4. The return of the Armenian emigrants or exiles. 5. The final settlement of pending legal proceedings for common law crimes and offences. 6. The inspection of prisons and an inquiry into the condition of the prisoners. 7. The appointment of a high commission of surveillance for the application of reforms in the provinces. 8. The creation of a permanent committee of control at Constantinople. 9. Reparation for the loss suffered by the Armenians who were victims of the events at Sassoun, Talori, etc. 10. The regularization of matters connected with religious conversion. 11. The maintenance and strict application of the rights and privileges conceded to the Armenians. 12. The position of the Armenians in the other vilayets of Asiatic Turkey. After much delay the Porte replied that it could not accept the proposals made. Of course not. Why should the Sultan do anything to favor the Armenians or even to prevent the recurrence of these terrible outrages unless compelled to do so by something more than advice! Yet the Sultan would be anxious to know what the three Powers would do about it. He was not kept long in suspense, so far as England was concerned. Orders were issued for the English fleet to proceed to Constantinople, and France and Russia were informed of the fact. The news reached the Sultan and appears to have convinced him that it was not safe to trifle any longer with the demands of the powers. He accordingly telegraphed that he would accede to the principle of reform outlined for him. The Sultan, learning also that the British Cabinet had met to consider Turkey's reply to the plan of reform for Armenia, submitted by Great Britain, France and Russia, telegraphed to Rustem Pasha, the Turkish Ambassador in London, instructing him to ask the Earl of Kimberly, the British Foreign Minister, to postpone a decision in the matter. The Earl of Kimberly acceded to the request. In the meanwhile the Porte handed to the British, French and Russian Ambassadors a fresh and satisfactory reply, acceding to the principle of control by the Powers, but asking that the period be limited to three years. While these promises were being so freely made, letters from Armenia, in July, represented Turkish cruelty as unabated; the position of affairs never so grave and critical; and the Armenians to have reached the ultimate limit of despair. Yet in August the world was informed that Turkey had decided to accept in their entirety the Armenian reforms demanded by the Powers, and that the acceptance of these reforms was primarily due to the pressure brought to bear on the government by Sir Philip Currie, the British Ambassador, who communicated to the government a confidential note from Lord Salisbury to the effect that the Porte must accept the proposals of the powers unconditionally, or England would use sharper means than those adopted by Lord Rosebery to settle affairs in Armenia.