I offer my reader a group of the scholars of this institution, with a picture of the founder in their midst (Fig. 167). The faces are full of character and determination. Nor should I wish to omit a similar group of the comely maidens of Armenia, taken at Edgmiatsin and showing the national dress (Fig. 168). I received the impression that there was something wanting to the vitality of the school, that the pupils were not using their talents to the best advantage. For instance, when I asked them for the result of x + y × x - y, they were obliged to make the sum and could not supply the result offhand. Personally the Directors are charming men, neither self-assertive nor obsequious. All three have studied in Germany; but not one of them has taken his doctor's degree. They told me that they had in this obeyed the expressed desire of their patron, M. Sanasarean. But, although there can be little doubt that they made excellent use of their opportunities, it is most pernicious to the interests of the school that their example should be made a precedent. By what means can the Council ensure that the young men sent abroad to study have really penetrated into the inner circle of European scholarship? Only by requiring that they should not return without obtaining its badge. It also seemed to me strange that the pupils passed from class to class by length of residence rather than by merit. Other drawbacks, the first of which might be easily remedied, were the absence of sports and games as a prominent feature of school life, the want of touch with the Armenian schools in the Russian provinces, and the unreality of the diplomas granted by the institution, which have not as yet become the key to a variety of careers. The fact, too, that the minds of the Directors have been filled with the pedagogic lore of Germany militates against success. That so-called science betrays the weaknesses of the powerful German intellect. In Germany its pedantic influence is counteracted by military service; but this wholesome corrective is wanting to the Armenian youth of Erzerum.