The Parents' Review

A Monthly Magazine of Home-Training and Culture

Armenia (poems, prayers, etc.)

ARMENIA.

BY REV. CANON RAWNSLEY.

A CONTRAST.

Here labourers going forth to sow the grain,
There fields untilled, earth cankered to the core;
There widows weeping round an empty store,
Here song of Harvest Home and loaded wain;
Here peal of wedding bells, there cries of pain,
The bridegroom slain, while Kurdish ruffians bore
The bride to worse than murder; there no more
Troth plighted, here fond lovers in the lane.

Here congregations gathered with accord
To praise their God who life and joy has given,
There broken altars and a prayer for death;
Here hymns to Christ, there curses on the Lord;
There faithful witness to the latest breath,
Here false betrayal of a trust from Heaven.

THE CHRIST-KING OF EDESSA.

In old Edessa, by the garden's hem,
Whence still the streams of Paradise are poured,
Men felt that peace was better than the sword,
That love, not hate, should wear the diadem.
And so they sent to far Jerusalem,
And gave the Saviour welcome with accord.
Prayed Him to come and be their Saviour Lord,
Teach them His laws, and bear rule over them.

Christ came not, sent His servants, bade them say,
His law was sacrifice and suffering;
Yea, that His head with thorns, not gold, was crowned;
But old Edessa chose Him for her King,
Thro' centuries of pain His power has owned,
Nor knew and served Him better than to-day.

HYMN FOR THE ARMENIAN RELIEF FUND.

To Tune "Dundee," Hymns A. and M., 221, or any C.M.

"And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly."--Romans 16. 21.

Pour out Thy Spirit, God of Peace,
Thy people sit forlorn!
Nor let the angel anthem cease
That rang when Christ was born.

One heart to feel Thou gavest men,
Thou madest of one blood
The many nations: teach us then
The joy of brotherhood.

Let those who think that as they slay
They serve Thee truly, know
Love only walks the perfect way,
Hate blindly deals the blow.

O quicken ears to hear the call
Of want, of woe, of shame;
Bind East to West, claim one and all
To help in mercy's name.

Inspire our rulers, Lord, and send
Pure counsel, courage, might;
Thine arm is stretched out still; defend
The hearts that dare the right.

A DAILY PRAYER FOR ARMENIA.

O God, who hast made men to be of one blood over all the face of the earth, and has sent Thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to show us of the Father, quicken our sense of duty between nation and nation, and make us feel the bonds of human brotherhood. Send out They light and Thy truth that they may lead us. Fill us with Thy compassion, and strengthen us to all self-sacrifice. Give us ears to hear the cries of those in adversity; open our eyes to see the right, and grant us will to do it. Make us more and more to know that Christ is the head of the body--the church--and that if one member suffers all the members suffer with it. And since the hearts of kings and counsellors are in Thy rule and governance, so guide us as at this time their hearts in the ways of wisdom and justice, that laying aside mistrust and jealousy and whatever else doth hinder from godly union and concord, they may succour the weak and those ready to perish from the hand of the oppressor, and save the remnant of an ancient people to They honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

ARMENIAN RELIEF.

Some English people have obtained a house and land which can be turned into an industrial farm, under British protection, and they are assured by employers of labour in the place that there is a demand for such labour as these Armenian refugees might perform. Pottery making, silk winding, and fruit-growing offer the chance of livelihood. The committee have consulted the highest authorities in England and the missionaries and men of local knowledge in Armenia, and they are led to believe that if the scheme is tried at once, though on so small a scale as the rescuing of 100 widows and orphans, America will co-operate, and that the small beginning may set on foot a larger scheme for emigration of the distressed Armenians to the West. They ask for public support. The committee embraces represent-atives of most of the Churches. The names of Mr. Bunting, the Earl of Carlisle, Dr. Paton, Canon Scott-Holland, Lady Henry Somerset, Lord Kinnaird, Professor Rendel Harris, Archdeacon Wilson, are guarantee for catholicity.
Subscriptions should be sent to Mrs. BUNTING, 11, Endsleigh Gardens, London, N.W., who will act as hon. sec. During the absence of Mrs. Sheldon Amos; or to HUGH MATHESON, Esq., or ROBERT YERBURGH, Esq., M.P., 3, Lombard Street, London, who are kindly acting as hon. treasurers to the Armenian Refugees' Fund.
It is hoped that those who have already contributed to the DUKE OF WESTMINSTER'S ARMENIAN RELIEF FUND will do their utmost to continue their support. Cheques should be sent to the Hon. Treasurer, Grosvenor House, London; or to E. ATKIN, 3, Essex Court, Temple, London.
THE FRIENDS' ARMENIAN RELIEF FUND also asks for help during the ensuing winter. Cheques should be sent to EDMUND WRIGHT BROOKS, Duvals, Grays, Essex.
THE AMERICAN ARMENIAN RESCUE FUND, which aims at helping the poor Armenians in the east to emigrate beyond Turkish boundaries, has also formed a Committee in England to co-operate with it. Subscriptions for this should be sent to the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Hickson, 32, Fopstone Road, Earl's Court, London, S.W. The latest information and leaflets may be had of the Armenian Bureau, Granville House, 3, Arundel Street, W.C. Subscriptions to this fund should be sent to Canon SCOTT-HOLLAND at the same address.
H. D. R.
Crosthwaite Vicarage, Keswick,
Sept., 1896.

[ "Can ye not discern the signs of the times?" is a question which comes home with great force to parents in periods of national crisis. It is not only that each of us has to do his share, however unimportant, towards carrying his country through the crisis of the moment, but that every parent is setting a precedent in his own home for the action of the nations in all similar crises in the future. All questions that may henceforth arise concerning the

' Wrong and outrage with which earth is filled '

will be settled, more or less in accord, not with the platform oratory on the subject of Armenia, but with the opinions which find utterance in every home, and give their trend to the future thought and action of the children who appear to play about and take no heed. With our responsibility to the children in view we see how important it is that we should adjust our own thoughts on this distressful subject; and we believe many of our readers will welcome the prayer for family use with Canon Rawnsley has, at our request, prepared for the readers of the /Parents' Review/.

In so far as the anxious question is a political one, a question of war or peace, we are perhaps unqualified to form an opinion. In so far as it is the moral question of our duty towards our neighbour in distress, to be fulfilled as circumstances may permit, it rests, we believe, with the heads of all households to sound a clear note and to put before their children the principles upon which they have come to a decision. Every family should know that what is distressful to the national conscience is no less in-tolerable to the individual conscience, and that we all go sorrowful and ashamed to-day at what we cannot but feel is, somehow, a failure in national duty. We may hope that direction will be vouchsafed to us in such chastened mood.--ED. ]

(KG--July 2, 2005)