Dr. Coolidge's Lecture.

Last night Dr. Coolidge lectured in Sanders Theatre on the situation in Crete and the East. He gave in detail the history of the island, its geographical character and importance as a strategic point at the entrance to the AEgean. Its inhabitants in the main are Greeks, purer Hellenic than those on the mainland.

At the time of the breaking up of the Roman Empire, Crete was conquered by the Arabs. In the Italian crusade of 1204 the island was sold to the Venetians, by whom it was held during the next four centuries. The Venetian rule was so oppressive that the Turks were hailed as liberators when they came and after a seige of twenty-five years conquered the island. With the decay of the Turkish empire during the 17th and 18th centuries the condition of Crete became steadily worse until at the beginning of this century the mismanagement of the Mohamedans became unbearable. The outbreak of last summer was the last of a continued series of uprisings on the part of the Greek natives which, it is believed, have been instigated by the Turkish government.

The Powers stirred by the Armenian outrages have prevented further Turkish incursion, but in February the trouble began again. Before the Powers could interfere Greece sent 1500 men to Crete with orders to help the insurgents.

The action of Greece was a violation of international law, but every revolution is an illegal movement; the occasion was well chosen and public opinion is with them. Greece has not in the past encouraged Cretan rebellions but she fee s that it is no longer time to hesitate. There is no doubt that the Greeks by this action have seriously imperilled the peace of Europe.

The present situation is extremely difficult and complicated. The sudden turn of affairs in Crete has weakened the triple alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy, and the double alliance of France and Germany. Austria is frankly hostile to Crete, and the German emperor shows considerable zeal for the Sultan. Italy would naturally follow the lead but for the great popular sympathy for Greece. Public opinion in England is also for Greece, but thus far the English government has shown itself contemptuous of it. The policy of France is friendly. Russia is the most important power of all, and her policy has been clear from the beginning-the discouragement of the attempts of any European state to become powerful in the eastern Mediterranean.

The outcome is difficult to predict, but whatever it may be, posterity cannot help admiring the courage and patriotism of the small Greek state in provoking war with a much stronger nation in the face of the Powers-an act of daring that has had no equal in modern if in ancient times.