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nephew of the Pasha was slain. This was certainly a daring proceeding, on the part of a power at peace with France; but General Donzelot was then placed in such a critical predicament, that he was prevented from protesting against this act of violence; while the English could not be supposed to interfere or remonstrate against a proceeding which was as much directed against their enemies, the French, as the Parguinotes. Of this forbearance, Ali did not fail to take immediate advantage, by constructing a fort at Aja, situate on a cominanding hill on the frontier, and calculated to overawe, and keep in perpetual a larm, the inhabitants of this little territory.

By the month of March 1814, all the Ionian Islands, except Corfu, had been taken by the English, while, from the closeness of the blockade, the relief of that place had become next to impossible, and the communication with the garrison in Parga extremely difficult. The Parguinotes seeing, therefore, they could no longer rely upon the protection of France, sent a deputation to the English Commandant in the Island of Paxo, requesting the assistance of England, and promising to surrender the fortress. This application was immediately communicated to the Commander-in-chief, Lieut.-General Campbell, who lost no time in sending a reinforcement from Zante to

Paxo, in order to be in readiness when a favourable moment should present itself for occupying Parga. About the same time, two English frigates, the Bacchante, Captain (now Sir William) Hoste, and the Ha vannah, Captain Black, arrived at Paxo; and the French commandant in Parga was summoned to surrender, favourable terms being offered him. This, however, he flatly refused to do upon any conditions: and Captain Hoste, the senior officer, not feeling himself sufficiently authorized to attack the fortress, and not being per fectly assured of the sincerity of the inhabitants, caused them to be informed, that a written declaration, signed by the principal Parguinotes, expressive of their real intentions, would be required, in the first instance; and, further, that if they themselves would take possession of the Citadel, and substitute the British for the French flag, the English forces would come to their aid, and they would be received under the protection of his Britannic Majesty. These conditions were complied with to the letter. The required declaration, bearing date the 17th of March, and confirming the offer they had made, and the condition which formed the basis of the engagement they had come under, viz. that "it was the determination of their country to follow the fate of the Ionian Islands, having always been under the same jurisdiction," was forwarded with

perately." In animadverting upon the details of the cruelties of Ali Pasha, given by Hobhouse, Pouqueville, Duval, and the Edinburgh Review, he himself, after expressing his doubts of their truth, adds, "those stated by Dr Holland are entitled to credit." What, then, does this traveller, confessedly "entitled to credit," say of this affair? "The Parguinotes, after repelling bravely an attack made on them by the forces of Ali Pasha, cordially received the English into their town, hoping for an efficient defence from their power." How will the Reviewer reconcile this with his story of a single Parguinote lying in ambush, and with his broad assertion that, except Daut Bey, no person was killed on either side? Were the Pasha's attacks as bloodless as those of the Italian Condottieri? But we have still more minute and detailed testimony to produce. "The French garrison having retired into the citadel," says the Rev. T. S. Hughes," the only opposition was made by the bravery of the inhabitants. They marched out with exultation to the defence of their country, accompanied by their women and children, who handed ammunition, and loaded the muskets of their husbands and their parents. The contest was neither long nor sanguinary, for the Parguinotes having the advantage of ground and shelter, effectually checked the Vizier's troops, who were obliged to retire, after losing several of their companions !— In the evening, we took a long walk through the environs of Parga, which had been the scene of Ali Pasha's late defeat; the olive trees all around were marked with musket balls." We might also quote Pouqueville and others; but have confined our. selves to authorities, which the Reviewer acknowledges to be "deserving of credit."

out delay to the British authorities at Paxo; the British flag was hoisted on the citadel by the inhabitants, who had surprised and overpowered the French garrison; and on the 22d the fortress, the French garrison, twenty pieces of cannon, ammunition, stores, and the whole country, were delivered over to the British forces, under Sir Charles Gordon; without, be it observed, a single objection being stated to the condition so formally and prominently stated in the declaration of the Primates. From this time, till March 1817, a small detachment of British troops, amounting, we believe, only to thirty, did duty in the Citadel; but, at this latter period, it was found necessary, by Sir Thomas Maitland, who had succeeded General Campbell, to reinforce the garrison, in order, as he emphatically enough said, to put it in a condition to resist any of the "tricks" of Ali Pasha to gain possession of it, brevi manu.

We have now, therefore, reached the period at which the first and main branch of the case,-namely, whether the stipulations made on the part of the Parguinotes, when they agreed to surrender their fortress and territory to the British, and tacitly acceded to by the officers to whom, at their own special request, those conditions were presented, gave the inhabitants a right to the continuance of British protection; and whether the treaty of 1800 was so far obligatory on Britain as to leave our Government no alternative but the surrender of Parga to the Porte, in terms of that treaty, and in violation of the agreement entered into by our own officers, -naturally falls to be discussed. The destiny of the Ionian Islands was, it seems, a matter of much deliberation, both at the Congress of Vienna

and at Paris in 1815: at last, however, Russia, Austria, and Prussia*, were induced to offer to Great Britain the sovereign protection of the Septinsular Republic; and the first article of the Treaty of Paris, of date November 5, 1815, by which that offer was ratified and consummated, is in the following words:-" The Isles of Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Cerigo, and Paxo, WITH THEIR DEPENDENCIES, as designated in the treaty between his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias and the Ottoman Porte, concluded on the 21st of March 1800, shall form a single, free, and independent State, under the denomination of the United States of the Ionian Isles." Now, two questions, which it is of great importance to solve, here present themselves; and these are, What is meant by the "dependencies" of the Ionian Isles? and, Was the treaty of 1800 revived, and re-enforced by that of Paris in 1815? In answer to the former of these questions, we beg leave to quote a passage from the copy of Instructions, dated Corfu, 11th May 1815, and furnished by General Campbell, Commander of the Forces in the Ionian Islands, to the officer commanding the detachment of British troops in Parga: "The fortress of Parga is considered as an appendage of the Government of the Seven Ionian Islands, and more particularly as an outwork of the garrison of Corfu, towards the Turkish frontier." This is a correct description of the fact; for, with the exception of the six years immediately succeeding the ratification of the treaty of 1800, between Russia and the Ottoman Porte, when a single Turkish Voivode resided in Parga, at the express request of the people themselves, they had invariably "followed the

It sounds strange in our ears, we confess, to hear of Austria and Prussia, who do not both possess as many ships of war as would suffice to silence a ten-gun battery, well served, generously "offering" to Britain the “sovereign protection" of colonies which her own forces had wrested from the common enemy. This, however, may be part of the eisoteric mysteries of diplomacy which none but the initiated are able to comprehend. Upon the same principle (and it is only from general principles that we can reason on such subjects) they might have kindly offered" her the "sovereign protection" of her Indian Empire, which she holds by no better title than she did the Republic of the Seven Islands, anterior to this gracious and condescending "offer" on the part of the powers above named. Of Russia we say nothing, because in her case, at least, there is no absurdity.

havoc and destruction. It is notorious, moreover, that he was burning to wreak his fury on the devoted Parguinotes, and to consign them to slaughter, in revenge for the numerous disappointments and repulses he had met with, and particularly for the death of Daut Bey, his favourite nephew, over whose body he erected a monument within view of the ramparts of Parga, thereby giving warning what fate was decreed for them, should fortune place them in his power. This barbarian was as smooth, supple, and insinuating, as he was unpitying and remorseless. In reference to his real character, his fierce but well-disguised passions, and his long-cherished and neversatiated revenge, as contrasted with his outward mildness and placid address, Dr Holland has remarked, with singular truth and felicity of illustration, that it was "the fire of a stove, burning fiercely under a smooth and polished surface." To talk of construing a treaty rigidly to the letter, in favour of a man whom no treaty could bind, when either his passions or his interest was concerned in the breach of it, is as ridiculous in reason as it would have proved inhuman in its consequences.

fate of the Ionian Isles, and been always under the same jurisdiction *." But we shall here be answered, that the "dependencies" of the Ionian Isles are expressly pointed out by the words, as designated in the treaty of 1800 between Russia and the Ottoman Porte, according to which, Preveza, Parga, Vonitza, and Butrintro, are ceded to the latter power, under certain specified conditions solemnly guaranteed by the former. The examination of this plea will constitute the answer to our second question. The treaty of 1800 was either revived by the treaty of 1815, and still in full force, or it was not. If the former be assumed, then we were bound to undertake the Russian guarantee, not only in the case of Parga, but also in that of Preveza, Vonitza, and Butrintro, and to ensure to the Christian inhabitants of those towns the free exercise of their religion, the undisturbed enjoyment of their personal and real property, and the continuance of their own "usages, relative to civil and criminal procedures." If, on the contrary, the latter be assumed, namely, that the treaty of 1800 was no longer in force, then it is as clear as day, that neither Ali Pasha nor the Porte had the least right or title to set up But, says the Quarterly Review, any claim for the surrender of Parga, "there is no article in the British as that town is not so much as men- Treaty of 1815 which confirms, or tioned in the treaty of 1815; and by by which Great Britain takes upon the supposition the former one, upon herself the conditions of 1800; they which the Pasha invariably ground- were perfectly foreign to her; they ed his claim, was no longer in force. could not have been listened to for a But even if the treaty of 1800 had moment; and that treaty was referbeen still in force, it is manifest, that red to merely as the means of definno person in the world could pleading the limits of the new territory to the stipulations of that treaty with a be placed under her protection." If worse grace than Ali Pasha, who had this was the case, how comes the violated every one of them, who had Reviewer to state, as he does in the exterminated or expelled the Chris- preceding page, that " every artian inhabitants, confiscated their rangement which related to Parga property, and reduced Preveza, Bu- was comprehended in the treaty betrintro, Suli, Nivitza, Aghio Vassali, tween Russia and the Ottoman Porte, Gardiki, and other neighbouring WHICH WAS STILL IN FULL FORCE?" places, to heaps of smoking ruins, Now, with respect to whom, we and whose course, like that of the would ask, was this treaty "still in Angel of Death, was marked by full force?" Not on the part of

This is, in some degree, admitted by Sir T. Maitland himself. In the preamble to an Act passed in the Second Session of the First Parliament of the United States of the Ionian Islands, under date May 22d 1819, and declaratory of the state and condition of the inhabitants of Parga and its territory, we meet with the following words: "Whereas the inhabitants of the city, fort, and territory of Parga, have EVER been considered as citizens of the Ionian States, &c. &c."

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Britain; for that, as we have just seen, is formally disavowed: not on the part of Russia; for she was no longer to possess the Ionian Islands, which rendered her guarantee unne cessary: not with respect to the Porte, to whom, by the treaty, Russia alone could deliver up the towns on the Albanian coast: not on the part of Parga; for that little state had constantly resisted the surrender of its fort and territory, and been aided and abetted by Russia herself in that resistance. But without attempting to reconcile these incongruities, if, as has been asserted, the treaty of 1800 "was referred to merely as the means of defining the limits of the new territory to be placed under the protection of Great Britain," our negociators must have been very inattentive indeed not to perceive, that, in the altered circumstances of 1815, this would lead to great confusion, and that it would have been better to specify distinctly what was to be considered as "dependencies" of the Ionian Isles, than to dismiss the matter with a mere vague reference to a treaty which ought to have expired with the events that gave it birth. Whether from neglect or intention, no mention is made of Parga in the treaty of Paris, though at the very time when that treaty was signed, it was occupied by British troops, who had been admitted by the inhabitants upon certain conditions, and though, as the Reviewer contends, the surrender of that territory was then contemplated by the British Ministers. This seems to us sufficiently strange. It is true, the Reviewer strenuously main tains, that "no stipulations whatever were entered into by, or in behalf of, the British Government; no other promises were made-no other assurances given, than such as held out to them (the Parguinotes) generally a continuance of security and protection, so long as the British flag should fly on their fort ;" and he quotes, in support of his allegation, some letter said to have been dictated by General Sir James Campbell, few days before his death," but of which, unfortunately, no copy has been given to the public. Be this as it may, however, we have been accustomed to think, that a positive contract

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might be inferred from certain public acts, with nearly as much certainty as if it had been reduced to a formal deed, and that, in the absence of such a deed, these acts form the only data from which a conclusion can be drawn. Now, what are the public acts in this case? A declaration is required from the inhabitants of Parga, and that declaration, engaging to submit their "country and territories to the arms of Great Britain," is given, coupled, however, with a condition, expressive of the "determination of the country to follow the fate of the Ionian Isles, as it had al ways been under the same jurisdiction." Will it be pretended that this condition, when tendered, was refused? Surely that was the moment to apprize the Primates of the exact amount of the dependence they were to place on British protection. The Parguinotes stated, fairly and explicitly, their object and views in throwing themselves into the arms of Britain, and they had every right to expect the same good faith in return: the more especially as (according to the declaration of Capt. Hoste)" the dispossessing the enemy of Parga would considerably distress Corfu," then closely blockaded. It is allowed on all hands, that the Parguinotes firmly believed that they were taken under the permanent protection of Britain, and that they would ultimately form an appendage of the Ionian Islands. Why were they allowed to cherish this belief, when one word might have undeceived them, and when they ought to have been formally certified that they were only taken provisionally under British protection, and till the fate of their little country should be determined at a general peace? The Reviewer and his client, Sir Themas Maitland, are, therefore, between the horns of a dilemma: either the condition specified by the Parguinotes was accepted, or the British officers acted with a degree of bad faith not often exceeded they may take their choice. Had the Parguinotes ever dreamt that Britain, from a ridiculous deference to a defunct treaty, would deliver up their country to their mortal enemy, a catastrophe which, amidst all the political commotions and changes of the last thirty

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years, and in spite of all the wiles and power of Ali Pasha, they had successfully struggled to avert, there cannot be a doubt, we think, that they would have tempted all hazards, and braved every extremity, rather than have witnessed the British flag floating over their ramparts.

But farther; if Britain was really bound to deliver up the place at all, she was bound to do so uncondition ally, just as she would a sugar or a spice island to the French or Dutch at the end of a war: and if the inhabitants chose to emigrate, it was no affair of hers; she was not bound to procure them an equivalent for the property they voluntarily abandoned; they might stay and enjoy it, as heretofore, or sell it to the highest bidder. On the other hand, it is extremely improbable that Ali Pasha would have subscribed to such an arrangement, had he felt that his title to the possession of Parga was clear and undisputable. But the interference of the British Government, or rather of the Lord High Commissioner, in this matter, it has been said, was dictated by humanity, by a desire at once to preserve to the Parguinotes the value of their property, and to enable such of them as chose to embrace the opportunity to withdraw beyond the reach of the Pasha's vengeance. Now, this plea would not only be creditable, but in the highest degree honourable and praiseworthy, did we not unfortunately happen to know that Mr Cartwright, the Commissioner appointed by Sir Thomas Maitland, used every effort, in conjunction with the Ottoman Commissioner, Hamed Bey, to induce the Parguinotes to give up their intention to emigrate, and to trust to the hollow and deceitful promises of the Vizier.

Pudet haec opprobria nobis, Et dici potuisse, et non potuisse refelli. Thus we have seen, that, during the Russian and French occupation of the Ionian Isles, the pretensions of Ali Pasha to the possession of Parga were either directly or indirectly resisted, even when, as in the case of the former, the treaty of 1800 was in full force; that the assumed revival of this treaty by that of Paris in 1815, involves numberless contra

dictions and absurdities; that Parga was delivered up to the British forces under a distinct stipulation, ratified and accepted by the act of the English Commanders, that it should "follow the fate of the Ionian Isles; and that the surrender of this little territory, by which the inhabitants were compelled, in order to avoid extermination, to abandon the country of their birth and of their forefathers, -endeared to them non quia larga, sed quia sua, and by the struggles which they had made to defend and preserve it, was rendered obligatory upon us, neither in respect to nation. al honour, nor the faith which this country has uniformly and proudly maintained in the matter of treaties. We shall now proceed to record, briefly, the circumstances connected with the final abandonment of this unhappy country.

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From the moment of the British occupation, the hopes of Ali Pasha, who had never lost sight of his favourite object, were revived; and one of his first steps was an act of such coarse and vulgar fraud, as, while it is characteristic of the man, renders it utterly ridiculous, nay, monstrous, to talk or reason of the faith of trea ties as far as he is concerned. caused a memorial, or petition, to be drawn up, in the name of the Parguis notes, with the forged signatures of fifty of the principal inhabitants, and addressed to the Ottoman Porte, entreating that power to place Parga under its direct and immediate jurisdiction. But General Campbell, who then commanded at Corfu, and who was not to be cajoled or hum bugged, like his successor, discover ed this paltry trick, and defeated its object. Ali was not, however, discouraged. He had long intrigued with the Divan, the members of which sapient conclave had frequently fingered the gold wrung from the blood and marrow of his subjects. By means of this very intelligible logic, he succeeded in persuading the Divan to demand Parga, as the price of the accession of the Ottoman Porte to the Convention of Paris; and, what is more wonderful still, his Britannic Majesty's Minister at Constantinople agreed to the proposition of the Divan, and that a Commissioner from the Porte should

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