also the Bulgarians, would rise in arms against the Turks; but those Sclavonian tribes, though members of the Greek Church, had little sympathy with the Greeks, and Austria successfully used her best endeavours to keep them quiet.

The Greek Government, pressed by the representative of the Porte, declared, on the 21st of March, that it would do its best to suppress the popular movements; but that it must respect the constitution by which it existed, and that no power whatsoever could with justice require it to act in contradiction to the fundamental laws of the kingdom; that the officers who had joined the insurgents beyond the frontier had all quitted the service of King Otho; that the King and his Government would prevent any more armed bands from crossing the frontier; that they disapproved of the subscriptions and armaments in favour of the insurgents; and that, though they could not interfere with the liberty of the press, guaranteed by the constitution, they would endeavour to moderate the tone of the newspapers of which the Turkish Government complained. This answer, unanimously approved by the Greek Chamber of Deputies, was deemed unsatisfactory by Néchet Bey, who took his passports and returned to Constantinople with the whole of his legation. On the 28th of March, Count Metaxa, the Greek Ambassador to the Porte, quitted Constantinople; and on the 3rd of April, all such Greeks as were subjects of King Otho, and residing in the empire, were ordered to quit the Ottoman territory within fifteen days. This order

was evaded by many of the richer sort, who could obtain some Frank protection, or bribe the Turkish authorities; but many hundreds of the poorer Hellenics boatmen, artisans, petty shopkeepers, and the like -were driven from Constantinople, with their wives and families, in a state of great destitution. A note, remitted to it by the representatives of France and England, held the Cabinet of Athens responsible for the rupture of diplomatic and commercial relations.

On the 24th of May, the Greek insurgents, under Karaiskaki, Zervas, and two other noted chiefs, who did not agree among themselves, were attacked, near Arta, by Achmet Pasha, and forced to abandon the field of battle; and on the very next day after this combat, French and English troops landed at the Piræus, it having been intimated to the Court of Athens on the 18th that, as the Greeks persisted in their attacks on the Sultan, France and England were determined to resort to decisive measures, and immediately direct an armed force to the neighbourhood of the capital of Greece. By the presence of this force, King Otho was freed from any apprehensions he might have entertained of danger from his own excited subjects; but the humiliation of that Sovereign was rendered very complete. On the arrival of our armament, the Ministers of the Allied Powers demanded, within the space of six hours, an answer to their ultimatum of the 13th of May, with a definitive declaration on the part of the Hellenic Government. The Greek Cabinet immediately

resigned; upon which it was declared that the signature of the King, without the signature of any of his Ministers, would suffice for the declaration. On the following day King Otho engaged to maintain a strict neutrality to wards Turkey, and submitted to the other terms imposed upon him. A new Government was formed under the presidency of Mavrocordato, and the Greek Legislative Assembly, or Chamber of Deputies, was dissolved. On the 28th of May the new Cabinet issued a proclamation: they declared that they respected the sympathies of the Greek people; but hoped from their patriotism that they would know how to distinguish between what was possible and what was impossible; that they would give their support to the Ministers, and aid them in restoring tranquillity and security to the country. On the next day, a decree of amnesty was put forth in the name of the King, in favour of all the officers who had taken part in the insurrection, and who would return home within a month. In consequence of this decree, or rather, perhaps, in consequence of the arrival of the French and English forces, and the now hopeless state of the insurgents, Tzavellas, Grivas, and nearly all the other leaders recrossed the frontiers, and made their submission to Government. Some bands, however, kept the field a little longer. These were chiefly, if not entirely, composed of Greek Rayah subjects of the Porte in Thessaly, who could not escape out of the country, and who had little reliance on Turkish mercy if they submitted. Their chief, Hadji Petros, had

formed an entrenched camp at Kalampaka, in Thessaly, and had there bravely defended himself; he was attacked early in May by Selim Pasha; but after ten days of fighting or investment, he and his Greeks remained masters of the position. On the 18th of June, the Hadji was less fortunate; for his entrenched camp was forced and taken by assault by the Turks, under Abdi Pasha and Fuad Effendi. This affair may be said to have put an end to the insurrection.

The new Cabinet, under M. Mavrocordato, supported by the Allies, exerted themselves to the utmost for the restoration of tranquillity in the kingdom, and for repressing the popular hatred and fury against the Turks; but they encountered many obstacles from the Greek people as well as from the Court, and but for the actual presence of the English and French troops, they would not have been able to effect anything, or to retain their posts a single day. Before sending forth their armament, the French Government had issued a manifesto recapitulating all the services which France had rendered to Greece. On their arrival at the Piræus, the Allies seized every armed vessel of King Otho, and put an embargo on all the rest of the shipping that carried the Greek flag. Pirates had already begun to show themselves among the islands and narrow straits of the Archipelago, as in the War of Independence, from 1822 down to the date of the battle of Navarino.

About 9000 allied troops were encamped at the Piræus and between that port and the city of Athens: of these more than 8000

were French, being the entire division of General Meyran; the English had only the 97th Regiment. As soon as the hot weather set in, the encamping ground was found to be exceedingly unhealthy, and before long, dysentery, cholera, and a very malignant fever showed themselves, and caused a great mortality. Before the close of the year the 97th buried more than a hundred

men.

Ever since the beginning of the quarrel with Russia the representatives of France and England had been incessantly urging on the Porte the necessity of making concessions to its Christian subjects, and of putting them on a footing of equality with the Mahometans. It was forcibly represented that, in numbers, these Christians, in the European provinces more immediately menaced, were, as compared with the Turks, more than three to one, and that France and England, and the whole of Christendom, would expect these concessions to their co-religionists as a part of the price of the aid afforded to Turkey against Russia, It was urged that the two great Christian powers, in espousing the cause of the Sultan, werè, in the eyes of the whole civilised world, bound to insist that his Christian subjects should be treated better than heretofore, and be put in such a condition as not to sigh for the protectorate which the Czar would have exercised over them. The Tanzimaut and the decree of Gul-Khanè, obtained from the Porte by similar diplomatic influences fifteen years ago, had promised something like an equality of rights to the oppressed Rayahs; but these pro

mises had been imperfectly kept even at Constantinople and in the great cities, where the action of Government was watched by our ambassadors and consuls, while in the far greater part of the empire they had been entirely broken. The distinctions of race and religion were as strongly marked as ever, and between the years 1840 and 1854, religious persecutions and massacres of Christians had been perpetrated. The Shoorahs, or Councils, in which Christians were to sit and vote with Turks, turned out a mockery, and worse: there were seldom more than two or three Rayahs to nine or ten Turks, and the Christian members were either driven from the Council or forced to concur with the Mussulman majority. Even in the provinces not remote from the capital, wherever a Christian, not enjoying Frank protection, showed symptoms of prosperity, he was mercilessly plundered by the pashas or their sub-governors. Against a Turk no Rayah could obtain redress in the law courts, as, according to ancient usage and the Koran, or its commentaries, the evidence of a score of Christians could not be taken against that of two Mussulmans. Many efforts had been made to remove this crying evil, but the Porte had always replied that this was a part of their religion, and could not be altered without danger to the Faith, or without inciting the Mussulman population to insurrection and rebellion. At length, however (on the 25th of February), Lord Stratford de Redcliffe announced to his Government that he had obtained from the Sultan a firman or decree rendering, all over the

empire, the testimony of Christians equivalent to that of Mahometans. This, if carried out, will be an inestimable boon to the Rayah population; but it is feared that, in the Asiatic provinces, where they far out-number the Christians, the Turks will not easily submit to this alteration of their old law, or ever sincerely allow that the oath of a Christian or Ghiaour can be equal to that of a true believer, or, in fact, that there can be any

sort of equality between a Rayah and an Osmanlee.

A further attempt was made by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to induce the Sultan to arm his Christian subjects, to enrol them as regular troops for the defence of the country, and to employ them, in all grades of the service, indiscriminately with Mussulmans; but a decision on this very delicate question was not come to during the year 1854.

THE

HE war was carried into the Baltic and the White Sea, as well as the Black Sea, and the roar of our cannon was heard along the lonely shores of Kamschatka and in the peaceful Sea of Japan. High expectations, not destined to be realised this year, were entertained as to the success of our operations in the Baltic, and a vaunting tone, not characteristic of Englishmen, was indulged in. The naval squadron, under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier, left Spithead on the 11th of March, and finally sailed from the Downs for the Baltic on the 13th. It comprised eight screw line-of-battle ships, four screw frigates, and four paddle-wheel steamers. The fleet entered the Great Belt on the morning of the 25th, and came to anchor off Kiel, in Holstein.

While lying in Kioge Bay, Sir Charles Napier was reinforced by the Neptune, 120, Rear-Admiral Corry; the James Watt, 91; the Boscawen, 72; and several other ships of war. And early in April Rear-Admiral Plumridge, in his flag-ship, the Leopard, was despatched with three other vessels

to proceed up the Baltic, and reconnoitre the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. On the 12th of that month Sir Charles Napier, in the Duke of Wellington, 131, weighed anchor with 15 vessels, and sailed towards the Gulf of Finland, where he established a rigorous blockade; and cruisers were stationed off the different ports along the coast, so that not a single Russian vessel could show itself in the Baltic.

In the meantime the French had despatched a squadron to the same waters, consisting altogether of 23 ships, carrying 1250 guns. This fleet was under the command of Vice-Admiral Parseval-Deschênes, and it sailed from Brest about the middle of April.

On the 19th of April, Capt. J. Foote, of the Conflict, was returning from Memel in his gig, with his lieutenant and five sailors, when the boat was capsized on the bar by the surf, and Capt. Foote and four sailors were drowned.

Early in May Admiral Plumridge left the main squadron to cruise with a portion of the fleet in the Gulf of Bothnia; and during the period that elapsed