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Having appropriated his first volume to Greece, Mr. Hobhouse proceeds, in his second, to Asia Minor; and, having described Smyrna and the ruins of Ephesus, he devotes a considerable space to the Troad. Though he does not venture to rank himself under the banners of Mr. Bryant, or to incur the odium attached to incredulity with respect to Homeric descriptions, it is obvious that he entered on the examination without much hope of finding the scenery of the Iliad recalled by the evidence of ocular observation; and he confined his anticipations to the discovery of a resemblance between the present scenery and the descriptions of Strabo, a calculation too moderate to be exposed to disappointment. Those, however, who are still desirous of weighing the assertions of Le Chevalier and the arguments of Bryant, will find in the minuteness of the topical descriptions of Mr. H.'s book a considerable stock of materials for the examination. He has inserted (p. 688) a map of the eastern half of the Hellespont, and has exhibited with sufficient clearness the course of the Scamander, the scite of Alexandria Troas, the tumuli adjacent to the Scamander, the mountains of Ida, and the different streams in which travellers have respectively endeavoured to trace the ancient Simois. The theory of Dr. Clarke shares no better fate than that of his predecessors, Mr. H. considering it as very unlikely that the Callifatti, a small and almost stagnant rivulet, should be the representative of the Simois. Dr. Č.'s favourite Sewoμis rediono fares equally ill (p. 756.) in the hands of this inquirer. Leaving these mysterious topics, we proceed to extract Mr. H.'s observations on the personal appearance of the modern Greeks:

It cannot appear at all surprising, that in their habits of life the modern Greeks should very much resemble the picture that has been transmitted to us of the ancient illustrious inhabitants of their country. Living on the fruits of the same soil, and under the same climate apparently not changed since the earliest ages, it would be strange if their physical constitutions, and in some measure their tempers, were not very similar to those of the great people whom we call their ancestors; and, in fact, I take their bodily appearance, their dress, their diet, and, as I said before, their tempers, to differ but little from those of the ancient Greeks.

There is a national likeness observable in all the Greeks, though, on the whole, the islanders are darker, and of a stronger make than those on the main-land. Their faces are just such as served for models to the ancient sculptors, and their young men in particular, are of that perfect beauty, which we should perhaps consider too soft and effeminate in those of that age in our more northern climate. Their eyes are large and dark, from which cir

cumstance Mavromati, or black-eyes, is a very common surname; their eyebrows are arched; their complexions are rather brown, but quite clear; and their cheeks and lips are tinged with a bright vermillion. The oval of their faces is regular, and all their features in perfect proportion, except that their ears are rather larger than ordinary: their hair is dark and long, but sometimes quite bushy, and, as they shave off all of it which grows on the fore-part of the crown and the side of the face, not at all becoming: some of the better sort cut off all their hair, except a few locks twisted into a knot on the top of the head. On their upper lips they wear a thin long mustachio, which they are at some pains to keep quite black. Beards are worn only by the clergy and the Archontes Presbuteroi, or Codja-bashees, and other men of authority. Their necks are long, but broad and firmly set, their chests wide and expanded, their shoulders strong, but round the waist they are rather slender. Their legs are perhaps larger than those of people accustomed to tighter garments, but are strong and well made. Their stature

is above the midling size, and their make muscular but not brawny, round and well filled out, but not inclined to corpulency.

Both the face and the form of the women are very inferior to those of the men. Though they have the same kind of features, their eyes are too languid, and their complexions too pale, and, even from the age of twelve, they have a flaccidity and loseness of person which is far from agreeable. They are generally below the height which we are accustomed to think becoming in a female, and when a little advanced in life, between twenty-five and thirty years of age, are commonly rather fat and unwieldly'

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The dress of the Greeks is not at the first sight to be much distinguished from that of the Turks, nor is there any difference in the habit of those in power, except that, instead of the turban, the head is covered with an immense calpac. A cotton shirt, made like a woman's chemise, cotton drawers, a vest and jacket of silk or stuff, ⚫ a pair of large loose brogues, or trowsers, drawn up a little above the ancle, and a short sock, make the inner part of the dress: the part of the garment next added is a long broad shawl, often highly worked, and very expensive, wrapped in wide folds round the loins. In one corner of this girdle the poorer people, especially in travelling, both Turks and Greeks, conceal their money, and then wind the shawl round them. A common fellow in Turkey might, as properly as the soldier in Horace, talk of the loss of his zone as of that of his money; but the better sort of people have adopted the use of purses, which, together with their handkerchiefs, watches, and snuff-boxes, they carry in the bosom, between the folds of their vests.'-

In the inland towns, and even at Athens, the Greeks seldom admit a male stranger to a sight of the females of their families, who live in a separate part of the house, and in some cases are as closely confined as the Turkish women. Before marriage, they are rarely, sometimes never, seen by any male excepting those

of their own family, but afterwards enjoy the privilege of being introduced to people of their own nation, and to travellers. A young lady, the sister of Seignor Nicolo, at Ioannina, to whom we had made a present of some Venetian silks, sent word to us, that she regretted that not being married, she could not kiss our hands in person, but begged that it might be done by proxy by our dragoman, who brought the message. We did not obtain a sight of her during our stay in the house.

A few friends, and perhaps a Frank stranger, are sometimes invited to the first public ceremony in which the young girl is concerned, that is, her betrothing to her future husband, who generally has never seen her; and we ourselves were once asked to a supper where there was music and dancing on an occasion of this kind. The girl (called upon,) was sitting in the middle of the sofa, covered with paint and patches, having a sort of crown on her head, and stuck round with jewels and gold chains on every part of her dress. We were regularly led up and presented to her, as were the other guests, and she kissed our hands. Her own female relations, and those of her future husband, were sitting on the rest of the sofa. The mother of the young man, who was not present himself, put a ring on the finger of the maiden, and, as her son's proxy, kissed her cheek, a ceremony by which the betrothing takes place. The marriage, we were told, would not take place perhaps for more than a year, as the youth was engaged in trade at some distance, until he could amass a fortune competent to maintain his wife.'

There are very few instances of second marriages amongst the Greeks, nor of any men, except a priest, remaining single for life.

'The women can seldom read or write, but are all of them able to embroider very tastefully, and can generally play on the Greek lute, or rebeck. Their dancing they learn without a master, from their companions. The dance called Xopos, and for distinction, Romaica, consists generally in slow movements, the young women holding by each other's handkerchiefs, and the leader setting the step and time, in the same manner as in the Albanian dance.'

Mr. H. has devoted a chapter to the interesting question of the state of literature among the modern Greeks. He has inserted (p. 560) a list of one hundred persons who flourished between the years 1570 and 1720, and who, though unknown in this country, have been deemed worthy by Demetrius Procopius of being commemorated as learned men. They were chiefly theologians educated in Italy, and were accounted prodigies by their countrymen from being able to read the ancient Greek. The more intimate connection, which of late years has taken place between the polished part of Europe and the Levant, has had a visible effect in lessening the gene

VOL. VII.

57

ral ignorance of the Greeks; and Leghorn, Venice, Vienna, Paris, all contain young Greeks who have repaired thither in search of that education which their own country cannot afford. The study of medicine is their principal object: but some individuals among them aim at a more general acquaintance with literature; and they are particularly successful in the acquisition of languages. When, however, we consider the slavery or rather the non-existence of their press, it would be too sanguine to anticipate any diffusion of general improvement in education throughout Greece. Hitherto, they have gone no farther than to compose Hellenic grammars in the Romaic or current language, and to translate some popular works from the European tongues. Mr. Hobhouse found a translation of Telemachus and of Rollin's Ancient History: but of the translations of Locke on the Understanding, and of Montesquieu on the Roman Empire, he heard only by report. At Constantinople, are two academies for teaching ancient Greek; at Athens, two schools; and, in the neighbourhood of Mytilene, is a sort of university for Greek and other languages. The knowledge thus acquired must, however, be of little use, as long as the country is devoid of good books, and while the objects of education are confined to the perusal of the churchservice, to the transaction of petty traffic, or to the qualifying of a young man for employment in the service of the pashas. In 1808, the French at Corfu established, with great formality, an institution styling itself the Ionian academy, under the sanction of Napoleon, "Benefactor and Protector:" but the very limited territory in Greece which was subject to him cooperated with other causes to render the attempt fruitless. Mr. Hobhouse treats of the language of the modern Greeks at considerable length, and has exhibited various specimens from printed works. We subjoin a few remarks on the different existing dialects:

The Greek of Smyrna is much infected by the Franks. That of Salonica is more pure The Athenian language is not, in my opinion, so corrupted, nor has admitted so many Latin and Italian words, as that of the Morea; but it has not preserved so much of the ancient elegance as the dialect of Ioannina, which the inhabitants of that city boast to be superior to any, except that of Constantinople.'

The substantives most commonly in use have undergone the most complete change; such as represent bread, water, clothes, would surprise the ear of a Hellenist, and yet neither Youn, vepo, nor jouxa are of a very late date. But the names of plants are nearly all Hellenic, and a botanical treatise would scarcely want a glos

sary of Romaic terms. The old names of places are, as might be expected, not altogether lost in the modern appellations of the Greeks, although the Turks have, in many instances, given names of their own.

'With respect to the written tongue, it must be observed, that the composition at this day current is of three kinds: the first, is the language of the mass, and some other parts of the rituals, which are grammatically Hellenic: the ancient Greek has also been lately used by Corai, and one or two others, but is not adopted in any common books. The next may be called the Ecclesiastical Greek; which is the kind employed by the majority of the church writers in their pastoral letters, and which, besides other characteristics, does not have recourse to the modern vulgarism of always recurring to the auxiliary verbs. This is the style of many of those cited by Procopius, and even of earlier authors, of Meletius, in his geography, and several other later works, and does not seem to be formed by any certain rule, but by an attempt of the writers to come as near as possible to the Hellenic. The Romaic is the third species of composition; but, even in this vulgar idiom, there is necessarily some distinction made by the nature of the various subjects, and the talents of the respective authors. The philosophical treatises of Corai and Psallida are as good, in point of style, as the dedication of Cimon Portius' grammar to Cardinal Richelieu, and although, perhaps, their subjects contribute much to their apparent superiority, are not so entirely vulgar as the downright common dialect.'

Mr. Hobhouse has inserted above twenty engravings, which have the effect of conveying a clearer idea of the objects in question than any written description. They delineate chiefly ancient monuments, the dress of the inhabitants of the present day, and the more striking parts of local scenery; and the admirer of the abode of Socrates and Plato has the satisfaction to find, on opening the first volume, a view of Athens; which, though somewhat flattering, seems, on the whole, to present a faithful picture of that celebrated city.

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