destitute of foundation, and at variance with all the facts of the

case.

Without entering into a detailed refutation of this blundering foreigner's representation, and his total misconception of the relation in which Parga stood with regard to Great Britain, it may be sufficient to observe on his conduct that, from the moment he entered Parga, he seems to have kept the inhabitants in a constant state of ferment by encouraging the idea of their being unconditionally given up to Ali Pasha; and while Sir Thomas Maitland, through Commissioner Cartwright, had definitively arranged with Hamed Bey, the Commissioner of the Porte at Ioannina, that the place should not be ceded on any consideration, until the full indemnity for every one's property had actually been received, Colonel de Bosset appears to have countenanced the most idle and absurd reports, one day taking depositions of certain Parganotes that Ali Pasha was on the frontier; another, that he was assembling an army; another, collecting gunpowder, &c.; while he was quietly residing at Ioannina: so haunted indeed was this officer with the idea of the Pasha's atrocities, that he took it at last into his head that he had formed a plan to poison the bread and water destined for the use of the garrison! While these unfounded alarms were perpetually renewed by his credulity among the poor people of Parga, it could surprise no one but Lieut. Colonel de Bosset that they ceased from following their usual occupations. In fact, he appears to have shared the alarm which he had created, so far that, when the two commissioners arrived on the frontier of Parga, though he had upwards of 300 English soldiers under his command, besides ، the brave Parganotes, who,' according to his own statement, 'were able to defend themselves against the whole power of Ali Pasha,' he was actually so terrified at the idea of Hamed Bey and his forty unarmed followers, that he first refused to admit them, and afterwards endeavoured to throw every impediment in the way of their proceeding to the business on which they were specially sent. His officious and unauthorized interference, hampering them in the execution of their duties, produced on the minds of both the commissioners so strong a feeling of disgust, that General Maitland was compelled, as we have seen, to supersede him in the command of the place. Hamed Bey, indeed, distinctly stated that, on calling the inhabitants before him, he found the determination of the whole of them to remove had been brought about by the efforts and intrigues of this officer. The cession was thus delayed for a whole year, as Hamed Bey, not prepared for such an event, had to send for fresh instructions to Constantinople.

Displeased as we understand the Sultan was with this unnecessary waste of time, he was at length persuaded to let the whole property

of

of Parga be valued, and to consent to pay the compensation:-but here again a source of mischief was discovered arising out of the imbecility and indiscretion of Lieut. Colonel de Bosset. Mr. Cartwright, while at Ioannina, had written to this officer (of whom he knew nothing but his rank) to give him privately some idea of what might be the whole value of the fixed property of Parga; and how did the colonel set about this confidential and delicate commission?-Just as might be expected: he employed the Parganotes themselves to draw up an estimate of the amount of their own property! which, as might have been foretold, was nearly thrice as much as it was worth. Can it then occasion any surprize that, on finding the real valuation fall so far short of that which they themselves had given in, the Parganotes should feel or affect considerable dissatisfaction, and raise an outcry against the proceedings of the commissioners?

The persons appointed by the General to make the valuation on the part of the Parganotes were four gentlemen of respectability on the island of Corfu. With singular care, and after long and continued labour, they took an accurate schedule of the property of every individual within the territory, on which they put the same value that a similar property would be worth on that island. They found the number of houses and cottages to amount to 852, and the number of inhabitants, men, women and children, to 2700, of which 200 were Albanians ;* the number of olive-trees was 80,447; of wild olives, 9,486; of orange and citron-trees, 25,082; of other fruit trees, 13,012; and of Valonia oaks, 513; besides vineyards and cultivable grounds, all of which were measured. The value of this property, which the Parganotes had stated at 500,000l., was estimated by the Corfu commissioners at 280,000l.; but by those on the part of the Sultan at 56,7567. only.

.*

Here then the two parties were again at issue, though not so much as might appear at first sight; the Corfu commissioners having fixed the value as if the property had been at Corfu, and without any deduction for prompt cash payment; the first of which, it seems, admits of an abatement of one-third part by the rule in force even under the Venetian government, and the latter, of one-fourth. These deductions therefore would reduce their valuation to about 140,000/,

Still, however, the difference was so great between the two valuations as to leave little hopes of coming to any speedy adjustment; but the perseverance of Sir Thomas Maitland finally succeeded in obtaining for the Parganotes 150,0007, (666,000 dollars,)

*Parga contained a population of about five thousand souls !'—Edinburgh Review. This is of a piece with all the rest.

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nearly three times the sum estimated by the officers of the Porte. But here again a difficulty occurred. Hamed Bey had provided the payment in Turkish piastres, a miserably debased coin. Had these been accepted, so vast a sum carried into the Ionian Islands would at once have so depreciated the value, as to cause a very considerable loss to the Parganotes, and detriment to the money circulation of the Ionian republic. The voluntary liberality of Hamed Bey, however, smoothed this point of difficulty, and at the expense of 33,000 dollars he procured from Constantinople Spanish and Imperial dollars to the whole amount.

The moment this indemnity was received, the result was publicly proclaimed in specific terms; every inhabitant was explicitly informed of the sum he was to receive, of the amount of the valuation originally made of his respective property, and the diminution in consequence of the subsequent arrangements: and every one was again distinctly told that it was entirely at his own option either to remove or stay. To prevent any mistake, each received a ticket, stating the amount of his individual share; and the result of the whole proceeding was, that, instead of making any objections to the fairness of the valuation, the Parganotes all expressed their satisfaction at what had been done for them, in the strongest and most unequivocal manner; as that excellent officer, Lieut. Colonel Gubbins, their civil governor, who had no small share of trouble on the occasion, will, we are quite sure, be ready to testify.

We should have added that, on the delivery of the tickets, each individual was again informed, that he was still perfectly at liberty to remain, or to accept what had been considered as a fair equivalent for the property which he was about to leave.* They had all, however, made up their minds to quit the place, except one family; and they quitted it accordingly one of the primates returned the following day, and was kindly received by Hamed Bey, and also by Ali Pasha, who visited the place three days after its evacuation.

On the arrival of the Parganotes at Corfu, it was settled with the Ionian government, that they should be at once, by an act of the legislature, acknowledged as naturalized subjects, and indulged in their anxious wish to follow the fate of the Ionian Islands;' giving them, at the same time, permission to settle in any of the Seven without the least restriction on their free agency, other than the obligation imposed on each individual, that, having once made his

*Hamed Bey made known by public proclamation the sentiments of the Porte on this occasion. I engage,' says he, on behalf of the Sublime Porte, that all those, who from attachment to their beloved country, may remain behind, shall enjoy liberty of every kind, and every thing which regards their religion, without hindrance or molestation, together with every security, and in the most profound tranquillity in all that concerns their condition, their honour, and the respect due to each.'

choice,

choice, he should declare it to the local government of that island on which he had resolved to reside.

Every disposition was manifested on the part of the general (now Lord High Commissioner) to make the situation of the Parganotes comfortable. He offered them lands; to build them a church, a market-place, a court-house, and such other public buildings as might be necessary; to grant the lands on one spot, if they chose it, on which they might erect a Parga nova; and he endeavoured, by many other kind offices, to convince them of the deep interest which His Majesty's government had invariably felt for their present comfort, and their ultimate and permanent advantage. The large sums of money, which many of the families had received, enabled them to enter on a more extensive scale of trade than they had hitherto been able to exercise while cooped up in Parga: some fixed themselves in small shops; others had recourse to the carrying trade and to fishing, and few or no complaints were heard among them,

The mischief however, that had been hatching, shortly manifested itself. An account of the speech of Sir Charles Monck, in which all their grievances were stated, with many others of which they had never dreamt, reached Corfu; and we need hardly observe that, however satisfied people in their situation might be, it would be too much to expect they should remain so, or continue to think themselves well treated, when they found persons of distinction in the parliament of Great Britain roundly asserting the contrary, and not only deprecating their lot, but wantonly abusing the government for its cruelty and injustice towards them.*

Without affecting the puling cant of humanity, (so fashionable at the present day,) we can feel what it is for a whole people to abandon a spot to which they had long been riveted by habit, by affection, by the recollection of pleasures and enjoyments of which they are called upon for ever to take leave-to fly from a country endeared by those early ties, and numerous associations which every hill and rock and rivulet has power to awaken—and to leave behind those roofs which have been the scene of the strongest passions which agitate the human mind-these, in truth, are no slight evils; but when imperious necessity demands the sacrifice, and when

* When publications in England and in France teem with misrepresentations in their behalf, tending to persuade them of the bad conduct of the British government and of its officers, it can be no matter of surprize that so shrewd a people should be tempted to fabricate new claims and to set up the most exaggerated pretensions. It would be well, however, for the Parganotes, to consider whether the officious meddling of their hotheaded partizans is likely to dispose those, who alone can benefit them, to continue to act in their favour. At all events we are quite sure that the arrogant and bullying tone assumed by M. Duval is not likely to produce that end. Every page of this rancorous pamphlet (which we have reason to believe was manufactured in London) contains a falsehood which the next page frequently detects. 13

every

every possible assistance is given to alleviate the less, and to ward off the greater calamity, generosity as well as justice should prevent them from calumniating their benefactors. In justice to the Parganotes, however, it must be added that they were at least resigned to their fate, until they learned the clamour that was raised in their behalf.

After all that has happened, it must be confessed that we are a singular people. The mist through which we look at distant objects has often a wonderful effect in distorting their shape and enlarging their dimensions; and the same things which occur at home without creating an unusual sensation, may fill us with horror if the Atlantic or the Indian ocean chance to roll between. Recent events might furnish more than one striking example of this anomaly, had we leisure to pursue the subject; but we are straitened for time, and our decreasing limits warn us to hasten to a conclusion,

At any rate the degree of compassion which has been excited for the Parganotes is extravagant. If we compare the full and prompt indemnity procured for them, with the slow and scanty pittance granted to that numerous body of American loyalists, to whom we were pledged by every tie that ancient connection and recent devotion and attachment could enforce, we shall find that the balance, we will not say of justice, but of liberality, will preponderate considerably in favour of the former. Of the Americans, many of those, we fear, whose small properties were swept away by the issue of that disastrous contest, received no compensation for their losses, while the very meanest of the Parganotes received the full value of all that he possessed.

What indemnification was granted, we would ask, or what stipulations were made in favour of the great proprietors of any of the French West India islands ceded at the treaty of Amiens? In what way did we interfere to secure either the persons or properties of the numerous French landholders who adhered to their sovereign or his cause, from the tyranny of Buonaparte? But leaving this, we would gladly learn in what Treaty, for a cession of territory, made by any of the powers of Europe, was any other favourable condition ever granted to the inhabitants of that territory, except that of settling a term, within which those who either belonged to it or were attached to the power who ceded it, should have a right to dispose of their property in the best manner they were able.

Parga alone offers an honourable exemption from this rule; and the paying to the inhabitants the absolute value of the property which they voluntarily relinquished, within the short space of four months, in which all their litigations, conflicting titles, and numerous claims of great variety and complexity were adjusted, does no

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