situation where it has been necessary to go to war, even at the hazard of plunging us into hostilities with the most ambitious, powerful, and vindictive of European nations. The Syrians had changed masters, and were rejoiced at the change; but this was a joy that did not last long. Mohammed Ali, though the most extraordinary of Turks, is still a Turk; and the name implies as much suffering on the part of the people as supremacy on that of government. He compelled them to pay new taxes, and rigidly enforced the old. The Sultan had seldom laid on a new tax, and the people generally contrived to cheat him of half the old. They suddenly discovered the difference between the pressure of a vigorous government, and the lazy burden of an enervated one. The moral of King Log and King Stork was never more amply verified. The country was in a state of clamour from end to end; but large bodies of regular troops held possession of the towns. The rural population is always ineffective, when left to itself; the casual bursts of violence were suppressed by the hands of the police, and the bastinado effectually accomplished what on a larger scale the bayonet might have attempted in vain. But the law of Mahometan sovereignty is always, to make power the measure of extortion. In an unlucky hour for himself, the Pasha inflicted the conscription upon Syria. This, the most violent severity of European governs ments, naturally assumes a new violence in countries where, as in Egypt, Syria, and the western provinces of Asia, there is no military caste; where military life offers nothing to the multitude but wounds and privations; where every man, being a tiller of the ground or a trader, is torn away from a habitual occupation, and where wars being totally unconnected with national feelings, or individual honour, success is without rational triumph, while failure gives over the individual to either death in the field, or final and utter beggary.

The flame so long smothered, yet so amply fed, at length burst forth. In 1834, the whole mountain country was in a state of ferment. Many of the villages took up arms; the detached troops of the Pasha were daringly attacked, and the ranges of Lebanon, always inhabited by a bold and inde

pendent race, the Druses, chiefly Mahometan, with something of Christian freedom, the Maronites, chiefly Christian, with something of Mahometan ferocity, poured down into the plain, and a bitter though brief struggle ensued. Another enemy, and one of a remarkably formidable order in such a contest, now came into the field. The Bedouins, from the country lying to the east of the Jordan, advanced into Syria, and their cavalry threatened the Egyptian communications in every quarter. Ibrahim, boldly resisting, yet embarrassed by the multitudes of this sudden rebellion, now concentrated his forces in Jerusalem, where he was speedily besieged. The crisis now became dangerous, and the Pasha himself, always ready to throw himself forward where danger existed, hurried to Syria. The powerful force at whose head he marched, and still more his own talent and decision, changed the face of affairs; the moun tain tribes shrank from an encounter with the troops of the most distinguished general in Asia; money of course was not spared by the politic Pasha, and the insurrection gave way. But the seeds of revolt were too widely sown, to be extirpated by a single success. A sudden insurrection broke out in the north of Syria. The revolters were finally suppressed; but this victory tempted the Pasha to a measure which made reconciliation impossible. He issued an order for disarming the whole population, an order which the mountaineers set at defiance, and the inhabitants of the plains, resented as the keenest aggravation of tyranny. As a final act necessary to the completion of his con. quest, the Pasha sent an expedition against the chief of the Druses, the Emir Bechir. A force of 12,000 men under Ibrahim was dexterously concentrated in Lebanon. The Emir, nearly ninety years old, and unsuspecting the object of the movement, was forced into submission, and his people were largely deprived of their arms; but this act, which could have been but partial at least, laid the foundation of universal hostility-a hostility which has since so effectively exhibited itself, and contributed so largely to the recovery of Syria.

The insult to the Emir was deeply felt, as he is a Shereef, or descendent of the prophet, and is of the noble

Arab family of Shehab. Even to the Christian world he assumes some degree of interest, from the vague tradition, that his people are descendents of the Crusaders, who, after the successive invasions of Syria, settled in the country. But the religion of the Druse, if a religion at all, is Mahometan, though the Emir is said to have been a Christian for some period: and the conjecture derives confirmation from his intending to fix his future residence at Rome.

The hand of power now fell with redoubled heaviness upon the Syrians. The young men were carried off to serve in the pasha's forces. Many contributions were laid on the villages found guilty of disaffection, and the whole vast province was placed under the strictest military surveillance.

The difficulties of the sultan's government had left Syria to its fate, and the able and ambitious pasha was allowed the full exercise of virtual sovereignty. The year 1835 closed with a statesmaulike and well imagined attempt to secure this important possession to his line for ever. Mohammed sent an official note to the governments of Austria, France, and England, in which he had the strong ef frontery to state the value of his services to the Sultan, the importance of rendering Egypt independent, as a support to the Turkish empire, and the interest which European cabinets ought to feel, in putting him forward as an obstacle to the encroachments of Russia. The English ambassador at the Porte exhibited the strongest opposition to this proposal. It fell to the ground; the bold spirit of the mountaineers again raised a revolt, attacked one of Ibrahim's officers in February 1837, and swept him before him into Damascus ; but the whole Egyptian army, with Ibrahim at its head, now marched against him, and the gallant mountaineers were driven back once more among their fastnesses. The active spirit of the pasha, having thus gained the glory of conquest, looked for its prize in another direction. From time immemorial, Abyssinia, though one of the poorest countries in the world, has been supposed to be a repository of gold. The pasha, whether for the purpose of lulling the jealousy of the European courts, or of actually obtaining treasures which were essential to his ambition, ascend

ed the Nile with a small body of troops, and braving the difficulties of the route, and the hostility of the barbarians in his march, reached the country of reputed gold. There he found none; but he obtained the object of spreading his fame-of proving to the native powers that no distance could secure them from his arm, and, probably, of indulging an excursive and ardent mind with the sight of countries which even in Africa are the especial seat of fable. The expedition was, at least, an extraordinary effort of bodily vigour in a man of seventy. The gallant old man shared the hardships of his meanest follower, encountered the dews of the night and the heat of the day, like a cannon driver-is said to have acted as pilot in some of the unexpected difficulties of the navigation-and on every emer. gency, exhibited those daring and efficient qualities which make power a natural possession.

But war waited him on his return. The sultan, indignant at the loss of Syria, excited by the notorious spirit of disaffection among his people, when urged by that daring but rash determination which characterized him in both peace and war, suddenly rushed into hostilities, to the astonishment of Europe, and the alarm of all those who knew the value of Turkey to the balance of power. His procla mation of the 8th of May 1839, pronounced the pasha and Ibrahim deprived of all right, title, and possession, and appointed the Ottoman general governor of Egypt. The Turkish army under the seraskier, Hafiz Pasha, marched upon Syria, drove in the advanced posts of the Egyptian army, and with a rasliness worthy of the age of barbarism, and utterly inconsiderate of the danger of bringing raw recruits into direct collision with a powerful and disciplined army, commanded by a favourite and distinguished general, the seraskier precipitated himself upon Ibrahim. The consequence must have been foreseen by all but the ignorant as desperate seraskier. He was utterly and almost instantly defeated. The defeat was total, and the empire of the Ottoman, if in that hour it had depended solely on its own strength, must have perished without another blow. was cloven down in the battle of Nezib: it has now been lifted from the

It

field, in the arms of that country which alone seeks neither its wealth nor its territory. The protection of England has saved it from perishing on that field where its last army was broken; and the struggle which shall yet inevitably extinguish Mahometanism in Europe, and shall begin by storming its citadel, the Ottoman Porte, is delayed for a time. The details of this memorable encounter will fill an important page whenever the history of the Turkish" Decline and Fall" is to be written.

The campaign began on the 27th of May 1839. On that day the seraskier fell upon the advanced guard of the Egyptian army, which, having orders to retreat after some skirmishes, retired to join the main body under the command of Ibrahim. But the Turks, having advanced thus far, now exhibited the indecision which, in military affairs, is a sure forerunner of defeat. Ibrahim, who had hitherto stood on the defensive, now advanced in his turn. The sultan's army seems to have been divided, leaving the cavalry without either infantry or artillery. Ibrahim, taking advantage of this singular oversight, immediately attacked with that arm of which they were destitute, and to which they, of course, could make no return. Sending forward his artillery, he commenced a heavy cannonade on the Turkish horse. After suffering under this fire for some time, the cavalry filed at full gallop in the direction of their main body, leaving their pro. vision waggons, and even their military chests, behind them. The next day, June 21st, saw a similar encounter. The Turkish cavalry were met again; but the same extraordinary manœuvre was practised; for they advanced in two separate divisions, by two separate roads. Ibrahim again brought up his artillery, and after a heavy cannonade again broke them, completing their defeat by a charge of his cavalry. The Turks, on this occasion, had brought guns with them, the whole of which, amounting to fourteen, were left on the field. On the 25th, Ibrahim arrived in sight of the Turkish army. In this instance, again, the battle was chiefly fought by the artillery. Ibrahim's weight of fire speedily bore down the Turkish artillery. After standing this fire for three hours, the whole Turkish army

broke up from the field of battle. The charge of the pasha's cavalry completed the ruin. Every thing was lost; standards, guns, and ammunition. Ibrahim's despatch to the pasha was nearly as laconic as Cæsar's. It was this:

"The Turks are dispersed; they have left behind them every thing, besides six thousand prisoners."

blow.

We feel almost a gratification in saying that Sultan Mahmoud was spared the knowledge of this final He died on the 30th of June 1839, before the intelligence of the defeat reached Constantinople. Mahmoud, if a tyrant, was such by the vice of his empire. He was a highminded, bold, and able sovereign by nature. If his attempts to restore the power of his diadem, by renovating the spirit of his people, were too hasty for complete success, they still were the attempts of a lofty spirit, eager in the right, but betrayed by most inevitable ignorance into the wrong. If his massacre of the janissaries was at once cruel and impolitic, an act which startles all European feelings, and which was among the sources of that debility which will finally make the Ottoman empire among the "things that were," it is to be remembered, that in this violent vengeance he was only adding the catastrophe to a national tragedy, of which the history of the last hundred years had been giving the successive acts; that the question was between his own head and those of the janissaries, and that the whole was a paroxysm of government, which might have ended in the destruction of the empire, if it had not been concluded in the fall of its rebellious and terrible soldiery.

But justice is not done to the memory of Mahmond, if we forget that he laboured to introduce, into the whole administration of the most unlicensed and remorseless despotism that the world has ever seen, a principle of humanity new to its nature; that he was the first sultan who seems to have prohibited the horrid slaughters of the £eraglio; that in his reign there are few or no instances of the savage custom of murdering the high officers of the government on their removal from power; and that we know of no instance in which he adopted the common atrocity of strangling rich sub

To these recollections we are content to postpone all his reforms of troops, of administration, and of the ancient Tartarian manners of his people though in such reforms, if he exhibited occasional haste, it is unquestionable that he also exhibited striking boldness and originality, an ardour of improvement, and a superiority to prejudice, altogether extraordinary in the man of a nation which prides itself in its disdain of the wisdom of the West. But we regard the effort to mitigate the system of blood, as his first title to fame. That system was the especial characteristic of the Turkish despotism. Blood was its appetite; the ravage of human life, its declared and even coveted distinction; one of the sultan's hereditary titles is "The Manslayer;" one of his personal privileges is, that he has the right to put to death thirteen men aday without assigning any reason. Instant beheading was the established penalty for every error of the first officers of the empire. Our assertion is, that the man who thus interposed his authority against the very maxims on which that authority was founded, must, under any circumstances, be memorable. But the man who first interposed that authority, in the lapse of centuries, must be regarded as an illustrious innovator in the cause of humanity.

By the death of Mahmoud, the Turkish empire had been sunk to the lowest point of depression. It seemed on the verge of total dissolution: it had lost a sovereign of great intelligence, spirit, and even of popularity, though his measures had often produced murmurings among the people. His sceptre had devolved into the hands of a boy; the last army of the empire had not been merely overthrown, but extinguished; Syria had been added to Egypt, and his rebellious vassal already threatened the last territory of the Sultan, Asia Minor, and his last refuge, Constantinople. As if to give the last blow to the tottering throne, the Turkish admiral, within a fortnight of the death of Mahmoud, sailed from the Dardanelles, and surrendered his whole fleet to Mohammed Ali. The crisis seemed fully come.

If we are to be told that Turkey could not perish while the jealousy of

guard over its existence, we are to recollect how unsubstantial must be that national existence which depends merely on the policy of strangers, how easily that jealousy might have been compromised by a compact, and how striking a precedent might be found in the partition of Poland for the division of Turkey. But there was one party present which has never betrayed an ally, which abhors wars of ambition, and which, forming the grand safeguard of the weak, incurs and defies the hostility of all the grasping, the violent, and the perfidious. The question which then arose was, and still remains, of the most complicated nature. We shall attempt to give an outline of its features.

The first enemy to be dreaded was Mohammed Ali; for his army was already in movement, his religion and abilities made him popular with the Mahometans, and his ambition openly pointed to the seizure of the throne. To check him was therefore of the first importance; and England, as the ancient ally of Turkey, and bound to her alike by policy and by treaties, issued her orders that he should proceed no further. Russia was the next enemy, and a still more potent one than the pasha, but evidently waiting for the operation of time. Mohammed Ali declared that, if an English fleet appeared on the coast of Syria, he would instantly advance towards Constantinople. Russia declared, that if he did, she would throw an army into the capital, and take the empire under her protection. To prevent this formidable result, the courts of London and Paris agreed to send a fleet to force the Dardanelles, and prevent the march of the Russian army. To obviate this direct collision, Russia now despatched an envoy to England, disclaiming the design of exclusive protection, and professing that its object was alone the integrity of the Turkish empire. In this naked proposition, France immediately joined with England. But diplomacy is a delicate art, and foreign diplomatists delight in exhibiting its subtleties. It was soon found that France and Eng land assigned a different meaning to this integrity. With England, it was the plain unreserved meaning of securing Turkey against all hostile

interference, whether of Russia, Egypt, or any other power. With France, it was found to be limited to Russia alone, while it allowed the retention of his conquests by the Pasha of Egypt. The causes which produced this singular and suspicious exception in favour of the rebellious subject of the sultan, are still secret, for the French ministers have loftily denied all purpose of the future annexation of Egypt; though no topic has been more familiar to the French journalists, and though the whole tribe of journalists still declare its possession essential to the supremacy of France in the Mediterranean. Europe was at length compelled to awake. France had evidently begun to form projects incompatible with the general security. In the midst of profound peace, she suddenly raised her armies to eight thousand men; her Minister of Marine demanded a supply of four millions sterling for the equipment of her naval force; ships of the largest class were dispatched with the utmost rapidity to join her Mediterranean flect; the dockyards were filled with workmen; a naval conscription was ordered, the fortifications of Paris were laid down on the most gigantic scale, as if France was preparing for a war with the world; and every journal, however obscure, was turned into a popular trumpet, challenging all naLions, but sending out its bitterest defiances against England. The great continental powers now took the alarm, and a treaty of close alliance was signed in London between Austria, Prussia, Turkey, and England, for the complete integrity of the Turkish empire; a treaty to which the French Minister was invited to accede, but which, on his declining the offer, was signed without him, (July 15th.) All France was instantly in an uproar. The good fortune of France in possessing a monarch with 'more honesty than his minister, and more sense than his people, was never more apparent than in the consequences of this important transaction. The French Minister declared that the signature in the absence of his ambassador was an affront to the whole nation: less a desperate breach of diplomatic etiquette, than a direct determination to make France the object of universal hostility. It was in vain that the English Minister utterly

denied all such intentions, declared that the great purpose of England was general peace, and proved unanswerably that M. Guizot had been made officially acquainted with the existence of the quadruple treaty, and been even asked to sign it. But the French Minister was resolved on being in a rage: he was determined not to be pacified; and the whole swarm of French scribblers were in a flame. War was threatened from hour to hour; a proposal was made in the French Cabinet to send the Toulon fleet to raise the blockade of Alexandria; to increase the army, already of 880,000 men, by 150,000 moremeasures which must have instantly produced an actual collision. The national bitterness which has never forgotten Waterloo; the boasting which hopes to revenge what it has suffered, by threatening what it will do, poured out its whole miry stream against England. It was proposed instantly to build 200 steam boats for the express purpose of invading "perfide Albion." All was to be bloodshed and battery. The Thames was to be seized; London to be captured by a coup-de main, and laid under contribution, or burned, we forget which. England was to be conquered without delay, and either turned into a French department or a desert. On this point, we believe, the high authorities who settle the fate of nations in the streets, had not altoge ther made up their minds; but, at all events, it was to feel the terrible penalty of having "insulted French honour," and to be sponged from the mass of independent nations.

In the midst of all this clamour, the fleet of England proceeded steadily to execute its part of the quadruple treaty, by the expulsion of the Egyptian army from Syria. The British force was a small one; unquestionably smaller than ought to have been employed on an operation of such importance. But it only gave one of those noble evidences in which our history abounds, that the gallantry of our soldiers and sailors can scarcely be tasked too high. The fleet, with about 1500 marines on board, and unaided but by two Austrian frigates, instantly swept the whole Syrian shore; in some instances driving out the Egyptian garrisons by fire from their guns, in others, storming them