The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-02 00:00:00

STATE OF THINGS IN GREECE.

We read in a letter from Athens, of July 22 :--
At last Mavrocordato has arrived. A French
steamer brought him from Syra, where he had ar-
rived with the Marseilles stea,niergoing toConstan-
tinople. The King sent for him to have an inter-
view; fortunately, King Otho's fascinations are lost
upon the Premier. He is the only man in Greece
of whom this opinion is entertained, by partisan as
well as adversary.
Mavrocordato has the hardest task which, per-
haps, ever fell to the share of a Premier. In a
country without any public spirit, where a vile in-
triguing Court has for 20 years carried on a con-

sequent system of corruption, where the most
violent popular passions excited by the late
events have hardly subsided, where the
vereign, the sworn enemy of the constitu-
tion has large sums of money at his disposal,
while the public Exchequer is empty,—to be in
such a country Prime Minister and re_spoiiinsi-
tile adviser of a so-called constitutional
is certainly no enviable position—nay, nwaould beg
absolutely untenable were it
Then for the 6,000
army of foreign troops at the Peiiirreauys,
occu-
pation, first intended to compel Greece to a
matter of
strict neutrality, has now become a.
neces-
sity for. Greece itself. If it was withdrawn anarchy
would be the consequence, while, perhaps, by the
which its presence exercises a salu-
tary change of t
moral influence
the whole system hitherto carried
on may be effected.
To say that either the allied
forces or the new Ministry is popular would be
false ; both are endured as necessary evils which
cannot be helped. The sight of an army of occupa-
tion can never he very exhilarating to a people, as
it reminds it always of its own humiliation. The
Ministry, on the other hand, has made many ene-
mies by the distribution of places. Everybody knows
what a difficult thing it is to satisfy the claimants
for employment in the best-governed countries, but
few have an idea what an onus patronage isiu Greece.
You know how former Ministers have obviated this
difficulty, by adopting either an auction or by intro-
ducing a fixed tariff for every employment.
,By
abolishing this practice the new Ministry set nearly
the whole male population of Greece above 16 place-
hunting. The Anglo-French party was of late iu
such discount that it numbered very few members
worth speaking of ; consequently, it was not enough
to supply the demand for employ& ; on the other
hand, the Government would not keep in office the
employes put there by the Court; so all those who
have had hitherto no places, although most—nay,
one may say, all—of them tried hard for it, came
now forward as the martyrs of constitutionalism,
and as the sufferers for their Anglo-French sym-
pathies, and claimed places. The Ministry, having,
unfortunately, very few good men of its own, and
not wanting to employ its avowed adversaries,
although these latter were quite ready to serve,
was forced to take many of this mongrel set, which
numbers not one known name, and whose mem-
bers cannot be said to belong to the most dis-
tinguished class of society. Now that Mavro-
cordato has arrived, it is hoped that things will
settle down. There will be very likely some
changes in the Ministry itself, as Mavrocordato
will scarcely be able to carry on, together with his
onerous task as Premier, also the Ministry of
Finance, which requires so much. routine work.
The only difficulty will be to find somebody for the
latter place. Unless he be an accomplished alchy-
mist who has indeed found the philosopher's stone,
it cannot be seen how he will bring the Greek
budget to an equilibrium. The whole town of
Athens, as well as the Piraeus, has been in a state
of great excitement since the beginning of this week.
The report was spread that the cholera had broken
out among the French troops, and that it is °begin-
ning to spread also among the inhabitants. The
truth is, that the mortality amen°. the French
troops has increased lately to a fearful degree, and
all the deaths are in consequence of a violent diar-
rhoea or cholerine. Nor is this at all surprising, if
one considers the position of the French troops.
They are encamped ou the bare chalk bill
which separates the Piraeus from the Munichio,
under tents which, instead of keeping off the
heat, rather concentrate it, by interrupting the
current of air which always prevails near the
seashore. They have until lately been obliged
to get up at two o'clock in the morning, make
a long march, and exercise with knapsacks anti
other burdens. They come back exhausted and
dripping with perspiration, eat quantities of bad
and unripe fruit, drink shocking resined wine, and
bathe afterwards for the rest of the clay in the sea.
Besides this, their provisions are bad, as they pay
low prices. What nature could hold out against
such odds ? One must acknowledge that things
are far better managed with the English troops ;
they are in barracks—for which, of course,
fetch
pay about three times the price they usually ;
they get capital meat, because they pay
,
from 85 to
93 lepta, while the French pay Not asingle
man is allowed to go out between 11 and 3 o clock
in the afternoon ; they are no.: over-drilled—and
last, but not least, they are so much more
cleanly in their habits. One sees strikingly the

effect of these arrangements, for since they came
here only one man has died, although the heat this
year, owing to the continual sirocco,
.is greater
than for the last 20 years.

SPAIN.
THE NEW MINISTRY.

A telegraphic despatch from Paris this (Wednes•
day) morning says the new Spanish Ministry is
composed as follows :
Duke of Victoria President of the Council.
O'Donnell War.
Alonso Justice
Lujan

Santa Crux lnterior.
Mollaro Finances.
Salazar Marine.
Pacheco Foreign Affairs.
O'Donnell and S to Miguel are made marshals.
SEVILLE, July .24.—A Consultative Junta has
been formed.

General Serrano has been appointed Captain-
General of Andalusia.

A telegraphic despatch, dated Madrid, July 28,
says the National Guard is already o unposed of
nine battalions and two batteries of artillery.
A decree of the Junta suppresses the Royal
Council, and another calls into force the Press Lair
of 1837.

The decree which exiled the Infante Don Enrique
to Valencia is revoked.

The Juuta has also abrogated the prohibition
laid on the circulation of certain foreign journals.
Another decree orders the arrest and trial of
some of the ex-M Misters and also of General
Quinto, ex-Governor of Madrid.
It is said that the Ministers are concealed in the
hotels of the diplomatic body.
Queen Christina has not as yet left Madrid.
M. Salamanca has been arrested and imprisoned
at Albacete.

General Lara, Mata-y-Alos, and Quesada, who
commanded the troops in the late struggle, have
their choice either to retire to a fixed place of resi-
dence or to leave the country.
It is said that General Blaser's force has " pro-
nounced" at Baylen.
On the 25th General O'Donnell was at Cordova,
on his way to Madrid, at the invitation of Espartero
and the Junto.

Another telegraphic despatch from Madrid, on
the evening of July 29, states that since the en-
trance of Espartero into Madrid the state of affairs
has improved. The Bourse has re-opened, and the
Funds have risen. The Three per Cents. were
done at 34, from which price they rose to 35.
San Miguel has addressed a circular to the caP-
tain-generals, demanding the adhesion of the pro-
vincial juntas to the Queen's authority.
PERPIGNAN, July 31.—Barcelona is tranquil•
The strike of the workmen has ceased.