Brighton, 27 May 1877 
42 King’s Road 

Dear Moor, 

My obstinate .silence must have surprised you. I’ve had a 
damned awful week with my eye: the bright sunlight has done it 
no good. I have been wearing spectacles all day for a week now and 
given alcohol the sack, but experienced no improvement at all to 
begin with. Only since yesterday has there been any definite change, 
inasmuch as I am no longer aware of my eye. When I come 
up to London”? (Friday*) I shall definitely put paid to the thing; 
I’m sick of a condition which prevents me doing anything 
at all. 

The stupid English papers carry tales of the enormous advances 
made by the Russians in Armenia™ of which, so far, there have 
been very few. But unless the softas in Constantinople soon bestir 
themselves,”*? Muhtar Pasha may wreak considerable havoc.— It’s 

a] June - 

characteristic of the way the war is being conducted on the 
Danube that the Tsar* has to put in an appearance before 
anything is done. For the rest, the administration of the Russian. 
army would actually seem to have been better so far than might 
have been expected; however, we shall see how things go when the 
real campaign begins. But the decision lies with Constantinople 
and is now becoming an urgent necessity. 

Monsieur Mac-Mahon, too, seems to have gone off the rails with 
his coup de téte”** It is not proving attractive, nor, despite all 
efforts, will the Bourse really swallow the bait. Moreover his 
avowed intention of remaining within the bounds of legality is 
evidence that the results are not consistent with the promises made 
by Broglie & Co. If the French stand firm this time and vote 
properly, or at any rate no worse than last time, they may well be 
quit of this kind of reaction once and for all. The course things 
are taking shows that this -oup does not envisage the use of force 
and, even if there was a subsequent attempt in that direction, it 
would probably misfire. A coup d’état cannot, like a bill of 
exchange, be fixed up at three months’ date. Nor, come to that, is 
Broglie a man of blood, but rather a parliamentary intriguer who 
will certainly miss the right moment, even if Mac-Mahon’s scruples 
and vacillations had not made this a virtual certainty from the 
start. Enfin,° the affair is taking an exceedingly favourable course, 
and if the electors allow the prefects, etc., to treat them like 
enfranchised cattle on this occasion, they will only be getting their 
deserts; but it doesn’t look as though they will. What luck for that 
old swine Thiers if Mac-Mahon presents an ultimatum— 
favourable elections or else I resign! Idiot! 

Your 
F. E.