payment is not to be raised from single persons, but from the revenues of the whole community; as to the chapters, they may make their own distribution. Vienna, February 28, 1788. To Field Marshal Lascy. JOSEPH. Sir,-The war with the Porte, which I have undertaken in consequence of my treaties with Russia, will be agreeable to thousands in my armies. I am persuaded you will be rejoiced, when I make you the friendly request to accompany me in the campaign. At the same time I offer you the appointment of Inspector-General of my armies, from the commencement of our march with the Russians against the Ottomans. You have honorably distinguished yourself by your patriotism; you, Laudon, and Hadick, are Generals whose services I must view as having been voluntarily devoted to my house; the glory you have for so many years acquired, and the faithful services you have rendered me, forbid me all claims upon their continuation. I am convinced you are not indifferent to the satisfaction I feel, and that you are ready again to sacrifice to Austria your knowledge, your repose, and even your life, in every emergency; and, under this persuasion, I have appointed you one of the commanding Generals. I shall never be ungrateful for your services; I can never be unmindful, that you abandon every thing that can make the days of a great man happy, in order to put yourself at the head of the brave Germans, to be the leader of my legions, and my friend. Vienna, February, 1788. To Prince Kaunitz. JOSEPH. Mon Kaunitz,-I regret that I am obliged to announce to you, that the Ottoman Porte has declared war against Russia, my ally; that hostilities have been already commenced by the Ottomans, and that the mediation which I have offered, for the re-establishment of harmony between the two empires, has been fruitless. Considering the treaties that exist between Russia and myself, I cannot leave the Empress exposed alone to the dan gers of war; I see myself constrained to participate in it, and to declare to the Grand Sultan, that I will treat him and his subjects as enemies, until Russia and her allies shall have obtained complete satisfaction for the violation of treaties, and the infringement on the law of nations, of which these barbarians have been guilty, by imprisoning Monsieur de Bulgakow. I commission you to make known to the Ambassadors of Foreign Courts my resolutions and dispositions against the Porte, and to send the circular dispatches from the Board of the Chancery of State to all Imperial Royal Ministers, in order that the war between Austria and the Turks may be notified to all the respective Courts in due form. Vienna, February 9, 1788. JOSEPH. To Count de Montmorin, French Secretary of State, and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Monsieur,-The Manifesto of the Porte is written in so pathetic and insinuating a manner, that I must believe that the Divan had it composed in some obscure academy of Europe. It is perfectly beneath my dignity to examine into the rights alleged therein by the Ottomans, of which none will be convinced except those who hate Austria, or who have no knowledge of history. These barbarians of the East have, for more than two centuries, been faithless in every thing towards my predecessors; they have violated treaties as often as their rapacity urged them to do so, and have invariably assisted the rebels who opposed their lawful King. Under Ferdinand I, Count Zapolya, at a later period, the Bathorys, and Bethlen Gabor, and lastly, in the time of Leopold I, the Tökelys and Ragozys, obtained from the Grand Sultan all possible assistance. They have perfidiously violated all treaties of peace, and treated the inhabitants of Hungaria in the most cruel manner. When Austria was involved in war with her enemies, they attacked the frontiers of the Empire sword in hand, and behaved like cannibals. The barbarians make no mention of this in their manifesto against me, but boast of the friendship which they have shown towards Austria since the year 1740, in so impudent a manner, that it would seem the people, who have written it, were other than those who have so acted against us. The time has arrived when I come forward as the champion of humanity, and take upon me to compensate Europe for the hardships she has suffered from these barbarians, and when I hope to succeed in ridding the world of a race of barbarians, that have been so long a scourge to her. In the Camp of Semlin, on the 6th of July, 1788. JOSEPH. To Charles, Prince of Nassau, General in the Russian Service. Mon Prince,-The first campaign against the Osmans is over; my armies, by the valor they have displayed, have increased their reputation, which even their enemies are obliged to acknowledge. Chotzim has been taken by my excellent Prince of SaxeCoburg; Dubitza and Noroi, by the most celebrated Marshal in Europe. Sabatz has been obliged to open her gates to General Lascy. In conformity with the plan of defence, the Generals operated at both extremities of the line of defence, and occupied a considerable part of Moldavia and Bosnia. I remained with the bulk of my army in the centre, and observed Belgrade and the Vizier. The irruptions into the Banat of Temeswar were owing to a misunderstanding among the Generals who commanded the cordon on the frontiers.-This gave the Vizier an opportunity to invade the plain of Lugosch and to plunder. What advantages the inimical horde derive from that event! After Chotzim had been taken, my armies and those of my ally spread themselves over Moldavia, and occupied Jassy. Prince Coburg went to Roman, and posted himself on the Sereth, as far as the frontiers of Transylvania. When the campaign was over I regulated the winter cordon, and returned to Vienna, in order to make preparations for the second campaign. During these dispositions Oczakow was taken by storm. Potemkin at last gloriously crowned our enterprizes. In the spring of 1789 the German army will be employed in taking Bender, and will proceed to the left bank of the Danube. On the right bank of this river I shall take Belgrade, and spread my army over Servia. The taking of Nissa, Widin, Serajo, and, up the river, Save, Berbic, Banjaluka, and Castanowitz, are enterprizes which will be completed in August. If the Vizier is to meet me, or the Russians, on the banks of the Danube, he must offer battle, and after he has been beaten, I shall drive him as far as under the guns of Silistria. In the month of October, 1789, I shall order a congress, when Osman's people will sue the Giaurs for peace. The treaties of Karlowitz and Passarowitz are to serve my ambassadors as bases of the negociations, by which I will secure Chotzim, and a part of Moldavia. Russia will keep the Peninsula Krim; Oczakow will be raised, Prince Charles of Sweden will become Duke of Courland, and the Grand Duke of Florence Roman King. There will then be universal peace in Europe. Till then France will have made arrangements with the notables of the nation, andthe other gentlemen think too much for themselves, and too little for Austria. Vienna, January, 1789. JOSEPH. |