received  me  warmly,  and  on  the  Sunday  Mr. 
Riggs  interpreted  for  me,  while  I  spoke  to  a  most  in- 
teresting congregation  in  the  Protestant  church.  Marso- 
van was  very  roughly  handled,  but  seemed  to  have 
recovered.  The  money  sent  to  them  for  relief  had  been 
largely  spent  in  setting  fifty  looms  going,  and  the  sale 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  223 

of  the  pretty  striped  fabrics  which  they  produce  had 
already  brought  in  the  whole  of  the  money  expended  as 
capital,  so  that  they  looked  forward  hopefully  to  keeping 
the  population  alive  through  the  winter. 

At  Amasia,  which  is  a  large  and  flourishing  city,  I 
understood  that  the  damage  done  had  been  entirely  met 
by  contributions  amongst  the  Armenians  themselves,  and 
that  they  had  neither  asked  for  nor  received  a  penny  of 
relief  money.  The  Armenians  have  in  many  places  helped 
one  another  nobly,  but  this  kind  of  charity  does  not  get 
into  the  newspapers  or  subscription-lists. 

Marsovan  College  has,  inter  alia,  a  fine  workshop,  with 
excellent  machinery,  under  the  charge  of  an  Armenian 
from  Mr.  Edison's  shops  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic. 

You  can  see  by  these  stray  notes  that  the  civilisation 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Taurus  ranges  is  quite  a  different 
thing  from  that  ia  the  interior.  We  begin  even  to  find 
Greek  villages ;  and  on  the  way  from  Marsovan  to  the 
sea  there  are  baths  with  Greek  and  Roman  inscriptions, 
which  tell  of  the  early  development  of  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  of  the  persistence,  to  some  extent  at  least, 
of  the  ancient  culture.  The  landscape,  too,  has  changed, 
and  the  weather.  The  cloudless  sky  has  been  replaced 
by  an  overcast  one  in  the  English  manner,  and  the  clouds 
hang  low  upon  the  hills,  and  the  wind  had  veered  per- 
manently into  the  north.  When  I  first  noticed  this  the 
thought  flashed  across  my  mind,  "  Why,  this  is  Pontus, 
which  Tertullian  has  derided  in  the  openiug  of  his 
treatise  against  Marcion."     Yes,  this  was  the  native  laud 


2  24  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

of  that  great  heretic  of  the  second  century,  who  denied 
the  God  of  the  Old  Testament  to  be  the  God  and  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  country  where 
"the  day  is  never  clear  and  the  sun  never  cheerful, 
where  the  sky  is  always  overcast  and  the  whole  year  is 
wintry,  and  where  every  wind  that  blows  is  from  the 
north ; "  and  to  this  gloomy  country  he  compares  Mar- 
cion,  who  was  born  there — "  Marcion,  more  murky  than 
the  cloud,  more  chill  than  the  winter,  more  abrupt  than 
the  Caucasus."  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  Tertullian 
had  ever  visited  the  Pontus ;  his  language  betrays  loans 
from  some  work  on  countries  and  climates.  And  cer- 
tainly if  he  had  come  from  the  parched  interior  and  the 
burning  south  winds  of  the  desert,  he  would  not  have 
scolded  so  at  clouds  and  the  cool  north  breeze.  So  I 
said  to  myself  that  perhaps  he  might  have  also  failed  to 
understand  Marcion,  or  knew  him  only  by  unjust  and 
imperfect  report.  We  would  much  like  to  hear  Marcion 
speak  on  his  own  account ;  his  message  might  be  useful 
even  in  our  day  and  generation. 

Of  the  arrival  at  Samsoun  and  the  passage  to  Constan- 
tinople and  the  massacre  there,  and  the  journey  home, 
there  is  little  need  to  write.  As  you  know,  I  had  the 
pleasant  company  of  three  American  ladies,  who  had 
come  from  Van  by  way  of  Batoum  ;  one  of  them  is 
known  to  the  whole  world  for  her  service  to  the  suffer- 
ing. Dr.  Grace  Kimball's  two  companions,  Miss  Frazer 
and  Miss  Huntington,  have  also  done  good  work  in  this 
painful  and  continually  extending  field  of  suffering  and 
sorrow.  J-  R-  H" 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  225 

II. 

Addenda  on  Progress  of  Rebuilding  Villages  near  Harpoot. 

(i.)  Dr.  Barnum  reports  (October  6)  : — "  You  inquire  about  build- 
ing in  Hooeli  (Hoo-i-loo,  visited  by  J.  R.  and  H.  B.  H.).  The  work 
is  going  on  very  successfully  there,  although  it  has  been  interrupted 
occasionally  by  the  threats  of  the  Turks  and  by  fear.  Permission 
for  roofing-in  the  chapel  has  not  yet  been  obtained,  although  I  have 
given  them  some  money  for  the  purchase  of  timber,  which  is  now 
very  cheap." 

(2.)  Mr.  Hallward  reports  (October  6)  that  the  work  of  rebuild- 
ing ruined  villages  (in  which  we  have  a  share)  has  been  going  on 
successfully  in  his  district.  "  I  buy,"  says  he,  "  wood  and  tools  for 
the  villagers,  and  they  do  the  rest.  This  has  certainly  been  money 
well  laid  out.  Kiabi,  the  village  you  saw,  has  been  set  on  its  legs 
again,  to  a  limited  extent,  of  course,  but  enough  to  give  the  people 
shelter  for  the  winter." 

III. 

Further  Report  on  the  Eghhi  Massacre,  ^c. 

Harpoot,  October  6,  1896. 

Since  the  disaster  at  Eghin  scarcely  a  person  has  come  from  there  ; 
even  the  regular  muleteers  have  not  come.  A  soldier  from  this 
city,  who  had  a  share  in  the  massacre,  has  come,  and  he  was  much 
affected  in  telling  his  Armenian  neighbours  of  what  had  taken 
place  there,  especially  of  the  heart-rending  appeals  of  the  women. 
Letters  received  by  post  to-day  place  the  number  of  killed  at  more 
than  2500. 

The  proportion  of  men  to  the  women  and  children  remaining 
alive  is  very  small.  The  pastor  writes  that  in  his  service  last  Sun- 
day there  were  200  women  and  children  and  only  ten  men.  I 
understand  that  letters  have  been  received  to-day  from  women  in 
Eghin  begging  that  they  might  be  brought  hero,  so  as  to  escape  the 
insults  of  Turks. 

The  evidences  multiply  that  there  was  a  plan  for  a  general  mas- 

F 


2  26  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

sacre,  of  which  the  affair  at  Eghin  was  but  a  part,  biit  that  it  was 
countermanded,  perhaps  through  the  influence  of  the  Ambassa- 
dors at  Constantinople.  Some  suppose  that  it  has  been  merely 
postponed. 

Hundreds  of  Armenians  are  arriving  here  who  have  been  ex- 
pelled from  Constantinojjle.  ^Tliey  are  mostly  in  a  very  pitiable 
condition.  They  were  not  allowed  to  go  to  their  lodgings  to  secure 
their  clothing  and  comforts  for  the  journey,  or  even  to  their  shops 
to  arrange  their  business.  They  were  hustled  away  without  any 
ceremony.  The  most  of  these  men  were  bread-winners  in  Con- 
stantinople for  their  families  here.  Many  of  them,  with  their 
families,  will  now  be  dependent  upon  charity. 

The  Charsanjak  region,  to  the  north-east  of  us,  is  ruled  and 
oppressed  by  a  few  feudal  chiefs.  They  control  the  lands,  the 
gardens  and  vineyards,  and  even  the  houses  of  the  people.  In 
many  cases  this  summer,  the  tenants  were  not  allowed  to  harvest 
the  grain  which  they  had  sown.  Their  fields  were  given  to  others 
to  reap ;  yet  they  did  not  venture  to  make  complaint.  Mr.  Fon- 
tana,  the  Consul,  save  to  the  Vali  here  a  few  of  the  names  of  the 
men  thiis  despoiled,  and  an  imposing  commission  was  sent  to  in- 
vestigate. The  poor  tenants,  through  fear,  denied  the  truth.  A 
Turk  of  the  same  district  is  building  a  large  house,  wholly  with 
forced  labour.  This  is  the  custom  of  the  district,  to  exact  labour 
without  Mages.  It  was  one  of  the  charges  investigated  with  the 
same  result  as  the  others. 


LETTER  No.  XXXIV. 

ON  THE  EVE  OF  SETTING  OUT  FROM  HARPOOT  FOR  ARABKIR  AND 
EGHIN  —  THE  LATE  PANIC  :  MASSACRE  AVERTED  —  THAT  AT 
EGHIN  CARRIED  OUT  BY  THE  CITIZENS  :  ALLEGED  REVOLU- 
TIONARY CAUSE  FALSE — AT  ARABKIR,  THE  PEOPLE  STARVING — 
THE  REPAIRED  SCHOOLHOUSE  AT  HARPOOT  WELL  FILLED — 
COLLEGE   DOING   EXCELLENT   WORK. 

Harpoot,  October  4,  1896. 

Dear  Fhiends, — I  do  not  like  to  leave  you  so  long 
without  a  circular  letter,  as  it  is  likely  to  be  some  time 
before  I  write  again  if  I  miss  this  post,  and  so  will  send  a 
short  letter  to-night,  hoping  that  if  I  am  permitted  to 
address  you  again  from  Sivas,  it  will  be  with  much  of 
interest  (necessarily  painful,  alas ! )  to  tell  concerning 
Arabkir  and  Eghin,  to  which  we  expect  to  go  at  once. 

You  all  know  what  a  time  of  panic  we  passed  through 
here  a  short  time  since.  This  panic  extended  all  over 
this  vilayet,  and  indeed,  as  we  hear  from  letters  from  the 
missionaries  in  other  parts,  in  many  other  places  as  well. 
No  doubt  another  general  massacre  was  contemplated  at 
Harpoot,  but  something  mercifully  intervened  to  prevent 
its  execution ;  and  so  in  this  vilayet  the  Damocles  sword 
only  fell  on  one  large  town,  though,  alas !  in  one  or  two 
smaller  places  also. 

Eghin  was  spared  last  year  because  a  large  bribe  was 

227 


228.  LETTERS  RROM  ARMENIA 

paid  to  avert  a  massacre,  but  this  time  no  such  mercy  was 
shown,  and  the  ruin  of  the  Christian  population  has  been 
very  complete,  the  first  and  most  leading  men  of  the 
community,  and  especially  of  the  Protestants,  being  care- 
fully sought  out  and  killed. 

This  massacre  was  not  carried  out  (we  are  informed)  by 
the  Kurds  alone,  as  in  so  many  places,  but  by  the  citizens  of 
the  toivn  and  the  military.  The  excuse  was,  of  course,  that 
revolutionary  spirits  were  inciting  the  people  to  insurrec- 
tion, which,  it  is  needless  to  say  to  you,  had  not  one  spark 
of  truth  in  it  from  beginning  to  end ;  for  the  only  uncer- 
tain or  difficult  character  among  the  Armenians  had  left 
the  town  some  time  previously,  and  all  remaining  were 
perfectly  quiet,  law-abiding,  or  rather,  enduring,  citizens. 

We  are  so  very  thankful  that  we  have  permission  to 
go  there  at  once  and  carry  relief.  We  have  been  praying 
about  it  ever  since  we  heard  of  the  trouble,  for  now  that 
the  college  is  in  working  order  and  going  on  smoothly, 
and  Mr.  Gates  has  pretty  much  recovered  from  the 
fever  he  lately  suffered  from,  he  feels  that  he  should  visit 
the  stricken  town  without  delay,  and  so  we  all  feel  who  are 
going.  He  has  some  funds,  and  I  also  have  some,  having 
heard  of  the  safe  arrival  of  ;^300  more  from  the  Friends' 
Fund,  and  of  more  as  on  the  road,  and  having  a  balance 
from  the  first  i^iooo  which  I  had  reserved  for  Van,  and 
shall  now  use  for  Eghin  and  Arabkir,  my  way  having  been 
closed  as  to  going  to  Van  for  the  present. 

We  go  on  horseback  to  Arabkir  first.  Here  Mr.  Gates 
will  make  distribution  of  money  for  rebuilding  the  houses, 
giving  each  family  £$ — rather  a  small  sum  towards  shelter 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  229 

for  the  winter,  but  enough  to  put  up  something  to  be 
added  to  as  the  people  are  able.  There  is  much  hunger 
there  now,  as  the  relief  was  stopped  some  time  since,  and 
the  weaving  industry,  on  which  they  depend,  has  not  yet 
begun  again,  and  although  ^2000  worth  of  material  for 
work  has  now  (quite  lately)  been  promised  from  England, 
it  has  not  yet  come,  and  the  people  have  fallen  between 
these  two  stools,  and  have  been  and  are  in  a  suffering  condi- 
tion. I  propose,  therefore,  to  spend  several  hundred  liras 
there  in  providing  food  for  the  present  immediate  and  future 
necessity  to  carry  them  on  until  they  shall  be  able  to  earn 
something  for  themselves.  The  accounts  we  hear  are  very 
terrible,  and  no  doubt  will  soon  be  verified  bv  our  own 
eyes  and  ears. 

We  propose  starting  to-morrow  if  our  guards  arrive  in 
time.  If  not,  on  Tuesday,  and  our  party  will  consist, 
beside  Miss  Bush  and  myself,  Mr.  Gates,  and  Mr.  Browne, 
a  missionary  just  returned  to  the  "  Station  "  from  America, 
who  has  had  twenty  years'  experience  of  the  country,  and 
is  an  earnest,  warm-hearted,  go-ahead  American,  full  of 
zeal,  and  not  without  a  considerable  fund  of  cheerfulness, 
and  sometimes  of  humour  as  well,  so  we  are  rather  a  satis- 
factory party. 

But  it  is  time  to  close  this  hasty  letter,  especially  as  I 
am  tired  to-night,  having  addressed  three  farewell  meet- 
ings, and  gone  through  as  well  many  personal  partings 
with  dear  people  to  whom  I  have  become  quite  attached 
during  my  long  stay  here,  and  who,  I  believe,  love  me 
also  ;  and  to-morrow  it  will  not  be  easy  to  bid  a  long  fare- 
well to  this  beloved  mission  station,  much  as  I  have  been 


230  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

longing  for  the  time  to  arrive  when  I  could  enter  once 
again  into  more  active  work. — So  with  affectionate  fare- 
wells to  you  also,  I  remain  yours  as  ever, 

Helen  B.  H. 

F.S. — The  Protestant  schoolhouse  in  the  other  part  of 
the  city,  which  we  gave  £^o  to  repair  before  K.  left,  I 
saw  to-day  in  capital  order,  and  120  children  are  in 
daily  attendance  !  I  also  yesterday  visited  every  depart- 
ment of  this  college,  and  the  girls'  schools  adjoining, 
containing  in  all  over  600  students,  and  was  much  im- 
pressed with  the  very  good  work  being  done,  and  the 
excellent  order  maintained.  God  grant  that  nothing 
may  ever  overturn  this  grand  work ;  but  rather  that, 
obtaining  the  indemnity  demanded,  new  buildings  may 
arise  from  the  ruins  of  the  old,  and  the  missionaries' 
plans  for  extending  the  work  be  fulfilled. 


LETTEH  No.   XXXV. 

DEPARTURE  FROM  HARPOOT— DELAYS,  FAREWELLS — TOILSOME  JOUR- 
NEY— ARABKIR — A  FINE  CITY,  IN  RUINS  —  THE  BETTER  CLASSFS 
IN  POVERTY — VISITS  FROJI  THE  WOMEN  TILL  STOPPED  BY  THE 
GOVERNOR — A  HEROIC  TURKISH  ZAPTIKH  :  VISIT  TO  HIS  SICK- 
BED. 

Arabkir,  Ocio6er  6,  1896. 

Dear  Feiends, — To  the  last  moment  of  leaving  Har- 
poot  it  seemed  very  doubtful  whether  we  could  get  off. 
Our  tesJcerehs  had  not  come,  nor  our  zaptiehs,  and  the 
Consul,  whom  we  had  expected  in  the  morning,  did  not 
appear  either,  and  so  we  dressed  for  our  journey  and  sat 
down  to  lunch  (after  which  we  were  to  make  our  start  for 
a  five  hours'  ride),  with  rather  heavy  hearts. 

Pretty  soon  it  seemed  as  if  our  fears  were  to  be  realised, 
as  a  message  from  the  Consul  reached  us  that  the  Vali 
had  requested  that  we  would  defer  our  visit,  but  that  he 
had  insisted,  and  hoped  for  the  best ;  that,  however,  he 
had  promised  for  us  if  we  went  that  we  would  not  enter 
Eghin  for  ten  days  (this,  of  course,  to  give  the  authorities 
there  time  to  remove,  as  far  as  possible,  the  traces  of  the 
recent  bloody  work  before  our  arrival).  Later  the  Consul 
arrived,  and  later  still,  the  soldiers,  and  then  we  knew  we 
were  really  to  go — but  not  till  the  very  last  moment ! 

After  so  long  a  stay  at  irar[)oot,  you  can  imagine  that 

the  last  farewells  meant  a  wrench  for  me  at  least,  and 

331 


232  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

indeed  all  the  previous  morning  farewell  deputations,  and 
callers,  had  been  coming  to  see  me,  one  being  a  number 
of  the  leading  Protestant  men  (the  pastor  included)  of 
one  of  the  churches,  and  a  visit  of  this  sort  is  something 
that  cannot  be  hurried ;  and  so  packing  has  to  be  let  take 
care  of  itself.  These  Oriental  peoples  do  not  feel  as  we 
do  about  last  and  first  moments,  but  always  come  both  to 
speed  the  parting  and  welcome  the  coming  guest  at  the 
wrong  time,  just  when  English  people  would  have  the 
consideration  to  leave  them  in  quiet ;  yet  one  cannot 
complain,  even  inwardly,  they  are  so  courteous  and  un- 
conscious of  being  out  of  place. 

However,  all  these  partings  over,  the  last  words  said, 
and  handkerchiefs  waved  for  the  last  time  to  the  Mission 
Station,  we  started  out — the  Consul  and  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Barnum  accompanying  us  for  about  an  hour.  I  will  not 
detain  you  with  the  details  of  the  journey,  except  to  say 
that  it  was  a  pretty  hard  one  on  account  of  our  having  to 
keep  with  the  mules  because  of  carrying  so  much  money 
for  relief,  and  as  they  did  not  unload  in  the  middle  of  the 
day  we  were  nine  hours  without  food  one  day — and  kept 
in  the  saddle  pretty  much  all  day  long — which  was  a 
severe  tax  on  my  newly  returning  strength — though  our 
missionary  friends  made  light  of  it,  and  Miss  Bush  (who 
is  a  wonderful  woman)  did  not  mind  at  all. 

We  reached  this  city  on  the  third  day,  and  received  the 
usual  warm  welcome  from  all  classes  of  Christians.  The 
Protestant  mission  station  here  was  not  destroyed  when 
the  massacre  took  place,  because  an  influential  Turkish 
colonel  lives  on  the  adjoining  premises,  and  is  friendly  to 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  233 

the  pastor  and  to  Christians  generally ;  so  he  protected 
this  house  and  others  in  this  neighbourhood,  while  the 
ten  other  Christian  quarters  were  destroyed  and  reduced 
to  heaps  of  ruins. 

This  must  have  been  a  really  fine  city  before  its  destruc- 
tion ;  the  houses  which  remain  are  far  prettier  than  those 
of  any  city  I  have  yet  visited  in  Asia  Minor,  and  with 
the  lovely  gardens,  and  glorious  mountains  and  hills 
around,  it  must  have  been  a  most  attractive  spot ;  and 
here,  they  say,  numbers  of  Armenian  merchants,  after 
living  their  business  lives  at  Constantinople  or  in  Egypt' 
&c.,  retired  and  built  beautiful  residences  in  which  to 
spend  a  peaceful  close  of  life.  These  houses  are  almost 
every  one  razed  to  the  ground,  and  the  merchants  are 
either  butchered  or  in  abject  poverty.  One  of  them, 
seventy  years  of  age,  called  on  Miss  B.  and  myself  yester- 
day and  told  such  a  tale ;  and  the  gentlemen  of  our  party 
from  eight  in  the  morning  till  six  at  night,  with  hardly  ten 
minutes'  intermission  for  lunch,  are  hearing  the  recitals  of 
such  cases  one  after  another,  with  their  secretary  at  hand 
making  out  the  list  for  relief,  according  to  their  decision 
of  each  case's  need. 

Miss  Bush  and  I  commenced  a  similar  work  with  the 
dear  women,  having  a  prepared  list,  and  admitting  them 
to  our  room  one  by  one.  In  this  way  we  had  heard  the 
sad  and  terrible  tales  of  about  thirty,  nearly  all  widows, 
whose  husbands  had  been  killed — when  the  kaimakam 
(governor)  stopped  us.  "  What  do  these  ladies  want  with 
our  women  ?  they  are  writing  stories  to  send  to  England  !" 
so  he  forbade  any  more  coming  to  us. 


234  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

I  wish,  dear  friends,  you  could  have  seen  these  women — 
many  of  them  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  merchants 
aforesaid  —  ladies  who  lately  were  the  mistresses  of 
beautiful  homes,  some  of  whom  had  on  earlier  visits 
entertained  Miss  Bush  most  hospitably.  Each  entered 
our  room  with  her  head  and  face  veiled ;  then  she  came, 
at  my  request  (after  the  usual  salutation),  to  sit  by  me ; 
then  at  our  first  words  of  inquiry  and  kindly  pressure  of 
the  poor  hands  came  the  invariable  burst  of  tears  ;  then, 
after  soothing  and  encouragement,  the  tale  of  woe,  the 
promise  of  help,  the  word  of  sympathy,  and  the  closing 
salutation,  and  she  retires  as  quietly  as  she  entered.  Often 
in  parting,  however,  after  kissing  our  hands  and  retiring, 
the  dear  women  would  come  quickly  back  and  embrace 
one  or  both  of  us,  kiss  my  cheeks  fervently,  my  hands 
again,  and  iwice,  my  feet  as  well,  lay  their  heads  on  our 
shoulders,  salute  again,  burst  into  fresh  tears,  cover  them- 
selves all  over  with  their  veils,  and  go  out  weeping, 
^  All  through  our  two  mornings  thus  employed,  through 
our  open  windows  we  were  nearly  deafened  with  the 
drum-beating  going  on  in  the  next  house,  because  of  the 
circumcision  at  one  time  of  five  of  the  colonel's  little  sons. 
Every  hour,  nearly  every  minute  since  we  came,  has  this 
hideous  "tom-toming,"  the  Turkish  as  well  as  Chinese 
expression  of  rejoicing,  been  going  on,  dreary  in  the 
extreme,  and  a  painful  contrast  to  the  weeping  and 
lamentation  in  this  house. 

Yesterday  Miss  Bush  went  to  the  colonel's  house  to 
share  the  festivities  with  a  large  company  of  Turkish 
ladies.     I  was  also  invited  but  declined,  my  apology  being 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  235 

that  I  was  not  very  well.  In  the  afternoon,  feeling  a 
little  revived,  I  went  with  Miss  Bush  on  quite  another 
errand,  although  it  was  to  visit  a  Turk. 

Last  year,  a  day  before  the  massacre  here,  Miss  Bush 
and  another  lady  missionary  left  Arabkir  to  return  to 
Harpoot,  it  being  most  important  for  them  to  rejoin  the 
ilarpoot  party.  They  were  in  great  danger  from  bands 
of  Kurds,  who  thronged  the  whole  intermediate  country. 
With  great  difficulty  they  obtained  a  horse  soldier  as  well 
as  one  on  foot  to  accompany  them.  On  the  road  the  horse 
soldier  was  twice  stopped  by  Kurds,  who  demanded  that 
the  ladies  should  be  given  over  to  them,  and  one  Kurd 
said  he  would  kill  Miss  Bush  and  have  her  horse ;  the 
zaptieh  replied  that  he  would  himself  be  killed  before 
they  should  touch  the  ladies,  and  so  he  carried  them 
safely  through   the  three   days   from  point  to  point  of 

danger.      His    name   was   ,    a    poor    soldier, 

worthy  of  much  honour. 

He  is  a  native  of  this  place  and  a  kaimaJcams  son, 
though  poor  now,  and  lives  about  an  hour's  ride  over  the 
hills,  and  Miss  Bush,  having  heard  that  he  was  very  ill, 
kindly  allowed  me  to  accompany  her  in  visiting  him, 
which  I  felt  very  glad  to  be  able  to  do,  and  so,  attended 
by  one  of  our  men  and  a  zaptieh,  we  started  out,  and  had 
to  begin  with  a  most  lovely  ride  through  a  succession  of 
wonderful  mountain  passes,  bringing  us  at  last  to  a  burst 
of  Alpine  scenery  both  exquisite  and  grand  in  the  ex- 
treme, and  such  that,  were  it  only  accessible,  would  attract 
the  entire  touring  world. 

We  paid  it  our  tribute  of  admiration,  and  praised  God 


236  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

that  such  beauty  had  cheered  our  eyes,  and  then  dis- 
mounting, entered  a  not  uncomfortable  nor  uncleanly 
house,  and  were  very  kindly  received  by  the  poor  wife. 
Soon  we  were  permitted  to  enter  the  sick  man's  room 
and  to  sit  on  a  cushion  laid  close  by  his  side  on  the  floor, 
and  to  see  the  best  side  of  the  Turk.  He  extended  his 
hand,  and  Miss  Bush  took  the  poor,  thin,  trembling  hand 
in  hers,  and  spoke  so  tenderly  to  him,  it  did  my  heart 
good ;  and  then  she  told  him  who  I  was,  and  as  I  thanked 
him  on  behalf  of  my  country  for  saving  her  life  at  the 
risk  of  his  own,  he  took  my  hand  in  both  of  his  so  grate- 
fully. We  stayed  a  long  time  with  him,  and  both  of  us 
offered  a  word  of  prayer  for  him  in  English,  and  he  would 
not  let  us  go  without  refreshment,  and  I  will  tell  you 
what  the  wife  brought  us.  First,  sherbet,  then  coffee, 
then  a  little  table  was  brought  in  and  placed  between  us, 
and  a  tray  followed  with  lehe7i,  or  sour  curd,  honey,  dried 
cream,  butter,  and  sweetmeats,  and  a  sheet  of  their  native 
bread.  Oh,  how  the  sick  man  watched  that  nothing 
should  be  omitted  due  to  paying  us  the  highest  honour ! 
It  was  so  thoroughly  the  reverse  side  of  the  picture  that 
I  am  accustomed  to  in  a  Turk,  that  it  touched  me  very 
much.  Then,  knowing  that  in  spite  of  this  hospitality 
he  was  almost  penniless,  we  both  gave  him  a  little  pre- 
sent, which  he  hid  under  his  bed,  and  for  which  he  gave 
us  outpourings  of  gratitude,  only  begging  that  our  pre- 
sent zaptieh,  a  bad-looking  man,  might  not  know  of  our 
having  given  it. 

Probably  this  was  because  if  it  were  known,  either  it 
would  be  stolen  or  create  jealousy.     Indeed  Miss  B.  says 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  237 

the  story  of  his  goodness  to  her  77iust  not  he  published 
with  his  name,  or  it  may  ruin  him ;  but  for  my  part  I 
think  in  a  very  little  while  he  will  be  beyond  the  con- 
fusions of  this  world  and  its  power  to  injure,  and  in  the 
presence  of  his  God,  where  I  can  but  believe  he  will  be 
tenderly  and  mercifully  dealt  with.  Oh,  how  he  looked 
at  us  with  his  great  dark  eyes !  and  how  tightly  he  held 
our  hands  in  his  white,  delicately  shaped,  trembling  ones, 
as  if  he  could  not  bear  for  us  to  go  !  To  my  mind  we 
represented  to  him  an  idea — only  vaguely  comprehended 
— -of  a  totally  different  order  of  life  and  thought  and  love 
from  that  around  him,  and  he  had  uniti/  of  spirit  ivith  ics 
rather  than  with  it,  and  tried  in  his  poor  way  to  express 
it.  God  bless  and  save  him,  and  may  we  meet  him  again 
above ! 

With  this  recital  I  will  close  this  letter,  reserving  the 
finish  of  our  visit  at  Arabkir  for  my  next,  and  then  will 
come  Eghin. — Your  affectionate  friend, 

Helen  B.  H. 


LETTER    No.    XXXVI. 

I.  LETTER  FROil  H.  B.  H.  — VISITING  THE  WOMEN  AT  ARABKIR  : 
A  MEETING  WITH  THEM — DISORDER  HARSHLY  QUELLED  BY 
THE  SEXTON—  JOURNEY  TO  EGHIN  :  A  ROMANTIC  LITTLE  CITY, 
RUINS  OF  BEAUTIFUL  HOUSES  :  SAD  TALES  OF  THE  MASS- 
ACRE THERE,  AND  AT  FIVE  NEAR  VILLAGES — THE  BEREAVED 
WOMEN  IN  THEIR  HOMES — PROVISION  OF  WHEAT,  BEDDING, 
ETC.,  FOR  WINTER  NEEDS. 
II.  LETTER  PROM  MISS  BUSH,  EGHIN. 
III.    LETTER  FROM   MISS   SHATXUCK,   OURFA. 

I. 

Eghin,  October  15,  1896. 
Dear   Friends, — As   the   dear   Arabkir    women  were 
forbidden  to  come  to  us,  Miss  Bush  and  I  adopted,  during 
om'  last  two  days  there,  the  other  alternative,  of  visiting 
some  of  the  most  needy  and  worthy  of  them,  on  our  list 
— a  zaptieh  accompanying,  by  Government  orders.     He 
proved   himself,    however,    a   very   nice   friendly   young 
man,  who  helps  rather  than  hinders  us.     At  one  of  these 
visits  the  gratitude  of  the  dear  woman  to  whom  I  had 
given   help  (a  young   widow   whose  husband  had   been 
killed),  carried  her  farther  than  anything  I  have  pre- 
viously met   with,   and  beyond  it  I   do   not   think   the 
expression  of  gratitude  can  go.     She  not  only  embraced 
me,  and  kissed  my  hands  and  feet,  but  came  back  weeping, 
and,  as  I  reclined  on  the  divan,  lifted  my  "reluctant" 

feet,  and  kissed  the  soles  of  my  hoots  (all  dusty  as  they 

238 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  239 

were !).     I  tried,  of  course,  to  prevent  her  when  I  saw 
her  purpose,  but  in  vain. 

Our  Sunday  was  a  busy  one  for  some  of  our  party,  and 
in  the  afternoon  Miss  Bush  and  I  held  a  meeting  for 
women  in  the  Protestant  church,  which  was  crowded  to 
overflowing  —  a  large  number,  Gregorians  and  others, 
standing.  While  we  spoke  they  behaved  beautifully, 
but  afterwards  there  was  a  good  deal  of  pushing  and 
surging  of  the  crowd  (mostly  to  reach  us),  and  the  soldier 
and  sexton  interfered  to  preserve  order  in  true  Eastern 
style,  and  I  must  say,  of  the  two,  the  sexton  was  the 
worse !  The  soldier  used  his  sheathed  sword  a  little,  not 
severely,  but  the  way  the  sexton  belaboured  the  women 
with  a  stick,  on  back  and  shoulder,  to  drive  them  to  the 
door,  quite  took  my  breath  away,  and  made  Miss  Bush, 
who  was  commander-in-chief  both  secular  and  ecclesiastical 
for  the  time  being,  Jly  upon  him,  and  with  her  own  good 
hands  disengage  his  from  a  poor  woman,  at  the  same  time 
administering  a  verbal  reproof  of  no  mean  force,  I  should 
judge !  These  native  Protestant  Churches  are  wonder- 
fully in  advance  of  the  Gregorian  in  every  way,  and  the 
pastors  are  generally  fairly  educated  men,  with  Geikie 
and  Farrar  in  their  libraries,  but  I  shall  not  go  so  far  as 
to  endorse  all  the  sextons  after  this  !  !  ! 

We  had  a  very  early  rise  yesterday,  the  14th,  but  not 
BO  early  a  start,  owing  to  the  slowness  of  our  muleteers, 
gettiug  off  only  at  7.15,  and  it  was  just  ten  hours  later 
that  we  came  in  sight  of  Eghiu,  after  a  beautiful  but 
very  fatiguing  ride  up  and  down  mountain  sides  and 
passes,  and  at  last  for  two  or  three  hours  along  a  defile, 


240  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

through  which  flows  the  Euphrates,  or  a  very  large 
tributary  thereto ;  on  one  side  the  mountains  rise  in  every 
imaginable  variety  of  beauty,  grandeur,  and  sublimity, 
and  on  the  other,  coming  down  in  sheer  precipices  to  the 
road-side,  rocks  and  hills  of  many  hundred  feet  in  height 
rise  directly  above  us,  overshadowing  our  pathway. 

Eghin  is  itself  the  most  surprising  of  romantic  little 
cities,  buried  amid  its  surrounding  mountains  in  a  sea  of 
verdure,  which  yet  rises  terrace  upon  terrace  high  up  one 
mountain  slope,  with  occasional  beautiful  residences  peej)- 
ing  out  above  the  general  bower  of  large  and  most  luxuriant 
trees  of  many  varieties.  (See  Murray's  "  Guide  to  Asia 
Minor.")  The  narrow  but  very  clean  streets  are  all  flights 
of  steps,  or  stairs  up  and  down,  bordered  by  these  leafy 
gardens,  and  as  you  ride  up  and  down  them  you  see 
nothing  but  walls — with  gates  where  each  house  opens 
on  to  the  so-called  street — tree  tops,  and  above  them  the 
mountain  tops.  This  remark  applies,  however,  alone  to 
the  uninjured  parts  of  the  city.  We  rode  yesterday  for 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  through  one  district,  and  have  since 
visited  others,  where  the  walls  were  all  down,  disclosing 
ruins  of  the  most  painful  kind,  all  blackened  by  recent 
fire.  Hundreds  of  once  beautiful  houses  are  now  nothing 
but  blackened  ruins,  still  showing,  however  (and  in  this 
different  to  Arabkir,  which  is  but  heaps  upon  heaps),  in 
the  Christian  quarters  remains  of  their  massive  stone 
walls,  numerous  and  spacious  apartments,  and  beautiful 
woodwork — one  house  now  in  ruins  is  said  to  have  con- 
tained seventy  rooms.  What  words  can  depict  the  misery 
and  desolation  of  these  ruined  homes  lately  so  happy ! 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  241 

It  is  a  montli  to-day  since  the  massacre  began,  upon  the 
wicked  excuse  of  seditious  plots  in  the  town,  of  which 
there  was  not,  of  course,  really  the  least  trace,  the  only 
at  all  revolutionary  Armenian  having  previously  arrived 
at  Harpoot  from  Eghin. 

•  ••••• 

We  are  staying  here,  as  we  stayed  at  Arabkir,  on  the 
Protestant  mission  premises.  It  is  a  fine  set  of  buildings. 
and  happily  spared  from  destruction,  though  thoroughly 
looted  and  all  the  windows  gone,  and  the  pastor's  house 
robbed  of  every  particle  of  furniture. 

Saturday,  lyth. — We  have  been  here  now  three  days, 
and  have  met  many  of  the  sufferers  from  the  massacre, 
and  have  heard  many  of  their  sad,  terrible  tales ;  one  or 
two  of  these  I  will  recount. 

The  leading  Protestants  were^  a'S;^isual,  of  all  the  Chris- 
tians the  most  hated  bv  the  Turks,  and  were  hunted  to 
the  death  with  hardly  an  exception, — some  shot,  others 
killed  with  sword  and  axe,  and  one  of  the  noblest  of  all, 
who  had  eluded  detection  during  the  three  days  given 
for  massacre,  was  killed  openly  by  having  his  head 
crushed  by  heavy  stones  beaten  against  it,  when  he  was 
in  the  street  and  supposed  himself  safe,  after  the  massacre 
was  over.  "  But  you  may  not  kill  me  now,"  he  said ; 
"  orders  have  come  to  stop  the  killing."  "  We  may  no 
longer  kill  with  guns,"  was  the  reply,  "but  stones  are 
different,  and  we  may  use  them  ; "  so  he  died. 

One  Protestant  (a  very  intimate  friend  of  the  Harpoot 
missionaries,  especially  so  of  Mr.  Browne,  who  mourns 


242  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

his  loss  almost  as  that  of  a  brother),  and  a  graduate  of 
Harpoot  College,  was  very  rich  and  influential,  as  well 
as  eminently  good  and  useful  to  the  town.  He  had  in 
consequence  long  been  an  object  of  jealousy  to  some 
leading  Turks,  and  was  named  to  Mr.  Gates,  by  the 
haimakam,  as  the  head  of  the  (imaginary)  revolutionary 
committee.  When  the  kaimahani  said  this,  it  was  very 
hard  for  our  missionary  friends  not  to  deny  it  indignantly, 
knowing  him  to  have  ever  been  most  loyal  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  most  opposed  to  any  but  constitutional  methods 
of  reform.  (However,  from  prudential  reasons  they  held 
their  peace.)  He  was  killed  most  cruelly, — first  shot,  then 
cut  with  swords  and  knives,  and  afterwards  (some  say 
while  still  living,  others,  when  the  breath  had  just  left 
him,  and  who  knows  which  is  true  ?)  a  stake  was  driven 
down  his  throat  with  the  savage  sneer,  "Here  is  your 
Beyship ! " — a  Beyship,  or  Lordship,  being  supposed  to 
have  been  one  object  of  his  ambition.  Those  killed 
mostly  had  their  throats  cut,  or  were  killed  with  axes, 
lOO  of  which  had  been  made  by  order  of  the  City  Council. 

One  commentary  on  this  rebellion,  so  "  hravely  "  quelled 
by  the  Turks,  is  that  not  one  single  shot  was  fired  by 
an  Armenian,  or  a  Turk  killed.  On  the  other  hand  a 
million  liras'  (or  Turkish  pounds)  worth  of  property  was 
destroyed  or  stolen  (for  this  was  the  richest  of  Armenian 
cities  though  so  small),  of  which,  it  is  said,  iJ"20,ooo  have 
found  their  way  into  four  Turkish  pockets,  the  heads  of 
the  Turkish  community  here.     For  the  accuracy  of  these 

figures  I  do  not  vouch,  but  brought  the  information 

to  our  dinner-table  to-night. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  243 

Five  neighbouring  villages  were  attacked  at  the  same 
time  as  Eghin,  and  many  were  killed.  At  one  of  these, 
Pingyan,  a  number  of  women  (fifteen)  and  girls  threw 
themselves  into  the  Euphrates  and  were  drowned.  Miss 
Bush  and  I  have  been  out  paying  visits  to  the  poor  women 
in  their  homes  here  as  at  Arabkir,  and  these  visits  have 
been  very  much  the  same  as  those,  though  these  women 
are  of  a  higher  social  grade  as  a  rule,  comparable  to 
our  middle  class  at  home.  They  receive  us  always  in 
their  despoiled  homes  with  an  outburst  of  tears,  and 
generally  Miss  Bush  is  embraced  as  an  old  friend  would 
be  anywhere  after  such  a  calamity,  and  sometimes  I  am 
also.  Then  we  sit  down  in  what  remains  of  the  "seat  of 
honour,"  and  they  salaam  us  with  great  ceremony  as  if 
greeting  us  for  the  first  time  ;  others  come  in  and  do  the 
same,  and  every  one  salutes  every  one  else,  and  this  takes 
a  deal  of  time.  Then,  seated  around  us,  they  very  soon 
give  full  play  to  their  grief  and  anguish,  and  various 
terrible  recitals  follow  each  other  in  quick  succession, 
emphasised  by  Oriental  gesticulation.  Then  comes  the 
weei^ing  and  wailing  of  many  together,  and  then  lue  2Juf 
in  our  words,  or  Miss  Bush  does,  exhorting  to  faith, 
patience,  and  hope,  and  then  we  close  with  Bible  reading 
and  prayer. 

Many  of  these  women  have  lost  their  husbands,  and 
all,  husband  or  sons,  father  or  brother,  mostly  killed 
before  their  eyes.  One  dear  woman,  at  whose  house  we 
were,  had  had  her  husband  and  two  sons  of  18  and  20 
years  of  age  killed.  One  woman  had  had  two  dear  boys 
killed,  and  a  kindly  soldier  who   knew  that  their  dead 


244  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

bodies  were  lying  right  in  her  path  as  she  was  coming 
down  the  street,  called  to  her  with  real  humanity : 
"  Don't  come  down  that  way  !  "  she  was  just  turning  aside 
when  another  brutally  called  to  her,  "  Yes,  come ;  I  have 
something  to  show  you  here ; "  and  so  she  went.  "  Do 
you  know  them  ?  "  he  said.  "  Yes !  "  she  replied.  "  If  you 
who  slew  them  know  them,  should  not  I  who  bore  them  ?  " 
This  she  told  us  herself,  poor  creature.  But  I  must  not 
go  any  further  into  the  details  of  this  tragedy,  or  I  shall 
only  sicken  you,  when  I  would  interest. 

We  have  the  great  comfort,  amid  the  gloom,  of  know- 
ing that  we  are  here  with  help  in  our  hands,  and  that 
we  hope  to  leave  the  town  prepared  in  some  measure  to 
face  the  winter,  the  cold  of  which  is  already  commenc- 
ing. From  the  Friends'  Fund  I  have  calculated  that  I 
can  spend  about  ;^I500  here,  and  we  are  planning  how 
to  use  it  to  the  best  account.  Wheat  is  cheap  now, 
and  probably  a  good  deal  will  go  in  that,  and  every 
needy  family  will  have  enough  given  them  to  carry  them 
through  the  winter.  The  next  need  is  bedding,  for  the 
Kurds  and  other  depredators  always  relieve  every  house- 
hold of  these  necessaries,  then  clothing  and  firing ;  then 
I  propose  putting  in  the  glass  to  the  windows  of  the 
mission  premises  (all  broken),  to  make  it  at  once  usable, 
and  to  do  other  things  of  the  kind.  I  hear  also  that, 
while  most  of  the  Christian  families  have  had  their 
Bibles  destroyed,  there  is  both  here  and  at  Arabkir  a 
large  stock  on  hand  for  sale,  and  the  pastor  petitions  us 
to  buy  and  distribute  those  to  the  families  who  have  none, 
which  I  shall  probably  do. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  245 

We  shall  in  these  various  ways  find  plenty  to  do  for 
another  week,  which  will  probably  be  about  the  length 
of  the  remainder  of  our  visit,  and  then  our  little  party 
will  separate,  Mr.  Browne  escorting  me  towards  Sivas, 
and  the  others  returning  to  Arabkir  and  Harpoot. — With 
love,  I  remain,  yours  truly, 

Helen  B.  H. 

Oct.  31. — Arrived  safely  at  Sivas.  I 'could  not  post  at 
Arabkir  or  Eghin. 

II. 

Extracts  from  a  Letter  from  Miss  Bush,  also  from  Eghin. 

October  24,  1896. 

Everybody  is  in  a  rush  of  work  this  morning ;  a  car- 
penter is  in  my  room,  putting  in  windows,  by  the  kindness 
of  Mrs.  H.,  BO  that  after  this  Harriet  and  I  will  not  have 
to  close  the  shutters  on  cold  days  and  live  in  the  dark,  or 
shiver  in  the  cold  with  them  open.  She  also  had  the 
windows  of  the  chapel  all  put  in,  as  they  were  completely 
ruined  by  the  Kurds. 

Yesterday  morning  Mr.  Gates  commenced  to  give  relief 
money,  having  been  occupied  every  day  previous  with  the 
making  out  of  lists. 

There  have  been  daily  morning  prayer-meetings  this 
week,  but  yesterday,  when  we  saw  that  the  men  could  not 
come,  and  also  this  morning,  we  turned  it  into  a  women's 
meeting  and  had  a  great  crowd.  Mrs.  H.  speaks  to  the 
women,  and  of  course  I  translate,  and  speak  some  myself 


246  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

after  she  finishes.  Yesterday  morning  she  spoke  on  for- 
giving our  enemies.  This  morning  occurred  a  remarkable 
coincidence.  Just  before  our  half-past  six  breakfast,  I 
became  fascinated  with  the  49th  chapter  of  Isaiah.  As 
I  read  the  verse  I  love,  "  Yea,  they  may  forget,  yet  I  will 
not  forget  thee,"  the  prayer  rose  in  my  heart,  "Lord, 
grant  that  Mrs.  H.  may  choose  this  to  speak  on  this  morn- 
ing." We  saw  that  the  Protestant  brethren  had  not  come, 
so  Mrs.  H.  and  I  started,  and  she  said,  opening  her  little 
daily  text-book,  "I  wish  to  speak  on  this,  'Yea,  they 
may  forget,  yet  I  will  not  forget  thee  ! '  "  The  Spirit  was 
surely  with  us,  for  many  women  wept,  and  the  closest 
attention  was  given  while  we  spoke,  and  many  afterwards 
crowded  about  us  to  kiss  our  hands  and  give  us  thanks. 
It  was  a  touching  sight. 

Mrs.  H.  and  I  have  done  a  little  calling  this  week  and 
seen  many  women.  We  had  meetings  with  the  women 
Sunday,  Monday,  and  Wednesday,  with  very  large  attend- 
ances. I  have  felt  as  I  went  about,  as  if  I  was  in  an 
awful  dream,  and  was  almost  stupefied  with  the  sorrow 
of  it  all. 

Mr.  Gates  looked  pretty  weary  last  evening,  after  his 
first  day  of  distribution.  The  people  are  so  importunate, 
poor,  wretched,  and  sorrowful,  yet  they  seem  much  com- 
forted by  our  coming,  and  we  are  glad  to  have  reached 
them  so  soon. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  247 

III. 

Extracts  from  a  Letter  from  Miss  Shatticck  to  H.  B.  H. 

OuRFA,  Se2:)tember  28,  1 896. 

Would  you  could  see,  as  I  saw  last  Friday  on  going 
my  round,  the  quiet  orderly  schools  without  exception,  the 
pupils  studious  and  advancing  rapidly,  where  at  the 
beginning  of  our  co-operative  school  work  was  but  the 
old  Gregorian  system  of  studying  aloud  and  general  con- 
fusion. I  could  almost  weep  for  joy  at  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  my  honest  though  feeble  efforts,  and  I  know  of 
your  constant  prayers.  They  will  never  want  to  slip  back 
if  this  can  be  kept  up  through  the  entire  year,  and  they 
really  taste  the  better  way. 

I  am  so  thankful  for  the  gift  of  money  for  wheat  for 
our  needy  families.  Such  happy  grateful  creatures  would 
surely  give  joy  to  the  angels  in  heaven.  It  is  a  great 
help,  and  I  feel  less  anxious  for  them  otherwise,  now  the 
"  staff  of  life  "  is  provided. 

October  10,  1896. 

The  last  mail  brought  a  long-expected  letter  from  Dr. 
Lepsius.  He  authorises  our  taking  in  fifty  more  orphan 
children  immediately,  making  his  number  one  hundred 
in  all. 

Do  you  know  that  your  good  country- people  have 
generously  responded  to  Miss  Mellinger's  appeal,  and  sent 
us  enough  to  supply  the  needy  with  hourgoul  ^  till  spring ! 
We  praise  God  for  this  special  relief  of  distress  we  saw 

'  A  preparation  of  wheat. 


248  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

ahead.  Over  700  families  have  received  their  portions, 
and  before  the  rains  are  getting  it  cooked  and  dried.  It 
is  so  good  ! 

Schools  are  in  excellent  state.  Teachers  and  pupils  full 
of  enthusiasm;  1265  pupils  enrolled.  I  wish  you  might 
go  the  rounds  of  visitation  in  the  fifteen  rooms  and  meet 
our  eighteen  teachers. 

You  see  God  used  you  for  a  great  blessing  to  Ourfa,  and 
we  all  praise  Him  for  it.  I  wish  to  tell  of  our  eighteen 
Bible-women  and  their  work,  but  I  am  unable  for  want 
of  time. 


LETTER   No.   XXXVIL 

JOURNEY  FROM  SIVAS  TO  MARSOVAN  VIA  TOKAT — HARD  TRAVEL — 
WELCOME  AT  MARSOVAN — AN  IDEAL  MISSION  THERE — TOIL- 
SOME JOURNEY  TO  SAMSOUN — LETTER  FROM  HARPOOT,  STATING 
PRESENT  DIFFICULTIES  AND  THE  APPARENT  INTENTION  OP  THE 
GOVERNMENT  TO  CLOSE  THE  MISSION  SCHOOLS,  ETC. — RELIEF 
WORK   IN   EGHIN. 

Marsovan,  November  i8,  1896. 

Deak  Friends, — After  a  very  full  Sunday  at  Sivas, 
•with  one  very  crowded  meeting  of  men  and  women  to- 
gether in  the  church,  and  two  Bible-classes,  besides  the 
little  evening  service  with  the  dear  missionary  band,  and 
a  very  secular  Monday,  full  of  innumerable  last  things, 
and  preparations  for  our  five  days'  journey,  we  set  out  on 
the  tenth  from  the  shadow  of  Christian  civilisation  into 
our  "  wilderness  journey  "  once  again. 

But  I  was  more  highly  favoured  than  I  had  expected, 
for  instead  of  having  only  servants  and  zaptiehs  as  my 
companions,  as  had  seemed  likely,  on  the  last  day  one  of 
the  lady  missionaries  who  very  much  needed  a  change, 
Mrs.  Perry  by  name,  decided  to  pay  a  visit  to  Marsovan, 
and  to  take  the  opportunity  of  accompanying  me,  being 
protected  in  her  turn  by  a  Circassian  cavass  belonging 
to  the  American  Consulate,  armed  with  ornamental  dirk, 

dagger,  and  pistol,  and  presenting  an  imposing  appearance. 

249 


250  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

I  had  an  oiibashee  (or  oflBcer  over  ten  men)  and  a  common 
zapfieh  to  take  care  of  me,  and  they  came  all  the  way  with 
us  to  Marsovan — a  most  unusual  proceeding — and  when 
they  left,  they  carried  away  two  good  Turkish  Bibles, 
which  they  seemed  delighted  to  accept  as  souvenirs  of 
our  journey,  and  commenced  reading  them  at  once. 

On  our  way  out  of  Sivas  we  passed  some  very  ancient 
archaeological  remains — an  old  gateway  of  great  beauty 
and  interest,  and  later  the  sheet  of  water  where  the  cele- 
brated forty  martyrs  were  frozen  to  death  in  ancient 
times.  The  road  to  Tokat  is  very  mountainous,  and  the 
tableland  itself,  from  which  the  mountains  rise,  is  from 
4000  to  5000  feet  above  the  sea-level,  so  you  may  fancy 
how  cold  it  is  to  travel  over. 

At  Tokat  we  visited  the  tomb  of  Henry  Martyn,  now 
in  the  Protestant  mission  grounds.  It  cost  some  effort 
to  do  this,  as  we  did  not  reach  the  town  till  the  sun  had 
set,  and  then  it  was  quite  a  little  walk.  However,  by  the 
fading  light  I  deciphered  the  inscription  to  the  memory 
of  this  pioneer  of  the  faith,  thanking  God  that  ''such  as 
he  had  lived  and  died."  We  brought  the  native  Pro- 
testant pastor  back  to  our  khan  with  us  and  gave  him 
the  best  dinner,  humble  as  it  was,  that  I  expect  he  had 
had  for  some  time  (I  do  not  wish  to  be  boastful,  but  as  I 
made  the  toast  and  scrambled  the  eggs  myself,  I  enjoyed 
his  appreciation  of  them  very  especially,  he  being  just 
then  rather  overworked  and  unable  for  native  food). 

Three  days  out  of  our  five  of  travel  we  were  twelve 
and  thirteen  hours  on  the  road,  and  as  it  was  considered 
much  safer  to  be  out  in  the  dark  early  rather  than  late, 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  251 

we  started  two  or  three  hours  before  daybreak,  rismg  by 
2  A.M.  One  night  our  men  were  so  anxious  to  be  in 
time,  they  had  the  oatmeal  and  hot  milk  for  coffee  ready 
at  12.30,  and  routed  poor  Mrs.  Perry  up  at  that  hour. 
We  each  of  us  had  our  own  araba  or  waggon  to  travel 
in,  and  when  once  started  I  wrapped  up  and  took  another 
nap,  that  is,  when  the  bitter,  bitter  cold  permitted,  which 
was  by  no  means  always.  My  dear  horse  came  with  us, 
and  both  Mrs.  Perry  and  I  rode  him  for  many  hours 
each  day,  and  so  varied  the  mode  of  travel ;  and  to  Mrs. 
Perry  I  have  now  sold  him,  and  have  the  pleasure  of 
thinking  that  he  will  remain  in  the  Lord's  work  and  in 
loving  hands,  and  I  hope  in  time  he  may  become  quite 
"a  changed  character,"  though  indeed,  when  "on  the 
road  "  and  in  full  work,  no  one  could  wish  for  a  better 
or  gentler  horse. 

Our  last  day's  journey  was  marked  by  a  very  special 
mercy.  It  had  rained  heavily  the  day  and  night  pre- 
viously, and  the  roads  were  difficult  in  consequence.  "We, 
however,  proceeded  across  the  plain  by  a  usual  short  cut, 
and  had  just  got  through  some  bad  mud-holes,  when  a 
young  man  from  Marsovan  on  his  way  to  Amasia  met  us, 
and  said  we  could  proceed  no  further  on  that  road  with- 
out being  mired  ;  so  he  kindly  led  us  some  distance  across 
country,  to  the  long  but  passable  road  which  finally 
brought  us  to  our  journey's  end  two  hours  late ;  and  you 
may  think  how  grateful  we  were  that  he  met  us  where 
he  did,  and  prevented  we  know  not  how  much  trouble. 

About  an  hour  from  ]\Iarsovan  nearly  all  the  missionary 
station  met  us,  two  gentlemen  and  one  lady  on  horse- 


252  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

back,  and  a  carriage  full  besides.  These  dear  missionary 
people  know  how  to  give  a  good  and  beautiful  welcome 
to  weary  travellers,  I  assure  you,  and  I  had  the  joy  of 
being  welcomed,  not  only  as  such  by  these  kind  friends, 
but  specially  for  my  husband's  sake,  by  those  who  were 
here  when  he  passed  through. 

Marsovan  is  a  beautifully  situated  town,  at  the  foot  of 
a  range  of  mountains,  now  all  covered  with  snow,  while 
the  trees  around  it  are  still  green.  The  college  premises 
are  the  finest  we  have  visited  in  this  country,  quite  equal, 
I  think,  to  Eobert  College  itself.  There  is  a  large  staff 
of  missionaries  here,  and  a  fine  efiScient  staff  of  native 
professors  as  well,  who  can  converse  fluently  in  English. 
All  of  them  came  together  to  call  on  me  yesterday,  and 
we  had  a  very  interesting  time,  and  I  found  the  Greek 
professor  had  been  in  Athens  the  time  E.  and  I  were 
there,  and  knew  Mr.  Kalopithakes,  Professor  Morkos, 
and  other  friends ;  and  others  had  travelled  in  Europe 
and  America. 

The  Protestant  Church  also  sent  a  deputation  to  call 
on  me,  of  seven  or  eight  brethren,  equally  friendly,  but 
all  so  anxious  for  good  news,  and  assurances  from  me  for 
their  people.  Oh !  if  only  I  had  had  the  power  to  give 
them ! 

Here  as  elsewhere  there  are  tales  of  distress  and  heroism 
of  massacre  days  to  hear,  and  much  prospective  suffering 
this  winter  for  want  of  food,  to  try  to  alleviate.  I  am 
leaving  my  "  last  penny  "  here,  metaphorically  speaking, 
and  shall  send  some  more  from  Constantinople,  as  also  to 
Sivas,  if  I  find  any  awaiting  me  there. 


LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA  253 

I  have  heard  of  some  very  beautiful  incidents  here,  of 
heroism  and  Christian  fortitude  and  faith,  which  I  shall 
save  up  to  tell  you  when  I  return  (as  they  would  be  quite 
too  long  to  write). 

On  Sunday  the  1 5th — anniversary  of  the  massacre — I 
had  a  meeting  with  the  1 20  dear  bright  girls  of  the  Girls' 
College,  who,  under  their  most  kind  and  efficient  teachers, 
Miss  Gage  and  Miss  Willard,  are  a  credit  to  the  Mission  ; 
and  to-day,  Wednesday,  I  am  to  have  a  women's  meeting 
in  the  church,  and  to-morrow  we  leave,  Mr.  Riggs  kindly 
escorting  me  in  their  spring  waggon  to  Samsoun,  as  I 
leave  my  horse  "  Mardin"  behind. 

Samsoun,  Sunday,  November  22. 

The  beautiful  visit  at  Marsovan  will  ever  live  in  my 
memory  as  one  of  the  pleasantest  of  my  life,  and  was  all 
too  short  and  crowded.  It  is  quite  an  ideal  mission,  with 
"  fathers  and  mothers  in  Israel,"  and  the  young  and  gifted 
laying  every  power  on  the  altar,  and  all  the  work  is  so 
divinely  natural  and  cheerful,  that  it  seems  wonderful 
how  such  life  and  light  can  exist  amid  the  surrounding 
darkness.  I  left  most  reluctantly  as  far  as  the  mission 
station  was  concerned,  though  you  know  I  would  not 
delay  in  my  home-coming  a  single  hour  that  does  not 
seem  necessary  from  some  point  of  view. 

In  spite  of  warm  wraps  and  the  spring  waggon  in  which 
Mr.  Riggs  so  kindly  drove  me  to  thd' coast  (a  three  days' 
journey  of  two  short  and  on«<Iong  day),  the  journey, 
between  the  cold  and  the  jolting  and  the  almost  sleepless 
nights,  was  about  all  I  could  stand,  and  I  counted  every 


254  LETTERS  FROM  ARMENIA 

minute  almost  on  the  last  day,  thanking  my  heavenly 
Father  with  a  very  grateful  heart  that  it  was  the  last  day, 
for  I  felt  as  if  another  would  be  impossible  (doubtless  an 
exaggerated  impression)  ;  but  oh  !  how  glad  I  was  no  words 
can  express,  to  see  the  red  tiles  and  white  houses  of  Sam- 
soun,  and  the  black  Black  Sea,  literally  so  from  clouds, 
stretching  out  before  me. 

To-day  it  is  beautifully  sunny  and  fine,  like  an  English 
spring  day,  and  in  the  pastor's  garden  here — we  visited 
them  after  the  service — his  wife  has  just  picked  me  a 
posy  with  geranium  and  honeysuckle  and  carnation,  which 
is  on  the  table  before  me  as  I  write.  It  is  a  very  diffe- 
rent climate  from  that  of  the  mountainous  region  we 
have  left  behind  us,  and  a  very  pleasant  change. 

I  am  hoping  to  get  o£E  to-morrow,  but  am  not  sure,  and 
a  number  of  "Ourfans"  bound  for  Brusa — from  Harpoot 
— will,  I  expect,  travel  with  me  (besides  some  others).  I 
may  send  you  another  line  from  Constantinople  if  I  find 
anything  special  to  tell,  but  I  feel  very  near  the  end  of 
our  rather  one-sided  correspondence  now,  and  I  do  thank 
you  much,  dear  friends,  for  all  your  loving  interest  in 
and  patience  with,  my  rather  prosy  letters. 

And  so  with  love  to  all,  and  praying  for  a  blessing  on 
our  meeting  one  another  again  face  to  face  if  God  permit, 
— I  remain,  your  affectionate  friend, 

Helen  B.  H. 


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