Smyrna times., 1867-02-06
THE CRETE WAR.

Our readers are doubtless constantIv soo;no
articles IN their papers about "Tbe Eastern
Question" " " The War in Gambia y so e.,
The war that is now going on there is \ strno.
gie between little Island of Christians onain5t
.ne Mohammedan rule Of Turkey. The follov.
ing article from Harpcr's WeeIleu. cxnl,;ns
'ne matter better than anything we have soon
Inc Eastern Question has never boo,
very exactly defined, but it is very we'll nndnr-
IUoYu Dy the Towers most interested II La.
uau various aspects, but it is alwavs tho .a,'''
tnlhgf0r 1t Is really the Russian ,ntst;nr
assuming, "a according to the old phrase Tho.
tLo. I'm TIAS are merely chcampcd in Europe AMI
M turkey Is a chrOncally sick man. thnron'
boI, al a'loh with England and France has been
RI,,; ~ maintain turkey as bulwark against
russian progress to the Mediterranean Gn,N
S'antlnople has been a diplomatic l,nnt of ~.
Rortance quite disproportioned to tbr no,ror nF
turkey IL has been the arena of the lrost,s-
tic game oi diplomacy, the stakes beinr tb,.
balance of power. " "'''s 'Ae
Tins question has suddenly an nterost c,r
IS greater that it has had for f,rtv wears AMI
Us present aspect Is not less interesting ~ I'm
rope. Crete, or Gambia, abandoned bv the
Se'.lelheht IN 1877, after the battle of Navari
no appeals to America to assist the C.,.t.n ,,,1
men and children while the men fbt w;tb
Turkey. Wv iN'" Hshl Win
The facts of the case are simple In 1871
occurred the last general Instruction Of rho
ureekS against the Turks. The struggle affrc-
Tea the imagination Of Christendom Tbe In
glSh poets, Byron and Shelley and CamnhnT
appealed for the Greeks in heroic and nI,in,
i've song. The young American orators. Wch-
Sfer' Gay and Everett, pleaded with romantic
G 4IehcG the cause OF Greece. Ilalleck thrill
ca me iand with Marco Bozzaris. " The
Tragedy of the Island of Scio reused universal
Indignation There was new crnSoJ ~ a"i
pathy and interest and aid, if not Of ar,nins
Itoih Chrlstendom to the East; and Ly tLo
~ H1lliiSeht representations OF the allies in Enron.
Greece "a
But Crete, an island near the Morean coast
e1'lIeIy HrcCk, was excepted, and lrtt undar |
~ 4o9icI" RUE. Three times since the treaty
IT' H'S IIseh III rebellion against the intOlcra-
DIe tyranny OF Turkey, and three timrs win
the utmost cruelty, the rebellion ha. been srn-
PIcS9eu' ABOUT year ago the island began n
CONSTITUTIONAL resistance. The people formally
protested to the Turkish Government against
IMne M lhhulnan laws under which thry suffered
! ! ne answer OF the Porte, as Dr. Howe saws
l'r' Howe, who in the earlier struggle was the
American who fought for Greece-was an arm.
ca attack Upon the populations deSolaton, and
Iuc OIctdnS, with sublime enthu-
'1asIi thercupon dccreed the independence of
the island, and intrustcd their cause to their
own Valor to the sympathy Of mankind, and
70 the protection of God. How terocious is
the spirit Of the Turks, how heroic the devo.
-loh ot the Greeks in this terrible contest. may
be Sc seen IN the story Of the Siege Of Canea.
hen the battle, says a writer, had at
asst broken through the outer wall. it was sus.
aimed for SIX hours, hand to hand in the yard
u the convent. When the time came finally
or the declslon--death or submission know
nF well that out from under that Greek Aap
10 I. hylng soul would pass, they themselves ap
)iiled the match to the magazine and went TO
Heaven, while three thousand Of their oppo
lcnts went to their graves.
ihe Cretans IN this desperate struggle in.
Ioke the and OF generous souls every where for
heir wives and children, driven into exile to
'scape the unspeakabe horrors of CAPTIVITY
'i!nong the Turks. They only ask, saws the
Executive Committee Of the Greek ReliefCom-
nittee, Of which Dr. Samuel g. Howe is prom
rly President, that their women and chill
iren, who have fed and are flying to the neigh.
,orlng Islands and to Greece, may be saved
rom starving. Ten thousand OF them have
cached Athens alone. 1t is the appeal of
humanity, OF a revolution as justifable and
y more desperate than our own 1t is to- feed
lie wives and children Of heroes fallen in Tho
most sacred cause '4 'A0