The times., 1897-03-28

rem site. In the earlier decades OF the pres
ent century there remained only ruins tnda
wreuched hamlet of barely 800 hutS For
something like thousand years Greece had
been little more than a memory, her ter
ritory almost unyisited her national iden-
tity extinguished-though her history and
literature were eagerly studied iB all the
universities of Europe
To this widespread reverence for
past which her own people had in part for
gotten-for they were under the blight OF
ignorance and oppressiOn-She chiefly owes
her restoration TO place among the na-
tions In 1921 she revOlted against Turkish
tyranny Atrocities like these recently per
pe5rated in Armenia followed, and in $50
Ibrahim Pasha overran Peloponnesns with
an army of Egyptian slaves driven To battle
under the lash. In the ordinary course Of
events, despite some gallant fighting. the
rebellion would soon have been stafnped"ut
in blood and punished by yet more cruel
bondage. But the sympath!es Of al Fu-
rope had been aroused; the name OF Heilas
was potent throughout the civilized world.
Dead poets and buried orators were plead
ing for her, and the living took up the strain;
Byron not only lifted up his voice, but laid
down his lIfe. Finally sentiment triunphed
over policy The same Slow-mOying pow
ers'' in whose teeth she has SO lately cast
her defiance. at last brought their cannon
to bear in her defense and interpGsed
to secure her independence. Never had the
shades of her heroes won q more signal
victory.
Their influence has been dominant in
Greek affairs ever since. That alone has
made Athens the capital of the new Hellas;
apart from sentiment it is not the natural
metropolis OF the country. But the ruins
which crown the Acropolis have raised
about them q beautiful city which VIII
ever be the Mecca of students and the Eye
of Greece"
Some have disputed the claim Of this
people to their heritage, and deny that
they are true descendants of the Greeks
of old. OF course their blood is not pure
the blood Of no nation remains unaduite-
rated through the varied fortunes of a
period of two thousand years; bat believe
that the people of Greece today are quite
as truly Greek as the English for example,
are o-Saxon Yet who would dare
controvert the claim of the great Anglo
Saxon race TO their boasted title? 1t
is their hirthright, and is not vitiated by
tile fact that their blood has been largely
mingled with that of the Dane, the Norman,
the Frenchman, and the Celt Neither does
IL considerable admiXture OF Albanian, Sla-
vonian, and wallachian stock void the birth
right of the modern Greek; and if his pre-
tension were as false as it is Just, it
would still be wen TO Countenance and en-
courage it. When we consider that the
fervent patriotism and national pride TO
which it has given rise have enabled a
down-troddcn race of serfs to become a
spirited, progressive, self-reSpeCting peO-
pie, it certainly seems worthy OF all COM
mendatlon. These classic ghosts have done
q noble work.
Perhaps the most remarkable fact aboIt
the Greece of today is the survival of its
ancient language. Not that ii is IN
changed-but the wonder is that there is
SO little change; and with greater fa-
miliarity the marvel grows. New words,
OF course, have entered, and the grammar
has suffered such notifications as are
seen in all modern tongues; but when once
YOU have surmounted the barrier raised
by our arbitrary and artificial method OF
i pronunciation, you perceive that there is
quite as much Attic in the speech OF
Athens as Saxon in the speech Of Lon
don. The modern Athenian can read
the Had with much less study than the
Lon(loner can read the Beowulf, that SO.
called 'Anglo-Saxo epic"-aad the i'm
piled comparison is calculated to make
one bow his head i'll shame; r-hlls tho
| Atbenian can read the Greek New T.st,l