No sooner had the news of the apostacy of the princes reached Armenia than the bishops, priests, and the laity condemned the weakness and the folly of the princes. When the princes returned to Armenia they found no one ready or willing to listen to any explanation, but everywhere and everybody was ready and willing to defend his religion at the cost of his life. A large multitude, made up of clergy and laity, among whom were many women, gathered for immediate action, for the enemy was marching on. Some of the princes could not endure the contempt of the people nor the unrelenting remorse of their consciences, so they were ready to expiate their folly at any cost. Prince Vartan, the Mamigonian, was unanimously appointed the commander-in-chief of the Armenian forces, and the multitude--66,000 volunteers--was formed into three divisions and each division was entrusted to a prince, Vartan, Nershebuh and Vasag. All knew that the struggle and the strife was a desperate one. But brave Vartan and the rest were not dismayed, though they knew that they alone could not conquer the immense army of the enemy already in the country, with a small and inexperienced force of his own, yet there was no other choice; they were not fighting for victory, but for their convictions and for their chosen religion, the religion of Christ. The address of Vartan, the commander-in-chief, is most beautiful and touching: “I have been,” said he, “in many battles, and you also with me; we have sometimes bravely vanquished the foe; sometimes they vanquished us, but on all these occasions we thought only of worldly distinction, and we fought merely at the command of a mortal king. Behold, we have all many wounds and scars upon our persons, and great must have been our bravery to have won these great marks of honor. But useless and empty I deem these exploits whereby we have received these honorable marks, for they pass away. If, however, you have done such valiant deeds in obedience to a mortal ruler, how much more will you do them for our immortal King, who is Lord of life and death, who judges every one according to his works. “Now, therefore, I entreat you, my brave companions, and more so as you--albeit in bravery, worth, and inherited honors greater than I--have of your own free will and out of your love elected me your leader and chief; I entreat that my words may be favorably received by the high and the low. Fear not the numbers of the heathen; withdraw not necks from the terrific sword of a mortal man in order that the Lord may give the victory into our hands, that we may annihilate their power and lift on high the standard of truth.”