Sir Henry Elliot is not to be sent back to
his old post. He -" needs rest," and will, we hope, obtain it ; but the Government, though it does not restore him, has selected the most Turcophile diplomatist it could find. Mr. Layard, it is announced, is to leave Madrid for a time for the Embassy at Constantinople, and if the Tory Government is not soon overturned, will probably remain there. No one can doubt either Mr. Layard's knowledge of the East or his energy, but his sympathies in any quarrel between Turks and Turkish Christians will be entirely on the side of the Turks. There will, however, be this advantage in his appointment, that he knows how to deal with Orientals, and if ordered to secure the punishment of any particular male- factor, will know how to disbelieve assurances that the Turkish Government is most anxious to do justice, and that it will at once order its tribunals to try the offender. His inner faith in Turkish Parliaments, too, will be of the most limited kind, and his respect for reforming laws probably exactly nil. He is, in fact, compe- tent for the work, if he chooses to do it, and that is something gained.
