Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

202 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
to prevent it, had created a situation most unfavorable to
the resumption of archaeological researches in the Ottoman
empire.
Edhem Pasha, father of Hamdy Bey, the present
director-general of the Imperial Museum at Stambul, was
then Grand Vizier. He was not ill disposed towards England,
but as one of Turkey's most eminent and enlightened
statesmen, he considered it his first duty to protect and promote
the interests of his own country. Accordingly, he suggested
that " a convention should be entered into between
the British government and the Porte, giving the sole privilege
to England of making researches in Turkey, similar
to that which had been agreed upon between Germany and
Greece." Such an arrangement, however, was to be based
upon the condition that Turkey retained all the antiquities
discovered, with option of giving only duplicates to the British
Museum.
But Rassam did not consider himself authorized
to spend public money without the prospect of some
material compensation. Looking upon the mere right of
publishing the scientific results as " an empty favor," for
which he had little understanding, he declined the proposition
of the Grand Vizier as a one-sided agreement, and
returned to England after having waited nearly four months
in a vain effort to accomplish his purpose.
All the ambassadors had left Constantinople before, as a
last protest against Turkey's stubborn and most unfortunate
attitude towards the conciliatory measures proposed by the
great European powers.
But England deemed it soon necessary
to dispatch a special representative to
the Turkish capital,
who was well versed in Oriental matters and publicly
known as a warm friend of the Ottoman empire. The
choice of the British government fell upon Sir Henry Layard,
who at that time occupied a similar position at the
court of Spain. No better appointment could have been
made for realizing the plans of the British Museum. Two
months after Layard's arrival at Constantinople (April, i 877),