“MY LORD,—Midhat Pasha has been appointed Grand Vizier in the place of Mehemet Rushdi Pasha. The importance of this appointment at this moment is very great. Midhat Pasha is beyond question the most energetic and liberal of the Turkish statesmen, and a man of action, although his decisions are sometimes hasty. “He has always advocated the equality of Mussulmans and Christians, and wishes for a constitutional control over the power of the Grand Vizier as well as of the Sultan. He is opposed to centralisation, and in favour of giving the provincial populations much control over their local affairs. “He has at times spoken strongly to me against the grant of special institution in the Slav Provinces; but he is a man who listens to argument, and may, perhaps, be brought to see the necessity of it under the present circumstances. “He is disliked by the old Mussulman party, but is regarded as the hope of the Mussulman reformers and of the Christians. “He used formerly always to wish to follow the advice of Her Majesty’s Government, but I am not aware what his feelings towards England are at this moment.[13] “I have.... “HENRY ELLIOT.” Midhat pointed out to the Sultan, in a letter addressed to Saïd, the danger of the delay and procrastination that would be caused by too prolonged discussion on the text of the Constitution; further, that the text which had been submitted to the Sultan was such as had been decided upon by the Commission appointed by His Majesty himself, and that that text, after having been submitted to His Majesty as it came from the hands of the Commission, was now, together with His Majesty’s observations on it, being considered by the Ministers as a final stage, requiring at most three or four days’ deliberation, and that any longer delay before its actual promulgation would assuredly raise in the minds of the friendly Powers a doubt as to the sincerity of the Turkish Government in the work of the reform; and he insisted, finally, that, in order to convince them of this sincerity, it was essentially desirable that the promulgation of the Constitution should take place before the date fixed for the assembly of the Conference.