forces against the Turks. In this he was so far successful that in November a combined attack was made upon Ismael, the old enemy of Ali, and three other Pachas, shut up in the town of Arta. This attack succeeded partially; but it was attempted at a moment dramatically critical, and with an effect ruinous to the whole campaign as well as that particular attack. The assailing party, about 3400 men, were composed in the proportion of two Christians to one Mohammedan. They had captured one half of the town; and, Mark Bozzaris having set this on fire to prevent plundering, the four Pachas were on the point of retreating under cover of the smoke. At that moment arrived a Mohammedan of note, instigated by Kourshid, who was able to persuade those of his own faith that the Christians were not fighting with any sincere views of advantage to Ali, but with ulterior purposes hostile to Mohammedanism itself. On this, the Christian division of the army found themselves obliged to retire without noise, in order to escape their own allies, now suddenly united with the four Pachas. Nor, perhaps, would even this evasion have been effected, but for the precaution of Mark Bozzaris in taking hostages from two leading Mohammedans. Thus failed the last diversion in favour of Ali Pacha; who was henceforward left to his own immediate resources. All the Mohammedan tribes now ranged themselves on the side of Kourshid ; and the winter of 1821-2 passed away without further disturbance in Epirus.

Meantime, during the absence of Kourshid Pacha from the Morea, the opportunity had not been lost for raising the insurrection in that important part of Greece. Kourshid had evacuated the province early in January 1821; and already in February symptoms of the coming troubles appeared at Patrass, "the most flourishing and populous city of the Peloponnesus, the emporium of its trade, and residence of the foreign consuls and merchants." Its population was about 18,000, of which number two-thirds were Christian. In March, when rumours had arrived of the insurrection beyond the Danube under Alexander Ypsilanti, the fermentation became universal; and the Turks of Patrass hastily prepared for defence. By the 25th, the Greeks had purchased all the powder and lead which could be had, and

about the 2d of April they raised the standard of the Cross. Two days after this, fighting began at Patrass. The town having been set on fire, "the Turkish castle threw shot and "shells at random; the two parties fought amongst the "ruins, and massacred each other without mercy; the only 66 prisoners that were spared owed their lives to fanaticism, some Christian youths being circumcised by the Mollahs, "and some Turkish boys baptized by the priests."

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"While the commencement of the war," says Mr. Gordon, "was thus signalized by the ruin of a flourishing city, the "insurrection gained ground with wonderful rapidity, and "from mountain to mountain, and village to village, propaIgated itself to the furthest corner of the Peloponnesus. Everywhere the peasants flew to arms, and those Turks who "resided in the open country or unfortified towns were either "cut to pieces, or forced to fly into strongholds." On the 2d of April, the flag of independence was hoisted in Achaia. On the 9th, a Grecian senate met at Calamata in Messenia, having for its president Mavromichalis, Prince or Bey of Maina, a rugged territory in the ancient Sparta, famous for its hardy race of robbers and pirates.1

On the 6th of April, the insurrection had spread to the narrow territory of Megaris, situated to the north of the isthmus. The Albanian population of this country, amounting to about 10,000, and employed by the Porte to guard the defiles of the entrance into Peloponnesus, raised the

Το

1 These Mainatts have been supposed to be of Slavonian origin; but Mr. Gordon, upon the authority of the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitos, asserts that they are of pure Laconian blood, and became Christians in the reign of that Emperor's grandfather, Basil the Macedonian. They are, and ever have been, robbers by profession; robbers by land, pirates by sea; for which last branch of their mixed occupation they enjoy singular advantages in their position at the point of junction between the Ionian and Egean Seas. illustrate their condition of perpetual warfare, Mr. Gordon mentions that there were very lately individuals who had lived for twenty years in towers, not daring to stir out lest their neighbours should shoot them. They were supplied with bread and cartridges by their wives; for the persons of women are sacred in Maina. Two other good features in their character are their hospitality and their indisposition to bloodshed. They are in fact gentle thieves,-the Robin Hoods of Greece.

standard of revolt, and marched to invest the Acrocorinthus. In the Messenian territory, the Bishop of Modon, having made his guard of Janissaries drunk, cut the whole of them to pieces; and then, encamping on the heights of Navarin, his lordship blockaded that fortress. The abruptness of these movements, and their almost simultaneous origin at distances so considerable, sufficiently prove how ripe the Greeks were for this revolt as respected temper; and in other modes of preparation they never could have been ripe whilst overlooked by Turkish masters. That haughty race now, from every part of the Morea, retreated within the ramparts of Tripolizza.

In the first action which occurred the Arcadian Greeks did not behave well; they fled at the very sound of the Moslem tread. Colocotroni commanded; and he rallied them again, but again they deserted him at the sight of their oppressors. "And I," said Colocotroni afterwards, when relating the circumstances of this early affair, “having "with me only ten companions, including my horse, sat "down in a bush and wept.'

Meantime affairs went ill at Patrass. Yussuf Pacha, having been detached from Epirus to Euboea by the Seraskier, heard on his route of the insurrection in Peloponnesus. Upon which, altering his course, he sailed to Patrass, and reached it on the 15th of April. This was Palm Sunday, and it dawned upon the Greeks with evil omens. First came a smart shock of earthquake; next a cannonade announcing the approach of the Pacha; and, lastly, an Ottoman brig of war, which saluted the fort and cast anchor before the town.

The immediate consequences were disastrous. The Greeks retreated; and the Pacha detached Kihaya-Bey, a Tartar officer of distinguished energy, with near 3000 men, to the most important points of the revolt. On the 5th of May the Tartar reached Corinth, but found the siege already raised; thence he marched to Argos, sending before him a requisition for bread. He was answered by the men of Argos that they had no bread, but only powder and ball at his service. This threat, however, proved a gasconade; the Kihaya advanced in three columns; cavalry on each wing,

and infantry in the centre; on which, after a single discharge, the Argives fled.1 Their general, fighting bravely, was killed, together with 700 others; and 1500 women were captured. The Turks, having sacked and burned Argos, then laid siege to a monastery, which surrendered upon terms; and it is honourable to the memory of this Tartar general that, according to the testimony of Mr. Gordon, at a time when the war was managed with merciless fury and continual perfidies on both sides, he observed the terms with rigorous fidelity, treated all his captives with the utmost humanity, and even liberated the women.

Thus far the tide had turned against the Greeks; but now came a decisive reaction in their favour; and, as if for ever to proclaim the folly of despair, just at the very crisis when it was least to have been expected. The Kihaya was at this point joined by the Turks of Tripolizza, and was now reputed to be 14,000 strong. This proved to be an exaggeration; but the subsequent battle is the more honourable to those who believed it. At a council of war in the Greek camp the prevailing opinion was that an action could not prudently be risked. One man thought otherwise; this was Anagnostoras. He, by urging the desolations which would follow a retreat, brought over the rest to his opinion; and it was resolved to take up a position at Valtezza, a village three hours' march from Tripolizza. Thither, on the 27th of May, the Kihaya arrived with 5000 men, in three columns, having left Tripolizza at dawn; and immediately raised redoubts opposite to those of the Greeks, and placed three heavy pieces of cannon in battery. He hoped to storm

the position; but, if he should fail, he had a reason for still anticipating a victory; and that was the situation of the fountains, which must soon have drawn the Greeks out of their position, as they had water only for twenty-four hours' consumption.

The battle commenced; and the first failure of the Kihaya was in the cannonade; for his balls, passing over

1 It has a sublime effect in the record of this action to hear that the Argives were drawn up behind a wall originally raised as a defence against the deluge of Inachus: 1800 years, according to my schoolboy recollections, before Christ.

These

the Greeks, fell amongst a corps of his own troops. now made three assaults, but were repulsed in all. Both sides kept up a fire till night, and each expected that his enemy would retire in the darkness. The 28th, however, found the two armies still in the same positions. The battle was renewed for five hours; and then the Kihaya, finding his troops fatigued, and that his retreat was likely to be intercepted by Nikitas (a brave partisan officer bred to arms in the service of England), who was coming up by forced marches from Argos with 800 men, gave the signal for retreat. This soon became a total rout; the Kihaya lost his horse, and the Greeks, besides taking two pieces of cannon, raised a trophy of 400 Moslem heads.

Such was the battle of Valtezza, the inaugural performance of the insurrection; and we have told it thus circumstantially because Mr. Gordon characterizes it as "remarkable for the moral effect it produced"; and he does not scruple to add that it "certainly decided the campaign in Peloponnesus, and perhaps even the fate of the Revolution.”

Three days after,—that is, on the last day of May 1821, -followed the victory of Doliana, in which the Kihaya, anxious to recover his lost ground, was encountered by Nikitas. The circumstances were peculiarly brilliant; for the Turkish general had between 2000 and 3000 men, besides artillery, whereas Nikitas at first sustained the attack in thirteen barricaded houses, with no more than ninety-six soldiers, and thirty armed peasants. After a resistance of eleven hours, he was supported by 700 men; and in the end he defeated the Kihaya with a very considerable loss.

These actions raised the enthusiasm of the Morea to a high point, and in the meantime other parts of Greece had joined in the revolt. In the first week of April an insurrection burst out in the eastern provinces of Greece,-Attica, Boeotia, and Phocis. The insurgents first appeared near Livadia, one of the best cities in northern Greece. On the 13th they occupied Thebes without opposition. Immediately after, Odysseus (that is, my unlearned friend, the Greek form of the name Ulysses) propagated the revolt in Phocis, where he had formerly commanded as a lieutenant of Ali Pacha's. Next arose the Albanian peasantry of Attica,