It is difficult to discover the steps which Lord Kimberley,
who, we grieve to see, is harassed by domestic misfortune, is taking in Armenia. It is known that the report of the Com- missioners appointed by the signatory Powers will confirm on all substantial points the rumours as to the atrocities per- petrated at Saasoon. It is rumoured that the Governments have therefore drawn up a scheme of reform, which will be sub- mitted to the Sultan. There is, however, reason to fear that this reform will not be completely satisfactory. The Governments have got it into their heads that as the renegade Armenian clans and the tree Mussulmans exceed the Christian Armenians in number, Armenia must not be made into a Principality; an argument which, considering the weight of the minority in all countries of Europe, strikes us as absurd. There will therefore be some compromise, probably the appointment of some irremovable Governor-General; and the point will then be, who is to choose that great officer P If the Porte is to choose him, the Armenians will hardly be better off than before, for he will not and cannot restrain the Turkish soldiery and the Kurds. He ought to be selected by England and Russia; but upon this subject the Sultan, unless his tribute is a heavy one, may be immovably obstinate.
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