this occasion in the capital was not the least remarkable. It struck all observers the more, because it seemed to indicate a settled purpose of dogged resentment; and foreigners in the capital every moment expected an order from the sultan commanding the standard of the prophet again to be display. ed on the mosque of St. Sophia, and a general arming to take place throughout the Ottoman empire. rise upon the Franks, and murder the tranquillity which prevailed on them all indiscriminately. At Smyrna, for several days after the news arrived, great consternation prevailed among the christians, and all classes of the population partook of the excitement naturally occasioned by such an unexpected catastrophe. The English and French men of war stood in readiness to cannonade the town, in case their countrymen were molested. Happily, however, no outrage was committed, and the Europeans were permitted to pursue their usual avocations, after the first effervescence had subsided. Even Mohammed Ali, who received the news by an Egyptian corvette, restrained his own passions, and those of his subjects, so that Alexandria continued in perfect tranquillity. The singular equanimity of the viceroy on this occasion, arose, no doubt, from his being perfectly prepared for the catas. trophe, which he had warned the Porte must take place, soon after he heard the treaty of mediation had been concluded. And, contrary to the expectations generally entertained in Europe, when the event became known at Constantinople, in the beginning of November, no explosion took place, no ebullition of popular fury testified the rage, confusion, and dismay which reigned in every breast. Among the peculiarities which signalized these memorable events, We left the ambassadors at a period, when, according to the strict interpretation of their last note, the negotiations would have been at an end. But they continued to be protracted until the 28th of October, when the ambassadors received news of the battle, a few days before it became known to the Porte or the public. Three days afterwards, they inquired of the Reis Effendi what instructions had been sent to Ibrahim by the Porte, and in what light the latter would regard any hostile operations between him and the squadrons of the allies; but the Reis Effendi refused to give information upon the subject. On the 5th of November, there was a grand meeting of the Divan, at the residence of the Mufti, whose resolution was, to claim of the allies full indemnity for the destruction of the Turkish and Egyptian fleets, as a condition indispensable to the maintenance of peace. To this demand, the ambassadors replied on the 10th, that the battle of Navarino arose from an act of aggression on the part of the Turks, which destroyed all claim of the Porte to indemnity; and also, that the Porte might have prevented the possibility of such an occurrence, by seasonably listening to the counsels of moderation. The negotiations continued until the 24th of November, when the ambassadors, before leaving Constantinople, once more and finally invited the Porte to accept their mediation, and acknowledge the armistice. Of course, this invitation met with the same fate as its predecessors; and on the 8th of December, Mr. Stratford Canning and count Guilleminot left Constantinople for Corfu, and the marquis de Ribeaupierre also quit ted it for Odessa; and thus the relations of amity between their respective countries and the Porte, were dissolved. Every thing in Constantinople demonstrated that the infatuated Turks were about to rush into war against a combination of the most powerful states of Europe. But the history of the subsequent events rightly belongs to the ensuing year, as until then the Porte made no official declaration of its views and intentions ; and at this point, therefore, it is proper our narrative should be suspended. At this point, then, we leave the history of Europe for 1827. Neither of the northern states having been the scene of important events during that period, we have abstained from making them severally the subjects of separate remark; omitting, for the same reason, to give a particular account of Austria and Italy. This consideration does not in strictness apply to Russia, which, after the removal of general Yarmoloff, from the government of Georgia and Cauca. sia, and through the more active exertions of general Paskewitsch, his successor, gained one advantage after another over the forces of Abbas Mirza, until the capture of Tabreez reduced the Persians to a sense of the danger of continuing the war against their powerful neighbour, and led to the conclusion of a treaty of peace. But we reserve the history of these incidents for another volume, so as to relate them in connexion with some later circumstances, all which combined, have especially served to fix the public attention upon Russia. |