towed upon them a man, named Haig, a bold leader, who united the
Armenians and formed them into an independent state. This took place
before the Christian era. The nation preserved their independence for a
considerable time, reaching the highest point of their glory and
prosperity under their king Dikran, who constituted the city of
Dikranokerta--Diarbekir--the capital of his Government. Armenia remained
independent in the time of the Romans, extending her rule over a part of
Asia Minor and Syria, and a portion of Persia, but, in consequence of
the protection afforded by the Armenians to certain kings who were
hostile to Rome, the Romans declared war against her, their troops
entered her capital, and from that time Armenian independence was lost.
The country remained tossing on the waves of despotism, now independent,
now subjected to foreign rule, until its conquest by the Arabs and
subsequently by the Ottoman power.

THE ARMENIAN POPULATION.--The number of the Armenians in Ottoman
territory does not exceed 1,900,000 souls. I have borrowed this figure
from a book by a Turkish writer, who states that it is the official
computation made by the Government previous to the Balkan war; he
estimates the Armenians residing in Roumelia at 400,000, those in
Ottoman Asia at 1,500,000. The Armenians in Russia and Persia are said
not to exceed 3,000,000, thus bringing the total number of Armenians in
the world to over four and a half millions.

THE VILAYETS INHABITED BY ARMENIANS.--The Vilayets inhabited by
Armenians are Diarbekir, Van, Bitlis, Erzeroum, Mamouret-el-Aziz, Sivas,
Adana, Aleppo, Trebizond, Broussa, and Constantinople. The numbers in
Van, Bitlis, Adana, Diarbekir, Erzeroum, and Kharpout were greater than
those in the other Vilayets, but in all cases they were fewer than the
Turks and Kurds, with the exception of Van and Bitlis, where they were
equal or superior in number. In the province of Moush (Vilayet of
Bitlis) they were more numerous than the Kurds; all industry and
commerce in those parts was in Armenian hands; their agriculture was
more prosperous; they were much more advanced than the Turks and Kurds
in those Vilayets; and the large number of their schools, contrasted
with the few schools of their alien fellow countrymen, is a proof of
their progress and of the decline of the other races.

ARMENIAN SOCIETIES.--The Armenians possess learned and political
Societies, the most important of which are the "Tashna