Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/188

182 gives his answer to this complimentary question our boy reads his figures on the board with a clear voice and pronunciation. The Turkish officers are ashamed of themselves; but this feeling does not produce in them a true competition, but a jealous spirit to retard the one who is making progress.

Science and education are always held in great esteem by every Armenian, but there never was a time in their history more noted for rapid and brilliant progress than these last thirty or forty years. Almost in every town numerous and graded schools were established and managed by competent principals, mostly educated in European or American schools. Armenian literature has got a new life, and journalism, even in its narrow space, made remarkable progress. Several daily papers were full of articles about the living questions of Christian civilization and progress. French has become almost common in the schools. English is highly cultivated, especially in the Protestant institutions, which are not few in number or inferior in grade. The Russian, German and Italian languages have had their entrance among the Armenians, who have a proverbial name of being linguists.

Armenians gave also a remarkable impulse to Turkish literature. Muhendisian made the best and most varied types of Turkish letters, and saved the reader from the unendurable troubles of the old style cryptograms. Arakel, Caspar and other publishers contributed marvelously to the production and circulation of Turkish books. Some eminent teachers, as