Although utterly lacking any assurance of a favourable reception, though, in fact, having every reason to anticipate the opposite, he caused the Capitulations to be produced in Court. Whereupon the Grand Vizir ordered them to be left with him, that he might study that interesting article at leisure.
It was not long before the folly of his action became manifest to our Ambassador. When he asked to have the Charter back, he was told that the Grand Vizir perceived in it many things which he supposed had been obtained in former times by corruption, without the Grand Signor’s knowledge: he intended to show it to the Grand Signor and learn his pleasure in the matter.
Sir John listened with blank dismay: “His Majesty’s Capitulations thrice sworn to and subscribd’ by this present Gran Signor,” the Capitulations which had cost him so much “care, paynes, and hazard,” to say nothing of gold and silver and Florence wines—in the hands of Kara Mustafa! And that, too, “at a time when, besides the great estate wee had allready in the country, wee had the accession of 300,000 Dollars in ready mony, and above three millions of Dollars in effects by our Generall Ships which arrivd’ in this conjuncture.”[254] It was a prospect to shudder at. Something ought to be done, and done quickly—before Kara Mustafa should work some great mischief. But what? Before doing anything we must find out what the Vizir’s aim is.
Overtures were made to the Vizir’s underlings—his Jewish man of business acting as a go-between; and it was found that his aim was—money. How much? Fifteen thousand for the Capitulations, and three thousand for the claim against the Smyrna merchant: in all, 18,000 dollars. A big sum; but not too big for the emergency. With all its limitations, the Charter constituted the only safeguard of our estates and persons. Even in the worst of times, when the most cruel and covetous Ministers had governed, we had always fled to that Charter, as to a stronghold; and, though it had sometimes been assaulted and shaken, yet it had never failed to afford us some shelter. Without it we were lost. That was the plain fact of the matter, and however much it might be embroidered by diplomatic phraseology it remained fundamental. Sir John had to choose between a course which wounded his pride and a course which imperilled the existence of the English colony: he preferred the former. So the sum was paid, and the Capitulations were restored by the Grand Vizir “at a publick Court, in presence of all the Bassàs.”[255]
This was a master-stroke of Kara Mustafa’s—it threw into the shade the turpitude of any previous Vizir. No Vizir had ever before thought of such a thing. No Vizir had ever before ventured to flout the dignity of the King of England in such a way, or to put the Grand Signor’s faith up for sale. It was nothing less than holding the whole English Nation, with its Ambassador and its Consuls, to ransom: an achievement without example.
Having discovered that a European nation could be held to ransom, Kara Mustafa hastened to exploit his discovery for all it was worth. After the English came the turn of the Dutch; and in their case the Vizir’s rapacity was aggravated by the brutality that arose from the violence of his temper. A private lawsuit here also supplied the occasion. M. de Broesses, the principal Dutch merchant at Constantinople, who besides was Secretary to the Minister of Holland commissioned direct from the States and had formerly been Resident at the Porte, sued a Greek for a debt before the Divan. The Grand Vizir, after listening to his claim, said that it appeared to be a false demand. “Sir,” replied the Dutchman, “we Franks use not to make false demands.” Taking this as a reflection on the Turks, Kara Mustafa in an access of fury, ordered him to be laid down and drubbed in sight of the Divan. M. de Broesses had 184 blows upon his bare feet out of the 300 to which he had been condemned, and was carried home in a critical condition. “The poor man is in danger of being crippled all his life, his feet since his recovery being twice opend’,” wrote Finch at the time; but it seems that he never really recovered, and his death, which occurred soon after, was attributed to this cruel punishment.[256]
Presently (August 13th) the Dutch Capitulations were taken away, not by sleight of hand, as the English had been, but by an express command from the Vizir. Nor was it alleged as an excuse for their detention that they contained anything contrary to Moslem Law or detrimental to the Grand Signor’s Exchequer. Kara Mustafa no longer thought it necessary to cover his tyranny under an appearance of law. When the Dutch Dragoman asked why they were detained, the Vizir’s Kehayah bluntly answered: “You infidel dog, do not you eat the Grand Signor’s air, and will you contribute nothing to him?” The Minister of Holland proceeded to negotiate through the Vizir’s Jew, as Finch had done; and it was not without some satisfaction that the latter heard from the Jew that the ransom would be at least double of what he himself had paid: “but as to this point,” he comments, “wee have but a Jew’s word for it.” He need not have been so sceptical. Kara Mustafa’s dragon-appetite grew in eating. The Dutch Minister, Justinus Collyer, unable to protect his people ashore, endeavoured at least to save their property afloat, and kept their General ships, which arrived at that moment, outside the Castles of Smyrna, declaring that he would not let them come in, until his Capitulations were restored. But Kara Mustafa possessed other means of persuasion. He threatened Collyer with the Seven Towers and similar severities; and Collyer, with the example of his Secretary before him, had no need to be told that the Vizir threatened not in vain. So, after holding out for nearly two months, at last, anxious for peace and persuaded that peace could be obtained only in one way, he ordered the ships to come in; and immediately got his Capitulations back on payment of 40,000 dollars.[257]
Such was Kara Mustafa’s fiscal system. So well did this gifted statesman know how to levy tribute on foreign envoys; and those envoys, instead of joining forces against the common oppressor, invited his depredations by their insane dissensions.