The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-27 00:00:00

GREECE.

(From the ,S'pecial t;erresponient.)
ATHENS, Jan. 16.

If the old sunerstition which considers the first
day of the year as emblematic of the character of
the whole year be true, the year of grace 1863 pro-
mises to be rather exciting, if not for all Greece, at
any rate for Athens. It fell on Tuesday last (they
reckon here by Old Style),a day as dull and gloomy
as any I ever remember to have seen in these climes,
The long spell of fine weather was broken. The
outlines of Parnes,Pentelicus, and Hymettus, lately
so clear and sharp, had disappeared under the heavy
clouds which extended in one unbroken line all
around the horizon, and threatened to come down
into the plain. Nor was it long hefore the threat
was fulfilled. The white vapours which had been
fleeting along the sides of the mountains, like the
light skirmishers of an advancing enemy, gradually
descended and overran the plain until it was covered
by a regular Scotch mist. In vain did the sun at-
tempt to resist this encroachment on his favourite
abode, for in the afternoon Notus the subtle, his for-
midable antagonist, stole up from the sea to the
south, bringing with him a succession of yelting
showers, which drove the holiday-makers to their
houses, and the evening closed in with a regular
steady rain, which lasted all through the night.
But it was not the clouds in the heavens, nor even
the spoiling of one of their most favourite holidays
in the year, which disturbed the minds of the Athe-
nians on the Greek New Year's day. It was a case
of daring brigandage on the very outskirts of the
capital. Half a dozen young men, among them one
Bercy, the son of a rich Athenian citizen, had made
an excursion on Sunday last into one of the villages
in the neighbourhood. Returning after nightfall they
were attacked on their way home by a band of nine
armed men, who, singling out young Bercy, ordered
him to follow them. His companions, having been
rifled of all they had about them, were allowed to
return, and told to communicate to the family of the
prisoner that he would only be given up on pay-
ment of a ransom of 70,000 drachmas (X 2,500).
Great was the consternation next morning when
the news spread all over the town. It was a heavy
blow to that security and confidence into which
every one had been lulled for the last three months,
and nothing proved better how great that security
and confidence had been than the effect of this first
blow. The gaols had been thrown open almost every-
where in the first confusion, and several hundred
criminals, especially brigands, had been let loose on
society, while the gendarmerie and all other means
of repression and vigilance had been simultaneously
impaired, it not altogether destroyed ; yet, in spite
of this, only here and there an exceptional case of
crime occurred—not more, indeed, than occur in
quiet times and in other countries. A band of some
six or seven was heard of in the mountains of Me-
gara ; one person was carried off from the neighbour-
hood of Patras, two others from Missolonghi ; now
and then an open letter was received from the far
South with the post-office mark showing it had
passed through the hands of brigands on its way, or
a case of burglary was spoken of at Athens; but the
very rarity of all such stories in this storytelling
country made it impossible even for Llwilled people
to magnify them into any thing serious. There was
besides a feature apparent in all these cases which
was well calculated to inspire confidence, and that
was the determination on the part of the people to
resist and help themselves where the Government
had neglected to do ao. As the latter has been very
remiss in the organisation of the National Guard,
the institution best adapted to deal with the evil,
the people, not only in the towns, but in the rural
districts likewise, took the matter into their own
hands, and organised themselves as best they could.
Being all armed, and more or less accustomed to the
use of their weapons, this was not difficult. Not sa-
tisfied with this, the people themselves took measures
to insure the security of the mountain passes. It is
almost invariably in these passes, which lead from
one plain into the other,that brigands establish them-
selves ; the guarding therefore of these passes across
the mountain chains which intersect Greece is all-im-
portant for the security of the roads. As the block-
houses which exist in almost all of them have been
deserted by the posts of gendarmerie since the re-
volution, the villages on each side have taken upon
themselves to supply the guards, and they sen d
reliefs in regular rotation. It is to this readiness
on the part of the people, more than to anything
the Government has done, that the maintenance of
order is due hitherto.

Indeed, so much was this felt that a cry of in-
dignation arose against the Government when the
daring case of brigandage of Sunday last was heard
of. Nor was it altogether unmerited ;
,for, besides
neglecting the formation of the National Guard,
the Government had concentrated a large portion
of the troops in the capital, where they become
daily more demoralised. Sending them out in de-
tachments under good officers would not only have
contributed to the security of the country, but
likewise effired a chance of more easily re-esta-
blishing discipline.
It is but fair to say that since this flagrant case
occurred the Government has bestirred itself. De-
tachments of infantry, cavalry, and gendarmerie
have been sent off from herein all directions in pur-
suit ; while the authorities on the other side of
Mount Parnes, in the woods of which the brigands
and their victims are known to be, have been tele-
graphed to, to enclose them from the opposite side.
Besides this Kaiifourna, the Minister of Marine,
who has a considerable influent: on all the viligg,-,rs
on the side of the :noun rtiin, has sent out agents
to call upon thun to assist the Guvernment in its
task, and there is no doubt, if the villagers take up
1,4 must soon give in, at this

.er, t b

ar

so ichost

able, and when the flc,,eks of sheep are in the low

lands.

Hitherto the researches had not been successful ;
there was a rumour on Monday evening that the
brigands had been surprised and shot, but it con-
tained only one grain of truth—namely, that the
pursuers had found the place where the brigands
had passed the night before, so that the direction
in which they had gone is ascertained.

Every one feels in the matter as if he were per-
sonally interested, just as you do in the garotte
robberies; nay, more so, for in this case it is not
merely the personal security of every one which
seems threatened, but likewise the future reorga-
nisation of the country and its good fame abroad.
How strongly every one feels on the first point was
apparent enough to any one who walked about the
streets in the afternoon of the last day of the year,
which here is a grand fair day. The shopkeepers
ferret out their most tempting wares to attract the
crowd, which looks out for presents suitable for the
New Year, while every open spot towards the mar-
met is occupied by open stands, on which sweet-
meats, preserves of fruits, gaudy ribands and silk
handkerchiefs, toys, and above all penny trumpets,
which are in t grea request—not by children and for
children, but by grown-up people—find a ready sale.
It is the most thing
d absur •
ng to hear this discordant
concert of penny trumpets, in all imaginable keys,
resounding through the streets, and to find men
with beards, soldiers, and baggy-breeched sailors
indulging in the pastime. As for the lower classes,
who don't much apprehend being carried away by
brigands, they did not seem to be much affected by
the news, which they nevertheless freely commented
upon ; but among the more genteel classes you could
scarcely mistake the effect of the news if you looked
at the big sticks which bad all at once become the
fashion. The Athenian, who has a decided taste
fur dandyism, had laid by the smart little cane
which lie delights in at othe.r times and had taken
to one of the stout oak saplings which were dis-
played by the shopkeepers, who evidently under-
stood the signs of the times. There was, likewise,
a pretty good business for all those who deal in fire-
arms, above all in pocket revolvers, and some of
them are sending fresh orders to Europe for a new
supply of the article in season. The relative merits
of the different patents were the topic of the day,
and few people now go out in
servant.
he evening unless
armed or followed by a
But this general apprehension about pereonal se-
curity is only one of the effects produced by the
genuage in the very outskirts of. appearance of bri
the capital. There is another far worse evil and of
more general impritance—namely, a sort of gene-