Documents on tsarist policy in the Near East offer suggestive detail, subtle nuance, and firsthand commentary on the proposed if not actual state of Russo-Ottoman affairs regarding specific issues between the two neighboring autocratic empires. These features, to varying degrees, are manifested in this translated directive of June 1816, from Foreign Minister Karl V. Nessel'rode to envoy Grigorii A. Stroganov in Istanbul, dealing with Russia's attitude toward the sultan's Eastern Orthodox subjects in the aftermath of the Congress of Vienna. The Foreign Ministry's instruction merits attention by scholars of lmperial Russia's involvement in the Eastern Question as a reminder that primary sources on particular aspects of the Russo-Ottoman nexus warrant closer scrutiny and critical commentary.