The difficulties of the Cretan question have been growing, cot
diminishing, during the past week. On Tuesday Admiral Noel, the Commander-in- Chief of the British Squadron, who is said by all who know him to be an officer of exceptional strength and ability, handed certain demands to the Turkish Governor, which were to be complied with in forty-eight hours. If not, the Admiral proposed to take strong measures. The chief of these demands were that the ringleaders in the recent massacre should be handed over to us for summary punishment, and that the buildings com- manding the British positions in Candia should be at once demolished. The Sultan was extremely angry and indignant at this action, and at first talked of refusing all con- cessions, but when he saw that our Government intended to stand firm, he grew alarmed, and at 2 o'clock in the morning of Thursday sent Tewfik Pasha, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the four Embassies, to try to treat. Tewfik dragged the Russian, Italian, and French Ambassadors, and the British ChargiS d'Affaires from their beds in order to inform them that his august master was much disturbed. He was, however, obliged to return to Yildiz with nothing but good advice,—namely, that the Sultan should at once yield to the British demands.
