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THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
i 
 
THE 
 
 GREEKS OF TO-DAT. 
 
 CHARLES K. TUCKERMAN, 
 
 Late Minister Resident of the United States at Athens. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 , P. PUTNAM & SONS. 
 
 LONDON : SAMPSON, LOW & CO. 
 
 1872. ' 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 187a, by 
 
 CHARLES K. TUCKERMAN, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGS; 
 Arrival i , 
 
 First Days 21 
 
 Modem Athens 35 
 
 The Parthenon and other Ruins 63 
 
 Political Characteristics '.■ 87 
 
 The Great Idea , 119 
 
 Fifty Years of Independence ' 141 
 
 Kducation 175 
 
 The Greek Church i8g 
 
 American Missionaries at Athens 211 
 
 Brigandage 23 1 
 
 The Massacre near Marathon 255 
 
 The Island of Corfu . . .- 295 
 
 Character of the Greeks 329 
 
 *^* The publishers express their acknowledgements to Messrs. Harper & 
 Brothers, Scribner & Company, and J. B. Lippincott & Company, for per 
 mission to use such portions of these papers as have appeared in their maga 
 zines. 
 
" A NEW state of things has arisen from the shifting 
 ■^ ^ of the balance of power, and it is not easy for the 
 most experienced statesman to say at once what are 
 the true relations of the Ottoman and Hellenic States, 
 and their protectors or allies, the Austrian or Russian 
 Powers, in the new conditions of Europe. Until, there- 
 fore, the consequences of the late war unfold themselves, 
 it would seem almost useless to speculate on the politics 
 of those States, which must always be dependent on 
 those of their mightier neighbors. But while waiting 
 for the clearing up of political prospects, we may utilize 
 the present period — ^possibly, a mere interval — of calm 
 in Western Europe, to take note of the social condition, 
 and the material progress of the countries, which may at 
 any time become the theatre of great events. Of these, 
 Greece, though the smallest, is the most interesting ; more 
 has been written about the little kingdom than about any 
 other Eastern State ; and what has been written, has been 
 always widely read." 
 
 London Times, May, 1872. 
 
ARRIVAL. 
 
THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ARRIVAL. 
 
 I HE ta-aveller who approaches the coast of 
 Greece with his imagination imbued with 
 the prismatic hues of her ancient glory, 
 will be disillusionized, as one by one the dreaiy and 
 verdureless islands of the ^gean rise from the expanse 
 around him, and the sterile coast stretches its monoton- 
 ous lines, and patches of unvarying ochi-e. Yet as he 
 passes Cerigo — " Cithera's Isle," — it is not without a 
 pleasurable sensation that he remembers that there the 
 most realistic of divinities was born ; and Milos reminds 
 him that she furnished the peerless statue which adorns 
 the hall of the Louvre ; and ^gina tells him that he is 
 gazing upon the famous " eye sore " of ancient Athens ; 
 and Salarais stirs him with the recollection of that 
 naval achievement which crowned the fame of Themis- 
 tocles, and saved the destinies of Greece. These sug- 
 gestions, rather than evidences, of ancient mythology, 
 
[2 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 art and prowess, partially atone for the meagerness of 
 the island scenery, and the mind prepares itself to re- 
 ceive the reality of Modern Greece with that spirit of 
 philosophy which ever comes to its aid when most it 
 stands in need. 
 
 Our route to Athens was by way of Brindisi, in 
 southern Italy, to which port Admiral Farragut, then in 
 command of the European Squadron, had dispatched 
 one of his steamers to meet me. The trip to the Piraeus, , 
 the port of Athens, occupied fifty-two hotirs, during 
 which the i^w/jV had httle opportunity to display her fes- 
 tive qualities, for " Boreas vexed not the aerial space," 
 and with the exception of the usual tumbling, off rude 
 Cape Matapan, the sea was as calm as Diana's mirror. 
 I will mention the single incident that broke in upon 
 the tranquillity of our little man-of-war. It was a few min- 
 utes after midnight, the steamer moving steadily onward 
 at eight or nine knots the hour, when we were suddenly 
 aroused from sleep by the ringing of the fire alarm bell. 
 Hastily throwing on such articles of clothing as were near- 
 est ut hand, we rushed to the cabin door and beheld an 
 exciting scene. The deck was already crowded with the 
 crew, half dressed, bare-footed, and bare-headed. The 
 officer in command was issuing rapid orders in a stento- 
 rian voice ; a length of hose lay extended from midships 
 to forecastle, and a volume of water deluged the deck. 
 Men with hatchets, and men with ropes, were flying like 
 mad from one part of the steamer to another, and the 
 alarming order to " cut away " something or other, sound- 
 
ARRIVAL. 13 
 
 ed like a death warrant. This scene of systematized 
 confusion lasted some twenty minutes, and was finally 
 brought to an end by the welcome order, " Back to quar- 
 ters." This was followed by the speedy restoration of 
 the vessel to its former ship-shape condition ; and be- 
 fore we turned in again, all was as quiet as if nothing 
 unusual had occurred. During this scene, not even the 
 ladies of our party manifested the slightest nervous anx- 
 iety ; nor did any of us take the trouble to enquire as 
 to the origin of the fire, or the extent of danger to 
 which we had been exposed. The explanation of this 
 apparent apathy lies in the fact, that on the evening 
 previous, the commander had quietly remarked to each 
 of us : " If you hear an unusual noise, to-night, do not 
 be alarmed, as I intend to call the men to quarters — for 
 practice." 
 
 We approached the peninsula of the Piraeus just 
 in time to catch a telescopic view of the Parthenon, 
 faintly crowning the heights above Athens, before the 
 sun " sunk behind Morea's hills ; " but we were not 
 favored with one of Byron's sunsets. It was a burn- 
 ing, rather than a " living," light, and the marvellous 
 transitions from gold to saffron, saffron to red, deli- 
 cately pink in the upper heavens, like the hue of young 
 roses, and gradually deepening to ruby as it falls upon 
 the surrounding hills, which have so often since delighted 
 our vision, were superseded by a furnace glow of such 
 intensity, that the vast amphitheatre of hills — Ph)'lae, 
 Pentelicus, and Hymettus, which encircles the plain of 
 
,4 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Aitica, was a wall of fire. But we were not deprived 
 of that last miraculous touch, which distinguishes the 
 Grecian sunset from all others. Hymettus loomed up 
 before the expiring rays a mass of glowing purple ; 
 not that uncertain hue which is occasionally observable 
 in the Highlands of the Hudson, but deepening from 
 the exquisite tint of the violet, to the deepest imperial 
 purple. Our greeting was certainly a grand one. Bet- 
 ter than the salute of guns and ripple of flags, seemed 
 to us that purple pomp at the portals of Greece, and 
 thus the " Violet-wreathed City " of the Greek poet be- 
 came to us a living reality. 
 
 I was so absorbed in watching the heavens, that the 
 dull clank of the anchor-chain, as the cumbrous mass 
 descended to the bottom, suddenly recalled the fact that 
 our voyage had reached its termination. But where was 
 the Piraeus, the busy port of Athens — the shipping — the 
 bevy of boats that so eagerly surrounds the newly-ar- 
 rived steamer ? Not a sign of any thing of the kind ! 
 Before us spread a little bay, land-locked by ridges of 
 barren soil, but no evidence of man or of human habi- 
 tation. We were too late to enter the port, and had 
 come to anchor for the night at the mouth of the Mu- 
 nichia, a little circular bay indenting the Eastern shore 
 of the peninsula of the Piraeus, but unsafe as a port of 
 entry, and entirely in disuse. The spot is interesting 
 to the student of antiquity as having been a recepta- 
 cle for ships of war in the time of Themistocles ; but 
 as our present occupation was entirely disconnected 
 
ARRIVAL. 15 
 
 with that epoch, I could not regard the position with 
 archaeological cheerfulness. 
 
 I shall never forget the solemnity of that night, while 
 lying off the coast of Greece ; the grim shore, the si- 
 lence of the sea, the intensity of the starlight, " far 
 splendoring the sleepy realms of night." So transpa- 
 rent at times is that wonderful atmosphere, that the vault 
 of heaven seems lowered, or humanity lifted towards it, 
 that the starry canopy may be the better comprehended 
 and adored. As I- walked the deck at midnight, the po- 
 sition contrasted so violently with tlie experiences of 
 our long journey as to become almost insupportable. 
 The rush of life had. suddenly culminated in a profound 
 'hush on the shadowy threshold of what had been to 
 me a land of promise from the days when I was drilled 
 in Ancient History and thumbed the Greek grammar. 
 It seemed as if the procession of thought had halted 
 just at the point where it should have advanced, and 
 tliat some impenetrable barrier were interposed between 
 the familiar objects of the past, and the new scenes and 
 circumstances upon which I had been called upon to 
 enter. Daylight most effectually dissolved these doubt- 
 ings, and amidst the welcome of new hands and faces, 
 we were soon landed by the Consul's boat at the " King's 
 Stairs," on the long stone quay of the Piraeus. There, 
 carriages were in waiting to convey us to Athens, Com- 
 mander H. and his officers, with our American friends, 
 doing the " escort." 
 
 The accounts of enthusiastic travellers in Greece, 
 
1 6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 from Professor Felton to Miss Bremer, and of disap- 
 pointed or morose ones, from About to Thackeray, had 
 pretty well prepared me for the actual condition of 
 things, and I laid aside my glasses of couleur de rose, — 
 not for the green or the blue — but for clear crystal. I 
 must confess that these soon became very dusty on the 
 road from Piraeus to Athens — a stretch of five miles 
 over a well-constructed macadamized road which fol- 
 lows the course of the ancient " long wall." With the 
 exception of a meagre line of Italian poplars which 
 expends its force in a clump at the half-way restaurant 
 and wine shops, there is but little verdure. Neither do 
 the fields attract by luxuriant vegetation. Much of the 
 land on either side is waste and sterile, and it is a con- 
 stant marvel to the American, who comes from " pastures 
 green " and most abundant, how the thousands of sheep 
 and goats, browsing on the melancholy plains and stony 
 hills around Athens, find sustenance'. Some grape vine- 
 yards attracted the attention, but they looked dried up 
 under the blazing sun of June, and the poor creatures 
 at work in them excited, no doubt needlessly, our deep 
 commiseration. The dust raised by our carriages and 
 the vehicles which we passed on the road, was most 
 aggravating to eyes and olfactories. A perpetual cloud 
 of it, fine and penetrating, seems to be the necessary 
 accompaniment of those who pass to and fro on this 
 highway between the months of May and October, for 
 during that period not a drop of rain falls on the parched 
 plain of Attica. The consequence is, that the face of 
 
ARRIVAL. 
 
 17 
 
 the , country has that wintry look which stereoscopic 
 views of landscapes frequently present, so thick lies the 
 white dust on trees, shrubbery and vineyards, and which 
 is never washed off by artificial process, nor blown off by 
 refreshing breezes. Now that the English railway is 
 in successful operation, the bulk of travel between the 
 city and Piraeus avails itself of the speedier and more 
 comfortable mode of conveyance. The entrance to 
 Athens from the Piraeus road is not imposing. The 
 street is ill-paved, and the quarter of the town dirty 
 and squalid. Avoiding the long " street of Hermes,'' 
 with its throng of carts, donkeys laden with brush-wood 
 and paniers of fruit ; crowds of red-capped Greeks in 
 dirty fustanellos — ^blue bagged Cretan trowsers — shep- 
 herds' shaggy capotes, and the less becoming but now 
 prevailing Frank costume — avoiding these and the ac- 
 companying din of many voices, we took the pleasant 
 road -which winds round the base of the Acropolis, and 
 after a brisk drive alighted at one of the three excellent 
 hotels on the " Square of the Constitution." 
 
FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 
 
FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 
 
 jHE Greeks take tilings quietly. Kings and 
 princes arrive and depart, and beyond the 
 usual modicum of street staring and side- 
 walk criticism, excite no sensation. As to foreign Min- 
 isters, the Capital is surfeited, and tliey come and go 
 as noiselessly as the seasons. Etiquette in political 
 and social circles at Athens is extremely rigid. The 
 last arrival, be he who he may, is expected to make the 
 first call. The departure from this rule is so rare that 
 I could not but regard it as a very high compliment, 
 when many of tlie leading men of Athens waived the 
 custom, and anticipated die new Minister in the first 
 ceremonial visit. This cordiality of reception was chiefly 
 owing to the fact that until then the United States had 
 not been represented by a resident Minister in Greece, 
 and he was peculiarly welcome as coming from a Gov- 
 ernment that has no sinister motives to conceal, nor sel- 
 fish ends to gain, among a people whom we wish to see 
 obtain the largest liberty consistent with tlie law of hu- 
 man progress. 
 
 Two demonstrations of a public character were made 
 during the first days of my arrival, which were pecu- 
 
22 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 liarly interesting to me from their connection with the 
 Cretan insurrection, at that time in its most critical 
 phase. The first was a deputation of Cretans, accom- 
 panied by the Bishop of Kissamos — a province of 
 northern Candia — and two priests. It was sad to look 
 upon the anxious faces of these men as they gathered 
 in and filled my parlor, trusting that the affecting ad- 
 dress of their chief would elicit something from me, 
 that might lead to the hope of eventual interference on 
 the part of the United States Government, in behalf of 
 their struggling country. They were a fine-looking set 
 of men, hardy, earnest-eyed and simple mannered. 
 They thanked me with tears in their eyes for the chari- 
 table aid so freely extended to the Cretan refugees in 
 Greece — then about sixty thousand — by their sympa- 
 thetic friends in America, and especially to the Cretan 
 Committee of New York. Finally, the Bishop, with 
 uplifted hands snd eyes, and in words trembling with 
 emotion, invoked a solemn blessing upon the Govern- 
 ment and people of the United States. I doubt not 
 that every word proceeded from his heart. 
 
 One evening I was informed that a procession of 
 Cretan children, refugees from their unhappy island, 
 had called to pay their respects to the American Minis- 
 ter. They numbered about nine hundred, and had been 
 brought by their teachers. Missionaries of the American 
 Board, and were ranged in line, up and down the street, 
 before the legation. They were all of tender years, and 
 were neatly dressed. A large crowd had collected at the 
 
FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 23 
 
 unwonted spectacle, which was altogether quite touch- 
 ing. There they were, the helpless children of poor and 
 suffering mothers, who had been cast upon the shores 
 of Greece to find that subsistence which was denied to 
 them at home, where their fathers and elder brothers 
 were sustaining all the hardships of a struggle which, 
 in the face of tremendous odds, they still hoped might 
 terminate in the independence of an island which is 
 theirs by right of nationality, language, religion and 
 nurribers. To our countrymen at home they were in- 
 debted for the very clothes on their backs, and for the 
 food which from day to day kept the feeble life within 
 them, while to the disinterested labors of our missiona- 
 ries at Athens they owed a moral and intellectual salva- 
 tion from something worse than death itself. After 
 singing two or three hymns they saluted the Minister 
 with ctieers, which forced him to address them with a 
 few sympathetic and encouraging words, the vener- 
 able Dr. King acting as interpreter. Among other 
 things he told them that, could their benefactors in 
 America but witness the spectacle which they pre- 
 sented, they would feel abundantly recompensed for 
 such assistance as, amid great domestic suffering ex- 
 isting at the time in the Southern American States, 
 they had been able to bestow upon the refugees in 
 Greece. 
 
 Then, with more singing and more "zetos," the 
 assembly quietly dispersed. 
 
 In further proof that the Greeks are not ungrateful 
 
24 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAV. 
 
 for the assistance extended to the Cretans by our coun- 
 trymen, let me quote the address of Monseigneur Th6- 
 ophile, the head of the Greek Synod, and highest eccle- 
 siastical authority in Greece, who wearing, his robe and 
 insignia of oflSce, was among the first to call upon the 
 newly arrived Minister : " I come," said the archbishop, 
 "as a man who participated in our great struggle, 
 which commenced in 1821, and still continues, and as 
 the head "of the Greek clergy, to express to you, the 
 representative of the great American nation, the grati- 
 tude of my companions in arms, not only those belong- 
 ing to the Orthodox clergy, but those of the entire Greek 
 nation, for the many benefits of every kind, which, not 
 only during the old war, but during the present strug- 
 gle in Crete, your countrymen have conferred upon the 
 Christians of the East, who are fighting for religion, coun- 
 try and liberty. I pray your Excellency to transmit this 
 expression of our deep thankfulness to your whole na- 
 tion ; and if it be possible, to every American citizen. 
 Tell them that what they have done for Greece is written 
 in indelible characters in the Hellenic heart, and will be 
 transmitted from generation to generation. The clergy 
 of Greece will ever pray for the peace and prosperity 
 of the world, but above all for these two nations so 
 closely bound together by the ties of friendship and of 
 sympathy. Without the beneficence of America the 
 difficulties of our great sti-uggle would have been much 
 greater, and but for her generous aid many Cretan 
 widows and orphans would have perished of hunger and 
 
FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 35 
 
 of cold. May God bless the American benefactors of 
 the Christians in the East." 
 
 Beside these formal utterances, notes poured in from 
 individuals, many of whom I have never seen, full of sim- 
 ilar expressions of gratitude for American liberality. 
 
 Let me say a single word here on this Cretan que.s- 
 tion, with which, so far as charitable ard to the refugees 
 is concerned, I have been more or le.ss connected before 
 and since my residence in Greece., The insurrection, 
 chiefly from the imperfect manner in which it was con- 
 ducted, has long since terminated, but the popular prin- 
 ciple which it illustrated is as vital to-day as then, and 
 the moral effect of the charitable movements in America 
 and other countries, is not only perceptible in the ame- 
 lioration of the condition of the Greeks in Candia, but 
 elves promise of ultimate reforms which will unques- 
 tionably lead to the realization of just hopes on the part 
 of those restless and unfortunate people. 
 
 My official presentation to the King of Greece took 
 place at the palace at Athens, His Majesty coming to 
 the Capitol for that purpose from his summer residence. 
 King George is the second son of King Christian of 
 Denmark, and is brother to Alexandra, Princess of AVales, 
 and to Dagmar, the Crown Princess of Russia. He as- 
 cended the Hellenic throne in 1863, and is now 27 years 
 of age. His figure is slight and his complexion pale, 
 with eyes and mouth expressive of kindliness and 
 determination. His physiognomy indicates his char- 
 acter, which is honest, frank, and unaffected; a^Sax- 
 2 
 
26 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 on nature, in fact, which disarms suspicion, and in- 
 vites confidence. Of his political abilities as a Sov- 
 ereign in the difficult position of ruling an alien people, 
 I may venture to make some observations in a future 
 chapter. 
 
 As an amusing illustration of the official formalities 
 which prevail at the Greek Court, I will give the course 
 of procedure which led to the presentation of the wife 
 of the American Minister to the Queen. A ceremonial 
 visit is first made upon the Grande Maitresse of the 
 Court, who within three days returns it. The doyenne of 
 the diplomatic corps, namely, the wife of the Foreign 
 Minister who has been longest accredited at the Court, 
 is next called upon, and after this visit has been re- 
 turned, a formal note is sent, requesting her to apply to 
 the Grande Maitresse for the presentation to the Queen. 
 Now it happened that at the period of our arrival at 
 Athens, which was midsummer, the Court were sojourn- 
 ing at Kephissia, a distance of twelve miles from the 
 Capital. The doyenne, also to escape the heat of Athens, 
 was residing at the Piraeus, five miles in the opposite di- 
 rection. It was therefore no joke to comply with the re- 
 quirements of the occasion. But what are long drives 
 over dusty roads in midsummer, or the sacrifice of many 
 precious hours, compared with an infringement of those 
 Royal observances, which for generations Europe has 
 consecrated as the reUgion of dynasties ! " Those who go 
 to Corinth," or to Courts, must proceed in the way that 
 is set down for them. When, therefore, the wife of the 
 
FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 27 
 
 Minister had performed her pilgrimages to Kephissia, 
 and to the Piraeus, and the doyenne had performed hers 
 to Athens and Kephissia, and the Grande Maitresse had 
 performed hers from Kephissia to Athens — making in 
 all an aggregate of ninety-two miles — the Queen's mes- 
 senger appeared with a royally-stamped note, appoint- 
 ing a day for the presentation, and an accpmpanying 
 invitation to dinner. 
 
 Let it not be supposed that this martyrdom of etiquette 
 is ever endured more than once; that one turning 
 of the golden key opens the lock forever. The sim- 
 ple announcement that the Minister is in the ante- 
 chamber of the Palace, is sufficient to admit him 
 instantly, and at any hour, into the presence of the 
 King. Indeed, personally there is nothing haughty or 
 exigeant in the character of King George. Simple in 
 tastes, and genial in his disposition, he keenly enjoys 
 the elegance of his surroundings without being seduced 
 by externals. Nothing could have been more frugal 
 than the house of his father. Prince Christian of Schles- 
 wig-Holstein, before he ascended the throne ; and from 
 the simplicity and good sense of the Princesses Alexan- 
 dra and Dagmar, may be inferred the character of thei ■ 
 brother of Greece. 
 
 We found the King and Queen seated in her boudoir, 
 and passed an hour alone with them before the announce- 
 ment of dinner. Queen Olga is the daughter of the 
 Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, and is therefore 
 the niece of the Emperor Alexander II. She is twen- 
 
28 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAV. 
 
 ty-one years of age, but with the early development of 
 the children of the North, is womanly rather than girl- 
 ish ; well developed, with sunny hair, blue eyes, deli- 
 cate nose and chin, full and glowing lips, and a skin 
 marvellously white and transparent. She has her moth- 
 er's, the Grand Duchess Alexandra's, graceful slope of 
 shoulders and bust, than which there are few fairer. 
 Her first child was not then born, but I have " assisted " 
 since, at three christenings, when her children were held 
 up like naked cupids, after the manner of the Greek 
 Church, before being plunged into the royal font. The 
 maternal duties of the young Que'en have thus far had 
 no perceptible effect upon her physical charms. In 
 manner she unites the artlessness of a child with the 
 charming aplomb that is bred in courts. She has an in- 
 quiring mind and critical observation, which spices her 
 sentences with the least suspicion of sarcasm. She is 
 lovely to look upon, whether standing in royal robes, 
 crowned with a tiara of diamonds, or sitting in sweet 
 abandon in her nursery, surrounded by her children. 
 From her amiability of disposition, and from her avoid- 
 ance of all intermeddling with politics. Queen Olga is 
 universally beloved by her people. 
 
 The court consists of about twenty individuals, 
 selected chiefly from the old Greek families of the revo- 
 lution, rather than from the Fanariotes, who, under the 
 Turkish regime, constituted the Greek aristocracy at 
 Constantinople, and are regarded with jealousy by those 
 who claim to be of the "unadulterated stock." Thus, 
 
FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 29 
 
 out of deference to public opinion, we find the names 
 of Kolocrotoni, Mavromahalis, Metaxas, Vases, and 
 Botzaris, among the ladies and gentlemen in attend- 
 ance upon their Majesties.* 
 
 The members of the court are strongly attached to 
 the King for his extreme personal kindness to them. 
 
 As I shall not refer to the subject again, let me here 
 say what a misapprehension in certain quarters impels 
 me to say. Until one comprehends by personal obser- 
 vation to what extent the heat of political acrimony will 
 mislead, it is difficult to understand the motives of men 
 who deliberately attack the personal character of their 
 rulers. We have experience of this in our own coun- 
 try, but it is rarely carried to the extent which is ob- 
 servable in Europe, where, among the democratic classes, 
 there are few sovereigns whose names have not been 
 connected with all that is vile in human nature. Un- 
 happily we are too well aware that the private lives of 
 emperors and kings are not always exemplars of moral 
 purity, but it is equally unjust to conclude that, because 
 an individual possesses sovereign attributes, he will 
 necessarily debase himself by profligacy and lust. The 
 freedom of the press in Athens is as unfettered as our 
 own, and far more frequently abused. Attacks upon 
 the sovereign are rare, but are not always limited to his 
 
 * The latter, one of the ladies of honor to the Queen, is the 
 grand-daughter of the hero of Halleck's well-known poem. Our 
 poet was ignorant of the proper pronunciation of the Suliote chief- 
 tain's name, or he would not have spoiled his metre. The accent 
 should be on the first syllable, Bot-zaris. 
 
20 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 supposed political offences, and although innuendoes re 
 fleeting upon the King's morals are promptly repudiated 
 by the respectable portion of the Athenian press, they are 
 caught up and circulated abroad whenever any petty 
 political purpose is to be promoted thereby. Thus it 
 happens that these libels occasionally cross the water 
 and appear in our own journals, separately, or mixed 
 up with the political slime which the detractors of Greece 
 unceasingly fling at that defenceless kingdom. Of 
 course our own journals are not responsible for these 
 mendacities, and thus, in the' shape of " foreign items," 
 they pass current with millions of readers. 
 
 Not long since a New York newspaper contained 
 the following paragraph : " Cannot there be at least one 
 respectable king ? Here is George of Greece, who is 
 said to be a deep drinker and trifler ; who plays all the 
 time with pet birds — the catching of which is sufficient 
 for His Majesty — and so he lets the bandits prowl on, 
 and plunder and murder." " Was it for this," asks the 
 editor, and no wonder that he asks it, " that Greece was 
 helped to independence by the powers of Europe ? " 
 His Majesty, who is remarkable for his abstemiousness, 
 and who does not " trifle " with a single " bird," human 
 or ornithological, laughed heartily when he perused this 
 paragraph. But when told that it was cut from a re- 
 spectable American journal, he was almost incredulous. 
 The domestic life of King George is without reproach, 
 and his example, as a husband and father, in spite 
 of the allurement of eyes and the flattery of tongues — 
 
FIRST DAYS AT ATHENS. 31 
 
 from which no court is exempt — might well be fol- 
 lowed by those who slander, and conceal their iden- 
 tity in the obscurity of private life. An official, whose 
 interviews with a sovereign are confined to public 
 audiences, may be less able to form a correct opin- 
 ion on this head than tlie valet who attends his mas- 
 ter. But I now speak of him as an individual and not 
 as a king ; and from an acquaintance which has brought 
 me into intimacy with him in, I may say, all the rela- 
 tions of life. In our estimate of rulers, at home and 
 abroad, we are apt to forget the millions of eyes that are 
 fixed upon them, eager to spy out some moral delin- 
 quency which shall feed the appetite for scandal, and 
 promote the objects of party warfare. Fortunate is the 
 prince, who, standing in the midst of 
 
 "That fierce light which beats upon a throne," 
 
 can furnish so little opportunity for personal reproach 
 as King George of Greece. 
 
MODERN. ATHENS. 
 
ATHENS. 
 
 j HE city of Athens is like nothing but itself. 
 Though frequently compared to Edinburgh, 
 there is little resemblance between the two 
 cities beyond the fact that each terminates in a precipitous 
 rock, surrounded by bastioned walls. Old and new Edin- 
 burgh are separated by a deep fissure, and the various 
 epochs at which the buildings were constructed, and the 
 different elevations of the streets, give to the Scottish 
 city a picturesque effect that is wanting in Athens. 
 The Greek Capital lies for the most part on a flat plain, 
 and is wholly new, being the growth of the last forty 
 years; and the houses, of yellow-washed stucco, give a 
 fresh and light appearance to the town, which bears the 
 traces of the Bavarian architects, who, under King Otho, 
 constructed many of the public edifices. Excepting the 
 broad and upper part, Athens is a compact mass of 
 buildings, clinging to and spreading out, fan-like, from 
 the Acropolis at its northern and eastern base. This 
 singular rock rises abruptly from the plain to a height 
 of about three hundred feet above the level of the city. 
 It is bold and inaccessible excepting at its western end 
 which slopes gradually to the site of the ancient Agora, 
 
36 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 — .probably the heart of old Athens. The surface of the 
 Acropolis is flat and oblong, measuring one thousand 
 one hundred by four hundred and fift)' feet ; and on it 
 stands the Parthenon, the sublimest ruin of ancient 
 Greece, with the remains of the Propylsea, the Erec- 
 theum, and the Temple of Victory. The precipitous 
 sides of the Acropolis are partially clothed with rank 
 vegetation ; but the bare and unadorned rock is its 
 chief peculiarity, which is only impaired by the masses 
 of debris that from time to time have been thrown over 
 the parapet, and which give to the " Rock of Pallas," 
 on its southern side, very much the appearance of a 
 modern stone quarry. Other natural elevations around 
 Athens somewhat detract from the imposing effect 
 which would be produced, if the Acropolis alone broke 
 the monotone of the plain of Attica. As it is, the 
 attention is divided between that and its neighbors — 
 the closely connecting rock of the Areopagus, or 
 " Mars Hill ; " the massive range of the Pnyx ; the hill 
 of the museum — crowned with an unsightly observa- 
 tory — and the hill of Lycabettus, which pierces the air 
 in a sharp cone at the northeast extremity of the 
 city. 
 
 But what makes Athens sui generis, is its relation to 
 the templed rock which overshadows it with a moral and 
 physical grandeur that no other city on the surface of 
 the globe can aspire to. From the streets below, the up- 
 per portions of the ruined Parthenon can be seen pro- 
 jecting above the bastioned walls of the Acropolis, as 
 
ATHENS. 
 
 37 
 
 if ever asserting its hereditary claims over the innova- 
 tions of to-day; as if ever declaring in majestic mute- 
 ness unto the restless city at its feet, — /, — I, am Athens. 
 Nor can the modern life below it be disassociated from 
 that stupendous throne of rock which upholds the mon- 
 uments of a past age, whose glories all subsequent ages 
 have but reflected or imperfectly copied. The silent 
 city on the hill, which can never be hid, is linked to the 
 bustling city at its feet, which is ever trying to be seen. 
 It is a live man bound to a corpse ; but the man is mor- 
 tal, and the corpse is immortal. 
 
 With the exception of the olive groves, common- 
 ly regarded as the scene of Plato's retirement, which 
 stretch along the plain a couple of miles from the city, 
 and the few acres of trees in the " Queen's Garden," 
 there is little foliage to refresh the eye in. Athens or its 
 vicinity. Even " Flowery Hymettus " is bare of ver- 
 dui e ; and the wild thyme which still supplies immortal 
 honey to the bees, gives but a cold, grayish glow to the 
 surface once thick with olive trees. The goat, classic- 
 ally the enemy to the vine, is in modern times the 
 " scape goat " for all the devastation on the hills ; but 
 he is not the real offender. What the vine said to tlie 
 goat in the fable : 
 
 " If you eat me to the root, 
 I shall still bear fruit," 
 
 is no longer apphcable, for the peasants dig up the roots 
 of the olive trees, and cut down everything else in the 
 
38 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 shape of fibrous substance to supply their own firesides , 
 and die wood markets of Athens. 
 
 The " Queen's Garden," named from the former 
 Queen Amelia, to whose rural tastes Athens is indebted 
 for this luxurious enclosure of foliage, flower-beds, arti- 
 ficial waters and winding walks, is the city's leafy crown. 
 It half encircles the palace, and extends along a boule- 
 vard lined with pepper trees, and containing many hand- 
 some private dwellings. The United States Legation, 
 then sandwiched between those of Russia and France, 
 overlooked the Queen's Garden : and however much — or 
 little— the three colleagues might differ among themselves 
 on questions of public policy, they were sure to agree in 
 this : that in possessing a key to the private entrance 
 of this garden, which admitted them at all hours, the 
 sovereign had bestowed upon them a privilege which 
 cannot be too highly prized, especially during the sultry 
 days of midsummer. The southern boundary of the 
 Queen's Garden abuts upon a large open piece of 
 ground called the " Square of the Olympium," at the 
 extremity of which rise the riiined columns of the tem- 
 ple of the " Jupiter Olympius : " — the other end reaches 
 to the King's Palace, a ponderous edifice of white mar- 
 ble, which, but for the portico in front, might pass for a 
 hospital or military barracks. The " Boulevard des 
 Philhellenes," running in front of the palace and its gar- 
 den, extends in a circular direction past the Square of 
 the Olympium, the Acropolis and the Temple of The- 
 seus, where, connecting with other broad thoroughfares, 
 
ATHENS. 39 
 
 and the " Boulevard de I'Universit^," it completes the 
 circle of the entire city. The King's Palace is sepa- 
 rated by a small enclosure of orange trees from the 
 " Square of the Constitution," where the principal hotels 
 are situated. This, and the " Place de la Concorde," in 
 another quarter of the city, are daily thronged with af- 
 ternoon promenaders, where, also, the military bands 
 perform twice a week. From this Square extends the 
 " Street of Hermes," more than a mile in length, lined 
 with shops of every description, and leading out into the 
 Piraeus road. .^Eolus street, a somewhat similar thorough- 
 fare, crosses the former at right angles and extends into 
 a fine carriage drive, as far as the village of Patissia. At 
 the junction of the streets of Hermes and .iEolus, are 
 several cafbs which, favoring the confluence of these 
 two arteries of city life, form the rendezvous of a large 
 class of coffee-house politicians, who, in that efferves- 
 cent community, find abundant topics for incessant and' 
 exciting debate. The four right angles formed from 
 this centre extend over a net-work of narrow and tortu- 
 ous streets, between buildings possessing little claim to 
 architectural beauty, and filled with a dense population. 
 The shop windows betray the meretricious taste which 
 prevails in Oriental and unthoroughly reclaimed com- 
 munities. There is a superabundant supply of cheap 
 jewelry and German " nick-nacks," which are so readily 
 obtained from Vienna and Berlin. These make their 
 appearance on the dresses of thousands of the middle 
 and lower classes of females, who aspire to imitate Pa- 
 
40 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 risian fashions in their toilets and the decorations of 
 their houses. The bookstores contain fewer volumes 
 of standard literature than would be expected in a com- 
 munity of scholars like that of Athens. The number of 
 tobacco shops is not surprising, in view of the fact that 
 every third man is whiffing a cigarette. Cigars, worthy 
 of the name, are a rarity ; but the paper-covered substi- 
 tute is the almost inevitable accompaniment of every 
 man's walk, talk or avocation. Little books of cigar 
 paper, the tobacco box, and brass receptacle for ashes, 
 are seen on the table in every house. The Greek seems 
 to think that the only good thing that can come out of 
 the Ottoman Empire is Turkish tobacco ; and this he re- 
 duces to ashes with intense relish. The native, and 
 cheaper article, however, is what is mostly consumed in 
 the country. In brilliant contrast to the generality of 
 shops are a few, the show windows of which, be it the 
 jeweller, tailor or silk mercer, almost rival those of the 
 Palais Royal. 
 
 With the exception of the Cathedral or Metropoli- 
 tan Church, there is no edifice of religious worship 
 which attracts attention from its external architecture 
 or internal appointments, unless it be the three or four 
 little Byzantine churches which, scattered about through 
 the old city, deserve notice from their peculiar and an- 
 cient construction. The Metropolitan Church is impos- 
 ing from its size ; but the external coloring in stripes of 
 yellow and red have a tawdry look to the foreign eye. 
 If, from the thickly-settled and business quarters we 
 
ATHENS. 41 
 
 proceed to the newer parts of the city, things wear a 
 more attractive look. The streets are wide, the side- 
 walks cleanly, and but for certain nuisances which force 
 the pedestrian to take to the street, would be worthy of 
 any city. Balconies protrude from even the meanest 
 edifice, and are regarded as a desideratum by all house- 
 holds, for the accommodation of the ladies of the 
 family, who sit thereon in passive enjoyment of the 
 street view during the long summer afternoons and even- 
 ings. The dwellings are built very much on the same 
 model, and are mostly intended for two families ; having 
 one entrance through a gate and court-yard to the first 
 floor apartments, and another front door conducting to 
 the suite of rooms above. The walls are constructed 
 of large cobble stones, roughly cemented, and are sub- 
 stantial enough for a fortress ; but the enemy they are 
 intended to provide against is more subtle and powerful 
 than the armaments of war. Earthquakes are not in- 
 frequent in Greece, and have been attended with great 
 loss of life and property. In Athens, however, they 
 have never exceeded a slight tremblement, sufficient to 
 arouse the sleeper at night, but not endangering even a 
 chimney-pot. 
 
 The dwelling-houses are generally furnished with 
 great simplicity, and there is an absence of that com- 
 fortable home look which the abundance of draper)' and 
 furniture gives to an English parlor or French salon. 
 Even in the best houses, carpets are sometimes deemed 
 superfluous, or are visible only in the shape of rugs be- 
 
42 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 fore the sofas, or a square of tapestry in the middle of 
 the floor. But the nakedness below is atoned for by 
 the gorgeousness above. Every ceiling, from dining- 
 room to bed-room, is decorated with colored designs, 
 and the salon is sometimes so gay with arabesque, as to 
 suggest the idea that the carpet has been spread by ac- 
 cident on the ceiling instead of the floor. The sofa is 
 the seat of honor, and on it the guest is invited to seat 
 himself. Two rows of chairs are generally seen at right 
 angles to the sofa, which, when duly occupied, give 
 rather a formal appearance to a social gathering. Black 
 coffee or sweetmeats are invariably offered to visitors in 
 many of the Greek families, as in the days of the Turk- 
 ish regime. 
 
 Each dwelling-house in the better portions of the 
 city has its garden in the rear. Thick and high walls 
 may hide it from the passing gaze ; but there it is, a 
 ceaseless pleasure to the occupants, and often an evi- 
 dence of their cultivated tastes. In very many of the 
 gardens, or in the court yards of private dwellings, the 
 visitor notices small fragments of ancient sculpture set up 
 against the wall, or inserted in it ; portions of vases, bas- 
 relieves, a trunkless head, or a headless trunk, inscrip- 
 tions, etc., which were discovered for the most part on 
 the spot where they are now seen, having been turned 
 up in the excavations during the progress of the build- 
 ing. The removal of antiquities from the country is 
 now forbidden by law ; but the discoverer is permitted 
 to retain them as his personal property. During the 
 
ATHENS. 42 
 
 litigation and delays which occurred while the plan for 
 the new city was being matured, and which contemplated 
 the entire abolishment of the narrow, crooked lanes which 
 deformed the old Turkish town, the owners of many of 
 the lots became impatient, and erected dwelUngs on the 
 old sites. The result of this is, that the broad, regular 
 thoroughfares were commenced after a large part of the 
 present city was erected, and there is no doubt but that 
 beneath the soil in the older parts of the city are con- 
 cealed many precious archaeological remains, which 
 would otherwise have been brought to light. 
 
 Atliens can boast of public edifices which rival many 
 structures in the largest European Capitals. I can but 
 glance at these. After tlie King's Palace and the Cathe- 
 dral, the University attracts attention from its strictly 
 classic fagade, the walls on each side of the centre being 
 windowless, and the white columns being relieved by a 
 deep red interior wall. The " Arsakion," a Young Ladies' 
 Institute, is a commanding structure of wliite stucco, witli 
 marble portal separated from the boulevard by a hand- 
 some iron railing. The Varvakion, a large grammar 
 school, the Orphan Asylums for boys and girls, tlie Op- 
 thalmic Institution, the Polytechnic School, tlie Military 
 Hospital, and the Observatory are creditable buildings, 
 worthy of the high uses for which they are employed. 
 Those of the Department of Finance and of the Interior, 
 which latter contams the Post Of&ce, are massive, 
 but without architectural elegance, as is also the Nation- 
 al Bank of Greece, one of the most useful monetary 
 
44 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 establishments in Europe. Of public buildings in pro- 
 cess of construction, are the Greek Academy, the char- 
 acter of which will closely approach that of the Aca- 
 demic Fran(ais, a superb structure of Pentelic marble, 
 which will cost upwards of a million of dollars ; the 
 Boud, or Chamber of Deputies ; the Polytechnic School, 
 and an Archaeological Museum, for the preservation of 
 Greek antiquities. All these institutions are objects 
 of great pride with the Greeks ; and many of them 
 are founded and sustained by the munificence of pri- 
 vate individuals, among whom Baron Sina, the 
 wealthy Greek banker of Vienna, is prominent. The 
 material progress of this, as well as other cities in Greece, 
 though gradual, is marked. Forty years ago not a single 
 structure now forming the City of Athens, existed. 
 
 The vanity which induces the Greeks to name their 
 children after Agamemnon, Alcibiades, Pericles, and 
 other heroes of antiquity, suggests the street nomencla- 
 ture. Thus we have all Athens marked and labelled 
 with immortal names. The " Street of Hermes," and 
 the " Street of yEolus," are the great business thorough- 
 fares ; while smaller ones bear the less divine appellation 
 of Praxitiles, Euripides, Thucydides, Thrasybulus, and 
 Solon. The " Boulevard des Philhellenes " is a shght 
 tribute to the friends of Greece ; and the " Square of 
 the Constitution," and the " Place de la Concorde," bring 
 us suddenly down from the mytholpgical and historic 
 periods to the most recent of modern Hellenic events. 
 
 The national costume is rapidly disappearing from 
 
ATHENS. 45 
 
 the Streets of Athens and other large towns of Greece, 
 but prevails in the islands and the interior. The Athen- 
 ian is not a whit behind other Europeans in adopting 
 the outer signs of civilization ; but the cut of the coat 
 and the trailing silk skirt that gathers up the dust in 
 Hermes street, do not always catch the chic of the Boule- 
 vard des ItaUens ; and the abundant use of poudre de 
 riz falsify many complexions that would otherwise be 
 fair to look upon. 
 
 It is rather refreshing than otherwise, to turn to the 
 relief of color and picturesque effect produced by the 
 long, gold-tasselled red fez which many of the Greek 
 women who have adopted tlie Franc dress, still retain ; 
 and to the Albanian jacket and snowy fustanella of the 
 men, which glitter along the streets, and attract the 
 eye wherever there is an assemblage of people. I say 
 snmtiy fustanella, which, however, is not always regarded 
 as an essential by the wearer. When these involuted 
 folds are not immaculate, they are apt to display the 
 opposite extreme of filthiness, indicating that the wear- 
 er's acquaintance with soap and water has not even ap- 
 proached to that of a personal introduction. It is at a 
 distance, and in its general effect, that the so-called 
 " Greek costume" is attractive. Closely examined, a 
 man cannot look otherwise than effeminate, with a 
 series of short, white petticoats wrapped around his 
 loins, in spite of the leathern pouch, with protruding 
 pistols, which surmount them. The blue, bagged trow- 
 sers and crimson sash of the Cretan — almost as com- 
 
46 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ition in the streets of Athens — is equally characteristic 
 and far more becoming. The national costume of the 
 peasant women is now rarely seen ; but the shaggy sheep- 
 skin capote of the shepherd meets the eye at every turn, 
 and is rather picturesque as he walks beside his little 
 over-laden donkey, or drives before him a flock of goats, 
 or a drove of strutting turkeys. The little patient 
 donkey does most of the carrying trade. He is seen 
 plodding along the thoroughfares with huge panniers of 
 grapes, oranges, and vegetables, or buried beneath a 
 mountain of brush-wood, which seems to move along by 
 its own volition. Frequently the poor brute is made to 
 carry his master, or perhaps two masters at a time, who 
 accelerate his movements by pokes and beatings, or stop 
 them by a peculiar rippling sound of the lips. But the 
 transportation of bundles, packages, boxes, and articles 
 of furniture, however large, is the exclusive monopoly 
 of a class of humanity as patient and enduring as 
 the four-legged animal, and not much more advanced 
 than the latter in intellectual endowments. At the 
 corners of the principa' business streets may always 
 be seen a group of Maltese porters, strong-bodied men, 
 each with a length of cord hanging over his shoulder, and 
 eyeing watchfully the movements of the passer-by. If a 
 stranger is supposed to be shopping, the Maltese " holds 
 him with his glittering eye," and lingering near the door 
 of the shop he has entered, darts in when the customer 
 has made his bargain to secure the job of carrying the 
 article home. If the purchaser is furnishing a house. 
 
ATHENS. 4y 
 
 the scene becomes amusing ; for unless the shop-keeper 
 knows his customer's residence, and an agreement is 
 made with him to send the articles home, the stranger, 
 as he passes through the fashionable quarter of the 
 town, may be surprised to find himself followed by a 
 procession of Maltese porters, in single file, the first 
 shouldering a bedstead, the second a wardrobe, the 
 third a washstand, the fourth a centre-table, etc., while 
 chairs, pots, and frying pans bring up the rear. 
 
 Athens is a peculiarly quiet city, excepting in the 
 vicinity of the market place where the cries of the 
 street hucksters and the tumult of carts and canaille 
 drown the air with discord. From the earliest hour of the 
 morning, however, in all quarters of the town is heard 
 the monotonous cry of the peddler in dry goods, as he 
 trundles his little cart before him, dispensing his small 
 stock to housemaid and cook ; and the newspaper boy 
 with his incessant shout of " pente lepta — pente lepta" 
 is often the unconscious teacher of the first two words 
 in modern Greek that the newly arrived stranger 
 acquires. The habit with many Greeks — and which is 
 much remarked upon by foreigners — of carrying a string 
 of glass or wooden beads in the hand, which they 
 manipulate while walking the streets, or when engaged 
 in conversation, has no religious significance. It is 
 simply a mechanical relief to the nervous system, as 
 another man twirls his cane, or a lady flirts her fan. 
 Thus a Greek who joins you in the street, may slip the 
 string of beads from his wrist, and as he converses. 
 
48 rilE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 pass, half unconsciously, bead after bead, between his 
 fingers, as if he were muttering a pater noster. 
 
 Courtesy is an inborn trait of the Hellenic character, 
 and was remarked upon by travellers as a distinguishing' 
 feature in the social manners of the Greek populations 
 during the days of Moslem supremacy. The hat is 
 always raised, as in Paris, when meeting and parting in 
 the street, and when going into and coming out of a shop. 
 The salutation, when near friends are about to part for 
 a lengthened absence, or meet after a long interval, is 
 a kiss on either cheek. The foreigner is often amused 
 at seeing two Greek gentlemen with hats off and 
 hands clasped, kissing each other violently in the 
 open street; and if he resides in Athens long enough 
 to form any intimate acquaintances, he may be still 
 more surprised to find himself yielding to the same 
 affectionate demonstration. My friend, the venerable 
 Metropolitan bishop, first initiated me into this — with us, 
 unusual proceeding — -by drawing me towards him on the 
 occasion of a public ceremonial, and bestowing a 
 reverential kiss upon my cheek. Under the impulse of 
 the moment I returned the compliment in like manner, 
 being ignorant, or wilfully blind to the fact that the 
 hand which held mine, and which was conveniently 
 lifted towards my lips, was inviting the mark of respect 
 which I had presumptuously bestowed upon his Holiness' 
 face. Wien Mr. Gladstone officially visited the 
 Ionian islands some years ago, he saluted the hand 
 of the local bishop, and bowed his head to receive his 
 
ATHENS: 4g 
 
 benediction. The bishop hesitated so long, not being 
 sure what was expected from him, that the English 
 Commissioner lifted his head at the moment when the 
 former had concluded to bless it. The result of this 
 joint movement was, that the head of the Commissioner 
 came in violent contact with the chin of the prelate, to 
 the inconvenience of both, and to the amusement of 
 the assembly.* 
 
 Not one of the least interesting of street sights in 
 Athens are the long files of children of both sexes from 
 the public schools and Orphan Asylums, as they take 
 their afternoon walk through the boulevards — the boys in 
 gray or blue uniforms, and the girls in homespun frocks 
 and spotless white pinafores. They are the ever-mov- 
 ing sign of the ever progressive educational life in 
 Greece. 
 
 One cannot walk out many days in Athens without 
 witnessing a funeral procession. Long before it comes 
 in sight, the ear catches the low monotonous chaunt of 
 the priests, who are preceded by boys in white robes 
 bearing the crucifix and ecclesiastical insignia, in 
 presence of which every head is uncovered, and every 
 hand makes the sign of the cross. The corpse is ex- 
 posed to full view in an open coffin of light material, 
 covered with white or black cloth, with silver or gilt 
 decorations, the cover of which, marked with a long 
 diagonal cross, is carried before the procession. The 
 body is dressed in the customary clothes of the de- 
 * Kirkwall's Ionian Islands. 
 3 
 
go THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ceased, the head slightly elevated, and the hands folded 
 in front of a panel picture of the Virgin set up on the 
 breast. If it be a female, the cheeks and lips are paint- 
 ed vermilion, intended to reproduce a natural expres- 
 sion, but which gives to th^ corpse an artificial and ghast- 
 ly look. Even to one accustomed to witness the expo- 
 sure of the dead in Oriental countries, there is some- 
 thing painful in the idea of exhibiting to the glare of 
 day, and amidst the whirl and insensibility of the public 
 street, the features of a deceased person who m lite 
 may have been known only to the little group of mourn- 
 ers gathered about the remains. But there is some- 
 thing to be said in favor of this mode of burial, over 
 that of our own. I confess to a feeling of the most 
 tender reverence, when a funeral procession passes in 
 Greece, which is not awakened by that of the stiff black 
 hearse, the boxed up coffin, and the formal line of 
 mourners, marching two by two in its wake, through the 
 streets of western cities. At Greek funerals the hearse 
 is not generally employed, and the light, open casket is 
 borne by the hands of the nearest friends of the de- 
 ceased, while the other mourners walk, not march, in 
 a group around it. Thus they literally carry and accom- 
 pany, rather than follow, their friend to the grave, and 
 gaze upon the face which was dear to them, up to the 
 moment when he is laid in his last resting place. The 
 funerals of the poor are even more touching to behold. 
 A single priest, perhaps, performs the chaunt, and half 
 a dozen mourners, representing the little household, 
 
ATHENS. 51 
 
 bear between them the coffin, which is composed of the 
 cheapest material, and covered with white muslin. 
 When a person of distinguished position dies, the fu- 
 neral procession becomes an imposing spectacle, with 
 the bishop and priests in their gorgeous sacerdotal robes, 
 numerous lighted candles, and martial music. I once 
 saw the body of a venerable bishop of the Greek 
 Church carried in procession through the streets of 
 Athens. He was seated in his bishop's chair, elevated 
 above the people, and was clothed in his canonical 
 robes, with mitre on head and the crosier uplifted in his 
 hand. A cloth around the forehead bound it to the 
 back of the chair, but not sufficiently close to prevent 
 the head from bobbing up and down, as if the dead 
 man's pale and rigid features were saluting, for the last 
 tune, the people among whom he had exercised his holy 
 office for over three-score years. In this position he was 
 placed in the grave, a peculiar honor accorded to his 
 ecclesiastical rank. The dead — chiefly from climatic 
 considerations — are buried within twenty-four hours of 
 their decease. This is very shocking to foreign ideas ; 
 but the custom has come to be complied with, within a 
 briefer number of hours than the law's requirement. In- 
 deed the feeling is, that the sooner the painful duty is 
 over, and the house freed from the distressing spectacle 
 of a corpse, the sooner will the minds of the mourners 
 be relieved from association with what is repulsive, and 
 return to the inward contemplation of their friend, as 
 they knew him in their midst. Thus it often happens 
 
22 THE GREEKS CF TO DAY. 
 
 that the first intimation of a death is conveyed in the 
 printed invitation to the funeral. I have conversed with 
 a gentleman at an evening party, who appeared to be in 
 the highest enjoyment of physical health, and the day 
 following witnessed his interment, he having expired in 
 the meantime from apoplexy. I had once a business 
 appointment with a near neighbor, and on going to ful- 
 fil it, met his dead body coming down the door steps. 
 I was sitting one evening at the bed-side of a dis- 
 tinguished American Missionary, who was describ- 
 ing to me his peculiar malady, and the next after- 
 noon I saw him laid in the Protestant Cemetery. 
 The modern Greek may well exclaim with the ancient 
 Greek : 
 
 " Who knows what fortunes on to-morrow wait, 
 Since Charmis one day well to us appeared, 
 And on the next was mournfully interred ! " 
 
 The removal of the body from the house frequently 
 excites the most painful scenes. The realization of the 
 parting rushes upon the minds of the afflicted family 
 before time has brought the feelings into subjection, 
 and agonizing shrieks and wild gesticulations accompany 
 the first movement of the funeral cortege. It is the cus- 
 tom, after the decease of the occupant, to drape the 
 interior of the house with mourning. I was once the 
 guest of a country gentleman, whose wife had died nearly 
 a year before my visit. The appearance that greeted 
 me on entering the mansion, was not at all enlivening. 
 
ATHENS. 53 
 
 Every article of furniture, from piano to footstool, was 
 draped in black, and even the key of the tobacco box 
 had a small streamer of crape attached to it. As to the 
 huge four-post bedstead upon which I was invited to 
 repose, it was like mounting a catafalque ; while to ex- 
 pect " sweet dreams " under the folds and festoons of its 
 funeral canopy, arid massive silver cross and picture of 
 the Virgin suspended over my head, was equivalent to 
 depending upon the special intervention of the blessed 
 Mary in my behalf. 
 
 From this melancholy digression, let us return to the 
 streets of Athens. It is in the afternoon that they v/ear 
 the most attractive appearance. The squares are then 
 thronged with promenaders listening to the music of the 
 bands; and the principal avenues display many excellent 
 equipages, among which the blue and silver livery of 
 the King is prominent. The Athenian horseman is a 
 very dashing character. The quiet trot which satisfies 
 our Central Park riders, would be quite intolerable to a 
 cavalry officer who is enjoying himself on the public 
 promenade. Even there he rejoices in the suggestive 
 rattle of his sword, and, " dashing his rowels in his 
 steed," endeavors to emulate that impossible equiUb- 
 rium of man and beast which only bronze equestrian 
 statues have ever been able to attain ; or, he breaks into 
 a headlong gallop, after the manner of the three horse- 
 men who carried '^the good news to Ghent,'' and which, 
 if attempted in one of our thoroughfares, might subject 
 him to a penalty which would seriously interfere with 
 his pecuniary resources. 
 
54 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 It is the glorious sunlight of the winter days which 
 makes Athens charming to' the resident and the so- 
 journer, and which should attract to it many of our 
 countrymen in Europe, who now seek winter quarters 
 in the fogs of London or under the uncertain skies of 
 Florence and Rome. Winter in Athens is generally an 
 unbroken duration of cloudless skies ; and with the ex- 
 ception of occasional sharp winds from the northern hills, 
 the atmosphere is as soft as are the early days of Octo- 
 ber with us. After the autumn rains, a cheerful expanse 
 of sunlight warms the wintry air; and overcoats and shawls 
 are worn more from precaution than from necessity. 
 Snow falls upon the mountains, but rarely whitens the 
 streets of Athens. The dazzling crowns of snow on the 
 summits of Hymettus and the range of the Parnes moun- 
 tains, contrasting with their harmonious slopes of vary- 
 ing purple, furnish one of the most charming spectacles 
 in nature. But all of Greece is not exempt from the 
 meteorological changes which afflict the greater part of 
 Europe. Much rain falls in the Ionian Islands, and in 
 Corfu the winter winds are unusually severe. Attica 
 alone is dry, which is partially attributable to the scar- 
 city of vegetation, which reduces the quantum of oxygen 
 and creates what is commonly called a " nervous " cli- 
 mate.* There is also much fever prevalent at certain 
 seasons of the year, and what is designated as the 
 
 * To this absence of atmospheric moisture in Greece, is chiefly 
 to be ascribed the remarkable preservation of her ancient monu- 
 ments. 
 
ATHENS. eg 
 
 " Greek " fever, although mild in form and seldom i'atal, 
 is exceedingly difficult to shake off— its debilitating ef- 
 fects remaining in the system for years. Yet people 
 live in Greece, as did the ancients, to an extraordinary 
 age. It is no uncommon thing to hear of the decease 
 of individuals who had attained the age of ninety. Nota- 
 rus, who presided at the National Assembly in 1843, was 
 one hundred and ten years old. A priest near Athens, 
 who is chiefly noted for the number of bottles of native 
 wine that he imbibes daily, is believed to be between 
 ninety and a hundred, and the bishop, whose funeral 
 ceremony has just been alluded to, was about the same 
 age. My friend General Church, whose Philhellenic 
 sympathies brought him to Greece during the revolution, 
 and who now enjoys the nominal honor of Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Greek Army, is popularly held to be over 
 one hundred years old. He is at least ninety, and pos- 
 sesses remarkable activity of body and mind. No man 
 is more punctilious in his compliance with the demands 
 of social life. He seldom wears an overcoat, and it is 
 his boast that his parlor fire is the last to be lighted in 
 Athens. 
 
 The social life of the Capital, although limited 
 among the Greeks to morning visits and small reunions, 
 is agreeable. Musical and dancing parties are much in 
 vogue ; but balls and dinners are almost exclusively con- 
 fined to the Palace and to the Diplomatic Corps. One 
 or two dinners, balls or petites soirees are given monthly 
 by the king and queen ; and the ball-room of the pal- 
 
56 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ace — one of the finest in Europe — is brilliant on these ' 
 occasions with fair women in becoming toilettes,, and 
 the chief men of the kingdom, glittering in uniforms 
 and with decorations. Society is very exclusive in 
 Athens, and private parties are apt to be but repetitions 
 of the same people transferred to different parlors : the 
 same small talk ; the same waiters bringing in the same 
 trays of ices and cakes, prepared by the same confis- 
 setir. The Greek ladies dress tastefully, without extrav- 
 agance ; and there is no assemblage without many faces, 
 which, in profile especially, exhibit the Greek type of 
 beauty. They are calm and impassive, as compared 
 with the French, and their deportment is marked by a 
 sobriety of manner precisely the reverse of that abandon 
 which is observable in the ball-rooms of Western Capi- 
 tals. As yet, the words " fast " and "flirtation" seem 
 not to have been admitted into the Greek young ladies' 
 vocabulary. 
 
 •The attractions of winter life in Athens culminate 
 with the carnival, when the streets are thronged with a 
 promiscuous crowd of maskers, composed almost ex- 
 clusively of the lower orders, whose efforts to produce 
 any thing corresponding to the fetes of Rome are la- 
 mentable failures. The upper classes ignore these 
 proceedings, or confine themselves to " surprise visits " 
 upon their friends, disguised in close dominoes and im- 
 penetrable masks. During the carnival it is no uncom- 
 mon thing for'a family to be visited by several parties 
 of maskers on the same evening, who preserve their 
 
ATHENS. jy 
 
 incognito so completely as to defy recognition by voice 
 or manner. 
 
 But if Athens is charming in winter, and especially 
 in the spring — March and April being the most at- 
 tractive months — it is simply detestable in sum- 
 mer. The foreigner who is compelled to reside in 
 the Capital from May to October is not to be envied. 
 The " sun of Greece " is then no longer a glory, but a 
 scourge to the eye. Every particle of vegetation wilts 
 under its pitiless rays — sultry days and sultry nights 
 wearily succeed to each other without the relief of a 
 single refreshing breeze or a single shower. The wind 
 blows, but it is a hot and feverish blast, filling the 
 deserted streets with dust — the same dust that teased 
 the ancient Athenians — which, rolling along like smoke 
 clouds from a field of battle, blinds the hapless pedes- 
 trian, and disgusts the as hapless individual within 
 doors, who is left to choose between open windows with 
 dirt, or closed ones with suffocation. But worse than 
 the plague of dust, is the plague of mosquitoes and 
 gnats. The former may be partially excluded by win- 
 dow blinds and bed curtains, but the latter defy the in- 
 ventions of man. The little gnat is invisible to the 
 naked eye, and not having the moral courage of the 
 mosquito to announce its approach, attacks every ex- 
 ~ posed part of the human body, especially the hands and 
 wrists, leaving the skin in a state of irritation which lasts 
 for hours. 
 
 Those who can do so, fly from the summer torments 
 3^ 
 
gg THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 of Athens to their country estates, or to the islands. 
 Those who are forced to remain, seek consolation in 
 sea bathing, and from four o'clock until ten every 
 morning, carriages filled with bathers are heard rolling 
 through the streets of Athens, on their way to the baths 
 of Phalerum. 
 
 The King and Queen sojourn at the beautiful 
 island of Corfu during the summer months, where the 
 climate, although warm, is less dry than Athens, and 
 where their Majesties enjoy a delightful respite from 
 political annoyances of the Capital. 
 
 But no climatic considerations wean the Greek 
 from his country. He may take up his abode in 
 foreign cities for the commercial advantages to be 
 gained therefrom, or if he can afford it, he will do as 
 many others do, abandon himself to the illusions of the 
 French Capital; but as a rule, foreign travel does not 
 lessen his attachment to his native land, and the re- 
 appearance of the Grecian cliffs, are as " blissful" a 
 view to him as they were to the wandering Telemachus. 
 Even those who do not return to Greece, — their interests 
 and associations being bound up in the foreign land 
 where they have reared their families and accumulated 
 their fortunes — do not forget her. Their pulses beat 
 time with their countrymen, however so much scattered, 
 and no people are more sensitive to the national honor 
 and shame than the closely-cemented societies of Greeks 
 in the commercial cities of Europe and the United 
 States. The number of Americans who visit Athens is 
 
ATHENS. 
 
 59 
 
 small in comparison with the vast shoal of travellers 
 who run over Europe and distribute their gold in places 
 of far less intrinsic interest. This is not surprising in 
 view of the prevailing ignorance respecting Greece, and 
 the current reports of danger to tourists from brigandage. 
 This danger; although much exaggerated, exists, and 
 should not be disregarded by the traveller, however ad- 
 venturously inclined. Athens, however, is as safe a city, 
 so far as personal danger is concerned, as any in the 
 world ; and those who visit it, coming westward from the 
 greasy lanes of Constantinople and the squalid towns 
 of the Levant, are surprised at the cheerful and attract- 
 ive look which the city presents. An exalted person- 
 age, who had been the recipient of all the honors which 
 the Sublime Porte had it in its power to bestow, re- 
 marked, on his arrival at Athens, " This is the first time 
 I have breathed for weeks. It is positively refreshing 
 to get into a free and Christian air again." This is ap- 
 pUcable as much to externals as to principles ; for mod- 
 ern Athens is not unworthy of the language which Mil- 
 ton applied to the ancient Capital : 
 
 " On the Mgean shore a city stands, 
 Built nobly : pure the air and light the soil ; 
 Athens, the eye of Greece." 
 
 Excepting her magnificent ruins, upon which the 
 eye of the classical scholar and the archaologist may 
 feast for an indefinite period, and which must ever make 
 Athens a Mecca to the investigating mind, the city does 
 not possess sufficient resources to induce the mere 
 
6o THE GREEKS OF TO-DAV. 
 
 pleasure seeker to linger there many weeks ; but not to 
 see Athens at all, not to stand beneath her marvellous 
 sky and breathe her " pellucid air/' and look, once at 
 least, upon her masterpieces of Grecian art, is to be de- 
 nied an experience which unites the grandest sugges- 
 tions of antiquity with the realization of the simplest of 
 present enjoyments. 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 
 
 Y first visit to the Acropolis was postponed 
 by occupations which, even had time per- 
 mitted, would have distracted the mind 
 from that concentrate observation which is essential 
 to the enjoyment of Art. Without this explana- 
 tion, it might appear a little remarkable that a man 
 could live for three months within half an hour's 
 walk of the sublimest of ancient temples, without so 
 much as a single visit to it. But what will be thought 
 of one who, without this excuse of pre-occupation, 
 passed three years in Athens without setting foot on the 
 Acropolis ! This gentleman was a Secretary of one of 
 the foreign legations, and his tendencies might be called 
 destructive, rather than conservative, inasmuch as he 
 preferred to employ his leisure moments, when freed 
 from the red tape of official routine, in shooting wood- 
 cock in the swamps near Athens, or angling for red 
 mullet off the Phalerum, than in the idle survey of dead 
 masonry. I beUeve he would have quitted Athens with- 
 out so much as the ceremony of a call upon the 
 Parthenon, if he had not been beguiled thither by one , 
 of his sporting acquaintances, who reported that for sev- 
 
64 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 eral days a " queer bird " had been seen flying about the 
 ruins. Touched thus in the region of Iiis ornithological 
 weakness, the Secretary seized his fowling piece and 
 made all haste to tl^e temple of Minerva. But from that 
 moment the peculiar charm about the man was lost. I 
 could no longer regard him in the light of an original : 
 he had done what every other man in Athens does — 
 visited the Parthenon. Meeting him a few days after, 
 I asked him what he thought of it. " O," said he, " it 
 was only a crow, after all." 
 
 A good many who visit Athens, do the ruins, guide 
 book in hand, and profess to have been " enchanted," 
 leave Greece with a scarcely more defined impression 
 of their greatness than my friend the Secretary, who at 
 least, was sincere in his indifference. 
 
 Between the enthusiast who arrives in the highest 
 condition of mental excitement, and who prolongs his 
 stay far beyond his previous intention, as his scholastic 
 appetite grows with what it feeds on ; and the ig- 
 noramus who asked the landlord of his hotel " what the 
 Acropolis was that he heard so much talk about?" — 
 and which he probably supposed to be an animal — 
 there is a large class of travellers who are content with 
 the most superficial glance at the ruins of Ancient 
 Greece. Having paused for a respectable number of 
 minutes before the Temple of Theseus, the columns of 
 the Jupiter Olympus, the Parthenon and the Erectheum, 
 they check them off' in their Bcedekers' or Murray's, 
 and begin to enquire how soon they can leave Athens 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 65 
 
 for the next point in their travelling itinerary. I am far 
 from supposing that even to these minds some whole- 
 some and enduring ideas are not conveyed by the in- 
 spection of the remains of ancient Art. Even the oft- 
 quoted individual who was disappointed in Rome be- 
 cause it was " all in ruins," and the distinguished 
 American who remarked to me, while standing be- 
 fore the Olympian columns, that they were not " as tall 
 nor as big as our trees in California " — even these must 
 have received suggestions — fragmentary and immature 
 as they were, "which expanded into reflection in after 
 years. I am by no means sure that the quickest appre- 
 hensions of art are the noblest or most enduring. I 
 defy an unaccustomed eye to judge between the merits 
 of an old master and a well executed copy, or to select, 
 without guidance, the chief works of merit in the col- 
 lections of Florence or Rome. For years before seeing 
 it, I was under the impression that the Parthenon was 
 the prototype of the Church of the Madeleine at Paris ; 
 and I fancy that this idea prevails with many, even after 
 they have looked upon both structures ; but I have seen 
 a well known archaeologist made wild by this sugges- 
 tion, putting the people who hold this opinion and the 
 " gingerbread monstrosity of Paris," as he termed it, in 
 the same category. The truth is, the Parthenon will 
 never be repeated. Why this is so, must remain among 
 the mysteries. It may be that the religious reverence 
 and feeling which gave expression to the old ideals in 
 marble and in painting, have been trodden out by the 
 
66 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 rush of humanity. Life is more and more material, and 
 further and further recedes from that absorbing emotion 
 which, under the form of worship, gave shapes to stone 
 which even in their feeble and imperfect remains defy 
 imitation. Thus the sad, roofless hall of the Parthenon 
 receives a sadder influence from the fact that Christian 
 centuries have done, can do, nothing so far as monu- 
 mental exponents go, approaching that which was done 
 for the service of Paganism. Did we not aspire to do 
 it ; did not men tax their inventive energies and spend 
 money freely in erecting magnificent edifices for public 
 worship, the admonition of St. Paul, uttered within a 
 stone's throw of this very Parthenon, might be quoted 
 as an excuse for not attempting to rival these " temples 
 made with hands." But the fact is precisely the re- 
 verse : and so to-day we continue to gaze upon the re- 
 mains of these masterpieces of architectural beauty, 
 and to ask and re-ask ourselves the question how it is 
 that here, on the spot where we stand, the intellectual 
 supremacy of ancient Greece sprung Adam-like, with- 
 out a father ; and the beauty of her ancient Art sprung 
 Eve-like, without a mother — self-created and destined 
 themselves to create generations of gemus. 
 
 The first look at the Parthenon may disappoint some, 
 as it did me, who expected to see it loftier in altitude 
 and glistening in whiteness ; — as immaculate in Pentelic 
 purity as the marble goddess it once enshrined. On fur- 
 ther acquaintance this disappointment wears away. The 
 huge, unsightly Venetian tower of the middle ages which, 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 67 
 
 " like a barbaric sentinel," rises near the Propylaea, and 
 ought long ago to have been thrown down as having noth- 
 ing in common with the rest of the scene, — dwarfs the 
 temples of the Acropolis. But for this, the Parthenon 
 would assume to the eye the proportions which it really 
 possesses, and which are realized only when the visitor, 
 picking his way between the masses of broken marble 
 and drums of columns, stands directly before the ruins 
 and shuts out from sight and memory the deformity be- 
 hind him. Although called by the poets — golden — the 
 color of the temple is a dull reddish brown ; stained, 
 streaked and mottled by the action of the elements. 
 Many of the columns are blackened with smoke from 
 the wooden structures erected against them in the period 
 of Turkish occupation. There are places where the 
 original purity of the stone is visible, white as the frac- 
 tures, and times when the angle of light gives to the 
 whole southern side a snowy lustre, faintly recalling its 
 pristine beauty as it glistened pure and perfect under 
 the same sun which lies upon it to-day, with its grand 
 projecting sculptures and colored metropes before the 
 eyes of the Ancient Greeks, as they wound aroune^ the 
 walls in the Panathenaic procession, and entered its 
 eastern portal. Here are the very marks on the pedi- 
 ment where hung their victors' shields; here, in the 
 floor of the cella is the space where stood the statue of 
 the goddess in ivory and gold ; and here are the circular 
 grooves where swung open the massive western doors. 
 So too the ruts in the stones beneath the Propylaea 
 
68 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 worn by the chariot wheels and the marks of 'horBes' 
 hoofs, are still visible ; and between the Propylffia and 
 the Erectheum, the space is marked where rose the 
 colossal Minerva Promachus, sixty-six feet of bronze, 
 poising her traditional spear. All this is impressive, as 
 is also the large collection of sculptured fragments- 
 mere fragments, many of them scarcely suggestive of 
 their original beauty and fitness — which he huddled in 
 corners or ranged along the walls of the Propylaea — 
 but all these, once inspected, are lost in the sublime 
 oppression which fills the mind in presence of the great 
 temple itself. I have heard nothing more hideous 
 than the sound of laughter in the empty hall of the 
 Parthenon, and I fancy it is seldom heard there. Tea- 
 drinkings and singing on moonlight nights sometimes 
 desecrate the scene, and I was told that an American 
 lady once recited her own rhymes within the walls which 
 have echoed from the theatre below, the majestic lan- 
 guage of ^schylus and Sophocles! But as a rule, peo- 
 ple walk about the ruins in small and quiet parties, sub- 
 dued in voice and in feeling by the indescribable rever- 
 ence which is born of external grandeur and decay. 
 As no existing monument has such magnificent associa- 
 tions with the past, so none can furnish such a multi- 
 tude of reflections to the solitary individual sitting in 
 its midst. The Egyptian pyramids are reduced to mere 
 masses of masonry in comparison with the exalted 
 spirit, which ever breathing a divine cadence, haunts 
 the wide chamber and sublime porticos of the Parthe- 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 69 
 
 non. These walls were not only the exemplification 
 in themselves of the most elaborate art, but in their 
 " perfectedness " and in their abandonment, they have 
 looked down from their rocky throne — not upon a 
 boundless level of lifeless sand, but upon the mutations 
 of centuries ; the birth and death of generations from 
 the grandest epoch of civiHzation, crowded with evi- 
 dences of human genius and achievement, through all 
 the stages of foreign conquest, decrepitude, decay and 
 regeneration. In presence of the Parthenon, the ex- 
 pression " Corridors of Time " ceases to be a poetical 
 figure. Here is a visible and material corridor, down 
 which the ages have passed — as the winds now pass, 
 from gentlest breeze to fiercest tornado — while the 
 stones of two thousand years stood cold, passionless 
 and immovable. Here in this sanctuaried city on a hill, 
 where all is old and nothing is new — ^where no life is, 
 but the life that is no more, and where memories are its 
 invisible inhabitants — here — choosing the time when 
 the condition of mind favors such contemplation — man 
 may realize his own insignificance, and rise to higher 
 issues on these stepping-stones of history. Whether the 
 towering walls glow with midday or reflect the crimson 
 sunset of the Grecian evening ; or, bathed in those mar- 
 vellous moonlights, stand naked and peerless beside the 
 drapery of their shadows, they are alike the exponents 
 of that inexplicable mystery which, in our blindness and 
 our weakness, assures us that we are passing be- 
 yond, I cannot say that the reflections suggested by 
 
•JO THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 a visit to the Parthenon are cheering, but the contrast 
 •which it offers to the ordinary experiences of life — 
 though at times painful and always mournful, are whole- 
 some to the soul. I leave to connoisseurs and art critics, 
 the discussion of the principles of curvilinear Hnes ; — 
 the details of triglyphs, and peristyles and the treat- 
 ment of metropes and friezes which form so important 
 a part of the attractions of the Athenian remains, and 
 which are sources of never-failing wonder to those even 
 who do not know the first principles of architecture. It 
 is enough to say on this point, that only in later years the 
 remarkable dscovery has been made, that all the col- 
 umns of the Parthenon deviate from the strictly per- 
 pendicular ; that is, that they incline inward to the extent 
 of about three inches in their height.* Again, that the 
 profile lines of the columns are convex, although ap- 
 pearing straight. Not only does each column converge 
 from the base of the shaft to the top of the capital, but 
 the axes converge also " to assist the perspective of 
 elevation." Still again, the architrave forms a curve ; 
 and the steps of the temple, although strictly horizon- 
 tal, are convex on the surface, rising in the middle to 
 about three inches in a hundred feet. These delicate 
 variations from ordinary rules of architecture, can 
 be verified by running the eye upward from the base 
 of the column, and by placing an object on one end of 
 the steps of the temple, and the eye on a level at the 
 
 * Pennethorne, an English traveller, discovered the inclination 
 oi the column in 1837. 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 71 
 
 otner end, when the lower parts of the object will be 
 concealed from view, by the intervening bulge of the 
 marble. Other instances of deviation are detailed by 
 tne writers on this subject ; the purpose of which was to 
 correct the appearance of diminution by distance and 
 height ; multiply the apparent size of the whole, and in- 
 crease the effect by a systematic massing of light and 
 shadow.* No wonder that in a temple architecturally 
 faultless, and made so by the most ingenious study and 
 laborious work, the modern designer stands aghast, and 
 hesitates to attempt that which he cannot hope to copy 
 and knows he cannot surpass. 
 
 In remarking upon the effect conveyed by this sub- 
 lime ruin, I would not be supposed to fall into the habit 
 of Greek enthusiasts, who assert that all other art is in 
 subjection to the principles of ancient Greece. Both 
 in an artistic and ethical point of view, Anglo-Gothic 
 architecture seems to me to be invested with a charac- 
 ter as grand for its purposes as that of the Greek Tem- 
 ple. Most people would prefer to make York Minster 
 the shrine of their worship, rather than a temple model- 
 ed after that of the Parthenon, at Athens. The feeling in- 
 spired by the architecture of the one is chiefly moral, that 
 
 * An intelligent American artist, observing that the rain was 
 easily shed from the horizontal stones of the Parthenon, came to the 
 conclusion that the convex lines were intended for this purpose, 
 that the water might not sink into the interstices between the blocks 
 and loosen the cement. If the deviation from the straight line had 
 reference simply to effect, he is of opinion that the builders would 
 have adopted the concave instead of convex line. 
 
•J 2 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 of the latter chiefly intellectual. But the Greek artist in- 
 terpreted a popular sentiment, which vitalized the whole 
 social and political life of his country. The pride of 
 externals had no small share in causing these noble tem- 
 ples to be erected ; but the great motive power was reli- 
 gious duty as distinguished from religious love, which 
 took expression in color in the after schools of Chris- 
 tian art. Although the Parthenon was erected for 
 the admiration of the Greeks as the chief adornment 
 of a city where each citizen, in his life and in the dis- 
 position of his wealth, sacrificed his own interests to 
 the glory of the State, vanity was a subjective princi- 
 ple to that of religious faith. It was the expression of 
 an inflexible belief in a Supernal AVisdom, it mattered 
 not whether that Wisdom bore the name of God or God- 
 dess. That Minerva — the tutelary Divinity of the city — 
 should be honored by a temple worthy of her worship, 
 was the impelling cause which moved the appropria- 
 tion of so large a portion of the public money, and 
 nerved the brains of the architect and the hands of the 
 workmen. Even the brute beasts that dragged the 
 marble blocks from the quarries of Pentelicus were 
 honored for the part they had taken in the sacred work ; 
 and, by a public decree, the fattest pastures around the 
 city were allotted to them. Thus considered, the Greek 
 temple of worship was the stoniest fact that mortal ever 
 erected. Poetry was dumb beside the marbled reality 
 and absorbing sentiment which it embodied. 
 
 But ''or the absolute dominion exercised by the 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 73 
 
 Doric temple, and which reduces the Erectheum to an 
 appearance of dependence, the latter would attract to 
 it more attention. Out of sight of any other struc- 
 ture, it would surprise and satisfy by its delicacy and 
 variety of treatment. The suggestions it awakens are 
 of a totally different character from those of the Parthe- 
 non. It stands like a self-forgetful maiden, awed by 
 the majesty of her imperial mother. The three porti- 
 cos, Ionic columns, and, above all, the six caryatides of 
 draped females, give a lightness and legendary associa- 
 tion to the remains, which elevate rather than depress. 
 They seem to have a story to tell even before we re- 
 member, that here was the scene of the contest between 
 Neptune and Minerva for the protectorate of the city. 
 Three holes are shown in the rock beneath the pave- 
 ment, as the marks of Poseidon's trident, and the tree 
 of the Goddess — " the revered ancestor of all Athenian 
 Olives," grew in the middle of the chamber of Pandrosa. 
 " This temple," says Dr. Wordsworth, " had not merely a 
 religious but a moral character ; serving as it were, as 
 mediator between the two rival deities, Athena and Po- 
 seidon, to reconcile them to each other, and to endear 
 Athens to both." It is only on closely approaching the 
 portico of the caryatides, that we perceive that two of 
 the figures are substitutes for the originals — the one by 
 the whiteness of the marble, the other by its dull, un- 
 genuine look, being a cast in cement ; a changling thrust 
 upon the people in place of the legitimate princess, who 
 supports her sad exile in the hall of the British Museum. 
 
74 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 It is said that after the figure was removed from the 
 portico, the bereaved sister sent up a plaintive wail, 
 _which could be heard every night in Athens. Would it 
 might have been heard in London ! English tourists, 
 from Byron downwards, have not been less open-mouthed' 
 than those of other nationalities in denouncing Lord 
 Elgin's rape of the Parthenon ; but thus far the love of 
 possession has proved stronger than national self-re- 
 spect. The heart of private collectors is hard enough ; 
 what then must be that of the British Museum ? The 
 amiable Earl of Carlisle, in his " Diary in Greek Waters," 
 partially justifies Lord Elgin's robbery by allusion to 
 the " neglected and squalid state " of many of the ruins 
 at Athens. But this excuse, which might have been 
 good twenty years ago, fails now ; for nothing can exceed 
 the careful guardianship of every thing in the shape of 
 antiquity in Athens. The custodian of the Acropolis 
 scrupulouly inspects every visitor to whom he unlocks 
 the gate, and a guard follows, at a respectful distance, 
 each person or party until they are safely out of the sa- 
 cred enclosure. This precaution is especially necessary 
 in the case of foreigners, one of whom was a few years 
 since discovered hammering off the toe of the exqui- 
 site relief of the " Wingless Victory," which is now pro- 
 tected from further insult behind the grated door of her 
 little temple. The official character of foreign ministers 
 exempts them from any surveillance when visiting the 
 Acropohs ; and yet, in view of the example set by the 
 great English ambassador, whose diplomacy gave him 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. ►g 
 
 far less notoriety than his artistic pillage, one might 
 suppose that this class of public servants would be 
 continually under the ban of relic-hunting suspicion. 
 
 Hawthorne, speaking of the collection in the British 
 Museum, says : " There is an excellence in ancient 
 sculpture which has yet a potency to educate and refine 
 the minds of those who look at it," and it is true that 
 those who look at it in the galleries of Europe are a 
 thousand to one in comparison to the few who are pri- 
 vileged to visit the original shrines. But to my mind 
 there is a higher consideration than this. The friezes 
 of the Parthenon are the marble pages of its decora- 
 tion, ruthlessly torn from the great book of Grecian art 
 to which they belong, as much as do the leaves taken 
 from- a precious volume, and are essential to the conti- 
 nuity of the text of which they form a component part. 
 Elgin did a great wrong, but there were extenuating cir- 
 cumstances. He found the treasures of the Acropolis 
 in the hands, or rather under the feet of Turks, whose 
 highest conception of their value lay in the fact that the 
 stones could be employed for building purposes. They 
 accordingly tore down, built up or desecrated these 
 precious rehcs, according to whim or fancied necessity. 
 The English Minister found many of the friezes lying 
 neglected on the ground, and the temptation to send 
 them to England was one not to be easily resisted. 
 The permission for a quid pro quo was readily ob- 
 tained from the indolent-minded authorities, but it is 
 said that his lordship was allowed to appropriate only 
 
•J 6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 such fragments as were detached from the main build- 
 ing, or were " lying on the ground." That he exceeded 
 his instructions and desecrated the temple in removing 
 a large number of metropes, and the finest sculptures in 
 high relief which adorned the frieze, there is reason to 
 believe. But Lord Elgin is in his grave, as still as the 
 marbles, which will outlive his memory. We have now 
 to deal with the Government that paid the betrayal 
 money, and controls these works of art. A few years 
 since the Greek Government made a formal request for 
 the return of the sculptures. The diplomatic reply 
 was that " The British Government did not consider 
 Greece to be in a position to make such a request." 
 This is the answer to the child who petitions for the re- 
 turn of her legacy of jewels — jewels which hung upon 
 her mother's neck when she was young and fair, and 
 art espoused her for its own. Better far than diplo- 
 matic evasion would have been the Biblical plea, " To 
 him that hath shall be given, but to him that hath not, 
 shall be taken away even that which he hath." 
 
 It is often asked why further attempts to restore the 
 beautiful temples of the Acropolis are not made. I be- 
 lieve that the drums of pillars still scattered about the 
 ruins have been examined for that purpose, but the frag- 
 ments of no entire column remain. The former king, 
 Otho, attempted to reconstruct a portion of the Erecthe- 
 um, but the delicate tracery of a single column, — which is 
 now seen upon the ground — caused such a serious in - 
 road upon the treasury that the work was abandoned. 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 
 
 77 
 
 Among the entertainments provided for tKe Prince 
 and Princess of Wales when they visited Athens — and 
 again on the. following- year, when the Empress Eugenie 
 was there — ^was the illumination of the temples of the 
 Acropolis by artificial fires. Instead of the theatrical 
 and meretricious effect which I feared, the spectacle was 
 highly impressive. Imagine the vast space between the 
 temples fiUed with a dense, but utterly silent crowd of 
 people, whose presence was not realized until the masses 
 of colored light — ^pale- green, dark green, sapphire, and 
 ruby, by turns — suddenly illuminated the throng of spec- 
 tators, and the classic ruins among which they appeared. 
 First, the porticos of the great marble entrance to the 
 Acropolis, the glorious Propylaea, were simultaneously 
 lighted up — the western wall with a flood of ruby, and 
 the eastern with a fine contrast of greenish white^giv- 
 ing to the whole a realizing idea of those transcendent 
 temples which imaginative minds love to picture as the 
 celestial abodes of purified souls. When the colors faded 
 into darkness, the Parthenon had its turn ; the contrast- 
 ing colors being applied to the columns and walls 
 until they glowed with supernatural effulgence. As the 
 chemical fires, and the men who held them, were con- 
 cealed behind the columns, the effect \vas not marred by 
 moving figures or machinery. Perhaps the most strik- 
 ing scene of all was when the six life-sized maidens of 
 the Erectheum suddenly stood forth in solemn presence 
 like an apparition from the mighty past, their counte- 
 nances and long draped robes livid with unnatural light, 
 
78 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 as they gazed for a few brief moments fixedly upon the 
 multitude, then faded slowly into darkness. 
 
 The most enthusiastic description can scarcely ex- 
 aggerate the panoramic view on a clear day from the 
 heights of the Acropolis. Here one may stand where 
 the father of Theseus stood gazing for the returning 
 sail ; or better still, mount to the top of the roof of the 
 Parthenon, and sitting on one of its marble beams — more 
 than twenty feet in length — look out upon the .^gean 
 sea— the island of ^gina ; the straits of immortal 
 Salamis — the Parnes range and " Phyle's brow," where 
 Thrasybulus and his seventy withstood the power of 
 the Thirty Tyrants — Pentelicus, whose womb brought 
 forth the marble on which the spectator rests, and 
 Hymettus — behind which can be felt, though seen not, 
 the memorable plain of Marathon. This is the boundary 
 circle of the panorama, of which the Acropolis is its 
 central point. In the valley below spreads the thick 
 grove of the " Academe," with the hill of columns on 
 its right, the scene of the death of GEdipus, and the 
 winding bed of the Cephisus, like its sister stream on 
 the other side of the picture — now almost waterless. 
 The eye runs along the road to Daphne and traces the 
 Via Sacra, where streamed the Panathenaic processions 
 on their way to and from the great Eleusinian Myste- 
 ries. At the base of his rocky throne, the spectator 
 sees the Modern Athens stretching to the northeast; 
 and peering into its maze of streets he can descry 
 the "Tower of the Winds," the Choragic Monument 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. -jg 
 
 of Lysicrates and other relics of the ancient city. 
 Here, apart from the town, on its broad square dotted 
 with squads of soldiers under drill, stands the Temple 
 of Theseus — the best preserved ruin of Ancient Greece 
 — tawny in color like the Parthenon and more severely 
 simple in its proportions. Across the road on its left, 
 like a wall of smooth masonry, is the Pnyx, from the 
 " Bema" of which Demosthenes thundered his Philippics ; 
 while the valley below is the site of the ancient Agora, 
 where Pericles and Phidias walked and talked, Plato 
 reasoned, and Socrates confounded the shopkeepers and 
 idlers of the market place with philosophic subtleties. 
 Immediately below the spectator, a rocky offshoot of 
 the Acropolis fixes the attention, only when it is remem- 
 bered that on its little circular summit sat the tribunal of 
 the Areopagus, against whose final decrees there was no 
 appeal, and where centuries afterwards, Paul preached 
 his memorable sermon. The black cleft in one ex- 
 tremity of the rock is assigned as the " Cave of the 
 Furies." The eye, thus brought homeward, surveys the 
 precipitous sides of the Acropolis, the city's " specula- 
 tive crest." It is indented with natural fissures, which 
 are charmed with the titles of the " Cave of Pan " and. 
 the " Grotto of Apollo," but the southern slope is rich 
 with the remains of the " Odeum of Herodes " and the 
 " Theatre of Dionysus." The massive Roman Arches 
 of the former are imposing; but Roman remains on 
 Greek soil fail to excite much interest beside the older 
 and more precious evidences of that earlier epoch from 
 
So THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 which the mind of the visitor in Greece would not wil- 
 lingly be diverted. The Theatre of Dionysus, com- 
 monly known as the Theatre of Bacchus, exhumed only 
 within a few years, is far more interesting with its ranges 
 of marble seats and the high reliefs facing the orchestra ; 
 and although little, perhaps nothing, of the days of 
 ^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripides remains, yet, who 
 can stand above that glorious arena and before the 
 '.' void stage," without a passing vision of that glory of 
 which but a few translated rays have come down to us ? 
 The remains of the great Temple of the Jupiter 
 Olympus stand on a broad square of ground eastward 
 of the Acropolis. Of these sixteen superb Corinthian 
 columns, all but three stand together at one angle of the 
 rectangular platform, upon which were formerly ranged 
 one hundred and twenty-four columns, covering a space 
 of three hundred and fifty-four feet, by a breadth of, 
 one hundred and seventy-one feet ! Of the three re- 
 maining columns, which are at a little distance from the 
 main group, one was thrown down a few years ago by a 
 severe gale, and now Hes stretched at their base, like the 
 disjointed vertebrae of a colossal skeleton. Twenty- 
 nine feet higher than the pillars of the Parthenon, and 
 without wall or pediment, they are more impressive in 
 sublime isolation, than the masterpiece of Phidias on 
 the height above. " Templum unum in terris inchoatum 
 pro magnitudine dei," it is now one of the grandest in 
 its lesson of decay. The position which the remains 
 occupy could not be improved. If on an elevation like 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 8 1 
 
 the Acropolis, the shafts would be dwarfed by the 
 pedestal ; but standing clean and bold on a wide unin- 
 terrupted level of ground, with only the transparent air 
 between them and the distant glitter of the ^gean sea, 
 they are never-ceasiiig objects of delight. This temple 
 is in one sense the oldest and the youngest of Grecian 
 ruins. " Begun in the first burst of Athenean great- 
 ness, seven centuries passed before its completion, and 
 it becomes thus identical with the progress and decay 
 o* Greece. Erected for the worship of the Supreme 
 God of the Greek mythology,' that worship was super- 
 seded by the dawn of Christiariity before its last stones 
 were laid." To what period of this extraordinary his- 
 tory the existing pillars belong, has not, I believe, been 
 ascertained. The fallen column adds very much to the 
 effect of the scene, and the proposition which has from 
 time to time been made for its removal, will, it is to be 
 hoped, never be acted upon. Some years ago a public 
 spirited countryman of ours, moved, no doubt, by the 
 success of Lord Elgin, made an effort to purchase 
 this column; but the days of Turkish rapacity had 
 gone by, and Greece was not to be cajoled into a 
 second desecration of her relics. As a matter of curi- 
 osity, 1 caused a German architect at Athens to esti- 
 mate the cost of re-erecting the fallen pillar. He went 
 into a minute calculation, by which it was shown that 
 the simply setting up of the sections, one upon another, 
 and the restoration of the base, would cost about three 
 thousand dollars. This gives a faint idea of the cost of the 
 
82 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 erection of the entire temple. The eighteen sections of the 
 prostrate column lie as they fell, each lapping its fellow. 
 They measure six feet and four inches in diameter, so 
 that a man standing on a level behind one of the drums, 
 would be entirely concealed from view. This will sug 
 gest the magnitude of the standing columns which rise 
 to the height of fifty-five feet, supporting an architrave, 
 one of the marble beams of which is stated to weigh 
 twenty-three tons. One wonders, as he stands dwarfed 
 before these monsters of art and beauty, what has be- 
 come of the rest of the temple. If any considerable 
 portion had been employed in building purposes, their 
 remains would have been visible in parts of the old city. 
 The Turks reduced much of the marble found at 
 Athens to lime ; but this would hardly account for the 
 disposition of more than an infinitesimal portion of the 
 vast structure, which occupied seven hundred years in 
 its construction and which has passed away like the 
 palace of Aladdin in swiftness and silence, making no 
 sign. 
 
 The three grand temples of Ancient Athens — the 
 Theseum, the Parthenon, and the Jupiter Olympus — lie 
 far removed from each other, and at different elevations, 
 but in respect to position are very nearly in an air line. 
 The Parthenon is between the two other temples, and is 
 also between them in point of size. Thus they lie tel- 
 escopically, as it were, towards each other, for if 
 movable, the Theseum could easily go inside the ■Par- 
 thenon, and the Parthenon inside the Olympus. This 
 
THE PARTHENON AND OTHER RUINS. 83 
 
 gives an idea of the relative proportions of the three 
 temples. 
 
 One of our leading American painters, who was in 
 Greece a few years ago, lamented to me that he had 
 " wasted the entire winter among the stuccos of Rome," 
 instead of passing it in Athens among the only "real" 
 monuments of ancient art he had ever surveyed. Trav- 
 ellers, historians, poets and painters, have paid to these 
 temples the highest tribute which pen and pencil can 
 bestow, and there is nothing now left for us but to enjoy 
 them. The civilized world agrees in this, that it cannot 
 too heartily rejoice in the preservation of these monu- 
 ments and matchless marbles which illustrate Ancient 
 Greek Art in Florence, Rome and Paris, and which are in- 
 deed the noblest things those noble cities have to show to- 
 day. And yet, how would it have been if no vestige 
 had remained of all this beauty ? When I look at these 
 temples, rescued miraculously, as it were, from the hands 
 of time, and especially from the destructive hands of 
 ignorance and barbarism during all these centuries, I 
 am reminded of what the great Napoleon said of him- 
 self when he and his followers escaped the dangers of 
 the Red Sea : " If," said he, " I had perished like Pha- 
 raoh, what a magnificent text it would have furnished 
 to the preachers of Christendom." So would it have 
 been with these monuments had they perished, and no 
 stone been left upon another to delight the eye and 
 gladden the heart. All the preachers in Christendom 
 would have found a "glorious text" in the fact of their 
 
84 THE GREEKS' OF TO-DAY. 
 
 destruction, and attributed to Divine vengeance the 
 sweeping away from the face of the earth of every 
 vestige of Pagan worship — every idolatrous temple, 
 every marble god, and every nude divinity. 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 
 MODERN GREEKS. 
 
 I E is the only honest man in Athens," said 
 an English friend to me soon after my ar- 
 rival, referring , to a Greek gentleman 
 whom he met going out of my house as he himself was 
 coming in. I was startled at the overwhelming denun- 
 ciation implied by the remark. Much as I had heard, 
 here and abroad, of the " degraded character " of the 
 modern Greek, of his " utter disregard of moral obliga- 
 tions," of his " cunning, duplicity, knavery, vainglory," 
 and other obliquity, I was not prepared to find that but 
 a single example of righteousness existed in the capital 
 of Greece. But if this knowledge was painful, there 
 was something refreshingly original in the idea that out 
 of a population of forty or fifty thousand souls, one hu- 
 man beingj stood pre-eminent as "the noblest work of 
 God," an honest man. Seizifig — mentally, of course — 
 this rare specimen of pure humanity in a society of 
 knaves, I placed him with tender care upon the foremost 
 shelf of my cabinet of Greek curiosities. And a very fine 
 specimen he was, inasmuch as he officially occupied the 
 highest seat in the highest judicial tribunal in the king- 
 
88 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 dom — a position wliich at least indicated good judg- 
 ment on the part of those who had placed him there, 
 and which seemed to encourage the hope that so prom- 
 inent and pure an example of the upright judge might 
 permeate the dissolute mass around him, and in time re- 
 generate the people at large. But scarcely had I de- 
 posited this rara avis in my museum, when anothei 
 Enghsh friend pointed out to me in the street another 
 Greek, whom he also designated as " the only honest 
 man in Greece /" This time it was a politician, one who 
 had occupied prominent positions in the State, and who 
 was believed to be strongly impregnated with les idks 
 Anglaises, which, while it might account for the partial- 
 ity accorded to him by my friend, encouraged the belief 
 that under such an honest guide, even the crooked paths 
 of politics might be made straight, and the desert of 
 ambition blossom with the rose of patriotism. Do not 
 accuse me of a tendency to embellish when I add that 
 before long a third man — the King's gardener, a Ger- 
 man — was named to me as " the only honest man in 
 Athens." This specimen, however, I rejected, not be- 
 cause he was " honest " — Heaven forbid ! — but because 
 he was not a Greek. Another honest man in the shape 
 of a tailor soon after made his appearance. Him I ac- 
 cepted, because, although popularly entitled to only a 
 fractional part of humanity, I was assured that his meas- 
 ures could be relied upon. In the course of time other 
 " honest men," including merchants, professors, editors, 
 and even lawyers, made themselves or were made known 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 89 
 
 to me, until my museum of natural curiosities became 
 so crowded that a question arose in my mind, whether 
 it would not be more curious to make a collection of the 
 dishonest men of Athens. Toward such a work I should 
 have wanted no end of coadjutors. There was my 
 friend A, who seemed to take a dear delight in picking 
 up every social, moral, and political delinquency as ex- 
 clusive attributes of the Greek character. As to nation- 
 al virtue, he had lived there long enough not to discov- 
 er any ; or if by hazard some good trait did occasionally 
 appear upon the surface, it was attributed to that under- 
 current oi foreign influence which alone is believed to 
 freshen and redeem the turbid waters of effete Hellen- 
 ism. Then there was my friend B, who had studied 
 and pondered over, and written, and talked about Greek 
 history from the Roman conquest to the reign of Otho, 
 and ought certainly to know all about it from root to 
 branch. He had found the root rotten and the branches 
 sterile. His romantic ideas of Greece began to fade 
 from the moment that he set foot on the " classic soil " 
 in the days of the Greek revolution ; and his experience 
 of many years in the country had taught him, too late, 
 the bitter truth that investments in real estate in Greece 
 do not always yield the golden harvest that was expect- 
 ed ; and that tireless reiterations of Greek national defi- 
 ciencies in volumes, magazines, and London newspa- 
 pers, do not win that laurel wreath of renown with which 
 incessant literary labor sometimes crowns the hoary head 
 of intellectual age Again, there was my friend C, who 
 
9° 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 regarded it as his special duty to connect with diplo- 
 matic periods the scattered bones of Athenian politics, 
 and present the abhorred spectacle of the fleshless skel- 
 eton to his master of the Foreign office. Nobody ever 
 could deny that the bones were real, and if he did not 
 choose to admit that there were other bones where he 
 found these, clothud in flesh and blood, and performing 
 the healthful functions of humanity, it was not his busi- 
 ness to publish the fact. There was also my friend D, 
 as honest-hearted a man as one meets with in a lifetime, 
 who took an early opportunity of assuring me that I 
 would not be six months in Athens before all my enthu- 
 siastic ideas, if I had any, about the Greeks, would be 
 " washed out,'' and that I would find them, with scarce 
 an exception, to be a worthless, sententious, impracti- 
 cable race. Finally, not to go any further down the al- 
 phabet of denunciators, there was E, who had passed 
 years in the civil service abroad, and who is named in a 
 certain publication of some merit as one " who knows 
 more of the Ionian Islands than any other living Eng- 
 lishman." E still holds office in that quarter of the 
 world which he knows so much about, and as his opin- 
 ion of the people around him ought to be of weight, I 
 give it. " The Greeks,'' said he to me one day as I 
 called upon him in his official " den" — " the Greeks are 
 a nation of freebooters, and the Greek Church a relig- 
 ion of painted boards ;" accompanying this sententious 
 utterance with a wave of the hand which set at defiance 
 further argument, and left upon my mind a distinct iin- 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. gi 
 
 pression that, like Bunsby, he had given an opinion " as 
 is an opinion." I have no doubt that my friend hon- 
 estly believed what he said. EngUshmen are not hypo- 
 crites. As I have intimated, I found abundant coun- 
 sellors ever ready to rise to the highest flights of Hel- 
 lenic imagery to show me the emptiness of the bubble ; 
 or to dive down the deepest wells of sophistry to bring 
 up the pearl of truth. " Will you just allow me to take 
 you behind the scenes," said one of my mentors, " bj- 
 recounting to you an affair which I happen to know all 
 about ? You are a little skeptical I think, and I would 
 just like to give you an idea of the political corruption 
 of this place." I had not the slightest objection what- 
 ever to be taken behind the scenes. It was not the first 
 time I had been there, and I was not altogether unac- 
 quainted with the manner in which trap doors are man- 
 aged, spirits conjured, or political thunder manufactured. 
 As to my skepticism on such subjects, my friend did 
 me a grievous wrong. I was any thing but an unbeliever 
 in the clap-trap of parties ; and as to political dishon- 
 esty, how can a man pass years in various societies 
 where the staple of conversation is partisan, not to say 
 personal abuse, without believing somewhat in human 
 depravit)' ? 
 
 The manner in which my friend took me behind the 
 scenes on the present occasion, was to seat me in a com- 
 fortable corner of his sofa, and whisper in my ear the 
 following tale of terror. But I will not weary the reader 
 with details. Briefly the case was this : A certain prom- 
 
92 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 inent member of the opposition had actually proposed 
 to one of the ministry, that if the latter would remove 
 three officials, who for many years had held posts of 
 trust under the government, and replace them with three 
 of the personal friends of the pohtician, he would influ- 
 ence the election, then about to be held, in favor of the 
 existing ministry. This was the revelation that was to 
 open my eyes to the degradation of Greek politics and 
 the obliquity of Greek morals. It might have brought a 
 smile to the countenance of a member of the New York 
 " Ring," but that of my narrator was stern with a sense 
 of genuine indignation. I knew all the circumstances 
 of this case before he told me, and the facts were as 
 stated ; but my museum of Greek curiosities was at that 
 time in an incomplete state, and I yielded to the temp- 
 tation to bait my hook for more. " May it not be," said 
 I, " that these three men now in office are untrustwor- 
 thy, and might be replaced by better men ? " That's just 
 the point," was the reply ; " they hold places of great 
 responsibility, and I never heard a word impugning 
 their integrity or honor." Thus, with one haul of the 
 line I caught three more " honest men of Greece," which, 
 by-the-way, was no mean catch, seeing that my inform- 
 ant was the same who, a short time before, had desig- 
 nated one of the individuals before mentioned as the 
 " only " specimen of the genus honoris in the kingdom 
 of Greece. Before quitting the subject of our conver- 
 sation I thought it only fair — considering that one good 
 story deserves another — to remind my English friend 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 53 
 
 that only a few weeks previous, at a eertain election in 
 England, one man confessed to having received two 
 thousand guineas to in-fluence votes in a single borough. 
 
 This case of attempted bribery in high quarters is not 
 the worst, any more than it is the least, of many that 
 came under my notice in that country ; and yet it may be 
 well doubted if political parties in Greece are as obnox- 
 ious to the charge of corruption, or men in office of pec- 
 ulation, as are those of older and richer communities, 
 where, under far less temptation, open-handed bribery 
 passes with comparative impunity. 
 
 I may be excused for bringing my own countrymen 
 into the catalogue of political delinquents. The New 
 York journals furnish enough information on this head, 
 which is duly circulated in monarchical society in Europe 
 as a warning to embryo republicanism. But nothing is 
 more natural than to ask how far the example of the 
 three " Protecting powers " of Greece is calculated to 
 give point to the sermons on political righteousness 
 which are everlastingly being preached to the people of 
 Greece. Are electioneering practices in England pure 
 and undefiled ? Does ruffianism prevail in any part of 
 the United Kingdom, or make her capitals a by- word ? 
 Are the masses of her population contented, educated, 
 temperate, and virtuous ? Has she ever indulged in for- 
 eign conquests, or kept millions of an alien people in 
 subjection by immense armies? How stands France ? 
 and is it true that when Greece looked at that government 
 during the empire as to a guide, counsellor, and friend. 
 
94 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 she beheld " deputies sent up to her Assembly in the 
 interest of corrupt administrations, bought by private 
 gifts, or grants for unnecessary or extravagant public 
 works ? " How is it about the " jobbing and malversa- 
 tion of all kinds " practised in Russia ? Is it true that 
 the last -emperor, in his attempts to stop the corruption 
 of officials, found the whole machinery of government 
 at a stand-still for want of the accustomed oiling, and in 
 despair gave up the experiment ? If these self-appointed 
 guardians of the little kingdom often, or even sometimes, 
 follow the pliarisaical method of taking tithes of mint and 
 cummin, while neglecting the weightier matters of the law, 
 is it astonishing that the political child born in a gypsy 
 camp does not spring more rapidly to the full proportions 
 of statesman-like beauty — the realization of the senti- 
 ment with which it is endowed ? 
 
 Corruption in politics in Greece there most assuredly 
 is. The vile lessons of barbaric centuries and the living 
 lessons of civilization have not been lost upon the Greek 
 mind. Money is employed to induce certain men in cer- 
 tain parts to give certain political bearing to the elec- 
 tions. Partisan principles are often advocated by bad 
 men. Men in office, who have had their backs scratched, 
 tickle their friends for doing it. Favorites get bones 
 thrown to them under the table, and Lazarus without 
 gets no crumbs. "A fat contiact," if such a thing as 
 fatness is to be found in Greece, gets reduced in its pro- 
 portions before it reaches the rightful owner. " If one 
 handles honey, some of it may stick to the fingers," is a 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. gg 
 
 Greek proverb of world-wide application. All these 
 things, and more, occur in Greece, for the people do not 
 claim to be " a society of angels," but only to be "like 
 other people." But there is this difference. Greece, po- 
 litically, is poor ; not literally, but comparatively, clad in 
 rags ; and is easily pierced by the pigmy straws of her 
 own and foreign manufacture. In the other ildtions the 
 " gowns and furred robes hide all." I am persuaded that 
 few acts of political iniquity lie concealed. If the office- 
 holder, with a salary of a thousand or fifteen hundred 
 dollars, thinks to double it by some hocus-pocus known 
 to experts, or by actually slipping his hand in the public 
 treasury,' he thinks twice before attempting it, for the 
 chances of exposure are a hundred to one. Every office 
 is surrounded by hungry, eager eyes, watching for the 
 stool that the first may fall from. Besides this, a public 
 official in Athens, be he the humblest clerk, walks be- 
 tween masked batteries of political journals, any one of 
 which will hif him if it can, the instant he exposes his 
 vulnerable point. I am persuaded that the Greeks 
 themselves are accountable for much of the prejudice 
 against them. The politicians ferret out every conceivable 
 and many inconceivable crimes, and the twenty-five or 
 thirty journals of Athens do not let it die for want of cir- 
 culation. The great proportion of political sinning is fab- 
 ricated by partisan scribblers, and it may be safely said 
 that much of that which has foundation is exaggerated, 
 and much of that which is not exaggerated has no foun- 
 dation, in fact. There is little peculation, and less ve- 
 
96 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 nality. Favoritism and nepotism are frequent charges 
 against the ministers. " To the victors belong the 
 spoils," is a motto which originated out of Greece, how- 
 ever often it is adopted in the kingdom. 
 
 The pay of the Greek office-holder is so miserably 
 small, that a clerk in an ordinary commercial house in 
 America would reject it. Neither do I believe that, as a 
 rule, political men at Athens make a drachma out of 
 their position. They are mostly poor men ; and those 
 who hold landed property have it mostly under a heavy 
 mortgage, and are in debt. Of the four political leaders 
 of to-day, two are in the receipt of comfortable incomes 
 from family inheritance ; the other two are notably poor. 
 The pay of a Greek minister is a thousand drachmas a 
 month — say two thousand dollars a year — and the pay of 
 the member of Parliament is less than three hundred 
 and fifty dollars for the session. These salaries do not 
 seem to offer much inducement to take office. It may 
 be argued that, for this reason, no one would take office 
 but for pecuniary advantages incident thereto. But if 
 men feathered their nests in this way, the fact would 
 certainly in some instances transpire. On the contrary, 
 we find them going out of office as poor or poorer than 
 when they went in ; and I know of cases where men who 
 have repeatedly filled high and responsible positions in 
 the state, have depended for their future support on pri- 
 vate charity. I think, therefore, that the general charge 
 of " peculation," or " misappropriation " — or by whatever 
 name pecuniary dishonesty is called — in Greece, may be 
 
POLITICAI, CHARACTERISTICS. gy 
 
 allowed to fall to the ground. A recently published ar- 
 ticle asserts that " places are made subservient to party 
 success as distinguished from the public advantage ; and 
 dishonest gains in office are winked at or shared, on the 
 plea of party necessity or interest.'' I should be sorry 
 to have any Greek read this, because the author of the 
 statement is an American, Jacob D. Cox, and the sub- 
 ject on which he writes is the civil service, not of Greece, 
 but of the United States ! 
 
 The love of power is the secret loadstone which 
 draws the Greek poKtician up, up, into the highest office 
 he can reach, and which gives him contentment therein, 
 even when he feels that the prize may have to be reUn- 
 quished within a brief period of months. When he gets 
 into office he distributes his patronage to pay his fol- 
 lowers for helping him to it, or keeping him in ; and 
 however objectionable this process is, and injurious in 
 principle and practice to the cause of free institutions, 
 it has to be endured, as we at home endure the specta- 
 cle of a new President, with fifty thousand offices in his 
 gift — " the greatest patronage enjoyed by any ruler in 
 the world — putting the whole machinery of this patron- 
 age into operation for political purposes." 
 
 Egotism, rather than depravity in morals, is the 
 charge to be brought against Greek statesmen ; and the 
 reformer might as well attempt to rub out of the' Eng- 
 lishman, Frenchman, or American, his darling idea of 
 self-superiority, as to erase this idiosyncrasy from the 
 mind of the Greek. 
 5 
 
gg THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Greece is the freest of constitutional monarchies. 
 Her sovereign was called to the throne by the voice of 
 the people. His subjects are equal before the law, and 
 there are no titles of nobihty or distinction. The liber- 
 ty of the individual an'd his house is inviolable. Trial 
 by jury is maintained. The press is free, and is allowed 
 to be the vehicle of any and every opinion not contrary 
 to the religion of the state or against the person of the 
 King. Suffrage is universal. Members of the Cham- 
 ber of Deputies represent the nation as well as the 
 province which elects them. Cabinet ministers take 
 part in the deliberations of the Chamber, and under 
 certain circumstances can be brought to trial by the 
 Chamber before a special court convened for that pur- 
 pose. The number of deputies from each district is 
 fixed in proportion to its inhabitants ; and the whole 
 number can never be less than one hundred and fifty. 
 Thus in Athens, with a population of fifty thousand, 
 the number elected is six. The system of universal 
 suffrage will become more and more successful, as 
 the people learn to be more self-reliant and inde- 
 pendent of arbitration of placemen. It is a safety,- 
 valve to the passions of the people, and is in har- 
 mony with the principles of liberal government. In 
 Athens perfect tranquillity prevails at elections, but . 
 in some of the provinces the presence of troops is re- 
 quired to maintain order ; and it not unfrequently oc- 
 curs that affrays, with loss of life, take place in closely 
 contested districts. The system employed at elec- 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 99 
 
 tions ia Greece is that of " secret ballot ; " and as the 
 adoption of this system in England has been a question 
 before Parliament, it may not be uninteresting to dwell 
 for a moment upon the peculiar mode in vogue in Greece. 
 Each candidate has a separate ballot-box upon which 
 his name is inscribed. These boxes are ranged in a line ' 
 across the body of the communal church, where the elec- 
 tions take place, and are elevated to the height of the 
 breast of the voter. Behind each box, on a raised bench, 
 sits a friend of each candidate, to challenge, if neces- 
 sary, the right of the voter. Registers are stationed 
 near the door of the church to check from the printed 
 lists the name of each voter as he receives his ballot. 
 Thus far the modus operandi does not materially differ 
 from our own, except that a separate box is assigned to 
 each candidate. But the boxes are peculiar, and may 
 furnish a hint upon which a less objectionable plan than 
 our owti might be adopted. The glass box in vogue in 
 the United States was formerly employed in Greece, but 
 is now rej ected. The receptacle for the ballot is a square 
 tin box, with a ridged roof, in shape not unlike that of 
 a small dog kennel, frofn which projects longitudinally 
 about a foot of pipe of the diameter of a stove funnel. 
 Into this funnel the voter inserts his arm, having first re- 
 ceived from the attendant a small lead or iron bullet. 
 The ballot-box is divided interiorly into two partitions, 
 and the box is painted externally white and black, to 
 correspond with these divisions — ^white signifying yea, 
 and black nay. The name of the candidate inscribed 
 
loo THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 on the ballot-box is distinctly announced, and the 
 voter, whose hand is concealed, drops his bullet by a 
 simple movement of the wrist into the yea or nay parti- 
 tion as he elects. The ball falls noiselessly, and the voter 
 withdraws his hand without the possibility of his vote 
 being known to the observers. This process he repeats 
 until he has voted for ea<:/i candidate. The process is 
 lengthy, but the time allowed for elections, extending 
 over several days, prevents undue excitement or eager 
 haste. It is difficult to conceive of a mode in principle 
 better calculated to protect the independent action of 
 the voter, and to secure immunity from fraud. 
 
 Unlike our own elections, where the announcement 
 of the elected candidate is like oil on the waters of 
 clamor and the effervescence of parties, the defeated 
 candidates in Greece retire from the open field only to 
 unite to get their opponents ousted on the first con- 
 venient opportunity. 
 
 AVhen a new cabinet is called into power by the sov- 
 ereign, criticism sharpens its pen almost before the 
 Prime Minister can take his oath of office. Every act, 
 and many acts not even contemplated, are animadverted 
 upon by a merciless press, while charges of " favorit- 
 ism," or " nepotism,'' or what not, are hurled at the 
 ministry after each displacement in office, and a tiresome 
 repetition of stale political eggs break upon the official 
 linen, however immaculate it may be. There is little 
 respect to persons in these attacks, but absolute scur- 
 rihty is rare. The press of Athens is much given to 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. loi 
 
 rodomontade, but not to vulgarity. When the Prime 
 Minister of England is spoken of at a public dinner 
 presided over by an English earl as a "mean and de- 
 spicable toad," and as " the greatest knave and Jesuiti- 
 cal poUtical scoundrel the country had seen," it must be 
 regarded as a very exceptional case, but it does not the 
 less make it not surprising that in inferior organized 
 communities occasional blackguardism should be re- 
 sorted to by the pop-gun portion of the Athens press. 
 
 When a Greek minister is well seated on the box of 
 the- governmental coach, he is not unapt to hold the 
 reins with an arbitrary grasp, and usurp rather than 
 exercise power, which is itself a recompense for the 
 struggles and heart-burnings which it has cost him to 
 obtain it. He is then comparatively indifferent to the 
 criticisms of the by-standers, and if any impetuous op- 
 ponent gets in his way, will perhaps run over him with 
 a nonchalance strikingly in contrast with the deference 
 with which he formerly hung upon popular favor. He 
 sweeps away many offices held by poHtical opponents, 
 on the plea of " public economy," and he creates posts 
 on the plea of " public necessity." He makes honest 
 professions of reform in administration, which he finds 
 it impossible to carry out, chiefly from the short term 
 that he holds office, and he makes promises of political 
 preferment to his friends, which are not always fulfilled. 
 He soon finds his seat slipping from under him and his 
 popularity oozing away ; and when he falls, it is to give 
 place to an opponent who will pursue pretty much the 
 
I02 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 same political course, and meet with the same political 
 fortune. To retain popularity in office for any length 
 of time, is an impossibility with a Greek statesman ; for 
 no matter how pure his motives, how earnest liis en- 
 deavors to steer the ship of state past the breakers and 
 into a safe haven, he will find public sentiment pressing 
 for his removal or a change of ministry, if for no other 
 reason, because he has been too long in office. It is 
 only when the minister returns to private life that his 
 accusers cease accusing, because they are then busy 
 with the new incumbent ; or, what is not unlikely, the ex- 
 minister will for the first time read flattering encomiums 
 upon his late honorable and successful administration, 
 and learn that a man must first be politically dead if he 
 wishes to read his own epitaph. Thus, almost by rota- 
 tion, the three or four parties, or, more properly speak- 
 ing, personal cliques, rise and fall in Athens on the 
 ever restless surges of an apparently idle but active 
 population, a great proportion of which is composed of 
 office-holders or office-seekers. I say personal cliques 
 rather than parties, because, properly speaking, there 
 are no important principles or distinctions to mark these 
 separate organizations. Each political leader is sur- 
 rounded by a greater or less number of followers, flat- 
 terers, or champions, as the case may be, whose chief 
 inducement to political devotion is political reward. 
 This condition finds a parallel in all countries, but the 
 distinction there is that the majority instead of the 
 minority of citizens in the capital are politij:;al game- 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 103 
 
 sters. They play the same cards and win the same 
 "honors," but if they lose, they are themselves lost 
 until the next change of fortune, and wander about 
 with empty pockets, not knowing where to replenish 
 them, except by a recourse to the same exhaustive pas- 
 sion. But disappointment rarely reduces the energies 
 of the political aspirant. By dint of much floundering 
 in that uncertain sea, he sometimes -makes a great wave, 
 and rises on it ; and when the spectator supposes that 
 he is on the point of being overwhelmed, he is on the 
 point of being saved. The Greek is an excellent 
 swimmer, whether buffeting the brine at the sea-baths 
 of Phalerum or sporting in the more shallow waters of 
 politics within the capital. 
 
 By instinct the people of Greece are democratic, by 
 circumstances they are royalists. Theoretically consid- 
 ered, they would appear to be peculiarly adapted for a 
 republican form of government ; but the failure of the 
 experiment under Capodistria (who was assassinated for 
 his supposed intrigues with Russia) and the exceptional 
 condition which Greece holds toward the rest of Europe, 
 and especially toward the three protecting powers, make 
 her existing form of government such as commends 
 itself to the majority of the governed. The Greeks 
 are, therefore, loyal to the throne, they respect the per- 
 son of the king, and are faithful to the constitution and 
 the laws. While local politics are the never-ceasing topic 
 of discussion throughout the kingdom, national politics 
 are the active and vital topic of discussion in the capital. 
 
I04 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 There, every shade of opinion prevails, and every idea 
 short of revolution and anarchy is propagated, and finds 
 supporters. There are those who would maintain the 
 present constitution as a faultless instrument ; those 
 who would amend it, and those who would do away 
 with it altogether. There are those who, believing in 
 tire fiction that the sovereign can do no wrong, would 
 give the king more political power ; and there are those 
 who, believing the sovereign can do wrong, would reduce 
 him to a puppet. Some would take away all responsi- 
 bihty from the sovereign and place it in the hands of 
 the ministry ; and some would absolve the ministry from 
 all responsibility and fix it upon the sovereign. Some 
 would increase the royal prerogatives, add another mil- 
 lion to the king's civil list, surround him with the 
 pageantry of a mounted guard, and further restrict 
 accessibility to the royal presence. The openly avowed 
 democrat, on the other hand, would cut down the pres- 
 ent income of the king, abolish the court, have his 
 majesty live as the "first gentleman of Athens" in a 
 private dweUing, and reduce the number of horses in 
 the royal stables from forty to four. It may be thought 
 that in the midst of such conflicting opinions, and the 
 never-ceasing antagonisms of pohtical parties and poli- 
 tical complaints, the throne of Greece is a bed of 
 thorns. But King George is self-reliant, independent 
 in views and action, and without that personal ambition 
 which is regardless of the steps it takes to its accom- 
 plishment. He feels the popular pulse, and tries to 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 105 
 
 keep time with it, not more as a matter of policy than 
 from national sympathy. But the position of a sovereign 
 of Greece is not an enviable position, because from the 
 peculiar character and condition of the people, a sov- 
 ereign who would be thoroughly satisfactory to the 
 nation, must possess a combination of impossible quali- 
 ties. The king the Greeks would have, should be a 
 Greek king — an impossibility in itself, since there is no 
 royal stock in the nation, and to place a man of the 
 people on the throne, would be an anomaly insufferable 
 to Europe, and fraught with imminent personal danger 
 to his democratic majesty. Since, then, the sovereign 
 can not have Greek blood in his veins, the nearest 
 condition to it is that he shall become Greek by sympa- 
 thy of language and ideas. This presupposes youth, 
 since no transplanted stock can denationalize itself 
 excepting through the slow process of time and growth. 
 But the sovereign should possess the qualifications of a 
 ruler. He should be a man of capacity, administrative 
 talents, of political wisdom, resulting from his experi- 
 ence in affairs of state. This condition is inconsistent 
 with the period of youth. Herein lies one of the 
 glaring defects of kingcraft ; a defect exceeded only by 
 the greater monstrosity of royal succession, whereby 
 the child of a sovereign becomes invested with sover- 
 eign attributes simply because he is the son of his 
 father, without respect to fitness, mental and moral en- 
 dowments, or the one quality of all qualities necessary 
 to a ruler, personal solicitude for the honor of his 
 5* 
 
lo6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 kingdom. Upon what principle of justice or of hu- 
 manity such an individual, placed upon a perilous throne 
 by the will of others, and often, too, before he is con- 
 scious of his own will, should be held responsible for 
 the evils of government, fails to appear from any de- 
 ductions of reason. Yet the very men upon whom the 
 real responsibility should rest for the results of an act 
 which has no authority but that of traditional custom, 
 are those who rid themselves of the ignominy of the 
 political failure, and saddle the sins of maladministra- 
 tion upon the shoulders of the only individual who 
 really had nothing to do with the iniquity of the original 
 proceeding. 
 
 Thus in 1832 King Otho of Bavaria was placed upon 
 the throne of Greece at the age of seventeen. An hon- 
 est-hearted young man, but without intellectual strength. 
 Dressed in the Greek fustinella, he endeavored to be 
 Greek in spirit, but under his braided jacket his heart 
 beat to foreign measures, and his ear inclined to foreign 
 counsels. But for the quicker-witted Amelia, his follies 
 would have worn out the patience of the people sooner 
 than they did. Fortunately, the material progress of 
 Greece made some advancement, chiefly owing to the 
 Queen, in spite of the weakness and inexperience of 
 the Sovereign. Forced at last to abdicate, the empty 
 throne was offered by the Greeks to Prince Alfred of 
 England, notwithstanding the clause in the protocol of 
 the Protecting Powers which declared that the Govern- 
 ment of Greece should not be confided to a prince cho- 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 107 
 
 sen from among the reigning families of those States, 
 who signed the treaty in 1827. But by this manifestation 
 in favor of the English Prince, the honor of selecting a 
 King for the Greeks was silently allotted to Great Brit- 
 ain. It was Lord John Russell, it is said, who, when 
 Prince Christian, the present King of Denmark, was 
 in London attending the marriage of his daughter to the 
 Prince of Wales, " discovered the second son of Prince 
 Christian in the uniform of a midshipman," and sug- 
 gested his name as the successor of OthOi 
 
 The Danish Prince was accordingly elected by the 
 National Assembly at Athens, and having changed his 
 name from William to George, the heroic saint, whom 
 the Hellenes delight to honor, was received into the 
 kingdom with the same confidence, and proclaimed 
 with the same Zetoes, which thirty-three years before 
 welcomed the unfortunate Otho. 
 
 By a vote of the Greek National Assembly, a civil 
 list of j,2oo,ooo drachmas was settled t)n the new Sov- 
 ereign ; and each of the three Courts of France, Great 
 Britain, and Russia rehnquished, as a personal dotation 
 to King George, four thousand pounds sterling a year 
 out of the sums which the Greek treasury had engaged 
 itself to pay annually to each of them out of the public 
 debt. The King's income is, therefore, equal to two 
 hundred and sixty thousand dollars. _ 
 
 King George came to the throne at the age of eigh- 
 teen, which was about the age of his predecessor, Otho, 
 when he accepted the perils of the same position ; but 
 
io8 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 the present King had the advantage of the experience 
 of the former, and avoided the rocks on which the Ba- 
 varian Prince went to pieces. King George brought no 
 foreign retinue to disgust the national sentiment, and 
 absorb interests which should belong to the people 
 themselves. He possesses mental capacity, which was 
 not a distinguishing characteristic of Otho; and he is 
 without that perverseness of disposition which, when 
 united to a weak mind, is sure to work mischief to the 
 State. Better than all, King George has surrounded 
 the barren throne from which Otho was driven, with 
 flowers of royalty, who, born in the Kingdom and em- 
 bracing the religion of the Orthodox Oriental Church, 
 can supply the throne with a sovereign as Hellenic as 
 the Greeks can ever hope to obtain. King George has 
 as good an opportunity as any prince ever had to gain 
 the love of his people, and win for himself a name, by 
 uniting with them heart and hand in ameliorating the 
 kingdom. Unlike his predecessor, his hands are com- 
 peratively free of the impediment of foreign ministerial 
 counselors, who, struggling each for supremacy, united 
 only in checking the political advancement of the king- 
 dom. The present King is in large measure his own 
 adviser ; he comprehends the chief wish of his subjects, 
 wliich is that Greece shall govern Greece. Eight years' 
 experience with this positive and individual people have, 
 or should have, given his Majesty a pretty clear insight 
 into their character ; the necessity for that frank and 
 entire confidence which opens the way to just apprecia- 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 109 
 
 tions between the ruler and the ruled, invites confidence 
 in return, and insures the safety of the State. The max- 
 im that " the people are always right " is a safer max- 
 im for kings to assume than the reverse proposition ; 
 and the only difficulty in the way of its applica- 
 tion is how to test public opinion. Sovereigns may 
 be deceived by those whom they consult, for advisers 
 are not always disinterested. The old system of spies 
 and intriguers is happily going out of practice as a sys- 
 tem of political machinery which cannot be depended 
 on, and which embarrasses instead of facilitates the 
 working of government. But there are ways always 
 open to the sagacious mind whereby the true may be 
 detected from the false, and the current sentiment of 
 communities be made familiar to the political student. 
 One of the greatest monarchs in history owed his great- 
 ness to the fact that he understood and sympathized 
 with his people ; and the only way he understood them 
 was by mingling with them in the garb of a workman. 
 King George has no need to resort to this expedient : 
 he has but to encourage the freest interchange of opin- 
 ions with his subjects without respect to classes or con- 
 ditions ; to go over his Kingdom, not in equipages of 
 state, but as a private citizen, and examine for himself 
 the deficiences and requirements of every branch of the 
 public service ; to give as much time and attention to 
 conversation with a peasant as he would give to an in- 
 terview with a foreign minister — in a word, to inform 
 himself, not be informed, of the needs of his people, 
 
no THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 and with all the power of his royal prerogative insist on 
 those reforms being made. King George is full of good 
 intentions, and is not the political sluggard which those 
 who look only at externals in Greece might possibly be 
 led to suppose. But misapprehensions sometimes pre- 
 vail concerning the King's position toward his people, 
 and the personal influence which is supposed to be 
 brought to bear upon his political actions. Men who do 
 not know King George, and who obtain most of their 
 ideas from the small political cliques in which they move, 
 do injustice to their Sovereign. Anti-royalists are apt 
 to invest the Sovereign with a personal character which 
 is entirely foreign to that which he possesses. If the 
 King was this, or if the King was that, a very different 
 state of things would exist in Greece, think many wise 
 and good subjects. These lament the days of Otho, or 
 even hint that a second Capodistria is the one thing 
 needful for Greece. I have seen some of these very 
 men come out of the royal presence thoroughly trans- 
 formed from political haters to royal lovers, simply from 
 having come in contact with the frank and honest char- 
 acter of their King. 
 
 When the petulant school-boy cannot solve his math- 
 ematical problem, he sometimes in his impatience 
 lays the fault of his want of success upon the problem 
 itself ; or, when convinced that others before him have 
 mastered the difficulty, he perhaps accuses his teacher 
 of ignorance or willful intention to mislead him in his 
 explanations. So when the problem of self-govern- 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. m 
 
 ment, from its own inherent difficulties or from the in- 
 experience of those who attempt to administer it, works 
 badly, the discontented citizen abuses the constitution ; 
 or if that presents no salient point of attack, puts all 
 the responsibility of the failure upon the governing 
 power. Neither the constitution nor the administrative 
 power in Greece is free from defects. Perhaps to mod- 
 ify the former would be to create greater obstacles to 
 the free and potent influence of the principle it em- 
 braces. The evils apparent to the most casual eye in 
 the system of organization, may well attract and fasten 
 the attention of the governed classes. These defects 
 are prominent or concealed according to the peculiar 
 condition of the kingdom from time to time. With a 
 popular leader at the head of the ministry, and no ex- 
 ternal question to aggravate the public mind, the voice 
 of complaint is hushed, and but little is heard of con- 
 stitutional amendments or of the incapacity or improper 
 exercise of power on the part of the ministry or the 
 sovereign. Indeed, the sovereign is rarely attacked in 
 an open manner. Innuendoes and charges against the 
 " camarilla " or the "court " are frequent, and in the ma- 
 jority of cases this means the sovereign. But the King 
 is often as innocent of the charges thus carelessly made 
 as are the men who make them. There is no point in 
 the royal target too small to attract the attention of 
 newspaper marksmen, who, although they rarely aim at 
 the bull's-eye, love dearly to hit its nearest rings, com- 
 monly designated as the "camarilla." A majority of 
 
112 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 lonians in the personnel of the court, the proposed en- 
 gagement of a Russian instead of a Greek chaplain 
 for the queen, the suggestion of a mounted guard of 
 honor for his majesty, too xai^ny petites soirkes or too few 
 grandes balls at the palace, too rapid an increase of the 
 royal family, too long a sojourn of their majesties at 
 their favorite summer residence at Corfu, etc., etc., up 
 to the graver sins of keeping an unpopular ministry too 
 long in power, the dissolution of the national parliament 
 to avoid a political crisis, etc., etc., pique the appetite 
 of the ever-hungry journalist, and supply the staple of 
 conversation to the idlers and political grumblers of the 
 streets and cafds. This irritability of the public mind, 
 especially at the capital, indicates the impoverishment 
 of resources, the want of wholesome occupation, which 
 in large commercial cities gives employment to classes 
 which in Athens are reduced to petty journalism or to 
 place-hunting. 
 
 The real evils of Greek government are evils of ad- 
 ministration, and the stifling system of centralization is 
 its chief evil. Power should be diffused in Greece until 
 each individual of each commune and village feels that 
 the authoritative and executive power is responsible to 
 him as one of the people, for the proper discharge of 
 the functions of his office. Greece is a nation of poli- 
 ticians without a party — of opinions without a public 
 opinion. Not that party spirit and individual opinions 
 do not largely prevail, and too often to the detriment of 
 practical reforms, but that there is no concentration 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 113 
 
 of grand principles, no unify of popular force, no pro- 
 mulgation of public will. Men at Athens who should 
 shape the country are too much engrossed in shaping 
 their own fortunes ; and the people of the country, by 
 which I mean especially the country people, are indiffer- 
 ent to politics so long as they are allowed peaceably to 
 pursue their own livelihood. Such a thing as a public 
 meeting in village, to^^n, or city, composed of the work- 
 ing or industrious classes, for the purpose of discussing 
 or enforcing a public measure, is a spectacle never wit- 
 nessed in Greece. Ideas are as thick as blackberries, 
 but they are unwholesome, because never allowed to 
 ripen to practical results. • The people are the servants 
 of the politicians, and do all the log-bearing, instead of 
 the politicians being the devoted servants of the people. 
 To the ignorance of the latter as to their own rights 
 and own interests, is to be ascribed this apathy or indif- 
 ference. When the maladministration of aifairs or the 
 pressure of untoward circumstances bring on one of 
 those periodical crises so common at Athens, there is 
 an immediate hunt for the scape-goat. Who is to blame ? 
 And as there is generally some difficulty in finding the 
 right individual, or party, or minister, each by turn is 
 assailed with all the venom of the press. Too often 
 the fault is laid, and not always incorrectly, upon for- 
 eign interference ; but it generally ends in a lamentation 
 at the impotence of poor truncated Greece (La Grece 
 limitrophe), which has been deprived of her natural her- 
 itage", and confined to a limitation where political wis- 
 
114 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 dom and material progress cannot find their natural 
 expansion. The Greeks should take a lesson out of 
 Shakspeare : 
 
 " The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. 
 But in ourselves, that we are underlings." 
 
 I would not advise the Greeks to do as Brutus did, lest 
 they meet with Brutus's fate. It is not political revolution 
 they require, but that silent, all-powerful, and all-per- 
 vading moral revolution which shall propel the vessel of 
 state by the breath of public opinion out of the shallow 
 waters in which she now flounders, like a ship of war in 
 a mill-poud, to the broad sea of national prosperity. 
 The people of Greece need to be brought together by 
 the influence of the press, the pulpit, and public debate, 
 into one homogeneous society, whose end and aim should 
 be the purification of the ballot-box, and the elevation 
 and strengthening of an independent judiciary. Wien 
 men are elected for their capacity and honesty, and not 
 because of their local influence, and when the tribunal 
 of justice is free from the faintest suspicion of political 
 or personal taint, we shall hear less of the inability of 
 the Greeks to govern themselves. 
 
 With the press lies chiefly the power to create a public 
 opinion, and make that public opinion effective for good. 
 
 One of the first steps that the press and the people 
 should insist upon, is the breaking up of that system of 
 bureaucracy which each government, as it comes into 
 power seems to cherish as a political safeguard. It is 
 in reality an iron wall separating the people at large 
 
POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 115 
 
 from their rightful authorization, and which is gradually 
 closing up the channels of free government until its 
 vitality is in danger. Official secrecy, carried to a ri- 
 diculous extent in Greece, is another evil which demands 
 the earnest attention of the press. The sooner all pub- 
 lic proceedings — official correspondence on matters of 
 public interest — and the statistics of each depart- 
 ment of the government are placed before the peo- 
 ple, the sooner will the people, and not their politi- 
 cians, govern Greece. 
 
 The Greeks must learn to make character the quali- 
 fication for office — must learn to regard the privilege of 
 suffrage as a holy and inestimable privilege, not to sub- 
 serve personal, but the general welfare. They must 
 insist upon economy in every branch of the public ser- 
 vice, and cheerfully bear sacrifices until the national 
 credit is established ; they must insist upon a greater 
 exercise of courage in those who administer public af- 
 fairs — courage to say " No '' to partisan demands at 
 home, and to unjust demands from abroad. I mean 
 demands which would not be made by foreign powers 
 to other powers of equal political strength to their own, 
 and which no other government would grant if they 
 were made. By such a course Greece will gain respect 
 where now she suffers humiliation. 
 
 But if Greece requires to be counseled, so do her 
 counselors. " All the evils which have afflicted Greece," 
 says an intelligent British writer who has dwelt among 
 the Greeks for years, " may be attributed to the mistakes 
 
ii6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 of British diplomacy." It is certainly true, as Count 
 Nesselrode told England in 1850 in respect to the Eng- 
 lish blockade of Athens, that the policy of that govern- 
 ment toward Greece has too often been to " recognize 
 toward the weak no other rule than her own will — no 
 other right than her own physical strength. " Greece has 
 many and just grounds of complaint on this score of 
 arbitrary treatment from a power which should have re- 
 spected her rights as much as if she were in a position 
 to enforce them with armies and fleets. The words of 
 King George on one occasion to a certain foreign em- 
 bassador contains the pith of the Greek demand of to- 
 day : " Do you recognize Greece as a kingdom ? Well, 
 then, treat her as such." 
 
 Greece has been brought into prominent position by 
 the very abuse heaped updn her. The preposterous 
 demands of foreign critics should flatter her self-esteem. 
 Youngest of all the nations, she is upbraided for not 
 possessing those qualities which in other nations are the 
 growth of centuries. The broad sun of Greece, falling 
 on her exposed soil, reveals every defect of nature ; and 
 the peculiar transparency of the atmosphere, which 
 causes her far-off mountains to be seemingly near, mag- 
 nifies political misfortunes to political iniquities. 
 Greece has to bear this in addition to the evils for which 
 she herself is plainly responsible. This makes her task 
 of self-government a hard one ; but the more honora- 
 ble, the more distinguished among nations will she be, 
 if she accomplishes her task. 
 
"THE GREAT IDEA." 
 
"THE GREAT IDEA." 
 
 JREECE has many sins to answer for in the 
 eyes of Europe — sins of omission and sins 
 of commission — but above all rises one 
 mountain of iniquity of such stupendous dimensions — 
 "singeing its pate against the Torrid Zone" — as to 
 diminish the " Ossas " of brigandage, bankruptcy and 
 political corruption to very warts. Brigandage is 
 nothing to it, since the candid observer cannot but 
 admit that the root of that evil is not wholly indigenous, 
 and that the government does really make some exer- 
 tions to repress it. It is worse than being in arrears 
 for debt, for people are sometimes excusable for not 
 paying what they owe, especially when they have nothing 
 wherewith to pay it. It is not to be compared with poli- 
 tical corruption, because Cowper told his countrymen 
 long ago that 
 
 The age of virtuous politics is past : 
 Patriots are grown too shrewd to be sincere, 
 And we too wise to trust them. 
 
 So Greece can hardly be considered as setting the world 
 at defiance in that regard. The sin of sins that I refer 
 to, and which excites the irony, if not the indignation, 
 
120 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 of the critics of Greece, is called " La Grande Id^e." 
 This " Great Idea " is a component part of the Greek 
 brain and the Greek heart. It permeates all classes of 
 society — the toothless baby draws it in with the maternal 
 milk, and the toothless mouth of age pledges to it in 
 long drafts of the native resined wine. The shepherd 
 dreams of it in the cold mountain air under his shaggy 
 sheepskin, and the rich proprietor traces it in the grace- 
 ful smoke-cloud of the incessant cigarette, and perhaps 
 wonders if it is not quite as evanescent. If I treat the 
 subject in a poetical way, it is because the subject itself 
 pertains more to the realms of fancy than of fact. 
 
 Briefly defined, the Great Idea means that the Greek 
 mind is to regenerate the East — that it is the destiny of 
 Hellenism to Hellenize that vast stretch of territory 
 which by natural laws the Greeks believe to be theirs, 
 and which is chiefly inhabited by people claiming to be 
 descended from Hellenic stock, professing the Orthodox 
 or Greek faith, or speaking the Greek language. These 
 in the aggregate vastly outnumber the people of Greece 
 proper, and are regarded by " Free Greece " as brethren 
 held in servitude by an alien and detested power. 
 There are in European Turkey and its territories not 
 far from fifteen millions of people, of which number 
 less than four millions are Ottomans. The rest are 
 Slavonians, Greeks, Albanians, Wallachians, etc., who 
 profess the Greek religion or speak the Greek dialect ; 
 and although in morals and character these are far 
 below the independent and educated Greeks of Athens 
 
"THE GREAT IDEA." 121 
 
 and the chief towns of Greece, this inferiority may 
 doubtless be largely ascribed to the political restraints 
 still pressing upon them. The Greek in Turkey 
 does the work and receives the money. He vitalizes 
 the sluggish mass around him, but is quite as unscru- 
 pulous as his masters. How can it be otherwise when 
 he possesses all the characteristics of a conquered race ? 
 "At sight of a Mussulman," says an intelligent ob- 
 server, " the rayah's back bends to the ground, his 
 hands involuntarily join on his breast, his lips compose 
 themselves to a smile ; but under this conventional 
 mask you see the hatred instilled even into women and 
 children toward their ancient oppressors." 
 
 If this be the prevailing sentiment of the Greek 
 population in Turkey, it may well be asked. Why, with 
 corresponding influences at work in the Hellenic king- 
 dom, cannot the Great Idea be made to bear practical 
 fruits ? With the elements of revolution, why is there 
 no revolution ? With the general desire of the people 
 for unity and territorial grandeur, why does the prospect 
 of political and national amalgamation grow more and 
 more illusory, and the shores of the Bosphorus and the 
 minarets of Constantinople (as the ideal capital of the 
 Hellenic kingdom) recede farther and farther into the 
 landscape, like the mirage of cities and of fountains 
 mocking the wearied eyes and parched lips of the trav- 
 eller in desert lands ? There are many reasons, of 
 which a few only need be cited. Greece has no organ- 
 ization of forces sufficient to make the first attempt to 
 
122 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 deliver her countrymen. Occasional spasmodic move- 
 ments in Epirus and Thessaly have only resulted in 
 defeat and disgrace. A large proportion of the Greeks 
 under Turkish rule, especially those who are place- 
 holders and those who are engaged in gainful commer- 
 cial pursuits, prefer the proverb, " Let well alone," to 
 that of " Nothing venture, nothing have." They dis- 
 trust the result of revolutionary movements, and the 
 political restraints of King George's kingdom do not 
 tempt them to change the temporal advantages of their 
 present position for the chances of prospective inde- 
 pendence, however golden with patriotism. 
 
 The Greeks in Turkey breathe an atmosphere of 
 political and social impurity, which pervades all classes, 
 from the sultan's household to the lowest menial at the 
 custom-house, and from which foreign subjects — even 
 foreign ministers— have not always remained untainted. 
 It is a habit with certain writers to charge the Hellenic 
 population in Turkey with the creation of this Jniasma 
 of immorality and vice ; but the truth is, they only avail 
 themselves of the existing laxity in all departments of 
 the public service, and in all the circles of social exist- 
 ence, and by their extraordinary mental vitality and 
 shrewdness, turn the general debasement to their own 
 advantage. When the Turks found themselves masters 
 of Constantinople, they discovered that nothing was 
 wanting to their maintenance of power but one thing, 
 and that one thing was brains. The faculties of percep- 
 tion and forethought, obtuse in themselves, were largely 
 
"THE GREAT IDEA." 123 
 
 developed in their Greek subjects, and so they were 
 forced to take them for their political and intellectual 
 servants. The Greeks accepted the position. It was 
 an arrangement founded on mutual interest, without 
 mutual sympathy. Interest indisposes the Greeks in 
 Turkey to stir up revolution, but the want of sympathy 
 with the Mussulmans is as marked as ever. 
 
 In Greece itself there is a divided sentiment as to 
 the proper time for making another attempt to recover 
 the liberties of the nation. Just now, with the bitter 
 failure of Crete before their eyes, the conservatives are 
 decidedly disinclined to waste money and strength in 
 fresh agitations for the Great Idea, while every depart- 
 ment of the state at home demands the most earnest 
 and absorbing attention. The radicals, who at any 
 time and under any circumstances, cost what it may, 
 are eager to rush to the breach, and perish, if need be, 
 for the cause of national unity, are in the minority, and 
 expend their enthusiasm in newspaper appeals for their 
 brethren "in chains," and in passing the watchword 
 from mouth to mouth, " Greece for the Greeks" — " La 
 r^gdndration de rOrient/arl' Orient." 
 
 But however divided public opinion in Greece may 
 be as to the proper time and method for attempting the 
 realization of the Hellenic Idea, the Idea itself never 
 leaves the teeming brain of the Greek. He may, in 
 his impatience, disgust or despair, denounce it as 
 chimerical, and join in the laugh of scorn which its 
 mention evokes from foreign nations; but at heart he 
 
124 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Still cherishes it — if not as a practical possibility, as a 
 tenet of his political and .religious faith. It is sweet to 
 beUeve that we are a " chosen race," destined to carry 
 the symbol of Christianity and the torch of civilization 
 and freedom into the benighted realms of superstition 
 and ignorance, even if circumstances prevent us from 
 attempting the pilgrimage. Therefore, however much 
 and often a Greek may say to you in private that his 
 countrymen are washing their energies in chasing a 
 phantom, which might better be employed in studies of 
 political economy at home, he would not dare to advise 
 any one of them to abandon the Great Idea, nor does 
 he himself believe that it should be abandoned. 
 
 It is easy, therefore, to understand the scorn with 
 which the advice of the other European powers on this 
 head is received by Athenian statesmen. Very much 
 the same feeling is evoked there by the efforts to tran- 
 quilize Greece, and to make her satisfied with her pres- 
 ent limitations — in a word, to preserve the status quo in 
 the East — as was experienced in the loyal States of our 
 Union at the darkest and most discouraging period of 
 the civil war, when we were appealed to to give up the 
 futile attempt to restore " an impossible Union," and to 
 consent to " a peaceful and happy separation ! " Nothing 
 is so dark and discouraging in Greece as to shut out the 
 forlorn hope — to steal from the public heart its belief in a 
 special destiny — to utterly extinguish the coals of resur- 
 rection which lie under mountains of ashes and debris. 
 The very ruins of the great Past appeal to them, or seem 
 
"THE GREAT IDEA." 125 
 
 to appeal to them, never to forget that what has been 
 may yet be again. The modern Greek remembers — 
 and is never tired of quoting — the words and examples 
 of the dead heroes of the shadowy past, from Miltiades, 
 Themistocles, and Demosthenes — as if they walked the 
 streets of Athens but yesterday — down to their more 
 legitimate forefathers of Greek independence— Miaoulis, 
 Canaris, Botzaris, Colocotronis, and Ypsilanti. And 
 those of the last category do, with some degree of rea- 
 son, give color and vitality to the hopes of the future ; 
 for the Greeks feel that what they did accomplish in the 
 seven years' war, in spite of the indifference or scorn 
 of the European world, justifies the belief that thg end 
 was not reached when Greece consented to lay down 
 the sword and accept, at the hands of the great powers, 
 a fragment of the heritage she expected ; relinquishing 
 to her great enemy Crete, Rhodes, Samos, Chios, Thes- 
 saly, Macedonia, and Epirus (Albania), the most fertile 
 and most populous portion of her territory. To bid 
 her forever give up her claim to these fair regions, peo- 
 pled with " her own people," she holds to be a piece of 
 diplomatic selfishness incompatible with the claims of a 
 distinct nationality, if not of civilization itself. Atten- 
 uated, poverty-stricken, a political pauper at the close 
 of the revolution; yet possessing a certain shrewdness 
 and wit which commanded the respect of those who 
 had come forward in the character of " national guar- 
 dians," Greece, who without their timely aid, would have 
 sunk back into barbarism and obscurity, boldly demand- 
 
126 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ed a larger share of the territory for which she had sac- 
 rificed so much. Dissatisfied with the spoonful of po- 
 litical broth, the Oliver Twist of nations had the un- 
 blushing temerity " to ask for more." The plump bea- 
 dles stood aghast ; then made a show of earnest consul- 
 tation, which resulted in stamping the little upstart with 
 the badge of deep-dyed ingratitude, and refused the 
 second spoonful. The powers claim that they were 
 right, and in justification of the partition of Greece, 
 point to the small progress which the kingdom has made 
 in material and political strength. Indeed, not a few 
 assert that Greece, as a self-governing nation, is a " com- 
 plete failure." The Greeks do not deny that the ad- 
 vancement of their country has been slow and feeble, 
 but assign as a chief reason the contracted limits of the 
 kingdom. England says to the Greeks, " If you cannot 
 govern what you possess, how can you hope to persuade 
 Europe that you are capable of governing a larger 
 kingdom ?" To which the Greeks wittily reply : " Your 
 reasoning produces the same effect on us as if you said 
 to a lame man, 'Since you cannot walk with the leg 
 which you have still left to you, do not regret the loss 
 of the other : you would not know how to use it if you 
 had it. ' " 
 
 But the question is not what Greece might do in the 
 way of progress and reform if she had more resources 
 in fertile lands, more hands to work with and more 
 room to work in, so much as the abstract question of 
 national rights. Is she to be denounced for having an 
 
"THE GREAT IDEA." X27 
 
 Idea ? Even if the Idea is not presently practicable, is 
 it not per se, a natural, inevitable and wholesome Idea ? 
 If the Greek nation stood alone in this respect, if na- 
 tional aggrandizement and unity were an original con- 
 ception of the Greek mind, the political student might 
 well think twice before endorsing a proposition born of 
 no precedent — an ideal form assuming the shape of wis- 
 dom, and springing self-made out of the brain of an 
 ideal JoVe. But it is not original. Other nations have 
 Great Ideas, and rather pride themselves upon the fact. 
 England, the chief adviser of Greece, had an Idea of 
 commercial supremacy; and by force of her maritime 
 position, strong armies, and the cold-compelled indus- 
 try of her dense population, has been pretty successful 
 in giving it practical illustration. France had an Idea, 
 and has not unfrequently nourished and fed it at the ex- 
 pense -of other nations ; and would have succeeded in 
 her last ambitious designs but for collision with the 
 greatef and more carefully -matured Idea of German 
 unity. Russia, the third "protector" of Greece, has 
 her Great Idea, and under the guidance of experience 
 and clever statesmanship, is slowly and surely putting it 
 into execution. The unification of Italy was an Idea 
 which, when successful, won the applause of the world. 
 In her case the union of one people under one govern- 
 ment, which comprises within its territorial limits the 
 entire length and breadth of the Italian domain, is con- 
 sidered the simple result of a fixed purpose and deter- 
 mination of a people whose blood, language and relig- 
 
128 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ion are the same. On this subject the leading journal 
 of London made comment in language which, although 
 not intended for them, might be read by the Greeks with 
 hopeful satisfaction. " Such," it remarks, referring to 
 Italian unity, " is the tendency of our age to mature and 
 accomplish things which men had long given up as im- 
 possible, and which upon trial turn out to be natural, 
 obvious, and inevitable." Our own boastful land, where 
 "the whole boundless continent" is the limit of her 
 Great Idea, is permitted to indulge in dreams of ag- 
 grandizement without ridicule or reproach, because the 
 wealth of her soil and the increasing numbers of her 
 people seem to guarantee the ultimate fulfilment of the 
 promise. Every nation, indeed, has dreams of glory 
 which fail to arouse the wrath of the scoffer. Greece 
 alone, exceptional in all things — ^the youngest, the poor- 
 est, and perhaps the proudest of them all — is not per- 
 mitted to indulge the hope that her own may one day 
 gather around the flag they have sacrificed so much to 
 uphold, without exciting the censure of her older, richer, 
 and more powerful neighbors. 
 
 The Greeks are perpetually told to abandon their 
 little idiosyncrasies, and to come boldly up into the front 
 rank of the nations. Especially are they told that the 
 dream of empire is a terrible dream for a small state, 
 and that nothing but self-sacrifice an.d the concentration 
 of the public mind upon internal improvements can 
 save them from decay and annihilation. So far, the ad- 
 vice is sound, and the sooner this self-sacrifice begins^ 
 
"THE GREAT IDEA." J29 
 
 although they look in vain for shining examples of it 
 in the governing classes of Europe — the better will it 
 be for them. But they will never abandon the Great 
 Idea — never obey the bidding of the conservers of the 
 status quo, and not make their sign — openly if they can, 
 secretly if they must — to the millions of their country- 
 men who are not free. It is unnatural to expect that 
 Greece will act otherwise : it is morally and politically 
 wrong to wish that she should. The wisest course for 
 her advisers to take, is to cease to check her national 
 aspirations. If these aspirations tend to disturb a line 
 of policy which diplomacy has laid down for the pro- 
 tection of certain material interests in the East, these 
 interests should give way to the higher claims of hu- 
 manity. 
 
 I have ventured to hold the opinion that England 
 would have consulted her own political interests in the 
 East by actively promoting the Hellenic Idea. Not, by 
 any means, in encouraging political intrigues or revolu- 
 tionary agitations, so much in vogue there, but by giv- 
 ing open countenance to the idea that the principle ol 
 Greek nationality, enunciated by the war for independ- 
 ence, in which she materially assisted, was a principle 
 to be maintained until it reached fruition. Open en- 
 couragement to the Great Idea, so long as its manifes- 
 tation did not lead to belligerent movements, might^by 
 this time, as I shall attempt to show, have placed the 
 territories now comprising European Turkey in a posi- 
 tion of political strength and unity which at present 
 
130 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 they can never hope to assume except under the gov- 
 ernment of a stronger power. The moral forces of 
 Hellenism are the only real strength it possesses, andif 
 properly directed by a sagacious power could achieve 
 their mission — if mission they have — without the smell 
 of gunpowder or gleam of a bayonet. Pubhc opinion 
 in great civilized nations hke England is in most cases 
 more powerful than war, because it averts and prevents 
 war. There is now no compact, self-poised government 
 on the shores of the ^gina or the Marmora. Let the 
 three powers withdraw their protection from Greece, 
 and at the first collision of forces that little kingdom is 
 swallowed up by the Turkish empire ; or, what is perhaps 
 worse, enters again upon a prolonged conflict which 
 would leave her distracted and undone. Let the three 
 powers withdraw their protection from Turkey, and her 
 great northern adversary will avail herself of the first 
 opportunity to carry out what is popularly held to be 
 her " traditional policy." Whether this " policy " is 
 destined under any circumstances to be realized, or 
 whether, if reahzed, the Eastern question would be solved 
 in the most satisfactory way and to the benefit of East- 
 em Europe, is not the subject of present discussion. 
 It is very certain that the existing condition of things 
 in that quarter of the world is not a condition which 
 possesses any qualities of permanence, and is the 
 cause of incessant watchfulness and anxiety. As has 
 been forcibly said by an English writer, " counting by 
 individuals, the Greeks in European Turkey are to the 
 
"THE GREAT IDEA." 131 
 
 Turks as six to one; but estimating them by their 
 wealth, they are as thirty to one." There is Something 
 not only unnatural but appalling to Christian eyes, in 
 the fact that a handful of Mussulmans, without a single 
 drop of sympathetic blood for the people they govern — 
 aliens in race, religion, manners, customs and language 
 — should come over into Europe and hold control over 
 six times their number belonging to a different race. It 
 is one of those anomaUes of which history furnishes other 
 examples, but at which human nature must ever revolt. 
 I am not, however, of the number of those who 
 would allow sentimental abstractions to interfere with 
 the obvious claims of an established government over a 
 people fairly conquered by the force of arms. Neither 
 do I think that the cause of public justice can be sub- 
 served by joining in the cry against the Turk because 
 the character of the Mussulman differs in essential par- 
 ticulars from the character of the Christian. One of 
 the great shining stars in the firmament of human re- 
 generation is that of religious toleration. Brighter and 
 clearer it gleams from the obscuration of centuries. As 
 the worship of paganism was as pure in its nature as 
 the condition of the world then permitted, and has sent 
 down through the eras of Christianity lessons of fervor, 
 devotion and self-sacrifice which the world may well 
 imitate in its more enlightened worship, so is the faith 
 of the Mohammedan illustrated by many holy observ- 
 ances and much practical virtue, which should shame 
 the laxity in morals and superficial worship too often 
 
132 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 observable in Christian society. The intolerance, lust 
 and barbarous inhumanity of the Turks have been a 
 theme of reproach with Christians for ages, but the con- 
 flict between the Cross and the Crescent can only re- 
 sult in perfect triumph to the former when the image of 
 Christianity is upheld by forbearing hands, and not 
 wielded as an implement of battle. In spite of the an- 
 tipathy between Christianity and Mohammedanism, the 
 world must admit that enlightened views of public poli- 
 cy and sterling reforms have crept into and influenced 
 the government of the sultan. It is not, therefore, in 
 any anti-Turkish spirit that I allude to the anomalous 
 condition of the Greeks in Turkey. But inasmuch as 
 the condition is anomalous, unnatural and practically 
 unwholesome, and moreover is a condition which it is 
 impossible to regard as permanent, it may be well to 
 consider what measures might have contributed to ame- 
 liorate it. 
 
 The principle upon which the Western powers have 
 governed Greece since her independence of the Turkish 
 power, has been that which Pitt declared in 1792 to be 
 " the true doctrine of balance of power " — to wit, that 
 the power of Russia should not be allowed to increase, 
 nor that of Turkey to decline. After the battle of Nav- 
 arino, Wellington, the demigod of Englishmen, who had 
 pronounced that victory an " untoward event," was for 
 making Greece " wholly dependent upon Turkey." This 
 idea was supported by Lord Londonderry, who wished 
 to render Greece " as harmless as possible, and to make 
 
'THE GREAT IDEA." 
 
 133 
 
 heir people like the spiritless nations of Hindostan." 
 These views seem to have prevailed in effect over the 
 liberal ideas of Palmerston, who desired to see Greece 
 as independent of Turkey as possible. 
 
 Governments cannot serve two opposing principles 
 at one and the same time. Turkey the conservative and 
 Greece the radical could not be petted and encouraged 
 by the same hands. Hence, Greece was sacrificed that 
 Turkey might prosper and grow fat. A policy of per- 
 petual repression has been applied to a perpetually ex- 
 panding national sentiment. This is why European 
 ministers in Greece have been constantly employed to 
 shake the finger in the face of public opinion when ex- 
 ternal measures are discussed, and to lay the finger on 
 when any actual demonstration threatens to disturb or 
 revive the Eastern question. That question, which no 
 statesmanship or wars have beea able to solve, stands 
 to-day, in spite of the intrigues of politicians, the waste 
 of millions of money, and thousands of lives, as huge a 
 note of interrogation to the people of Europe, as when 
 it first reared its sinuous sign over the unsettled and dis- 
 satisfied populations of the East. A policy of force and 
 of expedients by turn, has utterly failed to change the 
 real relations of the East with the West, or of the Greeks 
 with the people who hold the majority of that nation in 
 political servitude. 
 
 If a contrary policy had been adopted, if the Chris 
 tian Greeks under the banner of the Great Idea — how- 
 ever imperfectly that Idea had been expounded — had 
 
134 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 succeeded only in establishing a government as good as 
 that of Abd-ul-Azis, there would to-day have been a 
 community of interests which would certainly seem a 
 better guarantee to political safety than now exists. If 
 England and France had crowned the glorious work at 
 Navarino with a declaration that the territorial limits 
 which diplomacy assigned to the new kingdom of Greece 
 must not be regarded as final ; that the principle ac- 
 knowledged in the treaty of peace between Turkey and 
 Greece extended over and embraced the whole nation- 
 ality which had contributed by valor and sacrifices to 
 achieve its independence ; and that to a peaceful con- 
 solidation of this Idea, the powers pledged to Greece an 
 unflinching moral support, the Eastern question might 
 long ago have been solved by the peaceful acquiescence 
 of the Moslem minority in the just claims of a vast 
 Christian population, supported by the public opinion 
 of civilized Europe. I venture to believe that if Eng- 
 land and France had openly encouraged the aspirations 
 of the Greeks as a national right, the Mohammedan 
 subjects of the Porte would gradually have recrossed 
 the Bosphorus to the land which is less disputably theirs 
 by right of nativity and population. The feeble few 
 who might have remained would have had no influence 
 on the political condition, and with the death of the last 
 Sultan an easy transition from Mohammedan to Chris- 
 tian rule would have ensued. The Greeks in European 
 Turkey and its tributary States may be even now regard- 
 ed as virtually masters of the situation by their superi- 
 
"THE GREAT IDEA." 135 
 
 ority in intelligence, enterprise and wealth ; bui they lack 
 cohesion, and are demoralized by the yoke they bear, 
 which could not be imposed but by the aid of foreign 
 diplomacy and foreign money. If as much eagerness 
 had been evinced by England to support the Great 
 Idea, as she has shown to scoff it ; if a fraction of the 
 capital loaned to Turkey to increase her armament, 
 build sultans' palaces and keep up her meretricious dis- 
 play of power,* had been advanced for the education 
 and elevation of the mixed population of Christians in 
 the provinces, a picture of civilization would to-day 
 have replaced the wretched spectacle of a half-barbaric 
 and half revolutionary people, who, without any confi- 
 dence in the government they have, look forward to a 
 political condition which has no promise of independ- 
 ence or of unity. 
 
 These views may appear chimerical, and it is per- 
 haps the most idle of speculations to speculate on 
 what might have been the condition of a people under 
 other circumstances than those which exist. It is equal- 
 ly unprofitable to forecast the future in an age when 
 events precipitate themselves with a rapidity and char- 
 acter which disprove the wisest horoscope and confound 
 the political soothsayer. What we do know is, that the 
 policy of Pitt, so tenaciously clung to by British states- 
 men, has succeeded only in " bolstering up '' an'effete and 
 corrupt government at the expense of Christian unity, 
 
 * The present total debt of Turkey is estimated at $630,000,000. 
 
136 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 power and progress ; and that what might have been ac- 
 complished during the half century since the dawn of 
 Greek independence in consolidating a nationality which 
 would certainly have been as efficacious as is now the 
 Turkish power in Europe, has left the " Eastern ques- 
 tion " without any permanent solution. It is no longer 
 a diplomatic secret that the statesmen of Western Eu- 
 rope are preparing their minds to accept, sooner or 
 later, what they are unable to provide against with a sub- 
 stitute, and what they have sacrificed so much to avoid 
 — namely, the Russian solution of the Eastern question. 
 Whatever may be the fate of Greece with a change 
 of neighbors, it can hardly be worse than it now is with ■ 
 hostility ever brewing between her and Turkey, and 
 with no disinterested friend to look to for counsel. Rus- 
 sia would at least bring to the provinces the sympathy 
 of co-religionists ; and it is probable that while a Russian 
 princess shares the throne of Greece, the independence 
 of that kingdom will be strengthened and assured by a 
 large accession of wealth and by internal improvements. 
 But Greece does not regard without apprehension even 
 the friendly approaches of a power whose iron rule is not 
 in harmony with those elastic ideas of popular liberty 
 which are the essence of Greek nationality. Better, 
 think they, is the rule of the Moslem, with the hope of 
 unseating him at last by the slow but subtle operation 
 of Hellenism, than the Muscovite, whose entrance into 
 Constantinople might be the death-blow to national unity. 
 Whatever period of time may elapse before the earnest 
 
' THE GREAT IDEA." 
 
 137 
 
 consideration of this subject may engage the pens of 
 publicists, it is highly probable that the Eastern ques- 
 tion, as a theme for political disputation, will give way 
 to what the moralist at least will regard as the more mo- 
 mentous question, namely : What will be the effect upon 
 Hellenism of a change of political rulers in the east of 
 Europe ? Will the banner of orthodox religion of the 
 Eastern church, upheld among the people of the now 
 Turko-European states in the political grasp of the 
 " emperor of all the' Russias," strengthen Hellenic na- 
 tionality ? or will the Great Idea fade into vague and 
 indeterminate forms, without even the semblance of the 
 substance which it now possesses ? 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE, 
 
 N the 2ist of April, 1871, the diplomatic 
 body at Athens assisted at the celebration 
 of the semi-centennial anniversary of Greek 
 Independence. 
 
 There was the inevitable Te Deum at the Cathedral ; 
 a Reception by their Majesties at the Palace; the dec- 
 oration of the streets, including a Triumphal Arch and. 
 a Column of Victory ; a military and civic procession, 
 and in the evening a court ball and the illumination of 
 the public buildings and foreign legations. 
 
 The chief event of the day, however, was the pub- 
 lic reception of the remains of the Patriarch Gregory, 
 one of the first martyrs of the revolution, the King and 
 Queen walking behind the catafalque in the procession, 
 which accompanied the remains from the railway sta- 
 tion to the Cathedral, a circuitous line of march which 
 occupied over two hours. This, on a hot and dusty day 
 in May, was no joke, as indeed their Majesties, by such 
 extraordinary deference to public sentiment, did not in- 
 tend that it should be. 
 
 Gregory, the Greek Patriarch at Constantinople, be- 
 ing suspected by the Turkish Government of ferments 
 
142 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ing the revolution, and aiding the enemies of the Porte, 
 was seized one quiet Sabbath as he came out of church 
 in his sacerdotal robes, and was hanged at the church 
 door. There, after the Grand Vizier, " smoking his 
 " narghila" had sufficiently contemplated the pleasing 
 spectacle, the body was handed over to the Jews, who, 
 after dragging it through the streets of Constantinople, 
 flung it into the Bosphorus. From thence the mutilated 
 body was rescued by a Greek vessel, and privately con- 
 veyed to Odessa, where it received interment in the 
 Russian Cathedral. When it occurred as a "happy 
 thought " to the Greeks at Athens, to request the trans- 
 lation of the Patriarch's remains to that city, the Rus- 
 sian Government cheerfully assented ; but at this point 
 an unlooked-for difficulty arose. The Porte objected to 
 the passage of the Bosphorus by a Greek national ves- 
 sel, and I am not divulging a secret in adding, that the 
 marrow of the objection lay in the apprehension that a 
 public display of this kind would kindle an enthusiasm 
 among the Greek subjects of the Porte at Constantino- 
 ple which might lead to unpleasant political demon- 
 strations. Upon this, application was made to Austria 
 for permission to pass the body of the Patriarch by the 
 Danube. But the Austrian authorities, out of deference 
 to the wishes of the Porte, did not favor this arrange- 
 ment. Then Turkish diplomacy scratched its head and 
 proposed an easy solution of the difficulty, which was 
 nothing less than to steal the Greek thunder by apply- 
 ing to the Russian Government for the Patriarch's re- 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 143 
 
 mains, promising to accord to them honorable inter- 
 ment at Constantinople, in atonement for the infamous 
 act of 1821, which the Government attributed to an 
 uncontrolable and lawless body of Janisaries. But 
 this clever suggestion was made too late. Russia held 
 that the Greek Government, having made a prior appli- 
 cation, was entitled to be the recipients. Finally, the 
 consequences of a refusal by the Porte to the passage 
 of a Greek vessel with the hallowed remains of the 
 Martyr, seemed to strike the Turkish Minister for For- 
 eign Affairs as likely to provoke excitement in the Hel- 
 lenic community, and a compromise was accordingly 
 made, whereby a Greek merchant steamer was to per- 
 form the service, without any display or delay while 
 passing Constantinople. The matter being happily 
 disposed of in this way, all unpleasant consequences 
 were averted. This will give some idea of the tender- 
 ness of political relations in the East. Thus the 
 Greeks were able to render honors to the remains of 
 one of the earliest and noblest martyrs of their inde- 
 pendence on their semi-centennial anniversary. 
 
 The day is not less suggestive to the Greek mind, of 
 the times which tried their forefathers' souls, than it is 
 to the observer of events there. It is impossible not to 
 cast a hasty survey over these intermediate years and 
 arrive at some estimate as to their results. 
 
 The first blow for Greek independence was struck in 
 April, 1 82 1. The fires of revolution had been kindled 
 for many years, but the inflammatory materials were col- 
 
144 
 
 THE* GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 lected and dispersed with such secresy and vigilance — 
 the chief instruments being the orthodox clergy, who 
 whispered of hope and freedom in the pauses of their 
 prayers — that when the venerable Bishop of Patras 
 raised and sanctified the banner of revolt, it was re- 
 sponded to from every quarter of the Turkish dominion. 
 The Porte heard the cry of battle with a smile of deri- 
 sion. What were poorly armed and undisciplined 
 Greeks to accomplish against the ' glittering phalanxes 
 of the Sultan ? Europe heard it, and looked on with 
 apathy at the hopelessness of the struggle. It was the 
 United States which first responded, in the words of 
 President Monroe, Webster, Clay, Everett, Dwight, 
 Poinsett, and hundreds of lesser voices, to the resolu- 
 tion of the Greek Senate at Calamata, which declared, 
 " that having deliberately resolved to live or die for 
 freedom, they were drawn by an irresistible sympathy 
 to the people of the United States." 
 
 The assertion in Webster's great speech on Greece, 
 that her " sacrifices and suffering ought to excite the 
 sympathy of every liberal-minded man in Europe," was 
 not supported by facts — at least during the early period 
 of the conflict. The Greeks fought single-handed, 
 with valor in their hearts, wretched flint locks in their 
 hands, and dissensions in their midst. As a Greek 
 historian puts it, " David, scarcely armed with a sling, 
 attacked the formidable Goliah." After a conflict cor- 
 responding to that of our own seven-years' war, not 
 only in duration, but in many of its hardships, England 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 14c 
 
 and France came to the aid of the wretched and worn 
 out revolutionists, and, at the eleventh hour, by the 
 naval battle of Navarino, accomplished the indepen- 
 dence of a small portion of Greek territory. This 
 result was unpremeditated, and Wellington pronounced 
 it an " untoward event." Doubtless this is the opinion 
 of many to this day ; but I will not believe that Glad- 
 stone's nobler sentiment, uttered in Parliament in 1870, 
 and in the face of the then humiliated Greek people, is 
 not the prevailing sentiment of all sound and unpreju- 
 diced English minds, namely, that "to crush Greece 
 would be to strike a blow at the hopes of mankind." 
 
 But, although the semi-centennial anniversary of 
 Greek Independence has passed, fifty years of Greek 
 autonomy have not yet passed. The disorders, and 
 dispersions, and corruption of the revolution did not 
 give place to any form of systematized order for many 
 years subsequent to the conclusion of actual warfare. 
 A career of self-government cannot be said to have 
 been fairly inaugurated until the Greeks recovered from 
 the teriible exhaustion of the seven-years' war, say in 
 1830, when Greece was declared an independent State 
 by the Protocol of London. Indeed, it was not until 
 1835, when the seat of government was transferred 
 from Nauplia to Athens — ^then a collection of miserable 
 Turkish tenements — that much in the way of practical 
 progress was attainable. Thirty-sLx years is the period, 
 then, upon which the political critic should pass judg- 
 ment. What, it may with propriety be asked, has 
 7 
 
146 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Greece accomplished during these thirty-six years of 
 political autonomy ? 
 
 I do not propose to review the work, or even to re- 
 cord more than a handful of statistics. Although " fig- 
 ures never lie," they often deceive. The man who 
 builds but one house in a life-time may have given 
 stronger evidences in that achievement of the triumph 
 of resolute faith over despair, than the builder of a 
 city, although each may have begun his work without a 
 penny in his pocket. The Greeks were worse than 
 beggars when the seven-years' flood of the revolution 
 rolled back and left them naked on the almost barren 
 sands of the land they had fought so long to reach. 
 Then they looked around them to behold but little in the 
 way of resources within their reach, while the high, fer- 
 tile plains of Thessaly and Epirus, which had formed 
 the most significant portion of their land of promise, lay 
 within sight, but cut off from them by diplomacy, a worse 
 enemy, because a more subtle one, than the Turk, whose 
 might was visible and could be met hand to hand.* 
 
 The Greeks were worse than beggars, because they 
 had begged before, and disgusted the lenders by their 
 inability to pay the interest. The first loan Was con- 
 tracted in London in the excitement of the Greek revo- 
 lution, through the efforts of a few interested and disin- 
 terested Philhellenes. Out of ;£'2, 300,000 borrowed and 
 
 * By the treaty between the Great Powers and the Porte in 1832, 
 the boundary line was run from the Gulf of Volo along the chain of 
 the Othrys to the Gulf of Arta. 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 147 
 
 for which the whole Hellenic nation expected to be- 
 come responsible and easily to pay off under a solid 
 government of their own, but ;^924,8oo reached the 
 Greeks/ the loan having been negotiated "hke a hope- 
 less affair" at fifty-nine and fifty-five per cent. This 
 sum was immediately expended in the purchase of ma- 
 terials for carrying on the war, and when the war was 
 ended but a little more than one-fifth of the people who 
 had looked for freedom received it ; but a little more 
 than a third of the territory fought for received it, and 
 less than a million of people found themselves respon- 
 sible for the payment of a debt which had been contracted 
 by many millions. When Saint Denis was reported to 
 have picked up his own head and walked several miles 
 with it under his arm, the celebrated Ninon observed that 
 the number of miles was nothing, it was only the first 
 step that cost. Greece was worse off than Saint Denis 
 for she had no legs left to walk off with. The head 
 with its inventive energies was left, and the weak and 
 wounded arms managed to pick up a scanty sustenance, 
 and this, to her thinking, was, under the circumstances, 
 miraculous enough. Much of the first loan was sub- 
 sequently bought by Dutch speculators at five or six 
 per cent., and might now be liquidated at a low rate 
 but for subsequent loans — the outgrowth of the first.* 
 The united debt of Greece amounts to-day to nearly 
 $42,0(50,000. The revenue, according to the budget for 
 
 * Negotiations are now on foot which promise the early extin- 
 guishment of this debt; ■ 
 
148 THE GREEKS OF TO-UAY. 
 
 1870, amounted to $6,070,000 and the expenditure to 
 ^5, 982,000. This was an exceptional year, as the reve- 
 nue, owing to difficulties in collecting and negligence in 
 enforcing the payment of taxes, shows an annual defi- 
 cit of a million of dollars. Under such circumstances, 
 the national debt stands a poor chance of redemption ; 
 and Greece being excluded from the money markets of 
 Europe, has an onerous work to support herself under 
 the disadvantages of a small territory and sparse pop- 
 ulation. About a fourth part of the population live by 
 agricultural pursuits. Her merchant marine is active- 
 ly engaged in the trade with Turkey and the ports of the 
 Levantine which it largely controls. In these occupations 
 lies her only material strength, and under circumstances 
 of great discouragement ; the poverty of her people — fee- 
 ble resources — inexperience — the enervating influences 
 of old customs and habits of thought, Greece has failed 
 to fulfil the exaggerated and unreasonable expectations 
 of the enthusiastic Philhellenes. But Greece has never- 
 theless done much in the way of real progress. Briefly 
 enumerated* she has, in these thirty-five or forty years 
 of freedom, doubled her population and increased her 
 revenues five hundred per cent. Eleven new cities 
 have been founded on sites formerly deserted. More 
 than forty towns, reduced to ruins by the war, have been 
 rebuilt, restored to regular proportions, and enlarged, 
 presenting at present the aspect of prosperous a»d pro- 
 gressive cities. Some roads have replaced the foot and 
 * Report of Manitaky. 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 149 
 
 saddle-paths which were the sole avenues of communi- 
 cation under the Turks, and telegraphic communication 
 extends over the kingdom. Eight or ten ports have 
 been cleared, deepened, and opened to communication. 
 Light houses and bridges have been erected. From ■ 
 four hundred and forty vessels, measuring 61,410 tons, 
 her merchant fleet has increased to more than five thou- 
 sand vessels of 330,000 tons. Nearly a hundred thou- 
 sand vessels enter Greek ports yearly, of which more 
 than three-quarters are engaged in the coasting trade. 
 The united value of imports and exports exceeds twenty- 
 five millions of dollars. Greece has five Chambers of 
 Commerce, numerous insurance companies, and a na- 
 tional bank, the associated capital of which exceeds 
 eight millions of dollars. In 1830 the small dried grape 
 of Corinth^ — of which the word " currant " is a corrup- 
 tion, and which forms the chief article of export — sold at 
 about $120 the ton. It now sells at from $20 to ^30, 
 which indicates the enormous increase in the produc- 
 tion of this one article of commerce, from about ten 
 millions of pounds before the revolution, to about one 
 hundred and fifty millions of pounds now. The vines 
 have increased from 25,000 stremmds — a stremma being 
 about a third of an English acre — to 700,000 ; the fig- 
 trees from 50,000 to 300,000 ; the olives from 2,300,000 
 to 7,500,000, and the value of the silk and cotton pro- 
 duction shows also an increase. The population of the 
 chief towns, at the last census, was : Athens, 48,000 j 
 Patras, 26,000 ; Syra, 20,000 ; and Zante, 20,000. The 
 
150 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Army, newly organized in 1867, consists of 14,300 trobps 
 of the, line, but every Greek is a soldier in the hour of 
 need. The Fleet is composed of a frigate of fifty guns ; 
 two corvettes, together of forty-eight guns ; one side- 
 wheel steamer of six guns ; six screw steamers, together 
 of ten guns ; two new iron-clads ; and twenty-six smaller 
 vessels and gunboats. 
 
 It is difficult to obtain statistics in commercial or 
 financial matters in Greece, owing to the laxityinall the 
 administrative departments ; but enough has been given 
 in figures to prove that in her material industry, Greece 
 has accomplished something, and might accomplish 
 more. The capacity of her people, at least, ought not 
 to be questioned. " The absence both of national 
 and individual genius is. so marked in the modern 
 Greek," says Viscount Strangford in his Posthumous Pa- 
 pers, " as actually to amount to a real ethnological char- 
 acteristic.'' Some pages on, remembering the important 
 and honorable position which the Greeks of London, 
 Manchester, and Liverpool, occupy in the commercial 
 community, the writer betrays himself thus : " When their 
 (the Greeks') lot is cast among a practical people (mean- 
 ing Englishmen) and ballasted with money bags, they 
 are more brilliantly successful than Scotchmen, be- 
 cause in addition to their shrewdness they have the 
 genius that knows how to venture.'' Thus it would 
 appear from the Viscount's showing, that it is the atmos- 
 phere of the place which developes the genius of the 
 Greek, and that the Com and Currant Markets of Mark 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 151 
 
 and Mincing Lanes, Anglicise Hellenism into a sterling 
 virtue. Ergo : if the granaries of the Turkish provinces 
 could be transferred to the Kingdom of Greece, and a 
 million and a half of people could consume and pay for 
 the same quantity of dried currants that are now eaten 
 in the puddings and cakes of thirty millions of Scottish 
 subjects, the "ballast of money bags" would set the 
 Greek Ship of State upright, and all would be clear sail- 
 ing. The Greeks should erect the English plum-pud- 
 ding into a demi-god, and pour libations at its feet ; for 
 to it they are indebted for much of their material pros- 
 perity, and now that the onerous import duty in the 
 United States on the Greek fruit is reduced, and direct 
 exportations are largely increasing, our country may 
 sensibly contribute to the commercial strength of Greece. 
 Unfortunately, it is too true that to make his fortune the 
 Greek must often leave his own country and seek it 
 where money and men are more abundant than they are 
 in that pinched up land. But all cannot do this, and it 
 is more the misfortune than the fault of Greece, that she 
 is so much of a consumer and so little of a producer. 
 
 The agriculturalist in Greece plods on, a patient, 
 ceaseless laborer for what, at its best, produces only a 
 simple subsistence. He is temperate and frugal, and — 
 not looking beyond his domestic resources — a tolerably 
 happy man. He neither neglects his religious obser- 
 vances nor his children's education ; and if he sits 
 down to lament any thing, it is that his taxes are not 
 lighter, his crops not more profitable, and his country 
 
1 52 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 only a fraction of that which he believes to be his by 
 right of nationality, religion, language, and hereditary 
 claims. The Greek sailor, on the other hand, finds some 
 compensation for his national afflictions in the buoy- 
 ant bound of the billows beneath his staunch, well-laden 
 little craft, with which he coasts his native shores or 
 scours the waters of Turkey and its provinces, and 
 brings home bags of drachmas for his cargoes of fruits 
 and grains ; for he, too, although unhappily deprived of 
 the golden atmosphere of London, has " the genius 
 which knows how to venture.'' But what becomes of 
 that large body of young men, who with the pride of a 
 somewhat higher birthright than the peasant or the sea- 
 faring man, with the energy and ambition of youth, 
 endowed with mental qualities which, if profitably di- 
 rected, would place them on a level with the best intel- 
 lectual society of Europe, but without a shilling in their 
 pockets, have to make their way in the world ? The life 
 of one such man will very nearly illustrate the life of 
 many hundreds. He finds himself at an age when the 
 pressure of existence begins to be felt, and the necessi- 
 ty for self-support is painfully apparent, a helpless youth 
 in his father's house. The household is respectably but 
 barely held together by the over-taxed industry of his 
 parent, who without the educational advantages which 
 the era of national independence has afforded to her 
 children, digs the soil and trims his vines, or perhaps 
 exists on the uncertain and meager salary of a public 
 office. With a natural love for learning, the son has at- 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 ^53 
 
 tended the " gymnasia," and perhaps dreamed that in 
 sometliing better than the tillage of the soil ought to lie 
 his lot in life. But if, discarding books, he finds himself 
 willing to resort to manual labor, the prospect is any- 
 thing but cheering. The land is probably rented from 
 the Government, and at best offers few resources for 
 the large and growing up family which now manage to 
 exist upon its produce. To go abroad and seek from a 
 cold world — especially cold to one of his nationality — 
 a position of usefulness, is like casting one's only shil- 
 ling on the generosity of the gambling table, and prob- 
 ably he has not the shilling to venture. There -is busi- 
 ness at home : many Commercial houses ennoble the 
 cities of Athens, Patras, Syra, etc., but they have been 
 of slow growth and have hundreds of applicants for the 
 first vacancy which may occur in the poorest paid clerk- 
 ships. He bows his head in despair with but a sin- 
 gle forlorn hope. That hope is Athens. Surely, in the 
 Capital of the Kingdom, bustling with politicians, law- 
 yers, doctors, journalists, something must offer to a man, 
 sensible of his own merits and ready to devote mind 
 and body to the general or to the personal weal. To 
 the Capital he manages to pay or beg his way, and there 
 drifts, insensibly, perhaps, into the whirlpool of the 
 University — where a thousand others, mostly like him- 
 self, find a few years of sometliing like happiness in the 
 excited hum of social and political companionship, with 
 the common object in view of mental culture. He at- 
 tends the lectures on law, medicine, science, philosophy 
 7* 
 
154 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 and belles lettres — devouring knowledge — and, as a hun- 
 gry child, ignorant of the world around it, sucks the 
 nipple of the Alma Mater. He takes his books home 
 to his little- scantily furnished lodgings, and pores over 
 them till his eyes ache and his shrunken stomach craves 
 for something more substantial. At a cheap eating- 
 house he satisfies his hunger with a few olives and bread, 
 washed down with the resined wine of the country, 
 which is barely sufficient to sustain him until the next 
 repast. Probably he passes the evenings at a cafi^-^ 
 sitting for hours with three or four companions over a 
 single cup of coffee and innumerable cigarettes, dis- 
 cussing — what? The last opera? — the scandal of the 
 day ? — the lascivious life of cities ? It is more than 
 probable that the conversation is earnest : it relates to 
 the morning lecture at the University, or it discusses a 
 classical problem ; or, what is sure to come in, and with 
 more or less vehemence, before the evening is over — the 
 political question which is that day the topic of the 
 newspapers, or the subject of debate in the arena of 
 Parliament. In their enthusiasm these political and 
 literary roysterers heed not the passing hour, and still less 
 heed the presence of the foreigner, who, if by chance 
 " taking notes " of Athenian society, will be sure to put 
 them down as a parcel of degenerate and drunken 
 blackguards, fit representatives of the national life of 
 Greece. But his university career comes at last to an 
 end. The young man has arrived at the years of man- 
 hood. Through unremitting labor of the brain and 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 155 
 
 bodily self-denial, he obtains his degree, and finds him- 
 self standing where several roads part, uncertain which 
 of them to take. He is fit for the practice 0/ the law, 
 and is not without the ambition which takes delight in 
 gazing upon one's own signboard as he goes into his 
 office lined with the bound-up authorities of his craft. 
 But the profession is full. The city of Athens may be 
 proud of the legal talent which finds ex,ercise at her 
 various bars ; but to the few who gather the laurels and 
 ■wear them in marble dwelling houses, there is a hope- 
 less, swaying crowd, briefless, nameless, and a-hunger. 
 The same may be said of every other profession. 
 Thousands gather at the foutitain, but the slender stream 
 fills only the nearest pitchers, and that but slowly. Peo- 
 ple cannot be all of them at loggerheads, or stretched on 
 beds of sickness. There is one road — and an honora- 
 ble one it is,' too — which takes many of the graduates of 
 the University, in spite of its uninviting aspect and poorly 
 paid occupation. Our young man can, if he chooses, go 
 wherfe many of his fellows go, into the benighted provin- 
 ces of Turkey and along the Danube, and open, or teach 
 in, schools. The stream of the University at Athens 
 meanders through the Greek provinces of Turkey, and 
 gives to no -small portion of them all the intellectual 
 freshness and growth they possess. But one of the 
 chief qualities of a teacher of youth is patience, and 
 an absolute disregard to the claims of personal ambi- 
 tion — qualities which are eminently the reverse of those 
 which animate the average Greek mind. Penury may 
 
IS6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 be endured; but patience and obscurity are incompati- 
 ble with the activity of brain and national self-esteem, 
 which characterize the modern Greek. The young man 
 cannot ponder long at the angle of the professional roads, 
 for his nature abhors mental immobility. He who 
 judges him as he saunters through the street or sits 
 dreamily at the table of a cafd, judges him wrongly. 
 The brain is working in some direction or other, how- 
 ever passive may be the outward man. If the tongue 
 is not tripping with volubility of speech, it is because 
 no fellow tongue is by to challenge argument. There 
 is but one other road, or rather highway, of occupation 
 open to him ; and down that he advances with the rush- 
 ing crowd. The reading of newspapers,, the gasconade 
 of the cafd, the warmth of daily debate on public affairs 
 in the corridore of the University, has already made him 
 a political partisan. He has his favorite statesman, and 
 enrolls himself in the ranks of the supporters or de- 
 nouncers of the existing ministry. In a word, he be- 
 comes an embryo politician, scribbles for the journals, 
 and hangs around the camp of the Minister or ex -Min- 
 ister from whom he hopes to catch, in time, a loaf or 
 fish of party patronage. He knows that when it comes, 
 it will barely support life for the brief period that the 
 ministry hold office, but he fills the interregnum with 
 hopes which may shape themselves to realities to come. 
 That first political crust is a magic portion. He dreams 
 of one day becoming Prime Minister himself, when 
 fame and a sejise of personal power shall fill up the 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 157 
 
 crevices of his physical necessities. If for a moment he 
 realizes the absolute barrenness of the occupation he 
 has accepted for life, it is but for a moment, for he sees no 
 other alternative. Thus Athens becomes surcharged 
 with an element, for the most part unproductive and 
 unwholesome to the body politic, and yet one which 
 seems to result from natural causes, for which there is 
 no immediate remedy. Let him who laments, as I do, 
 that so much mental culture and absolute talent should 
 be squandered in the political arena, where so seldom are 
 seen the strength of self-sacrificing statesmanship, point 
 out a practical remedy, that is not born of national self- 
 experience, as sooner or later it must be born in Greece. 
 As men look everywhere but to themselves to discover 
 the majesty of the State, so the Greek, with his eager 
 intellect and restless ambition, looks all around him for a 
 sphere of development, unmindful that in his own arms 
 and hands lie the germs of national prosperity. He 
 does not believe in the " nobility of labor," nor is it to 
 be wondered at in a country where, through generations 
 of foreign domination, labor was but the synonym of 
 servitude. 
 
 The wants of the Kingdom are obvious — they lie 
 open to the broad sun of Greece, and the simple travel- 
 ler notes many of them before he has been ten miles 
 out of Athens. One of the most tangible of weapons 
 employed against the Greek, is the charge of neglecting 
 to do that for the Kingdom which every other country 
 regards as of the first necessity. Thus the want of com- 
 
158 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 mon roads to intersect the country — bring produce to 
 market and encourage the growth of villages — and the 
 want of railway communication between the cities, and 
 connection with the chief lines of Central Europe, is so 
 apparent, that the observer in Greece is filled with aston- 
 ishment that a people having the ordinary intelligence to 
 perceive what is for their own chief interest, neglect the 
 opening up of the country to the means of common in- 
 tercourse. The need of roads has been a crying evil 
 ever since the dawn of independence. The English- 
 man, accustomed to roll over the magnificent macadam- 
 ized highways of his own island, is particularly struck 
 with the wretched saddle-paths which alone furnish 
 communication f'or the tourist in many parts of the 
 Peloponnesus, Acarnania and Attica. As to railways, the 
 American feels that if he had the control of affairs there 
 but for a single twelve-month, he would pierce the Isth- 
 mus of Corinth, and inaugurate a system of railway 
 communication which should connect Patras with the 
 Capital, and turn the route of East India travel and 
 traffic from Marseilles and Brindisi, to Athens and the 
 Cape of Surinam ; while a northerly line should strike 
 the great avenues of Central Europe, and bring to 
 Athens the traveller who now makes the detour of 
 Constantinople and the Dardanelles. 
 
 There are about two hundred miles of good highway 
 in Greece proper. It is known that in many parts the 
 agriculturalist is indifferent to the matter, and this indif- 
 ference is welcome to the coasting trader who now monop- 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 159 
 
 olizes much of the carrying trade which would otherwise 
 be diverted from it. But this narrow and selfish policy 
 would be overcome by larger considerations of public 
 good, if the cost of laying well-constructed roads through 
 the sparse populated districts did not continually offer 
 an excuse for not appropriating out of a depleted treasu- 
 ry, money which is required for pressing and nearer 
 wants. Economy in all departments of the public ser- 
 vice would leave annually a goodly sum which could 
 hardly be better expended than in the construction of 
 roads — but economy is one of the hard lessons difficult 
 for a political and consuming population hke Athens 
 practically to enforce. The annual budget is an undis- 
 ciplined charger, which throws those who attempt to ride 
 it. The Army, Navy and Civil Service estimates might all 
 be cut down — to the chagrin and perhaps destitution of 
 many people it is true — and a sinking fund for public 
 roads be established. Few of those who ask why there 
 is no highway from this point to that in Greece, reflect 
 upon the first cost of such a road and the subsequent 
 cost to keep it in repair ; while the travel over it would 
 hardly be sufficient to keep the weeds from concealing 
 it for the greater part of the year. A series of well 
 built roads with bridges, water courses, and other con- 
 nections, would probably cost three thousand dollars per 
 mile. The average density of population, exclusive of 
 the Ionian Islands, is but fifty-eight inhabitants to the 
 square mile. Only one-seventh of the area of Greece 
 is under cultivation, and about one-quarter of the area 
 
l6o THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 fit for cultivation, not cultivated ; while about half the 
 whole, consisting of forests, rocks, and marshes, is unfit 
 for cultivation. We in the United States fell the forests, 
 raise log houses and run good roads between them ; 
 being persuaded by the natural richness and bounty of 
 the soil, immense emigration, and value of labor, that 
 every dollar expended will, in a brief space of years, 
 return a hundred fold. Such incentives to the outlay of 
 capital do not exist in the deserted portions of Greece. 
 But in spite of all discouragements, roads should be 
 built and extended throughout the length and breadth 
 of the Kingdom, for they are the arteries of civilization. 
 Every effort should be made in this direction, however 
 far distant is, the promise that public travel upon them 
 will be commensurate with the cost of the undertaking. 
 The national fleet, the increase of which is the object 
 of every Greek's ambition, may well rest in abeyance until 
 money has been found to place the country on a par 
 with other countries, so far as the simplest requirements 
 of internal communication are concerned. 
 
 As to railways, the Greeks have received a practical 
 illustration of their advantage and pecuniary profit in 
 the five miles of iron road which now connects Athens 
 with the Piraeus. They have seen what well-directed 
 capital can achieve, in spite of opposition and legal dif- 
 ficulties, between two points which but a few years since 
 seemed to them sufficiently well connected by a common 
 road. With railwaly communication between Athens 
 and the frontier, and thence with the great arteries of 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. i6i 
 
 central Europe, — an event which cannot be long delayed, 
 — not only the capital, but all Greece will receive a 
 quickening impulse which ought long ago to have been 
 imparted to it. The want of this com'munication in 
 Greece is the more painfully apparent as the contiguous 
 countries begin to advance under the magical influence • 
 of the railway system, now considered an essential ele- 
 ment in the life of nations. All efforts, therefore which 
 are made in this direction by Greeks or foreigners, 
 should receive the hearty assistance of the Greek Gov- 
 ernment and the material aid of the wealthy Greeks at 
 home and abroad. If foreign capitalists will embark in 
 these undertakings, they should be supported by liberal 
 allotments of the public lands through which such rail- 
 ways are laid, as is the case in the United States, where 
 vast tracts, heretofore sterile and unproductive, are now 
 building up the fortunes of speculators and agricultural- 
 ists. But if Greece is behind older and wealthier na- 
 tions in matters which require the employment of im- 
 mense capital, it is manifestly unjust to weigh her in 
 the balance without a make-weight for her natural dis- 
 abilities. Invidious comparisons are often drawn be- 
 tween the material progress of Greece and other coun- 
 tries, especially Switzerland. But a moment's reflec- 
 tion ought to show that the density of population, the 
 central and highly favored geographical position, the 
 strong working climate, the diffusion of enormous sums 
 of money by pleasure tourists, and the long period of 
 political freedom which she has enjoyed, are all immeas- 
 
r62 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 urably in favor of Switzerland. Only in her smallness 
 of territory and in preponderance of mountains, she 
 may present parallels to Greece, but her territory is oc- 
 cupied half the year by foreigners, who spend more 
 money for " Swiss carvings" in a single day, than pleasure 
 travellers in Greece spend for a year. As to her moun- 
 tains, instead of being barriers to progress, they are the 
 very loadstones which attract their profitable customers ; 
 and they are perforated or overrun with magnificent high- 
 ways of travel paid for by foreign capital. The Swiss 
 by force of climate is a patient plodder ; but the Greek 
 under great disadvantages is his equal in the heritage 
 of toil. 
 
 Agriculture in Greece has not yet thrown off the shack- 
 les of Oriental servitude. Everything is primitive and 
 backward as in Turkish times, and desolation and mis- 
 ery meet the eye of the traveller who penetrates into 
 the rural districts. Yet if the traveller who regards it 
 as hopelessly black with incrusted poverty will " scratch 
 the picture," he will find that such a thing as absolute 
 poverty does not exist in Greece ; that food is abun- 
 dant though of the coarsest kind, and he will also find 
 that compared with the " smiling landscape" of English 
 rural life, there is more domestic contentment and do- 
 mestic virtue, temperance and chastity in the peasant 
 life of a single province in Greece, than in all the great- 
 er part of rural England. The mode of taxation is 
 ill-devised and cumbrous, and is but a continuation 
 with some modification, of the old Rayar system. By 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 163 
 
 it the husbandman suffers delay in bringing his crop to 
 market ; loses by depreciation while awaiting the tax- 
 gatherer's arrival, and finally in the tax to which it is 
 subjected. It is easier to effect political, than social 
 revolution. In one night, and without the least violence 
 constitutional government was substituted for personal 
 power in Greece. It would be a far more difficult mat- 
 ter to introduce a modern plough into Greek soil. With 
 the Chinese, old custom is a sacred inheritance, and 
 centuries have failed to change the modus operandi of 
 their commercial or mechanical life. In Greece it is 
 not reverence for the ways taught their fathers by the 
 Turks, which keeps the agriculturalist obstinately to the 
 slow and unprogressive system, but the want of encour- 
 agement to competition which free labor and free laws 
 would inspire. There is a natural spirit of content- 
 ment in the agricultural laboring classes which clings to 
 simplicity of habit, and sees no virtue in experiments at 
 labor saving machinery. A few years ago a merchant at 
 Athens adventured in a cargo of " Yankee notions," to 
 wit: Connecticut clocks, churns, sewing machines, patent 
 wringers, etc., but the result was a loss to the importer, 
 and the experiment was not repeated. Probably Lf bet- 
 ter managed a better result might have been obtained ; 
 and we may yet find our steam ploughs turning up the 
 soil of Arcadia, and our sewing, mowing and reaping 
 machines astonishing the natives of Sparta and Olym- 
 pia. A friend of mine once presented a washwoman 
 with an American clothes-wringer — a very simple affair 
 
1 64 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 calculated to save much labor and accomplish a large 
 percentage of additional work. The poor hard-working 
 woman was at first delighted with tlie gift, but in a few 
 days went back again to her own muscles, which she 
 preferred to strain and wear out, because that was what 
 she was accustomed to. Innovation is received by the 
 Oriental mind very much as a settled old bachelor re- 
 ceives a proposition to marry ; the novelty of the idea 
 is not an unpleasant sensation, but he weighs well the 
 possible advantages of an entire change of the life he 
 does know about, to one which is untried, and may bring 
 him repentance. Since my residence in Greece I have 
 seen a desire manifested to investigate questions of 
 public economy which promise fruitful results, and some 
 measures are actually in progress which will, beyond 
 question, lead in time to an entire reorganization of the 
 agricultural system. Parliament has already passed a 
 law which permits the purchase by the tenant of the 
 public lands — the payment to be made in instalments 
 extending over eighteen years — which is analogous to the 
 American system. The effect of this measure, when 
 further simplified, will be to bring much of the land 
 heretofore unoccupied under cultivation, and diffuse 
 property among the class most likely to improve it. It 
 is also likely that when the political economists have 
 persuaded themselves of the immense advantages de- 
 rivable from free agricultural labor — a subject already 
 under discussion — some substitute will be found for the 
 present onerous taxation. 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 165 
 
 Mechanical industry is in its infancy in Greece. 
 Steam power is employed in about twenty factories of 
 different kinds, including the forge of the Greek Steam- 
 boat Company at Syra. The manufacture of wines for 
 domestic use is very extensive; and many of them, 
 such as the Kephissia of Attica, Malvoisi of Patras, and 
 .the red wines of Zante and Santorin, have an excellent 
 reputation. The resin, which is put in to conserve 
 most of the native wine, is an obstacle to their con- 
 sumption abroad, as only the accustomed palate can en- 
 joy this bitter aroma. The impatience of the Greek 
 will not allow him to give the necessary time and capi- 
 tal to the careful manufacture of wine for exportation, 
 otherwise this important article of commerce might be 
 largejy extended. 
 
 The approach of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary 
 of Greek Independence was considered a fitting period 
 for a National Industrial Exhibition of the products of 
 Greece, and for the revival of the Ancient Olympic 
 games. 
 
 The Industrial Exposition was frequented for many 
 weeks by crowds of curious and interested people. A 
 tasteful building was erected for the purpose, in the 
 large open space where stand the ruined columns of the 
 temple of Jupiter Olympus. It was about one hundred 
 and fifty feet long, with a transverse section of half 
 that length. Three passages ran lengthwise of the build- 
 ing, on either side of which the articles on exhibition 
 ^vere arranged, with an excellent viev fo general and 
 
l66 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 detailed effect. A marble fountain threw up a stream 
 of water near the centre of the main aisle ; and clusters 
 of flowers, with the long, graceful leaves of the banana 
 tree, enhanced the pleasing spectacle. There were gath- 
 ered specimens of the production of the whole king- 
 dom. Marbles from Pentelicus and Pares, coals from 
 Cymae, lead from Euboea, honey from Hymettus and 
 Cerigo, currants from the Peloponnesus, figs from Syra, 
 wool and cotton from the northern provinces, olive oils 
 from Corfu and Zante, wines from Santorin and other 
 islands of the Archipelago, inlaid tables and cabinets, 
 carpets of gorgeous colors, delicate laces and gauze silk 
 woven by Cretan refugees, and specimens of machinery ; 
 among which latter were a well-finished steam engine, 
 several wine and oil presses, and a sawing machine. 
 Here was a carriage, valued at a thousand dollars, which 
 would do no discredit to our Central Park ; there, sad- 
 dles and bridles, ladies' shoes, tanned and embossed 
 leather, gold-embroidered Greek costumes, and carvings 
 in wood — almost equal to the " laborious orient ivory, 
 sphere in sphere," of the Chinese — as well as creditable 
 specimens of sculptured marbles, and drawings and paint- 
 ings by the pupils of the Polytechnic school. A large de- 
 partment was occupied by the cereals of Greece, and in a 
 compartment outside the main building, was a small but 
 fine collection of live stock. 
 
 This exposition was inaugurated by a religious cere- 
 mony and an address to the throne by the president of 
 the association, in presence of the King and Queen, the 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 167 
 
 diplomatic body, the chief personages of the state, and 
 a .brilliant crowd of invited guests. That Greece has 
 not stood quite still during the last few years, may be 
 inferred from the increased variety and value of the ar- 
 ticles exhibited, as compared with that collected at the 
 National Exposition of eleven years ago, which were 
 valued at 240,000 drachmas, or about $40,000. The cost 
 of the specimens last exhibited was officially estimated 
 at 850,000 drachmas, or more than ^140,000. 
 
 The tendency of the modern Greek mind to conserve 
 and propagate Hellenic ideas, makes the people never 
 forgetful of those salient points in ancient history, which 
 indicate the Character and originality of the race whom 
 they delight to designate as their " forefathers.'' When- 
 ever, therefore, any opportunity presents itself for em- 
 bodying these ideas in visible form, it is eagerly seized 
 upon, not only to prove to the world that the people of 
 tp-day are the legitimate descendants of Themistocles 
 and Pericles, but because there is in the modern Greek, 
 a natural or acquired taste for many of those occupa- 
 tions and amusements which were engrossing pursuits 
 in the best epochs of ancient Greece. 
 
 During Otho's reign there was an attempt to produce 
 something like the ancient Olympic games, showing the 
 dominant taste of the people for public exhibitions of 
 skill, with victorious rewards. But it is only lately that 
 anything like a systematic course of training for com- 
 petitive athletic exercises, has been seriously entertained. 
 The chief animus to this movement is found in the be- 
 
1 68 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 quest of a certain wealthy Greek, M. Zappas, who left 
 a sum exceeding thirty thousand francs per annum_ to 
 assist in estabUshing an Exhibition of National Indus- 
 try, and of competitive athletic sports, which, under the 
 title of the " Olympia," will, it is intended, recur at in- 
 tervals of four years, as in ancient times. This is one 
 of many instances where the " great idea " of Hellenic 
 supremacy is recognized in bequests of deceased indi- 
 viduals, who have thus founded or assisted existing pub- 
 lic institutions in Greece. 
 
 The " Olympic Games " took place on a Sunday after- 
 noon in the ancient Stadium at Athens. A little to the 
 south of the city, following a circuitous course, the wide 
 gravelly bed of the ancient Ilissus, now a feeble, and in 
 summer a nearly exhausted stream, is bounded by a 
 sloping bank, verdureless, and in places too steep and 
 stony to ascend without difficulty. In this bank of 
 earth, at a period which has not been satisfactorily ascer- 
 tained, but probably three hundred and fifty years be- 
 fore the Christian era, the ancient Greeks cut, or scooped 
 out of the soil, a semi-elliptical hollow, facing the north 
 and at right angles with the river. Its length was more 
 than six hundred English feet ; and the sloping sides were 
 filled with long ranges of marble seats for the accommo- 
 dation of the spectators. This beautifully constructed 
 amphitheatre, open to the air and admirably adapted, 
 from its natural position, for the purpose intended, was 
 the " Stadium '' or race-course of the Athenians. A 
 bridge crossing the Ilissus formerly conducted to it ; but 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 169 
 
 this has long since disappeared, the foundation stones 
 only being now visible. The form of the ancient Stadi- 
 una is unimpaired, and until recently has presented a 
 grass grown hollow, frequented by flocks of sheep. 
 
 About two years ago, King George authorized exca- 
 vations to be made, with a view to the restoration of the 
 ancient lines, and for this purpose was obliged to pur- 
 chase the land from various owners, who were opposed 
 to any infringement upon their property. The excava- 
 tions continued for several months, and resulted in less 
 than was looked for in the shape of antiquities ; but on 
 the slope forming the upper and concave end of the 
 Stadium, several marble seats were exhumed ; and else- 
 where a large Hermes in marble was discovered, which 
 is now transferred to one of the lower halls of the King's 
 palace. But the most interesting of the remains brought 
 to light, is the almost perfect semi-circular low wall of 
 marble masonry, which ran around the upper end of the 
 floor of the Stadium, and afforded the passage-way for 
 the guests to pass thence to the seats above ; also frag- 
 ments of original steps leading thereto. Thus the level 
 of the ancient race-course was ascertained, and it be- 
 came a comparatively easy task to cart away the accu- 
 mulated dS6ris of centuries, and to restore the Stadium 
 to its original smooth and graceful proportions. Noth- 
 ing was required to be done to the surrounding banks, 
 but to cut lines of seats and cover them with rough 
 boards. On the occasion of the exhibition now under 
 notice, a pavilion of painted wood, supported by pillars 
 8 
 
170 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 wreathed with olive and surmounted by flags, was erect- 
 ed at the upper end, and appropriated to the use of the 
 King and Queen, and the members of the diplomatic 
 corps. Running posts, climbing masts and ropes, and 
 four flag-staffs, displaying the national standard, were set 
 up on the space below. Thus was the Panathenaic Sta- 
 dium reinaugurated for the benefit of modern Athenians, 
 and with scarce a change — excepting in the substitution 
 of wood for marble seats — in its external form and ap- 
 pearance from former days — days when,' amid the plau- 
 dits of the eager multitude piled tier on tier above him, 
 
 " The runner, swift six hundred feet, 
 Twice climbed the tall arch of his double course." 
 
 Probably a larger audience never assembled on those 
 sloping banks of the ancient Stadium, than was collected 
 on this occasion. The number of persons present was 
 variously estimated ; but counting by groups of a hundred, 
 there appeared to be twenty thousand spectators. The 
 dense black of the assemblage was relieved by the occa- 
 sional scarlet fez and snowy fustinella of the national 
 costume. 
 
 Imagine this multitude of people seated with the ut- 
 most order and decorum in the open air, and covering 
 the entire surface of the sloping banks, with the space 
 below dotted with the athletse — some thirty well-formed 
 men whose flesh-colored tights were the nearest approx- 
 imation to the oiled nakedness of their ancestors, and a 
 half dozen "judges" in blue sashes standing in the 
 centre of the arena. Add to this the bursts of military 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 17 j 
 
 music from the band stationed below the royal pavilion, 
 the shouts and clapping of hands as the winner received 
 his victorious wreath, and then the perfect beauty of the 
 day. It was the 27th of November, with the atmos- 
 phere of June. A sunny glow fell over the scene and 
 lit up the perspective seen through the aperture of the 
 hills, with the King's palace rising in the distance from 
 the dense foliage of its surrounding gardens. 
 
 It was amusing to observe how each detail of the ar- 
 rangements had been made to imitate those of antiqui- 
 ty. Even in the printed programme the ancient words, 
 as "jumping" and " wrestling," were unfamiliar to many 
 of the Greeks who read them. The runners on this oc- 
 casion, like the ancients, as described by Greek histori- 
 ans, " ranged themselves in line, after having drawn lots 
 for their places, and took the oath of fidelity to the rules 
 and regulations of the game." 
 
 At the conclusion of each performance the "judges, 
 standing in their midst," announced the name of the 
 victor, with his parentage and the place of his birth : 
 after which the hero, glowing with the sweat of conten- 
 tion, mounted the stairway to the front of the King's 
 seat, and received from his Majesty the first prize — like 
 that awarded in the ancient Olympic games — " a simple 
 wreath of wild olives," with which crowning himself he 
 descended to the arena below, in the midst of a tempest 
 of applause. The second best received a sprig of olive 
 from the hands of the Queen, and the third a sprig of 
 bay leaves. 
 
1-J2 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 The performances occupied about three hours, and 
 consisted of foot-races, or the " double course," viz. : 
 up the centre of the Stadium, round the turning post and 
 back to the point of departure — a distance of about four 
 hundred English yards ; rope-climbing, hand over hand, 
 a distance of about twenty feet; and climbing the mast, 
 with both hands and legs, to the height of sixty-three 
 feet. The successful aspirant in this performance re- 
 ceived, in addition to the wreath of honor, a reward of 
 one hundred drachmas. There were but two winners in 
 this last arduous achievement. Then followed exercises 
 in rope pulling, in leaping, with and without the pole, 
 the greatest distance accomplished being about nine- 
 teen feet ; flinging the discus or quoit, which measured 
 twenty-five centimetres in diameter, and weighed two and 
 three-quarter pounds; throwing the javelin, which fre- 
 quently pierced the " bull's eye " at a distance of thir- 
 teen feet. Several well-contested wrestling matches, 
 after the manner of the pancratiasts, concluded the feats 
 of the modern athletae. On the whole, these were of a 
 higher order of merit than was generally expected at 
 this, the first feeble attempt to revive Olympic games on 
 the spot where the ancient Greeks covered themselves 
 with glory, over twenty-two centuries ago. 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 " O golden moon ! 
 
 That lights me to letters ; 
 God's most precious boon — " 
 
 j R something like it — :is the sentiment of a re- 
 frain which the Greek l)oys used to carol 
 nightly on their way to school during the 
 Turkish regime. It is familiar to every Greek, now as 
 then, and fathers point to the moon and repeat the lines 
 to their children, telling them how she befriended them 
 in the dark times of Ottoman domination. To avoid 
 giving offense to their rulers, which might have prevent- 
 ed any efforts on their own part at self-instruction, the 
 children, and often their parents used to steal quietly at 
 night to the house of the teacher to pursue their studies. 
 Thus the village school became a sort of secret associa- 
 tiori, — not for revolutionary intrigues, but for mutual 
 improvement, — and the moon, as the triplet says, light- 
 ed them on their way, — Diana giving what the day de- 
 nied. 
 
 The Turkish authorities did not absolutely interfere 
 with the education of the Greeks, but they gave it no 
 encouragement, and as public instruction was wholly 
 
176 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 neglected among their own people, they could scarcely 
 be expected to regard with complacency any efforts 
 at self-enlightenment on the part of the large popula- 
 tion of their quick-witted and discontented subjects. 
 The mind of the Greek partook of the condition of his 
 conquered country. It lav fallen and unredeemed save 
 in isolated places, where cultivation only served to 
 heighten the contrast of the melancholy waste about it. 
 The Greek schools were small in number and far apart, 
 and were supported by the self-imposed contributions 
 of the different communes, and by the Greeks abroad. 
 There was no freedom of instruction any more than 
 there was freedom of political action j and letters took 
 their share in the national misery. 
 
 It was not until the dawn of Greek independence, 
 that any systematized schooling was undertaken by the 
 Greeks, but they did not wait for an established gov- 
 ernment before providing for this necessity. The Na- 
 tional Assembly discussed measures for the education 
 of the children while the army was battling with the en- 
 emy. Thus letters went hand in hand with the progress 
 of liberty, and with an organized National Government 
 came organized national education. 
 
 In 1835 there existed in "free Greece" but 71 pri- 
 mary schools attended by 6,721 pupils. At present, ac- 
 cording to official reports, there are 73,219 persons under 
 instruction in Greece at public establishments ; and 7,978 
 persons at private establishments ; making in all 81,197, 
 or one to about 18 of the population. First come the pri- 
 
EDUCATION. 177 
 
 mary schools, 1,141 in number, which afford instruction 
 to 52,943 boys and 11,035 girls. The Hellenic Grammar 
 schools and Gymnasia follow with about 2,000 pupils, 
 and the University completes the system of education. 
 At the three last, instruction is wholly free. The pub- 
 lic schools are supported partly by the communes and 
 partly by the State. In the most thorough ones the pupil 
 is taught reading, writing and arithmetic, the catechism, 
 the first rudiments of grammar, and an elementary ac- 
 quaintance with history, geography, natural history, ag- 
 riculture and drawing. A Seminary at Athens contrib- 
 utes to the education of primary instructors. In the 
 Gymnasia (colleges) is acquired a knowledge of the 
 classics, a thorough acquaintance with ancient Greek, 
 the Latin and French languages, elementary mathe- 
 matics, history, geography, logic, anatomy and the ele- 
 ments of physic and natural history. The University at 
 Athens was founded in 1835, and has 50 professors 
 and 1,244 students, a large proportion of whom are 
 Greeks from the Turkish provinces. It ranks in Europe 
 as a second-class university, and the examinations are 
 conducted with strictness. The chief branches of 
 learning taught at the University are theology, law, phi- 
 losophy, belles lettres, and pharmacy. Connected with 
 the University is a library of about a hundred thou- 
 sand volumes ; a Mathematical Museum, a Museum of 
 Natural History (incomplete), an Astronomical Observ- 
 atory — erected by Baron Sinna the well-known Greek 
 
 banker at Vienna — which is under the direction of 
 8* 
 
lyS THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Professor Schmitt ; a Botanical Garden, and a Polytech- 
 nic School. 
 
 These statistics will afford a general idea of what 
 Greece has accomplished in educational matters within 
 the space of thirty-five years — ^her brief period of inde- 
 pendence, after centuries of barbaric thraldom. It 
 may be interesting to compare the condition of the 
 Kingdom in this one particular of popular education, 
 with other and older nations. We have seen that Greece 
 with half a century of free institutions, and a popula- 
 tion of a million and a half of people, affords instruc- 
 tion to over 80,000 scholars, of whom 73,219 are pupils 
 at public schools. What, for instance, has England, 
 with six centuries of " chartered liberty,'' done for her 
 twenty-one million of people in the way of primary edu- 
 cation ? According to the official returns of 1869, but 
 i)iS3iS72 attended primary schools, the returns of 743 of 
 which were signed by the master or mistress with a 
 mark ! Of the character of these English schools Mr. 
 Anthony Trollope says : 
 
 " The female pupil at a free school in London is, as a rule, either 
 a ragged pauper or a charity girl, if not degraded, at least stigma- 
 tized by the badges and dress of the charity. The Englishmen 
 know well the type of each, and have a fairly correct idea of the 
 amount of education which is imparted to them. We see the same 
 result afterwards, when the same girls become our servants and the 
 wives of our grooms and porters." 
 
 In England in 1867, say the statistics, "twenty-three 
 
 per cent, of her minors were unable to write their names. 
 
 In 1865 more than one-third of her Welshmen; nearly 
 
 one-third of the men of Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 179 
 
 and Norfolk ; more than one-third of the men of Suf- 
 folk ; thirty-eight per cent, of the men of Staffordshire ; 
 thirty-five per cent, of the men of Bedfordshire ; forty 
 per cent, of the men of Monmouthshire, and one man 
 in every four in Lancashire, could only make their mark. 
 In South Wales, more than half the women ; in North 
 Wales, Monmouthshire, Staffordshire and Lancashire, 
 forty-six in every hundred women ; and in Bedfordshire 
 two women in five, could not write their names. Of 
 1,000 recruits in 1864, there were 239 in the same help- 
 less predicament. Since these dates " there has been a 
 little improvement in England, but in Scotland and Ire- 
 land no improvement." 
 
 The condition of France is about as bad as that of 
 England. According to the tables, the number of con- 
 scripts unable to read, amounts to thirty out of every 
 hundred for the whole country, and it is calculated that 
 " another generation will be required to extend the ben- 
 efits of education to the whole population." Russia 
 shows but one public pupil to every 77 inhabitants. In 
 Spain and Portugal public instruction is extremely un- 
 satisfactory. Italy has only recently begun to develope 
 any system of primary instruction ; and in Turkey edu- 
 cation is still so low as not to attract any attention. 
 
 In Greece, on the contrary, it may be safely asserted 
 that no man, woman or child born in the Kingdom since 
 the organization of free institutions, is so deficient in 
 elementary knowledge as not to be able to read and 
 write. The cost of public instruction constitutes 0.053 
 
i8o THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 of the total expenditure of the State, a larger per cent- 
 age than is paid for these objects by either France, Italy, 
 Austria or Germany, and in proportion to her resources, 
 years and population, she stands undeniably first in the 
 rank of nations — not excepting the United States — as 
 a self-educated people. Chiefly her pre-eminence lies in 
 the fact that whereas in countries which do not neglect 
 popular education, such as Prussia, Saxony, Switzerland 
 and Denmark, instruction is obligatory, in Greece it is 
 voluntary. The law there obliges the attendance of 
 children at the public schools, but the sentiment, or I 
 may rather say the natural craving of the people for 
 learning is more powerful than the law. Not only does 
 the parent feel a pride in having the child instructed, 
 but the child himself seeks knowledge and pursues it 
 with avidity. The Greek boy does not " creep unwil- 
 lingly to school," but his chief delight is to learn. To 
 him the holiday is a relaxation, not a longed for release 
 from dull books ; and this passion never deserts him 
 until he has reached his classics and begun to dream of 
 fame. There have been instances of children running 
 away from home, and secreting themselves to pore over 
 their grammars or Greek readers ; and there are scores 
 of boys who have travelled barefoot to Athens, living 
 on way-side crusts, in order to prepare themselves in 
 the Gymnasia, for the University. This desire for men- 
 tal improvement extends to all classes and ages. Men 
 who have missed opportunities of schooling when young, 
 devote their evenings and moments of leisure'between 
 
EDUCATION. jgl 
 
 their daily occupations to earnest study. It is not an 
 uncommon thing in Athens for house servants, men as 
 well as boys, to be found busy over their copy-books or 
 grammars when not under the surveillance of their mis- 
 tress. 'AH this is well known to the resident in Greece, but 
 is a source of much astonishment to strangers who some- 
 times denounce the race as barbarous, and lament the 
 want of education as a civilizing process. It is a com- 
 mon thing with such critics, when the real condition of 
 things is made known to them, to shift their position 
 and charge the Greek with being " over educated." The 
 " barbarians " of a moment before become transformed 
 into "useless scholars," whose education has unsettled 
 their brain, excited their vanity and self-esteem, and 
 made them unfit for practical life. " If the Greek thought 
 more of his pocket and less of his brains, he would be 
 a useful citizen," said one, who a short time before had 
 supposed that such a thing as a common school was 
 unknown in the Kingdom of Greece. But we have 
 seen in a previous chapter that where the means and 
 opportunity are clearly before him, the Greek is clever 
 enough to avail himself of them, and to rise to an emi- 
 nent position in the mercantile circles of other cities. 
 The evil is not that he is " over-educated," but that the 
 ■physical energies are neglected, chiefly for want of a 
 field to exercise them in. The laws of Solon punished 
 the parent who did not educate the child in a manner 
 conformable to his position, and which would secure the 
 means of self-support. The moderns seek education 
 
l82 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 in the higher schools without regard to the natural apti- 
 tude of their children, and thus many are diverted from 
 practical pursuits, and the farm is neglected for the 
 profitless pursuits of the law. Yet by nature the Greek 
 has adaptiveness in almost as marked a degree as the 
 American. Place him in the same position freed from 
 the physical disadvantages of Oriental birth and blood, 
 and we should witness the same material success attend 
 him as attends our own people, and with perhaps a keener 
 sense of mental enjoyment from the fact of his intel- 
 lectual receptivit)'. As it is, seeing no gold mine at his 
 feet, and not knowing how to work it if he did see one, 
 he flies to book-learning, or climbs the perilous ladder 
 of politics. This is all very disheartening for Greece ; 
 but the shame of her poverty is in a measure glorified 
 by the fact that her people are not a race of imbeciles ; 
 and that she does not follow in the wake of some of the 
 richer and more populous countries of Europe, by the 
 encouragement of popular ignorance and vice. " It is 
 a most disgraceful fact,'' says a recent reviewer, " that 
 the landlords of England have, as a class, uniformly 
 set their faces against any national system of education 
 avowedly for the reason that it would endanger their 
 supremacy." The same may be said of other countries 
 where > the percentage of education is so lamentably 
 small. They have yet to see what England is begin- 
 ning too late to see, that it is the neglect of popular 
 education which really threatens the supremacy of her 
 rulers. The danger to be apprehended in England is 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 183 
 
 not republicanism, but the want of enlightenment among 
 the masses. It is not the exercise of popular rights that 
 she has to fear, but the exercise of popular ignorance. 
 
 In Great Britain there are 347 individuals to the 
 square mile. In Greece 58 individuals to the square 
 mile. England covers the ocean with her ships, dark- 
 ens the heavens with the -smoke of her furnaces, makes 
 the air resonant with the sound of her spindles. One 
 half of her population lives upon the other half — and a 
 third of her people cannot read or write — but they can 
 think. Greece, poor as she is, indebted as she is, with 
 only four per cent, of her people of independent means, 
 and with but eight per cent, engaged in mercantile pur- 
 suits, and half her entire population shepherds or peas- 
 ants, is to-day, politically safer — so far as internal tran- 
 quility is concerned — than is England. In the latter 
 country a revolution would be attended with the horrors 
 and vicious results of an infuriated mob. In France we 
 have already seen it under the name of " Communism" 
 which is another name for common ignorance. In 
 Greece the revolutionary spirit has been a spirit only, not 
 animal ferocity or self-indulgence. That this has been 
 largely owing to the natural instincts of the people under 
 a certain degree of mental cultivation, cannot be doubt- 
 ed. Athens is a city of talkers and boasters, but it is 
 also a city of readers, and a strong undercurrent of cul- 
 tivated thought runs steadily and tranquilly beneath the 
 effervescent surface of the political life. Whatever may 
 occur there to endanger her institutions, there will al- 
 
l84 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ways be hope for a return to the principles of self-gov- 
 ernment, while her free press and free debates keep 
 open channels for the admission of the truth. The lit- 
 erary tastes of the people may possibly tend to keep her 
 poor, but it will always keep her respectable ; and as the 
 press and the school grow stronger they will grow purer. 
 Neither education nor the press in Greece is what it 
 should be. The school system, although creditable to a 
 country just emerged from darkness, is not thorough. 
 The young are too much impressed with the glory and 
 grandeur of the ancient, and the superlative merits of 
 the modern Greek. Their geographical map wants to be 
 enlarged, and the condition and progress of foreign na- 
 tions made the serious study of every youth in the land. 
 We see the want of this knowledge in the limited range 
 of some of her politicians and in the national self-com- 
 placency of some 'of her leading minds. The masters 
 of the village schools are neither sufficiently impartial in 
 their treatment of their pupils, nor sufficiently independ- 
 ent of political influences. The Minister of Public In- 
 struction holds them as his willing slaves, and while this 
 is the case, favoritism and subservience will militate 
 against education. It is a well-known fact that the best 
 scholars are often the neglected mountain lads and not 
 the sons of the wealthy and influential citizen. Still 
 less independent of political control is the University, 
 which is too frequently the seat of partisan power. 
 There, in those teeming young brains, is engendered the 
 warfare of the political arena, and there is no national 
 
EDUCATION. j8s 
 
 movement afoot, that the University has not a part or 
 lot in. A recently retiring Rector in his valedictory ad- 
 dress " congratulated " the students upon the fact that 
 the University was more than ever " accentuated with 
 the political Hfe of the nation." It is also said that the 
 University examinations, although severe, are not always 
 impartial, nor always a test of thorough education. 
 
 The literature of modern Greece has blossomed 
 abundantly in the free soil, but produced no full grown 
 flowers of poesy or prose, if we except the stirring songs 
 of Rhigas arid Salomis during the epoch of the revolu- 
 tion. There is a deluge of pamphleteering, but few 
 standard works by modern authors. Several Greek 
 translations of notable European works have appeared, 
 and this department of literature should be encouraged 
 and extended. Before 182 1 there were no newspapers 
 in Greece, and the commencement of journaUstic liter- 
 ature was very unpromising. Now it is an " institution " 
 of the country, as may be inferred from the fact that 
 there are at present seventy-seven newspapers pub- 
 lished in the Kingdom — of which three are in French 
 edited by Greeks, and thirteen periodicals. The news- 
 papers are small in size, and but few appear daily. 
 They are the exponents of cliques or parties — some- 
 times of an individual mind — and if they succeed in 
 barely sustaining themselves, are seldom abandoned. 
 Forty printing establishments and six type foundries in 
 Athens find constant employment. Journalism in 
 
1 86 ' THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Athens is for the most part superficial and limited in its 
 range — too local, too personal, and not sufficiently the 
 exponent of high and immutable statesmanship. There 
 are exceptions of course among so many journals ; and 
 the wholesome character of more than one is percepti- 
 bly shown in the character and number of their readers. 
 Many very respectable literary associations do honor 
 to the capital — such as the Society for the extension of 
 primary education, the Archseological Society, the Med- 
 ical Society, the Natural History Society, the Athenaeum 
 with lectures for the higher classes, and a society for 
 the instruction of the working classes. The magnifi- 
 cent marble structure now in process of erection for the 
 Greek Academy — elsewhere alluded to — promises to 
 be honored by an association of scholars who will not 
 permit what there is of artistic and scientific knowledge 
 to wither in that classic land . Although modern de- 
 velopments are but feeble offshoots of a decayed trunk, 
 which at times seems past the power of reinvigoration ; 
 although the fine arts, as might be expected after a des- 
 olation of ages, are but caricatures of what European 
 ateliers are daily producing, yet in oratory aud letters 
 there is much to hope for ; for the mental endowments 
 of the people, like coals under ashes, slumber only to 
 break forth into vitality with the first breath of inde- 
 pendence. Societies for the restoration of the ancient 
 Greek tongue are in progress ; and dramatic perform- 
 ances by the students of the University have been at- 
 
EDUCATION. 187 
 
 tempted with the tragedies of Sophocles and the come- 
 die& of Aristophanes. With regard to the modem 
 Greek language, it has been said that " it is approach- 
 ing again so closely to its mother, that one seems to hear 
 only a provincial rendering of the same tongue. Some- 
 times the streams run for a good while side by Side ; 
 sometimes they intermingle. That the substance of the 
 modern Greek language will be brought into complete 
 identity with the ancient, at no distant period, seems to 
 admit of no doubt." However this may be, it is very 
 certain now, that European and American Greek schol- 
 ars, when they jump ashore at the port of Athens, find 
 themselves " utterly at a loss for words," — not to ex- 
 press their astonishment or delight — but their common 
 wants. With some difficulty they manage to understand 
 a Greek newspaper, but the oral language is "all 
 Greek " to them. Most of the " Professors " of the 
 Greek language who have gone out to refresh their 
 studies of Ancient Greece on the sites of antiquity, 
 have been obliged to commence their alpAa-ieia, over 
 again, in order to find their way without a Greek inter- 
 preter. It is a curious fact that while modem Greeks are 
 laboring to restore, or at least to keep alive the ancient 
 tongue, the modern Greek is attracting the attention of 
 European scholars. The latter cannot be acquired with 
 proficiency out of Athens ; hence foreign visitors to the 
 Greek capital may be expected to comprise among their 
 number, many who will remain sufficiently long not only 
 
l88 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 to become acquainted with the modern vernacular, but 
 with the character of the people who speak it ; and thus 
 disabuse their minds, in part at least, of the erroneous 
 prejudices which at present discolor their judgments 
 with regard to the intelligence and moral development 
 of the modern Hellenes. i 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 
 
 I HE Greek Church is weak, and religion is 
 strong," says Professor Burnouf, of the 
 French Institute at Athens, in an interest- 
 ing paper which he contributes to the Revue des Deux 
 Mondes. " The Greek Church is strong, and religion is 
 weak," says the historian Finlay, in a letter to me 
 commenting on Mr. Burnouf 's article. Thus two inteUi- 
 gent writers, long resident in Athens, differ totally in 
 the result of their observations on this important subject. 
 If by the " Church " is intended the outward organi- 
 zation which governs the communities acknowledging 
 and practising the faith of the Greek Orthodox Chris- 
 tians, it seems impossible not to regard it as a compact 
 and powerful organization. If by " religion " is meant 
 theology pure and simple, that of the Greek Church, in 
 the number of its disciples, in its unity and in its free- 
 dom from heterodoxy, may be said to be stronger than 
 any other form of professed Christian belief. But if by 
 the religion of the Greek Church is meant popular 
 piety — that pervading essence of faith which sancti- 
 fies the private and public lives of men — it must, 
 I fear, be acknowledged that the profession and 
 
ig2 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 forms of the Greek, like those of the Romish Church, 
 bear a prominence in the public eye dispropor- 
 tioned to that active principle of goodness which the 
 observer might expect to see resulting therefrom. Per- 
 haps this very prominence of religious observance, this 
 outward and ever boastful union of Church and State, 
 this blending of glittering religious paraphernalia with 
 the political structure, excites expectations which in 
 other communities are not excited by the independent 
 and unobtrusive workings of religious associations. 
 
 When we see people, as we do in Roman Catholic 
 and Orthodox countries, pouring into the ever open 
 churches, and note the vast number of those churches ; 
 when bells peal for matins and vespers on week days as 
 well as Sabbaths ; when the clergy of all grades, clothed 
 in imposing canonical robes, make so large a feature in 
 the street processions; and crosses and shrines meet 
 the eye at every roadside, the natural inference is, not 
 only that " the Church " is a prominent part of the social 
 system, but that religious faith and religious conduct 
 must be the chief characteristic of the people. The out- 
 ward and omnipresent sign, like the roll of drums and 
 flying flag in a garrisoned town, denotes an active and 
 palpable power protecting and vivifying the community 
 around. A perpetual exhibition of external religious 
 forms and ceremonies is a perpetual challenge to inves- 
 tigation ; and hence the deficiencies, if found to exist, 
 in the moral and religious life of such a people, are the 
 more open to criticism and to stricture. 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 193 
 
 The Greek Church and the Greek nation are, so to 
 speak, synonymous terms. The larger proportion of the 
 people believe that one is so dependent on the other, 
 that one would cease to be, without the other. As the 
 Church cannot exist without the people, the corollary 
 is that the people cannot exist, as a nation, without the 
 Church. The Church is, indeed, the corner-stone of the 
 political fabric, and the declaration of its principles 
 forms the first article of the Hellenic Constitution, to 
 wit: 
 
 " The dominant religion in Greece is that of the Orth- 
 odox Oriental Church of Christ. All other recognized 
 religions are tolerated, and the free exercise of worship 
 is protected by law. Proselytism and all other inter- 
 ferences prejudicial to the dominant religion are for- 
 bidden.'' 
 
 The Orthodox Church was not imperiled by the 
 Ottoman domination. On the contrary, it was strength- 
 ened by the cohesion of a common faith during four 
 centuries of alien oppression. The Ottoman rulers rec- 
 ognized, on their side, the importance of leaving their 
 conquered subjects to their own religious ways in order 
 that some element of peace and tranquillity might exist 
 among them. Therefore the children were not taken 
 from the mother, and she, like the many-bosomed 
 divinity, nourished, from her thousand paps, her un- 
 happy offspring, who clung the closer to the maternal 
 breast. The Church was thus the implement of salva- 
 tion to Greek nationality, and while she held the people 
 9 
 
T54 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 together, she propagated Hellenic ideas, nourished the 
 hopes of future independence, and wrought the first 
 spells which made revolution in their eyes a religious 
 obligation. It was Germanius, Bishop of Patras, who 
 blessed the banner of revolt ; and it was Gregory, the 
 Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, who fell among 
 the first victims. 
 
 The power, great as it is, of the Greek Church, is 
 not chiefly spiritual, but chiefly temporal. It is a pro- 
 fession of faith held together by forms and sanctified 
 by hereditary observances. It is sufficient for the 
 Greek that these forms have been the recognized 
 standard of his nation from immemorial times. He 
 does not stop to inquire whether a closer investigation 
 of principles or tenets might not divulge inherent 
 absurdities, because, however much a glimmering doubt 
 on the subjectinay, from time to time, enter his mind, 
 larger considerations of public policy, closely connected, 
 as he thinks, with the safety of the State, are paramount 
 to all other considerations. Ask him if he believes in 
 the actual presence of the saint, whose body he assumes 
 to be before him in a silver and jewelled shrine, and he 
 shrugs his shoulders. " ThemJ>eraze" — never mind — 
 this is the faith of my fathers — this is the faith of the 
 Church. It is dangerous to play with fire, much more, 
 sacred fire. One innovation would lead to another, and 
 where would be the end ? — certainly the Church would 
 not be more homogeneous by admitting discussions of 
 its principles. What is, is at least harmless : what 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. jgg 
 
 might be, might be hurtful. Let the Church and its 
 institutions alone." 
 
 There are social reformers who are of opinion that 
 the laws of marriage are all wrong, and that society 
 demands more facilities' than at present exist for ridding 
 men and w-omen of the yoke which binds them together, 
 when that yoke becomes intolerable to one or both. It 
 is certainly sad to hear, as we do sometimes, of young 
 and fresh-hearted people forced to wear out a miserable 
 existence with each other, between whom there is no 
 congeniality of taste or point of sympathy. But the 
 moralist says : Better that such exceptions should exist 
 than to discuss a question which, if acted upon, would 
 open the door to infinite abuses, and, perhaps, dis- 
 integrate society itself. Very much this feeling induces 
 the Eastern Orthodox Christian to avoid discussion or 
 even examination of the subject. Thus from fear of 
 endangering the safety of the Church, the intelligent 
 Greek shuts his eyes to what his own common sense 
 assures him is false in theory, and, it must be added, 
 corrupt in practice, because the masses are permitted 
 by the clergy to cling to superstitious beliefs which are 
 worthy only of pagan days. While the simple-minded 
 peasant of Corfu continues to believe that the body of 
 St. Speridien rises from its precious casket, where it is 
 daily worshipped, and parades the corn-fields and walks 
 the sea on certain nights to bless the work of the 
 husbandmen and fishermen, their faith will be as dry 
 and repulsive as the mummied remains they ignorantly 
 
196 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 how down to. So is it with the belief in sacred relics 
 and all the train of lesser superstitions which appeal to 
 the vacant senses and dethrone the power of reason. 
 But the light is creeping into the Greek Church through 
 chinks and crannies, and, I believe, will be permitted 
 and encouraged to enter freely, long before their 
 brethren of the Church of Rome, whom they love not, 
 denounce the corruptions and practised deceptions, 
 which debase their religion. The recent efforts on the 
 part of one of the most enlightened of the bishops of 
 Greece, to canohize Gregory the martyred Patriarch of 
 Constantinople, met with no response from the govern- 
 ment or people, who saw that neither the political 
 nor moral attitude of the nation would be heightened 
 in foreign regard, by a blind subservience to ideas which 
 have long ceased to add to the real stability of the 
 Church of Christ. 
 
 The stranger who witnesses for the first time the 
 ceremonies of the Greek Church, distinguishes but 
 slight differences between them and the forms of Rom- 
 ish worship. He sees the high altar and the candles, 
 the pictures and the crucifix, the priests in their gor- 
 geous canonicals and the cloud of incense diifused by 
 the swinging censer, and hears the rapidly intoned 
 prayers and the nasal vocalization of the choir, and 
 wonders why the " Orthodox " and the " Romanist," so 
 apparently close in forms and observances, should be 
 so far asunder in spiritual and personal sympathies. 
 Even the Romish Church pretends to see so little real 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. ig-j 
 
 difference in faith as to hold out the hopfe that eventual- 
 ly there will be union of the churches. To this end the 
 Roman Catholic priesthood use all their endeavors to 
 proselyte the Greek; not openly, in violation of the 
 Greek law, but clandestinely--by the establishment of 
 schools and charities, and by availing themselves of 
 every opportunity to extend the hand of invitation to 
 their opponents. But the Greek is too individual in 
 character, too national in spirit, and too astute in under- 
 standing, to be misled by their movements. He does 
 not himself seek to proselyte, and views with suspicion 
 and anger all attempts of the kind from without. 
 Hence the breach between the two churches grows 
 wider and there is really less likelihood of reli- 
 gious amalgamation in that . direction, than there is 
 of a union between the Greek Church and the Church 
 of England, where there is an approximation of ideas 
 without jealousy, although the latter alliance is as hope- 
 less as the former. The recognition of the Pope of 
 Rome as the supreme spiritual and temporal head of 
 the Church, is an obstacle which no Greek, pious or 
 impious, would dream of surmounting. Other differ- 
 ences in faith and in ceremonials between the Ortho- 
 dox and Romish Churches are sufficiently marked to 
 account for the intolerant spirit which pervades both. 
 Some of these may be mentioned. The Orthodox 
 Christian rejects the doctrine of the "procession'' of 
 the Holy Ghost from Father to Son, and the power 
 of direct absolution by the priest. He disbelieves in 
 
igb THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 purgatory, yet prays for the dead that " God will have 
 mercy on them at the final judgment." The Romanists 
 employ in the communion service unleavened bread, 
 the priests alone partaking of the sacramental wine, 
 and the elements are consecrated by uplifting and 
 declaring them. The Greek priests employ ordinary 
 bread, and administer with it the sacramental wine, 
 which are consecrated by prayer and benqfliction. 
 Baptism, in the Romish Church, consists in making the 
 sign of the cross on the forehead of the child, by the 
 finger of the priest dipped in holy water. In the Greek 
 Church the child is baptized by triune immersion. The 
 Roman Catholic makes the sign of the cross before his 
 forehead and eyes, accompanied by the genuflection of 
 the right knee. The Greek makes it by uniting the tips 
 of the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand, 
 and touching alternately the forehead, navel, right 
 breast and left breast three times in rapid succession, 
 whenever he passes a church, sees the cross or hears 
 the name of the Saviour pronounced. Among Roman- 
 ists, auricular confession takes place in the confes- 
 sional-box, the penitent being separated from the 
 priest by a latticed screen. Among Greeks auricular 
 confession is less generally observed, and is made only 
 to selected elders of the priesthood, in a retired part of 
 the church, as two persons would engage in conversa- 
 tion. The Virgin Mary of the Catholic Church, with 
 or without the infant, is painted on canvas with soft, 
 womanly attributes, and the image of the Saviour, in 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 199 
 
 wood, ivory or marble, on the elongated cross, is dis- 
 played in the churches and street processions as a part 
 of the machinery of worship. The Virgin of the Greek 
 Church is worshipped exclusively as the mother of 
 Christ, or, as both Churches express it, " the Mother 
 of God," and is generally painted on small panels, in 
 the hard style of the Master of Perugia, the face and 
 hands* appearing between plates of metal, and she is 
 never represented without the child. Images, even as 
 bas-relief or as ornaments to church architecture, are 
 forbidden ; and paintings of the Saviour or of the Vir- 
 gin are not borne in street processions, the insignia 
 employed being the rectangular " Greek Cross." At 
 funerals a small panel picture of the holy Mary is set 
 up on the breast of the corpse, as if he were contem- 
 plating the revered features as he passes to his last 
 resting-place. 
 
 Many of the rites of the Greek Church are deeply 
 impressive, and would be rendered more so if the 
 prayers and Scriptures were read with less volubility 
 and more unction — less after the manner of a mere 
 mechanical routine and more like the utterances of 
 religious inspiration. The immersion of the naked 
 infant in baptism is a pure and touching spectacle ; 
 but the private baptism of adults is calculated to shock . 
 the sensibilities, especially of females, and might well 
 be. curtailed in many of its details. The marriage cere- 
 mony is intei-esting, but tediously long. Both bride 
 and bridegroom are crowned with a wreath of orange 
 
200 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 blossoms, which are repeatedly shifted from one head 
 to the other as emblematic of their indivisible union of 
 interests and affections, which the marriage tie is sup- 
 posed to create. The burial of the dead, with the ex- 
 posure of the corpse during the funeral procession, the 
 chanting of the priests, and the informal manner in 
 which the crowd of mourners follow the remains to the 
 grave, impart a solemnity to the proceeding more in 
 consonance with the solemnity of the occasion than is 
 the case in Protestant countries. Among Church ob- 
 servances none is more effective and beautiful than the 
 ceremony on Easter eve. Until midnight the churches 
 and streets are shrouded in darkness and silence, but 
 with the first stroke of twelve, every bell gives forth a 
 merry clang, and from every church issues a dense pro- 
 cession, each individual of which holds a lighted 
 candle, and the streets become suddenly ablaze with 
 candle-light, torches and colored fires, and alive with 
 the moving and voluble populace. 
 
 The Greeks are accused of picture worship. A 
 stranger certainly cannot go into a church or chapel in 
 that country and witness the people of all classes, and 
 at all hours, walking up to the panel pictures of the 
 Virgin, which hang upon the pillars and wafls at a con- 
 venient elevation, kissing them fervently in token of 
 love, and knocking their foreheads against them in 
 token of submission, without concluding that the pic- 
 ture itself is the object of worship. But excepting 
 among the most ignorant classes — among whom I fear 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 201 
 
 that sugh is really the case — these ordinary paintings, 
 which are sold cheaply about the streets and are sus- 
 pended beside an ever burning taper in every house- 
 hold, are not regarded as vraisemhlances of the Divine 
 Mother, but as outward .and visible aids to spiritual 
 worship. As one kisses and clasps to his bosom, and 
 wets with his tears the sacred and beloved image of his 
 deceased mother, so the Orthodox and Roman Catholic 
 Christian may be supposed to regard, with a still greater 
 intensity of love and admiration, the image of the 
 mother of Him through whose " mediation " alone he 
 looks for salvation. I am inclined to think that this is 
 the explanation of picture worship in the Oriental 
 Orthodox Church. 
 
 According to our heterodox views, the tendency of 
 such observances is towards materialism at the ex- 
 pense of those inward emotions which sanctify worship, 
 and are, indeed, its only essence. But the Greek 
 maintains precisely the opposite theory, which is that 
 -if man is left without visible agencies, and to his own 
 voluntary incentives to spirituality, he will neglect 
 religion altogether or be lost in theoretical distractions. 
 I believe that habit and custom are stronger than con- 
 viction in Church matters ; and that many a faithful 
 attendant at the Greek service utterly repudiates in his 
 heart many of the articles of faith to which he osten- 
 sibly subscribes. I know, at least, of more than one 
 instance to substantiate this view. But, however much 
 or little the Greek may be inclined to argue the prin- 
 9* 
 
202 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ciples of his Church, few educated, fair-minded men in 
 Athens will deny the startling need that exists for 
 instructing and elevating the Greek clergy. It is not a 
 hopeful sign for religion or for morals, when the men 
 who administer the rites of the Church in public and in 
 private, are for the most part illiterate and common- 
 place. The black cap and flowing robe of the priest 
 are seen in every street and in every assembly ; 
 and, although a kindly and unpretending class of men, 
 ■whose services are constantly in requisition with the 
 community at large, their influence for good is weak- 
 ened, if not positively annihilated, by the low status of 
 their social condition. Even the faces of the priests be- 
 tray a simplicity of ignorance, which, although contrast- 
 ing favorably with the carnal expression of many of the 
 Romish priesthood, indicate the want around them of a 
 vital and inspiring religious element. The reason for 
 this is obvious. The Greek priest lives from hand to 
 mouth on the petty offerings of those who employ him — 
 chiefly the poor, and among them chiefly the women — 
 to pray for them in sickness, exorcise the " evil eye," con- 
 secrate a new house, or new fishing boat or new vineyard, 
 and perform the various rites of the Church. A few 
 leptas a day, paid by the humblest class of the commu- 
 nity, is all the support he has to depend upon. As may 
 be supposed, under this condition of things, there is lit- 
 tle inducement for young men to acquire a theological 
 education. The class at the University is, therefore, 
 very small in numbers, and composed of students who 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 203 
 
 are not distinguished for scholastic ambition. The 
 Church of Rome, in its immense diffusion of educa- 
 tional resources, is in striking contrast to the negligence 
 and indifference of the Oriental Orthodox Church in 
 this respect. 
 
 The Greek priest is a married man, and hence his life 
 is purer than in other communities where celibacy is 
 enforced. The monks form a small majority of the 
 clergy. There is little sympathy between them and the 
 married priesthood, and, as a rule, they excite more 
 ridicule than reverence. The love of power is nowhere 
 more strongly manifested than in the Synod of Bishops. 
 To retain their power they discourage the elevation of 
 the lower orders of the clergy, and would, if they could, 
 debar them from rising into popular notoriety or fame 
 by the exercise of any natural talents which they may 
 possess. Jealousy between these religious orders is, 
 therefore, a natural result of the exercise of ecclesiasti- 
 cal power. 
 
 Among the priests there occasionally appear men, 
 who, from having been in contact with foreign society, 
 or from having acquired the advantages of foreign edu- 
 cation, desire to cleanse the Church of its impurities 
 and incite a more active religious principle in the 
 masses. To do this they have established regular 
 preaching in the churches, which has, heretofore, been 
 almost neglected in Greece. But difficulties and hin- 
 drances have been thrown in the way of their noble 
 efforts which seriously discourage the hopes of perma- 
 
204 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 nent reforms. The preacher, especially if he is in 
 danger of becoming popular, is closely watched, and if 
 anything in his language from the pulpit can be con- 
 strued into too great latitude in points of religious 
 faith, the interdiction of the bishop falls upon his head, 
 and for a series of Sabbaths, or of months, he is sus- 
 pended from the exercise of his holy functions. We 
 are not wholly without such instances of Church intol- 
 erance in our own religious communities. Dionysius 
 Latas, an " archimandiate " of commanding abilities, is 
 now exciting very great attention by his eloquent sermons 
 in one of the churches at Athens. With the benefit of 
 foreign education, and a knowledge of two or three 
 languages, his mind has received an expansion which is 
 most unusual in the class to which he belongs. If he 
 lives and pursues his career with the courage which 
 is absolutely necessary for success, Latas will undoubt- 
 edly do more for the advancement of religious know- 
 ledge and religious faith in Greece, than has been done 
 by any single individual since the creation of the king- 
 dom. For two hours at a time, from his pulpit in "St. 
 Irene," this young preacher holds the undivided atten- 
 tion of a closely packed and standing -crowd — for there 
 are no seats in a Greek church — while he explains and 
 enforces the truths of Scripture, large portions of 
 which he repeats memoriter. He uses no notes, 
 although he has evidently carefully studied his subject 
 beforehand, and he often rises to impassioned elo- 
 quence and fervor. My only opportunities for judging 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 205 
 
 of the capabilities of this remarkable priest, have been 
 in private conversation with him, and these have 
 confirmed the idea that his views, though broad, are 
 sound ; and thai the Church has nothing to fear, and 
 much to hope for, if such men are permitted, uninter- 
 ruptedly, to go on in their work of religious enlighten- 
 ment. Latas is of opinion that religion does not 
 progress in Greece ; that the Church is sterile ; not that 
 it corrupts, like the Romish Church, but that it does not 
 pfoduce fruits. He thinks that the country fails to 
 sustain the people with wholesome advantages, and that 
 religious ideas are taught at the expense of practical 
 common sense. He believes that the tendency of 
 people's minds in Greece is in the right direction ; that 
 they are easily led astray, but as easily led aright, and 
 are ever eager for something new, even if that some- 
 thing is spiritual sustenance. 
 
 I am clearly of opinion that reform in religious 
 matters in Greece should commence with the University 
 at Athens. A fund should be created, either by the 
 government or by the wealthy Greeks of other cities, 
 who are ever liberally disposed towards their country- 
 men in Greece, for the wholesome and thorough educa- 
 tion of the student of divinity, and for the decent 
 support of the priesthood. This would reduce the 
 disproportionate number of students now belonging to 
 the Faculty of Law, of which there are 622, out of 
 1,200, and increase the number of theological students, 
 the need of which is but too apparent. Nor should the 
 
2o6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Student confine his studies to Basil and the "golden- 
 mouthed " Chrysistomos, but extend his researches fur- 
 ther into the Scriptures. His mission as a priest should be 
 the enforcement of practical morality among the people 
 at large. Public preaching should be regarded as an 
 absolute necessity of the Church, and the " Holy 
 Synod " should see to it that it is encouraged and 
 enforced. 
 
 At present the fathers of the Church are in reality 
 little better than an oligarchy, whose imperious will brings 
 the entire priesthood into a narrow material subser- 
 viency to power which degenerates and weakens the 
 whole system'. They walk in an incense-perfumed circle 
 of outward observances, which forbids progress and has ' 
 no other effect than to perpetuate their individual 
 importance at the expense of the moral advancement 
 of the whole people. The Church of Greece, which has 
 done so much in times past for the accomplishment of 
 national independence, should now labor for the disen- 
 thralment of the people from that ecclesiastical servi- 
 tude which prostrates and dishonors the nation, reduces 
 the Church to a mechanical instrument of the State, and 
 religion to. a spiritless formality. 
 
 The neglect of the religious education of the people 
 in Greece is more apparent because of the striking 
 contrast it presents to the general thirst for common 
 and classical education ; and the reason for this neglect 
 is on a par with that given by other countries where 
 the book-ignorance of the common people is regarded 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 
 
 207 
 
 as a means of political safety. The English and Rus- 
 sian proprietors do not afford common education to 
 their dependents lest, when their eyes are open, they 
 see too much and rise to higher social levels. But in 
 Greece, where public schools are regarded as an indis- 
 pensable condition of social life, ignorance is permitted 
 ill the priesthood, because the Church might be endan- 
 gered by the discussion of theological dogmas. This is 
 not the reason assigned, but such is the effect, and the 
 sooner these cobwebs are effaced from the sacred struc- 
 ture, and the broad light of day permitted to illuminate 
 altar and chancel, the sooner will be effected those 
 sterling reforms which will make the religion of the 
 sGreek Church a potent and conserving principle. 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 
 
 NE of the drawbacks to a prolonged sojourn 
 at Athens is the want of resident American 
 society. In all, there are less than half 
 a dozen families, and these consist of missionaries, 
 chiefly Greeks by birth, who have been educated in the 
 United States, and have married American wives. The 
 missionaries are, for the most part, devoted to their 
 work of preaching and teaching, and find little time or 
 inclination to mingle in general society. They hold 
 religious services, in the Greek language, at their own 
 houses on Sundays and on specified vyeek days, which 
 are attended by small congregations of Greeks; and 
 two or three well conducted schools for Greek and 
 Cretan children are in successful operation under their 
 charge. 
 
 I believe the missionaries to be earnest workers in 
 the field, and have no doubt that the " Annual Reports " 
 which they furnish to the societies at home are calcu- 
 lated to inspire confidence in the work of foreign 
 evangelization in Greece. 
 
 I do not know that a layman disconnected with mis- 
 sionary matters has any right to pass judgment upon 
 
212 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 them, and yet even criticism from this point of view 
 may not be unkindly received, when its purpose is to 
 strengthen religious teaching where most it is needed. 
 My views with regard to proselytism differ no doubt 
 from the opinions of many whose position and experi- 
 ence may give them wider and juster scope of observa- 
 tion. But to attempt to proselyte a people, or even 
 an infinitesmal portion of them, from the worship of 
 their fathers, sanctified to them by the influences of 
 ages, is worse than futile. I say worse than futile, 
 because " the attempt and not the deed, undoes '' the 
 missionary, in the eye of the people about him, and by 
 exciting tlieir suspicion, ridicule or hatred, lessens or 
 annihilates his influence for good. I know what are the 
 textual arguments ever brought to bear upon this view 
 of the question, but there is no form of Christian wor- 
 ship or tenet of Christian faith, however much it may 
 differ from another form or tenet, that cannot be sup- 
 ported and defended by isolated texts or injunctions. 
 
 What I mean to say is that the work of proselytism 
 in all countries is very unproductive, and interferes 
 with that wider and deeper sphere of usefulness, the 
 teaching of religion pure and simple — the duties between 
 man and man — and the obligations of man to his • 
 Creator. 
 
 The Greek religion, as I have shown, is woven into 
 the fabric of nationality, and is inseparable from it. 
 The faith of the Greek is as strong and unalterable as 
 is that of the follower of Mahomet, or of Confucius, 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIKS AT ATHENS. 
 
 213 
 
 while he possesses the advantage over those of being 
 able to assert to the foreign missionary who would dis- 
 turb it : " We are both Christians /" He might add : 
 " Being one in essential faith, what right have you to 
 proclaim as errors the forms and ceremonies wherewith 
 we worship the Saviour, because your forms and cere- 
 monies, and certain principles which they illustrate do 
 not happen to be ours ? We, at least, have one point 
 in our favor which you cannot adduce — we are united, 
 eighty millions of us in one profession of faith ; you 
 are divided among yourselves, each with a banner of his 
 own, and ever engaged in polemical warfare ; what one 
 sect regards as fundamental, the other spurns as heter- 
 odoxical; what one says is the spirit of Christianity, 
 the other denounces as Atheistical. My brother, may 
 it not be that you are wrong and we are right ? Instead 
 of denouncing our faith, should not our example of uni- 
 ty and fidelity prove an inducement for you to embrace 
 rather than oj5pose it ? So, indeed, with much show 
 of philosophy, might the Greek respond to the foreign 
 missionary who seeks to convert him to Protestantism. 
 
 I believe that some of our societies at home are 
 beginning to hold the opinion that it is better, at least 
 in Christian countries, to abandon all attempts, open or 
 covert, to proselyte, and to direct their missionaries to 
 confine their labors exclusively to the mental and moral 
 education of such as will hear them, letting tenets, 
 forms, doctrines and usages quite alone. If this prin- 
 ciple had been adopted when the foreign missionary 
 
214 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 labor was initiated in Greece, the influence of the 
 missionary would not be as colorless as it to-day is. It 
 is now twenty years since Dr. Jonas King, the well- 
 known American missionary, was brought to trial and 
 condemned in the Greek courts, on a charge of " pub- 
 licly and contemptuously mocking the doctrines, the 
 ordinances and customs of the Eastern Orthodox 
 Church, and expounding principles contrary to its fun- 
 damental doctrines ; inveighing against the Orthodox 
 Greeks as worshipping the divinity after a wrong man- 
 ner, and mocking and reviling the sacraments and the 
 rites ; calling the worship of the holy mother of God 
 idolatry, and the holy fathers of the Greek Church 
 heretics and idolaters.'' On the evidence of certain 
 persons — Greeks — that they had heard Dr. King on 
 various occasions, in his own house, give offensive 
 utterance to opinions adverse to many of the most 
 sacred ordinances and doctrines of the Orthodox or 
 dominant rehgion of Greece, Dr. King was condemned 
 by the courts — subsequently confirmed by the Areo- 
 pagus or Higher Court of Appeal — •" on the ground that, 
 although the Constitution of Greece sanctions the liber- 
 tv of speech and tolerates the worship of foreign 
 religions, it does not allow the condemnation of the 
 principles, customs, doctrines and ordinances of the 
 religion dominant in Greece." 
 
 Dr. King was sentenced to " imprisonment for fifteen 
 days, and after its termination, to expulsion beyond the 
 bounds of the kingdom." 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 215 
 
 The whole judicial proceedings appear to have 
 been instituted out of deference to pubUc opinion, 
 which was greatly outraged against Dr. King, as well as 
 to maintain the law, and strike an example which 
 should be effective in preventing further " religious 
 abuses," or "disturbance to the dominant Church." 
 Hence, out of deference to Dr. King's nationality and 
 personally good character, the sentence was not exe- 
 cuted. The fifteen days' imprisonment consisted in 
 walking Dr. King 'into one of the doors of the prison 
 and out of another door. He succeeded, I beheve, in 
 dating, but not in writing, a letter from his " prison," 
 and was comfortably housed elsewhere during the re- 
 mainder of the term. Neither was the sentence of 
 exile carried out. Dr. King continued to reside at 
 Athens as a foreign missionary, with occasional ab- 
 sences, until his death in May, i86g, and although he 
 was always treated with the respect to which his calling 
 and irreproachable conduct entitled him, he failed to 
 win the confidence of the people around him, or to have 
 any marked influence as a religious teacher. Nothing 
 evinced this more than the small number of Greeks 
 who attended his funeral. Although he dwelt among 
 them for forty years, spoke their language, and was 
 personally acquainted with almost every person of 
 position 'in Athens, not a dozen Greeks were present, 
 a circumstance the more significant, because they are 
 exceedingly punctilious in paying due honors to the 
 dead. 
 
2i6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 I have brought up this case of Dr. King, now for- 
 gotten by many people at home, but which, at the time, 
 created intense excitement and led to much diplomatic 
 flourish, because of the unfortunate consequences to 
 which it gave birth. As usual in such cases, there was 
 great fault on both sides. Certainly Dr. King com- 
 mitted no direct or open violation of the Greek law in 
 the utterances which he made use of in his attempts to 
 enlighten — and it must be added, for I have it from his 
 own lips — to convert the Greek Orthodox Christians to 
 his own religious views. The proceedings of the court 
 show prejudice, haste, errors in judgment and insuffi- 
 cient cause for the judgment jfronounced. But he who 
 knew Dr. King and his peculiar temperament and iron 
 will, which was intolerant and dogmatic, can understand 
 how aggravating to the public mind it was to have a 
 foreigner persistently preaching down, as it were, the 
 established faith with expressions or intimations which, 
 to the ears of his auditors, seemed sacrilegious. To 
 understand this, one need not be a Greek if he will 
 disencumber himself of foreign prejudices and attempt 
 to stand in the place of the Greek. Let him imagine 
 that in one of our quiet towns a foreigner sent out and 
 paid by a society abroad, should open his house for 
 Sunday services, and then and there denounce as idola- 
 trous and wicked our forms of Christian worship, and, 
 with intolerant zeal, pronounce his own creed and ob- 
 servances to be the only safeguards of human salva- 
 tion. Would the people of that quiet town put up 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 217 
 
 with it ? Ati English journal furnished, some time ago, 
 an excellent argument in denunciation of the intolerant 
 spirit on the part of certain missionaries in China, to 
 which was largely owing the excitement of the rabble 
 which led to the horrible acts at Tin-Tsein. It asked: 
 "^Vhat would be done with a priest of Buddha who 
 should dare, in Charing Cross, to harangue a streejt 
 crowd in behalf of Buddha? Doubtless they would 
 throw him in the Thames !" Dr. King did not harangue 
 the street crowd, but he invited the public to his preach- 
 ings, and under the conviction that he was doing God 
 service, stirred up the angry feelings of his hearers by 
 persistently denouncing what they held to be sacred and 
 efficient observances of the Church. 
 
 Of course, in the eyes of his countrymen at home. 
 Dr. King became a religious martyr from the moment 
 that the account of his " persecution " in Greece 
 reached the United States. Like a second St. Paul had 
 he not suffered " imprisonment for righteousness' sake," 
 and been banished like a common felon for preaching 
 God's Word ? The crown of martyrdom was borne by 
 Dr. King with complacent satisfaction, and he became 
 the recipient of much epistolary sympathy and of 
 material aid from his friends at home. 
 
 The course adopted by Dr. King was not calculated 
 to encourage missionary work at Athens, and to-day 
 one of the chief difficulties in the way of its advance- 
 ment is the bitter prejudice which exists in the popular 
 mind, caused by the mistaken zeal and intolerance of 
 some of the early workers in the missionary field. 
 
 lO 
 
2l8 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 The Greek, however much inspired by curiosity to 
 attend the preacliing of a foreigner and a Protestant, 
 keeps away, being suspicious, iirst, of tlie motive and 
 second, of the sincerity of tlie preacher. Even if he 
 attends Sunday after Sunday, and hears notliing uttered 
 that is not in perfect accordance with tlie moral teach 
 ings of the fathers of his own church, he wonders why 
 men are sent thousands of miles, from America to 
 Greece, and supported by foreign money to preach to 
 them, if the real object is not to proselyte. " Our own 
 priests," said an intelligent Greek to me one day, " are 
 supposed to look after our morals ; why are these mis- 
 sionaries here, but for some special and secret pur- 
 pose ?" 
 
 The non-conformity of the Protestant with certain 
 immemorial and sacred customs of the Greeks, is 
 another hindrance to missionary labor. On the occa- 
 sion of the gathering of the children of the Cretan 
 schools in front of the American Legation, one of the 
 missionaries who conduct these excellent schools offered 
 up in the Greek language a very fervent prayer. The 
 crowd of by-standers listened with silent and marked 
 attention. A Greek gentleman present was subsequent- 
 ly asked what he thought of that prayer. He replied 
 that there was nothing objectionable in it, nay, that it 
 was a very beautiful and touching prayer, but that any 
 good it might have had upon the people at large was lost, 
 because the address to the Deity was unaccompanied by 
 the sign of the cross." The symbol was wanting which 
 sanctifies the prayer of the Greek. 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 219 
 
 Protestant sectarianism is another barrier in tlie way 
 of missionary work in Greece no less than in other 
 countries. The faithful of the Oriental Orthodox 
 Church will hardly be tempted to abjure the consoli- 
 dated faith of his nation for the new school of teachers 
 who are divided among themselves on questions of 
 tenets and religious forms. The Greek is not so dull as 
 not to perceive that the foreign missionary who accuses 
 him of fanaticism and ignorant credulity despises his 
 own fellow-worker of the other church for his sectarian 
 opinions. While there may be no open wrangling 
 among them, he knows that there is no unity of belief 
 on cardinal points, and that each believes his brother 
 in " error," whether the difference lies in sprinkling or 
 total immersion, in confirmation or non-confirma!tion, 
 in ritual worship or Quaker worship, in the Trinity or 
 the Unity, in eternal damnation or eternal salvation. 
 
 It is only by the avoidance of doctrinal points and 
 by patient continuance in moral and intellectual teach- 
 ing that the missionary in Greece has anything to hope 
 for. The process at best is dry, slow and unsatisfac- 
 tory ; but the missionary who confines himself to this 
 will be left free to do his work, chiefly, it must be ad- 
 mitted, because his work is regarded by the Greeks as 
 harmless and ineffective. To those missionaries who 
 have already adopted this policy, the Greeks are hot 
 unwilling listeners. JSTot long since an American mis- 
 sionary preached a sermon on Mars HiU, taking for Ms 
 subject the ever-memorable sermon of St. Paul, de- 
 
220 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 livered on the same spot. Although he had doubted 
 the success of the attempt, it was a success. The day 
 selected was a Greek fete day, when a large crowd of 
 idlers were gathered on the slope of the hill sitting in 
 groups on the grass enjoying the beautiful atmosphere 
 of May. The curiosity of the people secured for the 
 preacher the utmost attention, and no doubt the senti- 
 ment gave way, before the sermon ended, to an earnest 
 interest in the subject discussed. During the prayer 
 which succeeded, the Greeks stood with uncovered 
 heads, and no sign or sound of frivolity or ridicule 
 marred the sacred scene. Such are among the signs, 
 if not of a dawning interest in religious discussion, of 
 a closer conformity between the decree and the spirit 
 of religious toleration than has heretofore existed in 
 Greece. 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the inveterate opposi- 
 tion of the Greeks to the introduction among them of 
 schismatic views, and at the same time of their general 
 willingness to permit rehgious teaching, even by foreign- 
 ers, from the following remarks which appeared in the 
 Greek Orthodox Review of December 15, 1870. Refer- 
 ring to a small newspaper printed at Athens under the 
 auspices of one of the " Evangelical " foreign mission- 
 aries, it says : " The object of this periodical is to serve 
 the purposes of the missionaries, viz. : to spread among 
 us Protestant views ; and in order that this end may not 
 be betrayed, which would cause them trouble, it confines 
 itself, for the most part, to the simple expounding of 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 2ZI 
 
 the Gospel and unfolding the fundamental truths of 
 Christianity common to all Christians. As long as it 
 does this no one is justly offended or angry at its publi- 
 cation, but on the contrary we rejoice that the Gospel 
 is in any way preached and disseminated among us. 
 But in its teachings it sometimes introduces views 
 entirely foreign to the Gospel — views purely Protestant, 
 the production of the Reformers of the Sixteenth Cen- 
 tury ; as for instance the justification by faith alone.'' 
 
 Thus much of the article from the Orthodox Review, 
 and which may be considered rather favorable, was 
 translated and copied into one of the missionary re- 
 ports for the benefit of the society at home. The re- 
 mainder of the article, which contained the pith and 
 marrow of the Greek side of the question, was disposed 
 of in the report by that delusive abbreviate, "etc., etc." 
 I regret that my missionary friend should have treated 
 his society so unfairly. It is by such concealments on 
 the part of those whose duty it is to enlighten their 
 countrymen at home, that mistakes in the missionary 
 system are permitted to continue. The article in the 
 Greek journal proceeds to state that the course adopted 
 by some of the missionaries at Athens " excites hatred 
 among our own (the Greek) people against the Protest- 
 ant Church at a moment when the Christian world 
 verges towards reconciliation." A contrast is then 
 drawn between the non-interference policy of certain 
 missionaries who have preached and taught in Athens, 
 and others who have effected harm rather than good. 
 
222 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 It is not a pleasant duty to make this record, but it 
 seems nevertheless a duty in speaking of this subject at 
 all, to present the views of the Greeks themselves, who 
 are the party most nearly interested in the matter. 
 
 In Greece, more than anywhere else, perhaps, be- 
 cause of the susceptibility, suspicion and keen percep- 
 tion of the native mind, it is of the highest importance 
 that the life and conversation of the foreign missionary 
 should be without a shadow of reproach. He must be 
 self-sacrificing, unostentatious and afford no ground for 
 the belief that he is seeking to derive any personal ad- 
 vantages from the profession he has embraced. Ridi- 
 cule is a weapon small and keen, which every Greek 
 carries in his pocket, and it is the first instrument 
 employed when occasion furnishes provocation. One 
 thrust, well-aimed at the supposed insincerity of the 
 foreign missionary, does infinite damage to the work in 
 which he is engaged. Nor has the occasion, in the 
 Greek point of view, been wholly wanting. Some years 
 ago a printed caricature, exhibiting what were thought 
 to be the salient points of character in two American 
 missionaries, was exposed in the shop windows at 
 Athens. One represented a stout/ rubicund-visaged 
 clergyman seated at a table on which were a large num- 
 ber of bottles of wine. The other represented an 
 elderly, lean-faced individual kneeling at prayer, with 
 the object of his adoration — a well-filled money bag- 
 in the clouds above him. The Greek Charivari once 
 printed an imaginary conversation between a well- 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 
 
 223 
 
 known American missionary and a Greek convert, 
 which ran somewhat in this wise : Convert. — " Doctor, 
 I have just- seen, in an American journal, a statement 
 from you to the effect that you had converted a large 
 number of Greeks to the Protestant Episcopal faith. 
 How is this ? I always thought that I was your only 
 convert." Missiona.ry. — " You are quite correct, but 
 don't you see that unless I made such representations 
 I could not get money from the society at home for our 
 great work." I give only the words as they were re- 
 peated to me, which are doubtless not verbatim et liter- 
 atim ; but however incorrect in language or unjust in 
 the inference, these attempts at humor indicate how 
 quick the Greek is to discover any apparent point of 
 vulnerability in the foreigner who sets himself up as a 
 " guide, counsellor and friend," and how essential is the 
 need of " circumspection in all things " on the part of 
 the missionary of religion in foreign lands. If I may 
 venture a step further, I would express the opinion that 
 if certain missionaries in various quarters of the world 
 would put less coloring into the reports which they fur- 
 nish to their societies at home, and be more willing to 
 substitute naked facts for illusory statements, the friends 
 of missions would be better able to judge of the condi- 
 tion, the real condition, of the work for which they so 
 cheerfully and liberally subscribe. There are two ways 
 of drawing up a missionary report. The one is the 
 familiar and attractive method of presenting the result 
 of the year's labor, and is full of encouragement to the 
 
224 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 unsophisticated almoner who listens to it in his cush- 
 ioned pew thousands of miles away from the dreary 
 field of the missionary's labors. Such a report, judging 
 from the specimens before me, might read as follows : 
 " Through God's blessing I am enabled to report great 
 progress during the past year. This is shown not so 
 much in numbers as in the increased interest of the 
 people of this benighted land in the work of evangeliza- 
 tion. The Lord has graciously granted an accession 
 of three communicants to our little flock. One, a ven- 
 erable lady, who has experienced religion under circum- 
 stances which give us full hope that the salvation of 
 Christ is her portion hereafter. Two youths of tender 
 years have accepted the hand outstretched to them, and 
 have abandoned the vicious idleness of the street to at- 
 tend our regular prayer meetings. The circulation of 
 our weekly journal, the Banner of Love, has increased 
 from 480 to 560 copies. More funds are required to 
 advance this important branch of our holy work, and I 
 cannot too earnestly press upon the society at home the 
 necessity for increased remittances for the ensuing year 
 to meet the great apd urgent wants of this mission. 
 Pray for us." 
 
 Stripped of cant and embellishments, the facts of the 
 case might possibly have been presented in a report 
 which would read as follows : " I regret to report to 
 your society that, notwithstanding the liberal remittance 
 of the past year and the donations received from trav- 
 ellers, to whom I never fail to present myself on their 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 225 
 
 arrival at the hotels, the work is most discouraging. 
 This is not owing to the want of energy and watchful- 
 ness on my part, but to the increasing desire of the na- 
 tive population not to be interfered with in the religion 
 to which they are accustomed and in which, it must be 
 confessed, they find comfort and domestic peace. It is 
 true that three individuals have nominally 'joined' our 
 little church, but truth compels me to say that so far as 
 honest conviction is concerned, I fear they have little if 
 any. One is an old woman who came to me in -great 
 destitution for charity. I now employ her to wash the 
 floor of the chapel and do other ' chores,' and she quite 
 willingly consents to attend the Sunday preaching. I 
 cannot say whether she would continue this salutary 
 habit if I ceased to furnish her with the means of sup- 
 port. Two small boys have also attended the church 
 pretty regularly, but I can hardly form an opinion as to 
 whether they receive the truths I expound, with a clear 
 comprehension of their magnitude and efficacy, or if 
 their chief inducement is not to have an eye to the con- 
 tinuance of the employment I have given them as dis- 
 tributers of the Banner of Love. We now print more 
 copies of this paper than last year, but the excess is 
 given away in the hopes of attracting paying subscribers. 
 A cojiscientious regard for the interests of the society 
 compels me to suggest that no more money be sent to 
 this mission than is required for the distribution of the 
 Scriptures among the poor, and for the establishment of 
 schools and stated preaching, where no sectarian influ- 
 
226 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ences shall be allowed to militate against the religious 
 conviction of the people. I am persuaded that the real 
 field for missionary operations is at our own doors, at 
 home. If the money annually subscribed in our churches 
 and sent abroad to " convert the heathen," or the " Or- 
 thodox" to Protestantism, was employed in cleansing 
 the heart of our " Christian '' cities from the poverty, 
 filth and degradation which abound there, we should be 
 doing God's service in a manner consistent with our first 
 and most pressing moral obligation." 
 
 Such an unvarnished exhibition of facts might, if 
 presented, lessen the contributions in our churches for 
 missionary work abroad, but it might more than make 
 up for such deficiencies by affording pecuniary aid 
 where it is most needed. So far as Greece is con- 
 cerned, the real work of the missionary, if properly di- 
 rected, cannot fail of good ; but the disturbing elements 
 must first be corrected, or removed from the mission- 
 ary's own door. Denominational antagonisms, and, 
 worse than this, antagonisms in the same denomination, 
 poison the fountain-head, and repel the thirsty soul who 
 might otherwise be tempted to try the waters, though 
 tendered by a foreign hand. Unless there can be some 
 organized system introduced by which all the missiona- 
 ries can unite on an equal footing and with a mutual 
 understanding, it were far better that their labors in 
 Greece should be confined to the mental education of 
 the ignorant and needy. The schools, both for Greek 
 and Cretan children, have been eminently successful 
 
AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AT ATHENS. 
 
 227 
 
 under the charge of the American missionaries, male 
 and female. One or two of these schools were founded, 
 and under great discouragement, over forty years ago ; 
 and have not only largely contributed to the general ed- 
 ucation of the Greeks at home, but have sent forth 
 teachers into Russia and the Turkish provinces who 
 have themselves founded and conducted schools where 
 the neglected populations stood greatly in need of them. 
 Many Greek ladies in different circles of society in Ath- 
 ens speak English fluently, having acquired the lan- 
 guage at the school of one of our countrywomen, who 
 still continues, at an advanced age, to supervise her ex- 
 cellently conducted establishment 
 
 The Greeks are cognizant of, and not ungrateful for, 
 the services rendered to general education by the mis- 
 sionaries at Athens, and so soon as their confidence in- 
 creases in the unselfish purposes of those who desire to 
 enlighten them in religious matters, and they become 
 convinced that the foreigner has no schemes directed 
 against the Established Church, the work of foreign 
 missions in Greece may receive an impulse from within 
 the kingdom which would cause the vineyard to bear 
 fruit somewhat in proportion to the labor expended 
 upon it. 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 
 
 GENTLEMAN of high classical attainments 
 once wrote to me from London : " Greece 
 appears to me to be Uttle better than a land 
 of ruins, beggars and brigands." This, doubtless, is the 
 opinion of a large class of educated gentlemen, who, 
 seated comfortably in their libraries, with Plutarch and 
 Xenophon at their fingers' ends, take up the London 
 newspapers to ascertain how far asunder from the great 
 masters of the past are the feeble and indeterminate 
 people of to-day. There, perchance, they read that 
 Modern Greece " is notorious only for bankrupt bonds, 
 Cretan insurrections, for lying fabrications by telegraph 
 and letter, for piratical plundering and for brigand 
 butcheries ;" or, that Greece is " the cave of AduUam 
 and the refugium peccatorum ;'' or, that " every card- 
 sharper who is not a Jew is a Greek, and every Greek 
 is supposed to be a cheat and a swindler; or, that 
 " brigandage is one of the permanent institutions of 
 that country ;" or, that " society is disorganized and 
 foreigners are murdered just as they would be in Mur- 
 zuk or Khiva ;'' or, that " in that Eastern nursery of 
 Christianity, assassins are raised in the rough and fin- 
 ished off afterwards as wanted, either as brigands, ven- 
 
232 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ators, or simple foot-pads ;" or, that Greece is " geo- 
 graphically, a part of Turkey; morally, a continuation 
 of Hades ; socially, an offshoot of Soho Square ! The 
 land is in the hands of the brigands ; the only law 
 observed is the law of pillage ; the only king recognized 
 is King Death."* It is only surprising therefore that, 
 regarding his daily newspaper as the dispassionate ex- 
 positor of indisputable facts, my correspondent should 
 have arrived at the comparatively mild conclusion that 
 " Greece is little better than a land of ruins, beggars 
 and brigands." 
 
 Of Grecian ruins something has already been said. 
 Of Greek beggars — if my literary friend meant nation- 
 al pauperism — I have also ventured upon a few words 
 of elucidation. Of Greek brigandage I will content 
 myself with embodying in this chapter, with some ad- 
 dition and revision, a paper entitled " Remarks on the 
 Causes and Condition of Brigandage in Greece," which 
 was published by Congress with other Papers relating 
 to the Foreign Relations of the United States, in 1870. 
 It should be observed that these remarks are nothing 
 more than they purport to be — an off-hand memorandum, 
 not written for publication, and not rising to the dignity 
 of a " dispatch " or " History of Brigandage," both of 
 which titles have been applied to it by foreign journals. 
 
 The exceptional and trying position in which Greece 
 stands with respect to brigandage is not ameliorated by 
 the diversity of views expressed by foreign Govern- 
 * Extracts from London journals. 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 233 
 
 ments and foreign journals as to its character and the 
 means for its eradication. There is but one point of 
 perfect unanimity, namely, that brigandage is an unmit- 
 igated evil, and in this opinion Greece agrees with 
 all the world. There is no public man, scholar, shop- 
 keeper, or artisan in the kingdom who will deny that his 
 country is disgraced and her interests injured by this 
 plague-spot in their midst. Every Ministry, in turn, 
 whatever amount of opprobrium is justly or unjustly 
 cast upon it for inefficiency or corruption, honestly 
 laments the existence of brigandage, and would heartily 
 rejoice at its extinction. It is not, therefore, because 
 Greece does not feel that it is an infliction that the evil 
 is not removed. Only those who are the greatest suf- 
 ferers by it comprehend the exact position of the case, 
 and the difficulties which surround it. Some of these 
 difficulties may be briefly stated. 
 
 Brigandage in Greece is not the child of to-day ; it 
 was bom of Turkish oppression, when restless men fled 
 to the mountains to secure the only independence 
 vouchsafed them. Although the outlaw who now 
 takes advantage of impenetrable defiles of the moun- 
 tains to evade pursuit, is without that nobility of charac- 
 ter which the ancient Kleft possessed, he has the same 
 strategy and cunning, and from the same mountain 
 fastnesses can defy the pursuit of any soldiers but 
 those accustomed to the configuration of the land. 
 Hence the absurdity of the proposition sometimes made 
 by foreign writers, that marines from the ships of war 
 
234 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Stationed at Pirseus, or detachments of French or Eng- 
 lish soldiers, should be sent into the mountains of the 
 Morea and of Attica, to exterminate brigandage. An 
 army might scour the kingdom and find not a single 
 brigand. Even if it effected a surprise and brought on 
 a conflict, more soldiers than brigands would probably 
 fall, and the nucleus of the band would escape to 
 reappear in some unsuspected locality, reinforced and 
 more formidable than if they had never been interfered 
 with. The brigands are wandering bands ; to-day in 
 the Taygetus, to-morrow in the Parnes ; now alarming 
 the peaceful farmers in Acarnania ; again threatening 
 the excursionist in the public roads of Attica. From 
 place to place they move with a rapidity acquired only 
 by years of experience in a life which finds stimulus 
 and excitement in the dangers which surround it. 
 
 It is true that many of the bands are, so to speak, 
 " localized " in well-known spots. They are known, not 
 only to the Government in name and person, but mingle 
 at times freely with the people of the villages in their 
 vicinity. They give money to the peasants, and from 
 the latter receive warning and even protection in case 
 of pursuit. 
 
 Herein lies one of the chief elements of difficulty in 
 the question of brigandage. The peasants of a distant 
 village, or the wandering shepherds of Wallachia, who 
 feed their flocks in Northern Greece, and who may be 
 at any time intruded upon by these mountain outlaws, 
 have no other' choice but submission to their authority. 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 
 
 235 
 
 Certainly, to oppose it would be their worst policy ; re- 
 venge in some shape would be certain to follow. They 
 therefore treat them as friends ; supply them, if re- 
 quired, with food ; and, to secure their own safety, 
 never betray them. Thus a sort of forced fellowship 
 exists between these two classes, and the brigand be- 
 comes the patron of the harmless and industrious agri- 
 cultural community. Oftentimes it happens that the 
 brigand has relatives among the villagers, and then the 
 tie becomes indissoluble.* But the most serious com- 
 plication is found in the undeniable fact that certain 
 politicians have courted the favor of brigand chiefs to 
 further their own ambitious ends. The leaders of bands 
 
 * A very recent account in the Pall Mall Gazette states that 
 bands of peasants are brought into Athens who have been com- 
 pelled by the brigands to furnish them wjth provisions, etc. ; and as 
 the lives of these unfortunate people are threatened when they do 
 not comply with such requisitions, the Government only punishes 
 them if they neglect to give information to the authorities. The 
 nature of the territory, and the proximity of the Turkish frontier, 
 cause great difficulties to the troops, and they frequently pass hidden 
 caverns and the short thick bushes which cover the mountains with- 
 out guessing that the brigands are in their immediate vicinity. . . , 
 The shepherds and the peasants are obliged for their own security 
 to warn the brigands of the approach of the troops on such occa- 
 sions. This is done according to a well-developed plan ; they either 
 throw stones with hieroglyphics upon them in places agreed upon 
 beforehand, or lay down sticks upon which they cut certain marks. 
 If a military detachment enters a village to make inquiries about 
 the brigands, the peasants take their sticks and begin cutting marks 
 upon them, in the first place to record the subject of the conversa- 
 tion, and next to enable the brigands — some of whom are .generally 
 posted on a hill in the vicinity with excellent field-glasses — ^to ob- 
 serve what is going on. 
 
236 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 inhabiting country districts and friendly to the people 
 around them, and with whom, as has been explained, 
 there exists a sort of mutual dependence, have been 
 found extremely useful in seasons of political excite- 
 ment. In certain provinces the candidate for election 
 to the Chamber of Deputies may find it for his interest 
 to keep on good terms with one who can with such 
 facility do him good or do him injury. He knows that 
 if he denounces the outlaw without the ability to crush 
 him, he, his family, or his property will some time or 
 other pay the penalty of this courageous step. He finds 
 that he has nothing to gain and everything to lose by 
 stirring in such a matter, and if he contents himself 
 with simple neutrality, his political opponent, who is less 
 scrupulous, will secure the brigand's services and win 
 the day. Few men in a community so recently emerged 
 from foreign oppression and the worst condition of 
 Oriental corruption are sufficiently independent and 
 patriotic to shake off these contaminating influences. 
 Thus it happens that the brigand, who in spite of his 
 bad name, is practically known only in the community 
 around him as a reckless and good-natured adventurer, 
 influences his acquaintances and friends to vote for his 
 patron. Nothing could be more demoralizing, nothing 
 more humiliating to a free and self governing people. 
 But until older and more enlightened nations are free 
 from the disgrace of employing corrupt means to fur- 
 ther political ends, the stone should be thrown lightly at 
 the heads of the Greek people because some among 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 237 
 
 them feed their personal ambition with such unlawful 
 sustenance. 
 
 If the politician and the peasant of the mountain 
 districts find it for their interest or safety to bear with 
 the outlaw, the landholder finds it equally the part of 
 policy to conciliate him. The proprietor of an estate 
 would be unworldly wise to expose his people to cap- 
 ture and his property to robbery, by refusing to give 
 bread and meat to a wandering band of suspicious 
 characters who are reported by his servants to be con- 
 cealed in his grounds. Still wiser is he if, by giving a 
 few thousand drachmes per year to the leaders of bands 
 who haunt the vicinity, he can secure permanent im- 
 munity from danger. If he could rid himself and the 
 country from this pest by betraying the brigands to the 
 Government, he would surely do it ; but as it is by no 
 means certain that the soldiers sent against them would 
 be even partially successful, he prefers the alternative 
 of discretion. This is why men known for their re- 
 spectability and moral worth, in Athens and elsewhere, 
 find themselves forced to do that which is nothing more 
 nor less than an encouragement of one of the vilest of 
 public crimes. The police annals of most cities will 
 show that systems of blackmail are not confined to bri- 
 gandage in Greece. A Greek law enacts that all those 
 who in any way, directly or indirectly, contribute to the 
 support of the outlaw shall be prosecuted and punished. 
 In most cases it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, 
 to prove the fact. From the very character of the 
 
238 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 transactions they are necessarily conducted with the 
 greatest privacy. The party who pays the tribute will 
 not betray himself, and the last man to violate the se- 
 cret is the brigand, whose " code of honor " is stronger 
 than the written law. 
 
 It might be found, too, that the largest sums which 
 find their way into the pockets of outlaws from such 
 sources are paid, not by Greeks, but by foreigners 
 whose pecuniary interests in Greece induce them to 
 pay this easy premium on life and property assurance. 
 The more closely this matter is examined the more in- 
 tricate is found to be the web of its solution. It is 
 entwined about the political, social and commercial 
 structure, and although repeatedly swept away, the cre- 
 ative cause continues to exist in spite of judicial action 
 and the ceaseless complaint of public opinion. 
 
 The Greeks assert that brigandage has more than 
 once been exterminated, and that nothing but the inef- 
 ficiency of this Ministry or the complicity of that one, 
 causes the reappearance of the scourge. Experience 
 has shown, however, that political circumstances are 
 more at fault than individuals in this matter. The bri- 
 gand is a restless character, and danger and adventure 
 have charms for him. A revolution at home, or the 
 prospect of a war with the Turks, finds him on hand 
 ready to join the mob in the city, or the army in the 
 field ; and in case of conflict he will be found among 
 the bravest of his fellows. So it happened that many 
 of these men enlisted as soldiers to assist in the Cretan 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 
 
 239 
 
 insurrection, and others came down from the mountains 
 during the late imbrogUo between Greece and Turkey, 
 in the hope of finding profitable, or at least lawful em- 
 ployment. With the disappearance of the war-cloud 
 the brigand either returns to his mountain haunt, or for 
 months hangs about the country with that mischievous 
 indefiniteness of purpose which forbodes evil ; for his 
 person is unsafe from arrest, and if he would, he could 
 not with impunity take up any industrial pursuit. Such 
 epochs are sure to be followed by open acts of brigand- 
 age in different parts of the kingdom. When the pre- 
 sence of bands is reported, the Government despatches 
 troops in pursuit, with more or less success. Reports 
 come in from time to time of a certain number of out- 
 laws captured or killed at the expense of the lives of 
 more or less of the soldiers. The prisoners are lodged 
 in jail, and in the course of time judgment is pro- 
 nounced ; but it not unfrequently happens that " exten- 
 uating circumstances " are found to mitigate the pun- 
 ishment of death. Executions occur at rare intervals, 
 and then but few in number. There is a sentiment of 
 pity to which justice at the last moment seems to defer, 
 and in the popular mind an absurd halo of heroism sur- 
 rounds the " mountain chieftain," which makes it an ig- 
 noble act to take his life away in this summary manner. 
 The glory of the ancient Kleft, the "brave defender of 
 his country," the "generous and courageous child of 
 fortune," casts a pale reflection upon the mere mount- 
 ain robber of to-day, and serves his turn when nothing 
 
240 , THE GREEKS OF TO-DAV. 
 
 else would. It is but just, in the consideration of this 
 subject, to remove the erroneous idea which prevails in 
 many minds, that the brigand is a bloodthirsty monster, 
 reckless of human life, a wild wretch swooping like a 
 bird of prey upon the defenseless traveller, to rob or to 
 kill as may best suit the interests of the moment. A 
 large proportion of the Greek outlaws were forced, or 
 thought themselves forced, by circumstances, to take to 
 ■the mountains to escape worse trials at home. A family 
 quarrel, a homicide, the result of a drinking-house 
 brawl, escape from arrest for some petty offence, deser- 
 tion from the army and similar causes, have induced 
 men, otherwise peaceable and well-disposed, to become 
 brigands. The lust for gold, the temptation to obtain 
 even a moderate fortune without the labor of toiling for 
 it, and the mere love of adventure, have induced others, 
 who enjoyed good reputations in their village homes, to 
 join their fortunes with those of some wandering band 
 of outlaws. The disposition to shed blood is foreign to 
 their purpose ; but their prestige is only preserved by 
 taking the life of the captive if the ransom, or an equiv- 
 lent to it, is not forthcoming. They bind themselves so 
 to do by an acknowledged law, and so well is this un- 
 derstood that the ransom is always paid by the friends 
 of the captive, the amount being decided by negotiation, 
 which, in some cases, requires many months. 
 
 The brigand with a captive in his hands, is a very 
 different personage from what he is when divested of 
 this tremendous implement of power. The transforma- 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 
 
 241 
 
 tion is one of the most marvelous of human experiences. 
 From the abject wretch, hunted, and flying from the 
 pursuit of justice, he immediately becomes master of 
 the situation. The threats of the law are then as idle 
 puffs of the wind, and his pursuers are the meekest of 
 suppliants. He has but to demand, and however ex- 
 travagant his demands, the friends of the helpless cap- 
 tive generally feel themselves compelled to strain every 
 effort and submit to every sacrifice to furnish the re- 
 quired ransom. When such is the case, the mountain 
 outlaw will not abate his terms until well satisfied by the 
 most thorough investigation, of the utter inability of the 
 other party to obtain the sum first fixed upon. To 
 effect the release of a friend, brother, husband or 
 father whose life depends upon the payment of a cer- 
 tain amount of money, what indefatigable exertions will 
 not be made by the distressed and terrified relatives 
 and friends ! Their very nervous anxiety weakens 
 their position and strengthens the attitude of the villain 
 in his stronghold. He knows this and avails himself 
 of it. His messengers are as safe from molestation as 
 are those of the Sovereign himself, and the negotiation 
 proceeds as regularly and with far more earnestness, 
 than many a diplomatic counsel engaged in the adjust- 
 ment of an international question. Should the brigand 
 become impatient at any unlocked for delay in the pro- 
 gress of the negotiation, he has but to issue a fresh 
 threat or force the prisoner to write, by dictation, a des- 
 pairing letter to his friends informing them of his im- 
 
242 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 minent danger, to infuse fresh energy into the efforts of 
 those who feel that a precious life must not be sacrificed 
 because a few thousand drachmas more are difficult to 
 procure. The cool deliberation which is essential to a 
 satisfactory arrangement with regard to the amount of 
 ransom, is generally wanting on the part of those who 
 have to pay. Were it not so the brigand could often be 
 outwitted and the captive released for a fraction of the 
 sum demanded. The brigand's threats are only in- 
 tended to operate on weak nerves, and if he becomes 
 persuaded that the friends cannot or will not pay 
 another drachm^ he is only too glad to come to terms 
 and rid himself of an encumbrance. When at last the 
 ransom has been paid, the brigand chief takes an affec- 
 tionate farewell of his enforced guest, often kissing him 
 on both cheeks — in token of his " regard and inviolable 
 friendship thenceforward "— and having returned into 
 his possession all articles of value found upon his per- 
 son, has him safely conducted by a circuitous rbute to 
 a locality from whence he can make his own way back 
 to his home. 
 
 As has been said, -it is not for their interest, and 
 it is contrary to their nature, to shed blood uselessly. 
 It is equally for their interest to treat their captives 
 well, to look to the condition of their health, and to 
 create a favorable impression by contributing, so far as 
 their mountain habits permit, to the comfort of the un- 
 fortunate individuals who fall into their hands. All 
 travellers who have had personal adventures of this 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 
 
 243 
 
 kind to relate, speak of the rough kindness, if not def- 
 erence, which they experienced during their captivity. 
 In this and other respects, the Greek brigand is not to 
 be placed in the same category with the desperadoes of 
 Southern Italy, Sicily, Spain and Hungary. 
 
 It is much easier to describe an evil than to suggest 
 practicable remedies for its removal. That Greece .will 
 in the course of time rid herself or be rid of the inflic- 
 tion of brigandage is highly probable. To do it speed- 
 ily and efficiently requires an organization of power, 
 the beginning of which can hardly be said to have com- 
 menced. But even the greatest success in this way will 
 not rid Greece of brigandage while the adjacent prov- 
 inces, dependencies of Turkey, are known to swarm 
 with these lawless rascals, whose character for ferocity 
 is not to be compared with those of Greek nationality, 
 and who enjoy a freedom of action denied to the brigand 
 in Greece. 
 
 There is an occasional movement of Albanian troops 
 directed against brigaiidage, but it has heretofore borne 
 no proportion to even the feeble efforts of the Greek 
 Government to suppress the evil. Mr. Rangabdz, now 
 the Minister for Greece at Constantinople, was the Min- 
 ister for Foreign Affairs at Athens in 1856, and was at 
 that time influential in suppressing brigandage on' the 
 Turkish side of the border, by obtaining the substitution 
 in Thessaly of regular troops in the place of those of 
 the dhevenagas, " who used to dispense with the use of 
 soldiers to the end that they themselves might pocket 
 
2 14 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 the soldier's fee." After that arrangement Greece was 
 comparatively free from brigandage until the revolution 
 of 1 86 1, when the old state of things appears to have 
 returned ; for Mr. Rangabdz has informed us that so far 
 from fighting them, " the Turks permit the brigands to 
 enter Greece without disturbance, and on their return 
 afford them protection, or what is the same thing, per- 
 mit them to enter the ranks. The Greek Government 
 has for many years exhausted itself with vain represen- 
 tations to the Porte as well as to the protectionary pow- 
 ers against this condition of things." A correspondent 
 of the Levant Herald, an English journal published in 
 Constantinople, wrote on the 19th of April last, that 
 " at that moment, in Thessaly, brigands held no less 
 than twenty captured persons as hostages for ransom." 
 This far worse conditition of the evil in the Turkish 
 provinces explains one of the grand difficulties which 
 the Greeks have to contend with, but it does not excuse 
 successive Governments in Greece for the apathy which 
 exists on this subject when it is not forcibly brought to 
 their notice by outrages committed almost before their 
 very eyes. It is one of those questions which, being 
 not easy of management, they holDe will, in time, correct 
 itself. It is brought to the surface by party warfare, 
 and is laid aside when its further agitation is unprofit- 
 able. 
 
 It is manifest that, to utterly exterminate brigandage 
 in Greece, the work must begin in Turkey. Greece is 
 the youngest of all the free nations, and has not yet 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 245 
 
 thoroughly learned the elementary branches of political 
 economy. Perhaps if she had fewer teachers she would 
 advance more rapidly. Like all poor and struggling 
 nations, she attracts attention by those defects in her 
 political and social character which other nations con- 
 ceal beneath an external prosperity. Thus, brigandage 
 is prominent in Greece, while the same evil, in a far 
 more offensive form, has for ages existed in Calabria 
 and the Apennines. It is but lately that Count Gideon 
 Buday, in an official report to the Government of Vi- 
 enna, stated that the disclosures of brigands arrested in 
 Croatia, in Hungary, " compromise more than one thou- 
 sand persons, but all the suspected could not be ar- 
 rested, as sufficient room was not to be found in the 
 prisons, and fears are entertained that further investi- 
 gation will gravely compromise an incredible number 
 of influential persons, and lead to the discovery of 
 facts of a nature to irritate public opinion." 
 
 With a strong and independent Government, with a 
 national guard to relieve the regular soldiers, with a 
 thicker population, and with the facility of roads into 
 the interior, brigandage, so far as it is confined to 
 Greece proper, could be utterly exterminated. At pre- 
 sent, there are long deserted places, which, to protect 
 properly, would require more soldiers than there are in 
 the kingdom. But even with these disadvantages, if 
 there existed that potent voice of public opinion which 
 is felt only where power is diffused among a people, no 
 villainous bands of outlaws would dare to practise their 
 
246 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 enormities in Greece any more than did the ruffians in 
 California, after the people, in self-defence, took the 
 law into their own hands. 
 
 The little paper which has here been transcribed, 
 excited a degree of attention in the East for which I 
 was unable to account, except upon the hypothesis that 
 it treated of a subject which had not heretofore been 
 sufficiently examined to be understood. I have met 
 with ten or twelve reprints and translations of this paper, 
 and the Greek journals reproduced it with fulsome en- 
 comiums, but I was not so blind as not to perceive that 
 the touchstone of their gratification lay in the passages 
 which placed upon Turkey the burden of responsibility 
 for what is commonly designated as " Greek " brigand- 
 age. Yet, what I felt compelled to say in this regard 
 was certainly not calculated to remove the odium which 
 rests upon the Greeks for allowing this plague-spot to 
 extend its pernicious influence into political circles. 
 One or two journals denied that brigandage and politics 
 were in any way connected. On the other hand, lead- 
 ing men of different political parties called upon me to 
 express their thanks for what they were pleased to term 
 " a just and unprejudiced exposition " of this national 
 evil. There is hope of reform among a people when 
 they admit the existence of corruption in their midst, 
 and do not seek to palliate it with artificial reasoning. 
 
 But if some of the Greeks, from ignorance of the 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 247 
 
 real state of the case^ were sensitive to the charge of 
 political corruption, the Philo-Turks of Constantinople 
 were Still less pleased at the suggestion, that if the evil 
 of brigandage was to be rooted out at all, the work 
 should be begun in the Turkish provinces. Even the 
 American Minister at Constantinople, Mr. MacVeagh, 
 was persuaded to say in a dispatch, that " it was quite 
 generally felt there, outside the Greek colony that I was 
 wholly mistaken in declaring that Greek brigandage 
 ' was borti of Turkish oppression,' and in calling the 
 thieves ■who followed it for profit, alike before and after 
 the independence of Greece, ' restless men who fled to 
 the mountains for independence,' as well as my assump- 
 tion that the work of freeing Athens from brigands 
 must be commenced at Constantinople." My esteemed 
 colleague had been but a few months at his post, and 
 probably had not had time to examine the question for 
 himself or to look into modern Greek history to ascer- 
 tain the origin of brigandage in Greece. Had he done 
 so he \vould have known that the Klepht was as clearly 
 the offspring of Turkish domination as was the Greek 
 war of independence itself. Had he read even recent 
 writers on the subject, he would have known that " the 
 Klepht is the descendant and successor of the brave 
 Pallicor, who, impatient of the yoke, lived free upon the 
 mountains, and seized every occasion to annoy the 
 enemies of his country and avenge her ;" * and that " it 
 
 * La Turkic ou La Grece, pour faire suite i la brochure, intitu- 
 lee ' La Solution de la Question D'Orient.' Paris, 1867. 
 
248 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 was the intolerable system of crapulous tyranny of the 
 Mohamedan barbarians which first forced the most 
 spirited, the most brave, and the most patriotic men of 
 the Greek nation to become outlaws. From the pre- 
 cipitous ranges of Ossa, Olympus and Pindus, the 
 Klephts of old defied their oppressors, and there kept 
 the traditions of their nationality vivid, and the love 
 for their freedom burning, until the time arrived when 
 those bands became the chief instrument of their coun- 
 try's liberation." * Professor Felton, the author of 
 " Greece, Ancient and Modern," an excellent'authority, 
 says : " The Klephts were wholly independent during 
 the Turkish dominion. Under the leadership of their 
 captains, who bore a strong family likeness to the per- 
 sonages of the heroic age, they seized every oppor- 
 tunity of dashing down upon Turkish villages and 
 camps, killing and plundering, and climbing back again 
 to their rocky habitations before the enemy could rally 
 for pursuit, t The Klephts served an admirable pur- 
 pose in keeping alive the heroic qualities of the race, 
 when the degraded despotism of the Turks had else- 
 where crushed them out of existence. They rendered 
 brilliant services in the glorious struggle for liberty, 
 notwithstanding the propensity to indiscriminate plun- 
 der which their way of life naturally developed and 
 strengthened. They have given some trouble to the 
 regular governments under Capo d'Istria and King 
 Otho." + 
 
 * J. Gennadius. f Vol. i. p. 262. X Vol. ii. p. 406. 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 
 
 249 
 
 The brigand of to-day, as I have stated, is a degen- 
 erate issue of this stock. The ancient Klepht, although 
 a robber and a murderer, had a national purpose to 
 subserve. The brigand of to-day lives the same life and 
 carols the same patriotic songs, but he is simply a base 
 miscreant, without the shadow of an apology for his 
 crimes, and should be shot down whenever met with as 
 a man would shoot a tiger on his path. 
 
 As it is well known that the Turkish provinces adja- 
 cent to Greece have been and are the abiding place of 
 brigands who, after committing depredations in the 
 latter country, find a quasi protection in the former, it is 
 very certain that the work of extirpation should com- 
 mence where these outlaws find concealment, nay, 
 where they are frequently permitted to remain without 
 molestation, when their place of concealment is known 
 to the local authorities. A well known French engineer, 
 who was engaged in the month of March, 187 1, in sur- 
 veys for a railway, wrote to me that he and two of his 
 companions saw the Greek troops attack a party of 
 brigands near Lamia and drive them over the frontier, 
 where they were peacefully allowed to pursue their way 
 before the very eyes of a body of Turkish soldiers. 
 
 That there has been great laxity, not to say guilty 
 supineness on the part of the Turkish authorities in 
 this matter of the pursuit of brigands, even under cir- 
 cumstances where the opportunity for pursuit was most 
 favorable, does not seem to admit of a doubt, and even 
 the British Government has felt compelled to request 
 
250 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 the Turkish Government to " do all in their power to 
 assist the Greek authorities in the suppression of brig- 
 andage." * Mr. Erskine, the English Minister at Athens, 
 informs his Government that " it would appear that 
 there is not much to choose between Greece and Tur- 
 key on the score of public safety, and that if less is 
 heard of the atrocities committed beyond the border, it 
 is due in some measure to the fact that the Ottoman 
 authorities are naturally interested in conceaUng them, 
 and there is no free press, as in Greece, to give pub- 
 Hcity to the truth." 
 
 Since the massacre of the foreigners in Greece 
 there have been more energetic measures on the part of 
 both Governments to cause military action against brig- 
 andage. Indeed, for a time, there was actual rivalry 
 between the Greeks and the Turks to report the largest 
 number of brigands killed by each, and the " officials" 
 of the Prime Minister at Athens and of the Grand 
 Vizier at Constantinople showed more eagerness to de- 
 preciate the statements of each other, than to offer 
 mutual congratulations on the successful accomplish- 
 ment of so good a work. The Turkish Minister an- 
 nounced that during the nine months following the 
 affair at Delissi, near Marathon, the Ottoman troops 
 had captured nineteen brigands and killed thirty-four 
 others who had sought a hiding-place on that side the 
 frontier.^ This indicates a realizing sense of the re- 
 
 * Earl Granville's Dispatch, October 27, 1870. 
 f Ibid. November 9, 1870, 
 
BRIGANDAGE. 251 
 
 quirements of the situation and furnishes additional 
 support to the assumption that in the territory where 
 fifty-tb»ee of these wretches had been found seeking 
 conc'eahnent others may be found and killed. 
 
 As piracy, another offspring of Turkish oppression, 
 has been swept from the Greek Archipelago, so, by 
 combined and ceaseless action on the part of the Turk- 
 ish and Greek authorities, brigandage may become a 
 thing of the past. 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 
 
 BOUT the middle of April, 1870, there might 
 have been met in the streets of Athens a 
 certain gentleman who, from his fine physi- 
 cal type, would readily be recognized as an English- 
 man. Like many of his countrymen, he had come to 
 Greece as a simple tourist, and was accordpanied by 
 his wife and a young friend, Mr. Vyner, who was related 
 to them by marriage. At the period spoken of. Lord 
 Muncaster had completed the object of his visit to 
 Athens, and in the ordinary course -of events should 
 have been on his way to other countries. Why did he 
 linger ? He was in the enjoyment of perfect health, he 
 was a man of property, and he possessed all the advan- 
 tages of social and titled distinction. Yet this gentle- 
 man, who had done no man any wrong, who had com- 
 mitted no breach of the peace, or rendered himself 
 amenable to justice by the violation of any law, was a 
 prisoner in Greece — a prisoner en parole — ^pledged to 
 return to captivity if he failed to fulfil certain condi- 
 tions, as strongly as if his free limbs had been bound 
 with shackles, and his person guarded by officers of 
 justice. To whom was he thus bound ? To any civil. 
 
256 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 judicial, or military authority ? To any power in his 
 own land or in the kingdom of Greece which had the 
 right to enforce such restraint upon his individual life 
 and liberty ? No. This free Englishman, gentleman, 
 and noble lord was walking the streets of Athens in the 
 sunny days of April, a prisoner to the chief of a band 
 of brigands secreted in the wooded mountains, miles 
 away from the capital. The King of Greece was on his 
 throne; his Majesty's ministers sat in council ; "the 
 British legation swayed with almost despotic power the 
 will of a government keenly alive to the lawful rights of 
 every absent subj ect of the realm ; and the ships of war 
 of England, France, and Russia lay as usual, ready for 
 service, in the neighboring harbor of the Piraeus. Yet, 
 for all their panoply of power, these were as impotent 
 as reeds shaken by the wind, before the imperious will 
 of a rascally outlaw, clad in a filthy fustanelli, and is- 
 suing his decrees in iUiterate Greek from his inaccessi- 
 ble mountain throne. 
 
 The situation seems incredible in this age of law, of 
 railways and telegraphs, of international intercourse, 
 and of free and powerful nationalities. Yet such was 
 the situation. 
 
 To give an account of the memorable act of brig- 
 andage of April, 1870, with all its detail, conflicting 
 testimony, and the judicial proceedings consequent 
 thereon, would fill a volume, and, in many respects, 
 might fail to interest the general reader. Briefly stated, 
 the occurrence was as follows : 
 
258 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 On Monday, the i ith of April, at about six o'clock 
 in the morning, a party consisting of Lord and Lady 
 Muncaster ; Mr. Herbert, secretary of the British lega- 
 tion ; Mr. Vyner, a brother of Lady De Grey ; Mr. 
 Lloyd, an English barrister, with his wife and their little 
 girl of five years; Count De Boyl, secretary of the Ital- 
 ian legation, with an Italian servant and a Greek 
 courier, left the hotel at Athens in two carriages, for an 
 excursion to the batte-field of Marathon. There was 
 nothing extraordinary in the fact of such an expedition, 
 as hundreds of foreigners make it yearly, and no prep- 
 aration is required on their part beyond a notification 
 by the resident foreign minister to the authorities, who 
 at once furnish a military escort, free of charge. In 
 this instance the carriages were preceded by two 
 mounted gens-d'armes, and followed by two others. A 
 detachment of foot soldiers and a patrol were met along 
 the road, and in part accompanied the tourists. After 
 spending two or three hours at Marathon they set out 
 on their return to Athens at about two o'clock in the 
 afternoon. As the party approached the bridge of 
 Pikermes, twelve or fourteen miles from the city, they 
 were suddenly fired at from the brush-wood bordering 
 the road, and at the first discharge the two gens-d'armes 
 in front fell from their horses, badly wounded. The 
 carriages then stopped, and the whole party were com- 
 pelled to alight. They found themselves surrounded by 
 a band of brigands in the Albanian costume — jackets 
 and fustanellis — armed with revolvers and muskets, and 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 259 
 
 numbering by count twenty-one persons, mostly young 
 and athletic men. Some roughness was offered to Lady 
 Muncaster, to hasten her movements from the carriage, 
 and the brooch on her dress (subsequently returned to 
 her) was torn from it, but, with this exception, no vio- 
 lence was offered to any of the travellers. The cap- 
 tives were immediately hurried up the side of the moun- 
 tain — Pentelicus — ^the ladies and little girl being placed 
 on the horses belonging to the wounded gens-d'armes, 
 the rest being on foot, and the brigands surrounding 
 their prisoners. As the party retreated up the moun- 
 tain, a fire was opened upon them by the soldiers at not 
 more than fifty yards distance, but as it became evident 
 to their pursuers that a continuous attack would endan- 
 ger the lives of the foreigners, the engagement was dis- 
 continued, and the brigands with their prisoners made 
 good their escape. After a rapid walk ' of two hours, 
 during which, as Lord Muncaster told me, the brigands 
 were exceedingly hilarious, dancing and laughing over 
 the unexpected " catch " they had made of the " lordies," 
 and talking with their prisoners, one of whom spoke 
 Greek, in a manner which disarmed fears of any per- 
 sonal danger, the party came to a halt at the tpp of the 
 mountain, and the ladies were informed ' by the chiefs 
 that they and the little girl could return to Athens, as 
 .their longer presence was regarded as an impediment to 
 the long marches and changes of locality which are es- 
 sential to evade pursuit. Tiiese, consequently, retraced 
 their steps, together with the coachmen, who were cap- 
 
2 6o THE GREEICS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 tured with the party, to the road, where the carriages 
 had been left, and in which they returned to the city, 
 arriving at a late hour the same evening. 
 
 When the brigand chief parted with the ladies he 
 asked one of them t6 send him from Athens a little 
 souvenir of their brief but not wholly uninteresting ac- 
 quaintance, in the shape of a gold chain. The lady, 
 with no little presence of mind, demanded an exchange 
 of souvenirs, whereupon his highness, the king of the 
 mountain, presented her with a silver ornament having 
 for a design the head of the Virgin. The chain was 
 duly sent to the brigand, who returned it by the same 
 messenger as not being sufficiently heavy ! When Lord 
 Muncaster was subsequently released en parole, one of 
 the chiefs kindly requested his lordship to take his 
 watch to Athens, have it repaired, and sent back to 
 him. 
 
 The ladies were the bearers of notes from the gen- 
 tlemen of the party with the terms of the ransom, which 
 were fixed at ^32,000 sterling (subsequently reduced to 
 ;^25,ooo). The brigands also sent a threatening mes- 
 sage to the Greek government at Athens, to the effect 
 that if any attempt was made to send soldiers in pursuit 
 or to alarm the country, the lives of the foreigners would 
 be in danger. 
 
 The consternation produced in Athens by the news 
 of the capture pervaded all classes, and from that hour, 
 about nine in the evening of Monday, Httle else was 
 talked about in the ever-talking capital, the interest in- 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 261 
 
 creasing in intensity as the days went by, and the fate 
 of the prisoners became more and more the subject of 
 anxious speculation. 
 
 The news of the capture was soon followed by full 
 information as to the character of the band. It origin- 
 ally consisted of twenty-eight brigands, almost exclu- 
 sively natives of Turkey (Vallachs), speaking the Greek 
 language, and inhabiting Thessaly. The chiefs were two 
 brothers, Takos and Christos Arvanitaki. " It pene- _ 
 trated into the province of Phthiotis from the Turkish 
 frontier near the middle of January, the news producing 
 in Athens the greatest alarm. The band was soon dis- 
 covered and attacked by a flying column of the Greek 
 soldiers at Lividia, who wounded and captured one of 
 the outlaws, the rest effecting their escape. After three 
 days' flight they encamped at a place called Paralimni, 
 where, perceiving at a distance another Greek military 
 detachment, they again fled. Near Thebes the soldiers 
 came up with them, and succeeded in killing three more 
 and taking ■ two wounded prisoners." The remaining 
 twenty-one were subsequently traced from place to place, 
 but eventually secured retreats in the mountains of 
 Megira, and were not again heard of until the early part 
 of April, when they suddenly appeared in the environs 
 of the village of Pikermos, on the road to Marathon, 
 and committed the act of brigandage of which I now 
 speak. 
 
 It appears also that on the very morning of the cap- 
 ture, a single carriage containing Americans passed 
 
262 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 within view of the brigands from their place of conceal- 
 ment, but it turned off toward Kephissia, and was al- 
 lowed by them to pass, they being attracted by the two 
 carriages a short distance behind, which they naturally 
 presumed to contain a more valuable prize. 
 
 At the time of this capture the King, Queen, and 
 Court, with the Prime Minister, were making an excur- 
 sion among the Greek islands. His Majesty was met 
 with the sad news on his return to the Piraeus, and from 
 that moment did all that lay in his royal power to for- 
 ward the necessary measures for the release of the pris- 
 oners, even expressing his willingness to the English 
 minister to place his own person as a hostage, if neces- 
 sary, to secure the lives of the foreigners. 
 
 About noon on the third day after the capture, Lord 
 Muncaster made his appearance at Athens, having been 
 released by the brigands en parole, in order to obtain the 
 ransom-money, " or a free pardon," for the brigands. 
 There was, of course, no loss of time in arranging for 
 the money, and the amount of ;^2 5,000, inr gold coin, 
 was packed in boxes ready at the bank for delivery, 
 when an unexpected turn was given to the affair by a 
 message from the brigand chief to the effect that they 
 would accept nothing less than the " money and am- 
 nesty," viz., a free pardon for themselves and the pre- 
 viously captured members of the band then in the prison 
 at Athens. The following correspondence between the 
 chief of the brigands and the British minister at Athens 
 will serve to show the lawless audacity of power on the 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 263 
 
 one side, and the utter subserviency of mere official au- 
 thority, when placed against it : 
 
 LETTER FROM THE BRIGANDS. 
 
 {Translation^ 
 
 " The gentlemen are very well ; but as to that which we agreed 
 with the gentlemen concerning the ransom of ;f25,ooo, we demand 
 of the Hellenic government amnesty, and that pursuit of us shall be 
 stopped, not only in Attica but in all the provinces. For if we dis- 
 cover that we are pursued, the gentlemen will be in danger. We 
 wait for your answer to-morrow without fail." 
 
 LETTER TO THE BRIGANDS. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 " The English and Italian Ministers have received your commu- 
 nication. There will be no difficulty as to the payinent of the 
 money, but you must not insist on an amnesty which government 
 have not the power to grant. Persons will be sent to treat with 
 you, and in the mean time both the King and the president of the 
 council have assured the English Minister that you shall not be 
 molested. Make your prisoners as comfortable as you can. You 
 can even put them under cover in some rural habitation without any 
 fear. E. M. Erskine," 
 
 Emissaries were accordingly sent on the part of the 
 Greek government and of the English Minister at 
 Athens to induce the brigand chiefs to modify their 
 terms, as it was not only unconstitutional, but impos- 
 sible, to grant a free pardon without a trial; and they 
 were urged by letter, and by verbal entreaty and argu- 
 ment on the part of the messengers sent, as well as by 
 the prisoners themselves, to accept the money with the 
 guarantee that they should not be interfered with in 
 
264 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 their retreat to the frontier. Furthermore, they weie 
 promised, if they apprehended danger in that quarter, 
 that a British gun-boat should be placed at their dis- 
 posal to land them and their ill-gotten gains at Malta or 
 any other point of her Majesty's dominions. Such 
 terms, such concessions, such humiliating prostration 
 of justice at the feet of vulgar villainy, are probably 
 without a parallel. The chiefs, were, however, obsti- 
 nate, made the more so by letters and messages from 
 their "koumbaroi," or companions outside, advising 
 them " to be firm,'' and their demands would eventually 
 be granted. While these anxious and unsatisfactory 
 negotiations were going on between the Greek govern- 
 ment and the English and Italian Ministers on the one 
 side, and the brigand chiefs in their mountain retreats 
 on the other, the condition of the unfortunate foreigners 
 in their hands was not improving. They were moved 
 about from place to place ; and although the brigands 
 appear to have treated them with all the courtesy of 
 which their nature is capable, and to have provided, so 
 far as their rough life permitted, for the physical well- 
 being of the prisoners, allowing them also to correspond 
 continuously with their friends in Athens and receive 
 food and clothing from them, yet they suffered greatly 
 from their forced marches, exposure to rain and cold, 
 and from their ceaseless mental anxiety, which was in- 
 separable from their condition. Yet all was not hope- 
 less to them. They had many days of fine weather, and 
 a degree of cheerful diversion, as appears from the let- 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. • 265 
 
 ters of Mr. Herbert and the note-book of Mr. Lloyd. 
 In the former appeared such passages as these : 
 
 " We are tolerably comfortable here for the present." " I do 
 not think we are very unhappy, although things are not exactly 
 comfortable. The captain says he is going to mass to-morrow in 
 the village church with all his band, and, as at present arranged, 
 we are allowed to go too, which will be a very strange thing. The 
 captain says he will throw away his gun at once if he could get par- 
 doned." " We are well and kindly treated, and shall be so as long 
 as the captain believes, as he still does confidently, that the govern- 
 ment will find some means of granting him amnesty or pardon for 
 all past offences." 
 
 Mr. Lloyd also writes : " We are well treated, but 
 very anxious." 
 
 The intimation that the foreigners would be allowed 
 to go to bhurch was, " strangely enough," as Herbert 
 says, fully carried out. On Palm Sunday, the 17th of 
 April, the brigands, with their prisoners, descended 
 from the "Vallach village," where they were then en- 
 camped, to the Church at Oropos, where, stacking their 
 arms outside, the whole party entered and attended the 
 service, mingling freely with the village people ! And 
 here in this church occurred a little' incident which I 
 have never seen mentioned in print, but which illus- 
 trates the hopefulness of the affair at the time. A 
 Greek lady, wife of a merchant in Manchester, Eng- 
 land, happened to be at the church service on that day, 
 and was so moved by the appearance of the prisoners, 
 especially of young Vyner, that she resolved to make 
 an appeal to the brigand chief in his behalf, represent- 
 
2 66 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ing his inoffensive character, his absence from his wid- 
 owed mother, and other points calculated to awaken an 
 interest in his fate. The brigand listened very patient- 
 ly as the good lady spoke to him in the church porch, 
 and then laughingly replied to her in words to this 
 effect : " Do not distress yourself, madam ; they will all 
 ■be free in a few days." That they all would have been 
 free, had a different policy been adopted by those in 
 charge of the matter, there now appears to be litde 
 doubt. 
 
 The extracts from Mr. Lloyd's note-book are of 
 such melancholy interest, notwithstanding the brief and 
 fragmentary character of the entries, that I will copy 
 them here, as throwing some light on the condition of 
 the poor prisoners, and the nature of brigand life : 
 
 "Monday, April ii, 1870, 4.30 r. M. — Cold, mist, rain, 6 p. M. to 
 5.30 A, M. Wood of Ruplimi, captured by band of Aivanitaki. 
 Night on Pentelicus. Language lesson to brigands. Supped on 
 mountain 2 A. M. Reached first Shemena in Staraata; little copse 
 on hill-side ; discussion of terms with brigands. Spend the day. 
 Sixteen soldiers passed along the road below in the afternoon. 
 Alarm of all parties. 
 
 " Tuesday 8 p. M. to 6 A. M. — Left after dark along high-road 
 toward ICephissia. Halt in plain. Alarm of parties near. Brig- 
 ands surround us, ready to shoot. Sleep on thorn-bush. Resting- 
 place in pine wood. Very wet and cold. Brigand warms Dor- 
 mouse [Mr. Vyner] by lying down close to him. Roused at dawn, 
 and go to other pine wood a short way off for the day. 
 
 " Wednesday. — Day in pine wood. Heavy rain. Caught two 
 peasants, and borrowed their capotes for us. Lighted fire for toast 
 and broiled lamb. Sent off peasant with Muncaster at 9 A. M. 
 After dark moved off to hut of peasants for night. DeBoyl's ser- 
 vant came with grub. 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 267 
 
 " Thursday. — Brigand reads two hours history — Keramide St. 
 John. Rainy and cold. Hut 60 x 20 : our end badly closed by pine 
 branches. Fires, but hai-d to keep warm. Roast lamb again and 
 more presents of liver. Evening came' Dionys and agents from 
 Athens. Scene by night — negotiating at one end, feasting at ours. 
 Warmer at night with my oil-cloth from Polly. 
 
 " Friday,?) h. M. to 7.30 p. M. — Veiy fine day, and view of 
 Mount Delphi, in Eubosa, covered with snow. Left at 8 A. M., 
 seven brigands, self on mule, Herbert and DeBoyl on white horses, 
 Dormouse on brown, without saddle. Baggage horse. Other brig- 
 ands to follow. Pass wood of Tatoe ; defile. Magnificent view over 
 Athens, W., Eubosa, E. Halt almost in sight of guard-house to 
 breakfast. By pass of Decelea, 3000 feet above the sea. Guard- 
 house; fraternize with four soldiers. Alarm on descending, to 
 plain. Alexander sent on with Erskine's note to troops seen below. 
 Peace. Officer lunches with us and brigands. Across plain and 
 through fine wooded country, Marco Poulos. Received by De- 
 march, and general fraternization with Albanian inhabitants. Fresh 
 eggs. Reached village of Vallach shepherds. 
 
 " Saturday. — Coraki. Village twenty-five huts ; shared one 
 with chief and five brigands, circular, 30 x 20 diameter. Five in mid- 
 dle ; people make everything for selves ; spinning and weaving^ 
 Hut pretty warm. Walked up to Acropolis ; cloudy. View over 
 Oropos, village of La Scala, and house of Paparigo Poulos. Two 
 agents from Athens. Dance of brigands. 
 
 " Sunday. — Down to church in morning. Blessing of paims ; had 
 one. Visit to Demarch and house of Pap.; coffee and raki ; friend- 
 ly meeting. Demarch to go to Athens to negotiate. 
 
 " Monday. — Jumping and throwing stone by brigands very good. 
 Music at night — singing and fluting. Evening came Dionys and. 
 Grisner, who slept. 
 
 " Tuesday. — Servants left. Afternoon marched over to Oropos ; 
 good house, room with fire-place, and seven brigands. Fine day, 
 and pleasant half hour's walk. 
 
 " Wednesday. — Very rainy. Colonel Theagenis come to treat ; 
 also Noel, who stopped all night. Long discussion as to terms. 
 
 " Thitrsday. — Messenger, from Athens. Armistice partly with- 
 drawn. Troops en cordon. We not to move. Chief says he will 
 go to a place a quarter of an hour off, on Ocyoupos. Know troops 
 
2 68 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 are in force ; danger impending. Love to I and Evskine, in 
 
 worst case. Noel left early. Fine view of mountains in Eubosa. 
 Covered with snov^ from Delphi to N." 
 
 During these days the greatest anxiety filled the 
 public mind at Athens, and induced on the part of those 
 who had taken the matter in hand a degree of persever- 
 ing activity and vigilance which leaves no room for cen- 
 sure so far as a conscientious discharge of personal and 
 public obligation was concerned. None but those who 
 watched the daily, I may say hourly proceedings, can 
 form an idea of the difficulties of the position in which 
 the Greek ministry and the two foreign representatives 
 stood. In the case of the government, they found them- 
 selves clothed with a responsibility which their relations 
 to the governments of Great Britain and Italy and to 
 the Greek nation could not exaggerate. They were 
 called upon either to ignore all official recognition of 
 the matter or to assume its control with or without the 
 co-operation of the foreign legations, and with the al- 
 most certain knowledge that, whatever might be the 
 result, public opinion would be dissatisfied. The Greek 
 government very wisely determined to admit into their 
 counsels the two parties most nearly interested in the 
 fate of their countrymen in captivity, and it may be 
 said that from beginning to end of this most distressing 
 case the English and Italian Ministers joined in, and in 
 many instances directed, their counsel, no step being 
 taken by the Greek government which was not either sug- 
 gested or approved by the two Ministers whose countrymen 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 269 
 
 were among the captives. As regards their attitude 
 toward the Greek people, and the difficulties they had 
 to contend with in that direction, it is only necessary to 
 say that the measures recommended by the Athenian 
 journals, and by individuals who, without any personal 
 responsibility, thought fit to proffer their advice, were of 
 the most conflicting character. The government were 
 told that they were no more responsible for an act of brig- 
 andage than the English government would be for an 
 agrarian outrage in Ireland, or an attack of ruffians in 
 the purlieus of London ; and they were told that they 
 were responsible, inasmuch as it was a national evil. 
 They were told that to enter into negotiations with out- 
 laws was to trample the crown in the dust and humiliate 
 the nation beyond redemption ; and they were told that 
 negotiation was the only proper course, and that better 
 terms for the release of the foreigners could be enforced 
 by the authorities than by individuals, who had no ex- 
 perience in the treatment of such cases. They were 
 told that the only way to deal with the rascals on the 
 hill, was to send an effective body of troops after them, 
 release the prisoners and destroy the brigands ; and 
 they were told that such a course would insure the 
 death of the captives, and by no means guairantee the 
 capture of the brigands. They were told that the Eng- 
 lish and Italian Ministers should have exclusive control 
 of the matter, as the lives at stake were those of their 
 countrymen, otherwise the whole blame of failure would 
 be laid at the feet of the government ; and they were 
 
270 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 told that the English and Italian Ministers ought not to 
 mix themselves up in the affair, but to leave it to the 
 authorities. They were told that it was an international 
 question, and that the representatives of all the Powers 
 at Athens should be consulted ; and they were told that 
 nobody should be consulted and nothing should be done, 
 for that if left to themselves the brigands would arrange 
 matters with their prisoners, and the whole affair would 
 end as peaceably and quietly as other acts of brigand- 
 age had terminated. As to the opposition, they had few 
 such chances presented for attacks upon their adver- 
 saries, and they were not slow to avail themselves of it. 
 The shafts flew thick and fast from open platoon and 
 from' behind impenetrable breastworks of impersonality, 
 and nothing was omitted which might embarrass the 
 question and lead to the overthrow of the ministr)'. 
 Not that there was any blood on these men's hands ; for 
 until the last fatal move, which turned the comedy into 
 a tragedy of terrible import, few imagined that the 
 prisoners were in any actual personal danger, it being 
 evident to the simplest mind that for the brigands to 
 commit murder, without cause, in the face of such 
 astounding odds as were offered in the ransom-money 
 and free transportation to a place of security, would be 
 an act of sheer insanity. 
 
 But notwithstanding the conflict of argument, polit- 
 ical abuse and irritating advice to which the Greek gov- 
 ernment were exposed, few went so far as to counsel the 
 granting of an amnesty to these wretches, which would 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 271 
 
 not only have been a shameless violation of the consti- 
 tution, but a virtual legalization of brigandage through- 
 out the kingdom.* No Greek acquainted with the con- 
 stitution elf his country had the temerity to propose this, 
 even as a dernier ressort. The honor of doing so was 
 assumed by Lord Clarendon, Secretary of State for For- 
 eign Affairs, who sent three messages by telegraph from 
 the Foreign-office at London — subsequently confirming 
 them by written dispatches to the English minister at 
 Athens — empowering him to say to the Greek govern- 
 ment that "her Majesty's government hoped that there 
 would be no hesitation in granting a pardon to the brig- 
 ands rather than allow the lives of the captives, by demur- 
 ring to do so, to be exposed to additional risk ; " and he 
 declared " that the British government would not accept, 
 as an excuse for the sacrifice of life, the plea that, even 
 for its preservation, pardon could not be extended to the 
 brigands," and " that her Majesty's government consid- 
 ered that they were justified in calling on the Greek gov- 
 ernment to consent to any measures for the release of 
 the prisoners." These messages were not received at 
 Athens until after the perpetration of the tragedy which 
 ended the eventful history. What effect a continued 
 
 * " If amnesty had been granted to this band," says the Athens 
 correspondent of the London Times, " it could not have been re- 
 fused to the band of Spanos : 'and it is the general opinion that in a 
 few weeks bank directors, ministers and men of substance would 
 have been seized in the streets of Athens openly, with a threat that 
 if pursuit should be attempted, or a ransom not promptly paid, the 
 captives would be murdered." 
 
2^2 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 pressure of the English government might eventually 
 have had, it is impossible to say, but most certainly brig- 
 andage itself would have received an impulse by such 
 an act of leniency as would have required half a genera- 
 tion to have checked. At the request of his govern- 
 ment the Greek minister at London, M. Brailas-Arraeni, 
 called upon Lord Clarendon to express " the great con- 
 cern of his government at the capture of the English 
 party by the brigands, and to explain to him the difficul- 
 ty under which the Greek government labored in regard 
 to the grant of an amnesty for which the brigands were 
 appearing to hold out." M. Brailas said that " the pow- 
 er of pardon vested by the constitution in the King of 
 Greece extended only to political offences, and that the 
 King could not interpose his authority to relieve persons 
 from the penalty attaching to ordinary crimes." * Lord 
 Clarendon replied to M. Brailas that " he could not ad- 
 mit the validity of the constitutional objection stated by 
 the Greek government to preclude them from granting 
 a pardon to the brigands. The Greek constitution had so 
 frequently been violated by the government in regard to 
 matters of internal administration, that he could not lis- 
 ten to a plea founded on it as an excuse for not relieving 
 the British subjects, whose lives were in imminent dan- 
 
 * " The King has the right to pardon, commute, and lessen pun- 
 ishments awarded by the court.'; of law, excepting those pronounced 
 against ministers. He has also the right to grant amnesty, but only 
 in case of political crimes, under the responsibility of the ministers." 
 — Article xxxix. of tlu Greek Coiutitution. 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 
 
 273 
 
 ger, by complying" with the demands of the brigands for 
 an amnesty as a part of the price for tlaeir surrender." 
 
 It is a httle singular that while his lordship at the 
 Foreign-office was impressing upon the Greek govern- 
 ment, in the name of her Majesty, the grave consequen- 
 ces with which they might be visited in case the prison- 
 ers were not rescued, even at the price of a violation of 
 the constitution, the English minister at Athens was 
 urging the brigand chief, by a written communication, 
 not to insist upon an amnesty " which the government 
 had not the power to grant," and Herbert, a prisoner in 
 their hands, was explaining to the Arvanitaki that " the 
 amnesty was impossible," and the secretary of the Brit- 
 ish legation at Athens was saying the same thing in a 
 letter published in the Levant Herald. Thus it would 
 appear that the brigand chief, lying at his ease with load- 
 ed musket beneath the sylvan shade of .Mount PenteH- 
 cus, and the English minister, sitting in his arm-chair at 
 the Foreign-office in London, were the only " powei^s " 
 in perfect accord as to the necessity for violating the 
 constitution of Greece ! 
 
 As the days rolled wearily on, and the preposterous 
 demands of the Arvanitaki began to be accompanied by 
 impatient threats, the emissaries gave up all hopes of 
 accomplishing their mission, and the prisoners lost heart. 
 Under these distressing circumstances the Greek gov- 
 ernment, with the approval of the English and Italian 
 ministers, determined to adopt a more stringent poHcy, 
 
 and to try the effects of fear upon the outlaws. An ex- 
 12* 
 
274 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 press promise had been made to the brigands that they 
 should not be molested where they then were ; but when 
 the former gave intimation that unless their terms were 
 complied with they should move toward the frontier 
 with their prisoners, it was decided to send a body of 
 troops to form a cordon around the encampment, not 
 for the purpose of attacking, but to prevent the removal 
 of the band.* It was supposed that the soldiers, march- 
 ing rapidly and stealthily forward, could accomplish their 
 purpose before any suspicion of the movement induced 
 a change of position on the part of the brigands. But 
 the order was also given to " prevent " the departure of 
 the band with their prisoners, should they attempt it. 
 Now for soldiers to " prevent " an enemy from making 
 a retreat means action, and military action against brig- 
 ands with prisoners in their hands means death to the 
 latter. Thus it appeared to me inevitable that the fail- 
 ure of the troops to effect a perfect cordon would bring 
 on an engagement with the brigands, to the imminent 
 danger of the lives of the captives. The prisoners 
 themselves seem to have anticipated the result of a mil- 
 itary movement, as appears in the following passages 
 from notes written by some of them only the day before 
 the fatal ending, but which were not received at Athens 
 until an hour or two of the time when the frightful drama 
 was being enacted. 
 
 * " I have repeatedly assured your lordship that there was never 
 the slightest intention on the part of the Government of attacking 
 the brigands." — Erskine's dispatch to Clarendon, 
 
TFIE BATTLE NEAR MARATHON. 275 
 
 Mr. Herbert writes with that Christian fortitude and 
 gentleness of character for which he was distinguished : 
 
 " If things do not look bright, I do not see that they can be al- 
 tered, so that we have but to make the best of them. If the gov- 
 ernment could grant those terms, I believe we should be all right. 
 If not, our only chance is that when they know the troops are sent 
 out in force in Boeotia they may wish to save their lives. For the 
 present I do not think we run much risk unless we meet the soldiers, 
 and in that case we shall have the satisfaction of behe™g that they 
 will not go unpunished. But the captain desires me to say that he 
 considers any movement of tioops against him a violation of the 
 written promise given him by you, which said he should not be mo-, 
 lested, without adding any thing about Attica. He seems to think 
 himself entitled, so long as he treats us well, to take us where he 
 pleases ; but there must, of course, be some limit to this. At pres- 
 ent we are on the frontiers of Boeotia, and I believe the captain's 
 wish is to move a little nearer Thebes — that is, to get nearer to a coun- 
 try he and his band know better than they do this. Tiie captain de- 
 sires me to say that since he has seen Colonel Theagenis's orders he 
 does not feel himself safe even here, and requests a further assur- 
 ance from you, in writing, as to where they are safe, and for how 
 long." 
 
 At the same time Mr. Llyod wrote to Lord Muncas- 
 ter: 
 
 " With respect to the movements of the troops, you must re- 
 mind Mr. Erskine that the undertaking on the part of the govern- 
 ment was that the brigands should not be molested as long as they 
 were with them. If their march is now interrupted, they may have 
 a right to complain of a breach of faith, for which we shall most un- 
 doubtedly and irremediably suffer. 
 
 " The great thing is to gain time for negotiations, and not to hur- 
 ry to an open conflict. I have suggested what I can to that effect, 
 and leave it in your hands and those of our friends in Athens to do 
 the best for us. You must not rely much on pressure to persuade 
 these men to our terms." 
 
 Later in the day came another note from poor Her- 
 
276 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 bert, which clearly shows that the military movement 
 was, at least, premature : 
 
 " I think he " (the brigand chief) " has some grounds for saying 
 he ought not to be attacked after the promise made to him, though 
 obviously that promise could not be meant to be without limits. He 
 is evidently getting more disposed to negotiate than he was, and I 
 think, if he is not molested for the next week or two, he will come 
 to some terms, could the armistice be prolonged for a little time, and 
 limited, perhaps, to Bceotia or Attica, or to the neighborhood of 
 Thebes and Chalcis, although the latter designation' is, perhaps, too 
 vague. We are to move to-day, but only to a village a quarter 
 of an hour distant on the other side of the river, and I do not sup- 
 pose we shall be attacked there." 
 
 The village to which Herbert referred is Sykami, a 
 hamlet, and the river between it and Oropos, where the 
 brigands then were, is the classic Asopus. They can be 
 found on any general map of Greece, and they will ever 
 be of peculiar interest now in the light of the melancholy 
 events which I am narrating. The road is lined, and 
 the spaces on either side are thick with brushwood, 
 through which, avoiding the open road, the brigands 
 proceeded with their prisoners on the afternoon of April 
 the 2 1 St. Before the start on that day, young Vyner ad- 
 dressed the following touching letter to his friend Lord 
 Muncaster, at Athens. It can not be read without emo- 
 tion by any who appreciate the horrors of the situation 
 in which he was placed, or who were acquainted with the 
 manly presence and nobihty of character of this unfor- 
 tunate young Englishman. The letter did not reach 
 Athens until after the news of the fatal tragedy which 
 followed. 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 277 
 
 " The messenger has arrived, and has, in conjunction with Noel, 
 had a lengthened interview with the chief. The result is unfavor- 
 able. The chief has said to Noel that he will keep us safe for three 
 or four months ; but, of course, the soldiers being set loose has 
 done away with our security, and on the first engagement with the 
 troops we must die, for they will kill us at once. . . .There is one 
 thing they would agree to, namely, that a formal trial should be 
 held here, and that they should be pardoned afterward. This does 
 not seem illegal. Thank the King and his ministers on my behalf 
 for their kindness, and say that I do not ask (for I am powerless to 
 do that), but that, as a dying man, I implore them humbly to grant 
 this request of the brigands, and to prevent the operations of the 
 soldiers ; as, if not, we must die in a day or two, besides the need- 
 less bloodshed that would ensue. The government official regards 
 our position as_ beyond all hope, so that we must trust to God that 
 we may die bravely, as Englishmen should do. . .Pray for your un- 
 fortunate but affectionate friend, 
 
 Frederick Vyner." 
 
 It is said that when the news of the death of Vyner 
 was communicated to the brigand chief Takos, he shed 
 tears. The young Englishman had won the friendship 
 of the chief during his captivity, and the two had some- 
 times engaged in athletic sports — running, throwing the 
 quoit, etc. 
 
 From the various accounts of the occurrences which 
 followed I select a portion only of that of the English 
 commander, Hotham, who officially visited the locality 
 a short time subsequent to the tragedy, and obtained 
 his information from personal observation and conver- 
 sation with the peasantry, avoiding, as he did, the con- 
 sideration of military details, as my purpose is to give 
 only a general idea of the principal events bearing upon 
 the massacre of the foreigners. 
 
278 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 " A Greek gun-vessel being at anchor in tlie Scala of Oropos, 
 and also the fact of a person having come from the troops about 11 
 A.M. of the 2istof April, and also, perhaps, what passed at an in- 
 terview with Colonel Theagenis and Mr. Noel, seemed to have 
 made Takos decide upon quitting Oropos for Sykami. His prison- 
 ers tried to persuade him to remain at Oropos, and he seems to have 
 half promised them to return thither in three days' time. From 
 what I can learn, the brigands had no idea that the troops were so 
 near, and I understand that they constantly walked about when in 
 Oropos without arms, 
 
 " Takos and Christos Arvanitaki, his brother, seem to have 
 differed (after the interview with Mr. Noel), the former wishing to 
 accept the ransom alone, but Christos objecting to such a proceed- 
 ing, on the ground that if they did so without any . amnesty, they 
 would be immediately hunted down and killed. 
 
 " On the 19th and 20th of April, Takos seems to have been kind 
 in manner toward his prisoners, but changed after his meeting with 
 Colonel Theagenis. It was then he seemed to take an angry tone, 
 to which, on the morning of the 21st, was added suspicion, he per- 
 mitting no one to leave the village of Oropos without satisfying him- 
 self of their destination and business. About 2.20 P. M. of that 
 day the brigands left Oropos for Sykami in two parties, each within 
 five minutes of the other, the robberS saying ' good-by ' to the 
 inhabitants, and telling them they would be back oh the next 
 Sunday. 
 
 " The prisoners appear to have been much distressed on leaving 
 Oropos. No soldiers at all were seen from Oropos on the 21st, but 
 after the prisoners and brigands had gone about one hundred yards 
 from that place a policeman in disguise arrived in the village, and 
 almost immediately left again in the direction of Kako-Salessi. 
 
 " The band and prisoners arrived at Sykami between half past 
 three and four o'clock, having been delayed a long time crossing the 
 river Asopus, owing to a heavy freshet. After they had been in the 
 village from a quarter to a half an hour, the sentries posted on the 
 hill above, seeing the troops coming down over the range on the op- 
 posite side of the river, gave the alarm, shouting out some word, the 
 meaning of which I could not get accurately translated into English, 
 but which would seem to imply, ' We are betrayed,' or surrounded. 
 Takos, his band, and prisoners immediately started off toward Deli- 
 sie, taking with them thirteen peasants, who all managed soon to 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 
 
 279 
 
 escape. I can only surmise that the carrying avray of these men 
 was to prevent the troops firing upon them. 
 
 " About a quarter of an hour after the brigands had left the vil- 
 lage, the troops crossed the river, some at the ford of the village, 
 others further up. The brigands then seem to have taken the most 
 direct course for Delisie, only once diverging toward the sea, proba- 
 bly with the intention of retracing their steps through the valley of 
 the Asopus, and so baffling their pursuers. In the last gully before 
 reaching the plain of Delisie, the body of Mr. Herbert was found, 
 about goo yards from the beach, and 600 from the large house at 
 Delisie. It was lying ten yards from the foot-path leading up the 
 ravine into the bush. The country round here is covered with 
 small thick brush-wood — arbutus and small pine. The body was 
 lying face downward on a small bush, and when discovered he was 
 not quite dead, but expired almost immediately. This spot is visi- 
 ble directly over the spur from the house at Delisie. 
 
 " In a parallel line to the sea, about 400 yards from Mr. Her- 
 bert's body, they dispatched their second victim, Mr. Edward Lloyd. 
 He also was lying on a small bush, quite dead. This must have oc- 
 curred at about 4.45 P. M. Here the robbers divided, one party, under 
 Takos, taking the remaining prisoners (Mr. Vyner and Count DeBoyl), 
 choosing the path leading to Skimitari; the other band, under 
 Christos (who was shortly afterward killed), keeping parallel to the 
 beach. Following Takos's party up the valley they seem to have 
 abandoned the idea of going to Skimatari, and turned so as to leave 
 that place on their left, making toward Deamisi. About a mile 
 after leaving the valley, four miles from Delisie, and about three 
 from Skimatari, was discovered the body of Mr. VjTier, and 
 at 100 yards northeast of him lay the murdered Count DeBoyl. 
 They must both have been killed just before dark. Very shortly 
 after this occurrence all pursuit was stopped by night coming on 
 with heavy rain." 
 
 With the death of these noble victims immediate in- 
 terest in the event may be supposed to end. I will, in 
 the briefest manner, touch upon a few points. The 
 question of who fired first — the brigands upon the sol- 
 diers, or the soldiers upon tlie brigands — has never 
 
28o THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 been satisfactorily settled, nor does it much matter. It 
 is certain, however, that when the pursuing soldiers wit- 
 nessed the death of the first victims (and they were dis- 
 patched only when the brigands perceived that they 
 could no longer keep pace with them in their flight), 
 they could not restrain their indignation, and without 
 waiting for orders, fired upon the brigands, and with 
 impetuosity overtook and captured others. The result 
 of the conflict was that seven of the brigands, including 
 one of the brother chiefs, Christos Arvanitaki, were 
 killed, and four — some of whom were wounded — were 
 taken prisoners. Ten of the band, with the other chief, 
 Takos, made good their escape over the frontier into 
 Thessaly, from whence they originally came, the whole 
 band, with two exceptions, being Turkish subjects. An 
 English official report subsequently stated that the band 
 " remained unmolested " at the village of Koitza, in 
 the Turkish provinces. Since then it has been heard 
 from in .various parts of the country, and both the 
 Ottoman and Greek governments have offered large 
 rewards for the head «f Takos, the daring leader of 
 this band of miscreants, but every effort thus far to kill 
 him has proved unavailing. His followers are faithful 
 to their chief, and the chief himself is too wary to be en- 
 trapped. 
 
 The bodies of the unfortunate foreigners were 
 brought to Athens, and received all the funeral honors 
 which a heart-stricken community could pay them, the 
 King in person walking in the procession, with the min- 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 281 
 
 isters of state, civil and military officials, and the diplo- 
 matic body in uniform. Such a sadly impressive dis- 
 play was perhaps never before witnessed in Athens. 
 The funereal pomp was overshadowed by the intensity 
 of the pubhc grief — grief mingled vfrith a certain fear of 
 the opprobrium, if not punishment which might be in- 
 flicted upon Greece by a foreign power for the acts of 
 foreign scoundrels on her soil. And the victims were 
 worthy of the royal and civic honors paid to their muti- 
 lated remains. They died, as the noble Vyner fore- 
 told, "bravely, as Englishmen should do." 
 
 In Herbert was lost a valued friend — a man whose 
 weak physique alone threatened to belie his high 
 promises of manhood. He possessed the most delicate 
 sensibility, united with mental powers of high cultiva- 
 tion. With strong opinions, he was cool in debate, and 
 gracefully yielded to argument. It was his ambition to 
 enter Parliament, but I am inclined to think that his 
 condition of health gave a sober tint to all worldly con- 
 siderations. I remember one evening he appeared to be 
 greatly depressed, ar:d, in the cour e o conversation, 
 remarked to me that he had been that afternoon to look at 
 the Protestant burying-ground at Athens, and was disap- 
 pointed at its " look-out," adding, after a melancholy 
 pause, " I don't think I should like to lie there, and shall 
 tell E to send me home to England." This pre- 
 monition of early death may be Some consolation to the 
 friends al home who were called to mourn his sudden 
 and awful fate. 
 
282 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 The widow of one of the victims, Mr. Lloyd, re- 
 ceived a voluntary present of ;£'iooo from the King, 
 with the further promise that his Majesty would recom- 
 mend the Greek ParUament to vote her an annuity of 
 ;£'4oo. On the arrival of this lady in England, a liberal 
 subscription was taken up for her there, to which the 
 Greek residents were the chief contributors. Finally, 
 through the influence of the London Foreign -office, the 
 Greek government were required to change the original 
 suggestion of an annuity into a positive payment of 
 ;£'io,ooo sterling to Mrs. Lloyd — a measure which did 
 not pass the Chamber of Deputies without protracted 
 debate, in which England was handled without gloves, 
 as enforcing a most unjust demand. When at last it 
 was passed, the payment was declared to be made, not 
 as a precedent for the future, and not even as an act of 
 justice to the lady, but because to refuse to pay it would 
 be to incur further pressure on the part of England, 
 which might cost Greece more in humiliation and in 
 money than the payment of the first demand, however 
 unjust. Thus Greece put another stone in her already 
 well-filled pocket of " English injuries," against that bit- 
 ter day of reckoning which, weak as she is, she trusts will 
 some day come. * 
 
 * In the case of the capture, a few years ago, by Italian brigands, 
 of two Englishmen, Mr. Moens and Rev. J. C. Murray Ainsley, Lord 
 Russell declared to the Italian ambassador in London that those 
 gentlemen had " no more right to ask the Italian government to re- 
 pay them their ransom, than the embassador would have, were his 
 pocket picked on London Bridge, to reclaim the value from the 
 English nation." 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 283 
 
 The heads of the seven brigands killed in the con- 
 flict near Delisie were brought to Athens, and displayed 
 on a scaffolding erected in an open place near the city 
 amidst the execrations of the crowd. 
 
 The trial of the captured brigands, including those 
 of the same band previously confined in the prison at 
 Athens, was a most painfully interesting affair. The 
 court was crowded with spectators, many from the best 
 classes of society, and the proceedings were conducted 
 with all the solemnity of law. The brigand prisoners, 
 weak with their wounds, were brought into the court- 
 room on litters, producing a lively impression. A sketch 
 of the scene, drawn by one of the English barristers 
 present, appeared in the Illustrated London News. 
 During their confinement in jaiL I was permitted to con- 
 fer with them, and for half an hour, with an interpreter, 
 was shut up with them in a cell. On my asking the 
 most intelligent of the three who were captured in the 
 conflict why the foreigners were treated so inhumanly, 
 he threw his arms out in the fashion of a nurse, and 
 exclaimed, " Inhumanly ! we treated them like babies ;" 
 whereupon his companions, making the same ges- 
 ture, repeated the words, "Yes, like babies." "And 
 why did you murder them in your flight ? " " Ah," 
 he answered, "when shots are flying, thick and fast 
 about one's head, one does not know exactly what he 
 does." 
 
 The five condemned brigands were executed by guil- 
 lotine at Athens on the 20th of June. They met their 
 
284 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 well-merited death with firmness, but elicited no particle 
 of sympathy from the spectators. 
 
 The terrible massacre of the four foreigners plunged 
 not only Athens but all Greece into the deepest mortifi- 
 cation and affliction. In England the news of the cap- 
 ture had in the first instance created no excitement. 
 The London Titnes pronounced it a " comedietta,'' and 
 that " beyond the payment of the ransom-money there 
 was scarcely any element of inconvenience, and cer- 
 tainly none of danger in the transaction. It was a cus- 
 tomary incident of the spring;" and the Times went on 
 to suggest that in case of need " a detachment from 
 Malta might be employed in aiding the Greek govern- 
 ment to recover our snared countrymen," a suggestion 
 which contained in it, as the sequel proved, the very 
 " element of danger" which produced the fatal result. 
 But no sooner was the " comedietta " at Marathon 
 turned into a tragedy by the employment of military 
 measures, than a feeling of anger was produced in Eng- 
 land which vented itself in the most bitter and unjust 
 denunciations against the whole Greek nation. The 
 London journals declared Greece to be '■ a country 
 whose political system is anarchy, and whose staple in- 
 dustry is brigandage ;" " a miserable failure and a posi- 
 tive nuisance to Europe ;" " the home of ruffians, and 
 the den of assassins ;" " a nest of robbers and pirates ;" 
 " a mere brigand's den;" "the St. Giles of Europe — the 
 Ratcliff Highway of the world ;" " a generation of bas- 
 tards ;" " a convict settlement — the curse of the Levant ;" 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 
 
 285 
 
 " a rickety bantling, and a political swindle ;'' and so on 
 ad nauseam. * 
 
 We cannot wonder at' the horror and anger of Eng- 
 lishmen when the news of the ruthless slaughter of their 
 innocent countrymen was telegraphed to London. But 
 we are apt to regard — at least we wish to regard — the 
 press, as we regard a judicial tribunal, as raised high 
 above popular passions and personal vindictiveness; as 
 a calm, unprejudiced recorder of events, postponing 
 criticism until all the evidence is in, and a judgment can 
 be formed on the basis of indisputable facts. 
 
 As time threw light upon the history of events, and 
 a better understanding of the matter cleared the Greek 
 government and people of the infamous charges laid at 
 their feet, public opinion was modified ; and although 
 there has never been made one generous retraction of 
 these charges, silence has given assent to the idea 
 that they were unsupported by facts. Unfortunately, 
 through the misunderstanding of a remark made by the 
 Greek Prime Minister to the English representative at 
 Athens, the impression was conveyed that the extraor- 
 dinary tenacity with which the brigands held out was at- 
 tributable to the intrigues of political parties who wished 
 to embarrass the existing ministry. No sooner was this 
 idea mooted than the British government demanded that 
 a most searching judicial investigation should be had at 
 
 * A sharp and incisive criticism on England's injustice to 
 Greece in this affair, from the pen of a Greeli gentleman resident in 
 London, was published by Cartright, 21 New Broad street. 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 287 
 
 not to yield the point of amnesty. The Englishman 
 himself was sent to the brigands to assist in the negoti- 
 ations for the release of the captives ; and whatever he 
 may have said to the chiefs, he certainly made no con- 
 cealment of his opinion that "amnesty ought to be 
 granted to the brigands." This young gentleman had 
 not only employed the brothers of the brigand chiefs in 
 business connected with his estate, but he stood in rela- 
 tion to them as " koumbaros," or C07npere ; that is he had 
 stood godfather to the child of one of them, and was 
 bound to the outlaws by ties which in Greece are re- 
 garded as sacred. His position, therefore was extreme- 
 ly difficult. 
 
 Such a prisoner and such a charge were, indeed, a 
 most unexpected result of an investigation instituted 
 by the British government in the expectation that somfe 
 Greek statesman or other would be found at the bottom 
 of the mystery. No wonder that England was cha- 
 grined, and that a desire to " hush up the matter " was 
 expressed in government circles in London ! However, 
 the young Englishman, whose unfortunate relations 
 with the brothers of brigands is an evidence of the fact 
 that respectable people cannot always avoid seeming 
 complicity with open-handed criminals, was well treated. 
 Unlike the one hundred and eleven low fellows who 
 were doomed to share the unenviable hospitality of a 
 loathsome jail, until slow justice found it convenient to 
 examine into their case, he was allowed to walk the 
 streets of Athens en parole, and to reside with one of his 
 
288 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 own countrymen, who was kind enough to defend him 
 in a London journal, before he could be brought to trial. 
 Finally, as might have been expected under the circum- 
 stances, he was not even brought to trial, the evidence 
 being insufficient to sustain a criminal charge against 
 him. 
 
 The English Minister at Athens is accused of having 
 blundered in authorizing, or in not disapproving of the 
 military measures, which, after much earnest consulta- 
 tion, were resorted to by the government, and which, as 
 has been seen, caused the death of the captives. How- 
 ever opinions may vary on this point, every one, upon 
 consideration, will at least agree with the English Min- 
 ister in the opinion expressed by him in his dispatch to 
 the Foreign-office, that " if the brigands had been 
 allowed to carry off their prisoners without interruption 
 from the comparatively accessible situation they were 
 then in, and z/the captives had dropped off miserably 
 one by one, or been murdered at a later period by the 
 brigands in some chance encounter with the troops, it 
 would equally have been said that they (the EngUsh and 
 Italian Ministers) were to blame, and that they ought nev- 
 er to have consented to their removal from Oropos ; that 
 a little firmness would have forced the brigands to ac- 
 cept the terms offered to them ; in short, any misfortune 
 to the captives would always have been attributed to 
 their mismanagement." 
 
 Lord Muncaster had been the subject of some ab- 
 surd censure on the assumption that he should have re- 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 
 
 289 
 
 turned to his unfortunate friends in captivity when the 
 demand of the brigands for amnesty was not complied 
 with. This gentleman was true to his parole. The 
 terms named to him by the brigand chief were " ransom 
 or amnesty," and, as we have seen, the money was 
 promptly obtained, and was ready for delivery, when the 
 outlaws changed their terms, and refused to accept the 
 one without the other. I am in a position to state that 
 both Lord and Lady Muncaster had but one opinion as 
 to his duty in the matter, had he failed in fulfilling his 
 pledge to the outlaws. As it was, there was nothing 
 whatever to gain in honor to himself or advantage to the 
 poor prisoners by his rejoining them ; and his death, un- 
 der such circumstances, would have brought upon his 
 memory the imputation of inexcusable folly. 
 
 This paper has been prepared partly to narrate an 
 event which for a time created intense excitement in 
 England, but chiefly to correct erroneous impressions 
 caused by distortion of some of the facts, and intentional 
 suppression of others. Although in this country the news 
 of the massacre of the foreigners attracted less attention 
 than abroad, the idea prevails that in some unexplained 
 way the sole responsibility of the final catastrophe rests 
 upon the head of the Greeks. Of course our journals 
 cannot be blamed for relying upon foreign statements, 
 when they have none other to rely upon ; it is neverthe- 
 less unfortunate that in borrowing the words of European 
 critics in relation to other countries than our own, we 
 13 
 
290 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 occasionally — in ignorance of the political animosities 
 which exist across the water — borrow their prejudices 
 also. Especially unfortunate is it when an event which 
 has now become historical, is accounted for in the pages 
 of an American Cyclopaedia — professing, and of course 
 intended to be authentic — as incorrectly as the following : 
 " The Greek Government, instead of devising means for 
 the transmission of the ransom, and consequent release of 
 the prisoners, ordered troops to operate against the rob- 
 bers who, being closely pressed in their stronghold, cru- 
 elly murdered all the prisoners." The injustice of this 
 statement will be apparent to the reader. The brigands, 
 having changed their original terms, it would have been 
 a useless exposure of property to have forwarded the 
 money while the other question was in abeyance, and 
 the prisoners also requested that it should not be sent. 
 Nor did the brigands demand it. They knew that the 
 treasure was boxed and ready for them the instant they 
 would accept it in exchange for the captives. Indeed 
 the money had become a secondary object with them. 
 They had " no faith in the Greek Government," as the 
 chief told the prisoners, for they had been three times 
 attacked by the troops on their way into Attica, and 
 three of their companions lay in the prison at Athens. 
 They suspected danger even after the promise that they 
 should not be interfered with on their retreat to the fron- 
 tier ; and they only looked for safety through a free par- 
 don, which should extend also to the prisoners in the 
 jail at Athens. Thus this unhappy business turned upon 
 
THE MASSACRE NEAR MARATHON. 291 
 
 the persistency with which these wretches urged a pre- 
 posterous demand — one which, if acceded to, would have 
 violated a principle which no government in the civil- 
 ized world can violate with impunity. 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 
 
 j HERE Italy uplifts her heel, transfixed as it 
 were in the attempt to make a football of 
 Sicily, the blue waters of the Adriatic mingle 
 with the Mediterranean through the Strait of Otranto. A 
 little to the south-east of this strait, its extremities ap- 
 proaching to within a few miles of the Albanian coast, 
 lies a lovely island. It is lovely alike for its serene skies, 
 its deliqious climate, the mountain masses which are seen 
 from it on the opposite shore, and its own range of pic- 
 turesque eminences, rising at one point three thousand 
 feet above the sea and sloping with graceful irregularity 
 into a hundred valleys verdant with olive groves and luxu- 
 riant vineyards. 
 
 To this natural scenery, the inspiration of the past 
 lends an indelible charm. Romance and history have 
 marked it for their own. A legend of the greatest of 
 ancient, if not indeed of all, poets floats about its in- 
 dented coast, and to the eye of the enthusiast gives a 
 deeper blue to its waters, a more tender green to its 
 groves. Here, or supposed to be here, which is much 
 the same thing, the warrior-king Ulysses found safety 
 from shipwreck and held the famous interview with Nau- 
 
296 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 sicae, — she who has been called " the most interesting 
 character in all ancient poetry." Here spread the mar- 
 velous gardens of her father, King Alcinoiis. From this 
 island sailed the vessel which transported the hero of 
 the Odyssey to the arms of the tried and faithful Penel- 
 ope, and returned only to be stricken into rock by the 
 avenging gods. For him who doubteth, here lies the 
 ship-transformed islet itself, a perpetual rebuke to the 
 skeptic and a memorial of the imperishable genius of 
 poetry. 
 
 But, to the student of history, the island which is now 
 being brought to the reader's attention has more sub- 
 stantial claims for regard. Great men, it appears, have 
 stood upon its soil and great events have occurred be- 
 neath its skies. It afforded a refuge, at least during a 
 portion of his exile, to Themistocles, tlie " savior of 
 Greece." Aristotle, another noble victim of popular in- 
 justice, came hither and was " so charmed with tlie island 
 and its people, that he persuaded Alexander, then in 
 Epirus, to join him." It was the scene of the marriage 
 of Octavia and Antony, and hither she returned after- 
 wards to weep at his neglect. " Titus, after the conquest 
 of Jerusalem ; Helena, on her way to Palestine in search 
 of the true cross ; Augustus Caesar, who gave peace to 
 the world ; Dioclesian, the persecutor of tlie Christians ; 
 and poor blind Belisarius " are some among the illustri- 
 ous persons who are said to have landed or sojourned 
 on this island. Lanassa, wife of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, 
 " received this emerald isle for her wedding portion. 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 
 
 297 
 
 Cicero probably passed the place as he came to visit his 
 devoted Atticus, whose estates were on the opposite 
 shore. Cato and Tibullus ; the Emperor Nero ; Richard 
 I. of England, he of the lion heart ; and Robert Guis- 
 card, who seized the island in 108 1, are names more or 
 less interwoven with its history. The island is thus asso- 
 ciated with the Greeks and Romans in the height of their 
 power, as well as with the times of the crusades. " Here 
 was passed in review that splendid armament which was 
 destined to perish at Syracuse — the Moscow of Athenian 
 ambition — and four hundred years later the waters of 
 Actium saw a world lost and won. Here again after the 
 lapse of sixteen centuries, met together those Christian 
 Powers which off Lepanto dealt to the Turkish fleet — so 
 long the scourge and terror of Europe — a blow from 
 which it has never recovered." But, ages before the 
 last-mentioned events, these quiet little bays floated a 
 fleet of 120 triremes, which were about to engage in the 
 most ancient naval battle recorded in history — that fought 
 between Corinth and Corcyra, b. c. 657. Nor is the latest 
 history of the island the least interesting. Here, within 
 our own times, a political experiment was essayed which 
 terminated in one of the most extraordinary events re- 
 corded in the history of modern governments, the volun- 
 tary cession of the island — after a protectorate of fifty 
 years — by the government of Great Britain to the king- 
 dom of Greece. 
 
 This island of Corfu — the ancient Corcyra — the still 
 more ancient Scheria of Homer — is chief of the seven 
 
298 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Ionian Isles, and lies from north-west to south-east, its 
 northern extremity separated by a channel of but two 
 miles in width from the coast of Albania. Thence the 
 waters expand to about twelve miles and contract again 
 to about five at the southern outlet, forming as it were a 
 huge lake, broken by islands and set in a frame-work of 
 hills that are ever changing, with the changing day, from 
 gray to blue, from purple, to rose. The island is said to 
 have taken its name from two prominent peaks or horns 
 which distinguish the towering mountain at its northern 
 extremity. It is about seventy-two miles in circuit, and 
 is very irregular. Its shape has been compared to a 
 sickle, but the outline more closely resembles a leg of 
 lamb, the thicker portion lying to the north, whence it 
 tapers gracefully to scarce a quarter of its greatest width. 
 But, to whatever it may be likened, Corfu is most attrac- 
 tive, whether approached through the northern channel 
 from Trieste or Italy, or the south from Greece and the 
 Ionian Islands. As the steamer advances up the ex- 
 panding channel, the town of Corfu, surmounted by its 
 double-peaked citadel and protected by a long line of 
 unbroken sea-wall, presents a striking appearance. Two 
 conical crags rise abruptly from the extremity of the 
 peninsula, or tongue of land occupied by the town and 
 its defences, upon the sides of which the accumulated 
 green growth of centuries spreads over the natural rock, 
 half-concealing it. Beyond this the summits are carried 
 by solid masonry. At the base of the inner fortification 
 or citadel a row of white barracks attracts the attention. 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 299 
 
 and, below all, the steep,well-constructed sea-wall stretch- 
 es uninterruptedly around the promontory until it meets 
 the town, on the other side of which the square Vene- 
 tian fortress (La Fortressa Nuova), less imposing than 
 the rocky citadel in juxtaposition to it, rises in defence 
 of the opposite extremity. The town beneath has the 
 look of an Italian city, a clambering mass of tall white- 
 coated houses from which an occasional campanile, or 
 bell-tower, rises in picturesque relief. The whole — the 
 town and fortress, flanked on either side by gentle bays, 
 the broad waters dotted with sails, and, far to the east- 
 ward, the imposing mountain wall of San Salvador — 
 forms a picture of exceeding beauty. Less stately than 
 Malta, and without the majesty of Gibraltar, Corfu surpass- 
 es both in its union of strength with softness of repose. 
 It is a dream of the past — perhaps a hope of the future 
 — rather than an impending present; a place to linger 
 in and to love, rather than to criticise with the spirit of 
 utilitarian inquiry. 
 
 On landing at the " San Nicolo " steps, the visitor 
 takes his way up the narrow passage between the ram- 
 parts and finds himself upon the esplanade, a spacious 
 quadrangle lying between the citadel and the town. This 
 space is intersected with graveled walks and surrounded 
 with an avenue of shade-trees. The sea view to the 
 north is here shut out by the government house, now the 
 town palace — a handsome building erected by the first 
 "Lord High Commissioner" of England. The high- 
 peaked citadel at the eastern angle of the esplanade. 
 
300 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 which covers its mate, is, however, the most imposing 
 feature of the scene. A ditch and drawbridge separate 
 it from the public walk, along which runs a stone Vene- 
 tian balustrade. From this point a beautiful view of the 
 sea is unfolded to the spectator, reminding one of scenes 
 so often depicted upon the drop-curtain of theatres, 
 where the inevitable marble terrace forms a foreground 
 to a vista of lapis lazuli waters, skies of cerulean hue, 
 and a pile of purple-tinted mountains. To the right, the 
 panorama is spread out over the miniature bay of Cas- 
 trades, which is defined by a sea-wall of smooth stone. 
 Around this a well-made road forms a favorite drive and 
 promenade, conducting to the wooded peninsula beyond, 
 from the thick foliage of which rises the " Casino,"-— 
 now called by his majesty " Mon Repos," — the summer 
 residence of the King of Greece. 
 
 On the western side of the esplanade the town is 
 shut out by a long row of rather stately-looking build- 
 ings, occupied in their basements by shops and cafds, 
 and above as residences by some of the wealthier class 
 and the foreign consuls. Half this line of buildings, 
 absorbed mainly by the three or four hotels of Corfu, 
 has an arched colonnade beneath it like those of Ven- 
 ice and Padua. This form of structure occurs at inter- 
 vals in the town itself, and, with the campaniles, the fre- 
 quent appearance of the " Lion of St. Mark " — the de- 
 vice of Venice — rudely sculptured in the ancient arch- 
 ways, and Italian names inscribed upon the streets, gives 
 a Venetian air to the whole place. The esplanade 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 
 
 301 
 
 forms the regular drill-ground for the troops of the gar- 
 rison as well as the favorite promenade for the inhabi- 
 tants. It is the heart and lungs of the town, where ev- 
 ery summer evening the Corfiotes stroll under the trees 
 or gather around the military band performing operatic 
 and national airs in the centre of the green ; or, seated 
 in groups before the caf^s, discuss lemonade and ices. 
 Behind this line of buildings the town itself slopes grad- 
 ually northward to an inner bay, where a few merchant 
 vessels of small tonnage represent the limited commerce 
 of the place. 
 
 The streets of the town are narrow and crooked, 
 many of them little better than lanes, paved with cob- 
 ble stones, and lined with stands of hucksters in fruit, 
 vegetables, and groceries, wine and tobacco shops, cob- 
 blers' stalls, cheap jewelry stores, etc. The place, as a 
 whole, is cleanly, and there are few offensive smells, such 
 as disgrace some of the back streets of Athens ; the 
 people — unlike their church bells, which are ever jang- 
 ling — are quiet and orderly ; and, despite the absence 
 of an air of prosperity, there is something attractive in 
 these cramped, rambling, old-fashioned streets, where 
 the stranger easily loses his way, and finds himself in 
 odd quarters before he recovers his bearings. 
 
 The visitor from other Grecian towns misses in Cor- 
 fu the occasional glitter and color of the national cos- 
 tume which elsewhere — especially in Athens — is so ef- 
 fective. The only exception to this is the round cap 
 and black robe of the Greek priest, or the shovel hat of 
 
302 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 the Catholic clergy, or the dirty capotes of the Albanian 
 boatmen from the opposite coast. Yet the population 
 of Corfu is exceedingly mixed, being composed of Greeks 
 and Italians, with some Maltese and Albanians, and a 
 few English, the latter the remnants of those whose num- 
 bers and influence were so marked here during the pe- 
 riod of British occupation. 
 
 The language of the townspeople is chiefly Italian, 
 that of the country chiefly Greek, but both show the 
 infusion of incongruous elements during the govern- 
 mental sway over the island of various unscrupulous or 
 unsympathetic powers. The stranger who asks in a 
 foreign tongue for an article in a shop at Corfu, will 
 most likely be surprised at receiving an answer in his 
 own language, whatever that may be. The dialect is 
 imperfect, but a general smatter of modern tongues 
 seems to be at the command of all. They have bor- 
 rowed a little from the Turks ; a few phrases from the 
 French ; less from the English than would be expected 
 after their long rule ; and a permanent language, or pa- 
 tois, from the Venetians. 
 
 The population of the town and its suburbs, Mandu- 
 chio and Castrades, is not far from 20,000 ; that of the 
 whole island about 70,000. The religion of the Greek 
 Church prevails, as is readily perceived by the large 
 number of churches and chapels in town and country 
 — in the town alone there being over two hundred. Ro- 
 man Catholics and Jews are " tolerated," the latter far 
 more kindlv than the former. The two Roman Catho- 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 303 
 
 lie schools founded at Corfu are the cause of much 
 complaint on the part of the zealous and jealous de- 
 fenders of the Oriental Church. The Jews, on the oth- 
 er hand, being held as harmless, are now entirely free 
 from persecution. They control no inconsiderable part 
 of the local commerce of the town, and at a recent mu- 
 nicipal election, three Israelites were chosen by decided 
 majorities. The statistics give the number of Latins in 
 the whole island as five thousand, and of Jews six thou- 
 sand. 
 
 The processions of the Greek Church are frequent, 
 and form one of the most interesting sights of Corfu. 
 The richly-embroidered robes, the Church insignia, the 
 flaring candles, the martial music, and the peculiar na- 
 sal chant of the priests, offer an impressive spectacle. 
 Until late years the Roman Catholics have been forced 
 to abstain from street ceremonials, as disorder, and even 
 actual rioting, was to be apprehended. These public 
 displays were believed by many to be in violation of the 
 spirit of the Greek Constitution, which declares that 
 " Proselytism and all other interference prejudicial to 
 the dominant religion are prohibited." Perhaps the 
 elongated and image-bearing cross, the angel-winged 
 children, and the Latin chants, which chiefly distinguish 
 these processions from those of the Greek Church, 
 were what the sensitive orthodox communicant regarded 
 as baneful to the interests of true religion. I have, how- 
 ever, seen on " Corpus Christi " day a Roman Catholic 
 procession in the streets of Corfu, than which nothing 
 
304 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 could have been, conducted with greater decorum or 
 witnessed by tlie surrounding crowd of Greelis witli 
 greater outward respect. The remarlcs of some of the 
 spectators after the procession had passed, indicated the 
 prevailing sentiment of tlie Greeks. " Tliank God," 
 said one, "we have nothing like that in Athens." 
 " Blasphemous," remarked another ; " their bishop un- 
 der the canopy yonder is playing the part of God ! " 
 The criticisms made by the Roman Catholics when the 
 mummied remains of Spiridion, the patron saint of Cor- 
 fu, are taken out of its silver sarcophagus and given a 
 ride in state around the public esplanade, are equally 
 denunciatory. 
 
 Saint Spiridion, the finest church in the town — which 
 is not saying a great deal for it — receives its name from 
 the patron saint, and protects what is believed to be his 
 veritable body. It stands in a narrow street of the 
 same name, and furnishes one of the few objects of his- 
 torical interest to the passing stranger. The edifice con- 
 tains a marble screen surmounted with pictures, and the 
 ceiling and walls are dark with paintings of the Italian 
 School, set in heavy gilt scroll-work. The Church of 
 " St. Spiro," as the saint is familiarly called, is frequent- 
 ly the scene of ceremonials which are attended by the 
 royal family. Here "Te Deums " are sung on their 
 majesties' " name days," and in celebration of the birth 
 of the princes. On these occasions the King and Queen, 
 aids-de-camp, and ladies of honor, stand within the 
 choir facing the bishop and priests at the altar, while the 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 305 
 
 Standing stalls are occupied on one side by the chief 
 officials of the State, and on the other by the members 
 of the diplomatic corps. The nave of the church is 
 filled by the military and the pubhc. Not the least in- 
 teresting portion of this glittering assembly is the group 
 of officiating priests, chanting the service, their long 
 hair, high black caps, and stiff brocaded vestments of 
 rich and diverse colors, thrown shawl-like over the shoul- 
 ders, forming a peculiar picture. The body of Saint 
 Spiridion, enclosed in a massive silver-embossed sarco- 
 phagus, lies within a side chapel, dimly lighted by a 
 swinging lamp which is never extinguished. For those 
 who wish to gaze upon the sacred remains of the saint, 
 a fee of about fifty drachmas (eight dollars), effects the 
 desired object. On special holy days, however, it may 
 be seen without any expense — except, perhaps, to one's 
 feelings as he gazes upon the shrunken features of an 
 eyeless mummy, with half a nose and three or four dis- 
 colored teeth. The head is slightly turned aside, " result- 
 ing from the sabre stroke with which he was martyred ; " 
 the black skinny hands are folded across the breast in 
 peaceful resignation, and the feet stick out from an em- 
 broidered robe shod in spangled sandals. This state of 
 preservation after death is believed to be miraculous, 
 • and without the aid of any intervening human hand. 
 Hither, to the shrine of St. Spiro, come the good peo- 
 ple of Corfu from sunrise — ^when the church is opened 
 •with clang of bells, annoying greatly the denizens of 
 tlie neighboring hotels — until sunset, when the church is 
 
3o6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 closed with the same discordant announcement. It is 
 curious for a bystander to observe the worshippers, old 
 and young, rich and poor: the tattered and slovenly 
 beggar, and the fashionably-attired lady, as they glide, 
 self-absorbed, into the little sombre chapel, mutter their 
 prayers over the inspired relic, and cover the sarcopha- 
 gus with fervent kisses. If a listening ear could be per- 
 mitted for one day to catch the whispered words uttered 
 over the shrine of the martyred saint, a curious chapter 
 of human infirmity might be given to the world. 
 
 From the credible portion of the history of St. Spi- 
 ridion, it would appear that he was indeed a worthy man. 
 He lived at Cyprus during the reign of the cruel Maxi- 
 minus Caesar, and, although an humble shepherd, de- 
 prived himself of the necessities of life that he might 
 bestow hospitality upon all needy wayfarers. His only 
 daughter he devoted to the church. Spiro eventually 
 became Bishop of Trebissond. He was buried in the 
 place of his birth, but, owing to the miraculous power 
 with which he was believed to be endowed, his body was 
 carried in the seventh century to Constantinople and 
 there worshipped as a saint. When the Christians fled 
 before the Turks in 1456, a poor man bore away the re- 
 mains of Spiridion and a certain other saint, by conceal- 
 ing them in two sacks of provender on the back of a 
 mare. Reaching the coast of Epirus, he crossed the 
 water to Corfu, where he erected a rude church over the 
 precious treasures, and miracles and cures innumerable 
 were, wrought at the sacred shrine. Becoming rich 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 
 
 307 
 
 through the offerings then made by the credulous, he 
 married, and at his death bequeathed the saint and church 
 to his sons. The daughter of one of these sons married 
 Stamatello Bulgari and received the saint as her dower. 
 It has remained in that family to this day. In course of 
 time the present church was erected to honor the saint. 
 By testamentary decree, one of the Bulgari family must 
 be an officiating priest of the church, and the three 
 brothers take turns in receiving the annual income of 
 offerings, which give a handsome support to the family. 
 Spiridion was one of the bishops present at the cele- 
 brated Council of Nice, and is said to have illustrated 
 there the doctrine of the Trinity in the following man- 
 ner : " You cannot comprehend," he said, " the doctrine 
 of three in one. Can you comprehend the simplest op- 
 eration in Nature ? Look at this earthen pitcher. Are 
 not the three elements of fire, water, and efrth so min- 
 gled in its composition that it could not exist without any 
 one of the three ? You believe it, but do not see the 
 fire or the water that enter therein. Nay, you cannot see 
 the dust of which it is composed." A writer who relates 
 this as " the only fact in the saint's life redounding to 
 his honor," and one which is said to have " confounded 
 the Arians," weakens the evidence by destroying the 
 character of the witness. 
 
 How far the Corfiotes of to-day believe in the super- 
 natural intervention of their saint it is difficult to deter- 
 mine, though there is more latent superstition than the 
 learned are willing to admit. But the force of habit and 
 
3o8 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 the unwillingness to break through old and what are con- 
 sidered at least harmless customs contribute largely to 
 swell the income derived from the saint's body. 
 
 Much the same feeling which induces certain intelli- 
 gent people of the most civilized countries to be influ- 
 enced by omens and signs impels the well-educated Greek 
 not to deny the virtues ascribed to his saints. Many 
 Corfiotes, with a certain shamefacedness, and others 
 without the shamefacedness, express their faith in the 
 divine intercession and curative virtues of St. Spiro. 
 The ignorant believe, and the priests confirm their be- 
 lief, that Spiridion " walks the sea on stormy nights, and 
 indeed seaweed is often found about his legs, which fur- 
 nishes a lucrative article of commerce." The sick are 
 frequently laid in the street on festival days of the saint 
 that his body may pass over them and effect a cure. It 
 is reported, and believed, that in a certain criminal trial 
 which took place in Corfu some years since, owing to the 
 contradictory evidence, two of the conflicting witnesses 
 were called upon to swear to their testimony by touching 
 the silver case which enshrines the body of " St. Spiro," 
 and, each having taken the oath, the hand of the false 
 witness soon afterwards withered, thus attesting his per- 
 jury. 
 
 Of other local supernatural beliefs, as recorded by 
 various writers, a few may be briefly mentioned in this 
 connection. 
 
 On Easter day in Corfu, when the ringing of bells at 
 noon responds to the voice of the bishop, " Our Lord is 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 
 
 309 
 
 risen," the windows are thrown up and a crash of old 
 crockery resounds along the pavements of the narrow 
 streets ; old women shout " avaunt fleas, bugs, and all 
 vermin ! make way for the Lord of all to enter ? " ac- 
 companying the invocation with a shower of broken pots 
 and pans. On these occasions, woe to the luckless 
 stranger who may be walking the streets of Corfu in un- 
 happy ignorance of this domestic institution, of which 
 perchance a noseless water-jug flying in dangerous prox- 
 imity to his own nose, may suddenly enlighten him. 
 Greek saints, which in a measure supply the places of 
 the gods of a passed-away mythology, are invoked for 
 blessings and assistance in all the important affairs of 
 maritime and agricultural life. The planting of the seed 
 and the gathering of the fruits require each a benedic- 
 ' tion ; a boat purchased by a Greek ,of a Turk must be 
 formally purified ; St. Eustace is respectfully requested 
 to free a field or vineyard from caterpillars ; St. Peter 
 gives his particular attention to the fishermen's nets and 
 lines; Elijah blesses salt; St. Procopius protects the 
 thick skull of the stupid school-boy. After the slaugh- 
 ter of the lambs on Easter day, a lock of wool is dipped 
 in the blood and a cross is inscribed with it on the lintel 
 of the door. Within the memory of old islanders the 
 obolo, a small copper coin, has been deposited in the 
 coffin of the dead to pay Charon his fee across the Styx. 
 In parts of the country, evil spirits are supposed to be 
 abroad at noon, during the month of August, and the 
 peasants shut themselves up in their houses. A coffin- 
 
310 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAV. 
 
 nail, here, as in many other parts of the world, when 
 driven into the door of a house, affords perfect security 
 from ghosts, and a triangular bit of paper, on which is 
 written the name of a disease, effectually prevents the 
 appearance of the malady in that neighborhood. Rags 
 tied to a bit of stick receive the evil spirits exorcised by 
 the " papa " or priest. To drop oil bodes no good, and 
 to see a priest at sunrise is a very bad omen, and a con- 
 venient apology for the reverend sluggard. It is but fair 
 to say that these and a hundred other superstitions are 
 chiefly prevalent among the peasantry, and in the towns 
 are confined to the lowest classes. These will fade away 
 with the increasing light of civilization, if it is permitted 
 through natural channels, and not through forced lenses, 
 to pass into the social apprehension of the people of the 
 
 East. 
 
 In educational matters, Corfu and the Ionian Islands 
 are behind Athens, which latter, without the advantages 
 of British influence and culture during the " Protector- 
 ate " of the islands, has made very rapid strides in scho- 
 lastic instruction since her forty years of freedom. Be- 
 fore the cession, there were, according to English sta- 
 tistics, 304 schoolmasters in the island. A university 
 established under private auspices seems to have failed, 
 and yet there are more children taught to-day in Corfu 
 than then. A law obliges the attendance of pupils at 
 school, but, like many Greek laws, it is not enforced. 
 The late "Nomarch" or prefect of Corfu, Mr. Mavro- 
 cordates, an intelligent gentleman and son of the illus- 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 31 j 
 
 trious statesman of that name, made exertions to in- 
 crease the number of schools in the island. Being once 
 on a tour of inspection, he was gratified to find that all 
 the boys in a certain village remote from the capital at- 
 tended school daily. Thereupon the Nomarch suggest- 
 ed that girls' schools should be estabhshed, but this was 
 met with an expression of surprise : " What ! would you 
 have girls — who naturally know so much more than boys 
 — educated ? They would soon be the masters of the 
 town." This Uttle item may be a crumb of comfort to 
 the advocates of " Woman's Rights " at home. Among 
 other social benefits, female education in the Ionian 
 Islands would occupy with elevating domestic pursuits 
 the minds of a large number of women, and introduce 
 a taste for book-reading of a higher order than French 
 romances. There are, however, many of the gentle sex 
 whose cultivation and manners combine in a consider- 
 able degree to enhance the attractions of the pleasant 
 island they inhabit. But strangers know little of the 
 local society of the place and should be guarded in their 
 criticisms. The EngUsh used to complain that the Greek 
 families would not mix with their own. Not that the 
 latter were regarded in any spirit of unfriendliness, but 
 rather from natural and unsympathetic causes. The 
 dinners and balls at the " Government House " and at 
 the houses of the leading officials were always graced by 
 Greek ladies and honored by Greek gentlemen, but some- 
 ho,v or other these compliments were seldom returned 
 by the Gorfiotes. " They will eat our dinners and shde 
 
312 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 over our floors, but we never get so much as a polite re- 
 quest to call and see them, much less to sit at their ta- 
 bles," said an Englishman. It is possible that EngUsh 
 affluence and Greek economy were impelling causes in 
 this matter. Still the natural habits of the two peoples 
 are widely different, and the Corfiotes prefer their own 
 society to that of strangers. They are seclusive rather 
 than exclusive. Among themselves they have many re- 
 unions. Music and the dance are heard in the houses 
 of the rich and the poor, while those who have no homes 
 — such as young men who go to their lodgings only to 
 sleep, and then among the small hours of the morning — 
 pass their evenings at the caf^s and devote the greater 
 part of the night to perambulating the streets and sing- 
 ing songs under the windows of the sleepless. For 
 hours, too, in the neighborhood of the hotels, the ear is 
 forced to keep time to the sound of numerals issuing 
 from some neighboring wine-shop, as the players at 
 " Moro " enunciate " one," " two," " five," etc., accord- 
 ing to the guess of the player at the number of fingers 
 his opponent holds up. When all the money has been 
 won or the drinks exhausted, " silence, like a poultice, 
 comes to heal the wounds of sound." But the respite is 
 a brief one. Soon the back streets awaken with fresh 
 abominations. The discordant voices of women, lean- 
 ing out of the open windows, mingle with the incohe- 
 rent shouts of drunken sailors, from the foreign ships 
 of war in the harbor, as they stagger through the streets 
 after a beastly carousal. And so with variations passes 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 313 
 
 inany an entire night, until the bell-clanging of daylight 
 begins, or the corporal commences his "one, two, three " 
 drill upon the parade ground in front of the hotels, or 
 the military band goes crashing by at guard-mounting. 
 All this is so susceptible of correction, under proper po- 
 lice regulations, that the traveller wonders why his com- 
 fort is not a little more respected by the local authori- 
 ties. Yet these night nuisances have for years been 
 complained of and existed in full force even during the 
 English Protectorate. 
 
 Corfu is no exception to the rest of Greece in the 
 democratic instincts of her people, but, like many of 
 those who dwell even in professed republics, the distinc- 
 tion of titles is not always repugnant to the happy few 
 who acquire them. The cards left upon foreigners — not 
 their own people — are frequently impressed with a coro- 
 net or bear the prefix of a " Count." This is the irem- 
 nant of Venetian island aristocracy. The Venetians, 
 ever proud of their own birthright, were less rigid in the 
 bestowal of titles upon their dependencies, and they 
 were thus sometimes cheaply bought or earned. The 
 Corfiote " Count " of to-day, he who mingles with the 
 best society of the place, is most probably a " genuine,'' 
 and, like many titled gentlemen in Eastern Europe, may 
 possibly carry all his personal property in his visiting 
 card. But there are occasional spurious specimens 
 floating about the Ionian Islands," who, with their more 
 worthy fellow-subjects, will some day be glad to drop 
 their handles and rejoice alone in their simple manhood. 
 14 
 
314 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 The society of Corfu is unostentatious, and the peo- 
 ple are simple in their tastes. The lower orders are 
 frugal, inactive, generally complaining, yet too indiffer 
 ent to effect reforms even where reform is at their elbow. 
 They are domestic and exceedingly temperate. Both 
 classes, like the ancient Corcyreans, regard hospitality 
 as a sacred duty. They are polite, affable in manner, 
 excitable, and proud. Oriental subserviency is not car- 
 ried to the extent observable farther east, but there is 
 enough among those who employ it as their stock-in- 
 trade to amuse the unaccustomed Frank. From the 
 street mendicant to the shopkeeper, the lowest and most 
 deferential of bows to him who is entitled to any official 
 consideration precedes all communication, and " Your 
 Excellency," oftentimes employed superfluously, prefa- 
 ces every sentence. The landlord will sometimes enter 
 the apartment of such an one with the air of a man who 
 is about to petition for his life, rather than to inquire at 
 what hour " His Excellency " will dine, and on receiving 
 his answer, will back out of the presence at the immi- 
 nent danger of upsetting himself as well as the gravity 
 of his guest. Yet the pride of the Greek, here as else- 
 where, true or false, never deserts him. It goes hand in 
 hand with his povei'ty, and is the saving salt of his mea- 
 gre portion in life. The stranger in Corfu, if he remains 
 long enough to be known, and especially if he is sup- 
 posed to have a plethoric purse, will very likely be 
 the recipient of more than one charitable epistle, ele- 
 gantly written, and couched in affecting terms, setting 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 315 
 
 forth the domestic troubles which had reduced the wri- 
 ter from a condition of prosperity to abject want. Per- 
 haps the petitioner will present himself in person, clad 
 in seedy black, and tell his tale with the refinement of 
 manner of one who has all his life been a giver, and 
 never before an asker of alms. He may or may not be 
 an imposter, but will in either case go away with tearful 
 gratitude for the little aid which may be bestowed. Such 
 assistance, however needy he may be, the Gre^k will not 
 seek of his own countrymen if he can find a stranger to 
 apply to, for he knows that by his own people a man re- 
 duced in circumstances is often despised. It is not un- 
 common for one who has received money in this way 
 from a stranger to go first to a cafe and put in an ap- 
 pearance before his friends. In an off-hand manner he 
 will order coffee or wine for the companions whom he 
 may meet there, and, having sustained his pride by this 
 display of hospitality, will go home to spend the rest of 
 his money in relieving the pressing wants of his impov- 
 erished family. 
 
 Like all his race, the Corfiote is excessively fond of 
 amusement and display, and, as in other parts of Greece, 
 the number of holidays seriously interferes with the in- 
 dustry and prosperity of the people. Scarcely two- 
 thirds of the year are occupied by working days. The 
 feasts and the fasts are of such frequent recurrence as 
 to make it imperative upon the stranger to keep the al- 
 manac constantly before him to know what days he can, 
 and what days he cannot attend to the business he may 
 
3i6 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 have to do. The bells ring in these feast and fast days 
 — clang again at noon, and clang again at night. No 
 shops but the wine-shop and the tobacconist's are open, 
 and no workman can be found till the sacred day is over. 
 As most of the people are named after saints, it follows 
 that whenever the " Saint's day " comes rownd, all the 
 " Spiridions," " Deraetriuses," " Nicholoases," and so 
 on, must keep high festival. On more general celebra- 
 tions, such as the Anniversary of Greek Independence, 
 the queen's name-day, the baptism of princes, or the 
 public visit of some distinguished guest, the people give 
 themselves wholly up to pleasure, which generally con- 
 sists in an unusual modicum of bell-ringing, martial mu- 
 sic, discharges of cannon, perambulation of the streets 
 in holiday attire, and a devotion of the evening and 
 night to a combination of these elements, to which is 
 added illumination and fire-works. Nothing less than 
 frc(juent discharges of rockets, interspersed with a co- 
 p'ous display of blue, red, and green Bengal lights, seem 
 adequate to relieve the feelings which surcharge the 
 Corfiote on these occasions. 
 
 It would be foreign to the purpose of this sketch to 
 offer any extended remarks upon the political condition 
 of the island. A few brief observations may, however, 
 be permitted, touching the political antecedents which 
 led to the union of the Ionian Islands with the Kingdom 
 of Greece. The " Government House," now the town 
 palace, stretches across the northern side of the espla- 
 nade, and with its semicircular wings embraces the en- 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 
 
 317 
 
 tire width of tliis public ground. No better position 
 could have been selected for the residence of the gov- 
 erning power, and it fitly typifies the expansive and en- 
 grossing character of the government, which, under the 
 harniless title- of a " Protectorate," ruled the people of 
 the Ionian Islands from 1816 to 1864. Every one is 
 familiar with the modus operandi of a puppet-show. The 
 operator is concealed beneath the stage where the figures 
 perform to the admiring crowd in front, and only the 
 uninitiated suppose that the little actors on the scene 
 move by their own volition. The Senate of the Ionian 
 Islands — consisting of one Senator from each island — 
 held the executive power and met in the Senate Cham- 
 ber in the " Government House," and the Enghsh " Lord 
 High Commissioner," in whom the " Protectorate " was 
 personified, resided in the same building. It is not in-, 
 tended by this illustration to insinuate that this distin- 
 guished functionary was concealed below the political 
 stage as the wire-puller is concealed in the puppet-box. 
 The fact was precisely the reverse. The Ionian Senate 
 held its sittings in the basement story of the Govern- 
 ment House, and the Lord High Commissioner of Eng- 
 land occupied the apartment overhead ! Frdm this, the 
 sagacious mind will readily infer the character of " self- 
 government " during the period of British protection. 
 
 The esplanade of Corfu is adorned with three mon- 
 uments, erected in commemoration of three of the ten 
 Lord High Commissioners, through whose varied ad- 
 ministrations England virtually exercised sovereign sway 
 
3i8 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 over the Ionian Islands. One of these monuments is 
 in the form of a circular Grecian Temple, and bears the 
 name of Sir Thomas Maitland, the first " Lord High " — 
 familiarly known as " King Tom," from the arbitrary- 
 character of his rule. A full-length statue in bronze of 
 Sir Frederic Adams, stands in classic dignity before the 
 old Government House. Sir Frederic's administration 
 was much after that of Sir Thomas's, but his influence 
 for good over an essentially democratic people was im- 
 paired by his love of pomp — a characteristic well illus- 
 trated in the flowing robes and august attitude of his 
 brazen statue. Overlooking the water, at the other end 
 of the esplanade, rises a granite obelisk, in memory of 
 Sir Howard Douglas, fourth Lord High Commissioner, ' 
 whose relaxing policy was hardly more successful than 
 that of his predecessor. Lord Nugent, whose efforts at 
 reforms and liberal measures were not sufficiently guid- 
 ed by moderation and sagacity to carry out his well-in- 
 tentioned efforts. These three monuments are protect- 
 ed against injury by a convention to that effect, entered 
 into between the lonians and the British government, 
 and, whether acceptable or not to the popular taste, 
 there they stand, perpetual reminders to the lonians of 
 what they have lost. But if — and it is to be hoped such 
 a contingency will never arise — these monuments should 
 ever be endangered by an excited populace, that of Sir 
 Howard Douglas, at least, ought to be' respected, for, 
 whatever were his faihngs as a political ruler, he had the 
 honesty to state plainly to the British government the 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. ^xg 
 
 cause to which chiefly must be ascribed the faihire of the 
 " Protectorate." In a dispatch to the Colonial Minister, 
 Sir Howard wrote : '• Truth and a strong sense of duty 
 compel me to declare that the internal strength of the 
 country, the moral and physical state of the people, have 
 not been benefitted by British connection so far as to 
 protect us hereafter from the reproach of having attend- 
 ed less to their interests than to our own." 
 
 Thfere is another monument in the esplanade at Cor- 
 fu which, though old and time-stained, infinitely sur- 
 passes those just named in its material and moral effect. 
 It is a statue in marble of Marshal Schulemburg, who 
 in 1 716 "piled the ground with Moslem slain" and de- 
 Uvered the Corfiotes as well as the Venetians from the 
 brutal ferocity and ignominy of Ottoman oppression. 
 As to the EngKsh rule in the Ionian islands, it must be 
 said that those who administered in the name of the 
 Sovereign of Great Britain were men of high social 
 standing — some among them of more than ordinary 
 mental culture— and personally such as to command the 
 respect of those whom they were to govern. The seem- 
 ing incapacity of the English mind to comprehend and 
 assimilate with other races — the total supremacy of the 
 Anglican idea at the expense of that generous sympathy 
 with foreign habits of thought and action which is born 
 of unselfishness — interfered materially with the inten- 
 tions of the governing party, which were, beyond ques- 
 tion, for the most part pure and noble. England was 
 thus forced by her inability to gain the good will of the 
 
^20 THE (GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 lonians, to relinquish the islands, and chief amongthem, 
 Corfu, the "Key of the Adriatic," which fifty years 
 before she had taken upon her hands with all the pomp 
 and circumstance of a conquering power. The English 
 would have left a kindlier feeling behind them if, instead 
 of yielding to the Austrian demand, she had permitted 
 Corfu to retain the defences towards the construction 
 of which the Corfiotes had themselves contributed. 
 But tliese noble works were ruthlessly sacrificed, and 
 the island of Corfu declared to be thenceforth " neutral 
 ground." The magnificent fortifications on the island 
 of Vedo, lying opposite to the town, which cost upwards 
 of a million of pounds sterling, were in the course of a 
 few hours blown high into air, to fall a mass of shape- 
 less ruins. Nor was this all. Every gun, with the ex- 
 ception of seven left for official salutes, was carried off 
 by the departing English, these including several hun- 
 dred bronze Venetian cannon which properly belonged 
 to Corfu and had formed a part of the implements of 
 defense from the period of Venetian supremacy. No 
 wonder the islanders "wept" when their protectors 
 stripped them of their raiment and left them half-naked. 
 In vain by intrigue and open counsel were attempts made 
 to induce the Corfiotes to " think again " before rehn- 
 quishing the arm of Great Britain and accepting union 
 with Greece. They were reminded of the many gold 
 sovereigns which would be drawn from daily circulation 
 by the absence of the British troops and the civil 
 service, and were told of the miseries attending the 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 321 
 
 early struggles of a new kingdom, notwithstanding that 
 the nation and the flag would be their own. The island- 
 ers replied, with an epigrammatic shrewdness worthy of 
 their Spartan ancestors : " It is better to be slapped by 
 our mother than by our stepmother." So the " step- 
 mother " sailed away, leaving the Corfiotes to try the 
 experiment of independence and poverty, after a half- 
 century of nominal self-government,, but of actual alle- 
 giance to an alien power. 
 
 These remarks may serve to disabuse the mind of 
 the stranger in Corfu of certain erroneous impressions 
 not infrequently received from conversations with those 
 who were pecuniary sufferers by the cession of the 
 islands. During the protectorate upwards of , two thou 
 sand soldiers were in garrison at Corfu. Consequent 
 upon this, and the employment of a large civil service, 
 an English community existed in the town. The money 
 thus disbursed among the townspeople by the foreign 
 residents and visitors was something not to be suddenly 
 lost to the Corfiotes without a grumble. The amount 
 of British gold daily circulated in the town is estimated 
 by some as not less than eight hundred pounds sterling. 
 The withdrawal of this brought half the shopkeepers to 
 a stand-still, and such as remain to-day may tell the 
 stranger, sotto voce, that the cession of the Ionian Islands 
 was a " great mistake," and that " Corfu had nothing to 
 hope for but by a return to the protection of a richer 
 and more powerful nation." Corfu is no exception to 
 a condition consequent upon abrupt political transform- 
 14* 
 
32 2 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 a(.ion. There are many Venetians who grumble to-day 
 at the loss of their Austrian patrons and customers, and 
 would welcome them back at the cost of the national 
 liberty ; yet what disinterested mind would see Venice 
 again under an alien flag ? But out of the town — out 
 into the free air of the agricultural districts, where the 
 English tongue and Italian patois are unknown — no such 
 complaints are. he^d. The spirit of the country people, 
 like their language, is Greek, although neither will be 
 found as pure as in Attica and the Peloponnesus. 
 
 Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the 
 condition and prospects of the lonians since they threw 
 off British protection, every one will agree that by the 
 " union " the Kingdom of Greece has added to her own 
 territory — much of which, though hallowed by classic 
 history,is sterile and unproductive — as charming and de- 
 lightful island scenery as, perhaps, the world has to offer. 
 The drives out of Corfu over the well constructed Eng- 
 lish roads — now, however, somewhat out of repair — are 
 very attractive. From the rampart gates the hard mac- 
 adamized roads run out like veins over the greater por- 
 tion of the whole island, conducting, through pleasant 
 valleys and miles on miles of oHve groves, to many a lit- 
 tle rustic village picturesquely perched upon hill-side 
 and summit. 
 
 The views from these elevated points are, in many 
 respects, unparalleled for scenic effects. Stanfield, the 
 English painter, declared one of them to be the finest 
 he had ever seen, and the American poet, Bryant, says : 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 323 
 
 " Here is every element of the picturesque, both in 
 color and form ; mountain peaks, precipices, transpa- 
 rent bays, woods, valleys of the deepest verdure, and 
 pinnacles of rocks rising near the shore from the pel- 
 lucid blue of the sea." He might have added that the 
 picturesque costumes, graceful figures, and frequently 
 beautiful features of the peasantry contribute in no little 
 degree to the charms of that unique scene. 
 
 The island is covered with forests of olive trees, 
 whose varying tints from deep to whitish green, charm 
 the eye at every turn. The olive tree furnishes to Cor- 
 fu its chief means of support, large' quantities of the 
 oil being shipped — chiefly to England — for lubricating 
 machinery. The fruit is coarser than that of Zante, 
 which latter is carefully picked from the tree and not 
 allowed to fall and accumulate upon the ground, as is 
 the case in Corfu, where the peasant — unlike the Greeks 
 in general — is indolent and unthrifty. The flora of Cor- 
 fu is very abundant j indeed, it has been said that " Cor- 
 fu offers a more fertile field for the botanist than any 
 space of like extent in the known world." I have seen 
 a list, and that but a partial one, of- over three hundred 
 plants, indigenous to the island. Roses and jessamines, 
 the sweet-scented clematis, the myrtle and hawthorn, 
 with other varieties of plants and shrubs, sweeten the 
 air and break in bright tolors on the eye as they strag- 
 gle along the road-side, or invite the pedestrian to fol- 
 low some unfrequented mountain path where they bloom 
 in luxurious solitude. 
 
324 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Fruits are also very abundant, as the tables of Cor- 
 fu fully attest. Melons in large variety ; pears, peaches, 
 apricots, oranges, plums, almonds, figs and grapes of 
 the most delicious flaver, tempt the appetite and largely 
 contribute to the health of the resident during the trying 
 heats of summer. Only the currant, that staple of the 
 Southern Ionian islands, refuses to grow in Corfu. 
 When transplanted there it becomes a grape, losing all 
 the peculiarity of size and flavor which make this fruit 
 so profitable an article of export from Cephalonia, • 
 Zante, and Peloponnesus, under the name of " dried cur- 
 rants." Homer's account of the fruit trees that grew in 
 the famous garden of Alcinoijs, in this same island of Cor- 
 fu, may be quoted here as an almost literal description of 
 the horticultural condition of the island to-day : 
 
 " Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mould, 
 The reddening apple ripens here to gold : 
 Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows,. 
 With deeper red the full pomegranate glows. 
 The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear, 
 And verdant olives flourish round the year. 
 The balmy spirit of the western gale, 
 Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail ; 
 Each dropping pear a following pear supplies ; 
 On apples, apples ; figs on figs arise ; 
 The same mild season gives the bloom to blow, 
 The buds to harden and the fruits to grow." 
 
 Few travellers who touch at Corfu remain long enough 
 to visit the interior of the island and obtain an idea of 
 its scenic attractions. Those who drive out of the town, 
 during the stay of the steamer, have scarcely time to 
 
THE ISLAND OF CORFU. 325 
 
 visit more than a single point, and that, perhaps, the 
 least interesting. Many days may be agreeably spent in 
 excursions over the island, ascending the various eleva- 
 tions and skirting the sea-coasts. I have myself passed 
 entire summers on the island, which are einbalmed among 
 my happiest experiences. 
 
 Coming from the North, the Ionian Islands may be 
 regarded as the seven stepping stones of Greece, and 
 Corfu is the first of these stepping stones. Politically 
 and geographically considered, it is the most interesting 
 of the group, but Cephalonia, and especially Zante, the 
 so-called " Flower of the Levant," is well worthy of a 
 passing call. 
 
 It was the fashion, during the years of the protecto- 
 rate, for English writers to laud the Ionian Islands, and 
 especially the island of Corfu, as a sort of terrestrial 
 paradise. Now, silence condemns that fair region as 
 unworthy of the traveller's passing regard, or the pens 
 of ready writers denounce it and its people as lapsing 
 into physical and political degradation. When I first 
 visited the island in 1856, the British flag waved from 
 the fortress, and English troops paraded on the espla- 
 nade ; the streets of the town were lively with English 
 pedestrians, and the blue waters of the harbor were 
 whitened with the spread of English canvas from Her 
 Majesty's men-of-war, and the swift-moving yachts of 
 innumerable tourists and sportsmen. To-day there is 
 not the feeblest evidence of that imperial power which 
 swayed the lonians for half a century. The roads and 
 
326 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 the effigies of three or four Lord High Commissioners 
 are alone left to remind us of that great political fail- 
 ure. Yet the people, though poor, are happier for their 
 independence, and the island, in natural charms, is as 
 worthy as it ever was of the praise accorded to it by 
 Homer when he called it erateinos — " lovely," — and "the 
 ever-pleasing shore, with woody mountains half in vapor 
 lost," and " the favorite isle of heaven." 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 
 
 |F there is one name more odious than an- 
 other to the Greek philologist or historian, it 
 is that of Fallmerayer. That distinguished 
 Savan of Munich published in 1830 a brilliant history of 
 the Morea, in which he argues, with much cleverness and 
 learning, that the Hellenic race is utterly extinguished ; 
 indeed, that since the invasion in the eighth century of 
 the Christian era, " not a single drop of Hellenic blood 
 has throbbed in the veins of the mixed barbarians of 
 modem Greece." One sentence of the eminent profes- 
 sor will suffice to show the calmness with which he sur- 
 veys the historic scene, and the masterly conviction with 
 which he enunciates results. " The Scythians, Slavi, 
 Slavesiani, Bulgars, Avars, Huns, Alans, Kumans, and 
 other Devils' imps — teuflische Unholdekin — murder and 
 slaughter the entire Hellenic race, to the very last man ! 
 Nay, they burn, uproot, tear down, destroy, and annihi- 
 late every city, town, village and hamlet throughout the 
 whole country." * Such conclusions are hardly calcu- 
 lated to win the unmixed applause of the Modern Greek. 
 Indeed, he rejects them, and oftentimes with an argu- 
 
 * Prof. Koeppen, 
 
330 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 mentative ability which would place the great Bavarian 
 hors du combat, but for an excess of vehemence on the 
 part of the defender of Hellenism, which is always pre- 
 judicial to the cause of truth. At the name of Fallme- 
 rayer, I have seen a University man at Athens, whose 
 natural temperament was that of imperturbable calmness, 
 rise from his seat with flashing eyes and excited gesture, 
 and pour forth for a good ten minutes a volley of indig- 
 nant rodomontade against the memory of the unfortu- 
 nate Professor, which, if not absolutely conclusive in 
 pointof argument, had the effect of adjourning, sine die, 
 any further discussion of the subject. 
 
 The question of how much, or how little, or if any 
 at all, of the glorious blood of Hellas flows in the veins 
 of the people now called Greeks, will probably never be 
 decided to the satisfaction of the world at large. The 
 study of the ancient Greeks is a study distinct and apart 
 from that which, with any practical advantage, can be 
 applied to the people of to-day. It is admitted that the 
 Modern Greek claims genuine descent from the race 
 which once made Athens the light and the glory of the 
 world ; and with the modern Greek may properly rest 
 the responsibility of proving by practical, rather than 
 historical demonstration, that the action of his mind, as 
 traced in visible results, is indebted for its vitality to 
 hereditary influences going back to the Illyrian, or even 
 to the Pelasgian tribes. If this claim of ancestry on the 
 part of the Greeks is wholly fictitious, then we must ac- 
 cept in its place what is unquestionably a greater phe- 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 331 
 
 nomenon. We must, in fact, admit that what has once 
 been destroyed and annihilated by the crush of ages and 
 the waste of centuries, has reappeared. or been repeated 
 without any connecting link with the past, and without 
 any origin traceable by natural deduction. For certain 
 it is that the Greek of to-day possesses and manifests 
 certain distinctive traits of character which were distin- 
 guishing characteristics of the ancient inhabitants of 
 Hellas, and which, in a similar degree and manifes- 
 tation, do not pertain to other modern nations. Curi- 
 osity, vanity, ambition, cunning, etc., are traits -of hu- 
 manity which every people exhibit in a greater or less 
 degree, but these and other qualities are peculiarly 
 marked in the Modern Greek, and in their ensemble^ more 
 strikingly conform to the character ascribed to the An- 
 cient Greeks, than do those of any other people. Nor 
 is this resemblance confided to intellectual peculiarities. 
 The ancient type of physical beauty reappears in an im- 
 perfect but perceptible degree in many parts of the pres- 
 ent kingdom of Greece. This is attested by a host of 
 writers, some of whom note it rather as a curious fact 
 than as a natural result of the history of the people. 
 What is still more surprising is, that the ancient 
 tongue of Greece has been so little affected by the cen- 
 turies of alien power and material degeneration. " The 
 preservation of the language," says Felton, " which sub- 
 stantially is that which was spoken in the time of De- 
 mosthenes, is one of the most surprising instances of 
 tenacious nationality in the history of our race." These 
 
332 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 facts cannot be lost sight of in any examination wliich 
 seeks to resolve the question which the school of Fall- 
 merayer has presumed to decide in such arbitrary lan- 
 guage. If I were disposed to argue the point — which I 
 am not — I could hardly do better than to place side by 
 side certain passages of the old historians descriptive 
 of the traits of character — bad and good— of the an- 
 cient Hellenes, with the criticisms of modern writers 
 upon the present race. In many instances they would 
 be found to be almost parallel. In other instances the 
 difference is marked enough, the deficiency being the 
 more perceptible from the comparison being instituted 
 on the spot where ancient greatness culminated, and 
 among a people whose claims to recognition of direct 
 descent are out of proportion to the visible evidences 
 they are prepared to bring to support it. 
 
 I do not propose to analyze the Greek character, but 
 to touch upon its salient points with a view to correct 
 existing prejudices and wide-spread misconceptions. A 
 mere enumeration of mental and moral traits would give 
 an indefinite idea of the Hellenic mind. It is the pe- 
 culiar assimilation of these qualities that makes up the 
 Greek of to-day. So far as characteristics go, it may 
 be said that he is vivacious, impulsive, shrewd, inquisi- 
 tive, sensitive, impressible, the child of the moment; in 
 temperament more French than German or Italian, and 
 the opposite of the Anglo Saxon. He is jealous and 
 ambitious, vain and egotistical, receptive and sympathet- 
 ic. He will return confidence with fidelity, and suspi- 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 333 
 
 cion with suspicion. He has " wit to confound, and cun- 
 ning to ensnare ; " is dissimulating and frank by turns. 
 He is a bitter enemy, and a generous and hospitable 
 friend. Perhaps the most distinctive feature in his in- 
 tellectual system is finesse, and if there is any analogy 
 between the Athenian of to-day and the Athenian of 
 twenty-two hundred years ago, it is exhibited in this pe- 
 cuUarity. The subtlety of the Greek is in such marked 
 contrast to the blunt frankness of the Englishman or 
 American, as to be often mistaken by the foreigner for 
 dishonesty. The polish of manner and politeness of 
 speech observable in the French and the Greek, the 
 Spaniard and the Italian, are rejected by the American 
 and Englishman, and often by the German, as mere de- 
 ceptive veneering. It does not necessarily follow, how- 
 ever, that the substance beneath is hollow or unsound. 
 A man may " smile and be a villain," but he may also 
 smile and garnish his language with compliment and 
 flattery, without a jot less of human sympathy or honesty 
 of purpose than the bluntest of his critics. The Greek 
 may conceal his real thoughts while appearing to harmo- 
 nize with yours. It does not follow that in so doing he 
 practises premeditated deception. Policy and tact sug- 
 gest a manner and language which the Oriental regards 
 as more fitting than downright plain speaking, which, if 
 it did not defeat a purpose, might offend. Modern 
 Greeks embellish facts as their ancestors embellished 
 their architecture. Some men prefer the airy involutions 
 of the Ionic, others the efflorescent Corinthian. A Greek 
 
334 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 will look one in the eye and fathom one's thoughts before 
 expressing his own. He calculates your wants rather 
 than his own ; he assents, or seems to assent, with eyes 
 and tongue, while mentally snapping his fingers at your 
 ignorance or folly. You may leave him with the impres- 
 sion that your superior intelligence or persuasion has 
 made a deep impression ; he may leave you with a feel- 
 ing that he is relieved of a bore. ' He understands you 
 better than you understand him ; and while you go away 
 deceived by your own want of perception, he goes away 
 with a respect for your honesty, but more and more con- 
 vinced that your nation and habits are at fault. The 
 Greek will not contrive to delude unless in a game of 
 wits ; but he despairs of assimilation, and wishing your 
 friendship, avoids antagonism. If he believes in any 
 thing, it is himself — in his origin — in his capabilities — in 
 the superiority of his rights. If he is despised and 
 thwarted, he laments his fate, which he puts upon his 
 poverty or his physical inability to cope with his adver 
 sary. He appears weak, and offers no resisting hand, 
 but he wraps himself in his own merits and finds com- 
 pensation in ideas. As a poor and distressed gentle- 
 man, with the claims of ancestry, will sometimes reap 
 all the advantage he can from the society of the par- 
 venue, whom he inwardly despises ; so perhaps the Greek 
 derives consolation from the thought that other nations 
 in their power and strength are but as underlings in 
 comparison with the gift of blood which flows with an- 
 cestral pride in the veins of his own countrymen. He 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 335 
 
 will take all the world has to give and ask for more with 
 an inward conviction that he is receiving but his due. 
 Hence the vanity of the Greek, which is a national more 
 than a personal characteristic. This trait leads him to im- 
 itate other Powers, so far as externals may give his nation 
 importance in their eyes. He hears the boast and recog 
 nizes the advantages of pompous Courts, strong armies, 
 the displays of national assemblies, and of ministerial 
 prominence. Like the Ancient Athenian, he contri- 
 butes to the support of public institutions, pays cheer- 
 fully the tax which goes to sustain the little army and 
 the little fleet, and if he dies rich — whether abroad. or 
 at home — ^will bequeath a generous sum towards the 
 national university, museums, colleges or hospitals, or 
 towards the foundation of some public institution that 
 shall bear his name. 
 
 The vanity of the Greek lies chiefly in the direction 
 of intellectual endowments. If he can make no figure 
 himself, he takes pride in believing that the diplomacy, 
 the legal and forensic talent and the University know- 
 ledge of Athens, compare well with that which other 
 nations produce in these regards. The personal vanity 
 of the Greek, especially among the lower classes, dis- 
 plays itself in the passion for dress. The oft-recurring 
 holiday affords to even the most modest-mannered wo- 
 men — and all Greek women are by nature modest — the 
 opportunity to bedeck their bodies with cheap jewelry 
 and incongruous. colors. He of the fez and fustinella, 
 who may have paid more for hi?, gold-embroidered 
 
336 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 jacket and tassell-id leggings than his means warranted^ 
 will sport his snowy skirts on the deck of a dirty steam- 
 boat where the foreign traveller is wearing from choice 
 his shabbiest suit. The Greek officer takes especial 
 delight in the rattle of his sword, not only in the " tented 
 field," or on dress parade, but in the drawing-room when 
 he makes a morning call. One may sometimes count 
 the ring of the scabbard on every step of the staircase 
 as he makes martial way to the scene of his captures. 
 If he has won an enamel cross or shoulder sash for hav- 
 ing been in attendance upon some foreign prince, the 
 mental gratification evinced in his ample display is in- 
 tensified. Decorations are bestowed in the kingdom 
 with such a lavish hand as to be almost valueless. It is 
 the cheapest way to give contentment to those who, dis- 
 believing in the theory that virtue is its own reward, de- 
 sire some outward sign and token of personal distinc- 
 tion. But to ascertain for what the wearer is distin- 
 guished one must often ask the gentleman himself. The 
 Greek does not deceive himself in this respect any 
 more than does the child who knows that his wax doll is 
 empty and fragile, but for all that his decorated lappel 
 is the pride of his heart. The plain dress coat of the 
 American Minister at public ceremonials, contrasting 
 with the glitter and gold of the rest of the diplomatic 
 corps, has more than once elicited the favorable com- 
 ment of the press ; and once when a distinguished 
 general of the United States army was present at a 
 Court ball at Athens, a journal on the following morn- 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 337 
 
 ing commented on the simplicity of appearance of " the 
 winner of forty battles in a uniform without a single 
 decoration " in invidious comparison with that room-full 
 of " gold-laced and star-spangled gentlemen not one of 
 whom had shed a drop of blood for his country, and 
 many of whom were utterly ignorant of the smell of gun- 
 powder." Mingling with the vanity of externals there 
 is a good deal of false pride on the subject of social 
 position. This runs through, the lowest strata of Greek 
 life and seriously interferes with wholesome occupa- 
 tion. In the cities nowhere is the social grade more 
 jealously guarded than in Greece, and this extends to 
 the lowest ranks of menial life. In China a gentleman's 
 private servant would not willingly pick up a broken 
 wine glass from his master's table, but calls upon the 
 house servant to do it. Much of that sort of nonsense 
 prevails in Athens. A servant lad once came to me for 
 his wages and to ask for his discharge ; and the only rea- 
 son that could be elicited from him for leaving the ser- 
 vice was that the occupation he was engaged in was 
 " not respectable." " What occupation do you mean ?" 
 " Helping the cook, sir." Passing into the Chamber of 
 Deputies a few months after this, I was saluted by the 
 guard at the door, and recognized my former servant in 
 the "more respectable" employment of serving his 
 country in a military uniform at the rate of three cents 
 per diem and his rations. 
 
 Personal ambition is to-day as prominent a trait 
 among the modern Athenians as it was in ancient 
 IS 
 
338 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Athens. Rivalry is the whetstone of the University, the 
 bar and the pohtical arena — the aspirant for academical 
 or civic honors though baffled is never beaten ; the love 
 of distinction in the one case, and the love of power in 
 the other is as vital as life itself. It is not the modern 
 Themistocles only who " cannot sleep " because of his 
 rival's successes, but it is young Plato also and Alci- 
 biades, and Demosthenes of the Chamber of Deputies ! 
 But as he cUmbs the rugged and deceptive steep, 
 deformed and haggard shapes start from out the 
 shadowy by-ways and keep pace with him. Jealousy 
 and revenge, more or less developed, active or latent, 
 according to his degree of cultivation, stir the blood of 
 the Greek and are not easily subdued. Success may 
 bring the required satisfaction, or, failing that, the dis- 
 appointed one may wound his adversary to the quick 
 with well pointed irony or scorn. Jealousy in com- 
 munities is no less prominent than in individuals. At- 
 tica and the Peloponnesus faintly recall to-day the 
 dissensions of ancient times. Continental Greece and 
 the Ionian Islands still view each other askant, and 
 between provinces, villages and classes there exist 
 jealousies and petty feuds which, while they rarely 
 assume the attitude of belligerency, seem to be beyond 
 the power of reconciliation. The " E Pluribus Unum '' 
 principle, the neglect of which brought the states of 
 Ancient Greece to ruin, is not yet comprehended by the 
 Moderns sufficiently to induce self sacrifice for the good 
 of the whole. 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 339 
 
 The Greek is inquisitive. Nothing, however insigni- 
 ficant, escapes his restless eye and busy tongue ; as in 
 the olden time, he is " ever seeking something new," but 
 the impression is fleeting, and with the love of versatility 
 and from mere caprice he seizes straws which the next 
 moment he gives to the wind. He enjoys life and with a 
 keenness of temperament which would seem to assert 
 that no sacrifice would "Tdc too great to preserve it ; yet 
 no people will meet death with more stoicism, or more 
 eagerly wish for self-martyrdom, if his fellows are stand- 
 ing by to applaud the act, or if there be the faintest 
 promise of leaving a legacy of glory behind him. Pre- 
 meditation rather than impulse was the mother of many 
 of those gallant deeds during the revolution which have 
 enshrined the memory of Canares, Miaoules, Botrani, 
 Colocotroni and others in niches of perpetual fame. 
 The love of glory is a very active element in deeds of 
 war, but a higher and deeper feeling, intense love of 
 country mingling with the horror of the shame which 
 awaited them if captured, led the Suliote women of 1823 
 to fling themselves headlong from the ramparts, and the 
 besieged women of Candia during the late Cretan war, 
 to apply the torch to the powder magazine, preferring 
 death to dishonor. Thus heroism, in its noblest signifi- 
 cation, equal to any example in ancient times and sur- 
 passed by none in modern history, is another character- 
 istic of the Greeks, to question which would be to ques- 
 tion the motives of all men who have left behind them il- 
 lustrious names as martyrs for the cause of country. A 
 
340 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Greek officer once laid before me the plan of a most in- 
 genious but hazardous enterprise which during the * * * 
 war he had proposed to the military chiefs to carry out 
 under his own leadership and at his own risk. The prob- 
 abilities of success were great, and the result, if success- 
 ful, would have been disastrous to the enemy. His pro- 
 posal, however, was rejected, chiefly because his own life 
 would have been exposed to the most imminent danger, 
 for the chances were indeed a hundred to one against 
 him : yet he was positively indignant tliat for this reason 
 the loss of one man's life, — -namely his own — should 
 cause the abandonment of an enterprise of such " pith 
 and moment " to the State. " If I am willing to take the 
 risk," he argued, " that is my affair — I relieve you of all 
 responsibility — but if you deny me, then you will be re- 
 sponsible for losing an opportunity which will not per- 
 haps occur again in the campaign." This truly brave 
 man has never got over the disappointment at not 
 being allowed to expose himself to peril in order that 
 some hundreds of the enemy might be blown to perdition. 
 The Greek is a passionate man ; his emotions are ex- 
 cited as readily as dry straw kindles to a flame, but it 
 consumes as quickly, if the cause is not substantial. 
 Thus we see a man cracking a joke with another whom 
 a moment before he was berating with the vilest o f 
 epithets. But in many parts of the country the knife is 
 as quick as the tongue, and this accounts for the large 
 number of fugitives from justice, some of whom, as a 
 means of eluding the vigilance of the police, fly to the 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 
 
 341 
 
 mountains, or join bands of brigands, which keep de- 
 tachments of troops incessantly moving in pursuit of es- 
 caped homicides and murderers. But if passion goes 
 out with the straws tliat kindled it, a deep-seated injury- 
 like wounded honor or a family insult burns like com- 
 pressed and slow consuming tow. In coarser natures it 
 urges to desperate measures, and the traveller in the 
 interior of Greece sometimes sees men with their hair 
 and beards growing long in token that the wearer has 
 an enemy to meet ; nor -virill it be cut or shaved until he 
 has met insult with insult, or blood with blood, like 
 Achilles nursing a 
 
 " Wrath which sets the wisest hearts on fire. 
 Sweeter than dropping honey to the taste, - 
 But in the bosom of mankind a smoke." 
 
 The Greek is notoriously sharp-witted and takes a 
 pride in his wit. To be out-manceuvred in a bargain, 
 especially by one of his own countrymen, is a source of 
 the deepest mortification. Hence the proverb, " when 
 Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war." It is 
 very aihiusing to stand by and watch the process of a 
 business transaction, even if it be the buying and selling 
 of a string of dried onions. The argument is often 
 lost in the vehement and and simultaneous declamation 
 of both parties, and is ended only by a concession of 
 the original terms on the part of each. The little girl 
 who sells her pottle of strawberries just as the train is 
 moving out of the railway station in England, and which' 
 turns out to be half waste paper, would hardly deceive 
 
342 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 the Greek. Before he lets his sixpence change owner- 
 ship he will empty the fruit into his hand and, if found 
 wanting will make the change to correspond. As to 
 petty cheating, it is an error to suppose that this pre- 
 vails in Greece more than in other communities. 71ie 
 almost universal charge that the Greeks are " a set of 
 thieves and swindlers " is about as true in its application 
 to the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Greece, as was 
 once the idea that the people of the State of Connecti- 
 cut adopted the principles of wooden hams and nut- 
 megs in their general business transactions. The 
 Greeks as a people are an honest people, — -that is they 
 are not the " dishonest scoundrels " which they are so 
 frequently asserted to be by those who employ this manure 
 de parler without personal knowledge of the subject. 
 Much of the prejudice against the Greeks is traceable 
 to the low character of the mixed population of the Le- 
 vantine ports. All who are not distinctly marked as 
 Arabs or Turks are put down under the generic title of 
 " Greeks," and the traveller who has been cheated by a 
 Jew in the Bazaar at Alexandria or Smyrna, or sv^indled 
 by a Maltese hackman, boatman, or dragoman, instantly 
 assumes that he is the victim of Greek villany. But 
 these Levantine scoundrels are no more Greeks than a 
 Mexican half-breed is a " Yankee," and it would be 
 quite as just for a traveller along our western frontier 
 to attribute to the laxity of American morals the brutal 
 character of the border rufSan, as to charge upon the 
 Greek nation the sins of the Levantine ports — that is to 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 
 
 343 
 
 say of the mixed population — including no doubt many 
 Greeks of Alexandria and the commercial towns of 
 Syria, Asia Minor and Turkey. The commercial and 
 working classes in the cities of " free Greece " are as 
 respectable and honest as the same classes in other Eu- 
 ropean cities. The stranger will not pay more for an ar- 
 ticle to a shopkeeper in Athens, because he is a stranger, 
 than he will in a shop in Paris where, as is well known, 
 the price to an Englishman or American is not that de- 
 manded of a Parisian. Neither will he be imposed 
 upon by a Greek boatman or cabman with half the 
 audacity which he encounters on the Thames or in Pic- 
 cadilly. If the image of King George stamped on sil- 
 ver has occasionally a potent influence on the Custom- 
 House underlings at the Piraeus, the image of Victoria 
 on a still smaller coin produces the same effect at 
 Liverpool or London. Indeed the traveller finds little 
 difference in this respect wherever he goes, and I fear 
 that nothing short of an " International Society for the 
 prevention of imposition upon travellers " — something 
 on the principle of the " Society for the prevention of 
 cruelty to animals "^ — will have any effect upon this wide- 
 spread and incalculable evil. 
 
 The character of servants is generally a pretty cor- 
 rect test of the character of the society they serve. I 
 believe Greek servants are as honest as Irish ones, 
 which is no left-handed compliment, for Biddy in spite 
 of her faults is not a thief. Perhaps I ought to except 
 cooks, for I never yet heard of one who went to market 
 
344 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 for his master who did not present a bill monstrously 
 out of proportion to the value received. I once offered 
 to relieve my cook of this arduous duty of going to mar- 
 ket by providing a substitute, but as he threatened to 
 leave my service if I did so, I surrendered uncondition- 
 ally. A certain French Marquis sent for his cook one 
 day and asked him point Mane how many francs a year 
 he robbed him of — Is it 5000 ? Is it 10,000 ? The Chef 
 de Cuisine was indignant at the magnitude of the sum. 
 " Very well," said his master, " I'll add 5000 francs to 
 your salary if you'll take your oath never to charge me 
 more than you pay." The proposition was accepted, 
 but after a few days the cook returned to his master 
 with a discontented air and remarked, " I think M. le 
 Marquis, that we had better return to our original agree- 
 ment !" 
 
 A Russian lady at Athens who, among other brilliant 
 attractions, was noted for the magnificence and variety 
 of her jewels, informed me that these treasures, valued 
 at I know not how many hundreds of thousands of 
 roubles, were kept in a small cabinet in her dressing- 
 room and that her servant kept the key. When I sug- 
 gested that cabinets were not always impregnable nor 
 servants immaculate, she exclaimed with genuine ndivetk, 
 " But Where's the danger ? I have only Greek servants 
 in the house, and the Greeks never steal." As regards 
 the general fact implied in the remark, I believe that 
 the lady was right. Greek servants do not steal. That 
 some among them are " light-fingered " may be inferred 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 345 
 
 by an occasional missing mouchoir, or a Jsit of "my 
 lady's laces," but it cannot with justice be asserted of 
 servants at Athens wliat is undeniably true in many 
 other countries. An American lady writing from a city 
 in Saxon}!-, says : " All servants here pilfer ; every 
 thing has to be kept under lock and key." An official 
 in Switzerland told me that he had no confidence in 
 Swiss servants — "they will steal if they get a chance." 
 An American resident in Italy says : " I have an honest 
 serving-man, but where I should look to replace him if 
 I lost him I do not know." As a matter of curiosity a 
 friend of mine once threw a small silver coin under a 
 piece of furniture in an obscure corner of the house. 
 After the next sweeping day he found the coin lying 
 upon his office desk. Now Biddy would have returned 
 it to the owner as promptly as the Greek servant, but it 
 would have been done with a flourish something after this 
 style : " Has your honor lost a shilling ? Then share 
 it's I that have found it for ye," and Biddy would have 
 received the shilling as the reward of her honesty. 
 
 Such crimes as housebreaking, highway robbery, or 
 even pocket-picking, are extremely rare at Athens. On 
 the occasion of the celebration of the semi-centennial 
 anniversary of Greek Independence, when the streets 
 were choked for hours with dense crowds — not less than 
 fifty thousand people, as was estimated being in the 
 streets to witness the military pageant, when every house 
 excepting those in the line of the procession, was de- 
 serted — "not the meanest servant consenting to remain 
 IS* 
 
346 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 at home on such an occasion " — not the slightest dis- 
 turbance occurred; no house or shop was entered, and 
 not a pocket was picked ! Two years ago the safe of the 
 Minister of Finance at Athens was robbed in a very in- 
 genious manner. The thieves entered the city sewer at 
 a distance of more than a mile from the building, and 
 with great labor and patience constructed an underground 
 passage from thence until they stood directly under the 
 floor of the apartment they designed to enter. This 
 was ascertained by means of an accomplice, who went 
 daily to the room on pretence of business, and knocked 
 with his cane on the floor to indicate the exact position 
 to the workmen beneath. The entrance was effected at 
 night, and without any suspicion on the part of the 
 armed patrol who guarded the building from without, 
 or the watchman within. Owing to the vigilance 
 of the police the robbers were subsequently arrest- 
 ed and much of the money recovered ; but the Quid 
 Nuncs had to withdraw the stone they had hastily thrown 
 on the pile of " Greek obliquity, as the ingenious origi- 
 nator and prime mover in this cleverly managed affair, 
 turned out to be an Italian. 
 
 Crime exists in Athens as in other Capitals ; but 
 what is commonly designated as the "criminal class," 
 is unknown there. It is confined to the mountains, and 
 expends itself in acts of brigandage. In morals, the 
 populations of the cities and towns o'f Greece compare 
 most favorably with the condition of other Capitals or 
 towns of similar magnitude. Athens, even relatively 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 347 
 
 speaking, has no such criminal statistics to show as Lon- 
 don, where, according to a reliable report recently pub- 
 lished, " one person in every one hundred and fifty per- 
 sons is a forger, a housebreaker, a pickpocket, a shop- 
 lifter, a receiver of stolen goods, or what not ; a human 
 bird of prey, indeed, bound to a desperate pursuit of 
 that terrible course of life into which vice or misfortune 
 originally cast him; a wily, cunning man-wolf, con- 
 stantly on the watch, seeking whom he may devour. 
 " And these," the report states, " are known to the po- 
 lice.'' Neither does, what is known in some of our cit- 
 ies as the " rowdy " element, exist in Athens. The peo- 
 ple are peaceable, orderly, and well disposed. No 
 crowd is more easily gathered together than a Greek 
 crowd, and nowhere does a large assembly more quietly 
 disperse. I have seen twenty thousand people gathered 
 together at a spectacle at Athens, and seen them dis- 
 perse at the conclusion in as good order as a congrega- 
 tion of worshippers leaves a church. The revolution in 
 Athens, which forced from the former King Otho a 
 constitutional form of government, was not less remark- 
 able for its results than for the marvellous manner in 
 which those results were obtained. The whole city was 
 in the streets, and for an entire day the open space .'n 
 front of the palace was filled with an excited and de- 
 termined people, and a revolted soldiery. All police 
 surveillance was suspended ; men of the lowest classes 
 paraded the streets with loaded arms, and the largest 
 opportunity for license and lawlessness was afforded ; 
 
348 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 yet, " not a gun was fired, nor a stone raised ; nor was even 
 a flower picked from the public gardens." The people 
 waited patiently until their sovereign — unable to with- 
 stand the demonstration at his. very palace door — signed 
 the Constitutional decree, and then retired peaceably to 
 their homes. 
 
 Family obligations and the ties of kindred are no- 
 where more respected than in Greece. Children are 
 the jewels of their parents, and that one or more of them 
 may shine in some sphere, the father will submit to the 
 greatest of personal sacrifices. The son who dishonors 
 his parent will often literally bring down his father's 
 . hairs in sorrow to the grave. Brothers and sisters seek 
 for each other's advantage, and together respect and 
 venerate their parents. The sons will not, as a general 
 rule, think of marriage until the sisters are provided for ; 
 nor does the young lady, as in our country, indulge in 
 preliminaries on her own account. The emotional is left 
 to come, if it is to come at all, after her parents or broth- 
 ers have introduced to her a suitable individual upon 
 whom to fix her affections, or at least to bestow her hand. 
 Not that the lady is called upon to take a husband 
 who may be indifferent or repugnant to her ; but the 
 custom in this matter of marriage is so generally recog- 
 nized that the maiden is, from the nature of things, 
 " fancy free " until her wedding day. If perchance there 
 is an arriere pensee, she does not allow it to bloom be- 
 side her marriage wreath. Once a wife, she learns to 
 embrace her husband as a lover, and as mistress of her 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 
 
 349 
 
 househould and mother of children, finds, without seek- 
 ing, all the happiness she desires. Domestic fidelity, 
 maternal affection, family unity, and the cheerful dis- 
 charge of the duties and responsibilities of wedded life, 
 are nowhere more beautifully illustrated than among the 
 Greeks. As a natural consequence of this condition, 
 the people are emphatically a chaste people. This 
 statement may open the eyes of many who are accus- 
 tomed to regard the Greeks with an obliquity of vision, 
 but I am persuaded that no city in the world of forty or 
 fifty thousand inhabitants can boast of fewer invitations 
 to sensual vice than does Athens. It is but fair to infer, 
 in the absence of positive proofs to the contrary, that 
 private morals keep pace with outward observances 
 in this respect. As to the inhabitants of the country, 
 there is no room for any question on the subject. The 
 Greeks are a temperate people. This is evident to the 
 most superficial observer ; but I am not sure that this 
 should be noted as a national merit, since, as in other 
 warm climates, it is the result of the absence of strong 
 intoxicating drinks. Large quantities of wine are im- 
 bibed here ; but the wine of the country is. of pure grape 
 juice, fermented naturally in barrels, and is very cheap. 
 Rum and brandy are chiefly consumed by foreigners, of 
 whom the greater part are sailors. Alcoholic drinks are 
 very deleterious in warm climates, and this fact, with the 
 comparative high cost of these stimulants, limit their 
 consumption. The light wine of the country, on 'he 
 contrary, is comparatively harmless, if not positiv"^ 
 
35° 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 wholesome, when drunk with moderation. On high 
 feasts and holidays one often sees carriage loads of 
 song-singing Greeks, under the eifects of partial exhilar- 
 ation ; but positive drunkenness is rare, while it is not 
 an uncommon sight to see sailors from foreign ships 
 reeling through the streets in various stages of intoxi- 
 cation. But even wine-drinking leads to brawls and 
 high words, for the brain of the Greek is highly excita- 
 ble. The statistics of registered deaths in the city of 
 Athens from the effect of strong drinks may not be very 
 reliable, yet it is noteworthy that out of a population of 
 fifty thousand, but twenty-six natives are known to have 
 died from this cause in ten years ; while of foreigners, 
 who form scarcely one per cent, of the whole popula- 
 tion, the number recorded is sixteen. Englishmen and 
 Americans bear away the first prizes in the international 
 exhibition of drunkards ; while Greeks and Mussulmans, 
 especially the latter, are perhaps the most temperate 
 people in Europe. With the Turk it is a religious obli- 
 gation ; with the Greek it is more the result of circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The Greeks are a hospitable people. Many a trav- 
 eller in the interior of Greece, some of whom, perhaps, 
 have forgotten whose roofs sheltered them, and whose 
 table they have shared, can attest to a trait of charac- 
 ter which if not inherited, is most admirably copied from 
 the Ancient Greeks. There are few parts of the coun- 
 try where the stranger will not find a hospitable hand to 
 take him in ; and no hut, however limited its capacity, 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 351 
 
 where room cannot be found for the wanderer, be he the 
 well-to-do traveller, the wearied peasant, or the half- 
 starved refugee from justice. Akin to hospitality is charity, 
 and the beggar who gets no recognition from a stranger in 
 the streets of Athens, seldom fails to have a coin thrown 
 to him by the passing Greek ; especially the poor, there 
 as elsewhere, remember the poor. The political and re- 
 ligious condition of the Greeks have been dwelt upon 
 elsewhere. They form distinct chapters in the life of a 
 people who are themselves distinct in the chief charac- 
 teristics which make up a race. 
 
 It may well be asked, if the Modern Greeks are no 
 worse than has been here represented, whence arises 
 the spirit of detraction — so widespread — so eagerly di- 
 rected against them. Why is the very air of free Greece 
 impregnated with denunciation, and the press of Eu- 
 rope almost a unit in condemning her people ? To an- 
 swer this question as it should be answered, would be to 
 go into an analysis of cause and effect which would ex- 
 ceed the limits of this paper. " Give a dog a bad name " 
 and no explanation may get his good name back again. 
 It cannot be doubted that if the Greeks were more pli- 
 ant in the hands of those who would mould them to their 
 purposes — like Turkish clay in the hands of the potter 
 — we should hear less to their disadvantage. But the 
 political aspirations of Greece, as has been noticed, are 
 not in keeping with the policy of Western Europe, and 
 she continues to flaunt her flag, with its extravagant in- 
 scription, into the eyes of those whose aim and object is 
 
352 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 to keep the Greeks as they are and Greece where it is. 
 Thus a spirit of perpetual provocation is aroused, and 
 the little kingdom manages to keep herself so much en 
 evidence in the Eastern European Question as to weary 
 and disgust those who might otherwise be her political 
 friends. England has been disappointed in Greece from 
 the day she assisted to save her at the battle of Nava- 
 rino. When the Greeks boast of their independence, 
 England does not fail to remind them that they are in- 
 debted to her for that independence. This is true 
 enough, and if Greece were ever likely to lose sight of 
 the fact, England would keep the fact distinctly before 
 her. The kingdom has not been as grateful to the Pow- 
 ers for that " untoward event " as they would have 
 wished. Instead of docility and submission, Greece 
 has been arrogant and independent. She has disap- 
 pointed England also in the non-payment of her obli- 
 gations ; in her dissatisfaction with the boundaries as- 
 signed to the new kingdom; in her persistent rejection 
 of English counsel, in not opening her coasting trade to 
 English vessels of commerce ; in her repeated attempts 
 at territorial enlargement, and in her preference for 
 French over English ideas. All this and much more 
 were calculated to irritate the mind of her great " pre- 
 server," and to color it with political prejudice, 'which 
 the Greeks choose to call "jealousy," on account of 
 English loss of maritime supremacy in the East. The 
 idea that great and potent England should be jealous of 
 young and struggling Greece increases the indignation 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 353 
 
 of the former, and whets her thousand pens of irony 
 and scorn. Thus the battle of the giants and the pig- 
 mies becomes a ceaseless battle, in which Greece gets no 
 quarter, and seldom gains any advantage ; for when the 
 cannonading of the enemy reduces her to some humili- 
 ating condition, she is pelted with epithets selected from 
 the vocabulary of personal abuse. 
 
 During the English protectorate of the Ionian Isl- 
 ands, England looked coldly upon any sign of political 
 or commercial strength in Greece which might win the 
 affections of the islanders to their mother country ; and 
 when at last the cession of the islands to Greece be- 
 came an inevitable necessity, the last link of sympathy 
 between the two peoples seemed to be destroyed. In 
 spite of England's denial of malevolent feelings towards 
 Greece, and of her frequent professions of interest in 
 aU that relates to the advancement of that kingdom, the 
 Greeks maintain their own views, and withhold their 
 confidence from her. Hear one of them : " It is vain to 
 endeavor to make us believe that the English press is 
 actuated only by a sense of justice and a love of order 
 in browbeating every aspiration, in ridiculing every effort, 
 in exaggerating every misfortune, in trampling upon ev- 
 ery thing most dear to the Greek people ; and in uphold- 
 ing and bolstering up Turkish interests, in whitewashing 
 Turkish infamy, and in applauding every silly and apo- 
 cryphal speech of the Sultan. Let them make a clean 
 breast of it ; let them tell us honestly — " Our policy and 
 our interests in the East are such as to make it impera- 
 
354 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 tive for us to uphold Turkey at all costs, and as long as 
 we can. We desire to have there a nominal power 
 strong enough only to keep up the semblance of an in- 
 dependent State, and weak enough to be our obedient 
 tool. We do not wish a progressive people who would 
 soon mark out their own destiny, and would break loose 
 from our tutelage. We want a people who are indolent 
 and extravagant in their barbarous habits. We want 
 them to take off our hands all the Manchester goods and 
 Birmingham ware for which we can find no market else- 
 where, at the price and on the conditions we see fit to 
 impose. We want them to contract periodically, and at 
 usurious rates, loans, the major part of which will re- 
 main in our hands, in return for material and moral sup- 
 port. We want them to give employment to our dockyards 
 and to our gun factories. We want them to take over 
 the bankrupt captains of our navy who cannot conven- 
 iently remain amongst us for fear of duns, and make 
 them Pashas and admirals. Their ambassadors in Lon- 
 don, Paris, etc., are men of the world. They give first- 
 rate parties, and are always ready to befriend gentle- 
 men of a literary turn of mind, and inspire them with 
 pure and poetic affection for a maligned race. When 
 we visit them at Constantinople we are treated like prin- 
 ces — even the meanest of us ; we are allowed to carry 
 away gratis any antiquity we can lay our hands upon, 
 and — ^witness our Museum at Bloomsbury — we have al- 
 ready transported entire temples and almost whole cities 
 to London. We were once feeble enough to allow our- 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 355 
 
 selves to be carried away partly by the entreaties of 
 some really generous and noble men, and partly by a 
 jealousy of other powers, and to aid you in your endeav- 
 ors for liberty ; but we have since deplored the event. 
 You see you Greeks are too sharp for us ; and if you 
 are allowed to have your own way, you will soon sweep 
 our commerce from the Mediterranean. Even now, 
 weak as you are, and struggling, your merchant marine 
 is the seventh in importance in the world. We cannot 
 afford to allow you to go further at present. We must 
 look after our own interests. Therefore we give you 
 a fair and honest warning, we will favor the Turks 
 through thick and thin, and oppose you.'' 
 
 If Englishmen had spoken thus, we would certainly 
 still be grieved, would regret their determination, and 
 would deplore a policy which is shortsighted, if not also 
 unjust ; but we would allow that we were treated fairly, 
 and would give them credit for sincerity and straightfor- 
 wardness. But to endeavor to convince us that all this 
 clamor is the result of virtuous indignation, that there 
 is a real desire for the progress and welfare of Greece, 
 and that therefore the beloved child is chastised, is 
 simply preposterous. We say. We know what is going 
 on." 
 
 If Greece had larger resources — such a commerce 
 with the Western nations, as has Turkey ; if, instead of 
 her liberal notions she would bend her energies to con- 
 ciliate her enemies, suppress her own schemes and ad- 
 vance those of other Powers, she would find herself 
 
3S6 
 
 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAV. 
 
 with as many champions among Christian nations as has 
 now the government of the Ottomans. Under sucli a con- 
 dition of tilings we should cease to liear of the moral de- 
 ficiencies of the Greeks, or rather those deficiencies would 
 be ascribed to causes for which the nation is not wholly 
 unaccountable, and which would rapidly disappear un- 
 der the benign influences of European civilization. 
 But the individuality of the Greek mind forbids the real- 
 ization of any such change of opinion on the part of 
 Europe until the political relations of the East are 
 materially modified. With such modifications it is not 
 improbable that Greece will have her turn of kind treat- 
 ment if not of political indulgence. Until then, the 
 traveller as he approaches Greece, must expect to hear 
 the people denounced for all the sins which they have, 
 and for many more which exist only in the imagination 
 of their detractors. Some of our countrymen are ac- 
 tually deterred from visiting Athens by the terrible ac- 
 counts which they receive on the way of the lawless 
 character of the people and the danger to life which ex- 
 ists in the capital. A distinguished American told me 
 that from the moment he left Vienna he heard nothing 
 but what was bad of the Greeks ; these reports increased 
 in intensity as he passed down the Danube, and culmin- 
 ated at Constantinople, where he was told that at Athens 
 it would be hazardous for him to go out of his hotel in 
 broad daylight on account of the prevalence of brigand- 
 age in the very streets of the capital. Being a military 
 man however, who had faced open and secret foes, he 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 357 
 
 Stood the hazard of the die and ventured to land in that 
 classic corner of the world. He came to me with a face 
 of astonishment to know " what it meant ?" He found 
 himself in a quiet and attractive city, with well-informed 
 and polite people about him and surrounded by evi- 
 dences of civilization — taste, wealth and social enjoy- 
 ment. "It is true," said he, "that I regarded much of 
 what I heard as exaggeration, but where there is so 
 much smoke I concluded there must be some fire." 
 This is the experience of too many of our countrymen 
 who visit Greece. How can it be otherwise when there 
 are none but Greeks to set them right ; and when, from 
 the nature of things, every word the native may 
 have to say in his defence is taken with the very largest 
 allowance of salt. If a stranger in an English, French 
 or German hotel, club, or coffee-room in any Levantine 
 or Turkish town, mentions the Greeks, he hears them 
 denounced for every sin in the decalogue and with a 
 vehemence of language which alone suggests the possi- 
 bility that the speaker is discharging himself of an ex- 
 cess of bile, rather than expressing the deliberate result 
 of his own personal observation. If the traveller takes 
 up some of the Enghsh " guide books " he may discover 
 that he has paid his money to read the outpourings of 
 an individual's wrath, rather than the record of dispas- 
 sionate facts. For example : " The Greeks," says one 
 of these authprities, " have insinuated themselves into 
 every offtce (in the Turkish Empire) where their venal- 
 ity, cupidity and utter unscrupulousness promise wealth 
 
358 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 and rank. They are the parasites, the vermin, that 
 cripple the Ottoman Empire ; and no foreigner can with- 
 stand their allures, be honest to his trust in the Ottoman 
 service and live. My advice is never to engage a 
 Greek in any capacity whatever, unless you have the 
 most ample proof of his honesty — a proof seldom to be 
 met with. * * The Greeks of the Levantine ports were 
 born to steal," etc., etc., etc. This English Christian 
 guide book further recommends the traveller in Turkey 
 to keep himself supplied with potassium, in order to 
 play upon the credulity and ignorance of the Moslem 
 by burning this chemical upon the waters, and so " win 
 for the stranger veneration and titles." The Greeks of 
 Greece come in for pretty much the same strain of op- 
 probrium from European and especially English writers, 
 and it is very difficult indeed for the American traveller 
 to disabuse himself of the taost unfavorable impressions 
 of the race, or to beUeve that the brave and persistent 
 people whose seven years' struggle for their indepen- 
 dence won the admiration and -sympathy of the United 
 States, are not hopelessly degenerated, base and venal. 
 The " self-complacent British sneer," — heard in all 
 countries — is peculiarly sonorous in Greece. Phrases 
 like these salute the ear at every turn : " O, that's so 
 very Greek." " None but a Greek would do this or 
 do that." " A Greek trick." " A Greek lie," etc., etc. 
 People who get into the habit of talking in this way 
 never leave it oif, and they soon learn by simple repeti- 
 tion to believe that the sum and substance of human 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. -^59 
 
 depravity is fully expressed in the word " Greeks." It 
 is amusing to note to what insignificant matters the pre- 
 judiced foreigner will descend to illustrate the degraded 
 character of the Modern Greeks. An English officer 
 whom I met in the railway carriage between Athens and 
 the Piraeus, called my attention to the wooden fence 
 then in process of erection on each side the road. 
 " How long, sir, do you think it will be," said my com- 
 panion, " before these destructive brutes (the Greeks) 
 carry it away piecemeal for firewood ?" Not being well 
 up in the natural history of railway fences, I was unable 
 to gratify his curiosity on the subject. This was four 
 years ago, and the fence stands to-day in about as good 
 condition as when it was erected. " Look at that mon- 
 uinent," continued my friend, pointing to a distant white 
 marble obelisk in memory of the English and French 
 soldiers who fell in the vicinity, " it is absolutely pep- 
 pered with gun shot fired by these infernal Greek 
 sportsmen." I dare say that many of the shot were 
 delivered from Greek fowling-pieces, but as the plain of 
 Athens is frequented for sporting purposes by foreign- 
 ers as well as Greeks, it is fair to presume that the 
 former as well as the latter yielded to the temptation to 
 take a shot or two at the "shining mark." Now, in the 
 middle of this same plain, rendered historical by the 
 famous battle of Athens, stands another monument, 
 erected to the memory of Karaiscakis, a hero of the rev- 
 olution, who fell upon the spot, and whose memory is 
 dear to every Greek. As the visitor approaches to read 
 
360 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 the inscription carved upon the tablet, his eye it a:- 
 tracted by another inscription, not in Greek, but in 
 English ; not carved, but daubed in huge character ; of 
 black paint upon the stone slab around the base of the 
 monument. The words run thus : 
 
 l^CER'S 
 
 FOOTBALL GROUND 
 1867. 
 
 To establish uniformity of effect, or perhaps not to be 
 outdone by the "other fellows," the blue jackets of 
 another of Her Britannic Majesty's ships-of-war have 
 daubed upon the corresponding slab of the Greek hero's 
 monument another inscription, to wit : 
 
 SAUCY. 
 CRICKET GROUND. 
 
 There the letters have stood through all the rains and 
 sunshine of these years, furnishing an instructive lesson 
 to the destructive Greeks of the respect due to the illus- 
 trious dead. The reader may be struck, as I was with the 
 superfluity of language employed by the ship's artist. 
 He should have studied brevity, which is sometimes the 
 soul of vulgarity as well as of wit. Why, for instance, 
 the word " saucy ?" Does not the inscription itself fully 
 establish that fact ? And why the words " football 
 ground ?" Does not every Greek know that by right of 
 preemption his native land has long been recognized 
 as the football ground of Europe ? 
 
 The Greeks have not only open enemies to accuse 
 of creating prejudice against them. There have been 
 
CHARACTER OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 361 
 
 but too many instances when from the bottom of their 
 hearts they might have exclaimed, " Save us from our 
 friends." The enthusiastic " Philhellene " has often dam- 
 aged the cause he espoused by the heiglitened color of 
 his picture, without a shade or neutral tint to give it the 
 semblance of nature. The victim of imagination, he 
 flings a tinsel robe over the Greek, and struts him be- 
 fore the footlights in the expectation of applause, which 
 does not come. He indulges his bombast in journals 
 which will print his effusions, but deceives no one but 
 himself. The Greeks themselves may give currency to 
 every Philhellenic rhapsody and exaggerated eulogy, but 
 it is only to counterpoise the scale heavy with unjust as- 
 persion. If I read the Greek character with any degree 
 of perception, I understand that he does not desire flat- 
 tery or fulsome praise so much as just estimation of 
 what he is ; honest criticisms of his defects, and generous 
 allowances on the part of the critics for those extrane- 
 ous circumstances which have largely contributed to pro- 
 duce those defects. 
 
 Of the foreign writers who denounce Greece, all are 
 not wilfully malignant. The majority write for the sake 
 of writing, and, as a matter of policy or gain, take the 
 popular side of the question. These are, perhaps, the 
 most dangerous of all, for they write with a reckless pen, 
 and refuse to be enlightened, because they would then 
 be deprived of the piquancy upon which they depend 
 to-make their effusions palatable. I remember meeting 
 a well-known Irish humorist on board a steamer return- 
 16 
 
362 THE GREEKS OF ,TO-DAY. 
 
 ing from Greece, who was positively offended because he 
 was set right in a matter in wliich lie was altogether 
 wrong. He had primed himself during a sojourn of 
 three or four days in Athens with a volley of abuse 
 against the Greeks, and all who attempted to defend 
 them, which he purposed to discharge in full force in 
 his first fiction or magazine article. The British Minis- 
 ter at Athens was especially offensive to him, because 
 the facts stated by the former were not compatible with 
 the fancies of the novelist. Yet, " Cornelius O'Dowd " * 
 was at heart as indifferent to the Greeks, whom he wished 
 to abuse, as he was to the Confederates of the Southern 
 States, whom he exalted in the pages of Blackwood un- 
 til the " lost cause " diverted his humor into other chan- 
 nels. 
 
 Many of the detractors of Greece write from con- 
 viction and the difficulty of casting off their national 
 or personal prejudices. Their sentiments, however un- 
 just, are openly and honestly expressed. Such men — ■ 
 especially if they have no Turkish bonds in their pock- 
 ets — when convinced that their ink has been too strong- 
 ly imbued with gall, will dip their pens in a milder fluid, 
 and when occasion offers, make the amende honorable. 
 These are noble enemies compared with that lesser crew 
 of " Bohemians,'' who, under the gilded jacket of Phil- 
 hellenism, philanthropy, or what not, win the confidence 
 of the Greek for the purpose of making political capi- 
 
 * Charles Lever. 
 
CHARACTER 0*r THE MODERN GREEKS. 363 
 
 tal or personal gain from the cause they pretend to es- 
 pouse with such disinterestedness. 
 
 The extremes c f encomium and censure passed 
 upon the Greek nation have created a party spirit out- 
 side the kingdom, which increases in acerbity ; while the 
 Greek himself, tired of the spectacle, grows indiflFerent 
 -to both friend and foe. He despairs of being admitted 
 into the political council of nations with the respect 
 wiiich he feels to be his due ; and he equally despairs of 
 seeing his gallant defenders win the day and establish 
 his neglected rights. This indifference is not calculated 
 to advance the cause which every right-minded man in 
 Europe ought to wish to prevail — that is, the cause of 
 an independent people striving against great odds, even 
 if those odds are their own infirmities. If the policy of 
 harshness has been unavailing, does not the simplest 
 principle of human conduct suggest a change in the re- 
 medial agents ? If stimulants and counter-irritants in- 
 crease the excitability of the patient, had" they not better 
 be abandoned ? " J'aimerais mieux," says Joubert, " la 
 moUesse qui laisse aux hommes le temps de devenir 
 raeilleurs, que la sdveritd qui les rend pires, et la precip- 
 itation qui n'attend pas le repentir." It is with nations 
 as with individuals : if the three poUtical physicians (es- 
 pecially one of them), who have taken Greece in charge, 
 will let nature take care of itself, giving advice only 
 when the patient desires it, and abstaining from the harsh 
 remedies of the " old school," the Hellenic Kingdom 
 will gain in strength. If I refer to England more point- 
 
364 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAV. 
 
 edly than to other nations in these connections, it is be- 
 cause she has been more prominent than other nations 
 in the affairs of Greece. Perhaps my prejudices in fa- 
 vor of England and Englishmen, my respect for her insti- 
 tutions and her statesmen, for the cleverness of her think- 
 ing, and for the honesty of her working classes, give 
 color to the regret with which I perceive that aversion 
 is taking the place of regard for her in the. minds of the 
 Greek people. The Greeks have, no doubt, laid thern- 
 selves open to reproach, but they nevertheless feel, and 
 disinterested observers feel with them, that they do 
 not receive from English statesmen and from English 
 writers that just and considerate treatment which one 
 nation has a right to receive from another nation, and 
 which comes with especial grace and efficacy from the 
 strong to the weak. While I do not believe that it will 
 ever be a wholesome policy for Greece to ally herself or 
 give her sympathies wholly to any one foreign power, I do 
 beheve that to no European nation can she hope to look 
 with more confidence for disinterested advice and friend- 
 .y counsel than to England. That such counsel may in 
 any way be effective for good, Greece must be encour- 
 aged to accept it by demonstrations of genuine sympa- 
 thy on the part of her adviser. 
 
 Greece is fond of asserting that the United States is 
 her model, and of lamenting that she has never had a 
 AVashington to guide her political progress. It is natu- 
 ral that she should feel a sympathetic interest in a peo- 
 ple who from the earliest period of her struggle for in- 
 
CHARACTE]^ OF THE MODERN GREEKS. 365 
 
 depenc ence have maniftsted \ desire to ^ee fiee insti- 
 tutions flourish on her scil. I'he established principle 
 of our government of avoiding entangling alliances 
 abroad, and of refraining from intermeddling with the po- 
 litical affairs of foreign States, have preserved to the 
 United States an independence of judgment which would 
 not be the case if any other policy were adopted. The 
 geographical and political conditions of Europe are so 
 widely different from our own, that this circumstance 
 must ever be considered when passing judgment upon 
 the action of larger states towards inferior political or- 
 ganizations. But while Greece must naturally expect to 
 suffer from the ambitious designs of her more powerful 
 neighbors, she can look with confidence to the potential 
 voice of public opinion, both in Europe and America, 
 to protect her independence as a State, so long as she 
 can convince the world that she is worthy of her inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 If the patience of the reader has gone with me through 
 these papers — which it is necessary to remark, have 
 been written hastily during the pauses of a long journey, 
 and sent to the publisher without revision — he may have 
 perceived that in writing them, T have resisted a tempta- 
 tion. It is easier to row with the current than against it : 
 still easier to sit on the shore with the indifferent spec- 
 tators and not get into the boat at all. But I conceive that 
 I should be doing wrong to remain silent in the midst of 
 
366 THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 calu nay, and refuse to give my testimony- -sc far as 1 
 have any testimony to give, in a matter in which I have 
 at least endeavored to arrive at correct conclusions. In 
 doing so, I have had but a single purpose in view, which 
 is to awaken a more general interest in the condition and 
 destinies of Greece, and to induce influential writers to 
 accord a more impartial judgment than has heretofore 
 been accorded, to the people of that struggling king- 
 dom. 
 
 Paris, 1872. 
 
 THE END. 
 
logue. Sept., 1872^ 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM & SONS' 
 
 LIST OF 
 
 New Publications 
 
 AUTUMJSr SEASON, 1872. 
 
 I. 
 
 A New Work by the author of " Kaloolah." 
 "VTEVER AGAIN. 
 
 Illustrated with numerous engravings, designed ana 
 engraved by Gaston Fay. In one volume, about 600 pages, 
 uniform with " Kalooi^ah." 
 
 II. 
 
 Also, a New Edition of 
 ■jy-ALOOLAH : 
 
 The Autobiography of Jonathan Romer of Nan- 
 tucket. i2mo, cloth extra, $1.75. 
 
 *i* Some 15,000 copies of this celebrated worls liave been sold, and It is justly en- 
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 " One of the most admirable pictures ever produced in this country." — Washington 
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 " The most singular and captiTating romance since Kobiuson Crusoe." — Home 
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 " By far the most fascinating and entertaining book we have read since we were 
 bewitched by the graceful invemioua of the Arabian '!!fightB."—Democra(ic Seview. 
 
 III. 
 
 A veritable history of permanent interest. 
 A/TEMOIRS OF A HUGUENOT FAMILY. 
 
 Translated from the Original Autobiography ot Rev. 
 Tames Fontaine, by Ann Maury. With a translation of 
 he Edict of Nantes (now first printed in English), izmo, 
 pp. 508, cloth extra, $1.75. 
 
A MANUAL OF POTTERY AND PORCELAIN, 
 ■^*- For American Collbctous. By J. H. Treadwell. 
 Richly illustrated, and containing full lists of Marks, Mono- 
 grams, &c. Svo, cloth extra, beveled, gilt top, $3.00. 
 
 V. 
 
 HE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. 
 
 By The Hon. Charles K. Tuckerman, late Minister 
 
 T 
 
 of the United States at Athens. i2mo, cloth extra, $1.50. 
 
 Mr. Tuckerman has had exceptional opportunities for becoming acquainted with 
 Greece and the Grcelcs: ; and he has given the i-uaults of his observations in a series of 
 clear and vivid studies that convey to the reader information of the greatest value and 
 interest. 
 
 T 
 
 VI. 
 
 HE ROMANCE OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 Early Annals. By Professor M. Schele De Verb, 
 author of " Wonders of the Deep," " Comparative Philology, 
 &c. i2mo, cloth extra, $1.50. 
 
 Contents : 
 Lo The Poor Indian. Our First Romance. Kaisers, Kings and Knightn. 
 
 Tlie Hidden River. A Pew Town Names. Lost Towns. 
 
 Lost Lands. 
 
 VII. 
 
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 -*- By Prof. F. B. Fonssagrives, M.D. Translated and 
 edited by F. P. Foster, M.D. A volume full of the most prac- 
 tical advice and suggestions for mothers and nurses. 
 
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 T^HE GREAT PROBLEM: 
 
 The Higher Ministry of Nature, Viewed in the 
 Light of Modern Science, and as an Aid to Advanced Chris- 
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 " Our Coal Fields and Our Coal Pits," " Cornwall : Its Mines 
 and Miners," '&c., &c. Large i2mo, pp. 550, cloth. 
 
 IX. 
 
 [ORE WORLDS THAN ONE: 
 
 The Creed of the Philosopher and the Hope of 
 THE Christian. By Sir David Brewster, K.H., M.A., 
 D.C.L. 1 2mo, cloth, beveled, $1.75. 
 
 M 
 
PUBLIC A TIONS. 
 
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POPULAR 
 
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