"
"British interests" in this transaction are represented by Cyprus, which
we occupy as tenants--paying 96,000 pounds a year for the ruined house,
and leaving ourselves no balance from the revenue for the necessary
repairs.
There is no more difficult political associate than the Turk; his
defensive weapon is delay, and in moments of the greatest emergency his
peculiar apathy or patience never forsakes him. Proud and haughty to a
superlative degree, in his heart he detests all extraneous counsel and
interference, and would rather glide onward to destruction than grasp
the hand stretched out to save him. Turkey has expected much from
England, and has made a poor return for our sacrifice of blood and
treasure during the Crimean war. She obtained an ephemeral financial
reputation through the aid of France and England in becoming guarantees
for a public loan; upon this false position she traded until the
inevitable bankruptcy plunged her into ruin, and opened the gate for the
entrance of her enemies, at the same time that dishonesty entailed the
severance of friends. England has from mutual interests endeavoured to
preserve her from absolute dissolution, and the Protectorate of Asia
Minor was a step of political audacity in her favour that surprised the
world. This extraordinary offer of material aid has been met by the same
want of confidence that has marked the decline of the Turkish Empire;
the only extra interference in Asia Minor has been the appointment of a
few additional British consuls.
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