asked, what important benefits accrued to the Greeks? Unfortunately, the answer must benone. The voice of patriotism was drowned in the clamour of contending interests; and even their warmest eulogists admit, that, in the mutual rivalry of her children, the fate of Greece was forgotten.* The religion and constitution of the Ottomans, it has been urged, forbade the condition of the Rayahs to be altered, and would have rendered fruitless any interference in their behalf. But was not the severity of that constitution relaxed in favour of the Phanariots themselves, when, from slaves, it raised them to the dignity of princes? and could no force of intercession, no earnestness of entreaty, no suggestions of patriotism or prudence, extend that clemency, even in a slight degree, to the vast mass of misery from which these imperial favourites had been emancipated, but whose ponderous weight was still crushing their less forward countrymen? Self-interest was opposed to the attempt; no effort of the kind was ever made, and Greece is indebted to the Phana "Les Grecs du Fanar, toujours en butte à ces basses passions, ne faisaient pas pour l'avantage de leur patrie tout ce qu'il eût été en leur pouvoir de faire."-Rizo, Cours, p. 86. "Il n'est que trop vrai que les Fanariotes n'ont jamais éveillé le Divan par de généreuses suppliques, qui auraient pu alléger ces chaînes de leurs correligionnaires."-Zalloni, p. 245. riots for no one lasting or direct advantage. In some solitary instances, it is true, the exertions of single individuals have been productive of valuable results; but these, so far from redeeming the reputation of the entire body, tend merely to exhibit its general corruption as a foil to such insulated gems of patriotism.* Still their existence was not without producing some involuntary benefits to their community. Impelled by motives of individual interest to support their clergy, they contributed at the same time to protect religion and retard apostacy, thus preserving their nation distinct, and preventing them from amalgamating with their oppressors. Their courts in Wallachia and Moldavia were the natural refuge of crowds of their distressed and persecuted people, and the numerous offices within their gift necessarily encouraged the cultivation of those acquirements requisite for their discharge; whilst their elevated rank, operating as a stimulus on the minds of the higher classes of their countrymen, led to an imitation, however humble, of their polished exterior and graceful accomplish ments. Their houses at Constantinople, in compliment to the prejudices of the Turks, were, ex * For an enumeration of these instances, see Rizo Histoire, &c. p. 60, 61. Ibid. Cours de la Litt. Gr. Mod. p. 87, 88, 89. Walsh, c. xiii. ↑ Rabbe, p. 101. ternally, mean, and indicative of poverty; whilst their interior decorations were in a style of more than Oriental splendour, their walls draped with velvet, their floors covered with Persian carpets, and their ceilings crusted with gilded carved-work.* Beset by the pride of parvenus, their intercourse with each other was confined exclusively to those whom wealth, or the rank of a Boyar, entitled to distinction ;† but to the European residents at Constantinople their carriage was courteous in the extreme. The village of Therapiah, on the shore of the Bosphorus, was their summer retreat, and here their palaces and villas vied in luxury and splendour with their residences at the capital; whilst the "The exteriors of Rayahs' houses," says Dr. Walsh, in detailing the death of Yanko Callimaki, "are made by law, and studiously kept by the proprietors, unadorned and plain, that they might not attract the notice and cupidity of the Turks but when they entered the interior of this to execute the Sultan's orders, they were astonished at its magnificence. The window-curtains and hangings were formed of rich cachmere shawls, and every other decoration was in a style of corresponding expense and splendour," p. 282. + This distinction of rank, which was conferred by the Hospodars on their favourites, was usually bestowed on so many and so worthless individuals, that it latterly ceased to command respect save in the imagination of those who bore it. "On se ferait,” says Zalloni, "une fausse idée à Constantinople comme ailleurs, si on attachait la moindre idée de noblesse ou d'illustration quelconque à la dénomination de Boyard," p. 92. liveliness of their manners, and the gaiety of their mode of life, formed a favourable contrast with the sombre and secluded habits of the Ottomans. I have spoken of the Phanariots as a people that have passed away, as a race whose career is concluded. The late events which convulsed the empire of the Sultans, have overthrown their dominion from its base, nor is it probable that it will again be restored, Necessity at first compelled the Ottomans to employ their aid in those affairs for which they have now educated members of their own religion; and the administration of Wallachia and Moldavia having returned to its native princes, the Greeks are for ever excluded from the government of the provinces. Still, corrupted as they were, one cannot revert to their fall without some feelings of regret. In the midst of an unpolished people, they preserved the manners and the feelings of civilized life; and whilst surrounded by ignorance and barbarism, they cultivated the arts, the literature, and the polish of European capitals. The place of their residence is now deserted and in ruins; its dwellings down, its dwellers passed away; and the remnant of those who have escaped from destruction and massacre, are fugitives and wanderers amidst the cities of strangers. CHAPTER XIII. The Language and Literature of Modern Greece. AMONGST the most politic and efficient measures adopted by the Romans for the preservation of their power, was the extension of their language and customs to every country over which they had succeeded in establishing their sway. It was thus, that, towards the close of their dominion, Latin had become universal throughout the Roman world, and was adopted by almost every race, from the cliffs of Britain to the shores of the Adriatic. The Greeks, however, were too proud of their learning, and too sensible of the charms of their matchless language, to exchange it for the rude dialect of their masters; and whilst the inhabitants of the West conformed without a murmur to the manners of their conquerors, the literature of Greece continued, long after her subjection, to |