katsch, by order of the government. It is not unlikely that Ypsilanti had been encouraged in this premature revolt by Ali, then in the last throes of this fatal struggle, in which he perished, and by the preparations made throughout the empire for a general conspiracy.

424. Though Ypsilanti failed, resistance to the Turkish government was declared by the archbishop of Patras. The plains of Laconia and Messenia were occupied by the Greek mountaineers. A senate assembled at Kalamata, in the south of Morea. Ships were prepared for the conflict in the islands, whose people had been enriched by trade during the French war. On the other hand, the Porte sent orders to all the pashas to disarm the whole Greek population. On Easter Sunday, the highest festival of the Greek church, Gregorius, patriarch of Constantinople, and head of the Greek church, who had received his appointment from the Porte, and who, a short time before, had denounced the insurgents in Greece, was officiating in the patriarchal church of St. Sophia. After the celebration of worship, this venerable and peaceful ecclesiastic was hanged, together with the three archbishops of Ephesus, Nicomedia, and Anchialos, in front of his church; and his corpse was abandoned to the Jews, who dragged it through the streets of Constantinople. This murder was preceded by that of the Greek prince Morousi, followed by the demolition of many of the Greek churches, and by the destruction of numbers of the highest clergy, as well as of persons of all ranks, dispersed among the Turkish towns.

425. These atrocious cruelties aroused the clergy throughout the Morea and the neighbouring islands. They stirred up the people by pointing to their ruined temples, appealing to the sacred character of their slaughtered primate, and dwelling on the long train of sufferings and oppressions under which the land had groaned. The seeds of discontent were thus scattered through the whole of Greece: there was universal terror, which soon gave way to indignation, and ripened into determined insurrection. islands of Hydra, Spezzia, and Ipsara, near the coast of Morea, put to sea a force of ninety vessels, mostly of 250 tons, and carrying twelve guns-admirably fitted for the navigation of their narrow channels, amid their sudden storms. Other islanders fitted out fifty or sixty more

The

vessels, of a smaller class. The Turkish navy, consisting of large ships of war, well manned and mounted, was spread over the Levant; but one of their two-decked ships was separated from the squadron off the isle of Lesbos :`one of the small Greek vessels ran close in under her guns, grappled her with cramp-irons, set her on fire, and consumed her.

426. In the following month, the mountains and open plains of the Morea and of Northern Greece were either in the possession of the Greeks or harassed by their inroads, while the Turks sought shelter in their larger towns and fortifications. Thus masters of the Morea, of the Cyclades, and of much of Northern Greece, the patriots declared the property of the Turks to belong to the nation. On this property they negotiated loans, with which, together with contributions of money, besides stores which came from rich Greek merchants, and from foreigners in other countries, they purchased ammunition and arms for themselves, and for the volunteers that now came to them from all parts.

427. The principal leaders in this revolution were Mavro Michaeli, Kolokotroni, Demetrius Ypsilanti, brother of Alexander Ypsilanti, Cataguzene, and Mavro Kordato, a member of one of the Phanariot families in Constantinople, who had acted as secretary to the Hospodar, or governor of Wallachia.

428. In Northern Greece, the Suliotes and the Armatoli, or national militia, had induced the great body of the Greeks to rise in arms against the Turks. Odysseus, or Ulysses, a Livadian chief, who had been a follower of Ali Pasha, spread the flame of revolt through his native province. Diakos, a robber-chief, encouraged the Boeotians to join the general movement, and took possession of Thermopyla. Athens shook off the yoke, and was followed by Megara, Euboea (Negropont,) and the people along the Corinthian Gulf. Corinth was attacked, and the garrison driven to the citadel in the impregnable height of the Acro-Corinthus. Missolonghi, in Acarnania, on the Ambracian Gulf, and Anatolica, drove the Turks from their boundaries and fortified their walls. On the other hand, the Turks were not inactive they reinforced the garrison at Corinth and at Napoli di Romania, destroyed Argos, Livadia, and Thebes, and took Athens by siege one of their leaders took up his quarters in Tripolitza. The proceedings by sea and land

:

1822]

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

235

were retarded for awhile by factions among the Greeks themselves. Notwithstanding these distractions, they wrested from the Turks the fortresses of Arcadia, Napoli di Malvasia, and Navarino, on the western coast. After a tedious blockade, the garrison of Tripolitza was forced to surrender; and notwithstanding the promises and the exertions of the Greek commanders, their followers gave way to their revenge and their love of plunder, and put fifteen thousand of their humbled enemies to death.

CHAPTER XXX.

THE GREEK REVOLUTION.

Surrender of Corinth-Declaration of Independence in 1822-Opposition-Greeks overcome at Missolonghi-Scio-Its inhabitants and possessions-Insurrection and murder-Succession of wars between Greeks and Turks-Death of the Pasha-Surrender of Napoli di Romania-Change in Greece in 1823-Military government Colonel Gordon and lord Byron-Turkish campaign, 1825Taking of Navarino and Messenia-Threat of Ibrahim Pasha-Interference of the European powers-Proposals of peace-Refused-Destruction of Turkish and Egyptian navy-Formation of a monarchical government in GreeceRevolt of the Mainotes-Murder of the president-Otho becomes sovereign of Greece in 1833.

429. AFTER the taking of Tripolitza, Corinth yielded to the troops of Ypsilanti. A congress of sixty deputies from the islands of the Morea, and from Roumelia, was held at Epidaurus, in the gulf of Ægina-Mavro Kordato was chosen president. On the first day of the year 1822, this assembly published a DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. In a few weeks, they drew up a Constitution for the government of Independent Greece. It was just at this time that Ali

Pasha fell; and his fall allowed the Porte to direct all its forces to destroy the independence of the Greeks. The preparations were vigorous and well-arranged. The forces. engaged against Joannina were ordered to drive the Suliotes from their strongholds, to take Missolonghi, and then to cross the gulf to Morea. A new army from Macedonia and Thessaly was to pass Thermopyla, reduce Boeotia, Livadia, and Attica, to pass along the Isthmus, and, having reconquered Corinth, to join the western army at Tripolitza. The western army defeated the Greeks in two battles, and forced them to retire to their fortifications at Missolonghi.

430. The Isle of Scio, near the Gulf of Smyrna, one of the most beautiful islands of the Ægean, had long been distinguished for its wealth and civilisation; for its comparative independence; for its college, to which the higher ranks of Greece repaired for education; and for its noble collection of modern books. The people of Scio had hitherto taken no share in the insurrection, and, as a proof of their submission to the Turkish government, had sent hostages to Constantinople. A slight insurrection, however, in which the bulk of the population took no part, occurred in the month of March, 1822. Six thousand men landed from the Turkish fleet, under the command of the Capitan Pasha Ali, and scattered the insurgents. The peaceful inhabitants were assured of safety, and the insurgents were induced, by promises of clemency, to give up their arms. But the Capitan Pasha sent his men through the city with orders to slaughter all the inhabitants, and to burn down all the houses but those of the consuls. The peasantry found in the plains were butchered. More than twenty thousand human beings were murdered in their dwellings. Twenty thousand of the youngest and fairest were sold as slaves in the cities of Asia. The Sciote merchants found in Constantinople were impaled alive. Some of the wretched fugitives found refuge in the mountains, where they wandered about, hungry and wounded, till they died with broken hearts; and others escaped to Ipsara, and the neighbouring coast. An eye-witness reports of this horrid massacre: "On whatever side I cast my eyes, nothing but pillage, murder, and conflagration. While some were employed in plundering the villas of rich merchants, and others in setting fire to the villages, the air was rent with the mingled groans of men, women, and children, who were falling under the swords and daggers of the infidels. Many of the women, whose husbands had been butchered, were running to and fro, frantic, with torn garments and dishevelled hair, pressing their infants to their breasts, and seeking death as a relief from the still greater calamities that awaited them!"

431. The monster who was guilty of these barbarities soon came to his end. His flag-ship was discovered near the coast, in the light of the rising moon, by Constantine Kanaris, who set the ship on fire with his own hand, es

caped in his boat, and immediately saw the huge vessel wrapped in flames. The Capitan, hurrying from the conflagration, was crushed to death by the fall of a blazing

mast.

432. The provisional government of Greece were just about taking possession of Napoli di Romania, when Kurchid Pasha sent from Thessaly an army of thirty thousand men led by Drama Ali, through Thermopyla. They desolated Attica, and retook Athens. From Athens they passed the Isthmus, occupied Corinth and Argos, and relieved the blockaded garrison at Napoli di Romania. But the passes near the Argolic plain were held, and the crops, on which the Turks had relied for provision, were destroyed by the Greeks. In forcing their way back to Corinth, the Turks suffered dreadfully from the fire of the Greeks on the heights. The passes between Corinth and Thermopylæ, and the other passes, were now guarded by Odysseus, so that the communication between Drama Ali and Kurchid Pasha was cut off. Drama Ali died at

Corinth, of an epidemic fever. The garrison surrendered to Ypsilanti, Kolokrotoni, and Mavro Michaeli. When the pasha, still in Thessaly, heard of these disasters, he ended his life by poison.

433. After the exploit of Kanaris, in which the Turkish admiral perished, the command of the fleet was given to Kara Mohammed. On his approach to the Gulf of Argos, to relieve the garrison at Napoli di Romania, he was scared away by the Greek fire-ships, commanded by Miavondis, and, retreating to Tenedos, nearly met the fate of his predecessor from the same hand; for Kanaris fired his ship, in which the whole crew were consumed, while the admiral escaped in his pinnace. Napoli di Romania, the most important point in the Morea, now surrendered to the Greeks. The Turks were likewise driven from the siege of Missolonghi.

434. In the following year, 1823, a great change took place in Greece. The military party took the lead in the government. The dissensions of parties led to a second war. Mohammed Ali, the pasha of Egypt, was induced by the Porte to join the sultan in putting down the revolution. While the prospects of Greece were thus becoming dark, the sympathies of Europe began to be moved. Money was