Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/92

86 fatherland." He is the joy of his mother, the protector of his sister, the lover of his wife, the server of his church and the martyr of his fatherland, so full of charming scenery and sacred memories.

The ideal and the highest ambition of the Armenian is, and always has been, and always will be, Liberty in his home-land. The accumulation of wealth is not their highest desire, though they have rare chances and natural ability for that. The luxuries of life are not the greatest attraction for them, though they have the worst example before their eyes. The theory of fatalism has never been a favorite idea with the Armenians, though it broods all over Asia. The ambition has never stirred them to aggress the rights of their neighbors, though they have had many chances in their long national life to do so. They are, and always have been contented, temperate, practical and peaceful. They loved liberty, they were always ready to protest against a despotic spirit. This spirit of protest caused them to be superficially called "Anmiapan," "Discordant," but every freedom-lover knows that