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there are points which, even while in employment, they never scruple to contest with their masters. Report has lately announced, not without surprise and sympathy, in the conduct and temper of the population of Parga, a specimen of what Greeks can resolve on when reduced to extremity; a firmness of mind, strongly marked, and not the mere impulse of the moment, but evidently inherent. And yet Parga was far from bearing the best of characters. Mr. Hobhouse describes it in these words: "The character of the Parguinotes is among the worst of the Albanians; their connexion with the Christian states has taught them only the vices of civilization, and they are not less ferocious, but are become more refined in their cruelty and violence. Their town is the refuge of many of the robbers whom Ali Pacha has driven from the mountains." Elsewhere the same traveller informs us of various songs sung round a roasting fire by night, narrating exploits of robbery." One of them began thus- When we set out from Parga, there were sixty of us.' Then came the burden of the verse,

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It is natural to deduce an inference from the inflexibility of the Parguinotes, (if correctly stated) as to what might be expected from those of their countrymen who should be raised to a superiority, by the effect of enlarged acquaintance with the duties of enlightened patriotism, and the energy of a more liberal and generous public spirit. If these rude and unlettered people were thus jealous of their freedom, and thus determined in their resistance to tyranny, what may not be looked for from real patriots, actuated by the higher motive of devotion to the cause of their country and countrymen? If these rough Parguinotes forsook all, rather than become the property of a tyrant, what may not Greece yet produce among her nobler sons, the descendants of heroes, and of deliverers raised by their grateful country to the rank of demi-gods?

Even now, we are told that it is nothing uncommon for whole families and tribes of Greeks to quit the plains for the mountains, in order to withdraw themselves from Turkish severity. Nor has the spirit of forming more general enterprises been wanting among these

NEW MONTHLY MAG.-No. 78.

people. In 1770, the inhabitants of Peloponnesus revolted against their masters, in reliance on assistance expected from the Russian fleet, then in those seas: this, it was found impracticable to afford them; but the conduct of the Greeks was such, that M. Peyronnel, in his Remarks on Baron du Tott, informs us it was debated on this occasion, in the Turkish divan, whether the whole of this turbulent nation should not be exterminated, as a punishment for defection. Notwithstanding this narrow escape-for it was chiefly, if not wholly, the vote of Hassan Pacha, the admiral, which preserved the Greeks from destruction-they attempted, in 1808, a still more perilous enterprise. The Greeks of Thessaly and the adjoining provinces, tired of the vexations they suffered from Ali Pacha, rose in arms against him: and the Pacha, who had extended his dominion over almost the whole of what was the ancient Greece, found himself reduced to the single province of Epirus. The Turks, who are little less ill-treated by this despot of Albania-for such he is, notwithstanding his professions of humble submission to the orders of the Sublime Porte-saw, with much satisfaction, but not without more than equal astonishment, this insurrection; which they themselves had not vigour sufficient to attempt.-South of Macedonia to the frontier of Attica, almost the whole of the country was under the controul of the Greeks during twenty-two days. But, by a fatality which not infrequently attends unfortunate nations, the spring rains of this year were uncommonly violent and long continued, insomuch that the river Peneus swelled into an inundation, in consequence of which, considerable bodies of troops expected from the Agraphes could not reach the head quarters of the collecting forces, as had been agreed on. At this moment, one of the leaders, whether from fear, or from any other motive, surrendered the passes which had been entrusted to his charge between Epirus and Thessaly; and the issue was fatal to the attempt. Three hundred of these Greeks were met by the son of Ali Pacha, who had effected a passage, by night, over the mountains of Pindus, at the head of a chosen band of Albanian soldiers. The whole of these three hundred warriors were found dead, around the body of their general, after a most obstinate combat, in which half the army of their enemy fell also. The VOL. XIV.

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reader will perhaps think these moderns deserve the honours of a monument equally with those ancients who defended the pass of Thermopyle against the Persians; nor less the epitaph, "Go, traveller, and report, that here we lie, in obedience to the sacred laws, and to the call of our country."

We the rather direct the attention of our readers to this subject, because the Greeks have at length perceived the necessity of spreading knowledge among their compatriots, previous to any general or national endeavour to throw off the yoke under which they groan. For this purpose they have sent a number of youths to complete their education in the principal universities of Europe. At Paris, where five or six years ago there were not more than eight, there are now more than sixty Greeks. In the German establishments the number is considerable; and there are some in England. The university of Pisa, in Tuscany, has about sixty; drawn thither by the presence of the archbishop Ignatius, a prelate of the most respectable manners, both religious and political. At Paris the labours and reputation of M. Coray ensure the Greeks a favourable reception; while those youths contemplate in this respectable old man, their countryman, the prime mover of that restoration toward which they direct their wishes. They have commissioned a statue of him, to be executed at Rome. During twenty-five years has he been engaged in promoting that well-directed information, which he regards, and justly, as the basis of all legitimate or well-founded hope. We need not say, that France has very assiduously cultivated this favourable opinion of the Greeks: the causes were notorious under Buonaparte, and probably have not ceased to operate, or at least to exist, under the present government.-But, every medal has its reverse every picture has its shades as well as its lights; and the spectator, if he wishes to judge truly on the piece, will not fail to examine these also, as well as the other. While therefore, we desire to record our foresight of what may happen, and what we deem even probable, and what we have watched the preparations for, during several years, yet we deem it equally proper to insert proofs that our confidence is not blinded by appearances; that we are not unacquainted with what may be urged on the other side of the question, nor insensible to those oppositions which, when called into

action, will be found neither trivial nor immaterial to the result.

We may say of such important undertakings, as has been said of others, thought to be equally impossible, "Dans telles affaires c'est le premier pas qui coute." The Greeks think, or affect to think, that the impulse is already, and effectually given. It would be rash in any one who knows them, on such slender authority, to predict too positively what shall follow. Habits are powerful constraints. Every Greek can talk; it is the character of his nation; but talking may not only contribute to the evapora tion of energy, but, if indiscreet, it may give a hint to Ottoman jealousy, and awaken that Mahommedan fury, which if prompt enough-and it is sometimes prompt-may disappoint the best-laid plans. The nation at large has no common centre. The grandees are divided by their family and personal rivalships, by their mutual jealousies, by their contemptible ambition: each wishes to be greatest, and thereby degrades himself below the least. As heads of their people they are a rope of sand: they neither know nor feel the power of combination. The districts, also, where liberty still maintains a rugged refuge, are separated by distant intervals; and the inhabitants of the plains dread the incursions of the mountaineers, no less than the avanias of their masters. They cannot place unreserved confidence in those whom they have been used to dread as banditti, not to welcome as friends; from those who stripped them of their property, they will hardly receive liberty itself as a boon they will suspect the gift, from the too notorious character of the giver.

Should some fortunate leader indeed arise, who, like Scanderbeg, shall form a powerful reputation, and be acknowledged as a chief on whom dependance may be placed, there can be no doubt but that multitudes would flock without delay to his standard. So far as personal bravery is in question, the Greeks may supply that quality: but their national, and habitual perseverance, docility, moderation, self-possession, and magnanimity, are questionable. They are, as a people, rather cunning than wise, rather sudden than sedate, rather feverish than firm. They may begin, but if the end be not speedy, they will be disgusted at the interval, however necessary, that elapses between their wishes and their object. They will never forbear that enlargement of

language which preserves an immense
distance from simple truth: the conse-
quence will always prove a deception of
themselves, and of others who might be
disposed to assist them. Nor will they
forbear to delight in calumny; a modern
Socrates would find no greater favour
than did the ancient. A single fault in
a general, however eminent, formerly,
would obliterate all his previous services:
and the character given of them by M.
Fauvel, the French consul at Athens,
who has resided among them many
years, would be found extremely just
"Believe me, my dear sir, they are the
same canaille as they were in the days of
Miltiades."

Nor is the character of their adversaries to be overlooked; the habit of commanding not seldom gives the power to command. The voice of authority is obeyed from the mere force of custom. Their masters will not easily resign the mastery they will be influenced by revenge, by the recollection of advantages hitherto enjoyed, inflamed also by cupidity; but most of all by fanaticism. The delusion of fanaticism is irresistible: it actuates the rude more powerfully than the refined, no doubt; but the mass of all nations is rude, and especially the mass of the Turks. They are strangers to that discipline by which the mind is opened: they neither acknowledge nor respect good qualities in others: they are accustomed to despotism, and in despotism they delight: they are frugal, obstinate, prejudiced, and they estimate human life at nothing.

If we turn our eyes to Egypt, we are struck by the spectacle of a Turkish governor who conducts his proceedings with all the policy of the most consummate European statesman. Mahommed Ali, the present Pacha of Egypt, is by birth an Albanian, and, like thousands of his countrymen, was enrolled among the military of his masters, the Turks. The Albanians are, unquestionably, the best soldiers of the Ottoman army, so far as courage and endurance are in question; but they are insolent, rude, and overbearing; with difficulty controuled, even by the Pachas into whose service they enter. They are from their infancy accustomed to the exploits of military robberies, and maraudings, and they entertain high notions of personal and national independence. Such, no doubt, is Mahommed Ali; but, by whatever means he has acquired it, he possesses a degree of knowledge altogether extraordinary in a chief of his description; and probably,

rather originating with the remains of the French invaders of Egypt, than with himself.

We have already recorded his attention to the procuring of intelligence, both philosophical and political, by means of young Arabs, sent to various academical institutions of Europe, to complete their studies; and he has obtained from the best schools and the best sources, as well the personnel as the materiel of military power. He has furnished his arsenals with ordnance from the founderies of Sweden; he has in his armoury 5,000 English firelocks; and from the dock-yards of Russia and England, he has procured naval stores of the best qualities, and most serviceable nature; he has commissioned ships from the docks of India, and has purchased others, so that his navy on the Red Sea is rising into respectability; and he has from 30 to 40 vessels constantly trading in the Mediterranean. He is, moreover, intent on deriving from his own country whatever materials it can produce; he has established manufactories of sail-cloth, and other hempen articles; and his manufacture of gunpowder deserves special distinction.

That wood is at present scarce in Egypt is well known; and coal is not the produce of the country; but an Italian chemist, Sig. Giovanni Bassi, finding his labours in the service of the Pacha impeded by a want of fuel, has taken advantage of the heat of the climate to effect evaporation by a slower, a more economical, and a more effectual process. In the course of the last summer (1819) he prepared upwards of 30,000 pounds of saltpetre, from which gunpowder has been made, of a quality decidedly superior to any which has been seen in that country. This is an invaluable acquisition to the Pacha; whose vigilance in preventing this indispensable article of war from reaching his enemies, the Mamelukes, in Southern Egypt, has greatly enfeebled their operations, and, in fact, has defeated their plans: while the possession of this power at home renders him independent of supplies from abroad; and will mainly contribute to establish his independence as a Prince, whenever he thinks proper to manifest his real intentions. Moreover, to consolidate and connect his resources, he has lately cleaned and deepened the canal leading from Alexandria to the Nile, in order to avoid the delay and dangers attending the sands at the mouth of the Nile, or what is commonly called the Boghaz of

Rosetta; which yearly gets worse. This not only facilitates the traffic of the country, and accommodates the city of Alexandria with a necessary article of life, but it will certainly be used as the means of communication between the north and the south. The stores already mentioned, received by the way of the Mediterranean, will reach the interior of Egypt; and should the Pacha succeed in opening the ancient canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, it is within the compass of probability that vessels direct from India may float in the port of Alexandria, and vessels from the Baltic, or from the Thames, may proudly overlook the sands of Egypt, while proceeding by means of a towage by cattle from the north to the south: a singular spectacle! and absolutely incredible, to the descendants of Sultan Selim and his Mameluke despots.

As a commander, Mahommed Ali has already proved victorious over the Wahabi, and has destroyed their power. By his son, Ibrahim Pacha, he has also taken their chief town, Deriah, and has razed it to the ground. It is fair to conjecture that Ibrahim may enter into his father's plans, and this supposed, he cannot but have his eye turned to his succession in the Egyptian government; if so, it seems nothing more than natural that the establishments of Mahommed should be patronized and continued. It is possible, also, that he may eventually possess sufficient influence over the soldiery to establish the European discipline, which is the only thing wanting to the consolidation of the governor's power, to a degree that may bid defiance to all enemies. In this, Mahommed has hitherto failed; and time is necessary for the purpose, as well as personal authority, example, and able instruction. Meanwhile, the important affair proceeds in others of its branches, and perhaps not the less certainly, because in some respects the more slowly, and retarded by prejudices, which might be thought invincible. Mahommed has also sent ambassadors, with pre

sents, to Sennaar, and even into Abyssinia; what these attempts may produce time only can shew, but they disclose an extent of thought altogether singular in a Turkish governor of Egypt. He has taken possession of Massuah, on the Red Sea, the port of Abyssinia, certainly not without an object, to be realized at a convenient opportunity. Hitherto the wild tribes on the coast and along Eastern Africa have withstood or suspected his efforts: they equally dread and hate the very name of a Turk. There is yet another probable cause of disappointment to the Pacha's schemes; he is an entire stranger to that feeling which is known among the superior class of professional artists of every description in Europe, by the name of liberality. M. Belzoni was engaged by the Pacha as an hydraulic engineer and mechanician. but after serving several months he found himself disregarded, and his services unrewarded. Whether this were the fault of Mahommed himself, or of his officers, by their intrigues, we do not determine; but similar instances cannot but operate as repulses to eminent merit; and such the Pacha's necessities require; not mere pretenders to science only, of which he may have enough, and reason enough to lament his disappointments from their failures.

Nothing could be more conformable with the designs of Mahommed, than the lately reported insurrection of Áli Pacha against the divan of Constantinople. This is likely, to say the least, to engage the attention, if not to baffle the power of the Crescent; and should any other defection occur for the opportunity is favourable-the energy of the Turkish empire will not long delay its fate; whatever its wisdom may do. At this moment, the whole skill of that government consists in raising taxes;money, tribute, presents, are the summit of its interior skill.-However, we have not forgotten the Arabic proverb

"The Osmanlis catch hares with waggons:" the rest time will shew.

MUZIO, A TALE.

A YOUNG gentleman, named Muzio, came one day with a new sword out of the shop of one of those manufacturers of Ferrara, whose works raised that city into high repute both far and near. Proceeding towards an adjacent grove, he was met by some of his ac

BY COUNT LOEBEN.

quaintance, who, on his shewing them the weapon, immediately began to try it with him in all the movements of the art of fencing, in which the inhabitants of Ferrara were remarkably expert. It so happened that the favourite of the Duke passed that way, and joined in the

amusement. Muzio regarded him as his secret enemy, since he was enamoured of the fair Fiordiligi, whose heart Muzio possessed, but without the approbation of her parents, who for many reasons preferred the wealthy and powerful courtier for a son-in-law, and who, though they would not compel their child to give him expectations that his love would be returned, explicitly declared to the beauteous Fiordiligi, that a passion for Muzio would be utterly hopeless. When Ergasto, the favourite -who could not but be aware that it was owing to Muzio that his addresses produced no effect on Fiordiligi-perceived his rival and his associates engaged in trying the sword, which, as it brightly glistened in the sun, approached too near to a cypress branch, and became entangled among its twigs, he also drew his weapon, and having bent it first one way, then the other, to shew its temper, he made a cut at a myrtle, the detached blossoms of which fell upon the point of Muzio's blade.

He then called the others to witness whether that sword with which victory and glory had already been acquired, was not far better than his rival's. With sparkling eyes, and an apparent desire to transfuse the spirit of his jealousy into his sword, Ergasto began to strike sharply at that of Muzio, who, uncertain whether it was intended in jest or earnest, became more and more ruffled., The sparks of hatred and enmity which seemed to shoot forth from Ergasto's weapon, at length kindled similar feelings in the breast of Muzio: compelled to defend himself, he began by degrees to return the attack; both grew warmer and warmer, though neither uttered a single word. As little did Muzio's astonished friends know what to think of the scene before them : the whole transaction was so quiet and so rapid, that they had scarcely time to consider, whether they ought to interfere, or only to serve as winesses for Muzio, while he took satisfaction for the sudden affront which he had received. The blood of the two adversaries was soon inflamed to the highest degree; they plied their flashing weapons with increased rapidity, till a purple torrent burst from the heart of Ergasto, and the fatal blade dropped from the ice-cold hand of the petrified Muzio.

At the first moment, fortune seemed to have favoured Muzio in this event, since he had undesignedly, and on the contrary by compulsion, ridded himself

for ever of a hostile rival, and had nothing more to fear from that quarter. This flattering prospect soon vanished, and it became equally obvious that this circumstance was likely to rob him of that happiness which it had just before appeared to secure. Was it to be sup

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posed that the Duke of Ferrara could be persuaded of Muzio's innocence ? Would he not, on the other hand, exert all his power to avenge the death of his favourite? A dungeon evidently threatened to separate him from his beloved Fiordiligi. "Ha!" exclaimed Muzio, with anguish, "I now perceive that the cypress branch, in which my sword was entangled, denounced death to my passion, and the detached myrtle blossom, which trembled on this steel, indicated this inevitable parting. Perhaps I shall never behold Fiordiligi more; perhaps she is already lost to me for ever! It is not Ergasto's friends alone that will lament his death; keenly do I already feel that I shall have equal reason to deplore it!"

Muzio's friends besought him to cease his lamentations, and to turn his thoughts to the means of safety. They advised him to flee without delay, while they would report that he had been mortally wounded by Ergasto; that, tortured with burning thirst, he had desired them to conduct him to the neighbouring bank of the Po; that, while attempting to drink, he had fallen into the river, just then swollen by heavy rains, and been carried away by the impetuosity of the current. All of them agreed that this would be the best method of screening Muzio from persecution, and that, in case the Duke should be unexpectedly disposed to clemency, it would be easy to devise some romantic story to account for his preservation and re-appearance, and to open to him again, under the most fortunate circumstances, the gates of Ferrara, and the house of his mistress. There was no time for consideration; the hour approached at which the inhabitants of Ferrara were accustomed to walk abroad into this grove: the moon already appeared; and a gentle breeze waved the dark foliage of the trees, tinted with the roseate hues of evening. Muzio took but a moment for reflection. He was undecided whether to leave Fiordiligi in uncertainty respecting his life or death. "Is not hopelessness of itself, thought he, a species of death? I am now dead, as it were, for Fiordiligi. But true love knows no death-true love stands the

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