main, after the lapse of two thousand years, to excite the wonder and admiration of modern times.

It might well have been supposed that the fatal accident which, near the close of the seventeenth century, razed to its foundations this grandest and most perfect remnant of antiquity, would have aroused Christendom from its indifference, and have awakened a lively interest in the fate of that oppressed and down-trodden people. But it was not so. The nations of Europe were so engrossed with the progress and development of new events and new ideas-the printing press-the Reformation-the discovery and settlement of America-that they had neither time nor inclination to look back into the past, to study the civilization and genius of antiquity, or to take a thought of the actual condition of a people who once held in their hands the intellectual destiny of mankind.

This neglect and indifference continued even down to modern times, and were manifested in the midst of the new ideas and the expansive civilization of the nineteenth century. It was not until after the first years of the Greek revolution that the more enlightened nations of Europe began to look with interest upon the struggle, and that our own country manifested its sympathy. Unaided and alone, the Greeks, in 1821, arose against their oppressors. For six years they toiled and struggled on, hopeless and alone. True, the voice of sympathy came to them from this side of the Atlantic; yet it was a voice which whispered but little of hope, for it did not speak of that aid which springs from the arm of physical power. Greece, at that moment, wanted assistance not sympathy. She wanted "material aid," not the soft words of hope and encouragement. She wanted cannon, and ships, and men, and money, and food, not promises and good wishes. And little of what she needed did she receive either from America or Europe until exhausted, bleeding at every pore, stricken to the death, she was about to succumb to the power of the Moslem, and sink into a still more hopeless and irretrievable slavery.

It was at this moment that the combined English, French, and Russian fleet sailed into the bay of Navarino, for the purpose, it seems, of putting an end to the contest. It is not now necessary to inquire what was the actual design of this movement, or whether the real intention of the allies was the liberation of Greece. The result is all that it is important to know, and that result was the bloody battle of Navarino, the total annihilation of the Turkish fleet, the landing of a French army in the Morea, the retreat of the Turks, and finally the treaty

of Adrianople in 1829, which secured the independence of Greeee.

Greece, therefore, assumed a place once more as a sovereignty among the nations of the world-but her sovereignty, after all, was limited, not absolute. She had not only passed through the fires of the revolutionary furnace, but had come out from ages of ignominious and crushing bondage, her energies broken, her resources exhausted, her strength crippled. It was considered that the new-born nation needed some powerful hand to guide its tottering footsteps in the infancy of its existence, and that the same people which for six long years of a devastating and bloody war had borne up alone against the whole power of the Turkish empire, were not competent to govern themselves. Accordingly, the allies, with that disinterestedness and magnanimity which have always characterized the public policy of those nations, constituted themselves the "protecting powers," the guardians of poor Hellas, who was thus placed in tutelage and leading-strings during her minority. We do not intend to follow the history of Greece from that time to the present, or to discuss and point out the causes which have retarded her progress as a nation, and prevented the more full development of her resources. If we should say that the "protecting powers" were responsible in no small degree for most of the evils which have befallen the country in its political relations, perhaps the assertion might be very easily substantiated. Count Capo d'Istrias, the first president of Greece, and a man of patriotism and ability, was assassinated in 1831. On the occurrence of that event, instead of organizing a Greek government, and placing at its head the most eminent, able, and enlightened of the native chieftains, the "protecting powers" deemed it advisable, in order to the pacification of Greece, to organize the nation upon the plan of a European monarchy. The crown was offered to the son of the King of Bavaria, young Otho, then not yet of age, and under the sanction of the "protecting powers" a Bavarian regency, supported by 4,000 troops, and a loan of sixty millions of francs, arrived in Greece and assumed the government.

The incompetency, extravagance, and profligacy of the regency, were such as to bring themselves and the government, within the brief space of time which they directed it, to the brink of ruin. Fortunately, the young king, on arriving at the age of twenty, took upon himself the administration on the 1st of June, 1835, and a better day at last dawned upon Hellas. It must be admitted, that in selecting a foreign prince to fill

the throne of Greece, the nation has been singularly fortunate in the choice of King Otho. The testimony of all accounts. combine in awarding to him, not only the very best intentions for the prosperity of Greece, and the development of her industry and resources, but also the possession of a cultivated mind, a liberal judgment, and solid understanding. The very first act of the young king was an evidence of this, for he sent back the larger portion of the Bavarian troops and many other foreigners to Germany. If he has at times suffered himself to be too much influenced by the ambassadors of the "protecting powers;" if he has at times relied rather upon them than upon the nation for support; if in the crisis of 1843, which gave a national constitution to Greece, he hesitated and held back, and refused the demands of the people until literally forced to accept them, it may be attributed to the peculiarity of his situation and the circumstances which surrounded him, rather than to any design incompatible with the permanent welfare and happiness of Greece. His own declaration during the revolutionary movements of 1843, when driven to accede to the popular demands, is evidence of this. Though as a man he felt, he said, the indignity, and would not personally have given way, yet as a sovereign, he was bound to concede even this point for the welfare of Greece.

It cannot be denied, too, that the administration of King Otho has done much for the internal condition of Greece, and has sensibly ameliorated and advanced the condition of that acute, ingenious, and sprightly people. Towns and cities have been rebuilt; commerce, agriculture, and industry of every kind have revived; schools and universities have been opened; the administration of justice has been promoted; the safety and security of the citizen preserved; and the internal police of the kingdom organized on a better basis than ever before. At the close of the revolution, Greece was literally a heap of ruins; most of the cities and villages had been demolished, churches overthrown, vineyards and olive groves destroyed. Since that time, travelers have noticed the flourishing and improved condition of the country. Violence has given place to enterprize and industry. The ruin and devastation which the sword and torch of the Moslem left behind them, have been in a measure repaired; and Greece, even in her fall and devastation, still raises her head amid the decaying monuments of her greatness, and claims a place mong the family of nations.

An intelligent observer, long a resident of Greece, notices the rapidly improving condition of the country, consequent

The

upon the accession of King Otho to the government. towns and villages, he says, were now quickly being rebuilt. Extensive mulberry and olive groves began again to embellish the beautiful plains of Messina, and the valley of Laconia, where a new Sparta rose on the banks of the Eurotas, at a short distance from the old. The swamps of the Piraeus, of Argos, and Pyrgos in Elis, were drained or filled up. A macadamized high road was laid out between the Piraeus and Athens; another was continued across Mount Cytheron to Thebes, and along the Copaic lake to Livadia and Thermopylæ ; and a third one from the table lands of Arcadia to the Coast of Nauplion. The plains of Boeotia, Locris, and the island of Euboea, were again cultivated and covered with wheat, barley, and maize; the hills of Achaia and Elis, with precious currant plantations; sugar mills were established at Thermopyla; silk spinneries at Sparta and Nisi; paper mills at Demitzani; powder mills at Kephalari; coal mines were opened at Kumi, and copper mines explored at Karystos in Euboea, where it was proposed to build a new harbor. The ports of Piraeus and Syra were repaired, and many useful public buildings erected. The university of Athens was founded; the Didaskaleion, a seminary for teachers, four colleges, and a large number of preliminary and Hellenic grammar schools were opened, and soon filled with studious young men.*

This picture of Greece and her progress, after her liberation from Turkish bondage, certainly exhibits a favorable contrast, not only with its former state, but even with the condition of some others of the civilized and Christian nations of Europe. It places before us, in a favorable view, the striking characteristics of that lively and impulsive people-a people retaining much of that hereditary activity of mind, energy of character, and versatility and ardor of genius, which distinguished their ancestors. And if, united with these, is to be found, perhaps in an aggravated form, some of the less amiable traits of Greek character a versatility which can be characterized only as fickleness and want of purpose, an astuteness which degenates into mere craft and cunning, we must recollect that the national character has passed through the terrible ordeal of centuries of bondage. Besides, these attributes are eminently Greek and national. Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes is by no means a modern maxim, and it is very probable that the Athenian of to-day does not in these respects differ materially from

*Professor Koeppen. From an interesting article on Modern Greece, in De Bow's Review.

the Athenian who marched under the banners of Alcibiades, or saw the columns of the Parthenon rise on the Acropolis. Yet with all the defect of Greek character, there is evidence enough before us, that as a people, they possess those characteristics which, under a proper government, and with the proper encouragement and means of improvement, cannot fail to produce a rapid progress, not only in the material, but in the social and intellectual condition of the nation, resulting in the end in a full national development.

The soil, the climate, the facilities for commerce, and the other natural advantages of Greece, all point to the same result. The main land is a fruitful and pleasant territory, yielding exuberant crops of grain, wine, oil, fruit, etc. Attica and Boeotia produce, in addition to the cereal grains, olive oil, wool, and the products of the dairy. Achaia, currants and other fruit; Etolia, wine, salt, and fish; Argolis, honey, oil, wine, cotton, rice, sponges; Messenia, figs, oranges, lemons; and the Peloponnesus generally, grain, fruit, oil, cotton, wool, and silk.

Under a government fostering industry, the agricultural and farming produce of Greece would have been very large. But under the despotic system of Turkey, agriculture had become nearly ruined. Labor was taxed with the heaviest contributions, and the tribute-gatherer took a large share of the products of industry. M. de Pouqueville, a French author, who for a long time resided in European Turkey, and was consulgeneral for Yannina and Patras, estimated the total value of territorial products of the Morea brought into market in 1814, at 30,698,000 Turkish piasters, equal to about $6,000,000. The products of Northern Greece within Thermopyla, at the same period, were less than half that amount. According to the Greeks, only one-fifth of the surface of Peloponnesus was under cultivation, and of that portion four-fifths belonged to the Turks. Of this total amount of production, nearly onehalf was consumed by taxes, maintenance of troops, fortresses, the clergy, etc., and of the remainder, about two-thirds passed into the hands of the Turkish proprietors. It is no wonder, then, that even in this fertile and beautiful country, industry should languish, and the land become depopulated. It is no wonder that Attica, which once contained nearly half a million of inhabitants, should be reduced to one-twentieth of that number; that Argos, which was able once to lose in a single battle 6,000 men, should contain a population of not more than 10,000 souls.