'Letter from King George III. to King Ferdinand VII. at Valençay "Sir and Brother, - It is long since I have sought an opportunity of transmitting to your Majesty a letter signed by my own hand, to convey to you the sentiments of lively interest and profound sorrow which I have never ceased feeling since your Majesty has been taken from your kingdom, and from your good and faithful subjects. Notwithstanding the violence and cruelties with which the usurper of the throne of Spain has loaded the Spanish nation, it must be a great consolation to your Majesty to know, that your people continue stedfast in their loyalty and attachment to the person of their legitimate king, and that Spain is making constant efforts to maintain your Majesty's rights, and to restore the independence of the monarchy. The resources of my kingdom, my fleets, and my armies, do not cease to aid your Majesty's subjects in this great cause, and my ally, the Prince Regent of Portugal, has also contributed to it, with all the zeal and constancy of a faithful friend. There is nothing wanting to the good subjects of your Majesty, and to your allies, but the presence of your Majesty in Spain, where it cannot but inspire fresh energy. Therefore, with all the frankness of the friendship and alliance by which I am bound to your Majesty's interests, I beseech you to reflect on the wisest and most effectual means of tearing yourself from the indignities to which you are subjected, and of showing yourself in the midst of a people who are actuated by a universal feeling for the happiness and glory of your Majesty, I add to this letter, a copy of the letter of credence, which my minister in Spain will present to the central junta, which governs in the name and by the authority of your Majesty. "I request your Majesty not to doubt of my sincere friendship; being with the most inviolable attachment, "Sir and Brother, Your Majesty's good Brother, "Queen's House, London, Jan. 31. 1810." Several details of extraordinary imprisonments, sufferings, and escapes, have at times been laid before the public, to which the present volume forms a not unworthy addition. We do not see why the Memoirs of the Queen of Etruria were tacked to it. Art. 19. Report on the present State of the Greek Confederation, and on its Claims to the Support of the Christian World. Read to the Greek Committee, 13th September, 1823. By Edward Blaquiere, Esq. 8vo. Pamphlet. Whittakers. We have often introduced Mr. Blaquiere to our readers, and we have now to bring him before them as the feeling and warm advocate of the struggling Greeks; whose sacred cause, we regret to has excited comparatively such little and such lukewarm say, Sir Henry Wellesley, brother of the Marquis.' interest interest among the people of this kingdom, where it ought to be regarded with the most kindling enthusiasm and the most active sympathy. A Greek individual having come to England in January last, to ascertain the state of the public mind towards his compatriots, it was deemed advisable by their friends here, who form "the Greek Committee," to accept Mr. Blaquiere's spontaneous offer of accompanying that person (M. Luriottis) back to the Morea, as a provisional agent from this country, and to communicate the result of his observations and inquiries. These gentlemen accordingly left London in March, but did not reach the shores of the Morea till the commencement of May. On his return, Mr. B. made the present Report to the Committee. It cannot but be observed that this paper is composed rather of general remarks, and representations on the nature of the Grecian contest, than of particular facts and details of existing circumstances; but the former have the merit of being well founded, of being unfortunately but too much wanted, and of being expressed in flowing and animated language; and they are by no means unsupported by the latter interesting adjuncts. After an account' of the mensures adopted by the provisional government at a general congress held at Astros, Mr. B. adverts to the origin of the Greek resistance to their ruthless tyrants, and to the excesses in turn committed by them against these Turkish oppressors. He' states most positively that there was not the smallest connection, either directly or indirectly, between the rising in Greece and passing events in the rest of Europe;' and as to the excesses attributed to the Greek soldiery, he observes: It would appear that the number of able and eloquent writers who have advocated the cause of Greece, have brought forward such facts and arguments as must satisfy every impartial observer that these excesses, like every other subject calculated to prejudice the cause, have been most wantonly exaggerated. The whole course of my own inquiries enables me to confirm the fact; and in repeating that the severities exercised on the enemy were inevit.' able and unavoidable, I shall farther add, as my most firm conviction, that when all the concomitant circumstances which led to the excesses at Tripolizza are made known, they will appear mild, when compared to those committed by the best disciplined and most civilized troops of Europe in many instances during the last fifty years. The modern Greeks having been reproached with a want of mental energy and improvement, it is particularly interesting to read the following paragraph: As there is no ambition so deeply rooted in the Greek character as the desire of instruction, no wonder that it should predominate,' now that there is a prospect of being able to realize the wishes on this subject which so universally pervade the nation. Nothing but a determination to encourage this most laudable disposition could have induced the provisional government to devote a part of its attention and circumscribed funds to the establishment of Lancasterian schools, while the enemy was still so near, and the means of subsist subsistence often wanted for the troops. The interest attached to this important subject by your Committee will not be a little heightened, when informed that the seat of government had not been established at Tripolizza more than three weeks, when I had the satisfaction of witnessing one of the largest mosques in the city converted into a school on Lancaster's principle, at which above seventy children of both sexes under the age of t ten years, were receiving instruction when I quitted the Morea. Prince Mavrocordato had already established two, almost in sight of the Infidel forces, at Missolonghi and Gastouni, previously to his attending the deliberations at Astros.' Mr. B. then strongly urges the necessity of reiterating the warmest appeals to all classes of Britons to give support to this heroic but suffering people, and proceeds to give some farther particulars of their present situation; with intimations of those articles of the first necessity in warfare with which it would be most important to supply them. 6 It becomes my duty to apprize your Committee, that although the successes which are announced almost daily, prove that the courage and resolution of the Hellenists remain undiminished, and that the neglect and indifference of their Christian brethren would seem only to stimulate them to still greater efforts; yet are they conducting the war under the greatest disadvantages; so much, indeed, that I can safely assure your Committee there are, while I write, thousands of those driven from their homes, and whose wives and children were carried into slavery, either seeking a refuge from the knife of the Infidel among the crags of Olympus, Macrinoro, and Volos; or, if armed, bravely opposing the enemy in the passes of Thermopyle and Corinth, without bread to eat or raiment to cover them! Need I say more to rouse the slumbering spirit of benevolence and Christian charity ? I will only add, that a comparatively small portion of the funds which have been subscribed in this philanthropic country, to disseminate the blessings of Christianity beyond the seas, would, if promptly applied to the wants of the struggling Greeks, perhaps save a whole nation, of Christians from perishing! Great as have been the successes of these Christian warriors against the barbarian Infidels, it is surprizing to learn the difficul ties under which any warlike operations have been, and still are carried on. Mr. Blaquiere informs the Committee that 21897 viin The wants and privations of the Greek army are of a nature the most discouraging. When I state that there is not more than a third of the number, thus employed in saving a whole people from extirmination, supplied with sufficient clothing to shelter them from the inclemencies of a mountain-warfare; that they often march forty miles a day, almost invariably sleep in the open air, and frequently pass two or three days without any other food than the herbs of the field, the astonishment of the Committee at the bravery and perseverance of the Greek soldiery will not, I am sure, be diminished, Though the number of horses taken from the Turks, and now in the Morea, is sufficient to mount from five to eight thousand cavalry, cavalry, it will be impossible for the government to avail itself of this species of force until provided with funds. 6 From the above facts, I need hardly add, that the Greek army receives no pay whatever. The general mode adopted by the chiefs is to advance a small sum to each soldier previous to entering the field; with this he provides himself with bread, tobacco, and whatever other necessaries he may require, as far as the supply will go; for it very seldom exceeds two Spanish dollars.' The case is the same with the navy, which has borne so brilliant a part in the contest; and it is astonishing to be told that there have not been less than a hundred ships and vessels of various sizes employed at the expence of about thirty ship-owners, ever since the commencement of the struggle; and the number has on more than one occasion extended to one hundred and eighty, The Greek seamen, who amount to about 20,000 of the most expert in Europe, receive no regular pay; all they require for their services is the means of subsistence for their families.' We urgently recommend this pamphlet to public attention, and await with anxiety Mr. B.'s announced work on the Greek Revo、 lution, founded on information obtained by him during his late visit to the scenes of its events, CORRESPONDENCE. A letter has reached us from Mr. Barker, respecting our account of his pamphlet addressed to Mr. Hughes on the present struggle of the Greeks, in our last Number. We have not an immediate opportunity of communicating with the writer of that article: but it may suffice to state, that Mr. Barker wishes our representation of that pamphlet being a mere compilement to be somewhat modified; for, he says, if all the quotations were removed, the quantity of original matter would not be very inconsiderable. In that closely printed and extensive tract, it is not very easy for us to calculate the precise amount of Mr. B.'s own contributions : but, as his knowlege of it must be the most intimate, we are willing to admit his present statement: more especially as he observes, and we are truly glad to learn, that his book has been found very serviceable to the Greek cause.' — Mr. B. has favored us with the copy of a letter to him from an enlightened and liberal American,' commending his publication, and sharing his laudable sentiments on the subject of the Greeks: but we have not room, nor would it be a part of our duty, to print it, as he seems to desire. Philo is informed that we gave an account of Marina's "Theory of the Cortes" in our last Appendix, published with the Number for September. He will find, from that article, that the work has all the interest and the merit which he has heard ascribed to it. THE MONTHLY REVIEW, For NOVEMBER, 1823. ART. I. A Comment on the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. By Vol. I. 8vo. pp. 499. 18s. Boards. Printed in Italy, from the Types of Didot, for Murray, London. 1822. WE E are here invited to engage in a task of no common magnitude; the "vista of years," of commentary on commentary, seems to open to our view; and we do not believe that the voluminous annals of the period will afford an instance of greater ambition and intrepidity of mind than that which has here been evinced by Mr. Taaffe, who is reported to be the projector of this new series of Herculean labors; which would occupy about twelve huge tomes, if we may judge by the portion that has been already achieved. We say projector, because, like other projects with the most soaring pretensions, such liberal promises made by authors to futurity are seldom fulfilled; though we are not disposed to rank Mr. T. with that writer who, in his intended history of the Portuguese monarchy, commenced at the beginning of the world, and died before he brought it down to the period at which he ought to have set out. Such a comparison, indeed, would be manifestly unjust, since the author of the bulky volume before us has travelled through at least some twentieth portion of the Divine Comedy; which he will by no means permit us to intitle (with Mr. Cary) by the name of Vision, though we doubt whether the Florentine himself would have "picked a hole" in Mr. Cary's reputation on that account. Such a circumstance will, at once, give the reader an idea of the somewhat precise views that are entertained by this author respecting the duty of a commentator; and it is this precision, carried beyond the usual bounds of the precisest hypercritic, which forms the leading feature of his whole work. His distinctions and differences from all preceding interpretations, more especially from those of Mr. C., in the minutest points, really sometimes do not in the least alter the meaning, and would be termed in parliamentary language both "frivolous and vexatious;" while, as a singular contradiction to his own system, his version of some of the passages of the poem, VOL. CII. Q with |