The arrangement of this most serious question will stir up a nest of hornets. The equitable adjustment would demand a minute survey of the various districts, and a comparison of the holdings with the title deeds; but what then? It is already known that the holdings are in excess, and where is the legal remedy that can be practically applied? If the actual letter of the law shall be enforced, and each proprietor shall be compelled to disgorge his prey, there will be endless complications. In England, twenty-one years' uninterrupted possession, with occupation, constitutes a valid title. In Cyprus the extended holdings have in many instances been inherited, and have remained unquestioned as the acknowledged property of individuals, while in other cases they have been more recently acquired. The question will comprise every possible difficulty, and can only be determined by a special commission officially appointed for a local investigation throughout each separate district.
This will be a labour of years, and the innumerable intricacies and entanglements will test the patience and HONESTY of interpreters in a country where bribery has always opened a golden road for an escape from difficulty, while our own authorities are entirely ignorant of the native language. It is this lack of natural means of communication viva voce which increases the already awkward position of high officials: the power of speech belongs to the dragoman alone, and a great gulf exists between the English and the Cypriote, who represent the deaf and dumb in the absence of an interpreter. The old song "We have no money," is the now stereotyped response to all suggestions for district schools, but if we are to retain Cyprus, one of the most urgent necessities is the instruction of the people in English. It is not to be expected that any close affinity can exist between the governing class and the governed, in the darkness of two foreign tongues that require a third person for their enlightenment. In many cases secrecy may be of considerable importance, and the conversation should be confined to the principals, but the third person must invariably be present as interpreter, and unless he is a man of the highest integrity he will not lose an opportunity of turning his knowledge of state secrets to account for his own advantage. Throughout the Levant it is difficult to find men who combine the rare qualities necessary for a confidential dragoman; such a person would be invaluable, as he would represent all the cardinal virtues, at the same time that he must possess a natural aptitude for his profession, and a store of patience, with the most unruffled temper. The natives dread the interpreter, they know full well that one word misunderstood may alter the bearing of their case, and they believe that a little gold judiciously applied may exert a peculiar grammatical influence upon the parts of speech of the dragoman, which directly affects their interests. There are, no doubt, men of honour and great capability who occupy this important position, at the same time it is well known that many interpreters have been found guilty; the exceptions proving the rule, and exhibiting the extreme danger and general disadvantage in the ignorance of the native language. It cannot be expected that the English officials are to receive a miraculous gift of fiery tongues, and to address their temporary subjects in Turkish and in Greek; but it is highly important that without delay schools should be established throughout the island for the instruction of the young, who in two or three years will obtain a knowledge of English. Whenever the people shall understand our language, they will assimilate with our customs and ideas, and they will feel themselves a portion of our empire: but until then a void will exclude them from social intercourse with their English rulers, and they will naturally gravitate towards Greece, through the simple medium of a mother-tongue. Limasol must perforce of its geographical advantages become the capital of Cyprus. As I have already described, the port may be much improved. The neighbouring country is healthy, and well covered with trees; the landscape is pleasing, and the new road opens a direct communication with the mountain sanatorium. The most important exports of the island are produced within the district, and, as might be expected, the result of commercial enterprise is exhibited in the increased intelligence and activity of the Limasol inhabitants. It is highly to be desired that this favourable position should become the seat of government. Although the troops in 1879 are camped among the barren rocks beneath the pine-forests upon Mount Troodos, at an elevation of about 5800 feet above the sea, there is no necessity for a station at so extreme and inconvenient an altitude in north latitude 35 degrees. The general unhealthiness of the troops upon the first occupation of the island during the summer and autumn of 1878, determined the military authorities to arrange the new camp at the greatest altitude practicable with a regard to the supply of water, but the experience gained in 1879 proves that a permanent camp, or barracks, may be equally healthy at a lower and more convenient level. This fact would establish an additional advantage in the selection of Limasol for headquarters, as the troops would be in the immediate neighbourhood at all seasons. Colonel Warren, R.A., who had been the prime mover in all the improvements that had been made in Limasol since the British occupation, was promoted on 1st August to the position of chief of the staff under Sir Garnet Wolseley's able successor, Major-General Biddulph, C.B., R.A., and the district thus lost its leading spirit. In reforming abuses and promoting progress, Colonel Warren had not entirely escaped the usual fate of men who are in advance of their age. The unflinching determination to administer the laws without fear or favour to all classes had infringed upon the assumed immunities of the Greek Church, which had always received deferential consideration from the Turkish government, and although actually liable to taxation, the right had never been enforced. This is a curious contradiction to the vulgar belief in Mussulman intolerance and bigotry; the Greek Church not only enjoyed a perfect freedom under the Turks, but the bishops were assisted in obtaining a forced tribute from their flock by the presence of Turkish zaphtiehs (police), who accompanied them during their journeys through the diocese.
An interference with Church property or established rights is certain to create a buzzing of the ecclesiastical bees, who will swarm against the invader with every sting prepared for action. As the case was investigated by a special court of inquiry, and terminated, as might have been expected, completely in favour of Colonel Warren, it is not necessary to enter upon minute details; but, as the plaintiff was the Bishop of Citium, and this first public attack created a peculiar agitation that will probably be repeated, it may be interesting to examine the actual position of the Greek Church as it existed during the Turkish administration.
The Church in Cyprus is represented by an Archbishop and three Bishops as the acknowledged heads. The diocese of the former comprises Lefkosia, Famagousta, and the Carpas districts, while the three Bishoprics are those of Larnaca or Citium, Kyrenia, and Baffo.
The revenues of the Archbishop amount to about £2000 a year, and the necessary expenditure for staff, schools, &c., to £1500. The Bishopric of Baffo is the richest, with a revenue of about £1000; at the same time the outgoings are small, amounting to £300 a year for the payment of his staff, and one-fifth of the expenses of a public school.
The Bishopric of Larnaca or Citium is valued at about £900 a year, but the expenditure is confined to £200. That of Kyrenia is about the same as Citium. There is no possibility of determining an exact figure, as these revenues are dependent upon voluntary payments, which cannot be enforced by any statute; but there is a "Berat" (decree) which invites the local authorities to render the bishops assistance in the collection of their revenues, without the absolute enforcement of any payments. No amounts due to the bishops for either canonical, ecclesiastical, or alms (Zitia), can be recovered through a court of law. On the other hand, the all-powerful countenance afforded by the Turkish government represented by public functionaries (zaphtiehs), who accompanied the bishops during their diocesan visits upon a tour of collection, was a moral influence that succeeded in extorting the unwilling fees. In case of a defaulting village, it is said that a bishop has been known to suspend the functions of the priest until the necessary payments should be completed by his parishioners, who, thus temporarily cut off from all ghostly comfort, hastened to arrive at a pecuniary compromise.
The monasteries are an important institution throughout Cyprus, and there is a decided difference between the monks of these establishments and the general priesthood. The monks are supposed to devote their lives to charitable objects; they are not allowed to marry, and they have a superior education, as all can read and write. On the other hand, the priests are grossly ignorant, and it is computed that only a quarter of their number could even write their own names. These are allowed to marry one wife, but they cannot re-marry in the event of her decease; they are generally poor to a superlative degree, and are frequently obliged to work for hire like common labourers. Should a man desire to become a priest, it is only necessary that he should be recommended by the inhabitants of his village as a person of good reputation that would be suitable for the office: he is then ordained by the bishop upon payment of a fee of about one hundred piastres (or 150), and he is at once at liberty to enter upon his duties. These ordination fees are a temptation to the bishops to increase the number of priests to an unlimited extent, and the result is seen throughout Cyprus in a large and superfluous body of the most ignorant people, totally unfitted for their position.
The monasteries vary in their revenues, as they have derived their possessions at different periods from grants of land, or private gifts, or legacies. In like manner with the bishops, although they cannot legally compel the villagers to pay according to their demands, they assumed a power which by long sufferance had become recognised by the ignorant peasantry, who reluctantly acceded to their claims. I have myself witnessed an altercation between the monks and shepherds on the mountains upon a question of cheeses and goats, which the former claimed as annually due to the monastery; it appeared that prior to the British occupation they had been able by threats to extort this demand, but the shepherds had now determined to free themselves from all payments beyond those which the law compelled, and they resisted the priestly authority, before which they had hitherto remained as slaves. This spirit of independence that has been so quickly developed by the equity of British rule will probably extend, and may seriously interfere with the revenues of the Church, should the population determine to abide by their legal status and refuse the ordinary fees. It cannot be expected that either bishops, monks, or priests regard this change with satisfaction, and in their hearts they may sigh for the good old times of a Turkish administration, when the Greek Church of Cyprus was an imperium in imperio that could sway both the minds and purses of the multitude, untouched by laws or equity, and morally supported by the government.
The most important monastery in the island is that of Kykou; this is situated upon the mountains at an elevation of 3800 feet above the sea, and it comprises an establishment of sixty monks, with a gross revenue from various properties in different portions of the country estimated together with donations at about £5000 per annum. The monastery of Mahera estimates its revenue at £2000; that of Fameromeni at Nicosia, at £2000 without any expenditure, as the three monks, together with one servant, are paid by the extra incomes of the Church. There are many monasteries throughout the island, and all with the exception of Kykou and St. Andrea, at the eastern point of Cyprus, pay a certain portion of their revenue to the bishop of the diocese. The two monasteries I have excepted are perfectly independent of all ecclesiastical control in revenue and finance. Considerable caution will be necessary in arranging the land question with these numerous establishments, which have hitherto enjoyed a peculiar independence. Up to the present time the income of the bishops has been derived from the annual payments from monasteries, by the canonical tax paid by every church; from the alms (Zitia), which is a tax levied upon all crops; from the dish exposed for offerings in church while they officiate, and from various ordination fees and marriage licences. From the inquiries I made in various dependable quarters, the bishops are not generally beloved either by the monks, priests, or public; but this absence of appreciation may be due to the continual demands upon the funds of monasteries and the pockets of the peasantry, more than to any personal peculiarities of character. There are stories of neglect of duty and misappropriation of funds intended for charitable purposes, which I should decline to believe possible among ecclesiastics of such devout principles and high position. The Archbishop is much beloved, and is loudly praised by all classes of the inhabitants, to whom he owes his election as supreme head of the Church after the following manner:-
In the event of death, the vacant see of Cyprus is represented by the Bishop of Baffo, and the new archbishop must be elected by the people. The bishop occupies the position of president of an ecclesiastical council, to which representatives are sent from every district, charged with the votes of the inhabitants in favour of the archbishop. Upon his election, the approval and confirmation of his appointment must be obtained by an imperial decree before the archbishop can officiate. In the same manner every bishop is elected by the people of the district, and their representatives are sent to Nicosia, where the archbishop presides over his council, or court; but the new bishop must also be confirmed in his position by an imperial decree.