ASSASSINATION OF ALI PACHA. 155 obey, and an army was sent against him commanded by Hourchid. After many vicissitudes, he was so pressed that he was compelled to take refuge in a part of the citadel of Yanina with about fifty men who had remained faithful to him. The building which he had chosen for his retreat was tree stories (1) high; Ali and his suite occu pied the upper one (2); in the second was deposited his immense treasures, and the lowest was filled with gunpowder, etc., ready to be blown up (5) at a moment's warning (4). Hourchid summoned him to surrender, saying that if he did not, he would come himself and put the match to the train. This determined communication terrified the old man who had till then remained inflexible: he agreed to surrender on condition that his life should be spared. Hourchid assured him that he would do all in his power to obtain that condition, but he must not hope it unless he immediately submitted. Lulled by these hopes, and promises he surrendered, and was sent with his little troop to the island. Several Pachas visited Ali from time to time, and pretended great friendship for him, expressing their hopes to see him shortly reinstated. One particularly, MOHAMMED (1) Three stories, trois étages. (2) The upper one, le supérieur; les Anglais mettent souvent le mot one, après les adjectifs, pour éviter la répétition du nom. un, (5) To blow up, faire sauter. (4) A moment's warning, l'avertissement d'un instant, à l'instant même. PACHA, paid him a visit on the 5th of February 1823; they had a long conversation, and mutual confidence seemed to be established between them. Mohammed, after many protestations of attachment and good will, rose to depart; as they were both of the same rank, they both rose at the same moment from the divan where they had been sitting; the Pacha Mohammed made a very low bow (1), Ali returned it; but before he could rise again Mohammed had drawn his yatigan from his girdle and plunged it with such violence into his back that it went completely through his heart, and the point came out at his left breast. Ali fell dead at his feet; the assassin then called some of his soldiers who immediately severed the head from the body. It was at this time rumoured at Constantinople that Ali was on his road to that city, and a superb equipage was sent out to meet him; it brought back however only his head, which was exhibited the next day in the court of the seraglio, in a sort of dish; a writing was placed over it containing a list of the crimes for which he had been punished. (WALSH's Journey from Constantinople, 1828.) A SINGULAR SPECULATION. The celebrity of Ali Pacha, and the interest that his assassination was likely to excite in England, animated the enterprising spirit of commerce and speculation for (1) A low bow, une profonde révérence. A SINGULAR SPECULATION. 157 which merchants in general, and particularly those of England, are so justly celebrated. The people of England, like those (1) of most large towns, are very fond of running after novelties and curiosities, paying very dearly for the sight, and frequently offering immense sums for the purchase of foreign objects, for anything that is rare, or that has excited great interest. A merchant who was at Constantinople at the time of the assassination of Ali Pacha, seeing his head exposed in a dish in the court of the seraglio, thought it would be a good speculation to buy the head and dish, and send them to London for exhibition. He actually (2) offered a considerable sum of money for them; but the officer in whose custody (3) they were, having learned the intention of the merchant, thought he could obtain a much higher price, and therefore did not conclude the bargain directly. In the mean time a Dervish who had been a companion of Ali Pacha in his youth, and afterward his confidential agent in several negociations, though he had long since quitted his service in consequence of a difference of opinion, was so affected by the tragical death of his old master, the disgraceful (4) exhibition of his head and the still more disgraceful one which awaited (1) Le mot people étant considéré au pluriel, le pronom ou adjectif démonstratif qui s'y rapporte est au même nombre. (2) Actually, positivement, en effet, réellement. (3) Custody, garde. (4) Disgraceful, honteux. it, resolved to redeem it an give it and honourable sepulchre. He therefore offered a higher price than the merchant, immediately obtained the head, buried it in the garden of his convent and placed over it a stone with this inscription. "Here lies the head of the once (1) celebrated Tepedelenly Ali Pacha, governor of Yanina, who for upwards of (2) fifty years pretended to maintain the independence of Albania. " (WALSH. Lord Strangford's Embassy.) INSTITUTION OF THE TURKISH JANISARIES. This military corps which has caused so many troubles and so frequently excited civil commotion at Constantinople was instituted in the year of the Hegira (3) 763 (A. D. (4) 1348), by Mourad Algase, the third sultan from Othman. As soon as the corps was raised and a little disciplined, the sultan, in order to give them stability and respect in the eyes of the nation, determined to have it publicly consecrated. For this purpose, he sent for a Dervish named Al-Hadge-Bectash, who was celebrated for his great sanctity and pious manners: a religious ceremony was performed, at the conclusion of which (1) Once, autrefois, une fois. (2) Upwards of, plus de. (3) Hegira, hégire, ère des Mahométans. (4) A. D. signifie Anno Domini, l'an de grâce; ère des chrétiens. INSTITUTION OF THE TURKISH JANISARIES. 159 the Dervish gave a solemn benediction to the regiment, and cutting off a sleeve (1) of his tunic, placed it on the head of the Aga (principal officer), saying," Blessed be the Yeni-Seri (2). ' To perpetuate the remembrance of this circumstance, the Janisaries, as they are called by the English, always wear on their heads a piece of cloth which hangs down in the same manner as the Dervish's sleeve when it was placed on the head of the Aga. (1) A sleeve, une manche. (2) Yeni-seri, nouveaux soldats. |