nor to the noble-dominated Senate: in early March 1802, on the invitation of Theotokis, a British force landed on Corfu and joined with the troops of the Republic. The Ottomans also disapproved of events, although they recognized the necessity of reforms to the original constitution. The Porte charged Theotokis, who remained president of the Senate, to restore the previous status quo, until proper deliberations involving the Allied powers, the Imperial Commissioners, and the islanders could take place. The rural population was on the point of marching on Corfu city, but the warnings of the Ottomans to the "Honourable Deputation", and the French consul, Romieu, who addressed the peasants, temporarily calmed matters. With the situation still volatile, the Russians secured the agreement of the other Great Powers to send their own troops to the islands, with the Zakynthian count Giorgio Mocenigo, a former Russian ambassador to Florence and briefly the Septinsular Republic's envoy to St. Petersburg, as the Tsar's plenipotentiary. In the meantime, the Treaty of Amiens led to the formal recognition of the Republic, as constituted in the Treaty of Constantinople, by France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Batavian Republic. Arrival and reforms of Giorgio Mocenigo Mocenigo arrived at Corfu on 1 September 1802, with five Russian vessels and 1,600 troops. In the meantime, the proposals of the "Honourable Deputation" had been rejected, and only the presence of the British troops kept its supporters out of Corfu city. In this atmosphere, Mocenigo's arrival was welcomed by both sides: the nobles felt that he would support their authority, while the lower classes hoped that he would liberate them from it. Indeed, Mocenigo immediately began to reform the institutions of the Republic, by limiting the power of the nobles as well as the autonomy of the individual islands. Mocenigo established a new provisional government or "regency" (Reggenza) in each island, where executive power was concentrated in the hands of a "regent" (Reggente), who in all cases had to be from a different island, but was assisted by two deputies chosen by him from the island's population. While Theotokis, who was able to cooperate well with Mocenigo, remained as President of the Senate (and thus titulary head of state), the existing Senate was dissolved on 30 December 1802, and a provisional Senate appointed by Mocenigo, to general dissatisfaction. The new regime was quick to stamp out any sign of dissent or rebellion,