Notices of Ancient and Modern Greece. 251 



The history of the late Greek revolution, by Dr. Howe, is one of 

 the most thrilling interest ; we are assured that it is true, for he 

 was himself a witness and an actor in many of the scenes which 

 he describes, and enjoyed the best opportunities of knowing, cor- 

 rectly, the history of men and events; both he pourtrays with graph- 

 ic skill, with moving eloquence, and with fearless impartiality; and 

 we are happy that he can now, on the same classic ground, that 

 has been immortalized by so many illustrious actions, and illumi- 

 nated by such floods of intellectual and moral light, contemplate, 

 in security, the revival of all that is most dear and ennobling to 

 man. Grecian liberty has risen from the tomb; arts, learning, 

 commerce, and religion, are even now beginning to awake from the 

 long sleep of ages ; the new institutions will be those of regulated 

 freedom, and Greece will soon arise and put on her beautiful gar- 

 ments. 



LETTER, &c. 



TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. 



My Dear Sir — From the date of this, you will perceive I am on 

 one of the most interesting, and it may one day again be, most im- 

 portant spots in the vs^orld. The Isthmus of Corinth has been the 

 scene of so many important actions, and the uniting point of so many 

 expeditions ; it has been traversed by so many armies of so many 

 nations, and it has been, and is by its peculiar situation, so important, 

 in a commercial point of view, that you would expect from one on 

 the spot, an interesting description of its present appearance. But 

 here, as every where in Greece, the field is so wide and interesting, 

 that one hardly knows where to begin, or when he has commenced, 

 he is at a loss where to end. The Isthmus is, geographically, 

 well known, and the late researches of the French savans, will give 

 you a more correct idea of its geology than I can. I think they 

 however, have deceived themselves, in supposing that the nar- 

 rowest part of the Isthmus is the best adapted for the cutting of 

 a canal ; it is indeed two miles narrower between Callimachi and 

 Coutraki than at the extremity nearest the Peloponnessus, and 

 the ancients had there commenced their canal, the remains of which 

 are still visible ; but the nature of the soil is ill adapted to such 

 an undertaking. On the North West side of the Isthmus, and 

 about a mile from the foot of Mount Geranion, you perceive the 



