The Sun.
London, England, 1839-11-26 00:00:00

" If Mehemet Ali rests the hope of a suceessfu
resistance on the conviction which he seems to en.
tertain of the difficulty that the Powers would have
in adopting in concert active measures against him,
he should perceive that they would easily agree to
refuse their sanction to an order of things thatc) they
found too onerous for the Porte. It is never diffi-
cult to take a negative measure."
The Consuls of Russia and Austria were to-
gether during this declaration, and those of Eng-
land and France were separate. The Viceroy re-
plied, that he referred the decision of his affairs to
the high Powers, in whose justice he had implicit
confidence, and that this declaration had been pro-
bably caused by a correspondence between him-
seif and Kosrew Pacha, who was the first to solicit
him to bring their affairs to a termination between
themselves, and, without foreign mediation. He
then ordered that the Turkish copy of this corre-
spondence should be given to the above-mentioned
Consuls. The first is Kosrew Pacha's, and is dated
the 15th of September. The second letter is his
answer, dated the 15th of September.
Notwithstanding the Viceroy's declaration, that
he will be entirely guided by the high decision of
the Powers, Europe should know that by the word
“ justice" the Pacha means that they should give
him all that he holds at present, and all that he de-
sires, or otherwise ho is quite ready to oppose their
decision. As a proof of this, he fortifies himself at
the straits of the sea, at St. Jean d'Acre, and at
the mouth of the Horan, where he has built four
fortresses, and a fifth at the great source of the water.
He fortifies himself at \larasch and at every other
place, and two regiments, which were to have gone
from Hama to winter at Hocns, have received
contrary orders to go to Haleb. For the same rea-
son he keeps here the fleet of Constantinople,
which costs 220 purses a day. As soon as the
agricultural labours are brought to a close by the
inundation of the Nile, he will at once make a
soldier of every man in Egypt. Already a camp
of irregular troops is formed at Damanhour, and
his Kavaz Bachi, Sadik Aga, has had 3,000 teske-
rets, and has been made Bey as their chief. Here,
from day to day, from moment to moment, he
expects the steam-boat Peiki-Chewket, which,
according to his opinion, will bring a conclusion
of peace, in his own way. The two fleets are
ready, and biscuits for three months have already
been taken board. Long conferences are held
daily with the Capitan Pacha ; Tatars are going
and coming (by the way of Satabia) from Con-
stantinople, without any suspicion on the part of the
Europeans, and it is very possible that the Porte,
intimidated by the man on whom Europe can make
no impression, will soon take the last step of de-
spair, and do the last act of folly. Would this
be a crime on the part of the Porte ? That, as
well as everything else, remains for the decision of
Europe, who is witness of the unheard-of demoraliza-
tion of an Admiral who has surrendered with his fleet
to an enemy. The army has been beaten, and the
conquerors have cursed the day of their victory. Egypt,
notwithstanding her corn, is in the deepest misery,
while, according to the assertion of the Capitan
Pacha, the empire, Constantinople has not, includ-
ing the tributes from Egypt, more than 700,000
purses of revenue. To get in this revenue, the
subalterns, who are employed, from the pachas to
the lowest gavaz, extort from the people 12 times
that sum, which they dissipate among themselves,
while the expenses of the state have to be defrayed
by the above 700,000 purses. The Capitan gave
the following example—the town of Tokat was
put under contribution, and 180,000 piasters
were paid by the inhabitants, of which the Imperial
treasury received but 17,000, the rest having been
divided among the Paella, his suite, and his gavaz.
During the last war Izzet, Pacha of Angora,
had an order to collect from that city 1,500
sappers of every religion. He saw that the exe-
cution of this order was impossible, and the Sultan
gave a new order to the contrary. Izzet did not
want to lose this opportunity of making mo-
ney, and caused it to be understood that he
would release the city from that conscription if
he were paid 1,000 purses. The city having de-
layed this payment, he ordered his men to de
mand the money by force. They entered houses
as in a stormed city ; women and children were for
five days at their disposal, and a father had to put
up his only son to auction, and to sell him for 50
piasters, at which the savage executioners had taxed
him. Thus Izzet Pacha made his 1,000 purses,
equal to 25,000 talaris.
A commander of a Constantinople frigate said
openly, that having been lately sent on a mission
to Smyrna, he let the Governor know that lie was
in want of money. The latter told him of a plan,
which was to get hold of all the well-dressed
children and to take them on hoard as conscripts.
He did so, and from the parents, in addition to
*hat they had given the Governor,
who played
he part of intercessor, he received for his own
share 90,000 piasters. Upon this another com-
mander also recounted his exploits, saying, ~ I was
at Constantinople
a short time before our depar-
ture, and wanted
money. The son of a giaour
saraf (banker) was passing, arid I seized him as a
conscript. To say nothing of the
_pleasure I „_
joyed, his trembling father brought me at ,z,„„
30,000 piastres, and on this condition 1 released
him." Let us leave these horrors, though it is well
that the Congress of Vienna, or of London, and
indeed that all Europe should know them, as they
have to decide on the fate of the East and the well-
being of the civilized world.
The Viceroy has, by the French steam-packet,
received a despatch from Constantinople. He fell
into a very bad humour on reading it, and his ordi-
nary malady of sobs and hiccoughs came on to a
frightful degree. After the application of some re-
niedies,
he sent for the Capitan Paella, to whom he
read the letter. The latter nearly fainted ; and i