The Sun.
London, England, 1827-07-05 00:00:00

THE GREEK SEN \ TE.

ISLAND OF Porvy:. 20.—1 n one of
my late letters, I promised to give you some
description of Thamala (ancient Trnzene),
where the new Government of Greece met for the
first time, about seven weeks ago, and have con-
tinued to assemble every day since. All the
members assemble under a lemon grove every
forenoon at eleven. Round this lemon grove are
benches placed circularly, on which the members
sit. In the centre is a small table, opposite to
which sits the President. Whenever the argu-
ment becomes warm between opposite parties
(and this is the case every five minutes), the
President rings a bell which lies on the table,
and calls the parties to order. This bell is very
necessary, for it would frequently be impossible
for the President to make himself heard without
it, so powerful are the lungs of some of the de-
bating gentlemen. No member or deputy is al-
lowed to come to the assembly with any weapon
whatever ; he is not even allowed to bring his
pipe. Were it not for this wise precaution,
many heads would frequently be broken, and
lives lost. These gentlemen are rarely satisfied
with venting their ire in abuse. If any one
oppose them in their arguments, they become
s
quite furious, and there being no laws to re-
train their passions within moderation, they
would frequently lay violent hands on each other,
if the measures taken by the present Government
lead not deprived them of the means. Of this they-
are themselves so well aware, that they all una-
nimously agreed that no person should be allowed
to enter the assembly even with a stick. The
various dresses of the members, the, chiefs, and
the deputies from the different islands, present
to the eye such a motley and extraordinary ap-
pearance, that it would be impossible for me to
describe my sensations on first entering the as-
sembly. Certain lam that such a variegated
exhibition was never before seen by any of the
Philhellenes present. Altogether it was a very
lively, interesting scene, and I was highly
pleased with it. There was, a few days back, a
very serious and warm debate, at which I was
present. There were many speeches made on
the occasion which would not have disgraced
a British Senate. The cause of this debate
was this : there are deputies sent to the assem-
bly from all those islands in the Archipelago
which remain in the possession of the Greeks.
Syra, and one or two more still continue to
nay tribute to the Turks, yet notwithstanding
his, they send deputies to the assembly the same a
r'rom the other islands. These deputies gave
as much voice in the assembly as those sent from
Hydra? Spezzia, &c. Now, Syra has never given
one shilling towards the Greek cause, or assisted
it in any way ; whereas the other islands, and
particularly the two mentioned above, have for
,ome time been the prop of their declining cause.
The Hydriots, Spezziots, and the other depii-
ies, are, therefore, very indignant that the votes
of the deputies from Syra should have as much
weight as their's. This occasioned a very warm
debate, and would have ended like an Irish lark,
namely, in the loss of a few lives—had not the
contending parties been deprived of every means
e
of defence and offence save their bunch of fives,
at which the Greeks are not very expert. The
weather,
question was, however, ultimately decided in :tie
favour of the Syra deputies, to the no, small
Imemorntinficgratoioven
taondprinutsetetintdhiegnmaftrirojninoftht: v
,e oppo-
siteathr,
e
parties. There is no tent emetd in the
but all is transacted in the opn air. If the weather
small building in the
-11
is bad, they assemble
b I,e2a
ap,
te rs
once.o s ; but
Theundernt er lemonvei s g
situater o ve,
j,
Cnly room enough to contain
village, witere there is
till 5v
aOl
eeyh i
ferfos ,n t
nr igv att ehse, a
sneda eapnudt i e ,
iiltisiois'eaaomv:be e as euet
builtexe
oft
extreme
coummt baene_d foundhaiduwretchedness,spe
si inec
ye iost
uof t
rock. foraln 0 t dogela
about a quarter of a mile from the village—
c
ll
which, by the by, is a most wretched hole ; there
dll
hay r, eaA
andbpi lul place
they sur-
pass any thing I have yet seen. They are now
occupied by Colocotroni's troops. Th am al
on the main, about six miles from Poros, on the
road to Athens from the former place. Its situ-
ation is beyond description beautifulin
;
is
the middle of a splendid valley, abounding with
lemon groves, figs, olives, almonds, hazel nuh,
ii
oranges, grapes, &c. This v?..iley is at least ten
dirt,tki
hse enhmal
filth,
miles in length, and in sor .ie places one and two
broad. It is private p.operty, having been pur-
chased of the Gov-0
rnment by Colocotroni, for
the paltry sum (A. 5001.
Except the vineyards,
there is 1 scavcP
, - y any cultivation to be seen in
this fertile and magnificent valley. All is wild,
unassisted nature. Of course there is some
little attention requisite to pay to the lemon,
groves, some of which are three miles in extent.

ATROCIOUS CRUELTY.—On the 20th ult.
commenced at. Nantes the trial of Peter nerve
and Anne Mercier, his second wife, accused of
the murder of Margaret Herve, the daughter of
the male prisoner by a former wife. The cir-
cumstances of the case, as contained in the in.
dictment, are of the most cruel and revolting
nature. Margaret Herve, being dangerously ill,
was asked by her father if she rould not leave
her property to him, in preference to her maternal
relations. To this she consented, and a notary
atuitou:sl , leer
was sent for, who drew up her will. From that
,l'uairildneto.
wash Brat
of the Ilefigia,
moment Herve and his wife treated her in the
cruellest manner—she was forced to swallow cie,,,
~
bOurs taking compassion on her, offerw)
ehxercrienn
her
rs
illness,
Idese s
—1 to tend
y
linen. These offers were ' •' -
. .. .
re' by Herve and
his wife, who t, *- no only menaced, but as-
saulted, those 'persons who came to their
1
daughter, '7l
ley were often heart to regret
th
r,
4 -
un_n Fr at s'.e was not yet dead. Ir. the beei i .-,
est .
~, January Herve and his v.7ife, to hasten, as
it would appear, this emit, removed the un-
fortunate girl from the
house into a pig-sty, which
was but imperfectly closed by a crazy old door.
Here the food of the girl was of the worst de-
scription ; and, in quantity, scarcely sufficient to
sustain life. Her cries and moans were heard
but such was the ' •
by all the neighbourhood ,
ror inspired by Herve and his wife, that .„ one
At length the Mayor of
dared go near her.
of
the circumstance,
went being informed
went with several other persons, on the 29th of
' nerves house. WI
January, to len the door of
the pig-sty was opened, the stench that issued
forth was so Net' , that no one dared enter for
some time. There,
upon a beau of humid and
rotten straw, and surrounded_ 'h filth, wit lay the
wretched girl. The A
floor was so damp that the
feet sunk into it. The poor girl was conveyed
to one of the neighbouring houses, where, on,
the 17th of February, she expired. The ply -
sicians declared that the miserable state in which
she had been allowed to remain—the cold, and
want of proper nourishment, had aggravated the
symptoms of her disease, and mainly contributed
to its fatal result. The trial, it is supposed,
will last several clays,