precision of whose movements were calculated to convince 

 the Turks of their inferiority. At the same time an Eng- 

 lish renegade, named Campbell, who had held a high rank 

 in the British service, received the command of Bonneval's 

 corps of Combaradgis, another English renegade directed 

 the cannon foundries, and a Prussian had the control of 

 the engineer. It is needless to name the crowd of Euro- 

 pean officers who have been subsequently engaged in the 

 service of the Porte; but what availed all this bustle of 

 seeming reformation ? The activity of a Mustapha, and 

 the enlightened views of a Selim, could not change the 

 passive character of a people sunk in ignorance and stupid 

 arrogance, and who have no spirit but in the paroxysms 

 of excitement. The Turks are considered as the inventors 

 of trenches and parallels in the attack of places ; but their 

 defeat before Widdin, and the lingering blockades to which 

 they have been obliged to have recourse in their late con- 

 tests with the Greeks, show how completely they have lost 

 their former skill, and how little they have profited from the 

 lessons of their European instructors. When the English 

 fleet passed the Dardanelles in 1807, the Turks who were 

 stationed in the 'batteries and castles fled from their guns 

 (as we are informed by M. Juchereau de St. Denys, 4 a dis- 

 tinguished French officer, who was present on the occasion,) 

 and threatened to kill all who offered to prevent their flight. 

 The reforms in the marine, during the same period, 

 appeared to proceed under better auspices from the vigorous 

 character of those engaged in their promotion. The Capi- 

 tan Pasha, Gazi Hassan, was a man of extraordinary bold- 

 ness : he applied himself with unremitting zeal to the forma- 

 tion of an effective navy : and under his protection, a 

 nautical academy was opened in 1773, in which instructions 

 w r ere given by an Algerine, not deficient in practical 

 abilities. Before this time the Turks knew nothing of navi- 

 gation, and were almost ignorant of the use of the compass, 

 as was remarked by Boscovitch. The best models of naval 

 architecture were procured from Deptford and Toulon. 

 European artists were engaged : docks were constructed by 



- 4 Revolutions de Constantinople en 1807 et 1808 ; precedes d' Observations 

 generates sur 1'etat actuel de 1' Empire Ottoman. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris. 1819. 



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