emselves to justify the admiration entertained
for the genius of Greece. It is not, however, so much on account of
their magnificence as of their exquisite beauty, that the fragments
obtain such idolatrous homage from the pilgrims to the shattered
shrines of antiquity. But Lord Byron had no feeling for art, perhaps
it would be more correct to say he affected none: still, Athens was
to him a text, a theme; and when the first rush of curiosity has been
satisfied, where else can the palled fancy find such a topic.

To the mere antiquary, this celebrated city cannot but long continue
interesting, and to the classic enthusiast, just liberated from the
cloisters of his college, the scenery and the ruins may for a season
inspire delight. Philosophy may there point her moral apophthegms
with stronger emphasis, virtue receive new incitements to
perseverance, by reflecting on the honour which still attends the
memory of the ancient great, and patriotism there more pathetically
deplore the inevitable effects of individual corruption on public
glory; but to the man who seeks a solace from misfortune, or is "a-
weary of the sun"; how wretched, how solitary, how empty is Athens!

Yet to the remnants of thy splendour past
Shall pilgrims, pensive, but unwearied throng;
Long shall the voyager, with th' Ionian blast,
Hail the bright clime of battle and of song;
Long shall thy annals and immortal tongue
Fill with thy fame the youth of many a shore;
Boast of the aged! lesson of the young!
Which sages venerate and bards adore,
As Pallas and the Muse unveil their awful lore!

Of the existing race of Athenians Byron has observed, that they are
remarkable for their cunning: "Among the various foreigners resident
in Athens there was never a difference of opinion in their estimate
of the Greek character, though on all other topics they disputed with
great acrimony. M. Fauvel, the French consul, who has passed thirty
years at Athens, frequently declared in my hearing, that the Greeks
do not deserve to be emancipated, reasoning on the ground of their
national and individual depravity--while he forgot that such
depravity is to be attributed to causes which can only be removed by
the measures he reprobates.

"M. Roque, a French merchant of respectability long settled in
Athens, asserted with the most amusing gravity, 'Sir, they are the
same canaille that existed in the days of Themistocles.' The
ancients ban