﻿GREECE, KINGDOM OF. 



GREECE, KINGDOM OF. 



the mnontains are now naked and barren, and the springs dried up in 

 consequence. Forests however remain still on the Taygetus, on 

 Mount Cronion and other mountains of Arcadia, on those of Megaris, 

 on the ridges of Parnassus and Helicon, and on part of the (Eta 

 range. The pine is the most common timber-tree, but fine oaks are 

 found in the northern mountains near the borders of Thessaly. 



The resources of the continental part of the kingdom are derived 

 chiefly from agriculture ; but agriculture and agricultural implements 

 are in a very backward state. Farms are mostly rented on the 

 ' Metayer' system. Not more than a tenth of the surface of the 

 country is tmder cultivation, and of this nearly five-sixths belong to 

 the church or the state, which in most places succeeded to the property 

 which formerly belonged to the Turkish government or to the 

 mosques. The vineyards are almo.<<t all private property. Grain is 

 usually grown on the plains. Northern Greece is a better com 

 country than the Peloponnesus. Wheat, barley, and maize are the 

 species cultivated ; oats and rye are not much in use. Rice is grown 

 in the plains of Argos and Marathon, and the marshy tracts along the 

 coast. Tobacco thrives, especially near Argos and Kalamata, and 

 cotton grows also in these plains in considerable quantity. Wine is 

 chiefly the produce of the islands : enough is made for the home con- 

 sumption ; it is generally good-bodied, but for want of proper manage- 

 ment in making it, and of cellars, it does not keep beyond a year or 

 two. Currants are cultivated in various districts, especially along the 

 northern shores of the Peloponnesus; the demand for currants in 

 England having greatly stimulated the culture. The olives which are 

 largely grown in Attica, Megaris, and Salona, are of good quality, but 

 the art of pressing and refining the oil is very imperfectly understood, 

 and the oil is inferior to that of Provence. Silk is made in Messenia 

 and Laconica, and also at Tinos and in other islands, but is inferior to 

 the Italian silk. Honey is an important article of produce and a con- 

 siderable quantity is exported ; the honey of Hymettus and Attica 

 usually retains its ancient celebrity. A good deal of wax is exported 

 from Nauplia. Of fruit-trees, the almond, the fig, the chestnut, the 

 orange, and the lemon thrive the best, but a great variety of fi-uit is 

 growp. Owing to the uneven surface of the country, Greece is still 

 more a pastoral than an agricultural country. Homed cattle however 

 are not numerous, being almost exclusively used for the labours of the 

 field. There are numerous flocks of sheep and goats, which migrate 

 to the mountains in the spring, and return to the plains after the 

 harvest. The produce of wool is considerable, but of a coarse kind, 

 •nd is used chiefly for home manufacture. Pigs are scarce, except in 

 Arcadia, and their flesh is not deemed wholesome. The only milk 

 used is that of ewes and goats, and the butter and cheese made of it 

 is very inferior. Asaea and mulea are employed almost exclusively as 

 beasts of burden ; the horses are of a strong breed, but neglected. 



The manufactures of Greece are almost wholly domestic ; the few 

 articles required being generally produced by the families of the 

 peasantry. The articles made in the larger towns are those required 

 for ordinary consumption, such as soap, leather, brandy and other 

 spirits, vinegar, hata, common silk, cotton and woollen stuffs, pottery, 

 cutlery, &c. In some places ship-building and sail-making are carried 

 on to a considerable extent. Salt is lai^ely made in the lagoons about 

 Mesolonghi and elsewhere. 



The commerce and navigation of Greece are centred in the ports of 

 Nauplio, Mesolonghi, Patras, Oalaxidi, and the islands of Hydra, 

 Spezia, and, above all, Syra, which is the centre of the steam naviga- 

 tion of the Levant, and where a handsome town has risen since the 

 independence of the kingdom, with churches, schools, hospitals, docks, 

 warehouses, lazzarettos, and companies of insurance. The number of 

 Greek merofaant Tessela amounts to considerably over 1000, exclusive 

 of small craft, or coasting-boats. The merchants, many of them, have 

 large capitals, and they assist each other, and are also assisted by their 

 wealthy countrymen, who are established all over the Levant and in 

 the ports of the Mediterranean. The extensive line of coast and the 

 numerous islands supply a multitude of good sailors, active, hardy, 

 and frugal. The principal traffic of the Greek vessels is the carrying 

 trade, especially of com, between the ports of the Mediterranean and 

 the Black Sea, and the export aud import trade with England, France, 

 and Germany. Almost the entire trade in com between the Mediterra- 

 nean and England, valued at nearly 4,000,000/. a year, is in the hands 

 of Greek merchants. The principal exports are currants, figs, wool, 

 silk, valonia, olive-oil, sponge, wine, tobacco, wax, &c. The imports 

 are chiefly of Manchester cotton goods and the woollen manufactures 

 of England and Germany, with hardwares and various minor articles 

 and fancy goods from the former countries and France. A very 

 important part of the commerce of the Greek merchants consists in 

 th«ir banking and exchange operations, which are on a most extensive 

 scale. 



Jnhabitanti. — The three divisions of the kingdom are inhabited by 

 populations differing in their physical and moral character. The 

 inhabitants of Northern Greece are distinguished by the name of 

 lioiiraeliotes, while those of the Peloponnesus are styled Moreotcs, 

 and there is but little sympathy between the two. The Uoumeliotes 

 are a military people who have maintained in the mountains of the 

 interior a sort of wild independence, which the Turks could never 

 entirely subdue. The Moreotes, on the contrary, with the exception 

 of Mains, bad completely submitted to the Turkish yoke; and their 



archoiites, or primates, shared with the pashas and other agents of 

 the Porte the spoils of their own countrymen. In Roumelia the 

 population of the mountains of Parnassus, Agrapha, Baltos, Xero- 

 menos, and other interior pai-ta of .lEtolia, is supposed to be of Hel- 

 lenic stock ; but the peasantry of the plaius are chiefly Valachians, 

 Bulgariaus, or Albanians, and are a steady, quietly-disposed people. 

 In the towns near the coasts the population is a mixture of many 

 races. 



In the Peloponnesus the Albanian race occupies Argolis and Tri- 

 phylia ; the rest of the population speak Greek. In the towns the 

 population consists in great measure of families who emigrated from 

 various parts of the Levant, after the Turkish conquest, to exercise 

 various trades, or to manage the aSaira of the Beys and other wealthy 

 Turks. 



In the islands there is a mixture of Albanians and Greeks, and 

 descendants of the Latin invaders of the middle ages. The Albanian 

 race inhabits almost exclusively Hydra and Spezia : the Chiote and 

 Psariote emigrants, who now inhabit Syra, are probably of Hellenic 

 descent. At Naxos, Santoriu, and some other islands, there is a kind 

 of territorial nobility, who date from the time of the Crusades, and 

 belong to the Western or Latin Church : their lands are cultivated by 

 a Greek peasantry. At Tinos the peasantry are proprietor?, and 

 cultivate their lands with gi'eat care. Mikoni and Milo are inhabited 

 by active and thriving sailors and traders. 



Besides these races there have been since the Revolution largo 

 immigrations of military refugees from various parts of the Turkish 

 empire, such as the Candiotes, the Souliotes from Epirus, the Olym- 

 piotes from the mountains between Thessaly and Macedonia, &o., and 

 a mixed body of Fanariotea from Constantinople, of emigrants from 

 the Ionian Islands, of Asiatic Greeks, Epirotes, and adventurers from 

 Italy, France, and other parts of Western Europe. 



From the oldest times the organisation of society in Greece has 

 been based on paternal authority. A father decides absolutely on the 

 destiny of his children, their profession, marriages, &c., without even 

 consulting them ; and in some instances, until within a very few 

 years, assisted by a family council of his nearest relations, he exercised 

 the power of life and death over them. Most of the country popula- 

 tion of Greece live in villages, for the sake of security and mutual 

 protection. Once a year the heads of families assemble in the church 

 to elect their demogerontes, or municipal, magistrates, one in every 

 village or commune, and three for a town. The demogerontes act as 

 justices of the peace and also as treasurers of the commune, have no 

 emoluments, and are generally chosen among the arehontes, that is, 

 landed proprietors, or notables of the place, who form in fact the 

 aristocracy of Greece. A communal council, consisting of those who 

 have filled the office of demogerontes and of the other notables, assist 

 them in their functions, in laying the local taxes, &c. Deputies from 

 the communes assemble in the chief town of the eparchy, or district, 

 to elect three or more epai-chical demogerontes, who, joined to the 

 local demogerontes of the place, constitute a council which concerts 

 measures with the prefect or political authority concerning the 

 police, the assessment of taxes, and other matters Meeting the whole 

 district. 



IHvitiom, Qovernment, Jsc. — Greece is divided into 10 nomes (Nii^oi), 

 each of which is presided over by a nomarch ; the nomes are divided 

 into 49 eparchies ('Eiropx''"), and these are again divided into several 

 hundred demes (A^/u>i). These divisions are intended to correspond 

 to the departments, cantons, and communes of France. 



The government is a constitutional hereditary monarchy. The 

 king has the usual privileges of constitutional sovereigns, and is assisted 

 by an executive council of ministers, who are responsible to the legis- 

 lature, which is composed of a Senate (Vfpovaia), the members of which 

 are named by the king, and hold their office for life ; and a House of 

 Representatives (BouA^), composed of deputies elected by the various 

 towns and districts of the kingdom. 



The revenue is derived from the tithe of the produce paid by all 

 private lands, and from the fourth of the produce of the national 

 domains, together with certain taxes on imports and exports, salt, 

 stamps, &c. Altogether the available revenue is under 700,000t, 

 owing, as is commonly said, to the general and notorious corruption 

 of the various grades of officials. The expenditure fully equals the 

 receipts. About one-fourth of it is for the interest and charges on the 

 debt, which amounts to about two millions aud a half sterling, and 

 the payment of which was guaranteed by the allied powers of Great 

 Britain, France, and Russia. 



The numerical strength of the Greek army amounts to 8600 

 officers and privates, including the phalanx, 410 strong, not now on 

 active service, which consits of veterans who served iu the war of 

 independence, and the police (x«po(()i)AaKti), a force resembling the 

 French gensdarmes, who number 1450 and are dispersed in small 

 bodies throughout the kingdom. Besides the regular army, a kind 

 of militia, consisting of some companies of irregular troops, has been 

 raised to watch the frontiers and to suppress brigandage. The 

 duration of military service is 4 years. All males between the ages 

 of 18 and 30, except married men, only sons, ecclesiastics, students, 

 officers in the civil service of the state, &c., are liable to serve. 



The navy consists of two corvettes of 26 guns, 2 steam-packots, 

 and 35 small vessels and armed boats, chiefly engaged in watching 



