to enter, approached the gate, whereupon a deputation of citizens went to the English governor and told him that if a single Turk was admitted before the bones of their ancestors were secured from profanation, and they and their families were safely embarked, they would instantly kill their wives and children, and die with arms in their hands after slaughtering as many as possible of those who had bought and sold their homes. The message was conveyed to the Turks who did not renew their attempt to enter until the whole party had embarked. When they took possession of Parga they found but one inhabitant remaining—a man far gone in a state of intoxication.
The immediate cause of the revolution, or rather the excuse for it, was the death of the Hospodar of Wallachia, January 30, 1821, followed by the appointment of his successor. During the interregnum, which naturally left the government in a weakened condition, the Hetairists determined to strike their blow for liberty. A band of one hundred and fifty Greeks and Arnauts, under the command of Theodore Vladimiruko, formerly a lieutenant-colonel in the Russian service, marched out of Bucharest and seized the small town of Czernitz, near Trajan's Bridge, on the Danube. There Theodore issued a proclamation, and such was the feeling of discontent among the people, that in a few days he had a force of twelve thousand men under his command. Soon afterwards there was an insurrection in Jassy, the capital of Moldavia, headed by Prince Alexander Ipsilanti, an officer in the Russian service. He issued a proclamation in which the aid of Russia was distinctly promised, and as the news of this proclamation was carried to Greece, there was a general movement in favor of insurrection. The Russian minister assured the Porte that his government had nothing to do with the insurrection, and the Patriarch and Synod of Constantinople issued a proclamation em-
