"Cephalonia, Dec. 2. 1823.
"Prince,
"The present will be put into your hands by Colonel Stanhope, son of
Major-General the Earl of Harrington, &c. &c. He has arrived from
London in fifty days, after having visited all the Committees of
Germany. He is charged by our Committee to act in concert with me for
the liberation of Greece. I conceive that his name and his mission
will be a sufficient recommendation, without the necessity of any
other from a foreigner, although one who, in common with all Europe,
respects and admires the courage, the talents, and, above all, the
probity of Prince Mavrocordato.
"I am very uneasy at hearing that the dissensions of Greece still
continue, and at a moment when she might triumph over every thing in
general, as she has already triumphed in part. Greece is, at present,
placed between three measures: either to reconquer her liberty, to
become a dependence of the sovereigns of Europe, or to return to a
Turkish province. She has the choice only of these three
alternatives. Civil war is but a road which leads to the two latter.
If she is desirous of the fate of Walachia and the Crimea, she may
obtain it to-morrow; if of that of Italy, the day after; but if she
wishes to become truly Greece, free and independent, she must resolve
to-day, or she will never again have the opportunity.
"I am, with all respect,
"Your Highness's obedient servant,
"N. B.
"P.S. Your Highness will already have known that I have sought to
fulfil the wishes of the Greek government, as much as it lay in my
power to do so: but I should wish that the fleet so long and so
vainly expected were arrived, or, at least, that it were on the way;
and especially that your Highness should approach these parts, either
on board the fleet, with a public mission, or in some other manner."