1841. J On the Laws and Law-books of the Armenians. 245 



in he frequently alludes to a total absence of laws and law-books 

 among the Armenians, and to the consequent necessity of his collect- 

 ing data, and embodying them in the form of a code of laws ! In the 

 second chapter of his law-book, the heading of which is, " Why were 

 we disposed to compile this book, or what incentives induced us to 

 resolve on framing this code ?" Mechithar Ghosh furnishes the reader 

 with a statement of his reasons for so doing, of which the following is 

 an extract : — " That we have often been accused not only by unbeliev- 

 ers, but by Christians also, of a total absence of law-books, based 

 upon the principles of evangelical laws. That lest, from the non-ex- 

 istence of a written law, the Armenians should apply or appeal to un- 

 believers for justice. That many, on various occasions, ignorantly 

 distort the true meaning of laws, and it is for their information and 

 correction that we were induced to compose this code of laws. Not 

 content with this alone, we caused this code to be placed in courts of 

 judicature, as a record intended for occasional and necessary reference. 

 That being destitute of written laws, our predecessors were unable to 

 make references, but, on the removal of this want, we shall now avail 

 ourselves of this record, and be able to afford a proof to unbelievers of 

 the existence of written laws amongst us, by which they will be silen- 

 ced, and obliged to desist from heaping on us accusations for the appa- 

 rent want of a code. We were for a very considerable time subjected 

 to the keenest reproaches of our countrymen and strangers for the ab- 

 sence of a law-book, and their censures proved as a spur to us in 

 undertaking the preparation of a code of laws.... I was also seized with 

 astonishment at the apathetic indifference displayed by our ancestors 

 in not supplying this desideratum. " 



These remarks were written by Mechithar Ghosh, towards the close 

 of the twelfth century, at which period, as stated above, he flourished 

 in Armenia in the character of an Armenian lawgiver, and erudite 

 author. But, as the numerous Armenian families that first quitted 

 Armenia emigrated to Poland in the middle of the eleventh century, 

 it is very probable that these emigrants carried with them their own 

 law-book, which it was impossible for Mechithar Ghosh to meet with 

 in Armenia. The Armenian colonists in Poland being in possession of 

 a law-book of their own, were guided by it in all their civil and judi- 

 cial affairs, as stated above. Yet, upon all this, considering the laws al- 



