Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/187

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ARMENIAN MASSACRES, THEIR CAUSES.
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the repetition of the old barbarities against the honor of humanity and glory of Christianity. Relying on these realities, which soon proved to be mere dreams of delirious minds, they dared to show their heads out of the dark cellars of their ancestors, and began to build good houses and live as honorable men among degenerate semi-barbarians.

3. The Progressive Schools of the Armenians Made the Turks very Jealous. In one of the previous chapters the reader had a description of the Turkish schools. The late changes are not radical, and cannot be under the circumstances. Now we are in an Armenian school; it is the examination day; the governor of the city, with all his turbaned and military companions, is invited (as should be done), and held the best seats in the clean and quiet hall. The teacher calls a boy, not more than twelve years old, and asks him how many hours are in a week. He answers at once, 168. The teacher asks again, how many minutes are in a week; the child finishes the problem quickly, and says 10,080. The governor looks around at his subordinates and expresses his wonder for the smartness of that "one inch tall" boy. The teacher gives a third question: "How many seconds are in a year?" The governor calls aloud to the cadi (Turkish judge), asking whether he could find that out; he says, "Not indeed, by prophet." He asks the chief clerk of the court, and he answers, "No, sir, by Allah." The governor says to the judge and the clerk: "If I order a donkey's head cooked, can you eat it all?" Before the clerk