In consequence of this mental indisposition, Murad V. was deposed August 30th, and Abdul Hamid II. was proclaimed on August 31st, and girded with the sword of Othman a few days later. He was then living in a small palace in the Valley of Sweet Waters, which he inherited from his father. He was very fond of agriculture, and amused himself by cultivating a model farm. To his mother, who is said to have been an Armenian from Georgia, in Russia, he owed a quality very rare in the family of the Sultans, the spirit of economy. He never allowed his expenses to exceed his income before he came to the throne. In this charming retreat he resided quietly with his wife and two children, all eating at the same table, and showing in his dress and surroundings his preference for European modes of life. The only concession he made to Orientalism in personal dress, was in wearing the "fez," which he disliked, but continued to wear as the necessary token of his nationality. Six weeks after he was proclaimed Sultan, it was announced that a scheme of reform for the whole Ottoman Empire, was in course of preparation. It was published in January, and while it was a much less sweeping reform than Midhat wished, it provided for a Senate and a House of Representatives, which last was to take control of the finances, the system of taxation was to be revised and better laws were to be enacted for the provinces. Election to the lower house was to be by universal suffrage; for the upper house electors were restricted to two classes: the noble and the educated. Abdul Hamid cordially disapproved of this check on the absolute power enjoyed by predecessors. He was willing to do justice and to temper it with mercy, but to be placed in the position of a servant to his people was odious to himself. At a council held, when only his other ministers were present, the Sultan asked, what should be done with Midhat Pasha. Two of those present said: "Let him die." But Abdul Hamid was not bloodthirsty, hence he only banished him to Arabia where two years later he was poisoned. The Sultan was restive under the constitution and the Pashas, against whose cruelty and extortion the most of the reforms were aimed, sided with their sovereign. In 1875, Midhat Pasha had outlined the situation thus to the English Ambassador: "The Sultan's Empire is being rapidly brought to destruction; corruption has reached a pitch that it has never before attained. The service of the state is starved, while untold millions are being poured into the palaces and the provinces are being ruined by the uncontrolled exactions of the Governors who purchase their appointments at the palace: and nothing can save the country but a complete change of system." And the very worst governed portion of all his Empire was Armenia. We are officially told that its government for the last thirty years has been horrible.