During the advance of the Hungarians from Debreczyn against Pesth, Guyon was appointed Commander of Comorn. But the fortress was closely invested by the Austrians, and his attempt to cut his way through the lines of the besiegers was a most desperate undertaking. Accompanied by only twenty hussars, Guyon approached the enemy's works, and, after a series of most extraordinary adventures, reached the interior of the fortress in safety. His appearance re-animated the courage of the garrison, and Comorn held out till relieved by the Magyari army. On the second approach of the Imperialists, under Field-Martial Baron Haynau, Guyon lost his command, which was given to Klapka. Görgey managed to have Guyon removed from the active army and commissioned with the formation of a reserve. During the last struggles of the revolution, he again appeared on the battle-field. Immediately after the battle of Temesvar, Kossuth asserted that Dembinski had gained the victory; while, on the other hand, Görgey declared that he bad received information of the contrary. According as this turned out, Görgey would lay down his arms or continue the struggle. An official letter arrived, in which Guyon reported, with the strictest adherence to truth, that Dembinski's army had been utterly annihilated befere Temesvar, long after Bem's Transylvanian army had ceased to exist. This letter was immediately followed by the truce of Villagos. Guyon retired to Turkey with the remnants of the Hungarian army. He was one of the officers whose extradition the Austrian Government, supported by the Russians, demanded, and, had he been delivered up to the Imperial Authorities, his fate would have been but too certain. When the Turkish Government, in order to gain valuable officers for their own army, pretended that they could only afford protection. to those who would be converted to Islamism, the same message was sent to Guyon. From this moment he appears in the newspaper reports as a Turkish Pacha, and is called Curschid. Must we not conclude from this that he has really become a Turk? Appearances speak very strongly against him. And there is another reason for the supposition that he has renounced his old faith. During his last appearance in Hungary, and the time. of exile, he indubitably played the part of a political ultra, and we may believe that, like Bem, he assumed the turban in the prospect of a speedy war with Russia, in order to be able to vent his rage on the Emperor of the North. But, in justice to Guyon, we must add, that the impartial and usually well-informed men positively assert that he is the only fugitive who has been incorporated in the Turkish army, without the stipulation of a conversion to Islamism. In accordance with the promises which Turkey had made, Guyon could only be employed in Asia. He was Commander-in-Chief for a time at Damascus; then at Aleppo. In 1850 there were disturbances in Syria, which were promoted by the old Turkish party, and were directed not only against the reformers but against the Christians as well. Damascus was chosen as the centre of the insurrection, but Guyon kept the conspirators in such a state of terror that not a single man rose. In the meanwhile the insurrection had commenced in Aleppo, and the city was in the hands of the fanatics. On receiving information of these events Guyon proceeded, with 3,000 men, by forced marches, to Aleppo, took possession of it after a most obstinate contest, which lasted two days, and restored order with an armed hand. At this moment he is engaged at the Asiatic seat of war, whither he was sent to do away with the irregularities there existing, and which are chiefly to be ascribed to the repeated defeats of the Turks. Guyon was very much beloved in the Hungarian army for his heroism, and because he cheerfully shared in all the privations and fatigues of his comrades. Aleppo has caused the Turks to entertain a great respect for him. THE TURKISH NAVY. THE regeneration of the Ottoman marine was the work of three Capudan-Pachas, who must be considered as worthy of being classed with the most distinguished men of their age. The first was that famous Hassan, surnamed Ghazi, whose life and actions appear rather to appertain to myth than to history. He commanded the Kapudana or Admiral's ship on that fatal day which witnessed the annihilation of the Turkish fleet in the Gulf of Tchesmè, on the 7th July, 1770.* Almost the sole survivor of the fire on board his own vessel, and the shipwreck of his companions, Hassan returned to Constantinople, where he was appointed CapudanPacha by Sultan Mustapha, and commenced that series of exploits through which his name became so renowned. At the same time he undertook the reorganization of the fleet. Up to this period the *In this engagement the Russian fleet was commanded by Admiral Elphinstone, a Scotchman. Turkish squadrons, which only quitted the port of Constantinople in summer, to collect the tribute from the islands, or to cruise against the pilots in the Archipelago or on the coast of Syria, were composed of vessels of the line (alaï guemiheri), and heavy frigates called caravels, which were impeded in their movements by an immense poop. This circumstance had been the chief cause of the catastrophe at Tchesmè, for, had the Turkish vessels been lighter, they could have escaped through the Russian fleet. From this period, therefore, the building of caravels was abandoned, and the Ottoman ships of war assumed a shape resembling that of European vessels, but the armament, matériel, and crews remained the same. Hassan was raised to the rank of Vizir, but continual wars kept him away from Constantinople, and his work of reform remained incomplete. Hassan Pacha was born in Persia; in his infancy he was carried off by the Ottomans, and sold to an inhabitant of Rodosto, a town on the Propontis. Too proud to endure slavery, Hassan, as soon as he arrived at the age of puberty, escaped from his master, and went in a Greek vessel to Smyrna, where he entered the service of the Emperor of Algiers. Soon admitted into the Dey's body-guard, where his courage rendered him remarkable, he quitted it in order to command a province. The riches he amassed rendered him an object of suspicion to the Chiefs of the Odjak, and Hassan was compelled to fly to Spain, |