Mr. Bourke is a very inconveniently honest person. In the
course of a speech in the debate of Friday week, though defend- ing Sir Henry Elliot, he admitted that the Foreign Office was totally ignorant of the events which had occurred in Bulgaria :— "The Government really had no idea of the events which had occurred in Bulgaria until attention was called to them in the House, and he gladly took the opportunity of saying that the Government and the country were very much indebted to the newspaper correspondents through whom these events had become known." In other words, he admitted that either Sir Henry Elliot suppressed facts he knew—which is impossible—or that he re- mained ignorant and incredulous of facts known to newspaper cor- respondents, and we may add, to everybody else in Constantinople. In retaining Sir Henry Elliot therefore in his important post, the Foreign Office announces to all the world that it does not care to be accurately informed as to Turkish facts, prefers, indeed, to know as little as it conveniently can. We have no doubt its preferenee will be fully gratified till the explosion comes. Then, as in 1870, it will know everything,—that newspaper readers know.
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