The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-15 00:00:00

Men of Letters in Modern Greece.

First of all the French formula "homme de lettres"
has no exact equivalent in Greek ; crvyypa4e6r and
X6ros mean something different ; they do not ex-
press that a man lives by hie pen (dvep6nrov BriXaSi
Cio'vra cirO rob KaXclµov rov). So Mr.Vretos is driven
apparently to invent the phrase tivOpcoros ri;)v
ypap µcirow, though, by his account, the pure "homme
de lettres" is rare in Greece, most public writers
having some other office or business as well. Before
the War of Independence there were no publishers;
some rich patron, some merchant, prelate, or high
official, had a book printed at his own cost, and
either gave away the copies himself or left them for
the author to sell. Now there are publishers, and
publishers get rich in Greece as well as elsewhere.
They are the great fishes and the authors the little
ones (Oiron Kai aXXaxoi; of ladrat dye of pfyciXot,
gal of crtryypaybeir of piKpol lxoDr). The classics sell
well ; so do practical books--dictionaries, medical
books, law-books, and so forth. Of the means to
procure a sale for philological books of wider aim
(ra itcros rob icin<Xov roirrov oluXoXoyuca) we have a
curious account. It must be done by subscription,
and, of all the people in the world, the King's
Ministers for the time being, especially the Minister
for Foreign Affairs, are expected to collect sub-
scriptions. The Minister dees not refuse ; the pros-
pectus is printed by the King's printer, and is sent
to all the Greek consuls and agents everywhere.
The author makes his thankful bow to the Minister,
and awaits the result. But no result comes ; the
consuls writes back, or the Minister says that they
write back, that the times are bad (al taupol -eive
Xiav 86a-KoXot), that none of the people who have
been applied to have chosen to subscribe. The
author is much disappointed, but he still keeps all
his thankful feelings towards the Minister. He does
not know the secrets of the Foreign-office. But let
us suppose that all difficulties are got over and that
the book is atlast printed. Then begin other difficul-
ties on which Mr. Vretos does not hesitate to bestow
a stronger name—rare Ottar ciatCovv aXAa µapr6ma.
Some of the subscribers . won't pay ; and there is
another class of tormentors. Friends who have
shammed dead (76v veKpOv wpoo-romeems) while
the warfare—Mr. Vretos' word is orpareia—for
subscriptions are going on, now come to life again,
and ask for a copy for friendship's sake. The re-
quest is a compliment ; if you send them away, they
come again ; you must either sacrifice a copy of
your book or turn a friend into an enemy. Mr.
Vretos tells us of an author who answered in such a
case that he had no copy left. " But you must have
kept one for your own use. Lend it me." " I
can't ; it is gone to the binder." " Very well, I will
wait till it is bound." And so, a fortnight after, be
writes again for the loan, which Mr. Vretos hints
would be a loan not likely to be repaid—ZypaAke vd
rob aavetcrq (yp. xapicrg) r 6 iv Xoyte gifalov. It
must certainly be hard at this rate for a man to be
a pure " hommes de lettres," living by his pen.—
Saturday Review.

MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE.—The annual examina-
tion for open scholarships will commence on the 30th inst.
The value of senior scholarships is .£5O annuall y ; of the
J unior, £2O.