"The diplomas which she conferred upon the Bulgarian bishops after the
execution at Panitza have shown you, my brother, how greatly I am
pleased to favour those whom you have condemned! Stamboulof, the
inveterate foe of Russia, now dominates the elections in Bulgaria and
Roumelia, thanks to the iradé on the bishoprics. He goes in triumph
through the land, so that even the Russophile candidates invoke the
protection of this man, who shoots the country's heroes and reduces its
prince to the level of an ordinary public servant. His audacity, his
impunity, the length of his tether, have no limits except those which
will be imposed upon him by my power should you turn a deaf ear to my
proposals.

"And just as British policy has served the ends of Prussian statecraft
in Bulgaria and Roumelia, even so it serves them at this moment in
Armenia.

"It was I who willed and inspired the indulgence of the Sultan for the
bloodthirsty Moussa Bey. Massacred by the Kurds on the one hand, and
on the other observing the success of the revolution in Roumelia, the
Armenians will inevitably be led from one revolt to another and, helped
by a few timely suggestions, will come to believe that they can win
their autonomy.

"Herein lies another difficulty which disturbs your mind, and of which
my hands hold the threads; another people, to whom you might have
looked for help in the event of my allies going to war with you, but
which England and I will be able to remove from your influence.

"In Roumania, a Hohenzollern guards all the keys which open the doors
of his frontiers.