[23] Guardian1, 26th March 1873.
General Sir Richard Church died last week at Athens. Many English travellers in the East find their way to Athens; most of them must have heard his name repeated there as the name of one closely associated with the later fortunes of the Greek nation, and linking the present with times now distant; some of them may have seen him, and may remember the slight wiry form which seemed to bear years so lightly, the keen eye and grisled moustache and soldierly bearing, and perhaps the antique and ceremonious courtesy, stately yet cordial, recalling a type of manners long past, with which he welcomed those who had a claim on his attentions or friendly offices. Five and forty years ago his name was much in men's mouths. He was prominent in a band of distinguished2 men, who represented a new enthusiasm in Europe. Less by what they were able to do than by their character and their unreserved self-devotion and sacrifice, they profoundly affected3 public opinion, and disarmed4 the jealousy5 of absolutist courts and governments in favour of a national movement, which, whether disappointment may have followed its success, was one of the most just and salutary of revolutions—the deliverance of a Christian6 nation from the hopeless tyranny of the Turks.
He was one of the few remaining survivors7 of the generation which had taken part in the great French war and in the great changes resulting from it—changes which have in time given way to vaster alterations8, and been eclipsed by them. He began his military life as a boy-ensign in one of the regiments10 forming part of the expedition which, under Sir Ralph Abercromby, drove the French out of Egypt in 1801; and on the shores of the Mediterranean11, where his career began, it was for the most part continued and finished. His genius led him to the more irregular and romantic forms of military service; he had the gift of personal influence, and the power of fascinating and attaching to himself, with extraordinary loyalty12, the people of the South. His adventurous13 temper, his sympathetic nature, his chivalrous14 courtesy, his thorough trustworthiness and sincerity15, his generosity16, his high spirit of nobleness and honour, won for him, from Italians and Greeks, not only that deep respect which was no unusual tribute from them to English honesty and strength and power of command, but that love, and that affectionate and almost tender veneration17, for which strong and resolute18 Englishmen have not always cared from races of whose characteristic faults they were impatient.
His early promise in the regular service was brilliant; as a young staff-officer, and by a staff-officer's qualities of sagacity, activity, and decision, he did distinguished service at Maida; and had he followed the movement which made Spain the great battle-ground for English soldiers, he had every prospect19 of earning a high place among those who fought under Wellington. But he clung to the Mediterranean. He was employed in raising and organising those foreign auxiliary20 corps21 which it was thought were necessary to eke22 out the comparatively scanty23 numbers of the English armies, and to keep up threatening demonstrations24 on the outskirts25 of the French Empire. It was in this service that his connection with the Greek people was first formed, and his deep and increasing interest in its welfare created. He was commissioned to form first one, and then a second, regiment9 of Greek irregulars; and from the Ionian Islands, from the mainland of Albania, from the Morea, chiefs and bands, accustomed to the mountain warfare26, half patriotic27, half predatory, carried on by the more energetic Greek highlanders against the Turks, flocked to the English standards. The operations in which they were engaged were desultory28, and of no great account in the general result of the gigantic contest; but they made Colonel Church's name familiar to the Greek population, who were hoping, amid the general confusion, for an escape from the tyranny of the Turks. But his connection with Greece was for some time delayed. His peculiar29 qualifications pointed30 him out as a fit man to be a medium of communication between the English Government and the foreign armies which were operating on the outside of the circle within which the decisive struggle was carried on against Napoleon; and he was the English Military Commissioner31 attached to the Austrian armies in Italy in 1814 and 1815.
At the Peace, his eagerness for daring and adventurous enterprise was tempted32 by great offers from the Neapolitan Government. The war had left brigandage33, allied34 to a fierce spirit of revolutionary freemasonry, all-powerful in the south of Italy; and a stern and resolute, yet perfectly35 honest and just hand, was needed to put it down. He accepted the commission; he was reckless of conspiracy36 and threats of assassination37; he was known to be no sanguinary and merciless lover of severity, but he was known also to be fearless and inexorable against crime; and, not without some terrible examples, yet with complete success, he delivered the south of Italy from the scourge38. But his thoughts had always been turned towards Greece; at last the call came, and he threw himself with all his hopes and all his fortunes into a struggle which more than any other that history can show engaged at the time the interest of Europe. His first efforts resulted in a disastrous39 defeat against overwhelming odds40, for which, as is natural, he has been severely41 criticised; his critics have shown less quickness in perceiving the qualities which he displayed after it—his unshaken, silent fortitude42, the power with which he kept together and saved the wrecks43 of his shattered and disheartened volunteer army, the confidence in himself with which he inspired them, the skill with which he extricated44 them from their dangers in the face of a strong and formidable enemy, the humanity which he strove so earnestly by word and example to infuse into the barbarous warfare customary between Greeks and Turks, the tenacity45 with which he clung to the fastnesses of Western Greece, obtaining by his perseverance46 from the diplomacy47 of Europe a more favourable48 line of boundary for the new nation which it at length recognised. To this cause he gave up everything; personal risks cannot be counted; but he threw away all prospects49 in England; he made no bargains; he sacrificed freely to the necessities of the struggle any pecuniary50 resource that he could command, neither requiring nor receiving any repayment51. He threw in his lot with the people for whom he had surrendered everything, in order to take part in their deliverance. Since his arrival in Greece in 1827 he has never turned his face westwards. He took the part which is perhaps the only becoming and justifiable52 one for the citizen of one State who permits himself to take arms, even in the cause of independence, for another; having fought for the Greeks, he lived with them, and shared, for good and for evil, their fortunes.
For more than forty years he has resided at Athens under the shadow of the great rock of the Acropolis. Distinguished by all the honours the Greek nation could bestow53, military or political, he has lived in modest retirement54, only on great emergencies taking any prominent part in the political questions of Greece, but always throwing his influence on the side of right and honesty. The course of things in Greece was not always what an educated Englishman could wish it to be. But whatever his judgment55, or, on occasion, his action might be, there never could be a question, with his friends any more than with his opponents—enemies he could scarcely be said to have—as to the straightforwardness56, the pure motives57, the unsullied honour of anything that he did or anything that he advised. The Greeks saw among them one deeply sympathising with all that they cared for, commanding, if he had pleased to work for it, considerable influence out of Greece, the intimate friend of a Minister like Sir Edmund Lyons, yet keeping free from the temptation to make that use of influence which seems so natural to politicians in a place like Athens; thinking much of Greece and of the interests of his friends there, but thinking as much of truth and justice and conscience; hating intrigue58 and trick, and shaming by his indignant rebuke59 any proposal of underhand courses that might be risked in his presence.
The course of things, the change of ideas and of men, threw him more and more out of any forward and prominent place in the affairs of Greece. But his presence in Athens was felt everywhere. There was a man who had given up everything for Greece and sought nothing in return. His blameless unselfishness, his noble elevation60 of character, were a warning and a rebuke to the faults which have done so much mischief61 to the progress of the nation; and yet every Greek in Athens knew that no one among them was more jealous of the honour of the nation or more anxious for its good. To a new political society, freshly exposed to the temptations of party struggles for power, no greater service can be rendered than a public life absolutely clear from any suspicion of self-seeking, governed uninterruptedly and long by public spirit, public ends, and a strong sense of duty. Such a service General Church has rendered to his adopted country. During his residence among them for nearly half a century they have become familiar, not in word, but in living reality, with some of the best things which the West has to impart to the East. They have had among them an example of English principle, English truth, English high-souled disinterestedness62, and that noble English faith which, in a great cause, would rather hope in vain than not hope at all. They have learned to venerate63 all this, and, some of them, to love it.
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1
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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3
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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disarmed
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| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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alterations
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| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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12
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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17
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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18
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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20
auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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21
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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eke
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| v.勉强度日，节约使用 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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desultory
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| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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33
brigandage
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| n.抢劫；盗窃；土匪；强盗 | |
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34
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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35
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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38
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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39
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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41
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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42
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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43
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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44
extricated
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| v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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46
perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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47
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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48
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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49
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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50
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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51
repayment
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| n.偿还，偿还款；报酬 | |
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52
justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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53
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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54
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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55
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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56
straightforwardness
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| n.坦白，率直 | |
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57
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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58
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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59
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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60
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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61
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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62
disinterestedness
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63
venerate
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| v.尊敬，崇敬，崇拜 | |
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