have borne the appearance of compromising a national insult, and Italinski being dispatched to replace him at Constantinople, amicable relations were restored between Russia and the Porte. The design of Napoleon was thus effectually thwarted, nor did any opportunity occur of renewing the attempt till the exertions of Sebastiani served unexpectedly to effect its accomplishment. The Divan, at the moment of his arrival, was divided into two parties, favourable to the several interests of England and Russia; the Grand Vizir, the Capitan Pacha, and a large proportion of the other ministers, together with the Hospodars of Moldavia and Wallachia, were attached to the cause of the latter; whilst that of the former was chiefly supported by the friends of the Reis Effendi, who had been Secretary of Legation at London in 1797, and was a violent partisan of the English.* By the intrigues of Sebastiani, the English faction were speedily ousted, and replaced by individuals favourable to France; and it only remained to remove the Russian party in the same manner, and attach the Divan undividedly to the interests of Napoleon. The brilliant successes of the Emperor, the capture of Vienna, and the victory of Austerlitz, served to facilitate the task of his A.D. 1806. 1806. A.D. ambassador, and he had little difficulty in inducing the Sultan, in 1805, to infringe the treaty of Yassi,* and depose the Hospodars Ipsilanti and Morousi, who were known to be friendly to Russia, in order to confer their governments on the Prince Charles Callimachi and Aleko Sowzo, who had espoused the party of the French. An effectual breach was thus accomplished between the courts of St. Petersburgh and Constantinople, and the Russian Emperor protested instantly against this infringement of the constitution of the two principalities. The Sultan, alarmed at his remonstrance, hasted to remedy the injury and restore the Hospodars; but Alexander, already dissatisfied with the disposition towards France manifested by the Divan, rejected his submissions, and in November 1806 took military possession of the two Hospodariats. Temporizing measures were no longer available, and in the December following war was proclaimed against Russia by the Porte.† On the first intimation of these proceedings and the certainty of an approaching rupture, Ali Pacha hasted to occupy the Venetian towns on the coast; he marched without delay upon Prevesa, drove out the Ottoman resident, Ab * See vol. ii. of this History, c. xii. n. p. 28. + December 17, 1806. 1806. dulla Bey, and garrisoned the fortress with his A.D. own soldiers. Contrary to the treaty of 1800, he next proceeded to despoil the principal inhabitants of their property and houses, which he conferred upon his followers; and having demolished two-thirds of the town, laid the foundations of a mosque, and commenced building a palace for his future residence, he retired to attack the other positions. Butrinto and Vonitza shared the same fate with Prevesa, and Parga narrowly escaped destruction by the timely arrival of a reinforcement of Russian troops. This fresh disappointment in gaining possession of a spot which the Pacha had so long coveted, was galling for the moment; but his irritation was in some degree allayed by the prospect of securing some of the Ionian Islands in the approaching struggle. His designs on this head were promptly communicated to and warmly seconded by Sebastiani; he procured him immediate supplies of ammunition and military stores, French engineers were dispatched to his assistance, and for the more complete extension of his power the pachalics of the Morea and Lepanto were procured for his sons Veli and Mouctar, by the interests of the French minister. Under such favourable Hughes, v. ii. p. 177. + Pouqueville, v. i. p. 254. Life of Ali Pacha, p. 174. 1806. 1807. A.D. auspices his preparations for attacking the islands proceeded with all assiduity and dispatch; the fortresses of Epirus were repaired, provisioned, and garrisoned, and 12,000 men were assembled and in readiness to march at the first signal from the Porte or Napoleon. But ere any decisive step had been taken, the destruction of Prussia, and the subsequent losses A.D. of the Russians at Preuss-Eylau, and Friedland, had totally changed the aspect of affairs, as regarded the relations of France and the Czar. Alexander, on the defeat of his army under Bennigsen,* had been speedily disposed for peace, and at the treaty of Tilsit, in July 1807, amongst other arrangements entered into between him and Napoleon, the Ionian Republic was unreservedly transferred to the Emperor of France.† July 7th. The intelligence of this sinister event arrived at the moment when the vizir was preparing to quell an alarming movement amongst the Klefts of Thessaly. A remnant of the confederacy of Santa Maura had still survived amidst the mountains of Khasia, a wild and semi-civilized district between Mount Pindus and the Peneus; and the breaking out of hos * June 14, 1807. + Pouqueville, v. i. p. 256. See vol. i. of this History, c. viii. p. 261. tilities between Russia and the Porte served to infuse new spirit into the hopes of its leaders. The head of the conspiracy at this period was Enthymius Blachavas, a descendant of a family distinguished for many generations amidst the captains of the Thessalian Armatoli. As the eldest of his family, he was destined by his father for the priesthood, and the circumstances of his early education procured him amongst his companions the surname of Pappas Enthymius. His taste, however, was directed rather to the sword than the altar; and on the decease of his father he abruptly abandoned his sacred profession, and was hailed by his younger brothers as the chief of his clan. Of all the leaders of the Armatoli none was more remarkable than Blachavas for his unparleying detestation of his tyrants, and his stern resistance of every overture made to him by the Pachas of Roumelia. His mind, too, was of a more comprehensive cast than the generality of his associates; and whilst their attention was directed solely to the maintenance of freedom in their own isolated districts, the thoughts of Enthymius had ever embraced the nobler object of emancipating Greece. In the confederacy of 1805 he had taken an influential part, and on its frustration by the Pacha, he had Fauriel, v. i. p. 200. 1807. |