Star.
London, England, 1819-07-28 00:00:00

EVACUATION OF PARGA.

Letters have been received from the lonian Islands,
dated in the beginning of June, detailing the events
which took place on the cession of Parga to the. Turks.
We doubt if, in the pages of History, a parallel can
be found to the fate of the unhappy sufferers. In-
stances we have many, of people being dispossessed
of their rightful inheritance—the fields and habita-
tions of their forefathers, by the superior force of
some ruthless invader ; but not till the means of those
who owed them protection, joined to their own ener-
gies, had been exerted to ward off the evil. But none
of these bear any resemblance to the character that
attaches to the fate of the Parguinotes. Every feeling
mind Must wish, but the wish is vain, that the whole
transaction could be obliterated from record and from
memory. No age of barbarism ever yet laid bare
more cruelty than has been practised in cold blood
upon this unhappy people. Nor did the most heroic
ages display in any race of human Sufferers, a loftier
patriotism or a nobler energy than in the inhabitants
of what once was Parga, at the moment when they
quitted it for ever. Being told that the Turks were
to enter their territory before the time fixed for their
embarkation, the male inhabitants announced their
unanimous purpose to put to death their wires and
children, and then wage boldly an indiscriminate
conflict with their Christian betrayers and their
Turkish persecutors, if a single Mahometan soldier
should set foot upon the soil, before they had
safely left it. This was seen to be no idle threat.—
They prevailed over the fears of the protecting Go.
vernment, though they bad not moved its pity. The
Ottomans halted on the frontier. In the centre of a
large square were collected by the people of P.srga,
the remains of their buried ancestors. When the
bands of ALI PACHA reached the walls, no com-
plaint was heard, no weeping, no curse, no murmur.
The city received its infidel garrison, as Babylon or
Palmyra salutes the Christian traveller in the desert ;
nothing breathed, nothing moved ; the houses were
desolate, the nation was extinct, the bones of the:dead
were consumed to ashes. Yet this, we are informed,
was a sacrifice to " expediency !"
The following is the substance of the accounts re•
ceived respecting this distressing subject:
By Sir THOS. MAITLAND'S orders, the Officer com-
manding the British garrison at Parga made known
to the inhabitants, that in conformity to arrangements
with Ali Pacha, a Turkish force was to enter their
territory without delay, but that the English troops
would remain for their protection along with the
Turks, until they were able to arrange all their affairs
and complete the emigration. On receiving this in-
timation, which was confirmed by the approach of
an Ottoman force, the Parguinotes, having held a
consultation, sent to inform the Commandanl, that
as Rich was the determination of the British Govern-
ment, they had unanimously resolved, that should
one single Turk enter their territory before all of
them should have had' a fair opes.,rtuni!--; of leaving
it, they would put to death all their wives and chil-
dren, and afterwards defend themselves against any
force, Turkish or Christian', that shculd violate the
pledge made to them, and that they would fight un-
til only .one should survive to tell the story.
-The English Commandant, perceiving by their
preparations that this resolution was irrevocable, in-
stantly.dispatched information to Sir THOMAS MAIT-
LAND, at Corfu, who sent General Sir FREDERICK
ADAM to expostulate with them. That Officer, on
his arrival at Parga, observed a large fire in the pub-
lic square, where are inhabitants had heaped together
thp bones of their ancestors, collected from the
churches and cemeteries. All the male population
stood armed atsthe doors of their respective dwell-
ings ; the women and children were within, awaiting
their fate : a gloomy and awful silence prevailed.—
•A few of the Primates, with the Frotopapa at their
head, received General ADAM on his larding, and
assured him, that the meditated sacrifice would be
immediately executed, unless he could atop the en-
trance of the Turks, who had already arrived near
the frontier, and effectually-protect their embarkation'
and departure. Fortunately, Sir FREDERICK ADAM
found means to prevail on the Ottoman Com.nandaut
to halt with his force. The Glasgow frig4e, Captain
MAITLAND, which had been sent from Corfu, having'
arrived, the embarkation commenced, and all the
Parguinotes proceeded, under her protection, to Corfu.
The Turks, on their entrance, found Parga a desert ;
and the only signal that marked their reception, was
the smoke of the funeral pyre, in which its late inha-
bitants had consumed the bones of their forefathers.
The unfortunate emigrants are now principally at
Corfu, waiting, as houseless wanderers, the distribw

t;on of the miserable pittance of £4B per head, ob-
tained for them by their protectors, which is to be
it
called a compensation for the loss of their roperty,
their native soil, and social existence. Thus closed
this memorable negotiation in a scene o amity
which the most lively imagination could not have
anticipated ; but which, until some new enormities
shall have effaced the recollection of it, will rouse
against the counsels and counsellors of this empire
the antipathy and indignation of mankind.