No sooner was the possibility of sharing in the public administration manifested to the Greeks, than such as were versed in the Turkish and European languages, abandoning all other pursuits, formed themselves into a distinct class, which assumed the title of nobility, and the exclusive right of being called to the service of the state.
In a short time, however, the number of competitors increased considerably; all equally eager and impatient to reach the same objects, they introduced a system of intrigue and bribery, which gave rise to continual changes in the government of the principalities, and accustomed the Porte to look upon these as farms which were to be let out to the highest bidders; the farmer-princes were therefore deposed and recalled, whenever the offers and promises of others of their countrymen appeared more advantageous.
From the period at which this system was introduced, to the beginning of the present century, being a space of ninety years, Wallachia alone has passed through the hands of forty different princes, independently of the time it was occupied by the Russians, from 1770 to 1774; by the Austrians and Russians, from 1789 to 1792, and by the Russians again, from 1806 to 1812.
The evils which naturally arose from such a state of things, weighed so heavily upon the two nations, that the court of Russia, already authorised by the treaty of Kaïnargik[[29]], to interfere in their behalf, insisted at the peace of Yassi in 1792, that the Porte should engage to maintain the princes of Moldavia and Wallachia in their respective stations, for the space of seven years, and not to molest them in any manner previous to the expiration of that term. This agreement was then legally entered into by the Ottoman plenipotentiaries, but in the sequel it was not regularly observed by the Porte, whose frequent infractions of it became the subject of continual remonstrance on the part of the court of Russia. In 1802, however, Prince Ipsilanti was appointed to the government of Wallachia, and Prince Alexander Mourousi to that of Moldavia, with the express condition which was obtained through the negotiations of the Russian minister at the Porte, that neither of them should be removed from office previous to the term stipulated in the treaty, if they were not proved guilty of an offence that the Russian minister should allow to be of a nature which justified their deposition.[[30]]
In 1805, the intrigues of Buonaparte, who sought to involve Turkey in his continental system, prevailed upon the Porte to adopt a line of conduct which Russia could not otherwise interpret, than as a systematic violation of its existing engagements, and an approaching alliance with France, notwithstanding that a public audience of the Sultan was given to the Russian envoy, Mr. d’Italinsky, in which a formal exchange of ratifications took place of a late treaty of defensive alliance concluded between the two powers.
The Hospodars, Ipsilanti and Mourousi, were suddenly recalled, without the participation of the Russian embassy; the latter was replaced by Charles Callimacki, and the former by Alexander Sutzo, a man who was looked upon as a partisan of Buonaparte, and who had always been obnoxious to the interests of Russia.
Previous to this circumstance, a certain degree of coolness already existed between the courts of St. Petersburgh and Constantinople; it originated in the Porte’s sudden resolution of suppressing foreign protections, in abolishing all letters-patent, until then granted to individuals, natives of Turkey, who were authorised by such letters to place themselves under the protection of foreign courts, although residing and trading in the Ottoman dominions. More particularly in carrying that resolution into effect, by forcibly and publicly compelling all such individuals, protected by Russia, to give up their titles, without paying the least regard to the representations of the Russian embassy.
Ipsilanti’s and Mourousi’s deposition brought things to a crisis. A Russian army was immediately sent to the frontiers to enforce the treaties, and having occupied the fortresses of Bender and Hotim, the Porte looked upon the measure as a declaration of war, and the Mufti issued his Fetvaa[[31]], which declared it legal to repel force by force.
The rupture was soon followed by another with England, who had joined Russia to oppose the increasing influence of Buonaparte over the Porte. When, in 1805, the English ambassador, Mr. Charles Arbuthnot, arrived at Constantinople, the Porte expressed a wish of renewing the treaty of accession made in 1799, the term of which (eight years) was drawing to its end. That treaty, framed upon the wisest principles, completed the triple alliance between England, Russia, and Turkey, from which so many important advantages have accrued to the common cause.
Mr. Arbuthnot not being invested with full powers for that particular object, wrote home for instructions, and received them a short time after; and when on their arrival an offer was made to the Turkish ministers to commence the work, they very unexpectedly began to draw back, and an actual recantation took place, which naturally created the greatest surprise.