Shortly after this the Porte threw off the mask; the Grand Prince was arrested and sent to Constantinople, and Omar Pacha, a German who had entered into the Turkish service, and served under my orders in Syria, was appointed by the Porte Governor of Lebanon. He may be a good man enough; but certainly, a Christian having changed his religion was not a fit man to govern the Christians of Lebanon. The poor Prince has lost the whole of his property, and his family is brought to ruin. This is the gratitude of the Porte; this is the reward he has obtained for his eminent services; and this is the way the Ottoman Government have treated their allies.
We are informed by Sir Robert Peel that our Ambassador at Constantinople has protested against these acts, and also against the Porte sending Albanian troops (who are little better than barbarians) into Syria, and that they have promised to remove Omar Pacha, and restrict the services of the Albanians to garrison duty only. How far the Porte will keep their promise we shall see; but, I confess, with such a man as Izzet Pacha at the head of the Turkish Government, and who is only putting into execution what he planned when in Syria, and for which he was recalled, I confess I have no reliance upon him, or indeed upon any Turkish Pacha. They are all alike, and quite incapable of preventing the fate of the Ottoman empire, which is tottering to its base, and the sooner it goes the better; it is unworthy of preserving.
Had my advice been followed, and the seaports of Lebanon, the Bekaa, and Anti-Lebanon, been put under the jurisdiction of the Grand Prince, assisted by a council of the powerful Emirs, and the Turkish troops removed entirely from his territory, causing him to pay a reasonable tribute to the Porte, the whole Mountain would have been bound by gratitude to the Sultan, and would have assisted him to keep the rest of Syria in order. As it is now, there is nothing but the most inveterate hatred existing against the Turkish Government; and I most sincerely hope the different sects will unite, and make a noble effort to drive their miserable and tyrannical rulers out of their fine country. Cultivation and commerce would then revive; a field would be opened to British enterprise, and we might recover the influence we had in the mountains, and which has been lost, in consequence of the inhabitants believing that we have not made use of our power to obtain from the Porte all that was so liberally promised them when we were in want of their assistance.
I cannot close this work without returning my best thanks to all the officers and men who served in the squadron that Sir Robert Stopford did me the honour of putting under my command. The very laborious services they performed in D’Jounie Bay is above all praise; this was no question of sending a Lieutenant and a working party on shore; the whole of the ships’ companies were constantly employed, headed by their Captains. Captain Reynolds was my second in the landing at D’Jounie, and continued his unremitted exertions till he was sent off Alexandria. Captain Berkeley was my second on the attack at Sidon, and both of us regretted that I could not employ him in the assault on shore; but it was absolutely necessary that he should remain on board the Thunderer to regulate the firing as we advanced, and to cover our retreat if necessary. Nor am I less obliged to Captain Maunsell, of the Rodney, who was my ambassador to Mehemet Ali, and who with great decision landed at once at the Palace and opened the negotiations. Indeed, all the officers, both of the Navy and Marines, as well as Selim Pacha, General Jochmus, Omar Bey, and the whole of the Turkish officers, did their duty to my entire satisfaction, and I should be but too proud to command such a force on another occasion. The merits of Admiral Walker are too well known to make it necessary for me to say one word in his praise.
I must also take this opportunity of thanking the Commander-in-Chief for having placed the Allied force under my direction when the ill health of Sir Charles Smith obliged him to proceed to Constantinople.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
Instructions given by the Sultan to Hafiz Pacha, found at the Turkish Head-Quarters after the battle of Nizib[[135]].