THE GREEKS.
The Greeks, who sent the trophies of their versatile genius, their
graceful architectural adornings, and exquisite paintings to the
temples at Rome, and over the western world, whose classic lore is
yet the theme and model of the learned, once gloried in the possession
of the proud Stamboul.
About a century after its foundation by Constantine, it is said
to have possessed "a capital, a school of learning, a circus,
two theatres, eight public and one hundred and fifty-three private
baths, fifty-two porticoes, five granaries, eight aqueducts of water,
four spacious halls of justice, fourteen churches, fourteen palaces,
and four thousand and three hundred and eighty-eight houses, which,
for their size and beauty, deserved to be distinguished from the
multitude of plebeian habitations."
The magnificent temple Ayia-Sophia, dedicated to the Goddess of Divine
Wisdom, rose like a Phoenix from its ruins, under the liberal patronage
of Justinian, and the assiduous labors of ten thousand workmen during
five years, eleven months, and ten days.
This was the shrine of the Greek Faith, and those walls glittering
with golden mosaic and precious stones, re-echoed the Kyrie eleêson
of the adoring Christians. The magnificent altar of precious metals
and glittering gems witnessed the prostrations of patriarchs and
their acolyths--and the impenetrable veil was suspended before the
Holy of Holies.
The great city was the arena for the sports of the pleasure-loving
Greeks; sometimes in the race of wild beasts with each other, and
again in the more terrible contests of the gladiators.
The Bosphorus was alive with human freight, youths and maidens, wooed
by its blue and sparkling waves, delighted to dream of love as they
glided over the gently-heaving waters.
The shores were gay and gladsome, as the enamored throng tripped
through the mazes of their fantastic Romaica to the tinkling music. But
the Grecian prince is hurled from his throne, and the grave and sombre
Moslem sits there, the despot and bloody conqueror. The great temple,
which rivalled even that of Solomon, is suddenly divested of the
symbols of a Christian faith. Its mosaics of the saints which adorn
the walls are obliterated, its cherubim are torn down, its altar
demolished, and nothing left of all the gorgeous decorations. The
bare, unadorned niche--the mihrab or index to the temple of Mohammed,
is instituted, and "Allah-il-Allah," is henceforth the cry of the
Faithful.
Yet, they say, the distant chant of the last officiating priest of
the Greek religion still lingers within the walls, from whence he
will issue when the edifice is restored to its original worship.
Sports are over--maidens and youths are coy of their charms, for a
change has come over the spirit of their dreams.
The liberty of woman is shackled, and the dominion of seclusion
established. Certain quarters of the city are assigned to the Greek
subjects--and externally their very dwellings assume the dusky tints
of bondage and ruin.
Truly their glory has departed, and their name as a nation is only
sustained by the shades of their ancient heroes, who even after their
last degenerate descendant has mouldered into dust, will continue
to flit around the civilized world, scattering the scintillations
of early genius amid earth's darkness. Yet, as it is their nature to
boast, they point into the past, and even one day hope to sit on the
throne of their ancestors eis tin polin of yore.
There are no less than a million and a half of Greeks in the Turkish
dominions, of whom 150,000 live in the capital. At the time of their
conquest, the Turks allowed them the same municipal immunities and
privileges as they had done to the Armenians.
As the Greeks seemed to approximate more nearly to the western nations
in their habits, than any of the other rayahs, the Osmanlis supposed
them more fitted to act as intermediaries between themselves and the
European states; they therefore became the first interpreters of the
Divan. Many of their number have thus risen to wealth and distinction,
and after long services they even succeeded to the government of the
Danubian Principalities--yet the Osmanlis have never felt the same
sympathy and confidence towards them as for the Armenians, who, though
not so advanced in civilization, possess better stamina of character,
greater honesty, and more congeniality of temperament. Many Greeks,
even now, occupy places of trust, which are confided to them rather
from political motives than as marks of peculiar confidence. The
office of saraf or banker, which is equivalent to homme de confiance,
has never been successfully filled by them, though attempts have been
made to do so; this post has invariably been assigned to the Armenians.
It is customary with the Osmanli grandee, when appointed to some
high station in the provinces, before their departure, to leave with
their banker a certain number of blanks to be filled by him whenever
occasion should require their use. And many even entrust their personal
property to the sarafs on their pilgrimage to Mecca, for safe keeping.
One of the principal dignitaries of the present day, who is reputed
for his irascible temper, was some years ago involved in a dilemma. One
of his attendants was found to be guilty of a liaison with a slave in
his harem. The circumstances were aggravating, and his pride could
not be satisfied, save by dire revenge; and the two, instead of
being married, according to the custom of the country, fell victims
to his fury. But after the commission of the rash act, he repented,
and began to fear the disgrace which would probably fall on himself.
In his perplexity he sent for his old Armenian saraf, and when
closeted with him, poured his sorrows into the bosom of his confidant,
relating to him the whole circumstance, weeping bitterly for his act,
and asking advice and consolation.
Now, no Osmanli has as yet evinced such confidence and sympathy
towards the Greeks.
Besides, the pride of the Mussulmans is not compromised in associating
with the Armenians, who are so much like their masters in manners and
language, that often it is impossible to detect any difference. On the
contrary, although some of the Greeks have distinguished themselves in
Oriental literature, especially Yacobaky, in his History of Russia,
written in elegant Turkish, yet they have never been able to speak
the language of the country correctly.
The moment they open their mouths, out leaps the native accent. This
is equally true of the French and other languages, and even their own
beautiful Hellenic can scarce ever be heard in Stamboul, a miserable,
mongrel island dialect being the substitute.
The character of the Greeks of Constantinople is thus admirably
portrayed by the author of Anastasius, the best work extant on Turkey.
"The complexion of the modern Greek may receive a different cast
from different surrounding objects; the core still is the same
as in the days of Pericles. Credulity, versatility, and thirst
of distinction, from the earliest periods formed, still form, and
ever will continue to form, the basis of the Greek character; and
the dissimilarity in the external appearance of the nation arises,
not from any radical change in its temper and disposition, but only
from the incidental variation in the means through which the same
propensities are to be gratified. The ancient Greeks worshipped a
hundred gods, the modern Greeks adore as many saints. The ancient
Greeks believed in oracles and prodigies, in incantations and spells;
the modern Greeks have faith in relics and miracles, in amulets and
divinations. The ancient Greeks brought rich offerings and gifts to
the shrines of their deities, for the purpose of obtaining success
in war, and pre-eminence in peace; the modern Greeks hang up dirty
rags round the sanctuaries of their saints, to shake off an ague,
or propitiate a mistress. The former were staunch patriots at home,
and subtle courtiers in Persia; the latter defy the Turks in Mayno,
and fawn upon them at the Fanar. Besides, was not every commonwealth
of ancient Greece as much a prey to cabals and factions as every
community of modern Greece? Does not every modern Greek preserve
the same desire for supremacy, the same readiness to undermine, by
every means, fair or foul, his competitors, which was displayed by his
ancestors? Do not the Turks of the present day resemble the Romans of
past ages in their respect for the ingenuity, and at the same time,
in their contempt for the character of their Greek subjects? And does
the Greek of the Fanar show the least inferiority to the Greek of
the Piræus in quickness of perception, in fluency of tongue, and in
fondness for quibbles, for disputation, and for sophistry? Believe me,
the very difference between the Greeks of time past and of the present
day arises only from their thorough resemblance, from that equal
pliability of temper and of faculties in both, which has ever made
them receive, with equal readiness, the impression of every mould,
and the impulse of every agent. When patriotism, public spirit, and
pre-eminence in arts, science, literature, and warfare were the road
to distinction, the Greeks shone the first of patriots, of heroes, of
painters, of poets, and of philosophers. Now that craft and subtlety,
adulation, and intrigue, are the only paths to greatness, these same
Greeks are--what you see them!"
Although the Armenians have borne the first impetus of Mussulman
fanaticism, and consequently suffered more than any other Christian
subjects, yet the Greeks excel them in their animosity towards their
conquerors.
This is owing to their excessive bigotry, and it is recorded that
even while the enemy was before the gates of Constantinople, they
were discussing the great question, whether the Holy Ghost proceeded
from the Father or the Son.
This disposition to cavil on religious points, has made them a ready
prey to the domineering priesthood who have completely swayed the
multitude. These priests being a mean and grovelling set, utterly
indifferent to the moral elevation of their people, are ever ready
to make traffic of the sins of those who are still more ignorant
than themselves; the consequence is, that lying, cheating, stealing,
and other immoralities to any extent, are very common among this
community, for a few piastres, or even paras, cancel the crime and
lull the conscience.
The whole community suffers from such a system, as business and other
necessities bring them into constant contact.
The servants are generally Greek, and there is no virtue in lock
and key in any house. You suddenly find your wardrobe emptied by
imperceptible degrees, and the jars of preserves gradually diminish,
as they are repeatedly licked and sleeked over again.
Divorces are easily obtained, or they are granted after the priest
has extorted the last para he can from the applicant.
The corruption of the masses through their spiritual leaders is
painfully evident. The most dire superstition rules every mind,
and the veriest knaves, and even prostitutes, follow their injurious
callings without compunction, if under the patronage of one of their
saints. Christos kai Panayiaumo is an expiatory charm, and the dingy
portrait of any saint in the calendar annihilates the bad effects of
every crime. The most abandoned class of women are generally Greeks;
and while they perform the obscene rites of Bacchus and Venus, they
watch with holy trembling the twinkling taper which burns night and
day before the anointed picture of their guardian angel. This flame,
like the Vestal fire, is never suffered to go out, if perchance,
Dii avertite omen!
The Greek islands furnish a miserable set of men and women to the
population of Turkey, who come to gather spoils in the metropolis, and
then return to enjoy them at home. Robberies, and even assassinations
are committed by them, which, if they are detected, are either
protected by the Greek legation, or punished by a short imprisonment,
and then the miscreants are again let loose, hardened in crime,
and thirsting to revenge their temporary detention.
It is only within the last two years, that a famous bandit, in
the vicinity of Smyrna, has been captured. Katurjy Yanny and his
merry men had long infested the neighboring mountains, detaining
gentlemen on their travels, carrying them blindfolded to their den,
and only liberating them upon the receipt of a handsome ransom
from their friends. The eagle of the mountain was at last caged in
the humble prison of Smyrna. While other miserable victims were
peeping through their latticed and iron bound casements, whining
out a feeble cry for alms, he, the proud chieftain, sat upon a
sofa, dressed in the picturesque costume of the Greek mountaineer,
his eyes flashing defiance, and his lofty bearing all princely,
as he puffed his narghillé, and chatted with those about him. But
he must now feel somewhat crest-fallen, as day succeeds day, and he
still dwells within the awful precincts of the Bagnio, whence, like
the rest of its miserable occupants, the once proud Katurgy Yanny,
sometimes emerges, broom in hand, and chained to his fellow, to sweep
the streets of the metropolis.
The restless temperament and fanaticism of the Greeks have ever made
them the most turbulent of the Ottoman subjects, and ready instruments
in the hands of Russian diplomatists for sowing the seeds of discord
and confusion in the Turkish empire.