At the end of May a letter arrived from Mr. Blaquiere communicating to him very favourable intelligence, and requesting that he would as much as possible hasten his departure, as he was now anxiously looked for, and would be of the greatest service.  However encouraging this summons, and though Lord Byron, thus called upon from all sides, had now determined to give freely the aid which all deemed so essential, it is plain from his letters that, in the cool, sagacious view which he himself took of the whole subject, so far from agreeing with these enthusiasts in their high estimate of his personal services, he had not yet even been able to perceive any definite way in which those services could, with any prospect of permanent utility, be applied.

For an insight into the true state of his mind at this crisis, the following observations of one who watched him with eyes quickened by anxiety will be found, perhaps, to afford the clearest and most certain clue.  “At this time,” says the Contessa Guiccioli, “Lord Byron again turned his thoughts to Greece; and, excited on every side by a thousand combining circumstances, found himself, almost before he had time to form a decision, or well know what he was doing, obliged to set out for that country.  But, notwithstanding his affection for those regions,—­notwithstanding the consciousness of his own moral energies, which made him say always that ’a man ought to do something more for society than write verses,’—­notwithstanding the attraction which the object of this voyage must necessarily have for his noble mind, and that, moreover, he was resolved to return to Italy within a few months,—­notwithstanding all this, every person who was near him at the time can bear witness to the struggle which his mind underwent (however much he endeavoured to hide it), as the period fixed for his departure approached."[1]

[Footnote 1:  “Fu allora che Lord Byron rivolse i suoi pensieri alla Grecia; e stimolato poi da ogni parte per mille combinazioni egli si trovo quasi senza averlo deciso, e senza saperlo, obbligato di partire per la Grecia.  Ma, non ostante il suo affetto per quelle contrade,—­non ostante il sentimento delle sue forze morali che gli faceva dire sempre ’che un uomo e obbligato a fare per la societa qualche cosa di piu che dei versi,—­non ostante le attrative che doveva avere pel nobile suo animo l’oggetto di que viaggio,—­e non ostante che egli fosse determinato di ritornare in Italia fra non molti mesi,—­pure in quale combattimento si trovasse il suo cuore mentre si avvanzava l’epoca della sua parenza (sebbene cercasse occultarlo) ognuno che lo ha avvicinato allora puu dirlo.”]