The Last Days of Lord Byron

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<seg rend="14px">THE</seg> <lb/> <lb/> <seg rend="28px">LAST DAYS</seg> <lb/> <lb/> <seg rend="14px">OF</seg> <lb/> <lb/> <seg rend="36px">LORD BYRON:</seg> <lb/> <lb/> <seg rend="10px">WITH HIS</seg> <lb/> <lb/> <seg rend="14px"> LORDSHIP’S OPINIONS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, </seg> <lb/> <lb/> <seg rend="10px"> PARTICULARLY ON THE </seg> <lb/> <lb/> <seg rend="16px"> STATE AND PROSPECTS OF GREECE. </seg> <lb/> <lb/> <figure rend="line100px"/> <lb/> <seg rend="20px"> BY WILLIAM PARRY, </seg> <lb/> <lb/> <seg rend="10px"> <hi rend="italic">MAJOR OF LORD BYRON’S BRIGADE, COMMANDING OFFICER OF ARTILLERY, <lb/> AND ENGINEER IN THE SERVICE OF THE GREEKS.</hi> </seg> <lb/> <lb/> <figure rend="line150px"/> <seg rend="12px"> “Lord Byron awoke in half an hour. I wished to go to him, but I had not the heart. <lb/> Mr. Parry went, and Byron knew him again, and squeezed his hand, and tried to <lb/> express his last wishes.”—Count Gamba’s Narrative. </seg> <figure rend="line150px"/> <lb/> <lb/> <lb/> <seg rend="16px"> LONDON: </seg> <lb/> <seg rend="15px"> PRINTED FOR KNIGHT AND LACEY, </seg> <lb/> <seg rend="11px"> PATERNOSTER-ROW; </seg> <lb/> <seg rend="12px"> AND WESTLEY AND TYRRELL, DUBLIN. </seg> <lb/> <figure rend="line50px"/> <seg rend="12px"> MDCCCXXV. </seg>

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES, Northumberland-court. PREFACE.

The only object I have in view, in sitting down to write a Preface, is to tell the reader why I have written a book. The great curiosity which is still, and must long be felt with regard to every part of the late Lord Byron’s conduct, almost justifies any person coming before the public who can communicate any information concerning him. But although I was acquainted with him during the most ennobling, and perhaps the most humiliating period of his existence, when all the energies of his manly character were exerted in an excellent cause, and when he was cut off from the common conveniences and common enjoyments of life, when he was adored by the Greeks, admired by some and censured by others of his countrymen, for the sacrifice he was making; and although I was his chief agent for carrying into execution all his plans for the benefit of Greece, and the confidant of his last wishes and intentions, I am so conscious of my inability adequately to describe what I witnessed, that the mere idea of gratifying public curiosity would not have influenced me to have appeared in the character of an author; and I should not have stepped forward, had I not been also compelled in my own vindication, and in the vindication of him whose fame must be dear to every one of his countrymen. Lord Byron’s conduct in Greece has been attacked, in the book which Colonel Stanhope published on that country; it has also been attacked in the London Magazine, for October, 1824; and as I was with him at the time, or immediately afterwards, when the coolness existed betwixt him and Colonel Stanhope, I may hope, by publishing an account of what I saw and know, not only to furnish the reader with some curious details relative to the latter days of Lord Byron, but also to vindicate his memory from some unjust aspersions.

During the last two months of his existence, there was no person in whom he placed more confidence than in me. I was employed by him to carry his designs into execution; I was intrusted with the management of his funds, and made the depositary of his wishes. I lived under the same roof with him, was his confidential agent, and was honoured by being made his companion. As far as I have seen the accounts which have been published of his situation in Greece, there are some inaccuracies, and many omissions in them all. The people of Great Britain have never been told, as it appears to me, of the numerous privations, the great neg-lect and the endless vexations to which Lord Byron fell a victim. Neither his physician, who should have guarded against many of these evils; his personal friends, who should have shielded him from others; nor that particular person, who was the cause of much of his perplexity, has described, or is ever likely to describe, all the circumstances of Lord Byron’s situation in Greece. They fell under my observation, however, as well as under theirs; the reasons for their silence do not apply to me, and I have therefore felt myself in some measure called on to write an accurate account of Lord Byron’s situation and sufferings. There are so many motives operating on other persons, either to make them preserve silence, or misrepresent facts, that unless I state them correctly, it is probable the public will never hear of them from many other quarter.

The confidence Lord Byron honoured me with, has made those persons who opposed him in Greece, and who have calumniated him since his death, also select me as an object of remark. Lord Byron has been attacked both in his own person, and through me. His exertions, and my exertions under his directions, have been cancelled, contrary to his declared wishes and commands made known through me, contrary also to the prayers and entreaties of Prince Mavrocordato, and contrary, I believe, to the best interests of Greece. Most of the persons who are acquainted with all these circumstances have some motives, either of interest or partiality, which will for ever prevent them from doing justice to Lord Byron and to me. I must either sit still, therefore, under accusations injurious both to Lord Byron and myself, or, however unwillingly, bring the matter before the public. Though perfectly unaccustomed to writing, I have resolved on the latter, trusting to the indul-gence of the public to pardon a multitude of faults for the sake of him who is mow more; and for the sake of public justice. My fellow-countrymen are too generous, and too much interested for the Greeks, not to receive with more favour than it merits, a work which describes in what manner and under what circumstances Byron fell a victim to his zeal in the Greek cause, and which points out some circumstances arising from the conduct of its pretended friends which have retarded its final triumph.

The little interest which the work may possess, it derives solely from him whose untimely fate it describes. Even the anecdotes of other persons contained in the volume are of little value, but as throwing some light on his character, or from the comments and remarks he made on them. On the theme, destined as Lord Byron is to live “as long as his land’s tongue,” and not on the writer, must the work depend for either popularity or dignity. I disclaim all merit except that of being a correct reporter of what I saw, and of what I know Lord Byron’s opinions to have been, I aim at nothing but accuracy; and I expect praise for no other quality.

It is right I should mention, that from the time of my leaving England till I left Greece, I kept a journal of our military operations. A few days also before Lord Byron’s death, I drew up by his command a report of all our proceedings up to that period, These two documents, together with letters written to my friends, copies of which I have preserved; letters written to my employers the Greek Committee, and letters from various persons in Greece, form the basis of my narrative. None of Lord Byron’s conversations with me, however, were recorded in any of these documents, which relate solely to mili-tary and financial matters. Neither were any of the incidents mentioned in the book as having occurred to Lord Byron in Greece, his manner of living, or his various occupations and opinions, recorded at the time. I did not, like some of Lord Byron’s friends, speculate on his death; nor, till I saw the demand there was for information, did it ever occur to me that such minute matters would be of any public interest. They made a powerful impression on me at the moment; and though not written down, have been vividly and, I trust, accurately remembered. These I have, therefore, stated from recollection. Owing to these circumstances, the book consists in a manner of two parts; the first is a narrative, in the form of a journal, and the other is Lord Byron’s opinions, or circumstances connected with him, arranged under different heads. What the work may on this account want in uniformity of design, will I trust be more than compensated by the greater authenticity it will derive from this arrangement. As I am on many accounts unable to give Lord Byron’s words; and as many of his conversations with me related to the same subjects in which he repeated the same opinions, I have also been able by this means to avoid repetition, and to present his remarks more condensed than they could have been, if given in the form of repeated and desultory conversations.

I have now, I think, said all which it is necessary for me to tell the reader in this place. I am sure the book must afford him some pleasure, if I have been able to convey into its pages only a very small part of that amusement and instruction Lord Byron knew how to extract from every topic. To me he was a kind friend, as well as a most instructive companion; and I shall be perfectly satisfied, should the reader only receive from the book the tenth part of the pleasure I derived from my brief acquaintance with Lord Byron. Knowing him was for me a source of satisfaction unmingled with one regret, except that my acquaintance with him began so late, and was terminated so soon and so fatally.

WILLIAM PARRY. London, April 25th.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. Voyage To Greece.—First Interview with Lord Byron.

Public Meeting in London in behalf of the Greeks—My services engaged by Mr. Gordon—His generous offer—Unaccountable delay of the Committee—Mr. Gordon retracts—Formation of a small Brigade—Terms of my agreement—Sail from the River—Arrival at Malta—Delay there, and at Corfu—Arrival at Dragomestri—Send the Stores to Missolonghi—Arrival there—Meeting with Colonel Stanhope—Take up my Quarters in Lord Byron’s House—Introduction to Lord Byron—His kind manner, and warm reception of me—His appearance—Furniture of his room—Conversation. 1.

CHAPTER II. Lord Byron’s Situation in Greece.—His First Illness.

First labours in Greece—Lord Byron wholly occupied with the affairs of that country—Is surrounded with difficulties —His complaints of delay and disappointment—Offended with Mr. Blaquiere’s treatment—Has no friends in Greece—Supplies money for the Brigade—The arsenal is paved—Prince Mavrocordato asks money of Lord Byron—The Prince’s treatment of me—Conduct of the foreign officers—Are a great burthen to Lord Byron—One of them resigns his commission—Lord Byron does not agree with Colonel Stanhope—His objections to establishing a newspaper—Complete the removal of the Stores—Immoderate expectations of the Greeks—Death of Sir Thomas Maitland—Opinions as to his government—Find some of the Stores damaged—Alterations necessary in the guns—Applications to Lord Byron for pecuniary assistance—His opinion of Mavrocordato—His Lordship’s confidence in me increases—He becomes my pupil—Gives me the control over his expenditure—Weekly expense—Difficulty in obtaining money—Lord Byron’s first illness—Treatment by the doctors. 22.

CHAPTER III. Death of Lieutenant Sass.

Plan for fortifying Missolonghi—Lord Byron’s method of paying the expense—Dissensions—Method of the Greeks to get money from Lord Byron—Source of the dispute between Byron and Stanhope—Hopes of capturing a Turkish brig of war—Lord Byron’s humane orders and rewards as to the prisoners—The brig destroyed—Negligence of the Greeks in preparing for their defence—Proposal for having gun-boats—Lieutenant Sass enters the Hellenic Legion—Taken prisoner—His sufferings—Is released by an English gentleman—Returns home—Sent out to Missolonghi by the Greek Committee—Appointed a Lieutenant in Lord Byron’s Brigade—His death—Meeting of the Suliote chiefs at Lord Byron’s—The mechanics frightened—Resolve to leave Greece—Receive money to return to England—Sum they cost the Greek Committee—Work they performed. 47.

CHAPTER IV Lord Byron as General and Commissioner.

Mutiny among the Suliotes—The mechanics embark for Xante—Shock of an Earthquake—Superstitious custom of the Greeks—Mutiny amongst the Germans—Lord Byron’s Corps disbanded—Is re-organized—Business of the Laboratory—Lord Byron’s Suliote guard—His dog Lyon—His guard attend him in his rides—Specimen of the state of Missolonghi—Lord Byron’s daily occupations—His food, and manner of living—His partiality to curious weapons—State of the weather—Requisitions by Ulysses and General Londa—Improper articles in Newspapers—Colonel Stanhope goes to Athens—His requisitions—Proceedings in March—An alarm of plague—Discipline of the Brigade—Must pay the Greeks for doing their own work—Divisions among the Greek chieftains—Lord Byron invited to quit Missolonghi—Colocotroni wishes to get him into the Morea—Opposing views of Mavrocordato—His hopes of effecting a union of the chiefs—Prospect of a Congress at Salona—Lord Byron obliged again to interfere about a Newspaper—Receives the freedom of Missolonghi—Numerous applications to him for money—Further defence of Missolonghi—Desertions from Colocotroni’s forces—News of the Greek loan—Plan for the campaign—Difficulties of Lord Byron’s situation in Greece.68.

CHAPTER V. Second Illness, and Death of Lord Byron.

Weather in April—Attack on Missolonghi, by Cariascachi—Misconduct of our soldiers—Duels—A spy in Lord Byron’s household—Endeavours to estrange Lord Byron from Mavrocordato—Conduct of some Englishmen—Rumour of breaking up the establishment at Missolonghi—Irritation of Lord Byron—Is prevented leaving Missolonghi—News of the loan—Lord Byron rides out for the last time—My opportunities of being with Lord Byron—Opportunities enjoyed by others—Count Gamba—Fletcher—Dr. Bruno—Deplorable state and confusion of Lord Byron’s household—Proofs of the authenticity of the Narrative—Lord Byron seriously ill—Agrees to leave Missolonghi—Preparations for this purpose—Prevented by the Sirocco wind—Confined to his bed—Is delirious—The doctors think there is no danger—Sirocco continues—His forlorn condition—Is bled—Continued delirium—A consultation of physicians—Previous treatment of Lord Byron condemned—Bark administered to him—Is sensible for the last time—Lies in a stupor for twenty-four hours—His Death—Author’s opinion as to the causes of his Death—Lord Byron’s prodigious disappointment—Flattering manner in which he was invited to Greece—What he expected to perform—Remarks on the physician’s statements—Other disasters in Greece—Its independence not promoted by our interference.101.

CHAPTER VI. Occurrences after Lord Byron’s Death.

I am taken ill—Go to Zante—Grief in Greece at Lord Byron’s Death—Great affliction at Missolonghi—Proclamation of Prince Mavrocordato—Lord Byron’s Papers—Arrival of the Florida, and the Loan—Count Gamba’s description of the Ceremonies at Missolonghi—Arrival of Colonel Stanhope at Zante—Lord Byron’s Body conveyed to England—Its Arrival—The Funeral—Anecdote of a Sailor—Time and place of Interment. 135.

CHAPTER VII. Traits of Character in Lord Byron.

Lord Byron’s partiality for practical jokes—Mode of curing ill-timed gallantry—An artificial earthquake—His shooting amusements—Greek scolds—His motley regiment—His description of it—Punishment of polygamy—Lord Byron’s frankness—Tells Prince Mavrocordato I had abused him—Adventure with the Turkish women—Anecdote of a Greek peasant woman. 151.

CHAPTER VIII. Lord Byron’s Opinions and Intentions with respect to Greece.

His injunctions to speak the truth as to Greece—His anxiety not to be instrumental in deluding the people of England—Claims the cause of Greece has on our sympathy—Country and people of Greece—Disadvantage of their character as insurgents—No plan or system amongst them—What form of government they should adopt—A federation of states—People give energy to government—Presidents of the Greek government—Peasantry—Poverty and intelligence of the Greeks—Greece might spread a revolution to Hindostan—Character of the Greek chiefs—Lord Byron’s final intentions as to Greece—Purity of his ambition.167.

CHAPTER IX. Lord Byron’s Opinions.

Of the Greek Committee—Mr. Blaquiere—Honorary Secretary Bowring—Colonel Stanhope—Mr. Gordon—Subjects for Don Juan—Opinion of Missolonghi—Sir Francis Burdett—Patriotic Committees—Mr. Bentham’s Cruise—Author’s Introduction to him—His breakfast and dinner hour—Source of a mistake—Adventures with him—Byron a Carbonaro—A reverend opponent of Lord Byron—His detestation of hypocrites—Favourable opinion of mechanics—Mode of welcoming him at Anatolica—His opinions on religion—On forms of government —The United States of America—Belief in ghosts and presentiments—Anecdote of the late Queen—His opinion of marriage—Of Lady Byron—Mr. Southey—Sir Walter Scott—Mr. Cooke, the actor. 180.

CHAPTER X. Lord Byron, Colonel Stanhope, and Mr. Bentham.

Reasons for noticing Colonel Stanhope’s attack on Lord Byron—Nature of this attack—Probable reason why Lord Byron’s Friends have not defended him—Circumstances of the case—Lord Byron’s reasons for his conduct—His attacks on Mr. Bentham—Their amount—Colonel Stanhope anxious to obtain Mr. Bentham’s favour—Source of the Greek Committee’s want of confidence in Lord Byron—Unjustifiable time of Colonel Stanhope’s attack—Criterion for deciding betwixt them—Colonel Stanhope’s expenses in Greece—To what purpose directed—His unpleasant interference—Wants to rule in Greece—What he effected—Comparison between the consequences of his Departure and Lord Byron’s Loss—Consistency of the two Gentlemen—Lord Byron only zealous for the Welfare of Greece—His faults traced to his birth and education—Apology for some of his Errors.225.

CHAPTER XI. Conduct of Colonel Stanhope and of The Greek Committee to the Greeks.

Important consequences of Colonel Stanhope’s proceedings— His attacks on me—The Greek Committee invited to investigate them—He engages in opposition to the Greek government—Goes to Greece to regenerate it—His qualities for a legislator—Greece to be regenerated on Mr. Bentham’s principles, and by force—Engages individuals to write against the British government, and implicates the Committee and the Greeks in the same hostility—Does what he can to involve them in disputes with the Holy Alliance—His favourable opinion of Mavrocordato—Attachment of the Greeks to the Prince—Change in Colonel Stanhope’s opinion—Source of the change—His abuse of the prince—The prince opposes his whims—Former situation of Odysseus—An object of suspicion to the Government—Is favoured by Captain Trelawney and Colonel Stanhope—Sudden change in the opinion of the latter—Odysseus flatters Colonel Stanhope—The Colonel wants to put power into his hands—Intrigues to break up the brigade—Suspicions entertained of Colonel Stanhope—Intercepted letter of Sophianopulo—Capt. Trelawney’s recommendation to break up the brigade—Colonel Stanhope’s order for this purpose—In what respect opposed to the wishes of Lord Byron—Letter of Mavrocordato—Colonel Stanhope sets up a new race of Pachas—Colonel Stanhope’s right to break up the brigade questioned—Formed by Lord Byron, and placed by him and the Committee under Prince Mavrocordato—My instructions on this head—Insulting language of Colonel Stanhope—Source of our authority for being in Greece—Conclusion that Colonel Stanhope had no right to break up the brigade—His improper mode of transmitting orders for this purpose—Cessation of my services under the Greek Committee—Charge against Colonel Stanhope of injuring the Greek cause, and insulting the memory of Lord Byron proved—His injudicious conduct as to the war—Anger of the Greeks—His encouragement to adventurers—In what manner the Committee are to blame for approving Colonel Stanhope’s proceedings—Vote of approbation—Conclusion. 266.

Appendix and Illustrative Letters p. 319.

DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.

Portrait of Lord Byron—Frontispiece. Lord Byron’s House at Missolonghi—To face page 68. Lord Byron attended by his Suliote Guards—To face page 72. Lord Byron on his death bed—To face page 187.

THE LAST DAYS OF LORD BYRON &c.

CHAPTER I. VOYAGE TO GREECE.—FIRST INTERVIEW WITH LORD BYRON.

The noble struggle of the Greeks to shake off the yoke of their Mahomedan tyrants having excited much interest in Great Britain, and produced a strong wish, among many enlightened persons, to contribute to the success of so good a cause, a Public Meeting was called at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, London, on the 15th day of May, in the year 1823. A subscription was entered into at the meeting, and a committee appointed to carry the intentions of those who sub-scribed their money into effect, by providing such supplies as were most likely to be of effectual service to the Greeks. Having been known to several members of the committee, by my services on another occasion, I was sent for by Mr. Hume, to ascertain if I were willing to be again employed. I accordingly waited on this gentleman, and met with him Mr. Blaquiere and Mr. Gordon. Nothing particular passed, except that the latter gentleman put several questions to me concerning the formation of a brigade of artillery. I gave him all the information in my power, at the moment, as to the number of men, the quantity of stores of different kinds, and the various species of ammunition which would be required to form a small brigade; and I concluded by tendering an offer of my services to prepare one, under his auspices and direction.

Mr. Gordon being extremely anxious, and even enthusiastic, to promote the cause of the Greeks, readily accepted my offer, and engaged me immediately. I accompanied him to Scotland, at his request, and remained at Cairness, the place of his residence in that country, until the committee came to a determination as to the course of proceedings they would adopt. At length, it being ascertained that the subscriptions would enable the committee to pay the expenses incurred in England, and send some effectual assistance to the Greeks, Mr. Gordon ordered me to make out an estimate of the expense of a corps of artillery, consisting of mountain guns and howitzers, with all the necessary ammunition and stores. A small laboratory, foundry, and establishment for making and repairing gun-carriages, were also to be added. According to his directions, I immediately made out an estimate of all these matters, on the most economical plan, and the sum I concluded they would cost was 10,500l.

My employer approved of this statement, and, with that devotion to the good cause of Greece which has so long distinguished him, he immediately made an offer to the committee to pay the third of this expense from his private purse, if the committee would pay the remainder. He also offered to give up his own time, and proceed immediately to Greece with this most needed and necessary supply, could his wish for the formation of a brigade of artillery be accomplished. He thought no sacrifice, short of consistency and honour, too great to promote the cause of the Greeks. It was plain, in his opinion, that artillery was the arm of war in which they were most deficient, and which, if properly organized, might render them the most beneficial services.

To further his views, he immediately sent me to London to form a small brigade on his own account, and to stimulate the committee to pro-ceed as fast as possible. From some causes, which I cannot explain, and which have never been explained, a delay of nearly four months took place. Every day did I attend on the committee, to give them every information in my power, and receive their orders, and during all this time I noticed little or no progress in the actual preparations for assisting Greece. Mr. Gordon can, most probably, explain this matter far better than I can, and to him and the committee I willingly leave it, remarking merely, that the latter are responsible to the warm-hearted people of our country who confided in them, and to the great interests of humanity, religion, and liberty, with which they were intrusted, for this injurious and fatal delay. The first consequence of it was, that Mr. Gordon retracted his offer, and notified his intention to relinquish his excellent plan. At the same time; he made a present to the committee, for the use of the Greeks, of the small brigade I had formed, together with all the carriages, limber and forge carts, complete; exclusive of contributing a very handsome sum of money.

The same circumstance put me to much inconvenience, and to a considerable expence. Under the notion that Mr. Gordon’s proposition would be promptly acted on, I went among some of my old acquaintance connected with the Artil-lery, and selected upwards of fifty veterans, both artillery-men and artificers, all of excellent character, who would readily have engaged themselves in the service of Greece. Of course, I had to enter into an engagement with them, to make them promises, and point out to them the advantages they would obtain. Some of them not having a present means of subsistence in London, I was obliged to provide them with both food and lodging, and being also obliged to give the men something to whom I had held out hopes and made promises, I was put to an expense altogether of upwards of thirty pounds, not one farthing of which I was ever paid by the Greek committee, or by any other persons. But whatever I may have lost and suffered appears to me as nothing, compared to what the cause of Greece has lost and suffered by that sort of management which was so vexatious and injurious to me.

When Mr. Gordon withdrew, my connexion with him, in this official relation, of course, ceased, and very sorry I was to lose the stimulus of his advice and encouragement. I was, however, too far embarked in the business, to give it up, and the committee having engaged my services, I continued in attendance on them till the month of August. They then resolved to send out an expedition, or a quantity of supplies on a small scale. Taking wages, freight out, and every other expense, it was to cost about £4,500, and to consist of certain military stores, and a certain number of artificers and mechanics. I undertook to superintend the manufacture of the various pieces of artillery ordered; and to carry the whole into execution. Contracts were accordingly entered into with several tradesmen, to supply the different species of stores; the whole to be completed in ten weeks. For my services the Committee agreed to pay me four pounds sterling per week. The reader will find in the Appendix, A, a detailed account of the number of men, and quantity of stores, sent out to Greece under my orders.

These supplies were calculated to form a mountain brigade of artillery, with the munitions of war, materiel, tools, &c. necessary for a small establishment. With this as a foundation, it was calculated, should proper assistance be given in Greece, that an arsenal might gradually be formed, sufficient to manufacture all the minor implements of war, and most of the ammunition and stores which would be requisite for that country. It was also supposed, that it would be of great service to introduce among the Greeks some of those mechanic arts connected with war, in which they are most deficient. Sensible as I am of the great utility of every species of practical mechanical skill, it did appear to me that this plan, which originated with Mr. Gordon, was one of the most effectual means which could be devised for assisting Greece.

The Greek committee agreed to pay me for my services, the sum of £400 for one year, from the time of my departure, I being to find my own passage back, after that period, if I thought proper to return. For this sum, stipulating for customary and proper usage, according to my rank and behaviour, I entered into a contract to perform certain specific services. Not to interrupt my narrative, I shall place this document also in the Appendix; and the reader will find it marked B.

When the stores were prepared, and the men engaged, I represented to the committee the many advantages which would accrue from forwarding them by a fast-sailing vessel, having nothing else on board, and to touch only at one port for orders. My advice was not followed; and both stores and men were shipped on board a vessel, partly laden with government stores to be delivered at Malta and Corfu, at both which ports, of course, the vessel would have to stop, and must necessarily be detained a considerable time to unload. The utility of the advice which I gave was made very evident to me when we arrived at Greece, where there was, at that time, a great want of stores and ammunition of every description. There was a great scarcity of powder; and the success, if not the salvation, of Greece depended on our speedy arrival.

The men and stores were all shipped on board the brig “Ann,” of 250 tons, Capt. Langridge, and we sailed from Gravesend on November 10, 1823. We had a favourable voyage from London to Malta, arriving there in thirty-seven days (December 15), and six weeks is not considered to be an unusual passage. Our vessel was, however, more crowded than was consistent with our comfort. The cabin was calculated only to accommodate four persons; and there were nine cabin passengers, besides nine persons in the steerage. I had to provide for eighteen persons, exclusive of two Greek servants, most of whom had not been at sea before, and required much attention. They consisted of three English adventurers, sent out under the auspices of the Greek committee; four foreigners, among whom was Lieut. Sass; two respectable Greeks, six mechanics, a foreman and clerk, with myself. My trouble and expense were both greater than I had expected, the number of persons stipulated for having been only fourteen, and for this number only had provisions been laid in.

At Malta we were detained no less than nineteen days. The cabin passengers went on shore, and I made them an allowance for subsisting them-selves there. The steerage passengers, particularly the mechanics, whose conduct had not been very good, remained on board, and we were the whole time under apprehensions on their account. We had brought them into the lion’s mouth; and had an information been laid on oath that English mechanics, hired for a foreign service, were on board, both they and the stores would have been detained. The carpenter of the brig, an Irishman, having quarrelled with some of my men, threatened, indeed, to inform against them, and he was only prevented by his ignorance of the mode of proceeding. Without a formal information, the government would not interfere; and the friends of Greece at Malta exerted themselves to prevent this being laid. The alarm on this account was, however, very great; and I was not easy till the Anne was again at sea, and away from Valletta. My men knew all these circumstances, and took advantage of them. They asked for every thing in the way of food and drink which could be procured, and to content them, I was obliged to supply them with whatever the market would afford.

We at length departed from Malta, on January 3, and, after a boisterous passage of six days, we reached Corfu. Here we were again detained no less than ten days, and were subject to the same sort of apprehension as at Malta; but here, as there, though the authorities knew what our vessel was laden with, they did not interfere. They were satisfied in overlooking us, as the Custom-House clearance at London exonerated them from all responsibility on this point.

From Corfu we proceeded to Ithaca, and were nearly lost on the way, by the pilot running the brig into a small cove in the island of Cephalonia, not large enough for a vessel of her description. We remained at Ithaca seven days, waiting for orders, and had to pay five pounds five shillings a day demurrage. We then received orders to proceed to Dragomestri, in Western Greece, where we arrived on the same day, January 29th. I had necessarily been very impatient through the whole voyage, but more particularly after reaching Malta, and seeing the manner in which the vessel was detained; and I calculated, over and over again, the days and weeks the committee had lost, by not following my advice. At length, our voyage, for the conclusion of which I was so anxious, had been successfully completed, but I found my labours and anxiety were only beginning.

On January 31st, a messenger arrived from Missolonghi, at Dragomestri, and delivered me the following letter of instructions.

Missolonghi, Jan. 30, 1824. Dear Sir,

The Turkish fleet returned into the Gulf of Lepanto yesterday morning; as they are slow in all their movements, there is no chance of their putting to sea again for many days.

Under these circumstances, Prince Mavrocordato, Lord Byron, and myself, think it desirable, that you should discharge your cargo at Scrofeo. Boats will be in readiness there to receive the articles, and to bring them on direct to Missolonghi.

It will, I fancy, be necessary for you to procure a pilot, but Martin will be able to afford you every information on this and other subjects.

Should you have already, on the receipt of this letter, commenced your disembarkation at Dragomestri, you had better go on with that work; but, in that case, you would do well to load as many boats for this place as may be there procurable.

I beg of you, by the first occasion, to forward to Missolonghi all the lithographic presses, and articles connected with the printing apparatus; also, one person that is acquainted with the art of lithographic printing.

Be pleased, also, to forward my trunk, saddle, sword, letters, &c. forthwith to Missolonghi.

The Artillery Corps, of which you are the Inspector, and every thing, will be ready for you here on your arrival. I expect you here with the greatest impatience;—your services will be most important to the independence and liberties of Greece.

Your’s most truly, Leicester Stanhope.

We immediately began, and unloaded the ship with all the haste in our power; putting the stores in small vessels, which had been hired to convey them to Missolonghi. This cost us eight days more. There was a great difficulty in procuring small vessels; but when all was ready, we divided our men into two parties, to take care of the stores, and then proceeded in these boats to Missolonghi, where we arrived on February 7th, with all our charge, in good order. On my landing, I was met by Colonel Stanhope: this gentleman introduced me to Prince Mavrocordato, and informed me that a place had been procured for a laboratory or ordnance-establishment, as conformable as possible to the memorandum he had received of me in England. Great difficulty, he said, had been encountered in getting this accommodation, as there was no subordination among the Greeks; and the soldiers had at first objected to quitting the barracks. The place appropriated to us was called the Seraglio, and being at some distance from the water, we had a great deal of trouble in getting the stores removed thither. We received very little assistance; there was no regular organization, and the people who helped us one day rarely came a second. After much labour and vexation, we did, however, succeed in getting all the stores into a place of safety.

Having been consulted by Colonel Stanhope, prior to his leaving England, as to the sort of building we should require, I had given him the following memorandum;—I subjoin it here, that the reader may see I asked for no palace, that I was not fastidious as to architecture, and required only what was indispensable, either for our labours, our safety, or the safety of the stores.

MEMORANDUM

The buildings, if possible, should be connected. One should be a store-house for the different articles brought out from England, and what might be supplied by the Greek Government. The building to be appropriated as the magazine for the gunpowder and other stores liable to explosion, is to be separate from the other. Remark—This building must be clear of the manufactory.

The number of men required for the guns and howitzers to be instructed, should be ten men to a gun, giving a total of one hundred and twenty men, exclusive of officers. These men should be armed with a brace of pistols and a sabre, and might be disciplined immediately on my arrival, as I could attend to this part of the service at the same time the different manufactures were in progress.

William Parry, Fire-master. G. C.

After seeing our men established in their new quarters, I went to my own, which were under the same roof with Lord Byron. Immediately on reaching Missolonghi, I began to suffer from another effect of our protracted voyage. From the long time our vessel remained at Malta and Corfu, as well as from the expense I had been at in procuring vessels to bring forward the stores, my money began to grow short. I had expended from my own funds, in supplying the artificers and other passengers, and on the public service, every farthing I could spare, and it was necessary, for the sake of the men, as well as my own, and even to enable me to get the stores conveyed to a place of safety, that I should obtain an immediate supply. I accordingly applied to Colonel Stanhope for pecuniary assistance, but he told me he had no means of supplying me, and no public funds at his command. He added, Lord Byron would probably supply me, he knew his Lordship would at least be glad to see me, and he would introduce me.

I was somewhat impatient to see Lord Byron, and readily accepted this offer. Two of our men, who had arrived in the first boat, had already seen him, and had told me, with great warmth, of his kind and condescending behaviour. He had seemed, they said, overjoyed to see some of his countrymen; he told them he was glad they had arrived in safety, and behaved to them in the most hospitable and friendly manner. This cheered my spirits, which were much depressed by severe fatigue, and the informationI had received from Colonel Stanhope, that he had no money at his command. Without this it was impossible for me to carry on the service, and I felt abashed and ashamed to come before Lord Byron for the first time in the character of a beggar. He was a nobleman, a stranger, and a man of exalted genius. I had understood I might be of service to him and to Greece, but, on the contrary, I found myself immediately obliged, that I might be enabled even to subsist my men, to have recourse to him for pecuniary aid.

It was under these mingled feelings of regret and expectation, that I had my first interview with Lord Byron. In five minutes after Colonel Stanhope had introduced me, every disagreeable thought had vanished; so kind, so cheering, so friendly was his Lordship’s reception of me, that I soon forgot every unpleasant feeling. He gave me his hand, and cordially welcomed me to Greece. “He would have been glad,” he said, “to have seen me before; he had long expected me, and now that I was come, with a valuable class of men, and some useful stores, he had hopes that something might be done.” This was highly flattering to me, and I soon felt a part of that pleasure which beamed from his Lordship’s countenance.

On getting somewhat more at ease, I had time to look about me, and notice the room in which I was. The walls were covered with the insignia of Lord Byron’s occupations. They were hung round with weapons, like an armoury, and supplied with books. Swords of various descriptions and manufacture, rifle-guns and pistols, carbines and daggers, were within reach on every side of the room. His books were placed over them on shelves, and were not quite so accessible. I afterwards thought, when I came to know more of the man and the country, that this arrangement was a type of his opinion concerning it. He was not one of those who thought the Greeks needed education before obtaining freedom: as I can now interpret the language, there was legibly written on the walls,—“Give Greece arms and independence, and then learning; I am here to serve her, but I will serve her first with my steel, and afterwards with my pen.”

Lord Byron was sitting on a kind of mattress, but elevated by a cushion that occupied only a part of it, and made his seat higher than the rest. He was dressed in a blue surtout coat and loose trowsers, and wore a foraging-cap. He was attended by an Italian servant, Tita, and a young Greek of the name of Luca, of a most prepossessing appearance. Count Gamba, too, came in and out of the room, and Fletcher, his servant, was also occasionally in attendance. His Lordship desired me to sit down beside him: his conversation very soon became animated, and then his countenance appeared even more prepossessing than at first.

He began to rally me on the length of my voyage, and told me he had supposed I meant to vie with my namesake, and that I was gone to explore the South Pole instead of coming to Greece. My arrival at length, he added, had taken a load off his mind, and he would not complain, if he at last saw Greece nourishing and successful. “Why,” he asked, observing that I did not share his satisfaction, “was I not as well pleased as he was?” Then, with a hint at my sailor habits, he said he knew I wanted refreshment, and sent Tita to bring me some brandy and water. This, however, had not all the effect his Lordship wished, and he still rallied me on my dissatisfied appearance, bade me be at home, and explain to him why I was not contented.

I told his Lordship, that I felt my situation very irksome; that I had come to render assistance to the Greeks, and found myself, on the instant of my arrival, obliged to ask him for assistance; that his Lordship’s kindness, and what he had said to me, had heightened my regret, and that if he had received me haughtily and proudly, I should have had less objection to trouble him; “for,” I added, “Colonel Stanhope informs me that he has no funds to assist me, and has recommended me to ask your Lordship for money,” On hearing this, he rose, twirled himself round on his heel, (which I afterwards found was a common, though not a graceful practice of his,) and said, “Is that all?—I was afraid it was something else. Do not let that give you any uneasiness; you have only to tell me all your wants, for I like candour, and, as far as I can, I will assist you.” When his Lordship rose, I observed that he was somewhat lame, but his bust appeared perfectly and beautifully formed. After a few moments’ reflection, he again took his seat, and said, he would take some brandy and water with me, on condition that I should tell him all the news in England, and give him all the information in my power.

I accordingly endeavoured to recollect all the events of any importance which had occurred, or of which I had heard before leaving England; I told him of the proceedings of the committee, and of every thing which I thought would be interesting. In return, his Lordship said I had come to a place where I should encounter many difficulties, and if I were the man I had been represented to him, I should be exposed to some dangers. Mr. Bowring, he said, had informed him, that I was a person of violent passions; he did not, for his own part, exactly dislike those who were quick to feel and prompt to act; though such men might easily get into embarrassments in a country like Greece. Perhaps, indeed, he added, he felt a greater interest in me on this account, than he otherwise should; and, if he found me worthy of his confidence, he would do what lay in his power to make me acquainted both with men and things in Greece, so that I might know how to steer clear of the dangers which threatened me.

I was much surprised that any person, particularly Mr. Bowring, should have given himself the trouble to prejudice Lord Byron against me; and to satisfy his Lordship, I handed over to him the following letter from Mr. Gordon. I shall insert it here,—apologizing at the same time, for speaking to the reader of myself, when Lord Byron is a much more interesting topic,—because I have that to say, in describing my intercourse with him, which will impeach, at least, the prudence and discretion of some highly respectable persons; and therefore I wish to shew, that Lord Byron did not place the confidence with which he immediately honoured me in one wholly untried and unrecommended. I also wish to inspire the reader with that reliance on all my subsequent statements, which will arise from a conviction, that those who have known me have relied on my integrity. From the moment Lord Byron read this letter, he was satisfied that the delay of which he complained had not originated with me; and during the short remainder of his valuable life, he had me always about him, and placed almost every thing he possessed in Greece under my control. Mr. Gordon wrote to me as follows:—

Cairness, October 18th, 1823 Dear Sir,

I had the pleasure of receiving both your letters;—that of Mr. Robertson was intended as an answer to the first, I am much obliged to you for all the trouble you have taken, and am happy to hear that my train of artillery is soon to arrive. I should already have sent you the letters, were it not that all the friends to whom I would have recommended you in Greece have quitted that country.

Nothing could give me more concern or surprise, than the intelligence you conveyed to me in your last; viz., that the committee had resolved to send out the expedition in a vessel carrying government stores, to touch at Malta and the Ionian Islands. Had it been their intention to defeat the object of the subscription by one masterly stroke, no better plan could have been devised. From the known character of the Powers that be in these Islands, there is nothing to be expected but fine or imprisonment for the individuals composing the expedition, and seizure of the stores belonging to it. And should the committee persist in this plan of despatching you, I would advise you to give them a direct refusal to be accessory to a proceeding which would entail ruin on yourself, and cause disappointment to the friends of the Greeks.

I have been more particular in mentioning this, from your conduct having always met with my approbation, and from the interest I shall always take in your welfare. I shall be happy to hear from you again,

And I remain, Dear Sir, yours truly, Thomas Gordon.

My first interview with Lord Byron lasted nearly three hours, and his Lordship repaid my candour, and the information I had given him, by explaining to me how much he had been harrassed and disappointed since his arrival in Greece. Of these subjects, I shall hereafter have more to say, and shall enter more into details; I shall therefore now only observe, that his Lordship, when speaking on these topics, displayed a great degree of sensibility, not to say irritation,—that his countenance changed rapidly, and expressed great anxiety. He seemed almost to despair of success, but said he would see the contest out. There was then a pallidness in his face, and knitting of his brows, that indicated both weakness and vexation. I have since thought, that his fate was sealed before my arrival in Greece; and that even then he was, so to speak, on his death-bed.

CHAPTER II. LORD BYRON’S SITUATION IN GREECE.—HIS FIRST ILLNESS.

First labours in Greece—Lord Byron wholly occupied with the affairs of that country—Is surrounded with difficulties—His complaints of delay and disappointment—Offended with Mr. Blaquiere’s treatment—Has no friends in Greece—Supplies money for the Brigade—The arsenal is paved—Prince Mavrocordato asks money of Lord Byron—The Prince’s treatment of me—Conduct of the foreign officers—Are a great burthen to Lord Byron—One of them resigns his commission—Lord Byron does not agree with Colonel Stanhope—His objections to establishing a newspaper—Complete the removal of the Stores—Immoderate expectations of the Greeks—Death of Sir Thomas Maitland—Opinions as to his government—Find some of the stores damaged—Alterations necessary in the guns—Applications to Lord Byron for pecuniary assistance—His opinion of Mavrocordato—His Lordship’s confidence in me increases—He becomes my pupil—Gives me the control over his expenditure—Weekly expense—Difficulty in obtaining money—Lord Byron’s first illness—Treatment by the doctors.

On February 8th, we were actively employed through the whole day in landing the stores, and making arrangements for our future operations. A drag-cart was constructed out of two Turkish lumber-carriages, but we were obliged to use the drag-ropes of the three pounders, brought out from England, as we could not find an inch of rope for this purpose; nor could carts, or any other instrument or material we required, be procured in the town. Colonel Stanhope and others held a meeting, and took an account of the stores I had brought out. Some discussion also took place, as to the manner of appropriating them for the expedition which was then preparing against Lepanto. To this, of course, I was not a party, being, both by my situation and recent arrival, scarcely qualified to give an opinion. After the labours of the day were over, on retiring to my quarters for the night, I had again the honour of seeing Lord Byron, and of having a long conversation with him. His Lordship’s thoughts seemed exclusively occupied with his own situation, and with Greece; and I thought he appeared far from satisfied with the former, and almost to despair of the latter.

I must here observe, that I make no pretensions to report his Lordship’s exact words; they were so well put together, that it would be impossible for me to imitate them; but his sentiments I cannot forget, for they made on me a deep and lasting impression. I felt, from the moment I first saw him, a very great respect for him, mingled with something like pity. There was a restlessness about him which I could not comprehend, and he seemed, at times, weary both of himself and others. It was plain, that his wishes for the welfare of Greece went beyond his means of serving her; and he appeared surrounded with difficulties, without a steady friend near him capable of giving him a judicious opinion. On no other principle could I account for the confidence he immediately placed in me. I knew he was a man of commanding talents, and I saw him obliged to confide in a stranger, who had no claim whatever to such an honour, but his years, and zeal in that cause in which Lord Byron’s whole soul was engaged. The respect I had for him, with his condescension and kindness to me, gave him immediately something of that power over my mind which the late emperor Napoleon is said to have had over his soldiers. I listened attentively to every thing he said, and though I have not recorded his words, his sentiments will long be fresh in my recollection.

Almost the first thing his Lordship said to me this day was, that he was very much surprised at the delay which had occurred in sending out the supplies. Mr. Blaquiere had informed him, when in Italy, that all these things would be forwarded with the utmost despatch; he had relied on this information, and been induced by it to leave that country before all his preparations were completed, and sooner than he otherwise would. He had waited a considerable time at Cephalonia, with anxious expectation; he had been there disappointed, and even more disappointed since his arrival in Greece. He had, on one occasion, hired a boat, and despatched her to Zante and Cephalonia, in search of me and the stores; or to get information concerning us. How had it happened, he inquired emphatically, that so much time had been lost? “And now,” he continued, “when you are arrived, you have not brought with you all the things which were promised us. Where are the Congreve rockets, of which the Greeks, who delight in that sort of weapon, have been told so much, and have formed such high expectations? Why are their hopes, and the promises of the English nation, to be both falsified? He had expected, also,” he said, “to have found more supplies at Missolonghi, and persons in whom he could confide. Printing-presses and lithographic presses were now come; adventurers and horns he had before found; but could the Turks be conquered by such weapons? He felt much relieved by at last finding a practical man near him, in whom he could confide.” Of course, I assured his Lordship his confidence in me should not be misplaced, and that he might rely on my doing zealously and cheerfully whatever lay in my power, that could promote the cause of the Greeks. His Lordship then insisted that I should explain to him, at least, the cause of the delay.

“The committee had sent me there,” he said, “to be under his command, and I must tell him why I was so many months later than he had expected me.”

I accordingly told his Lordship what I have already stated to the reader, as to the delay in London, and the refusal of the committee to follow my advice, by which a month might have been saved. I told him, too, of the noble offer made by Mr. Gordon; but I could not explain to him why that offer had no other consequences than those I have already mentioned. His countenance changed very much at hearing this; he seemed both animated and angry, and poured out a tide of praise on Mr. Gordon, mingled with some reproaches and sarcasms on other persons. “Would,” he said, “that he had known of that offer! The gentleman should at least have found one person as ardent as himself in the cause of Greece; he would have met his views, and would gladly have joined him in completing that corps of artillery which was so much wanted. He was afraid,” he added, “that some selfish interests stood in the way, or that gentleman’s liberal offer would have been joyfully accepted.” His Lordship then mentioned, that Mr. Blaquiere had quitted Missolonghi without waiting to see him, and had only left a note for him, which he seemed to regard as a great slight, and at which he expressed himself much hurt. It was like other parts, he said, of the conduct of those who had obtruded themselves into the office of managers for both the Greek and the English nations.

I soon perceived, not only that Lord Byron had no friend in Greece, but that he was surrounded by persons whom he neither loved nor trusted. Beyond the walls of his own apartment, where he seemed to derive amusement from his books, and from his dog, Lion; and pleasure from the attachment of his servants, particularly from the attentions of Tita, he had neither security nor repose. He had the ungovernable Suliotes both to appease and control. Against the intrigues of the very persons he came to help and benefit he was obliged to be constantly on his guard; and while he necessarily opened his purse for their service, he was exposed to be made their prey. His confidence even in Prince Mavrocordato was not always unshaken. His youthful friend Count Gamba was destitute of experience, and was rather an additional burthen on him, than a means of lightening his load. The foreign officers, and English adventurers, were all dissatisfied, and either appealed to him to improve their condition, or wearied him with their complaints. Whether he had actually received promises of greater succour from England than had ever been sent, or whether he had only formed an idea that supplies would be transmitted abundantly, I know not; but it was evident to me, from the very commencement of our acquaintance, that he felt himself deceived and abandoned, I had almost said betrayed. He might put a good face on the matter to others, because he would not be thought Quixotic or enthusiastic; he might even be, as in fact he sometimes was, the first to laugh at his own difficulties, to prevent others laughing at his folly; but in his heart, he felt that he was forlorn and forsaken. His conversation with me was generally serious, and when it related to Greece, almost despairing. The reader will find the Lord Byron whom I knew, a very different man from the Lord Byron of Captain Medwin; of the writer who signs himself N. R. in the London Magazine for October; or of those gay associates of his, who have reported his conversations in the hours of festivity, or of unreflecting mirth. I speak of him as I found him, not as he has been represented; but the manly reality will not, I think, turn out to his Lordship’s disadvantage.

February 9th. I was employed, as the day before, in getting the stores all carried up to the arsenal. I had some difficulty in obtaining food for the men; but by contributing something from my own stock, I enabled them to get sup-plies. Afterwards, however, Lord Byron gave me fifty dollars; and having met with a Greek who had served in the British navy, and spoke both our language and his own, I was in a better condition to carry forward our operations. Some persons were set to work to pave the arsenal-yard, which was a complete puddle. Some rooms were arranged for storehouses, others were appropriated for a laboratory and workshops, and others again were made somewhat more suitable for habitations.

Already the mechanics we had brought out from England began to grumble at their situation; it was not what they expected it would be, and that was sufficient to make them discontented. Knowing, however, even from the short experience I had already had at Missolonghi, how useful they were, in comparison with any other class of persons I had seen there, I encouraged them all in my power to persevere, by promises and hope.

Prince Mavrocordato visited his Lordship this day, and they had a long conversation in my presence, relative, as I was informed by his Lordship, to Greece. The principal object of the Prince’s visit was to get more pecuniary assistance, but Lord Byron saw it was impossible for him to supply every want. “He had come to assist the Greeks,” he said, “and he would do that, as far as his means went; but to render his efforts of any value, it was necessary that the different authorities in Greece should bury their mutual dislikes and animosities; until that took place, there could be no national union, and success was impossible.” The Prince said, “that all his endeavours had been directed to promote so desirable an object; but he was much afraid that considerable time would elapse before it could be accomplished.” To me, the Prince behaved very condescendingly, and lamented the inability of the Greek government to give me any assistance, either in money or materials. I had previously understood from Lord Byron, that I must not hope for either of these from the government, for it was in want of both. Promises, he said, I might expect, in abundance, but when the time for performance came, some excuse would be found, and nothing would be done.

February 10th. Our occupations were the same this day as the day before; but I remarked, that the German officers who had been sent out from England to assist, did nothing but quarrel about their rank. They were without money, or the means of subsistence, and had nothing but what they received from the generosity of Lord Byron. They added to the heap of troubles which already overwhelmed him. He felt angry, also, at the fatuity of those who had sent persons to Greece, who expected to be provided for as in a regular army, and seemed to know nothing but etiquette. They were stickling for the ceremonies and regulations observed among the troops of their own despotic sovereigns,—as if a code adapted only to repress individual ambition, to keep down talent, and check emulous enterprise, that all ranks and classes maybe more securely kept in obedience, was proper for Greece. As far as the little which these officers did allowed me to judge, I should say, also, they were ignorant, as well as proud. At least, they knew nothing of the practical arts which were required in Greece; and Lord Byron, as well as every other man of sane judgment, might well condemn, as most unwise, sending such persons to such a country. It might be a suitable means of providing for the discomfited partizans of revolution who had emigrated from their own country; but they were an incumbrance, not a help to Greece. To Lord Byron they were a double annoyance, as he might have obtained the services of four useful Suliotes for the sum each of these officers cost him, to provide for his subsistence. Lord Byron, feeling already disposed to place great confidence in me, proposed to appoint me commander of his artillery brigade; and I am quite sure, though I say it, that there was no-body else on the spot so well acquainted with this branch of the service as I was, or who more deserved the appointment. But I had only held the rank of fire-master in the regular army, and, therefore, some of the German officers thought it beneath their dignity to serve under me. Mr. Kinderman, a Prussian officer, who had, probably, shared both in the strict discipline and the defeats of the Prussian armies, accordingly gave up his commission. While such persons swagger and command, and find others to execute, they are very great men, but once ask them to be really useful, to put their hand to the labouring oar, and their want of skill, and defective education, become immediately apparent. Then their wounded vanity seeks an excuse in some antiquated regulations, and they say “their dignity won’t allow them to be useful.”

In the course of the day, I also observed, that Lord Byron, in addition to his other difficulties, did not agree very cordially with Colonel Stanhope. The Colonel was anxious to establish schools, erect printing-presses, and secure liberty, by promulgating theories concerning it. Lord Byron seemed willing to leave the form of the government to be settled by circumstances hereafter. He wanted the Greeks first to conquer their national independence, and then enter into a compact for the security of individual rights. Colonel Stanhope, I understood, had been very active in establishing a newspaper at Missolonghi, and Lord Byron said, had his will been uncontrolled, it should not have been done. He would have had no objection, if the Greeks themselves had chosen to do it; but he thought foreigners who came to serve Greece, should not begin by promoting discussion that must lead to discord. “The press, in Greece,” he said, “must be in the hands of foreign visionaries and enthusiasts. Practical men had other occupations; and it was therefore placing the power of working mischief in the hands of adventurers. Prince Mavrocordato wished to establish one at the seat of government, where it would have been more under control, and could have been made instrumental in promoting unity of views, and in contributing to general concord. Now it was a power different from that of the government, and would thwart its views whenever they were opposed to its own ambition. It was not like the free press of Great Britain, where one journal was a check on another; it was a single journal, established by foreign assistance, and destined only to promote the views of the theorists who established it. The conduct of Stanhope resembled the conduct of the King of France, who was said to expend large sums of money in bribing some English journals, which were, consequently, the agents of his policy. If the Greeks wished to have newspapers they would establish them; now, they would be looked on as the work of foreigners, and intended to promote their views. They must be a means of sowing jealousy and mistrust. They might attack private individuals, and might give umbrage to foreign powers. There was no practice to regulate the mode of conducting them, and laws could not be immediately formed to check all their excesses. He who was attacked, and could not wield the pen, would reply with his sword, and bloodshed and anarchy would be the consequence of discussing theories of government before independence was obtained. There were a great number of factious designing men in Greece; and in the present state of the country, a press set up by foreign assistance was only likely to afford them a means of disturbing public tranquillity.”

On February 11th, we were employed as on the two former days, and completed the removal of the stores to the arsenal. I again met his Lordship in the evening, when he urged me to make use of every means in my power to promote the service. I had by this time formed a more correct notion of what Lord Byron and the Greeks had expected from the expedition; and I pointed out the impossibility of realizing, with our present resources, or with any we were likely to obtain, the hopes and expectations of the Greeks. Circular letters had been sent by Colonel Stanhope, the produce, probably, of the lithographic press, that occupied so many of his thoughts, which had led the Greeks to believe, now the expedition was arrived, that every want would be supplied. I pointed out to Lord Byron the very unpleasant situation this placed me in, for it was thought I had the means of supply in my own power, and would not allow them to be used. But his Lordship, with his usual kindness, told me not to mind this; the truth would speedily be known, and if I only evinced the same determination hereafter, as I had done since my arrival in Greece, he would stand by me, both with his person and his purse.

We heard, this day, of the death of Sir Thomas Maitland; and the news certainly caused considerable satisfaction among the Greeks, and among some of the English. He was generally looked on by them, as the great enemy of their cause; but the manner in which our vessel was allowed to remain unmolested at Malta and Corfu did not seem a proof of this. I know that his government has been very much censured in England, and far be it from me to approve of the arbitrary or despotic measures of any man; but those who know any thing of the people he had to deal with, will find, in their character, an excuse for his conduct. I believe, in general, his government was well calculated for his subjects.

February 12th. We were employed in unpacking the stores. The strapped and case-shot were in a bad condition, from having been so frequently moved on the voyage, which was another consequence of the injudicious mode adopted to send out the stores. It was necessary that this damage should be repaired as speedily as possible; and, it being also found that some alteration was required in the appendages to the guns, to adapt them to the country, all the mechanics were immediately set to work, to complete these jobs. Two forge-carts were fitted up in the arsenal-yard, until the work-shops were ready: a number of labourers, masons, and sailors, all of them, however, very rude workmen, were hired to assist. Charcoal was procured from the country, for the smith’s and tinman’s work, and every thing was driven forward with as much expedition as possible.

The people of England, who have been amused by the records of some trifling peculiarities of Lord Byron, little know to what privations and sacrifices he submitted, to promote the cause of the Greeks. He cheered us on in all these operations; and what is more, he advanced all the money necessary for us to execute them. He was anxious to attack Lepanto, and while he was urging forward this measure, we need not wonder that he complained of the other drains which were constantly diminishing his financial resources. His Lordship told me to-day, that the applications for money were numerous beyond conception, and he had been so harrassed by different persons, that he should be obliged, if this continued, to refuse any one an interview who came on this business.

I took an opportunity, in the evening, of asking Lord Byron what he thought of Prince Mavrocordato. He replied, he considered him an honest man, and a man of talent. He had shewn his devotion to his country’s service, by expending his private property in its cause, and was, probably, the most capable and trust-worthy of all the Greek chieftains. His Lordship said he agreed with him, that Missolonghi and its dependencies were of the greatest importance to Greece; and, as long as the Prince acted as he had done, he would give him all the support in his power. His Lordship seemed, at the same time, to suppose, that a little more energy and industry in the Prince, with a disposition to make fewer promises, would tend much to his advantage.

February 13th. We were actively employed all this day, as yesterday, refitting our shot, and altering our guns. Having two stop-watches in my possession, the property of the Greek committee, I requested Lord Byron to receive them into his charge, to which he kindly consented; and at the same time proffered his readiness to do every thing I could point out for the good of the service.

I was glad to observe, that his Lordship’s confidence in me continued progressively to increase. He had found out that I was well versed in all the mechanical arts connected with war, and he asked me to give him some instruction in them. Fortunately, I had one or two mathematical books with me, and a variety of useful tables, relative to the formation and equipment of an army, particularly of artillery; and having replied to his Lordship, that I should be very willing to give him every information in my power, he immediately became my pupil. He told me he had lately turned his attention to every thing connected with military service, both by sea and land, and as I, notwithstanding the employments I had taken up at a subsequent period, had been brought up a shipwright, I was able to give his Lordship a good deal of mechanical and practical information;—in fact, I became of great use to him. I contributed, more than any other person about him, to promote the single object he had at heart, the success of the Greeks; and on this account he bore with my peculiarities. He had none of that fastidious delicacy, which makes some great men regard with dread the energies necessary to their own success. The passions of which Mr. Bowring had written and spoken, carried him on to his object; and, like his own Corsair, “He loved that roughness for the speed it gave.*”

On February 14th, I received an additional and important proof of his Lordship’s confidence in

* The accusations of Lord Byron’s pretended friends, and my enemies, fortunately destroy each other. Mr. Bowring, who is, I am told, an occasional writer in the London Magazine, warns Lord Byron, in his letter to him, to beware of me, because “I am a man of uncontrollable passions;” and the writer of a sketch of Lord Byron’s life, in that same Magazine for last October, who signs N. R., and one of whose objects is to white-wash the Greek committee, as he finds a justification, even, for that committee sending out bugle horns and trumpets to the Greeks, as weapons of war, says “I obtained power over Lord Byron by dint of being his butt.” That a man of fierce and fiery passions, Lord Byron’s senior by twenty years, should have been a butt to him, is so palpable a contradiction, that it needs only to be mentioned, to refute one or the other of these assertions; and will, perhaps, shew that both are merely the dictates of the imagination of these poetical writers, if indeed they are not both one and the same person. The manner in which I was a butt to Lord Byron will be seen in the subsequent pages. In fact, his Lordship was tired with the frivolity and unmeaningness of pretended wits, and would-be distinguished men, and was glad to meet with a plain practical man.

me. He could not himself look minutely after the accounts of the money he meant to apply to the service of the Greeks, nor even dispose of it in the most advantageous manner; he therefore requested me to take the charge, and direct the disposal, of all the money he intended for this purpose. I foresaw that this would be a tiresome and invidious occupation; but I consented, on condition that his Lordship should inspect the accounts daily, it being quite impossible for me, with my other occupations, to answer for their correctness, or be able to explain apparent discrepancies, if the books were to be only balanced and audited at distant periods. His Lordship agreed to my proposal, and appointed the hour, between eleven and twelve every day for this purpose. He also commanded me to attend him every evening in his own room, between seven and ten o’clock, to consult and arrange for the work of the following day. Thus was I established in a situation that gave me an opportunity of knowing Lord Byron’s intentions, plans, and thoughts, as well, or better, than any person then in Greece.

At this time, the expenses of Lord Byron in the cause of the Greeks, did not amount to less than two thousand dollars per week, in rations alone. At the same time, there was a great difficulty in obtaining money. Bills could not be cashed on any terms, and it had cost Lord Byron nearly one thousand dollars to procure money from the Ionian Islands.

February 15th. There was a sort of mutiny among the Suliotes; at least they grumbled very much that their arrears were not paid up. The inhabitants of the town were afraid of being plundered, and great confusion ensued. I knew nothing of their language, and could not interfere, but several negotiations took place between them and Lord Byron, and it was at length agreed, that six hundred of them should be taken into his Lordship’s pay, and act under his immediate orders. This matter caused very great vexation to Lord Byron; it fretted and teased him, and, added to the other sources of vexation already mentioned, seemed absolutely to worry him. He was accustomed, also, to take a great deal of hard exercise on horseback, and his irritability was at this time much increased by wanting this exercise. For several days, he had been prevented from going abroad by heavy rains; and he complained in the course of the day, more than usual, of his increasing vexations.

His Lordship’s quarters were on the second floor of the house; and Colonel Stanhope lived on the first floor. In the evening, about eight o’clock, he came down stairs into the Colonel’s room, where I was. He seated himself on a cane settee, and began talking with me on various subjects. Colonel Stanhope, who was employed in a neighbouring apartment, fitting up printing-presses, and Count Gamba, both came into the room for a short time, and some conversation ensued about the newspaper, which was never, to Lord Byron, a pleasant topic, as he disagreed with his friends concerning it. After a little time, they went their several ways, and more agreeable matter of conversation was introduced.

His Lordship began joking with me about Colonel Stanhope’s occupations, and said, he thought the author would have his brigade of artillery ready before the soldier got his printing-press fixed. There was then nobody in the room but his Lordship, Mr. Hesketh, and myself. There was evidently a constrained manner about him, and he complained of thirst; he ordered his servant to bring him some cider, which I entreated him not to drink in that state. There was a flush in his countenance, which seemed to indicate great nervous agitation; and as I thought his Lordship had been much harassed for several days past, I recommended him, at least, to qualify his cider with some brandy. He said, he had frequently drank cider, and felt no bad consequences from it, and he accordingly drank it off.

Lord Byron had scarcely drunk the cider, when he complained of a very strange sensation, and I noticed a great change in his countenance. He rose from his seat, but could not walk, staggered a step or two, and fell into my arms. I had no other stimulant than brandy at hand, and having before seen it administered in similar cases, with considerable benefit, I called for some of that liquor, which was brought by Mr. Hesketh, and we succeeded in making him swallow a small quantity. In another minute his teeth were closed, his speech and senses gone, and he was in strong convulsions. I laid him down on the settee, and with the assistance of his servant kept him quiet.

When he fell into my arms, his countenance was very much distorted, his mouth being drawn on one side. After a short time, his medical attendants came, and he speedily recovered his senses and his speech. His first care was to call for Colonel Stanhope, as he had something particular to say to him, should there be a probability of his not recovering. Colonel Stanhope was accordingly sent for, and came from the adjoining room. On recovering his senses, Lord Byron’s countenance assumed its ordinary appearance, except that it was pale and haggard; and no other effect remained from his illness, than a great degree of weakness. His Lordship was then carried up-stairs, and put to bed; and we left him in charge of his servants and medical attendants.

On the following day, February 16th, Lord Byron was better, but his countenance was much changed; it was very pale, and he was very weak. He felt a sort of gratitude and kindness towards me, for the assistance I had given him, and he told me I was henceforth to consider myself as at home in his apartment. Thus did I ever find him disposed to add to the happiness of all who came about him. He inquired of me, what I thought his disorder was;—I did not pretend to decide as to what the doctors might call it, but I told him I was sure it arose from the great irritation he had suffered, and from his not taking sufficient food and stimulant drinks. His Lordship had not eaten any thing but cheese, fish, vegetables, and bread, for several days; and, as I have said, he had been worried both out of his patience and his sleep. I told him, however, that I thought his disorder was an epileptic attack, arising from weakness, and that it was nothing which ought to alarm him, provided he took care of himself, and used a more nourishing and generous diet. His Lordship was of a different opinion; “He felt,” he said, “a weight on the fore part of his head, and he was quite sure he ought to live low.” “Not too low, my Lord, for in this swampy place some stimulus is necessary; but your physician should know best.” “Yes, Parry,” was his reply, “he is an excellent young man, and well acquainted with his profession; I shall therefore be guided entirely by him.” To this I could not object, but begged him to consider that there was, probably, some difference between his constitution and those of the persons whom Dr. Bruno had been accustomed to treat.

Unfortunately, I think, my advice was rejected. Low, and weak, and half starved as Lord Byron was, and debilitated beyond measure by this attack, his physician resolved to bleed him, and eight leeches were applied to his temples. The blood flowed copiously, but when the leeches were removed, the doctors were so unskilful that they could not stop the blood. It continued to flow on, and Lord Byron fainted. Mr. Milligan was present, as well as Dr. Bruno; the latter I almost disregarded, but the former I scolded aloud for his mismanagement. When I saw them helpless, beside themselves, at it were, while the blood was flowing, and Lord Byron lay pale and senseless, the very image of death, I could have sacrificed their comparatively valueless lives for the one more valuable, of which I thought they had deprived us for ever. I tore off the strings and bands from a part of my dress, cut them into pieces, and made Lord Byron’s Italian servant burn them under his Lordship’s nose. I rubbed his temples and lips with brandy, and did what I could to save and restore him. At length the blood was staunched, and Lord Byron recovered. He often joked about his weakness, as if he had fainted at the sight of his own blood, like a fine lady; and reproved me for my violence, as soon as he was informed of the little respect I had shewn for the doctors. Thus did he, by his kindness, in a manner, court his own fate. Had he turned them out of doors, and returned to the habits of an English gentleman, as to his diet, he would, probably, have survived many years, to have vindicated with his sword the wrongs of his beloved Greece, and to have heaped contempt on those pretended friends, who, since his death, have vilified his glorious nature, because he could or would not believe that a lithographic-press, Mr. Bentham’s minute legislation, and conning over the alphabet, were the proper and most efficacious means of giving freedom and independence to that suffering and oppressed country.

CHAPTER III. DEATH OF LIEUTENANT SASS.

Plan for fortifying Missolonghi.—Lord Byron’s method of paying the expense.—Dissentions.—Method of the Greeks to get money from Lord Byron.—Source of the Dispute between Byron and Stanhope.—Hopes of Capturing a Turkish brig of war.—Lord Byron’s humane orders and rewards as to the prisoners.—The brig destroyed.—Negligence of the Greeks in preparing for their defence—Proposal for having gun-boats.—Lieutenant Sass enters the Hellenic Legion.—Taken prisoner.—His sufferings.—Is released by an English gentleman.—Returns home.—Sent out to Missolonghi by the Greek Committee.—Appointed a Lieutenant in Lord Byron’s brigade.—His death.—Meeting of the Suliot chiefs at Lord Byron’s.—The mechanics frightened.—Resolve to leave Greece.—Receive money to return to England.—Sum they cost the Greek committee.—Work they performed.

The day after Lord Byron’s fit, on February 16th, I accompanied Prince Mavrocordato to inspect the fortifications of Missolonghi, which I found in a most wretched and dilapidated state. With the usual discrimination of persons always accustomed to command, and never to execute, and with that usual discontent which follows the discovery of its being impossible to execute their commands as fast as they are issued, I was requested to put all the fortifications in a perfect state of repair, without possessing the means. The defences were to be finished, the batteries repaired, the guns remounted, the platforms were to be levelled, the ditches cleared out, a magazine was to be built, and four gun-boats fitted out. All these were, unquestionably, useful things; but there was no means of immediately accomplishing them. The only skilful men we had, were the few mechanics who came out with me from England, and their skill was rendered almost valueless by their discontent. It was plain, however, that all these operations might be carried into effect, if a proper plan, drawn up for the purpose, were executed with energy. But there did not seem to be much hope of this. I had before pointed out to the Prince several little things which would be useful, and might be immediately executed. For example, there were several Turkish guns, and considerable quantities of loose shot lying about the town, and at the water side; these I wished to be collected, and carried to the arsenal; as they must constitute the materials of our defence. The guns sent out from England were field-artillery, or mountain-guns, proper to secure passes, and such like, and the artillery for the fortifications must be elsewhere provided. I had before requested that these guns and shot might be collected for this purpose, but in vain; both the Prince and the people seemed quite unaware that prepara-tory labours were more certain of securing victory than mere animal courage; and this, and other necessary operations, remained unexecuted.

On reporting to Lord Byron what I had seen, what I had said to Prince Mavrocordato, and what I thought might be done, he ordered me to draw up a plan for putting the fortifications in thorough repair, and to accompany it with an estimate of the expense. It was agreed, that I should make the estimate only one-third of what I thought would be the actual expense, and if that third could be procured from the Magistrates, Lord Byron undertook secretly to pay the remainder. With the iron and materials brought out from England, some of which might be spared for this purpose, we concluded that the whole might be done for the sum of five thousand dollars; and it was therefore agreed, that we should endeavour to get one thousand dollars from the Greeks, with supplies of wood, and the assistance of a few labourers and artificers. By means of this sum, and assistance, together with his Lordship’s advances, Missolonghi and the fort of Vasaladi might be put in a complete state of defence, and gun-boats fitted out, so that we might be fully prepared to meet the enemy. At my request, therefore, Colonel Stanhope drew up and presented a plan and estimate for this purpose. It will be found in the Appendix. The magistrates of Missolonghi and Prince Mavrocordato concurred in it, and preparations were talked of for carrying it into effect.

This was an additional task which Lord Byron imposed on himself. We were before actively employed in fitting up the arsenal, and disciplining the artillery in field-exercise, organizing his Lordship’s brigade, &c. &c. There was work enough for us already marked out, even with the most zealous co-operation, both of the Greeks, and among ourselves, which unfortunately did not exist. The foreign adventurers disagreed with one another, and with every body else; the mechanics sent from England were by no means satisfied; Lord Byron and Colonel Stanhope did not both row in the same boat; and Prince Mavrocordato and the Greek authorities were for obtaining every thing, promising every thing, and doing nothing. In such a state of division, or rather, slumbering discord, of all the numerous and mighty projects we took in hand, not one ripened into complete success.

To shew the reader how things were managed in Greece, and in what way Lord Byron was treated, both by the Greeks and his own countrymen, I shall here mention what Lord Byron said to me, on my talking to him about the esti-mate.—“All this is a very pretty piece of mockery,” he said; “but the instant the estimate is agreed to, the Primates will come here, and under some false pretence or other, beg a loan of me, to the amount required. I shall give them a refusal, and they will retire, making me a thousand compliments; but after a short time, I shall be visited by Prince Mavrocordato, who will find some other reason for asking the loan. If I refuse the Prince, I shall be again visited by the Primates, and if they go away without accomplishing their errand, the Prince will again renew the attack. To be plain with you, if I do not advance the whole amount, your project will vanish into thin air; but if I do it in any other way than secretly, as you and I have agreed on, I shall have fifty projects laid before me every week, and I shall speedily be reduced to beggary, or obliged to quit the country, which I am determined not to do while a chance of success remains.”

“It will be better, my Lord,” I said, “not to go through this farce, and, with your permission, I will tell Colonel Stanhope it will be of no use to present the estimate.”

At this his Lordship flew into a passion, and said, “Do you suppose I will give myself the trouble of explaining to others every difficulty which I have to encounter, and am acquainted with? No, No!—Colonel Stanhope has already said, I am too liberal; the money of the committee must not be intrusted to me, and I therefore will provide what supplies I can for the good of the service, but I will not waste my time and thoughts in fruitless explanations. In a short time, Colonel Stanhope will depart hence, and then our unpleasant altercations will cease. As to the Greeks, and their applications, I will refer them all to you, and you shall answer them agreeably to my wishes. What you point out as necessary for the service, and I approve of, I will find means for you to perform; but I know it is all in vain to expect money from the Greeks, or cordiality between Stanhope and me.”

February 17th. There were considerable hopes and expectations of capturing a Turkish brig of war excited this day, as news came to us, that one, mounting twenty-two guns, was aground six or seven miles from the city. This was a sort of enterprise which suited the Greeks, for there was in it a promise both of vengeance and plunder; and many of them set off in boats, as if each were afraid he should lose his share of the prize. They did not find the enterprise so easy; and it was evident more means must be prepared, before she fell into our power. Consigning my ordinary labours to the superintendence of Messrs. Gill and Hodges, I set off, accompanied by some other officers, to reconnoitre her. We proceeded about five miles across what is called the fishing ground, a considerable extent of shallows, on which was about eighteen inches or two feet of water. We ascertained that we could, though with considerable difficulty, transport stores and guns over these shallows, and make an attack on the brig from a point of land beyond them. It was accordingly resolved to attack her in this manner, on the following day; and though it came on to rain, in the mean time, with great violence, we zealously set about making preparations.

We had but two pieces of cannon fit for immediate service; a long three-pounder, and Mr. Gordon’s howitzer. There were, also, two Turkish guns, but the carriages were in such a state, that it was necessary to repair them, and they could not be got ready before three o’clock. I waited on Lord Byron, and explained all these circumstances to him; he expressed his satisfaction with my arrangements, and gave me orders to draw on him for money to pay all the additional expense; and to be sure and send him word when it was likely we should begin the attack on her that he might be on the spot.

On this occasion, his Lordship, with that active attention to humanity which characterized all his proceedings in Greece, gave me strict injunctions, should any prisoners be taken, to endeavour to save their lives. For this purpose, he offered to give two dollars a head for every prisoner saved, to pay something more for officers, and be at all the expense of taking care of them while at Missolonghi, and of sending them to a place of safety. His Lordship, knowing also what would be the conduct of the Greeks, as to plunder, gave me strict injunctions to keep back the artillery brigade, that I might have it as much as possible in my power to relieve and protect the captives, should any be made.

Early in the morning of the 18th, we began to prepare for our attack on the brig, In transporting our guns, the boats grounded; which, with other unexpected impediments, brought on the afternoon before our preparations were completed. In the mean time, three Turkish brigs of war came down from Patrass, and brought up, so as to enfilade the beach; they got out their boats, and endeavoured to heave the brig, which was aground, afloat into deep water, but without success; and seeing our preparations for an attack, they thought it prudent to get out of the way. They accordingly removed all the men from the brig, and as many of her stores as they could save; and then, setting her on fire, made sail for Patrass. She burnt down to the waters’ edge. Though we were disappointed of our prey, we all rejoiced to see her in flames; and carried back our guns and stores to the arsenal, without much grumbling, that our labour had not been rewarded as we expected.

Lord Byron was highly pleased at the destruction of the brig, and asked particularly what loss it would occasion to the Turks. I told him about twenty thousand dollars; and though one small vessel of war seems of trifling moment to a large empire like Turkey, yet, judging of it, probably, from our own straitened means, we all exulted at it, as an important achievement.

This event led Lord Byron to talk of the state of affairs in Greece; and he regretted that the Greeks should have done so little to repair the losses of the last campaign, or prepare for the next. They were so improvident, or so destitute, not having either money or materials, that neither in the Morea, nor in Western Greece, had any preparations been made to meet the enemy; nor had the fortifications and other means of defence, which had suffered in the late attack, been restored. The fleet was laid up till the loan should be negotiated in England, and the money received.

What had just occurred was an additional evidence, that six or eight gun-boats would be of essential use in defending Missolonghi and An-natolica. With these at our command, and one of them fitted up to heat shot, the Turkish fleet could not, without great danger, lie at anchor to blockade these places. I again represented this to Lord Byron, but his Lordship said it was of no use urging it any more on the Greeks; they would assent to it, he knew, and would ask him for money to execute it, and there the matter would rest. I offered, with his Lordship’s permission, to state the matter to the Greek committee, and request them to send out the frames of gun-boats, and the necessary materials; or I would go to the island of Hydra, where it was probable I might provide them. His Lordship said I could not be spared; we might expect the campaign to open in three months, and then our difficulties would be much greater even than at present.

On Thursday, February 19th, the men were again at work at the arsenal, but before their labours had proceeded very far, a quarrel ensued between one of the Suliotes and Lieutenant Sass, the very best, perhaps, of the foreign officers, which ended in his assassination. The whole business shews, unhappily, so well what was the state of Greece, as to the discipline of the soldiery, and the unfortunate effect of sending foreigners to rule and guide them, as it were, that I shall give a detailed account of this melancholy affair, as far as it came within my knowledge.

Sass seems to have been one of those persons who are born out of season, or have got, from some cause or other, so much awry, or so misplaced, among men, that though they possess the best intentions, nothing succeeds with them. He had a very prepossessing appearance, and seemed destined to win his way smoothly to the goal of happiness; but his fate was very different. He was born of respectable parents, in Swedish Finland, and entered the military service at an early period. He served with credit, both in the Swedish and Swiss armies, but without obtaining distinction; and at the peace, like many others, was disbanded, having nothing but his sword wherewith to carve his fortune.

It is to the credit of England, though her citizens foster the mercenary spirit of mere soldiership less than any other people of Europe, that she does not suffer her defenders, when their services are not required, to die of ingratitude, neglect, and hunger. Though the pittance she gives be small, it is enough to preserve life; but this cannot, in general, be said of the nations of the continent; and in them, the military sovereigns who are at the head of the governments, seem afraid of their own tools, and break and cast them away, the instant their services can be dispensed with.

Sass was in this situation at the beginning of the Greek contest, and was induced to join the German Hellenic regiment. It was fitted out, at a great expense, by subscriptions among the Germans who were friendly to the Greek cause; but on reaching Greece, these volunteer soldiers were doomed to suffering and neglect; in fact, the disorganized state of Greece, no part of the country, except the islands, having the least particle of disposable produce, and all the exertions of their inhabitants being wisely directed to their shipping, as the best means of enriching and defending their country, rendered it utterly impossible to subsist in it a corps of foreign troops like the Philhellenians; unless, as in the manner of the Turks, they could compel the inhabitants to supply them. There is some reason to believe, that all the foreigners who have been in the service of Greece have had recourse to this means; and as the Greeks did not throw off the yoke of one tyrant to submit to that of another, quarrels necessarily ensued, and the foreigners, being in this case the weaker party, were both ill-treated and half starved. Considering only their own good intentions, and not the light in which the Greeks interpreted them, they complained bitterly of ingratitude; and at length, half de-stroyed by their combats with the Turks, and half famished by the neglect of the Greeks, the Hellenic corps was broken up.

Sass lived through all these fatigues, privations, and contumelies; then, partly from being unprovided for, partly from having a strong attachment to the cause of Greece, he embarked for Candia, with a view of joining the patriots in that island. On the voyage he was captured by a Turkish vessel, and subjected to the grossest insults, and most brutal cruelty. Some of these things cannot be related; but it may be mentioned, that it was one of the amusements of the Turkish soldiers to draw their sabres across his neck, and to point their carbines at him, so that he frequently expected instant assassination. Half famished, beaten, and in a state of torture, death would, probably, have been mercy, but the continued apprehension of the stroke was dreadful; and probably nothing but his sensibility being blunted by previous sufferings preserved his reason unimpaired. He was carried to Alexandria, and thence sent up to Grand Cairo, where he was sold as a slave. The humanity and generosity of an English gentleman released him from slavery, and provided him with the means of returning to his native country. On his arrival, hearing of the expedition which was preparing in England, he went to London, and offered his services to the Greek committee. This body provided him with the means of again reaching Greece, but, like other adventurers, when he arrived he had no funds to maintain himself. Becoming known to Lord Byron, his Lordship appointed him a Lieutenant in his brigade, and here Sass behaved in a prudent and careful manner. He was, undoubtedly, by far the most useful foreign officer who was then in Greece, and his loss was proportionably regretted.

Sass was on duty on the 19th, at the Seraglio, or the arsenal, where all our stores were deposited. There were at that time a great number; of Suliotes at Missolonghi, as well as a number of adventurers of all nations and all sorts of characters, and though we were anxious to teach our arts to the Suliotes and the other Greeks, who were therefore permitted to range round the arsenal at pleasure, yet, as several things had been pilfered, which made precaution necessary, the guards had orders to watch closely whoever entered, and not to allow perfect strangers to come in. One of the Suliotes, however, a very brave soldier, who had distinguished himself in the night attack which Botzaris made on the Turkish camp, and in which he fell, wished that morning to enter the arsenal, as he had done before; but not being known to the serjeant on guard, not a Greek, he was not allowed to pass. The Suliote insisted on forcing his way, and the serjeant prevented him. A quarrel was, of course, the consequence, and Lieutenant Sass, hearing the disturbance, hastened to the spot. The Greek was armed, like all his countrymen, with a brace of pistols, and his yatagan or dagger, and was a strong, powerful man. Sass, too, was athletic and fearless, but, perhaps, considering the irritation which existed between the foreigners and the Greeks, was not sufficiently temperate on this occasion; he instantly drew his sword, and struck the Greek with the flat part of it. The latter shook himself clear of his first antagonist, and drawing his yatagan with one hand, while he drew forth a pistol with the other, made a desperate attack on Sass. The first attack was parried, and the Suliote received a wound in the neck; the second was fatal, and the unfortunate Sass was at the same instant shot in the head, and received a cut which almost severed his arm from his body. He remained alive, but senseless and speechless, about an hour, and then the existence of the adventurous but unfortunate Sass terminated for ever. He left, I have understood, a wife, then living at Malma, in Sweden; and Byron, with that attention to the feelings and wants of others which always distinguished him, thought immediately of contributing to her comfort in a pecuniary way. In the next communication made to the Greek committee, he requested that a small sum might be sent her, on his account.

The Suliote was arrested, but immediately afterwards set at liberty, on his Captain promising that an inquiry should be made, and justice done. The event took place so suddenly, that interference was impossible. On its being known in the town, the confusion became very great; the English and other foreigners gathered round Lord Byron; a thousand exaggerated rumours were instantly set on foot; and, as the Suliotes were not liked by the inhabitants, there was an apprehension the town would be sacked, or that we should at least come to open war. At Lord Byron’s quarters, preparations were made as for a siege. The guns were prepared, and pointed towards the gate, and all the precautions in our power were taken, to prevent surprise. The main body of the Suliotes assembled round the house, threatening to attack it, and to murder every foreigner. Their momentary fury was, probably, checked by the sight of our preparations, and when this had subsided, we were able to settle the matter in a more amicable way.

I preceded to the arsenal, to make inquiries into the matter, and drew up a fair report, as far as I could collect information, of the whole affray: Lord Byron, in the mean time, sent for the Suliote Captains, and they agreed to wait on him. In fact, on my return, I found him in his full dress, as Colonel of the brigade, surrounded by the Suliote chiefs, each of whom was in the full costume of his country. They were all fine-looking men, and all being animated by this unfortunate event, formed as fine a picture as the eye could well behold. The report which I had drawn up was read and interpreted. Lord Byron addressed the chiefs, also, through the medium of an interpreter, calmness was gradually restored, and the chiefs pledged themselves that justice should be done. They got up, put on their shoes, made a profound obeisance to Lord Byron, crossing their arms at the same time on their breast, and retired to restore quiet among their soldiers. There was something pathetic in this peaceable conclusion to so threatening an affair; and though Lord Byron was still very unwell, few men, I believe, could have conducted themselves with more dignity and more prudence on so trying an occasion.

All this, however, harassed him very much, and though he made a fine display, when his energies were roused into action, his general health suffered from this excessive mental stimulus and exertion. Greater and increasing debility was the consequence; and, as he had some even still more unpleasant altercations to go through, and still more gratingly-unpleasant scenes to witness, he gradually decayed, and soon fell a sacrifice to his own feelings, and the improper treatment of those who might have had more respect for the peculiarities of genius.

Friday, February 20th. It was gratifying to all the foreigners at Missolonghi, to witness the respect the inhabitants paid to Lieutenant Sass. He was interred with all the honours the Greek church could bestow; and, for our parts, we suspended our labours for the day, to consecrate it to his funeral.

The death of Sass was, in its consequences, very disastrous; it increased the anger and hostility which already existed between the foreign officers and the Greeks, and it alarmed all the mechanics who came out from England with me. One of them, also, in a tumult which ensued, had his hat cut open by the Greeks; and this contributed to make all the rest suspicious. They were apprehensive for their safety, and declared they would work no more. They said they had stipulated to be sent to a place where they should be safe, and they would not remain at Missolonghi. The contract was broken which had been made with them, and they felt themselves at liberty to return. They accordingly appealed to Colonel Stanhope, represented the dangers they were exposed to, and requested to be sent back to England. The Colonel, they told me, had acceded to their request, and agreed to give them ten pounds per man for their passage home. He took all the blame on himself for bringing them to such a place, and he would take care, he said, to provide them a passage back.

I considered their conduct to have been extremely improper. They ought to have known, before-hand, what their situation was likely to be; at least, the Greek committee, which had several agents in Greece, such as they were, should have taken care to have informed them, previously to engaging their services. They had done very little since they came, and seemed, indeed, so little disposed to work, that the actual loss we suffered by their departure was not great; but still they were the class and sort of men most wanted, and I felt very angry at their proceedings. I refused to take any part in them; but they found favour with Colonel Stanhope, and he acceded to their requests.

I was obliged to represent the business to Lord Byron, and the men received sixty pounds, or two hundred and eighty-seven dollars; independent of forty-two dollars it cost to procure them a passage to Zante. They received bills for the sum, which were converted into cash at that island. It may be worth while here to mention, as probably some of my readers subscribed for the support of the Greek cause, and may therefore like to know in what manner their money was expended, that these six mechanics received from the committee, for themselves, their wives, and families, the sum of two hundred and fifty-six pounds ten shillings, independent of the sum paid for their passage home, and other charges, making the whole expense, at least, equal to three hundred and forty pounds. They had never been called on to spend one penny on account of provisions and lodgings, from the day they left England, till their arrival at Missolonghi; and they were permitted to carry out small ventures, without any charge for freight. One of them, also, a protégé of Colonel Stanhope’s, had carried out a number of tracts, and in addition to his avocations as a mechanic, was charged by the Missionary Society, at a salary of twenty pounds, to spread a knowledge of true religion, or of Wesleyism, among the heathen Turks and the heretical Greeks. He was one of the foremost to retreat from danger, but he managed to pick up a little something by his piety, to comfort him in his retreat. The services they rendered to the cause of Greece for this three hundred and forty pounds, were fourteen days’ work at Missolonghi, so that every day’s work of each of these artisans, and it was not much they did in a day, was purchased by the Greek committee for the sum of something more than four pounds one shilling. There may have been wisdom in such management, but it appears to me to have been a mode of expending money which no individual would have followed with his own funds.

CHAPTER IV. LORD BYRON, AS GENERAL AND COMMISSIONER.

Mutiny among the Suliotes—The mechanics embark for Zante—Shock of an Earthquake—Superstitious custom of the Greeks—Mutiny amongst the Germans—Lord Byron’s Corps disbanded—Is re-organized—Business of the Laboratory—Lord Byron’s Suliote guard—His dog Lyon—His guard attend him in his rides—Specimen of the state of Missolonghi—Lord Byron’s daily occupations—His food, and manner of living—His partiality to curious weapons—State of the weather—Requisitions by Ulysses and General Londa—Improper articles in Newspapers—Colonel Stanhope goes to Athens—His requisitions—Proceedings in March—An alarm of plague—Discipline of the Brigade—Must pay the Greeks for doing their own work—Divisions among the Greek chieftains—Lord Byron invited to quit Missolonghi—Colocotroni wishes to get him into the Morea—Opposing views of Mavrocordato—His hopes of effecting a union of the chiefs—Prospect of a Congress at Salona—Lord Byron obliged again to interfere about a newspaper—Receives the freedom of Missolonghi—Numerous applications to him for Money—Further defence’ of Missolonghi—Desertions from Colocotroni’s forces—News of the Greek loan—Plan for the campaign—Difficulties of Lord Byron’s situation in Greece.

From the time when Lieutenant Sass was killed up to Lord Byron’s own death, all his lordship’s thoughts and time were actively occupied with the affairs of Greece. For this reason I shall confine this part of my narrative to his lordship’s proceedings in his military and civil capacity, as connected with Greece. With these proceedings, too, I was intimately connected, Lord Byron not having taken any step without informing me of it, and very often honouring me by asking my advice as to his plans, and always requiring my assistance to carry them into execution.

On February 21st, there was a sort of mutiny amongst the Suliotes, who refused to march, on account of their arrears not having been paid up. Lord Byron was, as usual, instantly applied to by Prince Mavrocordato, and advanced 4,800 dollars to enable him to pay up the arrears. On this the Suliotes promised to march in two days to Arta, and scour the country. At the same time Lord Byron notified to them that they must not henceforward consider him as personally, responsible for their pay.

The mechanics, though they had not yet departed, had entirely given up working, and the town was in a complete state of tumult; all our labours were, therefore, for the moment, suspended. Lord Byron had frequent, almost daily, conferences with Prince Mavrocordato; and numerous communications with the Suliote and other chiefs; but they all ended, as might have been expected, in nothing.

On the evening of this day we had a smart shock of an earthquake. All the inhabitants who possessed fire-arms, and all the Suliotes, im-mediately ran for their carbines, and began firing away as fast as they could. They did this, from entertaining a sort of superstitious notion that they might by it avert the effects of the earthquake, or check its progress. Having so many subjects of alarm, we supposed, on hearing this unusual firing, that the Suliotes and the inhabitants had at length actually come to blows, and were attacking each other. Our apprehension was changed into a hearty laugh, when we learnt that they were never more united, and were all, as if directed by one mind, waging fierce hostility against the aerial prince of earthquakes. This intelligence came timely also to relieve us from the effects of our own fears. I was sitting, with two or three young Englishmen, at our quarters, when the earthquake took place. None of us knew at first what it was, and being naturally much alarmed, for the shock was violent, we all made for the door as fast as we could, and some confusion ensued as to who should be the first to make his escape. Perhaps, too, a quarrel might have been the consequence, but for the Greek musketry. This circumstance coming to Lord Byron’s knowledge, gave him an opportunity of laughing at us, and putting a sort of joke on us which I shall mention in another place.

On the 22d, the mechanics embarked for Zante, which was the only event that distinguished this from the other days of confusion we were now compelled to witness.

On the 23d, our other misfortunes were augmented, by a mutiny among the German officers sent out from England by the committee. Each wanted to command, and none would obey. Lord Byron became sensible of the inutility, if not the folly, of employing this sort of etiquette-soldiers in Greece, and seeing all his wishes, and all his hopes, disappointed by those who came out to further the cause he was so zealously struggling to advance, he resolved to break up his corps, and after getting rid of these men, to form it anew. The corps was accordingly disbanded; all the officers and men received a month’s pay each, and were at liberty to retire where they pleased.

Lord Byron formed what I thought a correct notion on this subject. He said, when we possessed the materials of war, such as money, ammunition, and guns, the Greeks might be taught and disciplined, and would make far better soldiers than the barons and knights who came out to Greece only to be colonels and generals. “Besides,” his lordship remarked, “there is an inveterate hatred amongst the Greeks of all these foreigners; and sending them here has done the Greek cause far more mischief, than ever the little, and unfortunately misapplied, assistance given by the Germans and English has done good.”

Here again arose another difficulty: What were the foreigners to do? the Suliotes in particular were highly irritated against them; if they remained disorganized they might all be massacred, and in fact, on the following day, February 24th, there was every appearance of a general tumult. Prince Mavrocordato was alarmed, and apprehended bloodshed would ensue. The foreigners petitioned to be retained in service, the Primates and the prince, dreading the Suliotes; and afraid they should be left quite unsupported, enforced the prayer of the petition by their own representations and requests. However unwilling his lordship was again to bring on himself the burden of a disobedient regiment, he was, in some measure, obliged to comply; and on the 26th, it was settled that the corps should be immediately re-organized.

Lord Byron did me the honour to impose this service on me; and I accepted it, on condition that the officers selected should consent to be drilled, that they might learn their duty as soldiers, and the more necessary duty of obedience. Selecting, accordingly, from among those who had petitioned to be kept, such as we thought most likely to answer our views, we re-organized the corps. They consented to the drilling, and pro-mised afterwards to act as squad-serjeants to drill the men. Prince Mavrocordato sent me a commission as captain-commandant of the corps, and accompanied it by a flattering letter, approving of my services, from the time of my arrival in Greece.

All this time the most material part of the service, that of the laboratory and arsenal, was unfortunately suspended. On the 26th, however, I found time to engage a few tradesmen, such as they were, and ten active seamen, to make wads, &c. With their assistance, the preparation of materials was again commenced, but unfortunately with limited advantages.

Even on this subject, which Lord Byron probably thought, as he had to supply all the funds,—the government having none, and the committee not having provided a farthing for this purpose,—was his and my peculiar province, he had to complain of the interference of Colonel Stanhope. Without consulting his lordship, the colonel advertised for a number of young men to be instructed in the business of the arsenal and laboratory; which was quartering a number of hands on his lordship’s purse, whether he liked it or not. Such petty vexations were a great annoyance to Lord Byron. He had never before been engaged in any such business of detail, and had probably never met this sort of opposition and unpleasant kind of controlling interference. Colonel Stanhope imagined also that he was a much wiser man in all such matters than Lord Byron, and added to the unpleasantness of the circumstance by his manner of interfering.

Lord Byron had taken a small corps of Suliotes into his own pay, and kept them about him as a body-guard. They consisted altogether of fifty-six men, and of these a certain number were always on duty. A large outer room in his lordship’s house was appropriated to them, and their carbines were suspended against the walls. Like other soldiers, they found various means to amuse themselves when on guard. While some were walking about, discoursing violently and eagerly, with animated gestures, others were lying or sitting on the floor, playing at cards.

In this room, and among these rude soldiers, Lord Byron was accustomed to walk a great deal, particularly in wet weather. On such occasions he was almost always accompanied by his favourite dog Lyon, who was perhaps his dearest and most affectionate friend. They were, indeed, very seldom separated. Riding or walking, sitting or standing, Lyon was his constant attendant. He can scarcely be said to have forsaken him even in his sleep. Every evening did he go to see that his master was safe, before he lay down himself, and then he took his station close to his door, a guard certainly as faithful, though not so efficient, as Lord Byron’s corps of Suliotes. This valuable and affectionate animal was brought to England after Lord Byron’s death, and is now, I believe, in the possession of Mrs. Leigh, his Lordship’s sister.

With Lyon Lord Byron was accustomed, not only to associate, but to commune very much, and very often. His most usual phrase was, “Lyon, you are no rogue, Lyon;” or “Lyon,” his Lordship would say, “thou art an honest fellow, Lyon.” The dog’s eyes sparkled, and his tail swept the floor, as he sat with his haunches on the ground. “Thou art more faithful than men, Lyon; I trust thee more.” Lyon sprang up, and barked and bounded round his master, as much as to say, “You may trust me, I will watch actively on every side.” “Lyon, I love thee, thou art my faithful dog!” and Lyon jumped and kissed his master’s hand, as an acknowledgement of his homage. In this sort of mingled talk and gambol Lord Byron passed a good deal of time, and seemed more contented, more calmly self-satisfied, on such occasions, than almost on any other. In conversation and in company he was animated and brilliant; but with Lyon and in stillness he was pleased and perfectly happy.

When Lord Byron rode out, he was also at-tended by his Suliote guards. The captain, and a certain number, all on foot, preceded his Lordship. Then came Lord Byron on horseback, accompanied on one side by Count Gamba, and on the other by the Greek interpreter. Behind him rode two attendants; generally, these were his black groom and Tita, both dressed like the chasseurs usually seen behind the carriages of ambassadors, and another division of his guard closed the cavalcade. It was to me very surprising to see the swiftness of the Suliotes. Though they carried their carbines, they were always able to keep up with the horses, and Lord Byron sometimes put his cattle to their utmost speed. If their activity may be considered as at all resulting from the races in which their ancestors were so distinguished, we should find it difficult to bestow too much praise on such gymnastic exercises. But it should probably rather be attributed to their climate, their habits of life, and their frames being originally nervous and well formed. Whatever may have been the source of their fleetness, they were able to keep up with Lord Byron in his rides, and whenever he quitted the town on horseback, they accompanied him, being answerable both to Greece and Britain for his safety. They were tall men, and remarkably well formed; and perhaps, take them altogether, no sovereign of Europe can boast of having a finer set of men for his body-guard.

It may serve to give the reader some idea of the state of Missolonghi, if I here mention the circuitous route which Lord Byron was obliged to use to get out of the town. Such was the wretched state of the pavement, and such the condition of the streets, that it was impossible to ride through them without the risk of breaking one’s neck. Lord Byron’s horses were therefore generally led to the gate of the town, and his Lordship, embarking in his little punt, was rowed along the harbour, and up what is called the military canal. This terminating not far from the gate, his Lordship again landed, mounted his horse, and rode away.

The mode in which Lord Byron disposed of his time may be sketched in the history of a single day. In whatever manner he may formerly have lived, during the time that I knew him in Greece, he was perfectly regular and systematic in his habits.

He always rose at nine o’clock, or a little later, and breakfasted about ten. This meal consisted of tea without either milk or sugar, dry toast, and water cresses. During his breakfast, I generally waited on him to make any reports which were necessary, and take his orders for the labours of the day. When this business was settled, I retired to give the necessary directions to the different officers, and returned so as to be back by eleven o’clock, or a quarter before. His Lordship then inspected the accounts, and in conjunction with his secretary, checked and audited every item in a business-like manner.

If the weather permitted, he afterwards rode out; if it did not, he used to amuse himself by shooting at a mark with pistols. Though his hand trembled much, his aim was sure, and he could hit an egg four times out of five at the distance of ten or twelve yards.

It was at this period of the day also, if he did not ride out, that he was generally visited by Prince Mavrocordato and the Primates. If he rode out, the latter visited him towards three or four o’clock, and the former came later in the evening, like one of his private friends. His rides were seldom extended beyond two hours, as he then returned and dined.

The reader may form an idea of the fever of which Lord Byron died, when I mention his food. He ate very sparingly, and what he did eat was neither nourishing, nor heating, nor blood-making food. He very rarely touched flesh, ate very little fish, used neither spices nor sauces, and dined principally off dried toast, vegetables, and cheese. He drank a very small quantity of wine or cider; but indulged in the use of no spirituous liquors. He took nothing of any consequence during the remainder of the day, and I verily believe, as far as his own personal consumption was concerned, there was not a single Greek soldier in the garrison who did not eat more, and more luxuriously, than this tenderly brought-up, and long-indulged English gentleman and nobleman. He who had fed only on the richest viands of the most luxuriant parts of Europe, whose palate had been tickled, from his earliest days, with the choicest wines, now, at the call of humanity and freedom, submitted to live on the coarsest and meanest fare. He was ready, like some general of old Rome, to share the privations of the meanest soldier; and he shewed, both by what he submitted to, and by the dangers he braved, that his love of liberty and of the good cause of mankind was not limited to writing a few words in their favour from a comfortable well-warmed library; or to sending from a table, smoking with all the superfluities of French cookery, a small check on his banker. The propriety and utility of some of his measures may possibly admit of a doubt, as, in fact, they have been censured; but of the purity of his intentions, and the intenseness of his zeal, the dangers he encountered, the privations he submitted to, the time and money he bestowed, and the life he for-feited, there are such proofs as no other man in this age and country has given.

After his dinner Lord Byron attended the drilling of the officers of his corps in an outer apartment of his own dwelling. Here again he set an admirable example. He submitted to be drilled with them, and went through all those exercises it was proper for them to learn. When these were finished, he very often played a game of single-stick, or indulged in some other severe muscular exertion. He then retired for the evening, and conversed with friends, or employed himself, using the little assistance I was able to give him, studying military tactics. At eleven o’clock I left him, and I was generally the last person he saw, except his servants, and then he retired, not however to sleep, but to study. Till nearly four o’clock every morning he was continually engaged reading or writing, and rarely slept more than five hours; getting up again, as I have already said, at nine o’clock. In this manner did Lord Byron pass nearly every day of the time I had the pleasure of knowing him.

Lord Byron had one little hobby, which he has shared, I believe, with many distinguished men. He had a great fondness for curious arms of every description. He never saw a handsome or a useful sabre, a curious or a good pair of pistols, or a carbine of a peculiar construction, but he coveted it, and generally contrived to obtain it, at however great a cost. He had consequently a perfect magazine of curious and extraordinary, but at the same time useful, weapons; and though his armoury could not compare with that at the Tower, it probably was not surpassed by the collection of any private man.

The reader will perhaps think a minute journal of our proceedings only tiresome, when every day nearly brought forward the same exertions in disciplining and drilling the men, the same contests among the Suliotes and the foreigners, the same sort of disputes among the individuals of the latter, and the same sort of discord among those who should have known better, which I have already described. I shall therefore only mention those days on which any thing occurred worthy of notice. The general features of the scene I have already sketched, and I have just described how Lord Byron passed his time. For the future I shall only mention such events as serve to throw light on the state of Greece, or on Lord Byron’s character.

Lord Byron’s health was somewhat better, and he rode out once or twice towards the latter end of February. But very soon heavy rains again occurred; the weather was both cold and wet, and though a fire in the apartment would have certainly been acceptable, none was made. I do not remember to have seen a thermometer at Missolonghi, and I cannot therefore say what was the temperature, but I am confident, from a recollection of my own feelings, that it was at times fully as cold as the west of England at the same season. The place was naturally damp, and this, with the season of the year, made precautions necessary, which unfortunately Lord Byron would not take himself, and which nobody took for him.

In the latter end of February, General Londa, an old personal friend of Lord Byron’s, who was then in the Morea, sent to ask us to give him two mountain guns. Lord Byron acceded to his request, and not only promised Londa the guns, but undertook to have two officers and twelve men taught the artillery service, if Londa would send proper persons to Missolonghi. The chieftain named Ulysses, or Odysseus, also made an application for gunpowder and small stores, which Byron complied with, and sent him, with other stores, six barrels of powder, packed up, as such things are in Greece, in sheep skins.

About the same period also Lord Byron received notice from the Ionian Islands, that the newspaper printed at Missolonghi would no longer be permitted to circulate there without some restriction, as the last number contained a tirade against kings in general. This gave Lord Byron a great deal of vexation. In answer Lord Byron explained, that it was neither his nor the Prince’s fault. The printer of the paper was a German, and those who wrote the articles never submitted them for inspection. They were persons possessing power and authority, who could not well be controlled, and who had unfortunately more zeal than discretion. He promised, however, that he would do what lay in his power to prevent such articles appearing in future. Though his Lordship had contributed to establish this paper, he was not at that time aware what would be its consequences; and though he was far from wishing to check discussion among the Greeks themselves, he had a great aversion to a parcel of adventurers mingling up the politics of Europe with the affairs of Greece. The latter he wished to be considered, what it really was, a contest on the frontiers of civilization and barbarism, to extend the dominion of the former. What this had to do with theories of government, which may well employ the speculations of men when their lives and property are secured, Lord Byron did not comprehend; and he was proportionably annoyed at seeing his endeavours to preserve a good understanding with the authorities of Zante, and to hold up the Greek Cause to the respect and sympathy of Europe, thwarted in this manner by the rude interference of some theoretical zealots. The paper, he said, was intended for any body but the Greeks, as not one in a thousand of them would or could read it, and without being of the least benefit to them, it constantly tended to involve the already weak and divided authorities of Greece in disputes with the government of the Ionian Islands. He repeated that he did not know why Greece, which had no interest in the contest of the parties of Europe, should be made the arena where those who were defeated elsewhere, might renew the contest, or even boast of a triumph.

Towards the end of February, however, Colonel Stanhope departed for Athens; and though this relieved Lord Byron from some personal altercations, and from the remonstrances of a would-be Mentor, it made a sort of open division among the English in Greece. Henceforth there were two head-quarters for them, two commissioners from the Greek committee having different views, and steering different courses, and each attached to a different interest and different party among the Greeks. Lord Byron, who had no love for theories of government in the then condition of Greece, attached himself to the party of Mavrocordato and practical civil order; Colonel Stanhope, the champion of liberal opinions, the great man for a press and newspaper, united himself at Athens with Odysseus and the other military chieftains, and seemed to wish that all the supplies sent out from England might be placed under their control. Henceforth all that Byron had done was to be undone; and what he was doing was to be opposed.

The first fruits of this division was a requisition in the early part of March from Colonel Stanhope, directed to Lord Byron, to send him 30 whole barrels of gunpowder, a brigade of guns, with remounts, paper, and other stores, from Missolonghi to Athens. He also requested that Mr. Hodges or Mr. Gill, two persons connected with the laboratory department, might be sent to Athens.

Lord Byron refused the gunpowder. Prince Mavrocordato, who seems generally to have looked with an eye of some suspicion on Odysseus, particularly requested that Lord Byron would not send any more powder from Missolonghi and Anatolica, as the whole supply was not adequate to the defence of these places, only sixty-one barrels having ever been sent from England. Missolonghi and Anatolica he represented as of the utmost importance; and this opinion had before been generally acceded to. Were these places captured, it was said the whole sea coast would be in the hands of the Turks, all the trade between Western Greece and the islands destroyed, and a free passage opened for the Albanians in the service of the Turks to proceed into the Morea. It was therefore settled between Prince Mavrocordato and Lord Byron, that they would on no account weaken their means for defending Missolonghi.

As to Mr. Hodge or Mr. Gill, Lord Byron permitted either or both to proceed to Athens as they pleased; we had now got some intelligent Greeks in the laboratory department, and it was hoped they, with my instructions, would be sufficient to carry on this part of the service. The demand for paper Lord Byron also refused, as it could not be granted without taking from us the means of making cartridges, and breaking up the laboratory department; and his Lordship thought the defence of Greece not yet so far advanced, that he should be justified in wholly confiding it to the exertions of the press.

Through the whole month of March there was very little occurred to Lord Byron of general interest. His time was occupied as I have already described; but heavy rains commencing about the middle of the month, almost totally precluded him from riding out. At the same time he never neglected his evening exercises, and became very expert in handling his sword and single stick. The drilling of the corps and preparations for defence were all carried on as I have already described. Lord Byron’s health appeared not thoroughly re-established, and he frequently complained of slight pains in the head, shivering fits, confusion of thoughts, and visionary fears, all of which indicated to me increasing debility. I consequently endeavoured to persuade him to live a little better, to eat more meat, and drink more wine. But as his physician had instilled a notion into him that his disorders all arose from too much blood, and that his system required to be still further reduced, he was deaf to my advice, and probably thought, by neither submitting to be again blooded, nor indulging in the pleasures of the table, that he was taking the safer, because the middle, course. The event proved unfortunately that his Lordship was wrong.

About the middle of the month an alarm was spread, in consequence of a merchant coming from Gastouni being taken suddenly ill and dying, that the plague prevailed in that place. This report excited apprehensions to an alarming degree; and people either shut themselves up in their houses, or took special care not to touch one another. Lord Byron made preparations for leaving Missolonghi, as there did not seem, from the low situation and filth of the place, the least chance of subduing the disorder, should it make its appearance there. Fortunately our alarm was unfounded. No other person was attacked, and we learned, that the scarlet fever was the only disorder prevalent at Gastouni.

Our labours in disciplining the brigade went on successfully, and there was every probability of its being quite ready for actual and active service at the beginning of May. The idea of having so efficient a corps to bring into the field, formed under his own eye, and chiefly at his expense, delighted Lord Byron beyond measure; and when the sort of enemies with whom the Greeks had to contend is taken into consideration, the hopes which he entertained, that the corps would perform some brilliant and distinguished service, gaining him reputation, both as a commander and a statesman, seem to have been rational and well grounded. How fatally these hopes were deceived, the reader knows in part; for Lord Byron never led his brigade to the field; and since his death, it has not been heard of, neither under his distinguished name, nor under any other more ignoble one.

We were so badly off for dry or seasoned wood for our various purposes, it not being possible to procure any at Missolonghi, that we pulled down the old buildings round the seraglio or arsenal to obtain it. This afforded us a small supply, and shews to what straits we were reduced, and how very improvident and destitute were all the Greek authorities.

I have before mentioned, that I had tried in vain to persuade Prince Mavrocordato to order the shot lying about to be collected; another expedient to accomplish this was now had recourse to: I offered to pay from two to four paras for every shot or shell, large or small, which should be brought to the arsenal; and in a short time we obtained, by this means, about two thousand. Before this was done there was, so to speak, a total want of these necessary articles. The Greeks were not content with our assistance, but when we pointed out what they should do, they could not be got to assist themselves unless we paid them for doing it.

The Turks had left, at the time of their last attack on Missolonghi, some gun-carriages outside the walls. These also were transported to the arsenal; such as were serviceable were retained, and those which were not, were broken up. The shafts we converted to wad-hook, and sponge-staves, handspikes and other useful instruments, so that we applied our chance-sent supplies to the best use. At the same time a number of the men were employed in making entrenching tools, &c. A supply of bread and biscuit was also in part procured, and in part ordered, that no impediment might arise, on the score of wanting provisions, to our taking the field at the proper time.

I mention all these details, because Lord Byron interested himself in them all. It could not be expected, that he should of himself know what was proper on all these petty, though neither unimportant, nor unnecessary parts of the service; but he readily appreciated their utility, when they were mentioned to him, and promoted them by all the means in his power. He was quick in apprehension even in these matters, so foreign to his habits and pursuits, and zealous in having them performed, when he perceived their probable usefulness.

Through the whole of March, we felt the influence of that division among the Greek chieftains which I have already hinted at, and which I cannot but think our own divisions tended to promote and perpetuate. Had all the English adhered to Prince Mavrocordato and the government with Lord Byron’s steadiness, the Prince would probably have acquired and maintained that preponderance which, from his superior wisdom in the civil departments of administration, he seems to have merited. Lord Byron was himself a host in favour of the party he espoused; and though he had no wish, but the general good of Greece, and contributed to the wants of all the chieftains equally, as far as lay in his power, yet as they were split into factions, and it was impos-sible he could reside with more than one, it became with them all an object of no trifling importance to obtain possession of him.

The first attempt that was made to get him from Missolonghi, was a letter which he received about the 10th of March, inviting him into the Peloponessus, and offering, as a flattering motive for him to come, the possibility that by doing so, he might effect a permanent union among all the chieftains. The person who first wrote to him on this subject, was I believe of no importance himself, and was unauthorized by any very conspicuous men, and therefore Lord Byron had no hesitation in immediately sending a polite refusal. In reply to the flattering expectations held out to him, of being able by his presence to heal all the divisions of Greece, he expressed of course his ardent wish to contribute all in his power to so desirable an object, but he declined quitting western Greece for the Peloponessus, unless it should be particularly desired by the general government.

The next attempt was made by Colocotroni, whose envoy, Lambro, made several sly insidious attacks on the good faith which Lord Byron reposed in the Greeks about him. His own patron he represented as entirely devoted to Lord Byron, and ready to submit to his judgment in all things. When the character of Colocotroni is considered, and the great influence he then possessed, this was a much more flattering invitation even than the former. It was coupled too with the expression of a wish that a national council might be assembled, by the judgment of which Colocotroni promised to abide. The presidency of such a council was not expressly offered to his lordship, but his presence as a mediator was earnestly and warmly pressed.

On such points Lord Byron consulted Prince Mavrocordato, and the prince knowing the character of his countrymen, unfolded some of their views to his Lordship. It was not the interest of Mavrocordato to separate from Lord Byron, and his lordship declined either attending such a general assembly in person, or deputing any commissioner to attend for him. All parties professed to place the utmost confidence in him, and him alone; and there was not one chieftain, I believe, with whom he communicated, who did not endeavour to infuse suspicions into his mind of the sincerity of every other.

Unfortunately, too, there were some Englishmen in Greece who seemed to be as strong partizans as any of the followers of the chiefs. Some of these at Missolonghi took great pains, about the middle of March, to instil suspicions into Lord Byron’s mind of Prince Mavrocordato; and did every thing which lay in their power to destroy the harmony which existed between the prince, Lord Byron, and the general government. On the other hand Mavrocordato distinctly stated to him that the general government had discovered a plan which had been formed by some of the chiefs, aided by some of the English and other foreigners, to remove all the stores from Missolonghi, to break up his Lordship’s brigade, and to thus put an end to the influence of Mavrocordato. Of this party Ulysses was the idol, and was to be the sole chief.

Lord Byron, notwithstanding this sort of experience, was at times sanguine in his hopes of effecting a union amongst all the chiefs. This delusion, for I cannot but consider it such, arose from the purity of his own views, and his sincere wishes for the success of the Greeks. He saw clearly and forcibly, that to attain this object, union amongst them was necessary, and he supposed, placing some reliance on the professions of the chieftains, that they would entertain the same conviction, and would be disposed to sacrifice their individual hatred and individual ambition to the general good. He did not reflect that men hate a rival, who succeeds to the authority of an oppressive master, more than they ever hated the oppressor, and that most of the Greek chiefs would prefer their ancient masters, to submission to a rival chief.

About the 20th of March news reached us, that a large Turkish force was expected to march into Greece, by way of Larissa. At the same time we heard, that a congress or general meeting was to take place at Salona, to concert the best means of defence. To this congress Lord Byron was formally invited by General Ulysses. He was at the same time informed that the government would appoint him governor-general of Western Greece, if he would accept the office. This shews how highly they valued the continuance of his services, and how eager they all were to get him immediately, each into his own neighbourhood. It was agreed, I believe, that Mavrocordato and Lord Byron should proceed to Salona; but before they could carry this resolution into practice, disturbances ensued at Missolonghi, the Turkish fleet made its appearance, and it would have looked like running from danger, to have gone then to Salona. I believe, however, neither his Lordship, nor the Prince, was very sorry to have so good an excuse for remaining where they were. Mavrocordato entertained apprehensions for his own safety, and Byron had been told that a plot was laid to seize and confine him, and murder the Prince. Perhaps he did not believe all this, but I know he believed enough to make him suspicious and apprehensive.

In the very latter end of March the magistrates of Missolonghi conferred on Lord Byron what we should call the freedom of their town. Had his Lordship belonged to some craft or mystery, as trades are sometimes called, which can only be practised in certain places by the permission of the guild brethren, this might have been of some value to him. But being of no money-making trade, this honour seems to have been conferred on him only that he might spend more: at least it had this effect, and like admission to many a corporation in England, was by no means worth what it cost in fees.

Applications were made to Lord Byron about the end of March, for money to the amount of 50,000 dollars in one day; and what with the trouble of granting and the pain of refusing, his Lordship found this penalty belonging to his exalted situation so unpleasant, that he was glad to get another to pay it for him. He transferred the management of this part of his financial arrangements also to me. The Greeks seemed to think he was a mine from which they could extract gold at their pleasure. One person represented that a supply of 20,000 dollars would save the island of Candia from falling into the hands of the Pacha of Egypt; and there not being that sum in hand, Lord Byron gave him authority to raise it if he could in the islands, and he would guarantee its repayment. I believe this person did not succeed.

The Turkish fleet made its appearance off Missolonghi in the beginning of April, which made us bestir ourselves more than ever in repairing the fortifications. Lord Byron and Prince Mavrocordato took me with them to visit the fortifications of Vasiladi; and we settled what further repairs should be immediately begun.

In the beginning of April a number of Colocotroni’s men deserted, for want of pay, they said, and came into Missolonghi, and some of them were taken into the brigade. I, who am old in the service, and accustomed to the discipline of the army, could not comprehend very well this state of things, under which the soldiers who deserted from one general were gladly welcomed by another, as if they were enemies, and not serving under one banner, and engaged in one cause. But Colocotroni and Mavrocordato were not the generals of one republic, nor the servants of one state; they were rival chieftains contending for power and superiority.

On April 10, Lord Byron communicated to me the news, that the loan for the Greeks had been contracted for in London; and that the money might soon be expected. In the evening Prince Mavrocordato and his Lordship had some conversation, as to the plan of operations for the ensuing campaign. The Prince accordingly drew up a sketch of what he supposed should be immediately performed, and Lord Byron ordered me to put on paper in a definite form the assistance he offered to the Greeks. This was accordingly done; and the plan sketched out by Prince Mavrocordato and Lord Byron’s offer will both be found in the Appendix D.E.

As soon as this was settled, Lord Byron being more master of his own resources, the Greek government now having money of its own, began assiduously to employ them in repairing the fortifications of the town, and completing in the most effective manner his own brigade. In fact these were among the first and the last of his labours for Greece. Soon after the arrival of the news that the loan had been taken, and just as he was priding himself on being liberated from the thousand demands that were daily made on his purse and his time, he was seized with that illness from which he never recovered. The last of his exertions and the last of his orders for the good of Greece, were directed to forming an effective body of soldiers, who he knew would, if well disciplined, be the most useful present he could make to his favourite cause.

The circumstances I have mentioned in this chapter may have thrown some additional light on the situation of Lord Byron; and may perhaps explain some parts of his conduct which have hitherto been only known through the medium of partial, and in my opinion unfair, reports. Lord Byron was on one hand courted and flattered publicly by every man in authority in Greece; on the other, there was not one of the chiefs who did not endeavour to infuse suspicions into his mind of the integrity of all the others. He also appeared in the character of representative of the Greek committee, and of the English people; but in this character he had rivals, who were jealous of his ascendency. While he had probably lost some share of the confidence of those who were the managing persons in the Greek committee, and they were disposed to place more reliance on others than on him; yet up to the date of his death, as those others had no personal resources equal to the occasion, he stood pre-eminent in the esteem of most of the Greek chiefs. There was nothing but embarrassment for Lord Byron, nothing but trouble and confusion from these different persons, all of them possessing power, endeavouring each to influence his mind in the direction most suited to his own views.

As another specimen of the manner in which he was called on to interfere between these opposing interests, I may mention that again, to-wards the latter end of March, Prince Mavrocordato pointedly and positively requested Lord Byron to stop the circulation of a newspaper which had been struck off during his absence, and which contained an exhortation to the Hungarians to rebel against the House of Austria. Lord Byron was highly incensed that such a paper should have issued from Missolonghi, and he promised to do all in his power to prevent its circulation in the islands. He knew it had been said that the Greek insurrection was the offspring of the revolutionary principles to which the sovereigns of Europe were so resolutely opposed. He knew that wherever they suspected the existence of these principles, no appeal to honour, to justice, or even to religion, was of any avail, and that they directed all their energies to stifle in every part of the world every germ of popular independence. He therefore saw in this denunciation, and in most of the political doctrines which were broached in Greece, an invitation to these powers, more particularly to Austria, to take part against the Greeks. It was moreover a justification of their doing so. Lord Byron saw this was hazarding the success of that cause which wholly engrossed his mind, and he was proportionably energetic in his reprobation of what appeared to him both inexpedient in practice, and indefensible in principle.

After this sketch of Byron’s situation in Greece, the reader may form some idea of the difficulties which surrounded him. I have endeavoured to bring them distinctly under notice; because imputations of vacillating policy, of conduct guided by caprice, of unfitness for the task he had undertaken, of a childish love of change, have all been made against him; and he who laid down his life in proof of the integrity of his principles, and of the intenseness of his love of liberty, has not escaped the censures of men, who have been only a little more consistent than he was,—and that merely in opinion, because their opinions were all theory, and never were made the rule either of their own conduct or of the conduct of others. If these difficulties do not afford an ample justification for many trifling circumstances in Lord Byron’s proceedings, we may at least infer from them that none of his calumniators would have been in his situation more consistent or more successful.

CHAPTER V. SECOND ILLNESS AND DEATH OF LORD BYRON.

Weather in April—Attack on Missolonghi, by Cariascachi—Misconduct of our soldiers—Duels—A spy in Lord Byron’s household—Endeavours to estrange Lord Byron from Mavrocordato—Conduct of some Englishmen—Rumour of breaking up the establishment at Missolonghi—Irritation of Lord Byron—Is prevented leaving Missolonghi—News of the loan—Lord Byron rides out for the last time—My opportunities of being with Lord Byron—Opportunities enjoyed by others—Count Gamba—Fletcher—Dr. Bruno—Deplorable state and confusion of Lord Byron’s household—Proofs of the authenticity of the narrative—Lord Byron seriously ill—Agrees to leave Missolonghi—Preparations for this purpose—Prevented by the Sirocco wind—Confined to his bed—Is delirious—The doctors think there is no danger—Sirocco continues—His forlorn condition—Is bled—Continued delirium—A consultation of physicians—Previous treatment of Lord Byron condemned—Bark administered to him—Is sensible for the last time—Lies in a stupor for twenty-four hours—His Death—Author’s opinion as to the causes of his Death—Lord Byron’s prodigious disappointment—Flattering manner in which he was invited to Greece—What he expected to perform—Remarks on the physician’s statements—Other disasters in Greece—Its independence not promoted by our interference.

During the early part of April, the weather continued rainy and most unpleasant. The disputes among the Greek chieftains and their followers, the effects of which we always felt, seemed to increase daily, and at length to have broken out into open hostility and civil war.

I am not writing a history of Greece, and therefore the reader will dispense with my enumerating the names of all the captains who are at the head of different parties in that country, some openly fighting for themselves, and others clothed with the authority of government. Their names, their behaviour, their excesses, and their modest pretensions, have all been a thousand times repeated in the newspapers, and other publications, and can receive no fame from my pen. My only object is to confine myself to such facts as throw light on Lord Byron’s situation, and the causes of his death.

Towards the end of March or beginning of April, he was much annoyed, and indeed every body was alarmed, by an attack made on Missolonghi by the partizans of one Cariascachi of Anatolica, under the pretence of avenging a private insult offered to one of their own people, but in fact undertaken in concert with that party which wanted to destroy the influence and power of Mavrocordato, and separate him from Lord Byron. The primates and others flew to his Lordship for protection, entreated him to order out his brigade, and told him they had no hope, even for the safety of the town but in him. About the same time, the troops of Cariascachi took possession of Vasaldi, and seemed resolved to be their own masters, whatever ruin they might bring on their country. Driven by the desperate state of its finances, or rather by its want of resources, the government also had recourse to violence, and was almost involved in disputes with England, by seizing on some property belonging to Ionian merchants at Missolonghi. The very moment the Turks were threatening to make another attack, and were, it may be almost said, before the walls of Missolonghi, was the time chosen by those who wanted money, and those who wanted power, to embroil all the parties in this unhappy country.

On our part, we were not without unfortunate occurrences. One of our soldiers committed an outrage on the Greek family where he lodged; and to restore the confidence of the Greeks in our discipline, we were obliged to arrest him, and carry him off to the seraglio. Where there was so little subordination, every event of this kind not only gave a great deal of trouble, but led to confusion and tumult; another of our soldiers committed a robbery, was detected and punished. This event, which in a well regulated corps would have passed as a matter of course, begot a dispute among some of the officers, and some of the English gentlemen present, and two or three duels would have ensued, had the parties not been put under arrest by my orders. Count Gamba takes the merit of this arrest to himself, but he had nothing to do with it, and never had any power in Greece. There was no military code established and promulgated but the code Napoleon, which people were not disposed to obey; and every little occurrence of this kind called forth legislative debates, as well as judicial disputes. The laws were to be made and applied as the offences arose. It was also discovered, that a relation of the landlord, in whose house Lord Byron lived, acted as a spy for the opposite party. He was of course arrested, and given up to the authorities at Missolonghi.

What above all things, however, annoyed Lord Byron, were the various efforts made to prejudice him against Prince Mavrocordato; and the Prince disclosing to him the objects of these attempts. In all the intrigues which I witnessed in Greece, and till they fell under my notice I had no conception that one could think of such crooked contrivances—nothing surprised me more, than the willingness of some Englishmen to lend themselves to these deceitful and base purposes. Either much displeased at not finding themselves the all-engrossing objects of admiration, or careless of every thing but their own selfish purposes, or willing to obtain that importance, by trick and chicanery, which their own merits in a country like Greece never could obtain, they made it their express business to sow division between Lord Byron and Prince Mavrocordato. Thus, shortly after Lord Byron’s first illness, one of them told him, that the Suliotes at Anatolica had disclosed the circumstance that they were persuaded by Prince Mavrocordato not to march against Lepanto. With that frankness which ever distinguished Lord Byron, he communicated this report to the Prince, who satisfied him, that it originated entirely in the malice of his enemies. In the then weak state of Lord Byron’s health, this report irritated him exceedingly, and it required all my efforts, and those of the persons who had most influence over him, to restore him to calmness.

The irritation of this had scarcely subsided, when we discovered that intrigues were on foot, to persuade the Greeks, whom I had instructed a little in the art of preparing ammunition, to go off to Athens. Prince Mavrocordato and Colonel Stanhope were not on very good terms; the Colonel had no confidence in the Prince, and indeed openly bearded and opposed him. It seemed as if the Colonel supposed Greece was a regiment of guards, which might be put through certain manoeuvres at his pleasure. He wanted to drill it after his own fashion. His hostility to Mavrocordato had been so marked, that there gradually arose an opinion, among both Greeks and English, strengthened by the Colonel’s own conduct, that he was endeavouring to break up the establishment at Missolonghi, and remove all the stores belonging to the committee to Athens. This report, like the others, was conveyed to Lord Byron, and he not having parted with Colonel Stanhope on very good terms, it added much to the disagreebleness of his feelings. He had before attributed both neglect and deceit to the Greek committee or some of its agents; and this report of the proceedings of their special and chosen messenger, made him, in the irritation of the moment, regard them as acting even treacherously towards him. To the cause of Greece he was firmly attached, and resolved never to forsake it; and he was proportionably both disappointed and angry, that those who pretended to feel a similar attachment, had it only on their lips, and not in their hearts. “By the cant of religious pretenders,” he said, “I have already deeply suffered, and now I know what the cant of pretended reformers and of philanthropists amounts to.” Had his valuable life been spared, the specious claims of both these sects would have been justly held up to the derision of mankind.

At this moment then, that is, at the commencement of April, there was a combination of circumstances, all tending to irritate the naturally sensitive disposition of Lord Byron, and to weaken his hopes of a great and glorious result. He was more a mental being, if I may use this phrase, than any man I ever saw. He lived on thought more than on food. As his hopes of the cause of Greece failed, and they seem to have been the last, and perhaps the greatest his mind was capable of forming, he became peevish; and if I may so speak, little minded. Losing hope, he lost enthusiasm, and became gloomily sensible to his situation. There was no mental stimulus left to make him bear up against his increasing perplexities, and nerve his body to resist the noxious effects of a bad climate.

The difficulties of his own situation, and the coming dangers, had the effect on the obstinate mind of Lord Byron, of compelling him to remain at Missolonghi. But for these circumstances, he would have left it for a time, and have found repose and health.

He who has been thought by many to have contemptuously braved the opinion of the world, was, when it was in harmony with his own convictions, completely and sensitively under its control. He felt that the Greeks were more than ever in danger, and his high and proud mind obstinately refused to leave Missolonghi, for a more quiet scene, and a more healthy abode. He dreaded what the world might say of his desertion; his spirit was more powerful than his frame, and this fell into dissolution before that changed its determination. Had it not been for the state of Greece, I believe he would, at the commencement of his disorder, have gone to Zante, but he could not brook the idea of flinching from danger, even to save his life.

From the beginning of April, he had frequently complained to me of violent head-aches, and of great debility. Both these had remained from the time of the first attack; but he had felt them particularly, from the time of the bleeding. When these head-aches left him, his hopes returned that his health would be restored in the summer. To me he often expressed the great satisfaction he felt, at the probability of being able, by means of his income alone, to carry his designs in favour of Greece into execution, without adding to his debts, or alienating any part of his property. He looked forward to the return of fine weather, and the commencement of the campaign, when he proposed to take the field, at the head of his own brigade, and the troops which the government of Greece were to place under his orders, for the recovery of his health and spirits. He was sure he said, to be thoroughly restored, could he every day get hard exercise in the free air. He wanted to be relieved from his own de-spondency; but time and circumstances brought no relief, and before the campaign was opened he had perished.

When the news arrived from England, on April the 9th, of the loan for the Greeks having been negotiated in London, Lord Byron also received several private letters, which brought him favourable accounts of his daughter. Whenever he spoke of her, it was with delight to think he was a father, or with a strong feeling of melancholy, at recollecting that her infantine and most endearing embraces were denied to his love. The pleasant intelligence which he had received concerning her, gave a fresh stimulus to his mind, I may almost say revived for a moment a spirit that was already faint and weary, and slumbering in the arms of death. He rode out after hearing this news twice; and once was caught in the rain. Those who wish to attribute his death to any other cause, rather than to the general debility occasioned by a long system of exhaustion, both of body and mind, have eagerly seized hold of this trifling circumstance, to make the world believe, that he who had swam the Hellespont, who had been accustomed to brave every climate, and every season, fell a victim to a shower of rain and a wet saddle. When a man is borne down, almost to death, by continued vexation, and a want of sufficient nourishment, such trifles may complete his dissolution. In this case they were only the last grains of the ponderous load of calamities which weighed this noble-minded man to the earth; and it is my honest conviction, that he might have been saved, had he had with him one sensible and influential friend, partly to shield him from himself, partly to shield him from others, and zealous to preserve both his fame and his life.

Before I proceed to describe Lord Byron’s death, it may be as well to state what opportunities were enjoyed by those persons who have either supplied the materials for an account of his last moments, or published it on their own authority, for the task they have undertaken. It will be evident, I should suppose, to every person who has honoured these pages with a perusal, that I was necessarily much absent from Lord Byron, after he was taken ill. My duties carried me out of the house where we lived, and it was only occasionally that I could pay him any attention, or even ascertain his actual state. Whenever I returned home, before I entered his room, of course I made inquiries as to his state, and I was generally told that he was asleep, or quiet, and had better not be disturbed, that there was no danger, and that I might without apprehension attend to my business. Lord Byron, it will be also evident I think to the reader, honoured me with a high degree of confidence; and yet some of those who were immediately in charge of his person did what they could to exclude me from his presence. They have themselves, therefore, to thank for the suspicions which have been generated in my mind as to the accuracy of the reports.

As I do not pretend to have been continually at Lord Byron’s bed-side, it would be wrong in me to deny the accuracy of any statement, which may possibly relate to times when I was not present; at the same time it seems to me proper to put the public in possession of some facts, which may enable them to judge of the credibility of the narratives of Lord Byron’s last moments which have been given to the world.

Count Gamba, who has just published “A Narrative,” &c., and who has given a circumstantial detail of every thing that happened to Lord Byron, did not live under the same roof with him. He resided in another part of the town, and for two or three days, at the most critical period of Lord Byron’s illness, he was confined to his own room from the effects of an accident. I believe he was unable to walk. Count Gamba is still a very young man; I say this with no intention to disparage him, in truth it is with most men a subject of pride, and in him Lord Byron never placed any marked degree of confi-dence. His Lordship protected and employed him; he may be said even to have provided for him, but he did not confide in him.

Fletcher, Lord Byron’s valet, I have before observed was not at this time his favourite servant. He was comparatively seldom in his master’s bed-room, and seemed to me to have nearly lost his master’s confidence. Tita was Lord Byron’s constant attendant, and was always in his bed-room. There were several circumstances also connected with Mr. Fletcher, which must have unfitted him to be a very correct reporter of what occurred; I shall mention only one, the influence of which indeed Count Gamba also felt. Both were so affected, and so unmanned by the situation of Lord Byron, that whenever I saw them they required almost as much attention and assistance as Lord Byron himself. It is possible that what they saw they may have faithfully related; but I cannot say that I feel disposed to borrow any thing from the narrative of either.

Dr. Bruno I believe to be a very good young man, but he was certainly inadequate to his situation. I do not mean as to his scientific acquirements, for of them I pretend not to judge; but he wanted firmness, and was so much agitated, that he was incapable of bringing whatever knowledge he might possess into use. Tita was kind and attentive, and by far the most teachable and useful of all the persons about Lord Byron. As there was nobody invested with any authority over his household, after he fell sick, there was neither method, order, nor quiet, in his apartments. A clever skilful English surgeon, possessing the confidence of his employer, would have put all this in train; but Dr. Bruno had no idea of doing any such thing. There was also a want of many comforts which, to the sick, may indeed be called necessaries, and there was a dreadful confusion of tongues. In his agitation Dr. Bruno’s English, and he spoke but imperfectly, was unintelligible; Fletcher’s Italian was equally bad. I speak nothing but English; Tita then spoke nothing but Italian; and the ordinary Greek domestics were incomprehensible to us all. In all the attendants there was the officiousness of zeal; but owing to their ignorance of each other’s language, their zeal only added to the confusion. This circumstance, and the want of common necessaries, made Lord Byron’s apartment such a picture of distress and even anguish during the two or three last days of his life, as I never before beheld, and wish never again to witness.

Having mentioned circumstances which may probably suggest a doubt to the reader’s mind as to the fidelity of those narratives which have been published of Lord Byron’s last moments, I may allude to those which should inspire him with confidence in my assertions. From Count Gamba’s statement, which I have transferred to the title-page of this work, the reader may be satisfied that I was present with Lord Byron a short time before he became insensible for ever, and that Count Gamba himself was not present, for he says, “I had not the heart to go*.” Count Gamba was in fact overcome by his feelings, and was incapable of going. The reader may therefore judge from this of the accuracy of conversations which I, who was present, do not pretend to have heard. “It was to Parry,” Count Gamba says, “to whom Lord Byron tried to express his last wishes.” It is plain, therefore, from the statements of other persons, that Lord Byron had confidence in me, and knowing that he had in a high degree, I infer, and the reader will grant, I believe, the fairness of the inference, that Lord Byron would not be anxious to confide secrets to others when I was on the spot. In fact I believe that for the last seven days of his life Lord Byron did not speak on any serious topic connected with his own concerns to any other person but to me. An additional proof of Lord Byron’s confidence in me may be extracted from another passage of

* Narrative, &c. page 264.

Count Gamba’s narrative. He says at p. 264, “I was sent for to persuade him (Lord Byron), to allow of blisters being put on, and returned in all haste with Mr. Parry .” Why did Count Gamba return with me when he was sent for! Because in fact it was I who was summoned to persuade his Lordship, and who always was summoned; and these were the only times that the doctors liked my presence, whenever Lord Byron was to be convinced or persuaded that the remedies proposed were likely to be beneficial.

Whenever Lord Byron objected or refused to follow their prescriptions, then I was sent for to exert my influence over him; at other times, as I have stated, all sorts of excuses were invented to exclude me from his room. Whenever I saw him, also, and this is well worthy of attention, he never omitted to complain of the altercations he had with his doctors, of whose treatment of him he said many harsh things.

I have now stated candidly the means and opportunities I had of witnessing Lord Byron’s last moments, and the means and opportunities which others had. What I saw, and what I know, I shall now describe.

A short time after his return from the ride, on April 9th, when he had got wet, he complained of considerable pain and fever, and his physician, evidently from some Sangrado theory, im-mediately proposed that he should be again bled. To this he objected, and against this, when I heard of it, I remonstrated. I was confident from the mode in which he had lately lived, and been lately tormented, that to bleed him would be to kill him. He was worn out, not fairly but unfairly, and the momentary heat and symptoms of fever were little more, I believe, than the expiring struggles or the last flashes of an ardent spirit.

On April 11th he was very unwell*, had shivering fits continually, and pains over every part of his body, particularly in his bones and head. He talked a great deal, and I thought in rather a wandering manner, and I became alarmed for his safety. To me there appeared no time to be lost, and I earnestly supplicated him to go immediately to Zante, and try change of air and change of scene. After some time he gave an unwilling consent, and I received his orders to prepare vessels for his conveyance†. Count Gamba, Lieut. Hesketh, his aid-de-camp.

* Count Gamba says he rode out on this day. Mr. Fletcher’s account, published in the “Westminster Review,” says the last time he rode out was on the 10th. The latter is correct.

† This is a circumstance which could not have been unknown to Count Gamba; and yet, I believe, it is never mentioned in his Narrative. Mr. Fletcher might easily have forgotten this, or not have known it, as well as many other things.

M. Bruno, his physician, and his servants Fletcher and Tita were to accompany him. Of course I was to remain at Missolonghi, and was more especially to take charge of all his property, and expedite the service as much as lay in my power. I was also to have a vessel constantly ready to send over to Zante, with information of whatever occurred at Missolonghi. It was only by pointing out to his Lordship the facility of communicating with him, and the ease and speediness with which he might return to the spot, should his presence be necessary, and his health permit, that I wrung from him a reluctant consent to go away, and a reluctant order to prepare for his departure.

It is perhaps of little consequence to the reader to be told at this time of what I did; but there is one circumstance connected with Lord Byron that I may mention, as it took place this day. For his satisfaction, as well as for mine, I had drawn up a report of my proceedings, as well as of all his military proceedings since my arrival in Greece. On April 11th, I read this report to him, and it received his approbation. A more rigid judge, probably, from supposing himself a more inflexible patriot, and a more enlightened man, or because he was better acquainted with the matter, I mean colonel Stanhope, did not condescend to honour this report, at a later period, with his approbation. But he had a better right than Lord Byron to condemn it, for he neither smoothed our difficulties nor upheld our courage. He had no hand in effecting the little good which pleased the noble mind of Lord Byron.

Lord Byron kept his bed all day on the 12th of April, and complained that he could not sleep, that his bones were very sore, and that the pain in his head increased. He could eat nothing, and in fact took no nourishment whatever.

On the following day all the preparations for his departure were completed, but a hurricane ensued, and it was impossible for the vessel to leave the port; torrents of rain also came down, the country around was flooded, and Missolonghi for the time became a complete prison. The hurricane was no other than the pestilent sirocco wind; and thus it seems as if the elements had combined with man to ensure Lord Byron’s death.

Hitherto he had risen during the day, and for a short time had left his bed-room; but after retiring on April the 14th, he came out no more. From that time he was confined to his bed, and nobody was allowed to see him, or permitted to enter his bed-room, but Count Gamba, the physician, the two servants Tita and Fletcher, and myself. The confidence with which he had ever honoured me since my arrival, was shewn even in his last moments; and, still keeping in view why he and I were both in Greece, he told me to be with him as much as I possibly could, without thereby retarding the service.

My other occupations unfortunately did not allow me to be always about him; but whenever they did, I paid him all the attention in my power. To me he seemed even from April 14th to be occasionally delirious*, and frequently expressed a desire and intention to go on horseback, or to take an excursion in his boat. I observed also that he sometimes slipped in an Italian sentence or phrase or two in his conversations with me, as if he were addressing Tita or Count Gamba. From fulfilling his intention of riding he was dissuaded, partly by his attendants, but chiefly

* In the account given in the “Westminster Review” of Lord Byron’s death, at page 255, Vol. II., there is a note recording some conversation between Lord Byron and his physician, from which the reviewer infers that Byron was delirious in an early stage of the disease. This strengthens what I have said in the text; I shall only deny that the delirium arose from inflammation. It was that alienation of the mind, which is so frequently the consequence of excessive debility. There was no symptom of violence in the early period of the disease, such as I have frequently seen in other young men attacked with fever, and such as I believe would, in Lord Byron’s case had, the disorder been inflammatory, have been most severe. The delirium at every stage arose from extreme debility.

by his weakness, which prevented him even from supporting himself without assistance.

On the 15th of April Lord Byron was seriously and alarmingly ill; and I am now persuaded, from the manner of his conversation with me, more than from what he said, that he was then apprehensive his disease was dangerous. The doctors indeed thought there was no danger, and so they assured me and every body else about Lord Byron. The sirocco wind continued to blow very strong; and it was quite impossible to remove him, unless it had abated or changed. The same circumstance would have prevented us sending for Dr. Thomas, or sending to Zante for any body or any thing, had such a measure been resolved on.

It was seven o’clock in the evening when I saw him, and then I took a chair at his request, and sat down by his bed-side, and remained till ten o’clock. He sat up in his bed, and was then calm and collected. He talked with me on a variety of subjects connected with himself and his family; he spoke of his intentions as to Greece, his plans for the campaign, and what he should ultimately do for that country. He spoke to me about my own adventures. He spoke of death also with great composure, and though he did not believe his end was so very near, there was something about him so serious and so firm, so resigned and composed, so different from any thing I had ever before seen in him, that my mind misgave me, and at times foreboded his speedy dissolution.

“Parry,” he said, when I first went to him, “I have much wished to see you to-day. I have had most strange feelings, but my head is now better; I have no gloomy thoughts, and no idea but that I shall recover. I am perfectly collected, I am sure I am in my senses, but a melancholy will creep over me at times.” The mention of the subject brought the melancholy topics back, and a few exclamations shewed what occupied Lord Byron’s mind when he was left in silence and solitude. “My wife! My Ada! My country! the situation of this place, my removal impossible, and perhaps death, all combine to make me sad. Since I have been ill, I have given to all my plans much serious consideration. You shall go on at your leisure preparing for building the schooner, and when other things are done, we will put the last hand to this work, by a visit to America*. To reflect on this has been a pleasure to me, and has turned my mind from ungrateful thoughts. When I left Italy I had time on board the brig to give full scope to memory and reflection. It was then I came to that

* This was in connexion with his Lordship’s views as to Greece, stated in another place.

resolution I have already informed you of. I am convinced of the happiness of domestic life. No man on earth respects a virtuous woman more than I do, and the prospect of retirement in England with my wife and Ada, gives me an idea of happiness I have never experienced before. Retirement will be every thing to me, for heretofore my life has been like the ocean in a storm.”

Then adverting to his more immediate attendants he said; “I have closely observed today the conduct of all around me. Tita is an admirable fellow; he has not been out of the house for several days. Bruno is an excellent young man and very skilful, but I am afraid he is too much agitated. I wish you to be as much about me as possible, you may prevent me being jaded to death, and when I recover I assure you I shall, adopt a different mode of living. They must have misinformed you when they told you I was asleep, I have not slept, and I can’t imagine why they should tell you I was asleep.

“You have no conception of the unaccountable thoughts which come into my mind when the fever attacks me. I fancy myself a Jew, a Mahomedan, and a Christian of every profession of faith. Eternity and space are before me; but on this subject, thank God, I am happy and at ease. The thought of living eternally, of again reviv-ing, is a great pleasure. Christianity is the purest and most liberal religion in the world, but the numerous teachers who are continually worrying mankind with their denunciations and their doctrines, are the greatest enemies of religion. I have read with more attention than half of them the book of Christianity, and I admire the liberal and truly charitable principles which Christ has laid down. There are questions connected with this subject which none but Almighty God can solve. Time and space, who can conceive—none but God, on him I rely.”

I had never before felt, as I felt that evening. There was the gifted Lord Byron, who had been the object of universal attention, who had, even as a youth, been intoxicated with the idolatry of men, and the more flattering love of women, gradually expiring, almost forsaken, and certainly without the consolation which generally awaits the meanest of mankind, of breathing out his last sigh in the arms of some dear friend. His habitation was weather-tight, but that was nearly all the comfort his deplorable room afforded him. He was my protector and benefactor, and I could not see him, whom I knew to have been so differently brought up, thus perishing, far from his home, far from all the comforts due to his rank and situation, far too from every fond and affection-ate heart, without a feeling of deep sorrow, such as I should not have had at the loss of my own dearest relation. The pestilent sirocco was blowing a hurricane, and the rain was falling with almost tropical violence. In our apartment, was the calm of coming death, and outside, was the storm desolating the spot around us, but carrying I would fain hope, new life and vigour to some stagnant part of nature.

This evening was, I believe, the last time Lord Byron was calm and collected for any considerable period. On the 16th he was alarmingly ill, and almost constantly delirious. He spoke alternately in English and Italian, and spoke very wildly. I earnestly implored the doctors not to physic and bleed him, and to keep his extremities warm, for in them there was already the coldness of coming death. I was told, there was no doubt of Lord Byron’s recovery, and that I might attend to my business without apprehension. Half assured by these positive assertions, I did leave his Lordship, to attend to my duties in the arsenal.

On the 17th, when I saw him in the morning, he was labouring at times under delirium. He appeared much worse than the day before; notwithstanding this, he was again bled twice, and both times fainted. His debility was excessive. He complained bitterly of his want of sleep, as delirious patients do complain, in a wild rambling manner. He said he had not slept for more than a week, when, in fact, he had repeatedly slept at short intervals, disturbedly indeed, but still it was sleep. He had now ceased to think or talk of death; he had probably, as Count Gamba has said, no idea that his life was so soon to terminate, for his senses were in such a state, that they rarely allowed him to form a correct idea of any thing. Yet opinions, uttered under such circumstances, have been given to the world, by his friends, as Lord Byron’s settled opinions. “If,” he is made to say, “my hour is come, I shall die whether I lose my blood or keep it.”

Count Gamba indeed, says he transacted with him a considerable quantity of business on the 16th, when Lord Byron was almost insensible, as Mr. Fletcher has already testified, and as I now testify. Those conversations which Count Gamba reports, as heard by himself and others, are all of that rambling character which distinguish delirium. It is particularly necessary, to make this observation, because a great degree of importance is sometimes attributed to death-bed speeches. In Lord Byron’s case, whatever may be reported as said by him, must be taken with the consideration, that he was frequently delirious, for the last five days of his existence.

On the 18th, it was settled by Prince Mavro- cordato, that I should march with the artillery brigade and Suliotes to some little distance from the town, and exercise them, in order to carry the inhabitants along with us. This was Easter day, and the Greeks being accustomed to celebrate it by firing muskets, we fell on this plan, to prevent their disturbing Lord Byron. On this account I did not see much of Lord Byron till towards the middle of the day. I saw him a short time indeed, in the morning, and then he was very delirious, and alarmingly ill. Such was the confusion amongst the people about him on my return, that I could learn little or nothing of what had passed, except that a consultation had taken place, two other medical men having been called in, and that one of them, Dr. Treiber, a German, had warmly condemned the mode in which Lord Byron had been treated. It was by his recommendation and advice, I believe, that it was now resolved to administer bark, and I was sent for to persuade Lord Byron to take it. I do not know that it is possible to give a stronger proof of Lord Byron’s complete want of confidence in his medical men, and of their conviction that he had no confidence in them. Whether he was to be bled or blistered, or receive stimulant medicines, they felt that he would not listen to them, and I, who was comparatively a stranger to Lord Byron, or some one of his household, was obliged to enforce the physicians’ recommendation. At the moment of administering the bark, he seemed sensible; I spoke to him, and said, “My Lord, take the bark, it will do you good, it will recover your Lordship.” He took my hand, and said, “Give it me.” He was able to swallow only a very small quantity, about four mouthfuls I think. Dr. Bruno seemed satisfied, however, and said, “That will do.” When he took my hand, I found his hands were deadly cold. With the assistance of Tita, I endeavoured gently to create a little warmth in them; and I also loosened the bandage which was tied round his head. Till this was done he seemed in great pain, clenched his hands at times, gnashed his teeth, and uttered the Italian exclamation of Ah Christi! He bore the loosening of the band passively; and after it was loosened, he shed tears. I encouraged him to weep, and said, “My Lord, I thank God, I hope you will now be better; shed as many tears as you can, you will sleep and find ease.” He replied faintly, “Yes, the pain is gone, I shall sleep now,” and he again took my hand, uttered a faint good night, and sank into a slumber; my heart ached, but I thought then his sufferings were over, and that he would wake no more.

He did wake again, however, and I went to him; Byron knew me, though scarcely. He had then less of alienation about him than I had seen for some time before, there was the calmness of resignation, but there was also the stupor of death. He tried to utter his wishes, but he was incapable; he said something about rewarding his Italian servant, and uttered several incoherent words. There was either no meaning in what he said, or it was such a meaning, as we should not expect at that moment. His eyes continued open only a short time, and then, about six o’clock in the evening of the 18th, he sank into a slumber, or rather I should say, a stupor, and woke and knew no more.

He continued in a state of complete insensibility for twenty-four hours; giving no other signs of life, but that rattling in his throat, which indicated the approach of death. On Monday, April 19th, at six o’clock in the evening, even this faint indication of existence had ceased—Lord Byron was dead*. Thus died George Lord Byron, the truest and greatest poet England has lately given birth to, the

* At the very time Lord Byron died, there was one of the most awful thunder storms I ever witnessed. The lightning was terrific. The Greeks, who are very superstitious, and generally believe that such an event occurs whenever a much superior, or as they say, a supreme man dies, immediately exclaimed, “The great man is gone!” On the present occasion it was too true; and the storm was so violent, as to strengthen their superstitious belief. Their friend and benefactor was indeed dead.

warmest-hearted of her philanthropists, the least selfish of her patriots, and unquestionably the most distinguished man of her nobility. That the disappointment of his ardent hopes was the primary cause of his illness and death, cannot, I think, be doubted. The weight of that disappointment was augmented by the numerous difficulties he met with. He was fretted and annoyed, but he disdained to complain. He had formed, I admit, exaggerated expectations; but had they no foundation, in the unfulfilled promises of the people of England; and was he not unworthily deceived, either by the ignorant presumption or the selfishness of those, who were anxious to obtain the weight of his great name to the cause which was the momentary theme of their declamation?

That he had miscalculated his own power, and the probable resources of Greece, I also admit; but for the former, we may find a natural excuse, in the very flattering manner in which he was invited into that country*; and on the latter, no man had, or now has, any accurate information. He shared with many wise and many ignorant men the wide-spread but delusive notion, that an indi-

* As a specimen of this, I shall quote the following extract from a letter of Prince Mavrocordato to Lord Byron; the date is Missolonghi, December 29th. “Je n’ai pas besoin de vous dire, mi Lord, combien il me tard de vous voir arriver; à quel point votre presence est desirée de tout le monde, et quelle direction avantaguese, elle donnera a toutes les affaires, vos

vidual limited, as we all are to a portion of wisdom and power, scarcely commensurate to our individual wants, may bestow great benefits on a whole nation, or even on the species; and he expected on his appearance in Greece, to reconcile contending chieftains, to hush the voice of angry ambition, to sooth the disappointed passions of opposing factions, and to direct all hearts and minds, as his own heart and mind were directed, to the single object of liberating Greece. This object, beautiful as it is in theory, is one which a succession of wise men, and a long lapse of time, only can accomplish. That Lord Byron failed, ought not therefore to surprise us. That he ever suffered such a chimerical idea to obtain possession of his poetical mind, might be to us a matter of lasting astonishment, had we not seen those, who are said to be masters of reason, and patterns of philosophy, expect to accomplish precisely the same object, by a few instructions

conseils seront ecouté comme des oracles et nous ne perdrons pas le tems le plus precieux de nos operations contre l’ennemi.”

And also this extract of a letter from Colonel Stanhope to Lord Byron, dated December 28 and 29, from the same place. “It is right and necessary to tell you, that a great deal is expected from you, both in the way of counsel and money.” “All are eager to see you.” “I walked along the street this evening, and the people asked me after Lord Byron!!!” “I hope your Lordship will proceed hither—you are expected with feverish anxiety. Your further delay in coming will be attended with serious consequences.” L. S.

dictated in their closets. That the idea is chimerical is beyond all question; but, were it possible to realize it, Lord Byron adopted a much more likely method to succeed, than those who drew up constitutions and codes for Greece; and whose great pride it was, in opposition to him, to enforce them.

But though, in my opinion, the primary cause of Lord Byron’s death was the serious disappointment he suffered, I must not therefore be understood to say, that no art could have saved him. From the symptoms of his disease, as recorded by his medical attendant, and from the state of his body on dissection, physicians may probably form a different opinion of the immediate causes of his death, from the one I entertain. They may say, as a writer in the ‘Westminster Review’ has said, “that he died in consequence of an inflammation of the brain; at least, if the appearances really were as described. The cause of the attack, was the exposure to wet and cold, on the 9th of April. By this exposure fever was excited. That he might have been saved, by early and copious bleeding, is certain. That his medical attendants had not, until it was too late to do anything, any suspicion of the true nature of his disease, we are fully satisfied.”

The latter part of this quotation, expresses my opinion. The physicians knew nothing whatever of the nature of his disease. But I shall further say, not only on account of Dr. Bruno being an interested person, but also on account of the great agitation he suffered, so as to bewilder him, for the last ten days of Lord Byron’s life, that he is an incompetent witness, as to the state of the body after death. But this statement is the only ground for the reviewer’s opinion, that early and copious bleeding would have saved Lord Byron’s life. In this statement, be it also remarked, he does not place implicit confidence. Let any man, therefore, take into account the mode in which Lord Byron lived in Greece, together with his former habits, and the severe exercise he then took, and I think a conviction will immediately arise in his mind, as in mine, that Lord Byron’s disease needed not the remedy of bleeding.

He was, before the fever attacked him, reduced to a mere shadow; and the slow fever as it is called by Mr. Fletcher, which terminated his existence, was only the symptom of that general disease, which, from the time of my arrival in Greece, had been gradually wasting his frame. However learnedly the doctors may talk and write on the matter, it is plain and palpable to common observation, that Lord Byron was worried, and starved to death. A part of his irritation arose from the structure of his own mind; but much of it was caused by those with whom he was con-nected, in, and about the affairs of Greece. His diet was dictated by his own will, and for that he is responsible, but for the medical treatment his physicians must answer.

To pacify the people of this empire, for the loss of one of the greatest, if not the greatest of their poets, and one of the most ardent champions of rational freedom, they have been told, that the structure of his frame did not promise a long life. The eagerness with which this circumstance was put forward, indicates a conviction in other bosoms than mine, that a different treatment would have saved Lord Byron’s valuable life. He cannot now be recalled; anger would only disturb his ashes; but in proportion as we loved and valued him, must we be displeased at those whose conduct hastened his dissolution.

Before I conclude this chapter, I cannot help adverting to some other disastrous consequences, which have resulted, from our interfering in the affairs of Greece. Perhaps Lord Byron’s loss may outweigh all the other casualties, but it was not the only one. Lord Charles Murray, an upright and honourable-young-minded man, also fell a victim to his zeal for Grecian liberty, and died at Gastouni. To say nothing of those who fell by the hand of the enemy, several, besides Lieutenant Sass, have been killed in what may be called civil broils. Mr. Gill, the foreman in the laboratory, died of disease; and Mr. Blackett and Mr. Winter terminated their existence by their own hands. I have already stated what was the result of sending out the mechanics. They were of no use to Greece. As the price of our assistance, whatever may have been our intentions, we have in fact widened the divisions among the chieftains; we offered to them a prize, which each was eager to gain at the expense of the others; we introduced plans for codes of laws, and other measures which had for their object to Anglify Greece; we saddled them with a number of foreigners, who excited the hatred of the people; and we, I believe, as many intelligent Greeks believe, have postponed, by our interference, the hour of their final liberation. That the wish among our people to assist the Greeks was and is ardent and sincere no man can doubt; that the high and exalted individuals whose names are attached to the Greek committee, were and are zealous in watching over the management of the funds committed to their charge, is to be presumed, from their known integrity; but every man must deplore, that the means placed at their disposal have been applied with so little judgment, or with so little discrimination, that where it was intended to confer benefits, only mischief has been inflicted.

CHAPTER VI. OCCURRENCES AFTER LORD BYRON’S DEATH.

I am taken ill—Go to Zante—Grief in Greece at Lord Byron’s Death—Great affliction at Missolonghi—Proclamation of Prince Mavrocordato—Lord Byron’s Papers—Arrival of the Florida, and the Loan—Count Gamba’s Description of the Ceremonies at Missolonghi—Arrival of Colonel Stanhope at Zante—Lord Byron’s Body conveyed to England—Its Arrival—The Funeral—Anecdote of a Sailor—Time and place of Interment.

The history of a man like Lord Byron does not close with his life; and the world generally receives with pleasure, even the most minute details concerning the disposal of his body after death. As far, however, as I am personally able to give any account of what was done with Lord Byron’s corpse, and of the honours paid to his memory, my narrative must be very brief. Unfortunately, I was myself taken ill, before he breathed his last; and was so little able to exert myself, that I was scarcely sensible of what was passing around me. My constitution is naturally a good one, but it was worn down by the climate of such a place as Missolonghi, and the fatigues I had latterly undergone. My health was so deranged, that the medical men advised my removal from the spot, and on April 21st, I left Missolonghi. I arrived at Zante on the following day, carrying with me the first intelligence of Lord Byron’s death; of course my connexion with him had ceased entirely. I can scarcely say, that I was a witness even of what occurred at Missolonghi, for I was confined to my chamber; but as I have been led, for my own gratification, to ascertain some of the particulars of what happened after his death, up to the time of his being deposited in the tomb of his ancestors, and as such particulars will give a completeness to my subject, it would otherwise want, the reader will, I trust, allow me to present him with a short description of them, from other sources than personal observation.

As soon as it was known, that Lord Byron was dead, sorrow and grief were generally felt in Greece. They spread from his own apartments, and from amongst his domestics and friends, over the town of Missolonghi, through the whole of Greece, and over every part of civilized Europe. Wherever the English language is known, there the works and the genius of Byron are admired; and wherever our language is known, his death was lamented. I need not tell the people of England, how profound a sensation that news caused among them. Every little anecdote, every little incident concerning him, was eagerly narrated, and not one public writer of any eminence,—for even those who were his ene-mies, bore testimony to his unrivalled powers by their attacks—not one journal but spoke of the death of Lord Byron, as they would of an earthquake, of a victory that had saved the nation, or of any other very remarkable event, as the single all-engrossing topic of the day. The chord of affliction, which was struck at Missolonghi, vibrated its painful and melancholy notes through the whole of Europe.

But although the death of Lord Byron was everywhere felt as a severe loss, although the friends of true liberty mourned him, as one of the bravest and purest of their champions, and the lovers of heart-stirring poetry regretted him as the first of writers; yet no where was he more deeply lamented, than in Greece. He was both the poet and the defender of that once brilliant but now humbled country. No persons, perhaps, after his domestics and personal friends, felt his loss more acutely than the poor citizens of Missolonghi. His residence among them gave them food, and ensured them protection. But for him, they would have been first plundered by the unpaid Suliotes, and then left a prey to the Turks. Not only were the Primates, and Prince Mavrocordato affected on the occasion, but the poorest citizen felt that he had lost a friend. The prince wept bitterly, and deplored his own situation as made most unfortunate by the death of Lord Byron. He spoke of him us the great friend of Greece; and of his conduct as widely different from that of other foreigners. “Nobody knows,” he said, “except perhaps myself the loss Greece has suffered. Her safety even depended on his continuing in existence. His presence here has checked intrigues which will now have uncontrolled sway. By his aid, alone, have I been able to preserve Missolonghi; and now I know, that every assistance I derived from him will be taken away. Already a conspiracy has been formed to break up the establishment here; and now there is every probability it will be successful. The foreigners here will support the enemies of the government, and Missolonghi will be made bare, to aggrandize some of the captains.”

The proclamation which he issued on this occasion might have been dictated by maxims of state policy, though I believe no individual in Greece, as far as political influence was concerned, had more reason to regret Lord Byron than he had; but I am sure its sentiments echoed those of the greater part of the citizens. It was on the day after Lord Byron’s death, amidst the festivities of Easter, that Mavrocordato made the event publicly known, in the following terms:

Provisional Government of Western Greece.

The present day of festivity and rejoicing has become one of sorrow and of mourning. The Lord Noel Byron departed this life at six o’clock in the afternoon, after an illness of ten days; his death being caused by an inflammatory fever. Such was the effect of his Lordship’s illness on the public mind, that all classes had forgotten their usual recreations of Easter, even before the afflicting event was apprehended.

The loss of this illustrious individual is undoubtedly to be deplored by all Greece; but it must be more especially a subject of lamentation at Missolonghi, where his generosity has been so conspicuously displayed, and of which he had even become a citizen, with the further determination of participating in all the dangers of the war.

Every body is acquainted with the beneficent acts of his Lordship, and none can cease to hail his name as that of a real benefactor. Until, therefore, the final determination of the national government be known, and by virtue of the powers with which it has been pleased to invest me, I hereby decree,

1st. To-morrow morning, at day-light, thirty-seven minute guns shall be fired from the Grand Battery, being the number which corresponds with the age of the illustrious deceased.

2d. All the public offices, even the tribunals, are to remain closed for three successive days.

3d. All the shops, except those in which provisions or medicines are sold, shall also be shut; and it is strictly enjoined that every species of public amusement, and other demonstrations of festivity at Easter, shall be suspended.

4th. A general mourning will be observed for twenty-one days.

5th. Prayers and a funeral service are to be offered up in all the churches.

(Signed) A. Mavrocordato. George Praidis , Secretary.

Given at Missolonghi, this 19th day of April, 1824.

At other cities and places of Greece, at Salona, where the congress had just assembled; at Athens, the grief was equally sincere. Lord Byron was mourned as the best benefactor to Greece. Orations were pronounced by the priests, and the same honours were paid to his memory, as to the memory of one of their own most revered chiefs.

On the day after Lord Byron’s death, Count Gamba, Prince Mavrocordato, or rather two gentlemen, nominated by him, and myself, proceeded to examine Lord Byron’s papers and property. We took an inventory of every thing, and sealed up all his effects. The papers, &c., were afterwards conveyed to his Lordship’s executors. Among them, we found those deservedly celebrated verses, which Lord Byron composed on his thirty-sixth birth-day. He had read them, I believe, to his friends before, but no copy had ever been taken of them till then: I subjoin them below*. Some stanzas of the, I believe, XVIIth * “January 22d, 1824, Missolonghi. “ON THIS DAY I COMPLETE MY THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR.” “’Tis time this heart should be unmoved, Since others it hath ceased to move; Yet though I cannot be beloved, Still let me love! “My days are in the yellow leaf; The flowers and fruits of love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief, Are mine alone! “The Canto of Don Juan were also found; but there was no will, nor any directions for the disposal of his property in Greece.

“The fire that on my bosom preys, Is lone as some volcanic isle; No torch is kindled at its blaze— A funeral pile! “The hope, the fear, the jealous care, The exalted portion of the pain And power of love, I cannot share, But wear the chain. “But ’tis not thus, and ’tis not here Such thoughts should shake my soul; nor now Where glory decks the hero’s bier, Or binds his brow. “The sword, the banner, and the field, Glory and Greece around me see! The Spartan, borne upon his shield, Was not more free. “Awake! (not Greece,—she is awake!) Awake, my spirit! Think through whom Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake, And then strike home! “Tread these reviving passions down, Unworthy manhood! Unto thee, Indifferent should the smile or frown Of beauty be. “If

His Lordship had already placed funds at my command, for the payment of the brigade, the repairs of the fortifications, and the other works carrying on under my directions, up to May 1st, and after paying up the brigade and workmen to that period, so that no stop might be put to the service, and after arranging Lord Byron’s papers, I made my own preparations for going to Zante. Prince Mavrocordato intrusted me with letters to convey to that place, and I went there in the vessel, which carried the news of Lord Byron’s death. The information caused almost as much gloom at the Ionian islands, as at Missolonghi: Lord Byron had many friends there, and the greater part of the people, though neither zealous nor charitable, were well-wishers to the cause of Greece. Lord Sidney Osborne, a friend and relation of Lord Byron’s, sent off a messenger to England with the news, and it was publicly known in London on May 16th. For my part, I was so unwell on my arrival at Zante, that I was obliged “If thou regret’st thy youth, why live? The land of honourable death Is here:—up to the field, and give Away thy breath! “Seek out, less often sought than found, A soldier’s grave—for thee the best; Then look around, and choose thy ground, And take thy rest.” to have a physician, and to take up my abode in the Quarantine-house. Two days after my arrival, Mr. Blaquiere arrived in the Florida, bringing with him the first instalment of the loan.

There were some doubts, what to do with Lord Byron’s body. Colonel Stanhope, indeed, had a plan even for the disposal of that, and recommended, immediately he heard of his death, that it should be deposited at Athens. Had any attempts been made to carry such a proposal into execution, I was prepared to oppose it with an unanswerable argument. In conversation with me, Lord Byron had frequently said, “Well, old boy, should you kick the bucket in Greece, have you any wish that your body should be sent to England?” “No, my Lord, no particular wish.” “Well, I have then; and mind this shall be an agreement betwixt us—If I should die in Greece, and you survive me, do you see that my body is sent to England; and if I survive you, I will take care that every request you make shall be complied with, and I’ll take care those little fellows of your’s at home shall not want.” The wish conveyed in these words I was determined to see executed; and mentioned to Count Gamba, both at Missolonghi and Zante, that if any thought was entertained of carrying Colonel Stanhope’s plan into execution, I would immediately write to England; for I considered such a wish, so expressed, far more sacred, and far more binding on every person connected with Lord Byron, than any scheme or whim as to the disposal of his body, which might be formed by Colonel Stanhope. More rational counsels, however, prevailed, and it was settled that the corpse should be sent to England. The medical men at Missolonghi opened the body, and embalmed it. The heart, brain, and intestines, were enclosed in different vessels, and one of them was left in Greece; the body was placed in a chest lined with tin, as it was not possible, at Missolonghi, to procure lead sufficient for a coffin, and was sent to England.

“At sunrise, on April 20th,” says Count Gamba, “on the morning after his death, seven-and-thirty minute guns were fired from the principal battery of the fortress; and one of the batteries of the corps under his orders also fired one gun every half hour, for the succeeding four-and-twenty hours. We were soon apprized that the Turks at Patras, hearing our cannon, and learning the cause, testified their satisfaction, and insulted over our sorrows by discharges of musketry: this tribute alone was wanting to the memory of the benefactor of Greece;—but the barbarians may have occasion to lament the loss of the friend of humanity, and the protector of the oppressed.

“April 21.—For the remainder of this day and the next, a silence, like that of the grave, prevailed over the whole city. We intended to have performed the funeral ceremony on the twenty-first, but the continued rain prevented us. The next day (22d), however, we acquitted ourselves of that sad duty, as far as our humble means would permit. In the midst of his own brigade, of the troops of the government, and of the whole population, on the shoulders of the officers of his corps, relieved occasionally by other Greeks, the most precious portion of his honoured remains were carried to the church, where lie the bodies of Marco Bozzari and of General Normann. There we laid them down: the coffin was a rude, ill-constructed chest of wood; a black mantle served for a pall; and over it we placed a helmet and a sword, and a crown of laurel. But no funeral pomp could have left the impression, nor spoken the feelings, of this simple ceremony. The wretchedness and desolation of the place itself; the wild and half civilized warriors around us; their deep-felt, unaffected grief; the fond recollections; the disappointed hopes; the anxieties and sad presentiments which might be read on every countenance—all contributed to form a scene more moving, more truly affecting, than perhaps was ever before witnessed round the grave of a great man.

“When the funeral service was over, we left the bier in the middle of the church, where it remained until the evening of the next day, and was guarded by a detachment of his own brigade. The church was crowded without cessation by those who came to honour and to regret the benefactor of Greece. In the evening of the 23d, the bier was privately carried back by his officers to his own house. The coffin was not closed till the 29th of the month. Immediately after his death, his countenance had an air of calmness, mingled with a severity, that seemed gradually to soften; for when I took a last look of him, the expression, at least to my eyes, was truly sublime.”

On May 2d, the remains of Lord Byron were embarked, under a salute from the guns of the fortress. “How different,” exclaims Count Gamba, “from that, which had welcomed the arrival of Byron, only four months ago.” After a passage of three days, the vessel reached Zante; and the precious deposit was placed in the quarantine house. Here some additional precautions were taken, to ensure its safe arrival in England, by providing another case for the body. On May the 10th, Colonel Stanhope arrived at Zante, from the Morea; and much to my surprise, as well as indignation, rated me soundly for my strict obedience to Lord Byron’s orders. He asked me, among other things, who gave me authority to call Mavrocordato Prince? He was the only man I saw in Greece, who both by his actions and his words, shewed, that he had no respect for the talents of Byron while living, and no regret for his death. But I cannot do justice to him, in a paragraph, and must therefore hereafter resume the subject.

Colonel Stanhope was on his way back to England, and he therefore took charge of Lord Byron’s remains, and embarked with them on board the Florida. On the 25th of May she sailed from Zante, and arrived in the Downs on June 29th. She afterwards went to Stangate Creek, to perform quarantine, where she arrived on Thursday, July 1st.

John Cam Hobhouse, Esq., and John Hanson, Esq., Lord Byron’s executors, after having proved his will, claimed the body from the Florida; and under their directions, it was removed to the house of Sir Edward Knatchbull, No. 20, Great George Street, Westminster. Preparations were then made for the funeral. On Friday and Saturday, July 9th and 10th, the body lay in state, and was visited by a great number of noblemen and gentlemen. The crowd would probably have been too great, had every person been admitted, and therefore those only who could procure tickets issued for the purpose, were allowed to pay the last tribute of their admiration to this illustrious man. By his friends, and those who knew him well, Lord Byron is described as not much altered in his appearance by death. He was thinner, more care-worn than formerly, but the lineaments of his face were unchanged, there was no mark of suffering in his countenance, and he appeared as if he were in a deep sleep. Some difference of opinion existed, as to where he was to be buried; it having been suggested, that he should be placed either in Westminster Abbey, or in Saint Paul’s Cathedral; but the good taste of his sister, Mrs. Leigh prevailed, and it was settled that he should be laid, agreeably to a wish expressed in his writings, in the family vault at Newstead, and near his mother.

On Monday, July 12th at eleven o’clock in the morning, the funeral procession, attended by a great number of noblemen’s and gentlemen’s carriages, and by crowds of people, who evinced a deep sympathy, left the house at Westminster, and traversed various streets of the metropolis, to reach the north road. At Pancras Gate, the carriages returned; the procession was at an end, and the hoarse proceeded by slow stages to Nottingham.

One little incident is narrated in the public journals of the day, which seems worthy of receiving that trifling additional circulation I may hope this book will give to it. As the procession proceeded through the streets of London, a fine looking honest tar was observed to walk near the hearse uncovered throughout the morning; and on being asked by a stranger whether he formed part of the funeral cortege, he replied that he came there to pay his respects to the deceased, with whom he had served in the Levant, when he made the tour of the Grecian islands. This poor fellow was kindly offered a place by some of the servants who were behind the carriage, but he said he was strong, and had rather walk near the hearse.

It was not till Friday, July 16th, that the interment took place. Lord Byron was buried in the family vault at the village church of Hucknel, eight miles beyond Nottingham, and within two miles of Newstead Abbey, once the property of the Byron family. He was accompanied to the grave by crowds of persons eager to shew this last testimony of respect to his memory. In one of his earlier poems he had expressed a wish that his dust might mingle with his mother’s, and in compliance with this wish, his coffin was placed in the vault next to her’s. It was twenty minutes past four o’clock on Friday, July 16th, 1824, when the ceremony was concluded, when the tomb closed for ever on Byron, and when his friends were relieved from every care concerning him, save that of doing justice to his memory, and of cherishing his fame.

It would have been easy for me to have swelled out my book with many details on this last and closing scene of Lord Byron’s connexion with the world; and these details are not destitute of interest; but they belong not to my subject, nor am I capable of doing either them or him justice. At the same time I thought it was necessary to give a very brief outline of the leading events up to the time of his being deposited in his last resting-place; and having now done that, I shall return to what fell under my own observations, and to record some of Lord Byron’s opinions.

The following inscription was placed on the coffin:—

“ George Gordon Noel Byron , “LORD BYRON, “Of Rochdale. “BORN IN LONDON, JAN. 22, 1788, “DIED AT MISSOLONGHI, IN WESTERN GREECE, “APRIL 19TH, 1824.”

An urn accompanied the coffin, and on it was inscribed,

“Within this urn are deposited the heart, brain, &c., “of the deceased Lord Byron.”

CHAPTER VII. TRAITS OF CHARACTER IN LORD BYRON.

In this chapter I shall bring together a few of Lord Byron’s familiar acts, illustrative of his character. It may be as well to remind the reader before he peruses them, of the noble birth and neglected education of Lord Byron. Should he at the same time be acquainted with the conduct in general of young men of Lord Byron’s rank, he will not I think find much to censure in some of the practical but harmless jokes he sometimes played off on others. I mean not to defend such practices, on principle, and I think nothing is more deserving of reprobation, than for a man in any situation to sport with the feelings of those who dare not retaliate. If Lord Byron was in one instance guilty of this, he may well be excused by the example of others; and he had what they have not, both talents and virtues to redeem his faults. He was at his death only a young man, and had not lost all those buoyant and fervid spirits which distinguished his youth. In Greece, though he was surrounded with difficulties, they grew not out of his own conduct, and could not be removed by his efforts. He might have left the country, and thus have escaped from them, but this his pride or his honour forbade; and we cannot severely condemn him for sometimes having recourse to a species of amusement to forget them, which, under other circumstances, no man would approve of. The following specimens of these practical jokes may perhaps satisfy the reader’s curiosity.

One of Lord Byron’s household had on more than one occasion involved himself and his master in perplexity and trouble by his unrestrained attachment to women. In Greece this had been very annoying, and induced Lord Byron to think of a means of curing it. A young Suliote of the guard was accordingly dressed up like a woman, and instructed to place himself in the way of the amorous swain. The bait took, and after some communication, had rather by signs than by words, for the pair did not understand each other’s language, the sham lady was carefully conducted by the gallant to one of Lord Byron’s apartments. Here the couple were surprised by an enraged Suliote, an husband provided for the occasion, accompanied by half a dozen of his comrades, whose presence and threats terrified the poor lacquey almost out of his senses. The noise of course brought Lord Byron to the spot, to laugh at the tricked serving man, and rescue him from the effects of his terror.

A few days after the earthquake, which took place on February 21st, as we were all sitting at table in the evening, we were suddenly alarmed by a noise and a shaking of the house, somewhat similar to that which we had experienced when the earthquake occurred. Of course all started from their places, and there was the same kind of confusion as on the former evening, at which Byron, who was present, laughed immoderately; we were re-assured by this, and soon learnt that the whole was a method he had adopted to sport with our fears.

Over the room where we were sitting, he had placed a number of Suliotes, who had been instructed, at a given signal, to catch hold of the rafters and jump on the floor with all their weight, so as to shake the house. They were on this point ready pupils, and effectually accomplished Lord Byron’s wishes, by frightening the whole of the persons not let into the secret.

I have been accused of gaining an influence over Lord Byron, by submitting to be his butt. The accusation is as injurious to his character as to mine; and, probably, as, I cannot deny that I was one of the persons with whom he thus sported on this occasion, it is on this circumstance that the accusation is founded. But I did not submit to this practical joke without making those remonstrances, threatening to quit his Lordship’s service, if such jokes were repeated, which were the only arms I could use. I may say, being a veteran in the service, that when dangers are to be encountered which courage enables a man to surmount, I am not defective in this moral quality; but I am yet to learn if it be disgraceful to be terrified at so unlooked-for and so overwhelming a calamity; I am yet to learn if it be disgraceful to hasten from crumbling buildings, and seek that safety which flight may, but which nothing else can give. I own that I thought then, as I think now, that this was carrying a joke somewhat too far; for perhaps of all visitations an earthquake, from its suddenness, from the almost impossibility of escape, and from the wide-spread devastation it occasions, scarcely sparing the reason of those who witness it and survive, is the most terrific. If there be in nature one legitimate source for a panic, it must be the apprehension of an earthquake. We had all seen the ruins of one at Zante, we had heard of another at Aleppo, and consequently in Greece, a more unfit subject for a joke like the one I have described, cannot be conceived. So I told Lord Byron; and I have reason to believe, if he had before met with similar reproof, when he indulged in similar tricks, he would never have incurred the disgrace which belongs to him for this.

Opposite to Lord Byron’s quarters was a house built in the Turkish fashion, having little turrets, on the top of which were a number of small ornaments. The house was inhabited chiefly by women. One of Lord Byron’s most frequent amusements was to shoot at these ornaments with his pistols; and he was so expert, that he seldom missed. Before his death the house was entirely stripped of all its honours. Every time he fired however, the report brought forth some of the women, who scolded most vehemently in the Greek language, proving, as he said, that it had not lost any of its Billingsgate since the time of Homer’s heroes. The women seemed glad of the opportunity of giving free license to their tongues, and Byron said he liked so much to hear and see them, that he would not be without the sport for a considerable sum.

The regiment, or rather the brigade we formed, can be described only as he himself described it. There was a Greek tailor, who had been in the British service in the Ionian islands, where he had married an Italian woman. This lady knowing something of the military service, petitioned Lord Byron to appoint her husband master-tailor of the brigade. The suggestion was useful, and this part of her petition was immediately granted. At the same time however she solicited that she might be permitted to raise a corps of women, to be placed under her orders, to accompany the regiment. She stipulated for free quarters and rations for them, but rejected all claim for pay. They were to be free of all incumbrances, and were to wash, sew, cook, and otherwise provide for the men. The proposition pleased Lord Byron, and stating the matter to me, said he hoped I should have no objection. I had been accustomed to see women accompany the English army, and I knew that though sometimes an incumbrance, they were on the whole more beneficial than otherwise. In Greece there were many circumstances, which would make their services extremely valuable, and I gave my consent to the measure. The tailor’s wife did accordingly recruit a considerable number of unincumbered women, of almost all nations, but principally Greeks, Italians, Maltese, and negresses. “I was afraid,” said Lord Byron, “when I mentioned this matter to you, you would be crusty, and oppose it,—it is the very thing. Let me see, my corps outdoes Falstaff’s: there are English, Germans, French, Maltese, Ragusians, Italians, Neapolitans, Transylvanians, Russians, Suliotes, Moreotes, and Western Greeks, in front, and to bring up the rear, the tailor’s wife and her troop. Glorious Apollo! no general had ever before such an army.”

Lord Byron had a black groom with him in Greece, an American by birth, to whom he was very partial*. He always insisted on this man’s calling him Massa, whenever he spoke to him. On one occasion, the groom met with two women of his own complexion, who had been slaves to the Turks and liberated, but had been left almost to starve when the Greeks had risen on their tyrants. Being of the same colour was a bond of sympathy between them and the groom, and he applied to me to give both these women quarters in the seraglio. I granted the application, and mentioned it to Lord Byron, who laughed at the gallantry of his groom, and ordered that he should be brought before him at ten o’clock the next day, to answer for his presumption in making such an application.

At ten o’clock accordingly he attended his master with great trembling and fear, but stuttered so when he attempted to speak, that he could not make himself understood; Lord Byron endeavouring, almost in vain, to preserve his

* This man died in London a short time back.

gravity, reproved him severely for his presumption. Blacky stuttered a thousand excuses, and was ready to do any thing to appease his massa’s anger. His great yellow eyes wide open, he trembling from head to foot, his wandering and stuttering excuses, his visible dread, all tended to provoke laughter, and Lord Byron, fearing his own dignity would be hove overboard, told him to hold his tongue, and listen to his sentence. I was commanded to enter it in his memorandum book, and then he pronounced in a solemn tone of voice, while blacky stood aghast, expecting some severe punishment, the following doom. “My determination is, that the children born of these black women, of which you may be the father, shall be my property, and I will maintain them. What say you?” “Go—Go—God bless you, massa, may you live great while,” stuttered out the groom, and sallied forth to tell the good news to the two distressed women.

Lord Byron was a remarkably sincere and frank man, and harboured no thought concerning another he did not express to him. Whatever he had to say of or against any man, that he said, on the first opportunity, openly, and to his face. Neither could he bear concealment in others. If one person were to speak of a third party in his presence, he would be sure to repeat it the first time the two opponents were in presence of one another. This was a habit of which his acquaintance were well aware, and it spared Lord Byron the trouble of listening to a mob of idle and degrading calumnies. He probably expected by it, to teach others that sincerity he prized so highly; at the same time, he was not insensible to pleasure, at seeing the confusion of the party exposed.

This trait in his Lordship’s character has been mentioned by some of his biographers with dispraise, as a proof of weakness, and even treachery. But I believe Lord Byron never betrayed any confidence, he only exposed tattling calumniators, to prove or retract their accusations in the presence of the party calumniated. Those who have most complained of this trait, have been insincere men, bred up in what are called polite habits, which mainly consist in telling falsehoods to a man’s face to flatter him, and telling falsehoods behind his back, to make him appear ridiculous; such hollow fashionable insincerity, Lord Byron delighted to expose. Many such instances are not before the public, because the individual dear Friends concerned have not been very willing to let the world into the secret of their friendships. They have been contented with blaming this part of his Lordship’s character, and have wished it to be in-ferred that he betrayed some confidence, while he only exposed the hollowness of fashionable lying, and the mutual insincerity and hatred of some very dear, but pretended friends.

I may give an instance of this part of Lord Byron’s character, in which I was implicated. At the time, I confess, I was extremely indignant, but I have since thought the proceeding was calculated to effect two admirable ends. To me, were it in my nature to be prudent and discreet, it might have taught caution and discretion. To Prince Mavrocordato and the Greeks, it probably conveyed a lesson, which Lord Byron could have found no better means of giving them; and were it possible by teaching to make them energetic and provident, it might have shewed them that these were qualities in which, according to the opinions of others, they were deficient.

When the Turkish fleet was lying off Cape Papa, blockading Missolonghi, I was one day ordered by Lord Byron to accompany him to the mouth of the harbour to inspect the fortifications, in order to make a report on the state they were in. He and I were in his own punt, a little boat which he had, rowed by a boy; and in a large boat, accompanying us, were Prince Mavrocordato and his attendants. As I was viewing, on one hand, the Turkish fleet attentively, and reflecting on its powers, and our means of de-fence; and looking on the other, at Prince Mavrocordato and his attendants, perfectly unconcerned, smoking their pipes and gossiping, as if Greece were liberated and at peace, and Missolonghi in a state of complete security; I could not help giving vent to a feeling of contempt and indignation.

“What is the matter,” said his Lordship, appearing to be very serious, “what makes you so angry, Parry?”

“I am not angry,” I replied, “my Lord, but somewhat indignant. The Turks, if they were not the most stupid wretches breathing, might take the fort of Vasaladi, by means of two pinnaces, any night they pleased; they have only to approach it with muffled oars, they will not be heard, I will answer for their not being seen, and they may storm it in a few minutes. With eight gun-boats properly armed with 24-pounders, they might batter both Missolonghi and Anatolica to the ground. And there sits the old gentlewoman, Prince Mavrocordato and his troop, to whom I applied an epithet I will not here repeat, as if they were all perfectly safe. They know their means of defence are inadequate, and they have no means of improving them. If I were in their place, I should be in a fever at the thought of my own incapacity and ignorance, and I should burn with impatience to attempt the destruction of those stupid Turkish rascals. The Greeks and the Turks are opponents, worthy by their imbecility, of each other.”

I had scarcely explained myself fully, when his Lordship ordered our boat to be placed alongside the other, and actually related our whole conversation to the Prince. In doing it however, he took on himself the task of pacifying both the Prince and me, and though I was at first very angry, and the Prince I believe, very much annoyed, he succeeded. Mavrocordato afterwards shewed no dissatisfaction with me, and I prized Lord Byron’s regard too much, to remain long displeased with a proceeding which was only an unpleasant manner of reproving us both.

Lord Byron was very fond of talking with me on national character and national peculiarities, and seemed, from the manner in which he combated my English prejudices,—and which, I confess, are very strong, for I love England, and am proud of the name of an Englishman,—to delight in the praises of his native land. Of Lord Byron’s writings, and the sentiments expressed in them, I give no opinion, but I am sure that, in his heart, he was an Englishman, and warmly and deeply attached to his country. In one of these conversations, some of which are reported in another place, I had maintained, that there were no other people in the world, but Englishmen, whose eyes ever filled with tears of sympathy at hearing a well-told pathetic tale, or at witnessing distress. Of course it pleased his Lordship to contend against this opinion, and to say that he was an Englishman, and quite unaccustomed to shed tears on any such occasion. I told him I was sure of the contrary, and that I should at some time or other detect him weeping over distress he could not relieve, or with pleasure at having relieved it. My prediction was verified.

On one occasion he had saved twenty-four Turkish women and children from slavery and all its accompanying horrors. I was summoned to attend him and receive his orders, that every thing should be done which might contribute to their comfort. He was seated on a cushion at the upper end of the room, the women and children were standing before him, with their eyes fixed steadily on him, and on his right hand was his interpreter, who was extracting from the women a narrative of their sufferings. One of them, apparently about thirty years of age, possessing great vivacity, and whose manners and dress, though she was then dirty and disfigured, indicated that she was superior, in rank and condition to her companions, was spokeswoman for the whole. I admired the good order the others preserved, never interfering with the explanation or interrupting the single speaker. I also admired the rapid manner in which the interpreter explained every thing they said, so as to make it almost appear that there was but one speaker.

After a short time it was evident that what Lord Byron was hearing affected his feelings, his countenance changed, his colour went and came, and I thought he was ready to weep. But he had on all occasions a ready and peculiar knack in turning conversation from any disagreeable or unpleasant subject; and he had recourse to this expedient. He rose up suddenly, and turning round on his heel, as was his wont, he said something quickly to his interpreter, who immediately repeated it to the women. All eyes were instantly fixed on me, and one of the party, a young and beautiful woman, spoke very warmly. Lord Byron seemed satisfied, and said they might retire. The women all slipped off their shoes in an instant, and going up to his Lordship, each in succession, accompanied by their children, kissed his hand fervently, invoked, in the Turkish manner, a blessing both on his head and heart, and then quitted the room. This was too much for Lord Byron, and he turned his face away to conceal his emotion. When he had recovered a little, I reminded him of our conversation, and I told him I had caught him at last. Addressing me in the sort of sea slang I sometimes talked to him, and which he liked to repeat, he replied. “You are right, old boy; you have got me in the bunt—I am an Englishman.”

I afterwards understood, that when Lord Byron had so suddenly changed the topic of conversation, he made the interpreter tell the females that I wanted to form a seraglio, and was looking out for pretty women. The young person I have mentioned, who seemed sensible that she was most concerned in this, inquired vehemently if I were a Greek, and protested if I were, she would suffer instant death rather than submit. Perhaps what Lord Byron said to these unfortunate persons may appear somewhat unfeeling to the reader. I shall however beg leave to remind him of the Turkish mode of wooing, that the phrase “forming a seraglio,” is merely tantamount “to taking a wife,” and that under ordinary circumstances, a young Turkish female would probably hear it with the same sort of pleasure that one of our fair countrywomen would learn that a favourite swain was soliciting for the honour of her hand.

Whether the following little anecdote may be regarded as a proof of the respect in which Lord Byron was held by the people, or only of the natural kindness of the peasantry, I will not de-cide; but as a mere specimen of their manner, it seems worth mentioning.

He returned one day from his ride more than usually pleased. An interesting countrywoman, with a fine family, had come out of her cottage and presented him with a curd cheese and some honey, and could not be persuaded to accept of payment for it. “I have felt,” he said, “more pleasure this day, and at this circumstance, than for a long time past.” Then describing to me where he had seen her, he ordered me to find her out, and make her a present in return. “The peasantry,” he said, “are by far the most kind, humane, and honest part of the population; they redeem the character of their countrymen. The other classes are so debased by slavery; accustomed, like all slaves, never to speak truth, but only what will please their masters, that they cannot be trusted. Greece would not be worth saving but for the peasantry.”

Lord Byron then sat down to his cheese, and insisted on our partaking of his fare. A bottle of porter was sent for and broached, that we might join Byron in drinking health and happiness to the kind family which had procured him so great a pleasure.

CHAPTER VIII. LORD BYRON’S OPINIONS AND INTENTIONS WITH RESPECT TO GREECE.

One of the sentiments constantly uppermost in Lord Byron’s mind, and affording decisive evidence how deeply he felt his own disappointment, was caution in not lending himself to deceive others. Over and over again did he, in our conversations, dwell on the necessity of telling the people of England the truth as to Greece; over and over again did he condemn the works which had been published on the state of Greece. Lying, hypocritical publications he was accustomed to call them, deceiving both the Greeks and the English. To tell the truth on every thing relating to Greece, was one of his most frequent exhortations. It was his opinion that without English assistance, more particularly as to money, the Greeks could not succeed; and he knew that if the English public were once imposed on to a considerable amount, no assistance could afterwards be expected, and Greece would either return under the Turkish yoke, fall under the sceptre of some other barbarian Power, or remain for many years the prey of discord and anarchy. While the loan was negotiating, and after it was contracted for, he frequently congratulated himself that he had never written a single line to induce his countrymen to subscribe to it; and that they must hold him perfectly guiltless, should they afterwards lose their money, of having in any way contributed to delude them. “I hope,” he was accustomed to say, “this government which has enough on its hands, will behave so as not to injure its credit. I have not in any way encouraged the people of England to lend their money. I don’t understand loan-jobbing, and I should make a sorry appearance in writing home lying reports*.”

* This cautious conduct may perhaps excite some suspicions in the mind of those who have subscribed to the Greek loan; or who are now holders of Greek bonds. Lord Byron, even when his existence was of such material service in assisting

Lord Byron undertook to instruct me in the nature of Greek society, and his opinions being intended to guide my conduct, on which his own welfare, in some measure, depended, there can be no doubt of his perfect sincerity. He, of all modern English travellers, was probably the best capable of giving a correct opinion on this subject; and what he said is therefore particularly deserving of attention. It is so much opposed also to what might be expected from the poet of Greece, so completely free from all

the Greeks, concluded, I suppose, that the chances for the payment either of the principal or the interest of the loan were not great, and therefore he congratulated himself that he had been in no wise instrumental in persuading, by any sort of representations, the people of this country to lend their money to the Greeks. Since Lord Byron’s death, however, though they have met with some terrible disasters, their government seems to have triumphed over its domestic opponents, and to be now more than ever in a fair way of uniting all the Greeks in the pursuit of the one great object. The Turkish power also is evidently growing weaker, and cannot sustain even against this feeble opponent a protracted contest. When we see the ill-organized state of Turkey, the anarchy of its councils, the discontent of its soldiers, and the rebellion of its chiefs, our wonder is rather excited that so much time should have elapsed before the Greeks have completely achieved their independence! than that they should have struggled so long. This is partly explained by the division among their chiefs; and by some circumstances, not to the honour of some individuals in our country, which will be adverted to subsequently.

romance and delusion, that it was plainly the dictate of close observation and mature reason.

“The cause of Greece,” said Lord Byron, “naturally excites our sympathy. The very name of the country is associated in our minds with all that is exalted in virtue, or delightful in art. From it we have derived our knowledge, and under the guiding hand of its wisdom, did modern Europe make its first tottering and feeble steps towards civilization. In every mind at all embued with knowledge, she is regarded with the affection of a parent. Her people are Christians contending against Turks, and slaves struggling to be free. There never was a cause which, in this outline view of the matter, had such strong and commanding claims on the sympathy of the people of all Europe, and particularly of the people of England. But we must not at the same time forget what is the present state of the Greek population.

“We must not forget, though we speak of Greece and the Greeks, that there is no distinct country and no distinct people. There is no country, except the Islands, with a strongly-marked boundary separating it from other countries, either by physical properties, or by the manners and language of the people which we can properly call Greece. The boundaries of ancient Greece are not the boundaries of modern Greece, or of the countries inhabited by those to whom we give the name of Greeks. The different tribes of men, also, to whom we give this one general name, seem to have little or nothing in common more than the same faith and the same hatred of the Turks, their oppressors. There is the wily money-making Greek of the islands, the debased, intriguing, and corrupted Greek of the towns on the continent, and there is the hardy Greek peasant, whose good qualities are the redeeming virtues of the whole population. Under their chiefs and primates, under their captains and magistrates, they are now divided by more local jealousies, and more local distinctions, than in the days of their ancient glory, when Greece had no enemies but Greeks. We must not suppose under our name of Greeks, an entire, united, and single people, kept apart from all others by strongly-marked geographical or moral distinctions. On the contrary, those who are now contending for freedom are a mixed race of various tribes of men, having different apparent interests, and different opinions. Many of them differ from and hate one another, more even than they differ from and hate the Turks, to whose maxims of government and manners some of them, particularly the primates, are much attached. It is quite erroneous, therefore, to suppose under the name of Greece, one country, or under the name of Greeks, one people.

“The people whom we have come to assist have also the name of insurgents, and however just their cause, or enlightened their own view of the principles on which they contend, they must and will be considered by the government of Europe as insurgents, with all the disadvantages belonging to the name, till they are completely successful. At the beginning of the insurrection, all the Turks in authority and their adherents were indiscriminately massacred, their property plundered, and their power, where-ever the insurrection was successful, annihilated. Their places of worship were destroyed; the storks, a bird they reverence with a sort of idolatry, were everywhere shot, that no remembrance except hatred of the Turkish name, should exist in the country. Such acts are the natural consequences of long-suffering, particularly among men who have some traditional knowledge of the high renown of their ancestors; but they have not contributed to soften the Greek character; nor has the plunder of their masters failed to sow for the time the seeds of dissension and ambition among themselves. The insurrection was literally a slave breaking his chains on the head of his oppressor; but in es-caping from bondage, the Greeks acted without a plan. There was no system of insurrection organized, and the people, after the first flushing of their hatred was over, were easily stirred up to animosity against each other, and they fell again under the dominion of some ambitious chiefs, who had before been either the soldiers or the civil agents of the Pachas. They now want all the energy and the unity derived from an organized system of government, taming some of the passions and directing others to the public good. Time will bring such a system; for a whole nation can profit by no other teacher. A system of government must and will arise suitable to the knowledge and the wants of the people, and the relations which now exist among the different classes of them.

“I do not mean to say that they are not to profit by the experience of other people; on the contrary I would have them acquire all the knowledge they can, but they cannot be a book-learned people for ages;—they cannot for ages have that knowledge and that equality amongst them which are found in Europe, and therefore I would not recommend them to follow implicitly any system of government now established in the world, or to square their institutions by the theoretical forms of any constitution. I am still so much attached to the constitution of England personally, that were it to be attacked,—were any attempts made by any faction or party at home to put down its ancient and honourable aristocracy, I would be one of the first to uphold their cause with my life and fortune. At the same time I would not recommend that constitution to another country. It is the duty of every honourable man to assist every nation and every individual, as far as he can, in obtaining rational freedom, but before we can do this we must know in what freedom consists.

“In the United States of America there is more practical freedom, and a form of government both abstractedly better and more suited to the situation of the Greeks than any other model I know of. From what I have already said of the different interests and divisions which prevail in Greece, it is to me plain that no other government will suit it so well as a federation. I will not say a federation of republics; but a federation of states; each of these states having that particular form of government most suitable to the present situation and wishes of its people. There is no abstract form of government which we can call good. I won’t say with Pope, that “whate’er is best administered is best;” but I will say, that every government derives its efficiency as well as its power from the people. Despotism cannot exist where they are not sluggish, inert, insensible to political rights, and careless of any thing but animal enjoyment. Neither can freedom flourish where they confide implicitly in one class of men, and where they are not one and all watchful to protect themselves, and prevent both individual and general encroachment.

“In the Islands and on the Continent wealth and power are very differently distributed, and the governments are conducted on different principles. It would be absurd, therefore, and perhaps impossible, to give the islands and the continent the same sort of government. I say, therefore, the Grecian confederation must be one of states, and not of republics. Any attempt of an individual or of any one state to gain supremacy will bring on civil war and destruction. At the same time the federation might have a head like the United States of America. Each state might be represented in a congress, and a president elected every four years in succession, from one of the three or four great divisions of the whole federation. The Morea might choose the first president, the second might be elected by the Islands, Western Greece might select the third, and should Candia be united with Greece, which is necessary for the permanent independence of the whole, its inhabitants should in their turn elect a fourth president. On some plan of this kind a federation of the States of Greece might be formed, and it would be recommended to the Greeks by bearing some faint resemblance to the federation of their glorious ancestors; but any attempt to introduce one uniform system of government in every part of the country, however excellent in principle, will only embroil the different classes, generating anarchy, and ending in slavery.

“No system of government in any part of Greece can be permanent, which does not leave in the hands of the peasantry the chief part of the political power. They are warmly attached to their country, and they are the best portion of the people. Under a government in the least degree equitable, they must increase rapidly both in numbers and wealth; and unless they are now placed, in a political point of view, on an equality with other classes, it will soon be necessary to oppress them. They are not now sensible of their own importance, but they soon will be under a Greek government, and they can only be retained in obedience by gaining over their affections.

“Though the situation and climate of Greece are admirable, it has been impossible for the country to prosper under the yoke of the Turks. Their idleness, ignorance, oppression, and hostility to improvement, have nearly excluded the Greeks from any participation in the general progress of civilization. Where they have had the least opportunity of gaining either knowledge or wealth, they have eagerly embraced it. The inhabitants of the Islands are much better informed than those of the continent, and they are the most skilful as well as the boldest seamen, and the most acute traders, to be found in the whole course of the Mediterranean. The people are naturally as intelligent as their ancestors, but they have been debased and brutified by the tyrannical government of the Turks. Now there is some hope of their living under a better system, they will soon become both industrious and enterprising. Not only will they be more happy and flourishing as a nation, but having within them the elements of improvement, they must increase in power as the Turkish empire decays. There are numerous tribes in Asia connected with them by language and manners; which would be incorporated with them in their progress, and they might extend European civilization through the ancient empire of Cyrus and Xerxes, till they again met on the borders of Hindostan with those people who held out to them the right hand of fellowship in their first struggles for freedom and independence. This is what Greece might do, what in fact she formerly did. Not that I want to see the Greeks gaining power by conquest, they have territory enough; but, as I have said, the divisions among her different tribes, the want of unity in their views, the discord of her chieftains, are now so great that I am afraid all we can rationally hope for is, that by dint of hard fighting against the Turks in summer, and quarrelling among themselves in winter, they may preserve a troublesome sort of national independence till the Turkish empire crumbles into ruins. They may then have a chance of forming a distinguished province of some one of those mighty European monarchies which seem destined gradually to supplant the despotisms of Asia with a more regular and milder despotism.

“The Greek chiefs taken collectively,” said Lord Byron, “are a very respectable body of men. With one of them, Londa, I am particularly acquainted. I stopped at his house for some time when I was formerly in Greece, and he would not accept of a para for the trouble and expense I put him to. He presented me also with a very pretty horse at my departure. (This I shall not forget). The only chiefs who are particularly suspected of ambitious views are Colocotroni and Ulysses. Colocotroni, I am informed, was a captain in the Greek light infantry in the Ionian Islands; and at the commencement of the Greek contest, went over to the Morea with a number of adventurers. Whilst there was Turkish property to plunder, and whilst he could exact supplies from the poor peasantry, his force was respectably kept up. Of himself he has taken good care, having forwarded to the Islands, for his own private use, all the plunder he has been able to amass. He is said to have acquired great wealth. Except the power this may give him, and it will keep him afloat for some time, he will soon exhaust his resources. The peasantry are now bare: he has swept their houses cleaner than ever the Turks did; and his mercenary followers, finding they can get nothing more under his standard, will soon leave him. Mark my word, Napoli di Romania will soon be evacuated by him; and either the Greek cause will not flourish, or he will fail.

“Ulysses is suspected by the Greek government. A short time back two messengers were sent to him with orders from the government, and he put them both to death. He has been a robber, and was brought up in the service of Ali Pacha; both which circumstances excite suspicion. These difficulties will probably be surmounted when the government gets funds, for it is quite true in Greece that he who has money has power. I have experienced this since my arrival, and have had offers* that would surprise you were I to tell

* I should have left this part of the subject in the obscurity of the text, had I not seen it stated in the “London Magazine,” I think, that Lord Byron had a bad motive for his exertions in the cause of Greece. It is insinuated that he was ac-

you of them, and which would turn the head of any man less satiated than I am, and more desirous of possessing power than of contributing to freedom and happiness.

“To all these offers, and to every application

tuated by the vulgar ambition of a conqueror, and wished to be something like a king in Greece. No insinuation was ever more unfounded. He had offers of this kind made to him, but he refused. With his pecuniary resources, such is the mercenary disposition of the Greeks, it was, I am persuaded, only necessary for him to have devoted his fortune to the purpose, and he could have formed an army that would have incorporated in it all that was brave and ambitious in Greece. No single chieftain could have resisted; and all of them would have been obliged, because they could not trust one another, to join their forces with his. The whole of the Suliotes were completely at his beck. He could have commanded and procured the assassination of any man in Greece for a sum too trifling to mention. The task would have been full of danger undoubtedly, but what attempt to gain such power is not? It was not however beyond his abilities, had his inclination inclined him to undertake it. He was too certain of commanding the respect of mankind by his admirable talents, to hunt after their admiration by any kind of vulgar atrocity. He never wished to possess political power in Greece, though he fought for her freedom; and he might have been the head man of the country, had he chosen to oppose the government.

That he was sensible of his power is quite evident from what he frequently said to me. “Any man who had money,” he said, “may arrogate consequence to himself. What prevents me, if I were so minded, from forming a large military force in Greece. I might send to England and procure a set of veteran practical non-commissioned officers and practical mechanics, by whose

made to me, which had a tendency to provoke disputes or increase discord, I have always replied, I came here to serve Greece; agree among yourselves for the good of your country, and whatever is your united resolve, and whatever the government commands, I shall be ready to support with my fortune and my sword. I am here to act against the external enemies and tyrants of Greece and will not take part with any faction in the country. We who come here to fight for Greece have no right to meddle with its internal affairs, or dictate to the people and government; since I have been here, I have seen and felt quite enough to try the temper of any man, but I will remain here, while there is a gleam of hope.

“Much is expected from the loan, and I know that without money it is impossible to succeed, but I am apprehensive this foreign assistance will be looked on by each of the chiefs, as a prize to be obtained by contention, and may lead to a civil

means, and my own resources, I could set many things in motion. If I had only men to teach the Greeks some of the necessary arts, and were able to supply their want of warlike stores, I could find plenty of men; and an army might be at my command. The fortifications I could repair so as to make them secure against all attacks. The navy I could set afloat, and if I liked, have my own way in Greece; but I repeat I came here to serve the Greeks on their own conditions and in their own way, and I will not swerve while life remains from this intention.”

war. The government, which has contracted for the loan, looks with no favourable eye on Colocotroni and Ulysses, and yet they are, probably, two of the bravest and most skilful of the military chieftains. I have advised Mavrocordato to recommend the government to supply these chiefs with money, but to keep them as short as possible. I have also recommended him, and if this advice is followed, much good may be effected, immediately on the receipt of the loan, to pay up the arrears of the troops, particularly of the Suliotes, and to take care that their families are provided for. They are the best mountain-soldiers in Greece, and perhaps in the world; but they are without a country, and without a home. I know that an offer has been made, to restore them to their former country, if they will forsake the Greek cause, and I see no means of firmly attaching them to it, but to pay them regularly, and, by providing for their families, to secure hostages for their continued services.

“Mr. Canning may do much for Greece; I hope he will continue in office. He is a clever man, and has an opportunity beyond all his predecessors, of effecting great things. The ball is at his feet, but he must keep a high hand, and neither swerve to the right nor left. South America will give him an opportunity of acting on sound principles; on this point he will not be shackled. The great mechanical power of England, her vast ingenuity, gives him the control of the world; but the very existence of England’s superiority hangs on the balance of his decision. This minister bears all the responsibility. With respect to Greece it is different. The Turkish empire is our barrier against the power of Russia. The Greeks, should they gain their independence, will have quite sufficient territory in the Morea, Western Greece, and the islands.

“It will take a century to come, to change their character. Canning I have no doubt will proceed with caution—he can act strictly honourable to the Turks. I have no enmity to the Turks individually, they are quite as good as the Greeks; I am displeased to hear them called barbarians. They are charitable to the poor, and very humane to animals; their curse, is the system of their government, and their religion or superstition.

“I hope England will keep possession of the Ionian Islands; with them and Malta, she may preserve her naval superiority for ages to come.”

As the advances which Lord Byron had made to the Greeks were to be paid out of the loan, he was on this account also anxious that the money might arrive; otherwise his own resources and his own projects would be crippled. When the money arrived, he would be at liberty, he said, to follow his own plans. He could obtain what supplies he pleased from Ancona, and then with his own brigade, the Suliotes, and the force to be put under his orders, we should be fully competent to invest Lepanto, and take both it and Patrass. “This shall be my first object,” he said, “at the beginning of the campaign; Patrass and Lepanto being in our possession, the Morea will be secure, and we may think of more offensive warfare.” For this particular service, his own brigade was to be ready, as I have already stated, by May 7th.

“My future intentions, as to Greece may be explained in a few words; I will remain here, till she is secure against the Turks, or till she has fallen under their power. All my income shall be spent in her service, but unless driven by some great necessity, I will not touch a farthing of the sum intended for my sister’s children. Whatever I can accomplish with my income, and my personal exertions, shall be cheerfully done. When Greece is secure against external enemies, I will leave the Greeks to settle their government as they like. One service more, and an eminent service it will be, I think I may perform for them. You shall have a schooner built for me, or I will buy a vessel; the Greeks shall invest me with the character of their ambassador or agent; I will go to the United States, and procure that free and enlightened government, to set the example of recognising the Federation of Greece, as an independent state. This done, England must follow the example, and then the fate of Greece will be permanently fixed, and she will enter into all her rights, as a member of the great commonwealth of Christian Europe.”

This was Lord Byron’s hope, and this was to be his last project in favour of Greece. Nothing, I think, within the power of an individual to accomplish, could be better conceived, or would have tended more to the advantage of Greece, than this simple and noble plan. Into it no motive of personal ambition entered, more than that just and proper one, the basis of all virtue and the distinguished characteristic of an honourable mind; the hope of gaining the approbation of good men. As an author, he had already attained the pinnacle of popularity and of fame; but this did not satisfy his noble ambition. He hastened to Greece, with a devotion to liberty, and a zeal in favour of the oppressed, as pure as ever shone in the bosom of a knight, in the purest days of chivalry, to gain the reputation of an unsullied warrior, and of a disinterested statesman. He was her unpaid, but the blessings of all Greece, and the high honours his own countrymen bestow on his memory, bearing him in their hearts, prove that he was not her unrewarded, champion.

CHAPTER IX. LORD BYRON’S OPINIONS.

Of the Greek Committee—Mr. Blaquiere—Honorary Secretary Bowring—Colonel Stanhope—Mr. Gordon—Subjects for Don Juan—Opinion of Missolonghi—Sir Francis Burdett—Patriotic Committees—Mr. Bentham’s Cruise—Author’s Introduction to him—His breakfast and dinner hour—Source of a mistake—Adventures with him—Byron a Carbonaro—A reverend opponent of Lord Byron—His detestation of hypocrites—Favourable opinion of mechanics—Mode of welcoming him at Anatolica—His opinions on religion—Or forms of government—The United States of America—Belief in ghosts and presentiments—Anecdote of the late Queen—His opinion of marriage—Of Lord Byron—Mr. Southey—Sir Walter Scott—Mr. Cooke the actor.

In the present chapter, I shall set down what I recollect of Lord Byron’s opinions, as to his coadjutors, the Greek committee, of Sir Francis Burdett, of Mr. Bentham, and of some other persons and things.

The Greek committee have a great plenty of defenders, and may well despise one voice lifted up against them. Among them, there are poets, orators, and authors. The press seems listed in their service, and they will scarcely regard one feeble note of dispraise. The voice that might, if energetically raised, have carried fear and contrition to their hearts, lies hushed in death, and I can only echo some of its faintest tones.

In discussing the merits of Mr. Gordon’s offer, which was rather a favourite topic of Lord Byron’s conversation, he asked, which I of course could not answer, though the committee may,—Had circulars been sent to the different noblemen, and gentlemen who had subscribed? Had they been informed of that offer, and told, that the committee, for want of a little increase of means, could not accept it. This was an affair, he said, he would like to sift to the bottom. “I conceive,” he added, “that I have been already grossly ill-treated by the committee. In Italy, Mr. Blaquiere, their agent, informed me that every requisite supply would be forwarded with all dispatch. I was disposed to come to Greece, but I hastened my departure, in consequence of earnest solicitations. No time was to be lost, I was told, and Mr. Blaquiere instead of waiting on me, at his return from Greece, left a paltry note, which gave me no information whatever. If I ever meet with him, I shall not fail to mention my surprise at his conduct; but it has been all of a piece. I wish the acting committee had had some of the trouble which has fallen on me, since my arrival here; they would have been more prompt in their proceedings, and would have known better what the country stood in need of. They would not have delayed the supplies a day, and they would not have sent out German officers, poor fellows, to starve at Missolonghi, but for my assistance. I am a plain man, and cannot comprehend the use of printing presses to a people who do not read. Here, the committee have sent supplies of maps, I suppose, that I may teach the young mountaineers geography. Here are bugle-horns, without bugle-men, and it is a chance if we can find any body in Greece to blow them. Books are sent to a people who want guns; they ask for a sword, and the Committee give them the lever of a printing press. Heavens! one would think the Committee meant to inculcate patience and submission, and to condemn resistance. Some materials for constructing fortifications they have sent, but they have chosen their people so ill, that the work is deserted, and not one para have they sent to procure other labourers.

“Their secretary, Mr. Bowring, was disposed I believe, to claim the privileges of an acquaintance with me. He wrote me a long letter, about the classic land of freedom, the birth-place of the arts, the cradle of genius, the habitation of the gods, the heaven of poets, and a great many such fine things. I was obliged to answer him, and I scrawled some nonsense in reply to his nonsense; but I fancy I shall get no more such epistles. When I came to the conclusion of the poetry part of my letter, I wrote, ‘so much for blarney, now for business.’ I have not since heard in the same strain from Mr. Bowring.

“Here too is the chief agent of the Committee, Colonel Stanhope, organizing the whole country. He leaves nothing untouched, from the general government, to the schools for children. He has a plan for organizing the military force, for establishing posts, for regulating the administration of justice, for making Mr. Bentham the apostle of the Greeks, and for whipping little boys, in the newest and most approved mode. He is for doing all this, without a reference to any body, or any thing; complains bitterly of a want of practical statesmen in Greece, and would be glad I believe, to import a large supply of Mr. Bentham’s books, and scholars. Mavrocordato he openly beards, as if the Prince knew nothing of Greece, and was quite incapable of forming a correct opinion of its interests. At the same time, he has no funds to carry all his projects into execution. He is a mere schemer and talker, more of a saint than a soldier; and with a great deal of pretended plainness, a mere politician, and no patriot.

“His printer and publisher, Dr. Meyler, is a German adventurer, who is quite in a rage with the quakers, for sending medicines to Greece. He knows nothing of either the Greek or the English language; and if he did, who would buy his paper? The Greeks have no money, and will not read newspapers for ages to come. There is no communication with different parts of the country; there is no means of receiving any news; and no means of sending it, when got. Stanhope begins at the wrong end, and from observing that, in our wealthy and civilized country, rapid communication is one means of improvement, he wants to establish posts—mail-carts, I believe is his object, among a people who have no food. Communication, though a cause of increased wealth and increased civilization, is the result of a certain degree of both; and he would have it without the means. He is like all political jobbers, who mistake the accessories of civilization for its cause; they think if they only hoist the colours of freedom, they will immediately transform a crazy water-logged bark into a proud man-of-war. Stanhope, I believe, wants discussion in Greece—pure abstract discussion; as if he were ignorant, that in a country where there are one hundred times as many readers, proportionably, as in Greece, where the people have been readers of newspapers for a century, and read them every day, they care nothing about his favourite discussion, and will not listen either to Mr. Bentham’s, or any other person’s logic. I have subscribed to his paper, to get rid of Stanhope’s importunities, and it may be, keep Gamba out of mischief*; at any rate he can mar nothing of less importance.

“I thought Colonel Stanhope, being a soldier, would have shewn himself differently. He ought to know what a nation like Greece needs for its defence, and being on the acting committee, he should have told them that arms, and the materials for carrying on war, were what the Greeks required. The country once cleared of the enemy, the land would be cultivated, commerce would increase, and if a good government were established, knowledge and improvement of every kind, even including a multitude of journals, would speedily follow. But Stanhope, I repeat, is beginning at the wrong end, and expects by introducing some of the signs of wealth and knowledge, to make the people rich and intelligent. He might as well expect to give them the opulence of London, by establishing a Long’s Hotel in this swamp; or to make the women adopt

* Lord Byron had a curious opinion of this young nobleman, which I must mention to explain this passage; he thought him destined to he unfortunate, and that he was one of those persons with whom every thing goes wrong. According to Lord Byron’s view, he could not encourage him to engage in any thing, ruining which would be so little prejudicial as the newspaper.

all our fashions, by setting up a man milliner’s shop.

“Gordon was a much wiser and more practical man than Stanhope. Stanhope has brought with him Nabob airs from Hindostan; and while he cajoles the people, wishes to govern them. He would be delighted, could he become administrator of the revenue, or resident at the court of the Greek republic. Gordon has been in Greece, and expended a large sum of money here. He bought his experience, and knows the country. His plan was the one to have acted on; but his noble offer seems so far to have surpassed the notions and expectations of the Committee, that it staggered them. They had done nothing like it, and could not credit this generosity and enthusiasm in another. All their deeds have been only talk and foolery. Had their whole property been at stake in Greece, they would have shewn more zeal. Mr. Gordon’s offer would have been promptly acceded to; we should have had by this time, an army regularly organized of three thousand men, Lepanto would have been taken, and Greece secured. Well, well, I’ll have my revenge: talk of subjects for Don Juan, this Greek business, its disasters and mismanagement, have furnished me with matter for a hundred cantos. Jeremy Bentham and his scholar, Colonel Stanhope, shall be two of my heroes.

“I do not intend to write till next winter; then I may possibly finish another Canto. There will be both comedy and tragedy; my good countrymen supply the former, and Greece the latter. In one week, I have been in a fit: the troops mutined—a Turkish brig burned—Sass killed—an earthquake—thunder, lightning, and torrents of rain—such a week I never witnessed. I shall tire them all with Juan’s pranks.

“My situation here,” he was accustomed to say, “is unbearable. A town without any resources, and a government without money; imprisoned by the floods, unable to take any exercise, pestered by demands, without the means of satisfying them or doing any thing either to relieve them, or myself, I must have left this hole, had you not arrived. I may now do something. Missolonghi and Anatolica are the keys of Western Greece, and protect the Morea on the side of Albania. If Mr. Gordon’s offer had been acted on, as it ought to have been, you would have been here four months sooner. His exertions and mine would have effected every thing, would have restored union here, and have encouraged the friends of Greece at home. But instead of an efficient expedition, there came out a few English and German adventurers, a few stores, and musical instruments.”

This subject always excited a considerable de-gree of irritation in his mind, and getting up, he stamped with his foot, shewing how much he was vexed.

“Sir Francis Burdett,” he said, “I am sure, can know nothing of what is going on. I shall always respect Sir Francis; I am told he does not trouble himself so much as formerly about politics. I am glad of it; it has cost him enormous sums of money, and he has experienced ingratitude enough, to teach him to be quiet. He is the firm friend of liberty, on constitutional principles, and is highly respected by the first men of England, belonging to both parties. He is one of the old school, and a man I shall always esteem and honour. You’ll never find him, or such men as he is, stepping into the office of chairman, auditor, or cashier, by means of petty contributions. He does not provide for his family and dependents by thrusting them into offices, while he covers his attacks on the public purse by the cloak of patriotism. Men who do this are the worst of hypocrites, the most cursed race in existence. I know them well, and know what stuff your committees, and such patriotic bodies, are made of. Honorary secretaries, bankers to the cause they pretend to serve. They should call themselves pecuniary, and then terms would have their proper meaning.”

Lord Byron asked me, in the course of my con-versations, did I know Mr. Bentham? I said I had seen him previously to my leaving England, that he had invited me to dine with him, and had been with me to see the preparations for the expedition. He had behaved very civilly to me, I said, but I thought him a little flighty. Lord Byron eagerly asked me in what way, and I told him. At hearing my account, his Lordship laughed most immoderately, and made me repeat it over and over again. He declared, when he had fished out every little circumstance, he would not have lost it for a thousand guineas. I shall here relate this little occurrence, not out of any disrespect to Mr. Bentham, but because he is a great man, and the world are very fond of hearing of great men. Moreover, Lord Byron has been somewhat censured, chiefly, I think, for not having a most profound respect for Mr. Bentham; and the following little story goes at least to prove, that some of this philosopher’s peculiarities might very naturally excite the laughter of the poet. Mr. Bentham is said also to have a great wish for celebrity, and he will not therefore be displeased, by my sounding another note to his fame, which may, perchance, convey it where it has not yet reached.

Shortly before I left London for Greece, Mr. Bowring, the honorary secretary to the Greek committee informed me, that Mr. Jeremy Ben-tham wished to see the stores and materials, preparing for the Greeks, and that he had done me the honour of asking me to breakfast with him some day, that I might afterwards conduct him to see the guns, &c.

“Who the devil is Mr. Bentham?” was my rough reply, “I never heard of him before.” Many of my readers may still be in the same state of ignorance, and it will be acceptable to them, I hope, to hear of the philosopher.

“Mr. Bentham,” said Mr. Bowring, “is one of the greatest men of the age, and for the honour now offered to you, I waited impatiently many a long day; I believe for more than two years.”

“Great or little, I never heard of him before; but if he wants to see me, why I’ll go.”

It was accordingly arranged, that I should visit Mr. Bentham, and that Mr. Bowring should see him to fix the time, and then inform me. In a day or two afterwards, I received a note from the honorary secretary, to say I was to breakfast with Mr. Bentham on Saturday. It happened that I lived at a distance from town, and having heard something of the primitive manner of living, and early hours of philosophers, I arranged with my wife over-night, that I would get up very early on the Saturday morning, that I might not keep Mr. Bentham waiting. Accordingly, I rose with the dawn, dressed myself in haste, and brushed off for Queen’s-square, Westminster, as hard as my legs could carry me. On reaching the Strand, fearing I might be late, being rather corpulent, and not being willing to go into the presence of so very great a man, as I understood Mr. Jeremy Bentham to be, puffing and blowing, I took a hackney coach, and drove up to his door about eight o’clock. I found a servant girl a-foot, and told her I came to breakfast with Mr. Bentham by appointment.

She ushered me in, and introduced me to two young men, who looked no more like philosophers, however, than my own children. I thought they might be Mr. Bentham’s sons, but this I understood was a mistake. I shewed them the note I had received from Mr. Bowring, and they told me Mr. Bentham did not breakfast till three o’clock. This surprised me much, but they told me I might breakfast with them, which I did, though I was not much flattered by the honour of setting down with Mr. Bentham’s clerks, when I was invited by their master. Poor Mr. Bowring, thought I, he must be a meek spirited young man if it was for this he waited so impatiently.

I supposed the philosopher himself did not get up till noon, as he did not breakfast till so late, but in this I was also mistaken. About ten o’clock I was summoned to his presence, and mustered up all my courage, and all my ideas for the meeting. His appearance struck me forcibly. His white thin locks cut straight in the fashion of the quakers, and hanging or rather floating on his shoulders; his garments something of their colour and cut, and his frame rather square and muscular, with no exuberance of flesh, made up a singular looking and not an inelegant old man. He welcomed me with a few hurried words, but without any ceremony, and then conducted me into several rooms to shew me his ammunition and materials of war. One very large room was nearly filled with books; and another with unbound works, which, I understood, were the philosopher’s own composition. The former he said furnished him his supplies; and there was a great deal of labour required to read so many volumes.

I said inadvertently, “I suppose you have quite forgotten what is said in the first before you read the last.” Mr. Bentham however took this in good part, and taking hold of my arm, said we would proceed on our journey. Accordingly off we set, accompanied by one of his young men carrying a portfolio, to keep, I suppose, a log of our proceedings.

We went through a small garden, and passing out of a gate, I found we were in Saint James’s Park. Here I noticed that Mr. Bentham had a very snug dwelling, with many accommodations, and such a garden as belongs in London only to the first nobility. But for his neighbours, I thought, for he has a barrack of soldiers on one side of his premises, I should envy him his garden more than his great reputation. On looking at him, I could but admire his hale and even venerable appearance. I understood he was seventy-three years of age, and therefore I concluded we should have a quiet comfortable walk. Very much to my surprise, however, we had scarcely got into the Park, when he let go my arm, and set off trotting like a Highland messenger. The Park was crowded, and the people, one and all, seemed to stare at the old man; but heedless of all this he trotted on, his white locks floating in the wind, as if he were not seen by a single human being.

As soon as I could recover from my surprise, I asked the young man, “Is Mr. Bentham flighty,” pointing to my head. “Oh no, it’s his way,” was the hurried answer, “he thinks it good for his health, but I must run after him,” and offset the youth in chace of the philosopher. I must not lose my companions, thought I, and off I set also. Of course the eyes of every human being in the Park were fixed on the running veteran and his pursuers. There was Jerry a-head, then came his clerk and his portfolio, and I being a heavier sailer than either, was bringing up the rear.

What the people might think, I don’t know, but it seemed to me a very strange scene, and I was not much delighted at being made such an object of attraction. Mr. Bentham’s activity surprised me, and I never overtook him or came near him till we reached the Horse Guards, where his speed was checked by the Blues drawn up in array. Here we threaded in amongst horses and men till we escaped at the other gate into Whitehall. I now thought the crowded streets would prevent any more racing; but several times he escaped from us, and trotted off, compelling us to trot after him till we reached Mr. Galloway’s manufactory in Smithfield. Here he exulted in his activity, and inquired particularly if I had ever seen a man at his time of life so active. I could not possibly answer, no, while I was almost breathless with the exertion of following him through the crowded streets.

After seeing at Mr. Galloway’s manufactory, not only the things which had been prepared for the Greeks, but his other engines and machines, we proceeded to another manufactory at the foot of Southwark bridge, where our brigade of guns stood ready mounted. When Mr. Bentham had satisfied his curiosity here also, and I had given him every information in my power, we set off to return to his house, that he might breakfast; I endeavoured to persuade him to take a hackney-coach, but in vain. We got on tolerably well, and without any adventures, tragical or comical, till we arrived at Fleet-street. We crossed from Fleet Market over towards Mr. Waithman’s shop, and here, letting go my arm, he quitted the foot pavement, and set off again in one of his vagaries up Fleet-street. His clerk again set off after him, and I again followed. The race here excited universal attention. The perambulating ladies, who are always in great numbers about that part of the town, and ready to laugh at any kind of oddity, and catch hold of every simpleton, stood and stared at or followed the venerable philosopher. One of them, well known to all the neighbourhood, by the appellation of the City barge, given to her on account of her extraordinary bulk, was coming with a consort full sail down Fleet-street, but whenever they saw the flight of Mr. Jeremy Bentham, they hove too, tacked, and followed to witness the fun or share the prize. I was heartily ashamed of participating in this scene, and supposed that every body would take me for a mad doctor, the young man for my assistant, and Mr. Bentham for my patient, just broke adrift from his keepers.

Fortunately the chase did not continue long. Mr. Bentham hove too abreast of Carlisle’s shop, and stood for a little time to admire the books and portraits hanging in the window. At length one of them arrested his attention more particularly. “Ah, ah,” said he, in a hurried indistinct tone, “there it is, there it is,” pointing to a portrait which I afterwards found was that of the illustrious Jeremy himself.

Soon after this, I invented an excuse to quit Mr. Bentham and his man, promising to go to Queen-square to dine. I was not, however, to be again taken in by the philosopher’s meal hours; so, laying in a stock of provisions, I went at his dining hour, half-past ten o’clock, and supped with him. We had a great deal of conversation, particularly about mechanical subjects, and the art of war. I found the old gentleman as lively with his tongue as with his feet, and passed a very pleasant evening; which ended by my pointing out, at his request, a plan for playing his organ by the steam of his tea-kettle. This little history gave Lord Byron a great deal of pleasure; he very often laughed as I told it; he laughed much at its conclusion, and he frequently bade me repeat what he called Jerry Bentham’s Cruise.

In the course of the conversation at Mr. Bentham’s, he enquired of me if I had ever visited America in my travels?—I said, Yes, I had resided there for some time.—Have you read Miss Wright’s book on that country?—Yes.—What do you think of it; does it give a good description of America? Here I committed another fault. “She knows no more of America,” I replied, “than a cow does of a case of instruments,” Such a reply was a com-plete damper to Mr. Bentham’s eloquence on the subject. No two men could well be more opposed to each other than we were, and our whole conversation consisted in this sort of cross-firing. Opposition appeared to be something Mr. Bentham was not accustomed to, and my blunt manner gave it still more the zest of novelty. He laughed and rambled to some other subject, to get another such a damper. In my talk there was much want of knowledge and of tact. No man, acquainted with party feelings, or with that sort of minor literary history, which is so much the topic of conversation, I am told, among literary people, could have been guilty of my blunder. He would have known that Miss Wright spoke what Mr. Jeremy Bentham and his friends wished to be true, and that she was in an especial manner a favourite of his. It was not till I was informed of these things, by Lord Byron I believe, that I discovered how very rude I had been, and how much reason Mr. Bentham would have to find fault with my want of manners.

“What do they say of my politics in England?” was a question Lord Byron put to me. “I hear they call me a Carbonaro. I am one. Italy required an alteration in her government, The people were happier and more secure under Napoleon than under the Austrians; and I blame them, not for their attempt, but their failure. They don’t hate the Austrians half as much as they deserve, and if they did hate them more they would sweep these intruders from their country. In wishing Italy to be free, and the Italians to be united, I am a Carbonaro.

“Persons represent me as a leveller and an infidel, I am neither; and those who vilify me should take care of themselves. I shall not forget them; and I hear that a reverend gentleman, who was accustomed to deal out philippics against me, has got into a worse scrape than ever I did. He was very violent in his declamation, and must have been a detestable hypocrite. Hypocrisy is of all crimes the worst. No man has suffered more than I have from deception, particularly during the unfortunate and unpleasant occurrence with Lady Byron. —— was supposed to be a man of the very highest integrity; he deceived me at the moment; I placed the greatest confidence in him; but he is dead, and my resentment does not go beyond the grave. I find consolation now in reflecting on such matters; for my conduct has been like the arrow’s flight, compared to their sinuous serpent-like track.”

After my acquaintance with Lord Byron, he took a great interest in all that concerned the welfare of the working classes, and particularly of the artisans.

“I have lately read,” he said on one occasion, “of an institution recently established in London for the instruction of mechanics. I highly approve of this, and intend to subscribe 50l. to it, but I shall accompany the order for the money with a letter giving my opinion on the subject. I am always apprehensive schemes of this description are intended to dupe people, and unless all the offices in such an institution are filled with real practical mechanics, the working classes will soon find themselves deceived. If they permit any but mechanics to have the direction of their affairs, they will only become the tools of others. The real working man will soon be ousted, and his more cunning pretended friends will take possession and reap all the benefits. It gives me pleasure to think what a mass of natural intellect this will call into action; if the plan succeed, and I firmly hope it may, the ancient aristocracy of England will be secure for ages to come. The most useful and numerous body of people in the nation will then judge for themselves, and when properly informed will judge correctly. There is not on earth a more honourable body of men than the English nobility, and there is no system of government under which life and property are better secured than under the British constitution.

“The mechanics and working classes who can maintain their families, are in my opinion the happiest body of men. Poverty is wretchedness; but it is perhaps to be preferred to the heartless unmeaning dissipation of the higher orders. I am thankful I am now entirely clear of this, and my resolution to remain clear of it for the rest of my life shall be immutable.

“The Greeks on the continent,” said Lord Byron, “follow the Turkish custom in welcoming strangers, and when I arrived at Anatolica, they fired their carbines with ball so close to my head, that I thought there was no possibility of escaping. I expected to be shot, and though I laughed heartily, was a little frightened at first. I was delighted however with the people, they themselves seemed so delighted. Anatolica is an unhealthy swamp, like Missolonghi. Greece, generally, is like every half-cleared, half-cultivated country, not very healthy. To remain in such places as Missolonghi or Anatolica during the summer is almost certain death. When the campaign opens in May, we will take to the mountains; there we shall enjoy freedom and escape disease.”

This is what Lord Byron frequently said to me on the subject of religion:—

“I have both been annoyed and amused by numerous attacks on my religious opinions, and with the conversations about them. It is really astonishing how these Religionists persecute. No situation in life secures a man from their importunities. Under a pretence of being greatly apprehensive for our eternal welfare, if we do not follow their dictum, they persecute us in every way possible. True religion teaches man humility, charity, kindness, and every good act. Professing religion is now become quite a trade. Thousands sally forth to escape from labour, without the least claim either by education, character, or station in society, and assume the character of teachers. They embrace different opinions, and are continually bellowing damnation against each other. All join to crush liberal sentiments; they have sworn a bond against that charity which thinketh no evil; and they will remain in this disposition until the bulk of mankind think for themselves. As long as they are so ignorant as to be credulous, there will always be impostors to profit by their credulity. It would fill a volume to record the manner in which I have been attacked. I am sure that no man reads the Bible with more pleasure than I do; I read a chapter every day, and in a short time shall be able to beat the Canters with their own weapons. Most of them are like the Catholics, who place the Virgin Mary before Christ, and Christ before God; only they have substituted the Apostle Paul for the Virgin, and they place him above Jesus, and Jesus above the Almighty.

“Clergymen ought to possess a perfect knowledge of astronomy; no science expands the mind so much; it does away with narrow ideas. A moral character is requisite in clergymen above all other men, and if they cannot give that comfort they pretend to have a wish to give, they have at least no right to impress on the mind of their followers such damning anathemas. This is cruel, wicked, and unjust—man cannot progress beyond his ideas, as they enlarge, he becomes more liberal and less persecuting. All men believe in the great first cause, which we call Almighty God. Love of life is fear of death, or of annihilation, and therefore we hope to enjoy eternal life. The liberal principles of Christianity, what Christ taught,—mind, I say what Christ taught,—I have no doubt would be conducive to the happiness of the world; but the system of ramming opinions down our throats does harm to the cause, which the fanatical preachers endeavour to support.*

* In support of what is said in the text, I subjoin here an extract from a letter written to me by Mr. Kennedy, the gentleman who has been so much spoken of from his religious discussion with Lord Byron:—

“During his (Lord Byron’s) residence in Cephalonia, I had many long and interesting conversations with his Lordship on religion; and although I was not successful in bringing over his Lordship to those views of religion which I believe to be just, yet I conceive that the publication of our conversations will be favourably received by the public, who will naturally be pleased to know what such a celebrated man said of religion, and what was said to him on that subject. The object of my work will be to present a true and faithful picture of his Lordship, as far as I saw it myself, or others saw it, on whose authority I can safely rely. It will prove that his Lordship, if not

“While at Cephalonia, a gentleman of the name of Kennedy was introduced to me; I have a respect for him, and believe him sincere in his professions. He endeavoured to convince me that his ideas of religion were correct. At that time my mind was taken up with many other matters, particularly with Greece. I like to be civil and to give answers to questions which are put to me, although it is not pleasant to be questioned, particularly on abstruse subjects. They require a depth of thought, and such men as I am think deeply. Our minds are filled with ten thousand ideas. I answered Mr. Kennedy, therefore, though without any intention of converting him or allowing myself to be converted. I believe even then, though unprepared, I had very often the best of the argument, and now I am sure I could defeat him. He was not a skilful disputant.

“Even Greece is not to be clear of strife, as respects her religious institutions. I hear that Missionaries are to be introduced before the country is cleared of the enemy, and religious disputes are to be added to the other sources of

a real Christian, was not a confirmed infidel; that he wished to believe in the truth of Christianity if he could; that he was not happy in the unsettled opinions which he had respecting religion; and that latterly he studied the subject more than he was accustomed to do. It is perhaps necessary to inform you that I am a member of the Church of Scotland, the fundamental articles of belief of which, are precisely the same as those contained in the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England.”

discord. How very improper are such proceedings—nothing could be more impolitic; it will cause ill blood throughout the country, and very possibly be the means of again bringing Greece under the Turkish yoke. Can it be supposed that the Greek Priesthood, who have great influence and even power, will tamely submit to see interested self-opinionated foreigners interfere with their flocks? I say again, clear the country, and teach the people, I mean the labouring people, to read and write, and they will judge for themselves.*” Look at Anatolica, what a beneficial effect was produced there by the fall of a shell fired from the Turkish camp; the shell fell into the Church, and struck a pipe (some depth under the surface) of an ancient aqueduct, entirely unknown to the inhabitants. The Priests took a proper advantage of this to stimulate the Greeks to further resistance; it acted like an electrical shock; the supply of water relieved their wants, and the Priests ascribed it to

* Colonel Stanhope was one of the persons who seemed most anxious to introduce Missionaries into Greece. One of the persons whom he expressly invited had any thing but a good character. It is not for me to give currency to all the scandalous reports which were in circulation, and therefore I shall be silent. Missionaries, however, are men, and their trifling backslidings, suffering the spirit to be subdued by the flesh, would really be very excusable, were it not that they condemn themselves by their exhortations to others, and by falling so very short of the hypocritical model they hold up to public approbation.

the immediate intervention of the Almighty, and to the purity of the Greek Church. But if Schism had been introduced among the people, every effort of this kind would have been paralysed.”

With all Lord Byron’s aristocratical prejudices, and it would be the extreme of folly to attribute to him any attachment to democracy, such as it has shewn itself in modern times, he was by no means insensible to all the advantages of liberal institutions. His hatred, however, of any particular form of government, arose not from any deduction of reasoning, but from some palpable evidence of injustice, cruelty, and oppression. His opinions were the results of his feelings, and were what rigid logicians call prejudices. They were formed, as I have often heard him say, though my expressions fall short of his vigorous language, from what he had seen and felt, and not from any theory. He knew, as every man knows, of the astonishing increase and prosperity of the United States of America, and without being able, like Colonel Stanhope, to expatiate at large on the theory of this prosperity, out of his love to human-kind, he loved the government which, undisturbed by jealousy, allowed its subjects to be free and happy.

“I wish well,” he used to say, “to the United States of America: the government of that country is suitable to the people. The Americans profit very much by the emigration of artisans and me-chanics, who carry with them, ready formed, that skill it has cost England vast sums of money to bring to perfection. They are children, who profit by the knowledge of their parents, but who are at the same time the victims of their prejudices. They have a fresh country to work on, and the civilization and knowledge of Europe to work with. They have carried with them, however, some of the worst vices of European society, and they have been heightened in the Southern States by a voluptuous climate, and by the facility the people once had of procuring slaves. Though I think the government of America good, because it is the government of the whole people, and adapted to their views, I have no love for America. It is not a country I should like to visit. The Americans, they say, are great egotists. I suppose ail the people of young countries are so. Man must have something to be vain of, and when he has no ancestors in whose fame he may exult, h« must talk and boast of himself. If we had as much communication with the natives of Owhyhee, or with the Indians of the Continent of America, as we have with the inhabitants of the United States, and if we understood their language, we should find them as vain-glorious as the Americans. An Englishman does not boast of himself, because he can always boast of his country. For this he is called a patriot; but if he were to praise himself as much as he praises his institutions, he would be called an ass. He indulges his vanity, and gets credit for patriotism. Since it is found that the American government works well, in the political slang of the day, the Americans begin to boast of it. In a few years more, when they have produced a score or two of such men as Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson, when they can talk with pride of the antiquity of their institutions; when they can exult, perhaps, in some hundred victories, like that of New Orleans, selfishness and egotism will change their meaning, and be merged into a love of their country.

“On this account I have always thought the mode in which the Americans separated from Great Britain unfortunate for them. It made them despise or reject every thing English. They disinherited themselves of all the historical glory of England; there was nothing left for them to admire or venerate but their own immediate success, and they became egotists, like savages, from wanting a history. The spirit of jealousy and animosity, excited by the contests between England and America, is now subsiding. Should peace continue, prejudices on both sides will gradually decrease. Already the Americans are beginning, I think, to cultivate the antiquities of England, and as they extend their inquiries, they will find other objects of admiration besides themselves. It was of some importance, both for them and for us, that they did not reject our language with our government. Time, I should hope, would approximate the institutions of both countries to one another; and the use of the same language will do more to unite the two nations than if they both had only one king.

“I would not answer, indeed, for the continuance of the present system of government in America, should that country be involved in long and expensive wars. In any season of distress, the free and slave states will separate. Freedom and slavery cannot dwell under the same roof; to bind them together force is necessary, and nothing but an arbitrary master over both can keep them united.”

Lord Byron had some superstitions clinging to him. He believed in presentiments, fatal and fortunate days, and in ghosts. On setting out from Italy for Greece, a storm drove the vessel back; a circumstance which has occurred on numerous occasions, when the voyage has been afterwards happily accomplished, and followed by no disastrous results; but Lord Byron, though he is said to have quoted the proverb, that a bad beginning makes a good ending, was made melancholy by a foul wind. This circumstance was often mentioned among his friends at Missolonghi. On rallying Lord Byron on this subject, and observing that I thought it was very strange a man of his strength of mind should entertain such a vulgar belief as that of the existence of ghosts, he smiled, and re-plied, “I have from my childhood endeavoured to impress a belief of supernatural causes on my mind. I cannot say why I had such a propensity, nor why it continued so long, but I derive great pleasure from the idea; even now, I actually believe such things may be.” At this he sighed deeply, and said, “I have had wonderful presentiments in my time. Hardly any unfortunate circumstance has ever happened to me, of which I have not had some forerunning warning. We can’t help these things, and can no more account for the existence of one sentiment than for another. I know not why, but I have a particular aversion either to begin or conclude any work on a Friday.” His opinion concerning Count Gamba was another little superstition of Lord Byron’s. He was very partial to the Count, without placing much confidence in him, because he had got a notion that the Count was an unfortunate man, and that whatever he undertook would fail. I was particularly enjoined by Lord Byron never to allow the Count to undertake any piece of public service without first acquainting his Lordship with it, and obtaining his approbation. He always expected that the Count would get himself and others into scrapes; whether the Count had or had not ever given Lord Byron any reason to form such an opinion, before I was acquainted with them, I know not; but I never saw any thing to justify it. I believe it was one of those prejudices or presentiments Lord Byron liked to indulge, or at least which he never made any effort to control or subdue.

Before my acquaintance with Lord Byron, I had no idea I should have found him of so very serious a turn. I mentioned to him my surprise at finding him so different from what I had expected. At this he laughed, and said, “Chicanery is the order of the day; and I always endeavour to converse so as to be agreeable to my visitors. They speak of me as they find me, and as I talk nonsense to them, because it suits them, I have got the reputation of being a romancer. After all, however, I feel relief in talking what you call nonsense to my visitors. I know the world, perhaps, better than you give me credit for, and I am obliged sometimes to endeavour to please a part of it. But who are these persons who call me a trifler? My visitors have been poets, painters, punsters, travellers; all would-be great personages, all triflers themselves, without any pursuit but amusement. They have found me ready to meet them in talking nonsense, because they liked it, but naturally I am of a serious disposition. I love solitude. When I was in Greece before, unpleasant things were said of me, because I mingled so little with other persons; Mr. Hobhouse was indeed with me, but we did not agree very well, and were not always to-gether; I have known him a long time, and respect him much, but his disposition and mine were not always alike.”

There may be some persons able to explain the circumstance I shall now relate; but it seems to have no other interest than to excite conjectures as to its cause. “I was once,” said Lord Byron, “in company with the late Queen Caroline; I was sitting on her right hand, and another young nobleman was sitting on her left. All of a sudden she burst into tears, and I never could divine the cause. There is no accounting for women’s tears. She might have been thinking of her situation, and the neglect and injuries she had experienced might all at once have rushed into her mind. She was an unhappy woman, and much to be pitied, particularly in her latter days, when she was made the tool of a party.

“There are so many undefinable, and nameless, and not-to-be named causes of dislike, aversion, and disgust, in the matrimonial state, that it is always impossible for the public, or the best friends of the parties, to judge between man and wife. Their’s is a relation about which nobody but themselves can form a correct idea, or have any right to speak. As long as neither party commits gross injustice towards the other; as long as neither the woman nor the man is guilty of any offence which is injurious to the community; as long as the husband provides for his offspring, and secures the pub-lic against the dangers arising from their neglected education, or from the charge of supporting them; by what right does it censure him for ceasing to dwell under the same roof with a woman, who is to him, because he knows her, while others do not, an object of loathing? Can any thing be more monstrous than for the public voice to compel individuals who dislike each other to continue their cohabitation? This is at least the effect of its interfering with a relationship, of which it has no possible means of judging. It does not indeed drag a man to a woman’s bed by physical force; but it does exert a moral force continually and effectively to accomplish the same purpose. Nobody can escape this force but those who are too high, or those who are too low, for public opinion to reach; or those hypocrites, who are, before others, the loudest in their approbation of the empty and unmeaning forms of society, that they may securely indulge all their propensities in secret. I have suffered amazingly from this interference; for though I set it at defiance, I was neither too high nor too low to be reached by it, and I was not hypocrite enough to guard myself from its consequences.

“What do they say of my family affairs in England, Parry? My story, I suppose, like other minor events, interested the people for a day, and was then forgotten?” I replied, no; I thought, owing to the very great interest the public took in him, it was still remembered and talked about. I mentioned that it was generally supposed a difference of religious sentiments between him and Lady Byron had caused the public breach. “No, Parry,” was the reply; “Lady Byron has a liberal mind, particularly as to religious opinions; and I wish, when I married her, that I had possessed the same command over myself that I now do. Had I possessed a little more wisdom, and more forbearance, we might have been happy. I wished, when I was first married, to have remained in the country, particularly till my pecuniary embarrassments were over. I knew the society of London; I knew the characters of many of those who are called ladies, with whom Lady Byron would necessarily have to associate, and I dreaded her contact with them; but I have too much of my mother about me to be dictated to; I like freedom from constraint; I hate artificial regulations; my conduct has always been dictated by my own feelings, and Lady Byron was quite the creature of rules. She was not permitted either to ride, or run, or walk, but as the physician prescribed. She was not suffered to go out when I wished to go; and then the old house was a mere ghost-house; I dreamed of ghosts, and thought of them waking. It was an existence I could not support.” Here Lord Byron broke off abruptly, saying, “I hate to speak of my family affairs; though I have been compelled to talk nonsense concerning them to some of my butterfly visitors, glad on any terms to get rid of their importunities. I long to be again on the mountains. I am fond of solitude, and should never talk nonsense if I always found plain men to talk to.”

Lord Byron was subject to violent gusts of passion; but they were merely gusts, and I never saw him do any mischief while under their influence. I heard him make use of many threats, and I do not know, on one or two occasions, that he might not have carried them into execution, but for my interference. When very much annoyed, he would rise, stamp with his foot on the ground, and on one or two occasions he even threatened to have recourse to his pistols. This was not his natural state; and it was only when he was goaded, as I have already described, that he gave way to these ungovernable out-breakings.

He was very fond of making jokes, both practical and others, as they relieved his mind, he said, and took off his attention from unpleasant thoughts. He had the greatest stock of quaint sayings and phrases of any man I ever met with; of the different languages and terms used by soldiers, sailors, tradesmen, and other classes of men, or of what is called slang, he was quite a master. I knew a great number of such words from having been either a sailor or a soldier nearly all my life; but he knew as many as I did in my own profession, and a great many used in other professions, of which I knew nothing. Much of his conversa-tion with me was carried on in sea-phrases, and he made me always use them. Even in telling him any little anecdotes I knew, or adventures which had happened to me, such as that of Mr. Bentham’s cruise, he always insisted on my using none but sea terms, and probably he found greater pleasure in the circumstance than my readers may have found, from the manner in which he compelled me to state it.

Lord Byron was rather partial to questioning me about what books I read, and what books I liked to read, and if I read poetry. I used to reply, as the fact is, that I had very little time to read, and having no library, when I had time, I read what fell in my way; that I liked Shakspeare—Billy Shakspeare as I called him, whom none of the moderns were ever likely to equal. “However high,” said I, “your Lordship and others may come, you will never quite reach Billy.” “There you are quite right, old boy; but do you never read any modern book?” “Oh, yes;—I have read some of your works; Don Juan for example, and there is nothing in that which pleases people of my description so well, or of which I have heard so much, as the shipwreck; that is something we mechanics and the working classes understand. Just before I left England, too, I read a book that I liked very much; it was called Wat Tyler.” “That’s Southey’s,” said his Lordship, “it is the best thing he ever wrote.” “But have you never read any of Sir Walter Scott’s novels?” “No, my Lord, I have had something else to do.” “I have a great respect for Sir Walter, but I have read enough to know how much of his works are his own property, and how much he takes from others. No author is more successful in appropriation. We who live at this late period of the world are all plagiarists; I have been loudly accused of being one, but I am sure I never deserved it half as much as Sir Walter. For him, however, I have a high respect, and I shall never, I am sure, act otherwise towards him than in a friendly manner.” “Ah,” I replied, “I see you all shift a plank occasionally.” “Shift a plank; what do you mean?” “Why, leave the scantling and the moulding, and the form, and put in a piece of new or old stuff that was not intended for that place.” “This is too true,” said Lord Byron, laughing at my comparing plagiarism to the repairs of an old ship.

Lord Byron had an insatiable curiosity, and was always making inquiries. He made me tell him every little incident of my life, and this sometimes led him to make remarks which I recollect very well. When I was in Virginia, in America, for example, I remember having an adventure with some of the deserters from the British army in Canada. I do not choose to be more particular here, as it may implicate individuals; I shall merely observe that desertion and treachery had found their proper rewards, and were left in beggary and want; but mentioning this circumstance, led Lord Byron to make the following observation.

“Why did not the Americans take the Canadas?” “They would have done it,” I replied, “but, for the great loyalty of the Scotch and French Canadians. The Irish in Canada were not to be trusted; they never had patience to make many improvements, and the instant they had cleared the land, and could sell it, they did so, and went to the United States of America.

“The low Irish,” said Lord Byron, “are never to be trusted. Fortunately, however, they are like the rattle-snake, they give you warning before they bite; they always have a means of letting you know they mean to deceive you. I know Ireland produces many clever men; but the rabble are deceitful and cunning. In a century, perhaps, the Irish may approximate in their manners to the English, and then we shall hardly know any difference between the two people. In any great national contest, I would place the English in the centre, the Welsh on the right, and the Scotch on the left; the Irish I would place in the front, and then I am sure they would not deceive me; I should then have no fear of the result: but if they were mixed with the others, and a battle were to take place with some great foreign power, I should not know on what to calculate.”

I mentioned to Lord Byron that I had lodged at the same house in New York, in which the celebrated actor, Cooke, died; and that he lamented loudly his unhappy fate, in dying far away from his native land. “I knew Cooke very well,” said Lord Byron; “he was the greatest genius of an actor I ever saw. I think Kean is a great man, but Cooke was much his superior. He had very great natural talents, but they had never been properly cultivated. With half the education John Kemble had received, and half the care he took of himself, he would have been the very first actor of the day.”

CHAPTER X. LORD BYRON, COLONEL STANHOPE, AND MR. BENTHAM.

Reasons for noticing Colonel Stanhope’s attack on Lord Byron—Nature of this attack—Probable reason why Lord Byron’s Friends have not defended him—Circumstances of the case—Lord Byron’s reasons for his conduct—His attacks on Mr. Bentham—Their amount—Colonel Stanhope anxious to obtain Mr. Bentham’s favour—Source of the Greek Committee’s want of confidence in Lord Byron—Unjustifiable time of Colonel Stanhope’s attack—Criterion for deciding betwixt them—Colonel Stanhope’s expenses in Greece—To what purpose directed—His unpleasant interference—Wants to rule in Greece—What he effected—Comparison between the consequences of his Departure and Lord Byron’s Loss—Consistency of the two Gentlemen—Lord Byron only zealous for the Welfare of Greece—His Faults traced to his birth and education—Apology for some of his Errors.

I should never have thought of bringing the gentlemen mentioned at the head of this chapter before the reader in juxta-position, but for the fact of Colonel Stanhope having laboured to cast a considerable degree of censure on Lord Byron, chiefly, as it appears to me, because he was not an admirer of Mr. Bentham. Knowing, as I do, the circumstances on which Colonel Stanhope differed with Lord Byron, and knowing the opinions of the latter, both with regard to Colonel Stanhope and Mr. Bentham, I think it becomes me who was honoured by Lord Byron’s confidence, to vindicate his memory even from the slight imputation of not respecting the Westminster philosopher.

With a large class of the community, I am aware Lord Byron needs, on this account, no vindication. Either from not knowing Mr. Bentham, or from not understanding his works, they completely share Lord Byron’s opinions, and, like him, rather ridicule Mr. Bentham’s oddities than discuss his principles. With them, therefore, it will be no disparagement to Lord Byron, that he differed with his friend Colonel Stanhope on this subject. But this class of persons are opposed to Lord Byron on almost every other point. They are not partial to those general principles for which he wrote and fought; neither do I suppose that he would be extremely anxious to secure their good opinion. It is not to them, therefore, I address these few observations; I appeal, on the contrary, to those who admire the principles Mr. Bentham advocates. I would justify the poet of liberal principles in the minds of those who worship at the shrine of liberty, from the imputation of wanting proper respect for the philosopher whom they place at the head of their party. I speak to those who reason, rather than to those who laugh; and I hope to convince them, that Byron was less to blame than those unreflecting friends of an old man, who will thrust him and his principles, which they do not understand, before the world in an unfavourable light. Lord Byron laughed at their intemperate zeal, and the ridiculous appearance of their apostle, but he died in defence of those principles about which they have the great merit of incessantly talking. At the same time, I do not know that it would be necessary for me to say a single word on this subject, had not Colonel Stanhope’s letter, in which, he censures Lord Byron, been quoted in the newspapers, and by that means obtained a degree of circulation far beyond what it would have received had it been confined to the Colonel’s own book. On this account it has become injurious to Lord Byron’s name, and deserves my notice.

Another reason for mentioning Colonel Stanhope in juxta-position with Lord Byron is, that these two gentlemen differed very much in their opinions and conduct, as to Greece. I have already more than once alluded to their disputes; and if Colonel Stanhope was right, we must condemn Lord Byron. The Greek Com-mittee have thanked the former, and have thus tacitly censured the latter. In bringing the two before the reader, I wish him to decide betwixt them. I had to choose my party on the spot; and I do not pretend to be impartial, for I never sided with Colonel Stanhope. He was nothing, but as the agent of the Greek Committee; and the public opinion of the conduct of that body will, of course, depend on the opinion formed of the conduct of their agent.

In the volume entitled “Greece in 1823 and 1824, being a series of letters and other documents, &c. &c., by the Honourable Colonel Stanhope,” there is, in one of the letters, the following passage:—“Capt. York, of the Alacrity, a ten-gun brig, came on shore a few days ago, to demand an equivalent for an Ionian boat that had been taken in the act of going out of the Gulf of Lepanto with provisions, arms, &c. The Greek fleet, at that time, blockaded the harbour with five brigs, and the Turks had fourteen vessels of war in the Gulf. The Captain maintained, that the British government recognised no blockade that was not efficient, and that that efficiency depended on the numerical superiority of cannon. On this principle, without going at all into the merits of the case, he demanded restitution of the property. Prince Mavrocordato remonstrated, and offered to submit the case to the decision of the British government; but the Captain peremptorily demanded restitution of the property in four hours. He received 200 dollars as an equivalent. Lord Byron conducted the business in behalf of the Captain. In the evening he conversed with me on the subject; I said the affair was conducted in a bullying manner, and not according to the principles of equity and the law of nations. His Lordship started into a passion. He contended, that law justice, and equity had nothing to do with politics. That may be; but I will never lend myself to injustice. His Lordship then began, according to custom, to attack Mr. Bentham. I said, that it was highly illiberal to make personal attacks on Mr. Bentham before a friend who held him in high estimation. He said, that he only attacked his public principles, which were mere theories, but dangerous;—injurious to Spain, and calculated to do great mischief in Greece. I did not object to his Lordship’s attacking Mr. B.’s principles; what I objected to were his personalities. His Lordship never reasoned on any of Mr. B.’s writings, but merely made sport of them. I would, therefore, ask him what it was that he objected to. Lord Byron mentioned his Panopticon as visionary. I said that ex-perience in Pennsylvania, at Milbank, &c., had proved it otherwise. I said that Bentham had a truly British heart; but that Lord Byron, after professing liberal principles from his boyhood, had, when called upon to act, proved himself a Turk.—Lord Byron asked, what proofs have you of this?—Your conduct in endeavouring to crush the press, by declaiming against it to Mavrocordato, and your general abuse of liberal principles.—Lord Byron said, that if he had held up his finger he could have crushed the press.—I replied, with all this power, which, by the way, you never possessed, you went to the Prince and poisoned his ear.—Lord Byron declaimed against the liberals whom he knew.—But what liberals? I asked; did he borrow his notions of free-men from the Italians?—Lord Byron. No; from the Hunts, Cartwrights, &c.—And still, said I, you presented Cartwright’s Reform Bill, and aided Hunt, by praising his poetry, and giving him the sale of your works.—Lord Byron exclaimed, you are worse than Wilson, and should quit the army.—I replied, I am a mere soldier, but never will I abandon my principles. Our principles are diametrically opposite, so let us avoid the subject. If Lord Byron acts up to his professions, he will be the greatest;—if not, the meanest of mankind.—He said, he hoped his character did not depend on my assertions.—No, said I, your genius has immortalized you. The worst could not deprive you of fame.—Lord Byron. Well, you shall see; judge me by my acts. When he wished me good night, I took up the light to conduct him to the passage, but he said, What! hold up a light to a Turk!”

This is one paragraph of several in Colonel Stanhope’s book, in which the conduct of Lord Byron is sharply censured; and, to me, it seems very hard that his fair fame should suffer, after his death, by the attacks of such a man as I take Colonel Stanhope to be. I am told, also, that what he has published is trifling, compared to what he says. Among his associates must be some who were Lord Byron’s friends; and they, I should think, would defend him from these verbal calumnies. That they have not cleared him from this published attack, arises, probably, from the impossibility of their doing it without, in some measure, condemning the Greek Committee. Either they are members of this committee, or they wish on some other grounds to see its fame unsullied; and the task of defending Lord Byron has fallen on me, because I also know the circumstances of the case, and have no motive to conceal the truth.

The first imputation against Lord Byron is, that the business was conducted (by him) in a bullying manner; implying that Lord Byron supported Captain York in his unjust claims, and supported them in a bullying manner. I had not then arrived in Greece, and know the circumstances only from what Lord Byron told me. It is true, that Captain York demanded restitution; and, with that promptness which distinguishes the negotiations of our seamen, he fixed the hour beyond which he would not wait. He might be in error, as to the laws of nations, and be ignorant of equity, as Colonel Stanhope says he was, but there can be no doubt that he was instructed to make the demand. If there were any bullying, it was by the British government, one of whose most obedient servants, not to say humble slaves, is Colonel Stanhope. The money which was paid as the equivalent for the restitution came from the pocket of Lord Byron. The person with whom the negotiation was conducted was Prince Mavrocordato, Lord Byron’s friend, and Colonel Stanhope’s opponent; so that Colonel Stanhope requires us to believe Lord Byron defended the injustice of the British government, and behaved in a bullying manner to his friend, that he might pay away his own money; and that the opponent of his friend afterwards remonstrated with him for bully-ing, at which he flew into a passion. That there was a violent dispute between Colonel Stanhope and Lord Byron I know; but that the Colonel has given a fair report of it seems inconsistent, both with human nature generally, and the particular character of Lord Byron.

Lord Byron’s motives for counselling the restitution, and his reasoning on the subject, as he explained them to me, were as follows:—“The Greeks are not recognised as an independent power; they are insurgents. The government of Great Britain has not acknowledged them as an independent nation, and does not admit their right to blockade and make war. Whatever may be my opinions as to this part of the conduct of our government, and however much I think the principles of politics have nothing whatever to do with either law, justice, or equity, these are things I cannot alter; I must take them as I find them. The British Government is resolved to act in this manner, and I have only to consider how I can extract for the Greeks the greatest advantages out of this manner of acting. If the possessions of the British Government were as far off as China, I should laugh at its folly; but it happens unfortunately that this Government possesses the country where alone we can find a market for our cattle, the only produce we have to sell, and that country is the only place whence we can procure our most necessary supplies. If this Government either cut off these supplies, or attack us, we have no means of resistance, and must fall a prey either to it, if it carry its cupidity so far, or to the Turks. Knowing this, I counselled restitution, not because it was just, for as I say justice has nothing to do with politics, but because it was expedient for us to do so. Colonel Stanhope, who seems rather fond of thrusting his friends into danger, would have had us resist Captain York’s demand, but whatever Prince Mavrocordato might think of the justice of the measure, and however he might argue with his wily ingenuity against it to the Captain, he was aware of the policy of compliance; and I advanced the money which saved Greece from the anger of the Ionian Government.”

The only bullying in the case, therefore, which Colonel Stanhope has attributed to Lord Byron, was the act of his own master, whose power the Greeks could not resist. Lord Byron seeing that resistance would cause damage, if not destruction, advised submission. That his advice was high-minded, I will not say; but I am sure it was prudent. Colonel Stanhope, seeing only the abstraction called justice, and having nothing to lose whichever way the question might be decided, was against submission. If we allow his to have been the most virtuous resolve, the course recommended by Byron was certainly the most useful.

After Colonel Stanhope has finished this part of his attack on Lord Byron, he commends himself: “I will never lend myself to injustice.” Herein, however, he shews himself only half a Benthamite, and that he has still a lingering for the praise of sympathy, so much reprobated by his teacher. Little as I know of the matter, I can tell him that Mr. Bentham would not, on principle, have regarded an assent to that which was most expedient as lending one’s self to an act of injustice. Whatever else Colonel Stanhope may have done, I know he bearded the distressed people he went to assist. Lord Byron, I am sure, never bullied the Greeks, either on his own account, or on account of Colonel Stanhope’s masters.

The next imputation which Colonel Stanhope throws out against Lord Byron is, that he made personal attacks on Mr. Bentham. After the little anecdote I have already related of Mr. Bentham, and when it is universally admitted, even by his warmest admirers, that his writings, whatever Mr. Dumont’s may be, are scarcely readable, I must say, I think the only way in which a man of Lord Byron’s extraordinary powers could treat the world-reforming pretensions of Mr. Bentham, was by laughing at them.

On this point also they were only on a par. Mr. Bentham has no more respect for poets, than Lord Byron had for reformers and philosophers. He censures them whenever he has an opportunity, though it is probable that in this warfare the poet had the advantage, and that the philosopher’s friends were made to feel his vulnerability.

But by whom and to whom was the accusation made, that Lord Byron did not respect Mr. Bentham? By a person anxious to retain his friendship, to another person equally anxious to stand well with him. It is well known that Mr. Bentham is ambitious of being the founder of a sect; he is the patron of two or three small societies; and of a number of nascent philosophers. Every naval or military hero who diverges from the paths of routine and discipline, and talks and writes of politics and reform, seeks encouragement from him. Colonel Stanhope on this ground seems to have been desirous of obtaining his countenance and patronage, and naturally, therefore, wrote to Mr. Bowring, who was already the protégé of Mr. Bentham, how warmly he had defended him from the attacks of Lord Byron. All this is very well, however much the zealous defender may have exaggerated the statements; and as these letters were shewn to Mr. Bentham, or he was told their contents, they might in this respect answer Colonel Stanhope’s purpose. I see in this nothing but a very common example of a man flattering himself indirectly into the good graces of a great man. In Colonel Stanhope’s book, there are abundant examples of the same method of insinuating one’s self into favour. In one letter to Mr. Bowring, to be of course shewn to Mr. Bentham, the latter is called “the finest genius of the most enlightened age,—the immortal Bentham,”—p. 55. Had Colonel Stanhope confined his remarks to his letters, he might have disputed with his dear friend Mr. Bowring for the patronage of the philosopher, and nobody else would have cared one atom about the matter. But when he publishes his defence of Mr. Bentham, and founds on it no less important an accusation against Lord Byron, than that he was an enemy of liberal principles;—of those principles, his faith in which he sealed with his life;—it becomes those who can see through this sort of jobbing for reputation to expose it, and to shew how much the accuser stands below the accused in his veneration of all that is truly dignified in human nature*.

* I cannot here withhold from my readers a letter written by Mr. Bentham, taken from Colonel Stanhope’s book. The reader will see in it a justification of Lord Byron, even supposing he had done nothing else hut laugh at the vanity both of the philosopher and the soldier. He will also infer from one pas-

In leaving the ungrateful subject of Mr. Bentham, and I should never have adverted to it, but

sage that the Greek Deputies knew how to appreciate properly the exertions of Colonel Stanhope in favour of the Greek cause. The philosopher appeals to the Deputies to replace the Colonel in their good opinion:—

“Queen-Square-Place, Westminster, “15th March, 1824. “My dear Children,

* * * Stanhope, who actually consecrates to the cause of Greece two-thirds of his moderate income; and of all the persons who, solely for the purpose of giving you this pledge of friendship, have been induced to concur in this sacrifice, there is not one who does not entertain of this same Stanhope the highest possible idea, that is to say, in all points—wisdom as well as probity, philanthropy, and attachment to the cause of liberty in Greece.

“As for me, what I know and what I think of Stanhope is (I believe) yet unknown to you. After a most careful study, to which I have subjected him for about a year past, I believe that I run no risk in saying, that I will stake all the reputation which I may possess upon his head, in such a manner that if he were to conduct himself ill, in any respect whatever, it might be said, Bentham has been grossly deceived—he knows nothing of mankind. I should never have done were I to begin to depict him to you, * * * son and ally of the highest families of our country, * * * * he has stripped himself, with his eyes open, and always without any bitter feeling of every chance of promotion and of favour, by pleading by his writings for the

for the manner in which Lord Byron has been censured for not admiring him, I may observe that,

liberty of the press, and also by pleading in the same manner for the soldier against military tyranny, with the view of inducing our government to abolish the afflicting punishment of flogging, as has been done in almost every other country.

* * * * *

“With respect to Stanhope, I will take upon myself to send you, that is to say, to our Englishman Luriottis, one of the letters of the honourable Colonel to myself; it is the only one which I have received from him addressed to me personally, since he departed for Greece, on that journey, in the course of which, by his virtues and his good conduct, he has made the conquest of Philhellenic Germany and Switzerland, which have placed him at their head. This is the only one which he has addressed to me, but he is a constant correspondent of the Committee, whose agent he is; and scarcely is there a letter from him in which there is not a word on me in the same sense as this. I have seen three letters from him of later date, and written from Greece itself, and I have had the good fortune to see that they are much more encouraging. ‘But you are partial in his favour,’ you will say. I confess it: but how? It is not because he has become my friend that I entertain this opinion of him, but because, in consequence of the good opinion which I saw that every body entertained of him, I resolved to make a friend of him, and to open for him the door which I am compelled to keep closed against the crowd, which would otherwise invade the few moments which I may yet pass upon earth.

“Well! If, after having read this letter, you should happen to share with me the opinion which I cannot help entertaining

even supposing all the anger of the Colonel to be justified, it only amounts to this, that Lord Byron was more disposed to laugh than to reason. He was logical in his feelings if not in his words; and had as strong a hatred of every species of oppression and bad government as if he had done nothing but listen to Mr. Bentham’s instructions during his

of Stanhope, and to wish me to entertain a good opinion of yourself, make yourself the proposition, my Luriottis, of replacing the name of Stanhope where it was before.

“Unfortunately, if he were the contrary of what every body knows him to be, you would risk very little by acceding to this proposition, for I have very little hope that he can remain in Greece. Being one of ten children, who are all living, the moderate fortune which his virtue has permitted him to make in India, would be insufficient for his maintenance without his pay of a Colonel, and it has been just signified that if, for what he had done or had wished to do for the cause of the Greeks, the Holy Alliance should happen to require his deprivation, he would not fail to be deprived of his rank, in order to preserve the promised neutrality. Now, it is certain, that it is some time since Stanhope’s elder brother wrote him a pressing letter; so that everyday one of the things which I fear most is to see him in my arms.

“For the rest, do with respect to him what you think proper; you will not have the least resentment to fear on his part, for he is incapable of it.

* * * * * * * * * “Ever your affectionate father, “ Jeremy Bentham .” whole life. It is, indeed, much to be regretted that the injudicious zeal of Mr. Bentham’s friends should have led them to say one word of the harmless sallies of the poet; and it is still more to be regretted that the intervention of these friends should have placed two men before the public in opposition, both of whom have wished to benefit mankind, though they have taken different roads to accomplish the same object.

There is another reason for which it is right to allude to this letter of Colonel Stanhope’s. Lord Byron thought he had too much reason to complain of the conduct of the Greek committee towards him. The person who chiefly managed the affairs of that committee was Mr. Bowring. To him this correspondence of Colonel Stanhope was addressed; and do such imputations as we find in this letter of their confidential agent afford no clue to their neglect of Lord Byron? What must we think of a man who thus writes home to poison the ear of that committee through its honorary secretary; and who, not confining himself to the affairs of Greece, endeavours to enlist the prejudices of this secretary against Lord Byron, by accusing him of Anti-Benthamism? I might ask, is this honourable in a confidential agent? Is it right in a man engaged in a public cause, thus to injure it through the sides of its most zealous and disin- terested defender? There is, I should suppose, not one man who can approve of Colonel Stanhope’s ever writing such a letter to such a person. The plain object of the paragraph I have quoted, and on the Greek Committee it would certainly have the wished-for effect, is, to excite a belief that Lord Byron is an enemy to liberal principles, or as Colonel Stanhope describes him, a mere Turk.

But if it were wrong to write such a letter, what must we think of the straight-forward soldier, as he has been called, who publishes it after the person he accuses is dead? It was written I know during Lord Byron’s life-time, but it was made public only after his death;—after Colonel Stanhope, as one of the mourners, had followed Lord Byron’s corpse to its last home. In the very passage in which Colonel Stanhope censures Lord Byron, for laughing at the oddities of an old man, he himself vilifies his departed friend. Would Colonel Stanhope have published such a letter in Lord Byron’s life-time? Would he even have imputed bullying or illiberality to Lord Byron? I think not; but I am sure if he had done either, Lord Byron would have made him answer for it. Colonel Stanhope, I believe, would not have dared to have published such a letter had Lord Byron been alive; and, from a scene I shall presently relate, I am convinced he never could have accused Lord Byron to his face of acting in a bullying manner. It is very easy for Colonel Stanhope to talk big; did he act in a corresponding manner?

Fortunately, though Lord Byron is no more, we may judge betwixt him and Colonel Stanhope, on the testimony of the Colonel himself. “Our principles are diametrically opposite,” says the Colonel to Lord Byron: “Judge me by my acts,” said Lord Byron to Colonel Stanhope. Let us adopt this criterion. Let us judge Byron by his acts; and let us shew by Stanhope’s acts, that his principles were opposite to those of Lord Byron.

Lord Byron gave up his whole time and his whole income to the service of the Greeks. He did not stipulate on what conditions he would assist them; he knew them to be an oppressed and an outraged people; he knew their cause was good, and he supported it with his heart and soul. He prescribed no form of government to them; he made no boast of what he had done; he lent them his purse and his sword, and his best counsels when they were asked. But why should I repeat what Lord Byron did; every deed of his is already known; not so those of Colonel Stanhope, and to make the comparison, we must bring them before the reader.

“Colonel Stanhope,” says Mr. Bentham, “consecrates to the cause of the Greeks two-thirds of his moderate income!” Begging Mr. Bentham’s pardon for disputing his assertion, I think he ought to have said, to the support of Colonel Stanhope’s and my whims. We are not, however, deficient in accurate accounts of what sums the Colonel spent, and for what he spent them. He has taken care to furnish the world with an account of his vast exertions. Unwilling that the services he rendered the Greeks should be unknown; he put them all down, and among them his expenses, in the book which he published, and from it I make the following extract:

Subscriptions on my own account. To fourteen refugee Greeks conveyed from Ancona £. s. d. to Cephalonia 7 0 0 To the formation and support of a Greek artillery corps 100 0 0 To a courier for circulating the Prospectus of the Greek Chronicle 2 0 0 Loan of 100l. to Mavrocordato, on account of the Greek fleet. This money was repaid. Passage for presses, medicines, &c., from Missolonghi to Cranidi 5 0 0 Paid Lieutenant Klempe for going from Athens to Napoli to get Colocotroni to restore the Committee’s stores 2 0 0 Paid to a Greek courier for the same object 3 0 0 Paid to a Lieutenant Klempe for going from Athens to Missolonghi, and returning with a lithographic press, &c. 7 0 0 —— —— —— Carried up 126 0 0

£. s. d. Brought forward 126 0 0 Paid to Lieutenant Klempe to instruct in the art of lithography 4 0 0 Paid to Jacobi, ditto, ditto 5 0 0 Paid for conveying presses, medicines, &c., from Napoli to Aegina 2 0 0 To Dr. Tindall for a dispensary at Athens, when established 20 0 0 To Dr. Meyer for the Greek Telegraph 30 0 0 To ditto Greek Chronicle 60 0 0 To the Editor of the Athens Free Press 70 0 0 To the Editor of the “Ami des Loix” 20 0 0 To the Editor of the Ipsara Gazette, when published 50 0 0 To the Philo-Muse Society at Athens 20 0 0 To the Lancasterian School at Athens 20 0 0 To the Lancasterian School at Missolonghi, when established 10 0 0 Towards the expenses of a Post, when established 50 0 0 To paper for printing the Greek Constitution 10 0 0 —— —— —— Subscribed by me to the Greek cause £497 0 0

In this whole list, the two first articles only have any relation to the cause of the Greeks, and they cost the Colonel £.107, all the rest of the money was spent to gratify Colonel Stanhope’s whims, in opposition to the Greek government; much of what he spent had the effect of promoting disturbance and discord, and did more injury than benefit to the cause of the Greeks.

During the whole time Colonel Stanhope was in Greece, he was continually and perpetually directing the Greeks what they ought to do. “I have advised,” he says, “that Odysseus should be placed in the executive; Ipsilante, as president of the Legislative body; General Colliopulo as minister of war, and Negris as Ministre d’etat. This is a question on which men may fairly differ, but on which my mind is made up.” Mark this, reader, “my mind,” Colonel Stanhope’s mind, the representative of the Greek Committee, is made up, and, therefore, he tells a nation whom it is to choose for its rulers. If any individual wanted to be king in Greece, though without the name, it was Colonel Stanhope. He pretended, indeed, to govern on his liberal principles; but despotism only consists in an individual having every thing his own way; which is precisely what Colonel Stanhope wanted. There was in Greece a young man of the name of Humphreys, who appeared to me to know nothing, either of Greece or of the art of war or of government. To this youth did Colonel Stanhope give a letter of instructions, such as never before probably graced the annals of interfering diplomacy. It is so good a specimen of Colonel Stanhope’s mode of interfering that I must lay some part of it before the reader; though I cannot make him sensible of half its folly unless he is acquainted with the person to whom it is addressed.

“Zante 20th May, 1824. “Dear Humphreys,

“I accept, with thankfulness, your offer to proceed to the seat of the Greek government. I know that your zeal is quicker than my pen, that you will be ready before these instructions.

“The principal object of your mission is, to prepare every thing for the ensuing campaign; to obtain such information connected with the loan, as will enable the commissioners to act on their arrival in Greece; and to endeavour to persuade the people and the government to put the constitution of the Greek republic in force. It is impossible for me, in a moment, to range over this wide field; I shall, however, give you some hints to act upon.

“1. I wish you to read over your plan for the ensuing campaign to the executive and legislative bodies, and to have every article of it well debated. This done, be pleased to call upon the government for their sentiments on this vital question.

“2. Desire the government to give you an estimate of the expense of their military and naval forces, for the year 1824.

“3. Request of the government to state what part of the loan they propose to devote to the above purpose.

“4. Point out to the government the necessity of adhering to the law they have passed, prohibiting the payment of old debts from the loan.

“5. Press upon the government the necessity of getting the revenues of the state placed in the public coffers.

“11. Advise the government to employ a clever military officer, near the seat of administration, to give them information and counsel in military affairs. Also, to form a corps of 300 artillery-men, for the attack and defence of fortresses, and another of 1,000 regular troops, to be quartered at the seat of government.

“12. Desire the government to inform you in detail, what they require for the sieges of Patras, Negropont, Lepanto, &c. Recommend them to send round Baron Gilman or Lieut. Kindermann to the fortresses, to make a report on their condition, how they are provisioned, and what cannon, mortars, powder, shot, shells, &c., they possess.

“13. Speak to the government about Missolonghi. Impress upon their minds the necessity of giving the Suliots a home,—of providing for the widows and orphans of those who have fallen in the good fight,—of giving assurance, that their arrears shall be hereafter paid, and of furnishing them with regular pay for the future. Unless the government adopt this measure, they had better at once turn this treacherous enemy out of their camp, and declare war against them.

“14. Urge the government to endeavour to create dissensions among the Turks, the Egyptians, the Albanians, &c. Let them publish a list of all the wrongs and oppressions which these people suffer under Turkish dominion, and then call upon them to state whether it is for the preservation of such curses that they are to risk their heads and their fortunes.

“15. Call to the attention of the government the plan of Captain Hastings for a steam-boat. Tell them that it would prove eminently useful in frightening away the Turks from the blockade of the Corinthian gulf, of the fortresses in Negropont, &c.

“16. Explain Captain Trelawny’s plan to the government. Let them endeavour to get some English or American privateers, to harass the Turkish ships and their coasts.

“17. Demonstrate to the legislative body the necessity of their assuming a high station in the republic, and recommend them to have their proceedings published.

“18. Desire the government to send to Athens for the lithographic press, the moment some one is instructed by Mr. Gropius or Gill, in the art of printing with it.

“19. Tell the government and the legislative body that I am ready to establish my post immediately, and that Dr. Marcies is to conduct it. No delays on this head. Marcies will be at the seat of government in a fortnight.

“20. Declaim boldly before the legislative and executive bodies against the traitors who, while they profess to be ‘les Amis des Loix,’ are slyly plotting against the republic. I allude to those who are conspiring in the dark to place a foreign king over the Greek people.

“21. Prove to the representatives of the commonwealth, the necessity of coalescing and forming an administration, comprising all the various interests of the state. Urge them to act on the principles of the constitution, and of the greatest good of the greatest number.

“22. Desire the government to instruct the editors of papers to send their sheets to all the Prefects. The government should pay the prime cost of the said papers—say one dollar a year for each paper sent to each Prefect. Desire the government also to solicit the editors to declaim against all extortion and intrigue, and against the violators of the laws and of the constitution.

“23. Advise the government to send Kalergy and Mr. Finlay on a mission to America.”

Supposing Captain Humphreys could have acted on such a letter, I may boldly say there never was a government so treated by an individual, who had devoted to its service the enormous sum of 497l. Sir Thomas Maitland was not half so imperative and commanding as Colonel Stanhope. There is scarcely an act which Mr. Humphreys, a person invested with no official character, is not instructed to prescribe. Demonstrate this to the legislature, prove that to the executive. We can see from other sources, besides Colonel Stanhope’s letter to Mr. Bowring, already quoted, that he knew what bullying was. Poor Byron! he indeed fell in evil times, and among evil men, when the assertions of a man, such as Colonel Stanhope here shews himself to be, were allowed to weigh against him. Lord Byron perished rather than he would leave Greece; Colonel Stanhope, when he had done nearly all the evil possible, quitted it the very instant he was commanded to do so by his masters, and when he might possibly, had he stayed, have made some arrangements for placing the proceeds of the loan in the hands of government, and have saved Ipsara. He quitted it too after the following exhortation had been addressed to him: “I call on you, in the name of Greece, to do all you can to fill his (Lord Byron’s) place. I say you can do the greatest service to the cause, and you must not leave us; you are public property, and must sacrifice all private duties and ties*.” But Colonel Stanhope, the friend of Mr. Bentham, the great advocate, on paper, of unbounded freedom, was in his conduct so willingly a military machine, so perfectly the creature of passive obedience, that

* Letter from Captain Trelawny to Colonel Stanhope.

all his love for liberty vanished into nothing at the mandate of the Duke of York, or the chance of encountering His Majesty’s displeasure. To save his 400l. a year, he eagerly hastened to shew that he thought no principles sacred, no conduct honourable, but that of rigid and prompt obedience to military orders. This is very proper in a mercenary soldier, but when he puts on the red coat, and accepts the enlistment money, resolving to do every thing that he is bid, he lays aside the best characteristics of a man, and ought to claim nothing for himself beyond the mere praise of being a good machine. Well might Colonel Stanhope say to Lord Byron, “Our principles are diametrically opposite.” If we judge them both by their acts, we shall be completely convinced of this truth. I feel ashamed, however, that I am compelled, by the decisions of other persons, to institute any comparison between two men who seem to have had nothing in common but the name and form. It is like comparing the soaring eagle with the chattering pie, or the monarch of the forest with those animals which have no means of attack or defence but the ordure they scatter.

What Greece lost by Lord Byron’s death is, perhaps, inappreciable. “His name,” says Captain Trelawny, “was the means of chiefly raising the loan in England. Thousands of people were flocking here (Greece); some had arrived as far as Corfu, and, hearing of his death, confessed they came out to devote their fortunes, not to the Greeks, or interest (themselves) in the Greek cause, but to the noble poet; and the pilgrim of eternity having departed, they turned back.” While I was on the quarantine house at Zante, a gentleman called on me, and made numerous inquiries as to Lord Byron. He said he was only one of fourteen English gentlemen, then at Ancona, who had sent him on to obtain intelligence, and only waited his return to come and join Lord Byron. They were to form a mounted guard for him, and meant to devote their personal services and their incomes to the Greek cause. On hearing of Lord Byron’s death, however, they turned back, because they felt in the divided and distracted state of Greece, there was little chance even of safety, and it was impossible to serve her.

The supplies which, before his death, had been obtained from the Ionian islands, could no longer be procured on the same terms. The money once raised there for the service of the Greeks was instantly refused; and one person who was negotiating for a loan was obliged to give it up the instant Lord Byron’s death was known. His mere existence was a guarantee for the success of the Greeks, and for their keeping their engagements, and with his death the guarantee both of success and of justice was lost.

What Greece lost by Colonel Stanhope’s absence it is not easy to say; this can only be known when it has been ascertained what she gained by his presence. So blind are the quick-sighted Greeks to any benefits he conferred on them, that, report says, he is not blessed in their churches, nor remembered in their prayers. They were glad that he removed, for had he perished in Greece, his death might have made them enemies in Europe, had it not even armed every civilized state against them.

The scene which a few pages ago I said I should relate was this. At Missolonghi there were some medicines and other stores which had been sent by the Quakers for the service of the Greeks. They had not been then delivered into the power of the Greek government, or to any agents appointed by it. They were, however, placed at the disposal of the commissioners, to be delivered to the Greek government. Colonel Stanhope, on the eve of his departure from Missolonghi, wished to take the half of these medicines and stores with him, not to deliver into the power of the Greek government, but to place them in the hands of some of those chiefs who were not very much trusted by the government. To such a proceeding Lord Byron strongly objected. Dr. Milligan also stated to him the inconvenience of suffering it. He said the medicines would be injured by being unpacked and exposed to the air; and that hereafter, when bottles and such things were prepared, they might be distributed without danger or loss, and sent by some safe conveyance which did not then offer. Lord Byron knew all this, and had represented to Colonel Stanhope that the convoy would either be taken by the Turks or by Colocotroni; Colonel Stanhope was, however, obstinate, and words ran so high that I was not sure Lord Byron would not have challenged him. Knowing that Lord Byron would listen to any thing rational, I interfered, and undertook to have the medicines properly packed and indulge Colonel Stanhope in his whim of distributing one-third of them. This was accordingly done, and he sent them off, but, as had been predicted by Lord Byron, they were taken possession of by Colocotroni, and some of the items in Colonel Stanhope’s expenditure arose from this capture. I put it to the reader, when Lord Byron was so ready to resent such an interference of Colonel Stanhope, would he have allowed this dictatorial gentleman to say to him all which he has boasted of having said in his letter to Mr. Bowring?

I beg also that the reader will remark the consequence of the Greek committee having two agents or commissioners in Greece with undefined powers. Lord Byron was regarded as first commissioner, but the brightness of Colonel Stan-hope’s glory would have been wholly obscured by acting under Lord Byron. He would play a part of his own. Lord Byron acted strictly in conjunction with the Greek government, and with its representative in Western Greece, Prince Mavrocordato. Colonel Stanhope acted in conjunction with nobody, and in opposition to the government. His own thoughts, wishes, and theories, were the only rules he consulted. Hence the disputes about the medicines, about the printing press, the newspapers, &c. &c., on all which subjects Byron did but second the views of the Greek government, while Stanhope opposed them, following nothing but his own suggestions. Thus, in consequence of having two commissioners, there arose two English as well as several Greek parties, and the sources of dispute and discord were multiplied.

It has been said, that in his conduct in Greece Lord Byron shewed much less consistency than Colonel Stanhope. This accusation was founded on the report of Colonel Stanhope; but how very unjustly, has been shewn at every page of this work. As far as an invariable unsparing attachment to the press, whether lithographic or printing, and to schools, whether Chrestomathic or Lancasterian is concerned, I do not doubt that Colonel Stanhope was more consistent than Lord Byron. Even as far as theories of government were the objects in dispute, the words and reasoning of Colonel Stanhope were probably more logical than those of his opponent. But zealots are always consistent as far as that object is concerned, in favour of which they are zealots. They see nothing else; they look neither to the right nor left, and pursue that one thing unsparingly and with undivided attention.

Lord Byron was no zealot for either a press or a system of education. He did not take that one narrow view which is dictated by short-sighted passion; he could weigh and judge the circumstances relative to a press and to schools; and though he might in the first instance have subscribed money for a Journal, he was not like the man to whom he was opposed, blind to every consequence of such an instrument; and if he sometimes doubted of its utility, it was because, like all men of sound judgment, he took a comprehensive view, and that judgment was accessible to the influence of circumstances. He was, probably, persuaded in the first instance by the zealots for a free press to go along with them, and they afterwards blamed him because he was not as blind as they were to its consequences. They went on theory and hypothesis, and were influenced by a name—he decided by circumstances, and judged of things as they arose. He forsook the path their fervour had pointed out, and for this he is loudly condemned as inconsistent. This may be granted; but his opponents have gained their advantages, because they were in this particular instance zealots, and he was not.

But was Lord Byron then zealous in no cause? yes; in the cause of Greece, and herein his conduct for consistency will square with that of any man. He never forsook that cause; he promoted it by his money and his exertions. Knowing how much humanity would recommend the Greeks in Europe, he inculcated it by his precepts and his example. He gave up his time to Greece; gave up his society, and lived and laboured with men he despised, to promote its welfare. Herein he was a zealot, and herein his consistency is surpassed, not only by none of his personal opponents, but by no man who ever breathed.

I have already said that Lord Byron was with me generally sedate and serious; with other companions he indulged in whims and pranks; with them also he talked on a variety of frivolous things greatly to his own disadvantage, the loss of his time, and the injury of the public service. The only altercations I ever had with him arose out of these proceedings. Such conversations frequently terminated in disputes, and gave many opportunities for Lord Byron to indulge in those gusts of passion with which he was unfortunately too familiar. Naturally, he was benevolent, kind, and serious; but he was acutely sensible to the praise of mankind, and his own character took the colour of the medium in which he lived. I have seen him walk backwards and forwards in his apartment for hours together, talking rapidly and almost incessantly the whole time with Mr. Findlay or Mr. Fowke, or some other person of the same light and frivolous cast. I then occasionally remonstrated at such an employment of his time, but he always replied this sort of nonsense was necessary. It was in these conversations, that his wish to shine, to say smart things, or to tell a good story, carried him beyond the bounds of discretion, and led him to exaggerate if not to invent. My advice, as circumstances have shewn, was judicious. In such conversations were those stories collected, which, since his death, have been circulated so much to the disadvantage of his memory. Never did the words of a man, uttered in the hour of confidence and mirth, uttered, also, it is probable, without any meaning, beyond that idle sort of jesting and rhodomontade, too common among his companions, so rise up in judgment against him. I have heard him so often indulge in language, similar to that which is reported by Mr. Medwin, that what he has stated appears to wear an air of truth, and should, perhaps, when rightly considered, operate as a warning against indulging in idle talk.

To all plain men, such as I am, it will probably appear as it did to me, that the exalted birth, and consequent neglected moral training of Lord Byron, were his greatest misfortunes. He never conquered the mischievous prejudices, and the more mischievous mental habits which they led to. He was a nobleman, an only son, and a spoiled, neglected child. He had to suffer from all these circumstances, and derived a considerable share of his unhappiness from each. To almost every thing which could nurture vice in the human heart he was early and unfortunately long exposed. He was of a rank above control; possessed money and was an orphan; then came fame, not gradually and hardly earned, but at once, and overwhelming; and bestowed probably for what he had thrown off in some bright and happy and delightful moments. He was so felicitous in his language, so quick in thought, that writing to him was not labour but pleasure. He was not only a poet, but, like other young noblemen, he was, for several years, a man of what is called fashion, and ton, and the opinions which he then imbibed, and the habits he then formed, he never afterwards got rid of. He deferred to them in his conversation and his manners, long after he had learned to despise them in his heart. Naturally, like most men of very exalted genius, he was contemplative, and loved solitude rather than society. At least, in all our conversations, his Lordship was serious and reflecting, though wonderfully quick, acute, and discerning. With his other companions he was, as I have said, light, volatile, and trifling. He was still the man of fashion. Then the opinions and habits of his former days again obtained all their mastery over his mind. His commanding talents, his noble endowments, and his rare acquirements were then all sacrificed on the altar of fashionable frivolity. He had felt how dreadfully wearying are the serious triflers of the world, and his companions being unable to comprehend his more exalted thoughts, he let himself down to their level, and again became an unthinking, talking trifler. To use, perhaps a homely proverb, he “howled with the wolves,” and has been represented as vain, overbearing, gasconading, violent, unreflecting, capricious, and heartless, because these are too much the characteristics of the class to which he belonged, and of the individuals with whom he associated, and who reported of him. His noble and devoted enthusiasm in the cause of liberty; his courage, endearing him even to the rude Suliotes; his generosity, which never allowed him to leave one want or one woe unrelieved he could mitigate; the humanity which made him sacrifice time and money and ease to soothe the sorrows of the unhappy prisoners, have all at times been forgotten, and he has been held up to the censure of the world by heartless and pretended friends, who were quite unable to appreciate all the nobleness of his character.

Even in that particular, in which perhaps he is most censurable, the mockery and scorn with which he sometimes treated the dull routine of domestic life, and the matrimonial and domestic virtues, he was but the expounder of the practices of that class of society to which he belonged, though having somewhat more of hypocrisy than he had, they do not so openly state their opinions. In his lighter poems, which have been so much censured, no other virtues but these are ridiculed. His scorn of cant and hypocrisy, both in them and in his various conversations, was unmeasured. The deep affection he shewed for his daughter, whom he hardly knew, and for his wife, who seems scarcely to have loved him with that ardent, cherished, and patient affection he deserved, convinced me that he would have been the most devoted of husbands and the best of fathers, had he not been corrupted by the vices of his station and education; or had he found a woman capable of appreciating and allowing for their unhappy consequences. But Lady Byron is herself a young woman of fashion, and consequently entertains many of those opinions, and has been formed on those habits notoriously destructive of conjugal happiness. She is apparently also more imbued with the dogmas than the charity of religion. His Lordship, therefore, was never weaned nor reclaimed from the follies he had learned as a young spoiled lord; and to this, and this alone, must be attributed his neglect of some domestic virtues, and the mockery he sometimes throws on our national pretensions to female chastity. He judged of the world as he had found it in salons. When he saw, as he has declared to me, five women visiting his wife in one day as friends, with all of whom he had been before intriguing, and all of high reputation in the world; not outcasts, not banished from society, could he possibly form an exalted idea of female virtue? and was he to blame if he laughed to scorn the pretensions so frequently put forth by English writers, that we are the most virtuous and chaste of nations? It was his misfortune, I repeat, to be nobly born: had that spirit, which so much needed guidance, and was so apt to take impressions, been rightly directed in its youthful and green state; had it met with any thing like congenial spirits, or been matured in the calm and well-ordered families of the middle ranks, it would never have been polluted with some trifling spots, which, in the minds of those who rightly value nothing but domestic virtues, have done his character irreparable injury. Unfortunately, his enemies, and those who have spoken against him with most zeal and talent, have been taken from the middling classes. Possessing and praising the virtues he wanted, and overlooking or incapable of feeling those he possessed, they have most unfairly and unjustly censured him for not being like themselves; and for wanting that species of self-command, and that conformity to the national model, which are only the results of a situation he was unfortunately never placed in.

CHAPTER XI. CONDUCT OF COLONEL STANHOPE, AND OF THE GREEK COMMITTEE TO THE GREEKS.

Important consequences of Colonel Stanhope’s proceedings—His attacks on me—The Greek Committee invited to investigate them—He engages in opposition to the Greek government—Goes to Greece to regenerate it—His qualities for a legislator—Greece to be regenerated on Mr. Bentham’s principles, and by force—Engages individuals to write against the British government, and implicates the committee and the Greeks in the same hostility—Does what he can to involve them in disputes with the Holy Alliance—His favourable opinion of Mavrocordato—Attachment of the Greeks to the prince—Change in Colonel Stanhope’s opinion—Source of the change—His abuse of the prince—The prince opposes his whims—Former situation of Odysseus—An object of suspicion to the government—Is favored by Capt. Trelawney and Col. Stanhope—Sudden change in the opinion of the latter—Odysseus flatters Colonel Stanhope—The Colonel wants to put power into his hands—Intrigues to break up the brigade—Suspicions entertained of Colonel Stanhope—Intercepted letter of Sophianopulo—Captain Trelawney’s recommendation to break up the brigade—Colonel Stanhope’s order for this purpose—In what respect opposed to the wishes of Lord Byron—Letter of Mavrocordato—Colonel Stanhope sets up a new race of Pachas—Colonel Stanhope’s right to break up the brigade questioned—Formed by Lord Byron, and placed by him and the committee under Prince Mavrocordato—My instructions on this head—Insulting language of Colonel Stanhope—Source of our authority for being in Greece—Conclusion that Colonel Stanhope had no right to break up the brigade—His improper mode of transmitting orders for this purpose —Cessation of my services under the Greek Committee—Charge against Colonel Stanhope of injuring the Greek cause, and insulting the memory of Lord Byron proved—His injudicious conduct as to the war—Anger of the Greeks—His encouragement to adventurers—In what manner the Committee are to blame for approving Colonel Stanhope’s proceedings—Vote of approbation—Conclusion.

In the last chapter I shewed what an immeasurable distance there was between Lord Byron and the soldier who has censured him. That soldier was, however, the agent of the Greek committee, and could scarcely differ from, or ill-treat the most enlightened and zealous friend of the Greek cause without injuring that cause; and that he did injure it is what I mean now to shew. It is impossible that the people of England, who so generously subscribed their money to aid the Greeks, can see with indifference the manner in which that has been employed. It is impossible, also, that this country, which, by supplying the Greeks with money as a loan, has become deeply interested in their success, can see with indifference any man or set of men amongst ourselves pursuing a series of measures, calculated in my apprehension to ruin Greece. I am personally concerned in this matter, for it was through me and through the brigade I commanded, that Colonel Stanhope both insulted the memory of Lord Byron, and injured the cause of the Greeks. It was not enough, also, for this doughty Colonel to impugn the Greeks and to regulate their government, to censure Lord Byron and usurp his power, but he must even, to his other attacks add an attack on me, humble as I am. In his work on Greece, I am accused, at page 174, of thwarting the Colonel’s benevolent views as to printing prospectuses; at page 215, I am accused of “not satisfactorily accounting for certain sums of money placed in my hands by the Greek committee;” at page 224, I am accused of “swaggering and blustering;” and at page 184, I am described as going about with my eyes and hands up, crying, “Horrible, horrible; a conspiracy is formed against the government, and an Englishman, Leicester Stanhope, is at the head of it.”

I quote these passages to shew that I am not the original assailant; I do not, however, mean here to enter into any vindication of my conduct; if my employers, the Greek committee, are not satisfied with it, and with the account I have given them of the money intrusted to me, they have redress in their power. I have asked for investigation, I have supplicated them to meet me. Why have they not done it? Mr. Bowring can probably answer; but neither he nor any other person can say that I have avoided investigation, or refused to enter into the fullest explanation of my proceedings. Colonel Stanhope is a member of that committee; why has he not procured a public investigation, and caused a public exposure? Why has he, in the insidious passage quoted above, and published to the world, laboured to cast a stigma on the reputation of a man who has nothing but his labour and his character by which to gain his subsistence? If I were like Colonel Stanhope, a pensioner on the country, I might be regardless of public opinion; but I know that if I lose my character, I must starve, and, therefore, I have called for investigation. Is it not cruel in Colonel Stanhope, thus to accuse me, while he is one of that body which refuses me all means of vindication? But I repeat, I do not mean here to defend my conduct, though I have thought it right to refer to Colonel Stanhope’s public accusation, and to say I have called on the Greek committee to meet me and investigate the whole business.

The second accusation, of blustering and swaggering, is one of Colonel Stanhope’s usual vague assertions. It is precisely the same accusation he makes against Lord Byron; so that I only find myself honoured by his attributing to me a trait of character, common also to that great man. Lord Byron and myself were, I suppose, among the few persons who had the skill to see through the charlatanism of Colonel Stanhope’s political regulations and pretensions, the good sense not to natter his egregious vanity, and the courage to resist his usurpations. Borrowing a feature, probably, from his own character, he has on this account attributed bullying to one and blustering to the other. He will find, however, as he has already found, that I possess too little of either of these qualities to be frightened by him.

As to his accusation that I said there was a conspiracy, and he was at the head of it, I have since, unfortunately, seen no reason to alter the opinion I then had formed; on the contrary, I here repeat what I then said, and shall state the grounds of my opinion. I trust I shall shew that there was such a conspiracy, that it was conducted by intrigues, that Colonel Stanhope lent his aid to it, and that its object was to destroy the influence of Prince Mavrocordato; I trust I shall also shew that Colonel Stanhope, by his conduct in this whole business, did incalculable injury to the Greek cause. If I shew this, the public, or at least all that portion of it interested in the success of the Greeks, and who have subscribed to assist them, will call on the Greek committee to account for that vote of approbation with which they hailed the return of Colonel Stanhope to England. To trace the whole business, I must go a little into detail, and begin at a period antecedent to my arrival in Greece.

In the first place, it is quite evident that Colonel Stanhope went out to Greece with the idea of regenerating that country. He almost says as much. “Money is what I want here; a little from the committee, a little from the Quakers, schools, presses, posts, hospitals; all will then flourish; elementary books on education, war, agriculture, &c., newspapers, useful pamphlets, Greek bibles, the monthly repository, medical stores, blankets, bandages, matter for the press, and two schoolmasters, to teach the Lancasterian system, are all much required. I think, with such means, placed in judicious hands, this nation might be regenerated.” The italics are Colonel Stanhope’s own, so that he meant to regenerate Greece by means of two school-masters, and a little money from the Quakers.

Colonel Stanhope carried in his head plans for organizing the army, regulating the government, establishing schools, setting up newspapers, forming utilitarian societies, running mails, instructing the people, reforming the rulers, changing the religion, framing codes of law, regulating judicial proceedings, and in short, for doing every thing. He had a constitution ready cut and dried; and he set about all these mighty projects without any of that previous acquaintance with the Greeks which one might expect would at least be possessed by any man who proposed to legislate for them. He had indeed been in Hindostan, and had such a correct idea of the mode of treating the Greeks, that he recommended the Greek committee to consult Anglo-Indians, in order to ascertain the best means of treating the Greeks. “In all things connected with Greece,” he says, “consult those Anglo-Indians, who understand the character of Asiatic nations. It is thus that I find myself quite at home in Greece.” What knowledge the committee could obtain from these it is difficult to guess, except a knowledge of the means practised so successfully in Hindostan, of reducing nations to slavery, under the guise of being their friends and protectors.

But mere regeneration was not enough for Colonel Stanhope, it was to be regeneration according to Mr. Bentham’s principles. His doctrines were recommended to the Greeks on every occasion; he is called “the first jurist of the age,” “the most enlightened man of the most enlightened period of the world,” and his books and his writings are pointed out to the Greeks as the guides of life and the sanctuaries of wisdom. I know nothing of Mr. Bentham’s principles, and can therefore say nothing of them; but I do know that they have never yet been reduced to practice. However just they may be abstractedly, they never can be fit for the adoption of any people, (unless they are to be governed by the will of Mr. Bentham instead of their own will,) till they know and appreciate them. It is tyranny to impose any code of laws, however admirable in themselves, on any country. Mr. Bentham’s principles are not known and appreciated by the Greeks, and therefore are not proper for their immediate adoption.

Never was there a visionary, therefore, less fit to legislate for such a rude country as Greece than Colonel Stanhope, loaded and primed with the legislative tenets of Mr. Bentham, and ready to enforce them on the most approved Hindostanee method. This single circumstance would, in every rational man’s estimation, have been quite enough to induce the Greek committee, which had nothing whatever to do with reforming Greece, and did not require a resident there, such as the East India Company maintains at the courts of its tributary sovereigns, to pause before they sent such a man as their representative. It is, however, to be apprehended, that their own plans too much resembled those of Colonel Stanhope. In addition, also, to his being a visionary and a theorist, he was a soldier—a man bred up in habits of severe command and rigid obedience. He was a sort of Mussulman legist, ready to thrust freedom down the throats of the common herd of mankind at the point of the sword, and ready both to expound and enforce his theories. It was scarcely possible to have selected a worse description of person to intrust with power. After he had proved by his conduct what were the objects he had in view, the influential and managing members of the Greek committee, being either visionaries like himself, or ignorant of the most common characteristics of human nature, and in either case unfit for that high office they had taken on themselves, continued to repose confidence in him, and even honoured him with their approbation.

As proofs of his unfitness, which must have been known to the Greek committee, for I take them from his own letters addressed to the honorary secretary of that committee for its information, I shall quote a few specimens of his conduct. At Milan, he engages a Monsieur M. to write a short historical pamphlet on the conduct of our government in the Ionian islands. “I have recommended him,” he says, “to select a number of strong facts, and to state them in so soft a tone that even the sensitive nerves of delicate politicians may not shrink from their perusal. This pamphlet will be sent over to the Greek committee for dispersion in the newspapers,” p. 18. “All public bodies, and eminent men I have conversed with, agree in the expediency of changing the character of the government of the Ionian Islands”, p. 23. From Ancona, he tells Mr. Bowring, that a Greek settled there is to send him (of course for the Greek committee) all the acts of mal-administration in the Ionian Islands. Here, then, before we have reached the twentieth page in Colonel Stanhope’s book, before he has arrived at Greece, we find him engaging in intrigues against the government of the Ionian Islands, and implicating the Greek committee in the same sort of conduct. They were to be the recipients of the calumnies which could be collected by Mons. M. and the abettors of Colonel Stanhope, in spreading them over the country. Thus did he and the committee do what was in their power to put the Greek cause in hostility with the British government, and that government kindly disposed towards the Greeks, and more than any other capable of benefiting or injuring them.

When Colonel Stanhope was so little inclined to be prudent towards his own government, which had much power to hurt him, though he probably relied on his family influence for protection, it cannot be expected that he should be more kindly disposed towards Austria, Russia, and the Holy Alliance. Every page of his book shews his hostility to these governments. To that hostility no man can object, but it was acting in a most unfriendly manner to the Greeks, to send, as the representative of the English committee, a man who was sure to involve them in disputes with these powers; who was prompt to act on those feelings of hatred towards the Holy Alliance, which, however justifiable in an Englishman, are quite unsuitable to the Greeks. After seeing such proofs of Colonel Stanhope’s hostility to the Austrians, as his book contains, and when we know that the press at Missolonghi was under his control, we are at no loss to account for the origin of those attacks, both on the Ionian government, and on the government of Austria, which he so warmly supported, and which gave so much chagrin and uneasiness both to Lord Byron and Prince Mavrocordato.

At page 63, we find him recommending the committee to send authors out to Greece; “men,” he says, “who could speak French, German, or Italian, and who could write strong articles in plain language, would do incalculable good here.” The press was not, therefore, for the Greeks to speak their sentiments to one another, but for foreigners to endoctrine them with those strong articles in plain language, which have stirred up so much strife in some parts of Europe. At page 89, he recommends “the committee to send out a few men of political acquirements to write for the public journals.” At another place, they are desired to send out the articles ready written; so that Colonel Stanhope thought every thing might be done by using the political jargon which is common to political declaimers.

These partisan feelings, so conspicuous in Colonel Stanhope’s book, must have been known to the committee before he reached Missolonghi, and yet they appear to have encouraged him in all his wild schemes; but particularly in that wildest of all schemes, setting up a press in Greece, by which all the defeated partisans of revolution, by force and not by knowledge, might abuse all the governments of Europe. The Greek committee and Colonel Stanhope certainly forgot that men of all persuasions and sects were subscribers to their funds; and that the purpose for which they subscribed was to relieve some of the miseries of. the cruel warfare in which the Greeks were engaged, and enable them to resist the Turks. Those subscriptions had no European political object, and it was a desertion of principles for the committee to have any thing in view but merely to assist the Greeks.

With such mighty projects in his head, it was to be expected that Colonel Stanhope would not agree very well with those who had most influence in Greece, and who would like least to be dictated to. The parties in Greece, although every chief had a party of his own, were principally two. A party that sought, by organizing and consolidating civil institutions and civil power, in the manner most suitable to the situation and wants of Greece, to ensure government, and order, and military strength. At the head of this party was and is Prince Mavrocordato. It engages in many intrigues, as every body admits; it would like to make Greece a monarchy and perhaps have a foreign sovereign, who would be obliged to rule through the individuals who are its chiefs. It liked no rival, and of course dreaded that influence which might be obtained by any person having money; and it wished to keep the press under control, lest it should be directed contrary to its views. The other party was that of the military chiefs, each of whom wished to obtain power, and have plunder; and, therefore, though they were united in their opposition to the party seeking civil order, they were the rivals and enemies of each other.

Of all the chiefs, however, no one was more generally respected than Mavrocordato. He was the best known in Europe, and the most relied on. To him, in conjunction with that body called the general government, though it had but little power, had Lord Byron united himself. To him, also, as the most efficient executive organ of this government, had the Greek committee consigned the stores intended for the use of the Greeks. By his influence also and his name, more than those of any other individual, was the loan negotiated in England. Unquestionably he was and is the first statesman in Greece, though, from not having any armed hordes at his command, living on plunder, he has not been so much distinguished as a military leader, as some of the other chiefs. If there is one individual in Greece, capable by his knowledge of appreciating the general wants of his countrymen, and by his skill of uniting them under one form of government, that individual is Mavrocordato. He was destitute, however, of money and of troops; and therefore it was that Lord Byron, and also the committee in the first instance, did what they could to strengthen him, and to preserve for him that influence in the councils of his country, which he merits by his abilities and his virtues. The stores which I accompanied to Greece, and all the men, were sent to assist him at Missolonghi, which had no other temptation as a place of residence but its utility as one of the outworks of Greece, and the necessity of defending it. Mavrocordato was there with the best and most patriotic intentions; and in this swamp, to second these intentions, Lord Byron took up his residence.

The general estimation in which the Prince was held, may be known by the following extracts from Colonel Stanhope’s own work:—“The Hydriots and Spezziots, in virtue of a promise formerly made them, wished to settle their families at Napoli di Romania. Colocotroni, it seems, opposed this measure, upon which the islanders refused to act. Mavrocordato was, in consequence, sent to Hydra to conciliate them, and to persuade them to equip their fleet. He succeeded; they set sail, had a naval engagement with the Turks, between Tenedos and Mitylene, and took or burnt five or six vessels” page 20. “The Hydriots and Spezziots are also much attached to Mavrocordato. In short, the whole nation seem to look up to him as their friend”, page 35. “Mavrocordato is a favourite with the islands, the people of Western Greece, and the legislative body. He is now president of that body, and is sent round here to settle affairs in this quarter. I find him good-natured, clever, accommodating, and disposed to do good. He has rather an ingenious than a profound mind. He seems at all times disposed to concede and to advance every good measure; and I consider it a great advantage for Greece, that he is now in power at Missolonghi,” page 41—42. At page 55, Mavrocordato is described as the “idol of the people.” Here, then, we have Colonel Stanhope’s own testimony to the high character of Mavrocordato. So esteemed as he was and is, surely he, if any individual in Greece should know what is required for that country, and surely he of all men there deserves confidence. I have already stated, however, on the authority of Lord Byron, that Colonel Stanhope bearded the Prince; and that, conceding and ready to promote every good measure as he was, on Colonel Stanhope’s own shewing, he was obliged to oppose much which the latter did or wanted to do.

Before Colonel Stanhope had been six weeks at Missolonghi, the following scene occurred. It is described by Colonel Stanhope, and therefore he will not object to its authenticity:—“The press is not yet in motion; I will explain to you the cause. When I arrived here I found that Mavrocordato had brought a press with him, and that Dr. Meyer had undertaken to conduct it. I immediately endeavoured to rouse the several persons concerned to commence the work; but a thousand obstacles were thrown in the way. At last a house was procured and put in order: a prospectus, partly written by Dr. Meyer and partly by myself, was prepared, a list of the members of the three Parliaments, the Primates, Capitani, &c. was made out, and a circular letter ready to forward to them. In short, when I thought that the matter was actually printed, the redacteur declared that the language of the prospectus was not good; that he had received one from the prince that was all excellent; in short, that he would not print the prospectus. Mark well that he is the only printer here. It is necessary to mention to you that, during this most important struggle, the treaty or contract, which I had guaranteed relative to the small loan of £100 for the fleet, had been violated. Instead of seven ships being retained here, only five, and two fire-vessels, remained. The prince’s secretary came to explain the matter to me; but sophistry would not do from one who was slily acting as censor over the press, and attempting to suppress the thoughts of the finest genius of the most enlightened age—the thoughts of the immortal Bentham. I told the secretary that contracts were sacred things, and if they were broken in one instance, what security was there for Lord Byron’s loan or the expected English loan. The next morning I met the redacteur at Dr. M.’s, and rated him roughly. I declared that I would set up a press in the Morea, and expose the whole intrigue. I then asked whether it was intended to establish an inquisition in Greece. ‘What,’ said I, ‘will Prince Mavrocordato say to you; he who is the idol of the people, the governor they have forced the executive to adopt, and the president of the representatives of a free people, should he hear that you have acted so basely?’ He shuffled, and agreed to publish what Dr. M. had written, but said that the translation from Bentham was not in good Greek, and could not appear. I gave him another sound rating, and he yielded. Since that time, the prince has called upon me. I told him how infamously the printer had behaved, and repeated all that I had said to him. I told him, further, that no man’s reputation could be safe without a free press; and, as an instance of it, I mentioned that he was accused of wishing to sell the Morea to England, and of aspiring to the throne of Greece. The high and sturdy tone assumed in these two conversations produced the desired result:—the prospectus is printed; and I feel proud that in Greece, as in Hindoostan, I have contributed to the first establishment of a free press.”

From his interview with Colonel Stanhope, Mavrocordato retired silent and humiliated. This foreigner assumed the direction of affairs; rates this man roughly; gives him “another sound rating,” assumes a “high and sturdy tone;” and carries his business through in opposition to that very authority of which he was only to be the auxiliary! This man is described in the vote of thanks of the Greek committee, as “having acted with sound discretion,” and as “having a conciliatory spirit;” and here is evidence of his having set himself up in opposition to the native authorities before he had been two months in Greece.

At this time Mavrocordato depended on the supplies of that committee to maintain himself at Missolonghi, and preserve this important post. Was it generous, or was it prudent in Colonel Stanhope to humiliate the prince in this manner, or to make use of the power which circumstance gave him to enforce a whim of his own? Was it not an evidence, and a strong evidence, that our pretensions to assist the Greeks were only founded on a wish to obtain influence in their country? From that time forward, as might be expected, there was a coolness and opposition between Colonel Stanhope and Mavrocordato. The prince constantly objecting to his violence, and endeavouring, by those arts of intrigue so common among all classes of the Greeks, to check the circulation of writings he had not the power to suppress. On the other hand, Colonel Stanhope knowing these underhand methods, grew constantly more imbittered against Mavrocordato, and accused him of wanting to suppress all discussion, and of desiring no other press but that which should speak his own sentiments. Before one month after this first dispute, Colonel Stanhope describes Mavrocordato, for no other reason that I could ever learn, than because he objected to the violent tirades of the Colonel, “as no friend to liberty in a large sense,” page 63. Before another month elapsed, Mavrocordato was accused of having “ambition, but not the daring or self-confidence required to play the first part in the state. His game, therefore, is to secure the second character, either under the commonwealth or under a king.” And then the Colonel asks, sneeringly, “What can you expect from a Turk or a Greek of Constantinople?” page 100. We are afterwards told, however, that Mavrocordato is a good man. “Greece,” says Colonel Stanhope, at page 147, “is split into factions, which are enrolled into two great parties. The one consists of Mavrocordato, the islands, a large portion of the legislative body, of the Primates, and of the people. The other consists of Ipsilanti, Petrombey, Colocotroni, and the principal part of the soldiery. Odysseus professes neutrality, but leans to the latter party. Mavrocordato is a good man, but cannot go straight. He is, secretly, for a mild monarchy.—A thing as easy to be obtained in Greece as a mild tigerarchy.” Four months later, Mavrocordato is described as one from whom no good could be expected, he having been sent to Greece and patronised by the metropolitan Ignatius, who is a mongrel of Turkish, Russian, and Greek breed, and a pensioner of Russia—page 212. Of both, Colonel Stanhope says, “what can you expect, but that each will play the republican or the slave, as circumstances may require or ambition dictate?”

From these passages, it is plain a complete change had been effected in Colonel Stanhope’s sentiments towards Prince Mavrocordato; and for this change there was no reason whatever, but the discovery made by Colonel Stanhope that the prince was not as great an enthusiast and visionary as himself. He does not, he cannot, alledge one act against him. He does not attribute to him any loss of popularity or power. He does not say that the islanders had ceased to love and respect him. He convicts him of no intrigues, and does not even prove that he was guilty of any follies. The prince still remained at the post he occupied when Stanhope went to Greece, and was engaged in the same pursuits as when he described him as the general favourite, and as ready to engage in every good work. The whole course of the change in the Colonel’s mind is as clear as if it were a stream lying at our feet. He respects Mavrocordato at first for his good conduct and great exertions, but he wants to do a number of things in Greece, which, in Mavrocordato’s opinion are not beneficial to Greece. Mavrocordato, unable to resist him without injuring Greece, and unwilling to offend one who has so much in his power, opposes his violent proceedings in an underhand way, and the Colonel’s respect is changed to contempt, and then comes calumny and opposition.

Had the accusations of Colonel Stanhope been only breathed into the ear of the secretary of the Greek committee, however much this might have been lamented, and whatever harm they might have done the Greek cause, they would not have been noticed here; but they are published to the world; and after Colonel Stanhope has been one of the instruments for transferring that portion of the loan into the pockets of the Greeks, which was ever destined to enter them, he puts forth statements calculated to deprive the most capable man in Greece of confidence, and thus by injuring the Greek cause, to take from the Greek government the means of fulfilling its engagements. Had Colonel Stanhope’s opposition been confined to what he printed in the newspapers in Greece, and what he published in his book, I should have left to far abler pens than mine the task of punishing him and defending the Greeks. He has exposed his conduct so completely in his own book that every body interested for the Greeks must see a want of wisdom in all his proceedings, and among the enlightened friends to their cause, some will be found to avenge them. But he has done more than print and publish; he broke up the brigade which Lord Byron had formed; he destroyed all the fruits of my exertions at Missolonghi; he did irreparable injury to the Greeks by breaking up that brigade, and this it is which calls on me to expose his conduct. Whatever may have been the results of his proceedings, I honestly believe they were all caused by his having been thwarted in his newspaper views by Lord Byron and Prince Mavrocordato.

Now for the proofs of his improper proceedings. It has been already mentioned, that the Greek government, Prince Mavrocordato, and Lord Byron, were all apprehensive of what would be the conduct of Ulysses, Colocotroni, and the other military leaders, if they had power. It was Lord Byron’s opinion, which he signified to the government, that as small a portion of the loan, and as few of the stores as possible, should be placed at the disposal of these chiefs. Such an opinion was fully justified by their previous character and conduct. Ulysses had been a servant of Ali Pacha, and a captain of an organized band of plunderers. Colocotroni was a mere adventurer, who had been guilty of all sorts of oppression in the Morea, and had collected a considerable body of troops, by allowing them to commit almost unheard-of enormities. He even took and plundered some part of the stores belonging to the Greek committee. Since that period, both these chiefs have openly rebelled against the government, and have been defeated. Colocotroni has been deprived of his power, and Ulysses has again taken up his abode in an impregnable, and to strangers inaccessible, pass in the mountains. Thus the event has fully justified the suspicions which the government entertained of these mercenary soldiers, and done more than any language can do to condemn the conduct of those Englishmen who supported them in opposition to that government. It is very natural for military men to admire military virtues. Colonel Stanhope, like other officers, is fond of commanding, or of carrying things with a high hand, and he would probably admire, more than a mere civilian would do, a similar disposition in another person. From some reason of this kind, Colonel Stanhope was much more attached to the military chiefs, particularly to Ulysses, than to the cautious and even wily Mavrocordato. Captain Trelawney, a romantic kind of adventurer, had also been much with Ulysses, and was personally attached to him. He liked the free and energetic character and mode of living of this mountain robber. His communications to Colonel Stanhope may probably have had some influence on the Colonel’s opinions. In addition to this, Ulysses, knowing Colonel Stanhope’s penchant for newspapers, professed to assist him in setting up his press at Athens. From these various causes, Colonel Stanhope was quite smitten with him, and threw all his weight into the scale of this mountain robber, almost the instant he got to Athens.

Only a fortnight after leaving Missolonghi, and after knowing Ulysses or Odysseus, about half that time, he writes of him thus, “I have been constantly with Odysseus. He has a very strong mind, a good heart, and is brave as his sword; he is a doing man; he governs with a strong arm, and is the only man in Greece that can preserve order. He puts, however, complete confidence in the people. He is for a strong government, for constitutional rights, and for vigorous efforts against the enemy. He professes himself of no faction, neither of Ipsilante’s, nor of Colocotroni’s, nor of Mavrocordato’s, neither of the primates, nor of the Capitani, nor of the foreign-king faction. He speaks of them all in the most undisguised manner. He likes good foreigners, is friendly to a small body of foreign troops, and courts instruction. He has established two schools here, and has allowed me to set the press at work. He complains that the press at Missolonghi does not insert articles that do not suit the politics of the editor.” Five days after this Colonel Stanhope writes as follows: “The Chief Odysseus has been a mountain robber, has never bowed in bondage to the Turks, has served under Ali Pacha, has been chosen governor of Eastern Greece, has refused to give up Athens to a weak government, and has lately sympathized with the people, and taken the liberal course in politics. He is a brave soldier, has great power, and promotes public liberty.—Just such a man Greece requires.”

Here is strong and decisive evidence of Colonel Stanhope embracing, with all the warm feelings of a partisan, the party of the mountain robber; and of the man who had refused to give up Athens to a weak government. Odysseus was at that very moment opposed to the party with which Lord Byron was united,—the party of the government and Prince Mavrocordato, (as is evident from Colonel Stanhope’s own shewing) and what is more, the party with which the committee was connected, the party with which the loan had been negotiated, the party to which the artisans, and all the stores, had been sent. For taking this decided part, Colonel Stanhope appears to have had no reason whatever, but that he was flattered by Odysseus. The very language and opinions he puts into the mouth of this chief, were the language and opinions he himself held. “He promotes public liberty; he has allowed me to set the press at work; he has established two schools; he complains of the press at Missolonghi; and, withal, he possesses great power, does this mountain robber, and he governs with a strong hand.” It is quite plain that this frank soldier had more cunning than Mavrocordato, and gave into all the Colonel’s whims for the sake of obtaining his support. What respect can a mountain robber, a Captain of Ali Pacha’s, have for a free press; or what can such a man know of the nice safeguards of civil and political liberty? His conduct had undergone no alteration; and, merely by professing the same principles as Colonel Stanhope, he instantly won his confidence. It could not, however, be unknown to Colonel Stanhope at the time, that Odysseus was an object of suspicion to the general government; nor that letters had frequently been intercepted, which had justified these suspicions. While he was cajoling Colonel Stanhope, by pretending to be of no party, and to have a great partiality for the freedom of the press, he was carrying on intrigues with Ipsilanti and Colocotroni, to put an end to the influence of Mavrocodato, and overturn the party of civil order, so that Greece might be delivered up entirely to the strong government of the Capitani, and be placed under their swords.

The first practical result of this new attachment of Colonel Stanhope’s, was a demand on Lord Byron to send powder, guns, shot, and other stores, from Missolonghi to Athens; that is, to take them from the government to which they had been sent, and consign them to Odysseus. When Colonel Stanhope wrote, on March the 8th, to Lord Byron, he also suggested that the English mechanics, if they had not departed from Missolonghi, should be sent to Athens, as well as myself, or Mr. Gill, or Mr. Hodges. Thus, as far as depended on Colonel Stanhope, he would at once have weakened, even during Lord Byron’s lifetime, his resources, and the resources of Prince Mavrocordato. As this request was known, both to the Prince and to Odysseus, it had the immediate effect of exciting the hopes and encourageing the intrigues of the latter, and making the former dread the influence of Colonel Stanhope more than ever.

The next result was, that intrigues were set on foot to seduce some of those from our service whom Lord Byron would not send. I do not say that Colonel Stanhope himself engaged in this low dirty business: but I am sure, lending himself to the party of Odysseus gave it a credit at Missolonghi it would not otherwise have acquired, and enabled his partisans to use Stanhope’s name, in a way they would not otherwise have dared to do. Soon after the request for stores arrived, in consequence of the numerous saint and holy days on which the Greeks would on no account work, I procured, through Lord Byron, permission) from the clergy, for the Greeks in the arsenal to work on Sunday, to which generally they had no objection. They were to receive more pay for working on that day than on any other. But on stating this circumstance to the workmen, I found there existed among them an unwillingness I had never before perceived. This surprised me, and pursuing the inquiry, into which I was led by some hints, I ascertained that these men had been tampered with by the party at Athens, who had used Colonel Stanhope’s name, and that discontent had in consequence got amongst them. They thought they should be better off at Athens, and wished to leave Missolonghi. Under the sanction of Colonel Stanhope’s example, and tempted by selfishness and ambition, they joined, in their wishes, the party arrayed against Missolonghi, and did what they could to break up the establishment there, and ruin Mavrocordato, for the benefit of Odysseus.

By Colonel Stanhope embracing so openly the party of the latter, he gave an opportunity to the partisans of Odysseus, to represent him as wholly attached to the Athenian Chief. Thus Sophianopulo, one of Odysseus’s friends, writing from Athens to Demetrius Ipsilanti, says, “The English took the part of the Cranidi people in the first instance, only because they were deceived by Mavrocordato, but having been since persuaded that Mavrocordato, and those of Cranidi, instead of seeking the independence of Greece, are endeavouring without the consent of the people, to invite kings and to demand the protection of foreign powers, they have quitted the party of Mavrocordato and those of Cranidi, and now panegyrize the conduct of the Tripolitza people, with whom they are desirous of entering into a correspondence, seeing that they desire only a national assembly, union, and a cessation of faction. Mavrocordato had so prejudiced the English against Ulysses, Niketas, and Colocotroni, that they could not listen to their names with pleasure; but the conferences of Col. Stanhope with Ulysses, although very brief, and his acquaintance with Goortho, and other persons of good sentiments, have compelled him to declare that the fall of Mavrocordato , the introduction of D. Ipsilanti into the national government, and the reinforcement of the government with Colliopulo and Goortho, are the only means of securing the independence of Greece, and the consolidation of her laws, by putting a stop to civil war and intestine disturbances,” p. 308. This letter was intercepted by the government and sent to Missolonghi, where it arrived shortly after we had discovered the intrigues set on foot, in Colonel Stanhope’s name, to seduce our people, and shortly after he had made those requisitions which, if complied with, would have put Missolonghi in the power of any body who chose to attack it. These circumstances, which all occurred shortly before Lord Byron’s death, begot an opinion at Missolonghi, that Colonel Stanhope was openly lending himself to the intrigues of Ulysses—whom he describes in another place as a consummate intriguer, and of course they had a powerful effect on the minds of all the persons, both foreigners and Greeks, at Missolonghi. This was, I believe, one strong motive for Mavrocordato not meeting a congress called by Odysseus, and recommended by Stanhope. Thus, the violent partisan feelings betrayed by Colonel Stanhope had the immediate effect of preventing that meeting, which might have promoted the union of the whole, had it been properly managed.

That Sophianopulo was engaged in a conspiracy to destroy the power of Mavrocordato is admitted. That Colonel Stanhope had fully lent himself to the views of this man, whom his own friends describe as a detestable character, is evident from his recommending, in the passage already quoted, p. 246, two of the very measures which this Sophianopulo wished to have executed, viz., the introduction of D. Ipsilanti and Colliopulo into the government. The opinion that Colonel Stanhope was engaged with Odysseus in his rebellious projects against the government was strengthened, also, by what this letter said of Colonel Stanhope’s opinions, as to Prince Mavrocordato wishing to invite a King, and place the Greeks under the protection of foreign powers, because it was known that Colonel Stanhope, however unjustifiable such opinions were by any circumstances in the conduct of Mavrocordato, did entertain them. This intercepted letter, therefore, shewed that Colonel Stanhope had at least made Sophianopulo his confidant, and had entered into his views. So strong was the opinion at Missolonghi, that he had joined the opposing chiefs in all their views against the government, that his own partisans there, for he had partisans, write to him thus: “Considerable pains are taken by some person or persons, to make it appear, that you are supporting a faction in opposition to the government, and this is not a little increased, by a letter written by Mr. Hastings (a friend of Colonel Stanhope’s) to an American gentleman here, of the name of Jarvis, in which he says, “that in spite of all his remonstrances, he is afraid your mind is biassed by a person, named we believe Sophianopulo, whom Hastings states to be one of the most execrable villains that ever existed.” p. 184.*

* This extract is part of a letter from Messrs. Hodges and Gill, two persons under my orders at Missolonghi: it bears no date, but it is mentioned in a letter written by the Colonel from Salona, on April the 18th, and is described as having been just received. The independent and upright-minded Colonel Stanhope, had engaged my subalterns therefore to write to him, and the tenour of their correspondence is somewhat remarkable. This letter begins. “In respect to what has been done since our arrival, as we cannot say what we wish, we will decline saying any thing.” So that Colonel Stanhope did not choose to be informed of what was doing, or of what had been done, by Lord Byron, Count Gamba, or me; no, he had recourse to my subalterns, whom he thus employed and encouraged to transmit reports of the conduct of their superiors. That was the sort of information Stanhope asked and wanted.

After Colonel Stanhope had been informed of the suspicions excited by his conduct, it might have been expected that he would have taken some steps to remove them. He persevered, however, in giving power to the robber chief, who has since been obliged again to take to the mountains; and, in weakening Mavrocordato and the government, thus he identified his views with the conduct of Odysseus. He had been warned of the consequences, he knew of the suspicions, knew of the imputations which had been made against him, and yet he persevered in breaking up the establishment at Missolonghi. On April the 28th, not ten days after Lord Byron’s death, his friend, and the friend of Odysseus, Captain Trelawney writes to Colonel Stanhope from Missolonghi, thus: “Every one here, I mean the English artificers and brigade, now wish to join Odysseus; or, at least, to leave this hole; I know you will say I have seduced them.” On the 29th he writes, “Every one says, Gamba and all, that neither Byron, nor any one else, has given the committee’s stores to Mavrocordato. I have ascertained, that you are legally and indisputably now in full possession, and full power. Hodges and Gill will not stay here. All the English wish to be off. Do, my dear Sir, take some prompt and decisive steps. I will, if you like, execute them. You know the wants of Eastern Greece. Could you not consign some portion of these stores to that part, on condition of the Greek government’s approval? Divide the artillery brigade in two, for it is, in force, two brigades.”

In consequence of such representations seconding his own wishes, Colonel Stanhope wrote from Zante, under date May 18th, to Mr. Hodges, one of those subalterns with whom he had previously been corresponding, desiring him “to deliver over to Captain Trelawney’s charge, who, be it remembered, had no official character whatever, one howitzer and three three-pounders, with cartridges and every thing complete for field service. These guns and this ammunition he will place in the custody of General Odysseus, during the pleasure of the general government of Greece. You will also be pleased to deliver to Captain Trelawney, a spy glass and a map of Greece, for General Odysseus. Unless Mr. Gill’s presence is necessary or useful at Missolonghi, of which he must be the best judge, I wish him to proceed to Athens with Captain Trelawney. He will take such working tools with him as he may consider necessary.” p. 214.

This order broke up the brigade, and completely blighted the fruits of all Lord Byron’s exertions. In consequence of it three long three-pounders, two short three-pounders, mountain guns, and the howitzer complete, were sent to Odysseus, under the charge of Captain Trelawney. This was in fact the decisive measure which this gentleman recommended Colonel Stanhope to order, and which he volunteered his services to execute. I was at Zante when the order was given, and remonstrated against it, but Colonel Stanhope would not listen to me. My remonstrances he termed swaggering, and my reminding him of Lord Byron’s intentions, and the government orders, he denominated blustering. In his letter to Prince Mavrocordato, dated Zante, December 7th, he describes himself “as deputed to act in concert with Lord Byron, and further his views in favour of Greece,” p. 37. In all his proceedings which fell under my cognizance, he acted in opposition to Lord Byron, and did any thing but promote his views. The very step he took about the brigade and the stores, was directly in opposition to Lord Byron’s views. It was in vain that I represented this to him; that I had received Lord Byron’s, Prince Mavrocordato’s, and the government’s orders, not to allow any stores to be sent away: it was in vain that I represented Lord Byron’s opinion on the necessity of adhering to the general government, (which he had felt so strongly, that he had withdrawn the orders he had once given, as I have already stated, to send some supplies to his old friend Longa, and those supplies were never sent,) it was in vain that I represented to Colonel Stanhope the mischief which might ensue by taking the supplies from under the control of the government and giving them into the hands of the chiefs: Colonel Stanhope would persist, and he sent those supplies to Odysseus, which, for aught I know, may since have been recaptured by the general government.

I had received orders from Lord Byron, at my peril, not to deliver any article whatever, unless the delivery was sanctioned by the general government. Col. Stanhope in his letter does mention the general government, but it is impossible that this government could have given permission to remove these stores, or to place them under the control of Odysseus, whom at that very moment it suspected of hostility. It is very amusing, also, to see with what facility this robber chief is transformed by Colonel Stanhope into General Odysseus. I am persuaded that under no circumstances would the government have sanctioned the plan of strengthening its opponent Odysseus, at the expense of its friend Mavrocordato. At least the measure would never have been adopted without his sanction. About the same period however, on May 22d, Mavrocordato wrote to Mr. Blaquiere, who was then at Zante, objecting in the strongest manner to sending any artillery from Missolonghi, or in any way weakening that important post. He also complains of wanting ammunition, and he says the people will not see the removal of these things from Missolonghi with indifference.

At the time this letter was written Colonel Stanhope was still at Zante, and as it is published in his book, the probabilities are that he was there when it arrived, and that it was communicated to him at the moment.

There is indeed reason to believe that it was written either with a view of its being shewn to him, or of being made public in some way or other; and it casts much too clear a light on the manner in which the friend of Lord Byron and the first statesman of Greece was treated by a few meddling and overbearing captains and colonels, not to have all the publicity possible given to it; I shall insert it, therefore, in the Appendix, under the letter F. A letter containing similar sentiments was also addressed to Count Gamba, and it also will be found in the appendix marked G.

The reader will see by these letters, how completely the above order of Colonel Stanhope was in opposition to the wishes of Prince Mavrocordato, and of the general government of Greece; he will learn, too, how completely the colonel took the arrangement of every thing of this description on his own responsibility; and from Colonel Stanhope’s own book, he may learn how sincerely he despised and condemned that government and people he, and others like him were calling on the British people to subscribe their money to support. Col. Stanhope’s conduct on this occasion may be considered,—as to his right to do what he did, and as to the expediency of his proceedings. I deny that he had any authority to break up the brigade, but the expediency of his doing so I must leave to others more competent than I am to decide; I may, however, observe, that to make the brigade of artillery effective, it was essential to keep it undivided. A mountain gun or two might have been of great service to Odysseus; but, independent of his being a mere armed chieftain, in opposition to the government, it may well be doubted how far one gun here, and one gun there, taken from under the management of those who were acquainted with this species of force, could tend to the defence of Greece. Distributing the force and the resources of the committee in this manner, was but setting up a new race of Pachas, to lord it for another three centuries over the poor inhabitants of Greece. The government of the sword, or rather in this case of the gun, was, however, the sort of government which, under the name of a strong government, this Anglo-Indian Colonel was particularly desirous of establishing in Greece.

As to Colonel Stanhope’s right to break up the brigade, I may observe that it was very doubtful to me whether Captain Trelawney’s information as to the extent of Colonel Stanhope’s power to dispose of the stores was correct; setting aside the remarkable circumstance of Colonel Stanhope, who held an official situation, not knowing whether he had such power or not, and deriving information that he had from a person who was quite unacquainted with all the circumstances of the case. Soon after the arrival of the laboratory establishment in Greece, this was expressly notified to Prince Mavrocordato, by a joint letter of Lord Byron and Colonel Stanhope, in which the prince is expressly required to state forthwith, “in what manner he wishes it to be employed,” p. 107. If this is not placing it under his orders, I scarce know any form of language which would do so. It gave him the control of these stores, unless the letter were meant as a mockery; at least it must be admitted that after such an offer it was not possible, more particularly after Lord Byron’s death, and particularly after the slighting manner Colonel Stanhope had treated the prince, to withdraw the laboratory and stores from under his control without insulting him.

The instructions and orders given to me by Mr. Bowring, the secretary to the Greek committee, (and it will be recollected that the whole of the guns and stores were placed immediately under my care) were, first, to obey the orders and directions of the chief commissioner Lord Byron; secondly, to deliver an account of the stores to Prince Mavrocordato, governor of Western Greece, who would be responsible that the stores should be ex-pended for the service of Greece.” On my arrival, I obeyed these instructions, and from that time till the time of my leaving Greece, the whole expense of carrying on the service was defrayed by Lord Byron. Not one farthing had the committee supplied; not one farthing was at the command of the Greek government; so that, in point of fact, the expense of all our labours, from the time of our arrival in Greece, was defrayed by Lord Byron. This nobleman not only sanctioned my placing myself, agreeably to Mr. Bowring’s instructions, under the orders of Prince Mavrocordato, but his whole conduct shewed that he placed the greatest confidence in the prince. The money which he had laid out he had placed at the disposal of the prince, and unquestionably Colonel Stanhope had no power to take it, or the stores which had been preserved at Lord Byron’s cost, (for they would have fallen a prey to the Suliotes, but for him,) out of the power of Mavrocordato. Even if he had, common decency—common respect for the wishes and intentions of Lord Byron, whose views he said he came to further,—should have taught Colonel Stanhope to have abstained from insulting Lord Byron’s friends, and from diverting the supplies he had given, to a purpose he would have condemned. But while that corpse was yet un-buried, which he afterwards followed to the grave as a mourner, did he insult Lord Byron’s friend, and endeavour to cast odium on his memory, by tacitly condemning his measures.

At Zante, he asked me who gave me authority to call Mavrocordato a prince. So far did this passively-obedient soldier carry his democratical notions, that he could not bear, I suppose, to hear any man called prince in his presence. He seems to have forgotten that from this very prince did he, as well as I, derive any right we possessed to be in Greece, in any other capacity than as mere travellers; and but for his sanction and the sanction of the government which he chiefly administered, we both deserved to be treated as common buccaneers. The instant Colonel Stanhope rejected that authority, he divested himself of all right to serve Greece. The committee could give him no power whatever in that country, and he was there either as the servant of the government, or he had no right there whatever. He had not even over those warlike stores the common right of property, and could have no business to take them from under the control of that government which alone could legally use them.

Before Colonel Stanhope began to break up the brigade at Missolonghi, he should have recollected that all the commissions and appointments had been issued by the prince; without them, all the foreigners must be considered as mere land-pirates; and removing it from his control, was taking from it every recognised and legitimate character. What right had any of us to carry arms but these commissions? The Greek committee could give us none; and if we did not derive it from the Greek government, we might commit murder every time we drew a trigger. Mavrocordato, I have stated, was in the habit of receiving deserters from the corps of some other chiefs, as if they were at open war; and they therefore could not, and would not, recognize his authority. To remove any of the individuals from under his control, without the authority of the Greek government, was either making them deserters or depriving them of all legal claims to act in Greece. I deny, therefore, notwithstanding what Captain Trelawney said, that Colonel Stanhope was competent to break up the brigade, or that he had or could have any right whatever to send away stores from under the control of Prince Mavrocordato to Ulysses. In fact, also, the brigade, stores and all, were wholly under my orders after Lord Byron’s death; I was responsible for them both to the committee and to Prince Mavrocordato. Certainly I had been obliged to leave Missolonghi for the moment, on account of my health, and had given up the charge to others, but I was at Zante, and Colonel Stanhope might have communicated his wishes through me to those who were bound to obey no other person’s orders but mine. In spite, however, of his having no right to dispose of any part of the stores, or of the brigade, and in spite of the commandant of both being within his reach, he broke it up by his own orders, and, as I have said, in defiance of my representations.

I was at Zante when Colonel Stanhope gave the orders; and when I found out that he was breaking up the brigade at Missolonghi, and sending away stores, without consulting me, in whose power they had been placed, I thought it was time to take precautions for my own security, under such sort of conduct no man was safe, and under so many masters it was impossible to serve with credit and honour. Colonel Stanhope had even the impudence, I can give it no softer name, to appropriate to other purposes the money I had received from Lord Byron, for carrying on certain parts of the service at Missolonghi; and for which I alone was responsible, having given receipts for it to Laga, Lord Byron’s Secretary. He thus placed it out of my power, either to carry on the service, or even to serve at all under the Greek committee, its numerous agents, and contradictory proceedings, and at once, I shook myself clear of any dependence on so assuming and imprudent a man. I wrote to Prince Mavrocordato, stating all the particulars of Colonel Stanhope’s proceedings, and informing him, that under such circumstances, it would be of no use for me to return to Missolonghi. I professed my willingness to serve Greece, but I was fully resolved not to serve under Colonel Stanhope. The Prince sent me an answer, and requested me to wait at Zante, till the arrival of Colonel Gordon, who was then expected, or till the loan should be remitted, when he hoped it would be in his power to employ me in the immediate service of the Greek government, for the purpose of inspecting and repairing the fortifications. To this proposal I willingly acceded. When at a later period, I saw no probability of this hope being realized, saw no chance of Mr. Gordon’s arrival, saw Colonel Stanhope depart, and leave the Greeks destitute of money; and when his conduct had been such, as to make it impossible to serve with credit, as well as dangerous to serve at all, I was obliged to return to England. Thus was the whole expense, to which the Greek committee had been put in sending me out, as well as the expense of sending out the mechanics, also thrown away. This was Colonel Stanhope’s doing, and for this conduct he received the approbation of the committee.

Colonel Stanhope persisted in sending, by Captain Trelawney, the guns and stores to Odysseus. Since that period, this chief, elated probably by these additional means of warfare giving him additional power, has declared open war against the government, and has been obliged, with his admirer, Captain Trelawney, to take refuge in the mountains. Every particle of force he acquired by reason of the guns and stores so sent, was so much added to the enemies of that government Colonel Stanhope was sent to assist; and for this also he has received the approbation of the Greek committee.

I trust I have now fully made out my charge against Colonel Stanhope. He went to Greece, an admirer of Prince Mavrocordato, and he returned home his decided opponent, and the patron of a man, whom he himself describes as having been the chief of a band of robbers. Because he was not permitted by Prince Mavrocordato to establish a press, and abuse all the governments of Europe after his own fashion; because he was not allowed to govern Greece, as the representatives of the India Company govern the tributary states in which they reside; and, because Lord Byron resisted this assumption of power, and supported Prince Mavrocordato, in opposing the wild schemes of Colonel Stanhope, he did whatever he could to ruin Mavrocordato, and injure the reputation of the man he called his friend, and whose corpse he followed to the grave. In the pursuit of his own schemes, he broke up the brigade Lord Byron had been at so much pains in forming; he in a manner reversed and destroyed all Byron had done, and not only cast, as far as lay in his power, odium on the memory of his noble friend, but did a great injury to the Greek cause. Directly in the teeth of his own declarations, he disposed of the stores without the sanction of the Greek government; and disposed of them in favour of one Greek chief. He did what he could to set up a rival power, and to ruin the very government he went to Greece to support. Under any circumstances, rival commissioners would have been an unfortunate occurrence; but when there were different parties in the country, and these commissioners took different sides, what could possibly be the consequences but increased difficulties, increased animosities, and increased dangers? If the independence and courage of Greece have outlived the campaign of 1824, it has not been owing to the succour afforded by the Greek committee and by Col. Stanhope, but to the folly and imbecility of its barbarous antagonist.

I say nothing of the loan being withheld, by the recommendation of Colonel Stanhope, after it had been contracted for and sent out to Zante, as that probably may be explained by the circumstance of Lord Byron’s death invalidating the commission for issuing the money. It is a remarkable circumstance, however, that Colonel Stanhope says, “his reasons for recommending that the money should not be issued, are, that the government is not sufficiently organized, and that the necessary measures have not as yet been taken for the proper appropriation of the money.” Was Col. Stanhope then ignorant of the plan which had been agreed on between Lord Byron and Prince Mavrocordato, as mentioned at page 97 of this work? If he were ignorant, can it be attributed to any other circumstance than to his withdrawing from them and acting in opposition to them! If Col. Stanhope had acted in conjunction with these two persons, instead of joining Ali Pacha’s mountain robber, this plan would have been matured, and the loan might have been, as far as that was concerned, issued immediately.

But Col. Stanhope also objects to the want of organization in the government; and what individual, so much as Col. Stanhope, by embracing first of all one party, and then another, had impeded this organization? I am entitled to conclude, that the two reasons on which Col. Stanhope grounds his objections to deliver the loan would never have had any existence but for his own conduct. Be this as it may, the fact is certain and well known that the Greeks, relying on this loan, had not adopted any other means of endeavouring to obtain a supply of money, and, consequently, had none for fitting out their fleet. The strongest representations were made on this point, both to Colonel Stanhope and Mr. Blaquiere, but still the money was not advanced in time*.

Unfortunate men will sometimes be unjust; the Greeks, therefore, may do Col. Stanhope wrong; but when they knew the first instalment of the loan had arrived at Zante, when they saw him on the spot, when he went away without making it over to them, and when they afterwards suffered the terrible disaster at Ipsara, which the loan would have enabled them to avert, they did not hesitate to affirm, that the whole guilt of that belonged to

* What was expected from Colonel Stanhope may probably be inferred from the following extract of a letter from the government to Mavcorordato:—

Extract de la lettre du Government.

“Nous avous reçu votre lettre en date du 18, ainsi que les pièces y incluses.

“ Monsieur Palyroides est encore à Hydra, et l’honorable Colonel Stanhope n’a pas paru jusqu’à present, nous esperons qu’il ne tardera pas d’arriver, persuadé qu’il est que son retard ameneroit les plus grands entraves aux operations militaires, et des resultats bien malheureux pour cette campagne. Nos batiments sont deja prets; mais il est impossible d’y embarquer un seul homme, sans que la solde soit prealablement payée. La flotte Turcque est, en attendant, arrivée à Negropont, et le blocus par terre de cette place s’est immediatement levè. La flotte ennemie est composee de cinquante et quelques batiments. Nous n’avons aucune nouvelle de Salone. Ulysse en addressant au Gouvernement des lettres ecrit

him. “Had the money,” they said, “which they had borrowed, and for the payment of which they had made themselves responsible, been made over to them, Ipsara would have been saved;” and when they said this, they vowed, did it ever lay in their power, to take vengeance on the individual to whom they attributed the delay.

The proceeding may probably be justified, but it appears very strange to promise money to a nation, to transmit it till it is almost within their grasp, to know they had relied on it for preparing

en même tems aux Generaux Colocotroni, Coliopulos, et Nikita; on decouvre dans ses lettres le stile obscur et malin de Monsieur Negri .

“Des Moulins de Napoli, le 27 Avril, (9 Mai). “G. Condouriotti, “C. Botaichi, “J. Colletti, “A. Spiliotachi.

“P.S. M. Palyroides vient d’arriver en ce moment de retour d’Hydra.”

(TRANSLATION.)

“We have received your letter, dated the 18th, as well as the enclosed communications. Mr. Palyroides is still at Hydra and the Honourable Colonel Stanhope has not yet made his appearance. We hope he will not be long in arriving, persuaded as he is that his delay will very much hamper the military operations, and produce the most unfortunate results during the present campaign. Our vessels are ready, but it is impossible to put a single man

their means of defence, and at the opening of the campaign, at the very moment the enemy was at the door, to mock the hopes which had been excited, and to deprive the poor Greeks of their means of defence. Colonel Stanhope judged rightly when he said, he “calculated on being, both in Greece and in England, duly burdened with odium.” As to Greece, Colonel Stanhope was quite right; he is still remembered in Greece, but with feelings very different from the love and veneration with which Lord Byron is remembered. As to England, it would appear that he was incorrect; but he did not calculate on the confidence which his countrymen repose in great names, and did not expect to have a shield thrown over him

on board them unless the wages is previously paid. The Turkish fleet has in the mean time arrived at Negropont, and the blockade of that place by land was immediately raised. The enemy’s fleet consists of upwards of fifty sail. We have no news from Salona. Ulysses has addressed copies of letters to the government, which he has sent at the same time to Generals Colocotroni, Colliopuli, and Nikitas; in these letters the obscure and malignant style of M. Negris is discernible.

“Mills of Napoli, April 26, (May 9.) “G. Conduriottis, “C. Botaki, “J. Colletti.

“P. S. Mr. Palyroides has arrived this instant, on his return from Hydra.”

in the shape of a vote of thanks by the Greek committee.

I say nothing of Colonel Stanhope empowering half a dozen adventurers, such as Captain Trelawney, Mr. Humphreys, Captain Hastings, &c. to dispose of the committee’s stores, to form plans for the regulation of Greece, and to dictate to the Greek government; moreover, I say nothing of the committee itself sending out agent after agent, and controller after controller; they are answerable on these points to the public they represent, but I am certain that the little assistance we have given has assumed too much the appearance of interference, and that our pecuniary aid has lost the character of generosity, by being coupled with too many recommendations and conditions. Independent of any agents sent out by the committee, there were persons on the spot who might have supplied them with correct information, I was accustomed to state to Mr. Bowring such facts as fell under my notice, and the reader will see in the Appendix H. the copy of a letter or report, addressed to Mr. Bowring, on March 20th, which received Lord Byron’s approbation, and is referred to by him in a note appended to a letter of Colonel Stanhope’s, to be found at page 127 of that gentleman’s work on Greece. I shall also place in the Appendix some letters from different persons in Greece, which may serve to throw light on Colonel Stanhope’s and Captain Trelawney’s proceedings, as well as on the state of affairs at that time. They are marked I. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

If the view I have given be correct, the conduct of Colonel Stanhope was highly wrong from the very commencement of his embassy, and continued during the whole time he was in Greece to be guided by most improper principles. The Greek committee were in the first instance to blame, for empowering a man of his opinions and habits to represent them in Greece. They were still more to blame when every communication of his brought evidence of his improper interference with the internal affairs of that country, and of his dictating to its government, for not then recalling him and protesting to the Greek deputies here, and to every authority in Greece, against being implicated by his rash and presumptuous proceedings. After he had committed all these errors, the Greek committee made his cause their own, by publicly approving of his conduct; and thus did they, too, take on themselves the character of officious meddlers, and under the name of friends, swell the long list of the enemies of the long-suffering and deeply-oppressed Greeks. This appears to me such a consummation of silliness, that I hardly expect the reader will credit my assertion. To convince him, and satisfy him as to my veracity, I shall here insert the vote of thanks given by the Greek committee, as recorded in Colonel Stanhope’s own book:—

Greek Committee Room, 17th July, 1824.

“JOHN SMITH, Esq. M.P. in the Chair.

“ Colonel Stanhope’s Report was read.

“Resolved,

“That the Honourable Colonel Stanhope is entitled to the most grateful thanks of the committee, for the unwearied zeal, sound discretion, and extensive benevolence, manifested by him, while acting as their agent in Greece; and that the committee anticipates great benefits to Greece from the exertions and suggestions which distinguished his visit to that country, and desires particularly to record and to communicate its high approbation of his efforts to promote harmony and a good understanding among the different leaders in Greece: a result greatly advanced by his conciliatory spirit and superiority to party considerations.

“John Bowring, Hon. Sec.”

With these remarks, I shall now lay down the pen. What I have said of the conduct of other persons has seemed to me necessary, either in my own vindication, or in vindication of the memory of my highly-valued and deeply-lamented patron and friend. By the account I have given of Colonel Stanhope’s conduct, something too I hope has been done to vindicate the cause of the Greeks in the opinion of Europe, and to inspire its friends with more hopes than ever of its success. It is still, thank God, triumphant, and I have shewn that it has had to contend, not only with numerous external and barbarous foes, but that the exertions of the Greeks have been crippled by the injudicious and uncalled-for interference of pretended friends.

POSTSCRIPT.

Since this sheet was sent to press, Mr. Blaquiere’s second narrative has appeared. From this we learn that he also was an authorized independent agent of the Greek Committee, making the third representative or ambassador this mighty body had in Greece; and all of whom they meant should be there at one time. If any thing more were required to shew the injudicious nature of their proceedings, particularly in approving of the conduct of Colonel Stanhope, it may be found in the circumstance that this conduct was at the time disapproved of by Mr. Blaquiere. The work just published by that gentleman justifies, I am happy to say, all which I have stated of the conduct of Colonel Stanhope and of the Greek Committee.

APPENDIX APPENDIX

Account of Men and Stores, &c. &c., sent for the Greek Service, viz. Artificers for on year. No. of Men and Stores Probable Cost £ s. d. Fire-master and constructor 1 250 0 0 Clerk 1 250 0 0 Foreman of cartridge-makers 1 200 0 0 Founder and vice-man 1 105 0 0 Tinman 1 105 0 0 Smith 1 105 0 0 Turner of wood and metal 1 105 0 0 Wheelwright and carriage maker 1 105 0 0 Carpenter 1 105 0 0 Artillery. These were given by Mr. Gordon. Howitzer, brass, 4⅖ inch, with carriage and limber complete 1 Gun, ditto, long three-pounder, with carriage complete 1 Forge-cart. with tools complete 1 Munition, &c. for ten Mountain Guns. Gunpowder, whole barrels of 100lbs. each, L.G, and S.G, Tower proof 61 220 0 0 Portfires(dozens) 20 12 0 0 Tubes (quill) 6,000 13 0 0

No. of Men and Stores Probable Cost £ s. d. Slow match (lbs) 40 1 10 0 Cartridges(flanner serge) 4,000 30 0 0 Shot, round(three-pounder) 4,000 42 0 0 Bottoms of wood for three-pounder round shot (strapped) 4,000 30 0 0 Pickers for vents 12 0 8 0 Spikes for ditto 20 0 15 0 Drills, new pattern, for ditto 2 0 10 0 Lint-stocks 2 1 10 0 Thumb-stalls 20 0 5 0 Tube boxes with straps 12 2 0 0 Grease(Firkins) 1 2 0 0 Cartouches of leather 10 5 0 0 Measures, copper, for powder(8 oz.) 10 1 0 0 Aprons of lead 10 1 0 0 Tampions with collars 10 1 0 0 Punches for vents 20 1 0 0 Barrels, Budge 2 1 0 0 Head spong (spare) 40 5 0 0 Hammers claw 20 2 10 0 Powder horns, NP(with straps) 10 2 0 0 Tarpaulins, gun 10 10 0 0 Funnels, copper 10 1 0 0 Wheels, spare, for three-pounder mountain guns (pairs) 6 36 0 0 Laboratory and Carriage Manufactory, &c. on a small scale. Furnace, blast, with moulds for casting shot and shells, and every other article required for laboratory purposes 1 100 0 0 Lathe, common, with tools complete 1 100 0 0 Ditto ditto small ditto ditto 1 40 0 0 Forge, with tools complete 1 70 0 0

No. of Men and Stores Probable Cost £ s. d. Smith’s bench, with vices and tools, complete 1 50 0 0 Copper-smith, and tinman’s forge, with tools, complete 1 50 0 0 Brass moulds for driving portfires, fuses, signal rockets, lead balls, and other laboratory purposes 0 70 0 0 Iron bar Round (tons) 2 21 0 0 Flat (do.) 2 20 0 0 Ditto, plated sheet(do.) 2 32 0 0 CompositionSaltpetre, ground in barrels of 100lbs. each 8 30 0 0 Sulphur, ditto, ditto, ditto 4 12 0 0 Charcoal, ditto, ditto, ditto 6 14 0 0 Rosin(cwt.) 10 12 0 0 Pitch(do.) 10 10 0 0 Tallow, Russia(do.) 10 25 0 0 Spirits of wine(gal.) 20 10 0 0 Oil, sweet(do.) 10 6 0 0 Flannel serge(yds.) 200 13 0 0 PaperFine, for small arms cartridges(rms.) 40 23 0 0 Coarse, for packing(do.) 30 12 0 0 For cannon cartridge(do.) 30 30 0 0 Instruments, gauges, provette plates, and other articles too numerous to mention, but indispensably necessary for laboratory and artillery purposes 0 300 0 0 Tin sheet, and copper sheet, and other articles 0 100 0 0 Case-shot, musquet-ball, three-pounder, ready for immediate service 0 100 0 0

The whole expense of the articles, &c. might be somewhere about 3500l.

Articles of Agreement.—Viz.

1st.—I will engage to establish a laboratory, and instruct the Greeks in every part of that multifarious business.

2dly.—I will engage to construct a gunpowder manufactory, and carry it forward in all its branches, in the most economical manner.

3dly.—I will, if required, join the army and the navy, to act and to give every information in my power with respect to bringing into practice field and battering artillery, and the use of spherical case-shot rockets, and every other matter, as far as my practical knowledge extends.

4thly.—I will, if required, construct and fit fire-rockets and bomb-ships, gun-boats, and every other thing connected with a navy, as far as my knowledge extends.

C. Plan for repairing Fortifications of Missolonghi.

Missolonghi, 4-16 February 16th, 1824.

Captain Parry’s plan for placing the fortress of Missolonghi and the harbour in a state of efficient defence.—To effect this object, Captain Parry requires that the Prince Mavrocordato shall place 1,000 dollars at his disposal, also a sufficient quantity of wood.

Artificers.—Captain Parry will then take into pay a corps of Sappers, Miners and Cannoniers; this shall consist of a quarter-master, four overseers or sergeants, and fifty workmen, chiefly sailors, and these men shall be employed in the laboratory and constructing the fortifications, &c. The quarter-masters to receive five dollars, the sergeants four dollars, and the men three dollars each per month, with rations.

Fortifications.—Captain Parry will place the fortifications in a state of defence. He will make a traverse on every battery, and will place an ammunition-chest under each of them, which shall contain 100 rounds of powder in cartridges for each gun, wads, &c. He will put all the guns and platforms in repair, and furnish rammers, head-spunges, wood-hooks, and muzzle-caps for the guns.

Ammunition.—Captain P. will furnish 100 rounds of powder in cartridges for each gun on the fortress, also 50,000 rounds of ball-cartridges for small arms. When the furnace and forges are up, he will run the old iron into shot and make grape-shot. These articles are worth 2,000 dollars.

Gun-boats.—Captain Parry will fit up four gun-boats, the materials being furnished. He will make carronade slides on them, arrange them for oars, and make a grate in one of them for heating shot.

Laboratory.—Captain Parry will also complete the Laboratory, and render it fit for manufacturing the ammunitions and materials of war.

Powder-magazine.—Wood being found, Captain Parry will construct a safe powder-magazine.

All these measures, Captain Parry undertakes to effect at the trifling expense of 1,000 dollars.

Memorandum.—Lord Noel Byron was to pay the extra expense, could the government have come forward; the extra expense would have been about 3,000 dollars.

The following was the reply to the offer. Missolonghi, 4-16 Février, 1824.

Réponse au projet présenté aujourd’hui par Mons. le Capitaine Parry, rélativement à la fortification de la ville et du port de Missolonghi

La somme de mille talaris sera remise à Monsieur le Capitaine Parry: un tiers de cette somme lui sera compté le jour même qu’il fixera pour le commencement du travail, ce qui doit être à quatre jours d’aujourd’hui au plus tard; les deux autres tiers lui seront remis à quatorze et à vingt-un jour d’aujourd’hui.

Quant au bois nécessaire, Mons. le Capitaine Parry doit pràsenter une liste approximative de la quantità et de la qualité du bois dont il aura besoin. En attendant, comme il se trouve quelques gros arbres de chêne à une petite distance de la ville, Monsieur le Capitaine Parry pourra disposer de ce bois, s’il le juge à-propos.

Ouvrier.—Mons. le Capitaine Parry pourra former la compagnie de sapeurs, mineurs, et canoniers, en faisant le choix qui lui convient le plus; mais comme le gouvernement suppose que les personnes composant cette compagnie pourront exiger la ration au dessus de la solde indiquée dans le projet, il promet de la fournir.

Fortifications.—Le gouvernement est d’accord sur tout ce qui est rapporté dans le projet de Monsieur le Capitaine Parry rélativement aux fortifications: il se rêmet à ses talents pour l’amélioration et la sûreté du travail.

Munitions.—Le gouvernement est également parfaitement d’accord sur cet article.

Barques Canonieres.—Le gouvernement désire con-naitre la quantite et la qualite du bois necessaire pour la construction de ces barques. En attendant, il peut mettre a la disposition de Monsieur le Capitaine Parry le corps d’un trabacle, et de quelque autres barques, si Monsieur le Capitaine Parry croit pouvoir en tirer quelque parti.

Laboratoire et Magasin a Poudre.—On est encore parfaitement d’accord sur ces deux articles.

(Translation.) Missolonghi, 4-16 February, 1824.

Reply to the plan presented this day by Captain Parry, relative to the fortification of the town and harbour of Missolonghi.

The sum of 1000 dollars shall be given to Captain Parry, one-third part of it to be paid to him on the day he fixes for commencing the work, which must be at the latest four days from this date. The other two-thirds shall be paid to him, one on the fourteenth, and the other on the twenty-first day from this date.

As to the wood necessary for the work, Captain Parry should give in an estimate of the quantity and quality of the wood he will require. In the mean time, as there are some large oak trees at a small distance from the town, Captain Parry may make what use of them he thinks proper.

Workmen.—Captain Parry may form a company of sappers, miners, and gunners, by making such a choice as he thinks fit; but as the government supposes the persons composing this company may demand larger pay than that mentioned in the plan, it promises to pay them.

Fortifications.—The government consents to every thing stated in the plan of Captain Parry as to the fortifications. It confides in his talents for the execution and solidity of the work.

Munitions.—The government also perfectly agrees with the plan in this article.

Gun-boats.—The government wishes to know what quantity and quality of wood are necessary to construct gun-boats. In the mean time, it can place at Captain Parry’s disposal, the hull of a Trabacle and of some other boats, if Captain Parry supposes he can make any use of them.

Laboratory and Magazine.—On these two points also, the government consents fully to Captain Parry’s proposals.

Prince Mavrocordato’s sketch for the operations of the Campaign, 1824, viz.:—

1st. To call out the fleet immediately for service.

2nd. To call out the army.

3rd. To repair the fortifications.

4th. To appropriate a sum for the immediate purchase of shot, shell, gunpowder, and other materials of war, being very much wanted.

Lord Byron’s offer to the Greeks.

1st. His Lordship would pay every expense of his artillery corps, and raise his brigade up to 500 effective men, exclusive of officers, commissary and laboratory corps.

2nd. His Lordship to purchase two vessels to be fitted for fire-vessels, agreeably to a plan submitted and approved of, the crews to be paid and victualled at his Lordship’s expense.

3rd. His Lordship would detach six 3-pounder mountain guns wherever the government should think proper for the defence of the passes, with 350 rounds of ammunition per gun, and every other material requisite.

4th. That four 3-pounders, short, and one 3-pounder, long, mountain guns, and the 4 2/5-howitzer, should be exclusively attached to his Lordship’s brigade, with 350 rounds per gun, and every other material requisite.

5th. That in consideration of such assistance, the Greek government to attach 1,500 effective men and officers to Lord Byron’s brigade, the expense to be paid by the Greek government; which would raise his Lordship’s force to 2,000 effective men, exclusive of officers, commissary and laboratory corps, and crews of the fire-vessels; and that the brigade, with every material of war, should be ready to march by the 7th day of May for a particular service.

To carry this plan into execution, the following sums were to be placed at my disposal, subject to Lord Byron’s inspection, which he thought would be sufficient to pay the expense of the brigade the ensuing campaign; viz.:—

11,000 dollars at Missolonghi.

10,000 dollars in the hands of the agents in the islands.

4.00l. to be drawn on Ransom and Co., Bankers, London.

20,000 dollars lent, which will be paid back from the loan.

F. (Translation.) Prince Mavrocardato to Captain Blaquiere.

Missolonghi, 10-22 May, 1824. My very dear Friend,

You will find enclosed extracts from an intercepted letter of Yousouf Pacha, and from another which General Scaltza has just addressed to me. You will there see the imminence of the danger if the plan of the enemy is not paralyzed, and I see no other expedient than the fitting out our fleet as speedily as possible to meet that of Egypt, which may be attacked with so much the more advantage, as it will have to protect more than two hundred transports. The naval expedition once paralyzed, there will be no longer any thing to fear from the land-expeditions, and the whole of the enemy’s plan for the campaign will be overthrown. But to fit out the fleet, money will be wanting: will it be granted? Let it be reserved for a better occasion. General Scaltza asks assistance: how is it to be sent him? Can I determine the Suliots? Ah! could I have done so, they should not now have been in these unfortunate towns, exacting what we cannot procure them, and threatening the little that remains of Western Greece with total destruction. But what matters it to me whether these two towns, which have already twice served as bulwarks to the Peloponnessus, and even to the whole of Greece, fall under the vengeance of the Suliotes or of the Pacha of Scoudra? It is all one.

Ammunition is demanded on all sides, and I have not even a thousand pounds of lead. We owe you an infinite deal of gratitude for the powder which you have procured for us by means of your guarantee. Without that, we should have been equally in want of it also. I know not what difficulties it has been wished even now to raise, with respect to the employment of the money destined for the repairs of the fortifications, and placed by Count Gamba in the charge of a commission. This money, they say, belongs to the committee, and, in pursuance of an order of Colonel Stanhope, cannot be made use of until the arrival of Mr. Gordon. I have not yet had time to inform myself well upon the subject; but this would be very extraordinary, as I think I am sure that this money belongs to his Lordship, and that it was by himself that it was destined to that purpose. Moreover, the Colonel says nothing to me about it in his letter, of which I send you a copy, and on which you will undoubtedly permit me to make some observations to you, which I reserve to myself to make also to him, in an answer which will be addressed to him in London, as I am assured that he was to quit Zante the day before yesterday.

The Colonel desires me to deliver to Mr. Trelawny three cannons and a howitzer, the only one in the place, together with the necessary ammunition, for General Ulysses. I foresee that I shall meet with many difficulties on the part of the people, who, seeing this town threatened by land and sea, and knowing the great need that there is of cannon, and the almost total want of ammunition, will not undoubtedly see with indifference all these objects carried away from hence, while it was already in agitation to place these cannon at Procopanistos, and on the batteries of the wings. I will, nevertheless, do all in my power to prevent a tumult on their part; but Mr. Trelawny has also wished to carry off, in the first place, the whole brigade of artillery, by engaging the officers and soldiers belonging to it unknown to me; which, having obliged me to recal these brave men to their duty, he has since come to ask my permission to take with him a part of the brigade. This would be uselessly to divide a corps, which, instead of being thus weakened, ought, on the contrary, to be increased, in order to fulfil the object for which it was created.

I pass on to the last paragraph, the principal object, as I believe, of the letter of the Colonel; I have nothing to appropriate to myself of all that he writes. If he is attached to our constitution, I think that he, whose boast it is to have contributed to its formation, ought to be much more so than any other. I know (and I have even all the documents in my hands) that M. Negri addressed, more than eighteen months ago, circulars in favour of a monarchical government, of which the ex-King of Westphalia, Jerome, was to be the head, and I also know that I was the first to combat his opinion. Should this M. Negri be the bad man of Colonel Stanhope? I know positively also, that under the shadow of the constitution, several Captains do that which the greatest despots in the world would not, perhaps, do; that they break legs and arms, and leave in this state of the most dreadful torture, innocent men to perish; that they kill, that they hang, that they destroy men without previous trial; that they allow themselves all sorts of vexations; that they revolt; that they even betray their country. Should these be the Colonel’s good men*? These latter I have always opposed, even at the peril of my life; but I have always respected and maintained the constitution, the constitution in its strength and activity, and the Colonel appears only to be running after its shadow. All that I say to you, my dear friend, I will not hesitate to say before the whole world.

Mr. Trelawny thinks it necessary that you should go to Hydra, and I think it more necessary to send money thither, that the fleet may be immediately fitted out. My opinion is, that you should either remain at Zante until the arrival of Mr. Gordon, or come hither and proceed to the seat of government. I have just learned that Mr. Trelawny is quite enraged against me, perhaps on account of the brigade. I laugh at his rage. This conduct, on the part of these gentlemen, is well worthy of the love of liberty of which they wish to make their boast. Can there be a more cruel despotism than that of a foreigner, who, without any right whatever, wishes to command, without the least regard to the existing laws? My God! does the first comer think then that he can tread us under his feet, or are we thought capable of being led by the nose by the first intriguer? Have we shaken off the Ottoman yoke, only to fall beneath another? Oh, no! It has been said that I have sold Greece

* In another place, Zaime, a great primate, tells Colonel Stanhope, “that the Captains had driven the people mad;” and yet, these are the men Colonel Stanhope and the Greek committee support. The Colonel even said, “that robbery and murder in war were considered justifiable, and that it was by these means the Captains had kept up a marshal spirit in the nation,” p. 203.

to England. Greece still exists, and those who were the bearers of my letters to England know well what they contained, and whether I have sold my country. I believe that I have been of service to her; it was my duty. It is now said that I wish for a despot; no, it is just because I do not want one that I am accused. I wish that the laws may reign, and that they may not be at the discretion of a hundred despots who trample them under foot. I have always given, and I am still the first to give, an example of obedience; but if Greece is fated to fall at the feet of a military despotism, of a hydra, not with seven, but with a hundred heads, I will neither be the blind instrument, nor the very humble servant of these new tyrants. Adieu, my dear friend; I hope soon to see you; do all that you can to assist my unhappy country in this critical moment; provide for the fitting out of the fleet, and, if possible, make useful the corps of Suliotes, who are not only useless here, but who even menace us with an intestine war. Accept the assurance of my devotion. You may make whatever use you may think proper of my letter.

A. Mavrocordato

G. Prince Mavrocardato to Pietro Gamba.

Missolonghi, le 7-19 Mai, 1824. Monsieur le Comte,

A mon arrivée d’Anatolico hier, Mr. Basili m’a remis la lettre que vous m’avez fait l’honneur de m’ecrire en date du 7. J’espere que celle que je vous ai addressé, il y a trois jours d’Anatolico, vous est ex-actement parvenue, et que vous y avez vû tout ce que je dois souffrir ici. Vous savez tres bien M. Le Comte, quelle etoit notre situation plusieurs jours même avant la mort de My Lord, avec quelles conditions nous avions pris des provisions de plusieurs sujets Ioniennes, et quel etoit mon embarras lorsque je me suis vû oblgé de refuser les payements à l’échéance des termes. Depuis lors je ne fais que recevoir protestations sur protestations de la part de ceux dout nous avons enlevé la propriété, et d’une autre coté je suis obligé de me procurer continuellement les vivres necessaires, et payer journellement les rations des Suliotes sans avoir un seul sou a ma disposition. Si du moins l’affaire des Suliotes étoit arrangé le mal n’auroit pas encore étoit si insupportable; mais chaque jour de leur presence devient pour nous une augmentation de fardeau, et notre situation est devenue non seulement critique mais irremediable. Vous verrez dans l’extrait d’une lettre du gouvernement, combien on y etoit impatient de voir arriver M. le Colonel Stanhope. Je ne saurai vous dire quel effet y aura produit la nouvelle de son depart pour Zante; mais je n’ai aucune difficulté a le prevoir. Le decouragement et l’inaction sont tout ce que l’on a à craindre de moins, et c’est cependant dans un moment ou l’ennemi paroit agir avec la plus grande energie, independemment de l’arrivèe de sa flotte a Negropont, d’ou elle pourra se promener sans obstacle partout ou elle voudra, puisque la notre n’est pas encore sortie. Nous savons positivement que l’expedition de l’Egypte est poussèe avec la plus grande activitè, et nous avons vu hier sortir du Golphe de Lepante toute la flotte qui s’y trouvoit, et qui, d’après le rapport d’un bateau arrivé ce soir des chateaux, doit se rendre à Alexandrie pour revenir en compagnie de la même ex-pedition. Des lettres de Palamos nous apprennent aussi qu’Omer Pacha est arrivé a Jannina, et que le Pacha de Scoudra traversoit l’Albanie pour se rendre a Berat, d’ou immediatement après les fêtes du Bairam, il devoit se diriger sur l’Acarnanie et l’Œtolie. Supposez donc quel est mon embarras n’ayant pas les moyens de faire ce que je dois pour assurer la defense du pays qui manque en même tems de provisions et de munitions de guerre. Nous n’avons surtout presque point de plomb et tres peu de poudre. Je fais continuer les reparations des fortifications de cette ville avec la plus grande activité possible, les cent tallaris que My Lord a destiné à la fortification d’Anatolico y sont egalement employé; mais les deux chateaux si nécessaires a la defense de cette ville ne peuvent pas même etre entamés, et elle sera de nouveau exposée si l’ennemi arrive jusque’ à non portes: telle est notre situation. En attendant, l’argent qui vient d’arriver n’est pas encore mis à la disposition du Gouvernement; je vois des entraves ou des projets d’entraves partout, tandis qu’il etoit non seulement necessaire, mais urgent, d’utilizer cet argent le plutot possible, en le partageant entre les depenses de la flotte et celle des armées qui marcheroient en avant du coté de terre, aprés en avoir destiné une partie pour l’achât des provisions et des munitions nécessaires, et une autre pour la reparation des fortifications d’Athênes, de Missolonghi et d’Anatolico. Je n’attribue le retard de la ratification de l’emprunt, qu’ à l’espoir que le gouvernement avoit de voir bientot près de lui M. le Colonel Stanhope, qui aurait bien mieux fait de prendre cette direction, que de se rendre a Zante, où se trouvant separé de M. Condurriotti, il ne peut que rester inactif dans des momens si critiques. Tout affligé que je suis de cet ètát de choses, je ne manquerai pas de faire mon devoir autant qu’ il m’est permis de le faire; mais si les Souliotes, désesperant d’avoir leux solde, entreprennent de faire ce qu’ avec la plus grande peine du monde nous avons pu empecher jusque’ à present, alors, je vous le declare franchement, mon cher M. le Comte, il ne me reste ni espoir ni moyen de faire mon devoir. N’etant pas en etat d’empecher le mal et n’ayant pas pu le prevenir ma conscience sera toujours libre; mais le mal se fera, et il sera irrémédiable. Si vous etes en etat de contribuer à ce que nous prevenions ce danger, faites tout ce qu’il dependra de vous; je vous prie surtout de vouloir bien donner communication de la présente a M. Blaquiere, à qui jen’ai que le tems d’ecrire deux mots, la barque devant partir immediatement. Si on peut obtenir quelques secours pour les fortifications, je trouve absolument necessaire la presence de M. Parry. Il ne sera pas moins necessaire de garder, d’agumenter même s’il est possible, la brigade d’artillerie; mais avec quels moyens, mon Dieu, pourrons nous le faire? nous manquons absolument de tout. Faites agreer mes respects a tous nos amis, et agreez pour vous l’assurance de mon estime et de ma consideration distinguée,

Votre devoué serviteur et ami, A. Mavrocordato.

(Translation).

Missolonghi, May 7-19 1824 My Dear Count,

On my arrival yesterday from Anatolica, Mr. Basili put into my hands the letter which you did me the honour to write on the 7th. I hope that the one which I sent to you three days ago from Anatolica has reached you; and that you will have seen by it what I have to bear here. You know very well what was our situation several days before the death of Lord Byron, under what conditions we had taken provisions from several Ionian subjects, and what was my embarrassment when I saw myself obliged to refuse the payments at the term promised. From that time I have continually received protestation after protestation from those whose property we carried away. On the other hand I have been obliged to provide the daily supplies, and to pay the Suliotes daily, without having a single sou at my disposal. If the business with the Suliotes had been arranged, the evil would not have been so insupportable, but every day while they remain is for us an augmentation of our difficulties, and our situation has become not only critical but irremediable. You will see by the extract from the letter of the government, how impatient they were for Colonel Stanhope’s arrival. I cannot describe to you what effect the news of his departure for Zante will have had there; but I have no difficulty in foreseeing it. The discouragement and inaction, are what are to be least feared, and this happens at the very moment when the enemy appears disposed to act with the greatest energy, independent of the arrival of the fleet at Negropont, whence it may go wherever it pleases, without any obstacle, for our fleet is not yet got out of harbour. We know positively that the expedition from Egypt is hurried forward with the greatest activity, and yesterday we saw the whole fleet which was in the gulf of Lepanto come out, and according to the report brought by a vessel arrived this evening, is going to Alexandria, to return with the expedition from that place. Letters from Calamos say also that Omar Pasha has arrived at Janina, and the Pasha of Scoudra is now traversing Albania, to reach Barat, whence he is to proceed into Arcarnania and Etolia, immediately after the feast of Bairam. You may judge, then, of my embarrassment, not having the means of doing what is necessary for the defence of the country, which is in want of both provisions and ammunition. We have no lead, and very little powder. I continue the repairs of the fortifications of this town with all the activity possible. The one hundred dollars appropriated by my Lord for the fortifications of Anatolica, are employed for that purpose; but the two castles so necessary for the defence of the town cannot be even commenced with, and we shall be again exposed if the enemy reaches our gates. Such is our situation. In the mean time the money which has arrived has not been made over to the government. I see obstacles, or plans for making obstacles everywhere, while it is not only necessary but urgent to employ the money as soon as possible, appropriating it to the pay, the expense of the fleet and of the army, which is to proceed in advance by the sea coast, after appropriating a part of it to purchase provisions and necessary ammunition, and applying a portion of it to repair the fortifications of Athens, Missolonghi, and Anatolica. I can only attribute the delay in ratifying the loan to the hope which the government has of soon seeing Colonel Stanhope, who would have done much better to have gone to its seat, than to Zante, where, being separated from M. Conduriottis, he can only remain inactive at this critical moment. Afflicted as I am at this state of things, I shall not neglect to do my duty as far as lies in my power, but if the Suliotes, despairing of obtaining their pay, undertake to do what we have hitherto prevented them from doing with the greatest difficulty, I declare M. le Comte, that then there will remain in my power neither hopes nor means of doing my duty. Not being able to prevent the mischief, and not having had it in my power to prevent it, my conscience will be pure, but the mischief will be accomplished, and it will be irremediable. If you have it in your power to contribute any thing to ward off the danger, do what you can, I beg of you; particularly communicate this to Mr. Blaquiere, to whom I have only time to write a single word, the boat going this instant. If any assistance can be obtained for the fortifications, the presence of Mr. Parry will be necessary. It will not be less necessary to preserve and to augment if possible the brigade of artillery; but, good God! what means have we for doing it? We are destitute of every thing. I beg my respect to all our friends, &c, &c.

Mavrocordato.

H. From Major Parry to Mr. Bowring.

Missolonghi, Western Greece, March 20, 1824. Sir,

I wrote a short time back, and represented the conduct of the mechanics sent out, and of the difficulties experienced in carrying on the service in this country. The state of men and things are no ways mended for the better; and however the prince who commands at this place may be competent to meet the officers at the seat of government, he is by no means sufficiently active at a place like Missolonghi; although Lord Byron treats him with the most marked respect and kindness, not only supporting him in every way possible, but actually supplying his private pecuniary wants. And with respect to the public service preparatory to the ensuing campaign, nothing would have been done had it not been done by the enormous sacrifice in money his Lordship has supplied; and I assure you, Sir, the support given to me by his Lordship has saved the whole of the arduous service under my direction and instruction from being put a stop to. Previous to my arrival, nothing but impositions were practised, not merely by the natives, but by foreigners of every description, for no country verifies more truly the story of the prince and the basket-maker; and my Lord Byron has timely discovered the inutility of theoretical fools and designing puppies; but under all these disappointments, he seems determined to persevere, not only with his person but his purse; and I am happy to say, he is looked up to by every practical doing man with the greatest admiration and respect. Yet with all these inestimable qualities, no openness of disposition is shewn towards him, not even a clue to the state of things, and no means are left untried to defraud him. The Greeks generally are, particularly the higher order, deceitful; the country people better than the town; the poor better than the rich; the soldiery, generally, not bad; for although generally without pay, they behave well against the enemy in that sort of warfare suitable to Greece, and I have found some very willing useful men of quick ideas, whom I now employ in the arsenal, &c., and who have very naturally represented that foreigners cannot expect to be either respected or protected by the good well-meaning part of the people, without they possess either property or some little practical instruction and willingness, combined with industry, to shew and direct the people which way to supply the wants of the country; and I have no doubt, should Providence permit an active, intelligent, and patriotic government to be formed, Greece would soon take its place in the scale of nations, and the Greeks be a happy people. And I must observe again, that no person should come out under pretence of assisting the Greeks, excepting gentlemen of fortune, to help them in their pecuniary difficulties and distress; and by their honourable dealings, to teach integrity to the rising generation of the other classes—Real practical men and no others. Such as the officer of the navy, who can not only build the ship, but fit her out complete, and be able to fight her afterwards, acting the part of an able seaman and bold officer; as the officer of artillery, who particularly understands and is capable of shewing and instructing in the formation of every article required, and of acting the part of an able sergeant-major; and such as the officer of engineers, who is able and willing to shew the formation of every requisite, and to work himself, and not depend upon either mathematical instruments or drawings, but to adopt every want agreeably to the powers of the country. Such men would be really useful; no other should come until this country is able to maintain privileged pretenders.

Of news:—A congress of chiefs is about to be held at Salona, if possible to arrange matters, which I most fervently hope may take place, and be of service to this unhappy, afflicted country. Lord Byron is most strenuously invited to attend the congress, and his Lordship means to use every endeavour to form a general coalition and unanimity among the leading characters about to be present. But I hope and trust that no sinister views are in embryo, to wring unjustly his Lordship’s property, under pretence of forwarding the Greek cause. The Greek fleet is in a state of inactivity, and not very likely to take active measures, without pecuniary means are given. The Hydriot fleet are laid up, and the Spessiots nearly in the same condition: indeed I am sorry to say that in this department there seems to be no uniformity of action, but separate interests and separate views still exist.

The army, if it may be called so, is divided into separate companies, under separate captains, and acting separately, agreeable to their own ideas and means, viz. Prince Mavrocordato at Missolonghi; Ulysses at Athens; Londa at Volitze; Zaim at Calaventa; Colocotroni at Tripolitza, acting against the existing government; Jahacus at Mistra; and M. Tombassi at Candia; and however they are disunited among themselves, they unite, although acting separately, when the common enemy appears. This, combined with the stupidity of the Turks, gives some hopes for the final emancipation of Greece. Lord Byron’s auxiliary corps, of which I have the honour of being captain and inspector, I am happy to say, goes on well, although necessity, from irregular conduct and other matters, obliged the re-organization of the corps, and will be fit for actual service by the middle of April, with 300 rounds of ammunition for guns, &c.; and his Lordship intends augmenting the corps, should any chance of success appear.

I have made up some stores, gunpowder, &c. to be sent to General Ulysses, and I expect two officers and twelve men, Greeks, of General Londa’s troops, to instruct in artillery practice, &c. General Londa is to have two and three-pounder mountain guns, munition, &c. attached to his brigade; and I expect other captains attached to the Greek government will require as far as our means go. Iron shot are very much required here, and should the Committee send out stores, pray forward 3-po. 4-po. 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24-po., and some new pattern grape shot. (Mr. Friend has a pattern, and can supply this article), and muskets with bayonets, cartouch boxes, prickers, brushes and worms, are much wanted, for I am actually at this time obliged to purchase of the Germans muskets, swords, &c. at his Lordship’s expense; and what is most inexplicable to me is, that the German agents of the German Committee, Messrs. Delauney and Coleby, should have power to sell the clothing, &c. which came out in the brig Ann, and which articles have been purchased to clothe and accoutre Lord Byron’s auxiliary corps. Colonel Stanhope gave 100l. towards clothing the corps. I have drawn a bill upon Sig. C. Jerostatte, to the amount of 380l., the sum the mechanics, their wives, and securities in the hands of the banker, would have amounted to, had they conducted themselves properly, and remained in Greece according to the agreement made with them one year from the time of their departure from London.

Thank God, health prevails at this present time in Continental Greece, and should success attend the ensuing campaign, the real friends of Greece may look forward with pleasure for better prospects. Messrs. Hodges and Gill behave exceeding well, and are very useful to the service, and I have engaged a young man, a Mr. Jervis, an American, who has shared in the toils and dangers of Greece, both by sea and land, these last three years.

I am, Sir, with great respect, &c. W. Parry, Fire Master, Gl.

P.S. Lord Byron has advanced 1600 Spanish dollars on account of the draft on Sig. C. Jerostatte, which I hope and trust will be duly honoured. W. P.

Mem. ’Tis utterly impossible to draw a bill at this place, or indeed in any other part of Continental Greece, and it has actually cost his Lordship nearly 1000 dollars to provide money and other supplies from the Ionian Islands since his arrival at Missolonghi. W. P.

J. Bowring, Esq.

I. ILLUSTRATIVE LETTERS. (Copy.) No. 1.

Zante, May, 1824.

Being the official representative of the late Lord Gordon Noel Byron, as respected his late Lordship’s public expenditure and intentions in Greece, and it appearing that the bill upon Signor E. Jerostatte, of Corfu, has not been paid into your hands, I request as a safety to the property remaining to be expended in the service of Greece, and for which I am responsible, that you will be pleased to write to Missolonghi, to the address of J. M. Hodges, and desire him to deliver what monies and the books of the accounts of the laboratory expenditure, &c., in his possession, and hand them over immediately to the charge of the Prince of Mavrocordato and Mr. George Jervis, whom I wish to place as my agents until I may return to Greece; having service of importance to transact, and to which Colonel L. Stanhope, the Acting Commissioner, would not pay any attention, although Colonel Stanhope knew that I had the full confidence and carried into execution the service of the late Lord Gordon N. Byron, First Commissioner and Colonel-in-Chief of the Auxiliary Brigade of Western Greece, my commanding officer.

I, therefore, Sir, trust your being his late Lordship’s agent for money-affairs at Zante, and I having no other means of guarantee for the safety of the remaining part of his late Lordship’s property to be expended in the public service in Greece until my return, beg your promptly given the afore-mentioned order, as I cannot any longer intrust a man who, I find, has been holding a secret correspondence with Colonel Stanhope, to the injury of the public service, by the attempt to bring into disrepute his superior officer, and, Sir, that officer myself, who acted immediately under the strict commands of the Lord G. N. Byron, First Commissioner and Colonel-in-Chief of the Auxiliary Brigade of Western Greece.

I am, With the greatest respect, Your very humble Servant, Wm. Parry Samuel Barff, Esq.

(Copy.) No. 2.

Zante, May, 1824. Honourable Sir,

I very respectfully beg to acknowledge the receipt of your note, and have, in reply, to inform you that Count P. Gamba not being perfectly conversant in the English language must have misunderstood, as I believe I can place the most perfect reliance on the Count; I wish such matter to be properly understood.

The Count said, “Have you seen Colonel Stanhope?” “Yes, I have seen him, and asked him if any commands or orders: the answer was, Not any.” The Count said, “What do you mean to do without funds and a supply of materials,” which I fully expected to procure at this place, as the money appropriated for the pay of military, fortifications, &c., will be expended by the end of the month, and I have fully arranged every thing up to that time. I am placed in a very unpleasant situation, particularly from matters which I cannot, without a perfect security for myself, and an investigation of my conduct, take upon myself to act in any way: but this much, I will never permit any man, a subordinate, to hold correspondence to bring the service into contempt, and endeavour to prejudice falsely, when it is a well-known fact that no part of the public service was carried into effect without the orders of the First Commissioner and my Commanding Officer of the Auxiliary Brigade, the late Lord G. N. Byron, and to whom I had to look up to for every para for carrying on the public service, there being no other funds excepting his late Lordship’s private purse. The Prince Mavrocordato his late Lordship ordered me to pay every deference to, and to instantly comply, if possible, with every requisition the Prince might make for the public service; the Prince being Governor of Western Greece, and whose commands were to be strictly obeyed.

I now, Honourable Sir, cannot suppose in what way I have acted improperly; and, with respect to yourself, Honourable Sir, I ever have considered your private and public character to be held in the highest respect and veneration.

I have written over to Missolonghi for instructions, and my intentions are to have perfect security from the Greek government, and, if required, an investigation into my conduct, and I trust that T. Gordon, Esq. will arrive soon; and should matters be arranged to my satisfaction, I will immediately return to Greece, if not I shall proceed to England.

I am, Honourable Sir, Your most obedient, Very humble Servant, Wm. Parry The Hon. Col. Stanhope.

(Copy.) No. 3.

Zante, May 15th, 1824 Honourable Sir,

In answer to your questions, I give the following replies:—

1st. In my letter to you, Sir, I have fully explained my reasons, and they are official, for my stop at Zante. I consider myself ill-used, particularly as Lord Byron is no more.

2d. The public service was at a stand, and Lord Byron said he would find funds out of his private purse sooner than the public service should be injured. I mentioned to him the sum the mechanics would forfeit should the Committee think proper: his Lordship said, make out the account, and I will advance it; but you may depend that the Committee will not pay the sum, therefore I will draw upon my agents at Zante; but, should the money be paid at a future time, it shall be placed in your hands, in addition to what I advance, and be expended in the further service of the country.

3d. The five hundred dollars issued from the funds of the Laboratory Department was ordered on account of the extreme urgency of the service, and knowing his late Lordship’s mind, and considering that his Lordship would be at the expense of the Laboratory Department, &c., ultimately, and that money was placed at my disposal by his Lordship, I therefore, for the benefit of the public service, directed that sum to be added to five hundred dollars of his Lordship’s other funds, which I had power to do, and no further.

4th. The giving up of the stores to the general authority for security, &c., &c., taking the receipt of the Prince Mavrocordato, on account of the Greek government, that nothing should be purloined, which I was obliged to do in the instance of the mutiny of the troops, and removed the gunpowder from the Seraglio for its better security; and knowing that at the expiration of this month the corps in the pay of the late Lord Byron, who now guard the Seraglio, would cease to be such, and therefore every guard and security would lay with the government, and the order was given by me for the general benefit of the service and security of the property.

I am, Honourable Sir, Your most obedient and Very humble Servant, Wm. Parry.

N.B. I have followed the instructions strictly of the late Lord N. Byron, and approved of by the Prince Mavrocordato.

The Hon. Col. Stanhope.

(Copy.) No. 4.

Missolonghi, Western Greece, May 11th, 1824, n. st. Sir,

It is the fourth of mine which I now have the pleasure to address to you. Since so long a period as your separation, not a single line has reached us, nor have we had any news whatsoever from that quarter. The present I confide to the hands of our friend, the harbour-master of this town, Captain Sidero, and who is to deliver it into your own bands, and will receive your answer.

I have not risked to confide much to the paper, nor can I do so before, Sir, you’ll please to honour me with your answer. Count Gamba has, before quitting the place, formed several Commissions, into whose hands the principal affairs have been confided. Those named by you, Sir, have been approved of in form; all are under the inspection of the Prince. The most exact calculations have been made by me; the sums for the several departments have been delivered to the Deposito Com-mission, the three members of which are Messrs. Hodges, Jarvis, and Stetzelberger.

The Department of the Brigade has been left to me.

The Department of the Fortifications has been left to me, in company with the Engineer Cochini, and the Commissary of War.

The Department of the Laboratory to Mr. Hodges.

The Committee Affairs have been consigned to Messrs. Hodges and Gill.

The Command of the Brigade left entirely to Captain Stetzelberger.

The Orders to the Brigade are given to me by the Prince, and I, as General-Adjutant, deliver them to the Commanding Captain.

The boat goes: I shall write on the first occasion, begging only my most respectful compliments to the Count, &c. Mr. Winter, I hope, forwarded the letters to Cephalonia, to send on here Mr. Fenton’s trunk. Remaining, Sir,

Your most obedient Servant, George Jarvis. To Major Parry, &c. &c.

(Copy.) No. 5.

Missolonghi, Western Greece, 4-16 May, 1824. Sir,

I now have the pleasure of your letters of the 6th and 8th instant. I have noted whatever you mentioned, and all your orders to Messrs. Hodges and Gill, &c., I have delivered. I am exceedingly glad to see your health recover; and we all hope to see you here soon again. Money was, and is the great demand; without it, it cannot be expected of you, nor any man under the sun, to do any thing of real use to this country. Colonel Stanhope we know to be with you. Now I hope every thing will thus be settled to our general advantage. The Prince Mavrocordato is still at Anatolica; coming from Vrachore, where he had settled the rising and very serious disputes with Captain Staïco and others, he called at Anatolica, to influence the Suliotes to break up, and to march to the frontiers: these sons of Minerva reminded him of a promise (which it is said he gave,) to pay them their arrears on St. George’s Day; they expect large sums will be sent over for them, and, really, every single one here seems to think that the loan has been contracted for him, and himself alone. I need not mention to you, Sir, the best means of applying the money, nor the securest way; I hope government shall gain sufficient force to order, and we shall see, the money issued accordingly to the wants of the naval and land operations; but not the greatest part delivered to individuals or chiefs that set up for themselves. The character of the Greeks is but little known. The real importance of most foreigners here is small, their assuming however very great; they all mistake the Greeks, and are again despised by the latter: many ought to be on their guard what they are about, and as every one of us, more or less, have attached ourselves to some party or particular chief of this country, we consequently try to favour them and their plans, and thus may act even innocently against the governmental views! We may well say that, what at present a chief gains, the government loses. I, for my part, as you know, Sir, have, during my stay in Greece, spent above two years with the Hydriotes, and own I have a great attachment to them; however, I shall never contribute toward any thing that might any ways be against the plans and interest of government. I have some suspicion that there are considerable preparations made to the assistance of chiefs, and I believe Ulysses ought to be mentioned among them.

I hear of projects of establishing a navy! When I see continually new comers arrive, and all such great men! that don’t deign to draw information from the old sufferers here, much less to take their advice, they then must try their own hand, and see what they can do. We have had men here of all descriptions, generals, of cavalry and infantry, companies of German and English workmen and mechanics, bakers and butchers have been sent out too, lawyers, diplomates, and officers of the horse, and naval men made their appearance. We have seen three years pass on, and now, as the staff of life has arrived, we shall see what more will be done. With regard to the naval affairs, I flatter myself, by having been in all their expeditions, and having witnessed their consultations, to have known their wants as well as their inclinations and power; if now it may be expected that any navy can be this moment established, at the same time the war carried on without very considerable funds, at least more than the whole loan amounts to, I must be very much mistaken. However, this experience too must (as they think) be tried again.

The Greeks are men of great genius, and know their wants better than any stranger; they want but three things, that is money, money, money! and then government, gaining power, will choose and employ such strangers as are of real use to the country! As for Anglifying Greece, it won’t do. I have been honoured by an Englishman yesterday with the title of a Greek; they meant to hurt my feelings by thinking me too much of a Greek. I have no other desire here than to pass for one, and to take all their good qualities; I am sure the Greeks shall be grateful for all the good they are to receive from England; the tender feelings they showed towards Lord Byron leave this disposition out of doubt. However, as for turning English, or being gained over to the English interest, this they will never agree to, and they will either be free Greeks, or fall with the honour of their country.

The fortifications are going on well; we are all hard at work. I intend to go with the Prince’s order to get four guns, two days’ distance from here. The Brigade is in good order, and keeps the Suliotes down, of whom the two Captains, Lambro and Luca, made me much to do; every thing is going on in regular order, and with the approbation of our Prince; I hope you will give me yours too. Mr. Trelawny questioned your right to send on the newspapers, nor has he delivered them to me, but intends to deliver them to his confidants and friends, Messrs. Hodges and Gill. I wish you good health, success, and a happy return, remaining,

Sir, Your most obedient Servant, George Jarvis. Officer of the Navy, Adjutant-General &c. To Major Parry, &c. Zante.

(Copy.) No. 6.

Missolonghi, Western Greece, 10-22 May, 1824. Dear Sir,

Both your favours of the 12th and 16th inst. have reached me, and were sent to us by the Prince’s Secretary yesterday evening. I am less astonished at the conspiracy against you than at the harmony that seems to reign among the party concerned in this plot, and at their unanimous exertions; exertions that might, with this harmony, have been so beneficial to Greece, if led to noble and useful purposes. When did we see those Franks ever joined for our glorious cause? What do foreigners want in Greece? What intentions have they? But those who are wise, so very powerful at the same time, these great men, what have they done? These men that attack you now are the very same that looked upon you, when here, as a man of no great importance; why then, now, do they make such a serious affair of it? They thus acknowledge you to be a man of importance. You honour me, Sir, with the title of your friend, and your only friend in Greece—Your friend I was, because I regarded you a friend to Greece? Your friend I am, because you are in distress! That what I say to you I communicate to all the world, nor do I say more to you. As for the conduct of those men who thought proper to attack you, they ought to be on their guard—those here that have joined in the plot have, at all events, committed themselves, being your inferiors; and with regard to the conduct of them, in opposition to that of you and your family, it appears to me most shocking, abominable, and ungrateful.

As for myself, I am, at least, in so far happy here, as I have nothing to do with these men, nor do I wish even to come into any relationship with them. I keep to my own room, and to my business here, which is very extensive. As soon as the fortifications are finished, and I have settled all my affairs, I may join my old friends the Hydriotes again, if there is any view of fighting going on. I assure you, Sir, I never have been sorry to have made your acquaintance here, I wish only it had not been imbittered to me by the presence of others. I have only two friends in Greece, but these are friends; I do not associate with any other Englishmen but when forced to do so; these are Mr. Hastings, R. N., a man of great honour, the friend of truth, and of a very consistent character; the other, Mr. Fenton, of Scotland, who, a gallant young officer in the Spanish wars, gave up his half pay to embrace this noble cause, is the noblest-minded Englishman I remember to have seen; he is my bosom friend, and, please God, our power, united by friendship and harmony, may be sufficient to produce some good for the country, at least I hope we shall set a good example (a matter of vast importance) to the rising Greeks! I may be able to do something even without exterior help, if not America shall assist, and my friends in Europe are powerful. You mention to me, Sir, you intend to call on my name in the newspapers in the United States, and in England—I have no objection to be a witness to your conduct, character, and the services rendered to this country; to the contrary, shall be so with all my heart, and it is moreover my duty, but I beg you, at the same time, not to make a personal affair of it with regard to me.

Mr. Tricupi left for the general government, as a member for Missolonghi and Western Greece—he will give in a statement of the wants of this province, and it is expected that then the necessary sums will be ordered by government to be paid out of the loan. Your things I shall demand from Hodges and Gill in a few days; pray mention too if the patent shot belongs to you. The shirts never arrived for Mr. Fouks—I shall then try to settle with him, if they don’t soon appear. The 39 dollars I sent on by Mr. Trelawny, deducting seventeen piastres twenty paras, paid for half a yard of blue cloth for you. I send it under my own responsibility. The remarks made use of in the other room &c., I take no notice of, and answered Mr. Hodges, “I hope I am not responsible to you for my doing so;” he tried to frighten me with writing to Col. Stanhope about my doing so; by G—d I wish he would, if they would bring me to the test for it! It is, however, of trifling consequence to dispute with bad men.

Missolonghi, 2nd June, 1824.

Just now Messrs. Hesketh and Winter arrived, and I received your kind letter of the 27th ult.

I have had no secure opportunity to forward the above lines, and now I have to state that part of the brigade, with four guns, under the command of Captain Fenton, left for Athens, &c. Trelawny left with him, and a gentleman of the name of Gill. Trelawny has great plans, and intends to manage the affairs of Greece by himself. The best thing is, the Prince takes not the least notice of what T. speaks. You will remember, Sir, the anecdote of the pearl and the sow! I have this moment a deal of trouble, because my business is very extensive here, and since Mr. Fenton left, I have no friends here among the Franks, i. e., I do not wish for any friendship with those here. Your certificate I shall send the first opportunity on to you—the Prince will give you a very good attest. As you seem to be not decided what to do, to come or not, I cannot say but this, that money is the only means to do it; if you do not bring that, nothing can be done—the want of money is felt here every day more and more.

Mr. Trelawny brought me no letter at all the last time he came,—how is that? pray let me know. The boat leaves now. I write in haste.

Remaining, dear Sir, Your most obedient servant, George Jervis. To Major Parry.

(Copy.) No. 7.

Missolonghi, June 15, 1824. Dear Sir,

I now come to the last lines of your’s. With regard to the parties or factions formed by the Englishmen, I am sorry to hear so, as I do not think it is for the advantage of this country; however, those who prefer their own affairs to the general cause, or who wish to cool their hatred in the blood of their supposed enemies, they are sure of either negatively or positively doing injury to the cause, without even doing any good to themselves. What refers to myself, I do not intend to take notice of what any such men say against me—my enemies (if I have any in Greece) cannot be my judges. I leave the nation to judge me. I beg leave to mention, that whenever you stand in need of me I am at your service as a private man, and shall do whatever I can for you; but in the official office I hold, I am not at liberty to regard private affairs, nor orders given me from persons not at the spot, and not belonging to the Greek Government. I mention this to acquaint you, Sir, that Mr. Blaquiere has given orders to Hodges to inspect the fortification, books, and even to take into his hands the monies that, under the name of laboratory department, have been made over for the fortifications (say the 500 dollars.) I naturally do not take the least notice of such orders, nor will the Prince ever allow the most important works in this province to stand still at the humour of Hodges. I have mentioned to the Prince every thing you said; and shall I send your papers on to you? This moment His Excellency is much occupied.

I have the honour to enclose a few lines from Lord Charles Murray, a friend of mine and of Greece; he appears to be a most excellent young man.

Believe me, dear Sir, ever your’s, George Jarvis, G. N. Adj.

Letters from Lord Charles Murray. (Copy.) No. 8.

Missolonghi, June 6, 1824. Sir,

According to promise, I laid before his Highness, Prince Mavrocordato, your letter, and communicated also the charges and complaints. His Highness appeared duly sensible of the cruel situation into which you have been thrown by the lamented death of the late illustrious Lord Byron, and expresses a hope to see you soon again in company with Colonel Gordon, whose arrival at Missolonghi is daily expected, and hourly prayed for.

Mr. Blaquiere set off in so great a hurry that I had not time to write to you by him, but I send this by a secure hand. Dr. Millingen is almost well again, I saw him this morning. Mr. Jarvis I have not yet seen.

Believe me, your’s truly, Charles Murray. To Captain Parry.

(Copy.) No. 9.

Missolonghi, June 13, 1824. Dear Sir,

I am sorry to find, from Mr. Jarvis, that you are still uncomfortably situated at Zante, and as you take no notice of a letter I wrote you, I am left to suppose it is in the dead letter box office of Zante still, or elsewhere.

Let me recommend you most sincerely and strenuously to take no violent steps in your own justification; more particularly until you return to England, where every man’s house is his castle; whereas, on the Continent, one can neither speak, act, nor write, without the utmost circumspection of time, persons, and place.

Ever your’s, very truly, Charles Murray. To Captain Parry.

THE END

London: Printed by W. Clowes, Northumberland-court.