The National Register.
London, England, 1822-07-08 00:00:00

MONDAY, JULY 8, 1822.

THE LITE MASSACRES AT SCIO.
The following is the account given by two Greek
gentlemen who providentially escaped from Scio, on
board an Austrian vessel, and have arrived at Leg-

horn.
It was on the 11th of April that the Capiten Padre landed
several thousand men ; but the Turkish fleet h semeely hove
in sight, when the commander in the castle :tn Selnlhartling
the tuwn, and from that time till the they rif our departure, it
was ape continued scene of murder, conflagration, and plunder,
both in country and town. Nor were they even Wished with
the ravages fire made upon the houses ; its progress was toe
slow far their fury, and the hands of men aided and assisted
the raging element. They took to the castle about $OO of the
gardeners of the principal families, whom by dint of threats of
instant death, and promises of liberty, they forced to confess, as
far as they knew, where any property bad been hid. In almost
every garden, at 6 or S yards distance, were pits dog for the
pnrpose of grasping the supposed concealed treasure. All the
women were sent into slavery ; the men and male children
(above 12 years of age) were massacred ; the children of the
tenderest age, and the most beautiful from among the young
women, were sent on board the ships with greet pomp end so-
lemdity, under a salute of 'gnus : they circumcised the male
children, in token of conversion to the Mahometan faith, and
then sent oaf the children of both sexes by land for Constauti-
nople, by the way of Smyrna, udder an escort of Turkish sol.
diery. Two regiments of Turks had assembled, and shot up
io a place in the country about 700 persons, chiefly peasants,
II whom they meant to divide among themselves as slaves ; but
not being able to agree in Cm partition, began disputing. A
priest, more humane than the rest, expostulated with them upon
their dissensions, and exhorted them to concord, when one of
those savage brutes exclaimed, that the oaf), way to avoid die •
session was to pat them all to the sword ; and in less than half
an hour all these innocent men were put to death. Others of
these butchers had in their possession four families of distinc-
tion ; the wortreu and children they rent to the city, and the
men they. bled to death.
Sly sit we have been aide to gather, it appears, that from the
very moment the Turliee fleet was destined for Scio, the total
destruction of the island, and the stimhiletion et its inhabitants,
were resolved on, without any examination nt their
or innocence. On the nth of Nay the Parita ordered 35
pectable men that he had ou board to be hung up to the
which served as a signai to the t;overnor of the Nestle to do the
same wilt the 86 hostages, mitering at the Sawa ;sae ;he 800
gardeners, who were still in custody, to he strangled. the
10th May, on which day we left :hi°, there bad been no cessa-
tion to ruurilerini,v, condagratiun, and enslaving, with all their
accompanying ferocity. Do not he surprised if you hear that
there have been near 60,000 Turks on the island ; the report of
the numerous and tich spoils of those who brat went over, the
sight of void, silver. jewels, &c. shipped oil by the captor* to
planes of safety, enticed over simile of these barbarians, thirst-
ing for Christian blood and plunder. The number of slain
amounted, on the 10th, to 233,000; of captives, to 30,030
those who have saved themselves by flight are comparatively
few ; those who already have reached the continent, and those
immediately expected, are the only ones that arc saved—
all the others you may reekos among the dead and the captives.
Those, even, who hove erecelped from the Turks, must soon
fall a prey to famine, as they are lurking about the mummies
without food or raimeet. How we have escaped, we hardly
know—it seems a dream ; but the divine Providence asstiled
as, having so many dangers to encounter, and being so
well known to the Turkish inhabitants of Sumo, it• was
only changing clothes, and twine accompanied by the Austrian
Consul that saved as. Together we traversed the city, or rather
bill, for the whale of the why was strewed with dead bodies of
men and carcases of &Mina's on each side ; the walls o 1 our
beentiful houses, built with black Trojao mumble, alone re-
mained, and ie them were seen fignres of women and children,
pale, wan, and emaciated, in morbid despair, till they should
be transported as slaves on board the Turkish vessels. Me-
thinks their cries, eights, airil lamentations, are still in oar ears,
as they implored the Consul, for the love of Leaven, to take
compassion on them, not to deliver them into the hand of their
foes—not to leave them in the power of those who would force
them to embrace the Mahometan faith. Oh! how agonising were
our feelings then ! Dot, ales! what could be done to save th0:11?
It was thus through scenes harrowing to the soul that we at lust
reached the ship that was to convey ns to Sanyrne ; yet, as if
our cup ol affliction and danger was not yet fell, we unespeet-
edly found ou board ibis vessel 31 young women of the best
families, on their road to Constantinople, by the way of Smyth*,
seal thither by the Paella as a present to time Grand Seighor ;
many of them we were personally known to ; the least rti-rn of
recogiuti in on their part would have immediately discovered
as to their Turkish guard, and our lives would have been for-
feited. It was with the greatest difficulty that we veiled bur
features from observation, keeping all the day below decks,
and only for a few hours of the night breathiag the fresh air on
dee!, ; at last we reached Smyrna, were immediately conveyed
on board this Austrian ship, amid hourly arrived bete.
EXTRACT OF A LET fER FRONI Al. ot/ OULLE, DATED
SMYRNA, MAY' 15.
" NV DEAR BROTH ER,—Vrepate soursel; on reading this
letter to minimum to your aid the strene,iii of vGar character ; the
blow that struck us is en terrible that all me reason is recurred
nil to eureomli under it. his openin,Cnitrtas yon- estimate
at once the extent of Mir misfortunes—tee freer to weep Inc our
country, the beautiful skin, in the power of our bar ;serous rue-
wits--We base to dephore the :ow. of Our itill.acibUS
" Of all oar n,y by
miracle, owing to t,,ereu..eattou or a set.t.tutts neechmaa, *be

PRICE 91

has hem restored to toy e.nlattee. How can I speak to you of
our father f Alas! this venerable old man now implores the

Sups eme Being for his country, and for the unfortunate children
who have survived him. The folloning are the dttailv of this
dreadful assas•iiimiion :--You know that lie and our tiro bro-

tilers, Theodore and Constantine, and your father. in-law, were
amongst the hostages shut up in the castle on the Bth inst.; they
went out with the Archbishop, and it appears that, notwithstand-
ing the promise of the barbarians, they had been all the time
confined iu dungeons ; they were placed in two lines, and were
either hung or pat to death with increased torments.
" Our father and his companions witnemeed with tranquillity
the preparations fur their execution, and these martyrs to their
fidelity (lid tint lose their presence of mind for a single ruentensi.
Our sister Henri'tta is a slave, and I have not vet succeded in
discovering to what country of Asia die infamous ravishers have
carried her. Nor have I yet been able to obtain the least in
forniation respecting the fate of our dear mother mid three other
sisters; the destiny of your wife and family have atm escaped
my search. In short; our misfortunes are so great that low
scarcely credit them. •
" Ou the 11th lust. I quittrd Siiio—saved by a miracle from
the dangers of the most sanguinary catastrophe, of which any
one can form an idea. But Ido not feel that joy which one
might elperience ew being delivered from the drsadful perils
to which I have been exposed. Hatred itiid indignation against
Our executioners arc the only sentiments which can hence forth
dwell iu my heart. The. Its to the European costume which I
have adopted, the captain of an EiOisli vessel agreed to take
me on board; bat .my dreadful situation interested neiliet
Turks nor Englishmen. The captain of the vessel would not
allow me to embark till I had reckoned out to him 303 piastres,
and it was not till after lie had examined them one by one, that
I received from him permission to set my foot on board the vea-
-1 sel, whatever was my danger iu remaining longer on board the
elialoupe. I have left the island in ashes. The Turks, after
pillaging the houses, set them all on lire, and joining sword to
fire to demolish them more readily, they demolished them to
the last stone, in the hope of finding concealed treasure.
" Throughout the opulent Scio only fifteen houses are stand-
ing, containing our mothers, our sisters, and our daughters,
reduced to the most dreadful slavery. There the monsters pro-
fane every thing to gratify their rage and their passions ; ard
oft(Ffilhe •irgius whom they have aulliod by their enibtai.ez,
receive from themselves the death which they wish for. All
the chateaus "(hied' teudeied Oaf island the most v(0.1411110 in
the Mediterraiseen, oar academy, the library, the superb edi-
fices of Smut AnniAiioso, SainstVieleir the Apostles, bet churches,
sad upwards of (tit villages, hale been consumed by the Ileum
" The ferocious iiieennimits then seo•red the ateustains and
the kirests,, sad they are pow at the 24th village of liastie.
These siert, w thousand times more ferocions than those of the
forests, have vested that hatred upon the dead, which they bear
to the living. They opened they tombs, and threw into the
streets the bones of our fathers, and the corpses of their auks
vietinie were i ragged by the feet through the bruola.
" Every day woman of the hest families in the Island are ex-
posed to sale in the public markt is ; articles of great value, such
as the sacred vases of the Greek and Catliclic churches, mid
the lite..liments of the priests, are by the se wretches sold at a
vile price. Through the intervention of the Charge d'Affaires
of the French Consulate, I have succeeded in purehusing 31
women, whose names I send you, and who are now iu safety at
the Consulate. _

Since ray arrival here the same scenes have been renewed
every day ; there are sales of diamonds, rich pelisses, jewellery,
chalices, tine stuffs, in short, all hinds of valuable articles,
which are in the streets, and are given awdy for nothing. How
should it he otherwise, when all the inhabitants of Asia, from
children of t$ to old men of 0, embark every day for Sein„
from whence they return laden with our spoils? We can oily
we can only return out thanks to the Europeans who reside at
Smyrna; they have done nSI thLy could to purchase lair women;
to purchase all, the treasures which the country of Hamer pos•
sessed before its disasters would scarcely 'ace. Amongst the
ravishers of them, there are some with soils so atrocious that
they will not listen to any specit s of wrong tweet.
One of thesis mowers refused 10,005 piaetres for the ran.
som of the wife of Gatlin, and replied, that he would not testorw
her for 20,900. I base contributed to the ransom of Theodora
Halle, purchased fur 4,000 itinerra. M. Petrochochico, on
learning the death of his brother, precipitated himself from a
window ; his sister threw herself lath a ditith ; the other, made
a slave, was brought bete, where she was immediately pur-
chased. Our friend Jean u'Andre, was killed iu his house in
in the presence of his wife, whilst hasteuing to save his two
son+, who shared the late of their father, also in the presence
of their mother; the latter has been conveyed in @harry t.

Algi. ea.
My hand refuses to trace at greater length the atrocious
scenes which I have wiinessed, mid others a thousand times
more dreadful might be added to those 1 have cited. In one
note the sanguinary catastrophe otScia has produced the death
er tuitc.f y .tu,qoo individuals, for to that amount may be e►ri-
mated the otoniter of our fellow conotryuirn ■nd women pui to
death ur reduced to slavery. Just Cod, when will the day of
venaeance come, and what vengeance can ever infliat upon oar
callous assassins all the claitstiesemeut which they destry et"

By the death of Major Whalley, which took place
at Reading a few days ago, the collectorship of Cur-
toms at Jamaica Let mile vacant, which situation the - -
Lords of the Treasury have marred on a youth of m '
tiveuty
,rears of kip, named Gordon, a clerk in a, '
imrcant;ie house in the City, to the prejudice of Nit,
C.-attain, %1:n has filled the situation of Comptroller
of Custuraa at Jrruaics upwards of futty 'ears.
, _