Byron's Newstead M. Venizelos, the Greek Premier, made a special
journey to England so that he might attend the ceremony on July 16th at which Newstead Abbey was given by Sir Julien Cahn to the Lord Mayor and Corporation of Nottingham. M. Venizelos himself handed over the title-deeds and Mr. C. I. Fraser's valuable gift of the Byron furniture preserved in the Abbey. The Greek Premier said very truly that his presence there indicated the profound regard which all Greeks cherish for the poet who by his writings and by his death at Missolonglii in 1824 drew the attention of all Europe to the sorrows of Greece and her struggle for liberty. " The eternal pride of Greece is that her resurrection was associated with some of the noblest accents of the English language." " It would be perhaps wise," he added, " to be afraid of a democracy led by poets, but a democracy without poets would, in my opinion, be frightful." It is pleasant to know that NOttingham will make good use of Sir Julien Cahn's noble gift and will institute an annual Byron pilgrimage to the beautiful Abbey.
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