G. A. Henty on 19th century Greece and the Modern Greeks
Risto Stefov
December 28, 2008
Modern Greeks for the last century or so have been spreading untruths about themselves and now generations later have forgotten who they really are.
This article is another means of letting the Greeks know who they are. And for those who ask, "Why am I doing this?" I am doing this because nowadays Greeks have forgotten who they are and where they come from and have become so brazen that they dare to attack others like the Macedonians, Albanians and Turks and question their identity without giving it a second thought as to their own and the damage they are doing.
When people deny other peoples´ ethnic identity they deny their right to exist and as such those people have no choice but to fight back. But unlike the Greeks who fight back with half-truths and untruths Macedonians have the truth on their side.
What follows are excerpts from G. A. Henty´s book "In the Greek Waters: A Story of the Grecian War of Independence (1821-1827)" who speaks the truth about 19th century Greece and the Modern Greeks.
On page 40 Henty said:
"Greece will rise one of these days," Mr. Beveridge went on, "and when she does she will astonish Europe. The old spirit still lives among the descendants of Leonidas and Milatiades."
"I should be sorry to be one of the Turks who fell into their hands," William Martyn said gravely as he thought of the many instances in his own experiences of the murders of sailors on leave ashore.
"It is probable that there will be sad scenes of bloodshed," Mr. Beveridge agreed; "that is only to be expected when you have a race of men of a naturally impetuous and passionate character enslaved by a people alien in race and in religion. Yes, I fear it will be so at the commencement, but that will be all altered when they become disciplined soldiers. Do you not think so?" he asked, as the sailor remained silent.
"I have great doubts whether they will ever submit to discipline," he said bluntly. "Their idea of fighting for centuries has been simply to shoot down an enemy from behind the shelter of rocks. I would as life undertake to discipline an army of Malays, who, in a good many respects, especially in the handiness with which they use their knives, are a good deal like the Greeks."
"There is one broad distinction," Mr. Beveridge said: "the Malays have no past, the Greeks have never lost the remembrance of their ancient glory. They have a high standard to act up to; they reverence the names of the great men of old as if they had died but yesterday. With them it would be a resurrection, accomplished, no doubt, after vast pains and many troubles, the more so since the Greeks are a composite people among whom the descendants of the veritable Greek of old are in a great minority. The majority are of Albanian and Suliot blood, races which even the Romans found untamable. When the struggle begins I fear that this section of the race will display the savagery of their nature; but the fighting over, the intellectual portion will, I doubt not, regain their proper ascendancy, and Greece will become the Greece of old."
William Martyn was wise enough not to pursue the subject.
On pages 139 and 140 Henty said:
"Brutes!" Martyn exclaimed with great emphasis. "How these fellows can be descendants of the Greeks beats me altogether."
"The old Greeks were pretty cruel," Horace, who had just joined them, said. "They used to slaughter their captives wholesale, and mercy wasn´t among their virtues. Besides, my father says that except in the Morea very few indeed are descendents of the Greeks; the rest are Bulgarian or Albanian, neither of whom are Greeks of old would have recognized as kinsmen."
"It is case of distance lending enhancements to the view," Miller laughed; "our illusions are gone."
"Never mind, we must make the best of them, Miller; they are not Greeks, but at any rate they are all that is left of the Greeks. Their actions show that their Christianity is a sham, but at the same time they are an intelligent race capable of someday becoming a great people again, and they are struggling to throw off the yoke of a race intellectually their inferiors and incapable of progress in any sort of way. That is what my father said to me as we were walking up and down the deck this morning. That is the light I mean to look at it in the future. It is a capable people struggling with an incapable one, and if they are savage and vindictive and debased it is the faults not of themselves but of those who have so long been their masters."
"Good," Martyn said; "that is the most satisfactory view of the thing, and we will stick to it and shut our years as much as possible in future against all stories to the Greeks´ disadvantage."
In spite of Greece´s artificiality today one can proudly call him or herself a "Hellene" with a 4,000 year old heritage, with roots extending back to the classical Greeks of 2,500 years ago but a real and genuine Macedonian cannot call him or herself a Macedonian because according to modern Greek logic "Macedonia is Greek" and "there is no such thing as a Macedonian"!
Many thanks to TrueMacedonian for his contribution to this article.
Source:
Henty, G.A. In the Greek Waters: A Story of the Grecian War of Independence (1821-1827). London: Blackie and Son, 1893
You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com
This article is another means of letting the Greeks know who they are. And for those who ask, "Why am I doing this?" I am doing this because nowadays Greeks have forgotten who they are and where they come from and have become so brazen that they dare to attack others like the Macedonians, Albanians and Turks and question their identity without giving it a second thought as to their own and the damage they are doing.
When people deny other peoples´ ethnic identity they deny their right to exist and as such those people have no choice but to fight back. But unlike the Greeks who fight back with half-truths and untruths Macedonians have the truth on their side.
What follows are excerpts from G. A. Henty´s book "In the Greek Waters: A Story of the Grecian War of Independence (1821-1827)" who speaks the truth about 19th century Greece and the Modern Greeks.
On page 40 Henty said:
"Greece will rise one of these days," Mr. Beveridge went on, "and when she does she will astonish Europe. The old spirit still lives among the descendants of Leonidas and Milatiades."
"I should be sorry to be one of the Turks who fell into their hands," William Martyn said gravely as he thought of the many instances in his own experiences of the murders of sailors on leave ashore.
"It is probable that there will be sad scenes of bloodshed," Mr. Beveridge agreed; "that is only to be expected when you have a race of men of a naturally impetuous and passionate character enslaved by a people alien in race and in religion. Yes, I fear it will be so at the commencement, but that will be all altered when they become disciplined soldiers. Do you not think so?" he asked, as the sailor remained silent.
"I have great doubts whether they will ever submit to discipline," he said bluntly. "Their idea of fighting for centuries has been simply to shoot down an enemy from behind the shelter of rocks. I would as life undertake to discipline an army of Malays, who, in a good many respects, especially in the handiness with which they use their knives, are a good deal like the Greeks."
"There is one broad distinction," Mr. Beveridge said: "the Malays have no past, the Greeks have never lost the remembrance of their ancient glory. They have a high standard to act up to; they reverence the names of the great men of old as if they had died but yesterday. With them it would be a resurrection, accomplished, no doubt, after vast pains and many troubles, the more so since the Greeks are a composite people among whom the descendants of the veritable Greek of old are in a great minority. The majority are of Albanian and Suliot blood, races which even the Romans found untamable. When the struggle begins I fear that this section of the race will display the savagery of their nature; but the fighting over, the intellectual portion will, I doubt not, regain their proper ascendancy, and Greece will become the Greece of old."
William Martyn was wise enough not to pursue the subject.
On pages 139 and 140 Henty said:
"Brutes!" Martyn exclaimed with great emphasis. "How these fellows can be descendants of the Greeks beats me altogether."
"The old Greeks were pretty cruel," Horace, who had just joined them, said. "They used to slaughter their captives wholesale, and mercy wasn´t among their virtues. Besides, my father says that except in the Morea very few indeed are descendents of the Greeks; the rest are Bulgarian or Albanian, neither of whom are Greeks of old would have recognized as kinsmen."
"It is case of distance lending enhancements to the view," Miller laughed; "our illusions are gone."
"Never mind, we must make the best of them, Miller; they are not Greeks, but at any rate they are all that is left of the Greeks. Their actions show that their Christianity is a sham, but at the same time they are an intelligent race capable of someday becoming a great people again, and they are struggling to throw off the yoke of a race intellectually their inferiors and incapable of progress in any sort of way. That is what my father said to me as we were walking up and down the deck this morning. That is the light I mean to look at it in the future. It is a capable people struggling with an incapable one, and if they are savage and vindictive and debased it is the faults not of themselves but of those who have so long been their masters."
"Good," Martyn said; "that is the most satisfactory view of the thing, and we will stick to it and shut our years as much as possible in future against all stories to the Greeks´ disadvantage."
In spite of Greece´s artificiality today one can proudly call him or herself a "Hellene" with a 4,000 year old heritage, with roots extending back to the classical Greeks of 2,500 years ago but a real and genuine Macedonian cannot call him or herself a Macedonian because according to modern Greek logic "Macedonia is Greek" and "there is no such thing as a Macedonian"!
Many thanks to TrueMacedonian for his contribution to this article.
Source:
Henty, G.A. In the Greek Waters: A Story of the Grecian War of Independence (1821-1827). London: Blackie and Son, 1893
You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com