ABSTRACT
The father and mother of the damsel we had saved were Greeks. The name of the father was Colocotroni, that of his daughter Irene. He was of the race of the Mainotes, the descendants of the ancient Spartans. a He was of the noblest class of this people, and had been the proprietor of considerable wealth. In his youth he had devoted himself to the contemplation of the heroic deeds of his ancestors, who in ancient times had repelled the Persian invasion; / and he indulged in dreams of being himself an instrument to shake off the yoke of the more barbarous Turk. He had fondly dwelt upon the contrast of character between the ignorant and presumptuous conqueror, and the ingenious and inventive enslaved. The latter were tenfold more numerous than the former. The victor left to the Greeks the various pursuits of arts, manufactures and commerce, while he proudly flattered himself that he was born only for conquest and indulgence, and the others sent into the world to supply his wants, and anticipate his wishes. The Turk was unquestionably brave, and well trained in all the discipline of the followers of Mahomet. His was the strength of thews b and sinews, while the ingenuity, the subtlety and active invention of the Greeks were in his opinion only calculated to make them more serviceable slaves. The creed of Colocotroni was of a diametrically opposite / character. He held, that mind was destined by nature to be the master of the universe, and that, where intellectual faculties existed, they could not fail by perseverance to bring all other things into subjection and obedience.
