214 CHRISTIAN GREECE AND LIVING GREEK. the very throes of revolution, whose finances are bankrupt, whose naval power is insignifi- cant," etc. The lonians have not had to regret their re- union with the rest of Hellas, and to Hellas this annexation was a fortunate thing. How much more might be hoped for other Hellenic lands, especially Crete, whose case is so much more crying because the Cretans are under the in- tolerable administration of the Turks ! The Cretans endeavored to gain for them- selves the same good fortune which had fallen upon the lonians. They defied Turkey for three years — 1866, 1867, 1868. With the exception of certain fortresses, the whole island was free. Acts of heroism and sacrifice again challenged the attention of the world. Hellenes of the mainland came to their brethren in the hour of danger to fight at their side, and opened in their own homes a place of refuge for the women and children of the island. Nearly sixty thousand fugitives found protection. The deliverance of Crete seemed to be accom- plished. Russia and France were favorably dis- posed, but England, supported by Austria, op- posed. Diplomacy fought for the enslavement of the Cretans with as much persistence and
