The Right honble: Roger Earl of Castlemayne Baron of Limbrick etc. AN ACCOUNT Of the Present WAR Between the VENETIANS & TURK WITH THE STATE of CANDIE In a Letter to the King from Venice By the EARL of CASTLEMAINE LONDON Printed by J. M. for H. Herringman at the Anchor on the Lower Walk of the New-Exchange 1666. TO THE KING Gracious Sovereign I Sent Your Majesty this Account at my Return from Candie emboldened by the Orders You were pleased to give me when I left England to acquiant You with all I found New abroad and this I could by no means call Old seeing to me the Cause and Progress of the War was altogether unknown From You Great Sir it had a gracious Acceptance and from You again it begs Reception since by Your Commands it is now made Public Nor will Your People be unwilling to hear how miraculously Christendom is Defended against the Common Enemy of our Faith and Peace This is that Man of Sin that exalteth himself against all that is called God and that great Leviathan whose Teeth are thought so terrible yet in his Nostrils there is fixed a Hook For certainly never did Providence more plainly appear then in giving Bounds to this Monster at Sea where had he been but ordinarily Victorious with terror he had appeared at their Doors to whom now his Name is hardly known 'T is in the Deep he has seen God's Wonders and where he never had the least Success though that be the Grand Argument of his Belief and Doctrine That Memorable Battle of Lepanto made him then know That our United Force could stop his Fury But now the Victories at Fogies Nixia and the Dardanels have apparently proclaimed his weakness and that the Venetians themselves are more than Match for him 'T is past my reach Sacred Sir to find in Humane Reason how Men so approvedly Stout as these Infidels are and not unacquainted with Maritime Affairs should always so degenerate at Sea as to seem contemptible to half their Number who have no extraordinary Traffic to make them more Experienced than themselves Nay which is yet more wonderful Why should the Apostates that command these Ships who were whilst Christians admired for their Valour and Conduct turn presently inconsiderable as if with their Faith they became Bankrupts of their Natural Talents too The Pirates of Tripoli Tunis and Algiers do far excel all other Turks in Vessels nor put they one scarce out whose Officers are not Renegades of eminence in their respective Professions and drawn thither by the great assurance of Gain and Profit Yet about Ten Years since Sixteen of the best of these sent as Auxiliaries to Constantinople were ruined by Lazaro Mocinigo that thrice worthy General with the Armata Sottile his Fleet at Oars only when as one Ship of the Republics has in a dead Calm destroyed as many of the Enemy's Galleys as he had then to oppose these Rovers Nothing Mighty Prince but this Christian State could ever Parallel You who have a Puissant Foe now on Your Hands and yet no noise of Drums within Your Streets Your Enemy must be acknowledged also much to resemble theirs in commencing a War when 't was lest expected and presently forced to seek means of avoiding Fight and Encounters May You then Both be for ever Victorious as hitherto in all Engagements You have been For as Religion compels me to wish the one so the Laws of God and Man obliges me to the other as bearing the indelible Character of Your Majesty's faithful and most obedient Subject CASTLEMAINE London May 23. 1666. Reader YOu have here a very exact Map of Candie considering the bigness with all its remarkable Places and Fortifications and also the manner how the Turks Attaqued it two several times first on the East and South sides of the Town Anno 1648. Secondly because they found those places strong on the West in 1649. And lest you should confound the one with the other there is a ●●rick'd Line that passes between them Nevertheless you must know That there was a Battery for a little while in the second Attaque against St. Demetrius' Fort as you may see farther in the Explanation of the Map And if all the Figures in it be not successively set down you must impute it to the Gravers mistaking my Directions yet they will be sufficient to show each Particular If you think fit carefully to peruse the Map and its Explanation you will find it much conduc● to the History of the Siege Remember also that the part of New-Candie in the East corner of the Map is part of the New Town which the Turks have built and where they now lie closely Besieging Candie having transferred their Leaguer from their Tents to this walled Town which is commodious enough and reasonably well built The Explanation of the Map of Candie A The Castle to defend the Port. B The Port. C The Arsenal or Storehouse to make and repair the Galleys D The Gate Sabionera E The Gate St. George F The Gate Jesus G The Gate Panigra H The Gate St. Andrea I The Gate Tramatta K The Gate of the Mole L The Bulwark Sabionera M Bulwark Vitturi N Bulwark Jesus O Bulwark Martinengo P Bulwark Bettelem Q Bulwark Panigra R Bulwark St. Andrea S Mount of Sabionera T M. of Vitturi V M. of Martinengo Out-Works 2 Fort St. Demetrius 3 Crepa Core 4 Palma 5 St. Maria. 6 Mocenigo 7 Panigra 8 Revelin St. Niccol● 9 Rev. Bettelem 10 Half Moon Mocen●go 11 Rev. Panigra 12 Rev. St. Spirito 13 Redoubt St. Andrew 30 The Turks Quarter in both the Attaques The first Attaque 1648. 31 Battery against the Port. 32 Battery against the City Bulwark Vitturi Jesus and St. Demetrius Fort. 33 Bat against St. Mary and Martinengo after removed to 34. 35 Bat against Palma and Vitturi after removed to 36. 37 Bat that made the Breach in St. Demetrius The Palma was taken and in it a Battery raised against Crepa Core There was a Battery raised on the Counterscarp which made the great Breach in Martinengo ● The Approaches of Cussaim Bassa Chief Commander ● The Approaches of Assan Bassa Breaches made by Mines were in Palma S. Marry Jesus S. Demetrius and Martinengo In Jesus 5 Mines were Sprung and 9 countermined the breach was 54 Italian paces In Martinengo 7 were Sprung and 8 countermined the Breach was 84 Italian paces This place was taken by the Turks and maintained for seven hours The second Attaque was on the West side of the Town as the former was on the East and South This began Aug. 20. 1649. and ended Octob. 6. following and is distinguished from the first by a pricked line between them The Batteries in this Storm were against Mocenigo's Out-work Bettelem and Panigra These 63 65 Batteries are marked with Figures 62 63 64 65 66. There was in this Attaque also a Battery against S. Demetrius marked with fig. 61. but being repulsed there the chief fury of the Turks was during the Attaque against Mocenigo's Out-work which they took thrice but were driven out again with great loss of Men and eight Banners 68 The Approaches of that Assault against S. Demetrius 70 71 72 The several Approaches on the West side in this Assault The City of Candy The Old Town Mediterranean Sea May it please Your Majesty THE Kingdom of Candie since the taking of Rhodes and Cyprus has ever been the aim of the Ottoman Emperors to the end the Christians having no harbour in the East they might fall upon the West with all security and ease In the year 1645. when the whole Christian World was at odds Ibraim the Father of the present Monarch began this War who in the depth of a long Peace unexpectedly set upon the Venetians and made this the pretence of his Quarrel It seems in their former Agreement among many other Articles the Republic did engage not to give shelter to the Knights of Malta in any of their Ports or Havens In 1644. it happened that the Galleys of the Order took a Sultana who with three Millions of Crowns was going to pay her Vows at Mecha These making homeward with this great Booty were constrained either for want of good weather or water by stealth to strike into a by-Port of Candie where having put on Shore some Horses they had got after Refreshment they safely returned to their own Isle The year following the Turk provided a Fleet in great and small of 460 Sail protesting to the Senate's Ambassador it was for Malta but when they had passed by near as far as Sapienza they again tacked about and without the least Declaration of War landed Sixty thousand Men which presently sat down before Canea The Republic being in this manner surprised provided for their defence as fast as they could yet before their Courage was awaked they lost the whole Kingdom except the Metropolis Candie and three adjoining Insulets of much value for their Ports viz. Carabusa Spina longa and Suda This prosperous Success made then the Grand Signior own the War laying openly the sheltering the Malteses to the charge of the Senate but had he received any check at the first 't was privately decreed to satisfy the Venetians that the Captain Bassa should lose his Head as if the design had been his Capriccio without the least order for it After the taking of Canea and Rhetimo they soon became Masters of the Field and in 1648. began the Siege of Candie making then so furious an Onset that they entered the Breach and for seven hours were within the Town but the Valour of the Defendants beat them out again with infinite loss and damage In Anno 49. they made another Assault which proving vain they have now left off for ever the thought of winning the place by Storm On a rising Ground where formerly the Enemy pitched their Tents near three Miles from the Old they have built another Town which is called New-Candie here resides the Bassa and here have they fortified themselves blocking up the City so that there 's now no Commerce but by Sea which sends yet plenty of all things that can be requisite or needful If the Turk were prosperous here he had not the like Success in Dalmatia for this being nearer home the Venetians so got the start that they not only preserved their own but took whatever they designed still beating all Supplies though thrice exceeding theirs in number Of 46 places taken none was preserved but Clissa the rest they have destroyed leaving waste in breadth at least fifty miles and so along even to the Confines of Albania The Towns upon the Shore Zara Sebenico Trau Spalleto Almissa Cataro and Budoa being a defence for the Gulf they keep as before well Fortified Nor has the Turk on the Seaside but Narento and Castelnuovo both which are so shut up with the Galleys there on purpose attending that they are able by Piracy to do no harm at all When the War here began part of the morlacs who are Croats or Dalmatins but so called from the Hills where they lived revolted from the Sultan and threw themselves into the Protection of the Republic These though kindly received do not inhabit the Towns either out of fear they may again fall off or by reason that having store of Cattle they could not attend them with such commodity and ease Their dwelling then is under the walls of the Strong Places where they build Huts and here being well defended they lie secure enjoying the advantage of the Fields and besides whenever they please they can make their plundering Excursions into the enemy's Country Against these the Turks bear a mortal hatred at no time giving Quarter unless it be to put them to new pains and torments Never were people more agile and strong of Body or that could suffer hardship with more patience than they and yet for all these innate Virtues they cannot be made Soldiers I mean the major part since no Art will Reduce them to the exact Rule of Martial Discipline the greatest good they are now fit for is to do harm which commonly happens they daily running out in headless Troops and often returning home with Cattle Slaves and other useful Booty In their Sea-affairs the Republic is so Triumphant that were the particulars at large writ 't would seem it may be far more fabulous than true 'T was long after the War broke out before the Navies met the Venetians being loath to hazard a Fight which had they once lost and the Turks become Masters of the Mediterranean the destruction of them and of Christendom too perchance must have also followed The first business then of their Fleet was to furnish their Maritime Towns with Men and Necessaries and by doing this they had many private Encounters in which having still the better it gave them such heart and vigour that since the year 47. they got many famous Victories and by them are become so terrible now that unless it happen by chance 't is impossible to meet with the enemy's Fleet abroad In the beginning of the War the Republic was at a great expense their Officers affirming That for the first four years they spent near thirty Millions of Pistols which is above twenty of our Sterling money And this may possibly be true for never was Army more duly paid which caused the best Soldiers from all Parts even to make Friends to be in their Service The Rates are still the same but through their wants by the length of this contest the Payment is thought so bad that at present few come unless they are Spirited as Planters are sent to the Indies Seventeen thousand within a little either under or over are the number of those in this Service for in the Kingdom of Candie there are not above 6000 in pay 1000 more there are in their other fortified Islands in the Garrisons of Dalmatia 4000 besides a Regiment which the Pope maintains at his Charge and lastly in the Armata they keep about 6000 more Thirty six Livres a Month is the Contract with the Common-Souldier and this to be reckoned according to the Standard of the place where they are which makes the income different for 36 Livres in Candie amount not to above 3 Reals but in the Army they are equal to 4 r or eighteen shillings Of this in Candie the Soldier receives 6 s. 9 d. per mensem and 16 ounces of Biscuit a day and in Clothes to the value of 15 or 20 s. a year In the Armata to each is paid only 4 s. 6 d. a Month and the like allowance of Biscuit as afore and after they have satisfied for their Arms they imbezil if any thing remains their Credit is owned which presently the poor wretches sell for five or six in the hundred Yet these last are thought to far the best by reason their Duty is easier for those of the City mount the Guard every second Night and besides are more in the way of pilfering and of sometimes getting Prizes The Allowance to their Officers is very different also for the Tramontans or Foreigners to encourage their coming have far more than what they give the Italians and the pay of both is reckoned by Ducats which may be valued at 3 s. 9 d. apiece Italians are thus paid per mensem To a Colonel 100 Duc. Lt. Colonel 080 Duc. Major 060 Duc. Captain 040 Duc. To each of these is lowed also the pay of 3 Common-Souldiers Lieutenants they have none Ensign 020 Duc. Sergeant 010 Duc. Corporal 006 ½ Duc. Strangers are thus paid To a Colonel 150 Duc. Lieut. Colonel Major Captain each 100 Duc. Lieutenant 050 Duc. Ensign 030 Duc. Sergeant 015Duc Corporal 010 Duc. Besides in every Tramontane Regiment there is the Stato Colonello allowed which is 200 Ducats a Month and this to Regalé his Lieutenant and Major who commonly have a share though herein he may do as he please Every Captain also has Capo Soldi which is about 6 d. a Head to an Italian a Month and 12 d. to a Stranger for as many as they have in their Company This Money they may convert to their own use but the institution was to distribute it according to their discretion amongst those that did well deserve The Reformadoes have half the pay of their former Office And for the Horse they are not 500 in all each of which have 16 the Cornet 40 the Lieutenant 60 and the Captain 120 Ducats a Month with some other Accidental perquisits That which these Officers do duly receive for their monthly Subsistance is the bread and about a third of the Italian pay the rest is in Arrear for the greatest part and unless they can make good friends to the Cashier they must expect long or sell this as the hasty Common-Souldier did before them Concerning the Naval Force which they have it consists of three sorts of Vessels viz. of Galliass Galleys and Ships A Galliasse is a Machine of wonderful advantage in these Inland Seas being a Galley in respect of its Oars & yet resembling a Ship in its strength and ornament These the Republic of all Christian Princes alone use and though the Turk has many yet he neither knows how to make them so good nor to manage them with that dexterity the Venetians do Five hundred Slaves and 300 Soldiers go to the well maning of one of these which being ever the destroyer of Galleys in a Calm will be too hard for a Ship but if the wind blows the Ship is reckoned to have far the greater advantage Of these there are constantly six in the Fleet. For Galleys there are in Dalmatia five one in Corfu and the like in Candie to be employed about Dispatches and in the Armata 24 each of which one with another carry 180 Slaves and about 100 or 120 Soldiers Of Slaves in their Fleet there are near 8000 consisting of Turks of Christians condemned or of miserable people that sell themselves for about 5 l. to the end of the War These last have 4 s. 6 d. a Month and are not put into chains as the rest The daily provision for all is 18 ounces of Biscuit a little Rice and Oil and perchance a corpse Shirt and Drawers in the year Of great Ships the Venetians maintained about 25 formerly and 16 now amongst which there are but 5 of their own the rest hired for they find it less chargeable or at least freer from trouble to be at a certainty and that without hazard then to lie liable to the Cozenage of Officers which all Commonwealths are subject to and were it possible to find Galleys and Galliass they would doubtless agree for them after the same manner also The Rate they pay for Ships is 1650 Ducats a Month which comes to about 305 l. English For this the Captain is bound to keep 60 Sailors and to obey all Commands of the General as if the Vessel wholly belonged to the Republic The Ships which they have of their own are those they take in War and when there are many they sell most of them preserving still a few to be a perpetual Remembrance in the Eyes of all of their remarkable Valour and Bravery This is the whole number of their Navy and with this they so affright the Turk that now on purpose to engage he dares not appear and should he set to Sea 200 of the best Vessels he could get they would not only attaque him but be all more assured of a Victory then the odds of two to one can give a sober Gamester To demonstrate then the Courage of these and the fear of the other nothing can better do it then what happened in the year 53. For at that time Fosculo the Venetian General with the like Fleet strengthened with a few more Ships drove into the Harbour of Rhodes 8 Galliass 80 Galleys and 64 Men of War and though he used all possible means to provoke them to fight yet nothing could draw them to it This made the Admiral of Malta declare That he looked upon that Action as greater than all the Victories they had lately got for then the Chance of War he urged was only contrary but by this their cowardice the Turks confessed themselves now fully overcome and vanquished Moreover it must needs be wonderful that the Great Turk and his should lose of all sorts above 2000 Sail and yet they never took but a Galley of the Republics and one poor Pink of Victuals Nor has the Venetian lost by the accidents of Fire and Storm 30 more though now the War hath been of so many years' continuance I had almost forgot to acquaint Your Majesty That the Knights of Malta have yearly till their now joining with the French at Gigery assisted this State with 7 Galleys which is the usual number they ever keep Yet though these Christian Heroes be as brave as the Swords they wear the Venetian Fleet are no ways fond of the help and this I suppose proceeds from their being Match enough for the awed Enemy themselves and besides they think the Knights are never backward in the Plunder when as sometimes in Service they will dispute the Generalissimo's Orders and make their own Admiral Judge whether the Action be safe and fit That which the Armata now does the Turk being thus terrified is to rove about the Archipelago exacting Tribute of the Isles and watching for Galleys that hover up and down as also for the Caravans of Egypt and Asia which often they light upon to the infinite enrichment of the Grandees and to some benefit also even of the smaller fry The Islands here are all small and many in number nor can they be but poor seeing besides their loss by petty Robberies on both sides they now pay a constant Tribute to the Venetians also These receive of them about 150000 Crowns per Annum But the Turk is content with less as not willing wholly to destroy his Subjects which at present he cannot defend Though the Republic thus Command in the Aegean the Inhabitants think it not ill spent still to pay the Grand Signior something and the reason is because they know not how otherwise to be out of danger of ruin by sudden Invasions when the Christian Fleet is distant from them Of all these Isles Cerigo and Tino are only Fortified by the Senate Each of these has a small Fortress which heretofore they thought fit to keep that upon any occasion they might here have an assured Harbour of their own Those that are Garrisoned by the Turk are Tenedos Lemnos Metelin Scio Negropont Lango and Rhodes for the rest they are all open Tributaries as I said to both but in more awe of the Republic because they are Masters at Sea And this is a loss or at least a dishonour in not being able to protect their own that the Infidels suffer for their beginning of the War The Venetians have often also hereabouts disbarqued and taken several Towns and Forts yet not with an intention to keep them or to go on with a Conquest since they cannot spare Men for the first and want a strong Army for the other but this they have done either to demolish some Offensive Place or to let the Turks see they can Conquer on Land as well as on Sea or lastly by the design of a new General to get Reputation in showing his Wit and Courage Though no great Prince had fewer Subjects than Your Majesty in this War yet none had those that have done things of more note and herein each of Your three Mighty Kingdoms had some that have Served well and thereby gained much Honour and Reputation Amongst the English that Fought bravely Captain Thomas Middleton who had his Ship hired in the Service did a most prodigious Action It happened that the Admiral intending a Design about the Dardanels put Middleton in so desperate a place that he was in danger from Land to be sunk at every Shot He advised the Commander of it and withal told him That the peril of himself and Ship did not so much trouble him as to be set where it was impossible for him to offend the Enemy Having no answer or at best a bad one and seeing it could not prejudice the Fleet he drew off a little the Vessel his only Livelihood from the needless danger 't was in When the business was over they dismissed him in a Council of War with the Title of Coward and all the Soldiers being taken away he was left only with some 50 English to return home or whither else he pleased He had not parted long from the Armata but in a stark Calm met with 25 Sail of which 18 were the best Galleys the Great Turk could make in all his Fleet. These crying out in derision That they would eat English Beef for Dinner fell upon him wanting no assurance being assisted with the stillness of the Air and their own Strength and Number But for all this confidence they missed their aim for after a long and sharp Encounter the two Bassa's that Commanded were killed with 1500 to accompany them and besides the many that were wounded the whole Squadron was so shattered that they had hardly Oars to get off and were all unfit to Serve at least for that year The Captain had neither Wind Sails nor Tackle left to follow them but with much ado he yet afterwards came safe to Candie and there presented to the General a whole Tun of salted Heads of those he had killed in their often boarding His Excellency was astonished at the thing and after all the caresses imaginable he acquainted the Senate with it who with universal consent Ordered him a Chain and Medal of Gold as a Testimony of their high Esteem and his own commendable Valour Middleton afterwards died on his Journey home leaving a Son who Commands here a Ship and is very well esteemed by all the Nobility for his Resolution and Conduct About the first of the War Captain George Scot of Fife brought also a Ship to the Fleet He was so skilful in Gunnery that he could not only kill a single Man with his Cannon but would also dismount any Piece that offended the Christians at the Siege of Candie The Heads of the Armata had such a value for him that he was usually admitted into their most privy Debates He when he advised them to an Enterprise would always be the foremost in the danger and in this manner he did to his great Reputation at Fogies The Venetians were there about 20 Ships and by the Captains counsel determined in the Harbour to fire the Enemy's Fleet consisting of about 140 Sail. Scot entered first though there was on each side a Castle to defend the Port. The Admiral with the rest followed but having begun their Design presently retired fearing to be burnt themselves especially seeing the Night drew on so fast In the mean while the Captain had cast Anchor in the midst of the Turks and plying them every way with his great Guns so hindered the putting out of the Fire that had the rest done what they ought though already the damage was great there would not have been they say so much as the least Mast left Every body gave him over for lost but yet in the morning he was seen to return not only with a French Pettach which the Master had forsaken but also accompanied with a Galliass of the Enemies and with one of the flaming Galleys too He had a Son with him from the beginning who at last was thought the better Engineer but both to the sorrow of all sickened and died in the Service In the year 45. came Colonel Brereton hither an Irishman by Birth and later Extraction but originally of the Cheshire Family He brought a Regiment from Germany with him and behaved himself so upon all occasions in ordering Affairs as well as in personal Valour that they made him Sargente Generale and thereby in the vacancy General of the Arms which Charge also he should have absolutely received had he not died as lately he did of a Fever in Candie Great Sir It is here to be remembered That the Republic trusts no Galley or Galliasse being of so easy a Conveyance and thereby a bait for a needy Soldier out of the hands of a Noble Venetian who for such a slight thing cannot be imagined to hazard his so considerable Fortunes at home On the other side they never give the Command of the Soldiery to any of their own Gentlemen but all the Officers except some few of their ordinary Subjects from the highest to the lowest are hired Strangers The reason is That finding the Roman Republic which they much imitate was always endangered and in the end ruined by its own Nobilities too much knowledge in War and interest with the Men at Arms they strive to make theirs Statesmen and Overseers leaving the executive part to the Soldiers of Fortune whom Money has made their Servants And moreover by this gathering of Foreigners their People are not lessened few of their own being lost though in an overthrow the number of the Slain be great But 't is not May it please Your Majesty for all this to be thought they blindly leave all to the disposing of Strangers for they reserve the directive Power to themselves and to that end choose every three years a Captain General commonly a graver Senator than knowing Soldier To him for the avoiding confusion and Parties like to the old Dictator's is given the whole Authority of the Senate He than advises with the Capi di Guerra who are all also Gentlemen viz. the Proveditore the Captain Extraordinary of the Galliass the like Officer of the Ships with some others and after he has heard their Opinions absolutely determines himself and then the General of the Arms in the best Military Order he conceives executes his Commands and Will. In this sort then do they balance the Ambition of their own in using them to advise and not to act and hereby can they check the insolence of the Soldiers in taking away all direction from them and punishing the least grumbling with a severe Chastisement Thus though in short may be seen the manner of this War which began through the Turks unsatiable avarice of getting Candie and without this 't is certain they can never be quiet in the Levant It is true They have got the Kingdom the Venetians without their Walls having not a foot left yet are the Turks still frustrated in their aims since they have no one Port to winter a Fleet in and on the contrary the Christians have here the same Harbours as formerly for their Navy or Freebooters and more elsewhere than they had before the beginning of the Troubles The advantage the Enemy has now got is hardly yet of greater consequence than the enjoyment of so much Ground for which he has paid besides infinite dishonour and losses at least 400000 Men when as on the side of the Republic there died not a fourth of this though the Clime and Pestilence were great destroyers nor could the tenth of the loss be called their own and proper Subjects After all this stir and purchase at so dear a rate it is a most certain truth The Turks are here now thus weak that a sudden Recruit of 10000 Men would utterly beat them out of the Island All people do therefore wonder why it is not done But some of the Reasons I find for it are these ensuing To get this Supply must be by the Aid of Foreign Princes or by Levies made at their own Charge From Christian Allies the Force now required cannot be expected without Solicitation and Embassies neither if this would obtain it could it be done without the Turks having notice of it and doubtless thereupon would they send a Supply to their own by which what so many Men at present can twice the number perchance will be scarce then sufficient to perform but more especially if afterwards through some disgusts or by their not being able to do what they came for this friendly Succour should retire the Republic will be left with a stronger Enemy on their hands and so in a worse condition than before If it be expected the Venetians should do it themselves I must answer I verily believe they are not able having run behind as they say so much in the beginning But if at last through private Contributions they could for once make such a Levy yet this their intention would be soon known and most of the same Inconveniences follow And thus if not able to finish the Project the Turks being increased double the number of those that now keep Garrison must be hereafter requisite Nor can it be but hard to maintain new comers since through the poverty of the Public they are forced to shuffle with the few that Serve So much does the exhausted yet cunning State fear over-briskly to engage this lazy Prince lest Anger should raise him to that Life and Fire which by experience his Natural Temper never can The most obvious and easy way now left with this little Supply to regain Candie seems to be when the Barbary Pirates shall provoke Christendom to punish their Robberies to take that opportunity of sending from their Coast 20 Sail which with a fair Wind in ten days will certainly arrive at the Isle The very sight of such an unexpected Succour will so amaze the Turk that wise men think he will capitulate and be gone but no body doubts of the Success if they come to blows since all his strength here amounts not to 20000 good Men which being in dismay by this unlooked for help cannot be able to resist the Venetian Army both thus reinforced and also assisted by 60000 Natives who emboldened by the new Aid will undoubtedly be up in three days Notwithstanding this they make no question at Constantinople of getting in the end the Place for they well imagine how poor the Public is and that the report of not being able to keep touch with their Militia has done them such discredit that scarce any now voluntarily come to their Service They know too that the Taxes are heavy on the Venetian Subjects and hope thereby they may be moved through desperation to Rebel it being impossible they think to feed them much longer with the expectation of Peace which hitherto has made them bear their Load with such Quiet and patience Moreover the War as it is now managed costs the Grand Signior little the Island maintaining the Force he hath there and for the present havoc at Sea it commonly belongs to private Merchantmen and therefore he resolves to depend upon time which as it brings change so if it proves in the least unfortunate to the Republic he is certainly sure of his ends After this manner does he think to weary out the Venetians and in fine force them to ask Peace which he resolves not to grant unless it be bought with the surrendering of Candie and its other remaining appendices The Senate being well convinced of this a considerable part as the Rich and the Old who neither want or are fit for Preferment wish for an Accommodation on these Terms for fearing the conclusion will be thus they desire betimes to spare their own and Subject's Purses but the Major part are still for War And this is also thought to move them to it 1. First The Gain the Men of Action make by the Trouble For heretofore the Public Treasury was to a Miracle full and the Nobility poor now on the contrary by the Prizes yearly taken by the advantage of Offices and by often buying Debentures of the Soldiers for 6 per Cent. the Particulars are all rich whilst the Cecca is wholly exhausted and dry 2. The assurance that no Christian Prince will either now quarrel or plot against them And theresore they deem it prudence to be yet in a way of regaining the Kingdom especially while by so doing they protect their dear Terra Firma from the danger it ever lies subject to by the still pretending Successors of the Confederates in the League of Cambray 3. The incertainty how long after this also they shall be yet quiet for 't would be ridiculous by so disadvantageous a loss to purchase Rest when 't is impossible to be assured but the following Month a new pretext of War will be found unless they yield up Zante Cephalonia and Corfu and so in infinitum These are some of the chief Arguments which make them refuse all Treaties of this sort and the rather since by the coolness of the Turk they doubtless may sustain this defensive War with their own yearly Income But they pretend they are in Debt and that 't is not half enough Republics are always ill Managers of their Money when great and extraordinary Disbursements are made for the Receipts and Payments passing through so many hands of their own every body gets Nor are they yet in fear of punishment if their Thefts exceed not all shame seeing their Relations are their Judges and besides each man knows for the most part himself guilty of what is imputed to his fellow The Venetians had yearly heretofore to the value of 800000 l. English and perchance have half as much more now by their unusual Impositions and to speak truly their indispensible Charges are great for besides the Robberies of Ministers and the numerous Civil Magistrates that draw much they must not be looked upon as if Candie Dalmatia and the Fleet were the only things of Expense Istria and Friuli which are parts of Italy lie sometimes liable also to the Incursions of the Turk Nor were it prudence in them wholly to disfurnish their Estates in Lombardy which is bounded with so many gaping Princes For their better continuing the War there 's hopes still left that their Subjects will patiently bear the Taxes imposed without Insurrections 'T is the present Custom of the Senate to send for Money with a Compliment calling it a Donative to the Towns and Territories belonging as Milan Vicenza Verona etc. and then the Chief of these Places raise it as they themselves think fit Now these well know if the War upon necessity should end by reason of their denial to contribute That the Senate being in Peace will no longer entreat them to give this but then force them to pay more both to punish their crime and also to re-fill their drained Coffers against a new occasion For 't would be a folly in them to think ever to quiet the Turk by Concessions To make the Port desist from troubling Christendom is not by yielding but by sending them home with Loss Were therefore the Enemy unkennelled here he must needs return with great confusion and disgrace For this footing which he has now in the Kingdom is the only thing he can show for the unspeakable damage that from time to time he has suffered yet should he at last master the Place he would not think he has paid too dear seeing by the purchase he quite drives the Christians out of the Levant and let them then be never so strong at Sea without a new Conquest they can only molest and not hurt him for the weather and want will force them back leaving him his desired Rule and Signory Besides with Candie must also fall Zante Cephalonia and perchance Corfu too both the first Places being inconsiderable for strength but of wonderful utility to Christendom as a Recess for their Fleet and abounding in all kind of Plenty If then these Islands be taken Italy must needs be in an ill condition the Turks Navy Harbouring safely so near with which he can Land in a trice what men he please whensoever he shall think fit to Invade When I arrived here I much admired why the Enemy from the neighbouring Continent did not on a sudden Transport 9 or 10000 Men and thereby possess himself of these places that are weak being a great loss to his Foes and so pertinent for his Designs and Business But I have since found besides the Venetians possibility of preventing there are other causes that wholly divert him from the Enterprise As first Should he make the Surprise now yet he could not accomplish his purpose of setting upon the West For seeing the Infidels declare They are not to increase their Empire by Victories at Sea they will at no time willingly engage with the Christian Fleet and therefore confess by the overthrows they have had That theirs is at present to Transport Men and Necessaries and not to Fight Now whilst Candie stands and the other Harbours that depend on its resistance if the Turks shall send their Navy to fall on Italy they are sure to be met by ours which they acknowledge will ruin them as often as they are assaulted And thus till they have wholly subdued the Kingdom they can have no safe passage for their Fleet to these Isles let them take what Season of the Year they please Again It thwarts the Turkish Maxim to hazard much without an indispensible necessity in the getting of a place whilst behind there remains something yet to be subdued And their ground for it is That undoubtedly believing one day to be Masters of the whole World the method to be used is a progression by degrees and Patience taking first the thing next them and then what borders upon what they got last And by this means they are not only free from an Enemy at their backs and danger in Retreats but have thus lulled asleep Christianity hitherto as thinking itself yet far enough from danger having lost but one Town more than it had before But should the Grand Signior on a sudden step too forward as when by taking of Otranto he got footing in Italy he is sure to be presently beaten out and in danger also to awake his Enemies so far that all Christian Princes might again join in a League which is the only thing he fears To avoid therefore this when Christendom is at Peace does he commonly begin a War with Persia and if afterwards differences break out he leaves then that usually fruitless Enterprise to gain upon them who were they united would Conquer more in Five years then ever he yet got in Fifty I cannot think this Royal Sir altogether a Christian Bravado but that which may be probably imagined if I look upon what the glorious Venetians themselves with a small Number have done or consider how destitute of Men and Strong Places all his Provinces are or lastly reflect upon the wideness of his Dominions on this Sea so that 't were impossible to defend them all were they ordinarily populous but they are not so as I said and besides most of the people there are also Christians I cannot estimate his Strength by what it is in Hungary and thereabouts for those Frontiers being but comparatively little he can defend them with his prime Men and therefore if ever his ruin be by force he must be played with on that side only and attaqued on this Here his Enemies may pick and choose and if by chance one Country be found well manned the Wind without charge in 24 hours will carry them to another which a hundred to one will yield without resistance Doubtless he is but weak as may be seen by his late utmost endeavour against the Emperor And yet his seeming Greatness strikes such terrors in every body near him that all now allow there is no medium left but either Christianity must destroy this Antichrist or he it that is in their Earthly Rule and Dominion The present State then of the Venetian Affairs is The City of Candie is in a good condition the Island lost in Dalmatia and the Sea they have had the better and yet the Turk expects his ends And this is a Misfortune the Republic has That their nearest Neighbours think they want no help And thus may they be tired out if not beaten at last to the infinite loss of Christendom Gracious Sir To conclude No War as hitherto was ever more extravagant than this for in it the Republic has lost a Kingdom and yet are still Victorious And though the Turks be Conquerors the World may nevertheless see That they are no longer Invincible Venice Novemb. 14. 1665. A Postscript to the Reader ON the 15th of April 1664. the present Generalissimo Andrea Cornaro Embarked himself at Malamocco who civilly received my Resolution of accompanying him into the Levant It was then the expectation of all that much would be done that year since the Turk had drained himself to the utmost in his great Preparations against the Emperor But yet the Venetians did nothing wanting what they said they expected and so on the 20th of October following I returned to Venice with Nicolo Cornaro the General of Candie to whom I was particularly obliged for many favours in his Government on the Seas and in the Lazaretto also You must know none comes ever from the East into Italy without keeping a Quarantena which is forty days Separation to try whether he be infected with the Plague or not and the reason is because they have a received Opinion That the Grand Signiors Dominion is never free from that Pestilential Contagion In the Lazaretto then or place of Sequestration I had time to digest these Observations and this I can assure you Reader that the matter of fact is undoubtedly true since I made use of nothing which was not affirmed by the chiefest Commanders and those of different Nations and Interests Here we had News of the dishonourable Peace made with the Vizier by the Court-party at Vienna which saved his Head but brought them little Honour and Reputation for the Christians were not only the death of old Ali Bassa their best Commander with ten thousand Janissaries but put the whole Army into such a consternation that had Montecuculi pursued his advantage it had been the greatest Victory perchance that ever was Never were the Venetians more troubled then at this Accommodation for now their Enemy had no body to divert his Fury and was ready also on the Confines with all manner of Necessaries to fall the next Spring upon Dalmatia Cataro was the place they feared would be first assaulted nor is it so strong but that they might well apprehend a danger Thus stood their Affairs when I took leave of the General for Rome nor did the Senate then think of any thing but defence having quitted all thoughts of regaining the Kingdom of Candie Yet this real occasion of fear at last blew over for the Turkish Army as it were quite mouldered away through the looseness of the Grand Signior having wholly abandoned himself to pleasure Nor did the Vizier's coolness contribute little who was newly escaped from an eminent danger in Hungary and therefore now cautious how to begin a new project seeing his utter ruin must needs accompany the unsuccesfulness of the Action This prime Minister is Son and immediate Successor to the late Vizier a thing not to be paralleled as I take it in all their Story He is esteemed a man of Wit and a great pretender to Astrology but no Soldier which though it may well agree with the Constitution of a Christian Government yet never can suit theirs for not to go forward in Conquest with them is assuredly to effeminate their Men and presently to relapse into a far worse condition His being otherwise bred makes him not beloved by the Militia and this is increased by the hatred they bore his Father for after the Men at Arms had murdered Ibraim the late Emperor upon the Proclaiming of him that now Reigns an Act of Indemnity passed to pardon the numerous Guilty Nevertheless the old Bassa found means by degrees upon other pretences to bring all to execution which thing though by Providence it has half ruined the Empire in scarce leaving one good Officer behind yet the punishing of Regicides has entailed such a Blessing on him that he went not only with grey hairs to the grave but left his Son also Heir to his wonderful Greatness and Power The Venetians having weathered this Storm and thereby discovered the incurable Lethargy of the Port resolved to be offensive again and now to provide for the driving them out of the Island The Marquis Villa they appointed General of the Arms who is a Ferrarese by birth and was formerly in the Service of Savoy He was not in the Army during my stay Vert-Miller a Switz having then this Office but now the Affair is recommended to him and in it he has had Success for the Turks are both hindered from expected Supplies and also at present closely Besieged in Canea which if the Republic can take as it is verily hoped at Venice no body than doubts of a through Conquest Nor will any thing ever be greater in Story then this That a handful of men perfidiously surprised by the dreadfullest Enemy on earth should yet continue a War more than 20 years and at last send him home naked after so unexpressible a loss both of Blood and Treasure FINIS IMPRIMATUR May 12. 1666. Roger L'Estrange