AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS. 103 dance of his country, conjectured to be a remnant of the ancient Pyrrhic; be that as it may, it is manly, and requires wonderful agility. It is very distinct from the stupid Romaika, the dull roundabout of the Greeks, of which the Athenian party had so many specimens. "The Albanians (not the cultivators of the provinces, but the mountaineers) have a fine cast of countenance; and our travellers saw the most beautiful women, in stature and features, levelling the road broken down by the torrents between Delvinachi and Libochabo. Their manner of walking is truly theatrical; but this strut is probably the effect of the capote, or cloak, depending from one shoulder. Their long hair reminds one of Spartans, and their courage in desultory warfare is unquestionable. Though they have some cavalry among the Gegdes, they are not good horsemen; but on foot they are not to be subdued by fatigue." Such was the result of Lord Byron's observations on the Albanese, who, by their warlike propensities, and their vicinity to Greece, may be called upon to act a most important part in the present struggle. From the situation of their country, and its juxta-position to Greece, they are the natural allies of the Greeks, and it must be their interest to make one common cause, as they alike suffer under a barbarian tyranny, and à religion which is an insuperable bar to all improve 104 ment. POLICY OF ALI PACHA. : The cruel character, reign, and crimes of the Pacha of Yanina have been at various times detailed to the public; but it is not perhaps generally known, that a monster, whose vices and enormities threw those of Nero and Caligula into the shade, was destined to become the principal instrument for bringing about the great work of Hellenic regeneration. As the younger Pliny justly says, in his panegyric on Trajan "Habet has vices conditio mortalium, ut adversa ex secundis, ex adversis secunda nascantur. Occultat utrorumque semina Deus, et plerunque bonorum malorumque causæ sub diversa specie latent." In order to feed his insatiable avarice, the predominant passion of Ali, he encouraged his subjects to travel and form commercial establishments abroad; and being fully aware that the Divan only waited an opportunity for accomplishing his destruction, it was a special part of his policy to crush the most powerful of his Mahometan vassals. The more effectually to counterbalance their influence, a Greek party was formed, even a portion of his body guard was formed of Christians, and towards the close of his sanguinary career, these were the only troops on whom he placed any reliance. It was solely owing to the terror inspired by the tyrant of Albania, that Epirus and Greece had been hitherto kept in awe; but by one of those vicissitudes which seem more peculiarly to mark the direct interference of the Divinity in human con LORD BYRON FAVOURABLY RECEIVED. 105 cerns, whatever remained to him of authority or influence, whether it regarded his terrific energy, profound cunning, and immense wealth, were all at once enlisted on the side of the Christians, as his last hopes of safety depended on their exertions and co-operation. In this state of defection from the Turks was the Pacha of Yanina, at the time when Lord Byron paid him a visit; and whether his Lordship took any steps to effect his junction with the Greeks, and to cement an understanding between two people so naturally allied and so politically interested in each other's fate, the public, owing to the destruction of his Lordship's invaluable memoirs, must be left to conjecture. Lord Byron met with a most favourable reception from Ali Pacha, who granted him a numerous guard to escort him through the inhospitable part of Acarnania; he afterwards communicated with the principal Greeks, and the insurrection then breaks out. If he did not cause the glorious conflagration, he certainly added fuel to the flame, and was one of the principal contributors to Greek regeneration, whose names must be immortalized in history. There were still the torpor, the apathy, and the pusillanimity of a vassalage of centuries about the Greeks, when his Lordship joined them, which has been noticed by every succeeding traveller of almost every nation in Europe. He at first despaired of them, as he describes the state in which he found them. ( 106 ) CHAPTER V. Athens and the Environs. Spoliations committed there by certain Virtuosi. Character of the present race of Greeks. Journey to Cape Colonna. The Plain of Marathon. Lord Byron's studies. Departure for Constantinople. Lord Byron swims across the Hellespont. A MOST material question now arises: What could induce two young men of independent fortune to take such a journey by sea and land, and to brave the wilds and banditti of Albania, as rude a country as the interior of Africa, to pay a visit to an infidel, a barbarian, a monster, execrable for every species of villainy, and reeking with blood? Let us hear what Childe Harold himself goes on to tell us. After leaving Ali Pacha, he proceeds to Greece, which he thus apostrophizes: "Fair Greece! sad relic of departed worth! Who now shall lead thy scatter'd children forth, ATHENS DESPOILED. Hereditary bondmen! know ye not, Who would be free themselves must strike the blow? 107 And thus did this Apostle of Liberty preach to the Greeks, through eighteen other stanzas, and it should seem that neither his planning nor his preaching was in vain. Ali Pacha (heretofore the mortal enemy of the Christians) breaks with the Turks, and joins the Greeks, who break out into an open state of warfare! But more of this hereafter in its proper place. On viewing the city, or rather what had been the city of Athens, the first burst of the passions was that of grief and indignation, at beholding the devastations which had been committed, and that principally by a Briton, one of his own countrymen. But if his Lordship felt shocked at beholding such barbarous devastation, how much was he disgusted at seeing the very name of the spoliator stuck up on high, as if in triumph, and in commemoration of the pillage. It was indeed a very censurable piece of vanity, for the Earl of Elgin to cause his own name, together with that of his lady, to be inscribed on one of the ancient and hoary columns of the temple of Minerva; one |