Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1829-11-19

June luN AVt"
s,..,l.meN.--va my last letters from the ISL
and OF Egina, Informed you OF my pro-
csedlnrs, and gave you the details OF the
work which I was then conducting tor the
public benefit, by means Of the labor OF the
p"or. ThNt work Il now finished; by Il !
have given direct support to about one thou.
snnd noor, during the four winter months,
They worked chcerGOly, ate their bread IN
low, from having (partly at least) earned It;
ihcy PASSED the rough winter, when they
could have found no other employ, easily
and In comfort, and the result Is highly
useful and ornamental quay, which VIII re-
main for ares a monument at the generosity
Of tho American community
A for the merits Of tho work, It IS not TOR
me TO speak you may learn the public op'n-
ion Of L from the newspapers here; It Is
enough for me to have applied the means en-
trusted 10 nv charge In a manner advantNg.
pous 10 the poor; if pablic gOod has been
done at the same time, so much the better, 1t
not, nothing has been lost, for have given
the -four to the poor; aud hold that they
had better have been employed In the build
ing Of stone walls, and pulling them down
again than being fed In idlcness; for idlcness
is tho devils strongest weapon. The time OF
excessive want, mean Of that almost entire
deprivation Of the means OF livelihood which
caused the death Of so many poor, is now
past. And IN those parts which are freed
hOm the Turks, the inhabitants find sUbsist-
ence, poor enough indeed, as yet, but suiii-
cicnt to keep body and soul together until the
time Of the harvest. Not SO the inhaO'tants
az those pavts still subject to the enemy, and
who ara living in exile IN the free provinces,
such arc the Sciotes, the Anaotes, the
AtheniRns, SC. whose lot Is indeed miserable
and to whose relief have applied the larger
part Of the means committed to my charge.
The winter being past, my next plan was to
employ a number Of these poor families IN
agriculture. After little tour OF observa-
tiOn I fixed upon this place, as the best cal
culatcd on the whole, for the establishment
Of colony of poor. | therefore made a
formal demand on the Greek Government for
n grant of fve thousand stremmata Of ma
tloHal land, free from al tax Of whatever
kind. for the term Of Ave years. This was
Immediately granted, and selected twenty
ak families from Scio, Avail, and Athens,
then brought the men with me, and in u
(ew DAYS put up some huts; they then
brought up their families and established
themselves here. All then went to work at
cultvating the earth, and I procured about
two hundred Of the poor who were wander:
INK about COeinth In idleness, and commenced
building houses for the colonists. deter
mined to give each family house Tor hut as
YOU would call them y and as tho founda-
lions of the old houses remained, and the
fallen walls were beside them, and since the
earth mixed with water makes very good
cement for building, there was little to do that
could not be- done by the poor; they mix the
mortar, or mud, bring the stones, cut and
bring the wood, and are paid merely as much
bread as they can live upon. Thus little is !
expended except upon the poor.
The families comprising the colony were
employed In agriculture and though We ar
rived late In the season, they have already
PLANTED about 200 stremmata with Indian
corn and cotton. have been obliged to buy
oxen. to make tools, and to furnish every
hing 10 the colonists for they had sold
m. even to their tools, to buy bread.
rhe agreement have made with them 10 to
Grnish them with seed, cattle, instruments Of
agriculture, and rations for their families, at
he rate Of one half an oche Tor pound and
hirdl Of corn meal per day for each mem
er Of the family, until the harvest, which is
0 be equally div ided between them and the
nanager Of the colony-their half to go for !!
heir own support, the other to liqudate the .
Expenses Of the cultivation, and to support
TIERS anus tney i've uUt uusy SWueeOseuy
mt happily for they have the prospect Of
aryest that will put them on their feet
gain, in the world. They labor, men and
women, In the fields; and as every family
has Ito land separate, and cultivates as much
q Il can, emulation IL excited amongst them,
,ince he who cultivates most will have the
most to receive.
They were but yesterday destitute. ragged
and hungry, they arc now busily and happily
AZ work Ior themselves and for the benefit Of
other pOor-they areearning their daily bread.
and enjoying rational prospect OF soon be-
coming J}orekGnded In the world; they know
they owe all this to the American charity
and they are grateful for It.
One Of my first cares was the establish
msnt of q school, and having been lucky
enough to end young Greek who had ac-
CURED good knowledge Of the Lancasterian
system at the Borough Road School in Eng
land, and who being Ia distressed circumstan-
ces was very glad to undertake the task Of
instructing here, and he has now snug little
schoOl with thirty-fve scholars: only two Of
them knew their letters when they began. but
now we hear them repeating over alpha, beta,
gamma, delta. a. they run about, and they
play ut making letters in the sand when out |
OF school. This little school Is my iavOrite |
retreat; and when any petty Greek trick. or
any attempt TO impose upon me has ruflled
my temper, retire to 1t, and Immediately all
my disgust Is gone. and all my hopes and
n Al