All eyes are now turned upon the Greek race as one of the most important factors in the Eastern Question. The future of South-Eastern Europe is seen to lie in the balance between Greek and Slav, and people’s opinions incline to one side or the other as dread of Russia or distrust of “Greek guile” gets the upper hand. I have nothing to say here about the people of free Hellas: I have only to tell what I have witnessed of the character and condition of the subject Greeks in Turkey. These, though they shared in the national effort of 1821-9, reaped little of the fruits. The Greeks of Macedonia, Thessaly, and Thrace did not gain the freedom accorded to the people of “Greece Proper,” though their condition was somewhat improved. But they are only biding their time. They know that their free countrymen are anxious to share with them the results of the glorious struggle of 1821. They know that centuries of subjection and oppression have demoralized and debased the nation; and they have long been striving with their whole strength to prepare themselves for freedom. They have employed the time of transition with great moderation and judgment. Those whom the Porte has appointed to high offices have filled their posts with conscientiousness, fidelity, and dignity. Taught worldly wisdom in the school of adversity, they have avoided premature conspiracy and rebellion, and have directed all their energies to educating the race for its future. “Improve and wait patiently” is the motto of the Greeks in Turkey.
The Greek peasant differs greatly from the Bulgarian. Agriculture is not all the world to him; his love for the pursuit is decidedly moderate unless he sees an opening for enterprise and speculation, as in the growth of some special kind of produce which he can sell in the raw condition or as manufactured goods. Unlike the Bulgarian, his whole family is not chained to the soil as the one business of life. When the paterfamilias can dispense with the services of some of his daughters, they leave their home in pursuit of occupation, and his sons in the same manner are allowed to quit the paternal roof in search of some more lucrative employment elsewhere. It is thus that the Greek is to be found in every nook and corner of Turkey, established among his own kindred or with foreigners, and following various professions and callings, as doctors, lawyers, schoolmasters; whilst, descending to a lower scale, we find him employed in every town and village as a petty tradesman, mason, carpenter, shoe-maker, musician, in all which occupations he manages by dint of energy, perseverance, and address to obtain a modest competence, or sometimes even to reach prosperity.
I remember, among other instances of the kind, the case of a Greek peasant family in the district of B⸺. The father was a respectable man, who owned a small property in his native village, and whose quiver was filled with eight children. The eldest remained to assist on the farm; two others of tender age also remained under the mother’s care; the other five, including a girl, left their home, and came to the town. One of the boys and the girl took service with me; a second boy apprenticed himself to a photographer, another became a painter of church pictures, and the fourth a cigarette-maker. The salaries these young peasants received were at first very meagre; but all the same the four boys clubbed their savings together, and after a time sent for their younger brother to live in town in order to enjoy the benefit of receiving a good education. Six years passed, during which the boy and his pretty and intelligent sister remained in my house; both learned to speak English, the boy having studied the language grammatically in his leisure moments. They are now honest, intelligent servants, perfect in the performance of their duties, and devoted to my family. The three apprentices, through their steadiness, good conduct, and energy, have become proficient enough in their different callings to set up for themselves, while the boy at school is one of the most advanced students of the Gymnasium.
The intellectual position of the Greeks is far superior to that of the Bulgarians. They are cleverer, and they and their children are more advanced in education. They display a great interest in passing events, as well as in politics, a knowledge of which they obtain by means of the numerous Greek newspapers they receive from Athens, Constantinople, and all the large towns of Turkey. These journals find their way to the remotest hamlets, one or two being sufficient to make the round of a village. They also possess other literature in the shape of the history of their country, biographies of some of their illustrious ancestors, and national songs in the vernacular. All these make a deep impression upon the entire population, who, after the conclusion of the labors of the day, gather together in the taverns and coffee-houses to discuss matters, talking excellent sense over the coffee-cup, or waxing hot and uproarious over their wine and raki.
The Greek peasant displays none of the embarrassment and tonguetiedness of the Bulgarian. I have often met with instances of this: one especially struck me which happened in the early part of last summer in the vilayet of B⸺. Some Bashi-bazouks had entered a village, and committed some of their usual excesses; but the peasants had found time to send away their wives and daughters to a place of safety. On the following day a body of fifty Greeks came to complain to the authorities. In order to render their claims more effective, they applied for protection at the different Consulates. I happened to be at luncheon at one of these Consulates, and the Consul ordered the men to be shown into the dining-room to make their statements. One at once stepped forward to give an account of the affair, which he related with so much eloquence and in such pure modern Greek that the Consul, suspecting him to be some lawyer in disguise, or a special advocate of Greek grievances, set him aside, and called upon another to give his version. Several looked questioningly at each other, but with no sign of embarrassment; on the contrary, the expression on each face betokened natural self-confidence, and meant in this instance to say, “We can each tell the tale equally well, but I had better begin than you.”
Patriotism is highly developed among the Greek peasants, who are fully aware of the meaning of the word patris, and taught to bear in mind that half a century ago free Hellas formed part of the Ottoman Empire; that its inhabitants, like themselves, were a subject people, and owe the freedom they now enjoy to self-sacrifice and individual exertion. “They are our elder brothers,” say they, “who have stepped into their inheritance before us. There is a just God for us as well!”
The wants of the Greek are more numerous than those of the Bulgarians. Their dress, for instance, is not limited to a coarse suit of aba and a sheepskin gougla, but is sometimes made of fine cloth and other rich materials, and includes shoes and stockings. The culinary department also demands more utensils; besides which, tables, table-linen, knives and forks are often seen at their meals. The bedding they use is more complete, and does not consist solely of rugs, as with the Bulgarians. Their houses are better built, with some regard to comfort and appearance, frequently with two stories, besides possessing chimneys and windows (when safe to do so). The village schools are better organized, and kept under the careful supervision of the Society for their direction, and the churches are more numerous. The women are less employed in field work, and consequently more refined in their tastes, prettier in appearance, and more careful and elegant in their dress. The Greek peasant girl knows the value of her personal charms, and disdains to load herself with the tarnished trinkets, gaudy flowers, and other wonderful productions in which the Bulgarian maiden delights. A skirt of some bright-colored silk or mixed stuff and a cloth jacket embroidered with gold form the principal part of her gala costume, covered with a fur-lined pelisse for out-of-door wear. Her well-combed hair is plaited in numerous tresses, and surmounted by the small Greek cap, which is decorated with gold and silver coins like those she wears as a necklace. She is not to be bought, like the Bulgarian, for a sum of money paid to her father as an equivalent for her services; but according to her means is dowered and given in marriage, like the maidens of classical times. Still the peasant girl is neither lazy nor useless; she takes an active part in the duties of the household, is early taught to knit and spin the silk, flax, wool, or cotton which the mother requires for the different home-made tissues of the family. She leads her father’s flock to the pasture, and under the title of Voskopoula kindles a flame in the heart of the village youth and inspires the rustic muse. On Sundays and feast-days she enters heartily into all the innocent pleasures of her retired and isolated life. She has more pride than the Bulgarian; and although in married life she is submissive and docile, she possesses a greater depth and richness of love. I have known instances of peasant girls exchanging vows with youths of their village who are leaving their home in search of fortune, and patiently waiting for them and refusing all offers in the mean time. In most cases this devotion is requited by equal constancy on the part of the lover; but should she be deserted, her grief is so terrible that she not seldom dies from the blow.
If there is more than one daughter in a family, some from the age of twelve or fourteen are usually sent to town and placed out as servants, with the double object of giving them the opportunity of seeing more of the world and the means of earning something for their own maintenance. These earnings as they are acquired are converted into gold coins and strung into necklaces.
When these girls are honest and good, and fall into proper hands, they are usually adopted by the family with whom they take service, under the title of ψυχόπαιδα. On reaching the age of twenty-five or twenty-seven a trousseau is given to them with a small dowry, and they are married to some respectable artisan. Those simply hired as servants either marry in the towns or do so on returning to their native village.
The Greek peasant women are as a rule clean and industrious, fond mothers and virtuous wives. The best proof of their morality is in the long absences many husbands are obliged to make from their homes, which are attended by no unfaithful results. In some instances for a period of even twenty years the wife becomes the sole director of the property, which she manages with care and wisdom, and the only guardian of the children left in her charge.