Other public institutions have not been neglected. The citizens of Athens have built a very respectable civil hospital, and we mention this as it is one of the public buildings which excites the attention of strangers, and which is often supposed to have been erected by the government, though entirely built from the funds raised by local taxes. The amount of municipal taxes which the Greeks pay, is another subject which deserves attention. The general taxes in Greece are very heavy. Every individual pays, on an average, twelve shillings, which makes the payment of a family of five persons amount to £.3 sterling annually. This is a very large sum, when the poverty and destitution of the people is taken into consideration, and is greater than is paid by any other European nation where the population is so thinly scattered over the surface of the country. Yet as soon as the Greeks became convinced that the general government would contribute nothing towards improving the country, they determined to impose on themselves additional burdens rather than submit to wait. Hospitals, schools, churches, and bridges, built by several municipalities, attest the energy of the determination of the people to make every sacrifice to improve their condition. We offer our readers a statement of the amount of the taxes imposed by the municipalities of Attica on themselves for local improvements. The town communes of Athens and the Piraeus find less difficulty in collecting the large revenues they possess, than the country districts their comparatively trifling resources. Drachmas Athens, with a population of 22,309 collects 159,000 Piraeus, ... 2,099 ... 27,300 Kekropia, ... 2,158 ... 3,759 Marathon, ... 1,214 ... 1,708 Phyle, ... 2,659 ... 7,000 Laurion, ... 1,470 ... 2,356 Kalamos, ... 2,000 ... 2,747 ------- ------- 33,909 ... 203,870 From this statement we find that each family of five persons pays, on an average, thirty drachmas of self-imposed taxes, or about twenty-two shillings annually, in addition to the £.3 sterling paid to the general government. We think we may now ask: Are the Greeks fit for a representative system of government? We should like to hear the reasons of those who hold the opinion, that they are not yet able to give an opinion on the best means of improving their own country, and the most advantageous mode of raising the necessary revenue.