Napoleon's Campaign in Russia Anno 1812
by
Achilles Rose
Part 4 out of 4
enthusiastic men and women among her own people as you are, a friend in a
foreign nation, she will have a promising future."
MR. LOUIS PRANG, Boston, Mass.: "'Christian Greece and Living Greek' has
given me not only great pleasure to read but I have learned more about
Greece, as it was and as it _really_ is, than I ever knew before. Your book
is exceedingly valuable to a man like me who desires _reliable_ information
on this very interesting people and who lacks the time for personal
investigation or much book-reading, which after all, to judge by your
statements, would not lead to a correct appreciation of present conditions.
Your personal experience based on large and varied observations among the
people, and your evidently thorough study of past history make your
judgment acceptable, and your manner of giving it to the reader is
eminently interesting and engaging, and above all convincing. I do not
think that what I have said here will be of much interest or satisfaction
to you, as coming from a simple business man, but I wished to thank you for
the enjoyment your book has given me and to tell you that you have made at
least one convert for the cause of living Greek."
A GREEK LADY, living in Cairo, Egypt, writes to her father: "I thank you
above all for the book of Dr. Rose you were so kind as to send me, and
which I am perusing with the greatest interest. One can see that Dr. Rose
is a friend of our dear country; if there were more like him we would not
be so run down by ignorant and spiteful people."
[_From New York Medical Journal_, March 5th, 1898.]
Dr. Rose's well-known enthusiasm for the Greeks, their country, and
particularly their language has resulted in the production of a very
interesting book. Physicians will naturally be most interested in the
concluding chapter, which treats of Greek as the international language of
physicians and scholars in general, but from cover to cover there is
nothing commonplace in the book; it is quite readable throughout. We
congratulate Dr. Rose on the appearance of the volume in so attractive a
form.
[_From The Independant_, March 24th, 1898.]
Dr. Rose stands forth in his volume the champion of modern Greece, the
Greeks and their wrongs. He tells the story as it has been developed in
this century, and recites the older history and appeals to the intelligent
Christian world against the Great Assassin of Constantinople. He believes
the modern Greek tongue as now spoken and written to be the ideal one for
international intercourse, especially on scientific matters, and repudiates
the Erasmian method of pronunciation. His account of the Greeks themselves
is encouraging. He claims for them a strict morality. Theft he declares
unknown, and drunkenness. The book is certainly eloquent and inspiring.
[_From The Living Church_, Chicago, March 19th, 1898.]
This is a most interesting book. There is not a dull page in it. It is made
up of various lectures delivered by the accomplished author, at different
times, on the Greek language and history. Magnificent as Gibbon's work is
on the Byzantine Empire, the contemptuous tone he uses toward it has much
misled modern writers and readers in their estimation of that wonderful
monarchy. A state which lasted as that did in the face of so many
difficulties, could not have been so badly governed as Gibbon implies. That
Dr. Rose shows, and a good, English, up-to-date Byzantine history is
greatly to be desired. Dr. Rose's account of the Greek struggle for
independence is vivid, patriotic, and full of information on a subject that
few people know much about. The most interesting part of the book to
scholars is the chapters on modern Greek. Dr. Rose says: "The living Greek
of to-day shows much less deviation from the Greek of two thousand and more
years ago than any other European language shows in the course of
centuries." This statement will surprise many, but it is literally true.
Dr. Rose gives the history of the creation of the modern Greek literary
language on the lines of classic Greek, and he advocates the use of modern
Greek, especially in the matter of pronunciation, in teaching classic
Greek. In all this we go with him heartily, and his views are being adopted
in many colleges in Europe and America.
[_From the Evangelist_, February 17th, 1898.]
We commend this book to all who would know what the "concert of European
powers" means to a struggling kingdom and people used as a "buffer state"
between the unspeakable Turk and civilized "Westerns." The historical
chapters of the work are a revelation of the intricacies of "the
disgraceful deals of the great powers whose victim the kingdom of Greece
has been." The story is simply told with great candor and quiet reserve,
but it carries a lesson that moves the heart and stirs the indignation of
dispassionate and perhaps indifferent observers. How hard is it for a
people like the Greeks or the Armenians to get a hearing! What "political
necessities" demand silence; what diplomatic falsehoods, deceptions,
subterfuges are indulged by ministries and cabinets that are called
Christian! The history of Greece from the fall of the Byzantine Empire
up to this hour is a tragedy, and the final deliverance in 1828 was more
painfully sad and disappointing, more shamefully mismanaged and limited,
more wretchedly hampered and hindered in every possible way, than is
easily conceivable, considering the popular sentiment roused by such
Philhellenes as Byron, Erskine, Gladstone, and the Genevan banker Eynard.
Think of the massacre of Chios, and then hear men talking of Navarino as
a blunder!
But let our readers turn to the pages of Dr. Rose's book for information.
There is a historical sketch of the Byzantine Empire, showing the most
extraordinary misrepresentations which have held on till very recently; a
second chapter exposes the "erroneous views which have prevailed in regard
to the relation of the Greek of to-day to the Greek of the classical
period," with a chapter on "absurd ideas in vogue in regard to Greek
pronunciation"; a fourth chapter gives the misery of the Turkish bondage
and "their spiritual and political resurrection"; then follows one on the
wrongs to the Greeks in their struggle for liberty, in which some American
shipping firms are involved and "Mr. W. J. Stillman" is pretty severely
handled; then "the kingdom of Greece before the war of 1897," and an
"Epilogue," which should be read before Dr. Hepworth has time to get in his
Armenian discoveries. This is the merest hint as to the intrinsic interest
and pertinency of the book, the only unprejudiced and patriotic plea for
the Greeks which has escaped the censorship of the press and politics and
politicians. Let the Greeks be heard! Let the list of Philhellenes grow to
a grand majority in Europe and America that shall make itself heard in
behalf of justice and humanity!
The scholarly chapters are as admirable as the statesmanlike and patriotic
ones. They should lead to a Greek revival. We think the university wars of
"Greeks and Trojans" might be fought over again. We join the Greeks!
His EXCELLENCY KLEON RANGABE, Greek Ambassador in Berlin, writes: "Many
sincere thanks for the kind transmission of your most interesting book....
I can congratulate you most sincerely. You treat all the important subjects
in so exhaustive and conclusive a manner that all those who seek for truth
must necessarily be convinced. We are in consequence indebted to you for a
valuable service, but your own American countrymen ought also to be
thankful to you, for every apostle of truth is in his way a benefactor of
humanity. I hope that the days of the Erasmian absurdity, which belongs to
the Dark Ages and is unworthy of American scholars, are now numbered. I
hope that your book will also appear in German as it would do a great deal
of good here. What you say about the system applied to Greek studies in
general is also perfectly correct. These studies are still and will always
be the soul of every liberal education, and, constantly undermined by the
materialistic tendencies of the age, they can only be saved through a
fundamental change of this system. The language must henceforth be taught
as a living one, having never ceased to live for a moment since the days
of Homer."
_Neologos_, an Athenian paper, writes a long article, reviewing the book
and its author's works in general. "The author's name is already known to
us by his lectures on Greece which have been published here. Mr. Rose
belongs to those who will persevere to establish an idea; obstacles and
difficulties can only serve to such characters to spur their ardor. Mr.
Rose is inspired by the noble idea to disseminate a better knowledge of
Greece of to-day and to enlist sympathies in her behalf. He is combating
the influence of an impossible Grecophobe press. People abroad will change
their opinion when they know our true history, our character, our morals,
customs, etc."
THE PUBLISHER OF THIS JOURNAL HAS PUBLISHED A GREEK TRANSLATION OF THE
BOOK.
Other Athenian political and literary journals bring likewise reviews. All
are full of praise of the author and his book. The editor of the journal,
_Salpinx_, of Cyprus, writes that the author's name is engraved in the
hearts determination of Greeks.
D. B. ST. JOHN ROOSA, M.D., President Post-Graduate Medical School and
Hospital, New York: "My dear Dr. Rose, The copy of the important work
written by you, which has just been published, came to me two days ago. I
write to thank you, and again to express my sincere interest in your book.
I hope you may live to see it successful. A common language for scientific
men is indeed a great need. Yours ever faithfully."
B. T. SPENCER, A.M., Professor of Greek, Kentucky Wesleyan College: "I am
deeply interested in the subject and feel that that interest has been
intensified by reading Dr. Rose's book. All the friends of Hellas should
read it."
DR. JAMES T. WHITTAKER, Cincinnati, Ohio: "I am enjoying your book very
much and have just finished the chapter concerning the Greeks under Turkish
bondage, which is the most interesting description of this subject which I
have ever seen."
KNUT HOEGH, M.D., Minneapolis, Minn.: "Your book came one mail after your
letter; I went to a medical meeting in the evening; during my absence my
oldest daughter read the book, and on my return, when I opened the door,
she told me how well she liked it. I had to sit down and read it, and I did
so until far out in the small hours. I must say that the book opened new
views to me, and I am sorry that I did not know the many valuable facts
contained in it when I was in Berlin last year, when you know the wind that
was blowing was anything but Philhellenic. What a forcible argument against
the prevailing order of things in Europe is the whole Eastern question!"
A German translation under the title: Die Griechen und ihre Sprache seit
der Zeit Konstantin's des Grossen, has been published in Leipzig Verlag von
Wilhelm Friedrich, 1899.
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