to cross the sea to the Septinsular Republic in March 1804, after Ali Pasha threatened to attack the city. In November 1803, the Republic signed a treaty with Ali Pasha, who was represented by the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Ignatios. Approximately 3,000 Souliotes settled in the Ionian Islands, mostly in Corfu and Paxoi, where they were provided with farmland. The warlike Souliotes struggled to fit in their new environment, stealing cattle and firewood from local residents and lamenting the loss of their homeland. Anxious to expand its influence to the Greek mainland, Russia signed alliances with Himariot and Cham Albanian beys on 27 June 1804. Souliot refugees were mobilized for an offensive, which was cut short when Ali Pasha learned of the Russian plans and an Ottoman naval squadron made an unexpected appearance off Corfu. As French–Ottoman relations began to warm in 1805, the Russians began raising native military formations for the defence of the Ionian Islands, enrolling Souliots, Himariots, Acarnanians, and Moreots into the so-called "Greek Legion", which was placed under the command of the Greek-born Major-General Emmanouil Papadopoulos. In autumn 1805 the Greek Legion participated in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Naples, and in 1806 it fought against the French at the Bay of Kotor. "Russian" Constitution of 1806 Mocenigo's influence became decisive in the run-up to the revision of the 1803 constitution, scheduled for 1806. On Mocenigo's suggestion, the Senate instituted a 'Decemvirate' () to study the changes to the constitution; in the end, the council's suggestions reflected Mocenigo's designs. When the were convened to elect their representatives to the Constitutional Assembly on 13 September 1806, they turned into a sham: Mocenigo sent an envoy to every island with prepared lists of the representatives to be elected. Finally, when the Constitutional Assembly convened on 27 October, Mocenigo simply replaced the entire Legislative Council, which was to prepare the lists of the candidates for public office, with his own choices, and appointed Ioannis Kapodistrias as its secretary and rapporteur. Kapodistrias presented the draft constitution to the Constitutional Assembly on 22 December. These moves aroused considerable opposition, but Kapodistrias successfully argued that there was no alternative that would enjoy the consent of St. Petersburg, and the new constitution was approved five days later. The new constitution vested sovereignty in the so-called "active nobility", determined by income and academic titles. This restriction actually resulted in the exclusion some of the old noble