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england_n	ambassador_n	king_n	scotland_n	2,962	5	8.7134	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57997	The history of the Turkish Empire, from the year 1623, to the year 1677 Containing the reigns of the three last emperors, viz. Sultan Morat, or Amurat IV. Sultan Ibrahim, and Sultan Mahomet IV, his son, the thirteenth emperor, now reigning. By Sir Paul Rycaut, late consul of Smyrna.	Rycaut, Paul, Sir, 1628-1700.; Knolles, Richard, 1550?-1610. Generall historie of the Turkes. aut; Manley, Roger, Sir, 1626?-1688. History of the Turkish Empire continued. aut; Rycaut, Paul, Sir, 1628-1700. Memoirs. aut; White, Robert, 1645-1703,	1687 (1687)	Wing R2407; ESTC R8667	720,857	331

he went before the Kadi and there in presence of divers Officers of the City turned Turk hoping by the Priviledge of the Mahometan Law whereby no Christian testimony can pass against a Turk to appropriate unto himself that whole Estate which he had thus treacherously got into his sole custody And it being impossible for Turks to attest the Marks Numbers or know the Estates of Persons being in England he judged himself out of the reach of any Power or Art to dispossess him of his unjust and wicked acquests Howsoever the Consul did so closely pursue him both at Smyrna and at the Turkish Court that in the space of seven months he regained all the Cloth and the best part of the Mony and Jewels out of his hands and in fine reduced this Renegado to so low a condition that he humbly supplicated the Consul to contrive a way for his passage into England at which time His Majesties Frigate the Centurion being then in Port he was imbarked thereupon and so returned into his own Country The Particulars of all which having been amply related in Writing and Letters to private Friends I purposely omit the same in this place that so I might cast a veil over the nakedness and shame of our Nation in that City Howsoever I judge it requisite to recount this Story in brief and in general heads That men may know there is a God who rules above who rejects impious and licentious persons confounding the designs of those who betraying their Trust deviate from the common Rules of Morality and Honesty Anno 1647. Hegeira 1085. THis Year began at Smyrna with the happy Arrival of Sir John Finch sent by His Majesty for Ambassador to the Grand Signior in the place of Sir Daniel Harvey who dyed in August 1672. at his Country-house not far from Constantinople His Excellency entred the City on the first day of January 1673 / 4 rejoycing the English Factory with the sight of their new Ambassador that Office having been now void for the space of sixteen months who was welcome also to people of the Country judging him fortunate for arriving at the Feast of their great Biram nor less pleasing was the News thereof to the Court especially to the late Pasha of Tunis whose Goods and Monies taken by one Dominico Franceschi out of an English Ship called the Mediterranean in her passage from Tunis to Tripoli this Ambassador had recovered from Ligorne and Malta which being an action without example was greatly admired and applauded by the Turks and esteemed an evident demonstration of that great Interest and Power which the Glory of our King hath acquired in Foreign parts and of the singular dexterity of such a Minister About the 18th of March Sir John Finch arrived at Constantinople being transported to the Dardanelli on his Majesties Fregat the Centurion and thence on a Gally hired at Smyrna for that purpose Some few days after his arrival the Grand Signior and Vizier being at Adrianople the Lord Ambassador had audience of the Chimacam whom he saluted with this speech I am come Ambassadour from Charles the Second King of England Scotland France and Ireland sole Lord and Soveraign of all the Seas that environ his Kingdoms Lord and Soveraign of vast territories and possessions in the East and West-Indies Defender of the Christian Faith against all those that Worship Idols or Images To the most Powerful and mighty Emperor of the East to maintain that peace which hath been so useful and that commerce which hath been so profitable to this Empire For the continuance and encrease whereof I promise you in my station to contribute what I can and I promise to my self that you in your will do the like But to proceed to the Wars The Polanders being thus prosperous made use of their success and the sharp cold of the Winter-season to make their Incursions and Winter-quarters through all the Principalities of Moldavia for they being born in cold Countries and accustomed to the Snows and Frosts were more patient and enduring of extremity of weather than were the Turks who were brought forth from more mild and moderate Climates so that neither could the Poles be driven out from those Countries nor Keminitz be relieved by them until such time that the Sun getting high and thawing the Snows and warming the Earth prepared a season fit for return of the Turks who marching according to their custom with an Army composed of great multitudes quickly compelled the Poles to retire For the Grand Signior and Vizier having both seated their Winter-quarters on the Banks of the Danube were ready at the first opening of the Summer to enter their Arms into the Enemies Countries and having called the Tartars to their assistance did according to the usual custom make Incursions for depredation of Slaves Cattel and whatsoever else was portable in a running March. The Chan or King of this People was at that time greatly indisposed in his health of which he advised the Great Vizier as if he intended thereby to obtain a release from his personal attendance that year in the War But the Vizier who either supposed this excuse to be only a pretence or that he had a kindness for his Person immediately dispatched away his own Physician called Signior Masselini an Italian born a worthy Learned man a good Christian and my intimate Friend with whom maintaining a constant correspondence by Letters he wrote me A Journy into Tartary That from the Grand Signiors Quarters which were at Batadog near the Banks of the Danube he arrived after seventeen days Journey in Chrim where he said he was received with singular honour and kindness by the Great Chan whom he found to be a Prince of admirable prudence gentleness and generosity but greatly afflicted with a Hypochondriacal Melancholy which being an infirmity of some years standing was with the more difficulty removed howsoever he was so far from being uncapable to follow his Army that he advised him to divert his mind with the thoughts of War which counsel having taken after thirty days abode in the Camp he found himself much more chearful than before and greatly relieved of that pressure of Melancholy and caliginous Vapours which offended his Brain We are now said he at Vssia at the Mouth of the Boristhenes which we have passed from the other side unto this where the River is nine miles broad from hence we are marching towards Bender upon the Niester to pass into Moldavia and there to joyn with the Ottoman Army The Poles have sent to demand Peace but with condition that Kemenitz be restored to them which Proposition was with great disdain rejected and will never be granted whilst this Emperour reigns These people greatly desired a Peace with Poland which the Election of Sobieski for King may probably facilitate for not only they but the Turks also dread a March into Poland and are so inveterately bent to take revenge on the Muscovites and Cosacks

by a Wise and Grave Company of Experienced Merchants hath by Gods blessing brought an inestimable Treasure and advantage to the English Nation which that it may still continue increase and flourish in all Ages and times to come is the hearty desire and Prayer of him who is a true and faithful Servant to that worthy Society and a sincere Wellwisher to his Country Farewel THE HISTORY OF Sultan Mahomet IV. THE XIII EMPEROUR OF THE TURKS Beginning in the NINTH YEAR OF HIS REIGN The First BOOK Anno Christi 1661. Hegeira 1072. IT was now the beginning of this Year when the Earl of Winchelsea arrived at Constantinople the first Embassadour sent abroad from His Majesty of Great Britain Charles the Second after his happy Return to the Glorious throne of his Ancestors to Sultan Mahomet the Thirteenth Emperour of the Turks it being judged fit that amongst other Alliances which were to be contracted with Foreign Princes and States this of Turkey should not be omitted but rather in the first place considered In regard that as the flourishing Estate and Prosperity of England's richess depends absolutely on her Foreign Trade so on none more particularly than on that of Turkey which consumes great quantities of her most staple and substantial Manufactures and makes returns in whatsoever Employs and gives Bread to the poor and industrious of the Nation But before we come to treat of the Successes of this Ambassador and the various Transactions in the Turkish Affairs we shall relate some accidents which befel us in our Voyage by Sea to Constantinople The Earl of Winchelsea and his Lady with a numerous Retinue being embarked on the Plymouth Frigat commanded by Sir Thomas Allen and accompanied with a Catch and two Merchants Ships the Prosperous and Smyrna Factor for Turkey set sail from the Downs on the Twentieth of Octob. 1660. And proceeding with a favourable Gale and fair Weather until we were come to the heighth of the Norward Cape or Cape Finisterre we then contended with so severe a storm that we were forced to bring our Ship under a main course to fasten our Helm and lye and drive In the Twenty nineth about Five in the Morning our main Tack flew which shook and strained our Mass so violently that it was shivered in two places between Decks The danger hereof might have proved of ill consequence had the Mast gone by the Board for in all probability it would have carried up our Decks unfixed both our Pumps and laid us open to the Sea but the Providence of God and the diligence of our Seamen was such that we soon struck our Top Mast boared our main Yard and so fished the Mast it self where it was defective that with the help of our sore-Sail and the benefit of better Weather we safely arrived on the Thirty first in the Port of Lisbon Lisbon The Match being then in Treaty between Charles the Second our Dread Soveraign and Catherine the Infanta of Portugal now our gracious Queen all the concernments of England were extreamly acceptable to the Court of Portugal and particularly the Person of the Earl of Winchelsea a Peer of England qualified with the Character of Ambassadour Extraordinary to the Ottomon Port. For at our first arrival there I being then Secretary to the said Earl was employed to carry a Letter to the King which was received by the Councel of State then sitting After the Letter had been read and considered I was called in and an answer given me by the Marquis de Nissa and D. Gasper Faria de Sevarin then Secretary of State to this purpose That they were glad so grateful an opportunity presented whereby they might Demonstrate their warm and real affections towards the King of England by serving his Ambassadour in so necessary a piece of Service as that which was required That Orders were given to furnish the Ship with a Mast and what she wanted out of the Kings Stores and that both his Excellency and Lady with all their Retinue should be welcomed a shore with due regard to their Quality and Condition The Day following his Excellency was complemented from the King by a Maestro de Campo sent to him on Ship-board and being come ashoar and lodged at the House of Mr. Maynard the English Consul he was visited by D. Francisco de Melo who had besore and was afterwards employed Ambassadour into England and by D. Antonio de Saousa and others After Eight days his Excellency had Audience of the King and the Queen Mother and was received by both with many demonstrations of a hearty desire to contract a firm Alliance with England He was afterwards invited by the Conde de Odemira Governour of the young King and Chief Minister of Portugal to a Quinta or Garden-house at Bellain where were present the Duke of Calaval the Visconde de Castel Blanco and D. Francisco de Melo the entertainment was very splendid with variety of Dishes and Wine corresponding rather with the inordinate Tables of English than with the frugality and temperate Diet of Spaniards Our Ship being in this interim refitted we returned aboard on the Twelsth of November the Earl of Winchelsea being presented by the King with several Hampers of sweet-Meats Vessels of Wine and other Provisions for his Voyage and his lady by the Queen Mother with a Jewel of considerable value and with diverse boxes filled with Purses of persumed Leather and Amber Comfits On the Thirteenth we set Sail being design'd by Order of his Majesty for Algier Algier to settle a Peace with that unsetled People where arriving on the Tewenty second day about Three a Clock in the Afternoon we came to an Anchor about Two Miles distant from the Town which we saluted with Twenty one Guns but received none again in answer thereunto it being the custome of that People not to acknowledge Civilities but to repay injuries and not requite benefits We found that they had already begun to break the Peace Having brought in thither an English Ship which lay between hope and fear of freedom or seizure So soon as we had dropt our Anchors a Boat came from that Ship acquainting us of the State of Algter and how near Matters were to a Rupture with them by this Boat my Lord Ambassadour sent a Letter to the Consul appointing him to come aboard who the next Day being the Twenty third appeared accordingly to whom his Excellency imparted the Instructions and Orders from his Majesty to renew the Peace on the former Articles and particularly to insert a Caution That the Algerines should on no terms search our Ships but that the Passengers and goods thereon whether of English or Strangers should be free and exempted from all seizure and Pyracy whatsoever I being appointed to assist the Consul in this Treaty accompanied him ashoar and in the first place we applyed our selves to Ramadam Bullock-bashee then the Chief of their Divan and Head of their Government whom we acquainted that

fearing the matter should be per e●tly discovered entred into consultation what course they should take to save their lives and their honour In fine they both concluded that in such an extremity desperate remedies ought to be used than which none was better than to set fire to the Seraglio The Seraglio at Constantinople set on fire by which means either the thing sought for would be esteemed for burnt and consumed by the fire or in so great a loss it might be hoped that matters of smaller moment would not be remembred Wherefore the bold Wenches without other consideration gave fire with their Candle to the roof of Cedar of which wood most of the Womens rooms in the Seraglio are made which in a moment made such a flame as with the help of a little wind was carried through all the quarters of the Womens Apartments and thence took its way to the Divan Chamber and other considerable parts of the Court where many Records and Registers of Law were consumed to ashes together with one of the lesser Treasuries where much richess which endured not the test of fire perished And the whole Seraglio had run an evident hazard had not the Bostangees and other Servants of the Court ventured far into the flames in which many of them miserably perished The fire being quenched and the Women afterwards I know not how detected to have been the Authors thereof were sent to Adrianople and being there accused were strangled by the immediate order of the Grand Signior But the destruction of that considerable part of the Seraglio was no impediment to the Grand Signiors return to Constantinople being rebuilt with that speed and industry equal or excelling the magnificence of the former that the day prefixed for the Journey thither was not prolonged by reason thereof Howsoever the Grand Signiors aversion to the place made the wheels of his Chariots move slow and the quickness of his Attendants grew slack and cold observing so much displeasure in their Emperor to the place designed For though he was pressed by the Vizier to begin his Journey and could not handsomly refuse to comply with the time appointed yet to defer this resolution as long as was possible he contriv'd a long way of Meander towards Constantinople forming his Journey in Company with the Great Vizier by way of the Dardanelli upon the Hellespont on pretence of viewing the Fortifications of the new Forts raised at the entrance of that Streight and sending some Provisions from thence for Relief of Candia wherefore the Captain-Pasha was commanded to Sea with three gallies and at Gallipoli to attend the Grand Signiors arrival being to transport him thence to the Castles and back again And the design being now resolved and hot to prosecute the VVar in Candia for transporting thither a numerous Army it was concluded That the Captain-Pasha should propose to the English Ambassadour the Grand Signiors desire of Fifteen Sail of Ships with consent of our King for this Service the Turks paying what reasonable Rates should be demanded But the Earl of Winchelsea then Lord Ambassadour modestly replied That though His Majesty of England did always entertain a good affection and a zealous disposition towards the Affairs of the Grand Signior yet at present the VVar with Holland and ill understanding with France made his occasions for his own Shipping more urgent than usual and the time most unseasonable to press his Majesty in this particular by which reply and several other excuses of the Ambassadour the Captain-Pasha perceiving an aversness to the Proposition and that Christians unwillingly arm Turks against the Cross gave an account of this discourse to the Grand Signior and Vizier who immediately gave order for the building of sixty Gallies against the next Spring which with what they had before would make up above an Hundred Sail. The Rendezvous of this Fleet together with Saykes and other Turkish Vessels The Turks prepare for a War on Candia from thence to transport the Vizier and his Army for Candia was appointed to be made at Malvoisia of the success of which we shall have occasion God willing to discourse in the following Year which gave a beginning as we may say to the total loss of that Country and to that famous Siege which in History will bear the Fame of one of the most memorable in the World. And as a preparation thereunto and as a supply of the present urgent necessities three Ships viz. one English another French and a third Dutch were laden with Corn and thirty Sail of Beys Gallies with all sorts of Arms and Ammunition with a Recruit of a thousand Janisaries were dispeeded from Constantinople for Reinforcement and Succour of that Island And now at length the Grand Signior after his long circuit arrived at Constantinople where he made his solemn Entry the Third of October but not with that Joy and Pomp which usually attended other Sultans in their return from the Wars and labours to their Imperial City but all things seemed like the Sultans humour sullen and displeased for he seldom lodged in his Seraglio or slept there but at a small Palace called Daout-Pasha The G. Signior arrives at Constantinople where he for the most part made his abode only sometimes in the day he passed a few hours at his Seraglio but rested not there in the Night The reasons hereof some attributed to the remembrance of those dangers and troubles which he had seen in that Court and which made so deep an impression on his fancy that he could never enter within those Gates without some sense of terrour for the late disorders The German War being thus concluded the Sultan returned to Constantinople and Affairs disposing themselves to spend their fury against Candia all things growing black and tempestuous towards that Coast the Venetians prudently provided to oppose the storm And as an able General Marquess Villa received into service of the Venetians and wise and experienced Captains are the supports of an Army and that the success of War depends much on Martial Discipline and on the vigilance and wisdom of the Commanders the Senate gave order to their Ambassadour at Turen called Catarin Belegno to offer unto Marquess Ghiron Francesco Villa a Native of that Country the honourable charge of General of the Foot with a stipend of 12000 Crowns of yearly Pay the said Marquess obliging himself to bring with him Four Captains and two Lieutenant-Generals for entertainment of whom the Republick allowed Five thousand Ducats besides Seventy Ducats a Month pay to an Engineer To this Marquess Villa a power was given to command in chief over all without subjection to any other than to the Captain-General and to the Proveditor General in Dalmatia when he waged War in that Province And in short his actions were not to be questioned or examined by any other than the Senate it self to whom he was immediately subjected and a Gally was to be allotted

Gallantry the Souldiery being affrighted began to consider that they were not longer to be governed by a Woman or a Child but by the most brave Prince that ever swayed the Ottoman Scepter and thereupon for the future resolved upon an impartial Submission and Obedience unto him To encourage them in which and to reconcile their Spirits and Affections to him Morat oftentimes assembled his Souldiery at Ackmeidan where he exercised with them shooting with the Bow at Marks and at Rovers rewarding those who shot best with adding an Asper a day to their Pay besides which he distributed six thousand Hungars amongst them to demonstrate that wise Princes are used to mix Lenitives with their Rigour These Mutinies and Seditions in the Captial City encouraged Rebellious Spirits in divers other places so that a certain Bold and Audacious Fellow drawing a number of Miscreants after him possessed himself of the City of Prusa another of the same Temper called Elia Pasha made himself Master of Magnesia Rebellion in Anatolla where he committed all the Outrages which Enemies inflict on a Conquered People and being about twenty four miles distant from Smyrna so afrighted the People of that Place who were Merchants and such as lived by Trade that they fled with their Wealth and such Things as were portable lest they should be exposed to the Robbery and Spoil of Thieves and Rebels But the Beglerbey of Anatolia suffered not Elia to reign long in his lust but giving him Battel in those Plains wholly defeated him and sent twenty of the Heads of the chief Commanders to the Sultan for a Present and pursuing Elia and the rest of his Army to Magnesia besieged him in that City The Grand Signior being advised hereof and fearing lest the Siege should take up too much time and move other ill Humors in that Country dispatched Orders to offer Terms and Conditions of Accommodation with Elia which were secretly treated and great Promises made him of Favour and Rewards from the Grand Signior The easie Fool accepted the Conditions and embraced the Promises and leaving his City of Magnesia proceeded confidently to Constantinople to receive the gracious Rewards of the Sultan for his past Services At his Entry into the Seraglio in place of the Kapislar-Kahyasee or Master of the Ceremonies he was received by Officers with a Cord in their Hands who bestowed on him the gracious Reward of his Masters ultimate Favour These Rebellions were no sooner suppressed in Asia but that other Mutinies of the Janisaries Mutinies at Buda for want of Pay began at Buda in Hungary where they threw Stones at their Age and pursued him to the very Palace of the Pasha electing another into his place They also cut in pieces the Governour of Pest and bestowed his Office upon his Lieutenant To remedy these Disorders and extinguish the Mutiny the Grand Signior sent Commissioners to examine the Matter and to render him an account of the Grieveances and Demands of the Souldiers but they fearing to be surprised with some severe Acts of Justice prevented or forestalled the Inquiries of the Commissioners by acknowledging their Fault and demanding Pardon with surrender of four of the Ring-leaders to Punishment declaring That by their seducement and evil perswasions they were debauched into that disorderly course of Proceedings the Sultan accepted the Sumission and all things were quieted in Hungary Howsoever new Troubles arose in Moldavia Troubles in Moldavia for that People being oppressed over-much by their Prince Alexander made an Insurrection against him and drove him out of the Country who for refuge fled to Constantinople And the People desirous that one Bernoschi a Polonian by Nation might be put into his Place To obtain his Confirmation he came to the Port and offered himself before the Grand Signior but Morat suspecting that to obtain the Principality for himself he had secretly instigated and nourished the late popular Commotions caused his Head to be cut off in the Publick Divan Amurat had now born to him a seventh Daughter by his Slave called the Shining Star and though he was much troubled that she had not brought him forth a Son and Heir yet so much was she beloved by him that he resolved to create her Queen had not his Mother declared against it as a thing not usual for any Woman to be honoured with that Title before she had supplied the Inheritance by the Birth of a Male Child And that he might now totally extinguish the Fire of Sedition amongst the Souldiery he caused Ferdum Efendi and Saluc Age two prime Chiefs of the Spahees with eight principal Janisaries to be put to Death after which severity fearing another Insurrection he passed the Water and retired to his Seraglio at Scutari where he fortified himself It happened about that time that a Turkish Woman a Slave was found aboard a French Ship ready to sail from Constantinople which the Turks highly resented and aggravated the Crime so much against the French Ambassadour that they imprisoned his Son then embarqued and would have confiscated the Vessel and her Lading In those days the Christian Ambassadors resident at that Court kept better Union and Correspondence among themselves than they do at present so that all of them as concerned joined together to represent before the chief Ministers that such a Fault merited not so grand a Forfeiture for that it was most probable to have been committed without the privacy either of the Ambassador or Commander of the Ship. The Ambassadors then resident were Sir Peter Wych for England the Sieur Marcheville for France and Pietro Foscarini for Venice at whose warm and urgent Instances the Turks condescended to release the Vessel and the Goods laden upon her with free liberty to depart Howsoever it being represented to the Grand Signior by the Captain-Pasha who is Admiral of the Seas that one Baldasar an Armenian by Nation but Dragoman or Interpreter to the French Ambassador was a principal Instrument to move the Ambassadors to unite in this Pretence and being observed to manage the Interest of his Master with warm and earnest Sollicitations the surly Sultan grew so angry that one of his own Slaves should presume to manage a Dispute with him The French Interpreter impaled in Fury and Rage commanded that he should be immediately empaled and that he might be assured that his Sentence took effect he would see him with his own Eyes on the Stake before he would pass the Water to his Seraglio at Scutari The resolution was so sudden and the Execution so speedy that there was neither Ear lent to hear nor Time given to mediate in his behalf and the Act being performed complaints would not serve to redress a tyrannous Action now past Remedy and not to be recalled Wherefore as the Ambassadors were forced to acquiesce and patiently endure the Affront so if they would have resented it they could scarce have found one amongst their Interpreters of so bold a Spirit

Service He became extremely severe against the Souldiery crushing them with all imaginable Rigour on the least appearance of Reluctancy to his Commands declaring Morat exercises several Acts of Tyranny That he expected Blind and Silent Obedience from all but especially from his Souldiery He imposed a great Tax upon Copper and because he had several Warthouses filled with that Mettal which had for many Years lain by he forced the People to buy it at his own Rates At which Aggrievance the Commonalty growing desperate began to Mutiny and Rebel but Morat put a speedy stop thereunto by cutting off the Heads of fifty of the most Seditious and so passed to Prusa with the Attendance of six Gallies He caused a Kadi to be hanged to the great Displeasure and universal Resentment of the Ulemah who are Students in the Law who to make known their Aggrievance and Consult a a Remedy assembled in great Numbers at the House of the Mufti The Queen-Mother being acquainted with this Meeting and fearing the ill Consequences thereof gave immediate Advice to the Sultan who with like Expedition dispatched a Boat to bring over the Mufti and his Son to Prusa who were no sooner arrived than they were strangled not being permitted to speak for themselves or to alledge any Plea or Excuse for their Lives This Act of Cruelty beyond the Example of former Ages and never practised by the most tyrannical of his Predecessors struck a Terror on the whole Empire for Men observing the unjust Rigour which was executed on the Head and Chief of their Law the Oracle and Mo●th which resolved their difficult Problems and whom the World so reverenced and honoured that few Examples have been of Capital Punishment executed on his reverend Head feared that Innocence was not sufficient to secure their own less considerable Estates from his Fury and Violence There is a particular Death allotted for Mufties which is by braying them in a Mortar which is kept in the seven Towers at Constantinople and there shewed to Strangers which Instrument hath been seldom made use of Morat being greatly addicted to Wine Morat destroys the Taverns was sensible of the ill Effects of it in himself and that the heat of debauchery inclined him to Violence and Cruelty and from hence collecting how dangerous this Humour of Drunkenness was in his People especially in his Souldiery for that much of the late Seditions might be attributed thereunto he published a most severe Edict against Wine commanding all Taverns to be demolished the Butts to be broken and the Wine spilt It was the common Custom of the Grand Signior to walk the Streets in disguise when meeting with any drunken Person he would imprison him and almost drub him to Death It was his fortune to meet a Deaf Man one day in the Streets who not hearing the Noise of the People nor the Rumor of his Approach did not so readily shift out of the way as was consistent with the fear and dread of so awful an Emperor for which default he was strangled immediately and his Body thrown into the Streets All People feared and trembled at these Practices and were as careful to look out abroad for the Grand Signior lest they should be surprised with the bluster of his presence as Mariners are of being taken unprovided by some sudden Gust or Hurricane for there was scarce a Day that one Innocent or other was not sacrificed to his Fury and tyrannical Fancy One Thomas Zanetti a Venetian Merchant who had built a lofty Jardac or a high Room of Prospective on the top of his House was accused to the Grand Signior to have designed that Place for no other end than that he might with a long Glass oversee the Chambers of the Ladies and the Gardens Hangs a Venetian Merchant and Walks of the Seraglio For which Reason without farther inquiry he was hanged in his Shirt on the top of his Jardac with a red Streamer in his Hand that so the Grand Signior might be sure that the Sentence was executed The Estate of Zanetti whether belonging to himself or Principals was confiscated but in regard the Goods for security were privately conveyed to the Ware-houses of several Frank Merchants strict search was made for them but in regard the Marks and Numbers were altered they could not be distinguished wherefore the Graud Signior concluding that all the Frank Merchants had combined together to deceive him he Imprisoned every Man of them nor would he release them until they had paid forty thousand Dollars for their Ransom and Liberty After which upon pretence of a Plot or Agreement of the Franks to defend themselves from the leviation of this Tax the Turks searched their Houses for Arms in taking of which they were so rigorous that they spared not so much as a Birding-piece nor yet the Sword of Sir Peter Wych then Ambassador for England though he alledged that it was the very Sword with which his Majesty and conferred the Honour of Knighthood upon him But from these Transactions at Home let us pass to the Wars in Poland and Persia That Invincible Princes Vladislaus King of Poland had gained such good Success against the Czar of Muscovy that the Czar was forced to demand Assistance from the Turks The Grand Signior though he had lately made a Peace with Poland and sworn to maintain the Articles of Chocin concluded by his Predecessor Sultan Osman yet the continual Depredations which the Cossacks made did always administer reasonable Pretences for a War To which Abassa one of his chief Counsellors a valiant and presumptuous Captain did much incite him for promising to himself the Conduct of that Army designed against Poland did much flatter the Sultan and himself with the Fancy of mighty Success The War being thus resolved upon The Turks make War on the Poles the Turk who commonly strikes before he Quarrels gave Orders to Abassa to make Levies of Men in Moldavia and Valachia and to put the Tartars in Arms and the Militia of Buda and of the Parts along the Danube into a warlike Posture and with all Expedition to enter Poland Abassa who had with wonderful diligence put his Troops in readiness ordered the Tartars with a Body of fifteen thousand Men to enter Poland which they performed with such celerity that passing the River of Tyre above Chocin and Rinczug they in a few hours laid waste for the space of ten Leagues round Kemenitz and so retired with their Booty into Moldavia howsoever their haste was not attended with such good speed but that they were overtaken on the 4th of July by Stanislaus Konispolzki General of the Polish Army with no greater Force than two thousand five hundred Horse howsoever surprising them whilst they were feeding their Horses he put them into such Confusion and Disorder that he easily recovered all their Booty and took five of their chief Men Prisoners of which the Son-in-Law of the Cantemir was one But this

from thence to the Christian Arms nothing succeeded fortunately this Year For the Turks having gained their landing at first without opposition overthrew the Christians in several small Skirmishes and afterwards forced Canea the second City of that Island which they took with much blood and slaughter of the Christians The Turks having made so successful a progress this first Year as to possess themselves of one of the most considerable Cities took Courage to proceed in their Conquests in which they had the fortune to make themselves Masters in the next place of Retimo in defence of which the General Andrea Cornaro lost his Life by a Musket shot Nor more successful were the Venetians this Year at Sea for what with Quarrels among the Commanders and with their coldness and negligence in their Business they suffered the Turkish Vessels to pass freely without giving them that interruption which was very facil to Men resolute and concerned Nor was the opportunity which presented to ruine the Turkish Fleet made use of then lying half disarmed and ill provided at the Isle of St. Theodoro which is a Rock opposite to Canea where at that time it is believed they might all have been burned had the occasion been improved agreeable to that Advantage which then offered so that towards the latter end of the Year the General Molino returning Home either by reason of some distemper or by revocation from the Senate which seemed to be ill satisfied with his ill Fortune or his ill Management of the Publick Affairs he was dismissed from his high Charge And Gio. Capello Procurator of St. Mark was constituted in his place This Year was remarkable for the ruinous Differences between Sir Sackvile Crow Baronet our King's Ambassador then residing at Constantinople and the Turky Company The Original of which seemed to arise from the Civil Dissentions at Home for so unhappy were those Times and so ill affected were English Minds with Rancour and Malice against each other that this Leaven of Discord could not be confined within the Banks of Great Britain and Ireland but seemed to diffuse it self over the Seas and as a Contagion infected the Minds Goods and Interests of the English to what Quarter or Climate soever they were transported In the Year 1638 Sir Sackvile Crow was with the Consent and Approbation of the Turky Company dignified by his Majesty with the Title and Authority of his Ambassador to the Grand Signior For Maintenance and Support of which the said Company were to pay him the yearly Sum of five thousand Zechins in four equal Proportions which is above the value of two thousand Pounds Sterling And farther before his departure from England paid him six hundred Pounds Sterling towards the Furniture of his House Plate and other Necessaries defraying all the Charges expended for Transportation of his Lady Followers and Provisions to Constantinople Sir Sackvile Crow from the time of his arrival at the Ottoman Court until the end of the Year 1645 managed the Affairs of the Company to their general Satisfaction and with the Esteem and Honour of the Turkish Ministers who considered him as a Person of Courage and Resolution and in every way qualified for that Employment At length Differences arose between this Ambassador and the Company touching the Right and Title to that Benefit which is called ‖ Strangers Consulage is 2 in the hundred in the value of all the goods belonging to Stranger-Merchants laden on English Ships and all other Ships which not being in amity with the G. Signior set up the English Colours come under the English Protection as is lawful by our Capitulations Strangers Consulage the first pretending to the same on a Grant made to him thereof by his Majesty and the Custom of Sir Peter Wych and other preceding Ambassadors The others challenging the same as the chief and principal Means they had to ease the vast Expences they were at for maintenance of their Trade and Government for which they had always contended and strugled with the Power of preceding Ambassadors and which Sir Sackvile Crow himself seems by an Article which he had made with the Company to have relinquished to them in these words That during the time of his Employment as Ambassador he would content himself with such Allowance from the said Company for his Pains and Care to be taken in their Business as is specified in the said Articles being 5000 Zechins per Annum This Right of Strangers Consulage is now confirmed to the Turky Company by virtue of their Charter which his Majesty was pleased in the Year of his Happy Restauration graciously to Renew Confirm and Amplify to them the which was more easily granted by the concurrent Assistance of the Right Honourable the Earl of Winchelsea then designed for Ambassador to Constantinople who on some Considerations offered from the said Company assented thereunto But Matters of a higher Nature than this inflamed the Accounts and Differences between the Ambassador and Company For first one John Wolfe at that time Treasurer at Constantinople becoming Insolvent for great Sums of Mony Sir Sackvile Crow alledged that those Debts were National arising from the late Changes of State Officers their extravagant Exactions and Avanious Practices and therefore to extinguish this Publick Debt he made a Leviation of one hundred and ten thousand nine hundred and fifty Dollars on the English Estates at Constantinople and Smyrna detaining the Companies Ships in those Ports until the aforesaid Debt was satisfied and cleared The Ground and Cause of which will more plainly appear by this following Warrant Sir Sackvile Crow his Order dated in Pera of Constantinople the 26th of January 1645. Directed to all Captains Commanders of Ships c. Prohibiting the lading of any Goods or Estate on their Ships WHereas by the unhappy failings of some of our Nations here and at Smyrna and through the many late Changes of this State 's Officers and their extravagant Exactions on us in those Difficulties and by sundry other avanious ways our Nation is brought into a great Debt For which We or those and that Estate which shall remain on the Place who and whatever in case of Exigent and force of Paiment when-ever that shall happen must if not otherwise provided for in all probability and according to the rude Customs of this State in like case look to be made liable unto There being at present a full and competent Estate of the Levant Companies arrived here and at Smyrna which as well by the Obligations of their Charter as by the Laws of England the said Companies own Institutions and Customs in cases of like Nature ought as well to bear the said extraordinary as ordinary Charges and so pay those Debts which either are or shall be adjudged and declared to belong unto them We having taken pains in drawing the said Accompts to a Head and for discovery of the Truth thereof and after a Certificate being directed thereon for the more

formal Satisfaction only of the said Company being advertised that some of those who with us have had the view and been present at the Examination of the said Accompts whom it concerns on the Companies behalf to make such Certificate on our Order for some private Respects make scruple to certify the said Debts as they appeared before us and them And hearing also that the General Ships here in Port and that at Smyrna prepare and make haste to be gone In Providence as well for own safety in the Premisses as for that due regard we owe to his Majesty's Honour and the Publick Interest for the future We find it requisite and hereby order and require that until the said Debts shall be fully declared and their paiment setled by Leviation and the same paid or undertaken in and by some such fitting and secure way or ways as in such case is requisite and by us shall be determined and so declared That none of the Factors of this Scale or that of Smyrna by themselves or others whoever after publication hereof here and there respectively lade on Board either of the General Ships or other Ships whatever any Goods Faculty or Estate whatever for themselves or other whoever And that the Captains and Commanders of the said Ships in the mean time and until Our farther Order in this behalf not only forbear to take in and lade aboard either of their Ships any such Goods or Faculties for any of his Majesty's Subjects or other Strangers whoever but also that they abide and depart not either this Port or that of Smyrna Respectively until our farther Order and Licence in that behalf Whereof not only the Merchants Factors Masters and Commanders aforementioned but our * * Interpreters Druggermen and other Vnder-Ministers here or there are to take notice and observe accordingly as they and every of them concerned herein will answer the contrary at his or their Peril Dated in Pera of Constantinople this 26th of January 1645. To all Captains Commanders of Ships Merchants Factors Druggermen and all other his Majesty's Subjects and Ministers whoever in the Ports of Constantinople and Smyrna SACKVILE CROW The Turkie Company was altogether unfatisfied with this Leviation alledging that a great part of this Debt arose from Monies lent by Sir Sackvile Crow himself to Wolfe at a high Interest for securing of which and of his Principal he had in this manner taxed and charged their Estates But Troubles and Differences ended not with this Paiment for still the Controversy about Strangers Consulage was depending which with other Matters caused great Heats and Animosities on both sides So that some of the Turkie Company Men of the better Principles thought it most advisable to Petition his Majesty to constitute another Ambassador with Letters of Revocation to recal this but others who were the zealous Men of those Times who had tasted the sweetness of Sequestrations and proved it to be the Grand Catholicon of all Remedies perswaded that his Estate should be Sequestred This I say may perhaps have been the attempt of some few though the generality of the Company have so far disavowed the Seizure of his Lands and Estate in England that they declared themselves ignorant of any Estate he had there Howsoever this Apprehension being fixed in the Mind of Sir Sackvile Crow he proceeded to strange Extremities against the Company For he not only caused all the Goods and Monies belonging to them within the Grand Signior's Dominions to be sequestred and seized by his Agents but also imprisoned the Persons of all the English Merchants and Factors which were considerable either at Constantinople or Smyrna The Particulars of all which will appear with more clearness by this following Warrant Sir Sackvile Crow his Second Warrant dated in Pera of Constantinople the 30th of April 1646 directed to John Hetherington Lorenzo Zuma Enordering upon false Pretences the Sequestration of the Merchants Estates at Smyrna according to a Schedule WHereas the Levant Company sometime before our coming to this Place by a Court of their Assistants thereunto especially authorized treated with Vs touching a yearly Allowance for our Care and Pains during our residence here as his Majesty's Ambassador to be had and taken in such Particulars as might have relation to their Trade and Occasions And for a conclusion of such Treaty as aforesaid did offer unto us the election of any one of their Agreements formerly made with any of our Predecessors in like occasion And for a further manifestation of their sincerity in their said Offer upon our accord thereunto did at the Court aforesaid in publick give into our Hands and Possession the Copies of five of their Agreements made with our said Predecessors with Power to chuse which of them we should best like of to be a Rule and Pattern for an absolute Conclusion and Condition to be drawn up between us and them thereon also promising that they would make grant and confirm the like unto us And whereas we thereon and to the Purposes and Ends aforementioned chose and fixed upon that Agreement which the said Company had made with Sir Thomas Glover formerly Ambassador Resident for the Crown of England with this State And his Majesty by his Favour did assure the same unto us graciously promising to make his Employment of us here as good and beneficial in all the Allowances and Perquisites thereof as it had been to any of our Predecessors whoever and we expected no less The said Company finding themselves mistaken in their Offer as they pretended first retired from the same denying their said Agreement though sufficiently proved before his Majesty and then by force of Presents and Mony given under-hand to the Officers of that Time so prevailed against us that we could not only not obtain that Right which since hath appeared unto us and as well by their own Agreement as by his Majesty's Judgment then Custom and their former Contracts was due unto us but were forced after to other Agreements with the said Company by which over and above all such Rights Priviledges and Perquisites as then were and should be granted unto us by his Majesty's Capitulations and besides all other Gratifications and Allowances accustomed to be given to his Majesty's Ambassador which in Houshold Provisions only the said Company assured us were to the value of 800 l. per Annum Sterling at least and over and above such Plate and Houshold-Stuff as they assured us we should find of theirs here and hold to our use during our Residence of which we found not the value of an Asper the said Company did covenant with us for and in respect of our Pains and Care only therein agreed to be taken by us in their Affairs and Occasions as aforesaid for and during all our time as his Majesty's Ambassador with this State they would pay or cause to be paid unto us the Sum of 5000 * * VIII sterling Chickeens per An. to

of being Consul constrained me to an attendance on matters relating to the government of our Trade and therefore it is not to be expected that at that distance from the Court I should lay down Transactions so positive and particular as in the preceding Years yet the acquaintance and correspondence I afterwards continued at Court and the care I took to inform my self of what occurred qualified me in some measure for an Historian at least put me into a condition to make a Breviate or Collection of certain Observations occurring in the Turkish Court. When I first entred on this work I was carried with a certain emulation of French and Italian Writers of whose Ministers few there were employed in the parts of Turky but who carried with them from thence Memoirs Giornals or Historical Observations of their times In which our Nation hath been so defective that besides some scattered and abrupt Papers without coherence or method adjoined to the end of Knoll's History of the Turks which is an excellent collection from divers Authors one shall scarce find five sheets of Paper wrote by our Countrymen in way of History At which omission having often wondred I resolved from my first entrance in those Countries to note down in a blank Book what occurred in that Empire either as to Civil or Military affairs with what Casualties and Changes befel our Trade that so both one and the other might serve for Examples and Precedents to future Ages the which after some years afforded me materials to compose and frame this following Discourse In which having by Gods assistance thus far proceeded As it may be an Example to my Successors to spin and draw out the thread of this History through Ages to come so it will be a good part and office of those who reside there at present by a more diligent enquiry to correct and amend what I have mistaken or misunderstood For next to the immediate attendance to the Charge and Trust imposed upon me I judged it a chief duty towards my Country to denote and Record certain Transactions relating to Trade which is the grand Interest that hath engaged England to a Communication and Correspondence with these remote Parts nor doth the World perhaps expect much less from me than that I should add something to the History of the Turks in our time which howsoever imperfectly I may perform it yet the Offices which I have exercised and the impartiality with which it is wrote may gain it some credit and reputation in the World. For in the writing hereof I cannot be taxed with animosity to any person nor am I to be esteemed as possessed with affection or partiality to any side which is a point of sobriety and good temper necessary for all Historians For we who lived in those parts were little concerned for the House of Kuperlee or for the Favourites of the Court nor was it of any moment to us whether the Faction of the Spahees or Janizaries prevailed or whether the Courtiers or the Soldiers ruled the Empire only we esteemed it our duty to speak best of that Government under which our Trade thrived most And tho the times of Sultan Ibrahim were the golden days for Merchants which employed our Navigation beyond the memory of any times either before or since and consumed of our Manufactories tho not in greater quantities yet perhaps with better advantage and profit to our Nation Yet I ought not to be so injurious or ungrateful to Sultan Mahomet the Fourth as to accuse his Government of Oppression or Violence towards us or of any breach of Articles and Priviledges which he had granted to his Majesties Subjects but shall rather applaud and be ready to own that Justice which our Complaints have found and met at the Ottoman Court under the protection of those worthy Ambassadors sent by his Majesty to stand Centinel on the Guard of their Country For whereas in the time of Sultan Morat when the Military men bore the sway Injustice and Violence which mingled in all the actions of Rule had an influence also on the English affairs And when in the time of Sultan Ibrahim that the Female Court had gained the predominancy and that vast Treasures were expended in Riot and Luxury the prodigality of great persons made it necessary to be rapacious and unjust But in these more moderate times of this present Sultan when neither excessive Wars abroad nor Luxury nor immoderate expence at home exhausted the Coffers We may easily imagine that the disorders of State did not drive the Rulers to a necessity of exercising unjust Arts which are always most certain Symptoms either of a bad Government or a vicious incliuation in the Prince The English Trade according to the Chronicles of Sir Richard Baker was first introduced into the Country of the Turks in the Year 1579. but Sagredo an Italian Writer accounts only from the Year 1583. perhaps before that time Overtures were only made for a Trade which might be so inconsiderable as that until then it was not esteemed worthy to be adorned with an Ambassador or to be opposed by the Ministers of Foreign Princes For so soon as an Ambassador from England appeared at the Ottoman Court with Credential Letters from Queen Elizabeth the French and Venetian Ministers took the Alarm and opposed his reception especially the French who as Sagredo reports in his History of the Turks represented unto the G. Vizier how much this new Friendship with the English would obstruct that ancient Alliance which was made with his King and would impeach and lessen the Priviledges and Trade which they enjoyed in those parts To which the Vizier answered according to their usual phrase and stile That the happy Imperial Seat where his Master resided was called the Port because it was free and open to all such who desired to take refuge and sanctuary therein and therefore the English without just reason ought not to be excluded That the Sultan ought not to be denied that freedom of love and hatred which was common to all Mankind and that he was as well resolved to chuse and cherish his Friends as to prosecute and destroy his Enemies Whereunto the French Ambassador urged That since it was the pleasure of the Grand Signior to admit the English that at least they should be obliged to enter Constantinople under the French Colours But the English Ambassador replied that his Mistress who was so potent scorned all Dependencies on other Nations and would rather abandon the Friendship of the Sultan than admit the least diminution of her own honour And embellishing his Discourses as Sagredo proceeds with the representation of that advantage and profit which the English Trade would bring to the Ottoman Empire he so ensnared the hearts of the Turks that they preferred the admittance of new Guests before the Alliance of ancient Friends Since which time our Commerce and Trade with the Turk hath been in its increase and being governed

from thence first thought fit to acquaint the King thereof who was pleased in person to go and see it which appearing a strange and almost a miraculous accident His Majesty commanded it to be taken out and as I am informed it is kept in his Closet And now for the better description of this Rock and for the avoiding of it Seamen may observe and take notice of it in this manner The shallow water Rocks about Ipsera or the Rock whereon we struck bore N. N. W. ½ N. from the place where we anchored on the North of Great Ipsera and lyes about half a mile from the shore The mark is the falling away of the South end of the first gray-cliff which a gall upon the foot of the high hill on which is a house there is also a white sand by the gray cliff the longest way of the Rock is N. W. and S. E. and the length not longer than the Ship the water in the shallowest part thereof is about thirteen or fourteen foot with a Northerly wind and seventeen foot or more in the deepest which is the place where we struck yet as the people of the Island report it hath six foot more with a Southerly wind so that it is not strange that our Master though he had frequented this place with the Venetian Fleet should not have knowledg of it for such a depth of water is seldom noted in Waggoners for a place of danger There is also another Rock near the Town about half a mile distant from the shore bearing N. B. E. of the Point the neat fluff point E. N. E. the Northermost point of little Ipsera N. W. B. N. the Southermost point of little Ipsera S. W. ½ W. the Southernly point of Great Ipsera S. E. 1 S. upon it there is not above four foot water We rode here until the 14th day when between one and two in the morning the wind sprang out of the W.S.W. with an easie gale with which we weighed our Anchors and put to Sea the next morning early being the 15th day we were up with the Island of Tenedos and towards Noon we entered the Hellespont with a fresh gale which was necessary to stem the strength of the current and about three a Clock we passed the Castles of Sestos and Abydos from whence came off a boat with a Druggerman and Janizaries bringing Letters from Sir Thomas Bendish then Ambassador at Constantinople congratulating the Arrival of his Excellency and soon returned again ashoar to carry the news of our entrance within the Castles On the Seventeenth Day about Noon being just Three months since the Lord Ambassador with his Family embarked we came to an Anchor near the Seven Towers from whence we gave notice to St. Thomas Bendysh of our near approach and having given Two hours space for to carry the intelligence we weighed our Anchors and stood in for the Port of Constantinople At this time a Bostangee one belonging to the Grand Signior's Garden came aboard sent by the Bostangee-bashee or Head of the Gardeners to discover and know what Ship it was of such Equipage and greatness advising us also that the Grand Signior was seated in a Chiosk or Summer-house on the corner Wall of the Seraglio Having thus our Anchor aboard with a fresh and favourablegale our Flags and Ensigns displayed and a Streamer at every Yard-arm our Guns and Wast-clothes out and being near the Wall of the Seraglio the same Bostangee came again aboard acquainting us that it was the Grand Signior's pleasure that we should rejoyce with Guns which was his expression the Ship having her Sails swelled out with a gentle Gale and the swiftness of her motion retarded by the current gave the Turks an opportunity to take a full prospect of her the decks being full of men we fired Sixty one Guns as we passed Salutation of the Seraglio and with that order that the Vessel could never appear with better advantage had she been described by the Hand of the most skilful Painter And thus we came to an Anchor on Toppennau side where Sir Thomas Bendysh came immediately aboard to congratulate the safe arrival of this new Ambassador And now here it may be enquired whether the Seraglio returned any answer to this salute by those Guns which lye under the Garden-wall of which most or all are dismounted I answer not for this having been the first Man of War or first Royal ship that ever carried up an English Ambassador to Constantinople it having been the custom formerly to have them transported thither on some goodly Merchant-ship laden with the rich Commodities of our Country a return of Guns was never demanded or expected and perhaps it was a matter not then thought of which if it had and been required it is probable in that conjuncture if ever it would have been granted both because old Kuperlee the Father then governed who was a great friend to the English and Enemy to the French whose Ambassador was then under restraint would have in meer opposition and hatred to them bestowed those honours on our Nation which at another time could not have been extorted for a great Sum of Money and so much I collect from the very words of Kuperlee who after our Lord Ambassador had made his Entrance in a more splendid manner than usual as we shall understand by the sequel he demanded of our Chief Druggerman how the French resented this treatment He answered not well but with an envious Eye as he supposed let them burst with malice replied the Vizier Of late years since the glory and greatness of France their Ambassadors have been always transported up to Constantinople in the Kings Ships Monsieur la Haye the younger came on Man of War of the Kings and a Fireship Monseur de Nointel with Two men of War and a Fireship and now lately Monsieur de Guilleragues with no less an Equipage than the former All which before they entered Constantinople made a stop about the Seven Towers capitulating first to have a re-salute from the Seraglio before they would pass their Complement to that place which being denied as a thing never practised the French Men of War have of late passed with silence without giving or receiving a salute Howsoever as things stand now I should scarce advise that English Men of War should insist upon the like for we having once done it a custom may be pretended and that may give a beginning to such a dispute which a new Ambassador ought studiously to avoid the present circumstances of France not suiting exactly with the sole Interest of Trade which is exercised by England Against the next Day being the Eighteenth The Lord Ambassador landing at Constantinople things were provided for the entrance of his Excellency and indeed with that state and handsome Equipage that neither any Embassador from England nor yet from the Emperor passed with greater Splendor and Honour than this For when his