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CHAPTER VII.

Remarks on the Affairs of Greece, and the Conduct pursued and to be pursued by Great Britain.-Lord Byron's generous aid to the Greek Cause, which he is solicited to support in person. -He acquiesces, and leaves Genoa for the Ionian Islands.

THE power of the Ex-Emperor of France, and of France herself, having been put an end to by the battle of Waterloo, the monarchs who, but a little while since, had fled before Napoleon like a flock of sheep before a ravenous wolf, and despaired of even their own safety, assembled in Congress at Verona to portion out Europe between them, and to devise plans of ruling it with despotic sway. Prussia was to be enlarged at the expense of offending Saxony; Austria, by the sway of Italy and such part of the Turkish provinces as lay nearest to her; Russia, by Greece and the remainder of Turkey, when circumstances would allow of her pouncing upon it. Great Britain, however, stood in the way of her aggrandizing herself more to the southward, which, by land, would endanger her East Indian* possessions, and,

* A subscription for the Greeks has been opened at Calcutta, and, up to the 8th January 1824, 18,764 sicca rupees have been subscribed. It was expected that the other governments would follow the example.

BRITAIN AND TURKEY.

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by sea, her commerce on the Euxine and Mediterranean. Her possession of the Ionian Islands would enable her to protect Greece, and her fleets would soon succour Turkey, and scour the Euxine and Mediterranean seas of Russian cruizers. Britain, in fact, held herself bound to Turkey in a debt of gratitude for former amity, at a time when she had not another friend in the world. At the period of the continental system of prescription of British commerce, when there was not a power in Christendom that would allow an Englishman to show his face, or a British flag to fly, in their dominions or ports; when every article of British produce or manufacture was prohibited as contraband, and not a British consul was to be found any where but in the Red Bock at home, the Moslems of Turkey, Persia and Barbary were the only powers with whom we maintained any kind of correspondence, and, with respect to us at least, they made good their assumed title of "The Refuge of the World." In this desponding state of British commerce, she turned her eyes to quarters the most unpromising, which, at any other period, would never have been thought on, or, if brought to mind accidentally, would have been passed by as unworthy of notice. But Britain was then in the situation of a drowning man catching at

straws.

The numerous gulfs, creeks, bays and harbours with which all the sea-coasts of continental Greece

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mans.

GRECIAN COMMERCE.

and most of her islands are indented, afford both convenience and security for shipping. The circumstances under which Europe was placed were favourable to the commerce of Greece, and many of her sea-port towns arrived at a pitch of prosperity unknown since the conquest by the OttoThe town of Salonica, at the head of the gulf of the same name, became the deposit of English cargoes of sugar, coffee, indigo, cottontwist, and various other articles, which were conveyed thence by land carriage to the very heart of the continent of Europe. A cavalcade of a thousand horses at a time started with merchandize from that city. From Livadia a very active commerce is carried on, chiefly by the gulf of Corinth, in grain of different kinds, pulse, cotton, wool, honey, &c. The merchants are wealthy Greeks, many of whom live in all the pomp of grandees, surrounded by dependents, and in large houses magnificently furnished. The disposition of the modern Greeks for active and enterprizing exertion, gives them a strong bias towards commercial pursuits. This propensity was particularly evinced by the rapid progress of a little colony planted on the barren rock of Hydra, of which Dr. Holland gives the following account:-" In the distance, and near the mouth of the gulf of Argolis, is seen the small isle of Hydra; a spot which, of late, has become very interesting, from the extent and importance of its commerce. Only

a few miles in circumference, with a surface so rocky as scarcely to yield the common vegetables, and even without any other water than that collected in cisterns, this little islet has an active and wealthy population of more than 25,000 souls; and a property in shipping, amounting, it is said, to about 300 trading vessels, many of them of large tonnage, and well armed. I have heard, and have some reason to believe the statement, that there is a merchant in Hydra whose acquired property amounts to about a million of dollars, and many others with a trading capital bearing a proportion to this sum."

A very considerable and increasing commerce is carried on in the Ionian Islands. Their exports chiefly consist of oil, wine, and currants. Of the last article, Zante alone exports, chiefly to England, 7,000,000 lbs.; of oil 60,000 barrels; and 4,000 casks of wine. Cephalonia exports nearly the same quantities. The mixed inhabitants of these islands are said to be generally "quick and ingenious in their conceptions; cunning as well as active in their affairs; in their manner bustling, loquacious, and verbose; and with a temper disposed to litigation and intrigue." Deeply tainted with the lax manners and vices of the Venetians, who traded in crime and sold impunity to the highest bidder, the state of morality and religion among them was deplorable. Murders were frequent; and the whole frame of society, from the

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THE IONIAN ISLANDS.

highest to the lowest, was depraved and corrupt. The late change in the government (being made a temporary dependency on Great Britain) has already somewhat improved their condition ; the factions are suppressed, if not extinguished; the laws are faithfully and rigidly executed, and assassinations have become rare.

This adventitious and wholly unexpected situation of the affairs of Europe, brought the humble and forgotten Greeks into connection with the most powerful maritime and commercial country in the world; and their love of gain increasing with their means of obtaining it, the islands soon raised a swarm of vessels adapted to the coasting trade of bays, shoals, &c.; and they became insensibly a little maritime power, to which, in a great measure, they owe all their successes against the Turks, having always maintained the superiority at sea through the terror inspired by their dexterous use of fire-ships.

Great Britain, at the end of the last war, found herself placed in the most novel and delicate situation. She was willing to acknowledge the friendship shown by the Turks in the time of her greatest need, and it was, moreover, her interest to support Turkey against any encroachment on the part of Russia. On the other hand, she pitied the Greeks, and wished them to become happy and independent; but would not take an active part against Turkey. She resolved, therefore, to steer