Yet next day, May 24th, 1820, Ali addressed a circular letter to his
brothers the Christians, announcing that in future he would consider
them as his most faithful subjects, and that henceforth he remitted the
taxes paid to his own family. He wound up by asking for soldiers, but
the Greeks having learnt the instability of his promises, remained deaf
to his invitations. At the same time he sent messengers to the
Montenegrins and the Servians, inciting them to revolt, and organised
insurrections in Wallachia and Moldavia to the very environs of
Constantinople.
Whilst the Ottoman vassals assembled only in small numbers and very
slowly under their respective standards, every day there collected round
the castle of Janina whole companies of Toxidae, of Tapazetae, and of
Chamidae; so that Ali, knowing that Ismail Pacho Bey had boasted that he
could arrive in sight of Janina without firing a gun, said in his turn
that he would not treat with the Porte until he and his troops should be
within eight leagues of Constantinople.
He had fortified and supplied with munitions of war Ochrida, Avlone,
Cannia, Berat, Cleisoura, Premiti, the port of Panormus, Santi-Quaranta,
Buthrotum, Delvino, Argyro-Castron, Tepelen, Parga, Prevesa, Sderli,
Paramythia, Arta, the post of the Five Wells, Janina and its castles.
These places contained four hundred and twenty cannons of all sizes, for
the most part in bronze, mounted on siege-carriages, and seventy
mortars. Besides these, there were in the castle by the lake,
independently of the guns in position, forty field-pieces, sixty
mountain guns, a number of Congreve rockets, formerly given him by the
English, and an enormous quantity of munitions of war. Finally, he
endeavoured to establish a line of semaphores between Janina and
Prevesa, in order to have prompt news of the Turkish fleet, which was
expected to appear on this coast.
Ali, whose strength seemed to increase with age, saw to everything and
appeared everywhere; sometimes in a litter borne by his Albanians,
sometimes in a carriage raised into a kind of platform, but it was more
frequently on horseback that he appeared among his labourers. Often he
sat on the bastions in the midst of the batteries, and conversed
familiarly with those who surrounded him. He narrated the successes
formerly obtained against the sultan by Kara Bazaklia, Vizier of Scodra,
who, like himself, had been attained with the sentence of deprivation
and excommunication; recounting how the rebel pacha, shut up in his
citadel with seventy-two warriors, had seen collapse at his feet the
united forces of four great provinces of the Ottoman Empire, commanded
by twenty-two pachas, who were almost entirely annihilated in one day by
the Guegues. He reminded them also, of the brilliant victory gained by
Passevend Oglon, Pacha of Widdin, of quite recent memory, which is
celebrated in the warlike songs of the Klephts of Roumelia.
Almost simultaneously, Ali's sons, Mouktar and Veli, arrived at Janina.
Veli had been obliged, or thought himself obliged, to evacuate Lepanto
by superior forces, and brought only discouraging news, especially as to
the wavering fidelity of the Turks. Mouktar, on the contrary, who had
just made a tour of inspection in the Musache, had only noticed
favourable dispositions, and deluded himself with the idea that the
Chaonians, who had taken up arms, had done so in order to aid his
father. He was curiously mistaken, for these tribes hated Ali with a
hatred all the deeper for being compelled to conceal it, and were only
in arms in order to repel aggression.
The advice given by the sons to their father as to the manner of
treating the Mohammedans differed widely in accordance with their
respective opinions. Consequently a violent quarrel arose between them,
ostensibly on account of this dispute, but in reality on the subject of
their father's inheritance, which both equally coveted. Ali had brought
all his treasure to Janina, and thenceforth neither son would leave the
neighbourhood of so excellent a father. They overwhelmed him with marks
of affection, and vowed that the one had left Lepanto, and the other
Berat, only in order to share his danger. Ali was by no means duped by
these protestations, of which he divined the motive only too well, and
though he had never loved his sons, he suffered cruelly in discovering
that he was not beloved by them.
Soon he had other troubles to endure. One of his gunners assassinated a
servant of Vela's, and Ali ordered the murderer to be punished, but when
the sentence was to be carried out the whole corps of artillery
mutinied. In order to save appearances, the pacha was compelled to allow
them to ask for the pardon of the criminal whom he dared not punish.
This incident showed him that his authority was no longer paramount, and
he began to doubt the fidelity of his soldiers. The arrival of the
Ottoman fleet further enlightened him to his true position. Mussulman
and Christian alike, all the inhabitants of Northern Albania, who had
hitherto concealed their disaffection under an exaggerated semblance of
devotion, now hastened to make their submission to the sultan. The
Turks, continuing their success, laid siege to Parga, which was held by
Mehemet, Veli's eldest son. He was prepared to make a good defence, but
was betrayed by his troops, who opened the gates of the town, and he was
compelled to surrender at discretion. He was handed over to the
commander of the naval forces, by whom he was well treated, being
assigned the best cabin in the admiral's ship and given a brilliant
suite. He was assured that the sultan, whose only quarrel was with his
grandfather, would show him favour, and would even deal mercifully with
Ali, who, with his treasures, would merely be sent to an important
province in Asia Minor. He was induced to write in this strain to his
family and friends in order to induce them to lay down their arms.
The fall of Parga made a great impression on the Epirotes, who valued
its possession far above its real importance. Ali rent his garments and
cursed the days of his former good fortune, during which he had neither
known how to moderate his resentment nor to foresee the possibility of
any change of fortune.
The fall of Parga was succeeded by that of Arta of Mongliana, where was
situated Ali's country house, and of the post of the Five Wells. Then
came a yet more overwhelming piece of news Omar Brionis, whom Ali,
having formerly despoiled of its wealth, had none the less, recently
appointed general-in-chief, had gone over to the enemy with all his
troops!
Ali then decided on carrying out a project he had formed in case of
necessity, namely, on destroying the town of Janina, which would afford
shelter to the enemy and a point of attack against the fortresses in
which he was entrenched. When this resolution was known, the inhabitants
thought only of saving themselves and their property from the ruin from
which nothing could save their country. But most of them were only
preparing to depart, when Ali gave leave to the Albanian soldiers yet
faithful to him to sack the town.
The place was immediately invaded by an unbridled soldiery. The
Metropolitan church, where Greeks and Turks alike deposited their gold,
jewels, and merchandise, even as did the Greeks of old in the temples of
the gods, became the first object of pillage. Nothing was respected. The
cupboards containing sacred vestments were broken open, so were the
tombs of the archbishops, in which were interred reliquaries adorned
with precious stones; and the altar itself was defiled with the blood of
ruffians who fought for chalices and silver crosses.
The town presented an equally terrible spectacle; neither Christians nor
Mussulmans were spared, and the women's apartments, forcibly entered,
were given up to violence. Some of the more courageous citizens
endeavoured to defend their houses and families against these bandits,
and the clash of arms mingled with cries and groans. All at once the
roar of a terrible explosion rose above the other sounds, and a hail of
bombs, shells, grenade's, and rockets carried devastation and fire into
the different quarters of the town, which soon presented the spectacle
of an immense conflagration. Ali, seated on the great platform of the
castle by the lake, which seemed to vomit fire like a volcano, directed
the bombardment, pointing out the places which must be burnt. Churches,
mosques, libraries, bazaars, houses, all were destroyed, and the only
thing spared by the flames was the gallows, which remained standing in
the midst of the ruins.
Of the thirty thousand persons who inhabited Janina a few hours
previously, perhaps one half had escaped. But these had not fled many
leagues before they encountered the outposts of the Otto man army,
which, instead of helping or protecting them, fell upon them, plundered
them, and drove them towards the camp, where slavery awaited them. The
unhappy fugitives, taken thus between fire and sword, death behind and
slavery before, uttered a terrible cry, and fled in all directions.
Those who escaped the Turks were stopped in the hill passes by the
mountaineers rushing down to the rey; only large numbers who held
together could force a passage.
In some cases terror bestows extraordinary strength, there were mothers
who, with infants at the breast, covered on foot in one day the fourteen
leagues which separate Janina from Arta. But others, seized with the
pangs of travail in the midst of their flight, expired in the woods,
after giving birth to babes, who, destitute of succour, did not survive
their mothers. And young girls, having disfigured themselves by gashes,
hid themselves in caves, where they died of terror and hunger.
The Albanians, intoxicated with plunder and debauchery, refused to
return to the castle, and only thought of regaining their country and
enjoying the fruit of their rapine. But they were assailed on the way by
peasants covetous of their booty, and by those of Janina who had sought
refuge with them. The roads and passes were strewn with corpses, and the
trees by the roadside converted into gibbets. The murderers did not long
survive their victims.
The ruins of Janina were still smoking when, on the 19th August, Pacho
Bey made his entry. Having pitched his tent out of range of Ali's
cannon, he proclaimed aloud the firman which inaugurated him as Pacha of
Janina and Delvino, and then raised the tails, emblem of his dignity.
Ali heard on the summit of his keep the acclamations of the Turks who
saluted Pacho Bey, his former servant with the titles of Vali of Epirus,
and Ghazi, of Victorius. After this ceremony, the cadi read the
sentence, confirmed by the Mufti, which declared Tepelen Veli-Zade to
have forfeited his dignities and to be excommunicated, adding an
injunction to all the faithful that henceforth his name was not to be
pronounced except with the addition of "Kara," or "black," which is
bestowed on those cut off from the congregation of Sunnites, or Orthodox
Mohammedans. A Marabout then cast a stone towards the castle, and the
anathema upon "Kara Ali" was repeated by the whole Turkish army, ending
with the cry of "Long live the sultan! So be it!"
But it was not by ecclesiastical thunders that three fortresses could be
reduced, which were defended by artillerymen drawn from different
European armies, who had established an excellent school for gunners and
bombardiers. The besieged, having replied with hootings of contempt to
the acclamations of the besiegers, proceeded to enforce their scorn with
well-aimed cannon shots, while the rebel flotilla, dressed as if for a
fete-day, passed slowly before the Turks, saluting them with cannon-shot
if they ventured near the edge of the lake.
This noisy rhodomontade did not prevent Ali from being consumed with
grief and anxiety. The sight of his own troops, now in the camp of Pacho
Bey, the fear of being for ever separated from his sons, the thought of
his grandson in the enemy's hands, all threw him into the deepest
melancholy, and his sleepless eyes were constantly drowned in tears. He
refused his food, and sat for seven days with untrimmed beard, clad in
mourning, on a mat at the door of his antechamber, extending his hands
to his soldiers, and imploring them to slay him rather than abandon him.
His wives, seeing him in this state, and concluding all was lost, filled
the air with their lamentations. All began to think that grief would
bring Ali to the grave; but his soldiers, to whose protestations he at
first refused any credit, represented to him that their fate was
indissolubly linked with his. Pacho Bey having proclaimed that all taken
in arms for Ali would be shot as sharers in rebellion, it was therefore
their interest to support his resistance with all their power. They also
pointed out that the campaign was already advanced, and that the Turkish
army, which had forgotten its siege artillery at Constantinople, could
not possibly procure any before the end of October, by which time the
rains would begin, and the enemy would probably be short of food.
Moreover, in any case, it being impossible to winter in a ruined town,
the foe would be driven to seek shelter at a distance.
These representations, made with warmth conviction, and supported by
evidence, began to soothe the restless fever which was wasting Ali, and
the gentle caresses and persuasions of Basillisa, the beautiful
Christian captive, who had now been his wife for some time, completed
the cure.
At the same time his sister Chainitza gave him an astonishing example of
courage. She had persisted, in spite of all that could be said, in
residing in her castle of Libokovo. The population, whom she had cruelly
oppressed, demanded her death, but no one dared attack her. Superstition
declared that the spirit of her mother, with whom she kept up a
mysterious communication even beyond the portals of the grave, watched
over her safety. The menacing form of Kamco had, it was said, appeared
to several inhabitants of Tepelen, brandishing bones of the wretched
Kardikiotes, and demanding fresh victims with loud cries. The desire of
vengeance had urged some to brave these unknown dangers, and twice, a
warrior, clothed in black, had warned them back, forbidding them to lay
hands on a sacrilegious woman; whose punishment Heaven reserved to
itself, and twice they had returned upon their footsteps.
But soon, ashamed of their terror, they attempted another attack, and
came attired in the colour of the Prophet. This time no mysterious
stranger speared to forbid their passage and with a cry they climbed the
mountain, listening for any supernatural warning. Nothing disturbed the
silence and solitude save the bleating of flocks and the cries of birds
of prey. Arrived on the platform of Libokovo, they prepared in silence
to surprise the guards, believing the castle full of them. They
approached crawling, like hunters who stalk a deer, already they had
reached the gate of the enclosure, and prepared to burst it open, when
lo! it opened of itself, and they beheld Chainitza standing before them,
a carabine in her hand, pistols in her belt, and, for all guard, two
large dogs.
"Halt! ye daring ones," she cried; "neither my life nor my treasure will
ever be at your mercy. Let one of you move a step without my permission,
and this place and the ground beneath your feet' will engulf you. Ten
thousand pounds of powder are in these cellars. I will, however, grant
your pardon, unworthy though you are. I will even allow you to take
these sacks filled with gold; they may recompense you for the losses
which my brother's enemies have recently inflicted on you. But depart
this instant without a word, and dare not to trouble me again; I have
other means of destruction at command besides gunpowder. Life is nothing
to me, remember that; but your mountains may yet at my command become
the tomb of your wives and children. Go!"
She ceased, and her would-be murderers fled terror.
Shortly after the plague broke out in these mountains, Chainitza had
distributed infected garments among gipsies, who scattered contagion
wherever they went.
"We are indeed of the same blood!" cried Ali with pride, when he heard
of his sister's conduct; and from that hour he appeared to regain all
the fire and audacity of his youth. When, a few days later, he was
informed that Mouktar and Veli, seduced by the brilliant promises of
Dacha Bey, had surrendered Prevesa and Argyro-Castron, "It does not
surprise me," he observed coldly. "I have long known them to be unworthy
of being my sons, and henceforth my only children and heirs are those
who defend my cause." And on hearing a report that both had been
beheaded by Dacha Bey's order, he contented himself with saying, "They
betrayed their father, and have only received their deserts; speak no
more of them." And to show how little it discouraged him, he redoubled
his fire upon the Turks.
But the latter, who had at length obtained some artillery, answered his
fire with vigour, and began to rally to discrown the old pacha's
fortress. Feeling that the danger was pressing, Ali redoubled both his
prudence and activity. His immense treasures were the real reason of the
war waged against him, and these might induce his own soldiers to rebel,
in order to become masters of them. He resolved to protect them from
either surprise or conquest. The sum necessary for present use was
deposited in the powder magazine, so that, if driven to extremity, it
might be destroyed in a moment; the remainder was enclosed in
strong-boxes, and sunk in different parts of the lake. This labour
lasted a fortnight, when, finally, Ali put to death the gipsies who had
been employed about it, in order that the secret might remain with
himself.
While he thus set his own affairs in order, he applied himself to the
troubling those of his adversary. A great number of Suliots had joined
the Ottoman army in order to assist in the destruction of him who
formerly had ruined their country. Their camp, which for a long time had
enjoyed immunity from the guns of Janina, was one day overwhelmed with
bombs. The Suliots were terrified, until they remarked that the bombs
did not burst. They then, much astonished, proceeded to pick up and
examine these projectiles. Instead of a match, they found rolls of paper
enclosed in a wooden cylinder, on which was engraved these words, "Open
carefully." The paper contained a truly Macchiavellian letter from Ali,
which began by saying that they were quite justified in having taken up
arms against him, and added that he now sent them a part of the pay of
which the traitorous Ismail was defrauding them, and that the bombs
thrown into their cantonment contained six thousand sequins in gold. He
begged them to amuse Ismail by complaints and recriminations, while his
gondola should by night fetch one of them, to whom he would communicate
what more he had to say. If they accepted his proposition, they were to
light three fires as a signal.
The signal was not long in appearing. Ali despatched his barge, which
took on board a monk, the spiritual chief of the Suliots. He was clothed
in sackcloth, and repeated the prayers for the dying, as one going to
execution. Ali, however, received him with the utmost cordiality: He
assured the priest of his repentance, his good intentions, his esteem
for the Greek captains, and then gave him a paper which startled him
considerably. It was a despatch, intercepted by Ali, from Khalid Effendi
to the Seraskier Ismail, ordering the latter to exterminate all
Christians capable of bearing arms. All male children were to be
circumcised, and brought up to form a legion drilled in European
fashion; and the letter went on to explain how the Suliots, the
Armatolis, the Greek races of the mainland and those of the Archipelago
should be disposed of. Seeing the effect produced on the monk by the
perusal of this paper, Ali hastened to make him the most advantageous
offers, declaring that his own wish was to give Greece a political
existence, and only requiring that the Suliot captains should send him a
certain number of their children as hostages. He then had cloaks and
arms brought which he presented to the monk, dismissing him in haste, in
order that darkness might favour his return.
The next day Ali was resting, with his head on Basilissa's lap, when he
was informed that the enemy was advancing upon the intrenchments which
had been raised in the midst of the ruins of Janina. Already the
outposts had been forced, and the fury of the assailants threatened to
triumph over all obstacles. Ali immediately ordered a sortie of all his
troops, announcing that he himself would conduct it. His master of the
horse brought him the famous Arab charger called the Dervish, his chief
huntsman presented him with his guns, weapons still famous in Epirus,
where they figure in the ballads of the Skipetars. The first was an
enormous gun, of Versailles manufacture, formerly presented by the
conqueror of the Pyramids to Djezzar, the Pacha of St. Jean-d'Arc, who
amused himself by enclosing living victims in the walls of his palace,
in order that he might hear their groans in the midst of his
festivities. Next came a carabine given to the Pacha of Janina in the
name of Napoleon in 1806; then the battle musket of Charles XII of
Sweden, and finally-- the much revered sabre of Krim-Guerai. The signal
was given; the draw bridge crossed; the Guegues and other adventurers
uttered a terrific shout; to which the cries of the assailants replied.
Ali placed himself on a height, whence his eagle eye sought to discern
the hostile chiefs; but he called and defied Pacho Bey in vain.
Perceiving Hassan-Stamboul, colonel of the Imperial bombardiers outside
his battery, Ali demanded the gun of Djezzar, and laid him dead on the
spot. He then took the carabine of Napoleon, and shot with it Kekriman,
Bey of Sponga, whom he had formerly appointed Pacha of Lepanto. The
enemy now became aware of his presence, and sent a lively fusillade in
his direction; but the balls seemed to diverge from his person. As soon
as the smoke cleared, he perceived Capelan, Pacha of Croie, who had been
his guest, and wounded him mortally in the chest. Capelan uttered a
sharp cry, and his terrified horse caused disorder in the ranks. Ali
picked off a large number of officers, one after another; every shot was
mortal, and his enemies began to regard him in, the light of a
destroying angel. Disorder spread through the forces of the Seraskier,
who retreated hastily to his intrenchments.
The Suliots meanwhile sent a deputation to Ismail offering their
submission, and seeking to regain their country in a peaceful manner;
but, being received by him with the most humiliating contempt, they
resolved to make common cause with Ali. They hesitated over the demand
for hostages, and at length required Ali's grandson, Hussien Pacha, in
exchange. After many difficulties, Ali at length consented, and the
agreement was concluded. The Suliots received five hundred thousand
piastres and a hundred and fifty charges of ammunition, Hussien Pacha
was given up to them, and they left the Ottoman camp at dead of night.
Morco Botzaris remained with three hundred and twenty men, threw down
the palisades, and then ascending Mount Paktoras with his troops, waited
for dawn in order to announce his defection to the Turkish army. As soon
as the sun appeared he ordered a general salvo of artillery and shouted
his war-cry. A few Turks in charge of an outpost were slain, the rest
fled. A cry of "To arms" was raised, and the standard of the Cross
floated before the camp of the infidels.
Signs and omens of a coming general insurrection appeared on all sides;
there was no lack of prodigies, visions, or popular rumours, and the
Mohammedans became possessed with the idea that the last hour of their
rule in Greece had struck. Ali Pacha favoured the general
demoralisation; and his agents, scattered throughout the land, fanned
the flame of revolt. Ismail Pacha was deprived of his title of
Seraskier, and superseded by Kursheed Pacha. As soon as Ali heard this,
he sent a messenger to Kursheed, hoping to influence him in his favour.
Ismail, distrusting the Skipetars, who formed part of his troops,
demanded hostages from them. The Skipetars were indignant, and Ali
hearing of their discontent, wrote inviting them to return to him, and
endeavouring to dazzle them by the most brilliant promises. These
overtures were received by the offended troops with enthusiasm, and
Alexis Noutza, Ali's former general, who had forsaken him for Ismail,
but who had secretly returned to his allegiance and acted as a spy on
the Imperial army, was deputed to treat with him. As soon as he arrived,
Ali began to enact a comedy in the intention of rebutting the accusation
of incest with his daughter-in-law Zobeide; for this charge, which,
since Veli himself had revealed the secret of their common shame, could
only be met by vague denials, had never ceased to produce a mast
unfavourable impression on Noutza's mind. Scarcely had he entered the
castle by the lake, when Ali rushed to meet him, and flung himself into
his arms. In presence of his officers and the garrison, he loaded him
with the most tender names, calling him his son, his beloved Alexis, his
own legitimate child, even as Salik Pacha. He burst into tears, and,
with terrible oaths, called Heaven to witness that Mouktar and Veli,
whom he disavowed on account of their cowardice, were the adulterous
offspring of Emineh's amours. Then, raising his hand against the tomb of
her whom he had loved so much, he drew the stupefied Noutza into the
recess of a casemate, and sending for Basilissa, presented him to her as
a beloved son, whom only political considerations had compelled him to
keep at a distance, because, being born of a Christian mother, he had
been brought up in the faith of Jesus.
Having thus softened the suspicions of his soldiers, Ali resumed his
underground intrigues. The Suliots had informed him that the sultan had
made them extremely advantageous offers if they would return to his
service, and they demanded pressingly that Ali should give up to them
the citadel of Kiapha, which was still in his possession, and which
commanded Suli. He replied with the information that he intended,
January 26, to attack the camp of Pacho Bey early in the morning, and
requested their assistance. In order to cause a diversion, they were to
descend into the valley of Janina at night, and occupy a position which
he pointed out to them, and he gave their the word "flouri" as password
for the night. If successful, he undertook to grant their request.
Ali's letter was intercepted, and fell into Ismail's hands, who
immediately conceived a plan for snaring his enemy in his own toils.
When the night fixed by Ali arrived, the Seraskier marched out a strong
division under the command of Omar Brionis, who had been recently
appointed Pacha, and who was instructed to proceed along the western
slope of Mount Paktoras as far as the village of Besdoune, where he was
to place an outpost, and then to retire along the other side of the
mountain, so that, being visible in the starlight, the sentinels placed
to watch on the hostile towers might take his men for the Suliots and
report to Ali that the position of Saint-Nicolas, assigned to them, had
been occupied as arranged. All preparations for battle were made, and
the two mortal enemies, Ismail and Ali, retired to rest, each cherishing
the darling hope of shortly annihilating his rival.
At break of day a lively cannonade, proceeding from the castle of the
lake and from Lithoritza, announced that the besieged intended a sortie.
Soon Ali's Skipetars, preceded by a detachment of French, Italians, and
Swiss, rushed through the Ottoman fire and carried the first redoubt,
held by Ibrahim-Aga-Stamboul. They found six pieces of cannon, which the
Turks, notwithstanding their terror, had had time to spike. This
misadventure, for they had hoped to turn the artillery against the
intrenched camp, decided Ali's men on attacking the second redoubt,
commanded by the chief bombardier. The Asiatic troops of Baltadgi Pacha
rushed to its defence. At their head appeared the chief Imaun of the
army, mounted on a richly caparisoned mule and repeating the curse
fulminated by the mufti against Ali, his adherents, his castles, and
even his cannons, which it was supposed might be rendered harmless by
these adjurations. Ali's Mohammedan Skipetars averted their eyes, and
spat into their bosoms, hoping thus to escape the evil influence. A
superstitious terror was beginning to spread among them, when a French
adventurer took aim at the Imaun and brought him down, amid the
acclamations of the soldiers; whereupon the Asiatics, imagining that
Eblis himself fought against them, retired within the intrenchments,
whither the Skipetars, no longer fearing the curse, pursued them
vigorously.
At the same time, however, a very different action was proceeding at the
northern end of the besiegers' intrenchments. Ali left his castle of the
lake, preceded by twelve torch-bearers carrying braziers filled with
lighted pitch-wood, and advanced towards the shore of Saint-Nicolas,
expecting to unite with the Suliots. He stopped in the middle of the
ruins to wait for sunrise, and while there heard that his troops had
carried the battery of Ibrahim-Aga-Stamboul. Overjoyed, he ordered them
to press on to the second intrenchment, promising that in an hour, when
he should have been joined by the Suliots, he would support them, and he
then pushed forward, preceded by two field-pieces with their waggons,
and followed by fifteen hundred men, as far as a large plateau on which
he perceived at a little distance an encampment which he supposed to be
that of the Suliots. He then ordered the Mirdite prince, Kyr Lekos, to
advance with an escort of twenty-five men, and when within hearing
distance to wave a blue flag and call out the password. An Imperial
officer replied with the countersign "flouri," and Lekos immediately
sent back word to Ali to advance. His orderly hastened back, and the
prince entered the camp, where he and his escort were immediately
surrounded and slain.
On receiving the message, Ali began to advance, but cautiously, being
uneasy at seeing no signs of the Mirdite troop. Suddenly, furious cries,
and a lively fusillade, proceeding from the vineyards and thickets,
announced that he had fallen into a trap, and at the same moment Omar
Pacha fell upon his advance guard, which broke, crying "Treason!".
Ali sabred the fugitives mercilessly, but fear carried them away, and,
forced to follow the crowd, he perceived the Kersales and Baltadgi Pacha
descending the side of Mount Paktoras, intending to cut off his retreat.
He attempted another route, hastening towards the road to Dgeleva, but
found it held by the Tapagetae under the Bimbashi Aslon of
Argyro-Castron. He was surrounded, all seemed lost, and feeling that his
last hour had come, he thought only of selling his life as dearly as
possible. Collecting his bravest soldiers round him, he prepared for a
last rush on Omar Pacha; when, suddenly, with an inspiration born of
despair, he ordered his ammunition waggons to be blown up. The Kersales,
who were about to seize them, vanished in the explosion, which scattered
a hail of stones and debris far and wide. Under cover of the smoke and
general confusion, Ali succeeded in withdrawing his men to the shelter
of the guns of his castle of Litharitza, where he continued the fight in
order to give time to the fugitives to rally, and to give the support he
had promised to those fighting on the other slope; who, in the meantime,
had carried the second battery and were attacking the fortified camp.
Here the Seraskier Ismail met them with a resistance so well managed,
that he was able to conceal the attack he was preparing to make on their
rear. Ali, guessing that the object of Ismail's manoeuvres was to crush
those whom he had promised to help, and unable, on account of the
distance, either to support or to warn them, endeavoured to impede Omar
Pasha, hoping still that his Skipetars might either see or hear him. He
encouraged the fugitives, who recognised him from afar by his scarlet
dolman, by the dazzling whiteness of his horse, and by the terrible
cries which he uttered; for, in the heat of battle, this extraordinary
man appeared to have regained the vigour and audacity, of his youth.
Twenty times he led his soldiers to the charge, and as often was forced
to recoil towards his castles. He brought up his reserves, but in vain.
Fate had declared against him. His troops which were attacking the
intrenched camp found themselves taken between two fires, and he could
not help them. Foaming with passion, he threatened to rush singly into
the midst of his enemies. His officers besought him to calm himself,
and, receiving only refusals, at last threatened to lay hands upon him
if he persisted in exposing himself like a private soldier. Subdued by
this unaccustomed opposition, Ali allowed himself to be forced back into
the castle by the lake, while his soldiers dispersed in various
directions.
But even this defeat did not discourage the fierce pasha. Reduced to
extremity, he yet entertained the hope of shaking the Ottoman Empire,
and from the recesses of his fortress he agitated the whole of Greece.
The insurrection which he had stirred up, without foreseeing what the
results might be, was spreading with the rapidity of a lighted train of
powder, and the Mohammedans were beginning to tremble, when at length
Kursheed Pasha, having crossed the Pindus at the head of an army of
eighty thousand men, arrived before Janina.
His tent had hardly been pitched, when Ali caused a salute of twenty-one
guns to be fired in his honour, and sent a messenger, bearing a letter
of congratulation on his safe arrival. This letter, artful and
insinuating, was calculated to make a deep impression on Kursheed. Ali
wrote that, being driven by the infamous lies of a former servant,
called Pacho Bey, into resisting, not indeed the authority of the
sultan, before whom he humbly bent his head weighed down with years and
grief, but the perfidious plots of His Highness's advisers, he
considered himself happy in his misfortunes to have dealings with a
vizier noted for his lofty qualities. He then added that these rare
merits had doubtless been very far from being estimated at their proper
value by a Divan in which men were only classed in accordance with the
sums they laid out in gratifying the rapacity of the ministers.
Otherwise, how came it about that Kursheed Pasha, Viceroy of
Egypt--after the departure of the French, the conqueror of the
Mamelukes, was only rewarded for these services by being recalled
without a reason? Having been twice Romili-Valicy, why, when he should
have enjoyed the reward of his labours, was he relegated to the obscure
post of Salonica? And, when appointed Grand Vizier and sent to pacify
Servia, instead of being entrusted with the government of this kingdom
which he had reconquered for the sultan, why was he hastily despatched
to Aleppo to repress a trifling sedition of emirs and janissaries? Now,
scarcely arrived in the Morea, his powerful arm was to be employed
against an aged man.
Ali then plunged into details, related the pillaging, avarice, and
imperious dealing of Pacho Bey, as well as of the pachas subordinate to
him; how they had alienated the public mind, how they had succeeded in
offending the Armatolis, and especially the Suliots, who might be
brought back to their duty with less trouble than these imprudent chiefs
had taken to estrange them. He gave a mass of special information on
this subject, and explained that in advising the Suliots to retire to
their mountains he had really only put them in a false position as long
as he retained possession of the fort of Kiapha, which is the key of the
Selleide.
The Seraskier replied in a friendly manner, ordered the military salute
to be returned in Ali's honour, shot for shot, and forbade that
henceforth a person of the valour and intrepidity of the Lion of Tepelen
should be described by the epithet of "excommunicated." He also spoke of
him by his title of "vizier," which he declared he had never forfeited
the right to use; and he also stated that he had only entered Epirus as
a peace-maker. Kursheed's emissaries had just seized some letters sent
by Prince Alexander Ypsilanti to the Greek captains at Epirus. Without
going into details of the events which led to the Greek insurrection,
the prince advised the Polemarchs, chiefs of the Selleid, to aid Ali
Pacha in his revolt against the Porte, but to so arrange matters that
they could easily detach themselves again, their only aim being to seize
his treasures, which might be used to procure the freedom of Greece.
These letters a messenger from Kursheed delivered to Ali. They produced
such an impression upon his mind that he secretly resolved only to make
use of the Greeks, and to sacrifice them to his own designs, if he could
not inflict a terrible vengeance on their perfidy. He heard from the
messenger at the same time of the agitation in European Turkey, the
hopes of the Christians, and the apprehension of a rupture between the
Porte and Russia. It was necessary to lay aside vain resentment and to
unite against these threatening dangers. Kursheed Pacha was, said his
messenger, ready to consider favourably any propositions likely to lead
to a prompt pacification, and would value such a result far more highly
than the glory of subduing by means of the imposing force at his
command, a valiant prince whom he had always regarded as one of the
strongest bulwarks of the Ottoman Empire. This information produced a
different effect upon Ali to that intended by the Seraskier. Passing
suddenly from the depth of despondency to the height of pride, he
imagined that these overtures of reconciliation were only a proof of the
inability of his foes to subdue him, and he sent the following
propositions to Kursheed Pacha:
"If the first duty of a prince is to do justice, that of his subjects is
to remain faithful, and obey him in all things. From this principle we
derive that of rewards and punishments, and although my services might
sufficiently justify my conduct to all time, I nevertheless acknowledge
that I have deserved the wrath of the sultan, since he has raised the
arm of his anger against the head of his slave. Having humbly implored
his pardon, I fear not to invoke his severity towards those who have
abused his confidence. With this object I offer--First, to pay the
expenses of the war and the tribute in arrears due from my Government
without delay. Secondly, as it is important for the sake of example that
the treason of an inferior towards his superior should receive fitting
chastisement, I demand that Pacho Bey, formerly in my service, should be
beheaded, he being the real rebel, and the cause of the public
calamities which are afflicting the faithful of Islam. Thirdly, I
require that for the rest of my life I shall retain, without annual
re-investiture, my pachalik of Janina, the coast of Epirus, Acarnania
and its dependencies, subject to the rights, charges and tribute due now
and hereafter to the sultan. Fourthly, I demand amnesty and oblivion of
the past for all those who have served me until now. And if these
conditions are not accepted without modifications, I am prepared to
defend myself to the last.
"Given at the castle of Janina, March 7, 1821."