[PDF]Memories of the Baron de Tott, on the Turks and the Tartars

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The

Robert E. Gross
Collection

A Memorial to the Founder
of the


Business Administration Library
Los Angeles


M E M O /I R^, S

BARON DE TOT T, ~

O N T H E

TURKS AND THE TARTARS.

TRANSIATID FROM THE FrBKCR,

BY AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN AT PARIS,'

vnder thk imusdiatx inspectiov op

The baron.


IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.


DUBLIN


PRINTED FOR L. WH,ITE, J. CASH, AND
R. MARCHBANK.

M,DCC,LXXXV.


PREFACE


BY THE


TRANSLATOR


THE Trnnflator of the prefent work
is fenfible that he could not have
taken a more di fad vantageous, or more un-
grateful ftation in the hterary world. No
merit in the tranfljtion of living languages,
can flatter the perfon who undertakes it,
with the hopes of obtaining rn adequate
recompence for his labours, either in point
of intereft, or ambition ; yet the utility of
his occupation isuniverfally admitted, and
A 2 they


IV PREFACE.

tliey v^ho are acquainted with the two lan-
guages, mutt acknowledge, becaufe they
know, the difficulties he has to furmounr,
to render a tranflation tolerable.

To the decifion of fucli judges, the Tan-
flator fubmits a work, he was induced to
attempt, from motives of utility, and v/ith
the view of refcuing an author of great me-
rit, and authenticity, from fuch treatment
as he had reafon to apprehend from the
multitude of inaccurate and mutilated tran-
ilations from the French, v/ith which the
Englifh prefs is daily teeming. Every
Raynal has not the good fortune to fall in-
to the hands of a Juftamond. He will only
add, on the fubjed of tranflation, that it
were to be wiflied, for the facility of that
literary commerce which is increafing ra-
pidly between the two firfl nations in Eu-
rope, tam Martin quam Mercurio, that a Dic-
tionary might be formed of all the fynoni-
mous terms in Arts, Sciences^ Natural Hif-
tory, &c: in the two languages, the prefent
Didlionaries being fo completely inadequate
to the purpofes of tranflation, in any of
thofe branches. The extenfive and minute

knowledge


PREFACi:, V

knowledge of the Baron de Tott, whilft it
afloiiifhes the reader, in the courfe of thefe
Memoirs, will evince the utility, and, the
Tranflator fears, the necefiity of this re-
mark. It is certain, however, that in works
entirely devoted to arts and fciences, the
very beft Traiiflator, without fuch aid, will
find himfelf involved in infurmountable dif-
ficulties, which mull necelTarily lead to ob-
fcurity and confuGon. The dikife of Latin
in the prefcnr age, as the medium of fcien-
tific communication throughout Europe,
renders fuch a Didionary particularly ne-
celTary for the two rival nations.

With refpefl to the original work, the
Tranflator thinks he may venture to pro-
nounce, with fome degree of confidence,
that thefe Memoirs will be at all times juftly
held in eflimation ; that ihey Vv'ill furnilh
entertainment and inftrudion for the man
of the world, and matter of profound me-
ditatioa for the philofopher and politician.
Did they fland in need of any other reconi-
mendation than their own intrinfic merit,
the iilufhrious names of a Cboifeul and a
Fergennes^ ftand as an unqueRionable pledo;e

of


VI PREFACE.

of the abilities and reputation oF the inge-
nious and diftingutfhed author, whilfr the
importance and varied objeds of his feveral
millions, render all his remarks peculiarly
intereding.

A public {lation at the Ottoman Porte,
and amongCt the Tartars, under fuch Mi-
nifters of a great, as well a-s the mod fa-
voured nation in that part of the world ; a
nation at all times celcrbrated too for its
difcernment and choice of able civil officers^
and negociators; a mofl cultivated under-
flanding and comprehenfive knowledge,—
a thorough acquaintance with the language
and manners of the Turkifh empire, for
three and twenty years, the peculiar circum-
ftances of the times wherein his abilities
were called into exertion, the fubfequent,
and future probable events, which bid fair,
perhaps in our days, to unhinge the whole
fyflem of European politics : thefe are
drong, unequivocal recommendations,
which fall to the lot of but few authors.

RicauJt^ Marfgli, Lady Mary IVortJey
Montague^ and Sir James Porter^ have writ-
ten


PREFACE. , VII

ten on the Turkifh empire -, the two former
pofTefs but a fmail degree of reputation ;
the fecond indeed very honedly fums np his
account by declaring, that it is almoll im-
poiTible to form any judgment of that peo-
ple. Our elegant countrywoman, with a
mod voluptuous and animated pencil, has
tranfported her reader into die paraciife of
Mahomet, by her lively powers of imagi-
■ nation ; has entered into competition with
the Prophet himfclf,.&nconvert. ^ur Cbriftian men and women too,
into true believers. Sir James Porter alone
has the merit of having firft given to tiie
world, true details, and accurate obfervati-
cms, on the manners of the Turks, founded
on fa<5\s, ., he was hit^felF a witnefs to i. and
to which, thefe Memoirs bear honourable
teftimony. As for the general clafs of tra-
vellers, their attention feems to have been
limited, to the barbarous nomenclature, of
the different officers of the Porte, without
explaiai.ng the true nature, and extent of
their employments, and by endeavouring
to alTimilate them^ with tliofe of our Euro-
pean Courts, where, in faCl, there is no re-
temblance, to give the reader, the Red Book

of


VIU PREFACE.

of the Grand Signlar, as a fubflltnte for
every other fpeciesof information, and leave
him bewildered in intricacies and errors.
As an hiflory, the annals of Prince Cante-
7nh\ deferNc an honourable mention, and
are v/ell worthy of perufal, as involving in
them, the true charadler of the Turkifh na*
tion, and the influence of their govern-
ment, from whence arofe thofe various re-
volutions, of which he is the hiflorian ; but
never have this extraordinary government
and people been fo fully, or fo accurately
developed, as by the author of thefe Me-
moirs : diverted of prejudice too, and al-
mofl fuperior to the reilraints of the coun-
try in which he writes, in painting the Ot-
toman empire, he has laid open errors and
crimes common to all defpotic governments,
and by boldly tracing them to defpotifm it-
felf, has indiredly, but effedually flood
forth, the champion of humanity. A citi-
zen himfelf, of a government, arbitrary,
at lead in its principles, he has ventured to
holdout a terrible and faldtary warning to
all nations, not quite fo far gone in flavery,
asthe wretched orientals, to guard well their

few


PREFACE. IX

few remaining rights, and to tremble for the
total lofs of freedom.

After making the reader perfcdly ac-
quainted with the manners and monftrous
government of the Turks, and corredling
numberlefs errors of preceding travellers,
can any thing be more curious or intereft-
ing, than to fee this unweildy mafs in mo-
tion, and an empire confiding of eighty
millions of inhabitants, pofleiled of the
fined climates and countries on the globe,
upheld, and poflibly preferved, in a mod
critical moment of its exidence, by the fu-
perior addrefs and underdanding of one

fingle European ? All Europe knew, at

the time, that the defence of the Darda-
nelles againd the Ruflian fleet was intrud-
ed to Mr. de Tott*, but never until the
A 5 publi-

The judicious editor of the Annual Regifter,
publifhed by Dodfley, in fpeaking of the campaigtis
between the Turks and Ruffians of 1773 and 1774»
makes the following cbfervationsi " N9 details are
•* to be expelled from a TurkifK Cabinet, or army 5
*' and the Ruffians, fatisfied with their fuccefs, have
*' no occafion to enter into a recital of particulars,
•* which might leffen the glory or difficulty of their

» atchieve-


X PREFACE.

publication of tbefe Memoirs, was the
world acquainted with the real v/eaknefs of
that important paiTage, the facility of forc-
ing it, or the fingular exertions of its dif-
tinguirtied defender. His labours, his firm-
nefs, and perfeverance, in overcoming eve-
ry obftacle, in braving the moft inveterate
prejudices, in conquering, and fubmitting
to his will, the ftiipid pride, the fanaiicifm^

** atchievements. Such information can only be ob-
*' tained near the fcene of adion, and will *' un-
'* doubtedly be hereafter communicated," either by
*' fome one of the moft curious and intelligent of the
** European Minifters at the Porte, or of thofe fo-
*' reign officers who ferved on the Danube. For
** fuch curious and ufefal inquiries or details, wc
'* have been more indebted to the induftry of the
'* French Minifters and Secretaries, for above a cen-
** tury paft, than to thofe of all the other nations in
** Europe."— And in another place, ** As the Turks
** give no detail of their military tranfadions, and
** the Ruflians only fuch a one as is fuited to the me-
** ridian of their own people, no regular account is
*' to be expefted, until fome future Manftein, among
** their foreign officers, ihall get free from the
*' iliackles of power, and give an account of things
** as they really are." As far as the circumftances ad-
mit, the reader will draw the parallel, and make the
application,

the


PR E P A C I,


XI


the obftinacy, the jcaloufy:,: of this infatu-
ated, people ;; and,- jibove- all, their rcorf*
tempt- and{ hatred of ..:$fe ,Chrilli-ans.— The
iinalterable confidence rcpofed in him by
the Grand Signior, jiiftified by the mod
aflonifhing fuccefs in this defence, as well
as in his fubfequent prodeedrngs, form, air
together, a feries of particulars unexampled
in hiftory. By the force of his own genius,
aided only by the jUemoirs of Saint Remy^
and the Encyclopedia^ Mr. de Tott learnt
himfelf, and taught his dangerous pupils to
caft and bore cannon, to employ their ar-
t,illery, and to make pontoons. Hechang-
ed their arms, their evolutions, their difci-
pline, their principles of fhip building, and
fortification ; he founded different fchools,
and was himfelf at once the mechanical
workman, and the guide and inventor of
thefe various reforms.

His account of the Tartars would at all
times have been extremely curious, but is
mx)re particularly fo at this moment, as it
is perhaps the lad glance, we fhall have of
thax ancient and interefting people, as a
diftinift and independent nation. Ruflia is
J now


Xll P R E P A C E.

now in complete pofleffion' of the Crimea^
from whence fhe is already making naval
armaments ; and frorh the^ rapid progreft
made in one century, in arts a:.d arms, by
that vafl empire, it may be conjedliired,
without any extraordinary ftretch of ima-
gination, that the beautiful and happy fitu-^
ation, and immenie population of the TaiU
ric Chenonefus, will prove in hei* haiidsj
the fource and inflrument of confiderable,
and perhaps, not very dillant revolutions.
In this part of the Memoirs, there is a rich
feaft for the philofopher and politician.^
They will here find, amongll: an infinite
variety of new and interelting materials,- i
number of European cufioms, which cer-
tainly have not travelled eaflward, our anci-
ent feudal fyflem, and a pretty correal mo-
del of Englifh iegiflature, with an improve^
ment on the democratical part of that ce-
lebrated inflitution, revived by the people
of America, in feveral of their new con-
ftitutions ; 1 mean, the infuring to the peo-
ple the meeting of the deliberative branch
of the Iegiflature, independent of the exe*
cutivc power ; as we fee that the Bey of
the Chirins, in the Tartar conllitutibh,

could


PREFACE. Xm

cbuld convoke the aflembly of the other
Beys, even if the.Kam, like Charles theFfrft,
(hould be difpofed to drfpenfe with this
necefTary controul. Thus has modern fore-
fight fapplied, what has probably been loft
in the defcent from the original authors of
this, as well as oiher ufages of the northern
nations.

Notwithflanding our author has ,b,eeri •
obliged to tread over beaten ground /d the
Jatter part of the third volume, the reader
Hvill find it replete with new^and ingenious
remarks and difcuilions ; and as a commerV
cial nation, England cannot with an fndif-
ferent eye, view her rivals in pofTefTion of
*the whole commerce of the Levant, nor
the unremitted attention fhe continues to
beftow on this important fource of her
wealth and profperity. Happy too, if fhe
could be prevailed on to take a lelTon from
the political condudt of her powerful and
rifing neighbour. She would not then
continue to hazard her interefts, and leflen
her confequence in the eyes of Europe, by

fending a Cjh d to reprefent her policy

at the Court of one of the firfl branches of

the


Xlv P R E P A C E.-

the Houfe of Bourbon, whi!ft fhe has the
example of France, deputing a De Tott,
to refide with the Kam of the Tartars,, and
to negociate with the Confederates of Pp-
land *.

The Tranflator has taken the liberty of
pronouncing with much confidence on the
fidelity of thefe Memoirs, if it were pofli-
ble to entertain a doubt, from the circum-
ftance of his being honoured with the per-
fonal acquaintance of the Baron de Tott f,

ind

* It Is a certain faft, although not generally known,
that the Duke de Choifeul, the fame Minifter who
Tent M. de Tott on his mifTion to the Tartars, em-
ployed the Baron de Kaalb, in the year 1765, foon
after the laying of the fatal Stamp A£t, to found thp
difpofitions, and tamper with the :Auierican leaders.
The fame Baron de Kaalb remained twelve months in
that country, and until the wife meafureof the repeal,
by the Rockingham adminiftration. - He returned to
America, however, at the commencement of hoftili-
ties, and loft his life fighting under General Gates, at
the memorable battle of Camden.

t The chagrin of the Coiirt of Ruflia^dn being
made acquainted with the ftate of the dcfeftce, when
their fleet was off the Dardanelles, muft be' viry great.

M. de


PREFACE. XV

and the opportunities he has had of con-
verfing with Mr, Rufin % a man of the

flriaeft

M. de Tatt informed the Tranflator, that after the
conclufion of the peace, he met with Prince Repnin,
whom he had formerly known at Warfaw, on his ar-
rival in quality of Ruflian Ambaflador at Conftanti-
nople : dining together, with the other foreign Minif-
ters, at le Conite de St. Prieft's, the Prince was con-
gratulated on the return of peace, and his appearance
at the Porte ; on which, turning to M. de St. Prieft,
with a farcaftic air, he faid, '* We fhould have arriv-
ed here much fooner, if M. deTott would have per-
mitted us." The time and place, which fhould have
precluded the remark, permitted M. de Tott only to
reply, ** Your Excellency does me toa^rauch honour ;
1 do afTure you that I only went to the I>ardanelles to
iee your fleet pafs." The AmbafTador foon had the
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