this class of men shall be induced to turn their

weapons against their oppressors. What are they to the Turks but as sheep, and what are the Turks to them but as wolves and vultures? It is impossible to witness the degraded state of the Greeks, and to remember their antient elevation and glory, without feelings of indignation; and yet, if they had not themselves fallen from their former greatness, they would not have been in the miserable situation which they now hold. It is useless to grieve for their condition. Nations, like individuals, must die; the enterprizing and speculating spirit must depart from them, and the carcase become rotten, and moulder away. The Greeks of these times, as seen among the ruins of the antient temples, are but as the vermin that inhabit the skeleton of a deceased hero.

Half way between Argos and Tripolizza, there is a sort of inn, with a shed for travellers to rest in while their horses are refreshing. The view of the landscape from that spot is strikingly savage. It appears as if a stormy ocean, when the waves were raging in their greatest turbulence, had been suddenly converted into solid matter.

In the course of a few minutes after quitting

the inn, I arrived in sight of a small but well cultivated valley. It lay so far below me that the little inequalities of the bottom were not perceptible, so that it had exactly the appearance of being covered with a carpet. The road passes down into this sequestered hollow, and again ascends among the mountains, where n several places it is carried along the edge of frightful precipices. It has lately undergone a substantial repair, and if not fit for coaches, is sufficient for cannon, considering the retinue that generally attends them. The late rains having in several places washed down the parapet, I observed a Greek lad repairing it, and on enquiring how he was paid for his labour, found that he depended on the bounty of travellers, who seldom gave him more than a single para, for which he kept a fire to light their pipes, and a jar of water to wash their mouths. About an hour before we had passed, a Turk had carried off his jar.

Immediately after gaining the summit of the mountains, the plain of Tripolizza is discovered at a short distance below. It is one of the most elevated in the peninsula, and at this time has a bare and wintry aspect. The road after quitting

the hills is not bad, running in several places between hedges and inclosed fields. The distant appearance of the town is rendered respectable by the minarets of the moschs; but the town itself fails to realize the expectation which the distant appearance creates.

Jacomo, who has been here several times before, conducted me to a large inn, where he procured me a decent apartment. The yard of the building presented a singular and amusing scene. A spacious covered gallery runs round it, in which a great number of tailors and shoemakers were at work, and in the area below a crowd of strangers were bawling and squabbling among horses and luggage. I conceive that this is one of those Turkish public houses which are properly entitled to the epithet of Khans.

Having a packet for Dr. Teriano, the Vizier's physician, I dispatched Jacomo with it, and entered into conversation with a Greek merchant who spoke Italian, and who by way of welcome had treated me with a cup of coffee. From him I learnt that Vilhi Pashaw the Vizier has prohibited the Turks from striking the Greeks, and that the administration of justice in the Morea is

at present so prompt and severe that outrages are rarely now heard of. He also informed me that the whole number of Turks in the Morea is not supposed to exceed twenty thousand souls. Į have indeed hitherto seen few; in the course of my journey certainly not a hundred.

Jacomo returned with a message from the Doctor, requesting me to stay with him, and I gladly availed myself of the invitation. It was dark before I reached the house, and when I entered his room, I found him immersed in study. On the table before him lay many books with marks in them, On his head was a white night-cap; and being dressed in black, his appearance was becomingly philosophical. Beside him sat a lively-looking young man disconsolately playing on the guitar.

The first salutations and welcomings were scarcely finished, when the two gentlemen began to bewail to me their total want of all society. The Doctor is a sensible and ingenious man. He has published a small work in Italian, at Malta, on the Brunonian system, which he has professedly adopted. Had he belonged to any other medical sect, I should have felt a want of excitability for conversation; but possessing some notion

G

of the Brunonian doctrine, I made the most I could of it to help us into acquaintance.

The Doctor having occasion to go to the Seraglio, I mentioned that I had a recommendatory letter for the Vizier, and begged to be informed of the proper way of sending it. He said that it would be as well that he should take it; and I delivered it to him. When he returned, he brought me the Vizier's compliments, and a request to know whether I would choose to make a public or a private visit, for, if public, the officers of the palace and horses would be ready in the morning. I explained to the Doctor, that being but a private traveller accidentally passing through the country, I would pay my respects to his Highness in the ordinary way of my countrymen. Not but that I should have liked well enough for once in my life to have, Aladdin-like, bestrode a horse caparisoned with gold and velvet; but having no one who knew me to mortify by the sight, I thought it unnecessary to trouble the Vizier's officers.

Feeling myself rather tired, I went to bed im mediately after supper, but I had scarcely laid my head on the pillow when the whole house began to tremble. It was an earthquake. I instantly