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MARCH OF THE GRAND VIZIR.

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forcements, which were on the march towards him by land, and arriving in great numbers at Tarsus from Egypt by sea. Dissensions, as usual, distracted the counsels of the Turks. In the Divan, the prevailing opinion was, that the army ought to advance, and engage the enemy; but the Grand Vizir considered it more politic to remain in his position, covering Constantinople.

DCCXXXIX. At length, however, the views of Mahmood coinciding with those of his council, a Pasha was despatched to the camp of the Grand Vizir, with positive orders for him to advance, and drive Ibrahim out of Koniah. But this was now difficult; for the delay which had taken place, having enabled the Egyptian general to receive his reinforcements, he was no longer in the disposition to retrograde. The Grand Vizir *, not daring to refuse obedience to the orders of his sovereign, however imprudent, commenced, therefore, his march towards Koniah; where the Arabs were already in possession both of

* In a recent work on Turkey, an anecdote is related of this general, which, from its quaint and barbarous character, I suppose to be genuine. "The Grand Vizir, even during his fearful struggle with the Albanians, was hastening the organisation of troops for the conquest of Anatoly, as it might be called, and for the reduction of Mehemet Ali. • The old for,' he observed, has seized the moment well: had he given me another year, I would have made Egypt like a shaved chin.' ”—Turkey and its Resources, p. 233. Even had another year been allowed him, however, his Excellency would have found that "the reduction of Mehemet Ali," with his eighty thousand regular troops, and forty thousand Bedouin cavalry, was no easy task. In fact, no sensible Turk could be ignorant, that the conquest of Egypt by the Sultan was perfectly chimerical.

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HIS LETTER TO IBRAHIM.

the country and the hearts of its inhabitants. The armies first came in contact at Akshehr. The Turkish vanguard encountering a party of the Bedouin cavalry, which had been stationed there, the latter brought the report to Ibrahim, who sent forward a detachment, to disturb them as they were cutting wood for the camp; and a skirmish ensued, in which the Turks were driven back, with the loss of a great number of their men, and six pieces of cannon. During his march, the Grand Vizir had written to Ibrahim Pasha, calling to his recollection their old acquaintance under the walls of Missolonghi, stating that he had received from the Sultan the most positive orders to engage, and entreating him therefore to fall back upon Syria, in order to prevent the responsibility to be incurred by a further effusion of Musulman blood. Ibrahim answered him kindly; regretting the hostile position in which they were placed, but, at the same time, requesting him, to reflect how impossible it was for him to take the step to which he urged him. With regard to the blood which would be shed, both parties, he observed, must be accounted innocent, the one acting under the orders of the Sultan, the other under those of the Pasha.

DCCXL. The Egyptian general now selected his ground in advance of Koniah, where he quietly awaited the approach of the Grand Vizir. Every thing appeared favourable to the Pasha. Towards the forces of the Porte, habituated to insolence and insubordination, the inhabitants, impatient of their ancient yoke,

SPIRIT OF THE ARMIES.

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conducted themselves as towards an enemy. On the other hand, the invaders, regarded in the light of deliverers, were received and obeyed with alacrity, not having, as yet, been employed in any of those unpopular services, such as sacking refractory villages, violating the women, or impressing the men, all common in Oriental despotisms, which necessarily alienate the minds of the people. A comparatively strict discipline, indeed, was observed in the Arab army, even among the fierce and lawless Bedouins. Within themselves, moreover, they felt that buoyancy of mind, that boldness, energy, and confidence, which uninterrupted good fortune inspires even in the feeble; while the enemy were weighed down by the recollection of former defeats; which, among barbarians, unacquainted with that mental discipline which teaches us to derive hope and motives to perseverance even out of loss and the very desperateness of our circumstances, is apt to engender the persuasion that their affairs are under the guidance of an evil destiny. In these very different frames of mind, the two armies began the contest. Nevertheless, the Turks here displayed a more obstinate valour than on any preceding occasion; a circumstance which may be accounted for by the greater number of regular troops engaged in the battle; by the attachment of the soldiers to the Grand Vizir, whom they had followed in all his former campaigns; and, lastly, by the great personal courage and military talent of the commander himself: the Turkish generals, on former occasions, having commonly been the first to fly. The enemy's artillery,

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DEFEAT OF THE GRAND VIZIR.

which was well served, caused great havoc in the Egyptian army; but the Arabs, having learned to charge it, appeared to have a predilection for this kind of service, which enabled them to gratify, in close fight, their fierce hereditary hatred of the Turks, who could not resist an impetuosity which they seemed to regard as a phenomenon. The combat, more destructive than lasting, terminated in the total discomfiture of the Ottomans, and the capture of the Grand Vizir himself. No victory during the whole war had been more decisive: so complete, indeed, was the overthrow, that a part of the enemy's army, despairing of effecting its escape, came over to the Egyptians; while the remainder, forsaking their standards, dispersed themselves through the country for the purpose of plunder. The road to Constantinople being now clear, Ibrahim lost no time in advancing towards it.*

* This battle was fought December 19. 1832, and the news reached Alexandria on the 3d of January, 1833.

EGYPTIAN FLEET.

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CHAPTER XXII.

SAILING OF THE EGYPTIAN FLEET ARRIVAL AT SKANDEROON-
CAPTURE OF SIX TURKISH VESSELS-APPROACH OF THE OTTOMAN
SQUADRON ATTEMPTED NEGOTIATION - CHARACTER OF THE
EGYPTIAN ADMIRAL- INNOVATIONS OF MOHAMMED ALI- PRO-
HIBITION OF
MONEY PREDICTION OF
THE PASHA'S

CONSTANTINOPOLITAN

ENEMIES — MAGNIFICENT CELEBRATION OF THE FEAST OF BAIRAM- REPORTED LANDING OF RUSSIAN TROOPS AT SCUTARI-CONSTERNATION OF THE PORTE-TREATY OF PEACE -ARRIVAL OF THE RUSSIAN ENVOY AT ALEXANDRIA FIERCE MANDATE DEMANDS OF RUSSIA BAD FAITH OF THE SULTAN -LETTER OF MOHAMMED ALI TO HIS PROVINCIAL INSPECTORS DISTRESS OF THE ARABS LIBERAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE FRANKS ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION OF THE BRITISH POLITICAL AGENT HIS SPEECH TO THE PASHA-THE PASHA'S REPLYIBRAHIM ORDERED TO SUSPEND HIS MILITARY OPERATIONS—ARRIVAL OF THE RUSSIAN FLEET AT CONSTANTINOPLE -ADMIRAL ROUSSIN'S LETTER TO MOHAMMED ALI-THE PASHA'S ANSWER — ADVANTAGEOUS PEACE PUBLIC REJOICINGS AT ALEXANDRIA.

DCCXLI. WE have hitherto abstained from interrupting the narrative of the operations of the army, by adverting to what took place at sea; but we now return to it. The fleet of Mohammed Ali set sail from Egypt early in the spring, augmented to a very formidable force by the indefatigable activity of the Pasha; but still much inferior, both in ships and guns, to that of the Sultan. A very large proportion of the sailors, moreover, were new levies. It was obviously, therefore, the policy of the Pasha to confine himself, as far as possible, to defensive operations,

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