It will be easily understood that the number of married priests is very limited. Few men sacrifice their ambition to their affections, particularly among the Greeks, who are all essentially ambitious; and to many of whom the road to advancement is so frequently made straight by intrigue and cabal. Added to this consideration, the ideas and practice of morality among the Greek clergy being notoriously more lax than altogether accords with the holiness of their profession, they prefer the equivocal liberty of celibacy; while, in the few instances wherein they make their fortunes subservient to their domestic comfort, they universally select the most beautiful women of their nation; as there scarcely exists a family who would refuse their daughter to a priest, should he demand her for his wife.
After having passed two pleasant hours with the amiable Prelate, and reluctantly declined his polite invitation to avail ourselves of his table during our detention at Moudania, we returned home, only to witness the renewed gathering of the storm-clouds, and to listen to the dash of the billows against the foundations of the house.
One little incident alone served to divert us for a time from our ennui. The waiting maid of the lady whom I have mentioned as having been thrown from her horse during the journey to the coast, had profited by our arrival at Moudania to get herself exorcised by a priest; so terrified had she been at the accident of her mistress, which she attributed entirely to the influence of the Evil Eye. Secure in the impunity that she had thus purchased for a few piastres, she was pursuing her avocations somewhat more vivaciously than her wont, when she fell from the top of the stairs to the bottom, with a force which shook the frail wooden tenement to its foundations. Merriment succeeded to our alarm, however, when, on raising herself from the floor, she began to exclaim vehemently against the inefficacy of the ceremony that she had so lately undergone; nor was our amusement diminished when, in reply to our raillery, she declared that, even if she had thrown away her money, she was in no worse plight than her lady, who had paid much more dearly for the same privilege before she left Broussa, though it had availed her still less. Shouts of laughter followed the announcement of this hitherto carefully-guarded secret; and I do not think that I shall ever hear of an Exorcist again, without having before my eyes the portly person of Madame ——, extended on the earth; and a party of routed equestrians galloping hither and thither over the vast plain of Broussa, wherever their affrighted horses were for the first few minutes disposed to carry them.
The following day was less unfavourable, but the wind was so high and the sky so wild that no boat could put to sea. In this dilemma, we amused ourselves by wandering along the beach, and collecting jaspers, agates, and pebbles: and in making a tour of the town, which is miserable enough, and stamped with all the marks of premature decay.
The inhabitants of Moudania are celebrated for their slothfulness. The town is seated on the edge of a gulf, which would alone suffice to the sustenance of the whole of its population; and they are the worst fishermen in Turkey. The surrounding country is fertile and rich: Nature has been lavish in her gifts, and yet their agriculture is conducted in the most slovenly and inefficient manner. It is a continual struggle between the luxuriance of the soil, and the idleness of the husbandman; and, fortunately for the latter, Nature, after all, has the best of it, for the lofty hills are feathered to their very summits with vegetation: olive trees and vines clothe the valleys; sparkling streams descend from the mountains; rich pasturages afford sustenance to the numerous flocks; and goodly forest trees provide fuel for their owners. But Moudania and its environs instantly reminded me of Cowper’s expressive line:—
“God made the country, but man made the town,”
for man, left to himself, never more fully displayed his insufficiency than here. The commerce in oil is very considerable, not less than a hundred and fifty thousand okes being produced yearly—silk-worms are reared in almost every house in the place—wine is plentiful—and there is a continual intercourse with the European coast—and yet, notwithstanding all these advantages, Moudania is falling to decay. In vain has the Turkish Government, with a consideration and good policy by which it is not usually distinguished, lightened, and indeed almost entirely removed, all the local imposts; the same slowly progressing ruin still wears its way. On every side the houses are perishing for want of repair, the streets are encumbered with filth, the shops are almost empty, and the whole town is in a state of stagnation. The departure of half a dozen caïques for Constantinople suffices to bring all the inhabitants to their windows, or to the beach; and, had you not already received proof to the contrary, you would then imagine by the shouting, running, and confusion, that the population of Moudania was one of the most energetic under heaven; but when once the sails are set and the boats departed, the crowd separates lazily, the noise dies away, and the genius of desolation once more broods over the perishing little town.
In this miserable place we were detained three days; and on the morning of the fourth, our party embarked on board three of their beautiful boats, and bade adieu, probably for ever, to the shores of Moudania.