Mr. MacNutt to Mr. Blaine.

No. 151.]

Sir: In a dispatch numbered 56 of the 14th of November, 1887, this legation notified the Department of State of the conditions under which an iradé had been asked from the Sublime Porte for the foundation of St. Paul’s Institute at Tarsus, in Asia Minor—a foundation undertaken by a committee of Americans under a charter granted by the State of New York.

I take pleasure in informing you that the council of ministers has decided favorably upon the matter, and in a recent unofficial conversation with the minister of public instruction he gave me assurance that the details of the conditions under which the iradé will be granted will receive his personal attention.

Upon the official assurance of His Highness the Grand Vizier, and upon the good will of the minister of public instruction, I base my hopes of a speedy and very satisfactory settlement of the question.

I have, etc.,

Francis MacNutt,
Chargé d’Affaires ad interim.