1789. A.D. seph Pacha are said to have been equally anxious for the commencement of hostilities, the one through the hope of military distinction, the other to get rid of two dangerous rivals near the throne of the Sultan ;* and, contrary to the immediate wishes of both sovereigns, war was suddenly proclaimed by the A.D. Porte, on the 18th of August, 1787.† 1787. The first successes of the Empress against the armies of the Sultan, her unexpected rupture with Sweden, and her reliance on the support of Austria, who had, early in 1788, declared hostilities against the Porte, served for some time to distract her attention from the affairs of Greece: when, however, she found herself about to be involved in the sole weight of the war, by the relaxation and subsequent death of Joseph II.§ she at length bethought herself seriously of this expectant and A.D. enthusiastic ally. She had already, in 1788, prepared a fleet for the Mediterranean, which 1788. * Rizo, in his History of Modern Greece, has given a curious account of this intrigue on the part of the Turkish minister, (p. ii. c. 2. p. 99.) and the wishes of Potemkin are explicitly stated by Rabbe (p. 429) Castera, and Tooke. + Life of Catharine II. c. iii. c. xv. p. 165. Castera, v. ii.: c. xi. p. 22. Rizo, p. 105. Annual Register, 1788, c. i. pp. 4, 6. February 10, 1788. Annual Register, 1788, pp. 25, 31. § February 10, 1790. had been long detained in the Northern seas by the difficulties of equipment, the prohibition of British seamen from entering into her service, and the delays consequent on the quarrel of the Empress with the Swedish monarch.* Psaro, the Myconiot, who in the last expedition had commanded the Eastern Legion of Sparta, was sent to Sicily to prepare stores and magazines for this squadron on its arrival; and he was likewise furnished with the requisite funds, and directed to co-operate with Sotiri, one of the primates of Vostizza, who had been dispatched into Epirus and Albania for the purpose of arousing his countrymen. This district had been decided upon as the most promising, in consequence of the timidity with which the Moreots, who were still smarting from their late defeat, were disposed to regard a fresh attempt at insurrection. Sotiri had, however, been received with enthusiasm by the inhabitants of Suli and Chamouri. The fortresses of the Acheron became instantly the centre of a new conspiracy; their already armed warriors were convened into a willing league against the Ottomans; and a voluntary subscription was entered into, as well by the native as the European Greeks, for the equipment of a squadron to co-operate with the Eton, p. 353. * A.D. 1789. 1789. A.D. expected fleet of the Czarina. A division of twelve small vessels was prepared in the various ports of the Mediterranean, and their united command entrusted to Lambro Canziani, who commenced his cruise in the ArchiA.D. pelago, in April 1790.* 1790. Ali, apprized of the hostile preparations of the Suliots, in conjunction with his rival, (Ibrahim of Berat,) dispatched with promptitude an army of 3000 men against them. They found, as usual, the villages of the plain deserted, the fortresses and towers of the Acheron provisioned and garrisoned, and the whole force of the warlike community prepared for defence. Not daring to attack them in their intrenchments, his troops dispersed themselves over the adjacent country, plundering in every direction the territory of the Suliots; till the latter, exasperated at their atrocities, descended from their fastness, defeated and dispersed his army, and pursued them as far as Joannina, laying waste the lands and burning the mosques of the Mahometans.† Eton, p. 354. Annual Register, 1791, p. 92. Rizo, pp. 114, 116. Fauriel, v. i. p. 237. Villemain, p. 247. Rabbe, p. 672. Pouqueville, v. i. c. iii. p. 80. + Perevos, v. i. c. v. p. 38. Fauriel, v. i. p. 234. Rizo, p. 114. p. 92. Eton, p. 345. It has been added that a son of Ali was slain in this action, whose armour was subsequently presented to Catharine II. Rizo has repeated this story, which 1790. A.D In the mean time the Greeks had found A.D. ample reason for complaint against the conduct of Psaro, and the other agents of the Empress, with whom they were in communication. The sums destined for their service were alleged to be embezzled by the Myconiot, and even the arms and ammunition requisite for the war in which they found themselves involved, were withheld by its instigators. A deputation was in consequence dispatched from Suli to St. Petersburgh, to complain of their grievances; and in April 1790, they presented a memorial to the Empress, in which they reprobated in the most indignant terms the proceedings of Psaro, and the ruinous consequences which his villainy was likely to entail upon their countrymen. They came, they said, not to solicit the treasures of the Czarina, but to beg for powder and for balls, and to be led to battle; they came to lay the crown of their ancient kingdom at her feet, and to entreat her to confer on them a sovereign, since the race of their own monarchs appears first in Eton; but the death of such a son is not mentioned by any of the biographers of the Pacha; and M. Dufey seems to have given the true version of the fact, when he states that Mouctar lost his splendid accoutrements in the defeat: "Son fils Mouctar perdit sur le champ de battaille sa riche armure, qui orna les trophées des vainqueurs."-Régénération, &c. c. v. p. 55. 1790. April. A.D. 1790. was no more. Their reception by Catharine was gracious in the extreme; she acceded to every request, and promised prompt and efficient assistance. They were conducted by her directions to the apartments of Constantine, whom they saluted as the " King of the Greeks;" and being furnished with funds by the Empress, they were dispatched to confer with Potemkin, in Moldavia, whence they returned to Greece, accompanied by Tamara, the Ukranian, who had been entrusted with the superintendence of their plans.† The proceedings of Lambro Canziani, in the interim, had been so vigorous as to excite considerable alarm to the Divan, and a portion of the Turkish fleet in the Black Sea was ordered to the Mediterranean to oppose him. His little squadron had been speedily joined on its first appearance by numerous small vessels, which mounted, by permission, the Russian * Οὐκ αἰτήσαμεν ποτὲ καὶ οὐκ αἰτοῦμεν τοὺς σοῦς θησαυρούς, οὐκ αἰτήσαμεν εἰμὴ πύριον κόνιν καὶ σιδήριους σφέρας, καὶ ἐν τῷ ὁδηγεῖν ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν μάχην. Νεῦσον οὖν Κυρία διδόναι ἡμῖν σὸν ἔγγονον Κωνσταντίνον διὰ ἄνακτα ἡμῶν, τοῦτο μόνον τὸ γένος ὅλον ἡμῶν αἰτεῖ δεόμενον (γένος γὰρ τῶν ἡμῶν Αὐτοκρατόρων ἀπεσβέσθη) καὶ ἔσεται ὡς τοὺς προγό YOUS AUTOU. The original will be found in Eton, p. 344. + Eton, pp. 356, 367. Annual Register, 1791, pp. 94, 228. Villemain, p. 247. |