MORE A. 



719 



The ritei of the Greek church are in themselves very 

 absurd, and are performed with very little solemnity. 

 There are prayers and portions of scripture, histories 

 " of the saints, hymns, and forms for different festivals ; 



but the service consists principally in singing, without 

 musical instruments. In the celebration of the mass, 

 the chiif part of the worship consists in crossing and 

 repeating a thousand times, in a combined song, the 

 words, " Lord have mercy upon me." Pictures are 

 admitted into the churches ; and great attention paid 

 to the form and colour of the clerical vestments. Their 

 festivals are very numerous, which the people are 

 strictly enjoined to observe ; and as most of them are 

 celebrated by dancing and music, they are the great 

 delight of the frivolous natives, under their present op- 

 pressions. The sacrament of the eucharist is admini- 

 stered to new born infants, and that of extreme unction 

 tii not confined to the dying, but is given to devout per- 

 sons upon the slightest malady, and even to those who 

 are in full health, by way of anticipation. The laity 

 are devoutly attached to all the ceremonies and ordi- 

 nance* of their church, which are numerous and severe, 

 nesdays and Fridays are days of fasting through- 

 oit the whole year; and some of the principal fasts, 

 neb as Easter and Christmas, continue forty days ; so 

 that there are not above 139 days of the year free from 

 all faiti. They are devoted to superstitions, which oc- 

 cupy their minds infinitely more than the great points 

 of their faith. The priest* are frequently employed 

 to exorcise persons supposed to be possessed by evil 

 spirit*. They all believe in the power of magic, and 

 often fancy themselves to be suffering from the incan- 

 tations of some malevolent being. Ghosts or fairies, 

 called Arabins, are imagined to haunt houses and other 

 places. They believe in the occasional appearances of 

 angels to make particular revelations. They are all 

 devoted to the worship of the holy virgin ; and in al- 

 most every cottage, her picture or image is to be seen, 

 with a lamp burning before it. Almost all diseases are 

 considered as the effects of demoniacal influence ; and 

 the plague particularly is thought to appear in the 

 form of a lame and withered hag. 



Cburcbcs. The churches in Greece have groat simplicity ; 

 and are generally very small. The floor is of mud, 

 the altar of stone, the sanctuary separated from the 

 nave by deal boards, and an enclosure of pales at the 

 other end made for the women. They are seldom fur- 

 nisbed with seats ; here there .are several crutches in 

 one corner, upon which the aged worshippers support 

 themselves. In the greater towns, and in some of the 

 monasteries, they are fitted up in a better style, but in 

 a bad taste, ornamented with gildings and pictures of 

 saints. 



Natives. The modern Greeks bear a great resemblance to the 

 descriptions which have been transmitted of the ancient 

 inhabitants of the country, in their bodily appearance, 

 drew, diet, and tempers. There is a national likeness 

 obiervable among them all, but the islanders are of a 

 darker complexion, and a stronger make than those of 

 the main-land. Their countenances are such as may 

 be saypmcd to have served for models to their ancient 

 sculptors ; and the young men particularly are dis. 

 tingui'hed by a degree of beauty which .would be con- 

 .ideml as too effeminate among those of the same age 

 in more northern climates. Their eyes are large and 

 dark, their eye-browi arched, their complexions brown 

 but clear, and their dieekj and lips tinged with bright 

 vermilion colout. ''|I-T faces are a regular oval, and 

 their features perfectly proportioned, except that their 



ears are rather larger than usual. Their hair is dark Morr 

 and long, but shaved off in the forepart of the crown '"'"'i 

 and sides of the face. Beards are worn only by the elergv 

 and persons of authority, but all of them wear thin 

 long black mustachios on the upper-lip. Their necks 

 are long but broad, and well set, their chests wide and 

 open, their shoulders strong, but their wa'sts rather 

 slender, and their legs large but well r.uL'k'. Their 

 stature is above the middle size, and their form muscu- 

 lar and round, but not corpulent. The women Te in- 

 ferior to the men both in face and figure ; and though 

 they have the same kind of features, yet their eyes are 

 languid and their complexions pale, their whole per- 

 sons loose and flaccid, their height rather low. and their 

 forms, as they advance a little in life, fat ami unwieldy. 

 Those of the better class are very careful to improve 

 their beauty by paints and washes ; but they often lay 

 on their colouring substances to a very unnatural de-- 

 gree. 



The dress of the modern Greeks bears a near resem- Dress, 

 blaiice ta that of the Turks. The under-garments are 

 a cotton shirt, cotton drawers, a vest and jacket of silk 

 or stuff, a pair of large loose trowsers drawn up a little 

 above the ancle, and a short sock. Over these are worn a 

 large shawl, often richly ornamented, wrapped round the 

 loins, in one corner of which the poorer people frequent- 

 ly conceal their money, and a loose go\vn or pelisse, 

 M-ith wide sleeves, which, in the presence of a superior, 

 they wrap modestly about their persons, concealing 

 their hands with the sleeves, and resting their chins on 

 their bosoms. The wealthy individuals have pelisses of 

 cloth lined with fur for winter, and who wear purses, 

 which, together with handkerchiefs, watches, snuff- 

 boxes, papers, they carry in their bosom between tin: 

 folds of the vests, and count it a mark of distinction to 

 have this part of their dress full and distended. They 

 may wear any colour except green, which is appropri- 

 ated to the descendants of Mahomet, and, instead of a 

 turban, they have a large calpac. The common people 

 seldom use a gown, and have their trowsers so short as 

 to leave their legs bare below the knee. The sailors 

 have nothing but a jacket ; and in summer wear the 

 Albanian red scull-cap. The dress of the females bears 

 some resemblance to that of European women, and 

 consists of a vest fitting close to the bosom, but becom- 

 ing larger and wider below the waist ; a gown flowing 

 oft' loosely behind, with long wide sleeves turned up at 

 the wrist ; a ribbon or other girdle under the bosom, a 

 rich shawl, as a zone, wrapped once round the body, 

 noting loosely on the hips, and fastened before with a 

 large plate, or tied in a spreading knot. The dress of 

 the richer females is loaded with gold and silver trim- 

 mings, bracelets of precious stones, and strings of gold 

 coins round their necks. The young women have their 

 hair hanging down the back, loose or platted, combed 

 over the forehead, and the sides of the cheeks, and a 

 little red cap with a gold tassel studded with zequins, 

 on the one side of the crown. When they go abroad, 

 they are muffled up in a wrapping-cloak, with a long 

 veil, but in their private apartments they have their 

 fi-et naked, and their bodies thinly clothed, as the tem- 

 perature of the weather may admit. Their toe-nails 

 and finger- tops are stained of a rosy colour, and their 

 eye-lashes with black. No change as to fashion takes 

 place in their dress, but their habits are esteemed en- 

 tirely in proportion to the price which they cost. The 

 most universal part of Grecian dress, which is also worn 

 by all the inhabitants of the Levant, Mahometans or 

 Christians, males or females., and the sale of which 



