20 
For the Mouthly Magazine. 
EXTRACT Of a LETTER from VIENNA, 
giving an ACCOUNT Of 4 CONSPIRACY 
of the MODERN GREEKS ia the Year 
1797: 
«¢ 7 F among the nations of Europe,which 
ji have loft their independence, but itill 
fondiy cherith the hope of a happy rege- 
. neration, there be one which, befides the 
Poles, particularly merits attention, it is 
the Modern Greeks. In vain have their 
enemies endeavoured to fix a fligrha upon 
their character, as if they were particular- 
ly debaied by cunning, treachery, “and 
abject fuperftition. 
feeds of the nebleft virtues lie dormant 
in this people: and from the luxuriant 
fhcots,which, in fpite of the infectious blaft 
of defyo ifm, here and there {pring forth, 
it, fuliciently appears, how much’ they 
would flourifh and what excellent fruit 
they would produce under the influence of 
mere benign circumftances. It is well 
known that the Greeks took a very lively 
intereft in the French revolution. In the 
Travels of Stefanopoli and others, we 
find many documents which fhew how far 
the way had been prepared, and to what 
‘height their expectations were raifed and 
kept alive by the politic management of 
the General-in-chief of the French army 
of Italy. 
In the year 1797 and 1798 many ru- 
mours were current in Germany too, re- 
dative to a plot of feveral Greeks atVienna 
tc organize there a revolution in their na- 
tive country. For feveral years. previous. 
to that period a newfpaper in the modern 
Greck language had been publifhed at 
Vienna; and a whole feries of elementary 
books and tranflations from the German 
and French came forth from the Greek 
prefles in that capital, for the ufe and in- 
ft-uGSion of the Greeks, and were fent into 
‘Moldavia and Wallachia. Of thefe 
publications a particular account by 
the jea:ned profeflor Alter of Vienna, 
may be feen inthe Literarifcher Angeiger, 
which appeared for ieveial years at Leip- 
zig, and contains many interelting contri- 
‘butions towards the neweft hiftory of Li- 
On the conirary, the’ 
Confpiracy of the Modern Greeks.| 
teiature. But thefe endeavours gradual 
s Vix 
to diffufe knowledge among the Greeks, 
" were fuddenly interrapted by the rafh 
oceedings of feveral~ fiery fpirits. 
Though this confpiracy, and the punifh- 
mnt. of thofe engaged in it, were as 
much as poffible concealed from the pub- 
lic eye; yet the following particulars re- 
lative to it, and the fate of the leaders, 
have tran/pired, Riga, anative of Belef- 
tinos (formerly Pera) in Theflaly, was 
4 
+ 
‘empty promifes. 
began to colleé&t money, and had already 
[ Aug. 1, 
endowed by nature with many excellent_ 
qualities, and in particular with great cou- 
rage and relfolution, In his yeuth he had 
refided in France, and learned the French 
language ; and on his return to his na- 
tive country, was employed as fecvetary 
by one of the princes of Waliachia. Af- 
terwards he went to Vienna, where he 
tranflated feveral books, and among others 
a Compendium of Medicine, into mo- 
dern Greek. ~ Being an enthufiaftic lover . 
of his country, and a zealous republican 
he began to form a fecret political con- 
nexion with feveral of his countrymen, 
fome of whom were fubjeéts of the Empe- 
ror, They tranflated feveral books which 
feemed calculated to roufe the Greek na- 
tion from the lethargic flumberof flavery ; 
as for inftance the firft and fourth volume 
of the Travels of Anacharfis, which were 
aCtually printed and diftributed. . The 
‘2d and 3d volume were likewife printed : 
but when the confpirators were taken into 
cuftody, all the copies found in their pof- 
fefiion were feized, and afterwards burnt 
by order of the Auftrian government. 
They had likewile printed a Catechi/m of 
Liberty 5 but it is not known, whether it 
was fent into Greece, or fhared the fate 
sof the 2d and 3d volume of Anachar- 
fis. Their manifefto, on the contrary, - 
which painted in glowing. colours the 
crimes and cruelty of the Turks, and 
excited the Greeks to a general infurrec- 
tion againft their tyrants, was diftributed 
by their partizans, and naturally produced 
a lively fenfation. It was ornamented 
with a vignette reprefenting the club of 
Hercules. The.confpirators are likewife 
faid to have fent three times one of their 
aflociates to the French general at Milan, 
to requeft affifiance from him. But here 
they {em to have obtained nothing but 
In the mean time they 
a confiderable fum in their treafury. 
Theodofius, bifhop of Belgrade, was 
privy to the confpiracy ; and this faint- 
hearted ecclefiaftic was induced by his 
fears, and Eleutherius Giconomus, a mer- 
chant, by his enmity to fome of his afloci- 
ates, to betray the whole to the Drogo- 
‘man of the Turkifh embafly at Vienna ; 
and in confequence ef an application from 
the ambaflador to the Auftrian miniftry 
in November 1797, the con/pirators were 
immediately arrefted. Riga, their leader, 
was examined. He boldly avowed the 
whole affair; butdeclared that the refolu- 
tion he had taken to réftore freedom to 
his country, did not appear to him to be 
acrime. He faid that the Greek nation 
had 30 years ago hoped to fee their chams 
broken 
\ 
