ch the monks of Mount Athos took part,
proved abortive. Moreover, the desultory warfare on water carried on by the
islanders of Hydra, Spetza, and Psara served only to annoy the Turks. The
real campaign was waged in the Morea, where Tripolitza, the seat of the
Turkish Government, was besieged by the insurgents. Demetrios Ypsilanti,
Prince Alexander's brother, landed on the coast and was welcomed as a
leader by the peasants in arms. Three other leaders rose to prominence.
First, in the eyes of the people, came Petrobei, chief of the family of
Mauromichalis. Surrounded by his nine sons, this sturdy chieftain appeared
like one of the old Homeric kings. Second in popular favor was
Kolokotrones, a typical modern Clepht, cunning and treacherous, but a born
soldier. The ablest political leader was Maurokordatos, a man of some
breadth of view and foresight, but over-cautious as a general. The early
insurgent successes were marred by bad faith and gross savagery. On the
surrender of Navarino, in August, a formal capitulation was signed,
safeguarding the lives of the Turkish inhabitants. In the face of this
compact the victorious Greeks put men, women and children to the sword. Two
months later the Turkish garrison of Tripolitza, after sustaining a siege
of six months, began negotiations for surrender. In the midst of the truce,
the Greek soldiery got wind of a secret bargain of their leaders to extend
protection for private gain. In defiance of the officers, the peasant
soldiers stormed Tripolitza and scaled the walls. Then followed three days
of indiscriminate looting and carnage. By thousands, the Turks, with their
women and children, were slaughtered. Kolokotrones himself records how he
rode from the gateway to the citadel of Tripolitza, his horse's hoofs
touching nothing but human bodies.

[Sidenote: Philhellenism]

The Greek struggle for independence aroused conflicting emotions in Europe.
The passionate sympathy of the Russians rested wholly on their religious
bonds. The more enlightened Philhellenes of France and Germany affected to
see in this struggle a revival of the ancient Greek spirit that blazed
forth at Thermopylae and Marathon. For this same reason, perhaps, Metternich
and his colleagues in the Holy Alliance looked upon the Greek revolution
with an evil eye. Any cause espoused by the hot-headed liberals at the
universities in those days of itself became obnoxious to the reactionary
rulers of the German and Austri