TO THE PUBLIC. The annexed letter* is most respectfully and earnestly recommended to the serious attention of the citizens of Philadelphia, MATHEW CAREY, ESQ. * Washington, 7th Dec. 1826. Dear Sir,-1 perceive, in a late National Gazette, the report of the doings of a committee raised for the relief of the Greeks, and, as the organ of that committee, I beg leave to address you. In the report alluded to, which I have had an opportunity only to look over hastily, various modes and plans of relief are suggested, which I doubt not will receive due consideration, on the part of those to whom they are referred. My only object in intruding upon you, is to observe, that I received from Greece, the day before yesterday, accounts of the country, which have led me to think, that the amount of suffering for want of food, is equal to that produced by the direct operations of the hostile force. One of the letters I have received is from our countryman, Jarvis, who has distinguished himself in the military service of the country, and possesses the confidence of its government. He writes as follows:"The Committees for the relief of the Greeks in France, Holland, and Geneva, have sent twelve cargoes of provisions, and an agent to superintend their distribution. This has prevented the final starvation of the country. Let not the United States, among so many states and nations, be indifferent to the sufferings of this dreadful but not desperate conflict." With this letter from Mr. Jarvis, I received one from Kolocotroni, who has been so prominent from the commencement of the revolution as a military chief, and is now at the head of the Greek forces. His letter is dated at Napoli, 26th of July, and is written in Romaic. He thus expresses himself, on the assistance received by his country from other nations: "Our Christian brethren throughout the world, sympathizing with Greece in her extremity, have sent us aid of various kinds, to support us in our holy war. From the societies for the relief of the Greeks in England, in France, in Switzerland, and many other countries of Europe, we have frequent communications of articles both for sustenance and war; which have proved a relief to the poverty and destitution of the Greeks, to whom the foe has left no agriculture, no commerce, no arts; and who, being exclusively occupied in the struggle, have no means of supplying what is needful either for subsistence or military operations. "The people of America, a people of Christians, a people devoted to liberty, of whose friendship and sympathy for Greece we have already received ample proof, are, to our great misfortune, the farthest removed from us. But remote as they are, sir, the friends of freedom and the friends of humanity may yet contribute to the relief of our country; nor will their aid be the less efficient or serviceable, particularly in our present emergency." From this authentic source of information, I am led to think, dear sir, that a great amount of suffering might be relieved by the despatch of a vessel loaded with provisions for this unhappy country. Many excellent and bene and of the United States at large, in the hope-pray heaven it may not be vain-of awaking the slumbering sympathies of this great and rising empire in favour of one of the most interesting nations that ever existed—a nation whose struggle for every thing dear and sacred to human nature, under almost every possible disadvantage, has never been exceeded, and but rarely equalled, for the most inflexible devotion to country, and the most heroic valour. The annals of the world, since ruthless warfare began to devour the human race, present nothing of patriotism and bravery more honourable to our nature than the defence of Missolonghi. Had the smallest nation in Europe zealously espoused the cause of the Greeks, with two or three large frigates or vessels of the line, they would have triumphed long since; established their independence on a firm foundation; and taken their rank among the nations of the earth. But while all the liberal and enlightened people of Europe were most decidedly favourable to their cause, and pouring out ardent prayers to heaven for their success, the governments of that quarter of the globe, either looked on with frigid indifference or malignant jealousy, or covertly aided their ferocious oppressors. The powder mills of Europe are employed in manufacturing powder-the foundries in casting cannon-and the shipyards in building vessels of war, for the purpose of aiding in the extermination of this brave nation. And finally, to cap the climax of dishonour and disgrace, the armies of the Turks are officered, and their fleets manœuvred, by base and recreant Christians! We raise, annually, thousands and tens of thousands of dollars, to support missionaries to convert Hindoos, Chinese, Burmese, and Japanese to Christianity, with problematical success, and at an enormous expense per man, when successful. Would it not be meritorious to direct this zeal into another channel for a year or two, and let its overflowings be devoted to interpose a shield for the preservation of the Greeks from impending destruction? Should the effort prove successful, we might rescue volent persons would co-operate in this mode of aiding the Greeks, who would object to other propositions. An amount of funds, quite inadequate to any efficient military equipment, would suffice for the purchase of a very considerable quantity of food, and its transportation to the scene of distress. I am, Dear Sir, with high respect, more worshippers of Christ from the scymitars of the infuriated Turks in one year, than all the converts to Christianity that have been made in a century by all the missionaries of Europe and America, and at the tithe of a tithe of the expense. Let me appeal in the most fervent language-would to heaven I could find language adequate to touch the hearts and excite the feelings of American mothers, American wives, and American sisters, to exert their benign and powerful influence —an influence, which, in such a holy cause, would be irresistible-so as to arouse their sons, their husbands, and their brothers, to efforts in support of this oppressed, famishing, and desponding nation. Efforts, thus excited, might, in a blessed hour, turn the scale in their favour, to the utter discomfiture of their detestable oppressors. Let the struggling Greeks be exhilarated by seeing that their wrongs are deeply felt, and that efficient succour is afforded them, by fellow Christians at a distance of 5000 miles. This would nerve their arms, and whet their swords, so as probably to secure their final emancipation. Let the American fair be stimulated to zealous efforts in this noble cause, by reflecting on the hideous fate that awaits their sex in the disastrous event of the final subjugation of a nation, ennobled by the names of a Solon, a Plato, a Socrates, an Aristides, a Phocion, an Epaminondas, a Leonidas-a nation, which, with a sound form of government, would probably rise to a level with their glorious and immortal ancestors. It is not poverty-it is not exile-it is not imprisonment, that awaits the helpless sex, in the calamitous downfall of their country. Incomparably worse will be their destiny. The mind stands aghast at the mere contemplation of the scenes that will follow, over the details of which I draw a veil, and shall but slightly pourtray the great outlines, leaving the imagination to complete the horrible picture. After seeing their fathers, brothers, and husbands butchered before their eyes, or sold to a slavery worse than death-high-minded, elegant females, framed. in nature's finest mould, and calculated for the brightest ornaments of society, will be delivered over to the brutality of a licentious and infuriate soldiery-or sold into the harems of stupid, sensual Turks, many of whom believe that women have no souls, and were solely formed to minister to the passions of man. No female, possessed of the tender and sympathizing feelings that do honour to the sex, can contemplate such hideous scenes without a holy abhorrence, and a determination to leave nothing within her power undone to contribute towards averting such an execrable catastrophe. May the living God inspire them with zeal-prosper their efforts and shower his choicest blessings on them in recompense. Philadelphia, Dec. 11, 1826. TO THE CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA. It is proposed in this paper to take a candid view of the Greek question, which has of late deservedly occupied so much of the public attention, and to present it under some aspects in which it has not probably been hitherto placed. No appeal will be made to the passions or feelings-which frequently lead us astray, and whose effects are generally evanescent. The address shall be offered wholly to the sober and dispassionate reason of the reader. A nation struggling for its liberty, is an object worthy of the sympathy of men and angels. The more severe and grinding the tyranny under which it has groaned, the more imperative the claim for sympathy. The more insulated and friendless the oppressed, and the greater the disparity of force between them and their oppressors, the more the claim is enhanced. Finally, it arises to its acme, when subjugation is likely to be nearly tantamount to extermination. On these three points-the provocation to resistance—the extrinsic aid afforded to the revolutionists-and the result of a failure, had it unhappily taken place in this country, and should it be the catastrophe in Greece-a comparison is instituted between that country and the United States, in order to bring the subject fully and fairly before the public. 1. The Provocation to Resistance. In the British colonies, at the time when resistance began, in 1775, life was perfectly sacred-so was liberty-and so was property, except in the attempt to impose taxes by a foreign country. The amount of the taxes was not the grievance. It was of small account, and not more, probably, than the colonies would have themselves contributed, had they been called upon, through the medium of their own legislative bodies, to furnish their quota for the general defence of both countries. The great grievance was the violation of a fundamental and sacred principle of civil liberty, that taxation without representation is slavery. The whole of the grievances of the British colonies, from their first settlement to the declaration of independence, were not equal to those suffered by Greece in a single month. What, on the other hand, was the situation of the ill-fated Greek? In every respect completely the reverse of that of the English colonist. Neither life, liberty, nor property was secure. He was the defenceless, and unprotected slave of ferocious barbarians. Ypsilanti, one of the leaders of the insurgents, drew a brief, pity-inspiring portrait of the state of his country, previous to the insurrection-" Our temples are defiled -our children torn from our arms by our barbarous tyrants, to minister to their shameful pleasures-our houses despoiled-our fields devastated-and ourselves vile slaves." Mr. Bradish, an eye-witness, of the most undoubted character for veracity, lately stated to a meeting in New York, that "the very name of Christian has been, every where in Turkey, a title to insult, to chains, and to death. It is a virtue there to kill a Christian dog." 2. Extrinsic aid afforded to the Revolutionists. The contrast in this case is at least equal to that in the former. The United States, it is true, enjoyed the sympathy of nearly the whole civilized world, kings, and people. But sympathy does not raise or pay armies; build or man fleets; manufacture arms or ammunition; cast cannon; or garrison or defend fortresses: and deplorable would have been the case of the United States, had they depended wholly on foreign sympathy. They had something extrinsic, far more substantial than sympathy. Three powerful nations were arrayed in arms on their side. Large loans were procured on the most favourable and liberal terms. Powerful armies crossed the Atlantic in their defence. The ocean was covered with mighty fleets, which forced their enemy to retain at home those forces with which otherwise he could hardly have failed to subjugate them. In a word, few nations ever received more effective aid in their struggle for liberty-and of course few nations lie under a heavier debt to those in similar circumstances, than the United States. May it not be appropriately asked, whether we have ever made the slightest attempt to repay the debt? Will there |