The peasantry of Greece possess a large share of rustic virtue. They were within the sphere of Turkey’s oppression, but without the sphere of her corruption. Not so with the people of the towns, who, consequently, partake of her vices. This people, but for want of instruction, are as fitted to be free as any nation on earth. And only those who pretend that ,f the slaves of to-day are not qualified to be freemen to-morrow”—I mean the oligarchs—are unworthy of the blessings of liberty, because they are luxurious, corrupted, avaricious, and tyrannical. I shall not dwell on the virtues of the Greek peasantry, because they are admitted by all men. Their martial spirit is not inferior to that of the regular soldiery, and some consider them as the stoutest and most formidable warriors in Greece.

Avarice is a prevailing vice in Greece. In a despotic government, it is necessary for the slave to be penurious, to hold fast, and to bury his money. Vices are hardly vices under absolute government. There avarice, intrigue, cunning, falsehood, servility, robberies, insurrections, and, sometimes, frightful murders, are the only methods of self-defence. There every thing is confounded, and the sole measure of security is to be found in a perverse application of the principles of utility.

The Turks taught the Greeks to be plunderers. Their exactions drove the cultivators and shepherds into the mountains, where they lived like wolves, and became freemen, outlaws, and plunderers. The survivors grew warlike,—sometimes the terror, sometimes the allies of the Turks, and at last the assisters of Grecian freedom. Such was the origin of most of the Captains. It must not, however, be supposed that the Captains are the only plunderers ; many of the Primates possessed power and wealth under the Ottoman rule, and they are as grasping as the soldiers.

The Greeks, especially those of Constantinople, the Fanariots, excel in finesse, sophistry, political intrigue, and crooked diplomacy. Such are the tactics of absolute governments. They are equally necessary to avoid ruin or to attain fortune. By pursuing this course the Greeks slid into the favour of their masters, and were appointed governors of provinces, interpreters, &c. Who then can be surprised that the Greek slave should select the winding path which is surrounded by splendid scenery and leads to the temple of luxury? In a good cause, intriguing politicians can never reach their goal as soon by a zig-zag, as a good man would by a direct, course Their sly manoeuvres may always be foiled by a bold straight-forward and persevering attack.