Book excerpt: Excerpt from Lives of Gens; Halleck and Pope There are but few that have not read the immortal lyric of Marco Bozzaris, penned to commemorate one of the bravest struggles of modern times, a contest possessing an intense interest to the scholar, as Greece, the land of Socrates, Plato, Homer, and Hesiod was the battle-ground, the natives of the soil, that had been inhabited by these mighty spirits - which after the lapse of eighteen centuries, still exert so vast an influence over the human intellect - were battling for their rights against the turbaned infidel; Christian Greece vs. Heathen Slavery - freedom vs. despotism, the theme even with the dullest pen must be attractive; but the merits of the verse, and the charming imagery, have given it a high place in the temple of poesy. But its gifted author did not stop there; another poem of equal merit came from his pen. The story was not new; the poet, painter, and novelist, had trodden the ground a thousand times; history "with her iron pen" had recorded the deeds in that part of England often times, but still the poet's witching genius gave to Alnwick Castle a freshness, and the legend seemed to be read for the first time. A descendant of that lordly race, a scion of "gallant Hotspur and his gentle Kate" was to do battle for the cause of freedom, and confer a brighter lustre on the ancient name. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.