It was the historian Herodian who, seyenteen hundred years ago,
bewailed " that ancient malady of the Greeks which causes them ever to be at strife with one another, by which process Hellas was weakened and became the sport of Macedon and the slave of Rome."
It is a national fault with us to be contemptuous, and a shade self- righteous, in regard to those foreign nations who do not share our easy tolerance, and to forget that what we dismiss as mere quarrelsomeness is in fact an ardent individualism. It -may be regrettable that the Greeks should take their politics so passionately, but it was this very passion which enabled them to defeat the Italians and to with- stand with such enduring heroism the long years of German occupa- tion. It would be much simpler for all concerned if the Greeks would conduct their internal affairs with the genteel moderation of the Swiss ; but would Europe really benefit if the fierce flame of individualism which throughout the centuries has been incandescent in that lovely peninsula were to shrink to the calm proportions of a night-light? When we accuse the Greeks of being " unreasonable " we should remember that it was upon the Acropolis that the Goddess of Reason was enthroned ; when we deplore their passionate in- tensity, we should recollect that it was this very intensity which gave birth to the Greek genius. Nor should we forget that Greece, in her times of trouble, is able to produce leaders who, while sharing her passions, are not unduly passionate themselves. No statesman of our modern world was ever driven by so fierce a faith, so con- suming a patriotism, as Venizelos ; he was perhaps the most ardent man that I have ever known ; he generated heat and light, but he was also magnanimous in that he knew the danger of the extremes either of hate or love. He guided passion, and his faith in his own people has since his death been gloriously justified. Is Archbishop Damaskinos another Venizelos? He certainly represents the tradifon of faith, loyalty and liberalism which Venizelos upheld.
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