228 SINGULAR STORY RELATED BY TOURNEFORT. dangerous and infectious as the madness of dogs. Whole families quitted their houses, and brought their tent-beds from the farthest parts of the town into the public places, there to spend the night. They were every instant complaining of some new insult; nothing was to be heard but sighs and groans at the approach of night. The better sort of people retired into the country. "When the prepossession was so general we thought it our best way to hold our tongues. Had we opposed it we had not only been accounted ridiculous blockheads, but Atheists and infidels. How was it possible to stand against the madness of a whole people? Those that believed we doubted the truth of the fact came and upbraided us with our incredulity, and strove to prove that there were such things as Vroucolacasses by citations out of the Buckler of Faith, (Τάργα τῆς Ρωμαικῆς πίστεως) written by F. Rechard, a Jesuit missionary. He was a Latin, say they, and consequently you ought to give him credit. We should have got nothing by denying the justness of the consequence: it was as good as a comedy to us every SINGULAR STORY RELATED BY TOURNEFORT. 229 morning to hear the new follies committed by this night-bird; they charged him with being guilty of the most abominable sins. "Some citizens that were most zealous for the good of the public, fancied they had been deficient in the most material part of the ceremony. They were of opinion that they had been wrong in saying mass before they had pulled out the wretch's heart: had we taken this precaution, quoth they, we had bet the devil as sure as a gun; he would have been hanged before he would ever have come there again. Whereas, saying mass first, the cunning dog fled for it a while, and came back again when the danger was over. "Notwithstanding these wise reflections, they remained in as much perplexity as they were the first day. They meet night and morning, they debate, they make processions three days and three nights, they oblige the papas to fast you might see them running from house to house, holy-water brush in hand, sprinkling it all about, and washing the doors with it; nay, they poured it into the mouth of poor Vroucolacas. the "We so often repeated it to the magistrates 230 SINGULAR STORY RELATED BY TOURNEFORT. upon (Emirρónоi) of the town, that in Christendom we should keep the strictest watch a-nights such an occasion, to observe what was done, that at last they caught a few vagabonds who undoubtedly had a hand in these disorders; but, either they were not the chief ringleaders, or else they were released too soon, for two days afterwards, to make themselves amends for the Lent they had kept in prison, they fell foul again upon the wine-tubs of those who were such fools as to leave their houses empty in the night. So that the people were forced to betake themselves again to their prayers. "One day, as they were hard at this work, after having stuck I know not how many naked swords over the grave of this corpse, which they took up three or four times a day, for any man's whim, an Albaneze, that happened to be at Mycone, took upon him to say, with a voice of authority, that it was to the last degree ridiculous to make use of the swords of Christians in a case like this. Can you not conceive, blind as ye are, says he, that the handles of these swords being made like a cross, hinder the devil from coming out of SINGULAR STORY RELATED BY TOURNEFORT. 231 the body? why do you not rather take the Turkish sabres? The advice of this learned man had no effect: the Vroucolacas was incorrigible; and all the inhabitants were in a strange consternation. They knew not now what saint to call upon, when of a sudden, with one voice, as if they had given each other the hint, they fell to bawling out all through the city, that it was intolerable to wait any longer, that the only way left was to burn the Vroucolacas entire; that after so doing, let the devil lurk in it if he could; that it was better to have recourse to this extremity, than to have the island totally deserted. And indeed whole families began to pack up in order to retire to Syra or Tinos. The magistrates therefore ordered the Vroucolacas to be carried to the point of the Island of St. George, where they prepared a great pile, with pitch and tar, for fear the wood, as dry as it was, should not burn fast enough of itself. What they had before left of this miserable carcase, was thrown into this fire, and consumed presently: 'twas on the first of January, 1701. We saw the flame as we returned from Delos; it might justly be called a bonfire of joy, since after 232 SMYRNA-GREEK PAPAS. this no more complaints were heard against the Vroucolacas; they said that the devil had now met with his match, and some ballads were made to turn him to ridicule." This strange superstition, Tournefort, all bigotted as he is, very properly ridicules; but honestly speaking, the Greeks are to the full, with a few exceptions indeed, as much prepossessed with the feeling as they were a century ago. The Greek Papas are ignorant in the extreme; and struggle hard to keep their flock in the same pitiable condition. It is a remarkable circumstance, that one of those persons, in Smyrna, bears the most perfect resemblance to the portrait of our Saviour, as painted by the masterly hand of Carlo Dolce. He wears his hair parted in front, and hanging to a considerable length down his shoulders. Strange to say, he is nearly an idiot. The likeness is undoubted, and has struck numbers; amongst the rest, my friend Arundell is a host of witnesses. Saturday, 12th Feb.-I was invited this day by my Greek master, Kyriacos Phaidro, to witness the celebration of vespers in the Greek church. Kyriacos is a man of very superior |