Page:Christian Greece and Living Greek.djvu/292

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2/0 CHRISTIAN GREECE AND LIVING GREEK. the Style in which the essays on modern Greek history and the modern Greek language are treated in the popular guide books, Murray and Baedecker. Here is a quotation from Murray's " Hand- book for Travellers in Greece," edition of 1896: " The claim of the modern Greeks to true Hel- lenic descent is a question which admits of con- siderable doubt and not very profitable discus- sion. A large proportion of the slaves employed in agriculture during the most flourishing pe- riods of the state were of foreign origin, as we know from the enormous extent of the slave trade. We know also that under the domina- tion of the Romans the higher classes of Greece either died out or lost their nationality by adopting the names and assuming the manners of Roman citizens. It seems therefore probable that pure Hellenic blood began to be greatly adulterated about the time when the ancient dia- lects fell in disuse." Murray and Baedecker are very much alike. Baedecker is not less ignorant. He writes: "When a (Greek) priest is made a bishop he must renounce his wife and children, the former frequently entering a nunnery." This ignoramus Baedecker is quoted, and so