Ordinance of the Sublime Porte
To the Prudent Representative of the
Patriarch Elect of Constantinople.
The Constitution drawn up by the Committee formed at the Sublime Porte for the reforms of the condition and administration of the Armenian Patriarchate, after having undergone certain modifications concerning secular affairs only, was presented to His Imperial Majesty, and, having been approved by His Imperial Majesty, the Imperial Decree, making a law of the features contained in it, was issued to be handed to your Beatitude.
In enclosing to you the above-mentioned Constitution, we commission you to superintend the perfect execution of those features according to the high will of the August Emperor.
1863, March 17.