ew, negotiations with Ali Pacha were resumed. The latter was still
smarting under his recent disappointment, and to all overtures answered
only, "Parga! I must have Parga."--And the English were compelled to
yield it!

Trusting to the word of General Campbell, who had formally promised, on
its surrender, that Parga should be classed along with the seven Ionian
Isles; its grateful inhabitants were enjoying a delicious rest after the
storm, when a letter from the Lord High Commissioner, addressed to
Lieutenant-Colonel de Bosset, undeceived them, and gave warning of the
evils which were to burst on the unhappy town.

On the 25th of March, 1817, notwithstanding the solemn promise made to
the Parganiotes, when they admitted the British troops, that they should
always be on the same footing as the Ionian Isles, a treaty was signed at
Constantinople by the British Plenipotentiary, which stipulated the
complete and stipulated cession of Parga and all its territory to, the
Ottoman Empire. Soon there arrived at Janine Sir John Cartwright, the
English Consul at Patras, to arrange for the sale of the lands of the
Parganiotes and discuss the conditions of their emigration. Never before
had any such compact disgraced European diplomacy, accustomed hitherto to
regard Turkish encroachments as simple sacrilege. But Ali Pacha
fascinated the English agents, overwhelming them with favours, honours,
and feasts, carefully watching them all the while. Their correspondence
was intercepted, and he endeavoured by means of his agents to rouse the
Parganiotes against them. The latter lamented bitterly, and appealed to
Christian Europe, which remained deaf to their cries. In the name of
their ancestors, they demanded the rights which had been guaranteed them.
"They will buy our lands," they said; "have we asked to sell them? And
even if we received their value, can gold give us a country and the tombs
of our ancestors?"

Ali Pacha invited the Lord High Commissioner of Great Britain, Sir Thomas
Maitland, to a conference at Prevesa, and complained of the exorbitant
price of 1,500,000, at which the commissioners had estimated Parga and
its territory, including private property and church furniture. It had
been hoped that Ali's avarice would hesitate at this high price, but he
was not so easily discouraged. He give a banquet for the Lord High
Commissioner, which degenerated into a shameless orgy. In the midst of
this drunken hilarity the Tu