siderable. The pachas, unable to subdue these enterprising warriors, generally treated with them. The capitanis received, on condition of remaining quiet, money or stores, and the government of the district which was defended by their arms. Such a district was then called armatolion. Very recently, the capitanis Odysseus, Perrhæos, Tzonko, Tasios, Pisko, &c., made themselves feared by Ali Pacha, (q. v.) as well as by the pachas sent against him, and most of them took part against the Porte in the struggle for the liberty of Greece.

ARMED SHIP; a name used, in England, to signify a vessel occasionally taken into the service of the government in time of war, and employed to guard some particular coast, or to attend on a fleet. She is therefore armed and equipped, in all respects, like a ship of war, and commanded by an officer of the navy, who has the rank of a master and commander. All ships of this sort are upon the establishment of the king's sloops, having a lieutenant, master, purser, surgeon, &c.

ARMENIA; an Asiatic country, containing 106,000 square miles, formerly divided into Armenia Major and Minor. The first, which is the modern Turcomania, and is still sometimes called Armenia, lies south of mount Caucasus, and comprehends the Turkish pachalics Erzerum, Kars and Van (which extend over 33,770 square miles, and have 950,000 inhabitants), and also the Persian province Iran, or Erivan. Armenia Minor, now called Aladulia or Pegian, belongs to the Turks, and is divided between the pachalics Merashe and Sivas. Armenia is a rough, mountainous country, which has Caucasus for its northern boundary, and, in the centre, is traversed by branches of the Taurus, to which belongs mount Ararat. (q. v.) Here the two great rivers Euphrates and Tigris take their rise; likewise the Kur, and other less considerable streams. The lakes Van and Geuk-sha are also in this part of the country. The climate is rather cold than warm; the soil, in general, moderately fertile, and better fitted for grazing than for agriculture; it produces, however, the finest southern fruits. The mountains are rich in iron and copper. The inhabitants consist of genuine Armenians, of Turcomans, who pass a wandering life in the plains, and of a few Turks, Greeks and Jews. Of the ancient history of this country but little is known. It appears to have been subjected, in turn, by the Assyrians, Medes, Persians and Macedonians. After the

371

death of Alexander, it became part of the kingdom of Syria, and so remained till the overthrow of Antiochus the Great, when it fell into the hands of different rulers, and was divided into Armenia Major and Minor.—Armenia Major was exposed to many attacks. The Romans and Parthians fought a long time for the right of giving a successor to the throne, and it was governed at one period by Parthian princes, at another, by those whom the Romans favored, until Trajan made it a Roman province. Armenia afterwards recovered its independence, and was under the rule of its own kings. Sapor, king of Persia, attempted its subjugation in vain, and it remained free until 650, when it was conquered by the Arabians. After this, it several times changed its masters, among whom were Gengis-Khan and Tamerlane. In 1552, Selim II conquered it from the Persians, and the greater part has since remained under the Turkish dominion. Armenia Minor has also had several rulers, among whom Mithridates was first distinguished. From him Pompey took the kingdom, and gave it to Dejotarus, &c. On the decline of the Roman empire in the East, it was conquered by the Persians, and, in 950, fell into the hands of the Arabians, since which time it has shared the same fate as Armenia Major, and was made, in 1514, a Turkish province, by Selim I. Of the cities of ancient Armenia, some ruins are yet to be seen, which display a good style in architecture; e. g., the ruins of the old capital Ani, which was destroyed, in 1319, by an earthquake; and those of the ancient city Armavir, which, during 1800 years, was the residence of the kings; some families still reside here. After Armavir, Artaxarta (Artaschad) on the Araxes, built in the time of the Seleucidæ, became the capital, but sunk into decay before the end of the 8th century.-The Armenians, a sober and temperate nation, are chiefly occupied in commerce, which, in Turkey, is almost entirely in their hands; and in all Asia, except China, merchants of their nation are to be found. Their religion has facilitated their entrance into Eastern Europe; accordingly they are numerous in Russia. Jaubert says of the domestic life of the Christian Armenians, that, in their native country, they are good agriculturists; that old age is highly honored; and that the wife looks up to her husband, and the son to his father, as in the time of the patriarchs. They prefer permanent habitations, whereever the eternal feuds of the pachas and

372

Curds permit them to remain quiet. The Armenians received Christianity as early as the 4th century. During the Monophysitic disputes, being dissatisfied with the decisions of the council of Chalcedon, they separated from the Greek church, in 536. The popes have at different times, when they requested protection against the Mohammedans, attempted to gain them over to the Catholic faith, but have not been able to unite them permanently and generally with the Roman church. Only in Italy, Poland, Gallicia, Persia, under the archbishop of Nachitschevan (a new town on the Don, in the Russian government Ekaterinoslav, of which the inhabitants are mostly Armenians), and in Marseilles, there are United Armenians, who acknowledge the spiritual supremacy of the pope, agree in their doctrines with the Catholics, but retain their peculiar ceremonies and discipline. The case is the same with the United Armenian monasteries upon mount Lebanon in Syria. At the Persian invasion, in the beginning of the 17th century, many of them were obliged to become Mohammedans, but the far greater part are yet Monophysites, and have remained faithful to their old religion and worship. The Porte has constantly protected them against the attempts of the Catholics. Their doctrine differs from the orthodox chiefly in their admitting only one nature in Christ, and believing the Holy Spirit to issue from the Father alone. In their 7 sacraments, which they call mysteries, there are these peculiarities, that, in baptism, they sprinkle thrice, and dip thrice, and this is immediately followed by confirmation; that, in the Lord's supper, they mix no water with the wine, and use leavened bread, which they distribute dipped in wine; and that they allow extreme unction only to divines, immediately after their death. They adore saints and their images, but do not believe in purgatory. In fasting, they surpass the Greeks. Their feasts are fewer than those of the Greeks, but they celebrate them more devoutly. They worship, in Turkey, mostly in the night time; the mass is said in the ancient Armenian, the sermon is preached in the modern. Their hierarchy differs little from that of the Greeks. The catholicos, or head of the church, has his seat at Etschmiazim, a monastery near Erivan, the capital of the Persian Armenia, on mount Ararat. The holy oil, which he prepares and sells to the clergy, and the frequent pilgrimages of the Armenians to Etschmiazim, supply him

with means for the support of a magnificent style of worship, and of establishments for education. He maintains, in his residence, a seminary for the education of divines. The patriarchs, bishops and archbishops of the Armenians are invested by him, and every three years confirmed in their offices, or recalled. The remainder of the clergy resemble the priests of the orthodox church in rank and duties. The monks follow the rule of St. Basil. The vertabets, who live like monks, cultivate the sciences, take degrees, which may be compared with our academical honors, and are the vicars of the bishops, form a class of divines peculiar to the Armenian church. The secular priests must be married once, but are not permitted to take a second wife. In superstition, and attachment to old forms, the Armenians resemble the Greeks, but are distinguished by better morals. In general, they surpass all the kindred Monophysitic sects in information; allow the people to read the Bible; study the theological, historical and mathematical sciences; possess a respectable national literature, and, at Etschmiazim, have a printing office, which produces splendid copies of the Bible. Besides the religious societies of the Armenians in their own country and in Turkey, where they are very numerous (their patriarch at Constantinople maintains the same relation as the Greek patriarch_towards the Porte), there are others in Persia, at Ispahan, Schiras and Nerinkale; in Russia, at Petersburg, Moscow, Astrachan, and in the Caucasian governments; also, small ones at London and Amsterdam. (See Ker Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia ancient, Babylon, etc., in the years 1817-20 (London, 1821, 4to. with copperplates), and the travels of a Frenchman (Amad. Jaubert) through Armenia and Persia, in 1805, 1806.)

ARMENIAN LITERATURE. The Armenians, one of the most ancient nations of the civilized world, have maintained themselves as a cultivated people, amidst all those revolutions which barbarism, despotism and war have occasioned, in Western Asia, from the days of Assyria, Greece and Rome, down to the period of Mongolian, Turkish and Persian do minion. During so many ages, they have faithfully preserved, not only their historical traditions, reaching back to the period of the ancient Hebrew histories, but also their national character, in a physical and moral point of view. Their first abode, mount Ararat, is, even at the

present day, the centre of their religious and political union. Commerce has scattered them, like the Israelites, among all the principal nations of Europe and Asia (with the exception of China); but this dispersion and the mercantile spirit have not debased their character; on the contrary, they are distinguished by superior cultivation, manners and honesty, from the barbarians, under whose yoke they live, and even from the Greeks and Jews. The cause is to be found in their creed, and in their religious union. The cultivation of the Armenians is a proof of the salutary influence of a well-ordered Christian church on the moral and intellectual developement of a nation, which has preserved its history, and, with it, its national character. They owe this in particular to the Bible, which is freely distributed among the people by the clergy, in translations that are esteemed valuable in theological literature. This is done not only at Etschmiazim, the principal monastery of the Armenians, the chief seat of their church, the abode of their patriarch (catholicus), and, at the same time, the seminary of their teachers, where many Bibles are printed, and whither every pious Armenian must perform a pilgrimage at least once during his life, but also in the other dioceses of the Armenian patriarchs, archbishops and bishops at Sis (Ajas), in Caramania, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and other places. Some time since, a society for the distribution of Armenian Bibles was formed in the Armenian church in Russia, the archbishop of which has his seat in an Armenian monastery at Astrachan. With the Biblical literature of the Armenians is connected their theological, historical and mathematical literature. It is as old as the conversion of the people to Christianity, and sheds much light on the ancient history of the people of the East. Hence it has recently found many assiduous students in Paris. According to their natural historians, the name Armenia is derived from Aram, the seventh king of the first dynasty, who, about the year 1800 B. C., gave a settled character to the kingdom. The Armenians call themselves Haji, after Haico, the father and patriarch of the people, a contemporary of Belus. With him commences the Armenian history, about 2100 B. C., and closes with Leo VII, who fled from his country, when invaded by the barbarians, and died at Paris, in 1393. The kingdom shared the fate of Asia Minor and Persia.-To return to its an32

VOL. I.

373

cient history: Valarsaces, the founder of an Armenian dynasty, organized the state anew, about 150 B. C. Besides many other institutions, he added to the senate two censors, who had no votes, but were allowed to put questions, and make observations on every measure, and even to reprove the king himself, in cases of precipitation or injustice. The same Valarsaces caused the traditions yet existing in the country, and in the Parthian empire, to be collected by Mar Ibas Catani, the only Armenian writer before Christ with whom we are acquainted. In the beginning of the 4th century, the Armenians became Christians. With this event their literature begins. Since that time, they have translated from the Greek (there is a Homer in Armenian hexameters), Hebrew, Syriac and Chaldean, into their own dialect, which Cirbied asserts to be an original language: according to others, it is a mixed dialect, composed of the Syriac, Chaldean, Hebrew and Arabian. Both opinions are correct. The old Armenian, the language of literature and of the church, is, as Vater agrees, an original language; the modern Armenian has been formed, as a popular language, by foreign additions, during the successive changes of their conquerors, and consists of four principal dialects. The written language owes its cultivation to the translation of the Bible, begun in 411, by Mesrob, with his disciples,-anong whom was Moses Choronensis, by the desire of the patriarch Isaac the Great, and finished in 511. Schroeter's dictionary (Thes. Ling. Armenica), Amsterdam, 1711, 4to., is still valuable. Mesrob first added 7 vowel signs to the old Armenian alphabet, which before only contained 27 consonants. At the same time, schools were established. The most flourishing period of Armenian literature was in the 6th century, at the time of the separation of the Armenians from the Greek church, after the council of Chalcedon. It continued to flourish till the 10th century. revived in the 13th, and maintained & respectable character till 1453. In scien tific inquiries, it never arose to any con siderable eminence. It is particularly valuable in what relates to history. The royal library at Paris possesses the Ar menian historical authors nearly com plete, partly printed, partly in manuscript From them, J. M. Chahal de Cirbied, a learned Armenian employed in this libra ry, published, in 1806, his Recherches curieuses sur l'Histoire ancienne de l'Asie, and compiled, with M. J. Saint-Martin,

374

a universal history of Armenia. The best introduction to Armenian history, geography and literature, is that which M.J.SaintMartin, member of the French institute, has extracted from old Armenian writings, inscriptions and other sources-Mémoires historiques et géographiques sur l'Arménie, Paris, 1818, 2 vols. This work contains the Armenian text of the history of the reigning Orpelian family, by a prince of this family, the archbishop Stephen Orpelian,—and the text of the Armenian geographers Moses of Chorene, and Vartan, with additions, translated into the French, with annotations. Among the living Armenian scholars, we may mention Dr. Zorab, in Venice, and the librarian of the Armenian congregation of St. Lazarus, in Venice, John Bapt. Aucher, who has lately published Armenian translations of the 5th century, from ancient authors, the famous Grecian Jew, Philo. At an Armenian monastery, on an island in the Lagoons, near Venice, a newspaper is published in the Armenian language, which circulates in the Levant and in Constantinople.

e. gu

ARMFELT (Gustavus Maurice), count of; a distinguished Swede, whose public life was marked by singular changes of fortune, but belongs, in a considerable degree, to the secret history of the Swedish court, and has, therefore, not been fully explained. Gustavus Maurice, born April 1st, 1757, the oldest son of the major general baron Armfelt, was educated in the military school at Cariscrona, and was afterwards appointed ensign in the guard at Stockholm. By his fine figure, and the charms of his conversation, he gained the favor of Gustavus III. He was rapidly promoted, and loaded with marks of distinction. In the war against Russia, 1788-1790, he showed a courage in the field as splendid as his talents in social life, on which account he continued to rise in the favor of his king. As lieutenant-general, he concluded the peace of Werelæ, was honored by the Russian empress with several orders, and received, even at the death-bed of his sovereign, the most flattering marks of royal favor. He was appointed governor of Stockholm, and connected, by means of Gustavus III, in marriage with the ancient family of the count de la Gardie. He was said, also, to have been intended for president of the council of regency, during the minority of Gustavus IV, though the guardianship of the young king had been assigned to the duke of Sudermanland by a previous will. Possibly, this is the source of the

hatred with which A. was now persecuted. He was deprived, Sept. 7, 1792, of all his offices and dignities, and sent as ambassador to Naples. It was supposed, not without foundation, that an unrequited passion of the duke of Sudermanland for a court lady, von Rudenskjold, by whom A. was favored, had exasperated his rivalry to hate. It is certain, that Armfelt and Rudenskjold were made the subject of scandalous rumors; she was dishonorably reprimanded in the house of correction; and he, then in Italy, escaped the daggers of hired assassins, and a formal requisition of the Swedish government, only by flight; was declared a traitor and an outlaw, and all his fortune and honors, nay, even his nobility, were pronounced forfeit. He afterwards resided in Germany, till 1799, when Gustavus IV annulled this decree, and restored A. to his former situation. He was appointed ambassador to the court of Vienna, and, in 1807, the rank of general of infantry was conferred on him. As such, he commanded the Swedish troops in Pomerania, and, in 1808, the western army against Norway. In the autumn of this year, he was appointed president of the military insti tution at Stockholm, and made peer of the kingdom. In 1810, he obtained his desired discharge, and lived as a private man at Stockholm. A connexion with the infamous countess Piper involved him in new difficulties, and induced him to seek shelter with the Russian ambassador, and to go over to the Russian service. Here he was favorably received, was made count, chancellor of the university of Abo, president of the department for the affairs of Finland, and member of the Russian senate. He now enjoyed general esteem till his death, Aug. 19, 1814, at Czarskoeselo. He was particularly respected by the Finland

ers.

ARMIGER, OF ESQUIRE ; in England, a title belonging to such gentlemen as bear arms; and these are either by courtesy, as sons of noblemen, eldest sons of knights, or by creation, as the king's servants.

ARMINIANS; a religious sect, which has its name from its founder, Arminius. (q. v.) In Germany and Holland, they are more generally called Remonstrants, on account of the title Remonstrantia, which they gave to a document presented to the statesgeneral of Holland, in which they endeavored to prove the opinions of the reformed church, in respect to predestination, erroneous. Diversity of opinion on this subject was the chief reason

of their separation from the reformed church. They maintained, 1, that God had, indeed, resolved from eternity on the salvation and damnation of men, but with the condition, that all those who believed should be saved, while the unbelievers should be damned; 2, that Christ died for all men, but nobody could partake in his salvation, except he believe; 3, that nobody can have saving faith from himself, but must be born again of God, in Christ, through the Holy Ghost, in order to attain it; 4, that nobody can, without the grace of God, think, will, nor do any thing good, because all our good works have their origin in God's grace; 5, that the faithful can struggle against Satan, the flesh and the world, and conquer them, by the assistance of the Holy Ghost. This is the genuine doctrine of Arminius and his sect. From these original Remonstrants, however, are to be distinguished those who were not satisfied with these 5 articles, but proceeded farther in the contest with the reformed or Calvinistic church. As, even before the Arminian dispute, several writings of Socinus had been circulated secretly in Holland, particularly among the men of learning, who were almost all Arminians, it was natural that the later Arminians should coincide, in many points, with the Socinians. They were therefore accused of Socinianism. The states of Holland issued an ordinance, in 1614, directing the Remonstrants and Counter-remonstrants (the latter were also called Gomarists, from their leader, Francis Gomarus, professor of theology at Leyden) to live in love and charity with each other. But, as both parties doubted the obligation of such a decree in respect to spiritual affairs, the famous synod at Dort was held from Nov. 13, 1618, to May 9, 1619, in order to adjust the differences. The 'ecision of the synod is very remarkable. it made reason the servant of the fear of God, subjecting it to the control of faith, and declared, with much piety and theological consistency, that the doctrine of predestination is very hard, but cannot be avoided; let the Holy Scriptures stand fast, and the opinion of the opposing world perish. The Counter-remonstrants, so called, gained the ascendency by the decree of this synod, in which they were accusers and judges. The opposite party have accused them of unjust and cruel behavior on this occasion, and they have not yet been able to disprove the accusation. Though the former were obliged to yield to the decision of the synod, they

375

continued to print and defend their doctrines. The decree of this synod was highly prejudicial to the sect of the Arminians, and they were particularly in danger when some of their members took part in a conspiracy against prince Maurice. He was, however, soon convinced, that the sect, as such, had nothing to do with the plot, and, after his death, in 1625, they received from Henry, his brother, the liberty to erect churches and schools in all parts of Holland. In Amsterdam, they established an academy for education, which became very famous. The congregations at Rotterdam and Amsterdam were the most numerous. They did not endeavor to increase their sect. Any one who joined them was not obliged to accept their creed, but only to declare, generally, that he was a believer in Christianity according to the apostolic symbolum, and endeavored to regulate his life according to Christ's commands. Their public service was almost entirely like that of the Calvinistic church, only they did not require, like this church, from the parents of a child about to be baptized, a profession of belief in their doctrines, and a promise to educate the child in the same, but demanded only a promise to educate the child in the Christian faith, without mentioning the creed of any sect. The Arminians were very numerous as long as they were persecuted, but rather decreased, when they had gained liberty and peace.

ARMINIUS (the Latin name for Hermann); the deliverer of Germany from the Roman yoke. The victories of Drusus had added to the Roman empire the German districts lying on the Rhine, the Elbe and the Saal. No measures were neglected, by the Roman government, to keep the natives of these territories in subjection. The Sicambri, whose fearless spirit was so fatal to Lollius, were transplanted, with a few of the most powerful tribes, to the banks of the Rhine, and the interior of Gaul; and attempts were made to secure the allegiance of the remaining tribes by hostages, and by a Roman education, gratuitously bestowed on the children of the chiefs. A., son of a prince of the Cherusci, Sigimer (which, in the old German, signifies a famous conqueror), was born 18 B. C. He was educated at Rome, admitted into the rank of equites, and appointed to an honorable station in the army of Augustus. But princely favor and the charms of learning were insufficient to make the young barbarian forget his early associations, and his