ceremony for him; they fixed beforehand the day--they invited there by
circular letters the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts--and more
than twenty thousand persons arrived at Missolonghi. Byron in a Greek
costume, preceded and followed by all the military, who loved him,
proceeded to the church, where the Archbishop Porphyrios and the bishop
of Rogon, Joseph, that martyr of religion and his country, received him
in the vestibule of the church, clothed in their sacerdotal habits; and,
after having celebrated mass, they offered him the sword and the patent
of citizenship. Byron demanded that the sword should be first dedicated
on the tomb of Marco Botzaris; and immediately the whole retinue, and an
immense crowd, went out of the church to the tomb of that warrior, which
had been ornamented with beautiful marble at the expense of the poet.

The archbishop placed the sword upon this tomb, and then Byron, to
inspire the Greeks with enthusiasm, advanced with a religious silence,
and stopping all on a sudden, he pronounced this discourse in the Greek
tongue:--"What man reposes buried under this stone? What hollow voice
issues from this tomb? What is this sepulchre, from whence will spring
the happiness of Greece? But what am I saying? Is it not the tomb of
Marco Botzaris, who has been dead some months, and who, with a handful of
brave men, precipitated himself upon the numerous ranks of the most
formidable enemies of Greece? How dare I approach the sacred place where
he reposes--I, who neither possess his heroism nor his virtues? However,
in touching this tomb, I hope that its emanations will always inflame my
heart with patriotism." So saying, and advancing towards the sepulchre,
he kissed it while shedding tears. Every spectator exclaimed, "Lord Byron
for ever!" "I see," added his lordship, "the sword and the letter of
citizenship, which the government offers me; from this day I am the
fellow-citizen of this hero, and of all the brave people who surround me.
Hellenes! I hope to live with you, to fight the enemy with you, and to
die with you if it be necessary." Byron, superior to vulgar prejudice,
saw in the manners of the _pallikares_ an ingenuous simplicity, a manly
frankness and rustic procedure, but full of honour; he observed in the
people a docility and constancy capable of the greatest efforts, when it
shall be conducted by skilful and virtuous men; he observed amongst the
Greek women natural gaiety, unstudied