Page images
PDF
EPUB

of this officer to the Sublime Porte was like an ancient triumph; he was received with acclamations that made the very shores of the Bosporus ring again, and his dispatches were presented in great form to the Sultan by the Grand Vizir himself. On the 24th, in the midst of an immense concourse of people, the head of Ali was exhibited at the great portal of the seraglio, with a yafta or inscription suspended to it, the purport of which went to declare,

"That it was notorious to all the world, how Ali Pasha of Tepeleni for thirty to forty years past had received innumerable favours from the Sublime Porte; that many domains and districts had been confided to his administration; that he, with his children and relations, had enjoyed numberless marks of the Imperial bounty: but that, far from showing gratitude for this, he dared, contrary to the will of the Sublime Porte, to oppress the people both by deceit and by force; that history does not contain an example of such profound malignity as his. That, occupied incessantly in his culpable projects, he promoted rebellion both within and without his own territories, to the ruin of the unfortunate people confided to his trust by the Supreme Being. That from some he took their goods, from others their lives and honour, as the cities of Jenischer, of Monastir, of Saragol, and others can testify; whilst he frequently carried off entire families and rendered destitute the hearths of the Albanians. That for a long time the Porte remonstrated with him on these enormities, but without effect. He continued his criminal course, and pushed his audacity so far as to fire upon some of his adversaries, domiciliated at Constantinople itself, the residence of the Calife, the very centre of security.

"That after this open violation of the rights of Majesty, which rendered a public example necessary, he was deprived of his dignity, and another charged with the administration of his govern'ment: that he then threw off the mask, raised the flag of rebellion, and entrenched himself in the Imperial fortress of Joannina : that, supposing, in the illusions of his vanity, he could brave the power of the Sublime Porte, he undertook at length to realize that plan of treason which he so long had meditated. The insurrection of the Greeks broke out; and Ali, giving himself up to his projects of vengeance, employed vast sums in arming the people of the Morea and other provinces against the children of the Faith that this last proof of his perversity of course rendered bis condemnation inevitable; for the Holy Law, as well as the safety of the empire, demanded his destruction: that he had been made prisoner by the victorious Seraskier of Rumelia, Chourschid Ahmed Pasha, and the sentence of death, launched against him in

the

the Sublime Fetfah of the Mufti, had been executed in conformity with the orders of his Highness. Behold, then, the head separated from the body of this traitor to his religion, Ali Pasha of Tepeleni.”

So terminated this Albanian robber's extraordinary and eventful career and what sources of reflection it opens to the mind! Our limits, however, will not permit us to waste time upon the common-place topics of ambition, the height to which it soars, and from which it is generally precipitated when unconnected with political wisdom and with private virtue. But one observation we must be permitted to make upon that partially true and partially false inscription, which was exhibited with the head of Ali Pasha, (and we speak from some acquaintance of auld lang syne with the man, and from some knowledge of his country,) that his tyranny was not half so intolerable to his subjects, nor so prejudicial to the best interests of humanity, as that of his conqueror.

Ali existed, indeed, in the character of a single overgrown tyrant, ferocious to the last degree when his passions were opposed or his interests at stake. But to what a small distance does the effect of tyranny, confined to one man, extend, when compared with that lengthened chain of graduated despotism which binds every province under the Sultan's sway! where that theocratic principle predominates, which renders every Mahometan, even the vilest of the vile, lord over the lives and property of his Christian brethren! where he himself is at the unrestrained mercy of his superiors, and they again are subject to the capricious interested violence of their Imperial master! Look, too, at the moral and physical situation of Albania, as it existed under Ali Pasha, and compare it with the other territories of the Sublime Porte. Though his actions were often unjust, and his intentions far from disinterested, still he did considerable good. He reconciled and consolidated jarring barbarous tribes, and put an end to that terrible system of revenge for blood, which perpetuated quarrels and murders from generation to generation. Though he frequently committed acts of injustice himself, yet he severely punished them in others, and generally with inflexible justice: in this, as well as in most other respects, he made no partial distinction between Turks, Albanians, and Christians. He extirpated banditti from his dominions, and established an excellent police in all his cities, which he both adorned and improved. He constructed roads and canals for the greater facility of internal trade, and ports for external commerce. Above all things, and what was highly creditable to him as a Mahometan, he granted religious toleration throughout his whole dominions; so that whilst the traveller could visit the country of

Ali Pasha and find there comparative luxury and convenience, whilst the merchant could traverse the Albanian mountains with security under his Ægis, the Christian and the Jew could worship their God without molestation. It is unnecessary to delineate the opposite picture, since the affairs of Turkey have lately been so frequently brought under the public eye. We shall only express our ardent wishes, that many months may not elapse before that Barbarian Power may be chased from the beautiful realms which it has so long polluted.

ART. XVI.-Literature of the Dutch Jews. Poëzy van Mr. Isauc da Costa. Twee Deelen, Leyden, 1821.

IT

T is strange, while curiosity has been winging her way to almost every part of the habitable globe, that a country whose vicinity is immediate; whose language has with ours a common origin; whose political power and influence once threatened to obscure or even to destroy our own, should have been almost abandoned by inquiry. Yet similar religious sympathies; a busy commercial intercourse; habits remarkably coincident, would seem to claim a special regard. The country we refer to is Holland. Time was when her writers were the fountain from whence our fathers drew the streains of truth and wisdom. Erasmus, Grotius, Boërhaave and others, gave a more permanent character to our literature than the men of any other age or nation. It was Holland more than all that fed the flame of inquiry, and marched onwards with us encouraging and encouraged in the straight-forward path of reformation. It is Holland that still exhibits the most delightful picture of the genial influence of toleration and free inquiry upon the general happiness, and which invites us to contemplate some of the circumstances which so honourably distinguish its legislators, and which have produced so beneficial an effect upon its present wellbeing.

Contrast the state of Holland with that of Spain. The latter, privileged with every charm which fertility and beauty could add to a climate singularly benignant,—a land which God created for a paradise, has been converted by bigotry and misrule into a desolate prison. There, the fear of one shadowy and unreal evil has led to the sacrifice of every substantial good. Not the splendid tributes of Mexico and Peru, not the possession of many an El Dorado, have been able to counterbalance or counteract the ravages of civil and religious despotism. But Holland, in shaking off the yoke of slavery, shook off the clogs upon her prosperity and her true greatness: and though she possesses no mines of natural treasures; though for her "the fig-tree does not blossom, and the

vine yields no increase, and the labour of the olive fails," contentment and enjoyment are spread over her provinces, and the smiles of comfort fill all her gates.

In Holland, a spirit of toleration and mutual kindness among the various religious parties gives a general charm to society. The barriers of ill-will are broken down by an all-pervading philanthropy. There is no predominant, no domineering influence; there are no privileges granted to a special few to the exclusion of the disenfranchised many. Though the Calvinistic church is the established one, yet the protection of the Government equally watches over the rest. The different sects often mingle in a common communion; they partake together of the sacraments; while even Catholics and Jews are no strangers within the protestant churches. The discussion of particular dogmas is avoided as if by common consent. Remonstrants, Lutherans, Calvinists and Mennonites blend in the profession of doctrines common to all, and seem little disposed to venture among the rocks and shoals where faith is often in danger and charity is wrecked. We witnessed an example of the general and generous display of Christian feeling when the Walloon church of Amsterdam was repaired in 1816. All reli gious parties co-operated to defray the expense, and an immediate collection was made at the doors of the several churches, which amounted on the first day to more than eight thousand florins.

In the culture of the benevolent affections Holland has reaped a rich reward. Its most respectable patricians are the descendants of those persecuted Protestants who, centuries ago, wandering houseless and homeless, sought its hospitality and received its welcome. At the end of the sixteenth century, the Flemings, and other foreigners whom the cruelty of Philip the Second had driven from their native dwellings, found an unmolested retreat on the banks of the Amstel and throughout the northern provinces of the Netherlands. Their number was greatly increased by the barbarous policy of Louis the Fourteenth. When he revoked the Edict of Nantes, (a measure which banished a million of virtuous and valuable citizens, and among them men illustrious as Basnage and Bayle, the two Saurins and Spanheim, Jurieu, Huet and David Martin, with numerous others scarcely less distinguished,) the city of Amsterdam invited within its boundaries, and honoured with many civil privileges, those who made it their city of refuge. Buildings were erected for their reception; money was advanced for the establishment of their fabrics. In a word, its inhabitants performed all the duties of beneficent charity, and have gathered in a hundred-fold harvest. For seven generations the children of those to whom their fathers gave so generous an asylum, have dwelt

VOL. II. NO. IV.

T

among

among them in the undisturbed enjoyment of religious freedom, paying with ample interest the debt they owed to the nation that so cordially received them.

Of late years, a spirit has been introduced which has excited some disquietude among the friends of freedom and of religious inquiry in Holland. Exclusive favours have been conferred on the Catholic party, and several Protestant deputations to the King have met with a cold or even a repulsive reception. At Gouda a church has been wrested from the latter party, its original and constant possessors, to be conferred on the former. The union of Holland with Belgium, to the equal annoyance and equal injury of both, has excited and kept alive a tone of animosity little friendly to the benevolent affections. With different religions, different interests, different habits, and different languages, they have no point of ac'cordance but that of a common hatred to the system which has bound them together. The tone of the public mind is however torpid and unenergetic. The trial by jury was surrendered almost without a struggle; and though the administration of justice in Holland had been generally pure, and the judges conscientious and independent, it would have been well that a fortress of such security should not have been ceded to power. Vicious as was the jury-system, it had in it the elements of reform; it made the citizens in some respects the depositaries and the guardians of the public liberties. It dispersed a portion of influence among the people; it awakened an interest in knowing, and a pride in administering the laws. Allied to publicity, it gave strength to the weakness that was oppressed, and often paralysed the mighty arm of the oppressor.

The too general ignorance of the state of a country so adjacent to our own, will serve to excuse these observations. Our purpose was to refer to the situation of the Jews in Holland, so delightful to the philanthropist; so interesting to the man of letters; so encouraging to the pleasing dreams of a benevolent anticipation. The flame of literature, which shed so bright a lustre over the Hebrew history during a period of almost general darkness, is again re

* When, under Louis Buonaparte, the seat of Government was removed to Amsterdam, the want of public offices induced the authorities to employ many extensive buildings for the dispatch of state affairs. Among others the Walloon church was fixed on. A deputation waited upon the King in consequence, and we have heard from the lips of one of its heads, that Louis redressed their grievances in the following admirable words: "There has been some error in this matter. The finance minister has outstripped his authority, and mine also; for I have no power over your churches, except for their protection." When the deputation hastened to express their gratitude, he interrupted them: "You owe nie no thanks; I have only done my duty." kindled;

« PreviousContinue »