The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-09 00:00:00

THE MURDERS IN GREECE.

•
OFFICIAL AMOUNT 01 THE MASSACRE.
At length we have full details, in efii2ial despatehe.
from Mr. Erskine, the English ambassador at Athens,
of the massacre in Greece. The previous voluminous cor
respondence which has been published has described only
the capture by the brigands, and the negotiatiom
which took place previously to the murders, whilst
there was hope of the safe recovery of the prisoners. The
first despatch published in this fifth batch of letters is
dated April 27, and is concerned only with telegraphic
errors. The second is dated April 28, and describes the
funeral of the victims. In this letter Mr. Erskine
says:—" His Hellenic Majesty has since called on
Mrs. Lloyd to expi css the grief with which
he had learnt her bereavement, and nothing can exceed
the kindness and sympathy he has shewn to all who are
affected by this terrible event. From what his Majesty
said, both to me and to Mrs. Lloyd, I infer that it is his
Majesty's intention to provide amply for the family of
the late Mr. Lloyd, and 1 am satisfied that it may safely
be left to his Majesty to deteriniie in what way this
intention inay most satisfactorily be carried into effect."
The third dispatch from Mr. Erskine is accompanied by
numerous enclosures. It also is dated April loth. Mr.
Erskine says :—" No satisfactory evidence has yet been
produced as to the immediate cause of the collision with
the trouns. The only living witnesses of what occurred
at Sy) nenon on the afternoon of the 21st instant
are a "Dragoman Alexander and the five brigands who
are _e-. under examination, and whose depositions, or a
surin—Ary of them, I shall forward to yoUr Lordship hue-
after. Nor' ant I aware of the existence of any testimony
by an eye-witness as to the circumstances under Which the
captives were murdered, with the exception of Colonel
Theagenis' report sent herewith. -Mr. Herbert and Mr.
Lloyd were found lying dead, about twenty yards apart,
near and on this side oi Dilessi ; that is to say, almost
exactly on the line of boundary between Attica and
Bceotia, five or six miles from Oropos. Both gentlemen
had been stabbed repeatedly in the back, and Mr. Her-
bert had received cuts from a sabre or yataghan about
the head and arm, besides three gunshot wounds through
the body. Mr. Lloyd, in addition to three wounds in the
back, was shot behind the neck, and must have died in-
stantaneously. Little or nothii°, is yet known as to the
last moments of Mr. Vyner and Count de Boyl, beyond
the fact that their bodies were discovered some way be-
yond Dilessi, on the way to Sclijmitari. Mr. Vyner was
shot through the heart, and must have died instantly. I
infer that he was killed by the brigands, as a pistol ball,
which caused his death, dropped frwu his clothes on board
the Cockatrice, and is now in the possession of Mr.
Watson. It is hardly conceivable that the troops were
sufficiently close to use their pistols."
The first en closure with this despatch is dated April 21,
the day of tin nurders. it is from Mr. Erskine to Mr.
Herbert, am) till discusses the chance of the brigands
accepting j ~;runs as the Greek Government coud be
induced I . The idea of a special court of assize at
Oropos tc ./ the brigauds is, says Mr. Erskine, altoge-
ther on! _ae question. " There remains, therefore, the
t exile in a British vessel, and although I have nut
a word on the subject from Lord Clarendon, 1 authorise
you and Noel to propose to them to embark immediately
on board the 'Cockatrice,' Commander I'rowse, now here.
The ransom would be on- board, and would be given at
once into their custody. I would give them a paper in
.the most authentic form in which it can be drawn up,
pledging the honour of the British Government to their
being conveyed safely to Malta (or wherever
else they may select, but I cannot think of
any country that would receive them), whence
they would be at liberty to go with their ill-
gotten wealth wherever they pleased. I need hardly
tell you that they would be disarmed, but you need say
nothing of this. Very possibly 1 may be disavowed and
blamed for this, but there is no time to discuss the matter
with Lord Clarendon and shew him the urgency of the
case, and I must take my chance. We are even thinking
of sending the Cockatrice'. to-Morrow with the ransom,
and perhaps it might tempt Tako, .if you took him on
board and let hint see it, leaving your companions to
answer for the realisation of our promises."
Then follow extracts from the notebook of Mr.
Lloyd, one of the victims. There is nothing par-
ticularly noticeable in the extracts, save that the robbers
seem to have amused themselves pretty liberally with
music and dancing. The captives got hard fare, and the
lodging seems to have been of the most indifferent kind.
There is also a letter from Mr. Vyner to Lord Muncaster
written apparently early on the morning of the murders.
Mr. Vyner says :—" Tell Mr. Erskine 1 only wrote it be-
cause 1 thought that, coming from a private source, it
might do good, and not from any want of con-
fidence in him, to whom lam deeply grateful. Would it
be possible to prevent the soldiers molesting us in Attica or
some line drawn a little further north? as I have the
• faintest of hopes that, their progress being arrested north,
and being forced to remaie here, they might come to our
terms sooner. They have a horror of prison—mistrusting
the Greek Government; but they have a full trust in the
English Government, and put more trust in Erskine's pass
than anything else. They urge that a Court should be
sent here. is this an evasion of law?"

The next enclosure is a letter from Mr. Noel to Mr.
Erskine, dated April 22. It is written from Chalchis,
and relates the dismal intelligence of the murder. " The
sad news, of which you are fully acquainted, reached us
at twelve o'clock last night. The death of the captives
was certain, as I. previously wrote, the moment the troops
came into collision with the brigands. Before leaving
yesterday morning the two brigand chiefs promised me to
accept the proposition of being conveyed away in an
-English man-of-war if their other propositions failed.
This adds to the sadness of the case ; for had the
Government suspended all hostilities for only a few days
longer, everything would have been arranged satisfac-
torily. I was with the captives up to seven o'clock
yesterday morning, and had the Nomarch, whose note I
enclose, been snore active, I might have been back in
time to prevent the collision with the troops. As soon as
I-returned from Oropos yesterday my boat was arrested
and boatmen threatened with being fined by the Telones,
because I had departed last Tuesday without his leave.
If you require any further particulars on this melancholy
subject I shall be glad to supply them."
l'ollowing this is a repert from Colonel Theag6nis,
whom the Greek Government had sent to treat with the
brigands. He describes the whole affair :—" This
morning, in obedience to the orders of the Go-
vernment, I betook myself to the village of
Dilessi, with the object of arriving at- an
understanding with Captain Apostolides and Liacopoulos
on the measures which we must take to surround the vil-
lage of Oropos. To that end, and with the advice of
Captain Apostolides, I told Captain Liacopoulos to
advance with the armed force under his orders.
We were in hopes of being able to surround
Oropos before the departure of the brigands; fcr we be-
lieved that they would attempt their departure during the
night. But, contrary to our expectation, the brigands set
themselves to prepare for their departure about
two o'clock in the afternoon. As soon as I
was informed of this by a man whom I had sent on pur-
pose, I countermanded my former despatch to Captain
Liacopoulos, the circumstances being changed, and re-
quested him to post his soldiers in the neighbourhood
of Sycamino where the brigands intended to
pass. In the meantime I and Captain Apostolides
with all the force we had with us marched towards Orapoa,
But on the way we were informed by some villagers of
Sycamino that the brigands of Oropos' had just been seen
news their village, after having traversed the RiverAsopos,
and in consequence of that information we were obliged
to change our plan, and likewise go towards Sycamino,
with the intention ofi surrounding the brigands. Never,
timeless the river Asopos had so swollen in consequence of
the late rains, that even the horsemen could hardly get
across it. This delay allowed the brigands to gain ground
in flying towards 'Alessi. The soldiers pursued without,
however, arriving at an engagement, on account of the
distance which separated them ; only a few musket shots
were fired at intervals by the robbers, In passing Syca.
mino the brigands carried off with them several villagers ;
theyalso compelled their unhappy prisoners to accompany
them on foot. It appears that their plan was to place
themselves in shelter, whilst exposing their captives to
the fire of the soldiers. But the villagers soon escaped,
and only the captives remained with the marauders. As
they approached Dilessi, and as the prisoners, worn out by
fatigue, could not follow them, the brigands first killed
the two Secretaries of Legation, and thn the other two
Englishmen. Exasperated by this massacre, the soldiers
opened fire, and killed the chief, Christo Arvaniti, and
six other brigands, besides wounding another, who was
made prisoner, "There is reason to believe that
others have fallen ; but a minute search for their bodies
has not yet been made, In any case the band of the
Arvanitei has Seriously suffered, having lost its chief, and
the most distinguished of its partisans," Colonel
Th6a,g6.nia adds ; Whilst the brigands appeared in souse
way tranquil and hopeful at Oropos, the appearance of
the steamer seems to have excited their fears and suspi-
cions, which hastened their departure at an unexpected
hour and caused our plan of surrounding Qropos to fail."
Added is a report of Dr, bolton on the bodies. Mr.
Herbert and Mr, Loyd were wounded in several places,
by swords and gunshets. Mr. Vyner was shot through
the heart, and must have died instantly. Count lioyj
was wounded by shot in two places.
It would appear that the above information still leaves
some explanation needed in respect of the actual cause
Which led to the attempt to surround the brigands,

THE LOST DIAMOND.—It has been generally
to the Manchester Royal Exchange that any
consideaed a point of honour and of duty an-10.112*st the
subscribers
sum of money or other valuabk property found within
the precincts of the Ill;xelhmge should be at once delivered
to the master of the room, in order that he might en-
deavour to find the owners, and property to
a very considerable amount has beeu thus restored
to its owners. It seems, 114yty___I
OA
VA' all men
do not view their obliptions to the saute light • About a
fo
r t igl
the Excha.nge had the mis-
fortunefrom a ring which he wore, and
to
earw a
a suabiasat to
as the
stone was valued at £lOO a very anxious search was
made for it. As the loser had washed his hands in the
lavatory on the day when the gem was missed, he
very naturally suspected that the loss had taken place
there, and in addition to a careful examinstion o the
room the discharge pipes from the basins were opened
up, but nothing could he found. The loser then thought
it necessary to offer a reward of for the recovery of
the diamond, and then another subscriber, whose sense
of honour had, no doubt, been moved by the public an-
nouncement of the loss, promptly produced the stone,
and " sacked " the £2O. The I\.lasti:r of the room, im-
pressed by the peculiar sense of honour displayed by the
finder, thought itexpedient to institute an inquiry into
his antecedents in the small matter of paying subscrip-
tions to the rooni, the result of which was a demand for
the immediate payment of arrears of subscriptions for
three years, with the intimation that, if not so paid, an
action would be brought too-recever the amount. The
subscriber; nil doubt, by the same sense of
honour I,vlAlch Tad prompted him to restore the diamond,
promptly complied with the demand " and paid his nine
gltuteits.",—Mancliester alfgrai44,