The Sun. — London, England, 1807-05-01 00:00:00

FP.0.11 THE FRENCH PAPERS. VIENN A APRIL 1 1 .--L-W e read in the. CourtGa r,te of thi s d ay , : t h at t h e R uss i an General MAYEN CIPI having received -a-considerable reinforcement, bask re-appeared befoie Israel; that several gun boats had arrived there upon the Danube, and Lime w ereexpeded that the army under General MI r.,'''RE.LSO/st had o b t ained some adv'anta , Yes over the in the environs of Daya and Dorpoth, and - of course advanced ; that great preparations Were making, forlitting out vessels 'in all the Itus -414r1 ports in the Black Spa, and that the Duke Da i tic;tt.t E u and• Count LANGERON had left their Go 7: v erntnents to join General ..\licuELsoll's army. CON STANTINOP E MARCH 10.-We know now to a certainty 'why the English Fleet met with so little resistance in passing the Dardanelles. Eye-wit ik.4egassure us, that the posts already in a bad state, were destroyed by the first discharge of their own guns, which were badly' placed, and extremely . .ge in the bore, • some of them carrying balls of wpounds weight. The new works, upon which they have been labouring these three weeks Past: are not yet completed. When the' English 'passed the Dardanelles the second time, they found these batteries much more formidable than they were a t first a Corvette and a Brig loaded with ammuni tion - were sunk ; but we are unacquainted with the '4 l llgge sustained by the rest of the English Fleet Upon its return from before Constantinople. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE PORTE. " Oft'Prince's Island, on board his Majesty's Ship the Royal George, Feb. zo, 184)7. " Notwithstanding the sincere and reiterated ef forts of theender,igned to prevent hostilities, no cor responding disposition haS been manifested on - the Part of the Sublime Porte-. • The Porte has not returned any answer to the re Presentations which the undersigned has. made by I lrder o f hi s G overnmen t, i n the conference that he had with the Ottoman Minister on the 25th Janua rj• Not eirep the least attention has been paid to the representations, though for the sake of the stria est accuracy, and in conformity with the request of the Reis Effendi, they had been deliVered in writing, ; 'lva letter addressed to this Minister on the 28th of t he said month. The undersigned, indeed, received, some time after, a Note from the Sublime Porte ; but it did not contain a single trait by means of which one utllttan judge with certainty of the sentiments of the relative to the circumstances which had giyen birth to the late discussions between the undersigned and th e Ministers of hik• Highness. . . . " In faa, so little zeal, has been shewn to pre. terve the -amity of 'his Britannic Majesty, that it Was in vain that the Undersigned'made repeated at nlpts,to enter into a negotiation with itte.C,aptain ach a , t h oug h i n th e p ro p os it t o n S made by him, the Undersigned took upon himself to exceed his in at,rnetions. The Captain Pacha was evidently in. Tilled to accede to the pacific proposals of the Un-, 'erriigned ; but the orders of his Sovereign were n ot of a nature to afford any hope the . object most d esirable c the preservation of 'Peace, would be.ef 4e6ted. " It only remains, thereftire, for the Undersigned declare - once t o more to his Highness the Captain eacha, that the British Fleet wonid avail itself Ofthe first favourable wind to proceed towards Constan tinople-- , such being the orders that the Admiral has i r eceivedirom his Government : but being constant 13' determined to spare no effort on his part to pre vent hostilities, the Undersigned assured the Cap talon' Paclei, that notwithstanding the menace of dis 12nting the passage, not one English Vessel should Ore a shot fia they had reiterated proofs of the hostile i nclinations of the Turks ; and he further promised, Mat on his arrival before Constantinople he Would ! ere. no reason to doubt that - the permanent'objea °' his Sovereign was to defend the Ottoman Empire, to lieu of attacking it. " The wind • having chancred on the 19th, the -.llglish Admiral was upon the point of executing the duty enjoined to him when he was sent to,therse 8 e;•s• In passing the first batteries, each of his Ma testy's 'Vessels had to sustain the most terrible fire ; b ut they. carried their moderation so.far as not to letur n a single shot. It was not until some time after that the Admiral seeing English blood spilled, had recourse to the means of necessary defence. — The result is known ; and the arrival of the-Fleet ~n its prersent station, without the least damage t 0 any of the Ships, ought to be taken as a con vincing proof, th at w h en or d ers h ave been once gi /ett to British Officers, there are no difficulties, no danger, that can retard their execution 'a single s i Hostilities . having been thus commenced by The Sublime Porte against the Naval Forces of his Britannic Majesty, the Undersigned was at liberty t° nut an actual period to his mission, and to sig- I lifY to the Commandant in Chief that from that 110t-nent he was at full liberty to prosecute the war. " However, the Undersigned will still give one ,amore striking example of the moderation and the mesire which his Sovereign would feel to the last to be in a situation to' consider the Sultan as a friend, and no lohger as an enemy. " The Sublime Porte is already informed of the tonditions upon which the continuation of friend thip with Great Britain .depend. It will therefore Ale unnecessary to repeat here what has been amply c lerailed already ; but .the -Undersigned will not e ontent himself with simply declaring, that the Ottom an Government is again invited to make its eloice--eto decide in a word, whether. this Empire , 41 ,a1t hence forward bejoined with France—or whether ,`!!e engagements with his Britannic Majesty, and 4415 august Ally the Emperor of Russia, arc to be renewed, " The Undersigned has every possible motive for . esi.riri g that the Sublime Porte should renew these e ngagements. Great Britain has always bad a parti cular - predileetion for the Ottoman Empire ; these two Powers have fought together, and with success, a gainst th e present A ll y o f t h e S u bli me Porte, a t a time when this Ally had ailed with a degree of Perfidy which excited but one sentiment throegh the t hole extent of the Ottoman Emp i re ; an d t h e dis ng"isbed, though ill-applied bravery which the I Turks have tecently.exhibited in their fruitless at \,lllPt to oppose the progress of the British Fleet, f~~~•Puy: to every Englishman an . additional cause >r rattingb the tailure of the Negotiation propos . .t b., tite- Undersigned. " But it cannot be, too clegly expressed, that j there is not a moment to lose. To accumulate proofs of the pacifie dispositionsef his Britannic Ma jesty, and those to 'whoth the execution of his orders are entrusted; the Admiral need not urge !bat he has pot availed himself of the .advantage 'atfort'ed him by the wind continuing favourable, and that he has consented to remain with his' Fleet at a distance. from the Capital,during the time necessary for re ceiving an answer to the Undersigned. . " In case this answer should arrive to-morrow before sun-set, and that it contain sufficient and un equivocal assurances that the just and moderate de mand of his Britannic Majesty are granted, all hostile demonstrations on the part of the British Fleet shall immediately cease. But if the answer shall be di&ated upon other principles, the Under signed will have to declare with regret, that his mis sion is terminated, and that the British Admiral will conform himself to the orders which his Government has entrusted bun with the execution of in the event of a -war. " Requesting the Sublime Porte to accept the as surance of his most distinguished consideration, the Undersigned reiterates his most ardent wishes, that it may yet have the wisdom to regain the amity of the two Powers whose generous efforts have been so often employed in its favour with success. (Signed) " CHARLES ARI3UTHNOT."' No. 11. SiC JOHN MOMAi .DUCKWORTH, Vice-Admi ral oithe White, 'and Knight of the Path, knowing that according to an article in the Triple Alliance, the Sublime Porte is engaged to grant the . free passage of the Dardanelles to the ships of war of his Sove reign and M. ARBUTHNOT, his Majesty's Ambas-, sador, having informed him that the Sublime Porte, from particular circumstances, -had constantly ex pressed its desire that the treaty should be proceeded in,and that it should be happy to seeing the moment arrive when they might be able to enter upon it without any inconvenience; iaad•given the strongest assurances, that all the conditions of the said treaty should, in thernean while, be looked upon - as remain ing in full force. In this state of affairs it is impos sible for the Vice-Admiral to express the extent 9f his chagrin when he saw himself attacked the day before yesterday, in a hostile - manner, by the outer most castles of the Sublime Porte, when he was per" forming the duty imposed upon him, of passing the Dardanelles. _ _ _ " But though his Majesty's vessels had been struck by the shot, and some of his subjeas lost their lives, the Vice-Admiral, to give a proof of his pacific sen 7 timents, desisted from firing upon the castles of the Sublime Porte ; but he. felt, at the.same time, that if he experienced the same .hostile disposition from the . other castles and batteries, his duty would then ob lige him to repel force by. force. " It was with pain that he saw himself compelled to have; recourse to this disagreeable duty. .But if the Sublime Porte hadbot made. use olother _means of resistance, the. Vice-Admiral would still have flattered himself that 'what had taken place was the elle& of some misunderstanding, in consequence of inAnßcient explanation on each side. But this idea very soon vanished ; for after hay lug passed the two Castles of Abydos and - Sestos, he found a tquadron belonging to the Sublime ,Porte, formed In line : of battle, and' which began to,tire Upon his Majesty's squadron as soon as they arriVed within cannon-shot. " The French flag being hoisted upon the Castle of Abydos, the &termination taken by the Sublime Porte to throw itself' into the arms of France, could no longer be doubted, notwithstanding the perfidy of that nation ; of which the Sublime Porte had expe rienced enough in - Egypt. " The Vice-AdMiral then saw himself under the necessity of. destroying' those vessels,-notwithstand . ing the instru&ions he had received from his-Sove feign to afford the Porte, to the last moment, proofs Of his amity and unwearied patience. . " After having witnessed a change so absolute m the dispositions-of the Sublime Porte, and his Ma jesty's Ambassador having afterwardS fruitleSsly . exz. hausted all the means of pacification, the Vice-Ad miral finds himself under the necessity of declaring to the Sublime Porte, that having it in his power to destroy the capital, and all the Turkish vessels, the plan of operations which his duty prescribes to him, is, in consequence, very clearly, marked out. But convinced that the just and humane disposition of his Sovereign induces him . to punish the guilty only ; persuaded at the same time -that the Sultan and his people are very far from wishing to go. to war with Great Britain ; and that of course the pre sent measures.can only have been occasioned by' the baseness and the intrigues of the French with-some of the advisers of his Highness, the Vice-Admiral will feel the utmost reludlance to render so many persons completely miserable by the horrors of war, and the destruction of.all the objeds . of their attach ' ment and enjoyment. " To avoid so fatal a catastrophe, the following is the condition he proposes—`The Sublime Porte shall deliver ,up its ships and vessels 9f war, with means sufficient for their equipment ; and the Vice. Admiral will, in this case, engage not to molest the City,'but to withdraw immediately beyond the Dar danelles.' "The Vice-Admiral grants the, Sublime Porte half an hour after the translation of this note into the Turkish language, to determine upon this pto posal, protesting that if he is reduced to the disa greeable necessity of seizing the Turkish ships of war by force, and to commence the work of destru&ion which be has the means to accomplish, it will be the fault of the Sublime'Porte, and not that of the King his master. " On board the Royal George, oft' Prznce's islands, Feb.2l, 1807. (Signed) " 1. T. DUCKWORTH." No. 111. " On board his Majesty's Ship the Royal George, " near Prince's Islands, Feb. 21, 1807. " Sin, THE FIRST DRAGOMMI,I " This morning, at day break, we sent flag of truce with a note, on my part, to the Reis Effendi, but the officer was not permitted to land. I now send the note a second time, to make another . effort, in order that it may arrive at its destination. The oh jeec of this note is to demand whether the Sublime Porte will be the Ally of France, or that,of Great Britain and Russia. " As the Admiral must as in an hostile rnaunetk: against ,Cqnstantinople, in case the choice of the Sublime Porte slibuld not incline , td , cdr interest; but to that of France, he has also sent a note, the sub ,t;ince of which is, that he will - spare the capital, if he Turkisil ships of war and . thenavalstores are de livered up tcy him. • The answer, to the •Admiral'g note t'nust be delivered -withirr - half an hour. The Sublime Porte must be responsible fur the conse quences. I have the honour to be, Sir, the Fii-St . Dragoman, yours, Lc.. " CHARLES ARtUTHNOTii! No. y. - . As it has , been discoVered by our glasses that the time granted to the Sublime Porte to take its de cision, is employed in warping the Ships of War into places more susceptible of defence, and in con stru&ing batteries along the coast, it is the duty of the' Vice-Admiral to lose no :time : consequently Mr..ARBUTHNOT is obliged to apprize M. Isac 141 r, that if these measures of defence do not immediate ly cease, the Britigh Ships of War will ad in the manner which shall be judged most convenient to the interest they would wish to defend. " His Imperial High,ness 'may briefly give his word, in his own hand-writing, that the engage ments with Great Britain and Russia shall be imme diately renewed., The celerity with which the Bri tish Fleet, has passed the Dardanelles is a proof that the determination already announced will be put. into execution. On board the loyal George, at midnight, be tween,the 2 1st and 22d of February." No. V. ' " On board the Royal George, Feb. 27, .1607. " The Ambassador was yesterday Unwell ; 'to day he is so ill that he cannot quit his.bed, and is utterly incapable of attending to business. I have consequently opened the letter which you have ad dressed to him, and confess to you that its contents are of such a nature as to offend me. To tell a Mi nister of Great Britain, and a British Officer, that the Negotiation they have opened is nothing but a scheme to gain time, is a thing we are not accustom ed to hear, and which, from our national charaEter, we did not expe6t to hear. One English Frigate alone has been left in the Dardanelles to collect the boats that were employed upon the coast when we were attacked in a hoitile Manner. I have every reason . to believe that this Frigate willremain where she is till she receives my ulterior orders ; but when she joins me, or even when my Squadron shall be joined by our 'naval force, even that shall not oc casion any alteration in the terms I have proposed, and by which I am bound in honour rigorously to abide - : - Besides, we have no occasion for any rein:. forcement, forthe.vessels you see before you have been sufficient to effel' that, without -any damage, Which had been 'regarded by every porson here as completely impradicable. I declare to you still once again, both in my own narne'and that of the Ambassador, and I de .dare it . to you upon my hon Our, that we wish for peace; though we are prepared for war. The Sub lime Porte is acquainted with the conditions upon which it may preserve the amity of our So':ereign ; and if you imMediately'accede to them, the Nego, tiatton may, be terminated in a satisfa6tory 'manner in half an hour. But I must tell you frankly, I will ' not consent to lose any more time. ' I owe it to my Sovereign and to my own honour, not to suffer my- . self to be- duped and those who, are capable Of thinking' sd meanly of dthers, justly become them ! selves the Obleets of snspicion. Yon are putting your ships of war in motion—, you take every method for increasing, the means 'of . defence—but-if the - Stiblime Porte really wislte.i to save its Capital from the dreadful calamities which are reaay-to burst upon it, the thought of which is shocking to our feelings of' humanity, you will be sent here very early 'to-morrow morning, with full powers to conclude with me the work of peace, which. Mr. ARBUTHNOT would have, by this time, set out to conclude on shore . , if he. had not been prevented by a very serious indisposition:: I now declare to you, for the last time, that no considera tion whatever shall'induce me.to remain at a distance from your. Capital a single moment beyond. the:pe riod I have now assigned; and you are sufficiently acquainted with the English charatier, not - to . be ig norant that in a case of unavoidable necessity, we are less disposed to threaten than to execute. But understand me well. Our objet is peace and mi. ty ; this depends on you. I therefore earnestly in treat you not to suffer, yourselves to be led into an error by the insinuations of those persons whose in terest it is to excite false alarms, and tumults which are the consequences of them : • . . " As soon as harmony shall be re-established be tween us, you may reckon upon the assistance of the forces under my ortie.rs, for the support of the Go vernment of his Imperial Highness, and the pro tedion of his Capital. I have the honour to be, (Signed) "' J. T. DUCKWORTH." SIR, No. VI, " On board the Royal George, Feb. 24 " I have this moment bad the honour:of receiv ing your letter of this morning,- in which it is stated that the Porte is inclined to enter into an immediate Negotiation for the purpose of concluding a definitive atrangement; and it is proposed that we on our part should appoint a Plenipotentiary to meet the person chosen on the part of the Sublime Porte. " Considering thevery g reat importance of this affair, not only as it regards the Sublime Porte and Great Britain, but the whole world, I have come to the resolution of personally cQndueling it, and I, therefore, propose to the Sublime Porte, that in or der to obviate any- difficulty or inconvenience, a Mi nister be immediately sent on its part either on board the English Frigate aElually at anchor before Con stantinople, to which 1 shall repair myself, or on board my own Vessel, the Royal Gene, if that ap pears more proper. In case this arrangement should not meet the ideas of the Sublime Porte, I propose that the conference should take place in any of the Prince's Islands you may think proper. From what you mention to me of the degree of ferment which prevails among the populace, you must be sensible hots-injudicious it would be to expose our Negotia tion to be interrupted at every moment; and Kadi ' kioi, which you have Mentioned ash convenient 'place, being on the Asiatic side, appears exposed to the double disadvantage of being remote' froth the seat of your Government, as well rig the anchorage. of my Ships. 7 In ease the Su blirne aocode to . proposal lithich, I make respeOing o I eon terenee, you will percelo, how necessary it l is to ,give order that all further hostilities: should: be ticra ed within the'Dardanelles.. . " I have. ncithing more to add, except th4l it, i; of the utmost importiFe I should receive an diate answer. I have also to request that one of the. Vi:6ls belongng to the Arsenal (a sandal) sli.llcl lie ordered to remain near me, with some confidential person, for the inn - pose of corresponding whenever it may be necessary. " I have the honour to be, &c. . (Signed) " J. T. DUCK WORTH." .•, " P. S. It cannot escape' your observation, that there is no precedent of an Admiral, or Commander in Chief, quitting his Squadron, but the Ambassador not being in a situation to condua this. important Negotiation, and no person but myself being audio= rized to treat, I have determined to repair to what everplace we may mutually fix on as the most proh per for arranging an affair of such great consequence. I must observe, in the mean time, the eight ev.i embrasures that have been suddenly'opened in tht wall of- the Seraglio. • This is another •proof of a hostile disposition; and I feel myself called upon to declare to you, for the last time, that if such mea- - sures are not immediately discontinued,' I shall be under the necessity of commencing hostilities. you are therefore sincerely disposed to negotiate, it is become more necessary than ever that the confer ence with me should take place . without losing a Moment, in which case the truce I have before pro posed is limited to two days. (Signed) " J. T. DUCKWORTH." No. VII. " SIR,' On board the Royal George, Feb. '2 4, " Your letter, dated yesterday at sun -set, "arrived here at midnight, and; as well as the preceding one, was opened by the on "account 'of the indi4position of the Ambassador. , " Inyeply, J . have not a syllable to add to the let ter which I addressed to you on receiving your first, except that we are still ready to negotiate upon .the conditions proposed in the Note transmitted to' you by the Ambassador and myself on , the 'evening of the 22d of this month. I have the honour to be, (Signed) -" J. T.-DUCKWORTH." No. VIII. ." Vice Admiral Sir J. T. DucKwoßTx being a Constant witness of the preparations which are Unin terruptedly pursued, of the works which are conti nued on the same batteries, of the designs manifest ed to establish new batteries on the sides of. Scutari, and of the bustle among the,Ships of war,, insists up on beinn informed, without the least delay, itithere really be. an inclination to negotiate, or if it be meant to impose upon him. If the latter be intended, he gives the Sublirrie Porte warning that it will not suc ceed. He laments the dreadful consequences which are likely to result from it, but he can at least declare • before GOd and man, that it will not be his fault.— His measures are taken, and he only does his duty. If a satisfaaory answer be not received within three . hours, commencing from eight o'clock, according to the computation of the Franks, he wili . begin by seizing all boats and vessels freighted with provisions for the Capital, .and will put an end to the n av iga' , 'tion of the Sea of Marmora. " On board the Royal George, Feb. 24, 1807; at 5 o'clock in the evc;iiag." No IX. Sir JOHN THOMAS DUCKWORTH, Knight of the most Noble -Order of the Bath; - and Vice-Admiral, of the White, has received and opened the letters of this date, which have been addressed to the British Ambassador and himself by his Excellency the Reis Effendi, and by the Dragoman of the Divan. " It would hot be proper for Sir JOHN THOMAS DUCKWORTH,,RS Commander in Chief, to repair to a place so distant from his Fleet as ,that mentioned by the Sublime Porte. Rear.-Admiral Louis, who is already' so %.Vell'knowfl to the Sublime Porte, will therefore be ready to meet the Ottoman Plenipoten tiary when the Sandal from the Arsenal shall be sent to accompany him to the place of conference, and will be vested with full powers to negotiate and con.; elude the work of Peace, which is, and always has been, the objea which his Majesty has had most sincerely at heart. "'ln acceding so readily to all the proposals of the Sublime Porte, the most complete proof is given that nOtwithstand:cg the important advantages al ready, obtained, the Vice Admiral feels the strougest desire to re-establish a gOod understanding between the two Courts ; but it cannot be too forcibly lin pressed upon - the Sublime Porte that he will ,not lose a moment; for, notwithstanding the unexampled moderation that has appeared in the t!onduil of the British Squadron, all kinds of hostile operations ha% e been prosecuted an shore with unremitted , ," The:British Ambassador is too much indisposed to reply to the letter of the Reis Effendi, and in con : sequence requests his Excellency to accept his ex cuse. • ' " J. T. DUCKWORTH. " Onioard the. Royal George, Feb. 25, 1807." No. X. " At the moment the Sublime Porte informed the Vice-Admiral commanding the British Squadron that a Plenipotentiary was appointed, and that it was its most earnest desire to enter immediately upon a Negotiation, for the purpose of re=establishing peace and harmony, the Vice-Admiral has been ac quainted that a boat, with a non.-commissioned Offi cer and four seamen, belonging to the.Frioate; with a flag of truce at her maintop-mast, has been taken and carried to the ASiatic side. In the actual state of affairs, the Vice• Admiral is convinced that this proceeding cap only be the elle& of the improper conduct of some persons a6ling without orders ; and he has not the least doubt that the Sublime Porte, after receiving this, will direst that the five English men should be sent back to the advanced Frigate to 'which they belong. " The Vice-Admiral wishes that there should not be a moment lost in sending tllase men on board their Ship. (Signed) "J. T. DUCKWORTH" " On board the Royal George, Feb. )1