e demands upon his exertions, personal and
pecuniary, poured in from all sides, while the embarrassments of his
public position every day increased. The chief obstacle in the way of
his plan for the reconciliation of all parties had been the rivalry
so long existing between Mavrocordato and the Eastern Chiefs; and
this difficulty was now not a little heightened by the part taken by
Colonel Stanhope and Mr. Trelawney, who, having allied themselves
with Odysseus, the most powerful of these Chieftains, were
endeavouring actively to detach Lord Byron from Mavrocordato, and
enlist him in their own views. This schism was,--to say the least of
it,--ill-timed and unfortunate. For, as Prince Mavrocordato and Lord
Byron were now acting in complete harmony with the Government, a
co-operation of all the other English agents on the same side would
have had the effect of assuring a preponderance to this party (which
was that of the civil and commercial interests all through Greece),
that might, by strengthening the hands of the ruling power, have
afforded some hope of vigour and consistency in its movements. By
this division, however, the English lost their casting weight; and
not only marred whatever little chance they might have had of
extinguishing the dissensions of the Greeks, but exhibited, most
unseasonably, an example of dissension among themselves.

The visit to Salona, in which, though distrustful of the intended
Military Congress, Mavrocordato had consented to accompany Lord
Byron, was, as the foregoing letters have mentioned, delayed by the
floods,--the river Fidari having become so swollen as not to be
fordable. In the mean time, dangers, both from within and without,
threatened Missolonghi. The Turkish fleet had again come forth from
the Gulf, while, in concert, it was apprehended, with this resumption
of the blockade, insurrectionary movements, instigated, as was
afterwards known, by the malcontents of the Morea, manifested
themselves formidably both in the town and its neighbourhood. The
first cause for alarm was the landing, in canoes, from Anatolico, of
a party of armed men, the followers of Cariascachi of that place, who
came to demand retribution from the people of Missolonghi for some
injury that, in a late affray, had been inflicted on one of their
clan. It was also rumoured that 300 Suliotes were marching upon the
town; and the following morning, news came that a party of these wild
warriors had actually seize