Sultan Mahmoud being of an imperious nature, waived such religious considerations when impelled by gratitude, and no one of the ministry dared to breathe a censure against the imperial will; for as sultan, he was not only above the law, but the law itself. Besides, every one knew the extent of Kazaz Artyn's services to his royal master.
At the end of the last war, when the Russian indemnities were to be paid, there was not a single piaster in the treasury.
The sultan, in despair, shut himself up, and forbade any one to approach him; but, reckless of consequences, Kazaz Artyn rushed into the royal presence, and anxiously begged to be informed the cause of his majesty's grief. "The Muscovite giavours are insisting upon their indemnities, and I am told the treasury is empty." Whereupon Kazaz Artyn assured his majesty that their demands should be met, even on the very next day.
He accordingly summoned all the bankers, and collected the necessary funds, which were transmitted to the Russian Embassy to their utter astonishment, in the course of twenty-four hours. This money remained at the Russian Embassy, out of which they were accustomed to pay the salaries of the whole legation, etc. The bankers were afterwards repaid in beshliks, a species of spurious coin, which are now being redeemed by the present sultan.
The cultivation of the arts and sciences were of an early origin with the Armenians.
In the reign of Valarsace, the Parthian, 150 B. C. the archives of Nineveh were searched by Maribas, and made to contribute to the literature of the nation; and during Arsaces' reign, the city of Armavir was embellished with several pieces of beautiful statuary, which were taken from the Greeks. Three, in particular, those of Diana, Hercules, and Apollo, well executed, brazen and gilt, were from the hands of the celebrated Cretan artists Scyllis and Dipænus.
Duin, Ani, Edessa, and several other cities, were noted for their architectural beauties, and, considering that Armenia is coeval with the Babylonian Empire, there is no reason to doubt, that researches into its territories would be as interesting, as those of Mossoul.
The Armenians having no alphabet of their own, adopted the characters of other nations, viz., the Syriac in religious writings, the Greek in scientific works, and the Persian for statutes of law. But at the commencement of the 5th century, a monk, Mesrop by name, invented the present characters, which have been in use ever since. They are neat in appearance, and capable of representing any articulate sound; thirty nine in number, and styled by Lord Byron, a Waterloo of an alphabet.