rders, of
which the Russian court, and the friends of despotism at Vienna and
Berlin, might have taken advantage.

The king, finding at last that there was no hope of his deriving any
assistance from without, signed the ordinances appointing a new
ministery, and convoking a national assembly. The troops, after having
remained more than thirteen hours under arms, were marched back to their
barracks, as if from a review; and every thing at Athens followed its
usual course. Thus was a revolution effected in the form of government
in Greece without any interruption in the civil government--without the
tribunals' ceasing to administer justice for a single day--without the
shops' remaining closed beyond the usual hours, or the mercantile
affairs of the country undergoing the slightest suspension. Such a
people must surely be fit for a constitution.

The national assembly has now met, and terminated its labours; and
Greece is in possession of a constitution made by Greeks. In three
months the first representative chamber will meet. It will consist of
about 120 members. The senate, which is to consist of members named by
the king for life, cannot exceed one-half the number of the
representatives elected by the people. Faults may be found with some of
the details of the constitution; but, on the whole, it must be regarded
as a very favourable specimen of the political knowledge of the Greeks;
and the manner in which the different articles were discussed, and the
care with which every proposal and amendment were examined, gave all
those who witnessed the debates a very high opinion of the legislative
capacity of the people.

The form of the Greek government, as a constitutional monarchy, may now
be considered as settled. We shall therefore proceed to examine the
difficulties, of a social and political nature, which still obstruct the
advancement of the nation, and render its prosperity problematical. Some
of our statements may appear almost paradoxical to travellers, whose
hasty glance at distant countries enables them to come to rather more
positive conclusions than those who devote years to study the same
subject. We shall, however, strive to expose our facts in such a way as
to show that we state the plain truth, nothing but the truth, and, as
far as our subject carries us, the whole truth.

That Greece has not hitherto improved, either in her wealth, population,
or civilization, as fast as the energy of her people led her