the country, about 700 persons, chiefly peasants, whom they meant to divide among themselves as slaves; but not being able to agree in the partition, they began to quarrel. A priest, more humane than the rest, expostulated with them upon their dissensions, and exhorted them to concord; when one of the monsters exclaimed, that the only way to avoid dissension was to put them all to the sword; and, in less than half an hour, all these innocent men were massacred.

The ferocity of the soldiers received every encouragement from the injunctions and example of their leaders. On the 8th of May the pacha ordered 35 respectable men, whom he had on board, to be hung up to the masts; which served as a signal to the governor of the castle to do the same with the 85 hostages, who were in his power, and to order the 800 gardeners, who were still in custody, to be strangled.

The

The work of carnage and devastation ceased, only when nothing could be found on which it could be exercised; and, in a few weeks, the most wealthy and prosperous island in the Levant be came a desolated wilderness. summer approached: as the genial climate and fertility of the soil could not be annihilated by Turkish crimes, rich harvests again waived over the fields, that were now without masters or owners; but there remained few to enjoy the bounty of nature; there were not to be found in Scio even hands sufficient to collect the ripening fruits of the earth. Scio, in the beginning of the year, contained 120,000 souls; in the end of July, there remained in it only 900 persons; and even this miserable

remnant was in danger of being cut off by a pestilence, which followed the horrid catastrophe.

The cruelty, which laid Scio waste, did not spare the hostages, who were kept at Constantinople; they were all put to death, in spite of the utmost exertions of lord Strangford to save them.

It is consolatory to be able to add, that the perpetrators of these horrors did not all escape with impunity. On the night of the 18th of June, two Greek fire-ships, eluding the observation of eleven Turkish men of war, penetrated into the canal of Scio, and succeeded, by skilful manœuvres, in approaching the admiral's ship, the Turks supposing all the time that they were vessels belonging to their fleet. One of these fireships, about two in the morning, got so near to the admiral's ship, as to be able to grapple with it closely on the larboard side, and applying the fire there, spread consternation on board. The prodigious efforts of the crew at length succeeded in disengaging the admiral's ship' from the fire-ship, after which the ship of the captain bey, with which the fire-ship had also endeavoured to grapple, sunk it. But the Turks were not so fortunate with respect to the second fireship. This, too, approached the admiral's ship, and set fire to it, while the Turks were endeavouring to get rid of the other. The flames spread with such rapidity, that all the assistance which could be procured, and all the efforts that were made, proved useless. Within three quarters of an hour, a great part of the vessel was in flames, the fire reached the magazine, and the ship blew up with a terrible explosion.

The capitan pacha, who, though

severely wounded, was unwilling to leave his ship, was forcibly put into a boat by some of his attendants. A mast, however, which immediately fell, wounded him mortally on the head, and sunk the boat. He was brought ashore on part of the wreck, and expired within an hour after, and at ten o'clock next morning, was buried in the castle of Scio. Out of the whole crew, which consisted of more than 2,286, scarcely 200 were saved. Two other ships of the line and a frigate were also on the point of being destroyed. They were indebted for their safety only to the extraordinary activity of their crews; which, however, was not able to prevent them from sustaining great damage.

Even in islands, where no symptoms of revolt had appeared, the Turks glutted their appetite for misery and blood. Cyprus fared little better than Scio. In the districts of Paphos, Amathont and Famagousta, twenty-five thousand Christians fell, during the months of July and August, by the hands of the Turkish soldiery. Seventyfour villages, containing a population of 18,000 Christians, were destroyed; the old men and the married women were massacred; the children under four years of age, were butchered or thrown into the sea; the rest were sold for slaves. The churches, the monasteries, in a district of 40 square leagues, disappeared; the priests and monks, without exception, received the crown of martyrdom, and perished in torments.

One

part of the island was occupied by the troops of the pacha of Egypt; that part alone enjoyed tranquillity; and it was to the presence of the Egyptian commander, that even the Franks themselves owed their safety.

The negotiations with Russia continued to be carried on through the intervention of the Austrian and English ministers; and many diplomatic notes, of most formidable length, were exchanged. Wallachia and Moldavia were the chief subject of difference. Russia insisted, that the Turkish troops should evacuate these provinces, and that Greek hospodars should be appointed, as in former times. The Porte was unwilling to withdraw her soldiers, and still more averse to submit to Greeks two commands of so much importance, at a time when the Greek nation threatened the safety of the empire, and the Greek name was doubly odious to all zealous Mussulmen. At last, the obstinacy of the Porte gave way. Ghica and Stourdza, two of the native boyars (a deputation of twelve of them had been sent to Constantinople) were nominated to the office of hospodars; and, in July, the Turkish governors and troops were withdrawn from Wallachia and Moldavia.

The spirit of insubordination, which renders the janissaries at all times an object of terror to their master, was inflamed, in the present year, by the suspicions which they entertained, that the sultan and his favourite, Haleb Effendi, intended to disband them, and to organize a military force, after the Christian fashion. Many petty disturbances were, as usual, caused by them; but, in the month of July, towards the end of the Ramadan, they perpetrated enormities, which spread dismay throughout all the capital.

Five Ortas, or regiments of janissaries, revolted. Numerous bodies of them traversed the different streets of the capital, pillaging the houses, particularly those belonging to Greeks and Franks, and

massacreing even Mussulmen, whom they suspected not to be of their party. One band, proceeding to the quarter of the Jews, committed hideous excesses. Paying no respect to customs held sacred in the east, the Turkish baths were broken open, and the females violated. All the Christian women, who could be discovered, were dragged to the slaves' bazaar, and sold to the highest bidder. The plan of the rebels was, to gain possession of the grand vizier's palace, and afterwards to proceed to the seraglio. At first, the most laudable efforts were in vain made by Hadschi-Salih, the grand vizier, to appease the mutineers. But not succeeding, and not daring to trust the remaining ortas of the janissaries which had taken no part in the revolt, he resolved to oppose another description of troops to the rebels, and I called to his assistance Ibrahim Pacha, commandant of the Asiatic troops encamped at Bujukdere. After distributing considerable sums among these soldiers, Ibrahim put himself at their head and attacked the janissaries. The streets of Constantinople became then the scene of a dreadful carnage; but the Asiatic troops at last obtained the victory. More than 200 janissaries were killed, and great numbers were executed on the spot. The usual mode of cutting off the head took up too much time, and they were, therefore, disposed of by tying several together and throwing them into the sea. Some thousands of the less guilty were embarked for the coast of Asia, and all the gaols, the arsenal, the lazaretto, and a number of ships in the harbour were filled with prisoners.

Thus the refractory janissaries were, for the mean time, reduced

to submission; but the whole body entertained a deep feeling of revenge for the severity which had been exercised towards their corps, and for the example, so fatal to their privileges, which had been set, of controlling their licentiousness by an armed force of a different kind. Their complaints and murmurs against Haleb Effendi, became every day louder. At last, in the beginning of November, the eldest of the corps assembled to draw up a petition to the sultan, in which they, in respectful but firm language, pointed out that favourite, as one of the chief authors of the evils that had befallen the Ottoman empire, and requested that he might be removed from office. Abdallah Pacha, who enjoyed high credit with the janissaries, and had several times succeeded in making them return to their obedience, undertook, at their request, to present their petition to the sovereign, and accompanied it with an energetic memorial of his own. Sultan Mahmoud saw that

he must yield.

On the night of the 9th of November, the grand vizier and the mufti, both creatures of Haleb Effendi, were deposed, and the seals of the empire given to Abdallah Pacha, who then commanded the army stationed at Scutari. The vacant place of mufti was given to Sidke Sadi, member of the body of Ulemas.

Haleb Effendi himself received orders on the 10th, in the afternoon, to leave the capital: a Capidgi Baschi accompanied him to Brussa, where he was to await his further destiny. At the same time, the head barber, and the chief of the coffee-houses, two officers of Haleb's family, in the interior of the seraglio, were dismissed and banished to Asia.

This triumph was not enough for the janissaries. They demand ed that, for the future, delegates from their body should be called to all deliberations on state affairs. Their demand was complied with. They sacked the palace of the dismissed favourite, and insisted that he and his adherents should not be suffered to live: this, too, was conceded; and the heads of Haleb Effendi, of the grand vizier, of the director of the customs, and of other public functionaries, were exhibited over the great gate of the scraglio.

The events of this year disproved the professions, which Persia made, in 1821, of peaceful intentions towards the Porte, and threw some light on the origin of the quarrel between them. The pachas of the Turkish province of Azzarroon being accustomed to annoy the Persian pilgrims, merchants, and travellers, Abbas Mirza, prince royal of Persia, frequently remonstrated against these outrages, and dispatched missions to Constantinople, to represent the conduct of the Turkish governors to the Ottoman court.

Fair promises were made to investigate the complaints; but though the pachas of Azzarroon were frequently changed, similar excesses were repeated. For instance, when some Persian students arrived at Constantinople, on their return to Tabriz from England, the grand seignor and his vizir furnished them with passports, to protect their books, instruments, medicines, and the other contents of their baggage, from impost or search; yet, on their reaching Azzarroon, the passports were disregarded, their baggage was ransacked, and contributions were attempted to be exacted by way of

duty. On another occasion, when the Schah of Persia sent two of his wives, accompanied by several noble ladies, on a pilgrimage to Mecca, their persons were indecently searched at Azzarroon, and they were in other respects insulted. The prince royal despatched Aka Mustapha to Constantinople, to complain of this outrage; but the pacha detained him in his way, at Azzarroon, for four months, and then sent him back to Tabriz with excuses and promises of amendment, which were never realized. Soon afterwards, Sadick, who had formerly been pacha of Bagdad, being killed by his successor, his son fied to Tabriz and invoked the prince to assist him with an army against Bagdad, to avenge the murder of his father. This the prince declined, but undertook to obtain redress for him from the Porte, and accordingly sent one of his own servants to accompany the young Sadick to Constantinople, who bore a Rakhum from the prince royal to the grand seignor. The pacha of Azzarroon intercepted thein, tore the prince's Rakhum to pieces, cut off Sadick's head, and sent back the prince royal's servant to Persia on foot.

Finding from these repeated instances of insult, that remonstrance was unavailing, the prince royal determined to retaliate upon the Pacha of Azzarroon. Of this intention he sent notice to the Ottoman Porte, and despatched an army, in the Summer of 1821, into the Turkish province of Wan, on the castern banks of the Euphrates, inhabited by a race of Christians. The Persians attacked and took possession of the town and fort of Byzied, a public station in the central road from Tabriz to Constantinople. In the winter,

the Kayem Makom, wishing to prevent a renewal of hostilities, sent a messenger to the Pacha of Azzarroon, and proposed to mediate between him and the prince of Persia. The messenger returned with an assurance, that a person should be sent to Persia to make peace. After a lapse of four months, during which time the Kayem Makom prevailed on the prince to suspend hostilities, intelligence was received, that an army of 10,000 men was collected in Azzarroon, and that large preparation was making for a renewal of the war. At the same time Hosien Khan, the king's sirdar or governor of Erivan, the capital of Armenia, sent advices, that the Turkish troops were on the eve of commencing an attack in that quarter, and urged the prince to secure the boundary and cut them off from Armenia. The prince accordingly instructed the Sirdar to advance from Erivan and attack the troops on their way from Azzarroon. The Sirdar did so, and took possession of the town of Korse, a frontier military station of the Turks near Armenia, and lying between Erivan and Azzar

roon.

The Persians were subsequently joined by Selim Pacha, a Kurdish rebel, by whose aid they were enabled to obtain considerable advantages. The prince royal him

self, on the 1st of July, marched from Tabriz with his army; and, on the 3rd of August, attacked the Turks, who, in less than an hour, were completely defeated, with the loss of their tents and baggage, ten 4-pounders, two 12pounders, one 14-pounder, one 16pounder, and one mortar. The Persians pursued them to within. two days' march of Azzarroon; and there was every probability that that place would have fallen into their hands, but the choleramorbus began to prevail among the victorious troops, and fatigue rendering the disease mortal, the prince royal and his army returned to Tabriz with the spoils they had taken.

At the same time, the Schah himself directed his march against Bagdad; the inhabitants of which, it was supposed, were extremely inclined to open their gates to him. Among his retinue was that Abbas Mirza, who had so long resided in London as ambassador.

The internal dissensions, which had distracted Morocco, came this year to a conclusion. Muley Zeid, the competitor for the throne, was delivered up to his uncle Muley Solomon, and imprisoned. The authority of the aged emperor was completely re-estab lished both in old Fez and Tetuan.