Last week we prepared you for a surprise in regard to the settlement of the affairs in Crete. His Majesty the Sultan has not kept us long waiting for it. Forgetting that the Cretans accepted Home Rule from the Powers, and that the matter was supposed to have been settled, Abdul Hamid now comes forward with a little proposal of his own. He suggests that all the occupants of Crete, Christians and Mussulmans alike, shall be forced to deliver up their weapons to the Turkish soldiers. That he, the Sultan, shall have the power to appoint whom he pleases as governor of Crete, and shall further be empowered to form a body of guards, half soldiers and half police, who shall have the duty of preserving the peace of Crete. All this means, in so many words, that instead of a Christian governor, Home Rule, and the payment of a yearly tribute to the Turks, the Cretans shall go back to the old state they were in before Greece interposed. We shall probably hear a good deal more about Crete before the winter is over. * * * * * England's conduct in regard to the seal question looks as if she had been playing the old child's game of asking her pinkie finger before she could give us a decided answer. From Lord Salisbury's conduct in the affair, one would suppose that he had shut himself up in his study, and consulted the oracle: "Pray, my dear little finger, pray tell me whether I shall join the seal conference or no? Yes--no--yes--no": and so on. He has said "yes" and "no" so many times that it looks as though he had just come round to the pinkie again at "yes." After stating that the end of the five years agreed on in Paris was time enough to consider the seal question, his lordship has now sent word to our ambassador that England will join the United States in a conference. The conference is to be held about the same time as the other one, but is to have no connection with it. It seems a pity that England will not meet the Russian and Japanese delegates, because they may have some interesting information to offer. As we have said before, there was no question of discussing anything else but the decrease of the seal herds, and Japan has expressly stated that she will not enter into any other form of the subject. It is, however, a point gained that England will discuss any part of the question, and it is to be hoped that this decision is final, and that Lord Salisbury may not set to work to recount his fingers, and make the pinkie come to "no" again. * * * * * There seems to be a growing desire for independence in Canada. The French Canadians of the Province of Quebec are urging the people to demand complete independence from England. They have printed and circulated an appeal to the people to rise and demand their liberty. We told you some time ago about England's idea of federating her colonies.