In December, the Suliots, decimated by battle, worn by famine,
discouraged by treachery, were obliged to capitulate. The treaty gave
them leave to go where they would, their own mountains excepted. The
unfortunate tribe divided into two parts, the one going towards Parga,
the other towards Prevesa. Ali gave orders for the destruction of both,
notwithstanding the treaty.
The Parga division was attacked in its march, and charged by a numerous
body of Skipetars. Its destruction seemed imminent, but instinct
suddenly revealed to the ignorant mountaineers the one manoeuvre which
might save them. They formed a square, placing old men, women, children,
and cattle in the midst, and, protected by this military formation,
entered Parga in full view of the cut-throats sent to pursue them.
Less fortunate was the Prevesa division, which, terrified by a sudden
and unexpected attack, fled in disorder to a Greek convent called
Zalongos. But the gate was soon broken down, and the unhappy Suliots
massacred to the last man.
The women, whose tents had been pitched on the summit of a lofty rock,
beheld the terrible carnage which destroyed their defenders. Henceforth
their only prospect was that of becoming the slaves of those who had
just slaughtered their husbands and brothers. An heroic resolution
spared them this infamy; they joined hands, and chanting their national
songs, moved in a solemn dance round the rocky platform. As the song
ended, they uttered a prolonged and piercing cry, and cast themselves
and their children down into the profound abyss beneath.
There were still some Suliots left in their country when Ali Pacha took
possession of it. These were all taken and brought to Janina, and their
sufferings were the first adornments of the festival made for the army.
Every soldier's imagination was racked for the discovery of new
tortures, and the most original among them had the privilege of
themselves carrying out their inventions.
There were some who, having had their noses and ears cut off, were
compelled to eat them raw, dressed as a salad. One young man was scalped
until the skin fell back upon his shoulders, then beaten round the court
of the seraglio for the pacha's entertainment, until at length a lance
was run through his body and he was cast on the funeral pile. Many were
boiled alive and their flesh then thrown to the dogs.
From this time the Cross has disappeared from the Selleid mountains, and
the gentle prayer of Christ no longer wakes the echoes of Suli.
During the course of this war, and shortly after the death of Emineh,
another dismal drama was enacted in the pacha's family, whose active
wickedness nothing seemed to weary. The scandalous libertinism of both
father and sons had corrupted all around as well as themselves. This
demoralisation brought bitter fruits for all alike: the subjects endured
a terrible tyranny; the masters sowed among themselves distrust,
discord, and hatred. The father wounded his two sons by turns in their
tenderest affections, and the sons avenged themselves by abandoning
their father in the hour of danger.
There was in Janina a woman named Euphrosyne, a niece of the archbishop,
married to one of the richest Greek merchants, and noted for wit and
beauty. She was already the mother of two children, when Mouktar became
enamoured of her, and ordered her to come to his palace. The unhappy
Euphrosyne, at once guessing his object, summoned a family council to
decide what should be done. All agreed that there was no escape, and
that her husband's life was in danger, on account of the jealousy of his
terrible rival. He fled the city that same night, and his wife
surrendered herself to Mouktar, who, softened by her charms, soon
sincerely loved her, and overwhelmed her with presents and favours.
Things were in this position when Mouktar was obliged to depart on an
important expedition.
Scarcely had he started before his wives complained to Ali that
Euphrosyne usurped their rights and caused their husband to neglect
them. Ali, who complained greatly of his sons' extravagance, and
regretted the money they squandered, at once struck a blow which was
both to enrich himself and increase the terror of his name.
One night he appeared by torchlight, accompanied by his guards, at
Euphrosyne's house. Knowing his cruelty and avarice, she sought to
disarm one by gratifying the other: she collected her money and jewels
and laid them at Ali's feet with a look of supplication.
"These things are only my own property, which you restore," said he,
taking possession of the rich offering. "Can you give back the heart of
Mouktar, which you have stolen?"
Euphrosyne besought him by his paternal feelings, for the sake of his
son whose love had been her misfortune and was now her only crime, to
spare a mother whose conduct had been otherwise irreproachable. But her
tears and pleadings produced no effect on Ali, who ordered her to be
taken, loaded with fetters and covered with a piece of sackcloth, to the
prison of the seraglio.
If it were certain that there was no hope for the unhappy Euphrosyne,
one trusted that she might at least be the only victim. But Ali,
professing to follow the advice of some severe reformers who wished to
restore decent morality, arrested at the same time fifteen ladies
belonging to the best Christian families in Janina. A Wallachian, named
Nicholas Janco, took the opportunity to denounce his own wife, who was
on the point of becoming a mother, as guilty of adultery, and handed her
also over to the pacha. These unfortunate women were brought before Ali
to undergo a trial of which a sentence of death was the foregone
conclusion. They were then confined in a dungeon, where they spent two
days of misery. The third night, the executioners appeared to conduct
them to the lake where they were to perish. Euphrosyne, too exhausted to
endure to the end, expired by the way, and when she was flung with the
rest into the dark waters, her soul had already escaped from its earthly
tenement. Her body was found the next day, and was buried in the
cemetery of the monastery of Saints-Anargyres, where her tomb, covered
with white iris and sheltered by a wild olive tree, is yet shown.
Mouktar was returning from his expedition when a courier from his
brother Veli brought him a letter informing him of these events. He
opened it. "Euphrosyne!" he cried, and, seizing one of his pistols,
fired it at the messenger, who fell dead at his feet,--"Euphrosyne,
behold thy first victim!" Springing on his horse, he galloped towards
Janina. His guards followed at a distance, and the inhabitants of all
the villages he passed fled at his approach. He paid no attention to
them, but rode till his horse fell dead by the lake which had engulfed
Euphrosyne, and then, taking a boat, he went to hide his grief and rage
in his own palace.
Ali, caring little for passion which evaporated in tears and cries, sent
an order to Mouktar to appear before him at once. "He will not kill
you," he remarked to his messenger, with a bitter smile. And, in fact,
the man who a moment before was furiously raging and storming against
his father, as if overwhelmed by this imperious message, calmed down,
and obeyed.
"Come hither, Mouktar," said the pacha, extending his murderous hand to
be kissed as soon as his son appeared. "I shall take no notice of your
anger, but in future never forget that a man who braves public opinion
as I do fears nothing in the world. You can go now; when your troops
have rested from their march, you can come and ask for orders. Go,
remember what I have said."
Mouktar retired as submissively as if he had just received pardon for
some serious crime, and found no better consolation than to spend the
night with Veli in drinking and debauchery. But a day was to come when
the brothers, alike outraged by their father, would plot and carry out a
terrible vengeance.
However, the Porte began to take umbrage at the continual aggrandisement
of the Pacha of Janina. Not daring openly to attack so formidable a
vassal, the sultan sought by underhand means to diminish his power, and
under the pretext that Ali was becoming too old for the labour of so
many offices, the government of Thessaly was withdrawn from him, but, to
show that this was not done in enmity, the province was entrusted to his
nephew, Elmas Bey, son of Suleiman and Chainitza.
Chainitza, fully as ambitious as her brother, could not contain her
delight at the idea of governing in the name of her son, who was weak
and gentle in character and accustomed to obey her implicitly. She asked
her brother's permission to go to Trikala to be present at the
installation, and obtained it, to everybody's astonishment; for no one
could imagine that Ali would peacefully renounce so important a
government as that of Thessaly. However, he dissembled so skilfully that
everyone was deceived by his apparent resignation, and applauded his
magnanimity, when he provided his sister with a brilliant escort to
conduct her to the capital of the province of which he had just been
deprived in favour of his nephew. He sent letters of congratulation to
the latter as well as magnificent presents, among them a splendid
pelisse of black fox, which had cost more than a hundred thousand francs
of Western money. He requested Elmas Bey to honour him by wearing this
robe on the day when the sultan's envoy should present him with the
firman of investiture, and Chainitza herself was charged to deliver both
gifts and messages.
Chainitza arrived safely at Trikala, and faithfully delivered the
messages with which she had been entrusted. When the ceremony she so
ardently desired took place, she herself took charge of all the
arrangements. Elmas, wearing the black fox pelisse, was proclaimed, and
acknowledged as Governor of Thessaly in her presence. "My son is pacha!"
she cried in the delirium of joy. "My son is pacha! and my nephews will
die of envy!" But her triumph was not to be of long duration. A few days
after his installation, Elmas began to feel strangely languid. Continual
lethargy, convulsive sneezing, feverish eyes, soon betokened a serious
illness. Ali's gift had accomplished its purpose. The pelisse, carefully
impregnated with smallpox germs taken from a young girl suffering from
this malady, had conveyed the dreaded disease to the new pacha, who, not
having been inoculated, died in a few days.
The grief of Chainitza at her son's death displayed itself in sobs,
threats, and curses, but, not knowing whom to blame for her misfortune,
she hastened to leave the scene of it, and returned to Janina, to mingle
her tears with those of her brother. She found Ali apparently in such
depths of grief, that instead of suspecting, she was actually tempted to
pity him, and this seeming sympathy soothed her distress, aided by the
caresses of her second son, Aden Bey. Ali, thoughtful of his own
interests, took care to send one of his own officers to Trikala, to
administer justice in the place of his deceased nephew, and the Porte,
seeing that all attempts against him only caused misfortune, consented
to his resuming the government of Thessaly.
This climax roused the suspicions of many persons. But the public voice,
already discussing the causes of the death of Elinas, was stifled by the
thunder of the cannon, which, from the ramparts of Janina, announced to
Epirus the birth of another son to Ali, Salik Bey, whose mother was a
Georgian slave.
Fortune, seemingly always ready both to crown Ali's crimes with success
and to fulfil his wishes, had yet in reserve a more precious gift than
any of the others, that of a good and beautiful wife; who should
replace, and even efface the memory of the beloved Emineh.
The Porte, while sending to Ali the firman which restored to him the
government of Thessaly, ordered him to seek out and destroy a society of
coiners who dwelt within his jurisdiction. Ali, delighted to, prove his
zeal by a service which cost nothing but bloodshed; at once set his
spies to work, and having discovered the abode of the gang, set out for
the place attended by a strong escort. It was a village called
Plikivitza.
Having arrived in the evening, he spent the night in taking measures to
prevent escape, and at break of day attacked the village suddenly with
his whole force. The coiners were seized in the act. Ali immediately
ordered the chief to be hung at his own door and the whole population to
be massacred. Suddenly a young girl of great beauty made her way through
the tumult and sought refuge at his feet. Ali, astonished, asked who she
was. She answered with a look of mingled innocence and terror, kissing
his hands, which she bathed with tears, and said:
"O my lord! I implore thee to intercede with the terrible vizier Ali for
my mother and brothers. My father is dead, behold where he hangs at the
door of our cottage! But we have done nothing to rouse the anger of our
dreadful master. My mother is a poor woman who never offended anyone,
and we are only weak children. Save us from him!"
Touched in spite of himself, the pacha took the girl in his arms, and
answered her with a gentle smile.
"Thou hast come to the wrong man, child: I am this terrible vizier."
"Oh no, no! you are good, you will be our good lord."
"Well, be comforted, my child, and show me thy mother and thy brothers;
they shall be spared. Thou hast saved their lives."
And as she knelt at his feet, overcome with joy, he raised her and asked
her name.
"Basilessa," she replied.
"Basilessa, Queen! it is a name of good augury. Basilessa, thou shalt
dwell with me henceforth."
And he collected the members of her family, and gave orders for them to
be sent to Janina in company with the maiden, who repaid his mercy with
boundless love and devotion.
Let us mention one trait of gratitude shown by Ali at the end of this
expedition, and his record of good deeds is then closed. Compelled by a
storm to take refuge in a miserable hamlet, he inquired its name, and on
hearing it appeared surprised and thoughtful, as if trying to recall
lost memories. Suddenly he asked if a woman named Nouza dwelt in the
village, and was told there was an old infirm woman of that name in
great poverty. He ordered her to be brought before him. She came and
prostrated herself in terror. Ali raised her kindly.
"Dost thou not know me?" he asked.
"Have mercy, great Vizier," answered the poor woman, who, having nothing
to lose but her life, imagined that even that would be taken from her.
"I see," said the pacha, "that if thou knowest me, thou dost not really
recognise me."
The woman looked at him wonderingly, not understanding his words in the
least.
"Dost thou remember," continued Ali, "that forty years ago a young man
asked for shelter from the foes who pursued him? Without inquiring his
name or standing, thou didst hide him in thy humble house, and dressed
his wounds, and shared thy scanty food with him, and when he was able to
go forward thou didst stand on thy threshold to wish him good luck and
success. Thy wishes were heard, for the young man was Ali Tepeleni, and
I who speak am he!"
The old woman stood overwhelmed with astonishment. She departed calling
down blessings on the pasha, who assured her a pension of fifteen
hundred francs for the rest of her days.
But these two good actions are only flashes of light illuminating the
dark horizon of Ali's life for a brief moment. Returned to Janina, he
resumed his tyranny, his intrigues, and cruelty. Not content with the
vast territory which owned his sway, he again invaded that of his
neighbours on every pretext. Phocis, Mtolia, Acarnania, were by turns
occupied by his troops, the country ravaged, and the inhabitants
decimated. At the same time he compelled Ibrahim Pacha to surrender his
last remaining daughter, and give her in marriage to his nephew, Aden
Bey, the son of Chainitza. This new alliance with a family he had so
often attacked and despoiled gave him fresh arms against it, whether by
being enabled better to watch the pasha's sons, or to entice them into
some snare with greater ease.
Whilst he thus married his nephew, he did not neglect the advancement of
his sons. By the aid of the French Ambassador, whom he had convinced of
his devotion to the Emperor Napoleon, he succeeded in getting the
pachalik of Morea bestowed on Veli, and that of Lepanto on Mouktar. But
as in placing his sons in these exalted positions his only aim was to
aggrandise and consolidate his own power, he himself ordered their
retinues, giving them officers of his own choosing. When they departed
to their governments, he kept their wives, their children, and even
their furniture as pledges, saying that they ought not to be encumbered
with domestic establishments in time of war, Turkey just then being at
open war with England. He also made use of this opportunity to get rid
of people who displeased him, among others, of a certain Ismail Pacho
Bey, who had been alternately both tool and enemy, whom he made
secretary to his son Veli, professedly as a pledge of reconciliation and
favour, but really in order to despoil him more easily of the
considerable property which he possessed at Janina. Pacho was not
deceived, and showed his resentment openly. "The wretch banishes me," he
cried, pointing out Ali, who was sitting at a window in the palace, "he
sends me away in order to rob me; but I will avenge myself whatever
happens, and I shall die content if I can procure his destruction at the
price of my own."
Continually increasing his power, Ali endeavoured to consolidate it
permanently. He had entered by degrees into secret negotiations with all
the great powers of Europe, hoping in the end to make himself
independent, and to obtain recognition as Prince of Greece. A mysterious
and unforeseen incident betrayed this to the Porte, and furnished actual
proofs of his treason in letters confirmed by Ali's own seal. The Sultan
Selim immediately, sent to Janina a "kapidgi-bachi," or plenipotentiary,
to examine into the case and try the delinquent.
Arrived at Janina, this officer placed before Ali the proofs of his
understanding with the enemies of the State. Ali was not strong enough
to throw off the mask, and yet could not deny such overwhelming
evidence. He determined to obtain time.
"No wonder," said he, "that I appear guilty in the eyes of His Highness.
This seal is, certainly mine, I cannot deny it; but the writing is not
that of my secretaries, and the seal must have been obtained and used to
sign these guilty letters in order to ruin me. I pray you to grant me a
few days in order to clear up this iniquitous mystery, which compromises
me in the eyes of my master the sultan and of all good Mahommedans. May
Allah grant me the means of proving my innocence, which is as pure as
the rays of the sun, although everything seems against me!"
After this conference, Ali, pretending to be engaged in a secret
inquiry, considered how he could legally escape from this predicament.
He spent some days in making plans which were given up as soon as
formed, until his fertile genius at length suggested a means of getting
clear of one of the greatest difficulties in which he had ever found
himself. Sending for a Greek whom he had often employed, he addressed
him thus:
"Thou knowest I have always shown thee favour, and the day is arrived
when thy fortune shall be made. Henceforth thou shalt be as my son, thy
children shall be as mine, my house shall be thy home, and in return for
my benefits I require one small service. This accursed kapidgi-bachi has
come hither bringing certain papers signed with my seal, intending to
use them to my discredit, and thus to extort money from me. Of money I
have already given too much, and I intend this time to escape without
being plundered except for the sake of a good servant like thee.
Therefore, my son, thou shalt go before the tribunal when I tell thee,
and declare before this kapidgi-bachi and the cadi that thou hast
written these letters attributed to me, and that thou didst seal them
with my seal, in order to give them due weight and importance."
The unhappy Greek grew pale and strove to answer.
"What fearest thou, my son?" resumed Ali. "Speak, am I not thy good
master? Thou wilt be sure of my lasting favour, and who is there to
dread when I protect thee? Is it the kapidgi-bachi? he has no authority
here. I have thrown twenty as good as he into the lake! If more is
required to reassure thee, I swear by the Prophet, by my own and my
sons' heads, that no harm shall come to thee from him. Be ready, then,
to do as I tell thee, and beware of mentioning this matter to anyone, in
order that all may be accomplished according to our mutual wishes."
More terrified by dread of the pacha, from whose wrath in case of
refusal there was no chance of escape, than tempted by his promises, the
Greek undertook the false swearing required. Ali, delighted, dismissed
him with a thousand assurances of protection, and then requested the
presence of the sultan's envoy, to whom he said, with much emotion:
"I have at length unravelled the infernal plot laid against me; it is
the work of a man in the pay of the implacable enemies of the Sublime
Porte, and who is a Russian agent. He is in my power, and I have given
him hopes of pardon on condition of full confession. Will you then
summon the cadi, the judges and ecclesiastics of the town, in order that
they may hear the guilty man's deposition, and that the light of truth
may purify their minds?"
The tribunal was soon assembled, and the trembling Greek appeared in the
midst of a solemn silence. "Knowest thou this writing?" demanded the
cadi.--"It is mine."--"And this seal?"--"It is that of my master, Ali
Pacha."--"How does it come to be placed at the foot of these
letters?"--"I did this by order of my chief, abusing the confidence of
my master, who occasionally allowed me to use it to sign his
orders."--"It is enough: thou canst withdraw."
Uneasy as to the success of his intrigue, Ali was approaching the Hall
of Justice. As he entered the court, the Greek, who had just finished
his examination, threw himself at his feet, assuring him that all had
gone well. "It is good," said Ali; "thou shalt have thy reward." Turning
round, he made a sign to his guards, who had their orders, and who
instantly seized the unhappy Greek, and, drowning his voice with their
shouts, hung him in the courtyard. This execution finished, the pacha
presented himself before the judges and inquired the result of their
investigation. He was answered by a burst of congratulation. "Well,"
said he, "the guilty author of this plot aimed at me is no more; I
ordered him to be hung without waiting to hear your decision. May all
enemies of our glorious sultan perish even as he!"
A report of what had occurred was immediately drawn up, and, to assist
matters still further, Ali sent the kapidgi-bachi a gift of fifty
purses, which he accepted without difficulty, and also secured the
favour of the Divan by considerable presents. The sultan, yielding to
the advice of his councillors, appeared to have again received him into
favour.
But Ali knew well that this appearance of sunshine was entirely
deceptive, and that Selim only professed to believe in his innocence
until the day should arrive when the sultan could safely punish his
treason. He sought therefore to compass the latter's downfall, and made
common cause with his enemies, both internal and external. A conspiracy,
hatched between the discontented pachas and the English agents, shortly
broke out, and one day, when Ali was presiding at the artillery practice
of some French gunners sent to Albania by the Governor of Illyria, a
Tartar brought him news of the deposition of Selim, who was succeeded by
his nephew Mustapha. Ali sprang up in delight, and publicly thanked
Allah for this great good fortune. He really did profit by this change
of rulers, but he profited yet more by a second revolution which caused
the deaths both of Selim, whom the promoters wished to reestablish on
the throne, and of Mustapha whose downfall they intended. Mahmoud II,
who was next invested with the scimitar of Othman, came to the throne in
troublous times, after much bloodshed, in the midst of great political
upheavals, and had neither the will nor the power to attack one of his
most powerful vassals. He received with evident satisfaction the million
piastres which, at, his installation, Ali hastened to send as a proof of
his devotion, assured the pacha of his favour, and confirmed both him
and his sons in their offices and dignities. This fortunate change in
his position brought Ali's pride and audacity to a climax. Free from
pressing anxiety, he determined to carry out a project which had been
the dream of his life.