There is no doubt that the marriage of the Crown Prince of Greece with a German Princess (1889) has morally strengthened the position and power of Greece. However, Greece still needs material strength for the maintenance of a strict neutrality. Turning to another country, we find that it is a matter of considerable doubt whether Belgium can maintain a firm neutrality in case of a Franco-German war. At the time of Lord Palmerston she might perhaps have been able to do so, but the recent discoveries in the world of science, and their application to military purposes, and the immense increase of the French and German armies, have changed the military world, and the neutrality of Belgium is a doubtful point. In 1887 an important discussion on this question took place, which resulted in the fortification of Namur and Liege. This was followed by the fortification of the Meuse, but it is said that the Belgians have not enough troops to garrison these newly-made defences. It has been publicly admitted in Belgium that their national force is not sufficient to defend a violation of neutrality against France and Germany, therefore Belgium must regard the first violator of her neutrality as her national enemy, and will be obliged to ally herself with a nation which is an enemy of the state which has violated neutrality. This is not the Belgium which Lord Palmerston meant it to be. Another important fact is that since the Franco-German war German attention has been turned to the North Sea, and a new naval harbour and arsenal have been built at Wihelmshafen. Two other large harbours in the North Sea have also been improved lately, viz., Hamburg and Bremen. Kiel, the finest port on the Baltic, has been confiscated, and is now connected with the North Sea by a canal, through which ships of large tonnage may one day pass. Numerous ironclads and fleets of large merchant and emigrant steam vessels have been constructed which, in case of war, can be armed and turned into transports. Her land forces have been well organized and augmented, and military tactics scientifically developed. From these threatening facts it is certain that in the event of a Franco-German war both Holland and Belgium would occupy most dangerous positions. Having these events staring them in the face, only one expedient could present itself to the two states, viz., union. This would enable them to show a powerful front to the rival Powers, and would enable them both to maintain a united fixed neutrality, thus showing Lord Palmerston’s mistaken policy of the separation of the two states to be a weak one with regard to the present state of affairs, though perhaps it may have served its purpose at that time. All these arguments go to prove that a cession of Crete to Greece would be beneficial to both European and Grecian interests.