him turn the Christian religion into ridicule: on the contrary, he frequently confessed, that nothing could be more unfair than to make derision of those, who believed in it; for in this strange world, he said, it was alike difficult to know what is and what is not to be believed; and by many freethinkers doctrines were laid down, that are as much above human comprehension, as the mysteries of revelation themselves.

The news of Lord Byron's arrival, together with the exaggerated reports as to the extent of his wealth, the mighty assistance he was bringing with him to ✓ Greece, and the anticipation of a loan, raised so great an interest among the mass of its population, that they almost expected him as a Messiah; and scarcely a less lively fermentation was produced among the chiefs. Each of the numerous parties that, animated by the demon of discord, were on the eve of plunging their country into all the horrors of civil war, as well as many of the principal civil and military characters, hastened to send to Cephalonia their respective representatives; or addressed to him letter after letter, in which, after heaping upon him all the encomiums, that flattery could suggest, they depreciated or blackened as much as possible all those, who did not side with them, while they largely extolled their own purity of intention and patriotic conduct. Their cupidity left no intrigue unpractised to defeat the plans of their rivals, and secure to themselves a friend, who, as they fondly believed, would prove a help to their private interests and selfish views of aggrandisement, which was all they cared for. Mavrocordato had sent his secretary Praïdi; and Colocotrone and Andrea Metaxa had numerous panegyrists on the island, who hourly rung their praises in his ears. Anargyri of Athens, deputed by the senate, soon after

appeared at Metaxata; while Londo reminded the new-comer of their former acquaintance and friendship.

Much credit is certainly due to Lord Byron for the prudence which, under these circumstances, characterised his conduct. He was deaf to the voice of flattery, and withstood both the allurements of ambition and the powerful enticement, which romantic enterprises could not fail to exert on his warm imagination. Divesting himself of every preconceived opinion, he calmly sought to discover, amidst so many contradictory and unfavourable statements, the path that would best lead him to the attainment of his wish, which was the welfare of his newly-adopted country. His conduct on this occasion appears the more to his advantage, when contrasted with that of the individual, whom the Greek Committee judged the most competent to act the part of their agent in Greece, and best qualified by his judgment to put into execution the various plans, devised by them, to supply what they thought the most pressing wants of its population.

CHAPTER II.

Arrival of Colonel Stanhope-German Philhellenes-their disappointment and ill treatment by the Greeks-their distress— Negotiations for a loan-Divisions among the Greek chiefsDesign of Colocotrone against the government-Lord Byron defers his departure for the Morea.

TOWARDS the end of November, Colonel Stanhope landed at Argostoli. Anxious to reach as soon as possible the scene of action, he hastened to embark for Peloponnesus. Before his departure, Lord Byron, though far from agreeing with him in opinion, relative to the affairs of Greece, furnished him with letters of recommendation to the Greek government and to Mavrocordato; which, though highly interesting, as being the most authentic documents to illustrate the feelings, which then animated their noble writer, I shall omit here; the public being already in possession of them.

By the same ship, which conveyed the colonel from Ancona to Cephalonia, several poor Greek, Chiot, and Aïvaliot refugees arrived, whose passage had been paid for by this humane officer, and two German Philhellenes. Of these two, one was a personage, already mentioned, of the name of Bellier, who, after serving several years as a subaltern in a Prussian regiment, had been expelled from it. During a first trip to Greece, where, though he had not heard even the report of a Turkish gun, he performed, according to the narrative he published, the most chivalrous exploits in the himmelhohen bergen von Acarnanien,

and, like many others, obtained for his pretended services the rank of colonel, and was made a knight of the order of Minerva, which, except in the imagination of men of his cloth, never existed. These marks of distinction-the title of marquis, which he assumed on his way to London, his swaggering language and bold assurance-gained him a ready introduction to the Greek Committee, whose confidence he at length so completely engrossed, that, implicitly relying on his statements, they were led into numberless errors, of which they must afterwards have bitterly repented: so completely is the judgment of the wisest men sometimes overruled by their wishes.

His success with the Prussians, whom the Committee sent out with him to Greece, was not equally flattering. When the proposal of proceeding to that country, under the orders of Bellier, was made to them by its secretary, they formally declared, that, so far from obeying, they would not even associate with a man, who bore at home so equivocal a character. His companion was a young Bavarian of the name of Kolbe, who was on his return from Darmstadt to the Greek Committee, to which place he had been deputed by the unfortunate remains of the small regiment, which had been despatched to Greece from Marseilles in 1822, at the expense of the German and Swiss Philhellenic committees, who placed that corps under the command of Cephalas. Kolbe had been charged to represent to them the unfavourable reception, his companions in arms had met with, their complete disappointment in their fondest expectations, and to pourtray the miserable and forlorn position, in which they languished at Anapli, worn out by sickness and privation, and destitute even of daily bread; lastly, to solicit from

It was

the charity of their countrymen the funds, necessary to enable them to leave a country, where their services were considered as superfluous. truly lamentable, and of most inauspicious augury, to see the Greeks neglect to avail themselves of sc valuable a present from the German committee, and not turn to their advantage the military talents and enthusiasm of individuals who had volunteered so generously in this corps. Their conduct in this instance speaks volumes against their patriotism. A corps of two thousand men might have been fully equipped with the materials brought to Greece on this occasion; nothing being wanting, not even the band. The inlistment of private soldiers was the only task left to the government; and it was not unreasonable for Swiss or Germans, judging from their own feelings, and those which, in like circumstances, would animate every nation in Europe, to expect that the Greeks would vie with one another for the honour of being the first to join hand in hand with an establishment, from which their country might expect to derive the most signal advantages. Under the guidance of a wise and patriotic administration, this regiment might have served as a preparatory school both for Greek soldiers and officers. It would gradually have spread discipline through every province, and thus have created a force, owing to the absence of which the authority of the government had been, and still remained, as perfectly illusory at home as its efforts were unavailing elsewhere.

As soon as Cephalas' arrival at Hydra was known at Anapli, masking their unpatriotic fears under the apprehension of the danger, that might possibly ensue from the importation of so many muskets, &c. into a fortress, the executive sent immediate orders to the