Prince George, who has been Governor of Crete for eight
years, left the island on Tuesday. In a farewell proclama- tion to the Cretans the Prince urged upon them the need of showing Peace, harmony, and prudence if they were to con- tinue to secure the goodwill of the protecting Powers and the appreciation of the civilised world. He also appealed to them to place full confidence in his successor—M. Alexander Zaimis—in order to obtain the surest and speediest fulfilment of the national wishes. Unfortunately this sensible and temperate appeal failed to achieve its purpose ; rioting took place, lives were lost, and British bluejackets had to be landed to maintain order. Of Prince George himself it must, we fear, be said that nothing became him better in his tenure of office than his abandonment of it. He had a fine presence and con- siderable personal bonhomie, but was destitute of the qualities of character or intellect needed for an exceptionally trying position. His loyalty to the dynasty conflicted with his duty to the Powers; be found it impossible to satisfy the contending claims of Greek democrats and Cretan patriots, and he was unfortunate in his personal staff. He had neither the patience nor the skill to play a waiting game, forced the pace when no good purpose was served thereby, and when his wishes were thwarted, showed a regrettable tendency to resort to arbitrary methods. His retirement, however, is a blow to the dynasty rather than to the cause of annexation, the Powers having consented to allow Greece to nominate his successor, and to substitute Greek for Italian officers in the local gendarmerie. The reality of these concessions, as the Times correspondent points out, must be measured by the protests of Bulgaria and Turkey rather than by the discontent of Greece.
