The Capsina: An Historical NovelBenson, E. F. (Edward Frederic)
History
The Capsina: An Historical Novel
Benson, E. F. (Edward Frederic)
Greece -- History -- War of Independence, 1821-1829 -- Fiction
"I hear there is a dispute about the division of booty, or what not,"
he said, "that concerns me not; but what I have seen is that now, while
the capitulation is in the hands of your chief, a mob of soldiers
besiege the town gate. What that may mean you know and I know. Now this
I tell you: If certain disgraceful things which happened at Tripoli,
at Navarin, and Athens happen also at Nauplia, to the rest of Europe
Greece will appear as a country of wild beasts, of barbarous men. I
care not one jot what happens to the booty, but this I will see done:
I will see the Turks safely embarked, according to the capitulation,
without being hurt or molested. I am here a friend to Greece, but a foe
to faithlessness. There are fourteen hundred Turks still in Nauplia,
I am told. I will embark five hundred on the _Cambrian_, and I will
see the remaining nine hundred safely embarked on other ships, and I
will escort them to Asia Minor. Do not make yourselves to stink in the
nostrils of civilized countries. I have spoken. With your leave, I will
go and talk to the soldiers."
He saluted and stepped out in silence, leaving the others to digest his
wholesome and unsavory words, and walking with his swinging sailor's
step up to the crowd around the gate, with two or three officers behind
him, spoke to the men:
"What I have said to your chiefs I say to you. Let this thing be done
honorably. With what follows afterwards I have no concern; but I have
something to say to you which I have not said to your chiefs. You are
on the eve of mutiny. Be steady till the Turks are out. Do not make
brute beasts of yourselves. When the Turks are out and safe on ship I
care not what happens; I will leave that to--to your chiefs and, which
perhaps is the more important, you. Now do not carry tales and get me
into trouble."
And with a smile and a salute to the men, he turned on his heel. There
was one moment's silence, then a roar of laughter and cheering. His
frankness won their hearts; his solution of their trouble amused them.
By all means, the Turks out first.
His proposal was accepted by the chiefs, but with some demur.
Hypsilantes, still clinging to the dream of Russian intervention,
viewed with suspicion the interference of the English; others viewed
with suspicion the interference of anybody. But Miaulis, Niketas,
and Kolocotrones all acknowledged without reserve the honesty and
reasonableness of the advice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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