I follow
this course the more readily in order that, as I have ever advocated
liberal forms of government, my advice, that your Assembly shall bring
its labours to a close, shall not be misrepresented to Greece and to the
world. First, then, the agitated state of the country, by reason of the
presence of the enemy, precludes the hope of obedience in ordinary
course of law, which is as essential to the existence even of a shadow
of republican forms as the practice of virtue and forbearance are to
their reality--which, in states that would be free, ever must be
accompanied by universal conviction in the public mind that power and
wealth are not essential to the enjoyment of personal security, and are
desirable or useful only as they promote the common welfare or
administer to the wants or comforts of individuals themselves. The
Grecian people, however good, naturally cannot be expected instantly to
practise virtues which are the offspring of long-established freedom.
Greece requires not, at the present moment, sage deliberations regarding
permanent forms of government, nor permanent rulers; but she requires
energetic authority, that she may be free at least from her foreign
oppressors. If, without delay, the military officers take the field, if
your labours be brought to a close and every citizen in his respective
capacity exert himself to the utmost for the defence of his country,
Athens perhaps may yet be saved, although that object assuredly is
rendered far more doubtful by the unfortunate delay that has already
occurred."

In entering upon his own share of the work no time was wasted by Lord
Cochrane. He had already made himself acquainted with the naval
resources of Greece, and done much in devising measures for augmenting
them. He had resolved upon the first enterprise to be entered upon; and,
while rapidly completing his arrangements for it, he did everything in
his power to quicken in the hearts of the Greeks a patriotism as pure
and zealous as was his own philanthropy. "To arms! to arms!" he wrote in
a proclamation issued at this time. "One simultaneous effort, and Greece
is free. Discord, the deadly foe you have had most to fear, is
conquered. The task that now remains is easy. The youth everywhere fly
to arms. The fate of the Acropolis is no longer doubtful. The Turks
surrounded, their supplies cut off, the passes occupied, and retreat
impossible, you can ensure the freedom of the classic plains of Athens,
ag