counteracting any evil effects that might otherwise arise to ministerial
candidates from the use of universal suffrage; for man is fallible, and
the Greeks felt inclined, in some places, to oppose the system of
Coletti. We recommend the plan adopted to the attention of an eminent
historian of ancient Greece, who has more faith in the wood of the
ballot-box than in the moral responsibility of the elector. When the
number of electors in a district was about five thousand, and it was
feared that three thousand might vote against the government candidates,
and only two thousand in their favour, the ballot-boxes were doctored
beforehand, by having one thousand votes placed in them before the
process of the public ballot commenced. Intimidation was resorted to, to
prevent at least one thousand of the real voters from attending, and it
was generally successful with the middle classes; but, in one unlucky
district, which contained only about four thousand voters, six thousand
tickets were found in the ballot-box. At times, the success of the
opposition was so great, that nothing could be done at the time of
voting. The persons charged to convey the ballot-box to the place
appointed for the scrutiny, were, in such cases, waylaid by armed bands,
and the ballot-boxes were destroyed. These scenes were enacted even in
Attica. We believe that, in order to secure free institutions to any
people, it is more necessary to create a feeling of moral
responsibility, than to protect the electors from the effects of
intimidation and fraud merely when they exercise the franchise. National
liberty cannot be protected by a wooden box; it must be fought for
boldly before the face of all mankind. The vote by ballot injures the
nation more than it protects the individual; and it can only cease to do
harm in a state of society where perfect equality reigns among the
electors themselves, and between the electors and the elected.
With regard to the Greek Senate, we have little to say. In a country
where not one single element of an aristocracy exists, and where it was
impossible to secure superior education in the members of a chamber
appointed for life, it was evident that one chamber would afford a
better guarantee against bribery and corruption than two. No nobles, no
independent gentlemen, no dignified clergy, no learned lawyers, can
enter the Greek Senate. The qualification of a senator is a certain
period of service in official appointments, which have been generally
held by men who can neither read nor write. The consequence is, that the
Senate is utterly useless as a legislative body, from the ignorance of
its members; while the nature of the materials from which it is
composed, render it a more servile instrument, in the hands of every
minister, than the elective chamber. It was yesterday a tool in the
hands of Coletti—to-morrow it may become one in those of Mavrocordatos.
It would be an object of contempt, were it not an expensive instrument
of oppression.
We have now shown what the constitution has effected; let us turn to
consider what measures Great Britain ought to have recommended to the
attention of the national assembly, when it was occupied in framing this
constitution. The first great national question was municipal reform.
Unless the people could be intrusted with the direction of the affairs
of their own districts, it was unwise to entrust them with a direct
control over the national legislation and expenditure. Men take a more
lively interest in the trifling details of their own households, and in
affairs that pass under their own eyes, and with which they are
perfectly cognisant, than they do about more distant though more
important matters. Had the people in Greece been allowed to administer
their local affairs, they would have drawn much of their attention from
party struggles about which they knew very little, to devote it to
business they perfectly understood. No guarantee for the permanent
existence of Greece, as an independent and free state, can exist, until
the present oligarchical constitution of the municipalities throughout
the country is destroyed. The mayors must be annually elected by the
people, and not removable by the minister of the interior. The accounts
of the municipal expenditure must be published quarterly.
The next step towards giving Greece some practical liberty is to abolish
universal suffrage. In a country where the election of provincial
councillors is regulated by a census, surely the same guarantee ought to
be required in the election of legislators. In Greece, everybody is
expected to know how to read and write except the national legislators
and the King’s ministers. Oligarchy prevails in the municipal
institutions, aristocracy in the provincial, democracy in the
legislative, and ignorance in the executive; and British statesmen,
under whose protection matters have arrived at this condition, express
surprise at the anarchy they have themselves nourished, instead of
blushing at their own negligence or political incapacity. The vote by
ballot had better be abolished, and the senate replaced by a
deliberative council of state, composed of men of education capable of
preparing laws. The actual representative chamber must only be allowed
to sit for two months annually, in order to put an end to the jobbing in
which its members have acquired an alarming degree of experience.
The question arises, How are the changes necessary to save Greece to be
effected? We believe that there is not moral force in the country to
produce the necessary reforms. Greece is now very much in the situation
in which England was during the reign of Charles II.; she is exhausted
with civil war and party struggles. Besides, she does not possess a body
of statesmen, or any statesman, of superior abilities or commanding
character. In the present state of things, any ministry that attempted
to clean the Augean stable of the administration, would create a degree
of opposition, on the part of the court and of the officials in Athens,
that would drive him or them from office in less than six months.
If Lord Palmerston desire to save Greece, and secure her a place among
independent states, he must lose no time in convoking a conference of
England, France, and Russia; and this conference must decide on a
practical scheme of administration for the Greek government, and impose
a budget on the ministers. The army must be reduced; a navy of packets
must be created; roads must be made; the taxes in kind must be gradually
commuted; and a field must be opened for the improvement of agriculture.
If this is not done, the first great convulsion in the East will put an
end to the monarchy created by Lord Palmerston in 1832, and Greece will
separate into a number of small cantons, like ancient Hellas and modern
Switzerland, or fall under the domination, direct or indirect, of some
foreign power. The reputation of Great Britain for political wisdom is,
throughout the East, connected with the growth and prosperity of the
monarchy she founded: hitherto she has gained very little honour by the
share she has taken in the affairs of Greece.
We cannot conclude without making a few observations on Lord
Palmerston’s attempt to conquer the islets of Cervi and Sapienza for the
Ionian republic. We never knew Lord Palmerston undertake a worse case,
nor conduct one in a worse manner. Whether the islands in question
belong to King Otho or Sir H. Ward, is a matter about which neither can
feel very positive, as it turns on the interpretation of obscure
treaties that make no mention of the thing in dispute; and these
treaties were in part framed before either of the states now appearing
as claimants had an existence.
The facts are, Greece is in possession of two islands. The Ionian
republic advances a claim to them. Greece takes no notice of this claim,
even when backed by the powerful intervention of England. Lord
Palmerston, considering the British Government is not treated with
proper courtesy by King Otho, gives orders to seize the islands and
deliver them to Sir H. Ward; but, before these orders are executed, he
receives an answer from the Greek Government, and recalls his orders.
Still he boldly tells the world that he had given these orders, as may
be seen in the last despatch printed in the Parliamentary papers. Now
this announcement was quite uncalled for, and has very naturally given
great offence to the Russian Government, for it was a gratuitous
violation of the diplomatic courtesy due to our allies, the joint
protectors of Greece. When England found that Greece was withholding
property supposed to belong to the Ionian republic, it was clearly her
duty, as protector of the Ionian republic, to lay the case before
Russia, France, and England, the three protectors of Greece. No want of
courtesy on the part of Greece, in leaving the communications of England
unanswered, could ever warrant England forgetting what was due to Russia
and France, and even to herself. England alone could not pretend to
decide whether Cervi and Sapienza belong to Greece or to the Ionian
republic. Russia, from her earlier connexion with the Ionian islands,
and her more intimate knowledge of Greek and Turkish affairs, was the
power best qualified to decide the question; and both Russia and France
had a right to take part in deciding it. Had the imprudent order of Lord
Palmerston been unfortunately carried into execution, it might have
seriously troubled our relations with Russia; even as it is, the
unnecessary publicity given to the fact that such an order had been
issued, has been viewed as an intentional slight.
These two islands, it must be remembered, have been in the possession of
the Greek Government ever since its formation. King Otho found them a
part of the Greek territory when it was delivered over to him by the
protecting powers in 1833; and as they are within cannon-shot of the
shores of Greece, he could hardly doubt that he was their lawful
sovereign. But, at all events, we cannot understand what object could be
gained by Great Britain taking forcible possession of these paltry
little islands, when it was evident that the final decision concerning
their property could only be given by Russia and France.
We hope Lord Palmerston has some better argument to plead before these
two powers than he has communicated to Greece in his despatch of the 9th
February last, as given in the correspondence presented to Parliament.
If not, his case is lost. The geography and the logic of this document
are equally defective. As a proof that these islands belong to the
Ionian state, he cites an act of the Ionian legislature dated in the
year 1804, in which they are enumerated as portions of the territory of
the republic. This act, however, does not even prove that they were ever
occupied by the Ionian government. The legislature of Great Britain,
when Lord Palmerston was a young man, was in the habit of enumerating
France as an appendage of the crown of England; the King of France used
to boast of himself as King of Navarre, without Europe attaching much
importance to the enumeration of territory in the possession of others.
The Sultan does not trouble his head about the pretensions of the Kings
of Sardinia and Naples to the kingdom of Jerusalem; so that King Otho
may be excused for not paying more attention to the Ionian claim to
Cervi and Sapienza, than he does to the Spanish claim to the Duchy of
Athens and New Patras.
Nor does Lord Palmerston strengthen his argument when he declares, that
no island belongs to Greece except those expressly enumerated in the
protocol of the 3d of February 1830. If this dictum of his lordship be
correct, neither Hydra, Spetzia, Poros, Ægina, nor Salamis, would belong
to Greece, which is manifestly absurd; unless, indeed, Lord Palmerston
supposes these islands are included under the name of Cyclades, which
would be still more absurd, for it is wiser to quarrel with King Otho
than with Strabo.
This imprudent attack on Greece lays the despatch open to reply; for
though Lord Palmerston is proved to be wrong when he says that no
island, except those expressly enumerated in the protocol of 3d February
1830, can belong to Greece, he is right in maintaining that the
legislative act of the Ionian republic in 1804 cannot advance a claim to
any island not enumerated in it. Now only one island of Cervi is
mentioned in that act, and that island will be found laid down on the
west side of Cerigo, with the Greek name of Elaphonisi, which is
identical with the Italian name Cervi, in the map of Greece published by
Arrowsmith, which we believe was the one used at the conference on the
3d February 1830. It corresponds in size, form, and value, with the
island of Dragonera, situated on the east side of Cerigo, which is
enumerated immediately before it in the legislative act of 1804. The
island of Cervi on the coast of Greece does not, therefore, belong to
the Ionian republic.
THE MODERN ARGONAUTS.
I.
You have heard the ancient story,
How the gallant sons of Greece,
Long ago, with Jason ventured
For the fated Golden Fleece;
How they traversed distant regions,
How they trod on hostile shores;
How they vexed the hoary Ocean
With the smiting of their oars;—
Listen, then, and you shall hear another wondrous tale,
Of a second Argo steering before a prosperous gale!
II.
From the southward came a rumour,
Over sea and over land;
From the blue Ionian islands,
And the old Hellenic strand;
That the sons of Agamemnon,
To their faith no longer true,
Had confiscated the carpets
Of a black and bearded Jew!
Helen’s rape, compared to this, was but an idle toy,
Deeper guilt was that of Athens than the crime of haughty Troy.
III.
And the rumour, winged by Ate,
To the lofty chamber ran,
Where great Palmerston was sitting
In the midst of his Divan:
Like Saturnius triumphant,
In his high Olympian hall,
Unregarded by the mighty,
But detested by the small;
Overturning constitutions—setting nations by the ears,
With divers sapient plenipos, like Minto and his peers.
IV.
With his fist the proud dictator
Smote the table that it rang—
From the crystal vase before him
The blood-red wine upsprang!
“Is my sword a wreath of rushes,
Or an idle plume my pen,
That they dare to lay a finger
On the meanest of my men?
No amount of circumcision can annul the Briton’s right—
Are they mad, these lords of Athens, for I know they cannot fight?
V.
“Had the wrong been done by others,
By the cold and haughty Czar,
I had trembled ere I opened
All the thunders of my war.
But I care not for the yelping
Of these fangless curs of Greece—
Soon and sorely will I tax them
For the merchant’s plundered Fleece.
From the earth his furniture for wrath and vengeance cries—
Ho, Eddisbury! take thy pen, and straightway write to Wyse!”
VI.
Joyfully the bells are ringing
In the old Athenian town,
Gaily to Piræus harbour
Stream the merry people down;
For they see the fleet of Britain
Proudly steering to their shore,
Underneath the Christian banner
That they knew so well of yore,
When the guns at Navarino thundered o’er the sea,
And the Angel of the North proclaimed that Greece again was free.
VII.
Hark!—a signal gun—another!
On the deck a man appears
Stately as the Ocean-shaker—
“Ye Athenians, lend your ears!
Thomas Wyse am I, a herald
Come to parley with the Greek;
Palmerston hath sent me hither,
In his awful name I speak—
Ye have done a deed of folly—one that ye shall sorely rue!
Wherefore did ye lay a finger on the carpets of the Jew?
VIII.
“Don Pacifico of Malta!
Dull, indeed, were Britain’s ear,
If the wrongs of such a hero
Tamely she could choose to hear!
Don Pacifico of Malta!
Knight-commander of the Fleece—
For his sake I hurl defiance
At the haughty towns of Greece.
Look to it—For by my head! since Xerxes crossed the strait,
Ye never saw an enemy so vengeful at your gate.
IX.
“Therefore now, restore the carpets,
With a forfeit twenty-fold;
And a goodly tribute offer
Of your treasure and your gold:
Sapienza, and the islet
Cervi, ye shall likewise cede;
So the mighty gods have spoken,
Thus hath Palmerston decreed!
Ere the sunset, let an answer issue from your monarch’s lips;
In the meantime, I have orders to arrest your merchant ships.”
X.
Thus he spake, and snatched a trumpet
Swiftly from a soldier’s hand,
And therein he blew so shrilly,
That along the rocky strand
Rang the war-note, till the echoes
From the distant hills replied;
Hundred trumpets wildly wailing,
Poured their blast on every side;
And the loud and hearty shout of Britain rent the skies,
“Three cheers for noble Palmerston!—another cheer for Wyse!”
XI.
Gentles! I am very sorry
That I cannot yet relate,
Of this gallant expedition,
What has been the final fate.
Whether Athens was bombarded
For her Jew-coercing crimes,
Hath not been as yet reported
In the columns of the _Times_.
But the last accounts assure us of some valuable spoil:
Various coasting vessels, laden with tobacco, fruit, and oil.
XII.
Ancient chiefs! that sailed with Jason
O’er the wild and stormy waves—
Let not sounds of later triumphs
Stir you in your quiet graves!
Other Argonauts have ventured
To your old Hellenic shore,
But they will not live in story,
Like the valiant men of yore.
O! ’tis more than shame and sorrow thus to jest upon a theme
That, for Britain’s fame and glory, all would wish to be a dream!
MY PENINSULAR MEDAL.
BY AN OLD PENINSULAR.
PART VI.—CHAPTER XV.
Early in the morning I was surprised by a visit from Mr Chesterfield. He
had received information, which he wished to communicate. From other
British officers, then in the town, he had learned that the state of the
country through which we had to pass was far from satisfactory; and one
or two had even told him that, in the course of this day’s march, we
should certainly be attacked. Mr Chesterfield added that he had
attempted, under the circumstances, to obtain an addition to our escort,
but without success; there were but few troops in the place, and none
could be spared. He wished, therefore, to know what course I thought
preferable; whether to wait till fresh parties bound to headquarters
came up, or to proceed at once.
I was quite for proceeding. Begged to ask, Did he know what was the
character of the road we should have to travel?
Mr Chesterfield had inquired. It was for the most part through an open
country. “Any villages?”—If there were, no doubt parties of troops were
stationed in them, and their presence would be a check on the
population.
These replies confirmed my previous views; and, as my orders were to
conform to the written route, not only with regard to places, but with
regard to time, I gave my voice decidedly in favour of going on. If
plans against us were in process of concoction, delay on our part would
both give encouragement, and afford time for the mischief to come to a
head. With a convoy like ours, holding out so many temptations to
irregular enterprise, it seemed far better to pass quickly on, ere
reports could spread, and an attack be organised. Admitting that there
was danger if we proceeded, there was also danger if we remained
stationary. If we incurred any disaster by remaining, we incurred it by
a breach of orders; if by proceeding, we met it in the path of duty.
Fully concurring in these views, and agreeing that we should proceed, Mr
Chesterfield then suggested—might it not be proper to adopt some
precautions? He thought, as soon as we were out of the town, the men
should load.
This I fully concurred in, not only as a defence, but as likely to keep
the men steadier, by letting them see that we were preparing for
business in earnest. Here were two inexperienced youths, the one raw
from college, the other from school, thrown on their own resources, and
laying their heads together to meet an emergency, by the most prudent
measures their united stock of wisdom could suggest. Suffice it to say,
we both spoke with oracular gravity; and gave dignified evidence of our
perfect self-possession, by blowing copious puffs of fragrant smoke.
The conference between our two high mightinesses, though, was suddenly
interrupted. Enter Corporal Fraser, evidently in a little bit of a
flurry. The sight of Mr Chesterfield brought him at once to a halt. He
saluted, and seemed to check himself in something that he was going to
say. In short, he looked flushed and anxious—not altogether
himself—breathed hard between his clenched teeth—stood silent. The visit
being to me, Mr Chesterfield gave me a look; so I asked the corporal
what he wanted.
“I am sorry, sir,” said he, “to be the bearer of disagreeable
intelligence.”
“Well, corporal, out with it.”
“The men, sir, I regret to say, are in a state of beastly intoxication.”
The corporal, it was clear, wishing to shield the men, had come to my
billet, intending the information for my ears only. But finding Mr
Chesterfield with me, and not being at the time in the absolute
possession of his faculties, (for, though quite unconscious of the fact,
he was himself partially under the influence of liquor,) he had no
resource but to tell out all, though not by any means one of those petty
officers “as likes to get poor fellers into trouble.”
Beastly intoxication? What! at this early hour of the day? It was a
strange circumstance, and excited ugly apprehensions. How could they
have become so? Who made them drunk? Under other circumstances, I should
have applied to the corporal for an explanation forthwith; but I saw
indications, in the corporal’s eye, that it would not be kind to
question him at the moment before an officer—so proposed, instead, that
we should go and look for ourselves. We went. The case was much as
Fraser had stated it. We reached a large old house with a _porte
cochère_, within which was a court. On entering this court we found the
men—happily the infantry only, for the cavalry had quarters just by—all,
with one exception, more or less in a state of intoxication. Some were
laughing; others were wrangling; one or two were crying—maudlin drunk.
Some were making a show of cleaning arms and accoutrements, with
profound bows and sagacious nods. All tried, on our arrival, to look as
sober as they could. On any morning this would have been a serious state
of things, at the hour of mustering to start; but now, when we expected
hostility, it was worse than ever. Neither did I like the look of the
inhabitants. There was no exact throng, indeed; but parties were
standing near in groups, evidently cognisant of our present fix,
watching, and making their remarks among themselves. In that old house,
guarded by those drunken soldiers, were sixty mule-loads of silver and
gold! Things looked still worse, though, when we entered the quarters.
Three or four men, who were most overcome, had deliberately laid
themselves down again for a snooze. There they were, wrapped up in their
blankets, stretched and snoring on the floor; while Corporal Fraser,
himself a little “disguised,” flushed in the face, and in a high state
of indignation and excitement, was storming and kicking them up; and a
fellow, who found it easier to lean against the wainscot than to stand
upright, was expostulating—“You haven’t no business to kick a poor soger
in that ’ere way.”
To this general boskiness, I have said, there was one exception. It was
Jones. In fact, with all his faults, I never, on any one occasion, saw
Jones overcome with liquor; which was the more remarkable, because he
got more than any other soldier of the detachment. His own ration—all
that he could appropriate of mine—occasional contributions from
Coosey—all he could get from every quarter, (and he never missed an
opportunity,) all went down his throat without visible effect. In short,
he seemed brandy-proof. I never saw him affected, nor had he the
appearance of a hard drinker. Observing that he looked much as usual,
while all around were looking so different, I applied to him for an
explanation. “Why, Jones, what’s the cause of this disgraceful scene?
How did the men get it?”
“Please, sir, the fellers is very sorry for it, sir. Hadn’t no
intentions to get drunk _now_, sir.”
“Well, but how did it happen, man?”
“Please, sir, the jeddleham stood treat, sir; treated ’em all, sir.”
“What gentleman?”
“Please, sir, the same as treated me the night before last, sir: give me
a tumbler of hot punch what was all a-fire, sir; brought it out into the
inn-yard all of a blaze, sir. Told me the French soldiers got that twice
a day, sir. Said, if the Hinglish soldiers had their rights, they’d get
the same, sir.”
“The night before last? What gentleman treated you the night before
last?”
“Please, sir, it was the same jeddleham as aast to speak to you, sir;
the jeddleham what you went into the house to speak to him, sir.”
“Oh, that fellow! Why, you might have seen him again yesterday. Didn’t
you notice him among the people at the ferry?”
“Please, sir, when we come to the ferry, I was in the rear, sir; halted
there, and remained till we turned the hinnimy over the ford, sir.
Didn’t git a sight on him, sir. Only wish I had, sir.”