1502-1985-1-PB.pdf

＠＠＠ ＠＠＠ ｔｨ･＠ｇｬ･｡ｮ･ｲ ｖｯｬＮ＠ＲＸＬ＠ＲＰＱＱ ＠＠ ＠ ＠＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ Ｎ ＠ ｨｴｴｰＺＯＯ､ｸＮ､ｯｩＮｯｲｧＯＱＰＮＱＲＶＸＱＯ･ｲＮＱＳＵ ＠ ＠ ＠＠＠ ＠＠ｃｯｰｹｲｩｧｨｴ＠ﾩ＠ＲＰＱＱ＠ ＠＠＠ ＠＠ ＠＠ ＠＠ｔｯ＠｣ｩｴ･＠ｴｨｩｳ＠｡ｲｴｩ｣ｬ･Ｚ ＠ＨＲＰＱＱＩＮ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ ＠ Ｎ＠ｔｨ･＠ｇｬ･｡ｮ･ｲＬ＠ＲＸＬ＠ＲＳＳＭＲＸＶＮ＠＠ ＠ http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | ΑΝΑΦΟΡΕΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΚΟΡΑΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΕΡΓΟ ΤΟΥ ΣΤΟΝ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟ ΚΟΣΜΟ K ΟΣΜΗΜΕΝΟΣ ΑΠΟ ΠΛΗΘΩΡΑ ΔΙΘΥΡΑΜΒΙΚΩΝ αναφορών στο όνομά του για το σύνολο του δημιουργικού του έργου αλλά και για τις επιμέρους συμβολές του στην πνευματική σκέψη την περίοδο του νεότερου ελληνισμού, ο Αδαμάντιος Κοραής αποτελεί αδιαμφισβήτητα μια από τις κορυφαίες προσωπικότητες που εργάστηκαν για τον φωτισμό των Ελλήνων και την απόκτηση της εθνικής ανεξαρτησίας. Τόσο ο βίος του όσο και το έργο του αυτό καθαυτό έχουν μελετηθεί διεξοδικά σε ειδικές μελέτες, μονογραφίες και αφιερώματα που αναμφίβολα ελάχιστο χώρο αφήνουν στη νεότερη έρευνα για επιπλέον προσθήκες στα ήδη γνωστά. Το ερώτημα Καθώς φαίνεται πως ήδη έχουμε φτάσει στο σημείο εκείνο όπου η αποτίμηση του έργου του Κοραή στη λεγόμενη ευρυχωρία του Νεοελληνικού Διαφωτισμού είναι πλέον δυνατή σε κάθε της λεπτομέρεια, με βάση τα διαθέσιμα στοιχεία ένα ενδιαφέρον ερώτημα έρχεται στο προσκήνιο. Ένα ερώτημα βέβαια που δεν περιορίζεται μόνο στον Κοραή αλλά συναρτάται γενικότερα με τους έλληνες λογίους εκείνης της περιόδου και την πνευματική τους δραστηριότητα. Το ερώτημα αυτό μας καλεί να εξετάσουμε το βαθμό στον οποίο έχει αποτιμηθεί και αναγνωρισθεί το έργο των ελλήνων λογίων από στοχαστές και επιστήμονες που δεν περιορίζονται στο χώρο της καθ’ ημάς Ανατολής αλλά κινούνται στον ευρύτερο δυτικό κόσμο του 18ου και του 19ου αιώνα. Η εργασία εκπονήθηκε στο πλαίσιο τοῦ προγράμματος Haephestus τοῦ ΙΝΕ/ΕΙΕ (Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] under grant agreement no 229825). 1. Μια συνθετική παρουσίαση των εργασιών που κυκλοφόρησαν τον 19ο αιώνα και αφορούν τον Κοραή και το έργο του δημοσιεύτηκε πρόσφατα από τον Εμμ. Φραγκίσκο: Emmanuel N. Franghiskos, “Α survey of studies on Adamantios Korais during the nineteenth century”, The Historical Review 2 (2005), 93-128. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 234 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) Για κάποιους από τους έλληνες λογίους οφείλουμε να σημειώσουμε ότι ήδη διαθέτουμε σχετικά στοιχεία, στοιχεία που είτε μας έχουν δώσει οι ίδιοι οι λόγιοι μέσα από τα κείμενά τους, είτε τα γνωρίζουμε από προηγούμενους ερευνητές. Θεωρούμε ότι η συμπλήρωση της εικόνας που ήδη έχουμε σχηματίσει θα μας βοηθήσει να απεγκλωβιστούμε από ορισμένα ερμηνευτικά σχήματα που φαίνεται να έχουν εδραιωθεί όσον αφορά την αξιολόγηση της συμβολής των ελλήνων λογίων στα γράμματα και τις επιστήμες της εποχής τους ή τελικά θα δώσει εκείνα τα επιχειρήματα που είναι αναγκαία ώστε κάθε αμφισβήτηση αυτών των ερμηνευτικών σχημάτων να θεωρηθεί άνευ ουσιαστικής σημασίας. Ως μικρή συμβολή στην πορεία της υλοποίησης των στόχων που ήδη αναφέραμε, καταθέτουμε ορισμένες πληροφορίες για την εικόνα του Κοραή στον αγγλοσαξονικό κόσμο, όπως σε άλλη ευκαιρία είχαμε παραθέσει σχετικές πληροφορίες για την αντίστοιχη εικόνα του Ρήγα.2 Θα ήταν ίσως σκόπιμο να επισημάνουμε εδώ ότι, όπως φαίνεται από τα αποτελέσματα της σχετικής έρευνας, ο Ρήγας και ο Κοραής θεωρείται ότι πορεύονται παράλληλα, ότι η δράση τους είναι συμπληρωματική όχι μόνο από την ελληνική –επίσημη και μη– ιστοριογραφία, όπως αυτή θα μπορούσε να ισχυριστεί κανείς ότι αντιπροσωπεύεται από τη γνωστή απεικόνιση του Ρήγα και του Κοραή να βοηθούν την Ελλάδα να σταθεί και πάλι στα πόδια της, αλλά και από τα μνημονευόμενα στα ευρωπαϊκά κείμενα όπου εντοπίσαμε αναφορές στους δύο αυτούς πρωτεργάτες της εθνικής απελευθέρωσης και στο έργο τους.3 Φυσικά στις αναφορές αυτές συνήθως ο Ρήγας μνημονεύεται ως ο φλογερός επαναστάτης που μάχεται για την «εδώ και τώρα» εθνική απελευθέρωση από την τουρκική κυριαρχία, ενώ ο Κοραής ως ο σώφρων λόγιος ο οποίος επιζητεί τη σωστή 2. Γιώργος Ν. Βλαχάκης, «Η εικόνα του Ρήγα στον Αγγλοσαξονικό κόσμο. Νεώτερα στοιχεία για την παγκόσμια ακτινοβολία του», Ε´ Διεθνές Συνέδριο ΦεραίΒελεστίνο-Ρήγας, Βελεστίνο, 4-7 Οκτωβρίου 2007 (Πρακτικά υπό έκδοση). 3. Ενδεικτική του ύφους και του περιεχομένου των σχετικών αναφορών είναι η ακόλουθη από τον Thomas Keightley, History of the War of Independence in Greece, Edinburgh 1830, σ. 93: “Numerous Greek students resorted for instruction to France and Germany, and many translations and original works of the modern Greek language proceeded from the presses of Paris, Leipzig, Vienna and Venice. The learned Coray, the imprudent and unhappy Rhigas and many others, both in verse and in prose, sought to fan the flame of patriotism in the minds of their countrymen”. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 235 στάθμιση των κινδύνων και προβλημάτων που πιθανόν θα εμφανιστούν εάν και εφόσον η Επανάσταση ξεσπάσει πριν την ώρα της. Τα κείμενα Τα κείμενα στα οποία συναντούμε αναφορές στον Αδαμάντιο Κοραή και το έργο του δεν περιορίζονται σε ένα μόνο είδος, όπως π.χ. βιογραφικά λεξικά ή ταξιδιωτικά ημερολόγια. Διατρέχουν ένα μεγάλο φάσμα συγγραφικών ενδιαφερόντων και αυτό το γεγονός από μόνο του μπορεί να μας οδηγήσει στην υπόθεση ότι ο Κοραής, χωρίς καμιά αμφισβήτηση, αποτελεί τον πλέον αναγνωρίσιμο εκπρόσωπο της ελληνικής λογιοσύνης έξω από τα στενά όρια του ελληνισμού της περιόδου εκείνης. Οι αναφορές στον Κοραή και το έργο του φαίνεται ότι ξεκινούν από τα τέλη του 18ου αιώνα και συνεχίζονται μέχρι και τα μισά του 19ου αιώνα, ενώ το περιεχόμενό τους μπορεί να είναι βιογραφικού τύπου σχόλια και κριτική για τη συμβολή του στην ανασύσταση της αρχαίας ελληνικής γραμματείας μέσω του εκδοτικού του προγράμματος, παρουσίαση των θέσεών του για τη γλώσσα, σύνοψη των πολιτικών του απόψεων, καταγραφή των πεποιθήσεών του για τη θρησκεία γενικά και την εκκλησιαστική ιεραρχία ειδικότερα. Τα βιογραφικού τύπου δημοσιεύματα σχετικά με τον Κοραή εντοπίζονται κυρίως σε δημοφιλείς για την εποχή εγκυκλοπαίδειες και βιογραφικά λεξικά. Στα περισσότερα από αυτά το κύριο σώμα των βιογραφικών πληροφοριών μοιάζει να προέρχεται από μια κοινή πηγή. Είναι χαρακτηριστική άλλωστε η παραφθορά του μικρού του ονόματος, όπως διαπιστώνει ο αναγνώστης με μια απλή ματιά. Σε ορισμένες περιπτώσεις το λήμμα σχετικά με τον Κοραή είναι εκτενές ενώ σε άλλες συντομότερο, σε συνάρτηση πάντα με τον συνολικό αριθμό των σελίδων της έκδοσης. Ωστόσο παραμένει πάντα αξιοσημείωτο το γεγονός ότι οι επιμελητές αυτών των εκδόσεων συγκαταλέγουν το όνομα του Κοραή στο υλικό εκείνο που εκτιμούν ότι ενδιαφέρει εν δυνάμει τους αναγνώστες τους, αν και αυτό είναι κάποτε ελεγχόμενο για πραγματολογικά σφάλματα. Ας ξεκινήσουμε λοιπόν την περιδιάβασή μας στα κείμενα αυτά. An Essay of Certain Points of Resemblance Between the Ancient and Mo­ dern Greeks, Frederick Sylvester North Douglas, Λονδίνο 1813, σ. 77-78. «If an invincible activity in the service of his country, be a claim to the http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 236 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) admiration of the patriot, or an acuteness of conjecture and an inexhaustible and various fund of information, to the respect of the scholar, the name of Koray will rank high among the illustrious characters of the age. In his commentaries upon Theoprhastus and Herodotus, he has proved how much light may be thrown upon the ancient authors, by an acquaintance with the vernacular idiom; while the letter to Vasili4 in the preface of his edition of the Ethiopics of Heliodorus, will shew, that he has not criticized the works of purer ages, without imbibing a considerable portion of their spirit and elegance. His merits are enthusiastically extolled by his countrymen, and we may fairly expect the restoration of Greece, as much from the writings of Koray, as from the arms of the Mainiots or the commerce of Hydra.» The New Monthly Magazine. The London Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres, Λονδίνο 1823, σ. 215. «The modern Greeks. – A Greek reviewer, M. Schinas, pronounces a high eulogium on M. Coray, a native of the isle of Chios, who has for thirty years devoted himself to erudition and philosophy, and who has published editions of most of the ancient Greek authors, accompanied with learned and valuable prefaces; in which the beauties of their various works, and the benefits to be derived from the study of them, are pointed out at great length, and with considerable ability. M. Schinas thinks that M. Coray has materially contributed to the elevation of mind which the modern Greeks have evinced. With a view to aid his countrymen in their present struggle, and to direct them in the course which they ought to pursue, M. Coray has recently published an edition of Aristotle’s Policy, with an elaborate preface on the political organization of modern Greece.» The American Quarterly Observer, επιμ. Bela Bates Edwards, Βοστώνη 1834, τ. 2, τχ. 4 (Απρίλιος), σ. 199-226 [άρθρο για τον «Dr. Coray and the Greek Church” του Gregory A. Perdicaris, καθηγητή στο Washington College].5 «During the days of the Roman Greek emperors, the state and church 4. Πρόκειται για την εκτενή επιστολή που απηύθηνε ο Κοραής στον φίλο του γιατρό Αλέξανδρο Βασιλείου στα προλεγόμενα των Αιθιοπικών του Ηλιόδωρου που εκδόθηκαν στο Παρίσι, 1804, σ. α΄-οζ΄. 5. Παρουσιάζουμε εδώ ολόκληρο το σχετικό άρθρο λόγω του ιδιαίτερου ενδια- http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 237 were in strange confusion. Emperors wore the sable mitre, and patriarchs glittered with the royal purple: State officers wrote commentaries, and monks practised the art of war. The temporal and spiritual power of the empire had been blended together. A union of such conflicting elements could not exist for any length of time without annihilating itself by the very friction of its heterogeneous materials, and nothing but the Turkish crescent prevented its total dissolution. The fatal blow which fell upon the eastern empire, decomposed the temporal and spiritual power of the state; and by the utter annihilation of the former, preserved the latter. Had the conqueror of Constantinople refused to recognize and throw around the Greek church the shield of protection, or had the Greeks been free from superstition, the same tempest which levelled the liberties of Greece to the ground, would have also swept from the face of the earth the Greek nation itself. The interest of the one, and the ignorance of the other, prevented this calamity. The Turk found it his interest to preserve the spiritual power of the nation in the most unspiritual condition imaginable. The common people were too ignorant to perceive that the church had lost its primitive beauty and simplicity, and the more enlightened –for there were such in process of time– of this community, though sensible of the many errors and absurdities which from time to time had crept into the system of their religion, were fully aware that the venerable institution of the church, with all its defects, was the only palladium of their national existence; they knew that under the existing circumstances, the mere attempt to reform, would have a direct tendency to break the only link which held the Greek nation together. Conscious, therefore, of the beneficial effects of superstition, in this respect, upon the minds of the ignorant, and anxious to strengthen the national ties, they paid a due deference to all the ceremonies of the Greek church. But ignorance and superstition, like learning and refinement, have their aim. The ignorance and superstition of the Greeks had arrived at its zenith on the capture of Constantinople; and, like the Ottoman power, held its high throne for more than a century after this historical event. As soon as the Turkish power began to wane, that instant the Greek nation φέροντός του. Ο συγγραφέας του Gregory A. Perdicaris υπήρξε μετανάστης πρώτης γενιάς στις ΗΠΑ. Σπούδασε νομικά στη Βοστώνη. Ορίστηκε πρόξενος των ΗΠΑ στην Αθήνα το 1837 και δημοσίευσε ένα δίτομο έργο με τίτλο Τhe Greece of the Greek. Επέστρεψε στις ΗΠΑ το 1846 και εγκαταστάθηκε στο Trenton όπου απέκτησε σημαντική περιουσία. Το 1880 με τον γιο του Ίωνα Περδικάρη, γνωστό για την υπόθεση της απαγωγής του, εγκαταστάθηκε στην Ταγγέρη. Πέθανε το 1883. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 238 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) began to rise from the depths of ignorance. The common schools rose to academies, academies to colleges, and colleges to universities. Commerce began to flourish and pour its wealth upon the shores of Greece. The universities of Europe began to be visited by some of the best sons of Greece, and a great part of the population were so far educated that there was little danger of their being dazzled by the divine light of truth. At this interesting epoch, which was the precursor of the memorable revolution of 1821, a number of literary characters set themselves to work, and, with the powerful weapons of reason and ridicule, commenced a brisk attack upon the abuses of the Greek church. These efforts though partially silenced by the sound of war, have not been altogether discontinued, and though some of the champions of this religious warfare have suffered by circumstances, the illustrious Coray has been constantly gathering strength. This enlightened son of Greece is a native of Scio. After he had finished his preparatory studies in the college of Smyrna, he went to Europe, and received the degree of M. D. in the university of Montpellier. Soon after the completion of his professional studies, he passed to Paris, and while there, he offered to enlightened Europe a French translation of the works of Theophrastus and Hippocrates. These first attempts of Coray, though highly appreciated by the scholars of western Europe, were not calculated to make his name known in the land which gave him birth. To these, however, followed a pamphlet, written in the French language, and entitled ‘‘De l’État actuel de la Civilization en Grèce’’. This little essay, which was written with a view of correcting the erroneous opinions of Europeans respecting the actual condition of Greece, was translated into modern Greek, and was the means of introducing the author to his countrymen. Coray’s modern Greek translation of Beccaria made him known to them as a man of letters and a patriot. The good success with which this able work met in Greece, encouraged the translator in his career; he edited the Ethiopics of Heliodorus, and commenced under the liberal patronage of the benevolent Zosimades his ‘‘Bibliotheca’’, or ‘‘Hellenic Library’’. To every volume of this Library, Coray added not only copious annotations, but prefixed learned and able prolegomena. These prefaces bespeak him to be a man of extensive reading and a scholar of powerful and profound mind. Every page of his prolegomena seems to be animated with the spirit of a patriot and the soul of a philosopher. Through these, he succeeded in settling and establishing the long fluctuating and disturbed element of the modern Greek language; and he has fanned the dying embers of the Grecian intellect, and has fostered the political independence and regeneration of Greece. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 239 Coray, imbued with the spirit and high morality of the gospel, and conscious of the great and salutary influence which religion exerts upon the moral and intellectual condition of nations, has never lost sight of the Greek church. His literary efforts against the abuses of this venerable institution, have been as constant as they have been well directed. It is true that they have wrought, as yet, no apparent change in the external appearance of things; but his eloquent appeals and powerful arguments, his great name and authority, and more than all, his ingenuity in treating the subject, have already awakened inquiry in the minds of the most enlightened Greeks; and one needs no light of inspiration to foresee that Greece will soon undergo a religious revolution. Whether we view this approaching event with the eye of a philosopher, or a statesman, with the feelings of citizens, or Christians, we find ourselves equally interested. The mere anticipation of such a momentous event, fills the mind with the most intense interest, and naturally turns our attention to those who are destined to be the authors and actors of an era calculated to produce great and important changes in the moral and spiritual condition of Greece. Much has been done in America for this nation by the friends of civil rights, and religious liberty. Their benevolent efforts, however great in extent and pure in principle, can only be regarded, in reference to the reformation of the Greek church, as secondary and auxiliary means. Coming as they do from a foreign source, they may, through the medium of education, and the judicious use of the press, operate indirectly, they may mature and accelerate the desired reformation; but it will be impossible for them to create a general revolution. Such an attempt from any other quarter but the Greeks themselves, will have the direct tendency to arouse the prejudices of the ignorant, and the pride of the learned, and thus retard, and possibly endanger the true interest of Greece and Christianity. In pointing out what seems to us to be the proper place of foreign assistance, we do not mean to depreciate its worth, but we wish to call the attention of our readers to the important truth, that the Greeks must act or nothing can be done. A revolution is a change of existing circumstances, a search of happiness. The ingredients of this happiness must be sought in their own bosom, and it will be well for the friends of Greece as well as for the Greeks themselves to recollect That those who would be free, themselves must strike the blow, By their own right arms the conquest must be sought. With a view of laying before the American public, the opinions of http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 240 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) the Greeks, on the subject of the Greek church, we propose to give an historical sketch with extracts from Dr. Coray’s works on this impor­ tant subject. These writings of Coray which are scattered throughout his prolegomena, are of great consequence, not so much for what they have done, as for what they are destined to accomplish; for though the hand which has traced them is already laid in the cold earth, the spirit which animates them will ever continue to instruct, and direct the sons of Greece. (‘‘The mournful news of Dr. Coray’s death has recently been received. Those who are acquainted with the life and literary productions of this great patriot and illustrious philosopher, can alone feel his loss and envy his fortune. Dr. Coray died in the 85th year of his age, and in the midst of his literary toils. His long life, like that of the old philosopher of Greece, has been the beginning of a lasting glory. He has only changed one immortality for another. We have been informed by a friend who visited Coray on his death-bed, that the last illness and consequent death of this scholar was occasioned by his having fallen from his chair on the floor of his room; and that he was attended in the last moments of his life by two young Greeks, both of whom are alumni of Yale college. As it is not in our power to give at present a more full obituary, we would subjoin to our remarks the following sketch which we copy from a work entitled ‘Cours de Litérature Grecque Moderne’. ’’The history of the third period can be comprised in the life of Dr. Coray. This extraordinary man, who was born in Smyrna, in 1748, of Sciot parents, having gone through a liberal course of study in the college of Smyrna, passed to Europe and has lately fixed himself in France. It will be superfluous to expatiate on the details of his life, and more so on those of his scientific works – subjects for which one can consult the biography of contemporaries. At the commencement of the present century, Greece scarcely knew that France possessed a Greek called Coray. Little did his countrymen care that he had taken his degree in the university of Montpellier, that he had published some works on medicine, and that he had offered to enlightened Europe a French translation of Theophrastus, and Hippocrates. Greece knew not Coray till he had published in modern Greek the treatise of Beccaria on crimes and punishments, which he accompanied with notes and prolegomena. This remarkable production, either on account of the epoch in which it appeared, or on account of the end which the translator had in view, made a lively impression upon the minds of the Greeks. Coray dedicated this work to the republic of the Seven Islands. This republic was created in 1800. It was the first time that the Christian powers seemed to take an interest in the affairs of en- http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 241 slaved Greece, and bestowed upon a small part of her territory a shadow of political existence. The Ionic republic excited high expectations among the other Greeks, who, from the bosom of darkness, viewed this pleiad which presaged a brilliant day for the whole nation; they seemed to discover in the new constitution of the Seven Islands, a benevolent disposition of the European powers towards Greece. Under such circumstances, the translation of Beccaria, which was dedicated to the Ionian republic, was widely circulated, and Coray was celebrated throughout Greece, as a learned man and a patriot. ’’In the meanwhile, Europe, notwithstanding the crowd of her travellers, was as yet ignorant respecting the moral situation of Greece. Coray was the first, who, in a memoir entitled ‘De l’État actuel de la Civilization en Grèce’, pointed out the awakening of the Greek nation, and its progress towards an intellectual state, infinitely better than that in which the Europeans believed her to be, as yet, plunged. This pamphlet which was written in French and translated into modern Greek, was circulated throughout Greece, and stimulated the Greeks, who doubled their growing powers. ’’After the edition of the Ethiopics of Heliodorus, Coray, a man worthy of the age in which he lived, and above the vanity of an author, commenced the beautiful edition of his Hellenic Library, or a collection of Greek Classics, printed at the expense of the brothers Zosimades. –The first volumes contain the works of two celebrated authors; the one of them is lsocrates, a classic author and a virtuous citizen; The other is the good Plutarch, a writer, who, in point of literary merit, belongs to the second class, but whose patriotic sentiments are worthy of the age of Phocion and Epaminondas. The musical language of lsocrates, his oratorical talents, and his expressions, which are full of grace and sentiment, merited the admiration of his age; and though he is accused, sometimes, of having made ill use of his oratory, his writings have never ceased to be regarded as a model of taste and elegance; a precious source for the legislators, the orators and the citizens of every age and every country. It is for this reason that Coray, in commencing a work specially designed for the high education of the young Greeks, and desiring to inspire them with elevated sentiments as well as with a taste for the ancient literature, chose, by way of preference, the orations of lsocrates. The Parallel Lives followed. Plutarch, a native of Cheronea, the tomb of the Grecian liberties, was, in his time, the only child who thought of Greece, his mother; he wished, in writing his Parallel Lives, to show to the Greeks, who humbled themselves before their conquerors, that the ancient Romans http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 242 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) could hardly bear a comparison with the heroes of ancient Greece, how much less those when they then adorned with the absurd appellations of divine and of august. ’’Coray accompanied his editions of lsocrates and of Plutarch, with notes and prolegomena, which bespeak him to be a philosopher, a man of letters, and a citizen. These preliminary essays are on the improvement and perfection of which the modern Greek language is capable. On the best method of composing grammars and teaching the youth. On the manner of reading the ancient authors to the best advantage; on the light of experimental philosophy; and on the duties which the Greeks of every age and condition owe to their country. These counsels of Coray expressed with eloquence and simplicity, supported by powerful arguments, and accredited by the European reputation of their author, produced upon the reading class of the Greeks prodigious effects. In vain did pedantry oppose itself to these powerful truths. In vain did the old routines of every college interpose an obstinate resistance; these innovations found throughout Greece a favorable reception; so far had the nation already advanced, so far were their minds free of prejudice. ’’Coray observing the intellectual revolution which his counsel produced in Greece, doubled his efforts, and continued without relaxation, to give out edition after edition of the Greek Classics, accompanied with notes and prolegomena. Next to the Lives of Plutarch, made their appearance, under the title of Prodromus, the Various History of Aelian, and the fragments of Heraclides and of Nicholas Damascinus. Indefatigable in his exertions, he published the Fables of Æsop, the Geography of Strabo, the first four books of the Iliad, and the odd witticism of the Scholastic Hierocles. The young Greeks who were educated in the colleges of Smyrna, Cydonia, Scio, Bucharest and Coarutchesme, passed to Europe, and particularly to France, where they were attracted by the reputation of Coray’’. Coray besides the works contained in the above sketch, has edited the Politics of Aristotle, of which we have already made mention; and has also published five octavo volumes of Miscellanies. These five volumes may be said to constitute a full but desultory work on the modern Greek philology; they contain some of the most various as well as valuable information on the subject of the ancient and modern Greek languages –history, ethics, politics, theology, &c. &c. Since the publication of these volumes, he has given to the world what he terms ‘‘The Minister’s Vademecum’’. This work contains an able preface of at least forty pages, on the subject of the Greek church, the two Epistles of St. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 243 Paul to Timothy, and the one to Titus, with the modern translation, and ample annotations.) In the prolegomena, which are prefixed to the first volume of Plutarch’s Lives, and edited as early as 1804, we find Coray touching for the first time upon the subject of the Greek church. He seems to enter into it without any premeditation or design. ‘‘Every city in Greece’’, says Coray, ‘‘ought to have under the roof of its church two boxes of contribution; one for the support of and maintenance of its own school, and the other for the assistance of the general fund at Constantinople. Should any one, in consequence of the numerous boxes of contribution, designed for the support of different monasteries, be terrified at the appearance of new ones; the antidote is at hand. All those monasteries, which favored the cause of learning by supporting instructors, who are capable of teaching the arts and sciences, or even the Greek language only, ought to be allowed to send their boxes to the different churches of Greece; but those which neither trouble themselves with the support of instructors, nor are willing to aid the course of education, must be denied an assistance which ought to be applied to the benefit of our common country. In saying this, I am far from being apprehensive of giving offence; far, since many of those who belong to the monastic order have, of their own accord, shown their zeal in behalf of Greece. Such are the venerable fathers of Vadopedee. Anxious to illumine the tops of Mt. Athos with the light of Europe, they have already invited from Cydonia a professor, and have thus offered to their mother Greece an acceptable return for all the kindness they have received from her. It is lamentable, it is shameful, that in the nineteenth century, when many enlightened princes of Europe apply the enormous incomes of the monasteries to the support of schools, we should give to a few monks what is due to the whole nation of Greece. Philosophy instructs us that every individual shall support himself by his own hands. Sacred history informs us that our Creator placed man on earth in order to gain his livelihood not by the hand of others, but by the sweat of his own brow; and St. Paul cries ‘If any should not work, neither shall he eat’. Thess. b. iii. 10. He who supports indolent persons is at best a fool. But he, who suffers himself to rust away in sloth or laziness, and stoops to receive his substance from the hands of the active and the industrious, be he a monk or a layman, is surely a shameless slave’’. Here Dr. Coray recollecting, as it seems, that the Greek monasteries were the favorite objects of the ignorant, and that the monks, who were scouring the country with their boxes of contribution, were in the habit http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 244 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) of paying largely to the bishops of the diocess, for the rights of begging; recollecting that the whole body of the clergy, from the patriarch down to the deacon and sexton, were monks, most of whom were ‘‘rusting in sloth and laziness’’; recollecting that the church and state were bound to each other by the ties of interest, and more than all, recollecting that we can seldom reap advantage from a premature blow, retreats; but even in his retreat he gathers the fruit of victory. Unwilling to show that he had laid-his hand on sacred things, he places the spoils destined to achieve the regeneration of Greece, in the hands of the patriarch. Whether the high and eloquent eulogium which Dr. Coray pronounces on the wisdom of this prelate is a tribute to true merit, or a mere adulation bestowed in order to secure the right of whipping the rest of the monks with impunity, is not in our power to assert. Be this as it may, suffice it to say, that Dr. Coray recommends to the head of the Greek church the common schools of Greece with all their pupils and teachers; he entreats the venerable patriarch to lend his influence and assistance in sending to Europe those young men who seemed devoted to the cause of their country, and who were anxious to transplant to her shores the most improved methods of instruction, as well as the lights of the arts and sciences; he calls upon him in the name of the Greek church and religion, to assist and encourage those sons of Greece who were actively engaged in the glorious cause of her regeneration, and reminds him that this ought to commence with the improvement of his court. ‘‘The treasury of the national council at Constantinople ought to pay the salary of the patriarchal secretary. This officer ought to be not only a good Greek scholar, but a man well versed in the arts and sciences of enlightened Europe, and also familiar with the languages of the most distinguished nations. The patriarchal palace is in some measure a royal court. The decrees as well as circular letters, which issue from it, ought to be such as to read well if translated in other languages. Hitherto the common misfortune of the nation was such that it did not permit the council either to give great salaries, or procure the services of a man worthy to be the secretary of the patriarch and the whole nation. The misfortune was great, but fortunately it was known only to the Greeks, that at present, when the enlightened nations seem to be interested in the amelioration of Greece, no circular letters ought to issue from the patriarchal palace unworthy our present condition and the fame of our patriarch’’. One of the greatest obstacles to the regeneration of Greece, was not the want of able and learned men, but the absence of some medium by http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 245 which they could communicate their thoughts and exchange their opinions. The intellectual empire of Greece resembled, previous to the Greek revolution, a newly discovered continent, chequered with villas, towns, and cities, but destitute of every communication, and deprived of all the advantages derived from the exchange of native and peculiar products. To throw some light upon our obscure figure, let us illustrate its meaning by matter of fact. At the period of which we are speaking, Greece had many sons of enlightened minds and high literary attainments in her different towns and cities, but these scholars had no medium of communication. Greece, virtually, had no press. The only press in Greece, or rather in Turkey, to which the Greek scholars could have access, was at the patriarchal court of Constantinople; but this press was devoted, as it might be expected, to religious works, and issued nothing but homilies –all written in ancient Greek– and lives of saints. Such works produced but little evil, and less good. Dr. Coray, anxious to free the press from the fetters of ignorance, and thus put in the hands of the Greeks a power, which, like that of Jove, Shakes the feeble prop of human trust, And towns and armies humbles to the dust, – Iliad ii. 117, reminds the patriarch of its great importance in the following words: ‘‘The patriarchal press stands also in great need of improvement and perfection. This ought to be done at the expense of the general fund. If enlightened Europe thought the embellishment of the letters of every language a thing worthy her attention, it is high time that we who are anxious to introduce in Greece the arts and sciences, should imitate this good action of Europe. Such attention is due to the press because it is a heavenly gift, and a sacred invention. The press alone has subdued the all-conquering time, and has preserved the wise precepts of our ancestors, and the counsels of all the ancient philosophers. This alone has spread and facilitated the perusal of ancient as well as modern works, has scattered among the common people correct opinions, and has enlightened many nations of Europe. This, even now, like an angel from heaven, disturbs the pool of the sciences, and dips in it Greece, in order to cure her many and long afflictions, and cleanse her from the foulness of ignorance. This at last, by disseminating the wretched and miserable works of the inhuman anti-philosophers shows, more and more, not only the gigantic power of philosophy, but also the foolish and ridiculous wrestlings of her pigmy-like enemies’’. Dr Coray, however, knew that the improvement of the patriarchal http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 246 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) press was but poorly calculated to meet the end he had in view; he was fully aware that even if it did succeed to issue works of worth and practical utility, it would have still been inadequate to supply the peculiar and pressing wants of the country. A man like Coray could not be ignorant that books of any size would have been of too great a bulk to find the peasant’s cottage, and of too great a magnitude to force their way into little heads. The misfortune which then oppressed Greece, was indeed great, but this great calamity consisted of little atoms, each of which stood in need of an antidote peculiar and proportionate to the evil it was intended to cure. None but a pedant pretends to write great books on little subjects. Greece stood in need of some periodical, or newspaper, calculated, from its very nature, to treat on every subject of life, and suit and benefit every individual member of the society. But could the priests favor the operation of such an instrument? And if they did, could Constantinople be a fit and proper place? Let us hear how Dr. Coray endeavors to enlighten the patriarch on the importance of such a periodical, and how he attempts to overcome difficulties inherent in the nature of things. ‘‘The greatest of all the benefits which the press has ever conferred upon the civilized communities of the world, are political and philological newspapers. Before the invention of the printing art, the communication of philosophical opinions from one nation to another was either impracticable or subject to great delay. In ancient Greece, which was but a small part of Europe, often whole years were requisite in order to make known from one neighboring city to another new and useful discoveries in the arts and sciences; while at present, a few days are sufficient to transport every new invention from one end of Europe to the other. We should easily perceive how great is the benefit of such rapid communication; if we recollect that the discovery of one truth is a rule and a guide for that of a second, and this again for that of a third, and so on to infinity. A rapid communication curtails, generally speaking, the time devoted to the investigation of truth; it curtails it, because, should we, while in the search of any object, learn that this has already been found, we should naturally pass to other inquiries, without permitting ourselves to waste our time in the study and investigation of what has already been discovered. From this we may easily conclude that a political and philological newspaper, written in modern Greek, and containing not only the most important transactions which agitate the enlightened communities of Europe, but also the passing events of Greece herself, will greatly accelerate the regeneration of Greece. This ephemeral, however, in order to meet the end proposed, ought to be the work of a philosopher, of a http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 247 man capable of selecting from the European journals such materials as would be useful to the present condition of Greece, and avoid such as may be either useless or injurious. The council of Constantinople can easily render this great and good service to Greece, by transmitting to some literary individual of our nation, who resides either in Vienna or Venice, the necessary means for the publication of such a journal’’. (The above advice of Coray had its proper effect. Soon after the publication of the work, from which we have translated the above paragraph, a philological journal, under the appropriate title of ‘‘The Literary Mercury’’, commenced its operations at Vienna. This journal was conducted by the well known and able Gazes, the very person whom Dr. Coray recommended. Whether the ‘‘Literary Mercury’’ was under the immediate patronage of the patriarch, or depended wholly on the exertions of the editor, we have not been able to ascertain. This, however, is entirely unimportant. The Literary Mercury was liberally supported, and, like the messenger of Jove, flew ‘‘over the sea and boundless earth, and with his magic wand opened the eyes of many a sleepy mortal’’. The period in which it was established, and the events which transpired, while it continued, are equally interesting and important. The means which achieved the intellectual regeneration of Greece, as well as those which occasioned her political independence, are to be found in its volumes, and as such it cannot tail to be an object of curiosity to the historian and philologist.) After a few remarks on the patriarchal election, the venerable man takes leave of the subject under consideration. We need not remark that Dr. Coray’s slight hints made little or rather no impression upon the people. It ought to be borne in mind that the evil, at which he had only levelled his mighty hand, was of a peculiar character, and nothing but peculiar tact and skill could ensure him success. The established government of the country was tyrannical, and of course friendly to ignorance; the whole host of the priests and monks of the Greek church, were, with but a few exceptions, ignorant. The mass of the community superstitious, and the established ceremonies of the church, had long blended themselves with the very vitals of religion. The arm of logic could have no power against such evils, nothing but the scourge of ridicule could put to flight superstition, or at least check its progress and arrest its baneful and contagious influence. The peculiar nature of the case, therefore, compelled Coray to grasp the arm of ridicule, which, be it said to his credit, he used with great moderation. The first three books of Homer’s Iliad came successively out of the press in the years 1811-17-18. To each of these books, which were wide- http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 248 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) ly circulated throughout the schools of Greece, there was prefixed, by way of preface, a fictitious letter. These letters purported to have been written at Belissos, one of the sixty-four villages of Scio, and the identical spot where it is believed Homer wrote his humorous poems, and addressed to Dr. Coray in Paris. Coray being authorized by the annotator to superintend the publication of the above mentioned books, took the liberty, as he pretends, to prefix to the different books the letters which were addressed to him, and which accompanied the manuscripts from the shores of Scio. This is the garb under which the above mentioned epistles made their appearance before the Greek public. The true state of the matter, however, though it has never been avowed to our knowledge, by the author, is, that Dr. Coray is the commentator of Homer, as well as the author of the letters prefixed to each book. These letters are in the form of dialogues, and the principal characters are an editor of Homer’s Iliad –alias Dr. Coray, and a nondescript priest, Papa-Trechas. The pure and beautiful style of the author, the classic taste which he displays throughout these epistles, and the nature of the composition, reminds a scholar of those days of Greece, when philosophy, unwilling to dazzle the eyes of ignorance, taught her sublime truths under the mask of fiction. Papa-Trechas, though an imaginary personage, is in every particular true to nature. He is a real ignoramus, and full of native genius. He is –but let the editor introduce his own ideal Papa-Trechas. ‘‘I associate’’, says the annotator in the beginning of his first epistle, ‘‘with the minister of Belissos. He boasts, besides his other accomplishments, that in all the island of Scio, no other priest can be found who can read faster than himself any given chapter of the psalms. In the evening service of Christmas-day, he happened to sneeze so violently that he put out the light. When the candle was relighted, calculating the time he had lost by this unlooked for accident, he thought best to skip a whole psalm, and that, the longest, rather than incur the blame of having extended the service beyond the usual time, and the danger of losing his reputation. ’’The happy faculty of reading with great rapidity, and the inveterate propensity of the Sciots to bestow satirical nicknames, has probably induced the citizens of Scio to name the pastor of Belissos, Papa-Trechas –‘the running priest’–, and this nickname is so agreeable to the owner, that he never answers when addressed by his proper name. ’’Besides, he has performed full sixty-four tours, and, consequently, fancies himself a second Ulysses, and thinks that he differs from the old hero of the Odyssey, in this single fact, viz., that his extensive travels have http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 249 been made to the different villages of the island, and though he has suffered much, he has never exposed himself to the dangers of the ‘divine deep’. ’’A few days ago –this will give you a slight idea of the great benefit he has derived from his travels– an English traveller came to the island for the purpose of making some topographical inquiries respecting Homer’s residence at Belissos. This gentleman was accompanied by two little sons of his. When Papa-Trechas heard them conversing with their father, he asked me with surprise, ‘What language are they speaking?’ The English, I answered. This information had nigh petrified him with astonishment; the head of the modern Ulysses could not comprehend how such young lads could converse in a language totally unknown to him, and he could not refrain from exclaiming ‘The little fellows so young, and yet speak English’ ’’! Our, or rather Dr. Coray’s Papa-Trechas, though ignorant, is by no means deficient either in moral worth, or in kindness towards the poor and needy; and though uneducated, he is still a friend to men of letters and education. Excepting his immoderate use of snuff, which, by the by, he relinquished as soon as he learned that-neither his compatriot Homer, nor Eustathius, the great commentator of the immortal poet, made use of the delicious herb –he is represented as a man free from vice, and a person whose errors are far more preferable than the prevailing virtues of the half-taught monks. ‘‘This’’, says the editor alluding to some irregularities of PapaTrechas, ‘‘was of course very improper; but in this case, it ought to be overlooked, both in consequence of his virtues, as well as his child-like simplicity. He forgot, probably, that his taking snuff or attending to any thing else but to the sacred duties of the liturgy was, to say the least, improper. Much more improper, however, are the actions of those, who, with all their pretensions to education and piety are constantly scandalizing the public with their impudent slanders against all those who either praise or attempt to favor the cause of education in Greece. ’’The attention of these half-taught bragadocios being wholly engrossed with the idle ceremonies of religion, they use their utmost to expel philosophy, which is the only efficient method of a good education; they declare that philosophy is opposed to religion, and decry her followers as atheists. Would it not contribute greatly to their happiness as well as to their respectability, if, with their ignorance, they were also blessed with the amiable manners and piety of Papa-Trechas, who has shown that ignorance is an evil less to be deplored than little-learning –that deformed child of ill-managed education’’? http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 250 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) The aim of Dr. Coray, in writing these fictitious epistles, being to expose and ridicule the ignorance of those who belonged to the sacred order, and thus render them sensible of their situation, he contrives to put in the hands of his ideal personage –as it doubtless happened to many a living Papa-Trechas– the epistle from which we have quoted the above extracts. Papa-Trechas, perceiving that his whimsical originalities had become an object of public ridicule, and finding that his ignorance was a disgrace to his sacred office, and a stain upon the qualities of his noble nature, addresses the editor, who happened to be in the mansion of the good priest, in the following language: ‘‘ ‘You have done wrong, my young friend, yes, you have done wrong, because you have not exposed all my faults, but satisfied yourself with the narration of two or three follies of mine. It will be very useful to those of the sacred order, who are of the same grade with myself, and more so to those who ordain them, to know that though ignorance, with the common people, is a fault, with the ministers of religion, is an unpardonable disgrace. Can there be any thing more disgraceful, than to pretend to guide the blind when we are equally destitute of sight? To teach the untaught, when we are totally ignorant of the truths contained in the sacred Scriptures, and can scarcely be said to have clear views even of the cardinal duties of our holy office? But how can I alleviate my misery? Shall I curse the day when without due consideration I undertook the arduous duties of a minister, or shall I curse the more inconsiderate personage, who, unable to compare the importance of the office with the inability of the candidate, invested me with the ministerial functions? Tell me, what must I do? ’’ ‘Tell me’, continued Papa-Trechas, ‘what must I do? To give up my office is impossible. I see no other remedy to my misfortunes than the acquisition of the Greek language, and you, my young friend, must be my instructor’. In order to pacify him, I nodded assent, and immediately his stature assumed its natural size, his complexion recovered its proper hue, and forgetting that he was in a small room, began to skip round and round in a fit of joy’’. Papa-Trechas began the study of the Greek language under the tutorship of his friend, the editor, and in his rapid progress, evinced extraordinary powers of mind. The study of the ancient Greek language, led the minister of Belissos to the perusal of the classics and the sacred Scriptures; and the light of his own reason enabled him to distinguish and compare the spirit of the latter with that of the former. His great admiration for Homer, often leads him to place the authority of the poet http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 251 side by side with the precepts of St. Paul, but he seldom fails in the proper application of either. Now and then he mistakes Constantine the Great for a contemporary of Socrates, but generally speaking, he steers clear of such chronological blunders. An enthusiast in the cause of education and religion, he can no longer bear the neglect of the former and the abuse of the latter; imbued with the spirit of civil and religious liberty, he can no longer be confined by the trammels of superstition and tyranny, he treats with ridicule the one, and with contempt the other. He is at once an affectionate husband, and a good citizen, a warm patriot, and an enlightened philosopher. ‘‘My curiosity’’, says the learned editor, ‘‘to hear the correct criticism of Papa-Trechas on distinguished authors, has induced me to recommend to him the dissertations of Epictetus. After he had carefully perused them, I asked him if he was pleased with these as with the conversations of Socrates. ‘You know’, said he, ‘how much I love my wife. In doing this, I yield to the law of nature, to the precept of our holy religion, to the power of her own virtues, and lastly to the example of Socrates, who was extravagantly fond of his wife. And what a wife! Unworthy to brush even the shoes of my companion. The result of my affection towards her, is to participate in her joys and sorrows, and watch for the protection and safety of my children’s mother; but were I to imbibe the spirit of Epictetus’s philosophy, I must need remain undisturbed when my wife is grieved, I must listen to her sighs with the ears of a marble statue, and if death should happen to snatch her away, I must satisfy myself with this unfeeling epitaph, ‘It is of daily occurrence’, and I will be wiser to leave such philosophy to angels –if angels had wives and children– and follow the philosophy of reason and that of our holy religion –‘Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that do weep’– Rom. xii. 15’’. In attributing the misfortunes of Greece to the want of education among the common people, Papa-Trechas remarks, ‘‘Education, my son, (I am now convinced of it,) when duly apportioned and distributed throughout the whole nation, becomes a mighty bulwark against the attempts of the unjust and the wicked, and though it often fails to reform them, it at least compels them to appear good. Who are the subjects of unjust tyrants? The uneducated; for it is they who neither know nor are able to defend their rights. Whom do the robbers plunder? Those who are not capable of guarding their property. Whom do the impostors inveigle? Those whose ignorance exposes them to the attacks of the deceitful. What nations are overrun with magicians and enchanters? The barbarous’’, &.c. &c. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 252 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) Papa-Trechas stops not here, he attacks some of the superstitions of the church with as little regard as he does ignorance herself. ‘‘I am not’’, says Papa-Trechas, ‘‘insensible to the charms of interest, but the epistles of St. Paul, which I peruse in this period of my life with great pleasure, have inspired me with a due regard and respect for religion. I am ashamed, yes, my son, I am ashamed to take away the substance of a poor man as a recompense for besprinkling his face with holy water. If I regard it as common water, I surely deceive him by selling to him what he can receive gratis from the ever-flowing fountains of nature. If I regard it as sacred, then surely I treat with contempt holy things’’. ‘‘With the above before you, my friend’’, remarks the commentator, ‘‘I need not say how much has education benefited the venerable PapaTrechas, but allow me to inform you of the great effect his education had on the common people of Belissos. While Papa-Trechas remained an ignoramus, the Belissians had their magi and their fortunetellers; they were accustomed to observe propitious and unpropitious days; and fortunate and unfortunate objects; they used to see apparitions, and vampires, and sometimes witches themselves. Now, my friend –oil, the power of education!– all these contrivances of superstition are daily disappearing before the wise instructions of their minister. That you may know how he proceeds on such occasions, allow me to relate an incident. One of his parishioners, terrified and full of apprehension, was relating to him one day, as something very extraordinary and marvellous, that the dog of his neighbor was howling the whole night. ‘Every thing’, remarked the witty Papa-Trechas, ‘which follows the established laws of nature, is good, and predicts no ill. The same benign Providence which has endowed you with the power of speech, has also bestowed upon the dog the faculty of howling. It will be indeed an omen of impending danger, should the dog be heard speaking and you howling’ ’’. We have already exceeded the proper bounds and rights of a critic, in our extracts, and yet we may justly assimilate ourselves to the pedant who thought that a few stones were a sufficient sample of his house. It will be quite impracticable to follow Papa-Trechas through his powerful attacks upon the superstitions of the church, or through his pungent philippics, which are sufficiently seditious to kindle ten rebellions, and entitle him to the stake. It will suffice to say that he found his way in the library of every Greek scholar, whether at home or abroad; he was admitted in the presence of bishops, and stole into the closet of the secluded monk; he amused the careless, and was humored even by those whose dignity and sanctity he treated with disrespect; and though he oc- http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 253 casioned no apparent revolution on the subject of the church, he prepared the minds of the Greeks for the reception of sober truths. Soon after the appearance of Papa-Trechas, the Greek revolution broke out; a part of Greece declared herself independent, and Dr. Coray, whose exertions to revolutionize Greece were already crowned with success, added Aristotle’s Politics to his Hellenic Library. In his prolegomena, which have long ago been noticed in the periodicals of Europe and America, and which have already been translated into the German language, he gave an epitome of Aristotle’s Politics, accompanied with an able essay on the causes which occasioned the decline and fall of the Grecian states, and with a feeling appeal to his countrymen. In the latter he warns his compatriots to guard against those shoals on which the liberties of ancient Greece were wrecked. Before the Greek revolution, circumstances obliged him to use the language of adulation and the mask of fiction, but now that these circumstances were removed, he assumes the authoritative tone of a legislator, and for the first time handles the subjects of the church in a manner which none but he dare assume. His manner and aim will easily be evident by inserting a few heads of his appeal. ‘‘Since the ministers of the gospel watch over the eternal interests of our souls, and since, in consequence of this care, our religion entitles them to our obedience –Heb. xiii. 17.– it follows that their election demands no less attention than that of our temporary rulers. The candidates for the ministerial office, ought, before they are honored with the apostolic profession, to be severely examined whether they possess those virtues, which are inseparable from this sacred office, and whether they have that education which will enable them to teach the high precepts of religion, and inspire the citizens with such moral sentiment as will advance the civil and religious interest of the state. Ignorant and immoral ministers are sufficient to upset the best constituted government, while on the other hand, an educated and virtuous minister, by reforming the individual members of a community, uproots by degrees the wickedness of the whole nation. Hitherto we have submitted to the ignorance of our ministers, and have overlooked the conduct of some of them, whose lives differ but little from that of the satraps of our barbarous tyrant. Few of our ministers have troubled themselves with the education of the nation. These, and particularly those who took an active part in the revolution, if the sword of the blood-thirsty tyrant has not put an end to their lives, ought to be invited to take part and advance the interest of this reformation. Most of our ministers have either permitted them- http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 254 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) selves to be indifferent to the cause of education, or they have boldly and without shame declared their hatred against it. From such sprung those, who, a few years ago, calumniated philosophy, and advised our young men to avoid the schools and lessons of enlightened Europe. From such sprung those, who lately (first secretly and then openly) attacked our gymnasia, and threatened even the lives of the professors. Their indifference or their opposition to the interests of national education, has probably been the cause which occasioned the death of so many innocent ministers and citizens; for had the cause of education, at the very instant when it commenced its operations in Greece, met with the indulgence of the sacred order, and had it called forth the co-operation of the ministers; the educated members of the community would have multiplied to a greater extent; they would have invented a greater number of means to attack the inhuman tyrant and paralyze his bloody hand. Their –but what is the use of further accusations against the sacred order? Were we, the laymen –if you but except a few true friends of Greece– better than the priests? Is not the prophesy, ‘And there shall be like people like priests’ –Hosea iv. 9.– fulfilled? The inhuman yoke of tyranny oppressed and broke the spirits of all, and none could expect from such degenerate souls, those great and noble actions which our despair has accomplished. ’’The fruit of this happy revolution ought to be the regeneration of all the nation, and consequently that of our ministers. Here is the way by which this great and important good can be accomplished. ’’1. While Byzantium remains defiled by the throne of the bloody tyrant, liberated Greece need not recognize the patriarch of Constantinople as the head of her church. Our church, like that of the primitive Christians and the Russians, ought to be governed by a synod appointed by the free votes of the clergy and the laymen. It is the most ridiculous thing imaginable, that the clergy of free and liberated Greece, should obey the orders of a patriarch elected by a tyrant and compelled to worship a tyrant. ’’2. Whosoever hereafter should desire to take orders of whatever grade he pleases, ought to be elected by the synod of the city, and also by the people or the rulers of the people. As it regards the qualifications of the candidates, I refer them to the counsels of St. Paul on this subject. 1 Tim. iii. 1-8; Tit. i. 5-10. ’’3. No individual ought to be elected if he is not conversant with the ancient Greek language. The present condition of the system of education renders it necessary to confine ourselves within these limits. Our http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 255 gymnasia, besides the existing confusion and consequent cessation of operations, have not as yet reached that desirable state of perfection which will put within the reach of their professors the means of teaching our citizens, and particularly our ministers, the useful arts and sciences. We must therefore confine ourselves to the simple requisition of the ancient Greek language. This, however, must be indispensable, otherwise we run the risk of being thought more foolish than our senseless masters. If then Ulemas know to a man the language in which their pseudo-koran is written, is it not ridiculous –to say nothing harsher– for us to admit for teachers of the sacred gospel, those who are ignorant of the language in which the holy book is written? But when we shall have been fortunate enough to establish, in our literary institutions, professorships of all the sciences, then something more than the knowledge of the ancient Greek language ought to be required. It ought, therefore, to be understood by the public, that this moderate demand shall have ceased at the expiration of ten years. After the lapse of ten years, no one who has not studied in some of our gymnasia, ecclesiastical history, logic, and particularly moral philosophy, ought to be admitted as a candidate. Besides the above requisitions, he ought to be well versed in the Latin and Hebrew languages. The one necessary for the perusal of those fathers who wrote in Latin, the other for the purpose of reading the Old Testament in the original. ’’4. All settled fees and perquisites, which the ministers and bishops were wont to receive from the Christians as a recompense for particular services, must be immediately abolished; and instead of these, the actu­ al ministers of religion in the different cities, ought to be paid from the public treasury; it is in direct opposition to the dictates of our religion, that the soldiers of Christ, as St. Paul calls them, should become merchants, and the sacred temples turn to dens of merchants. ‘No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life’ – 2 Tim. ii. 4. ’’5. The age of ministers demands the attention of the law. Aristotle ordained that the ministers of their false gods, should be old men, and Plato requires them to be sixty years old. The true religion of the Christians has been no less provident in this particular –the ministers of the primitive church were called presbyters, (as they are called to this day by the western Christians,) because they were in fact old men. We call our rulers old and elders, because the rulers ought to be of this age, and ought to have the prudence which belongs to this age. Those, whose upright and virtuous life, entitles them to the sacred office of ministers, would be much more revered when their age also claims the due confidence of their citizens. The office of confessor ought never to be intrusted http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 256 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) to the hands of a man who has not reached the sixtieth year of his life, (Will it not be best to intrust it to the bands of those who are already laid in the coffin?) and this if for nothing else, at least for that blameless character which St. Paul –1 Tim. iii. 2, and Tit. i. 7– requires from the candidates for the sacred office. ’’6. For the same reason it would be proper that those who are about to receive the sacred office should belong to the class of married men, and not to that of monks. The licensed monks are fit for serving in churches belonging to monasteries; in cities, among married people, a married minister has a better title, since he is a member of the civil community, and apt to be more alive to the wants and interests of his fellow-citizens. ’’7. What though the ministers are citizens, this need not entitle them to political offices, nor subject them to the duties of common citizens. On the contrary, they ought to avoid political distinctions, as they would the snares of Satan. Appointed to watch over the eternal interests of our souls, they have scarcely time and power to perform this arduous duty; how would they be able to do justice to their important and laborious station, should they incumber themselves with political duties? It is true they are citizens, but their occupation is of a peculiar character, and altogether different from civil occupations. They would be sufficiently useful to their country, should they confine themselves to the paramount duty of elevating the moral character of their citizens, by precept as well as by example. ’’8. The number of the ministers ought to be proportionate to the inhabitants of the place, and the number of the churches –which ought to be neither too numerous nor too costly. History informs us that with the immoderate increase of ministers, and the magnificence of churches, the due reverence to religion decreased. The renowned and magnificent temple of St. Peter, is in Rome, where the church is governed by a person, who, in opposition to the precepts of Christ –John xvii. 36.– has united –what a monstrous union!– to his sacerdotal office, temporal power. The no less renowned and splendid edifice of St. Paul’s, is in London, where the English bishops, contrary to the precepts of St. Paul –1 Tim. vi. 5-11.– are as wealthy as Croesus. Such misfortunes, or rather evils, are more to be lamented, inasmuch as their correction has become almost impossible. Free, as yet, from such encumbrances, and fully aware how much they have injured us when we had them, let us beware, on the outset, how we introduce them again into our political system. As we appoint no greater number of rulers than are necessary to conduct the affairs of the public, and as we erect neither larger nor greater number of http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 257 courts than are sufficient to contain the assembled officers, so in religious matters, let us not have either ministers or churches more than necessity demands. ’’I would desire, and wish were it in my power to order, that each city, and particularly, that what is destined to be the seat of the legislative body of the nation, should have one distinguished church. What church? Let it not appear ridiculous to my reader, if I should answer, a temple of justice, bearing on its vestibule this short inscription, ‘for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness’– Psalm xi. 1. Justice is one of the inseparable and peculiar attributes of the Most High, as well as wisdom and all his other perfections; but neither the Old nor the New Testament bestows upon God any of the above epithets, more often than that of justice. To teach us probably that justice, which is the mother of peace, is also the fountain of virtue, and that through this, will a citizen live peacefully in this life, and cherish a good hope for that which is to come. A good citizen, therefore, ought always to revere justice, and if at any time, he should be tempted to injure his fellow-citizen, let him, as though he were pursued by the evil and wild demon injustice, betake himself to the sacred temple of justice, and there let him kneel before God, and beg fervently to be saved from such impious tyranny. In this temple, should the legislators of the nation hear the religious services, before they enter the senate hall; and in this, should the judges take their oath before they have taken their seats on the bench. The necessity of such a temple extends itself to other civil actions, which I omit for the sake of brevity. I will, however, add, for those who might be inclined to marvel at what I have said respecting the temple of justice, that the habit of seeing and praying in such a temple has greater power to withdraw a citizen from unjust actions, than the fear of the laws. The power of habit softens by degrees our souls, and by continual action moulds them as though they were made of wax. ’’All the world knows, either by report or actual observation, the temple of St. ‘Sophia’, which is still polluted by the impious prayers of the barbarians; but probably few are those who know that Justinian, in order to erect this expensive and magnificent temple, curtailed, contrary to the dictates of justice, the supports of the schools and the salaries of the professors. If this unfortunate –what else can I call him?– emperor, took it into his head to honour the wisdom of God with the foolishness of his nation –why shall we not appear more pious, and more sensible than Justinian, should we erect, without injuring others, a temple of justice, with a view of having before our eyes an ever-present monitor of our conduct towards one another? http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 258 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) ’’While on the subject of religion and its ministers, it may not be irrelevant to say a few words in reference to those systems of religion which branch out of Christianity –as well as in regard to those which are in direct opposition to the precepts of the gospel. The irreligion which prevails to-day, throughout all the enlightened nations, is well known; but the mutual persecutions for difference in religious opinions, which once were considered as the pious deeds of zealots, are now laughed at as the ferocious acts of maniacs. One persecutor of every religion remains yet in Europe –this is the tyrant of Greece. He is as savage as the religion, of which he is called the kalif, is the most false of all the false religions. We, who are the children of the true religion, and the followers of Christ, ought to exhibit that mildness of which He is the pattern –not only towards the different systems of Christianity, but even towards the religion of our tyrants, should they submit to the same laws with ourselves. ’’The mildness and forbearance due to other religions need not degenerate into indifference to the interests of our own. While we ought to renounce persecution, as we would injustice, we ought to beware lest we suffer it ourselves. Of all the religious systems no one will dare at present to persecute us openly; we ought to know, however, that there are secret persecutions, one of which is particularly practised by the missionaries of the Pope. These followers of the Roman church, often lead astray our ignorant brethren, and catechize them in the Roman creed, with greater zeal than if the proselyte had been a Turk. The mania of these missionaries ought the more to be feared, since they inspire their proselytes with a most implacable hatred against the rest of the Greeks. Some of the islanders, as soon as they are entangled in the nets of the Capuchins, as soon as they have heard a Latin mass, think –poor wretches!– that they cease to be Greeks, and prefer the name of children of Rome, to that of sons of Greece. ’’Leaving, therefore, to all, the liberty of obeying the dictates of their conscience in religious matters, our laws ought not to permit any one to lead away our fellow-Christians, or separate them from the body of our church. Whatever missionary of the Pope will dare hereafter to ensnare any member of the Eastern church, and induce him to join that of Rome, ought to be expelled Greece forthwith, and without much ceremony. We would promise to give them as little trouble, now that we are independent, as we did while under the yoke of Turkey, and, moreover, we would offer them the protection of our civil laws, and would protect them from the injustice of the Turks, from which neither their consuls, http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 259 nor their ambassadors were able to defend them. We have a right, however, to expect from them all that a stranger owes to a native citizen. We would permit all those of our brethren whom they have drawn within the pale of the Western church, to be the spiritual children of the Pope, without ceasing to consider them as brethren and citizens. Let the ministers of the Roman church regard them as their spiritual children –but let them recollect, in conformity with their duty to our laws, that they belong to the political body of Greece, and this being the case, they ought to be taught, not what will benefit Rome, but what will advance the interest of Greece. ’’This also demands our consideration. The missionaries of Rome are many, and they are divided into many and different orders, distinct from each other. These different orders, notwithstanding the injuries to which they were liable from the party of our tyrants, have never ceased to wander over Asiatic and European Greece; it is very probable that now, attracted by the happiness of liberated Greece, as well as by the hope of a richer harvest, and deprived, in consequence of political changes, of their monasteries and wealth; it is probable, I say, that they will rush upon us, as upon a new field of supports. Will it be wise, will it be politic, to suffer such a cloud of monks to tax Greece, while we have so many of our own? Will it be wise to open the gates of Greece, to all their orders, and suffer our country to be overloaded by their churches and their monasteries, and that too at a time, when their religious establishments are abolished in their own home, and their wealth, accumulated by the folly of Christians gone by, transferred to the interests of their country? Wisdom indeed bids us anticipate these evils, that might arise in consequence of our neglect; and common sense commands us to keep off these locust-like monks from the labours of our farmers, to preserve our church free from foreign religious notions, and our political institutions from misfortunes that might shake their newly erected foundations. ’’Let them watch over the interests of their religion, while amongst us, as they would while in their own country. Let them be protected by our own laws, and let them keep all their religious establishments already acquired in the shores of Greece. Hereafter, however, no monasteries ought to be erected; and if the children of Rome stand in need of a new church, this also ought not to be permitted, without the sanction of the Greek government. The Greek government, after it shall have discovered that the number of Catholics –be they in a city or island– is so great that they stand in need of a new church, ought to exhibit towards them that justice which it owes to all. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 260 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) ’’The number of Catholic monks ought to be proportionate to the number of their churches and their followers; the surplus must return to the monasteries and churches of their own country, except in the case where any of them, throwing off the monastic habit, should employ himself in cultivating the Grecian fields, or adopt some other honorable occupation for his support. Who can complain for subjecting them to what we would justly subject our own monks; our government cannot suffer either a stranger, or a native, to live in indolence. It does not hinder any one, however, from becoming a monastic instead of a gregarious animal. He must lead, however, a life consonant to his pretensions; he must shut himself up in some monastery, and must not revel in the cities –an idler living on the pains of the industrious, and disgracing his office. The apostles have emphatically declared themselves against such a conduct, and have expressly condemned an indolent life –2 Thess. iii. 8-12. (‘‘Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy bodies. Now them that are such, we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread’’.) ’’I have said that the western church has many and various orders of monks. It is our duty to see which of these orders ought to be entrusted with the religious care of our Catholic brethren, and which of them ought to be excluded. Suffice it at present to put our veto against one –the order of the Jesuits– the European princes have long abolished, and with the sanction and approbation of the Pope, expelled the Jesuits, as an order inadmissible by its very nature in any state (inadmissible par sa nature dans tout État) –I will not add the many, and terrific things written against the Jesuits, upon whom report ascribed for their last exploit, the poisoning of the Pope who abolished their order. I say, I will not add all that has been said against the Jesuits, because the few words contained in the above parenthesis, are sufficient to show whether it would be proper to admit such an order of monks, in the very infancy of our political institutions. This abolished order of the Jesuits, has lately had the impudence to raise its beaten head –enter openly, wherever it could, and thrust itself wherever it could not, under the new name of Fathers of Faith-Patres de la fois. The difficulty which they meet on the part http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 261 of those who belong to the same religion with themselves, and the hope of accomplishing among the independent Greeks, what they could not bring to pass among the oppressed, will compel and induce them to burst like a torrent upon the shores of Greece. If the wise autocrat of Russia, who could easily restrain their madness, thought best to expel them from his dominions, and thus free himself from the apprehension of their ever corrupting his subjects; is it not incumbent upon us, who have hardly been able to put in order our political fabric, to keep aloof every thing which might tend to disturb the good order of the state? These Jesuits –whether they are called Fathers of the Faith, or lurk under any monastic garb, must not be admitted into Greece’’. It may not be superfluous to remark, for those of our readers who may not be intimately acquainted with the true state of Greece, previous to the revolution of 1821, that the above observations of Dr. Coray, which seem to have the appearance of preventative measures, are in fact, levelled at existing abuses. Notwithstanding that Greece had declared herself free and independent of Turkey, and had already set in defiance the authority of sultan Mahmoud, her children, as though they were under the spell of infatuation, still continued to regard the authority of the patriarch. Yes! while her civil institutions were regulated by her sons, her church was permitted to be swayed by the sceptre of a person, who was at the best, a tool of her former tyrant. The patriarch of Constantinople, is virtually elected by the council of bishops, but in fact, he is appointed by the sublime porte. (Genadius Scholarius, was the first patriarch, who was elected by Mohammed II, after the capture of Constantinople, and endowed with privileges more consonant to the spirit of the Koran, than the Gospel, and bought by dint of money, rather than merit. ‘‘The patriarchal treasury, which is called, par excellence, the common treasury, pays to the imperial revenue, an annual tribute of twenty-five thousand Turkish piastres. This annual tribute, which is paid under the soft name of a present, is given from the patriarch, and all the archbishops who reside in the Turkish empire. In lieu of this general tribute, the high clergy are by law exempted from the tax of capitation, which is paid to the porte by the subjects of the empire. The bishops, however, are not exempted from this tax, except when they reside in their diocess; for they are always subject to it whenever they please to stay in Constantinople. The patriarchal treasury forms a sort of bank, wherein people deposit great sums of money, at interest; the government borrows sometimes from this bank, and the Turks themselves often place their money at interest in this bank, as the most safe place. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 262 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) A certain class of civil affairs belong to the jurisdiction of the patriarch; these are the contracts of marriage and divorce, legacies and testaments, larcenies and crimes of little importance. In general, in order to avoid the summary process of the Turkish tribunal, and the arbitrary sentences of the Viziers, they have recourse to the mediation of the patriarch. The patriarch takes cognizance of differences existing between Greeks and Greeks, Greeks and Armenians, and even between Greeks and Turks. The patriarch holds in his palace a court of justice, which is composed of his secular clergy; the sentence pronounced in this court is recognized as valid even when the process takes place between a Turk and a Greek. When the patriarch wishes to banish a Christian, he addresses, by his agent, a petition to the porte, and demands the firman of exile. The porte grants it immediately; none of the patriarchal requests remain unnoticed; if the contrary arrives, it is the sign for a second petition. The patriarch has a prison, in which he condemns Christian delinquents –be they clergy or laymen. He has the right of despatching them to the bagnio without even informing the porte –which never pretends to set at liberty a person condemned by the patriarch. Whenever any Christian charged with some crime, is pleased to declare openly, while conducted to the public prison by the officers of the police, that he desired to embrace Islamism, he would, forthwith, be delivered and conducted before some tribunal, or before the porte itself to receive the turban. But the Christians, whom the Janissaries of the patriarch, conducted to exile or to the prison, though they might manifest on the way to their utmost, their wish to become Mohammedans, no one dares wrest them from the hands of the Janissaries. In fine, the patriarch enjoys the paramount privilege of riding on horseback in the streets of Constantinople. On such occasions, he is preceded by two Janissaries, and surrounded by a dozen of priests and deacons. (Cours de Litérature Grecque Moderne.) Hence the fountain whence emanate all the ecclesiastical offices, may be traced to the Turkish divan; and this may account for the sad fact that every ignoramus –nay, every fool! if he only has money and Turkish influence, may rise to the highest ecclesiastical office. But the evil does not stop here; the patriarch, in order to answer the enormous demands of the sultan and his divan, tyrannized over the bishops; the bishops, anxious to satisfy the calls of the patriarch and his synod, behaved like so many http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 263 uncircumcised Janissaries towards the priests and monks of every order; and the priests and monks, like so many respectable beggars, preyed upon the vitals of their spiritual children. These multifarious demands gave rise to heavy fees, and numerous perquisites; to the enormous increase of churches (It is impossible to give a correct idea of the excess to which the Greeks went in this particular. Not only the most distinguished cities, but even the most insignificant villages were absolutely crowded with churches. ‘‘I ought not to forget that Belissus, whose territory is as limited as its population (six hundred souls) possesses as yet seventeen churches, though most of its inhabitants are beggars by profession’’. –Voyage dans la Macédoine, p. 216) and monasteries, and to the observance of holidays, which amounted to nearly two thirds of the year, and which enriched the monks and priests, but impoverished the labouring class of the people. The greatest of all misfortunes, however, is the progress of the Roman church in Greece. Its convents, as well as its monks, increased the misfortunes of the country, but neither of them is of any importance, when compared with the spirit which its missionaries inspired in the bosom of their proselytes; this is of such a nature, and of so implacable a character, that it had the direct tendency to withdraw them from the church, and destroy the only bond of union. Such have been, and such; with more or less asperity, continue to be, the evils and misfortunes of Greece. The present government of that long afflicted land, will, it is hoped, succeed to cut asunder the bands which fasten the church of liberated Greece to the throne of Turkey. Should it succeed in this, there is little doubt, that the proper election of the ministers of the nation, will engage its attention. When the ministers of the Greek nation, shall be enlightened men, then there will be little or no difficulty in freeing and purifying the church from all the paraphernalia of superstition, and the errors of the dark ages, which deface its beauty and simplicity. Had it not been that we have already exceeded the limits which we proposed to ourselves, when we commenced the above article, we would have expatiated on the subject of freeing the Greek church from those superstitions which seem to be inherent in its present constitution, and which subject is treated in the prolegomena of Dr. Coray’s ‘‘Vade Mecum’’; as it is, however, we must leave this to some future opportunity.» http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 264 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) Encyclopaedia Americana, A Popular Dictionary of Art, Sciences, Literature, History, Politics and Biography, brought down to present time, επιμ. Francis Lieber, Edward Wigglesworth, Thomas Gamaliel Bradford, τ. 3, 1836, σ. 530. «Coray Adamantios; a learned physician and scholar, born at Scio, or Chios, in 1748. After having studied the ancient and modern languages, and translated, while a boy, a German catechism into Greek, he went, in 1782, to Montpellier, to finish his education, where he studied medicine and natural history, and received the degree of doctor. In 1788, he settled in Paris. Since he has been naturalized in France, he has greatly contributed, by his learned works, to give a favourable opinion of the progress of improvement among the modern Greeks. He has always retained a great attachment to his native country; and we owe to him several excellent accounts of the intellectual progress of his countrymen. During the youth of Coray, a fondness for learning was revived among the modern Greeks by some ecclesiastics, who translated valuable books of instruction, principally from the German, and made them their textbooks in their schools upon mount Athos. The wealth of several Greek commercial houses made them feel the want of skilful bookkeepers and clerks, and they were desirous of taking them from among their own countrymen. Moreover, the Russian armies had destroyed the illusion of the invincible power of the sublime Porte, and the Greeks, being protected in their property by the influence of the Russian consuls, became active and industrious, and the knowledge which they gained by commerce with other nations helped to eradicate the superstitions and prejudices which had grown up in the long darkness of Turkish despotism. Coray has referred to these favourable circumstances which attended the time of his education, in his Mémoire sur l’État actuel de la Civilisation dans la Grèce lu à la Société des Observateurs de l’Homme, in 1803; and has offered, in his preface to a translation of Hippocrates upon Climate, Water and Locality, an apology for his nation. This, together with his preface to Aelian’s Historical Memorabilia, in the Hellenic Library, in which he gives a history of the modern Greek language, belongs to the pieces called forth by the exaggerated praise and censure which his views have received. The improvement which Coray has given to the modern Greek language has by no means been universally acknowledged. He has chosen a style borrowed from every century, and deviating much from the style of the people, and the language of the patriarchs and Byzantines of latter times. H. Codrika, professor of Greek grammar and modern li- http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 265 terature at a lyceum in Paris, has attacked him violently in several publications, asserting that his style is artificial, and has but little effect upon his nation. The imitators of his style are called Coraists. The critical editions which Coray has published of the ancient authors cannot be entirely trusted, for he often makes very bold alterations. They are, however, very useful for his own countrymen. They have been published in Paris since 1806, under the general title of Hellenic Library, embracing chiefly Aelian’s various histories, Polyaenus, Aesop, Isocrates, Plutarch’s Lives, Strabo, Aristotle’s Politics, &c. This venerable old man lives in Paris, devoted to literary labors, and has never answered the writings directed against him, satisfied with the respect that is continually paid him by many of his countrymen. A marble statue of him, executed by Canova, stands in the lecture-room at Chios. His old age has prevented him from joining in the struggle of his nation against their oppressors. The warmth and sincerity of his good wishes in their cause may be seen from his excellent introduction to Aristotle, which has been translated into German.» Childe Harold’s pilgrimage, a romaunt, George Gordon N. Byron, 1837, σ. 266.6 «Coray, the most celebrated of living Greeks, at least among the Franks, was born at Scio (in the Review, Smyrna is stated, I have reason to think, incorrectly), and besides the translation of Beccaria and other works mentioned by the Reviewer, has published a lexicon in Romaic and French, if I may trust the assurance of some Danish travelers lately arrived from Paris; but the latest we have seen here in French and Greek is that of Gregory Zolikoglou. Coray has recently been involved in an unpleasant controversy with M. Gail, a Parisian commentator and editor of some translations from the Greek poets, in consequence of the Institute having awarded him the prize for his version of Hippocrates ‘‘Περί υδάτων’’ &c. to the disparagement and consequently displeasure of the said Gail. To his exertions, literary and patriotic, great praise is undoubtedly due; but a part of that praise ought not to be withheld from the two brothers Zosimado (merchants settled in Leghorn), who sent him in Paris and maintained him, for the express purpose of elucidating the ancient and adding to the modern, researches of his countrymen.» 6. To εδάφιο αυτό δημοσιεύτηκε και σχολιάστηκε από τον Δ. Θερειανό, Αδαμά­ ντιος Κοραής, τ. Β΄, Τεργέστη 1890, σ. 123-124. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 266 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, επιμ. G. Long, τ. 13, 1839, σ. 252. «Κoray, Adeimantos, born at Smyrna in 1748, of a family from Chios, studied first at Smyrna, and afterwards at Montpellier, where he took his degree as doctor of medicine, and settled in France. He wrote several works on medicine, and published French translations of the treatise of Hippocrates ‘‘On Air, Water, and Situation’’, with copious notes, and of the ‘‘Characters’’ of Theophrastus. In 1801 he translated into modern Greek Beccaria’s treatise ‘‘On Crimes and Punishments’’, which he dedicated to the then newly constituted republic of the Ionian Islands. He afterwards wrote in French a memoir, ‘‘De l’État Actuel de la Civilization en Grèce’’, 1803, which, being translated into modern Greek, answered the double purpose of making the people of Western Europe acquainted with the moral and intellectual condition of his countrymen, and of making the Greeks acquainted with it themselves. Koray also undertook to edit a series of ancient Greek writers, under the title of the ‘‘Hellenic Library’’. He began with the ‘‘Orations of Isocrates’’, 2 vols. 8vo., Paris, 1807, which he accompanied with interesting prolegomena and explanatory notes. He afterwards edited in succession the ‘‘Lives of Plutarch’’, the ‘‘Histories of Αelian’’, the fragments of Heraclides and of Nicolaus Damascenus, the fables of Aesop, Strabo, the first four books of the Iliad, and the ‘‘Politic of Aristotle’’. The reputation of Koray attracted many young Greeks to him, who profited by his conversation and instruction. Although long absent from his native country he felt to the last the most lively interest in her fate. He foresaw that a struggle was approaching, and he wished the minds of the Greeks to be prepared for it. He encouraged particularly the diffusion of education, the formation of new schools in Greece, and he furnished directions for the method and course of studies. He also contributed to fix the rules and orthography of the modern Greek, in which he took a middle path between the system of Neophytus Doukas, which Koray stigmatized with the name of ‘‘macaronic’’, and that of Christopoulos, which affected to write the modern Greek exactly as it is spoken. Koray wished to purify the language by discarding the numerous Italianisms, Gallicisms, and Germanisms, which had been introduced into it, and by substituting old Greek words, at the same time avoiding the affectation of too great a purism or classic pedantry. (Rizo, Cours de Littérature Grecque Moderne, 1827).7 Koray 7. Πρόκειται για την πηγή του κειμένου, το έργο του Ιακωβάκη Ρίζου Νερουλού http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 267 died at Paris a few years ago, having had the satisfaction of seeing the struggle in which his countrymen had engaged rewarded by success.» The American Whig Review, 31 (Ιούλιος 1850), 485 [“Memoir of the public life of Edward Everett”]. “Having completed his residence at Goettingen, he passed the winter of 1817-18 in Paris, devoted to the studies subsidiary to his department, and especially to the acquisition of the Romaic, as a preparation for a tour in modern Greece. At this time he formed the intimate acquaintance of Koray, whose writings contributed so materially to the regeneration of Greece. It was no doubt, from his interest afterwards manifested the progress of her revolution.” The Works of Daniel Webster, Speeches in the convention to amend the constitution of Massachusetts and speeches in Congress, Daniel Webster, Βοστώνη 1851, σ. 60. «The Revolution in Greece, A Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, on the 19th of January, 1824. The rise and progress of the revolution in Greece attracted great attention in the United States. Many obvious causes contributed to this effect, and their influence was seconded by the direct appeal made to the people of America, by the first political body organized in Greece after the breaking out of the revolution, viz. ‘‘The Messenian Senate of Calamata’’. A formal address was made by that body to the people of the United States, and forwarded by their committee (of which the celebrated Koray was chairman), to a friend and correspondent in this country. This address was translated and widely circulated; but it was not to be expected that any great degree of confidence should be at once generally felt in a movement undertaken against such formidable odds. The progress of events, however, in 1822 and 1823, was such as to create an impression that the revolution in Greece had a substantial foundation in the state of affairs, in the awakened spirit of that country, and in the condition of public opinion throughout Christendom.» (1778-1850), Cours de Littérature Grecque Moderne, που εκδόθηκε στη Γενεύη το 1828 και στο οποίο οφείλονται οι λανθασμένες πληροφορίες του λήμματος της Penny Cyclopaedia, όπως π.χ. ότι το Mémoire του Κοραή (1803) είχε μεταφραστεί στα νέα ελληνικά. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 268 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) The New Brunswick Review 1 (Μάιος 1844-Φεβρουάριος 1855), 211-219. «The first symptoms of a revival of learning in Greece began to exhibit themselves in the last century. The very state of subjection in which the nation lay, was the occasion of the new impulse, which both the material interests of the country and its learning now received. The Greeks were cut off from all hope of enriching themselves from the cultivation of the soil, by the continual presence and oppressions of the Turks; who, living among the people, were ready at any time to seize upon the avails of their industry. The fruits of years of hard labor were liable to be plundered in a moment; and, more than that, they were sure to involve the possessor in personal danger. The inhabitants of the maritime towns and of the islands possessed far greater advantages. The navy of their masters was manned almost exclusively by them. They enjoyed the right of carrying on commerce under the flags of several of the civilized nations of Europe; and they thus began to taste of various immunities, and of partial independence. They planted themselves in foreign cities, for the purpose of carrying on their trade to greater advantage; and many of the commercial houses which originated thus became wealthy. Meanwhile, though far from his native home, the Greek merchant preserved all his affection for his country, and the hope of some day returning thither and spending his old age in comfort, with the wealth he had acquired abroad. It was impossible that such constant and intimate intercourse with the nations of Western Europe should be without profit to a people, who, whatever defects they possess, certainly have an extraordinary love for improvement. Schools now began to be established in different cities of Greece and Asia Minor; and a high school was to be found at Jannina in Albania. The chief teachers of these academies of learning were drawn from Mount Athos, or the ‘‘Hagion Oros’’ of the natives, where some learning began to spread among the thousands of rich and idle monks, who swarmed in the many monasteries. From such schools, as it may well be imagined these were, it was not to be expected that there would arise men much distinguished for mental culture. Accordingly, we find among the authors who flourished up to the end of the last century, few or none, if we except Meletius, the Geographer, who enjoyed a European reputation. Their scanty literature was almost exclusively confined, as Lord Byron truly observed, to works of a religious character. His remarks on the causes of this fact are just and forcible: ‘‘ ‘Ay’, but say the generous advocates of oppression, who, while they assert the ignorance of the http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 269 Greeks, wish to prevent them from dispelling it; ‘ay, but these are mostly, if not all, religious tracts, and consequently good for nothing’. Well, and pray what else can they write about? It is pleasant enough to hear a Frank, particularly an Englishman, who may abuse the government of his own country; or a Frenchman, who may abuse every government except his own, and who may range at will over every philosophical, scientific, sceptical, or moral subject –sneering at the Greek legends. A Greek must not write on politics, and cannot touch on science for want of instruction; if he doubts he is excommunicated and damned; therefore his countrymen are not poisoned with modern philosophy; and as to morals, thanks to the Turks! there are no such things. What then is left him, if he has a turn for scribbling? Religion and holy biography; and it is natural enough that those who have so little in this life should look to the next. It is no wonder, then, that in a catalogue now before me, of fifty-five Greek writers, many of whom were lately living, not above fifteen should have touched on anything but religion’’. (Lord Byron’s remarks on the Romaic or Modern Greek Language.) The popular literature of the times, if that term may be so applied, comprised little more than the poetical legends of the saints, and a few paraphrases of Bible stories. Some of these are not altogether destitute of merit; and the quaintness of the style adds force to the narrative. We have seen a thick volume of such poems, containing sometimes as many as twelve hundred lines, called the ‘‘Cathreptes Gynaicon’’, or Mirror for Women. Though in extensive circulation towards the end of the last century, it is probable that the authorship of most of them dates further back. To these must be added a large number of popular klephtic or banditti songs, as well as a few heroic hymns, such as that of Rigas, which were rarely committed to writing. Commencing our retrospect with the beginning of the present century, our attention is naturally drawn first to Coray, at once the father of modern Greek literature, and the most distinguished writer it can yet boast of. Adamantius Coray or Coraes was born at Smyrna, on the 27th of April, 1748. His father, John Coray, was, however, a native of Scio, and his son, in accordance with the notions of the Orientals, always considered that island as his fatherland. The history of his early days has been preserved to us in an autobiography, in which, within the compass 8. Αναφορά στο έργο του Καισάριου Δαπόντε, Καθρέπτης Γυναικών, Λειψία 1766. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 270 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) of a few pages, he has attempted to note the more important events of his life. Like Franklin, he records its mistakes and failures, as well as its successes. He commences with the declaration that ‘‘whoever would write his own memoirs, must note both the achievements and failings of his life, with such accuracy, as neither to magnify the former, nor underrate the latter. A thing’’, he adds, ‘‘most difficult of accomplishment, on account of the selfishness and vanity which is implanted in each one of us’’. His father was a man of little education, but of great natural acuteness. His maternal grandfather was the most learned Greek philologian of his time, and had himself educated his four daughters, who were almost the only young ladies in the large city of Smyrna who were able to read and write. Adamantius was early sent to a school recently established by a Sciote, which he informs us resembled all the other schools in Greece at that time, –that is, the master gave very little instruction, accompanied with over much chastisement. So severe, indeed, was the latter, that his younger brother Andrew forsook his studies in disgust, contrary to his parents’ advice. Besides the love of study and emulation, there was another cause which induced Adamantius to persevere. It was the provision contained in his grandfather’s will, that his library should be adjudged to that one of his grandsons who should first leave the school possessed of as much education as the teacher himself. This prize was the occasion of considerable rivalry between the grandchildren; but Adamantius was the successful candidate. The number of books it contained was small, but sufficient to convince the young student of the utter insignificance of the titles of ‘‘Most learned’’, and ‘‘Most wise and learned’’, which at that time were lavished upon all without exception, who knew the declensions of nouns and the conjugations of verbs. The limited extent of his own acquirements, combined with the extreme difficulty of making progress in study in the illiterate city of Smyrna, instead of discouraging him, only roused him to more earnest efforts. He finally succeeded in obtaining masters to instruct him in Italian and French; which he wished to acquire, less for any direct advantage which he expected to reap from them, than for the assistance they would furnish him in the study of Latin. His teachers, he tells us, were superior in nothing to his former master, except that they imparted instruction without beating. But it was to his acquaintance with a Protestant clergyman, that Coray afterwards used to attribute, not only the progress he made in literature, but the moral principles which formed the basis of his excellent character. Bernard Keun, the chaplain of the Dutch Consul at Smyrna, took an interest in the young man, and instructed him in http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 271 Latin and other languages. His name was never afterwards mentioned but with love by his scholar.9 Two years were subsequently spent by Coray in Holland, as an agent of the commercial house with which his father was connected. It was not until 1782, when he was more than thirty-four years of age, that Coray succeeded in carrying into execution a long cherished plan of going to Montpellier in France to study medicine, –a profession which was the best calculated to succeed among the Turks, who were compelled to be respectful at least, to their physicians. For six years he remained at Montpellier, engaged principally in his studies; and in 1787 he commenced his literary career, by the translation of the Catechism of the Russian monk Plato into the modern Greek, and of several medical treatises into the French language. A year later Coray removed to Paris, which thenceforth became his permanent home; where almost all his works were published, and where he imagined that he could write with more freedom than in his native land, oppressed as it then was by barbarians, whose very sight was intolerable to him. It was at Paris, that Coray first acquired the reputation of being one of the most excellent Greek scholars of Europe. The First Consul Napoleon desired that a translation of Strabo’s Geography should be made into French, with copious annotations. This work was intrusted to Coray, in connexion with two Frenchmen. The first volume was presented to the Emperor Napoleon in 1805, and with such favor was it received, that besides the annual appropriation made to each of the authors during the continuance of their labors, a pension of 2000 francs was conferred upon them for life. At the same time the Emperor made each of them a present of a copy of the splendid and costly work on the Egyptian expedition published under his auspices. This translation, together with that of Hippocrates, which had been previously made, established the Greek’s reputation as a scholar. But Coray desired no such empty and unprofitable distinction as that which is acquired by the mere accumulation of knowledge. He longed to diffuse its beneficial influence, especially among his own countrymen. The difficulty, however, was to determine how their interests could be best promoted. The disastrous issue of the successive attempts at liberating Greece, and more especially the bloody scenes which had 9. Για τη σχέση Κοραή-Keun βλ. D. C. Hesseling, “Korais et ses amis Hollandais”, στο Εις μνήμην Σπυρίδωνος Λάμπρου, Αθήνα 1935, σ. 1-6 και Ιφιγένεια Αναστασιάδη, «Γκυς – Κεύνος – Κοραής», Ο Ερανιστής 15 (1978-1979), 253-260. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 272 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) occurred but a few years before, after the Russian invasion of the Morea, must have convinced him of the impracticability, even if he had not been already persuaded of the inexpediency of endeavors to render his native land independent. He deplored the state of ignorance and intellectual and moral degradation into which it had fallen, still more than its weakness and political subjection. The fetters of the tyrant might by some lucky conjunction be broken; but the chains of ignorance, which centuries had riveted, could not be so easily cast off. The first enterprise of Coray was to furnish those of his countrymen who were desirous of learning (and he knew that there were many included in this class), with the means of instructing themselves. He commenced, therefore, in 1805, what he had long contemplated, –the publication of the principal Greek authors, with copious notes. The utility of such a series can be estimated only by those who consider the rarity of books in Greece, and the still greater scarcity of dictionaries, works on classical antiquities, and annotated editions. Few presses were to be found in the country. All the religious-works were printed at Venice or Vienna, as many of them are to the present day. The zeal of Coray would, however, probably have fallen short of the accomplishment of his object, had it not been for the liberality of the brothers Zosimades, rich Greek merchants living in northern Europe, who furnished him with the requisite funds for the publication of his works, until the malevolent intrigues of the superstitious party induced them to withdraw their assistance. The following works succeeded each other at short intervals. An edition of Isocrates first appeared, which raised yet higher the reputation of Coray as a critic. Then followed Plutarch’s Lives, Strabo’s Geography, the Politics of Aristotle, his Nicomachean Ethics, the Memorabilia of Xenophon, Plato’s Gorgias, and Lycurgus’s speech against Leochares. Then came the Strategies of Polyaenus and of Onesander, Aesop, Xenocrates and Galen, Marcus Aurelius, Plutarch’s Politics, Epictetus, Arrian, and several others, making in all thirty-nine volumes. In some respects, the plan of these editions is quite peculiar. Each volume is preceded by a preface or prolegomena, forming what is now, at least, considered a most invaluable portion of the work. The prolegomena are partly introductory to the study of the author; and yet are made at the same time the vehicle for conveying such thoughts as, in the present state of the nation, the editor thought most likely to prove salutary. Often, indeed, their connexion with the subject of the text is very slight; and, on the whole, the prolegomena must be viewed rather in the light of distinct http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 273 tracts. Many of the more important have been collected and published in a separate form.10 Among the most attractive of these prolegomena, are the series prefixed to the first four books of the Iliad. They are devoted to the imaginary history of an illiterate parish priest, a character, of which, unfortunately, too many specimens are still to be found in Greece. He is represented as officiating in his native village of Bolissos, in the island of Scio, which the author supposes to be the birth-place of Homer. This priest was surnamed Papa Trechas, from the rapidity with which he was accustomed to run over the church service, –a feat on which he prided himself exceedingly. He used to boast of his sixty-four journeys, and hence esteemed himself another Ulysses, from whom he differed only in this respect, that he made them to the sixtyfour hamlets of the island, instead of the distant seas and regions visited by the Homeric wanderer. The opportunity is a good one for the exhibition of those errors in society, which render the priesthood of the Greek Church in general, at once the most ignorant and the most vicious portion of the community. For Papa Trechas had, in his youth, been so wild and unruly, that a council of his relatives had been called to decide what should be done with him. Various trades were proposed, but it was evident that the lad would not learn any of them. At length, the wisest of the whole said, ‘‘You see before you an ignorant, lazy, thriftless, and most vicious youth, and do you counsel to bind him out to some mechanic, as though he were capable of learning any trade? What else can you do with him than make him a priest’’? The proposition was adopted by acclamation, everybody wondering that the idea had never struck himself before. And so the boy was set apart for the priesthood. But Papa Trechas is a character in many respects far superior to his fellows. Under his rough exterior there is hidden a good heart; and his intellect needs only the first taste, in order to thirst for learning. The awakening of his conscience, and the regrets experienced in looking back on so many years of his life worse than wasted, are portrayed in a forcible manner. In short, Papa Trechas is a fair example both of what the priesthood are, and what they may become. His history exhibits, also, the influence they will exert, when religion and education have fitted them for their sacred work. We have selected this example of the Prolegomena of Coray, as il10. Για μια σύγχρονη έκδοση των Προλεγομένων του Κοραή βλ. Κ. Θ. Δημαράς, Αδαμαντίου Κοραή Προλεγόμενα στους αρχαίους Έλληνες συγγραφείς και η Αυτοβιογραφία του, τ. Α΄, Αθήνα, ΜΙΕΤ, 1986. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 274 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) lustrating the method which he took to enlighten the minds of his fellow Greeks, on subjects which he thought to be of vital importance to their advancement. In his religious opinions, Coray was far superior to most of those with whom he was associated. Philosophy had not disturbed his religious convictions; but had, on the contrary, strengthened them. When the tares of a heathenish superstition had been eradicated, the pure grain was left to strike its roots unobstructed in a soil well adapted for its growth. In his works the subject of religion is nowhere avoided, but ever treated in an honest and manly way. After reading his writings, no one can doubt that on almost if not every important doctrine, his belief coincided with that of the Reformed Churches. It was with the object of opening the eyes of the Greeks to the fact that their superstitious observances were not an integral part of their religion, but a perversion which had crept in, in the course of ages, that in 1820 he published a translation of the remarkable ‘‘Advice of Three Bishops to Pope Julius the Third’’. (This singular production, in the form of a letter of counsel written, in 1553, by the three bishops of Brescia, Capri, and Thessalonica, to the pope, was rescued from oblivion by the diligence of the scholar Llorente, and first published in his Monumens historiques concernant les deux pragmatiques sanctions de France, etc. 1818. Llorente having been chief Secretary of the Spanish Inquisition, and having had the principal documents in his hands, had an admirable opportunity of discovering the iniquities of the system with which be was connected.) ‘‘The publication of such a work’’, he informs us, ‘‘had for its object the improvement, and at the same time the justification, of the Eastern Church. It was impossible that long servitude, while it deprived the race of education, should not corrupt the clergy, and confuse our religious belief. Whatever, and however numerous, may have been the sins of the Eastern Christians, they are not to be compared with the frightful abuses of the Papal Court; they are but drops in comparison with the ocean. For any one to condemn all the Eastern priesthood, on account of the luxury of a few Sardanapalus-like bishops at Constantinople, is as if one should liken all the laity to the Fanariotes of Constantinople’’. (Βίος Α. Κοραή, σ. 31-32.) This little work, containing so many thrusts against the Eastern Church, under cover of the superstitions of the West, was, as it may be imagined, very obnoxious to the hierarchy. Even the well known fact that Coray was the author of the notes (though it was issued anonymously), would scarcely have saved it from the fulminations of the ‘‘Holy Synod’’, had not his friends managed to postpone the consideration of it, until it was too late to arrest its circulation. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 275 How devoted a well-wisher of his country’s prosperity Coray was, we have already seen. Yet, strange as it may seem, no one was more grieved than he to hear the tidings of the commencement of the Greek revolution. During its continuance, he places the following words in the mouth of one of the persons of a dialogue: ‘‘They (the instigators of the revolution) are scarcely deserving of forgiveness’’; since, ‘‘with the blood of many myriads of men, with the disgrace of unnumbered women, with the conversion to Islam of multitudes of young men and maidens, with the destruction of whole cities, –they have purchased freedom (or rather an image of freedom), which, after twenty, or, at most, thirty years, would have been surely and absolutely obtained, with incomparably fewer evils’’. About the same time he thus writes to a friend: ‘‘Kontostavlos has brought me a sacred relic, a dry twig of a plant from the tomb of the founder of American happiness, Washington. If our political revolution had been delayed but twenty years more, there would certainly have arisen among us also, if not some Washington, at least some diminutive Washington. But now, my friend, from the particulars they write me from Greece, our government is in a deplorable state. Ambition, covetousness, strife for power, complete infatuation, in a word, have taken possession of the heads of some few, who would long since have ruined their country, had it not possessed Marathonian warriors, and an enemy to fight against still more stupid than themselves’’! Coray lived to see his country freed from the domination of the Turks. He died at Paris in April, 1883, at the advanced age of eightyfive years.» The Southern literary messenger: devoted to every department of litera­ ture and the fine arts, επιμ. James E. Heath, Thomas W. White και Edgar Allan Poe, τ. 22 (Φεβρουάριος 1856), 95. «And if the character of Adamantius Koray were only better known, we think that no man would any longer challenge the Greece of our day for a truly great son. We should be glad, if our present limits permitted, to make the readers of this article better acquainted with such a man. We can only say that, in our opinion, any person who reads his biography, his letters, his political and literary writings, will place him among the great men of the world, in the age in which he lived, and feel that modern as well as ancient Greece has had her Socrates. He was a scholar, a philosopher, a patriot in whose bosom burned a love of country and of liberty seldom surpassed by any example in ancient or modern story. His http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 276 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) admiration for our institutions and his veneration for the great men of our earlier times, especially Washington and Franklin, have done more perhaps than any thing else to install the American name in the high place which, as we have already stated, it holds in the Greek mind.» Photo the Suliote, Α Tale of Modern Greece, David R. Morier, Esq., 3 τόμοι, τ. 3, Λονδίνο 1857, σ. 374, σημ., σ. 169. «The sentiment attributed to the Bishop of Arta was shared by the celebrated Koray, well known to his countrymen for his zeal in advancing the cause of education among them, as an indispensable preliminary to their emancipation, and also to the learned of Europe by his writings, in which he aimed at the purification of the national language and mind from the corruptions contracted by both during their long subjection to the Turkish rule. Shortly after the severance of the Greek territory from the Turkish empire, and before the establishment of the present regimen, Koray expressed to me his regret that the revolution had broke forth a generation too soon, before his countrymen were ripe for the exercise and enjoyment of freedom, and his fear lest it should issue in their subjection to a barbarian king: ‘‘εις ένα βάρβαρον βασιλέα’’.”12 Mια δεύτερη κατηγορία αναφορών στον Κοραή είναι εκείνη που εντοπίζει κανείς σε άρθρα που αναφέρονται σε άλλες προσωπικότητες οι οποίες έχουν κάποια άμεση ή έμμεση σχέση με αυτόν. Τα άρθρα αυτά δημοσιεύονται κυρίως σε περιοδικά ποικίλης ύλης που φιλοξενούν νέα από την «εξωτική» Ανατολή. The European Magazine and London Review, Λονδίνο 1793, σ. 731. “There is now at Paris a remarkable man, a Monsieur Coray, a learned Greek Physician, from Smyrna, who lives with Monsieur Clavier. Mon11. Αναφέρεται στον Ιγνάτιο Ουγγροβλαχίας, που διετέλεσε επίσκοπος Άρτης και θεωρείται ο ιδρυτής της Φιλολογικής Εταιρείας του Βουκουρεστίου. Σημαντικά είναι τα στοιχεία για τη δράση του που περιέχονται στο πρώτο τεύχος του γνωστού περιοδικού Ερμής ο Λόγιος, 1811. 12. Πρόκειται για μια προφητική πραγματικά δήλωση του Κοραή, ο οποίος, με την πολιτική διορατικότητα που τον διέκρινε, είχε προβλέψει την πολιτική κατάσταση στο νεαρό ανεξάρτητο ελληνικό κράτος του 19ου αιώνα. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 277 sieur Coray, who is not rich, could not have made a better acquaintance than Monsieur Clavier, in whose house he is lodged. Monsieur Clavier is very much at his case, has an excellent library, is an ingenious and elegant scholar, and well informed in many branches of ancient and modern learning. Monsieur Coray, Docteur en medicine, is at present employed in collating the Manuscript of the Septuagint for Mr. Holmes, but this is not what he likes best. His favourite Author is Hippocrates, whom he has corrected all through in the most masterly manner, and of whom he will, it is to be hoped, publish an edition. The London physicians should set this on foot, for the thing is so well done, that I think it would prefer great credit on the Order. In the course of Monsieur Coray’s corrections on Hippocrates, he has restored Sophocles and Euripides, and the Poets in Athenaues, in the happiest manner, as Polician says: ‘‘magna eruens sensa e penu vatum’’.” The New Monthly Magazine, 1820, σ. 407-408. «State of Literature and Public Education Among the Modern Greeks (From the Allgemeine Zeitung)13 Lord Guilford, who spent the whole of last winter in Italy and the Ionian Isles, has been actively engaged in making preparations for the establishment of an Ionian university, where he proposes to maintain professors, at his own expense. He has sent several young Greeks, of promising ability, to finish their education at German universities, as his lordship has a high opinion of the system of education adopted in the public institutions of Germany. It is proposed that these students shall deliver lectures on the most important branches of science at the new Ionian university. Lord Guilford intends to travel through Germany on his way back to England. In the course of the present summer he is expected at Leipsick, to visit Professor Spohn, with whom he has for a long period maintained a literary correspondence. According to the plan of Lord Guilford, the Ionian university will be divided into several faculties –students will be received from the various public schools of Greece and the Archipelago, and furnished with stipends,– and prize questions will be proposed after the plan of the English universities. 13. Σχετικά με τις αναφορές για τα ελληνικά βιβλία στον γερμανικό τύπο βλ. Μαρία Στασινοπούλου, «Ειδήσεις για το ελληνικό βιβλίο στον γερμανόφωνο περιοδικό τύπο του 19ου αιώνα», Μνήμων 12 (1989), 117-148. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 278 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) The public schools established at Smyrna and Chios have hitherto been attended with the happiest success. The great College of Chios is particularly distinguished, and students flock to it from all parts of Greece. Its three most celebrated professors are Bardalochos, Seleri, and Bambas. Bardalochos has published a compendium of experimental philosophy, and an essay on Greek pronunciation, in which the modern Greek etacism is treated with more than usual leniency. Professor Seleri has nearly ready for the press, a Manual of Mathematics, selected from his lectures. Bambas, who for a long period studied mathematics, philosophy, and natural history, in Paris, is now about to publish, in the modern Greek language, an elementary book on chemistry from Thenard. His compendium of rhetoric has already had an extensive circulation. Some time ago, a new printing-office was established at Chios, the whole apparatus for which was brought from Paris. A German, named Bayrnoffer, is at the head of this establishment. The speech which Professor Bambas delivered at the opening of his lectures, has been printed here in a style of elegance that may rival the productions of any European press. Chios at present enjoys perfect tranquillity, for in consequence of an agreement entered into with the Turks, it is governed entirely by Greek magistrates. In the meanwhile large sums are devoted to the maintenance of public institutions –a library is forming under the superintendence of the celebrated Greek scholar, Coray of Paris; through the liberality of private individuals, about 30,000 volumes are already collected. The College of Chios at present contains about 700 students, and their numbers are constantly augmenting. Professor Kaumus14 is at the head of the College of Smyrna; he has published a System of Philosophy, in 4 volumes, modelled after the system of Professor Krug, of Leipisick. The work is dedicated to Coray. The grand object of all these undertakings is to multiply and circulate the works of the ancient Greek authors, and gradually to improve the Romaic or Modern Greek language. It is only by such means that blind priestcraft and deep-rooted superstition can be effectually opposed. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on the meritorious exertions of the two brothers Zosimas, the eldest of whom resides in Moscow. They have established an excellent school at Janina, their native city, and subscribed liberal sums to assist the indefatigable Coray in the publication of the Greek classics. They have also formed at Moscow a collection 14. Πρόκειται προφανώς για τον Κωνσταντίνο Μ. Κούμα. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 279 of antiquities, which they intend, at some future period, to transport to Greece. The Empress Maria, the mother of the Emperor Alexander, during her last visit to Moscow publicly pronounced the most flattering eulogiums on these two brothers. They may indeed be ranked among the noblest benefactors of their native country, which by no means deserves to be viewed in the equivocal light in which it is represented in Hope’s Romance of Anastasius; for the author, to render his work piquant, has not scrupled to introduce individual singularities and errors as characteristic trails of the whole people. These improvements among the Modern Greeks must naturally tend to render their language popular throughout Europe. Weigel, the bookseller of Leipsick, has published an excellent dictionary and a Modern Greek grammar by Professor Schneider; and in England there has lately appeared a very useful little grammar of the Modern Greek language, by Dr. Robertson, who is a member of the Philomusa Society of Athens, and of the Ionian Academy. The stereotyped editions of the Greek authors published by Tauchnitz of Leipsick, are extensively circulated throughout Greece on account of their cheapness. Weigel is also engaged in preparing a corrected edition of the principal Greek prose writers and poets, which is to be published under the general title of the Bibliotheca Graeca; it will no doubt be eagerly sought after in Greece. Even the observations on Greek geography are gradually acquiring fresh accuracy. The learned Sir William Gell has lately written on this subject. His topographical works on Argolis, Ithaca and Morea, may justly be styled classical. He has lately published an Itinerary of Greece, departing from Corinth and traversing Attica in every direction, and describing the longitude and the situations of places with the utmost accuracy. From Attica he proceeds to Boeotia, Phocis, Locris, and Thessaly; his plan also embraces the islands Egina and Salamis. He is at present, in conjunction with Colonel Leake, occupied in drawing up a map of the whole of Greece on the scale of a foot to every degree. The Athenian Society of the Philomuse, which was instituted by the Vienna Congress in 1815, proposes sending four young Greeks to Italy and Germany to complete their education; the society consists of 300 members, most of whom are foreigners. According to letters from Mr. Robert Pinkerton,15 that active agent of the British Bible Society, it appears that a society for the promulgation of the Gospel has been established at Athens. The Archbishop 15. Robert Steiner, “Robert Pinkerton (1780-1859)», Die Bible in der Welt 6 (1963), 151. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 280 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) residing at Constantinople has been chosen President, and the British consul, Logotheti, together with Mr. Tirnaviti, are vice-presidents.» Encyclopaedia Americana. A popular Dictionary of Art, Sciences, Lite­ rature, History, Politics and Biography, τ. 3, Βοστώνη 1851, σ. 530. «Coray, Adamantios; a learned physician and scholar, born at Scio, or Chios, in 1748. After having studied the ancient and modern languages, and translated, while a boy, a German catechism into Greek, he went, in 1782, to Montpellier, to finish his education, where he studied medicine and natural history, and received the degree of doctor. In 1788, he settled in Paris. Since he has been naturalized in France, he has greatly contributed, by his learned works, to give a favorable opinion of the progress of improvement among the modern Greeks. He has always retained a great attachment to his native country; and we owe to him several excellent accounts of the intellectual progress of his countrymen. During the youth of Coray, a fondness for learning was revived among the modern Greeks by some ecclesiastics, who translated valuable books of instruction, principally from the German, and made them their textbooks in their schools upon mount Athos. The wealth of several Greek commercial houses made them feel the want of skilful bookkeepers and clerks, and they were desirous of taking them from among their own countrymen. Moreover, the Russian armies had destroyed the illusion of the invincible power of the sublime Porte, and the Greeks, being protected in their property by the influence of the Russian consuls, became active and industrious, and the knowledge which they gained by commerce with other nations helped to eradicate the superstitions and prejudices which had grown up in the long darkness of Turkish despotism. Coray has referred to these favorable circumstances which attended the time of his education, in his Mémoire sur l’État actuel de la Civilisation dans la Grèce, in 1803; and has offered, in his preface to a translation of Hippocrates upon Climate, Water and Locality, an apology for his nation. This, together with his preface to Aelian’s Historical Memora­ bilia, in the Hellenic Library, in which he gives a history of the modern Greek language, belongs to the pieces called forth by the exaggerated praise and censure which his views have received. The improvement which Coray has given to the modern Greek language has by no means been universally acknowledged. He has chosen a style borrowed from every century, and deviating much from the style of the people, and the language of the patriarchs and Byzantines of latter times. H. Codrika, http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 281 professor of Greek grammar and modern literature at a lyceum in Paris, has attacked him violently in several publications, asserting that his style is artificial, and has but little effect upon his nation. The imitators of his style are called Coraists. The critical editions which Coray has published of the ancient authors cannot be entirely trusted, for he often makes very bold alterations. They are, however, very useful for his own countrymen. They have been published in Paris since 1806, under the general title of Hellenic Library, embracing chiefly Elian’s various histories, Polyaenus, Aesop, Isocrates, Plutarch’s Lives, Strabo, Aristotle’s Politics, &c. This venerable old man lives in Paris, devoted to literary labors, and has never answered the writings directed against him, satisfied with the respect that is continually paid him by many of his countrymen. A marble statue of him, executed by Canova,16 stands in the lecture-room at Chios. His old age has prevented him from joining in the struggle of his nation against their oppressors. The warmth and sincerity of his good wishes in their cause may be seen from his excellent introduction to Aristotle, which has been translated into German.»17 The Mercersburg Review, έκδ. του Συλλόγου Αποφοίτων του Κολεγίου Franklin and Marshall, Pittsburg, Ιανουάριος 1860, 9-15. «Constantinos Rhigas, a native of Thessaly, was the founder of the patriotic society, the Hetaria, which twenty-five years later, in 1821, succeeded in uniting all the Greeks for the glorious delivery of Hellas. He was the enthusiastic poet of liberty, who in a pure and noble strain, composed those beautiful war-songs which thrilled the hearts of the Greeks from the banks of the Danube to the promontories of Morea and led them on to battle and victory. Hunted down by the Turks and betrayed by treacherous Austria, the noble-minded Rhigas was delivered into the bands of the Pasha of Belgrad, who, with cannibalian cruelty, in 1791, slaughtered the first martyr of regenerated Greece. But the happy reform which he had begun in the poetry of his native tongue survived, and was extended to its prose by the Adamantios Korais from Chios, who is regarded as the father of the new Hellenic language. 16. Aναφέρεται στον σημαντικό ιταλό γλύπτη Antonio Canova (1 Νοεμβρίου 1757-13 Οκτωβρίου 1822). Για το έργο του βλ. Johannes Myssok, Antonio Canova. Die Erneuerung der klassischen Mythen in der Kunst um 1800, Petersberg, Michael Imhof Verlag, 2007. 17. Βλ. J. K. Orelli, Adamantios Korai’s politische Ermahnungen an die Hellenen, Zurich 1823. http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 282 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) The purification of the vulgar dialect, which Korais now attempted, did not consist in introducing words and set phrases from the ancient language unintelligible to the mass and mixed up with the vulgar expressions of daily life. Such a medly, which Korais called η μιξοβάρβαρος γλώσσα or, the mixed barbarian dialect was then in fashion among the clergy and half-learned Greeks of Constantinople, the Phanariots, –and he most severely reprobated it as detrimental and quite contrary to the spirit of the Romaic tongue. ‘‘The design of these mixed Hellenizers’’ –said the worthy Korais– ‘‘is in itself laudable, because they strive, poor men, to bring the modern language as near as possible to its mother, the Hellenic. But since the first virtue of a writer is perspicuity, or to write in such a manner as to be well understood by those for whom he writes, and the second to write with elegance, which may give pleasure to the ear, I think that such Hellenizers have neither the one nor the other of those merits –who involve the ancient language in the most grotesque and ridiculous manner with the modern syntax, and form out of the two an obscure harsh, unharmonious and truly monstrous style of diction, a mere patch-work of phraseology’’. Korais then gives a curious letter written in this compound of ignorance and pedantry –quite a dish of maccaroni. Such being the sound principles from which he started on his great reform and taking both the standard of education in Greece and the spirit and coloring of the modern Greek as his basis, he, by the most solicitous comparison of both dialects, the ancient and the modern –and by the nicest regard for the beauties of both, with good sense, taste and discrimination, adopted only such words and forms of the Hellenic as were indispensable for the modern language, in order to enrich and purify it, without changing its leading character. Only a man of such talents, of such profound learning, excellent judgment and amiable character as Korais, was able to undertake so herculean a work and to ensure its full success. The whole nation soon hailed his laborious exertions with veneration and gratitude. His numerous works, written in an extremely pure and truly elegant language, were understood even by the illiterate, because they breathed the spirit of the people; they were expressed in a nobler, more perfect style, which elevated the minds of the Greeks and contributed more to their civilization and the exalted feeling of their nationality, than all the other political and commercial influences of the time. Adamantios Korais by profession a physician, lived retired at Paris, as a member of the French Institute, and highly honored by Napoleon, http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 283 who charged him with the publication of new editions and translations of Strabo and Plutarch, and rewarded his labors with an honorary pension of 4,000 francs. But being poor, Korais would have found an insurmountable difficulty in publishing and distributing his powerful exhortations to his suffering countrymen. He, therefore, in his modern Greek translation of Beccaria’s celebrated work on crimes and capital punishments, addressed himself to the wealthy and virtuous men of his country and said: ‘‘Let all the rich and patriotic men of the Hellenic race unite for the name and love of one common mother-country and let them contribute each according to his power, –since Greece, being in misery and servitude, has no public treasury to support schools for the maintenance and instruction of her destitute youths. But unite quickly, while Greece has need of your assistance, if you wish to have the gratitude of Greece. True friends hurry to their friends’ assistance in time of danger; –flatterers do not appear until the danger is over! Instead of repining at the expense for good and useful objects, you ought to thank the Providence of God for living in circumstances and in times, in which, by the superfluity of your wealth, laid out with prudence, you may gain immortal honors and be named the benefactors of Hellas, upon whom a new morn of light begins to dawn’’! These powerful words were published in 1802, nineteen years before the shout of liberty and victory began to reach from the mountains and valleys of Greece. They were heard and understood by the two noble-minded brothers, Zozimades, rich merchants from Epirus, who had passed the greater part of their industrious career at Leghorn, in Italy, and at Moscow, in Russia –and they were the first to stand forward as the benefactors of the nation and help on its progress toward civilization. Many wealthy Greeks in London, Paris, Vienna, Trieste and Odessa afterwards followed their example. All the works of Korais and other modern authors of Greece, were published in Paris at the expense of the benevolent brothers, and distributed gratuitously all over Greece and Turkey. Korais lived to enjoy the deliverance of his beloved native country. He died of old age, in Paris, in 1832. The path was now opened and many were his followers yet it would have been wonderful indeed if Korais should have escaped the envy and jealousy of his rivals. He was continually attacked by the learned Constantinos Koumas from Thessaly, and other Greek writers, who, during the wars of Napoleon, flocked to Vienna and Paris. They all accused the worthy Korais of a too modern French or Italian style of diction, http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 284 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) which they pretended to be detrimental to the spirit of the Hellenic language. But all these clamors soon died away. Time has now sanctioned the correctness of the judgment and good taste of that benevolent man, and a comparison of their rough and affected language with his, would immediately prove the acute discrimination of the Greek nation, who have awarded to him the merit of being the founder of the written language of modern Hellas. The world at large, both in Europe and America, beheld with astonishment the first fruits of this reform of a language, which was then hardly known to exist, in the manly and spirited proclamations of the Greek nation that in 1821 rose in arms to reconquer their independence, in the able and well written Constitutions of Argos and Troizen in 1823, in the famous funeral oration of Spiridon Trikupis at the bier of Lord Byron, and in the public edicts of Count Capo d’ Istria, the first president of the new Hellenic kingdom. The great work of Korais, the rational restoration of the Hellenic, was continued and extended with activity and excellent judgment by the learned Greeks after the ascension of King Otho on the throne of Hellas in 1833. The purification and completion of the language became an object of the highest importance to the Royal government, though at that time it still presented many difficulties. Among all other nations the development of the language and the introduction of scientific or technical terms follow gradually the successive progress of civilization. In Greece, on the contrary, with the sudden introduction of European institutions, laws, sciences and arts, thousands of terms and expressions, were immediately, either to be borrowed from the ancient Hellenic dictionary, or, on the principles of the classical language, to be formed and adapted to modern inventions, altogether unknown to the contemporaries of Pericles and Demosthenes. It was particularly in the military language that the beginning of this interesting reform was made, even during the war, by the learned Colonel Rhodios, and it was continued with great diligence at our Military College of the Evelpides, where my friend and colleague, Captain Andreas Zabunzakis, from Crete, Professor of the Military Sciences, published a complete work on fortification, containing more than twelve hundred terms, laboriously gathered from Xenophon, Polybius, and other military authors of antiquity, and suitably applied to modern science. These labors had become the more necessary since intellectual cultivation and every trace of a political life in Greece had been swept away during the long and barbarous oppression of the Turks. What still existed http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Γ. Ν. Βλαχάκης, ΚΟΡΑΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΓΛΟΣΑΞOΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ 285 in the modern Greek dialect of technical expressions in the different branches of science and art, had been supplied by uncouth Turkish or Italian words, which were still in the most ridiculous manner employed by the mass of the Greek people. Nor did the reform of Korais extend so far: it remained only the sound foundation on which to build: and it was left to others to rear the edifice. It was the glory of the great Chiote to give form to the new language, but his works being mostly disquisitions on general literature or on political topics or new editions of the classics, they did not enrich the language with technical terms.» Επίλογος Χωρίς να φιλοδοξούμε να θεωρήσουμε την παρουσίαση αυτή των αναφορών στον Κοραή και το έργο του, σε κείμενα, βιβλία και περιοδικά, του αγγλοσαξονικού κόσμου ολοκληρωμένη, θεωρούμε ότι αποτελεί μια ακόμα συμβολή στην προσπάθεια για τη σωστή αξιολόγηση του έργου των ελλήνων διαφωτιστών και την κατανόηση της σημασίας του. Δεν αναφερθήκαμε στην αλληλογραφία του Κοραή με τον Jefferson ούτε στη σχέση του Edward Everett με τον Κοραή, καθώς πρόκειται για «στιγμές» της ιστορικής παρουσίας του Κοραή που έχουν μελετηθεί λεπτομερώς ήδη από σημαντικούς ερευνητές της ιστορίας των νεοελληνικών γραμμάτων. Θεωρούμε, ωστόσο, ότι μέσα από τα κείμενα που παρατίθενται διαπιστώνεται, πέρα από τις ειδικές αναφορές στον Κοραή, και η ευρύτερη εκτίμηση των δυτικών στις προσπάθειες των Ελλήνων για πνευματική ανάπτυξη και εθνική ανεξαρτησία. Αναγνωρίζεται το φιλοπρόοδο του έθνους, που παρά τις αντικειμενικές δυσκολίες επιδιώκει την ανασύσταση του ελληνικού πολιτισμού. Οι διαμάχες που μνημονεύονται, όπως αυτή του Κοραή με τον Κοδρικά για το ζήτημα της γλώσσας, δεν θα είχαν βέβαια καμιά σημασία αν η περί τα γράμματα κίνηση της εποχής ήταν ανάξια λόγου. Ενδιαφέρον έχουν ακόμα οι θέσεις του Κοραή για την εκκλησιαστική ιεραρχία μέσα από την οπτική ενός Έλληνα της διασποράς, καθώς και η επιμονή στην αναφορά των ενστάσεων του Κοραή για την έναρξη της επανάστασης. Αν και η παρουσίασή μας είναι ίσως το πρώτο βήμα προς την κατεύθυνση αυτή, εκτιμούμε πως μας βοηθάει να αντιληφθούμε και κυρίως http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | 286 Ο Ε Ρ Α Ν Ι Σ Τ Η Σ , 28 (2011) να αποδεχτούμε, αποβάλλοντας τις όποιες ενδεχομένως επιφυλάξεις μας, ότι η παρουσία των ελλήνων λογίων στον δυτικό πνευματικό χώρο δεν πέρασε απαρατήρητη στον καιρό της. Και ίσως αυτή η διαπίστωση να είναι ό,τι αξίζει πραγματικά να κρατήσουμε ως ιστορική παρακαταθήκη σε μια εποχή που η Επανάσταση του 1821 επιδιώκεται να παρουσιάζεται σαν ένα γιουρούσι αγράμματων και βάρβαρων ανθρώπων. ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣ Ν. ΒΛΑΧΑΚΗΣ Su m m a r y REFERENCES TO KORAIS AND HIS WORK IN THE ANGLO-SAXON WORLD This paper presents some of the most significant references to Adamantios Korais in the Anglo-Saxon world of the late 18th century and the 19th. Through these references, readers may garner a view of the image that Western scholars had of the intellectual movement in Greece before the revolution of 1821, as well as gaining an idea of the opinion of Anglo-Saxon scholarly circles about Korais and his work. This evidence is of some importance because it gives us a more complete picture of the status Greek scholars in general and Korais in particular held outside of the Greek-speaking world of the period. GEORGE N. VLAHAKIS http://epublishing.ekt.gr | e-Publisher: EKT | Downloaded at 28/05/2017 18:02:20 | Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)