Page:Christian Greece and Living Greek.djvu/209

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 1 87 in applying the money sent by Philhellenes ; sometimes they trusted egoistic people. There were English and even American contractors who enriched themselves by cheating the Greeks, notably two firms in New York, Row- land, and Le Roy Bayard & Co., against whom the United States Government had finally to proceed, in order to recover part of the money paid to them by Greeks for ship contracts. The leaders of the Parisian Philhellenic unions, however, did not allow themselves to be influenced by the occasional misappropriation of money nor the ill-treatment of Frenchmen in Greece. These leaders were mild in their judg- ments; they looked with admiration at Greek bravery and Greek perseverance.. Thjey^^alw^s reported favorably on them, overlooking th( evils which, naturally enough, were unavoidable in such a chaos of misery and wamt of insigh^ and order. The Greeks have sonbliern__bJ they are known for their quick impulses. While they formerly displayed pride and sometimes hatred toward foreigners, they were now filled with heartfelt gratitude. They knew that with- out the intervention or the generosity of the for- eigners their country would have succumbed, and they appreciated the more keenly their obli-