"I will now go on to the Cyprus convention, and say a few words on the bag-and-baggage policy. Turkey and Egypt are governed by a ring of Pashas, most of them Circassians, and who are perfect foreigners in Turkey. They are, for the greater part, men who, when boys, have been bought at prices varying from £50 to £70, and who, brought up in the harems, have been pushed on by their purchasers from one grade to another. Some have been dancing boys and drummers, like Riaz and Ismail Eyoub of Egypt. I understand by bag-and-baggage policy the getting rid of, say, two hundred Pashas of this sort in Turkey, and sixty Pashas in Egypt. These men have not the least interest in the welfare of the countries; they are aliens and adventurers, they are hated by the respectable inhabitants of Turkey and Egypt, and they must be got rid of. "Armenia is lost; it is no use thinking of reforms in it. The Russians virtually possess it; the sooner we recognise this fact the better. Why undertake the impossible? "What should be done? Study existing facts, and decide on a definite line of policy, and follow it through. Russia, having a definite line of policy, is strong; we have not one, and are weak and vacillating. 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.' "Supposing such a line of policy as follows was decided upon and followed up, it would be better than the worries of the last four years:-- "1. The complete purchase of Cyprus. "2. The abandonment of the Asia Minor reforms. "3. The union of Bulgaria and Roumelia, with a port. "4. The increase of Greece. "5. Constantinople, a State, under European guarantees. "6. Increase of Montenegro, and Italy, on that coast. "7. Annexation of Egypt by England, _either directly or by having paramount and entire authority_. "8. Annexation of Syria by France--ditto--ditto--ditto. (By this means France would be as interested in stopping Russian progress as England is.) "9. Italy to be allowed to extend towards Abyssinia. "10. Re-establishment of the Turkish Constitution, and the establishment of a similar one in Egypt (these Constitutions, if not interfered with, would soon rid Turkey and Egypt of their parasite Pashas). "I daresay this programme could be improved, but it has the advantage of being _definite_, and a definite policy, however imperfect, is better than an unstable or hand-to-mouth policy. "I would not press these points at once; I would keep them in view, and let events work themselves out. "I believe, in time, this programme could be worked out without a shot being fired.