Emperor Paul; his widow since the 24th of March, 1801. She was a woman of eminent qualities; of consummate prudence; of a generous and lofty public spirit; and of conspicuous devotion to her duties, in all the relations of domestic life. It may be doubted, whether the influence of Catherine the second herself, upon the fortunes and cha racter of the Russian people, has been as great, or so beneficent, as that of this princess. She was at the head of several institutions founded by herself, for the promotion of the useful arts; for the improvement of national manufac. tures; and especially, for the education of females, as well in the highest as in the humbler walks of life. She devoted herself with the most indefatigable assiduity, and the most ardent maternal affection, to the education of her own chil

dren; and was rewarded, not only by the deepest filial reverence and gratitude on their parts, but by the developement of fine qualities of the heart and understanding in them. Of her personal ascendancy over them, the abdication of the Czarevitch, Grand Duke Constantine, of his right to the imperial throne, and the elevation of the present Emperor, upon the decease of their brother Alexander, is an example perhaps without parallel in the annals of the world. It was the ascendancy of exalted virtue, and of a large and comprehensive mind, the more absolute for being purely intellectual; an ascendancy before which that of the sword or the sceptre withers into impotence. It was the magic of a mother's tenderness and penetration, upon the conscience and the will of dutiful children.

seven thousand; themselves subjects of the Sultan, and living at Constantinople. They were ordered within a term of ten days, to settle their affairs, and their families and their children to leave the city, and return to their original country. The reasons assigned in the firman for this proscription, were, that by an ancient law of the empire, the Rayahs of the provinces were forbidden to change their residence at their pleasure : and especially to fix their abode at Constantinople; that by a voluntary relaxation of this law, multitudes of them had flocked to the capitol, and had been the cause of great disorder. That there were, especially, crowds of Armenian priests, bankers, merchants and tradesmen, with whom were associated many vagabonds, whose conduct was altogether contrary to their duties, and could no longer be tolerated by the Porte. The numbers of them were so great, that it was impossible to distinguish between the innocent and the guilty; and therefore the decree of banishment included them all. This capital (said the firman) is henceforth interdicted to those Armenians. Let them go back to their own country, and seek sup. port there from commerce and agriculture; and let them know the punishments which await them, if within the term of ten days, they

shall not have taken their departure.

Some exceptions were obtained by the intervention of the Austrian internuncio and of the Armenian Patriarch, in behalf of sick, or blind, or infirm individuals; and to those who, abandoning the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, put themselves under the protection of the Greek Patriarch. But they were few in number, and the expulsion was almost universal. Thousands of families, in the course of a few days, removed from the suburbs of Pera and of Galata, which were left deserted. Wretched fathers, bearing their children in their arms; weeping mothers, holding elder children by the hand, were seen sadly moving towards the port, where they were all hurried together into frail barks, several of which perished within sight of the harbour, or upon the Asiatic shore. Others sunk under the fatigues and hardships of a winter's travel over mountains covered with snow, victims of cold or hunger, before they reached the spot to which they were bound.The houses evacuated by the poor, were immediately filled by the Turkish populace or by soldiers. Those of the wealthy were sequestered for sale, to replenish the Sultan's coffers: some were sold at low prices to Mussulmen, who were exclusively allowed to purchase them, and the rest were reserved for barracks.

While the Porte was thus exhibiting to the world the beneficence

of its protection to the Christians of Angora, she was holding out to the Greeks, through the Patriarch of their church, Agathangelos, terms of amnesty, which were sent by a deputation of bishops, whose mission was unsuccessful. Treaties were concluded with Spain, Naples and Denmark, stipulating the free admission to the navigation of the Black sea to their merchant vessels, and access to the Turkish ports, on the payment of moderate duties. The enjoyment of the privilege was, however, rendered in a great degree nugatory, by regu. lations which required a special firman of the Sultan for every vessel, and subjected vessels laden with grain to an arbitrary right of purchase by the government, at prices fixed by itself.

At the same time, the preparations for war were pushed with all the vigour and activity which despotism could command. Thousands of workmen were sent to hasten the manufacture of fire-arms, at the armories of Semendria and of Grabora; to complete, as soon as possible, the armed ships that were building, and the repairs of those which had escaped from the destruction of Navarino; and to fortify the accessible points on the shores of the Dardanelles and of the Bosphorus. Orders were despatched to the Pashas of Europe, of Silistria, of Widdin, of Servia, of Bosnia, and above all, of Albania, to send for

ward to the line of the Danube or to Adrianople, their choicest troops; and swarms of Asiatic cavalry were arriving and disembarking at Con. stantinople, where they were received with shouts of joy by the people, and where they committed many brutal outrages upon the Rayahs and even upon the Franks.

The Dragomans from the Lega. tion of Austria and of the Netherlands, repaired frequently to the Reis Effendi, to make known to him the extreme anxiety of their governments, that the conflict between the Porte and Russia might be averted. The answer of that minister was, that the Sultan was far from desiring war; that he had given no cause for the declaration of it by Russia; that the Hatti Sheriff of December was addressed only to his own subjects, for which he was not accountable to any foreign power; and that he was not disposed to submit to dictation from abroad; that the Ottoman nation would defend their rights, rather than submit to any dishonour; that the Sublime Porte believed no good would result from any further concession; and that the pacific professions of Russia were in no wise sustained by the facts.

As to the interference of foreign powers, in the rebellion of Greece, it was regarded as an usurpation upon the rights of sovereignty and upon the Ottoman religion.

"If other powers," said the Reis

Effendi, can suffer the intervention of foreigners in their internal affairs, they must consider the Porte as an exception to the rule; because her political existence is founded upon her religion, which admits of no such intervention. All that can be said on this subject, will be useless, the Porte never will submit to such interference."

But while thus inflexibly resisting of the execution of the treaty of 6th July, 1827, assurances were given that the Porte would readily agree, to fulfil all the conditions of the treaty of Ackerman, and to open the passages to the Black sea, to all the freedom of navigation, consistent with her own safety, and the subsistence of her subjects. As an evidence of her liberality in this respect, the passage of the Dardanelles and access to Constantinople, were allowed to merchant vessels of the United States of America, upon the payment of moderate duties; a privilege certainly not provided for, by the treaty of July, 1827.

council was held, at the house of the new mufti, (whose predecessor had recently been deposed, on account of his aversion to the reforms of the Sultan.) At this meeting, all the ministers and the principal Ulemas were present. The voice for war to the last extremity in defence of the empire, and of the Koran was unanimous. War was announced by proclamations in all the public places, and all the mosques. At the same time was published a form of appeal to the whole nation, commanding in the most urgent terms all faithful Mussulmen to unite for the defence of their religion and of the empire, and to give in their names, and receive arms at their respective pla. ces of enrolment. The war was so universally expected, that this summons was received by the people with apparent indifference, and was followed by none of the customary popular excesses.

The foreign ministers renewed their instances with fruitless efforts, to deter the Sultan from rushing to his ruin. On the 26th of May, the ambassador of the Netherlands had an audience of the Reis Effendi, and repeated the advice so often spurned, that the Porte should give satisfaction to Russia, and accede to the stipulations of the treaty of 6th of July, 1827, in which event he assured the minister, that the ambassadors of the three confede.