who gave it its Name having transferred the Imperial Seat from Rome Enacted it should be called New Rome For being desirous to Erect it as a Capital of the Roman Empire he endeavoured to equalize it to Ancient Rome by the Magnificence of its Buildings Number of its Inhabitants and the rich Spoils which he took from other Cities of his Obedience to make up the Glory and Splendor of this and in consequence of this the Grand Seigniors at this day call themselves Koum Padichahi Emperors of Rome which is one of their finest Titles In fine if the Christians have lost this Capital of the Eastern Empire which was also that of the Roman Empire under the Reign of Constantine Paleologus surnamed Dracosez and if for the Accomplishment of the Turks Prophecy he that took it was called Mahomet the Emperor who was so lately Master of this famous City and against whom the Christians have had such wonderful success is also called Mahomet and consequently may well be he who according to the same Prophecy shall restore it to the Christians But if this Explication be not sufficient although it appears clear enough may one not fancy after the manner of the Eastern People That the Turks being obliged to eat of the Apple of Discord and to make it Red by the effusion of their own Blood shall see on themselves the Accomplishment of their Prophecy It is very vexatious that their Enemies have not moreover made them experience this Justice and let slip so many occasions making no advantage of the Rebellions and considerable Commotions which often and almost in all times have shaken this Ottoman Colossus It has advanced in its Original leaving many Enemies behind it past from Asia into Europe without finishing the Conquests of the Countries which lay on either side it's Children and Brethren became so many Usurpers the Son became the Assassin of the Father Brethren Fratricides and the lawful Heir which was in the greatest Possession pass'd no sooner into one of the two Parts of the World but he was called back into the other The Christian Princes have never drawn the least advantage from their Disorders as has been observed and those of the Christians have been always profitable to them What satisfaction was it not to them to see themselves sought to as they have always been and to see their signal faults the losses of Battels and their frequent Rebellions to be of no Value to the Christians Their Enemies must not excuse themselves on the innumerable Land and sea-Sea-Forces which their Imaginations disturbed with a pannic Fear has made them attribute to these Infidels The weakness of the Turks on the Sea cannot be greater than 't is now and their land-Land-Forces far less than believed are so ill ordered and led by so few Officers most of them without Experience especially the Chief Commanders that assuredly how little soever we reflect hereon and profit by these reflections we may soon find Means not only to free our selves from the Invasions of this Enemy but to retake with justice each for his part in a short time what he has Usurp'd since many Ages Could it be comprehended that amongst the Turks most of the Generals Colonels of Foot and Commanders of Horse are drawn from the Ward-robe the Gardens or Custom-Houses that a Body of seven thousand Horse has no more Officers than another of three hundred and that a Chamber or Company of two hundred Janizaries have no more than one of an hundred and fifty They are most certainly very able to make a great Noise to express themselves in their Discourses and Writings with emphatick and swelling Terms big with Vanity and Ostentation extending themselves in Campaigns to appear more numerous than they are and in shewing themselves desperate on Breaches the Scimitar in their Hands themselves half naked bawlling and roaring out like possess'd People to imprint Terror and to cut off mens Heads when they have first struck them with this foolish Fear But those who are concerned and interested should know how to deal with them by the Examples which all the World has seen of St. Godard Cochim Cheherim and lately of Vienna Gran Buda c. and whatever has pass'd and still passes in Poland the Morea Hungary Dalmatia even in the least Rencounters both by Sea and Land. Cannot Christendom now undeceive her self in this Subject If we would express the Force and Bravery of a Man we compare him to a Turk fierce as a Turk In a word this Name is a mere Phantasm to afright Children with which we take pleasure to feed them and educate them in this Fear It 's quite otherwise with the Turks who begin in their very Infancy and are exactly instructed to despise the Christians and to have only for them Sentiments of Hatred and Indignation They never write or speak of us whatever Amity and Familiarity you have with them even in speaking to us in common Conversation but by treating us with Ghiaour Infidel It seems as if this Hatred was Hereditary to them and it 's certain it 's encreas'd by Education and takes its greatest strength from the adhesion of these Infidels to Mahometanism and the great respect they have generally for whatever concerns their false Religion whereas there are but too many Christians who shew a great Indifferency for theirs The Christians have been dismayed at the least shock the Ottoman Power has given them They have considered the Conquests whereby that Empire has aggrandised her self as an insurmountable Bar and all their Consolation lies in saying That the Turks never lose or part with any thing they are once possessed of On these Principles they would always be at Peace with them which is not a likely means to make them lose or return any thing They have not profited by Peace to instruct themselves rightly of their Forces Politicks and Conduct as well within as without their Empire whereof those who are interested should be fully informed to excite in themselves the Motions of a proportionable Zeal for the destruction of this Enemy to which they are obliged by the two most powerful Means in the World Religion and Liberty and by the Glory of destroying so barbarous and Tyrannick a Government We should greatly endeavour to discover perfectly the Turkish Affairs by a search and penetration into their Policy seeing that in the sight and habit which the Christians have of making much of their weaknesses in respect of these Infidels they are so ingenious in representing them to themselves otherwise than they are The Turks are so addicted to an abominable Filthiness which hinders Generation that notwithstanding the Plurality of Women there are few of them who have above four or five Children excepting Sultan Murat and some others of whom there are mentioned extraordinary Stories There 's no doubt but this reason joined to the Plague which is almost continually in Turky much or little according to the Seasons and which sometimes makes
those things which depend wholly on our selves and are in our own Power A Catalogue of the Turkish Kings and Emperors from their first Original and of the Kings of England Cotemporary with them Turkish Kings Kings of England 1. Othoman First King of the Turks began his Reign An. Dom. 1300. Edward I. Edward II. Edward III. 2. Orchanes Edward III. 3. Amurath I. Edward III. Richard II. 4. Bajazet I. Richard II. Henry IV. 5. Isa Zebelis Henry IV. 6. Solyman I. Henry IV. 7. Musa Henry IV. 8. Mahomet I. Henry IV. Henry V. 9. Amurath II. Henry V. Henry VI. Turkish Emperors Kings of England 1. Mahomet II. who taking Constantinople was made Emperor of the East May 29th Anno Dom. 1453. Henry VI. Edward IV. 2. Bajazet II. Edward IV. Edward V. Richard III. Henry VII Henry VIII 3. Selymus I. Henry VIII 4. Solyman II. Henry VIII Edward VI. Q. Mary Q. Eliz. 5. Selymus II. Q. Eliz. 6. Amurath III. Q. Eliz. 7. Mahomet III. Q. Eliz. 8. Achmat. James I. 9. Mustapha James I. 10. Osman James I. Mustapha again James I. 11. Amurath IV. Charles I. 12. Ibrahim Charles I. 13. Mahomet IV. Charles II. James II. 14. Solyman III. whom the Army after their ill Success this last Campaign seated in the Throne having first deposed his elder Brother Mahomet IV. who had reigned 48 Years James II. A TABLE OF THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. OF the Strength and Weakness of the Turks in general pag. 1. CHAP. II. Of the Two Principal Means of the Growth of the Ottoman Power With an Historical Abridgment of the Ancient Revolutions of the Turks from which Christendom never drew any Advantage pag. 11. CHAP. III. Several other Reasons of the Encrease of the Ottoman Power and particular Observations on the Last War with the Emperor the Venetians Poles and Moscovites pag. 54. CHAP. IV. Of the principal Causes of the Decay of the Ottoman Power with a Description of the Passage of the Dardanello's and a Relation of the Facility the Christian Princes have at present of retaking Constantinople pag. 80. CHAP. V. Proofs of the last Weakness of the Turks at Sea with a Relation of the Affair at Chio. pag. 129. CHAP. VI. Some Politick Reflections on the present ill Condition of the Ottoman Affairs since the raising the Siege of Vienna p. 151. CHAP. VII A Recapitulation of several Reasons of the approacking Overthrow of the Turkish Empire With several Remarks upon the late Revolutions at Constantinople pag. 180. THE PRESENT STATE OF THE OTTOMAN POWER With the CAUSES OF ITS ENCREASE and DECAY CHAP. I. Of the Strength and Weakness of the Turks in General THE Rest which the Ottoman Empire has almost time out of Mind enjoy'd on the side of Persia by reason of the effeminate and unwarlike Humor of the Sophies especially since Sultan Murat retook from them the important and famous City of Bagdat or Babylon has given her the Opportunity of bending all her Forces against the Christians and extending them both by Sea and Land. Syria Palestine Aegypt Asia minor the Two Empires of Constantinople and Trebizond the Coast of the Red Sea all the Black Sea the greatest Part of the Mediterranean the whole Coast of Africk Greece Hungary Georgia lesser Tartary and the best Portion of Poland are Proofs as convincing as costly to Christ endom But if on one hand it has appeared Great Majestical and Formidable and is maintain'd by several Troops always in a readiness by their blind Obedience to their Emperor and by a great Number of malign and industrious Constitutions which have conduc'd to so terrible an Aggrandisement and rendred it to this present Invincible there will be on the other part so many Defects as will be of themselves capable of overthrowing and destroying it It 's in the First manner whereby the Turk has ever attackt the Princes his Neighbors and astonisht them by the boldness of his Enterprises He has always been the Aggressor even to the Prejudice of Treaties surprizing his Enemies with numerous Armies whilst he has had no regard to the inward Parts of his Empire which he has stript and reduc'd to extream Weakness by depriving it of the greatest and best part of the People to gather its Forces to the out-Parts and Frontiers Most Strangers dazled with the greatness of this Empire have never truly known the Weak Sides of it applying themselves only to the outward Appearance without penetrating to the Bottom But to clear up the Truth we are to consider in what manner the Ottoman Policy has extended to Excess the Maxim of not letting its Subjects be too Rich to avoid Softness and all other Accidents thereunto belonging The People which is the last of the Three Orders or Estates of this Empire is tyranniz'd over by the Two others which is the Military and that of the Law. They are almost beggar'd and employ'd in the vilest and meanest Services and the Tyranny goes so far that the Ministry of Religion and Justice of which the Second Rank or Order consists serves for a means to the continual and incredible Persecutions which are exercis'd by the First which is the Military against the Third which when it should compose the Body of the Empire is in a manner lost and every day manifestly decaying It 's a radicated Mischief and as ancient as the Original of the Ottomans That the Turkish Emperors have not begun to conquer with Facility so vast an Extent of Land but by entirely destroying the People as fast as they subdued them This Destruction was authoris'd by them of the Law who have continued to be the Ministers of it and 't was executed by the Souldiers commanded by the Grand Seigniors themselves whose Vizirs were the Lieutenants and the Bassa's fill'd the other Offices All the Officers which apply'd themselves to the Execution of these great Designs and the pursuit of so many Conquests shar'd the Profits and Honours And if it be true that this Distribution of Military Dignities and Governments is now no other than a kind of Rent or Farming which falls on the People hence may be conjectured what will become in the End of this Third Estate which the Martial People continue to desolate by a Custom to which all contribute with such Force and Violence that even the very Janizaries which are taken from amongst the People are weakned and destroy'd every Day in ruining it We may add to this ill Conduct the Application of the latter Sultans to destroy this Militia or at least to diminish its Authority and overthrow the Bassa's and other Officers which always falling on the People shews that even the Head as well as the rest who are the Members of the Empire labour at their Destruction The People have scarcely any part in the Privileges or Honours The Commerce which should belong to them in great Towns is divided by the Souldiers and especially by the Janizaries who set up for Merchants at Constantinople They do the same
who dies in War in the Emperor's Service is a Martyr and if he returns Victorious he is Mahomet 's Champion To this purpose they have oft in their Mouths these Words If I die in Battel I am a Martyr and if I return alive having slain the Enemies I shall be a Champion This Conceit at first produced great Effects it engaged the Turks with great satisfaction to undertake all Military Expeditions though never so hazardous from the Assurance they had of losing nothing and that in dying they should obtain the Remission of all their Sins except ill-gotten Goods Mahomet made not this Exception without Design but that his Followers might behave themselves with more Courage in Rencounters wherein are great Dangers as in Naval Combats where usually there 's no flying away the Prophet has declared That those Turks who should die therein all their Sins none excepted even that of ill-gotten Goods shall be forgiven Thus the Fortune of Temporal and Eternal Life being an infallible Motive to those who perish in the Wars both by Sea and Land or who return Victorious it 's no wonder if the Enterprizes of the Turkish Emperors have been attended with such prosperous Successes We may also say the exact Discipline and Rule which has been heretofore amongst the Ottoman Troops and especially amongst the Janizaries has been a considerable Means for the Aggrandizement of the Empire And the Method of Educating Young People chosen for the most part out of those that are taken Captive who are carefully instructed in Seminaries or particular Seraglio's each according as his Genius and Disposition seems to incline is an excellent way of furnishing the State with Persons capable for all Employs Besides what we have now mentioned which appears sufficient to establish a powerful Government 't is further to be observ'd That most of the Ministers and Turkish Officers have been always of Opinion that the Enemies of the Port would esteem themselves happy should they let them enjoy their States without disturbing them and when they have done it being always the first to begin the War they see no deliverance but by the loss of some Place and granting them always their Demands believing it impossible for them long to resist so formidable a Power and they cannot do better than to gain time and not to provoke them too much to the neglecting on this reason the making Profit of those great Advantages which they have oft obtained against them and to the carrying them on as far as they could It 's not likely the present War should have the same Success but this has been too oft seen in all others which these Infidels have many times had with their Neighbours as in that of Candia which the Republick of Venice sustained for so long a time and during which the Turks have in all Combats been worsted so that their Naval Forces which were in the beginning near Three hundred Sail were reduced to Forty Galleys ill equipt and some few Vessels of Barbary Yet this War ended in the Loss of an entire Kingdom and in such a Treaty as became far more favourable to the Turks than they could dare to hope The winning the Battle of Cotzim which could procure the Poles nothing less than the taking of Bialogrod the Passage of the Danube and Conquest of Constantinople according as they themselves own'd did not yield them so much as the retaking of Caminiec nor to secure Vkrania and Podolia which they have since yielded by the Treaty of Zourawno The Moscovites had according to their General Kamadanowski's Expressions innumerable and terrible Legions of Souldiers when the Grand Seignior denounced War against them in the Year 1677. on the Difference which was between his Highness and the Moscovites touching the Protection given to Prince Dorozensko and the Cossacks They had brought into inevitable Danger the Great Vizir Cara Mustapha and all the Ottoman Army near the Boristhenes where according to the Confession of the Turks themselves they might have past this River of which they were Masters cut them in pieces or destroy them with Hunger Yet however this happened they hindred not the taking and Ruin of the Town and Fortress of Cheherim by the Infidels nor the triumphant Return of the Vizir with his broken Troops having been as Fortunate in this Rencounter as he had shew'd himself rash and ignorant The Victory of the Germans in the Battle of St. Godard was immediately followed by a Truce prejudicial to the Emperor by the yielding of one of his best Places and Articles stipulated against the Interests of his Subjects whose following Discontents have procur'd to his Imperial Majesty as much Trouble as it has drawn Submissions to the Grand Seignior from these Peoples part And one may admire in this Occasion the manner of most Events which by a certain Chain of Contingencies and different Affairs are oft found contrary to the First Cause producing them The Emperor having made a Peace with the Turks the Hungarians have shew'd themselves discontented and demanded a War against the Infidels to recover the Country yielded to them and to drive them entirely out of Hungary But this great Desire which put them on fighting the Infidels has at last termin'd in submitting themselves and Part of the Kingdom to them Here are Movements and Engagements very opposite and we must not wonder after this if the Turks have so resolutely exposed their Party Mehemmet Kupruli the Grand Vizir thought himself much mistaken in this Maxim at the Battle of Raab He began with a kind of Raillery for seeing the Christians March he ask'd Who are these Wenches by reason of the Officers Periwigs But when he saw these People whom he despised were not astonish'd at the dreadful Cries thrice reiterated of the Name of God Allah allah allah with which the Turks do alwaies with great Impetuosity begin their Attacks these Infidels imagining to draw a great Advantage by the Confidence which they shew in God and the Belief that the surprising Noise with which they pronounce his Name all together is sufficient to discourage and overthrow their Enemies when I say the Vizir heard that far from being affrighted these pretended Wenches cry'd Come charge through them which was followed by a speedy Execution he perceiv'd he had not to do with Enemies who were afraid of him but with such as were resolved to exterminate him by the Defeat of all the Troops that had pass'd the River of which those who had escaped the Edge of the Sword were drown'd in their Attempts of a Passage He clap'd his Hand at the same time to his Scimitar to oppose the Flight of his Souldiers some of which he kill'd and being not able to gain his Point he fell into such an excess of Fury as to weep and attempt the killing himself He thought there was no Remedy and that the Christians whom he derided were coming to finish their Victory on his Person and the rest of
forc'd to yield him the Empire in Constantinople and if for a Recompence this ingrateful Son made him lose his Life we have seen the Turks comforting themselves in all these Agitations in that the Christians have not known to draw Advantage thence They qualify the Emperor Bajazet as a Martyr they acknowledge him to be a great Conqueror and Saint making Elogium's of his Piety But to denote how far their Exaggeration reaches in his Respect they attribute to him by a kind of Superstition That having himself gathered up from his Cloths his Feet Hands and Face all the Dust and Sweat mingled together gotten in Combats wherein he was he preciously conserv'd them and ordered a Composition to be made of them to put into his Tomb on his right Cheek to profit by the Advice which the Alcoran gives them in these Terms He whose Feet shall be fill'd with Dust in the Lord's Battels shall be by his Bounty and Divine Mercy exempt from the Pains of Hell. Selim Bajazet's eldest Son notwithstanding his Parricide passes also amongst the Turks for one of the most holy Conquerors of this Empire having thereunto joined the Domination of Mecha Medina Egypt Damascus Jerusalem and all Syria without the Christians of his Time attempting to oppose the Aggrandisement of this Infidel Prince the Father of the Great Solyman It 's known whereto this same Prince extended the Ottoman Power but to whatever Excess of Grandure 't was rais'd he began to leave his Residence of Constantinople fearing it should prove ominous to him contenting himself with giving this great Town the Marks of his Magnificence by the stately Mosque which bears his Name and other Edifices which he caus'd to be built and his Successors Selim Murat Mahomet Ahmet Mustapha Osman and the last Murat have been for the most part Prisoners who never went out of this Capital Murat IV. would have left the Empire in great Disorders having design'd before he died to have had his Brother Ibrahim put to Death and this same Ibrahim was strangl'd in Consequence of the Judgment pronounced by his Son Mahomet IV. whom the Army has now dethron'd The Revolutions at the beginning of his Reign which had almost overthrown it are sufficiently known and so considerable that he was forc'd to put to Death his Grandmother It was customary in those times to change often the Chief Vizirs which hindred them from taking any just Measures in the Enterprises against the Christians and these had an easy Means not only to defend themselves against those Infidels but moreover to destroy them It has happened otherwise The Ottoman Power raised it self from the Danger wherein it was It had for this by an Effect perhaps of the continuation of the Wrath of God on the Christians a Vizir named Mehemmet Kupruli He was a Christian by Birth and the Son of a Papas or Greek Priest of a Village in Albany near Beigrade and though he ought to have been an Enemy to the Mahometans yet he became their Protector and the Restorer of their Empire An Uncle by his Mother's side who was chief of the Kitchin in the Seraglio in the time of Sultan Ahmet was considered as the Object and Instrument of his Fortune He was sent to this Officer who made him immediately embrace the Mahometan Religion and procur'd him Admission into one of the Chambers of the Seraglio whence he came to the Office of Chief Vizir by different Degrees during the Reigns of Five Sultans Ahmet Mustapha Osman Murat Ibrahim and during the Disorders of the Beginning of the Reign of the Sixth Sultan Mahomet And when this latter being but Sixteen Years old remitted the Government of the Affairs of the Empire to him Kupruli would not accept of it till he had taken an Oath That he would hearken to no Proposition which directed against his Counsels and that he would leave him in the Exercise of his Office during his whole Life If Mahomet IV. kept his Word Kupruli has not been wanting for his part in re-establishing the Affairs of the Empire in whatever ill Condition they then lay It cannot enough be admired that a Man who knew neither towrite nor read the Son of a Greek-Priest and come by chance from the Depths of Albania to Constantinople there to make Advantage of the Fortune of a mean Officer who had never commanded nor serv'd in the Troops who knew not the Sea and was Poor could raise himself to such a Degree as Mehemmet Kupruli has done For not to mention that he quell'd the Domestick Enemies he has been seen at the Head of Armies combating foreign Forces and taking from them whole Provinces If this Minister has on one hand remedi'd the Misfortunes of the Ottoman Empire he has introduced other Miseries which are no less dangerous for he has destroyed most of the Militia especially the Janisaries taken off the chief Men in the Empire made the Grand Seignior leave his Residence at Constantinople He has desolated and depopulated whole Provinces by his Covetousness If he has corrected any Abuses in the Revenues he has set on Foot Pretences to levy several times in one Year the same Taxes and to load the People with them to an intolerable Excess And it 's very surprizing that having reduc'd so many Countries of this Empire into so great Weakness the Christians have not attempted to finish the Destruction which the ill Policy of this Minister had so well begun and which was the more feasible on account of the Rebellions which happened during his governing But on the contrary the Christians gave Leasure to the Ottoman Ministry to chastise and bring down the Rebels to destroy those who aspir'd to the Government and to change no more the Vizirs which serv'd not only to re-establish the absolute Authority of his Highness but moreover occasioned the Christians to lose afterwards Neuheusel Candia and Caminiec whose Conquest has not a little contributed to the upholding the Reputation of these Infidels It 's no less extraordinary that the Revolts which have caused the Ruine of so many Monarchies have not to this time brought any Damage to the Ottoman Empire although several have happened And one may say they have only serv'd to shew the more the profound Respect and Obedience to the Grand Seignior which is imprinted on the Hearts of the Turks and the Rebels themselves and what Effect the Imperial Authority produces though loos'd from the greatest part of its external Forces and directed against those within which through Rebeilion have risen up against it There have been several Examples during the Minority of this last Grand Seignior One of the most considerable of which was that of the Odgiack of the Janisaries which is an Assembly of chief Officers in Office and out of Office Tcheleby Kiahia Bey Cara Tchiaous and Bektach Aga were the Heads and put the Janisaries into Commotions according to their Capricio's and Passions they had against the Officers in the Seraglio against
his Army But he came to himself on the Remonstrance which was made him That the Germans who commanded would be contented with the granting a Peace from the Port. The Vizir being thus reassured was glad to find his Maxim true which he began to distrust seeing himself attack'd with such Success The German Resident was discours'd who attended the Ottoman Army Deputies came from the Emperor and the Peace was concluded with the Surrender of Neuheusel and the Demolishment of the Fort Serini To which 't is not hard for the Germans to find a sufficient Excuse for being tired with the length of the War It 's no marvel if they desired to be deliver'd from it on Conditions disadvantageous reserving their being reveng'd to some fitter Opportunity which they now do not want The Polanders might according to all Probabilities not have neglected the Advantage Heaven offer'd them at the Battle of Cotzim in the Facility of retaking Caminiec which was prest with Famine and which seem'd an inevitable Sequel of this Victory But they chose rather to set to the Pillaging of Moldavia and to feed themselves with the Praises which all Christendom gave them A just Title and of which they must have been more worthy had they not stopp'd in so fair a Way But instead of hastning to the infallible Consummation of the Triumph by pursuing the Remains which had escap'd from their Victory in securing Two considerable Provinces from the Invasion of the Turks and in retaking Caminiec they return'd into Poland and have been since seen to enter into an Engagement so void of Precautions that they saw no means of getting out of it but by a vexatious Treaty which they were forc'd to conclude at Zourawno with a Precipitation not usual in such Occasions and which stripp'd the Poles of the Remainders of Vkrania and Podolia Here 's an Opposition very much contrary to the Custom they have of vaunting their Bravery their Intrepidity and Irreconcilable Hatred against the Turks What may one not say on this so large a Subject and on the Cause of so deplorable a Disgrace which has afflicted one of the most valorous Nations in the World and which is so interested to sustain this great Reputation which she had obtain'd in the Opinion of the Turks wherein there remain still very strong Impressions of it Of the Two Peaces we now mentioned one was too voluntary and hasty from the Germans Part and the other seems to have been concluded too generously from the Poles Part. It was not the same in respect of that of Candia which is a most solid Proof of the admirable Conduct of a most ancient Republick which having always past in the World for a real Example of Wisdom by the just Effects of its Policy must have also continu'd the Greatness of her Victories and Conquests if the terrible Aggrandizement of the House of Austria had not oblig'd them to unfurnish their Places in the Levant and Islands the better to assure the Conservation of those in the Terra firma which has given the Ottoman Emperors an extream Facility since one Century to usurp a great Part of them These out-Parts of Christendom have been defended to the Glory and Advantage of Religion They have serv'd to blunt the greatest Effort of the Ottoman Power And it 's evident we owe to the Republick of Venice the weakening and dissipation of the Turkish Naval Armies which being so puissant and numerous in the Beginning are not lessened or to speak better destroy'd but by the vigorous Resistance of the Gallies Galeasses and other Venetian Vessels We must then grant that 't is to their Forces and Intelligence on the Sea that is due this so valuable an Effect to Christendom That the Turks have never yet reached to Rome but are reduc'd to that Condition wherein we see them As to the last War which the Turks had with the Moscovites on account of the Cossacks which caus'd the Siege and Ruin of the Town and Fortress of Cheherim by these Infidels its certain that the Vizir Cara Mustapha who commanded in Person in this Expedition lost therein more than half of his Army which was about Fourscore thousand Man and those who escap'd were reduc'd to extream Misery But to comfort himself in this Disgrace and to make his Peace with his Master it was enough that he had extricated himself out of this Difficulty and carry'd away Cheherim If after the Place had been taken the Moscovites had remained firm camped on the side of the Boristhenes which they had happily pass'd to the Number of above an Hundred and seventy thousand Men whilst the Turks were busied in taking and burning Cheherim which a Man may say was no more than one and the same thing these Infidels who were before them and dared not attack them nor retire for fear of being charg'd must have certainly perish'd by the Rigor of the Winter the Bogs and Want of Provisions by reason of their Distance from their own Country For so great an Advantage the Moscovites needed only have sat still profiting by the Facility they have of enduring Cold to which they are accustomed and in that they were in their own Territories where they wanted nothing through the commodiousness of a great River of which they were wholly Masters In fine they were fenced on the Land side by their Retrenchment which they call Tabour so formidable to the Turks But instead of receiving the Fortune which presented her self to them they forsake her by repassing the Boristhenes and constrain her to return to the Infidels whom she seem'd to be willing to forsake Certainly these Mahometans must mightily value themselves seeing their Enemies grow impatient on the very point of Triumphing and give themselves the trouble of repassing a great River to avoid a glorious Victory which might have been gain'd by sitting still They were in so low a Condition that it 's scarce credible and their Policy would not have upheld them so long had not the Christians been so prejudic'd as they have always been in their Favour and high Esteem of the Power of these Infidels It has been to this time believ'd that this Empire is another Peru for Men and Money they have been all taken for Souldiers Captains and Generals of a Consummate Experience The Grand Seignior and his Vizir have the same Belief for by their Authority they raise Men lay continual Taxes and place in Governments of Provinces and at the Head of Armies and particular Troops Gardiners Barbers and other such like People of Quality who never saw the Face of an Enemy It 's sufficient a Man be Grand Vizir to be Generalissimo and that Souldiers know how to shoot to fight and overthrow their Enemies To which we may add those Souldiers who are wont oft to purchase an Exemption from going to War and others who in so great Numbers exercise Trades A man makes himself a Souldier on Foot or Horseback to live on
so much as to sow But that which is more particular and comes to my Subject is That one day the Bassa argued seriously with the Sieur Dalera on Affairs of his Time. He affirmed to him that of all the Disgraces which then hapned to the Grand Seignior his Master and to the Mussulmen there was not one more sensible to him than that which the French caused them who not being their Enemies yet gave passage to the King of Poland through France to join the Imperial Army and to succour Vienna without which the Vizir had certainly become Master of the Place The same Cara Mustapha was made Admiral at Sea when he never had made a Voyage or knew any thing of that Profession And it 's not to be imagined that these Instances are rare and extraordinary the Ottoman Empire is full of them as may be judged from those I come from relating and others which follow CHAP. V. Proofs of the last Weakness of the Turks at Sea with a Relation of the Affair at Chio. THE Ottoman strength being found much decayed by what we have recited in the preceding Chapter one may farther easily discover to what degree it 's diminish'd by examining its Naval Forces which only consist in some Galleys which are not capable of making the least Resistance There are few Persons who have not heard several Relations of this whence plainly appears that these Galleys of the Grand Seignior serve scarcely for any thing else especially since the Peace of Candia but only for the Collecting the Kharatch or Tribute from the Isles and Coasts of the Archipelago Yet are they destined to clear the White Sea of Christian Pyrates who disturb the Commerce of his Higness's Subjects The small Experience and Courage of their Commanders have always appeared by the refusal of Fighting in avoiding the least Vessels in Rencounters unless their Galleys be all together or assisted by the Barbary Cossairs It was never heard but they have been beaten every time they have been concerned not only with the Venetian Army or Galleys of Malta but with two or three Vessels only well united and acting in Consort Instances are very numerous but the World having been sufficiently informed of all the great Fights with the Infidels I shall content my self with Relating only some particular ones under the Officers of greatest Reputation who have commanded in Chief their Naval Army and which will make it easily judged what the rest are capable of doing And we may premise that whatever Advantage they may have obtained it has been always by Chance through Surprize and without deserving the least Praise When Cara Mustapha Bassa of whom we have spoke Commanded the Ottoman Fleet consisting of fifty six Galleys he was in the Archipelago at the Port of St. Georges of Skiri when the Galley which made the Rounds came and gave him Notice of the Discovery of a Christian Vessel that was very near He dispatch'd at the same time Twelve Galleys the chief Commanders of which were Dourack Bey Massammam and Memmi Bassa Oglou to take this Vessel which was a Venetian Bark arm'd with Twenty two Pieces of Cannon Fifty four Candiot Souldiers and Twenty eight Sea-men and commanded by one Barban This was during the War of Candia This Vessel long withstood these Twelve Galleys and having vigorously kept them from coming on Board she disgusted them from continuing the Fight The Captain Bassa which was not pleased in seeing this Spectacle resolv'd to Advance with his whole Fleet which having done Drums beating and Trumpets sounding the Bark was boarded and carried away by as many Galleys as could fasten themselves to her and was thus towed along by this valiant Armado After this glorious Expedition this brave General steer'd his Course near Mount Athos commonly call'd Monte Santo in design of searching after Galliots or some other such Prey as this Bark but met with Four Vessels of Majorca which leaving the Port of Cassandria at the Entrance of the Gulph of Salonica steer'd the same Course as he He at first shewed great Resolution to attack them and effectually made ready for that Purpose They soon drew near the Enemies but this General with greater Speed commanded the Retreat which he thought absolutely necessary to his Preservation by reason of some Volleys of Cannon which the chief Vessel of Majorca made him hear very near And he judged it more expedient to go and refresh himself at Chio than to engage in a perilous Combat likely to lessen the Reputation which he came from obtaining by the taking of one Venetian Bark with his Fifty six Galleys Memmi Bassa Oglou being in the Port of Chio with Forty Galleys had notice that in the Port of Cardumila of the same Isle towards Tramontane there was a Pirate-Vessel he determined to take the Opportunity of the fair Weather to attack him with all his Army This was the Chevalier of Hoquincourt under the Flagg of Malta who being informed of the Neighborhood of his Enemies and having unloaded a small Cargo of Coffee and Linen-Cloth which he had taken he hoped to have still time to get out to have Sea-room to receive them He was on the Point of compassing his End when the Turkish Galleys being arrived those of Dourak Bey and Issouf Bassa singling from the rest struck against this Vessel with that Strength as did not a little help to clear it off the Port without which it could not have been defended without extream Danger The Knight vigorously answered his Enemies Discharge of all their Cannon and his Souldiers and Sea-men animated by his Example and the Preservation of their Liberty so stoutly seconded him that Dourak Bey and Issouf Bassa were obliged to cut the grapling Irons with which their Galleys had fastened his Vessel to get themselves Sea-room and conserve the Remainders of their Rowers leaving their grapling Irons fastned to the Stern of his Vessel The great Number of Shot from the other Galleys had extreamly damaged the whole Vessel and especially the Masts which made the Turks apprehend that with a little Wind which began to rise they would fall on their Galleys and take them into their Ruin wherefore they thought it fit to get at a greater Distance This Distance gave Liberty to the Christians to put their Ropes Sails Masts and Vessel into some Order The Christians had defended themselves from Ten a-Clock in the Morning till Two in the Afternoon and then being clear of the Fire and Smoak with which they were covered and profiting by the Wind which began to blow they pursued their Aggressors showring down upon them Storms of Chain-shot and Bullets rain'd in with that Violence that the Turkish Galleys were soon dispersed to avoid such a Tempest and did not rejoin but to gain the Port of Scio where they entered with such Precipitation that they grievously battered one another Captain Bassa who had such a great Reputation for Bravery that the Grand Seignior had
of Princes which are at Five or six Leagues thence or in the Chanel of the Black Sea a little above or below Constantinople which those of France are resolved never to do no more than the saluting the Turkish Commanders and the Grand Seignior himself who have sometimes in vain shewed their Dissatisfaction yet pass'd under Silence this Pretention rather than to engage in the maintaining it in the uncertainty of the Event In the Time of Mr. Aplemont's Commanding a Squadron which had carried to Constantinople the Marquis de Nointel Olier the King of France's Embassador to the Grand Seignior there was a Sea-man who left one of the Vessels to turn Turk It was judged requisite to demand him but as the Turks neither could nor would surrender him under pretence he had already changed his Religion the Officer who had landed to bring him back affirmed that this ought not to be an Hindrance to the obtaining of this Fellow and invited at the same time in his Highness's Arsenal and in the Presence of above Two hundred Turks the Lieutenant of the Admiralty to come and see the Reparation which was going to be made to the Christian Church by other Renegado's in one of the King of France's Vessels named the Princess This Squadron of M. Aplemont on which were every day perform'd the Exercises of Religion as well as those of War and whence the Noise of Bells Drums and Trumpets with that of the Cannons made Constantinople and all the Bosphorus resound attempted to force open the Passage of the Dardanello's which was disputed them pretending to retake the Chevalier de Beaujeu who had escaped out of the Seven Towers into the King's Vessels with Three or four other Slaves of Consideration belonging to Cara Mustapha Bassa These Observations caused by divers Events in all the Campaigns of this present War and by the Detention for above a Month which Twelve Venetian Vessels and Two Fire-ships have made in the Port of Rhodes of the Turkish Naval Army who dared not come out though consisting of Forty eight Galleys and Twenty seven Vessels of War to wit Ten great ones newly built at Constantinople seven Tripolines and Ten or twelve Algerines Tunis not being able to furnish any by reason of its own Intestin Troubles All this Fleet must have been famished or necessitated to accept of Combat had not the Venetian Vessels left their Post to join the Body of their Army to continue the Expeditions of the Morea We were told at Constantinople that the Siege of Coron obliged the Turks for the succouring of the Place to unlade whatever they had on their Galleys and the same Advice also inform'd us that of all the Ottoman Army there were not above Five or six Galleys which returned fit for Service and since that we have heard that all this Fleet was moreover in a piteous Condition having neither Powder nor Bullets that Divisions and Revolts were common amongst the Souldiers and that they had scarcely and Sea-Men that the Ten great Vessels of Constantinople were good for nothing being built of green Wood and by bad Workmen which had occasioned the Loss of one of the greatest being sunk without one Mans saving himself who was thereon They also parted in such Hast that there were Two of them which could not take in their Guns but in passing by the Castles and at Tenedos where the other Vessels gave them some Pieces The Plague and Scarcity which have been extraordinary great this Year at Constantinople as well as amongst the Troops causes amongst the People an horrible Consternation and so much the more that flattering themselves with the retaking of the Places conquered by the Venetians as well as the raising the Imperialists to Flight for which they made Bonfires they have felt the Falsity of all this News by their want of Corn and other Provisions which Greece and the White Sea yielded this Capital City and that the Christians on the contrary continued still to advance by new and more important Conquests and by the taking of their Vessels at Sea. They also write That Constantinople is in an extream Apprehension lest the Cossacks should come by the Black Sea to ravage the Chanel and even the Suburbs of the Town as has been seen heretofore and it s fear'd for the compleating their Miseries lest the Venetians should block up the Chanel of the Dardanello's to come and fire all thereabouts and famish the Town by seizing Tenedos and keeping the Roads which lie near the first Castles In fine several People in Constantinople have long ago begun to prepare themselves to leave that City to pass into Asia The Grand Seignior's Treasure is exhausted and there are great Desertions and Mutinies amongst the Souldiers who pillage and use the Inhabitants as they list And who knows what Confusions and Insurrections this late Action of the Army of deposing their Emperor Sultan Mahomet who had reigned Eight and forty Years and setting up his Brother Sultan Solyman in his place may produce But what will they do and what will become of them if their Enemies act as powerfully as they are able and if it be true that Rebellions begin to arise in Egypt and other Parts In a word however great and formidable Armies they are said to have to defend or succour a Place could they hinder the Loss of Buda Has there been any general or particular Battle in Hungary Greece and Poland which they have not lost Has there been any Vessel seen to hinder the Conquest of Coron Navarrin St. Maure Modon Napoli de Romania and other Plâ—…es where the Venetians behave themselves so bravely both by Sea and Land Where is then this great Power Troops and whole Armies have indeed presented themselves to hinder these Exploits but has not this been rather to encrease the Reputation of the Christian Arms and the better to prove the Proposition which we have asserted of the Invalidity at present of the Ottoman Troops and the extream Weakness of these Infidels Besides what has pass'd in the Conquest of Buda in the Presence of a fresh Army which was the Witness of it an Action really Worthy the Blood of so many Princes who in Imitation of their Head have so valiantly shewed their Courage and Resolution one may also remark a like state of Affairs in the taking of Coron where General Morosini having only Eight thousand Men when he besieged this Place finds himself invested and hemm'd in by the Ser asquier at the Head of Ten thousand Turks who hold him besieged and in great likelyhood of destroying him with all his Army But notwithstanding the Danger and the Fatigues of above Thirty Days vigorous Siege notwithstanding the Obstinacy of the Garrison of the Place and the Loss of near Two thousand Souldiers Morosini does not only defend his Countervallation but cuts on one hand all the Turks in pieces and on the other carries away the Town by Assault What happen'd at the
repass the Sea and abandon Constantinople with greater hast than they took it and his Highness would think himself happy were he permitted to make Bursa the Capital of Asia Minor the Seat of his Empire and if in this other part of the World he could be freed from Rebellions and Disorders It is well known that Mahomet IV. the deposed Emperor was much beloved by his People as a Prince of great Goodness and without Controversy the gentlest of all who have preceded him And who can tell what will be the Fate of his Brother Solyman now Reigning For the Turks perswade themselves that the good or bad success of Affairs depend on the good or bad Planet of him who manages them therefore it is that they willingly incline to the change of their Emperor These great and solid Considerations would have pass'd for Chimera's in another time and one must have supposed for the executing of them That the Grand Seignior must have been attack'd in several Parts That there being a firm League of all the Neighbouring States to his Countries he will not have innumerable Armies nor could oppose Two hundred thousand men to each Prince who should attack him and that on the contrary being obliged to divide his Forces he would have but mean ones against each of his Enemies But O good God! These Suppositions are they not now certain and clear Truths as the day If he was obliged to withdraw at the Siege of Vienna although he had all his Forces joined together which yet amounted not to what was imagined and if since he has lost his best Troops Places and all the Battels which have been fought what will it be now when he must still more divide his Forces by reason of the Moscovites And it 's apparently this Reason which has obliged the sage Policy of Venice to carry her Arms to the end of the Peloponnese and as far she can to divert as much as may be the Enemy from the Neighbourhood of her Estates There could not happen to the Grand Seignior a greater Good than to see the King of Poland return again into Hungary for his Highness keepinging himself on this side on the defensive and the Germans relying on the Poles whom they might have employed in the difficult Rencounters the Ottoman Army might have ravaged Poland which would have lain open It will be demanded perhaps Why the Turk sent not Forces into this Kingdom the first Campaign and during the Siege of Vienna but it 's to be considered that the King of Poland did not declare himself against the Turks till late and though he had Sign'd the League with the Emperor these Infidels were still in hopes he would not execute it Yet one may be perswaded they would not have done much Hurt to Poland nor have overprofited by the absence of this Prince especially if the Moscovites did their Duty but it 's probable that his Majesty of Poland would omit the opportunity of doing them much damage and procuring himself as much advantage on his side as he has obtained for his Allies If in fine the Port which might have easily foreseen the Engagement of his Polish Majesty to succour the Emperor could not spare Forces to oppose him If the Turks so Powerful according to the vulgar Opinion could not make the least Detachment to hinder the Passage of this Prince and his joining the Imperial Troops If they find themselves under a Necessity of seeking now Peace from their Enemies by reiterated Supplications in such a manner as still shall be prescribed them and if again once more they cannot shew any Body of an Army small or great which is not always beaten whether in Hungary the Morea Daimatia or in Poland and on Sea it 's certain that in opening only ones eyes without great Penetration a man may more and more discover the Weakness and Ignorance of this Enemy which must be thought so formidable Not to mention the advantage from the Moldavians Walachians Transylvanians which are Subsidiary Advantages from whom there 's no Benefit to be expected but when the Christians shall be strongest One may also in good Policy not rely much without great Precaution on these Christians who are half Mahometans who readily submit when they see a Power falling on them which they cannot avold by Artifices and who if they be interested that the Infidels should be mortified seeing this suspends the Fines which are wont to be laid on them and procures them good Treatments from the Christians yet are they more interested in the main That the Ottoman Power be not overthrown by reason their particular Interest would be soon lost in the Emperor or King of Poland It seems as if the Turks had ordered their Affairs politickly enough in leaving these Christian Princes on their Frontiers and contenting themselves with drawing a Tribute from 'em and their Assistance They indeed could not do otherwise in the beginning of their Conquests but in the Sequel they might have erected these Provinces into Bassa-ships or Governments But they chose rather to raise particular Persons to these Principalities or keep those who were in Possession of them and they fail not to make known to those Princes when by grieving them they give them occasion to complain that without the Authority of the Port they would not be in the Rank they are The Grand Vizir Cara Mustapha Bassa could say to the Ragusians What do you complain of Would you not have been long before now incorporated into the Venetian Territories without the Protection of my Master and instead of that You are Sovereigns equal to other States of the Nations of the Messias It 's not thus with the Morlaques Sclavonians and Bulgarians They ought to be held for Warlike People which find no Opposition contrary to their Liberty by the Interest of a particular Prince and who for the most part are Exercised in the Art Military during the Venetian Wars It remains now to speak of the Cossacks who are a bold Warlike People that can endure Labours great Enemies of the Turks but very much for their own Interest They are to be considered as real Thieves fit for Courses and Pillages These are the Christian Tartars and consequently very uncapable of making Conquests yet they may act profitably whilst the Moscovites and Poles shall apply themselves to any important Enterprise if they can be trusted What comes from being denoted lays open the disadvantageous Circumstances of the Infidels but though they themselves are perswaded of this yet they have still hopes that the Christians will weary themselves at length and give over their Undertaking They considered as a great Advantage for them what pass'd after the raising of the Siege of Vienna for to confirm what has been already observed they well conceived that they had been lost at that Bout had they been pursued and consequently whatever Disposition or Custom they have of thanking God as well in bad as good Fortune yet
were they in a manner certain of this Inference That the Christians are incapable of profiting from the good Successes which happen to them against the Ottomans seeing they then failed in that which was so essential to them and in all Probability so easy They also beheld the Conduct of the Emperor towards the King of Poland with great Consolation for although they acknowledge the Bravery of this latter and that they fear him for having felt considerable Effects of it they perswaded themselves that the Jealousies between these two Crowned Heads during their Enterview at Vienna and since would produce some good Effect They believed that without this it would have been easie for the King of Poland to exterminate Count Teckely and that according to the Vigilance Activity and indefatigable Cares which all the World acknowledges in his Majesty to his Glory he would without Controversie have preferred the Fatigues and Labours of remaining in the Winter season to the sweet Pleasures of returning into his own Country and that this Monarch would have profited by the Rigour of a Season which the Poles suffer so easily to retake the Course of the Victory and extend his Advantage of the raising of the Siege of Vienna The Turks ingenuously acknowledge their Fear in this Occasion but that on the Advice of Teckley and on their own Knowledge they flattered themselves that these beginnings of Division among their Enemies would proceed farther They also thought That the Emperor might engage the King of Poland to return into Hungary and that to oblige him the more the Council of Vienna did not much matter the Weakness of the German Troops on that side nor the Diversion which they imagined he would make elsewhere The Turks in fine whatever they had suffered from his Polish Majesty at the Defeat of Vienna hoped and chose rather to see him return into Hungary for the Reasons already mentioned than to remain in Poland These Infidels learn'd moreover with Pleasure the Misintelligence which reigned between the Emperor and some of the Electors and even amongst the Princes and Generals of the Christian Army They built much on the small Stock of Money his Imperial Majesty had They could never imagine that the Moscovites who are naturally sworn Enemies of the Poles could ally themselves with them against the Port being perswaded on the contrary that they should profit by their Engagement to attack them and war against them on their ancient Differences As to the Persian notwithstanding the Report which ran of his March against them they hold themselves at present in Safety by reason of his small Experience in War by a Peace of near Fifty Years and the sensual Pleasures in which the Sofi is plunged which he may colour over with a Motive of his Religion And as to the Venetians the Turks were in a manner assured they would be modest and not undertake any important Enterprise That most of their Officers would think only of continuing the War and raise Distasts and Misintelligences between the Auxiliary Tioops and those of the Republick which would cause great Disorders as have several times happened and that at least in the Isles of which they should be the Masters they would permit as was practised during the War of Candia the Tribute to be raised for the Grand Seignior If it be to be presum'd that these Infidels flatter themselves too much by these Imaginations yet is it to be feared on the other hand that some of them may be true But in what manner soever this is it cannot be enough repeated That if the Turks are not constrained to forsake entirely what they possess in Europe before a Peace be granted them 't is purely the Christians Fault And after so many Proofs which we have shew'd let us consider a little before we finish this Discourse what Circumstance of Affairs is necessary to procure us so happy an Overture The Grand Seignior undertakes a War against his own Interest and the more Advantageous to the Christians as it hinders them from entring into a War against one another But a Man cannot enough reflect on the Dispositions which the Council of Vienna seem'd to have had of renewing the Truce with the Port even of a long time The Appearances were so great that I saw come in less than Two Years to Constantinople and Adrianople Four Agents from the Emperor one after another because they died as soon as ever they arrived on which the Policy of the Turks was suspected who would hereby retard this Negotiation and terminate first the Affairs they had elsewhere and the Sieur Caparara who in the last place was sent extraordinarily for this to the Port gathered no other Fruit from this than that of seeing himself obliged to follow the Grand Vizir and be Witness of the Ravages of Hungary and Austria where the Germans have been necessitated to blunt the Ottoman Arms. The one begins the War though he ought not to have undertook it the other sees himself engaged thereto maugre his Policy The King of Poland comes to their Assistance with few Men not having time to raise many and the Turks fly although they have more than an Hundred and thirty thousand It seem'd also according to the natural Presumptions which the Christians had in favour of these Infidels that they might have return'd to the following Campaign the more powerful by some great Effort and more fill'd with Fury and Vengeance The King of Poland to succour them engages himself in the War against the Infidels in favour of those who had been suspected to have intended his hinderance to the Throne This Generous Monarch forsakes his own Interests and exposes his Sacred Person He appears ill satisfied with Teckely and he becomes his Protector to procure him an Accommodation Germany cannot reduce this Malecontent and she will not receive him She falls into Misintelligence on this Account with his Majesty of Poland This Hungarian Lord becomes in a manner a Catholick writing to the Pope in a most judicious manner and very vindicative of his Proceedings The Venetians engage in the League against the Turks with a Vigilance and Address so extraordinary that they have as soon began Expeditions as declared the War against these Infidels though their sage Politicks and Reasons of State might have alledged some Difficulties and caused some Delays The Ottoman Empire thinks not of augmenting his Naval Army but at the last Extremity and yet no less dreads the Maritime Force of this most ancient and illustrious Republick than it admires with all the rest of the Universe the solid and prudent Deliberations which flow from their Councils and unimitable Policy Spain notwithstanding the Disgraces and Weaknesses of its Monarchy yet gives all possible Demonstrations of its Good-Will by remitting of Money and raising of Troops which she permits to be done in her States for the Assistance of Christendom and the Oppression of the common Enemy The Pope spares not the Churches
Revenues his own particular and is imitated in his Zeal by several Princes His Holiness has no other Nephews nor other Family than the Destruction of the common Enemy Yet he sees that all this Money cannot be employ'd as he would have it that the more he gives the more is required though he devises all possible Means to remedy this Inconvenience and sends his Gallies The great Duke of Tuscany joins his Vessels with them He sends a Regiment of a Thousand Men and a considerable Number of Knights of St. Stephen and other illustrious Voluntiers to make Descents with great quantity of Bombs Powder Bullets and other Munitions of War at his own Charge In a word his serene Highness forgets nothing which is possible to prove his Zeal against the Infidels I saw he held in the Grand Seignior's Family a Physician whose Advices were equally good profitable and important The great Master of Malta has offer'd himself by a Bravery and Generosity worthy of him to come in Person against the Infidels He has set out with all speed the Gallies of the Religion He has thereunto added Vessels and a most important super-Addition of Knights and Souldiers whose Valour and undaunted Resolutions are so terrible to the Turks in all Occasions and particularly at the Siege of Coron and Napoli de Romania and in all the Defeats of the Serasquier The Elector of Bavaria by the heroick Vertues hereditary to him and which he has extended so far these last Campaigns does not deferr the abandoning his own States to transport himself in Person with all his Troops to this War. He contents not himself with sending several times a prodigious Quantity of Bombs Bullets Powder and all sorts of necessary Ammunitions and to entertain at his own Charge a most considerable Army but moreover exposes his Person in all Occasions and Perils where Honour is to be obtain'd All concurs in fine to the Ruin of the Infidels The Republick of Genoa notwithstanding her Losses lends Two Gallies and furnishes proportionably what she can to denote her Piety and Zeal in this Encounter The astonish'd Turks place now their Confidence in the Custom of the Christians who usually make little Profit of the good Successes they obtain against them They hoped also they could make Peace to their Advantage when the War was not favourable to them But they are so mistaken in this last Hope that though some bad Politicians which seem'd to desire only Trouble in Christendom and Confusion of Germany would have heretofore induced the Emperor to accommodate himself with the Port we ought to presume that the Justice and Interest of his Imperial Majesty will not suffer him to adhere to Counsels of this Nature nor to agree to any thing which may hinder the continuation of the glorious Exploits performed under his Standards CHAP. VII A Recapitulation of several Reasons of the approaching Overthrow of the Turkish Empire With several Remarks upon the late Revolutions at Constantinople THE satal Error of the Turks in this last Age seems to have been their undermining the very Foundation of their own Government It appears from all Accounts of the Rise and Progress of Mahometanism that much Power but little Policy at first acquired and till of late maintained their Dominion that strength of Arm and not of Reason was their Excellency and that what the Sword got them the Sword kept for them They have been the only Left-handed Men in Government whose Play so long as they kept to it was never well known to any Adversary but now at last that they are fallen to shifting of Hands every body beats them For in short the true state of their Case is this their Security as well as Glory lay wholly in their ability for Military Atchievements But the unfortunate Mahomet the last by the Advice of his Creature Kupruli who carried Candy by his Conduct from the Venetians did what in him lay to keep under the mutinous Order of the Janizaries by taking care that their old severe Discipline should be neglected and raw unexperienced Fellows should be listed into their Order to the end the Insolence of that Order might never more be able to wrest the Scepter out of their Soveraign's Hand not dreaming they were the Glory and Support of his Throne till the Defeat before Vienna show'd him his Mistake Had the Port instead of refining its Politicks insisted on keeping stricter to its old military Discipline Had it I say not effeminated and disarmed the Janizaries but inspir'd them with a glorious Courage for the enlarging the Bounds of their Empire and so kept them employ'd Mahomet might in this last War have advanced his Frontiers as far on this side Vienna as now they are retrenched on the other Their little Skill in Affairs show'd its self remarkably this last Year in hindring the Duke of Lorrain's Retreat from Esseck for whom as a flying Enemy they ought to have built a Bridge of Gold and not when the Flight came to their own turn break down the Bridge as they did and so expose the shattered Army to the Fury of the Conqueror But into what a Panick but impolitick Fear did their Fate put them when they so cowardly abandoned Esseck without daring first to spring those Mines which might have laid the whole Town in Ruins when all was in readiness but a Hand to give fire to the Train And after all this that the remainder of a broken Army should set up a new General Osman Hirsy instead of the Grand Vizir and that to save himself and stop the Mutineers the Grand Vizir should order the Bridge on the Save to be broken down is an unparallell'd Instance of ill Conduct Unless the Failure in Management appear more in these Mutineers sawsy Behaviour to their Soveraign in butchering most of his great Officers of State and in compleating their Villainy in deposing him notwithstanding he had at their Instance retrenched his Expences dismiss'd many of his Domesticks sacrificed most of his Friends and Favourites to their Rage and then given their Estates to satisfy these Mutineers which evidently makes appear how little safe it is for a Prince to comply with the unreasonable Expectations of factious Subjects And to add to the Weaknesses of the Ottoman Government there appears a great Backwardness in the People to furnish their Prince either with Men or Money so that Constantinople seems in a fair way to be retaken by the Christians as it was first taken from them For would but the Citizens of Constantinople who were very Rich have contributed any thing to the Greek Emperor their Soveraign toward the keeping of that important Metropolis when besieged by the Turks it might perhaps have been in Christian Hands to this day So had the great Officers of the Port voluntarily given but a Third of those Purses which were by the mutinous Army taken from them with their own Heads the Army in all likelihood might have been kept in