THE GREEKS UNDER TURKISH BONDAGE. 1 33 were not enough, they had to do soccage service, and to all this was added the most infernal blood tribute of which we shall speak presently. In exhausting the conquered land by extortion the Turks acted like animals with thoughtless instinct; they ate what they found without thinking of the next day. "Wherever," ob- serves the English eye-witness Eton, "the Turks have established their dominion, science and commerce, the comforts and the knowledge of mankind have alike decayed. Not only have they exemplified barbarism and intolerance in their own conduct, but they have extinguished the flame of genius and knowledge in others." Higher aims in regard to literature, science, and^ art did not exist among the Turks, not even music was cultivated. Since the Turks are polyg- amists they are without that institution, monog- amy, which more than anything else is apt to coerce animal passion in man. Even those who understand the Turks best and judged them mildly had to confess that the lower classes were ignorant, lazy, fanatic; that the upper classes, as a rule, appeared dull from debauch, most of the time brooding and smoking after exhaustion from sensual excesses. Turkish government means destruction of
