the Hesperides, and viewed his monies with the same self-satisfaction as if they were his own property, grumbling and murmuring at making the most trivial disbursement on Lord Byron's own order, and sleeping on the boxes of specie, yet was strictly honest...

I should not have been able to appreciate so singular a character, and would have feared to encounter in him (I do not mean, however, in saying so, to cast any imputation on Signor Lega) a second Ambrose de Lamela. hope that I shall be excused mentioning a trait of the most marked kindness and condescension in Lord Byron towards myself. When at Cephalonia, I was engaged to dine either at Colouel Napier's, or the mess of the 8th regiment, After having dressed in the cabin, I came on deck, and requested the fa-,, vour of Captain Scott's directing one, of his men to put me ashore. The skipper, however, who occasionally indulged in deep potations, and was at these times very surly and inso lent, refused the use of the boat. Lord Byron, who, the skylight being off his cabin, had overheard our conversation, instantly made his appearance, and going over the side, into a small punt, which belonged to the yacht he sold to Lord, Bles, sington at Geneva, prepared it, and returning on deck, addressed me, saying, "Now, Browne, allow me to conduct you.'

ai

39

I remonstrated; the day being excessively hot, and the boat too small for me to assist in rowing it.

Scott, who stood by growling like a bear, amazed, then proffered his own boat.

"Never mind," he rejoined; "I insist upon it, you shall accept my offer."

Lord Byron exclaimed, "No! Captain Scott, Mr Browne is my guest, and I wish him and every other gentleman on board to be treated with the same respect as myself. We shall not accept it after your behaviour."

And the matter ended in his rowing me ashore in his own diminutive skiff; and after having done so, he instantly regained the ship.

Scott was a bluff English seaman, whose countenance showed that he had stood the brunt of many a north

VOL. XXXV. NO. CCXVII.

wester, and was not at bottom a bad fellow. Lord Byron's first question to him, on coming on deck in the morning, was, "Well, Captain, have you taken your meridian ?" which meant a stiff tumbler of grog; if he had, he never objected to a second, and Lord Byron almost invariably joined him in it.

We had some diverting scenes with him during the passage. It was discovered that Vitali, one of the Greek passengers, had contrived to bring on board some cloth and other articles of merchandise, which he no doubt intended to smuggle into the Ionian Islands. The discovery arose from a ridiculous circumstance. A most abominable stench was observed by the captain. to proceed from a large trunk amongst the luggage, but he did not know the owner of it; at last he ordered it to be brought upon deck, and said, if no one claimed it, he would throw it overboard. Vitali then rushed forward in defence of his property.

Vitali had perhaps thought that he was to find his own provisions, calculating on a short passage, reserved the poor little grunter for a bonne bouche on landing. This sordid behaviour, so unexpectedly brought to light, alienated Lord Byron, who had become rather partial to the copper captain, as he called him; and Scott was instructed, on our arrival in Cephalonia, to make a declaration to the customhouse regarding the cloth, for which Vitali, much to his annoyance, had to pay duty. The captain after this could not endure Vitali. Lord Byron dearly loved a practical joke, and it was insinuated to Scott that the Greek was addicted to certain horrible propensities, too common in the Levant. The look of horror and aversion with which Scott then regarded the poor man was indescribable, swear

E

ing at the same time, and wondering how such a scoundrel could dare to look any honest man in the face. Scott could not speak a word of Italian, and the Greek seeing him in these passions, whenever he beheld him, could not comprehend the reason of it, but went about, addressing first one and then another, with "Mi dica, per amor di Dio, Signore, casa mi vuoli il Senior Capitano, che mi mira sempre cosi fieramenti?" Lord Byron at these scenes absolutely convulsed with laughter. Scott also attacked his Lordship, expressing his surprise and concern that he could have thought of admitting so infamous a person into the ship; who replied, that it was Schilizzi who had mentioned the matter, otherwise it would have been unknown to us.

was

Lord Byron, in adverting to his travels in Albania in early life, often spoke of the Arnouts and Suliots, whom he considered as old friends; in shipwreck and illness having been his kind though rough nurses. He said that his Albanian attendants had terrified his doctor, by threatening him with death should he not recover; and to this he ascribed his safety, placing great faith in surgery, but little in the skill of a physician.

One morning the skylight being off, Vitali was perceived in his drawers, with his mouth wide open, asleep on the cabin table, whilst the boys were employed in washing the decks. Scott, who could not resist the temptation, discharged the contents of a bucket of dirty water over the poor Greek, who, in a state of frenzy, rushed upon deck, and Scott, paying no attention to him, he might have stabbed the captain, or done some mischief in his fury, had not Lord Byron come up and assured him the drenching he had undergone was purely accidental.

Lord Byron's original intention was to go in the Hercules to Zante, but having represented to him that the Resident of that island was not considered so favourably disposed to wards the Greek cause as my friend Colonel Napier, who filled the same office at Cephalonia, his Lordship desired Captain Scott to steer thither. He had no reason to regret having done so, as Colonel Napier welcomed him with the most warmhearted hospitality; and, on farther acquaintance, he admired him as an officer possessing first-rate military talents, gifted with no ordinary acquire ments, the quintessence of chivalrous feeling, and imbued with that reasonable and tempered enthusiasm in the Greek cause, which was consequent on a long residence in the Ionian Islands, and a thorough knowledge of the people with whom Lord Byron was about to link his destiny.

He was, therefore, extremely rejoiced at the first sight of the Suliots at Cephalonia. On their coming on board in the harbour of Argostoli, he bounded on deck, evidently very much affected, his expressive countenance radiant with gladness to welcome them, and he immediately engaged a few of them to form a body-guard in Greece, with a promise to employ a great many more. It was, however, a very different af fair to have Albanians or other rude warriors assigned to him by Ali Paseia as an escort, to enlisting them in their new character as mercenary soldiers. Ali's stern rule compelled them to obey and pay every deference to Lord Byron as his guest, and their lives probably would have paid the forfeit of any ill-treatment. In the present instance, his pleasing illusion was speedily dispelled, when he witnessed their attempts to overreach him in the very hard bargain they drove for their services; insisting, too, on being paid in advance.

The Suliots are individually brave; and without complaint endure extreme privations, bearing them with resignation and patience. They are reckoned excellent light soldiers, but will submit to no regular discipline; and, like all the tribes of Epirus, are avaricious, and of predatory habits.

The hope of sharing in Lord Byron's supposed enormous wealth influenced them far beyond any affection which they pretended to entertain towards him personally, and that he very soon discovered. I do not question their devotion to leaders born amongst themselves, and accustomed to command them; or to the heads of their distinguished families or clans, who exercise a species of patriarchal sway over them. The Albanians and Suliots of the present day resemble much the Scot

tish Highlanders, as they are represented to have been in the seventeenth century; and what stranger, excepting installed in command by the approving voice of their chiefs, was ever tolerated by them? Lord Byron's disputes and jarring with this tribe, of which I was an occasional eyewitness, must have proved galling in the extreme to his irritable mind; but they originated from his being, as usual, too lavish in his promises.

structure, and complexion, resemble the Albanians, being compactly built and full-chested, with extremely narrow loins, caused, I presume, by the compression of the tight girdles which they wear from infancy, but I do not think them so stately in their gait, or strut, nor, generally speaking, so tall in stature.

From exposure to the elements, many of them, although still in the prime of life,exhibited an old and weather-beaten appearance. Their features, marked by prominent cheekbones, are easily distinguished from the finely chiselled visage and handsome profile of the true Greek; they have also dark grey or blue eyes, whilst those of the latter are almost invariably black. They are quite a distinct race, and are probably of Sclavonic or Illyrian origin. They carry the same description of arms as the Albanians, viz. a long Venetian gun, with an extremely short stock, ornamented in silver or brass, according to the rank of its bearer; pistols, embellished after a similar fashion, adorn their girdle; a knife or yataghan, with a shagreen or leathern sheath or scabbard, having a copper or silver case for holding pens, and an inkstand at one end, (although few know how to write,) complete their equipment. The barrels and locks of their arms are of very indifferent workmanship; but, fortunately for themselves, they do not use strong powder, and are very economical of it. They do not, as is our custom in firing, carry the but-end of the gun to the shoulder; if they did, they would infallibly suffer from the recoil of their pieces, the stocks of which are shaped like the horns of a crescent; but they discharge them, either holding them sideways, calculating the angle of the object at which their aim is directed, or by resting them on a stone, when they fight in a recumbent posture, their usual method in battle.

They became so troublesome, coming on board at all times, and besetting his Lordship with ambuscades when taking his customary exercise on horseback, that any "argumentum ad verecundiam" being out of the question with such persevering phlebotomists, he was obliged to threaten them finally with the interference of Colonel Napier, in order to intimidate them. Subsequently, at Missolonghi, where their insubordination could not be with equal facility quelled, it was attended with the most fatal results, and proved a source of endless disquietude to his Lordship. After the disastrous death of Lord Byron, these men, confiding in their military prowess, became the terror of the Morea; and on the arrival of every remittance on account of the Loan, besieged the seat of Government, insisting on compliance with their demands, however unjust; and if refused, instantly proceeded "par voie de fait," quickly compelling their more timid adversaries to yield to them. Their interests were essentially dissimilar to those of the Greeks, for whose cause they cared nothing, (with the exception, perhaps, of one or two enlightened individuals amongst them, such as the Botzaris;) and if the Turks would only have restored to them their beloved Suli, they would gladly have retired from the contest, and very possibly have arrayed themselves against their Greek allies.

The Suliots, in dress, physical

It was not without reason that Bacon asserted that time was the greatest of all innovators; and the maxim is not so trite, but that its truth and importance are continually brought back to the observation of the most inconsiderate observer of public events. Forty years have now elapsed since we began to take an interest in the observation of human affairs, and we have never ceased to keep our eyes upon their changes down to the present time. Nevertheless, the difference between the commencement, the middle, and the end of this period, brief as it is, when compared to the lifetime of nations, is so prodigious, that it looks as if our infancy had been passed in one age, our manhood in a second, and our old age in a third.

In January, 1794, Great Britain was beholding, with nearly unanimous horror and detestation, the first fruits of popular usurpation, in the Reign of Terror, and the government of Robespierre. The dreadful spectacle of blood streaming in tor rents from the scaffold, of religion overturned, and the Goddess of Reason in her place-of a Monarch butchered, and a nation decimated -revolted all the best feelings of the English character, and in all, save a few callous and insensible Republicans, whose hearts were as hard as the nether millstone, produced a powerful reaction against the principles of democracy. At that time the British nation cordially and generally supported the principles of Mr Pitt's government; the House of Commons, in general, divided 260 to 40; the House of Lords 80 to 7, in his favour; and even Mr Burke, whose prophetic eye and ardent temperament led him rather to exaggerate than undervalue the public danger, only estimated hardened irreclaimable Jacobins in Great Britain at 80,000 persons.* The aristocracy boldly led the van, and the people cordially followed their ban

ners, having abated nothing of their love of freedom, but learned nothing of the desire for revolution.

Ten years elapsed, and what was the next aspect which the island exhibited? It was completely filled with volunteers; patriotic spirit, martial zeal, burned deep and strong through its millions; twelve hundred thousand men were in arms, watching with anxious eyes the forces of Napoleon, arrayed on the heights of Boulogne, and preparing to follow the footsteps of Cæsar in the invasion of Britain. The heartburnings which had arisen at the commencement of the war, the Gallican spirit which had at the outset detached a small portion of our people from their country, the divisions which had existed as to the policy of continuing the contest, had almost disappeared. The enormity of the danger, the intensity of the enmity of Napoleon at this country, the evident hopelessness of concluding a lasting peace with so inveterate a foe, had united all classes in a cordial and generous love of their country. Then were developed those elevated feelings and noble determinations which made the nation disdain to submit-which prompted even Mr Fox to nail her colours to the mast, and preserved the British empire, brave and dauntless, amidst the wreck of surrounding states, and the crash of the greatest empires in Europe.

Ten additional years rolled on, and another generation had risen to the direction of public affairs. Still more exhilarating was the prospect which then appeared. The crisis of Europe was over; the Imperial Legions whitened with their bones the fields of Spain, or lay stiff and unburied amidst the snows of Russia-Eflavit Deus et dissipantur. The navy of France had long since ceased to disquiet England; it had disappeared from the ocean since the thunderbolt of Trafalgar, and the impotent rage of the imperial despot had