716 



M O R E A. 



Mores, oman, as a reward of his services, are held at the 

 "~'.'~ w pleasure of the Sultan, and are seldom enjoyed above 

 three years; during which period the \Vaivodes of 

 these provinces levy great sums by the most arbitrary 

 exactions. However *hort a period any individual has 

 possessed one of these three secular offices, he retains 

 afterwards the title of prince, with the privilege of 

 wearing yellow slippers, and riding on horseback. In 

 the Morea, the municipal government of certain dis- 

 tricts is conferred upon native Greeks, who are entit- 

 led Codja Bashees, and who affect considerable state, 

 as well as maintain a numerous household. They have 

 their physician, secretary, assistant clerk, courier, five 

 or six chaplains, and several servants in every depart- 

 ment, to the number altogether of 40 or 50 depend- 

 ents. They are too generally more oppressive and 

 domineering to their countrymen, than even their 

 Turkish masters. The modern Greeks are completely 

 sensible of their degraded state ; and discover a strong 

 attachment to their country, as well as an ardent desire 

 of political emancipation. Their ideas, however, go no 

 farther back than the days of the Greek emperors ; and 

 they have no view of establishing any independent re- 

 publics like those of ancient Greece. Their hopes are 

 solely directed to the restoration of the Byzantine 

 kingdom, in the person of any Christian prince, but 

 particularly one of their own church. For more than 

 half a century they have naturally turned their views 

 towards Russia; but two desperate attempts, in con- 

 junction with the troops of that nation, one in 1770, 

 and another in 1790, proved completely unsuccessful. 

 During the expedition of the French to Egypt, they 

 began to cherish the hopes of liberty through their 

 means ; and were ready to have joined their standard 

 in the invasion of Turkey. They made similar advan- 

 ces to the British, during their short war with the Porte 

 in ]807; but, besides receiving no encouragement 

 from the British authorities, they consider them as too 

 distant allies ; and still look to the Russians and French 

 as their natural deliverers. Without such foreign aid, 

 they are utterly incapable of asserting their independ- 

 ence. The whole nation is not computed to exceed 

 two millions and a half of all ages and sexes ; and even 

 these are so mixed a race, that they are rather a Christ- 

 ian sect, than a distinct people. It is chiefly by means 

 of their marine, that they may regain some weight 

 among other nations ; and the establishment of some 

 Christian power in the islands of the Archipelago has 

 long been considered as the likeliest step to the im- 

 provement of the Greeks. The French, in conse- 

 quence of employing only Frenchmen as agents and. 

 consuls in the Levant, with good salaries, have the 

 greatest influence with the natives, and it is worthy of 

 consideration how far the interests of Great Britain 

 might not be extended by a similar plan, and by cul- 

 tivating a close intercourse with the modern inhabitants 

 of Greece and its islands. 



Commerce. The commerce of the Morea, and of modern Greece 

 in general, is greatly fettered by the restraints of the 

 Ottoman government. The Greeks have a flag for 

 their merchant vessels, but, not being an independent 

 people, it is little respected by other nations ; and 

 their Turkish masters, who are jealous of their power, 

 seldom resent any insult offered to them at sea. They 

 are not permitted to trade farther west than Tunis, 

 Malta, and Messina ; and the Algerine corsair." are 

 permitted, by treaty with the Grand Seignior, to cap- 

 ture any of his Grecian subjects who may be found 

 trading to the westward of these ports. Thus unpro- 







tected and exposed, they arc apt to seek redress at Mores, 

 their own hands ; and, when insulted by any vessel of ^ "V"' 

 superior force, they retaliate cruelly upon any inferior 

 ship belonging to the same nation which m.'iy fall in 

 their way. The Morea produces a great variety of ar- 

 ticles which are valuable in commerce ; and many of 

 them such as are in great request in the British market. 

 Dried fruits of various kinds, almonds, small nuts, 

 gums, galls, and a variety of drugs, are very common 

 articles of traffic. But the larger and more valuable 

 commodities which the country affords, are currants, 

 which are larger and cleaner than those of most other 

 countries, and of which eight millions of pounds weight 

 are said to be annually exported, usually at three half- 

 pence per Ib. English ; young fustic, a valuable dye wood 

 for bright yellow ; cotton in considerable quantities, but 

 rather of an inferior quality ; olive oil of a tolerably 

 good quality, and much cheaper than that of Italy and 

 Sicily, generally at 25 per ton ; valonia, a kind of 

 acorn used in tanning, and much in demand by the 

 English ; corn, wool, silk, carpets, leather, vermilion, 

 wine, wax, cheese, are frequent articles of export. 



The articles of import generally carried to the Le- 

 vant, are watches, jewellery, glass, porcelain, furs, 

 spices, coffee, sugar, indigo, cochineal, sulphur, silk, 

 gold-lace, cloth, muslins, hardware, and other manu- 

 factured goods of England and France. The balance 

 of trade is alleged to be one-fifth in favour of the Mo- 

 rea, which is paid in silver coin. Of this amount, two 

 millions of piastres go as tribute to Constantinople ; 

 one million is taken by the Pasha of Tripolizza ; and 

 the remainder, about 1,093,750 piastres, is the profit of 

 the rich Greeks. The Frank residents are only a sort 

 of brokers, who have a per centage upon the traffic. 



The Greeks are universally addicted to commerce, Marine, 

 and their marine is in many respects highly important. 

 The islanders form the most enterprising portion of 

 the nation, and carry on a petty trade in numberless 

 half-decked boats, with high stems and sterns, and one 

 thick short mast, with a long yard. They perform 

 these voyages even as far as Smyrna and Constantino. 

 pie, without chart or compass, and merely, as of old, 

 by the observation of coasts and headlands. But they 

 are acquainted with the management of the largest 

 vessels of European construction ; and, besides navi- 

 gating the Ottoman navy as seamen, they have large 

 merchant ships of their own, which trade as far as 

 America and the West Indies, and make an occasional 

 voyage to England. The natives of Hydra particu- 

 larly, the most expert of the Greek mariners, have ac- 

 cumulated great wealth by their commerce, and have 

 purchased from the Turks the independent election of 

 their own magistrates. The number of Greek mari- 

 ners, actually employed at sea, is supposed to be not 

 less than 50,000 ; and they are considered as capable 

 of being trained to any kind of naval service. 



Though the modern Greeks are very ignorant, Language 

 they are a very ingenious people ; and, if rescued from and liiera- 

 oppression, might again distinguish themselves in the turc - 

 arts and sciences. But, since the 12th century, they 

 have made no improvements, and transmitted no in- 

 ventions to other nations. Their ancient authors had 

 long lain neglected in monasteries and libraries ; their 

 late writers were rather expert grammarians than ori- 

 ginal authors; and the revival of their literature, in 

 the 14th and 15th centuries, was more owing to the 

 exertions of the Italian literati than of native Greeks. 

 The corruption of the Greek language has been dated 

 from the time of the Macedonian conquest, and is par- 



