Heg.1109, J.C.1698. the dauphin was elder than the mother of the & 11102" king of the Romans. These good reasons easily prevailed on the grand vizier to permit Mauro Cordato to make overtures to the two ambalfadors of England and Holland, on condition of his not acknowledging to them that he was sent, This Greek had taken for the rule of his conduct a maxim of a Turkish poet, which says, that a falshood which brings about an affair, is preferable to the truth that embroils it. He went iminediately to the two ambassadors ; and having first exacted a solemn oath from each of them that they would not discover any thing of what he was going to tell them, he assured them, that the Turks were reduced to such a state, that they would accept any conditions which should be proposed to them; that no moment could be more favorable for concluding a glorious peace; that if they would make the first overture, he would be answerable that they would find as much facility in the negotiation as they had before met with obstacles; that his being a Christian and the kindness which he had received at Vienna during his residence there, strongly attached him to the interest of Leopold ; and that it was his regard for the emperor of the West which made him inform them of what might be very useful to his service. Sir ..... Paget and Mr. Colliere replied unanimously, that all the advances which the Turks might make would be favcrably received; but that it .. was was not proper either for the mediating powers, L.C.1698. or Leopold as vanquisher, to make the first ad- &11106 vances. Mauro Cordato, having gotten this answer from the two ambassadors, hastened back to the grand vizier's to tell him that he was commissioned by fir ..... Paget and Mr. Col. liere to ask him if he were willing to appoint a conference for a peace. Huffain balhaw replied to his druggerman only by embracing him with transport, and immediately sent the reis effendi and his kiaia to the ambassadors to settle with them the place and cime. Mauro Cordato followed them with intention to be their interpreter. As matters stood, it was highly necessary that the office of druggerman should be trusted to none but him. Each of 'the, iwo parties being well convinced that they had not made the first overtures, both were conducted where both earnestly desired to arrive. The mediators wrote to Vienna, Venice, Warsaw, and Moscow, immediately, in order that the different powers might send their pleni. potentiaries to the place of conference, which they appointed at Carlowitz, a small town situated be- French tween Peterwaradin and Belgrade. The French complains ambassador, who did not learn these news 'cill news against it, they were public, made vain efforts to traverses the peace. The grand vizier replied to his reproaches, that the French, having themselves concluded the treaty of Ryswick, ought not to be astonished' at the Porce's being desirous of putting an end to the war likewise.. $ Meanwhile The ambalado in vain J.C. 1698. Meanwhile the armies entered the field; but Heg.1109, & 1110. they remained in observation without under taking any thing on either side. Each was sufficiently tired with the preceding fatigues to relish the repose which the circumstances admitted. Thé plenipotentiaries repaired to the place appointed; the little town being scarcely sufficient to hold their carriages and recinue, they had recourse to tents. The Porte sent thither the reis effendi Rami Mehemet, with Mauro Cordato, likewise invested with an honorable title, which signifies nearly private secretary to the divan; the plenipotentiaries for Leopold were, count Peringen and count Schlik, privy counsellers; for the czar, Procope Bognavits and Vosnicini; for Poland, Stanislaus Michael Noski, waywode of Posnania; lastly, for the republic of Venice, the noble Rofini. Lord Paget and Mr. Colliere, the English and Dutch ambassadors, acled as mediators. What had already happened in several congresses was the case at Carlowitz, that the ceremonial was longer and more difficult co settle than the objects for which the assembly was held. The place where the conferences should be ; the precedency, whether of the mediators, or between the plenipotentiaries; the reciprocal visits; in short, every thing gave subo ject for contest. The Turks claimed the first place, and the ambassadors of Leopold would not give it up. The English and Dutch ambassadors, as mediators, would have the first rank. The Polisa W Polish ambassador claimed the seat next to the 1.C.1698. Imperial powers; but neither the Russians nor & 1110., the Venetian would confent to be placed after him. They had the fame claims and disputes with respect to their visits; and things were gotten to such a height, that, after continuing for. more than three months in this manner, the plenipotentiaries were on the point of separating without having seen one another. Mauro Cordato, more ingenious, or rather more cunning, than the rest, thought of a way to manage the pride of all these nations. An edifice of a round form was built in the middle of the square at Carlowitz, consisting of a large room, with as many doors as there were nations, opening on the side that looked towards each country. The tents of the ambassadors were disposed in the same manner at equal distances. The first day of the congress, at a signal given by the mediators, they all left their pavilions at the same time, arrived at the same time in the congress chamber, saluted one another at the same time, and took each the seat that was prepared for him at a table which was likewise of a round forin, on which the mediators had disposed every thing necessary for the discussion of the different interests. . The conferences began the 14th of November, 1.C. 1699. Heg:1110, and every thing was concluded by the 26th of & 1111. January; the Christians too had obtained an intermission of some days to celebrate their Christyou. IV. K mas. Heg.1110, Tre Carlowit conditions of the treaty. 1.C. 1699. mas. The emperor Leopold agreed to a truce & 1111. with the Turks for the space of twenty-five years, The following were the conditions of it. All witz: Transylvania was ceded to the emperor Leopold in the same extent that it had been pofseffed by · Podolia, |