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ARMENIA IN MODERN TIMES 291
and there in the looting and murders ; but troops were
stationed everywhere to guard the Greek and European
quarters. Then the slaughter stopped as suddenly as it had
begun, but by that time some seven thousand Armenians had
been massacred.
A joint note from the ambassadors of the Powers emphasized
the fact that this had been more than the chance rioting of a
fanatical crowd, for there was every indication that the whole
affair had been arranged by a special organization, well known
at least to certain agents of the Government, even if the latter
had not actually tåken a leading part in the massacre. This
was all the Powers did in the matter ; as usual they conflned
themselves to paper, and went on negotiating about reforms
until diplomacy was able to record a signal victory : for the
Sultan, håving finished the massacres and, as he thought,
annihilated the Armenians, agreed to the proposed reforms
on October 17, 1896, refusing, however, to make his conces
sions publicly known. With this the Powers were satisfied ;
they had now given the Armenians all the help that was in
their power, and in accordance with " a policy which could
be followed with due consideration for our own welfare," as
an English ambassador wrote on a similar occasion.
After all these terrible disasters in all the Armenian terri
tories and colonies in Turkey one might suppose that the
Armenian population would have been completely crushed
and destroyed, especially as they had nowhere to take their
grievances, no court of appeal, and not a single protector. But
for thousands of years in the past this extraordinarily enduring
people had become inured to similar disasters, and invariably
set to work again patiently to rebuild their devastated country.
The same thing happened now ; from their places of refuge
in the mountains, in neighbouring countries, in monasteries
that had been spared, the survivors presently returned to their
plundered hornes and started afresh. But they were in great
distress, for the able-bodied men had been killed, the draught
animals stolen, the farm implements tåken or destroyed ;
moreover, there was a drought that year which brought
famine and misery in its train. In all parts of Europe and
America money was raised to help them, and many associations
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