34 



A Relation of the 



Chap.IV. 



oidcr'd all his chefts to be brought into the Seraglio, by the Baltaeis, whom he lent 

 to his Lodging nulls out ot his pocket the Chapelet of (oral and the Ring, which he 

 ihewes him, and told him, that thofe two pieces were taken out ot a little bag, which 

 a Pilgrim of Mecba had entrufted him with the cuftody of. He afterwards (hews him 

 the note or fchcdule of all the other pieces, and commanding him to open his Chefts > 

 the Jewels were there found which that unhappy man,convinc'd of his guilt, and trem- 

 bling for fear, delivered up into the har.ds of the Grand Seignor. The Pilgrim was 

 call'd. and prefentty knew his bag, and his Jewels •, and the Doctor, by an open con- 

 fdrion, acknowledg'4 his crime, and perftdioufhefs. 



The next day, the tmpefour order'd the Than to be AfTembled, at which he com- 

 manded that all the Grandees about Conjiantinopk {hould be prefent,tO render the Judg- 

 ment the more folemn. Me firlt commanded, that whatever belong d to the Pilgrim 

 Ihould be rcitor'd to him, together with fome additional recompence : and his next 

 command was,That the Doctor Ihould be punifh'd, according to his own Sentence. To 

 that end, order was given ; that a none mould be made hollow, after the form of a 

 Moi tar, into which he was thrown ftark naked, and pounded alive by the common 

 Executioners. And that is the lame Stone-Mortar, which 1 have often feen near the 

 Gate of the Divan, and is left there, for a Memorial of fo admirable and fo folemn a 

 Judgment. And this was the period of a Hiftory, whereof d\ me circumfrances are re- 

 markable, and which is not one of the Icalt Monuments of the \\ ifdom of the Empe- 

 ' rour AmuraU That Prince, inlkad of ufing his abfolute power at theftrfi overture of 

 fuch an Affair, thought it fitter, by a perfpicacity of mind and prudence, patiently to 

 expect remote occaiiom, that he might thence deduce evident proofs of a conccaPd 

 crime : and his intention was to raife the Doctor to great dignities^ he had found him 

 innocent, and to puniih him fevercly, as he did, upon the dilcovery of his guilt. 



At what timt, I told you at the beginning of this Chapter, that of the four dayes of the Week, ap- 

 hw,tbeGrand pointed for the fitting of the Divan, thole which are anfwerable to our Sunday and 

 seignor rids Tuefday are the principal, as being thofe on which the Affairs of greatelt importance 

 are debated. They call thofe two dayes ArZgbhtnZ, in regard, that after the Grand 

 Vizir, the fix other Vizirs, and the two CadiUfqum, who aifiitat the Divan, havead- 

 miniftrcd Jufticc, they go all together to kifs the Grand Seignor's hands. If any one 

 of thofe Nine Judges have ought to fay to him, he is permitted, en the fe dayes, to 

 fpeak to him freely : and it is ordinarily upon thofe dayes alfo, that the Grand Seig- 

 nor takes his time, if he has a mind to take off any one. He then orders the Bojlangi- 

 Bachi to be ready, with fome of thofe who attend him, to execute his will •> and ba- 

 vins; dcclar'd to him who they are,whom he would have i:rangled,the order is nofoon- 

 er given, but that either at their arrival, ot at their departure, it is punctually obey'd. 

 True it is, that he docs not demean himfelf fo, but when he is afraid of fome popular 

 (edition, in cafe he fhould fend to puniih them in their own Houfes, where they might 

 make fome refinance. But within the Seraglio, and in fight of the Janizaries, who 

 are in their ihtions near the Divan, the unfortunate Pcrfon, whom they would have to 

 be ftrangled, has no more to do then to bow down his Head, and to ftretch out his 

 Neck, without thinking of any reiiTtance, which would be to no purpofe. In the 

 Eleventh Chapter, 1 mall give an account at large, how they proceed to that exe- 

 cution. 



out of the irjy, 

 thrift, whom hi 

 fujpefls. 



The days on 

 which Ambi]- 

 fadors come to 

 the Divan. 



A little beyond the Hall of the Divan, you come to another Hall, rais'd up after the 

 manriet of a Balcony, where the Ambaffadors are feated, when they aifift at the Divan, 

 and that they do, once in three months, and upon the dayes, that the Janizaries re- 

 ceive their pay. There is notice fent them to be there, out of a vain ollentation, that 

 they may fee, what abundance of money goes out of the Treafury. Eetween thefe two_ 

 Halls there is a Gate, which leads to the Quarter of the Baltagis. Thofe are a fort of 

 Itrong and robuft People, cmploy'd, as I told you, in carrying of Wood all about the 

 Seraglio, and other mean and painful Offices. As to the wood, which is burnt in the 

 Appartmcnts of the Women, they disbdrthen themfelves of it at the door, where the 

 Negro-Eunuchs take it up, and carry it into the Baths and other rooms, into which 

 they only are permitted to go. And this is all that's confiderabh in that fecond Court. 

 Let us now enter further into the Seraglio, and fee how things are manag'd there. 



CHAP. 



