22nd Feb.
EnGuisHMeN will read with great satisfaction the Reuter's telegram that we publish this morning, announcing that Lord Salisbury has declined to join in the German Ewperor's proposal to blockade the Pireus, and prevent Greece sending reinforcements to the expedition annex Crete. We had been somewhat afraid that Lord Salisbury would covtinue to sacrifice our independence of action to that pestiferous fetish, the Concert of the Powers, whose only result so far has been to allow the Sultan to indulge without interference his appetite for Christian blood. It was impossible for Greece to continue standing by as a mere spectator of the massacres that have disgraced not only the Ottomans, but all Europe that has permitted their continuance; and great as is the responsibility that Greece has undertaken in throwing down the gauntlet to Abdul Hamid, she would have been untrue to herself if she had not endea-youred at least.to save the Christians in Crete. Every Englishman will sympathies with her gallantry, and hope for her success; and the shame that many of us feel at Bngland's refusal to interfere to save the Armenians would have been felt by the whole country if Lord Salisbury had agreed to aid in restraining the Greeks. There is no compelling reason why the transfer of Crete from Turkish oppress sion to Greek rule should be followed by a European war; and it is neither our business nor our policy to protect Varkey unti! Russia is ready to absorb her. It will not he.an-easy matter to divide up the Turkish Empire when the time, which now seems imminent, comes; but under avy circumstances Greece has a paramount claim to Crete, and there is no reason why she should not be allowed to enter into that out-Ili Tuly last year the Austrian Govern-lying part of her inheritance at once.
ment proposed a joint blockade of the island to keep out the Greeks, but Great Britain refused to accede to the proposal and it was dropped, as we hope will be the German Emperor's proposal. It will be remembered that at least two-thirds of the population of Crete are Christians.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.