History of Armenia, by Father Michael Chamich; from B. C. 2247 to ...

THE ORIGIN OF THE ARMENIANS.
was the Armenian ; it is, however, certain that
no records have been handed dovv^n to us by
our forefathers concerning the origin of the language;
but tradition goes so far as to assert
positively that it is the identical one which
was used by the first settlers in Armenia, who
without doubt were the children of Ham and
Japheth. These are the generations which
immediately lead to the first Armenian lord
or chief:
Japheth begat Gomer, who was the
father of Torgomah and Ascanaz : Torgomah
was the father of Haicus, from whom are descended
the Haics or Armenians. The etymological
signification of Haicus is, the father or
founder of a particular race of men. These,
as I have before observed, are the Armenians,
who, notwithstanding all the vicissitudes of
fortune, amidst the direst persecutions that
ever visited
a people, have preserved the bond
of union with a fortitude which, alas !
has only
marked them out to the rest of the world as
fugitives and wanderers, I mig-ht almost add,
as anomalies and exceptions to the social compact
amongst mankind.
Having given this
of the Armenians, we shall
short account of the origin
now commence a
detail of the several events that have distinguished
them under the different modes of
^vernment through which they have passed.
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