Lord Rosebery's main thesis was of course the Armenian question,
and upon this there is the most extraordinary con- flict of opinion as to what he meant. We can only express our own judgment, which we have elsewhere justified by textual quotations. We understand him to say that while the brutalities practised on the Armenians have been much worse than the public knows of, and excite in him the liveliest horror, the fate of the Armenians is only one in a thousand English interests; that the Cyprus Convention does not exist, having expired from neglect and the refusal of the Sultan to keep his promises ; that the Powers of Europe are mad with jealousy at our annexation of two million square miles in twelve years ; that we have not " digested " these acquisitions yet ; and that consequently the supreme interest of the Empire is peace. Lord Rosebery would consequently do nothing except in concert with the whole of Europe, think- ing that the public has revised its old judgment of Russia. much too hastily. He ridicules the suggestion of stopping the Cyprus tribute, and considers the withdrawal of the British Ambassador as only "an affront, leading to war." We can understand those who say that the speech was ths speech of a statesman, though we do not agree, but how any- body can believe that Lord Rosebery did not throughout argue that it was the interest of Great Britain to throw the Armenians to the wolves we are unable to comprehend. "You are shockingly ill-used," says the policeman ; "I never see anybody used so horrid, but that man there and his pals are too much for policemen."
