Then began the memorable siege of Missolonghi under Reschid Pasha.  It was probably the strongest town in Greece,—­by reason not of its fortifications but of the surrounding marshes and lagoons which made it inaccessible.  Into this town the armed peasantry threw themselves, with five thousand troops under Niketas, while Miaulis with his fleet raised the blockade by sea and supplied the town with provisions.  Reschid Pasha determined on an assault, but was driven back.  Thrice he advanced with his troops, only to be repulsed.  His forces at the end of October were reduced to three thousand men.  The Sultan, irritated by successive disasters, brought the whole disposable force of his empire to bear on the doomed city.  Ibrahim, powerfully reinforced with twenty-five thousand men, by sea and land stormed battery after battery; yet the Greeks held out, contending with famine and pestilence, as well as with troops ten times their number.

At last they were unable to offer further resistance, and they resolved on a general sortie to break through the enemy’s line to a place of safety.  The women of the town put on male attire, and armed themselves with pistols and daggers.  The whole population,—­men, women, and children,—­on the night of the 22d of April, 1826, issued from their defences, crossed the moat in silence, passed the ditches and trenches, and made their way through an opening of the besiegers’ lines.  For a while the sortie seemed to be successful; but mistakes were made, a panic ensued, and most of the flying crowd retreated back to the deserted town, only to be massacred by Turkish scimitars.  Some made their escape.  A column of nearly two thousand, after incredible hardships, succeeded in reaching Salonica in safety; but Missolonghi fell, with the loss of nearly ten thousand, killed, wounded, and prisoners.

It was a great disaster, but proved in the end the foundation of Greek independence, by creating a general burst of blended enthusiasm and indignation throughout Europe.  The heroic defence of this stronghold against such overwhelming forces opened the eyes of European statesmen.  Public sentiment in England in favor of the struggling nation could no longer be disregarded.  Mr. Canning took up the cause, both from enthusiasm and policy.  The English ambassador at Constantinople had a secret interview with Mavrokordatos on an island near Hydra, and promised him the intervention of England.  The death of the Czar Alexander gave a new aspect to affairs; for his successor, Nicholas, made up his mind to raise his standard in Turkey.  The national voice of Russia was now for war.  The Duke of Wellington was sent to St. Petersburg, nominally to congratulate the Czar on his accession, but really to arrange for an armed intervention for the protection of Greece.  The Hellenic government ordered a general conscription; for Ibrahim Pasha was organizing new forces for the subjection of the Morea and the reduction of Napoli