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generation which now reigns in Greece. All this gave to his arrival there, to use the phrase of a letter written while he was expected, something like the character " of the coming of a Messiah." Proportionate, doubtless, was the disappointment, grief, and depression, when his mission ended before he had effected any thing of importance.Fortunately the success of Greece depends not upon the efforts of any single man. Her fortune is sure, and must be made by the force of uncontrollable circumstances; by the character of the country, by the present ignorance and the former brutality of its oppressors, by Greek ingenuity, dexterity, and perseverance, traits stamped upon them by ages of servitude, now turned with a spirit of stern revenge upon those who made such qualities necessary; by the fortunate accidents which kept a host of consummate generals in the character of bandit robbers and shepherd chiefs, watching the moment when they might assume a more generous trade, and on a larger scale revenge the wrongs of a race of mountain warriors.-By these and a multitude of other causes which might be enumerated, the fate of Greece is certain. We repeat with the most earnest assurance to those who still doubt, and with the most intimate knowledge of all the facts which have taken place, that the ultimate independence of Greece is secure. The only question at stake is the rapidity of the events which may lead to so desirable a consummation-so desirable to those who delight in the happiness and improvement of mankind—so delightful to those who have the increased prosperity of England at heart. It is here that Lord Byron might have been useful; by healing divisions, by exciting dormant energies, by ennobling and celebrating the cause, he might perhaps have accelerated the progress of Greece towards the wished-for goal. But even here, though his life was not to be spared, his death may be useful—the death-place of such a man must be in itself illustrious. The Greeks

will not despair when they think how great a sacrifice has been made for them: the eyes of all Europe are turned to the spot in which he breathed his last. No man who knows that Lord Byron's name and fame were more universal than those of any other then or now existing, can be indifferent to the cause for which he spent his last energieson which he bent his last thoughts-the cause for which he DIED.

FUNERAL ORATION ON LORD NOEL BYRON.

COMPOSED AND DELIVERED

BY M. SPIRIDION TRICOUPI.

(Printed by Order of the Government.)

Messolonghi, 10th April,

Thursday in Easter Week, 1824.

But a

UNLOOKED-FOR event! deplorable misfortune! short time has elapsed since the people of this deeply suffering country welcomed, with unfeigned joy and open arms, this celebrated individual to their bosoms; to day, overwhelmed with grief and despair, they bathe his funeral couch with tears of bitterness, and mourn over it with inconsolable affliction. On Easter Sunday, the happy salutation of the day, "Christ is risen," remained but half pronounced on the lips of every Greek; and as they met, before even congratulating one another on the return of that joyous day, the universal demand was, "How is Lord Byron?" Thousands, assembled in the spacious plain outside of the city to commemorate the sacred day, appeared as if they had assembled for the sole purpose of imploring the Saviour of the world to restore to health him who was a partaker with us in our present struggle for the deliverance of our native land.

And how is it possible that any heart should remain

unmoved, any lip closed, upon the present occasion? Was ever Greece in greater want of assistance than when the ever-to-be-lamented Lord Byron, at the peril of his life, crossed over to Messolonghi ? Then, and ever since, he has been with us, his liberal hand has been opened to our necessities-necessities which our own poverty would have otherwise rendered irremediable. How many and much greater benefits did we not expect from him!—and to-day, alas! to-day, the unrelenting grave closes over him and our hopes!

Residing out of Greece, and enjoying all the pleasures and luxuries of Europe, he might have contributed materially to the success of our cause, without coming personally amongst us; and this would have been sufficient for ns-for the well-proved ability and profound judgment of our Governor, the President of the Senate, would have insured our safety with the means so supplied. But if this was sufficient for us, it was not so for Lord Byron. Destined by nature to uphold the rights of man whenever he saw them trampled upon; born in a free and enlightened country; early taught, by reading the works of our ancestors, (which, indeed, teach all who can read them,) not only what man is, but what he ought to be, and what he may be he saw the persecuted and enslaved Greek determine to break the heavy chains with which he was bound, and to convert the iron into sharp-edged swords, that he might regain by force what force had torn from him!-le (Lord B.) saw, and leaving all the pleasures of Europe, he came to share our sufferings and our hardships; assisting us, not only with his wealth, of which he was profuse; not only with his judgment, of which he has given us so many salutary examples; but with his sword, which he was preparing to unsheath against our barbarous and tyrannical oppressors. He came, in a word, accordng to the testimony of those who were intimate with him,

with the determination to die in Greece and for Greece! How, therefore, can we do otherwise than lament, with heartfelt sorrow, the loss of such a man! How can we do otherwise than bewail it as the loss of the whole Greek nation!

Thus far, my friends, you have seen him liberal, generous, courageous-a true Philhelenist; and you have seen him as your benefactor. This is, indeed, a sufficient cause for your tears, but it is not sufficient for his honour; it is not sufficient for the greatness of the undertaking in which he had engaged. He, whose death we are now so deeply deploring, was a man who, in one great branch of literature, gave his name to the age in which we live; the vastness of his genius and the richness of his fancy did not permit him to follow the splendid though beaten track of the literary fame of the ancients; he chose a new road —a road which ancient prejudice had endeavoured, and was still endeavouring, to shut against the learned of Europe; but as long as his writings live, and they must live as long as the world exists, this road will remain always open; for it is, as well as the other, a sure road to true knowledge. I will not detain you at the present time by expressing all the respect and enthusiasm with which the perusal of his writings has always inspired me, and which indeed I feel much more powerfully now than at any other period. The learned men of all Europe celebrate him, and have celebrated him; and all ages will celebrate the poet of our age, for he was born for all Europe, and for all ages.

One consideration occurs to me, as striking and true as it is applicable to the present state of our country: listen, to it, my friends, with attention, that you may make it your own, and that it may become a generally acknowledged truth.

There have been many great and splendid nations in the world, but few have been the epochs of their true glory; one phenomenon, I am inclined to believe, is wanting in the history of these nations-and one, the possibility of the appearance of which the all-considering mind of the philosopher has much doubted. Almost all the nations of the world have fallen from the hands of one master into those of another; some have been benefitted, others have been injured by the change; but the eye of the historian has not yet seen a nation enslaved by barbarians, and more particularly by barbarians rooted for ages in their soil-has not yet seen, I say, such a people throw off their slavery unassisted and alone. This is the phenomenon; and now, for the first time in the history of the world, we witness it in Greece-yes, in Greece alone! The philosopher beholds it from afar, and his doubts are dissipated; the historian sees it, and prepares his citation of it as a new event in the fortunes of nations; the statesman sees it, and becomes more observant and more on his guard. Such is the extraordinary time in which we live. My friends, the insurrection of Greece is not an epoch of our nation alone; it is an epoch of all nations; for, as I before observed, it is a phenomenon which stands alone in the political history of nations.

The great mind of the highly gifted and much lamented Byron observed this phenomenon, and he wished to unite his name with our glory. Other revolutions have happened in his time, but he did not enter into any of themhe did not assist any of them; for their character and nature were totally different; the cause of Greece alone was a cause worthy of him whom all the learned [men] of Europe celebrate. Consider, then, my friends, consider the time in which you live-in what a struggle you are engaged; consider that the glory of past ages admits not of