GOD'S VOICE 
 
 FROM 
 
 ARMEN I A 
 
 TO 
 
 THE CHURCHES. 
 
 " 0 Father, touch the East ivith light, 
 The light that shone when Hope was bom. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN LITERATURE SOCIETY FOB, INDIA : 
 LONDON AND MADRAS. 
 
ARMENIA, A.D. 1894-5. 
 Dead by their ravged fields 
 And blackened roof-trees chill, 
 After long woes at rest, 
 Our martyred brothers lie. 
 Through the dark forests, deep, 
 Naked and famished, creep 
 The sad survivors of a race oppressed ; 
 White on the blue autumnal sky, 
 Ararat's sacred hill 
 O'er the forlorn and ruined plain 
 Uncaring seems to smile- 
 Uncaring for the blood, the wrong, the guile, 
 The hopeless griefs, the oft-repeated pain, 
 The innocent lives defiled, the supplications vain. 
 
 The spoiler robs and preys, 
 
 With rape and torture for his daily work. 
 
 Unchecked the wolfish Kurd torments and slays. 
 
 The obscene, ineffable Turk, 
 
 False heart and glozing tongue, 
 
 Fills all the hapless land with lust and blood. 
 
 i nto the murder-pits are flung 
 
 Dying and dead together, old and young, 
 
 The sire, the mother with her unborn child, 
 
 The virgin lives defiled. 
 
 Or if escape there be 'tis through the shame, 
 Of souls too weak to avow the Holy Name, 
 Or theirs who from the dreadful precipice, 
 Veiling their desperate eyes, 
 
 Plunge with their children through the void to gain, 
 Dying, release from pain. 
 
 What P Has God's thought forgot 
 
 His people's woes P Doth His averted ear 
 
 No more their cries of hopeless anguish hear— 
 
 The wail for precious lives, which now are not ? 
 
 Shall not the all-seeing Eye 
 
 Look downward from the dumb unheeding sky 
 
 And with a glance confound the might of 111 ? 
 
 Shall the oppressor still 
 
 Through endless aeons wreak his fiendish will- 
 Ravish and rob and murder in the name 
 Of that dark Antichrist whose rule of shame 
 Blights the dead East ; for whom the spear, the sword, 
 And ruthless horrors of unsparing war 
 Are weapons fitter far 
 Than are the futile forgeries of his Word, 
 Who, knowing not compassion, yet makes sure 
 (Continued on page 3.) 
 
GOD'S VOICE, 
 
 FROM 
 
 ARMENIA, 
 
 TO 
 
 THE CHURCHES. 
 
 It must be confessed that, not unf requently, God's " way is 
 in the sea, His path in the great waters, and His footsteps are not 
 known." Sometimes, as at Sinai, His voice is heard from the 
 heavens, shrouded in " darkness, clouds, and thick darkness." 
 The old question is apt to be raised, " How doth God know ? and 
 is there knowledge in the most High V 
 
 Such thoughts have doubtless occurred to some as they have 
 read the accounts of the Turkish atrocities in Armenia, so long 
 continued, and in the face of the civilized world. They recall the 
 massacre of the Waldenses, which elicited Milton's noble sonnet : 
 
 " Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughtered saints, whose bones 
 Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold ; 
 Even them who kept Thy truth so pure of old, 
 When all our fathers worshipp'd stocks and stones, 
 Forget not : in Thy book record their groans." 
 
 The cases are largely parallel. 
 
 Armenia has strong claims upon the Christian Church. As 
 Sir M. Grant Duff said at a meeting of the Geographical Society, 
 " It was the bridge by which civilization passed into Europe, and 
 over which Hellenic culture returned once more to the Bast." But 
 it has rendered far greater service. After the conversion of its 
 people, it was long the bulwark of Christianity in Asia. 
 
 The Armenians have their faults, resulting from the oppres- 
 sion to which they have been subjected ; but it is much to their 
 credit that they have maintained their faith for so many centuries 
 in spite of severe persecution, and tempting offers to apostasy. 
 Their condition under Turkish rule has been described as " one 
 long martyrdom." 
 
 There can be no doubt that the author of the massacres which 
 have recently stirred the indignation of the civilized world is the 
 Sultan Abdul Hamid, who (falsely) claims to be the successor of 
 Muhammad. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, the veteran Constantinople 
 Missionary, says of him in the Missionary Review : 
 
2 
 
 GOD'S VOICE PROM ARMENIA. 
 
 " He ascended the throne in 1876. From the beginning he mani- 
 fested a special hostility to the Armenians. His mother was a beautiful 
 Armeniau girl who sold herself for the pleasures and jewels of the palace. 
 Usually such renegades hate their own race, and she probably inspired 
 him with her own spirit." 
 
 The means employed by Abdul Hamid have thus been sum- 
 marised in The Times: 
 
 " 1st. By killing, in cold blood, a certain number of the leading 
 Armenians in every town. 
 
 " 2nd. By looting the shops and houses of all the Armenians in the 
 towns, thus depriving those left alive at once of their property and their 
 means of living. 
 
 " 3rd. By destroying the Christian villages and thus reducing the 
 agricultural population, as well as that of the towns, to the alternative 
 of death by starvation or of embracing Mahomedanism. 
 
 " 4th. By completing the work of destruction after the massacres by 
 confiscation, imprisonment, and death under the forms of Turkish law." 
 
 The same journal thus describes the mode of carrying out 
 the massacres : 
 
 " In general the massacre has begun on a signal given by the author- 
 ities, and has lasted a certain number of hours fixed by previous notice, 
 given not only to the Moslems in the town, but also to those of the 
 neighbouring villages. In many cases the time fixed has been four 
 hours, beginning at the close of the noon prayers. According to the 
 Sunni law, the killing and plunder of infidels is as much an act of wor- 
 ship as prayer. In most cases of which we have full details the Chris- 
 tians have got wind of what was coming, have appealed to the civil 
 authorities for • protection, and received the most solemn assurance that 
 they had nothing to fear. The signal once given, every Armenian to be 
 found in the shops or streets was killed. Guns, pistols, knives, and clubs 
 were used, but the desire for plunder generally outran the desire to kill, 
 and gave many Armenians the chance to conceal themselves. The 
 stripping and the mutilation of the dead bodies generally came later. 
 After a day or two the officials impressed companies of Armenians to 
 collect the bodies and bury them in trenches with scant ceremony. Few 
 women or small children have been killed. These are expected to become 
 Mahomedans. Generally there has been no killing after the appointed 
 hour, but in some places it has gone on for days." 
 
 Orfah is a very ancient city, believed by some to be " Ur of the 
 Chaldees." The Hindu, a Madras paper, quotes the account of the 
 massacre at this place,* preceded by its own comment :f 
 
 " The Turk is filling his cup of iniquity to the brim, no longer 
 deterred by the imitation thunders of European courts and cabinets. 
 The accounts of the Orfah massacre show that it surpassed in brutality 
 all previous massacres of the Christian subjects of Turkey. Here is one 
 
 * Abridged from The Times May 22, 1896. 
 
 fine comment shows how Christian thought is influencing Hindu opinion. 
 
HOD'S VOICE PROM ARMENIA. 
 
 3 
 
 of them : ' The Armenians pleaded for mercy for the sake of their women 
 and children and the 'prophet' Jesus. They were dragged out one by one 
 from their hiding places and brutally butchered. About a hundred stal- 
 wart young Armenians were thrown on their backs and held down by 
 their hands and feet, while a Sheik, reciting verses of the Koran, pro- 
 ceeded to cut their throats after the Mecca rite of sacrificing sheep. The 
 slaughter and the burning of houses and food continued until towards 
 sunset, when the trumpet was again sounded, and the mob at once with- 
 drew. The final scene was a holocaust in the Cathedral, where 3,0u0 
 men, women and children had taken refuge. To 1,000 of these the 
 priests administered the Sacrament — the last Sacrament as it proved to 
 be. Then the mob began tiring through the windows, after which they 
 broke open the doors and massacred the men on the floor. But the last 
 and the worst was yet to come. Finally the huge gallery running round 
 the upper portion of the Cathedral, where a packed mass of shrieking 
 and terrified women and children and some men were gathered, was set 
 on fire, and all in it perished in the flames. At 3-30 p.m. the trumpet 
 again sounded, and the mob drew off from the Armenian quarter. 
 Shortly afterwards the Mufti Ali Effendi, Hussein Pasha, and other not- 
 ables, preceded by music, went round the quarter announcing that the 
 massacre was at an end." June 8th 1896. 
 
 The Massacres characteristic op Islam. 
 It may be objected that these massacres are due to Abdul 
 Hamid personally. No doubt there is much truth in this, but 
 he is a typical Muhammadan. Dr. Hamlin says : 
 
 " It should be freely acknowledged that while Abdul Hamid has 
 been using every possible means to degrade and impoverish the Arme- 
 nians, he has been the most liberal patron of education among the Mos- 
 lems. No Sultan of this century has built so many school-houses and 
 established so many schools, and printed so many school-books, but they 
 have all been for Moslems. The whole Moslem population has been 
 inspired by him with a spirit of jealousy and hatred to the Armenians 
 which they never had before. They, the Turks, are led by their Sultan. 
 If he is friendly to the rayahs, they are. If he is known to be hostile, 
 they easily catch his spirit and become ruthless murderers in the name 
 of the Prophet." 
 
 Abdul Hamid has simply been following the examples of the 
 early propagators of Islam, even of Muhammad himself. 
 
 When the Coreitza Jews surrendered, Muhammad asked Sad, 
 their bitter enemy to decide their fate. Sir William Muir thus 
 describes the scene and what took place : 
 
 " In the background the army of Medina watch with deep interest 
 this show of justice, regarding with eager eyes the booty, — the household 
 stuff, the armour, the camels, the flocks, and the deserted town, as about, 
 by the expected decree of confiscation, to become their own. On the 
 right, with hands pinioned behind their backs, are the captive men, 
 seven or eight hundred in number, dejection or despair at the ominous 
 rigour of their treatment stamped on their faces. On the left, are the 
 women and the little children, pale with terror, or frantic with grief and 
 
4 
 
 GOD's VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 alarm for themselves and for the fate of their husbands and fathers 
 from whom they have been just now so rudely dragged. In front is 
 Mahomet with his chief companions by his side, and a crowd of followers 
 thronging behind. Before him stands Sad, supported by his friends, 
 weak and jaded with the journey, yet distinguished above all around by 
 his portly and commanding figure. ' Proceed with the judgment !' 
 repeated the Prophet. Sad turned himself to his people, who were 
 still urging meruy upon him and said, — ' Will ye, then, bind yourselves 
 by the covenant of God that whatsoever I shall decide, ye will accept the 
 same ?' There was a general murmur of assent. Then he proceeded : — 
 • This verily is my judgment, that the male captives shall be put to death, 
 that the female captives and the children shall be sold unto slavery, and 
 the spoil be divided among the army. 1 Many a heart quailed besides the 
 hearts of the wretched prisoners, at this savage and bloody decree. 
 But all questionings were forthwith stopped by Mahomet, who adopted 
 the verdict as his own, nay, declared it to be the solemn judgment of the 
 Almighty; — cold and unmoved he said — i Truly thou hast decided 
 according to the judgment of God pronounced on high from beyond the seven 
 heavens.' 
 
 " No sooner was the sentence passed and ratified than the camp 
 broke up, and the people wended their way back to Medina. The 
 captives were dragged roughly along ; one alone was treated with 
 tenderness and care, — it was Rihana, the beautiful Jewess, set apart for 
 Mahomet. The men were penned up in a closed yard, while graves or 
 trenches were being dug for them in the chief market place of the city. 
 When these were ready, Mahomet, himself a spectator of the tragedy, 
 gave command that the captives should be brought forth in companies. 
 Bach company was made to sit down by the brink of the trench destined 
 for its grave, and then beheaded. Party by party they were thus led 
 out and butchered in cold blood till the whole were slain 
 
 " Having sated his revenge, and drenched the market-place with the 
 blood of eight hundred victims, and having given command that the 
 earth be smoothed over their remains, Mahomet returned from the 
 horrid spectacle to solace himself with the charms of Rihana, whose 
 husband and all whose male relatives had just perished in the massacre. 
 He invited her to be his wife, but she declined ; and chose to remain (as 
 indeed, having refused marriage, she had no alternative) his slave or 
 concubine."* 
 
 If the Pasha who superintended the massacre at Orfah had 
 taken in to his harem at the close of the day the most beautiful 
 Armenian widow, he would merely have followed the sunnat, or 
 example, binding on all good Muslims. 
 
 Nor is the above an exceptional case in the early history of 
 Islam. Sir William Muir says : " Cruelty however inhuman, and 
 revenge the most implacable, when practised against infidels, were 
 regarded by the first followers of Islam as highly meritorious."t 
 
 # Life of Mahomet. Vol. Ill, pp. 275-278 
 f Life of Mahomet, One vol. Ed, p, 600. 
 
GOD'S VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 5 
 
 Lane says : 
 
 " I am credibly informed that children in Egypt are often taught at 
 school a regular set of curses to denounce upon the persons and property 
 of Christians, Jews, and all other persons unbelievers in the religion of 
 Mohammad." 
 
 He gives the following example, supplied by Burton : 
 
 " 0 God ! destroy the infidels and polytheists, thine enemies, the 
 enemies of the religion ! 0 God ! make their children orphans, and defile 
 their abodes, and cause their feet to slip and give them and their families 
 and their households, and their women and their children, and their re- 
 lations by marriage and their brothers and their friends, and their 
 possessions and their race and their wealth and their lands as booty to 
 the Muslims ! O Lord of all creatures !"* 
 
 As a commentary on the above may be mentioned the recep- 
 tion correspondents of The Graphic met in the streets of Fez : 
 
 "Cursing the Christians; a ride through the bazaars op Fez. 
 
 " The men glowered and frowned, and even the children cursed them 
 in their childish trebles. ' May the true God strike thee to the ground, 
 Christian!' shrieked a toddling hopeful of four, and one and all, in what 
 seemed a concerted union, spat at their feet as they rode by." Sept. 3, 
 1892. 
 
 Sir William Muir, while acknowledging that Islam has 
 banished idolatry, proclaimed the unity of God, and promoted 
 temperance, adds : 
 
 " Yet these benefits have been purchased at a costly price. Setting 
 aside considerations of minor import, three radical evils flow from the 
 faith in all ages and in every country, and must continue to flow so long 
 as the Goran is the standard of belief. First : Polygamy, Divorce, and 
 Slavery, are maintained and perpetuated ; — striking as they do at the 
 root of public morals, poisoning domestic life, and disorganizing society. 
 Second: Freedom of judgment in religion is crushed and annihilated. The 
 sword is the inevitable penalty for the denial of Islam. Toleration is 
 unknown. Third: A barrier has been interposed against the reception of 
 Christianity. They labour under a miserable delusion who suppose that 
 Mahometanism paves the way for a purer faith. No system could 
 have been devised with more consummate skill for shutting out the 
 nations over which it has sway, from the light of truth. Idolatrous 
 Arabia (judging from the analogy of other nations) might have 
 been aroused to spiritual life, and to the adoption of the faith of 
 Jesus ; Mahometan Arabia is to human eye, sealed against the benign 
 influences of the Gospel. Many a flourishing laud in Africa and 
 Asia which once rejoiced in the light and liberty of Christianity is 
 now overspread by gross darkness and a stubborn barbarism. It is as if 
 their day of grace had come and gone, and there remained to them ' no 
 more sacrifice for siu.' That a brighter day will yet dawn on these coun- 
 
 * Modem Egyptians, Vols. I. and TI 
 
6 
 
 GOD'S VOICE FEOM ARMENIA. 
 
 tries we may not doubt; but the history of the past and the condition'of 
 the present is not the less true and sad. The sword of Mahomet and the 
 Goran are the most fatal enemies of Civilization, Liberty, and Truth, which 
 the ivorld has yet known,"* 
 
 Schlegel, in his Philosophy of History, thus characterises Islam : 
 
 "A prophet without miracles; a faith tvithout mysteries; and 
 a morality without love; which has encouraged a thirst for blood, 
 and which began and ended in the most unbounded sensuality." 
 
 Unavailing Efforts to check the Massacres. 
 
 It must sadly be confessed that on the continent of Europe the 
 general feeling has apparently been one of indifference. Some 
 Governments have been willing to accord a measure of support to 
 England ; but others, regarding only their own selfish ends, have 
 sought to thwart her efforts. This especially applies to the Em- 
 peror of Russia, who is largely responsible for the massacres. 
 As The Times says : " A great European Power has shown, in a 
 way which cannot be mistaken, that henceforth she will not willingly 
 suffer any country but herself to intervene otherwise than by 
 empty words between Abdul Hamed and his Christian subjects. 
 She has taken the Sultan, morally at least, under her protection, 
 and by so doing she has herself become answerable before mankind 
 for the quality of his acts/' (May 28, 1896). France comes 
 next in guilt. 
 
 On the other hand, England has been sincerely desirous of 
 putting an end to the robbery and bloodshed. Queen Yictoria is re- 
 ported to have written an autograph letter to Abdul Hamid, entreat- 
 ing him to have mercy on his Christian subjects. Lord Salisbury, to 
 whom Turkey owes so much for befriending her at Berlin, has 
 earnestly endeavoured to do what he could. The Dukes of Argyll 
 and Westminster, Mr. Gladstone and many others, including a 
 well-known poet, have made strenuous efforts on behalf of the 
 unhappy Armenians ; but all their exertions have proved unavailing, 
 except to relieve, to some extent, individual suffering. 
 
 Dr. George Smith says : 
 
 " The Turkish representative of Islam, claiming to be its Kaliph, 
 has deliberately sought to extinguish the oldest of the Christian 
 churches — that of the Armenia of the great Gregory the Illuminator, 
 numbering four millions of people, — and has been allowed by the Chris- 
 tian powers, contrary to treaties and engagements, to do to death by 
 butchery, outrage, robbery, and starvation one-eighth of the four millions 
 of that suffering people."f 
 
 The powers of evil have apparently triumphed ; Abdul Hamid, 
 unchecked, has been allowed to fill up to the brim the cup of his 
 iniquity. 
 
 * Life of Mahomet, vol. iv. pp. 321, 322- 
 
 t Free Church of Scotland Monthly, June 1896, p. 134. 
 
GOB'S VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 7 
 
 The Massacres why Permitted. 
 
 The blind bard prayed : 
 
 " What in me is dark 
 Illumine, what is low raise and support, 
 That to the height of this great argument 
 I may assert eternal Providence, 
 And justify the ways of God to men." 
 
 Though "clouds and darkness are round about God; right- 
 eousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne." We may- 
 well believe that in permitting such terrible atrocities there is 
 some great end to be gained. It is not the first time that God has 
 " caused the wrath of man to praise Him," and to work out the 
 most beneficent results. It is an old saying, often verified, "The 
 blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." 
 
 We may reverently seek to consider what God designs we 
 should learn from what has happened in Armenia. 
 
 1 . An Object Lesson has been presented to the civilized world 
 showing the true character of Islam. 
 
 The world was in danger of forgetting what Islam really is. 
 Christian slaves, captured by Moorish pirates, are no longer 
 sold in the markets of Algiers. Stratford Canning exerted a bene- 
 ficial influence over Turkey, and the law of the Koran inflicting 
 the death penalty on any Muhammadan becoming a Christian has 
 been nominally repealed.* Carlyle, by his lecture on "The Hero 
 as Prophet," considerably influenced public opinion. Muhammad 
 is " the genuine man, the brother of us all, brought visible 
 through twelve centuries — the veritable son of our common 
 Mother"; his religion is "a kind of Christianity." Bosworth Smith 
 makes him " a prophet, a very prophet of God."f 
 
 Another factor has been the liberalism of the day, which 
 regards "all religions as equally false, and equally useful." 
 
 It may have been thought that the Ethiopian had changed 
 his skin and the leopard his spots, but this idea has been rudely 
 dispelled. 
 
 2. The great End seems to be to arouse the Christian Church 
 to a sense of her duty to Muhammadans. — Statesmen, it is true, 
 have also their lessons ; but this appeal is addressed to the Churches. 
 The cry, in old times, from the "man of Macedonia," reaches us in 
 
 * The following extract from the Daily Chronicle shows how disgracefully this is 
 now violated : 
 
 " At Tchvilik, one of twenty villages in the Djebakhtan district, all the inhabit- 
 ants were forced to accept Islam during the massacres in March. The local authori- 
 ties proclaimed full freedom to the unwilling converts to return to their ancientfaith, 
 and after much hesitation a few men at Tchivlik returned. The Turks and Kurds 
 instantly attacked the village., killed fifteen relapsed Armenians, and put out the 
 eyes of others. The eyes, threaded on a cord, were shown round. Horror-struck, 
 the^Armenians, one and all, denied any desire to abandon Islamism."J 
 
 f Mohammed and Mohammedanism, p. 34-1. 
 
 + Quoted in Sunday at Home, July, 1896. p. Oil. 
 
8 
 
 GOD'S VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 louder tonea from Armenia, " Come over and help us I" This applies, 
 not merely to the Christians, but still more to their murderers. 
 " Father, forgive them, they know not what they do/' should be 
 our prayer, accompanied by earnest efforts for their enlightenment. 
 
 As Mr. Gladstone writes ; " I trust we shall all beseech the 
 Almighty to hasten the day when mankind at large shall no longer 
 have to turn an afflicted eye upon a system in which baseness, bar- 
 renness, cruelty and fraud are so marvellously united as we now see 
 them in the person of the present Sultan of Turkey and his 
 Government."* 
 
 For more than twelve centuries some of the fairest portions of 
 the earth, once studded with Christian Churches, have been allow- 
 ed to remain under the baneful sway of Islam, with scarcely 
 a single effort on their behalf. Such a trumpet call has seemed 
 necessary to awaken the Church to a sense of her duty : God grant 
 that it may be effectual ! 
 
 Dr. George Smith, already quoted, says : 
 
 " The great work to which the providence of God summons the 
 Church in the second century of Modern Missions is that of evan- 
 gelizing the Mnhammadans." 
 
 Although such is the duty, it must be acknowledged to be the 
 most difficult enterprise before the Christian Church. There are, 
 however, some encouragements. 
 
 There never was a time when Muslims were more accessible to 
 Christian effort. Queen Victoria, as has often been remarked, has 
 far more Muhammadan subjects than the Sultan of Turkey. Large 
 portions of Africa, inhabited by Muslims, are now under profes- 
 sedly Christian Governments, whereby the death penalty cannot be 
 enforced. The Crescent is visibly waning. 
 
 DUTY OF THE CHURCHES. 
 
 This may be briefly summed up under two heads : 
 
 1. Humiliation for past neglect. — Of the Muhammad ans it 
 may justly be said, " We are verily guilty concerning our breth- 
 ren !" Although for twelve centuries they have, by their sad con- 
 dition, been appealing to us, we have passed them by on the other 
 side. If we say, "Behold we knew it not/' we ought to have 
 known it, instead of selfishly thinking only of ourselves. " Doth 
 not He that pondereth the heart consider it ; and He that keepeth 
 thy soul doth not He know it V 
 
 2. Earnest effort on behalf of Muslims and the Christians 
 under their rule for the future. 
 
 The mere statement of this is sufficient. The main point will 
 next be considered. 
 
 * Keply to the Servia Press Association, July 6, 1896. 
 
GOD'S VOICE PROM ARMENIA. 
 
 0 
 
 THE MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED. 
 
 The two great agencies are, the Living Voice and the Press, 
 which should bo employed unitedly. They will be noticed in turn. 
 
 1. Increased efforts through Missionaries. 
 
 Under the term "Missionaries," are included all classes-prea- 
 ching, educational, and medical. 
 
 I . The number of Missionaries specially set apart to labour 
 among Muslims, directly or indirectly, should be greatly increased. 
 
 The words " directly or indirectly" may be explained. In 
 some countries direct effort among Muslims is largely forbidden. 
 The work of the American Missionaries in Turkey, on this account, 
 has been chiefly directed to the Armenians, partly for their own 
 sakes, but perhaps mainly in the hope that they may yet be a 
 powerful agency for evangelising Muslims. 
 
 Missionary Societies, in the allotment of their agents, should 
 bear Muhammadans prominently in view. It is cheerfully ad- 
 mitted, that, as far as means permitted, this has already been done 
 to some extent. The work of the American Board in Turkey has 
 already been noticed. The Church Missionary Society has a line 
 of stations on the north-western frontier of India from Peshawar 
 southward, aa well as a Persian Mission. The American United 
 Presbyterians occupy Egypt. The Free Church of Scotland has 
 taken up Arabia, and other agencies might be mentioned. 
 
 Still, much more remains to be done. The Missions of tke 
 American Board should especially be strengthened. The Society 
 has a noble land of labourers ; its work is admirably organised ; 
 It is the very success of its labours which excited the jealousy of 
 Abdul Hamid. Both for the sake of the Armenians and their 
 bitter persecutors, American Christians should give the Society 
 theircordial and liberal support. 
 
 Medical Missionaries should be largely employed in purely 
 Muhammadan countries. They are a most valuable agency for 
 softening prejudices. 
 
 The objection may be raised that funds are not available. It is 
 hoped that in response to a vigorous representation to the Churches 
 of the claims of Muhammadans, means, at least to some extent, 
 may be forthcoming. Special contributions might be asked for 
 this object. 
 
 2. All Missionaries who have access to Muslims should do 
 what they can for them. 
 
 The number of new special labourers among Muslims can only 
 be gradually increased ; but much more might be done than at 
 present, in a country like India, by those already in the field. Dr. 
 Wherry says : " In reply to enquiries as to what a certain mission 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 GOD'S VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 was doing for Muslims in one of the chief cities of the North-West 
 Provinces, we were told that the missionaries generally had as little 
 to do with them as possible. The only effort was to avoid them."* 
 
 Missionaries generally think that their efforts may be more 
 profitably spent among Hindus than among Muslims. Dr. Wherry 
 says : " Some seem to think the efforts of missionaries to reach them 
 a signal failure. The number of catechists and ordained ministers 
 who were formerly Muslims, to say nothing of a considerable por- 
 tion of the membership of the Churches in some parts of India, 
 proves this view to be mistaken. "t 
 
 The following Statistical Table will show how widely Mus- 
 lims are scattered over India, and the facilities for reaching them. 
 
 Number of Hindus, Muhammadans, and Christians in India 
 in 1891, with Distribution of the total Population.^ 
 
 
 Hindus. 
 
 ivi u n am ma- 
 dans. 
 
 Christians. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Bengal 
 
 45,220,124 
 
 23,437,591 
 
 190,829 
 
 71,346,987 
 
 N.-W. Provinces and 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oudh 
 
 40,402,235 
 
 6,346,651 
 
 58,441 
 
 46,905,085 
 
 Puniab 
 
 7.743.477 
 
 11,634,192 
 
 53,587 
 
 20,866,847 
 
 Burma 
 
 171,577 
 
 253,031 
 
 120,768 
 
 7,605,560 
 
 Central Provinces ... 
 
 8,831,467 
 
 297,604 
 
 12,970 
 
 10,784,294 
 
 Assam 
 
 2,997,072 
 
 1,483,974 
 
 16,844 
 
 5,476,833 
 
 A] mere 
 
 437,988 
 
 74,265 
 
 2,683 
 
 542,358 
 
 Coorg 
 
 156,845 
 
 12,665 
 
 3,392 
 
 173,055 
 
 Madras 
 
 31,998,309 
 
 2,250,386 
 
 865,528 
 
 35,630,440 
 
 Bombay 
 
 14,659,926 
 
 3,537,103 
 
 161,770 
 
 18,901,123 
 
 Berar 
 
 2,531,791 
 
 207,681 
 
 1,359 
 
 2,897,491 
 
 Quettah, &c. 
 
 11,699 
 
 11,368 
 
 3,008 
 
 27,270 
 
 Andamans 
 
 9,433 
 
 3,980 
 
 483 
 
 15,609 
 
 Bengal States 
 
 2,603,890 
 
 220,756 
 
 1,655 
 
 3,296,379 
 
 N. W. P. States 
 
 549,568 
 
 242,532 
 
 77 
 
 792,491 
 
 Punjab States 
 
 2,494,223 
 
 1,281,451 
 
 322 
 
 4,263,280 
 
 0. Provinces States ... 
 
 1,658,153 
 
 11,875 
 
 338 
 
 2,160,511 
 
 Madras States 
 
 2,759,211 
 
 225,478 
 
 714,651 
 
 3,700,622 
 
 Bombay States 
 
 6,781,065 
 
 853,892 
 
 8,239 
 
 8,059,298 
 
 Rajputana 
 
 10,192,829 
 
 991,351 
 
 1,855 
 
 12,016,102 
 
 Central India 
 
 7,735,246 
 
 568,640 
 
 5,999 
 
 10,318,812 
 
 Baroda 
 
 2,137,568 
 
 188,746 
 
 646 
 
 2,415,396 
 
 Hyderabad 
 
 10,315,249 
 
 1,138,606 
 
 20,429 
 
 11,537,040 
 
 Mysore 
 
 4,639,127 
 
 252,973 
 
 38,135 
 
 4,943,604 
 
 Kashmere 
 
 691,800 
 
 1,793,710 
 
 218 
 
 2,543,952 
 
 Shan States 
 
 1,855 
 
 609 
 
 154 
 
 2,992 
 
 Total... 
 
 207,731,727 
 
 57,321,164 
 
 2,284,380 
 
 287,223,431 
 
 * Indian Evangelical Review. October, 1881, pp. 131, 132. 
 
 + Indian Evangelical Review, October 1881, p. 144. 
 
 ■J Statistical Abstract, relating to British India, 29th No, pi 25. 
 
GOD'S VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 11 
 
 The Rev. Dr. K. S. Macdonald, of Calcutta, draws attention to 
 the fact that, during the decade ending in 1891, the number of 
 Mohamedans in Bengal increased by nearly two millions. 
 
 1881. 1891. 
 Hindus ... 45,452,806 21,704,724* 
 
 Mahomedans ... 45,220,124 23,437,591 f 
 
 It may be asked what every Missionary may do for Muslims ? 
 
 1 . He should seek to gain some knowledge of their creed, and 
 how best to deal with them. There are numerous works on Islam 
 which would assist him in this. Selections from the Koran, in the 
 Christian Literature Society's Series on The Sacred Books op the 
 East Described and Examined, gives a list of the principal. It 
 also contains the most important passages of the Koran, with ex- 
 planatory notes where necessary, and a Review, giving the chief 
 points in the Muhammadan controversy.! Another little work, 
 by the Rev. Dr. Hooper, published by the same Society, Christian 
 Doctrine in contrast with Hinduism and Islam,§ will be of much 
 assistance in showing how to present Christian truth to Muslims, 
 so as to guard against misconception. 
 
 2. On every fitting opportunity Muslims should be courteously 
 saluted, and efforts made to have a friendly conversation with them 
 on Christianity. This needs no comment. 
 
 3. Suitable Christian Literature should be circulated : — Fly 
 leaves should be distributed freely, and lai'ger publications, adapted 
 to various classes of readers, should, if possible, be sold. 
 
 The objection may be'raised that in India, except in Urdu, and 
 to some extent in Bengali, such literature is not available. This, 
 it must sadly be admitted, is the case. The duty of providing it 
 has been greatly neglected by Indian Tract Societies and other 
 agencies. Attention will therefore now be directed to this point. 
 
 2. An increased supply op Christian Literature for Muslims. 
 
 As the strength of Islam lies largely in the Koran, the press 
 cannot be regarded as a secondary agency. It may be said that 
 all that is necessary is simply to circulate the Bible. But the 
 belief prevails universally among Muhammadans that it has 
 been corrupted as well as abrogated by the later revelation of the 
 Koran. Until this has been shown to be incorrect, it is evident 
 that the circulation of the Scriptures labours under a great dis- 
 advantage. 
 
 * 18th Statistical Abstract, p- 30 f29th Statistical Abstract, p. 25. 
 
 % Price 6 As. Post-free, 8 As. § Price 4 As. ; full cloth 8 As. Both sold 
 by Mr. A. T. Scott, Tract Depot, Madras, and at the principal Tract Depdts over 
 India, 
 
12 
 
 (iOD's VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 The following Measures to be adopted may be mentioned : 
 
 I. A careful examination of the Literature on the subject in 
 English and in Vernaculars spoken by Muslims. 
 
 The principal languages may be briefly noticed. 
 
 (1.) English. — From the time of Sale downwards, more or less 
 has been done through this medium. Some of the publications 
 are invaluable. A complete bibliography of the subject, showing 
 the nature of each publication, its value, the price if procurable, 
 &c, prepared by some one like the Rev. E. Sell, b.d., C. M. S., 
 now at home, himself the author of The Faith of Islam, the best 
 exposition of the system, would be most useful. 
 
 (2.) Urdu. — Probably the Christian literature for Muslims in 
 this language is more extensive than in any other vernacular. 
 The writings of Pfander, Muir, Imad-ud-din, and Safdar Ali, 
 deserve special mention. A descriptive list should be prepared, 
 giving an analysis of each work, and showing its special 
 adaptation. 
 
 English translations have been published of Pfander's Mizan- 
 al~Haqq and of Sir W. Muir's Testimony of the Goran. The same 
 course might be followed with advantage in the case of some other 
 works. It is very desirable to know how intelligent converts from 
 Islam deal with the question. The Life of Muhammad and some 
 other works by Dr. Imad-ud-din and the Niyaz Nama of Safdar 
 Ali, would be specially useful. The English translations would pro- 
 bably be printed by the Christian Literature Society. 
 
 Missionaries might aid in the translation, both with benefit to 
 themselves and their fellow-labourers. Those who do not feel 
 themselves competent to prepare new works, might thus render 
 essential service. 
 
 The above proposals might be carried out by the Punjab 
 Religious Book Society. 
 
 (3.) Bengali. — About half the Bengalis are nominally 
 Muhammadans, speaking a dialect called Musulman-Bengali. A 
 number of tracts for their use has been published by the Calcutta 
 Tract Society and the Christian Literature Society, besides a few 
 large works by the latter. Several useful tracts, originally written 
 in Musulman-Bengali by the Rev. Dr. Rouse, have been translated 
 by the author into English, and published by the Christian Litera- 
 ture Society. 
 
 The Bengali descriptive list could best be prepared by Dr. 
 Rouse. It would meet a felt want. 
 
 (4.) Other Indian Languages. — In these little has been done. 
 Marathi and Tamil have each 4 publications ; in Telugu there is only 
 a life of Muhammad. 
 
 (5.) Turkish and Arabic— Some valuable works have been 
 
GOi)^ VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 it 
 
 published iu these languages, of which an account might be given 
 by those to whom they are familiar.* 
 
 II. Suggestions as to the Publications required. — Several 
 classes are necessary. 
 
 1. Fly-leaves for gratuitous circulation among the common 
 people. These are a great desideratum. They could be freely 
 given away by all missionaries. 
 
 The great difficulty is to interest the readers, and secure the 
 preservation of the leaflets. This would probably be most effectu- 
 ally gained by a series with texts from the Koran in Arabic as 
 headings. From the superstitious reverence attached to the Koran 
 by Muslims, they would not be destroyed, and curiosity would be 
 awakened by the text. Attention would thus be secured at the 
 outset — a matter of great importance. 
 
 A very valuable series, embodying the principal doctrines of 
 Christianity, might thus be brought before Muslims. The Rev. 
 Dr. Rouse has given an excellent illustration of this in his tract, 
 called Fatiha, on the first chapter of the Koran. Many other 
 subjects might be mentioned e. g. 
 
 Sura Muhammad says : 
 
 Ask pardon for thy sin. xlvii. 12. 
 
 It might be asked who received this command from God ? If 
 Muhammad himself was a sinner, much more must his followers be such. 
 One sinner cannot intercede for another, &o. 
 
 Sura Imran says : 
 
 God shall teach him (Jesus Christ) the Scripture and wisdom, and the 
 law and the Gospel, and shall appoint him his apostle to the children of 
 Israel, iv. 48. 
 
 The testimony to the Scriptures and our Lord in this and many 
 other passages, might be explained. 
 
 By a judicious selection of texts, a most valuable and attrac- 
 tive series of fly .leaves might be prepared. The texts at the 
 beginning ought to be given in Arabic as well as translated. 
 Suggestions under this head are especially invited. 
 
 2. Tracts. Tracts, averaging 12 pages each, are needed for 
 ordinary readers ; others of double that size for persons more in- 
 telligent. There should be at least twelve of each kind, which 
 might be issued both, separately and in volumes. A guide to the 
 chief topics is solicited. 
 
 3. Books. Two or three larger works are required, as the 
 Life of Muhammad, &c. 
 
 All subjects are not equally important. The most necessary 
 might be given in small capitals, and those next to them in italics. 
 
 IU Names of persons to be invited to make Suggestions — 
 Unfortunately comparatively few Missionaries have given much 
 
 * Some translations f rom the Arabic have already been made by Sir William Muir. 
 
14 
 
 GOD'S VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 attention to the Muhammadan controversy— Hindus being much 
 more numerous and considered more hopeful. Still, scattered over 
 the world, there are a few whose advice would be invaluable. The 
 following names are suggested. The choice has been guided by 
 works published by them. There may be several others very 
 competent. 
 
 India. — Rev. Dr. Imad-ud-din, C.M.S. 
 Rev. E. Sell, B.D., C.M.S. 
 Rev. J. D. Bate * B.M.S. 
 Rev. Dr. Rouse, B.M.S. 
 Rev. Dr. HooPER,t C.M.S. 
 Persia. — Rev. Dr. Bruce. (C. M. S.) now retired. 
 
 Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall. (C. M. S.) 
 Turkey. — Rev. Dr. Washburn,* Constantinople. 
 Britain. — Sir William Muir. 
 
 Rev. Marcus Dods, D. D. 
 Principal Fairbairn. 
 
 Dr. Dods is suggested, as his Muhammad, Buddha, and Christ, 
 shows an excellent grasp of the subject. Principal Fairbairn has 
 already written some pregnant remarks on Islam. 
 
 United States — Rev. Dr. Hughes. 
 
 Dr. Hughes was formerly a missionary in India. His 
 Dictionary of Muhammadanism is a treasury of information, and 
 his Notes on Muhammadanism contains valuable hints. 
 
 Rev. E. M. Wherry, D. D. 
 
 Dr. Wherry spent many years in India. His Comprehensive 
 Commentary on the Quran, in 4 vols., is of great assistance in arriv- 
 ing at the meaning of the book. 
 
 Besides giving lists of subjects, any hints about their treat- 
 ment and the best mode of presenting Christian truth to Muslims, 
 are also most desirable. Fifteen years ago, Dr. Wherry wrote a 
 valuable paper on Preaching to Muslims, which appeared in the 
 Indian Evangelical Review, October, 1881. He might be asked to 
 revise it. Suggestions from others on the subject are also much 
 wanted. 
 
 The different papers, written independently, would be collect- 
 ed in a volume, which would be an invaluable guide to all en- 
 gaged in preparing and publishing Christian literature for 
 Muhammadans, and would be useful to all labouring among them. 
 It is earnestly hoped that all whose assistance is solicited will 
 kindly comply. 
 
 * Mr. Bate ie the author of a valuable work on The Claims of Ishmael, and he has 
 others in MS. 
 
 t His chief attention has been given to Sanskrit and Hinduism, but he has also 
 studied Islam. 
 
 X The Secretaries of the American Board can suggest other names. 
 
GOD'S VOICK FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 15 
 
 IV. The Agencies to provide the Literature.— There are three 
 Societies which may be specially invited to co-operate in producing 
 the publications required, although other agencies may also take 
 part, viz. 
 
 The Bbligious Tract Society. 
 
 The Christian Literature Society for India. 
 
 The American Tract Society. 
 
 The publications required divide themselves into two classes — 
 some in English, for Muslims acquainted with, that language, and 
 the great bulk in the Vernaculars. The first might be allotted to 
 the Christian Literature Society, which has already made a spe- 
 cialty of English Publications for educated Hindus. The American 
 Tract Society might take up Turkish and Arabic, the chief 
 labourers through which are American missionaries. All the other 
 Vernaculars would fall to the lot of the Eeligious Tract Society. 
 Still, no hard and fast line of division is proposed. 
 
 Only a very rough estimate can be formed at present of the 
 probable expense. The Eeligious Tract Society might allot £1,000, 
 the Christian Literature Society £500, and the American Tract 
 Society $1,000 to be spent as required. 
 
 While other means should engage the attention of all intrusted 
 with the management of Missions, it is evident that decades or 
 more must elapse before such agencies can be provided in sufficient 
 numbers. The Christian Literature most needed could be supplied 
 within five years, which would not only be useful in itself, but also 
 aid every worker now in the field. 
 
 CONCLUDING APPEAL. 
 
 God's Voice from Armenia could scarcely be heard in louder 
 tones than those which have fallen on the Churches for some time 
 past. What will be the effect? Is it only to produce a momentary 
 feeling of horror ? Upon God's chosen people in ancient times His 
 heaviest judgments failed to produce any permanent result, leading 
 to the exclamation, " Why should ye be stricken any more ? " 
 
 Very 'much will depend upon those to whom are intrusted 
 the management of Foreign Missions. To them we would especial- 
 ly look as " men that had understanding of the times to know 
 what Israel ought to do." As Dr. Smith has urged, in the second 
 century of Modern Missions evangelizing the Muhammadans 
 should have a very prominent place. Each great Society might 
 select the most suitable man to bring their claims before their 
 supporters. Well-directed forcible appeals would not be made in 
 vain. The light which once shone from the Seven Churches of 
 
16 
 
 GOD'S VOICE FROM ARMENIA. 
 
 Asia has been extinguished, and thick Muhammadan darkness 
 now envelops the churches of Northern Africa which produced 
 Augustine, Cyprian, aud Tertullian. May they be again illumined 
 by the bright rays of the Sun of righteousness ! 
 
 John Murdoch, 
 
 Indian Agent, 
 Christian Literature Society for India, 
 and 
 
 The Religious Tract Society. 
 
 Madbas, September, 1896. 
 
 S. p. C. K. PRESS, VEPERY, MADRAS — 1 896. [2,000. 
 
With prayer from lips impure 
 
 Of Paradise — no place of innocence, 
 
 Or white-winged soaring Hope Immense, 
 
 But a foul Lazar-house of Lust and Sense ? 
 
 And this, our Europe strong, 
 
 Which at a common altar boasts to kneel, 
 
 Shall no compassionate yearning come to move, 
 
 No stirrings of fraternal love, 
 
 For these our brothers who have pined so long 
 
 Shall She no pity feel 
 
 For these, the martyrs of our Faith who sigh, 
 
 Treading the cold and sunless ways of death 
 
 Long ere they gain to die ; 
 
 Strong Russia, Champion of the Christian East 
 
 France, through whose soul, too generous to forget, 
 
 The ardour of St. Louis pulses yet ; 
 
 Our noble England, with the years increased, 
 
 A mightier Venice with " the East in fee," 
 
 And her great eldest daughter, She 
 
 Who sits august and free 
 
 A crownless Commonwealth from sea to sea. 
 
 Shall these, unmoved by the long Past of pain, 
 
 Wait till the tide of blood returns again 
 
 And watch once more their helpless brethren die, 
 
 These who upheld or spared the waning secular lie ? 
 
 Nay, nay, it is enough ! enough ! No more 
 
 Shall black Oppression rule. Her reign is o'er. 
 
 No more, 0 Earth ! no more ! 
 
 No more ! Forbid it, Heaven J 
 
 Arise, O puissant Christendom, be strong ! 
 
 God's voice within you calls — the voice of Fate! 
 
 Confound this monstrous tyranny of wrong. 
 
 Let Love prevail, not Hate ! 
 
 With you the Future lies. 'Twere shame indeed 
 
 If mutual jealousies, if coward fears, 
 
 Adding fresh force to swell the sum of ill, 
 
 Prolonged the accursed reign of pain and tears, 
 
 And bade again a hapless nation bleed. 
 
 Succour the weak ! Drive back their pitiless foes ! 
 
 Let not despair afflict your brethren still ! 
 
 Let the new-coming Age, a happier birth, 
 
 Bless these waste-places of the suffering Earth ! 
 
 Let Peace, with Law, the tranquil valleys fill, 
 
 And make the desert blossom as the Rose !* 
 
 * Written by Sir Lewis Morris at the request of the Armenian Belief Com- 
 mittee. See Idijlls and Lyrics, Osgood, Mcllvaine & Co., London. 
 
THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST DESCRIBED 
 
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