It is affirmed with very little reserve that should the
French. Government settle its difficulties with the Bey of Tunis by assuming the regency of the State, Great Britain will not be in a position to interfere. When Cyprus was absorbed as a place of arms, the French Government objected, and hinted. that they might very soon be compelled to go to Tunis. To this Lord Salisbury agreed, and the French, therefore, think themselves justified, as far as England. is concerned, in their rather high-handed policy in Tunis. Lord Salisbury, it is said, denies that this was his meaning, but the French threaten to publish letters entirely justifying their view. Any governor anywhere is better than a Turk, and the question of Tunis is of little real importance to any Power but Italy ; but how thoroughly Lord Beaconsfield must have believed in his own idea of " consolidating " Turkey He cut off half Armenia, all Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Cyprus, assented to the excision of Epirus and Thessaly, and was willing, according to this story, that Tunis should be lopped away. A little more, and Turkey would have been a trunk, without arms or legs, no head, and a highly congested heart, and would then, of course, have been pronounced in perfect and unprecedented health.
Previous page
