The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-17

All nations honor an honorable past
 with respect for the traditions and
 laudation of the achievements of their
 fathers. and q lands self-written his-
 tory generally tcems with reference to those essentials upon which is founded
 its present stability and it's creed and
 lines of thought. But no people more conspicuouslg cxeinplify this fact talan
 those of the island of Crete. which.
 within the last few years. has come
 through trial of centuries into an
 independence of it's own.
 Renowned as the birthplace Of Jupi-
 ter and seemingly for that reason ep-
 titled to exemption from many of the
 ills that befall other lands. its iot
 hns been hard one. With glorious
 uas;. frightened with an earlier ac-
 quaintance with the arts and scienccy
 than was possessed by equally ancient
 neignoors. Crete has been subJeeteu v
 wlrs and sduabbles. has been fough
 for and traded, has been fought agatnst
 and conquered. has been sbarEained for
 aud sold mas been transferred from
 the oppression of one oppressor to tnat
 of another It would seem that the
 people TOW would glory above all m
 their present and the hopeful future
 but the pride of the Crete In what has
 been will not down, and he p.ungrs
 into his history and Into his mythoi.
 ogy. and unearths longAburied ruins or
 uegal splendor to illustrate to the
 world the ma galficence of the past.
 In no other form does he bring back
 these memories more forcibly than ID
 his posta ge stamps. which. according
 to Il late writer Of note, constitute
 more than any other agency an lnaeN
 of q peoples ideals. The United states
 pictures on her stamps Washington, Franklin and other famous men Of her
 early history and recent past who nave
 served their country well. En ngiand
 exhibits almost without exception the
 portrait of the reigning sovereign and
 her colonies follow suit. Greece mas made a speciality of Mercury, partic- ularly appropriate subject Tn tiustfa' tion of the postal system.
 4 But Crete goes extensively Into my thology and her stamp issues since ner accession to the Independence in 1900 have shown not only Mercury. but Jupiter, Juno. Minos. Talos, Ariadns. | Britomartis and other gods and god- ! desses of might and r:putc. Almost in every instance the likenesses or these pathological characters are from ancient coins of the land, and besides the 'fndiyldual interest they possess, are accounted works of art of no mean 1 distinction, and of exceptional beauty. Mercury appears upon the one-lepta ] stamp of Crete's 1900 issue. The ple- | lure SttOMS tHG 6Ou auJoSNtHS A'S S~N"f 1 daIs preparatory to executing the or i der of the olymplan gods to carry to 1 the distant island of Calypso the man. | date of Jupiter for the deliverance or | Ulysses. Back of him is suspended 1 the petasus. the Chalnlys hangs from his shoulder, while temporarily rest {. ing on A stone Is the caduceus. the whole scene being beautifully described
 in Iomer's Odyssey. V. 44-49. The stamp of 1-drachma of the same 1 issue showed Talos. the bronse-winged guardian of the island. who three times a day made tour of all Crete to exe- cute the orders of King Mlnos.
 Juno. regarded as the personification of Crete. was portrayed on the stamp | of lepta.
 As an expression of the principles upon which 1t was desired modern Crete should he governed 1t was de- creed that one stamp should represent Mlnos the wisest and most just and good of all kings, and the symbol. since the date of hts reputed reign l,4oe years before tho Christian era, of the wei. I.adnlinistcred government. The flaws of .Mipos were adopted hy Lycur- gus, so that Crete was really the chan -nel through which the civilization of the east was transferred to Europe. So righteous was Minos that it Is averred that upon his death the gods made him one of the three Judges or the realms of shade.
 To typify their release from a for eign yoke and jointly pay tribute to
 their hero. Prince George of Greece.
 the Cretans injected a Christian idea into their interesting stamp salon. rep- resentipg St. George on horseback
 slaying the dragon. The original in- spiration for tho design selected for this stamp. is said to have been the frIeze of the Parthenon. now In the British Museum.
 Crete did not depart from her first
 stamp designs until 1905. in the mean.
 time having joined the Universal Pos
 tai Union. The stamps under the new
 order of things continued in the main
 the fnythoiosical representations, and
 these rcprcse nations. like the drst, were from ancient and highly cher
 ished designs,
 That of ? lcpta. for instance. was
 from the great Mycenean seal from
 Cnossos. It represents the great god
 dess of the Myceneans standing upon
 the sacred mountain and holding in
 her hand seepter. Guardian lions are
 at either side. while the sacred temple