Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

I received the treaty in Turkish from the Secretary of State, and with the
translation in English which was made and written by me, and collated
with the original in twenty-three articles, and the four passports before
mentioned, I took to Mr. Donaldson. 75
Second, an English translation of the Turkish text of the treaty was made in
1930 by the orientalist and Turkish scholars J. H. Kramers and Dr. C. Snouck
Hurgronje. The 1930 translation reveals a considerable difference from the
1795 English translation of the Turkish text. 76 Third, there exists an account of
the negotiations, entitled “Narrative of the proceedings of Joseph Donaldson
Esqe” written by O’Brien in which he talked about himself more than about the
treaty. 77
Donaldson also reported about negotiations but his report dated
September 7, 1795, “is somewhat confused and in certain respects obscure.” 78
He mentioned that the text was in Turkish and Cathcart “returned to me with
Articles of a Treaty in Turkish & then Englished, which Proves to be that of the
Sweedes.” 79 Of the three accounts so far mentioned, the most complete and
perhaps the most accurate is that of Cathcart because its traces negotiations
from an insider’s point of view. Fourth, there is a consensus among legal
historians, and historians in general, that the treaty was a copy of the Swedish
75 Cathcart, The Captives, p. 191. The full account of the negotiations can be found in pp. 158-95.
76 One may seek to compare the two translations: original (1795) and that of 1930; for the latter see
Hunter Miller, ed., Treaties and other International Acts of the United States of America, vol. 2: 1776-
1818 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1931), (Accessed 8 March 2008), available at
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/barbary.htm#r
77 O’Brien met the Dey for the first time on September 11, 1795—over 10 years after his captivity—
about which Cathcart said it was his “political birthday”; therefore he could not have been better placed
than Cathcart for giving an account. For O’Brien’s meeting with the Dey see Allison, The Crescent
Obscured, p. 164.
78 Miller, ed., Treaties of the United States.
79 As quoted in ibid.
317