The Kreuz Zeitung publishes a wild-looking story about the relations
of England, Germany, and Turkey. Lord Salisbury, it is stated, proposed that Turkey should cede Crete to Eng- land, and the Sultan was willing to consent ; but the Emperor of Germany, whose sister will be the next Queen of Greece, objected, observing that if Crete were ceded to anybody, it should be to Greece. This, however, the Sultan will not do, and so negotiations have fallen through. We suppose that if there is any foundation for the story, Lord Salisbury proposed to buy Crete in order to obtain Canea as a naval station, and in- tended to transfer Cyprus to the Government of Athens. The tale, however, wants corroboration. It is always good to rescue any province from Turkey ; but from the point of view of England, we would much rather have Mitylene. Every Cretan would have been a discontented subject, just as the people of the Seven Islands were ; and with our small Army, the policy of locking up troops in island garrisons
is more than questionable. If the Cretans would be loyal, it would be a different matter ; but even the Corfiotes voted for our departure, and we do not see the advantage of enriching, civilising, and educating a great island in order to go away. The destiny of the Englishman is to be God Almighty's ploughshare ; but one would like a crop sometimes.
