CHAPTER IV
In December, the Suliots, decimated by battle, worn by famine,
discouraged by treachery, were obliged to capitulate. The treaty
gave them leave to go where they would, their own mountains excepted.
The unfortunate tribe divided into two parts, the one going towards
Parga, the other towards Prevesa. Ali gave orders for the
destruction of both, notwithstanding the treaty.
The Parga division was attacked in its march, and charged by a
numerous body of Skipetars. Its destruction seemed imminent, but
instinct suddenly revealed to the ignorant mountaineers the one
manoeuvre which might save them. They formed a square, placing old
men, women, children, and cattle in the midst, and, protected by this
military formation, entered Parga in full view of the cut-throats
sent to pursue them.
Less fortunate was the Prevesa division, which, terrified by a sudden
and unexpected attack, fled in disorder to a Greek convent called
Zalongos. But the gate was soon broken down, and the unhappy Suliots
massacred to the last man.
The women, whose tents had been pitched on the summit of a lofty
rock, beheld the terrible carnage which destroyed their defenders.
Henceforth their only prospect was that of becoming the slaves of
those who had just slaughtered their husbands and brothers. An
heroic resolution spared them this infamy; they joined hands, and
chanting their national songs, moved in a solemn dance round the
rocky platform. As the song ended, they uttered a prolonged and
piercing cry, and cast themselves and their children down into the
profound abyss beneath.
There were still some Suliots left in their country when Ali Pacha
took possession of it. These were all taken and brought to Janina,
and their sufferings were the first adornments of the festival made
for the army. Every soldier's imagination was racked for the
discovery of new tortures, and the most original among them had the
privilege of themselves carrying out their inventions.
There were some who, having had their noses and ears cut off, were
compelled to eat them raw, dressed as a salad. One young man was
scalped until the skin fell back upon his shoulders, then beaten
round the court of the seraglio for the pacha's entertainment, until
at length a lance was run through his body and he was cast on the
funeral pile. Many were boiled alive and their flesh then thrown to
the dogs.
From this time the Cross has disappeared from the Selleid mountains,
and the gentle prayer of Christ no longer wakes the echoes of Suli.
During the course of this war, and shortly after the death of Emineh,
another dismal drama was enacted in the pacha's family, whose active
wickedness nothing seemed to weary. The scandalous libertinism of
both father and sons had corrupted all around as well as themselves.
This demoralisation brought bitter fruits for all alike: the subjects
endured a terrible tyranny; the masters sowed among themselves
distrust, discord, and hatred. The father wounded his two sons by
turns in their tenderest affections, and the sons avenged themselves
by abandoning their father in the hour of danger.
There was in Janina a woman named Euphrosyne, a niece of the
archbishop, married to one of the richest Greek merchants, and noted
for wit and beauty. She was already the mother of two children, when
Mouktar became enamoured of her, and ordered her to come to his
palace. The unhappy Euphrosyne, at once guessing his object,
summoned a family council to decide what should be done. All agreed
that there was no escape, and that her husband's life was in danger,
on account of the jealousy of his terrible rival. He fled the city
that same night, and his wife surrendered herself to Mouktar, who,
softened by her charms, soon sincerely loved her, and overwhelmed her
with presents and favours. Things were in this position when Mouktar
was obliged to depart on an important expedition.
Scarcely had he started before his wives complained to Ali that
Euphrosyne usurped their rights and caused their husband to neglect
them. Ali, who complained greatly of his sons' extravagance, and
regretted the money they squandered, at once struck a blow which was
both to enrich himself and increase the terror of his name.
One night he appeared by torchlight, accompanied by his guards, at
Euphrosyne's house. Knowing his cruelty and avarice, she sought to
disarm one by gratifying the other: she collected her money and
jewels and laid them at Ali's feet with a look of supplication.
"These things are only my own property, which you restore," said he,
taking possession of the rich offering. "Can you give back the heart
of Mouktar, which you have stolen?"
Euphrosyne besought him by his paternal feelings, for the sake of his
son whose love had been her misfortune and was now her only crime, to
spare a mother whose conduct had been otherwise irreproachable. But
her tears and pleadings produced no effect on Ali, who ordered her to
be taken, loaded with fetters and covered with a piece of sackcloth,
to the prison of the seraglio.
If it were certain that there was no hope for the unhappy Euphrosyne,
one trusted that she might at least be the only victim. But Ali,
professing to follow the advice of some severe reformers who wished
to restore decent morality, arrested at the same time fifteen ladies
belonging to the best Christian families in Janina. A Wallachian,
named Nicholas Janco, took the opportunity to denounce his own wife,
who was on the point of becoming a mother, as guilty of adultery, and
handed her also over to the pacha. These unfortunate women were
brought before Ali to undergo a trial of which a sentence of death
was the foregone conclusion. They were then confined in a dungeon,
where they spent two days of misery. The third night, the
executioners appeared to conduct them to the lake where they were to
perish. Euphrosyne, too exhausted to endure to the end, expired by
the way, and when she was flung with the rest into the dark waters,
her soul had already escaped from its earthly tenement. Her body was
found the next day, and was buried in the cemetery of the monastery
of Saints-Anargyres, where her tomb, covered with white iris and
sheltered by a wild olive tree, is yet shown.
Mouktar was returning from his expedition when a courier from his
brother Veli brought him a letter informing him of these events. He
opened it. "Euphrosyne!" he cried, and, seizing one of his pistols,
fired it at the messenger, who fell dead at his feet,--"Euphrosyne,
behold thy first victim!" Springing on his horse, he galloped
towards Janina. His guards followed at a distance, and the
inhabitants of all the villages he passed fled at his approach. He
paid no attention to them, but rode till his horse fell dead by the
lake which had engulfed Euphrosyne, and then, taking a boat, he went
to hide his grief and rage in his own palace.
Ali, caring little for passion which evaporated in tears and cries,
sent an order to Mouktar to appear before him at once. "He will not
kill you," he remarked to his messenger, with a bitter smile. And,
in fact, the man who a moment before was furiously raging and
storming against his father, as if overwhelmed by this imperious
message, calmed down, and obeyed.
"Come hither, Mouktar, "said the pacha, extending his murderous hand
to be kissed as soon as his son appeared. "I shall take no notice of
your anger, but in future never forget that a man who braves public
opinion as I do fears nothing in the world. You can go now; when
your troops have rested from their march, you can come and ask for
orders. Go, remember what I have said."
Mouktar retired as submissively as if he had just received pardon for
some serious crime, and found no better consolation than to spend the
night with Veli in drinking and debauchery. But a day was to come
when the brothers, alike outraged by their father, would plot and
carry out a terrible vengeance.
However, the Porte began to take umbrage at the continual
aggrandisement of the Pacha of Janina. Not daring openly to attack
so formidable a vassal, the sultan sought by underhand means to
diminish his power, and under the pretext that Ali was becoming too
old for the labour of so many offices, the government of Thessaly was
withdrawn from him, but, to show that this was not done in enmity,
the province was entrusted to his nephew, Elmas Bey, son of Suleiman
and Chainitza.
Chainitza, fully as ambitious as her brother, could not contain her
delight at the idea of governing in the name of her son, who was weak
and gentle in character and accustomed to obey her implicitly. She
asked her brother's permission to go to Trikala to be present at the
installation, and obtained it, to everybody's astonishment; for no
one could imagine that Ali would peacefully renounce so important a
government as that of Thessaly. However, he dissembled so skilfully
that everyone was deceived by his apparent resignation, and applauded
his magnanimity, when he provided his sister with a brilliant escort
to conduct her to the capital of the province of which he had just
been deprived in favour of his nephew. He sent letters of
congratulation to the latter as well as magnificent presents, among
them a splendid pelisse of black fox, which had cost more than a
hundred thousand francs of Western money. He requested Elmas Bey to
honour him by wearing this robe on the day when the sultan's envoy
should present him with the firman of investiture, and Chainitza
herself was charged to deliver both gifts and messages.
Chainitza arrived safely at Trikala, and faithfully delivered the
messages with which she had been entrusted. When the ceremony she so
ardently desired took place, she herself took charge of all the
arrangements. Elmas, wearing the black fox pelisse, was proclaimed,
and acknowledged as Governor of Thessaly in her presence. "My son is
pacha!" she cried in the delirium of joy. "My son is pacha! and my
nephews will die of envy! "But her triumph was not to be of long
duration. A few days after his installation, Elmas began to feel
strangely languid. Continual lethargy, convulsive sneezing, feverish
eyes, soon betokened a serious illness. Ali's gift had accomplished
its purpose. The pelisse, carefully impregnated with smallpox germs
taken from a young girl suffering from this malady, had conveyed the
dreaded disease to the new pacha, who, not having been inoculated,
died in a few days.
The grief of Chainitza at her son's death displayed itself in sobs,
threats, and curses, but, not knowing whom to blame for her
misfortune, she hastened to leave the scene of it, and returned to
Janina, to mingle her tears with those of her brother. She found Ali
apparently in such depths of grief, that instead of suspecting, she
was actually tempted to pity him, and this seeming sympathy soothed
her distress, aided by the caresses of her second son, Aden Bey.
Ali, thoughtful of his own interests, took care to send one of his
own officers to Trikala, to administer justice in the place of his
deceased nephew, and the Porte, seeing that all attempts against him
only caused misfortune, consented to his resuming the government of
Thessaly.
This climax roused the suspicions of many persons. But the public
voice, already discussing the causes of the death of Elinas, was
stifled by the thunder of the cannon, which, from the ramparts of
Janina, announced to Epirus the birth of another son to Ali, Salik
Bey, whose mother was a Georgian slave.
Fortune, seemingly always ready both to crown Ali's crimes with
success and to fulfil his wishes, had yet in reserve a more precious
gift than any of the others, that of a good and beautiful wife; who
should replace, and even efface the memory of the beloved Emineh.
The Porte, while sending to Ali the firman which restored to him the
government of Thessaly, ordered him to seek out and destroy a society
of coiners who dwelt within his jurisdiction. Ali, delighted to,
prove his zeal by a service which cost nothing but bloodshed; at once
set his spies to work, and having discovered the abode of the gang,
set out for the place attended by a strong escort. It was a village
called Plikivitza.
Having arrived in the evening, he spent the night in taking measures
to prevent escape, and at break of day attacked the village suddenly
with his whole force. The coiners were seized in the act. Ali
immediately ordered the chief to be hung at his own door and the
whole population to be massacred. Suddenly a young girl of great
beauty made her way through the tumult and sought refuge at his feet.
Ali, astonished, asked who she was. She answered with a look of
mingled innocence and terror, kissing his hands, which she bathed
with tears, and said:
"O my lord! I implore thee to intercede with the terrible vizier Ali
for my mother and brothers. My father is dead, behold where he hangs
at the door of our cottage! But we have done nothing to rouse the
anger of our dreadful master. My mother is a poor woman who never
offended anyone, and we are only weak children. Save us from him!"
Touched in spite of himself, the pacha took the girl in his arms, and
answered her with a gentle smile.
"Thou hast come to the wrong man, child: I am this terrible vizier."
"Oh no, no! you are good, you will be our good lord."
"Well, be comforted, my child, and show me thy mother and thy
brothers; they shall be spared. Thou hast saved their lives."
And as she knelt at his feet, overcome with joy, he raised her and
asked her name.
"Basilessa," she replied.
"Basilessa, Queen! it is a name of good augury. Basilessa, thou
shalt dwell with me henceforth."
And he collected the members of her family, and gave orders for them
to be sent to Janina in company with the maiden, who repaid his mercy
with boundless love and devotion.
Let us mention one trait of gratitude shown by Ali at the end of this
expedition, and his record of good deeds is then closed. Compelled
by a storm to take refuge in a miserable hamlet, he inquired its
name, and on hearing it appeared surprised and thoughtful, as if
trying to recall lost memories. Suddenly he asked if a woman named
Nouza dwelt in the village, and was told there was an old infirm
woman of that name in great poverty. He ordered her to be brought
before him. She came and prostrated herself in terror. Ali raised
her kindly.
"Dost thou not know me?" he asked.
"Have mercy, great Vizier," answered the poor woman, who, having
nothing to lose but her life, imagined that even that would be taken
from her.
"I see," said the pacha, "that if thou knowest me, thou dost not
really recognise me."
The woman looked at him wonderingly, not understanding his words in
the least.
"Dost thou remember," continued Ali, "that forty years ago a young
man asked for shelter from the foes who pursued him? Without
inquiring his name or standing, thou didst hide him in thy humble
house, and dressed his wounds, and shared thy scanty food with him,
and when he was able to go forward thou didst stand on thy threshold
to wish him good luck and success. Thy wishes were heard, for the
young man was Ali Tepeleni, and I who speak am he!"
The old woman stood overwhelmed with astonishment. She departed
calling down blessings on the pasha, who assured her a pension of
fifteen hundred francs for the rest of her days.
But these two good actions are only flashes of light illuminating the
dark horizon of Ali's life for a brief moment. Returned to Janina,
he resumed his tyranny, his intrigues, and cruelty. Not content with
the vast territory which owned his sway, he again invaded that of his
neighbours on every pretext. Phocis, Mtolia, Acarnania, were by
turns occupied by his troops, the country ravaged, and the
inhabitants decimated. At the same time he compelled Ibrahim Pacha
to surrender his last remaining daughter, and give her in marriage to
his nephew, Aden Bey, the son of Chainitza. This new alliance with a
family he had so often attacked and despoiled gave him fresh arms
against it, whether by being enabled better to watch the pasha's
sons, or to entice them into some snare with greater ease.
Whilst he thus married his nephew, he did not neglect the advancement
of his sons. By the aid of the French Ambassador, whom he had
convinced of his devotion to the Emperor Napoleon, he succeeded in
getting the pachalik of Morea bestowed on Veli, and that of Lepanto
on Mouktar. But as in placing his sons in these exalted positions
his only aim was to aggrandise and consolidate his own power, he
himself ordered their retinues, giving them officers of his own
choosing. When they departed to their governments, he kept their
wives, their children, and even their furniture as pledges, saying
that they ought not to be encumbered with domestic establishments in
time of war, Turkey just then being at open war with England. He
also made use of this opportunity to get rid of people who displeased
him, among others, of a certain Ismail Pacho Bey, who had been
alternately both tool and enemy, whom he made secretary to his son
Veli, professedly as a pledge of reconciliation and favour, but
really in order to despoil him more easily of the considerable
property which he possessed at Janina. Pacho was not deceived, and
showed his resentment openly. "The wretch banishes me," he cried,
pointing out Ali, who was sitting at a window in the palace, "he
sends me away in order to rob me; but I will avenge myself whatever
happens, and I shall die content if I can procure his destruction at
the price of my own."
Continually increasing his power, Ali endeavoured to consolidate it
permanently. He had entered by degrees into secret negotiations with
all the great powers of Europe, hoping in the end to make himself
independent, and to obtain recognition as Prince of Greece. A
mysterious and unforeseen incident betrayed this to the Porte, and
furnished actual proofs of his treason in letters confirmed by Ali's
own seal. The Sultan Selim immediately, sent to Janina a "kapidgi-
bachi," or plenipotentiary, to examine into the case and try
the delinquent.
Arrived at Janina, this officer placed before Ali the proofs of his
understanding with the enemies of the State. Ali was not strong
enough to throw off the mask, and yet could not deny such
overwhelming evidence. He determined to obtain time.
"No wonder," said he, "that I appear guilty in the eyes of His
Highness. This seal is, certainly mine, I cannot deny it; but the
writing is not that of my secretaries, and the seal must have been
obtained and used to sign these guilty letters in order to ruin me.
I pray you to grant me a few days in order to clear up this
iniquitous mystery, which compromises me in the eyes of my master the
sultan and of all good Mahommedans. May Allah grant me the means of
proving my innocence, which is as pure as the rays of the sun,
although everything seems against me!"
After this conference, Ali, pretending to be engaged in a secret
inquiry, considered how he could legally escape from this
predicament. He spent some days in making plans which were given up
as soon as formed, until his fertile genius at length suggested a
means of getting clear of one of the greatest difficulties in which
he had ever found himself. Sending for a Greek whom he had often
employed, he addressed him thus:
"Thou knowest I have always shown thee favour, and the day is arrived
when thy fortune shall be made. Henceforth thou shalt be as my son,
thy children shall be as mine, my house shall be thy home, and in
return for my benefits I require one small service. This accursed
kapidgi-bachi has come hither bringing certain papers signed with my
seal, intending to use them to my discredit, and thus to extort money
from me. Of money I have already given too much, and I intend this
time to escape without being plundered except for the sake of a good
servant like thee. Therefore, my son, thou shalt go before the
tribunal when I tell thee, and declare before this kapidgi-bachi and
the cadi that thou hast written these letters attributed to me, and
that thou didst seal them with my seal, in order to give them due
weight and importance."
The unhappy Greek grew pale and strove to answer.
"What fearest thou, my son?" resumed Ali. "Speak, am I not thy good
master? Thou wilt be sure of my lasting favour, and who is there to
dread when I protect thee? Is it the kapidgi-bachi? he has no
authority here. I have thrown twenty as good as he into the lake!
If more is required to reassure thee, I swear by the Prophet, by my
own and my sons' heads, that no harm shall come to thee from him. Be
ready, then, to do as I tell thee, and beware of mentioning this
matter to anyone, in order that all may be accomplished according to
our mutual wishes."
More terrified by dread of the pacha, from whose wrath in case of
refusal there was no chance of escape, than tempted by his promises,
the Greek undertook the false swearing required. Ali, delighted,
dismissed him with a thousand assurances of protection, and then
requested the presence of the sultan's envoy, to whom he said, with
much emotion:
"I have at length unravelled the infernal plot laid against me; it is
the work of a man in the pay of the implacable enemies of the Sublime
Porte, and who is a Russian agent. He is in my power, and I have
given him hopes of pardon on condition of full confession. Will you
then summon the cadi, the judges and ecclesiastics of the town, in
order that they may hear the guilty man's deposition, and that the
light of truth may purify their minds?"
The tribunal was soon assembled, and the trembling Greek appeared in
the midst of a solemn silence. "Knowest thou this writing?" demanded
the cadi.--"It is mine."--"And this seal?"--"It is that of my master,
Ali Pacha."--"How does it come to be placed at the foot of these
letters?"--"I did this by order of my chief, abusing the confidence
of my master, who occasionally allowed me to use it to sign his
orders."--"It is enough: thou canst withdraw."
Uneasy as to the success of his intrigue, Ali was approaching the
Hall of Justice. As he entered the court, the Greek, who had just
finished his examination, threw himself at his feet, assuring him
that all had gone well. "It is good," said Ali; "thou shalt have thy
reward." Turning round, he made a sign to his guards, who had their
orders, and who instantly seized the unhappy Greek, and, drowning his
voice with their shouts, hung him in the courtyard. This execution
finished, the pacha presented himself before the judges and inquired
the result of their investigation. He was answered by a burst of
congratulation. "Well," said he, "the guilty author of this plot
aimed at me is no more; I ordered him to be hung without waiting to
hear your decision. May all enemies of our glorious sultan perish
even as he!"
A report of what had occurred was immediately drawn up, and, to
assist matters still further, Ali sent the kapidgi-bachi a gift of
fifty purses, which he accepted without difficulty, and also secured
the favour of the Divan by considerable presents. The sultan,
yielding to the advice of his councillors, appeared to have again
received him into favour.
But Ali knew well that this appearance of sunshine was entirely
deceptive, and that Selim only professed to believe in his innocence
until the day should arrive when the sultan could safely punish his
treason. He sought therefore to compass the latter's downfall, and
made common cause with his enemies, both internal and external.
A conspiracy, hatched between the discontented pachas and the English
agents, shortly broke out, and one day, when Ali was presiding at the
artillery practice of some French gunners sent to Albania by the
Governor of Illyria, a Tartar brought him news of the deposition of
Selim, who was succeeded by his nephew Mustapha. Ali sprang up in
delight, and publicly thanked Allah for this great good fortune. He
really did profit by this change of rulers, but he profited yet more
by a second revolution which caused the deaths both of Selim, whom
the promoters wished to reestablish on the throne, and of Mustapha
whose downfall they intended. Mahmoud II, who was next invested with
the scimitar of Othman, came to the throne in troublous times, after
much bloodshed, in the midst of great political upheavals, and had
neither the will nor the power to attack one of his most powerful
vassals. He received with evident satisfaction the million piastres
which, at, his installation, Ali hastened to send as a proof of his
devotion, assured the pacha of his favour, and confirmed both him and
his sons in their offices and dignities. This fortunate change in
his position brought Ali's pride and audacity to a climax. Free from
pressing anxiety, he determined to carry out a project which had been
the dream of his life.
