I HAD many strong reasons to remark the powerful effect of prejudice over the mind; and the slow degrees by which light dawns upon the uninformed, who ever appear to love darkness rather than light. In particular, the forcible objection which exists, not to vaccination only, but to inoculation also. In a small village of ten or twelve houses, in the summer of one year, out of the number who had the small-pox, four persons had it so violently, that none were expected to recover ; two of them were a young man and his wife, who had only been married a few months : she and another died of the disorder, and the two who recovered were both fine young men, but were so shockingly marked, that they could not bear for a long time after to see the change thus wrought in their appearance. The following year, when I had my youngest child vaccinated, I endeavoured, through the medium of the most intelligent amongst them, to have their children vaccinated also. The fathers assented, but the prejudices of the mothers could not be overcome, and the consequence was, the loss of one of the steward's children soon after, by this virulent disorder. The reason assigned, was of course founded upon their belief in predestination " That which God ordains," they say, " will happen." Thus in a very mistaken kind of resignation to divine power, they tempt the fate which threatens them, instead of using such means as, under the blessing ofGod, might be expected to avert impending calamity.
Notwithstanding what has been said, the Greeks have a more awakened curiosity than the Tatars ; they can be made to understand the possible existence of things which they have not seen, and they listen with interest, to the comparative accounts of the productions or the customs of other countries.
The Greeks speak the Turkish andTatar language as fluently as their own ; many of them the Russian language also. Indeed the acquisition oflanguages, though forming indispensibly a part, and a principal part, of a foreign education, is by no means a proofofeducation, since they are acquired without study, in the continual intermixture of the people of so many nations ; and we have had servants who were able to speak five languages. The women speak the Greek only, which varies considerably from that classical language, as taught in our schools.
The Greek women of the Crimea are not merely retiring, but repellant in their manners : I speak of the peasantry, not those of the towns, who, with the European costume, have put on the manners of civilization.
At our visit to Sudac, in the route of the south coast, we were received and most pleasantly lodged at the house of a worthy old Greek and his wife, who have often given refuge to such as, in search of this earthly paradise, must needs pass through a purgatory, if reduced to the necessity of lodging at the dirty and miserable place, called a tracteer, which is kept by some Germans near the Castle. The house of our Greek friends was a perfect contrast in all respects to the cottages I have described ; and rest and comfort had the additional pleasure of a cheerful reception from those who, though living privately, feel themselves gratified by the opportunity of thus mixing in society, and being serviceable to others. His cellar boasted some good wine, and his wife's stores some liqueurs and delicious preserves, which they pride themselves upon their skill and excellence in making.
We saw there also, the largest collection of silk-worms that I met with in the Crimea. The encouragement given by the government to rearing them, was insufficient to produce any stimulant, and the trees, once planted so profusely on this account, are the greatest part of them destroyed. The Tatars keep a small number, but all the silk is, I believe, spun at home, and used by the Russian ladies for knitting of stockings, or by the Tatars for weaving.
The administration of theGermans is very different from the rest, having a special Comptoir for colonial government, which includes the Bulgarians. This Comptoir is situated in the town of Ekaterinoslaff; and there, inspectors and deputy inspectors are appointed, with small salaries3 to reside in the chief town of the district in which the colony is planted, through whom all business is communicated to the principals, and who again correspond with the Minister of the Interior.