Of all the various books which have been written upon Greece and its Revolution, by much the best, in every point of view, is Waddington's “Visit.” It is full of instruction: it is sensible, amusing, and impartial; calm, enquiring, and well-informed. Mr. Waddington examined Greece without yielding to the delusion of imagination, and without permitting himself to be disgusted with inevitable vice and misery, or to be deceived by the artful and interested representations of a wily people. Why or wherefore his book has attracted but little notice we are not aware, unless it be, as we believe it is, that truth is not the thing sought after. Romance readers, and half-informed admirers, love nothing so well as a fine story; and even the more rational lovers of liberty and of civilization, have not always the courage to look a plain unvarnished statement in the face. If, instead of being a vigilant observer, a faithful narrator, and an excellent scholar, this writer had proved himself a flighty worshipper of ancient glory, an easy dupe of interested knaves, and above all a fine writer, and a sentimentalist, his book would have been in every drawing-room of the country, in every circulating library, well thumbed by all, down to the milliners and linen-drapers' apprentices. We refer all those who wish for real information concerning Greece up to the middle of the year 1824, to Waddington's “Visit.” The history after that is pretty well taken up by the two volumes entitled Greece in 1825, by Messrs. Emerson, Pecchio, and Humphreys. The journal of Mr. Emerson is the most instructive—its details of the events of 1825 are clear, and his supply to the general stock of information concerning the Greeks is considerable. Count Pecchio is more flashy and rhetorical; there is more composition in his narrative, but much less information—indeed, it is almost entirely superseded by Emerson's Journal, which occupies the first volume.

* A picture of Greece in 1825; as exhibited in the personal Narratives of James Emerson, Esq. Count Pecchio, and W. H. Humphreys, Esq. comprising a detailed Account of the Events of the late Campaign, and Sketches of the principal military, naval, and political Chiefs. 2 vols. 8vo. London, Colburn. An Autumn in Greece; comprising Sketches of the character, customs, and scenery of the Country; with a View of its present critical State, in Letters addressed to C. B. Sheridan, Esq. by H. Lytton Bulwer, Esq.; to which is subjoined, Greece to the close of 1825, by a resident with the Greeks, recently arrived. 8vo. London, Ebers.

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Greece in 1825.

Mr. Humphreys' share in the work brings up the rear; and though he is evidently not accustomed to writing, his experience is a valuable addition to our previous knowledge.

Mr. Bulwer's book is of a slighter nature. It scarcely pretends to communicate information. Much space is taken up by its epistolary form; much with his journey there and journey back by routes perfectly well known. He discloses, however, good intentions and amiable dispositions. Fresh from school and college, (places which ought to teach better things,) Greece and her struggles suggest little to his mind but butt-ends of classical verse, and scraps of ancient fribble and fable. It is a lamentable thing to see men of good feelings, of wealth and leisure, turned out of our places of education adults in age, and infants in every thing else. Mr. Bulwer will, however, we hope, improve; indications of future usefulness are visible in his book.

The year 1825 has been a very eventful one to Greece. In February and March the Egyptian troops were disembarked in the Morea, and in no long time relieved the garrisons still in possession of the Turks, and succeeded in gaining possession of the best harbour, and the strongest fortress in the hands of the Greeks. Since that time Ibrahim Pacha has marched about the Morea exactly as it suited him, and very lately, even so late as November, he received a reinforcement of twelve thousand men, which additional force must render him at the present moment irresistible in the field, if a winter campaign has been resolved on. The successes of the Greeks have been confined to a fortunate attempt against the Egyptian fleet, a very considerable part of which was burnt by the fire-ships under Miaulis, in the bay of Modon, and to the resistance of Missolonghi against the Turkish army. The latter, however, had mastered the greater part of Western Greece, while, in the Eastern, Goura was employed in chasing his former General, Ulysses, from post to post, and, after capturing him, in very imperfectly supplying his place as the Commander of Eastern Greece. The Turks were, during the late summer in this quarter, masters of the country up to Athens, as they were masters of the western division up to Missolonghi. But when winter approaches, the Turks march off, and the Greeks resume the country as if nothing had happened. All this looks exceedingly ill. For three or four years the Greeks have been very nearly without an external enemy; and they have had money enough from this country to raise a fleet, levy an army, and not only drive out the few lazy Turks starving in Patrass, Modon, and Coron, the only places held by the Porte in the Morea, but likewise put into tenable condition every fortress in the kingdom. While the prisoners taken at the fall of Navarino were filing off before Soliman Bey, (the French Major Séve, the lieutenant of Ibrahim,) he turned to those around, saying: “These are your sons of liberty! what have they done during the last four years? They have not built a single ship of war, they have not organized a regiment, they have only thought of making war amongst themselves and destroying one another.” Why and wherefore? The Greek character is the solution of the enigma. The character of the people has brought them into these straits; and, joined to the natural character of their country, must, and probably will, help them out of it. Nothing has been done since they were out of fear for their lives, for this plain reason—that pretty nearly every man in the land is a clever

Greece in 1825.

3

knave: he is driving at his own interest in the cunningest manner in the world, but his neighbour is “Yorkshire too.” His rival can just spoil the plot, and is himself baulked in his turn. When all are sharpers, no business is done; brawls arise, the tables are overturned, the dice are thrown out of the window, and the sun rises upon confusion, contusion, broken heads, and lost time. No nation understands jobbing like your dexterous Greeks—the navy is jobbed, the commissariat, the places and offices of trust, every thing is jobbed as in much more civilized countries. The difference is, that among politer nations jobbing is the privilege of certain classes and ranks, and long practice has settled who shall job and who shall be jobbed. In an unsettled country of slaves, who have just kicked their masters out of their houses, and have scarcely squatted themselves upon their sofas and cushions, this is a matter not arranged. To settle this matter has been the business of a year or two; and now, when the affair was pretty well concluded, and one party had been fairly ousted, and the ins had come to an understanding how the English money should be disposed of, down comes the Egyptian and scatters the inferior beasts just in the middle of the quarry. The Greeks are the most greedy and avaricious people on the face of the earth—money, money, money, with all, high and low, is their constant cry. The mere mention of a dollar is an apple of discord; and then come into play all the qualities of the wily slave—his cunning, whining, flattering—even his humour and fun, his braggadocio boastings, his very vanity, failings, and vices, are made available to serve his end—that of extracting money. The Greeks are not only the greediest people in the world, but they are perhaps the shrewdest and the cleverest: yet, with all this, they do nothing. Full of the idea of cheating, they always expect to be cheated. Upright, plain, manly conduct confounds them; and because they cannot see any dishonesty, they give you and your project up together as too deep for them. Propose any thing to a Greek for the good of his country, he shakes his head, parries the proposition, and suspects you have your private ends to gain. Greece has been crowded with disinterested Philhellenes who can bear testimony to this fact.

When the Turks were turned out of the country, it appears that the sharers of the booty might be divided into two great classes:—the men of the mountains, and the men of the plains and the islands. The mountaineers having lived, even under the Turks, a pretty independent life by robbery and predatory warfare, and partly by cattle-feeding; and being also collected into multitudinous knots or clans, following rather than obeying one chieftain, were highly useful as soldiers. The men of the islands, ports, and plains, lived chiefly by commerce, and possessed the navy—a most important instrument of the war. The islanders, as soon as the Turks were gone, were anxious to return to their gainful pursuits, and to secure the spoils of war; in order to do this effectually, it was desirable to get themselves erected into a government. Now, as they were much more of civilians than the mountaineers, as they were more concentrated and more conversant with matters of business, they succeeded with some management in getting themselves named, or raising themselves into the chief offices of state. Having become a government, they assumed the direction of these moving bands of mountaineers, which was the cause of a good

4

Greece in 1825.

deal of quarrelling and some confusion; but on the whole the mountaineers, caring little for their orders, carried on their predatory excursions in their own way against the Turkish armies, whenever they came to spend a summer in the ravines and defiles of the Morea. When, however, rumours of a loan began to be bruited about, and the merchants and letter-writers of the government appeared likely to persuade the good people of England to pour their treasures over the barren mountains of Greece, the case was altered, and a fierce contest ensued: the true meaning of which was who should get the biggest share of the English dollars. The islanders, whether more dexterous or more fortunate than their rivals, actually subdued their enemies by means of the very loan itself. The principal mountaineers were either killed, bought, or taken prisoners, and locked up in the islands. Those who were imprisoned remained so until a few months ago, the government got alarmed at the success of the Egyptians, and let out the warrior mountaineers, in order to collect an army and fight their enemies! The result remains to be seen. Colocotroni, after being let out of prison, found much difficulty in collecting an army, and has done nothing. Except the capital, Napoli, there is no place in the Morea which would resist the Egyptians for any time, and only Messalonghi and Athens in the Western and Eastern divisions of the Roumeli. Fortunately, however, every mountain top (and the Morea is all mountain) is a natural strong hold which may do more for the Greeks than all Vauban could have done in a thousand years. On these mountain-tops, with a wall or tambour before them, the Greeks fight well, and they hate and fear the Mussulman too much ever to submit to a pacific arrangement. Probably the Egyptian will be exhausted and confounded before he succeeds in mastering the Morea. In the contest, perhaps some single superior man may rise to take the lead, or the government being under the necessity of laying out their money in raising an army, may strengthen themselves in such a manner as to be able to enforce some consistent plan of operations. If this turn out so, the invasion of Ibrahim Pacha will have proved a blessing.

Mr. Emerson landed at Clarenza* on the site of the ancient Cyllene, in the March of 1825. His object being to cross the Morea to Napoli di Romani, on the Argolic Gulf, he had an opportunity of seeing the nature of the country, and fully experienced the difficulty of travelling over it.

The Morea, with the exception of a few miles along the coast, consists entirely of hills piled one above the other; and in the short tour which I mean to describe from the western to the eastern coast, from Clarenza to Napoli di Romania, through Elis, Arcadia, and Argolis, we did not meet with a level valley of more than a mile in circumference, with the single exception of the little mountain plain in which Tripolizza is situated. There are no roads; the Turks, whilst the country remained in their possession, deeming it a temptation of heaven to make them, and identifying their national indolence with their resignation to Providence, by shrewdly remarking, that had God designed them to pass with rapidity from one place to another, He would

* This village is said to give title to the English Dukes of Clarence: one of the Dukes of Clarenza having married into the Hainault family, a descendant of which (Philippa) was afterwards Queen to Edward III.—Emerson.

Greece in 1825.

5

have given them roads. To the Greeks, next to their own bravery, their want of roads is their chief security; as in the present wild state of the country, no invading army could penetrate far beyond the sea-coast. The only practicable passages over the mountains, are the tracks along the rocks that have from time immemorial been marked, rather than beaten, by the troops of the mules and mountain poneys; these generally take the least circuitous route; and as the hills of the Peloponessus are usually precipitous and rugged, the ascents and descents of these mountain passes, even supposing them roads of the most superior construction, are by no means such as concur with European ideas of security. On the contrary, these tracks afford the most direct channels to the mountain streams that roll down to join the rivers at their foot, and have, therefore, from time to time, carried away every particle of soil that formerly filled up the interstices of rocks; which, consequently, afford a pathway of loose slippery stones, over which the mules and poneys step with an instinct and security quite astonishing. Again, with the exception of one bridge across the Alpheus at Karitena, and a very few arches of the most primitive construction thrown across some narrow streams, there are no bridges. The broader part of the Alpheus, near its mouth, we passed in a ferry: the Peneus, Helissou, and a few other rapid, but fordable rivers, we waded over. There are, of course, no wheel-carriages, and in a country such as this, we may well suppose there are no inns. On arriving at a village, we usually applied to the Eparchos or Astynomos (the governor and his vice), who found us lodging for the night; usually an empty room, into which we brought our trunks and bedding; and having with difficulty procured firewood, we cooked what provisions we had brought with us, or could procure from the peasants,—brown bread, eggs, and milk, though seldom the latter; and having made our supper, and spread our cloaks on the earthen floor, we stretched ourselves upon them, rather to await daylight than to sleep.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 42.)

The house consisted of one large apartment, in the further end of which, separated from the rest by a screen, were stretched the carpet on which the owners had passed the night. The other contained a large heap of wheat prepared for market; whilst the middle of the floor was occupied by a blazing wood-fire, round which squatted the lords of the mansion, about half a dozen paltry-dressed Greeks. The walls were hung round with their richly ornamented pistols, ataghans, sabres, and tophaics, or musquets, which, with a few wooden wine flasks, and two or three primitive cookery utensils, formed the only furniture in the establishment: no seats, no tables, no beds—in fact, no other necessaries than were barely necessary for the sustenance of life. The description of this house may serve as a picture of all those of the same class in Greece; nothing certainly can be more miserable than their manner of existence. The only addition which 1 could make to an inventory of their furniture, would be occasionally a few more cookery materials; a plate or goblet, (knives and forks being total superfluities,) a barrel for wine, a vase formed of wicker-work and clay for holding water, and sometimes a hollow cone of burned clay, which being heated and inverted over a flat stone, forms an oven for bread, or for cooking an occasional meal of fresh meat.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 46.)

Having, with difficulty, procured here two little horses, which were barely sufficient to carry our baggage, we set out on foot for Gastouni, which lies about eight miles distant. Our route lay over a level plain once celebrated for its fertility, but now almost uncultivated: we traversed it by a path seldom wide enough to admit of two persons walking abreast. The ground, even at this early season, was covered with a profusion of wild and beautiful flowers, which, with the immense beds of thyme, that grew in every direction, loaded the air with fragrance: the only shrubs or trees were now and then a solitary olive, springing up amidst thickets of myrtles and lentiscus, which grew in abundance, and round their roots sprung a luxuriant crop of crocuses and acanthus. In every direction were browsing extensive flocks of sheep, the tinkling

6

Greece in 1825.

of whose bells, joined to the chirruping of grasshoppers, and the picturesque dress of the shepherds, who still bore the classical crook, told us, at once, that we were approaching Arcadia. After passing the wretched villages of Yetrombey and Kurdiokoph, we approached the banks of the Peneus. The plain now grew swampy, and intersected by numerous marshes, whence the croaking of a myriad of frogs formed a serenade by no means so classical as the tinkling of the sheep-bells. On arriving at the river, we found that we must prepare to ford it; as even in this frequented track there was no bridge or ferry across it; we, therefore, mounted one of the little horses which carried our baggage, whilst our conductor led the foremost; and thus we crossed the classic stream, whose waters scarcely reached our horses' bodies. Landing in safety on the opposite bank, half an hour brought us to our destination, and about midday we entered Gastouni.

The plain, after we crossed the river and approached Gastouni, became pretty well cultivated; the corn in the fields was just springing, and the peasants, in every direction, were beginning to trim their vineyards. There were a good many olive trees in the immediate vicinity of the town; but they grew solely in the ruined and uncultivated gardens of the former Turkish inhabitants.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 47.)

The Eparch himself was a fine military looking Hydriot, who had a short time previous been appointed to the office. He wore a scarlet turban wrapped fantastically round his head, so that one end fell on his shoulder, whilst the other was brought very tastefully under his chin: his dress was altogether splendid, and his arms richly embossed, whilst his mild and obliging manners bore nothing of the military character of his costume and appearance. During the time of our conversing with him, our baggage was undergoing a most alarming investigation, from both the eyes and hands of his attendants in the court-yard below, who were fitting on our cloaks and snapping our guns. The calibre and strength of our pistol barrels attracted their attention; the locks they never thought of examining, and as the stocks were no way ornamented, they were directly condemned as useless; however, in a short time our horses arrived, and having discussed our dinner of fowls and fresh curds, we took our leave of our host, and bade adieu to Gastouni.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 51.)

After a tedious descent of several miles along the narrow pathway that wound round the verge of the hill, we arrived at Andruzzena, the ancient Yrapezus, seated amidst a grove of cypresses on the acclivity of an opposite mountain, and with its numerous buildings presenting a fine prospect from a distance; but which was wofully belied on entering it, by filth and misery. It was now sunset, and as we slowly wound up the steep ascent, we observed a few soldiers collected on a small eminence, at tho entrance of the town, to observe our approach. On coming up to them, and asking for the residence of the Επαρχος, a fine military-looking young man, in a superb Albanian dress, stepped forward, and presented himself as the person for whom we were enquiring: we applied to him, as usual, to find us lodgings. He apologized for the misery of the town, and offered us whatever accommodations his own residence afforded.

Greece in 1825.

7

We accordingly accepted his hospitality, and accompanied him to his house. It was situated near the entrance of the town, and like that of the Eparch of Gastouni, was approached by a court-yard. It consisted likewise of two stories, the better Greek houses seldom exceeding that height. The lower of these was now fitted up as a prison for malefactors; and to the upper we ascended by a balcony, which ran along the entire front of the house, and served as a corridor to the several apartments, which had no internal communication with each other. On entering, we came into the apartment of the chief, which composed one-half of the extent of the mansion, the remainder being divided into his bed-room, kitchen, and apartments for his suite.

Our fare, during our stay, consisted of lamb, fowls, milk, eggs, and vegetables; and though it was Lent, our accommodating host made no scruple to join in our uncanonical repast. Our breakfast was, generally, made up of curds and eggs, with a little milk and cheese; but the dinner was a somewhat more perplexing affair. Our table was a small round board, raised half a foot from the floor; and round this we were obliged to squat tailor-wise; as to have stretched our limbs would have thrown us at rather an incommodious distance from our provisions. In this posture, by no means an agreeable one to the uninitiated, we were obliged to remain during the tedious process of a Greek repast, which seldom occupied less than half an hour. Our first course was boiled rice, mixed up with yaourl or sour curds, eggs fried and swimming in olive oil, and a mixed dish of boiled vegetables, chopped leeks, spinage, sorrel and mustard leaves. The second, a stewed fowl stuffed with plum-pudding, roast lamb, and cairare, rather an odoriferous dish, composed of the entrails of the salmon and cuttle-fish, fermented and tempered with oil. Our third remove contained milk, in all its different preparations of curd, cheese, and runnet; various combinations of boiled, roast, and whipped eggs; the whole washed down with plentiful draughts of Pamian wine, supplied by a cup-bearer, who, in proper oriental style, stood constantly behind the cushion of his chieftain. Our desert, as it was winter, consisted chiefly of oranges and dried fruit, figs, dates, and raisins; on the whole our feasts were not only classical but palatable, and when all was concluded, a comfortable room, in which to strew our beds, was a favour as acceptable as it was uncommon.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 66.)

At the capital and seat of government Mr. Emerson remains some time. Napoli is admirably situated, both for defence and commerce. For a Greek town it is well fortified, well provisioned, and if well garrisoned would stand a long siege. Its harbour is good, and the population overstocked.

The interior of the town, with the exception of one large square, contains nothing but miserably narrow filthy streets, the greater part in ruins, partly from the ridiculous custom of destroying the residences of the Turks, and partly from the effects of the cannon whilst the Greeks were battering the town from the little fort in the harbour. The remaining dwelling-houses are spacious, and some even comfortable. In all of them the lower story is appropriated to the horses, and from this we ascend by

8

Greece in 1825.

a spacious staircase to the upper inhabited apartments. The best house is that of the late Pacha, which is now the residence of Prince Mavrocordato.

The unusual filth of the streets, and its situation, at the foot of a steep hill, which prevents the air from having full play to carry the effluvia arising from it, together with the habitual dirty habits of an overstocked population, constantly attracted round the seat of government, subject it to almost continual epidemic fevers, which, both in the last winter and at this moment, have committed dreadful ravages. Its climate is, in fact, at all times, thick and unhealthy, and far inferior to that of Athens, or of many of the towns in the interior of the Morea.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 84).

10th April, (Sunday.)—To-day being the festival of Easter, Napoli presented a novel appearance, viz. a clean one. This feast, as the most important in the Greek church, is observed with particular rejoicings and respect. Lent having ceased, the ovens were crowded with the preparations for banqueting. Yesterday, every street was reeking with the blood of lambs and goats; and to-day, every house was fragrant with odours of pies and baked meats. All the inhabitants, in festival array, were hurrying along to pay their visits and receive their congratulations: every one, as he met his friend, saluted him with a kiss on each side of his face, and repeated the words Χριστος ανεστη, “Christ is risen.” The day was spent in rejoicings in every quarter, the guns were fired from the batteries, and every moment the echoes of the Palamede were replying to the incessant reports of the pistols and tophaics of the soldiery. On these occasions the Greeks (whether from laziness to extract the ball, or for the purpose of making a louder report, I know not) always discharged their arms with a bullet: frequent accidents are the consequence. To-day one poor fellow was shot dead in his window, and a second severely wounded by one of these random shots. In the evening a grand ceremony took place in the Square: all the members of the Government, after attending divine service in the church of St. George, met opposite the residence of the executive body; the legislative, as being the most numerous, took their places in a line, and the executive passing along them from right to left, kissing commenced with great vigour, the latter body embracing the former with all fervour and affection. Amongst such an intriguing, factious senate as the Greek legislation, it requires little calculation to divine that the greater portion of these salutations were Judas's kisses.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 98.)

This evening as we walked out of the Palamede gate, the plain to the east of the town presented a lively and interesting spectacle, the fineness of the day, together with the continuance of the festival, had induced crowds of the inhabitants to stroll round the walls and the plain; numbers of beautifully dressed females were assembled in groups on the grass, listening to the guitar and the flute; bands of horsemen,, mounted on beautiful Arabians, were sweeping over the plain, hurling the djereed, and at the same time managing their spirited little steeds with astonishing skill, wheeling round at the sharpest angle, and reining up at the shortest point in the midst of their utmost velocity. In every quarter, bands of musicians were surrounded by troops of dancers, performing their spiritless Romaica, and enlivening its whirling dullness by the rapid discharge of their pistols; whilst groups of children, in fancy dresses and crowned with flowers, were sporting round their delighted parents. No one, to have witnessed this scene, could have supposed himself in the midst of a country suffering under the horrors of war, nor surrounded by hundreds of families, scarce one of whom could congratulate itself on not having lost a friend or a brother in the fray.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 102.)

Greece in 1825.

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To-day, the Lively, from London, came to anchor in the bay, having on board 20.000l. of the former, and 40,000l. of the new loan; accompanied by Count Pecchio and Count Gamba, agents of Messrs. Ricardo, the contractors. Arrivals of this kind infuse the liveliest joy into the hearts of the Greeks, the greater part of whom do not rightly comprehend the meaning of a “loan,” but very simply conclude that it is some European method of making a present. Immediately on its arrival, the usual discharge of pistols commenced; and the following evening it was brought into the town, whilst the band of the regular regiment in the square, were playing “God save the King,” and the crowd accompanied it with shouts of Ζειτο Γεωργιε—“Long live King George.”—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 108.)

In May, Mr. Emerson left Napoli for the neighbouring island of Hydra. The Hydriots are of Albanian race, had grown rich by commerce, and previous to the Revolution, the Turkish yoke had been merely nominal. They paid a considerable tribute. To them chiefly Greece is indebted for a navy, and they are, on the whole, the most respectable of the Greeks. Savage ferocity is, however, a feature of their character, as of the rest of their countrymen, as the following anecdote will testify:

The news spread instantly from end to end of the Marino; and seemed to produce an extraordinary sensation. In a few moments, from the balcony where I sat, my attention was attracted by the unusual commotion of the crowd below, which now consisted of four or five thousand. They kept rushing backward and forward, but always tending towards the door of a monastery close by me; one apartment of which served for the office of the Marino, and another for the prison, in which were confined a large number of Turkish captives. I asked a Hydriot, who sat beside me, what was the meaning of the commotion in the crowd? He replied, with little emotion, “perhaps going to kill a Turk.” His words were scarcely uttered, when the door of the monastery, not twenty paces from me, was burst open, and a crowd rushed out, forcing before them a young Turk, of extremely fine appearance; tall, athletic, and well-formed. But I shall never forget the expression of his countenance at this awful moment. He was driven out almost naked, with the exception of a pair of trowsers; his hands held behind his back; his head thrust forward; and a hell of horror seemed depicted in his face. He made but one step over the threshold, when a hundred ataghans were planted in his body. He staggered forward, and fell, a shapeless mass of blood and bowels, surrounded by a crowd of his enraged executioners, each eager to smear his knife with the blood of his victim. By this time, another wretch was dragged forward, and shared the same fate; another, and another followed, whilst I

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Greece in 1825.

was obliged to remain a horrified spectator of the massacre; as the defenceless wretches were butchered almost at the foot of the stairs by which I must have descended, in order to make my escape. Each was, in turn, driven beyond the door, and got a short run through the crowd, and fell piecemeal, till, at length, his carcase lost all form of humanity, beneath the knives of his enemies. Some few died bravely, never attempting to escape, but falling on the spot, where they received the first thrust of the ataghans; other weaker wretches made an effort to reach the sea, through the crowd, but sunk down beneath a thousand stabs, screaming for mercy, and covering their faces with their gory hands.

In the mean time, I had got within the cafe, and closed the door and windows; within were a few of the young Primates, who were sinking with shame and horror for the actions of their countrymen, and the noble Canaris was lying on a bench drowned in tears. Here I remained for some time; till, taking advantage of a momentary pause in the scene below, I rushed down stairs, and escaped by a bye path to my lodgings. During the whole course of the evening, the work of slaughter continued; after butchering every inmate of the prison, they brought out every slave from the houses, and from on board the ships in the harbour, and put all to death on the shore. During the course of the evening, upwards of two hundred wretches were thus sacrificed to the fury of the mob; and at length, wearied with blood, they dragged them down to the beach, and stowing their carcases in boats, carried them round to the other side of the island, and flung them into the sea, where numbers were floating some days after, when Captain Spencer passed with the Naiad. During the continuance of all this scene, which lasted for many hours, no attempt was made by the Primates to check the fury of the crowd. Perhaps they were aware of their inability; but it is little to their honour that they did not at least make an effort. Some days after, on speaking of this transaction, they merely said it was a disgraceful occurrence, and they were sorry it had happened; but that, in fact, they had no means of keeping prisoners of war; thus indirectly admitting the justice of the deed, nor even attempting to excuse their own non-interference. With the lower orders, there never appeared any symptom of remorse. Those who had been the perpetrators of the deed, were never censured; nor was any investigation made of the affair; on the contrary, they walked about the streets as much applauded and as highly esteemed, as if they had achieved some meritorious services; whilst those who had not participated in the murder, spoke of it with complacency, and even approval. Some few of the sons of the Primates were the only part of the population who seemed aware of the enormity of the deed; and, whilst they condemned the conduct of their countrymen, they lamented deeply that such an example of applauded murder should be set to their children.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 244.)

Most important information is to be found in Mr. Emerson's Journal with respect to the navy, along with which he appears to have remained some time. The naval victories of the Greeks have been excessively exaggerated; any thing like a general engagement is wholly out of the question. The execution that has been done, has been solely effected by the fire-ships, which, partly from Greek dexterity and bravery, and chiefly from Turkish awkwardness, have done a considerable quantity of mischief. In the navy, it will be seen, there is no subordination whatever; the captain is the relation and not the commander of the crew. The admiral is little more than a nominal chief about whom the captains collect. When he may be meditating some important expedition, the captains perhaps are designing a visit to their homes, and the admiral rises in the morning and finds that a third of his navy has gone off in the night, and perhaps the remainder express no inclination to change their station.

It was late in the evening before a monk from one of the neighbouring monasteries arrived to bless the ship; but this ceremony once performed, all was in readiness, and at sun-set we sailed from Hydra. The captain was a young man called Theodorachi,

Greece in 1825.

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nephew to the admiral, who has been employed as a brulottier almost ever since the commencement of the war; and on several occasions, especially at Mytelene and Candia, has conducted himself with distinguished bravery. The ship in which I sailed was an old Ipsariot, of two hundred and sixty or three hundred tons, and was purchased by the Government for forty thousand piastres, or about 800l., whilst the fitting out and stowing her with combustibles, could not cost less than 800l. more. This, however, is one of the largest and most expensive which has yet been made; the generality being no more than two-thirds the size, and of proportionate cost. The vessels usually employed for this service, are old ships purchased by the Government. Their construction, as fireships, is very simple; nothing more being wanted than active combustion, for this purpose, the ribs, hold, and sides of the vessel, after being well tarred, are lined with dried furze, dipped in pitch and lees of oil, and sprinkled with sulphur; a number of hatchways are then cut along the deck, and under each is placed a small barrel of gunpowder; so that at the moment of conflagration each throws off its respective hatch, and giving ample vent to the flames, prevents the deck being too soon destroyed by the explosion.

To the captains, likewise, rewards have been frequently offered, but been as often refused; as they replied, that they should think it a disgrace to accept a recompense for doing their duty to their country. The number of those brave fellows is from twenty-five to thirty, and though many have nobly distinguished themselves, the widely spreading laurels of one have unfortunately overshadowed the honours of the rest. It is needless to say, that this individual is Constantine Canaris. There are, however, many others whose fame has not extended so far, though their actions have been equally daring and successful: amongst those is Captain Pepino, the companion of Canaris in his famous exploit of burning the vessel of the Capitan Pacha at Scio, and the man who, with Georgio Potili, and Alexander Dimama, achieved the late successful enterprize at Modon. Of the remainder, Georgio Capa Antoine, Anastasius Calloganni, Demetrius Kaphaella, and John Mondrosa, have shown the most undaunted bravery in the various actions at Tenedos, Mytelene, Samos, Scio, Cos, and Candia, and are rewarded by the most lavish praises of their countrymen, who have celebrated their names in the popular songs of the island.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 167.)

The number of vessels at present employed in the Greek navy does not exceed sixty-five; of these forty are Hydriots, sixteen belong to Spezzia, and the remainder are the remnants of the Ipsariot

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Greece in 1825.

squadron. Of the vessels of war, about six or seven carry three masts, and are of three or four hundred tons burden: the remainder are all brigs and single-masted schooners, of from one hundred to two hundred tons; the greatest number of guns carried by any vessel is eighteen, and the weightiest are a few eighteen pounders. The entire Greek fleet is the property of individuals: the sailors are paid, and the vessels hired by the government. The captains are generally the owners or their near relatives.

Concerning the interior economy of the Greek navy, Mr. Emerson supplies us with some sensible paragraphs.

After the surprising exploits and well-earned fame of the Greek fleet, it may perhaps appear strange to assert, that those actions have been accomplished solely by the brulottiers, with the assistance of not more than twelve or fourteen ships out of all the fleet, and that the remaining forty-five or fifty have rendered no other service to the cause of their country, than by their show adding to the apparent force of her navy, and tending to augment the terror of the enemy by a display of numbers. Yet such is actually the fact, and one which the powerless arm of Government has, as yet, been unable to remedy. This circumstance arises from the ships being all private property, and whilst the few brave fellows, who hesitate at nothing to accomplish their object, boldly face the most powerful force of the enemy, others, less ambitious of honour, and more wary, content themselves with hanging aloof, and discharging a few harmless cannon beyond the range of the enemy's shot; urging, as an ostensible reason, the folly of risking more lives than are necessary for the protection of their brulottiers; or, if more closely pushed, making no scruple to declare that they do not wish to have their own small ships exposed to the heavy fire of the Turkish frigates, when neither their own means, nor the allowance of the Government, are adequate to repair the damages they might sustain. Thus deprived by vanity or selfishness of the greater bulk of his fleet, Miaulis, with about half a dozen faithful and subordinate followers, to aid the noble fellows who work the fireships, and who have never yet shrunk from their duty, has achieved every action which has tended to advance the liberty of Greece, and to bring its struggle towards a conclusion.

The only regular duty on board seems to be the discipline at dinner-hour. The

Greece in 1825.

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provisions of the sailors are not of the best description, consisting principally of salt and dried fish, sardillas, and Newfoundland cod; but to make amends for this, they have excellent biscuit, (sliced bread, leaven baked, being the real biscuit,) and the best Grecian wine. Mid-day and sun-set are the hours of dinner and supper, and before that time every mess, consisting of six persons, has its little table prepared between two of the guns. As soon as the signal is given, each table is served by the steward with its allowance of fish, bread, oil, wine, and vinegar, the eldest man of the mess acting as dispenser, the youngest as cupbearer. During the dinner-hour the steward continues walking round from mess to mess, to see that each table has its regular allowance of wine and bread, and during the whole ceremony the utmost silence and decorum are preserved. The tables of the captains, and particularly that of the admiral, are however much better served, as at every Grecian port which they put into, the inhabitants vie with each other who shall send to the fleet the most acceptable presents of fresh provisions, vegetables, fruit, wine, cheese, and sweetmeats; and these, together with the stock of European stores and French wines, render their living rather luxurious.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 182.)

The extracts we have already made convey a good idea of the face of the country, of the manners of the people, and of the state of the navy. We will proceed to select some passages which will throw light upon the principal men of influence. The people are divided into Roumeliots and other inhabitants of the continental part of Greece, and who are chiefly Albanians; a distinguished branch of this portion are the Suliotes. The Moreotes or inhabitants of the Peloponnesus, with the exception of some Albanian districts, as the Mainotes, are more genuine Greeks, and form another class. The islanders, though chiefly of Albanian race, from the nature of their abode and their different habits of life, are entitled to rank as a class of themselves. Besides these three divisions of the people, there are Greek interlopers from Constantinople, called, from a quarter of that capital, Fanariots. These are but few, and are chiefly men of diplomatic talent, ingenuity, and European education. Such are Mavrocordato, Demetrius Ipsilanti, and Negris, who is now dead. Of the Moreotes, Colocotroni is the leader, with his sons and friends; as Zaimi, Londos, Sessini, Coliopulo, Notara, Degliani, &c. Mavromichalis, the Ex-President, is the head of the Mainotes. Ulysses was the most distinguished and the most able of the Roumeliot leaders; the treachery and faithlessness of his lieutenant, Goura, have now transplanted him. The islanders possess many wealthy and powerful men, such as Conduriotti, now President of the Senate. The admirals, such as the celebrated Miaulis and Tombazi, likewise belong to them. The three men of decidedly most influence and authority at the present moment in Greece are, undoubtedly, Coletti, formerly a physician to Ali Pacha, and now one of the Executive; Colocotroni, formerly a butcher and a robber, and now the chief Capitano of the Morea, and Prince Mavrocordato, a Fanariote Greek. The principal characteristics of these men may be learnt from some passages which are to be found scattered up and down the volumes before us. Of some of these leaders the following extract gives an account. It refers to a time at which the President Conduriotti and his Secretary of State had gone to head the army before Navarino, a command which, as might be expected, they dreadfully bungled. Conduriotti had, or fancied he had, a fever, and though he started from the capital in a hurry, consumed three days in travelling twenty miles of the plainest of his ground; and when he arrived at the army, prudently fixed his head-quarters four hours from it. Mavrocordato, the Secretary of State, finding himself by some accident on the island

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Greece in 1825.

in the Bay of Navarino, when the Egyptians made the successful descent upon it, in which the brave but unfortunate Count Santa Rosa was killed, took an early opportunity of running away; his fears were, however, so great, that his legs failed him, and he cried out: “Help me, I am falling.” “Instantly,” says his eulogistic private Secretary, “instantly his general, the faithful Catzaro, and one of the soldiers, took him in their arms and carried him to the height.”

The affairs of the Government had all been so arranged before the President and Prince Mavrocordato, his secretary, that a constant communication was to be kept up with the forces north of the Isthmus, as well as the camp at Navarino. The Vice-President, Bolazi, a good-natured, honest Spezziot, not overstocked with intelligence, but bearing a high character for honour and principles, had taken Conduriotti's chair in the executive body. Cristides, an intriguing, active man, acted as Secretary, and the other members remained at their posts as usual. Of these, John Coletti, a physician by profession, and, as such, formerly in the pay of Ali Pacha, is by far the most clever and intelligent: of his sterling patriotism, however, there are few in the Morea, or even among his own countrymen, who are not rather sceptical. The exactions which have been carried on in Roumelia by his agents, and with his approbation, have rendered him odious to the people whom he represents; and his intriguing spirit, forbidding countenance, and repulsive manners have gained him, both with the Moreots and foreigners, a character for cunning and dangerous ambition. Nevertheless, his acknowledged abilities have given him such an ascendency with the President and the executive body, that he may be considered the spring of its movements. Of the other two, Speliotaki is a mere nobody, who would never be heard of, were it not for the attaching his name to the proclamations of the Government; and Petro Bey, the Mainote, is a good-humoured, round-faced fellow, who seems remarkable for nothing more than his appetite and epicurism. Amongst the numbers of the legislative body, none seem to make any prominent figure except Spiridion Tricoupi, son of the late Primate of Messolounghi, representative of that town. Having been Secretary to Lord Guilford, and a few years resident in England, he adds to an extensive information, a good knowledge of English. The meetings of the legislative body, though containing about fifty members, are usually taciturn, or enlivened only by colloquial discussion, Tricoupi being the only member who ever attempted “a speech.” It was lately proposed to publish their proceedings in the Hydriot Journal, but the motion was immediately negatived by the overpowering majority of the silent members. Of the other ministers connected with the administration, by far the most promising is Adam Ducas, Minister of War, a young man descended from one of the most ancient and honourable Greek families. I say promising, because, though at present almost ignorant of the duties of his office, he seems well aware of his deficiency, and is anxious on all occasions to remedy it.

But, perhaps, the most singular character amongst all the Greek legislators is the Minister of the Interior. His name is Gregorius Flessa, by profession a priest; and having, in the early part of his life been steward of a monastery (δικαιος) he is generally known by the two names of Gregorius Dikaios, and Pappa Flessa. A naturally vicious disposition had early given him a distaste for his profession, and, on the commencement of the revolution, he joined the standard of his country as a military volunteer. Having manifested his bravery on many occasions, he was at length promoted to a command, and in several actions conducted himself with distinguished courage. He now totally abandoned the mitre and the robe for the more congenial employments of the army and the state; and at length, after a series of active and valuable services, he was appointed by the Government to be Minister of the Interior. Here, with ample means, he gave unbridled license to his natural disposition. His only virtue is an uncorrupted patriotism, which has all along marked his character, and has gained him the confidence of the Government, whilst they despise its professor. Such a man, though in an office of trust, is by no means a popular man. The scandal which the open commission of the most glaring immoralities has brought upon his original profession, has entailed upon him the contempt of all parties, though his diplomatic abilities, if artifice and cunning may deserve that name, added to his patriotism and bravery, have, secured to him the good will of the Government.*

Of the minister of justice, Theotochi, little more is known than that he was obliged to abscond from the Ionian Islands for some fraudulent practices. The name of the

* He has since been killed by the Egyptians.—Ed.

Greece in 1825.

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minister of the police I have never heard, and from the abominable filth of the city, and the dilapidated condition of its streets, I fancy the office must be a sinecure.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 86.)

Of Colocotroni we have a good account in Mr. Humphreys' work. The time of the interview described, was during the period when the Capitani, on the one hand, and the Primates and Islanders on the other, were contending for power and plunder.

I determined to see Colocotroni, and know from himself what were his views. I found the fine old chieftain quartered in a small village near Tripolizza; his hut was but partly roofed in, had no boarded floor, and one slip of carpet, which the poorest hut in Greece is seldom without, was its only furniture. He welcomed me with great warmth; he declared himself anxious for union, but that the existing government, under the influence of Mavrocordato, and the faction of the Primates, sought his total ruin. He said, “Let me be judged by my country, and if found guilty, let death be my punishment; but not by a faction, who seek my destruction, and that of all the ancient captains. We, who alone have ever been free; we, who alone in the hour of danger, were not found wanting: after clearing our country of her invaders by our swords, when those who would lord it over all of us sought safety in flight, and only return to enjoy the security we have purchased with our blood; are they to be our sole rulers? are they alone to have a voice and a will in the land we have won and kept with our swords? are Fanariots from the Turkish courts; are adventurers, without a name, to root out of its soil its ancient preservers?” There was some truth in his appeal. Colocotroni is eloquent, and to that he owes much of his influence over the soldiery. The only terms on which the Government would treat with him, were his going to them with an escort of not more than fifty followers; which he considered equal to a surrender of his liberty, or his life. The leading trait in Colocotroni's character is avarice; a vice from which few of the Greeks are exempt, and to which he justly owed his loss of power. As an able general, he possessed, and deservedly, the confidence of the soldiery and the people.* He was allied by marriage to the Deglianis, a powerful family; to Caliopuli and Niketas, both distinguished captains. His nephews and sons held high commissions in different provinces, and thus the Colocotronists, as they are designated, formed a formidable and powerful clan, and with them the Bey of Maina was in close alliance. He complained that the present government had deposed members elected at the General Congress of the nation, and replaced them with those of their own party and interests, without the election of the people; and that they had given the rank of general to the most undeserving persons, and to their own servants, as a reward for having deserted them. A Bulgarian, Hadj Christo, the chief Government General, had been a cheise, or head groom, to Colocotroni, though it was acknowledged that he owed his rise to his distinguished bravery and good conduct; but a former pipe-bearer of Niketas, then a general, had little other merit than having deserted his master. He said, that the majority of the people of the Morea wore in their favour; but that the government was averse to any amicable adjustment, and was supported by foreigners, to whom they held out the prospect of large pay from the English loan; as Bulgarians, Albanians, and many of the Roumeliots, who, having no longer a home, formed themselves into small bodies as soldiers, electing a captain, and were ready to enter anybody's service who would best pay them; and that the views of his party were misrepresented; as their adversaries, having the advantage of education, employed the power of the pen against them, while they only knew the use of arms. The term of anti-patriots, given to his party in the Gazettes, he bitterly complained of; saying, that it was a gross injustice; that he and Niketas too, so distinguished alike for his generosity and great personal bravery, in defence of his country, should be now called anti-patriots. He, said he, was accused of an intention to make himself King of Greece. He asked me, if his hut and retinue bore the semblance of royalty? I found that, at night, attended only by one or two trusty followers, he took different positions in the mountains, where he slept to avoid treachery. They demanded but to have one representative of their

* Colocotroni is of that opinion himself. In a conversation at Prince Demetrius Ipsilanti's, he remarked, the Duke of Wellington is decidedly the first general of the age; but he thought that if his Grace had, like himself, to do the duty at once of commissary, soldier, and general, he would not do it so well.

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Greece in 1825.

party in the executive body, and the Bey of Maina to hare the command of the troops in the Morea; and they would immediately surrender Napoli di Romania, and submit to the order of government.—(Humphreys, vol. ii. p. 222.)

A favourable view of both Mavrocordato and Conduriotti may be gathered from the extract from Emerson.

This evening the President and Mavrocordato arrived at Napoli di Romania, in a brig, from Calamata, where the former had retired after the loss of Old Navirino and the dispersion of the troops, and the latter had landed after his escape from the island.

I was rather disappointed in the appearance of Mavrocordato; his figure is small, and any thing but dignified and prepossessing. The little of his countenance which is visible through his bushy hair and eye-brows, and his fiercely curling mustachios, indicates more of childishness than intellect, though the deep glance of a penetrating eye gives it an occasional animation. His manners, like those of all Fanariots, though easy and obliging, contain too much of an overstrained politeness, which seems like intriguing servility; and this, together with a studied lightness of conversation, and an extremely silly laugh, renders the first impression of him by no means favourable. George Conduriotti, the President of the Executive body, is a plain, inactive man, of no talent, but unshaken integrity. His family came originally from Condouri, a village in the vicinity of Athens, but have been long resident at Hydra, where an unprecedented success in trade, together with an unblemished reputation, have rendered him and his brother the most opulent, and amongst the most honourable inhabitants of the island. A desire to please the Hydriots, whose exertions have been so important in advancing the success of the revolution, has no doubt been the leading cause of his election to an office for which he is so ill qualified both by nature and education; but to which, however, his honourable character gives an importance in the eyes of his countrymen, which the higher talents of others might be less efficient in conferring on it.—(Emerson, vol. i. p. 157.)

The loss of Navarino, its harbour, fort, and island, is the severest reverse which the Greeks have experienced. It is lamentable to think that it is in a great measure to be attributed to the spirit of jealousy and jobbing which pervades every thing. First of all Conduriotti preferred himself to the command, because he and his right hand Mavrocordato were alarmed at the superior abilities of Colletti; then Conduriotti being at a distance, and not being disposed to trust the military chiefs with military commands, appointed one of his countrymen, Scurti, totally ignorant of military matters, to a post which he did not know how to keep, and consequently involved the other generals in defeat and loss. One hundred and ninety men fell in the engagement before Navarino. Let not the reader smile at the smallness of the number: they were chiefly Suliotes; and of the Suliotes, now that they are driven from their home, but a thousand remain. On this very same spot, the island of Sphacteria, in the Peloponnesian war, the Spartans sustained a loss of four hundred men, a shock from which the true Spartan blood never afterwards recovered. Except at the battle of Peta, when two hundred fell, and these chiefly Germans and other Philhellenes, the loss of the Greeks has been usually confined to five, ten, fifteen, or twenty men. In a Turkish campaign, twenty or forty thousand Turks, after various movements, would lose three or four hundred men, and the Greeks four or five. But then, in Greece, the name of every combatant is known, the exploits are

Greece in 1825.

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individual, and the glory particular. With us, the Guards, or the 42d distinguish themselves with the utmost gallantry; but in Greece, it is Kairascaki or Giavella, or some such, who, lurking behind a great stone, levels nine Turks with his musket, and then throwing down his capote, and rushing upon the frightened mass with his ataghan, slays every man whom he can stick in the back as he runs away. It was so in ancient Greece, (except the stone,) even in Homer, and Thucydides is scarcely to be understood, until the reports of the Philhellenes, and other travellers in Greece are perused.

We cannot look over these volumes, and others of the same description, without remarking the melancholy fate of the Philhellenes, who have volunteered their services in the cause of Greece. A noble band of Germans and others, at the head of whom was the brave General Normann, were sacrificed by the cowardice of the Greeks at the battle of Peta. Many, dispirited by privations, wearied with a restless but useless mode of war, and reduced to poverty and misery by the failure of their resources, have put an end to themselves. Greater numbers have fallen victims to the climate. The life of Lord Byron was utterly lost to Greece and to the world. Detained by the crafty designs of Mavrocordato, and his own indecision, in an unhealthy spot, he fell an easy prey to disease, and died without directly conferring a single benefit upon the land he came to assist. Scarcely one of the numbers, who have been reduced to starvation, wretchedness, and death, in the cause, has distinguished himself by a single useful exertion. Even the brave, enlightened, and deeply lamented Count Santa Rosa, who had been minister at war in Piedmont, died as a common soldier with a knapsack at his back. The cause is in the Greeks: they want no assistance which individuals without wealth can give; and with wealth, unless the possessor is resolute, and capable of forming designs which no obstacle, or cunning, or entreaty can drive him from, he stands an excellent chance of being teazed into his grave. Europeans (for the Greeks may be considered Asiatics) cannot fight as they do, and for their mode of warfare they possess abundance of men. Regular troops they have never until lately consented to form, and regular troops would, when formed, be as likely to receive as much resistance from the irregular Greeks as from the enemy himself. It is by sea alone that assistance can be rendered to them, and then only by the vigorous and active commander of a frigate or two, with a few minor vessels. If, instead of two loans of nearly three millions, a couple of vessels of war had been sent to Greece, there would have been no question now about the security of its nascent liberty. At this moment, if Lord Cochrane, with any naval force, well paid, were to appear for them in the Mediterranean, the fate of Ibrahim Pacha and his army would be decided; after which we should be heartily glad to see his Lordship enjoying the title of Lord High Admiral of Greece, and squatting, for the next ten years, on the cushion of the President of the Hellenic Republic.