Слике страница
PDF
ePub

had become general. Mehemet Ali immediately proceeded to the harbour, and by his presence and exertions got twenty-four vessels out to sea, which was the exact number of the Greek force. These, however, did not remain to fight, and were chased by the Egyptian fleet as far as Rhodes, when the pursuit was abandoned, the latter returning to Alexandria, after being joined by the two corvettes attacked by Lord Cochrane off Cape Papa. These repeated failures, although no doubt principally caused by Lord Cochrane's having Greeks under his orders, and brave and determined enemies to deal with, appear to have made the Greeks dissatisfied with their two English Commanders-in-Chief, and (as it is said) Miaulis quitted the Hellas, and again assumed the command of his own brig. On the 2d of August, the Greek frigate and a brig appeared off Zante, steering for the Bay of Patrass, where two Turkish vessels, a corvette and schooner, then lay. During that day a heavy firing was heard, and the next the frigate was seen towing the corvette, which she had captured, and it is believed the schooner also. The Ionians are described as having given way to the most extravagant joy on occasion of this first success of Lord Cochrane, although the great disparity in size and weight of metal could hardly leave a doubt of the result. The last advices received, state that the steam vessel had been laid up, as her engines had become unserviceable, and the Greeks had no means of repairing them.

"Having thus stated, as far as is within my knowledge, the proceedings of the Greek navy since the chief command was assumed by Lord Cochrane, I will now proceed to relate what has taken place on shore.

"It has been already stated, that after the fall of Missolongi, Ibrahim Pasha returned with his army to the Morea. Upwards of eighteen months have elapsed since that event, during which period Ibrahim has not struck a single blow. It is true, however, that he has marched and counter-marched in all directions without any opposition; that he has kept up the communications with the fortresses in his possession; that several of the Capitani have submitted and received his letters of pardon; and also that the Greek districts of Gastouni, Patrass, and Vostizza, as far inland as Calavrita, have returned to their former allegiance. For some months past, Greeks, wearing their arms, have resumed their commercial intercourse with the Turks at Patrass, and they have this year been permitted to cultivate their valuable currant vineyards at Vostizza, the Egyptian soldiery being quartered in the district.

"The only fortresses remaining in the possession of the Greeks are Napoli di Romania, Corinth, and Napoli di Malvasia. The possession of the latter is of little importance to either party, but Ibrahim appears to be fully aware of the improbability of obtaining possession of the others, except by bribery. From what has recently transpired, there can be little doubt of his having very nearly possessed himself of Napoli di Romania by such means.

"The Seraskier invested Athens in June, 1826: the town was occupied by his Albanians, while the Acropolis, in the centre of it, was defended by the Greeks.

"The fighting was confined to occasional skirmishes, as the Seraskier appears from the first to have determined to starve the garrison into a surrender. At one time, when at the greatest extremity, they were relieved in a very gallant manner by Colonel Fabvier, who threw some provisions into the Acropolis, and entered it with a few men. After the failure of the second attempt to relieve the place by General Church and Lord Cochrane, the garrison capitulated, on condition of being permitted to retire.

"The Acropolis was taken possession of by the Seraskier in June 1827, the conditions of the capitulation being respected.

"In Roumelia, Albania, Epirus, &c. tranquillity has been preserved by the Turks up to the present time, nor have the Greeks resumed the offensive, or of fered the least resistance in that quarter since the fall of Missolongi.

"Thus, then, it appears that at the present moment the Insurgents are reduced to the possession of three fortresses in Greece, and that, although the different districts are still occupied by their inhabitants, (some having even submitted)

the whole of Continental Greece, with the exception of the district of Maina, is in the hands of the Ottomans.

"The Hydriots and Spezziots have retired to their islands, without much probability of their again fitting out fleets, as the small proportion of the two English Loans which ever reached Greece, have long since disappeared, and it is well known that from the very first of the struggle, those islanders would never stir without being paid for their services in advance. From the same cause, no army, or military force, has ever been kept together for any length of time, and the notorious chief, Colocotroni, who really had more influence over the Greeks than any other commander, seems to have been a mere passive spectator of events during the last twelve months.

"On the other hand, the resources of the Grand Signior and of the Viceroy of Egypt, have enabled them constantly to send fresh armaments to Greece; and so late as the 9th of September last, a large fleet reached Navarin from Alexandria, where reinforcements of troops, and supplies of provisions, ammunition, and money, were safely landed. It cannot therefore be reasonably doubted, that, ere long, the Insurgent force remaining in arms would have been compelled to submit, and to make the best terms they could with the Porte; for it would be preposterous to suppose that Lord Cochrane, with a single vessel, and without funds, should make head against the combined Ottoman forces."

It is unnecessary to discuss the opinions of Mr. Green, on the probable issue of the Greek Revolution. Events which have occurred since the publication of his work, have given a new face to the contest, and placed its decision perhaps in other hands. The high contracting powers seem equally resolved to coerce both parties, as appears by a letter, addressed to the Permanent Committee of the legislative corps of Greece, the style of which is sufficiently significant. It explains the nature and objects of the allies:

"We will not," say these curious pacificators,-"we will not suffer any expedition, any army, any blockade, to be made by the Greeks, beyond the limits of from Volo to Lepanto, including Salamina, Egina, Hydra, and Spezzia.

"We will not suffer the Greeks to incite insurrection at Scio or in Albania, thereby exposing the population to be massacred by the Turks, in retaliation. "We will consider as void, papers given to cruisers, found beyond the prescribed limits; and the ships of war of the allied powers will have orders to arrest them, wherever they may be found.

"There remains for you no pretext. The armistice by sea exists on the part of the Turks, de facto. Their fleet exists no more. Take care of your's; for we will also destroy it, if need be, to put a stop to a system of robbery on the high seas, which would end in your exclusion from the law of nations.

"As the present provisional government is as weak as it is immoral, we address these final and irrevocable resolutions to the Legislative Body.”*

It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the foregoing is not the language of allies or defenders, but of masters. Indeed, we have seen nothing in all the manifestos, declarations, and comments, connected with the affairs of Greece, which affords so clear an insight into the intentions and conduct of the allied powers. The Greeks are prohibited from all offensive operations against the Turks, and restricted, in their nautical expeditions, within certain limits. The war is suspended by an "armistice

See Letter signed by the three Admirals, dated Navarin, October 24th 1827.

de facto" by sea, while it rages de facto by land. In short, it would seem, that nothing could exceed the apparent inconsistencies of the allied interference, or the dictatorial language used towards the people, in whose behalf they profess to have interfered.

ART. X.

1.-Mémoires Anecdotiques sur L'Intérieur Du Palais, et sur quelques événemens de L'Empire depuis 1805 jusqu'au 1° Mai 1814; pour servir a l'histoire de Napoléon, par L. F. J. DE BAUSSET, Ancien Préfet du Palais Impérial. 2 Vols. 8vo. Paris: 1827. Anecdotical Memoirs of the Interior of the Palace, and of some public events of the Imperial Reign, from 1805 to the 1st May 1814; to serve as a contribution to the History of Napoleon: by L. F. J. DE BAUSSET, former Prefect of the Imperial Palace. 2.-Histoire Générale de Napoléon Bonaparte, de sa vie privée et publique, &c. par l'auteur des Mémoires sur Le Consulat. Paris: 1827. General History of Napoleon Bonaparte, of his public and private life, &c. by the Author of the Memoirs of the Consulate. Paris: 1827.

CURIOSITY, with regard to the history and character of Napoleon Bonaparte, has been more lively and general, and of longer continuance among his contemporaries, than it ever was, in any age, in relation to any other human being: and in no other instance has that feeling been supplied with so much aliment. Besides the mass of details prepared at St. Helena, and furnished chiefly by himself, an incalculable amount and variety of information are widely spread in the books of tourists, annalists, military followers, and regular biographers. He engaged the attention of the world, and occupied the pens and tongues of politicians and moralists, in a degree absolutely unexampled, and not at all likely to be equalled for a long period to come. Yet considerably more is known of his public, external career and conduct, than of his domestic life, even after he became the supreme ruler of France, with a host of personal attendants and inmate observers. Were it not for this consideration, and that enduring, and, indeed, indefatigable curiosity to which we have adverted, we should hardly venture to introduce a new work concerning him to our readers, when they have, perhaps all, in their hands, fresh in their memories,-the comprehensive and attractive

Life, by Sir Walter Scott. As the case is, we apprehend that they will not merely brook, but welcome and relish, some of M. de Bausset's statements, and certain parts of the History, which we have coupled with his Memoirs, for the purpose of describing and using the two latest productions of note relative. to the wonder of the age.'

The author just mentioned, was Prefect of the Imperial Palace, an office which, he says, consisted in a personal attendance on Napoleon, and a supervision over part of the imperial household, which was under the direction of a higher dignitary-the Grand Marshal. He seems to have been a sort of chief butler or major-domo, responsible for the department of the table; and some of his employments remind us of Gibbon's remark, in the historian's account of the imperial Augustan Court:-"Augustus or Trajan would have blushed at employing the meanest of the Romans in those menial offices, which, in the household and bedchamber of a limited monarch, are so eagerly solicited by the proudest nobles of Britain."

The Emperor Napoleon "breakfasted from off a little mahogany table, covered with a napkin." When the breakfast was served, M. de Bausset-a count, and nearly allied to some of the most illustrious patrician families of France-announced that all was ready. While the Emperor ate, he, as Prefect of the Palace, "stood up, his hat under his arm, at the end of the little table," awaiting any directions. During dinner, the Prefect "had only to superintend the whole, and answer such questions as were put to him." When coffee was introduced, the Empress poured it from the cup into the saucer, and M. de Bausset then "presented it to Napoleon." The Court of the French ruler was modelled, in good part, after that of Constantine and his successors; for the composition and arrangement of which, we may refer to the seventeenth chapter of Gibbon's Decline and Fall. The duty of the Roman "Prefect of the sacred bed-chamber," was to attend the Emperor in his hours of state, or in those of amusement, and to perform about his person all those menial offices, "which can only derive their splendour from the influence of royalty." The Roman "Counts of the Domestics" aspired, at times, from the service of the palace to the command of the armies; but it does not seem that this ambition ever seized our French Count. He accompanied Napoleon in his campaigns, but always in his peaceful capacity; and the manner of his advances and retreats, when thrown by duty or disaster among the combatants, is not a little ludicrous and characteristic. Occasionally, we feel nearly as much interest in the author as in his hero; an interest, however, much like that which is inspired by the temper and conduct of Sancho Panza in critical junctures. He was the true 'squire, as a gastronomic purveyor, for the imperial Quixote. In his fifth

chapter, he holds this language,-"It must be already remarked, that I have avoided any development of military operations, with a religious respect. A stranger to this noble career,-only busy with the internal administration of the palace,-it was simply as an amateur that I appeared in the army, when I had the happiness to follow the Emperor. I cared little to know the secrets of strategy or diplomacy. All my anxieties, all my attentions, were for the precious head, on which depended the welfare of so many millions of Frenchmen." The reader, however, should not rely absolutely upon this profession of indifference to state secrets. There never was, in fact, a more vigilant Paul Pry near a throne, than our honied Prefect, as we shall have occasion to show. If he was not made privy to what was passing, or could not overhear, he scrutinized looks and gestures, watched entrances and exits, had his own thoughts about all mysteries, and scarcely ever pleaded ignorance, but in the vein of the old Spanish dame:

"Señor yo no se nada,

Estoy aqui en mi casa sentada:
El frayle, le vi entrar de noche,
Y salir de madrugada;

Señor yo no se nada."

For the rest, M. de Bausset is a man of education and bon ton, who saw a great deal of Napoleon, at his zenith, during ten years, and has contributed to the fund of materials for his personal history, a number of particulars, which will be adopted as authentic, though related by one who literally worshipped with a blind admiration, and evidently played the part of a parasite towards all the powerful and rich, into whose society he happened to fall.

The new "General History" is of a different texture, and from a very different source. It has been undertaken by Thibaudeau, the author of the curious Memoirs respecting the Convention and the Directory, which make part of the great and valuable series, entitled, Collection of Memoirs, relative to the French Revolution. He is an able, and, we believe, an honest writer; of long experience as a political actor and critic. Only two volumes of his present labours have as yet reached this country; and they are, certainly, specimens which betoken an impartial spirit and unwearied research. In his preface, he announces what we are disposed to admit,-that his work will be the most complete which has yet appeared on its subject. In his opinion, not much, perhaps, remained to be said of Napoleon as a military commander; but the extraordinary personage is far from being yet sufficiently traced or understood, as the head of the French government. "C'est sur tout cette vaste tâche," adds Thibaudeau, "que nous avons enterprise." We shall give another quotation, in the author's own language, in order to afford a more adequate idea of his plan and purpose:

« ПретходнаНастави »