NEWS OF THE WEEK.
ALL the fortresses of the Morea, occupied by the Turks, have been yielded to the French troops without the loss of a life or the shot of a gun. 'Ibrahim Pacha having sailed on the 4th of October, preparations were made to attack Navarino, in which he had left a mixed garrison of Turks and Egyptians. The fortress was summoned to surrender : the Turkish commander answered, that the Porte was not at war with France or England; he would commit no act of hostility against them, but he would not surrender. Orders were then issued to carry the place: an old breach was made practicable; and the French General, at the head of his troops, took possession, without resistance, — though it turns out that the garrison was provided with all the necessaries for a siege of severalmonths. The town is described as only a heap of "infected ruins ;" and the French, to use the emphatic expression of General Maison, " have everything to create." The flags of the three Allied Powers were unfurled over the Citadel.
A similar scene was acted at Modon ; only that the place being much stronger, more formidable demonstrations were made, and carried further,—a party of British sailors, under Captains Maitland and Maillard, assisting. The result was the same : Modon surrendered after one of its gates had been forced open.
Coron and Patras, and the Castle of the Morea, as if by preconcerted arrangement, kept up the same form of resistance ; surrendering to the first display of such a degree of force by the Allies as would make further resistance unavailing. All the garrisons —mustering in whole about six thousand men—were marched out with the honours of war, and were to be sent to Egypt.
The number of Christian captives liberated under the treaty with Ibrahim, is only about one hundred and eighty—all that remained unsold. The French Government has, with an active humanity, sent two Commissioners to Egypt, to try and redeem the Greeks in the possession of individuals ; and the Pacha has promised to aid the consuls in procuring the freedom of those who have not embraced the Mahomedan religion.
It is stated in Paris that the whole Greek population of Candia has been massacred by the Turks, in consequence of a conspiracy having been discovered against the Governor.
