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PARGA AND THE IONIAN ISLANDS

THE cession of Parga and its little territory to the Turks, or, more properly speaking, to Ali Pasha, excited a very strong sensation, both in this country and throughout Europe. The abandonment, to their deadly and implacable enemy, of a small Christian community, which, perched on an isolated rock, had so long baffled the arts and the power of the formidable Satrap of Epirus, and, amidst political changes and reverses, maintained its independence, was very generally regarded as an act of extremely doubtful policy, of very questionable humanity, and one which nothing but a great and clearly-established moral necessity could possibly justify. In this country, in particular, it was loudly and forcibly assailed, both through the medium of the press and in Parliament; and, like almost all subjects in which the conduct of Government is arraigned, speedily degenerated into a party question, and instead of undergoing a calm and impartial examination, merely furnished one faction with the opportunity of accusing, and another of recriminating or defending. Notwithstanding the anomalous political position of the individual under whose gracious auspices the cession was consummated, it supplied a welcome topic of declamation to the Whigs, who lauded to the very skies the courage and independent spirit of the Parguinotes; while the Tories, placed in the awkward and embarrassing predicament of defending the proceedings of a Whig Lord High Commissioner, contented themselves with forced constructions of treaties, with repeating, at second-hand, the special

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pleading of Sir Thomas Maitland,launching a little sarcasm and ridicule, when it was necessary to cover a weak position in argument, blink a puzzling fact, or mask a breach in the defence, and abusing, without mercy, the unhappy Parguinotes, who were depicted as a pestilent horde of Albanian pirates, or, at the best, a pack of such worthless scoundrels, that a nation less humane and generous than our own would have left them to the Old Lion †, to be devoured at his convenience.

While this warfare was going forward, we studiously avoided taking any share in the discussion. It is true, we believed then, as we do now, upon more complete and convincing evidence, that Government had been deceived, and the national honour so far compromised; but we were anxious, before coming to any very decided conclusion, to wait patiently for fuller and more authentic information, and to allow the feelings, caused by the bickerings and contentions of party, time to subside. Nor do we regret that we followed this course. The cession of Parga has now become a question of history; while the fall of the Pasha of Epirus, the insurrection in Greece kindled up from the dying embers of his power, the peculiar position of the Septinsular Republic in reference to the belligerent parties, and the conduct which the Lord High Commissioner has thought fit to pursue, have all contributed to keep alive a feeling of interest in every discussion which relates either to Greece, or the British power in the Ionian Sea. We shall therefore make no apology for now calling the

Parga and the Ionian Islands; comprehending a Refutation of the Quarterly Re view and of Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Maitland on the subject; with a Report of the Trial between that Officer and the Author. By Lieut.-Colonel C. P. de Bosset, &c. &c. London, 1821.

A Historical and Topographical Essay upon the Islands of Corfu, Leucadia, Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Zante: with Remarks upon the Character, Manners, and Customs, of the Ionian Greeks; descriptions of the scenery and remains of antiquity discovered therein, and Reflections upon the Cyclopean Ruins. By W. Goodissen, A. B., Assistant-Surgeon in His Majesty's 75th Regiment. London, 1822. + The name given to Ali Pasha by the Albanian KλE@T€15.

attention of our readers to a subject, which, though the mere amateur of novelty may regard it as un peu passé, presents strong claims to the attentive consideration of those who, to a prevailing love of truth, unite, like ourselves, an extreme sensibility to every act which can, in any degree, however remote, tarnish the lustre of British renown, or tend to lower that moral pre-eminence among the nations which made the name of Englishman be respected even when the tide of fortune set in most strongly against us, and to which, perhaps, as much as to our great power, or any other cause, we have been indebted, ultimately, for our unparalleled successes.

Parga is a small town situated on the coast of Epirus, or Albania, opposite the southern end of Corfu, and the northern extremity of Paxo: it is built on a conical rock, the summit of which is crowned by a fortified building, or citadel, and the base, which is on three sides washed by the sea, is surrounded with walls. From this isolated rock, the elevation of which above the level of the sea is about 245 feet, the eye ranges over one of the most magnificent prospects in the back-ground are the lofty mountains of Albania rising in the form of an amphitheatre, and in the fore-ground the Ionian Sea: on the right, at the distance of twelve miles, are the little islands of Paxo and Antipaxo; on the left, Santa Maura and the famous promontory of Leucate, immortalized by the death of Sappho: and further on, in nearly the same direction, appear the mountains of Cephalonia. The town itself, from which this glorious coup d'œil is obtained, consists of only one street, with a few narrow lanes, and, before the expatriation of the Parguinotes, contained between three and four thousand inhabitants. Anterior to the same event, the territory of Parga extended along the coast about three miles on either side of the fortress, and two into Albania, where it is bounded by a ridge of considerable elevation, the hand of Nature having apparently marked it out as an abode fitted for a small, happy, and independent community.

All the accounts we have seen concur in representing this as one of the most smiling and delightful spots on which the eye of man could wish to rest; while its picturesque beauty had been greatly improved by the industry of the inhabitants, aided by the fertilizing influence of the springs and rivulets which water every part of the soil. It was, in fact, one continued olive grove, agreeably diversified by a few scattered cottages, with oaks, plane-trees, or cypresses; by plantations of citrons, oranges, and cedrats, which last constituted a considerable branch of commerce, and by here and there a vineyard or a field devoted to the growing of

corn.

The Parguinotes differed materially in language, manners, and costume, from their neighbours the Albanians: the first was the Romaic, with a large mixture of Italian; the second were, many of them, peculiar to themselves; the last was that of the Greek Islanders. Their peculiar position in regard to the Turks, with whom they were almost constantly in a state of hostility, rendered them brave-their habits of industry, temperate. Agriculture and navigation constituted their principal occupations, and they excelled in both. Notwithstanding the calumnies which have been so basely propagated in this country, they appear, upon the whole, to have been a moral and virtuous community; superstitious, indeed, but certainly not more so than their countrymen of the islands, whom they greatly surpassed in courage, independence, and hospitality. The very circumstances of their having existed so long as a separate state in the bosom of the Turkish Empire, and latterly defied the whole power of the Pasha of Epirus, furnish sufficient proof of their courage and independence of spirit; while their hospitality was honourably displayed in the generous protection, which, at their own imminent peril, they afforded to the unhappy Suliotes, who escaped from the general massacre of their countrymen by the blood-thirsty and merciless Ali.

Parga cannot boast of any high

Citrus decumana.

community is to be dated, one of the nobility of Corfu, with the title of Governor, regularly presided in Parga; but the inferior magistrates were appointed by a council composed of the people, by which, when the Governors were guilty of malversation in office, they could be put under arrest till justice were obtained from Corfu, the residence of the GovernorGeneral of the Venetian possessions in the Ionian Islands. By their protectors, the Parguinotes were uniformly treated with great indulgence and favour. Though the garrison of the fortress, which generally consist

antiquity. Prior to the year 1400, the principal residence of the Parguinotes was situated, beyond the modern limits, at a mountainous spot now called Palæo Parga, where are still seen the ruins of a church or temple, and of some dwellings +. A traditional legend ascribes the migration of the Parguinotes from their elevated position on the adjacent mountain, to some miraculous freaks performed by an image of the Panagia, discovered by a shepherd in a cavern of the rock on which the modern town was afterwards built, and which, though carried by him to Paleo Parga, returned, in an invisi-ed of a company of Italian or Sclavoble manner of course, to the place where it had been found; thus con-veying to the people a broad hintwhich was not lost-to follow it. Setting this fable aside, which looks very like a trick of policy, played off to facilitate the execution of a measure wise and judicious in itself, it is clear, that the existence of the present town cannot be traced farther back than the irruption of the Turks into Greece under Mohammed II.

In 1401, the Parguinotes, alarmed by the great power and successes of the Moslems, invoked the protection of the Venetian Republic, which then commanded the Adriatic, possessed the Ionian Islands, and extended her commerce and influence throughout the whole of the Levant. This protection was granted, and (particularly after 1447) numerous privileges conferred upon the people. But all the authority and might of the Lion of St. Mark could not prevent Parga, in 1500, from being sacked and burnt by the Turks; and it was not till 1571 that it was rebuilt by the Parguinotes, and fortified by the Venetians. Subsequently to this event, from which its existence as a separate, and in some sort independent

nian troops, was entirely dependent on the orders of the Governor, the Parguinotes, among other advantages, enjoyed a total exemption from direct taxes, or from customs on the commodities either exported or imported, together with the liberty of cultivating and manufacturing tobacco; while natives trading with other Venetian possessions paid only half the duties established and exigible in those places. Thus encouraged and protected, Parga continued to prosper till the destruction of this venerable republic, in 1797, when it shared the fate of the Ionian Islands, and was taken military possession of by the French, in consequence of the treaty of Campo Formio.

It was easy to foresee that the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon, at the head of the greater part of the Army of Italy, would lead to an immediate declaration of war against France, on the part of the Ottoman Porte. Of this the Vizier Ali, Pasha of Epirus,

who had lately been intriguing with the conqueror of Italy, declaring himself "the staunchest disciple of the Jacobin religion," and protesting "that he was most anxious to be initiated into the worship of the Carmagnole, actually mistaking

No antique coins, or vestiges of Grecian ruins, are to be found in the district which lately constituted the Territory of Parga.

The Quarterly Review says " According to Miletius, Paleo Parga, or Old Parga, contained a greater number of inhabitants than any other (Parga?) in the Thesprotian division of Epirus; but of this-etiam periêre ruinæ." The assertion contained in the concluding quotation from Lucan, is contradicted by Colonel de Bosset and others, and though of no earthly consequence in itself, it shows that the Reviewer was more solicitous to foist in three words of Latin than to ascertain the truth of his statement. We shall have occasion to allude to the blunders of this Journal relative to Parga, in matters of more pith and moment.

Jacobinism and its excesses for a new religion,"-prepared to take advantage, by endeavouring to get possession of the places formerly held by the Venetians on the Continent. So successful had he been, indeed, in cajoling and deceiving the French Generals in Corfu, that though Napoleon, on his landing in Egypt, despatched an advice-boat for France, with orders to touch at the Ionian Islands, and put the officers in command there on their guard, they continued almost to the very last moment in the dark as to the views of the Vizier, who easily foresaw that the Republic of the Seven Islands might soon change masters. Accordingly, in 1798, he suddenly sat down before Preveza with a considerable army, assaulted and carried the place, massacring a great part of the inhabitants in cold blood. The object of this atrocious act was not so much to glut his appetite for blood, as to intimidate the Parguinotes, and induce them to submit to his power. In this view, he wrote letters to several of the leading individuals, urging them to rise on and put to death the French garrison, and to admit his Albanians into the fortress. But neither the hollow promises, nor the formidable menaces of this subtile and merciless barbarian, could alter the determination of the Parguinotes to maintain their independence, and, if possible, to attach themselves to the fate of the Ionian Islands. The French were immediately apprised of all that had occurred; but the combined attack of the Turks and Russians, which soon afterwards took place, now occupied the attention of their protectors, and forced them to withdraw from the other islands, in order to concentrate their forces in Corfu. From the Russians, however, who had just arrived in Zante, the Parguinotes received a promise of protection.

It is well known that the expulsion of the French from these islands, by the united forces of Russia and Turkey, was followed by the treaty of 1800, by which they were formed into a separate and independent state,

under the joint protection of the Porte and its ally, and by the name of the Republic of the Seven Islands. Preveza, Parga, Vonitza, and Butrinto, were ceded to the Porte, on condition that they should enjoy the free and full exercise of their religion; that Mahammedans should be forbidden to acquire any property among them; that "the usages of the country, relative to civil and criminal procedures, the nature of possession, and the order of hereditary possession," should not be changed; and that from the Rayahs of those countries, "who were now to be for the first time subjected to the Sublime Porte," the same tribute only which they had been accustomed to pay to the ex-republic of Venice should be exacted. But the privileges thus solemnly guaranteed to the inhabitants of these islands existed only on the parchment of the treaty. The Porte naturally detested the Giaours; and the Russian guarantee proved a

mere

delusion. Fortunately for themselves, the Parguinotes from the first refused to submit: they knew too well the inveterate and deadly revenge which the Vizier Ali cherished against them for so often baffling his cupidity and ambition; they had before their eyes the massacres he had perpetrated at Gardiki, for an outrage committed forty years before on his mother and sister, and at Preveza, merely as a piece of what he conceived policy; they were aware that no promises could bind him, and that, by means of his largesses, his influence with the Divan was such that he could readily procure their sanction to any atrocity, especially when committed against Christians*: accordingly, they held out for six months, that is, till towards the end of 1800 †," without any other ægis than their own arms." Perceiving, however, the impossibility of continuing much longer this unequal resistance, they despatched a deputy to Constantinople, and, by means of the Minister of the Septinsular Republic at the Divan, succeeded in procuring a Voivode, or Governor, to be sent them as a pro

• In the firmauns of the Divan, this crafty and merciless ruffian was sirnamed Aslan, or the Lion, solely on account of his massacres of the Epirote Christians. + The treaty of 1800 bears date the 21st of March.

tection: and in this state they remained till 1806, with only a single Moslem residing in the fortress.

In that year, war having broke out between the Porte and Russia, Ali Pasha seized upon Preveza, Butrinto, and Vonitza, expelled the greater part of the inhabitants, and confiscated their property. The treaty of 1800, upon which so much stress has been laid, was violated in all its parts, and the Christians exposed to the most wanton outrages and cruelties. The Parguinotes could not possibly view unmoved the fate of their neighbours, or put any faith in a treaty which had served only to ensnare and ruin those who had been credulous enough to rely upon it. They were conscious that, in the event of their falling into the hands of Ali, many of the victims of whose tyranny their hospitable walls had sheltered, the same, or even a heavier fate awaited them: they therefore solicited and obtained the protection of the Russian Admiral commanding on the station, who sent a garrison to occupy their fortress. But things were destined soon to take a different turn. By a secret article in the treaty concluded at Tilsit in 1807, the Ionian Islands were once more delivered into the hands of the French Emperor, who seems to have considered the possession of them as necessary to some ambitious schemes he had formed for assailing our empire in the East. The same views led him to endeavour by all means to conciliate the favour of Ali, with whose character and position in respect to the Divan he was well acquainted, and who, he imagined, might be rendered instrumental in forwarding his projects. But he had to do with a man hardly inferior in talents, and his equal in dissimulation and energy of character. Per

the text.

ceiving at one glance the advantages of his situation, and never having, for a moment, lost sight of Parga, the French Governor-General, Berthier, had hardly reached Corfu, with instructions to maintain a good understanding with the Pasha, even at the expence of some concessions, when Ali despatched a messenger to claim that fortress in the name of the Porte, and, as he pretended, in terms of the treaty of 1800. Berthier was taken by surprise, and was on the point of yielding to a demand urged so positively and plausibly, when a deputation from the Parguinotes, who had been apprised of what was going forward, arrived at Corfu in time to counteract this favourite object of the Pasha, by informing the General of the facts, and earnestly imploring his protection. Notwithstanding the instructions he had received, and the policy which he wished to pursue, these facts appeared to him so irresistibly conclusive, that he not only refused to accede to the Vizier's demand, but sent a detachment of 300 men to garrison Parga; and his conduct in this respect met the entire approbation of his master.

In this state matters continued till 1814, when the dreadful reverses of Napoleon revived the hopes of Ali, and once more turned his views to the possession of Parga, which, by a happy combination of prudence and firmness, had so long baffled his power. For this purpose, he caused his troops to advance towards the Parguinote territory,-seized, without ceremony, on Aja, a village on the frontier, and ordered his nephew, Daut Bey, to endeavour to carry Parga by a coup-de-main. By the vigilance and bravery of the inhabitants, partially aided by the garrison, the attempt failed, but not till after some sharp fighting *, in which the

* The account of this occurrence by the Quarterly Review (XLV. 115.) or rather by Sir Thomas Maitland, (for it turns out, strangely enough, to be sure, that the article on Parga in that Journal is merely the justificatory despatch of the Lord High Commissioner partially redacted, and dressed up in the usual style of reviews,) is toto coelo different from that which, on the very best authority, we have given in It is this:"A favourite nephew of the Pasha was shot, at the head of his troops, by a Parguinote lying in ambush. No other person was killed on either side; yet the Parguinotes boasted of a great victory, and succeeded in persuading Lieut. Col. de Bosset that they had fought desperately in their own defence, and repulsed the Turks." Unfortunately for the accuracy of the Reviewer, Col. de Bosset does by no means monopolize the "persuasion" that the Parguinotes "fought des

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