Barrows, Samuel J.: The isles and shrines of Greece (Boston, 1898)

THE SHRINES OF ATTICA 237

the textbooks in Greek schools are of good qual-
ity, and modern methods are employed in teaching.
Music was skilfully taught with European notes, and
when Miss Muir wished to pay a compliment to the
American visitor the school sang " Hail, Columbia; "
but the hymn itself compares poorly with the ode
of the Zante poet, Solomos, which, set to music by
Mantzeros, another Ionian, has become the national
hymn of Greece. It is one of the most inspiring of
national airs, ranking almost with the Marseillaise.

At noon we had a romp in the school yard or a
game of jackstones after lunch, or Alexander the
Little would read or dictate to me during recess.
I was guilty of but one breach of discipline during
my school life, and that was when I pulled the long
braid of Maria Katsiropoulou, who sat in the seat in
front of me; and this was simply to break the ice of
formality and to assure Maria and the rest of the
class of my youthful sympathy.

The industrial work of the school was excellent, and
when I recall the older girls embroidering an altar
cloth, I think of the Athenian maids who wrought the
pcplos for Athene so many centuries ago.

Somehow these little children won my heart. They
were generally known as my sheep. I never went to
the blackboard but once, and that was when the girls
were downstairs at recess. I took a piece of chalk
and wrote,—

■Aycnro) to, 7rp6(3a,Td fiov kcl\ sKiri^a) otl to, irpoficvTa
fiov eVi'cr?;? fie dyairovv.

As the girls filed in, it did not take more than the
flash of an eye to read my message and to ratify it