e court and the church,
instead of consulting the growing spirit and intelligence of the nation.
The new ministers forced upon the king by this triumph of the liberal
party were men of moderate principles; and they were only tolerated
by the king as a necessary evil At the head of them was M. Roy, who
possessed a considerable knowledge of finance; but the rest were of very
mediocre talent. At this time the priests and Jesuits were striving
in France for the absolute control of public education, as the most
effectual means of recovering their domination. This attempt was
resisted by the people, who raised a loud cry of "No Jesuitism!" as in
England there was formerly the cry of "No popery!" The new ministers
took part with the nation; and in so doing opposed the wishes of the
monarch. His majesty's speech also took a different view from our
cabinet of the transaction at Navarino, thus showing that the new
administration of France was hostile to our policy. The French, indeed,
were in right earnest for the liberation of Greece from the power of
the Ottoman Porte. In the autumn of this year the French government sent
General Maison, with a strong military force, to the Morea, in order
to liberate it from the hands of the Turks. On the 6th of October, the
second day after Ibrahim had sailed, Navarino was summoned to surrender,
and the demand was supported by a body of French troops under the walls,
ready to commence operations. The Turkish governor replied, that the
Porte was not at war with the French or the English, and that although
no act of hostility would be committed by the Turks, yet the place would
not be given up. The French soldiers, however, immediately set to work;
and after making a hole in an old breach, they marched in and took
possession of the place without opposition. A similar demand was made
the same day of the governor of Modon; and the gates were forced open,
and the garrison quietly submitted. Coron was more contumacious; but
Coron, on learning the fate of Modon, followed its example, and opened
its gates. The Castle of Patras had already shown the same complaisance;
and the Morea castle alone remained in possession of the Turks. But this
castle also, after sustaining a severe battery, surrendered; and by the
end of November the Morea was freed from foreign control, and was left
at liberty to select the course which she might choose to follow. It
was left to the direction of its provisional government,