24 FROM THESSALONICA, 
CHAP, address : and although the Greeks be both poor 
> and covetous, yet there are lew unmfluenced 
either by ostentation or superstition, who do 
not bestow some ahns upon the monasteries. 
Some who have exercised a predatory life, and 
lived by plunder and violence, believe that they 
shall atone for the sins they have committed 
by sacrificing a portion of their misbegotten 
wealth upon the Holy Mountain. The con- 
tributions thus made, and registered in the 
books of a single monastery (Santa LauraJ, 
besides the extraneous collections from foreign 
countries, amounted in the short space of six 
months to the sum of two thousand dollars'. 
It may therefore easily be imagined what sort 
of poverty is endured by the priests of Mount 
Athos; for in this account of their resources, 
not a syllable has been said of their landed 
property, which is considerable, both within 
the Peninsula and upon the main land. Their 
number is calculated to amount to six thousand ; 
of whom about two thousand are abroad, 
begging for their lazy brethren at home. In 
the time of Strabo, there were within the 
Peninsula, and upon the mountain, no less 
(l) See Rynaul's "Present State of the Creek ami Arminian 
Churches," p. £49. Lond,l679. 
