The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-18 00:00:00

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by one after another yielded to the influence, until
at the end the cheers rung forth unanimously,
showing that the spell had taken effect.
Anyone accustomed to the minute etiquette of
military ceremonials in the west would have been
shocked at the Bashi-Bazouk way of keeping the
ground. The public circulated freely before and
between the lines of troops, friends and acquaint-
ances talking to each other as if the soldiers were
themselves spectators—not actors. Even the pavilion
where the religious ceremony took place was in-
vaded by a motley crowd of men, women, officers,
and country people. It could scarcely be otherwise
in this most democratic of countries, where even
the lowest peasant canno' be made to understand
differenee of birth, and where " ASEXOE" is the most
commonly used apostrophe among all classes,
scarcely accepting officers and soldiers.

Among the most interesting portions of the dis-
play were the veteran officers of the War of Inde-
pendence, and the battalion of National Guards
formed by the Univerity. They were drawn up in
a line close to each other, symbols, as it were, of the
part and future of Greece ; the former in their pic-
turesque Albardan costume, which has been
nationalized in Greece, looking weatherworn, and
exhibiting the true Palikari type, with the long
moustache, which has been popularised in pictures;
the latter all Europeanized in features and dress,
and only distinguished now by their sashes
or cockades from the passers-by. These youths
and their teachers have played a considerable part
in the whole movement ; they were the first to
come forward and form themselves into a guard of
public security ; they have taken up the matter with
all the enthusiasm of youth ; they were of great
assistance in maintaining order in critical moments;
they have been indefatigable in mounting guard
and patrolling, while all their spare time has been
devoted to drilling. I saw them come in, and was
quite astonished to see the progress they had made
in so short a time.

The ceremony over, a banquet was given to the
troops on the ground. In front of the pavilion,
where the religious ceremony had taken place, a
raised platform had been erected, surmounted by a
double row of columns, and covered in so as to form
another open pavilion. This was reserved for the
members of the Provisional Government and the
superior officers. Right and left the rest of the
officers were accommodated, while in a semicircle in
front, under open arcades festooned with laurels
and myrtles, the soldiers sat down to a feast of roast
mutton and wine.

There I left them, weary as I was with the dust
and bustle inside, to take a stroll towards the temple
of the Olympian Jupiter at the other end of the
town. Deserted as it was, the complete silence
which surrounded it made it appear even grander
than usual. The report of musket shots soon after
announced the breaking up of the feast, and I has-
tened back, rather curious to ascertain what the
effect of the feast on the troops may have been.
Precautions had been taken to prevent disorder and
get the troops back to the barracks, but it seemed
problematical whether the precautions would be of
avail.

Wasting powder by firing in the air is a mania
common to all Eastern peoples. No feast seems o
them complete without this accompaniment. Turkish
townsduring the Bairam, and Greek towns at Easter
become a positive nuisance on this account; and,
what with the excitement and carelessness, not a
festival of this kind passes without accident. Care
had been taken that the soldiers should have no
cartridges, but the stray shots which I had heard left
little doubt that all the cartridges served out during
the movement had not been expended, and that the
orders as to not firing could not be strictly en-
forced.

Still the thing was better than could be expected.
The Minister of War, Colonel Mavrqmichali, had
placed himself, with a nuttfigos staff, at the head
of the two infantry battaliw, and accompanied
them, amid the " zetos" of the population, to their
barracks, without leaving them time to stray or fire
away powder. The shots came from the detached
bodies of Artillery, who, being with the Sappers
and Miners the heroes of the day, indulged freely in
this pastime after they left the main column to re-
turn to their barracks. However, the whole thing
was harmless enough, and I have not heard of a
single accident.

The best proof that the affair was well managed
seemed to me that I did not see above a dozen strag-
glers after the troops had returned to their barracks,
and in these not a trace of rioting or drunkenness.
By 8 p.m., when I went out, everything was as still
as in the most quiet times, and only now and then
a " Tts EL;" from a National Guard sentry reminded
you that Athens was not quite slumbering like the
capital of a little German kingdom.
Such I found Athens ten days after the revolution.
A Birkenhead Garibaldi riot, or a well contested
election—such, for instance, as Colonel O'Reilly's
—has probably left more visible traces than the
change of dynasty has here produced. The Provi-
sional Government was right in its first proclama-
tion. Il n'y a qu' un Bavarois de moms.