These brave insurgents gained still another great success in this memorable campaign.  They carried the important fortress of Napoli di Romania by escalade December 12, under Kolokotronis, with ten thousand men, and the garrison, weakened by famine, capitulated.  Four hundred pieces of cannon, with large stores of ammunition, were the reward of the victors.  This conquest was the more remarkable since a large Turkish fleet was sent to the relief of the fortress; but fearing the fire-ships of the Greeks, the Turkish admiral sailed away without doing anything, and cast anchor in the bay of Tenedos.  Here he was attacked by the Greek fire-ships, commanded by Canaris, and his fleet were obliged to cut their cables and sail back to the Dardanelles, with the loss of their largest ships.  The conqueror was crowned with laurel at Ipsara by his grateful countrymen, and the campaign of 1822 closed, leaving the Greeks masters of the sea and of nearly the whole of their territory.

This campaign, considering the inequality of forces, is regarded by Alison as one of the most glorious in the annals of war.  A population of seven hundred thousand souls had confronted and beaten the splendid strength of the Ottoman Empire, with twenty-five millions of Mussulmans.  They had destroyed four-fifths of an army of fifty thousand men, and made themselves masters of their principal strongholds.  Twice had they driven the Turkish fleets from the Aegean Sea with the loss of their finest ships.  But Greece, during the two years’ warfare, had lost two hundred thousand inhabitants,—­not slain in battle, but massacred, and killed by various inhumanities.  It was clear that the country could not much longer bear such a strain, unless the great Powers of Europe came to its relief.

But no relief came.  Canning, who ruled England, sympathized with the Greeks, but would not depart from his policy of non-intervention, fearing to embroil all Europe in war.  It was the same with Louis XVIII., who feared the stability of his throne and dared not offend Austria, who looked on the contest with indifference as a rebellious insurrection.  Prussia took the same ground; and even Russia stood aloof, unprepared for war with the Turks, which would have immediately resulted if the Czar had rendered assistance to the Greeks.  Never was a nation in greater danger of annihilation, in spite of its glorious resistance, than was Greece at that time, for what could the remaining five hundred thousand people do against twenty-five millions inspired with fanatical hatred, but to sell their lives as dearly as they might?  The contest was like that of the Maccabees against the overwhelming armies of Syria.