The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-04-10

the Sultan's Nose Than Do Him
Reverence-He Never Paid Taxes
and Would Not Care to Do So Un-
der New Conditons-He Has But
Two Aspirations.
To the casual visitor, the casual coun-
try Cretan seems a very fine specimen of
a man, and uncommonly naughty. His
flash dress has something to do with this
impression, and his flash moustache,
arrogant manner in riding, and the
armory of weapons with which he loves
to bedizen him all deepen the impress
sion. What are you to think of a man
who wears red fez with long, flow-
ing tassel, a lavender-colored waistcoat
with about hundred silver buttons to
it; red sash to his waist, with silver
handled pistols in it, as we'll as sill 5cr-
handled dagger; enormous blue cotton
trousers, stuffed at the knees into yell
low jack boots; about three yards Of
silver chains festooned across his waist
VOoC, C1Au 6OAu AAuno III IAO WVAA-A 0aASA
shirt, the front Of which is largely dis
played by his open waistcoat? Zach
men are as common as olives in Crete,
writes a Queen correspondent. They do
not look at all oppressed, and the hum
BILE stranger brought up in quiet and
civilized country is glad when he has
passed them by without being required
to sacrifice either his cash or his self
esteem. To see them prancing into Her.
acleon or Canea, along the few miles Of
high road in the outskirts of these towns
you would imagine they were dominant
despots of the old school. As for show.
ing the sultan himself any reverence if
they were to meet him, they would far
sooner tweak his nose. And yet, If they
feel ill, they are more prone to ask a
"wise woman" than certified physician
to heal them; and, though so persist
emily (indeed, from many aspects, ad-
mirably) determined to get free from the
Moslem rule, they do not perceive that
an enlightened government will put bur-
dens upon those naughty backs of theirs
to which for generation or so they
have been unaccustomed. One cannot
help sympathizing with Crete in it's ar
dor for autonomy or union with Greece,
but if either is destined to arrive, one
will watch with extreme interest for the
first of the series of intestine revolts of
new kind which may be foretold for
it. The Cretan Christians have been
born and bred up in manly and nat
ural atmosphere of battle and the
breeze" combined with an intense ha-
tired of taxation and an inherent dis
taste for the manners and costumes of
the rest of Europe. They will buckle
down with difficulty to the restraints of
civilization, and, or we err, loudly mock
at it's so-called blessings.
One can hardly imagine tanned and
peaceful Sphakia, in the villages OF
which the district tax collector will he
welcomed with respectful good morn.
ing" They never have paid taxes in
these tremendous mountains, and never
have resigned their independence. It
has, since the time of Metellus Creticus,
been traditional with them to fight with
the utmost confidence for the preserva-
tion Of their liberties. The mountains
themselves have been their faithful ally
as we'll as their much-beloved, though
sterile, home. The Venetians gave
them up as bad job; and the Turks
have had to be content, on the whole,
to terrorize the highlanders by cutting
the throats of the dwellers in the plains.
Now and then Moslem armies and block,
houses have exercised brief and Dhan
tasmal sort Of authority from Omalo to
Rumeli; but this has gradually glided
into nothingness under stress of Moslem
weakness elsewhere, the mountain in
clemency, and the superiority In numbers
and personal prowess of the Sphakiots
themselves. No Turks life has been
worth living in Sphakia this many
year, nor, indeed, has he had the chance
of living it long. The Sphakiot exists
with Spartan simplicity. AS in the time
of the Venetians, so now; he relies upon
his focks and herds for the basis of his
diet. He is made up of two principal
aspirations. The one is fiery yearning
and resolve to exact vengeance year az
ter year for the lives of his clan and
dear ones who anciently or recently fell
at the hands of the Turk. His second
aspiration is first his inherited desire to
maintain the liberty he has received as
the first of blessings from his forefath-
ers. He owes allegiance to no one; is
under obligation to bow his proud head
and flowing moustache to no man on
earth.
As for the moral qualities of the Gre
tans, it we're perhaps charitable not to
ask to much from people raised in
the miserable atmosphere Of craft, ty-
ranny, lust, and mendaclty that has been
theirs this any number of years. It is
something that they are courageous.
Industrious one cannot call them, but
then why should they be, seeing that
they have had no assurance Of personal
profit commensurate with their indus
try? It is in their blood to be credulous
a.