THE WAR OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE 1821 TO 1833 BY W.ALISON PHILLIPS 1897

KARAISKAKIS 207
to prevent the Turk from sweeping across the Isthmus
into the Morea, where there was now no force capable
of resisting his attack. But as long as the Acropolis
held out, the Peloponnese was safe ;
not advance, leaving
rear.
for Keshid could
an unreduced fortress in his
At last the fatuous Government of Greece awoke
to the imminence of the danger. The Greeks had
cursed the selfishness and supineness of their rulers
to which Missolonghi had been sacrificed. If the
Acropolis fell, there would be no rulers left to curse.
For a moment, in the presence of a common peril,
the warring factions laid aside their quarrels.
One man was now pointed out by
public opinion as alone capable, if he wished,
a consensus of
of saving
Greece. If he wished for the previous career of
Karaiskakis had not been altogether such as to inspire
unlimited confidence. In the character of this extraordinary
man were present in full measure all
those strange and vivid contrasts of light and shade,
of baseness and nobility, which give to the actors in
the story of the Greek revolt such remarkable dramatic
interest.
Bred among the wild brigand
tribes of
Epirus, he had, from his youth up, been distinguished
by his dauntless courage and his ready wit. These
would seem to have earned him the special regard of