"could be attributed to no other cause than "this attachment. Her crime (if crime it "be to love as they loved) was too fully "proved; they were torn from each other's 66 66 arms, never to meet again: and yet both might have escaped,—she by abjuring "her religion, or he by adopting hers. 66 They resolutely refused to become apos66 tates from their faith. Ali Pacha was "never known to pardon. She was stoned 66 by those dæmons, although in the fourth "month of her pregnancy! He was sent "to a town where the plague was raging, "and died happy in not having long out"lived the object of his affections! "One of the principal incidents in The "Giaour' is derived from a real occurrence, " and one too in which I myself was nearly "and deeply interested; but an unwilling 66 ness to have it considered a traveller's "tale, made me suppress the fact of its 66 genuineness. The Marquis of Sligo, who "knew the particulars of the story, re"minded me of them in England, and won“dered I had not authenticated them in the “Preface :- "When I was at Athens, there was an "edict in force similar to that of Ali's, ex 66 cept that the mode of punishment was "different. It was necessary, therefore, "that all love-affairs should be carried on "with the greatest privacy. I was very "fond at that time of a Turkish girl,—ay, "fond of her as I have been of few women. “All went on very well till the Ramazan. "For forty days, which is rather a long fast for lovers, all intercourse between the 66 sexes is forbidden by law, as well as by “religion. During this Lent of the Mus"sulmans, the women are not allowed to "quit their apartments. I was in despair, "and could hardly contrive to get a cinder, or a token-flower sent to express it. We 66 ❝ had not met for several days, and all my "thoughts were occupied in planning an 66 assignation, when, as ill fate would have "it, the means I took to 66 effect it led to the The penalty was discovery of our secret. "death,-death without reprieve,—a hor"rible death, at which one cannot think "without shuddering! An order was issued "for the law being put into immediate "effect. In the mean time I knew nothing "of what had happened, and it was de"termined that I should be kept in igno·66 rance of the whole affair till it should be "too late to interfere. A mere accident only "enabled me to prevent the completion of "the sentence. I was taking one of my "usual evening rides by the sea-side, when "I observed a crowd of people moving down "to the shore, and the arms of the soldiers glittering among them. They were not "so far off, but that I thought I could now "and then distinguish a faint and stifled "shriek. My curiosity was forcibly excited, " and I dispatched one of my followers to enquire the cause of the procession. What 66 was my horror to learn that they were 66 carrying an unfortunate girl, sewn up in "a sack, to be thrown into the sea! I did "not hesitate as to what was to be done. "I knew I could depend on my faithful "Albanians, and rode up to the officer com"manding the party, threatening, in case of "his refusal to give up his prisoner, that I "would adopt means to compel him. He "did not like the business he was on, or 66 perhaps the determined look of my body "guard, and consented to accompany me "back to the city with the girl, whom I 66 soon discovered to be my Turkish fa"vourite. Suffice it to say, that my inter Suffice it to say, "ference with the chief magistrate, backed 66 by a heavy bribe, saved her; but it was "only on condition that I should break off "all intercourse with her, and that she "should immediately quit Athens, and be "sent to her friends in Thebes. There she "died, a few days after her arrival, of a "fever-perhaps of love.” "Patras. "The severest fever I ever had was at I had left Fletcher at Constantinople-convalescent, but unable to move "from weakness, and had no attendants but 66 "my Albanians, to whom I owe my life. |