DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4099#0035
28 HIS DISCOVERY, FLIGHT, AND RETURN TO ATHENS.
appeal to our sympathy ; and craved that protection, which, in such
circumstances of suffering, is seldom craved in vain. The numerous
fears, by which he had been recently persecuted, and the actual ills
he had experienced, had lowered his supercilious arrogance, and
made a strange alteration in the looks of the haughty Turk. He
kissed the beard of the Prior; and with abject servility implored an
asylum in the convent. But the wary capuchin, not daring to risk
the consequence of a discovery, repressed the compassion which he
felt, and refused the favour which was so vehement! jr urged. The
Disdar then had recourse to me, forgetting the little civility with
which he had treated me, when he commanded in the Acropolis.
But he now besought my compassion in a manner so humble and
affecting, that I interested myself unfeignedly in his behalf; and,
after some difficulty, obtained the permission of Father Urban, to
conceal him in one of my apartments, where he was suffered to re-
main till I left Athens.
The Disdar, of a violent and rapacious character, was about forty
years of age, of a noble and imposing appearance, with a fine flow-
ing black beard, and habited in scarlet and gold. His wife was a
Greek, and his family was numerous. The convent is situated at no
great distance from the Acropolis ; and one of the rooms which I
occupied was opposite to the eastern extremity of that fortress.
When the Disdar became a little tranquillized, by the conscious
security of his retreat, the domestic affections, of which 1 should not
have previously thought him so susceptible, began to operate power-
fully upon his breast-; and he warmly entreated me to procure him
an opportunity of beholding his wife and children from my window.
The secret of his return to Athens was confined to the monks, my-
self, and our servants; but it required considerable precautions to
prevent the disclosure; and, at the same time, to obtain for the
distressed individual the particular gratification which he sought
It was agreed that I should pay a visit to his wife, who lived
in the Acropolis, and should arrange with her the three stated
appeal to our sympathy ; and craved that protection, which, in such
circumstances of suffering, is seldom craved in vain. The numerous
fears, by which he had been recently persecuted, and the actual ills
he had experienced, had lowered his supercilious arrogance, and
made a strange alteration in the looks of the haughty Turk. He
kissed the beard of the Prior; and with abject servility implored an
asylum in the convent. But the wary capuchin, not daring to risk
the consequence of a discovery, repressed the compassion which he
felt, and refused the favour which was so vehement! jr urged. The
Disdar then had recourse to me, forgetting the little civility with
which he had treated me, when he commanded in the Acropolis.
But he now besought my compassion in a manner so humble and
affecting, that I interested myself unfeignedly in his behalf; and,
after some difficulty, obtained the permission of Father Urban, to
conceal him in one of my apartments, where he was suffered to re-
main till I left Athens.
The Disdar, of a violent and rapacious character, was about forty
years of age, of a noble and imposing appearance, with a fine flow-
ing black beard, and habited in scarlet and gold. His wife was a
Greek, and his family was numerous. The convent is situated at no
great distance from the Acropolis ; and one of the rooms which I
occupied was opposite to the eastern extremity of that fortress.
When the Disdar became a little tranquillized, by the conscious
security of his retreat, the domestic affections, of which 1 should not
have previously thought him so susceptible, began to operate power-
fully upon his breast-; and he warmly entreated me to procure him
an opportunity of beholding his wife and children from my window.
The secret of his return to Athens was confined to the monks, my-
self, and our servants; but it required considerable precautions to
prevent the disclosure; and, at the same time, to obtain for the
distressed individual the particular gratification which he sought
It was agreed that I should pay a visit to his wife, who lived
in the Acropolis, and should arrange with her the three stated