CHAPTER VIII

A career of successful crime had established Ali's rule over a
population equal to that of the two kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. But
his ambition was not yet satisfied. The occupation of Parga did not
crown his desires, and the delight which it caused him was much tempered
by the escape of the Parganiotes, who found in exile a safe refuge from
his persecution. Scarcely had he finished the conquest of Middle Albania
before he was exciting a faction against the young Moustai Pacha
in Scodra, a new object of greed. He also kept an army of spies in
Wallachia, Moldavia, Thrace, and Macedonia, and, thanks to them, he
appeared to be everywhere present, and was mixed up in every intrigue,
private or political, throughout the empire. He had paid the English
agents the price agreed on for Parga, but he repaid himself five times
over, by gifts extorted from his vassals, and by the value of the Parga
lands, now become his property. His palace of Tepelen had been rebuilt
at the public expense, and was larger and more magnificent than before;
Janina was embellished with new buildings; elegant pavilions rose on the
shores of the lake; in short, Ali's luxury was on a level with his vast
riches. His sons and grandsons were provided for by important positions,
and Ali himself was sovereign prince in everything but the name.

There was no lack of flattery, even from literary persons. At Vienna a
poem was printed in his honour, and a French-Greek Grammar was dedicated
to him, and such titles as "Most Illustrious," "Most Powerful," and
"Most Clement," were showered upon him, as upon a man whose lofty
virtues and great exploits echoed through the world. A native of
Bergamo, learned in heraldry, provided him with a coat of arms,
representing, on a field gules, a lion, embracing three cubs, emblematic