Therefore it seems to me the best policy to let this important island remain in a neutral state by an agreement between the Great Powers, and the sooner it is agreed to the better it would be for the peace of Europe generally. In my opinion it would have been better to have placed it under Grecian rule for the following reasons:— (1) Because Greece herself was a neutral nation. (2) They were a commercial people, and peaceful, which would have a beneficial effect upon the island. (3) More than half of the Cretan population are of Grecian extraction. There is no doubt that if any one[87] of the Great Powers had proposed the cession of Crete to Greece it would have met with the general approbation of the Congress. This would not have met with Turkish opposition, particularly as England had before the Berlin Congress mentioned it in the Anglo-Turkish agreement; and to show that Turkey did not attach much importance to Crete, it is related in Turkish history that it was offered to Mehemet Ali as a reward for his help in the Greek insurrection; besides, the national force of Turkey was not large enough to utilize the strong natural position of the island. Austria,[88] unless she had been influenced by her national vanity, would have agreed to such a proposal owing to the great value as a national defence that she received from the Balkan States. Again, Germany, France, and Italy could find no reasonable argument for opposing this plan. The policy of England with regard to a neutral state has always been to strengthen its national power, and that to such a degree as to properly maintain its fixed neutrality. In 1815 England ceded the Java Islands to the Dutch on the formation of the Netherlands at the Congress of Vienna. Why did she do this? For this reason: because by doing this the new States would be rendered neutral in case of a French or German invasion, and by this cession of Java the Dutch national power was increased in every way, and their power of maintaining a strict neutrality rendered stronger. Another instance may strengthen my statement. Corfu, an important military and naval post, was put under English protection at the Vienna Congress, 1815. Lord Palmerston at one time saw that it would be impolitic to hand over Corfu to Austria, and declared that the islands ought never to be abandoned by England. However, when the new kingdom of Greece was formed England cordially agreed to hand over Corfu and several other islands to Greece, on the condition that the Greeks should choose a king subject to the approval of England. The fortifications of Corfu were demolished, and the neutrality of the islands was declared by the Great Powers. These circumstances, then, tend to show us that England was distinctly favourable[89] to the cession of Crete to Greece, and they were considerably strengthened by the fact that Greece was an ally of England, and the commercial relations between the two were very free.