deposit them in
a cellar, and go down once a day to stare at them? I have heard say that
the fulfilment of one's wishes is invariably the precursor of extreme
misery, and forsooth I can scarcely conceive a more horrible state of
existence than to be without a hope or wish."

"It is bad enough, I dare say," said the Armenian; "it will, however, be
time enough to think of disposing of the money when I have procured it.
I still fall short by a vast sum of the two hundred thousand pounds."

I had occasionally much conversation with him on the state and prospects
of his nation, especially of that part of it which still continued in the
original country of the Haiks--Ararat and its confines, which, it
appeared, he had frequently visited. He informed me that since the death
of the last Haik monarch, which occurred in the eleventh century, Armenia
had been governed both temporally and spiritually by certain personages
called patriarchs; their temporal authority, however, was much
circumscribed by the Persian and Turk, especially the former, of whom the
Armenian spoke with much hatred, whilst their spiritual authority had at
various times been considerably undermined by the emissaries of the Papa
of Rome, as the Armenian called him.

"The Papa of Rome sent his emissaries at an early period amongst us,"
said the Armenian, "seducing the minds of weak-headed people, persuading
them that the hillocks of Rome are higher than the ridges of Ararat; that
the Roman Papa has more to say in heaven than the Armenian patriarch, and
that puny Latin is a better language than nervous and sonorous Haik."

"They are both dialects," said I, "of the language of Mr. Petulengro, one
of whose race I believe to have been the original founder of Rome; but,
with respect to religion, what are the chief points of your faith? you
are Christians, I believe."

"Yes," said the Armenian, "we are Christians in our way; we believe in
God, the Holy Spirit, and Saviour, though we are not prepared to admit
that the last personage is not only himself, but the other two. We
believe--" and then the Armenian told me of several things which the
Haiks believed or disbelieved. "But what we find most hard of all to
believe," said he, "is that the man of the mole-hills is entitled to our
allegiance, he not being a Haik, or understanding the Haik language."

"But, by your own confession," said I, "he has introduced a schism in
your nation, and has amongst you many t