The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-05-05 00:00:00, page 5

eaciy sate in the judgment of the presi
dent of the United States, he is hereby
authorised to Suspend, in whole or in
part, the ,act laying an embargo on all
ships and vessels in the ports and har
bours ot the United States, and the se
veral acts supplementary thereto, under
«uch exceptions and restrictions, and
upon such bond Sc security being given,
as the public interest and circumstances
ot tpe case may require. Provided such
suspension shall not extend beyond
davts alter the next meeting ot congress.
pHou r acquaintance.
[The following curious diplomatic
note, is the r. ply ot the grand vizier of
the Turkish empire, to a British ambas
sador who went to Constantinople with
offers ot the mediation of England be
t\vt_j n Kussia and I urkey. 1 his reply
visjread before the British houst cV
commons in February 1792.1
“The grand seignior wars for bm.
seif, and ior himself makes peace. He.
can trust, his own slaves, servants, and
subjects : he knows their faith, has ex
perienced their virtue, and can rely upon
tlic.r fidelity—a virtue dong since ba
nis^d your corner of Europe. If all
otjter Christians tell truth, no reliance is
tobe had on England : she buys and
all mankind. I he Ottomans have
ml connection with your king, nor your
ctuntry : we never sought for your ad
vice, your interference, cr your friend
ship . we have no minister, no agency,
to correspondence with you: for what
ifason offer ye then to mediate with us
ibT Russia ? Why seek ye then to serve
an empire of infidels, as ye call us Mos
lems ? We want not your friendship,
3'd, or mediation. Your vizier, of whom
Vou speak so highly, must have some
project of deception in view, some op
pressive scheme to amuse, your na
tion, whom wc are told, are credu
lous, servile, and adorers only of mo
nt7,( Avarice, ii wc are well inform
ed, is your chief characteristic—you
would buy and sell your God: money is
your deitv—and all things is commerce
with your ministry, with your nation_
Come ye then to sell us to Russia ? No,
:ct us bargain for ourselves. When Fate
hat. spun out the thread of our good for
tune, we must yield : what has been de
creed by God and the prophet of men,
must and will come to pass. We Otto
mans kno\v no finesse : duplicity and
cunning are your Christian morals. We
arc not ashamed to be honest, downright,
plain, and faithful in our state maxims.
II we lail in war, we submit to the will
aven, decreed from the beginning.
\Ve have long lived in splendour, the
“rst power on earth and we glory in
having triumphed for ages over Chris
tian infidelity and depravity, mixed with
all sorts of vice and hypocrisy. We adore
ihe God,of nature.and Mahomed. You
r.' it her believe in the God you pretend
to worship, nor in his son, whom you
call both your god and your prophet.
What reliance can there be on so sacri
legious a ram ? Truth you banish, as
}'ou do virtue, from all your conduct
and actions with each other : you find
them all equally blasphemous, equally
perfidious, equally cruel, equally unjust
and faithless to their engagements. Did
the I urk ever forfeit his promise, word,
or honour? Never. Did ever a Christian
power keep an engagement, but while it
suited its own views or ambition ? No.
How then do you think are we to trust
you, a nation at this moment, if truth is
told, ruled by a perfidious administra
tion, without one grain of virtue to guide
the machine of stai< ? flic grand seignior
li.iS no public intercourse with vour
court; he wstnts none*—he wishes for
none. If you wish to remain here, ei
ther as a spy, or as you term yourself, an
ambassador for your court, you may live
with those of other Christian nations,
while you demean yourself with propri
ety; but we want neither your aid by sea
or land, nor council or mediation. I
have no order to thank you for your of
fer, because it is by the Divan deemed
officious ; nor have I any command to
thank y ou for the offer of your naval as»
sistance, because it is what the Porte
never dreamed of admitting into our
seas. Vv hat you have to do with*Russia,
we neither know nor care : our concerns
with that court, we mean to finish as
suits ourselves, and the maxims of our
laws and state policy. ' If you are not
the most profligate Christian nation, as
you are charged to be, you are undoubt
edly the boldest in presumption and ef
frontery, in offering to bring such a
power as Kussia to terms. • Such as you, |
and some other trivial Christians, united, t
fancy yourselves equal to command—
we know better ; and therefore this ef
frontery of yours amounts rather to au
dacity, and to an imbecile dictation,
which must render , your counsels at
home mean and contemptible, and your
advice abroad unworthy of wisdom, or
attention from any power, much less the
regard of the Porte, which, on all occa
sions wherein its ministers have lisU ned
to you, have experienced evil, either in
} our designs, or in your ignorance. His
sublime highness cannot be too much
upon his guard against the attempts and
presumption of a nation so perfidious to
the interests of its subjects, (or colo
nists.) But it is the usual wav of Chris
tian princes, to sell and cede over their
subjects to each other for money. Every
peace made amongst you, as we are well
informed, is made favourable to the
king that best bribes. The Ottoman mi
nistry have too long and too often given
ear to European counsels ; and as often
as they did so, they either were betrayed
soid, or deceived. Away, then, with
your interference for the Porte with
lussia. h- has been your aim to embroil
11 m;,nk,!ul> and! thereafter, to profit by
}our perfidy, -We ask not, want not,
nor desire your commerce, because our
merchants have been sacrificed to your
double dealings.—You have no religion
but gain. Avarice is your only god,
and the Christian faith you profess, but
a mask for your hypocrisy. We will
hear no more from you—therefore vou
are commanded to make no reply.”
IN TE LLJGE NCE.
Brussels, January 7. '•
The German newspapers continue ‘
to give details of the execution of the
se\ ere measures which are taken in the
north of Germany and along the whole
coast of the Baltic, against the Eng
lish ti adc and navigation. \\ e also hear
from iiiga, that lor some time past some
merchants or brokers had been endea
voring to divert from the Russian go
vernment, English goods which were
in depot in the warehouse ; but that the
goods had been discovered and seized,'
and the receivers of them arrested.—
Besides being condemned to pay a fine
equal to the value of the goods, tn§ de
linquents are exiled to Siberia. In
Denmark, all those guilt of correspond
ing with the English are prosecuted
with equal severitv.
Eatowe, February 2.
It is said that fifteen American ves
sels have safely arrived at' Lisbon,
through the English squadrons, without
having been either boarded or stopt. It
is also reported that other vessels of the •*