1769. No time was, however, to be lost, and orders A.D. were issued to fit out a fleet with all expedition, in order to meet the threatening invasion. An individual, who was destined to take a prominent part in the future affairs of Turkey, was at this time rising rapidly into distinction at Constantinople. This was Gazi Hassan, the celebrated Capitan Pacha of the Ottoman navy.* Born in Persia, and carried off by a party of Turkish soldiers during the troubles incident on the death of Nadir Shah, he spent his early years as a servant in a caffé at Rhodosto,† whence he joined a regiment raised by the Sultan's permission for the service of the Dey of Algiers. Here he rapidly distinguished himself by his bravery and talents, and ob The title of "Gazi," (conqueror), was conferred upon Hassan after the action at Tchesmè (of which presently) by the Sultan Mustapha III. Eton, Survey, p. 85. Castera, v. ii. p. 69. An interesting sketch of the life of this remarkable man is inserted in the second and third vo lumes of the "Fundgruben des Orients, or Mines de l'Orient," conducted by M. Von Hammer. A brief but accurate account of him, and of the Russian expedition, will be likewise found in the second volume of Mr. Hope's Anastasius, chap. ii. p. 26, &c.; and M. Rulhiere has sketched his adventures with much spirit and elegance in the eleventh book of his Histoire de Pologne. + Choiseul Gouffier, Voyage, &c. v. ii. p. 488. 1769. A.D. tained in a short time high military rank, together with the government of the province of Talimsan. A faction, excited against him by a relative of the Dey, obliged him to seek protection in flight, and, abandoning his wife and children, he succeeded in making good his escape to one of the ports of Spain, where he was hospitably protected by Charles III. He subsequently passed over to Naples, and being furnished with credentials from Ferdinand IV. to his minister at the Porte, he ventured in 1760 to return to Constantinople. He had scarcely landed, when he was denounced by the agent of his old enemy, and placed under immediate arrest. The influence of the ambassador of the Two Sicilies was sufficient, however, to procure his release, and prevent the confiscation of his property, which, besides plate and jewels, amounted to upwards of 20,000 zechins. By the agency of some private friends, he was quickly introduced to the notice of the Sultan his quarrel with the Dey of Algiers was adjusted; his family was brought from Talimsan to the capital; and Hassan himself was honoured with the command of a frigate of fifty guns.* In 1768 he had risen to the rank of vice-admiral, when he rendered essential * Mem. Mines de l'Orient, p. 3. 1769. services to Mustafa, by the improvement which AD he effected in the Ottoman marine, which, at the commencement of the Russian war, was in the most pitiable state of weakness and corruption. When the alarm was given of the approach of Orloff, all eyes turned upon Hassan as their only reliance in so serious an emergency. Constantinople was totally unprotected, nor did there exist either stores, funds, or seamen, for the equipment of a fleet. Hassan, chiefly at his own expense, commenced fitting out a squadron of twenty vessels in the Bosphorus; and with these and the assistance expected-from Algiers, Barbary, and Alexandria, it was hoped that an effectual head could still be made against the audacious Muscovites.* In the beginning of February, Spiritoff sailed from Minorca; his squadron was separated into two divisions. One, under the command of Gregg, shaped its course towards Sardinia, where it was to be met by the Count Alexis and Pappas Oglou, and was thence to drop down the coast of Tuscany, and receive on board the recruits, who had been engaged by the various agents of Russia. The other, under the direction of Feodor, who had joined Spiritoff at Mahon, steered for Malta, where he proposed awaiting the arrival of his brother, and where * Mem. Mines de l'Orient, p. 6; Rulhiere, v. vii. p. 388. Feb. 1770. 1770. A.D. he likewise expected to receive efficient assistance from the Knights. So far, however, from this being the case, he was refused admission to either harbour by the Grand Master, unless for the purpose of repairs, and forced to proceed alone to the Morea. The Turkish inhabitants, in the mean time, had heard some indistinct rumours of the intended revolt, and, under the influence of this panic, had massacred a party of Zaccuniote peasants, who were quietly returning from a fair at Patrass, but whom their imagination had converted into an army of rebels.* They had been alarmed, too, by the appearance of a vessel of war,† which had been seen for some weeks mysteriously hovering about the islands on the western coast; but in their terror, they took no decided steps for their preservation, and the consternation and confusion was universal throughout the peninsula, when, Feb.28. on the 28th of February, 1770, the squadron of Feodor Orloff cast anchor in the bay of Vitylo. Immediately on his arrival, Feodor was waited upon by the two brothers, Mauromichali. But it was in vain that he urged them to active exertion; they had entered into no engagements, and they persisted in demand Hope's Anastasius, v. i. c. ii. p. 27. + That which I have mentioned as having been sent to the assistance of Montenegro. (ant. p. 310, 322.) ing the direct authority of the Empress, ere they embarked in so perilous an enterprise. Feodor, confounded by their coolness, attempted to bring them to terms, by exhibiting the counterfeit document, which had been forwarded to him by Pappas Oglou. But their indignation knew no bounds when they saw this audacious forgery: it explained at once the nefarious delusion which had been practised on both parties; and they unhesitatingly avowed to Orloff their despair and disapproval of the attempt. Nor was their opinion more favourable on coming to learn the extent of Feodor's armament, when, instead of ten thousand men, and abundance of arms, which they had been led to expect, five hundred Russian soldiers were landed at Porto Vitylo, together with a few cases of muskets, which, from their primitive construction, might have passed as the models of the first inventors of fire-arms. They abandoned at once all ideas of a political nature; but, observing Feodor firm in his determination to proceed, they at length consented to co-operate with him, induced by the reflection that this commencement of hostilities had already compromised them with their rulers, but chiefly by the hopes of Turkish plunder, and the certainty, under all reverses, A.D. 1770. |