“The method adopted for the work of compulsory conversion was everywhere the same.... In some towns and villages, even before the outbreak of the massacres, the choice was given of averting the threatened fate by embracing Islam. Mere threats of death were seldom sufficient; bayonets were pointed at the heart, swords at the throat. When this did not avail, tortures were employed. The priests and preachers, especially who refused to renounce their faith, had to endure absolutely inconceivable tortures before they received the _coup de grace_. The priest Der Hagop of Harpout, became insane, when, clad only in his shirt, he saw the swords of fifty soldiers pointed at him. What was to be done with him? As the Mullahs declared that a madman could not be received into Islam he was for the present thrown into prison for contumacy. “In the monastery at Tadem the Venerable Archimandrite, Ohannes Papazian, had first his hands and afterwards his arms up to the elbows cut off, on his refusal to accept Islam. When, even then, he would not yield, he was beheaded on the pavement of the church. At Biredjik an old man who refused to renounce his faith was thrown down, live coals were heaped upon him, and, when he writhed in his agony, the fiends held a Bible before his eyes and mockingly bade him read to them some of the promises on which he had pinned his faith. “At Diarbekir, the great stone church of the Syrian order of St. James, in which a number of refugees were sheltering, was surrounded by Kurds who fired on it, broke open the roof, threw down combustibles and at last succeeded in bursting open the door. Amid the joyous shouts of the mob the refugees were driven into the open in dense masses, and received with a hail of bullets. When the pastor, Jirjs Khatherschian, from Egypt, who happened to be visiting his relations, was recognized as an ecclesiastic he was thrown to the ground, and beaten till he became unconscious. One of the sacred books scattered around was pushed into his mouth, and he was mockingly called upon to preach a sermon. Burning brands fell on him, and when he was aroused from his unconscious state by the pain, and attempted to crawl away, he was seized and hurled into the blazing fire and burnt to death. Are we not reminded of the heroism of the Maccabees by a mother at Ourfa, who, when an attempt was made to force her sons to renounce their religion, came running up and besought them: ‘Let them kill you, but do not deny the Lord Jesus’--and the steadfast pair suffered death by the sword. The women and children followed the men to martyrdom. At Bitlis a hundred women, whose husbands had been slain, were conducted by soldiers to an open place. What was their answer when they were called upon to renounce Jesus and save their lives: ‘No, our husbands died for Him, and we will do the same.’ They were massacred.”