The Executive Body has hitherto been composed of men of various characters. At one time influenced by Mavrocordato, when the Primates, the Fanariots, and the foreign interests, predominated. The leading features of the government were then order, and some say intrigue. At another time Colocotroni obtained, by his martial fame, his riches, and his extensive family connections, an ascendency; then prevailed the military power, united at first with the democratic, but afterwards with oligarchical, interests ; and, lastly, a sort of league was formed to put down the plunderers. Con- duriotti was placed at the head of this administration, and the islands assumed their due weight. The Executive Body has hitherto. exercised a degree of power that is inconsistent with republican, government. The principles of a wild liberty have all along prevailed in Greece, but those of civil liberty are only beginning to be duly appreciated and followed. The depredations of the military chiefs and oligarchs have brought home to the bosoms of the peasantry the blessings of order, and of security for person and property. They begin with arms in their hands to defend their lands and purses; and they look to their representatives for the proper appropriation of their revenues, and the general direction of their armies and fleets.

The Legislative Body is composed of persons selected by the civil and military oligarchs and the people. They naturally lean to the interests of their electors. They are respectable in character, but, like most other public functionaries in Greece, are deficient in intellectual aptitude, and have but little knowledge of business. They are friends to order, and enemies to all extortion, and they are careful of the people’s money. Nothing could exceed the firmness and dignity of their conduct when attacked by the emissaries of Colocotroni. To raise the character of this body is an object of primary importance. This is to be effected by making the people take a strong interest in the elections; by pointing out to them able men for their representatives; by selecting some important person for their president, and by giving publicity to their proceedings. My exertions have been directed to these ends.

Mavrocordato, Negri, Coletti, and others of the ablest Greeks, have filled the office of ministers. When I reached Argos, no minister, except one for the interior, a priest, had been appointed. I ventured strongly to animadvert on this neglect, especially at a time when every arrangement was to be made for the appropriation of the loan, and the defence of the country.

The Byzantine and parts of the Napoleon codes prevail in Greece. Neither are, however, much attended to, and the administration of justice is in its lowest state. Perhaps this is an advantage to Greece. She has no lawyer-tribe to teaze, impoverish, and enslave her to the end of time; she has no old prejudices and sacred mountains of parchment to get rid of; and she is ready to accept the best code of laws that can be offered. Can she hesitate in accepting one founded on the scrutinizing principles of Bacon, and supported at every step by reasons, the soundness of which are almost mathematically demonstrated?

The police is best supported by the military chiefs, especially at Athens. With the exception of the town of Missolonghi, personal security prevails to a much greater degree than under the Turkish government. Assassinations are extremely rare. Travellers move about with great safety.

This is a government of Prefects. Under newly-formed states, it is absolutely necessary that strong power should be vested in certain persons, in every district, and that they should be made responsible for the constitutional exercise of it. Unless these local authorities are established, whatever the vigour of the central control, the distant provinces fall a prey to some despot, or to anarchy. In Greece, the Prefects are ill selected. Instead of having a leading influence in their districts, they are generally the tools of the principal Primates or Captains. The Primates are addicted to Turkish habits and principles of government. In the Morea they have great influence. In Eastern and Western Greece, that of the Captains predominates. Hydra is ruled by the Primates, who are under the dominion of the maritime mob. The government of Spetzia is somewhat similar, but Ipsara is influenced by constitutional maxims. The other islands are under mild administrators.

The Captains either are brave men themselves, or are the offspring of brave men, whom the Turks could not subdue, and, therefore, made terms with them, and gave them a sort of feudal tenures. They are, for the most part, descended from cultivators and shepherds. Some of them have been corrupted, by coming in contact with, and exercising sway under, the Turks. In general, they are simple in their manners, are excellent mountain warriors, are keen plunderers, and are cruel only towards their enemies. They lean to democracy, from a love of their wild liberty, from a jealousy of the Primates and Fanariots, and from a dread of being put down by a foreign king. Their passions on this last subject have been well heated.

The political parties in Greece may be said to be three. First, there are the Captains, who look to power and plunder. They generally lean to the democratic interests, as a means of preserving these advantages and of avoiding a master under kingly government. This party have riches and courage, but they have powerful opponents, and can only preserve their interests by ranging themselves on the side of the people —a fact which they begin to appreciate. I was always pouring this into their ears, and the military chiefs, therefore, considered me as their particular friend, whereas I was merely consulting the good of the mass. Secondly, there are the Primates and Oligarchs: these, too, are for power and plunder. They look to a foreign king as the means of supporting their influence. The third may be called the national party: they consist of those who are not subdued by the military or civil oligarchs; I mean the peasantry, the merchants, the townspeople, some of the islanders, and a few fine spirits. When invasion has been near, the national party have inclined towards the military chiefs: when at a distance, they have risen against their extortions. By degrees they gain strength.

From what has been stated, it appears that there is a great want of educated men in Greece. This is felt in the representative body, in the administration of justice, in the prefectures, in the army and navy—in short, in every department of the state. By the establishment of schools and publicity, by courting the ingress of settlers and travellers, and the return of enlightened Greeks to their country, this desirable end may in time be obtained.

The ceremonies of the Greek church are tawdry and irrational. The priests, though they possess considerable influence, do not appear to have the same preponderating sway over their flocks that is exercised in some catholic countries. This may be attributed to their poverty and to the counteraction of the Mahommedan religion. Where toleration and a variety of religions prevail, there the power of the priests must be subdued, except within the pale of the established state creed. The Greek priests were greatly instrumental in bringing about the glorious revolution. They traversed the country, and enlisted their votaries in the honourable plot; they fought in the ranks of the noble insurgents, and many of them are permanently engaged as soldiers, and some as captains. During the period of their military service, they are suspended from the exercise of their ecclesiastical functions. This rule does not extend to peaceful employments. The vice-president of the legislative body and the minister of the interior are of the clerical order. The priests are industrious. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and other useful labours. The dress of the pastors, when not on duty, in the country, is like that of the peasantry, and they are only distinguished from them by their beards. I everywhere found both the people and the clergy most anxious to receive the Scriptures in their native tongue. This I consider a matter of importance, because the first step towards the knowledge of any subject must be a right exposition and understanding of the same. By this means, the people will gradually become enlightened; the priests will lose the power of plotting, enslaving, and plundering; superstition will give way ; and the dictates of religion will coincide with those of utility.