bourhood of the captain Pacha with a numerous fleet, which the Porte had made great efforts to equip, and which, during part of the year, had the benefit of the co-operation of the Egyptian and Algerine squadrons. The insurgents, however, had several partial successes; and their practical superiority to their enemies was proved by this that the Turkish admiral did not dare to make any attempt to reduce Milo, Naxia, Tino, Myco nos, Skyro, Samos, Andro, Zea, Patmos, Serpho, Aydva, Spezzia, Ipsara, or any of the other islands which had thrown off the yoke of the infidels; and that, in the end of the year, he abandoned the Grecian seas, with nothing to boast of, except that he had fur nished stores to one or two be sieged fortresses, assisted for a time in the fruitless blockade of Missolunghi, and with two divisions of his fleet maintained an engagement with some thirty or thirty-five Greek ships, in which both parties claimed the victory.

The horrors of war were considerably augmented, without any real advantage to the cause of independence, by predatory inroads of the insurgents on the coasts of Asia Minor. On one occasion, fifteen Ipsariot armed vessels, ac companied by upwards of 100 barks, appeared in the bay of Adramit and Sandarly, landed a number of men near the latter place, plundered the town, murdered the greater part of the inhabitants, and carried a great number of them into slavery, among whom was the Harem of Cara-Osman Oglu.* They then plundered and burnt all the vil

This is the Chief of the powerful family, which for about fifty years has exercised, in this part of Asia, a sove

lages and farms in the neighbour hood; and after a short action with some troops that were sent against them, in which they lost about thirty men, returned to their ships laden with booty. The original plan of the Ipsariots was calculated on a more extensive scale. They had threatened to proceed from Sandarly to Smyrna, in order to set fire to that great city: but the commander of one of the European squadrons cruising there being informed of this intention, repaired in person to Ipsara, and represented to the Primates, that if such an attempt should be made, all the commanders of European ships of war would oppose it. This unexpected attack filled the whole country first with terror, and afterwards with boundless rage and the consequence was, that, in the town of Pergamo, not far from Sandarly, the Turkish inhabitants and soldiers fell on the Greek population, and, notwithstanding all the exertions of the Cadi, adreadful massacre ensued, in which about 1,000 were killed. When the account of these transactions was received at Constantinople, the sultan ordered Ibraham Pacha, whe commanded the troops on the Bosphorus, to send immediately a large detachment to Pergamo, and to punish, with the utmost rigour, the authors of these sanguinary scenes, which, he declared, were neither justified nor excused by the preceding excesses of the insurgents.

The influence of the janissaries, which, at the end of the preceding year, had asserted its predominance so triumphantly against the sultan and his favourites, still conti

reignty almost independent of the Porte, and (as all travellers agree) in a mild and beneficent manner.

nued. Haleb Pacha, who was regarded as a zealous friend of that military mob, was appointed to the command on the Bosphorus. About the same time, the Mufti was removed from his high office. Lord Strangford had still the arduous task to discharge, of carrying on the negotiations for the preservation of peace and for the removal of the grounds of quarrel between Turkey and Russia. Moldavia and Wallachia occasioned, in appearance at least, the chief difficulty. For though the Porte had nominated Hospodars in the two principalities, had declared its willingness to allow the inhabitants to enjoy the privileges which were secured to them by treaties, and had issued orders for the evacuation of the provinces by the Turkish soldiers; yet Russia complained, that, instead of these orders having been punctually and fully executed, considerable bodies of troops were still stationed in those provinces. On the other hand, the Turkish ministers, were dissatisfied at the presence of a numerous Russian force in Volhynai, Podolia, Bessarabia, and the adjacent districts, and insisted, that they could not be expected to leave their own frontier in a defenceless state, when a neighbouring power menaced them with a formidable military array. They further declared, that the presence of some troops was absolutely requisite for the internal tranquillity of the principalities, and had been asked for in formal petitions by the Christian Hospodars themselves.

Another difficulty arose from the precipitate conduct of the authorities at Constantinople, in seizing and detaining in the arsenal four ships, which were sailing for the Mediterranean under the Rus

sian flag. The pretext for this seizure was, that the ships were in fact Greek, and on their way to co-operate with the insurgents. After many urgent representations from lord Strangford, they were released in the month of June. Some progress was also made in removing the other obstacles to peace. The Russian troops were partly withdrawn from Bessarabia to cantonments more remote from the Ottoman frontier; and the Turks, on their part, gave reason to expect, that the principalities would be forthwith evacuated by the Pacha of Silistria, and made some concessions with respect to the navigation of the Black Sea.

The Austrian Internuncio had exerted himself to soothe the apprehensions which the divan entertained of Russia; and he obtained for his court some commercial advantages, by the removal or alleviation of several of the inconveniences to which Austrian vessels were exposed in the Dardanelles and the harbour of Constantinople.*

*The following were said to be the principal articles of a convention between Austria and Turkey :

1. The visitation of the Austrian ships on their arrival in the Dardanelles, is to be continued, as the Ottoman govern. ment, particularly on account of the Greek insurrection, cannot neglect any precaution; but this visitation is not to be attended with any inconvenience or expense.

2. The vessels so visited in the Dardanelles are exempt from any further examination.

3. The practice of visiting the ships at the moment of sailing out of the harbour of Constantinople is wholly abolished: it is to take place only when the vessels go from the Dardanelles into the Black Sea, and then to be without inconvenience or expense.

4. The custom, which has gradually been introduced, for the captains to pay

On the 28th of July, hostilities between Persia and the Porte were concluded by a treaty, founded on the basis of that of 1744. The

two hard piasters whenever they cast anchor, and another tax whenever they change their station, is abolished.

5. The duty of two or three hard piasters, which the ships, after taking in their cargo, had to pay the customhouse officers, &c., is also abolished.

6. Likewise, all duties, which, under various pretexts, were demanded from ships proceeding from Constantinople to

the Black Sea.

7. Also, the duty of eleven Turkish piasters for the Ilam, which precedes the delivery of the firmans permitting

the transit of goods.

8. These firmans shall be delivered without delay, and not be withheld for 15 or 20 days, as has been done hitherto. 9. The practice of putting officers (Tschavuchs) on board the ships as soon as they arrived, who remained on board till they sailed again, is totally abolished,

principal stipulations were, that the country within the Turkish frontier, of which the Persians had taken possession before or du ring the war, should be restored, with all the fortresses, towns, &c., in their existing state; that the two powers should bind themselves not to interfere in each other's affairs; that Persian pilgrims, passing Mecca and Medina, should be free through the Ottoman territory to from all taxes or duties which had not been established by antient sian monarch, and of the princes usage; that the wives of the Perand grandees of his dominions, when on pilgrimage to Mecca or Kerbelah, should receive all the honours due to their rank; and that the two powers should send, each to the Courts of the other, an ambassador every three years.

" and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers, to declare, that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power, we have not interfered, and shall not interfere. But, with the governments who have declared their independence, and maintained it,and whose independence we have, on great consideration, and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light, than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States. In the war between those new governments and Spain, we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition; and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur, which, in the judgment of the competent authorities of this government, shall make a corresponding change on the part of the United States, indispensable to their security."

The determination of a part of the boundary between Canada and the United States, with respect to which the commissioners under the treaty of Ghent had disagreed, was the subject of amicable negotiation between the two governments: as were also the pretended claims of the citizens of the United States, inhabiting the banks of the rivers and lakes that empty themselves into the St. Laurence, to enjoy the navigation of that river to the ocean. Against France there were two subjects of complaint; one,

that the French squadron, which blockaded Cadiz, had prevented an American frigate, on board of which was the envoy to the king of Spain, from entering the harbour; the other, that the American demands for indemnity in respect of the seizure and confiscation of American property during the war, had not yet been satisfied. The several claims of Great Britain, Russia, and the United States, with respect to the Western Coast of Ame rica, were in the course of arrangement by negotiation at Petersburgh: and in that negotiation, the United States maintained as a principle, "that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they had assumed and maintained, were thenceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power." This claim was scarcely less

extravagant than that of the Russian Ukase. The northern Autocrat excluded every body but himself: the trans-atlantic republic would fain have excluded both him and every other more civilized European.

The ambition of the United States, disguised under a veil of seeming humanity, was likewise strongly marked in a proposal, which their ministers made to France, Russia, and Great Britain,

that, in all future maritime wars, the commerce both of belligerents and of neutrals should be unmolested, except when an attempt was made to break a lawful blockade.

The state of the finances was flourishing. On the 1st of January 1823, there was a balance in the treasury of 4,237,427.55 dollars. The actual receipts during the three first quarters of the present year amounted to 16,174,035. 26. Of this sum, the Customs had