direction, Russia beginning to fear a pan-Hellenic rising. To this
Comoundouros gave a peremptory refusal; it was a Greek movement and
should remain under Greek direction. The king of Greece had married
a Russian princess, and during his stay at St. Petersburg had given
himself up to the influence of the court. He was a weak, incapable
young man, and the absolutist atmosphere suited his temperament
perfectly, and the independence of Comoundouros did not. Under the
requisition of the Russian minister, the king dismissed the ministry
of Comoundouros. The Chamber refused its confidence to the new
ministry, and the Russian minister then made the formal proposal to
Comoundouros that if he would accept the programme of St. Petersburg
he should come back to power. This proposal was also rejected, and
the Chamber was dissolved, and in the new elections, by the most
outrageous exercise of all the expedients that could be applied,
Comoundouros and all his principal adherents were excluded, and a
subservient Chamber elected, under the shadow of a ministry of affairs
composed of men of no party and no capacity. The popular feeling ran
so high that an insurrection was imminent, and was averted only by
the formal promises of the ministry to carry on the war in Crete with
renewed energy; but, at the same time, the means were withdrawn from
the Cretan committee, who were the most capable and honest, as well as
patriotic, people to be found in Athens. Never had the condition of
affairs been so favorable for the realization of a thorough Greek
policy. The Greeks on the Continent were ready and all the Turkish
empire was in a ferment. Joseph Karam, prince of the Lebanon, was
waiting at Athens on the plans of the Greek government to give the
word for a rising in his country. The election having given the
ministry the majority it desired, it gave place to Bulgaris, the
Russian partisan, and colleagues nominated by the Russian minister for
the distinct purpose of suppressing the Cretan insurrection.