New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-03-30
NEW PUBLICATIONS

No national history bas slnereo nofe hom Ine
t,o,;,e theories of ambitious writer's than tina. OF
Greece. IL has presented fruitful theme ofc'n'
Z. n,;on 10 able and ingenious speculators bat |
wb,,e devotion to truth has often been cluded |
by their passion for victory. According to Lord !
Byron. wrath and partially are excellent qualities
in . historian. because they insure earnestne,s;
and certainly there has been 10 lack Of thos', de-
lipbtful traits ia many of the scholars who have
sonabbled over the chaotic fragments If Greek
history.
The author ofths volume il free fem the faint to
which we have Just alluded. WIFI sufficient learn
jrp. sincere love of his subject, and she power Of
lucid and vigorous expresgion, he has devoted
himself to the exposition Of facts, W til but little
regard TO prevailing hygOtheses. His work COM
psres fsvoraoly With the summaries Of Greek
Dis.oJy with which we are acquainted in any
lar ausge The American edition has been care
fully supervised by Prof FELTON,, who has added
several imports Mt chapters to the original, giving
.uccinct view of the progress Of Affairs in modern
Greece. II s intended, especially, for schools
and colleges, and is admirably adapted to that
purpose, claiming diligent attention on the part
of the pupil, bu. never rising to high. beyond
the level of Intelligent comprehension. But in
our opinion the prr cipsl value of this work, as
MANUAL CT instruction, s 10 the fac. that Pro-
f.ssor FELTON, has transformed it from u History
of Greece into History of the Greeks lie has
brought it down 10 our own day; and has shOT
us 1.-The cons of the sires," living and acting 10
the great drama of life in this its preiens and
passing scene.
Some people put faith in students like Fallner-
eyer, who, by digging mole-lke into history, thlok
they have made the astounding discovery that
there are no Greeks in the woodland cannot
be--tbst The race must be and is extinct.
Others put faith in sea captains and traders,
Hb going in ear:h Of golden heece', and trying
Mediterranean, get shorn themselves, and then
swear tt at there are Greeks and tina. they are
all thieves, cheats and vsgsbonds. But those
who have seen all the country, and all its people
the islanders and mOuDt ains ers-the pherds
ard the sailors-the kleptes and tn FananiOes-
those WHO, penetrating the interior, have kaogn
" The d rk Suliote,
In his snowy csmse and his .hslgy cipotei"
tie hardy Msinotes, who never let Turk cross
their mountain passes; the Spbaciotes who paid
the capitatiOn tax with bullets-tbose who have
eaten salt with the true Palliksri-.hey will be-
leve with Mr. FELTON,, that the CREEKS are still in
Greece without, however, believing, upon
another authority, that they are 1.-THE same
conoiHe as in the days Of The nistoclss."
He who explores the history of the past, while
maniully holding ON TO the thread of nature will
see in the present aspect and character of the in
babitsnts of Greece, that, 10 spite of all invasions
BY barbarians, in spite of long possession of the
plains by foreign races-in spite Of ages Of sub
juga,ion-tbe Greek race has been preserved
with remarkable purity. He will see, moreover,
in the bod organization, aud consequent mental
peouliarties Of the modern Greeks, a confirms.
ton of the ancient history of that remarkable
people.
This lie a matter which DR.. Smith hardly
touches. and which even Professor FeltJn does
not sufficiently dwell upon, because, as we shink,
it bas had more influence than all other causes
upon the fortunes and characters OF the people.
The Greek race, as compared with others wish
which it has been thrown in contact, Is as fine
porcelain to coaIse pottery. The Greek has a
fine organization; an absence Of lymph; a lack,
I
pOndtrance Of the nervous element in his system
He is sensitive, acute, quick and restless, but his
activity is Of the higher, not of the lower animal
nature. There is none of the Saxon bulldog
about bin. HIS animal propepsities are not
fierce; but bis intellectual faculties are restless
He burger and thirsts after knowledge.
With this key, we can understand wha! is oh.
erwise inexplicable, to wit: the wonderful prog
ress made by the people 10 every department! of
education, and without any substantial aid from
Government since they threw off the Turkish
yoke.
There is, doubtless, at this moment, more in
te.lectual activity among the million inhabitants
(more or less) of Greece proper than among any
other million of people in Europe, out ofthe great
Capital. There is, doubtless, at thi, moment,
more intellectual activity more freedom of speech
and more freedom Of the press in Athens, than in
any Continental city.
The physical and mental peculiarties of the
race explain another remarkable fact, that is,
the manifest and strorg tendency Of the Creeks
to free and representative institutions. Indiyid-
uality is very strongly developed among them
The moment the Turkish incubus was removed,
that moment the tendency of the people to free
Institutions manifested itself; they at once, and
as a matter Of course, elected representatives to
locsl and general assemblies; and Greece at this
moment would be federal republic-qu.rre-
some, perhaps, but ,tll republican-were it not