ment.

ready to accept a king, or any system of governI replied, that if Greece was doomed to have a foreign king, I hoped that he would not change their venerable religion, and convert them into Catholics, Protestants, or Jews. The interpreter and the priests all flinched. At the beginning of the revolution, one hundred and fifty of the monks had turned out against the Turks. The superior told me that he and they were ready to take the field again when required. He said there were about three thousand clergy in the Morea.

Zaimi is a great primate, and has charge of Calamata and other districts. He is a strong government man. I talked to him about the necessity of union, and the impossibility of carrying on a war against their captains, factions, and the Turks. He called the former robbers. I told him that robbery, and even murder, in war were considered justifiable; and that it was by these means that the captains had kept up a martial spirit in the nation, which had rescued their groaning country from the Turks. That these vices must now be put down, by giving power to the people, which was to be effected by forming a militia, by placing them in a posture of defence, by giving weight to the legislative body, and by publicity. I next attacked the foreign king faction, and said they were worse

erroneous.

than robbers, for treason was the worst of crimes. Zaimi said that the captains had driven the people mad, and that they now sought repose under foreign aid, and under a foreign monarch. I observed that this was natural. Their calculation was, however, It was impossible that Greece should obtain repose under a foreign king. The first measure of a foreign king must be to embody an extensive standing army. He must then endeavour to disarm the people, and to put down the captains. He would take their fortresses, he would sweep their plains; but they would still remain masters of the mountains. To effect even this he must be despotic; he would have to guard his life; every part of his body, where a ball or a dagger could penetrate, must be proof. He must be surrounded by foreign soldiers, for he could not trust to the passionate, the insubordinate, the capricious, and the patriotic Greeks. In short, the foreign king that would govern Greece must be a Sultan. His life would not be safe for one moment. He would live in pain, and would not be allowed to escape. He would rise to be hailed, hooted, and destroyed. After a number of these exotic tyrants had been cut up, Greece would still be doomed to a dreadful despotism, and the people, if relieved from their captains, would be subjected to a worse fate. Zaimi

He had

I con

said, that Colocotroni was a fallen man. retired to his home with only fifteen men. tended that this was rather a proof of his power, and that no one dared to attack him.

Londos, a member of the executive body, is just dead. Zaimi succeeds him, and he promises that he will act on principles of reconciliation.

I am, yours,

L. S.

LETTER LXXV.

TO THE SAME.

Gastouni, 11th May, 1824.

My dear B.

SISSINI is the captain of this rich district, and of the whole plain. His manners and habits, like those of all the oligarchs of the Morea, are Turkish. They are surrounded by useless people; -by flatterers, harlots, soldiers, and servants; and by dirt, splendour, and misery. To counteract these vices and this effeminacy must be the work of time,

or rather the effect of education, through the medium of schools and publicity. I also look to the masculine habits of their soldiery, and to their connexion with European nations, through those Greeks who are educated abroad, and through the settlers and travellers who will flock among them, as means of their improvement.

As usual, I have been honoured here with visits of ceremony; and, as usual, have at once entered upon matters of public interest. The war, the loan, the elections, the legislative body, the foreign king and robber factions, the formation of an administration, and of a constitutional force, have been the principal subjects of our discourses. The siege of Patras is a topic of great interest here. The question is-How to take the fortress? The place is weak, but it will still be difficult for the Greeks to capture. It must be taken either by a siege, by shelling, by a blockade, or by treachery. By a siege the Greeks cannot take it, because they have not the materials necessary, and their irregular troops are not disposed to storm a breach. The place is small, and might be taken by shelling; but where are the mortars and shells? Some say at Navarria and at Napoli, but this requires confirmation. I shall press the Government on this point. By blockade, Patras cannot well be taken; for, un

less the Greeks should have a numerical superiority of ships, however superior they might be in skill and valour, the neutral nations will not recognize the blockade. Could the Greeks even capture the Castles, and thus shut the straights against the Turks, the neutral nations might still contend for their right to pass, as long as the enemy's fleet was in the Corinthian Gulf. In the hope, however, that they might admit this as an efficient blockade, I shall recommend the Government to pursue this course. As to taking Patras by treachery, it is very improbable.

I start for Zante to-morrow, and, after having made all the necessary arrangements about the Ioan, I shall, if possible, proceed to England. Your affairs will be conducted by Colonel Gordon and Captain Blaquiere, perhaps persons far better qualified than

Your friend,

L. S.