Swede, seeing the fray, came up and ordered the man to be taken to the guard-room. The Suliote was then disposed to depart, and would have done so if the sergeant would have permitted him. Unfortunately, Captain Sass did not confine himself to merely giving the order for his arrest; for when the Suliote struggled to get away, Captain Sass drew his sword and struck him with the flat part of it; whereupon the enraged Greek flew upon him with a pistol in one hand, and the sabre in the other; and at the same moment nearly cut off the captain's right arm, and shot him through the head with the pistol. Captain Sass, who was remarkable for his mild and courageous character, expired in a few minutes. The Suliote also was a man of distinguished bravery. This was a serious affair, and great apprehensions were entertained that it would not end here. The Suliotes refused to surrender the man to justice, alleging that he had been struck, which, in Suliote law, justifies all the consequences which may follow.

In a letter dated a few days after Lord Byron's first attack, to a friend in Zante, he speaks of himself as rapidly recovering:

"I am a good deal better, tho' of course weakly; the leeches took too much blood from my temples the day after, and there was some difficulty in stopping it; but I have been up daily, and out in boats or on horseback; to-day I have taken a warm bath, and live as temperately as well can be, without any liquid but water, and without any animal food." He then adds, "Besides the four Turks sent

to Patras, I have obtained the release of four-and-twenty women and children, and sent them to Prevesa, that the English Consul-general may consign them to their relatives. I did this at their own desire." After recurring to some other subjects, the letter concludes thus:-" Matters are here a little embroiled with the Suliotes, foreigners, &c., but I still hope better things, and will stand by the cause so long as my health and circumstances will permit me to be supposed useful.”

Notwithstanding Lord Byron's improvement in health, his friends felt from the first that he ought to try a change of air. Messolonghi is a flat, marshy, and pestilential place, and, except for purposes of utility, never would have been selected for his residence. A gentleman of Zante wrote to him early in March, to induce him to return to that Island for a time; to his letter the following answer was received on the 10th:

"I am extremely obliged by your offer of your countryhouse, as for all other kindness, in case my health should require my removal; but I cannot quit Greece while there is a chance of my being of (even supposed) utility, there is a stake worth millions such as I am,-and while I can stand at all, I must stand by the cause. While I say this, I am aware of the difficulties, and dissensions, and defects, of the Greeks themselves; but allowance must be made for them by all reasonable people."

It may well be supposed after so severe a fit of illness, and that in a great measure superinduced by the conduct of the troops he had taken into his pay and

treated with the height of generosity, that he was in no humour to pursue his scheme against Lepanto-supposing that his state of health had been such as to bear the fatigue of a campaign in Greece. The Suliotes, however, shewed some signs of repentance, and offered to place themselves at his Lordship's disposal. They had, however, another objection to the nature of the service. In a letter which Colonel Stanhope wrote to Lord Byron on the 6th of March, from Athens, he tells his Lordship that he had bivouacked on the 21st of February in the hut of the Prefect of the Lepanto district, who had just had a conference with the garrison of that place. This man said, that if Lord Byron would march there with a considerable force, and the arrears due to the troops, the fortress would be surrendered; and Colonel S. adds a pressing entreaty that Lord Byron would proceed there immediately, and take advantage of this disposition on the part of the garriTo this his Lordship has appended this note: "The Suliotes have declined marching against Lepanto, saying, that they would not fight against stone walls.' Colonel S. also knows their conduct here, in other respects, lately."-We may conclude that the expedition to Lepanto was not thought of after this time.

son.

This same letter, which communicated to Lord Byron the facility with which Lepanto might be taken, also announced the intention of Ulysses (Odysseus) to summon a Congress of chiefs at Salona, to consider of a

mode of uniting more closely the interests of Eastern and Western Greece, and arranging between them some method of strict co-operation. The whole of these two districts are subordinate to their respective governments, and as the Turkish army was expected to come down, it was supposed by Odysseus that some plan of acting in concert might be hit upon, which would not only enable them to resist the enemy with greater effect, but likewise rapidly advance the progress of civilization, and the authority of the government and constitution. Odysseus, who had the most influence in Eastern Greece, and was able to collect all the chiefs of his own district, was most desirous of prevailing upon Mavrocordatos and Lord Byron, who were all-powerful in the opposite territory, to be present at this Congress, which he proposed to hold at Salona, a town nearly on the confines of the two departments. Two agents were sent to persuade them to join in the design, and repair to Salona. Odysseus himself first despatched Mr. Finlay; and after him Captain Humphries went over to Messolonghi with all haste, by desire of Colonel Stanhope. The latter succeeded. Lord Byron, as may be supposed, was well disposed to the measure; but his consent was for some time held back by the Prince, who had reasons for not approving the Congress. Mavrocordatos was always averse to meeting Odysseus, a man of a very different character from himself: nor did he relish the idea of Lord Byron's quit

ting the seat of his government. It was, however, apparently settled that both should attend at Salona, as we learn from a letter from his Lordship to Colonel Stanhope, at Athens, directly accepting the invitation on the part of both; as well as from another, dated the 22d March, to his agent, of which the following is an extract:

"In a few days P. Mavrocordatos and myself with a considerable escort, intend to proceed to Salona at the request of Ulysses and the chiefs of Eastern Greece; and to take measures offensive and defensive for the ensuing campaign. Mavrocordatos is almost recalled by the new Government to the Morea (to take the lead I rather think), and they have written to propose to me, to go either to the Morea with him, or to take the general direction of affairs in this quarter with General Londos, and any other I may choose to form a council. Andrea Londos is my old friend and acquaintance since we were in Greece together. It would be difficult to give a positive answer till the Salona meeting is over; but I am willing to serve them in any capacity they please, either commanding or commanded-it is much the same to me as long as I can be of any presumed use to them. Excuse haste-it is late-and I have been several hours on horseback in a country so miry after the rains, that every hundred yards brings you to a brook or ditch, of whose depth, width, colour, and contents, both my horses and their riders have brought away many tokens."

They did not, however, set out in a few days, as it seems to have been intended. In the Government,