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 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE
 
 A SHORT POPULAR 
 
 HISTORY OF CRETE 
 
 J. H. FREESE, M.A. 
 
 LATE FELLOW OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION 
 By P. W. CLAYDEN 
 
 SANS PEUR ET 
 SANS REPROCHE 
 
 N 
 
 THIRD EDITION 
 
 LONDON 
 
 JARROLD & SONS, 10 & u, WARWICK LAX-. EC. 
 
 [All Rights Reserved] 
 
 1897
 
 SRLfi 
 UR£J 
 
 5138551 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 The compiler of this little book desires to acknow- 
 ledge his special obligations to the following works 
 amongst a large number of others which have been 
 consulted : — 
 
 Louis Lacroix, lies de la Grece {Univers pittoresque, 
 vol. xxxviii.). 
 
 G. Fin lay, History of Greece. 
 
 P. Daru, Histoire de Venise. 
 
 Yon Hammer, History of the Ottoman Empire. 
 
 Larousse, Dictionnaire Universel. 
 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Article " Crete" 
 
 F. Bamberg, Geschichte der Orientalischen Angelegen- 
 heit im Zeitraume der Pariser tend des Berliner Frieden, 
 
 E. Hertslet, The Map of Europe by Treaty. 
 
 R. Pashley, Travels in Crete. 
 
 The Gazetteer of the World. 
 
 A. F. Yule, A Little Light on Cretan Insurrections. 
 
 W. J. Stillman, The Cretan Insurrection of 1 866-1 868. 
 
 Fauriel, Chants populaires de la Grece moderne. 
 
 Elpis Melena, Kreta-Biene. 
 
 A Passow, Carmina Popularia Grcecice Recentioris
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 Introduction ... ... ... ... ... 7 
 
 I. The Island of Crete: Geographical and Physical 
 
 Features ... ... ... ... ... ... 25 
 
 II. Ancient Crete, to the Time of its Conquest by the 
 
 Romans ... ... ... ... ... ... 32 
 
 (II. The History of Crete, from the Time of its Con- 
 quest by the Romans to its Capture by the 
 Turks ... ... ... ... ... ... 48 
 
 IV. The History of the Island, from its Capture by 
 
 the Turks to the Present Time... ... ... 73 
 
 V. Greek Heiverle and the War of Independence ... 112 
 VI. Cretan Songs and Legends... ... ... ... 133
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 FOR many weeks I have been receiving from all parts 
 of the kingdom requests for information on the subject 
 of Crete and the relations of the Cretans with the 
 kingdom of Greece. It has been impossible to meet 
 this demand, because the Cretan question and the action 
 of the Greek Government and people can only be 
 explained by telling the island story, and no brief but 
 sufficient summary of Cretan history was to be found. 
 This want is supplied by Mr. Freese in the following 
 chapters, which give an account of the geographical 
 and physical features of the island, sketch its political 
 and social life from the earliest times till now, and 
 show what have been the struggles and aspirations of 
 the whole Hellenic people. It is impossible, without 
 such a glance back over their stormy and suffering past, 
 to understand the position, or to enter into the feelings 
 and aspirations of the Greek nation or their Cretan 
 brothers. Crete has been a martyr island. It had a 
 thousand years of changeful history before the Christian 
 era, and, making allowance for a few centuries of peace 
 and prosperity, it may fairly be said to have had a 
 thousand years of struggle and suffering in Christian
 
 8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 times. It lies, as it were, on the border line between 
 East and West, between Christian civilization and the 
 semi-barbarism of Islam, and the tides of Mohammedan 
 conquest and Christian victory have swept backwards 
 and forwards over it for centuries. Its people are there- 
 fore what ages of conflict have made them. Wherever 
 the Ottoman Turk rules, barbarism gains on civilization, 
 commerce decays, agriculture is neglected, and all the 
 humanities, to use the Scottish phrase, die of inanition. 
 It is not the fault of the Cretan peasant, therefore, if, like 
 Othello, he is rude in speech — 
 
 " And little bless'd with the set phrase of peace ; :; 
 
 for he must say, with the Moor — 
 
 " And little of this great world can I speak, 
 More than pertains to feats of broil and battle." 
 
 Ten times within the present century the Cretans have 
 been driven to revolt by the intolerable oppression of 
 their alien rulers, and from the time when Europe forced 
 them back under Turkish rule in 1830 to the present 
 moment they have known little else than "broil and 
 battle." The sixty-six years since Leopold refused the 
 Crown of Greece, because this essential part of the Greek 
 kingdom had been forcibly rent from it and re-enslaved, 
 have seen seven rebellions, two of which lasted for a 
 couple of years or more. That of last spring lingered on 
 till the late summer, and after a brief time of compara- 
 tive quiet blazed up again early in this year, and has 
 brought the active interference of the Greeks and the 
 present war. 
 
 The condition of Crete for eighteen months before the 
 outbreak of these latest troubles is fully described in
 
 INTRODUCTION. g 
 
 the detailed despatches of Consul Biliotti. During that 
 period the consul sent home more than two hundred 
 and forty letters and telegrams, in which may be read 
 the story of Cretan life from day to day. It is all along 
 a story of disorder and discontent, of pillage and murder. 
 Month after month his letters convey the most serious 
 warnings of coming trouble. A mere glance at the Blue 
 Book (Turkey, No. 7, 1896) shows the disturbed con- 
 dition of the country. " Murder of Christians by Mussul- 
 mans" is the burden of its index pages. Lists of 
 murders and outrages are sent home by the consul from 
 time to time, and on the 3rd of October, 1895, he reports to 
 Lord Salisbury that he has been told that the low class 
 of Mussulmans are speaking of making the Christians 
 in Crete " repent of any concessions which the Sultan 
 may grant in Asia." On the 21st of November he 
 writes, that the situation, " in the opinion, not only of 
 the native Christians, but in that of the Mussulmans 
 themselves, is now quite intolerable;" and on the 3rd of 
 December Lord Salisbury, writing to Sir Philip Currie, 
 urges him to impress on the Porte "the danger of 
 serious trouble unless some remedial measures are soon 
 adopted." But Sir Philip Currie is instructed to do his 
 spiriting gently, to be careful to assure the Porte that 
 " Her Majesty's Government are actuated by no wish to 
 interfere in the affairs of Crete, or to suggest any course 
 of action, but that they desire only in a spirit of friend- 
 ship that the Sultan's Government should anticipate, 
 and thus avert, complications to which a continuance of 
 the present disorders will assuredly give rise." This 
 " spirit of friendship " was to be shown towards the 
 government of a man whose hands were already red
 
 / 
 
 i o 1NTR OB UCTION. 
 
 with the blood of thousands of Christians in Armenia, 
 and who was at that moment preparing one of the most 
 bloody and cruel massacres in the whole history of the 
 Christian Church. The appeal had no effect. Sir 
 Philip Currie wrote on the 18th of December, that the 
 Turkish Government was " incapable of taking any 
 effectual steps to remedy the present state of things in 
 Crete, or to avert the insurrection which, it is generally 
 believed, will break out in the spring." 
 
 All the winter Consul Biliotti kept Lord Salisbury 
 informed of every detail of public affairs, as fully as 
 though Crete was an integral part of the British Empire. 
 In February, 1896, the racial murders began to be 
 frequent, and the catalogue sent home in March and 
 April shows a state of complete disorder. On the 
 7th of March, Consul Biliotti gave an account of various 
 disturbances and sufferings, and added, " All these 
 details are certainly known at Constantinople, but 
 nothing is done to find a remedy for a state of things 
 which, before long, must fatally lead to a general out- 
 break, and disorders which may exceed even those of 
 the year 1889." So matters drifted on till May. All 
 this time Caratheodori Pasha, a Greek Christian, was 
 the Governor ; but the Porte refused him the means of 
 paying his police, and the commander of the Turkish 
 troops mocked his authority and frustrated his efforts. 
 In March, 1896, he was recalled, and Consul Biliotti 
 reported that even the Mussulmans deeply deplored his 
 departure. His recall was the sign that the farce of 
 keeping to the reforms which the Powers had exacted, 
 was at an end. Turkhan Pasha, a Mussulman, was sent 
 to reign in his stead, and Consul Biliotti telegraphed on
 
 INTRODUCTION. u 
 
 the 24th of March that attempts at murder and murders 
 were daily committed by Mussulmans against Christians, 
 and that on that day the Christians in Canea had not 
 opened their shops, as three attempts at murder had 
 taken place on the day before. The whole island now 
 fell into a state of anarchy ; and early in May Turkhan 
 Pasha adjourned the General Assembly till August. 
 On the 2 1st of that month the Foreign Minister of the 
 Porte told Mr. Herbert at Constantinople that the 
 position of affairs in Crete was very bad. Turkhan 
 Pasha was recalled, and a soldier, Abdullah Pasha, was 
 put in his place. The next day Turkhan Pasha got 
 orders from Constantinople to convoke the General 
 Assembly for the 28th, but the Grand Vizier told Mr. 
 Herbert that the demands of the Cretans could not be 
 granted, that the convocation of the Assembly would 
 have but little effect, and that he feared order could 
 only be restored by military measures. On the very 
 day of the despatch of this telegram from Constanti- 
 nople, the military measures were effectually prepared 
 for by a rising of the Mussulman population, and a 
 massacre of Christians in Canea. 
 
 The demands of the Cretans, which the Turks deter- 
 mined to resist, were substantially that the Pact or 
 Convention of Halepa, which is fully described by Mr. 
 Freese in his fourth chapter, should be carried out. 
 They asked that the gendarmerie should be composed of 
 Cretans, and not of Albanians and others from different 
 parts of the Empire ; that the Custom-house adminis- 
 tration and revenue should be handed over to the 
 Cretans ; that Turkish correspondence clerks should be 
 done away with; and that the old system of jurisprudence
 
 12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 should be restored. The Porte, however, as Mr. Block 
 inferred from a conversation he had with the Grand 
 Vizier, had resolved on military measures, and Mr. 
 Herbert knew so well what this determination meant 
 that he telegraphed from Constantinople to Lord 
 Salisbury : 
 
 " The Turkish Government, according to all the infor- 
 mation I receive, are determined to quell the insurrection 
 in Crete by force, with their customary severity. I think, 
 therefore, in view of this probability and the Zeitoun 
 experience, that we should be very careful how we allow 
 our consul to give any guarantees as to conditions being 
 carried out by the Sublime Porte." 
 
 This warning of the untrustworthy character of the 
 Turkish Government was acted on. Consul Biliotti was 
 instructed not to accept responsibility for any conditions, 
 but to confine himself to bringing about negotiations 
 and settling the preliminaries of an arrangement. This 
 order to our consul was repeated, and similar orders 
 were sent by all the Powers to their representatives. 
 The consuls telegraphed for warships, and warships 
 were sent. Meanwhile reports were sent home that the 
 Porte was shipping troops for Crete, and Mr. Herbert's 
 fears of a repetition in the Greek island of the Zeitoun 
 severities were shared by all the Powers as well as by 
 the people and the Government of Greece. Greece was 
 deeply stirred. It seemed to the Greek people to be their 
 duty to step in and shield the Cretans from the vengeance 
 of the Assassin of the Armenians. Count Goluchowski, 
 the Austrian MinisFer, expressed to our Ambassador at 
 Vienna, Sir E. Monson, the fear that events had gone 
 to such lengths that an irresistible popular current
 
 INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 might carry away the King of Greece and his Govern- 
 ment, and he significantly added, " The blame for the 
 present situation lies entirely with the Turks themselves, 
 and it will be impossible for Greece to stand aloof if acts 
 of savagery take place in the island." Greece, however, 
 possessed her soul in patience. She took the advice of 
 the Powers, and in so doing let a great opportunity 
 slip. Crete was ready to fall into her hands, and Count 
 Goluchowski said that she would have had much Euro- 
 pean sympathy if she interfered to stop the savagery. 
 There was eve ry thing to justify her interference. Consul 
 Biliotti telegraphed to Lord Salisbury in June : " Pillage 
 and fire mark the passage of the troops." The Christians 
 in the interior, however, held their own, and the efforts 
 of the Turks to conquer them entirely failed. They had 
 themselves struck the blow and won their freedom. If 
 at this moment Greece had been allowed to step in, the 
 union of Crete to the Hellenic Kingdom might have 
 been accomplished amid general consent. 
 
 The Greeks, however, have a watchful enemy in Russia. 
 They stand in Russia's way. A strong Hellenic king- 
 dom would not only bar her progress to the warmer 
 seas, but might compete with her for the old capital of 
 the Byzantine Empire. The political superstition of 
 "the integrity and independence of the Ottoman 
 Empire" has now its headquarters at St. Petersburg, 
 while Austria professes allegiance to it, and France bows 
 the knee to any idol Russia may set up. M. Hanotaux 
 told Mr. Howard on the 8th of July, that if the Powers 
 could smother the Cretan question they would do a good 
 work. So Prince Lobanoff thought, and he induced 
 Austria to propose the blockade of Crete, to prevent the
 
 i 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 importation of arms or volunteers from Greece. Lord 
 Salisbury made a fitting reply to this proposal. In a 
 despatch to Mr. Gosselin, on the 29th of July, he said 
 that he had told the German Ambassador — 
 
 That I saw no prospect of Her Majesty's Government being able 
 to adhere to this suggestion. They had always declined to intervene 
 in cases of civil strife between a Government and its subjects, and 
 their objection would be accentuated by the fact that they would 
 be intervening in opposition to Christian insurgents who had very 
 solid grievances to complain of. After what had taken place in 
 Armenia during the winter, it was difficult to count on the modera- 
 tion or clemency with which the Turkish Government would be 
 likely to use any victory it might achieve, and Her Majesty's 
 Government, therefore, shrank from taking part by material 
 intervention in the work of restoring the authority of the Sultan, 
 when they had at their disposal no means of insuring that the 
 restored authority would be exerted with moderation and justice. 
 
 The German Ambassador thereupon reminded Lord 
 Salisbury of the Greek blockade, instituted when Mr. 
 Gladstone was Prime Minister, and asked him whether 
 that was not a precedent for the blockade of Crete. 
 But Lord Salisbury says — 
 
 I replied that the distinction between the two appeared to me to 
 be very marked. If Greece were to assume a hostile attitude to 
 the Turkish Government, and make any aggression upon the 
 independence or integrity of the Turkish Empire, the collective 
 guarantee into which the Powers entered at the Treaty of Paris 
 would become a matter of serious consideration. . . . But the 
 question submitted by Count Goluchowski was not that of coercing 
 the Government of Greece ; it was that of taking part against the 
 Cretan insurgents. I added, as a secondary objection to the 
 proposal, that I very much doubted its success. It was no easy 
 matter to guard a littoral so indented as that of Crete, and to 
 prevent the blockade being broken by small fishing-boats from 
 the neighbouring coasts of Africa or of Greece ; and the blockade 
 would not be an easy one to maintain in the face of the weather
 
 INTR OD UCTION. 1 5 
 
 which usually prevailed in the seas between Crete and Greece in 
 the early part of the autumn. Some of the Powers were now 
 urging a blockade on the ground that it did not consist with their 
 dignity to allow their recommendations to be set at naught ; but I 
 feared that if the blockade was tried and failed they would think 
 it still less consistent with their dignity to acquiesce in such a 
 result, and the question of military occupation, with all the 
 rivalries and entanglements which it would involve, would 
 then be forced on us for decision. (Turkey, No. 7, 1896, 
 p. 231.) 
 
 This admirable despatch settled the whole question. 
 Nothing more was heard of the proposed blockade, 
 though Count Goluchowski was " extremely agitated 
 and impressed by the difficulties of the situation " when 
 Lord Salisbury's wise decision was communicated to 
 him. He thought it might lead to war ; and hinted 
 that it " would certainly intensify the suspicions already 
 entertained of British policy." Lord Salisbury, however, 
 refused to move, and said that " it was not an even- 
 handed proceeding to give the Sultan the assistance of 
 the ships which would intervene by force, while giving 
 the Cretans the assistance of a Commission which could 
 only intervene by representations." He repeated this 
 reply in answer to an alternative proposal that the 
 Sultan should close the ports, and the ships of the 
 Powers should watch the ports for him. The balance, 
 he said, was not even. " It was deeds on one side, and 
 mere words on the other. The exercise of force would 
 not be sufficiently balanced by the presentation of 
 remonstrances." He added that "it was impossible 
 that Great Britain should take part in proceedings 
 intended to paralyze the action of the insurgents, unless 
 by the exercise of force on the other side also adequate
 
 1 6 INTRO D UCTJON. 
 
 guarantees were taken for the future good government 
 of the island." 
 
 As the British Minister was thus firm, the other 
 Powers and the Sultan were obliged to give way. The 
 Porte adopted its usual tactics of delay. Prince 
 Lobanoff talked about " a political volcano bursting 
 out" if the Powers failed to act together, and Count 
 Goluchowski, down to the middle of August, pressed his 
 scheme for the blockade, but Lord Salisbury was firm. 
 In the end a settlement was come to, which received the 
 signatures of the six Powers on the 25th of August, and 
 of the Sultan's representative on the 27th ; and on the 
 5th of September Consul Biliotti wrote that "both 
 Christians and Mussulmans are very happy to be led 
 out of the untenable position in which they were 
 placed." He thought that more good-will was to be 
 expected on the part of the Mussulmans than of the 
 Christians themselves in carrying out the new organiza- 
 tion. The consuls of the Great Powers communicated 
 the scheme to the Christian deputies, and in informing 
 the Governor of what they had done, made complaint 
 of the massacre close to the gates of Canea, and close 
 to a military post, of many unarmed and peaceable 
 Christians, " who had only returned to their village on 
 the invitation of the authorities, and on the assurance 
 that they would enjoy the most complete security." 
 The Consuls told the Governor that these disorders 
 made them fear that the Government was powerless 
 to maintain public order, and threatened to appeal to 
 the Sultan if this disorder was not stopped at once. 
 A fortnight later Berovitch Pasha, a Christian, was 
 appointed Governor, and hope revived. The scheme
 
 INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 he had to administer was one of autonomy. There was 
 to be a Commission to reform the Tribunals, and 
 another to reorganize the gendarmerie under European 
 officers. The elections were to be ordered and the 
 Assembly convoked within six months. 
 
 For a brief month or two there was much exultation 
 among Lord Salisbury's political friends over this 
 diplomatic success. It was held by them to condone 
 his failure in Armenia, and to show what the Concert 
 of Europe could do when Great Britain was faithful to 
 it. On paper Crete was free, and yet the integrity of 
 the Turkish Empire had been kept. In Crete itself 
 there was a brief period of calm. The Christian 
 deputies issued an appeal to Christians and Mussul- 
 mans, " children of the same country, belonging to the 
 same race," to let the work of peace be henceforth 
 their only strife. The Christians, who had fled to 
 Greece in thousands, began to return; and the Mussul- 
 mans, who had taken possession of the abandoned 
 homes of the fugitives, were urged to restore the 
 property to its rightful owners. There was some 
 friction over this restoration, but early in October, 
 Consul Sir Alfred Biliotti wrote that there was a 
 strong wish on the part of Mussulmans and Christians 
 to live in peace. A most productive olive crop was 
 gathered in, and the towns began to assume their 
 usual aspect. There was, however, an uneasy feeling 
 that the proposed reforms would never be carried out. 
 The Christian Governor soon found that he was no- 
 body, and that the commander of the Turkish troops 
 was supreme. It was nearly Christmas before the 
 organization of the gendarmerie was begun, or the 
 
 B
 
 1 8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Commission on the Tribunals was at work. A whisper 
 went through the Mussulman community that the 
 reforms were to be resisted, and they openly boasted 
 that the interference of the Powers in Crete would be 
 as futile as it had been in Armenia. It was not till 
 the middle of January, 1897, that the Porte finally 
 accepted the scheme of the European Commission on 
 the gendarmerie, and the Mussulmans were advised 
 from Constantinople not to allow it to be carried out. 
 At the end of January a well-known Christian was 
 murdered outside the gates of Canea, and the Mussul- 
 man mob made a night attack on the populous 
 Christian village of Galata, an hour away, which the 
 Christians repulsed, though two hundred of their 
 houses were burned. The Christians in other villages 
 flew to arms, and in the country outnumbered their 
 enemies. In the coast towns, however, the Mussul- 
 mans were in the ascendant, and the consuls at Canea 
 sent for the warships, and offered the Christians of that 
 place an asylum on board. On the 4th of February, 
 the Mussulman mob of Canea, aided by the Turkish 
 soldiers, attacked the Christian quarter, committing 
 frightful atrocities — in one case baking nine Christians 
 in an oven — and ending by setting fire to the city. 
 After some hesitation, during which the Christian 
 quarter was destroyed, the ships sent fire-engines and 
 stayed the flames, the mob plundering the houses 
 which the fire spared. At night there was not a 
 Christian in the town, but the ships were crowded 
 with Christian refugees. All over the island the 
 Mussulman population were in arms against the 
 Christians ; and the Turkish military authorities, who
 
 INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 had pushed the Governor aside, supplied their co- 
 religionists with arms, or gave them active co-opera- 
 tion. It was the Constantinople massacre on a 
 smaller scale. 
 
 On the day after the burning of Canea a meeting of 
 Cretan deputies and chiefs at Halepa proclaimed the 
 union of the island with Greece. The Christians every- 
 where fought under the Greek flag, and the Christian 
 Governor of the island took refuge at the Hellenic 
 consulate at Halepa. These events roused indignation 
 all over Europe, and excited the Greek people to 
 frenzy. The Porte made arrangements to send troops 
 to Crete, and the Greek Government resolved to stop 
 them. The time had come which Count Goluchowski 
 had anticipated, when the Greeks could no longer be 
 prevented from intervening. The Concert of Europe 
 had failed. Another specious scheme of autonomy had 
 broken down, and the Cretans had called on the mother 
 country to aid them in effecting complete emancipation 
 from their treacherous tyrant. The Christian insurgents 
 had found the Powers unwilling or unable to give them 
 the slightest security, and they had taken their defence 
 into their own hands. In this supreme crisis they called 
 on the Greeks to help them. Greece flew to their aid, 
 and its Government explained and justified its action in 
 a few dignified words — 
 
 Events in Crete have brought that unfortunate island to a state 
 of anarchy, and the lives and possessions of the Christians are 
 exposed to the fury of a fanatic populace. The Greek Government 
 could no longer tolerate this lamentable situation of the Christian 
 population to whom we are united by the sacred ties of religion. 
 They have consequently decided to send an army corps to occupy 
 the island and re-establish order and peace.
 
 2 o INTR OD UCTION. 
 
 Colonel Vassos, aide-de-camp to the King, was de- 
 spatched with four battalions of Greek troops, and his 
 instructions were — 
 
 You will land with the troops under your orders at the most 
 favourable point ; you will occupy the island in the name of King 
 George, and you will raise his flag on the fortress of which you 
 will take possession. All your actions shall be accomplished in 
 conformity with Greek laws in the name of King George, and on 
 the responsibility of his Government. As soon as you have landed 
 you will publish a proclamation announcing to the Cretan people 
 the occupation of the island by the Greek troops. 
 
 This heroic step was resented by the Powers. They 
 could not keep order, nor prevent the most revolting 
 atrocities, but they preferred anarchy and massacre to a 
 peace and quiet secured by Greeks. Prince George and 
 his ships were warned off, but despised the warning, 
 and though Colonel Vassos was allowed to land, he 
 was regarded as an enemy. He met with an enthusiastic 
 welcome from the whole Christian population, who 
 rallied at once to his standard and hailed him as a 
 national deliverer. Everywhere in the interior the 
 Greeks and Christians were successful, and drove the 
 Turks towards the sea. By the 20th of February the 
 Turks were sorely pressed, and the five admirals sent 
 an ultimatum to the victorious patriots, threatening to 
 fire on them if they approached Canea. On Sunday, 
 the 2 1st, the patriots joined issue with the Turks on the 
 hills east of the town. " The Turkish reply," said the 
 Daily News correspondent, who was present, "was feeble, 
 and it was obvious that the Turks must abandon their 
 position if pressed." The fleets, however, interfered to 
 save them. The ships fired seventy shells, forty of
 
 INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 which were from British guns. Three Cretans were 
 killed and fifteen wounded, among whom were three 
 nuns. " The Turks, encouraged by the fleets, now 
 opened a lively fusilade, while the Cretans were carry- 
 ing off their dead. The Cretans made no reply. The 
 whole performance," adds the correspondent, " was a 
 somewhat melancholy and degrading spectacle." On 
 the next day a Turkish ship in Suda Bay and the 
 Turkish soldiers at the arsenal fired at the same body 
 of patriots though the white flag was hoisted, but the 
 Cretans did not reply. On Wednesday night an in- 
 cendiary fire, kindled by Mussulmans with the hope of 
 plunder, broke out at the Government Palace in Canea, 
 and destroyed that last vestige of Turkish rule. 
 
 The agitation which these events produced all over 
 Europe woke up the slumbering Powers. Their im- 
 pulse was to blame Greece. Mr. Gladstone described 
 the bombardment as filling up the measure of their 
 dishonour ; and Lord Salisbury announced that the 
 Powers had resolved on keeping Crete for the Sultan 
 by another measure of " autonomy." The Greeks were 
 to be compelled to withdraw ; but the Turkish troops 
 were to stay for a while " for reasons of police." This 
 proposal to keep the cut-throats to look after the safety 
 of their victims, met with general disapproval. The 
 admirals occupied Canea and Candia to keep peace ; 
 but in the interior the Christians carried all before them. 
 On the 2nd of March the Powers sent an ultimatum to 
 Greece. They declared that they could not allow 
 Greece to annex Crete at present, but would themselves 
 give it a complete scheme of autonomy. They 
 "invited" Greece to withdraw her troops from the
 
 22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 island, and her fleet from its waters, and added, 
 " In case of refusal " the Powers are irrevocably 
 determined to hesitate at no measure of compulsion if, 
 on the expiry of a period of six days, the withdrawal of 
 the ships and troops be not effected." A courteous note 
 informed the Porte of the proposed autonomy, and 
 suggested the concentration of the Turkish troops within 
 the fortified towns. At the end of the six days, the 
 Greek Government sent an argumentative reply, but did 
 not withdraw the ships or the troops, and the six Powers 
 began at once to hesitate as to the measure of compul- 
 sion to apply. They allowed the consuls to announce 
 the proposed autonomy to the people of Crete, and the 
 people at once rejected it. The French Chamber was 
 told that Crete was to be rigidly blockaded first, and 
 afterwards certain points on the Greek coast, and that 
 in Crete itself an additional force of five or six hundred 
 men was to be landed by each of the Powers. The 
 blockade of Crete was begun on the 2ist of March, but 
 that of Greece was postponed, and Colonel Vassos held 
 the whole interior of the island, and at the end of March 
 was actually governing it in the name of King George. 
 Fighting, however, went on wherever the Turks and 
 Christian insurgents met, the admirals always taking 
 the side of the Turks, and again bombarding the 
 Christians at Malaxa, near Suda, on the 27th of March. 
 At Canea the Cretans saw other signs of fraternization 
 between their ostensible deliverers and their old oppressors. 
 When the Seaforth Highlanders landed at Canea, the 
 Turkish soldiers and their officers gave them an effusive 
 welcome, and conducted them to the Turkish barracks 
 with musical honours. A few days later an international
 
 1NTR0D UCTION. 
 
 23 
 
 force of British, French, Italians, and Russians, marched 
 out of Canea with the Turkish troops to occupy a fort 
 above the town. In spite of all this pro-Turkish action, 
 Colonel Vassos keeps the interior for King George, 
 while the international fleets and soldiers hold the coast 
 for Turkey. The promised autonomy has slipped out 
 of sight. 
 
 Meanwhile the stress of the conflict between freedom 
 and the vilest despotism on earth has shifted to another 
 field. Both sides have felt that the interference of the 
 European Powers in Crete would force them to fight out 
 the issue on other soil. There were rumours all through 
 March of the concentration of Turkish troops in Thessaly 
 and Epirus, and of the gathering of irregular forces in 
 the interests of Greece. On the 9th of April several 
 bands of irregulars crossed the Macedonian frontier 
 after a solemn religious service among the olive trees. 
 The Greek Government naturally repudiated any 
 responsibility for their action, and the Powers looked 
 on incapable or irresolute. Neither the Greeks nor the 
 Turks wanted war, and there is every reason to believe 
 that the Sultan and King George were equally anxious 
 to come to an agreement and be at peace. The Powers, 
 however, at the dictation of Russia, forbade the negotia- 
 tions ; and on Easter Sunday, Europe was startled by 
 the news that, on the day before, Turkey had declared 
 war against Greece, and that a great battle had been 
 fought on the same night. How this sudden resolution 
 of the Turks was brought about is at present one of 
 the secrets of diplomacy. It fell on the European 
 Concert like a thunderbolt. For months the people of 
 England, France, and Italy had been assured that their
 
 / 
 
 2 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Governments kept in the Concert with the three despotic 
 Powers in the interests of Peace. It was to give Crete 
 her freedom, and to preserve the peace oj^Europe, that 
 the guns of Christian nations were fired on Christian 
 patriots fighting against oppression. But the crime 
 against religion and humanity has been committed in 
 vain. Crete is not free, and war is raging on European 
 soil. In this war, the Concert of Europe acts for the 
 Turk by holding Crete in his interest, and the long 
 struggle of the Christian races, not only for " freedom to 
 worship God," but for security against the worst crimes 
 of barbarian passion, might, in Crete at least, come to a 
 triumphant end, were not the British fleet in Russia's 
 keeping, and the British people powerless in Lord 
 Salisbury's subservient hands. 
 
 P. VV. CLAYDEN.
 
 A SHORT POPULAR 
 
 HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ISLAND OF CRETE : GEOGRAPHICAL AND 
 PHYSICAL FEATURES. 
 
 CRETE, the ancient Crete, called by the Turks Gireed, 
 and commonly by Europeans Candia, a name which is 
 not recognized upon the island itself, is one of the 
 largest islands of the Mediterranean. In ancient times 
 it was also called Macaronesos (fortunate island) and 
 Aeria (airy), owing to its fertility and beautiful climate, 
 and Doliche (long), from its shape. The etymology of 
 the ancient name itself cannot be satisfactorily settled. 
 According to the ecclesiastical historian, Eusebius, it was 
 so called from its first king, Cres, a son of Zeus ; * while 
 another Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, tells us that 
 Ammon, hard pressed by famine, took refuge in Crete, 
 where he married Crete, and became king of the island, 
 which, formerly called Idaea, was afterwards called 
 Crete. The Venetian name Candia may be either a 
 corruption of Khandak,f a name given by the Arabs to 
 a town built by them soon after their conquest of the 
 
 * According to others, lie was a Cretan autochthon, or native of the soil, 
 t Or Khandax.
 
 26 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 island in the early part of the ninth century, or may 
 allude to the white appearance of its mountains as seen 
 from the sea. The history of the Greeks or Hellenes 
 begins upon the sea, and its commencement is the 
 opening of intercourse between the islands and the 
 coasts ; but this commencement is marked by kid- 
 napping and piratical expeditions, leading to reprisals, 
 until at last every man's hand was raised against his 
 fellow. To prevent the total destruction of the newly 
 awakened forces, it was necessary to find a central 
 point from which a new order of things might take its 
 beginning, and this was found in Crete. 
 
 This island is situated between 34° 55' and 35 43' N. 
 lat, and 23° 30' and 26 20' E. long. It is about a hundred 
 and fifty miles in length, from Cape Corycus (now Cape 
 Buso) in the west to Cape Sidero in the east ; its average 
 breadth is twenty miles. On the south it is washed by 
 the Mediterranean, on the north by the sea of Candia; 
 on the north-east are the straits of Scarpanto, which 
 separate it from the island of that name, and on the 
 north-west the straits of Cerigotto. Situated at an 
 almost equal distance from Europe, Africa, and Asia, 
 Crete was as it were the point of contact of these three 
 continents, and the centre of the ancient world. 
 
 The island presents a very irregular outline, especially 
 on the north coast, which is indented by deep gulfs, the 
 chief of which are, from west to east, Kissamo, Canea,* 
 Candia (on the site of the ancient Heraklion, called by 
 the Greeks Megalo-Castro), Suda, an excellent road- 
 stead, Armyro, Mirabella, and Sittia, and contains a 
 large number of capes and promontories — Buso, Spada, 
 
 * More correctly, Khania,
 
 THE ISLAND OF CRETE. 27 
 
 Acrotiri, Retimo, Zuano, and Sidero. On the south 
 side there is only one deep gulf, Messara, and three 
 chief capes, Krio, Matala, and Langada. The island is 
 traversed throughout its whole length by a lofty chain 
 of mountains, composed of three distinct groups, which 
 have from time immemorial formed the great natural 
 or political divisions of the island. On the west, the 
 Sphakiote mountains, the Leuka Ore of Strabo (modern 
 Asprovouna — white mountains), so called from their 
 retaining the snow on their summits through eight or 
 nine months of the year. In the centre is Mount 
 Psiloriti, the Mount Ida of the ancients, about eight 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea. On the east, 
 Mount Dicte, now Lassiti or Kittia. There are no im- 
 portant rivers in the island. The torrents which descend 
 from the mountains dry up during the excessive heat ; 
 but there are numerous springs on the lower slopes of 
 the mountains, which abundantly supply the absence 
 of irrigation. Although there are few trees upon the 
 heights, the whole atmosphere of the island is said 
 to have an aromatic odour arising from the flowers and 
 shrubs which grow wild amongst the mountains, and 
 furnish food for the hares and wild goats. No country 
 in the world, perhaps, abounds more in natural excava- 
 tions ; granite, schist, and slate are amongst the primary 
 rocks. 
 
 The climate of Crete is mild and healthy ; the 
 extremes of heat and cold are unknown. Observations 
 taken during a whole year only showed a variation of 
 7°. In the height of summer, the heat is tempered by a 
 breeze that blows from the north. The average tem- 
 perature is 64 ; sometimes, however, the thermometer
 
 28 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 reaches %%° in summer. Snow falls on the mountains 
 for two months of the year, and earthquakes are fre- 
 quently felt in the north part of the island. The only 
 endemic disorder known is leprosy. The soil is fertile, 
 but since the wars of Greek Independence, agriculture 
 has been neglected, and many parts of it remain un- 
 cultivated for want of labourers. Although the olive 
 plantations have been in great part destroyed, and are 
 greatly neglected, oil is still the staple production of the 
 country. The vines produce famous wines, especially 
 that of Malevisi ; fruits, flax, cotton, silk, and honey 
 are the other most important productions. The lower 
 slopes of the mountains are covered with oaks, chestnut 
 trees, pines, walnut trees, myrtle, wild olives, and carob 
 trees ; figs, oranges, and pomegranates are plentiful. The 
 island abounds in slate. The goats of the island are 
 a remarkably fine breed, and the sheep are highly 
 esteemed. 
 
 Brandy, oil, fruits, honey, soap, and cheese are the 
 principal articles of exportation. Silk is raised in small 
 quantities, but of good quality. About two thousand 
 tons of carobs are produced ; and oranges and lemons 
 form a considerable article of export. 
 
 In ancient times the island was extremely populous ; 
 the poets speak of it as containing a hundred cities, 
 and we may reckon the number of its inhabitants to 
 have been about 1,000,000. The inhabitants of Crete 
 under the Venetians were estimated at about 250,000 
 souls. After the Turkish conquest the population was 
 for a time greatly reduced, but afterwards gradually 
 rose ; and at the time of the outbreak of the Greek 
 Revolution in 1 821, it reached 250,000, of whom about
 
 THE ISLAND OF CRETE. 29 
 
 half were Mohammedans. At the close of the Revolution 
 the inhabitants had dwindled down to 1 50,000, of whom 
 100,000 were Greek rayahs (or subjects), 25,000 Turks, 
 and 25,000 Greeks from the Morea or the Ionian 
 Islands. The cause of this decrease is to be found in 
 the war carried on by the Cretans against both the 
 Sultan and Mohammed AH, and in the oppressive cha- 
 racter of the Egyptian rule. Since then the population 
 has again materially increased ; Captain Spratt ( Travels 
 and Researches in Crete) calculated it as amounting to 
 210,000, less than 40,000 being Mohammedans. It is 
 to be noticed that very few of these Mohammedans are 
 Turks ; they are almost entirely of native Cretan origin. 
 The inhabitants, both Mohammedans and Christian, are, 
 as a rule, tall and vigorous, and particularly skilful in 
 the use of the bow, a reputation which they have main- 
 tained from ancient times. Amongst the Mohammedan 
 part of the population are to be noted the Abadiotes, 
 the descendants of the Saracens, who were expelled from 
 the island by Nicephorus Phocas in the tenth century. 
 They speak Arabic, and dwell in the neighbourhood of 
 Mount Ida. 
 
 Although a brave and hardy race of men, ever ready 
 to fight to the last for the recovery of their freedom and 
 emancipation from Turkish rule, the Cretans, as a whole, 
 seem to have preserved the national characteristics with 
 which they have from time immemorial been credited. 
 Travellers agree in describing them as ignorant, super- 
 stitious, and bigoted. In 18 17 there were only three 
 schools in the island. The Greek dialect spoken is very 
 corrupt, but is the only language understood by the 
 rural population. The Kaloyeros, or monk, like his
 
 3 o A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 Russian confrere, is scarcely, if at all, superior to the 
 peasant. Few of them can read, and, in fact, their chief 
 claims to distinction lie in their wearing long beards, 
 their vow of celibacy, and their conventual life in a 
 monastery. The higher clergy can all read and write 
 a little. The native Cretans are of the Greek Church, 
 and are allowed the free exercise of their religion. The 
 island is divided into eight bishoprics ; the Bishop of 
 Gortynia is appointed by the patriarch of Constantinople, 
 and assumes the title of Archbishop. He wears a triple 
 tiara, writes his signature in red ink, answers for all the 
 debts of the clergy — a happy arrangement, hardly likely 
 to suit his Anglican brethren — and nominates to all the 
 vacant bishoprics in the island. He resides at Candia, 
 and is the only Greek who possesses the privilege of 
 entering that town on horseback. 
 
 The only important towns are : Candia (near the site 
 of the ancient Cnossus), which was for a long time the 
 capital of the island. It contains about fifteen thousand 
 inhabitants. The houses are well built, but seldom rise 
 above the height of two stories. The harbour is a mere 
 basin formed by two moles, which project about two 
 hundred and fifty yards into the sea. Canea (the ancient 
 Cydonia), which has become the capital of the island since 
 the renewal of the Turkish domination, a fortified town 
 on the north-west coast, with eight thousand inhabitants ; 
 and Retimo (ancient Rhithymna), also on the north coast, 
 a small fortified town with a good harbour. Ierapetra, 
 on the south coast, on the site of the ancient Hierapytna, 
 is a poor place, with a scanty population. The port of 
 Suda, three miles from Canea, is the best in the island. 
 
 At the present time Crete forms part of Turkey, and
 
 THE ISLAND OF CRETE. 31 
 
 is under the government of a pasha, and is divided into 
 three provinces, of which Canea, Retimo, and Candia 
 are the capitals, these provinces being subdivided into 
 twenty districts. The annual revenue from the island is 
 reckoned at about £80,000 ; the rayahs pay a capitation 
 tax, and other direct and indirect imposts. The garrison 
 is about four thousand five hundred in number, consisting- 
 chiefly of Arabs and Albanians.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ANCIENT CRETE, TO THE TIME OF ITS CONQUEST BY 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 It is in Homer * that we first find mention of the ancient 
 population of the island : ° In the midst of the dark sea 
 is a land called Crete, fair and fertile, surrounded by the 
 waves ; it contains ninety cities, and a vast number of 
 inhabitants, who speak various languages — Achaeans, 
 stout-hearted Eteocretans (genuine Cretans), Cydonians, 
 Dorians, and Pelasgians." The period to which Homer 
 here refers was the reign of Minos, a half-mythical, half- 
 historical personage, who is supposed to have been the 
 first king of Crete. The earliest history of the island, 
 like that of most parts of continental Greece, is so mixed 
 up with mythology and fable that it is impossible to 
 arrive at any clear conclusions concerning it. The 
 Cretans themselves claimed that their island was the 
 birthplace of Zeus (Jupiter), as well as the home of 
 all the other divinities usually worshipped in Greece as 
 the Olympian deities. Even when we come to Minos 
 we are still far from being on firm ground. History is 
 still legendary, and it is difficult to know how much is 
 true amidst the mass of tradition by which his name is 
 surrounded. 
 
 * Odyssey, xix. 172, S99.
 
 ANCIENT CRETE. 33 
 
 Before the time of Minos, all interest was centred in 
 the religious myths ; the people were effaced by the 
 gods ; there were no indications of political life. With 
 Minos the gods give place to the heroes, and he himself 
 marks the transition between the two, belonging to the 
 former by his birth and origin, and to the latter by his 
 acts. The son of the god Zeus and the goddess Europa, 
 he at the same time appears to us as the type of the 
 ancient legislator and the founder of a great maritime 
 power. Although we may not believe all that tradition 
 tells us concerning his laws and adventures, it seems 
 highly probable that he introduced a certain political 
 order into Crete, and made the island powerful on sea ; 
 in fact, stripped of the marvellous, and reduced to his 
 proper proportions, Minos remains the national hero 
 and legislator of Crete. The inhabitants of the island, 
 as given in the passage above quoted from Homer, 
 differing as they did in origin, language, and religion, 
 were further kept apart by the natural features of the 
 island, as are its inhabitants at the present day. Crete 
 has never attained political unity, it has always been 
 divided amongst distinct groups of peoples, sometimes 
 engaged in desperate internecine struggles. But it 
 approached more nearly to such unity in the times of 
 Minos, who, from his capital at Cnossus, exercised a 
 certain amount of supremacy over the whole island, 
 with the exception of the western portion, which main- 
 tained a kind of independence. This seems hinted at 
 by the Greek historian Herodotus, who tells us that 
 certain of the western inhabitants declined to take part 
 in an expedition to avenge the death of Minos, as it 
 had been an event in which they felt no interest. 
 
 c
 
 34 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 The sea was the natural element of the Cretans ; the 
 situation of the island, with its extended coasts and 
 numerous harbours, combined to attract them to it. 
 Aristotle, in his Politics, says, " Nature seems to have 
 placed the island of Crete in the most favourable 
 position for holding sway over the rest of Greece, . . . 
 on one side it is close to Peloponnesus, on the other it 
 touches Asia. This admirable position gave Minos the 
 Empire of the sea." There seems no doubt about 
 the maritime supremacy of the island at some distant 
 period. The impartial historian Thucydides remarks, 
 " Of all the rulers of whom we have heard, Minos was 
 the oldest possessor of a navy. He was master of the 
 greater part of the sea which is now called Hellenic, he 
 ruled over the Cyclades, and set up institutions in the 
 greater part of these islands." 
 
 However, this naval supremacy was by no means 
 attained without a struggle. At this time piracy and 
 commerce went hand in hand, no disgrace at all being 
 attached to the former, and the seas were utterly unsafe, 
 being infested by corsairs. Most of the islands had 
 become the haunts of brigands. Minos put an end to 
 this state of things. He seems to have almost entirely 
 driven the Phoenician pirates from the ^Egean, but not 
 the Carians, who afterwards appear closely united with 
 the Cretans, and associated with their enterprises and 
 colonies. We are told by Herodotus, that " in ancient 
 times the Carians were the subjects of Minos, and went 
 by the name of Leleges, dwelling among the isles and 
 paying tribute to no man. . . . They served on board 
 the ships of King Minos whenever he required." 
 
 The establishment of colonies in the time of Minos is
 
 ANCIENT CRETE. 35 
 
 one of the principal events in the history of the Cretans. 
 Hitherto confined within the limits of the island, they 
 suddenly spread over the sea that surrounded them, and 
 sent out in all directions colonies to the coasts of Asia 
 Minor, the islands of the ^Egean Sea, Greece, and even 
 Italy, Miletus, Tenedos, Colophon, the islands of Chios 
 and Rhodes, Delphi, and Taenarum in Laconia in 
 Peloponnesus (the Morea). 
 
 But it was not only upon the coasts and islands of the 
 ^Egean that Cretan colonies were established. Minos 
 undertook an expedition against Sicily, with the object 
 of extending his empire over the western portion of the 
 Mediterranean. According to tradition, Daedalus took 
 refuge in this island from the wrath of Minos, and found 
 an asylum with Cocalos, King of theSicanians (Sicilians). 
 Hearing this, Minos equipped a considerable fleet, and 
 put in near Agrigentum, at a place which received from 
 him the name of Minoa. After having disembarked his 
 troops, he sent a message to the King, bidding him de- 
 liver up Daedalus. Cocalus, affecting readiness to deliver 
 up the fugitive, and receiving Minos with apparent 
 friendship, ordered a bath to be prepared for him 
 by his three daughters, who, eager to protect Daedalus 
 at any price, overheated the bath and drowned the 
 Cretan king in the boiling water. According to another 
 account, he died fighting against the Sicilians. Cocalus 
 restored his body to the Cretans, and induced them to 
 believe that Minos had met his death by accidentally 
 falling into the bath. Not long afterwards Zeus in- 
 stigated all the inhabitants of Crete (with the exception 
 of the towns of Polichna and Praesus) to undertake an 
 expedition against Camicus, the residence of Cocalus,
 
 36 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 for the purpose of avenging the death of Minos. They 
 besieged Camicus in vain for five years, until they were 
 compelled by famine to return. On their way along the 
 coast of Iapygia, they were overtaken by a storm, which 
 shattered their vessels. Being thus deprived of the 
 means of returning to their native land, they remained 
 where they were, and founded the town of Hyria. 
 Thereafter they took the name of Iapygian-Messenians, 
 and became inhabitants of the mainland in the place of 
 islanders. This colony subsequently founded others, 
 such as Brundusium. It also occupied Tarentum and 
 its territory, for, when Phalanthus came to settle there 
 with a band of Lacedaemonians, he was obliged to drive 
 the Cretans from it. Part of the Iapygian colony left 
 Southern Italy in consequence of internal dissensions, 
 advanced along the Adriatic Sea, penetrated into 
 Macedonia, and established itself in Bottiseis, so called 
 from the leader of the band of emigrants. The Cretan 
 name was for a long time preserved in Macedonia, for 
 John Cantacuzene (a Byzantine emperor and historian) 
 mentions a place called Cretensium, in the neighbourhood 
 of Thessalonica, and consequently not far distant from 
 the ancient Bottiseis. 
 
 The reign of Minos was the highest point of heroic 
 royalty in Crete and of the power of the island; after 
 him, both began to decline. According to tradition, 
 Crete took a considerable part in the Trojan War, in 
 which the Cretan Idomeneus even claimed to share 
 the command of the Greek forces with Agamemnon. 
 Although the Greeks assembled at Aulis rejected his 
 claim, he nevertheless joined in the expedition at the 
 head of his forces. " Idomeneus, famous with the spear,
 
 ANCIENT CRETE, 37 
 
 led the Cretans, and those who inhabited Cnossus and 
 Gortys surrounded by walls, and Lyctus, and Miletus, 
 and white Lycastus, and Phsestus, and Rhytium, populous 
 cities, and the other dwellers in Crete, the island of a 
 hundred cities." * According to one tradition, Idomeneus 
 and Merion, the two grandsons of Minos, returned to their 
 country after the Trojan War, and were buried with great 
 honour, and venerated as national heroes. Another story 
 is, that when Idomeneus set out on the expedition against 
 Troy, he entrusted the administration of the kingdom 
 to his adopted son, who slew his wife and daughter and 
 seized the throne. Idomeneus, on his return, was obliged 
 to take refuge on the coast of Calabria, where he founded 
 Sallentum, which became the mother of several other 
 colonies. 
 
 The Trojan War f produced the same effect upon 
 Crete as upon all the other Greek states. One cause 
 of the increasing weakness of Crete was, that it had 
 discharged the best part of its population upon the 
 coasts of Asia Minor ; a second cause was that, in the 
 absence of its princes, the political bonds, which had 
 more or less united its different peoples under the sway 
 of Minos, became relaxed. During the troubles which 
 followed the return of Idomeneus, after the fall of Troy, 
 this bond was broken completely, and in Crete, as in the 
 rest of Greece, royalty disappeared in the midst of 
 general anarchy and confusion. In addition, plague 
 and famine ravaged the island, and ended by depopu- 
 lating it. 
 
 * Homer, Iliad, ii. 645. 
 
 t This is merely used as a convenient name, without the intention of 
 vouching for the truth of the original story ; we are still in the unhistorical 
 period.
 
 3 S A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 Such was the situation of Crete when the Dorians, 
 led by the Heraclidae, or descendants of Hercules, 
 invaded Peloponnesus (circa 1104 B.C.). This invasion 
 caused a general movement of the Hellenic peoples, 
 who left Greece and established themselves on the 
 islands and neighbouring continents. Crete was naturally 
 one of the first to receive the dispossessed inhabitants of 
 Greece, who were in search of a new home. 
 
 The first of these colonies was founded under the 
 leadership of Pollis and Delphus. It set out from the 
 environs of Amyclse in Laconia, where the Minyans, 
 who had been driven from the islands of Lemnos and 
 Imbros, had settled, revolted against the Dorians, and 
 migrated anew from Laconia to Crete, accompanied by 
 a number of Spartans, and made themselves masters of 
 Gortyna and nearly the whole of the region of Dicte. 
 Lyctus was the most important of their establishments, 
 and was the great Dorian city. 
 
 A second expedition to Crete proceeded from Argos, 
 in consequence of domestic feuds in the family of 
 Temenus, the King of Argos. It was conducted by one 
 Althaemenes, and consisted chiefly of those Dorian 
 adventurers who, after the failure of their enterprise 
 against Athia, found themselves without a home and 
 without employment. 
 
 This colonization changed the aspect of the island. It 
 became entirely Dorian. Its language, manners, political 
 constitution, and social organization henceforth bore the 
 impress of the Dorian race. This rapid transformation 
 was materially assisted by the weakened condition of 
 the island at the time of the arrival of the immigrants. 
 The towns were almost deserted, and the population
 
 ANCIENT CRETE. 39 
 
 was exhausted by the calls that had been made upon it 
 during the time of Minos and by subsequent internal 
 dissensions. 
 
 From 1049 B - c - (circa) until 190 B.C. the island re- 
 mained Dorian ; but as the occupation had not been 
 simultaneous, but spasmodic, the result was the formation 
 of isolated settlements, which never united politically. 
 Each colony with its own territory formed as it were a 
 distinct separate state. This will in great measure 
 account for the fact that, although, as Aristotle re- 
 marked, the situation of the island was most favourable 
 for exercising a predominant influence over Greece 
 generally, it sank to insignificance during historical 
 times. From this time forth we hear little of it except 
 as a recruiting-ground for mercenary soldiers, and a 
 haunt of pirates. Beyond serving any one who was 
 willing to pay them, the Cretans took no part in events 
 taking place in other parts of Greece. When envoys from 
 Greece came to ask aid from them against Xerxes, they 
 sent messengers in the name of their state to the famous 
 oracle of Delphi, and asked whether it would be well 
 for them to lend assistance to the Greeks. " Fools ! " 
 replied the Pythoness, " do ye not still complain of the 
 woes which the assisting of Menelaus, in the Trojan 
 War, cost you at the hands of angry Minos ? How 
 wroth was he, when, in spite of their having lent you no 
 aid towards avenging his death at Camicus, you helped 
 them to avenge the carrying off by a barbarian of a 
 woman from Sparta ! When this answer was brought 
 from Delphi to the Cretans, they thought no more of 
 assisting the Greeks." * 
 
 * Herodotus, vii. 169 (Rawlinson's translation).
 
 4 o A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 Again, they took no interest in the terrible struggle 
 for supremacy between Ionian Athens and Dorian 
 Sparta — the Peloponnesian War. They only appeared 
 once, when, during the Sicilian expedition, they fought, 
 although Dorians themselves, on the side of Athens. 
 The Cretans took part in the war, not on the side of 
 their own Dorian colony [Gela], but against it, not from 
 choice, but simply in order to get money.* 
 
 The isolation of Crete from the Hellenic world con- 
 tinued ; and it is not until the last period of the political 
 existence of the Greek peoples that we find her taking 
 part in their affairs, during the intestine struggles in 
 which Greece exhausted her remaining strength. At 
 the commencement of the second century B.C., the island 
 contained seventeen distinct settlements. Of these, 
 Cnossus, Gortyna, Cydonia, and Lyctus were the most 
 considerable, but none of them was sufficiently powerful 
 to make itself master of the island. The whole island 
 was divided into two camps. Polybius, the historian, 
 gives the following description of the condition of 
 things : " And indeed the whole island of Crete has 
 lately been the scene of very great disorders, which were 
 occasioned in the following manner. The Cnossians 
 and Gortynians, having united their forces, had made 
 themselves masters of the whole of Crete, with the 
 exception of Lyctus. And when this single city still 
 refused to submit, they resolved to conquer it by force, 
 and to punish the inhabitants severely, that thus they 
 might strike terror into the rest of Crete. At first all 
 the people of the island took part in this enterprise, and 
 turned their arms against the Lyctians. But, after some 
 
 * Thucydides, vii, 57.
 
 ANCIENT CRETE. 41 
 
 time, discontent and jealousy, which had arisen — as was 
 often the case amongst the Cretans, from small and 
 inconsiderable causes — grew at last to an open and 
 declared dissension, and broke the force of this con- 
 federacy. For the Polyrrhenians, the Ceretse, the 
 Lampaeans, the Oreans, and the Arcadians separated 
 themselves with one consent from their alliance with the 
 Cnossians, and resolved to support the Lyctians. Among 
 the Gortynians also, while the old men still firmly 
 adhered to the Cnossians, the young men, on the other 
 hand, contended with equal warmth in favour of the 
 Lyctians. The Cnossians, becoming greatly alarmed by 
 this sudden revolt of their chief allies, called in to their 
 assistance a thousand mercenary soldiers from ^Etolia. 
 As soon as they arrived, the oldest of the Gortynians, 
 having first gained possession of the citadel, and intro- 
 duced the Cnossians and ^Etolians into it, killed or 
 drove out all the young men, and delivered their city to 
 the Cnossians. Not long afterwards, when the Lyctians 
 had led out all their forces, to make incursions into the 
 territory of their enemies, the Cnossians, having received 
 information of their absence, marched in haste and took 
 possession of Lyctus, when it was left undefended. 
 Having sent the women and children away to Cnossus, 
 they set fire to the city, pillaged, and razed it to the 
 ground. The Lyctians, on their return from their ex- 
 pedition, perceiving what had happened, were so struck 
 with consternation and despair, that not one among them 
 had the courage to set foot within the city. But when 
 they had marched all round it, deploring with loud 
 groans and lamentations the ruin of their country and 
 their own unhappy fate, they retired and took refuge in
 
 42 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 the territory of the Lampaeans, who received them with 
 all the marks of friendship and affection : and having 
 thus become, in a single day, strangers without laws or 
 city instead of citizens, they continued afterwards to 
 carry on the war against the Cnossians, in conjunction 
 with the rest of the allies. Thus, in a most strange and 
 astonishing manner, Lyctus, a colony from Lacedaemon, 
 the most ancient city of the island, the inhabitants of 
 which, descended from the Spartans, were confessed to 
 be the bravest of all that were produced in Crete, was 
 at once sunk and lost in irrecoverable ruin. 
 
 " The Polyrrhenians, Lampaeans, and the rest of the 
 allies, having considered that the ^Etolians, from whom 
 the Cnossians had received their mercenary forces, were 
 at this time engaged in war against the Achseans and 
 King Philip [of Macedonia], sent some deputies to these, 
 to desire that they would enter into an alliance with 
 them and send some troops to their assistance. To 
 this request both Philip and the Achaeans readily con- 
 sented ; and, having received them into the general 
 confederacy, they soon afterwards sent to their assistance 
 four hundred Illyrians under the command of Plator, 
 two hundred Achaeans, and a hundred Phocaeans. 
 The Polyrrhenians, having obtained these successes, were 
 now able to maintain the war with so great vigour, that 
 they soon forced the Eleuthernaeans, the Cydoniatae, 
 and the Apteraeans, to keep close behind their walls, 
 and at last compelled them to join their party and 
 desert the alliance of the Cnossians. After this success, 
 they sent in return to Philip and the Achaeans, five 
 hundred Cretans, as the Cnossians also, not long before, 
 had sent a thousand of their troops to the ^tolians,
 
 ANCIENT CRETE. 43 
 
 to assist them severally in the war in which they were 
 engaged. The young men likewise, who had been 
 driven from Gortyna, having gained possession of the 
 port of Phsestia, and afterwards of their own harbour 
 also, maintained their posts with the greatest intrepidity, 
 and from thence carried on the war again without inter- 
 mission against the old Gortynians, who were masters 
 of the city. Such was the state of affairs in Crete." * 
 
 Some time afterwards, the rival parties seem to have 
 become reconciled, and to have both accepted the pro- 
 tection of Philip. But the Macedonian influence did 
 not last long. Philip, when at war with the Rhodians, 
 vainly solicited the aid of the Cretans. The latter 
 subsequently made common cause with Nabis, the 
 tyrant of Sparta, and admitted him to partnership 
 in their piratical expeditions, and furnished him with 
 mercenaries, who served as a body-guard. 
 
 In the mean time the island continued a prey to 
 internal disorders. Apparently, however, attempts at 
 political association were sometimes made. In the 
 presence of common danger, when the island was 
 threatened by an enemy from without, the inhabitants 
 combined in a kind of federation, known as syncretism, 
 although it is not known at what date it first came into 
 existence. But no sooner was the danger past, than 
 civil dissensions broke out afresh ; and, as it came to be 
 recognized that national unity was impossible, partial 
 associations were formed, consisting of the cities whose 
 territories adjoined. But even these attempts at partial 
 unification failed. The island, split up by its mountains, 
 inhabited by a population which lacked national spirit or 
 
 * Polybius, iv. 5 (Hampton's translation),
 
 44 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 any other feeling of combined interest, except defence 
 against the attack of an enemy from without, was 
 doomed to perpetual division in itself; and it was only 
 in the last days of its independence that, for a brief 
 period, it united against the Romans. 
 
 It has been said that the latter, who were then 
 rapidly rising to the position of the greatest power 
 in the world, attacked Crete for no other reason than a 
 simple desire of conquering this celebrated island. But, 
 besides this, there were other reasons. The conquest of 
 Crete was necessary to the absolute dominion of Rome 
 in Mediterranean waters ; and, in addition, it offered an 
 excellent military position. 
 
 Excuses for attack were not wanting. During the 
 course of their wars in the East, the Romans had met 
 the Cretan bowmen on nearly every field of battle. 
 Philip of Macedonia, and Nabis the tyrant of Sparta, 
 had recruited their forces from these mercenaries. 
 From that moment the fate of Crete was decided. 
 In the treaty dictated by the victorious Flamininus to 
 Nabis, it was stipulated that " he should not keep under 
 subjection any city in the island of Crete, and that he 
 should not enter into any alliance with the inhabitants." 
 After the defeat of Antiochus, King of Syria, the 
 Prsetor Quintus Fabius Labeo undertook an expedition 
 to Crete, and succeeded in securing the liberation of 
 four thousand Roman prisoners, who were being kept 
 there in the condition of slaves. Civil dissension was 
 still raging upon the island, and in 184 B.C. an embassy 
 was sent from Rome, with the object of reconciling the 
 two rivals, the Cnossians and Gortynians. The Romans, 
 who had again intervened in 174, now began to change
 
 ANCIENT CRETE. 45 
 
 their attitude, and, whereas they had formerly been 
 content to play the part of mediators between the 
 conflicting factions, commenced to assume an air of 
 authority. In the year 170, during the war between 
 the Romans and Perseus, King of Macedonia, it was 
 found that the Cretans had furnished a larger number 
 of mercenaries to Perseus than to the Romans. They 
 thereupon hastened to send an embassy to Rome to 
 make apologies, and received the reply that, if they 
 desired to preserve the friendship of the Romans, they 
 must without delay recall all their mercenaries who 
 were serving under King Perseus. In 155 hostilities 
 broke out between the Cretans and Rhodians, in which 
 the latter do not seem to have had the advantage, since 
 we are told by Polybius that they sent their admiral 
 as an ambassador to request the intervention of the 
 Romans, which was granted, and peace was concluded 
 between the belligerents. 
 
 The state of anarchy on the island still continued, 
 and the inhabitants had returned to their old profession 
 of piracy. They made common cause with the Cilicians 
 and other adventurers who infested the Mediterranean, 
 and even furnished assistance to Mithridates, King of 
 Pontus, against the Romans. To punish this insolence, 
 as they regarded it, the Romans sent a fleet against 
 Crete (71 B.C.). So confident was the commander of 
 success, that he took more chains than arms on board 
 with him. But he met with an unexpected reverse : 
 the Cretans destroyed the greater part of his fleet, 
 hung their prisoners to the yard-arm, and regained their 
 harbours in triumph. This secured for the Cretans an 
 honourable peace, but as it had been concluded by
 
 46 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 the praetor without the consent of the Senate and the 
 people, the Romans refused to recognize it. The 
 Cretans, understanding this, sent an embassy to Rome, 
 with the request that the prisoners might be taken back 
 and the old alliance re-established. They had almost 
 obtained a favourable decree of the Senate, but Lentulus 
 Spinther prevented its being carried into effect. In the 
 end a decree was passed to the effect that the Cretan 
 communities, if they wished to avoid war, should not 
 only hand over the Roman deserters, but also the 
 authors of the outrage perpetrated off Cydonia* — the 
 leaders Lasthenes and Panares — for punishment; should 
 deliver up all ships and boats of four or more oars ; 
 should furnish four hundred hostages, and pay a fine of 
 four thousand talents (^975,000). When the envoys 
 declared that they were not empowered to enter into 
 such terms, one of the consuls of the next year was 
 appointed to depart for Crete, in order to receive satis- 
 faction of the Roman demands or to begin war. 
 
 The Cretans thereupon held a council. The most 
 prudent were in favour of submitting absolutely to 
 the Senate ; but Lasthenes and Panares, who were 
 afraid of being sent to Rome for punishment, stirred 
 up the people to defend themselves by force of arms 
 rather than submit to these excessive demands. Ac- 
 cordingly, the Proconsul Quintus Metellus, on his 
 arrival in Cretan waters, was met with a refusal. At 
 Cydonia, where Metellus landed, an army of twenty- 
 four thousand men was ready to meet him, and, after a 
 desperate engagement, victory rested with the Romans. 
 Metellus took possession of Cydonia, Cnossus, Lyctus, 
 
 * The defeat of the Praetor Marcus Antonius.
 
 ANCIENT CRETE. 47 
 
 and other places. He treated the besieged with the 
 utmost cruelty, who preferred to kill themselves rather 
 than surrender to him. At last (67 B.C.), after a 
 struggle which lasted two years, " Metellus became 
 master of the whole island, and the last spot of free 
 Greek soil thereby passed under the control of the 
 dominant Romans ; the Cretan communities, as they 
 were the first of all Greek commonwealths to develop 
 the free urban constitution and the dominion of the 
 sea, were also to be the last of all those Greek 
 maritime states that formerly filled the Mediterranean, 
 to succumb to the Roman continental power." * 
 
 Although the political existence of Crete had been 
 inglorious since the general disturbances caused by the 
 Trojan War and the Dorian migrations, it at least dis- 
 tinguished itself at the last by a brave effort to retain 
 its independence ; and its defeat, after a three years' 
 resistance, was considered of sufficient importance to 
 secure for its conqueror, Metellus, the surname of 
 " Creticus," to commemorate his success. 
 
 * Mommsen, History of Ro?ne, vol. iv. p. 353 (Eng. trans.).
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF CRETE, FROM THE TIME OF ITS 
 CONQUEST BY THE ROMANS TO ITS CAPTURE BY 
 THE TURKS. 
 
 The island of Crete was now reduced to a Roman 
 province, and united, for administrative purposes, with 
 the district of Cyrenaica, or the Pentapolis, on the 
 opposite coast of Africa — an arrangement which con- 
 tinued unchanged until the time of Constantine. From 
 that time it was created a separate province under a 
 governor of consular rank, and continued to form part 
 of the Byzantine Empire until the ninth century. 
 
 Under Roman rule we hear of no events of impor- 
 tance connected with the island. It may be noted that 
 Christianity early made its way there. St. Paul, on his 
 journey to Rome, landed in Crete, effected some con- 
 versions, and left his disciple Titus to continue his 
 work. 
 
 About 670 the Caliph Moawyah conceived the idea 
 of the conquest of the Roman Empire, and a powerful 
 expedition was sent to besiege Constantinople. While 
 the greater part of his forces were employed against this 
 city, Moawyah sent a division of his troops to invade 
 Crete, which had already been visited by a Saracen 
 army in 651. The island was compelled to pay tribute,
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 49 
 
 but the inhabitants were treated with mildness, as it was 
 the policy of the Caliph at this time to conciliate the 
 good opinion of the Christians, in order to pave the way 
 for future conquests. A few years later (678) peace was 
 concluded between the Caliph and the Roman Emperor. 
 In 715, during the reign of Anastasius, a celebrated 
 Arab chief ravaged the coasts of the island ; but it was 
 not until about the year 825 that the island came 
 definitely under Mussulman rule. During the reign of 
 Michael Balbus (the Stammerer) the island was left in 
 an unprotected state, owing to the disturbances which 
 had arisen consequent upon the rebellion of Thomas, 
 who had set himself up as a rival emperor to Michael. 
 In the year 815 about fifteen thousand Spanish Arabs 
 had been obliged to emigrate from Cordova, during the 
 reign of El Hakem, the Ommiade Caliph of Spain, and 
 settled in Alexandria. A band of these fugitives, taking 
 advantage of the situation, invaded the island, and 
 established a settlement upon it in 823. Shortly after- 
 wards, the remainder of the Andalusian Arabs were 
 forced to quit Alexandria ; and, under the command of 
 Abou Hafs, who collected a fleet of forty vessels, they 
 ravaged the Cyclades, and joined their countrymen in 
 Crete. Delighted with the climate, and allured by the 
 fertility of the soil, they decided to settle permanently ; 
 it is said that the Mussulman leader, enchanted at the 
 aspect of the island, declared, on landing, that here at 
 last was the land " flowing with milk and honey " which 
 had been promised by Mohammed to the true believers. 
 The eminent historian, Mr. Finlay, remarking upon the 
 comparative ease with which Crete and Sicily fell into 
 the hands of Saracens, without offering any appreciable 
 
 D
 
 So A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 resistance, considers it due to the fact that the change 
 of rulers was welcomed by the inhabitants, who found 
 the government of the Byzantine emperors more 
 oppressive than that of their Arabian conquerors. 
 
 At first Abou Hafs confined himself to ravaging the 
 island, and then returned to Spain for reinforcements. 
 In the following year he returned, and, in order to make 
 the settlement permanent, he burned his ships,* and 
 constructed upon the coast a strong fortified camp 
 surrounded by an immense ditch, from which it received 
 the name of Khandax ; the town which was erected 
 upon this site preserved this name, which was after- 
 wards modified into Candia, and in course of time 
 was bestowed upon the island itself. As the result of 
 the conquest, Mohammedanism was everywhere estab- 
 lished, the churches were converted into mosques, and 
 the greater part of the ignorant population embraced 
 the religion of the conquerors. When the rebellion of 
 Thomas had been crushed, the Emperor Michael made 
 an attempt to regain possession of Crete. An expedi- 
 tion was sent out under Photinus, commander of the 
 armies of the East, and Damianus, Comes Stabuli (or 
 Count of the Imperial Stables), but it was completely 
 defeated. Damianus was slain, and Photinus made his 
 escape with a single galley, to carry the news of the 
 
 * "When the invaders came down to the seashore, ready to embark 
 with their plunder, they accused their general, who confessed that he bad 
 done this, of madness or treachery. ' Of what do you complain ? ' said he. 
 ' I have brought you to a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is your 
 true country ; repose from your toils, and forget the barren place of your 
 nativity.' 'And our wives and children?' 'Your beauteous captives 
 will supply the place of your wives, and in their embraces you will soon 
 become the fathers of a new progeny.' " — Gibbon, ch. 52.
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 51 
 
 disaster to Constantinople. Basil, the Bishop of Crete, 
 made good his escape to Constantinople, and exhorted 
 the Emperor to do his utmost to prevent so important 
 a possession passing into the hands of the infidels. 
 Michael thereupon sent out a fresh expedition, con- 
 sisting of seventy vessels of war, under the command of 
 Craterus, the Governor of the Kibyrraeot theme, or 
 district. At first the Roman commander met with 
 success, and, on landing, defeated the enemy in a 
 desperate engagement. But he did not know how to 
 take advantage of his victory. His soldiers abandoned 
 themselves to rejoicings during the night, and, in the 
 midst of the confusion, the Saracens invaded their camp, 
 cut their troops to pieces, and captured the fleet. 
 Craterus himself escaped in a merchant vessel, but was 
 pursued and taken near Cos, where he was crucified by 
 the Saracens. The island remained in the possession of 
 the latter for a period of one hundred and thirty-five 
 years, until the reign of Romanus II., when his general, 
 Nicephorus Phocas, afterwards Emperor, drove them out 
 of the island. 
 
 During this period Crete became a great slave-mart ; 
 and at this time the slave-trade was the most profitable 
 branch of commerce in the Mediterranean. A large 
 portion of the Greek inhabitants of Crete, having em- 
 braced Mohammedanism and established communi- 
 cations with the Christian slave-merchants in the 
 Byzantine Empire, carried on a regular trade in pur- 
 chasing Byzantine captives of wealthy families, and 
 arranging exchanges of prisoners with their relations. 
 A proverb, which occurs in the works of Constantine 
 Porphyrogenitus, a literary Byzantine Emperor, shows
 
 52 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 the evil repute in which the island was held : " There are 
 three abominable kappas (i.e. names commencing with 
 the Greek K), Kappadocia, Kreta, and Kilikia." The 
 Saracens undertook several piratical expeditions from 
 Crete against various parts of the Byzantine Empire, in 
 particular against Thrace, where they gained a decided 
 victory near Thasos, during the reign of Theophilus, in 
 the year 831. Ten years later, the Greeks made 
 another attempt to recover the island, which proved 
 equally unsuccessful. The Empress Theodora, mother 
 of Michael III., sent out a numerous fleet with that 
 object ; but while the commander Theoctistus was 
 engaged in the siege of Candia, he suddenly left his 
 army and withdrew to Constantinople. The troops 
 suffered severely after they had been thus left to them- 
 selves, and at length followed their general. At this 
 period the Mussulman fleets were overrunning the 
 Mediterranean. In 881, during the reign of the 
 Emperor Basil, after the conquest of Syracuse, an Arab 
 expedition left Crete, and, after having ravaged the 
 islands of the ^Egean, advanced as far as Proconnesus, 
 in the Hellespont ; but their fleet was destroyed by the 
 Greek admiral Nicetas with " Greek fire." In spite of 
 this reverse, the Cretan Arabs put to sea with a fresh 
 fleet, and ravaged the coasts of Peloponnesus. Nicetas 
 hastened up, and, on his arrival at the port of Cenchreae, 
 the harbour of Corinth, was informed that the enemy 
 were in the neighbourhood of Patras. Instead of going 
 all round the peninsula, he transported his ships in a 
 single night over the isthmus of Corinth, surprised the 
 Saracens, and defeated them with great slaughter. The 
 prisoners, especially the renegades, were treated with
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 53 
 
 excessive cruelty. In 958 the Saracens again repelled 
 an attack made upon the island of Crete during the 
 reign of Constantine VII. (Porphyrogenitus). This 
 attack was conducted by a worthless Paphlagonian 
 named Constantine Gongyles, whose negligence and 
 incapacity caused its total failure. However, the end of 
 the rule of the Arabs was at hand : two years later, 
 during the reign of Romanus II., Nicephorus Phocas, 
 subsequently Emperor, and at the time one of the most 
 capable generals of the Empire, resolved to wrest the 
 island from its Mohammedan conquerors. 
 
 The injury inflicted on Byzantine commerce by the 
 Saracen corsairs fitted out in the numerous ports on the 
 north side of the island, compelled the inhabitants of 
 many of the islands of the Archipelago to purchase 
 protection from the rulers of Crete by the payment of 
 a regular tribute. The trade of Constantinople and its 
 supplies of provisions were constantly interrupted, yet 
 several expeditions, fitted out on a large scale, had been 
 defeated. Besides that undertaken during the reign of 
 Constantine VII., the Emperor Leo had attempted (912) 
 to put down Cretan piracy. A powerful army was as- 
 sembled at Samos for the purpose of besieging Candia ; 
 but, after eight months, the expedition was defeated with 
 great loss by the Saracens off the coast of that island. 
 
 The Emperor Romanus II., immediately on his acces- 
 sion to the throne, resolved to wipe out the disgrace of 
 the defeat of Gongyles, to conquer the island of Crete, 
 and expel the Saracen population. The latest victory 
 of the Saracens had inspired them with greater audacity, 
 and they continued to ravage the coasts with redoubled 
 energy. Accordingly, when Nicephorus Phocas, who
 
 54 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 was commander of the army of the East, proposed to 
 attack Crete, he was met with the most decided oppo- 
 sition, and the difficulties of the undertaking were 
 exaggerated in every possible way. Attempts were 
 also made to arouse the jealousy of the Emperor, by 
 representing to him that his own reputation might be 
 eclipsed by the glory which would accrue to Nicephorus, 
 in case he met with success in carrying out so important 
 an undertaking. However, he at last succeeded in 
 obtaining the consent of the council to the expedition, 
 and immediately set about making preparations, which 
 were on a larger scale than anything that had hitherto 
 been attempted, thereby showing how great was the 
 terror inspired by the Cretan Saracens throughout the 
 Empire, and how formidable a foe they were considered 
 to be. 
 
 Troops were gathered together from Asia, Thrace, 
 and Macedonia, together with Russian and Sclavonian 
 mercenaries. A large fleet put to sea, accompanied by 
 a number of " fire-ships," fitted with tubes for launching 
 Greek fire, and transports loaded with provisions, 
 engines of war, and arms of all kinds. Nicephorus set 
 out in the month of July, and made for Phygela, near 
 Ephesus, where the fleet was to assemble. Having 
 learnt that the island was in a state of great alarm and 
 disorder, consequent upon the news of his expedition, 
 he immediately set sail for Crete, where he landed his 
 forces without meeting with any opposition. At his 
 first attack the Saracens fled, and Nicephorus marched 
 straight upon Khandax (Candia), the capital of the 
 island. When he came in sight of the town, he dis- 
 tributed his troops in different positions to blockade it,
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 55 
 
 and sent out detachments in pursuit of those of the 
 inhabitants who had fled for refuge into the mountains. 
 They were discovered, and taken from their retreat, 
 together with their cattle and belongings, to the Greek 
 camp. Before leaving his ships, Nicephorus had taken 
 the precaution of putting them in a place of safety, and 
 had distributed them round the coast in such a manner 
 as to intercept the supplies. His plan was to starve out 
 the city, which was too strongly fortified to be taken 
 without a regular siege ; in the mean time he kept 
 sending out detachments in all directions, which gradu- 
 ally effected the conquest of nearly the whole of the 
 island during the siege of its capital. 
 
 Kurup, the Saracen Emir of Crete, shut up in the 
 town, and despairing of breaking through a camp so 
 strongly protected as that of Nicephorus, appealed for 
 outside help to Africa and Spain. The two Caliphs, 
 before complying with his request, sent persons to 
 examine the state of affairs on the island. The unfa- 
 vourable report which they took back to their masters 
 — that the Greek fleet, which was very numerous and 
 admirably posted, effectually cut off all access by sea, 
 while the land forces were invincible — decided the latter 
 to abandon the Cretans to their fate. 
 
 The fortress of Khandax itself appeared impregnable. 
 On one side it was defended by the sea, on the other by 
 an inaccessible rock on which it was built. The walls — 
 built of sun-dried bricks, the mortar of which had been 
 kneaded with the hair of goats and swine into a mass 
 almost as hard as stone — were very high, wide enough 
 for two chariots to drive abreast upon them, and sur- 
 rounded by a double ditch. Nicephorus surrounded
 
 56 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 the place with a strong palisade, extending from one 
 shore to the other, in order to cut off the besieged from 
 all communication with the outside world. 
 
 It is related that Nicephorus, having heard that a 
 force of forty thousand Arabs, who had taken up a 
 position on a mountain in the interior of the island, 
 intended to attack him whenever a favourable oppor- 
 tunity offered, himself took the initiative, surprised them 
 one night when the moon was at its full, and cut them 
 to pieces. The heads of the slain were cut off by his 
 orders, carried back to the Greek camp in bags, and stuck 
 upon the points of spears in sight of the ramparts, while 
 others were cast into the place by means of catapults, 
 that the besieged might realize the extent of their loss. 
 During the winter Nicephorus occupied the time in 
 drilling his soldiers, and preparing engines necessary to 
 carry out the projected attack. The besieged already 
 felt the pinch of hunger, while the besiegers themselves 
 were not too well supplied with provisions, the stores 
 which they had brought with them being almost ex- 
 hausted. The soldiers, who felt the effects of the cold 
 and rain, began to murmur, and demanded that they 
 should be allowed to return home. Even the officers 
 lost heart, and Nicephorus was only able to control them 
 by sharing their labours himself. " Shall we show 
 ourselves less courageous than our enemies ?" he said to 
 them. " They are suffering far greater hardships, with- 
 out any hopes to sustain them. The Emperor is certain 
 to send us fresh supplies. I have informed him of our 
 need of them. Shall Christians, whom Heaven and 
 earth protect, allow themselves to be outdone in patience 
 by Saracens, who cannot expect assistance from either
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 57 
 
 gods or men ? " Encouraged by these words, they 
 shouted, " We are ready to suffer all and to die with 
 you." Shortly afterwards an abundant store of pro- 
 visions for the besiegers arrived from Constantinople. 
 
 After a blockade of more than ten months, Nicephorus 
 learned from deserters, who were continually flocking to 
 his camp, that the majority of the inhabitants had died 
 of starvation, and that the rest, reduced to desperate 
 extremities, would be unable to resist an attack, although 
 they had made up their minds to die rather than sur- 
 render. He thereupon decided to deliver the assault. 
 On the 7th of May, at daybreak, he ordered his troops 
 to take up arms, a breach was effected, and the place 
 was taken by storm. Most of the defenders fell fighting ; 
 the survivors, who had taken refuge in flight, were pur- 
 sued and massacred by the Greeks ; some few threw 
 themselves down from the top of the wall. Nicephorus 
 ordered quarter to be given to those who laid down their 
 arms. The city was full of booty, the accumulated 
 wealth of piratical expeditions. The choicest part of this 
 was reserved for the Emperor, while the soldiers were 
 permitted to divide the rest. The fortifications of 
 Khandax were razed to the ground, and a new fortress, 
 called Temenos, was built on a high and inaccessible 
 hill, and garrisoned by Armenian and Byzantine troops. 
 The " fire-ships " were left in the harbour, to protect the 
 fortress. After the complete subjugation of the island, 
 Nicephorus returned to Constantinople with a rich 
 booty and a large number of prisoners. He celebrated 
 a triumph in the circus, amidst the acclamations of the 
 people, who gazed with admiration upon the gold, silver, 
 precious stuffs, carpets, jewels, gold-bedecked arms, and
 
 58 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 the throng of prisoners clad in white. The Emir 
 Kurup and his son formed part of the triumphal 
 procession. 
 
 During the hundred and fifty years of Mussulman 
 rule in Crete, the islanders had embraced the religion 
 of their conquerors. On the reconquest of the 
 island, an Armenian monk, named Nicon, was sent 
 thither by the Emperor, and succeeded in reconverting 
 numbers of the inhabitants to Christianity. The con- 
 quest of Crete by Nicephorus Phocas replaced the 
 island under Byzantine rule until the time of the Fourth 
 Crusade (1204). In 1092, during the reign of Alexius 
 Comnenus (the father of Anna Comnena, of whom we 
 read in Sir Walter Scott's Count Robert of Paris), it 
 revolted, owing to the oppression of the Byzantine 
 administration. Two Cretans, Carycas and Rhapso- 
 mates, raised the standard of revolt, the one in Crete, 
 the other in Cyprus, urging the inhabitants to declare 
 themselves independent. John Dukas, the Empress's 
 brother, set out for Crete, but on his arrival he found 
 the island prepared to submit. The Cretan leader was 
 deserted by his followers, and put to death as soon as 
 the imperial fleet came in sight. 
 
 The Fourth Crusade never reached Palestine at all, but 
 turned aside to take possession of the Byzantine Empire. 
 The leader of these so-called Crusaders, Baldwin, Count 
 of Flanders, was placed upon the throne of the East, 
 and thus founded the Latin Empire of Constantinople, 
 which lasted for fifty-six years. When the French and 
 Venetians apportioned the Greek Empire, Crete was 
 assigned to Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat, and King 
 of Thessalonica. Boniface, however, had previously
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 59 
 
 entered into a private treaty with the Venetians to cede 
 to them all his possessions acquired by the Crusaders. 
 Pretending to have received a promise of the island of 
 Crete from the Emperor Alexis IV., he ceded both 
 Crete, Thessalonica, and his other territories to the 
 Venetians, who bound themselves to pay him the sum 
 of a thousand marks in silver, and to put him in 
 possession of territory in the Western part of the Empire 
 from their share of the partition, which should bring him 
 in a certain annual revenue. 
 
 Crete remained subject to the Venetians for more than 
 four hundred years. It was the most valuable posses- 
 sion that the great republic had acquired by the Fourth 
 Crusade, both on account of its commercial importance 
 and its position as a naval station. The Venetians, 
 however, were not destined to retain undisputed posses- 
 sion of it, although at first it submitted after one cam- 
 paign. The Genoese, jealous of their rivals, but not 
 wishing to engage in open war against Venice, induced 
 Henry Count of Malta, a military adventurer, to put 
 himself at the head of the Cretan malcontents, and 
 secretly furnished him with assistance. 
 
 The first insurrection compelled the Duke of Candia, 
 as the Venetian governor was called, to re-embark. 
 The Republic sent out fresh troops, and the Count of 
 Malta abandoned the insurgents, and the Venetians 
 soon gained the upper hand. In order to familiarize the 
 islanders with their new owners, the Venetians sent 
 out considerable bodies of colonists at different periods ; 
 and, by way of further securing the goodwill of the in- 
 habitants, they confiscated half the insurgents' land, and 
 distributed it amongst the new settlers.
 
 6o A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 A second revolt soon broke out. The Governor of 
 Crete summoned to his assistance the Prince of Naxos, 
 a vassal of the Republic. The Prince responded to the 
 call, but, disgusted at the haughty behaviour of the 
 governor, he fomented a fresh insurrection, forced the 
 governor to take refuge in his palace, and made himself 
 master of the island. In spite of the despatch of fresh 
 troops from Venice, the revolt still kept smouldering, 
 and the Senate of the Republic recalled its governors 
 one after the other, until at last one of them succeeded 
 in establishing peace for a period of two years.* 
 
 The system of continually changing the provincial 
 governors naturally led to unsatisfactory results ; it did 
 not allow time for repairing errors or successfully carry- 
 ing out happily conceived reforms. The colonists had 
 just reasons for complaint ; the governor was tempted 
 to abuse^a power which he knew he was not destined to 
 retain for long, in order to make the most of his oppor- 
 tunity, while his subjects were equally ready to seize 
 every chance of regaining their liberty. 
 
 In Crete, the brothers Cortazzi headed a revolt in 
 
 1242, in which the governor was killed. In 1243 another 
 inhabitant of the island, Alexis Calergo, a man of rank 
 
 * P. Daru, in his History of Venice, gives fourteen insurrections of 
 the Cretans between the years 1207 and 1365. In 1207, the revolt sup- 
 ported by the Count of Malta ; 1220, the revolt of the Agiostephanitae ; 
 1226, a fresh insurrection ; 1228, revolt supported by John Vatatzes, 
 Emperor of Xicrea ; 1242, revolt of George and Theodore Cortazzi ; 
 
 1243, eighteen years' revolt by Alexis Calergo ; 1324, three unimportant 
 revolts ; 1324, revolt of Varda Calergo ; 1326, revolt of Leon Calergo ; 
 1327, insurrection put down by Giustinian Giustiniani j 1 341, revolt 
 punished by Guistiniani and Morosini; 136 1-4, revolt of the Venetian 
 colonies j 1365, revolt of the brothers Calergo, put down in the following 
 year.
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 61 
 
 and influence, made preparations for obstinately resisting 
 the conquerors. The Senate attempted to seize him, 
 but he made good his escape, and the insurrection 
 became a war, which lasted no less than eighteen years, 
 and was carried on with varying success. At last, 
 neither the Republic nor the island being unable to gain 
 any decided advantage, negotiations were entered into. 
 Calergo was granted various honours and privileges, and 
 exemption from taxation, and was raised to the dignity 
 of a Venetian nobleman. In order to make the peace, 
 if possible, a lasting one, a fresh colony was sent into 
 the island, which founded the town of Canea, on the site 
 of the ancient Cydonia. 
 
 The Venetian system of colonization deserves atten- 
 tion. The island was divided into three parts : the first 
 for the Republic, the second for the Church, the third for 
 the colonists ; the last portion was divided into 132 lots 
 for the knights or nobles, and 405 for the foot soldiers. 
 The distribution of the lots was not on equal terms : the 
 larger were obliged to provide, in case of war, one 
 horseman and two squires, with arms and horses ; the 
 others had to furnish ten foot soldiers. Later on, the 
 colony was governed after the model of the mother city, 
 by a duke or vice-doge and a grand council. 
 
 In 1 361 the most important revolt broke out, which 
 was not a revolt of the natives against the rule of their 
 Venetian masters, but a general revolt of the colonists, 
 the Venetian population of the island, who were highly 
 indignant because none of the ancient families who had 
 been transplanted from Venice into the colony were 
 summoned to fill any of the magisterial offices of the 
 Republic. They had demanded that twenty wise men
 
 62 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 should be chosen from their number, who should repre- 
 sent them in the Great Council and look after their 
 interests. The question put to them by one of the 
 governors, " Are there any wise men amongst you ? " 
 only served to irritate them still further. The different 
 way in which the Romans and Venetians treated their 
 colonies has been remarked upon as giving an explana- 
 tion why the Roman colonies were so much more 
 attached to their mother country than the Venetians ; 
 whereas the Romans granted their colonists fresh rights 
 as citizens of the mother city, the Venetians deprived of 
 their ancient privileges the citizens whom they sent to 
 Crete. On this occasion, the latter alleged as their 
 excuse for revolt the establishment of an impost, which 
 was to be levied for the repair of the harbour. They 
 took up arms, attacked the governor, threatened his life, 
 flung him into prison, together with his counsellors, and 
 chose as their leader one Gradenigo. 
 
 The rebels were so determined upon absolute separa- 
 tion from the mother Republic that they even abandoned 
 their allegiance to the Latin Church ; they embraced the 
 Greek form of worship and doctrine, and substituted St. 
 Titus for St. Mark. Meanwhile, the whole population 
 was supplied with arms, the prisons were flung open, and 
 the indiscriminate aid of the criminal classes solicited ; 
 those who ventured to disapprove of the insurrection 
 were massacred. 
 
 The Republic acted feebly at first. Three commis- 
 sioners were sent to exhort the rebels to return to their 
 allegiance, but they were not allowed to land, and finally 
 were forced by threats to return. 
 
 Next, five other deputies were sent, but met with an
 
 MEDIEVAL CEETE. 63 
 
 even more insulting reception. They were allowed to 
 land, and conducted before the governor of the island, 
 through the midst of large bodies of soldiers and an 
 excited population, which pursued them with jeers and 
 hooting. Such a reception was not likely to lead to any 
 favourable result. 
 
 On the return of the embassy, the Republic, despair- 
 ing of bringing back the Cretans to allegiance by per- 
 suasion, wrote to the Italian powers, the kings of France 
 and Naples, and the Greek Emperor, begging that they 
 would not render any assistance to the rebels. Even 
 after the required promise had been given, some 
 members of the council were in favour of simply 
 blockading the island, instead of attacking it. 
 
 One of the causes of the apparent feebleness and un- 
 willingness to act displayed by the Venetians was the 
 lack of men from which to recruit her army, her popu- 
 lation having been exhausted by two serious wars. 
 She was accordingly obliged to have recourse to the 
 mercenary soldiers of fortune, who traversed all parts 
 of Europe where war was going on, ready to sell their 
 services to the highest bidders. 
 
 The expedition was not got ready until 1364. Its 
 commander was a Veronese captain named Luchino dal 
 Verme, who was at the time commander of the troops 
 of the Duke of Milan ; and on the 10th of April a fleet 
 of thirty-three galleys set out, with six thousand men on 
 board. The insurgents had failed to make the best use of 
 the time during which they had been left unmolested. 
 They had assassinated a number of the islanders who were 
 suspected of preferring Venetian rule, and their leader 
 himself did not escape their fury. A certain party was
 
 64 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 in favour of handing over the island to the authority of 
 the Genoese ; but the latter, being in the throes of civil 
 dissension, did not venture to recommence war against 
 the Venetians. 
 
 The army disembarked, without meeting any re- 
 sistance, on the 7th of May. On the 10th dal Verme 
 set out on his march, forced the passage of a defile in 
 which the islanders were posted, and made his way to 
 the gates of the capital, the outskirts of which he burned, 
 while at the same time the fleet made its appearance at 
 the entrance of the harbour. The rebels were surprised 
 by this vigorous attack, and were unable to resist the 
 assault. They sent deputies to Michieli (the Venetian 
 admiral) to implore forgiveness. The admiral ordered 
 the gates to be thrown open, took possession of the 
 harbour, and entered the capital with his troops, who 
 immediately proceeded to the work of plundering it. 
 
 Some of the rebels perished on the scaffold, some 
 made good their escape to the neighbouring islands, and 
 others fled to the mountain fastnesses. The conquest 
 of the island had only lasted three days ; the news was 
 received at Venice with manifestations of delight, and 
 celebrated by public festivities. 
 
 We now come to the last revolt, which broke out as 
 early as the following year (1365). The rebels, under 
 the command of three brothers belonging to the dis- 
 tinguished family of Calengo, instead of attempting to 
 gain possession of the capital, fortified all the easily 
 defensible strongholds of the island, and established 
 themselves in positions where it would be difficult for 
 the Venetians to attack them. In 1366, after a desperate 
 struggle, victory remained with the Republic ; nearly
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 65 
 
 all the chief movers in the insurrection were put to 
 death ; even the wife and children of the leaders were 
 not spared. The following extract from a letter from 
 Paolo Loredano to the Doge showed the stringent 
 measures which were taken to prevent the possibility 
 of any future outbreak : " The rebels have no longer 
 any leaders ; terrible examples have been made in order 
 to frighten those who might be inclined to put them- 
 selves at their head. Their strongholds and fortresses, 
 which we have not thought it desirable to occupy our- 
 selves, have been razed to the ground ; the inhabitants 
 have been removed elsewhere. The surrounding country 
 will remain uncultivated ; it is prohibited, under pain 
 of death, even to approach it. All regulations tending 
 to keep up the pride or the spirit of independence of the 
 colonists have been abolished. The native inhabitants 
 will have no further share in the administration or 
 public magistracies, and their obedience to you will be 
 guaranteed by the close watch kept over them by your 
 faithful representatives." 
 
 For about the next three hundred years the island re- 
 mained peaceful, if not contented, under Venetian rule. 
 The government of Crete by the Venetian oligarchy 
 was, like that of their other dependencies, very arbitrary 
 and oppressive, and, as we have seen, numerous in- 
 surrections were the result. But, with all its defects, 
 their administration did much to promote the material 
 prosperity of the country, and to encourage commerce 
 and industry ; and it is probable that the island enjoyed 
 during this period greater prosperity than at any subse- 
 quent time. Their Venetian masters at least secured 
 to the island external tranquillity, and it is singular that 
 
 E
 
 66 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 the Turks were content to leave them in undisturbed 
 possession for nearly two hundred years after the capture 
 of Constantinople. 
 
 We now approach the critical period in the history of 
 the island. 
 
 Up to the middle of the seventeenth century, Crete had 
 resisted all the intermittent attempts of the Ottoman 
 Turks to gain possession of it. It was at this period 
 that the Ottoman Empire reached its greatest geo- 
 graphical extent : with the exception of Podolia, which 
 was ceded to the Turks by Poland, Crete was their last 
 European acquisition. We will now proceed to give 
 an account of the Turkish attack upon Crete, and of 
 the siege of Candia, one of the most memorable in 
 history, as it was certainly the longest. The town 
 did not fall until it had sustained a war of twenty-five 
 years, a blockade of thirteen years, and a siege, during 
 which the trenches remained open for two years, three 
 months, and twenty-eight days. 
 
 At this time the occupant of the Ottoman throne was 
 Ibrahim, a vicious and feeble ruler ; but his vizier, 
 Mohammed Pasha, was an able and enterprising man, 
 and it was his ambition that inspired him with the idea 
 of depriving the Venetians of the island. The following 
 was the alleged cause of hostilities. In the year 1644 
 some Maltese galleys seized a Turkish vessel which had 
 been despatched by the Sultan to Mecca, and a fleet of 
 merchantmen which was on its way to Cairo. There 
 were on board the Sultan's vessel one of his favourite 
 sultanas, and a son whom she had borne him. In spite 
 of remonstrances, the Maltese not only refused to sur- 
 render the captives, but anchored off the coast of Candia ;
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 67 
 
 subsequently, the captives were taken to Malta, where 
 the mother died of grief, and the boy was handed over 
 to the monks, and became a Dominican. This incident 
 enraged the Sultan, who held the Venetians, as masters 
 of the island, responsible for what had taken place. 
 The Vizier Mohammed took advantage of his master's 
 rage to propose to him, not the destruction of Malta, 
 upon which the Turks had already made an unsuccessful 
 attempt, but the conquest of Crete, the possession of 
 which they had long eagerly desired. This island was 
 nearly all that remained to the Venetians of the divided 
 Empire of the East ; after more than twenty revolts, 
 it had at length submitted, and was, if not contented, 
 at least peaceful ; in any case, they could hardly have 
 desired to exchange the rule of the Venetians for that 
 of the Turks. 
 
 The latter, well aware of the difficulties of the enter- 
 prise which they were undertaking, made elaborate 
 preparations to ensure its success, and assembled a large 
 army and fleet. The Venetians, alarmed at this, de- 
 manded an explanation ; but the Porte reassured them, 
 by declaring that they were merely intended to threaten 
 the Order of Malta.* The Venetians, not being com- 
 pletely satisfied with these protestations, equipped a 
 squadron of twenty-three galleys at Candia, and called 
 out and drilled the militia, who had become disorganized 
 owing to long-continued peace. However, all doubts 
 as to the object of the Turkish preparations was soon 
 set at rest ; the Sultan declared that the expedition 
 was intended for Malta, and in March, 1645, the fleet, 
 
 * At this time Malta was in the possession of the Order of the Knights 
 of St. John of Jerusalem,
 
 68 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 consisting of 348 vessels of war, left the Dardanelles, 
 accompanied by a large number of transports, with 
 50,000 men on board. When the Grand Vizier thought 
 the fleet was not far from Crete, he caused the baile, or 
 ambassador, of Venice to be arrested at Constantinople, 
 and gave him a detailed list of grievances which the 
 Porte declared it had against Venice. This arrest was 
 not known at the latter place when, on the 24th of June, 
 the news arrived that the 50,000 Turks, under the 
 command of Yussuf, had landed on the west of the 
 island, near Canea, and, immediately after disembarking, 
 had taken possession of the fortified position called St. 
 Theodora. The Turkish general established his head- 
 quarters at Casal Galata, and proceeded to lay siege to 
 Canea, into which the governor had hastily thrown a 
 few thousand men. 
 
 At this time there were several fortified points on 
 the island, all on the north side : Grabusa, some strong- 
 holds on the islands off the extreme west of Crete ; 
 Canea ; and, close to the latter place, at the bottom 
 of a deep bay, Suda, where the Venetian fleet was 
 assembled, under the command of Antonio Capello. 
 Further towards the east was Retimo ; then Candia, the 
 capital of the island, and the residence of the governor, 
 Antonio Cornaro. Opposite Candia was the little island 
 of Standia,* which afforded good anchorage for large 
 ships. To the east of Candia was the fortress of Spina 
 Longa, on the extremity of a cape, jutting far out into 
 the sea. Lastly, at the eastern extremity of the island, 
 was the strong position of Sittia. 
 
 The Venetians were thrown into a state of great 
 
 * A contraction of Es tan {ten) Dia,
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 69 
 
 consternation at the news of the Turkish attack, and 
 were especially indignant at having been deceived. 
 They made great efforts to save the island ; the clergy 
 gave up part of their revenues, and patrician dignities 
 were bestowed upon simple citizens on payment of 
 sums of money. A pressing appeal was sent to all the 
 Catholic powers to ask their assistance, but it did not 
 meet with a very hearty response. The Pope, the Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany, and the Order of Malta furnished a 
 fleet of twenty galleys ; France secretly offered a subsidy 
 of 100,000 crowns, and Spain confined herself to lavish 
 promises. In the mean time, while the Venetians were 
 occupied with these preparations, Canea had capitulated, 
 after a siege of fifty-seven days, during which the in- 
 habitants had defended themselves with the greatest 
 courage. This success gave the Turks the command 
 of a harbour, and a headquarters for their troops. In 
 1646 Retimo was carried by assault. In 1648, after 
 having gained a firm footing on the island, they laid 
 siege to Suda, before the gates of which they had erected 
 pyramids made of the heads of 5000 Christians, and 
 commenced the siege of Candia ; a line of circumvalla- 
 tion was drawn round the place, and the trenches were 
 opened. 
 
 Then commenced a succession of assaults, sallies, and 
 cannonades unexampled in history. The repeated 
 attacks were resisted v/ith the utmost bravery by the 
 inhabitants, under the leadership of Morosini. For more 
 than twenty years the struggle continued with varying 
 success, both on land and sea ; but the Venetians, in 
 spite of their maritime superiority, were unable to pre- 
 vent the Turks from sending assistance to the besiegers.
 
 70 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 Towards the end of 1666, the Grand Vizier, a man 
 of great energy and activity, arrived on the spot, with 
 the intention of personally directing operations. With 
 an army of 80,000 men, on the 22nd of May in the 
 following year, he established his headquarters close to 
 Candia, the garrison of which consisted of only 10,000 
 soldiers, under the command of Francesco Morosini, and 
 the flower of the Venetian nobles. From the 23rd of 
 May to the 1 8th of November thirty-two assaults and 
 seventeen sorties took place, during which the garrison 
 lost about 4000 officers and men, the Turks more than 
 20,000. In May, 1668, the Marquis de Ville, commander 
 of the infantry of the defenders, was replaced by the 
 Marquis de Saint Andre Montbrun, whom the Venetians 
 had selected with the object of flattering Louis XIV., 
 king of France, and inducing him to take an active part 
 in the defence of Crete. The result was that Louis sent 
 some money to the Venetians, and allowed them to 
 levy troops in France. Inspired by his example, the 
 Pope and the knights of Malta sent assistance, while 
 the forces of the Venetians were largely increased by 
 volunteers, amongst them the Due de la Feuillade, who 
 led out 500 men of high birth, and paid all their expenses 
 out of his own purse. 
 
 The campaign, which had by this time cost the 
 Turks 23,000 men, had exhausted the Venetians. At 
 the pressing entreaties of the Venetian ambassador, 
 Louis XIV. was roused to greater interest in the affairs 
 of Crete, and promised to send a considerable number 
 of reinforcements, amounting to 6000 men, under the 
 command of the Due de Beaufort and the Due de 
 Navailles ; but when the fleet appeared off the coast of
 
 MEDIEVAL CRETE. 71 
 
 the island, on the 6th of June, 1669, Candia was almost 
 at the end of its resistance. Unfortunately, again, 
 although the arrival of the French troops revived, in 
 some measure, the failing hopes of the defenders, the 
 new-comers were inclined to rashness, and unwilling to 
 listen to the more prudent counsels of Morosini. Much 
 against his will, the latter consented to a general sally, 
 the result of which proved disastrous. The defenders 
 lost 500 men, and, what was worse, the ill-success of 
 the sortie caused dissensions amongst the defenders. 
 An unsuccessful attempt at a bombardment of the 
 enemy's camp, and the blowing-up of a French warship, 
 induced the admiral, the Due de Navailles, to return in 
 disgust to France, which led to the withdrawal of the 
 remainder of the naval forces which had hitherto been 
 assisting the Venetians, together with the volunteers, 
 and the besieged found themselves reduced to a force 
 of 3000 men. The Turks delivered a general assault, 
 and Morosini, seeing that the idea of further resistance 
 was hopeless, offered to capitulate. The Grand Vizier 
 eagerly accepted the proposal, and, respecting the heroic 
 resistance that had been offered by the garrison, granted 
 them honourable conditions, in no wise dishonourable 
 for the Republic. 
 
 The capitulation was signed on the 6th of December, 
 1669. It was agreed that the Venetians should abandon 
 Candia within twelve days ; the inhabitants were to be 
 at liberty to take their belongings and follow the 
 garrison. The island itself was to be ceded to Turkey, 
 the Venetians being allowed to keep three ports — 
 Grabusa, Spina Longa, Suda, and the dependent 
 islands. In exchange for this, the Republic was to retain
 
 72 A SHORT' POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 possession of its conquests in Bosnia and Dalmatia. The 
 treaty was received with disapproval at Venice, but was 
 ratified, since it was felt that it was impossible to con- 
 tinue the war. Morosini was accused in the Senate of 
 having entered into negotiations with the Turks without 
 having previously been authorized to do so, and would 
 probably have been condemned had not his services 
 been required elsewhere. Venice did not long retain 
 possession of the points on the island that had been left 
 to her by the treaty ; before the end of the seventeenth 
 century Grabusa was handed over to the Turks by 
 the treachery of the governor, who accepted a bribe of 
 a thousand sequins ; and in the commencement of the 
 following century, by special arrangement, Suda and 
 Spina Longa were abandoned. 
 
 Thus Venice lost possession of Crete, after having 
 had possession of it for nearly five centuries. Its govern- 
 ment had been modelled on that of the Republic. The 
 island was governed by a proveditor-general from Venice, 
 who had under him the four proveditors of Canea, 
 Candia, Retimo, and Sittia. For judicial matters there 
 were Rettori, or judges, also sent from Venice, each of 
 whom was assisted by two counsellors, who were natives 
 of the island. The municipal administration was in the 
 hands of the Cretans ; taxes were very moderate. The 
 native nobility enjoyed feudal privileges, and were bound 
 to have a certain number of militia from among their 
 vassals and tenants ready when called. As already 
 mentioned, the period of Venetian rule was probably 
 the period during which the island enjoyed the greatest 
 prosperity ; agriculture was encouraged, the island sup- 
 plied Venice with corn, and its commerce was important 
 and profitable,
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE ISLAND, FROM ITS CArTURE 
 BY THE TURKS TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 If the inhabitants of Crete had chafed under the govern- 
 ment of the Venetian Republic, they soon found that 
 they had not profited by the exchange of masters. 
 Several attempts to shake off Turkish rule were re- 
 pressed with pitiless severity, and the people were 
 handed over to the tender mercies of an insubordinate 
 soldiery, who sometimes rose even against their own 
 commanders. Thus we learn that, in 1688, Soul Fikar 
 Pasha, the governor of the island, was massacred by his 
 own soldiers. The pashas do not appear to have made 
 any attempts to restrain the excesses of the Turkish 
 troops, but rather to have encouraged them ; besides, 
 the governorship of the island, being one of the most 
 important and lucrative of the Turkish possessions, was 
 generally bestowed upon one of the Sultan's favourites, 
 who extorted as much as he could from the unfortunate 
 inhabitants. It is true that the Porte sometimes could 
 not help punishing those whose cruelties and exactions 
 went beyond all bounds : thus, in 1728, in the reign of 
 Ahmed III., the defterdar* of the island, not content 
 
 * A title formerly given to a kind of finance minister.
 
 74 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 with having disorganized the system of rents, had forged 
 four firmans, or imperial rescripts, counterfeited the 
 official signatures, and even that of the Sultan. For 
 these offences he was put to death. But, even if a high 
 official was now and again punished, the Mussulmans 
 individually exercised a tyranny over the inhabitants 
 of the island that was almost unbearable. They carried 
 off at pleasure the daughters of Greek households who 
 had taken their fancy, and the injured parents had no 
 redress. Even as late as the end of the eighteenth 
 century, no Greek, with the exception of the archbishop, 
 was allowed to enter any of the towns on horseback. The 
 Bishop of Canea on one occasion ventured to do so ; 
 the janissaries who were on guard at the gate called the 
 soldiers together, related what had taken place, and 
 decided to burn the bishop and all the priests. They 
 were on the point of carrying out their purpose, when 
 the pasha intervened, and appeased the excited soldiery 
 by publishing an edict forbidding any Greek to pass 
 the night within the walls of Canea ; only the women 
 were allowed to remain. The result of the Turkish 
 oppression was, that the cultivation of the soil was 
 abandoned, commerce was at a standstill, and poverty 
 prevailed throughout the island ; the inhabitants, forced 
 to support life by a diet of olives, salt fish, and cheese, 
 were attacked by leprosy, which for a period of eighteen 
 months claimed hundreds of victims. 
 
 A few words may be added as to the Turkish 
 administration introduced into the island after its 
 conquest. It was divided into three districts, under 
 three pashas, who resided at Candia, Canea, and 
 Retimo. The first took precedence of the other two :
 
 MODERN CRETE. 75 
 
 he was inspector of the forts and arsenals, and ap- 
 pointed the beys who were charged with the care of 
 the different strongholds of the island. The pasha's 
 counsellors consisted of a kiaya, or general administrator 
 of affairs ; the agha of the janissaries, captain of the 
 troops and head of the police ; two artillery officers ; 
 a defterdar ; and an officer whose duty it was to guard 
 the imperial treasury. The legal authorities were the 
 mufti, whose office it was to lay down the law on all 
 cases submitted to him, and the kadi : the former 
 interpreted the laws dealing with the division of property, 
 rights of inheritance, and marriages ; while the kacfi 
 received the declarations and complaints of those who 
 considered themselves aggrieved, and decided between 
 plaintiff and defendant. In 1785 the Turkish garrisons 
 of these three places amounted to about 15,000 men ; 
 the Mussulman population of the island was nearly 
 200,000 ; the Greek, the number of which diminished 
 nearly every year, not more than 150,000: whereas, 
 in its prosperous times, the inhabitants had numbered 
 more than 1,000,000. The taxes imposed upon the 
 Christians were of two kinds — one-seventh of the 
 product of the soil, and the kharaj, or capitation-tax, 
 paid by all male Christians above sixteen years of age ; 
 this tax was equivalent to about thirteen shillings. The 
 land-tax could be paid in kind, — in corn, flax, or cotton. 
 A tax was imposed upon silk. The following was the 
 ecclesiastical government of the island : the Patriarch 
 of Constantinople nominated the archbishop, who in 
 turn nominated the bishops, who appointed the parish 
 priests. The archbishop, in addition to the revenues 
 of his diocese, received every year a certain sum from
 
 76 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 the bishops, who in turn exacted a tax from the Christian 
 families, in order to pay the archbishop's tribute to the 
 Sultan. The income of the bishops was made up 
 partly by voluntary contributions, and a fee was paid 
 for every celebration of marriage. The numerous 
 religious taxes, and those established by the Turks, 
 caused a large number of Christians to renounce their 
 religion, and the traveller Pococke informs us that, a 
 hundred and twenty years after the Turkish conquest, 
 on the occasion of his visit to the island, the number 
 of renegades was very considerable. 
 
 At the commencement of the nineteenth century, the 
 Turkish oppression in Crete reached its height. The 
 island had hitherto remained faithful to the Sultan, and 
 had manifested no desire to imitate their countrymen 
 in the Morea,* where revolt had broken out (1821). 
 Embassies from various parts of Greece did not succeed 
 in rousing the Cretans to an attempt to shake off the 
 yoke, although they were even worse off than the 
 Christian subjects of Turkey on the mainland. This 
 seems somewhat surprising ; it would appear that the 
 oppression from which they had suffered had made 
 them apathetic, and led them to underrate their strength. 
 
 A Greek enjoyed no civil rights in the island. If 
 he were a landowner, he was deprived of his income 
 by the governor, or even by any Turk who happened 
 to be his neighbour, and he had no redress or right to 
 complain. If he had ventured to summon his spoiler 
 before a legal tribunal, he would not even have gained 
 a hearing ; in any case, it was not worth his while to 
 do so, as it meant the destruction of himself and his 
 
 * See next chapter.
 
 MODERN CRETE. 77 
 
 family ; accordingly, there was nothing left for him but 
 to suffer in silence. A Turk who wanted money had 
 recourse to a very simple expedient for procuring it : he 
 went into the first Greek shop he came to, and demanded 
 from the proprietor the payment of the money which 
 he had lent him a year ago. In the majority of cases, 
 the shopkeeper had never seen his pretended creditor 
 before ; but he was obliged to hand over the money, 
 since refusal would probably have meant death. 
 
 Four or five years before the outbreak of the revo- 
 lution, all the Turks throughout the Empire had been 
 ordered by the Sultan to give up the practice of 
 carrying arms. All regretfully submitted, with the 
 exception of the Cretans, who continued to carry 
 their yataghans and fire-arms, the authorities of the 
 island being afraid to employ force to compel their 
 obedience. The Cretan Mussulmans — the sons of Greek 
 women by Turkish fathers — were the most bitter per- 
 secutors of the Greeks. The papades, or priests, were 
 in particular the object of their attacks. When they 
 met an unoffending ecclesiastic, it was a common thing 
 for them to fire upon him, by way of testing their aim ; 
 and the Greeks of the quarter were obliged to pay a 
 certain sum, before they were allowed to take up the 
 corpse. This was called " the law of blood," and the 
 amount thereby raised was handed over to the chief 
 mosques. When a Greek was executed, the sentence 
 was carried out in any place that the authorities con- 
 sidered suitable. After the criminal's head had been 
 cut off, all the Greeks of the neighbourhood were 
 obliged to subscribe a large sum, in order to procure 
 the removal of the headless trunk from their midst.
 
 78 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 When a man was condemned to be hanged, the punish- 
 ment was carried out at the door of a shop — a grocer's 
 being generally chosen, as being most frequented by 
 customers — and the unhappy proprietor was obliged to 
 spend three days with the body under his nose, and was 
 unable to get rid of it without disbursing a considerable 
 amount. 
 
 We have mentioned the ruling Turks and the subject 
 Greeks as constituting the two main divisions of the 
 population of the island ; we must now mention a 
 separate class, who had for a long time resisted all 
 attempts to bring them into subjection, even during 
 the period of Venetian rule. The hardy mountaineers 
 of the north-west part of the island retired into the 
 gorges of the long chain of mountains terminating in 
 Capes Buso and Spada, which from the snow on its 
 heights was called the " White Mountains," and for 
 more than a century resisted the attacks of the 
 Venetians. They were called Sphakiotes, from Sphakia, 
 the chief township. Even when the Venetians sent out 
 their colony, of which we have already spoken, they 
 refused to consort with the new arrivals, and avoided 
 all contact with the Venetians, as they had formerly 
 avoided the Greeks and Saracens. At last, their resist- 
 ance ceased, and they were left in peace ; but they 
 continued to carry on the practice of piracy, with the 
 authorization of the Venetian magistrates, who con- 
 tented themselves with exercising a general supervision 
 over them, and treated them with the greatest con- 
 sideration. 
 
 The Turkish rule did not bring about any change in 
 their position or manner of life ; they continued to live
 
 MODERN CRETE. 79 
 
 in the mountains, speaking a dialect more related to the 
 primitive language than that of the rest of the inhabi- 
 tants, supporting themselves by piracy, hunting, and the 
 sale of milk-cheeses. For a long time they were the 
 most skilful archers on the island, and later they showed 
 themselves equally skilful in the use of the gun. At the 
 end of the eighteenth century, travellers relate that they 
 still kept up the Pyrrhic dance, a mimic war-dance, 
 representing attack and defence in battle, the origin of 
 which is traced back to the Dorian inhabitants of the 
 island. For a long time the Sphakiotes escaped the 
 kharaj ; but about 1770 the Mussulmans attacked 
 them, on the pretence that they intended to hand over 
 the island to the Russians. They would doubtless have 
 offered as effectual a resistance as they had hitherto 
 done, had not some of the younger Sphakiotes been in- 
 duced by bribes to lead the enemy over the mountains. 
 The Sphakiotes were surprised ; a number of villages 
 were destroyed, a number of the inhabitants massacred, 
 and the women and children carried off and sold as 
 slaves. 
 
 We have noticed the apparent apathy of the Cretans 
 at the outbreak of the Greek Revolution, and their lack 
 of eagerness to respond to the invitation of their fellow- 
 subjects on the mainland. In the month of June, 1821, 
 however, they began to rouse themselves. During this 
 month, the Cretan Turks, the most desperate villains 
 in the Empire, who inhabited the strongholds of the 
 northern part of the island, had assassinated a large 
 number of Christians, hanged several dignitaries of the 
 Church, and profaned the churches ; and, on the 24th of 
 June, after a general massacre of the Greeks at Canea,
 
 8o A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 they thought themselves strong enough to demand that 
 all the inhabitants of the south of the island should lay- 
 down their arms. This demand irritated the Sphakiote 
 mountaineers, who, although they had paid tribute to 
 the Porte since the disaster of 1770, had never looked 
 upon themselves as its subjects. Accordingly, as soon 
 as the Sphakiote chiefs heard of the intentions of the 
 Turks, they sent a deputation to their neighbours, the 
 Abadiotes, in order to induce them to sink all petty 
 differences, and make common cause with them against 
 the Turks. 
 
 The Abadiotes were descended from a military 
 colony, which had been sent by the Saracens to Crete 
 in the ninth century, under the leadership of a sheikh 
 named Abadia, and preserved the primitive religion of 
 Mohammed, which is a pure deism. However, as it is 
 probable that the new converts to Mohammedanism did 
 not at once renounce Sabeanism,* many traces were to 
 be found among the Abadiotes of the ancient worship 
 of the stars. They were similar in appearance to 
 the Bedouins, with their tawny skin, beautiful teeth, 
 brilliant, deep-sunken eyes, and slender form. When 
 the Sphakiote deputies informed them of the object of 
 their mission, they swore to forget the past, and to join 
 the Sphakiotes against the Turks. Meanwhile, the 
 Sphakiotes, not feeling sure about the issue of their 
 negotiations with the Abadiotes, gave the following 
 reply to the Pasha of Canea, who demanded that 
 they should lay down their arms. They pointed out 
 the necessity, under which they were, of being con- 
 tinually on their guard, so as to be able to defend 
 
 * The worship of the fire, sun, and stars.
 
 MODERN CRETE. 81 
 
 themselves and their flocks from the attacks of wild 
 beasts ; and, finally, while renewing their oath of sub- 
 mission to the Porte, and swearing that they were 
 ready to fight for the Sultan against the insurgents, 
 they insisted that it was an absolute necessity for them 
 to retain their arms. This reply enraged the pasha, 
 who sent a fresh message to the Sphakiotes to the 
 effect that, if they did not lay down their arms at 
 once, they would be treated as enemies and rebels. 
 The Sphakiotes returned the following answer : " Since 
 the Mussulmans do not believe our promises, and are 
 asking for our arms in order that they may afterwards 
 have our heads, let them come and take them." 
 
 The Sphakiotes, together with the Abadiotes, de- 
 scended into the plain, in number about nine hundred. 
 The Turks marched out to meet them, but were defeated 
 and obliged to retreat and shut themselves up in Canea. 
 As soon as the insurrection of the Sphakiotes became 
 known, the whole island raised the standard of the Cross, 
 and took up arms. Courmoules, a Cretan of noble 
 family, a pretended convert to Mohammedanism, tore 
 off his turban, proclaimed himself a Christian, and put 
 himself at the head of the insurgents of Retimo. The 
 Turks were everywhere defeated in the open field, and 
 obliged to shut themselves up in their strongholds. In 
 less than a month, the Cretans were masters of nearly 
 the whole island, and the pashas were blockaded in 
 Candia, Canea, and Retimo. 
 
 These results were partly due to the energy and 
 courage of a young Cretan named Antonios Melidones, 
 who, as soon as he heard of the rising in Crete, had 
 hastened from Asia Minor at the head of all the Cretans 
 
 F
 
 82 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 who were scattered about that part of the world. Em- 
 boldened by the first success of the insurrection, he 
 conceived the idea of making his way through the 
 northern part of Crete, which was still guarded by the 
 Turks, and, obliging the enemy to retire to the shelter of 
 their fortresses, various places fell into his hands. On 
 one occasion, he was surprised and surrounded by the 
 army of the Pasha of Megalo Castro ; * in an instant he 
 put himself at the head of his men, routed and pursued 
 them back to the fortress. On the following day a 
 Turkish detachment which ventured to leave it was cut 
 to pieces. The pasha, struck with admiration at the 
 gallant exploits of the young Cretan, sent a message to 
 him, expressing a wish to see him. The reply was, " In a 
 few days you will be a prisoner in my tent, and then you 
 will have an opportunity of examining me at your leisure." 
 The increasing reputation of Melidones aroused the 
 envy of Roussos, chief of the Sphakiotes. Desiring to 
 get his rival out of the way, the latter sent a message to 
 Melidones that a division of the enemy's forces was 
 encamped at Abadia. He reckoned upon the rashness 
 of Melidones and the superior numbers of the enemy to 
 ensure his destruction ; but Melidones laid his plans so 
 well that, although he only had three hundred men at 
 his command, he gained a decisive victory, and brought 
 back a large booty consisting of stores of biscuits and 
 powder. This only increased the animosity of Roussos ; 
 he invited his rival to dinner, and the latter, suspecting 
 nothing, accepted the invitation. The Sphakiote leader 
 took the opportunity of insulting him, and accusing him 
 of ulterior motives ; but Melidones, in a few dignified 
 
 * Candia.
 
 MODERN CRETE. 83 
 
 words, completely justified himself, and left the table 
 amidst the applause of the Sphakiotes themselves, who 
 declared themselves ready to fight and die for him. 
 Roussos, enraged at the turn events had taken, pre- 
 tended to desire a reconciliation, invited Melidones to 
 an interview, and treacherously slew him. 
 
 The assassination of Melidones was a great blow to 
 the insurgent cause. Roussos, although a brave soldier, 
 was by no means a competent general. Under these 
 circumstances, an appeal was made to headquarters, and 
 Michael Comnenus Afendallos was sent from the Morea 
 to take his place. This officer, who was of unprepos- 
 sessing appearance, proved incapable. He drew up a 
 military code and a form of oath, and addressed 
 several proclamations to the people ; but he took no 
 decisive measures, and thus allowed the enemy, who 
 were still blockaded in their strongholds, time to 
 recover. Full of ambitious ideas, and claiming descent 
 from the ancient royal family of the Comneni, members 
 of which had formerly occupied the throne of the Byzan- 
 tine Empire, he arrogated to himself the position of 
 viceroy of Crete, and expressed his intention of claiming 
 the taxes and tribute paid by the islanders and Sphaki- 
 otes to the Government of Constantinople. Such conduct 
 did not tend to increase the popularity of Afendallos, 
 and the Sphakiote chiefs demanded that he should be 
 superseded. His place was taken by a French officer of 
 distinction, and an ardent supporter of the Greeks, 
 named Baleste, who arrived on the island, accompanied 
 by a number of enthusiasts. Baleste, on his arrival, 
 learning that the Turks were fitting out a fleet at Alex- 
 andria, intended to carry on operations against Crete,
 
 84 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 carried on the siege of Canea with increased vigour, 
 defeated the Pasha of Retimo, and forced him to shut 
 himself up in the town. On the 27th of April, 1822, he 
 defeated the Turks both on land and sea. In the middle 
 of May, the Egyptian fleet landed twelve thousand 
 Turks on the island. Baleste united all his forces, and 
 advanced to meet the enemy. He was on the point of 
 gaining a complete victory, when Afendallos took to 
 flight, accompanied by the Cretans, who were carried 
 away in panic by his example. Baleste, who in vain 
 endeavoured to rally his forces, was surrounded and 
 killed. 
 
 After his death all went badly for the Cretans ; he 
 was succeeded by a Spartan, who did not prove a 
 success as a commander. Retimo was revictualled by 
 the Egyptian fleet, and the place was relieved. With 
 the troops thus set at liberty, the Egyptian commander, 
 Ismail,* marched against the Greek army which was 
 besieging Candia, and forced it to retreat with heavy 
 loss. For some unknown reason, Ismail was recalled in 
 the height of his success, whereupon the Turks aban- 
 doned the offensive, which was resumed by the Greeks. 
 Mano, the commander of the Greek army which had 
 been besieging Candia, descended into the plains, and 
 recommenced the siege of Retimo. Candia was block- 
 aded, the intention of the Cretans being to starve it out. 
 Early in October the Christians were practically masters 
 of the island. Candia, Retimo, and Canea were block- 
 aded both by land and sea, and it is confidently asserted 
 that if the Greek authorities had despatched a force of 
 
 * Surnamed "Gibraltar," because he was the first Turk who sailed 
 beyond the Straits of Gibraltar.
 
 MODERN CRETE. 85 
 
 artillery and engineers, the whole island might have 
 been won over to the Greek cause. But the incapable 
 Afendallos was still in command, and there were 
 reasons to believe that he had been bribed by the 
 Turks. For the third time the Greeks demanded that 
 he should be replaced by another commander ; the 
 authorities sent out Tombazes, a chieftain of the island 
 of Hydra, to take his place with the title of Harmost. 
 
 His arrival mended matters for a time ; he cleared 
 the open country of the Turks, and laid siege to Canea. 
 In February, 1823, the place would have capitulated, 
 had it not been for the appearance of a Turkish fleet, 
 which caused the siege of Canea to be abandoned. In 
 the mean time, an Egyptian squadron on its way to 
 Constantinople had touched at Casos, a small island 
 about forty miles north-east of Crete, massacred the 
 inhabitants, and then directed its course towards the 
 latter. Unobserved by the Christians, the fleet entered 
 the roadstead of Candia, and disembarked six thousand 
 men, who were joined by the garrisons of Retimo and 
 Canea. They marched into the interior, surprised a 
 large number of villages, and massacred Christian men, 
 women, and children, to the number of nearly twenty 
 thousand. Eight hundred Sphakiotes, who had sought 
 refuge in a large cave, were suffocated by the Turks, 
 who piled up a heap of combustible matter before the 
 entrance. Tombazes, despairing of rallying the dis- 
 couraged Sphakiotes, fell on a small Turkish detachment 
 with the Peloponnesian reinforcements and cut them to 
 pieces. Encouraged by this success, the inhabitants 
 came down again from the mountains, attacked the 
 Turks as they were retiring to Retimo, and killed seven
 
 S6 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 thousand of them. Tombazes applied for reinforce- 
 ments, and three thousand men were sent to him, with 
 whose aid he resumed the siege of Canea and Retimo. 
 
 On his part, the Sultan's powerful vassal, Mohammed 
 Ali, Pasha of Egypt, made vigorous preparations for an 
 attack upon Crete. The Turks in the island were rein- 
 forced by a fresh Egyptian expedition of ten thousand 
 men, with a large squadron, under the command of 
 Ismail Gibraltar. Ismail ravaged the island of Casos 
 for the second time, and then disembarked his forces at 
 Retimo. He incorporated with the reinforcements the 
 troops which had been guarding Canea and Retimo, 
 renewed the garrisons of these places, and, at the head 
 of about twelve thousand men, advanced against the 
 Sphakiotes. The latter fled to the mountains, and were 
 followed by Ismail, who endeavoured to induce them to 
 submit. His efforts were on the point of being com- 
 pletely successful, in spite of the opposition of a small 
 minority of the Sphakiotes and Tombazes, when the 
 news arrived that Sakhtoures had destroyed the Egyptian 
 fleet, and had disembarked on the island ; at the same 
 time, a disturbance had broken out amongst the forces 
 under Ismail's command. This caused negotiations 
 between Ismail and the Sphakiotes to be broken off; 
 hostilities were renewed, and lasted for eight days. The 
 Greeks proved victorious ; Ismail's army managed with 
 great difficulty to make good its escape to Retimo, 
 which was blockaded by Sakhtoures, and Sphakia was 
 delivered from the invader. After another victory over 
 a fresh Turkish fleet off Cape Spada, Sakhtoures was 
 recalled. His recall proved disastrous to Crete ; Ismail 
 resumed the offensive, and Tombazes in vain asked for
 
 MODERN CRETE. 87 
 
 reinforcements from home. His own forces were too 
 weak to continue the struggle, and, after making a final 
 desperate effort which proved unsuccessful, he abandoned 
 the island and returned to Hydra. He subsequently 
 died at Anaphi (or Nanfi), one of the Cyclades, in 
 September, 1824. A number of Cretans also left the 
 island and repaired to Greece, where they fought 
 bravely in the common cause. 
 
 The island submitted almost entirely, and became 
 the arsenal of the Egyptians, who assembled there the 
 troops with which they intended to attack the Morea. 
 After the battle of Navarino (1827) a fresh insurrection 
 broke out. An expedition set out from Nanphi under 
 the command of Manuel Antoniades and Demetrius 
 Calerges, and gained possession of Grabusa and Kissa- 
 mos. In the mean time, the Christian inhabitants of 
 the island retired to the mountains, watching for an 
 opportunity to resume hostilities. Their hopes of 
 annexation to Greece were overthrown by the action 
 of the European Powers, who decided that Crete should 
 not be included amongst the islands annexed to the 
 newly formed state of Greece ; * like Samos, it was 
 restored to Turkish rule. Mohammed Ali, Pasha of 
 Egypt, who had probably entertained ambitious designs 
 of his own in regard to the island from the very first, 
 continued to take a great part in its affairs, and in 1832 
 the Powers decided that it should be united to his 
 government. 
 
 For a time things went well, Mohammed Ali being 
 desirous of conciliating the Christians ; but at length the 
 ruling passion of Turkish governors and officials — that 
 
 * Greece was declared independent February 3, 1830.
 
 83 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 of extracting as much money out of their subjects as 
 possible — gained the upper hand, and imposts were laid 
 in quick succession upon the suffering islanders, who 
 appealed to the Powers for the fulfilment of various 
 promises which had chiefly been instrumental in inducing 
 them to submit. The only result of this appeal was 
 that orders were sent from Egypt to the governor of the 
 island to put a considerable number of persons to death, 
 apparently indiscriminately. From this time (1833) 
 until 1840 the island was quiet* In 1841 and 1858 
 other risings took place. During the latter year a 
 petition was drawn up to the Sultan, asking relief from 
 the most oppressive taxes, and, on a promise being 
 given, the inhabitants abandoned the idea of insurrection. 
 The promises made in 1850 by Abd-ul Medjid were 
 repudiated by his successor, Abd-ul Aziz. In 1864 
 another assembly of the inhabitants was held, and 
 another petition given to the governor, to be sent on to 
 Constantinople. This governor, named Ismail, got up 
 a counter-petition amongst his supporters on the island, 
 in which it was declared the Cretans were perfectly 
 satisfied with their lot. " The ensuing winter was one 
 of great distress, and the spring passed without renewal 
 of the disturbances or petitions ; but in the autumn of 
 that year, after my arrival in the island, I heard that 
 there would be an assembly in the following spring, 1866. 
 The discontent was very great. New taxes on straw, on 
 the sale of wine, on all beasts of burden, oppressive 
 collection of the tithes, together with short crops for two 
 years in succession, had produced very great distress, and 
 
 * In 1840 the island was again handed over to the Sultan, in conse- 
 quence of the rebellion of Mohammed Ali.
 
 MODERN CRETE. 89 
 
 the governor added to these grievances his own extor- 
 tions, with the most shameful venality in the distribution 
 of justice, and disregard of such laws of procedure and 
 punishment as existed. The councils were absolute 
 mockeries, and the councillors his most servile tools."* 
 
 In May, 1866, certain influential Cretans, heads of 
 villages, met together in the environs of Canea, and the 
 same thing took place near Candia. But at present there 
 was no idea of separation from Turkey, or desire for an- 
 nexation to Greece. The governor wrote to Constanti- 
 nople that the agitation was entirely due to the intrigues 
 of Foreign Powers, especially Russia, and at the same time 
 endeavoured to arouse the fanaticism of the Mussulman 
 inhabitants of the island, by declaring that it was against 
 them that the designs of the Christians were directed, 
 and advising them to seek safety in their strongholds. 
 
 The Cretans refused to break up their assembly before 
 they had received the Sultan's answer, and protested 
 loudly that they entertained no evil designs against the 
 Mussulmans. But Ismail had succeeded in hoodwinking 
 the authorities at Constantinople; and the Sultan, instead 
 of directing an inquiry into the grievances of the 
 islanders, despatched eight thousand troops to Crete. 
 The result of this was to irritate the Christians still 
 further, and the assembly, increased by the representa- 
 tives of all the villages, held a meeting at Omalos, a valley 
 surrounded by mountains, at a little distance from Canea. 
 
 On the 26th of May, 1866, the assembly drew up the 
 following list of the grievances which it demanded 
 should be redressed : The taxes, instead of having been 
 lessened since 1858, as had been promised, had been 
 
 * W. J. Stillman, The Cretan Insurrection of 1866-6$.
 
 90 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 increased. The dishonesty of the tithe-farmers. Taxes 
 had been imposed upon salt, tobacco, wine, fish, butchers' 
 meat, the sale of cattle, etc., and were collected with 
 great harshness. The great lack of communication 
 between different parts of the island, which had hindered 
 the transport of the products of the interior. The various 
 councils, which were supposed to be representative of 
 the population, were really formed without the wishes 
 of the latter being in any way consulted. The hard 
 bargains made by the oil-merchants with the owners of 
 olive trees. The arbitrary administration of justice. 
 Although Greek was the universal language of the 
 Cretans, both Mussulmans and Christians, all public 
 documents were written in Turkish, and justice ad- 
 ministered in that language. The evidence of Christians 
 was practically invalid. The entire absence of schools 
 in the agricultural districts. The reduction of the 
 number of ports open for commerce to three. Religious 
 intolerance. Lastly, the signatories declared that they 
 had no idea of rebellion, and that they trusted to the 
 Sultan to redress their grievances. 
 
 The Porte, after its usual dilatory fashion, sent no 
 reply to this petition until the 23rd of July. It contained 
 a refusal, and at the same time reinforcements were sent 
 to the island, and Ismail Pasha was directed to use force, 
 if necessary, in order to disperse the assembly. Mean- 
 while the Christians prepared to resist, and mustered, ten 
 thousand strong, at Apocorona, to oppose the Turkish 
 force, which now consisted of double that number. 
 When hostilities had actually taken place, the assembly 
 appealed (August 28) to the Consular representatives of 
 the Powers, expressing their desire to be united to the
 
 MODERN CRETE. 91 
 
 mother-country, and on the 2nd of September declared 
 the Turkish government abolished, and the island united 
 to Greece. The Turkish arms had, in the mean time, 
 suffered two reverses — at Apocorona and Selino. A 
 message was sent from Constantinople, ordering all the 
 inhabitants to lay down their arms. The firm front 
 exhibited by the insurgents caused the Porte to recall 
 Ismail, and replace him by the old governor, Mustapha 
 Pasha Kiritli (the Cretan), as commissioner-extra- 
 ordinary for the re-establishment of order. He also 
 brought reinforcements with him, and soon had no less 
 than forty thousand men at his disposal. The news of the 
 outbreak of hostilities caused great excitement, not only 
 at Athens, but throughout the East. Volunteers set out 
 to join the insurgents, and committees were formed at 
 Athens, with the object of supplying them with arms and 
 provisions. On the 24th of October Mustapha utterly 
 defeated the insurgents at Vafe, but hesitated to follow 
 up his victory. The arrival of Coroneos, the ablest of 
 the Greek chiefs, gave a fresh impetus to the insurrec- 
 tion, after the first feelings of despondency had worn 
 off. " Seeing the danger the insurrection was in, and 
 the dissidence of its chiefs, he moved at once into the 
 central provinces, and, collecting together such Cretans 
 as he could find, surprised and cut off two small Turkish 
 detachments, reawakened the enthusiasm of the islanders, 
 gained for himself the prestige of victory, and rapidly 
 recruited a considerable force." He established his 
 headquarters at Arcadion, "whence he harassed the 
 detachments which issued from Retimo, and kept alive 
 the movement in the district between Sphakia and 
 Mount Ida." In November Mustapha Pasha attacked
 
 9 2 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 the Monastery of Arcadion, in the east of the island. 
 After an heroic resistance, the inmates were forced to 
 capitulate ; it is said that the Hegoumenos, or Abbot, 
 made an attempt to blow up the monastery, but the 
 explosion only caused a breach in the walls, through 
 which the Turks poured in, and massacred men, women, 
 and children. 
 
 This incident aroused great enthusiasm, and increased 
 the sympathy felt for the Cretans in Europe — especially 
 in France, England, and Russia ; the insurgents were at 
 the same time encouraged to persevere by the attitude 
 adopted towards them by the diplomatists, who led 
 them to hope for the intervention of the Powers in their 
 favour. It seemed to be generally admitted that there 
 was only one permanent solution of the question — the 
 incorporation of Crete with the recently established 
 kingdom of Greece ; although, at the present crisis, it 
 seems difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion as to 
 how far the inhabitants of Crete are themselves anxious 
 to form part of the mother-country. In any case, in 
 1866 it was suggested that Crete should be made an 
 independent state, under the suzerainty of the Porte, like 
 the Danubian principalities. 
 
 In January, 1867, Lord Stanley, the English Foreign 
 Minister, who had previously expressed suspicion of the 
 motives of Russia, issued a despatch, in which he 
 pointed out that the great difficulty in regard was the 
 problem of the intermixture of races and creeds. Its 
 case was different from that of Samos, which had an 
 exclusively Christian population. He suggested that 
 a Christian governor should be appointed, who was 
 to be assisted by a council, in which Christians and
 
 MODERN CRETE. 93 
 
 Mohammedans should have an equal number of votes ; 
 but the suggestion proved fruitless. 
 
 Disgusted at Mustapha Pasha's failure to put down 
 the insurrection, the Turkish Government sent Server 
 Effendi to Crete, and commissioned him to invite both 
 religious parties to send deputies to Constantinople, and 
 to offer the island a constitution similar to that of the 
 Lebanon. The Sphakiote Christians scornfully rejected 
 the proposal, and declared that any of the popular 
 representatives who went to Constantinople would be 
 looked upon as traitors to the cause of their co- 
 religionists. At the same time, they set up a govern- 
 ment of seven members in the name of King George of 
 Greece ; and Zimbrakakes, a Greek officer and Cretan 
 by birth, who had been educated at the French school 
 at Metz, issued a manifesto, in which he declared that 
 the union of Crete to Greece was a matter that con- 
 cerned the whole world. A suggestion that the question 
 should be submitted to a plebiscite of the Cretans was 
 declared to be impossible, in a remarkably vigorous 
 circular addressed to the Powers by Fuad Pasha, the 
 Turkish Foreign Minister, in which he declared that, if 
 the Powers decided upon the annexation of Crete to 
 Greece, another Navarino would be necessary. Finding 
 attempts at negotiation useless, the Turkish Government 
 decided to entrust Omar Pasha, its commander-in-chief 
 and most experienced general, with the suppression of 
 the insurrection. Russia and France again intervened, 
 and endeavoured to prevent Omar Pasha beginning 
 hostilities, and also again brought forward the question 
 of a plebiscite; but the Sultan, who at first seemed 
 inclined to assent to the proposal, afterwards refused,
 
 94 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 and there was nothing left for it but the continuance of 
 hostilities. Omar Pasha was not very successful in his 
 operations. His plan of campaign was to drive the 
 insurgents back into the mountains of Sphakia, surround 
 them, and cut them to pieces ; but his attempt failed. 
 What materially contributed to the prolongation of 
 hostilities was the introduction of supplies and war 
 materials from Greece. In spite of the efforts of Hobart 
 Pasha, an Englishman who commanded the Turkish 
 Navy, the Greek steamer managed to run the blockade 
 successfully more than twenty times. At last, its 
 captain, rather than allow it to fall into the hands of the 
 Turks, set fire to it. It was replaced by another vessel 
 which was called Enosis {Union). 
 
 On the 27th of August, 1867, the ambassadors of 
 Russia, France, Prussia, and Italy, in Constantinople 
 proposed a three months' cessation of hostilities, and 
 the meeting of an international commission, to inquire 
 into all the circumstances. The Porte agreed to a 
 month's (not three months') cessation of hostilities, 
 during which the blockade of Crete was to be continued, 
 declared that it was impossible for it to discuss the 
 question of its incorporation with Greece, although it 
 was ready to listen to any other requests of the islanders, 
 and promised to grant extensive reforms. On the 13th 
 of September, an amnesty was proclaimed to those 
 Cretans who were willing to lay down their arms and 
 return to their homes ; any of the inhabitants were to 
 be at liberty to leave the island, provided they sold their 
 property, and did not return without special permission 
 from the Turkish Government. But the Cretans still 
 hankered after the plebiscite, in view of the fact of the
 
 MODERN CRETE. 
 
 95 
 
 impending special investigation by the Powers. At last, 
 Ali Pasha, the grand vizier, decided to go to Crete in 
 person, with a brand new constitution in his pocket, 
 which contained even more concessions than had been 
 demanded ; he met with anything but an enthusiastic 
 reception, and his advances were repulsed, probably 
 through the intrigues of Russia. 
 
 On the expiration of the armistice, Ali Pasha promul- 
 gated his programme of reforms, which contained the 
 following provisions:* There was to be a Governor- 
 General at the head of the civil administrative govern- 
 ment, and a general at the head of the military garrison. 
 The Governor-General was to be assisted by a council, 
 formed of Mussulmans and Christians. Subordinate to 
 the Governor-General were to be the governors of the 
 sandjak, who were to be half Christian and half 
 Mohammedan, while they were to have assistants of 
 different religion to themselves. The districts were to 
 be administered by sub-governors, and all these officials 
 were to be nominated by the Government. Every 
 governor was to be assisted by an administrative 
 council, in that of the Governor-General, his two 
 advisers, the president of the legal tribunals, the Greek 
 metropolitan, the treasurer, and three Christian and 
 three Mussulman representatives, chosen by their re- 
 spective communities, were to have a seat and vote. 
 No fresh tax was to be imposed without the sanction of 
 
 * The preamble is instructive in the light of subsequent events. " The 
 losses and sufferings experienced by Crete, and which have been the sad 
 result of disorders occurring in the island, have filled my heart with sorrow. 
 Wishing before all things to remedy these evils, to secure to all the 
 inhabitants indiscriminate happiness and prosperity," etc.
 
 96 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 the general assembly ; and all taxes to be remitted for 
 two years. An annual Government grant to be made 
 to the orthodox schools. Official correspondence was 
 to be carried on in Greek and Turkish. All commercial, 
 civil, and criminal cases between Christians and Mussul- 
 mans were to be decided by a mixed tribunal. A General 
 Assembly was to be held yearly, to which every canton 
 was to send two representatives. Crete was divided into 
 twenty-two communes, each returning four deputies, two 
 Christian and two Mohammedan; Sphakia returned four 
 Christians. Every deputy was to be of Cretan birth, 
 and a Turkish subject. The Assembly to meet in the 
 Governor's house at Canea, and the session to be limited 
 to forty days. These reforms were called the " Organic 
 Statute," which, enlarged and modified eleven years later 
 by the Convention of Halepa, is still supposed to be 
 the constitutional charter of Crete. 
 
 On the 22nd of November, Ali Pasha opened the 
 sitting of the Assembly of Deputies, in which there were 
 only twenty-five Christians out of seventy-five members. 
 
 Omar Pasha, disgusted with his ill success and the 
 incapacity of his generals, had retired from the command 
 of the troops in the same month, and had been replaced 
 by Hussein Avni Pasha ; and towards the end of the 
 year hostilities recommenced. The situation remained 
 practically unaltered throughout the year 1868, neither 
 Turks nor Cretans being able to gain any decisive 
 advantage. On the nth of December, an insult offered 
 to the Turkish Ambassador gave the Porte an oppor- 
 tunity of delivering an ultimatum to Greece, demanding 
 the disbanding of the volunteers, the disarming of the 
 piratical vessels, the punishment of attacks upon Turkish
 
 MODERN CRETE. 97 
 
 subjects, and the discontinuance of the sending of 
 supplies and ammunition to Crete. In the event of 
 refusal, the Porte threatened to blockade the ports 
 of Greece, bombard her commercial cities, and expel her 
 merchants from the Turkish Empire ; at the same time, 
 Omar Pasha was appointed commander-in-chief of the 
 forces destined to operate against Greece. The Greek 
 Government refused to accede to the terms of the ulti- 
 matum, the Turkish Ambassador left. Athens, Greek 
 subjects were ordered to leave Turkey, and war seemed 
 inevitable. But, in view of the serious possibilities 
 of the situation, the Powers (chiefly at the instance of 
 Germany) proposed that a conference should be held in 
 London and Paris ; the Porte accepted the proposal, on 
 condition that its own ultimatum to Greece should form 
 the basis of discussion. Towards the end of the year, 
 the insurrection in Crete had come to an end, Petro- 
 poulakes, the Greek colonel, having surrendered. The 
 conference, which was held in Paris early in 1869,* con- 
 cluded its deliberations with a warning to Greece, that 
 she should observe the same rules of conduct in dealing 
 with Turkey as with the other Powers. It declared that 
 Turkey had a just cause of complaint against Greece, 
 but expressed the hope that the danger of war was 
 over ; it was decided that Crete should continue a 
 portion of the Turkish Empire, and not be annexed 
 to Greece. 
 
 By an Imperial irade, a kind of constitution was 
 bestowed upon the island, and a fixed system of taxation 
 introduced. At the same time, in accordance with the 
 stipulations of the Conference, a general amnesty was to 
 
 * February 18th. 
 
 G
 
 9 3 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 be granted to all Cretan Christians. The Porte expressed 
 its willingness to agree to this, but added a clause to its 
 proclamation, to the effect that those who had not 
 submitted and laid down their arms immediately after 
 the promulgation of the " Organic Statute or Law " of 
 1868, as the constitutional charter of Crete was called, 
 should be deprived of the benefit of it. As none of the 
 insurgents had laid down their arms at the time, they 
 found themselves excluded from the amnesty. The 
 result was confiscation, imprisonment, fines, and insults 
 of various kinds directed against the Christians. During 
 the next four years, nothing of importance took place 
 in the island. 
 
 In 1873, the Porte decreed a land-tax. The Cretans 
 protested energetically, and threatened to take up 
 arms. As the insurrection in Herzegovina had broken 
 out about this time, the decree was revoked. From 
 this time, periodical disturbances occurred in the 
 island, the Porte attempting to evade the bestowal 
 of the privileges which had been granted, and the 
 islanders as vigorously claiming their rights. The Russo- 
 Turkish War was the signal for a general rising, which 
 was not suppressed without considerable difficulty. 
 
 In 1876, certain demands for administrative reform 
 were submitted to the Porte, but the latter refused to 
 grant them. The demands were as follows : That the 
 Governor-General should be a Christian ; that public 
 offices should be held by Christians in proportion to the 
 total number of inhabitants ; that all public officials, 
 whether Christian or Mohammedan, should be exclu- 
 sively Cretan ; that all public documents should be 
 published in Greek as well as in Turkish ; that the
 
 MODERN CRETE. 99 
 
 police should contain a preponderance of Christians in 
 proportion to the population ; that the system of the 
 administration of justice should be improved by the 
 appointment of a supervising arbiter ; that a system of 
 independent, municipal organization tending to decen- 
 tralization should be established ; that the General 
 Assembly should have the right to control the Agri- 
 cultural Bank, and the erection of public buildings out of 
 its profits ; that no taxes should be imposed in addition 
 to those mentioned in the Organic Statute ; that reforms 
 should be introduced in the system of public instruction ; 
 that the seaports should be repaired, and means of 
 inland communication increased ; the debt question to 
 be settled ; the decree of exile against apostates to be 
 cancelled, and liberty to be granted to restore and 
 build places of Christian worship. 
 
 The debt question requires explanation. The Cretan 
 farmers sell their olive oil to dealers at the seaports, 
 who dispose of it at a large profit to the local exporters. 
 The olive growers were careless about counting the 
 amount they received in payment, being content to 
 trust to the honesty of the dealers. These small pro- 
 prietors, when in want of money, borrowed it from the 
 dealers, at the same time pledging themselves to supply 
 no one else. The tithe farmers also found themselves 
 in arrears with the sum of money which they had con- 
 tracted to supply to the Government ; they were 
 compelled to offer it in small instalments, and, in order to 
 provide these, had to apply to the dealers. Also, institu- 
 tions called the " Orphans' Banks " were in the habit 
 of advancing funds to the Cretan farmers at fifteen per 
 cent., later, twelve per cent, interest. To the original
 
 ioo A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 sum must be added compound interest. In May, 1866, 
 the private debts of the Cretans were said to have 
 reached a total of 150,000,000 piastres, more than two- 
 thirds of which were owing to Mussulman creditors. 
 Some of the debtors abandoned their whole property to 
 their creditors ; but in most cases the Government took 
 possession of the property and sold it by public auction, 
 reserving a dwelling and small piece of land for the 
 owner. Hence, property became greatly depreciated 
 in value, owing to the glut in the market, and frequently 
 the amount realized by the sale was not enough to 
 cover the amount of the debt. 
 
 As stated, the Porte refused to grant these demands, 
 and it was with great difficulty that an insurrection was 
 avoided. In 1877, the delegates of the Assembly renewed 
 their petitions, and on receiving an unsatisfactory answer, 
 withdrew to the mountains, and declared that they 
 would not return to the towns until their demands were 
 granted ; they remained in the mountains for more than 
 a year, and forced all the Christians and some of the 
 poorer Mohammedans to join them ; to add to the con- 
 fusion, the law courts were closed. About Christmas, 
 1877, Hadji Mikhali landed in the island, and proceeded 
 to levy taxes, enrol a police force, and administer 
 justice. A few days later, Costaki Pasha arrived with 
 the object of conciliating the insurgents, but they 
 refused to treat with him except on their own terms. 
 
 At the end of January, 1878, the Assembly demanded 
 that Crete should be made into a principality, and re- 
 quested an answer within a week. No answer being 
 received, the Committee broke off all negotiations on 
 February 15th, and referred the case to the Powers, at
 
 MODERN CRETE. 101 
 
 the same time informing the Consuls that they had no 
 intention of provoking hostilities. About a fortnight 
 later, desultory hostilities having in the mean time broken 
 out, a truce was arranged, and on March 26th the 
 Assembly announced the election of a Provisional 
 Government for the maintenance of order. The Turks, 
 however, broke the truce, and the fighting continued. 
 
 By Article XXIII. of the Treaty of Berlin, "the 
 Sublime Porte undertook scrupulously to apply in the 
 Island of Crete the Organic Law of 1868, with such 
 modifications as may be considered equitable." The 
 Cretans were greatly disappointed that nothing more 
 was done for them, and they solicited the intervention 
 of England, at the same time declaring that the Organic 
 Law was inadequate, and petitioning for a new form of 
 government : either that their island should be placed 
 under English protection, or, if that were impossible, be 
 made a principality on the model of Samos. 
 
 On the 1st of September, Ahmed Mukhtar Pasha 
 arrived as High Commissioner, and, after numerous 
 conferences, a settlement, called the Pact or Convention 
 of Halepa, was arrived at (October 25, 1878). Its 
 articles were as follows : — * 
 
 ► I. The Special Statute of the island of Crete is in 
 force as heretofore ; certain provisions only of this 
 statute shall be modified and completed as hereinafter 
 stated. The Constitution shall not annul this statute. 
 
 II. The Governor-General is named in accordance 
 with the Organic Statute of the island of Crete. The 
 duration of his functions shall be for five years. 
 
 * See Hertslet, Map of Europe by Treaty, vol. iv. p. 2810.
 
 102 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 III. The General Assembly shall be composed of 
 eighty members, of whom forty-nine shall be Christians 
 and thirty-one Mussulmans. 
 
 IV. The annual session of the General Assembly 
 shall last forty days as heretofore. Nevertheless, if the 
 Assembly cannot terminate the labours of this year 
 within that time, the first session may be prolonged 
 for twenty days in addition. The sittings shall be 
 public* 
 
 In order to supplement the deficiencies which exist 
 in the Ottoman legislation now in force, the General 
 Assembly shall have the right immediately to draw up 
 a Code of Civil and Criminal Procedure, and a Communal 
 Statute formulated by the Assembly, which shall be 
 sanctioned by the Porte, provided they do not interfere 
 with the rights of the Imperial Government, and if they 
 are not contrary to the principles which govern the 
 Ottoman laws and regulations. 
 
 If it be subsequently necessary to make modifications 
 of a nature to supply deficiencies in regulations which 
 are now in force, and which are demanded by require- 
 ments of purely local interests, the General Assembly 
 shall have the right to submit, for the approval of the 
 Sublime Porte, the modifications decided upon by a 
 majority of two-thirds. 
 
 V. The number of the Christian Cai'makams f shall 
 exceed that of the Mussulman Caimakams, according 
 to the requirements of the localities. 
 
 VI. The formation of the Administrative Councils 
 shall take place as heretofore. Nevertheless, for the 
 
 * Previous to 1879 debates were held with closed doors, 
 t Sub-governors.
 
 MODERN CRETE. 103 
 
 future, no Government official shall be a member of 
 them, with the exception of the Vali, or Governor- 
 General, the Governors, and Caimakams, who will 
 preside as a matter of right. 
 
 VII. The judicial power shall be distinct and separate 
 from the Executive ; the composition of the Tribunals 
 shall be the same as heretofore. Nevertheless, the 
 Assembly may submit, for the approval of the Sublime 
 Porte, a project of reorganization, which, while being 
 more economical, will ensure a better administration of 
 justice. 
 
 VIII. The Governor-General shall henceforth have 
 an adviser, who shall be a Christian if he be a Mussul- 
 man, and vice versa. 
 
 IX. The general correspondence of the Vilayet, the 
 proces verbaux of the Tribunals and Councils, shall be 
 drawn up in two languages. But, as in general the 
 Mussulman and Christian inhabitants of the island speak 
 Greek, the deliberations of the General Assembly and 
 the Tribunals shall take place in that language. 
 
 X. All the officials, with the exception of the Vali, 
 shall be nominated subject to the laws and regulations 
 in force. Natives, however, having the required quali- 
 fications, shall have the preference. 
 
 XI. Should the Assembly have to establish a new 
 method of assessing the tithes, to protect more com- 
 pletely the interests of the Treasury and of the population 
 at the same time, they must submit it to the sanction of 
 the Government. 
 
 XII. Natives to be preferred in the formation of the 
 gendarmerie, and recourse to be had to other inhabi- 
 tants of the Empire in the event of an insufficiency of
 
 io 4 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 native candidates. The chief of the gendarmerie to be 
 appointed by the Porte. The other officers to be chosen 
 from both Christians and Mussulmans. A pension fund 
 to be established for officers and soldiers, and a special 
 regulation drawn up on the subject. 
 
 XIII. There shall be economy in the expenditure, 
 The following items shall not be inserted in the budget 
 of the island : The cost of the regular army ; the customs 
 duties ; the taxes on salt and tobacco ; as also the receipts 
 and expenditure on account of the "Vacouf" lands, 
 which are now administered by the local authorities 
 and shall henceforth be administered separately. 
 
 After the cost of local administration has been 
 deducted from the revenue, the surplus shall be divided 
 in equal parts between the Imperial Treasury and works 
 of public utility, which shall be determined by the 
 Assembly in the following order : — 
 
 i. Houses of detention. 
 
 2. Schools. 
 
 3. Hospitals. 
 
 4. Harbours and roads. 
 
 The Assembly shall have the right of examining 
 whether the receipts and expenses have been applied 
 according to the provisions of the budget for the year. 
 In the event of these revenues not covering the ex- 
 penditure, the Imperial Government will give to the 
 administrative of the island a sum of money not ex- 
 ceeding the half of the import duties of the current 
 financial year to meet the deficit in the salaries. 
 
 XIV. Paper money shall not be current in the 
 island. The salaries of the officials shall be paid in 
 specie.
 
 MODERN CRETE. 105 
 
 XV. It shall be lawful for the inhabitants to found 
 literary societies, printing presses, and newspapers, in 
 conformity with the law of the Empire. 
 
 XVI. If Ministerial Ordinances are transmitted con- 
 trary to the independence of the tribunals, to the laws 
 in force, and to the Organic Statute of the island, these 
 ordinances shall not be put into execution. 
 
 Special provisions were also added, to the following 
 effect : A general amnesty shall be proclaimed. The 
 arrears of taxes shall not be exacted from the cultivators. 
 
 The inhabitants shall be permitted to keep their arms, 
 but no one shall have the right to carry them without 
 permission of the authorities. A definitive arrangement 
 shall be adopted for debts contracted previous to 1866. 
 Special offices shall be established in the island for 
 agreement, and for all acts of sale of real property other 
 than the acts of transfer, as well as for the registration 
 of mortgages and deposits. 
 
 The firman was issued on the 28th of November, 1878, 
 and the delay was taken as an indication of Turkish bad 
 faith. On the 27th of November, a new governor, 
 Caratheodori Pasha, arrived, but in less than three 
 weeks was superseded by Photiades Pasha (14th of 
 December). 
 
 He was a man of large sympathies, conciliatory, and 
 proved himself a most capable official. The terms in 
 which he addressed the Assembly are worth quoting, as 
 showing his enlightened views. " One of your first duties," 
 he said, " is the elaboration of a code of civil and criminal 
 procedure and of a municipal law, the organization of 
 the legal tribunals, the introduction of a better system 
 of taxes, and the administration and regulation of the
 
 io6 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 finances ; it will be your duty to deliberate concerning 
 works of public usefulness, the regulation of the debts 
 of the agricultural population, and other matters pro- 
 vided for by the ' Organic Law.' " After Photiades had 
 governed the island for seven years, he resigned in 
 1885, owing to a dispute about the question oivakonfs, 
 that is to say, tithes for the benefit of Mussulman 
 religious establishments, which were exacted from 
 certain Christian villages. He was succeeded by Savas 
 Pasha, an orthodox Epirote Greek. The inhabitants 
 at first refused to accept him as governor ; the Christian 
 members of the Assembly issued several proclamations, 
 decided to refuse to pay the taxes, declared all magis- 
 trates traitors who took orders from Savas, and pro- 
 visionally intrusted the Christians with the maintenance 
 of public order. The agitation did not subside until 
 Savas, after the consular representatives had intervened, 
 solemnly promised, in the presence of the Cretan 
 parliament assembled in the Episcopal church, to 
 govern in accordance with the laws, and further, to 
 resign his office, in case any serious dispute should arise 
 between him and the majority of the representatives. 
 In September, 1885, the Roumelian revolt took place, 
 and the Cretans determined to demand union with 
 Greece, if the union of Bulgaria and Roumelia was 
 maintained. On the 21st of December, the Cretans 
 addressed to the representatives of the Powers at Con- 
 stantinople a memorandum, in which they asserted that 
 the Powers had on several occasions recognized their 
 right to union with the mother-country ; that the 
 circumstances seemed favourable for carrying it out ; 
 and that the local institutions were insufficient and
 
 MODERN CRETE. 107 
 
 lacked the necessary authority. Two requests, formu- 
 lated by the Assembly, were unfavourably received at 
 Constantinople. According to the existing arrange- 
 ment, laws proposed to the Assembly were passed by 
 a majority of votes, but did not become law until the 
 sanction of the Sultan had been obtained ; and when 
 it was a question of amending laws already in existence, 
 two-thirds of the votes were necessary. The deputies 
 demanded that a simple majority should be sufficient 
 in the case of amendments, and that the approval of 
 the Sultan should not be delayed longer than three 
 months. They also demanded certain changes in the 
 financial administration of the island, especially in 
 regard to custom-house duties. 
 
 We do not hear much of the island until 1889, when 
 an outbreak took place, which had its origin in quarrels 
 amongst the Christian population, who subsequently 
 united against the Turks. The insurgents demanded 
 the appointment of a new governor, and the reform of 
 the constitution. A new governor was ordered by the 
 Porte to establish a state of siege in the island, to 
 institute courts-martial, and to call upon the rebels 
 to lay down their arms. Towards the end of the year 
 the disturbances quieted down, and the Porte pro- 
 claimed a general amnesty ; but this amnesty was found 
 to be deceptive, since all who had been imprisoned were 
 excluded from participation in it, and all the Christian 
 judges of the Court of Appeal resigned as a protest. The 
 Sultan was afterwards induced to alter it, and all the 
 inhabitants, with few exceptions, were allowed to be 
 included in it. Later on we have the usual tale of out- 
 rages and massacres. In 1891 the mayors of several
 
 108 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 eparchies informed the British Consul at Canea that the 
 Turkish Government was entirely unable to maintain 
 order, and that the Christians would be obliged to take 
 up arms in self-defence. There was some fighting 
 between the Turkish troops and a band of insurgents. 
 In 1892 disturbances arose in consequence of infrac- 
 tions of the Organic Statute ; meetings were held, and 
 dispersed with violence. Owing to the intervention of 
 the Bishop of Sphakia, hostilities stopped ; but the 
 seizing of several Cretans on a charge of conspiracy 
 by the Government caused a renewal of the rising. 
 Matters went on in much the same way until 1894, 
 when the execution of four Christians led to serious 
 disturbances, chiefly because certain Mussulmans, who 
 had also been sentenced to death, had been pardoned, 
 with the exception of one. The Assembly of Representa- 
 tives from all parts of the island met at Canea, and 
 addressed a petition to the Sultan, begging him to 
 alter the system of taxation, to convoke the General 
 Assembly, and to nominate a Christian governor 
 whose appointment should be a permanent one. The 
 Turkish governor was shot at, and on the same day 
 superseded. 
 
 Early in 1895, in answer to the petition addressed 
 to him, the Sultan issued a firman, ordering elections for 
 the General Assembly to take place. The number of 
 deputies was reduced from eighty to fifty-seven, and 
 included thirty-five Christians and twenty-two Mussul- 
 mans ; in the same year another petition was drawn up, 
 demanding the restoration of the "Organic Statute" * and 
 
 * The Pact of Halepa had practically been abrogated by an Imperial 
 Firman of November, 1889.
 
 MODERN CRETE. 109 
 
 the reorganization of the system of taxation and police. 
 Measures were immediately taken to break up, by force 
 of arms, the meeting which had drawn up this petition. 
 This and the seizure of a number of Christian notables 
 led to a rising, a reform committee was formed, and an 
 engagement took place between the Turkish troops and 
 the insurgents, followed by acts of plunder and pillage, 
 which were unchecked by the Turkish authorities. At 
 length, the ambassadors at Constantinople induced the 
 Porte to publish an edict, convoking the National As- 
 sembly at Canea ; Georgios Berovitch Pasha, a Christian, 
 was appointed Governor-General with Hassan Pasha as 
 vice-governor. A proclamation declaring a general 
 amnesty was issued (July 2), and the Constitution or 
 Pact of Halepa was restored. The National Assembly 
 was opened on the 13th, and petitions and counter- 
 petitions were drawn up by the Christians and Mus- 
 sulmans. As the island still continued in a highly 
 disturbed condition, it was suggested that it should be 
 blockaded, so as to prevent assistance being sent to it 
 from Greece ; but the project was dropped, owing to the 
 refusal of England to co-operate. The Reform Com- 
 mittee, which had been formed in the early part of the 
 year, gave place to a Revolutionary Assembly, which was 
 headed by one of the prominent leaders of the 1868 
 revolution. Later on, the Sultan expressed his willing- 
 ness to carry out any reforms which the ambassadors of 
 the great Powers might demand. The following pro- 
 posals were put before him as indispensable : The 
 appointment of a Christian governor for five years, 
 subject to the approval of the Powers ; the reorganiza- 
 tion of the police system ; the island to be autonomous,
 
 no A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 except that it was to pay an annual tribute to Turkey ; 
 and both civil and military powers to be united in the 
 hands of the governor ; it was also suggested that 
 two-thirds of the public appointments should be given 
 to the Christians, and one-third to the Mussulmans. 
 The Sultan approved the scheme, which was also 
 accepted by the deputies, and it seemed as if at last 
 a definite settlement had been found. Georgios Bero- 
 vitch was appointed as the first Christian Governor- 
 General on the nth of September. The hopes of the 
 diplomatists were, however, doomed to be disappointed. 
 The usual delay on the part of the Turks in carrying 
 out the promised reforms, the want of a regularly 
 organized police force, and the non-administration of 
 justice, caused a feeling of discontent amongst the 
 people, and fresh disturbances took place. 
 
 The intervention of Greece and the events of the last 
 six months are too familiar to need description ; at 
 present it is impossible to foresee the result of events 
 upon the island. The Powers have offered almost com- 
 plete independence to the insurgents, who, as far as can 
 be ascertained, refuse to accept it, and declare that they 
 will be satisfied with nothing less than annexation to 
 Greece, which the great Powers are unwilling to permit. 
 In spite of the landing of Greek forces in Crete, hostili- 
 ties have not as yet broken out between Turkey and 
 Greece* although, at the moment of writing, it is reported 
 that a band of Greek insurgents has crossed the Turkish 
 frontier, and that severe fighting has taken place. Who 
 knows whether this may not be the spark destined to 
 set the powder-magazine of Europe ablaze, and to bring 
 * Written April 12th.
 
 MODERN CRETE. in 
 
 about the very catastrophe which the intervention of the 
 Powers has striven to avert. 
 
 The following statements in regard to Crete, 
 although from an avowedly pro-Hellenic source, may 
 be accepted in the main : (a) " That the Cretans have 
 at all times shown an unalterable determination to 
 shake off foreign rule, of whatever form." (b) "That 
 their irrevocable wish to be united to the mother 
 country has been manifested and proclaimed on each 
 successive rising." (c) " That the one constant and 
 invariable result of the intervention of the Powers in 
 the affairs of Crete has been the re-imposition of the 
 yoke of Turkey on the unfortunate islanders." (d) 
 " That the Powers have never succeeded in insuring 
 to the Cretans the fulfilment of the reforms which 
 they promised to exact from Turkey ; and that the 
 three measures of autonomy under Turkish rule — 
 the Organic Law of 1868, the Halepa Pact of 1878, and 
 the Convention of 1896 — have proved illusory."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GREEK HETVERLE AND THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 The events of the last few days * have drawn attention 
 to the association known as the EtJniike Hetceria, which 
 is understood to be one of the powerful factors in the 
 present movement, and was also undoubtedly the direct 
 organizer of the advance into Turkish territory, all 
 responsibility for which is disavowed by the Greek 
 Government. For the moment the centre of interest 
 has shifted from the Mediterranean to the frontiers of 
 Macedonia, where the regular armies of Greece and 
 Turkey, with their patience by this time almost ex- 
 hausted, stand facing each other, waiting for orders. 
 Under these circumstances, it will be interesting to 
 enter into some little detail as to the parent societies of 
 the powerful "Union," the name of which stands at 
 the head of this chapter, and which is said to possess 
 greater authority and influence over the Greek people 
 than even the King himself. Even in ancient times 
 such associations flourished in Greece, and were formed 
 (especially at Athens) with the object of assisting the 
 oligarchic against the democratic party. In 411 B.C., 
 it was mainly owing to them that an attempt was 
 made to abolish the democratic constitution, and their 
 
 * Written April 14th.
 
 THE ETBNIKE HET.ERIA. 113 
 
 influence materially contributed to the triumph of 
 Sparta over Athens in the Peloponnesian War. In the 
 times of the Byzantine Empire, the word Hetceria was 
 used to denote certain " regiments " or "companies" of 
 the imperial guard, composed exclusively of foreigners ; 
 their special duty was to guard the Emperor's person, 
 and attend him on the occasion of important cere- 
 monials. 
 
 During modern times, the national aspirations of the 
 Greeks, encouraged by the events of the French Revolu- 
 tionary period, and the downfall of the Turkish power 
 promised by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, gave birth 
 to a "political " Hetceria, founded by ConstantinosRhigas, 
 the Tyrtseus of Modern Greece, at the end of the last 
 century, a most accomplished man, and the author of 
 several literary works. He was born at Velestino (the 
 ancient Pherce), in Thessaly, and was for some time in 
 the service of the Hospodar * of Wallachia. The French 
 Revolution inspired him with the idea of bringing about 
 a general rising of the Greeks, with the object of shaking 
 off the Turkish yoke. In pursuance of this idea, he 
 travelled through Greece and formed a numerous 
 association of patriots, who were recruited from all 
 classes of society, and even included some Turkish 
 pashas. His first adherents were the Greek Klephts, 
 for whom he composed a number of warlike songs.t 
 Everything was ready for the outbreak of a national 
 movement, when the entry of the French into Italy 
 highly excited the hopes of the Greeks. Rhigas re- 
 solved to apply directly to Bonaparte, with whom he 
 
 * A title formerly borne by the vassal princes of Moldavia s.nd 
 Wallachia. 
 t See a specimen in chap. vi. 
 
 H
 
 ii4 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 carried on a correspondence for several months. After 
 the French had reached Venice, he left Vienna, where 
 he had been living for some time, with the intention of 
 having a personal interview with Bonaparte. Shortly 
 before his departure for Trieste, he sent on to one of his 
 friends there a box containing some copies of his poems 
 and his correspondence with Bonaparte. On his arrival 
 at Trieste, he was arrested and taken to Vienna. After 
 he had been imprisoned for some time, he was handed 
 over to the Turkish Governor of Belgrade. Fruitless 
 efforts were made to save his life, for he was beheaded, 
 or, according to others, drowned in the Danube by the 
 Pasha's order. His last words are said to have been : 
 " I have sown the seed in the furrow ; the hour is 
 approaching when my people will reap the harvest." 
 The death of Rhigas for a while checked the movement 
 which he had inaugurated. 
 
 We ought here to mention the name of Adaman- 
 tinos^ Corass, a native of Chios (1748-1833), a dis- 
 tinguished literary man. His wide reading of ancient 
 Greek literature inspired him with a love of free- 
 dom and hatred of Turkish rule. He decided to 
 leave his native island and travel. In 1788 he went to 
 Paris. The Revolution created a deep impression upon 
 him, and he decided to remain in France and preach 
 the doctrine of Greek independence. For this object he 
 recognized that it was of great importance to bring 
 home to the Greeks their glorious past, to purify their 
 language, and make them act in a manner calculated to 
 win for them the sympathy of Europe ; and to this task 
 he devoted the remainder of his life. He died and was 
 buried at Paris ; the following inscription, composed by
 
 THE ETHNIKE HET^RIA, 115 
 
 himself, was written upon his tombstone : " Here lies 
 Adamantinos Corass ; a foreign soil covers me, but I 
 loved Paris as dearly as I loved Greece, my native 
 land." 
 
 In 18 1 2 was founded the Hetceria Philomousos, which 
 may be translated "the literary," or " liberal education " 
 society. Its object was to found schools throughout 
 Greece, to collect funds for the preservation of ancient 
 monuments and for carrying on fresh excavations, to 
 establish a library and a museum at Athens, to publish 
 editions of the Greek classics, and to assist young Greeks 
 with sums of money, in order to enable them to complete 
 their education at the universities. This association 
 obtained a considerable success, and counted amongst 
 its members a number of learned men from all parts of 
 Europe, notably Count Capo dTstria : it is said to have 
 numbered eighty thousand members. It was a praise- 
 worthy and perfectly harmless institution, but not likely 
 to be of much practical use in assisting Greece to regain 
 her freedom, if it had ever entertained any such idea. 
 During the revolution of 1821 the Hetceria almost 
 disappeared : it was re-established in 1824, but was 
 rendered unnecessary by the formation of Greece into 
 an independent kingdom. 
 
 Two years after the foundation of the "Hetceria 
 PJiilomousos" another league was formed (18 14), called 
 the "Philike Hetceria!' or "friendly society." It was 
 founded in Odessa by a Greek merchant, Scouphas, of 
 Arta, and two young men, one of whom was a free- 
 mason. The warning afforded by the fate of Rhigas 
 caused the strictest secrecy to be observed. The society 
 was national and political, and had for its object nothing
 
 n6 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 less than the total overthrow of the Ottoman dominion 
 with the assistance of Russia, and the setting-up of a 
 Greek kingdom, with Constantinople as the capital : at 
 the same time, the heads of it were clever enough to 
 shelter themselves behind the " Hetceria Philomotisos" 
 pretending that it was merely a branch of it. It was 
 framed on the model of a freemasons' lodge ; even the 
 initiated did not know who was at the head of it, but 
 there were not wanting mysterious hints that it was no 
 less a personage than the Czar of Russia himself, which 
 gained for the society a considerable reputation. In 
 1818 it changed its locale to Constantinople, brought its 
 organization to a high state of efficiency, and despatched 
 emissaries throughout all the countries inhabited by 
 Greeks : several influential personages, Prince Nicolas, 
 Georgios and Demetrios Ypsilantes, Prince Alexander 
 Mavrocordatos, and the Patriarch of Constantinople 
 became members of it. 
 
 In a very short time the society had extended its 
 influence far and wide, even to the savage tribes of the 
 mountainous country in the neighbourhood of Sparta. 
 It felt the necessity of having a publicly-recognized head 
 of ability and distinction. The management fixed its 
 choice upon one of two persons — Count Capo dTstria, 
 minister of the Russian Emperor, and the young prince 
 Alexander Ypsilantes, son of a former hospodar of 
 Wallachia, who had fought with distinction for Russia, 
 and was at the time in high favour with the Czar. Capo 
 d'Istria refused, but Ypsilantes accepted the position, 
 believing that he would be acting in accordance with the 
 wishes of Russia. This was on the 20th of June, 1820. 
 He immediately sent out secret proclamations to all the
 
 THE ETHNIKE HET.&RIA. 117 
 
 general-ephors, or superintendents, asking for arms and 
 money. The rising of Theodore Vladimiresko, one of 
 the lesser boyards, or nobles, of Wallachia, against the 
 oppression of the superior boyards and Fanariotes, was 
 regarded by the Hetaerists as the signal for a rising 
 against Turkey. In the eighteenth century the Turks 
 had introduced, in regard to its Wallachian vassals, the 
 system of selling the office of voivode, ox /wspodar, to the 
 highest bidder at Constantinople, to be farmed out. 
 The princes were mostly Greeks from the Fanar 
 quarter of Constantinople, hence the name Fanariotes, 
 who had been dragomen, or held some court office. 
 Before he had received any definite proof of the 
 sympathetic co-operation of Russia, Ypsilantes found 
 himself committed to the dangerous undertaking of 
 raising the standard of revolt in Moldavia ; and he could 
 not draw back since one of his messengers had been 
 arrested in Servia, and the whole undertaking had been 
 betrayed. Together with his brother and a small 
 following, he crossed the Pruth, and, at Jassy, informed 
 the Moldavians of the resolve of the Greeks to shake 
 off the Turkish yoke, invited them to keep quiet, but 
 summoned all the Greeks to follow the banner of 
 freedom. According to his plan of operations, the 
 Greeks throughout the whole of Turkey were to rise 
 at the time of his advance into Moldavia. This general 
 rising did not, however, take place, as the Porte had 
 received previous information of the designs of the 
 Hetaerists, and had taken the utmost precautions to 
 foil them. Russia, on whose direct assistance Ypsilantes 
 had counted, and which he had already promised to 
 the Greeks, expressed disapproval of his proceedings ;
 
 uS A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 he was excluded from the military service of Russia, all 
 help definitely refused him, and the entire responsibility 
 for anything that happened was laid upon himself. The 
 troops in the Pruth and in Bessarabia were ordered 
 to observe the strictest neutrality, and the Russian 
 ambassador at the Porte expressed the Czar's dis- 
 approval of the revolutionary attempt. Ypsilantes and 
 the Hetaerists were thus thrown entirely upon their own 
 resources. The Hospodar of Moldavia, Michael Soutzo, 
 certainly declared in their favour, but the Boyards 
 remained loyal to Turkey, and Vladimiresko at Bucharest 
 looked upon them as no better than Fanariotes, against 
 whose oppressions his rising in Wallachia had been mainly 
 directed, and he therefore refused to have anything to do 
 with them. However, Ypsilantes marched to Bucharest, 
 whence he issued an appeal to the Wallachians, with the 
 object of winning them over to the cause of freedom. 
 But he failed in the attempt; the revolution in the Morea, 
 which broke out during this time, and the terrible scenes 
 which took place in Constantinople, where thousands of 
 Greeks lost their lives in the attempt to secure for 
 themselves an independent nationality, discouraged the 
 Moldavians and Wallachians, who were, further, disgusted 
 with the scandalous behaviour of certain persons in the 
 Prince's suite and the want of discipline amongst his 
 troops. A number of Ypsilantes' own adherents began to 
 waver. Finding himself, therefore, obliged to act strictly 
 on the defensive, Ypsilantes took up his position at Ter- 
 gorisht, in the centre of Wallachia, where he threw up 
 entrenchments, and declared that he would await the 
 advance of the Turks, who had assembled in considerable 
 forces, and met with no serious opposition in marching to
 
 THE ETHNIKE HET/ERIA. n 9 
 
 Jassy and Bucharest. Vladimiresko, who had succeeded 
 in regaining possession of Bucharest, now threw off the 
 mask, and entered into negotiations with Kara Mustapha, 
 Pasha of Silistria, to whom he handed over the city. He 
 was accused of treachery and put to death by Ypsilantes. 
 After the Turkish victory at Dragashan, in which the 
 Hetaerist corps called the Sacred Band distinguished 
 itself by the greatest bravery, the insurrection was at an 
 end. Ypsilantes fled to Austria, where he was detained 
 as a prisoner until 1827, when he was released, but died 
 in the following year. " The flight of Ypsilantes was the 
 last scene of the drama enacted by the Philike Hetaeria 
 in the provinces, where the rash ambition of its supreme 
 head and the utter incapacity of its members brought 
 great calamity on the people, and laid the foundations 
 of an anti-Greek feeling, which resulted [at that time] in 
 depriving the Greeks of all political power in those 
 provinces, but was not entirely without good effect, since 
 it contributed to develop projects of national indepen- 
 dence. It was reserved for the native land of the 
 Hellenic race to prove that Greece could still arm heroes 
 in her cause." * When the war of independence resulted 
 in the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece, the 
 Philike Hetaeria lost its influence as a political factor for 
 a time. 
 
 But, although less demonstratively, it still continued 
 its work — a work which cannot be said to be com- 
 plete while so many thousands of Greek-speaking 
 people, both on the mainland and in the islands, such 
 as Crete and Samos, remain more or less directly subject 
 to Turkish rule. The avowed object of the society was, 
 
 * Finlay, History of Greece, vol. vi. p. 134.
 
 i2o A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 and is, to promote the knowledge of Greek literature, 
 and to restore, as far as possible, the language of Ancient 
 Greece in place of Romaic, which is a mixture of Greek, 
 Turkish, and Italian. Its efforts have certainly been 
 crowned with success as far as the written language of 
 newspapers, etc., is concerned, although, in spite of 
 assertions to the contrary, this pseudo-classical tongue 
 is a broken reed for the ordinary traveller to depend 
 upon. In addition to this, the society does its utmost, 
 not unnaturally, to imbue the rising generation with a 
 patriotic hatred of the Turks. The society, which now 
 appears to be called Ethnike (National), numbers amongst 
 its members the most influential and wealthy of the 
 Greeks. It is stated that the King and his ministers 
 are members of it, and if so, it is easy to understand how 
 difficult it is for him to hold them back ; in fact, we may 
 say that, at the present moment, the ruling power in 
 Greece is the Ethnike Hetseria. The distinctive dress is 
 a round cap without any peak, on the front of which is 
 a small gold-embroidered device — a cross with the letters 
 E.E. beneath, and a globe above. Special correspondents 
 have recently given interesting accounts of the manner 
 in which the bands organized by the society were sent 
 on their mission across the frontier, accompanied by the 
 solemn blessings pronounced by the priests. As the 
 Greeks have probably by this time lost all confidence 
 in the disinterestedness of Russia, the society will find 
 new scope for its energies in endeavouring to prevent 
 the realization of the designs of that power, designs 
 which have as their goal Constantinople, the ancient 
 capital of the Byzantine or Lower Empire, which it is 
 the dream of the Greeks to revive, as their inheritance 
 by right,
 
 THE ETHNIKE HETSERIA. 121 
 
 It is generally considered that the rebellion of Ali 
 Pasha of Janina against the Turkish Government, and 
 the intrigues of the Philike Hetaeria and Russian 
 agencies, were the chief causes of the Greek Revolution. 
 Mr. Finlay, who dissents from this view, has the 
 following remarks upon this society : " The power of 
 secret societies is very apt to be overrated, and in no 
 case has the influence of a secret political society been 
 more unduly magnified than in the case of the Philike 
 Hetaeria. Many of the best Hetaerists were more 
 directly under the influence of Russian orthodoxy than 
 of Hellenic independence, and many of the best men 
 who distinguished themselves in the Greek Revolution 
 were not Hetaerists. The first members of the Philike 
 Hetseria were bankrupt merchants and intriguing 
 adventurers, possessed of some cunning and great 
 enthusiasm. Turkey was supposed to be on the eve of 
 dissolution, and Russia to be on the point of gaining 
 possession of Constantinople. The Hetseria was formed 
 when these ideas were predominant, and it prospered. In 
 all probability it would soon have expired of inanition 
 had it not been kept alive by its members making use of 
 the name of the Czar of Russia, who was generally sup- 
 posed to grant it his secret protection. The influence 
 of secret societies or national movements can only be 
 powerful when these movements coincide with the 
 general impulse to which the societies owe their own 
 impulse. The schemes of the Hetaerists of Odessa 
 were wild and visionary — the object of the inhabitants 
 of Greece was definite and patriotic. The Hetaerists 
 proposed to set fire to Constantinople, to burn the 
 arsenal, to destroy the fleet, to assassinate the Sultan,
 
 122 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 and bring about a general massacre of the Mussulman 
 population. They overlooked the possibility of millions 
 of warlike Mohammedans rushing to Constantinople to 
 defend the Turkish domination, who, when the con- 
 spirators had destroyed the fountain-head of all the 
 vices of the Ottoman administration, might have laid 
 the foundations of a new and more powerful Turkish 
 Empire.''" 
 
 A brief outline of the chief events of the Greek War 
 of Independence may suitably close this chapter. 
 
 The defeat of Ypsilantes and the " Sacred Band " put 
 an end to the rising in the Danubian Principalities ; but 
 the fire of revolution was kindled in Greece. In March, 
 1 82 1, Germanos, Bishop of Patras, summoned his 
 countrymen to arms and made himself master of 
 Calavryta. The Arcadians rose under Colokotrones, 
 the Mseniotes under Mavromikhales, and a National 
 Assembly was formed at Kalamata, called the Senate of 
 Messenia, to undertake the direction of the movement. 
 Its rapid success roused the fury of the Turks, and great 
 cruelties were committed by them in Constantinople 
 and the cities of Asia. These cruelties caused public 
 opinion to turn in favour of the Greeks ; the insurrection 
 became general, and the first campaign was attended 
 with brilliant results. 
 
 Encouraged by this, the Greeks decided to organize 
 a central Government. In December, 1 821, a National 
 Assembly of sixty-seven deputies was convoked at 
 Argos and transferred to Epidaurus. Its first proceed- 
 ing was to declare the independence of Greece ; after 
 which, it drew up a provisional constitution, called the 
 " Organic Statute " of Epidaurus. As president of the
 
 THE ETHNIKE HETjERIA. 123 
 
 new state, a Fanariote prince, Mavrocordatos, was ap- 
 pointed, with a Secretary of State to assist him. The 
 new government signalized its liberality by a decree for 
 the abolition of slavery ; it also passed an edict for 
 compensation for military services, and for a provision 
 for the widows and orphans of those slain in battle ; 
 while a third edict regulated the internal adminis- 
 tration of the provinces. A proclamation was issued 
 to the effect that Greece was now an independent 
 federal state, and a blockade of Turkish towns was 
 declared. Europe, however, did not view the action 
 of Greece with approval ; France was neutral, England 
 distinctly hostile, while Russia and Austria expressed 
 an unfavourable opinion of the insurrection. The 
 Sultan endeavoured to gain the favour of Russia, and 
 made extensive preparations for war. Ali Pasha of 
 Janina was killed ; a considerable fleet was assembled 
 at Constantinople, while Mohammed Ali, Pasha of 
 Egypt, equipped another. In April, 1822, the Turks 
 carried out a fearful massacre in Chios (Scio), butchering 
 in cold blood twenty-three thousand of its inhabitants, 
 and selling forty-seven thousand women and children as 
 slaves. During this time the Greek fleet was very 
 successful, under the command of Miaoules and Canares, 
 whose fire-ships inflicted great damage upon the Turkish 
 fleet. Mavrocordatos, who had been betrayed by an 
 Albanian chief and utterly defeated at Peta, reorganized 
 his army, and entrenched himself at Missolonghi, on 
 the north side of the Gulf of Patras. Omar Vriones 
 began the siege which ended with the total destruction 
 of his army ; he lost his artillery and baggage, was 
 defeated on the Achelous, and returned to Prevesa with
 
 i2 4 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 a decimated army. Unfortunately, dissensions broke 
 out amongst the Greek leaders, who were divided into 
 two factions ; the captains or military chiefs, like 
 Mavromikhales and Colocotrones, and the political 
 chiefs, like Mavrocordatos and Demetrios Ypsilantes ; 
 and, in spite of insurgent successes, the insurrection did 
 not become general, neither Macedonia, nor Thessaly, 
 nor even Epirus, following the example of Greece. 
 
 The intervention of Egypt turned the balance in 
 favour of Turkey. Mohammed AH, Viceroy of Egypt, 
 sent his fleet to the Archipelago ; Ibrahim Pasha, his 
 son, landed in Peloponnesus with twenty thousand men, 
 carried everything before him, and the Greeks lost 
 nearly everything that they had acquired. Meanwhile, 
 Reshid Pasha had laid siege to Missolonghi, the outpost 
 of Hellenic independence. The siege lasted eleven 
 months, from the 27th of April, 1825, to the 22nd of 
 April, 1826; its heroic defence excited the impassioned 
 sympathy of the whole of Europe, and volunteers of 
 various nationalities flocked to its assistance. It is 
 hardly necessary to mention the name of Lord Byron, 
 who was unremitting in his exertions on behalf of the 
 Greeks, except to state that he always seemed to be 
 under the impression that the dissensions amongst the 
 Greek leaders themselves would, in the end, render 
 their undoubtedly heroic and in the main patriotic 
 efforts futile. After a lengthened blockade, Missolonghi 
 was at length taken by assault. 
 
 Their good fortune seemed to have deserted the 
 Greeks in the following year. Athens was taken in May 
 by the Turks, soon after the arrival of Lord Cochrane, 
 who was appointed admiral of the Greek fleet. The
 
 THE ETHNIKE HETsERIA. 125 
 
 resistance of the Greeks seemed broken, and at this 
 moment the great Powers of Europe thought the time 
 had come for them to intervene. The accession of the 
 Czar Nicholas to the throne of Russia, and of Canning 
 to power in England, were two facts in favour of Greece, 
 and an arrangement (the Treaty of London) was con- 
 cluded between England, Russia, and France (July 6, 
 1827) with the object of putting an end to the devastat- 
 ing war, and of establishing the independence of Greece, 
 under certain tributary stipulations. This treaty was 
 presented to the Porte on the 18th of August ; in the 
 mean time the Greek Government proclaimed an ar- 
 mistice in conformity with the Treaty of London ; but 
 the Turkish Government decided to reject the interven- 
 tion of the three Powers. The Greeks thereupon re- 
 sumed hostilities, and an accident, the " untoward 
 event " of Navarino, materially assisted their cause. 
 The fleets of England, Russia, and France were cruising 
 about the coasts of Peloponnesus, to prevent the 
 Turkish fleet ravaging the Greek islands. Winter 
 coming on, the admirals thought it more prudent to 
 anchor in the bay of Navarino (the ancient bay of 
 Pylus), on the south-west coast of the Morea. The first 
 shots were fired from the Turkish side, and two English- 
 men were killed. This was the signal for hostilities. 
 The Turkish fleet was practically annihilated ; not more 
 than fifteen vessels escaped without damage, and more 
 than five thousand Turks were killed. In this manner, 
 an engagement which had begun in consequence of an 
 accident, ended in the almost complete destruction of 
 the naval power of Turkey, which she has never re- 
 covered. Enraged at the battle of Navarino, the Porte
 
 126 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 seized all the ships of the Christian Powers that were at 
 Constantinople, and broke off all communication with 
 the allied Powers, until an indemnity should have been 
 paid for the destruction of the fleet ; at the same time 
 the ambassadors left Constantinople ; the Porte, how- 
 ever, pretended to desire peace, while in reality it was 
 making extensive preparations for war. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, early in 1828, Capo d'Istria, who 
 had been in the service of Russia, was appointed Presi- 
 dent of the Greek Government. His first measures 
 were to establish a high national council and national 
 banks, and to put the military on a fresh footing. All 
 attempts at mediation betv/een Greece and the Porte 
 seemed hopeless, since the latter rejected every proposal, 
 In the mean time, France, acting in agreement with 
 England, sent some troops to the Morea, and an arrange- 
 ment was come to, by which Ibrahim Pasha undertook 
 to withdraw his troops and to set at liberty a number 
 of Greek prisoners whom he had sent as slaves to Egypt. 
 To defend the Morea from the chance of fresh invasions 
 by Turkey, the Powers drew up a declaration to the 
 effect that they intended to place the Morea and the 
 Cyclades Islands under their protection until a definite 
 arrangement should have been arrived at in regard to 
 the provinces of which they had taken possession, and 
 that the entrance of any military force into the country 
 would be looked upon as an attack on themselves ; they 
 also requested the Porte to suggest a definite settlement 
 in regard to Greece. Hostilities, in the mean time, 
 continued, great excesses being committed by the Turks, 
 who even went so far as to burn down the olive-groves. 
 
 The basis of a settlement was, however, at last
 
 THE ETHNIKE HETMRIA. 127 
 
 agreed upon between the Great Powers. By the 
 Protocol of London, signed by Russia, France, and 
 England on the 22nd of March, 1829, it was decided 
 to limit the boundaries of Greece to a line drawn from 
 the Gulf of Arta to the Gulf of Volo ; the Greeks were 
 to pay an annual tribute of one million five hundred 
 thousand piastres to the Sultan ; a joint commission, 
 composed of Turks and Greeks, was to be appointed 
 to determine the question of the indemnification of the 
 Turks for the loss of property in Greece ; Greece was to 
 enjoy a qualified independence, under the sovereignty of 
 the Porte ; the government was to be in the hands of an 
 hereditary Christian Prince, chosen by the Sultan ; at 
 every succession of the hereditary prince, a year's 
 tribute was to be paid, mutual amnesty was to be 
 declared, and all Greeks were to be allowed a year to 
 sell their property and leave Turkish territory. 
 
 But it was a long time before the state of things in 
 Greece attained to anything like a settled condition. 
 Capo d'Istria, the President, found himself in a position 
 of great embarrassment. He had undoubtedly done his 
 best for the maintenance of order, the suppression of 
 brigandage and piracy, and the formation of a regular 
 army; the establishment of courts of justice and 
 schools ; of means for collecting the revenue, and pro- 
 viding for the material wants of the population. His 
 idea was to organize Greece on the model of a European 
 state ; but his ideas of government were Russian, and, 
 ruling with a high hand, he gave great offence to the 
 masses of the people, who, jealous of all foreign in- 
 fluence, showed themselves determined to resist the 
 imposts and sanitary measures of the new form of
 
 128 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 government. A fifth meeting of the National Assembly 
 took place at Argos (July 23-August 18, 1829), at 
 which the Panliellenium, or council of twenty-seven 
 members, composed of the chief notabilities of Greece, 
 was replaced by a Senate, which only had a consultative 
 voice. At this meeting Capo d'Istria delivered a long 
 address, in which he gave an account of the state of the 
 country and the measures he had in view for the 
 organization of the army and finances. It was agreed 
 that troops should be raised in order to deliver the 
 whole of Greece from Turkish rule, but there was no 
 money ; out of sixteen million piastres, the army 
 estimates absorbed fifteen million, and even this sum 
 was far from being adequate for its purpose. The 
 terrible struggle which had been continued for six 
 years had exhausted the resources of the country ; 
 nearly a quarter of the population had perished ; the 
 olive groves had been devastated, and the fields had 
 remained untilled for several years. 
 
 After the issue of the Protocol of London, the Powers 
 requested that the troops of the Provisional Government 
 should be withdrawn from Northern Greece, and that 
 the blockade of the fortresses occupied by the Turks 
 outside the Morea and the Cyclades should be raised. 
 The defeat of Turkey by Russia (who had declared 
 war in April), which culminated in the humiliating 
 Treaty of Adrianople (September 14, 1829), led to 
 the drawing up of a fresh Protocol, relative to the in- 
 dependence of Greece, signed by the representatives 
 of England, France, and Russia. By this it was decreed 
 that Greece was to " form an independent State, 
 and enjoy all the rights, political, administrative, and
 
 THE ETHNIKE HET/ERIA. 129 
 
 commercial, attached to complete independence; the 
 Greek Government was to be monarchical and here- 
 ditary, and confided to a Prince who shall not be 
 capable of being chosen from among those of the 
 families reigning in the states that signed the Treaty 
 of the 6th July, 1827 [t\e. Great Britain, France, and 
 Russia], and who shall bear the title of Sovereign 
 Prince of Greece, the choice of that Prince to form the 
 subject of subsequent communications and stipulations."* 
 Eubcea and the Sporades Islands were left to Greece, 
 and its frontier was fixed at a line drawn from the 
 mouth of the river Achelous or Aspropotamos (White 
 River) from Vrakhori to the Bay of Zeitun. The National 
 Assembly refused to agree to these clauses. Prince 
 Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, who was offered the crown of 
 Greece, at first accepted it on the 20th of February, 
 1830, but subsequently refused it, on the plea that the 
 Greeks themselves were unfavourably disposed towards 
 him, and that they were dissatisfied with the arrange- 
 ments that had been made as to the boundaries of the 
 newly-constituted kingdom. The Greeks themselves 
 were divided. Capo dTstria, whose desire it was to 
 organize them off-hand after a European fashion, took 
 as his model the Russian bureaucracy, apparently under 
 the idea that, after four centuries of oppression, they 
 needed a strong hand to make them appreciate 
 thoroughly the blessings of their recently-recovered 
 freedom. The country landowners supported him, but 
 the liberals formed a syntagmatic, or constitutional party. 
 All opposition was put down by the President with 
 
 * For the above somewhat confused wording the language of diplomacy 
 is responsible. 
 
 I
 
 i 3 o A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 great severity, which only had the effect of irritating 
 and increasing the opposition. A provisional govern- 
 ment was set up at Hydra by Miaoules, Conduriotes, and 
 Tombazes ; Ipsara and Syra joined in. The imprison- 
 ment of Mavromikhales provoked an insurrection of the 
 Mainotes of Peloponnesus, who demanded a constitution. 
 Miaoules captured the Greek fleet in the harbour of Poros, 
 and, finding himself blockaded by a Russian squadron, 
 set fire to it. The rupture between the old leaders of the 
 insurrection and the Government was complete; Miaoules, 
 Mavrocordatos, and Conduriotes were declared traitors. 
 On the 9th of October, 1831, at six o'clock in the 
 morning, while on his way to church, Capo d'Istria was 
 accosted by the brother and son of Mavromikhales. 
 When he was in the act of taking off his hat to return 
 their salute, one fired a pistol at him and the other 
 stabbed him in the side ; his wounds immediately proved 
 fatal. One of his assassins was slain by the people, the 
 other found refuge in France. It was unfortunate that 
 the death of Capo d'Istria occurred when it did. In a 
 few days the Congress would have assembled, and the 
 decisions of the three Great Powers would have estab- 
 lished a new order of things, which would have allowed 
 the President to resign with honour an authority which 
 had been impaired by obstacles and opposition of 
 various kinds, but which he could not have handed over 
 to his political opponents of his own free will, without 
 the risk of increasing the confusion. When their 
 passions had once calmed down, his fellow-citizens 
 would have been forced to recognize in him the eminent 
 qualities which had gained for him throughout Europe 
 so many friends of distinction. One of these, M. Eynard,
 
 THE ETHNIKE HETsERIA. 131 
 
 has thus described his character : " The President of 
 Greece was founded upon an antique model ; he was 
 austere, strict, and a man of unrivalled honesty ; he 
 never sought to assert himself, despised criticism when 
 it was unjust, spent all his fortune for Greece, and 
 pursued with great perseverance his schemes for the 
 civilization of his country. No man ever possessed 
 more valuable qualities ; he was extremely well 
 informed, an indefatigable worker, loyal, simple in 
 manner, and free from affectation and ceremoniousness. 
 To all these admirable qualities he united a perfect trust 
 in Providence." The Senate, after having succeeded in 
 calming the fury of the people, which seemed likely to 
 proceed to violent excesses, nominated a commission of 
 government consisting of three members — Colettes, 
 Colocotrones, and Avgoustos Capo dTstria ; the latter 
 was elected President temporarily by the National As- 
 sembly convoked at Argos, until a congress should have 
 been held. The new President was not recognized in 
 the northern districts, and Colettes called together 
 another National Assembly at Perakhora. The Rou- 
 meliotes marched upon Argos, and forced the President 
 to resign (April 13th, 1832). Thiersch, the German 
 philologist, then instituted a fresh governmental com- 
 mission, until the arrival of Otho of Bavaria, the second 
 son of King Louis I., who had been appointed to the 
 throne by the three protecting Powers. The following 
 was the basis of agreement : In return for an indemnity 
 of twelve million francs, Turkey undertook to push back 
 the boundaries as far as the Gulfs of Arta and Volo ; 
 Otho was allowed to contract a loan of sixty million 
 francs under the guarantee of the three Powers ; the
 
 i 3 2 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 King of Bavaria undertook to furnish a body of troops, 
 to the number of 3,500 men, to take the place of the 
 troops of the Alliance hitherto stationed in Greece. 
 Henceforth, Greece has existed as an Independent 
 Kingdom.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 
 
 The popular songs of Greece, in which the Greek 
 nationality through many centuries of oppression has 
 still preserved itself, may be divided into several classes. 
 
 I. Historical. Some of these go back as far as the 
 tenth century, and deal with the heroic deeds of the 
 AkritcBy or frontier-soldiers of the Byzantine Empire : the 
 scene is usually laid in Asia Minor, or Mount Taurus. 
 It is not, however, until the second half of the eighteenth 
 century that they become numerous. The Cretan 
 Revolution of 1770, brought about by the ambition of 
 the Empress Catherine of Russia, was the origin of a 
 number of songs, which are practically the only historical 
 documents extant concerning the heroic struggles of that 
 period on the island. Amongst them are The Entry of 
 the Turks into Spliakia, and Daskaloyiannes (Master 
 John) of SpJiakia. 
 
 II. Religious. These comprise songs relating to the 
 Church festivals, the Virgin Mary, the angels and saints, 
 and, amongst the latter, St. George in particular, one of 
 the most venerated saints in the Greek Church ; songs 
 relating to various events connected with the life of 
 Christ. 
 
 III. Romantic. These deal with the exploits of the 
 Klephts (brigands), and romantic adventures generally.
 
 134 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 IV. Myrologia, or funeral songs, of which there is a 
 very large nnmber. 
 
 V. Love Songs and Erotic distichs, the latter almost 
 exclusively confined to celebrating the charms of the 
 lady. She is sometimes a rose, a pink, a pomegranate, 
 an apple-tree loaded with fruit. When she passes along 
 the street, it is filled with roses ; she is as white as the 
 snow on the mountains, her head is a vessel of silver, her 
 hair threads of silk, her eyes blue as sapphires or black 
 as the Athenian olive, her mouth a half-open lily, her 
 voice is as tuneful as that of the nightingale ; when she 
 speaks, she restores the sick to health and brings back 
 the dead to life ; she is a slender cypress, a flowering 
 orange-tree, a hawk swift of flight, an eagle with golden 
 wings, a ship proudly cleaving the waters. It is, however, 
 only fair to add that the rejected lover does not, on 
 occasion, shrink from calling his ladylove a "rotten 
 sardine," " an old she-ass," or " a stinking kettle." 
 
 Most of the specimens of popular songs here submitted 
 have their origin in Crete, and have all been translated* 
 from the original Greek, where accessible. 
 
 I. 
 
 Master f John of Sphakia. 
 
 A True Story of the Year 1770. 
 Listen to me, both old and young, that I may tell and 
 you may learn the story of Master John. Master John 
 
 * The translations are not to be considered as slavishly literal ; 
 abridgments have been made in some cases. 
 
 t The word here translated "Master" does not mean necessarily a 
 " teacher" or "schoolmaster," but, like the Turkish Khoja, a "learned 
 man," that is, a person who knew how to write.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 135 
 
 of Sphakia, with your mighty army, did you not tell me 
 that you would restore the Greeks ? Every Easter and 
 Christmas you put on your hat and said to the chief 
 priest, " I will bring the Russians." * 
 
 " Master John of Sphakia," said the priest, " remain 
 quiet, as becomes us, lest the Sultan hear you and send 
 the Turks against us." The Vizier f wrote a letter and 
 sent it to the Sultan. " Long live my Lord ! tell me what 
 
 I am to do. Shall I burn Sphakia, or abandon it?" 
 
 II Neither burn it nor abandon it; no one is to blame but 
 Master John." " Now, Master John, you must be wary, 
 that you may finish your work, and not abandon it." 
 
 Then the Turks considered the matter, and went 
 forth to fight, to spoil all that the enemy possessed. 
 They first gave battle at Seli, in the plain of Crapi, and 
 the general cried to his standard-bearer, " Pisinakes, take 
 the standard ! " u No, by God, I will not go forward ; 
 I am afraid, for they are many. See the Christian dogs, 
 all with swords in their hands." 
 
 One Friday morning, before mid-day, the Turks, sword 
 in hand, took Sphakia. At Franco-Castello they set up 
 their tents, and at Aradsena played martial strains. 
 They set fire to Aradaena, and burned the monasteries : 
 they had no respect or pity for such buildings. At 
 Madara they took Master John, with all his family and 
 his standard. Twelve servants of the Pasha took him, 
 and bound him and carried him off; all along the road 
 he did not cease to entreat them, promised them gifts, 
 promised them money, which had been coined in his 
 house during Holy Week : he promised them gifts, 
 
 * Then regarded by the Greeks as their natural liberators, 
 t The governor of the island was then called by this title.
 
 136 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 promised them sequins, which lay in his house as thick 
 as dust. He wept for his daughters, above all, for Mary. 
 " O Mary, my beloved child, I brought you up on honey, 
 but now your food shall be fermented rose-laurel. O 
 Anthusa,* I clothed your feet with gilded shoes, but 
 now you shall walk barefooted on the stones." " You 
 are going, Master John ; when shall I expect you back ? 
 Tell me, that I may keep the door open and the table 
 laid." " I am going, Mistress John, but I cannot advise 
 you ; they are taking me to Castro, f and perhaps I 
 shall never return." When they led him past his 
 deserted house, his eyes ran with tears like troubled 
 streams. " My children," said he, u it would need five 
 hundred purses to rebuild it as it was before." Then 
 Pisinakes Achmet Aga turned round and said to them : 
 " He is going to lose his head, and yet weeps for his 
 house." When they led him past the Khan J Bambali 
 he asked for cold water, that he might drink it and die. 
 And when they led him past the first tent, he asked the 
 Kahveji § to give him some coffee with sugar ; and they 
 brought him coffee in a porcelain cup, and a chibouk j| 
 of jasmin, almost as tall as himself. And when they 
 led him up the stairs of the Pasha's house, he looked 
 right and left, and cried aloud : " Children, where are 
 my friends, and where are my kinsmen ? They are 
 going to take away my life on the Pasha's gibbet." 
 
 * " Flower," a common female name in Crete. 
 
 t Megalo-Castro, the modern Canea. 
 
 % A kind of inn. 
 
 § Coffee-house keeper. 
 
 || Long pipe.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 137 
 
 II. 
 
 The Entrance of the Turks into Sphakia. 
 (1770.) 
 
 They said that the Turks would not enter Sphakia : 
 but I see that they have entered it in wrath. On Friday, 
 the 1st of May, the Turks entered Sphakia, sword in 
 hand : the Turks entered Sphakia, cursed be the hour ! 
 and ravaged our country, as they ravaged every other. 
 " O valiant towns of Callicrate and Askyfo, where 
 are your young men, that they may run like lions? 
 Where are your young men, your famous wairiors, that 
 they may run like lions and seize the passes ? " " They 
 are playing instruments of music down at Franco- 
 Castello ; at Anopolis * they are throwing up en- 
 trenchments : they are awaiting the Turks, and leap 
 for joy, because they are going to fight and display 
 their valour." When the Turks reached the market- 
 place, they sent a messenger to the Sphakiotes : " Come 
 and make your submission, become rayahs, for we will 
 take you prisoners, even though you are heroes ; come 
 and make your submission at the Sultan's feet, that he 
 may bestow upon you a handsome present, that he may 
 bestow upon you great privileges, and that you may be 
 distinguished beyond all other districts. We will exempt 
 you and your descendants from the laws for all time." 
 
 "We know your gifts, that bring naught but woe: 
 you have bestowed them in abundance upon the rest 
 of Crete. Wherefore, we would all rather perish than 
 
 * The "upper city."
 
 )38 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 offer submission and bring dishonour upon ourselves. 
 O cruel renegades,* you have devoured the Christians : 
 wherefore, we will live in freedom, and will never become 
 r ayahs." 
 
 When the Pasha heard these words he was greatly 
 enraged, and told the Sphakiotes that he would reduce 
 them to slavery. " Do your will, O Pasha, and wait no 
 longer ; we will not submit, for we have sworn it. We 
 will not submit to become rayahs ; we all prefer death." 
 
 "Well, then, O Sphakiotes, I will send my army 
 against you, and we will not depart as long as the 
 summer lasts. You think that you will be safe upon 
 the mountains ; I also have foot soldiers : prepare to 
 receive them. You have concealed your children in 
 holes, but I will seize them, and carry them off to be 
 my slaves." 
 
 u Take the women and children, take also the maidens ; 
 you may perhaps succeed, for you are renegades." 
 
 Such were their last words ; after which they began 
 a terrific combat from behind their entrenchments. 
 When they opened fire and lighted the matches of their 
 guns the bullets fell everywhere like claps of thunder, 
 and smote their breasts like hail, and the blood ran in 
 streams, like water from a spring. 
 
 Alas! how many braves fell, smitten to earth, so 
 altered that none could recognize them ! They lay on 
 the ground, beautiful as angels, bathed in blood ; they 
 
 * The original word Bourmas signifies one who wears a turban. After 
 the Turks conquered Crete, the inhabitants took to wearing the turban — 
 the children who sprang from the union of the Turkish conquerors with the 
 native Cretan women were, of course, not genuine Turks — and for this 
 reason the Turks of Constantinople looked with contempt upon the Cretan 
 Turks, and frequently called them " Bourmades," or ,f renegades."
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 139 
 
 lay there, and their mothers wept and lamented for 
 them. With their gloomy tears they moved all hearts ; 
 uttering mournful lamentations for the dead, with lips 
 deadly pale they sat by their side, and sang their praises ; 
 their groans ascended to Heaven, and on that day the 
 flowers drooped and withered. This is all that they did, 
 those famous men, to fall like wild beasts upon the 
 infidels. And when the latter saw the fury of their 
 enemies they hastened to flee, in peril of their lives. 
 
 All the Turks fled to Rethymnos,* to escape from the 
 terrible slaughter, and the young rayahs asked them, 
 " Where are your arms ? " " The Sphakiotes have taken 
 them, and have them in their possession." Then they 
 asked them, " Where are your heroes ? " " The Sphakiotes 
 have devoured them on the mountains." Then they 
 asked them, " Where are your commanders ? " ^The 
 Sphakiotes have slain them all ; alas ! poor Agas ! " f 
 
 III. 
 
 Antonios Melidones (1822)4 
 
 Children, why are the birds so frightened ? Has the 
 hunter chased and slain them ? No one has slain them, 
 no one has chased them, no one has slain them. But 
 they have heard that Captain Antonios has been slain. 
 When he spoke, how valiant he was ! and suddenly they 
 slew him unjustly, deeply to be mourned. When the 
 news was brought to his master he rent his clothes, and 
 flung them on the ground. * O All-powerful God, what 
 
 * Retimo, on the north coast. 
 
 t A Turkish word, a general term for " officer. 
 
 X See chap. iv.
 
 140 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 manner of custom is this, to slay a man who has been 
 guilty of no offence? Captain Antonios, you who 
 were like a flower, why did you not slay him with the 
 pistol ? O Captain Antonios, you who had no equal, 
 why did you not slay him with the dagger ? O Captain 
 Antonios, beauteous youth, cursed be the Sphakiotes." 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Song of St. George. 
 (303.) 
 O holy George, my master, on your beauteous steed, 
 with your sword girded round you, and wielding your 
 golden spear, I fain would tell of your goodness and 
 renown, you who slew the monstrous dragon, the beast 
 which was at the spring, and devoured a man every 
 morning and evening for its meal. Every day the lot 
 decided upon whom it should fall to bring his child as a 
 present to the monster. And it came about that, one 
 day, the lot fell upon the King's only daughter, a maiden 
 of surpassing beauty. When her father heard the 
 terrible sentence, he was deeply grieved. "Take all I 
 have," said he, "but leave me my child, my heart's 
 delight." Then sharp swords were drawn, and his 
 nobles said, M If you do not send your child, at any rate 
 we will send you." "Take my child and deck her like 
 a bride, take her as a present to the monster that he may 
 feed upon her." Then they went and decked her out, 
 from morning until evening, all in gold and pearls ; she 
 was like the sun in countenance, like the sea in her 
 adornment, her pearls were as numerous as the sand.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 141 
 
 And when they led her down the great staircase, her 
 mother came forth, and exclaimed with a loud cry, and 
 her father also came forth wearing his golden crown. 
 The people accompanied her to the fountain, and the 
 unhappy maiden never hoped to return. She shuddered, 
 and her slender form trembled when she thought that the 
 monster would devour her, poor girl, before her time. 
 It happened that Saint George was passing along the 
 street. " What seek you here, O maiden ? why are you 
 sitting in the forest ? " " Go, young man, leave me, lest 
 the monster devour you like myself." " Fear not the 
 monster ; I will slay him ; let me rest my head upon 
 your knees. When you hear the bellowing of the monster, 
 fear not to wake me." When the maiden heard the 
 noise of the monster coming to strangle her, in her fear 
 she shouted out, " Help, Saint George ! " And when he 
 heard her, he ran to save her, and deliver her from 
 the savage monster. Then he said, " Maiden, where did 
 you learn my name ? How do you know the saint ? " 
 " While you lay asleep, a dove flew to me with a golden 
 cross in its right hand, and on the top of the golden 
 cross was written, ■ Saint George, whosoever wins his 
 favour, never dies.' " The Saint sprang up and made 
 the sign of the cross, hurled his spear at the monster 
 and cleft his throat ; then the monster fell to the 
 ground, and the earth shook beneath him. Then he 
 took off the chain of gold with which her neck was 
 bound : " Henceforth, from to-day, have no fear of 
 those fierce monsters." Afterwards he set her upon 
 his horse, and went to the King's palace, and held 
 converse with him. " Here is your daughter, O King ; 
 welcome your child, and from the chambers of your
 
 i 4 2 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OP CRETE. 
 
 heart give her your blessing." "Long life to you, my 
 knight; but tell me your name, that I may bestow upon 
 you a royal gift." " Those of Scarpathia call me Soldier 
 George ; if you would make me a present, build a 
 church ; and on the left and on the right of it represent 
 the likeness of a horseman, that all Christians may 
 worship." 
 
 V. 
 
 War Song. 
 
 By Constantinos Rhigas. 
 
 How long, my braves, shall we live in the passes alone, 
 like lions on the cliffs and on the mountains ? how 
 long shall we dwell in caves, and look upon naught but 
 the forests ? Shall we flee from the world to escape 
 cruel slavery ? leave parents, brothers, and country, 
 friends, children, and kinsmen ? 
 
 Better is one hour of a life of freedom than forty 
 years of slavery and captivity. What good is life, if it 
 is lived in slavery ? Remember how they torture you 
 every hour. Even though you be vizier, interpreter, or 
 prince, the tyrant will unjustly compass your death. 
 You toil as he orders you throughout the day, while 
 he looks for the chance to drink your blood. Soutsos, 
 Mourouzes, Petrakes, Skanaves, Ghikas, Mavrogenes 
 are the mirror in which you may look and see. Brave 
 captains, priests, laymen, and Agas are slain by the 
 sword of injustice, and countless others, both Turks and 
 Greeks, have lost their lives and property without any 
 reason.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 143 
 
 Come, let us all, fired by the same zeal, take an 
 oath this day upon the cross ; let us select men dis- 
 tinguished for love of their country ; let the law be 
 our first and only guide ; let one man be the ruler of 
 the fatherland, for anarchy differs not from slavery, 
 but one man devours another, like so many wild beasts ; 
 then, with hands uplifted to Heaven, let us pour forth 
 our hearts to God. 
 
 O King of the Universe, I swear by thee that I will 
 never submit to the will of the tyrants ; that I will 
 never serve them, nor be deceived by them ; that I 
 will never trust their promises, as long as I live in the 
 world ; my fixed and only aim will be to destroy them ; 
 faithful to my country, I will break its bonds, and I 
 will never desert my general. If I violate my oath, may 
 the heavens thunder and lighten, consume and scatter 
 me like a vapour. 
 
 In the east, in the west, in the north, in the south, 
 let us all have one heart for our country. Bulgarians, 
 Albanians, Servians, and Greeks, islanders and dwellers 
 on the mainland, let us all with one impulse gird on the 
 sword for the sake of liberty ; let the news go forth, 
 how valiant we are ; let all who understand the art of 
 war hasten hither, that they may overcome the tyrants. 
 Here Greece calls upon them with open arms, offering 
 them support, a resting-place, rank and honour. How 
 long will you remain in the service of foreign kings ? 
 Come, and be the support of your own nation. It is 
 better to die for your country than to hang golden 
 tassels on your swords for a foreigner. 
 
 Souliotes and Mainiotes, famous lions, how long will 
 you sleep, shut up in your caverns ? Leopards of the
 
 i 4 4 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 Black Mountain, eagles of Olympus, hawks of Agrapha, 
 become one soul. Christian brethren, dwellers on the 
 banks of the Danube and the Save, present yourselves, 
 each and all of you, with arms in your hands ; let your 
 blood boil with just indignation ; both small and great, 
 vow the destruction of tyranny. Men of Macedonia, 
 hurl yourselves like wild beasts upon the foe, and shed 
 the blood of the tyrants at once. Dolphins of the sea, 
 dragons of the islands, pour forth like lightning, smite 
 the foe. Sea-birds of Hydra and Psara, it is time 
 to listen to the voice of your country. You, its worthy 
 scions who serve in the fleet, the law bids you launch 
 forth fire. With one heart, with one mind, with one 
 soul, smite, let the tyrant be uprooted. Let us light a 
 flame throughout Turkey, that may travel from Bosnia 
 to Arabia. Raise the cross above your banners, and 
 smite the enemy like a thunderbolt. Do not imagine 
 that he is strong ; his heart beats and he trembles like 
 a hare. Three hundred Klephts showed him that, in 
 spite of all his cannons, he could not withstand them. 
 
 Why, then, do you tarry ? Why stand as if you were 
 dead ? Awake, be no longer divided, as if you were 
 enemies. Just as our ancestors roused themselves like 
 lions, and rushed into the thick of the fight for freedom's 
 sake, so let us, O brothers, all take up arms at once, and 
 rid ourselves of this cruel slavery. Let us slay the 
 wolves who impose the yoke, and dare to tyrannize 
 cruelly over the Greeks. Let the cross shine over land 
 and sea ; let justice come, and the enemy disappear ; 
 let the world be delivered from the frightful scourge 
 that we may live free, O my brothers, upon the earth.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 145 
 
 VI. 
 
 The Two Brothers.* 
 
 A merchant was coming down from the heights of 
 the mountains, leading twelve he-mules and fifteen she- 
 mules. Some brigands met him in the midst of the road, 
 and seized the mules, that they might unload them and 
 see whether there was any money concealed in the bags. 
 But the merchant begged them not to unload the 
 animals. "Ah! do not unload my poor mules! for my 
 chest is sore from loading and unloading them ! " Then 
 the chief of the brigands was enraged, stopped, and said 
 to him : " Look at this son of a dog, who does not weep 
 for his own wretched life, but weeps for his mules. 
 Where are you, my braves ? " he cried ; " give him a 
 thrust with the sword, that he may remain where he is." 
 But the brigands had compassion upon him because he 
 was brave. So the captain flung himself upon the man 
 like a savage lion ; he drew his sword and stabbed him 
 in the side. Then the merchant groaned deeply, and 
 cried aloud with all his might, " Where are you, O my 
 father ? look upon me. Where are you, O my mother ? 
 weep for me." " Whence comes your mother ? I will 
 write her a letter." " My mother is from Arta, my 
 father is from Crete ; and I had an elder brother, who 
 became a brigand." Then the captain shuddered, and 
 took him in his arms ; in his arms he bore him, and 
 carried him to the physician's : " You have healed many 
 that have been stabbed and wounded ; heal this young 
 
 * This little poem explains itself; it is inserted as being probably of 
 Cretan origin. 
 
 K
 
 146 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 man also, for he is my brother." "We have healed 
 many that have been stabbed and wounded, but wounds 
 like these none could heal." Then the merchant begged 
 his brother to take the mules : " Here, take the mules to 
 our father ! " <: Ah, how can I say to our father and our 
 own poor mother, ' I have killed my brother and taken 
 his mules ' ? " 
 
 VII. 
 Georgios Scatoverga.* 
 
 (1806.) 
 
 He who is a good listener is also a good story-teller, 
 if he has a good memory. I also have listened, and 
 have composed a Georgiad, the subject of which is 
 " Georgios Scatoverga of the Plain." As I do not know 
 how to read, in order that I may not forget this story, I 
 have put it into the form of a song, that I might be able 
 to remember it well. 
 
 Georgios was born at Mokhos ; his parents were 
 peasants ; poor, a mere husbandman, he never learned 
 to read. When he grew up, he repaired to Castro,| swift 
 and wide awake as the morning star. He grew up in 
 a foreign land, and became a brave, highly favoured in 
 strength and boldness. W T hen a Turk provoked him, 
 he drew his sword, and returned it to his scabbard with 
 bloodstained hand. He slew many Turks, and gained 
 great renown, and he will enjoy immortal glory in 
 Paradise. Several times he escaped and fled from the 
 
 * One of the most famous Cretan Klepbts. The piece in the original is 
 an excellent specimen of the Cretan dialect, 
 t Megalo-Kastro, Candia.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 147 
 
 toils, but on one occasion he was thrown into prison, 
 where he heard the mournful news that Arif Moshoghlu, 
 in the plain of Crete, had assembled the young girls to 
 dance before him, and had ordered his parents, amongst 
 the rest, to send him their daughter. When the dance 
 was over, Arif would have carried her off, but she 
 escaped. Arif went to her father's house in the 
 morning, and found her father weaving a net ; he sent 
 him off to perform forced labour,* and in the mean time 
 threatened his daughter, who felled him to the ground 
 and deprived him of his arms. Then the Turk 
 promised he would do her no harm, and asked her to 
 give him back his arms ; she had no sooner done so 
 than the infidel, like a furious serpent, slew her. When 
 her father returned and crossed the threshold, he saw 
 his daughter lying dead, and cried out, " What is that ? " 
 Then the Turk killed him also, and looked about for 
 others whom he might slay, but, finding none, returned 
 to Castro. This is what Georgios heard in his prison 
 in The City, t from which he at last, with great 
 difficulty, escaped. Collecting assistance from his fellow- 
 countrymen, he purchased arms of good quality, and, 
 setting out from there, approached the coasts of our 
 island of Crete, and entered a little harbour, which they 
 call Malia. He hastened at once to his house, opened 
 his father's tomb, and from his body took a ball, with 
 which he loaded his gun; then he sat down at table, 
 playing on the lyre day and night, and practising with 
 his pistols. When Moshoghlu heard of it, he set forth, 
 intending to kill him, and sent orders to him to visit 
 
 * Angaria, the corvee. 
 
 t Constantinople, Stamboul.
 
 148 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 him. Georgios replied that he knew his house too well, 
 and that Moshoghlu could come to him if he had 
 anything to say to him. Then Arif, taking twelve 
 other Turks with him to assist him, went in search of 
 Georgios, who was playing with his brother. They told 
 him that they also had come to drink. They sat down 
 at table, and the mother of Georgios poured out wine for 
 them to drink ; when it was all consumed, they sent to 
 the inn to fetch more. In the mean time Arif asked him 
 if he knew him, and told him if he loved him he should 
 go and find him, and drink. Georgios answered and said 
 to him, " How could I love him when I see neither my 
 father nor my sister at home ? " " Poor fool, it is I who 
 killed them, and I will kill you also." " And I am come 
 to give you the reward which you deserve." Then 
 Georgios fired at him with the bullet which he had 
 drawn from his father's body, and gave it back to him 
 to whom it belonged ; then he shot him again, this time 
 through the heart. In the disturbance the lamp went out. 
 Georgios leaped from the place where he was, dealing 
 blows right and left with his sword. He wounded seven 
 or eight of his assailants, but, his brother being wounded 
 in the foot, he drew him by the hand, and thrust him 
 outside, took him upon his shoulders, and set off for the 
 woods and mountains. Arif and four others fell dead, 
 on the spot where the father and sister had been mur- 
 dered. Georgios went to Ephesus, and, when his brother 
 recovered, he determined to return home. Hadji 
 Mustapha, a valiant Turk, famous and renowned for his 
 deeds of slaughter, heard of it. One day he waited for 
 Georgios upon the road, with an Arab slave, and the 
 servant of another Turk. He saluted him courteously,
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 149 
 
 and invited him to his house that he might enjoy him- 
 self. Mustapha was walking in front, Georgios followed 
 him, the Arab was next, the Turkish slave last. The 
 Arab had orders to fire upon Georgios from behind. But 
 Georgios perceived the raising of the pistol ; he already 
 had his own in his hand, and, almost before you had time 
 to turn round to look, he had laid him low, and, with a 
 second shot, had shot the Aga through the heart. The 
 Turkish servant fled ; Georgios had been wounded in the 
 arm by the Arab. He returned to Ephesus to recover 
 from his wound, where he was put to death by poison. 
 Thus, I have composed this little history, and I sing it 
 to the accompaniment of my lyre for my amusement, 
 and in hope of comforting a sorrowing heart. This 
 story was composed entirely by Manuel, son of Hierony- 
 mus the priest. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Glemedhes All* 
 
 (1822.) 
 
 No man has ever yet been found to discover the truth, 
 
 whether the commander at Loutro judged aright. He 
 
 sent a firman to the district of Rethymnos, that 
 
 Glemedhes Ali, the man of war, should be seized. He 
 
 drew his sword, and approached his assailants, who all 
 
 attacked him like swallows. A Sphakiote rushed upon 
 
 the foe, swift as a dove, and cut off his head with his 
 
 right hand ; he cut off the head of Glemedhes Ali and 
 
 held it up in his hand like a flag. The head of the 
 
 famous Glemedhes, stained with blood, was carried to 
 
 * A native Cretan Mohammedan leader. The dh is pronounced like th 
 in this, that.
 
 i5o A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 Roussos,* who took two sequins, and bestowed it upon 
 them as a reward, because they had slain Glemedhes 
 himself. For he had brought sorrow to many hearts 
 and would have brought yet more ; may he who laments 
 his death lose the sight of his eyes ! O Glemedhes, alas 
 for that head which once dared to go out to battle at 
 Rethymnos and Canea ; O Glemedhes, that head which 
 once you adorned with flowers, is now in the hands 
 of the Sphakiotes, a mark for their rifles. O Turks 
 and Janissaries, gather together in the mosque, that you 
 may look upon Glemedhes Ali, the handsome brave. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THEODOROS.f 
 
 (1822, 1823.) 
 
 The commander sent him a written order, that no 
 Turk should remain where the Greeks lived ; his 
 mother also had bidden him fight bravely, and not suffer 
 an Arnaout steed to escape. He went down to Servili 
 and set up his tents, and went down to Gazi, where they 
 amused themselves with sports. He slew many Turks, 
 the holy terror of all ; but the Turks were many, and he 
 was weary. " The men of Mylopotamos, though thick as 
 the glades in the forest, if you resist them throughout 
 the day, will flee when the sun goes down. O unhappy 
 Anceanians and Chrysaniotes, who fight against the 
 Turks as bravely as the Lakiotes. Woe is me, my poor 
 brother ! why did I send you away ? You could have 
 
 * A Christian captain, from Askyfo. 
 
 t A Christian leader, who was slain during the revolt in a charge of the 
 Arnaout cavalry.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 151 
 
 assisted me to gain a refuge. Woe is me, my poor 
 brother ! would that you could hear how I have been 
 slain to-day ; but you have no news of it. Greet the 
 Sphakiotes from me and all the braves, and tell them 
 how the Arnaouts have overthrown me." 
 
 X. 
 
 TZELEPES. 
 (Same date as preceding.) 
 
 Sorrow betide that Sunday and accursed be the 
 Tuesday, when Tzelepes came here to fight. He sought 
 Gaoures at the height of the cross, and he dragged his 
 cannon to fight against the Turks. He drew his sword 
 to pierce the roof, that he might hurl fire upon them and 
 consume them all. Then Zounalakes fired, and so true 
 was his aim that the ball entered Tzelepes's breast ; 
 it entered his breast and reached his throat, and then 
 Tzelepes cried, " Mercy." " Get up, Tzelepes, that we 
 may make an attack ; maybe the Turks will come forth 
 from the house." They went and buried him in the chief 
 town of the Sphakiotes, because his renown smelt sweet 
 as a violet. When evening came, the Turks came forth, 
 not knowing that Tzelepes lay on his bier. 
 
 XI. 
 
 Hadji Mikhales. 
 
 (1828). 
 
 On every Easter and Sunday, on every great festival, 
 
 listen, that I may tell you of Hadji Mikhales. The men 
 
 of Grabusa sat down and wrote an urgent message, they
 
 152 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 sent it to the Morea, inviting Hadji Mikhales. They 
 also wrote to the Hadji, the ancient of the Morea, that 
 he should get together horses and go down to Crete. 
 At Anapli he collected sixty-five horsemen to go down 
 to Crete, where the Egyptians were. After he had 
 gathered his men together, he put them on board ships 
 of war ; he had chosen Roumeliotes, handsome braves. 
 He went, and, after landing all his men on the deserted 
 coast of Grabusa, asked the inhabitants whether they 
 had powder. "We have powder and bullets to fight with ; 
 we only need your horses to go out into the plain." But 
 he did not feel confident, and went to his boats, intend- 
 ing to disembark at Loutro, and learn the truth. There 
 he found the Sphakiotes, valiant men, who were held in 
 honour for their warlike deeds. " Come, O Sphakiotes, 
 let the Rhizites come, that we may go and stir up the 
 Catomerites. Come, O Sphakiotes, you who are braves, 
 that we may fight against Turkey, and leave your 
 flocks." When the Pasha heard this, he was sorely 
 grieved — to Castro and Rethymnos came the news. 
 " Gather together, O foremost braves of Turkey, that we 
 may go and drive him back into the mountain districts. 
 For either he will perish on the mountain districts, or he 
 will fall into the sea, or we will kill him because he has 
 come to us as it were a gift." When his Kiaya * heard 
 this, he turned round and said, "O Mustapha Pasha, 
 this man will not flee, for he is a brave. He is no 
 Lazopoulos, to make for the mountain districts, but he 
 is from Roumelia, and brings braves with him. He also 
 brings youths from Bulgaria, honoured horsemen, and 
 they will slay us, however cautious we may be." " Hush ! 
 
 • The Vizier's deputy.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 153 
 
 Pasha ; praise not to me sixty horsemen ; I will devour 
 them like a salad or anchovies." So spake the Pasha, 
 and that same hour he gathered together all his forces 
 that he might go forth from the city. He ordered the 
 Castrians to assemble, and the Rethymniotes to come 
 and join the Caniotes ; to come and join them and 
 form a column, and march to ravage the city of the 
 Sphakiotes. They marched and collected their forces at 
 the Hellenic arch ; the sons of Greece heard it and made 
 for the mountain districts. Then Kyriakoules, a man of 
 well-proved valour, who was held in high honour for his 
 warlike deeds, said : " Grasp your swords, your weapons, 
 and daggers at once, that we may rush upon the Turks. 
 Maybe the Turks will fear when we make the attack ; 
 maybe we shall drive them outside the entrenchments." 
 And when he came to the mountain heights of Askyfo, 
 all were decking the Turkish standards with flowers. 
 And when the Sphakiotes saw them, they all exclaimed, 
 both small and great, " O Hadji, go not to battle, for you 
 are our head. You are our head, you are our honour, 
 and if they kill you, our lives are lost." " As once I 
 was born, so once will I die, and once I will bid farewell 
 to the world above. It is better that they should kill 
 me ; it is better that I should die, than that I should live 
 disgraced in the world above. If the Pasha kills me, he 
 will cut off my head and take it to Canea, and my 
 honour with him ; or, if I kill him, I will cut off his 
 head, and take it to the Morea, and take his honour with 
 me. Saddle my horse, that I may go forth to battle. 
 I hear the Pasha is coming, let me go and take him." 
 Then he offered up a prayer, made the sign of the cross, 
 took his light sword, and hung it round his neck. Then
 
 154 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 again he offered up a prayer, took his pistol, and placed 
 it in his belt. When he had mounted into the saddle, 
 even his horse wept, and then he knew that he should 
 die. " To-day I shall be slain, this very day, that they 
 may remember me in all the fortresses." He again 
 offered up a prayer, leaped into his saddle, lashed his 
 horse, and rode out of the gate. 
 
 XII. 
 
 The Condemnation of Crete. 
 
 In the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty- 
 eight — listen, that I may tell you about the distressful 
 island of Crete. The princes assembled and went to Paris, 
 that they might hold a meeting to settle what was to 
 become of Crete. After they had assembled and began 
 the discussion, they were divided into parties, and gave 
 it to the Turk. Then they sent a deputy, who went 
 to bear the news to the Christians. When they were 
 gathered together, he read the agreement, and told 
 them how they had handed Crete over to the Egyptian. 
 The Christians lamented and cried aloud : " O Lord 
 commander, go up into the hills and sit in the roads ; 
 there you will see birds flying with the bones of 
 Christians in their mouths. Who could tell you, who 
 could number all who have perished on the mountains 
 and in the groves? Listen, O Lord, let me tell you 
 our sufferings. The Turks have sold our children into 
 slavery in Arabia : all of us who were left ran to the 
 hills, naked and barefooted, in order that we might 
 obtain our freedom. We had confidence in you, the
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 155 
 
 Kings of the Franks, and now you will do us injustice 
 and leave us slaves. When the terrible Judge shall 
 come to judge us all, surrounded by all the hosts of 
 heaven ; when He hears of the unjust sufferings of 
 the Christians, when the Cretans come with their 
 complaints and stand before the terrible Judge, then, 
 O France and England, you shall answer before the 
 terrible Judge, at the second coming." "What can I 
 do for you, poor fools ? Why do you not write to the 
 princes ? They have held a consultation, and agreed 
 that Crete shall be handed over to the Egyptian. I 
 am sorry for you, O Christians, I cannot help you : I 
 cannot alter what has been determined." 
 
 Then came vessels of the Franks to Grabusa, and ex- 
 pelled the Christians who held it. They had on board 
 Egyptians who overran the island, wearing red dresses 
 and carrying drums. They settled in various places, 
 and condemned and tyrannized over the Christians, and 
 tortured the rayahs. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The Lav of Chrtstos Miliones.* 
 
 (Probably end of seventeenth century.) 
 
 Three birds, settled on the heights above the haunts 
 of the Klephts ; the first looked towards Armyros, the 
 second in the direction of Valtos, while the third, the 
 best of all, lamented and said : " My Lord, what has 
 become of Christos Miliones ? He cannot be found at 
 Valtos or Kryavrysis." f " We have heard that he has 
 
 * This song and the five which follow are taken from Klcphtic ballads. 
 
 f Cold spring.
 
 156 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 passed over to Arta, and has taken the Kadi prisoner 
 with two Agas." The Turkish commander heard of 
 it, and was greatly displeased. He called for Mavro- 
 mates and Moukhtar of Kleisoura : " If you desire 
 office, if you desire captaincies, kill Christos, the Captain 
 Miliones. The Sultan has ordered it, and has sent a 
 firman." Friday dawned, would that it had never done 
 so ! and Souleiman was sent to find Christos. He 
 found him at Armyros, where they embraced like 
 friends : throughout the night they drank, till break 
 of day : and when dawn appeared, they went over to 
 the quarters of the Klephts : " Christos, the Sultan 
 demands your presence ; the Agas also demands it." 
 " While Christos lives, he will not surrender to the 
 Turks." Then they charged each other with their 
 muskets, fired at the same time, and both fell on the 
 spot. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 The Lay of Gyphtakes. 
 
 The plains thirst for water, the hills for snow, the 
 hawks for birds, the Turks for heads. What has be- 
 come of Gyphtakes's mother, who has lost two children, 
 and her brother as well ? And now she has gone mad, 
 and walks about in tears. She is never seen, either in 
 the plains or on the tops of the mountains. We have 
 been told that she has gone on to Vlakhokhoria, where 
 the sound of the gun is heard, roiling terribly. The 
 noise of the firing was not heard at a wedding feast 
 or religious holiday ; Gyphtos had been wounded in
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 157 
 
 the knees and the band. He tottered like a broken 
 tree, he fell like a cypress ; like the brave that he was, 
 he cried with a loud voice, "Where are you, oh my 
 brother, dearly beloved ? Come back, come back, take 
 my head, that the troops of Yussuf, the Arabian, may 
 not take it, and carry it to Yanina to that dog, 
 Ali Pasha." 
 
 XV. 
 
 Mount Olympos and Mount Kissavos. 
 
 The two mountains, Olympos and Kissavos, quarrelled 
 as to which of them should pour forth the rain, which 
 the snow. Kissavos poured forth the rain, and Olympos 
 the snow. Then Kissavos turned round and said to 
 Olympos, " Do not quarrel with me, O Olympos, haunt 
 of the Klephts ; I am Kissavos, famed at Larissa. 
 Coniaria * takes delight in me, and the Agas of 
 Larissa." 
 
 Then Olympos turned round and said to Kissavos, 
 " Listen, Kissavos, listen, unseemly one, home of the 
 Turks : I am old Olympos, famed throughout the world ; 
 I have forty-two summits, sixty-two springs ; every 
 spring has its standard, every branch has its Klepht ; 
 on my highest peak an eagle has perched itself, holding 
 in its claws the head of a brave. The eagle said to the 
 head, ' O head, what have you done to be so despite- 
 fully treated ? ' The head replied, ' O bird, feed on my 
 youth, feed on my bravery, that so you may make your 
 wing an ell in length and your claw a span. At Louro, 
 
 * i.e. the Turkish nation.
 
 158 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 at Xeromero, I was one of the Armatoli ; * at Khasia, 
 on Olympos, I was for twelve years a Klepht ; I slew 
 sixty Agas and burned their villages. As for those 
 whom I left on the spot, Turks and Albanians, they 
 are too numerous, O bird, for me to count. But at 
 last my turn has come to fall in battle.' " 
 
 XVI. 
 
 The Klepht's Farewell. 
 
 Go down to the beach, go down to the shore : make 
 your hands oars, your breast a rudder, your slender 
 body a ship. If God and the Holy Virgin desire that 
 you should make your way to our quarters, where we 
 hold counsel, where we once roasted the two goats, 
 Floras and Tombras, and if the company should ask 
 you anything concerning me, do not say that I have 
 perished, poor unfortunate : say only that I have taken 
 a wife in a strange country, that I have taken a flat 
 stone for my mother-in-law, the black earth for a wife, 
 and the little stones for my brother-in-law. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 The Klepht's Burial. 
 
 The sun was setting when Demos gave his orders : 
 " Go, my children, fetch water, that you may take your 
 evening meal. Sit by my side, O nephew Lambrakes ; 
 
 * A body of armed Greeks, employed by the Turks to defend the 
 mountain passes. Their chief officer was called Kapitanos, and the district 
 guarded by them, Kapitanaton. When they quarrelled with the Turks, 
 they became Klephts, or brigands.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 159 
 
 come, put on my armour, and be a captain : and you, 
 my boys, take my ill-fated sword, cut green branches, 
 strew them as a seat for me, and go, fetch a confessor 
 to whom I may confess and tell him all the sins that I 
 have committed : thirty years I was one of the Armatoli, 
 and twenty years a Klepht ; and now death has come 
 upon me and I shall die. Make my tomb, make it wide 
 and lofty, that I may stand upright and fight, and load 
 my gun, leaning on my side. Leave a window on the 
 right, that the swallows may come and bring me news 
 of the spring, and that the nightingales may herald the 
 gentle month of May. 
 
 XVIII. 
 Ode to Freedom. 
 
 I recognize you by the terrible edge of your sword, I 
 recognize you by your look, which so rapidly measures 
 the earth. 
 
 Sprung from the sacred bones of the Hellenes, and 
 vigorous as of yore, hail, Freedom, hail ! 
 
 There you did dwell, carved with shame and bitter- 
 ness, waiting for a voice to say to you, " Come forth 
 again." 
 
 That day was long in coming, and silence reigned 
 around ; men's hearts were terrified and oppressed by 
 slavery. 
 
 Unhappy Freedom ! Nothing remained for you but 
 to tell of your mighty past, and to tell of it with 
 weeping.
 
 160 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 You waited and waited for a freedom-loving voice, 
 and wrung your hands in despair. 
 
 You said to yourself: " Ah ! when shall I lift up my 
 head from misfortune ? " and, from above, you were 
 answered by lamentations and groanings and bonds. 
 
 Then you lifted up your face, all besmeared with 
 tears ; blood trickled down your garment, Hellenic 
 blood in streams. 
 
 With blood-stained garments, I know that you 
 secretly went out to seek in foreign countries other 
 powerful aid. 
 
 Alone you undertook the journey, alone you returned : 
 doors do not open readily when necessity knocks at 
 them. 
 
 One wept in your bosom, but gave you no respite ; 
 another promised * you assistance, and mocked you 
 terribly. 
 
 Others — alas, for your pitiful lot ! — exulted over 
 your misfortune : " Go and find your children, go ! " 
 said the hardhearted wretches. 
 
 Your foot started back, and speedily trod the stone 
 or turf, which preserves the remembrance of your glory. 
 
 Your head lies low in the dust, in deep humility, like 
 the poor man who knocks at the door of the wealthy, 
 and whose life is a burden to him. 
 
 Yes ; but now f every son of yours is struggling 
 valiantly against the foe, seeking, with inexhaustible 
 courage, victory or death. 
 
 Sprung from the sacred bones of the Hellenes, valiant 
 as of yore, hail, Freedom, hail ! 
 
 No sooner did Heaven behold your efforts, the which, 
 
 * Catherine II., Empress of Russia. 
 
 t Written in 1824, during the height of the Revolution.
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 161 
 
 on the soil where you first saw the light of day, caused 
 flowers and fruit to grow for your enemies — 
 
 Than it grew calm : a voice was heard proceeding 
 from beneath the earth, and the martial voice of Rhigas 
 answered you. 
 
 All countries saluted you with generous acclamations, 
 and out of their hearts their mouths spoke. 
 
 The Ionian Islands cried until their voice reached 
 the stars, and lifted up their hands in token of joy. 
 
 Although each of them * was bound with artfully- 
 riveted fetters, and false freedom was engraven on their 
 forehead. 
 
 The country of Washington was stirred to its very 
 soul, and remembered the fetters in which she had once 
 been bound. 
 
 The Spanish lion roared from his tower, as if saying, 
 44 Hail to you ! " and shook his fearful mane. 
 
 The leopard of England trembled with fright, and 
 suddenly carried his threatening roar towards the 
 confines of Russia. 
 
 He showed, by the rapidity of his movements, the 
 mighty strength of his limbs ; and darted a fiery look 
 upon the waves of the yEgean. 
 
 The eye of the eagle, which nourishes its claws and 
 wings on the vitals of Italy, discovered you from the 
 heights of the clouds. 
 
 But woe to him who, having come within reach of 
 your sword, ventures to offer you resistance ! f 
 
 * At that time they were under a British protectorate. 
 
 t The dithyrambic poem, from which the above stanzas are selected, is 
 by Dionysius Salomos (i 798-1857), a native of Zante. This explains his 
 antipathy to England. His Hymn to Freedom has been translated into 
 nearly every language of Europe, no less than four having appeared in 
 Italy. 
 
 L
 
 1 62 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 Space does not permit of specimens of Myriologia, 
 Love Songs, or Proverbs being given, but the insertion 
 of the following curious legend (abridged in parts) will, 
 it is hoped, be excused. It is from the pen of Rhizos 
 Rhangabes, one of the most prolific and accomplished 
 writers of Modern Greece, and is well worth reproducing 
 in English. The translator is not aware of its having 
 been translated before. Similar stories are current in 
 regard to the Devil's Bridge in Switzerland, bridges at 
 Frankfort and Pont a Mousson, and Crowland Abbey 
 in England. 
 
 The Devil's Bridge. 
 
 Once upon a time there was a Pasha of Damala, who 
 wanted to have a bridge made over the river, that he 
 might be able to cross it when he went hunting. Many 
 clever architects came from various parts of the Morea, 
 and asked large sums of money, because the task was 
 very difficult. Now, there lived at Damala a workman, 
 who lived on charity, and was an idle and useless fellow. 
 He envied his fellow-workmen from the Morea, abused 
 them as strangers, and did not want to let them make 
 any money. So he went to the Pasha, and told him 
 that he would build the bridge better for half the money, 
 and, as he made a great disturbance, the Pasha gave him 
 the commission, on condition, however, that if he failed 
 he should lose his head. So the man built the bridge, 
 and, when it was finished, declared boastfully that there 
 was not its like in the world. 
 
 The same night the rain fell upon the mountains, the 
 river swelled, and carried away the bridge. The man's
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 16 
 
 terror was indescribable when he heard the Pasha give 
 the executioner orders to cut off his head ; he was in 
 despair, because he knew that the next day would be 
 his last. He was sitting in front of the fire in his 
 cottage, when he suddenly heard steps by his side ; on 
 turning round, he saw a man standing by, clothed in 
 black, with black eyes, beetle-browed, with a long nose 
 and chin, and an inkstand in his girdle. The man 
 humbly saluted him. 
 
 " Who are you, and where did you come from ? My 
 door was shut ! " 
 
 " Excuse me. I heard you weeping, and came to ask 
 you what was the matter, and to see if I could help 
 you." 
 
 The architect told him what was the cause of his 
 grief, and what he wanted. 
 
 " Is that all ? That is very easy. The bridge shall 
 be built as you want." 
 
 " Alas ! it would be no good if you were to build it as 
 strong as the citadel of Nanplia. I shall lose my head 
 to-morrow, because the bridge has fallen in." 
 
 "We have the whole night before us," said the man 
 dressed in black. " The bridge shall be built ; what else 
 can I do for you ? " 
 
 " To tell you the truth, my other desire is to be rich, 
 and that immediately." 
 
 " I am at your orders. Anything else ? " 
 
 " I am much obliged for your kindness. And now 
 tell me how I can serve you." 
 
 "You need not trouble yourself," said the other, 
 politely. How many years longer would you like to 
 live?"
 
 1 64 A SHORT POPULAR HISTORY OF CRETE. 
 
 " If I could live three years in the manner I desire, I 
 should be content." 
 
 "Three years, then," answered the stranger, with a 
 deep obeisance. " I have only one little souvenir to ask 
 of you : after the three years, I will ask you to give me 
 your soul." 
 
 " My soul ! Oh, that is a serious matter. It seems to 
 me that, even when I am dead, I shall want my soul." 
 
 " Oh, that alters the case. I don't want to force you. 
 I am sorry I cannot help you or give you the wealth you 
 desire. However, you have no need of it, for to-morrow 
 the Pasha will cut off your head." 
 
 " Ah, you are right ; I had forgotten that," said the 
 builder, deathly pale. " I don't want to give my head to 
 the Pasha ; can't you help me ? " 
 
 " I am quite ready to serve you ; only — your soul at 
 the end of three years. Come, I will give you six, to 
 oblige you." 
 
 The builder agreed. Then the unknown pulled a 
 little book out of his pocket, dipped his finger-nail, 
 which was long and pointed, into the inkstand instead 
 of a pen, drew up the agreement, set down the date, the 
 25th of December, and gave it to the builder to sign. 
 The builder did not know how to write, and offered to 
 make the sign of the cross. Then the stranger flew 
 into a passion, and began to foam at the mouth and 
 tremble in his rage, and the builder dipped his finger in 
 the inkstand, and made his mark. The unknown put 
 the book back into his pocket, saluted the builder 
 humbly, bade him farewell, and vanished. 
 
 The next day the builder went to the mountain, and, 
 when he looked up, his amazement was indescribable ;
 
 CRETAN SONGS AND LEGENDS. 165 
 
 for, high above his head, where the eagles only could 
 reach, and where the torrent, even if it overflowed, 
 would never reach the bridge, where only the spirits of 
 the air could have been the builders, he saw a bridge 
 that spanned the two mountains. While descending 
 the mountain, in his haste to go and tell the Pasha, he 
 found a jar full of gold pieces. Having stored his newly- 
 found wealth in a place of safety, he ran to the Pasha, 
 who, when he saw the bridge, marvelled, and declared 
 him the chief architect in the Morea and the whole world. 
 
 From that time the worthy man lived highly 
 honoured in the midst of luxury, and was made Presi- 
 dent of the town. The years went on, and the world was 
 full of stories of his wealth and extravagance. 
 
 One Christmas Day he went out from Damala without 
 saying where he was going. He was going to take some 
 gold pieces from his inexhaustible store. He went, and 
 returned no more. The herdsmen who were feeding 
 their flocks on the mountains, afterwards related that 
 they had seen him crossing the bridge ; that a mighty 
 storm of wind had arisen, that the sky grew as dark as 
 pitch, the wind howled on the cliffs, and blew as if it 
 would have torn the mountain up by its roots. Then 
 rain and hail fell, and the lightning flashed, and in the 
 midst of the thunder they heard loud shouts of laughter 
 in the air, and when the sky cleared the architect was no 
 longer on the bridge, and was no longer to be seen. 
 When they passed on to the place where they had last 
 seen him, all that they found was a piece of blackened 
 paper, with characters written upon it, which not one of 
 the most learned men in Damala could read. 
 
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 The Morning Leader says : — " ' The Lovely Malincourt* is one 
 of those dazzling phenomena that all men are startled by, and 
 
 • The Lovely Malincourt's ' hero is one of those men that at least 
 two women love at the same time." 
 
 The Dund e Advertiser says: — " To novel readers Helen Mathers 
 is a name of happy memory, recalling as it does that fascinating story, 
 
 • Comin' Thro' the Rye.' The latest story from the same gifted 
 pen is entitled ' The Lovely Malincourt,' and deals with fashionable 
 life in London." 
 
 The Liberal says: — "The novels of Miss Helen Mathers are 
 always delightful. Few authoresses of the present day excel her 
 in the happy combination of a good plot, clearly drawn characters, 
 a bright and oftentimes brilliant style, and a wit that is as genuine 
 as it is untinged by vulgarity." 
 
 The Hull News says : — "The works of Miss Helen Mathers are 
 like good wine and need no bush ; nor is her latest story, • The 
 Lovely Malincourt ' any exception to her previous novels." 
 
 The Western Daily Press says : — " Any book by the talented 
 author of * Comin' Thro' the Rye,' is sure to attract many readers. 
 There is always a certain freshness about her pages that makes 
 them delightful. There is nothing but pleasant reading in the 
 book, which is sure to find a host of admirers." 
 
 The Whitehall Review says : — " Everyone knows what to expect 
 when they take up a novel by the author of ' Comin' Thro' the 
 Rye.' Such cardinal virtues as refinement, delicacy and purity of 
 tone, are hers particularly, and the most captious critic can find no 
 weak spot in her literary armour. ' The Lovely Malincourt ' is a 
 distinctly readable book." 
 
 The Lady's Pictorial says : — M A new story from the bright and 
 sympathetic pen of Helen Mathers is as refreshing and as welcome 
 as rain in summer, and it was with real regret that I read the last 
 page and put aside the volume." 
 
 The Realm says : — ' ' ' The Lovely Malincourt ' is a charming 
 story, told as only Miss Helen Mathers could tell it. One cannot 
 read the book without falling in love with Leslie — and surely the 
 book is a success when one falls in love with the heroine." 
 
 LONDON : 10 & u WARWICK LANE, E.C.
 
 m* "fcaffo&U" library 
 
 Vol. I. Narrow 8zw, Paper, is. 6 J. ; Cloth, 2s. 
 
 The Jaws of Death. 
 
 By Grant Allen. 6th Thousand. 
 
 The Daily Chronicle says : — " • The Jaws of Death ' is a pretty 
 piece of writing in the sensational line. We are brought so smoothly, 
 so gradually, to the very edge of the catastrophe, the shiver of it is 
 upon us almost before we are there. It is extremely creditable to 
 Mr. Allen's invention." 
 
 The Daily News says : — "The whole thing is exceedingly well 
 done." 
 
 The Literary World says : — "It does great credit to Mr. Grant 
 Allen's vivid imagination and able descriptive powers." 
 
 The Daily Courier says : — " There are few authors who can 
 write such good short stories as Mr. Grant Allen." 
 
 The Scotsman says: — "'The Jaws of Death' is an attractive 
 story of a strange and exciting character, suitable for perusal on 
 the sea-shore or the mountain side. A good-going story, with 
 plenty of spirit, and not a little fun." 
 
 The Bookseller says : — " It is told in a fashion which makes 
 the reader forget the improbability, and only feel regret that the 
 end is reached all too soon." 
 
 The St. fames' Gazette says : — "The climax is ingeniously 
 arrived at, and the preliminary narrative is lively and entertaining." 
 
 The Aberdeen Free Press says: — "There are few better story- 
 tellers than Mr. Grant Allen when he is in the vein, and in this 
 little volume we have him at his best." 
 
 The Western Mail says : — " This dainty volume forms the first of 
 the Daffodil Series. * The Jaws of Death ' is a clever little story 
 from the pen of a distinguished novelist. It is intensely well told." 
 
 The North British Daily Mail says : — "We give the initial 
 number of this series our most unqualified approval ; it is excellent 
 from every point of view." 
 
 The Belfast News Letter says : — " No one with a taste for the 
 humorous will deny that the author has tickled him with his picture 
 of Howard Freke of Cooper's Pike ; and if he combine in his 
 nature a love for the sensational, the closing chapters apropos of 
 the doings of Li Sing cannot possibly fail to delight him equally. 
 The story is most enjoyable throughout." 
 
 The Bath Herald says: — "The book is powerfully and 
 dramatically written, and the volume is a welcome introduction 
 to what is likely to become a very popular series." 
 
 LONDON : 10 & n WARWICK LANE, E.C
 
 ^\jt "Impressionist" J^rks. 
 
 Crown Zvo, Cloth, gilt, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Under this general heading Messrs. Jarrold and Sons propose to issue, from time 
 to time, a volume of Short Stories. It is intended, so far as possible, to link story to 
 story by some thread of mental connection, and, thus, to present to the reader a 
 series of vivid and related pictures. 
 
 i. Dust in the Balance. 
 
 By George Knight. With Title Page and Cover 
 Design by Laurence Housman. 2nd Edition. 
 
 2. Some Women's Ways. 
 
 By Mary Angela Dickens. With Title Page and 
 Cover Design by Laurence Housman. 2nd Edition. 
 
 3. Blind Larry. Irish idyiis. 
 
 By Lewis Macnamara. With Title Page and Cover 
 Design by Laurence Housman. 
 
 4. Sweet Audrey, or Comedies of Country Life 
 
 and Town Glamour. By George Morley. {Shortly 
 
 %\)t "fcaffcMl" library. 
 
 A Series of Shorter Novels by Authors of the day, in convenient shape 
 and attractive binding. 
 
 Narrow &vo, paper covers, is. 6a 1 .; cloth, zs. 
 
 i. The Jaws of Death. 
 
 By Grant Allen. 5th Thousand. 
 
 2. Sapphira of the Stage. 
 
 By George Knight. 5th Thousand. 
 
 3. The Kaffir Circus, and other stories. 
 
 By M. Donovan. 4th Thousand. 
 
 4. Because of the Child. 
 
 By Curtis Yorke. 5th Thousand. 
 
 5. A Studio Mystery. 
 
 By Frank Aubrey. [Shortly 
 
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 popular i)oltt»ap Boohs. 
 
 Poppy land. 
 
 Papers descriptive of Scenery on the East Coast. 
 
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 with 26 Illustrations by F. H. Townshend. 
 
 Superior Edition, 2s. 6d. In attractive Paper 
 
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 "It is not surprising that a fourth edition of Mr. Scott's 
 delightful little book is called for. It deals with the 
 charming coast of the far south-east of our island, and the 
 epithet ' Poppyland' given to that has a poetic ring about 
 it that is very attractive. The vicinities chiefly dealt with 
 are Overstrand and its vicinity, Cromer, Lowestoft, and 
 Yarmouth." — The Queen. 
 
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 is. ; or Superior Edition, cloth elegant, 2s. 6d. 
 
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 and instruct visitors to the Broads of East Anglia." 
 
 The Scotsman says : — "A delightful little volume, with 
 many dainty illustrations, as a result of a holiday among 
 the little-known Norfolk and Suffolk Broads. There are 
 many capital descriptions of scenery, and the book is 
 marked by bright and vigorous writing." 
 
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 Author of "Vera in Poppyland," etc. Illustrated 
 by A. Rackham and M. M. Blake. 3s. 6d. 
 
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 written in an agreeable fashion, and evidently compiled 
 from an intimate knowledge of the country and its 
 inhabitants."—/^// Mall Gazette. 
 
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 B.A., Oxon. Illustrated by Victor Prout. 
 Crown 4to, Pictorial cover, is. 
 
 JARROLD & SONS, 10 & 11, WARWICK LANE, LONDON, E.C,
 
 Dr. <Sor5on=Stables' Jkaltl) manuals. 
 
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 Sickness or Health? or, The Danger of 
 
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 merits a place in every public and private library in the land. 
 The publishers are to be warmly congratulated on the publica- 
 tion of this excellent volume." — Hull Examiner. 
 
 The Wife's Guide to Health and 
 
 Happiness. 2nd Edition. 
 
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 novel, and far more instructive. The advice given is sensible, 
 and up to date. Dr. Stables handles difficult and delicate 
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 in this book."— The Medical Monthly. 
 
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 practical and clear language much valuable and essential 
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 which he has treated this subject will be widely appreciated." — 
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 (the Lion Hunter); W. McCombie Smith (Cham- 
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 pion Putter) ; G. H. Johnstone (Champion 
 Hammer Thrower of Scotland) ; and Special Letter 
 to Boys by W. McCombie Smith, the Champion 
 Scottish Athlete. 
 
 " Such a common sense vade mecum to health and strength, 
 should find a place on every boy's bookshelf." — Star, 
 
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