This enthusiastic reception, this spontaneous manifestation on the part of the foreign fleets, made the very worst of impressions on Abdul Hamid, whose fears were, moreover, increased by the continual intrigues of Midhat’s enemies. At one time there was some question at Constantinople of nominating Midhat Pasha as Governor‐General of the Island of Crete. One of his friends (an English subject, whose name we may not divulge) sent him the following letter, written at the invitation of the British Ambassador, Sir Henry Layard:— “CONSTANTINOPLE, _3rd October 1878_. “YOUR HIGHNESS,—I have had an interview with our Ambassador this morning. His Excellency assures me that for the last four months he has tried by every means in his power to act on the Sultan’s mind, in order to persuade His Majesty to believe in your fidelity and devotion to his throne. Sir Henry Layard has assured me that he has incontestable proofs, that whilst Your Highness was in power, a certain individual, who dined every evening at your table, was in the pay of General Ignatieff, and repeated to the General every day all that you had said the night before. His Excellency has asked me to tell you that His Majesty is always surrounded by Russian emissaries, who do all in their power to influence him against you, and therefore he is obliged to use the greatest prudence in speaking to His Majesty of Your Highness. The Ambassador expressed to me his very great regret that you had refused to accept the thousand pounds that the Sultan had offered you. He also wished me to tell you, _in strictest confidence_, that there had been some question of nominating you Governor‐General of Crete, and that he prevented this nomination, being convinced that you would do no good in the Island, and that the insurrection instead of diminishing will only increase later on. Besides this, he told me that his desire is that Your Highness should occupy a higher post, where you would render very great services to the Government. He said that he was very anxious to meet you somewhere and to speak with you, but that at the present moment he sees no possibility of such an interview; in the meanwhile, if Your Highness would put yourself into correspondence with him, there is nothing that would give him greater pleasure than to receive news of you. “Such, Your Highness, is the _résumé_ of our conversation. I left with the conviction that the Ambassador sees the immense difficulty of introducing any reforms into the country without Your Highness’ co‐operation. Your opinion on the policy of England, and on the manner of introducing reforms into this country, would, I am sure, be very much appreciated by his Excellency, and therefore, if you see fit to write to the Embassy, you may count on my honour that no one in the world will know that you are in correspondence with Sir Henry Layard.—I am, etc.”