Star.
London, England, 1825-10-04 00:00:00

GREECE 'IN THE SPRING; OF 1625.
BY COUNT PECCHIO.
The New Monthly Magazine, just published, contains
one of the most candid and most interesting narratives of
the recent events, and present state of Greece,that has yet
appeared. The author, who is already favourably known
to- the Public by his work on Sp tin, exhibits, with
,great frankness, the difficulties the Greeks have to con-
tend againt, while he does justice to the patriotism
and bravery which have distinguished their past exer,
tions. The account, however, is not confined to details.
of military exploits, but contains an account of the
Government, the manners, customs, and present state
of society in Greece, with a notice of the most distin-
guished Cb:efs. From this narrative we shall select h.
few passages..--EDITOR dr. Tun Sean. ; '
NAPOIA Dt ROINANIA-.—CESTOME or THE GREZES
GREEK GOWAN/ABET .••••••• LANDING UT IBRAHIM
• PACHA.
After a fifty days' voyage we finally cast anchor be.
fore Napoli 'di Romania. This city, seated at the foot
of a gigantic and abrupt rock; the Palamida Castles,
which, in appearance impregnable, rest on its summit ;
a palm.tree, which raises its hiad above the turreted
walls, like the banner of the climate; Argos, and the
beautiful plain of Argos in front of the gulf; the
snowy summit of the frowning Taygetus on the left;
all the scenery around, renders the view of Napoli di
Romania one of the most picturesque in the world.
But as soon as the stranger puts his foot on shore, his
enthusiasm ceases, the enchantment disappears. The
darrOw stre:ts, the houses meanly built, the air, heavy
and impregn Iced with fetid smells, strike him with dis.
gist. The nuisances, in short, are such, that it would
be the labour of Hercules to remove them. This is one
of the causes of an epidemic and almost exterminating
'fever, which raged during the last year. When I dß-
embarked, the lever had but just ceased; and we still
met in the voids the' livid e9untenances of those who
hid teen infected. Possibly this epidemic Will re-
appear with the hest, as the Government has taken no
precaution to eradicate it. The Greeks have, in some
measure, inherited the fatalism of the Turks. The
latter are accustomed' to the plague, and the former are
becoming so to the ,epidetnia.
Napoli di Romania is surnamed, from its situation
and its aspect, the Gibraltar of the Archipelago. In
appearance it merits this epithet ; but with respect to
its strength, I fear that it would be the Gibraltar when
in the hands of the Spaniards. Some Officers who vi-
lited it with the eye pf experience, told me' that it was
%AL miserable state of defence. It is destitute of pro-
visions, artillery, and artillery-men ; the few cannoti
which are mounted have not carriages' capable of re-
sisting a dozen discharges. It possesses no one. ads
vantage but the Commander of the Palamida, General
Fotomara, a Suliot, who has grown grey alike in arms
and in sentiments of honour. The diversions of this
capital consist of some ill-furnished coffee-houses and
cracked billiards; an evening promenade in a small
square, overshadowed in the midst by a family and
majestic plane-tree; and in the indulgence of an eager
curiosity, constantly excited by news and anecdotes.
Woman, that compensation for every calamity and pri-
vation, is invisible, as the men do not allow her to be
seen. For more than five and twenty centuries, the
fair sex in Greece have been condemned, under various
pretexts, to domestic confinement. The ancient Greeks,
that they might preserve their manners pure, kept them
almost from the contact of the air; and imprisoned
them. in the gyoeceutn ; subsequently the Turks shut
them up in harems ; and the modern Greeks, through
jealousy, keep them secluded from society.
The population of this city is fluctuating, as it de.'
pends on contingencies. It may, however, amount to
15,000. There can be no doubt that, according to its
scale, it is the most populous capital in the world; foe
the houses are so small, and the people so confinsd.
that in every room are found three or four inhabitants.
I was desirous of paying a visit to the members of
the Government. Without any introduction, without may
ceremony, my desire was soon accomplished. They are
accessible to all, and at all hours of the day. They are
not lodged in a palace. The Government House belongs
to none of the known orders of architecture—but when,
and where has Liberty had its cradle of gold I—lt is a
wild-flower that blooms among thorns and precipices.
At the head of a clumsy wooden staircase I found them
seated, or-rather squatting, on cushions, which formed
around the room a sort of sofa. The costume, the
reclined position, the serious immobility of countenance
of every member, made me at first believe myself be.
fore a Divan. The Vice-President, Signoi Batazzi, of
Spezzia, with his legs crossed, was counting the beads
of an oriental rosary. The rest of -the members; clad
in a costume between Grecian and Turkish, sieve either
smoking or running over a similar trinket. M Paris
and at London it is insisted that the. Greeks are no
longer Turkish ; and that, wishing to enter into the
.great European family, they ought to divest themselvei
of their ancient practices, and adopt the habits and cue-.
toms of the new family, which is ..anxious to embrace
them as brothers. Such a sentiment •is reasonable
enough, but it is premature. To change the habits
and dreis of a whole people, is not so easy as are the
theatrical transformations of Paris and London. What
labour did not Peter the Great encounter in cutting
the beards of his Muscovites, and in casing them in a
Prussian uniform ? The fact is, that:the kirdeks•sit
la furque, (and will continue to do so for a long time
to come.) They eat pilaw a lo nip e ; they smoke
'with long pipes; they write to the lets • •
they walk out
accompanied.by troop of aimed people; they salutes,
they sleep; and they loiter about, ala Three. Thus,
instead of abandoning the habits of their oppressors,
'they appear, Since the revolution, to nave followed
'them more closely. They make a display of wearing
the tutban trimmed with white, the red ripaircii, and,
,in short, (horrible diau !) of throwing around them

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the green cefetan,—thCee terrible prohibitions in toe
time of Turkish despotism. They, therefore, from 'the
pleasure of revenges and as a sign of.:iribmph, love to
do all that their tyeaup once ince:Aided,' that the slave
might not resemble his master. Besides this, the Greek
people are accOstonied to venerate only otitments
loaded with gold WO silver and peitrisov-hich ilie-Pachas
.cause to be respected (With the executioner always at
their side); but udder orir"Etitopean dress the people
distinguish nothing bill "ambulating doctors. The
women, who are always-cAptivthia by the brilliant and
the magnificent, cannot bear the sigh of our simplicity,
so mean in comparison of eastern pomp. This prefer=
ence of the fair* sex will doubtless iong.be a great ob-
stacle to any change of the national dress:
The Government is. composed .Q 1 five individuals,
and of a Secretary of State. The President and Secre-
tary of. State were *Mart on my arrival : they were at
the camp of Navarino.l. shall give an account of them •
hereafter. Doreen', who holds the post of Vice-Presi-
dent, is a rich merchant of Spezzia,—perhaps the
richest man there. He is a fresh-looking "old•man ;he
speaks only Greek. Had he been prectuntrili .public
affairs, he 'would be an excellent magistrate, liNving the
reputation of a sound patriot. Mauromicali; a-Spartan,
and one of the members of the-family of Pietro, Bey,
who has made the most painful sacrifices for the Rherty
of his countrj,ls also unacquainted with any, fhreiga
language: He may be versed in the arts efliiplomacy,
but he has the stamp on his countenance of W.nObleness
of character which he has never belied. I have had
no opportunity of becomiog acquanted with Spiglio-
teal, another of the members of the Government, and
a native of the Peloponnesus. Of him I have neither
heard good nor ill. Lastly, Coletti is the head of a
party, who, to
:great natural intelligence, unites an
European information. He is a native of Epirus, and
was from hii youth estemed by Ali Pacha, who main-
tained him at his studies at the University of Pavia; he
afterwards became physician to Moretti:, the sort of Ali
Pacha. He speaks and writes Italian welli—are affects a
style of dress rather Turkish th.;n Grecian. Under an
imperturbable gravity aliogether. Turkish, may be dis-
cerned in his countenance the Greek vivacity and con.
ning; From his lofty deportment every one perceives
that he has been educated in the seraglio of an
Eastern despot.
It would he useless to make mention of the seven ex-
isting Ministers, as they exercise no authority. The
Government leaves them nothing but the name. It
assumes every duty itself; it does not yet recognize the
:utility of a division of labour. * a
lbrehim Pacha, to whom were known the civil dis-
cords amongst. the Greeks, did not hesitate to take ad.
vantage of the occasion to disembark in the Motes, and
surprise. Navarino (Filo Castro). In fact, about the
middle of February, lie landed at M•idon, with 14,000
regular troops; and in a few days after invested that
city. Coleui, who might have been able, with his tried
promptitude, to oppose the Egyptians, was recalled to
the bosom of the Government; and the President, who
had never been accustomed to arms,undertopk to become
himself General-in-Chief. To his inexperience e as joined.
great delicacy of health; he lost several days in Tripci-
haze, labouring under .a fever. He afterwards- esta-
blished his head-quarters at Scala, four hours distant
horn the Greek camp ; a distance ton great to admit-of
his easily directing its operations. It vi as therefore
necessary to delegate his power to some other General.
Whether to avoid the rivalry which.existe4 amongst the
Roumeliot Capitani, who all aspired to the supreme
command, or Irons partiality towards a countryman of
his own, the President chose for General-in-Chief, a
Hydriot Captain, Scurti, who had no experience in the
land-service. This unhappy choice was followed by el"
issue still more unhappy. On the morning of the lOth
of April, the Greeks were unexpectedly attacked by the-
Egy ptia•is. Many of the Roumeliot Capitani fought
on that day w.th the greatest valour : some of them,•
transported with too much ardour (Pirrella was moonset
the number), imprudently descended into the plain.
The enemy, superior in cavalry, in arms, and in disci-
pline, repelled the Greeks at different points, and killed
144 men, and amongst them four commanders. •
When this distressing news reached Napoli, it filled
all ranks with consternation. Since the battle of P.ta,
in 1822, in which the Greeks lost about trio hundred
men, they had not sustained so heavy a disaster. In all
the other battles, they bad been accustomed to lose no
more than ten, fifteen, or twenty soldiers. When Marc*
Botzari fell, only eleven combatants fell with him. A
soldier of Wagram or Waterloo may perhaps smile at the
description of these battles, as we smile on reading the
war of the frogs and the mice in Homer ; but th-e destiny
of nations does not always depend on great slaughter.
At Marathon, the Athenians saved their country wi,h
the sole loss of 192 heroes! Sometimes the death of a few
men drew along with it the ruin of the Italian Repob-
lics of the middle ages. What are the battles of Bolivar
but skirmishes, compared with those of Napoleon? Yet
their result will be more lasting an more glorious..
[To be continued.]d

LETTER FROM BOLIVAR TO 2H BISHOP

OF .CUZCO.

" Luta. nty 28, 1825.

" ILLUSTRIOUS SENOR—It is with particular satisfac-
tion that I acknowledge the receipt of your excellent
communication of the 91st December last, which is
equally comformable with the spirit of the Gospel and
with the sentiments of a true Prelate of the American
Church, indicating his desire for the independence M
his country.
" Your Excellency, in congratulating me upon the
present glorious period, recognises with justice that it
is the work of Hissing, which, in order to remove from
this Innocent earth the oppression of foreign tyrants, has
fortified our arms, so that we may replace it under the
shield of its own laws, for its own prosperity and the
welfare of the religion of the Lotto.
" Your Excellency is pleased to consider me as art
instrument of the will of the Summit BENG, in fol.
,lowing up that grand plan which lie
eternity. In acknowledging with
tunny, I will contess frankly, that in
glory and welfare. of Peru, I have been
be discouraged by the evils which so "

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ie had traced from
thanks this
taeti-
acting for the true
ren a soldier not to
) furiously opposed
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