The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-14 00:00:00

CANDIA.

We publish the following proclamation of the In-
s irget.t. Cretans, or Candiots, without comment.
Peoclt mation of the Cretan Exiles on returning to
Crete.—(Translatiou.)
. .

Cretan Fellow-Countrymen !—Ten whole years have
a'ready passed since the time when breathing the air of
freedom, and masters of all our native land, except a
fee for tresses, with joy and gladness we saw that at last
our a lent endurance and our inappreciable, and inde-
scribable sacrifices were rewarded by our emancipation.
That joy and satisfaction caused us then to forget the
great and unheard of woes we suffered during the
period of the long and bloody war, we no longer called'
to mind the atrocious murdering of our bishops and
priests at the commencement of the Revolution, nor the
slaughter of our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, re-
lations, and friends ; nor the enslavement and dishonour
of our wives and children, nor indeed the other mise-
r:es, which, with unexampled fortitude, we endured in
the mountains and caves, though sinking daily under
the weight of our woes. That sole sensation of joy
possessed cur souls, when suddenly, and against the ex-
pectation of ourselves, and all who had known our suf-
ferings, the feeling of delight was changed to unutter-
able affliction and despair.
The voice of nations who, like ourselves, serve the
Prince of Justice and Freedom, Jesus Christ, of nations
who sacrifice all for thtir independence and their rights
and who arc ready to incur any danger rather than see
these attacked, the voice of these nations commanded
us again to bow the neck to the yoke of shameful sla-
very after our own hands alone had broken it asunder.
This voice was so mghty that we were of necessity
obliged to obey, but in yielding to force, we never re-
nounced our recovered rights; these rights are and remain
inalienable, as long as one alone of us remain alive and
or e drop of blood circulate in our veins ; and for this
reason we pretested in the clearest manner against the
measure in the well-known acts of the Certan Council
dated 23d November 1830.;
Thetiee begins an epoch of new woes for our unfor-
tunate countrymen in the intervsl of these ten years,
we have seen and sufNed much both from Christians
and Turks. We have seen nearly introduced into Crete
the system of monopoly which has rendered the Egyp-
tians the most wretched people of the earth ; we have
seen fifty-twl of our most distinguished and worthiest
fellow-countrymen executed by hanging at one time,
when in the most peaceable and lawful manner we
met together to ask a remedy for these evils ; we have
seen forcible conscriptions in Crete, and nearly ell the
conscripts were sacrificed in the war, to gratify the
insatiable avarice and ambition of the Satrap of
E,ty?t. But why attempt to tell what is indescribable !
The poverty and nakedness which during this period has
been spre id over our country, naturally so rich—do they
not proclaim, more clearly than any other voice, the
lawlessness, violence, and inhumanity of the Turkish
Government? All these things, however, we patiently
suffered in the constant hope thet the mighty of the
earth would at length feel sensible of the great injus-
tice which they had commit t, d against a Christian and
long-seffering people.. But alas ! the voice, it seems,
of the injured, either has not force to reach their ears,
or it is not strong enough to touch their hearts. As it
we were African slaves, they take us from the one and
sell us to the other despotic master, vtithout being
moved by our sufferings, without regarding ou rights,
and without even giving us the smallest notice.
Finding ourselves then in this condition, most unjustly
used, most contemptuously treated, thrown aside as if
of no value, and menaced moreover with the pro-
spects of seeing again renewed in our country, the
tragic scenes previous to 1821, through which Crete
was made to resemble a butchery, where the Chris-
tians were daily slain without pity by the Turks, reflec-
ting further on the moral and physical condition of
ourselves and our children, as every rational man has a
right ; we new take for the fourth time our arms in
our hands, with the view not of revenging the insults
and tyranny, and murders, before the revolution, not of
seeking to expiate the innocent blood of our Clergy.
and of so many other honourable men of Crete
which in the beginning and continuance of the In-
surrection, was shed in streams by lawless and brutal
hands, without resistance and without cause ; not to
seek plunder by seizing the property of another, of
whatever race or religion he may be, not to attack the
find recision of the Five Great Powers (for the ques-
tion is of Rights which were now before those decisions
were come to, and which were indirectly recognised by
the Powers themselves, when they made us over, not to
the Government of the Sultan against which we fought,
but to that of the Satrap of Egypt). No ! for none of
the above objects do we now take up arms, but we take
them, and with them in
re
in
zouart Powershandsto
of Europe;unitecryourand
ior
justice, for humanity, and for political exiistence ; full
of confidence that the
particularly the three Powers
, thewho three
rendered justice
Greatticeto
our Greek brothers and fellow combatants, and who
raised Greece into a Kingdom,
Franee,- and Russia, will at least acknowlege
our indisputable rights, and will intervene where it be-
hoves, so that we may be relieved from our present hu-
miliating position, ind that our freedom and self-go-
vernment may be granted to us.
Having now Stated the strong and just reasons which

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