Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6: With His Letters and JournalsMoore, Thomas
General
Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6: With His Letters and Journals
Moore, Thomas
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824; Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography
"You were already apprised that P. Mavrocordato and myself had been
invited to a conference by Ulysses and the Chiefs of Eastern Greece.
I hear (and am indeed consulted on the subject) that in case the
remittance of the first advance of the Loan should not arrive
immediately, the Greek General Government mean to try to raise some
thousand dollars in the islands in the interim, to be repaid from the
earliest instalments on their arrival. What prospect of success they
may have, or on what conditions, you can tell better than me: I
suppose, if the Loan be confirmed, something might be done by them,
but subject of course to the usual terms. You can let them and me
know your opinion. There is an imperious necessity for some national
fund, and that speedily, otherwise what is to be done? The auxiliary
corps of about two hundred men, paid by me, are, I believe, the sole
regularly and properly furnished with the money, due to them weekly,
and the officers monthly. It is true that the Greek Government give
their rations; but we have had three mutinies, owing to the badness
of the bread, which neither native nor stranger could masticate (nor
dogs either), and there is still great difficulty in obtaining them
even provisions of any kind.
"There is a dissension among the Germans about the conduct of the
agents of _their_ Committee, and an examination amongst themselves
instituted. What the result may be cannot be anticipated, except that
it will end in _a row_, of course, as usual.
"The English are all very amicable as far as I know; we get on too
with the Greeks very tolerably, always making allowance for
circumstances; and we have no quarrels with the foreigners."
During the month of March there occurred but little, besides what is
mentioned in these letters, that requires to be dwelt upon at any
length, or in detail. After the failure of his design against
Lepanto, the two great objects of his daily thoughts were, the
repairs of the fortifications of Missolonghi [1], and the formation
of a brigade;--the one, with a view to such defensive measures as
were alone likely to be called for during the present campaign; and
the other in preparation for those more active enterprises, which he
still fondly flattered himself he should undertake in the next. "He
looked forward (says Mr. Parry) for the recovery of his health and
spirits, to the return of the fine weather, and the commencement of
the campaign, when he proposed to take the field at the head of his
own brigade, and the troops which the Government of Greece were to
place under his orders."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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