The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1825-11-10

o"o VI "'0 P"'ts carilest Efforts, ne would
have known that llydra's belief N The ca
pacity Of The oppressed Greeks for Nm anna.
liorated form OF Government took data ho-
fore he had any idea of allying his rar,pno.
! TO theirs, and even before they had mad,
an attempt to divest the Turkish woke.
Had the rcyieter forgotten, or hud he not
read, the following beautiful extract, Nm
the I'd cpnto Of Childe Harolde:
Fair GTrssS' sad relic of departed worth6
Immortal thon a. no moro; thou fallen rre,,,
Who now shall lead thy scatterd ehldreu
forth
And long accustomed bondage urcrea,c,
Not such thy sons, who whiiomc did ov,i,
Tho hopeless warriors ofa willing doom,
In bleak Thermopylms sopuchral STRAIT.
Oh who that gallant spirit, shall resume.
Leap from Enrotas' banks, and call thee from,
tho tomb
In all save form, alono how changcal and who
That marks the fire still sparkling in each
eye,
Who but would deem their bosoms burned
anew
with thy unGnenched beam, lost Liberty,
And many dream witlnl tile hour ~ niqh
That givosthcm back thoir father herr agcs
for foreign arms and aid they fondly sgh,
Nor solely dare encounter hostile rage,
Or tear their name defled from slayerys
mournful page
Hereditary Bondsmenl know yo no,
Who would be free themselves mus, str;ks
the bow9
by their right arm the conquest must be
wrought.
VIII Hnul or Muscovito redress vc, No,
lruefhcyniay lay your proud despoilers low
But NOT Tor you will freedoms altars tlan,e1a
Shades oftlc lIoIots! triumph oer your fooS
Greece change thy Lords thy fate il Stils
tho same,
Thy glorious day Is DER, but not thy days OF
shalro
And yet low lovely in thino scc of woe.
Land OF lost Gods and Godlikc mcn, art
Thy wales Of cvcreroen, ~ hills orfaow
Proclaim thco nall useu ati<d fsvori;o now.
Thy ianos, ,l,y i.a'pzz s~ls " x l|II 4. ...Isa
--'''.s" "'rs w. - wifll 'oaf,I
Broke with the share of q Wy ri1tic plouch.
30 perish monuments of mortal birth.
30 perish all in turn, save well recorded wortk 1,
These and other stanzas in tho two Grs.
cantos of Childe IIaroldc, and more fully
the notes appended to them, prove that be-
lore the struggle began in Greece, Byron
felt and expressed not only a sympathy,for,
the suiferings of the Greeks, but also de-
gree OF confidence in their capability OF O.,
better system of government, than the
grating oppression Of their Turkish tv-.
rants lie did not then, perhaps he never
did, believe them, capable of freedom, but
ne hoped, oven at this early period, that
they might be emehcipated from their
thraidrom to the Turks, in comparison with
which the well regulated degpotism Of
Austria must be considered tender mercy
say, therefore, that the Reviewer has mis-.
taken, II not misrcpresentedy Lord Byron's.
motives In embarking his fortunes and his
person in the cause of Greece. am no,
apologist for Byron's vices. dcspise. sy.
US professcd purist could. hin,
'arousals with dcbascd companions, and
his avowed profigocy. But | allow some-
hing for the strength Of the temptation,
10 which he was exposed. Virtue and
wee are in my estimation 20 certain OK
tent relative terms. What would be posi-
i've virtue, under certain circumstances
ceases IN different situation to possess
any meritorous Character. So he. who
without temptati' IN plungcs into excess and
even seeks 1T r.t the expense of much hoz-
ira ana iaocf, is Jar more censurabIe thau
ne whom 'lccident of birth or fortune in.
'foauce to pleasure, in oil her most allur
ng lapes, at a period Of life when his
'r .ncipies are yet unsettled, his mind un-i
and his character Uniformed.
This was Byron's case, and the temptation
proved too strong for him. Had he like.
Hercules, chosen the better part and re-
sisted tho ailuements Of pleasure, he,
would have achieved q name, worthy 10 be
with the best Of tho days of that
iair Greece, whose cause he espoused and
IN which he died. But because he erred
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