Evening Post SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1928. BRITAIN'S YOUNGEST COLONY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 46, 1 September 1928, Page 8

Evening Post SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1928. BRITAIN'S YOUNGEST COLONY

— «. The copper and the timber of Cyprus and its proximity as the most eastern island in the Mediterranean to the coasts of Asia Minor and Egypt gave it an immense importance in the eyes.of the traders and the conquerors of antiquity. Though the spade of the archaeologist has revealed abundant evidence of the wealth of the island and of an advance, though mainly derivative, art and culture reaching back to the neighbourhood of 3000 8.C., Cyprus never attained to the commanding position that was for centuries enjoyed by the island-empire of Crete, and during historic times k has only occasionally exhibited even a faint flicker of independence. It is indeed characteristic of the fate of Cyprus that it makes its first appearance in history in a list of the conquests of Thothmes 111. of Egypt, to whom about 1500 B.C. it yielded tribute of chariots, horses, copper, bluestone, and other products. Assyria, then Egypt again, Persia, Macedonia, Persia, and Rome all had theif turn during the succeeding centuries. To the Romans, who, under Marcus Porcius Cato, seem to have stripped the island bare, its mineral wealth was of such importance that their word for copper was "acs Cyprianum" (Cyprian metal) —a name from which our own word "copper" was derived. After the break-up of the Roman Empire, Saracens, Byzantines, Genoese, Venetians, and Turks took on in succession the government and the spoliation of- Cyprus. That Cyprus was able to furnish 10 ships to the fleet of Xerxes and to send 120 ships to help Alexander in the siege of Tyre, is some evidence of the prosperity which it enjoyed under some of its earlier conquerors. How the fortunes of the unhappy island had subsequently declined during eighteen centuries of foreign rule may be inferred from the facts that when the Jews of Cyprus revolted in A.D. 117 they massacred 240,000 persons before Hadrian suppressed them, and that this number was about 60,000 more than the total population when Britain took charge of the island in 1878. The first contact between Britain and Cyprus was established in a very extraordinary way in the 12th century, when that singular combination of knight-errant, free-boot-er, and first-class fighting man, Richard 1., was making his leisurely way to Palestine during the Third Crusade, keeping his hand in by occasional "scraps" with Christians as he went. An admirable opportunity was provided for him by Isaac Commenus, who had proclaimed himself Emperor of Cyprus. On the voyage from Messina to Acre Richard's fleet was scattered by a storm. Three of the ships were stranded on the coast of Crete, and their crews were taken prisoners by Commenus. Richard's intended bride, Berengaria of Navarre, whose ship was forced to take shelter in the roadstead of Limasol, was at the same time treated very rudely and even treacherously by this ungallant "Emperor." When Richard arrived he landed his cavalry and made short work of Commenus, unhorsing him with his own hand at their first meeting and soon afterwards taking him prisoner. A German historian describes the campaign and its effects in a single sentence: Richard was instantly up in arms, declared war against the Gommeni, and conquered the whole island in a fortnight—an impromptu conquest, which was of the highest importance to the Christian party in the East for centuries after. It must be admitted that yon Sybel Iras here packed a sufficiency into a single sentence, but as his concern is with the "History of the Crusades" and not with the history of England he passes on, leaving the story of Richard's Cyprian adventure not much more than half-told. The King's energies were not so monopolised by thoughts of war during the fortnight set aside for the subjugation of 3600 square miles of strange and largely mountainous country as to leave him no time for tenderer thoughts. He had, as we have said, brought his betrothed with him and he had also brought a parson—the highest parson apparently that had been available in his kingdom, when he left, for the See of Canterbury was vacant for two years about this time. The ceremony, which presumably had been intended for the Holy Land, was celebrated in 1191 at Limasol by the Archbishop of York, and Berengaria was at the same time crowned Queen of England at Messina, according to yon Sybel. During his nine' months' stay at Messina Richard had, says yon Sybel, made himself "hated and feared by the inhabitants, who called him the lion, the savage lion." But at Limasol, according to one of the chroniclers, he was "glorious on this happy occasion and cheerful to all, and showed himself very jocose and affable." Richard had found life really worth living during his brief picnic in Cyprus. Miss Fedden Tindall, to whose article in the July number of the "Contemporary Review" on "Cyprus Past and Present," we are indebted for the particulars of the wedding, adds that "a well-preserved medieval chapel

within the Gothic fortress" of Limasol is still shown as the place where he ceremony was celebrated. Richard I. had of course no permanent use for his' improvised conquest. After dividing some three weeks between his campaign and his honeymoon he continued his journey to Palestine, leaving a small garrison in possession until he could dispose of the island. Nearly seven centuries were to pass before an English garrison was to appear in Cyprus again. It took possession without so much as a fortnight's fighting, and in pursuance of a policy which, though it is but fifty years old, seems now to be as dead as the Crusades themselves. It was on the 12th July, 1878, that the British flag was hoisted by Vice-Admiral Lord John Hay at Nicosia, but it was done by arrangement with Turkey, who had held the island for about three centuries. Russia and Turkey had been at war in, 1877-78, and Beaconsfield in his determination to keep the Russians out of Constantinople had sent a British Fleet to the Dardanelles and brought Britain to the verge of war on the side of Turkey. Incidentally the peace settlement he secured from Turkey, a secret treaty under which Cyprus, while remaining a part, of the Sultan's dominions, was placed under the administration of Britain for so long as the Russians remained in possession of Batum and Kars. Turkey's consideration for the deal was the British guarantee of her Asiatic possessions, and in form the arrangement was voluntary. But Beaconsfield had previously planned to seize both Cyprus and Alexandretta in order to safeguard both the Straits, the Suez Canal and the routes to the .Persian Gulf, and the Porte had no option in the matter, and had actually been given fortyeight hours to say yes or no. The Liberal view of a policy which was fiercely contested at the time was expressed by Gladstone in his manifesto to the electors in 1880:— Abroad they (the Government) have strained, if they have not endangered the prerogative by gross misuse, and have weakened the Empire by needless wars, unprofitable extension, and unwise engagements, and have dishonoured it in the eyes of Europe by filching the island of Cyprus from the Porto under a treaty clause distinctly in violation of tho Treaty of Paris, which formed part of tho International Law of Christendom. But after winning the General Election of 1880, Gladstone did not reverse his predecessor's policy,, and Britain's singular lease of Cyprus continued until the sth November, 1914, when, on the Turks entering the World War as the allies of Germany, she converted it into a freehold. . It was as the youngest of her colonies that on the 12th July last Cyprus celebrated the jubilee of its association with the British Empire.