NOTE: = 2 =

[This] is the copy of the report submitted to the Sublime Porte by the Mixed Commission formed at the Sublime Porte and the Commission elected by the Nation:

The Imperial Government has from of old granted privileges and immunities to the various Nations [subject] under its justice-loving protection for freedom of Religion and the particular Administration of their individual affairs. Although these immunities are uniform in principle for all nations, yet, having been disposed in accordance with the proper religious canons and customs of each one, every Nation has enjoyed them, putting them into practice in conformity with its native customs and usages. The Armenian nation, like other nations, has until the present day had a Patriarch, who has been recognized by the Government as the President of the Patriarchal Administration, the Representative of the Nation, and the Intermediary for the execution of Imperial Decrees; and who from of old has commonly been elected from the Ecclesiastical order by a General Assembly composed of individuals of various ranks of the Nation. The Patriarch, in [the discharge of] his office—which is to preside over the Nation and to watch over its interests—has at no time been exempt from the influence and supervision exercised by the Nation through the medium of the General Assembly. And the proof of this is that the Patriarch at all times convoked and convened the General Assembly, whether according to the exigencies of affairs, or upon an explicit command of the Sublime Porte when an important question arose...

[This] is the copy of the report submitted to the Sublime Porte by the Mixed Commission formed at the Sublime Porte and the Commission elected by the Nation:

Whereas the immunities and privileges from of old benevolently bestowed by the Sublime Sultanate upon the diverse communities residing under the shadow of the wing of its justice—concerning the free practice of their religions and confessions, and the administration of their particular affairs—conform to the specific usages and customs current in the spiritual affairs of the said communities, and are fundamentally uniform in respect of all [of them], they have hitherto been practiced in every community in conformity with its observed customs; and whereas the Armenian nation, likewise as the other nations, has until now possessed a Patriarch, generally [chosen] from among the ecclesiastics, who is regarded on the part of the Sublime State as the head of the patriarchal administration, the representative of the nation, and the organ for the execution of the decrees of the Sublime State; and whereas the said Patriarch, having from of old been elected by the nation through the agency of a council composed of the various classes of the nation, could at no time entirely free himself from the influence and surveillance exercised by the general nation through the intermediary of the said council in the fulfillment of the duty to preside over the nation and to watch over the national interests; to which [end] the said Patriarch has at all times convoked and summoned the said council, and, as the requirement of the affair dictated or [in obedience] to the explicit commands of the *Bâb-ı Âlî* [Sublime Porte]...