GREECE 
964 
fifteenth century, is now generally dlftinguifiied by the 
appellation of Turkey in Europe, of which it forms 
the mod fouthern part. Rornelia contains Thrace, 
Pasonia, Macedonia, and all the northern part of an¬ 
cient Greece ; while the Morea comprifes the whole of 
the ancient Feloponnefus. On the weft of Rornelia is 
fituated Albania, which includes the kingdom of Epi¬ 
rus, Chaonia, and part of Illyricum. Crete, which fo 
long prolpered under the laws of Minos, is now Candia. 
The whole of thefe territories, with the iflands of the 
Archipelago, are alike under the dominion of the grand 
feignior ; for particulars of all w'hich, lee under their 
relpeiitive names in this Encyclopaedia. Magna Greecia, 
which became part of the kingdom of Naples, is the 
modern Campania ; in which were the celebrated cities 
of Herculaneum and Pompeii ; both of which were 
overwhelmed with lava in an eruption of Mount Vefn- 
vius, in the year of Chrift 79 ; and after the lapfe ot 
lixteen hundred years, they were again difeoVered, at 
the beginning of the eighteenth century.—See thole ar¬ 
ticles. 
Of the prefent degraded and humiliating condition of 
the modern Greeks, we have but too many aft'ecting in- 
ftances, as fet forth in tlie recent details of judicious 
and relpeiifable travellers. M. Sonnini, who traverled 
Egypt and Greece by order of Louis XVI. furnilhes us 
with the following interefting remarks ; “ If, lays he, 
from the comparifon of th.e phylical ftate of the two 
countries, we pafs to that of the men who inhabit them, 
we lhall find no refemblance but in the dcfpotifm by 
which they were both enllaved. The Copt, or native 
of Egypt, whofe charadter partakes of tiie drynefs and 
rudenels of the climate, is Ihort and heavy ; his head 
is big, but empty ; his face is broad and flat ; his com¬ 
plexion is fallow and dark; and his countenance is 
juean. His difpofition is gloomy and melancholy ; his 
treachery is the more dangerous, as it is, in a manner, 
more concentered : having no tafte for the arts, no flight 
of curiolity leads him to inftiudtion ; fedentary, becaufe 
be has no vivacity in his mind, he feeks not to be ac- 
tjuainted with what furrounds him ; lazy and llovenly, 
clowifilh and ignorant, unfeeling and fupeiititious, he 
has no longer any remembrance, nor. even any trace re¬ 
maining, of the greatnefs of his ancellors. See the ar¬ 
ticle Eg vpt. 
“What a difference between this nation, entirely de¬ 
generated, and that which ftill inhabits the fallen coun¬ 
tries of Greece ! Under a pure Iky, in a wholefome, 
temperate, atmofphere, impregnated wfith the fwceteft 
emanations, on a foil which nature decks with flowers, 
and clothes with the verdure of eternal fpring, or which 
may be enriched with crops of every fort, or with de¬ 
licious fruits, we mull: expedt, among the men, to meet 
only with amenity of manners and Iweetnefs of difpofi¬ 
tion. I am fpeaking of the men whofe generations 
there fucceed each otlier without interruption ; for the 
ignorant and untradtable ulurper may, by his ftupid fe- 
roxity, ppllute the moft happy climate, the moft fmiling 
country ; and ages are required for their influence to 
temper, in a perceptible manner, the rudenels of his in¬ 
clinations. 'I he man of thefe charming parts of Greece 
is of a handfome ftature ; he carries his head high, his 
body erett ; he is dignified in his carriage, eafy in his 
maitners, and nimble in his gait ; his eyes are full of 
vivacity ; his countenance is open ; and his addrefs 
agieeable and prepoirelling ; he is neat and elegant in 
his clothing; he lias a tafte for drefs, as for every thing 
that is beautiful; adtive, indurtrious, and even enter- 
]uiling, he is capable of executing great things ; he 
ipeaks with eafe, lie exprelfes himfelf with warmth ; 
he is acquainted with the language of the pallions, anU 
he likewife aftonilhes by his natural eloquence; he 
loves the arts, without daring to cultivate them, under 
the brazen yoke which hangs heavy on his neck ; Ikil- 
ful and cunning in trade, he does not always conduct 
himfelf in it with that franknefs which conftitutes its 
principal bafis ; and if w^e ftill find in modern Greece 
many of the fine qualities which do honour to the hif- 
tory of ancient Greece, it cannot be denied that fuper- 
ftition, the child of ignorance and flavery, greatly tar- 
niflies their luftre ; and we alfo difeover in their difpo¬ 
fition that ficklenefs, that pliability, that want of fin- 
cerity, in fliort, that artful turn of mind which borders 
on treachery, and of which even the Greeks of anti¬ 
quity have been accufed. Every one is acquainted with 
that famous line which paints fo well the charadter of 
the Greeks : Timeo Danaos, et dona ferentes. 
“ But this obliquity of character fortunately does 
not extend, or at leaft is very much weakened, among 
the women of the fame countries. The Greek ladies 
are, in general, diftinguifiied by an elegant lhape, and a 
majeftic carriage. Their features, traced by the hand 
of beauty, reflect the warm, alfections of fenfibility ; 
the ferenityof their countenance is that of dignity, with¬ 
out having its coldnefs or gravity ; titey are amiable 
without pretenfion, decent without fournefs, charming 
without affectation. If, to Inch brilliant qualities, we 
add elevation of ideas, warmth of exprellion, tliofe 
flights of fimple and ingenuous eloquence which attraCt 
and fafeinate, a truly devoted attachment to perfons 
beloved, exaCtnefs and fidelity in their duties, wc ftiall 
have foine notion of thefe privileged beings, with whom 
nature, in her munificence, has embelliftied the earth, 
and who are ftill the natives of Greece.—It is however 
to be lamented, that this amiable and interefting people 
Ihould continue under the heavy yoke of the ftern and 
proud Mulfulman ; their flavery, like that of the de- 
feendants of the ancient Egyptians, is abfolute, and of 
too long Handing.” 
The iflands of the j^lgean Sea are the next objeCts of 
M. Sonnini’s refearch ; chofe numerous groups of lands 
and rocks, promilcuoully fcattered throughout that fea 
as an eternal monument of its depredations on the con¬ 
tinent, which were divided by the ancients into Cy¬ 
clades and Sporades : denominations now no more re¬ 
membered, as they at prefent are known only under the 
general defignation of the Iflands of the Archipelago ; 
for tlie ancient names of which fee the article Geo¬ 
graphy, p. 378, of this volume; and for the modern 
names, fee the article Archipelago, vol. ii. p. 63.— 
As moft of thefe iflands, which are remarkable for the 
beauty and the fertility of their foil, celebrated by the 
writers of antiquity, and famed for having given birth 
to great men, are ftill important points of eftabliflunent, 
communication, or commerce, they become of the^ 
greater intereft to the inquilitive reader.—Stampali, he 
tells us, is one of the moft fertile of the iflands, and 
the inhabitants participate in the mildnefs of the cli¬ 
mate and the foil ; being free from that harfh and rough 
charadter fo vifible in tlieir neighbours, the iflanders of 
Calamo and Lero, which are hard and rugged countries. 
In thefe regions, however, fo favoured by nature, and 
fo difgraced by the form of government to which their 
unhappy lot has doomed them, the gifts of fuperior 
fertility ferve only as a fcourge, and a rocky barrennefs 
would be a defirable boon ; lince the natural and legi¬ 
timate fource of riches becomes that of frequent extor¬ 
tions. The more fmiling and beautiful is the country, 
the more it invites the attention and the vifits of their 
cruel exadfors, who take from the inhabitants all en¬ 
couragement to induftry, and entirely fupprefs agricul¬ 
ture; while thefe fenfelefs defpots, who ruin themfel ves 
by ruining their territory, avoid tlie ruder climates, be¬ 
caufe they are afraid of men who live on mountains, 
the ufual afylum of poverty, courage, and indepen¬ 
dence. But the ifland of Delos, formerly fo opulent, 
(fays M. Sonnini,) and where were celebrated with fo 
much pomp religious ceremonies; in prefence of an im- 
menfe concourfe who repaired thither from all points of 
the eaft, is now no longer any thing but a defect, aban. 
2 doned 
